A new Chapter...

Today really started a new chapter in our lives - especially Carter's. At his 4 year well-check last year, we casually mentioned to the doctor that Carter has been walking primarily on his toes. I never actually thought this was a really big deal - lots of kids do it. But, thought we should mention it. Ack! Apparently it's a BIG deal! Lots of kids do toe-walk...but it's something they should completely outgrow by about their 3rd birthday. So, into investigation mode we went. Carter saw several doctors, and started going to physical therapy once a week for an hour. We've been doing this for about 5 months now.

He has been a lot better! His therapist tells us he met 4/5goals by his 16th visit with her - basically being able to walk a flight of stairs and alternate steps (not take one step leading with the same foot), and his muscles/tendons are all stretched to normal limits. However, his 5th goal was to walk on his heels over 80% of the time. FAIL. He only does this on average of 30% of the time, and needs reminded a lot!

To avoid potential damage to his posture (he tends to stick his butt out a teeny bit when he stands - a big sign of problems) and to keep his legs in good working order we needed to take another step. We got several opinions, and they ranged from getting braces to force the tendons into position to surgery - where he'd have both legs in casts for 2-3weeks.

We also had him tested for sensory perception and general wellness for his age group. He passed it all!

Overall, it was decided to try these orthotic braces. So, today we went to have them made. They told me on the phone that the appointment would take an hour. However, we were in and out in about 20minutes. Carter got a sock on his feet, and then the tech wrapped his legs and feet with fiberglass and put his leg into position. The casts hardened, and she cut them off. She asked Carter what color he wanted (he chose red) and sent us on our way. Now they are off to be molded and he gets them officially on April 20th.

Here he is with the sock on - the yellow strip is a spacer with a groove in it - she used it to cut off the cast. Carter was interested and asked what everything was.

Here he is waiting for the cast to harden. He insisted on "posing" for the pic! 

Here she is cutting it off. The cast she slit with a knife...but the sock she cut off with scissors. You can tell by the look on his face that he isn't quite sure about that. He never cried though, or complained! 

We went for ice cream after! :)

The braces will go under his foot and up the back of his legs. You can see where the mold ends right under his knee. The tech told us that the first few days are a bit hard, but after that kids get used to them really fast. He will always wear shoes with them - so, we'll be buying a few new pairs to wear inside only (we're a no shoes house!). We'll wait and see if he needs a bigger size or not...

Finished!

I made this flower bouquet with a specific cause in mind - (I'll let you know later on what that is). I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I used Cosmo Cricket's Ever After line, and added some bling in the form of rhinestones as well as glimmermist in a few different shades. To add a bit more I attached a few paper butterflies. The watering can came from Michaels. Otherwise, the entire thing is handmade from paper.

 A closeup of details...

Pics!

Well, we finally bit the bullet and packed away the trains on Carter's train table. He got this table for his 2nd birthday (a gift from my parents) and it has been well loved and played with. Lately however, the trains have been gathering dust and Lego mania has taken over. So, the other day I suggested to Carter that we take off the tracks (we had adhered them down to the table) and turn the table into a Lego play area.

It took me most of the day to take down all the track and pack it up - I just put it all in a big bin...still available for free play when the mood strikes! Then I flipped the top over to the plain green. The big plastic Lego bin I bought at Michaels. It's actually for scrapbook/bead storage. I sorted it all out in colors and sizes and set up a play area. It was totally worth it! He sat here and played for 2.5 hours solid this afternoon. Just building away! Glad he enjoys it! Guess my boy is growing up!

Amd here's a bonus pic. This naughty kitty will be 2 years old on Friday! Carter keeps asking her who she'll invite to her party! LOL. 

What a crazy pose - she loves soaking up the sun! 

New Project for Crop Chocolate

One of the places I design for is Crop Chocolate. Crop Chocolate is a scrapbook "Deal a Day" site, although they run several great deals through each day. It's definitely worth a look if you've never checked them out before. This month I was asked to create an Easter/Spring project with their supplies.

I chose to make some bright Easter cards with Echo Park's "A Walk In the Park" line. Here's a look... 

I can't believe it's almost Easter...where does the time go??!

Photos

Here are a few recent photos...

This is Carter at Physical Therapy. He goes once a week for an hour at Mills Hospital. Here he is, with his therapist, Hetty, doing a focusing game. Carter loved it since it involved Legos!

 Here they are working with a ball and stretching. Carter's leg and ankle muscles are really tight, so he walks on his toes. The therapy is working on stretching and relaxing the muscles. Next week he is also getting fitted for braces to help a bit more. :(

 The extra fun part of PT - playing! You can see by his hair - he works/plays HARD - he really sweats!

Last weekend, they had a Master Builder Lego event at Hillsdale Mall, and Carter wanted to go. He has two great loves right now. Lego, and Star Wars. They were building an 8' Yoda, and were letting kids help. Here is Carter posing with one of the characters they had milling around.

 Building part of Yoda's cane...

How is looks so far - the mini Yoda on top it the pattern.

Storm Trooper - Carter wanted to look, but wasn't sure about posing with him...

The finished Yoda! We went back a few days later to look at it!

Yup, this boy is obsessed with Lego from sun-up to dun-down. Honestly, he gets out of bed and starts playing, and goes all day down. I have to say for 4 years old, he is really creative with Lego. He builds all sorts of cars and other things from his imagination (and they are really good!). He can also follow the instructions to build a kit meant for 5,6,7 year olds. His birthday list is already a mile long with all the sets he wants...I think we're going to be overrun by Lego soon enough!

Lastly, a pic from last Monday - dinner out with some great ladies from the Mom's Club. We had a fun time! 

I'm on a role!

I'm super excited to announce that I was asked to be a designer for Scrapbook Island - a somewhat local store for me - in San Jose. Be sure to check out their blog, and also their Facebook Page. It's a great store with lots of awesome product, cool classes, and an amazing new crop space! I am hoping to make it to one of their all day crops super soon!

I posted the page I did for their DT call a few posts ago - the one with no photos.

But, since a little eye candy is always good - here's another new LO I created. It looks a little lack-luster online, but I love it in person. Tons of hand-stitching, and dimension added with glimmer mist. I've only been using mists for 3-4months now, but I am ADDICTED! A little goes a long way and just adds that little touch to your projects!

New Layout!

Now that the cat is out of the bag so to speak, I can share a few new projects. Here's a LO I made with the brand new BG party line. It was exclusively designed for WeScrap. I LOVE this photo of Carter on his first birthday. He loved the cake and had a super time getting reallllly messy with it.

The little grin on his face says it all!

If you're looking for the giveaway, please see the next post - just found some more new stuff to add to the pot! This envie is going to be BIIIIIG!

BIG NEWS!

WeScrap is BACK! If you've previously been a member of this awesome site, then you'll know the website has been down for the last few weeks. It's back and better than ever!

There is an all new forum, so go check it out and be sure to register: http://www.wescrap.com/

I'm a big fan of the site. I've been a member for a while, and am excited that I've just been asked to do a term as a designer! WeScrap has great people, fun challenges and crop, and awesome prizes! They also offer a gorgeous kit full of scrappy goodness each month!

Please go check it out, join the forum and tell them I sent you!

As an added incentive, I have a scrappy giveaway to celebrate the re-opening and my new DT position!

I'm giving away 3 different packs of embellies from Making Memories, some journaling blocks, some gorgeous silver embossed buttons, a damask journal stamp, and whatever else I find between now and when I draw a name!

To enter:
Leave a comment on my blog - you'll get one entry
Become a follower of my blog - you'll get a second entry
Become a member at Wescrap and post at least once - you'll get THREE additional entries.

I'll draw a winner at random from all the names on April 1st - you have until then to enter! Good luck!

Lomg time, no post!

It's been a while since I posted - sorry! I was super sick last week with a cold that really kicked my butt. We've also been going through a lot with Carter and his physical therapy on his feet (toe-walker). It's been an appointment filled week, and I've just been behind on everything. Stay tuned though! I have some layouts I can't share quite yet, and some scrappy news to come!

This might tide you over? I created this layout for a DT call (still crossing my fingers on the outcome, but don't really have my hopes too far up). I had to give my LO in to the store to submit, so I snapped a quick (and apparently not-so-good) pic of it before I sent it in. The store is auctioning off the layouts at their annual breast cancer crop. What a great idea! I took advantage of the fact that I wouldn't be using it personally and made a super girly layout! These are mostly new papers from Crate Paper.

I'll be back soon! I have some pics of Carter to share, and some layouts that are still in top secret mode!

My street today...

Today was both an exciting day, boring day...well, and it was also very unproductive! LOL. I spent the entire morning and part of the afternoon literally looking out the window. Why you, ask? Because I was confined to my home by the SSFFD.

Back story - for about a week now there has been a large red garbage can on the other side of the street (across from our house). I've noticed it, since it's definitely an eyesore. However, since cars were parking by it every day, and the neighbors who lived next to it, seemed to leave it alone, I figured it was theirs.

Apparently not. I'm not sure if the city came by to do maitenence or someone complained about it. About 10am though I noticed a city truck come by and park behind it. Shortly after, the firetrucks started showing up - complete with sirens and lights (which in it's own is kind of impressive since I could WALK to the firehouse in about 2 minutes from my house! LOL) Several trucks arrived, a hazard truck, and a ton of emergency personnel. I decided it was time to go out and "check the mail". I was immediately ushered back into the house. When I asked what was going on, I was told the garbage can was suspicious, and I should stay inside until it was all over. They went about completely blocking off the street with both red fire tape and yellow caution tape.

For about an hour, nothing happened. Yes, I was watching! LOL. More people gathered at the end of the street, and they got out hoses, and the hazard suits went on. After about 90mins they finally went in and checked the contents. I had the window open (shh!) and could hear them radioing back - sounded like the ph was 7 (neutral I think) and overall it must have just been dirt, water, and other harmless crap.

By about 1:30 they started flushing the street with water, and packing up. Considering this all started at 10am though, quite the commotion! I was a little worried that I'd be stuck here and not able to pick up Carter. He normally gets out at 12:30 and I leave about 12:10 - just when they were sampling. Luckily he could stay in aftercare today. Now at almost 2pm I am on my way to go get him. Safety issues aside, I am kinda sad he missed it. He would have LOVED watching out his window!

Here are a few pics...

Firetucks and caution/red tape going up

Laying out the hoses...

Sample testing

Deemed safe (I assume), so everyone comes to check it out

Steve's car and the street get a good washing! They poured sand around the drains...not sure if they dumped the bucket, or what - it's between the blue truck and the white van.

Washing our car (the blue one on the end)

Interesting day!

Photo Update!

I was taking a ton of pics this morning of all the action in front of our house, and I realized I haven't uploaded pics from my camera in quite a while! Here are a few recent ones...

Carter on kindergarten registration day - this is his new school for next fall!

Carter at Hop N Play

We took Carter to go see "Tangled" in the theatre

Once again...and Hop N Play - a favorite place. Carter and Hunter (his girlfriend Brooke's baby brother)

Brooke, Jade and Hunter (they are twins - almost 9mos!) and Carter in the balloon room at Hop N Play

Cuddles with the babies

We took Jade and Hunter to Red Robin after our playdate - their first time at a restaurant. They both loves the fries and mac and cheese! Carter insists he's a big brother - so he horned in on the family pic! LOL

Travel Layout

This is a layout I designed for Crop Chocolate. Crop Chocolate is a scrapbook "deal a day" site - although they actually have a ton of deals rotate through each day. If you haven't checked out the site before, you definitely should. It's addicting!

This LO is made from the MM Panorama travel line - it's a pic of my sister and Carter in Hawaii last year.

A Layout!

Another layout from my stash - made this layout from older papers from MME!

The photo is a pic of Carter in Montreal last fall. He had a good time playing in the leaves!

Using scraps...

I've been seriously digging into my stash lately and trying to use up scraps. Here's a great example of how I used my scraps from the butterfly frame in the next post.

I made this card and cute candleholder (the glass base came from Crate and Barrel) to use up these scraps. LOVE these B&W papers from GCD studios!

Butterflies!

I made this pretty butterfly frame with the help of a few of my favorite supplies!

Paper is gorgeous double sided shimmery textures from GCD Studios

I spritzed the mat with three different colors of glimmer mist to make it stand out.

The butterflies are courtesy of my Cricut, and the bling from Kaisercraft.

The frame is a simple frame I picked up on my last trip to Ikea!

I promised my friend Leslie, something handmade in 2011...so Leslie - this is for you! xo

What I've been up to!

Here's a few projects I've finished around the house this week....a paper wreath for the living room.

 a vinyl sign for the entry way.

 finally framed this LO of Carter

 
 and framed this LO in a shadowbox for the living room.

WIN A YEAR'S WORTH OF KITS!!

WeScrap is giving away A YEARS worth of kits to one lucky blog follower - be sure to check out the link below to win!

WeScrap Kits: March Kit + WIN A YEAR'S WORTH OF KITS!!: "Well it's March 1st and we've got our gorgeous March Kit to debut! Its titled Her Majesty and is filled with all sorts of yummy regal scrap..."