The Mommy Brain

The mommy brain. No one ever talks about it. I don’t remember it ever being covered in my childbirth prep class. And once I was pregnant with my second child the mommy brain kicked in in full force. And the brain has yet to go back to normal. I’m doing the classic things that my mother did and I am seeing the other moms I know doing the same thing…calling the kids’ by the wrong name, even the pet’s name, forgetting what day of the week it is, forgetting important dates like the year your child was born. Yesterday I forgot my youngest child’s well doctor visit. Ugh, and I’ll be paying the 50 dollar no-show fee to prove the mommy brain. The sad thing is I have a calendar with important dates and events clearly marked hanging in a central location, so you can’t miss it. I even have the days we need to take the recycling to the curb on the calendar.
So here are the things that no one tells you about when you are having a baby that I wish someone would have spoke up and said something…
1. You will forget important things/dates…you’ll constantly feel like you can’t focus. For someone who could multi-task pre kids this will drive you totally insane. You’ll walk into a room and forget what you came for…what you were doing even though you hold the cleaning solution in your hand.
2. Bleeding. Why doesn’t anyone talk about this? I bleed for 6 weeks after the birth of both of my kids and the first time around I thought something was wrong with me physically that I debated going to the ER when the bleeding continued for the 2nd week. It’s normal and every woman goes through it regardless of whether she had a natural birth or a c-section.
3. Hemorrhoids. Please childbirth teachers of the world…talk about it!!!! I’ll be honest here…never had hemorrhoids before…then I have a baby and now I am counting the fiber in my diet. I have blatantly asked the women I know who have had c-sections (I’ve had 2 natural childbirths) and they told me that they too have the ‘roids. So this is obviously a universal thing amongst childbirth.
4. Shoe Size. Not only do I have the stretch marks on my stomach of bearing 2 ten pound babies…but I went from a 6 ½ shoe size to an 8 after the birth of my second child. Now I will admit that my best friend’s mom warned me of this while having a pedicure and being 8 months pregnant with my first son. My best friend told her and I quote “mom you don’t tell a shoe-a-holic this when she’s pregnant”.

So that’s my top 4….keep the conversations going…ask questions….be bold….find out your own answers! Would love to hear from other moms on their top 4 mommy brain picks.

Ebay Boutique Set

I just listed an adorable Patriotic Set for your little guy this year. He'll make firewirks wherever he goes.

Feed ME! Bibs

Introducing NEW Feed ME! Bibs on AuntArt.com. As my youngest has approached the stage of eating baby food I was inspired to create a bib that can be wiped clean after each feeding. Will lighten your laundry load. More fabric prints coming soon.

AuntArt on Cool Mom PIcks!

My Picasso Chalk Mats were just featured on Cool Mom Picks!
Check it out to read the feature:
http://motherhooduncensored.typepad.com/coolmompicks/

As the warm weather is approaching the pacific northwest I spent a few hours going through the rubbermaid containers of clothing that I have stored away to see if anything will fit Baby Zane. Logan kept asking "what are you doin'?" And I explained that these were his old clothes and now Baby Zane is going to wear them since they don't fit you anymore. Well Logan saw these 2 pairs of pants and is refusing to share them. He takes them out of the room and into our bedroom and then precedes to put them both on. He walks back into the room where I am sorting clothes and declares "they still fit! I try em on!" So I had to snap a picture of him and his pants that still fit. haaahaaa. The bottom pair are the Blue's Clues pants I made for his Blue's Clue's Birthday Party last year and the ones on top are Sesame Street. I guess he'll be sporting the ever so popular three quarter length pants this spring.

I must admit it warms my heart that the ones he picked as his faves were made by me. LOVE THAT!

Spring Cleaning on AuntArt.com

Happy Spring Everyone! I am spring-cleaning on the site and I have decided to discontinue the chenille bibs. So every chenille bib is ON SALE! All the chenille bibs are priced to sell at $5!!! In Stock and ready to ship.

Other big news…check out the NEW Everyday Bib designs.

I’ve also added NEW burp cloths with some funky new prints.

All the best,
Gretchen
www.AuntArt.com

sick kiddos

What a week! Both of my kids had a stomach virus. I have been pooped on and puked on more times than I can count. I don’t remember them covering this topic in my childbirth prep class. Thankfully it seems like they are on the mend. Let’s cross our fingers that hubby and I don’t get it. The last thing we need.
Anyhoo…once again don’t forget to enter the happily Handmade Giveaway…time is almost up!

Happily Handmade Giveaway!

Time is almost up to enter the Happily Handmade Giveaway! Each basket is valued at over 200 bucks!!! Make sure to stop by http://www.AuntArt.com and sign up for my mailing list to enter the drawing. But don't stop there...visit each sponser and enter. Even more chances to win!!!

Relocating

Relocating. Ugh! So we’ve made a list and we’re checking it twice and hopefully come June when we visit these cities we will be able to say where we are moving. My head hurts from all the research. I kid you not. Now I understand why people never leave where they grew up…it’s so freakin’ easy to do that! Talk about a defining character trait. Where you live and how long you have lived there defiantly says something about your personality. Adventurous people relocate or at least go away to college and then come back to the hometown. But the people that stay put….born and bred kinda thing….well…let’s just say I think they may need to push their comfort level a bit. Ok enough of a rant. Back to relocating. So we are looking into a few cities but we are limited on where we would like to live cause we’d like to be somewhere between Washington DC and NYC. Basically because of friends and family and the free babysitting. Of course jobs and school systems play a huge part and we’re totally city people so ideally we would like to be in a city environment. So if you are reading this blog and you love the city you live in…send me a shout tell me why you love your area. Sell me your city.

Should have never left the house.

So I go to the dentist today to pick up my night guard cause I grind my teeth at night. I recently went for the first time at this particular dentist for a cleaning when my mom was in town so she was able to watch the kids for me. So I walk in today and the receptionist asks me “is someone coming here to meet you to watch the kids?”….I’m like “no, I was told this was a quick visit just to make sure the night guard fits”. She then tells me that the kids can’t go back with me. Of course I ask why and she tells me that there are too many things they could get into with the instruments etc. Baby Zane is still in the infant carrier/car seat so he’s not getting into anything and Logan is 2 but very shy so he’s typically right at my legs. I explain to her that Logan will sit quietly in a chair while the dentist does the fitting. That he goes with me to all my other doctor appts and is fine. Nope that won’t do. She tells me that I’ll have to reschedule! I then try to explain to her that I ALWAYS have my kids that I don’t have access to anyone to watch them, that my entire family lives on the east coast and the only way for me to come in here without them is to have my husband take off work which we can’t afford to do. She gives me that “smile of a working mom”…anyone who is a SAHM I’m sure at one point has seen this smile. The smile that says “this is why I go to work everyday” or “pay for a sitter like I do everyday”. That smile. She gives me the smile and says, “I’ll talk to the doctor and see what he says”. So she comes back and says that yes I’ll have to reschedule… at this point I am about to blow. Taking the moment to actually grit my teeth I say to her in a voice as calm as I can muster, “I would like my x-ray films and my $300 dollars back for the night guard and I am taking my business to a dentist that is more accommodating towards families.” This begins the stand off. She tells me that she can’t do that. I repeat myself and then add either I get fitted right now or I get a refund…. it’s that simple. And I give her “the smile” of an ex-NY’er that says “you aren’t Fu*kin’ with me B*tch!” She walks away and returns saying that Logan can stay in the kiddy corner and watch a show on the TV. Yes a dentist office that has a stocked kiddy corner but refuses to let the kids past the front desk. So I explain to Logan that I will be gone for 5 minutes and he will watch a show. He’s thrilled as he is only allowed an hour of TV a day so he thinks this is the greatest deal ever. So I leave… am getting fitted for the night guard with baby Zane in the car seat and I hear Logan screaming. I ask the dentist to hurry up and I rush out of there and find Logan standing in front of the TV crying because this woman…this working mom (I saw the Christmas family picture of her and her husband and kids on her desk)…puts on a soap opera! I can hardly believe it! I want to ream her out …I want to demand all of my films and never return….because now I have to explain to a screaming 2 year old that we are leaving and the show he was promised he won’t be watching. Once in the car the tantrum continues and I just sit there thinking I wish I could act like that when I get mad and frustrated. I don’t feel like I can really say anything to him or get upset because I totally understand why he is crying. He was promised something and then didn’t get it. I’d be pissed off too. So I wait for the tidal wave to cease and we head down the road. Just one of those days where I should have never left the house.
Btw…I’m finding another dentist.

I am so excited about the items I have in store for the jump start of spring...here is the latest that has been added to the site.

Do you have a Picasso in your house? This is the perfect craft mat for your artist-in-residence.
Made from Oilcloth in a bright primary colored crayon print. This fabric is waterproof and protected with a clear finish. Fade, stain, and soil resistant.
Double sided with the same fabric on the reserve side.
Bright red piping that is double stitched around the mat.
Wipe clean with a damp cloth.
Perfect for all craft projects to protect your tabletop whether it’s painting, play dough or coloring.
Extra Large Size: 21 inches x 15 inches.

doubt..always ...lurking

well after some time to really think about it I think my main problem right now is my site. When it comes down to it I don't like the way my pictures are etc. No one to blame but myself and I am totally learning as I go. So I have to say that I am proud of what I have accomplished considering I knew nothing before. Anyway I went to different designers sites, the big wigs, and looked at their sites and asked myself "what do I like about this site?" It all came down to pictures. So I brainstormed a bit and figured out how to incorporate my beachy look with my products in the pictures and I'm really excited to get started on that.

So I have promised myself that I would write more in this blog in the New Year. I guess you could say one of my resolutions. Not that I have any other resolutions really. Yesterday I just had my own “clean sweep” of the house. I have reorganized my workspace to make it more conducive for working/getting things done. Basically I divided up the room and I have my sewing section, computer section and shipping center. So everything can get done with ease. I still haven’t found the time to get the burp cloths on the site yet which is frustrating. My to do list seems never ending. Not offering one of a kind items is a lot harder than I thought it would be. As I need to buy a lot of fabric at one time and I really have to plan what I am going to make. Before I just bought fabric that “spoke to me” and then I would let it sit on the shelf until I felt inspired to use it. I have faith that I will find a way to make it all work and a way to be inspired to do it. One of the downfalls of working for yourself is that you have to work even when you aren’t inspired. No one is there like a boss asking what you got done that day. So for me when I don’t feel like sitting at the sewing machine I try and get other things done. Whether it’s organizing my workspace (like yesterday) or editing pictures, researching fairs and markets to attend etc. I’ve also been scrap booking a lot lately during the holidays which is nice because it’s a creative outlet and working with a different textile, paper rather than fabric, is a nice change of pace. While scraping I see different ways to mix colors and it inspires me to make clothes. For example I had this heart fabric and then this other fabric that has planes, trains and the world. Now looking at the fabric you wouldn’t automatically say “oh they totally go together” but I have found a way to incorporate them. I am calling the set “love around the world”. It’s also hard to make a valentine’s set for a boy.

I have added new hats to the site in both the boy and girl hat categories.
Keep in mind I am always happy to do custom orders. For example if there is a hat on the site and you wish it had a flower on it….just pop me an email and we will discuss it.
Happy Holidays to you all!

People often ask...

People often ask, "how can you get all that sewing done with 2 kids." My normal answer is "it's all about time management" or "naps". But here is the truth....sometimes this is what has to happen.

Shows

I have had a wonderful whirlwind of shows. I only sold bibs and burp cloths at the shows and I couldn’t keep the burp cloths in stock. I sold so many and I cannot tell you how thrilled I am about it. It’s an easy sell…new moms and moms of 2nd and 3rd and more all need them…babies spit up. And my burp cloths are much more fashionable than the typical white pre-fold cloth diaper. The bibs sold too but not as many. Though I had my sales speech down for the burp cloths cause typically people would look at them and not know what they were right away. Once I told them and said a few tag phrases they were hooked. All of a sudden you could see the wheels in their heads turning …”who do I know that’s pregnant?”. Everything I make is used on my kids first. And the newest addition to our family has reflux and he has put the burp cloths through the utmost tests. So if they work for the reflux baby who throws up everything in large quantities they will work for the little spew most babies exude.

lack of time

Ah 2 glasses of wine down and I am beginning to feel tired. Oh how I remember the days of staying up to watch the sun come up in a drunken’ haze. Now hubby and I can barely pass 11 pm without worrying about the lack of sleep we will have the next day.
Anyways….with the lack of sleep my toddler has decided that he no longer needs naps..He’s only 2 for God’s sake! Don’t they nap in pre-school?!?!? Well I refuse to be apart of this madness so I still send him to his room for 2 hours every day in hopes that he will actually sleep but if he doesn’t I tell him he can read his books. Something quiet. Now the naps are totally on baby Zane’s Q’s…he starts rubbing his eyes we all head up stairs to get ready for naptime…whatever time that may be. The key for me to be able to actually get any sewing done during naps is to get Baby Zane down and asleep and Logan can sleep/read /whatever for 2 hours in his room. So far I think I am on track for my shows in November. I am concentrating on bibs and burps cloths. I want to get a print made of Zane on the burp cloth…I’ll post a picture here

So I want to get this pix blown up to about 20x30 so it catches people’s eyes when they walk by hoping that it will draw them in.
Let’s hope my theory will work.

dumb people

I find it pretty funny that I posted last night about hating SPAM on my blob and then I wake up this morning and someone has already commented on my blog with spam.
So maybe I need to be more clear....

If you post a comment with a link and you are NOT a craft person...it's getting deleted.

It's that simple...I'm not going to be a billboard for every Tom, Dick and Harry's website.

back to my coffee....

SPAM SUCKS!!!

SPAM SUCKS!!! So if you ever click on the comments on my blog and you see that it has been removed by me that is because it’s a SPAM. Which totally sucks! I mean come on…don’t you people have anything better to do with your time? And it’s not like my Blog is updated all that frequently…I don’t know if anyone ever reads this thing. Yet I will continue to write.
My daily TO-DO list is so long it amazes me when I’m able to cross off even 3 things. With 2 kids I never thought it would be this hard. But when people say being a SAHM is the hardest job, they aren’t lying. With being a SAHM you then feel like you should be the one who does everything that involves the house…grocery shopping, laundry, daily cleaning, writing the thank you notes for gifts, organizing play dates for your kids so they can interact with other kids and you can actually talk to someone older than the age of 2. The stuff I never knew I would have to do….the list is forever growing…and we haven’t even touched on the fact that I own my own biz and making the products I sell. Hubby and I are talking about moving back east. I’m anxious to move closer to my family but mourn the loss of the wonderful women I have met during the stages of motherhood out here on the left coast. Of course I will always remain friends with them but once we move it will be different….for one I won’t see them every week. But on the other hand I truly miss the friends we left behind on the east coast. And I worry that those relationships will never be the same since we have had kids. I mean I can’t meet up with a girlfriend at DoJo’s for steamed veggies over brown rice with carrot dressing and a cocktail in the middle of the day. Well I could but it wouldn’t be as much fun. Kids in tow at a restaurant is not the relaxing environment it once was. But yet…if it weren’t for the kids my business wouldn’t be what it is today. I started this business before having kids and once I found out I was pregnant with Logan I dove into Aunt Art head first thinking this will be perfect way to make money while staying at home. So in a way if it wasn’t for them (the kiddos) I wouldn’t have had the courage to put this company in the driver’s seat….it would have always remained this “little thing I do on the side”. Count your blessings where you have them I guess, right?

Where is the time going???

I spend so much time with my ass attached to this computer chair. I have been researching online boutiques that I can submit my burp cloths and bibs to. The list grows every time I look away. I am still tweaking my site but all in all I am pleased with how it is turning out. I’ve made so many bibs in the past week. Poor baby Zane is tired of smiling for the camera. I keep telling him that this will pay for his college education but he isn’t buying it. On the home front we’ve been dealing with Zane’s reflux issues and have decided to switch to soy formula since he is able to keep it down. I think if this was my first kid I would try harder breastfeeding but you can just see how much pain the poor babe is in and it breaks your heart. Now that he is on the soy he’s a happy camper.
My first craft show is the first weekend in November and I am so stoked about it. I need to find another table to have for my display. Hopefully I’ll be able to find one like the one I already have that folds in half and is super portable. If you have a recommendation email me! I just bought these awesome display holders for my bibs from Hold Everything. They were dirt-cheap and they honestly look fantastic! I read an online article that said the selling market at a show is from the head to the waist…that is the “window” on a person’s body for selling. So all of my tables are hitting at my waist and the new bib holders stand on top of that and actually are taller than me and I’m 5’3”. Now for my burp cloth display I am thinking about talking a picture of Zane on someone’s shoulder using the burp cloth and having it blown up to a extremely large print on that sturdy poster board material and having that on an easel on top of the table and then having the burp cloths also on the table. So much thought has to be put into this so that the environment is attractive for buyers and also it has to be portable in my Chevy cavalier. And did I mention I have to set up and take down the whole thing too. Hubby will have kid duty whenever I have shows. J Lucky him! Ideally, now that I am done being a baby factory, I would like to do the summer markets here in Seattle next year. I love the environments of summer markets. I use to do them in NYC with a good friend of mine, Nikki. Looking back on those days I can hardly believe we made it work. I traveled from Brooklyn on the subway to the upper east side of Manhattan with this backpacking type backpack on and carrying a folding clothing rack…. Nikki had a shorter distance to travel so she was in charge of the table. Together we would sit and sell our hats and scarves in all kinds of weather. The other sellers we met there will always remain in fondness in my mind…the sense of community amongst the sellers was amazing. I am hoping to experience it again this summer in Seattle.