Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone! We had such a nice time trick-or-treating with Emerson--much better than I had hoped. He was a lion this year and the first time we put the costume on him, he cried--kicking and screaming, of course--until I took the thing off. I thought, oh Lord, this should make Halloween night real fun! But guess what? I started putting it on him and all he said was "roar, roar." The only fussing he did was when i was trying to hold him still to draw his nose and whiskers on (with Mama's eyeliner because I forgot to buy face paint!)

He really enjoyed going out trick-or-treating. Actually, what I think he enjoyed was running around waving the little pumpkin flashlight my co-worker gave him. He wasn't afraid of any of the other Halloweeners--even the ones in the scary masks! We only stayed out for about an hour and a half, but we really enjoyed ourselves.

Emerson also had his Halloween party at daycare today. I was even able to leave work to attend. It was a hoot watching all those kids go nuts about their snacks (ever see what unlimited cookies, cupcakes, Cheetos and juice does to 17 toddlers?) He was a mess! And forget dinner! he was definitely NOT interested in eating again that night!!

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

My Poor Baby

You all need to feel sorry for my poor little boy today. Why? I'll tell you...

Emerson had his 18-month well-baby check-up this morning. After the check up, the doctor told me we had to go to the hospital and have lab work done to check for iron definciency and lead content in he blood. I had no idea that we had to have this done at this visit--she hadn't mentioned a word of it at his 15-month check-up--so I hadn't brought any Tylenol or Motrin with me. I thought I was doing good by remembering an extra diaper, some snacks, and a few of his books. (Our doctor is notorious for keeping her appointments waiting. We were her first appointment of the day, and she was 15 minutes late for that! How can you be behind before you've even had any appointments???!!)

Anyway, off to the hospital we went. We got called into a room where they had me hold Emerson's body still by laying my chest over him, while a nurse held his arm out and another nurse took the blood. To get to the point (because I'm known for rambling and I can see already that that's where I'm headed), he was stronger than they expected, and he twisted his arm when they stuck the needle in. They ended up tearing his arm a little where the needle had entered. Picture blood streaming down his arm ad onto the nurse's glove and then onto the table; Emerson screaming so much that his eyeballs are rolling back into his skull because he's about to pass out (he holds his breath when he's really upset and we haven't found anything to make him breath again until he's ready); a bruise forming where the blood from the damaged vein is pooling under his skin; Mama crying because her baby is crying so hard....oh my friends, it was not fun at all. After it was all over, one of the nurse's tried to give him a little treat, but he just threw it at her (rude, yes, but he's 18 months old...what do you expect?) He was fine by the time I got him back to daycare and had gone to buy some Motrin to give him. Thank God toddler's don't have very long memories!

In other news, I totally forgot to carve the pumpkin for Halloween tomorrow and I didn't especially feel like doing it tonight. Instead, I took Emerson's finger paints and a sponge brush and painted a little Halloween scene on it. We're not even going to be home, so I guess it doesn't matter except that I want pics of him with his Halloween pumpkin.

I also got his little goody bags ready for his daycare party tomorrow. We signed up to bring treat bags, and I did simple ones for that, but Emerson also wanted to give his little friends a treat. We bought special bags, some individual boxes of raisins, stickers, and I created fridge magnets by scrapping with some Halloween kits I had, printing them, gluing them onto some magnetic material, and cutting out holes to put a pic behind. They're 4x6" and the picture openings will fit a wallet sized pic. Each one has the child's name and "Halloween 2007" on it. I think they're cute. Here's the one I did for Emerson and a few of his little friends:

Monday, October 29, 2007

It didn't take me long to forget to post, did it? LOL Actually, we had quite a busy weekend. It was a wonderful weekend! Emerson and I had a playdate on Saturday with a friend who lives in the country. Oh, it was so nice and quiet! We rode around and saw some horses, a bull, lots of dogs and a pong complete with turtles. Emerson was quite impressed with all the trees and kept pointing them out to me. It was a beautiful day. Sunday we went to the park, and Emerson had lots of fun going down the slides, running around like a mad thing, and watching the ducks in the duck pond. (He called all the white ducks, "Fix-It Duck" because he has a book with the same name. Too cute) He only threw one fit--when I wouldn't let him continure running back and forth over the bridge--but considering his fits consist of lying silently on the ground looking up at me, well, have at it kiddo!

Needless to say, I did not have any time for designing. Well, I didn't have time to complete anything, anyway. I'm currently trying to figure out how to make gems in Photoshop. I found a tutorial, but I'm not real happy with the results. I got so frustrated with it that I gave up doing any computer work at all. Hopefully, I'll either figure out how to do a gem I can be satisfied with or I'll move on to something else! Either way, I'll try to get something posted for you all to look at and comment on soon. Oh yeah, and I think I'll look into the 4Share website to see if I can figure out how to start sharing some freebies. I don't know what kinds of freebies, but I've gotten so many great ones that I'd like to offer something back. Hope you all have a great week!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

My Very First Alpha

Wow!! Two posts in one day! I can see where this is going to get addictive! If I'm not careful, I'll spend all my time posting and let all my other hobbies fall by the wayside!

I started this site with the purpose of asking others to preview my design attempts as I start in my quest to learn digiscrap kit designing. So, without further ado, below is an image of the first piece to my first kit...my very first alpha! I have a name picked out for the kit already--but I"m gonna keep you hanging for a while--and I have ideas for a color scheme, most of the elements, and the solid papers (still brainstorming on patterned papers). Unfortunately, I have precious little time on my hands, and I get distracted WAY too easily, so it might take me a while to get my first digi kit completed. Not to mention the fact that I'm still learning and experimenting with how to create everything! Anyway, here's a sneak peak at the alpha, which also includes numbers and a few symbols:
Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I'd hate to get the entire kit finised only to find out that's people think it's not any good!! Thanks a bunch!

Little Man

My son is 18 months old today! In honor of the occasion, I've decided to write a bit about him and even squeeze in a little bragging (as is my right as a mother!)

My little man's name is Emerson. I wanted a name that reflected my first great love (literature), but one that wasn't too off-the-wall. So we came up with Emerson (as in Ralph Waldo Emerson). The clerk at the doctor's office keeps referring to him as "she" when I call to make an appointment, but I understand that it's because the name--although traditionally a boy's name--is being used as a girl's name more often of late, so I try not to get upset!

My son is simply amazing (warning: here comes the bragging). He surprises me every day with what he's learning. He's in daycare from about 7am-5pm (I know, I know...I hate to have him there so long), and they really teach him a lot. Much more han I think I could teach him at home. Of course, we reinforce at home everything that daycare is teaching him, which really helps with the learning process. We even bought some color crayon decals to put on the wall as well as different shapes in bright patterns. Emerson loves to go up to them and have us ask him what each shape or color is as we point to them in turn.

And the words he knows!! He knows way more than I think an average 18 month old does, so we made a list of all the ones we have heard him say (not the ones he parrots when we say it, but the ones he uses on his own) and came up with 241!! Is that normal? Or is my child exceptionally bright? (Guess which one I'm rootin' for?!! LOL) He just picks up new info so easily, it seems. Kids are amazing.

Emerson likes to clean. Let me put that another way--Emerson likes to pick-up. If I tell him "It's time to pick up!" he does it right away, saying the whole time "nee up, nee up, nee up" (translation: clean up). This past weekend we were playing with blocks, but I needed to run to the grocery store real quick, so I told him, "Let's go bye-bye." He looked at me standing by the door and then down at the blocks scattered around the floor. He started picking them up and putting them back in their travel bag, saying "Nee up, nee up" and wouldn't leave until the floor was clean! How many 18 month old toddlers do that? It's a trait he definitely gets from his daddy!

OK...I won't pretend that Emerson is perfect. He has started hitting recently. He especially likes to hit the little girls at daycare. Bully!! When I catch him at it, I make him look me in the face and I tell him, "No hitting. It's not nice. It hurts ______" (fill in blank with child's name). He just looks away, runs over, and hits the poor kid again. Hmmm...have to work on that, I guess.

All in all, he's an awesome kid. With his big blue eyes and his ready smile, he wins over everyone's hearts. My one lament is that he seems to have inherited the same fine, thin hair my mother and sister have whereas I was hoping he'd get my thick, brown curly hair. But he's still young, there's still time for it to start curling...and then look out ladies!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

A Brand New Day!

OK...so I guess introductions come first, right? My name is Nicole and I'm 32 years old. I'm starting this blog because I have become obsessed (really...just ask my husband) with digital scrapbooking, and I hope to get into the designing aspect of it. Hopefully, this blog will give me the chance to let people check out and comment on my works in progress, and I'll even offer some freebies from time to time!

I want to warn you now that I will NOT be a frequent blogger! Sure, I'll post every other day or so at first, but then I'll get busy or I'll forget or I'll realize that no one is reading the thing, so why bother?!! LOL

Back to introductions. I am a wife and mother. My husband and I have been together for 7 years--married for 3-1/2. My adorable son will be 18 months old tomorrow! (How can time slip by so quickly?) I graduated with a degree in English, but I'm working as a secretary (never did like the term administrative assistant. Secretary is much easier and faster to say) for a company that sells municipal traffic signs and worksite safety products, flags and banners, commercial Christmas decorations, and advertising specialty items. I mainly take care of invoicing, accounts payable, and call-in sales, but I DO get a chance to design every so often (which is good because otherwise I'd go mad!).

I love to read, but rarely find the time anymore, and I love to do digital scrapbooking. I enjoy spending time with my son, of course. He is a constant source of amazement. In the future, I hope to do a lot of international traveling and explore the world, finish my ever-increasing need-to-read book list, sell my digiscrap designs online, learn another language (preferably Italian or Spanish), lose 20 pounds, get my Masters or PhD, and buy a bigger house! Sounds like I'll be busy for quite a while, and that's only PART of my "To DO" list!!!

So...that's me. I hope you all come back from time to time to check out what's going on in my world and to see whether or not I've managed to post any freebies! I'm new to this whole blogging thing, so I have lots to learn. It's a brand new day and I'm ready!