Well...I didn't win...

but thank you all so much for your votes! :) Three amazingly talented ladies won the contest & seriously left me amazed and inspired each week! Congrats Sprellen, Angie, and Laura Kaye!

I am disappointed because I felt like my photography dream was so close...now I have to find ways to save some money to buy some new equipment. But...I have a great camera & now I need to start searching for some people who want their pics taken! :) I'm just going to have to work for the money...and I definitely need the practice. Plus, it will give me a feel for if this is really what I want to do before I spend all of that money on equipment.

Thanks so much to scrapbookgraphics.com for putting on such an amazing contest...it has been so much fun & I've really learned a lot! Plus...I get a 12x12 shutterfly book & get to be a studio temp in their store for a month! It's going to be so much fun! Thanks again!!!

My final layout! :)

I still can't believe I am one of the top ten finalists! Voting has begun and will continue until Friday. I can't thank each of you enough for your support through all of this! Remember...your vote will cost $2.00 but you'll get a huge download of digital scrapbooking goods. Even if you don't scrapbook, you're vote will still go towards me getting to donate $500 to charity and then getting $1000 to start up with photography. I am seriously so grateful for each and every one of you that has voted for me so far. Thank you!!!

Here's this week's layout:


and you can vote for it here (just click on the word here! :) )

Thanks again!!

Let's see...what's been happening in our world here lately.

I turned 28 on Monday. (only 2 more years until 30...I still feel like I just turned 20, how can this be?) We attempted to do some shopping, which is easier said than done with a 1 and 2 year old! I picked up a few new shirts and then we went out to eat at The Beach House here on the lake. It was yummy!

Millie is finally crawling normally and will pull up onto her knees. She's starting to put a little weight on her legs when we try to stand her up in our laps. She's such a happy baby and loves to squeal at her brother. She follows him around wherever he goes and loves to play in his room with him.

Mason has kept us busy! He loves to play outside and pushes his little lawnmower around everywhere. He figured out how to blow bubbles on his own today...quite an accomplishment! He also jumped and made it a couple of centimeters off the floor with both feet & of course we all clapped our hands and he thought he was big stuff!

Tyler has been busy with church and the youth group. He organized a youth group water activity (lots of water ballons/and tons of games) and a bonfire that we had last night. The teens LOVED it and I am always blown away by his creativity. We had our church luau tonight to kick off VBS (our VBS runs all summer long on Wednesday nights) and we really had quite a few people there. It was so much fun!

Want to see some new layouts I've been working on? I'm lucky enough to be a guest for Angela & Emily Powers this month & I'm getting so spoiled by their yummy goodies! Plus, each of the designers I create for have been cranking out so many wonderful designs here lately, I've been in scrapping heaven! (I'm hoping none of these are repeats, but if they are I'm sorry! :) )

First...this is a layout of me and Laura & Mary. I miss getting to hang out with them and they are always on my heart. I love you both so much & want you guys to come and hang out with me one day soon so we can catch up. Life has dealt us all alot of rough bumps, but us girls need to stick together! You two mean more to me than you'll ever know!


















I hope you all have a wonderful week! Thanks again for your love and support!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guess what?!?!? I just found out I'm a top ten finalist for the queen of the crop contest!!!!!!!!!!! I am BEYOND shocked and thrilled. I ran into the living room and started jumping up and down (yes, Tyler thinks I'm a dork!), and then just started crying. It is such a huge, amazing honor to be chosen as top ten among such amazing talent. There were over a hundred girls that started this competition & I am still pinching myself to see if it's really true!

You can read the announcement here:
http://www.scrapbookgraphics.com/wordpress/?p=1087

I have a one in ten chance of winning $1000 and $500 for March of Dimes! (Can you tell I'm excited?)

I'll post some layouts of the kids tomorrow (if I have time...we're having a dreaded garage sale! :) )

Thanks again for being such wonderful support to me!!!

*mwah!!!*

The kids are napping...

so I have a few minutes to update this blog! :)

First...the final round of layouts have been posted and are ready for voting! The voting will end Friday night and then the top ten finalists will be announced. I'm crossing my fingers (and toes!) that I'll make the top ten...but I'm up against some amazing scrappers!

Here's my layout for this week:


We had to scrap ourselves through someone else's eyes. I thought Martina McBride's "In my Daughter's Eyes" song would be perfect. The line "she was sent to rescue me" just really gets me...my little Millie gave us lots of unexpected joy when we needed it the most after losing Miles.

You can vote for the layout here (just click the word here!) Thanks soooo much!!!

I have some birthday party pics scrapped and ready to be shared!

Here's Millie opening up her presents. I love the pic where she's yawning! :)


And here's Millie before she dug into the cake...those pictures are coming soon! :)


Mason just woke up and is now ready to go and play! So...I'm going to run, but hopefully I'll post more pics soon! (but, you guys know how I am about this blog! LOL!)

Hope you all are having a wonderful day! We're heading outside to play in the Diego sprinkler!

It's that time again...

for me to beg and plead for your vote again! LOL!! The layouts for week 3 have been posted...one more week to go! Then, I'll find out if I'm a finalist & then I'll have one more layout to post for the grand prize! (my fingers are permanently crossed!! $1000 would give me enough money to buy lights/backdrops for a studio or get some new camera equipment to get me closer to realizing my photography dream!)

Anywho...here's this week's layout:


Yes...that's sweet, little Millie beating up her brother on Easter morning! :)

You can vote for the layout here! (just click on the word here) Voting will cost $2.00, but it will go to support my charity if I win (March of Dimes) and you'll get over 200MB of scrapbooking goodies...and my love and adoration forever! :) Voting for this week will end on Friday night (the 25th).

Thanks so much!!!!

So...I'm a week behind

in sharing these pics with you! On Mother's day, we took the kids to this beautiful park here in Decatur and took pictures (because what else would this camera loving mother rather do on Mother's day? LOL!) I really wanted to get some cute one-year shots of Millie...and here are a few from that day!





Our attempt at a family photo:


Blowing Raspberries:


Aren't they sweet?


and some tutu pics I promised! :)




There are lots more from this day that I'm sure you'll be seeing in lots of scrapbooking layouts in the future! :)

What? She's one already?

How is it that time flies by so quickly? Our little Millie turned one yesterday!! I am now the mommy of a one year old and a two year old (doesn't that sound crazy? It's definitely busy! LOL!!) We didn't do much yesterday...it was pretty chilly around here, but we are going to visit the NICU today and do a little shopping & the party is tomorrow! (I have soooo much to do between now & then!)

Thank you so much to those of you who voted for my layout last week! This week's layout is up and I forgot to put it on my blog. You have until TONIGHT (friday night!) to vote! :) (Nothing like last minute, huh?) I'll try to get the next one on sooner! (This is a four week competiton)

So...here's this week's layout:


And you can vote for it here! (Just click on the word "here!")

Thanks so much!! I have lots of new photos of Millie (even in a tutu!) that I'm going to try to get uploaded in the next day or two (but with a busy couple of days, it may have to wait until Sunday!)

Love you all & hope you have a great weekend!

So...I have a HUGE favor to ask...

I have entered in a huge contest & I need your vote! :)

So...here are the details of the contest I entered:


Crazy, right? $1,000 to the winner & $500 to the charity of her choice!!! I am scrapping for March of Dimes. Since I am the mommy to three preemies, I feel that it is definitely an organization to stand behind! I'm scrapping in memory of Miles & in honor of Mason & Millie.

So, here's what I would love for you to do:
Go to this site and vote for me. The vote will cost $2.00, but you'll receive an amazing goodie bag of scrapping stuff, and the $2.00 goes to help fund the donation to the charity. Voting ends at the end of the week, and then they will upload week #2's layouts. This is a four week contest & there is soooooo much amazing talent out there!

We were all given a prompt to create with. This week's prompt was:
Challenge - My Many Faces or Moods

Introduce us to the main character in your story. Create a layout that shares something about at least two (more if you like) very different facets of your personality or moods of expression.

Inspiration:

“Life is a train of moods like a string of beads; and as we pass through them they prove to be many colored lenses, which paint the world their own hue, and each shows us only what lies in its own focus.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

“There are quantities of human faces, but there are many more faces, for each person has several.”
Rainer Maria Rilke quotes

“We all have a face that we hide away forever, And we take them out and show ourselves when everyone has gone. Some are satin, some are steel, some are silk and some are leather. They're the faces of the stranger and we love to try them on.” Billy Joel

"All the world is a stage, And all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and entrances; Each man in his time plays many parts" William Shakespeare

And here's what I created (no making fun of my dorky pics!! :) )


Thanks so much for taking the time to vote for me...I know a lot of you aren't digital scrappers, but each $2.00 goes to fund a great charity!

*edited to add link to layout for voting*
http://www.scrapbookgraphics.com/xcart/product.php?productid=17964&cat=289&page=1

I am completely blown away...

by all of the love I've been shown! I posted in the forums of my creative teams that we'd be gone for awhile & that we were getting ready to celebrate Miles' Heaven day. I told them about how we try to do something good for others on that day because he was so very good to us. I could never have dreamed what I would find when I got home from vacation on Sunday night.

First...I logged onto digishoptalk to check the forums and just see what was happening in digi land. I saw a thread by Shannon (the site owner) that she was thinking of me and she had a link to Jessica Bolton's thread. I clicked on the link and then I started to cry...look what I found:






I already felt so lucky to be on Jessica's creative team...and now I feel so very, very blessed to be a part of these wonderful women. Thank you all so much!! (If you want to get this kit, go to www.thescrapspace.com/jessica and download it...it's free! All you have to do is pay it forward to someone else!)

After I finished downloading it, I received messages from Rez & Cherekaye for me to check out another amazing kit. Here's what I saw on Christina Renee's blog:



Again, the tears started to flow. Thank you so much to all of my buddies on Christina's Dream Team. This truly is a very amazing dream...I love all of you so much! If you want to pick up this kit, go to www.christinareneedesigns.blogspot.com Again, it's free...you just need to pay it forward.

And...check out what else I found on Lauren Reid's blog (I swear I get to create for the coolest, most generous people!!) Thank you all so much for creating these!!



You can pick these up at www.laurenreiddesigns.com/blog

Then, on Wednesday, Christina put these up at her blog:


There's also a challenge over there for you to check out...you can win some amazing gift cards from some super sweet, talented designers!!

I can't thank everyone enough that has been involved in celebrating Miles' Heaven day. I've seen people giving each other gifts in the digi community, I've seen people mention him & do something special in his memory on their blog (thanks Janet!), and I've seen lives touched across the globe. It has truly been an amazing, amazing experience for me.

Here are some layouts I've made using the kit & a couple of these are using the quick pages.







Thanks again to all who have been involved...I love you all so very much!!!

To celebrate Miles' day, we took the kids to the zoo...they loved it! I'll try to post more about that tomorrow. We also bought some preemie clothes that we are going to send to our NICU so that they can give them to a NICU family in need.

I hope you are all having a fabulous day...now go download those amazing kits! :)

On Vacation!!

We are taking some much needed time away! It's just so nice to get out of the house every once in awhile!

We met my parents for dinner at Lamberts on Tuesday night (yummy!!!) and then headed on in to their house. Mason thinks he's at Toys R Us!! He's having a ball playing outside and getting spoiled with lots of attention. Millie sure enjoys the extra attention, too!

We are here until tomorrow morning and then we are heading up to St. Louis. I am going to hang out with Kristen tomorrow & that'll be lots of fun! Tomorrow night is Jason & Annie's rehearsal dinner & I look forward to getting to see them. Hopefully Grandma Mize will watch the kids so we can have a kid-free night! :)

Saturday is the wedding and Uncle Sean & I are doing the pics. I am crossing my fingers that I"ll be able to get a couple of good shots that day! :)

Sunday will be two years since Miles passed away. I've been trying really hard to stay upbeat...but he is constantly in my thoughts...and I've been extra teary, too. It is so hard to belive he's already been gone from us for two years. I hate it that he isn't here with us. He would have been such a good buddy for Mason & I can't help but dream about what life would have been like. There is such a void that just cannot be filled. We try to do something fun on Miles' Heaven day...I want the kids to grow up celebrating his little life & having fun memories on those days. We are taking the kids to the zoo. THere's an aquarium at the zoo...and since MIles loved his fisher price aquarium, we figured it would be a great way to remember him.

Last year we invited our friends and family to celebrate Miles' Heaven day with us. He did so much good for others and his life brought so much joy, that we would love to see that continue on. So...we would love it if you would do something good for others on Miles' Heaven day. IT's a wonderful way to honor and remember him...and it does our hearts so much good to hear of the wonderful things that happen in his memory. I would love for you to let me know how you celebrated his day so I can include it in his box of memories.

Please keep us in your prayers...it's definitely a difficult time for us.

We love you all!

Our needs...

Ah yes...the battle of the needs and wants. Just kidding! I saw this on Janet Phillips' blog and thought I'd give it a try. You need to go to google and search for {your name} and needs (for example, I googled Kellie needs) and then see what the 10 first then things are that you need!

1) Kellie needs a clue (well...isn't that lovely!!)
2) Kellie needs to bring it.
3) Kellie needs to find enough time to work on her PhD
4) Kellie needs her infusion of magnesium
5) Kellie needs our prayers (could always use those!!)
6) Kellie needs to stop reading a script
7) Kellie needs more air-time (and yes...I think a lot of these are referring to Kellie Pickler!)
8) Kellie needs to channel her inner Angelina and drop dad's last name from her's
9) Kellie needs to go
10)Kellie needs to take a few lessons from the Britney Spears experience

Well...now that you know my needs...let's see what Tyler needs!

1) Tyler needs a turbo
2) Tyler needs a friend to eat with
3) Tyler needs a life
4) Tyler needs to learn Russian
5) Tyler needs a new therapist
6) Tyler needs to accept that no one is self-sufficient all the time
7) Tyler Needs Traffic Solution (not sure what that even means!)
8) Tyler needs a band!
9) Tyler needs a caring new home (hahaha!!)
10)Tyler needs some juice

Ok...I want you go to go google and find out what your needs are! Please post them in my comments section so I can laugh with you (or at you!!)

Want to see a new layout? This layout uses a ton of Christina Renee's goodies and some of the funky playground's funk that spring collab kit. You all really should really go and stock up over at the playground (I highly recommend Christina, Lauren, & Traci!!), spend $10 and get the collab free!



Isn't she cute?

Guess what?!? I noticed Millie got her first tooth tonight! She bit down on my finger and lo and behold...there was a little tooth there! That explains why she's been so fussy here lately!!

We're excited for tomorrow...Aunt Denise and her boys are in town and we are all meeting for lunch at the Olive Garden! Yummy!! It'll be fun to see them, the grandparents, and Laura & Mary, too!!

Hope you all have a great day!!

Momma's got some crazy curls!

I don't know how many of you watch the show "Lost," but Tyler and I are addicted (thank you Jessica Hollis!) We've flown through seasons 1 & 2 on the DVD and then downloaded the episodes of season 3 we missed on Itunes. We are all caught up and loving it!

There is an actress on there (Evangeline Lilly) who has the best curls. I thought I'd give it a try. So...I was going for something like this:


But for some reason, I kept ending up like Hurley!!



So...obviously I started to give up on the idea of embracing my natural curl. I went to Kim on Thursday for a haircut and she just laughed at me and my "Lost" description of hair. She cut a lot of the weight out of my hair and added some more layers. She challenged me to put the straightener away for a week & try to get used to my curls again. I'm happy to say...I don't look like Hurley anymore. I'm still adjusting to them, but it sure makes getting ready a whole lot easier in the morning. My hair is fixed in less than 5 minutes!

Here's a pic of Millie and I at the park on Saturday wearing matching curls! (and Tyler wans to make sure that everyone knows he's the photographer behind the camera! LOL!)



So...you're all caught up on Kellie's hair drama! Don't you feel more enlightened now?

Ok...I need to tell you guys about the fun kit I used to make that layout. If you spend $10 or more at www.funkyplaygrounddesigns.com this week, you'll get it for FREE! It is packed full of tons of goodies!! I had tons of fun scrapping with it!

Here's the full kit:


I've been such a bad blogger that I don't know if I ever told you guys I'm a guest on Christina Renee's dream team. My favorite scrappers are on her CT and I feel so lucky to be scrapping along side of them. Also...the amazing Traci Murphy has asked me to be a guest for her this month, too!! She also sells at www.funkyplaygrounddesigns.com Seriously...somebody pinch me! I just started scrapping a year ago...and can't believe how far I've come and who I've been able to work with this year. It has been such a fun ride!!

So...go shopping & scrap! (and let me see the pages you make!)

The ABC's of Mason & Millie

I've been working my tail-end off on a book for Mason & Millie for Easter! :) I started it on March 22nd and finished it up last night (the 27th)! So...that was a lot of scrapping in a short amount of time! I sent it to the printer last night to be put in a hardcover/bound book! I used some amazing templates by Janet Phillips on these (you can pick them up at www.scrapbookgraphics.com ! Her templates rock!!)

So, without futher ado...the ABC's of Mason & Millie!





















































Credits for these pages can be found in my DST gallery!

Thanks for enduring all of these pages with me! :)