I’m 5 weeks and 2 days now. Thinks appear to be going normally, but boy do I wish I had eyes to see into my womb!  I feel much like I did with Kaylee and Savannah this time around, so that brings me a little comfort.  Each day that goes by I find myself relaxing a little bit and just accepting things for what they are for right now. And right now, I’m pregnant and feel good (hungry all the time, but good). I don’t know what the future will bring in 2 weeks when I have an early ultrasound, but I know I’m praying to see a strong healthy heartbeat this time. Like I said, I can only control me, I’m just taking it one day at a time, and trusting my body.

Did I mention my due date in November 5th? I think I forgot that detail amongst asking for prayers while I was panicking last week.  My belly is already poking out, but I’m afraid to take pictures just yet.

Savannah seems to be excited but also has some worries, mainly dealing with her crib. She has only been out of her crib for about a month (since we moved) and so she obviously still has some attachment to it.  Some one told her that the baby would have her crib now and she insists that SHE is still small and needs the crib.  The same thing for her pacifier, but we assured her that she could absolutely keep her beloved blankies and didn’t need to share those. It’s a good thing we have 8 months to get her used to the idea of sharing her baby things!  She also insists this baby is a girl. She was right about the twins last year, so we’ll see if she’s right this time. She did great at the doctor appointment this week (even watched curiously while they took blood) and kept saying, “I wanna see the baby, Mommy! On the TV!”  She remembers being at the ultrasound last year and she was looking forward to that again, but we’ve got 2 more weeks to wait for that.

This week is my spring break so I’ll be getting some extra time with Savannah, hoping for some playdates, interviewing babysitters to cut down my super long commute, and get some homework done. Things are pretty good right now…when I don’t think to much:-)

I don’t know what it is about Septembers, but for some reason it’s a horrible month to find a desktop that fits my style and taste.

Yes, I change my desk top every month.  I saw friends (mainly Firemom!) posting about it a long time ago and saw how it’s a great way to display pictures and change things up each month.  However, September just seems to be lacking in my opinion.  September for other people is full of “back to school” themes or Patriotic themes for 9/11, and no offense if you like those on your desk top, but I don’t. Especially since it’s the month of my birthday! I don’t want primary colors reminding me that school it back in session, or a constant reminder that my birthday (September 11th) was filled with such tragedy years ago (not to say I don’t remember the changes and losses of that day, but it’s not a focus I want the entire month). I want my desk top to reflect me.  Every other month other people come up with fantastic desk tops that reflect me, but just not during September. Go figure.

The same thing happened last year, I had to make my own to suite my own taste. I had (still have) a love of pink and brown last  year.  This year? I wanted lots of bold color. It’s taken me two nights and 3 different styles to make what I was looking for, but I simply love it.

The quote says:

Something special happens on your birthday
each year: The same energy that God invested
in you at birth is present once again.

- Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Changing my desktop every month has become a thrill to me. Before, I would have the same one for years at a time, but now I love being able to change it to express each month and display some of my favorite pictures.

This month happens to be one of my favorite months. Why? Well, a little thing called my birthday happens. And, it’s just a beautiful and more comfortable time of the year as fall begins to make it’s appearance. The desktop options made by various scrapbooking websites just didn’t fit the bill this month though. None of them were my style, and didn’t express what I wanted it to: My Birthday!

So, I attempted at making my own. I had issues with getting it to resize correctly to my screen size, but I’m satisfied. I picked my favorite colors of the moment, brown and pink, and chose a picture to get me excited about my birthday weekend.  Pretty much it just makes me feel special all month. That’s what birthdays are for, right?

See, I don’t have many friends (because I’m either too shy or too darn busy to build a close friendship near me) and the ones I do have happen to all live several hours away.  So, for my birthday I’m making a trip to visit Jessica in the beautiful mountains. I’m excited. Her birthday is tomorrow (Happy Birthday Jess!) and we like to celebrate together.

On the list of things to do?  Well, it is our 21st birthday so buying our first drink is in order. Nothing too crazy, we’re not wild and crazy people, just a fruity drink with dinner or something.  And then, we’re going to see the movie The Women which comes out just in time on September 12th.  Dove so kindly sent me 2 free tickets along with a gift in return for writing a review of the movie, so look for that soon over on the review blog.

If you haven’t heard much about the movie yet, it’s about the many challenges in women’s life…and most importantly about the friendship that gets women through it (i.e. a more adult version of The Sisterhood of the traveling pants, and a younger version of The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood). It has lots of talented stars in it like Meg Ryan, Debra Messing, Eva Mendes, Bette Midler and many more.  It looks hilarious from the clips I’ve seen (of course, some adult content and language is in there I’m sure) and I’m super excited. Being a Mom now, I don’t often get a chance to go to a movie in theaters and it has definitely been years since I’ve gone with a friend, so this will be a treat! I need me some girl time.

And? You too can win a chance to see it for free! Family Review Network is giving away 2 tickets and all you have to do is comment on that post. The drawing will be held on on September 11th (!) so you can see it on opening night if you wish. Dove also has a game on their website where you can win tickets.

See why I’m so excited about September? And this is only half of it! Go win you some tickets!

I guess it’s just scrapbooking week for me here at the O house. Really, not much is going on in our lives, which is a good and relaxing thing! I’ve gotten several pages done both digitally and with “real” paper supplies. Score!

Some one commented with an awesome scrapbooking link that I just had to share with you guys:

Each day IkeaGoddess takes the time to post several links to freebies she’s found on other scrapbooking blogs. So therefore, it saves time from doing your OWN search for freebies and helps connect you to other great sights for freebies, inspiration and tutorials. I love it. I do have to warn you though, some links lead to blogs in another languages, seeing that IkeaGoddess lives in Germany. But, apparently the word “freebie” is one word that is the same in both languages so it’s not hard to download.

I really think I need to invest in an external hard drive with all the freebies I gather up. Good thing my Birthday is coming up! (well, in a few months…but you know how time flies by).

That said, I’m going to be even more quieter on the blog the next few days as we’ll be without internet visiting family. Enjoy your 4th of July, folks!

Can you believe June is over already? How is it already July?!  This month is looking to be a busy one with lots of trips planned and weddings to attend, therefore, it’s sure to fly by even faster than June. Which, stinks because I’m not looking forward to going back to school in August.

Anyway, I wanted to share some fun scrapbooking stuff while life is boring around this blog.  This is my July Desktop, thanks to Shabby Princess.  I had fun editing the photos and adding my own touches.  Last month was definitely one of treasured moments from watching my girls play together to a smiled filled creative day with Savannah and I love seeing that reminder each day.

You can find other July Desktops at Girl Talk and Misty Cato Designs.

 Just wanted to share one of my latest creations (and product of my procrastination!).  It’s amazing to keep learning new things and coming up with new ideas. This one is my favorite I’ve done so far :-)

It’s some one’s birthday today! Mark is officially the big 21. Not that that means much since we don’t really drink, but still, another wonderful year has gone by that I’m so glad to have shared with him. Here’s to hoping this next year is even better as we inch closer to his college graduation!

We’ve got a date night planned to celebrate. Now is a good time to use our Texas Road House gift certificate from Christmas, don’t you think? Some ribs sounds mighty yummy right now.

And, can I tell you how much I love Adobe Photoshop? I pull out some digital scrapbooking stuff, download some new fonts, say what I want to say, and wa-la! A custom card equipped with his favorite color (orange), an original orange cupcake and even a kid-like font for Savannah’s name. Sweet!

What I have here is the front and inside of his card, I just print them on photo paper and paste onto some blank cards I have. It’s so simple and I love that I can do whatever I want to do with it…and I don’t have to leave my house to buy it!

Not only has the beautiful, warm weather kept me away from blogging land this week, so has the many trips to my little brother and sister’s school for various reasons. Lunch with one, lunch with the other, watching talent show try outs, or simply picking them up after school. I can’t imagine how many school visits there will be once Savannah is that age!

But really, the main reason of my absence: a new hobby. Gasp! I know, and I’m in love. With digital scrapbooking! I dove in it one afternoon earlier this week and it’s been my nightly craft every night since (carrying me way too late into the night…). I realized I had so many pictures I wanted to do stuff with (ya know, besides sit in my flickr account or, the few that I actually print out get stuck on a shelf hidden away) and the computer seems to be the only way I get things done (I think if laundry were virtual I’d be on top of things!). I had grand plans of making scrapbooks for Kaylee and I to give me something to do after her birth and capture memories for us way back in 2004. Family and friends were extremely generous and bought me very nice supplies. From albums to pens, papers, cutters, organizing folders and even a scrap booking book bag! I had everything I needed, I still do. I made a grand total of 3 pages. And those pages? Nothing to do with Kaylee. And all that stuff now sits in a big box in the garage. So, I thought that maybe going digital was the way to go for me.  Here’s why I love it:

1) Saves time. Don’t have to mess with cutting pictures and decoration papers by hand. Just point and click and it’s always a straight line!

2) Saves money. The graphics you buy online you can keep using over and over, mixing and matching, unlike paper and “real” decorations. Once you use it, it’s stuck.

3) No printing individual pictures! I just don’t have time for that. It’s easier to get one page created within just a few minutes and send it off to be printed and mailed to me already in a book.

4) No MESS! Especially with a 1 year old running around, I’ve got enough mess on my hands. And, I’d rather not have my nice pages and hard work destroyed. Plus, with our living situation, there just isn’t room for me to spread all my things out! With digital everything is held nice and organized on the computer, away from small hands and where I’ll actually use it.

Get this though, everything I’ve done so far has been FREE! I downloaded a free 30 day trial of Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 and all the backgrounds and elements I’ve worked with have been found at various digital scrap booking sites for free. I couldn’t afford the newest Adobe Elements, so I bought an older version at a much cheaper price (it’s being mailed to me as a type). This program really makes scrapbooking easy! Everything is pretty much open the picture/graphic and drag to where you want it. I’ve learned a lot through tutorials to help get me started.

And now, a taste of my joy:

1) The BEST place for awesome freebies (where most of the above is from):  Digital Scrapbook Place

2) Tutorial- How I learned to use the program: Free Digital Scrapbooking 

3) Tutorial- How I learned to colorize photos: Photoshop Momma on YouTube 

4) More great free stuff: Computer Scrapbook 

*sigh* I wish I could just scrapbook and write all day. I’d be in heaven.