Christmas 2010

We had the most amazing Christmas this year. So many memories were made this weekend! Grady wasn't really sure what was going on, but I can tell you one thing, he is one spoiled lil boy. And not just by us. My family got him so much! He is such a lucky lil boy. Lots of toys and clothes.

Christmas Eve Kevin's mom, sister, brother and wife came to our house. Its hard to believe this time last year we were anxiously waiting for presents so we could announce my pregnancy. I made it very clear this year we had no announcements to make :-) We watched movies all day, attempted a puzzle and opened presents. It was so much fun being with family. After dinner we drove around looking at Christmas lights. It was so beautiful.

Christmas morning we woke up and Kevin, Grady, Maggie and i opened our gifts. I got a new camera- a much nicer one than I was expecting. A Canon T2i. I cannot wait to take tons of pictures of Grady! I am so excited about it. I really want to learn more about all the manual settings. I think I am going to get a good book and try and bring back memories of my photography class back in college. This will definitely be my new hobby!

We got in the car and drove down to Georgia to my parents Christmas morning. Me and Grady, still in our pjs. My youngest sister Shelby text me on our way- ya'll almost here? we are about 45 minutes away Shelby. What? Hurry up!.... the excitement in Shelby on Christmas morning has not changed a bit in 22 years LOL We finally made it and had breakfast and exchanged presents. We are so blessed! Grady is a little too blessed...we had to leave some of his toys at my parents because they would not fit in the car!

Later that afternoon, the Scott clan came over for our crazy family Christmas. Oh AND of course it started snowing. I still cant believe we had a white Christmas! So, our family has grown so much we hardly fit in the family room together. It was craziness opening presents with all the kids. Then we had our adult "dirty santa" game. I ended up opening a quesadilla maker. I was so excited. For those of you that know me, I make quesadillas at least once a week. So I was ecstatic! I threatened anyone that wanted to steal my gift. Thankfully no one did!

After everyone headed home, Chad, Katie, Phil and Beth stayed over and Lauren and Michael were spending the night again and we played cranium until 2am. We had the best time ever. We laughed so much that night. I love family game nights!

Today we said goodbye and headed home. So many memories were made this weekend. Grady may not be old enough to know, but he had the best first Christmas ever!

We came home to a beautifully snow covered yard. I made Kevin park on the side of the road, move the 4runner out of the driveway and go turn on the Christmas lights so I could get a perfect picture of our new house, its first snow, with my new camera!

I am so thankful for my amazing family and Kevin's amazing family. We are truly blessed.

ps- ill post pics later

Express Christmas Cards

Need last minute Christmas Cards? I am offering Express Christmas Card Designs for $20.

What to do? Send me your photos and ideas of what you want. I will create your custom Christmas Card and send you a proof. Once approved, I will email you a print ready JPG. With this JPG you can upload it to any retail print store such as walmart and print 4 x 6 photo prints or 5 x 7 photo prints of your own!

Want me to handle more? I can do the same, print them for you and send you envelopes too!

Pricing- includes custom design with or without photos added, proof, changes until final approval, shipping:

minimum order 10 invites with envelopes = $1.75 each

11-20 invites with envelopes = $1.65 each

21-30 invites with envelopes = $1.55 each

31-40 invites with envelopes = $1.45 each

41-50 invites with envelopes = $1.35 each

more than 50 invites with envelopes = $1.25 each

Please email me your order or questions to jamieclark55@gmail.com

Don't forget I also do invitations and announcements too!

Here are some I've done in the past. 

Grady is 3 months!

So Grady is 3 months old. I cannot believe how fast this time has gone. But everyday he brings on more and more personality! He is getting stronger and more mobile and I just love watching him grow!! Here are some pics of my sweet Grady...

Today I was looking online trying to find Grady a Thanksgiving outfit. There are so many cute things out there for girls, but hardly any for boys. So I came across some bear beanie hats that were adorable (nothing to do with Thanksgiving, but adorable!). I was tempted to buy one, but as usual I always try to figure out a way to make it myself. So I pulled out my yarn and crochet needle and found a pattern online and began making Grady and lil bear beanie hat. It turned out so adorable!! It is quite possible that I may have the cutest kid ever ;-) Now I am obsessed with these lil beanies!

10 Weeks Old Video

I love to coo and smile....

My First Halloween...10 weeks old

Today was Grady's first Halloween. We had a few wardrobe changes ;-) Last weekend at the Clemson game we dressed him in the little tiger outfit Aunt Lauren bought him. He also wore it to school on Friday. Then last night he wore his 1st halloween pjs Aunt Jessica gave him. Then today he work his I love Mummy shirt I gave him :-) And tonight he wore his skeleton outfit Grammy bought him. He was too precious! I can't wait for next year when he can really enjoy getting dressed up for Halloween!

Here are some pics!

dont know how to rotate the pic :-)

me and my friend JJ

after a long day, ready for daddy to put me to bed

8 Weeks Old

So my baby turns 8 weeks old on Monday. I take him to his 8 week appointment to get shots on Tuesday morning, then I head back to work right after his appointment. What a day that is going to be. I am dreading it so bad. I cry a little each day. I know in the long run, it will be good for him to be around other children to help with his social development blah blah. But it certainly does not make it any easier to leave him next week. I am so afraid of missing out on everything! I have not left him more than only a few hours total since he was born. These 8 weeks have been amazing spending each day with my sweet baby. What a change next week will be. The only thing making my first week back a little easier, is my mom is coming up to keep him this week. And Kevin will keep him Friday on his day off. Then Grady will officially start daycare the following week.

My boss is allowing me to work partially at home some hours of the day (probably the afternoons will work best with my schedule) So that way I can see him in the afternoon and work with him right by my side. Then once Kevin gets home I can put in a little more time to finish out my workday. Hopefully all of these factors will make heading back to work not so impossible!

On a lighter note, Lauren, my mom and i took the boys to Reedy Falls Park to take pictures of the boys. Here are some of the pics....

and another video...

I'm Smiling!!!

Today, Friday October 8th, Grady has begun to smile back at us!! This morning I was talking to him tryin to get him to smile as I have been doing for a while. When all of a sudden he started smiling back at me. I slapped Kevin- "Kev kev, babe wake up our son is smiling back at me!!" Of course Kevin didnt budge and Grady didnt repeat this. So I went about my day thinking it was another "accidental" smile.

Then today we went over to Kevin's mom's house, Grammys. And we started talking to him again. He smiled back again and again and again! Finally someone else saw him. Though this time he continued to smile back at all three of us over and over. Grady has finally learned how to smile back at these crazy people that keep talking to him all the time. It was the sweetest thing in the world to see!

Here are a few pics and another video that captures some of his sweet smile. Notice he is wearing my favorite bib. I promise he has others, I just love this one! :-)

Grady is 6 Weeks

So my lil Grady is 6 weeks old now, almost 7. I cannot believe how fast he is growing! He is beginning to be more reactive to us. He definitely recognizes us and follows us as we move around him. He smiles a lot, but usually in his sleep or after eating. He doesnt smile back at us yet. But getting close. I took him to get weighed Monday. He weighs 9 lbs 14 oz! He is growing perfectly! He loves being outside and loves when daddy comes home from work. They have their time together after dinner while I have some time to my self. It is the best part of my day. Although half the time I go upstairs and peek in the bedroom just to see them together. It is so sweet!

Today I was sitting on the couch and Maggie and Grady were laying on the floor. Grady was just a cooing and making the sweetest sounds- another new thing he is doing lately. So i got my camera out to try and get it on video. Of course he was more vocal before I got the camera out, but this is still cute. You can really see how much he has grown.

Here are my 2 angels....

Grady is 5 Weeks!

So Grady turned 5 weeks old yesterday. I can't believe it has already been 5 weeks. Time is going by way too fast and my maternity leave is quickly diminishing. I am so sad that I will be heading back to work in just 3 short weeks :-( I officially signed Grady up for daycare. It is so hard to think I will be leaving him at that place for someone else to raise my baby during the day. Luckily the daycare is brand new and very clean and nice. But it still doesn't make it easy. I know he will be fine there, but I wish we were at a place in our life where I could stay home with him. Just something we have to do for now.

He is changing everyday. He is smiling more and more now, but not reactively to us just yet. He will just be sitting there and crack a sweet lil smile for no reason. I'm sure the reason is the present he is dropping in his diaper for mommy. But either way, it is so cute to see! He is discovering things more and following us with his eyes. He loves lights and fans (what baby doesn't) and he still is wide eyed all the time just taking everything in.

This past weekend, I let him sleep in his crib for the first time. He did great. Even I did ok :-) We have the video monitor set up. When I put him down sometimes he is asleep and sometimes he is awake. It is so cute to watch him just look around and slowly fall asleep. We are so lucky he continues to be a good baby.

Here are some updated pictures of him...

he loves bathtime

finally fitting better in his carseat

ready to go huntin with daddy and papa

my sister Lauren and nephew Jaclson

all stretched out

sitting with my mom Nana and Jackson

Our lil Jackson and Grady photoshoot

holding Grady's hand

proud nana and papa with their grandsons!

me and my sweet angel

My Custom Design Invitations and Announcements

So nowadays it seems like everyone is throwing a baby shower or a wedding shower or a birthday party! I know I have had my fair share of hosting. They can be so much fun and creative to plan. I have noticed though, when the colors have been picked out and the plates and napkins have been purchased and the decor established, it is really hard to find an invitation to go along perfectly with your theme. Sure you can find something close, but why not have an invitation or announcement exactly like you envisioned! Thats where I come in the picture. Custom printed invitations and announcements designed and printed just for you by ME :-)

For sometime now, I have been creating custom printed invitations, announcements, and Christmas cards for friends and family. It has become a huge hobby of mine. I absolutely love designing and coming up with creative ways to express parties and announcements for friends and family! I wanted to take a moment to share with you some of my designs and ideas. For your next shower, birthday party, wedding event or any big event, email me and we can come up with the perfect invitation/announcement just for you! I can pretty much recreate anything you have in mind, match most themes you have picked out, and of course add pictures! Best of all, it is your design I can create on paper!

So check out some of my designs and descriptions below. And email me for more details on how I can help you with your next big event! jamieclark55@gmail.com. If you know someone that might also be interested, please forward them my blog link!

Wedding invitations for 2 of my good friends

creative baby shower "reveal" for baby #2

Christmas cards

Cute birthday party invite

The baby shower invite- I recreated the nursery bedding (camo and helicopter)

actual footprints on the left from the photo taken on the bottom right

Double baby shower- custom design. Pretty sure they don't have double baby shower invites out there to choose from!

Thank you postcards- I scanned in the nursery bedding (plaid)

Thank you postcards- I recreated the jungle characters on the nursery bedding

She wanted these to be cut out!