My little comforter

My life has been a bit of a rollercoaster this week, lots of ups and also very deep downs. But I am very blessed to have such a precious little girl who brightens up my day. Just yesterday, when I was weeping on the couch, she came to my arms and gave me a big kiss on the cheek. Isn't it amazing how little children express their feelings even though they cannot use words yet. I was blown away how my little girl saw my anxiety and comforted me. I know that she needs me, but yesterday it struck hard how much I need her too. Oh I am so so grateful.

I want to thank you for all the lovely comments, they cheer me up. This is an old picture, but I remembered it while I was taking the pictures for the post before. It's one of my favorites. I like that poem too, it sums up pretty well our relationship. Together they create a good memory to add in her scrapbook folder.

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Worth it

Almost everyone, who know's that my husband is going to be a cop, has asked me if I'm scared or worried or what do I think about it. Well to answer you all, I couldn't be more proud of him and I am so happy for him. Sure I might have had a worrying thought, but it only lasted a second. Turns out it is so easy to support someone when they are determined and happy with themselves. My husband is really living the dream (not my words, but his). He worked so hard to get in the police academy and now he's studying so hard to be a good cop. He's loving every moment.

This weeks get inspired challenge was to use a page from last years calender. I used the page where my hubby had written all the details of his entrance exams and evalutations. The picture is taken on his first day, just after he was sworn in. Emma gave big cuddles for daddy.

Tämän viikon get inspired haasteessa piti käyttää viime vuoden kalenterista sivua tms. Mieheni viime vuonna hajoitteli ankarasti päästäkseen poliisikouluun, joten sivu on niistä päivistä, jolloin hänellä oli nuo kaikki kokeet, haastattelut ja arvioinnit. Kuva on otettu hänen ensimmäisenä koulu/työpäivänä, kun hänestä tuli poliisi. On niin helppo olla ylpeä ja tukea toista, kun toinen on niin innoissaan ja nauttii joka hetkestä.

Sometimes I lose

Before she was born I was thinking what kind of parent I would be. I was determined that I would stick to certain things like not sharing my glass, not giving goodies, not letting her watch tv every day, brushing her teeth (when there would be some) every morning and evening, I could continue this list forever.

Some of the things I have been able to stick to and some of the things I feel like I've lost the battle. I don't always remember to brush her teeth in the morning, I have shared my glass with her because I've been too lazy to go and get her own. But I think the strongest I feel about her eating junk. I don't want her to eat chips (yes she has tasted already), I don't want her to eat lollies (yes she has already, when she found some in my bag) and I don't want her to be eating cakes.

There you have the story of how I lost that cake battle too. So I admit it, I haven't been as strong-willed as I thought I would be. Now I just try to limit these things so that they are not everyday things, but only special occations.

I think sometimes as mothers we put too high expectations on ourselves and then I (at least) get frustrated at myself when things don't go the way I've planned. But I've learned that it's not the end of the world when I lose these small battles. And the look and Emma's face when she got that cupcake was priceless. I've learned a lot in this last year and I know for a fact that I will learn much more as my little girl keeps educating me.

Thank you for all your wonderful comments on the posts before. They have really made my day!!!

What's yellow and goes fast

It's my BIKE! Sorry I'm still going on about it, but I just love my new bike. So instead of scrapbooking only about my little miss I thought my new baby deserves a page too. And I'm participating it this weeks get inspired challenge with this too. The challenge was to include something knitted or crocheted.

Ja vielä vähän uudesta ihanasta pyörästäni.. Ajattelin, että hänkin ansaitsee skräppisivun ja onpa vähän vaihtelua, kun kaikki sivut tuntuvat olevan tuosta pikku neidistä. Samalla osallistun inspiksen tän viikon haasteeseen, minkä aiheena oli virkattu/neulottu.

I used this months pagemaps with this, but for some reason I feel like there's too much in it. And I was really struggling with the heading, don't know if I like it or not..

Käytin tän kuun pagemapsiä ja jostain syystä musta tuntuu, että siinä on liikaa tavaraa. Otsikon kanssa taistelin myös aika kauan, enkä oikein tiedä tykkäänkö siitä vai en.

 

The text is dedicated to my amazing husband who restored this bike for me. Now it's just been a bit rainy or we've been sick so we haven't had a ride in a week. But I have a feeling that we'll be riding around town this week again.

Teksti on omistettu ihanaiselle miehelleni, joka kunnosti pyörän eloon. Nyt vaan on ollut paljon sateisia päiviä ja me olemme olleet flunssassa niin että pyörä on ollut yksinään jo viikon päivät. Mutta mulla on kyllä sellainen kutina, että tällä viikolla taas pyöräillään kylän raitilla kovaa vauhtia.

Note to myself: stop and play

Too often we (meaning my husband and I) get frustrated with Emma when she hangs on us and it's difficult to get things done. I took a picture of one of these instances and as I looked at it later I realised that instead of getting frustrated we should realise how much she would want to see what we're doing, learn while watching us and wanting us to spend time with her.

Excuse this house

Some homes try to hide the fact that children shelter there.

Ours boasts of it quite openly, the signs are everywhere!

For smears are on the windows, little smudges on the door.

I should apologize, I guess, for toys strewn on the floor.

But I sat down with the children and we played and laughed and read;

And if the doorbell doesn't shine, their eyes will shine instead.

For when at times I'm forced to choose the one job or the other,

I want to be a homemaker - but first I'll be a mother.

I don't know the author of that poem, but I read it from a book "I hope you know how much I love you" by John Bytheway. I love it, I think of it often and it sums up pretty much how I want to be. And sometimes I need to remind myself of that. 

One thing I like about scrapbooking; you can write your thoughts to your children, yourself and who ever you're doing the page to on that page. And at least for me it helps me to think about things, put them in perspective and then be reminded of the important things in life whenever I look at them again.

I'm sorry how blurry both of the pages are, but if you click them bigger you can read the text and it should be a bit more clear. I shall go now and play with my beautiful little girl who's mumbling is starting to sound more like words, or maybe it's all in my head.

Getting inspired #177

This weeks get inspired scrapbooking challenge was You and me. I've had this page lying around a while and now I finally got inspired to make it into a page.

Ja suomeksikin välillä :) Tämä kuva on mulla lojunut jo tovin aikaa ja nyt vihdoin inspiroiduin ja sain skräpättyä sen, kun aiheena on sinä ja minä.

I'm don't use flowers too often in my pages so I tried to get rid of some of my flowers by putting a lot of them in this one. And it's the first time I've hid the journaling behind the picture. The text says:

Always remember your roots. 

Your great gran is amazing lady 

who is crazy about you.

I hope you inherit her kindness 

because you can move mountains with that.

En käytä kauhean usein kukkia sivuissani, joten yritin nyt käyttää mahdollisimman paljon, jotta pääsen pikkuhiljaa eroon niistä. Kuvassa siis Emma ja Emman isomummi.

More of those scrap pages

I'm feeling very non talkative, if you know what I mean. I don't have much to say of these pages. I feel blank. I suppose I could mention that I used pagemaps in both of these pages. I like the first one a bit more than the second one. And I think I was feeling a bit blank when I was making these pages, because the texts in both of them seem very uncool.

It's obviously very blah day so in a way these blah pages fit it very well. Hope you're having a fabulous day and not a blah one.

A year ago

A year ago I was...
... enjoying every minute of the day of a wonderful miracle, our baby girl
... recovering from 6 days of labor
... realizing that I was born to be a mother
... singing in the middle of the night trying to make the baby understand the difference between a night and day
... pondering names for this precious new package and refusing almost every suggestion

I love to go back in time in my mind sometimes and try to remember what I did then. I haven't scrapbooked in a while and then after Emma's party I got excited again. I wanted to make a few more memories for her to remember. Things she did during her first year and people she shared it with.

 

I'm still learning and my pages are fairly simple. But then again I like it simple.

I'll show you more of those pages I made in a little while. In the mean time, if you can't read the text, click the image and it will get bigger.

Cardboard on the backround

Getting inspired again by this weeks challenge, which was to use cardboard in some way. At the beginning of the week when I made these pages we didn't have any cardboard lying around so I used the empty cereal box. It had the writing on it and everything. Just had to fill all the rest of the text with the picture and the journal. And then yesterday we got a parcel we've been waiting for, few cookbooks and few dvd's. So now I would have plenty of cardboard. Oh well. Oh and I made another page too (see below).

Inspiroiduin jalleen. Kaytin muropakettia, kun muuta ei loytynyt ja siina oli tuo teksti juuri sopivasti. Kuva ja journaling teksti peittaa loput tekstista. Sitten eilen tuli postissa paketti, joka oli taynna ihania kokkauskirjoja ja muutama dvd (ei kokkaukseen liittyvia), etta nyt olis kokonainen pahvilaatikko, mita vois kayttaa. Tein muuten toisenkin sivun:


























To see the texts on both pages, click the image and it'll be bigger (big enough to read).

Daddy's girl

Just a quick post today. This little girl really is daddy's girl. When dad comes home she crawls as fast as she can straight into daddy's arms. And oh the cry if daddy can't pick her up straight away. (Picture is from Fathers day last year.)

Isin tytto siis. En ole nopeammin nahnyt Emman konttaavan kuin silloin, kun isi tulee toista kotiin. Ja voi sita itkua, jos isi ei pysty ottaa heti syliin. Kiitos inspis tiimille ihanista haasteista. Saanpahan skrapattya vanhojakin kuvia pois alta (tama kuva on viime vuodelta).

She can be cute but she can also be loud.

Trust me I have been doing other things than just scrapbooking. But I had to do this page after I saw what it would look like in my head (yeah didn't end up just like that, but I'm still pleased). It's about my little cutie (again) and about how loud she is. Maybe she'll be a singer one day.

And next something else than scrap pages, I'm even thinking about a tutorial (uuh, maybe I shouldn't have said that out loud).

Getting inspired - challenge 157

It's been a long time (too long if I might say) since I've participated in the get inspired scrapbooking challenge. For those who don't know what it is: Every week you can find a new and so inspiring challenge. An idea of how to do your scrapbooking  from a bit different perspective that you might not have thought of.

I love the idea and I'm so excited that I was able to take part of it again. This weeks challenge was to make a time line. I don't know if this is a time line in itself, but it's got 4 generations of women in our family. I want Emma to appreciate her relatives and her family history so I thought this would be one good way to do it. 

Ja suomeksi: 
Aah liian pitka aika on kulunut siita, kun osallistuin inspiksen skrappays haasteeseen. Nyt vihdosta viimein, kun sain muutaman kuvan kehitettya niin paasin hommiin. Aiheena oli siis talla viikolla aikajana. En tieda onko tama sinallaan aikajana, mutta idea oli kertoa meidan perheen neljan sukupolven naisista. 

Haluan, etta Emma arvostaa sukuaan ja ajattelin, etta tama voisi olla yksi tapa, miten han voi muistaa suvun tarkeytta. Aloin ensin kirjoittaa tuota tekstia tuossa sivussa suomeksi, mutta kun huomasin, etta ai niin, eihan tassa nappaimistossa ole a:ta ja o:ta (you know what I mean) niin totesin, etta parempi vaan tehda englanniksi.

Books, rhymes, picnics - that's what our family is made of

So I promised some to show some of the scrapbooking pages I made during the Easter. I'm still trying to figure out my style so these are pretty simple, but I'm learning to take some risks.

I'm loving stamps and rub-ons at the moment (which you can probably see). I've also gotten a lot of papers from my friends and I'm trying to use them up before I go ahead buying new ones. (Also thank you Suvi for the flowers!) And I was having some problems taking the pictures (we don't have a scanner so I have to take pictures of the pages), so the darker area on every page is just a shadow from my camera.

Yes all of them are for Emma and I can tell you know that most of the ones I'm gonna make in the future are for Emma too. I want her to be able to look back, see and read of the things she's done and what kind of person she's been when she was little.



Oh and yes we did spend May day or Vappu in Finnish. And yes I made sima (a finnish drink that you drink on the first day of May, it's basically lemon and sugar) and yes I made munkki (a bit like donut and you eat it on the first day of May too). We went for a picnic in the park and enjoyed our time.

Hope you all you Finns had a great vappu!

My wonderful nieces

I adore my nieces. They are the most fun to be around. The two oldest ones are born a bit over a year apart and the two last ones are the same. Because of this they are best friends who also fight a lot. I love spending time with them and I love them so much. One of the things I miss most about Finland is these girls.

So I want to make them heaps of scrapbooking pages of all the memories I have with them. I've already made one while back, but just before we left Finland I made these:

I'm pretty pleased with the way they turned out. And if any of you girls or your mother reads this, know that I love you!!

Tussailua - with my promarkers

Voih ihana mikä haaste. Nämä kuviot on jo tutuja noista korteista ja tämä idea on ollut jo kauan mielessä, nyt sain toteutettua. Mielessä oli myös monta muuta tussijuttua ja halua olisi kovasti nekin toteuttaa, mutta aikaa ei nyt jostain syystä ole ollenkaan käsitöille. 

Tämä teksti on Empun siunaus- ja nimenantotilaisuudesta ja se mitä hänen siunauksessaan sanottiin. Kuvakin on sieltä. Edelleenkään, kun tuota tulostina ei ole, niin menin sitten multiprinttiin tulostuttamaan ihan tavalliselle paperille ja siitähän tuli sitten ihan punainen. No ei voi nyt mitään. Onpahan ainakin oikealta päivältä otettu kuva.

Oh how I loved this challenge. These flowers are familiar from the cards I've made earlier and the idea of this page has been a long time in my head, now I finally did it. I have many ideas what to do with my promarkers and I would have loved to do them too, but for some reason I haven't had any time for crafts lately.

This text is from Emma's blessing and what was said in it. The photo is from the day too. I still don't have a printer so I went to multiprint to print it just on a normal paper and of course it turned out all red. At least it's taken on the day.

Ruudukko - challenge 127

Huh, vähän tiukille meni, mutta sainpas tehtyä. Idea oli selvä jo koko viikon, mutta millään en ole ehtinyt tehdä. Nyt sitten nopeasti väsäilen, jotta ehdin haasteeseen osallistumaan ja sitten kenties vielä jatkan tämän sivun parantelua. Jotenkin on taas vähän keskeneräisen näköinen. Miksi mun skräppi sivut on aina keskeneräisen näköisiä? Ehkä joskus uskalla pistää enemmän tavaraa niihin ja ehkä joskus mulla oikeesti on jotain mitä pistää niihin. Mutta ihanaa tää silti on!

A close call but I made it. I had the idea for this page since the challenge was published but for some reason I haven't had any time to do it. And now it's Friday already! So I did this page very quickly so that I can participate in the challenge and I'll probably continue with it after. Somehow it looks unfinished again. Why do all my scrapbooking pages look unfinished? Maybe one day I'll have the guts to put more stuff in them and maybe one day I'll have something to put in them. But I love this nevertheless.

Tämä päivä numeroin #126 - this day in numbers

No ei tämä sivu ole tästä päivästä, vaan viime maanantaista, jolloin neitimme täytti 1 kuukautta. Haaste kuuluu näin:  

Listaa asioita numeroiden muodossa yhden päivän ajan. Olipa se sitten syötyjä karkkeja, pestyjä pyykkikoneellisia tai käveltyjä kilometrejä tai askeleita. Tallenna yksi päivä numeroin.

Tältä siis näytti hänen päivänsä tuolloin. Eipä siinä muuta kuin syömistä ja puklaamista, nukkumista ja vaipan vaihtoa, pari reissuakin hän pääsi tekemään tuolloin ja pusuja hurja määrä. 

Olen kovin miettinyt pitäiskö mun kirjoittaa nämä suomeksi vai englanniksi, mutta jotenkin olen nyt huomannut tekeväni ne englanniksi. Ymmärtääpä sitten isäkin.

Well it's not of this day but of last Monday when our little girl turned 1 month. The challenge was to list one day in numbers and this was her day in numbers. A lot of eating and spewing, sleeping and changing nappies. Couple of trips she got to do too and a huge amount of kisses.

I've been thinking if I should write these pages in Finnish or English, but I've noticed that it's easier to do in English. Then at least dad can understand them too.

Elämää mullistavaa - life changing

Inspiroidu haaste # 121 oli "Lähtöruudussa" ja meillä kirjaimellisesti ollaan kohta lähtöruudusta. Perheeseemme tulee uusi henkilö ja kaikki on uutta iskälle ja äidille. Aika on mennyt tosi nopeasti ja raskausaika on ollut ihan mukavaa. Nyt sitten mietityttää otsikon tavoin, että mitäs sitten synnytyksen jälkeen tehdään. Hemppa oli tehnyt uuden elämän alusta myös aivan mielettömän hienoja sivuja. Jospa minäkin sitten joskus harjaannun ja opin paremmaksi tässä skräppäyksessä.

Getinspired.fi's this weeks chalenge was "At the start" and we are literaly in the start. There's going to be a new person in our family and everything is new for mum and daddy. Time has gone so quick and being pregnant has been nice. Now i'm wondering, like I wrote in the heading, what happens after the birth. Hemppa has made some really beautiful and touching pages of the start of new life. I wish I can learn more and become better in this scrabooking.

Vanha vapaalippu ja toiveiden vapaalippu

Enpä meinannut tällä viikolla osallistua inspiroidu #119 haasteeseen, kun olin suunnitellut aluksi, että olisin tehnyt sivun turvonneista jaloista, jotka kaipaisivat jo pikku hiljaa vapaalippua. Ja kun tuota tulostinta ei tällä hetkellä ole, niin kuvia en saa kamerasta helposti tulostettua. Sitten kuitenkin eilen kävin läpi vanhoja valokuvia ja inspiroiduin tekemään sivun lentoaiheesta.

Muutama vuosi sitten mieheni antoi minulle vapaalipun yläilmoihin ja vei minut lentämään, josta tuo kuva. Se oli aivan ihana lento. Nyt toivoisin kovasti, että jostain saisimme vapaalipun takaisin Austraaliaan.

Käytin elokuun pagemapsia tähän sivuun ja jälleen on paljon nyhjätty tyhjästä; rautalankaa, vanhaa millimetripaperia ja koska kultakynät eivät toimineet jouduin leikkaamaan tuon otsikon. Mutta pidän tuosta tummasta taustasta kovasti. Teksti on siis englanniksi, koska meillä kotikieli on englanti.

Tekstitausta eli inspis # 118

Toista kertaa jo osallistun skräppäyshaasteeseen ja tällä kertaa vielä twistaten. Haasteena oli siis, että työn tausta olisi tekstiä. Tämä paperi siis löytyi kotoa ja ongelma olikin keksiä siihen jokin kuva. Siksi siis tämä sivu valmistui vasta nyt. Välillä pohdin, että olisin tehnyt oman tekstitausta, sillä sille olisi helpommin löytynyt kuvia, mutta halusin päästä tästä paperista eroon.

Harjoitusta kaipaan vielä ja lisää materiaaleja selkeästi :) Kiemurat on leikattu jämäpapereista (muistaakseni tiimarista ostettu) ja kukat olen piirtänyt itse. Osa kukista on koholla, mutta se ei tuossa kuvassa oikein näy. Tulipahan taas tehtyä.