Friday, October 31, 2008

It's all about the shoes!



Here's a card I made for a friend of mine who I consider to be a total fashionista. I just love her wonderful personality and her fab sense of style. She loves color and patterns so I thought this would be perfect for her.

Wouldn't it be so fun to own a pair of shoes like this?

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Update on Bean

Little Ella went in on Monday for kidney tests and all of her results came back normal! Praise God!

She is such a brave little girl. She barely cried at all during either of the procedures (making it soooo much easier on me). I took her out afterwards and she picked out a tiny little baby doll as a little treat for being so brave. She's such a sweetie!


Thank you so much for all of your prayers!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Rileys and Bellas OH MY!!


Yesterday I received a package in the mail from my oh-so-sweet buddy Sparkle (aka Spark-a-bella) which was packed full of all of these images! Sparkle you rock!

Now my only problem is that I'll have to come to terms with my self- diagnosed cardmaking phobia and use some of these babies up! ;0)

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Thursday, Sparkle and I went out for another fun scrap night at Nona's. We always have way too much fun!

I had my project almost finished before I got there, cause I know when I get together with these girls, I tend to do way more laughing and talking than crafting :0). This is a 9x9 album I'll be giving as a shower gift on Saturday. I tried layering the die-cut flowers to give the pages that "lumpy" look I love so much and I really like how they turned out. Can't wait to see what the mommmy-to-be thinks!




Have a happy Saturday!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Scariest day of my life...

Last Wednesday was the scariest day of my entire life. Around 5 am, I woke up to find Ella having a seizure. Her face was white, her eyes wide open and so dialated that there was hardly any blue left in them and her lips were blue. I screamed for my husband to wake up and scooped her up thinking at the time that she was choking. I was so scared, I thought my baby was dying right there in my arms. Terrified , we called 911 and the paramedics raced to our home. By the time they arrived, she had stopped seizing, the color had returned to her face and we could tell for sure that she was breathing. She looked exhausted and she had begun to fall back asleep. I just held her crying and praying for her to be alright.

It was discovered that she had a fever of 106 and everyone thought it would be best that we take her to the ER to have her checked out. On the way to the hospital, she sat in her little car seat, strapped to the gurney in the aid car. She was awake but didn't respond at all to our voices. She didn't cry, she just made this little whimpering sound. Her little arms were drawn up close to her body as if she didn't know what to do with them and she was drooling from the corner of her mouth. She looked like a child with severe retardation.

I kept praying that she hadn't stopped breathing at any point during this ordeal, that she hadn't suffered permenant brain damage. I just held her tiny little hand and prayed. I thanked God for letting her be alive, for letting her still be with us. I was so, so very thankful that she was still with us. I prayed that her tiny body be healed of whatever was causing her to be in distress. I looked at her and thought about how she had been just a few hours earlier; laughing, dancing, singing and talking up a storm. She always amazes us with how advanced she is for a 19 month old! I just continued to thank the Lord that she was still with us. I knew if she had suffered brain damage, I would be heartbroken but at the same time I would continue to praise God that she was still with me.

Once at the hospital, they brought her in and layed her down so they could get blood and urine samples. She began to cry a little bit during these procedures, but still was not quite herself. It wasn't until the decision was made to put in an IV that she let us all know that she was going to be alright. She did not like the doctors and nurses holding her down to put in that IV AT ALL! That's all it took and she was fighting and screaming and calling out for her mommy! I was so happy to hear my baby girl calling for me! I immediately began sobbing and thanked the Lord for answering my prayers again that morning! God is so very good!

After several tests it was determined that Ella had a urinary tract infection and that had caused the huge jump in her body temp within such a short period of time. She had a Febril siezure as a response to this sudden rise in her body temp. She recieved an IV dose of antibiotics and was cleared to come home with us by 11am that morning. By that afternoon she was laughing and playing with her siblings.

We're asking for prayers for little Ella because she has to go in for more testing on Monday. With children under 2 years old who have had a urinary tract infection, it's recommended that testing be done to rule out any anatomical defects. She'll be going in for a renal ultrasound (kidneys) and a VCUG (the bladder is filled with blue dye and watched to make sure it's emptying properly). We're just asking for prayers that her little body is formed and functioning properly and that the Lord comforts her during these procedures.

If you've made it all the way through, thanks for reading this really, REALLY long post. ;0) I've just been playing a bit of catch up as life returns to normal around our house. I've also been working on a couple of projects during the last day or so that I hope to finish and post soon. Fingers crossed!

Give your babies an extra big hug today for me and Ella Bean!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Love....


Supplies used: CTMH Caprise paper packet, cardstock, button & waxy flax; Fiskars "filigree" embossing plate, Prima flower;


My parents will be celebrating their 38th wedding anniversary on Friday. Aren't they cute?!


They recently took a trip across the country to check some items off of their bucket lists. My dad's a HUGE fan of westerns, so he wanted to go visit Monument Valley on the Utah/Arizona border. He was in cowboy heaven!



My mom's choice was Disneyland. It was so funny because they didn't tell any of us that they'd be stopping in Disneyland before they left because they didn't want to have to listen to my kids whine and beg to come along. We found out when they sent us an email from the Buzz Lightyear game! Nice move folks, very clever!


Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Monday, October 6, 2008

my little artists

The other day, Sammy and Bean got into an box of stickers that I'd been keeping for the kids for school and decided to have at it!



They were busily creating their masterpieces! And their choice of a base for their creations? Canvas? Paper? No! Don't be silly! Why, these two would never limit themselves to such boring artistic media! They are true artists after all, and what is the world but their empty canvas on which to paint, or to stick as the case may be.


(those would be my cabinets they're "decorating")




Saturday, October 4, 2008



Here's another set of premade pages that I made this week for my webstore. I can hardly believe it's time for Halloween again!

We were out and about today and took a quick look at a couple of costumes for the kiddos. I thought that I wanted to dress Bean up as a fairy or some other sparkly, winged critter, but today I stumbled across the cutest Little Bo Peep costume! I could just picture her, little beanie baby sheep tucked under her arm, dressed in this big, frilly, pink and white dress, swinging the big pink shepard's crook around, smacking everybody....wait....maybe that's not the best costume choice for a fiesty 19 month old.... Hmm, I'll have to think about that one for a bit.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

Friday, October 3, 2008

Photo Friday Challenge #9 "Autumn"

It's been FOREVER since I had a photo challenge and I really miss doing them so.....


For this week's photo challenge, find a favorite picture that showcases some aspect of autumn that you really love. Be sure to leave a comment with a link to your blog once you've posted your pic for the challenge!


Here's mine:


This ( in the bright yellow boots) is my soon to be 8 year old when he was only 2. He's strolling with his buddy through a field on a farm we used to visit every October. I absolutely loved going with the kids to this farm each year for tractor rides and lots of muddy fun! They always had the coolest hay maze in their big old barn and of course the best pumpkin patch ever!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Shine



This is a super quick and simple layout we did during last month's faithbooking class. These pictures of Sammy and his award winning smile were just begging to be scrapped and fit this verse perfectly.

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." -- Matthew 5:16

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

A girl I used to know....


This stamp is from a set that was one of my very first purchases from CTMH when I became a consultant way back in 2005! That seems like sooo long ago now! It's from the Flower Girls stamp set and I always loved how these stamps coordinated so perfectly with the oh-so-girly Stylin' paper packet. Back in those days, CTMH hadn't come out with their paper flowers or Sparkles rhinestones yet. But like all of their fab products, they also coordinate perfectly, even thought they came out a few years later. And I just LOVE it when things match, lol!

Here's a pic that shows detail a little better on the bottom of the card with the bling and where I embossed stripes into the cardstock.