World's quickest layout

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Just a suuuuuuuuuper simple layout from last month's Turtle projects that I forgot to share on here -  this literally took me 10 mins max - just punched out a bunch of circles, used foam dots to pop the edges and voila!

My kind of page.

Hope you have a great day

xoxo

In This Family

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I had seen this quote on Pinterest and on a few scrapbooking layouts so for this month's Scrapping Turtle sketch challenge I just copied it directly - I love how it reflects imperfection and forgiveness - and I loved how printing out the photos in 8x12 made it so easy to quickly pull together this page. 

Working with Bo Bunny's Forever Fall line: 

Have a great Sunday
xoxo

10 Months

Pin It Now! Ok so this first sentence I just need to copy and paste and insert the month #:
Oh gosh - 10 months already?  I feel like I just did the 9 month post.
But it's true!

I guess that's life with a baby - always changing.

This month has for sure been one of the biggest in terms of changes - Jonah's personality just seems to grow every day and he's now such a little boy!

At 10 months Jonah:

-Crawls around like crazy, is into everything - exploring, touching, throwing.  I have turned our main floor into a total baby jail - blocked off the dining room and part of the living room which effectively cuts the main floor in half and helps to contain him and keep him safe as he toddles around

-We have a sunken front room which is blocked off most of the time...yesterday as I was bringing groceries in I put him in there thinking it would be like a little "pen" and contain him....only to come in and find he'd crawled out and was trying to get back down (eek!)

-Into textures these days - liking food a bit lumpier than last month, not into his purees as much unless they are a little lumpy or have some baby pasta stirred in.  Also loving minigo yogurts, has one with almost every meal.

-Plays with Ben so well, will throw the ball for him (pretty far for his age I think;)) and then will also put the ball right into Ben's mouth as well as his own.  I'm kind of over the fact that it's really germy.  I know it is but there's not a lot I can do to contain it and the vet said as long as we're giving Ben his heartworm medicine then it should be fine.

-Had his first real trial at daycare - I was gone for about 3 hours and when I got back he was out in the backyard sitting in a baby pool filled with animal figurines having a grand old time.

-Makes all kinds of noises and funny faces - almost like a pucker and kiss noise which we think either means "I'm hungry" or "let's kiss".  I swear sometimes he says Hi Dada when he sees Kirk but it's pretty sporadic

 -Is a great stander and will stand for a looooooong time.  Has pulled himself up on his own once but we're not really sure how it happened b/c when we looked over there he was just standing holding onto the railing.  He's doing "plank" a lot so I almost wonder if before he pulls up regularly he'll teach himself to stand up but we'll see.

 -Still a good sleeper/needs lots of sleep.  Goes down around 6:30-7 now and up between 6-7:30 with two naps of varying lengths depending on the day and what time he initially wakes up.  Sometimes still wakes up at night and I go in and give him his soother and he goes back to sleep.  Got his arm really caught in his crib once.  Was so sad - I had to YANK it out so hard.  Lil chubster.

-Went for his 10 month apt yesterday - he's 23lbs 4oz and 30 inches

-Loves watching YouTube Disney song videos during mealtime on the computer.
-Closes his eyes and opens his mouth when he's eating something he really likes.  Ha.  Cute.
-Got his first haircut today :) - I'll have to take some pics, I was worried he wouldn't look like a baby but he still does.

Have a great day xoxo

Blog your heart

Pin It Now! I read Stephanie's blog just about every day - she is an amazing scrapbooker and also a wonderful mom who blogs about the daily adventures with her family that includes 4 little girls.

Today she's challenging readers to blog their hearts - and really for me that's a big part of having my blog.  Just to kind of keep record of what's happening every day....although I don't blog as often as I'd like and most days I don't get too "deep" on here I do love looking back on where I've been and it definitely is a slice of real life.  I also like what she says about some blogs looking too "perfect" - obviously that's not reality because nobody is perfect but it's a good reminder not to compare yourself and to keep it real as far as blogging goes.

So here goes...

I often struggle with just how much to share on here.  I know a few of my "friends in real life" read this blog so it's a wonderful way to share info on our family.  I have also met some amazing online friends through the scrapbook world that I love to learn about through their blogs so I like to share back with them...but sometimes the openness of the internet scares me a bit.  I worry about putting too much personal details about our family online.  I wish I could just share more openly but I do have a bit of concern about the online world in general.  Even facebook sometimes is too much for me - I deleted it all together for a while and then when I rejoined just added my "actual" friends instead of the hundreds or so acquaintances I had prior.

I'm feeling more and more lately like life is too short for little worries.  For petty things.  I have a friend who I have just gotten to know in the last 5 years or so and when I met her girlfriends I was surprised a bit because they were all wonderful but so different from her...(not in a bad way just not what I would have expected....I think sometimes for me since I met the core group of my girlfriends at such a young age we kind of all look/act the same that I have trouble being open minded about new people off the bat) - anyway she said something to me that resonated - that she tries to surround herself with positive people.  That really stuck with me and it's something I'm making an effort to do to more of - and to be more positive myself.

In the last little while we've seen a few of our friends marriages break up - for us this is new within our friend group - obviously we know people that had split up but they were never really in our peer group.  It has hit home very hard for both of us.  We are not the perfect family - far from it, and marriage is definitely not easy but this is just a reminder to me to treat my marriage as a sacred union.

For the first time in my life I literally don't care what I look like.  It's liberating but at the same time kind of frightening when I catch my reflection when I'm out sometimes.....I don't want to scare away children or anything so while I don't have a desire to look good out of vanity anymore I do think that I'm starting to appreciate looking nice just for the sake of looking well put together.

I'm nervous about starting back to work in a few months for all of the logistical reasons - worried about how we'll fit in family time along with work time - but I'm also looking forward to it a bit.

Have a great day sweet friends

xoxo

10 years later

Pin It Now! Yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  A day that will forever be etched into everyone who is old enough to remember's mind for the rest of their lives.

For me - I was in my second year away at University.  Living with friends, starting school again after a trip to Europe that was probably the most carefree time  of my life.

On Tuesday September 11th I was in class when my professor told us all to go home, to turn on the TV, that the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane.  Ironically at the time I had no clue what she was even talking about.  I had never been to New York - although it was a lifelong dream since reading the Babysitters Take Manhattan....(not even joking, I freaking loved those books!)

Obviously in the days that followed I became intimate with the story and joined what felt like a global outpouring of mourning and support.

Four days later I met Kirk.  We started dating right away.  Everything just all of the sudden seemed a bit more serious.  Not to be taken so lightly.

On our engagement night - Oct 2004 at Tavern On the Green

Ten years later we are married and have a baby.  I have been to New York City upwards of 20 times.  It has become such a special place to me (I always knew it would be!).  We got engaged there, honeymooned there and I travelled there numerous times on my own for work.  I would travel all over the US and Canada with my job at the time and I have to say there is nowhere that I felt more at home, safer than I did in Manhattan.  It has my heart.

We watched a documentary last night of one of the fire crew's closest to the World Trade Centers.  There was a camera crew following a rookie firefighter and just by chance was there that day.  It is the only footage inside the towers.  It was haunting, terrifying and so powerful to watch.  Ten years later a lot of the crew was interviewed.  There are so many physical and emotional scars from that day but the one that stuck with me was how some of the guys just still feel guilty that they are still here.

I think in a way we can all identify with that.  You hear something horrible and I think it's a natural feeling.  And that's where I think we have a choice.   Not to ignore the sad feelings - but alongside that to not be ignorant of the blessings right in front of you that you do have.  To be thankful.  To be good.  To try hard.  To not get caught up on the little petty things in life.  To have a bit of perspective.  To love others.  To be kind.  My heart still breaks and always will for those who lost their lives, for those who lost loved ones, for the city that was rocked to it's core that day 10 years ago.

We are going back to New York this fall.  I know we'll visit the memorial and it will be a somber and emotional time for us but I think it's important to do - to honour those who were lost that day and to celebrate the city and nation that has prevailed.

xoxo