anyone there?
1:59 PM
Hello if anyone is still out there.
A lot has happened in our family the last few weeks and so the blog died but I'm going to try to revive it.
We sold our house we've lived in the last three years:
Which meant we had to move:
But my husband still had a month left with his program so the kids and I moved to the new rental and he stayed behind.
Luckily we moved to his hometown where a lot of his family is so I had some help to unpack and move in.
Then we had a family reunion and since I've decided a ratio of 1 adult: 3 kids is a bad idea for camping.
Trying to carry two screaming kids out of a tent to jump in your car before you wake everyone else, half asleep and blind without your glasses you just crushed isn't fun.
(the mound in the grass is Ellie where she just dropped and fell asleep)
Izzie is almost 6 months old and sleeping through the night which is liberating!
Then last Thursday my husband graduated residency as a physician in family medicine.
His education and training has determined so much of our lives, his dream became my dream for him as we went through the process together these 10 years, and it's thrilling and weird it's all over.
He'll still work a lot of hours as we're in a really rural town and he runs the Emergency Room 1/3 of the year, in addition to his regular job, but it has to be better than what it's been!
_____________________________________________________________
So it's been kind of crazy and stressful for me this year on the home front.
The last few months I've really struggled, and have been thinking back and forth about quitting blogging.
I guess it's amazing how easily three kids could kick my trash before 9am most days.
I wasn't creating much, and the time it took to photograph everything and blog about it seemed like wasting energy that should be going to my family.
So I haven't blogged in weeks, and haven't really done much with blogging it feels since Izzie was born.
I don't look at my blog as a business.
I don't try to make money off blog traffic or sponsors.
I don't try to make money off blog traffic or sponsors.
I tend to loathe anything creative that feels like a job, so to ensure I still enjoy blogging and in order to try to stay authentic to what it's about--I am a hobby blogger.
It's always been just sharing things I've made with the few PDF patterns on the side.
So being a hobby, I've thought about just ending the blog aspect in general.
Then all my free time could be just creating and making.
But I found during the break I miss the interaction I have with everyone here,
and the documentation and info on the projects for myself.
and the documentation and info on the projects for myself.
I look back to get details on a lot of projects if I make them again, or do something similar.
And I really do enjoy blogging in general.
So I'm going to try to make it work.
I've started feeling better physically as I quit nursing and am sleeping better with baby sleeeping through the night now.
I've also had some mild post-partum depression and the fog seems to be clearing.
I've also had some mild post-partum depression and the fog seems to be clearing.
Plus we live near family and my husband lives with us now and won't be working 80 hours a week so my life will definitely be easier.
So I'm going to try to keep blogging and am just going to try to change my approach to the posts.
There are times where the photography, editing, and writing of a post can take 3x as long as the actual making of the project.
There are times where the photography, editing, and writing of a post can take 3x as long as the actual making of the project.
That's where I'm going to try to change how I work.
We'll see how it goes, I was never stellar at the blogging side of things so the thought of me putting even less into my crappy blogging makes me wonder if it may be better in the end to just quit.
But we'll see.
If it's just the ideas you're interested in, that should still translate.
So thanks for all the support I've had with the blog these last 6 years and we'll see how the new approach goes.
Coming up I have:
-bench made from old church pew
-striped inverted pleat skirt
-formal charcoal dress
-girls swim suit
and more I'm working on.
 |
| RJ drew a nose and whiskers on my face, and talons on my fingers so I could be a mean cat, he was a bigger and meaner dog....the dog won the game. |
PS Google reader died today, so you can follow the future of Running With Scissors on bloglovin here.
Import your google reader list and follow on feedly (which is probably what I'm going to use for the blogs I follow)
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57 comments
I only have two babies and I sometimes wonder how we get through the days. I don't know how on earth you do it with 3 and your husband working such long hours. So don't forget just how amazing you are and that you're doing a great job.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to you both on your husband's success. Wow...that must have been so hard on you both.
However you decide to move forward...I'm pretty sure it will be awesome.
x
Thanks Evie, it is hard to have small kids! We are so glad to be done, such a pressure and stress off our family. Hoping the new approach will work!
DeleteMe, I missed you. I've been thinking about you and imagined you must have been in the thick of moving. Glad to hear it's all done and you're moving into smoother times ... the camping will get better. You'll love it when they're older. As for blogging with kids - it is a lot of work - my tutorials are far and few between but, like you, I miss all the chatting and meeting people and community when I'm having a break.
ReplyDeleteLovely to have you back :)
I keep thinking that some day we'll enjoy camping again! Right now I usually think it's fun until we try to go to sleep, then I'm laying on the ground in the dark awake all night wondering why I ever thought this was a good idea! I also find the more kids I've had these last years, the fewer tutorials happen, they just take so much more work!
DeleteLying on the ground is no fun at any age. Big fat airbeds, proper bottom sheets with elastic corners, duvets covers over open sleeping bags and pillows. That's what's it's all about :) And, a tent you can stand up in...
DeleteI missed you but I am so glad to hear you are as human as I am! I like posts about projects not necessarily tutorials so I will still enjoy whatever this blog changes into.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear you've been struggling with ppd, I struggled after my 3rd as well, I think 3 is a hard transition and then on top of never seeing your husband I can't imagine!
I hope your summer continues to be a happy one!
Thanks Shantel, this third baby has been a really hard transition for me! She's a good baby, but I think I just have to hands and now I'm outnumbered and it's taken 6 months to feel somewhat in control and less of a freak show!
DeleteI share so many of your feelings on blogging/mothering. It is a really hard balance to find. Even when I make the time to sew, it is so hard to find the time to edit photos, upload, and write up posts. My husband is still in school full time, and working full time. Baby number three is due just in time for the fall semester to start, and I've dealt with post partum depression before, so it is a real worry for me. I'm glad you're feeling better, and have more family support. Best of luck.
ReplyDeleteI'll look forward to reading/viewing what ever you can manage to share with us. You're great.
Tricia! It seems like we have similar situations! I guess going through difficult things makes us stronger, but it is hard (at least for me). Good luck with your pregnancy! Hope your husband graduates soon! It's hard when you both have a lot on your plate, lots of times I think we felt we were just surviving and had little to offer each other, but I guess we made it in the end, and I look back and feel we're closer for struggling together even though I wouldn't want to go through it again!
DeleteYaaa glad to see you back. I know tat the perfectionist you are you will not do it but hearing from you and your precious family and the creative things you all do is great and we do not expect perfection. so a pic gets missed.... thanks for the update, congrats to you and your hsb on his graduation as it is always definitely a joint effort to make it work. I wish and pray for great blessings for you all in this new chapter. God Bless you. much health and happiness.
ReplyDeleteThanks Brenda, I think that is an aspect of blogging that's hard, you see a lot of amazing work and feel bad if it's not amazing. But just learning there's not time for amazing sometimes and that's OK!
Deletei have missed your posts, you have such great creative ideas! i totally hear you on the mothering/blogging/crafting balance. writing can feel like such a waste of time, but i find the encouragement and connections made are definitely worth having at least a small presence in the blogging world. i have four kids (the youngest is 4.5, the oldest just turned 9) and those young baby months/yrs are so draining! hope things start to settle down for you!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa, that's how I was feeling, the waste of time on the blogging end. Some women do so great with blogging and being good moms, maybe one day I'll figure it out!
DeleteI have missed your posts. Whatever you do, it will be fantastic. Can't wait to see what you have created.
ReplyDeleteKinda wish I lived closer to help watch kiddos, or help with editing or something. You do such awesome work. :)
Thanks Kristie, that's so nice of you! I wish I was around other blogging sewing moms, haven't found any in our new place yet.
DeleteI always wonder how blogging moms do it and the answer probably is that they don't...without sacrificing something even more important. So I completely understand where you are coming from. I struggle to get dinner on the table each night and to update our family blog once a week, so I can't even imagine putting together informational tutorials with perfectly edited pictures for the world to see. I really like the mantra at the top of your blog...creating between the more important things.
ReplyDeleteBut whatever you have to offer in the future, I will gladly read it. I've really enjoyed what you have to offer and have made lots of different projects from your blog. I recently used your monster snow hat patterns to make some monster dress-up costumes for my kids. Just wanted to let you know you are appreciated!
ps. No more crafting competitions for you! :)
I don't know how blogging moms do it either obviously, but I think a great many do manage to do both really well. I'm not one of them, but I do admire those who find the balance and have a business out of their blogs. I think that's what I've realized, it's not the season of my life to have a great blog like many you can find out there! And I'm OK with that. So glad you've been able to use the monster hat pattern! My kids tend to wear them year round as toys too.
DeleteCongratulations to both you and your husband as you start this next chapter in your life! I am so glad your little one is sleeping through the night. However you decide to continue this blog I will continue to read.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It's amazing how just getting uninterrupted sleep can make such a difference!
DeleteI was just going to post a comment asking if everything was OK, today!
ReplyDeleteSo glad it all is. I am so happy for you and your family with all the happy happenings happening. LOL
Congratulations!
I hope you do still make a little time for blogging. Yours is one of my favorites:) Consider it a type of theraputic networking:)
~Michelle
Thanks Michelle, that is a good way to look at it--therapeutic networking, I'll have to remember that!
DeleteThat's family life for you. Stuff happens and you have just got to get on with it. But lovely to see you back, and good luck with settling in to your new home. Blog when you can; create when you can and sometimes even do a little housework!
ReplyDeletehttp://asaucystitch.blogspot.co.uk/
Thanks! What's funny about the housework is I feel most of our house is settled and unpacked, but my sewing room is a disaster of half opened boxes.
Deletehuge congrats on things getting easier at home now. I'm totally spoiled when it comes to my husband's schedule, and the short seasons where he's worked a wrestling coach job in the evenings/weekends has just about killed me while caring for two crazy little kids. I have no idea how people like you do it all the time, plus run a blog and make really neat stuff like clothes and babies. Enjoy your blog for what it is and don't feel bad about not making it into a superpower in the business blog world.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's true. My kids have me burned out by 9 a lot of days, and I wonder how we're going to get to bedtime and what I'm even going to do with them.
Tara! That is so funny, my husband wrestled too and I think would love to be involved in coaching in some way sometime. I think a lot of times the sewing and creating saved me, as I didn't leave home but has some "me" time and had a lot of fulfillment making things. Glad to know I'm not the only one burned out early on in the day! I always think how older generations had many more kids than me and survived!
DeleteChecking in bc I love your blog - your projects & your "voice" are always interesting. I always run out of steam when I start a blog (I've abandoned several!) because it's such an exhausting process, so I think I understand your feeling. Thanks for keeping us entertained & inspired. :)
ReplyDeleteyou're awesome :)
ReplyDeleteThree tiny kids, moving to new house, hubs working 14 hrs, ppd, been there, done that! Take care of yourself, and any posts you manage to get up will be a bonus. You're amazing!
ReplyDeleteGlad to know you made it through! Gives me hope to feeling more in control again, it's already headed that direction.
DeleteI wondered last week where you you were, and then I remembered that had a move coming. I'm glad it all went well, and I'm SO sorry you crushed your glasses while you had two kids screaming. What a mess! Congrats to you guys for your husband graduating! That's way exciting! What a journey you've had. I totally understand the hobby blogging thing. I'm the same way. And my son kicks my trash by 9am too, and there's only one right now! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Lynette, the move went well but stressed me out! After we were here and the truck was unpacked, I had a few nights of "moving nightmares" where I was running around trying to pack because the truck was leaving, then losing kids, etc. Glad we're settled now...oh the camping is funny now to look back. But just one of the many times I've felt like an out of control freak show for on-lookers. At least that was just family in that situation.
DeleteWelcome back! Also my blog has fallen asleep but I hope to awaken it soon. Nice to see you ♥♥♥
ReplyDeleteWell yay for sleeping blog buddies! Maybe we can slowly get back to it...unless summer gets in the way:)
DeleteGlad to see you back here! I love reading your posts and am always inspired by the projects you share. It's amazing that you are able to create and blog as much as you do with three little ones and all the other craziness that makes up life.
ReplyDeleteYay! I've missed your blogging too! Kind of nice to take a break when you need it and come back when you're ready. Agree that simple blogging is good, too! Sometimes I love to see just photos and bullet points about the project, you know??
ReplyDeleteya Kristin, that's kind of where I'm going to experiment with, just eliminating the inspiration, back-story, etc. Just give some simple photo shoots and bones of the info and see how it goes. Lots of times I know I don't have time to really read and wonder if anyone really reads what I took a long time to write.
DeleteI've missed you! I sometimes feel the same way about my blog, so at present I'm lucky to average one post a week, but I've decided to just be okay with that. Hope you continue to blog in whatever form suits you and your family best, glad your move went well! Hopefully things will get easier for you. Take care of yourself!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Heather, it is hard to be okay with blogging sometimes. Thanks for your comment, that is a good idea to just set a post a week goal, I think I could manage that. Great idea especially with the business of summer.
DeleteOh yay! I was just thinking about you the other day and wondered if I had maybe deleted your feed or something since I hadn't seen any recent posts. Glad you're still around and glad to hear life is starting to level out a bit for you guys. Three kids is DEMANDING as all get out, so I'm impressed you are still hanging in there :) Good luck with the new house, new city, and new approach to blogging. I'm looking forward to seeing more!
ReplyDeleteThanks Danielle, I'm hoping things are leveled out for a while and I can get back to not feeling overwhelmed as much!
DeleteGlad you are back! Moving is so stressful - and with little ones too! Hope things settle a bit for you and a routine forms!
ReplyDeleteWhatever you decide I will continue to follow... take the time you need and blog when you can... one thing I wrote in my 'about me' on my blog is 'less talk, more craft', for me there has to be less writing otherwise nothing would get up on my blog, just a thought...
ReplyDeleteAs long as your blog doesn't turn into a plethora of sponsored posts with no end in sight, I'll keep reading! I love your ideas.
ReplyDeleteJust yesterday I was wondering what happened to you, changed my email address with your block, and noticed that you had not posted since late may! I too thought you were so involved with the kids and moving. Glad you are ok. As someone said, this will make you stronger. sometimes sharing and getting responses back, make you realize you are among friends, who have gone along similar paths!
ReplyDeleteOMG...as I read this post from you..I had flash backs! I had 3 kids in 3 years and I remember when my youngest of the 3 was about 2, I was looking at pics..I don't remember myself but remembered what each of the kids did, when they did it, teething, crawling, walking, diaper trained! Me...in each of the photos I had a perm - easy care! sweat pants (yup they had them back in the late 70's - early 80's) and an old t-shirt of my husband's! LOL My husband then, worked afternoons. the bus picked him up at 2pm and didn't come home til 1 am! and then on weekends he was busy working with his father! LOL But alas, they do grow up! I did have a 4th child 9 years after the youngest of the 3 (second marriage) and I do have to admit, it was like having an only child! LOL But today, all kids have survived, I survived, I haven't had a perm since 1990! I put makeup on every day and actually have a job out of the home! I was a stay at home mom for over 20 years, that was my retirement!
I was blessed that I had my sewing room in my very large laundry room with shuttered windows that opened up into the kids playroom! They played, I sewed when they were a bit older. As for blogging....I don't have time to do it. I have a blog and over the years i have had it, I have blogged about 4 times! So Jessica... you will work your way through this. You know what is important to you and before you know it, life will fall into it's place for you.
Today, all of my kids are each other's best friends. They have lived together, still travel together, share friends. Parenting is a very demanding job, time now will reap the benefits when they are older!
I am blessed.
Jane (sorry this is so long - maybe I should start blogging again! lol.. but right now i am going to sew!)
You are awesome!! I can't believe what you are able to accomplish with small kids, a newborn especially. Your posts inspire me and I am always patient when there is a gap between posts because I know you are a real person. Don't let the blog be a source of stress. Do it when it makes you happy to do so. (P.S., I just bought some wooden peg people for my daughter's 4th birthday present - your post inspired me to do so - thanks!) --Sabrina
ReplyDeletethat third kid is tough. I found, too, that when my 3rd came along a LOT had to fall by the wayside in order to keep life happening and sanity mostly in tact. :)
ReplyDeleteJess you are amazing! I miss you and am glad you are settling in. You have kept it all together well and I never would have known you were struggling at all...but I guess we all do, huh? Congrats on graduation and here's to real grown up life (haha). Hugs! Hope we get to see you sometime, it is weird not having you in town anymore :(
ReplyDeleteThank goodness, I was afraid your blog was done! I can only imagine how hard it must be to live life AND update a blog. I barely have time to sew or bake and I only have one kid! Good luck to you and your family as you settle into your new house and routine.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness, I was afraid your blog was done! I can only imagine how hard it must be to live life AND update a blog. I barely have time to sew or bake and I only have one kid! Good luck to you and your family as you settle into your new house and routine.
ReplyDeleteI have admired what you manage to do with so many responsibilities, but even MORE now that I read about your husband being a doctor in training!
ReplyDeleteOur son is now just 18 months away from his final exams (Emergency Medicine) and it has been such a long haul. He has married in the last 12 months, and doesn't have children, but it has still been an extraordinarily long and tiring journey. He started his post grad. degree at 22 ,and is now 33!!
Well done to you both for achieving all you have so far.
Dear cousin,
ReplyDeleteChecking out what you are up to and seeing the results of your insane amount of talent is super fun for me. I love seeing your creations, your ideas, your darlings and everything. If you have to change your expectations and focus on all those things without blogging about it, I would totally understand. However, know you are admired, loved and inspiring. Love you tons! -Summer
Jess, I've always been amazed at how you manage to fit in so much creativity, never mind blogging about it. I have three littles right now and it has been way harder to find time for myself since #3 arrived. Incidentally we also moved one month before #3 was born, and again 4 months after she was born... and my husband is working away a lot, not as intensive as yours, but still it is hard when they have an unpredictable schedule. I blog as well and it is very hard to keep it up. I do enjoy it though like you said... I like what someone said about a post a week.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I will always follow no matter how sparse your posts, since you are such an inspiration to me, and I'm confident that things will get easier as the kids get older... and that these are precious years that will slip by all too fast.
Maybe even just photo roundups of the projects you create?
Whatever you blog and whenever you get around to posting it, I'll still read on happily!
ReplyDeleteI second Amy up there! You are fun to read however often you feel like posting. My daughter and I feel much as you do right now. Family is the most important thing and you must do the right thing for them with no apologies. As you can see, we will all be waiting when/if you decide to blog again! Congrats to you and your family on you husband finishing his education.
ReplyDeleteI always LOVE looking at your blog! I love vicariously living through your creativity since I am rather lacking in that area, to say the least. You are so funny, too! I will still be reading even if you only post every so often. Your talent is too good to not be shared but family first!
ReplyDeleteFrom an old friend from WSU
-Monica
I came to leave you a comment thinking that it would be nice for her to hear that I enjoy your blog and thne there is a ton of comments! See you are so loved! I feel this way as well right now with my own blog. I started it while I was coping with PPD from my first daughter in 2012. It was so nice to create and share and feel like someone cared what I was doing. (Even if I did only have like 5 followers) lol Now that I have had a 3rd little one, work full time, still try to sew, there just seems to be NO time to blog if I want to do it "the cute way". My blog is definately a hobby blog as well and I have recently said these same things. I feel stuck in not knowing which direction to even go. I am glad I am not the only one who feels this way. <3 Just do what you can....it will all work out how its supposed to anyway ;)
ReplyDeleteand for some reason this blog JUST got emailed to me TODAY 12/4/2013. I couldnt figure out why all the comments were from JULY> weird :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by, we love to hear from you!