Little Anna

Here's one I haven't shared yet... This is Anna... she is a newborn sized baby girl with a sweet smile and elegant features. Very feminine and dainty... She has an innovative neck joint that makes her head move exactly like a real baby's. She will be available soon...maybe this coming week and she has an awesome layette too.

More info soon...

The house of sick

Here we go, first virus of the season... it started with John (as usual) on Friday night with a hoarse voice...then continued on the weekend with coughing and lots of snots (LOTS of snot...). My stomach was "off" since Friday but for some weird reason it felt better when I had eaten something than when it was empty... this went on for 3 days too... Then Monday morning, I didn't send John to school because he was coughing and had a ton of snot... of course as soon as George had taken Cody to school, John instantly felt better and I had a horrid Monday trying to keep him busy but he was SOOOO bored it was incredible. Then last night John threw up around midnight in his bed...and was burning up. So no school for him.... and I woke up at 6am with the WORST back of the head migraine and a swollen throat... great! We are officially, sick! When people find out the boys are twins, they always say things like "hey, great! two birds with one stone" "you are done in only go" and things like that. But I do want another baby... Nothing phases me really about another newborn... I can handle the diapers, the spit up, the "carry a baby around forever", I love the breastfeeding part... there is only ONE thing I can't handle: sleepless nights... and boy did I have a LOT of those with the boys. In fact it has been a mere few MONTHS since I started sleeping through the night..and they turn 6 in 3 weeks. John is the worst. He will get up anything between 2 and 5 times a night for no reason. I often find him asleep on the couch or the bathtub... or on the floor of his room. And when John gets up, he wakes YOU up. Thankfully lately he prefers his dad ;) My problem with getting up is, once I am awake, I can't go back to sleep. So for a 5 minute wake up for John I spent an hour tossing and turning. Not fun. And I do NOT do well with little sleep. For me feeling sleepy is the worst thing EVER... I do better with feeling nauseous or hungry or anything else... So we are home today, all bundled up and waiting it out. I feel like ..well... you know. Needless to say we are having chicken soup today for lunch! Yes, it is officially, autumn now... yuck!

Coming soon...

I am so excited to let you know my new book is coming out SOON!!! I would love to have you with me as we go from a block of clay to a real looking 30 week preemie... Here is a tiny sneak preview...

There are over 60 photographs (and of course explanations to go with them) for the HEAD alone... ok, big book lol :) But totally worth it!! I will post pics of it when it arrives and of course let you know where to order etc. Hugs Tina

Snips and snails... and boogers!

Had you asked me years ago, when I didn't yet know I was infertile or how hard it would be to actually get a baby, if I had wanted a boy or a girl, I would have said a girl... Somehow I was more of a pink, frilly girly girl type than a snips and snails, mud and boogers kinda gal... Fast forward a decade and I am the mom of two boys smack dab in the middle of their gross phase... you know the one... It's the one during which the funniest words on the planet are: bum, fart, poop... and things like burping contests are the highlight of one's meal (of course since mommy does not condone such behavior on the table, this is done in secret...). Yes, I see all you boy mamas nodding your heads already... you know what I am talking about. So although having a girl would probably be fun, and yes I would have the perfect excuse to get that dollhouse I have been dreaming, a baby's sex does not determine their personality. For instance I was anything but a girly girl. In fact I don't think I liked dolls at all until I was 8 or 9... and I didn't wear a dress until well into my 20s... I was the Doc Marten, torn jeans, sleeveless plaid shirt kind girl in high school... you know... a punk ;) Hard to imagine? Well I was... although I did lack the attitude to be honest. I was a mellow child and a trouble free teenager. I think my youngest brother made up for both mine and my middle brother's trouble free teenage years though. Boy did he give her a run for her money.... but I digress. So ok, my boys tolerate my baby sculpting... in fact, sometimes they actually like the sculpted baby and pretend she is their baby sister. But they were over the moon when I presented them with this:

To be honest, this is my second attempt at something cute and creepy and the same time. The "Storybook Friends" line has been in my mind for a few years now but I could never get the look down exactly... until yesterday. My original scetch of Booger was more... hairy. But during the sculpting sequence, Booger, showed me he was more reptilian than furry critter... and I obliged. In my mind, this is the cross between a lizard and a garden troll. He is only a few months old and just learning to walk. The boys are helping him. He hatched from an egg and was all sticky and slimy, thus earning the name "Booger".. but I find he is more cute than slimmy ;) And he has a side kick, a snal called Snot. Booger and Snot.... and yes we DO really keep pet snails in the boys' room much to my husband dismay. One is called "Dave"... and here is me proving how un-girly I am ;) Because I LOVE snails... and I make them crawl on my arm and the boys and I think they are cute... More piccies of Booger coming soon... and his story of course... I need to make more monsters!!! lol

Cute babies, news and more

Hello everyone!! I've been busy in case you didn't notice lol :) Jack, my first solo doll kit is in the final stages or production and I am expecting him to start shipping in about 2 weeks... Then I've got my full body silicone baby... Then I've got my sculpting books coming out... Then of course I am sculpting and in between doing all the other mommy and wife stuff :) My psychiatrist said to me the other day I look "good" after my loss but in reality I've gone into overdrive/workaholic mode. I just do not want to think about it... right now, I am at a place where he's been gone for fall too long and I miss him so much more and things have happened I can't share with him anymore so it's worse than it was when it first happened. So I started working like a mad woman just to keep my mind off things... So, take one thing at a time... I've started on a new book called "Preemies". It is almost finished and will be available in the next couple of weeks. In case the title doesn't make it obvious, in this book I guide you through the steps of how I sculpt realistic preemies by sculpting a little 30 weeker. Who btw, is the cutest thing EVER :) I am SO happy with how he turned out! Then yesterday, hubby was on duty, I let the boys play Xbox and watch TV all day. We have banned them from both during the school days so they couldn't wake up early enough on the Saturday to get their hands on the controls hahahaha. Normally, I don't let them play all day as we usually go on playdates or run errands but yesterday I was feeling poorly, and it was POURING all day, so they played while I sat on the couch and sculpted mini babies.. And I've made two CUTIES!!! One Caucasian baby girl with slightly open eyes and a sleeping A/A baby... and I also made them clothes, pacifiers, toys and Similar bottles. So yeah, I've been busy :) This morning hubby came home and took over while I sit here catching up on e-mail and blogs I follow and later on, I will go "see" my dad... I really need to talk to him. And for some good news: Dear fellow sculptors... If you buy my book "Preemies" and you sculpt a preemie following my lead, you can win my next book "Newborns"!! I will go into more detail when the book is released and I I will have a preview of it featured here this coming week so come back to check it out. I wish you all have a magnificent Sunday! hugs Tina

His voice...

This morning I took the boys to school and off I went to get my teeth cleaned. I have a love of portable MP3 players, even though I have never owned an expensive one (good thing too because I am on my 4th in 2 years!!). As I was listening to Bon Jovi, all of a sudden, I heard my dad's voice!!! I had just parked the car (another good thing because I am pretty sure I would have had an accident had I been driving, such was my shock at the moment!), and I was about to unplug the player from my car's stereo system... I instantly knew where the recording had come from... we have another small player full of bedtime stories we plug to the boys' stereo in their room. The boys had a stereo in their room since they were brought home from the hospital. I always played music for them and as they grew older, I started playing recorded bedtime stories... My dad had babysat a few times for us, and even though most times we had managed to get the boys to sleep, a couple of times I guess, they were wide awake... So my dad must have gone in to re-start their MP3 player because he hit the "record" button and there it was: a 17 second sound clip with my dad's voice!!! Tears filled my eyes... I thought I had forgotten his voice yet I still have it! I will make copies of the sound file so I never lose it... It is funny how I try to hold on to little things about my dad... normal I guess but also weird... These days, after having gone through several of the stages of gried, I guess I am in denial now... because I keep thinking I will see dad any day now...and I keep thinking how much I have missed him and how much I have to tell him, and I will make his favorite dessert... and for a few moments I go on like this until I remember, that I will never see my dad again :( People tell me I look so much better... I stopped wearing all black a couple of days ago too. But it's not that I am "over it" ... I have burried myself to work and have managed to keep SO busy, I don't even have time to do the dishes this morning...but give me a moment of relaxation and a little room to breathe and my dad is ALL I can think about... sigh.