Dream Come True Layout

This is not my average layout. First of all, it's only got one, count it, ONE photo. Second, it's not about documenting an event, it's about documenting where I was at a given point in time.

I'm a member (a bad member as I don't participate nearly as much as I would like) of a Scrapbooking Your Faith group that Courtney Walsh set up. This layout is in response to one of the recent prompts which was to Scrap/Document a time that tested you.

The other challenge that I had for myself was to really mix up my products for this layout (another one of the challenges from Shannon Tidwell's Sassy Scrapping class, of which I am also a bad member). It was actually a lot of to pick and choose pieces from everywhere...there is a whole mish mash of stuff on this layout, but I really like how it all came together.

I started with a single 6x6 sheet from Basic Grey's Paper Cottage line, and went from there. It's funny because I was determined to use that scrap of Stella and that bit of Bella Blvd since I love those papers, but they don't necessarily go together, and the Simple Stories strips I used to frame the top and bottom of the page would intuitively have been what I pulled out if I was planning the page out more, but this is how things just came together. It really was kind of by the seat of my pants. I had planned to use a different set of alphas, but lo and behold, Pink Paislee's Declaration collection came in the mail (THANK YOU PINK PAISLEE!) and they were perfect.

So back to the story of the layout itself. That photo is of Ellie when she was one month old. I can still remember taking the photo. One month is a big deal for Chinese babies. You're supposed to stay in the house until one month (except for going to doctor appointments), and then there's a big party when the baby is a month old. People are invited, gifts are given, baby is introduced, etc. But, since most of the people who would be invited to such a party don't live near us, we just had a little celebration at home. My mom, who was with us at the time, got some really good, authentic Chinese food and we dressed Ellie up in an outfit my sister had sent.

I remember taking the photos and feeling like I should have been excited and happy and really celebrating, but all I wanted to do was go to sleep. And actually, in the first couple of months I had an enormous sense of guilt that I wasn't enjoying being a mom. OF COURSE I loved Ellie, and I had dreamed of and wanted to be and had been so excited about becoming a mother, but the reality was somehow so different.

It's not that I thought it would be easy, I knew it would be hard, but Ellie was a really difficult baby. She had reflux so she was a terrible nurser, eating just enough to not be hungry and wanting to eat again an hour and a half later. Physically, it was a much harder road back as well - I had some thyroid issues and was exhausted all the time. Life for those few months was just about survival.

So the journaling tells that story and about how I really had to cling to God, and his promises during that time. I started memorizing passages of scripture when I was up with Ellie, and it became part of our night time routine that I would recite them to her at bedtime (we still do this). She's almost five now, and I realized about two years ago, that she knows the passages and can say them with me. How cool is that, right? I'm praying that these will stick with her always and someday she'll be able to claim them when she is tested.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! It's a busy one here, but all fun things.

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock: Simple Stories - Yearography; Basic Grey - Paper Cottage 6x6 pad; CTMH - Stella paper and Pacifica cardstock; Bella Blvd - Plastino ; Sassafras - Sweetly Smitten; Crate Paper - Storyteller
Other: Elle's Studio - Pink Pennants; Express the Moment - Stamped Tag; May Arts - White Twine; CTMH - Cork Shapes; Studio Calico - Wooden heart; Pink Paislee - Declaration alphabet stickers; Sewing Machine; Tombow Adhesive; Helmar Quick Dry Adhesive