6 months

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6 months. Half a year.  Impossible to believe. I knew I would say this when the time came but didn’t realize how unreal it would actually feel.

So now this boy is 6 months old!  

He’s fully graduated from 6 months clothing just in time for his half-birthday – he’s now in 12 months and in some things even 18 months.  His ham hock legs are just too big for 6 month things, we did the jump and pull a few times with some of his pants but then realized it was all in vain.  So now he’s more comfy in bigger pants!

He cut his 4th tooth this past weekend so he is now getting pretty toothy with that grin of his.

He weighed in at 19lbs11oz and measured 27 inches at his 6 month appointment - I think that puts him more mid range -- he just grew so fast there for a few months.

I feel like I’m living on a different planet than I was two months ago – now that J sleeps, I sleep and that makes all the difference in the world.  He goes down at around 7 and wakes between 5 and 6 but then goes back to sleep until around 6 or 7 plus he naps!  In his crib!  This has been the best change by far – he is a happier baby because of it and I’m a happier mom.  I’m now getting to do all of the things that I thought mat leave would be full of – cooking, baking, cleaning – it’s been fun.  I feel like my house is finally somewhat in order – closets are organized, little repairs around the house are getting done.  I love that feeling.

He loves his jumparoo and excersaucer – except hasn’t really figured out the bouncing part.

Has started noticing other babies – for the first time when he saw Keira and Hudson he kind of knew they were there.

He is still working on rolling – I think those big leggies are a bit of a hindrances.

Working on sitting – still a bit of tippage going on

Eating lots of food!  He loves brown rice cereal and rice and banana cereal – we tried peas but those were not a crowd pleaser but he just tried sweet potatoes and loved them.  

He likes to drink water and has a bottle with his cereal. 

I really can't remember life without him :)

One Little word 2011

Pin It Now! Last year I chose Create as my One Little Word

Ironic really because in 2010 we made a baby!

This year I've thought a lot about my word - I chose it a while ago just didn't have time to document it or why I chose it.  For 2011 I chose Faith.

I was the most nervous pregnant person on the planet.  I read that "what to expect" book every day.  I was terrified to tell anyone at first for fear that I would miscarry.  I Googled everything there was to Google.  Every little kick and flutter of the baby in my belly made my heart race a bit.  I read a million books about what to do once baby was here (I retrospect I should just go and publish my own book that basically tells people to prepare not to sleep for a good 12 weeks time and forget about labour pains, after the baby arrives is when you're really in for a treat "down there"..but it's all worth it  and after that your life will become normal again!)...but I digress - before I had Jonah I was so scared - felt so unprepared.

I knew then that I didn't want to be a nervous mom.  I didn't want to be worrying all the time, raising him to be a person who was scared of everything around every little corner.  I am a worrier by nature so I definitely cannot say that I will accomplish this completely - but it is my goal.

I chose Faith as my word for 2011 because it encompasses pretty neatly what I want to have and show for him.  Faith that he will be ok, that I'll be ok, that as a family of three we'll figure it all out - that I'll try my best and that will be good enough.  Faith that he'll be ok without me - at first in his crib, then as he gets bigger with a sitter, then at school, then living on his own when he goes away to school - faith that I'll raise him to be a strong sensitive loving proud boy - a boy who will turn into a great man.  A boy who has a strong sense of worth but is not boastful.

I was laughing the other day because I looked up his horoscope - Scorpio:
Scorpios are the most intense, profound, powerful characters in the zodiac. Even when they appear self-controlled and calm there is a seething intensity of emotional energy under the placid exterior. They are like the volcano not far under the surface of a calm sea, it may burst into eruption at any moment. But those of us who are particularly perceptive will be aware of the harnessed aggression, the immense forcefulness, magnetic intensity, and often strangely hypnotic personality under the tranquil, but watchful composure of Scorpio. In conventional social gatherings they are pleasant to be with, thoughtful in conversation, dignified, and reserved, yet affable and courteous; they sometimes possess penetrating eyes which make their shyer companions feel naked and defenseless before them.

Pretty much sums him up ;) 

I guess I am now officially a mommy blogger!

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 Today I spent the entire day with my mom.  At the spa.  It was so heavenly to be able to do nothing for a whole day but it was also so odd (or o-d-d if you've been reading this blog for a while ;)) to have that much time to myself.  With Mother's Day being tomorrow I think it was only natural that I started to think about how things have changed this past year - to reflect about becoming a mom.  I think the biggest change is how all the little things have changed!

Jonah has started laughing a lot more frequently these days, and each time he does I just want to bottle it up and save it for the days when he's a bit older and upset about something or we aren't getting along....babies laughs are seriously like a million bursts of goodness - just full of joy and so much hope, you can't help but smile when you hear it.  Sounds so cliche but it is seriously true.  We'll have to settle for lots of footage from our Flip Camera - we made him do "dancing baby" last night from Ally McBeal ...stripped him down to his diaper and made him dance on the kitchen table (ha!)

I think I used to see people who would oogle over their kids and sort of think get over yourself people!  I realize now reading this that that sounds so totally ignorant of me but I really didn't mean any harm about it - I think I was just sort of oblivious but didn't mean it in a mean spirited way - and I am by no means saying that everyone who doesn't have kids is selfish - far from it.  I am totally one of "those parents" now and ironically I feel like "getting over myself" is just what having a baby has helped me to do - or at least to be more aware of.  I used to be so consumed by me, my agenda, what I was going to do, where I was going, with who, how, when - that I sort of forgot about others.  I was married for five years before having Jonah but really my husband and I are both pretty independent people, and the relationship between two adults is different than a parent and child obviously - so the transformation for me has been huge.  It's not just a "me" world anymore - it's our world. 

On the other hand I don't want to be one of those parents that loses themselves completely in their children - I think it's so important for our entire family that we each have our own identity and interests and lives, but what I never could have imagined was how intricately things would be woven, how tightly we would be bound.  Our decisions now are about our family vs just ourselves.  It has been a beautiful change and is such a delicate dance and I wouldn't trade it for a second.  I love love love being a mom.  

Scrappy Organization

Pin It Now! This was my week to do a tutorial over at The Scrapping Turtle so posting it here too - I love to read about how others stay organized so I hope this helps you :)
- this is kind of a different type of a tutorial because there really is no "right" or "wrong" way to stay organized so it's more going to be a bit of show and tell about what helps me to stay organized when scrapping and I hope that you find it helpful and get some new ideas.

For a while I wasn't the most organized scrapper - but I find that when I do stay on top of being organized it really helps me with pulling pages together much quicker because I know where everything is and it helps me pull together better pages because I'm not forgetting about things that I already have in my stash!

I do not have a dedicated scrap room in my house - my husband and I share an office in our house that also doubles as my scrap room - since it's on the main floor and is visible I like to keep my stuff out of the way as much as possible when I'm not scrapping (this also helps keep it all safe from living with a dog, a man and a baby hee hee!)

This is the desk where I layout my pages - you can see I have a self healing mat underneath - I got this ages ago and I love it because I never worry about damaging the wood with my glues etc (like I *might* have done to our kitchen table when I used to scrap there.......oops ) - anyway this just stays out all the time even when I'm not scrapping.

Next is my cluster of containers that also stay out on the desk all the time - I don't mind these staying out because the stuff is contained within them and it is also good to keep out a few things that I don’t' want to forget about and also good to keep certain things easy to grab when I'm pulling together a page.

Most of these are just repurposed vessels that I had around the house plus a few cheap milk glass containers from the antique market.

Next I have 3 "embellie" Tupperware’s that I stack when not in use and to the right bags with "kits" - this is kind of where I keep my current projects - either kits that I've gotten, projects that I want to tackle etc...keeping it organized in seperate bags helps me to be able to quickly pick up and scrap when I have a few minutes here and there.



Within the Tupperware's I keep my most used supplies; I keep ribbon in one, embellies in another (bling, journaling cards, stickers etc) and stamps in the third. On top I keep a embroidery floss case - this is probably my "secret weapon" when it comes to staying organized

....this little catch all is where I store all of my buttons and then I put a few flowers in here from my larger containers so that I don't forget about them and can grab them quickly when needed. You'll see my full storage in a second.

The desk drawer houses all of my punches as well as my corner chomper.

Then to the right of the desk I have a few Tupperware drawers stacked


I keep patterned paper in one, cardstock in another and square embellie/sticker sheets in the third.

- one is a special one for scrapping (square shape) that has 3 drawers - If any of these 3 fill up I know it's time to purge because (to me) it means I've accumulated too much paper to be able to manage.

The drawers below are just from a big box dept store (like Wal-Mart but don't remember exactly where I got them - I just repurposed from my basement when I decided to bite the bullet and get organized). In these I have organized all of my alpha stickers, rub ons, slice tool and photos.

I also label each of the drawers so that I remember what is where.......it may seem strange but I organize by "size" - so all of my thickers are in a drawer b/c they are all one size but then Oct Aft mini market letters are in a different drawer b/c to me they are a different size so I think about them differently.


Inside each drawer I like to also organize by colour (a bit crazy I know!)

Anyway - the point of this tutorial is not that you'll go out and organize just like me but rather that you'll be inspired to find a way of keeping your supplies so that they work for you - I'm sure like me you are pressed for time and the time that you do get to scrap is precious so I really feel it's well worth it to go through your supplies and organize them so that you can maximize the time that you do have for scrapping!

I hope you found this tutorial helpful - happy organizing!

Latley

Pin It Now! Latley I am...
 Making and eating copious amounts of these Pecan Rosemary Crisps...- I have made twice in the last week (thanks Kel for the recipe!)
Loving Dancing with The Stars, American Idol and Grey's
Obsessing over all things Royal.

Having a hard time beleiving that this little monkey is almost 6 months old...where on earth has the time gone?  I have probably said this before but I joke that the first 2 months felt like 4 becuase I literally did not sleep (at all) but now time is just flying in comparison and I get all of those sayings like "the days are long but the years fly by" - so true.

Made using Studio Calico's Singing in the Rain kit

This is my first reveal for the Scrapping Turtle this month - we are using Best Creation paper this month and I am using the Safari Girl line - our product of the month is Fancy Pants paper filters. 

Have a great night!