ps…and i really promise lots of updates!

we are going to have another baby!  we are so excited and just feel so very blessed!  we waited awhile to break the news because we had some complications in the beginning…but we have a great specialist now and think we have worked through those things.  to be completely honest i am very nervous with this one given the last circumstance, but we are being both hopeful and prayerful that everything will be ok.

so here is the first snap shot of our little gem…(it is slightly out dated, but it is the best we have for now.)

you may notice the wrinkles…this is reagan and ireland’s  copy of the baby photo.  the girls are so cute, ireland loves to kiss my tummy and reagan is convinced she has a baby in her tummy too!

please keep our little family in your thoughts, as we are just about in the clear!

well, i have had a very rough first few months…lots of morning sickness, lots of tiredness, and lots of stress, but i am hoping that will all be over soon!

i just got home from cha, which was awesome!  i love to meet up with old industry friends, meet new people, and be inspired by other artist that i so respect and love.

we released 3 new lines taking flight, sweet whimsy, and crazy for paisley.  here are some sample pages i made with our new stuff.

so the show was good…aside from the fact that i had to leave my two little babes for a few days…they seemed to grow so much while i was gone…

i actually got pretty nervous at the show because my morning sickness was totally gone, so i thought for sure something was wrong…but as soon as i came home it has been worse than ever!!! (which i have been known to say is totally comforting in very wierd way.)  next check up is in one week…

you know it is so wild how motherhood works…i can be throwing up, feeling green, exhausted beyond belief, and totally scared…but there is something so magical about being pregnant…it is pretty awesome to think about our family growing.  while i was at the show,  i told a dear and very old friend(whom i can always count on for a work focused discussion and the latest industry news)…that i was having another baby…he said, “another one!”  then i thought to myself…here it comes…bring on the criticism about wanting a big family and still hoping for a successful career, and how it is so not the modern way to live…i was ready to defend my self…but to my surprise he said with a humble smirk, and a twinkle in his eye, “so you have figured it out, do you?…that’s good.”   i smiled back…and said, “yes…i know exactly what really matters.” 

it was so awesome to be at the consumer show…i got to meet so many cool people!  people have the best  feedback, and the sweetest things to say…you are all such a huge support to me on so many levels!

one cool woman in particular made this amazing card for me and wrote an oh so sweet message inside…she is so thoughtful!!!!

i love you annette!!!

ps…don’t forget LOST is on tonight!!! yippee!!!

time flies when you’re…DOING WHAT YOU LOVE!(the girls sing and dance every night!)

time flies when you’re having…CHRISTMAS WITH LITTLE DARLING BABES!

time doesn’t fly when you’re…SICK!

time flies when you’re having…A NEW YEAR CELEBRATION!

time flies when you’re having…TO SUM UP A YEAR’S GROWTH IN LESS THAN 12 PHOTOS!(not that i only took 12 of course…more like 12,000…ok, maybe more!)

time flies when  you are….AS CUTE AS THIS!

time flies when you  have…TWO BEAUTIFUL GEMS THAT ARE GROWING WAY TO FAST, AND GIVING US THE BEST RIDE OF OUR LIFE!

i have had so many requests to sell scrapbooking stuff on my site, but all of the new scrapbooking stuff i do goes through colorbok.  plus there are so many online shopsthat already carry so many heidi grace things, but i felt so bad that i decided that would go through my old product put some sets together and put them on the clever siteas a one time thing just for fun.  it feels good  to get this into people’s hands.  i am selling it super cheap, my goal is just to give it all a creative home!  we have had some great orders, so thank you! but what has been so fun, andactually quite inspiring is to go through old product…we did some really cute stuff!  sometimes i get so focused on what’s next i forget to enjoy the thing that i have already done…it also brought back some fine memories.  the days of staying up late at the office, traveling to shows with my dad, and wearing every hat…those were the days!  here are just a few of the sets that i put on the site, and i hope to add more soon. (please do not forget…these are one  time thing, there is a limited supply, and they are a modge podge of product.) 

not only is the story absolutely charming, the film is so gorgeous! talk about creative inspiration…take a look.

set decoration: bridget menzies

design: amanda mcarthur

art direction: ged byan & john ried

we did not try to send anything…instead we give you this, i really hope you see it!

it may not seem like much…but really, it took a lot of effort with our two little live wires on the loose!

we miss you…we love you!!!!

see you soon!

it was also not my intention to start the new blog regimen with such news…but i just can not let it go by without adding my thoughts on a recent tragedy in our neighboring city.

in our city of tacoma, we rest next to the small city of lakewood.  last week my husband and i watched in horror as the news reported that four police officers had been shot and killed in a surprise attack while preparing for their shift at a local coffee shop.

while i am very emotional, and have genuine pain for the loss that these three men and a woman’s family and friends will go through, i am not one who easily gets involved with a strangers private grief when showcased on the news.  somehow i have found it easy to detach.  this time…it was different.  my heart ached, and this horrific loss was always in the back of my head during the passing week.

maybe it was because each of these officers was a parent.  maybe because each one left immediate family to grieve.   maybe somehow, i had forgotten that our law enforcement are real people.  they have families, they have likes and dislikes, they have passions, and they will be truly missed loved ones….

or…maybe it was because my own husband served as an officer, serves in the military, andis a fire fighter…this attack was brutal, intentional, and random…and it could have happened to any service man or woman…

completely moved by the outpouring of love in our community, i loaded the kids up and we headed to stand along the road to pay silent tribute in some way to these heros’ procession.

i was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of uniformed personnel that lined the streets.

a 10 mile procession, over 4000 vehicles…and that does not even include the countless parades of service men and women outside, in the streets, in cars, and even miles away slowly moving toward the funeral…it was truly one of the most remarkable things i have ever witnessed. they flooded in from all streets and side streets, as far as i could see were civilians and service men and women from all over the country.

it was impossible for me to park…so i got as close as i could, and when the hearses and the family members past, i stepped out of my car…right there in the middle of the street, along with others…and with my hand on my heart, i silently prayed for them.

we came home, and watched the service for th next few hours.  it was heartfelt and traditional.  it honored them well.

what made it home more than anything is when they ceremonially had dispatch call the officers… there was silence…dispatch then said, “gone, but not forgotten.”

like i said…i am not one who gets wrapped up when others need private time to grieve…but i could not help thinking, as a mother when i get to i hug my sweet girls, or when my husband gets off duty and strolls into the house to kiss me and give the girls a giant hug…and when i get to hold him after a long 24 hour shift…at that same moment…four families just like mine, no longer get those tender moments.

to these families…you have suffered the ultimate sacrifice…you are in my heart and prayers.

to see more photos, go here.

this is how i feel…i have been pulling way to many all nighters!

ps…i love the new site!!!!!

and yippee…the new blog is gonna be just as cool!

so…stay tuned…but i need a chance to breath……..

i have been working in the day for colorbok doing heidi grace designs stuff, and at night getting the designs ready for the new clever website…i am pooped…not to mention i am on the verge of getting sick but won’t let myself, you know how that goes.  so, because of that have i neglected A LOT of things!  one of which…my blog.

first a most important…

Vetrans Day.

if you know me at all you know how i feel about the country we live in…and know that there are know words to describe my gratitude for our service men and women.  i am TRULY…genuinely grateful for all the men and women who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice for our country!  most of all of course for my own dad a vietnam veteran who was awarded two purple hearts and the silver star among other accommodations.  he has recently suffered from PTSD and is truly both a hero and inspiration for not only his service then but his bravery now.  he is an example to me in too many ways to count.

and…of course, my valiant husband!  who served in iraq and is currently serving in the army national guard.

i hope i can raise our children to have such honor and patriotism as these two men have for our country.

now lets just play catch up…

the girls started swim lessons…they are in a little kippers class…and they are hilarious!

i started drinking wheat grass again…and all i can say is yuk! (but i know it is the only reason why i can function on just 3-4 hours of sleep a night.)

ireland had her first time out….and has been getting quite a few ever since. (turns out she is as intense as her sister. live wires those two!)

reagan only sleeps about 3 hours a night and plays/reads  in her room the rest of the time.  the weird thing is…she is totally normal and happy (…and full of energy)the next day??? should we take her to the doctor for this?

the girls have finally started to sit quietly through church…kind of…ok…quiet for them!  here they are getting ready to go. (check out reagan’s earrings.)

i have been like a crazy woman spreading myself so thin trying to keep up with heidi grace designs stuff and get the new clever website up.  it launches on black friday! and it is pretty cute!  oh my…and the lines that i just finished up this weekend with my graphic designer jen, are  pretty dang cool!  it feels good to be on a role.

and with that good night…which is never really goodnight, i always lay in bed and work for a couple hours…it is such a bad habit!

in a nutshell halloween was awesome! luckily i got reagan’s costume done in time! this holiday is my favorite for sure! the girls were just as cute as they look! ireland was a peacock, and reagan was a bluejay…which she named chicken little.  the squawked like birds, waddled around and whenever we would say, “shake your tail feather” they would shake their little bums!  they looked hilarious!  they had fun trick or treating but couldn’t wait to go to each hose to eat the candy…so they would stop at the end of the drive way of each house and eat it…then go on to the next…works for me it was all gone in one night, except i had  pockets full of half eaten suckers, and candy wrappers.  it was such a good time!  grammy came too, and when we asked reagan the next day what was your favorite part of  halloween she said, “grammy!”  how cute is that?! that is love…with all that candy the competition was fierce. man oh man i love my girls!

the entire album is on my face book page.

for my guest post on colorbok’s blog this week i wanted to use one of their collections that is now at joanns, i chose to use the sweet life, and it is so FUN! i had bought a bunch of their sweet life stuff awhile ago, but you know how you sometimes hordeyour stuff because you are scared to use it and have it run out. (i am a total horde…it true!) so i was too stingy to actually use it. but then…they sent me a bunch of their products in a huge package, and one of them collections they sent was sweet life!  anyway…i have been working a little each night for the last few nights (okstaying up to all hours of the night) and got this cute little album done for my ireland.

to see the whole things go to www.colorbok.typepad.com