Retreat Challenge #9

This weeks challenge was to spend some time on yourself and do a layout about it. We had two birthdays within a 7 day time period, so I chose to do a home pedicure. Obviously, funds were limited and honestly, I was so tired that I didn't even feel like going anywhere! My girls and I set up a pedicure station and repainted our toes and put some bling on our toenails. Then it was on to facials.

You can't see them very well in the picture, but I added lots of sparkly jewels to the page to recreate the bling on our toes. I also did my title with glittery letters to mimic the toe nail polish look.

Retreat Challenge #8

This weeks challenge for the 4 Girls and a Dream Retreat was to make a layout about an important event in your life. I chose to do mine about the births of the kids. My favorite part are the butterflies with the numbers of the birth order by each picture. I can't believe the retreat is only a few weeks away and I don't have anything thought out or ready to go! AAGGGHH!!

Our birthday princess!

Ellie was so excited for her birthday. We had ice cream and cake and invited her grandparents over to help celebrate. I found this adorable outfit at Wal-mart and knew it was the perfect outfit for a birthday princess!

Gifts

so many gifts...Ellie wanted to open her gifts before everyone even got here! She kept trying and we kept telling her that she had to wait until Braquel and Keven got here. The second they came through the door, she grabbed her first gift and started ripping! She got several new outfits, a toy puppy, shoes, jewelry, a new tea set, the cutest swimsuit ever, a camping chair, a fishing pole, and a toybox! She was definately spoiled!

Cake

Every time we would ask Ellie what she wanted for her birthday, she said cake...with sprinkles...and candles! I made her a lemon cake to match her party colors and we topped it with pink sprinkles and two candles. She loved it and I love that she is still easy to please! Right after she blew out the candles (of course Gary had already put the camera down so we missed getting a picture) she put her head down right into the frosting! I don't know if she was trying to eat her cake like a dog or what!

Balloons

Every good party must have balloons. We decorated with some pink and yellow balloons and the kids got to play with the rest of the package. They love getting to blow them up and hit them all around the house! Ellie is our first birthday of the year and I'm glad we've got at least one under our belt now!

and now...the rest of Ellie's story

After Gary and the kids left that night, I needed to get Ellie awake enough that she would eat. All of my kids would fall asleep a few minutes after starting to eat, so I needed her awake and hungry! Otherwise, she would be staying at the hospital. I changed her diaper and clothes and started a little photo shoot of our new angel.

She cooperated somewhat, but she was still pretty sleepy from that trip through the birth canal. I played with her for as long as she would and then fed her. Luckily, the nurses were pleased with her eating and when the pediatrician checked her out the next mornng, he couldn't believe she was so healthy. He said she was perfect, just tiny. He told me that since I had taken four other kids home and not killed them, he thought we would be just fine with Ellie going home!

So we loaded our sweet but teeny tiny baby in the car seat that was WAY too big for her and took her home. She was such a trooper. She never had to have oxygen, she never got jaundice, nothing that you would expect such a little one to have!

Ellie's story

I accidentally posted these in the opposite order of what I was wanting...sorry! Ellie was so small and I really wanted to catch how tiny she was before she grew. She is about a week old here and I tried to compare her tiny head to Gary's.

This was still at the hospital before we got to bring her home. Treven just couldn't get enough of her! He was wanting to hold her, kiss her, smell her the whole time! He even told her he was going to be the best big brother and when she got older, he would take all of her spankings for her! He was so sweet. I'm not sure he still feels like he wants to take her punishments, though!

When Ellie was born and they immediately took her to the warmer, I was so scared. I had caught just a glimpse of her when she was born and she was so tiny. My heart nearly stopped and I just knew they weren't going to let me take her home. I've only seen one baby smaller than she was. They dried her up and checked her out and I really was worried when they announced that she was 4 lbs 11 oz. I was sure there was no way were they letting us take her home...I was sick!

When the nurse came in my room that night, I asked her if they were going to let her come home. She said that as long as she kept up her temperature and as long as she was eating, she could go. There was a big board in my room and I had to keep track of when and how long she ate, when she pooped, when she peed, etc. I have never actually prayed for my babies to poop or pee, but that night, I prayed with everything I had! Tune in tomorrow for the rest of the story!

Retreat Challenge #7

I'm so glad that my job for the retreat this year was the challenges! I've had so much fun putting my layouts together and the fact that I have to post every week really keeps me focused and on track. It's also awesome that when I am all done with my challenges, I will have a book all about me. I've never really scrapbooked for me, it's always been for the kids. I had a hard time with the first layout because I don't really like pictures of myself, but the rest of them have been fun. Anyway, the challenge for this week was to create a page with advice; either some you have been given or some you would like to leave for future generations. I used a lot of smaller sayings for my advice. I really tried to use things that I tell my kids all the time.

March Blog Hop

For the Blog Hop this month, I made a necklace out of beads (or charms!) I really liked the flower charm that I used in the middle so I used it as my starting inspiration and worked my way from there. Make sure you check out Lois' blog and A Creative Day to see what kind of inspiration they came up with!

The theme for next month is EGG-Citing! Have fun and remember that the sky is the limit for projects!