It's something

Holy Cow!!

It's been nearly a week since I posted. It's such a shame that good habits are so easily replaced.

I got an answer from the manufacturer today! It was....encouraging. You know what? I'm just going to copy and paste most of it.

Thanks Emilie for checking back in…We have not made any decisions at this time.  After reviewing what we have & adjusting ship dates according to our selling we kind of feel we need to slow down a bit & make sure we have the proper sell-thru on the collections as they stand now.  As for the future right now we have collections thru the Spring Quilt Market and have already started to move into the fall deliveries, but we are always looking for talented designers /artists!  Please do not be discouraged we just need to concentrate on what we have right now before we look to sign on new artists.

One thing that I am not sure if I had mentioned before or not… I love your collections, but we are really looking for that specialty groups, ones that tell a story.  The collections would consist of conversational prints or icon driven prints with flowers & geos as supporting patterns.  We have really noticed from our selling the groups with animals (From our website - Feather N Stitch & Babysaurus) or icons (Kitchy Kitchen and Tinsel- which we have already reordered and it has not even shipped yet) are blowing out compared to the floral/geometric based groups plus I think with our artists we have already signed we have the floral/geo-look covered.  If you want to rework what you have & maybe try to add something more that would be fabulous…I would love to see anything you send, but it is your call.

Thanks again for checking in & I really do hope we can work this out!!

Best~

I call that good. It seems to me she likes what I have done, but needs a specific fit. At first I wrestled with this. My personal taste tends to shy away from icon driven prints. That being said, as I looked over the collections she referenced, I began to envision ways to stay true to what I would buy while incorporating what is wanted.   It's all a balancing act. PLUS, it's not a bad thing to get your foot in the door.

So. YAY! Progress!

Busy!

Work has exploded! I have so much to do and just a short time to do it. I really like what I do, I'm the Marketing Manager. It's very fulfilling and uses my creativity in a new way every day.

I also emailed the manufacturing company I am waiting to hear from to see if they had made a decision.

Fingers, hair, toes and anything else I can cross....is crossed!

But?

After running a few errands with the boys, I said," Well that was a fun adventure! "

Sanders answered as Sanders always answers these days," Why? "

Distracted with driving I half heard myself say, "Because, that was a fun surprise! " not really paying attention to my word choice.

Looking confused he said, "What? But....I don't have puppy! "

And now I know surprise in Sanders-land means he's expecting to get a puppy.

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I reminded Karaia that if she had to be reminded to stay on task one more time (this of course coming after multiple times of reminding her) she wouldn't be able to join us for FHE.

She had to be reminded...more than once. As she was stomping downstairs, lamenting her consequence, she informed me, "Mom, it's called FAMILY night. Not, 1/4 of a family night! "

We compromised. She was able to be part of the lesson and scripture and songs, but couldn't take part in the treat or activity.

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So....

I haven't posted in a few days and that is just weird. I've wanted to, but not enough make it happen. And that, my friends, is just lame.

Potty training is exhausting. Even if you don't have accidents...which we have, not many, but enough...the constant reminding to go potty, get COMPLETELY undressed, him not me, because going to the bathroom with anything more than a shirt is ludicrous, then getting REDRESSED every half hour is a word, exhausting.

Sanders has done fairly well. He hasn't had very many wet accidents and only 2 1/2 poop accidents. Why the half, well something came out, completely round. It then bounced off his underwear barely leaving any mark, and rolled down his leg. Then, THEN he picked it up and brought it to me on the palm of his hand! And then. handed. it. to. me! Why did I take it?!?!?!? I think I was afraid he would drop it and squish it. I don't know. There was POOP in a hand. I panicked.

YUCK!!!!!! Excuse me while I gag.

Here's a little back information, that is pretty much too much info, but he is my kid that poops on average 5 times a day. And since he decided to start potty training on Tuesday, he has only pooped 3 times. The whole 3 days. It's like he's scared to do that on the toilet.

Sigh.

Potty training.....Yay?

Still here's a cute picture of Sanders after having a particularly successful day.

Oh wait. I mean THIS one. That one is just hilarious!

He's probably cute enough that I can keep doing this. Except the poop in the hand part...I'm not doing that again.

Do I dare?

Today Sanders said something that I was pretty sure was far into the future, "I need to go potty!" He said this right as we were dropping Tennyson off at preschool. Out of the blue. He held it in all the way home and after a few minutes on the toilet he successfully went.....both "kinds"!!!

He then flatly refused to wear diapers the rest of the day.

What the ?!?!?!

Um, I am SO not ready for this. It was not on the radar. We've been casually talking about when he turns 3, on March 2,  we will become serious about this whole potty on toilet business. And maybe about 4 or 5 times a week, as we were changing a diaper, we will offer him the chance to sit on the toilet. He has refused nearly every time, to which we always say, "OK. Let me know if you want to go potty on the toilet." End of discussion.

So today's little "announcement" floored me.

UGH! I HATE potty training! But usually I have time to prepare myself....

Since we are doing this thing I will record how the day went from 1pm on.

1:20 First potty success (BOTH) YAY!

Did the potty dance, called his favorite friend Rhyse and Daddy. SUPER excited.

Put underwear on.

2:00 Wet underwear --this one was TOTALLY my fault. I made the rookie mistake of forgetting that just because he went on the potty doesn't mean the training was over. I forgot to remind him.

2:05 set the timer for every 15 mins.

2:19 (1 min before the timer was going to go off) Wet underwear (Bummer!)

One more Pee success and dry underwear until the rest of the day!!! He even started running to the bathroom without me prompting if he heard the timer go off first.

YAY Sanders!

This wasn't the MY plan, but I'm hoping that because Sanders start it, it will go better than I think it's going to go. I'm pretty sure it's going to be, well you know, potty training.

Wish us luck!

Religion

I'm following this great blog. I have been for a few years now. She recently found out she has cancer. She's only a few years older than me and is seriously one of the most positive, joyous people.

Her post today was on going back to her church. She has felt in the past church was not her thing and that she was very religious regardless of her church attendance. That God was not "IN" church but in how she lives her life. I've followed her for awhile and I strongly believe that she is very religious and one of the best people I have ever heard of. She gives Heavenly Father all the credit for her life and she recognizes that even the hard parts of the journey are being orchestrated for her good. So much light and joy and well doing have come because of the way she leads her life.

It makes me sad though that so many feel that attending a church is restrictive. That they aren't being true to who they are if they follow the "restrictive" rules of an organized religion. Life is restrictive in general. Every action has a consequence, good or bad. Even outside of religion. Sure you can do what ever the heck you want and not follow ANY of the rules or guidelines, but your life will reflect that and there will be many consequences you chose that I doubt you'll be happy with.

It's your choice to spend the night outside in the snow. No one can FORCE you to seek a restrictive shelter. 

If my children want dessert I'm going to require them to eat their dinner. Not because I am trying to control their life, or their behaviors but because I love them and I know they will be healthier and therefore happier if they don't skip the part that is still very important. EVEN though skipping dinner and going straight to dessert might make them feel happier in the moment.

I've always thought this way. It's not a chore. It's an opportunity. I don't have to go to church. It's my choice. I happen to like the consequences of going. A break from the negativity of the general contentions of the world. A renewal of my personal faith and spirituality, And a contentment that I am heading in the direction that will put me where I want to be in the future. A chance to learn more and be uplifted my other people's journeys. It's a good place to shut out the distractions and focus on important things.

Of course this is not the "popular" point of view. It's MUCH easier to say, "You don't need church to be religious." Of course you don't, but that's that same as saying you don't need dinner to live. You can stay alive by only eating dessert.  Both statements are true. But it's easier to live a long, full healthy life if you eat a well balanced dinner. You DO need dinner to be healthy...to be the BEST you can be.

I guess that how I see it. Yes, you absolutely can be spiritual and in tune with God with out Church. But life is hard enough. Why try and do it on your own when there is SO much help offered?

Closer

I should hear from the fabric manufacturing company any day now. I go through moments of just KNOWING it's going to be a No to moments of just KNOWING it's going to be a yes.

I still have a major case of designer block, but my job with Pick Your Plum is forcing me into some new illustrator skills as a by product and that feels really great.

I'm scared to email the company because I kind of don't want to know. If they say No it truly will be back to square one. Up to this point there has always been someone else I was waiting for as well. If it's square one then that means going back to Market and frankly that is not in the budget for the year.

Wouldn't it be amazing if it was a yes?!?!?!