Callaloo Soup

First Look

Just a few quick snapshots after trimming the tree yesterday

December Daily Catch-up: Days 2 to 11

I am so happy to be keeping up with this album! Sadly I don't get to do the pages daily, as most nights I am way too wiped once we get Kieran to bed, and I have dinner. And there were a couple days where I totally forgot to take a photo. But it's all good, and I think this will be a real keepsake one day! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There haven't been a whole lot of Christmas activities happening, just regular everyday life. I'm hoping that will change as we head into the last two weeks before the big day!

Documenting Kieran’s First Christmas

For the last few years I have planned to do a December Daily album, based on Ali Edward’s phenomenal idea. In 2006 I had my album all ready by November 25th, but didn't manage to complete daily pages. In 2007 I got my album finished the around mid December, started journaling but got bored of having to catch up on the days I missed so I stopped. Last year, I again got gung-ho in November and was ahead of the game, but didn’t manage to journal one single day! I think I was too caught up in all the crafting I did, plus I was pregnant and tired. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Things are different this year though. it’s Kieran’s first Christmas and I am excited to record it all. Since he won’t remember a thing, I think that some day in the future he will appreciate having a record of his first holiday season.

 

I quickly pulled my album together on Monday and Tuesday. To keep things as simple as possible I pulled a bunch of Teresa Collins die cut pages and chipboard bracket covers made for the Bind-it-All. Thank goodness for my hoarding tendencies (and thanks to my sister Vernell for having sent them to me sometime last year!)

I only had one sheet of Christmas die cuts, so the rest of the album is made up of pages from the Travel set, the Damask set, the Destination set and the Journal It set.

 

 

The pages and covers come with explicit instructions on how to punch and bind them together, regardless of the page shape and size, so it was pretty easy going to make. I managed to get it bound yesterday while Kieran played quietly for about 15 minutes.

As you can see I basically just alternated the page types then added the numbers. I kept the album very simple, since I really didn't have a lot of time to pull it together. As I am completing each day, I will probably add an extra embellishment or two.

And confession time: I only had up to page 14 done yesterday, but decided to go ahead and bind it, since I worried that if I waited to complete all the pages, the book would just sit there in a pile and never get used.

For the cover I also went to my stash and found a Christmas themed monthly scrapbooking kit from last year. I’m also using other bits and pieces like the numbers and labels from my stash, and letter stickers from my “Write” basket (where I keep all my journaling supplies). I’m also using Thicker number stickers in a variety of colours to change things up from the red numbers.

Here is Day 1!

 

 

I doubt I will get to post my pages every day. I’ll be happy just to get them done! But I will definitely share more pages throughout the month, and also in the flickr group.

I’m really excited to keep up with the journal this month!

5 Months (and 2 days)

* He can prop himself up with his arms when sitting now. But he still falls forward or to one side if he isn't balanced

* It's all about his feet now, he's fascinated by them!

* We have some trouble getting him to sit in his tub (the baby spa, tee hee). He wants to stand and hold on to the sides

* We're seeing more and more deliberate playing with his toys. He reaches for them, and tries to get to them when out of his reach. He can also play nicely by himself for longer periods.

* When on my lap in front of the computer nothing on my desk is safe! 

* A short book can now hold his interest, so we do a little reading in the morning. And he "helps" me to turn the pages.

* He had a playdate with Ian, my friend Lucy's son, and they had a lovely time together!

 

* He's growing so fast I put him in clothes just to make sure he wears them once before they are too small.

* I discovered the hard way that the vacuum cleaner scares him.

* He's more interested in the cats now, before he would just ignore them, but now he follows them with his eyes when they walk past. I think they are in for a fun ride soon!

* He's now giving us hugs and cuddles when we hold him against us.

* I'm convinced he recognises the camera and poses when he sees it!

We are having a wonderful time seeing his personality blossom and grow!

Sunday Smile

Momentous occasion in the Fournier-Clouden household!

Looking forward to the weekend.

This has been a somewhat trying week as we work on figuring out what is keeping Kieran from sleeping properly. Apart from waking up to nurse, he's been pretty fussy all through the night. We think it might be due in part to teething, but we also started back using his sleep sack again, which we believe makes him feel more comforted and safe. So even though the nights might still be difficult, I am really looking forward to the next two days of having Lucas home with us. On the list so far:

1. Scrapping of course. I need to work on some projects that have been on my list for a while
2. Running errands including getting Kieran his first tooth brush!
3. Baking - I'd like to make some oatmeal muffins for breakfast for the coming week; and if La Poste decides to delivers the box from my sister I might also make cupcakes! (She sent me cupcake liners yay!)
4. Giving my hair a good conditioning treatment a la Yvonne
5. Submitting to a couple scrapbook magazines
6. Going to meet our friends' new baby!

Can all this be achieved in a 2-day period? I'm gonna give it the old college try! What are your weekend plans?

Hello September

For some parents, this is the most wonderful time of year, as their kids go back to school. I have three years left before I have to start thinking about that, but in France, this time of year, known as La Rentrée, is the restart of pretty much everything, adult activities included.

Table Tennis starts again for Lucas, and Scrap Club for me. Well they do in theory, as they both happen on the same night. We will most likely alternate so we can each attend every two weeks. We have yet to run a test to see how Kieran will adapt to having only Papa at his bedtime, as I'm usually the one to put him down after his last nursing. We also have to test how he reacts to being bottle fed, as we've only tried it once so far. I'm pretty postive about it though, he has been a very adaptable baby so far.

It's also the start of a new gallery over at Write.Click.Scrapbook. Our theme is Back to School and this is the layout I did

 

That's my sister and I headed off to school back in 1979. For more details on the layout click here. Don't forget to check out the rest of the gallery! It is filled with awesome back to school ideas!

Speaking of my sister and I, remember Sister Scrap? We started this blog last year, but then I got pregnant and things slowed down. Way down. Well we are using September as the perfect month to start things back up again. We have a welcome back post and giveway up already, so hop on over to check that out. 

With the restart of Scrap Club I hope to have more time to work on my various projects, so look out for more news on what I will be up to in the coming weeks.

20 Weeks

* He is rolling over! See demonstration above.

* Crying during tummy time is a thing of the past. He has the perfect head up, back arched form now!

* More and more interest being shown in his toys and just about everything he sees.

* He reaches out constantly to touch and grab things, including our faces, hair, and Lucas' beard, and he's grabbed Lucas' glasses off his face. Oh and he was headed towards my bowl of cashews too!

* The bathroom floor is always soaked from his splashing around in the tub.

* I can tell that he is really going to like being able to sit up by himself. He loves it when we hold or support him in a sitting position so he can play with his toys. And his feet.

* He still really loves being in the wrap and continues to be a great traveler when we go into the city.

* He petted Mozaique (our cat) for the first time yesterday (with a little help from Lucas!)

* He is more and more curious when we are out, to the point where people always remark on how alert he is.

* He is getting more attached to his doudou, Sleepy Time Bear, which hopefully will make for calmer nap times and night times. 

* He has mostly figured out how to work this Jittery Fox toy that my friend Paula sent. He's got the pulling down, just needs to work on the letting go!

* We're getting more and more bursts of laughter now. But we never know when to expect them so we end up laughing too.

* Long naps are a thing of the past, these days I'm lucky if he sleeps for an hour twice a day.

Basically he keeps me hopping all day long, and it's great!

A la campagne

1. to market to market, 2. little boy in a big chair, 3. Sitting up, 4. a table!, 5. red hot chilli peppers, 6. Too cute, 7. Summertime, 8. so pink, 9. The Wall, 10. Relax, 11. Cousins, 12. Munchin, 13. Hello there, 14. At the pump, 15. Chillin, 16. Pump it

We had a great time. Click on the links to see individual photos.

4 Months Old

This post should have gone up on Tuesday when Kieran actually turned four months, but it's been one of those weeks!

* He is showing a lot more interest in his toys, and can really reach out and grab a hold of them now

* But he is happiest when we are holding him, or playing actively with him. He likes it when we make his stuffed animals sing and dance

* He breaks out into laughter occasionally. It's too cute! Even cuter is the fact that he surprises himself when he laughs.

* He always grabs at our hands when they come close to him.

* He loves being in a sitting position

* We noticed that he is really attracted by the TV. Ooops!

* He loves looking at himself in the mirror.

* Now that he is interested in toys he takes his bath with rubber ducky!

* He loves kissing and bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt noises. Also being kissed on his belly!

* He almost always wakes up in a good mood now, and we get big smiles once he's fully awake.

* We're using the Moby wrap more and more, it's a life saver!

And now for some more cute photos!

 

 

Have a great weekend!!!