Thursday, December 30, 2010

2010 Thank you

Classic Collage 3x5 folded card
Modern greeting cards and party invitations by Shutterfly.
View the entire collection of cards.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Hug A Bug

Well, I'm jumping in. I've decided to attempt a business of my own. Sitting here wasting away at my job for the past several years, I started brainstorming. I can sew. I can draw. I can be creative when given the chance and the time.

I recently attended a market days event with my mom. She had made awesome diaper bags and was trying to sell a few. Unfortunately, there was no traffic. I walked around, passing the time and got ideas from several other vendors. I'd hate to say I "stole" ideas. Let's just say I got ideas and have modified them. And those ideas have grown into new ideas.

The past few weeks I've been drawing and researching. My first step is to buy a good sewing machine. This, to me, is a big purchase, and therefore freaks me out a bit. What if my ideas aren't good enough to sell? What if I spend the time creating and making but nothing comes of all of it? Oh, wait, I can't live by the "what ifs" in life.

So, I'm jumping in. I purchased a domain at hugabugnow.com. Of course, it won't be a complete website until I'm able to sew a few things, but in the meantime, I've got my own domain. Crazy!

What will I be sewing, you ask? Ha! No one reads this blog anyway, so I'll tell ya. I'm going to be appliqueing my own designs to onesies and toddler clothing. The machine I want will be able to embroider pretty much anything I want. I want to be able to accept customized orders too. I will also be making hair clips, eventually, to match some outfits.

We shall see where this takes me, if anywhere. It's pretty scary, for me. But, here goes nothin!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Homeopathic Awesomeness!

As most of you know, Jake has had horrible allergy issues since he was born. Although the pediatrician assured me Jake was too young for allergies, I knew he was wrong. When he was 11 months old we started giving him Cingulair every day. Then we added Claritin/Zyrtec every day. Then came the Flonase every day. A few months ago I had our pediatrician test Jake for environmental allergies. When the doc called with the results, he said, "I've never seen a child's results come back with so many positives." Out of 25 items tested for, Jake is allergic to 23.

A few weeks before Halloween Jake had his worst case ever. He was struggling to breathe. We made a trip to the doctor who put Jake on a steroid and Xopenex in the nebulizer/inhaler. We also had 2 different medicines for the nebulizer. It was too much to keep up with.

Jake had also been having issues with not sleeping and nightmares. He had become aggressive at school. This was so unlike him. I started researching side effects and decided to take him off everything. I started educating myself on homeopathic remedies. I went into People’s Pharmacy and just asked for help.

For the past month Jake has been taking a household dust/mold mix spray, a cedar spray, pet dander drops and dissolvable allergy tablets with a histamine “blocker.” He’s most sensitive to molds and pet dander. The only thing he’s not allergic to is dust. This means, at all times of the year, he’s sick. Since he’s been taking the sprays, drops and tablets, he’s been a completely different kid. He’s not sneezing. He’s not having the nasal drainage. He’s not coughing. He’s not having the reaction to our dogs. He’s not having nightmares. He’s sleeping all night. He’s not being aggressive at school. He’s happier!

The medications he was taking were treating (barely) the symptoms. The homeopathic remedies have helped his body start taking care of itself without the harmful drugs. To me, the best part about the homeopathic stuff, no side effects, AT ALL! It’s also cheaper than the allergy meds (that our insurance decided to stop paying for). Another plus, we don’t have to force Jake to take the sprays, drops or tablets. He calls the tablets candy. The sprays are tasteless so they don’t bother him.

While I’ve gone through feeling guilty that I’ve been drugging my child for the past 2 years of his life, I’m so excited I’ve found an alternative! The alternative works better than all the medicines put together!

Monday, November 15, 2010

It's Been a While!

It's been a while for a couple of things. One being a new post. Two being the weekend we had. Seeing as how I still have loads of free time at work I thought I might try keeping up with this blog again. Also, maybe this will keep me from shopping online while at work. It could save me money!

This weekend my college roommate and her husband came to visit. My mom kept the kids and I even got in a quick nap on Saturday. The four of us headed to 6th Street to hit up Pete's Dueling Piano Bar. You have to first understand that I haven't been out drinking like that since before I was pregnant with Jake (he's two and a half). I wasn't quite sure I would know how to act. There are moments of the evening that are a little fuzzy. Bill has had to fill me on several things. Apparently there was dancing. Dancing with strangers.

Bill was our designated driver and probably had more fun than any of us. He was sober and got to see us make complete fools of ourselves. While I had a great time, I paid for it yesterday. I now remember why I don't overindulge in the alcohol anymore. Being responsible for two kids was quite difficult. Even this morning I'm still feeling a little cruddy. I think it will be quite a while before doing that again. And besides, mothers shouldn't act like that!