On my way...

I am on my way to being ready to leave for NY in the morning. Jen and I are driving up for a girl's road trip to my sister's house. She is having us there for a scrapping weekend, and I am so excited. I am planning on making my Austria scrapbook. Last Year I got my whole Japan one done, so I am hoping I can pull this one off too!!


Here is a little tidbit of embarrassing times in the life of Jude...

Picture it...


I am in my OLD hair coloring t-chirt. The one I wear when I color my own hair. It is a Saturn 2 0n 2 basketball shirt with the date "1991" in plain sight. So, I get all the color on my head. Being the professional that I am, I also like the ol' eyebrows to match... so on goes the color to the eyebrows, making me look like a demented clown. (*** DO NOT put color on your eyebrows, it can blind you if you mess up!! end of disclaimer.) So, I go to find a color cap, you know those cute little plastic ones... I am all out. So, being the resourceful gal that I am, I use a plastic grocery bag to cover my goopy head. I clip it all up like a sideway pontail. I am looking good. Really hot. Here comes the best part... about 5 minutes later, I hear a truck come in the driveway. It is Jason, our lawn fertilizer guy, whom I have met all of once, but who Micah grew up with. Sweet. So, I realize what I look like, and call Micah... He laughs uproariously at my dilema, knowing I have to go outside to move the kids toys and such. I at least grabbed a towel and got the eyebrow color off. But when I walked out there, Jason the yard man just laughed, as in that, "I have just seen the goofiest thing ever" laugh. At least I can provide some comic relief in his fertilizing day... I let him know that Micah wants him to phone him, and remind him to tell my dear husband how HOT his wife is looking...


The moral of the story is... Prideful vanity and coloring the hair are NOT related in any way...

Here is a picture of me and the belly... I am 15½ weeks along... so I really just look fat now, not pregnant... :)

Talk to you all next week!

Insane...

Insane - Yes, that is what you may call me... I have been working on finishing up Malou's Circle Journal, and making another one for a second group I am in... YES, I did just say that... I am in two circle journals at the same time. I know that right now some of you are going, "Yep, this confirms it... Jude is stupid. Who joins two CJ's when they are preganant?" BUT... in my defense... (you knew you would hear that phrase..) I am now technically 15 weeks along. Out of the pukey phase, into the nesting, lots of energy, phase.
Now, I will try not to make that reference for a while. You know the whole, "Since I am pregnant..." thing. BUT... in my defense... (HA! twice in the same post!) I think that becomes how every decision you make is viewed once people know you are preggo...
Ex#1) "I am looking forward to having our vegetable garden..."
"WHAT? But you are pregnant! How can you have a garden?"
(um, last time I checked it still involved dirt and seeds...)
Ex#2) "I am driving to NY to see family this month."
"Are you allowed to drive that far... You ARE pregnant..."
(hmmm... I am still planning on driving with my hands and feet, not my uterus.)
Ex#3) " I think I will buy some wedge sandals for the summer."
" You can't get those, you ARE pregnant, walking will be impossible."
(wow, i had no idea i would lose the ability to walk, fascinating)
Ex#4) "I am awake..."
"And you ARE pregnant, maybe you should sleep..."
(if I promise to sleep will you stop talking?)
Ex#5) "I am breathing..."
"Oxygen is good, you ARE pregnant"
(yeah, only us preggos need that stuff!)

and so on and so on and so on.... See, so it is not me, it is the general population that now views me as a completely different individual...
Hey, maybe that will help when I am "showing" more next time I am at the Post Office... "You know I really need to get back in line... i AM pregnant..." heehee...
SO, my point being, I will try not to let every post be about the present state of my knockedupedness... Well, after this one I guess...
I will go back to the bringing forth of mundane details of my world, and how they affect me... the things you try not keep at the forefront of your mind... It will be my job to keep them there. Yeah, things like Donald Trump's hair.
No, this does not mean I am choosing sides in that whole ridiculous Donald-Rosie crap... (cause really, we all did the same thing... only we were in 2ndgrade, didn't have microphones or cameras watching us, and when our teacher told us to stop, we did... yeah, name calling... we were over that a loooong time ago. Hmmm... I think that means I just chose a side... THE SIDE OF SANITY!!) Anyway, I digress... back to Donald's hair... I think I can speak for all hair stylists when I say, it both puzzles and kind of offends me. There, a mundane thing you do NOT want to be thinking about, but now thanks to me, you are... ahhhh... my work here is done.
See... maybe hearing about my shrinking pregnant bladder would be better... heehee...

And sorry for the huge gap between posts... All the e-mails and such are greatly appreciated!! :)

Here are the CJ pages for the new one I started. I will try and post Malou's before I mail it off tomorrow. :) It includes the instructions page, the intro to the theme, the sign in, and then my LO. Let me know what you think, unless you think it is awful, that you can keep to yourself... haha!!

Heartbeats...

Well, I got the joy of hearing the baby's heartbeat on Wednesday morning. It was kind of neat because the midwife, Diane, who delivered Emerson, got to do it. I LOVED having a midwife. I mean we were at the hospital, but she did the delivery. They work through an OB here in town. The unfortunate news is that they are no longer allowed to deliver... I hate that. I also hate that I am totally gambling now with the potential of a boy doctor in the delivery room. Now, before you get all "grow up" on me, please understand... I have NEVER been to a boy doctor for anything gynecological... I do not think the delivery room is the place to start... and yes, I have been told a million times "You won't care who is there to pull that baby out!!" Um, no I have been through this twice, and I do care. My modesty did not "go out the window" just because I was in labor. I am praying, yes, praying that one of the female doctors is on call when I go into labor...

Wimp, you say...

Yep, but that is how I am. Sorry.

ANd I am not trying to be a whiny wench about it, I just got sooooo sick of people telling me how I would feel ya' know...

OKay, onto brighter topics...

Here is one of my catch up cards for the Emily challenge... I still have the others half done, so as soon as I get them done, I will post them too... Ya' know right after I get my TWO Circle Journals done. Yes, I am an insane fool... pregnant and all... I will have to get my September ones done BEFORE the due date. (the 15th!!) Maybe I will go a little late though... I was a glorious week late with Emerson and loved it. We had so much planned right up until his due date, that I felt like I had a week of vacation!!

Anyway... I am babbling today... here is the card so you can quit reading this idle chatter I am posting...

A NEW Layout to share...

Ok, here is a new Layout I did tonight... It is my first page in our... New Baby's Album.

Yes, you read that right. I am having a baby this fall. September 15th is my due date, which makes me a little over 12 weeks along. (This is the most heinous photo of me, but its about the baby, right?? )That is the real reason, not just my slow typing that I have been so slack in posting and leaving you all some comments. I have been taking naps, almost daily, and fear that if I drink any more gingerale, my head will explode from all the fizz.

We told Lincoln and Emerson last week Saturday. Lincoln is out of his mind excited, Emerson clearly doesn't quite get it... :) Lincoln has told everyone and I do mean everyone we know... and even people we don't know! Now, here is a sign that you grocery shop at the right place... The checkout lady and deli lady hug you when you tell them the news. Sweet women. (and yes, I do know their "real" names.)

So, we told Micah's family by letting Lincoln pray for lunch last Sunday, he said, "Dear God, thank you for my new baby brother or sister. In Jesus' name, Amen." It was too cute.

I was supposed to jsut show up at a weekend of scrapping at my sister's house this month all pregnant, then i was going to be all "SURPRISE!!" But... I totally spilled it by sheer accident with my mom on the phone Saturday night. She can't keep a secret, so we went ahead and told my sisters too... so much for the big surprise!!LOL... SO, now everyone knows. I must commend Nicole, Chrissy, and AMber for keeping my little secret too.. Thanks guys!!

So, here is to me looking smashingly sexy in a swimsuit again this summer... I am always pregnant over the summer.

Oh, and just so everyone knows...
No, we don't find out what the sex of the baby is... we like surprises.

No, we don't tell our names... ditto on the surprise factor.

Yes, this is how we did it with the other two...

So, I am not just a blog slacker, I have been a gingerale guzzling, nap taking, queasy feeling, maker of millions of cells daily...

This should be a fun 9 months for all of you... HAHAHAHAHA... I am just kidding, I like being pregnant. :)

UGH!! and a circle journal...

So, I now know the most evil invention of all time for mothers of small children... It is my local Post Office. Not because my child behaved badly either... Here let me recount for you my 24 minutes of sheer shock this morning...

I admit it, I had lots left to do for my circle journal... So, I stayed up reeeeeaaalllllyyyy late on Monday and Tuesday to finish it. I gleefully showed the finished product to Jen this morning, and she gave it her stamp of approval. So, I happily headed to the PO after dropping Lincoln off. I am telling you that so you will know my ire was not due to lack of sleep. I had my wrapped journal, my baggies to put in as packing in the box, my Sharpie, and Amber's address... I am a prepared mailer this morning. Until....

I arrive and realize the PO doesn't open until 9am... it is 8:45am. I contemplated coming back, but then I will hit the busy lunch time crowd. So, I let Emerson out of his seat to play a bit, and call my mom. At 9am I promptly get off the phone and prepare to go in. In the mean time, a car had come and parked ridiculously close to me. Now, I know I drive that big huge boat of an SUV, an Excursion, but I swear, sometimes I think people purposely park like that as a form of scolding for my gas guzzling vehicle. Its like they want me to hit their car with the door so they can say, "SEE... if you weren't driving such a big car that wouldn't happen!" Which is stupid because the doors aren't bigger... try again greenpeace. So, I slink out of my door, barely opening it so I don't hit that car. As I am opening Em's door, the guy, we'll call him Sedan Man, comes out of the PO, and jumps in his car. Now, I am already helping Emerson out, the door is barely opened, and he is parked so close if I fart it will melt the paint on his goofy car. DO you know what Sedan Man did??? He just backed right out anyway! I had to literally shove Em back in the door and seek refuge in it myself so he wouldn't hit me! I was shocked, but then I got ticked when I saw a car seat in the back his stupid sedan! WHAT?!?!? How could anyone who has ever had to take kids in and out of a car seat act that way??? He got the glare... I have a very good glare, it clearly states, "You are a disappointment to your mother and humanity." I think Sedan Man may get better gas mileage, but wowee, running over kids in a parking lot... not something greenpeace looks for in its spokesmen...

Onto the journey into the PO.... yeah, you thought, were probably hoping, that it ended there... no such luck pal... keep reading...

So, I am in line. I grab a box, a label, and I am dutifully trying to get it all in order while I am in line, but time runs out... I step aside to the closed counter to finish my packing and what not. When I am done, no one says "Here, you were in line, jump back in." Maybe if Emerson had been screaming instead of being all cute and munching a granola bar. I was given the clear "Head to the back" look by one and all... All I could think was, don't any of you remember what it was like to juggle kids and mailing stuff and all??? Where's the love??? And the ever helpful postal employee doesn't say anything either. So... to the back of the long line we go.
Now, in walks a young female. She is mailing a carton of cigarettes. I was technically in front of her, but due the line length and where I had to stand, she didn't realize that, and honestly, it was just one more person right??? So I get behind her. Well, she helps me by pointing out that I have the wrong kind of priority box, gets me the right kind, and then says, " Would you like to get in front of me? I mean, you do have a little one with you." I swear, I think I saw angel wings sprout from under her coat. I told her it was okay, but then I realized... You and I would've thought that when we walked in the PO that if someone was going to help a young mother out, it would have been the gramma mailing her homemade cookies or the other Mom who had no kids with her, etc. There were lots of "good" people and not one of them cared. In walked a young college age girl, not well dressed, looking tired, and mailing cigarettes... yet, she was the one... she did it... and that is why you should never judge a book by its cover. Or a mailer by their parcel I guess...

So, that act alone made my day. I had to laugh when, I went to switch to the correct box, I had to go to the closed counter again, and when I turned around and saw a couple of moms and grammas mailing more care packages, I just walked to the back again...

So, Amber, after 24 minutes in the actual post office, (not including our wait time in the car!) The Circle Journal is on its way!!!!!!!

Okay, enough of my babbling... in my defense, I haven't been posting or getting to read/comment on blogs since last week, and felt you would all need some of my longwindedness so you would know it was the real me, not a kidnapper or anything... :)



I also got the sweetest card from Ronda... all purpley too, that little stinker!! She even sent me these adorable photo holders she decorated with ribbon, and a way cool chipboard album... Thanks Ronda, you are so sweet!! :)

And I got Malou's CJ... amazing... can't wait to work on it!



Here are the circle journal scans I got... no they are not sneak peeks, they are all out scans, so if you are a Circle of Seven chicka and want to be surprised, don't look any lower!!!!!!!!!!! :) The journal has a thick chipboard (I know, what else???) cover and then thinner chipboard inner pages. My theme was "Where I come from". I chose it because we are a diverse circle of ladies and it can be done in several different ways... i.e. Your hometown, your family life, your country, your heritage, a battle you made it through, family traditions or foods, etc... See, there are lots of ways it could go! I was torn between exploring my German heritage, and my hometown. I decided on the hometown as you can see...

Hope you all have a lovely day... and remember to look for the good guys mailing cigarettes... :)


The theme page...




The "instructions..."



The sign in page. Each little flap lifts up for each lady...




My pages...



Page two... My favorite part is the little mini album with
some more old family pics and snow scenes. And yes, that
is my mom's car buried in the snow. It was in the newspaper
so it came up when I did a google search!! It's even in a book
someone wrote. Too funny...