Home for Christmas.

Last night Michael brought Cameron and I home from the hospital. Cameron was born on Saturday night at 10:42pm by c- section. He weighed 7 lb 2oz. He is the spitting image of his brother at the same age. Kyan is excited about his brother, but also I suspect figuring out how to make sure he still gets all the attention. He loved visiting him inthe hospital.

We were due to be booked in for the ceasarean this coming Friday, 3 days before his actual due date of the 25th. I had a few pains during the night on Friday night but nothing I gave a second thought to. I had some more twinges on Saturday monring, but still managed to get out to buy a Christmas tree, have lunch and show Mum around China town before giving up and heading home. On the way home, it was becoming more apparent that maybe something wasn't quite right. We couldn't get a cab so persevered the bus ride home and called the Doctor, who said to come in to the hospital, and he would deliver us whether it was labour or not since we were so close anyway.

The contractions were pretty awful, but they had to let them happen so they could get a trace reading. They did give me some medication to stop them after a while, although it didn't last long. We finally headed into theatre and had our little boy. We then spent forever in recovery. Even after we were cleared from recovery, it took another 2 or so hours to get moved to the ward, so Cameron was a good 6 hours old before we got to have him again, which I was really not impressed with.

Our Dr was awesome, but the rest of the hospital left a lot to be desired. It was certainly no Sunnybank private, hence me coming home so early. I had the first couple of nights to myself which was really nice and had an amazing view of New York Harbour from my bed, but then on Day 2 I was unlucky enough to get a roommate who put her TV on the moment she arrived and still had it going loudly when we left. That comnibed with her snoring and constant complaining, made it a not very restlful place to recover, so I got myself discharged early. Our first night home, was very broken with Cameron needing to be fed so often, but I still got a far better rest than I was getting at the hospital. Not to mention that when I need help here, I actually get it rather than staff who I'm sure are competent at their job, but many of which do not normally work at that hospital so don't know the procedures, or just didn't really care all that much.

So, we are tired, but home in plenty of time for Christmas. Feeding is going well, although painful as expected. Today we have to decorate the tree and take some family photos. I've just heard the sound of a nappy being filled from the other side of the room, so I guess my break time is over.

For all those who have sent lovely emails, we'll return them as soon as we can manage a bit of time.

Here are a few photos. We've already circulated them via email, but they'll do till we get 5 seconds to get some more uploaded.

National Anthem

I saw this years ago and loved it, and Michael found it again on You Tube today. I would totally be in support of a change to this. It's very catchy.

Birthday Thanks

I am 32 now. One of the good things about the time difference between here and Australia is that birthdays seem to go for 2 days. I got lots of emails and messages over the two days which has been really nice. I had a quiet day today, although I did have to go out this afternoon to do a boring job and got stuck int he snow yet again. Michael and Kyan took me out for dinner which was really nice. I got a gold bracelet from Michael and Kyan which matches the necklace that they gave me last year. I'll try to take a photo over the weekend.

No baby news, which is good. I wouldn't want him to have to share his birthday with me. He should have one all of his own. I'm starting to feel it though. I was only out for a couple of hours this afternoon, and by the time I got home again I was destroyed. It doesn't help having to wear even more wieght in jackets and gloves etc, and having a toddler in tow. I'm sure I can manage another week and a half.

School Lotteries.

I've had a few people mention lately that they have been keeping up with my blog, so I am going to try to get better at updating. Please leave me acomment if you come though, otherwise I assume no-one is reading it, and it is harder to make myself keep it up to date.

No baby yet. Not much sleep either thanks to him wriggling around all over the place. I see the Dr again on Monday and so I will push for him to book in a date for us. Mum come next Thursday, so once she is here to look after Kyan we don't mind too much when it is. If he comes early, Michael may well have to miss the whole thing as he will have to look after Kyan.

I took Kyan to a school open house today. It seems like a strange time of year to be doing it, but everything is backwards here. The schools have pre-K here for 4 year olds. It would be perfect for Kyan as he desperately wants and needs to go to school. I guess it is like pre0school at home. It's not compulsory, so there are not enough places for everyone. The school is only a 5 minute walk away, which is great, but I understand that about 100 sets of parents will register for only 18 spots. It is then drawn as a public lottery, so if he isn't lucky on the day, he has to wait a whole other year.

We had snow again yesterday which was nice, except were out in it. So I had Kyan in one had, bags of shopping onthe other hand, and had to wait on the snow for the bus. Not ideal. It's much more fun to watch it from inside the house.

Here is an advent calendar that I made for Kyan with the Dec kit from 2 croppin cousins, plus a couple of other projects.

New challenge and family update

I have just posted the new challenge up at I am a scrapaholic This month the theme is all about holidays. I would really love to see some people go over and enter some layouts.

Here's this week's sketch and my sample.




At 2 Croppin Cousinz the 12 tags of Christmas competition has started up. You can use my tag sketches there to win great prizes. Check it out.


Onto family stuff. It snowed for the first time yesterday. It was quite a dumping too. Michael and Kyan went to the park and took some really great photos. Michael is still editing them at the moment, but will probably share some on his blog when he is done. Kyan was beside himself with excitment, and came back very cold, but he didn't seem to care at all.

Had another check up at the Dr today. The baby is fine. Just sitting around doing not much apart from kicking me. Still don't have a date set for the hospital yet, but it should be soon, certainly within the next two weeks. As long as he can wait until Mum comes next week to look after Kyan, I don't mind when he comes.

News from I am A Scrapaholic.

The Out From Behind the Camera series is still going. Would love to see more people join in though. It's a rea;;y great chance to get your BOM up to date without having to commit to anything. Here are some of my layouts from this month.






They are all from my sketches too, so come over to www.iamascrapaholic.com and have a look.

Also, I saw this morning, that Lynn has announced some more news: http://www.iamascrapaholic.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=2122 Come and see what is going on.

2CC November DT kit.

Some DT work to share. All made with the November kit from www.2croppincousinz.com
The "When I see you smile" layout is for the current Dt challenge set by kel. Pop over to the website to check out this month's challenges. There are prizes.

Check out my Slide Show!

This is a collection of layouts I have done for a custom album for a friend of mine. Obviously since it is an entire album, the individual pages are not as elaborate as my DT pages. I am happy with the overall effect of the album though. I used Cloud 9 papers and embellishments which was a perfect range for a little boy album. Now onto the girl one for his sister. Thanks for letting me share ELizabeth.

A reminder

I've mentioned this before, but here is another reminder:

I AM A Scrapaholic's new Out From Behind the Camera Challenge Series is designed to help you scrap more about yourself. You may create an album all about you just for you; you may just want to add your layouts to your current albums, or a combination thereof. It’s entirely up to you. The most important thing is to get you into your albums, to celebrate you, and to leave an important legacy for your family. Remember the people you scrap about will also enjoy seeing layouts about you too!

Week by week we will help you with themes, sketches, samples and ideas to help you along the way. You will earn RAKs and discounts along the way. But, most importantly you will have layouts about you.

Each month will focus on a theme.

Each Monday a new challenge will be posted. The challenge will include a topic [subject] and a sketch exclusive to I AM A Scrapaholic for you to use (if you choose), and samples by the Design Team.

You can pick and choose the challenges you wish to complete. Each challenge you complete and upload to the gallery will earn you points. These points will accumulate and will earn you RAKs and discounts. See the Point System thread for details.

You are not obliged to participate every week, and there is no competitive element here, we want to see everyone joining in as much as possible no matter what your scrapping level or schedule.

Each week one of the DT members will choose a layout they love from the previous week to highlight. this person will receive an additional bonus point. A layout maybe chosen based on the overall design, the journaling, the photo, or for whatever reason the DT member chooses. We all have different tastes so it could be anyone and for any reason.

Monthy blogging.

I have gotten so bad with my blog that it seems to have become a monthly thing. Oh well, better than never.

Lots of things to catch up on.

Baby
I'm 28 weeks now. Everythign is going fine. I do need to start setting up for him though.

Moving
We have moved to a new apartment. Still in the same neighbourhood, but with much mroe space now. It's really nice. We like it here.

Visitors
Michael's parents have just gone back home after being here almost a month. Kyan was obsessed with Grandma and no-one else existed, including me. We have just about gotten him back into routine now. Michael and I took the opportunity to go to Peurto Rico for a few days which was really nice. Michael's favourite part was going to the Bacardi distillery.

2Croppin Cousins
We are in week one of our monthly comp. It's going really well and the prizes are awesome. It's too late to join in, but we are having little mini comps each Friday night for the month, that anyone can join in and there are prizes for that too.

Here are my projects for the month.








I Am A Scrapaholic
The "Out From Behind the Camera" Series is continuing. This month is all about childhood, so if your Book of Me is neaxt to empty, come and check out the challenges.

Here's a layout from last week:


Scrappy Giraffe Kits
A new competition is starting over at Scrappy Giraffe with great prizes. Jess has done a great job putting it all together, and it does feature my sketches. Sign up is open right now, so please come and play along.

DT work, new challenge, some news and a birthday.

The most important thing is that it is Kyan's birthday. He is 3 today!!!! He's a little sick, so we are taking it easy today, then we will head to the park this afternoon for a picnic and some presents, then back home for some cake. I have made him a rocket cake from Little Eisnsteins. I love to make hm cakes, but I am not very good. I hope he will like it though. My hands are stained pink at the moment, from the frosting.

Second news. I have accepted a teaching position at My Creative Classroom. www.mycreativeclassroom.com This is a new site soley for online classes. The classes offered range lots of differnt crafts.I will have my own classroom and will be mainly focusing on beyond the page projects. I hope to start running classes in the next couple of months. I'm really looking forward to it. I hope that you will all come and try it out. International students are catered for of course.

Over at I am a Scrapaholic, I have instigated a new program with Lynn. It's called "Out from Behind the Camera". It is a book of me style program, with a few differences. It's not a competition, but you can earn yourself some nice Raks and discounts. Each week you are given a sketch for inspiration, and each month will focus on a different "chapter" or topic. Come and have a look...www.iamascrapaholic.com

Here's my layout from week 1:

September DT projects for 2Croppincousinz.

I have been very slack at updating my blog. I will try to get better, but time keeps getting away from me.

I will be here on Friday however to share a bit of news.