She's On The Go!

Hi everyone! I have another layout to share today featuring the American Crafts My Girl collection. This one is all about Claire as she started to crawl. She started out slow, but it took no time at all for her to really take off.

The title was done on my Cricut Mini as were the paper hearts. The twine, Washi tape, and pearls are all by Queen and Company. The journaling reads: "Claire, you started crawling almost 2 months ago with a funny combination of an army crawl and an inch worm push forward. It was adorable, but it didn’t last long. Before we knew it you were zooming around on all fours and going practically anywhere you wanted! Now you are an expert and I think you are very leased with your ability to be mobile without any help from us! 4/30/2013"

Have a great Tuesday!

The Very First Kiss

For those of you who may not know, my youngest son Spencer is autistic and non verbal, yet he is also very loving, kind, and sweet. His autism is not classical in the sense that he is quite affectionate and craves physical touch and attention. Knowing that will help you make a little bit more sense out of the journaling on this page about the relationship he has developed with his little sister.

The papers, stickers, 3D embellishments and letters are all by American Crafts as pasrt of their "My Girl" collection. The buttons and washi tape are by Queen and Company. 

The journaling reads: "When you were first born Claire, Spencer didn’t really know what to think about you. When he came to meet you at the hospital he didn’t really understand what was going on like your older brothers did. Still, he held you for a moment and gave you this kiss on the head. Now, a year later, you two are great friends and playmates! Spencer now loves you very much and loves to kiss you. He is so patient, kind, and loving towards you, even when you are messing up his stuff. When that happens he gently picks you up under your arms and carries you carefully off to where you can’t reach his things—all the while kissing you on top of your head as if to say “I love you Claire, but please stay out of my things.” He also always makes sure that he kisses you goodnight even if you don’t really want him to. You are very lucky to have Spencer as your brother Claire! Photo July 7th 2013, Journaling Fall 2013"

Thank you for stopping by!

5 Months

It's hard for me to believe that Claire is actually 15 months old! These photos seem like just yesterday!

Someday I'll have all 12 of her first year photo shoots scrapbooked, but at this rate it might be another year or two! Anyhow, here is Claire at 5 months:

The papers, buttons, and tags are by Basic Grey from their Knee-highs and Bow-ties line, Queen and Company Washi tapes and rhinestones, American Crafts large plastic flowers and letters. The ladybug was cut out on my Cricut using the Tiny Treasures cartridge. 

The journaling reads: "What a growth spurt Claire! You now weigh in at 14 lbs! You moved up to 3-6 month sized clothes, but can still wear some of your 3 month sized clothes. Your face is really starting to fill out and get that “Gerber baby look.” Everywhere I take you people come up to me and want to see you. They love your smiles and always say how beautiful and happy you are! You look super cute in your Christmas dresses at church. You met Santa and didn't holler at him. You are grasping things better and love to be in your play saucer and to have toys to hold. You still hate the car at night, but like it during the day. You seem to like music and you like to have me sing to you. You also like the “Baby Santa” DVD and sometimes I use it to get you to fall asleep. You don’t sleep through the night anymore, but you do sleep pretty well. You usually just get up once around 3-4am for a quick eat and then go straight back to sleep. You still charm everyone with your great big smiles. Your whole body smiles now as you wave your arms and kick your feet when you are excited or extra happy. You recently found your feet and often will grab and hold on to them when I change your diaper. You can roll over, but it is more of an accident than a choice. The drool is on and you are starting to soak your shirts more with drool than spit up. You are also constantly chewing on your hands and anything you can get in your mouth. You have a very strong little neck and are always trying to hold it up off the ground so you can look around. You are more patient than you used to be. You love to be held in a standing position. Dec 2012"

Have a great Friday!

Her First Steps

Claire is at the busy age of running around everywhere and climbing on everything. She's desperately trying to get into anything she can and is quite the little mess maker! Sometimes it's hard to believe there was a time when she couldn't walk at all....

Anyhow, today's layout is from a few months back when Claire was just beginning to take her first steps. She was slow and Frankensteinish in her movements, but they were steps!

The papers and stickers here are by Pebbles, from their Love You More collection. The flowers were cut and embossed with my cuttlebug, the letters are by American Crafts, the enamel dots and Washi Tape are by Queen and Company, rotary stamps by American Crafts and K and Company. The Embossed background is by Core'dinations.

The journaling reads: "You started walking this past week Claire and we were all so excited! These photos are some of your very fist steps. You started out only going a few at a time, but that quickly turned into more! To get you to walk we would put your walker just out of reach so that you would walk to it. After just a week of that you are now choosing to try and walk all by yourself! Jun 9th 2013"

Have a happy Tuesday!

Over She Goes!

When Claire was around 1 month old she rolled over several times. I couldn't believe it the first time as none of the boys ever accomplished that so early. I figured it had something to do with her being still right around 6lbs. There just wasn't much weight to have to move! Not long afterwards she started growing and the rolling over stopped until the time these photos were taken about 5 months later. 

The papers, stickers, large embellishments, and tags on this layout are by American Crafts from their "My Girl" line. The Washi tape, pearls and epoxy dots are by Queen and Company, the title was done on my Silhouette Portrait machine with the KG Strawberry Lemonade font. 

The journaling reads: "Just a month or so after you were born Claire you were able to roll over a couple of times. I was stunned that you could do it so early! I decided it must be because you were so small and tiny so it didn’t take much muscle. Sure enough once you passed 7lbs you couldn’t do it again until recently. It took you quite a bit of effort at first but after a week or so you got very good at it! Now you use rolling over as a means of transporting yourself all over. You have a pretty solid 8 ft radius and nothing within that radius is safe anymore! January 2013"

Thanks for visiting today!

Tin Foil Dinners

So sorry I missed the last two days. With school starting (including an online home school program for one of my sons)  things have just been crazy around here. I'm back today though with a fun camping layout to share. 

I grew up in a family that camped a lot! Living not to far from the Sierra Nevada mountains made it fairly easy for us to escape the summer heat and spend a week up in the beautiful forested mountains of places like Yosemite and Lassen Volcanic National Park. One of the staples of nearly every camping trip was eating "tin foil," or "hobo" dinners. So even though I don't have mountains to camp in with my own kids, (Texas is rather on the flat side) we still do go camping and we almost always have our traditional "tin foil dinners." 

The new Echo Park "Happy Camper" line was a perfect fit for these photos. just the right mix of "outdoorsy" and yet still bright and fun colors.

I've also got some Queen and Company brads and Washi tape here as well as some more stamping with my date and rotary phrase stamps by K and Co and American Crafts.

The journaling reads: "I suppose these are actually aluminum foil dinners but I grew up calling them "hobo" or “tin” foil dinners! Whatever you call them they are a super yummy hamburger, potatoes, butter and veggie mix. They are a camping family favorite and no trip would be complete without them!"

Thanks for visiting today!

So Much To See

One of my favorite stages of a new baby in when thy get old enough to look at and study everything around them. Claire seemed extra observant from the very start, but after a couple of months she became even more studious. These photos capture her straining to move her head so she could see her new toys from every angle possible. 

More of the fabulous My Mind's Eye "My Girl" collection here along with more Queen and Company Washi tape, baker's twine, and pearls, American Crafts Letters, and my K and Co. date stamp.

The journaling says: "Claire, you recently have begun to really study the world around you! You love to look at brightly colored objects and at people. You seem to always have a look of extreme fascination as you start to decipher your world! Looking at these toys above your car seat seems to be one of your recent favorite things to do!"

Thanks for visiting today!

Your First Day

Another older layout to share again featuring the awesomeness that is the My Girl line from My Mind's Eye. I just used this line to pieces! It is definitely one of my all time favorite collections!

In  addition to the My Girl collection there is some Queen and Company Washi tape and buttons, as well as some American Crafts Thickers for the title. I gave my Fiskars cloud punches and my Cuttlebug a workout too.

The journaling reads: Claire, one of the things I remember about our first 24 hours together was how alert you were. Your brothers promptly feel asleep after delivery, but not you. You wanted to look around at everything! I also remember marveling at how tiny you were and how cute you looked wearing the tiny pink bow the nurse stuck to your head. I also adored taking hundreds of photos of you and I remember how sweet it was to hold you in my arms throughout most of your first night. Mostly I remember how glad I was to finally have you here! July 2012"

Happy Monday everyone!

2 Silly Jokers

From knock-knock and crossing the road, to what-do-you-get-if-you-cross jokes--we have heard them all around here the past year or so. Blake and Ty have entered the age of loving everything to do with telling jokes! Most of the time they are pretty funny, and you are both getting better at making up your own. 

This layout uses the "Boy Crazy" line from My Mind's Eye. It's a favorite of mine--no suprise with three boys in the house! It also uses Some Queen and Co. Washi tape and buttons, Some boarder punches (Hexagon one from Creative Memories--Zig-Zag from EK Success), and American Crafts, Echo Park, and Pink Paislee letters. 

The journaling reads: "You two boys just love to tell jokes! Almost daily I hear one or both of you say “Mom do you want to hear a joke?” Sometimes you get them from books, sometimes from school, and sometimes you make them up (they don’t always make sense though). One of my favorite ways to foster this new love is to slip jokes into your lunch boxes along with a note from me. It is always fun to hear your reaction to them when I pick you up after school! I love my two jokesters! --Spring 2013"

Have a great day!

Brand Spankin' New

I love the "moment of meeting" when the nurse places your baby into your arms for the very first time! I feel so lucky to live in an age where we have the ability to have photos of these moments! For my mother, grandmother's, great-grandmother's, etc. they only have these moments etched on their hearts, thankfully I have that as well as video and photographs, and even a scrapbook layout. These are Claire's first moments in our arms.

The journaling reads: "These are the very first photos we have of you Claire! We took them just moments after you were born while we each got a chance to hold you. I loved seeing you with your eyes open! You were so alert, and you seemed just as interested in meeting us as we were to meet you! Welcome to our family Claire!"

The Echo Park Bundle of Joy collection was perfect for these photos! I used my Silhouette Portrait to cut out my title and journaling spot. (I created the journaling spot in my Creative Memories' StoryBook Creator software).

 I also added Queen and Co. Baker's twine and pearls, and some stamping with some American Crafts and K and Co. stamps. Thanks for visiting today!

A Bow For Her Hair

After having the fun and joy of boys for over 10 years, I was super excited to also have the chance to explore the world of having a daughter. One of the things I was most excited for was accessories! Boys just really don't wear much of these. Girls on the other hand--especially little girls--do! I collected a pretty large stash of hair bows and bands before Claire was born and was quite eager to use them! At first all I could really use were some simple ribbon bows stuck to Claire's head with a little corn syrup. She didn't have much hair to stick a bigger clip in and her head was so tiny that the hair bands I had purchased were just too big. So we stuck mostly with the ribbon bows for about 1 to 2 months until her head got bigger.

I had a lot of fun with this layout and my Silhouette Portrait machine. I used it to cut out the speech bubbles and the arrows. The papers and stickers are by Echo Park from their Sweet Girl collection. There are also some Queen and Co.flowers and Washi tape, as well as a couple of older tags and a paper flower by American Crafts. The bows on this page are some of the actual ones she wore in the photos. 

The journaling reads: "At the hospital they put a simple white bow in your hair Claire. I loved it and I thrilled in the idea of having a chance to play with hair accessories for you! For the first month I made sure that you always had a bow stuck to your little tuffs of peach fuzz hair. I tried putting hair bands on you, but your head was so tiny that most didn't fit. Thankfully these little bows worked well! July 2012 "

He is her Number 1 Fan

I have one of the kindest and sweetest 11 years old there ever was. He is a tender hearted soul with with a maturity and love for others that you just don't see much at his age. He especially adores his little sister, and she adores him right back. This began long before she was born. Ty was so unbelievable excited when he found out that we were having a surprise baby. Despite being at the age where boys are normally rather anti- girl, he wanted the baby to be a girl from the beginning. When we found out it was indeed a girl he was again super excited and he started saving up his money to buy her a doll.

After she was born he started calling her "Precious Claire," and he still calls her that now. He loves to carry her around and give her rides up on his shoulders. He can always make her laugh and smile--even when she won't do it for me. The closeness of their connection must have started before this life, it's the only way I can explain the sweet and tender connection they seem to share.

Anyhow, this layout is about the first time Ty held her. My parents brought all of the boys up to the hospital to meet Claire after she was born and I was able to take this photo of him smiling down at her. It was sweet brotherly love at first sight!

The journaling reads: "Ty, I picked you to be the first of your brothers to hold Claire. I picked you not because you are the oldest but because you were the most excited about Claire before she was born. You were super excited from the very beginning! Then when we found out the baby was going to be a girl you were “over the moon” with happiness! You have never once been anxious, worried, or jealous like I thought you might be. You have always been full of enthusiasm and joy for this moment, when you first got to see and hold your new sister. I just know you are going to be a wonderful big brother to her!"

Again, this is the Bundle of Joy Girl line from Echo Park. I mixed in a couple of older chipboard pieces from Pebbles, some Queen and Co baker's twine and pearls, and more stamping with my rotary phrase stamps from American crafts and K and Co. The title was done with my Silhouette Portrait.

These larger Chevrons running down the side were made using my EK Success corner punch. If you look close you can see this is just a whole bunch of corner punches stacked together.

I added a few accordion flowers for interest plus some smaller "chevrons" made with my Zig-Zag Border punch by Fiskars.

Thanks for vising and have a great weekend!

Dance Into Dreamland

I was super excited when Echo Park released their Bundle of Joy line at CHA this winter. It was just what I'd been saving some of my favorite newborn photos of Claire for! 

Other than some rotary date/phrase stamps (K and Co, Amy Tangerine, and Dear Lizzy) and punches (Fiskars border punch and EK Success circle punch), everything here is from the Bundle of Joy Girl line. I didn't even pull out my die cut machines for the title since I loved the dainty and elegant letter stickers that come with this line. 

The texture on my background page is actually something I did with my new 6 1/2" x 12" Damask Brocade Cuttlebug folder. I started with a plain--non textured piece of 12" x 2" white cardstock. I used the folder along with a rolling pin (because the 12x12 page is too large for the Cuttlebug machine) to get the texture all over the page. I moved the folder all over the page embossing over previous embossings several times to create a subtle texture. For the very center of the page--where the paper wouldn't fit into the folder I just put my paper over the open folder and lightly pressed the paper into the folder with my fingers.

I loved the result and will likely emboss entire background pages in this way frequently!

The journaling reads: "I love this photo of you Claire! It was my first chance to really go super girly with dressing you up! It has been so fun to have the chance to play with lots of pink! I also adore your soft dreamy expression; I hope it meant you were having “sweet dreams.”

Thanks for visiting today!

Tiny Little Toes

A drive by posting for this Friday! Just another layout to share with the fabulous My Mind's Eye "My Girl" collection. I still have one or two more layouts done with this collection--I just loved it so much!

There is more Queen and Company Baker's Twine and Washi tape here and more stamping with my K and Company date stamp. The large letters are by american crafts and the little one by Echo Park.

 The journaling reads: "I can tell you have been growing and stretching out over the past couple of months Claire! Before you were two months old your tiny little toes stayed wrapped up well, now however, they always seem to be peeking out the ends of your blankets!"

Have a great weekend everyone!

A Battle Reenactment and 2 More Layouts

I hope you all had a great weekend! I know we did! We spent Saturday down at the festival/reenactment of the battle of San Jacinto, where Texas won its independence. It was a fabulously fun day with perfect weather. We spent the morning enjoying all the family friendly activities including shows--the boys thought the flea circus was pretty fun--, kids crafts, the museum, eating giant Turkey legs, and enjoying the petting zoo.

At the craft table the boys were able to make these fun hats and color bandannas so they could look like the Texas Army. They also made bluebonnet pictures with their fingerprints and stamp pads--they turned out very cute!

The petting zoo was also a big hit with the boys, even though the animals were pretty aggressive about getting the food we had for them. Here my mom stares down a Lama that was following her around :)

That afternoon we toured the camps of the Mexican and Texan armies, and settled in for the battle reenactment, which was really fun to watch. The boys were most excited by the cannons--which were loud and smokey!

Afterwards we wandered over to take a look at the Battleship Texas. We skipped the tour, as we were already pretty tired from a big day--but we will have to come back and take the tour sometime soon. It looked like fun!

Overall it was a perfect outing for these 3 boys! We all had a great time, only got a little bit sunburned, and look forward to next year!

And finally, as promised, here are my last 2 layouts for scrapbooks.com this month. This first one is about how Spencer falls asleep in some very random ways. It is always interesting to see what he was in the mist of before he nodded off:

This layout uses mostly Sasafrass Lass papers, Basic Grey and Pink Paisley letters, Queen and Company Brads, and those super cute monsters are by American Crafts. Click here to read the journaling and see a larger image.

And lastly for this month is a layout featuring those pop gun photos from a few posts down.

This layouts uses Pink Paisley papers, Making memories brads, Jillibean Soup and Cosmo Cricket letters, and October Afternoon Tags. Click Here to read the journaling and see a larger image.

Thanks for stopping by today!