Doctor's Appointment

I had another doctor's appointment yesterday and made it in pretty quickly, actually. They were a little worried because my belly hasn't grown in the past three weeks, but we did an ultrasound to check on Saskatoon and she's doing well. She appears to be 7 pounds, 1 ounce, which is a good weight for a week before the due date. Apparently, this is why my belly is so tight and hard, she's running out of room in there.

Also, the ultrasound tech said everything looks good, still looks like we're having a girl, but that we might be a week behind where we thought we were.... Hmmmmmm, hope not. Nice to see Saskatoon is still doing good and seems to be a healthy weight, but these late ultrasounds are impossible to see. She kept pointing things out to me, but the baby is so packed in there, it's hard to make much out.

Brad's slo-pitch team lost last night, which means they're out of the playoffs and his year is over. They played really well though. Went into the playoffs in last place (8th) and came back to lose to the number one ranked team in the semi-finals. Not too shabby. They were the comeback team, everybody loved them, especially the beer vendors at the ball park :)

I've been scrapbooking a little, but have spent my first two days of maternity leave running to doctor's appointments, banking, picking up the new car, going to ball games, visiting friends, and unfortunately, wrapping up more work stuff. Today, I'm going to sit and scrapbook as much as possible. No interuptions until Brad gets home from work! Yay!

I'm almost done my Europe album! Can you believe it? One or two pages left.... yippee! Plus, I've done a bit more in my pregnancy journal. Here's a sneak peak at a few of the pages:

Weekend Recap

While we did have a nice, relaxing weekend, watching movies, scrapbooking, biking, and just enjoying the downtime together, we weren't exactly doing nothing... We had a few things we wanted to get done before the baby arrives, so we tackled some big jobs and got a little step closer to ready.

We took in all the recycling, made a few freezer meals, froze some baking, cleaned up the garage, the kitchen, the freezer, the utensil drawer, the window sills and anything else that was standing still. All those fall cleaning things that can get overlooked.

We also bought a new car! That's right. We're having a baby, apparently now we need lots more room... So, we bought a 2007 Honda Pilot and traded in the CRV. A bittersweet day, because the CRV was a great vehicle, still is, actually, but we travel too much and the kilometres were really starting to add up.

Anyway, here's the new vehicle:



Actually, that's not our exact car... I haven't taken a picture of ours yet, but that's the colour and year and such. Here's a larger image of a silver Pilot (ours is white like above).



Just need to install the car seat and we're ready to go!

Here are a few more Europe layouts. In Santorini, we rode a donkey up the cobblestone path that winds up the island from the port to the villages. This is an experience! If you're at all afraid of heights, it will make you uncomfortable to ride on the back of an animal that knows the faster he gets to the top, the faster he gets to relax. On one side, you have jagged rocks and tourists, on the other, you have a steep drop to the switchback below.



And a closer look at one of my favourite ways to attach ribbons. No need to keep them in straight strips, mix it up for a unique look.



These are pictures of the Egyptian Spice Market and the Grande Bazaar in Istanbul. I kept it pretty simple because the pictures are so colourful. Here, I used ribbons as a straight border.



I found a great way to attach ribbon as well. This Scor-Tape was in our goodie bag at Scrapbook, Eh!



I like it. need to find out where I can get more...

Last Day of Work

Today is my last day of work! By 4:30 today, I'll be officially on maternity leave. I'm not sure whether I can't wait or if I'll miss it. Hopefully, I'll get some things done and have a bit more time for scrapbooking, swimming, dog walking, and relaxing before the baby arrives.

We had the weekend off, so we got a jump on the relaxation. Quite nice. No need to go anywhere, do anything, or have any schedule. Hmmmm... the last days of quiet. We'll enjoy them.

Here's a video of Simon Cowell's newest favourite singer, Danyl Johnson. His first audition was fantastic, I thought, plus he seems like a nice guy. Have a look at this performer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FA5DkFUSxk

Not too shabby, eh??!

A few more Europe layouts to share and hopefully, with a few days off between work and baby, I can wrap this trip up! About a year after we went, but still...

This layout is from Ephesus, in Turkey.



I wanted to highlight a few things, in case you're looking for new ideas or techniques to try. These are actually nothing new, but maybe something you haven't thought of in awhile or something that may work for a project you're working on.

First off, make sure you hang on to the negative portion of any chipboard elements you have. Don't just pop out the 'e' and toss the rest. I always run out of e's so I end up using the 'leftover' bits a lot. For this title, I was short an 'e' in my alphabet stickers, so I went into my stash and found this big guy... It actually became a focal point and adds a lot to the layout, I think.

Also, keep in mind that dressing up chipboard is easy with a simple rub-on and some acryllic paint. I also added a bit of paper behind so that the e was all one colour. Chipboard is pretty versatile, keep it in mind for your next project.



Tearing and rolling edges adds dimension and helps age papers, and works well along with distress inks. I also used my bind-it-all as a punch to make the notebook like border on the peach paper.



Hopefully, my scrappy mojo doesn't dissapear now that I have some free time... Wish me luck!

Giveaway and updates

If you want to post a comment for a little scrapbooking giveaway, head over to Jill's Blog for a chance to win
http://jillelizabethsarginson.blogspot.com/

I have nothing to report from my last doctor's visit, because I never actually got in to see him. I showed up and they were all ready hours behind schedule and he just got called to St. Albert to deliver a baby, so I had to reschedule. I go Wednesday, which means it will be two and a half weeks since my last appointment... oh well. Baby still hasn't dropped, I still feel good, all is well. Plus, now that I'm wrapping up work, I can sit in the doctor's office as long as need be without feeling guilty.

I did, however, buy a cute little outfit later last night at Costco....



Notice the ears? Awwww...

Someone Had A Baby.... Just Not Us

We have another doctor's appointment today. Hopefully, there's some news. Brandi's sister, Berri-Sue had a baby girl Monday morning. She was due exactly a month before us (August 10) and she had two other friends with due dates later than hers have their babies while she waited. Now that she's got a baby girl, (Ella Raine - great name, right?) we're okay to have ours! Saskatoon, we're ready for you. Come on down!

We had some company last night for the AC/DC concert in Edmonton. My cousins and aunt came up to take in the show and it seems like they had a good time. Floor seats to see a live band that big, should've been good. We didn't go (although that may have helped the baby along) but we got to live vicariously through their stories.

Here are a few more Europe layouts. Three albums and counting. Now who in their right mind (besides my mother, Brad and I) will ever want to look at sooooo many pictures of our trip? Ahhhh well, the memories will be preserved for those days when we are longing to hit the road and can't.

These are a few pictures taken inside the Louvre. Notice the Mona Lisa in the bottom, right corner? It was pretty cool to see it in person (even though it's protected by glass and you can't get within 3 feet of it), but each and every painting and display in there is impressive.



Recognize this tower-on-a-tilt? Pretty neat site, actually. We took a ton of goofy photos there, but a bunch of them got deleted, accidentally. Probably for the best, because I'm horrible at thinning out pictures. Digital cameras did not help me out. I take a ton of photos and can't bear to delete any of them...

Our Last Wedding of the Summer

We just got back from our last wedding of the summer! Such a great summer full of weddings, friends and family. One of my best friends from childhood got married Saturday and it was a full blown western extravaganza. They arrived in an old fashioned stagecoach pulled by horses and her dress was all lace and pearls... just beautiful.

We got to see a lot of friends that we hadn't seen in a long time (some of whom were quite surprised to see my 38 week pregnant belly) and had a great time visiting. Plus, we got to spend some time with the family which is always good.

We got home yesterday and Brad and I spent the evening being lazy. We rented a movie and I did a little scrapbooking. It was great.

We watched 'New in Town' which isn't all that great, but if you're a scrapbooker, it's funny to watch the small town, Minnesota scrapbookers in the movie. Makes you wonder if you would fit in with them.... bad haircuts, no fashion sense, gossipy, and love to snack. Plus, every gift they give is homemade. It was a bit of a humorous look at my future....

And, I will continue to work towards that future. Here is another two page layout of our time in Dubrovnik.



Plus, a close up of the grunge board I used throughout the layout (the hinge shown here, as well as another hinge, a swirl, and a solid bar used throughout the two page layout) and the new glimmer mist colour I got (the coppery brown I used on the hinge). Fun stuff.



Also, if anyone wants tickets to the AC/DC concert this Wednesday in Edmonton, let me know. My cousin has two floor tickets to sell.

Giveaways Worth Checking Out

Hop on over to these two sites this weekend and check out their fantastic giveaways! Totally worth it, plus, they've got great ideas and videos and such on their blogs.

www.butterflykisseswithlove.blogspot.com

http://keepsakesbymelissa.blogspot.com/

Good luck!

Baby News and a few more projects

We had another doctor's appointment Monday and everything went well. Sadly, there's no news to report. Baby isn't coming anytime soon, so we're still waiting. Technically, we're still three weeks from the due date, so she still may make it on time....

We did get a quick peak at Saskatoon, which was great! The doctor wanted to check the fluid levels around the baby, so he wheeled in his portable ultrasound machine. We got to see the most perfect little toes and a better view of the face. Really neat. Unfortunately, it was a little harder to see much else, because the baby is so scrunched in there now. I guess I know why those perfect little toes are trying to break my ribs....

Our three days of downtime and housecleaning and getting everything organized again will come to an end tonight. We have a bunch of folks from Brad's work coming for a BBQ tonight. They're from all over eastern Canada, so we promised them some Alberta Beef(what can I say, we keep ourselves busy...). Tomorrow, we've got a good friend coming to town, so we're having supper with her and the Salvation Army is coming to pick up our garage sale wares that didn't sell. Friday we're off to Hanna for a wedding and another weekend of visiting.

The good news? This is the last thing we have planned (outside of work stuff) until the baby arrives. That's right, we may have the next two weekends entirely off! Of course, we may also be spending Labour Day Long Weekend in the hospital, but either way, I'm excited.

I have big plans to scrapbook, do some major cleaning and nesting and just breathe. Ahhhh.....

So, here are a few more Europe layouts. Slowly, I will get this project done. I can actually see an end in sight. I spent an hour or so last night gathering papers, photos and embellishments for another 6 pages, now I just need to sit down sometime and put them together.

I love these pictures. They aren't the best photos, but they remind me of the mood and the tone of the Blue Mosque. It is a religious mecca for a lot of people and you really felt that atmosphere, very sombre and spiritual. I really enjoyed it.



This two-pager is about the outside of the Louvre. Have you ever been (or seen or read Davinci Code)? You enter the museum through a giant glass pyramid. It's really impressive and a little odd, because the museum itself seems to surround you, but the entrance takes you under the courtyard and the building itself. Pretty cool.



Now, back to work.

A Long One....

Another great weekend comes to a close. This summer is flying by. It's all ready the middle of August. The mountains in Lake Louise are cappted with snow. Fall is just around the corner. Luckily, we're still getting nice weather in Edmonton. Not balmy, but no snow. I needed a break from the two week summers in the Rockies.

We didn't travel this weekend, but had another busy one. Friends and family came to visit and our change table, crib and stroller got broken in a little with all the babies. My parents, Curtis, Brandi and Jada came to visit Thursday night. We went to the Eskimos/Stampeders game for my dad's birthday, and it was a fantastic game! Jada was a trooper and stayed up for the whole game and didn't really fuss at all.







Brad and mom got to cheer for their Stamps a bit, but luckily, the rest of us got to leave victorious. Those two were much quieter on the way home...



And a shot of the newest Eskimos fan:



Friday, we visited and went for a walk to the park and then went for supper with Broc and Steph and Kale, Brad's brother, sister-in-law and nephew. The Benedicts headed home Friday night and the rest of us played grid crib and let Kale entertain us.

Saturday, we all went to the zoo in Edmonton and then hit West Ed for a few minutes, then headed home for pizza, ice cream and more visiting.

A Red Panda at the Zoo (through foggy glass):



And Kale, testing out Saskatoon's stroller at the zoo:



Sunday, Broc, Steph and Kale packed up and headed out and Lee, Keri and Caden showed up from Lake Louise. We had a good visit with them and then I spent some time putting away clothes in the baby's room and rearranging things a little while Brad mowed the yard and helped clean up.

Whew! Three babies under the age of one, four couples, one extra dog and Brad, Bailey, Saskatoon and myself were all in this house this weekend. Busy, but so good to see everyone and see how those kidlets are growing up!

Now I need to backtrack just a bit and share the Benedict family picture we took at my aunt's wedding on the August Long Weekend. Such a nice day for a wedding and the golf course was beautiful.



If you remember, a few weeks back, I shared a picture of Brad's side of the family... here's a recap:



A bit of a descrepancy in size between these families... I never thought of our family as small until I met his!

Great Deals

I stumbled across this neat site for anyone feeling the pinch of recession, or those who, like me, just love a deal :)

Peachy Cheap is a site that puts one scrapbooking item up for sale each day at huge discounts. In fact, some items are up to 99% off. Don't believe me? I've been watching and there are some great deals. The only thing to watch for is they're an American company and shipping to Canada depends on the weight of what you order. Could add a bit to your overall cost....

Updates and Crafty Things

I had another doctor's appointment yesterday. 36 weeks!! Unfortunately, my doctor had a busy day, and they were three hours late. He delivered 24 babies in 30 hours. Can you believe that? Something was going on in Edmonton, yesterday. Luckily, they called me and let me know, so I only waited for an hour and a half... I got in and out and everything is still going well. I have to go in every week, now, since we're getting so close.

Exciting!

Since we've been home for a few days, I'm nearly caught up on the house/yard work. At least the place looks reasonable. We got a new air conditioning unit installed yesterday, so I can last a little longer.

I spent a bit of time scrapbooking Sunday evening, but haven't gotten too much done this week. Here are a few older layouts I haven't shown yet.



I love this background paper from My Mind's Eye, and I think it was a perfect compliment to some of my favourite photos of Santorini. The pictures aren't anything special, just a reminder of how beautiful and relaxing the island was.



And, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Another simple layout. Slowly, I'll get the Europe pictures done and move on to other projects.

Tomorrow, my parents are coming up with Curtis, Brandi and Jada and we're going to the Eskimos/Stampeders game. Should be good, as long as the rain stays away.

Back Home and Staying Put For Awhile

We're home after a busy ten days of travelling, visiting, stopping at home quick, and then heading out again.

We spent the long weekend in Hanna and visited all kinds of family. Brad had been in PEI for work the previous week, so I picked him up Friday night and we headed to my parent's farm. Saturday, we visited my parents, Curtis, Brandi and Jada, and then went out for supper with some extended family.

We attended my aunt's wedding at a nice little golf course, complete with golf cart seating, and a golf course shaped cake on Sunday.

Monday, we celebrated our farm's 100th anniversary. Can you imagine? One hundred years have passed since the land my parent's house sits on was first homesteaded by our family?

Then, we spent an extra day at my parent's visiting and headed home Tuesday afternoon to put together the baby's room. It's starting to look better and better all the time, and it's filling up quick!

Thursday, we packed up and headed out to Buffalo Lake for four days of camping with Brad's family. We had a great time and even managed to get some sunshine and beach time in. Nice and relaxing. We got home Sunday afternoon and now it's laundry, housecleaning, and work. Got to make up for all this time away!

A Week of Visiting

I had a fantastic visit with some family last night. My aunt and uncle and two cousins from New Brunswick are in Alberta for a few weeks, so they came up and brought my gramma for a quick visit. This was the first time any of them had seen our new house and a good opportunity to catch up, as I don't get to see any of them often enough. We also went out for a fabulous supper and met up with my other aunt and soon-to-be uncle and another cousin. All sorts of relatives!

This weekend, we're off to Hanna to continue catching up with everyone for a wedding, a little celebration for our farm (which was first homesteaded by Benedicts 100 years ago) and some visiting. Should be fun!

I thought I'd post a few more pictures of some of the crafty things I've been working on:



a layout featuring a photo from Florence



The outside of a birthday card



and the inside

Hope you're all enjoying your summers.

Summer Heat Wave Scrapbooking

It has been so hot these past few weeks. I can't complain, because we had such a cool spring, but I must say it's cookin' in our house! Because of the heat, I've been spending a lot of time in our basement with a fan trained on me. Since I work from home, I can sit in front of the fan on the computer during the day and in the evenings, after my dog walk, errands, and supper, I park myself back in front of the fan reading or scrapbooking.

Speaking of scrapbooking, I haven't posted many layouts lately, so I'll try and post a few over the next couple of weeks. I have actually been getting some Europe layouts done and have even thought of going to Costco to get more pictures printed. Crazy, I know. I put the layouts that I've got completed in albums last night and I have three albums worth all ready, with more to come.

Here are a few of the newbies:





I think I'll do a fast mini album of Ottawa next. That's my project for after I finish the Europe album and inbetween all of the weddings, visitors, work, and trips that seem to fill up every moment of the summer. Perhaps that's wishful thinking.

And now, to catch up:

Our garage sale was pretty successful. We didn't get rid of everything, but I'm hoping I can call a charity to come pick up the rest. I may be making a substantial donation to the Salvation Army this week....

I also got my prize from Just Cre8 in the mail this weekend. I won a little challenge at their last crop and got a whole pizza box full of goodies. Yay! And I've all ready used some of the alphabet stamps on the layout below.





Now, I'll leave you with a copy of the Higginson family picture we took a few weekends ago. This is only the immediate family. Yup, just Brad's parents, brothers and sisters, spouses and their kids. Huge, eh?!



Can you pick me out? Hehehe. Bright green and super pregnant... easy to spot. The funny thing was, Brad looked at it and said, "Man, my cheeks look chubby in that picture." Really, your cheeks look chubby?

Just a Reminder....

Garage Sale this weekend!!!

16530, 67A St.
Friday 4-7 pm and Saturday 9 am-5 pm.

There are some good things for sale, some brand new in boxes and lots of scrapbooking goodies: kits, loose papers and embellishments, and lots more.

Hope to see you there!

Getting Ready and a Garage Sale!

Last weekend we picked up a ton of goodies: a stroller, change table, shelving unit, and a rocking chair, all for the baby or the baby's room. Brad has since been spending his evenings putting everything together and making a styrofoam-y mess of the house.

As we buy more things and build more things, we've realized we need to get rid of some stuff to make room. So, this weekend, we're having a garage sale!!
You really should stop by if you're in the neighborhood. There will be everything from brand new fish fryers to scrapbooking supplies (loose goodies, entire scrapbooking class kits and more) to sporting equipment to household goods. You should stop by to check it out or just come say hi.

16530, 67A st.Edmonton
Just north of Londonderry mall
Friday 4-7 pm
Saturday 9 am - 5 pm

Other updates....
I went to a wedding shower for my aunt last night, which was fun. Lots of good food and good visits, plus I got to meet some of her new soon-to-be-family, which was nice.

We're down to bimonthly doctor's appointments now, so it's getting close. Everything is looking good. Baby Saskatoon is kicking like a soccer player and my belly seems to be stretched to the max (but apparently, it will keep growing).

Another reminder... stop by our house for a garage sale Friday and Saturday!

Another Weekend Down...

Our summer seems to be a collection of weekends spent travelling from place to place, with a few days of work in between. It's passing in a blur, and with summer passing quickly, it means baby is getting closer. Yikes... are we ready?

This weekend, we actually only had one night away from home (a rarity for us lately). We spent Friday night shopping for a stroller and then grabbed some pizza and some movies and just had a night to veg out and enjoy our cool basement.

Then, we were off Saturday morning. We loaded up the car, the dog reluctantly got in his kennel in the back (after he apparently had a conversation with Brad about our need to travel so much) and headed to Airdrie. We stopped in to see Brad's troopmate, Dave's new house and had a bit of a visit with him and then left Bailey with him over night. Then, we were off to meet up with some friends from Lake Louise in Calgary on our way out to a wedding in Bragg Creek. The wedding was absolutely beautiful! Our old neighbours from Lake Louise, Martin and Carrie got married on her parent's ranch south of Bragg Creek. Beautiful location, beautiful day, great food, great company, good music.... good day all in all.

Then, Sunday morning we met up with a bunch of Lake Louisians for breakfast and a visit, headed out to pick up Bailey, stopped in at my grandparents for a quick visit and some snacks and headed home (with a quick stop at IKEA).

Phew!

A few shots of the wedding:









And Steph, Broc and Kale, after Kale's first hike in Waterton last weekend:

Summer Fun With The Family

Another long weekend with the family, this time, we were in Lethbridge visiting Brad's family. We saw so many people! There were like thirty people in Brad's parent's house at any given moment. We got to meet some neices that we'd never even met before, which was great, plus, we got to see neices and nephews that we haven't seen in five years and Brad's brother and girlfriend who we haven't seen in almost four years! Plus, all of the regulars :)

We celebrated Brad's dad's 70th birthday on Sunday and had a fantastic BBQ. I think he really enjoyed seeing everyone and getting the whole family together. We even got some pictures (I actually don't have a copy, but I know there are a lot of them out there) of the WHOLE family.

Thank you to everyone who gave us early baby gifts, I spent my lunch break looking at everything and this baby is going to be spoiled! She (man, I hope it's a girl now that we have an entire wardrobe set up for a little girl) will be the best dressed baby in Alberta.

We got back late last night and are now trying to settle back into the work routine today. This weekend, we have a wedding, but we're only going overnight, so we get a little longer break between events. Whew! The weekends are almost melting together this summer. This week, the house needs to be cleaned and the yard needs to be weeded, mowed and just cleaned up in general. We're going to try and get ready for a garage sale in the next couple of weeks, too. Out with the old. Need to make room for this baby's clothes!

Birthdays, and baby updates

We spent our long weekend at my parent's farm in Hanna. It was so great to get away and relax and visit.

We had a surprise birthday for my dad on Saturday, which went well. Miraculously, the surprise was kept until just before the party started, so he just had enough time to clean up before guests started arriving. It was fun to see all of the neighbours and some of dad's college buddies. Lots of reminiscing.

We got lots of time with Curtis and Brandi and Jada, too, which was great. We usually seem to miss them or just catch them for a few hours, so we got a good visit in this time.

I just got back from a doctor's appointment and everything is going well. Saskatoon is right on track. Two months left.... And we're wrapping up our prenatal classes. The second last one is tonight. We are learning about baby health today. Should be fun.

This weekend we're off to Lethbridge for Brad's dad's birthday and some more visiting. Should be another fun one.

In a few more weeks, we have a weekend off, so we're planning a garage sale :)If you're in the area, you should stop by. There will be all kinds of goodies for sale...

Okay, more Ottawa pics:

Brad and I playing at the War Museum. We're all about hands-on displays...





The library in the Parliament building, inside and out. This is the oldest part of the building, the only part that survived a fire.