Photo Friday

In an attempt to keep up with the new ideas and schedule I have set up for the blog, Ive decided that Fridays will become Photo Fridays! 

I love Photography be it a photo I just can't stop looking at, or one that I have taken and just love. I am by no means anywhere near professional and I am only using a point and click camera but the idea that you can convey sadness, joy, serenity or just general awe with a photo is amazing to me. Its actually a dream of mine to own a great camera and be able to take classes or lessons in Photography. I did have a breif stinit as a photographer at a chain store as a portrait photographer and I loved it but the hours and were long and it just didn't work with our family schedule when Robyn started to get earlier shift at his job. I miss it and sometimes think that someday when I'm no longer a stay at home momma I might just go back to it or maybe if by then I have that fancy dream camera and those photography classes I might just do it as a part time gig on my own.... 

So on Fridays I will be posting either a few of my photos or a few that I have found online or from a friend who has a bit more talent with a camera than I do.  

So here are a few photos that I snapped while visiting my in-laws in Little Hearts Ease, NL. These were taken in September just days after our wedding. While we were out visiting them a huge hurricane called Igor hit our province and cause some major devastation including what you will see below. We were trapped for about 6 days without a way to get home due to road washouts. It wasn't all bad we had lots of fun too including the photo opp I had. 

Tell the truth Thursday

Today I am starting to get an idea of how the blog is going to take shape, so I am starting on the right foot. Today is the first "Tell the truth Thursday"

A little bit of a confessional I guess.... 

And today is a big one... well for me anyways

I feel so guilty, I have such a short temper these days and yesterday I actually screamed at Delaney. I'm sure I'm not completely alone in having a short temper with my child but I have never been this short tempered with her before. I have a feeling that it is mostly due to these crazy pregnancy hormones coursing through my body and brain but it feels just horrible knowing that I could and did take I all out on Delaney.

I had just gotten off the phone and was trying to explain to Husband what was said and all that and Delaney was in my face screaming "Mommy mom mommy mommy mommy" and while she is only two and I know better, I looked right at her and screamed "just stop it" after which I broke into tears.... She went on about her business and couldn't have cared less but I sat crying for 10 minutes. once I calmed down I wanted to explain to her why mommy was so mean and yelled at her... and she in all her two year old wisdom looked at me and said "It's ok Momma" and off she went again. 

It has made me feel so wrong, so upset, like I am such a bad mom... I know its in the past and I know that I can't change it but I have to be more conscious of my temper from now on. I just wish all this parenting stuff was easier, and it wouldn't hurt if all this pregnancy stuff was easier too... 

New addition!

Well our little family is growing again! 

We are expecting another baby this August and we couldn't be more thrilled! We let our families and close friends in on the good news before Christmas but wanted to wait to share it with the world until later when we knew things were going in the right direction, which my Dr. says certainly are! 

The main reason we wanted to wait was due to our prior pregnancy losses. We lost 2 pregnancies in the past one at 14 weeks in 2006 and one at 16 weeks in 2007. On our first pregnancy miscarriage wasn't even a thought that had crossed our minds, I didn't know much about it and it was never something I really worried about. When I began to miscarry we went to the hospital and found out that the baby had stopped developing at 8 weeks and I had just continued to carry it until that point, on the second we were scared but when the Dr said that things were looking good, that my hormone levels were good and that we shouldn't worry we did our best to stay positive and as the 12 week mark came and went I felt better and then when we passed 14 weeks I thought we were in the clear, until I started to have pain and spotting again at 16 weeks. The ER doctor sent me for an ultrasound where they confirmed that I had a blighted ovum. Which basically means that there was no baby, the sperm and egg meet and begin the pregnancy but it usually doesn't develop passed that. It was traumatic and unbearable to deal with and even harder to decide when we wanted to try again or even if we were going to try again. We talked a lot about waiting a year or more but we decided to let it happen when it happened and with the guidance of my OB-GYN I started taking extra folic acid and also a low dose aspirin therapy to aid in implantation of a fetus and to help with blood flow to the uterus, and from there it just happened and we were blessed with little Delaney on our third pregnancy. I had a lot of stress when pregnant with her I was always worried that one day I would wake up and it would all happen again especially around the weeks that I had miscarried before.

This time around I have been feeling so different I was much more sick with this pregnancy than any other, I have been exhausted, nope not just tired exhausted, I have been experiencing pregnancy congestion with lots of sinus and ear pain, and just in general I feel so different. I had an ultrasound a few weeks ago and am so excited that things look good and sound good too... I have heard the heart beat 3 times now and couldn't be more pleased! 

I do find that I am much less stressed out about a possible miscarriage, maybe its because I have my hands full with a certain 2 year old who keeps my mind and every other part of me occupied through out the day. Or maybe sometimes your body just knows things are working in the right order. I do wonder if other women felt this way after a miscarriage or two. I also wonder if they find it as cathartic to talk about there miscarriage as I do, It really is the best way for me to deal with it and to feel better about it as time goes on. If anyone out there is reading and wants to talk about there experience by all means I'd love to hear from you.

New ideas maybe a new direction.....

I have been thinking a lot about this blog and what direction to go with it, at first I wanted to post about the crafty things that I make or do and the things I bake or cook. But when your a mom there is a whole lot more going on in life than crafting and baking and some days I just can't do anything crafty at all, and some days I just don't feel like doing anything crafty. I and up feeling guilty on those days because I feel like I should be blogging not watching a show or going to bed early, I know its silly but I just feel bad when I can't get something up on here...

So I'm wondering if I should change the format of the blog, create a new blog that doesn't limit me to just crafty projects, should I just give up on blogging altogether? I am kind of torn as to how to proceed. So for now I am just going to go with what works and blog what I can, when I can. It might be crafty it might not, it might be an inspiration, or just something I find cool. I am going to try to come up with some type of schedule for blogging to try to make some sense out of this blog.

I hope that by doing this I find it more satisfying and fun, and hopefully good to read and follow...

Happy Valentines Day!

Well it is the day of love and all that.... I love romance as much as the next person but I find that on this day each year I feel that its just too much. Too much pressure about what your valentines does or is going to do for you, too much pressure on the guy to impress too much pressure to profess your love. Its just too much. However we do celebrate the holiday in our house, on a small scale but we do celebrate!

This year because Delaney is another year older and more capable we made most of our Valentines, we did it very simple of course just folded paper into a card and she colored them with markers and crayons and put stickers on them and made them her own. As for me I made the card and gift for my Valentine as well but it took a bit longer than sticking a few stickers on a piece of paper. I made a puzzle piece Valentine booklet and some candy roses for my hubby.

I actually first made the roses when in High School we had to start our own business, a friend and I started making them and they sold out so quick. They are very easy to make and can be done so fast and easy. I made them with 2 Hershey kisses put together at the flat ends, I placed a stem you can buy them in the craft section at Wal-mart and in some dollar stores. then I covered them with red tissue paper or you could do it with red cellophane or basket wrap. I taped it down with red tape but you can use floral tape too.Then the roses are done.

To make the card I traced out the shape of the puzzle piece that I wanted to use (borrowed from one of Delaney's puzzles) and then made enough copies of the shape to make the booklet that I wanted. I added pictures and little scrapbook journal squares, wrote little love notes on each page as well as on the front of the booklet and on the last page. (as seen below)

One part of my love note.

 This one was from when we first started going out.

 One from the day our daughter was born.

 One of Miss Delaney from last Christmas.

 One from our wedding day!

And one from the ultrasound we had a few weeks ago!

All in all Husband loved it and thought it was very cute. It didn't take long to make, nor was it hard to do and it was exactly the kind of Valentine I wanted to give!

To me this is what Valentines day is about, showing the one you love how much they mean to you. Its also about being personal and I guess because I'm crafty its also about making your valentines and putting time and hard work into them, although my husband almost always gives me a store bought card and I love it.