Retraction, Mom Cut, First Accident, She's Growing Up, and Musings &Babblings

So for the Retraction. My last entry praised Shannon Hale. However I hadn't yet read Austenland. I read it a few days after I published that post and I am so dissapointed. I'm not a big fan of pride and prejudice anyway but I felt there was so much innappropriate stuff in that book for an LDS author. I figured she would have a wonderfully clean book and I was so sad to find it wasn't. Shame on you. I thought the plot was intriguing as hers always are but the language and suggestive talk is pathetic. Anyway, enough of that... onward to the

MOM CUT

So I gave in and got the "mom cut" and I love it. I really don't care how it looks because anything is better than the rats nest I've had of late. Apologies to Cousin Julie and Sarah for not calling you. It was either I get it cut in the next half hour or I'm doing it myself. Anyway, I'm happy with it and Abi doesn't care because she can still play with it and she loves to comb it.

First Accident
So Abi's elbow got hyper-extended a couple of weeks ago. She was miraculously blessed though with healing as it only took 3 days to regain full use as opposed to over a week the doctor predicted. Here is a picture of her holding her hurt arm. She was so quick to adapt and use only the one. She was getting into the bath--that's why I hadn't washed her face yet.

She's Growing Up!

She's obsessed with this hat.

I think if you poked that dimple, your finger would get lost.

Sleeping Angel

Our neighbor Melissa gave us this kitchen set. Abi loves it. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Abi and her hunk of a Daddy (her favorite person in the world)

Falling asleep at the table. I tried to clean her up but everytime I took the apple away, she'd wake up, grab it back and take another bite and then return to this pose.

Our "Tom-Boy" Princess. This is what she looked like after she rolled in the dirt and proceeded to rub her snotty face in the dirt. Lovely eh? She had the best time. It's worth more laundry.

My grandparents visited us last week. Abi loved my grandpa! They had so much fun together!

This is the new fashion don't you know.

Helping me make granola. MMM... it is yummy and oh so healthy!

I was glad it got cold again so she could wear this new hand-me-down dress we got. Isn't she stinkin cute in it?

Musings & Babblings

I've been writing down some fun things about Abi and I haven't posted them yet so some of these are back from January--

January

Said "Buh-Bye" perfectley

"I gave Abi a sucker today and she was so sweet to share. Whenever it was in my mouth, she was making licking motiions and smacking her lips.

Says All-done and Yeah

February

Abi got up on her hands and knees, pointed to her bummy with one hand and let out a really big fart. Sorry if that is offensive. Toot doesn't do the loudness justice.

Abi woke up at about 4:00 a.m. and talked to her teddy "Oopsy Bear" for about 20 minutes.

March

While I was going to the bathroom one day, Abi tore off some toilett paper and tried to wipe my bummy! Wow. That was odd to say the least.

Said Potty, the letter "A" and dog in one day.

She blew raspberries at me when I farted. I guess she thought I was just blowing raspberries at her.

In the last few days she's started saying heart, star, the letter "B", hot, and will attempt most words you ask her. I asked her to say love the other day and she gave me a kiss. It's great. If she's not in the mood to give us kisses though, she shakes her said and says no.

WE LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, raising our 1 year old. She is so amazing and we are having a blast--even on days where she throws tiny tantrums we still agree--she is wonderful!

Praise to Shannon Hale

Ok, so when do I ever get to read a whole book in a day? Richard is wonderful and just let me read and read tonight the book called "Book of a Thousand Days" by Shannon Hale. I love, love, love her novels. If you've never read her works, start with this one or Goose Girl, or Princess Academy. They are just amazing! I hope she keeps on writing!

Don't Feel Sorry For Her

So I made this dress and these are the reactions I get:

Stinker.

How to keep your house clean

Ok, I'm really not an expert but I've been doing some stuff lately that really, really helps. First I assessed my problems--
Problem 1. Stuff that belongs downstairs collects upstairs and vice versa.
Solution: I got 2 cute baskets and put one at the top of the stairs and one at the bottom. Whenever something finds its way to the wrong floor, I put it in the basket and when I get time I unload it where everything belongs.
Problem 2. Stuff that I need to give or return to others piles up everywhere
Solution: I have a box specific for that purpose. It is wonderful!
Problem 3. Even if I can manage to de-clutter, how do I get the house clean?
Solution: I created the following schedule, maybe it will help you.
Monday
Wash Laundry
Fold Laundry
Vacuum Upstairs
Water Plants
Tuesday
Put away Laundry
Clean Bathrooms
Dust
Wednesday
Vacuum Downstairs
Water Plants
Mop Kitchen Floor
Thursday
Wash Laundry
Organize room or area (i.e. closet or my desk!)
Friday
Fold and Put away laundry
Monthly Task (i.e. cleaning fridge or oven, cleaning car, etc.
Water Plants
Saturday
Clean Shower
Clean Bathroom

Daily Tasks:
Unload and Load Dishwasher
Sweep & spot mop as needed
Cook Dinner or pull out a freezer meal

I hope this might help someone. It has really made our house cleaner and has helped increase my sanity. Plus, the weekly organizer has helped me to unload unneeded items and I know have a couple of shelves in closets that are currently unused. Crazy! Let me know if you have other ideas that work and if my ideas work for you.

Hooray! I finally have a camera!!!

Thanks to Kristen, I finally have a camera again! I have so missed taking pictures of our Geunter Baby. Doesn't she so look like a "skater" in these pictures?

Don't forget I'm teaching how to digital scrapbook tomorrow night (Wednesday the 18th) at my house at 7:00 p.m. and I'll be giving away free stuff. There isn't any obligation to buy anything so come and learn and eat some treats.

Digital Scrapbooking Party/Gifts/Food Party :)

Help!!!

Does anyone have any 24 month or 2t thick, warm pajamas for Abi? She just shot up and I went to the store to buy some and all of the spring/summer stuff is out. I think that might be why she isn't sleeping so well because her pj's are all of a sudden way too tiny. I don't care if its for boys or girls.

More Scrapbooking Freebies & Products

Check out my digi scrap blog at http://dirtcheapdigiscrap.blogspot.com/ every day this week to get a freebie and new product for sale each day!

Can you believe this was 6 years ago?

We've been nearly inseperable for 6 years now. Richard proposed January 18th, 2003 and this was picture was taken just a few days before at Amy's reception.

If you want the template, go to http://dirtcheapdigiscrap.blogspot.com

*If anyone would be so sweet to add the above blog address to their blog, I will give them something free (something that isn't currently free of course) from the site. When people add my blog address, it shows up on Technorati which increases my ranking on Digi Free which in turn allows more people to see my stuff etc. Anyway, if you add my address I'll love you even more! :)

Weekly Freebie Posted

Sorry it's late. We got the "24 hour cold" which always lasts at least a week for both Abi and I. I'm behind but there is this freebie and some new stuff with more new stuff on the way soon.

Thanks sooooo much to everyone who has bought stuff. You are the best!

http://dirtcheapdigiscrap.blogspot.com/

I Just Had To Post Another Freebie

So, I just had to do another scrapbook template because I wanted to scrap our "Girl's Night." Richard went on splits the other night and so Abi and I played with make-up and we painted our toe nails. She LOVED it. It was so fun and her little toes are too stinkin cute with or without toenail polish. Sorry for the picture of my feet but I wanted to remember our fun.

The Abi Report:

Abi is so busy learning as much as she can. She is soooo fascinated with animals. She loves cows, tigers & lions, bears, and monkeys. She can say cow, cat, and bear. She started making the "roar" sound on our girls night. It is too stinking cute. She is SUCH a good helper. She loves to help me bake and cook and she helps me with dishes and laundry and whatever it is I'm doing. She LOVES to draw. Give her a pen and paper and she's happy for twenty. She also loves to "fix" old computer parts and is fascinated with anything that remotely seems technical. You can definitely tell who her daddy is. She sometimes gives un-asked for kisses and she love piggy back rides. She loves climbing into the rocker and reading stories to herself and she especially loves it when we read to her. She is a TV junkie and can watch an hour of Little Einsteins straight. She is amazing and we love our Abi.

Oh, and if you want the FREEBIE, go to http://dirtcheapdigiscrap.blogspot.com/

Weekly Freebie Posted

I just posted the next weekly freebie at http://dirtcheapdigiscrap.blogspot.com/

Remember you all get something free. Just ask.

Move over Utah--HELLO California

Ok, so on Saturday, the 27th Richard and I decided to go to Cali on Tuesday the 30th. We didn't know until like noon on Monday the 29th if we were going to be able to go or not but alas my young friends we were able. Thanks to our well saved stimulus we were able to take a 4 night, 5 day vacation (if you would call it that) through Vegas and on to Disneyland.
Not that anyone cares but here is the story of our trip:
Tuesday we drove to Vegas and stayed in the Excalibur on the strip. I heard of all sorts of fun family things to do there so we went and checked them out. I'm sad to say everything was a flop except for the fountains at Bellagio which were so cool.
The next day we drove to Anaheim and stayed right across from Disneyland in the Portofino. It is supposed to have 1 seperate bedroom but we found that the glass sliding french doors with an inch gap doesn't provide any darkness or hardly and sound proofing to allow us to even watch a movie. Oh well. We got lots of rest...Except for the fact that the Geunter girl woke up every morning around 1-3 a.m. and required to sleep horizontally in our bed.
Anyway, that day we arrived in Cali we went to Newport Beach. Abi loved playing in the sand and chasing seagulls. Too bad it wasn't warm enough or else we would have stayed longer and would have played in the water.
The 3rd day was our day at Disneyland. First I must say that Abi was an angel driving down and trudging through crumy Las Vegas. She was wonderful! However, she was not so sweet on the day we went to Disneyland. She was so tired. She usually loves being scared and doesn't mind the dark or anything like that but she hated the rides at disneyland. We first went on the Carousel and she didn't care one way or the other about that. Then we went on pinochios adventure or whatever it's called and she screamed the whole way. Then we went on Dumbo and she didn't like the cold air in her face. We went on the circus train and that was all right. We went on It's a Small World which was all done in Christmas themes and she LOVED it. We then went to Toon town and met Mickey and she was ok with it.
We then went to lunch and she took a 30 minute nap after which we let her run around for a while in the hotel. After that we went to a 3D bug's life thing which we had to leave early and a little caterpillar train which she got scared in because she thought it was going to be bad just like everything else. We then went on the jungle cruise which she hated and then the tiki room which she actually liked. We watched the parade which was torture trying to keep her still to wait for and she liked quite a bit of it but she screamed when Santa came by (it was their Christmas parade). We left after that and let her run around the hotel room. We got some food and when we went back to the hotel, she kept climbing in her stroller because she wanted to go back to Disneyland. We were so through. We weren't going to attempt that again. The next day she found the disneyland tickets in Richard's wallet and she kept whining because she wanted to go back. Stinker is all I have to say.
Friday we went to the zoo in Santa Ana which she LOVED. They had a farm their and she said "Cow" when we saw the cows. She loved the monkeys. They were awesome. We went when they were getting fed and they were all so lively. We even rode on an Elephant (yup, a real live elephant). It was pretty cool. Abi got freaked out again though. Dr. Wise is right that there is just something about this age. We drove back to Vegas and stayed in the Hilton--which was way better than the excalibur. Saturday we drove back and got in late that night.
It was a nice vacation. I wish Abi had been happy the day we went to Disneyland. We just needed to get out of the house and we're again grateful for our Stimulus!!!
So, to the title of my post--if we could afford it, we would absolutely pack our bags today and move to California. We love the climate, the humidity, the beach and even the people. We had so much fun talking to locals and other vacationers. People were soooooo much friendlier in California than I have seen here in Utah. That's sad. Even in Vegas people with glazed over eyes held the door open for me or Richard as we pushed Abi around in the stroller. I can count only once in the last 6 months or so that someone in Utah has held the door open for me. That's pathetic. Even at the distribution center 2 weeks ago I had my arms full and was pushing Abi in the stroller and people walked right past me and wouldn't hold the door for 2 seconds longer. Anyway, if I had my way we'd be out of Utah in a milisecond.

Abi and Daddy in Vegas

Mommy & Abi at the Bellagio

Abi at the Beach

Abi and Daddy on Dumbo

The Castle all decked out for winter

Abi loved this piano which made some pretty sweet sounds.

Abi, Daddy, and Mickey

Abi learned that each hotel has paper and pens just waiting for her to use.

Abi liked the goat. Her favorite was the cows and the monkeys.

Why only these pictures??? Because the Not So Cool camera we recently acquired scrambled the data on 1/3 of my pictures (which were mostly from the zoo where Abi was the happiest) and so I lost 1/3 of my pictures!

Get your digital scrapbooking freebie starting Monday

Go to http://dirtcheapdigiscrap.blogspot.com/ Monday the 29th through Friday the 2nd to get the first of my weekly digital scrapbooking freebies. I updated the site with elements, papers, templates, and alphas and now multiple items can be purchased through one transaction instead of a transaction per item. Here is a look at the freebie:

So what is Digital Scrapbooking?

Everyone has been asking me "So what is Digital Scrapbooking?"
It’s scrapbooking on the computer—without the mess, the unalterable mistakes, and the sticky, sticky glue. How it works is you use digital products (digital papers, brads, ribbons, frames, etc.) to arrange and re-arrange your scrapbooking page in a photo editing software (the best and most widely used are Photoshop (which is really expensive unless you are a student) or Photoshop Elements (Which you can get on Amazon right now for $59.99)). Most digital products are catered to Photoshop elements. So once you get some products and have some pictures ready, you add papers, pictures, and elements (the brads, ribbons, buttons, etc.) in layers to create scrapbook pages that look like real and appear to have depth. There are so many more things you can do with digital than you could ever do with paper scrapbooking because digital can look three dimensional and still print out as just a flat piece of paper. Once you get your pages done you can share them online (how easily can you do that with your paper scrapping?) and then you can get them printed in books at places like picaboo.com, blurb.com or snapfish.com or you can get pages printed separately at places like alpha graphics. Plus, once you buy a product, you can use it as many times as you want. You never have to leave home to buy products and you can often find lots of freebies on the internet. You can use digital products to enhance paper products. Go to my cousins blog at http://jenezedesigns.blogspot.com/ for some way cute ideas of treat bags, boxes, etc. So if you are interested in digital scrapping, first get photo-editing software and then start getting the digital things that you like.
I'll put some tutorials on http://dirtcheapdigiscrap.blogspot.com in the next few days.

If anyone wants to be sweet, they can leave positive comments about my products on the dirt cheap website so that it looks more legitimate so people will actually buy my products. That would be awesome. :) And of course if anyone wants to buy that would be awesome too. Remember everyone gets something for free. Just ask.

Dirt Cheap Digi Scrap

So I've finally got a site up and running of the Digital Scrapbooking Art I've been making. Everyone I know is eligible for something free from the site. Just tell me what template, paper, alpha, or element pack you want (the alpha and elements are coming in the next few days). Everything else is as the title says "DIRT CHEAP." I'm going with the whole wal-mart approach. Hopefully it works.

Please let me know what you think and please feel free to share my site with others. I will even do a referral system so if someone you know buys something and lets me know, I'll give you something for free. I'm also looking for requests so if there is something you want, I'll try and make it and it won't cost any extra.

Go to http://dirtcheapdigiscrap.blogspot.com/ to find what you want for free and also feel free to shop. If you're new to Digital Scrapbooking and need help figuring out how, let me know and I'll do what I can to help.

Miss Abigail

Abi update! Abi is amazing and wonderful and we just can't help loving her more everyday. She now has at least 16 teeth. She now says "What's that?" "Cat" (with a very strong "T" sound at the end) and I do believe she said Grandma and Papa tonight. She is a DANCING MACHINE. She loves to dance and she always wants us to turn on the radio so she can rock out. She taps her toes, twirls while on her tippy toes, lifts her right leg (its only ever the right), bounces, and now she is adding hand and arm motions. She likes to twirl until she is dizzy and she gets up to start again before she has even regained her balance.
Abigail is a very good helper. She helps us load and unload the dishwasher, she grabs rags from the drawer and "washes" the floor for me. She throws garbage away and she also tries to sweep. She now somewhat understands when I ask her to put things away and she is beginning to do that to.
She is beginning to climb more and more. We're grateful she hasn't been that interested in until now. She loves to run around, especially in her squeaker shoes.
We just love Abigail. She is such a blessing to us. Even on our worst days, we still feel so grateful to have her.

Oh, and a funny story. Several weeks ago my Mother-in-law watched Abi so I could go to an appointment or something. When I got back, we played for a little while and then I got her ready to go. I told her we were going and I started walking towards the door with her behind me. I said something like "Bye-bye" and she stopped and started waving at me. She thought I was leaving again and she was perfectly fine with staying and playing at Grandmas. Silly kid.

Help to Create Your own Personal History

Go to http://myownpersonalhistory.blogspot.com/ for an easy help to starting your own personal history. It's a document with 250+ questions and/or statements to help you record your personal history or it is even great for conversation starters with friends, dates or even your spouse. The cost is $1.00.

Bathroom Deep Clean

Want your bathroom deep cleaned or want to buy a Bathroom Deep Clean gift certificate for someone? $20 for 1 bathroom and $35 for 2.

Holiday Card Templates

K, so here are 5 holiday photo templates. You get the psd (some of them I can do as a png) file for $3.00 if you buy before the 29th. (If you have no clue what a psd or png file is, for $5.00 you can send me your picture(s) and I'll send you back a finished jpg that you can send to a printer near you.) If you want all 5 I'll give them to you for $10. Sizes are currently 5x7 or 4x8 but I can make a 4x6 if you'd like. Comment and let me know if you're interested and I'll get you more details. If you have something in mind, I'll create something for you. Dirt cheap I know but I'm needing to see if anyone even remotely likes my work and to see if it is worth doing what I love anymore.

Oh, and a huge shout out goes to Jessie of http://www.jessieonealphotography.com/ . She took our family pictures which were amazing. I was going to wait to unveil them after Thanksgiving when I send out all the Christmas cards but I was desperate for pictures and I've needed to do something to keep myself busy the last couple of days. Jessie was absolutely amazing! Thanks and sorry I haven't posted any of these pictures yet to give you credit!

My Angel

My Angel

My heart is aching and overwhelmed.
My pain is consuming and deep
I trust in my Savior and He delivers me.
He’s carried me through another day

I’m grateful for the time I had
to be touched by your sweet and gentle spirit.
I wish I could have had you longer
I wish I could have held you in my arms.

I understand that you had to go
That your body wouldn’t have survived
I wish my body could have given more to you
But this is how it had to be.

Your life was a blessing to me.
You came during a dark abyss.
You gave me hope and joy
I needed you and I so wish you could have stayed

Our home is always welcome
Please come visit us and stay
Please be our guarding angel
Give Jesus all our love.

When I see you in Heaven
And can embrace you in my arms
You’ll know the love of your mother
We’ll never be separated again.

Your mommy will always love you
I will never forget you!

Contest Results

Ok, sorry it has taken me so long to get back about the contests. So, the stories were pretty funny. I must admit that the funniest story is definitely Rebekah's but I already gave her a scrapbooking quick page so I feel bad in giving both things to just her so.... I will give her a free Christmas card design--as well as give one to April for the next funniest story. Congrats!!! and check back for more contests coming soon.

Holiday Baking

Want this quickpage? I designed this and all the paper/elements/brushes. I'll give it free to the first person who replies and says they want it!
Abi has been helping me bake a lot lately. Hence the need for wearing fat pants in November as opposed to December. I love the middle picture. She was sooooo covered in marshmallow goo that necessitated an emergency bath.

Halloween Pages

CONTEST

Ok, so I want to design someone's Christmas cards for my own experience so I'm holding a contest. Tell me a funny story or experience and the best one will win a free custom Christmas card design.
The contest will end next Wednesday the 12th so make sure you reply before then! You don't have to be a regular on my blog to win either, so you can tell your friends.