Callaloo Soup

From Blog Post to Scrapbook Page

A week ago I posted some of my Project 365 photos to share here. A few days later I went ahead and bought the Studio 365 kit by Karla Dudley that I mentioned, and got busy playing. I also bought a few other kits and combined them on this page

 

Supplies: Studio 365 by Karla Dudley, Capture and Record by Karla Dudley, Scallop tag by Every Jot & Tittle, Vinyl numbers by American Crafts, Stamp by Banana Frog

I used one of the page templates to position the title, date and words along the bottom, then printed it out, and added the photos, journaling, and the tag with 365. I placed the photos in the same position as suggested by the template. I originally added the photos in Photoshop, then printed everything onto white cardstock, but totally wasn't happy with that look. The second go round gave me a better result for sure!

It was a learning process, but I am totally digging the hybrid thing now. I think it's the perfect solution for working with Project 365. I don't plan to scrap all the weekly photos this way, as usual I will mix it up a bit, but I will stick to using these kits (and others) for some kind of uniformity in getting the photos from my computer onto the page.

Adding to Kieran's Baby Book

I'm not actually doing a baby book, because honestly, I suck at that kind of thing. I know myself well enough to know that I wouldn't keep up with anything that requires me to keep track constantly, and fill in the blanks etc. Way too scatterbrained for that! What I am doing is trying to do scrapbook pages to tell the stories about him that I want to remember, and that I want him to know some day. Here are the four latest pages I've done (I was on a bit of a scrapbooking roll last week!)

 

 

These pages were all done using Studio Calico monthly kits. I tell ya, scrapbooking kits are a sleep deprived, busy Mummy's best friend! Last week I printed a stack of photos I'd been meaning to scrap, and now when I have a spare moment, I choose a photo or three, grab a kit that looks like it coordinates, and I whip out a page. I restrict myself to using the kit, which eliminates my usual problem of scrapbook product indecision-itis, whereby I can spend up to an hour just deciding what piece of patterned paper to use, and if I should really cut it or keep it for a "better" page. Well mama just doesn't have time for that kind of foolishness anymore! 

As usual my approach to this scrapbooking thing is kinda random, but I do actually have a plan for a more structured album chronicling his first year. Look for that to be revealed sometime after April 11th.

For now all his pages will go into an All About Kieran album. I use the 12x12 American Crafts Modern Albums for my pages, since they can be adapted to hold different page sizes. Well, his pages will be put in there once I get around to actually purchasing it!

39

This photo is part of my 365 in 2010 series. To see all my daily photos, please visit my flickr photostream.

So today I learned that my current Wii Fit age is 39. Woot! That's an improvement from the start of the month when it was 42. But not as good as my original Wii Fit age back in May last year which was 32. Of course this makes no sense if you don't know my actual age: 41. So there has been some improvement, after that large gap of about six months where I did no exercise at all (unless carting around a baby counts?).  

I'm quite motivated to see that changes are indeed happening. I don't get to work out every day, but I aim for 4 or 5 days a week. Some days I only have enough energy to do the balance games, or a few yoga poses, but at least I'm moving right?

I have a specific goal set for April 11th, and it looks like I might be on track!

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Note about my photo: I only thought about taking a photo related to the Wii Fit after I was long done working out, so ended up talking this shot of the CD case for my daily photo. Sometimes you gotta work with what you have!

in the past week or so

Kieran got a new toy

 

We ran errands on a rainy day

We ate sushi

Kieran wore baby legs and played a lot

 

I made guacamole (and Kieran loved it!)

We organised a bit and discovered a new scanner accessory

Kieran and Ian had a playdate at the library

 

These photos are all part of my Project 365 in 2010. Click here to see all my photos so far.

The last week has been full. The days really go by in a blur. I am loving the photo a day project because it is really helping me to remember it all. In my sleep deprived state if I had to rely on my memory, I'd have nothing, I tell ya. Now to get some of this recorded in scrapbook pages! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will happen this weekend. I'm considering buying this hybrid kit by Karla Dudley, to help me keep on top of getting the photos scrapped. What are you doing with your 365 photos this year?

Photo Challenge

My bloggy friend EssenseVibez is holding a cool photo challenge on her blog today: take a photo each hour of your surroundings! I'm a bit late getting started, since it's already noon for me, but I am up to the challenge for the rest of the day! Wanna join in? Check out her posts here and here for more information.

This is a Scrapbooking Blog, right?

So I guess I should post some layouts. I do get to whip out a page or three a month for my various teams.

 

This one was done using the Imaginisce line Let's Roll, for a showcase we did on Write.Click.Scrapbook in December.

This one is part of the January Gallery on Write.Click.Scrapbook. The theme for the month is Favo(u)rites.

And this one was my Project of the Day post last week on the Banana Frog Blog.

Hmm, I see a trend here! Kraft cardstock (duh), photos of Kieran, graphic patterned paper and a simple design. I was able to do all these in under an hour, 30 minutes for the Ready, Set, Let's Play page. My how things have changed from the days when I would spend hours on a page! And though I no longer get to scrap each and every single day like before, I am happy that I am still able to document how the baby boy is growing!

Nine Months Old

Our baby boy is nine months old today. It has been way too long since I've done an update about him. Between our move, being sick, him teething, trying to get him back into a decent sleeping schedule, him being sick, the holidays and just general fatigue on my part, my usual monthly updates didn't happen. But it's a new year, with new goals and plans, so here we go!

 

This photo is part of my 365 in 2010 project. To see all my photos please visit my flickr photostream.

* He is crawling and has been for the last few weeks. Much to the horror of the cats!

* He's able to pull himself to standing, and wants to do it all the time now.

* He now responds to his name 

* He loves playing peekaboo, it's our usual changing table game. I take off his pants, drape them over his face and say "Where is Kieran? Mummy can't find him!" And he pulls them off and grins at me with glee

* He is still enjoying his bath every night which is now in the big tub!

* He is eating everything we offer him. We are doing Baby-led Weaning and after three months it is going very well. More info here.

* He talks a lot! A constant stream of bababa, gagaga, tongue rolling, raspberries and every gurgle imaginable. He also throws in the occasional "eh!" "ah!" or "eee!" usually to get our attention. And he lets us know when things aren't to his liking! We haven't heard anything we can call real words yet, which isn't surprising considering he has to learn two versions of everything.

* He is totally into his toys, especially his stacking cups, stacking cubes, building blocks and a little car, all of which he got for Christmas. He can play happily with them either in his parc or on the living room floor without needing our attention for up to fifteen or twenty minutes.

*He loves banging things together, or banging on things like the Christmas cookie tin!

* He likes to put his toys into and out of boxes. He knows exactly where his toys are kept, and will go get them from the box.

* He is curious about every little thing now, nothing seems to escape his attention.

* He gets very excited when Papa gets home from work!

* We've settled into a nice daily routine, which usually includes two 45 minute naps. Some days, like today, he will take a 90 minute nap in the morning, but then won't sleep in the afternoon. And no, he is still not sleeping through the night....

*He still succeeds in charming just about everyone he meets.

We are having a wonderful time watching his personality develop. Not to mention seeing him hit all the different milestones. It's pretty amazing for Lucas, since he leaves in the morning and comes back at night to find him doing something new! it's fun for me too though, to see him go through the stages of figuring things out and then it finally all clicking into place. I wish I could just train a video camera on him 24/7, I bet my Mum would love that too!

At Least Mozaique Seems to Approve

I've caught her in there several times already. I'm pretty sure she's thinking "Awesome! Why didn't they get me my own house of  sooner?". The best part is that when she's in there with it all closed up, Kieran can't get at her from the outside. He stretches his arms through the bars and she looks at him with a smirk on her face!

Don't Fence Me In

We got a new piece of baby paraphernalia for Kieran today. A "parc" or as you might know it, a playpen (the soft side mesh ones are called parc americain in French). I'm really in two minds about it.

This photo is part of my 365 in 2010 series. To see all the photos please visit this set on flickr

On the upside:

1. I can pop him in there if I need to grab or do something in the next room
2. He can be in there safely while I work out with the Wii Fit, or need to really concentrate on stuff on the computer
3. Some people say it's a good way to teach limits
4. He can use it to help pull himself to standing and start walking while holding on (although it is a bit too high for him right now)

On the downside:

1. I can't help feeling like I've put him in baby jail!
2. He'll probably get less practice crawling in such a small space
3. I might start depending on it too much
4. Did I mention baby jail?

My baby bible "The Baby Book" by Dr. Sears recommends leaving a baby in a playpen for no more than 30 minutes at a time, and only if you really need to. I can work with that. Luckily, I can remove three of the bars in one side give him an escape route. One he was very quick to find and use.

What do you think? Playpens: yay or nay?

Dare I Even Put This Out There?

January 1st: Caramel Popcorn

"Ah that such sweet things should be fleet, and such fleet things sweet!" - Algernon Charles Swinburne

For perhaps the fourth year in a row, I am again trying to do project 365: A photo every day for a year. I hesitate to even talk about it since my previous attempts have failed miserably. But as a wise person once said "try and try again boys, you'll succeed at last". After all, how else can I actually prove I can do it, unless I do it? I won't however, commit to posting them all on this blog. I will simply post the ones I can, when I can. The entire attempt though, will be uploaded to flickr, and you can always check them out in my photostream. 

All part of my plan to reconnect with my creativity!