ETSY & Simply J Crochet shout out!

Life has been crazy-busy since I lost my job and now am SAHM. I have been helping my mom paint at her new condo, and renewed a craft in sewing... which brought me to find a new business adventure on Etsy! I love that I am sewing again and making cute things for babies. I've made 1 sale so far, and have many lookers and heart'ers! My mom and dad also love that Nathan and I come over to visit (so I can use my mom's machines). I think just about every day my Dad asks my Mom "Is Nathan coming over today?" That really means a lot cuz my Dad's health is declining very quickly. He loves when Nathan "talks" and laughs. I swear those two have their own language!





Here's a link to my shop: http://www.snugglibebe.etsy.com/ You can see everything I've made so far, and here is one item I made just for Nathan... It's a special unique blankie just for my baby!

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A SHOUT OUT TO: SIMPLY J CROCHET

As I was browsing on Etsy tonight, I found the most amazingly beautiful crocheted caps for babies and kids! The seller is SIMPLY J CROCHET. Below is a link to my favorite!
Newsboy Cap

This one is by another seller, but also very cute....would be adorable on Ava! Sense and Sensibility Cloche

So this very talented gal, SIMPLY J CROCHET, is having a March Madness, and I'm playing in her game for a little fun. She has a blog at blogspot....click here....and she said if I blog about her and link to her blog, another ticket is earned. So here you go, girl, you rock!!! Once I'm done with this post, I'm going to make my Etsy purchase in your store! (PS - the photography of her work is also very beautiful).

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Well it's nearly 11pm and I have not gone to bed yet although Nathan is sound asleep and will probably wake up as soon as my head hits the pillow. Time to sign off for now, go buy that Newsboy cap, and attempt to get an ounce of sleep.... I'm painting with Mom tomorrow!

*HUGS*
Roxanne :)
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My week back to work.... (A MUST READ! you'll see...)

Monday, March 2nd was my first day back to work after 12 weeks on maternity leave. I have to admit, I dreaded going back to work and being away from my baby. And guess what...I survived it and now I'm living a new life. Keep reading to see what I mean...

Monday 3/2

4:30am woke up, nursed Nathan

5am got Nathan back to sleep, jumped in the shower

6:30am Nathan woke up, nursed, then watched Baby Einstein "Moves" DVD

7am Drove Nathan to my mom's for the day7:30am Got to work, caught up with some co-workers, and got to work with LOTS to do!

I'll spare the daily details, but I pumped twice on Monday, thought of Nathan a lot, called my mom to find out he was doing marvelous.

Tuesday 3/3

Same early morning routine.

7:30am Aunt Debbie came to watch Nathan

11am Daddy woke up to play with Nathan while Aunt Debbie ran her errands

2:20pm Daddy went to work

4:30pm Mommy rushed home to see her baby.

Poor baby didn't want to nap for Aunt Debbie. She walked the house bouncing away just to keep Nathan satisfied. Bless her heart, she did everything she could for dear-teething-Nathan-boy. As soon as I got Nathan in my arms, and Debbie drove out of the driveway, dear-teething-Nathan-boy crashed. Out like a light! I laid him in bed and he slept from 4:50pm to 9pm! (I got a lot of misc stuff done in that time.)

Wednesday 3/4 (Gma Sheila's 60th birthday!)

Same early morning routine.

7:15am Dropped Nathan off at Gma & Gpa Schwandt's house. It's so hard to leave my baby!

Mommy worked hard all day. Thought of Nathan, called Gma Schwandt to find out he was playing and having a good ol' time. Daddy had come over when he got up.

4:30pm Rushed to see my baby. Gma & Gpa Schwandt had a good fun day with their grandson!

That night Nathan didn't want to go to sleep very well, so we were up playing, bathed, nursed, rocked, and finally bed.

Thursday 3/5

Same early morning routine.

7:15am Dropped Nathan off at KinderCare

Mommy worked hard all day. Thought of Nathan, called KinderCare and he was doing good, having fun playing and watching the other kids. Daddy went to KinderCare before work. He tried to feed Nathan a bottle, but Nathan just smiled and talked to Daddy the whole time :)

4:30pm Rushed to see my baby.

We enjoyed a quiet evening together, playing with toys, chatting up a storm, nursing and rocking to sleep. We got good sleep this night!

Friday 3/6 (a.k.a. dooms-day-and-didn't-know-it)

Same early morning routine.

7:1am Gma & Gpa Schwandt came to watch Nathan.

Mommy worked hard all MORNING. Ordered Pagoni's pizza with her co-workers, and was really looking forward to eating it.

11:30am Went up to the front lobby to pay the pizza guy, but ended up losing my job!

Yes, that's what I said... I lost my job through "workforce reduction". My job was eliminated in order to save the company money through these hard economic times. I went up to pay and get our pizza's, and at the same time, our department manager was on his way to come give me the tap-tap, but I literally ran into him. He looked like a deer in headlights. He had to read a formalility to me, couldn't hardly look me in the eyes, and kindly went to get my important things to walk me out. The first thing out of my mouth was my BREAST PUMP, then my purse, coat, Nathan's picture I had just brought for my desk, and I asked about my pizza. He reimbursed me for the pizza I had paid for, out of his own pocket. Later, they did let my co-worker stop at my house after work with my desk belongings, including 'roxanne's grocery store' hehee:) and with that she brought my pizza! YEAH YUM!

I'm a little emotional., but I don't have hard feelings about it. I think I would if I didn't have Nathan, but since I have him, I'm looking at the positive side of things and thanking God for the blessing of being able to be with my son again. Of course it will be hard, financially, once the severance pay is exhausted, but I also put in my claim for unemployement. I will start looking for another job, but there aren't many out there. And instead of doing the same thing I have for the past 8 years, I'm going to look out in the finance field, or for some office job at the hospital. I figure, the banks and credit unions aren't going away, and people still need the hospital, so those are good places to work.

And finally, I will leave you with a picture of Nathan!

She said it best

The past few months I have been a patron of a downtown Neenah shoppe called Mom and Pop Place. This shoppe is a parent's boutique, restaurant, and children's place to play freely. I love the Ikea-like atmosphere and welcome-warm faces. This is also the location where my LLL and babywearers groups meets. Mom and Pop place serves us a variety of healthy meal choices, my favorite being the chicken pesto panini. I can't wait to take a big bite out of that sammie again soon!

The owner, Adria, recently started a blog for Mom and Pop place over on WordPress. In her post titled Baby Trust, Adria shares her #1 offer of advice for new parents. In reading this post, I was so thrilled because it is the jist of what I recently read on askdrsears.com. It's about when a baby cries, and the parent comforts...what that means, what it represents, and why we come running to our child. Here's a clip of her post:

A baby is not capable of manipulation, but a second-grader most certainly is. (Let me tell you.) Where do you draw the line? I maintain that, as you learn to trust your baby, you really get to know your child. You get to know what they really need when they are asking for something. If a baby cries to nurse, he needs to eat. As that same baby gets older, he may still cry to nurse, but his needs may change. He still needs milk, but he also needs love and reassurance and comfort. That is what he is truly asking for. He’s telling you what he needs (comfort), by crying for what he wants (milk). Since you got to know you baby so well by responding to his needs, you are able to interpret his needs.

She continues on fast-forwarding to an example with her 7-yr old son crying for a new lego set and what that really means, not that he needs the toy, but that the toy represents things he needs from mom and once you realize what he really wants, you can meet his needs.

I hope you go and read that post, I found it really helpful to share with my family and friends when they claim I pick up my baby and hold him all the time. I do it when I know he needs it because I have gotten to know him and that's our communication-trust we are building for a life full of love and that special mother-son bond I love building with him.

Have a lovely day, all!

*hugs*
Roxanne :)
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