Last year I had a baby and my life changed, my daily routine changed, my blog changed. Until then, I had the luxury of time to take before, after, and during-the-process photos and keep a myriad of projects going at once. Now my focus leads me to my babe {my ever-supportive husband}, my baby {my adorable little energy-sucker} and my web design business {my proverbial baby}. While I will forever be doing too many things at once, updating this blog keeps slipping down the list of things I need to do. I’m sad to stop writing it, but for now I think I need to.

So it’s bittersweet. I loved keeping this blog up, but I don’t want another thing to come between me and my three “babies”.

For now, I’ll continue to post photos {sans photo-editing and quippy write-ups} on my Facebook page.

Thank You!

You were key in my creative “coming-of-age”. I only hope to get bolder and better with age!

A look back into my favorite posts:

FYI – I loved writing this “What I Know Now” series and would love to write it into a book. Have your agent call me.

Free Download {PDF}

Bunny Poop {used with Whoppers}
Bunny Babies {used with marshmallow bunnies}
Bunny Tails {used with cotton candy or marshmallows}
Chick-a-dees {used with Easter grass and peanut butter Easter M&M’s}

If you’re not a designer

When creating favors or labels or anything from scratch… think simple. Simple makes a statement, even with the irreverant “{bunny} poop” favors. Simple goes a long way.

So, here’s the scoop. Just six weeks into our condo being on the market, we got an offer. Suddenly we had possibly 30 days to pack up and ship out. But ship where? We’re planning on renting in the same area for a while until we find “THE” house we can stay in and grow 12 babies and no pets in. But that doesn’t really answer the question. I’m flexible on the city. I’m flexible on the property-type and the size. I’m not, however, flexible on price. How on earth did rent get so high?

With equal parts “Shoot!” and “Phew!”, the offer fell through. I felt the ground back under my feet and the swift kick in my pants about being more aware of the rentals in the area. I drove by four of the possible rentals on my list, only to cross them right off. Seems like $2300/month will get you a mid-century home in San Ramon with 30 year old carpets and tiled kitchen counter tops with brown grout. $2,000 might get you a 2-bedroom condo in Dublin, split on three levels. And $1800 gets you single-paned windows, a fenced-in miniature patio, and two car-ports.

Pffffftttttt…

I don’t ask for much. I need 3-bedrooms so I have office space and room to grow. I need a place for this baby {who thinks he’s four} to run around and thin out. I need 2 clean bathrooms that won’t make me want to take a shower after I’ve been in the shower. I need a kitchen that will motivate me to cook, not work against me. And my final plea, a garage for all the things that are ‘must-haves’ for babies, but were only had for a few months, bikes, food storage, and so I don’t ever have to pour a pitcher of water on my windshield.

It doesn’t feel like too much to ask, so why is it?

Which is why my office went from this:

To this:

Oh, the glamor of motherhood!

So, a question to you work-at-home moms… what’s your routine? I am lucky enough to stay home with baby, but part of being able to do that means that I do have to work a little bit. I sprint to the computer during both naps, but sometimes those are short and there’s more to do. Please leave your tips for getting work done, aside from giving him a brother.

I also need to clarify. I am crafty, yes. But something about scrapbooking makes me want to melt into a puddle. I don’t have the patience or the desire to organize, cut and glue the photos. This year, Kodak SAVED ME.

Kodak very generously offered to pay for my photo book this year. After I had separated the photos on my hard drive that I wanted to use, I uploaded them to the kodak website and this is what happened:

No joke, the book was done.

Pictures were AUTOMATICALLY arranged in date order, and placed into perfect little layouts. Melt into a puddle, I did not. I spent about 15 minutes moving a few pictures via a super-easy drag and drop method, added a few captions and was done! If this is not a life saver, it’s at least a TIME-saver. I love how the book turned out, and loved how easy it was. Other programs I have used for digital scrapbooks line all of your images along the bottom, and one by one you place them into a layout. It can take HOURS. Kodak is the bomb, ’nuff said.

Loving my new photo book, it arrived just a few days later. Look at my little boo and how much we’ve done this year!

So no, it wasn’t just about a free photo book. It was about trying a great new product, that has totally won me over. I LOVE when an easy solution comes around to make my ordinarily busy life somewhat more manageable.