What Exactly Have I Been Up To Lately???

Yes, I have been being a mom, mostly. But I have learned that just because I can't craft as much as I would like to, doesn't mean that I have to forget about myself completely. So I have picked up again on one of my all time favorite hobbies, reading!!! Not only do I read, but I am also addicted to audio books. It's great, because I can listen to them while I am at work too. So I have to mention what I have been reading lately. As I am sure many of you out there have also read, I am so addicted to the Twilight Series!!! It consists of Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. Not only do I have these in hard back, but I also have the audio books too! I just finished re-reading Twilight. I think that was #4. Once I finish a couple other audio books, then I will have to also listen to New Moon and Eclipse again. So far Eclipse is my favorite of the three. But the fourth installment comes out in less than 2 months. I can hardly stand to wait!!! It is called Breaking Dawn. I have already got it pre-ordered through Barnes & Noble. I am extremely excited that it comes out August 2, which happens to be a Saturday. I know I will have it finished by that Sunday!! Here's some pictures of the covers, if you aren't familiar with them. They are a definite must!

I think the new cover for Breaking Dawn is pretty cool. I have liked all of the covers though. Stephenie Meyer, the author, has used classic literature for inspiration of her previous books in the series. She has mentioned getting inspiration from Romeo and Juliet as well as Wuthering Heights. She mentioned that Breaking Dawn is partly inspired by A Mid Summers Night's Dream. The whole basis of this Shakespearean Play is that everyone falls in love with the wrong person. Now, not to give anything away, but Bella, the main character has had to chose between 2 loves in her life, her vampire boyfriend, Edward, and her werewolf best friend, Jacob. I can tell you, if she doesn't end up with Edward, I will be extremely sad!

I am definitely on a series kick. Last summer, I read all of the Harry Potter books. I listened to them on audio books and read them to try to get through them faster. It worked great! I love all seven of them! Next to Twilight, this is my next favorite series. I hear there is talks of a prequel book!!! I hope it goes through!!

I also re-read the Chronicles of Narnia. Also one of my favorite series. This is definitely #3. All of the books are so good. I know that these are all children's and young adults books, but I can't help it. I love all of these authors!!

In the fall, I started listening to a series that I never thought I would. And I have to admit, it was due to encouragement from my friend at work, Kambri. She also loves Harry Potter, and convinced me to try it. It is called the Sword Of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. Okay, so it is science fiction/fantasy. Cheesy, I know. But I do really like them. I have just been listening to the audio books. I haven't finished the series all the way. There are 13 books and I have gotten through about half of them. I think I left off on #7. From what I understand, these are kind of a rip off of Robert Jordan's series called the Wheel of Time. I plan to get those as audio books as well to listen to. Probably won't read the books, but will listen to them at work and in my car.

Kyto's (my brother-in-law) girlfriend, Steph, has been helping me feed my reading habit. I think she loves to read more than I do! We have even talked about starting a book club! I think it would be a blast! I got her to read this series, that the same friend that got me to read the Terry Goodkind books, Kambri, got me to read. It's also a teen series. It's called Sweep. There are actually some similarities to Twilight. But instead of being about vampires, it's about witches. I know, I am a dork! Just because I will be 30 in less than a year, doesn't mean though that I can't read teen books, right?! Lame justification, I know. These aren't as good as Twilight. But they are good for in between books. And there are 15 total. All of which are less than 200 pages, so they are a fast read. The last one though is just over 300 pages. So I do recommend them if you are looking for something similar to Twilight. Not the same, but still good.

I just finished The Host today. This is also by Stephenie Meyer. It was hard to get into. It's 619 pages. I was about to give up on it when I was about 140 pages in. Unlike the Twilight series, I wasn't completely sucked in right away. But boy, am I glad I didn't give up! Once I got to about page 150, I couldn't put the book down! It is so good! And it had me in tears almost the whole rest of the book! I definitely recommend it! This also appears to have the makings of a series. I am crossing my fingers! Check it out for sure.

On my Ipod, I have Atonement (this is the current one I am listening to. It was a Christmas present from Steph and Kyto), the Harry Potter's, Wuthering Heights, The Kite Runner (I haven't finished this, but the first couple chapters of the book were really good. It's coming up on my to listen to list), A Thousand Splendid Suns, All of the Twilight books out so far as well as the Host, Great Expectations, All of the Sword of Truth Series. I think that's all of them. I am always looking for audio books though. I just love how they help pass the time, and the fact that I can do other things, like crafting of course, while I am listening.

Since I finished The Host today, I am now reading Dead Until Dark. This is also part of a series. It's also about Vampires. But unlike the Twilight series, this Sookie Stackhouse series (the main character) is actually for adults. I know, it is so unlike me to read books that aren't for children or teens. The author, Charlaine Harris, has a pretty cool writing style. The books seem light and full of humor. I will let you know how I like them. They are about 300 pages, so they should be a fast read also.

I have three whole stacks of books that are on my side table by my couches, waiting to be read. Wicked, Princess Bride, The Golden Compass, Persuasion and many, many others. I can't help it. I pick up new books every time I go to Barnes and Noble! I am just as addicted to reading as crafting. So let me know out there if you like any of the books I have mentioned, or if you have others that I haven't that you recommend too! I am always looking to discover new authors!!

Happy Stamping and Happy Reading Everyone!!

Look! I Actually Made Something!!

Yes, it is similar to another project that I did while I was still pregnant. I had left over candy bars from my baby showers and I needed to come up with a project four our Stampin' Up! meeting last week. This was one of the make and takes for everyone to do. I know it is hard to tell from the picture, but the pattern paper of the wrapper and the dog tag is stamped on. The wrapper, with the leaves and flower stamps. The dog tag with words. Here is a list of supplies used:

• Always Stamp Set
• Blue Bayou classic ink (getting discontinued)
• Soft Sky classic ink (getting discontinued)
• Chocolate Chip classic ink
• Designer Series Print Patterns - Soft Sky (getting discontinued)
• Designer Series Print Patterns - Always Artichoke
• Kraft card stock
• Very Vanilla card stock
• Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon
• Always Artichoke grosgrain ribbon
• Linen Thread
• Build-A-Brad - Antique Brass
• 1/2" Circle punch
• Dog Tag punch

So I was originally planning on using Always Artichoke ink since I used the ribbon and paper that color, but my supplies are really disorganized!!! And I couldn't find it. But I ended up liking how the colors worked anyway. Hope you all like it it too!

Happy Stamping Everyone!

First Things First

It's official! I love being a mom! So it doesn't hurt that my daughter is the sweetest, most beautiful girl ever!!! Okay, so I am a little biased! But I do truly love her! She is so happy most of the time. And she has such a big smile! After the scares in the beginning, it is good to see her get settled into herself and to start watching her discover everything and everyone around her. We took her to Kyto's (my brother-in-law) football game on Saturday, and she just loved watching all the people and seeing the people move around on the field (even though she can't see clearly that far away). She also had fun at the Bee's game we went to a couple weeks ago. She was just watching everyone then too. It's amazing how much more alert she has become in the last 3 months. She turned 3 months on 5/26. The last picture here to the right, that is what we like to call her "Daddy Face". Yes, she looks mostly like him anyway, but as you can see, she also mimics his expressions! My cousin, Kristin, took these adorable pictures. She works at Kiddie Kandids. I love the way they turned out. Hope you like the pics!!!

Happy Stamping Everyone!

Weight Scare

Hey everyone! Just wanted to update you on our little monkey! I just can't believe how much I love her still! The dogs are adjusting even though they miss the attention they used to get. They are very curious about her and seem to accept her already.

Last Saturday, we had a little scare. I had noticed that she wasn't going very often and I had waited about 4 hrs to change her diaper and it was still dry. Plus she was very fussy when she was awake and was always hungry. I imagined this was all because I am nursing and my milk hadn't come in yet, but I just wasn't so sure. I had my friend, Marci over with with her husband and her 2 boys for dinner. I asked her what she thought. She didn't think it was too much to worry about, but called my pediatricians office for me, just to be on the safe side. Since it was late, they weren't there, but there was an on call doctor. We decided to call my sister, who is a nurse at the E.R. at the new IMC hospital in Murray. She said she would talk to a nurse and call back. Once she called back she said the nurse told her if it had been about 4 hours and she hadn't at least peed, then it might be something serious. She told her to look for tears when she cried.

Now I was worried. We took her temperature and it was a little high, but nothing to rush her to the hospital for. I finished nursing her. My sister called back and said she had spoken with a doctor that said it was more like if she hadn't gone in 6 hrs instead of 4, then to be worried. It had been about an hour since I checked her diaper last and when I checked it again, she had gone. Thank God! I went to bed feeling better about the situation. I was still concerned though about how she was eating though. The next morning my mom said that she was still worried and I agreed. I called the on call pediatrition and explained the situation and she said to be safe and bring her into the kids care clinic that morning. In the mean time, my milk had finally come in. Thong and I took her to the doctor. They weighed her and she had lost a whole pound from when she was born. On the day we took her home, she weighed 6 lbs 7 oz. And now she was down to 5 lbs 13 oz. Now I was scared all over again. The doctor told me to make sure to feed her whenever she was hungry and to not let it be more than 5 hrs from the last feeding. I had an appointment the next day with the normal pediatrician and she wanted me to keep it to have her weight checked again. They also took her blood that day to check on jaundice. She said she would call me with the results later that day. We went home feeling anxious but felt that Peyton would be okay. She called a few hrs later and said everything looked fine. On Monday, I took her in with my mom. She was weighed again and now weighed 5 lbs 15 oz. She gained 2 whole oz! I was so glad. The doctor said though they had to check her jaundice level again and check her electrolytes as well. She said she would call later with the jaundice but could let me know the results of the electrolytes before we left. She said that if they were low though that she would have to spend the night at Primary Childrens. Of course I started to cry and called Thong to tell him about it. I told him I would call back and let him know what the doctor said. About 10 minutes later the doctor came back and said her electrolytes were fine she she was okay to go home for the day. She said though to supplement after every feeding with formula. She also said to feed her every 3 hrs since we were trying to get her weight up. She had said that if she hadn't gained at least an oz. by the next day, then she would have to go to Primary Childrens for sure.

I called Thong and told him about it. When I got home, I made sure to feed her just like I was told and paid attention to how many times I was having to change her diapers. I worried all day and all night long and then took her in the next day for just a weigh in. I just kept thinking, please weigh more, please weigh more!!! Well sure enough she did! She weighed 6 lbs 5 oz!!! Can you believe that in just one day! The doctor told me to stop giving her the formula after ever feeding and to come in next week for the 2 week appointment. I was so relieved! What a scare! Now, for the most part, Peyton seems pretty content. I have started giving her a bottle a day though because she didn't seem to be getting full from breast milk. Wednesday was the hardest day since it was my first day on my own. My mom left on Tuesday night. Peyton misses her!!! She was fussy that day and night and I couldn't get her to settle down enough to go to sleep. Finally I gave her a bottle that she had no problem taking and she was fine. She fell asleep shortly after. That started the bottle a day, and it seems to be helping her. I will talk to the pediatrician on Tuesday about it and see what she says to do.

She's Here!!!!

Say hello to Peyton Lei. She was born on Tuesday, 2/26 at 11:35 PM. She weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and is 20 inches long. I know I am partial being her mother and all, but I can't help but brag! She's just so stinkin' cute! She really looks like her daddy as you can see from the photo below!!

I went into labor on Monday night (Feb 25) about 8:00 pm. The contractions were about 20 minutes apart and were not very strong. I didn't go to bed until 12:30 am that night. About 2:00 am I woke up with much stronger contractions. I timed them for about an hour and they were down to six minutes apart. I woke up my husband to let him know that we may have to go to the hospital in about an hour or so. I got up and went to get something to eat, and get the rest of my things ready. Once I did that though, my contractions were all over the place. They went from 20 minutes, to 8 minutes, back up to 15 minutes. When I had gotten up, I called my parents, that live in St. George, to let them know that I might be leaving for the hospital in about an hour. My dad said he would wake my mom up to start heading up. Little did I know that he had told my mom that I was actually headed to the hospital then, instead of what I had said. So I was up from about 3:30 am to 5 am. No real progress was happening with the contractions though. So I fell asleep on my couch watching the news. I woke back up at 7:30 am and called my mom. I told her I was home and that the contractions weren't steady enough. She was surprised that I wasn't at the hospital since my dad told her we were leaving 4 hrs prior. I told her to just come to my house. My husband left for work and I told him, once I was close enough with my contractactions, I could have my mom take me to the hospital. He works just across the street from the hospital but we live 25 minutes away. So he was worried about time. This helped relieve his stress. My mom got to my house just after 9 am. We hung out at home for a bit and then went to BabiesRus and got a glider. We went and picked up my sister and then headed to Cafe Rio and came back to my house to eat lunch. By now my contractions were back down to 6 minutes steady again. I didn't eat much lunch at all. I think I was too anxious. Plus my contractions were really hurting by now. I had an appointment that day with my doctor at 3:45 but I called and said I was having close enough contractions to go to the hospital. We got to the hospital at 4:00 and met Thong there. My contractions weren't 3-5 minutes apart, but I thought my doctor was still out of town and so I wanted to see how far off I was. When we got there, I was told that my doctor was in fact back in town. I was really relieved that she was back in town.

So they headed me off to a room. I answered a bunch of questions and they checked how far along I was. I was far enough that they were admitting me. I kept telling my mom all the way there, that they were sending me back. But luckily that didn't have to happen. Soon after, my water was broken and I was given the epidural and that really helped a lot. I am glad that I did the epidural. It took the focus off the pain of the contractions and helped me relax and get ready for the pushing. I think I would have been exhausted by the time I started pushing if I wouldn't have done the epidural.

While we were anxiously waiting, Thong was entertaining us all. He helped pass the time and kept us laughing the whole time.

About 10:45 PM I started to push. The nurse called my doctor at home. I pushed for about 10 minutes and then the nurse told me to stop and wait for the doctor. It took her about another 20 minutes to get there and then I started again. I only pushed for about another 10 minutes once she got there. The whole expiernce was just so overwhelming. And at the end, I had this beautiful new little baby girl in my arms. And she was worth every moment that it took to get her here!!! I never thought that I could love another person, besides my husband, so much!!!

As you can imagine, I probably won't be stamping for a little while, but I have a lot of stuff to work on for her room, so I will start posting again with projects hopefully soon.

In the meantime, Happy Stampin'!

Thank You Everyone For Such A Great Shower!!!!

Thank you everyone for such a good shower!!! We got so much helpful stuff! I am starting to feel like I am ready!

For those of you who don't know, I am on doctor ordered bed rest. I have been for about 4 weeks now and I am going crazy!!! I know it is needed but it's hard to just be home and not really be able to do much either. My doctor has given permission for minor activities but I still have to take it easy. As of tomorrow, I will be 37 weeks, so although there isn't a lot of time to go, being home makes it feel like an eternity. But at least it is for the best! The problem that put me on bed rest was high blood pressure. And since I have been home from work, it actually is a lot better. In fact, at my appointment today, it was the best it has been for probably about 6 months. So things are on the right track, even if it is a slow one. I am deffinately needing to learn some more patience :).

So here are pictures from my shower that was last Saturday. It was great that so many friends were able to make it! I got lots of pictures with friends and family.

This first one is my friends from middle school and high school. This is the first time in a long time that we have been together. From left to right: Amber, Jen, me, Carrie, Michelle. Jen and I became friends in 7th grade. I became friends with Amber and Carrie in 8th grade. And even though Michelle and I have known each other since about 1st grade, we became really good friends in 11th grade. I am lucky to know all of them!!!

I know I am a big meanie, but I made my husband come! And because he is such a good man, he did and he was even pleasant and didn't put up much of a fuss!!! And look at how cute he is!!

This is my friend Cecilia. We used to work together about 3 years ago. Even though we don't get to see each other much, she is one of my best friends and I miss hanging out with her!!!!

Here is me, Lindsi, my sister-in-law and Malia, my niece. She is really one of my best friends!!!

This is Bea and Thea. They are Thong's cousins. See Amber (Lafata), Thong really does have cousins!

Here is my very good friend Amber Lafata. Along with Jen and Marci, she threw the shower for me. This is actually at her darling house!! For those of you that don't know, she is more crafty than I am!! She has her own blog at http://shabbychickamber.blogspot.com/ . You should deffinately check it out! She is extrememly talented!!!

Here is Amber, me, Marci and Andrea. Amber and Marci both work with my husband, Thong. And they still put up with him and have room left over to be my friend :). I meat Andrea through Amber and Marci. And the funny thing is, Andrea is friends with Mary (see below). They used to work together. Marci is rubbing my budha belly for good luck!




This is me, Miriam (my sister), Mary, and my mom, Wylene. Mary is my sister's friend from middle school. She is such a sweet person and has had some hard times lately! I hope you know I love you Mary and am thinking about you!!!




Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of everyone that came! So if you don't see yourself here, it's not because I didn't want ya!

Thank you everyone for such a great day and for all the help! Lord knows I need it!!! Can't wait to show off our little one!!!

Happy Stamping Everyone!

Shower Favors

Can you all believe it! I actually made something and am posting it!!! These are for my baby showers in the next few weeks. They are Hershey bars. Yummy! Can't get enough chocolate.

Here's what I used:

1. Hershey Bars
2. Basic Grey Two Scoops patterned paper
3. Stampin' Up! stamps (flowers, merci, mon amie, background flower on dog tag)
4. Basic Grey Two Scoops stamps (on the patterned paper)
5. Stampin' Up! ink - Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Pretty In Pink, Blue Bayou
6. Stampin' Up! Scallop Circle punch
7. Stampin' Up! Dog Tag punch
8. Ribbon - Green velvet is Making Memories, Pink organdy is from my stash, Twine is Stampin' UP!
9. Basic Grey pink and yellow brads Two Scoops line
10. Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla card stock
11. Pop Dots

So I have about 60-70 of these to make. They won't all look exactly like this, but will follow this basic formula. Once I get them all finished, I will post them too. They were fast and fun to make! Hope you like them!

Happy Stamping Everyone!

Update

Hi Everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I posted last!!! I have been pretty tired between working and everything else. Although I haven't had any major complications with my pregnancy, I have noticed that I don't have the energy to do everything that I would have otherwise. I guess that is to get me ready to focus on being a mom, right! So in case you don't know, we are having a girl!! We are pretty excited. I have less than 8 weeks to go. My due date is February 28. We are working on getting the baby room ready and just getting ready for our new arival. We also have picked out a name. It's Peyton Lei. We picked the middle name Lei after my dad, Leioni. I can't believe how fast this has gone by.
To be honest, I haven't done a lot of crafts in the last 4 or 5 months. So I haven't really had anything to post.
I will be having a card class the end of this month. A project class, I think would just be too much for me right now. I will post the projects within the next week or so.
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I'll try to keep you updated on the arrival of our little one a lot better!

Happy Stamping Everyone!

10" x 10" Magnet Board Class 8/29

Hey Everyone!

So here is my next class. It's a 10" x 10" magnet board that hangs from ribbon of your choice. You can pick from cream, chocolate or black ribbon. Then you will be stamping right on the board and making matching magnets too! Originally I sent out the email stating that you would be making 3 magnets, but I decided that you needed one more :).

So here is what you get again:

• Magnet board
• Ribbon to hang it from
• 3 Glass heart pebble magnets
• 1 chipboard flower magnet

This board should actually be hanging from black ribbon, but I took the picture before I got the ribbon. Sorry the picture isn't too clear. I had a hard time getting the white ink getting to show up. I have one more sample to show, so when I get that one done I will post it. That should be tomorrow. Hope you guys like it!

Happy Stamping!

My Big News

So I eluded to some big news on one of my post earlier this month. I wanted to wait to say something over the World Wide Web until after my first appointment. Well, that occurred yesterday. My husband and I got to see the first ultrasound of our baby and were able to see the heart beat. We are really excited! Between me and my mom, we have already bought a lot of clothes, even though I won't be able to find out the sex for about 9 weeks or so. This is our first child - something unusual for our age in this neck of the woods :).


So Thong and I think the baby will be a boy. My sister-in-law agrees. But my parents, brother and seems a lot of friends think we are having a girl. I definitely want to find out as soon as possible. We will be making a trip to Fetal Photo as soon as I am far enough to find out the sex.


Yesterday at my first appointment, I learned that I am about 7 weeks and 3 days {as of yesterday}, determined by the size of the baby. According to the ultra sound it says 13mm. And the doctor gave a due date of 2/27/08. The funny thing is, my birthday is 3/2, so we may share a birthday. Also, Thong pointed out that next year is leap year. We may have a leap year baby!!!


I will try to keep updates here!
Hope you like the ultrasound pictures!

More Cards for Convention

I have been trying to work hard on reaching my goal of 100 swaps. It's hard to do so many though. But I have been working on trying to do more than one of each design. I just get tired of doing the same thing too many times. I have listed the supplies for each of these cards.

1. Sky Blue card stock
2. Ceam card stock
3. Navy grosgrain
4. Blue Bayou classic ink
5. Chocolate Chip classic ink {I need to buy a refill because the color is getting light}
6. Baroque Motifs stamp set
7. Pop Dots
8. Blue Stickles
9. Corner Rounder punch

1. Rose Red card stock
2. Whisper White card stock
3. Cutie Pie Designer Series Paper
4. Rose Red classic ink
5. Basic Brown classic ink
6. Pewter Jumbo eyelets
7. Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain ribbon
8. Corner Rounder punch {to create scallop}

1. Pretty In Pink card stock
2. Whisper White card stock
3. Rose Red card stock
4. Prints Rose Red Designer Series Paper
5. Pretty In Pink classic ink
6. Chocolate Chip classic ink
7. Wild Wasabi classic Ink
8. Big Flowers stamp set
9. Little Flowers stamp set
10. Hugs and Wishes stamp set
11. Circle Scallop punch
12. Wild Wasabi double stiched grosgrain
13. Pretty In Pink taffeta ribbon

1. Sky Blue cardstock
2. Whisper White card stock
3. Real Red card stock
4. Prints Certainly Celery Designer Series Paper
5. Real Red classic ink
6. Certainly Celery classic ink
7. Blue Bayou classic ink
8. In The Spotlight stamp set
9. Vases In Vogue stamp set {a little hello saying}
10. Pop Dots
11. Round Tab punch
12. Ticket Corner punch
13. Certainly Celery grosgrain
14. Diamond Stickles

1. Close to Cocoa card stock
2. Wild Wasabi card stock
3. Whisper White card stock
4. Rose Red card stock
5. Prints Rose Red Designer Series Paper
6. Build-A-Flower Accents and Elements
7. Chocolate Chip classic ink
8. Wild Wasabi classic ink
9. Diamond Stickles {only used on the first card}

So now that I have about 50 cards total, I have to work on the 3-d items I am swapping. I am going to do a matchbook cover for chocolate that I did for my retired stamp sale. I am hoping to get about 45 of those alone. So that should about do it. Amber is helping me put those together. Gives me some time to get my shoe box swap project done, since I need to get it in this week!!! Plus I may still have a couple more cards to do, not sure yet.

Happy Stamping Everyone!!!

Can't wait for convention!!!!!

Working on cards for convention!

So I am going to be focusing on swaps for Convention! I am so excited! I was hoping to have about 100 but so far, I only have about 25. I have a lot to do. Here are some of what i have so far. Hopefully I can keep getting them updated as I get more made. And I hope to do some 3-D projects too. As you can tell, not all of the stuff is Stampin Up that was used. So if you have any questions on any of them, let me know!

And I just love the new sets in the catalog! I feel like Stampin Up can finally compete with the current market. {the next step is acrylic stamps, but I am doubtfull that will ever happen}

Happy Stamping Everyone!



















And these are made by my friend Amber for Convention. She is helping me out. Just look how cute they are!!!