#2: Binder Microfiling

As promised, my nerd blog of the month.

I consider myself to be a fairly organized person. That's not to say there aren't spaces in my house that make me want to scream/cry (our kitchen junk drawer and way-too-small closet spaces come to mind), but I do like to organize and I'm always trying to make the most of the space we DO have.

One of the issues we have come across is where to keep all of our files. Medical bills, tax documents, etc. Since our "office" has been relegated to one tiny armoire in our living room (which houses computer, printer, games AND files) we don't have a lot of space to work with, and on top of our personal files, I also have to keep track of all the Ethnos paperwork (and there is a LOT of that).

One thing I have learned to utilize while living in a small place is our wall space. We have at least one bookcase in every room of our house, which is where we store pretty much everything. And lately I have been working on a system that allows me to store all of our paperwork on the bookcases too. It satisfies my urge to have everything look put together (color-coordinated binders anyone? and yes, they match the rest of the decor) and I also prefer it to file folders.

Three-hole-punching everything would be too much of a pain in the butt (although I have done this before), so I'm just using sheet protectors, which also allows me to keep like items together (ex. an insurance statement, the corresponding bill, and a copy of the paid check in one sleeve).

Another bonus to this (especially for Ethnos) is that the system is highly portable, which is a giant plus considering we don't have an official "office" and it makes it virtually impossible for our files to get messed up. Unless someone were to open the rings of the binder and shake it everywhere. In which case my head might explode.

Anyway Kristin, I hope you enjoyed this. Since you are the only one who read it. And possibly Matt, who is getting ready to comment: "That's nice, but a better way to do it would be to scan everything and keep it on your computer."

#1: Kisa Camille: 10 months

On Tuesday Kisa turned 10 months old. Matt has been blogging about all the big milestones of her life so far (3-6-9), so I'm choosing to blog about all the everyday stuff instead.

These last few weeks have been fun for me because Kisa is really learning to communicate at a rapid rate, and beginning to initiate games or ask for things she wants. The only word I have heard her use so far is "Dada". Otherwise, most of her verbal skills are just babbles. This kid is a master of nonverbal communication, though. She knows that "no", "nope", and "don't" all mean essentially the same thing, and she will respond to these words with an emphatic shake of the head. She'll also shake her head to tell me no sometimes (which I'm not as wild about).

As I mentioned in an earlier post, she has also discovered how to point, which has been a huge help. During a meal she can choose one dish over another, ask for more, or ask for milk (I have even had her point to an empty bottle on the shelf to ask me to make her a bottle). This is really nice after 10 months of blind guessing.

One of her favorite things lately is to play "chase", which consists of her crawling and then looking repeatedly over her shoulder to make sure you're following her. This usually ends with her getting so excited that she forgets to crawl and just sits there giggling. You can also initiate this game with her by telling her that you're going to "get" her, and she'll crawl about two feet before dissolving into said giggles.

She just cut tooth #2 on Tuesday, and that will hopefully bring to an end a couple of weeks of horrible sleep. Fingers crossed on that one. Teething sucks.

One of my favorite things about Kisa is how chill she is most of the time. Every morning we wake up, eat breakfast, play together for a bit, and then she listens to music in her crib for at least an hour, followed by a two or three hour nap. No joke. You can do the math on that one but I seriously have almost the entire morning to myself (which is usually my workday).

I try to play different kinds of music for her since she is enthralled by the different instruments and styles. For some reason she has a particular passion for dance and jazz (I'm going to throw out a wild guess that it has something to do with the percussion) but really anything with a good beat will get her pretty excited. She LOVES to listen to music and will literally sit through an entire album while just chillin' in her crib. Pretty much every time we walk into the nursery she asks me for two things right off the bat: 1) to turn on the fan, 2) to turn on the music.

Anyway... that is all I've got for now, but I'm sure she'll be doing something new and awesome by tomorrow. I'll keep ya'll posted.

Well, I have been so busy lately that I literally have not even had time to blog, which, of course, is when I have the most to blog about, so I've had topics queuing in my brain for the past few days. This is kind of like a blogging to-do list. Which I know is lame, but if I don't commit to it I will never get to it. And yes I meant to rhyme that. :)

Upcoming blogs to look for:
-10 month update on Kisa
-Binder Microfiling (yes, really... it will enjoyable to the one person that reads it ::cough:: Kristin ::cough::)
-Ecco Base update
-Jobs/finances

Coming soon! AKA when Kisa takes a nap!

And now a word from my sponsor:
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There is really nothing in the world quite like watching your kid learn how to communicate. Today as I was getting Kisa her snack, she started shaking her head, then pointed (rather insistently, might I add) at her favorite snack instead. Jeez, mom, how >dare you feed me a cracker when what I want is a cheese puff!

Last night, when we were getting ready to put her down, we walked into her room and she started dancing, even though there was no music playing. I started laughing at her, until I realized she was pointing at her cd player and asking us to turn it on for her so that she could dance.

Mr. and Mrs. Bergren

Well, it's done. It's been a long and emotional weekend but Mitch and Ashley are married!

Matt has been teaching Kisa a new skill: the high five. She is becoming quite adept. Yesterday I gestured too widely while speaking and she snuck one in. Pretty cute.

Hartzell Pride

Whew. Nap time (aka my one free hour of the day and the only chance I get to blog) is now mostly devoted to my morning workout, which is a really positive thing, but my blog may be taking a hit as a result.

So, we had a full weekend as predicted, though I unfortunately missed out on my friend's bridal shower on Sunday. I was just too tired after the bachelorette party. I pretty much had my "mom hat" on that whole evening (mom jeans? I don't know-- the point is, I was being a mom) and was focused on trying to make sure no creepy guys messed with any of the girls or that no one wandered out into the street in front of oncoming traffic. At one point I actually implemented the buddy system. Sigh. I am getting old.

The kicker was when I found myself in a trendy Pearl District bar sipping some ice water and showing one of the other girls pictures of Kisa on my cell phone. Yep. I am THAT PARENT.

Anyway, all joking aside, I was really glad I was there. I have been thinking quite a bit in anticipation of Mitch and Ashley's wedding this upcoming weekend. When I was single, I thought a lot about the husband that I would someday marry, but I don't know how often I thought about the family I might marry into. Or if I did, I thought about what my mother- and father-in-law might be like, and not about potential siblings.

I have to say that I lucked out with the Hartzells. Sure, we have our drama like any family, but I really do love them (and like them- most of the time). I feel especially lucky that I got another sister in the mix, and as time goes by, she is starting to feel more and more like a real sister.

Probably the most exciting thing about this upcoming weekend is OFFICIALLY welcoming Mitch into the family (although technically we are getting rid of Ashley... I prefer to see it differently). I genuinely like and respect my soon-to-be brother. He is so good to Ashley and to Matt's parents. I have watched the way he has taken care of Ashley and it makes me very proud... (now if only my other sister would find someone like that! and stick with him).

Anyway, not to gush, I am just very excited about watching God add to my family. An unexpected perk of marriage (if you're lucky). Who knew.

Well, it has been a busy few days for me, and the next couple of weeks will be very busy as well!

The women's retreat was awesome, and somewhat relaxing despite toting along my nine-month old and committing to teaching. It was a good chance for me to get to know some of the women of Ethnos better. The last day we were there we each wrote compliments to every other person, then Brenda compiled them and read them aloud. I feel like I missed a lot of mine, but one person said that they appreciated the effort I put into forming relationships with the other women. I know that whoever said that knows me well because they understand that is something that is a struggle for me and that I have had to work hard at. So that made me feel both known and appreciated.

Yesterday was a full day as Kisa and I joined my parents, brother and Megan at ACMA in the morning to hear Becca recite her Capstone. This was literally an hourlong presentation of her life story (as told by her). It was fascinating to watch as she was very raw with the details. It is always intriguing to hear a situation recounted from someone else's perspective. I hoped that hearing her presentation would help me better understand my sister (she is one of the most complicated people I have ever met). Instead, it gave me a deeper appreciation for the complex person God made her to be and for her own process of growing up and discovering herself. If there's any one thing that I took from it, it's that my sister is still in the middle of a journey of self-discovery. I remember that phase of life as it was not too long ago for me (not that I have myself all figured out at age 22 either).

After the presentation, my mom helped me to hem my dress for Ashley's wedding, and I repaid her by highlighting her hair.

The next few days will probably be full of wedding prep. I'm going shopping for a rehearsal dinner dress today, and I still need to get shoes for the wedding. This weekend is the bachelorette party (I'm DD) and I have another bridal shower to go to for a friend from high school.

Next weekend is literally wedding/family commitments from Friday morning to Sunday night. I'm excited for my sister (from another mister), but phew! It's going to be a busy busy week for everybody.

This is a busy season of life for us... one sister getting married and another graduating from high school, an active baby girl, plus all kinds of friends with weddings and babies left and right.

And not to further scatter this already scattered blog post (I did not have my morning coffee and IT SHOWS) but Matt and I will be celebrating our 2nd anniversary in a little over a month! Weird! Where did all the time go?

2 Things:

1) Last night we took advantage of the warm weather to begin weaning Kisa off of being swaddled. She did surprisingly well considering how painful it has been the last two times we made attempts. Of course she slept with us and flopped all over us all night long, but it is just the beginning of a process, so we'll get there.

2) I have talked to a lot of people about the exercise programs they have been doing lately. A lot of them are doing P90X (which sounds great but I really think it may be overkill for my motivation level) and a lot are doing the 30-day shred. I think I'm going to try this 30-day shred deal. See how it goes.

I put Kisa down for her morning nap and she is currently playing and singing to herself in her crib. Sooooo... we'll see if she can maybe sing herself to sleep without being swaddled?

I don't think I really understand the concept of twitter. I don't mean, "I don't get why people use it," I mean, I don't get how it works???

Kinda feel like my grandma right now. The one who told me her computer was too old for facebook.

amateur textile design

So, I did a little research and found out how to do at-home screen printing. It's very cheap and easier than I thought. I took pictures but not of the same screen, so this is a hodge-podge of images from a couple projects.

To make your own screen-print, you need some sheer fabric (organza is perfect), a picture frame (with the glass), a bottle of modge podge, a paintbrush, tape, and a hot glue gun.

So, step one is to find your image. Tape that to one side of the piece of glass, and tape the fabric to the other side. You have to have a piece of fabric that is bigger than your picture frame so you have space to glue it to the frame later.


Okay, according to the directions I read, you're then supposed to trace your image on to the fabric. However, this is complicated and not really very helpful. So if your image and your fabric are both secure, you can just start making the print. The second time I did this, I taped the whole apparatus down on my counter using duct tape, and that made the whole thing easier.

Step two is to to start making the actual screen. What you want to do is, using your modge podge and a paintbrush, paint around everything that you DON'T WANT to show on your final print. Since you are painting on top of the glass, your fabric will stick to the glass and hold itself in place.


After the glue is completely dry, pull the fabric away from the glass. You may need to do some touch ups, but your screen is ready for printing.

Use hot glue (or staples) to attach your screen to the picture frame (you don't need the glass for this part). Now, you can paint over the screen, and your image will show up on the fabric (or paper) underneath!


That last picture is a test print I did of a textile pattern that I designed. Planning on using that to line my reusable grocery bags. :)

I have a lot to say but very little time (I'm guessing- Kisa is currently napping) to blog, so I will try to keep it short.

First, I had a great mother's day yesterday (and kind of on Saturday too). Matt cooked me breakfast and then we went downtown and had a picnic at Waterfront Park. The weather was beautiful and Kisa got to crawl around on the grass for the first time in her little life. She was well-behaved the whole day (not that she often isn't), and overall it was just a fun adventure with the fam.

Second, I made a ton of sales this week. Mostly to family members, but that is okay with me. I am trying to do some research on ways to promote my business because I think my problem with online sales is not getting enough traffic to my site. I've been watching my page views and I've only had a few new ones this week.

Third, I've created a new product! I made my first reusable grocery bag (thanks Ashby for the suggestion). I think it is pretty cute... in fact, I'll probably be making myself one in the near future. The thing that I am most excited about is actually the lining fabric, which I screen-printed with my own custom design featuring my logo. It came out exactly the way I wanted it to look. I told Matt that even if I had gotten it custom printed it could not have looked better-- I like the handmade/imperfection feel of it. Anyway, this one has already been sold but I'll be making more and I'll post pics of that and of the general screenprinting process (turned out to be much easier than I had imagined).

Fourth(ly)... I gave myself a great Mother's Day gift in honor of my daughter's ninth month of life, and that was seeing my pre-pregnancy weight on the scale this past week! Unfortunately I promptly gained some back due to the multiple Mother's Day Feasts, but I have not yet given up on my diet and plan to lose a few more pounds in the coming weeks. This is the second goal I have attained in my weight-loss/fitness journey. The goals help me stay motivated and track my progress. These are the ones I have set (some reached, some still to be attained):
1. Get weight back into the 120's/comfortably wear a size 4 (reached that one a while ago)
2. Back to pre-pregnancy weight by Ashley's wedding/fit into my bridesmaids' dress (whoops-I ordered a size too small. Anyway, my dress now fits, thank God!)
3. Wedding weight by my 2nd anniversary (121lbs by June 28th- I made this promise to Matt last year for our anniversary and would really like to reach this goal as a gift to both of us by this year. Shouldn't be a problem)
4. 117lbs/swimsuit body by my birthday. This is more of a fitness goal than a weight loss one. I have been working on my problem areas (basically the abs are the main offenders). This number represents the ideal weight for my height. I'm not tied to the number itself but rather the concept of peak physical condition, so that's really the goal, regardless of the # I end up with on the scale.

Anyway, I know to a lot of people this whole journey may sound a bit shallow, but to me it is about taking care of myself and being the best ME I can be. I have blogged about this before but I believe very strongly that maintaining your health is an important part of life AND an important part of marriage. Matt and I had a serious conversation about this before we got married, and made a commitment to each other to take care of our health and our bodies.

I have been considering this whole thing carefully in the last few weeks, trying to think very intentionally about what I communicate to my daughter about body image, diet and exercise. Now that I am responsible for parenting a girl (who will someday grow up to be a woman with body image issues of her own) I have to be very careful about what I teach her, either by my words or by my actions. I hope to model a lifetime of healthy eating habits and exercise, but not constant diets or insecurities. I want her to know that if she takes care of her body the best that she can then her shape isn't what's important. This is hard to do since we all struggle... and obviously there are some times when diets are necessary (like after you have a baby). But I hope to get to a healthy place for me, and then stay there. And hopefully by doing that I will be a good role model for my daughter.

Anyway... I had more to write but I have already spent too much of nap time blogging and now I will likely not have time to clean my kitchen. :) whoops.

Quick Poll:

Which is more annoying?:

A) Accounting programs that make life more difficult instead of easier OR
B) People who owe you money and refuse to pay you/communicate with you/acknowledge your existence OR
C) Taking your cat who has panic attacks in the car on a 45 minute (round trip) ride to the vet?

I am not feeling particularly cheerful today.

I think I am going to start some amateur screen-printing. It seems like that would really streamline my production process, and would be easier to pull off than creating my own stamp...

I kind of want to create my own textile, but I've been looking around and that is going to be way too expensive at this point.

Website

My website is up and running and I just (this morning) finished listing all of my merchandise, so you can browse my purses and shop for me online!

eccobase.etsy.com

Also, just as I was getting ready to post this link, I got an email from someone in Taiwan who'd like to buy purses in bulk and sell them overseas! Crazy! We'll see what happens...

I went through my facebook "friends" list and "hid" status updates from people who do the following:

1) Post constantly about what they are drinking, how much they are drinking, and/or how cool they are for drinking

2) Whine constantly about their failing relationships/friendship drama

3) Consistently use vague, emo-sounding song lyrics and/or poetry quotes as status updates

4) Post complaints of any kind more than five times per week


The end result being that I am now following about five people, and I don't really need to be following these people on Facebook because I actually see them in real life.

I feel bad for my family members... Matt commented to me last night that he felt "like death" and Kisa's eyes/nose/mouth look like Niagara Falls. :( Thank God for Nyquil and Baby Tylenol/Orajel, respectively.

I pretty much had to hold Kisa all night last night to get her to sleep. I can't tell if it is her tooth or her cold that is bothering her... but she was one unhappy little girl, and that is unlike her. Once she fell asleep she snored all night, which was kind of cute but also kind of annoying.

I feel pretty tired and sore this morning. I'm not sure if it's because I'm sick too or just because trying to sleep while holding an infant will yield such results.

Looking forward to nap time today.

Choke

I made the following baby foods today:

-Peas
-Mango
-Cantaloupe
-Blueberries
-Cherries
-Yellow Squash
-Potato
-White Grapes
-Lentils

Plus, I learned how to make my own blueberry juice.

It is really an exhausting process, but I prefer to do it all at once, and I think this may be the last time I have to do it... Kisa is getting to the age where she will start eating Real People Food very soon.

She would probably already be eating less pureed food if it weren't for the alarming number of choking incidents. On Sunday she choked on her dinner and after securing her safety I had a complete mental breakdown and sobbed in the bedroom for about 5 minutes. I realize that choking occasionally is a common and inevitable part of childhood, but it is REALLY disturbing watching your child struggle for air. I would go to extreme lengths to prevent this from happening again (for example, I spent over an hour today peeling a bunch of grapes because they are a common choking hazard and I just didn't want to take the chance... extremely tedious!).

I know that regardless of my best efforts to protect her, this stuff will STILL happen... which is the absolute WORST part of being a parent. :(



P.S. I know the heimlich, baby heimlich, and infant CPR. Should I ever need it.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA:



It's so pathetic. If there were a thought bubble over her head, it would probably say, "Mommy, why am I in this cage?"

I had an amazing night of sleep last night. Definitely the best night I've had in 8 months... probably the best night in over a year (you kind of forget about third-trimester insomnia). Kisa is sleeping better every night, and I only had to get up once last night (and it was just a quick trip in and out of her room- less than two minutes). Soooo amazing. Also, she has started sleeping in later and later. When I weaned her off her early morning feeding, she had started rising at 5:30 or 6, which was pretty annoying. Today she slept in until 8! I haven't slept that late in months! It was so nice.

As for myself, I have had a very busy week celebrating two family birthdays and attempting to put 8 hrs/day into my business (Matt will testify that I have almost undoubtedly accomplished this). I have no less than seven bags that are just waiting on final stitches and paint/appliques, as well as two custom orders to get working on. I am making a goal for myself to get my etsy up and functioning by Wednesday (sorry Kristin.. there is just nothing to look at yet. I will give you the URL later this week!).

This past week was an experiment in streamlining my production process. I cut a pattern and fine-tuned a few methods, which made a huge difference in terms of quality, consistency and efficiency. It's also helped me to know exactly how much fabric I need for each piece, which means very little waste, also a huge plus.

I made almost $70 in sales this past week, a very energizing accomplishment for what was really my first week. It's very motivating- even $70 represents a good deal of material I can buy!