Z's Baby Scraps

The Cutest

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:10:23 GMT

Another One

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:26:08 GMT

Maddie's second tooth popped through yesturday, right next to the first. I haven't been able to get any pictures yet though. I did snap some of her trying to eat some cheerios. They are so cute.

First Tooth

Tue, 20 May 2008 22:57:41 GMT

Madison's first tooth broke through yesturday! YAY!! As soon as it's big enough to snatch a picture of i'll be sure to scrap it.

What is a QP?

Sun, 18 May 2008 19:41:51 GMT

In this day and age everyone has learned to take shortcuts in every way possible. When it comes to scrapbooking, one way is called Quick Pages or QP's as they are so often refered to. Basically, a designer will use one of there new kits to make a page that all you have to do is plop in some pictures, add some text and the page is done. A lot of the time they do this to promote new kits they've made, sometimes they'll freebie out an add-on or mini kit that way they can tempt you to buy the whole thing.

On today's "Idea Day" i'll be featuring 2 QP's that I really liked, i'll attemt at telling you why I liked them, and show you how easy it is to get to the finished product.

To start with, here's the link to Ellie Lash Designs for the first QP HERE

I just loved how simple this LO was (LO meaning Layout). Reminded me of a Hawiian vacation or something. But, since i've never been there, i couldn't use this LO for that. However, this now outfit of Baby Madison seemed right for the space.

To get to this finished product with your own photos:

1. Open Photoshop
2. Open QP
3 Open Photo
4 Drag photo to QP
5. In the layers Pallet, make sure your photo is below the QP.
6. Arrange photo in the correct place to show through the frame
7. type some text
8. save and you're done.

Okay, okay, so i'm not very good at giving directions. But, i think you get the point on how easy this is to do, and how much it really shortcuts making an LO. I usually spend at least an hour on each page that I make from scratch. This QP took me about 10 minutes with most of that time being spent on finding the right picture to use.

The second QP for today was made by Ameliescrap, her delightful kit and other QP's were found at Digitalscrapdepot.com, however it seems she's moved her blog and the QP link I had is no longer available.

Well, everyone, i hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about Quickpages. Here is a QP from Amelie since the other one wasn't available. Click Here to check it out.
You can check it out HERE

The Art of Scraplifting

Sun, 18 May 2008 17:13:15 GMT

In other words. It's a nice way of telling someone you are going to copy their work. Sometimes you just use a few of their ideas, "omg i just LOVE how you did" this or that... Other times it's a complete copy right down to the buttons. It's like using a quick page that hasn't already been made for you. I admit, i've done this, in fact, i just did it yesterday. Here it is:

And the original:

As you can see, aside from not using the same kit, it looks almost exactly the same. Another one I made yesturday had the same idea, but it's not so close to the exact same thing:

And the original:

WIth this one, it's the same idea with the single photo and flowers, but a lot different.

Well, that concludes today's digi-scrap Idea of the day.

Credits:
1. Scraplift of "Cherished" by cdanielshafer HERE
papers - A. Carlson, E. Lash, HappyScrapGirl, Summer Driggs
ribbon - from kit (too soon), from kit (snowfun)
tags - E. Lash, from kit (rose manor)
flower - scarling @ shabbyprincess
heart - E. Lash
Button - from kit (snowfolk)
Brad - Shabby princess amore sampler

2. scraplift of "Be You" by susan with Little Dreamer Designs HERE
SummerDriggs - doodle flowers, green paper
Ellie Lash - pink paper
D Fenning - ribbon
RAK designer Biebel - frame
limabean designs - green flower
tangie - pink flower

You can check it out HERE

Z's DramScraps Friday Freebie

Fri, 16 May 2008 22:44:48 GMT

Alright everyone. I finally got my paper pack put together and uploaded for you. Real quick, here is the preview and just to let you know, Pack 1 is the top 11 pages and Pack 2 is the bottom. I know i'm a lot happier with how the first half turned out. Leave me a message if you download and don't forget to credit me if you use them.

Download Paper Pack 1
Download Paper Pack 2
(sry #2 not uploaded yet check back later)

22 Piece Paper Pack Preview

Thu, 15 May 2008 19:17:17 GMT

Alright everyone, here's my first attempt at some scrapin' elements. I thought i'd start out with some easy papers for everyone. At this moment in time I've only got a preview for ya though. Have a look and tell me what you think! As soon as I figure out where i'm gonna put this so you can download it, I'll post that information for ya!

Z's FFF (Featured Freebie Find)

Thu, 15 May 2008 18:17:27 GMT

Today i'm going to feature the "Soggy Rain" kit by Simply Sarah. It's one part to a collab kit which can be found at http://www.hummiesworld.com. Click the link on her blog to take you directly to the forum thread ( you may have to register) for complete details on that.

click HERE for Simply Sarah's Blog to snatch the freebie. (sorry I don't have a preview, for some reason LJ is mad at it or something... sheesh)

I'm hoping to bring you a Featured Freebie every week, so be sure to check back for that.

Plus, as soon as i get a few things figured out i have a paper pack that i'll be giving away. So, stay tuned for details.

Thanx for listening!

~Z @ DramScraps

Freebie Link List

Thu, 15 May 2008 17:00:45 GMT

Car Seats

Fri, 09 May 2008 21:17:34 GMT

Formula is bad!
Never co-sleep with your baby!
OMG! That bottle has Lead in it!
No Food for baby till she's 6Months old at least.

So many ~~rules~~ recomendations on how to take care of your babies. How did people 50 years ago, ever make it to 50? The new thing now (now as in not when i was a baby) is Rear-facing car seats. So, baby needs to be 20 pounds AND 1 year old before you can flip them babies around. Madison is over 20 pounds, scrunched in her seat and still has 5.5 months to go. Not to mention... in order for anyone else to sit in either one of our cars.. her seat is pushed up at an angle and just crammed into our backseat. (doesn't help that nick and i are so tall tha we need more room in the front.

Okay, so, i totally get that it's just so much safer for baby to be rear facing.. But seriously, it's not like i go out on the weekends looking for someone to rear end me.. But, then, if you think about things like that, why do you buckle up everytime you get into the car (aside from not wanting to get a ticket). Do cops actually ask you how old your baby is (if you were to get pulled over). Does it count if i say she's in 12 month clothes? That's a year.. right?

I've talked to a few moms and some say they flipped 'em early and chanced it, others say they'd never do such a thing and religiously waited for a year, if not longer...

Vacation

Fri, 09 May 2008 18:28:46 GMT

Nick and I went on a honeymoon/vacation last week. It was pretty great. Something that we definatly needed. We stayed at the Best Western, Right on the beach. Our room had a completely wonderful jacuzzi (yay!) and our view was wonderful!!

As you can see, we were right on the beach. Plus, baby free. Unfortunatly, she was staying at GG's in The Dalles.. Again... Oh well, we had a great break and lots of relaxation (if you don't count the hike up to wahclella falls...

Which we actually did when we got back from the beach. That was a lot of fun, but it completely reminded me how OUT OF SHAPE i really am.. Holy crap!

We stopped at Cascade Locks and got some Ice Cream too:

She loved that stuff!! OMG, she just couldn't get enough of it! It was just so cute.. And when we got home I let her get a little messy:

6 Months Old

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:11:10 GMT

Man oh man, how time flies when you're having fun. Or, rather, when your so busy, you don't pay much attension to the time as it just soars by you. Can you believe it's been 6 months since i pushed that 9 lbs baby out? And, that she's already passed up 20 lbs...

It's amazing, I thought she was never going to learn to roll over. In fact, at her 4 month appointment, i was slightly worried that she wasn't quite up there developmentally. However, last week she just started rolling up a storm. We can't keep her in one place for too long. She can't lay on the couch anymore and she's got to be strapped in to where ever she's sitting. She's just moving right along.

I wonder if she's going to crawl..

As for her feeding schedual. 6 months old and she's been eating solids for 3 months now. She gets almost 3 solid meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner) Plus formula. And, she's sucking on those teething cookies (which btw, make the biggest mess EVER, and i hate that MIL started her on those. She loves the damn messy things!)

I can't wait for them teeth to start popping up!

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:56:19 GMT

I've really gotten interested in that digital scrapbooking stuff. I was trying to get into the old fashioned make a mess on the kitchen table scrapbooking, but this was so much easier and there's no mess. Here are the pages for madison that i've made so far. Also, i've scanned in her baby book and have started to digitally enhance those also. (i figured that the book would turn out better that way. Just in case i messed up, ya know!) But, i'm not going to share any of those until all the pages are caught up. Until then, enjoy what i've done so far, let me know what you think, and also, if you can see something that needs fixed or something that would look better let me know! Remember, i've just started doing this stuff, and it's not (nor am i) perfect!

Her New Toy

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:55:38 GMT

Maddie and I are at work right now, and i put her in this thing about 30 minutes ago, and she's still playing away! The first time we put her in it, she lasted about 10 minutes. I'm glad that she's finally starting to like to play in it for awhile. It'll be a life saver since she won't sleep in her swing.

Slept Like a Log

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:53:07 GMT

I guess the new routine is working out very well. Madison slept from about 8:30 last night until my alarm went off at 7 this morn. Yay!

We started giving her oatmeal at night for her night time snack. Then she takes a bath. After that she gets her night bottle with rice and she's usually out like a light.

Last night was the first night in a long time that she slept so well. It was so nice!

I don't think I like Nick's mom. And i'm really tired of finally getting madison on a schedual and then Having her shipped off to grandma's house. I have to start all over again by the time she gets home because grandma doesn't listen to me when i tell her how we do things at home. She just goes and does whatever the hell she wants. I tell her she only gets one solid meal a day and that's at night before her bath. It's like a treat because she's still too young to be getting so much solids. She still needs her formula. But of course, she's already been there and done that with 3 kids so she knows best. Whatever!! It's a new age.. It's all fine and dandy till the Pedi says no.

My great-grandmother died on Saturday at noon. Her funeral is Friday.. sad day. She was almost 94 years old. My mom is sad, and i haven't even talked to my grandmother yet. It's been a hard week. GG had a stroke wednesday night and the docs only gave her a couple more days. Mom says she was there when she died. I bet that was Hard.

Her Pedi called her a Piglet!

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:46:16 GMT

Maddie had her 4mo appointment yesturday. She weighed 17lbs and was 28in. (95th percentile, whatever the hell that really means) Percentile. That's funny, so her head is only in the 80th and Nick asks me if that means her head is small. I'm was like, I have no flipping idea what 80th percentile means... Sounds like she's just like 80% of all other kids her age.. Meaning, what? I have NO IDEA!! Who really cares, her head (on the charts) is actually a little big, i think. Just like her daddy!

17lbs is neat. I totally expected somewhere around 25lbs, and i was dreading the fact that she'd be grown out of EVERYTHING. Her car seat, her swing, her playpin bassinet (it's way to far to bend down to put her on the bottom of that thing), her bassinet. At least I can breathe for another 5lbs till i have to worry.

She got her shots too. She did so good, i was so proud of her. You know how you can tell what your baby needs by the way they cry. And, when they are actually really scared or hurt, they just have this cry. Well, she made it through the whole first shot without her 'hurt' cry. I was sooo, proud of her. It wasn't until the second and third shot when she got really upset. But, shortly after the nurse was done, she had pretty much stopped crying. She was so brave!

Maddie stayed at my dad's house last night with Angie:

She's actually turning my brother's old room into a little space for maddie, I haven't seen it yet, but they've painted it pink, and dad's putting new carpet in. You'd think my dad was a proud grandpa or something!

I felt bad for them taking Maddie last night because she was so fussy and upset with her last set of shots for about 3 days, and i didn't want them to have to take care of her. But i called last night and she was doing really well. I'm glad she's taking her shots a lot better this time around. We'll see how she does tonight!

So, to change the subject drastically, I'm really upset with my mom and her mom. My grandmother is pissed, still, that i won't bring Maddie over to her house. My mom, still, hasn't stopped smoking in her house. I'm sure she feels left out when i tell her about how maddie stays at dad's and that she goes to The Dalles for a week at a time to stay with her grandmother. But, what do you do? I've stressed very strongly that she's not going to be in the smoky atmosphere and that's that. No exceptions. I feel so bad about it. But, should I? Nick wants to move and in one aspect (my mom and grandma) i'm actually ready to get out of here. That whole side of the family is driving me crazy and i just want to leave so i don't have to deal! That is such a horrible thing to say, but seriously, I'm tired of them not getting along with Nick and i'm tired of them complaining that they never see the baby. That's not my fault. They are welcome at my house ANYTIME! They can get their asses in a car and drive less then 5 miles to my house and say hello! That, or they can actually say yes when i ask them to lunch! I told mom we could go to lunch on my birthday! She called that day and said she couldn't make it.

Nick's a hard man to get along with. Believe me, it's been 2 years, and I"M still having troubles at times!! He speaks his mind and doesn't care if it hurts your feelings. He's a smart guy, and he knows it. (Unfortunaly he thinks he's never wrong, ever. The majority of the time he is right though.. which absolutely pisses me off) He buys me everything I could ever ask for (aside for the laptop i've been asking for since before we got pregnant and the CS2 program i've been wanting since i found out about it) He got me this for valentines day:

It's kind of my engagement ring, and kind of just something nice that he wanted to get me. We sized it while i was prego (i swear, i didn't believe that my fingers were that swollen) So it doesn't fit on my ring finger. But, that's okay, who wants to be like everyone else? Haha, i just wish i could get HIM to wear a ring! That's a long story, and it goes back to what i've been saying for a long time. Girls suck!! They fuck with guy's heads and make it difficult for other ladies to get them to do anyting and open up! Oh well, it's his fault, he married his HS sweetheart.

Digital Scrapbooking? Updated 3/4/08

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:41:07 GMT

Baby Vacation...

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:10:57 GMT

Well, Madison is off to Grandma's house till saturday. It's really nice that we have a place that she can go sometimes so that we can get a break. I just wish it was closer then The Dalles... Nick doesn't really like his family, but they sure have been a lot of help with Maddie. If only we lived closer to them.

Angie has been a lifesaver watching Maddie two days a week for us. (She's my dad's GF) It's weird because i think of her as being a lot older then me when she's really only 3 years older. Wow, that's weird to think about. She was born just 3 years before i was and my dad is having sex with her.. Yuck! Oh well, she's been really good for him. I totally want to be her friend. Is that weird? She's humping my dad, so i can't really talk to her about her relationship or anything. I guess i'm just missing that female interaction. My two closest girl friends live 2 and 3 hours away.

I miss my baby already... she's only been gone an hour... She's been making me so mad at night because she hasn't been sleeping much.. But i'd rather have her getting me up at all hours then her not being there at all.. How weird is that?

At least she'll be coming back on my birthday, so that should make for a nice, happy day!

Nick and I are on the "cabbage soup diet" for a week... That's been fun. I've done it once before and i lost a lot of weight. It's a great jumpstart to a real diet plan. Ya know, the ones that include eating well balances foods and working out regularly... I've only got another 40 lbs to loose before i'm back to pre-baby Weight. So that shouldn't be too bad. It's been 4 days on the diet and i've probably lost about 3 lbs. We don't have a scale, so i'm not really sure if it's doing anything. I feel like i'm starving myself for no results. Yet, i'm eating ALL the time.. It's a weird diet you make a big batch of this cabbage soup which is actually really good. I'd make it other times and just add some stew meat to it.. YUM!! (nick hates the soup, it's so weird 'cause he's the one who wanted to do this diet) Then you just follow the directions:

Day one: Eat all the soup you want and any fruits (no banana's)
Day Two: All the soup and any veggies (preferably green leafy ones) And you get a potato for dinner!
Day Three: Eat all the soup and fruits and veggies (no banana's or potatos)
Day four: Drink Skim milk and up to 8 banana's and all the soup you want
Day Five: 10-20 ozs of Steak OR Chicken with fresh tomatoes and at least one bowl of soup. Must drink 8-10 glasses of water.
Day Six: Up to 3 steaks and as much veggies as you want. Plus at least one bowl of soup.
Day Seven: Brown Rice, unsweetened fruit juice and all the veggies you want.

The idea is to cleanse your body and help you get ready to start a real diet. that way you're not craving the things you shouldn't eat. The catch is actually making it through the full 7 days without cheating.

If i could just get the motivation to work out more, i'd be fine. I don't need any crazy diets.

My goal is to be down about 10-15 lbs by our vacation/honeymoon/time away at the end of April. Which is about 9-10 weeks away from now, so i just have to loose a pound a week and i'm good. I think that is something that i can accomplish.

It's time for a make-over

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:32:50 GMT

I posted this at real_women

Here is a picture of me Christmas '07:

And, these are the ideas I had:

I really like the bottom/left, but i think it'll be way too much work. The one above it, looks about the same, just not curled out and then the one to the right of that one, is just longer. The bottom/right is a lot different, it's got the bangs, but not the layers.

I'm looking for a cut that i can wash/brush/run, but also has good potential for a nice style when and if i ever get out of the house.

I'm also thinking about getting a perm.. More of a wave then curls though, just for some body since i've been putting my hair up in a knot for so long. It tends to just lay real flat against my head, so i need to do something.

Also, if i can get some more cash... I'm thinking darker brown or maybe some blonder highlights and brown lowlights... I dunno yet..

It's amazing what the different styles do to the shape of my face. It's the same picture for all of them, but each just look so different.. That's neat!

Let me know what you think! And PLEASE, offer up other ideas too!

Missing Out

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:55:05 GMT

I've missed her roll over from tummy to back TWICE now. :( I'm sad.

Daddy bought her a swing a couple days ago. I seriously wish we would have gotten one a LONG time ago. It's gonna be such a life saver... you have no idea...

We started baby girl on solids this weekend. She LOVES bananas. She just eats and eats and eats. We mix 'em with her rice cereal. It's so neat. She's still a little messy and unsure about the whole spoon thing still, but that'll just take time.

Hold My Hand

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:04:40 GMT

Maddie is really starting to grab for things now, it's so neat! I was holding her binkie up for her the other day and she grabbed ahold of it. She worked so hard trying to get it into her mouth. She never made it, but she worked at it for a good 20 minutes.

This kid just loves TV... I'm not sure if it's such a great thing, but man does it hold her attension. We'll prop her up on the couch and she'll just sit there and watch TV with us. It's so adorable.

I could have sworn she said 'ma' the other day...

She's still not rolling over, but she props her head up really well. she's been supporting herself at the elbows a lot more now, which is good. Just another step closer.

Tonight will be her first time alone in her bedroom. Wish us luck! I'm ready to sleep next to daddy again.

Trip to the Doc...

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:14:34 GMT

So, we had Maddie's doctors appointment yesturday to look at the bumps on her head. One turned out to just be a bone, so no worries, when she gets a little older it'll grow to normal. The other one on her eyebrow however is a cyst. Fortunatly, it's nothing to worry about. I guess they are pretty common on babies her age. So, the doc just said to keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't get infected. With time it should just disapear. Yay! Dad and I can breathe again.

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 22:55:19 GMT

It's a film strip!!

I'm a little concerned!

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:06:09 GMT

Baby girl has a couple bumps on her head that i'm concerned about... Her grandmother pointed out the one behind her left ear to me the other day. It's weird because it doesn't move and it's kinda hard, like it's a bone spur or something. Then i noticed that one of her little eye brows stick out. Like she hit her head real hard or something and has a bump. It's been there over a week and hasn't changed in size. This one is soft and kind moves around when you touch it. Soooo... She has an appointment tomarrow afternoon. I'm just hoping it's just mommy being overly protective of her little girls head.

Maddie Rose AKA Chatty Kathy

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:44:55 GMT

So, it's the cutest thing... Maddie has started teething a little and she hasn't quite figured out what those little teething rings are yet. But, i've been massaging her gums a little every once in while because she seems to really love it. As soon as my fingers start rubbing, she just starts chatting away. Unfortunatly, as soon as I stop, she starts to have a fit about it. Makes me laugh everytime!

My goodness, I'm excited about her first words, and her first teeth, and her first this and that..

She rolled over for the first time the other day. I missed it though because she did it while i was at work. She hasn't done it since.

I'm curious as to how she's going to get around. I wonder if she'll be a crawler, scooter, roller... maybe she'll crab walk. haha!

Daddy's ready to have the next one already... i think we should wait till Maddie turns One. That way by the time i get pregnant they will be 2 years apart...