I could tell you how miserable Mason is.

I could tell you how miserable Mason is, however as a teething baby one expects him to be miserable. It is just an unfortunate side effect of the whole teething debacle.

Teething has basically shut Mason down.
He isn't sleeping for more than an hour at a time, he's refusing all solids. He's chewing so hard and often on his hands that those are hurting him too. He doesn't want to be put down, and his nose is so gross that now his eyes are steadily leaking gunk too.

He has three swollen areas of his gums; where the top two front teeth will be coming in and a bottom left tooth. He was like this right before corners of his teeth popped through on the bottom, so I hope it doesn’t last too much longer. All of my kids have always cut multiple teeth at once, but I’ve never had one get this miserable and icky during teething.

Yet the little dude still managed to smile every time I pointed the camera at him… I’ve trained him well.

Now lets talk about how the Mom is doing.

I am not doing well. Not one little bitty bit. I’m getting even less sleep than Mason because unlike him I can’t take any of those short naps during the day because I have Bella home. I can’t nap when she does because either Mason is awake or it’s too close to the time to pick the boys up. The few times it does seem like Mason and I will get a good amount of sleep at night Bella comes in to wake us up. I think this past week is the only time I have removed my daughter from my bed and told her to stay out of it and my room. She isn’t too happy with me.

When I am not trying to get sleep, and Mason is not trying to get sleep, I ‘m holding him. And he is rubbing his snotty gunky face on me, hitting my chest telling me he wants to nurse more – when he doesn’t, he just wants to latch on for comfort and I let him – or I am attempting to put him on the floor so I can quickly clean things up or go to the bathroom or eat. He screams at me the whole time. Or he crawls along behind me crying so pitifully. As usual since John had a bad day Friday he seems to think this qualifies him to not have to help with either child that is home and to walk around being in a pissy mood. I love my husband, and 99% of the time he’s great, but sometimes he can be really self-centered, this would be one of those times.

My lack of sleep and being able to really get even the most basic stuff done around the house is wearing on me. I’m short tempered and foul. Just ask Bella, I’m sure she’s willing to testify to that.

I’m going to go and start the roast for tonight then I’m going and waking John’s butt up so that he can be with Bella so that I can hopefully get a little more sleep while Mason is down.

New hair.

OHMUHGOODNESS! I’M A GINGER NOW!

UM, DUDE, YOU’VE ALWAYS BEEN A GINGER.

I’M A GINGER-ER GINGER NOW!

In case you are wondering where the last two free gifts are, I posted this to the blog’s Facebook account:

“If you are wondering about Wednesday and Fridays free gifts, well, I have one rockingly teething babe, so I'm lucky to even get on the actual computer and not just the Kindle. I hope to have those two, along with Mondays, on the blog by Monday afternoon.”

Day 3 Gift & Days 3-6 Document December Photos

Today’s free gift is not a template.
I include my own handwriting every so often on my own scrapbook pages, which isn’t all too easy as a digital scrapbooker for the record, and for today’s gift I have a set of 8 Christmas phrases handwritten by me. It includes a PNG file for each phrase PLUS a brush set that includes a brush for each individual word so that you can mix them up or place them however you like. I figured this might give your Christmas pages (or your Document December pages) a nice little touch.

--->DOWNLOAD THE FILE HERE<---

Also if you have missed days one and two you can find where to download them in this post.

Day 4’s free gift will go up on the blog’s Facebook page on Wednesday.

Now, for days 3-6 of my Document December photos!
I am feeling so proud of myself so far. I have nine days worth of photos and five pages waiting for pictures so far. This is, sadly, the farthest I have ever gone on this. This year I decided not to be too picky about the pictures so the majority I’ve actually just been capturing with my phone and then I email them to Facebook and my email so when I get home every day all I have to do is look in those places and I have pictures ready and waiting for me!

Have you yet….

Have you picked up the TWO templates that I have offered up so far this month?

(find it here: Life as Their Mom Facebook Page)

And did you know… I’m going to keep offering up free goodies… 10 more to be exact.

(find it here: My Scrapbook Art blog)

The next one will be going up HERE on the blog on Monday.

Go! Quick, fast! Go and grab the templates now!

Creating a vintage colored black and white effect.

also known as my not wordless at all wednesday.
why I keep posting wordy tutorials on wednesdays of all days is beyond me.

As I was working on an art journal style scrapbook page for an upcoming Michelle Godin release I was stumped on my photo. I knew which one I wanted to use, and how I was going to use it, but once I actually put it on my page it just didn’t go quite right. I thought maybe black and white would be better, but no, still didn’t do. I stepped away from my page and sat and read and rocked and nursed Mason and thought. Then I thought some more. Then I laid him down for his nap, came back to my computer and stared at the page some more, and thought some more.

I knew I had to do something because not only was the color odd, it was a huge color blowout on the original photo, but it just sort of blended in and stuck out at the same time.

That’s when it hit me! I was not only going to convert it to black and white, I’d color in the black and white as well for a hand painted photography feel. It seemed like it would be the best feel for the page. I was so excited when I started it, then I got stumped trying to figure out how exactly best to get the effect. Well, let me show you how I did it.

(I meant for the cut out to be rough looking. I really like rough edged cut outs for art journal style pages. I feel that it lends a more realistic paper look.)

I did my cut out first, but you don’t have to do yours first – or do one at all.

I duplicated my layer and clipped into it a gradient mask that went from a dark almost black red and a very light cream. Then I clipped a curves adjustment and created a slight S in it. Merge those into your duplicate. Turn the duplicate’s opacity down to about 90%.

Create a new layer and go ahead and clip it into your duplicate. Pick your color, and a soft brush with an opacity of about 75% and paint your color over the area it goes with. Change your layer’s blending mode to overlay. I then go on to create a new layer for each color I use. Meaning, for me, each color tends to end up with three layers; my base color, my highlight color, and my shadow color.

After you’ve done all your painting go through and clean up where you painted on to other areas. I use a soft brush at 50% opacity so that some of the color is still there, that way I get the illusion of color bleeds. Also, at this point, go through and look at all your layers. Play with the opacity and blend modes on them to get them to look just the way you want. I end up going with soft light or multiply on some of mine to get the effects that I want.

You can be finished there, however I was going on to create my page so I then added a little custom shadowing.

And a more approachable example of it, a regular photo.

linking up here, here, here, here, here, here, and here

Decembering….

What I’ve got so far. We’re only two days in, and actually, so far, having actual paper to work with makes it easier to get things done. And looking at the pile o’ Christmas crap on my table helps with the motivating too since I’m actually not too fond of looking at Christmas crap.

And the photos to be printed off and to go in the slot for day 1 (front has a 2x6 slot and a 6x4, back is two 6x4s)

And just one 4x4 picture for today.

(frame from Karah Fredrick’s Too Excite to Sleep @ The Lilypad, gold letters from Document Christmas The Collection by Mari Koegelenberg and Studio Basic @ Sweet Shoppe, font is Darcy Baldwin’s DJB Holly Go Lightly @ Sweet Shoppe)

ohmuhgoodness! it’s finally done!

I only spent 12 hours working on it Saturday, not counting all the unknown hours over the past few weeks thinking up set ups, trying to take group pictures, starting and rejecting ideas. Seriously. I spend way too much time every year on these stupid things.

*drum roll please*
Now, allow me to introduce our 2012 Christmas Card!

You can find the picture that I used of the kidlets here. Yes, I did cheat and I drew Mason smiling instead of in the middle of a fit. Told you I’d learn to cope with that picture. And this card is also rocking my very own handwriting! The neat version of it too! See here’s the original of it:

I like it enough that I’m thinking of doing one out of a compilation of our attempts at a family picture. We try for one every Thanksgiving and every Easter. They’re always a fail, but at least they’re a cute fail. The kids have some awesome expressions in them this year… just none all together, so I think a silly drawing of it for my room would be perfect.

I’ve been asked several times now how I did the drawing, and how I’ve been doing my handwriting (which is also on show here and here). Well… it’s all tracing. I open the picture in ArtRage, and then I use the Ink Pen tool with the smoothing set to 30-40%. That way it cleans up all my lines as I go. When I first bought the program was one of my failed attempt at designing digital scrapbooking kits and when I quit I figured, well, at least it didn’t cost that much. I use it now all the time for drawing (like the stuff here) and for writing. I also do the coloring in on that program also. I use a combination of all the different tools for that. I don’t trace for all of my drawing, my Christmas Card was only the second time I’d ever tried drawing that way.

Anyway, that’s our Christmas Card, and I’m linking it up to The Paper Mama’s 2012 Holiday Photo Contest.

Now, I need to get back to catching up to my creative team work, and finishing up the templates for December.

Breastfeeding–Take #4

Breastfeeding Bella was so good, but so bad too, when she was classified as failure to thrive I said enough. I had pushed and pushed so hard to give her JUST breast since Ryan wouldn’t nurse at all despite me pushing and pushing. Bella’s failure to thrive felt like a slap to the face. I said no more. If we ever have another I’m just not even trying.

Fast forward a little bit and bam! we are having another baby.
I stressed, I agonized. I said no, not even trying.
Then I would get to remembering how much I loved that closeness.

It wasn’t until I was actually holding Mason in my arms that I said yes, of course I’m going to breastfeed him! How could I even think I wouldn’t??

And I am so glad that I finally decided that.

Nursing Mason has been wonderful. Just like the great experience that I had with Zach. When he nurses and looks up at me with those big eyes my heart smiles, and when he needs to be touching my face while nursing and looking at me I just melt.

I am so so proud that he went six months on just breast milk, and even still he is primarily a breastfed baby,

The very basic fact of it though is that nursing Mason has gone so far in helping to heal all the pain, angst, and scars I carried from Bella and Ryan’s breastfeeding experiences.

Oh ye, of little sleep…

Oh ye, of little sleep, why do you cry so? Why do you cower and hide? Why do you lash out at all and every? Why do you lay your head on your desk and sigh and hope for the day to end? Have you not been promised an end to this suffering? Have you already forgotten that this is not a forever situation?

Oh forget that.
Today I can’t even pretend niceness. I just don’t have it in me… at all.

I’d planned on coming on here today and talking about breastfeeding Mason, but I just don’t want to. I want to talk about not getting any dang sleep lately. None. I am going crazy. For over the past week Mason has been teething. Teething HARD. And he’s not really sleeping. When he is sleeping at night it has to be next to me, generally that’s good. We’re big bed-share-ers in these parts. However, since his gums hurt he continually is biting and chewing on me while he sleeps and I try to sleep. I’ve tried giving him a paci to chew on, but he doesn’t want it. Now he’s running a fever as well and isn’t even sleeping at all except in short cat naps.

Now lets throw Bella in to the mix. 
For some reason Bella is also not sleeping, and while she is awake at night she feels the need to come in my room and talk to Mason and play with him. Or to cuddle into bed with John, me, and Mason. I sleep in a queen, that many people, yeah that ain’t happening. I move a lot in my sleep, and you might wonder about the safeness in that with bed-sharing, well, I move Mason with me. I’ve done it with all the kids. When that many people our in my bed I can’t move, when I can’t move I can’t sleep.

I’m lucky to get 3-4 hours of sleep a night now.
Last night I got about an hour and a half. Total.
And honestly, I don’t think Bella got more than like four.

The grand low point – Bella screaming this morning “I don’t like you anymore!” and me yelling back at her “Well, I don’t like you much either right now!”

There is no happy ending to this post, just a release of frustration.

Almost, almost…. but not quite yet.

It’s almost Thanksgiving, the real most wonderful time of the year. I get to see family and eat a ton and a half. Most importantly… I don’t have to buy anyone anything to do it!

Yay!

I’ve actually already had two other Thanksgivings (basically) so far. I have a feeling by next week that I am going to be so turkey-ed out. As of now, I’m not… we’re even having turkey and dumplings for dinner tonight to kill off the rest of the leftover turkey from Saturday.

Saturday’s Thanksgiving with my brothers, my older brother’s roommate, and their friend.

I’ve been referring to it as the Bachelor Thanksgiving. And I promise, my living room is clean, it’s just that taking pictures facing my cluttered desk, bookshelf, and craft table is never a good idea.

Last night we went to the church’s annual Thanksgiving dinner with my sister and step-father.

Today Ryan, Bella, and I have been getting our paper scrapbooking craftiness on. I’ve finally gotten together the Christmasy stuff for my Document December prep (and a few other basics – you know seeing as how I usually use my computer for scrapbooking) so this morning I sat down to start. Yes, I know, it’s not December yet, but I’ve been told getting your stuff together early helps with actually keeping up with it, so I’m trying. (Me actually trying this again is also her fault, so if I fail again it is indirectly her fault as well, lol) As I did my prep work Bella and Ryan made their own scrapbook pages with some other paper scrapbooking stuff I found laying about the house. For some reason people keep buying me it…

No, I’m not sharing my progress on mine yet. When/If I ever finish all the base pages I’ll share it. But start looking for this one posts about it:

Saturday Scrapbooking

First since I haven’t done this in a while… well, yeah I’m not posting all those other pages you missed. Look on Scrap Stacks, I’ve put them there, along with my gallery at My Scrapbook Art.

Here’s a round up of my DSD pages…
(if you don’t know what DSD is then your probably don’t do digital scrapbooking thus you wouldn’t really care to know what DSD stands for.)

(all of those be clickable)

And this week’s releases:

Traci Reed has a collaboration with Shawna Clingermann and the most precious solo kit ever.

Right now I’m guesting with Studio Basic and she had two collaborations come out this week.

I got on Darcy Baldwin’s team during DSD, and she had a font collaboration come out this week.

(I used it on all of the above.)

And lastly, the page I made for the Scrap Stacks Stack-Lift challenge, I lifted this page by the awesome Amy Martin.