YIPPEE KAI YAY! VISIT MY NEW BLOG

I've been marinating on this for a while, and I came to the conclusion that since I've reached my maximum photo storage for this blog and I've been wanting to consolidate and make my online presence a bit more cohesive;  I've decided to move forward and step up my game a little bit. Please visit my NEW blog at iloverosemarywatson.com to keep up with all the fun goings on with my little (I mean big) family, my creative endeavors, and all the like. Thanks for reading, friends!

Baby Update: Week 23

It's getting hotter people. I've luckily only had one bad bought of acid reflux that resulted in a pretty sleepless night; other than that it's been pretty smooth sailing. Although I did get a call from my doctor's office today saying that my blood transfusion with the twins resulted in antibodies being formed and Braden's blood has those antibodies, so I may need to be transferred to a specialist. Not stressing or anything, everything will work itself out; it's just a circumstance I wished we could have avoided but C'est La Vie. I'll keep everyone updated on the progress. 

Baby Update: Week 19

We had our ultrasound yesterday and here's the big news:

**bow design from Rhonna Designs**

Baby Update: 18 weeks

Here's a before & after pic of my "chalkboard" frame for my maternity shots. Landen wanted to help ;)

Now I must go and search for a Pear Cake recipe, which I have a sudden strange hankering for.

Baby Update: Week 17 {and a quick sewing project}

Another week down- just 23 more to go! So excited for our ultrasound that is planned for May 9th, and our Gender Reveal Party {more details to come}

In other news- I sewed myself a Coral colored maxi skirt! I just followed this pattern, and it took me 30 minutes. Make one for yourself- they are perfect for summer, pregnant or not! 

Source: elleapparel.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

What I did this weekend

This is my bestest friend in the whole wide world- Stacy.

On Saturday her baby sister got married, and I was lucky enough to photograph the whole thing.

Stacy lives in Brooklyn and I live here in Mesa, but when we're together the time and miles disappear and we're like we've always been. Perfect together.

Foto Friday: Week 25

It's this guy's birthday today:

And I'm glad inform everyone that the bad part of a fight is over, and the good part of a fight {the making up part} in in full force. I must admit, as much as I hate feeling like garbage, nothing breathes new life into a relationship like working through a problem together. I was mulling over that fact in my head the other day, and I realized that I want the freshness in our relationship to last longer than the just the days after a problem. I want this good part to continue on. I don't want to slip back into our normal routine, and feel like we don't appreciate one another enough. So, I came up with a plan to keep this "make-up" going.  A "relationship treasure hunt" if you will. Cheesy? Yes. Fun? Yes. Will it work? We'll see; and if you'd like to try it and see if it adds more excitement and newness into your relationship, then it's a win-win!

I made us a Spice Jar.

designed using Rhonna Designs Junqued Frames // Rhonna Designs Mini Seals

Ours is just a mason jar painted copper, but you could use any container you want. I came up with a bunch of things for us to do together {I came up with 66 things}, printed them out on two slips of paper each so we each can pick one of things throughout the year, then folded the papers and stuck them in our jar. We each pick one out every Friday and have the whole week to do what it says on the paper.

You can either come up with them together or by yourself and surprise your man. I would share my list, but some of them get a little steamy and I wouldn't want my family members who read my blog to get throughly grossed out, so I'll just share a few:

In addition to the jar, we're going to keep a Spice Journal to put photos of our experiences, put in our love notes to each other, etc. I think it's going to be so exciting and push us to put effort into our relationship on a weekly basis.

Feel free to try this experiment out and let me know how it goes! In the meantime, here is the rest of the Foto Friday entries:

Meg

Hilary

Kristyn

Christine

Personal Day

This weekend was bad. I mean it was an awful, terrible, no-good, very bad last few days. My kids were awful, Braden was out of town, the kids were sick, I didn't get any sleep, and last but certainly not least Braden and I got in the biggest fight of our lives. Rival only to the New Years Incident of 2009, which was pretty bad. I am saddened to say, that I officially lost my shit. And now, I'm fairly certain it's going to take a little while to mend.

Isn't it strange how fragile life is? Think about all the time, and effort and hard work goes into building someone's life. I mean, everyone has a mother that has devoted her life completely to caring for that person. People most likely have friends and brothers and sisters that love them; and many have children who depend on them. But in the end, none of that matters to Death. It comes to us all, but there is no "life meter" that measures how good someone is, or how much they deserve to keep on living, or how many people will miss them. It doesn't matter. When it's time, it's time; no matter what anyone's plans are. I know that God has a plan and everything happens for a reason, but I know that I will never understand the reasoning behind how much goes into building a life, and how little it takes for it to end.

I think it's the same thing for relationships. Any relationship really, but marriage is particularly fragile. No matter how amazing your husband is, no matter how hard he works, no matter how much you love him and you know that he loves you; one incident, one bad decision, one weekend can throw everything into turmoil. It doesn't seem very fair.

For those of you that read other people's blogs and think how perfect their life is, I want you to know that a blog usually only highlights a portion of someone's life. Every single person has bad things to deal with, and no marriage is perfect. Different couples have different problems, but I believe that the ones who make it are the ones who believe that their relationship is worth fighting for. Anything worth having is. And while I'll still probably be a little blue for a few days, I believe that I am really lucky to be able to fight with as good a man as Braden. I wouldn't want to fight with anybody else.

Sorry for the downer post, I just wanted to keep it real here, ya know? So, for a pick-me-up, I had a Personal Day yesterday. I got a pedicure & a manicure, and got a haircut & new color. I spent all day, all by myself. Unfortunately, while that sounded like a good idea- I spent the whole day sad and lonely and was not really cheered up until I got home to my family. I realized that nothing out there was going to make me feel better. The only thing I need is being with the people I love the most- my kids and my husband. I hope that if anyone else is in the same boat, know that you are not alone, and everyone has crappy situations to deal with. Even the luckiest people.

A Typical Monday

I had a day full of organizing, gardening, vacuuming, laundry, and chasing around 5 kids. I made Braden take a minute to snap a photo for a project I'm working on, with a peek at the chicken run I featured on hello there! house today. Head on over there for a better look of what we worked on this weekend. Now I'm off to relax and watch some College Football- Roll Tide!

New Year New Design

I love New Years. It's a fresh start; an opportunity to become whomever you want to be. Whether it's a new wardrobe direction, a new haircut, a home redecorating project, or a blog refresh- it feels so good to get a makeover. I've split my time today between deep cleaning my house and working on my new blog design and I must say, I'm loving where it's going so far. I always begin with finding color inspiration and this time I used the Pantone Color of The Year {Tangerine Tango} as a starting point and went from there.

Such a fun process because it forces me to reflect on myself and the things I'd like to work on for the upcoming year. I have a lot to learn, but I've come such a long way so far. I have lots of big plans for 2012, but I'm determined to take it slow and keep my life as simplified as possible. Enjoy the special moments I have everyday with my family and appreciate all the wonderful things I am lucky to have in my life. I keep thinking it can't get much better than this, but it seems like each year is more wonderful than the last. Cheers to a productive and peaceful 2012.

Happy Haunting Day 10: All Hallows Eve

A lot of people have been asking if I'm still alive since it has been an entire week since I posted last. Tis true that I completely fell off the radar last week. Holidays with 5 kids turns out to be incredibly busy and I literally went into zombie mode running and volunteering and making preschool party treats and teacher gifts and party invitations and preparing for our Pumpkin carving party and creating, bulding, & painting carnival games for a friend's Fall Festival and coaching cheer for their final football game and this week is competition so we've had extra practices, and....... well, you get the picture. I was so busy literally running around last week I literally ran out of time to do any blogging. That includes my Foto Friday entry, so sorry ladies for dropping the ball last week. I need to try and prep my Foto Fridays a week in advance or something to make absolutely certain I don't miss again. I think I'm going to put in a request to add 5 extra hours to each day so I can try and fit everything in. I didn't even get to finish my girls Halloween dresses I've half sewn them :( Oh well, there's always next year I suppose.

And of course the minute I whipped out my camera to take pictures of all the kids in their costumes {the girls were all Pocahontas/indian girls and Landen was Lightning McQueen} my camera battery died : / So we used a friend's camera to document but I don't have any photos to share of the kids tonight. I did however did snag a couple of photos of my Dia De Los Muertos Makeup I mentioned a couple weeks ago. 

I hope you all had a delightful Halloween. Now onto Thanksgiving fun! 

Happy Haunting Day 7: My Halloween Costume

This year I decided I WAS going to dress up, but I wanted to keep it simple. I scoured my beloved Pinterest and found THE most gorgeous Dia De Los Muertos photos and I knew I found my costume.

Source: google.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: weheartit.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: None via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: weheartit.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: host.pappapak8.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: host.pappapak8.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: host.pappapak8.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: host.pappapak8.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: host.pappapak8.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: bing.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: herebewitches.tumblr.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

That last vintage photo is my absolute FAVORITE thing. So, I gathered up my ideas, and started designing my costume. I can't wait to share next week!

Work & Play

Over Labor Day weekend, my sister Eryn & I photographed a wedding in beautiful Pinetop. The weather was perfectly overcast but not rainy, the location (which was right on Rainbow Lake) was gorgeous, and the wedding itself was simply beautiful. While we were waiting on the groom to show up for his photos, we found a pretty piece of land to take some shots of each other. Eryn looked particularly lovely Sunday. 

I apparently forgot the Cardinal Rule of Eyeliner that day, but still the background is far too pretty not to post. 

I used House of 3's Collage Storyboard Kit or the Photo Storyboards. Stay tuned for the wedding photos- they are absolutely divine! 

It's Time For My Big Announcement!!!!

After a couple of weeks of keeping it on the hush-hush, I can FINALLY announce my new super secret project!

I have been picked to be a designer in the Rhonna Designs team! Hallelujah! (Choir singing in the background)

You guys, you have NO IDEA how thrilled to the max I am about this new project. Rhonna has been my creative idol for more than four years. I've been obsessed with her art since she was a Garden Girl at Two Peas, and I was head over heels in love with her at House of 3. She has been such an inspiration to me, and now I get to help her inspire so many others by being a part of this Design Team!

The new Rhonna Designs Site will be launching tomorrow, and will be offering up some fabulous digital designs for you to use in blogging, photography, scrapbooking, home decor, & your hybrid projects! The possibilites are endless for these digital kits! Here are some of my favorites:

6 Week Brush Kit

$5

Number Tags Kit

$5

Blog Frame Works Kit

$5

Stay tuned tomorrow for some awesome giveaways you can win to get all these fun digital designs for yourself! Be sure to like Rhonna Designs on Facebook to be entered in even more giveaways!

hello there! house Meet 'N' Greet next Saturday

Hey everyone, pretty pretty please come on down for our hello there! house Meet 'N' Greet at The Herb Box in Old Town Scottsdale Satruday, August 20th! It will be so much fun and we have a TON of fabulous things & people to share with everyone. I'm getting giddy with excitement! Head on over to herbboxmeetngreet.eventbrite.com/ to snag your tickets!

Keepin It Real

It's been one of those weeks, folks. The kind that starts out all revved up and full of promise, but seems to start sagging in the middle, and by the end.....well, I seem to be in a state of melancholy. Not depressed or bummed per se, but just- stuck. Like I've made to do list after to do list, and I seem to just stare at them and the time slips away and all of a sudden it's 9:45 pm and I realize I didn't get anything substantial done at all and I can't quite recall what I even did today. I'm just in a pool of tapioca, floating along. Not happy or sad. Just floating. Ugh.

When I get like this I spend a lot of time on my computer doing what seems to be "wasting time" as Braden so lovingly puts it, but in reality I am gathering inspiration and wise words to help me out of my stagnation. While hunting & gathering I came across this post from Second Sister Suaviloquy:

Source: suaviloquy.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Her honest and a teeny bit scared declaration made me feel so much better that there are people out there just like me who are tenacious and brave until it gets right down to the thick of things and then there is an "Oh Shit What Have I Gotten Myself Into" moment where we just take a deep breath and pray that everything turns out as fabulous as it in our heads and plunge forward with a desperate ferocity.

A little reassurance from a real life stranger but internet soul mate sure goes a long way.

Someone Strike Up The Band

Because HALLELUJAH! I've got it! I'm proud to say that I've finally conquered the elusive crochet hook!

I've been trying to learn how to crochet for-damn-ever and FINALLY it came to me. Crocheting is one of those things that no matter how many sleepless nights you stay awake until 3:30 am watching tutorials on YouTube (not sayin I did that), it just doesn't click until you have a real person show you. Even then my poor grandma had to listen to my frustrated rantings during our Tucson vacation in July as she tried patiently to teach me how to get the hang of it. But I just couldn't I'd get all stressed out about the yarn tension, and how to hold my hands, and how tightly to grip the hook, and which string to go under and how many times I wrap the needle, and AAAHHHHHH!!!!!!

The anxiety about killed me.

But lo and behold- I left crocheting alone for a few weeks, and upon revisiting it, I got it! It was a revelation! You really have to find your groove with crocheting, but once you find it there's no turning back. It's really quite addicting.

I've been obsessing over crochet ideas lately, and I decided to try my hand at this blanket:

Source: gluestickgirl.tumblr.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Isn't it lovely? Except my blocks are completely wonky and uneven, but really that matters not because it will just make it look eccentric and funky. (Maybe if I just keep telling myself that it will come true). The tutorial for the blanket is found at Dottie Angel's, which is full of crafty goodness.

In the meantime, I wanted to crochet something for my dear little Lola (my first niece ever!) that will be coming into the world in the winter, so I found a wonderful Baby Beanie tutorial on Crochet Geek. I put in into a PNG file so I could remember where it is and not get lost in my bookmarks folder of Doom.

Mine turned out a bit pointy up top, so I decided it needed a pom pom. The pom pom tutorial is from Candice Carpenter's blog



I also added a sweet little flower on the edge to give it some pizzaz (every baby loves a little piz-AZZ, you know). I can't find the tutorial I used for the flowers, so I'll keep looking and post it soon!


So that's my latest crafting adventure. I feel so accomplished. Now I have a pile of scrap fabric waiting to be turned into a Back To School Dress for little Penelope, who's first day of preschool with her brother Landen is next Tuesday. Get ready for some momma tears.

We interrupt this photography challenge

To say, yet again, we've had a rather busy week here at The Watson House. Olivia starts Kindy Monday and we've been doing all kinds of work this week in preparation (plus lots of other work for various projects). It finally hit me today after Meet The Teacher Night that my life is about to change forever. I am no longer in the Baby Stage of my life. I am transitioning into the Schoolchildren Stage. And I am scared. I don't want my Baby Stage to end. I want to keep all my Bitties here with me forever and ever and never let them go to school (even though I know that this change will be good for both Olivia and I). I am literally sick to my stomach and holding back tears that time is marching on and I don't think I really appreciated it while it was happening and now it's over and I can't do anything to get it back.

I am sad.

So tomorrow it is All About Olivia Day where we will do everything she wants all day because come Monday, she's gone. And then I'll blink and she'll be graduating High School. So, now the tears are no longer being held back and I will stay up all night being so thankful for the time I got to spend here at home with her and wishing I could have done more with that time.

On a brighter note, here are some photos of Lala's Meet The Teacher Night.