Time to Re-Address My Goals

I've been totally slacking on my blog!  I always have so many ideas that I want to blog about, but can never find the time to sit and type them out :(  Things have been BUSY around here lately.  Amylou Baby sales have skyrocketed starting early October with Halloween items, then Christmas sales hit...on top of normal baby and birthday sales.  There was a time two weeks ago when I had a stack of 20 orders waiting to be completed within a week's time!  A normal workload for me is no more than 5 standing orders at a time, which is even sometimes difficult to do.  It hasn't been easy managing all of this while being a full time at-home mommy to my 4-year-old, 2-year-old, and 4-month-old.  I often scroll through my "Finished Work" album on Facebook and wonder how the heck I got all of it done.  Plus it just makes me feel good seeing all the stuff I have gotten done...maybe I should start taking pictures of all my clean folded laundry, cooked meals, and bags of dirty diapers and put them in an album too!  Just kidding...but the more I think about this the more I like the idea...

As my work load has greatly increased over the last few months, I've been forced to think about what my goals are and to think about whether or not starting this company was a good idea.  My goal for starting this company was to eventually have a job that can provide supplemental income for my family - a job I can do from home while my kids are at school, for which I can dictate my own hours, and therefore be involved with their school.  It will be many years before they are all in full time school, but I wanted to start it early to have it pretty well established for when that time comes.   However, I also wanted to start it now rather than later for selfish reasons - I just love doing all of it and it makes me feel good about myself.

Sometimes people ask me how I can stay sane having this business while being a stay-at-home mom (SAHM) too, but  believe it or not, the work actually KEEPS me sane...(and I pray a lot :) ).  Everything I make is a work of art to me.  It requires my creativity and skill, and all of my finished work feels like an accomplishment   This feeling of accomplishment is something that can easily go missing with being a SAHM.  We accomplish a lot of diaper changes, feeding, cleaning, life saving, etc, but it's never ending so it never feels like an accomplishment   Moms provide so much for their kids - even just by being in their presence and loving on them, but the results aren't seen right away.  There are no concrete finished products...children just keep growing and growing.

So, while I may not sleep as much as I used to (I have to do a lot of my work at night while the kids are asleep), I'm still going to keep going because I really just love what I do.  I love seeing happy faces when customers see their finished products, I love reading positive feedback on Etsy, I love e-mails from customers telling me how happy they are with their purchases, and I love doing "the work".  Most of all though, I love being able to do all of this while hanging out with these little munchkins all day.

Our September Getaway

As you may remember, I had a vacation status posted at my shop and on my Facebook page a couple weeks ago.  My family and I traveled to Wilmington, NC for my cousin's wedding.  My parents rented an awesome beach house right on the beach, and I got to spend the week before the wedding with them and all 4 of my siblings.  We all live very far away from each other, so it was AWESOME to spend a whole week together.  I have a brother in Korea, and one on St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands), and a brother and sister both in Colorado.  I live in St. Louis, close to my mom and dad.  We don't even get to all spend Christmas together anymore because not everyone can come home.

The vacation was a blast - so much family, and fun, and good food.

Big B LOVED the beach.  He had a blast playing in the ocean waves and building sand castles.  But he had the most fun sitting at the water's edge and throwing the wet sand into the water pretending it was poop (thanks, Aunt Margaret, for teaching him that!).

Here's my other little beach bum, Baby C. (Little A was freaked out by the beach so there are no pictures of her out there.  She preferred the comfort of the house.)

A rare family photo.  Here's my little family, with my siblings and parents:

 My SIBLINGS and me!!! (we look like we're really sweet and nice here, but we're actually all being really sarcastic and fake for the picture.  We're silly like that.)

  My adorable parents:

 Jonathan and Lyndsay, the bride and groom:

 The wedding day was on Little A's 2nd birthday.  We took some time in the morning to go out for a special birthday breakfast.  Chris and I had crepes.  Little A preferred a cupcake:

Check out my hot date for the wedding!

This Too Shall Pass

WARNING: There may be some stuff in this post that is "TMI" (too much information) for some people in regards to birth, breastfeeding, and potential new baby difficulties!  Don't read if any of this scares you or grosses you out!

Baby C is 4 weeks old today.  I wish I could say the time has flown by, but it really hasn't.  I've had to remind myself many times that "this too shall pass".  These have been some of the most difficult weeks of my life.  Baby C is not an easy baby.  In fact, I would go so far as to describe him as the parent-dreaded C-word...colicky.  In addition to this, my precious Little A is hitting her "terrible twos", and she and 4-year-old Big B have gone from being like "peas and carrots" to "cats and dogs".  They take toys away from each other and tease each other, and it's been really tough finding the time and energy to be a referee while taking care of Baby C as well.  I know everyone's world is being rocked with the addition of a new baby, and I did anticipate this, but I guess I was just hoping that things wouldn't be as bad if I expected the worst.

To add to all of this craziness, it's been rough for me physically as well.  In addition to all the usual birth recovery and not much sleep, I had about 2 weeks of sore, bloody nipples from breastfeeding, and a bad virus the last few days that hit me with a high fever and also somehow affected my breast, which made for some painful...no... EXCRUCIATING breastfeeding.  I thought for sure I had mastitis, but my doctor insisted it was viral.  I completely forgot how much it stinks to have a fever...I can't even remember the last time I had one before this!  When the fever first hit me, I thought for sure I was dying.  I just kept thinking about how I can't leave Chris with three babies to take care of as a single dad!  But, on a happy note, now that I'm over all my physical ailments, I'm hoping things get easier.  Baby C actually slept 7 hours in a row last night and I woke up this morning feeling like a new person.  I hope that this is the start of a turning point for us!

Thank God I have had so much help.  Chris has won the #1 best dad/husband award of the year.  And his parents, my parents, and friends have also helped so much with cooking for us and taking the big kids.  To all you parents out there with little or no help, I don't know how you do it!  I admire you!

My tiny little troublemaker:

"Who, me?"

Thanks to all the help from family and friends, I have had a few good days over the last couple weeks to work on some Halloween embroidery designs.  I'll post more as I get them done.  I am also going to put in an order for toddler girls' long sleeve shirts within the next week!

Introducing Baby C!

My beautiful baby BOY (Baby C) was born on Friday of last week, July 20th.  It was a couple days past my due date, and he was scheduled for an induction that day.  My water ended up breaking at 2:00 that morning, so we went into the hospital a little early.  I was so happy that I went into labor naturally because I have a fear of being induced!  I scheduled the induction because I was afraid the baby would get too big for a vaginal delivery.  My mom actually had to have a C-section with her 3rd baby after 2 vaginal deliveries because my brother was so big.  Baby C was born at 10:00 that morning weighing in at a whopping 8lbs, 13oz...a full pound heavier than my last 2 babies!  


Kind of an interesting side note...the hospital was crazy when we got there.  We had to kick someone who wasn't as far along as me out of their delivery room, and after Baby C was born, it took 9 HOURS until we were able to get our postpartum room.  Apparently there was a big baby boom the days surrounding the day I delivered.  The nurses calculated that exactly 40 weeks before, the Cardinals won the World Series, which is what they attribute the "boom" too.  All those happy celebratory Cards fans :)


We're so happy to have him home.  Tired from lack of sleep....but happy :)  Little B and Baby A (I should probably stop calling her "Baby" now...I'll call them Big B and Little A) are dealing well with the transition.  Both of them love their new baby.  The biggest challenge is to keep Little A off of him while he eats and sleeps!

Here are some newborn pics Bella Baby Photography took while we were at the hospital.  I had cute accessories ready for this photo shoot, which we forgot to bring to the hospital in our crazy rush to get there. But the simple blue and white blankets turned out beautiful.  Now if it had been a girl and I forgot the headbands and tutu...someone would have had to make a trip home to get them!

Here are some candid shots of the kids when they came to meet their new baby brother for the first time:

New Yellow Tutu

I'm still pregnant, but having lots of strong contractions, so it really could be any time now!  For those of you who don't know, I'm expecting baby #3 any minute now.  We don't know if it's a girl or a boy, but just in case, I'm bringing some fun girl stuff to the hospital for newborn photos.  Last blog post, I promised a lavender/purple tutu to match this headband:

But, I changed my mind and decided on yellow instead.  I've been on a big yellow kick lately with home decorating and clothes.  Here's the yellow headband I made for baby:

And here's the matching yellow tutu.  Fun, bright and sunny - perfect for a mid-summer baby!  I'll go ahead and post it on Facebook as available to order, and it will be posted on my website for purchase soon.

Happy 1st Birthday Amylou Baby!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO AMYLOU BABY

Happy birthday to Amylou Baby!  1 Year ago today I officially opened up my website www.amyloubaby.com!  I wish I could do some sort of great promotion to celebrate, but unfortunately due to my very pregnant condition, I can't.  I will try to do a belated celebration sometime in the fall.  I have decided not to close up shop at all during the next few weeks, but there's an announcement on my Etsy Shop and www.amyloubaby.com now saying to please allow up to 3 weeks to get orders complete once they are placed.  Still need to post one on Facebook.

BABY NEWS

I'm 39 weeks today, and feeling very ready to pop!  The heat has been BRUTAL these last couple weeks and it's been difficult waddling after my very active toddlers.  Here's an updated picture of my belly progression:

12 weeks, 20 weeks, 38 weeks

And couldn't resist again...here's my husband's (I ask him to stand there for a practice shot while I get my settings on my camera right).  Hehe.

Here's what I'm bringing to the hospital for photos.  We don't know if it's a boy or girl, so I'm bringing a bunch of different things.  I got the newsboy hat on Etsy, and the chevron onesie is an Amylou creation (not yet posted for purchase yet).

I got this adorable diaper cover at a craft show I worked.  I thought this color could work for a boy or a girl if paired with the right hair (head) accessories.

 And here's another headband that I still need to make a matching tutu for.  I'm thinking dark purple underneath and lavender layer on top...I'll see what I can come up with tonight and hopefully post tomorrow or in the next couple days!

EMBROIDERY MACHINE UPDATE

Those of you who are Facebook fans saw that I recently invested in an embroidery machine.  I've been trying to use every free moment I have to learn how to use it.  I've come up with some very cute designs that I'm so excited to post soon.  Stay tuned!

My Third Pregnancy

As many of you know, I am very pregnant with my 3rd baby.  I'm officially full term now, at 37 weeks and the baby started dropping today.  I've already dilated a little, (1cm as of last Friday, if you want to know specifics).  I just can't believe how fast this one has gone by.  Life has been crazy being a full-time, stay-at-home mom of 2 toddlers while starting and running my business, and I guess that explains why time is flying by so fast.  But, wow, I just can't believe I'll be delivering in the next couple WEEKS.  Too crazy.

It's also just been a weird pregnancy.  I've been trying to put my finger on why it's been so "weird" and I think I've figured out that it's because it's actually been too "normal".  I guess the third time around, it just feels normal to be pregnant.  With my first pregnancy, everything was so shocking to me.  No matter how many times I read "What to Expect When You're Expecting", I was just never prepared for the real experience of what my body would be going through.  After Little B came out, it took me a while to adjust to being a mother too.  He was a difficult baby, and I struggled the first few months with nursing and dealing with all the screaming and crying.  It took a while to fully grasp the concept of how much of myself I had to give up to be the mom I wanted to be.  My second pregnancy was much easier because I really did know what to expect that time around.  It was neat to go through those 9 months without everything being so shocking.  For example, I was excited when I first felt the baby kick because I knew what it felt like to have a baby kick inside you.  People would always ask me if I felt a kick yet with the 1st pregnancy and I was like...umm, I really have no idea.  Now with this 3rd pregnancy, I was excited to first feel the baby kick, but it just wasn't the same level of excitement where I was like "Hey!  I know what that is!  That's a kick!"  It was more like "Yay, felt the baby kick :)  Now, back to cleaning up the potty-drenched bed sheets."  Maybe there's just not as much time to dwell on the excitement because there's too much other stuff going on with the other two kids.


I also feel like ever since having 2, I've been in more of a survival mode rather than a "baby bliss" mode.  With both my first pregnancies, I went through nesting, where I prepared beautiful nurseries for the babies, and had all the baby clothes all washed and organized and laid out in their proper places months before the babies came.  But now, I'm just doing what I really NEED done.  I guess if we had a 4th bedroom, I may have gone through preparing a nursery, but we don't.  I also think that maybe if we knew the sex of the baby I may have done some shopping for a few new outfits, but since we've had a boy and a girl already, the baby really doesn't NEED anything new.  And I don't really have time to go on fun baby clothes shopping trips anyway.  


Now that we're getting so close to my due date though, the excitement of meeting this new baby is finally starting to kick in.  I'm sooo excited to find out if it's a girl or a boy and see his or her little face for the first time.  I'm also so excited to see how Little B and Baby A are going to react to baby brother or sister.  Little B is always hugging and kissing my belly saying "I love my new baby", and Baby A likes to pull up my shirt and push my protruding belly button in over and over again saying "hi baby" with each push.  It's a fun, exciting, and CRAZY time in the Amylou household right now, and I have a feeling things are about to get even CRAZIER once we meet this little peanut :)

My amazing friends had an adorable little tea party for me to celebrate baby #3 last weekend.  My friend, Michelle, who hosted it is seriously the most amazing hostess ever.  Everything was so cute!

My Playgroup Mommy Friends
Don't we all look fabulous for being moms of multiple kids!?

My Fabulous High School Friends

Pink and blue tea cups - how cute!

All the tea condiments

I thought these were just decorative, but found out that they're great to use as tea stirrers.

Lots of beautiful desserts and tea sandwiches

There's my belly - about to pop!

Cute little monster lovey

Little Mr. Suspenders

I'm just loving these new little tie/suspenders shirts and onesies.  They're much more time consuming to make, but I love how they add so much character to these already adorable tie shirts.  Both the ties and the suspenders are both heat bonded, and sewn around every edge to make sure they stay put.  They feature little D-rings toward the middle of the suspenders to make them look like the real thing!  Here are the designs that are currently available, and there are more coming soon!

Little Mr. Stars and Stripes.  This has been extremely popular over the last couple months!  It's  perfect for Memorial Day and the Fourth of July festivities.

Little Mr. Stars and Stripes on Etsy
Little Mr. Stars and Stripes on amyloubaby.com

Little Mr. Cat in the Hat.  Our newest design.  This is perfect for Dr. Seuss themed birthday parties.   This will be posted to the website in the next couple of days.

Little Mr. Picnic.  Perfect for warm summer picnics.  Adorable tie with table cloth checkers and busy little ants, and black and white dot suspenders.

Little Mr. Picnic on Etsy 

Little Mr. Picnic on amyloubaby.com

Little Mr. Firefighter.  Perfect for Fire Truck/Fire fighter birthday parties!  

Little Mr. Firefighter onesie on Etsy
Little Mr. Firefighter shirt on Etsy
Little Mr. Firefighter on amyloubaby.com

31 Weeks and Craving Chocolate

Remember when there were a million Facebook posts out there that were "(#) weeks and craving (some sort of candy)"?  I remember being shocked that so many of my little sister's 20 year old friends were getting pregnant so early.  Turns out it was a Facebook game to promote breast cancer awareness.  But, this is no game, I really am pregnant...and craving anything chocolate.  Now that I'm only 31 weeks along, thought I'd "officially" announce it. 

I can't believe it's already time to start counting down the weeks.  How fast this number 3 pregnancy has gone by!  Saw this cute pin on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/61854194851827258/ and wanted to something similar to show my progress.  Here's what I have so far.  I'm due for another picture soon.

Me at 12 weeks, and 20 weeks

While setting up my camera to take the pictures, I asked Chris to stand there for me for practice shots to get all the settings right. Now I get to post his progress too.  I think he's actually lost some weight.  Hehe.

Chris at 12 weeks and 20 weeks

This picture is how we announced the news to all our family over Christmas:

FAQ:

When is your due date?  July 19th, my 30th birthday!  No crazy parties for me!  (Unless you consider being in the hospital with a newborn and 2 toddlers a crazy party)

Is it a girl or a boy? This one is going to be a surprise.  Yes, it's driving me crazy not knowing, but I'm so excited for that moment we find out at delivery.  But I think it's a boy.

Any names picked out?  A few, but nothing official.  And even when it is official, no one will know till the baby comes out!  

How are you feeling? Tired and big, but other than that, GREAT!

Are you and Chris scared about being outnumbered?  YES

Photo Shoots - Behind the Scenes

Good pictures are so important when you're selling stuff online.  When I am searching for a product and scrolling through many similar items (on Etsy, for instance) I tend to scroll through, and just by instinct, pick the products with the best looking pictures.  Because the best looking pictures are most appealing to the eye - which is the only one of the 5 senses you can use when online shopping.  So, for my business, I spend a fair amount of time trying to capture good images that are appealing to the eye and really show the quality and character of the products.  

That being said, sometimes it's hard to do with little kids in the house :)  Just wanted to share some "behind the scenes" images of some recent photo shoots.  

In this shoot, I am taking pics of all our new taggie lovies (which is basically a little mini-blanket with ribbon "taggies" sewn around it that babies like to cuddle and play with).  Baby A really wanted to be in the pictures.  She kept grabbing the blankets and pulling them off the sofa where I was laying them.  Luckily I have a super fast camera, and super Mommy reflexes, so I was able to get some great shots with her cute little hands on the blankets right before she ripped them right off the couch and out of my camera view.  I actually love how you can see the scale of the blankets with her hands in the pictures, and it just looks like she is gently playing with them.  It makes it seem like they're so soft, she just can't keep her hands off of them! (Which I think may actually be the case - she LOVES these).

Hi there Baby A!

In this next shoot, I am putting together some images of a bunch of new flower clippies.  In the near future, I'm adding a category to my store called "mix and match", where I will have a bunch of flower clippies, bows, and plain headbands for mixing and matching any headband with any bow or flower.  This way, customers can use the same headband for many different bows and flowers - cutting costs for them and opening a whole new realm of creative possibilities!

For a while, she sat quietly next to me as I took the pics.  But as soon as her snack was done, she was out of that chair, and trying to put all the flowers back into the baskets.  She especially targeted the ones I was trying to get a shot of.  It's funny how with kids things always take at least twice as long as they normally would!  Luckily (most of the time) we Mommas can laugh it off.

 A couple hand shots...

Even though it was annoying, she got a good laugh out of her game, and I eventually got all my shots done.  And they also turned out great!  Here's a little sneak peek of some of them: