Tuesday 28 February 2012

On the proper order of things

I'm making great progress with Document 2011 and I am so pleased with the latest pages I've made for this project!  As I mentioned before, I've decided to work backwards to try & keep the journalling and memories fresher.  I've finished December and almost completed November so I have some new photos to share with you today.


December - Wintertime, Echo Park.  Winter, a new boiler & new tyres, a friend to stay, registering the baby, visiting work people, Isaac over the month (including a new toddler group), a Christmas party, pottery painting, life group dinner, first haircuts (with corrupted photos, sob!), a month of sickness and Anna over the month.  I added a double page spread of 4x6s to cover Christmas in between the usual 2 middle pages this month.  It's pretty much all photos with a little bit of journalling and embellishing on each one for context.  And our focus for the month?  Andy turning 32 on the 22nd.
 The memorabilia envelopes contain some of our Christmas cards and wrapping paper samples.  Also a sachet of bread sauce (cos my brother and his wife are a little crazy) and Isaac's first craft from Twinkling Stars.  Or mine, depending on how you look at it!
 I love that little mug sticker and it fits so well with some journalling about meeting a friend for coffee.  We talked so long that Andy thought I'd gone AWOL.
 We had the best time at Lollipops pottery painting cafe.  Isaac really got into the hand-printing and Andy loved the mug we made him.  I used that photo of Anna for her birth announcements - more on that in Document 2012!






These two pages face each other and show shots from our Christmas.  The journalling mentions where we were for each bit.


I'm really pleased with how this month turned out - I especially like the focus page with all its little embellishment clustering.  I'm also embracing the pretty paper party motto of use that stash!  As someone said recently, if the paper sits in a pile then you won't get to look at it, whereas if it's on a layout...


I've just realised that I haven't blogged June, July or August (though they are all complete).  I will catch up with that soon, I promise.


And one last picture - I love love love this layout, which is the focus page for November.  I just have to do my memorabilia page for that month then it's all finished.
I have used up all kinds of lovely things I have had in my stash for ages on November's pages.  I've been trying to find a place for that birdie ribbon forever!  And the little metal bird & heart.  I love this paper collection too - I bought it when I thought it was amazing but I struggled to use it so it got hidden away.  Now though, I love it again and I'm planning on using it all up on another couple of layouts and some cards.


Now I just have September and October to scrap and Document 2011 is finished.  Apart from the title page and some sort of concluding layout.  But other than that!

Saturday 25 February 2012

On my desk right now..


  • a freshly made instant caramel latte
  • new AC albums for Document 2012 (freshly arrived from QVC, and barginous!)
  • newly delivered Thickers from Sarah's Cards
  • the remains of December 2011's document pages
  • sparkly gem stickers
  • various sticking methods
  • my very first washi tape!
All set for a bit of crafting while the boy naps!

Friday 24 February 2012

On routines

We've had some awful bedtimes this week. The boy can climb out of his cot now, so he does, within 10 seconds of us leaving the room. And he misses his daddy in the day so he likes to play with daddy in the evening. Particularly the chase-me-round-the-room game. Monday & Tuesday were just run-of-the-mill difficult, to be expected after a weekend away. Wednesday ended in Isaac throwing up all over me. Although he went straight to sleep after that. Thursday was the worst - I was crying by the time he finally went down! It really got me down that it seemed I had to reduce him to tears to get him to sleep.

We do a no interaction, straight back in bed method to try to get him to sleep. It worked well from just after he turned 1 until he learned to get out of his cot. So now we're in the market for a new method & I have 3 books on the toddler years to mine for ideas. I usually read the book, think about what will work for us & Isaac then discuss it with Andy to come up with a plan. We also have a cotbed to assemble tomorrow, which we hope will contain him a little better. And a groclock sleep trainer. And some prayers.

And what about tonight? Well, today was a write-off. I decided this morning that if we were all alive by the evening then we'd call the day a success. So we abandoned housework & went with the flow. Isaac napped until he woke up on his own. I ate scrambled eggs & jaffa cakes for lunch. And we ended up at Hobbycraft in Coventry at 5pm due to a combination of wishful thinking, rush-hour traffic & faulty satnav programming. Which is why we had meatballs for dinner at IKEA (daddy met us there) and didn't get home until 7pm. I cancelled my evening plans & fed the baby. Andy put the boy to bed. And he went out like a light just after half 7.

All of which is the long way of saying sometimes the routine needs tweaking, sometimes it needs more advice & sometimes it just needs throwing out the window.
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Sunday 19 February 2012

On documenting life

I've toyed with the idea of doing Project Life this year, mostly because it involves buying new stash and I'm a sucker for buying things.  In the end, I decided that I don't have time, as evidenced by the fact that I've just finished documenting August 2011.  I will say that we've been fairly busy with this whole 'family of four' thing for the last few months and only just climbed out of our little bunker.


I have some friends doing Project Life, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they produce over the year, but I've decided to focus on Document 2012.  This year I want to capture more of the everyday and the stories, rather than just the events we attend.  I love how my friend Leanne blends the two in her Document 2011 album.  I just need to remember to print the random photos and write the stories, which would be easier if I assembled the pages as the year went along instead of working 6 months behind.  In the spirit of which, I've finally sorted a system for collecting ephemera and I'm moving my Document notebook down to the kitchen to make my life easier.  And I've borrowed a suggestion from a PL blogger; I've started December's pages while I still remember (most of) the little things!
On a slightly different note, we're just back from a lovely weekend at my parents' house to celebrate my birthday.  I love this photo of me and the kids - I don't appear in enough of my family photos!!

Monday 13 February 2012

On sleeping babies...


...because at 11:30pm, that's what a mummy's mind rests on.


Isaac:
  • Slept through from 5 weeks
  • Slept all over the house, but almost always in the Moses basket
  • Took forever to learn how to fall asleep on his own (he still isn't quite there)
  • Wanted to spread out with plenty of room
  • Slept in a Moses basket next to daddy & then at the foot of the bed
  • Decided to sleep best completely covered by his duvet, sometime around 15 months
  • Needed rocking to sleep while he screamed, every night
  • Never settled in our bed & still won't sleep with us
  • Fell asleep leaning back against our chests in the rocking chair
  • Would always fall asleep in the car, until he wouldn't
  • Lay on his front for ages & now gets into some amazing positions in his sleep.
Anna:
  • Sleeps in a Moses basket next to me
  • Wakes once or twice a night to feed
  • Falls asleep on her own, in her bed after a little cry
  • Slept in our bed for the first 6 weeks
  • Loved to sleep while being cuddled
  • Buried her face in the sides of the basket while she sleeps (or my pillow, or me)
  • Falls asleep on the floor
  • Slept all over the house, on the sofa, the floor, in her carseat, but rarely the Moses basket
  • Has started to suck her thumb
  • Wakes up happy & smiling, chatting to me
  • Always sleeps in the car
  • Preferred to sleep on her front but now sleeps always on her back.
I'm amazed how different my babies are already!


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