Author Archives: carrievoris

Do you know a Survivor?

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My mom is a breast cancer survivor, and I know several other women who are survivors, and well…I just think this is very cool.

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October, just days away!), AstraZeneca has designed an interactive program, called Celebration Chain, to honor women with breast cancer and celebrate their unique qualities – while raising money for research.

On the Celebration Chain website, you can create free virtual dolls designed to reflect real women who have overcome or are currently battling breast cancer who you’d like to honor, both in looks and personality. AstraZeneca will donate $1 to breast cancer research for every doll created up to $25,000. You can learn more about the program and make your doll by visiting http://www.celebrationchain.com/celebration.com

It is lots of fun, and FREE. Go make some dolls and honor survivors in your life! I am off to do mine!

(Thanks Heather for the heads-up!)

Potty Power!

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Whaaat’s that?

Oh, hey! Good to see you here…you just caught me daydreaming about how wonderous it will be when I do not have to buy any sort of diaper, pull-up, or pee/poop containment apparel.

The day is so close, I can almost taste it.

After a pretty successful potty day (while out running errands, no less!) yesterday, and a couple viewings of Potty Power! (thanks so much, Amy!), little A. decided that we needed to wear big girl underwear this morning.

And at time of posting, we still have the same underwear on, dry underwear, coinciding with five or six successful visits to the potty. (We are talking 7+ hours here, people!)

This is one of those milestones which I will not be writing tearful goodbyes about. But I am just a little bit leery, I mean it really is going to be this easy with her? Really?

Maybe God figured I had enough trauma with the months and months of “training” with Emma and I deserve a painless, quick experience this time around. Or maybe the DVD does have some sort of subliminal messaging that really gets into their little brains. Or maybe just having a big sister like Emma, who happens to be the biggest cheerleader ever, is the catalyst to becoming a “big girl.”

Whatever it is, I am waiting with bated breath while knocking on wood, keeping my fingers crossed, and employing any other superstition or trick I can, just hoping that we are on our way to having two little “big” girls.

I have the cutest, proudest photo of A. wearing her new undies this morning for the first time, but I am very apprehensive to post it. It makes me very mad that I have to feel this way – but I will send it out to family and friends via email. If you really want to see it, leave a comment or send me a mail and I’ll send it along.

Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with this photo of A. as she is yelling “Potty Power!”

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And just because my blog has been turning a bit into a photo-blog as of late, I’ll throw in one more of Addie.

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All eyes on the prize…also note, a new princess gown in the rotation. I almost prefer the Cinderelly skirt, though. It was less trouble.

Crafty Tuesday

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I have been trying to budget my time to fit in some more scrapbooking this week, however – sadly, I am still not very effective and only completed 2 pages again this week. I am so envious of Kimmer, she attended an all-weekend scrap this past weekend – she better have some good stuff to show today!

First up, I got this paper this month from my scrapbook club and with the fall-like weather around these parts this past weekend, I felt a little inspired. This was 4 weeks after Addie was born, her first trip to the pumpkin patch. I incorporated four (count ’em!) different papers and used chalk to “vintage-up” the chipboard and some of the papers. Getting a little crazy around here…

 

(As always click for the bigs.)

Next up. Might be one of my all-time favorite layouts. I love the simplicity of this and the fact that it celebrates Em and her best friend, Lauren. Had a hard time deciding on photos for this one, though.

 

What sort of craftiness have you been up to lately? Bring it on.

Getting a little crowded in here.

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Daddy didn’t bring back presents from his trip last week to Chicago, so while we were out last week, (Little sidenote – we had 2 consecutive date nights…that is two nights. In a row. Without children. Doing grown-up things. It was heavenly.) he found a couple of friends that he had to buy for the girls.

 

Yes, the last thing they need is more toys. Yes, they are a wee bit spoiled by their Daddy. Yes, the cat is larger than Addie and she can barely carry him. And, yes, the monkey looks suspiciously like Emma.

So they have been carefully added to the respective entourages. And I wonder why Addie doesn’t want to nap lately?

That is her, curled up under kitty to the left of the crib. In case you couldn’t spot her.

Also present: bear, blankie, old kitty, snoopy, Birthday puppy from Nena, Birthday doggy from Uncle Jeff and Wendy, Birthday puppy (and purse!) from Aunt Meesh, Elmo book, and the ever-present Cinderella gown. Although she did take it off, it is never more than a few feet away from her.

By the time we get everything in the crib she wants to sleep with, you’d think she would be tired. Maybe there are just too many diversion. Or maybe there just isn’t enough room for her to stretch her weary body out…

Picasso v. 2.0

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I took Em to this free art class today at the Happy Art Studio. I found out about the free lesson because the instructor is also a fitness instructor at my gym. (Very talented artist AND incredibly fit, as well…yes, you can hate her, too.)

Anyhow, A. and I dropped Em off, and I am continually amazed at how “old” Em appears to be. She sat right down at the little desk, like she does this sort of thing all the time. Dropping her at a strange school, with a woman she has never met before, and running for the door, it all didn’t seem to phase her in the least.

When we returned two hours later, the teacher could not stop raving about how talented she is, how well she listens, how detail-oriented she is, and just generally what a great kid she is. Of course I was partly very proud of her, (I do know she does have some artistic talent in there) but I was also a little, “Whaaaat? Not one sassy moment? You didn’t have to repeat yourself twenty times? No excuses?”

It is very comforting to know that she is a “good” kid when I send her out on her own, into the world. And I should just be thankful that she is comfortable with me and understand that she needs to test her limits. But, come on! Can’t I have just one day with that “good” kid? No fights. No battles. No questions asked.

Here is the artwork she worked on today –

I was pretty impressed. They were working on basic shapes, mostly circles, ovals and half-circles. I did like the school, they get a lot of individualized attention and she really liked it. She said she would rather do art school than soccer (which she has been bugging me about for the past year!).

But, (there is always a but, right?) it is expensive. So expensive. So now what do we do? She could be a great artist. I certainly don’t want to squash any talent she might have, or not help it blossom. But I could also buy her a lot of art supplies for the cost of just a few classes.

Rain, Rain Stay and Play

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It is one of those gorgeous, lazy, rainy days. We had plans to visit the fair, but those plans were thwarted a bit by the fact that it has been raining since last night.

But I couldn’t be happier! We get so few rainy days here in SoCal, it really is a treat.

I’m going to go lounge around in my jammies, eat our bagels and hopefully the right Michigan team will show up today so we can teach Addie “Hail to the Victors.”