Author Archives: Nicole

P365 Day 5 – Jan 5th, 2008

Thomas and a friend having fun at the playground during our monthly baby group get together. I still catch up with some of the people from the Baby and Me group that I started going to when Thomas was just 3 weeks old. That group was a lifesaver when I was a first time mum, having trouble with nursing and sleeping. It was the one safe place where I could go and be comfortable admitting my mistakes and ask questions with other women going through the same experiences. More than two years later I still love catching up with the same mothers and babies on a regular basis.

P365 Day 3 – Jan 3rd, 2008

Thomas chilling out during Curious George with his trusty “feathersword” – that’s what he calls a tissue he carries around all day. Until it rips ad then he is in search of a new one. We have been through so many tissues this way and find them all over the house. And, yes, we have tried to break the habit with substitute items (white handkerchiefs, a Feather duster) but no luck so far.

These Rule

Good morning everyone! My first day back at work today – Yuck. It’s appropriate that the weather is miserable and cold but luckily I have some flourescent lighting to brighten up my desk. (LOL)

I already need a distration from the 1300 emails in my mailbox (and that’s no joke) so I thought I’d post a couple of new LOs with some fabulous Lauren goodies. She has some wonderful new ruled Alphas, Shapes and Big Ol’ Brackets that have so much texture and are just a little bit wonky – the way I like ’em. Also check out the new Country Club Reject papers. You can find them all in her OScraps store here.

Here are the fun – and bright – LOs I created with these products. Click on the images to see a closer look and full credits.

Big day tomorrow – I have a doctor’s appointment and if all goes well I will find out whether I am carrying a he or a she. Let the naming wars begin. 🙂

Until next time
Nicole

P365 Day 2 – Jan 2nd 2008

Thomas and his toy of the moment – A Little People barn complete with a barn, animals and animal sounds. His favourite unofficial Xmas present and the best thing we have bought for him in a long time. Seriously – he has spent hours playing with this thing and it so much fun to observe his imagination in action.

One Word for 2008

I want to post this on the first day of the year so have not had time to create a LO to make it all pretty. I was inspired by this post on Ali Edward’s blog to choose one word for 2008.

My word for this year is IMMERSION. I feel as though I spent a large part of 2007 being distracted and focusing on too many things at once. This year I want to make sure I immerse myself in what is most important at that very moment.

I think it’s going to be tough to live up to – I am expecting my second child in May, starting major renovations on our house in January and it looks like a busy year at work.

I am determined though to make sure that when I am with my family, I am really WITH my family. I am going to take more photos (OK that won’t be hard :)) and write down more observations about our everyday lives.

A few definitions of Immersion:
* state of being deeply engaged or involved; absorption.
* concentrating on one course of instruction, subject, or project to the exclusion of all others
* complete attention; intense mental effort

So that’s it. Rather than a New Year’s resolution, I have a word. 🙂

One other thing I am going to try and do (and part of the whole immersion theme) is to take at least one photo each day. Not sure how that is going to go – especially in the middle of winter when my entire day before and after work is in darkness – but I am going to try. You can read more about Project 365 (the inspiration) here.

I did take a photo today but haven’t had a chance to get it off the computer yet. will probably post a few at a time rather than one a day.

Happy New Year everyone.
Nicole

Just for me

It’s been a long time since I scrapped just for me. My mojo was MIA for a long time and everything I managed to pull together was to fulfll my CT obligations.

Well last week I scrapped just for me and it felt really good. I received Ali Edward’s Life Artist book for Christmas and found it very inspiring. Just what I needed. AND I went back into my stash and used some beautiful designs that I had never used before. The Xmas LO is using a Michelle Coleman kit that I bought on sale LAST Christmas.

This LO is directly inspired by Ali and her painted pages. I love these photos that I took of Thomas in the bath. His facial expressions are just so funny these days.


This one is for the current (and final) Lift with Twist. I just love this photo of Thomas in front of the Chistmas tree. By the way, that’s his “smile for the camera” face. 🙂

Click on images for full credits and journaling.

Have to do some more scapping for me – I forgot how much fun it is. Now thatmy CT period with Dani is coming to an end I should have more time – that is if I can fit it in around this baby brewing in my belly, major renovations on my house and running after a two ear old. 🙂

2008 is going to be one crazy year.

Happy new year everyone!
Nicole

Christmas Recap

This year was a lot of fun – mainly because Thomas was really into the whole Santa thing. And he loves opening presents. I was talking to a friend of mine who said they had to keep stopping while opening the presents to give their son time to play with his toys for a little while. Not Thomas. he wanted to open them all first and then think about playing later. 🙂

I think the whole thing must have been way too exciting because Thomas decided not to take a nap at all – much to our dismay. I had this whole plan to cook dinner while he was napping but I suppose you can’t really plan when you are relying on a toddler to stick to his routine.

We ended up eating dinner at around 5:30pm but we had been snacking on antipasto for the rest of the day. Kei and I have the same idea of what makes a holiday special – decadent food and not too much pressure. I cooked a Prime Rib roast for the very first time and have to say it was pretty darn good, even as left overs a couple of days later.

Thomas did quite well for christmas – a new bike with two wheels that doesn’t have pedals. It’s supposed to teach balance without training wheels. He hasn’t quite warmed up to it yet but we plan to take it slow. He also got some books and a game called “Hullaballoo” from the people who make cranium. That one was for the whole family. We played it last night and it was loads of fun and also educational as it teaches colors and shapes AND makes the players move around the room. I also bought him a Fisher Price Little People set. Thomas loves the one at daycare and it’s really fun to watch him using his imagination. In fact I went and bought him another set (a farm) that was on sale this morning. He loves it and it has kept him occupied for at least an hour. See? Everyone’s a winner. 🙂

I did well also – lots of books (and a GC for more) so you can’t beat that! I also got a monopod for my DSLR from my dear husband and photography book. I guess I have really icnreased the interest in photography over the last few months. The best thing is that it’s a hobby the whole family can enjoy – that’s my excuse anyway. 🙂

My mum and mother-in-law each received their Shutterfly books in plenty of time for Xmas and they both loved them. We haven’t had much contact with my mother-in-law over the past few years (she lives in Japan) and she has never met her grandson so it nice to be able to share this with her. I think she was really touched.

So now onto the photos of our small family Xmas.

Presents under the tree – most are for Thomas.

Snacks for Santa – we only had baby carrots for the Reindeer but they didn’t seem to mind.

Santa has been and left a large elephant sitting on a new bike for Thomas. Of course Thomas assumed the bike belonged to the elephant…

Opening presents

Awwww.

A few more days off work next week which is great. Kei is taking the whole week off to look after Thomas and I have Monday as a holiday. It will be so nice to spend some time together and refresh before we begin a very busy 2008.

Until next time
Nicole