In which I complain for no good reason...

I'm absolutely not going to apologize for my sporadic blogging these last months--I can't even claim to be too busy to post. I actually have quite a back log of (edited) photos of cards, and so forth. Mostly I just haven't made time for blogging, or haven't had the energy at the end of the day. I keep holding out hope that I'll be in a better place once this baby is born, but I also know that I'll be more tired from the night feedings, the birth and everything that attends having a newborn. Or perhaps not. Pregnancy and me don't particularly get along, and I always feel better after the baby is born, even though the nursing, crying, night wakings and such are very disruptive. Mostly I'm looking forward to being able to walk more than 3 blocks without pain and holding my older children on my lap without discomfort. (I'm looking forward to having a lap again, for that matter!)

In case you are wondering, I'm at 36.5 weeks, and am officially ready to have this baby. Not that anything seems to be happening right now, other than increasingly painful Braxton-Hicks contractions and a pelvis that seems to want to split in two. I (illogically) think I just might be pregnant FOREVER and I'm tired of sleeping only on my side and generally feeling like a beached whale. This is the point in pregnancy that I always feel like burning all my maternity clothes, and start looking longingly at my pre-baby wardrobe.

I shouldn't complain--I've had a relatively uncomplicated pregnancy, and until the heat wave hit in July, was feeling pretty good all the time. The extreme bladder problems that plagued me in earlier pregnancies have been largely absent this time around, and my weight gain and water retention has been reasonable. The baby is active and growing on track, and I have every reason to be grateful. Except for the fact that I'm just so uncomfortable and soporific! I just want to be able to take care of my family again without feeling like I need to lay down every five minutes, or put my feet up all the time so my left leg doesn't swell up like a balloon.

Well, okay, I'll stop griping now and show you a card or two. I've actually been pretty productive the last week, but not so original. I know that my low energy is making for low creativity, so I'm just trying to focus on recreating other people's great ideas. Sometimes you have to do the creative cardio in order to keep the muscles limber for the creative weight lifting later on.

Today's cards are actually my originals--this stamp set was one of the sets in the new catalog that went straight to the top of my wish list. I've gotta say, I love this set for little boys! And since I have two little boys, plus two nephews, I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of it! I've got a great project in mind for this set that I'm hoping to finish before babette arrives, but if not, a good thing to make in September. The first card I made for my nephew's 3rd birthday on Monday, and the second was for one of H's little friends.

We were invited to his friend's birthday party on Saturday and I thought I better make a card to go with the gift. The new mini brads are the perfect accompaniment to this set--they are just the right size for the screws on the trucks and diggers in this set. Oh, and while I wasn't going to get the Houndstooth embossing folder for a while, I saw a card that used it and it reminded me of tire tread and suddenly I knew that this emboss folder was made for this stamp set! I think the brushed silver cardstock makes for a nice accent, although tinfoil would work well too.