Category: documenting

week in the life 2015 : monday photos & words

This week I am documenting a week in our lives along with the Ali Edwards community. Here are some photos and words about yesterday, if you’d like to see…

The story of Monday morning started Sunday night. I put Meredith to sleep in her bed and decided to go to my own bed, which I hadn’t slept in since last week. I don’t know what time, but at some point she came into my bed and I didn’t resist it because I don’t make rational decisions when I’m sleeping.

I woke up to Liam wanting to nurse at about 4:30 a.m. and once he fell back asleep I got out of bed around 5:30. I had a nice quiet morning to myself which is always a good way to start a week. First coffee, then feed the cats.

After a Bible study, I made breakfast and packed our stuff for the day. The kids woke up around 6:30 and as I approached the bedroom I heard Meredith singing a silly made-up song about Liam to him. Adorable. When I walked in, Liam was excited and reached for me, saying, “Mama! Mama!” I turned on a lamp and Meredith covered her eyes saying, “It’s too bright! Go away from me!” But she got happy pretty quickly.

The story of the kids’ morning was they got to watch a little Daniel Tiger while I got them dressed and finished getting ready. Meredith decided to wear the same church she wore yesterday (and slept in). I choose my battles. We noticed that her summer sandals are already too small, so she wore her Toms and I made a note to get her some new ones.

Daycare dropoff was quick and easy. Liam was happy because breakfast was being served, and Meredith was cautious and quiet as usual. I adore this picture of her because you can see how she is looking around the room shyly, checking out what kids were there. You can see the food around her mouth from the snack I gave her in the car, and the scar on her arm from her dog bite.

After getting gas and listening to Voxer messages & podcasts I made it to work.

We barely had any patients due to a transition in doctors, so I spent awhile catching up with my coworker and updating her on clinic happenings before heading over to pre-op to make phone calls and fill out charts.

The story of my afternoon was that I left work two hours early and went to the gym. I’ve been trying to be consistent about a weight lifting program, but it’s hard. The program is hard, but mostly being consistent is hard because of life. But I jogged a half mile, then did squats, bench press, and deadlifts.

When I got home from the gym I still had a free hour, so I did blog work, chatted with my Voxer friends, and tidied up my craft room. Then I headed out to pick up Liam.

Our story right now is that we split daycare pickup. The kids seem to do better with that one-on-one attention right away, so since it’s possible for us we do it. I always get Liam because I’m the one who has a car seat best suited for him. He’s always happy to see me, in fact picking him up is usually one of the best parts of my day. But he hates being put in the car and after kicking and screaming a bit he self-soothes with his thumb and hair.

So Liam and I got home and I nursed him, and then we just had some fun playing time. He is learning to point to his body parts and of course my favorite is belly button.

It wasn’t long before David and Meredith came home. I always see them coming inside through this back window that looks to the garage. All of a sudden the house gets MUCH louder.

The story of this photo is that Liam is obsessed with drinking out of big cups with straws. He saw David’s cup of ice water (with a straw!) and just had to have a sip. He is usually not happy unless he can hold it himself, too.

I let the kids watch more Daniel Tiger while I put together dinner. We had leftovers so it was just reheating various items and it didn’t take long.

The kids ate pretty well and Meredith got up to dance a few times. Liam made a complete mess as usual. He is a very messy boy.

After dinner, while Liam finished up and I cleaned off the table (and then wiped him down), David and Meredith went to the kids’ room to play “all ball” which is a game they made up. They gather every ball they can find and take turns throwing them into a bucket to see who can make the most. Meredith is a people person, and she is not one to play by herself. She likes any game that is interactive.

Because we’ve been working so hard on our sleep, we’ve been trying to stick to a bedtime routine that includes baths most nights. This is a big change for us as we have generally been doing baths once or twice per week. Liam loves baths, especially when the water is still running, but Meredith resists them. We told her we wouldn’t be washing hair so she complied without too much of a fight. She asked David to tell her a story and he started one that was a teeny bit scary so she held his hand.

Bathtime was quick, then we let Meredith have some yogurt as a snack and we spent some time just talking on the couch. Finally Liam got fussy and David took him for a drive, which is how we have been putting him to sleep. We went through this phase with Meredith too, and I’m not going to worry about it.

The story of bedtime is that we just started trying to get Meredith to sleep in her own bed a few weeks ago, and it’s been a struggle. Lately I have been sleeping in her bed with her, until Sunday night when I went back to my own bed once she fell asleep. Last night we read three books and then she threw a little fit because she couldn’t fold her blanket right, so I turned out the light and closed my eyes and it didn’t take her too long to fall asleep.

This was a very normal Monday for us and a good day to start this project. I love that we just spent the evening at home as a family, that we sat at the table for dinner (doesn’t always happen), that there were no real meltdowns or arguments, and that bedtime went smoothly. I loved just relaxing with David before bed.

I’m so glad I got a day like this recorded.

August 18, 2015
project life 2015 : june (& future documenting plans)

These are the last Project Life spreads I’m going to make for awhile, and even though I know it’s a good decision I am also really sad about it! As I placed them in the album and paged through the rest of the year, I second guessed myself because it is really so cool to see laid out like this. But I’ve decided to try a new and easier form of documentation, at least during these crazy years with little kids.

I’ll talk more about my change of plans in a bit, but first here are the layouts from June, if you’d like to see.

These were made using the Project Life app, along with some digital templates by Paislee Press, Big City Quiet, and using the Collect app. I think I had finally gotten the hang of balancing my spreads in the app.

I added some written journaling and a tiny wood veneer embellishment.

On the right side I just wrote some journaling and called it good.

The next spread, roughly the second half of June, was a little more busy but fun.

I took these two Instax photos of the kids for a project, but they turned out too dark to use. I still thought they were cute so I added them in here.

I glued down a movie ticket stub here.

On the right side I added small labels on top of two photos.

I realized I did not have much more to say to fill in a whole 4×6 spot with journaling, so I just stuck a shipping tag on there and cut up a filler card from the physical version of the midnight edition.

So the deal is that I am switching from Project Life to Chatbooks starting with July. Chatbooks makes 6×6 books of your Instagram photos automatically; they are 60 pages (one photo per page) and are $6. You can edit the cover and the captions and a few other things. I haven’t gotten my first book yet, but when I do I will be sure to update you on how I like them! But I’ve heard good things.

I decided to do this because I’m in the business of simplifying my life these days. Since I am already putting the effort into my Instagram feed, I figured I’ll just try to post a little more frequently and we’ll have some of the best photos of our everyday life printed easily. Doing Project Life through the app wasn’t that difficult, and I still highly recommend it, but Chatbooks are even easier, and smaller, and cheaper.

I’ve had some emotions about my decision, and have had to let go of some anxiety about not having things documented as thoroughly, as silly as that may sound. But I think the Chatbooks coupled with my 5-year journal do a pretty good job, and of course there is also my blog. You may have noticed that I have been posting more photos and life updates lately; that is partly for my own record and partly because I just like that blogging style and want to do more of it.

I do love crafting with paper, but I still plan to continue yearly projects like December Daily and Week in the Life. In fact, I’ll be documenting our week next week and I’m pretty excited about it, especially after getting Ali Edwards’ amazing kit. But I figure I have enough other crafting projects that I also want to try that I don’t want to spend all my spare time on everyday documentation.

So that’s my plan! I probably didn’t need to denote so many paragraphs to my explanation, but I’ve been such an evangelist for Project Life (and I do still truly love it) that I felt the need to over-explain. :)

Next week, during Week in the Life, I am going to attempt to blog every day with the previous day’s photos and words. I don’t think I will focus as much on specific times this year as the stories in general. I’ll be using some prompts like “I want to remember” and “around here” to do my journaling. Have you ever tried a project like this? It’s intense but SO fulfilling!

August 13, 2015
project life 2015 : may 2

Here is another Project Life spread for you! This one is from the second half of May. It was made using a combination of the Project Life app, the Collect app, and Paislee Press templates.

Once again I didn’t distribute my handwritten journaling very well! All on the left side this week. I’m learning!

This first side documented kind of a tough week when Liam had a terrible virus and David was out of town for a few days. But book club and a fun 5k with a friend were high points!

The right side was more of a mixed bag of random life photos.

I want to mention again that the quality of prints from the Project Life app is SO great. I have loved making the switch!

July 13, 2015
project life 2015 : may 1

I’m trying to catch up on sharing my spreads with you! I have them printed through May, and I have them created (in the app) through June. This spread covers the first half of May.

So this was kind of the beginning of summer. For this side of the spread I decided to number my photos and caption them all on one card. I stamped them and wrote the journaling after printing.

On the right side, all I did after printing was handwrite some journaling and glue down a couple of movie tickets.

One thing I notice is that I didn’t balance my handwritten journaling very much. I’m still getting the hang of creating these spreads in the app and finishing them up after printing. I do still love the process though, and how much simpler it is.

I’m actually thinking about simplifying my everyday documentation even more starting with July. I’ll keep you posted!

July 6, 2015
LIGHT : june
I’m continuing on the fairly positive path I started on at the end of April regarding my journey with the word “light.” I’ve pretty well recovered emotionally from a rough couple of months before that, and now I just have to keep the over-achiever in me at bay.

When I look at each area of life that I’ve been focusing on – spiritual, emotional, physical, relationships, and creative, I see that there are a lot of positive things happening in each one, but also progress to be made. Right now I’m choosing to focus on the positive.

This month was a writing-heavy one, kind of like a mid-year reflection. It was a helpful exercise.

I looked back at the action items I wrote down a couple of months ago, and I was pleased that I had made some progress. I was also pleased that they still resonate with me, even though I acknowledge that I won’t be accomplishing as much as I expected.

I really liked the last couple of questions in this exercise; they asked what one specific action I’d take this month to move forward, and also what three things I’d like to accomplish before the end of the year.

What I did this month was to choose a mantra from a Bible verse that I can recite to myself constantly to bring the focus back to my word. 1 John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” And my new mantra is walk in the light as he is in the light.

The three things I want to accomplish by the end of the year are:
1. Have a solid workout routine involving strength, running, and yoga.
2. Actually clear guest room of items to be donated.
3. More prayer: alone and with the kids.
Here are the monthly reflection cards for May and June:

Halfway through the year and I still feel very connected to my word!
June 29, 2015