Weeds have grown slower

It seems like I am always buying clothes for my children. Four or five weeks ago I bought 3-6 month size clothing for my son and now I think I should be focusing on buying 6-9 month clothes!! When I bought those clothes he was swimming in his 0-3 months clothes and now some of the 3-6 months are snug. I absolutely love this gymboree outfit that I got for my son. He has only worn it twice and it looks like that might be it. Which brings me to a pet peeve of mine. Why can't all those clothing companies get together and come up with a standard sizing chart for babies!? What is a poor mother suppose to do? I guess she can drive around to a bazillion stores and buy all different brands in the hope that her kid will get three months use out of the lot. Or maybe the internet is the solution, much easier and you could probably get multiple brands at one site. And in my opinion the extra money spent on shipping and handling is worth not carting around two whining kids while shopping. My daughter who is 4 1/2 grows at a much slower rate, but it still seems that her clothes don't last very long either. I always buy a little big for her and in no time at all she has high water pants. One of the blessngs actually of having a little girl is that with some time and a sewing machine those can be capris! Also gotta love skirts. They're oh so versatile and when they get to short a pair of leggings makes them okay again. Now I'm not complaining about shoppping. I personally love to clothing shop for my kids. I love all the itty bitty outfits and thinking about how cute they will look in the new items. I just hate seeing those items getting barely any use. Because of that I have become the queen of "give it away". I give my sisters clothing for their daughters and I love seeing that the stuff I spent money on is still getting use. Some of those items are on their fourth little girl! I also recently discovered that there is a real need in our local high schools. Many teenage mothers and their parents do not have the means to clothe their babies. I didn't even realize that was an area of need. I Never even thought about donating at high schools until one day my husband's aunt who is a teacher mentioned that she could find a home for any clothes that I was given and didn't want. I have since been donating clothing and items and convincing my fellow mother's to drop off their kids outgrown stuff at my home to be sent to the school. It was really nice to hear that some mother without a diaper bag benefited from me letting go of one of my many. Its something that most mother's have more than one of and get them in designer patterns and in all different styles. This girl was happy to just have one. A lot of people ask me why I don't just sell the clothes so I can buy more. At one point I used to sell my baby clothes to used baby clothes stores. One day I was inside one looking at toys and I saw a dress that I sold them on sale for $12 after only recieving $1 for it. It was such a hideous mark up and for three dollars more someone could've bought it brand new. It was then that I decided I should just continue to give it all away. My children of course are still growing this very moment as I speak. My littlest has been asleep for almost two hours and I am sure this time next week that some of those snug outfits are no longer going to fit. I'm going to have to get the donation bags together and I guess I will get to try out that shopping online thing :)

better thicker baby vomit catcher

The last few days I have been sewing every spare chance that I can get! Which means I didn't have time to blog at all. I have been creating microfleecee pocket bibs and burp cloths for my son. My newest little one has a pretty bad case of reflux and throws up his meals all the time. Poor baby is always soaked when he wears regular bibs and I change his whole outfit a few times a day. Neither of us were happy with this arrangement so I created my own pattern for a bib that can handle his output. I started by tracing half of one of the insufficient bibs and enlarging and adjusting the pattern until it was just right. After I did that I added a 1/2 inch seam allowance around the whole thing. I folded a piece of fleece then pinned the pattern on the fold and cut around it. I did the same with the pocket. After that I sewed velcro to the "arms" of the bib on the right sides. With the right sides pinned together I then sewed up the pieces leaving a gap for turning. After snipping into the curves and turning I topstiched. Voila one thick bib complete with vomit pocket for my little guy! Now just to repeat several times so he has enough to make it through a few days. (Wish I wasn't typing this on my phone cause I'd upload pics so this all makes sense)

So why the name?

So why the name Discovering Motherhood? My husband asked me this today. He was laughing about it because our first child is 4 years old. Yes it sounds silly, but I believe that motherhood is a journey. Yes I have been a mother for a while, but I have never mothered a child who goes to school, a teenager, or a child who is married and starting their own family. I will someday and my style of mothering my children is going to have to change a little to accomadate where they are in their life. I also am trying to figure out what is the best way to mother two children! My son was born 9 weeks ago and I am finally coming out of the stupor of sleeplessness and extreme exhaustion that all parents must endure for the first two months. Now that he is starting to interact (and sleep!) I am starting to think about how I am going to entertain two kids. I am not sure how its going to work, but I am pretty sure it'll work out. To bad we didn't have them closer together. There is definately some draw backs to having kids so far apart. There is also some pluses, and my husband not pulling out his hair is definately a good one.

On a different note. I got my craft on and made my daughter a pair of lounge pants. They turned out so well my husband saw them and said, "You just couldn't wait for me until you opened up those Christmas Eve PJs could you?" I must admit they do look about the same as the ones we've bought :P. I was suprised at how easy it was to create my own pattern and sew up the pants. I was so afraid of sewing a curve ( I am no seamstress)but it wasn't hard at all. You've just got to go slower than usual. I have a ton of fleece and flannel that I bought as remnants from Joanne's Frabrics for a great price. She's going to end up with a lot of pants to lounge around in. I am thinking of cutting out part of the pattern and making an applique for a shirt so that she has a matching set. I just love making things for small children! It doesn't take much fabric or time and as long as its comfortable they are so excited to wear your creations.

So why a blog?

So why do I need a blog? I started a blog so that I could document the years that my children are young. Things are changing so fast and they're growing so quickly. I don't want to forget all the little details about my babies growing up and my slowly discovering exactly what kind of mother i want to be. So a little bit about myself: I am a 28 year old mother of two wonderful children. My daughter is 4 and my son is 9 weeks. I am married to a wonderful hardworking man. His working so hard allows me to stay home and enjoy our children to the fullest. I enjoy crafts, cooking and other domestic pursuits.