The accomplished graduate

Even today — 7 months after my baby girl was born — I still cannot believe she is MINE. We made her!! Her little hands and feet and nose and perfect little lips... her big eyes and wide, happy smile. Yep, all that happened in my belly. That's amazing! She is my little miracle. God is good :)

Last week, my little Gracie Girl (who thinks she's all big and independent sometimes - ha!) graduated from her Level 1 Gymboree Play & Learn class. My baby girl, the graduate. Whoa! She met all the requirements and sits up all on her own (heck, she would even eat all on her own if we let her, but her strict mean mommy doesn't approve).

Her personality is starting to REALLY emerge and she is stubborn alright. She's a strong baby and maybe a little spoiled, too (but not TOO much). Uh oh!! Here comes trouble :)

Actually, she is a good baby. We are lucky. She has slept through the night for months now. She rarely complains. She just wants a lot of attention... and she melts our hearts.

Hope you enjoy her graduation day photos. Here she is in class before putting on her cap and gown :)






Oh, one more thing... she does this really funny thing now that her daddy and her Godfather taught her one night when mommy was not home... yep, the perfect time to be mischievous!! When you whistle or make a whistling-type sound, she leans forward in your arms or on the floor, etc. So after her graduation, her daddy decided that she needed to show off her new skills and he whistled so Gracie was bowing to her audience. Too cute!!!



God, I love her!!!!! xoxo

December Daily 2011

I am getting closer to finishing up my December Daily album. My goal is to finish it completely by the end of January :) I think I can do it! This is my fourth December Daily album (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011). I skipped 2008 because, although I started an album cover, I just wasn't inspired to continue. It was just after my Mami passed away (seems like just yesterday).

So here's a peek at my album cover and first pages... I have lots more done, but I haven't photographed anything. I am just six days away from being done, but then I need to add a few more embellies and finish the numbers on my divider pages. Truth is that it's a LOT of fun and I enjoy the process so much. I love documenting our holidays, especially since it's my favorite time of the year! It just gets a bit tedious after January rolls around and you want to get it done :)

So without further ado, here's a sneak peek...



My front cover may change a little because I am thinking that I will need a large ribbon to tie around the album to keep it closed. It's getting really fat. LOL!





I'll share more of the album later this month... You likey?

Project Life 2012

HELLO LIFE 2012. That's right! I've decided to jump on the bandwagon and participate in Project Life. These days, my scrapbooking time is somewhat limited, but it's still important to me to document our days and capture life's journey. I'm so excited to be doing this and I hope to be able to continue to add to my album throughout the year.

I am not going to stress out about it because I want to enjoy the process. I plan to break it up by month and I know some months will have more photos or more journaling than others and that's okay. I'll just see how it goes...

For those of you not familiar with Project Life, it's a concept that Becky Higgins introduced where you have a core kit (I chose the Clementine version, which I LOVE) that includes cards for titles and journaling. You insert photos alongside these cards, as well as anything else you are inspired by (receipts, art, greeting cards, event programs, invitations, etc.) And that's it! No adhesive needed and very little (or no) embellishments.

Here's my title page for 2012. Here I did embellish quite a bit and I typed up my journaling, but I plan to keep the rest of the album simple using my own handwriting.




I'm using the Project Life page protectors and envelope pages inside an American Crafts album (from my own stash). I also added Ali Edwards' Hello Life Boxes from Designer Digitals to the front of my album (I may also incorporate these inside at some point).

Are you doing Project Life this year? Please share! Let's keep each other motivated... It's going to be a great year! :)

Merry wishes and joyful dreams!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year's celebration! For me, it's been all about enjoying family time with my Gracie girl. We've been enjoying her first holiday season and cherishing every moment... I just ADORE her so much and I love being a mom. It's a LOT of work and our lives have changed completely, but it's all for the better. I cannot wait to see what new adventures the new year brings!!! :) Here are some of the photos we shot during Christmas...

We attended the local Gymboree Christmas party and took photos with Santa. How fun!



Christmas Eve was at my in-laws' house...




This year, we had our traditional Christmas morning breakfast at our house so that we wouldn't have to wake up Grace early and get her out the door. It worked out great and we had fun... It's just sad that several of my family members were sick and couldn't make it. Darn cold and flu!! :(





At night, our BFF's came over to visit their Goddaughter. She got lots of beautiful presents. What a lucky girl!!!



I feel very blessed and grateful for our family and friends. It was a beautiful holiday season!!!! Hope yours was wonderful as well!!

I'll be back soon because I am actually on Day 16 of my December Daily album (YES!!!! I am CRAZY for doing this, but I love it) and I am also getting ready for Project Life 2012. So exciting!!! Photos coming soon :) I have a new laptop, which makes posting to my blog so much easier.