Bits and Pieces...

Just checkin' in to say hello and catch up a little.

We had a little scare with Lucas, as he lost weight from the time he left the hospital to his first check-up. So Karen started (sadly) supplementing with formula. The lazy little guy! He just loves to cuddle and sleep! They have to wake him up in the middle of the night to get all his feedings in! But he gained weight and all is well! He's such a sweet little guy! Here are some recent photos.

Nakey is good!

I love this one!

Karen's caption for this one: "Concerned baby is concerned because he is only a week old and already wearing old man pants!"

Big eyes!

He loves his bouncy chair!



Found this on Etsy and had to buy one for Lucas! Can't wait to see him in it!
Make it so!


Gary had his first chemo session last week. 3 days worth! It went well. No side effects yet. Three more weeks till the next session.

Do you buy an Entertainment Book every year? Would you like to win a free one? Click on the 5 Minutes for Giveaways button in my sidebar and sign up! Good luck!

A few yarny creations -
This is a baby size afghan made from 9" squares received in a swap on Ravelry. I love it and I think Lucas will too. I did another one that is a big bigger - 12" squares...big enough for a floor blanket for him to play on. But Karen accidentally took it home before I could photograph it. It's all different bright colors and textures.

A pumpkin hat. I hope it fits! If not, though, it was easy enough to make, so I can donate this one and whip up another one for him.


And while you're here...go here...and vote for Alphie. You'll be voting to win money for A Place to Bark, which you know is one of my favorite places to donate. If Bernie wins, she'll be able to hire someone to help her with all the awesome work she does! It just takes a minute. And he is a cutie!

Well....till next time...

It's a boy!

He's finally here, and beautiful he is! Since many of my readers have already seen him, I'll make this short and sweet for now.

Lucas James came to our world at 8:08 pm on 8/18. He weighs 6 pounds 13 ounces and is 20 inches long. And he is absolutely perfect.


We are, of course, all totally smitten!

And now that I'm done worrying about him & Karen, and Gary is on the mend, maybe Scrapbook Mojo will return! I miss him!

Wow! I don't think I've gone this long without a some kind of post! Those of you who know me, know that things have not been the best around here. Bad things happening: Gary had major surgery & has been diagnosed with lymphoma. How do a healthy, sports-loving, active man go from being vital and alive to one have Parkinson's Disease & lymphoma? And he's lost 35 pounds so is so...thin.... It breaks my heart! But we're dealing with it. I've become the housewife/cook I once was as well and a nurse maid. I must say though, that for a week and 2 days post-surgery (consisting of having alien things removed, and part of his bowel sliced & re-sectioned), he is doing amazingly well.
The good thing is that we are on baby watch. The last few month it appears that both Karen and the baby are much more healthy. She finally gained some weight...a whopping 9 pounds! I think I gained that my first month! And the baby, although small, is still in the safe range. Measurements say he is verging on 7 pounds, but they say these can go 2 pounds either way. Once she hit 36 weeks, they took her off all restrictions, which has done wonders. As it stands, if he doesn't make an appearance on his own by the 17th, they'll induce. Her due date is the 20th and they don't want to go past that. So in approximately 10 days, our status will be elevated to Grandparents!

All my creative abilities have been channeled to knitting and crocheting little sweaters, hats, and burp cloths. And I'm in 6 different blanket square swap groups! These are perfect though, because they're all small, uncomplicated, and can take my mind away for a while. I haven't scrapped or stamped. I try. But it just won't come. I'm sure when I have new baby pictures, it will all click again!

A little hat made from bamboo yarn

This is called Baby Yoda. How could I not knit this?!

Another sweater. I have little sailboat buttons to put on it.

Something I made for myself. I haven't used it yet because it really should be lined. But here it is!

And an "upstairs" blanket for the babe.

So that's it for now. Sorry it's not more exciting...but there it is. I'm off to make some orange roughy for dinner!

Shout-out to Tombow!

Not to long ago, I participated in a blind study for some adhesives. I don't even remember how I got involved. But they sent me several different shipments of adhesives. I used them for several days, sent back what I didn't use, and then filled out some on-line surveys. They said they would send me something in return for my assistance. I didn't expect much, and when a month passed by, I figured I really wasn't going to get anything. It didn't' really matter, though, as I hadn't invested anything but a little bit of time.

Then yesterday a box came from Tombow. It had all this in it:



There was also an envelope, revealing that the products I had used were from a new line by Tombow. AND...in the envelope was also a Visa gift card for....are you ready?!...$75.00! I was totally shocked and very, very impressed! Never did I expect to get such a generous gift!

So thank you to Tombow! I am truly impressed.

Here it is...

Another rough week (for me...everything's fine with Karen!) But finally here are some shots from the shower. Some of the photos are a tad blurry because I didn't have the flas on, so my apologies for that! And the place was sort of dark for photography. None the less, some fun memories were preserved.

The happy parents-to-be. Josh attended the shower and was such a big help to Karen. She said she never would have been able to get through all the packages without him. He even managed to intercept a card that he knew would make her cry!

Ginny & Nicole came early from Pittsburgh to help me set up. That was much appreciated, as I wasn't feeling 100%!

The decorations looked good. A fun, different theme for a baby shower!

There were lots of guest, but the best were friends and family!

And thanks, Kelly, for taking the pictures during the "opening"!

Lots of great gifts! And enough money and gift cards to finish up the nursery!
Karen asked Josh to pick out their diaper bag, as she figured he'd be carrying it most of the time! So it's a nice Eddie Bauer! No man purse for him!

And of course, the obligatory belly shot!

It was a great time, but I think we're all glad it's over. Now it's just waiting for the baby to arrive! The doc thinks it could be by the 2nd week in July, but Karen doesn't think so. We're hoping he holds on a few more weeks! She's almost through week 31. Just a few more, Baby!

Friday's Favorite Five...

It's been a rough week for me: migraine w/ER trip Saturday; back spasms Tuesday; servere bruise on my leg; Gary's not been himself on the new meds...all the more reason to think back on 5 good things that happened this week!

1. Going to the La Bella Vita with Karen.

But for the first time since her wedding, we had a girls day at the salon: manicures (I did the hot wax dip); facial waxing (I no longer have Andy Rooney's eyebrows!); hair cuts; new polish. Unfortunately, neither of us had our cameras, but G. says we look good! And he is totally unbiased!

2. Making the centerpieces & favors for the shower.
Click on the picture of the treasure chest so you can see the treasure map under it. I love the way they all turned out! What do you think?



3. A garden on my porch.
I physically can't garden anymore, but this year I've put a little patch on the little porch! There are 3 tomatoes (Italian Plum, Bush, & Hillbilly), 2 peppers (Best Belle sweet green, and chocolate pepper), and lots of herbs (cilantro, chives, rosemary, basil, oregano, parsley, dill...and more I can't recall right off).





4. A creative mess.
Although I hate the cleaning up part, the mess is a sign I've been creating a little this week, and I love that!

5. Blue sky, sun in the clouds, warmth.


"God's in His Heaven and all's right with the world."

What the f*&# happened?!

So I'm sitting here yesterday, minding my own business, feeling fine. I was planning to head out to Bath & Body Works for prizes for the shower Sunday. I stood up and my back was a wee bit stiff. No big deal. I have a glitchy back...we all know that. So I started getting ready, performed a "necessary" task (use your imagination...I was about to leave the house), stood up...and my back really hurt. It was on the opposite side from where it usually was, so thought maybe I should do the pain-relieving yoga exercises. Well, long story short....I can barely walk! I've been hobbling around since yesterday afternoon with my cane, all bent over like Baba Yaga! What the h-e-double hockey-sticks?! One of the few weeks out of 52 I have things to do, and I'm a cripple?! I have a doctor's appointment today. I was hoping for a cortisone shot (I'm a big fan!), but I did my Google research and see that because the SI joint (where, I am pretty sure, lies the problem) is so deep that they have to be done with an x-ray. We'll see...it may still be possible. I have 2 days to spare, but I must be at least able to get around by Friday! I've been dosing myself with a combination of Darvocet and Advil, but that doesn't seem to do the trick. It takes the edge off, but I still can barely walk.

HOWEVER...the shower is Sunday and I'm pretty excited. Karen and I were laughing last night. We're going to be quite a family table. She's on Level 2 restrictions (which means she probably shouldn't even go to the shower, but just try to keep her away!), Josh was riding his bike and bruised the bone in his leg, his mom fell at work and bruised her shoulder, and I can't walk!

I've been working away on centerpieces, favors, and some decorations. I'm pretty happy with the way all of them came out. I'll take pictures when they're all finished. I still have to go to B&BW for the prizes, Hallmark for wrapping paper, and Dollar Tree for bags. Oh and to Pat Catan's to pick up the last of the centerpieces that they had UPS'd from Wooster for me! I have to paint them, but that's no biggy. Just time consuming.

Karen's still having some difficulty with her pregnancy. The latest is possible gestation diabetes. Also the baby's head and femur measurements are at 31 weeks (2 weeks ahead), but the abdominal measurement is at 27 weeks (2 weeks behind). However that happened in a week; the last sonogram he was right on target, so he'll probably catch up this week. However, school's done and they're moved into their new place, so she has lots of time to rest and let Josh & Mommy & Daddy take care of her.

Gary's continuing to have more medication adding to his PD regimen. He seems a little out of it, but that could just be my imagination. Or he could just be ignoring me...

Now for some works of creativity: (usual disclaimers about everything looking better IRL apply)

I already scrapped this picture, but felt compelled to do it again, when the Product Pizazz assignment was to scrap a picture showing action.


The obligatory cat layout -


A summery baby blanket; it's much more sagey than it looks in the photo -


Wristlets & a Queen Anne's Lace Scarf I'm sending to a swap partner -


My very first sweater. It's called Baby Yoda and really is cute in person! (Really!)


And finally, a creation in that I planted the bush ages ago. I'm so glad that some things still bloom in spite of the fact that I no longer can garden.

Thanks for looking, and have a great day. I hope to be back soon with a Baby Shower report!