New layouts

I've just updated my 2peas gallery with layouts from For Keeps issue #42. If you're wondering - it's part of the deal we have with the magazine when we're on the DT - we can only post to public galleries 2 months after the pages appear in the magazine. So, now that #44 is out, I can finally share my pregnancy layouts that appeared in #42 on public galleries.

I only have one page in #44, and it's the page that introduces me as a member of the Design Team. I am not happy with the photography of the layout in the magazine - it seems really dark and has a brown overtone over it. Here is what it really looks like:


I actually did this layout when I first found out I was a member of the Design Team. I knew that I was about to go into hospital to have Jamie and so I asked the magazine if there was anything I could get started on ahead of time, just in case I was out of action for a bit. They said to do a layout about myself. As it happened, it then took 10 months for it to appear in the magazine, so it's a bit out of date by now. But oh well.

Here's a couple more layouts that I've done recently, that aren't for commission and so I can actually share :)


Have a great weekend people!
Kathie

bweb bweb bweb

The night before last I was playing with Jamie in the bath. He had been blowing between his lips, trying to blow raspberries. Just on the spur of the moment I leant over and brushed my finger over his lips so that he made the sound “bweb bweb bweb”. He thought it was hilarious. We had a great game giggling and chuckling to each other over the funny noises he made. Up and down the scale he went. "Bweb bweb bweb". Softer and louder he went "bweb bweb BWEB".

And it has become his new trick. He does it all the time. Last night he actually picked up my index finger (I thought he was about to put it in his mouth and bite, lol!) and put it on his lip and blew. Then, tonight, Phil came into the kitchen as I was cooking tea and said "That baby is just sitting there on his mat, going "bweb bweb bweb bweb" in front of the TV!"
What a funny Rabbit!

I had the best time at Kate's on Tuesday. It was great catching up with Mel and Nic again. Charlotte is just beautiful. And so tiny! Kate's sister, Jane, was there too - with her 11 week old Benjamin. I got a chance to cuddle Benjamin and just fell in love with his cute little smile. Ah, leetle babies! Georgia, Isaac and Jamie look so big in comparison. And Shayla looks almost a teenager. And the best thing about the day? Jamie went down for a lunchtime nap, leaving me to scrap and natter. Beautiful!

On the sleeping... thanks everyone for your comments... I have been letting Jamie sleep in the pram during the day. And I don't let him sleep once he wakes up after his lunchtime nap. It seems to be working. He seems to work best on only 2 hours sleep during the day. Then he'll go to bed at night. Poor little fella, by 7pm he's so tired if he hasn't napped in the late afternoon. He can barely open his eyes to feed.

I've also increased the amount of solids he's eating and that seems to have helped with the midnight feed that he'd started insisting on. Tonight he went to bed full on yummy yoghurt with apples and pears. Yum! I had a taste and I would have eaten it! Last night he tried chicken for the first time and he loved that too. He loves his food! He takes after his Mum on that front :)

D'ya know, between us, Mum and I have taken 350 photos of Jamie this month :0. Is that insane or what? I just have to do some editing and then I'll post some. Promise.

see ya
Kathie

First Christmas

This is the third of my layouts in For Keeps #43.

Singing Christmas carols to my baby. He looks at me with those clear blue eyes. He grows still and quiet - listening. Yes, Christmas is on its way. And I reflect that this year, and for years to come Christmas will be different. For this year we share Christmas with our son and in the forthcoming years we will get to experience Christmas
...through the eyes of a child.

The brief for the layout was to use stencils. I don't have many stencils, but I did have one with Christmas motifs on it. Although you can't see it well here, I embossed around the edge of the stars, tree and around the edge of the layout and added a few embossed HS stars. Love it!

Totally love the photo on this! Obviously I didn't take it :). It's another one of Grant's fab photos. I just love the way that guy takes photos.

And I just found out that the layout has been chosen by For Keeps to appear in a photography mag! Woohoo. At first Julia (FK) didn't say which of my layouts was going to appear in the mag, and I went into total shock. I don't think that I'm the world's best photographer. Getting better, for sure. But not really that confident about my ability yet. So the thought of one of my photos in a photography mag was a little much to grasp. Thank goodness its this one - and Grant will be rapt. I'll have to send him a copy of the magazine.

The total irony of this layout is that Christmas Day was the start of Jamie's colic. He started crying on Christmas Eve, around 7.30pm. I know, because we had about 20 friends around for a BBQ and he started crying just as they arrived, lol. And didn't stop for seven weeks. :0 So much for my beautiful soppy sentiment!

Well, I've been totally MIA this week. Jamie has developed separation anxiety big time and is refusing to sleep in his bed. Last night I finally gave in at 4am (yes, 4am!) and took him to bed with me, just so I could get a couple of hours sleep. I have to drive him in the car, walk him in the pram or lie down with him. We thought it might have been an ear infection, but the doctor had a look at him this morning and he is disgustingly healthy (considering I have had a cold). So, it's 'just behavioural". Groan.

At the moment I am tossing between the "sit beside his bed and hold his hand while he falls asleep" method (not too sure about the effectiveness of that as my presence tends to just invoke screaming) or the controlled crying. Any suggestions?

Needless to say, between trying to encourage him to nap during the day, trying to entertain a grumpy baby when he refuses to nap, walking around the block with the pusher, and staying up until all hours of the morning with a screaming baby, I haven't had much time to do much of anything.

Tomorrow we're off to Kate's for a scrap session. I will have to grab some stuff together tomorrow. I haven't even had time to think about scrapping. I'm so looking forward to catching up with Kate, Nic and Mel. And getting out of the house. yay!

See ya
Kathie

So, these are the photos I wanted to load up the other night.

My little boy. He's growing up so quickly.

See ya. I could be scrapping but I'm off to bed early tonight. Godda colb inda nobe and it's taken it all out of me today.
Kathie

Seven months already!

My darling little Rabbit, you are so much my little mate at the moment. I love you to absolute bits! This month you have been a delight. You are so much more observant now. You are aware of everything going on around you and try to communicate with us all the time. You are really growing up!

This month saw you move into a cot to sleep. You also started splashing too much for the little baby bath, so you now have your baths in the big bath. It has the added advantage that I can turn the heater on in the bathroom and make it nice and warm for you. It’s far too cold in the laundry to bath you out there any more.

You were a champion in the transition from your bassinette to the cot. You took to it really well. At first. I gave you a little teddy bear, Popcorn, and you would happily lie in your bed and chat to him until you fell asleep. I could wrap you up, kiss you and walk out of the room. But then something happened. I don’t know why, but you just do not want to sleep at the moment. You are content to fall asleep in my arms, but you scream as soon as your body touches your mattress. It takes ages to put you to sleep! And even when you do fall to sleep, you often wake up again, crying. Invariably when I go to you, you have Popcorn up to your face, crying into his armpit, or sobbing into his little face. It would be so heartwarming if I wasn’t at my wits end about why you won’t sleep. These last few days I’ve been sleeping with you in the mornings (I have a cold and so it does me good too!) and in the afternoons I let you fall asleep in your pram while we get out in the beautiful winter sunshine. It’s been working well.

I love napping with you in the mornings. It feels so wonderful to doze off with your sweet little body against mine, your warm little head cradled into my shoulder, your arms flung out to grip my arms – your version of a hug. You stir every now and then and I wake and just gaze at your peaceful little face. I wake up totally refreshed and loving you more than ever before.
Perhaps your sleeplessness is due to the fact that you have been teething for much of this month. You have six teeth now, Rabbit! Two bottom teeth and four teeth at the top. You chew like a big boy! Haha, I have to be very careful now that you don't get my nose (yes, my NOSE, Rabbit) or my fingers in your mouth.

In the last week you’ve been eating mashed food. You handle those lumps really well. And if you get a big one, you push it to the front of your mouth and spit it out. What a clever boy! Your diet consists of potato, sweet potato, avocado, pumpkin, carrot, zucchini, pear, apple, and banana. Your favourite by a mile is bananas. But they’re so expensive at the moment - $11.00/kg – because of the cyclone in Queensland earlier this year. So you only have them as a special treat. You have been eating rusks lately too. I call them your biscuits.

You have turned into such a chatterbox. This last few weeks you have been exercising your upper vocal range. Squeals and crows escalate up and down the scale. You drown us out if we are talking. You love being part of the conversation! “Ba ba ba ba”, you say. I've noticed over the last couple of days that you talk over the top of me when I'm singing to you. I like to think that you are singing along with me, albeit to your own tune. Of course the alternative is that you are trying to drown out my off-tune warbling :).

You smile at me all the time now. Like a good friend. You try to catch my eye. If you can’t, you call out to me “Errr! Errr!....” and when I glance at you I’m rewarded with a big grin. You have also learnt how to show affection this month. You snuggle your head into my shoulder and wrap your arms around my neck. You lean back to gaze at my face. You play with my hair. You are such an affectionate little baby. Just last week you gave me my first baby kisses. I just wanted to eat you all up!!!

I just adore cuddling you and enjoying the warm feel of you. I love holding you on my lap. We sing together, play games and just talk to each other. I love reading your Pooh Bear book with you. It has big colourful pictures and you reach out to touch them. It also has a rabbit in it! I’ve started reading you Peter Rabbit too. I think I enjoy reading these old children’s stories to you as much as you are enjoying it.

Jak is still a favourite, and you know his name now. When I say “Jak”, you look around for him. However, this month, your biggest smiles have been reserved for Daddy. When Daddy gets home from work at the end of the day, your face just beams. He plays with you while I cook tea. And my heart sings all the while I’m in the kitchen, knowing that you two are enjoying being with each other.

You are sitting now! That is a huge milestone! You look so incredibly happy with yourself when you can sit up and play with the toys in front of you. Of course, you aren't nearly so happy when you pitch forward onto your cheek and don't know how to get yourself out of your awkward landing position. You still refuse to roll, despite numerous rolly-polly games with me. All in good time Bunnykins.

And, yay!, this month my attempts at playing peek-a-boo finally got results. Previously I’d just felt like a total fool hiding behind a nappy and leaping out at you. Or wherever I was “hiding”. But now I get a big grin when I pop out from my hiding spot. Ah, Bunny, when you smile at me, I want to get down on the floor with you and just kiss you all over. Sometimes I do!

I love you to pieces, baby boy!
Mummy

PS I tried to upload some photos I took recently but Blogger is having a hissy fit and won't let me. I'll try again tomorrow.

Baby Boy

Another Jamie layout in this month's For Keeps. I allowed myself to go a bit crazy with the ribbon on this one - I haven't been using ribbon so much lately, so it was nice to go a bit wild here. No sappy journaling on this one ;), just a poem I found which I thought was really cute.



I have been flat out with Jamie this last 10 days or so. He has cut two more teeth - he has six now (and he's only seven months old!).

He's also decided that he doesn't want to sleep anymore. This happened overnight. We went from me simply tucking him in his bed, giving him his little bear (Popcorn), kissing him and walking out the door, to just pure screaming. At first I thought it was the teeth. But it's been going on for two weeks now. He just will not sleep. Unless it's on me, in the car or, today, in the pram when we went for a walk around the block. What's happened? It's twisting me inside out.

My days evaporate in a blur of trying to calm a screaming baby. If I give up and let him stay up (which I do a lot), then I have to deal with an extremely grumpy baby all day.

He has three naps a day still and only ever sleeps for 40 minutes at a time (occasionally he will go for an hour and a half - my goodness, do I get a lot done then!), so I really am feeling the strain. It feels like my day is one big battle with him.

I so hope that it's just a stage.

And I have a cold, which isn't helping.

OK, that's my whinge for today. Sorry.
Kathie

Little One

Jamie makes his debut in this month's For Keeps. I have three layouts in there, all of him, lol. In fact, most of the layouts I did over the last six months were of him. Gradually I am starting to introduce variety back into my scrapping. Keeping a list of layout ideas and a journal of my thoughts has helped me to relax my obsession with recording everything he does on a scrapbook page :).

Here's one of my layouts:


Notes from my journal 19.11.05. I look at you asleep in your crib and I can't believe it. You're mine. So perfect. My baby. My son. 2 days old. I can't get my head around it yet. After so many years of longing, of yearning. I have a perfect baby boy. It still seems surreal. Like I have someone else's baby at my breast. But you came from us. You are our flesh and blood. A part of us. I find myself blinking back tears. You begin to wake. I hear your little noises as you begin to fuss. You blink your eyes as you wake to the light; try to focus. You suck on your fingers. I call to you, "It's OK; I'm here". You hear my voice and listen. You know me already. I find that amazing - that you know my voice already. Who would have known that I would feel such overwhelming love for you?


This photo is one of a photo shoot done by our friend and fantastic photographer Grant Walkley. Jamie was six weeks old at the time. The brief was to use fabric. I used baby fabrics - an old towel, baby muslin, a wrap.

Rachie has posted a challenge to finish the sentence
At this point in my life I am ………………………

OK, at this point in my life I am a Mum for the first time and trying to slow down and appreciate all the little things that currently make my life blessed.

That's it for today. Jamie and I are off to have lunch with a girlfriend when he wakes up from his nap. Have a great weekend everyone. Stay warm!
Kathie

Winter sunshine

Today we sat outside in the Winter sunshine. The inside of the house is like an icebox but it's beautiful outside in the sunshine. I hung out some washing, played with the dog, cuddled Jamie, ate my lunch. At the moment, this is what I see when I look outside my back door.


Ah, life is good :). The sunshine can do that to me.

See ya
Kathie

Watch & Learn

I hear the FK Awards for Excellence Book is out. Here is my layout in it.



My gorgeous nephew, William. That kid is so photogenic! I looked up on the internet what a child of 15 months (Will's age in this photo) would be doing and wrote it all around the edge. The "W" stencil opens out with another photo and journaling.

I look at this layout and I marvel at how much my style has changed since September last year, when I created it. My pages are simpler now. I guess this has something to do with the fact that scrapbooking has trended back to simpler pages. It also has a whole lot to do with the fact that I don't have as much time as I used to, lol. I do still have a love affair with mixed letter titles and with chipboard frames though...

I hope you're all having a great holiday Monday. We are home. I'm doing my finances (lol, I don't know why I bother!). Phil is working on an assignment. I'm about to do the dishes, make lunch and put a load of washing on :(. I did have a nice Sunday though. Jamie and I went up to my parents' so that Phil could get stuck into the painting. We try to do that one day of the weekend. It's great because I get to see Mum and Dad and while Mum plays with Jamie I usually get an hour or so of scrapping time. I so look forward to it. It's my one uninterrupted moment of the week.

See ya
Kathie

Almost Time

The final layout in my series of pregnancy layouts. My Mum took these photos a couple of weeks before I gave birth to Jamie. I love them. I look so content and happy. Radiant? Maybe. I remember feeling incredibly peaceful and blessed.

37 weeks pregnant. How would I describe myself at the moment? HAPPY. I was lying in bed the other night, cuddled into Phil, drifting off to sleep. And I recall feeling so blessed. There in the warmth. Hearing Phil's breathing. Hearing our dog snoring softly in his basket on the floor. Feeling our baby moving within me. My family. I feel so content. A year ago, I would not have believed you if you had told me I would be feeling this now. 6 November 2005.

(11 days before Jamie was born)

Thanks for the birthday wishes. I did get spoilt :). Phil found me a gorgeous pendant watch. A long story, but basically he scoured the internet for a watch to replace one he bought me while we were in Paris a few years back. It was so me - a big oblong chrome pendant with a black watch face, hanging on a long leather thong. The original got stolen when our house was burgled last year. It has been impossible to replace. The watch that Phil found me is totally different - still a pendant - it hangs from a long silver snake chain and is green and silver. And I love it! I must take a pic and post it.

My parents gave me a great pair of boots for winter. They gave them to me a little while back when the weather got wet, and I've worn them so much already.

Jamie gave me chocolates :). And my sister gave me some money on the promise that I *must* spend it on myself. All my money goes on stuff for Jamie at the moment - current purchases include a port-a-cot and baby gates. So yay! A spending spree. I probably shouldn't spend it on scrapping ;). Maybe a top. Hmmm. Yay! Double Yay!

I just was checking out Kate's blog and saw the photos of little Charlotte. Awww. And Nat's little Eli. Makes me want another baby ;). Jamie's getting so big!

He looks like he has a mouthful of pins at the moment. Poor little guy - he spends all day grating his two new top teeth with his bottom teeth and seems unable to close his mouth. I guess, having only had gums for six months, it must seem like a mouthful of pins now. It looks so uncomfortable. And it sounds like nails on a blackboard. *shudder*

Have a great long weekend!
Kathie

Small for Dates

The photo on the next layout was one of those that finds you thinking, "do I *really* look like that?". I look like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders. But, it was perfect for adding to the layout, which was really all about the journaling.


SFD. That's what the doctor wrote on the form yesterday - small for dates. She's worried because you don't seem to have grown much recently. To be sure, she scheduled an ultrasound for me early this morning. To check. Because, if you've stopped growing she'll induce me and get you out.
Well, I worried all last night. Was something wrong? Were you OK? Was it something I'd done? Would they induce me today? (Which meant that we'd soon be meeting you!) I tossed and turned all night long.
As it turns out, you're fine. They estimate that you weigh 7lb 7ozs. You have a head circumference of about 33cm. Spot on average.
It would seem that your Mum just has strong tummy muscles that keep you all tucked up in there. I'm so glad that you're OK!

And, yes, it's my birthday tomorrow. Thanks to Mel for announcing it on her blog, lol! And thanks to those of you that have already made my day before we get to it, by wishing me a happy birthday.

Talk to you when I'm older and wiser ;)
Kathie

This

I think I would have to say that this is my favourite layout of all time. The photo. The topic. The design. The title. The journaling. If I had to describe my style of scrapping (which, by the way, totally eludes me) it would be this. Whatever this is.

this is pregnancy...
this is wondrous...
this is our child...
this is amazing...
this is love...
this is what I dreamed of all those years.

Life has been hectic friends. But Jamie now seems to be back to normal and is the proud owner of two cute little top teeth :). And I am the owner of a big bottle of teething drops :). They were my sanity. And, of course, Phil was away all last week for work. I don't think he believes me when I say how bad it got. Because, of course, our little boy perked up as soon as Daddy got off the 'plane! And so it goes.

Kathie

Choosing your Name

The design for this next layout was inspired by a wall-hanging I saw in a magazine I was flicking through at the hairdressers. It's wonderful where we can find inspiration from. I cut out all the little circles and then sewed them in place on the layout.

The little book thingy at the bottom opens out to reveal journaling:

One of the things I loved doing while I was pregnant with you was to think about your name. What should we call you? It's a big thing - a name. It's with you for life. My favourites were Josh, Jamie, Tyler, Charlie and Zane. Your Dad liked Michael, Patrick and Alexander. He was keen on you having a name that reflected the Link side of our family. But most of them are so German - Heinrich, Emmerich, Hans... He suggested Michael. We both liked that. We both liked Jamie too. Well, James. We thought you might want to be James when you're older. So, we had Michael Alexander, Michael James and James Michael. We only decided last weekend. I was so excited to finally have a name for you - James Michael Link! But sshhh... it's a secret until you're born. No-one else knows yet. 11 November 2005.

Jamie was born 6 days after I did this layout.

Have a great weekend everyone!
Kathie

Teeny Tiny Clothes

OK, moving on with the layouts. And, yes Mel, I had you in mind when I started posting these - I know not everyone gets FK. So.... I just couldn't help myself one afternoon and snapped a shot of baby clothes hanging on the line. I love doing these sorts of layouts - just about the everyday stuff. Where the layout is as much about the story of my life as it is about showcasing a photo.

Journaling: I couldn't resist taking this photo. I had taken advantage of a spell of warm weather to wash all of the little outfits we've got for the baby. Little growth suits, summer suits, singlets, and shorts and tops. Most of them have been given to us by Cherill, as Angus was born at the same time last year. They looked so cute hanging in rows on the washing line. I had to take a photo. And capture my feeling of excitement. Because I'm sure that in a few months' time I'll look back and shake my head that I ever could have been excited about row upon row of baby clothes hanging on the line!

Interestingly, even though my washing has doubled and baby clothes are so fiddly to fold and put away, I still adore Jamie's little clothes. It's great that babies grow so quickly in these first months, because I get to change Jamie's wardrobe every few months, lol! (Not so good on the purse though - thank goodness most of my friends wanted to get rid of all their baby clothes and gave them to us.)

And you know what I love the most? Hats! Jamie always wears a hat. My excuse is that he's still bald and needs a hat to stay warm. But that's totally just an excuse. I noticed with some consternation yesterday, however, that he'd pulled his hat off and was using it as a teething ring. I hope this is not a sign that I'm going to have to battle with him over the wearing of hats. I do have one with rabbit ears that has a nice velcro strip that does up under his chin. I will threaten him with that, if he keeps pulling the others off. I think he looks cute in it. But I'm sure he will beg to differ when he sees the photos in 15 years time :).

See ya
Kathie