Day 030 - January 30th

I thought I had uploaded the photo and submitted the post for this date before my laptop got destroyed, but this must've been the post that I had open as my machine got thrown around the apartment. When I get my data back, I will backpost the image.

Day 029 - January 29th

These netbooks are so cute and tiny!!! It looks so small next to my laptop!! After being on it getting it started and updated it felt really awkward getting back onto mine. Just look at the difference in size! I'd like to see how the Mac version of these are. The MacBook Air. My computer is 5 years old already and it's like a DINOSAUR. Just like my iPod.

Day 028 - January 28th

I ran out to Kroger today to get Kevin some CHUNKY soup and get Genesis some more diapers. Among the aisles that I browsed around was the magazine and book section, and I stumbled upon this book. A few years back when I still worked at Lawriter, the news did a special on this family and their foundation, "The Cure Starts Now." I had gotten some of my coworkers involved in buying some of their merchandise in order to help them raise money for the research and one of our bosses even made a personal monetary donation. I ordered a t-shirt and a high-quality print of the heart design you see on the cover of the book. It was a drawing by Elena, herself. Elena was a vibrant little girl who was diagnosed with pediatric brain cancer, and well... you can get the rest of her story here:

http://www.thecurestartsnow.org/

This family is local to our area, and the story just broke my heart when I read about it. The foundation has since grown to a nationwide effort, and I'm so glad to see that they've published this book. If I had the money, I would've bought this in a heartbeat. Maybe I will check the Fairfield public library to see if they have it on their shelves.

Side Note:: I'm glad I came across this book, because otherwise I would've been blogging about French Fries. [LAME!]

Day 027 - January 27th

My lil' man has been doing a LOT of teething lately! He spends most of his days with me [on the couch] playing with these little toys that he really couldn't care less about. One of the easiest ones to distract him with is this little blue elephant. Who vibrates. Who looks more like a smooshed-face rat [on stilts] with beach balls for feet. He even fell asleep holding this little friend by the leg on Tuesday. It was really cute. I'm enjoying how the camera focused on the toy and blurred out Genesis in the background. And I found an Application/Program that will one day turn this blog into a professional quality hardback book for less than $100! So excited for that! yay!

Day 026 - January 26th

I had to run out to Kroger last night when I realized the baby only had a few scoops of his formula left. As always, I spent way too much time and money in the store, but I did manage to come out with *these* candles for my Mom. She turns 50 this year on April 6th! That's right after we get back from our trip to Hilton Head. I'm hoping I can get a little party planned up [maybe a surprise party?!] or something. I've already been thinking about how to design her card. Maybe another bookmark-card? Stay Tuned!!!

Day 025 - January 25th

The dishwasher leaked today! I put some baby bottles in there with dishsoap squirted down into them (thinking it would help take off some of the formula that was caked up on the sides) and BOY did THAT make a mess! I had to call maintenance and have them use a shop-vac to suck all the soaps/suds out. Always a fun day when the maintenance crew has to come to the rescue. I won't be making that mistake again!

Day 024 - January 24th

The Rose Bowl Painting that I did for Kevin's Parents turned out pretty awesome. What makes it even awesomer is that Ohio State WON! Yes, I know this was over days/weeks ago, but the painting just recently found it's new home on this part of the wall in their house. It's just outside the basement door. :) Looks great hanging there!

Day 023 - January 23rd

Saturday, after Kevin got off of work, He had plans for us to go out and do dinner, a movie, and go bowling. I messed up the whole plans of the evening by not having Genesis to Kevin's parents house by the time He got off work, and we almost didn't go anywhere. To me, it was too late to take the baby to anyone to babysit him. But Kevin insisted on going bowling, so off we went. Dropped off Genesis and took Kevin's car to the bowling alley. Well, by midnight the bowling alley was a ghost town [and we were just pulling up] so Kevin just started driving. We wound up in West Chester, and stopped at the Buffalo Wild Wings. This chicken was on the wall and it looks HILARIOUS. I love it! I wish I would've had my camera out when the guy slipped and fell on the wet floor. The employees hadn't put up the "wet floor" sign yet, either.

*tisk*tisk*tisk*

Day 022 - January 22nd

Today was one of those days that I was just out and about doing random things. Wound up at WalMart and got a bunch of stuff I probably should have waited to get but got them anyway. Shown here is the stuff I got for a few scrapbooking projects. I also splurged and got us a deep fryer. I haven't had one of those since my first apartment in Fairfield in 2006 and I barely used it. I am gonna be using the CRAP outta this one! I already bought the bag of potatoes to make the fresh-cut fries!!! I'm starting a clear stamp collection slowly but surely! I got an alphabet set today and a set of lines for journaling in a scrapbook. Will need to use a bigger clear block mount for those, though.

Day 021 - January 21st

Today I got to go out and do some shopping, and one of the places I went was Walt's BBQ on Colerain Avenue. I hadn't ever been to that place [even though I drove past it every day on my way to work for I don't even know how many months] and this was the first sign inside the door when you go in for a Carry-Out order. I had to read it over about 5 times before I realized that it would really be absurd to do what they're saying on there. Haha! Is there even really 6 (six) forms of acceptable I.D. out there? whew.

Day 020 - January 20th

There really wasn't much to post about for Wednesday this week. But one good thing that happened was this amazing grilled cheese sandwich! This has gotta be my all-time favorite meal! [well, you can't forget the tomato soup too, even though I didn't make it this time]

Side Note:: I burnt the under-side of this sandwich by taking the picture! And I hate the taste of anything burnt, fyi. But I ate it anyway!!!

Day 019 - January 19th

I'm a few days late posting this, but I started to paint the CHALKBOARD for Sharma on Tuesday. This paint is really cool, it just looks like regular old black paint, but you can write on it with chalk! Sweet!!! When this last coat that I did this morning dries, I'm going to peel the tape and start painting the borders. It's going to be a border of all different sized circles painted lime green, orange, and yellow. The kitchen walls are gray and lime green. It's gonna be interesting, to say the least! I have a feeling the circles are gonna drive me nuts! They're not the easiest shape to paint neatly. :) Stay tuned, will post the finished project eventually!

Day 018 - January 18th

This chair is so cool! I love the fabric that it's covered in! Genesis sits up in it like a big boy! Look at that crazy hair! He is growing up so fast! And I love the little Lions on his feet! :)

Day 017 - January 17th

I got to go to IKEA for the first time EVER today! Lisa took Me and Genesis with her to go look at desks and whatnot. I kept meaning to find a good pic to take inside at one of the displays, but it kinda slipped past me and we were at the checkouts by the time I got my camera out. That place is CRAZY if I do say so myself! If only I were rich enough to furnish my home through IKEA... haha! There was lots of great stuff in there. Very inspiring!

Side Note:: I made the flower ball today and it didn't turn out as great as I would've liked, and I wanted to post that picture, but I think our trip to IKEA was more significant and blog-worthy. :)

Day 016 - January 16th

I got the inspiration for this ornament from a craft magazine a few weeks ago. It's a styro-foam ball covered with little 0.75" paper circles and push-pins. I used a great scrapbooking paper found at Micheal's craft store. I wish I had a circle punch of any size for this project. Cutting all those little circles with my trusty old scissors was kinda rough. I started with circles that were probably twice this size but when I realized how small the balls were I had to start over. I was planning on putting buttons on each circle, too, but in hindsight I'm glad that I didn't. It is a very charming ornament and I cannot wait to make more with different papers. Everything is removable, also, including the ribbon. Next I'm going to do one that is all covered in these little embellishment flowers with the buttons. :) Stay tuned!

Day 015 - January 15th

I made my first vinyl id badge holder photo brag book! I filled it with double sided scrapbooking paper and pictures of Genesis. I gave it to Desiree when she and Brett came to visit Friday (today). I went ahead and made the little ribbon holes bigger with my hole puncher because they were really small when we first got them from Office Max. I wanted to tie more ribbon on it, but they were ready to go home so I just went ahead and finished it like this. I had those letter stickers for a few years and have been waiting to use them. They are a *supercute* font and are puffy. Love them! I have 6 more id badge holders to make another one! Maybe I will make a 'baby girl' one? I'm not sure!

Day 014 - January 14th

Kind of a boring picture, but I went Krogering tonight and got some pretty useful stuff. On the top left, a Brita water pitcher for making Genesis' bottles with! I'm really glad for that, and I got it for less than half price [approx. $9.00 instead of $23 or something]. I got a new pair of scissors [woo-hoo!!! $2.44-ish?] and three sheets of "puffy" stickers. Christmas themed. FIFTY CENTS A PIECE!!!! I am awesome!!! And they are all sitting on a storage container/sweater box. I needed something good and sturdy to store my felt sheets in, and this was just the perfect thing! and it was only THREE bucks! I have enough felt stacked up already that it fills half the box. And I think I can fit my pipecleaners and poms in there too. :) I have a LOT of crap. It's going to take me FOREVER to get organized!!!

Side Note:: Do we all love the new custom header that I made for the blog? ;)

Day 013 - January 13th

All day yesterday, I paced back in forth in the apartment going crazy over how cluttered it is/was. I kept trying to find an area to start with and just get it all organized. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Too much needed done. So today, when Kevin left for work... I set out a goal to at least START a project today, and hopefully finish one. If not, then rearrange the apartment. Well, I moved the art table out of the baby's room into the livingroom. Moved the TV and TVStand. Slid the couch over and the coffee table. Decided on which boxes of stuff to bring out [onto the ONE shelf I have allotted myself]. Got all the stuff I had set in Genesis' crib out and tried to organize it. Basically it means I started a Danielle Pile to give to my girl in Kentucky who is going to have a baby boy in the spring. :)

Genesis took very well to the mobile that came with the bed set, by the way. THANK YOU SHARM!

I got those storage boxes from Michael's. I need to go back and grab about 10 more when they're on sale for $2.50 again. I've got Genesis' baby book set out for me to start working on filling out. I got my pasta machine and my fimo clay box out. Gonna do some brainstorming on that. Oh yeah, the walls are really bare out here and I've had just about enough of it! Gotta hang up those family portraits ASAP!!!

Side Note:: I promised Kevin that I would keep my area organized cuz I was almost certain he wouldn't be very happy about it being in the livingroom. So that's why I gave myself the ONE SHELF to put supplies/boxes on.

Day 012 - January 12th

Today was the first day that I tried Genesis on the Gerber 1st Foods Purees. I sat him up in the high chair that my Aunt Patty gave us for Christmas and tried him on it right out of the spoon. He took several bites, but wasn't seeming very happy. I then mixed a little bit of it up and put it in with the Gerber Rice Cereal since that's the texture that he's been getting used to. He took it much better mixed with the cereal. It was Banana flavor, for the record. [and see that crazy cramer hair? omg i love it!]

Day 011 - January 11th

Has everyone heard of this "throwback" Mountain Dew that's made with "real sugar?" I don't know what they are saying is in the "regular" Mountain Dew, but if it's artificial I am ok with that, cuz this stuff just ISN'T the same! It's almost like it tastes flat as soon as you open it. Not as 'crispy' as the normal stuff. Some people may like the "throwback" taste, but I, myself, am a fan of the plain old, average, everyday Mountain Dew. This isn't so bad that I'd rather drink Pepsi over the throwback, though. Oh, and another flaw to it is the design of the can... I don't know if it was just the can that I had, or if they're all like this, but if you're looking at the can like you're getting ready to put it up to your mouth, you see the Nutrition Facts instead of the main label design. Not such a great idea in my opinion. Of course, maybe if I compared nutrition facts, I would see a reason that they'd want you to see the facts on the throwback. Maybe it's better for you? I don't know, and I don't think I wanna know.

Side Note: isn't that a cool green splat calculator [from staples] in the background? good find, Sharm! :)

Day 010 - January 10th

Daddy was giving Genesis a little backrub, and I kept trying to get a good picture, but no matter what I do, he always reacts to the flash on the camera with a weird shift of the eyebrows! Haha! You can't really tell by this picture, but Genesis has this whole "Cramer" look [from Seinfeld] going on with his hair! It has just been all over the place the last few weeks. The hair he was born with has kept on growing (what hasn't fallen out in the back, that is) and all his new hairs are growing in under it so it's just pushing the original hair up and it gets all kinky and wavy. It's SOOOO cute! Oh, and he got these new pacifiers for Christmas that have a bigger 'nub' on it for him, and he takes those MUCH better. :)

Day 009 - January 9th

I went to go spend my Micheal's gift card today [finally!] and this was my favorite purchase of the day. It's also what I used my 40% off coupon on :) It's going to prove to be a big help once i get started into my card-making and scrapbooking days! I also bought a bunch of scrapbook paper sheets, some storage boxes, a bunch of ribbon, some of those fake flower-ish kinda things (for like, $0.66 for THIRTY flowers! i love clearance sales!!!) some more blank wooden picture frames, a thing of mini red boa stuff... umm... a big set of push-pins and a pack of 50 blank white cards... OOOH and some TIE-DYE felt! i can't wait to make something out of that! it'll be grooooooovy! Stay tuned for some future projects using lots of good stuff that i got today! Nothing better than shopping off the depression of a crappy relationship.

Day 008 - January 8th

Genesis had his four month check up today, even though he is almost 5 months already. He is 25.5 inches long, weighs 16 pounds 10.5 ounces, and got two shots in his leg and one oral vaccine. He did good with the shots. Cried as they gave them to him, but was fine once he got over the initial shock of it I guess. He didn't have any real reactions to them [physically] but he has pretty much slept most of the day (as you can see in the picture). This is how he spits out his pacifier as he's sleeping but it doesn't go far, pushing back into his lips. And he'll sleep like that for hours if you don't move it! haha!!!
Anyway, we go back to the doctor March 12th, which is only a few weeks before we leave for Hilton Head! Imagine how awesome my photo posts will be from vacation!!!! yay!!!

Day 007 - January 7th

This is my newest Plushie, "Cyclops Bunny!" I started him a few weeks back, but finally finished sewing him up Thursday. I have been stuffing my smaller plushies with cotton balls, but this one I wanted to wait and use my real stuffing. It didn't turn out as well as I would've liked it to [mainly his arms and feet feel empty] but oh well! the first version is always a little rough! He is shown in my hand next to an average sized Sharpie Marker to give you the idea of his size/proportions. I found the template for this project through the always-entertaining google search for "Felt Plushies Templates." Grab yourself some felt and give a project like this a try! the more "handmade" it looks, the more charm it has!

Day 006 - January 6th

I am going to try to upload a picture of myself at least once a month :) maybe we can see some changes over the course of a year?! I need to work off the baby weight, but shirts like this are GREAT at disguising the poochy belly leftover from the c-section! (shirt courtesy of Sharma, one of the many pieces of clothing she got me for Christmas!!!) I've never owned anything Hurley, so this is *awesome* to add to my not-so-wardrobey Wardrobe. It is SOOOO comfy!!! I love it!

Day 005 - January 5th

I took my walmart gift cards and went shopping for some groceries and a few other random things. Shown here is a new iron, some freezer paper, and thermal curtain panels. The curtains should be obvious what they will be used for... to put up over our patio door because it is absolutely FREEZING in this apartment thanks to that sliding glass door. Kevin had the bright idea [not being sarcastic, i promise!] to put these same curtains up over the basement door at his parents house and it made a HUGE difference in temperature! So i figured $11 a panel, two panels to cover the door, $5-$6 for the curtain rod, $27-$30 [approx.] is worth it to not have to run the heat so much in here! What's with the iron and freezer paper, you ask? Well... it's going to be an experimental stenciling technique that I'm going to try one of these days. It's supposed to be a bit more precise than other techniques that I've used in the past, but we'll have to see about that! I bought a pack of 12 month sized onesies to paint and/or tie-dye for Genesis, so stay tuned for some of that, too!

Day 004 - January 4th

After staying at Kevin's parents house for almost a month, we've finally returned home to the apartment. This is the mess that we acquired over the weeks, including Christmas and New Years. Notice the stroller box next to the desk. I'm definitely excited for warm walks with the baby in the spring! Side note: the mess isn't so messy anymore! I have been organizing for hours trying to find places to put all this stuff!

Day 003 - January 3rd

This was the first day that I didn't post on the exact day. Didn't take long, huh? Sleep in, quick run to Office Max, and then forgetting my camera when I went to Kevin's sister's were just 3 factors that lead to my slacking off already. Not to mention the Bengals getting their BUTTS WHOOPED! Nothing much to photograph. So when we got up to go upstairs and was feeding Genesis, I snapped this shot. I might be a little bias, but does he not have the most PERFECT "silhouette" ever? Cutest little button nose I've seen in a long time :)

[Genesis age: 15 weeks old]

Day 002 - January 2nd

Another fine day in the kitchen over on Stonequarry Court today; Sugar cookies and these AH-MAZZZZING thumbprint cookies happened right before my eyes!

Note: I've been playing with the settings on my camera [Sony Cybershot DSC-W30] and this photo was taken using the "burst" setting. Not just the regular old "auto" settings it comes with. I'm going to learn alot about my camera doing this project! I was torn between this photo and one that was taken using the auto settings. to see that photo, check out my facebook.

:)

Day 001 - January 1st

this is the start of my very own Project365, where I will [do my best to] take a picture every single day in 2010 and post it to this blog. I am doing this for several reasons, but most of all I am doing this to celebrate another decade ending and the next one beginning, to celebrate my son's first year of life, and to give myself something to look forward to on a daily basis. This should prove to be a way to outlet creative energies and to better my photography skills. Taking pictures is something I already do on a daily basis, so why not make something out of it? I hope you follow along all year, and if you see me slipping on posting, PUSH ME TO CONTINUE DOING IT!!!