I'm obsessed...

with my new camera! Here are couple more pictures of Owen that I took yesterday.

Lori and Maggie gave him the walker/car for his birthday. He loves it. It's a good inside or outside toy!

The first picture is a little bit dark so I changed the setting for the second 2 and those came out a bit too warm. I'm still learning!

The 2P's challenge for today is: What are three things on your desk that shouldn't be?

I guess that depends on who you ask! But it's actually not to bad today. There is a box of checks, my H20 bottle, and pens & pencils that should be in the basket. Not a very exciting list! If we were to examine the table in my craft room it would be a much longer list!

Just when I thought...

spring was over it reappears! Yesterday it was about 85˙, sunny and windy. Today the high is supposed to be 61˙ and it's currently 52˙. What a change!

For Owen's birthday my sister gave him a pool. So yesterday we filled it up in the backyard and played! I think Owen was in there for about an hour playing with his toys. His favorite was this orange cup!
At one point he had picked a dandelion and had that in the cup. He's really gotten the fill and empty concept down!

The 2P's challenge for today is: What scrapbooking technique out there, that you haven't tried yet, but u can't wait to try it? What technique out there do you wanna learn/try?
Well, there's not a lot of them that I haven't tried! Or I don't think so. But to be honest I don't keep up with trends too well! Except for paper. I love paper. But I like the look of transparencies and want to try a little something with those. Probably with some paint and stamps.

I'm terribly behind on my DOM cards. I have three to do to catch up. So hopefully I will get those all done this week. I've also got to clean up my craft room after several tornados seem to have been through! That always happens when I'm working on more than one project at a time!

On a positive note, I did get the circle journal I had finished up on Sunday so I could get it in the mail today. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures!

Grateful...

The 2P's challenge for yesterday was to share something you are grateful for as a mother. I'm simply grateful to be a mother. Lots of women know from a rather young age (in my opinion) that they want to have children. I was not one of them. As a matter of fact until not to long ago I was almost certain I didn't want children. I didn't want to take care of someone else. I did that everyday. I did that when I was a kid. My sister is 7 years younger and after my parents divorced I spent a lot of time with my sister and taking care of her after school while my mom was at work. It was not fun being the live-in-babysitter. And now as a grown-up I can see the necessity of the situation. It was important. But as a 12-17 year old I did not enjoy it. So I wasn't eager to have a baby that needed to be cared for. And Morgan knew this going into our marriage. But he also hoped I would change my mind.

I can't really put my finger on what it was that changed my mind either. Probably a combination of things. Friends having children. Working with children. Having nephews and a niece. Being at a place in my life where I had accomplished some of the educational and professional goals I had. And after I got pregnant I remember thinking to myself, there is no turning back now! And I wouldn't want to. Having Owen is one of the best, if not the best, decisions I've made. Every day is special because of him. Sometimes the specialness is a challenge but it's not boring. My home is now a classroom where we both learn and explore and discover. I love that. The world changes when you have a child. Your own personal world especially. Life is no longer about you. Your needs and wants are secondary, at least for a time, to the child's. And I'm learning everyday how to fit it all together.

So I'm grateful for just being able to be a mommy. Because I almost missed out.

I've got a lot to learn...

about this camera! After 45 minutes in the camera store and looking at 4 different cameras this is what Morgan and Owen gave me for Mother's Day! I had been reading and researching and looking at DSLR cameras for a few months now and thanks to Owen being a nice little tax deduction we had a little money to spend on a camera.

I went into the store intending to get the Olympus E-volt 500. I really liked the Canon Rebel XTi but at $1300 for a body and nice lens it was twice what I wanted to spend. We also couldn't afford the Nikon D200 and I had heard some not so positive things about the D40. So then the sales guy showed us the Sony Alpha 100. It's relatively new and was also on sale with a promo to purchase a telephoto lens for $100. It is a well built camera and the lenses are supposed to be exceptional. Now I would not normally consider Sony to be a camera manufacturer but not too long ago they purchased Minolta/Konika and after much work they've produced the Alpha which is compatible with any minolta auto focus lens. They are also producing 19 new lenses to fit the body including several Zeiss lenses.

Like most camera manuals the manual tells you all about the features and what all the buttons are for but it doesn't define all that stuff which is part of what I need to learn. I can use a film SLR but not with as consistent results as I'd like. So I've got a lot of learning to do! Luckily there seem to be a couple of well written books about the Alpha that should be helpful in accelerating my learning curve!

Here is one of the pictures I took today of Morgan and Owen with the new camera.

The issue with digital photography...

there aren't any proofs! Well, there are but they aren't printed proofs. Which means I had nothing to bring home to show Morgan. And they are not viewable online unless you purchase a package!

Owen's portrait session went well. The pictures are great. But I can't show you! Because I have not proofs! Owen was a great subject. He even did well with the outfit change. My mom went with us, and that helped a lot. It's always nice to have another set of hands!

So now I need to decide which ones I like best and how much I'm willing to spend on the pictures.

TGIF...

It is Friday, right!? I am never certain of the day! My mom and I are taking Owen to have his first professional portraits done today. Up until now I've done his pictures myself. In the garage or outside. But I decided I wanted to have some done in a studio. It should be an adventure!

Below is my latest completed project. It's a T-shirt for my best friend's daughter. Her birthday was the 8th and her party is tomorrow. Should be a little quieter than Owen's birthday party! She doesn't have any siblings or cousins!

I think Morgan took the camera to work today so I can't take a better picture of it right now. But the dark fabric is a chocolate brown with teal blue flowers and the middle is a cream with small leaves. The eyes are brown buttons and the beak is stitched in orange.

Here is my latest toy. We used one at the Donna Downey class I took and it was amazing! It punched through 8 sheets of cardstock like butter! And it sets eyelets and snaps the same way. I tried out the eyelet setter yesterday and it just smooshed it flat. No hammering! The only thing I dislike about it a bit is how wide the handles are. I have smaller hands so it's just a bit wide for a comfortable grasp. But I'll manage!
And this is a little album I made for Owen's birthday party. I took 1 picture from each month of his first year and put on the right side. On the left side I put pattern paper and a little journaling. I will post the finished album another day.
The base of the page are some coupons I got in the mail from Target. The backs were all solid colors and then the coupon was on the front. I just covered the coupon part with the picture and paper.And the 2P's challenge for today:

TWO Things About Me.

Two Names I Go by: Well, it's hard to get a nickname from Heather. But Morgan calls me Honey and my sister calls me Sissy.

Two Things I am Wearing Right Now: Pajamas and undies!
Two Things I Want (or have) in a Relationship: Laughter and honesty
Two of My Favorite Things to do: Make things and eat
Things I Want Very Badly At The Moment: Well, I need a bath so I'll put that and I'm a bit obsessed about getting a new DSLR camera.
Two pets I have: I only have 1 pet and he's more than enough. And I'm sure Maggie would say he's the size of TWO!
Two things I did last night: Worked at the mortgage office and worked on Ella's t-shirt
Two things I ate today: a banana and a little debbie snack cake (yes, I know it's only 9:30am!)
Two people I just talked to last: Owen and Morgan
Two Things I'm doing tomorrow: Waking up and going to Ella's birthday party
Two longest car rides: Bozeman, MT and Portland, OR
Two Favorite Holidays: Halloween and my birthday week!
Two favorite beverages: Milk and Diet Coke with Lime
Two favorite scrapbooking tools: My see through grid rulers and my CTMH scissors
Two favorite scrappin companys: SEI and Cosmo Cricket


Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers, grandmothers and aunts, and honorary mothers and aunts!

so much to write...

so little time! It's already Wednesday! I've had hardly any time to blog this week! Owen's party was great! He had a good time and I can't believe he's one already. I'm sure I've said that a dozen times. I cried Friday night about it too. Morgan said it's not like he's going off to college and I looked at him and sobbed "but he will be!" Someday of course but time certainly does fly when you are a grown up!

Here are a few pictures from the party.
Owen wasn't into unwrapping his presents. I thought he would be since he likes to get into stuff but he wasn't. So I did the unwrapping, with some help from my niece, and my mom did the assembling and Owen did the inspecting!
Here is a cake shot. This is after I dragged his highchair back into the kitchen. He had a lot of frosting stuck to his hand and was shaking it to get it off and getting it on the carpet in the dining room!
And this is Owen riding in his new red wagon from Grammie (my mom). He loved it. For the most part. He's got to be strapped in and decided at the park he didn't like that and made a fuss. So my brother-in-law carried him while I pulled the wagon. Then my nephew jumped in the wagon and I pulled him. You may think this is no big deal but my oldest nephew is 11 and he's taller than I am and weighs more too. So it's a sturdy wagon! I got revenge though. After a bit I dumped him out and got in with Owen and made him pull us both!
And finally for today, the 2P's challenge is: It's summertime.
Let's talk dream cars.. what's yours?

This is my dream car. My summer dream car anyway. I love Minis. They are little and cute. And this is actually the one I would get. I went to the site and built it myself! Very cool site. They have a 90/10 policy you need to agree to for a convertible. Basically you need to drive it with the top down 90% of the time!
And it's a dream because 1.) we can't afford it or it's insurance and 2.) I don't think it would be a good car for Owen to be riding around it. No matter how fun it might be!

There are lots more things to write about but I've got a circle journal to write about and 3 years worth of clothes for Owen to find a home for! My SIL brought a bunch of hand-me-downs for him and I've sorted them all over the dining room table and living room but now I need to store them! Fortunately I won't have to buy Owen another GAP sweatshirt for at least 4 years!

A light at the end...

After the epidural I was able to dilate to 10! The nurse checked me and said my cervix was gone. I looked at her a little concerned and said "what!? WHAT does that mean???" She told me it was good. That now we could start the pushing. Wooo Whoo! I looked at the clock and it was 1am. I decided (another silly thing!) that I would have this baby out by 1:30am. So we began the pushing which was not difficult but a little odd when you didn't have any feeling. Luckily I didn't have any "accidents" which I heard frequently happened during the pushing. I think this was due to the fact that I hadn't had much to eat in the previous 34 hours! Did I mention the vomiting? In order to have the epidural they gave me this stuff to keep me from getting sick. Well, it didn't work! This vomiting continued for about the next 10 hours! Anyway...

1:30am rolled around and I looked at the nurse and asked her about how long this pushing stage lasted and she said about 2 hours! Sheesh! So I kept pushing. My doctor had been in a couple of times to check on me and the next time she came, about 3am, she checked me and the nurse had been able to see Owen's head but he just wasn't getting any farther, my doctor turned Owen (he was facing the wrong direction) and I pushed again and he turned back and we did this a couple more times and she looked at me and said "he's not coming out this way." And I asked "so now what??" And she said C-section. Yes, you read that right. C-section. I had been in labor for about 35 1/2 hours. This was the exact thing I didn't want. I couldn't watch the videos in the class. During the C-section one I had to leave the room. But I was also exhausted beyond any exhaustion I had every experienced. And I didn't have any other choice. I had already had all the drugs. The IV's were in and the epidural too. So they shot me up with the morphine and we prepped for the surgery.

Again, great nurses. Fabulous anesthesiologist. She held the little tray for me when I threw up during the surgery! I asked for a tummy tuck but my doctor said I didn't need it because of the second baby. I laughed! Owen was born at 3:50am on May 5th.
I'd like to say the saga ends there. But it doesn't. After I was out of surgery, about 4 hours later I hemorrhaged and needed to have a blood transfusion before they would let me leave because my hemoglobin was so low. And before the transfusion they had to redo the IV because it wasn't in right anymore. And I had to get a shot before I left! I am NOT an needle person. I get sick just thinking about having to be poked! So I guess when you HAVE to do something you find the strength to do it. The thought of going through that again, well, I don't like it. But I wouldn't have to go through the 36 hours of labor again. And they would know to watch me for the hemorrhaging. So it wouldn't be as bad. But I would know about the needles ahead of time and that would bother me.

I also have to say that throughout this Morgan was wonderful. Beyond wonderful. I could not have done it without him. And he watched the surgery too. He saw Owen come out. Colleen commented that it doesn't matter how they come into the world and that is so true. I did not feel bad that I had the C-section. I worked hard and that is just how it had to be. So on Saturday we will celebrate my little O's first birthday, on Cinco de Mayo, with a Fiesta!

Have a great weekend!

and the labor continues...

But the post I posted yesterday I should have posted today! Oops! I had the right DAY of the week but the wrong DATE! Last year May 3rd was a Wednesday! Anyway...

After we came home from the hospital my contractions continued so I did not sleep well that night. Nor did I eat much. Morgan slept fine. I decided not to make him stay up with me and be miserable too. Eventually he would need to be helpful. I tried all kinds of things to ease the pain, which I didn't anticipate, but not much was helping. I was in and out of the shower and tub I don't know how many times until I just didn't want to be wet anymore! I tried laying in the recliner and on the couch and on the floor. I sat on my big ball. Sometimes something would work and then the next contraction it didn't. I had read this book, now I can't recall the title, but it was an old book, written in the 70's, and I had convinced myself that I could do it without medication. That God had designed my body to do this and I would be fine. I would NOT be a PANSY! Well no matter how many women you talk to you can never understand the kind of pain it is until you experience it. I had been an idiot! I don't know how I had convinced myself that squeezing a child out of "there" wouldn't hurt!

I think I finally woke Morgan up about 6am and told him I couldn't do this labor thing on my own anymore! So he tried to help me through the contractions. Around 1pm I told him we were going back to the hospital and I wasn't coming home until the baby was out!

I had finally dilated to 4cm! Yippee! I could stay! Although I think I would have sat in the waiting room of the ER if they had sent me home again! I continued down this slow, painful labor path until I was just about hysterical and wasn't progressing anymore and gave in to the drugs. This was about 5pm. The first one they gave me, I can't remember the name of it, but it helped me sleep, and I dilated to 6cm. Then that wore off and my other options were another dose or an epidural. I chose the second dose. Unfortunately the second dose didn't do anything. And I was stuck at 6cm and in pain again. I have to stop here and tell you that the Nurses I had were fabulous! I can't believe that women do that everyday. Help pregnant women go through that. I'd be a wreck all the time. They were calm, cool, and so supportive. But my nurse finally said the only thing left was an epidural. So I took it. This was about 10pm. I think. I'm fuzzy on the time frame now. Let's just say I should have taken the epidural right off the bat! Maybe it was the other medication, maybe it was my exhaustion or a combination of all of it but the epidural didn't hurt and it did wonders...

I will finish up my story tomorrow. I have to shower and get a bit more cleaning done. Morgan's parents and sister and her family all arrive today.

One year ago today...

I went into labor at the mortgage office about 1pm. I didn't really know what was going on. I just kept feeling like I had to pee! But there wasn't much... well, pee. So I went home and on the way I stopped at Artsy Tartsy (I can't remember for what!) and finally called Morgan on the way home and told him I thought I was in labor. He was going to Nikki's house that night to play poker with her husband and buddies. So I told him to just go and I would call if I needed him. I think it was about 8pm when I called him and told him I thought I needed him to come home. I was having some bleeding so I had called the clinic and got the on call nurse who basically scared me into hysteria by telling me I should get to the hospital (by ambulance) fast. I called my mom who helped me calm down and then I called Morgan and he came home and took me to the hospital where we spent 2 1/2 hours pacing the floor trying to progress beyond 1 cm. I didn't though so they sent me home...

Week 17...

Emily's challenge for this week was "Your bedroom". Either your bedroom now or your childhood bedroom. I just about choked when I read it! Our bedroom is my least favorite room in our house. Because of the reason on the card.
After we moved into our house we painted a lot. But not our bedroom. We hadn't decided what to do. Well, while I was pregnant Morgan decided we should paint it. He wanted me to have a comfortable place to breastfed and relax. But the color scheme he wanted was "blood & sun". That's what he said. Instead we got Weinermobile. Now I know you must be thinking "it can't be that bad!". Trust me, it is. It is slightly better now that we've rearranged the furniture so that it isn't all against one wall. And we did put a picture back up. And Morgan cleaned up his piles of "stuff"(insert another S word for stuff). The curtains still aren't done. Which I was making but had a hard time getting down on the floor to cut the fabric while I was 9 months pregnant. We have a beautiful duvet color that I wanted to use as our focal point for decorating. It's a paisley one from Pottery Barn. Morgan forgot about that while choosing paint colors. Well, not exactly. I told him red paint would be too much red. I think I'd rather have too much red instead of the Weinermobile. I tried to get on that show Take Over My Makeover. But they only film in CA. But I really think they'd come if they saw the room.

The 2P's challenge for today is:
What do you do around your house to usher in the spring/summer?
Anything special?
I like to clean. I put all my winter clothes and shoes away and get out all the spring/summer stuff. And I marvel at all the stuff I forgot about. I don't think it's going to be as fun this year because most of it doesn't fit.
I also love to open all the windows up and let in the fresh air. Today the breeze was blowing in and the smell of it reminded me of being at my grandma & grandpa's house. Just a lovely, fresh scent. Not stale and wintery.

My big monkey shirt is almost done. I had to blow him up 200%! I'll post a picture of me and the shirt when I'm done!

Have you seen...

My monkey!? No? Well, here she is! And she is FOR SALE! Well, not this exact one. One I custom make just for you! I've found a reasonably inexpensive way to peddle my "stuff". So you too can have your own monkey business shirt or a beep beep shirt, or a tote bag. Or whatever else you like that comes out of the creative stash in my head. After Owen's birthday I will be setting up my .mac site to include a FOR SALE page. In the meantime if you'd like a monkey business shirt you can e-mail me (HeatherHolle@gmail.com) and I will get back to you about price, sizing, and colors. Oh, and the business part of monkey business is that under the monkey it's supposed to say "business" but I liked her by herself so I just left her.

The monkeys are done out of wool and acrylic felt. All hand stitched. All washable and dryable. The bow on mine bled a little so I will be using acrylic felt for the bows in the future!

Oh, and size doesn't matter. I've got one going right now that is for a BIG man. The shirt is 3X! I have to enlarge my monkey! And yes, I can do boy monkeys too.

Is this friggin' cute...

or what!?This is Owen's birthday present! When I was little I had a jack-in-the-box. And it scared/startled me everytime it popped up. So I decided Owen had to have a JITB too. While I was searching the internet for one I came across this one and being that I LOVE gnomes and O was a gnome for Halloween this is the JITB he had to have. It's metal with a cute little crank just like a JITB ought to be. Not plastic. And it plays the classic JITB song. Pop Goes the Weasel. Which now that I think about it, that song can't be good. Like ring around the rosy. So now I'm going to have to find out what that song is really about.

So in seven days my little baby is going to be one. I can't believe it. This year has gone so fast. Exactly one year ago today was my last day of teaching. Owen and I went down to see The Girls and have lunch on Wednesday. It was nice to visit but I don't miss it. I like being with Owen. Friday we went and had lunch with my mom and sister at their work. So we get out as much as we can. It's been so nice here that we've been going to the park to swing and playing outside in the afternoon while we wait for my sister to come or for Morgan to get home. Owen is loving being outside. He's really into leaves and sticks! Yesterday I brought out some toys but he was mostly interested in filling up this bowl with leaves and then I gave him a stick and he was stirring them a bit.

It's amazing how much being a mommy can change your life. Everyday I marvel at how he's growing and changing and developing. It seems like he is more expressive everyday and it's fascinating to watch. It makes me sad that not all children and loved and cared for the way Owen is. That not all children come into the world loved and wanted. That has always saddened me, but more so now and in a more profound way, now that I am a mother. There are so many people longing for children but people who can't or won't care for their children don't give them up to people who can. And I find myself wondering how I can protect Owen from the scary things in our world but educate him about them too. So many, many things that we are responsible for as parents. It's a good thing parenthood is a journey just like childhood! So much learning and growing to do!

Week 15...

Here is my card for week 15 of the DOM challenge. The theme was "parents".

Initially I was not excited about this theme. I don't have two parents. Well, I do. I obviously was not conceived immaculately! But growing up, and now, I've always just had my mom. And then I decided it was okay for my theme to be just "parent". But then I couldn't decide what to do. I wanted a picture of my mom but these are few and far between and the good ones I have are of her and Owen! There is one I wanted to use of when I was small but it's at my mom's house. So yesterday I went downstairs to work on this. I found the "she loves me" on some pattern paper, I picked a piece of green cardstock that was lying on my table and cut it to size, got out the rubons, did the journaling and then the paint. It took me all of about 10 minutes I think and I love how it turned out.
My childhood was not always easy or rosey but I always knew that my mom loved me. Even when I thought she was too strict or being mean. She did the best she could for my sister and me and has always supported us in whatever we've done. No matter what. Well, there was this one time when I decided it would be a good idea to get engaged at 22 and a junior in college. She was not happy about that. But I got over it and him and so did she.
Earlier this morning (4am!) Owen woke up and needed a little mommy comfort. After he fell asleep and I put him back down Morgan and I were talking about childhood memories. He doesn't seem to have a lot of them earlier than the third grade. I on the other hand remember tons of stuff from as early as 3. So I was telling him about some of them. And those events, big and small, are part of who I am and my mom is the reason that lots of those happen. Our parents, one or two (or more!), shape us from early on. They give us a foundation upon which to stand and as adults it's always there. Even when we don't realize it.

Here are the goodies I bought last Saturday after my classes with Donna. I couldn't leave a Scrapbook store without some goodies! I'm going to use the Flourishes on Denise's circle journal because her word is FLOURISH!

If you live in the Twin Cities, Scrapbooks Too is a great store! Lots of great supplies and all nicely organized. Sue, the owner, is very nice too.

The 2P's challenge for today is:
Challenge: Have you ever had a miracle? Witnessed a miracle?

There isn't one that comes to mind right now. But I know they happen and I believe in them. I believe that God is working in us and through us and around us everyday. And sometimes miracles are teeny tiny and other times they are huge.

Actually, I've changed my mind. Owen is a miracle. And everyday I thank God for bringing him to me and Morgan.

Better late...

than never. I've gotten behind on my blogging!

I had a fabulous weekend! On Saturday I got to take 2 classes at Scrapbooks Too with Donna Downey. I couldn't tell you the last time I took a class! I usually teach them or help everyone at my crops. I went by myself, no friends or other people I knew. Just me and the other people in the classes that I didn't know! The first one was at 11:30 am. The second was at 8:30pm. Both were great but the 8:30 was my favorite. That is about the time I create at home, there were fewer people in the class, and it was a more creatively free class with a more relaxed atmosphere. Donna was a terrific instructor. She teaches her classes like I taught art in my classroom. I loved that.

This is the journal we made in the book binding class.

This is Donna demonstrating how to do something.

This is me and Donna!

And this is the album we made from "garbage" as Donna says, in the Creative License class.

The cover is made of chipboard and covered with a brown shopping bag. She said you can use leftover "garbage" to make covers and such. Cardboard etc.

On Sunday my mom picked Owen up for the afternoon so Morgan and I could get some work done around the house. I didn't get as much done as I had hoped but every little bit counts. I'm hoping to get more work done this weekend as Morgan parents will be arriving Thursday morning and Owen's party is next Saturday. I can't believe my little man is going to 1 already!

It's been nice out lately so we've been going to the park to swing. He loves the swing. He's also been enjoying some time playing in the yard. He's fascinated with leaves and sticks.

(tilt your head to the left for better viewing!)

This week I need to get back to creating something everyday. I've fallen behind on that too. I've got 2 cards to do to be caught up on my Deck of Me challenge. Even though the weather has been lovely I've been in a bit of a slump!

A little funny...

My cousin e-mailed this to me and I just had to post it. Having been a classroom teacher I heard kids say a lot of funny things. I miss that. I will probably change my mind about that once Owen starts talking though!


Here is Owen in his Ladies Man t-shirt that my sister made for him. I had a hard time getting a picture of him in it because he moves so fast!

Here is the shirt that I made for him. He's wearing it today but we haven't had time for pictures.

This is Frannie the felt Frog that my sister made for me for Easter. She will hang out with Olivia the pig in my craftroom.
And this is the felted Easter basket my mom made. She made one for each of us. (Me and Miranda). Today is a lovely day here in MN. The sun just popped out and it's looking like it will be up in the low 60's. This week is supposed to be like that all week. I love this part of spring. The sun is out, the temperature is just right and everything is starting to green up. We can have the windows open and get all the stale winter air out.

I don't think I've mentioned this recently but I think body snatchers took my husband. One night last week he had his cell phone and his wallet on the vanity in the bathroom. He put them there on purpose. Both of them together. He's lucky if he knows where they both are at the same time! And he had his shoes in the bathroom and his clothes hanging on the door knob of the closet in the hallway. I crawled into bed and asked where my real husband was. He said he was trying to be more organized. He's also been reading some books from the library about decluttering and being organized. He's writing a speech on this topic. Hence the books. But I think it's also occurred to him that clutter can have an affect on your mood and disposition. That it is irritating to not know where things are and have piles of papers and stuff all over. Can I just say HALLELUJAH! I've been waiting for this to happen! I've been hoping for it. I've been trying to force it upon him. And I guess I just had to wait for it to come to him on it's own.

Now I will be the first to admit I have a lot of stuff. But over the years I've parted with things that I don't need, won't use, and don't have space for. Every spring and fall I go through all my clothes and get rid of what I don't wear. Well, sort of. I'm still hanging on to this I KNOW I will get back into! I get rid of all our bill statements after they clear the bank. I particularly dislike mail. Good mail I love. Junk I don't. I'd prefer not to get any of the coupons in the mail but you can't opt out of those I guess. But they go right into the recycling. And I can make a mess. And I do. But I try to contain it to my craftroom where it won't bother anyone but me. I guess my point in all of this is that for years I've been the only one fighting this clutter battle and now it seems I might have an ally! He is doing the dishes more! And that is always a plus!

Whew...

we made it through the night without Owen waking up!! I woke up briefly at 4am, looked at the clock and wondered if I should go check on him since he hadn't woken up yet. He hasn't been sleeping through the night for the last couple of weeks. Sometimes waking up 3 times in the night. I really thought we had conquered this and we couldn't really figure out what to do about it. I got the sleep book from the library that we used a few months ago and it talks about babies being able to soothe themselves to sleep. Well, O can do this. He does it every night. He has been fussing before he goes to sleep at night or naptimes. So we were at a loss. Of sleep and solutions! Last night we gave him his bottle early, before his bath. Then he had a bath and then a story and was in bed by 7:20pm. He fell asleep straight away. And didn't wake until 6am! A little early but we all slept through the night! So we will try the same thing again tonight and see how it goes.

So that's why I've been AWOL from my blog the past week. I've been catching up on sleep and getting projects finished up. I had sample cards to finish for a class I'm teaching at Artsy Tartsy in May. I'll post pictures later this week. I finished a project two weeks ago for the show That's Clever! They are filming in MN next week but I haven't heard back so I don't think they picked me. I got Owen's birthday invitations finished last week and mailed out. And I'm trying to conquer some of the clutter in our house!

I'm also trying to finish up a book for book club. It's called Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral. It's a good read but if I had known that the woman died of cancer I probably wouldn't have picked it. I hate cancer. I hate what it does to people and their families. It makes me terribly sad and scared. Scared because I don't want that to happen to me or anyone I know and love. And it seems as though the possibility is so real. We have a friend at church who has been battling cancer for a few years now. He seems to be doing well but it could always take a turn for the worse. There is a woman on 2P's who's 13 year old son is dying of cancer. He was diagnosed in December and has a very short time to live. I cannot imagine having to go through that as a parent or preparing your child to die. My heart aches for her and her son and her family. And it makes me wonder why God lets this happen. I can understand violence and evil and sin but I don't see the purpose or the good that comes from a child having to suffer from the pain of cancer.

I have a bunch of things I'd like to post this week. My felted Easter basket that my mom made. Frannie Frog. She is a funky felt frog my sister made for me for Easter. The bunny she made for Owen. The cute Ladies Man t-shirt she made for O. My That's Clever! project. A onesie I made for O last night. The cards for my card class and I'm sure I'm forgetting some things! So I'm hoping to get back to blogging everyday this week! Hopefully sleeping will continue to go well!

Week 14...

This week's theme for the DOM challenge is Birds. At first I thought I would try something different. A different theme. Emily says it's fine to make your own up if you are not inspired by the theme she chooses. But I've had this little birdie stamp sitting on my work table for a couple of months. And the more I thought about birds the more I decided I enjoy them. They are the first signal of spring. And I frequently watch the cardinals in our lilac bush out the window while I work on the computer. I wrote the little poem because I love to listen to their tweet, tweet, tweet early in the morning at the beginning of spring. Hopefully they will all still be tweeting after get the forecasted snow over the next couple of days. Spring in Minnesota! Anything can happen, and frequently does!

You just never know...

what's inside of people when you see them. When my mom and I were at the outlet mall with Owen we were coming out of the Carter's store at the same time as another woman about my age with a couple of little ones. We held the door, she said thank you, and I noticed her St. Thomas University sweatshirt. This is where I went to graduate school so I asked her if that's where she went to school. She said no, it's where she teaches. At the law school. And I guess that has stuck with me because first of all, she was about my age and she was a law professor. Second, she was just a regular girl with little ones doing some shopping. And still a law professor. I would have pegged her for a teacher of high school.

And yesterday Penelope Crackers left the nicest comment on my post. She does the DOM challenge too. Her cards are among my very favorite. The first time I saw them I just felt awe because they were so much like illustrations from a beautiful book. And it turns out she is a SAHM with a hidden artist too. I would never have guessed that were as much alike as it seems we are.

Again, people are not as we always perceive them. Our preconceived ideas and our experiences are always influencing our perception of people and situations. And that is very important. It protects us and helps us make good choices. But we always need to keep an open mind so we can be surprised and awed by people too. Because we all have a hidden part of ourself.

Have a great day! It's super cold here this week. After our 80˙ day last week it's rather harsh. But the sun is out and I'm going to go find something to create!

Some thoughts...

First, here is my Week 13 card for the DOM challenge. The theme for this week is "what's on your mind."I am not a good sleeper. And it's mostly because I can't turn off my brain. Last night I was up until about 2. I don't toss and turn in bed all night anymore. That just disturbs Morgan. So I got up. The sleeplessness is what inspired my card!

Thought bubbles are a brush called blahblahblaaah by Seishido. The picture I took with the iSight camera on my Mac. Then I colored around each bubble with colored pencil to give them some color and then I filled them in with crystal laquer.

As I mentioned last week I've been reading a book by Sark. The chapter I've been reading is titled the Land of No about all the reasons we don't live our creative dreams. One section in particular spoke to me. It's about procrastination and perfectionism. Perfectionists tend to be procrastinators because they set the bar so high. It's not that they are lazy. And I loved this part... The blessings of perfectionism are that the work is often uncommonly good, if the perfectionist can just get brave or determined enough to share with a sensitive and insightful person. So true isn't it! For so long I didn't share my ideas or things I made because I didn't want to be judged. Or I want ed to get things "perfect". That's why I stopped painting in high school. It was never good enough. Now I realize how silly that is. Art, or any creative endeavor, should be done because it makes the artist happy to do it. She also says that "we can learn new habits of completion". I love that idea too. I've created so much more this year than I have for so long. And I feel so good about it. It makes me happy. And I think because I am creating more and frequently the ideas flow better and all of that makes me like my end products more. Last week I was feeling in a bit of a rut and I just had this awful dread that I had lost "it". My creative mojo. But I think it just ebbs and flows. I think and then I make. And then do it again. One cannot just create like a machine all the time. Then there would be no time for reflection, or refinement, or new ideas. Or just observing. Which is where a lot of my inspiration comes from.

And off to left field!... I have not post any pictures of Owen recently. I've been taking them! But they just haven't gotten on here. So here is my little man "helping" with the laundry!

He loves to kneel by the basket and pull things out. And this day he must have decided that there was enough room for him!