jeudi 23 décembre 2010

December Daily - Day 17

Day 17: Dinner with some of our best friends Alexandre & Charlotte who is Gaëtan's godmother. They arrived just as Gaëtan was going to bed (hence the PJs + gigoteuse) and she gave him a late birthday gift: a Buzz Lightyear-ish Mr Potato head they had fun putting together.
The second page is another pic from my Christmas tree (not taken that day) which I really love this year!

page1:
page2:

Supplies: Making Memories 2009 Xmas paper, Fancy Pants Traditions paper (2010), Love Elsie sticker, Girl's paperie word stickers, Toga felt tree.

December Daily - update + Day16

Here is a little update on project December Daily 2010: a big scare (for the babies) on the 15th followed by a lot of worries, changes of plans and tiredness have met that I haven't been able to update this blog with my pages... BUT I've been working on my pages nevertheless and apart from day12 (still waiting for some great birthday pics) and day13 (I still don't really know why I haven't made that page yet), I am currently almost up to date with the project. It's been really fun and interesting and I am already sad that it will come to an end in just a couple of days!

I haven't finished the journaling for Day15 (day of the big scare), so I'll post it later on. I haven't had the time to keep the daily diary and though I miss it, my time is better spend taking care of myself and the babies!
Less time also means less digi stuff: I only use the computer now to download my pictures, edit and print them. The rest is done with paper, embellishments and my trusty black pen for the hand-written journaling. Although I do miss the small digi part I used to do, I'm doing what must be done to keep up with this project and I'm happy with that.

Here is Day 16 page1:
page2:
Supplies: Girl's paperie sticker + green alpha stickers; Scenic Route circle sticker; Fancy Pants Tradition paper (2010); Making Memories Xmas tree paper (2009); black Faber-Castell pen.

vendredi 17 décembre 2010

December Daily - Day 14

page1: page2:
page2 (inside):



December 14:
Gaëtan ne s'est endormi que vers minuit hier soir après avoir discuté, chanté et un peu râlé dans son lit. Il devait être super excité après la fête de Noël et/ou avoir trop bu de jus d'orange. Je ferai plus attention la prochaine fois! Je m'attendais à un réveil tardif, mais pas de soucis, il était sur le pont à partir de 7h45. Par contre, j'ai eu plus de mal à émerger et le démarrage a été lent... d'où une arrivée à Grenadine à 9h30 au lieu de 9h! Le plan loose, c'est que Jérôme avait besoin de la voiture, donc je n'ai pas pu aller faire des courses SEULE à Vélizy2. Je ne sais pas du coup si je vais pouvoir y aller cette semaine, car ils prévoient encore de la neige pour mercredi/jeudi (mais j'espère en moins pire). Du coup, après avoir fait un peu d'ordi, annulé la femme de ménage pour cause de lessive de chemises non faites, je suis partie sur Montparnasse: objectif, H&M pour voir les fringues de grossesse et La Procure pour les santons de Gaëtan et des livres de Noël plus religieux... Au final, pas de H&M Mama rue de Rennes et peu de livres sympas à la Procure (mais j'ai pu acheter les santons)... + un monde fou pour manger (notamment au McDo, au chaud!) donc j'ai fini par acheter une quiche que j'ai mangée dans la rue vers 13h30. J'ai eu froid, je me suis fatiguée... bref, la loose presque intégrale!
Ensuite, direction Grenadine pour ma permanence mensuelle après un petit arrêt chocolat chaud à Corentin Celton (car j'étais un peu en avance). Tout allait bien là-bas, Gaëtan avait bien mangé et bien fait la sieste, cool! J'ai papoté avec les équipes (Delphine, Sonia, Nadia) et regardé les enfants jouer. Gaëtan a eu un coup de pompe vers 16h30 où il a fallu Doudou + les bras de maman, mais sinon pas de soucis. Il a soufflé une bougie 2 ans posée sur un gâteau au chocolat (reste de la fête d'hier) par 3 fois et il avait l'air de vraiment bien aimé. Ca m'a fait plaisir de le voir vraiment attentif (voire participatif) pendant les temps calmes (lecture, chanson...), lui qui avait apparemment du mal au début. Ensuite activité dessin et enfilage de grosses perles en bois. J'ai été impressionnée qu'ils arrivent si bien à le faire à leur âge!
Retour maison vers 18h où Jérôme était déjà rentrée. Bain pour le petit mister, repas soupe avec petites pâtes mais à peine mangé la moitié + Kiri + yaourt... bref... Temps de jeu avant d'aller se coucher. Il a un peu parlé, mais s'est endormi assez vite finalement. Pour nous, c'était "boite chaude" (Mont d'Or au four) avec pommes de terre. Il y a une odeur de fromage fondu dans tout l'appart et j'ai l'impression que même mes habits sont imprégnés!
Demain, c'est RV gynéco: on va bien voir comment elle me trouve et comment va se passer le suivi de grossesse pour les jumeaux (fréquence des échos, des visites etc...).

lundi 13 décembre 2010

December Daily - Day 11

And here is Day11. I won't be able to do Day12 (Gaëtan's birthday) right now because the pictures I've taken are crap and I'm waiting to get better ones from my mum and/or sister. Once I know which pictures I can use, I'll be able to visualise my page!

page1:

page1 inside:

page2:


December 11:

Got up around 8am but fell asleep around 2am: that was a short night. Jérôme is still sleeping. It's the last day to do some crafting for Gaëtan's birthday tomorrow. So after breakfast, I start to cut out several circles of felt (from the various felt coupons I bought on Wednesday) to make some simple garlands, inspired by what Elise Blaha posted on her blog a few days ago (hers were grey but I want color!). G is playing with his little cars, so cute. I start sewing the circles a few cms from each other and the garlands turn out really cute (in my opinion). Even Gaëtan is saying "choli, choli" (= joli = cute) ;) He watching me sew really intensively! Then I do some baking for tomorrow's little birthday party: first some 'cannelés' batter (put in the fridge until tomorrow), then a chocolate cake I'm planning to decorate tomorrow. And finally, I am putting enough pressure on Jérôme to set up the tree, so he put his coat and goes to work on the terrasse (the tree trunk is massive and way bigger than the hole in the log we usually use to keep it straight). The tree is up during Gaëtan's nap, I go out for some grocery shopping and can start decorating the tree when Gaëtan wakes up. He's not really helping, but I let him play with the ornaments. They are not really valuable and playing/touching them is half the fun for him. He's coughing again and has a very runny nose. I took his temperature before he went to bed (38°C, slight fever but nothing major). Jérôme's still sick and not feeling well... Dinner for Gaëtan (not great but ok with some potato/carrot Mousseline mash), then pizza for us. And a little December Daily catch-up for me before going to bed early tonight!! It's 11pm and I just need to wrap Gaëtan's gifts and then I'm off to bed while Jérôme is doing his Tarte Tatin dough so it can rest in the fridge during the night.

December Daily - Day 10

I really love this project and what I've done so far. This is why I'm trying my hardest to keep up with it although I am now running quite late!

page1:

page2:


December 10:

Gaëtan spent his morning at Grenadine while I crafted and tidied the house. I picked him up around 12.30pm then put him to bed immediately so he could have a good nap before the show later that afternoon... I don't know if he was excited by the show or else but he didn't go to sleep until 2.15pm! Needless to say, he was sound asleep when I went to pick him up to get dressed to go to the show... poor baby. I would normally have let him sleep, but I really wanted to go and see if he would enjoy it. We were running late, he had a Pompot on the way, I droped the prom at the "prom parking lot" (!) in front of the Conservatoire, then ran upstairs to find a seat before the show started. It was a nice little show and Gaëtan laughed a few times, but not outstanding. Gaëtan was too 'stoned' during the first half to do anything other than sit in my lap and started getting interested by the other kids and his surrounding after a while. He then wanted us to move/walk and to climb up and down the folding seats! But he didn't cry or shout (proud mama!). After the show, we could pick up a gift from the mayor (choice between a CD, a book or a puzzle - I chose the wild animals puzzle) + a 'viennoiserie' (Gaëtan wolfed down his little pain au chocolat before I had time to grab a bite!). He then wanted to play in the play area outside but there was still some snow and it was very slippery. I bought a huge piece of Comté fruité at the market, then headed home a few moments before Zip arrived. We chatted, Gaëtan made his show (he was over-excited!) and got taped. When Jérôme arrived, I left with Zip to get the Japanese take-away (almost all the way up to the périph) and some pastries for dessert. When we got home, Fatou had already arrived and we sat down to eat our sushis. I hardly had time to eat a prawn one before I had to leave for my Grenadine meeting at 8.30pm. It was interesting but lasted for 3 hours! I was past hungry by that time and when I arrived home, the others were watching 'V for Vendetta' on the big screen. I ate some salad and my dessert, then joined them for the end of the film. I should have gone to bed when our guests left, but my mind was racing with what I had to do re: my new role as General Secretary. I gathered my thoughts in a little notebook (to be able to do a proper meeting summary later), then looked up a few details on the internet... I went to bed (and Jérôme as well) around 2am. Dear God, may the little one sleep tonight!

vendredi 10 décembre 2010

December Daily - Day 9

When I saw the glorious weather this morning (blue sky + sunshine) and the snow that still covered our terrace, I knew right away what today's story would be. I had a great time photographing Gaëtan walking in the snow and enjoying being outside. The light was great (a bit too much sunshine but who is complaining?!), especially compared to these last few days.
This meant that I could start working on today's page right away during Gaëtan's nap. I was so eager to play with the pictures I had just taken, that I started working on Day9 before I had even finished Day8.
This also means more snow pictures for the third day in a row! Tomorrow should bring a nice change as we are planning to attend a Christmas play for toddlers with Gaëtan. This will be his first play: can't wait to see if he enjoys it (and if he behaves!)...

page 1:
Journaling: (on the picture) It makes me so happy to see you enjoy the snow! You're really fascinated by the noise your steps are making and you keep pacing the terrace! You should have a great time at Christmas! (on the page) This is the first time of the season that you're outside on the terrace playing in the snow. You are not properly dressed yet (rainboots and fleece gloves for example) but it is a good start.

page 2:

Supplies: old Scrapworks Christmas paper, Ali Edwards Holiday Wordart vol2 + 6*8 December Daily layered templates, Rayher mirror star.


December 9:

Gaëtan woke up just before 8am this morning: perfect time for me! We had breakfast, Jérôme left for work (and took the car although the streets still had snow on them) and I succeeded in getting Gaëtan all dressed up warmly to go play on the terrace in the snow. It was a glorious day with a blue sky & some sunshine and I took tons of pictures! Hopefully some of them will turn out ok. We came back inside, Gaëtan put some "normal" clothes on then we left for some grocery shopping. The little one wanted to walk on the pavement (still covered in icy snow) but agreed to sit in the prom after a few meters because he was slipping a lot (no kidding!). I had put my ski coat and my hiking boots and I was ok. I had a hard time pushing the prom in some areas but overall it was more fun than pain! We came home, had lunch (Knacki sausage for G - his favorite - a Kiri AND a yoghurt) then spend a little time playing in the livingroom before he took his nap. He had his snack, we made "quiche lorraine" then Jérôme came home fairly early. Yay! He was supposed to go to a company evening but he's still feeling sick. Moreover I thought I had a Grenadine meeting tonight at 8.30pm so someone had to stay home with Gaëtan... the reality is that the meeting is TOMORROW night! Oh my, I'm losing my head now...
Jérôme and Gaëtan played wolf (Jérôme chasing G with a blanket, making wolf sounds then finally catching him in the blanket and putting him on the couch. I love love love hearing them play and laugh together. Tonight's dinner was another nightmare: Gaëtan ate 5 spoonfuls of his soup+ pasta then decided he didn't want more... Jérôme tried adding pepper or butter but without much success. Of course, he did ask for a Kiri nevertheless... So another evening when the little one will go to bed without having eaten much... It's driving me crazy.
The only highlight of the evening was eating a piece of quiche lorraine in front of "Lie to me", a show I really like (esp. Tim Roth). Now off to bed...

jeudi 9 décembre 2010

December Daily - Day 8

Since yesterday was all about snow falling almost all day long and since it was already Day7's theme, I wasn't really feeling very inspired and felt I was on a slippery path with this project... But inspiration struck just before I went to bed, so here we are! And funnily enough, I quite like this page ;)

page1:Journaling: When I was oooh-ing and aaaah-ing over the snow yesterday, little did I know what the weather would bring today... and I didn't think I would be walking in the snow while bringing back Gaëtan from daycare!


page2:
Supplies: Toga felt snowflake, Scenic Route cardstock, Bazzill Ruby Slipper cardstock, Artemio reindeer stamp, Ali Edwards Holiday Wordart vol2 + 6*8 DD overlays + Picture overlay, Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist.


December 8:
This morning Gaëtan went to daycare and I had an appointment with the director to talk about the October invoice and the help they need right now. It was great to chat with Sophie and to see other mums that are also going to be more involved. Then I went to the art & craft store to buy some felt (want to make a garland like Elise for Gaëtan's birthday this Sunday). It started raining/snowing and of course I hadn't taken any umbrella nor gloves. I was freezing when I came back home with Gaëtan but it was beautiful to see the urban landscape covered in snow. It feels very Chrismasy right now!
It snowed all afternoon with no sign of stopping. Gaëtan didn't take a long nap (sigh) so we read, put some stickers in the activity book, had a snack... It was really funny: Gaëtan wanted to eat a kiwi... by himself, so I cut a kiwi in half then gave him a spoon and he almost managed to eat it properly (if you don't mind bits of kiwi being propelled all around in the kitchen!). I tried to make a short video of him eating but he wanted to see "bébé" on the screen. I'm not kidding I think he watched that little video (of himself) more than 15 times! Call him Narcissus ;)
Jérôme had taken the car to go to work this morning so I was afraid he would get snowed in somethere on the road between La Défense and Issy but he managed to get home... eventually. It only took him more than 2h (instead of his usual 45min drive!). At least that gave him time to make a few more phone calls to family (his uncle Jean-Claude, his sister-in-law, his cousin Grégoire - the other twin - and his cousin Antoine). It was a near disaster at dinner yet again with Gaëtan: didn't want to eat more than 5 spoonful of his soup and ended up eating pasta with crème fraiche & pepper... I really don't know how I'll deal with this situation in the long run...

mercredi 8 décembre 2010

December Daily - Day 7

Day 7 and I'm still doing this!!! It's been a week and it is surprisingly not as stressful or 'painful' as I thought it would be... The key is to do it really regularly (thank God for naps!). So proud of myself and of all the others still going strong ;)

Straight to the point today because Gaëtan didn't take a long nap and my mama duty called ;)
Yesterday's main page is on the snow we had: I thought it was pretty and fairly unusual... little did I know that it would be 10 times better (worth for some!) today.
So more snow pictures coming in on today's page!!

On the "artsy" side, I tried to put some glitter on page2 with a glue pen, but it was messy... Not sure I like the result but never mind!


page1:
page2: Supplies: Scenic Route stickers, Love Elsie sticker (small snowflakes), Scrapworks Xmas paper (2007), 3D foam tape (for the 3 small pics), Ali Edwards brush (Holiday Wordart vol2), Purple Onion stamps (little bracket + frame), Bazzill blue gray cardstock, Sakura Quickie glue pen, red glitter, Uniball Signo red metal pen.


December 7:
Gaëtan went to Grenadine this morning. It was cold and grey but ok. I spent the morning putting his toys away and tidying the place so that the cleaning lady could work efficiently! Jérôme is still sick and still at home. His temperature has come down though. It started snowing right around the time I was supposed to leave to get Gaëtan from daycare... so I took the car because I didn't want to get too wet, too cold and I especially didn't want to slip on the pavement. Apparently there's been a major crisis at Grenadine and several mums left the board. Sophie therefore asked for my help and I told her about my pregnancy: I can help now but won't be able to in a few months!! We'll see. Watching the snow fall was as usual really pretty, especially when you're safely in the car ;)
Gaëtan played a bit with Jérôme on the computer (Kneebouncers.com) while I finished doing some paperwork (paying some taxes for Beauberty). Gaëtan went to nap and we had lunch.
A pretty ordinary day (apart from J home sick) so far, so I'm still wondering what today's DD story will be.
I found a Holiday sticker activity book in my special Holiday items cupboard so I took it out and played a bit with Gaëtan. I did most of the 'work' but he seemed to enjoy it... then lost interest fairly quickly! So it was back to reading more books, then off to take a shower with Daddy, then dinner (he ate - hooray!). We spend the rest of the evening on the phone with various family members telling them the good news: my grandmother (who had to sit down when she heard it will be twins), Jérôme's parents (who were delighted!), Jérôme's cousin Nicolas (himself a twin, offering lots of advice), Jérôme's aunt and uncle (happy & having a laugh: now it's OUR turn!) and finally Jérôme's brother Laurent (very excited and a bit emotional). What an exciting evening!

mardi 7 décembre 2010

December Daily - Day 6

I was planning on decorating the tree yesterday but my husband is home sick and wasn't able to get the tree up... so that will be a great story for another day ;)
The day was pretty gloomy up until we made some gingerbread people with my 2yo: highlight of the day + good story for my December Daily page!

page1:
Journaling: I fell in love with this Gingerbread people kit last Wednesday at WHSmith: on the one hand, I found the shape cutter really cute; on the other I was curious to see how they tasted. They are yummy, have a good texture, lack some sugar... and they're just so cute!

page2:
Supplies: Making Memories Xmas paper (2009), Uniball brown pen, Quickutz clear stamps, Purple Onion stamp (little swirl), Old paper distress ink.

December 6:
[I forgot to write down this daily diary yesterday and now I can't remember what we did! Sigh...]
Jérôme was sick (coughing + high temp) so stayed home and booked an appointment with the GP at 4pm. Gaëtan was home with me and we played and read some books in the morning. We then went to the postoffice to send THE letter (to Jérôme's parents, telling them about the twins) and a parcel (to Italy, containing our gift for Chloé's birth). A quick detour to Monoprix for some grocery shopping, then it was back home for lunch. Huge success at lunchtime: Gaëtan ate almost all his meal + yoghurt and had a piece of chocolate chip brioche. Nap for Gaëtan, craft/internet time for me and computer time for Jérôme.
I couldn't decorate the tree because it still wasn't up and installed in the living room (Jérôme wasn't feeling well enough to take care of that... and I can't blame him) so when Gaëtan woke up (it was a looooong nap), I decided to bake some cookies with him: I love baking and I love that I can do it with him! Added bonus: great opportunity to take some pics of the two of us baking, so that I could finally feature in my December daily ;)
In the evening, we chatted with my brother and sister-in-law on Skype, watched Vale nursing little Chloé and told them the good news! Can't wait to see them at Christmas!! And finally, I spent some time chatting online with Marie, which was fun.

lundi 6 décembre 2010

December Daily - Day 5

The weather yesterday was dreadful (rainy and grey) so I didn't take many pictures and they were all horrible... Not a great start for my December Daily page!
So I kept things even more simpler than usual: a photo collage with a few words (things we bought/didn't buy/did at each store) + some memorabilia from both stores (bag + cloth tag).

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page2:
Supplies: Love Elsie stickers (2007), Scenic Route stickers (2008), Ikea shopping bag, fleece tag.


December 5:
We had a good night sleep... bless the sweet child ;) It looks like my belly is getting bigger by the day... weirdest feeling... We had some home-baked (not home-made though!) croissants for breakfast, then drove to IKEA Thiais to get our tree and buy a small table + chair for Gaëtan's room. We managed not to buy TOO many things other than the couple of items on our list: quite a feast! We then ate lunch at IKEA: Gaëtan and I had Swedish meatballs (Jérôme took some smoked salmon + the chicken special) and he ate them all. He's a meat-lover this one! Jérôme is still coughing like an old man with pneumonia and isn't feeling great. I hope it gets better soon...
Gaëtan fell asleep in the car although it was still fairly early (hardly 1pm), woke up when we arrived home and couldn't get back to sleep in his bed. So we got him up around 3.30pm and went to Decathlon [sporting goods store] to find some winter gear for Gaëtan (we're spending Christmas in the mountains, then are going again in March). Before leaving we decided to have Gaëtan try the snowpants from last year to see if they still fitted (it will do for now but will be too small really soon) and he didn't want to take them off when we left! Once there we didn't find much, except a fleece for the boys and I felt exhausted when we got home. I had to lay down for a while and went to bed around 9.30pm which is VERY unsual for me!

dimanche 5 décembre 2010

December Daily - Day 4

Saturday was busy and I hardly got a chance to work on my page in the evening. Add an annoying computer that was refusing to download my Day3 pages + my Day4 pictures and I was getting really frustrated.
But I prevailed, the computer yielded and I managed to post my Day3 pages and start working on my Day4 pages. The good thing was that I knew which pictures I would use for the front and for the back page + which stories I would tell. The bad thing was that by 10pm I was feeling really tired (somebody said twins?) and it was hard to concentrate on my modest Photoshop skills!

Anyway, here is what I came up with (sorry about the quality of the pics but the light is just terrible with this grey light):

page1:Journaling: Some falling snow and a small fire in the fireplace... could there be a more perfect setting to tell my parents and sister that we're expecting babies in June? They were delighted and excited by the news, although my mother already suspected as much!

page2:
Journaling: I love watching snow fall: it isn't that common around Paris... I am therefore delighted by all the small snowfalls we've had since the end of November and I hope I'll be able to enjoy it with Gaëtan soon!

Supplies: Webster's Page Xmas paper (2009), Hero Arts alpha stamp, black Versafine ink, orange Kesi'art ink, black border sticker ? (2008), Ali Edwards Freebie Capture the moments brush, Ali Edwards Holiday WordArt Vol2, Scenic Route sticker (2008), Making Memories Mistletoe glitter paper (2009).


December 4:
It was a rough night. Gaëtan woke up several times between 1.30 and 3am and we couldn't understand what was wrong: was it a bad dream, was he too cold, was it his clogged nose preventing him from breathing easily, was it hunger (he didn't eat anything at diner)...?? We were feeling pretty exhausted this morning but I was wide awake by 7.30am (sweet insomnia). I got up and decided to work peacefully (ie without a 2yo trying to get on my lap) on my December Daily. It started snowing pretty heavily by the time we all had breakfast so we left fairly early to go to my parents for lunch. The urban and forest landscape on our way there were beautiful. Jérôme fell down on my parents' driveway but I didn't although I was carrying Gaëtan and wasn't feeling very safe. We told my parents and sister the good news and they were really happy and excited! We watched some of their Mexico vacations pictures, had lunch, chatted while Gaëtan was napping, then left after he had his afternoon snack. The snow had stopped falling but we were afraid the roads would become icy after dark. We luckily had a smooth drive home. Gaëtan took his shower, then ate all his Bledina soup with pasta: hooray, such a relief since he only ate 2 cherry tomatoes and a piece of cheese at lunch. It was homemade croque-monsieurs for the grown-ups!
Tomorrow we're planning to go to IKEA to get our tree + buy a small table and chair for Gaëtan's room.

samedi 4 décembre 2010

December Daily - Day 3

Day 3 and I'm still doing this! So proud of myself and of all the others who are on board this great adventure ;)

page 1:
Journaling: writing down the birthdays, parties, holidays and future births; reflecting on a full year and imaging the next one full of surprises and possibilities for our family...

page 2:

Journaling: I'm so proud of you little boy! Standing on a chair you follow with great concentration what I'm doing and you want to help. You're getting better with pouring the sugar and you're doing less of a mess when stirring. On the other hand you're still asking regularly for little pieces of apple!

Supplies: JillyBeanSoup Xmas paper (2009), Pink Paislee Misletoe die cut (2009), Making Memories chipboard button (2009), AdornIt alpha rubons, Artemio stamp, Bazzill kraft cardstock.

December 3rd:
Jérôme woke me up at 9am: panic on board! Gaëtan was supposed to be at daycare and Jérôme at work but we didn't hear the alarm clock and Gaëtan was unusually still asleep. Well, at least we were rested ;)
Gaëtan spent the rest of the morning + lunch at daycare while I wrote my DD Day2 blog post. We stopped at Monoprix on the way back from Grenadine to buy a couple of items, incl. diapers (we are running seriously low). He took a fairly short nap (compared to yesterday) and woke up around 3pm. I managed to call the mason contractor (it turns out they sent the final quotation to the house in Auvergne!). After his afternoon snack, we baked an apple cake for tomorrow's lunch at my parents. He's getting quite good with the sugar, but is still a bit too enthusiastic when mixing!
Can't wait to tell my parents and sister the good news tomorrow... and see their surprise!! Hopefully only squeals of delight and no heart attack ;)

vendredi 3 décembre 2010

December Daily - Day 2

I worked on my second page for Day1 yesterday, then on Day2 and made 2 pages as well... I'm on a roll!

I've updated my previous post to include the second page for Day1 and here is Day2.

page1:

page2:
Journaling: installing the nativity set; building the Advent village; finding a place for the NOEL decorated letters; putting up the big Xmas balls in Gaëtan's room; putting the little Xmas magnets on the fridge.

Supplies: Hero Arts alpha stamps, black Versafine ink, Peeled paint Distress Ink, Lipstick Red Colorbox ink, American Crafts foil chipboard, old Scrapworks patterned paper (2007), Purple Onion stamp, Making Memories button flower (2009).


Even though I am trying to focus on one story/one activity per day for my December Daily pages (as Ali suggests), I would like to include a brief summary of what we did that day... but I still haven't found how I'm going to do that. In the meantime, I'm going to include it here on the blog!


December 2
Today was fairly quiet. Gaëtan stayed at home with me and we took the Xmas ornaments, decorations and the nativity set out of the cupboard. He was VERY interested in the big IKEA balls that he kept naming "ballon" (ie soccer ball). It was really cute so I decided to hang them in his room. Then he played with the Advent village I bought years ago on sale in London (best bargain buy ever!).
He then took a really big nap after lunch (allowing me time to work on my DD pages + answer a few emails + call the mason contractor in Auvergne), so the rest of the afternoon was spent reading some books and listening to some Christmas music (I bought a Christmas songs for children CD - in English - yesterday).

jeudi 2 décembre 2010

December Daily - Day 1 (updated)

Keeping it very simple for the moment, although I have plans (but will I find the time?) to add more pictures + words on the other side of this page (done on Day2 and updated).

Update page2:Journaling: I was a bit disappointed with the Xmas street decorations (or lack of) around the WHSmith shop in Paris (Rivoli/Concorde/Vendôme), apart from the Guerlain shop which was absolutely breathtaking!

Supplies: Hero Arts alpha stamps, black Versafine ink, red Colorbox ink, Cherry Arte rubon number, Scenic Route sticker (2008 - red circle border + Wish), Ranger Diamond Stickles (on the 1), Love Elsie Noël sticker (2007).


Yesterday was a busy and emotional day (in a good way). I was very tired at the end of the day but started working on this page because I knew what I wanted to show and tell.

And I am now working on Day2 (with this morning pics) while the little one (soon to be the big one) is napping... I can do this!


PS: so yes, this means I'm pregnant and expecting twins (due in June, but they will probably arrive sooner). And yes, it means I've been feeling pretty exhausted the past few weeks/months ;) But we are really happy (and a bit scared!).

vendredi 26 novembre 2010

December Daily 2010

I need to specify 2010 in my title because I've done a December Daily 2009 and a December Daily 2008... Well, when I say I've done them, I mean that I prepared the foundation for both of them but failed miserably to actually complete them...
I had tons of fun making them however. This is the reason why I have once again searched my paper scraps for Christmas-themed items this month and taken the plunge.


Previous projects:

- December Daily 2008 (cover + a few completed pages)

--> Soooooo... It all started fairly well up until the 5th. What happened then? My son Gaëtan was born a few days later so I guess I had my hands full and a lot less free time!!

- December Daily 2009 (cover + a few empty pages)

--> My biggest failure to date... and I have no good reason for it! I didn't even finish the cover NOR found a suitable binding for the minibook and I didn't complete a single page (although I kept pictures and notes in a dedicated folder!).
OK, moving on... it's embarrassing...


What I learned in the process:

My previous December Daily albums were fun to put together because I wanted to mix different page sizes, different textures, different formats, play with inks or my sewing machine... I really wanted every page to be unique! That was a lot of fun (and work!) to put together... but I realized when the actual documentation phase started that it made things WAY too complicated for me to complete: I just didn't know what to do with these strange page sizes... and trying to make every single page unique was just too much work (not to mention time-consuming) on a daily basis!


My December Daily 2010 book:

- Overview + a few pages


My December Daily 2010 album is - for all the aforementioned reasons - VERY simple at this point: 1 double-sided piece of pattern paper + 1 daily overlay printed on white Bazzill cardstock. Repeat from Day1 to Day25!

Ali's use of transparency pages appealed to me BUT I didn't want to spend ANY money on new supplies (considering this one may also end up empty... ahem...). So I used left-over Christmas papers from years past, only bought Ali's December Daily 6*8 overlays, repeated the same steps for each page and build my album fairly quickly.
It would have been even quicker, had I not (stupidly?) decided to slightly change the size of my pages: a bit more work now in order to save me lots come December (well, that's the plan...)! I slightly decreased the size of Ali's overlays so that one portrait-oriented 6*4 picture (printed on my home-printed) would fit in the upper section of the overlay (leaving a bit of room to the right to glue some pretty paper, add a title, a quote... you name it).


So basically, each page could now just be one 6*4 picture + a bit of pretty paper/a title/a quote to the right + some journaling at the bottom: I think even I can handle that at the end of a busy December day, even feeling exhausted and uninspired!!!
Moreover, if I DO feel a bit more creative, there is still room to add more pictures/create a photo collage, add more journaling or more pretty artsy things... PERFECT!

This is how it may look (in the simplest version, ie the laziest one!):



I didn't add any number on my patterned paper pages but am planning to do this each day. I just want that extra bit of flexibility, just in case!

As you may also have noticed, there is no binding at this point (I'm keeping my pages in a little kraft bag on my desk). I'm planning to bind it with my Bind it All when its finished (ha!) but may end up using book rings if it's easier... who knows?!


What else can I say: JUST WISH ME LUCK!!!! I may need all the good vibes you can send my way ;)

lundi 20 septembre 2010

Gaëtan - 21 months


- has started daycare last week and so far everything is going well (he has only spent 15min alone there but it's a beginning!)
- is officially only napping once per day (in the afternoon)
- is washing his hands all by himself in the little sink in the toilets (thanks to a little IKEA stool)
- is saying more and more words, although he doesn't pronunce them very well
- still looooooves strawberries
- is looking for - and finds her - my sister Marie in a magazine (Femme Actuelle): it's actually a brunette modelling for Monoprix but she has a similar fringe!
- says "Tonton" (uncle) whenever he sees the red apples we brought back from Cussac + asks regularly after "tonton" [he spent time with 2 of his uncles this summer]
- adooores the slides at the park or at daycare and seems to prefer going down head first
- is not interested in the slightest by the potty but will gladly sit on it (or stand in it!) from time to time (all dressed up or with his diaper on... hardly ever butt-naked)
- likes to take people by the hand (very cute!) and lead them somewhere (he usually doesn't know where himself... this is not the point! The point is: HE is leading!)
- is starting (very slowly) to give REAL kisses (ie on our cheeks and not only blowing them) to REAL people (ie dad, mom, grand-parents, "tonton"...) not just to his plush toys or animals in his picture books!
- is gives kisses very generously to every single animal he comes across (plush toys, images in books, on tv...) and blows many kisses when saying goodbye; including to people with don't know that well like the postman, salepeople at the stores...)
- desperatly needs new shoes and new slippers (bad mother!)
- cries/screams whenever he is at the pediatrician... this is why I've ordered/bought some books on the subject to prepare next visit (in December)
- likes to wander in the flat pulling our shopping caddy: it's heavy, quite big and doesn't turn easily... which proves VERY frustrating to the little man! (meaning many tears!)
- still wakes up regularly (but briefly) during the night: nightmares? night terrors? I went to calm him down almost every single time this summer because I didn't want him to wake anybody up, but I am now trying to get him used to calming himself down. I really do hope things will quiet down shortly. I need my beauty sleep!
- loooves having someone read him his books, quietly sits down next to the lector to listen/watch the images, then runs to get another one as soon as the first one is finished...
- still has a weird obsession with bottle caps ('chon, 'chon! = bouchon), doors ('poh, 'poh! = porte), lights (kia, kia! = lumière), cars ('atur, 'atur = voiture) and especially trucks (cahon or cayon = camion) since this summer and our many road trips
- has a new car seat facing forwards and it's pure joy!
- takes a shower more and more often in dad and mom's shower (instead of his usual bath) and takes great care to wet himself thoroughly with the shower head, then to scrub himself with the shower gel
- found two great ways to make mummy smile when she's angry with him: either by saying "maman, cahin [calin = hug]"/"maman {kiss in my direction}" while stretching his arms in my direction OR by saying "nez, yeux, cou..." (= nose, eyes, neck...) while pointing at the various parts of my face.
- looooves to help me unpack the grocery shopping from the caddy and bring it to the kitchen. Whatever he's carrying, it is always "lour" (= heavy) and carried with much huffing and puffing!
- says "bébi" (= baby) whenever he sees a baby or another child in the street, in the park, on tv, in magazines... He also says the same thing whenever he sees a picture of himself.
- has started to climb on the back of the sofa and get down on the other side... ER here we come!
- has already had his fair share of bumps and bruises but nothing major yet (fingers crossed!)
- his hair is still very thin but is starting to get longer again
- is still cute as a button and still melts my heart whenever I look at him ;)

All in all, a little todler who is growing well and whose spirit (somebody said temper??!) is beginning to show through!

dimanche 19 septembre 2010

LOAD - 1st page "Hello sweet baby"


A page I had started long before doing my LOAD project in June. I was stuck with the journaling block and didn't really know what I wanted to do except use some of Ali Edward's word art I had purchased several months earlier!

A page I am glad I finished:
- because honestly it was embarrassing to see it half-finished every. single. time I was sitting at my desk...)
- because I could then put it away in an album and start working on something new and fresh
- because it was - with all its flaws - "better done than perfect" and quite simply another precious memory preserved
and it is all that matters!

The journaling is about all the little everyday things I do (like singing to him, giving him kisses, cooking his meals etc...) for Gaëtan to show him how much I love him.