Summer Birthday Fest 2010

I am getting pretty excited for this weekend.

For those of you who DON'T know, this weekend will be my daughter's first birthday (and my 23rd) and we are having a huge BBQ in the park to celebrate us (and my birthday twins, Steph and Jason).

It is fun, as a parent, any time you are about to introduce your child to something that you KNOW they will love. This weekend Kisa will get to taste her first cake, open her first ever presents from Mommy and Daddy, and also get to go to the zoo for the first time.

Let it be known that Matt and I are not ones to spoil our child. We don't buy her presents. I think I have bought her a handful of things since she has been born, most of which were clothes and socks. So we only bought her two presents for her birthday, one from me and one from Matt. However, they are carefully selected gifts that I'm pretty sure she'll love, and I am excited to see her open them and play with them.

Also, chief among my excitements is the first zoo trip. I have been waiting for this day since she was born, and I hope she is finally old enough to enjoy it. She pretty much loves animals so I feel like this is probably a home run.


In other news, Matt and I recently found almost $100 in unclaimed gift cards from our wedding (oops), and I used one of them to buy myself this lovely birthday present:

I have been wanting a teapot since I got married. Turns out I could have had one all along, but I'm thinking God timed this so it would be a nice little pick-me-up after a week of nonstop parenting/caretaker-ing.

I am feeling really blessed right now that my husband isn't going into surgery tonight. I was so anxious about that likelihood that I haven't been able to think straight for the last several days, and literally after our appointment yesterday I felt like a physical burden had been lifted off my body. Then every time I get too excited I have to remember that Matt is still facing a long and difficult road to recovery.

Matt's mom has terrible arthritis in her knees, which started in her early forties. I always knew there was a potential for Matt to get arthritis too, since it has a strong genetic link. Our doctor basically assured us of that yesterday, making a comment to the effect of "a total knee replacement will be in the cards for you, but don't worry about that because that's years from now".

I don't know, I can't hear something like that and not worry. Especially since it just doesn't seem like as far away as the doctor seems to think. Even when Matt is 50 I will still only be 46, which is just way too young to have limited mobility or be looking at a knee replacement. That's less than 25 years from now.

I suppose that is just my nature, to worry about things 20+ years down the road, but this injury has definitely been a wake up call in terms of thinking long-term about taking care of ourselves. I know my family has a high risk for diabetes, so I try to eat well and control my weight (except for the occasional giant marshmallow). I think maybe we will have to be diligent about caring for Matt's joints (especially knees) in the same way going forward.

Anyway, I put Kisa in her crib hoping she would go back to sleep and no such luck. I can hear her playing in there. Time to actually be a parent...

I feel like this latest season of life has been a lot of trading one trial for another. I suppose that is a really pessimistic way of looking at things, but as I logged in to type this blog I was looking at the one below it. Less than a week ago I was so relieved to have finally cleared the hurdle of our latest sleep troubles, and here we are again smack dab in the middle of another Predicament. This is the detailed account of Matt's knee injury and what's going on with him. Not going to recount it because most of you know and if not, and you are reading this, then you are fully capable of clicking the link and seeing for yourself.

Anyway, I am someone who does well (generally speaking) under pressure. I can buckle down and get my nose to the grindstone and get things done. I'm not going to make any promises about being wonderful to be around while I'm workhorsing it up, but I do have a high capacity.

The thing about pressure is, it is usually short-lived, which is what makes that high capacity possible. I feel like most people could do pretty much anything for a finite time period. With this recent injury we are still unsure how long Matt will be bed/couch -ridden, but the general diagnosis has been 6+ weeks. That number just sounds so exhausting and the uncertainty of the + in there (we heard today it could be more like 8-10) is difficult to stomach. What IF it is more like 10 weeks? What if it's longer? We still don't know the full extent of what's wrong with him, so there is that question looming.

I have been vacillating the last couple of days between feeling super overwhelmed and then feeling borderline ridiculous for being such a mess. Because if you look at the facts, it just seems really weak for me to lose it over a couple of months of an alternate schedule. After all, there are single moms who do this PLUS work a job all the time, and I'm sure they don't have people offering to watch their kids or bring them meals constantly. Our family and friends have already been extremely helpful, and I'm sure they will continue to be so.

I think a lot of it is just emotional fallout from an intense weekend (Matt's injury, ethnos announcment, etc) and me trying to cope with that in the midst of everyday life sans husband/assistant. I am really feeling pretty anxious about the possibility (more like probability) that he will be having surgery, for a whole host of reasons I don't want to go into. Suffice it to say that although I want him to heal as quickly as possible, I would really love it if general anesthesia wasn't necessary.

On a happier note, Kisa has been a trooper yesterday and today. I wasn't able to be with her for most of the days both these days, and she was great for the grandparents and took naps well, as well as settling down much easier at bedtime the last two nights after readjusting to her home sleeptime schedule. Our new routine involves elmo before naps and bedtime, and that seems to do the trick for her. She watches until she is tired (usually 15-30 min), and then she can indicate when she wants to go to sleep. I am sure this won't work forever, but I am pretty happy to have discovered it for the time being- it gives me a chance to pick up the house and for her to wind down a little so that there is more of a transition from playtime to sleep time. I'm guessing when she gets a little older we can replace this with storytime (hasn't worked thus far), which is something I'm looking forward to as a parent.

It just struck me as I read over this post that Kisa is due for a check-up in the next couple of weeks. Sigh... adding that to my task list.

Sleep Troubles: an update

Well, I am crossing my fingers as I type this (not literally, cause that would make it too hard to type) but it appears Kisa has gotten the hang of our new sleeptime routine and forgotten the trauma of a couple weeks ago. (See picture.)

I have been working on transitioning Kisa away from her morning nap. I was sad to see it go, because that was my morning exercise time, but the rest of her naps and her bedtime were suffering, so something had to be done.

After a couple of weeks of working on this new schedule, I am happy to announce that Kisa has returned to the days of not hating her crib with a passion. The past few days she has played happily in her crib until tiring herself out enough to fall asleep. She does this for afternoon nap time and even last night at bed time. She is still having a rough time with night waking, so we'll have to continue to work on that.

A bonus of eliminating the morning nap is that she is now sleeping in later most days, which I don't mind ONE BIT.

I am feeling thankful to have weathered this stretch of parenting (which I did NOT enjoy), and a little more confident and hopeful that I am moving in a direction that works for my child. I'm not exactly sure where to go from here to help her continue to improve her sleeping habits, but I have some ideas and things I'd like to try.

I have more updates to post (things that aren't baby-related), but those will have to wait for another day!

You know what I really hate? Unsolicited advice. And boy, you sure do get a lot of it as a parent. It seems like from the second that baby bump starts to show there are people crawling out of the woodwork telling you how to do this or that. I can only hope that this gets better with the second child (if we have one). I would think that at some point people must assume you at least somewhat know what you are doing.

Recently, Matt and I were at Target when we heard a kid a few aisles away having a total meltdown. The mother, clearly at the end of her rope, was hissing (as discreetly as possible but through gritted teeth) something along the lines of, "Stop it. RIGHT NOW. Or you will get a spanking."

Then, from across the aisle, another woman, without children, has the GALL to shout (loud enough for everyone to hear and with a full measure of sarcasm): "Yeah! Intimidation. That'll make the kid stop crying."

I cocked my head and turned to look at her, slack-jawed, then looked back at Matt and said (not quietly, since we're obviously past basic politeness at this point) "Umm, did that really just happen? Who the hell does she think she is?"

Apparently, Target is the place for parenting confrontations too, since a friend of mine told me that on a recent trip there a woman got up in her face with "It's called a child leash-- get one" in reference to her adorable (albeit spirited) 18-month-old daughter.

Now, I understand that when it comes to parenting, we all have our opinions, and they are strong ones. And I do my fair share of actually soliciting advice, because I KNOW there are moms and dads out there who have been where I am and have some good answers to my questions. However, the lady in the grocery store who disapproves a little too loudly of my daughter's pacifier or the acquaintance who raises their eyebrow when you mention co-sleeping... these I could do without.

As I get older and accumulate more life experience, I am finding myself biting my tongue (or kicking myself afterward... if the tongue-biting didn't work) often, catching myself dumping some unsolicited advice on others. Usually, the others are my siblings, or really anyone who roams into my sphere of influence and seems not to have encountered the same obstacles in life that I have. I'm trying to remember, every time I catch myself doing this, how much it makes my blood boil when someone does it to me.

(If you're wondering why I'm blogging at midnight, it's because I can't sleep... which I blame on an overabundance of sleep the past few days, a problem I haven't had in God knows how long, but am unceasingly grateful for right now.)

EDIT: Something I meant to add when I published this post, but forgot, is this: I am also working on explaining myself and my actions to others. And by that I mean not doing it. When someone questions my parenting choices, I feel the need to defend or explain. Why? I am confident in the choices I have made for my family, and no one really needs to understand them but me, Matt, and (hopefully, but not necessarily) Kisa. So when someone criticizes something that I do differently, I am trying to fight back the urge to explain myself, because 1) it perpetuates the cycle of forcing opinions on others and 2) it communicates that I am unsure or that I appreciate the intrusion, which I do not!

Almost every day of my life I feel like I add something to my list of "what not to do to others". As time goes by I am learning how to be a better wife, mom, sister, daughter, friend, and (someday) aunt, grandma, and mother-in-law. Hopes I remember this stuff when I get there!

We have had (are having) an incredible weekend.

Yesterday, after sleeping in until 9:15 (thanks Kisa!) we walked Kisa up to the Beaverton Library fountain for one of her first kid-centric excursions. She hated the fountain, but Matt and I had a pretty good time cooling ourselves off and watching the other kids going nuts. We had forgotten about the farmer's market, so we walked through all the booths, picked up some lunch and some fresh raspberries and plenty of free samples. It was a nice surprise and a relaxing summer morning, and when we got home Kisa passed out. The only downside was that in my flurry to pack up all the baby gear, dress and sunscreen the kid, etc. I forgot to wear sunscreen myself. Ouch :(

Yesterday afternoon we took Kisa to my parents' for an overnight and Matt and I picked up some Thai food and finished off the day with take-out, Lost, and some mixed drinks. We stayed up late and turned the volume way, way up on our TV. I'm sure it doesn't sound exciting to most of you non-parents, but it was awesome.

This morning we slept in again until 9:15. It is crazy how after a couple of nights of really great sleep, my morning coffee seemed not only optional, but almost unnecessary. I can't stress how dependent I am on caffeine on a day-to-day basis. A couple of days these past weeks I have had THREE cups of coffee in one day... so it was weird to actually feel well-rested and cheerful this morning. I cleaned my whole house (showers, toilets, the whole nine) and spent 30 minutes doing my hair. (side note: last time I got my hair cut, I told my hairdresser that I am a mom to an infant and that I needed something that would be simple. She gave me an amazing haircut that requires 30 MINUTES worth of primping to look good. Who has 30 minutes to spend on their hair every day? [Don't answer that- I will hate you])

I am alittlebitkindof missing Kisa right now, but more excited to zip in and out of the grocery store with Matt, which is about ten BILLION times easier than carrying in a baby and all her paraphernalia (had to look up how to spell that), and trying to intercept all the items she somehow gets a hold of and tosses into the cart, or on the floor, or what have you.

Anyway, I'm out... not gonna waste another second of my free time blogging. :)

I have good news to report!

Kisa is currently napping- IN HER CRIB- where she has been for about an hour now without waking up and throwing a tantrum. Hope?

Of course this is 99.99% due to the fact that I have to be somewhere right this minute, which for kids is the PRIME TIME to take a nice, solid, 12-hour nap.

Joys of Parenting

Whew. Today was my worst day of parenting in... well, forever. Or at least in the last 6 months. I can't rightly say because I don't really remember my first couple of months as a parent.

It all started a couple of days ago when we decided to try a "cry it out" method to hopefully help Kisa sleep better. She has never been a great sleeper, but she has been worse lately and by about 3 am every night (without fail) she ends up in our bed. It is around that time of night/early morning that I lose my resolve (and the concentration required to make good parenting choices). Thus the co-sleeping, which is not something that works.

It's not like she cries all night until 3 or anything like that. Actually, she sleeps well but usually wakes up once or twice. It just so happens that the one time she wakes up is in the middle of my deepest sleep cycle, and I cannot rouse myself to rock her back to sleep (or whatever it is she requires). I now think that this sudden bout of fussiness has to do with another possible tooth coming in, but we did not know this when we embarked on the following Ill-Fated Plan.

We have tried cry-it-out (henceforth referred to as CIO for all you non-parents) before but it has not been successful. I have blamed the majority of this on us for not being able to be consistent with it, but I think as a parent you can get a gut sense for when something isn't working for your kid, and maybe that is why we've had such a hard time sticking with it. That, and it is excruciating to listen to a baby scream for an hour. Or more.

So, we decided we would try this in the hopes that it would yield the promised results (your baby can sleep all night, they go to bed in their crib alone, they will be much happier and everyone will sleep better). NO SUCH LUCK. On Monday night, Kisa screamed for 90+ minutes before we gave in. And I mean SCREAMED. She screamed herself hoarse, she screamed until she threw up. She threw herself around in her crib. It was terrible.

On Tuesday night we went out for our anniversary and my parents watched her. They did not do CIO with her- smart move on their part.

Last night, Kisa cried for FOUR HOURS at bed time. I did not even know this was possible for a person to do-- and yes, this was with us going in to comfort her every 10 minutes. She would occasionally fall asleep for a minute or two only to wake up screaming her head off and starting the whole thing over again. We finally gave in around midnight when we simply couldn't take it anymore and didn't see an end in sight.

I decided that perhaps I would have more luck during the day. Kisa has been a notoriously great napper, and I rarely (if ever) have trouble putting her down for naps. She sleeps 3 hours a day, no problem.

Well. This morning I put her into her crib at 9 for her morning crib time/nap. She usually sleeps for 90 minutes in the morning. She screamed the whole time. I kept hoping she would settle down and sleep, but no. Let me tell you, I was sure thankful she had missed her morning nap when I later had to take her to the grocery store. I have never had such a terrible time running a simple errand. She fussed the whole time, tried to bang her head into the side of the shopping cart (her new tactic for getting out of situations that she does not like- she is too smart for her own good. Although I suppose she won't be for long if she continues with that behavior).

Oh well, afternoon nap should be much easier, right? WRONG. She screamed for another hour until I just gave up on naps altogether. I was so exhausted that I just let her sit in her swing watching Elmo until Matt came home.

I have never seen or experienced anything like what happened with Kisa today. She is usually so mellow, but this whole thing just proved to me that one-size-fits-all parenting straight up does NOT work. I truly believe that many, or most, other parents have had success with CIO, but I can now say with 100% certainty that it will not work for Kisa no matter how long we try. That kid is stubborn as a mule.

Matt is at band practice tonight, and I communicated to him that I was giving up on the Plan and sticking with what has been (mostly) working instead. I think Kisa will sleep through the night on her own eventually, but I think we will have a longer road to that milestone with this particular girl. I am okay with that. First and foremost I want to do what is best for my daughter, and sticking with a crazy sleeping plan that involves 8+ hours of crying in a day is NOT it. I will rock her 4 hours a day if I have to instead.

Anyway, guess what? Just put my daughter to bed and after rocking her for ONE MINUTE she is out cold. I will admit a small portion of that has to do with her being completely exhausted from her earlier shenanigans, but still. ONE MINUTE vs FOURS HOURS of crying (and still no sleep). Guess what wins?

You gotta love parenting. I'm glad today is over... hopefully tomorrow will be fantastic.

#3a- Ecco Base Update

So I have neither the time nor the energy to post a FULL update on my business right now, but I'll take it in chunks so it seems like a less daunting task.

Where to start? The last couple of weeks have been packed full of work. I had a retailer in NE Portland show some interest in my stuff and spent several days whipping up some merch for her. In the end I went to visit her shop and decided maybe I should look around for a better location before settling on selling there. It's not a bad shop by any means, just a little out of the way and for the commission I'd be paying her I want to have my stuff in a more prominent location. So right now I have a ton of gear on my hands that I need to get rid of!

I have realized that, when it comes to business, I lack neither the creativity nor the work ethic, but sometimes I lack the faith that this may actually become successful/profitable. I am still very early in this game, and actually I have had some killer opportunities crop up the past couple of weeks (which I will get into in a later post). Regardless, I am almost constantly doubting myself. I'm having to work on keeping a positive attitude and counting my successes. I'm also just beginning to understand the massive amount of work I am getting myself into. I feel like perhaps I was running blindly into a massive ocean thinking it was a kiddie pool.

Anyway, if that sounds depressing/depressed to you, don't worry. I am not depressed. I am exhausted today (I spent most of the day working at a street fair downtown), but I am also feeling pretty good about where I'm at when it comes to my business. The more opportunities I find, the more I learn. I'm beginning to shape a better vision for marketing, advertising, sales etc. I'm starting to network with the Portland art community, and I have a small army of people who seem to be crawling out of the woodwork offering me suggestions on where to sell or who to contact or something. So that has been helpful.

I desperately need to update my website, and I'd love to write a better update about some of the stuff I have going on, but for now I'm going to call it a day, and just post a couple of pictures of some of the new stuff I've made... and there will be more to come in the next couple of days.


A new floral applique bag- I call this color scheme "beach"
This is a reusable grocery bag very similar to the one I made for Ang.

"I <3 Planet Earth" handbag- beach, with "ecco base" screen printed liner- very cute (I think), this is one of my faves. :)

Same design, but this one is a reusable grocery bag


That's all for now! Keep your eyes peeled for more updates.

#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. :)