april showers bring may flowers

may is always a special month for me, mainly because of mother's day, but this year in particular was filled with so much fun. here are 7 reasons why:

may 7: muffins for mom! this was the first time i attended this event at wws, and i wasn't sure what to expect. i was actually going to skip it, until gavin's teacher called me to confirm i would be attending. "it's only 20 minutes, you have to come!"...and so i did. what i didn't expect was how wonderful it would turn out to be. i should have known when the other mom's passed around a box of tissues and told me to take a few "just in case".

i was greeted with the sweetest handmade centerpieces

i don't normally allow gavin to eat sweets before a meal, but how could i resist this face?

mrs. thomas stole a shot of our nose-to-nose kiss and what a special treat, a handmade, handprinted surprise

i'm so glad i made the time to be there - to spent just a small part of an ordinary day with my first born revelling in his being. needless to say, by the end of the event, i was a mess. sometimes i take for granted that i am actually a MOTHER! i forget how amazing it is and how lucky i am. that's why i'm grateful for moments like these...you must stop, think, and remember. i already can't wait for next year.


may 8: (the very next day)...mathias amado is here! my dear friend monica had been anxiously awaiting the birth of her 2nd son. between trips to nuyo and text messages, she kept me updated daily on her progress. when she didn't return one of my texts, i knew the time was near!

big brother sebs and baby mathias
may 9: as if i wasn't getting enough of my mothering, baby-fixation, the NEXT day (yes!) my sister gave birth to her first born, my very first niece!

meet hayden nicole!

i was in the room during the entire labor and my sister was a trooper...unfortunately, since she was 2 weeks early, hayden was sunny-side up and refused to come out. she ended up with a c-section and hayden was finally here!

when i first saw her i couldn't believe how much she looked like mike! she was so cute, even after being just a few hours new thanks to the swine flu epidemic (does anyone even remember it?!) kids were not allowed in the hospital. not siblings, relatives, no one under 16 years old. they weren't even allowed in the waiting room; they had to wait outside! it was pretty pathetic but the only way gavin & emma could even get a glimpse of their new cousin was through a window. by the time hayden was home, they were so excited. they couldn't wait to hold her!

may 10: mama's day! how i had the strength & energy to even get up after spending all night with my sister the day before, i have no idea. but i think in part it had to do with the 10:30 am reservations i had at our favorite buffet, lael's. ever since gavin was born we celebrate (per my request) mother's day here along with my friends: the pasta station, sushi bar, and dessert table :)

it was extra-special being joined by my bff and fellow mama

may 16: gily's turns 5! well, technically gily's birthday is on cinco de mayo, but an celebrated it on may 16 at la jolla shores. i can't believe gily bean is 5 already!! an & i were pregnant together, so it's already bringing me to tears thinking i will soon have a 5 year old myself!

sweet gily bean

she had an awesome barbie cake!

i'm thinking an had just a little too much fun chopping her (it) up :)

poor gily watched in disbelief

thank you for making her happy, barbie
i got to spend a few hours with my bff's. it was nice to catch up and just BE around each other! we SO missed you lees!

may 22: scrap sisters! for memorial weekend (thank god it was a 4 day for me!) we anxiously awaited abby's arrival (wow, nice alliteration!) so that we could spend a few child-free (well, technically they were in the other room) hours scrapping in peace. turns out, i can't get anything done while friends are around...i would rather chat and eat pie :) {hey j: do you have a pic of that pie n brought?}

i was inspired to scrap a page of that fun night

may 30: vincent is 9!
we bought disneyland passes, and they ain't cheap, so we are putting them to good use! we go to disneyland at least once a month, but we missed out on emma's AND olivia's birthdays because gavin & rick were sick. luckily we were all healthy enough to celebrate my godson vince turning 9. i don't want to get into all the details of all the birthdays i have missed, but i do feel very grateful that i get to spend many, many more birthdays celebrating with him :) we had lunch at blue bayou and as promised we chowed down on the yummy pirate boat.

my babies are always slow to warm up, but by the end of the day, they are all over the place (btw ...gavin is holding his new light saber. he wanted a red one, but i told him only sith lords use the red...he is a jedi he should have blue. he wanted the red anyway. i couldn't do it...i bought the blue)

it's that time of the year, and often people (co-workers, family members) ask me why i do the birthday party thing just about every weekend? isn't it too expensive? doesn't it get overwhelming? the answer is yes...but if you re-read this blog,

isn't it all worth it?

on another note...

rick & i were talking the other night...about where we are in our lives. i told him i want to document as much as i can to help me try to remember it all. i just know these are the best times... with two little people who are literally my life.

scrap goodness

saturday was my first visit to the infamous once-a-year scrapbook expo! it was national scrapbook day, so i just HAD to get my hand on some goodies! jen and i sped out, inhaled a quick mc d's breakfast and were on our way... here are my goodies!

it looks like i did major damage, but overall, i got great deals! can you say thickers?! we bought about 10 packs each, but they were either 40% off or buy 3 get one free, so we saved a bunch!

we were very economical, so at the $1 store, we grabbed one of everything & split it. i think we have enough buttons and brads to last us until next year (or the next 5 - haha). one of the best deals we got was on adhesive lace that we later saw at papertales for $8!

the "50 cents-a-yard ribbon" shop was the most fun! i took first prize ending up with 94 yards!! we got a ton of good quality felt and patterned pieces.

this is one of the few things i paid full price for, but aren't they lovely?

check out my new tote bag ($12 at the expo, $24 at everafter, thank you very much). loving the amy butler fabric!

and last but not least, i nabbed a few urban prairie elements (basic grey) for emma's baby book *yes, i know she is 3!
it was so much fun! i can't wait to do it again next year (with lees & nette too!) ok jen, this will have to be a tradition :)

what did i get myself into?

if you know me, you know that although i'm not officially diagnosed with ADHD, i have all the major symptoms. i should be asleep as it's 11:30 pm (well, technically only 10:30 since daylight savings kicked in this morning), but i made the mistake of chugging down a caramel macchiato (i tried it non-fat - yuck) at around 9 pm... needless to say, this, coupled with my pre-disposed hyperactivity, leaves me WIRED! i was in my comfy, warm bed, emma wrapped up in my arms, watching my dvr'ed shows and realized, hey, the kids are asleep, i can scrapbook!

...so as a newbie scrapbooker, i've always known in the back of my head my first couple of projects are going to be scraplifted. believe me, i've tried to do one on my own, but they (in my mind) always turned out horrible. i actually did attempt scrapbooking back in 1999 (remember that jen?). i think i was decent -- i was more of the "put the picture, add photo corners, then journal" type of scrapper. i then decided it was "too expensive" and quit altogether. so ten (yes, TEN) years later (thank you again, jen), i decide i need to organize about 5 years worth of memories...what better way to do it, right?! of course, when i decide to get into this hobby it is now a major enterprise - conventions, guest designers, blogs, magazines, clubs, forums, you name it! i think nette described it as a "cult". guess what? I'M IN A CULT!

...(adhd)...

so i start with a small goal: i will scrap a page (yes one page) from my dad's birthday dinner. easy right? it's something current, a have a few pictures, and it's easily attainable.

did i say easy? first of all, i don't even have the pictures. thank god i only shot 5 that night. i don't like the way pictures come out on my printer, so i just went ahead & ordered them from costco (it'll do and they'll be in tomorrow at 11). then i start surfing the web looking for inspiration...and now i'm ALL RILED UP - i want to add paint, buttons, rip strips, stamps, ribbon, and anything and everything cute and adorable to this ONE page. in addition, i'm so damn determined to do something "original" i'm about to give myself a heart attack. it's a little bit of a challenge, too, because i wanted to make the page a bit more masculine (for my dad) and a bunch of stuff i have is very cutesy.

i literally had to calm myself down: ok rowena, this is one page. take it easy...no need to hoard, no need to go out & buy (even) more stuff, WORK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE (do you fellow scrappers feel me?). i recently picked up the 'fountain square' kit from studio calico and i've had it sitting here for awhile - aha! i should just use it! so i go onto the galleries and found one i liked. i REALLY liked it. in fact, i liked it so much i STOLE it (scraplifted sounds too minor in this case). i stared at the page for so long my computer went to screensaver! i want to say i changed some things up, but except for the pictures, i really didn't. there is one aspect to the page that is different-one of the squares i used is smaller, but that's only because i don't know how to measure and i'm new to the "paper cutter" phenomenon. i'll post it here when i'm done so you can tell me how well i did -- but if you want to see it, you can probably find it on the studio calico site! why am i embarrassed? i'm new, everyone does it, right? i feel like i cheated. well, like i said, i've got about 5 years worth of pictures i can do on my 'own'! sigh...

does anyone know how to "distress" a page?