Reflections on turning 36.

Happy Birthday to me - I am 36 years old today.

Wow. When did THAT happen?!

When my Mum turned 36, I was 4 weeks old and Andrew was 3 1/2. Paige's age! I guess I got a bit of a head start on her in the kid department but it's eerily similar, isn't it?

I was thinking about this post last night ... planning in out in my mind if you will. (Who says that only the Days are planners?! Campbell's can be planners too - we just tend to do it all last minute!! LOL!! But I digress ...) I was replaying the Movie of My Life So Far trying to figure out what I have accomplished over the past 36 years. It seems to me that a person should be able to accomplish a lot in 36 years on the Earth! I didn't reach any earth shattering conclusions (no pun intended.) No epiphanies. Just the simple fact that my biggest accomplishments - my 3 biggest accomplishments actually - all happened in the past 6 years. Two of these accomplishments decided to keep me awake most of the night last night!! Just to remind me that the days of being the Birthday Princess (or in my case, the Birthday Queen!!) are over. Sigh. Just you wait girls, I'll get my own back when you have kids of your own!!!

So if my biggest achievements happened after turning 30, what the heck was I doing for my first 30 years?!?! Sweet (insert bad expletive here) all if you ask me! It's no wonder then that I have been plagued lately with a sense of impatience. Like I'm waiting for a really anticipated show to begin and there are major technical difficulties delaying things. I love my kids and my husband so why am I so anxious to get through school, get them INTO school, and start my "real life"? I spend a lot of time waiting for the next big milestone thinking that will somehow make everything else in my life make sense, only to be disappointed when I find it's still the same old, same old. How do I go about changing that?

Deep questions for a Wednesday morning!!

Well, accomplishment #3 just woke up from her nap so my deep thinking time is over. Until next time ...

Can you believe that Christine (Little Christine, that is) is 6 months old already?! Time flies when you're having fun ... err ... busy running after 3 kids and a husband!!

She is 16lbs 9 oz and 27" in length. That's 90th percentile for height and 50th for weight - just like Marley! She's sitting up on her own now and loves the new freedom it gives her. She's not rolling over like she probably "should be" at her age but every time we put her on her tummy she screams bloody murder! Already she has very definite ideas of what she wants and isn't afraid to express them!! I'm sure she'll eventually rool over AND crawl ... probably something we shouldn't be encouraging!! Who wants a baby who's mobile?!?!

These two pictures were taken of her on her 6 month "birthday" (Sept 23rd) in her bedroom during a little play time with her big sisters and their two best friends. She loves playing with other kids! Although she did start getting a bit annoyed with the "let's put stacking cups on Christine's head" game!

This next picture was taken by Greg one day. He came upstairs to get Christine up after her nap to discover all three girls in the crib. As he said, "you are so busted but wait there, I want to get a picture of this first!" Ah, parenthood. Finding that line between discipline and comedy!!

I call this picture, 3 Little Monkeys in a Crib!

Better Late Than Never

Well, I finally completed a scrapbook of our honeymoon. Only 7 years late!!

After Christmas I thought I would have the time (and energy) to finally organize baby albums for Marley and Paige. Since Little Christine's due date prevented me from taking another class at BCIT, I - rather optimistically - thought I'd need to fill the time usually spent on homework with another project. I took over the dining room table with various photo albums and scrapbooks I've accumulated over the years. And there they sat

... untouched

... gathering dust.

I was stumped. I had no idea how to get started. I had little experience scrapbooking and what I'd done before I wasn't happy with. It wasn't until June that I got the idea to create a mini album for Marley's preschool teacher as a thank you for the incredible 2 years she gave to Marley. It turned out really well (if I do say so myself) and the rest is history!!

I was totally hooked! I started to check out various Blogs and even got books out of the library. And Michael's became my new Mecca - I have a bit of a paper fetish! Then I had to pick a project. Any project! In the pile of albums on the dining room table was my first attempt at scrapbooking our honeymoon. It seemed so amaturish to me and that's when I knew I had my project. I could redo the album and this time complete it!

It took me all summer (having an infant, two other children and a husband in the house doesn't allow for concentrated "scrapping time") but it's finally done and I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

But you be the judge! I've taken pictures of all the pages and made a movie of them. Enjoy!! And stay tuned for future projects!!