You had me at HELLO

I think it was last week when I scrapped this page. It was so much fun and wow, just so awesome to be scrapbooking my very own daughter! I have dreamed of this for so long!



I think some of the pages I create of her first year will go into her baby book, which is more like a scrapbook. And then some of the other pages will go in our regular books. I'm not quite sure how to go about that yet. I keep on thinking about what Ali Edwards has done. I should look into it more. Any suggestions or ideas?

I scrapped another page today! I'll share that soon!

I hear her waking...

On Being a Mother--the typed version

I meant to post more than just pictures in my last post, but our other computer is having an issue with typing any words while posting, so...I am posting this from our older computer.

Jeralyn is 3-1/2 weeks! I can’t believe how fast time has flown by already. I will admit I was pretty much in a fog the first 2-1/2 weeks (maybe I still am). Our house finally feels like our house to me again. What a huge, beautiful change and adjustment to our lives! Our daughter is so precious to us! I have experienced such joy in having our little bundle of joy and love in our home and in our arms. There have been some struggles along the way, but we are smoothing out those wrinkles as we figure out what is working for us. And that has led me to thinking a lot about parenthood and how everyone has their own way of doing things.

Quent’s aunt sent me a book about finding your own mothering style. It’s a quick read with tidbits of information about how different mothers have found strategies that work for them and their children. In all of the years I have preached about being true to your own style, I realize that one’s unique style applies even to being a mother. And I realize that what works for one mother may not work for the next mother.

There were a few days I was feeling a bit stressed and frustrated because things weren’t going in the direction I was hoping (I still have those days). I felt guilty for wanting things to go a certain way because of what others had said to me. But I realize that their recommendation is what works for them; it doesn’t work for me. So once I realized that I have the freedom to do what works for me and for what fits my personality, it was like I could soar! It was a HUGE relief to me! So I’ve been making some adjustments and it’s already paying off! Whoohoo!

I love being a mother! I have dreamed of this for so many years! So many times I have tears come to my eyes knowing that this is really happening, that I am really holding our little promise. She’s so beautiful and sweet! And funny! And I can’t wait to see her personality bloom more and more.

I'm also learning a lot about myself. Like that I have this independent spirit that is having a hard time going away. I can't just do whatever I want, whenever I want...and I thought this was going to be more of an issue for my husband...hahaha!

The other day I had to set aside some of her newborn outfits since she’s already outgrown them. It makes me sad to know that she’ll never be that little again…that we’ve already passed that stage. It makes me realize even more how I want to relish and cherish every single moment I have with her. I do look forward to the days when she and I can bake cookies together, when she coos and smiles more, when she takes her first steps, etc., etc., but I so want to bask in these moments.

Last week my friend Jamie came over to meet Jeralyn and after she had held her for a little while and put her in my arms, she said she could see Jeralyn relax more, like she knew it was her mama holding her. I know this might sound weird, but it was at that point I realized that I’m her mother, the one who will comfort her and kiss away those hurts. Wow!

“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.”

--Washington Irving

I feel so honored to be Jeralyn’s mother, to be there for her in all of the ways that I can.
So with these thoughts I have shared, I want to stress again about the importance of being true to your own style! No matter what the subject might be (scrapbooking or being a mother)! Be true to who you are!

On Being a Mother

Hello there!

Hello! I thought I'd post something and give a little update on how life with baby Jeralyn is going. She's such a good baby! She sleeps a LOT! My days are full of her and I just love it! It's funny to think back to weeks ago when I was desparately trying to find things to keep myself busy as we were waiting for her arrival. Oh how things have changed! Before she came a lot of people would say to Quent, "Your life is about to change!" It certainly has! Sometimes I wonder where the hours of the day go. Or the days! Quent is taking such good care of us. He cooks, he cleans, he changes diapers! And he just loves Jeralyn! The cats are doing really well, too. They are used to a baby crying now and sometimes it seems like Shadow is trying to help. It's sweet! I feel bad because I feel like I don't show them as much affection as I would like, but I think as time goes on, it will get better. They are such good kitties!

Remember the dress I knitted? It's too big for her right now, but I just had to try it on her. *smile*

I just love her!

I've been thinking about how I want to document her first year of life. I am pretty sure I'm going to do a weekly kind of project. So far I've been keeping a Word document open and just journaling that way for now. I've never done anything like this, so I'm hoping I won't lose motivation.

Well, this is all for now. Happy Labor Day!

She's here!

Jeralyn Promise Smith
August 24, 2011 @ 9:38 am
7 lb 13 oz
20 inches

She's perfect!

40 Weeks

Hello!

Today is Baby Smith's due date! As of 8:07 am Alaska time, there are no signs of labor...yet. Only 4% of babies actually arrive on their due date, so we shall see. Quent is still convinced since he was born on his due date that she will still come on hers. Only time will tell. Yesterday we went for a long drive, in the pouring rain, on some bumpy roads. I never thought I would be someone who would go to that length as to induce labor, but there we were! I think we'll have to go on another long drive today!!

Have a good one!

39 Weeks & 1 Day

Hello! I just wanted to give an update. No baby yet. I thought I felt some mild contractions in the middle of the night, but I was in and out of sleep, so who knows! We are anxiously waiting...

I started knitting a hat days ago, but I think there's something wrong with the chart for the pattern, so I'm going to stop working on that. I was just practicing following charts anyway. I did start on another little project that I had been collecting patterns for last year. The Point (the local yarn shop here in Ketchikan) had a calendar scarf project last year. Each month we would get a new pattern to add to our scarf. So I started working on that yesterday and also started listening to another book on cd. This one is called The Help. I'm enjoying it so far and find myself cracking up!

Have a blessed week!

Fair Isle Knitting

It's Friday! Are you ready for the weekend?

After finishing the quilt the other day I started looking for some other projects to work on to keep myself occupied while waiting for baby. I've been wanting to learn how to Fair Isle knit, which basically means knitting with more than one color at a time. As with cable knitting, this looked really intimidating to me, but I knew that if I could just get my hands on a simple beginners project that maybe I wouldn't be so intimidated. Ravelry is the best place to look for such patterns, so I searched on there and found this pattern called First Fair Isle Anything. So I found some leftover yarn and got started. It took me less than a day to complete this.


It's supposed to be a head band or cowl, but for me it's too wide to be a head band and too small to be a cowl. So it's just a "thing" of practice, I guess. Quent did wear it around the top of his head for a little while last night. Ha! Anyway, so that is what the pattern looks likes. I had never followed a chart before, and I have to say that it was really quite easy. Now I want to do more and more Fair Isle!

This is what it looks like inside-out. All of the yarn just carries over until you use it again.

I'm starting yet another project. This time it's a hat. And there are hearts involved in the pattern! I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Oh, I wanted to answer my friend Jamie's question/comment. She asked how you will know when Baby Smith arrives. I will do my very best to create a quick post after she is born to announce her arrival. *smile* And hopefully that will include a picture! 9 more days until my due date!

Quilt--finished!

Hello! Well, yesterday I finished the quilt. I have to say I really enjoyed hand-sewing the back of the binding. I listened to a book on cd while working on it and I found it quite relaxing...minus the neck stiffness afterwards. Ooops!

I have to embarrassingly admit that I actually started making a different quilt top for our bed months ago, but when it was all finished I didn't really like it that much. It wasn't making my heart go pitter-patter...haha! I still have the top, but I don't know what I'm going to do with it now. Another project for another day I suppose. What inspired me to make this completed quilt was some fabric I saw on Etsy called Sweet Nothings. I bought a baby blanket for my niece and when I saw the blanket, it was love at first sight! I just had to make something using the fabric. So...I ordered about 5-6 yards of fabric and got started.

I love how intricate and creative some quilts are, but that's just not where I am at with quilting right now, so I decided to just cut plain ole 8x8 inch squares. Without the binding, the quilt is 91 x91 inches. It wasn't my plan to create a square quilt, but I guess when we make the bed we won't have to wonder what's up and what's down. Haha! The quilt is bigger than needed for a queen size, but I like having extra blanket (since I can be a blanket hog). It's perfect for us!


I love all of the colors on the quilt. I'd have to say these have been my favorite colors in the past year or so. Another simple thing about this quilt is that there was no actual "quilting" involved. I just did tying. Simple! Someday I would love to learn how to make those intricate quilt designs, but like I said earlier, that's just not where I'm at right now. Someday...

Quilting isn't my favorite hobby, I have to say. It's not like knitting where I feel relaxed and ok with mistakes when they come up. The sewing machine was yelled at a couple of times and I wasn't too happy to become aquainted with the seam ripper, but I suppose that's all part of the game, right? But I do have to say I enjoyed the process.

When I was working on laying out all of the layers, I told Quent, "I'm 3 weeks from my due date and here I am on the floor laying out a quilt." I bet this process would be a lot easier without a belly. Haha!

I'm still not very good at taking pictures in the house on cloudy days, but here's a picture of the quilt on our bed. One day (maybe) I'll make some pillow shams...or I'll just buy some decorative pillows. Or make some pillows. Hmmm... I could even knit some!! I'm working toward making the colors of our room turquoise, brown, cream, and orange. It's slowly getting there.

Some resources that were very helpful to me in making this quilt were some YouTube videos (I love YouTube!):

How to Join Strips for Borders and Bindings

How to make and attach quilt binding

Binding Your Quilt - Quilting Tips & Tricks

And of course, phone help from my friend and step-mom, Kelly! Thanks Kelly!

Hello

I'm 38 weeks and 4 days pregnant. I'm playing the waiting game. I wonder when she will say, "It's time!" I'm ready. I'm excited! So what have I been doing with my time?


I've been working on a quilt. I'm almost finished! More pictures to come...soon!

I've been reading. I sit in this chair on our deck in the sun reading until I get too warm and have to go back inside.

And growing a baby!

37 Weeks

I am now 37 weeks! Well, today is 37 weeks and 2 days. During my appointment last week the midwife said I was measuring more like 38 weeks instead of 36 weeks, so....she could be here any time. We shall see!! Let's just say that information kicked me into my final "nesting" mode. I haven't gone too crazy, but I find myself wanting to be as ready as possible.



It's funny how in 9 months the color of our bedroom walls have changed 3 times! First it was the original color (taupe), then it was mostly turquoise with two walls partially taupe. And now it's cream and turquoise! I'm so thankful to Quent and Natasha for finishing up my painting job!

I have to buy another 3/4 yard of fabric in order to go on to the next step of the quilt I am making for our room. I plan to do that today. I wonder how far I'll get with that project?

Have a beautiful day!

Friend

Hello! Happy Monday! While it seems the rest of the country is having extreme heat, we are having fall type weather. It's been a cool and wet summer here. I can't imagine being pregnant and in the kind of heat some are experiencing! Whew! I feel like I've forgotten what that kind of heat is like. Growing up in Michigan, I experienced many hot and humid summers. I have to admit I like living in Southeast Alaska where you can pretty much wear the same thing all year round. I hope you have been able to stay cool! I'll send you some rain. *smile*

I created this page well over a month ago:



4 more weeks until my due date (August 21st)!

Preparing for Baby

It's been a loooooong time since I've scrapbooked. The only inspiration I've had to scrapbook are pictures I've taken of the baby's room. I remember seeing a page Ali Edwards did of preparing the room for her little one before she was born, and I thought it was such a great idea. So I snapped some photos (realizing I need some more camera lessons from Quent), and then started working on this page the very same day. There is another layout idea I have swimming around in my head. I should do that soon.



This week I started working on the quilt top for our bedroom. I have the individual strips sewn, now I just need to sew those strips together. This will be the biggest quilt I've ever made (queen size). I sorta cheated on the baby quilt I made, so I need to figure out how to do this the non-cheating way...or may I'll just cheat again. Hee, hee! I may need to make some phone calls and ask questions.

This Sunday will mark 4 weeks until my due date!! I can hardly believe it! We are getting SOOOOO excited!!

Quote, zero creativity, and books

"When we are no longer able to change a situation--we are challenged to change ourselves."

--Viktor E. Frankl, World War II holocaust survivor

I think the baby has stolen my creative juices. There is pretty much no desire to scrapbook or design right now. In fact, I have some projects I *have* to work on, but I really don't want to. But I have been knitting. I'm almost finished with some slippers I am knitting for myself. I've also been thinking about knitting some gifts. So at least I have that source of creativity flowing right now. Next week I am thinking about starting a quilt, but I think I still need a major dosage of motivation to even start on that. It's pathetic! Ha!

Another thing I've been doing a lot of lately is reading. The other day I started and finished one book in less than 6 hours! Wow! I don't think I've done that in years! The book is called Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza and it's about her story of surviving the Rwanda holocaust. It's a fascinating story!! I couldn't put it down! Another book I recently read is Robinson Crusoe, which I had heard of over the years, but had no idea what it was really all about. I really enjoyed that book! I'm now on the search for more books to read since I find myself needing to lay around a bit more these days. Any suggestions???

Five more weeks until my due date!!

32 Weeks

Whew, it's been a little while since I've blogged! I had a good excuse though. My sister in law, Natasha, was visiting with us for a couple of weeks. I really enjoyed her visit! While she was here, we took some pregnancy photos since she's an amazing photographer. On the only nice day we had while she was here (and it was REALLY nice at that!) we drove around and found a couple of places to take pictures. One of the places was this park near a hatchery. I wasn't interested in being around a lot of people while taking photos, but we had no choice here. There were SO many tourists from the cruise ships walking around. There went our privacy! Oh well! I am 32 weeks in these photos (I'm now 33 weeks). Here are a couple of my favorites:

I haven't been feeling very creative lately as far as scrapbooking goes. I have been slowly knitting a baby hat. I do, however, have some fabric to make a quilt, so I may get started on that soon.

I have less than 7 weeks until my due date! She'll be here before we know it!

My name is...

I need a little pep-talk for myself today.

When I was little (ok, this is going to sound really dorky) and I would practice typing on my mom's computer, I would always type:

My name is Christina.

I was probably about 10 years old and this was before any typing classes in school. But today I think about that and I think about how yes, that is in fact my name. I am she. I am Christina. I'm not Barbara, Kristin, Samantha, or any other name.

Every once in awhile these little things come up in my mind, where maybe I feel threatened by the lies, "You are too much." or "You are not enough." But when it comes down to it, I am Christina and that's ENOUGH! I am me, with all of my quirks. I was made on purpose to be who I am. I was wonderfully made! (Psalm 139)

So I will rest in that truth today. And I hope you can rest in that truth, whatever name you are!

Quilt

Hello! Happy rainy Tuesday to ya! Well, at least that's our weather for today. The sun seems to be a little shy these days. But what do I expect for one of the wettest places on the planet? Living in a temperate rainforest brings just that...rain! Anyway...I don't think I've shared this layout on the blog yet. I created it using a kit that will be coming out in a few days.



I'm tempted to make a quilt for our bedroom. I'm really close to purchasing some fabric...really close. A few days ago I finished another baby blanket I was working on. I'm not really happy with the results though. It's ok, but I think I sorta messed up some stuff. Oh well! A few days ago I ordered some more yarn to make a baby hat and to make some slippers for myself. Remember the slippers I knit for Quent? The ones that I basically never wanted to make ever again if I could help it? Well, those are the ones I'm going to make for myself. After he has been wearing them for a few months, I'm seeing how they would probably last a long, long time. And I'm needing something to wear around the house...sooooo...I decided I would do it. Right now I'm also finishing up the pants I've been slowly working on. I have lots of little projects I'm working on right now to keep me busy as I'm waiting for the last 2 months before baby comes.

Have a fun day!

Little Jackson Smith

Hello! I created this page yesterday. It was inspired by this. Lately I've needed outside inspiration besides the little nudges of creativity inside of my head. And that's ok!

Yesterday I went through our canoe trip photos and picked out the ones I wanted to scrap and digitally 'slapped' them in collage fashion onto some pages. So now I need to go back and add journaling, paper, and elements. It's one of those projects I want DONE.



I'm hoping to finish a knitting project today. Whoohoo!

Have a great day!

LOVE

I've been a scrappin' fool lately...well, sort of. Ha! The other day I was blog hopping and I was inspired by this and then started playing. I really should tackle the canoe trip pics...hmmm...




This layout has a picture of Quent and I that his sister Natasha took at their sister's wedding. I don't plan on scrapping a lot of the wedding photos since those aren't really our photos. But I do plan on picking a few pics out here and there to scrap.

Has anyone checked out the July/August 2011 issue of Creating Keepsakes? I just may have a layout in there. *wink*

Jacob

Happy Saturday! I'm curious to see what the weather ends up doing today. So far we've had scattered showers, but also sun. Anything is possible this time of year.

I created this page a few days ago of my little brother Jacob. He's an amazing person and I wanted that to reflect in the journaling.



Have a great weekend!