Wi Fi Where Have You Been All My Life?

As I sit on my couch soaking in all of the possibilities, I am in awe of technology. In just one day we have increased our online presence significantly with a new iPad and a Google TV. Santa was very good to us this year and we are truly blessed. It will take a little time for me to learn how to do everything I am used to doing on my regular computer but I hope to be able to blog more regularly. Because that, my friends, is the gift that keeps on giving :-).
So just a quick update while I learn to add photos to posts.
The kids are great although why any toddler should get 5-6 teeth at once is beyond me.
Miss C is running all over creation and wants nothing to do with being held and certainly does not require hand holding.
Colin has been enjoying his Christmas gifts even though he was really sweating the Santa stuff. He was sure the big guy was not coming to our house this year. Colin's doing well and being well, Colin. See previous sentence about being worried that Santa was not coming.
I have been trying to craft but it's been hard to make time. I'm hoping to start working on Miss C's newborn photos. Maybe that will get my butt in gear? It was around 18 months when I started scrapbooking for Colin so I only have a few more months, right?
Anywho that's a lot of words with no photos, I will post some Christmas photos soon. Promise.
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

A Few Photos...

Yeah, I'm a terrible blogger right now. It will get better...right?!?

SO over the last several months Colin has started first grade, Miss C has turned 1 and we visited Mickey and Jo Pa. See why it's been tough to blog, lol!

In the midst of everything I also need to make two costumes for Colin. One is a ninja as requested and the other is for All Saints Day for school.

Yeah, somehow I just think that things are going to get worse before they get better.

Have I mentioned that Miss C has started running?

Yep, totally going to get worse before it gets better :-)


Get the FREE Printables here, they are awesome.

Welcome....

Seems only fitting that the first layout I completed is about Miss C's birth story.

This layout was completed with Vintage Vogue by College Press Studio for Pink Paislee.

On Saturday, Matt took the kids so I could spend some time cropping in the scrapbook store. It was great to just clear my head for a bit, spend some time away from the kids and just focus on something that makes me happy. I can't explain how much of a difference this makes. I'm so grateful for having the opportunity to have a little me time. I really didn't get that much done but at least I started. I'm thankful that I have been able to clean my room a bit and get reacquainted with my supplies.

The one benefit of not scrapbooking in over a year is that all of my supplies are new supplies, (well at least to me, lol!)

I have to admit that when I received these lovely supplies from Pink Paislee, I was just grinning from ear to ear when I opened this box. So maybe I should thank them for helping me find my mojo again. Thanks so much Miriam and College Press Studio for thinking of me. You really made my day!

Two Posts in the Same Week....

What's even more surprising is that I scrapbooked yesterday.

Seriously, I hardly believe it either.

This is prompted the urge to clean my craft room. I forgot how much being creative gets my butt in gear. All of my laundry is sorted. Baskets that have been sitting upstairs since we left for the beach, in August, are put away and I even baked snacks for Colin.

It feels good to be me again.

So while I'm cleaning here are a few photos from the summer. Enjoy and I will be back with an actual layout. :-)

So Much to Catch Up On....

But first I wanted to post about something that is very important to me. I first heard about milksharing in the news with angry mobs of people denouncing the practice and participating in the traditional mommy wars. I am always surprised at how hot buttons issues can bring out the best in people when they have a computer and internet access.

When I had Colin, I diligently got up each morning on maternity leave and pumped so I could have a large freezer stash ready and waiting for when I returned to work.

Then Colin got sick.

I had no idea what I had eaten the weeks prior and I had to assume that all of my milk was contaminated with milk and soy proteins. So I took everything out of the freezer, defrosted it and poured it down the drain. I cried and cried for all the time and effort lost, but also I now had no safety net. The only formulas that Colin could tolerate smelled of dog food and were extremely expensive. The type of formula he needed we couldn't buy in a store and we needed to get it at the pharmacy. Our insurance would not pay for this even though it was medically necessary.

Thankfully he could tolerate human milk.

So we continued our breastfeeding relationship on a restricted diet and he continued to grow and thrive. There were many a days that I was panicked since for well over his first year of life I was his ONLY source of nutrition. If I got sick or had a drop in my supply there weren't many other options that I could provide.

Oh how I wish I knew about milksharing then. I could have given that freezer stash to a needy mom. I could have found another mom who was on a restricted diet and gotten some milk from her.

Fast forward to me having Charlotte and being a little obsessive about building a freezer stash. Several 100 ounces later I no longer had room in either of my freezers and decided to give it away. As much as I worried about my insurance policy being gone in my freezer, it was never a problem. Charlotte always had enough milk with just a little extra in the freezer for an emergency. I never rebuilt my stash to that capacity again but as she turns 1 year old next week I realize that everything I pump now is a bonus. I am so grateful for that.

I realize that this isn't something that lots of people talk about. But we need to talk about it. This isn't about making people feel bad for choosing formula. It's about human milk being available but not accessible to everyone. I choose to breastfeed, I nurse in public, I milkshare. However, I also let my children play with plastic toys, watch TV, and eat at McDonald's. As parents we all make choices that are the best for our families, it's just so much easier when we know all the options that are available to us.

The End. :-)

Look, I'm Blogging!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes I realize that it has been far too long since I shared anything here but life has been a major zoo here. And not a small town zoo either, think major wild life and exotic hard to find animals kind of zoo. Yep, it's been crazy.

Here's a brief run down of what we have been up to. I'm pretty sure my family will be looking for me soon.


I am officially working 40 hours a week. I am anticipating the few extra hours a week will totally kick my butt until I get used to it again.


We got all dressed up and went to a wedding.


We have been spending loads of time at the pool.


At Dutch Wonderland and Hershey Park. Poor Charlotte, we just drag her around wherever we are going. Luckily she travels well. Although by the look of this picture you think I told her we were about to go around the whole park again :-)


We have also been finding things to do inside. Again, poor Charlotte since it usually means we are sharing a chuckle at her expense.


Thankfully she doesn't seem to mind :-)

Hope your summer is off to a great start!

Disney in the City...

We are back and just like I predicted, it really was all about the fashion, (and the allergen free food). We had a wonderful time and seriously cannot wait to go back. I think one of my favorite moments from the trip was on the way to the resort from the airport. We were watching the movie on the bus and they were playing that stupid memories begin commercial that makes me cry everytime I see it. I started to tear up and I looked over at Colin who was tearing up too! I said are you okay? He said, "I'm just so happy!"

That just makes my heart so happy.

Here are a few quick photos before I head off to bed. The red and white dress is the one I made and the cupcake photos are from Babycakes, the vegan bakery downtown.