Thursday.

I am feeling sore today. pulled belly muscles mostly. I feel like I may benefit from one of those belly support belts that you see in catalogs.... except I hate things touching my belly. LOL.

This morning Ardyn and I took baths, and then got dressed, and then put the mobile and the bumpers in the crib. I put away all the laundry and diapers that I folded last night. I made Ardyn's lunch and ate a bowl of cereal myself, and then started working on my "list" of things.... I cut out the pattern for the boppy cover, and got it ready.

For some reason, the pattern just was NOT lining up right. The backside was smaller than the front, and I couldn't figure out if the pattern maker had a REASON for that or if I should be altering them to match. I BADLY wanted to alter it, but I told myself that obviously the pattern maker had made so many before, and so had others online, and no one else had that issue, so the difference in size must be to account for the thickness of the Boppy. I really wanted to adjust it, but I didn't, even though I couldn't wrap my head around how in the world it was going to match up front to back and sew together. Anyway. I lay out the pattern, cut my fabric, and then Ardyn and I went to the sewing room to start. I put the zipper in really easily, and I have probably only done zippers twice before, but I ADORE my zipper foot and I get all excited at the chance to get it out of the accessory box. I was really pleased with the zipper results, I took my time and it looks better than some professional zippers I have seen.

When sewing the front to the back, just as I expected, it didn't match. I wanted to again cut some fabric off, but told myself NO and that I would match it up as I sewed, which seemed to be miraculously working... but I feared that at the end I would have excess fabric, and of course, I did. So I was faced with the decision to pucker once or twice and I decided to put two puckers in the fabric at the seams, to make up for the excess fabric. I was so disappointed, in my head declaring it ruined, but when I put it on the boppy, you can't even SEE the puckers and the thing looks so stinkin cute! It has a little bit more excess fabric than a commercial boppy cover, but it is really nice. I am excited at the fact that if I want to adjust the pattern and make another one, it will be just right, and will be even easier because all the hard work is done! I think that the design allows for a little extra fabric, which is okay. The pattern says that the grey shaded areas are just for showing where to overlap, and I wonder if I need to just cut them off altogether to make the pattern be correct. Could easily be a misunderstanding on my part that caused my issues. LOL. And could have caused the excess fabric. Maybe I will try another one with some cheap fabric I have, and take the grey lines out entirely and see if it fits smoothly. Problem is you have to put the zipper in first, and I would feel badly wasting a zipper on a cover that might not fit at all.

Ardyn's having a snack and then it's NAPTIME! I might take one too... I probably deserve one. It's rainy today as predicted. Tonight we are eating supper with Evan's dad, since yesterday was his birthday but he has been under the weather. Hope she takes a good nap and when she wakes up we can have a continued good mood all night. The 9pm bedtime seems to be helping also, and the fact that she is saying more words and sentences at an alarming rate and can let me know what she wants and needs....

Have a great day!

Complete! Spinning Toddler Crayon Holder

Complete! Spinning Toddler Crayon Holder, originally uploaded by Dazed81.

This little wooden organizer on a lazy susan was 30% off $3.99 at Hobby Lobby. I bought it and painted it for Ardyn, to hold her toddler crayons. It's fun!

Today we used it when decorating her Grandpa's birthday card, and the best part was that when we were finished, I was singing the cleanup song and she wanted to put the crayons away herself, and did a GREAT job putting them all away. So cool!

Cleaning and Nesting Frenzy...

I did so much today it disgusts me. I don't know where this sudden energy is coming from, except perhaps sheer panic that as of tomorrow I am 35 weeks pregnant and within the next 5 weeks could have a new baby.

This morning I was up and cleaned the dining room, living room, and kitchen, and vacuumed and steam mopped all three rooms and also the pantry. I Dusted. I scrubbed the chair that Ardyn's high chair is strapped to. (before my mom came over and scrubbed it again, not knowing that I did my best already.) I took a shower and got spiffed up for a doctor appointment I dried a load of Diapers. I made Ardyn's Breakfast and her lunch. I dressed her. I went to my doctor's appointment, then to the car wash- I cleaned out the van and got it washed and vacuumed. I drove home (it's an hour each way to the specialist, what a waste of 1/4 tank of gas.) and immediately brought in the infant carseat so that after Ardyn goes to bed I can readjust the straps for the baby and test it out in the new double stroller.

Before Evan left for band practice, I went to the attic and pulled out several totes and some misc. baby stuff. Evan brought down what I needed and I put up Easter decorations. THEN I put up St. Patrick's Decorations in Ardyn's room/playroom, just for safety's sake. I went through two totes of baby gear, pulled out what I needed, and put these things all in their "homes." (Bottles, nipples, breastmilk storage gear, baby bathtub, burp rags, infant pacifiers, bottle brush, nursery sanitizer, swing seat and mobile, crib mobile, and crib bumpers, and the boppy pillow.) Tomorrow if I can convince Evan, I will have him take up those 4 totes and then see about bringing down the swing and bouncy seat. Should be interesting.

Might do another load or two of laundry tonight, or maybe just concentrate on folding Ardyn's clean clothes and diapers that are in baskets and waiting for me. My butt muscles are twitching so maybe I will just sit down and watch TV while folding. And it is 9pm and I DO need to eat supper.



I feel like I have so much to do, and so little time. I haven't heard back from Singer, and the serger is making me so so sad. I have so much to accomplish with that damn thing. I've still not bought the risers for the co-sleeper, to make it match up to our higher bed. I need to go through my list and see what all else I can accomplish. I want to throw out the breastmilk in the freezer since it's too old to get used for this baby, and I do not want someone giving him old milk by mistake. His clothes and diapers are all put away and ready, and both our hospital bags are packed. Man it will be here soon!

I keep telling myself I am going to regret all this tomorrow, but so far the nesting bug and last minute endorphins must be keeping me going. Hope it lasts!

Have a great night and a happy Thursday. I can't want because I get to be home at least all day. It's supposed to rain, which is a sucky contrast to today's 60 degree weather when I had all the windows open all day. It got the germs out and made cleaning everything that much more pleasant!

Shabby Update

I am so far behind here that I am not even planning on attempting to catch up. In summary, we were all sick. Very very sick. At the same time. And it was terrible, and Ardyn is just now starting to get better. Stomach Flu, Strep Impetigo, a cold virus, and Four Canine Teeth cutting through at once. Her most recent episodes include mass hysteria and screaming tantrums if you look at her at the wrong time, which have since seemed to mostly iron themselves out with the help of the routine coming back, an earlier bedtime, and feeling better, as well as a late night trip to the ER to make sure that she wasn't dying of something that I couldn't place.



Which was kind-of a joke, because they didn't do much besides listen to her heart, check her temp, and look in her ears and throat. But at least I was slightly re-assured (mostly by the fact that she snapped out of her hysteria at the sight of new people/places/and crayons.) The on-call doc wasn't my favorite, but he was even LESS my favorite when he asked me what FORMULA she was on (as she's drinking out of a cup with a STRAW right in front of him.) I said "She's 18 months old, she doesn't drink formula!" and then he said "So... milk?" and I said "no, she's allergic to dairy (ON HER CHART- HELLO) and so she drinks rice milk." Then he looks at me like I am a moron from Mars and tells me that she needs to be on SOY. I tell him she can't tolerate SOY either and he tells me that she has diarrhea because she is on rice milk. I said "well, lots of children who can't have dairy or soy drink rice milk. AND she has been drinking it for almost 7 straight months and hasn't had any diarrhea yet, so why just this week does the rice milk cause it?" and he just looked at me.

Then he said "Well, she's not getting proper nutrition!" and I said "The rice milk is vitamin A and D Fortified just like regular milk. Her pediatrician approves." And again, looks at me. I hate doctors who treat their patients like random idiots, when we can quite often be educated and involved in our medical and health choices. I really wanted to scream to him that I am not an uneducated public-aid mom who just brought her kid in to the ER after-hours to avoid a Doctor Visit. Seriously. I guess that I just didn't feel reassured by his medical knowledge, and I really wished that there had been another Doc or two around, but I guess you get what you get. I told myself that I wasn't driving farther (in a snowstorm of course) to go to the ER that our pediatrician is associated with, but sometimes I wonder if that would have been a better idea. Anyway, she is okay.

A week of sickness. She lost a few pounds, I lost 6 pounds in 24 hours. It was great fun. We stocked up on pedialyte, saltines, 7-up, and popsicles.

Now that we are somewhat back on track, I have a filthy (and I do mean filthy) house to wade through. I am still washing pukey bedding from Saturday (after washing it from every day before that) and we have just jumped back into cloth diapers on Sunday (the sickness was too much, because we were changing diapers every 30 minutes and because I was too sick to move, let alone wash diapers.) Her high chair is so gross that I won't even feed her in it. It needs to go to the utility sink and be soaked and scrubbed. The kitchen is freaking me out (So I only eat cereal) and I think something might have died in the fridge. The dining room floor around the high chair is covered with misc dried food, and I have still got laundry to catch up on. Don't expect to see me entertaining anytime soon. To those whose calls I haven't returned, I'm sorry. But I didn't even have time to get my mom a birthday gift or card, and haven't done anything for Evan's Dad's birthday, or his grandma's. Things will fall into place eventually, but just don't expect anything miraculous from me until they do.

My goal at this time is to get things picked up by the end of the week, so that when Ardyn spends her day at school I can be steam mopping and disinfecting everything to kill the germs and the funk that has entered here.

On the good side of things, I have had two days to scrapbook recently, in which I declared that if I did not leave this house I might be declared insane. I finished scrapbooking all of the pages I had "planned" (meaning everything I had photos printed, sorted, and matched up to paper and layouts for) and tonight I ordered another round of photos to plan and sort. First Thanksgiving, First Christmas, First Easter, and Our Trip to the 2008 Green Expo in Chicago. Those are ALLOT of pictures. Most of those holidays will have to be at least 4 two-page layouts, because when you go to FOUR Christmas Celebrations, that's allot of photos, even when you DO narrow it down. And looking back, I realize she will only be that cute ONCE and therefore I need to get it done.

It's interesting to me that I can have photos from Flickr delivered to my door in two business days, for less than I can have them printed at the Wal-Mart one hour photo.... and it's much easier on me because my photos are already uploaded and categorized and tagged on Flickr, so I don't have to upload them AGAIN and resize or whatever. Flickr allows you to have photos delivered to Target, but I don't believe that my local target has a photo thing at all, and on top of that, they only allow you to have glossy prints, which I despise, so I don't ever go that route.

I'm having a ton more fun scrapbooking with things planned, and being able to take my pictures to the craft store to match my paper and embellishments to them. It's making things much smoother and the results are much neater. I have a bunch of pictures on Flickr of my recent layouts... the pictures are a bit fuzzy because I just snapped them at my mom's with my new RCA Cam (more on that later.) But you'll get the drift! I have lots of journaling left to do, but I wanted to do most of that at home where I can reference things for dates and important info that I want to add in the journaling.

We have upcoming Endocrinologist appointment for me, Dentist appointments for all 3 of us, an OB Appointment for me, and a 18 month checkup with shots for Ardyn. We get our taxes done this week and I have a hot date with my friend Angela this weekend, and I can NOT WAIT. It will be a fairly busy couple of weeks, but I look forward to it. I also hope that the weather shapes up and we can have at least one day a week where it is suitable to at least breathe in some fresh air on a walk or at the park. This feels like it has been the longest winter EVER. I don't know if it's the whole pregnant with a toddler thing or what, but even everyone else says it's been a long one. I see visions of spring, spending the lovely days in the front yard with the new baby while Ardyn plays happily in the grass while safely enclosed in her new fence. Ahhh. Paradise.

It's also been rather shocking to me that I am coming up on May 1st, which is the anniversary of becoming a Stay At Home Mom. I have no doubt that it is the BEST Decision I have ever made, and I will never regret it. Without being home, there are so many things that I would have missed, not to mention the fact that I have a new piece of mind and much more sanity. My health has only gotten better, I have lost weight, lowered my blood pressure, and overall just felt better mentally, and can still be here for my kids as much as necessary. We've been able to fingerpaint and make Valentine's and sew clothes and read books. I've started scrapbooking again, I get to spend more time with my family and my extended families, and more time on things like video-taping Ardyn and teaching her to count and other fun things.

Check out her newest video on my facebook profile, she's counting to 10, singing, dancing, and doing her animal sounds. She amazes me every day. While I love her daycare, and appreciate her going there once a week (even if she does bring the plague home EACH. AND. EVERY. WEEK.) I have already seen that there is so MUCH they can't and don't know about her. It took them almost three weeks to notice that she knows what a dog is, and that she can "recognize a dog" by it's photo. I was shocked. Considering she can recognize, name, and make the sound of every single animal I can think of.... but they only realized dog. And after several weeks. That just really put things into perspective for me. And when she got cupcakes AND pudding on the Friday before Valentine's day, and had a bleeding diaper rash for almost three days after that.... and then this past week they fed her Fettuccine Alfredo- Um, what about THAT doesn't scream DAIRY!!!? Whew. I am just so glad and so happy to be a stay at home mom.

Well, it's 12:15am, and I have had two cups of chamomille lemon tea. That should help knock me out. Last night I took two tylenol PM, and for the second time felt incredibly NOT right. As a matter of fact I was practically hallucinating and for some reason the bottoms of my feet kept itching. It was terrible. Then I discovered that my Tylenol PM is WAY Expired, as in more than 1 year, and therefore I have learned my lesson about taking THAT Crap until I get some fresh drugs.

Have a great week!

New Singer Serger is Unrepairable

Letter sent to Singer Company via email this evening:

A few weeks ago I called your Customer Support line regarding a Singer Serger. The Serger was purchased in Spring of 2008. By late summer, I was having problems with the serger skipping stitches, specifically the right needle was coming unthreaded, or the thread from the right needle was dropping out of the stitch chain. I was able to sew about 50% of the time without issues. By Fall of 2008, the issue was consistent. I searched online message boards and websites. Advice told me to change needles, oil the machine, and rethread. I did all of these, countless times. I rethreaded constantly. I was using good quality Maxilock Thread. The problem increased. In December of 2008 I was unable to stitch more than 1 inch without the serger skipping stitches and coming unthreaded on the right needle.

I contacted Serger support and was told that I had somehow traumatized the machine and that the machine was out of timing and just needed adjusting by a serviceperson. I was told the nearest Singer Authorized Serviceperson was in Chicago. This is over 2 hours from me. I was told that the serger had a 90 day warranty and therefore any work done would not be covered by the warranty anyway, and so I discussed options and decided to go to my local sewing machine repairman (who is 45 minutes away!)

This business (family owned and operated for years) has serviced my Singer Sewing Machine. I took the Serger to them and they called today to let me know that after over a week of having the machine, they had deemed it unrepairable and that no matter what they do to the Serger, it will not sew properly. They confirmed that the serger issue is not timing, but that the machine seems unable to keep tension correctly.

Now I am faced with a $200 Serger, still less than a year old, that does not operate at all, and is completely worthless. I have projects piling up and a new baby on the way, and am very concerned that I will not be able to finish those projects by the time the baby gets here at the end of March.

I contacted the JoAnn Store where I purchased the Serger and was told that I should contact Singer again because the machine has a warranty of 2 years on electronic parts, and if it Is unable to be repaired, it is likely that the machine has had an issue since it’s purchase (which I believe wholeheartedly) and that 2 hours is too far to travel for an authorized repair center. I am hoping that the Serger can be sent in and looked at to determine what the problem actually is, and if it can’t be repaired, I feel that the Serger should be replaced as it is still less than 1 year old.

I am contacting you to see what can be done about this Serger. I am very disappointed in the Serger thus-far, and am hoping that I will not be forced to purchase another one. The way this is handled will definitely have an impact on my future purchases, including whether or not I ever purchase another Singer product.

Please contact me at XXX-XXX-XXXX or by replying to this email. I appreciate your time.

Meagan Johnson

The missing Easter Basket.

Well, We are on the upswing of the plague, so stay tuned for more in the next couple of days. In the meantime, I will say that I am sad. I found the perfect "Boy" easterbasket that can be used year after year. It was on the back cover of Land of Nod, with no SKU numbers or anything, and when I checked their website, I couldn't find it. So I called their number and immediately they let me know that something happened and they don't "have" the basket and don't believe they are ever going to get any. I am so sad. She said the employees all wanted to know where to get the basket, and it turned out that they weren't able to get any. Of course I would find something cool like that and then it wouldn't be available. maybe later I will add a picture.

Just a bit of February

A pukey Toddler...

I apologize for being a bit behind. Last week was very busy. On Thursday we went to my mom's house so I could work in the scrapbook room. I made the teacher teacup Valentine's, and also got all the mouse valentine's finished for Ardyn's school party. I also picked out the layouts that I needed to get paper for, because Anya and I had planned a trip to Hobby Lobby on Friday because the girls were in school and the paper was 50% off.

We stayed for supper with my parents and got home later that night. Then I had to pack Ardyn's bag and get everything ready for a busy busy Friday. We dropped the girls off at school early, and sorted out the handing out of Valentine's. Ardyn dressed up all fancy for the occasion, and we took juice to school as our party contribution. Then we went to Hobby Lobby and spent LOTS of time going through paper. Ended up that stickers and adhesive were also 50% off, so I got paper for the layouts that I needed, and then a few sheets of stickers that would go with layouts I knew I had coming up. We saw my mom there. Then we came back home. That afternoon I had a prenatal massage, and by the time I got home and got everything unloaded and ate lunch, I was turning around to get the prenatal massage, which I really needed. I hadn't been sleeping well for days (okay, weeks) and was also sleeping upright because the heartburn meds stopped working again. I called the OB and they doubled my meds again. Now I am taking 300mg of Zantac twice a day... which seems to be working for now. I am finally sleeping well after that massage and an upped doseage of meds.

When I picked Ardyn up from school she was completely covered in markers, sticky stuff, and what looked like chocolate. The paperwork said she had pudding and cupcakes (DAIRY!) and sure enough that night her butt started cracking and bleeding something terrible. She she has been in disposables since Saturday morning, with coatings of Desitin or Vaseline to protect her bum.

Saturday night my sister watched Ardyn for a bit while Evan and I went out for a very nice dinner at the Cellar, where we got engaged in 2004. I had jumbo deep fried shrimp, BBQ Charcoal Ribs, salad, fries, and it was DELICIOUS. Evan had shrimp and lobster. We had a nice time.

Sunday I had all kinds of plans to clean at home, but as soon as I started, the contractions started, so I only got one room picked up, vacuumed, and mopped.... while lying down between each task, and eventually just had to call it quits and spent the majority of the day lying down. Ardyn was refusing food and still had diahrrhea (it has been more than two weeks now) and then Sunday night she finally ate chicken noodle soup, which she threw up all over me and the couch about 5 minutes later. Then in the night last night, she must have thrown up again at least once, because when we got her this morning she was crusted... in her hair, on her face, her whole bed, the animals, sheets (which I washed yesterday along with all her blankets) and the rug next to her bed. So I stripped her and gave her a serious soapy bath while Evan stripped and scrubbed her bed. It's 1:26pm and I have gotten her to eat about 1/3 of a snack cup of applesauce. That's about it. She seems to be playing well, only feels a little warm, is still sipping some water and milk, and has had a really explosive and stinky diaper. Poor Beebs. And so we all are lying low and taking care of her.

I am hoping to vacuum and mop a few more floors, but after yesterday's rounds of contractions, I might just have Evan do it for me.

Ardyn was so cute yesterday, she wanted to ride around in the new stroller, which she refuses to get OUT of. She loves it. Evan cruised her around the living room, dining room, and kitchen. She loves to have the canopy down over her head, and waved at me as she passed by the couch.

Well, I need to go and get laundry done.... I have clothes and bedding and towels, and it just needs to get done.

UPDATE: Now the ped's office believes she has Impetigo Strep in addition to whatever is going on stomach-wise. We are treating her with Neosporin. I have gotten about 5 ounces of Pedialyte, 1/3 container of applesauce, a cup of dry cheerios, and a few cracker nibbles into her belly today. I hope she feels better soon.... I just put her down for a nap. Poor Beebs.

Time for Bed Sleepyhead

I'm feeling pretty productive tonight, after my evening nap. But I am confining my productivity to one room. It's easier that way.

This morning the double stroller arrived. I was lucky to catch it on sale at Target for about $40 less than the previous retail, and got free shipping. Saved me at least $65... and then MIL agreed to go in halves with us, so that really brought it down. Now I just have to pay her back!

I can't believe that I have had a brand new stroller in the house for 12 hours now and I haven't opened it. I did bring it in from the porch this afternoon, but that's all the farther it got. I put Ardyn's Chicco Stroller for her Travel system together by myself when I was 9 months pregnant, but I haven't decided if I feel like tackling this one, or just how much assembly a double stroller should require.

We had a fairly productive day, despite the rainy gloomy weather. We both slept late, because it was dark out, which was really nice. Ardyn and I got up and dressed and had blueberry pancakes for breakfast. I bought a Krusteaz mix that was the ONLY pancake and waffle mix I found on the shelf that was dairy free. They were good, but not very moist. I think that next time instead of making with water as directions state, I will try with rice milk. Just sounds like it would taste better. I keep saying I am going to just make my own whole wheat mix (I have made it before and LOVED them) but I haven't actually DONE it yet.

We are finding our kitchen to be really annoying these days. Thank GOD for the dishwasher, but Evan commented the other day about our serious lack of counter space. There is almost no counter space in the kitchen. It's very limiting. Each child adds a new challenge. It was not too bad to fit Ardyn's things.... bottles, and then sippy cups, and now regular cups or straw cups.... then add in the different kinds of spoons and toddler forks, and melamine plates, and tiny bowls, and gummy vitamins, and juicy juice and cases of rice milk and dairy free snacks and space just keeps getting more premium. I have made it work... but when we add one more, there will be bringing back out a bottle warmer (babysitters and Daddy can't breastfeed) and bottles and nipples and pacifiers and small bibs again and then add in the nursery sanitizer, and the breast pump parts, and it just is going to be CRAZY. I will make it work. But it won't be pretty. I ran the dishwasher last night, but between the time I loaded it and tonight, I made pancakes, and browned 2 pounds of ground beef. I made 1 pound into BBQ. Then we made lunch. And so by the time I unloaded, it was time to reload again, and so now the dishwasher is running AGAIN.

I have a few things to wash by hand and then I am going to (hopefully) make something sweet. I have Key Lime Bars I keep wanting to make, and now Lisa gave me her Scotcharoo Recipe (and I have all the ingredients ready) and so I am telling myself I should make one of those. And NOW I have a chocolate snack cake recipe that Janice has passed on (THANK YOU!).... and I can't wait to try that too! But I also need to fold a load of diapers in the drier, wash the dirty diaper pail, make about 10 more Valentine Mice for Ardyn's Party on Friday, and pack up her bag for school. I don't HAVE to pack her bag tonight, but I want to do something tomorrow so it would be nice to just have that done. I don't know how realistic it is to wash things by hand, make dessert, make 10 more Valentines, fold dry diapers, wash dirty ones, and pack Ardyn's bag, all starting at 8pm. Oh, it can be done... but is that REALLY what I want to do? Ha.

Ardyn and I spent the afternoon in the basement working in the sewing room. Evan got me another plastic shelf (because he wanted mine!) and we put it together. I needed just a tad bit of shelving to put a few things on, things that had to leave the scrapbook room and just needed a home. Things like my stationary and sticker basket, my embroidery basket, my beading basket, my scrapbooking idea books, my family tree and heritage things, a few photo albums, and then a shelf to get Ardyn's toys in the sewing room up off the floor in case of water. Basically with all the thawing and raining, we decided that today would be a GOOD day to get that done, in case there is water in our future. At this point it looks fine, but you never can tell and we have learned from experience in this town that being proactive is important when it comes to water. So I got everything put up and away, and then I organized the kid table, which had been left a mess since we had 7 year old Hallie over the summer. Then Ardyn decided that she was a big girl and sat at her Little Tykes Desk for the first time and colored while I cleaned off the gift wrap table and organized everything in that area of the room. It was a very productive day.

We ate our late lunch and followed it up with a late nap.

In a couple of days, Marek's hospital bag should arrive. Ardyn has a personalized backpack on wheels that we have used ENDLESSLY. It is wonderful with cloth diapers, because the average diaper bag will never accommodate an overnight trip for that child. The bulk of diapers is just too much. So ever since the beginning of time, if we are going on a day-long trip, or she is going overnight, we pack her backpack. It is SO well made, it's sure to last for a long long time, and many trips to grandmas. I knew immediately that we would need one for Marek too, and because we will be taking cloth diapers to the hospital with us, I knew that I would want it as soon as possible.

I went through the stash and got his cloth diapers picked out for the trip, and have them in my suitcase until his bag arrives. I just got notification that it has shipped, so now I can get that packed with HIS things, and finally finish packing mine with MY things. I have two nursing gowns to wash and pack, and something for me to wear home. Everything else that I can pack ahead of time has been done. The problem is the coming home outfit for ME. With Ardyn, I didn't plan anything for either of us to wear home, and it wasn't a big deal, because no one welcomed us anyway (our choice.) But this time Marek has a cute outfit, and After looking at the pic of me in my outfit last time, I keep telling myself I MUST pay more attention to what I am wearing. But seriously, that's not easy. So I am still mulling that over.

You know you have a toddler when you clean the kitchen and find two combs and a pink mary jane. She is being incredibly self-sufficient tonight, playing on her own in her room. She wanders into the kitchen now and then to check on what I am doing, and I do the same wandering to check on her now and again.... and each time she comes to visit she brings a teacup or a bowl of some fabulous concoction that she is stirring and I must "taste." And then she leaves them on the floor. I am getting allot done in the kitchen, wiping over and under and around everything, but I will pay for it later when I see that every toy has been strewn about every room she can access. Yes, I will pay. But right before bed we will have our "cleanup" time, and sing that silly Barney song that for some reason is so simple it inspires cleaning in even the most unruly of toddlers. It's almost like brainwashing.

I have this new method of blogging. Maybe I should call it "momentus interruptus." I just leave the window open and go about my business at home. As I am doing dishes and cleaning, or changing diapers or whatever, I think of things that continue the post. Then I pop onto the computer and write a paragraph. Then while I am writing, I think of something I was going to do in the house, and I pop off the computer and go do something. It's a very productive cycle. It's interesting to me, because I seem to be the most productive everywhere when I do this. I am not sure if it is due to the mommy brain that seems to make me unable to remember anything longer than say 5 minutes, or if my brain has always worked more efficiently this way and it just took a year or so of constant interruptions to be able to figure that out. Maybe it's my was of Adapting. Like a fish with legs... as Darwin would point out. Of course, there are moments when I come back to the computer to find the wireless mouse missing.... and then spend the next 5 minutes tracking it down.... or when I finally think of what I want to write and the second I sit Ardyn appears at my side and tries to climb onto my lap "Up Mom. Up Mom." or shoves a book in my face (the same one that we have read 500 bazillion times today already) and I feel annoyed, but I tell myself that she won't always be this small and so I should be happy for these moments.

I am trying to convince myself that it's okay to buy more than one bib since I have finally found one that I like. I had tons of different cheap pocket bibs, and NONE of them made me happy. Eventually I just started washing them all in the washing machine, and saw which ones would last. Right now I am just using the same one bib all day, and that's great except that I just washed the same bib for the 3rd time today and the 500 thousandth time this year. Of course because it's a GOOD Bib it cost almost $4. And that makes me cranky. So now I am telling myself that I can get a bit of slack and own like 2-3 of them, right?

Well, I got all the Valentine Mice finished. 18 total. Now that leaves FOUR Teacher Teacups.... with glitter, which I will have to do tomorrow because my lightbox is at mom's and I drew out my pattern but I don't think I want to hand draw it four times and try to make them look identical. Tomorrow. My mom will have a heart attack if I do the glitter part at her house, but I do have glitter glue pens and I think I can use those without putting her over the edge. He he. Since there are only four, there shouldn't be much of an issue transporting them home in the van if they haven't dried yet... I can just put them in a cardboard flat or something.

Ardyn sat next to me while making mice and we did our animal sounds while she ate a sucker (Whoa, messy. First time since we tried at the Halloween party and I almost had an aneurysm over the amount of sticky drool) shaped like a heart. It went well. But once it got dropped on the floor, it was a goner. I distracted her while I got it to the garbage and she *almost* didn't notice. She has a good grasp on the stick, but has a habit of putting her free hand right over the sucker part and squeezing it in sticky delight. She did much better at not constantly drooling, but it was still messy. Poor kid. She is definitely getting a bath tomorrow morning, after a day at the park yesterday, and today in the basement and then eating pancakes with strawberry syrup, and soup, and then the sucker.... she is a sticky little thing. I have been wiping her as much as possible, but there are just crevices that the sticky won't come out of.

On a side note, how cool is this? Salma Hayek nurses her 16 month old daughter, and while on a UNICEF trip to Sierra Leone, she nursed a sick baby there because the mother was unable to produce milk. Holy crap. How many celebrities do you know that would do something so awesome, AND let it be taped? Yeah. I like her. GO HERE to see the article and video. I got goosebumps and tears in my eyes just watching her talk about the experience.

I assembled the stroller. It wasn't bad at all. I took pics too, but will take a few more tomorrow and upload, with the carseat attached and Ardyn in the back seat. Sweet!

It's Sunday now....

Well, it's 12:15am and I SHOULD go to bed. Soon. I know that right now all that will happen is me laying down, and getting kicked. Over. And Over. And then I will play solitaire until he falls asleep (baby) and I can't keep my eyeballs open. I have a habit of switching eyes.... I get tired so I close one and play with one open, and then switch, until I can't keep either one open. It's bizarre.

We had a great day. We slept till almost noon. YAY! Ardyn was awake at 7:30 and I thought I might DIE but she went back to sleep and alternated between sleeping and playing in her room while I alternated between dreams and reality in mine.

We ran for lunch and then Ardyn and I stopped by Ava's house and Ava and Ardyn played for a while and Anya and I talked. She finished with my glue gun and I got the super cute hair clips for Ardyn in exchange. they are just like the ones that I planned on making once, and remember when I ordered the metal alligator clips from eBay and they arrived and were not what I wanted, and then I ended up kinda giving up? Yeah. Those. The ones she made are super cute, and she's a perfectionist like me so they are perfect! Can't wait to try them on the little beast.

This afternoon we napped with the windows open, which was FABULOUSLY refreshing. Evan scooped off the melting sidewalk and pulled the signs out of the yard from the window company. He flipped the big swing upright, as it kept getting blown down in bad weather, and the canvas was torn and the frame bent. As soon as the ground is less sloppy, it's going to get junked.

Tonight we were at home, watched some things on Tivo, ate supper, and Ardyn alternately beat on me and cuddled with me on the couch until bedtime. I found a few new friends on facebook and uploaded pictures to both facebook and Flickr. I am STILL uploading to Flickr, because I had a bunch to load, and because the new Flickr Uploader has serious crashing issues, and only uploads about 10 pics before it crashes and you have to reopen it, and then sift through and remove the ones that were already uploaded so that you can start it again and continue where it left off.

While waiting for it all to upload, I have been sitting here, and noticed that I have just shy of 20,000 photos on Flickr right now. Whoa.

I am starting to get tired. That means this will be short for you! YAY!

Yay for Friday!

I love Fridays! I really do. I get so much done that I am able to relax much more on the weekends. Today I opened up windows in each room while cleaning. I picked up Ardyn's room, the bathroom, the living room and dining room, and vacuumed and mopped each room. I can't get enough of my steam mop. It's so awesome. I was able to do all of the above in less than 2 hours. Since it is nice out and I am on a roll, I am thinking that next is to let the dogs out to the kennel, or at least to the yard for a while, and clean the front porch and steam mop it. I haven't steam mopped it yet and it could certainly use it.

I have contacted Sealy about our mattress pad. When we bought our King Sized Mattress in 2007, I bought a Sealy Waterproof Mattress pad the same day. Most of you who have a new mattress know that any stain on the mattress will void your warranty. And when you have a kid, you are bound to have a stain. Well, we only was the mattress pad every 3-4 months... and I wash it alone, according to directions, and dry it according to directions. After about a year there was a tear in the underside vinyl, and I didn't notice it right away, but with each wash it got worse, and then soon there were big gaping tears all over. So it's supposedly (according to Sealy) under a three year warranty, and I saved my receipt when I purchased it from Sears. It was just under $50 and that was on SALE. The furniture store wanted to sell me the EXACT Same Sealy Pad for almost $90. Uh- No. So now Sealy has emailed me back and is asking if I bought the mattress pad WITH the mattress. Hmmmm.... sounds like they are going to try to prevent me from using my warranty.

I also have still been trying to contact provocraft Re: The Cricut Rebate Issue. Today I sent yet ANOTHER Email to their support department, and copied that email to the Rebate Department. I am so sick of trying to figure this out. Sometimes I feel that rebates really are just giant scams. Here is a copy of my email sent today:

This is my third email to you since January 19th. I have also been trying to reach you via telephone since January 19th, and am constantly told that you are experiencing high call volumes and that I need to call back later or send you an email. This is a vicious cycle that is very frustrating.

I did send a copy of my receipt with the rebate. Your directions were not clear as to whether or not you wanted the copy or the original. I am emailing to request that you allow me to mail in the original and still receive the rebate. I have seen that many scrapbookers in online communities are talking about this issue and I hope you will contact me soon to resolve it.

Ugh. Think they will ever get their stuff together and answer?

What else is new.... Can't think of much. I took a few pictures of the belly yesterday, I don't have makeup on and I don't match, but you can head on over to Flickr to see if you want. Yesterday I took the Serger to the repair shop, cross your fingers that resetting the timing will be simple and not a huge expense. I am a little worried, but I know that they are great with sewing machines and sergers, and I trust them completely, so now I just cross my fingers about the cost.

I also had an opportunity to take photos of the entire stash of goodmamas yesterday. It's a rare occasion that they are all clean, because we use them as our everyday diaper. I even had all the wetbags clean. Here's the whole stash:


And here are just the diapers. 24 total right now:


That would be enough to Cloth Diaper two toddlers for two days, but not sure if it will be quite enough to do a toddler and a breastfed baby for two days. Probably not, but I have prefolds and MEOS for backup and while the others are in the wash. I am feeling stash nirvana now, and feel "ready." Plus I do have to consider potty learning for Ardyn sooner than later, which will free up diapers!

The month of February is a nice one. When I finish this post, I will clean off the dining room table, take some heartburn medicine, and work on Valentine's. That should take a good chunk of the rest of my afternoon.

I hope everyone is well. All's well here, with the exception of the usual pregnancy discomforts... slow digestion, and feeling like I am not tall enough anymore, as he starts to squish my organs and crowd my ribs. Won't be long and he should be dropping down and relieving some of the pressure...

Introducing Dotty Owl

I'm a little cranky right now. I think I mentioned before that I had a lady who sold me an item on ebay. The auction listed the shipping price as being $4.00 - I paid the full item amount, and then the $4 for shipping. The item arrived $5.80 postage due. So I contacted the seller last Friday. Didn't hear back from her. Contacted her again yesterday. Didn't hear back from her. Contacted her today via email and sent her a copy of both the post office receipt and a photo of the package, showing the postage that I had to purchase. She finally emailed me back today and said that she will reimburse me for HALF of the $5.80 because the postage is the responsibility of the buyer. I am about 10 seconds from flipping out. I know that it isn't a ton of money, but it is the principal of the matter. Now I am faced with deciding if I want to argue with her and press for the full amount, or take the half amount and be done. Either way, without the full amount, I can't leave the seller positive feedback.

After hashing it out here, I sent the seller the following email: "The auction clearly stated the shipping cost was $4.00, which I paid via paypal on top of the winning bid amount. I am sorry if you underestimated your shipping costs, but clearly stating the shipping cost is the responsibility of the SELLER. The buyer can not possibly know that the seller will underestimate the shipping cost and then be held responsible for that amount. I paid what was asked of me.

If you had sent it in a priority flat rate box, the shipping would have been $4.95, but instead you chose to send it first class. I appreciate the offer for half of the shipping, because that is better than none, however if I don't receive the full $5.80 then I will have to leave negative feedback explaining the shipping issues. Thanks for getting back to me, please let me know what you decide."

Can you guess what will happen? I will keep you posted. I just hope I don't get retaliation feedback. That's the worst. It's illegal, and 99% of the time you can have eBay remove that, but still, it's a threat. Am I insane for thinking that the seller owes me the $5.80?

Well, today was a good day. But I didn't get done as much as I wanted to. Or should I say as much as other people wanted me to. I did get on the phone to Singer after trying three more times to get the Serger to work. They told me that I had "traumatized" the serger in some way and that the timing was off. They categorized "traumatizing" as breaking a needle, or jamming the machine, etc. Well, I probably did enough of that while learning to sew with the damn thing. Of course trauma caused by a person like myself is not covered under warranty. The warranty is only 90 days anyway. Argh. Imagine a 90 day warranty on a $200 item. Of course. That's the way everything is these days. Of course I have a 2 year electronic warranty. So they tell me the nearest "authorized repair" center is in Chicago. (yeah, Bite me. I'm driving 2 hours to have a serger looked at when it could cost half the cost of the machine itself to have the timing reset.) and I informed them that I have a local repair shop who repairs my regular machine. I do however hold my tongue and refrain from telling them that the local repair shop won't sell Singer anymore because they say all the new Singer machines are plastic and junk. Maybe I should have, Ha ha. So anyway, the Serger has been packed up and tomorrow I deliver it to the repairman and he will get me an estimate to see what the costs till be. Cross your fingers. So amidst that, I did get the sewing room setup again after the great thaw, and Ardyn played while I sorted things out.

I got my fabric for the boppy cover washed, and sorted out the pattern. I pre-washed my rabbit skin shirt that I had planned on using to make Ardyn's "Big sister" shirt. I am so pissed because I followed all the instructions to a perfect T. And the "Plaid" Iron on didn't work. That's about $8 down the tube, for the shirt that is now ruined and the iron on that didn't take. I ended up ironing the damn thing for like 5 minutes, because no matter how much I ironed, the letters wouldn't all transfer. It seriously made me angry because I could have easily made my own iron on on the computer and printed it on the paper that I ALREADY HAVE and it would have worked WAY better than that damn iron on. I will have to go give them some feedback. It's not even wearable it's so bad. Argh.

I laid out mamma pads that I need to finish. I sewed the last two holes in Dotty Owl. I made that owl "pillow" for Ardyn MONTHS ago. Like probably 7-8 months ago. And then I had the holes where I inserted the stuffing, that needed sewn shut by hand. I despise sewing shut holes by hand. Hence why I enjoy a serger. So I put it aside to finish later, and later didn't come until today. LOL. Ardyn does seem to love the owl, and giggled and "hooted" at her when she sat at the foot of the toddler bed to watch Ardyn fall asleep tonight. the coolest thing about Dotty was that she was made entirely of things that I already had in the sewing room.... with the exception of a $3 pillow insert. I thought it would be easier and firmer than stuffing her with batting. And it gave me a size to go by when I cut her out.


I got about 5 loads of laundry done, including diapers. Ardyn is on day 3 of unexplained diarhhea. Poor kid. It started on Monday morning with a screaming wakeup call. When I went back to get her she said "Mommy. Poopy! Owwwwie!" and I knew right away that she had somehow gotten something with dairy. Sure enough, her but was raw raw red and almost bleeding already. The dark tarry poo was the signature dairy side effect. I started immediately coating her with Desitin, which helps the most, and this means disposables also, which I detest, but I am not about to ruin good cloth diapers with a rash cream. Of course instead of just having a day or just one single instance of bad poo, it transitioned into unexpected diarhhea and hasn't gotten much better. I don't know if it's a result of the dairy or if it's something ELSE she picked up at daycare. I am letting it run it's course. She is still eating and drinking well (although on monday she wasn't feeling great and not eating much) and she doesn't seem to be dehydrated at all. But if this keeps up, she won't be able to spend her day at daycare this week because they won't take a kid with diarhhea. Ack. So she's been in a strong rotation of disposables and Desitin since Monday. I can't believe the cost of diapers. It's insane. I hate using them because all I see is money that could be well spent on cloth diapers that don't stink and won't clog up landfills. Oh well.

So tonight I got to wash and stain treat a load of diapers in which about every other one was poopy, and that was no fun. I have started stain treating with Vinegar and water that I keep in a spray bottle. This time I also added vinegar to the cold prewash cycle, just for good measure. It's interesting to me that I can spend a ton of $$ on Bac-Out, and use it full strength on the diapers with no results, but cheap-ass vinegar diluted 50% with water takes the stains right out, and leaves diapers fluffy like a fabric softener. The only downside, is that I HATE the smell of Vinegar. The smell of Vinegar, even diluted about halfway, is way worse than poopy diapers. And I know my poopy diapers. I will be glad when spring comes and I can use the sun to take out stains, and when I can open the window in the laundry room for some ventilation and get the vinegar smell out. I don't like mopping with vinegar either, because it smells terrible until it dries. But vinegar is a cheap, powerful, and green cleaner.... so I will deal with the smell.

Today we also had two of three balanced meals. I was going for three, but we are seriously running out of food. For breakfast I had Rice Chex with Skim Milk and a banana, and 15-grain wheat toast with strawberry jam. Ardyn had a banana and rice milk, and 15-grain toast with jam also. For lunch we had spaghetti and garlic bread, and I had slices of mozarella cheese and skim milk while Ardyn had apple slices and apple juice. For supper we ended up with Ramen Noodles for mom and Roasted Chicken Rice for Ardyn, because there wasn't much else. I did also get the dishwasher unloaded, reloaded, and ran tonight. Now if SOMEONE would just clean the fridge! Where is Kate when you need her?

Speaking of Ardyn, sounds like she just fell out of bed for the first time ever. She didn't cry. Just made a couple of peeps. Now I am wondering if she crawled back in or just kept sleeping on the floor? Wish I had the damn video monitor. Then I would know if I should be putting her back in bed or leaving her the hell alone. In the daytime I can see her through the keyhole, but at night, that's a no go.... Well, I opened the door to peek, and it looks like she just bonked her head on the wall. She's famous for that too. No wonder it was just a peep.

It's interesting to me because at daycare the other day, they said "Ardyn said Puppy and identified him in a picture!" and I wanted to be all excited but I said "yes, she knows all her animals, and their sounds, and she can say their names and identify them in pictures." Strange. It's actually interesting, because she now initiates the animal game herself. She will say an animal, and then the animal's sound, and then she will say "Ummmm..." which is her way of mimicing mommy- who can't remember enough animals at one time to keep her occupied. So I have a habit of saying "Ummmm..." when I am trying to think of the next animal. So now between each animal, she says "Ummmm...." and looks at me and waits. She knows all the basics, Dog, Cat, Cow, Goat, Sheep, Pig, Horse, Pony, Bird, Chicken, Duck, Frog, Monkey, Owl, Snake, Mouse.... and now she can identify and say Alligator, Zebra, Hippo, and Giraffe, although I don't know what sounds to tell her for all those animals!

Last week she surprised me by counting to 8. She surprised all of us. Liz was counting coasters with her (ardyn called them cookies) and When She handed them to Ardyn, Ardyn counted them up to 8, all by herself. My sister said "When did she learn to count to 8!?" and I said "Um, right now?" We always count to ten, but she had only been counting along with me till 3. Well, apparently the little monkey picked up on it but kept it a secret. Evan and I both thought it was pretty cool that she was 16 months olf and counting to 8. Good Girl!

Well, that's enough for now, it's almost 12:30 and today is giong to be busier than yesterday. To the two people I was supposed to call today, I apologize. I didn't remember to call one of you until I was laying down for a nap, and then it was too late, and the other I didn't remember till after 10pm, also too late.

Misc

Good Wednesday. It's cold. We were planning on swimming today, but that would mean that I would have to split the last $10 I have between standing out in the cold and pumping $.75 of gas into the van, and spending $5.25 to lug a bunch of crap to the pool so we could swim, and I just don't think that sounds like fun today. Evan promised he would put gas in the van for me this morning. That didn't happen. Just like he didn't unload the dishwasher last night, when he insisted that I leave it and he would do it. Good thing I already knew that he wouldn't do it, and rinsed the pots and pans from supper. Oh well.

We are getting ready for bathtime, so I will probably take a blog break and then come back and finish. The tub is filling. I am thinking that today at home might be best spent in the sewing room, which is also in close proximity to the laundry room, which means I can switch laundry easily and hopefully put the sewing room back together since we had the water from "the great thaw" and then get some sewing done. I desperately need to call Singer about the serger, but the conversation is already in my head, the part where no one can help me over the phone and I end up wanting to cry. So I keep putting it off. But without my serger I feel like a lost soul who has projects stacking up. Ugh. I will just use the sewing machine for most of them, no big deal, but cutting all the onesies off into t-shirts does not seem as fun without a serger. Double hemming is not my idea of a great time. But neither is screaming at an inanimate object like the serger, so I guess I will have to pretend. But seriously, what good IS the serger if I can't even USE it? Maybe today is the day.

At least I would like to make my boppy cover, and work on the postpartum pads.... but I really feel like I need the serger for the pads, and it's gonna drive me batty to try to figure out a way around serging them. With so many layers, Turning and topstitching doesn't seem like it will work well... but I guess I will have to try.

AB: After bath

I have gotten some good mail lately. I had listed a bunch of girly diapers on Diaperswappers, and I ended up making some cool trades. I had one mamma who traded me a set of 5 Wool Dryer balls. I had coveted some for a while, but they aren't cheap, and it's just one of those things that you don't put at the top of your "go out and buy" list. I was so tired of the Dryer Max plastic balls falling apart. I had 6 total and I was down to three. I have two sitting here that I kept to turn in on warranty, because they supposedly have one, but I can't find any contact information or warranty information for the company online. Ugh. the wool ones are supposed to last and last like forever, so I wanted to try them. Plus they are all natural and not full of toxic plastics, so I figure why not? Well, they arrived about two days ago and I started using them and WOW do they make a difference. I have 5 wool balls and 2 Dryer max balls going in each load now, and my drying time has been cut almost in half. We were having issues with our dryer not keeping up, and wondered if the heating element was going bad, but now I am able to dry a load of jeans in one dryer cycle, when it was taking at least TWO cycles before. So I am saving time AND money. And Energy. Yay! I like them so much I am thinking of having her make me some more. They are louder than dryer max balls, but I kinda like it because then I know when the dryer is running or if it's done. I can't hear the buzzer on the dryer from upstairs, so we just turn it off. Plus I have found that it reminds me to continue doing laundry because every once in a while I will hear the dryer balls bouncing around in there and be like "oh yeah, I need to go switch laundry....." instead of forgetting.


Another mamma made me a custom pair of wool footed longies for the baby. I sent her a onesie and asked her to cut the bottom off and use the fabric for the top of the footies. The onesie was part of a package of 5 that matched, so now the woolies match 5 different shirts. Yay! They turned out super cute.


I also recently got a pair of Woolybottoms footies, that were a collab with Goodmama, and they used the Goodmama Jolly Roger fabric for the tops of the footies. They are a heavier weight and SUPER SUPER Stinkin cute.


And of course, Goodmama has been having a buy 2 get 1 free Fitted Diaper sale. We use goodmamas as our primary daytime diaper (they are the best, hands down), and as soon as Marek is a few months old, he will be wearing them too. So I have been trying to stock up so that I have enough for them to both wear Goodmamas all day long, and I think I am finally close to having enough. I think I have something like 24 Goodmamas now. For the longest time, I was trying to avoid the buy 2 Get 1 sale, because I had no cash, but after selling some diapers and things, I was able to buy 4 get 2 free, which added 6 new Goodmamas to my stash. Yay! I added Paint with Water, Yellow Iron, Groovy, Beach Towel, Blast Off, and Prism. (you can see pics of those by clicking on the link above.) So by buying 4, I got $70 in free diapers. Unfortunately the Groovy DIaper arrived with snaps that weren't functioning, but I am in the process of sending it back and having them repair it. I also have tons of wetbags, and so far theirs are my favorite wetbag. the PUL is thick and the prints are adorable. I figured that in addition to having at least two medium wetbags to go out and about with (one for each kid) I would also need to always have one clean for Ardyn on school day, and also one for our bedroom to keep near the co-sleeper for overnight diaper changes. I love that their medium wetbags have a nice and sturdy hanging loop. I recently got Merryville and Songbirds.... And I love them. The goodmama buy 2 get 1 sale ends Feb 7th at Midnight. I am dying to get just THREE MORE but I am waiting to see if I have $$ and if she stocks more diapers because I don't need or want any of the ones she has now in stock. She has lots of cute girly ones, but I am trying for more gender neutral diapers. Although I do want Hiding Giraffes... If I had just three more, I would be sure that I would have enough for both kids for two days. We will see. I just feel like it's smart to take advantage of this sale as she has NEVER done a sale in the past and I can't imagine when and if there will ever be one again.

Enough diaper talk.

I have rearranged and cleaned most of our bedroom, to make room for overnight diaper changing supplies and also the cosleeper. Last Night Ardyn slept in her Toddler Bed for the first time overnight. I just decided it was a good night to try, and she slept all night, clear till 9:45 this morning, without a single peep or issue. I heard her wake up at about 8:30 and put herself back to sleep. It is a great feeling to have her transitioning completely. Soon Evan will be able to move the crib mattress up and I can put the bumpers and mobile on. Good Deal. She loves her big girl room, and so starting with naptime, it was really a fairly easy transition.

This week we need to finish our Valentine's, both for family and for school. I am still waiting for her Valentine Outfit and shoes to arrive from eBay, I guess today would be a good day to check our tracking info and see if they are close.

I bought a used easter dress on ebay, and it arrived ADORABLE but was $5.08 postage due. I have been trying to contact the seller for 6 days now, and haven't head back, and I am extremely frustrated and worried that she is ignoring me.

Well, if I don't get off here I won't ever get sewing done. So bye bye