Perfectly Imperfect

Hi y'all!

I hope you had a fabulous Mother's Day. And for those of you, who are waiting to become mothers, I hear you.  I know how hard it can be.  If you ever want some internet support, I'm here.

Today I want to talk about non perfection.

There are so many imperfections in these shots--my face all dark, a crooked pink bow and hello spit bubbles!  I thought kids were supposed to be cooperative in photo shoots for the beginning at least!

But I love these photos so, so much anyway. Mostly because of her eyes, which look bright and happy and mischievous all at once.  How I love those sweet grey eyes, and the beautiful soul that shines out of them.

Sometimes the strength of my emotions surprises me, and at random moments. Like today, when I watched her in my rearview mirror and thought, I love her more every day.  I love all the bits and pieces of her. I can't believe I had a hand in creating her. I just can't wait to see what she does in this world of ours.

This real, flesh and blood, wakes up in the middle of the night, perfectly imperfect baby, is more than I ever could have dreamed of all those years of waiting.

A New Address....

Life is full of change right now, and we're about to add in one more!  In just a few weeks, the Starrs will be moving into this casa:

Isn't it cute?

It's in our same neighborhood, about a twenty minute walk from where we currently live. It doesn't have everything that was on my mental "magical I-have-no-budget" checklist, but it does have plenty of space, a big basement, room for a separate scrappy space for Mama, and oodles of charm--built-ins, fireplaces and hardwoods.  I can't wait.

The actual packing up and moving part? That part I can wait on. Ha!

I can't wait to share some photos and home decor projects with y'all!

Join in the fun--what do YOU like best about where you live?

Write Click Scrapbook May!

It's a new month (or at least, 7 days or so into a new month?) and time for a new Write. Click. Scrapbook gallery!  The theme this month was "everydaily" so I decided to record a very everyday occurrence in the Starr household--Ellie's stretching.

When I was pregnant, I would often feel this weird sensation as a little limb not-quite-kicked, but still determinedly stretched against my belly. As soon as E was born, I realized what had been going on in there: lots and lots of stretching. Girl likes to stretch when she wakes up in the morning, after a 5 minute nap, and anytime she finds herself on her changing table.

I had fun whipping up this layout to document the stretching-good times!

I used my April Studio Calico kit for this one and added some nibs from my stash. I also decided to get on board with the hand-cut arrows trend. This layout was just calling for them!

For the photo, I used a professional shot by our awesome photographer, Rina. 

Go check out the rest of the gallery right here!

In other scrappy news, I've held out for a while, but it's happened--I'm starting to want a Cameo.  I've been resisting because (a) I don't love gadgets, (2) it's a lot of work to learn how to use a new tool, and (3) it's a lot of money for a fad. What's winning me over are the scripty titles and dreamy quatrefoil cutouts.

What do YOU think? Is a Cameo worth the money or not?

These days....

These days, life is busy. A little too nutty for my tastes, but I hope it'll calm down soon.

These days, we've been missing a hubby/daddy who's been working late

And passing the time having fun on Photobooth:)

This one has been just as cute as ever...

(a little blurry, but what can I say? I love the baby grins. And boo the bad light ALL WEEK this week that prevents me from taking decent photos!)

...and she's starting to look around all the time. She actually watches and plays with the toys in her playyard now, which is crazy!

These days, truthfully I'm having a challenging time balancing mommyhood/work/marriage/life. I'm getting the sense that sometimes that balance plays out smoothly, and sometimes, it just doesn't. But in the interest of focusing on the positive, I really have been enjoying going to work, seeing my co-workers and doing what I do. And taking some Project Life shots in the bathroom:)

And when I'm not at work, I love having free days to hit the town with this little lady:

These days, life has been one heck of a balancing act, but I'm so happy to have so many wonderful things to balance. And so so so very happy that Shabbos is less than 24 hours away.

Tell me, what is YOUR best and worst thing these days?  How do YOU balance your commitments?

Check back soon for my Write Click Scrapbook project for May!

Project Life: The Stuff

Project Life has been coming along for me, although I have gotten behind (only one week behind now! Woohoo!) I don't love feeling "behind" in scrapbooking, but I do love having a record of the little things we do each week. Jury's out on Project Life until the end of the year, I think:)

But in the meantime, I do want to share the things I use on each Project Life spread. In the interests of convenience, I've been using the Design A page protecters for each week, along with the Clementine kit (I mostly use the journaling cards).

For each spread I create a "title card" and use this fun Smash rolly stamp:

And then I use tons of label stickers as captions for the photos:

I also love to add fun bits of washi tape:

And staples from my beloved Tiny Attacher!  (I'm generally not a tool person, but you need this one--trust me.)

Here's an example of a weekly page (I only do one side--keeping it simple, folks!)

And sometimes I like to mix it up with atypical embellishments. I was feeling nostalgic about E's moving up a size (goodbye, newborn ensembles--sniff sniff!) so I took a bunch of her tags and added some confetti and sewed them into a page protecter.  It adds something different and some color and I love it!

So there you have it--my Project Life as of right now. Do YOU get that "behind" feeling from PL? If so, how do you shake it?

A Friday layout for ya...

This has been on heck of a week--S has been working late, which hasn't been leaving a whole lot of time for eating dinner, let alone scrapbooking or blogging. I'm even almost 3 weeks behind in Project Life, which stresses me out, even though I promised myself I wouldn't let this project stress me out! Ack.  

But I did find a few extra minutes to share  a layout I created a few months ago about Summer CHA. Hard to believe we're almost at another summer CHA!

Here's a close-up:

And the whole enchilada:

And now, I'm off.....for a Shabbos spent snuggling my munchkin, actually eating dinner with my husband, and (hopefully) finishing my book!  Speaking of which, I'm thinking about doing a post explaining what exactly we do all day on Shabbos--any interest in that?

What are YOU wishing you had time for today?

When your heart is Broken (thinking about infertility)

If you haven't yet, please read this article. I wish I had it to pass around when I was going through infertility.  Reading it took me right back to what that time felt like,and reminded me what comments were comforting and what were painful to hear.  And the whole don't-tell-me-to-just-relax thing? AMEN.

One of the toughest adjustments I had to make in my pregnancy was to figure out how to relate to my "infertility buddies"--to back off? to offer support? to explain what worked for me in a helpful way, but not a boastful way? to not mention the baby at all? I still don't exactly know how to navigate this.  If you know me and we discuss this issue, please don't be afraid to tell me what you need, and what helps or hurts you. Because I would never, ever want to add to your pain.

I shared this layout a long time ago, but I pulled it out again today because it's all there. The pain and the bitterness and the longing of those days, the sadness each and every month.

Are you going through infertility? If so, what would YOU add to this article? And if you love someone going through this, how do YOU handle it?