Wow, this will be my first post in 6 months! It's now winter over here and brrr! It is a cold night.

Joel has grown so incredibly quickly - he's losing his "baby" face and is rolling, crawling, sitting up and standing (with support) and I'm pretty sure that there are times when he'd like to do them all at once. Here's a couple of recent pictures of us:

So grown up, don't you think?

I've recently been busy creating a "scrapbook" for him. It started out with me wanting to maintain a memory book to record the events of his early years, but the store-bought variety just didn't seem to have what I wanted. Not that I really knew what I wanted; I guess I only knew what I didn't want. That made me decide to make my own somehow... and even the very job of thinking through the processes involved became a chore in itself. So one day (when I wasn't even looking for it), I spotted an attractive magazine cover which held all the inspiration I needed to begin working on my scrapbook. Now, you're probably thinking, "Scrapbooking? Isn't that like a really old-school hobby that only teeny-bopper girls and bored housewives do?" Well, that's what I thought too. But this "old-school hobby" has recently become one of the biggest hobby industries like, EVER. It's HUGE. And this is what I've done so far:

These are actually 12 x 12 inch pages so they are pretty large and that gives the photos a lot more impact. I'm having heaps of fun with my scrapping: what more could I ask for than something which combines my love for design, photography, craft, memory-keeping AND which is personally meaningful all at once? I've even gotten my sister on the scrappin' bandwagon... maybe if we're lucky she'll post a couple of her creations on her blog.

This crafty thing (making cards, notebooks/journals) has really gotten to me and there are some expanding possibilities in the near future (I might have sold my first card today! Yay!) but I'm still thinking it through so that might remain under wraps for awhile.

Ok! This Typepad/MT problem on fruitloop.org bugging the back of my mind is getting me down down down. So, does anyone have a good tips to share about how to beat the wintry chill?

i found u too!

dave law   ·  Sun, 06 Jun  ·   3:16AM

yay ! you're blogging again ! :) very nice to see a pic of you and joel. He looks alot like terence :)hehe i wonder how mine will look like.

hazel   ·  Mon, 07 Jun  ·   7:55PM

i found you three!!! heheheee... you'd be plesantly surprised to know that i'm using MT because some time ago, brenda introduced it to me... :) visit us at http://listeningpoint.org

zakky   ·  Mon, 07 Jun  ·   8:52PM

great to see u blogging again. was wondering how you, terence and joel are doing. he looks so grown now, and how much he looks like terence. he looks really active too! can't wait to see and carry him!!

yup, thanks to you i've been hooked on scrapping too and i've just posted my first scrap page. :)

am   ·  Tue, 08 Jun  ·   1:20AM

wow! Joel looks real grown up now. he looks so much like the both of you. i dunno why, but my first impression is that he is a rugby player... haha... maybe he will be one day... hutt 1! hutt 2!

(O_o) nickpan   ·  Tue, 08 Jun  ·   4:23AM

joel has got bren's eyebrown and the whole look of terence. you have really nice scrapbook. hey.. hanna do looks like you though!

pearl   ·  Tue, 08 Jun  ·   5:18PM

love ur layouts bren! glad ur back blogging too!

ag   ·  Tue, 08 Jun  ·   6:49PM

i love the scrapbook layout thing! and your baby looks heckuvalot like u.. also he kinda looks like Ethan when he was smaller..

es   ·  Tue, 08 Jun  ·   7:14PM

Your scrap book looks great! Another huge thing at the moment (which might beat the winter chill) is knitting (from scarves to booties).... Everyone around me is doing that at the moment :)

Sue   ·  Wed, 09 Jun  ·   2:24PM

Hello, was a blogger surfing by your fruitloop site uh... a little before your marriage, and now the family's 3! Anyway, i wanna say, you're looking very good and your baby is too! the scrapbook's beautiful as well and may I say all the best for your family! =D

Allure   ·  Sun, 13 Jun  ·   3:17AM

I'm glad that you're FINALLY blogging. Now dun ever jump off this bandwagon, cos u started us all on it and now u've flown away to this far away place so we need some updates! Love the recent photos. Joel's an adorable hunk, and i can't believe how much he's grown. Lovely scrapbook too, trust u to turn it into a full-time job :) More more more!

Andrea   ·  Sun, 13 Jun  ·  12:52PM

oh bren look at joel!!!! he's super handsome and you're looking great girl...pls come back soon to visit us - we miss you three

ols   ·  Sun, 13 Jun  ·   9:38PM

Hey hey! Glad that things are up and running again. A very handsome little boy you have :)

Van Tan   ·  Tue, 22 Jun  ·   3:43AM

yo Brendaaar! ur baby has definitely got your eyebrows! n he does look a bit like Ethan when he was his age. u're looking good too woman! missing u guys overe here.....i'm due in Nov!!! can u believe that?! wonder what our little indian-punjabi baby wld look like. so exciting!!

Pam   ·  Fri, 25 Jun  ·  11:46AM