thought i'd share...

what I was working on yesterday. I've had this idea to do a "Birthday Box" for a while now...between mine and Graham's family and friends and stuff, it can be really hard to keep track of everyone's special day. So, the idea with this project was, there's a divider for each month where I can fill in people's bdays, anniversay's, etc, and then I can tuck cards into each month...so at the beginning of every month, I check out who I need to send cards to and.... Voila! Done. So just thought I'd share. You can see more pic's here if you want to get a closer look.

I didn't do too much today...I'm just noticing how big my stomach is getting!! I feel so huge today. Graham keeps telling me I look cute, but my tight jeans and short, tight shirts are telling me otherwise. The maternity clothes are still just a bit too big...so I'm still in that awkward "fat" stage. Oh, the joys of being pregnant. Sometimes I can't believe that I'm pregnant again...it's different the second time around in the sense that I'm so busy with Payton that I don't have much time to think or ponder about the pregnancy...whereas last time I had my books out every night, reading up on what stage I was at...I'm still totally excited, it's just different. It's going by so fast this time, though and I like that. Again, the anticipation with the first pregnancy just seemed to drag it out forever, and now I'm feeling like the baby will be here in no time. I have my ultrasound on the 22nd, so I'm so so excited to find out what we're having. For some reason I just feel like it's a girl...I'll honestly be surprised if it's a boy. Guesses, anyone? My sister Niki has always been right with my sister and I about what we're having...let me know what you think, Nik! I'll be thrilled with either, but a girl would be a whole lot cheaper considering the huge rubbermaid containers we have full of girls baby clothes (literally). AAaahhh! So, if you feel like takin' a guess on whether we're having a boy or girl, I'd love to hear them!!

been thinking...

alot about scrapbooking lately (is that a surprise??). Hehe. I just have so many ideas and so many things I want to do. I've gotten a few really sweet emails lately from some gals who have seen my stuff on my blog or on 2 peas...so cool. Just nice to know that after putting all this stuff out there, there are people (aside from my hubby and family!) who appreciate my work, and get that this is a passion, not just a hobby. So thanks to all those who check out my stuff. This has been a good year so far, and already lots of exciting things are happening for me. I've finally started getting published here and there again after taking a very long break from submitting my work to magazines, and I have a few pages yet to be published coming up in the next few months (I'll keep you posted!!). I have the awesome opportunity to be a part of the American Crafts design team, I'm going to CKU at the end of this month and the Urban Scrapbook Convention in April...lots to look forward to. I'm so pumped to take classes from women like Heidi Swapp and Donna Downey who are so crazy talented and experianced. There will always be things to learn. My hope is to take these classes and then be inspired and motivated to teach some classes locally. There's also another convention that Kim and I want to go to in Pheonix in Septemer...it's like we've just realized that there are so many fun fun things to do in this crazy and obsessive industry. Anyways, just some thoughts going through my head tonight. Just wanting to be better at what I love to do. Hoping that I will be published some more in the near future...all I can so is keep trying!! I'll post some photos tomorrow of a fun project I was working on today!!
Tal:)

molly

So this is my new little niece, Molly Jaye. How cute is she?? She was born on February 7th and I love her so much! It breaks my heart that I haven't even met her yet...my sister lives in Houston, so we're hoping that they'll be able to come and visit us within the next couple months. My mom has been in Houston with Niki since she had the baby, so they've had lots of time to spend together. It's so weird how quickly families grow...it seems like on my side of the family we've gone from 2 to 4 grandkids in no time at all, and by summer there will be 5. So fun. Graham's family is just exploding, too...both Jody and I will be having our babies just a few weeks apart, and there is so much potential with the rest of the kids for more babies to be poppin' up all over the place. AAaahhh! With how quickly all these nieces and nephews will be coming, I'll be able to treat my bouts of baby fever pretty easily! Haha!! Anyways, I just wanted to share this cutie little pic of Molly. What a doll.
See more pictures of Molly here

cards

I got together with Kim on Friday night so we could scrapbook together...these are some of the cards I made. It was so much fun to just sit and chat and create. Only I don't know how much Kim got done...Payton just wanted to be on her lap all night, so I was scrappin' away while Kim had Payton. Hehe! Kim was such a good sport about it...thanks, girl! Our hubbies were in the garage working on their bikes while we were inside scrapping, so it was fun. Only next time, boys...YOU guys get to baby-sit! Haha!!

This has been a pretty normal weekend...I totally cleaned the house on Saturday morning (with the help of Graham) and it felt soooo good to get that done. Clean bathrooms, clean floors, clean kitchen, clean laundry...it's amazing how quickly the house can get out of control. So that was nice. Now I'm just about to get ready for church...it's always questionable what Payton's going to be like on Sundays since church starts right at her naptime. She definatley keeps us busy! But that's okay, we love it. So I just thought I'd stop in and share my cards! If you want to see some more images of my them, you can check out them out here!
Catch ya later! Tal:)

invites

Just thought I'd share the invitations I was working on tonight (in between watching Survivor, American Idol and Dancing with the Stars!!). Thursday nights are ridiculous! Hehe! Anyways, I did these invites for a ward party my sister is in charge of, so I thought I'd help her out. At first I was just going to print them out for her and then one thing led to another and they're done...it was almost easier for me to just do them from start to finish then to share the work. I think they turned out cute and it was a fun little project to work on.

Payton was so funny tonight...it was one of those evenings where she was happy to entertain herself (I looove that!!) and she walked around with her princess crown on (upside down) like she ruled the world. Maggie just follows her around in hopes that Payton will drop something that she's snacking on...most of the time Payton just shares her snacks with her. So cute. She was also dancing and babbling away...I can't wait till she actually talks so I know what she's saying! So it was a good day...both Payton and I had our afternoon naps (I know, I know...but I'm pregnant!) and then Gray took us out for dinner tonight. Now it's time to tidy up the house before it gets messed up again tomorrow...I DO like it to be clean SOMETIMES, even if it's only when I'm sleeping! Hehe!

little angel

I haven't posted any pictures of Payton in a while so I thought I'd show these ones I took of her this morning. She is growing uo so much! She's 14 months old and busy, busy, busy. I feel bad, I haven't been taking many pictures of her lately 'cause she's constantly moving...I can never get a good shot. But I think these ones are cute. My little girl...such a sweetie.

canadian scrapbooker!

So this is the 2nd issue of Canada's new scrapbooking mag, The Canadian Scrapbooker, and I'm in it if anyone wants to get their hands on one! This is the spring '06 issue and I think you can only find this magazine in scrapbooking stores since it's pretty new. I'm excited 'cause it was kind of a surprise when they contacted me about being in the magazine...one of the editors saw some of my pages on 2 Peas, and it just went from there! Fun, fun. And actually, these are my first pages published of Payton so that's cool, too. You can check out the magazines website here
http://canadianscrapbooker.ca/
if you want to know more about the magazine. {Maurita, there's info on page submissions:)} Thanks for looking, guys!! Tal:)

happy valentine's day

In the spirit of valentine's day I thought I'd post some pictures of my sister-in-law's wedding this weekend. You looked so beautiful, Robin!! We went to their wedding this weekend and it was lost of fun. The bride and groon looked awesome (of course!) and it was fun for Graham's whole family to be together. payton was getting over a flu so that was a bit exhausting, but all in all, it was a good weekend. Speaking of Payton, we just finished making our Valentines for daddy (she kept wanting to put the stickers in her mouth instead of on the actual card) and now I'm watching her run around in her princess tiara and neclace. (You can take a look at the card I made for Graham here: http://twopeasinabucket.com/pg.asp?gallery=1&cmd=display&layout_id=775465) She is such a girl already! I don't think we have much on the agenda tonight...just sitting on the couch eating chocolate sounds good enough to me! You can take a look at a scrapbook page I did of Robin and Dave here: http://twopeasinabucket.com/pg.asp?cmd=display&layout_id=773796 Have a great day, everyone!! (P.S. You know you've been married for at least 5 years when you post pictures of ANOTHER couple on Valentine's Day instead of yourselves! Haha!!)

expecting...

...again!! I'm sure most of you know already, but I haven't really officially announced it, so here it is...I'm pregnant! I'm 15 weeks along and feeling pretty good, just tired...I have a hard time skipping my afternoon naps. Hehe! Needless to say, Gray and I are very excited, and hope that Payton won't mind being a big sister. I'm due at the beginning of August, so I get to be nice and fat at the hottest time of the year. Aaaahh! Oh, well it's worth it. Payton has just been as busy as ever and Graham and I often find ourselves saying, "so HOW exactly are we going to handle 2??" But from what I've heard many a mother say, you just DO it. I'm excited the kids will be close together in age...fun for them and I would rather just do all the diapers and potty-training close together. I still find myself sometimes saying, "wow, I'm actually a mother" and now I will have 2. AAaaahhh! I'm just happy and excited. My sister just had a little girl, Molly on Tuesday and she is so cute...I am so excited to have a little newborn again. Looking at Molly's pictures, Payton just looks so BIG now...but she is still my baby. So there's my news...stay tuned for pictures of me getting bigger and bigger!! Tal:)

my beautiful disaster

Sure, I have all of the "perfect" pictures of Payton...with her hair done, cute outfit and a clean face (gasp!) but these are the ones I love...this is the little girl I see everyday. My smiley, happy, messy, busy, fun little girl! It's so hard to believe that Payton is one year old...where has an entire year gone?? I've just spent the past hour organizing all her pictures on my computer and I was getting teary- eyed looking at all her BABYbaby pictures...she's still my baby, but she's the boss now! hehe! She's walking like crazy and has a mind of her own...when she knows she wants something...watch out 'cause she WANTS it! She loves playing peek-a-boo and is already becoming a little dancer (her fave song is the alphabet...that really gets her going!). She loves spoons...don't ask me why, but give her a couple of plastic spoons and she'll entertain herself for hours. I love it! So this is my little beautiful disaster...thanks for looking! Tal:)

check it out!

I have a page published in the February issue of Creating Keepsakes for anyone who wants to check it out...I actually forgot this page was going to be in this issue till a couple people told me they saw it and I was like, "Oh, ya! I better go buy a copy!" Hehe. It's on page 46. So anyways, it's been a long time since I've posted....yikes! Over a month! But things just get crazy over Christmas. Payton had her first birthday and it was lots of fun. She got way too much stuff and was more interested in the wrapping paper than anything else! Haha! She was so cute. I'll have to post some pictures. Christmas was good, too...my sister was here from Texas...she's due in February and it was fun to see her pregnant tummy. Can't wait till she has her baby! We all got spoiled and Payton was so cute...like I said, she got tons of presents and didn't really understand what was going on, but it was fun! We went to Red Deer to spend time with Gray's family. Both his brother and sister got engaged at Christmas so that was exciting...my mother in law was is heaven! payton had lots of fun in Red Deer playing with the kids and exploring...she is a walking machine now so this is a whole new world for her! She is constantly on the move and getting into something or pressing buttons or climbing the stairs or whatever! She is hillairious...her favorite song is the alphabet...whenever she hears it she drops everything and starts bouncing up and down. So funny. She is such a little girl now with her own personality. She pretty much runs the house. Hehe! Anyways, there is still so much going on...I'll post again soon!

ho, ho,ho!

Look who came to our house for a visit tonight!! This was so funny...Payton took one look at Santa and pretty much freaked out. I was kinda glad 'cause it was so funny and that mad picture of her is priceless...now I know NOT to take her to see Santa at the mall. Hehe!! Anyways, Santa came with little gifts for all of us and even got Graham on his knee. Haha!! Love that picture. Needless to say, Payton was happy once Santa was gone...I'm not sure if he'll be wanting to give her presents this year!! {Just kidding:)}

11 months...

...and counting. I just can't believe it was almost a year ago that we had Payton! Time has gone by way too quickly...I still think of P as my baby, but when I look at pictures of when she was first born...she isn't my baby anyomre, she's my little girl! She is so much fun and changing so much. She can pull herself up on just about anything and climbs stairs like crazy...fun for her, scary for me! She says "ya" all the time...it's fun to ask her questions and receive answers. She'll be walking soon...she's a pro at standing by herself, but she hasn't quite ventured far enough to take that first step yet. It'll happen too soon...

the list...

And the list goes on and on and on... even as I'm sitting here typing I'm thinking of like, 5 things I forgot to write down. AAAaaaaahhhh! There seriously aren't enough hours in the day. I have so much to do.....so, so much. (deep breaths, Talia, deep breaths.)

random thoughts...

Just sitting here thinking about all the things that I need to do.
I can't believe it's already the end of November...Christmas will be here so soon.
Looking forward to going to Harry Potter with my family tomorrow.
DYING to see RENT.
Excited about some classes I'll be teaching at The Urban Scrapbook.
Loving that Payton is standing up on her own.
Can't believe she's almost a year old.
Feeling Christmasy...want to put up my tree soon.
Want to go Christmas shopping...but need money to do that.
Am smiling thinking of Payton's 2 front teeth...so freakin' cute.
Cannot miss Oprah tomorrow...it's her FAVORITE THINGS show!!!

maggie

How cute is my dog??? I got her this little doggie t-shirt yesterday and then one thing led to another last night...hence the pictures. (this page is a scraplift of Elsie's from 2peas...)Hehehe! So funny. I feel bad 'cause Maggie's been kind of pushed to the sidelines this past year, so I wanted to giver her a little attention. Payton loves playing with her, I can already see that they are going to be partners in crime. The other day I caught both of them, happy as can be, eating food out of Maggie's bowl. EEEEEeeeewwww! Luckily I got the food out of Payton's mouth...it was pretty funny, though. Yup, this is my dog...at times she can drive me crazy (like, how she totally thinks she's a person and hogs the bed at night...aaahhh!) but I love her. She's a part of our little family:) Just wanted to share these pics!

excited

I'm so excited ... there's a new scrapbook magazine coming out that's called "The Canadian Scrapbooker" and I'm being featured in the up-coming spring issue!! The magazine focuses on one province/issue, and then they pick 3 scrapbookers to showcase from that province and I'm one of the people they chose from Alberta. So I'm excited...it's still a little while away, but something to look forward to. And then I met with the owner of the scrapbook store I shop at today (The Urban Scrapbook) about teaching classes at the store. It's cool 'cause she's basically letting me teach whatever I want...I get to design the class and then teach it! So I'm excited. I want scrapbooking to be my career, my THING. It's such a competitive industry and there are soooo many scrapbookers out there, so any opportunity is a good one. Just wanted to share my news! -Talia:)

lots to do

Whew...had a busy weekend and now I'm finally sitting down and just chillin' out in front of the TV with my family. We just got back from Red Deer where we were visiting Gray's mom before she heads off to Texas...so lucky, she gets to go for almost a month! Although, now I am stressed because she is totally ready for Christmas... presents wrapped and everything! (she may even get her decorations out this week so when she gets back in December it's all done.) So I'm feeling like I have soooo much to do. Time to start writing my "lists" and figure out what I'm getting for whom...I love doing that. And I can't wait for Christmas this year...Payton will be so much fun and I get to see my cutie pregnant sister. So fun!! Payton is cracking me up right now, she likes to walk around holding on to furniture...and she just talks and blabs to herself. I wish I knew what she saying!! Anyways, I just have so much to do...but like I said, it's all fun stuff 'cause it's for Christmas. Love this time of year...

trick or treat!

Well....Halloween's finally over!! For a silly little holiday, it sure was a busy one for us. Last night was fun...we got Payton dressed up again and she helped us hand out candy to all the trick or treaters. Kennedy, Winter and my mom stopped by to see Payton in her costume...by the end of the night she was like, get this thing off me! Haha. This morning we also had a Halloween party for the little dance class I teach. The girls all looked so cute in their costumes and Payton wanted in on the action...she was crawling and chasing them around the studio. So cute. So now I guess we'll have a little bit of down time before P's birthday and Christmas...although I'm already thinking of all the things I have to do before then!! Hopefully I'll find the time....anyways, here are some pictures from last night!

loving every minute...

...of you. I love this picture of Payton when she was 6 months old. Love that she is growing and changing, but sad that she isn't a little baby anymore. Glad I'm an obsessive picture-taker so I can remember her at every stage.