where oh, where to begin???

Whoa....


This weekend was soooo much fun. I was teaching at the Urban Convention and it was such an awesome experiance. I honestly don't even know where to begin! Maybe I'll just start by saying "thank you" to Pat and Lori for inviting me to teach. I had an amazing time and am honored that I was a part of the weekend!!

I wanted to share the project that I taught. I designed this little "photo garland"...the idea is that you can hang it in your home or fold it up accordian-style if you want to use it as a mini-book. The response to my class was great...everyone seemed to like it and I think they enjoyed that they just got to work at their own pace. I have to say, I was very stressed out about designing a project that I would be teaching to 120 people....I was very worried that not everyone would like it, etc...so this was a challenge for me! But like I said, the response was very positive from everyone.








So thank you to everyone that took my class!! I loved walking around the room as people were working to see how they scrapbooked, what pictures they had and to just visit! Women are so awesome...it was fun to be at an event where age didn't matter...we were all there for the same thing.

One of the highlights of the weekend for EVERYONE was Stacy Julian. This woman is so full of life, so fun, so real, so inspirational. She is an amazing speaker and teacher....she has so many awesome ideas and insights...I now have about 10 projects that I want to start because of her (as if I don't have enough on the go already!). One thing I did want to share was though was this online class of Stacy's....it's called "Glimpses" and it was inspired by a book that Marjorie Hinckley wrote. Go and download it now...it's only like, $10 and will be totally worth it. On Saturday night there was a "Glimpses" reception and it was so neat to see some of the albums that people had already finished and to hear little "glimpses" about them...loved it. So here is Stacy and I (both exhausted after a full day, but still happy!!).



Oh, and here is a photo of Stacy's "pretty salad"...one thing she encouraged us to do in her "Scrap Happy" talk was to take more pictures of "stuff"....whether it's scenery, or food or whatever...just more pictures of things we think are beautiful. This is picture she snapped with my camera of her salad at dinner!


And last but not least, this me and Kayce Rehn. Kayce is so awesome...I was so glad to meet her. Kim and I sat and talked with her on Saturday afternoon and she is so fun. She works with Stacy at Big Picture and is just totally sweet...I love making new friends. So Kayce, just gimme a call when you're ready to come shopping, Kim and I can't wait!!!

So now it is Monday, almost 2pm and I'm just enjoying my girls and enjoying not having to be anywhere at a certain time. (did I mention I slept in both Saturday AND Sunday??? Oy. Luckily I still made it in time to teach both mornings. I'm not used to a schedule!) Graham was the best daddy this weekend...he got the girls packed up and went to visit his parents on Saturday and then got them all ready for church on Sunday...he even had Payton's hair in a ponytail with a flower clip!! That's my man. Love you, babe, thanks for holding the fort down. So I am still pretty tired, but still re-living the weekend in my head. Hope everyone else had a good weekend, and I'll be back soon to share pictures of Gabby swimming and of our little "party" last week!!

a video and friends...

So I thought I'd share a little video of Gabby crawling...she is so cute. It's so fun that she's finally able to get around on her own. It's a whole new world for her now...she's pulling herself up and is experiencing lots of falls and bumps...ouch. Good thing she's so close to the ground, she doesn't have too far to fall!

As always, this past week has just been so busy. April in general has been a very very very busy month...I'm looking forward to the first week of May where I have nothing on the calendar...and I'm hoping to keep it that way!! Busy is good...I always like to have things on the schedule to get us out and for something to do...but sometimes it's just as nice to stay home. So I'm hoping for some good weather...I want to feel like *spring*!!

Friday was mine and Graham's 6th anniversary...holy cow. 6 years!! I really can't believe it has been that long. We had the BEST evening. We got dressed up and went downtown to an amazing restaurant...the food was sooooo goooood! (and sooooo expensive! Definately a "special occasion" place only.) Gray surprised me with a beautiful neclace and earrings....very anniversary-ish. He is so sweet. It was fun to be out and be together...thanks nana and grandpa for watching the kids!!

Today was such a fun day. It's been a while since I've seen one of my bestest friends, Adria, so I had the girls over today for a little "friends" luncheon (or "party" as Payton and I called it). It was so much fun...I decorated the table and made a simple meal...it's just always great to get together with friends. (I'll share some pictures next week of the table and stuff....so so cute!) I always love getting together with Kim and A 'cause it's no stress for me if my kids are fussy or noisy...they totally get it and don't mind at all. And we managed to get some cute pictures, too!!! Love these girls!! :) :) :)










I'm gearing up for the Urban Convention this weekend...just trying to do some last minute preparations. Maybe I'll see some of you there, I can't wait!
(And just a little reminder...the deadline for this month's challenge at the Goodie Box is this Friday. There's still time to submit a layout if you want to win a super cute prize!)

:)

catchin' up...

Has it been over a week already since I last blogged?? Seriously, the time goes by way too fast. I feel like I've been having a hard time staying on top of things lately...I just can't seem to find the time to get everything done that (I think) needs to be done. But that's how things go sometimes....sometimes I am super organized and feel like I have all the time in the world and then there are weeks like this where I just can't keep up. But sometimes it is more important to hold a sleeping baby and cuddle on the couch with your hubby than it is to do the dishes and clean the kitchen. So it's all good.


So maybe you've noticed that I've switched all the pink on my blog to red....I went to H&M earlier this week (it just opened...yay!!!) and I was totally diggin' all the red, black and white that I was seeing in the clothing and accessories. So I decided to give the ol' blog a new look. But....I'm still a pink girl...so don't be surprised if I go back to the pink in a week or so! But for now, I'm feelin' the red!!


Things over at the Goodie Box are going great...it is so inspiring to see everyone's layouts and just so awesome to see people playing along! If you haven't yet done a layout but want to, you still have a week. Let's see some more!!


Oh, I also wanted to mention something kinda exciting for me...on April 27th, 28th and 29th I will be teaching a class at the Urban Scrapbook Convention here in Edmonton. I went to the convention as a student last year and had lots of fun...so I was very excited when I was asked to teach at it this year. I'll be teaching a class sponsored by Chatterbox...the gal from Chatterbox who was originally supposed to teach the class for whatever reason couldn't make it last minute, so I was asked by the ladies at Urban if I'd be interested in doing it...of course I said yes! The project is super-cute that I'll be teaching, so hopefully I'll see some of you there! It should be an awesome event...the one and only Stacy Julian will be there as well as Melissa Chapman, and others....so I'm very pumped. And Kim is the photographer for the weekend, too! So it should be fun, and I'll definately share the project with you all after the event.


And last but not least, here are a couple pictures of Payton on Easter morning...she was so cute all dressed up in her Easter dress (my husband doesn't understand why the girls get "special dresses" for Easter and Christmas....I've told him to just deal with it, that's the way it's gonna be for a long time! haha!!) Gabby had a matching dress on but I had a hard time getting pictures that morning, so oh, well....you can't get 'em all!!


Have a fun weekend everyone!!

8 months old

My baby is 8 months old.



And the weird thing is, I still think of her as being like, 4 or 5 months old. I don't know if it's because she's tiny or if it's just because i don't want to accept that she is growing up. (Look at me, talking like she's graduating from high school and moving out of the house or something.) But, I think it is the latter....I just want her to stay a baby forever!



I'll admit it, I looooove babies. Yes, I am exhausted 24/7 and I still haven't had a full nights sleep in the eight months since she was born, (that is a whole separate post in itself!) but, I love my baby. And I want her to stay like this. Is it weird to have baby fever when you literally HAVE a baby? 'Cause I do! Like I said, for some reason I am just having a hard time with the fact that she is growing up....but it is so exciting, too. This little chick is sooo close to crawling. Right now she's doing the thing where she doesn't quite crawl but kind of maneuvers herself all over the place by scooting, rolling, etc. It's so cute. And I walked into her room a couple days ago and she had pulled herself up to a standing position in the crib all by herself. She was very impressed with herself...she was so happy and babbling to me about how great it was that pretty soon I REALLY will be in trouble once she's crawling all over the place. Yikes. (Okay, maybe the baby fever is wearing off now!)



Gabby looooves her big sister. I am loving seeing the interaction between the two of them lately. It is looking to me like the typical older/younger sibling relationship...Gabby looks at Payton with adoring eyes....you can just SEE how much she loves her and wants to DO everything that Payton does. And Payton is a protector...she's always hugging and kissing her little sister and loves to play with her and always wants to know "where" Gabby is ("Where my Gabby? Gabby awake yet? I want play with Gabby. Gabby come in bath with me?"). So funny. You know that Payton will just be bossin' Gabby around in no time and Gabby will do whatever the heck she says. Haha! (Trust me, I have 2 older sisters and I pretty much did whatever they told me to!)


Oh, and we pierced her ears on Monday. Well, WE didn't do it, we went and got them done and they are soooo cute. Graham was actually the one that has been wanting to get gabby's ears pierced for a while now so we went and did it. She was so brave....totally cried of course, but we gave her a bottle right away and after that she was fine...you'd never even guess anything was done to her. Babies are tough!!



I am also loving the swimming lessons. Not only do I love the company (Kim and Jody and their cutie little boys), but Gabby is just so easy-going in the water so that has made it fun and stress free for me. They got to wear life jackets today and it was hillairious because Gabby and Osh are so little....the life jackets were like totally big on them and just squished their little faces. I couldn't help but laugh...and the babies were happy, too, once they got to float around in the boat and get rid of the said life jackets. Fun times.



So, yes....my little girl is 8 months old. And as cute as ever.



:)




(LOTS of pictures, I know, but I did this for Gabby's Grandma's and auntie's!)

just wanted to say...

...to all of you.


Hope you all had a great weekend with family and friends. Ours was good....we ate waaaay too much yesterday, but I guess we're allowed to do that every once in a while, right? Payton had fun searching for her eggs. Only the easter bunny left her waaaaay too much chocolate, so I'm slowing hiding it again....that's all she wants to eat! (obviously!)


Just a quick post today...I gotta make the most of Gray being at home....wouldn't it be nice if hubby's never had to work???


Oh, and be sure to check out the Goodie Box....the sneak peek of what this month's winner will receive is up! (so so cute!)


Happy Monday!
:)

cute hat!

This is week is going by too fast...I can't believe it's already Thursday! Crazy. Anyways, I had to share these pictures of Gabby in her cute little hat from Grandma. I love the first one where Payton's giving her a kiss...melts my heart! Love these girls. I took some more pictures of Gabby today that I'll have to share, too. I tried to get some of the two of them together, but it just totally wasn't happening...I have great pictures of them separately, but not that many together...gotta work on that!

Swimming this week has been so fun. Gabby is such a doll...just so easy-going. On Wednesday morning in class the teacher got out the little floatie mats and Gabs was just as happy as could be, loungin' and floatin' around. It was so cute. It's so neat to do this the second time around...she's wearing the same swim suits that Payton wore for her first swimming lessons. They are very alike in the water, it's neat to see. As I said in my last post, I'll have to get pictures at some point for sure.

And thank you to everyone who has checked out The Goodie Box! Some of you have already shared your layouts for this months challenge....that is SO AWESOME!!! It's exciting to see that people are interested and willing to play along. So get working on your layouts if you haven't started yet....we want to see what you come up with!! And remember, on Monday we'll be posting a a little sneak peek of this months goodie box, so make sure you check back often. I know I keep saying it, but I'm just so excited about the Goodie Box and happy to see that people are interested. Yay!!

Oh, and P.S....Gabby is almost crawling. She's gets up on her knees and then rocks back and forth...she's ready to go. So we'll see if it happens soon or if she'll be content not moving for a little while longer. I can't decide what I want her to do....crawling means a little bit more independence for her, but we all know what that means for me....ahhh!!

Later!

:)

my little *announcement*...

So...about a month ago Kim and I got together to scrapbook and what did we talk about the whole time...you got it....scrapbooking! We both just love this industry and wanted to do and be a part of something fun. So we came up with "The Goodie Box"!

So what exactly IS "The Goodie Box"? Well, it's very simple, really. It's a fun blog where every month we'll issue a scrapbooking challenge...and the winner will receive a "goodie box" in the mail! That's it! So go and check out the blog and please, please, please...play along with us! We really want the Goodie Box to be a place where people can be inspired and maybe make some new scrapbooking friends. And what have you got to lose...if you win, you get free stuff! (just a little disclaimer here...keep in mind this isn't a business...so while the goodie boxes will always have cute, fun stuff in them, we have a budget that we're keeping to...but if you win you get it for FREE!)

This month's challenge is up so, like I said, go and check it out. All the info you need to know is there...we can't wait to get this started and to see all of your awesome creations. Yay!!! If you have any questions you can post them in the "comments" section on the Goodie Box blog, or you can email Kim and I at thegoodieboxgirls@hotmail.com. Fun, fun, fun!! Oh, ya....and feel free to spread the word!!

This is an exciting day for Kim and I...getting the Goodie Box started AND we're starting swimming lessons this morning with our babies...what a fun day! I can't wait to see Gabby, Osh and Ryker in the water. I'll definately have to get some pictures at some point. Whew!

I also wanted to share a couple recent pages...this first one is of the "little surprises" that were left in my room at Creative Escape last year....it was so cool...every night when we got back to our room, there was a little gift waiting for us. Leave it to Heidi Swapp to do something like this!



And just a fun one of my little Payton and her funny faces...she's always making us laugh.



Okay, long post...so have a fun Monday everyone!

:)

babies, food, family and something FUN...

How's everyone's weekend going? As always, we have been busy. We went for a quick day trip to Red Deer yesterday to visit with Graham's family and it was so fun. Graham's parents travel alot because they are very involved with Rotary so when they're home, we do what we can to see them! Payton was soooo excited to see her "other" grandma and grandpa...it was so cute. She played with her cousins like crazy all day long and Grandpa is like a kid himself...it was a fun visit. And of course my mother-in-law and I went to the scrapbook store there and I spent waaaay to much money. AAhh! Somebody stop me, please. It was a good day. Lots of babies, kids, food and family. It really felt like a Saturday, so now I am all messed up because TODAY is Saturday and it's feeling like Sunday. Actually, I'm probably more messed up due to the fact that Gabby doesn't like to sleep at night anymore. Seriously. I am at a loss as what to do...4am hits and she is WIDE awake. I only let her nap for an hour today so we'll see if that helps at all...I just want to feel normal again and get like, 4 hours of sleep for once in my life! Oh, babies. She's pretty darn cute, though. I'm excited 'cause Gabby and I are starting our swimming lessons next with her cousin Osh and little friend, Ryker so that will be cute. Hope she likes the water.

So anyways...have a good weekend and make sure you check back on Monday...
I have a fun little announcement to make that involves FUN and FREE STUFF so stay tuned!!

:)Tal

smile

Payton makes me smile.


She totally wears me out, but she makes me smile.
Yesterday we had a "special day" together...Graham got home from work early so while Gabby was still sleeping, Payton and I got ready and went shopping.


And she was SO GOOD.


Sometimes she is the typical 2 year old...it can be so hard to reason with her and she just wants to do what she wants to do! But she was awesome yesterday...we walked all around the mall and she just stayed in the stroller, talking and making car sounds..it was so funny. I gave her a sucker and she had her two favorite polly-pockets and we were good to go. It was nice to have a special day with my girl...it seems like we don't get as much alone time...she was happy to have mom's full attention.


So I took these pics of Payton on Sunday before church. She absolutely LOVES going to church on Sunday's. All week she talks about her "class" and getting her ready on Sunday mornings is (usually) very easy. She's definately my girly-girl! Skirts, dresses, shoes, tight and bows...she loves them all.


Look at this smile!

eternity

Graham reminded me today that "it's been a few days since I've blogged"...so here I am. I love that he noticed and that he cares about my little blog. Even though he knows absolutely everything that goes on in my life and is the first to see all my scrapbook pages and is the one that I talk to about everything and is a part of my life...he still wants to hear what I have to say! Thanks, babe!



So I realised today that I haven't shared my "eternity" layout/march calendar for this month. (If you're wondering what I'm talking about, I'm taking Heidi Swapp's "A Year to Remember" class at Big Picture Scrapbooking...we do one layout/month along with other fun assignments and stuff.) This month has been focused on gratitude and what we are grateful for...so this layout showcases just a few of those things...I love it! It was nice to be reminded to reflect on all that I have and get some of it on a page. And I like that there is more than one picture on this layout...I'm a major "1 picture/page" person when it comes to scrapbooking, so it's nice to be challenged to try other things.


Last night Gray and I went to the movie "Reign Over Me" and it just really reiterated how grateful I am for my little family. If you haven't seen this movie be prepared to cry...it is so so sad, but really good. It's a real "indie" type movie...just very raw. Gray and I were talking about it on the way home and it could have been done way more "hollywood-y" but then it wouldn't have been as real. We really liked it. I just left the movie with such a love for my daughters and husband...and the realisation that we are not always in control. Go and see it (if you don't mind crying). Adam Sandler was awesome.


On the topic of kids, last weekend Kim and I got talking about our children and how much we love the time we have with them while they are so little. I've had this conversation with so so many people....where we always think we're making "mistakes" with our kids just because we rock them to sleep, or sing them to sleep, or let them sleep with us...but really...why are all those things mistakes?? I love wrapping Gabby up in her blankie and rocking her sleep...it's quiet time for only her and I. Time that I get to spend just holding her and staring at her. She may not go to sleep on her own yet, but I know I will never regret that I cuddled and rocked her. With Payton, we have the same bedtime routine every night... a bath, a story (or 2, or 3!), then we say prayers and turn off the light and sing her a few songs while she falls asleep. I love this time. And my heart breaks every time she says, "Mommy, sing a son"...it is so sweet. This is one our favorites to sing. Oh, and this one, too. And this one....okay, we have a few that we like to sing! Gray and I take turns singing to her at night and we love it. So mommies...if you bounce your babies to sleep...you're not making a mistake. Who cares if your 2 month can't fall asleep on his own yet? If you sing your toddler to sleep, or lay down with her to sleep...you're making her feel safe and loved. If you let your baby sleep with you at night...you're allowing yourself to wake up at night without having to get out of bed...you are not making a mistake. I know when I look at Payton and Gabby I just can't believe how quickly they grow and change...and I just want to make the most of the time I have with them as babies.


Have a good Sunday.


:)

monday morning

So it's already Monday morning...whew! The weekends always go by too fast, I can't believe when another week is starting already. As always, it was a jam-packed weekend. I felt like I was doing lots while Gray was home with the girls...but that's a nice change once in a while, and daddy loves his time with his girls. On Friday night I went out for dinner with Kim and A for Kim's birthday...I always love having our girl time! Then on Saturday I got my nails done ( i love them!) and had a dinner at my church in the evening...then Sundays are always crazy with church and going to my parents house for dinner. And the girls are sick. They have these colds that we can't seem to kick. So we've been busy busy. Last night was pretty bad...poor Gabby...she's cut her first tooth and I'm thinking she's still hurting 'cause she was up all night. With her cold and then teething, she is not a happy baby. Poor thing!

I just wanted to stop in and quickly say hello...hope everyone has a good week!

(Oh, and if you want too see my dirt bikin' mini album, look here!)

dirt bikin' mini album

So this is what I did on Friday night when I had the girls over to scrapbook! It was so much fun. We ate, talked, stamped and scrapbooked...I think the last girls left at 2am...the time went by way too quickly. But it was great. I find that when I get together with people to scrapbook I need to work on a project rather than just doing random pages...it's a lot easier for me to plan and that way I don't have to do much thinking...I can just sit and talk and work away without having to be too too creative. Hehe! It's just what works for me. And I never ever do journaling when I'm with people...I'm one of those people that talks a lot, and I tend to write what I'm saying....I've totally screwed up pages before because I've written down what I was saying out loud rather than what I was thinking in my head. Oops! So that's kind of my "process" when I scrapbook with friends. So anyways, I wanted to do something fun and easy. It was 5pm and the girls were coming over at 6 so I quickly pulled this stuff together to a mini album of Gray. These are pictures of him in Vegas just a couple weeks ago...so cool. I am so proud of my man and so happy for him that he has a hobby that he loves. As long as he doesn't come home with broken bones or a screwed up face, I'm totally supportive of his dirt-biking! haha! (What a nice wife I am, hey??) Anyways, we made these frame albums using Heidi Swapp frame kits at the Urban Scrapbook convention last year, so that's where this idea came from. Very fast and easy....and so boyish! It was super fun to do a "boy" project...we all know that I am a major "girly" scrapbooker, so this was a nice change for me. Gray liked it, too!

Here is a picture of the tables all set up and ready to go before everyone got here...and of course, I took no pictures WHILE we were scrapbooking. I just totally forgot and the time went by too quickly, as always! I put kraft paper over the tables so we could write and stamp right on the tables without having to worry about making a mess. Worked out well.



This has been yet another busy week. Gabby had her shots yesterday and has been pretty miserable the past 24 hours. I've been totally unproductive around the house, etc, and I'm just trying to remind myself that it is ok to not "accomplish" anything some days. I have a big to-do list that didn't get touched today...but it is ok. And Payton is sick...she woke up this morning with a fever and a cough so I'm just trying to take care of my girls. Whew! I am tired....and of course all this is going on while Gray is working nights! Ah, life...


Both the girls are sleeping now, cross your fingers that we have a good night!!


UPDATED: I have no idea why my photos aren't showing up on this post...they were yesterday! I know blogger's been a bit finicky the past couple days, so I'll blame it on them! Hehe!

ok, so...

...the potty training really isn't going THAT badly...I'm very surprised! First off, I just wanted to say a big thank-you to all those who posted and shared advice. I've used a little bit of everything over the past couple days and have figured out what works for Payton. So, thank you so much! You can see we made a chart. I actually did this back in November, too, but we never kept up with it...so I decided to try again. Payton is all about stickers, so this has been awesome. And you can see by the stickers....that is a lot of successes she's had...I didn't realise how much one little kid could pee! haha! So anyways, I bought her a little princess potty and we just have it in the family room where she plays and watches her shows and stuff and I found that this was the BEST way to do it. Running up to the bathroom was just way too much of a hassle...this way, whenever she needs to go, the potty's right there. I'm actually surprised how FEW accidents she's had...so I'm happy. We make a major big deal when she pees on the potty...singing, dancing, a sticker on the chart...so she thinks it's great. I am understanding though, that at least for Payton, the hard part wasn't getting her to actually go on the potty...it's me as a parent keeping up with it and being consistent and keeping that pull-up OFF...so there's no turning back now! Of course she wears her pull-up when she sleeps and when we go out right now, but we're definately on our way. Whew!! It has been a busy few days! If I would give anyone advice about potty-training I would pass on what my friend Chelsey shared with me...just let them run around bottomless! It makes things totally easy and fast when the time comes that they need to go to the bathroom...and it's pretty cute, too!

So my mom has the girls today...I'm having my friends over tonight for a major scrapbooking night...so I've been busy cleaning and getting ready for that. So excited!! I still don't know what I'll work on....hmmm...I better get thinkin'! My house feels soooo quiet right now...it's always a shock when I am on my own...Gray even took the dog with him to work today, so the house is feeling very empty. Kinda nice for a few hours!

Like I said, the past few days really were just centered around the potty so I didn't do too much else. I talked to my sister-in-law, Maurita, on the phone yesterday, and it was awesome to chat and catch up. We were on the phone for an hour and a half!! Haha!! We get talkin' and can't stop...we covered everything from our kids to scrapbooking to babies to pregnancy to who knows what else. It was so fun! Maurita just had her third baby...Forrest Tim. We are so happy for Mo and her family and Forrest is definately a little cutie. Congrats, Maurita!!

So everyone, have an awesome weekend, hopefully I'll have some more scrap-stuff to share after tonight!

been scrappin'...

So over the past few weeks I've actually got a lot of scrapbooking done...some of my favorite pages ever!! I just had a hard time sharing with Gray being away and stuff. So here is one of my favorite layouts. It's another 9x9 page, I really am addicted to this size! It's fast and easy and totally not overwhelming...I love it! Check out some more pages here...I think I have like 7 or 8 new layouts to look at!!

It's been great having Gray home...it's amazing how quickly I've slipped back into depending on him to help me out...so pathetic, I know. When I was on my own for that week with the girls I somehow managed to do everything...and now that he's back I just seem to need his help. Oh, well, that's what Daddy's are for, right?

So, it's time to crack down and get Payton potty-trained...we've been using the potty with her since the beginning of November so she totally knows what it's all about...it's just time to enforce it for real. I just haven't been able to commit which means we've had good weeks and bad with "going on the potty"...but it is time. She is such a little girl now, definately too much of a person to be walking around with a daiper. And I'm sick of changing 'em! And daipers for 2 are expensive! So....we have the Dora panties on today, I figure, no daipers or pull-ups while we're at home...how else will she learn? So PLEASE.....if anyone has ANY suggestions or advice for potty-training, I would LOVE to hear them. Honestly! This is no time to read this and not make a comment if you have something to share...hehe! I really just have no idea what I'm doing...I'd love to hear feedback from mommies who have already done this. Wish me luck!!

baby bling!

Okay, so even babies need a little bling sometimes! Hehe! I saw some blinged-out soothers at my hair salon a couple weeks ago and I couldn't resist...so I went home and made one...and seriously, how cute??? I love it! (And just a note...I big time glued the jewels on with a glue-gun...they are not moving! But...we never leave Gabby alone with this soother, it's just for fun when we go out!)


This has been a super busy week...Gray just got back today from dirt-biking in Vegas for a full week. He had lots of fun and I was happy he could go, but it's always nice to have daddy come home!! I love that our family is complete again...and that maybe I'll be getting a little more sleep at night. (hint, hint!) The girls and I did have a fun week, though. I couldn't have done it without my family! Seriously, I am so lucky to have my daughters grandma's and grandpa's and aunts and cousins living close by...Payton had a couple sleep-over's with my parents and everyone just helped me out in general. Taking care of 2 kids is a lot of work when one of them is Payton...hehe! She is hillairious...just sooooo busy and talky and busy....definately the epitomy of a 2 year old....love her so much. Here are some cute pics of the girls before we went out for luch for my mom's birthday on Wednesday. (Happy Birthday, Mom!!)





Like I said we had a busy week....a trip to Walmart on Monday....scrapbooking with Kim (soooooo much fun and so needed!) and playing with Grandma on Tuesday...out for lunch on Wednesday...then Kim and Ryker came over on Thursday....Kim and I had this "great idea" that we'd just hang out with our kids on Thursday, but holy cow was it a gong-show! Seriously, it was totally laughable. Ryker was so tired and desperately needed to go to sleep but refused to and Payton was just wound up beyond belief...if the attention wasn't completely on her she fell apart (like I said, the epitomy of a 2 year old!). So after a couple hours of us trying to hang out, we called it quits. But the thing about good friends is that we can just laugh at it and try again another time!


So now things are winding down and I'm just excited to curl up with my hubby on the couch and watch some TV. That is what I missed while Gray was gone. Hope everyone has a great weekend...let's wish for warm weather! (and here's one last picture of Gabby's ponytail!)