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Retreat Review

Well I have just gotten back from a Scrapgirls Retreat at Castlereagh (Penrith). My first night and weekend away from Ella. First things first I got through 15 layouts and 6 pages for Ella's mini 8x8 album. 2 of my pages were chosen as winning layouts. 1 was their kit challenge and the other was a 45 minute challenge, where you get 10 mins to prepare what photos and papers etc you are going to use and then 45 mins to do the layout and I must say some of my best work under pressure, it really helps to have a cute subject and good photos (both my winning layouts had photos by Kim Arnold).

My mission was to not spend any money in the store at the Retreat and use all the product new and old that I already had in my stash, for that reason I took heaps of stuff with me. I succeeded (mostly) I was only tempted by $0.50 American Craft pens and bought 8 of those for a total shop spend of $4 plus a few cans of coke etc for $6, so only $10 out of pocket. I was happy with that.

Daddy and Ella had a great bonding weekend, baby was well fed, clothed, clean and happy, house like a bomb had hit, despite the cleaning lady coming Friday. But it didn't really matter, the chance to get away to scrap for 3 days and 2 nights is worth coming home to baby bottles, baby food and toys everywhere and clothes still on the line. Daddy is sitting next to me saying how tired he is. I missed them both like crazy, thank goodness for mobile phones and MMS pics arriving all weekend.

Well here are a few of my layouts that I did over the weekend, not photographed all that well but I guess you get the idea.

This was my "Winning" 45 min Challenge layout.

This was my winning layout from the Challenge Kit we received.

These 2 layouts above and below are for the Scrapbooking Delights facebook Sketch Challenge

So it appears that I am keeping my once a month Blogging routine, so until next month, bye.

Once a month Blogger

Well as I have been a bit slack, pre-occupied, busy, you name it, it appears that I might become a once a month blogger.

So much has happened and February is always a busy month for us.

I am back into full swing with work doing 3 days a week in the office with miss Ella in Childcare and then 2 days a week fielding calls and emails from home whilst taking Ella to swimming, library, shopping or whatever other event we have planned on our 2 days off. Weekends we try and get in some quality family time whilst doing the mundane chores like the never ending lawnmowing, washing and tidying up as well as socialising.

Valentines day was Ella's Christening, we ventured up to the Church in Camden where we were married and then back to our place for a roast meal, it was a lovely day although I was a little stressed out getting the food organised, sorting Ella out and making sure we got some good photos and trying to get her to have a little bit of sleep. It all worked out in the end even with the rain. The kids didn't seem to mind the wet weather and the day ended with a super soaker fight with my nephew Isaac and the kids next door, it was amusing to watch. A big thanks to all my friends and family for their help with the day and all the beautiful presents she got.

My little angel looked beautiful in her little Christening dress.

So until next month..........

ABC's of Me

Totally copied this from Lisa's blog who coppied it from Cassie's blog...feel free to copy and paste.

ABC's of me

A - Age: 36
B - Bed size: King, yeah baby
C - Chore you hate: Putting clothes away
D - Dog's name: don't have 1 yet
E - Essential start your day item: Deodorant
F - Favorite color: Fuschia
G - Gold or Silver: gotta be Gold
H - Height: 168cm
I - Instruments you play(ed): Keyboard with the follow the lights, I was rockin'
J - Job title: Mortgage Broker
K - Kid(s): Ella 12 weeks 5 days old
M - Mum's name: Lynne or Barbie because my dad's name is Ken and they have the real life big ass Barbie bus lol.
N - Nicknames: Rach, Rachy Roo, F*ckin Legend (well that was a 1 time Hens night thing)
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: false alarm apendix
P - Pet Peeve: Husbands bad hearing and having to repeat myself.
Q - Quote from a movie: I feel the need ......... the need for Speed
R - Right or left handed: Right
S - Siblings: Brother - Jamie
T - Time you wake up: when Ella wakes up anytime from 4.44-7.11 at the moment.
U - Underwear: Very comfortable nanna knickers and gutsuckers depending on the outfit.
V - Vegetable you dislike: do you want the list, but surprisingly I actually like brussel sprouts.
W - Ways you drink your coffee: I don't drink it at all, hot chocolate or iced chocolate are my social choice.
X-rays you've had: spine and foot today and plenty of others before today.
Y - Yummy food you make: Date and walnut loaf
Z - Zoo favorite : Monkey

Some more layouts

Well a new year and a new scrapbook subject and the bad summer TV have done a lot for my layout production, here are a couple I have done over the last few nights. I am trying to use a mix of old and new product to clean out my old stuff. The first is an Inspired Blueprints sketch using the She's Savvy December kit from Scrapbook Savvy. 2nd is another IB Sketch and the 3rd is using old stuff from a sketch that I can't remember where I found. My photography of the layouts does not really do them much justice.

Happy New Year

What a year 2009 has been, a rollercoaster of change all for the better. Here has what has happened in my world

* Found out I was pregnant.
* Endured the 9 months of bearing a child (there was some whinging involved).
* Gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Ella.
* I grew more in love with my husband every day.
* Had my first extended time off work (3 months) since I was 16.
* Enjoyed many friends company new and old.
* Got fatter (I think it comes with the territory of being pregnant)
* Spent too much money, oh well its only money.

But overall had a great year. I can only imagine what 2010 will bring.

Happy New Year everyone.

Here are a couple of layouts I did recently.

It's been a while

Well I just realised I have not updated my blog for over a month. Probably because something else is distracting me, a little person by the name of Ella.
As of today she is 7 weeks and 4 days old and done so much in her little life. She is a complete social butterfly, I guess it all started the day after we got home from hospital with our first outing to BDM and Medicare in Wollongong, lunch at a Cafe and then out to Nanna's house and ended up going to a restaurant for dinner.

Since then it hasn't stopped with more days out than at home, sometimes I just wish to stay home but for some reason she is happier out being pushed around and hey who am I kidding I do like to get out too.

My memory is failing me more than ever, I have to write everything down and put the most trivial things in my diary. I even went to a Cafe with the mothers walking group and didn't realise til I go home that I forgot to pay for my Scones and drink, oops. Jamie dropped in the following day to pay for me.

So in Ella's 1st 7 weeks she has; had her first Professional photos, been to a Wedding, been kicked out of a Club (for sitting in over 18's section), been to a paintball tournament, been immunised, had her first Santa photo, 4wding and a swim at the beach, not to mention many trips to cafe's, restaurants and mothers group.

Here is a picture of her with 14 of the 17 babies in the mothers group.

I have also managed to get a little bit of scrapbooking done, it is amazing what a new subject will do for your creativity, here are a couple of layouts.

1st is a Scrapbook Savvy sketch using mostly product from their Nov Kit.

2nd layout is my tribute page to Lisa Warren with the awesome Cosmo Cricket kit she gave me.

3rd layout is Inspired Blueprints sketch #37

4th layout I truly can't remember where I got my inspiration, but think it is an IB sketch (mothers brain at it again).

I hope to be doing a lot more now that I have such a wonderful subject to scrap.

Our little Angel has Arrived

By now most of you who read my Blog will know our little Angel, Ella Jean Griffin, arrived on 16th October 2009 at 2.43pm weighing in at 7lb 6oz and measuring 51cm.

Nowhere near the doctors prediction of a 10lb monster. It is safe to say nobody won the bet because everyone was in the 9lb range or above.

Things happen for a reason and the Doc scheduling in a C-Section was a blessing in disguise, read more about why later.

We arrived at the Hospital at 12noon, expecting the surgery to be happening around 3pm only to discover I was first for the Doc that day and was actually going in at 1.30pm. By the time I put my bag in the room they were hustling me to gown up and put on my fancy hat and lay back on the bed to be wheeled down the hallway. No time to freak out.

After the Anesthetist doing his, well some call it "magic", I call it "hell", of putting in the Epidural, then the screens went up and it was all systems go, baby arrival is immanent. Jamie was my rock, although he probably didn't think so at the time, I know he wanted to take away my pain and discomfort. After poking and prodding around what felt to me like my guts were spread all over the room, they produced baby. Holding it up over the curtain I asked what we had, "A Little girl" they announced. I burst into "Happy" tears, got a kiss from Jamie as they whisked our little girl away to check her out.

More poking and prodding, I am guessing to put my bits back in, very uncomfortable, a bit of nausea, some tweaking of the medication to stop the nausea, sucking on some ice. Then they brought back my little girl all wrapped up, she was perfect, cute as can be and not at all ugly and monkey-like as I feared.

Recovery was horrific and if someone had asked me at that moment if I would do it all again they would have got a definite NO. Slowly getting feeling back in my legs, pins and needles, unable to move, all very unpleasant. The nurses mentioned that I had lost a lot of blood during the procedure about 1.5 litres apparently, they kept my epidural in my back for the next few days in case I needed to go back into surgery, they also ordered in blood in case I needed it over the weekend. Thankfully my blood pressure was in the normal range so it was not needed.

They placed baby Ella on me for some quality bonding time and what a magical feeling that is, everyone says it is a special moment but it honestly can not be put into words. When your little bundle of joy is stroking her itty bitty fingers on you bare skin, it is crazy the love and emotions that you feel.

The next day the doctor came for his rounds and discussed how the surgery went, he said it was not what he expected, they had cut an artery when he made his incision which was why the major blood loss and they had to get that under control all the while trying to get the baby out, in they end they had to use forceps to get her out. Also my placenta was attached to the Uterus (something doctors refer to as Placenta Concreta), so had I have delivered naturally they would have had to open me up to remove the placenta so the C-section was a blessing.

At least I only had 1 healing process.


My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Nearly Time

It is getting so close now to having this baby, I am getting anxious and excited and scared to death. I was a little emotional after leaving the doctors today, because every other time I went it was 'come back next week', this time it was see you Friday at the Hospital, eeek.

I am scheduled for a Ceasarean on Friday 16th October. I have to call the Hospital admissions to check in tomorrow and go for a blood test and it is all systems go.

My concerns with a Ceasar was the ability to drive, lift, do housework (if I chose to) etc. He said I can do whatever I like, he puts no restrictions on his patients. He said if you do something and it starts to hurt, stop doing it and try again in a few days, he said you will feel the pain before it does any damage, obviously this is after a 7 day rest in hospital, not immediately after giving birth. I asked him nicely if he could mention in front of Jamie that housework, laundry and cooking were all off limits for a month or so, he cracked a smile but I don't think he took me seriously. I mean seriously would it kill him to say it, lol.

I have had a bit of a stressful day, mum and dad are trying to go on Holidays and wanted to leave Thursday or Friday, so dad has been ringing every day asking if there is any movement and telling me old wives tale remedies for bringing on the baby early or had I been to the doctors yet and could he give me an exact time of when he would do the procedure and mum asked if he could schedule me in for Thursday instead of Friday. I know they mean well but sorry this baby will come when it is good and ready or the doctor thinks it is well baked to get it out, so Friday it is.

Last week it was Jamie's parents on holidays telling me to cross my legs til they get back. So according to the grandparents I had a 4 day window to give birth, the Griffin's arriving back from Holidays on 12th Oct and my parents wanting to leave on 16th Oct. No pressure but hello this baby was always due on 18th Oct and they have all known about it for a few months now, better planning required from the Grandparents I think.

Well I am guessing this will be my last post before Baby Peanut makes a grand entrance into this world and the next post I promise will have photos and Peanut will HOPEFULLY have a 'real name'.

Oh last thing, anyone want to place bets on Boy or Girl and how much Peanut will weigh. Leave a comment with your guess I will scrounge up a prize for the person who guesses closest to the weight or email rachael.griffin@mortgagechoice.com.au

Oh The Horror

Just under 2 official weeks til my due date, although I am hoping the "Twat" doc will bring me on a little early as I am getting really uncomfortable, irritable and huffing and puffing around the house. Not to mention the swelling in my feet.

The worst is my snoring, OMG it is so bad I have a shocking nights sleep every second night. I must be that tired the other nights that even I can sleep through it. A few weeks ago I thought I would put earplugs in so I didn't wake myself up, but the sound that resinated through my head was like something out of a horror movie, it was like a Freddie Kruger victim screaming and launching me out of sleep. On top of the noise I sometimes feel like I am choking, no matter what position I get in the snoring never ends.

Now my dear friends who have children should have given me a little more of a friendly warning about an internal examination. I am sure someone mentioned it was unpleasant, I was thinking unpleasant like a Pap Smear, hell no I was so wrong, it was horrific, like a piece of timber being rammed up the clacker, I guess the only positive was that it was reasonably quick. Then I hear on the grapevine that most would prefer to give birth than have an internal examination, information that could have been helpful to know LAST WEEK!!!

After that pleasant visit to the doctors he recommended I go for a couple more tests, another Ultrasound and a CT scan on my pelvis. The Ultrasound was to determine how big Peanut is getting and also check on the position of the Placenta which has been a little low in recent scans, well the podgy little thing is now 9lb, 3.95kg, a bonus is that the lady doing the scan said that baby is not big all over, just has a big belly which is pushing the stats up into the 97% range, I say it takes after its Daddy. The placenta is also moving into a better position. The CT scan of my Pelvis was to see if I am going to be able to naturally birth a monster baby as Peanut potentially could be LARGE.

Enough of my gory baby details I will get the results of both test on Wed, and keep you all posted.