A couple of my latest pages. The first is for a special RAK Lift we did on the Lauren Reid Creative Team blog. A scrapper who goes by the name of NevadaJen has been having a really rough time lately and the team decided to do something to try and lft her spirits. You can read about Jen’s story and see the other fabulous lifts on the blog. Click on the image below to see credits for the LO.

I have been making a concerted effort to scrap with my stash lately. I seriously have so many beautiful papers and elements on my hard drive that I have never used. I have even stopped buying new stuff simply because I can’t justify the purchase when I haven’t used half of what I have. Now that I am down to two CT’s I have more time to scrap for myself and I am loving it.

This page uses bits and pieces from all over including papers from Lisa Whitney, elements from Gina Miller and some cute Emily Merritt stuff. I even used the heavy duty staples by Kate Hadfield that everyone has been raving about. As always, you can click on the image for full credits. Oh, and think this is one of my favourite page titles. 🙂

Thanks again for stopping by my little blog. It’s so great that I now have stats and can see how many people read this thing. Makes me want to try and say something interesting every once in a while. 🙂

I am going to be published! One of my LOs is going to be included in the June/July issue of Digital Scrapbooks Mag. I have been submitting for a while now so it’s wonderful to finally be able to see one of my pages in print.

Oh… and they pay! Excuse my ignorance but until one of my online buddies mentioned that they other day I really had o idea that there was money to be made. Not a lot, but anything I can earn to supplement my upcoming maternity leave is welcome. 🙂

Until next time
Nicole

Parents not happy, son not repentant

Oh, and this is post #100 – yay me!

20 week prenatal appointment. The big one…

The baby is healthy, growing properly with no signs of any problems.

Before I share the BIG news, some new pics of our little peanut.

Profile. That’s the little hand in front with a little thumb sticking out.

A teeny tiny little foot

And….
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And there is absolutely no doubting it. I saw the evidence many many times.

And yes, I have come to terms with the fact that my life will from now on be filled with dirt and mud and general craziness. 🙂

I think he already looks like Thomas. Take another look at the first photo – same nose and chin. 🙂

So there you have it. Baby Boy Ishida #2 is on his way. Now if we can only agree on a name… Suggestions welcome.

Nicole

Tomorrow is Monday and my first full week of work for some time. Wish me luck!

Nicole

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

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

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

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