a bag of chips

Our last first birthday.

Today Nadia, Princess Four Teeth, Miss Whiney Hiney, Ruler of All Things Knee-High, Twenty-three Pounds of Pudge, turns one.  That's right, she's one year old today.  Hard to imagine that an entire year has passed since this moment:

This glorious moment when she took her first breath, cried her first cry and changed all of our lives forever.  I remember this scene - the sounds, the smells, my breath and my voice caught in my thoat, my heart beating wildly - as if it just happened. I tell you, it's a good thing I'm a photographer and scrapbooker because all the thousands of moments between that life-altering moment and the one in which I'm writing this has been a total blur - a wonderfully crazy, emotional, tiring, occasionally vodka spiked, filled-up-to-the-rim blur.   

I think parents live in a cruel time warp.  Like time automatically speeds up the moment you become a parent.  *BLINK* your child is born.  *BLINK* you child starts kindergarten.  *BLINK* your child has her driver license and a boyfriend.  *BLINK* you have no bladder control, you can't see past your nose and you're becoming a grandparent for the seventh time.  Sure, as the stay-at-home parent to three kids four and under, there have been days that I prayed for bedtime so I could shower, eat, and enjoy my first quiet moment of the day.  I've had days when I caught myself looking foward to a time when they're all in school and out of my hair so I could shop for bras without boob questions from my four-year-old son, pee without a hand appearing under the door, or make a phone call without the obligatory "MMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMYYYYYY!  Aidan wants to eat my boogers!!!!!!" 2.9 seconds into my conversation with my OB/GYN's office to schedule an exam ("Mom, what's a catschmeer?").   

But this baby's first birthday is hitting me hard.  I'm celebrating her first year while mourning its passing.  She's not a baby anymore and she's crawling at the speed of light toward toddlerhood.  I'm on the slippery slope of before-you-know-its and it ain't pretty.  And it's a good thing she's oblivious to the fact that it's her birthday because I think she'd be seriously mad at me for crying so much.  I should be in the other room making cupcakes with lots of pink and purple frosting instead of opening up my second box of Kleenex.  I know in my head that we're done growing our family but it's these milestone days that niggle at my heart that maybe there's room for one more.  Oh my God, did I just say that?

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our big beautiful baby girl.  We love you more than:

Mommy:  I ever thought possible.

Daddy:  My heart can say.

Aidan:  Oreos and milk.

Makena:  I love Aidan.

Mommy:   (Makena......)

Makena:  I love baby Einstein and my bwankie and Boots.

And Happy Nadia's Birthday to her birth mother, the most courageous and determined young person I know.

   

It's official!

Go here to see what I'm talking about.

I got the call from Angie and Wendy Friday before last.  Once my brain actually processed the information, I nearly cried and then I totally lost all control of my vocabulary.  I gushed and thanked and gushed and thanked and then immediately called my husband and my mother.  And it's been a major practice in patience and restraint not to be able to post about it here.

I have loved working with all of the amazingly talented people at Simple Scrapbooks and I am thrilled beyond words that they still want me around. 

Thank you!

Simple Scheme.

Check out the Simple Scheme at Simple Scrapbooks and submit your layouts by October 7, 2007.  We want to see what you come up with!

And notice anything coolio about who came up with the scheme?  The first person to answer gets a goodie from me.

This and that.

So, how are you?  I'm doing okay, thanks for asking. 

Except that Makena now has pneumonia for the second time this year.  This time it's not as bad, thank God.  But she's on some killer antibiotics which will probably make her feel better and worse at the same time.  Ugh.  She's a trooper, that girl.  And she's happy to be on the couch watching movies all day long rather than being in school, even with a fever of 101.4.

Everyone else is doing well. 

My amigo Vincent wants to show you something:

Meet Duck.  Duck says "quack quack."  Just in case you didn't know.

And I want to show you something:

This is my beautiful San Diego a few weeks ago.  I was down at Blick Art with Makena and I couldn't resist heading toward the water for a sunset photo.  This was taken just north of where the Star of  India is docked.  Point Loma and is the ridge in the background.

And, just in case you were wondering, I'm still not ready for Miss Nadia, my crawling, cruising, standing and climbing monkey punk to turn one on Saturday.  I'm just not ready. 

I hope to post about one more piece of news in a few days but I'm waiting for official word that it's officially official.  Officially.

Have a lovely Monday!

I got my scrap on.

On Friday, my new buddy Susie Sincock and I headed up to the OC to take Jamie's class at the Oasis.  It was my first scrap class I'd ever taken and I totally loved it.  The supply kit rocked and was full of stuff I might not ever have bought.  And Jamie's style is so unlike my own, and that's why I think I enjoyed it so much.  I didn't just step outside my scrap box but jumped the line with glee.  I loved how freeing it was to have the supplies given to me and inspiration and instructions on how to scrap like someone who is so fabulous at it.  And Jamie's adorable daughter Kira was there to help hand out prizes.  Jamie's very own Vanna.

Below is something I created at home over the weekend, totally inspired by Jamie, and using up a good combo of old (some Chatterbox rub-ons, KI stickers and an old Making Memories leather flower) and new supplies (American Crafts patterned paper from which I cut a flower, and a Fontwerks journaling label).  Woohoo!

And have you been to the Simple Studio lately?  I've had quite the scrappy weekend and have posted some new layouts there, too.  And Lain Ehmann, Miss Scraphappy herself, is the Simple Studio Blog hostess this month and she's whooping it up big over there.  Check it out!

And on the photography scene, I've still got some dates available in November, so head on over to my photo blog for my availability, and email me if you're interested in a session.

I'll post again tomorrow with an update on how The Bigs are doing with school and how The Baby, The Crowned Crawling Champion of the World, is getting into EVERYTHING.  Oy.

On this day...

...forty-nine years ago, the sweetest man in the world was born.  He gives me many opportunities each day to reflect on my good fortune that he asked me to be his wife.  And although I celebrate the day he was born every minute of every day, today is the day I do it most publicly (much to his embarrassment, I'm sure).

I love you, Chris, with all my wildly beating heart. 

And Nadia says:   Da-da-da-da-nggggh.  Plbth.

And Makena says:  Appy birday, daddy.  You're da bess daddy.  Sank you.

And Aidan says:  I'm so excited it's your birfday I'm gonna wreck my head off.  Now can I have a cupcake?

Playful.

Okay, so maybe I'm a bit biased but this special issue KICKS BUTT.  It's funny, there's tons of inspiration and some great get-me-the-heck-out-of-my-ever-scrappin'-box ideas.  Seriously, put down your Tonic scissors and glue dots and get your buns to your nearest scrap joint or book seller and pick one up.

And to keep the fun going, the first person to correctly guess how many layouts of mine can be found inside gets a free copy from my stash.

Ready.......go!

--------------------------------------------

ETA:  Congrats to Stephanie!  She guessed four and that's correctamundo! 

So, the first person to post in the comments section the page numbers my layouts appear on, gets an issue.

Ready.......go!

My brain is melting. And a few other things.

Yes, folks, my brain is melting.  You see, after having had a yucky stomach event on Saturday and most of yesterday, last night I started getting a sore throat and a stuffy nose.  And today my nose. will. not. stop. running.  So, it just seems that because it's the HOTTEST FREAKIN' DAY in recent memory, my brain is melting through my nose. 

Yick.

It was 88 degress in my house most of today.  We have an air conditioner but no conditioned air.  It's been broken.  It's over 30 years old and always blows a fuse or two when the monster is turned on.  (Gee, that last sentence could describe me, too.  Hmph.)  And it was still 95 degrees outside at 6:00 PM and we're less than a crow's mile from the beach.  And it's been humid.  And breezefree.  Needless to say, I think our next Big Home Improvement Project, after some majory landscape and fencing improvements this summer, will be to invest in brand new heating and air conditioning.  We've been talking about repainting and adding some stone-esque architectural features to the outside of our house for our next BHIP, but I truly think the heating and cooling of our home should get priority.  Of course, I'm painfully aware that by the time we have the funds to get started on this next BHIP, and by the time it's actually installed, I'll be cursing the chill in the air and reminiscing about the steamy days of early September.  In the meantime, we'll cool down with romps through the sprinklers, long air conditioned car rides and dozens of Otter Pops.

Tonight I was over at www.cnn.com and saw this.  Totally amazing.  I'd vote for that brave firefighter for president anyday.  I'm sure the three folks he rescued would say the same.

Last Friday I was asked to be a guest designer at Roots Scrapbooking.  It looks like a fairly new site and the sweet lady in charge liked what she'd seen here and at 2Peas.  How cool is that?  And this is my first guest spot.  Way cool.

And, as with most of the country, The Bigs start school tomorrow.  Today we got them new backpacks (Disney Princess for Princess Makena, and a Cars backpack for Dude Aidan), new socks, new shoes and some new clothes for Makena.  Their lunchboxes have been packed and are ready for the cold stuff first thing in the morning.  So far, Makena has been holding up well.  Given that a few months ago she started to cry whenever we mentioned the name of her new school, she seems to have accepted it.  I hope so.  It's so heartbreaking when they scream and cry and sob, almost to the point of getting sick, and you kiss them and hold them while you keep telling yourself that school is a good thing. Oh boy.  I sure hope she's going to make it through tomorrow, my anxious little one.  Aidan, I'm certain, will be the stoic little man, helping his sister not be sad, eager to touch all the new stuff and play with all the new stuff and check out his classmates and teacher. 

Ugh.  I need to be strong.

And now back to the weather (said in a Walter Chronkite-esque voice).  It's 9:11 PM and it's still 85 degrees in my house.   

I think I'll take some more Benadryl and head to bed, under my ceiling fan with the windows wide open.  In my birthday suit.