Confessing my Love for Ju Ju Be.

My new favorite diaper bags:



And how cute is that song?! Love it.

I think I've become obsessed with this company. Okay, I have. Kind of embarrassing, but really, I have.

Honestly, (in my opinion) as far as functionality and loveability (I just made that up... but come on! ... a Mommy pocket in most bags, and the bags are machine washable?!? HELLO!??!), they blow Petunia Pickle Bottom and Coach's diaper bags out of the water! They're awesome.

That is all. :-)

PhotoBoothing with Hattie at 6 mos.

Every month, my goal is to try to get Hattie to smile while on PhotoBooth. 

She really doesn't have anything to smile *at* though...

just my boring computer screen, so this becomes quite a difficult task.

Although, sometimes she *does* smile when she catches a glimpse of herself on the screen. ;-)

And I try to get her to smile by giving kisses...

Or acting like a goon...

 

 

And what *finally* gets a real smile out of her? 

Daddy walking into the room! Hee hee hee. 

Oh no. My blog is becoming one of *those* blogs...

one that revolves around adorable photos of an adorable baby.

*sigh*

Okay, I vow to blog about organization and decor and scrapbooking too. :-D

In other news, my most-viewed post this week has been an older post about

my niece's toenail collection. LOL. 

*What* on earth are people searching for out there?!?!

Sharing FULL Scrap Room.

So... back in May, I posted a sneak of my scrap room.

It was so cool to be in Creating Keepsakes' special issue (Creative Spaces),

and I figured I'd give it a couple months...

they probably wanted us to wait like 30-60 days or something.

I didn't ask about the exact time period. Maybe I should have. ;-)

So it dawned on me the other day that I STILL hadn't shared

my scrap room in full. UGH! I had to get on that.

So....

Without further ado...

My Scrap Room!

(you can click on the photos to make them larger!)

When you walk through the the french doors 

(that we actually removed because I wanted the room to be an extension of the living room...) 

And when you look to the left... 

And when you look to the right...

*cute curtains from Pier 1... now discontinued :-(

And when you keep walking straight ahead to the right,

you turn that corner, and enter my little sitting area nook... 

Took me a lot of tweaking to get the nook just right.

The loveseat is an Ektorp from IKEA. 

Didn't plan to have this loveseat in here, as we bought it 

as our "for now" furniture for our first apartment in Austin.

This cover was on clearance for THIRTEEN DOLLARS (yeah, down from like... $140).

So I was *ecstatic* that it matched perfectly. :-)

The bookcase behind the loveseat?

Believe it or not, that used to be a twin bed headboard! 

My dad and sister added spindles to each side, and they made it

into an entertainment unit. And I inherited it from them. :-)

Jeremy added legs, so that it would sit perfectly behind the loveseat.

(Jeremy's brilliant idea, not mine. ;-) )

(It REALLY needs lamps and/or plants on either side. Some day... :-) )

So I re-painted it, altered the inside with October Afternoon's Hometown 

scrapbook paper (one of my favorite collections of all time),

and added cute knobs and fun things. :-)

Pillows from Target.

Poms from Jo-Ann's dollar spot.

Stool from IKEA (painted to match my color scheme).

Knobs from Anthro.

Document boxes from The Container Store.

Everything else was found secondhand at thrift stores/antique stores/vintage shops.

So here are more shots around the room...

This is looking back toward the door of the room,

so the left wall when you first walk in... 

elfa Shelving (on sale right now till Feb 13th!!)

Canvas bins.

American Crafts albums.

Photo drawers (a la Stacy Julian's LOM).

And a close-up...

Shoe storage holds punches.

Acrylic organizer (that I'm now finding a new home for...) holds stamp pads and stuff.

Ribbon cabinet.

Dress Forms.

Jane Joss fabric branch.

Be Inspired print.

Desk chair is a commercial/retail chair. 

I got it at a vintage shop in Austin, but what's really funny...

these same chairs are used at Taco Cabana all over Austin! LOL. :-p

And my work table.

Cardstock and patterned paper under work space.

Embellishment drawers (original and altered).

Kit storage.

Friends frame with my altered switchplate.

At other angles...

"Reyanna" sign I've had since 1985. 

My dad had them made for all of us kids.

He *only* took them out at Christmastime, 

so I was so glad when he gave it to me to look at every day. :-)

After MUCH debate about altering it, I decided to keep it

in all its original wood glory. :-D

Alphabet sticker/Thicker organization (far left on paper shelf).

Bold boxes (under paper).

UglyDoll: Wedgehead.

Current kit/favorite papers in progress (on left) sit in this.

Phew.

I know... A LOT of photos. But I hope you enjoyed my scrap room tour!

Thank you for looking!

I hope to do a video tour too. :-)

That would have to be in pieces though because it would be LOOOOONG!

And you would probably get sick of me. LOL. :-p

If you have any questions or need more close-ups, 

please let me know! 

I can always do a follow-up post. :-D

p.s. If you're looking to redecorate a room, try these coupons for Home Depot.

Wanting Mama.

I didn't get much done today...

After Hattie's first nap, we went to the post office and then grocery shopping.

That was the extent of me being productive.

I "wore" her in the Moby to both places.

She fell asleep in the car on the way home.

And then when she woke up, she just wanted her mama.

She was interested in a book for five minutes. 

And maybe her OBall Rattle for another five minutes.

I sang to her. 

I talked to her.

I just carried her around.

I tried to put her down for another nap,

but she wasn't having it. 

She wanted her mama.

We laid down together.

We talked to each other.

I sang to her.

We just... looked at each other.

I tried putting her down,

but she just wanted her mama.

So I put her back in the Moby.

And she fell asleep. 

I love these photos. 

You can see my lunch plate and Nutella in the background.

I didn't have a chance to put them away.

My shoes are kicked off in front of the loveseat.

The mail is strewn about.

Her laundry, waiting to be hung up, lays on the floor.

But she needed her mama. 

The chores can wait.

As the saying goes...

babies don't keep.

So I'm milking this for all its worth. :-)

It's okay that you needed me today, Baby Girl. 

I'm all yours.

PhotoBoothing with Hattie at 5 mos.

So... we had a crazy busy weekend, so Hattie is not herself today 

for our PhotoBoothing session. She's just so tired! :-( Ah well. 

I LOVE this outfit (given to us by our friend Michelle), 

so I decided we needed to do our PhotoBoothing anyway. :-)

This was me trying to hold one of her favorite toys up over the camera. 

She *always* smiles at this toy, but i don't know... because it was over the computer's camera,

these are the looks I got instead... LOL.

Then I decided that I'd put her closer to the camera, 

so she'd see her adorable self on the screen and want to smile...

*sigh*

Still no luck. Okay, THEN I decided to tickle her chin. 

That always gets a smile...

Nope.

Okay, didn't want it to come to this, but now Mom decides

she should act crazy, so Hattie will smile, and then I'll try

to get a quick smile in before the camera takes the photo...

Uhh... yeah. The result is... Mama looking like a silly fool,

while Hattie has a look on her face that says,

"My mom is ridiculous. Seriously? This is what she's doing to get me to smile?!

Oh, brother. Are we done yet?"

And so, I claim defeat. No smile this month, 

so we just try to look pretty instead. ;-)

PhotoBoothing with Hattie at 4 mos.

A bit late this month with these, but just over a week. No worries. :-)

(This cute outfit was given to her by my dear friend, Michelle.

I love it with these polka dot pants! :-D )

In these next photos.... No, I'm not wearing makeup. No, my hair is not done. Yes, my scrap room is a mess. And yes, I was scrapping on the floor. Tee hee. It's okay though because I have a cute baby in my lap. ;-)





her serious face...

Till next time. :-)

Looking Back: One Year Ago Today

One year ago today, November 21st...

Our lives changed forever.

One year ago today...

I saw that word for the second time in four months.

One year ago today...

I cried happy, but cautious, tears.

One year ago today...

Eight months seemed like such a long time to wait to hold our baby in our arms.

One year ago today...

We secretly hoped for a little girl.

One year ago today...

We found out I was pregnant.

One year ago today...

We thanked the Lord for blessing us.

One year ago today...

I knew I woud love being a mom, but there was no way I could feel what I feel now.

*sigh*

My love for her is so astronomical. I can't even put it into words. I cherish every second I have with her. I thank our Heavenly Father so much for blessing us with such a girl. :-) Every day I look at her, I want to cry (and sometimes I do) because of the love I have for her.

One year ago today...

Our prayers were answered. :-)