Baby XY

Awww!! Isn't HE just the cutest little baby ever? Ok, Ok.. so I'm a little partial ;)

We actually tossed around the idea of NOT finding out the sex of the baby. But, curiosity got the best of us. It's so hard to lay there on the table during the ultrasound and know that they can see and tell you what the baby is. He actually had his legs together so they tech had a hard time trying to figure out his sex. But she was pretty confident she saw boy parts. Then the doctor came in and confirmed that the baby is indeed a boy. But that does still leave a 0.01% chance it's really a girl right?

Madeline really wanted a baby sister (and I wanted her to have one). But we're all happy that the baby is healthy. I think another boy will be a lot of fun. Sean will finally have someone to teach all about cars!

Now, we can finally start planning and getting things ready. January 17th (or so) will be here before we know it!

Do you love to barter?

I do! I love to barter my services and products for stuff our family needs (wants). It works out great for both parties involved! What I'm looking to do is barter my premade products for some really cool mama made products for maternity and baby. I may be able to take on a few small custom design orders (depending on my schedule). But, I can't barter on my printing service.

Here's a small list of things that I'm looking for:

Baby Sling (I love pouch style but would love to try other styles)
Cloth Diapers
Cloth Diaper accessories
Nursing Cover
Handmade soaps and lotions
Anything for Big Sister
Belly Bands
Hospital Gown
Nursing Pads
Baby Accessories like Burp Cloths
Diaper Bags

I'm sure there are lots of things I'm forgetting! So, if you'd like to barter just shoot me an email. I'll let you know if I'm looking for what you're offering.

Here is a link to the premade products I have to offer. Email me if you'd like something custom designed for you and we can talk more.

I guess I should mention that we'll find out on Wed. Sept 23 if we're having a girl or a boy.

Yep.

It's official. I survived. That clown up there did too! This week was the first week all the kids were in school. M was the last one to start. She's in preschool so she started later than the rest. I'm really enjoying being back on a schedule. Although, I can't sleep in... it's worth it. I have much more time to work on all my projects and I actually get out of the house on a daily basis!

I also have some exciting news to announce! You may have noticed a new little button over there on the side bar <------? No? Well, we're expecting a new little bundle of joy into our family soon! I'm 22 weeks pregnant right now. We actually decided that our family was quite full and happy after our sweet little M was born. Apparently, we were wrong (see what happens when you donate all your maternity clothes?) But, we're a pretty laid back family that kinda rolls with the flow so this little baby will fit in just fine! He/She will certainly never lack for attention with all these goofy kids! We're just full of anticipation and excitement!

I hate to brag but it's been a great pregnancy so far. I had a little morning sickness at the start but nothing too bad. Now that I'm into my second trimester, I'm feeling great! I crave anything chocolate (big surprise.. right?) and for a while there I was eating banana peppers on everything! I finally had to start wearing maternity clothes (thanks mom!). I'm just loving my little bump! But I won't subject you all to pics of it... maybe later ;)

One thing I'm a little bummed about is my midwife. She was there for me through my whole pregnancy and delivery (at the hospital) with M. It was the best experience ever. But we live in Cleveland now... and her practice is over an hour away. Much too far to drive for appointments. It all seems to be working out just fine though. Living in Cleveland, we have access to the Cleveland Clinic. People travel from all over the world to see doctors here! So, that's where I'm receiving my prenatal care. I'll deliver at one of their birthing centers so I'm kind of excited about that! So far everyone I've come in contact with has been super nice and extremely helpful! I'll make sure to keep you all updated :)

On another note.... My BFF and her family are flying up to spend the weekend with us! They'll be here tomorrow evening!!! And it's perfect timing too... the season finale of True Blood is on Sunday night! Lisa and Troy are almost as big of fans of the show as Joe and I are. We might take the kids to the zoo on Saturday (if it doesn't rain) and Sunday there is an Art Show we may go to! I'm just super excited to see G and M together! They haven't seen each other since they were like 18 months old. I'll have to dig up a picture :)

And last but certainly not least... for those of you following the progress of Coolibah... We submitted it to Apple last week for approval! So now we're just waiting :) If all goes as planned it should be available very soon!

More Summer Photos

We took the kids to the fair a few weeks ago. They had blast! Sean is at that age where he's tall enough to ride the big rides and still small enough to ride the small rides. So he had 2x's the amount of fun! This year he decided that he would go on an upside-down ride. He's never been tall enough so this was really exciting (scary) for him. He's lucky he has a big brother to go with him :)

I snapped this as soon as he got off the ride. I love the look on his face! He's excited and scared all at the same time.

He's not too cool to ride the kiddie roller coaster with his sister either. Even though the look on his face says, "I can't believe you're making me do this mom"... he really did have fun ;) I promise!

Who can resist a ride on the punishing Zipper? Remember how bad that thing would beat you up?

Sean wasn't immune to the Zipper's wrath. He banged his elbow and had to spend half the ride trying to catch his cell phone that fell out of his pocket. He said it was bouncing all over the place. Jacob on the other hand thought the Zipper was the coolest ride ever (we so need to take these kids to Cedar Point for some real roller coasters).

Summer photos

I finally sat down the other night to download photos from my camera. I've been taking pictures like crazy all summer but it had been a while since I downloaded them. They dated all the way back to the first part of July.. WOW!

One really fun thing we did this summer was purchase a membership to the Cleveland Zoo. We haven't gone as much as we'd like to but we have made a few trips. One really cool thing they had this summer was the Dinosaur exhibit. They actually move and made sounds... one even squirts water at you. I took Sean and Jacob to see it when Sean was a baby. I ended up having to walk really fast through it because they scared Sean. He's all grown up now (at the mere age of 9) so he's not scared anymore *wink*.

Here are a few more pictures from our visits....

Birdie Bound

Sandy Noble from Birdie Bound came to me needing a website design for her golf instruction classes and clinics. Her main clientele is women and juniors so she wanted something that would appeal to them but still keep a professional look. We started with her logo design and it turned out great! Then we moved onto the website design. Sandy was so much fun to work with and had some great ideas!

In addition to her logo design, I also created a business card design, notecard design, blog design and an email newsletter design. I'm so excited how everything turned out!

Dress Up and Play Parties

Here's a custom website that I launched recently for Cindy of Dress Up and Play Parties. Cindy offers great party packages for kids of all ages. Her website was so much fun to create! We started with that super fun logo you see up there then moved onto the website design. She came to me with a basic idea and gave me creative control :) I just love it when clients do that! She wanted a retro look that was very unisex because she specializes in boy and girl parties.

Sneak Peek 2 of Coolibah!

It won't be long now... are you all ready to start scrapbooking on your iPhone? Wait till you see the amazing designers who's kits we'll carry! Here's a link to the Coolibah blog so you can keep up with our progress and updates www.blog.coolibah.me