Hershey Park Happy!

We had such a fabulous day yesterday at Hershey Park. Mitchell amazed Larkin and I by how much he loved the rides. Because of his tiny size

he was limited to what he could ride. There was a little rollercoaster that he wanted to go on again (in his words.) He rode it twice and just had a blast. Today he asked Larkin if he could go back to the chocolate park.

The new water area was really neat but there were two large areas closed down which made the rest of it packed. Hopefully next time we go we'll be able to enjoy that area a little more.

Marshall for the most part just hung out. He got a few real hot cranky moments but for the most part he was a real trooper.

It was a great family day!!

RSSFWD

Ok has anyone else had isssues with www.rssfwd.com? When I plug in blogs it takes forever to register them and then gives me errors that the page is not available. It's really frusterating because I then forget to go back and add the blog and never receive their updates. Just had to vent!

Blog Counter Up!!

Well after some frusteration, I finally got my blog counter up. Right now it is at zero but once it hits 100 I'm going to offer some blog candy. So post away and visit all you want. I have already be gathering some things together and will post a picture and the "rules" after it hits 100. If your a none scrapbooker/card maker/crafter, still comment and visit. I'll make the blog candy fun for everyone. :)

Tomorrow we are headed to Hershey Park. Please pray for a rain free day for us. Right now it's supposed to be scattered thunderstorms. As long as it's not all day long I don't mind. It'll help us keep cool. I have the ponchos ready to go and an extra change of clothes packed.

I'm taking a break from crafting for the next day or two just to spend time with my family and recoup. I have some Cricut images I need to cut out that I sold on eBay. Won't be doing that any more. They don't sell for nearly enough considering the time that is put into them.

Take care, have a great night and I'll post after the weekend with some (hopefully) finished projects. Have a great night!!

Marshall enjoying some Dippen Dots Ice Cream!!

Double Blogging!

Two blogs in one night. Wow I'm on a roll. I wanted to share my latest projects with you. I realized I never shared my Pluto border set. I also completed a dinosaur layout for a swap and also a thinking of you card for a church friend. I also worked on getting my kits together for my PA shoebox swap in another 2 weeks. Fun stuff!!

Ok real quick for those of you that asked what blog candy is. Basically once I set up a calculator to see how many visit I get to my blog once it hits 100 I'm going to offer scrapbook/card making goody bag. This is a free gift to you for being a designated reader. I'll continue to give gifts at different counter milestones. So now I need to figure out how to get my calculator on my page. Any suggestions bloggers?

Here is my first creation. My Pluto border set.

My second is my dinsosaur pages. I'm really proud of these. The picture does not do them justice.

Lastly is my thinking of you card. I love these color combos. I love pink and brown together even more. I got the flower at AC Moore on sale quiet some time back and have been dying to use it. It is accented with glitter and so pretty.

Every time I tried to take a picture of my card my helper Mitch stuck his head in the picture. It was actually really cute and a good way for me to get pics of him smiling. The second picture you can see my small little craft area behind him. I work with the space I got!!!

Concerned!

The other morning Daddy, Mommy, Mitch, and Marshall had cuddle time. We told Mitch that this was his family. He kept saying all day Mitch luv family. It was the sweetest thing! He has really be getting more and more in tuned to Marshall. We have not been forcing Marshall on Mitch but just letting him warm up on his own time.

Today I dropped Marshall off at my mom's so she could watch him while Mitch and I went to church. Marshall does not do real great during service and I'm not quiet ready to leave him in nursery without Larkin or I. When we were backing out of the driveway Mitch kept asking for Marshall and was concerned why we were leaving him behind. As soon as we got in the van after church Mitch told me we had to go get Marshall from Noni's (like I would forget him.)

It's really sweet to see him warming up and starting to be in tuned to him. Tonight he even crawled up on my lap while I was feeding Marshal his night time bottle and he kissed him on the head and said mom I luv him. Warms my heart! These kind of actions have not taken place at all the past 3 1/2 months so we are breaking ground.

I have not been able to get pics of the together at all but yesterday we were successful so I had to share.

More Disney

Well I feel I had somewhat of a productive weekend. I worked on more Disney swaps. I ran out of adhesive 1/2 through completing a Daisy layout. I was really on a roll too. So now I have to find time to make a A.C.Moore run this week. I did finish a 2 page Mickey and Minnie l/o. I thought it turned out cute. Keeping the blogging short tonight. Need to head to bed!

Shopping Adventure!

I am so super tired right now. We had a big day running around. I just had to tell you about two of my new shopping adventures though. First, my mom and I placed an order through addictedtoscrapbooking.com the other night and LOVED it. We received our order withing 3 days and everything was packaged great. The prices were resonable and we even got 10% for a July 4th special. We will definitly be shopping there again. Today during some of our running in Harrisburg Larkin took Mitch to see Walle and Marshall and I headed to Hummelstown to Fancy That Scrapbook Boutique. Can I just say OH MY GOSH!! It was absolutly adorable! I found everything I was looking for PLUS SOME. I did budget and limit myself since I just got paid today and I have to worry about gas and grocerys for the next 2 weeks. I will tell you though if you live in the Hummelstown area or any where within an hour, it is WELL WORTH the drive. Check it out!

Also thought I would share my goofy border set I have been working on for a swap. I thought they turned out cute. Now I just need to wrap up my pluto set.

Ok I'm off to bed before I fall asleep at the computer. I'm working on getting a blog counter so I can start doing blog candy. Would anyone be interested? Shoot me a comment and maybe I'll have a surprise for you!!!!!

Nite, Nite!!

Recovering!

Well I'm slowly recovering from my computer illness. I have not been successful at finding anyone to recover what I lost so I'm slowly recreating files and begging everyone I know for pictures from the past zillion years.

But on the upside my creative mojo has been going really good. I am in the works of creating two sets of Disney borders for an SCS swap. The one is Pluto and the other is Goofy. I'm using my fabulous Cricut to assist me. I love my little Cricut (it's my crafting baby.) I'll post pictures when I finish them.

Let's see what else have I been working on? I finished a color swap white card. I used this same card for a get well swap I participated in. It was really fun and the first time I used fibers. They create a fun, elegant, festive look. I always love creating matching tags to go with.

The second card I have been working on is a boys b-day card for our PA shoebox swap we are doing in August. This is not exactly what I'll be doing but it's along the same lines. I LOVE using the new mesh that I discovered at a local Amish scrapbook store. So we'll see how my actual card turns out. I found Robot paper that I think I'm going to use as the backing on the card we'll see!!

Oh yea and Disney Cricut images. I have been creating TONS of them for swaps, friends, family members, etc. HAVE I SAID THAT I HAVE BEEN CREATING TONS OF DISNEY IMAGES? I think I'm about Disneyned out!!

Sick

I'm so so absolutely sick in my stomach right now. I can not even talk about this on the phone without breaking into tears. My new laptop was majorly disfunctioning so Dell had me do a system restore on my computer. It was basically to completely wipe out my computer and start from scratch. The rep talked me through how to backup all my pictures and documents onto a DVD. Well as you can probably guess by now it DID NOT back up. I have NO pictures developed since Christmas. Yes this includes Marshall's pictures. The ONLY upside is I did upload 89 of Marshall's hospital pictures to Ofoto shortly after he was born. Other than that, it's all I have!!! I lost all of my mom's group files which is massive but not nearly as precious as my pictures. I can recreate files but I can not retake pictures.

So this is my plead!!!! If anyone has ANY pictures of my boys will you PLEASE save them to a disk or email them to me??????? Even if I emailed you pictures of them and you still have them saved will you forward them back to me? I'm begging!!! Once I get them I'm printing them right away.

Thank you so much and seriously please pray I do not have bad dreams about this tonight. Have I ever said I hate technology?

-Melanie

Quick One!

I have not blogged in well over a week so I wanted to jump on and post a quick update. We are doing good. Now with me working it's hard for me to find spare time to sit at the computer. I should be in bed right now preparing for wake up time with the boys.

Tonight I finished up a border swap I have been working on for about 2 weeks. It was really time consuming but I did enjoy doing it. It just used more supplies than I was expecting. I can't wait to get the other ladies creations back and see what they did.

Today we went to a family members retirement party. I was able to get some great outdoor pictures of Mitch. He is so fun and full of life. Marshall is now 3 months old and sweet as can be. He is smiling, cooing, and really focusing on objects. He definitly knows his mommys voice.

Well off to bed I go!! Thanks for checking in and I promise I'll make time to post more later. I have a funny Mitch story to tell so remind me!!

Outside the Box!!

Well I decided to step outside of the box this week. I normally only scrapbook and do not dabble much with stamping. I blame it on being a sloppy stamper. However my friend April lives in Germany and her husband is deployed right now in Iraq. She is doing cards for troops who do not receive mail. This touched my heart and I thought I would give it a shot. I created 2 different designs of cards. I do not like the one at all so I'm not going to share it. I'm debating redoing it (if I can find the time.) The second one I thought turned out pretty cute. I also worked on a baby boy page last night but I think I need to add more to it. I'm still debating!! Once I decide I'll share the page with you because it's turning out cute.

I used MME paper, Stampin Up and Provo Craft Stamps. The ribbon is by American Crafts that I purchased at AC Moore. The white paper is just a basic card stock.













On a family note: Mitchell is a ham! We got his hair cut over the weekend. I LOVED it long but poor little guy was so hot. We have had some hot, humid days here in PA. Marshall is sweet as ever! This Thursday he'll be 10 weeks old. Hard to believe. Here are some pictures of my boys. I can never get a good picture of the two of them together.

Back to work I go!

Well tomorrow I start my first day of work at the Sportman's Association. I'll be working part time as their office manager. It will be nice to have some working hours out of the house and to have hubby home more often.

We had a wonderful baby dedication weekend with Marshall. It was so great to see our family and friends. Their support is awesome! We had an after dedication part at mom's pool. It was a perfect day.

I worked on a few projects in the past couple days. More just completing ones I already started. My in-laws were here until yesterday so I tried not to bore them while I worked on swap projects.

Here are some pictures for you to see!!

Us before Marshall's dedication

Anything Goes Page Swap

Toddler Page Swap - I LOVE MY CRICUT!!!!!

Rough Day!

My poor little Marshall had his 2 month shots yesterday. It was horrible!! His little legs were in so much pain. Then he did not have an appetite so the combination of being hungery and in pain just about broke mommy down. He screamed for 3 hours with about 10-15 minute breaks. Once he fell asleep he was out but it was just getting to that point. He is now weighing in at 9lbs 14oz and 20" long. He's growing but he's still my little peanut. His little waist is starting to thicken up a little.

The other night I worked on a girl swap for one of my swaps. Thought I would share it with you. I really had a blast with it and took my time on it because I don't get to do girl pages.












Today we went to the Deli for an outside lunch and for the boys to play at the play ground. We always have to finish our visit to the deli with ice cream. I could not pass up these awsome pictures.

Down Time!

Well I have a little bit of down time today. Both boys are down for a nap but I know it's a matter of minutes before Marshall wakes. I'm working on a "busy bees" page with bumble bees on it. My Cricut is having to be replaced due to a malfunction so it sorta has me on hold for a few days until it arrives. I got all the pieces pretty much cut out for it so my next step once I receive my Cricut is to assemble. I'll take a picture of it to share with you cuz it's turning out so super cute. It might just be one of my favs.

This Sunday the 8th we are having Marshall's baby dedication. Our family is coming in from NC. I'm looking forward to the company. Larkin is gone till Wednesday night.

Tomorrow is Marshall's 2 month check up. I can not wait to see his weight and length. The down side is he has to get a shot. Darn things!! This will be his first since birth.

Well I'm going to kick my feet up for a few minutes until it's feeding time with Marshall. Have a great Sunday!

Me and My Boys!

I had a great day today with my boys. I'm getting more comfortable heading out with them alone. Mitch is becoming such a big boy and listens to me really well. We went to the post office, my local scrapbook store, and the grocery store. They were both champs the entire time. Mitch had a mild break down at the scrapbook store when he realized he could not take home 1 of every sticker in the store.

We came home, got Marshall fed and to bed and then him and I headed outside to water plants. He got a hold of the water hose and had a blast. Thank goodness for digital! I snapped away until I could not take any more pictures. I think they turned out so cute.













Larkin was home over night last night so I worked on some scrapbook pages. This is one that I did of Mitch cleaning the toilet. It was from about a year ago so this shows how far behind I am.

forgot

I forgot to add this page on my last post. This was one of my fav pics from last fall so I wanted to make a nice layout for it. I used paper from CM and my cricut to cut out the imags. There are green button brads lining down the picture and burg gingham ribbon accross the bottom photo mat.

late night

Well last night I had a 2 year old that was up until 10pm. He was just laying watching movies but he refused to give in. So I took advantage of the time and worked on another swap. This one is for a summer layout. It was fun to do but I'm not 100% sure I'm loving it. I used my cricut to do the cut outs and then embelished with ribbon, brands, and gem stone accents.

Hubby comes home today around 330pm from a trip. Tonight I'm hoping to work on some Disney tags to give as gifts. We'll see if I get around to it. They can be time consuming but they turn out so cute.

Well I kept receiving the update changes from blogarithm and never found the time to read them. So I discovered today that it changed to rssfwd.com. Now I have to go in and find all of your blogs and make sure they are added to the new site. So I have not received any of your updates in the past week. If you have time comment on my page so I can get your blog sites.

Have a great day!

Oh me oh my!

Wow it's been a busy, tiring past couple days. Larkin has been home so we have been having our precious family time. I also joined a new site (splitcoaststampers) and it's keeping me crazy, fun, busy. We do scrapbook and card swaps along with chatting away. I'm meeting so really great girls. I'm doing more of the scrapbook swaps since I'm not real into doing cards. I'm going to post a picture at the bottom of two of the swaps I already did. Fun times!

Little Marshall is now 8 1/2 weeks old and so full of life. He started smiling and cooing. I just adore his little self. Mitch is so crazy and funny. He has me laughing all the time. Yesterday for Memorial Day we went to my mom's and he had a great day swimming and playing in the pool with Daddy.

Well my nights have been late the past week so I'm headed to bed. Marshall will be up in about 4 hours for his night time feeding.

This is my 12x12 Fall Time Layout.

and of course I did a Donald Duck Disney layout.

I'll have more to come soon!!

Idol here I come!!

Tonight my wonderful, loving husband called to tell me he bought me a anniversary gift. He is taking me to Philly to see the American Idol tour on August 8th. Yea, I'm so excited!! I'm so excited also to see who wins next week. The two David's were my top 2 picks but now I'm rooting for David Cook. So we'll kick off our 8th wedding anniversary in Philly and then end it with our Disney cruise in September. I'll be looking forward to the fall.

We spent a nice day in at my sister's today. We had about 75-80 degree weather so we thought it would be nice to cook out and let the boys play. After we noticed the grill was out of gas and the boys wanted to play inside our cook out turned into a cook in. It was still nice hanging out. I love my sister's company. Of course our boys love to torture their Noni so Mitch had a full, fun day. Little Marshall usually sleeps through just about everything. Too cute!! He will be 7 weeks old tomorrow, crazy stuff.

Well both boys are in bed and I'm headed there as well. Enjoy your night!

Vacation Dream!!

I'm so excited, about 2 weeks ago Larkin and I started debating about what we wanted to do for our family vacations this year. With the horrible rising cost of gas it's making travel and luxury activities next to impossible. So we decided to combine our vacations this year and do one big one. So we are going to Disney for 4 days and then we are going on a Disney cruise. I'm so excited! Of course we are huge Disney fans or we would not have our Disney Vacation Club. That of course is what is making this all possible. Marshall will be 6 months by then and Mitch will be about 1 month shy of turning 3. It's just going to be us and we are so looking forward to it. So as long as we can get through the summer and make it till September we'll be good to go. I'm sure we'll be calling up friends and family to occupying our summer.

Here is a pic of the boys and I. I finally got my camera up and going.

Marshall Dean Newby, 6 weeks old

Mitchell Ray Newby, May 2008

Picture Issues

Well I'm still having issues with uploading pictures. I guess my usb port on my camera is broke. So I have to order a unit for my laptop that will allow me to download pics by inserting my card from my camera. Oh I just love the world of technology.

So my brother Robbie, his fiance Jess, and their little girl came to visit 2 weekends ago. It was awesome to have them here. I have missed them so much.

Today I went to visit my friend Megan that had a little girl 2 1/2 weeks ago. Little Zoey is so precious. I can not wait to download pics and show them to you guys.

We are supposed to have rain all weekend so I think we might be staying in and hanging out. The boys are sorta pooped cuz we have been runnnig all week. On Sunday my mother in law comes for a few days. We are looking forward to her coming.

Marshall had an appointment yesterday and now weighs 8lbs 2oz. Little guy gained 2 lbs in 5 weeks. I'm loving life right now with my two boys. I wish I could bottle them up at this age forever. Oh well, I'll just enjoy the time while I can and not wish it away.

Frusteration!!

Sometimes computers so frusterate me. I have been trying to upload pictures and Larkin's laptop is telling me it does not recognize the device. Do you have any idea how many times I have uploaded pics on the computer. Eeerrrr!!

We just ordered me a new Dell laptop that is going to be a lap top all of my own. I am so excited I could pee my pants. Of course it's taking forever and a day to get here.

So when I get pics uploaded I'll post a blog about my weekend. My brother Robbie is home from Iraq, YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

Super Mom!

Well I had a go at playing super mom. Larkin returned back to work on Saturday. Besides one mild break down I gave myself a pat on the back for making it through. Mitch had one break down as well. He wanted me to put baby down feed him, change him, do anything with him other than hold the baby. Of course Marshall was screaming crying at the same time because he had stomach pains so that resulted in Mommy Mel having a mild breaking down.

Daddy returned back home late Tuesday night to find us all asleep. To him we looked all peaceful and that Mommy had a walk in the park but don't' worry I left him know the next day how much he was missed and how much we need him home on his off days. Of course to keep my sanity, not the boys. LOL!! Mitch so misses Daddy when he is gone. Especially now that he has to share my attention with Marshall.

Little Marshall is chunking up though. His little cheeks are getting chubby and he is eating really good. Both boys are asleep right now so I thought I would take advantage of some computer time. I just purchased (well Larkin purchased for me) a laptop. I can not wait for it to get here. It'll make my computer life a lot easier. I got an awesome deal on it and of course I had to order it in "mommy bright pink." Just to make sure all the boys in the family know who's computer it is.

Ok better get myself some rest before our 11pm feeding with Marshall. Love ya all and thanks for continuing to read. I'll post pics soon. I need to take some this weekend. We are supposed to have 70-80 degree temps this weekend yea

Settling In!

We are getting settled in really good. Tonight Marshall and I had a night home alone with Daddy took Mitch to a magic show fundraiser. Marshall stayed wide eyed and we enjoyed our time together. I'm not nervous to have both boys alone together but I know the first time is going to be a tad of an adjustment. Mitch is accepting Marshall really good but at the same time he has Larkin and I both to share our time with him. So I'll be curious to see how he does once Larkin returns to work and I have to divide my time between the two of them. I pray the jealously does not kick in then.

Today Marshall is 9 days old and is doing really good. He is drinking 2-3 oz of bottle at a time which is great for a newborn. He is still so tiny! At his 1 week appointment he weighed 6lb 3oz. We have to take him back again this Thursday for a check up because of how tiny he is. The pediatrician just wants to keep an eye on him for a good month. He said he is doing great though!! Yea little peanut!

Ok I'm getting ready for my 12am (midnight) feeding but I thought I would write a quick blog. Thanks to everyone who reads for reading!!

7 Days!

Marshall Dean is now 7 days old. Yes a whole week! Today we had our first family outing. It was a big one are you ready for this? We headed to Wal-mart and then Marshall's one week pediatrician appointment. To be honest with you, it was a big enough day for all of us. Or at least for me any way. I'm pooped out tonight. I have about 30 minutes till he wakes for his next feeding and then I'll be headed to bed for the night. I'll have to work on uploading more pictures. Everything I currently have uploaded is from the hospital and our first day or two home. We'll post more soon. For those of you that have myspace accounts I do have quiet a few pictures posted there.

Welcome Marshall Dean

We are excited to welcome Marshall Dean Newby into our family. He was born on Thursday, March 27th at 1222pm. He weighed 6lb 1oz and was 18 1/4 inches long. Tiny little guy but already getting filled with lots of love.

My c-section went a lot better than I was ever anticipating. Even my recovery is going better. They say with Mitch I was bruised from pushing for an hour and that is why I was so sore and my recovery was so long. I am really doing good though and just soaking in the love and joy of being a new mommy again.

Mitch is doing pretty good. He is not showing jealousy but at the same time he could really care less Marshall is here. Every so often he'll acknowledge him crying but that is about it. He gets more jealous when Larkin holds him then when I do.

I am really enjoying Larkin being home and know April 12th when he returns to work is going to be a hard day. He is so wonderful! A wonderful daddy and husband. He helps so much and really plays just as big of a roll in our boys lives as what I do. He cares so much about making them feel important and loved. It makes me love him as my husband so much more. Love you Larkin (don't know if he reads this blog.) :)

Anyway thank you for the prayers. I was excited to update you guys. I'm now getting ready to get Mitch ready for bed and then watch Idol. Go David Cook, Michael ? and David Archuletta. Those are my choices this year.