the dripping faucett: Sewing, Avon, Bedtime and 4th of July!

Alright, so I thought I would do another little update. I've been trying my hand at a few things and have been doing okay; so I thought I might post a blog and see if I could get any help or comments back. :) First of all I haven't really busted out the sewing machine in a while; mainly due to having the time to and if I had a set place I could have it all set up all the time that would make a difference but since it's pretty much just my dining room table, I have to have time to do all the set up and everything. Well first of all I bought a pattern a while back that has a shirt, some pants and some skirts in it to make and I bought some fabric to make me some shirts. I was pretty excited and got through it pretty well; but I've hit a road block. I'm having trouble with the collar. Needless to say now that I'm looking more at the measurements on the package I think I need to make a size smaller. I started making a large, which is what most of my shirts are but putting it on it's pretty big; bigger than I would like. When I read the sizes for the medium they are closer to what I need; so I think I'm going to back and fix it; which means I'll have to pretty much start over. Which is fine, it's a new challenge for me and I'm learning. Well, the other day I found some more fabric I liked and wanted to make some pants out of and attempted it today. I haven't even gotten to cutting it out b/c I don't know how I should cut it. My problem is the same problem I constantly have in shopping with pants; I'm really short. The pattern and measurements for the pants included, well the pants are pretty long but the "capris" I'm attempting measure at 32 in. in lenght when finished; my leg from waist to ankle is barely that! So, I cannot even figure out how I should cut it; if I cut it shorter like I need it, it messes with the style a little bit, but if I cut it to the pattern I'll have extra material and I don't know how it will look if I tried hemming it like I would store bought pants. Also, since the style is like a capri style I don't know how they will look as pants. So, I'm trying to decide if I should attempt the capris in some capacity or make a shirt or skirt from the fabric. Although I will say I saw something online I really liked that someone else had made and looked at it for awhile and decided I could make that; so I got some fabric out and my machine and pieced it together and it turned out really well! I was proud of myself; it may not be to the quality of what I saw; but I think it's pretty good! I also have been thinking that I have been working so much on stuff for me I need to put it aside for awhile and tackle the projects for other people that I have promised. I feel bad but it's just easier for me to sit down and whip out something for me b/c I'm there and can say if I want that changed or not and get it all done in a certain amount of time. When I'm working on something for someone else, I have to have more time to mess with stuff and be creative. Not to mention one of the bags I am going to make for a friend is similar to another I made for myself only with different fabric. Well, that would be fine except the one I originally made for myself was completely free hand and thrown together literally in the middle of the night! So, I'll really have to sit down and take the time to figure out how to do hers the same. Maybe I can research a pattern similar to the one I made! We'll see how it goes. :) I really hope I can get somewhere with this stuff and I could pick it up to where I would be able to sell it. That would be one of my dreams to stay home and make stuff for people and sell it online or something! I haven't figured out my forte yet, but I will. Not to mention I would love to be able to make clothes to some extent to maybe save some money! Time will tell! I also need to build up a stock in fabrics and such to even attempt some of that!
So, on to my next little venture; I recently got into Avon; which is kind of like okay, here we go again especially with my family and friends because I attempted Premier Designs Jewelry and MaryKay and was somewhat successful with those. I don't know if it was timing or something else. Well, I really debated with Avon because I didn't want it to turn out like the other two. Well, first of all one of the differences is that Avon does not cost that much to get into it! Second of all there isn't a set quota I have to keep up with or even inventory! Third Avon tailors to everyone! They sell skin care, makeup, clothes, jewelry, fragrances, kids accessories and of course the ever so popular skin-so-soft! So, I thought I'd give it a whirl. :) It's been pretty good so far since Jason took it up to work, he says the books are picked up pretty much right after he sets them out! My first order I submitted was for a couple of ladies he works with! Plus he has one more lady that is putting together a big order with her and a friend! My downside of it all is that I'm not around a lot of adults on a daily basis so I don't really have anyone to sell it to; other than friends and family and maybe their coworkers! The lady that I did all my paperwork with named off a lot of places I could leave books, but I don't go to those places or don't have those places to take the books. :) Anyway, you may notice a pattern because another dream would be to stay home make stuff for people and sell Avon and not need a part time job or whatever. My initial thought since I'm watching the girls this summer was to do Avon and make some extra so I wouldn't have to do a part time job too and it's not panning out that way, but now I'm thinking maybe I can do the part time job and when summer is over be able to do the part time job and Avon and make enough. Although I think the reality is that I'll have to do a full time job again and do Avon on the side. Which either way is fine b/c I will do whatever I need to. I just would love to be able to be a stay home mom as long as possible. :) We'll see how things go.

It really does amaze me because growing up I would have never imagined that I would be the one to be the stay at home mom! I always said when as little girls you talk with your friends about what you will do when you grow up that even if I married a rich man I would still work part time or something so I wouldn't go crazy. I think in all honesty I do like the structure of having tasks to do and a time frame to do it in. But, I also like being able to be flexible and maybe even have the structured schedule even if it's me that sets it. :) I think that is why I am always drawn to those types of companies like Avon and MaryKay!

On a different subject just wanted to update on the sleeping situation with Madi; so I've been getting her to sleep laying down in my bed with me laying there keeping her still and helping her go to sleep and she's realized that's what we do, so that it became less of a struggle because she knew the routine. Well tonight after her bath we attempted the usual and maybe for whatever reason approached it wrong, I don't know she just got really upset and I'm not sure why, but Jason and I (and Madi I'm sure) were so tired and worn out from a busy humid day and didn't have the patience to make her go to sleep. I also got so frustrated that after a while of her crying I gave up and she won; I realized that we are pretty inconsistent with that. Sometimes she'll cry and throw her fit and I'll stand my ground and sometimes we give in too easily. So, even though I was totally wanting to avoid doing it; we let her cry it out. I figured it would cover 2 birds. One she would realize that just because she cries and is upset someone isn't going to come running (as long as she is okay and safe of course), and she would learn to fall asleep on her own! Well even though I had to really hold myself back from going in there, she eventually gave up and after nodding her head for a while laid down and fell asleep. Now we have to be consistent and get her used to that. I just haven't established a regular night time routine and will have to do that now. :) I was also kind of proud of myself because since we don't have a video baby monitor, I had to be creative and lucky for me there is enough space between the bottom of her door and the floor that I was able to use a mirror and see what she was doing without her seeing me. I probably looked like a dork, but I don't care. :)

Since I'm posting this on July 4th I will update on that as well. :) Last year for the 4th Madi wasn't big enough to thoroughly enjoy or even know what was going on. She was almost 2 months old. Not to mention it was pretty hot last year so when we took her to the parade it was pretty interesting! We managed to keep her in the shade as much as possible and took her (and her cousins) to the car and ran the a/c every once and a while. Then when we went to see fireworks I think we were too close that it was really loud and my mom ended up sitting in the car with her so it wouldn't be so loud. I do believe that through most of all the festivities she slept through most of it! :) Well, this year was a lot more interesting. We went to watch fireworks last night and she was excited to see all the kids around and be outside with them and loved sitting in the little folding chairs they had. Well, when the fireworks started she was pretty curious about them and was watching with awe and even pointed at them a few times. She didn't last through the whole firework show; I think because it had been so long before they even started. She was ready to be up and around and out of everyone's lap! So after a little bit Jason took her and walked around and that satisfied her for a while. She did pretty good. She didn't freak out at the booming from the fireworks, just wanted to figure out where it was coming from! Then this morning we went to the Bethany parade and even though it was a little humid she did pretty good, I brought plenty of snacks and drink for her and once the parade started she actually did not freak out at the loud siren of the firetruck at the begining of the parade! She watched most of it and toward the last quarter of it she got restless and luckily we were able to take her behind everyone and let her walk around for a little bit. I know she wanted to be running out in the street after the candy like her cousins! Which is also funny because her cousin Bella had been having a runny nose lately and at one point this morning when my sister was wiping her nose she was saying that her nose hurt and come to find out she had put a sticker up there! It was a pretty good laugh! I don't know why she put a sticker in her nose, but it's probably something we get to look forward to! Well, that pretty much sums up what I have for now; I'm including pictures mainly from the 4th's festivities and such. Until next time. ;)