A Walk in the Park

Two posts in one week from me...can you believe it???!!!! I just have to share this new layout I created using Upsy Daisy Design's "A Walk in the Park" collection. I am absolutely in love with the colors in this collection and it matched perfectly with the pictures we took of the girls in their 1st Thanksgiving outfits. (Yep, I'm one of those moms who has to buy their children outfits for each holiday).

I used one of my favorite Fiskar's punches, SEI and Making Memories alphabet stickers and machine stitching for a homespun feel. I like using kraft cardstock these days as a neutral background and it seemed to really make the colors pop in the patterned papers.

I'm dying to get my scrap room cleaned up so I can start scrapping Christmas pictures. I've got some kits I can't wait to tear into and some Christmas papers and embellishments I've been hoarding. I think my daughters' first Christmas would be the perfect occasion to create with them! :)

Happy New Year if I don't check in again until next week! :)

Christmas and a fun announcement!

It's been a while since I last blogged but I've been busy making sure my girls' first Christmas was a memorable one! We ended up with a pretty nasty blizzard in Iowa and ended up snowed in at my parent's house for several days. We even lost power for a while and would have had Christmas Eve dinner by candlelight if it wasn't for my dad's generator. The girls were way too spoiled by their grandparents and aunts. They have tons of new toys and books. I particularly love the new rocking pony from grandpa and grandma, Holiday Barbie's from Aunt Jaime, and their new toy kitchen, shopping cart and food from Aunt Jennifer. We also got some fun toys to help them crawl from Aunt Laura and a new book to read. We were very blessed at Christmas and it was so fun to watch the girls open presents.

Of course, the best present for Glen and me was spending it with our precious girls. Every year while we were trying to have children, Glen would say "Maybe by Christmas." Christmas would come and go and we would be so disappointed. But, God had the most wonderful plan for our family in His perfect timing. And now there's no way we could even imagine our lives without Nora and Lily. I've got a fun picture to share of the girls in their Santa outfits. This picture just makes me laugh and laugh.

We still need to have our own little Christmas with the girls and Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma Cornell. And we'll have all the grandparents here for a little New Year's Eve party. I'm looking forward to the new year and what it will bring. As soon as Christmas is over, I always get the itch to clean and organize my house and that's starting already.

Speaking of the new year, I have some fun news to share! I've been selected to join The Scrappy Gourmet as a designer next year. I am very excited about this opportunity and hope to have some project kits to share soon.

Well, I better get my day started. I also hope to have some new projects to share soon. I've been busy working on Christmas presents so I haven't had any time to work on the girls' scrapbooks at all but believe me, I have A LOT of new pictures to choose from! :)

A couple new layouts

I have a couple new projects to share as I've been feeling the scrapping groove again. It comes and goes as a mommy of twins! :) On the first layout, I used mostly Rusty Pickle's Costume Party line. My "At the patch" layout uses an older Scrapbook Circle kit with Pink Paislee, Jenni Bowlin, American Crafts and Making Memories. It feels so good to get into my older stash of kits and product and be using it up!!! For the yellow strip, I cut a 1/2" strip of patterned paper and folded it to create a pleat. I inked up the edges and then stitched it to hold it into place.

And here are a couple new photos of the girls at 6 months. Nora is actually starting to sit up pretty well on her own. Lily is not that far behind. Our big news at our house is that both girls are teething. Miss Lily is especially miserable. We had a pretty bad week last week with fussiness (and not just the little girls). :) Mommy was pretty crabby too by week's end. Glen and I had a much needed date to see New Moon on Saturday afternoon. I LOVED IT! I was in tears multiple times. I felt like the emotion of the book was well captured. I can't wait to go see it again later this week! :)

All for now! :)

Some new projects and an update!

It's hard to believe my little girls are now 6 months old! We are having such fun with them as they discover and explore their surroundings. They love to play in their exersaucers. They also love to watch mommy work it the kitchen. They watch me all day long...I just LOVE it! I have my moments of frustration that's for sure, but being a mommy is the best!

The girls were chili peppers for Halloween and took 2nd place in our community's costume contest. We had so much fun dressing them up. I also had to get them "My 1st Halloween" outfits and got some great photos and wear out of them.

I have a few new projects to share. I made the grandparents these footprint canvasses for grandparent's day and they loved them! I used mostly Melissa Frances on one canvas and Pink Paislee on the other canvas. I made several footprints at one time and have yet to make one of these canvasses for their room. The other canvas I made for my little sister's wedding. This project used a lot of October Afternoon, My Little Shoebox and Jenni Bowlin and was mostly from a kit I purchased from A Kiss on the Chic.

I'm REALLY starting to look forward to the holidays with my girls and have big plans for us in the month of December with things I want them to experience. I might decorate for Christmas this weekend in fact.

Well, off to be a mommy! :)

Been a while!

I have been one busy mama! The girls are growing so fast and are such a joy! We started solids at the beginning of the month and they are getting the hang of it pretty well. Lily is my good eater! Nora is a little more cautious and not sure about the foreign substances mommy tries to give her but she gives it her best shot. Both girls are now rolling over. We have been dealing with some pretty severe eczema on both girls and in the last week they developed staph infections so we've been keeping them home and have a regular pharmacy around our house. It's so hard for me to see my little girls in pain. Nora has it worse than Lily so I've been giving her a little extra cuddle time. Poor babies! They also decided not to sleep through the night for a while which was a nightmare. It's funny how quickly you get used to sleep and then when it's taken away from you, it's so difficult to function.

I forgot to share the projects I completed during the month of September for GCD Studios as their guest designer. I had a great time working with their Party It Up collection and coming up with different occasions and themes to use it with. Thanks to GCD Studios for the opportunity to work with their products.

Well, I best be getting busy today. Lots to do as always and I'm craving some apple crisp! :)

Keep in Touch Card Shop

I had the honor of guest designing for Keep in Touch Card Shop at the end of August. I love the kit that Kelly put together for me as it was full of sweet baby girl products in pretty pinks and greens. I completed a layout and two cards with the kit and still had plenty left to work with. I love the kits that Kelly puts together as they are full of vintage yumminess! :) Click here to see my post on her shop's blog.

I have some more guest design work to share with you but I will save that for another time. Life has been so busy. I'm working on projects for grandparents day and getting ready for my sister's wedding next weekend. We bought the girls the cutest little flower girl dresses...brown satin with polka dots. I can't wait for them to wear them! I'm still loving being a momma. These little girls are so sweet. I cherish each and every little snuggle I get. Their smiles just light up my day. I love how even though other people might be in the room with them, they focus in on ME. They know who mommy is and that is so special to me!

Our Aunties Love Us!

This layout was made with Upsy Daisy Designs Circle of Friends papers. My sisters are first-time aunts and the only aunts or uncles within visiting distance so they are loving spoiling the girls!

We have been extremely busy the last few weeks traveling back and forth to my parent's house for various wedding related occasions. Thankfully, we don't have to travel again until the wedding. It's such a production taking the girls out of town and they don't always adjust well. It takes them a day or so to get back into our routine at home. Last night was particularly rough for us because the girls have been a little sick with stuffy noses. I was up with both of them at a couple different times last night which makes for a tired mommy. Glen's mom came over this morning but I'm having to adjust my plans for the day. I appreciate her help so much! She comes 2-3 mornings a week so that I am able to run errands and clean. Otherwise, I don't know when I would get anything done as two little girls demand most of my time and attention.

I've been working on various projects for two guest design spots and will have some new things to share soon! I better get busy! :)

From Mother's Day to...

Father's Day! I couldn't do a page about my first Mother's Day without doing one about Glen's first Father's Day! (Have to keep things fair, you know!) I absolutely love watching Glen with the girls. He's definitely enjoying being a dad. In fact, some mornings I about have to push him out the door to go to work because he doesn't want to leave. He'll wake the girls up in the morning to make sure he has his time with them before work. That works for me so I can get a little extra sleep. He's really good about recognizing when mommy needs a break too and I appreciate that. This page uses Upsy Daisy Designs new Man About Town II papers...perfect for pages about the guys in your life.

Well, I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later but I have been nursing a very sore back this week. I think I twisted wrong when I was holding Lily on Tuesday. It was so bad that I broke down and went to the chiropractor on Wednesday and am going again today. I just couldn't take the pain anymore. I'm hoping I am finally on the mend.

We have a busy weekend ahead as we are traveling out of town for my little sister's bridal shower. Her wedding is coming up in less than a month.

Time to get busy! :)

Shabby chic fun!

My absolute favorite manufacturer is Melissa Frances. I find myself reaching for her products again and again and again. My favorite product to work with is her rub-ons and I am now in love with her pearls and rhinestones. I own every color available!!!! :) This layout is full of Melissa Frances products. I thought they were perfect to highlight my first Mother's Day... a day that I will always remember. I was so unbelievably exhausted that day so I cried off and on. Before this year, Mother's Day was always an incredibly painful day for me. I purposely avoided going to church that day just because I didn't want to deal with the baby dedication that takes place. I just couldn't handle it. So, now that I FINALLY got to be a mom myself, I couldn't stop crying. I was also really missing my grandma and wishing that she could be here to see my daughters. Glen made the day really memorable for me by surprising me with a spa gift certificate and a beautiful silver charm for a necklace with two parents and two children. He captured my surprise and emotions really well in the photos on the bottom of the page.

We had a bit of a busy week. I'm going a little stir crazy at home. I love being home with my girls but sometimes I just crave a little adult interaction besides members of my own family. It's been virtually impossible to go to small group or do things at night simply because the girls are so fussy from about 6-8 before we start feeding them their bedtime bottle. And then when I get stir crazy, I start feeling really down. It was so nice just to get dressed up to go to church this morning. Sometimes I really feel like a frumpy housewife because all I wear are shorts and t-shirts! It does a world of wonder to put on a dress and a little lip gloss. :) I have also decided it is absolutely essential that I exercise. We can't afford my gym membership right now but to feel healthy and better about myself I have to keep moving and stay toned. These are girls are chubbing up and I have to have a strong back or I'll be in trouble! So, I'm going to start making exercise a daily priority.

Well, I best get lunch started. My parents are on their way here for their weekly visit. Two little girls are impossible for them to resist and they visit all the time! :)

After the kids go to bed...

I have been scrapping! The girls have been going to bed pretty consistently now between 8:30 and 9:00 so I have been spending some time in my scrap room. We have so many great pictures of the girls and I have really enjoyed getting back into creating layouts again. Before now, I don't think I've made a layout in over a year! And the best part is I am actually using things I already have and have been holding onto for just that "special occasion." :)

The girls turn 3 months old on Saturday...it's hard to believe it's only been 3 months since these little sweethearts have taken over our hearts and lives! I truly love every minute of being a mommy - even when I get frustrated. I look back over pictures of when the girls were newborns and it already makes me sad that they aren't that little any more. Time really does fly when you have kids.

Well, I best get moving today. We're headed out of town at noon today for a very important meeting regarding the finalization of our adoption. If you think of it, please say a prayer for safe travels...we have to go clear over to Cedar Rapids...which will be the longest we have ever traveled with the girls.

Have a great day! :)

Sleep, sleep, GLORIOUS sleep!

The girls are finally starting to sleep longer at night which is a huge blessing for two very tired parents (especially the mama who is usually the one up with them). Last night, we put the girls to bed by 9:00 and I think that made a world of difference. Before that, they were being very fussy at night for about 2 hours before they went to bed. It was IMPOSSIBLE to do anything as both of us were needed to walk around and rock the girls. I had hoped to get a night with a couple hours to myself but that didn't happen. I'm hoping for it next week and maybe some time on Saturday. Glen and I have found if we have a major project we want to work on a Saturday that we need to split the day in shifts. It makes things so much more manageable.

Parenting is such trial and error, isn't it? You can read up, talk to other parents for advice, but when it all comes down to it...you have to do what works best for you. I am very thankful for all the great help we have. I try not to be Super Mom and do it all myself. It's definitely very humbling to say "Yes, I need you. When can you come over?" I had a really bad day on Wednesday. Starting at 5:00 a.m. both girls were hungry at EXACTLY the same time at EVERY feeding ALL day long. Nora and Lily also apparently had a discussion and decided that taking a shower was a luxury their mama would not have until daddy came home at 6:00. Looking back, it was all somewhat comical. Around 4:00 or so, I got the girls all set up in the hallway to the bathroom in their swing and vibrating chair, stripped down, started the shower and all heck broke loose! I threw on my robe and stayed in my robe until 6:00. When Glen got home, I took an extra long shower just because I could! :) And then the girls were fussy that night on top of it. I had Glen call his mom to come over in the morning, and I woke up with the attitude that today was a brand new day. And we had a much better day! I'm sure we will have rough days to come but it was a good learning experience for me. My attitude is definitely a choice!

Today, I thought I would share a photo of the girls' first 4th of July. We celebrated in my hometown. I was very bummed that we couldn't go to the parade because of the drizzle and cold but we did get to go uptown and walk around a little bit. We even missed the fireworks because it was so cold and mama was tired. But, I couldn't resist taking some photos of the girls in their super cute festive outfits! :)

So I've been a little busy...

being a mama to these two little sweethearts! My life has completely and utterly been turned upside down and I'm loving every minute of it. I have had to learn to completely readjust my time and priorities and it has been quite the challenge. Gone are the days where I can spend a couple hours leisurely on the computer. I'm lucky if I get a couple minutes to myself every day and you can bet I'm not on the computer. At any rate, I'm hoping to start blogging again because I really enjoy it but I'll probably only get a chance to do it once a week.

Nora Elizabeth and Lily Kathryn were born on May 1st and are now 11 weeks old. The picture at the top is their 2 month shot. I LOVE this photo! They look so alike to me but I can definitely tell them apart. Although last night was a little rough, the girls are starting to sleep longer at night which is a blessing! Thankfully, we have had a lot of great help which has made the transition to parenthood much easier. My mom and dad are thrilled to be grandparents so they visit about once a week whereas my in-laws now live just 5 minutes away and my mother-in-law has been over just about every day to help me. It's been so wonderful to have her close by so I can shower, make bottles, do laundry, run errands, etc. Oh yeah, and eat! :) Eating any meal is quite difficult with twins!

At this point, I am a stay-at-home mom and enjoying it so much! Finances are definitely tight but we're trying to make it work. Daycare is so expensive, and I don't want to miss anything. We're making a lot of sacrifices personally but it's only so I can be with our girls. And with me being home we've found ways to save money on gas, food and entertainment. My only vice lately has been little girl clothes...holy cow, am I loving shopping for little girls! Most of our gifts were for the summer so I have started looking at 6-9 months stuff to get us through the fall and winter.

Milestone-wise, the girls are smiling as us which we LOVE! It's so fun to just sit and talk to my baby girls and watch them react to me. It's one of those things I never thought I would get to experience and I treasure those moments so much!

Well, I think that's a good update for today. We're celebrating our anniversary today (it's tomorrow) and going on a date. Harry Potter here we come!!!! (I am so pumped about this movie!) We have been married for 6 years now and it's hard to believe how fast the time has gone.

(By the way, I'm hoping to do some scrapping soon. We're trying to figure out our schedule so Glen and I each have one night a week to ourselves and I'm planning on spending my time scrapping. These little girls take the cutest pictures!)

Nesting!

No new pictures to share today but I wanted to update anyway. We had a VERY productive Easter weekend! We had our ducts cleaned out on Friday. This is something we've been meaning to do for awhile and decided to take a little tax return money and DO it! We've lived in our house 5 years and had no idea if the previous owners had ever cleaned the ducts. Our house was built in 1966. The duct company removed an 8 POUND bag of dirt and dust from our ducts! YUCK!!!! I'm so glad we got this done! Hopefully, it will help with allergies and keeping my house clean! While we were at it, we also had the carpets cleaned in every room except for my scrap room. The carpet should finally be dry so tonight when I get home from work, I'll be putting my house back together.

My mom and dad came for the weekend so we worked on a lot of little projects. I did some major purging, organizing and cleaning. I still have quite a bit to do in our basement but I feel so much better about what I did get accomplished! The babies' room is really close to being ready. I need to hang the curtains and that's about it. I don't have anything on the walls but I won't mess with that until they are here.

The b-mom is now 34 1/2 weeks! We're trying not to wait by the phone but it has me on edge every time it rings! :) We could get a call at any time although I am hoping that we'll get another weekend to work on things around the house!

I posted some new mini kits in my Etsy shop if you're looking for anything themed for family, wedding or Christmas photos! :)

Well, all for now. I better get some more done! Have a great Wednesday!

A little toot to share!

Wow! I was so surprised to learn I'll be guest designing for GCD Studios! Their paper collections are beautiful! I'm so thrilled for this opportunity!

We've accomplished quite a bit more since I last blogged. We found a great deal on a set of dressers at Homemaker's over the weekend and brought them home with us Sunday. I've been busy washing little girl clothes and putting them away. We registered at Babies "R" Us on Monday night. That was really fun! Ironically, it was my hubby who kept wanting to add clothes and toys to the registry. (I tried to stick to the basics). *wink* We're hoping to hit Target sometime soon and register there as well. Our big meeting is tonight with the birth mom and adoption agency. Last night I baked some chocolate chip cookies to go in a care package filled with some pampering fun for our birth mom. I'll put the rest of it together before we leave. I want her to know how much we care about her and are thinking about her the next few weeks. Maybe we'll get a better idea of how much longer it will be tonight too as I think she had a doctor appointment on Friday?!

Well, I best be getting busy. Much to do! I will say I am just itching for some creative time. I think it's been at least a month since I spent any time in my craft room and it's high time for me create! It's definitely a big stress reliever for me! :)

An exciting time in my life!

You're probably wondering where I went to?! Since my last post, I have been sick the majority of that time. I had a bad migraine for about 3 days and then got a bad cold. It went away for a week and I've been sick all this past week. I finally went to the doctor yesterday because I was coughing a lot, had tightness in my chest and a little shortness of breath. It's not bronchitis, thankfully, but I do have croup so I'm on steroids for the next week or so to help with the inflammation in my chest. This is definitely the worst time for me to be sick, but hopefully I will be over it by the time the babies arrive.

We had a week long visit from Glen's parents. They bought a condo in West Des Moines and will be moving up here the end of April/first part of May. We're very excited to have them just 10 minutes away and it will be wonderful to have their help with the girls.

I have decided to resign from Rusty Pickle's design team as well. It was a fun two years on the team! I really learned a lot, made some great projects and developed friendships that I will treasure forever. I will never forget my Amazing Race experience, that's for sure. The two weeks were crazy and very sleep deprived but I know I did some of my best work. Rusty Pickle has another Amazing Race planned and more information is on the RP blog.

Other than being sick, we have been focusing the majority of our time getting ready for our babies! The photo above is what we chose for bedding in the nursery. We painted the walls a light brown color and I wanted very feminine, shabby bedding to go in the room. What we found is perfect and just what I was looking for! We now have one crib all set up and are holding off on the 2nd crib for a little while. We're going to keep them in one crib until they start wiggling around more. I also have a bassinet that has been in our family for over 50 years. My mom, aunts, uncles, sisters and cousins have all slept in that bassinet. We have also bought our double stroller, car seats and a glider rocker and ottoman. I still really want to find a dresser and changing table sooner rather than later so I can get some clothes washed up and put away. We have a few other little things to buy before they arrive. We have had to buy the necessities because we're not having baby showers until after the girls are here. Our friends have been so generous by letting us borrow pack n' plays, exersaucers, bouncy seats, swings, etc. We're still working through names but won't be announcing what we have chosen until they arrive! That's all part of the fun! :)

We have several things you can be praying about over the next few weeks:
1) Please pray for the health and emotional well being of our birth mother.
2) Please pray for a safe delivery and healthy babies!
3) Please pray that we would both get/stay healthy and also for our emotions! (This is all very overwhelming!)
4) Please pray God would provide remaining finances we need to finalize the adoption.
5) Please pray that Glen and I would be able to spend some quality time together before the girls arrive.
6) Please pray for our next meeting with the birth mother and adoption agency to go over the hospital plan and openness after placement. We meet this Wednesday evening.

Thanks for your prayers! I'll try to update again soon! :)

Treasured Scrapbooking March Card Kit Reveal

Life has been so, so crazy the past few weeks that my blog has just taken a back burner to everything else going in my world. Here are my cards created with the March Card Kit at Treasured Scrapbooking. This is also my last kit as part of the team. I had to make a tough decision to resign from the team. The countdown is on for the arrival of our twins and I have much to do to prepare. I also resigned from the Cardalicious team. I would show you my last card but it was picked up for publication. I do have another card to share from a previous week that I haven't posted yet but I will do that another day.

I've been doing a lot of cleaning, organizing and purging around my house. Yep, I'm officially nesting! I've hit up a few garage sales and had some luck finding a few outfits. I have also bought a few little outfits for the girls. Target clearance is seriously awesome! We bought the bedding and curtains for the girls' room and it's all painted. We're working on putting in new outlets. I've been trying to clean my house using flylady.net and it's been wonderful! It is very, very likely that the twins will arrive in 3-4 weeks. Our birth mom had another ultrasound yesterday and things are looking good. She's only 30 weeks but measuring at 37 weeks. She did have a few contractions a couple weeks ago and stopped those with medication. The babies are still really small 3 lbs. 1 oz. and 3 lbs 2 oz. Please pray that they still in her tummy for a while longer. We're ferverntly praying that they are strong and healthy even though I'm sure they will be in the hospital for a while.

I've been really sick the past few days with some sort of cold/flu virus. I just ache from my head to my toes and spent most of the day in bed yesterday. I'm feeling a little better today but am hoping to be back to my old self soon.

Enjoy your day! :)

Etsy Special!

I have much to update you on regarding the Adoption Celebration and new projects but until my next post...I'm running a special in my etsy shop. (Thank you for the sales, by the way)! From now until all the cards are gone (there are 26 left), you can choose ANY 7 cards for just $20 (including first class shipping)!!!! That's less than $3.00 per card! To purchase your cards, just visit my etsy shop http://jillcornell.etsy.com and e-mail the names of the cards you want - cornellgj@yahoo.com. I'll send you a paypal invoice to pay for them. It's first come, first serve! And, remember all proceeds from card sales go to adoption costs!

Happy Shopping! :)

My Etsy Shop

I spent some time last night and this morning loading 40 of my hand crafted cards into my etsy shop. Please stop by and check it out! All of the proceeds from my cards will go towards our adoption costs. The link and a preview are on the side of my blog.

Have a great day! :)

Life is busy

I took a brief hiatus from my blog to mourn the loss of my Grandma Kathryn. I had a very, very close relationship with her and will miss her very much. Her visitation and funeral were last week so I spent a lot of time with my family. I lived just 5 minutes from my grandma and grandpa growing up so much time was spent with them on their farm. I think we saw them at least once a week and talked on the phone at least every other day while I still lived at home. Grandma and Grandpa made a point of coming to all of our school activities. For a long time, my sisters and I were the only grandchildren. I was 15 when my oldest cousin was born. He and his brothers live in Marshalltown so we were still the closest proximity to grandma and grandpa. I know what I experienced with my grandparents was very rare. It will be very important to me to have my own children spend a lot of time with their grandparents. Grandma spent the last two weeks of her life in hospice care at a nursing home. She was very, very sick with cancer and I'm so thankful she is no longer sufferring. I have many treasured memories of my last few visits with her and I was able to share with her that she was going to be a great-grandma. Our twin girls would have been her first great-grandchildren. I know I will have many difficult moments to come but now I'm busy preparing for our upcoming fundraiser this Sunday and getting ready for two baby girls to join our lives!

I'll have more projects to come soon! :)

Treasured Scrapbooking February Card Kit Reveal

It's a fun, bright card kit this month at Treasured Scrapbooking! I have so much fun creating cards from Leslie's kits and always have so much product left over from the 4 cards I make. This kit could also be used for layouts and other projects but always includes instructions for the 4 cards I create.

All for now...more to come soon! :)