Jessica, this one's for you

I love that I get to share my passion for scrapbooking with my cousin Jessica from Puerto Rico. We enjoy admiring each other's creations over e-mail and talking layouts, sketches, embellishments, paper, you name it. Although we've both been pretty "inactive" lately in the scrapbook arena ~ her due to a temperamental 4 month old baby girl, and me due to a temperamental pregnancy and a very active 2 1/2 year old ~ we still talk about it whenever we get a chance.

At the beginning of January/08 I made it a point of trying to get "caught up" with some of the pictures sitting on my desk for quite a while, and I am proud to say I got a few layouts done. Here's a small sampling:

Also, check out Eclectica's website tomorrow, where you'll be able to see another layout in their Same Product-Three Looks section.

Alrighty then, I guess I'll be going now since Isabella is adamant I get inside her tent with her and she's determined not to take no for an answer. I'm thinking I better take our phone in there with me just in case I need to call 911. Wish me luck,...

Jess, I'll talk to you soon. Love you guys!

First timer

As many of you may already know Scott and I love going to the movies. Before Isabella was born we went every single weekend, sometimes more than once, depending on what was playing. After Isabella, well we've been forced to dust off our Blockbuster membership cards and wait 6-8 months to catch that "new release" that looked so good and pump up our movie channels. Don't get me wrong, we still get to go sporadically, but with the babysitting costs we only go when it's a movie that we both really want to see. Other times we take advantage of the time alone to go to dinner, a show or just sit at a cafe and have conversations containing full, uninterrupted sentences ~ but that's besides the point, so let me get back on track here,...

OK, so until last night I had never been to the movies by myself, ever. Just the thought of it made me feel very uncomfortable ~ as if the people sitting around me would look at me like I'm some kind of anti-social, friendless weirdo or something, as if they really cared. I know it's all psychological, but you would not believe how many movies I've missed on the big screen because of this little hang up of mine. Scott on the other hand has absolutely no problem going by himself, so he doesn't quite understand why it's such a big deal for me.

Anyway, for the last few weeks I've been telling Scott and various girlfriends that I really, really, really want to see Juno. But I was never really met with much enthusiasm. So finally last night I bit the bullet and gave in, Scott kept Isabella and I got to go see this wonderful movie. I'm not exactly sure what role my pregnancy hormones played in this, but I pretty much laughed or cried throughout the entire movie. It most certainly exceeded my expectations~ the dialogue, the story line, the characters, all of it. I totally get what all the buzz is about and I highly recommend it.

So there you have it. I went to the movies all by myself and it turned out OK (and just between you and me I actually enjoyed the "solitude" quite a bit). I guess there really is a first time for everything. Who knows, maybe a couple hours at Starbucks with a good book is next,... or maybe I shouldn't push it quite yet. Have a great week!

Where does the time go?

Holy Cow! I know it's been a while since my last post, but logging in today it really shocked me to see my baby countdown saying there's only 62 days to go. Truth be told, it's really more like 55 days since it'll be a scheduled procedure this time around (although we don't quite know the exact date yet). So I guess I really have to get going on some of the things I'd like to accomplish before baby Sam's arrival. Things like finishing up Isabella's new "big girl" room and getting her settled in, updating the nursery with more "boyish" accents, and completing some additional random things around the house before the arrival of my parents. Oh, how exciting!

Speaking of baby Sam, Isabella says she is so excited about being a big sister and having a baby brother. She constantly talks about how she's going to help me feed him and bathe him and how she's going to share her toys with him. So the other day we were talking and I explained that when baby Sam comes out of my belly then that'll be the time when I really need her "big girl" help. Suddenly she looked at me with this panicked expression and said: "No, baby Sam doesn't come out. Baby Sam stays in there." And here lately she's insistent on baby Sam living across the street with our friends Christie and Madison. I guess it's really easy to be a great big sister to an invisible/absentee brother. We're just hoping she might change her mind when he's finally here.

Let's see, being that I never really blogged about our Christmas and that January is almost over, I'll make it short and sweet. Christmas at the Butler house was pretty quiet. Isabella had a lot of fun opening her presents, but she wasn't feeling quite like herself and a belly ache prevented her (and us) from really enjoying most of the day. One of her favorite presents was a new kitchen her Nana and Papa sent her and she still plays with it daily. Oh, the delicacies we've all enjoyed since its arrival.
Although we really enjoyed ourselves during Isabella's Christmas break, I have to say I'm quite happy school is back in session and we have some sense of "normalcy", whatever that may be, around the house. And trust me, mama surely cherishes her free time.

Otherwise, it seems like we've been so busy lately but I can't honestly tell you what it is we've been doing. Oh well, hopefully the next few posts will contain pictures of Isabella and Sam's finished rooms. Until then,...