A Record Week

Wow! Thank you all so much for your comments on my last post (so many helpful comments on facebook, I'm not even kidding...they keep pouring in!)

This week has been so interesting.  All three of our side businesses have had a drastic increase in sales.  It's kept us busy, to put it mildly.  This blog post has been started and stopped so many times because of orders received and feedback needing to be sent and handwritten thank-you notes included with packaging and postage estimating.  At some point I might wrap my head around being technically a "work-at-home mom," but right now I'm just grateful that God is providing for us, penny by penny.

And I don't take pictures of *every* single crate Michael makes, I promise.  I've even forgotten to photograph some custom orders.  (Woops.  I'm sure Michael doesn't mind!)  I just like being able to have a visual representation of the different shapes and sizes he's made for my memory's sake.

So grateful tonight.  It's been a record-setting week for us, blowing all of our other weeks in business out of the water by at least 500%.  Tomorrow will mark the first time that Michael goes with me to the post office.  We have about 55 pounds of crates to mail out tomorrow in very bulky packages.  Not happening by myself.

And we're tired.  And looking forward to hopefully catching some rest on our three-day holiday weekend...after we finish two more orders (and any more that come in tomorrow.)  

I probably won't be blogging very much over the next week, but I do hope to actually get back to blogging about "normal life" of the non-home-based-business variety someday soon.  For now, have a great weekend!

Question For You: What Are Pointless Things To Buy For A New Baby?

I've been thinking about last year this week.  Specifically from February to December, when Michael was job searching, and the period of July 2011 to this February when we were surviving on...not much at all....while waiting for his new job to start.  I didn't type as much about it on this blog, but there were posts like this one and this one that referenced it. 

I think one of the reasons last year's dearth of finances has been on my mind is because I've been fighting materialism this week.  It's tempting to listen to the "because you're having a baby you need XYZ and another dose of LMNOP just in case" messages that society and our middle class/upper middle class friends tell us.  Thankfully, since we're having another boy, we are fairly prepared for November Boy with the exception of some teeny clothes, burp cloths, and socks in sizes we never needed for Million...but the siren call of the baby aisles and eBay auctions is terribly alluring.         

So in that light, I'd like you to pitch in and comment with one or more baby item that you never used or don't see the sense in buying.

Introversion and Family Weekends

Friday through Sunday we had a family gathering at my parents' house.
I think my favorite part of the weekend was actually when nearly everyone went on a bike ride, and I got to prepare a meal in the kitchen BY MYSELF for two hours.
I turned on a radio station that didn't play Raffi.
I even drank some tea in one sitting.  It stayed hot the whole time.
I wasn't at my own house, so a to-do list didn't take over.
And then I had a quiet adult conversation with my sister-in-law for about half an hour.
Can you tell I'm an introvert?

Exhibit: Motherhood

There was a unique triptych of minivans in the Target parking lot today.

One brand new minivan held a mom in the back seat, nursing her baby, basking in the glory of new motherhood.

One rusty minivan, a mommy held her son in the front seat while trying not to break down crying during a disciplinary discussion about why it is completely inappropriate to hit or bite mommy.

One immaculate soccer mom minivan, a mom loudly cursed out her children about whining about school supplies.


I present to you everyday motherhood in its multifaceted functionality (or dysfunctionality on some days for every mom, I'm sure.)
It's not like the Hallmark commercials.
It's not like the movies.
It's the most simultaneously frustrating,guilt-inducing, joyous, bittersweet, laughable, embarrassing, high-inducing phase of life I've ever experienced.

And some days I wonder how this all is going to work with two three kids.

Only Reason Is...

Because they're beautiful. 

Distressing News

Our weekend fun:  Distressing wood.  (Tutorial we initially based our distress-age off of, found here.)

Michael has an order for distressed/rustic-looking crates to decorate a wedding cake table along with white china.  Isn't that a cute idea?  I'm glad I got married before Pinterest and Etsy, or my wedding would not have stayed in our budget.

For fun, you get to see pictures of our adorable family on the prowl for stain and wood for this particular order.... Every good DIY post has to have a little visit to the home improvement store, right?   I even threw in a little interview with Million (with his honest to goodness answers) for a charming touch.  I'll hopefully get pictures of the finished product this weekend.

Mommy: Hey, Million! What are we doing here at the home improvement store?
Million: We're seeing Daddy.
Mommy:  What is this can of stain for?
Million: At home.  Daddy use stain at home.
Mommy: What do people do with Daddy's crates?
Million: The lady hold it.  She hold it nicely.

Okay then.

Happiest place on earth.

Scouting out the deals in the stain aisle.

Getting a teeny bit bored while daddy looks for a natural sealant. Mommy pulls the "look at your picture on the back of the camera" trick.

Free paintbrushes.  Always exciting.

Michael looking pretty intense with his 1x12. 

One is disappointed because he doesn't get to ride in a lumber carrier, and one is practicing his  Zoolander face.

So moving onto actually distressing the brand-spanking-new wood.

Our tools:

hammer

bag of screws

screw drivers

palm sander

Million learning to palm sand.

Harnessing a 2-year-old's energy.

Pre-stain distressing.

Following the distressing, we applied stain and then nearly immediately wiped it off.  The stain stayed behind, lurking in the cracks and crevasses of our wood.

Since our customer requested sealant also, that was our final step before packaging and shipping.

There you have it.  A couple hours in the life of our family.

DIY Day Coming Up

This is just a warning that my next post will likely be a tutorial (probably more like a bunch of pictures with some mild commentary) of the "art" of distressing wood.  We have an order for a wedding that should turn out beautifully, and tonight and tomorrow are the days for us to make it happen, since Michael is on call and we're chained for this week to our high-speed internet locale.

While on the DIY topic, I'm playing around with this technique.  We have a tiny crate that gets all of my experiments done on it.  My own little Frankenstein.  (See below.) Michael has a much better eye for font size and pre-visualizing than I.  I'm not supremely happy with my nap-time adventure in ink transfer, but for a first shot, I'm content that it shows up on stain without acrylic behind it.

A Lesson Learned In My Group Midwife Session

I had my second group midwife session yesterday.
(I missed one accidentally, so this should have been my third.)
Attendance was much more sparse, but it is August in Minnesota---the time of the year when people take any last vacation days up at their cabins that they can.

Halfway through the session, I found myself jealous of my two boys who were doubtless eating supper and reading books, while I got to learn that it is not good to wear underwire bras while nursing because they can cause clogged ducts which lead to mastitis.  Fun stuff.  The things I suffer, right?

Actually, after wading through my jealousy for a bit, I was humbled.  I was reminded of how many things I have to be grateful for.

I am being educated.

Isn't that humbling to think about?
Many millions of women don't have access to and perinatal education.
Many millions of women who have access to prenatal "education" can't even read the pamphlets they are given as their education (or speak the language of their educator).
I have easy and instant access to a very large team of midwives, doctors, surgeons, nurses, lab technicians, pediatricians, where some countries have doctor to patient ratios of 1:hundred thousands.

It would be easy to forget those women who have no prenatal care if I didn't have two beautiful brown eyes sparkling at me every day.  If those beautiful brown eyes didn't come with a story that is etched in my soul.  God forgive my selfishness. 

Update On Illegal Thoughts and What Million's Up To Lately

Update on yesterday's conundrum: I ended up bringing Million in with me... I just waited for some old man (80+ years) to come out of the post office and asked him to hold the door for us.  Million was happy because he got a sucker out of the deal from the post office employee.

This is Million's favorite song, currently.
I got so incredibly sick of Baby Beluga and The New Testament Song, and my sister posted it on my facebook wall because she thought I'd like it.

Million's favorite stanza is about the stars and the moon, and he can sing many of the words.

And it's just cute to hear him say "we bewong togebber."

This is the part of the post where I'm supposed to say I was providing my son with an intentional multisensory experience, which also taught him about natural wood processing and the importance of remaining close to the source of most products in our lives.

The truth is: I was going to use him for advertising purposes for Michael's crate business.  And he started tearing the basil leaves and rosemary leaves off of my herbs before I could finish setting up our little photo shoot.  

In other news, my son just squished an entire tub of Playdoh into his hair.  The joys of independent play.

Illegal Thoughts

Today, I'm braving a new world in my head.
Illegality.

The thing is... Michael has had two more orders for crates, and I need to get them shipped out this morning.
And I have a 2-year-old.

Last week when I was shipping Michael's orders, I did the whole carry a huge 25 pound box in one hand, hang on to my squirmy boy's hand with the other, and kick the post office door open.

Yes I did.

Chuck Norris style.
Only a pregnant Chuck Norris whose sense of balance and coordination is less than graceful.

Today, since I have more than one bulky box to carry, I'm toying with the idea of driving the van all of two blocks to the post office, leaving Million in his carseat, locked in the van, and taking the 3 minutes it takes to mail a package sans toddler as my morning breather.

But I've read it's illegal to leave your child in the car unattended.  (My parents must be some of the world's worst criminals, because I'm pretty sure they left four kids in the car unattended on many occasions.)

But my justification is that I will be able to see the car from the post office window.

Tell me, have any of you left kids unattended in your car?

Raise Your Hand If...

I remember the "raise your hand if you __________" game.  Did you ever play that?  When I was a little girl in first or second grade, we would play it all the time.  At the lunch table.  It was unfortunate to sit at the end of the lunch table, because if you didn't hear the completion of the "raise your hand if" message, you might be branded as weird.
Or the whole world laughed at you because you didn't think Justin Bleachout* was stinky.


I feel like playing it again, but I have no one else in the room to raise his or her hand.
Raise your hand if you're ready for fall...
(Heather raises hand, by herself.)

Hey, this kind of game is handy.  No one can make fun of me....I can hear the ends of all of the phrases.  I'm not branded as weird! Maybe I should play this more often! consider serious therapy.  As long as I don't get into the "[insert secretive phrase], pass it on!" game, I think I'm fine.

In any case, I am ready for fall.
So much so that I've got granny smith apples begging me to make them into apple crisp.
And a man and a boy who would like some "apple christmas" as Million calls it.

But today is not the day.  We've got too much on our plates.
And by too much, I mean going to a bagel shop, a construction garage sale, and a potluck.
Sounds rough, right?
Apple Christmas might have to wait until tomorrow.
Raise your hand if you want some.


*Name changed to protect identity.  

Wordless Friday: So Blessed

Technology is a whole lot more confusing when you're frustrated.
But this is a note to say that I, Heather, kitchen dweller, managed to replace an ink cartridge deep in the bowels of our heavy-duty newer printer today.  Without any husband, Google, or instruction manual assistance.
(Although I might have called my husband, who intentionally didn't answer his phone because he wants me to have quality learning experiences like these.)

Bravery and Don Knotts

I am not a brave person.
Adventuresome, yes.  Quirky, yes.  Crazy, occasionally.  Entrepreneurial and visionary, yes.
Brave, no.

I am the type of person who sits down on the edge of a zipline and eases myself off.
Michael does running leaps off the edge of zipline towers.
His bravery and my visionary get us into a lot of "fun" situations, I tell you.

I am a person whose daring stunt of last week consisted in talking to old lady strangers in public restrooms and in bulk food aisles at health stores.  
I'm scared of our basement.  Not in a "there might be dead bodies in our basement freezer" kind of way...more in a "it's a dirt basement, and there might be mice or spiders" kind of way.  This becomes very inconvenient when our power goes out and the water heater goes with it.  I'd rather simply not shower until Michael comes home than go down to the basement and flip one switch.

Million has been dealing with some new fears lately.  So have I.

This week has been and will be big week.
And big weeks sometimes make my stomach hurt and mind busy, when I think about all of the ramifications of the many decisions that are made.  But I have to take heart that I'm not a guest presenter at any large public outings.  That would be Michael's job for this week.

DIY Day: Homemade Stain Results

Here's the result of one of our homemade stains.  This one in particular is vinegar and steel wool left sitting together for a couple weeks.  It actually darkened quite a bit more after this photo was taken, but we brushed very liberally, so it might be like this if you brushed some and then quickly rubbed it off.

Here's my other inspiration of the evening.  A scrap pack from my favorite fabric store.  Guess who is going to have new throw pillows in her living room for a Christmas present?  And maybe some new hot pads if she can be motivated enough?  I'm going to go out of my sewing comfort zone and try to make some ruffles, because gosh darn it all when baby boy is born in November I just might need some ruffles around to remind me that girls do indeed exist.  

Dancing About $1.30

I did a little hop and a skip this morning.
One of my/our many little side gigs actually made some money.
Don't you go thinking I'm rich and snobby now.
I made $1.30 on Amazon, after I shipped a used book to someone.
(Don't spend it all in one place, right?)
I have so much  fun experiencing the many sides of business management that I never thought I'd be doing, given my educational background in music and ministry.
After I got back from the post office, I got an e-mail for one of our other side gigs asking about a potential custom order.
It was a perfect start to a week for our little entrepreneurial family.

Both Michael and I really value the learning experiences we've had while trying our hand at new things this year.  We're growing and being (sometimes uncomfortably) stretched.  Michael, in particular, is learning a whole new area of business and marketing.


The area that I struggle most with in our many businesses is packaging/labeling/making products look good.
Some people have that knack.
I don't.
Can I say that any more definitively?  I absolutely don't.
But I'm trying so very hard to learn


Through this all, we're trying to teach Million a lot of life lessons by example.

i.e.  "It's okay to fail."  and "Scary things can be fun."  and "You'll never know unless you try."

I don't know if he'll catch on to these lessons at this stage in life, but I hope we continue to be adventurous and self-driven enough to keep educating ourselves and keep trying new things all throughout our lives.

And I hope we maintain our sense of humor.
Because some of our mistakes and failures are downright humorous.
Especially a day later.   

24 hours' worth of memories

We started out this weekend at an exhibit about Native Americans in Minnesota and the many injustices they have faced and how their governing bodies operate now.

Admittedly, a little over the head of a 2-year-old, but he liked looking at the pictures.  

And as Million would say... "Ya' nebber know" what might spark some conversations with our little boy.

Then we had his first lake experience at a campground my parents were staying at.  We didn't really have high expectations considering he really doesn't enjoy swimming in little mini swimming pools all that much (although he is crazy about bath tubs and jacuzzis.)

But he loved it enough to want to go in a second time.  He really loved it when grandma brought him a cup to dump water on daddy's head.  And when daddy swam around like "baby beluga."

He ended the evening at a campfire singing his little heart out.
I am too blessed. 

A Present For Me? And Cold Food

Woke up this morning to find a little Ethiopian dress on my dining room table.

One of Michael's Ethiopian friends from work gave it to us.

How is that for encouragement?

Michael was asked to present at an Ethiopian culture festival next week along with two other adoptive parents.  I'm nervous, and I'm not even the one doing the presenting.  Something about the extremely large amount of people that will be interacting with Michael...  Apparently 500 to 600 is a low estimate.

There will be a famous Ethiopian musician and some dancers and a coffee ceremony.  And braiding demonstrations, which I will be eyeing up to improve my technique.

And of course this little man will be in attendance for an hour or so if he can stop acting two long enough to go.

I was done with this week already by Tuesday night.   Tuesday... the day of multiple public tantrums, two running away from mommy sessions, tossing an entire salad on the kitchen floor, and sticking a hand in a box fan at a public library.... among other things.

I had a really cute flexitarian meal made for Tuesday night, but naughtiness and quality parenting demanded that we end up eating our meal cold.  And Michael and I did eat the salad that I had saved from the floor, for your reference.

And it's hard to rave about cold food....so you only get the pictures of the cucumbers.  How's that for transparent blogging?

I should note that yesterday and today have gone much better than Monday and Tuesday.  Yesterday, when I wrote our announcement post, I was kind of just waiting for things to fall apart...

So this morning's surprise gift was more than just a dress.  It was an Ethiopian saying "Hey. I think you're doing an okay job raising your Ethiopian son.  I think you'll do a great job with a little girl too."

At least, that's how I like to interpret it.

Another Family Announcement (The One That's Been More Secretive)

I write this post with excitement(!!!) mingled with fear and trembling.

Excitement, because I get to announce that we're growing our family through adoption once again!

Fear and trembling, because the general adoptive online community is no longer a supportive place where you can get away from the accusing questions and statements about adoption and your motives and your choice of age request, gender request, health status, country of origin, etc. etc. etc.

We've begun the homestudy and dossier process to bring a little girl from Ethiopia into our family.  We don't anticipate bringing her home until well after our son is born.  

I will not be blogging as openly about this adoption, in order to protect my heart and our family.  I will not be posting information about the health status of our little girl or offering any justification for our choice other than that we feel the benefits of adopting again for our family and specifically for Million's sake (and our November boy's sake) well outweigh the risks of having our hearts broken with a potential shutdown of the country program.  We are well aware that the Ethiopia process is very fluid and may very well change in drastic ways or shut down completely before our adoption is complete.  It's a risk we are comfortable taking.  We do have "back-up" plans as far as adoption goes, and should that become necessary for country shut-down or ethical reasons, we will pursue those options.

Right now, we're altogether so pleased that God is allowing us the chance to even pursue a second adoption.   We're also excited to add a little girl into the "wild rumpus" of our daily lives, which will certainly be wilder and sillier when her other brother makes his entrance.  To be honest, I'm a tad overwhelmed with finishing up Million's postplacement paperwork, going to pregnancy classes, and starting another paperchase----but it's a beautiful chaos... and Michael is really taking initiative with paperwork and grant applications this time around, which I will absolutely not complain about.

That's it.  Now all of the  family announcements and secrets I've been holding in for months are splayed open, ready for the world to either chide or cheer us on.  Comment away.