My Memories Suite - Review and Giveaway

I love scrapbooking, although I have a hard time finding the time to do it.  By the time I get all my supplies out, get the next stack of pictures, decide how I want to lay everything out... I have time to get maybe 1 or 2 pages done before I have to start cleaning everything up again.  So, I was thrilled when I was asked by My Memories Suite to do a review.  The software was relatively quick to install and fun to use.  How nice to be able to browse layouts and embellishments without making a mess.  And since all my pictures are digital... I don't have to print them out... I can just select them and drop them into my new scrapbook page.  I will admit, nothing beats a true homemade scrapbook page, but the convenience of this is awesome.  Here is a page I created:

Yes, I know... M was born almost 7 months ago and it's true... I haven't started her scrapbook yet.  So, here goes the first page... it took me a while to figure this all out, there are A LOT of templates to look at... not to mention the possibilities of creating a page from scratch.  There are tons of embellishments and cute designs... it was fun to play with.  For the page pictured above, I used a premade template, and I think it is so cute!  I'm not quite sure how to zoom in the pictures... I'll have to keep playing with it.  But overall, I think it looks good.  There are additional items that can be purchased, but I think the stuff included for the base price is pretty great.

Buy It!!! - $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store, that's a $20 value, just for using the using promo code: STMMMS68772

WIN IT!!!! One lucky MDD reader will win a free download of the software!  Enter below by 12:00noon on Friday, January 20th, 2012. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and have 48 hours to respond to me; if the winner does not respond, a new winner will be chosen.

Mandatory Entry: Visit http://www.mymemories.com/, and leave a comment with your favorite(s) digital paper pack or layout.

Extra Entries:

~ Follow my Blog via GFC or Email (2 each)

~ Add my button to your blog and let me know where it is (3 entries)

~ Follow their Blog - http://blog.mymemories.com/


~ Follow them on Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyMemories/140359372717593
~ Follow them on Twitter- http://twitter.com/#!/mymemoriessuite
~ Add this giveaway to a giveaway linksy and leave me the link where it is (1 per linksy)

~ Blog about this giveaway linking it to this post. Leave me the link (2)

GOOD LUCK!

~C&M's Mommy

*I was not compensated for this review. The opinions expressed here are honest and my own.

We've been so busy

Anyone that knows me knows that I have plans for everything :)  When we got married we decided to be married 1 year before getting pregnant... and that is exactly what happened.  We celebrated our first anniversary on July 14th, 2008 and found out we were pregnanct 2 weeks later :)  This time we decided we would love a baby with a summer birthday.  And thankfully that plan worked too.  We are expecting baby #2 in late June 2011!!!

If you remember from quite a few months back, I had said that I would start cloth diapering if I could be a stay at home mommy.  Then within days of each other I win 3 cloth diaper giveaways and my wonderful hubby gets a job offer that lets me be a stay at home mommy.  I always figured that winning the cloth diaper giveaways was a sign.  So then about 2 months ago I win a maternity t-shirt from cafepress.com.  It was too early to take a take, but as soon as I could I did... and it was positive.  What fun and what crazy coincidences, right?

Anyway, I have been super busy lately trying to just keep up with housework, emails (I think I have over 100 unread emails from blogs that I follow), actual web development work stuff, potty training, and now my mind just seems to always wander to the miracle growing inside of me :)  The one thing that actually has been taking up a ton of my time is C's scrapbook.  For the longest time I have wanted to work on it, it was complete through the pregnancy to the day he was born... that's it... and he is 19 months old!  I needed to get it up to date if I was ever going to be able to start one for the new baby too.  So I have spent a ton of time working on it and now I have completed through New Year's!  Yeah, I am so happy.  For the 1st year there is a lot in it, but beyond that it will just be major stuff, like holidays and stuff, so I don't have much left to do before I am completely up to date.

My Dreamy Mondays - Unreal... but I have a plan.

Happy Monday Everyone! We had a wonderful weekend celebrating K's birthday and spending time together - which is always wonderful.

UNREAL: It kind-of hit me last night as we were getting ready for the work week ahead that this coming Sunday will be the last Sunday (at least for a while) that I will have to go to work the next day! It is completely unreal to me and so hard to believe. It really is "my dream come true"... and I can't hardly believe it is happening.

PLAN: I am so excited for me days with C. I am already planning out in my head what activities we will start and what I want to teach him. He is already picking up at least 1 new word a day... if not even more than that! I want to continue on that path and start teaching him letters and numbers too.

I want to get better about meal planning. I love to cook and bake but it seems as though we never have the time to plan ahead (or we just don't think about it) - so the dreaded question that my husband and I ask almost every night is... "what on earth can we make quickly for dinner besides a frosen pizza?" I want to be well prepared for meals and also try to provide healthy meal options.

I plan on keeping up with the housework a little better - belive me, our house is not a filth pit, but it could use some dusting and straightening up. I need a schedule... Monday Laundry, Tuesday Bathrooms, Wednesday Kitchen, Thursday - Vaccuum... oh wait... EVERYDAY - Vaccuum... we have a lab... which brings me to...

Another 'plan' - our dog... an 80-pound, almost 3-year old yellow lab that is full of energy! Granted, he really is a pretty good dog and he is wonderful with C, but he could use some 'touching up' with his listening. He listens great, when he wants to... so Mommy, C and Rocco will work on that :)

C's scrapbook. Yes, I finally got our wedding scrapbook done a few weeks before C was born (almost 2 years after our wedding!) and in the time I was home on maternity leave I got his scrapbook done up through the day he came home from the hospital. I know that doens't seem like much, but it included the whole pregnancy too. Somehow I have to find a few minutes here and there to work on his scrapbook so his first year (which will be the most detailed due to all the big moments) will be done before I have to do it all over again for his sibling.

Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed just thinking about it all... and then I remind myself that right now I am working full-time and somehow we are managing it all just fine. I guess part of me is worried that I won't succeed. I have always taken care of children and I know I can do that... but add in everything else??? Some moms I know tell me that I won't have any extra time... I should stay working... I only think things will be easier... could they be right? I really, truly, honestly don't think so... but I've never been this before... I've never been 'only' a mommy and housewife. I know I will be so much more than that... but you know what I mean :)