Modern Colors Two: an illustrated explanation

Hello folks! I've started a spinoff blog for mom and kid stuff. 

The original Modern Colors blog started off as a pregnancy style blog, but I had no style... so it became just a pregnancy blog. After the birth of my first child the blog became all about me since my baby did little more than just drool and poop. Not really blog-worthy. 

Now I have two kiddos and I've found my self desiring more and more to blog about them and all sorts of fun kid stuff. I know many of you ladies out there either have no children or you have children who have long since left the nest so I highly doubt you all would be interested in reading about how to remove spit-up stains and the best cream for a chapped hiney.

January, 2012 - 9 months pregnant with River.

When I first started off blogging about pregnancy and baby stuff, quite naturally I followed other mom bloggers and to tell you the truth - it was a pretty boring journey. I mean, are 15 black and white photographs of your baby wearing cloth diapers really necessary? Biweekly posts about vegan toddler meals? A 4,000 word image-less post about teething?

Mom blogs tend to be the same blog over and over. They lure you in with promises of eclectic awesomeness - calling themselves, "groovy", "crunchy", "hippie" and "bohemian". When you get to their blogs, you find that they feel they're SO unique because they wear  $300 Anthropology dresses, cloth diaper their babies, use coconut oil and buy organic baby food.

Woopdee-friggin'-doo. Let's have a party.

So, I know it sounds like I have a low opinion of all mom bloggers. Not all of them. Just the boring ones.  I would like to jump back into the game and try my hand at giving mom blog readers something a little different. Surely there's a mom out there looking for tips on how to create a steampunk costume for a two year old - or tips on the best way to introduce your child to Tom Waits.

WARNING:

Yes, Modern Colors Two will have annoying ads.

Yes, it will also have product reviews and giveaways that force you to follow me on every form of social media ever made.

I need the money. I need the freebies. I need the... attention?

I love to blog and if I can do it to help support my family then by gum, that's what I'm going to do. BUT I'm going to do it in the most awesome way possible - always with humor, a dash of sarcasm and little bit'o this:

No,worries, I'll still blog here. I'm not going anywhere any time soon.

So, if you're interested in following Modern Colors Two just click on the image below and sniff it out.

THANKS!

sooo.... how'd it go?

This first week with our new itty bitty wee one has been, er... interesting. 

The first couple of days home were awful. Since I had a c-section I could barely walk. I was in pain, virtually immobile and extremely fatigued from getting only three hours of sleep the entire time I was in the hospital. Needless to say, I was pretty darn irritable. My husband was an exhausted grumpasaurus rex as well and River had transformed into a total hellion while we were away. 

Wednesday I had a little emotional meltdown from the stress of not being able to care for my home and family the way I would on any given non-postpartum day. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate being incapacitated? My mother-in-law came to town to help me around the house and as grateful as I was for this, my pride, stubbornness and hormones just wouldn't allow me to relax and enjoy the much needed assistance. 

While printing contracts, my printer decided to be a wee bit hateful and spat my copies out on the floor.

As soon as we got home from the hospital I got right back to work on the faire. The faire is in less than three weeks and it's time to promote, promote, promote. I still have to tie up loose ends with my entertainers, make the stage schedule, find more volunteers, map up the vendor placement, arrange lodging for acts, shave my legs, sharpen my sword, practice my curtsy, etc. It sounds like a lot to do (and it is) but three weeks is actually plenty of time for me to get it all done... I just need 100% cooperation from everyone in this house. HA!! Right.

Little Cedar is a pretty demanding little lady and River has turned into a huge emotional ball of jealousy. I honestly didn't see that coming considering how independent  he was before the baby came. Before, I couldn't even pin him down for more than a couple of seconds to get a quick cuddle in and now he's whining and begging to be picked up and held constantly. When you give him the attention he wants he squirms to be released and runs away. Vurry frustrating. I think this picture describes how I've been feeling all week.

Friday I finally had the will to pull myself together and put on some decent clothes and makeup for house guests. Because my lower abdomen is still stapled together properly Frankenstein-style, leggings are out for covering up my hairy legs so I've been favoring maxis. This floor length maxi is a hand-me-down from my aunt. I couldn't wear it during pregnancy because of the low waist but it works great now for my still bloated form; it's loose and flowy and conceals my jiggly postpartum belly just right.

So that's how our first week went. Fun, yeah. Ugh, please tell me it gets easier.

So anywho ,it's the Sabbath so it's my blog-reading/no faire work day so I'll be swooping by and seeing what the heck all you sexy beasts have been up to lately. See ya soon!

Hello baby

... the sunrise the day our baby was born was glorious.

I checked into the hospital at 8am and waited and waited and waited....

 Every woman in town decided to go into labor that morning so all the c-sections were moved to later times

 I finally went into surgery at 1:30pm...

...and our baby girl was born at 1:54 pm.

 Exhausted big brother and daddy.

Say hello to our newest family member:

Cedar Shoshannah Ramsey

7 pounds 2 ounces, 20 inches long

Born September 6, 2014

This is my second day in the hospital but we should be able to go home tomorrow.

I'm sleeping very poorly due to extreme itching from the anesthesia so I am quite fatigued. I'm in very little pain though and I'm already mobile and the food here is actually quite tasty. So overall I'm doing fine- I just need some rest so.... g'night everyone,See you all soon.

babe ahoy!

Guess what folks!

I'm going to have baby!! Yes it's true! What's that? You already knew that? Oh.

Well did you know that I'm going to have a baby THIS SATURDAY?!?!?

Yay! I shore am!

At my last checkup I bumped up the date of my sea-section from September 11th to the 6th. I'm miserable and I feel like I've been pregnant for years. I'm so crabby all the time and I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired and I'm SO ready to meet my little girl.

Sailor Hat: Halloween clearance last year

Modern Kuchi tribal necklace, ring and bangles: eBay

Tank: Old Navy clearance rack

Skirt: Old, retail

Shoes: Local beauty supply store 

Ok, well now I'm sardine to have trouble coming up with more nautical puns. They do anything for you? Turn you on a bit? Make ya giggle? No?

 In the days after birth, fashion will not be a priority. Hygiene probably won't either. You can bet that I'll be bra-less in an old faded cotton nightgown wearing adult diapers. I reeeeally don't think that's something you all want to see. I decided that before I go on my short blogging maternity leave, I might as well go out with a bang - or more like a tiny pop? I'm linked up for Share-in-Style. This week's theme is "sailor". Yippie!

 SEA YOU LATER!!

flow with me

Rejoice! For I have finally have a short caftan thing!

Ok, well I'm not really all that excited about it. The excitement was just for show. See, I've been wanting some lightweight flowy ethnic dresses for this summer and I found this one on eBay. It came from India, free shipping, low price, blah blah bloo. As soon as I got it I tried it on and it smelled of wet dog and the seams started to pop open at the sides. The dress originally came with a drawstring to cinch the garment under the bust... but on me the drawstring sat above my massive boobs. No amount of pulling and tugging could have made it work, so I just pulled it out. It works out ok and I still like it.

 BUT a couple days ago, I went to Ross Dress for Less to look for a few more summer dresses to tie me over for the next two months, only to find they have tons of these caftan tops in the "one size fits all" section for a few bucks less than eBay. PLUS they smell better and you don't have to wait  to get them. So yeah, I bought more.

  So enough about my smelly foreign garments...

We finally found out Monday.

Sorry, River. I tried to make you a little brother, but I'm just too dang feminine to make another boy.

ketchup sandwich

Getting caught up: here are a few honorable mentions from April/May

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Feeling the groove at grandpas house.

Our new weekly visitor.

River's first haircut (done by me!)

 Prepping for our Pirate's Ball next month. That flag cost a penny + shipping on Amazon.

 Got a great late birthday gift from my brother and sister in law. I collect ornate elephants but this one is now my favorite because it's I it's so me, River and a baby in my big round elephant belly,

 First tractor ride at Granny and Gramps house on Mother's Day.

 My new adorable nephew was born at the end of March in NY.

 Found the perfect fabric on sale for $5 for the bodice I'm having custom made for the faire this year. I found the bodice on the right on Pinterest and almost bought it but a friend said she will make it for me for just the cost of materials!!

 And River has discovered the joy of being a bucket head.

peek-a-boo funk

The weather here is bizarre! Bundled up in blankets in the morning, air conditioner on during the day and turning the heater on at night. What sucks so much about this is that no one informed me that your BO factor will increase ten fold after you have a baby. Being the dirty hippie I am, I don't mind skipping a shower or two but now-a-days it's impossible. I smell like elephant butt all the time. If I'm not changing clothes three times a day from baby spit up and pee pee accidents, then I'm changing clothes from the excessive sweating and the wild onion smell coming from my pits.

old photo

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So I'm camera-less right now. It refuses to charge for some strange reason and the memory card is missing from my backup camera (and the other 6 cameras in the house, yes 6, don't work). I ordered a new battery and memory card for the cameras but they won't be here until later this week. I hope I can survive. 

My Etsy store was darn near wiped out from a gloriously large order last month and I have yet to take photos of my new items to list. Now that I'm ready I have no way to do it. How sucky is that?

Well, while I wait for my camera necessities to come in, here's a questionable self portrait taken about five years ago.

In case your're wondering ,my tattoo says "Make Yourself" as in the Incubus album and song. It's for sure my personal motto.

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Also, I didn't realize that half of the items in my Etsy store had expired. Now that it's all been re-listed shall I pimp a wee bit of what's for sale?