Over a Year Later!

Oh. My. Goodness! I cannot believe it has been over a year since I have posted anything. So much has happened in a year... We are proud parents to a very sweet little boy who is now a little over 6 months old! The time definitely flies, and I can promise that I take the advice to enjoy every moment we are able. And because I just can't resist, here are 6 months worth of our sweet Liam!

 Newborn

 1 Month

 2 Months

 3 Months

 4 Months

 5 Months

And our most recent... 6 Months!

Parenthood has been interesting, to say the least. I hope I get a chance to post on all such topics as breastfeeding, natural birth, formula, and any of the fun stuff in between. I struggled severely with breastfeeding due to chronic thrush and whole body yeast issues. It ended sadly (heart-breaking-ly for me) with me no longer being able to breastfeed and having to choose the next best option for Liam. I would love to discuss what went into our decision to choose Baby's Only Organic Lactose Free formula. I would also love to get some time to do an in depth post on Candida and all the issues it entails in hopes of helping others. If you happen across my blog between now and when I someday get the time to post up on my battle with Candida, please shoot me an e-mail at flowersandstripes@hotmail.com because it is brutal to go through and brutal to have to research on your own. I would be glad to pass on what I have learned.

And, in the crochet world, I don't get nearly as much done as I used to. Who would have guessed that I would be consumed with a certain little blue eyed boy zooming through my house in his rocket ship walker? :) I have drafted up a handful of patterns in the past year that I have had no time to sit down and edit, revise, find testers for, etc. Now that Liam is mobile, I get a little more free time with my hands, but most of that has gone to research in the past few months. I have been researching health and nutrition to death LIFE! Hehe. I make myself laugh. 

Today, compared to a year ago, I am a green-smoothie-drinkin', whole-grain-eatin', cloth-diaperin', attachment-parentin', health-and-nutrition-lovin', caffeine-free(in'?), Bible-studyin' crazy wife and momma! As you may have guessed, I never really needed the caffeine to feel EXCITED for life. I hope this is the first of many blogs to come, and I hope to share all of my thoughts with you about all my crazy roles in life. 

Oh, and one more quick note that I... you guessed it... hope to go more into depth later with, here is a great blog post I found about the whole copyright/licensing debacle I posted about such a LONG, LONG, time ago. Over at Speckless, she has posted her Thoughts on Making and Selling, and I feel like she was in my brain! :) I completely agree with her post, and I must say, over a year later from posting my initial thoughts on copyrights and licensing for patterns, I have gained much more experience and my original thoughts have changed. I offer most of my patterns to buyers letting them know that they are responsible for their finished items, meaning they can do whatever they wish with the items they put so much time and effort into. However, a small selection of my patterns are offered with the understanding that you cannot sell the items you make from the patterns online. I chose to list those patterns that way because I am a WAHM (work-at-home-mom). My husband supports us solely and is constantly working 10-15+ hour of overtime a week to ensure my ability to stay home with our little guy. The money I make from my Etsy shop is our only extra income, and most of that money comes from the sales of custom items using the select patterns I do not allow sales from. I know that legally, I have no rights to prevent people from making sales. That is why I have asked in the listing that you not purchase the pattern if you cannot agree not to sell the finished items. I am happy to answer any questions further regarding this policy upon request, but I just wanted to make a quick update. People change and grow, and their opinions change and grow. That is really all this update is about. :)