So, I have been thinking for a while about making and selling custom baby slings, and other baby items, like grocery cart covers, blankets, bibs, etc. I made a reversible sling for my friend, Kayla, for her baby shower Saturday, and it turned out beautifully! She loved it, and at that point I realized that I would love to make cute things for moms and babies. I came up with a name last night: Pickles & Ice Cream Designs. I think it's really cute! I'm working on a webpage as I type, and I'm trying to decide where to go from there. I can't decide if I should make a couple of slings to show people, and try to sell "off the rack" or if I should wait and see if anyone orders one and then make it custom for them (which is how I plan to run the business).
Most of the slings I make are made of 100% cotton, and are double-layered for strength and security. I can make a sling from other sturdy materials, like silk or linen. The two layers can be the same design or a different one, to make it reversible. I use only rings from www.slingrings.com, which are made specifically for ring slings. Every sling is fully adjustable to fit mom, dad, grandparents, and just about everyone in between. There are many different positions for baby, from the basic hip carry, to nursing carries, and the piggy-back carry. I will be uploading pictures and instructions on how to use these carries, and more, to my website as soon as I can. The tail on the sling is great to use as a cover for discreet nursing, a wrap for the baby against the wind, rain, and other elements.
Prices start at around $30, depending on the materials used. I can ship anywhere in the US, starting at $5 per sling.
These slings make great baby-shower gifts, but they can be used for kids up to 3 years old.
I look forward to hearing from you with any suggestions you may have, and any questions or orders you have.
I will soon be making other baby items, like grocery cart/restaurant high chair covers, blankets, bibs, travel-size changing pads, nursing covers and more. Please let me know if you're interested in something in particular! Thanks!
www.wix.com/dnall1986/picklesandicecreamdesigns
Monday, September 6, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Stuck in Limbo
So, as most of you know by now, Kalin lost his job at CMC Steel at the beginning of July. He is supposed to be getting a new job in Schertz, but it's taking longer than expected to get everything together and get him started there. We plan on moving to New Braunfels when he gets this job because he will be closer to work, I will be closer to EVERYTHING from WalMart to a possible job to school. But we can't move until he gets a job, whether its the one we're waiting on or not. I am also searching for a job, just in case he can't find one right away. We started packing all of our stuff up, since we plan on moving, and now that it's taking a bit longer than expected, my OCD is kicking in and I've started getting frustrated with our situation. I packed up a TON of our stuff, because we were moving ASAP, but now that we're not moving right away, I don't remember which box I put certain things in, and I need them, but I don't want to tear apart every box trying to find it.
On the plus side, this has given us an almost endless amount of time to spend together, helping us to become friends and have a better marriage. Whether this was our plan or not, God knows what he is doing.
Also, since my last post, Micah has officially turned 4. He got lots of toys and some clothes for his birthday, and he loves and appreciates everything he received. We had his party at the park, and while it was HOT, everyone seemed to have a good time.
Elijah will be turning 2 in October, 1 month, 3 weeks and 1 day from today according to my ticker on my FB page. We are starting to get ideas together for his party, but it all kind of depends on if we have moved to New Braunfels or not by then. I sure hope we have, but it's not up to me, it's up to God.
I am also planning on going back to school in January. My instructor has been able to get me a place in the Level 2 Semester (whereas most people would have to start over at Level 1), and I'm really looking forward to it. I have started reviewing all my notes, as I have to take a skills test this fall to ensure I haven't lost my skills from last year. I realize at this point, it's not a guarantee that we'll be able to afford for me to go, and if it's not the right timing, then I understand that and I'm ok with that. I know that my kids are more important than any school, and if God wants me to stay home and care for them for a few more years, that's fine by me. But I sure hope it's time for me to finish school.
I'll be posting some pictures from the last couple of months soon, so keep an eye out for them.
Until then, God Bless!
On the plus side, this has given us an almost endless amount of time to spend together, helping us to become friends and have a better marriage. Whether this was our plan or not, God knows what he is doing.
Also, since my last post, Micah has officially turned 4. He got lots of toys and some clothes for his birthday, and he loves and appreciates everything he received. We had his party at the park, and while it was HOT, everyone seemed to have a good time.
Elijah will be turning 2 in October, 1 month, 3 weeks and 1 day from today according to my ticker on my FB page. We are starting to get ideas together for his party, but it all kind of depends on if we have moved to New Braunfels or not by then. I sure hope we have, but it's not up to me, it's up to God.
I am also planning on going back to school in January. My instructor has been able to get me a place in the Level 2 Semester (whereas most people would have to start over at Level 1), and I'm really looking forward to it. I have started reviewing all my notes, as I have to take a skills test this fall to ensure I haven't lost my skills from last year. I realize at this point, it's not a guarantee that we'll be able to afford for me to go, and if it's not the right timing, then I understand that and I'm ok with that. I know that my kids are more important than any school, and if God wants me to stay home and care for them for a few more years, that's fine by me. But I sure hope it's time for me to finish school.
I'll be posting some pictures from the last couple of months soon, so keep an eye out for them.
Until then, God Bless!
Monday, July 5, 2010
It's about time
So I figured it was about time for me to update my blog, since I hadn't done so since January. A LOT has been going on around here, as usual. Some of it good, some of it bad, but with God's guidance, we will make it through. I won't bore you with all the gory details, but the short and long of it is that Kalin and I hit a very rough patch about 2 months or so ago. We are working things out, but, as with all things, it's going to take time to heal the wounds that were caused. I will admit that most of those wounds were my doing, and I take full responsibility for them. If I could rewind the clock, I most certainly would, and I would listen to my peers and those who knew what I was doing was wrong instead of ignoring them and continuing on my own stupid, stubborn, naive path. I realize now that I had many misconceptions about what love, commitment, devotion, trust, faith, patience, and dependability were because of the way I was raised. I am re-learned those concepts, along with MANY others, in order to make myself a better person, and to help create a better life for my husband and my two children.
But on to lighter topics. Yesterday was the 4th of July, and for the first time in many years, I didn't see any fireworks. We shot some of our own off a few days before, and some more the day before, but I didn't actually watch a fireworks show this year. Micah stayed at my mother's house the night they did the fireworks in Seguin so that he could stay up and watch them. Elijah stayed at my mother-in-law's house, and Kalin and I went out to watch the UFC fight with some friends. We had a BLAST, even though the guy we were rooting for in the main fight lost. I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard.
Micah is going to be 4 years old in less than a month. He will be starting pre-kindergarten this fall. Part of me is so excited for him, but the other part of me is realizing that he is no longer my little baby. He's getting so big, and he's starting to figure things out on his own. He's stuck in that stage where part of him wants to be independent and do everything himself, but the other part of him wants to cling to mommy for support and attention. It's so tough on him because sometimes he gets so frustrated trying to decide whether he wants to do it all on his own or if he wants help. It's tough on me, too, because there are many times where I don't think he can do something all by himself and I want to help him, and he tells me that he can do it and he doesn't want my help. Pretty soon, he won't need or want me around to help him.
I cleaned out the boy's closet the other day. I pulled out all Micah's old 24 month/2T clothing for Elijah to wear. It was so weird putting the clothes that Micah wore just last year into Elijah's half of the closet. It's even weirder watching Elijah walk around in Micah's old clothes. Then I had to get rid of all Elijah's old clothes, because we don't plan on having any more kids any time soon. That was so hard - to just throw out all those clothes that we had such wonderful memories in. I know that part is always hard, and I try to prepare myself for it, but it just hit me hard that day. Neither one of my boys are technically babies anymore...
Kalin and I will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary this year. As I was cleaning out some of our old boxes that haven't been unpacked in 5 years, I ran across my day planner from the year we got married. It had all sorts of stuff in it that brought up memories that had long been buried under all the stresses of daily life.
Kalin is looking into getting a new job that will pay better and will have better hours. I am also in search of a job or two that will contribute something to this family. My student loan is coming due this month, and we have about $4000 in debt that we have to start paying off asap, so I need to find something and quick, but I am having difficulties finding one job that would cover the day-care costs for both kids. Which is why I am preparing myself to work on full time job and another part time or full time job to help cover daycare and bring something home.
I am preparing to have a garage/yard sale, so if anyone has anything they would like to sell, let me know! The more stuff we have to sell, the more people will buy. We are also getting ready to sell our Arowana and the 55 gallon tank he is in. He really needs a 150 gallon tank, but for now, he's ok. We will be selling the entire setup including tank, hood, filter, plants, gravel, stand air pump and plecostomus that shares the tank with him. If you're interested, please let me know.
Also, we are still desperately searching for homes for our last 2 bloodhound/redbone puppies and their mother. The mommy, Kahlua, is almost 2 years old, and the puppies are 10 months old. We have one male and one female left, and we are only asking $50 each for them. They are beautiful dogs, and will make wonderful hunting dogs. They are very energetic, will grow to be rather large, and will need a large area to run and play. They get along fairly well with kids, although they are still too rambunctious for the little ones. If you or anyone you know is interested in one of them, please let me know.
That's about it for now. I will be updating this more often nowadays. Thanks for reading! :D
But on to lighter topics. Yesterday was the 4th of July, and for the first time in many years, I didn't see any fireworks. We shot some of our own off a few days before, and some more the day before, but I didn't actually watch a fireworks show this year. Micah stayed at my mother's house the night they did the fireworks in Seguin so that he could stay up and watch them. Elijah stayed at my mother-in-law's house, and Kalin and I went out to watch the UFC fight with some friends. We had a BLAST, even though the guy we were rooting for in the main fight lost. I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard.
Micah is going to be 4 years old in less than a month. He will be starting pre-kindergarten this fall. Part of me is so excited for him, but the other part of me is realizing that he is no longer my little baby. He's getting so big, and he's starting to figure things out on his own. He's stuck in that stage where part of him wants to be independent and do everything himself, but the other part of him wants to cling to mommy for support and attention. It's so tough on him because sometimes he gets so frustrated trying to decide whether he wants to do it all on his own or if he wants help. It's tough on me, too, because there are many times where I don't think he can do something all by himself and I want to help him, and he tells me that he can do it and he doesn't want my help. Pretty soon, he won't need or want me around to help him.
I cleaned out the boy's closet the other day. I pulled out all Micah's old 24 month/2T clothing for Elijah to wear. It was so weird putting the clothes that Micah wore just last year into Elijah's half of the closet. It's even weirder watching Elijah walk around in Micah's old clothes. Then I had to get rid of all Elijah's old clothes, because we don't plan on having any more kids any time soon. That was so hard - to just throw out all those clothes that we had such wonderful memories in. I know that part is always hard, and I try to prepare myself for it, but it just hit me hard that day. Neither one of my boys are technically babies anymore...
Kalin and I will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary this year. As I was cleaning out some of our old boxes that haven't been unpacked in 5 years, I ran across my day planner from the year we got married. It had all sorts of stuff in it that brought up memories that had long been buried under all the stresses of daily life.
Kalin is looking into getting a new job that will pay better and will have better hours. I am also in search of a job or two that will contribute something to this family. My student loan is coming due this month, and we have about $4000 in debt that we have to start paying off asap, so I need to find something and quick, but I am having difficulties finding one job that would cover the day-care costs for both kids. Which is why I am preparing myself to work on full time job and another part time or full time job to help cover daycare and bring something home.
I am preparing to have a garage/yard sale, so if anyone has anything they would like to sell, let me know! The more stuff we have to sell, the more people will buy. We are also getting ready to sell our Arowana and the 55 gallon tank he is in. He really needs a 150 gallon tank, but for now, he's ok. We will be selling the entire setup including tank, hood, filter, plants, gravel, stand air pump and plecostomus that shares the tank with him. If you're interested, please let me know.
Also, we are still desperately searching for homes for our last 2 bloodhound/redbone puppies and their mother. The mommy, Kahlua, is almost 2 years old, and the puppies are 10 months old. We have one male and one female left, and we are only asking $50 each for them. They are beautiful dogs, and will make wonderful hunting dogs. They are very energetic, will grow to be rather large, and will need a large area to run and play. They get along fairly well with kids, although they are still too rambunctious for the little ones. If you or anyone you know is interested in one of them, please let me know.
That's about it for now. I will be updating this more often nowadays. Thanks for reading! :D
Friday, January 15, 2010
Updates
So, It's been quite a long time since my last blogger update, and there's a lot to fill you in on, so here goes.
I started school in June 2009 at St. Philip's College in San Antonio. I took Anatomy and Physiology I and II and Life-Span Psychology. I got into the New Braunfels Extension Campus Vocational Nursing program, and began those classes at the end of August. I made it through the first semester basically unscathed, and, while I was ready for the holiday break, and I was even more ready to get back to classes and finish so that I could get my LVN certificate and get to work.
The kids were in school at Grace Lutheran PreSchool, and they loved it, and I loved it. They were learning so much, and they had lots of friends, and their teachers were incredible.
But over the Christmas break, I realized that I could not afford to go back to school for the spring and summer semesters. The school was charging an extra $700 special program tuition, which all the nursing students were led to believe was a one-time fee charged in the first semester. But that apparently was not the case. After that $700, I would have had $50 left over from my financial and and student loans to buy books. I thought about taking out another loan, so that I could continue, but by the time it would have gone through, the semester would have been half over, and we just couldn't afford to go that long. We had missed our December rent and were not going to have the money to pay for January rent, either.
We had a meeting with CCDS, to get our daycare partly payed for, and we realized that when Kalin worked over all the holidays, his paycheck would be rather large. This was good for us because we needed the money, but CCDS bases what they pay off what Kalin makes, and those very large paychecks would have cause us to not get any part of the boys' daycare covered, and we simply couldn't afford to do that.
On top of all that, my clinical rotation group was scheduled to meet in San Marcos three days a week, and we knew we couldn't afford for me to drive back and forth too San Marcos three days a week, and since we live so far out, I knew that no one from school would be willing to drive all the way out to my house to come get me to give me a ride.
All in all, it just wasn't in the cards for me to go back to school this semester, but it still really sucks. While I love my kids to death, I really miss school and my friends there. While I was in school, I felt like I was part of a group. And now that I'm home all day with the boys, I feel really cut off and alone, even with Kalin around. I'm not saying anything about our relationship, don't get me wrong. Our relationship is absolutely wonderful. But there is a difference between hanging out with your spouse and two young children, and hanging out with other adults that you can debate with and joke around with. Our conversations at home generally revolve around the kids, money and what to cook for lunch or dinner. At school, my conversations with my friends were random and unpredictable and that's what made it so fun.
In the midst of all this, my brother moved in with us in September, and that has put a strain on everything. He's trying really hard, but he's struggling. Some nights he comes home, others he doesn't and it's getting harder and harder for me to be patient with him. I want him to get better, I want him to get off parole and be able to live a normal life and be a good example to my kids. But at the same time, I don't want my kids to grow up the same way I did - with a monster roaming the house, coming and going at all hours of the night, and never knowing if he was in a good mood or a bad mood and what he might do. I'm so torn between doing what is best for Dustin, and what is best for my kids. If we kick Dustin out, he has no where else to go. No one else will take him because he has burned all those bridges and he knows it. I just don't know what to do about him...
Before I went back to school, I remember feeling lonely and cut off from the rest of the world, and now I feel that way again. I get to see the same 4 people every day, and no one else - unless I'm grocery shopping or something equally mind-numbing. With the kids at home with me all the time, I don't really get time for myself any more, and I don't have time to "get away" in any way shape or form. I wake up before they do so I can shower and get dressed, then I put together breakfast for them. We play and do some fun stuff before nap time, then I wash dishes, and do some general cleaning before getting lunch together and waking them up. After lunch, they play for a while, then we do some more activities and then I get dinner ready. Then I wash more dishes, put the kids to bed and start all over.
I'm trying to lose about 20 pounds, so somewhere amongst all that mess I have to find time to run or something to help lose this weight. There are so many things I wanted to do this year: Lose weight
Grow nails out
Get rid of acne
Spend more time with kids
Cook better and with more variety
Keep the house cleaner
Get rid of excess junk in house
Get scrapbooks up to date for boys
just to name a few. But I can't seem to get to any of those because I'm constantly watching the kids... I just don't know what to do anymore... I'm losing my patience at an astounding rate, and some days I just can't seem to relax because I'm so stressed out about everything...
But anyways... those are my updates for today. I hope I didn't bore you too much... Thanks for reading, if you made it this far! :D
I started school in June 2009 at St. Philip's College in San Antonio. I took Anatomy and Physiology I and II and Life-Span Psychology. I got into the New Braunfels Extension Campus Vocational Nursing program, and began those classes at the end of August. I made it through the first semester basically unscathed, and, while I was ready for the holiday break, and I was even more ready to get back to classes and finish so that I could get my LVN certificate and get to work.
The kids were in school at Grace Lutheran PreSchool, and they loved it, and I loved it. They were learning so much, and they had lots of friends, and their teachers were incredible.
But over the Christmas break, I realized that I could not afford to go back to school for the spring and summer semesters. The school was charging an extra $700 special program tuition, which all the nursing students were led to believe was a one-time fee charged in the first semester. But that apparently was not the case. After that $700, I would have had $50 left over from my financial and and student loans to buy books. I thought about taking out another loan, so that I could continue, but by the time it would have gone through, the semester would have been half over, and we just couldn't afford to go that long. We had missed our December rent and were not going to have the money to pay for January rent, either.
We had a meeting with CCDS, to get our daycare partly payed for, and we realized that when Kalin worked over all the holidays, his paycheck would be rather large. This was good for us because we needed the money, but CCDS bases what they pay off what Kalin makes, and those very large paychecks would have cause us to not get any part of the boys' daycare covered, and we simply couldn't afford to do that.
On top of all that, my clinical rotation group was scheduled to meet in San Marcos three days a week, and we knew we couldn't afford for me to drive back and forth too San Marcos three days a week, and since we live so far out, I knew that no one from school would be willing to drive all the way out to my house to come get me to give me a ride.
All in all, it just wasn't in the cards for me to go back to school this semester, but it still really sucks. While I love my kids to death, I really miss school and my friends there. While I was in school, I felt like I was part of a group. And now that I'm home all day with the boys, I feel really cut off and alone, even with Kalin around. I'm not saying anything about our relationship, don't get me wrong. Our relationship is absolutely wonderful. But there is a difference between hanging out with your spouse and two young children, and hanging out with other adults that you can debate with and joke around with. Our conversations at home generally revolve around the kids, money and what to cook for lunch or dinner. At school, my conversations with my friends were random and unpredictable and that's what made it so fun.
In the midst of all this, my brother moved in with us in September, and that has put a strain on everything. He's trying really hard, but he's struggling. Some nights he comes home, others he doesn't and it's getting harder and harder for me to be patient with him. I want him to get better, I want him to get off parole and be able to live a normal life and be a good example to my kids. But at the same time, I don't want my kids to grow up the same way I did - with a monster roaming the house, coming and going at all hours of the night, and never knowing if he was in a good mood or a bad mood and what he might do. I'm so torn between doing what is best for Dustin, and what is best for my kids. If we kick Dustin out, he has no where else to go. No one else will take him because he has burned all those bridges and he knows it. I just don't know what to do about him...
Before I went back to school, I remember feeling lonely and cut off from the rest of the world, and now I feel that way again. I get to see the same 4 people every day, and no one else - unless I'm grocery shopping or something equally mind-numbing. With the kids at home with me all the time, I don't really get time for myself any more, and I don't have time to "get away" in any way shape or form. I wake up before they do so I can shower and get dressed, then I put together breakfast for them. We play and do some fun stuff before nap time, then I wash dishes, and do some general cleaning before getting lunch together and waking them up. After lunch, they play for a while, then we do some more activities and then I get dinner ready. Then I wash more dishes, put the kids to bed and start all over.
I'm trying to lose about 20 pounds, so somewhere amongst all that mess I have to find time to run or something to help lose this weight. There are so many things I wanted to do this year: Lose weight
Grow nails out
Get rid of acne
Spend more time with kids
Cook better and with more variety
Keep the house cleaner
Get rid of excess junk in house
Get scrapbooks up to date for boys
just to name a few. But I can't seem to get to any of those because I'm constantly watching the kids... I just don't know what to do anymore... I'm losing my patience at an astounding rate, and some days I just can't seem to relax because I'm so stressed out about everything...
But anyways... those are my updates for today. I hope I didn't bore you too much... Thanks for reading, if you made it this far! :D
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