For the past six and a half months, I've been moaning and groaning about how sick and tired I've been feeling due to being pregnant. All I can think about is the negatives, and boy are there plenty of those!
Therefore, as partly an exercise for my One Little Word project for this year (sadly neglected!), I've decided to try and list out some positive things about being pregnant.
So, here's a start to the list:
Having a very valid reason for doing absolutely nothing and dropping everything in the name of "needing a nap/rest"!
Being able to get hubby to do most (if not everything) for me.
Hubby is actually learning how to cook and make more than just minute noodles. LOL
It's quite amusing watching strangers trying to figure out if I'm pregnant or if my "spare tyre" is protruding.
No more monthly hassles, especially period cramps and bad acne!
I can blame forgetfulness and other erratic behaviour on having "baby brain".
Enjoying gorgeously thick and luxurious hair and lovely strong nails!
Having a valid reason for going gooey over baby clothes and toys.
For once in my life I can have decent sized boobs! Although I'm currently still waiting for them too fill out somewhat. ;)
That's about all I can come up with at this stage. Do you have any to add? I'd love to hear your suggestions or experiences.
I want to try and make a mini-book out of these thoughts so I have something to remind me that this pregnancy IS positive and that indeed, there is light at the end of the tunnel!
For the first time in about two weeks, I actually had an enjoyable day! I didn't feel as sick and tired today as I have been so we decided to make the most of that and venture out. Okay, so the main purpose of today was to go and get groceries, but sometimes the simplest tasks can lead to other more enjoyable things - like a nice brunch in a Katoomba cafe; a surprising lack of crowds in the supermarket (on a Saturday morning); everything I needed to buy being in stock(!); sunshine on a gorgeous autumn day (which then turned to rain by the afternoon, but at least I saw the sun today!!); a lovely impromptu picnic lunch by Wentworth Falls Lake, finding a HUGE dog park (old unused golf course) that we could take the dogs to and then enjoying a nice, uneventful and peaceful evening. I definitely need to enjoy these moments as I'm sure I won't get much peace AFTER baby arrives! LOL
Anyhoo, here's another LO I did during the week:
Credits: Echo Park Walk In The Park PPs and ticket; Dog Moments rub-on and paw prints from Dog Gone Cute by Mindy Terasawa; Dog sticker, bone charm and staple from Dog Park by Katie Pertiet; Title font: An Accidental Kiss; Journalling font: SS Play; Template by Splendid Fiins. Created in PS CS4.
We've been really neglectful of the dogs since I became pregnant and virtually incapacitated most of the time. They haven't had their daily walks and are becoming a bit feral! In order to combat this (although I do know it's not the best solution), we play indoor fetch with them of an evening in addition to small training sessions throughout the day (when I'm not working). We started to sit in a chair to play fetch with them and being dogs, they picked up really quickly that whenever we sat in "the chair", a game of fetch would ensue. Unfortunately this means that we can't even touch the chair without the dogs going ballistic and thinking that they were going to get a game of fetch! Thus the Play Chair was born. LOL
It's a celebration today and there are two awesome reasons why!
1. Bloggaversary - Yes, I'm celebrating a year of blogging! I can hardly believe it considering I was pretty cynical of blogging about this time a year ago! However, attitudes change and I've actually had a lot of fun along the way and met some lovely people. It also gives me something to do and an outlet for my creativity with my scrapbooking, cardmaking and photography. I hope you've enjoyed the journey with me so far and hope you'll stay with me for the future. :D
2. 100 posts - whoo hoo! I never thought I'd get to 50 posts let alone 100. LOL I must admit that in the past two weeks, I've posted nearly everyday which has helped the post count somewhat. I'm sure that it has been a combination of Shimelle's Blogging for Scrapbookers and the fact that I have quite a few things to share lately that has inspired me to blog so much! Maybe I also need something to take my mind off how sick and tired I'm feeling. *grimace*
Anyhoo, to celebrate this great occasion, I'm going to give away the following little package to one lucky reader:
You have until next Thursday, 7 April to leave me a comment. I'll draw the winner at 9am AEST on Friday, 8 April.
Did you join me during Earth Hour on Saturday night? What did you get up to? As I mentioned previously, I was going to challenge myself to take pictures during that hour.
Low light photography is pretty difficult in any circumstance, let alone for an amateur photographer with no experience! But armed with a tripod and hubby's technical knowledge, I think I did pretty well.
All the photos I'm sharing with you today are SOC (Straight Out of the Camera), no post processing whatsoever except to add the watermark. The photos are a bit grainy, but that's because I used the maximum ISO setting in order to deal with the lack of lighting. The first two photos were taken by hubby and the other three were taken by me. Click on each photo to get a larger view (and they look much better than the preview that Blogger has inserted here in this post!).
This is our {fake} fireplace, roaring along nicely. Thankfully it was cold enough to have the heater on as it provided us with a bit more light.
The other light sources came from three tealights - two on the mantlepiece and one at the rear of the room. This was the tealight at the rear of the room. I wish I could remember where I got the gorgeous tealight holder from as I seem to only have one. :(
This was one of the tealights on the mantlepiece.
The next two photos are my favourites. I was experimenting with photographing the tealight and the Willowtree figurine in the background. Both times I managed to catch a flare of the tealight that looked like a heart, and so perfectly placed too!
So what do you think? Do you like my photos? It was certainly a great way to pass the hour. Wonder what I can do next year? :D
Oh, and yes, I do remember I said I'd scrap these photos too, but I'm waiting for some inspiration to hit. *grimace* Stay tuned!
Credits: Blue Sonata Kit by Mindy Terasawa; Scallop Template #5 by Crystal Wilkerson
(from Tons of Scallops Template Kit); Title font - Cafe Rojo; Journalling font - Angelina. Made with Photoshop CS4.
Early last week, as I made my way along the Ella Publishing Blog Hop to launch their new eBook, Scrapbooking the Everyday, I noticed several layouts documenting the mundane task of doing the laundry.
I must admit I don't often think about documenting such mundane topics as housework, but I'm a scrapbooker, right? Therefore there is no subject in the world that is off limits to being documented on a scrapbook page!
Once the idea of scrapbooking the laundry took hold, it wouldn't let go. So after I loaded up the washing machine, I grabbed the camera and took a few shots. After several hours of digi element procrastination and Photoshop manipulation, the above layout was produced. I can't say that the journalling came easily and indeed, I'm not that happy with it, but my creative brain is struggling with anything interesting to say about laundry! If I do come up with something better, I'll change it. Or perhaps you have some suggestions? How would the journalling to your laundry layout read?
This was a very interesting exercise for me and it has certainly broadened my mind as to the things I can scrapbook. I suppose I've always known this, but to actually put it into practice is a totally different matter. Regardless of the fact that I'm not particularly keen on remembering how I did the laundry, perhaps future generations will be interested. Isn't that what scrapbooking is all about in the end - preserving memories for future generations?!? And perhaps in the end, that is all that matters. :D
Wow. Can you believe it? It's been six months already. Well, a bit over six months as I've now just passed 25 weeks. I finally have a baby bump that makes me look pregnant instead of just overly fat! I've had to bite the bullet and buy some maternity wear as items in my wardrobe are becoming quite tight and uncomfortable. We've also been buying all sorts of items in preparation for the baby, and hopefully I'll fill you in on all this in another post.
It hasn't been the easiest journey to this point in time and I'm not optimistic about the next three months - emphasised by the fact that I'm feeling quite ill and exhausted as I'm typing this post. I'm impatient for things to return to normal even though part of me knows that once bubby arrives, NOTHING is going to be normal or ever the same again. In some ways I grieve that, even though I know I'm embarking on a whole new adventure which is going to take me waaaay out of my comfort zone! For reasons I don't want to share publically, I'm not looking forward to this new phase of life, but God knows what's He's doing even if I don't!
On a more positive note, baby has been VERY active and it makes me wonder if she's as impatient to be out in the world as I am for her to be?!? LOL So far all the signs have been good and I'm to present myself to the hospital next week for "booking in" - whatever that entails! If baby doing somersaults in my tummy isn't enough to enforce the reality of my pregnancy, I'm sure that the hospital visits and ante-natal classes will!
Now, is that a LO I spy?!? Oh my, it certainly is!! :D
Credits: Adorableness kit by Traci Reed; Template from Traditional Templates II by Scrapping with Liz;
Journalling font - Angelina. Made with Photoshop CS4.
This must be my first layout in about three months. I did manage a few digi layouts for the UKS Christmas Crop last year, which I didn't share on the blog, but you'll find them in my Flickr. I do prefer the touchy-feely aspect of physical scrapping, but in the absence of the energy and stamina needed to sit at my craft desk, digi scrapping is very handy indeed.
