{{Michelle Cochran-Wells}}

Assisted Living Meets the Wells' Boys (and may never be the same again)

Happy Friday.

Wow.  What a week.  I'm just plain exhausted.  The new website is kicking my booty...seriously.  It's now 1:30am and little bro and I have been web-conferencing for over an hour working on it.  I am going to reward myself big time once this baby is complete.  I'm thinking maybe a new pair of shoes or something.  However, as long as it has taken us maybe I should reward myself with something even bigger than that...a car, a house.  LOL.  Kidding, honey.  Where do we stand now?  Jay is now working on our gallery where the new DT will upload their layouts. 

OK, on to much more enlightening topics.  Jack has been sick this week with terrible, terrible allergies (we live in a horrible allergy valley) and with that comes breathing treatments which are ever so lovely.  Hate them.  However, I know when Jack feels crappy because he actually said, "yea!" when I got the machine out this morning knowing that it would make him feel better.  Eli had his 9-month check-up today.  It was murder.  Poor kid.  He got his finger pricked twice and they had to squeeze it to pieces to get enough blood to fill the little vial.  He was pitiful.  Cried his little heart out and mine about broke.  We love this pediatric group; especially Dr. Rifai, but I think that Eli probably wanted to just knock that smile right off his face after this appointment.  ha.

On a side note, when Sean dropped Jack off at school this morning he said that they were making Mother's Day gifts.  He wouldn't tell me what it was, but I am soooooo way excited about  it!  I really just am giddy with excitement. 

After school, we had lunch with my Dad and headed to see my Grandmother in her new assisted living facility (if you've been reading you know that my family was struggling with the decision, big time).  It was a super nice place that kind of reminded me of a more than decent  hotel.  Anyway, she has this great balcony on the second floor and it had some awesome light in the afternoon.  Jack and Eli played their hearts out and I got some really cool pics.  I'll share them below, but they haven't been edited yet so they might not look so hot.  I was so proud of them as they  behaved perfectly!  Some points worth mentioning that might be found amusing: Jack thought it was cool to check out Grandma's bathroom while she was "using" it, he left her a row of Matchbox cars by her sink to enjoy while she washed her hands, actually *thought* about pushing his cars off of the balcony just to see if Pappy would retrieve them from the bushes below (I have to admit that I was secretly hoping for this one because it would have made for a fabulous blog moment).  He took the rocker cushions and played "tent" with my Dad.  He thought that was cool.  ;)  Wondering if it might be nice to do some type of little scrapbook project with the residents where everything was pre-cut and ready to adhere into a little album.  Might be kind of fun and would probably make my Grandmother proud, huh?  Plus, it might be good to coax her out of her room and socialize with the other folks.  Anyway, long day and a long night to come, but I've got dark chocolate beside me so I should be good to go for a while (well, Starbuck's would be better, huh?).

Enjoy the pics and have a super weekend!  Oh, and if you happen to see Eli wearing all sorts of different hats in upcoming posts it is because his Big Bro is going through a hat fetish and putting them on him (including the visor below...hilarious!).

*Granny's walker meets boy "stuff"

And the randoms:

I am crazy

Caught this little dude sitting in his brother's walker today.  Brought back lot's of memories of when it was HIS walker only a year or so ago.  He's growing up way too fast.  Way too fast! 

Then, not two seconds later, I found littlest dude in his big brother's tent. 

He had crawled into it while I took a potty break.  Scared me to death to come out of the bathroom and no Eli crawling around.  Holy moly. Speaking of crawling, my life will never be the same again.  Therefore, I am crazy trying to keep up with two very fast and swift little guys.  Sean has been out of town on a business trip so it has been quite interesting around here.  He is home tonight. ;) 

Two little sets of feet sticking out from under the tent.  Adore those little toes and feet!

I am so behind on work that it is not even funny.   Most of the kit goodies are mid-transit and I'll try to have a peek up for you soon.  It is GOOD stuff! 

As far as DT news goes, I have not forgotten.  There was a bit of a hiccup so hang tight, folks.

Well, that is all for tonight.  I'm drained and need some serious shut-eye.  Happy Thursday!

Jack's Easter Party

I thought that I would post some fun pics from Jack's Easter party yesterday at Mother's Morning Out.  Jack is a very serious child and I was so happy to see that he is finally coming out of his shell and loosening up a bit by smiling more and actually saying all kinds of things here lately, including his imitation of his Daddy snoring (hilarious!).  Love the smile that he had on his face all day yesterday after hunting eggs on the playground.  He wanted his Pappy (my Dad) to hide the eggs for him over and over after we left the party.  He's turning into such a ham (as is Eli!) and I think that I'm going to have my work cut out for me with these two.  Enjoy...

**A 2-year old party just isn't a party unless cheese puffs are involved

**Jack with his buddy Counsel and his teachers, Ms. Shannon and Ms. Anne (right before Jack and Counsel both decided that my black sweater needed some orange wiped all over it...see above mentioned cheese puff picture)

**Daddy doing a great job of modeling Jack's Easter basket.

**Jack perusing his egg findings

**Just happy to be outside on the playground

**Eli and I after church on Sunday...isn't he starting to look like a little toddler?  Turned 8-months old on Sunday!

**Two little hams

**And, just for laughs.  This is what my coffee said yesterday after I went through the drive-thru...

March Kit and Other News

Wow.   Can you believe that it is already March??!!!  I have a sweet March kit lined up for you all.  Can you say new Scenic Route?  Yep, you guys always seem to love Scenic Route so we've got an awesome kit with lot's of paper for you this month.  Oh, and not to mention the brand spanking new and adorable tabbed chipboard albums, cute new chipboard shapes and the add-on this month includes some of the newly released Scenic Route medium acrylic stamps.  So, you add all of that to some other great little embellies and that is the March kit.  I will try to post some pics very soon.  We are having to wait on one product to be restocked and then we'll be set to go.  Thanks to all of you who have stuck with us during the business transition.  We are still working to accommodate all of our orders in a timely manner.  However, here lately it seems that we are shipping later in the month than earlier.  Hopefully y'all aren't stalking the postman too terribly bad!  LOL.

The weather here today was just perfect!  A balmy 55 degrees and of course if you know me I enjoyed it by being out on the tennis court for my weekly league tennis match.  It is getting serious now.  My team is in the lead and hoping to make it to the state finals in May.  We've only got three matches left so wish us luck!!!

On the kiddo front, Jack is having more conversations with us here lately.  Enjoy...

In the car with Daddy this afternoon:
Sean happens to look in the rear-view mirror and notices that Jack has his hands over his little ears.
Sean says, "Jack, is the movie too loud?
Jack's reply, "Yeah!"
This is good for a kid that is a late talker so we are thrilled that he is finally letting us have it!

Another instance:
While changing his diaper the other day I was trying to get the little wiggle worm to stay still on the changing table so I was asking him what sound all the animals made...
"Jack, what sound does a cow make?
"Moo"

"What sound does a horsey make?"
"hehehe"

"What sound does a dog make?"
"RUFF!"

"What sound does a frog make?"
"Ribbet"

"What sound does a lion make?"
"ROARRRRRRRRRR"  (really loud!)

"What sound does little brother make?"
"Waaaa Waaaa Waaaa"

Obviously little brother cries a lot, huh?

Happy Monday!

Week(s) in Review #2 (including ShelleyBelle news, Design Team news, kiddos, etc.)

So, I've fallen off the blogging wagon again.  I have a good reason though.  I've finally got most of the site done.  Just a few aesthetic things left to do and then I can take a much needed break.  I've got a lot to update you guys on so let's start with the business stuff first and then we'll head on down to what all has happened over the past few weeks. :)

1)  Kits are shipping as we speak.  This is one cool kit.  I have very few remaining if you are interested.  We've also got just a few add-on kits remaining.  I believe that the project kits are close to being sold out, too. 

2)  We have a new shop and cart setup.  If you have any problems with it, please let us know.

3)  Design Team:  I am seriously looking for some very talented folks to represent ShelleyBelle (currently payment is through kits and could potentially lead to monetary payment once we enter the wholesale market).  We will be keeping a few of our current DT members, too.  These folks will eventually be designing with our own exclusive products as we hope to have the paper line and embellishment line up and running by the end of 2008.  So, serious inquiries only.  These folks will be hand picked.  Here are a few of the guidelines:

• Must be capable of creating projects in a timely manner (usually a week from receipt of kit goods)
• Must have (or be willing to create) a personal blog in which to share projects, ShelleyBelle sneak peeks, etc.
• Active on message boards (Two Peas, etc.)
• Ability to scrapbook as well as journal on layouts
• Capability of teaching others to create your projects

Still interested?  Here's what we need from you:

1. Five scrapbook layouts showing your true style and that you can be versatile with layouts
2. An altered something
3. A short little bio about you
4. List of Design Team's that you are a part of currently
5. List of active online communities in which you take part
6. Ever been published?  If so, when and where?
7. What makes you tick?  What are your favorite products? 

Sounds like a lot, but it's really not. ;) 

OK, so now that we've got all that out of the way now let's chat about what's been going on around here.  The kiddos are feeling much better.  Sean on the other hand, not so good.  Doesn't it ALWAYS seem like one of our family members is sick?  It is becoming a bit ridiculous, actually.  I'm SICK of being SICK.  It's getting old.  So, I packed up camp last night and am staying at Casa de Cochran for a few days (my Mom and Dad's).  Do you know how hard it is to pack for a 2-year old, a 7-month old and a 35-year old?  But, I don't want the little dude's to get whatever funk that Sean has as he doesn't look so pretty.  I've been going home to check on him about twice per day and I am TIRED, TIRED, TIRED.  There are so many viruses and strains of the flu floating around here.   

Uh-oh, one of the little dude's just woke up so I'll finish this post tomorrow.  I'll post the winner for the contest then, too.  Nite nite.

 

Holy Moly!

I haven't forgotten to update the blog!  I've been slammed!  I am THIS close to having the ShelleyBelle website done.  I almost can't believe it.  Laugh.  I've gotten a new shopping cart that is going to make things soooo much easier on the site, on you the customer and on me!  This new system will also allow us to get shipments out the door much quicker, too, I hope.  With all of that said, I've been working some really long hours and into the wee hours of the morning once all the boy's are snoring around here.  I think that I've almost fallen asleep with the laptop for the past two nights in bed.  I've replaced Sean with a laptop...LOL.  Things have also been crazy around here.  Thank goodness I feel like we are all on the mend and feeling so much better.  However, poor little Eli is cutting teeth and that just can't be pleasant; especially when it comes to what it does to his diapers (if you know what I mean!).  Jack never had  the "Big D" with teething, but Eli keeps me busy about four times a day with really, really bad situations (read: ruined clothing, etc.).  It has not been fun.  I told Sean today that he would just not make it being a stay-at-home Dad during situations such as this.  And, yes, he totally agreed.  Needless to say, the word "uh-oh" gets said a lot here lately since there is no warning that said diaper will take place until you look at Eli and notice that his clothing isn't just right. :)  So, Jack's new word this week has been "uh-oh."  Guess he got that from me.   I think that Sean has been feeling sorry for me as he left me some cash this morning for a Starbuck's today.  Ha.  Silly boy, does he not know that I get one EVERY day? 

On the other front, I've updated the site with the contents of the February kit, but the picture is not there yet.  Our last shipment for this kit arrives tomorrow so I hope to have the pic up by Wednesday evening at the latest.  Hang in there with me.  I'm still trying to adjust to getting everything transferred over to a new site and such.  Plus, I'll be revisiting ship dates for each month and such once I get the kit up.  I've also had several folks wanting to subscribe to the project kits and add-on kits.  I hope to make that possible with this new system that I mentioned above.

Oh, and I have a winner for the contest that was posted last week.  I'll try to get a post together for that tomorrow.  Trust me, it will be a long post.  And, this time I've got video!  I'm starting to like adding videos to the blog.  Does it make it more interesting for you?  Anyway, we had a great time doing our family Valentine thing yesterday and I think that we were all exhausted after it was over.  More tomorrow on  that!

One other thing, is the blog looking any better at all?  I'm trying to jazz it up when I have some *free* time. 

Well, off to bed.  It's almost 2am and I'm supposed to be at the gym at 10 in the morning to meet my friend Ryann for BOSU class...we shall see. :)