Sewing is a challenge....

Sewing is a challenge but I can do some. I'm even figuring out how to get the serging nice on things I'm working on. I can't sit and sew for several hours but I can do it for about an hour at a time. Sewing with your left foot/non-dominant foot is definitely not easy but it's sure nice to be able to work a bit.

I forgot to take picture of the things I made for Keia but they came out pretty nice and I am pretty happy to hear that the idea of cloth isn't foreign to them. Her fiance was even looking at diaper services to try after the baby comes. I say...go for it! Even doing it part-time with a service is cheaper and healthier than full time in sposies.

The new quarter starts on Monday. (We're all on spring break this week.) I'm taking 3 classes this term, all at night. I'm going to miss my day class friends but only driving to Indy 3 evenings a week will be so nice. It will also give me a better chance to study, spend time with Nikolas and sew as I feel up to it. I know there is more homework in night classes but I think it will all balance out over the quarter. Besides this will be easier if I do end up having surgery on this stupid foot injury. (It's more painful than it should be & it's lookin' like I'm going to.)

Time to take a well deserved nap. :)  Have a great weekend everyone!

This just might work...

Yesterday I decided to use the computerized machine to sew for a friend. It's super slow going but I can do it since I don't need to use my foot. I can barely reach the ironing board so I need to get more creative to use the iron but at least I can start to do a bit of sewing for us & my shop.

I've got finals this week. Review in Kinesiology tomorrow morning, Spanish in the afternoon. The Spanish final is on Tuesday and Kines is on Thurs. They allow 3 hours for each. After that.....SPRING BREAK!!!! YAY!!! I really need a break too, lol! I think I need to rearrange 1 of my classes for next quarter though. If they do end up doing surgery I don't know if I can keep up with all 3 classes. Still debating that though. These classes aren't too bad and I should be able to prearrange any work so there isn't much to make up. I don't know. I'll think about it some more before I decide anything.

Breakfast is ready. My wonderful hubby is doing everything now so I can stay off this foot. He has not had a meltdown yet so I guess that's a good sign, lol. Taking full time care of Boo & me & the house & most of what Gracie needs is a 2 person job but he's doing it with no complaints. :)

Happy Sunday everyone! Enjoy what's left of the weekend.

MRI for my stupid foot

Well Wednesday is now MRI day. The doctor isn't very happy with the way this foot is healing so he wants to MRI it before giving an OK for physical therapy. If the MRI is good then we start PT; if not then we look at surgery.

Well I've got entirely too much to do to have surgery so I've made up my mind that it's going to look beautiful and we'll start PT soon. I'm cutting things to sew for the shop and for my family. I'm also doing lots of studying since finals are coming up. YAY for Spring Break!! LOL!

I'll get answers on Thursday afternoon so I guess I'll just have to keep the crutches handy and wait...patience is not my strong point either. ;)

Chaos!!

August 2010...the kids started school, I started a new job, 4 relatively large custom orders were placed in a rather short period of time, both kids got very sick (102.5 fevers for 2+ days-still have them), new job just isn't working out so resignation tendered (Sun is my last day if I'm not too sick to go), I enrolled in college again, I'm still working on custom orders, and to top it all off.....I got the bug the kids brought home. Ahhh the chaos of August. Here's hoping September will be much more boring, LOL!

Diaper Pictures

I promised earlier that I'd post a picture or 2 of the new diapers...so here they are!

Later Gator cotton knit outer-super popular print


Cotton velour inner-gives a dry feeling & absorbency


I love the way this came out even though I rarely serge diapers. I usually prefer a turned & topstitched look but this was mainly for fit/sizing so serging was faster.

I am also loving how much stretch the knits give. For some reason I've never made a fully knit fabric diaper. I'm not sure why but I'm so glad I did. This will fit him for ages! There is so much stretch and flexibility with the plus they wash & dry so quickly since they are pocket dipes. We're using a wool cover and these are bullet-proof-NO LEAKS!! His disposables (ewww!) are now causing rashes and still leak even though they are a "quality" brand and made for kids his size. We're going back to cloth full time as soon as I get more made. No more paper undies! After all we don't wear them, why should our kids?

I finally got to....

Sew....yep, uninterrupted sewing. Almost 3 whole hours of it! I know it sounds cheesy but it was nice to shut the door and just sew. I made a modified pattern and 2 tester diapers for Boo. They came out really cute so I'll take some pictures and post them tomorrow.

I finished them and came down just in time to watch the Super Bowl. Our Colts didn't come thru. :(

I'm not a sports nut though so I'm happy for the Saints. It was their first trip so it was a good thing. Still, it would have been seriously cool to win again. :D

I really am going to sew...

Well, I decided to reopen the Etsy shop to try to bring in a bit of extra cash. Then, I found StalkShop and decided to open one there as well. It's new and still really small but it has huge potential so I'm going for it.
Now comes the change of plans....a family issue has reoccurred. My MIL has come to stay with us for a while. She will be moving in with my SIL but since SIL is in the process of a state to state move MIL will be with us for a while. SIL is expecting so she has to get moved, settled and ready for her son to arrive before MIL can move in with her. What a mess!

I don't mind a bit that she's staying here...she seems much more relaxed and I know DH feels better about her care. She pretty much does for herself but her communication is still difficult. Still she's already doing better. She wasn't overly thrilled about coming but realized it was for the best. I don't want her to feel like a burden...she's not. I feel better being able to see how she's doing since I tend to be the one dealing with her meds and such.

I think the biggest issue she has about being here is that she feel like she's in the way. I know it bothered her when we rearranged the house and gave her our bedroom. We just moved our stuff upstairs into the sewing room and I crammed it all in the closet for now. :)

I'm noticing a lot about her abilities and issues. She's not using her right arm at all and the hip is a bit achy. Still, her "non-cooperative" right side doesn't slow her down that much. :) We've tweaked her daily meds and she seems to be feeling better. I'm not sure how much of that is the med changes and how much is just getting out of the situation she was in. Either way she's doing better now.

It's nice for her to get to spend more time with DH, the kids & me. She hasn't been able to for quite a while now. Her being here also lets me be sure that she's not over or under medicated and that she's eating better.

Anyway, that's slowing down the sewing I was going to do. I figure I'm going to sew some to de-stress then I'll go back to cleaning and rearranging and de-cluttering this teeny tiny house. Life handed me a bag of lemons and I'm determined to make some sweet lemonade one way or another.

A new year and a new endeavor...

It's a new year and I need a new "something". I've decided to start sewing again and I've opened a new shop. :) Suzanne's Special Kids at StalkShop.com http://suzannesspecialkids.stalkshop.com
I plan to start stocking it later this week. I'll be doing cloth diapers, wipes and g-tube pads in toddler thru adult sizes. Infant diapers will be custom orders in the Etsy shop for now. 2 shops and a lot of resumes out should hopefully bring in some income for us. Keep your fingers crossed and prayers coming.
Thanks and have a wonderful day!

Feeling better...

Our (Boo's) surgery was a success! Boo's feeling better. He's still not 100% but definitely better. He's actually going to therapy tomorrow-PT, OT and speech. We're working on getting him a new stander and a therapy ball. His PT and I decided to give him the winter off from them and start back after spring break. Hopefully since he's had this shunt replaced and will be seeing the ENT, he will start making progress again.
School starts on the 12th and I will be sending Boo for a few hours before we have to go to the doctor. We enrolled him in all day kindergarten but that's really a trial. If he gets too tired then he'll switch to 1/2 day. Either way he'll stay in Angie's class for the next 6 years and that makes me much more at ease. She's a wonderful teacher and perfect for the lifeskills kids (and she's fine with cloth diapers-used 'em on her kids!).
Gracie's nerves are getting to her...a new school year will do that. She got a small new wardrobe to get started and is excited. Oh, and her grade school counselor has moved to the middle school so now she's got someone she trusts (who knows about her family history) that she can talk to if she's having issues during the school day. She also has a new schedule...they put her in Biology last week. Hmmmmm....Mr. D "didn't think she was smart enough" then Ms. M & the counselors changed the schedule and decided "yes she is". Ummm an IQ of 137+ and a college reading & comprehension level should be ok for biology & algebra. :P
Time to get back to sewing Boo's school wardrobe...nothing from the stores fits well any more.

And now we wait...

Well the testing, at least this portion, is finished. Now we get to wait for a few days or weeks (depending on the doctor) to get the results. Boo's feeling ok I think. I have noticed a few more oddities but, again, nothing that screams "shunt" or otherwise. Now I'm adding yogurt to his diet because of extremely loose stools. With all the meds he's on he should be constipated...I just don't know. You know that "mom sense" kicks in and you know something is wrong but can't figure out what it is...well that's me right now. I've done the Medical Assistant job and gone thru all the symptoms...nothing relates. I don't feel too bad though 'cause the Doc's don't know either. Hopefully one of the 2 tests we did Monday & Tuesday will give us answers. If not we keep testing but that could mean a stay in the hospital and I'd really like to avoid that. I'm going to sew up some "hospital friendly" clothes & pj's today and tomorrow just in case. Time to get busy...

Hmmmmm...

That's been the general consensus between me and several of Boo's doctors right now. Something neurologic is going on but none of the symptoms point to any one (or two) things. Actually none of them fit ANYTHING. He's got strange sleep patterns, odd skin color-sometimes but never consistant with any certain position or angle, refuses to do any oral eating but always has either his foot or toes in his mouth if he can get to them. His muscles are super tight and he's contracting a lot. Tons of other minor things too but nothing that says any particular issue. This little guy never fails to keep me on my toes.
I've decided since we have to have so many tests done (sleep study, CT scan, etc) I'm closing the shop until August. I just can't spend the time I need to on anything else right now. I'm trying to keep all these doctors appointments, therapy sessions, tests, etc...there's just not enough of me left to work on things for the shop. Besides I really need to take a break and work on things for my family when I get a few minutes. It's pretty sad when I make diapers and my son only has 6 that fit. I'm just taking some time off for my family and our issues. Maybe then I can relax and have a more productive life and shop this fall.

School's OUT!!!

Today is the last day of school for the kids. Gracie was up at 6:15 am by herself....why can't she do that everyday? She was ready to leave 10 minutes early...she needs to "get there early enough to get a yearbook". We didn't get the order in on time in the fall so now she has to hope she gets one. Last year she missed it.
She found out that she made choir for next year but there's a catch. If the class is full then she has to try out again in the fall. You'd think they'd have a waiting list but I guess not. The director was going to ask the schedulers to see if there is room so she'll know before school gets out but they haven't said yet.
Boo has no idea it's the last day-though I did tell him. I'm sure he doesn't really understand that he's leaving Miss Sarah's class and moving into kindergarten in the fall. That means most of his preschool classmates will go into regular classrooms and he's going into lifeskills. I do know that there are many of the kids who will be in & out of the class throughout the day for different subjects so he will still see them. He will also still go with them to the "specials" classes (art, music, gym, library).
Summer is looking long already though I am looking forward to the break. Boo will have therapy on alternate Monday's @ St. V's and 6 sessions for school throughout the summer. We are continuing respite too so I have some time that I don't hear "we have a diaper emergency-come change him" or "Boo needs his medicines" or "time to feed Boo-are you going to make him wait?" OK, enough boys and girls....there is a clear schedule on the fridge so everyone knows when he needs to eat, when to get his meds, and the minimum times to check his undies for a change. I love my family but I'm not the only one who can care for this child; not to mention I shouldn't be the only one since his pappa is still laid off and sissy is more than able to change a wet bum. Now if I can just get them to understand that respite is "complete care for Boo" so they get a break too. Not that they really want anyone to come in but they don't want to do it either. Hmmmmm, I'm still not "SuperMom" even though I try.
I agreed to cut respite to 1 day a week from 10-3 for June. DH is due to return to work in July (I hope!!!) so I may go back to 2 days a week then. I plan to use 1 day to spend completely with Gracie and 1 day to sew. Cleaning can be done on the other days. :-p
My shop is nearly empty so I reminded/told everyone that if the door to my sewing room is shut and I'm in it then I'm "at work" and to LEAVE ME ALONE!
Money is tight and I can't get anything done and posted to help supplement if I can't get the time.
OK, enough whining. DH wants to go for a bike ride and I need the exercise so we're going while both kids are at school. We've got about 45 minutes before Boo gets home so I've got to get my bum out of this chair.
Have a great week!

Friday Update

It's been a generally quiet week.....YEA!!!!
Sat-sewed a new diaper for Boo. Yep, only 1-my "mom skills" were in high demand EVERY time I went up to the sewing room.
Sun-Mother's Day-I got a Wii Fit (yes, I've been asking for one so I will get more motivated to exercise). Gracie made me breakfast in bed and it was a very nice day. :-)
Mon-nothin' new...Boo did meet a new OT at St. V's today and all his therapists agreed that he needs a 1:1 or no more than 1:2 classroom aide in the fall...now if we can just get the documentation then make the school comply....not going to worry about that until closer to August.
Tues-Boo went to the park with the respite nurse and had a good time; Gracie still feels crummy but isn't worse so I call that a plus
Wed-a nice quiet day
Thurs-Boo went for another walk with the respite nurse. Josh took him next door to the Fairgrounds. I didn't realize he was going to be gone so long or out in the direct sun so much. Boo got a pretty nasty sunburn on his face.
Friday-Gracie is spending the night with my mom & cooking from her NintendoDS Cooking game. She's making stuffed tomatoes and pavlova (fruit, whipped cream & meringue) for dessert. I got more things to make a new blend for Boo to try & some of his favorite baby foods to eat orally.

Maybe I'll remember to update like this most weeks...it's a nice way to summerize the week.
Have a great weekend everyone!

"Facebook Fridays"

OK on MommyBee's blog Jenni's talking about her "Facebook Friday" updates. Well I rarely get on my Facebook page so there are never updates for that so I think I'll continue to try do my updates here. Like I remember to do them anyway...but I'm gonna try.
Here's a recap of our week...
Sat/Sun-Gracie is sick (cough, runny nose, etc) the walk-in Doc took her off the Zyrtec to give her a different kind of allergy med (D-Allergy) because it *might* make her cough better. No such luck! I doubt we sleep much tonight here.
Mon-I got a new monkey pul diaper done for Boo. This one is a frankenstein pattern I've created because nothing seems to fit his super skinny booty. I used touchtape fasteners for this one. I 'm going to do a snap one later this week.
Tues-nothin' new today
Wed-Gracie is not anybetter and calling from school to tell me how sick she is. I'm going to have to call the doc tomorrow since her doc is off on Wednesdays.
Thurs-Called Dr. P. She wants Gracie in first thing tomorrow morning to be tested for flu since they didn't do that (like required right now!) last Friday when I took her in. Glad we don't have copays anymore. They forget these visits cost money sometimes. She's to start doing the inhaler 3x a day again. I did finish the snap version of Boo's monkey diapers today. It came out nice. :)
Fri-Gracie's flu test came back negative but she's to continue the inhaler and add an antibiotic. If she's not much better in a few days we also get to add prednisone.
Sat-Gracie is getting better and Boo is now getting sick too.
Sun-Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there!

Sick kids (again) but it's getting better...slowly

Ah well, here we go again...."Gracie" is still sick. She sounds horrible-cruddy cough and runny nose but no real fevers. I took her to the doctor last Friday (had to get thru ISTEP first 'cause the school would FREAK if she missed any time even if she was dying!) . The walk-in doc we got is really nice but decided to take her off the Zyrtec and use D-Allergy. Ummm, why? Anyway she didn't get any better and I called to leave a message for Dr. P. (her doc). Well long story short, Dr. P wanted to see her the next morning because she wasn't tested for influenza or anything else when she should have been.

She was flu tested (negative) then put on antibiotics and her inhaler 3x day for the next 10 days plus OTC cough meds as needed. She's already feeling a bit better and not nearly as cranky. (YEA!!!)

Now it seems that Boo may be getting sick too. He's started coughing and feeling warm but no real fever and boy is that child CRANKY!

My sewing time has been minimal to say the least but I did get 2 diapers done for him over the last few days. I've had to "frankenstein" them. He's just too skinny for the KCKOne large child. I've tried to narrow it and make it work but no luck. I just decided to take my youth pattern and mix in all the parts of the diapers he has to make one that fits and will grow with him for a while. I like the 2 I've finished. I did one with touchtape and the other with snaps. I do think I'll narrow the wings on them and allow enough room for 1 snap instead of 2. I also think I"ll have to do the front loop differently for the ones for school since I don't like snap down rises and they (school staff) need touchtape on the ones for school.




On a better note, we finished the summer IEP for Boo and it's pretty good. His kindergarten teacher loves the idea of cloth diapers and used them on her kids so she's great with more frequent changes. She's also trying to get another aide in the room so there are 3 adults since there will be a few kids in there that are very physically dependant. I still worry that he won't get the attention he needs but Angie is a great teacher and will make sure I'm keep current on everything. I want him to have an aide that is no more than 1:3 but so far that's not going to happen. I know because of his health issues and his needs I can push it and press for a 1:1 aide (least restrictive environment-Article 7 and medical necessity) but I'm going to wait and see how many kids there are and how many aides we end up with before I do that. I think the extra funds a nurse would cost could be better spent educating these kids. Time to "hurry up and wait".

Oh and Boo got a new haircut-just like the big kids. I'm still not sure I like it but everyone agrees he looks so much more grown up!

A new diaper for our hospital times

One of the fabric coops I belong to is running a group buy on a pattern called "Daddy Flats". What a great design! They are perfect for the hospital. Flats that fold easily and snap so the nurses don't have to use pins. Yep, I've talked with the designer and I'm getting a copy for me. They're made with 2 layers of fabric and take no time at all and minimal sewing skills. You could even pin these if you don't have a snap press for the snaps. Curious? Go to www.daddyflats.com and look at her awesome design. I just wish I'd have thought of this. ;)

Boo's new pj's

OK, Nikolas is growing like a weed and I decided I need to get him some lighter weight pj's done before the fabric I've got isn't enough and I can't get anymore. I traced and resized one of the one piece polar fleece outfits he got for Christmas. I've never done ones like this before. I'll definitely make a few changes for the next ones but all in all I'm pretty proud of how this came out. I even made matching g-tube pads. :)
I need to take pictures of Mikayla's Tink gown I made her for Christmas. It came out really nice too. I LOVE flannel! It's warm in the winter and cozy in the summer (Jim likes the arctic blast from the air conditioner so it's a bit chilly at night).

Hmmm, I thing we really need to fix that door to the sewing room too. It's lookin' really sad.

Night all-it's late and Boo needs these pj's for bed.

A change maybe?

Well, life stinks right now, why? Because I've got a long time ago (over 15mths ago) customer who wants stuff removed from my Etsy shop. Problem is since Etsy is an auction site only the Admins can do that. They (so far) don't think is needs to be done.
So far I've gone through all the anger, irritation, fear, etc and my solution is that I'll open another shop and close this one. I'll lose all the 100% positive feedback I've accrued but I can copy & paste it in another section for those who want to see it.
I suppose this is as good a time as any since I'm looking at making this a part-time job instead of just a hobby. A new name is also a good idea. I still like something to do with "special needs" since that is my focus. I'd also like something that starts closer to the beginning of the alphabet since "S" put me at the end of many searches. Oh and it has to work for the blog too. Good grief-this is crazy. On the positive side-a fresh start is not a bad thing. Well, it's late and I'm going to bed. Goodnight all.

SOPO for Nikolas!

I finally got a few minutes to sew for my son! YEA!!! I made him one of the new KCK One SOPO's in a size 3. SOPO stands for "snap on pull off". It's basically like a pull up in cloth. I used a donated green pul and a cute dinosaur flannel fabric that I had. I did put the welt pocket in the back. I think this one ran a bit big but we all know how fast kids grow and my little guy is in a growth spurt as we speak. I really like the way these go together and the fit is pretty nice too. I added the hidden center soaker but only did 1 strip of ZORB and 2 layers of hemp fleece. That's only minimal coverage and not enough for a child like him which is one of the reason I put the pocket in the back. I want something that looks more like real undies for school and I can add an insert to get the coverage we need. Plus when he outgrows these I can donate them and another mama will get to decide how much she wants in case her little one is potty training. Yes, I still call it potty TRAINING-"potty learning" is silly if you ask me. I'm only for the "PC" stuff if it's reasonable and makes sense. Too many people are getting carried away with the silly stuff. Besides if you read the Bible it tells us to train up our children....it's a form of teaching. Getting off the soapbox now... ;D

Here are a few pictures of the final product. The first picture is the front, then the back (I added a KCK label but didn't need too) and the third is the inside.

I think it came out pretty nice and I'm planning to do several more when I finish the custom orders I've got waiting on me.

Nikolas & Mikayla are both sick so between them and the customs I'm just waiting for a few free minutes for "me" time. I'm glad sewing is relaxing for me...uh oh, breathing treatment time again....I'll post more both blogs later. Bye!