What a trooper

So, I needed to vent last night. It helped and today I feel a little better. Abby is being such a trooper, drinking her o.j. with the iron drops on command. Not really giving me a hard time about it. Thank God she likes o.j. and thank God I can dilute the iron drops in it. It would be a nightmare if I had to give her the iron from the dropper - She hates taking medicine! So I thought I would share some pics from this morning.
My little trooper drinking her medicated o.j.



And one day, this creative little girl will be teaching me. Paper tearing anyone? Emma making art :)

Consumed with fear

Two and a half weeks ago my daughters had their routine doctor check-ups. Emma's 3yr and Abby's 2yr. I thought it would be like any other appt. they've had and for the most part it was. Emma still tends to walk on her tippy toes for some reason and so the Dr. felt an appt. with a specialist should be made just to check her out more in that area. I was told not to worry and that most kids grow out of that habit just fine without doing any actual damage. Both the girls had their finger pick for lead levels and I wasn't concerned - they've had this done before and levels were normal. Well the next day, the office called to reschedule Abby for another lead level test. They said her level was still within normal range but a little on the high side and that the finger pick sometimes gets contaminated and they just want to repeat the test. So, not to worry they tell me. The office gives me another appt. in two days and we hang up the phone. PANIC starts to set in and of course the first thing I do is call my mother and cry. By this point, I'm already on the computer doing as much research on Lead Poisoning as I possibly can. I never thought I would have to worry about something like this. Yes, we live in an old house. We rent from my Aunt and Uncle and it needs a lot of work but they reassured us that the house was deleaded before they purchased it some 20 something years ago. Other children lived in this house and they were fine. Now Abby is by far the most "oral" child I have ever seen. I cannot take my eyes off of her for a second. And well the past month, she has been so good. Barely anything goes into her mouth. This baby girl of mine would put everything in her mouth before - rocks, leaves, sand, paper, stickers, markers, crayons - if she could get to it, it went straight into her mouth. She's licked windows, bitten windowsills, she's even licked the floors. Very strange I know - I always stopped her and tried my best to avoid all of these instances. She's also a thumb sucker which I've always thought was the cutest thing in the world until now. So I try my best to calm myself down and put it in the back of my mind. My mother comes to the lab with me and they draw Abby's blood. She did so good!!!! Some tears, a little whimper and that was it. She wanted nothing to do with me of course because I was the one they had hold her down. So, her "Mema" comforted her and Abby pouted the whole ride home. I bought her a balloon and she loved me again. All was forgiven. The next day I get the phone call. The phone call I did not want - the test results were worse this time. So, the nurse tells me that they can't have higher than a 9 with the finger pick and Abby's was a 10 and then when they did the blood draw it was a 17. WHAT?!!!!! Now I have to worry, now I feel unsafe in my own home, now I feel like I can't protect my own child. They assured me it's not that bad and it can be taken care of. I have to give her extra iron drops 2x's a day plus her regular vitamin. The iron should eventually cancel out the lead and chances are good that there will be no harm done to her. They say it's good we caught it this early. I'm still freaking out. The State Lead Program will be contacted with her results and they will follow up with me. Someone will be contacting me to check the house for lead so that the source will be found. The nurses have been wonderful providing me with so many suggestions on what to do. I have never been so paranoid in my life - every time one of my girls goes near a window I'm a wreck. I've done everything to keep them away from anywhere there might be lead. Well, then I find out that the child doesn't necessarily have to bite the object - they could just touch it and then if they put their fingers in their mouths that's how they ingest it. Like I said Abby's been getting better about putting things in her mouth but she still sucks her thumb. And let's face it - 2 year olds want to touch everything! So wash her hands - all the time they tell me. I WANT TO MOVE. That's the first thing that pops into my head. I don't want to live here anymore - it's not safe. The Board of Health called me back today - I was tired of waiting to be contacted by someone, so I called around yesterday and left messages. Abby's case has been assigned and they reassured me that I'm doing everything I possibly can and until they find the source of the lead that's all I can do. I have to wait again. Someone will call me back to set up an inspection of the house. Don't do anything else until then, I'm told. I've been frantically trying to figure out if we can move. Even when the source of the lead is found, then how much longer before it's removed? And well it has already been removed once before, so who is to say they'll get all of it this time? I don't feel safe anymore and I don't know what to do about it.

Here are the clipboards!

Yeah - I figured out the digital camera and downloaded the pictures of my niece's gift. Here are the altered clipboards...


You can also check them out in my gallery at Scrapjazz.

A few hours to myself...

So, I got a chance to get out of the house yesterday for a few hours (without the kids). My SIL and I went to AC Moore for a Scrapbook Celebration. It was held from 1-5pm. They had raffles, demonstrations and make & takes. And the best part - it was all free! Gotta love free stuff :) We only stayed for about an hour though. It was jam packed with scrap happy people and I have to admit I was a little disappointed with the overall flow of it. Reasons being #1 When you first walked in they asked you to fill out slips for the raffles and one of them had a survey about if you liked the Celebration and what improvements you would like made - Well hello?!!!! I just walked through the door, how am I supposed to critique something if I haven't seen any of it yet? And reason #2 The "Intructors" were not at all helpful at the make & take stations. It was rushed and there was not nearly enough table space. A lot of the customers were beginner scrapbookers and I think they should have had more of a step-by-step process to follow. I guess I just expected more from it - but like I said it was free. I did think the demonstrations were pretty good. I got to see the Xyron die cutter & the Cricut in action. Oh I so want a Cricut but the Xyron definitely seems more portable and more affordable. But to have a Cricut...
The possibilites are endless. So, does anyone have $300 to give me so I can purchase it? Oh yeah and I forgot to mention the cartridges are $90. I think that's the only downfall - a little on the pricey side. Maybe I can talk hubby into getting it for me for Christmas but can I wait that long? Wishful thinking! Although I could use the 40% off coupons they have in the sale flyers. Gotta love those:)

So, which one would you like to own? The Xyron...Or the Cricut...
So, even though it was free to attend the Celebration, I just couldn't leave w/out purchasing at least a little something... And they did hand out 50% off coupons. Being on a tight budget, I knew I had to control myself and I managed to only spend $10! Can you believe it? And this is what I got: 3 stamp pads for $2, Heidi Swapp preppy pink tape








And Making Memories Jigsaw Alphabet

Pretty good deal I thought - plus my SIL let me use her 50% off coupon too because everything she purchased was already on sale. Such an added bonus!

So, just a few hours I was gone and when I returned home, my girls were bouncing off the walls. I don't know what my hubby did to get them all wound up but it took me forever to calm them down. And my 3 yr. old didn't nap either - super cranky!!!! I thought for sure she was not going to make it through dinner. But it made an early bedtime which is not typical for my girls. They just don't sleep - ever. They're up late, they're up throughout the night (we play musical beds) and they're up bright & early. I need like a week vacation just to catch up on some Zzzz's. So, now it's Monday and I have a ton of laundry and cleaning to do. Oh how I hate Mondays.

Mission accomplished!

So for the past month, I had been working on a gift for my niece's 18th birthday. I wanted to do something special and thought of making her an album but since she's my sister's step-daughter I haven't known her for her whole life and that made it a little difficult to round up some pictures. She's best friends with my other niece and they're in the same grade and what not so I came up with the idea of an altered clipboard about the two of them being best friends/family. I stressed so much about this project. Searching for the perfect paper to coordinate with the colors of her room, searching for the perfect pictures. Taking the pictures to CVS three times because the stupid Kodak Picture Maker was broken every time I went. I even made her a card from the same materials as the clipboards. I worked on it up until the night
before and finished the card that morning (although the ink would not dry completely on the chipboard flowers-not sure why this happened). But anyways, I got to give her the gift at her party yesterday. She cried when she opened it and I thought "Mission Accomplished". My two nieces are so lucky to be family and friends and want them both to cherish this relationship for the rest of their lives. Now, only if I could figure out how to get the pictures of the gift off the digital camera. I'm still working on that one. But for now I'll just post the pics that I used.

So this was the main photo for the 12x12 clipboard. The Birthday Girl is on the right.












And then I did two 4x4 clipboards with the next two photos.











So, all in all I'm thrilled that I actually thought of a creative gift and followed through this time. As for my other niece I have until September to finish her gift. I'm making her a 5x7 album of bits and pieces of her life. And I'm actually almost done with it. Now, only if I could find time to scrapbook my own kids. That's been a tough one.

Here I go again...

So, I have to admit this is my 2nd attempt at creating a blog. I somehow managed to erase my 1st one after only 6 posts. To think I used to work with computers for a living. lol. So much has changed since those days. When I became a Stay At Home Mom to my two little girls I lost touch with the world around me. I'm so intrigued by all of you bloggers out there. Curious as to what goes on in others lives. If you have struggles with life like I do. I'm still trying to find my place in the world, still trying to figure out who I am, all while trying my best to raise my two daughters. I've been married for 4 years now and we had children right away. It was all I ever wanted growing up - to get married and start a family. I just never thought it would be this hard. I wouldn't change it for the world because that's what makes it so rewarding in the end. I just sometimes wish there were more hours in a day, more days in a week. So here I am, just trying to find time to create and capture all these memories that I want to cherish forever. Because I'm now realizing how quickly time goes by.