Grumble Bumble

I can't believe how quickly miss Annalea is growing.

One day this outfit from her Great Auntie Kym 

looked huge - and I swear it wasn't more than a

week later that it was a perfect fit!

Annalea is a fussy little thing so I lovingly

refer to her as my sweet little grumble bumble.

Springtime

I can't believe my baby girl is almost 3 months old already.

I finally finished up Miss Annalea's baby announcements. 

Next hurtle is to get them addressed and sent off... easier said than done.

I still have at least a handful of thank you cards yet to send out.

I'm so pleased with how these turned out.

I decided (as if I had the time) to make my own envelops,

as every supplier I could find would end up having me purchase 20 or so more

 than what I needed.

So I found some destashed snack bags on etsy 

and after a few folds and some cute washi tape

I had my own super cute envelopes - and for a fraction of the price!

I created my announcements using paper and letters from my new

digi kit collection entitled Springtime

available at Kitschy Digitals. 

The paper and lace heart frames are from my Tie a Bow digi kit, 

and Danielle Thompsons Thrift Store Chic: Picture Frames

The collection also includes some little cutsie 

animals, tags, and other such fun.

As well as a great lil' freebie!

Especially for my fellow Project life gals.

I know spring is long past gone,

but I hope this collection will tickle your fancies.

Being as sick as I was, it wasn't an easy process

but my vision finally came together

and I hope you will enjoy these sweet digi kits

as much as I do. 

Our Perfect Little Miracle

Time has never been more precious and inescapable. 

Wouldn't it be remarkable if we could not just capture our

lives in pictures but in emotions?

If you could open a floodgate of memories and feelings

taking you back to a perfect moment in time.

Of coarse I'd probably leave out the exhaustion 

as caring for a colicky 1 month old 

and a busy 9 month old

leaves me with little to no energy for myself or home.  

We are both just in awe 

of the way our heart melts for this little person.

Annalea has given us a beautiful gift 

The gift of love

It's a love I never knew, and one I hope very much 

to share with others, 

especial our foster and future adopted children. 

My aunt told me this will be the most philosophical time in my life. 

If the written word was my gift I'd be writing poetry,

trying to capture the boundless joy inside myself

for our perfect little MIRACLE! 

Beautiful photography by Ali Smith Photography.

based in Nampa, ID

My Angel

Surprise!

Our little angel 

Annalea Fey

arrived May 7th,

at 36 weeks -3 days.

5lb, 1oz

I can't even begin to put into words how incredible it feels to hold

my baby girl in my arm. It was a long hard journey; the last 5 years have been full

 of tremendous emotion as we endured years of infertility, 

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), a difficult pregnancy, and a life threatening delivery. 

At my 36 week routine doctor visit I was sent over to the hospital for

what my doctor presumed was the early stages of preeclampsia. 

I felt fine so I wasn't too worried but I couldn't help but think "oh, poor sybil!"

(My Downton Abbey friends will certainly understand my thought process).

From there everything unravelled rather quickly.

I was diagnoses with HELLP sydrom,

a very scary life threatening complication.

After a difficult (but luckily short) natural delivery,

I was rushed off to the operating room where I lost 

3 liters of blood from a hemorrhage.

It is by the grace of God and the skill of my doctors and nurses

that I am alive today.

My recovery has been miraculous. 

Many woman diagnosed with HELLP are not so lucky. 

Even after having a terrible reaction to a blood transfusion 

days after my delivery,

baby girl and I were allowed to go home after only 6 days. 

After returning home I went in for a second CT scan, 

where another miracle presented itself. 

My first scan had shown tumors on my lungs,

but there was nothing there the second time around!

It will take my body 6 weeks to replenish my blood supplies. 

Each day I get stronger, although there is still much I can not do.

After being so sick during my pregnancy, 

it's sometimes easy to forget just how

fragile my body is right now. 

I'm so grateful to my family and friends,

and especially my mom and husband

for their tremendous love and support during this time. 

*kissing my baby girl just before they took me back to the OR

Annalea is doing great! She is struggling with reflux, and isn't a strong sleeper,

but she is otherwise healthy and striving. 

I feel so tremendously blessed,

The love I feel for my baby girl is without measure. 

She is my JOY!

The Moose Who Loved Easter

These days it's difficult enough just finding the necessary energy

 to clean the house and keep up with the laundry,

but I've been determined not to let my belly bump aches get in the way of 

doing just a bit of spring time decorating.

After all Easter is one of my favorite holidays.

Recently I've become a bit addicted to scrapbooking supplies

in anticipation of starting my baby book(s).

I'm just in love with these Spring/Easter stickers 

I picked up at Target and Hallmark.

I've been working on some major organizing of all my 

scrapbooking supplies, and I think I've come up with a pretty

great way to store all my Project Life sized papers and embellishments.

So please do check back soon for an upcoming post

if you too are looking into working with the smaller dimensions

in contract to the standard 12"x12".