Rayen

     Hey guys!  

     We are slowly but surely getting a hold of our lives over here.  I'm sneaking away real quick during nap time to give you a quick post about the first 2 months with the baby sister.  I say quick, but I did take the time to upload a bunch of pictures.

      With Rayen finally here, life is just that much more crazy.  It is also that much more adorable.  She was born back in June.  She weighed 7 lbs 10 oz, and was 19 inches long.

     Her birth was a completely different experience than Bryan's.  For one, I felt it.  All of it.  I was able to get an epidural, but it didn't block out as much as Bryan's did.  Also, this anesthesiologist put a little bit of narcotics in it.  Have I told you how much I hate feeling loopy?  

     Then there was the antibiotics.  Have any of you ever had the "joy" of having penicillin pumped through your veins?  That stuff burns like a beast.  and I had to have 3 rounds of it.  Each time burning more than the last.  I may or may not have cried with the last round.  (My hubby was so great at trying to comfort me.)

     Our labor and delivery nurse was awesome.  So, there is that.  She worked hard to help me with anything I was needing.  She even stayed a little after her shift to help deliver Rayen.  

     Eventually, all my hard work payed off and we finally have our baby girl with us

     At 2 months old, she is just so wonderful.  And happy.  She smiles like crazy all day.  She is now a little over 12 lbs and 21 inches long.

     Rayen is just about to switch to her 3-6 month cloths.  She loves mornings.  Her favorite music is Guns n Roses, and "Nothing Else Matters" from Metallica.  She is a big mommy's girl.  Her other favorite person her Auntie Haleigh. 

     Another thing little Ray likes to do is sleep.  In her own bed.  Ok, so I don't know if she likes it, but she at least does it.  Bryan was so colicky as a baby, we had to co-sleep because I was so tired from never sleeping.  Rayen is a completely different story.  She isn't sleeping through the night, but she does go back in her bed usually after a quick snack.  I actually have the energy to play with Bryan during the day.  Which is great.  Especially since he decided naps are no longer his thing.

     My camera loves having another subject to capture (here are a ton pictures as evidence)

Rayen Loves her Papa.

We are super happy about the new girl in town.

Blog Maternity Leave

Is over!

 What better way to end it than post some gorgeous pictures of the baby sister?

 I meant it when I said gorgeous.

 Let me just throw some more precious shots of my cuties at you.

 I may not have been good about his monthly photo shoots, but that wont stop him from getting in there.

More specifics on this sweet pair later.  For now, enjoy my improving camera skills and good looking models.

Using HTV with Expressions Vinyl.

     Last week I posted about going to the Elevate blog conference.  One of the sponsors they had there was Expressionsvinyl.  They gave us this awesome pack of Vinyl to play with.  Lucky for me, my Hubby also got me a Silhouette for Mothers Day, so I am actually able to show off how great this vinyl is.

     With the Baby Sister fast approaching, (37 weeks tomorrow) and the abundance of plain onesies I have, I figured that was the way to go.  Ok, so actually the fact that they have heat transfer vinyl (HTV) in my favorite color blue...IN GLITTER! That is what was the deciding factor.  The fact that I didn't have to buy anything extra was just a bonus.

 

     I started off by measuring the space I was working with.  If you don't have a tape measure(mine is hidden in felt somewhere), the Silhouette cutting mat worked just perfect for a gauge for me.  Then I got to work on the design I wanted to go with.  I stuck with something simple.  I am a newbie at both vinyl and the Silhouette, so I figured simple is best.

     Do not, DO NOT, forget to flip that image before you cut it.  This HTV has transfer tape already on the top.  So after flipping the image, the important thing is to put the vinyl shinny side down on your cutting mat.  Then cut away.
     A couple of the things that thought I was great about using Expressions Vinyl was the Machine setting charts.  I know the silhouette software automatically adjusts the machine for you.  If you are using their brand that is.  Because they have so many different kinds of vinyl(the glitter HTV is way thicker than the regular HTV), Expressions Vinyl make it easy to know how to set your machine.  When I did my test cut, it was spot on.  You want the machine to cut all the way through your vinyl, but not the tape.
     The next thing I thought was great was how easy it was to take off all the extra vinyl(I have recently learned this is called "weeding")

     With the glitter, I would definitely watch out what you are weeding.  The cut lines blend in a tad more than they would with another type of vinyl.  But it did come off so smoothly.  And the design stayed put on the tape.

     Flip the design over and stick it where you want it.  If you get the image in the wrong spot, no problem.  It is super easy to re position your image.
     The Machine setting page also has a page specific to HTV.  It lets you know the temperature, length of time, and pressure to iron the vinyl.  Also when to pull the transfer tape off.  This glitter vinyl had to be removed while it was still hot.  If the image doesn't exactly stick the first time, don't be afraid to re iron it.

Donezo.

     This is even after washing it, and guess what, the vinyl didn't change a bit.  I just loved how it turned out.  I can't wait to see the Baby Sister in this shirt.  Actually, I can't wait to see her in general, but that is a whole different post.

He tried so hard to be a good model.

Bryan also is pretty excited.

I did get this vinyl for free in the hopes a of a review, but I honestly loved using it and the results.

"Elevate" your life.

     A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to got to the Elevate blog conference. Some of you may be thinking "A what conference?"  (I already had this conversation with my dad.)

Picture taken by Chrissy Delacy at letmeseeyousparklephoto

     Whatever you think, it was awesome.  

     I was encouraged to go by a friend of mine, Tausha.  She told me all about it last year.  It sounded so fun and did not disappoint.

You can find Tausha -->here

     Elevate was seriously fun.  I met so many new people, then the swag bag had tons of cool stuff and the food was amazing. (Stone Fire Grill and Taco Asylum are some must visit places.) I also won a Diaper bag from Lily Jade, which we know I'm going to need in the next month or so.

http://www.letmeseeyousparklephoto.com/

     The best part though?  The speakers (though the free stuff was awesome)

     Every single one of them was just amazing.  While I felt motivated with blogging and all that,(this doesn't explain why I haven't blogged since) I also felt really encouraged about life.
     Luis teased me about the fact that I took notes.  Not that I took them, but more that I never take notes at other stuff.  I don't even take them during General Conference for church.  (though I really should. It has been a few weeks since Elevate and I have these encouraging notes in I can go back and look at)
     Here are a few of the general things I took away from Those amazing ladies:

• Telling our own stories help us remember who we are
• Negativity= the need to recenter our goals
• Take the chance to learn from those who are better than you
• Positivity over Popularity.
• You cant accomplish anything if you don't try.

http://www.letmeseeyousparklephoto.com

     Jen and Summer know how put together one awesome day.  You could tell how important the conference and the blogger community is to them.  I can't wait to see them again next year.  Until then I will just have to dream of these cake bites and cookies from thesweettoothfairy.

http://www.letmeseeyousparklephoto.com/

     All the pictures above (With the exception of the one of Tausha and I) were taken by the lovely Chrissy Delacy at http://www.letmeseeyousparklephoto.com  If you're in Arizona and need a photographer, check her out

When Kittens Have Kittens

     About 5 weeks ago, I woke up to Luis informing me that our 6 month old kitten, had kittens.  I thought he was joking...he most definitely was not.

     6 months old people.  That means she was only 4 months old when she became pregnant.  Life lesson learned.  Oh but are they cute.

     When I walked into the laundry room, I was irritated because I had put off getting her fixed (I thought I at least had another month or two) and how could this happen and such.

     Then I looked down and pregnancy hormones took over.  They were so tiny. and cute. and tiny.  They tininess is what brought on the water works.  They were smaller than the palm of my hand.

     The really interesting thing is that Ruby, who has always hated us and wanted nothing to do with any of us except Zuko. (the only one she liked around here was the dog.  Go figure)  Suddenly, I was the most amazing thing in the world to her.  She actually purred and allowed me to pet her.  Even more, was she would whine if I stopped petting her.  It was amazing.  And she stayed that way...until she went missing.

     Yup. about a week ago, I noticed that Ruby hadn't been around all day.  Usually she stuck pretty close to the house, coming in to sit with me watch the kittens play.  Then suddenly: Nothing.

     Leaving me 3 little kittens to raise.  The second day it was apparent she still never came back, we put out some cream for them.  It was too late to get any real food,(she had already worked on weaning them by bringing them...dead stuff.)

     When I did get them real stuff, they went crazy.  Like they swooped in and you couldn't even see the dish underneath.  One even went back for thirds.

     Afterward, it was bath and snuggle time.  They can for sure tell that I'm their new mommy.  They follow me everywhere.  Which wasn't so good when I went down the driveway, and one tried to dive off the ledge to get to me.  I just barely caught him.  I guess you could say I have...cat-like reflexes. *ba-dum tss*

     Seriously though.  It has been rough without Ruby around to teach them things this past week.  Like how to properly clean themselves and where to go to the bathroom.  Or, you know, where not to go. Like in the house, on the welcome mat, and, my poor boys, in the dog food.
     Then there is the worry about what happened to her.  Ideally, it would be nice if someone just found her wandering around(like outside cats do) and picked her up thinking she needed a home.
What we are worried for is that  She either ran off to get pregnant again(I don't think it is likely since she didn't run off the first time.)  Or...she is dead.  I'm still hoping for someone to have taken her home.
     For now though, I will have to play kitty mama while I prepare for my own little one.