a bag of chips

Trini girl.

The layout below is of my sister-in-law, Andi.  Andi is a wife, mother, entrepreneur, musician and birthing doula.  She's also beautiful, as you can see.  I've had this photo of her from a party in Trinidad last year and I've just been waiting for the right inspiration to scrap it.  And I love how it turned out.  The paper is by Cross My Heart.

And we're off!

Well, my friends, tomorrow morning we are headin' on up to lovely Carpinteria for a little family reunion.  By little, I mean that there will be eight kids under 12 and 11 rather tired looking adults beaching it for the remainder of the week.  Then I have a photo shoot in Orange County Monday and then it's back home on Tuesday.

Below is a recent photo of Miss Lady, looking so tropically sweet in a dress from Trinidad.

See you next week!

Layouts!

Below are my Keeping Memories Alive Design Team submissions for August.  I'm supposed to do three layouts and a card, but my card mojo is NOT flowing these days.  So in lieu of the card I submitted two additional layouts.  Click on the Keeping Memories Alive link on your right to view the August submissions from all of my design team buds.

Cheers!

Baby update.

Things are going really, really well so far in our adoption of baby #3.  We're just about five weeks away from her due date and we've been busy getting ready. 

I've washed and put away LOTS of pink clothes and I continue to get hand-me-downs from friends.  (LOVE THAT!) 

My friend, Julie Hickey, is crochetting some adorable little booties for the baby - in pink, of course.  (Thanks, Julie!) 

We (translate - Chris, husband extraordinare) has been busily and expertly remodeling our guest room so that we can do the bedroom shuffle.  Aidan is going into the guest room, Makena is going in Aidans room, and Makena's room will be the guest room until the baby has outgrown her cradle.  We're hoping to have everyone in their new rooms this weekend.  Aidan will finally be going into a big-boy bed, complete with Thomas the Tank Engine linens.  Aidan's new room is now a really neat shade of grey-ish blue - boy-ish without being baby-ish.  Aidan's new bed is a loft bed from IKEA that gives us lots of flexibility as he grows. Right now the bed is set at the lowest possible setting for easy in and out.  As he gets older - though I'm really in no rush for that - the bed will be moved up until he's sleeping mere inches from the ceiling.

*Funny little anecdote:  My brother had bunk beds when we were kids.  He slept on the top bunk, mere inches from the ceiling.  My brother was also an avid nose picker (and probably still is) and must have been at a loss for what to do with his little treasures.  Close inspection of the popcorn ceiling above his bed revealed hundreds of booger stalactites.  Please pray that Aidan isn't THAT close to the ceiling.  EVER.

I bought the infant seat the other day and I must tell you that buying JUST an infant carrier was a huge undertaking.  Just about everywhere I went - Target, WalMart, Toys-R-Us - sells damn near all of their infant carriers as a travel system which includes a stroller.  I don't need a damn stroller.  I have eight strollers.  Yes, eight.  If these places did have JUST an infant carrier, it was hideously ugly and looked like the latest carseat technology circa 1982.  I finally found a decent selection at Babies-R-Us, or more affectionately known as New Mom Mecca, and ended up buying a Graco product.  I then spent 45 minutes in the parking lot, sweating like a sumo wrestler, rearranging the seating configuration in my minivan and installing the new seat.  But I love looking in my car and seeing three kid seats, and I'm glad we're officially ready now. 

The cradle, on loan from my pal Martha, is in our room, ready to be filled with sweet babyness.  I even have the changing pad set up as well. 

Really, all we need now are diapers, formula and a baby.  Five weeks and counting.

B. is remarkable.  I love her to bits.  She's had a tough couple of years but she's such a positive person and is focusing on her future rather than dwelling on her past.  She's strong and gracious and caring and she is taking such good care of herself and the baby.  She is Makena's new best friend and Aidan loves to sit on her lap to be close to the baby.  Total sweetness.  B. has another doctor's appointment next week and then it's every week until delivery. 

These next five weeks are going to FLY by, and then we'll be a family of five.  Cockburn, party of five.  And you know what's really cool about being a family of five?  The girls will have the majority.

One gorgeous family.

I had the honor of photographing this family during their reunion week at Crystal Cove in Southern California.  View a tiny bit more of their album here.

Toots!

I just got my September CK and guess what?  You can view part of my scrap space in their "Embrace Your Space" column on page 149, photo #4.  My space is all IKEA.  It was really affordable and it's extremely functional.  My whole space was assembled and installed in four hours (by a professional IKEA installer).  LOVE that butcher block countertop!

Wanna know where else you can find me these days?

Simple Scrapbooks "Scrapbook Shortcuts with Quizzes and Questions" special issue - page 55.  On this page, my layout is right below one done by Stacy Julian and faces a fab layout by Barbara Carroll.  How cool is that???

Simple Scrapbooks Sept/Oct 2006 issue in the "Moments" column at the back of the magazine.  That's my boy holding those mini pumpkins!  You can read more about the photo here.

You'll also be able to see some of my layouts in another Simple Scrapbooks special issue "Slice of Life Scrapbooking" due out this month.  It's currently on pre-order and it's going to be fabulous!  CZ is on the cover and looking adorable as always.

To find out where else I've been published, take a peek at the "Publications" link to the right.

(This shameless back-patting episode has been concluded.  Thank you for your patience.)

Just visiting.

My brother-in-law, Jonathan, has been visiting us for about a week.  Jonathan's a student in Florida, but Trinidad is his home.  This is his first time west of the Appalachians, and he's been soaking in the sights.  He's actually seen quite a bit of Southern California during his short stay, thanks in part to me, his personal tour guide, and my husband who had to drive to Brawley (???) and Jonathan bravely tagged along.  He's been to Julian and San Ysidro to see the border.  We drove to Venice Beach and got to watch the filming of a TV show on the streets of Venice, then we cruised Sunset where we may or may not have seen someone famous.  He's also been to downtown San Diego, the desert, and today, his last day, he got to go to the San Diego Zoo.  He did all of these things, all the while talking with his girlfriend every 12.5 minutes (yes, I timed it once) and making obnoxious kissy noises.  (Hello, Miss Daney.)

Here are some photos of our L.A. adventure, freaks included.

Favorite.

Mom:  "Hey, Aidan.  Band-aid boy.  Show me your cars."

Aidan:  "Like this?"

Mom:  "Yes!  Perfect!  Now, show me your favorite."

Aidan:  "Like this?"

Mom:  "Yes!  Perfect!  Thank you, baby."

I love my son.