Caly Person

Wow – I cannot believe 3 weeks have passed since Lyla was born. It’s been about 5 weeks since I last posted – sorry for that. I find it much harder to craft than I had expected with this time off. This recovery has been much more difficult than with my previous children.

Lyla arrived on April 4th, 2016 at 8lbs 3oz (we were all hoping she’d be smaller and she is my biggest baby yet!) She’s also the longest at 20 inches. I pushed for over an hour – at one point, on all fours – which typically would result in a C-section. Thank goodness she came when she did SUNNY SIDE UP and all! I didn’t realize what a beating my body had taken until the anesthesia wore off but every muscle in my body felt severed for an entire week. It was difficult to move and to be honest – I was afraid to move. Everything hurt. This was difficult for me because I’m used to being myself again after 2 days. She’s a great eater and I feel like feeding her is all I do sometimes.

I live in a wonderful neighborhood with great ladies who have made us meals and made sure we were comfortable for our first two weeks at home. I’m forever grateful and will remember this special time I get to spend at home with my little ones. The boys love their little sister and want to hold her all the time. My husband is still working crazy hours, but I’m glad his night shifts are finally over (for now).

I’m staying busy with my splitcoaststampers designs – I’m committed to do 6 cards per month so I apologize for not making/posting anything new here recently.  I’m half way done with my term – I’ve got 3 more months to go and then I’ll be able to slowly share everything I’ve made for them. I wish I could share them as I make them!

I’m also suffering from pregnancy-induced carpel tunnel. My hands/fingers are going numb and tingling just about every 5 minutes of doing anything repetitive. Makes holding the baby difficult at times. Each time I sit down to craft, it takes at least two hours between letting my hands rest and tending to a needy baby. I’m hoping it will resolve itself soon as it should but it’s so disheartening after 3 weeks to still have these symptoms.

Aside from this, things are going great. I’m sure you’re wanting to see some pictures – so here’s two of Lyla that I got from our infant photographer. Lyla is 2 weeks old in these photos and I have to say – she is definitely a difficult one. It took 2 days driving 45 mins away (that’s 3 hours of driving time!) and over 6 hours to capture these shots because she would not sleep deeply enough to stage her. They are SO worth it, though!

This photo of Lyla in the balloon prop took over 2 1/2 hours on the second morning we were there to take! NO KIDDING!

I made a quick card this morning while Lyla was napping. It’s for the monthly challenge for the LiveLoveCards.com community featuring butterflies. I included butterflies…so it counts! hehe. By quick – I mean simple – no nifty techniques. Just straight stamping :). This stamp set is from Stampin’ Up! called Garden In Bloom. It’s a layering set that also stamps to give a watercolor effect. The blotchy stamping is intentional :).

I used a round die to pencil a circle on my card front so I could stamp in a wreath arrangement with various outline stamps in black ink and then filled the space with corresponding solid stamps using various colors of SU ink.

To complete the card, I used a Wonky Stitch Rectangle die from My Favorite Things and layered the card front over some Melon Mambo cardstock.

Hope you all enjoy! Until next time!

SUPPLIES:

*Disclaimer: I am not being paid by any company to promote their products. I make cards using stamp sets and materials which I love and I love to share. To view where these items can be purchased, click on the linked abbreviations below (SU for Stampin’ Up!, SSS for Simon Says Stamp, EH for Ellen Hutson, AMZN for Amazon, LF for Lawn Fawn, MFT for My Favorite Things, etc.).

Garden In Bloom	SSS Nested Circles	Memento Tuxedo Black Ink EH | SSS | AMZN	So Saffron Ink
Pumpkin Pie Ink	Melon Mambo Ink	Rose Red Ink	Marina Mist Ink
Old Olive Ink	Wild Wasabi Ink	MFT Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX EH | SSS | MFT	White/Gray Big Shot
Big Shot Magnetic Platform EH | SSS | AMZN	Standard Cutting Pads EH | SSS | AMZN	Melon Mambo Cardstock	Neenah Solar White 80 lb EH | SSS
Recollections 110 lb	ATG Gun EH | SSS | AMZN	MISTI – Laser Etched	Teflon Bone Folder EH | SSS
Martha Stewart Mini Scoring Board EH | SSS	Absorber