Tuesday, April 5, 2011

ups & downs and all arounds

(Warning: Lots of my short falls as a parent are discussed in this post, please judge me gently ha!)
Well friends, we are still here in Singapore. Boo hoo. We were planning on leaving bright and early this morning so I could have some snuggly time with Evie and Sawyer by this afternoon but Finn's tummy had other plans. The Doctors believe his root problem is an allergy to UHT milk combined with all the fun buggies in the water (how oh how do you stop kids from drinking bath water?) and trying to digest the Malarone which is preventing him from contracting malaria. Poor little guy. When you put it that way I feel pretty bad for all his little body has been battling and that I "ignored" it for this long. They say he is really no worse for wear though and will have righted himself in no time after returning to the states in two months. So the upside is that we know what is wrong and can address it. The down side is we are here for three more days, which is actually a really silly downside since our room looks like this:
And I have been watching American Idol while in the bathtub:
Hotel arrangements are stipulated by the embassy and I just have to say, they treat us medivaced families pretty darn great! The thing is, being with one cutie non-stop for seven days can make one pretty homesick for adult conversation and the humor of their other children. It has been fabulous spending some one on one with our middle child who, I truly feel, often gets over looked (partially due to his incredibly easy going personality) but oh my goodness I don't know if I can hear much more Star Wars talk without going bonkers :) Usually Finn is jabbering away to Sawyer who is equally engrossed in the conversation. Last night while he was swimming I actually had to put my head in my lap and count to ten before reengaging in a conversation about whether General Grievous (the bad guy in the Star Wars cartoon) was actually a robot or a human. 

Thankfully we have been all around the city and seen some amazing sites. I cannot wait to share some of the pictures. Last night we headed to the mall and went to the top floor (the malls here are crazy huge). I stepped off the escalator and when I looked up from making sure Finn wasn't getting sucked under I was looking directly at an amazing fabric boutique. Hilariously enough I almost started crying. It has been 18 months since I have seen a fabric store like this. From floor to ceiling it was stocked with every Amy Butler, Anne Marie Horner and Cath Kidston print known to man, even those they have long since stopped printing. The lady welcomed me by saying: "Welcome to our lovely store" I seriously almost hugged her. I had just purchased Finn a General Grievous light saber so he was great and sat while I perused for a good half hour. When I finally pulled a bolt out and flipped it on its end I again almost cried: $28 dollars a meter!!!!!!! Aw man! I was so bummed. I had literally come up with a huge long list of things I was going to make in that half hour and  bam! They all went out the window. I'm not crazy right? $28 dollars is just way to much to pay for a meter of fabric that isn't some awesome vintage lace from France or something ha! Anywhoo, I am toying with the idea of going back and getting a fat quarter of a out of print Amy Butler for a special project I am working on for Lil' Blue Boo. I can't wait to share it with you! Hope you are having a fabulous week hopefully free from Star Wars conversations!

21 comments:

  1. $28 a meter sounds outrageous unless you're making something really, really special. Congratulations on resisting ... but oh how frustrating.

    I just made one of those felt hair pieces you taught in your previous tutorial, wa-hoo. I had some pre-cut felt circles from a bow that was used on a present that someone gave to me. It was perfect to turn into two different types of flowers. I've seen these hair pieces on various creation blogs but it wasn't until I saw yours on Evie that I felt really inspired to try to make one. Thanks for always being such an inspiration ... I had one made before I realized I was really going to make one. It just magically appeared :)

    Sorry your boy is miserable :( Good luck on the Star Wars talk and congratulations on your patience.

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  2. I paid $28/meter for that dang discontinued Amy Butler Acanthus in Duck Egg that I used for our portrait pieces. I HAD to have it! Poor Finn, I hope he feels better soon!

    AND LLB?! How exciting! Ashley is awesome, I can't wait to see what you come up with!!

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  3. Thanks Esther! He is not too miserable and never complains, just pretty short and light ha! I am on my way over to check out your headband! Thanks for reading
    Kelly

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  4. Poor guy, I hope he feels better soon. $28? No freaking way! I bet Singapore is awesome. We had a trip planned there when we lived in Japan and about 7 hours before we left the airline we were supposed to fly went bankrupt and our travel was canceled. Sad. They are supposed to have really cool pink dolphins so if you are there another day or two you should totally go see them.

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  5. $28 is too much! Good job keeping away the buyers remorse. A fat quarter might be awesome though. My household is also beginning to become Star Wars oriented (again). It took much might to get my son out of the new Darth Vader shoes at Stride Rite today. The method of persuasion, "if you take those off and put on these Darth Maul sandals (we need sandals not tennis shoes right now), then Grandma will let you wear them out of the store." Phew! It worked. God bless Grandma's who can buy Stride Rite shoes.

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  6. I hear you on the insanely priced fabric. I shop the $$ fabric shop in their remnant bin. I got 1.4 m of fabric for $15. It was originally $36/m!! I can pick up small remnants for my son's clothes for super cheap In January our fabric store had 50% off all fabric. Waiting for another sale like that to stock up again.

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  7. We pay $24 a metre for designer stuff here in Australia (ripped off!!!), which is why I order most of my fabric from the US!!! But go on, just a metre (or two) :)

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  8. ouch - $28 is too much!! That happened to me once when I was visiting the South of France, fell in love, then pulled out the price tag. It is nice to get some lovely 1 on 1 time with your little man, and trust me - I know about going bonkers from talking about a subject...Bugs Bunny, Road Runner, Wyle E Coyote, Cinderella, you name it - they can talk about it til D.E.A.T.H. Lol

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  9. I live in Singapore. Go to Arab Street. They don't have all the designers, but there are great deals there. Last week I got some moda fabric for 5 dollars a meter and some beautiful glazed cotton for 8! If you need help getting there let me know.

    mattvaleiler at gmail dot com

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  10. Who really needs that milk in a box anyway? At least it isnt eggs! I am sure you have hit tanglin mall? Loved that place on allmof our medivacs!

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  11. Oh Poor Finn! Hope he feels better very soon. I completely feel you on the stories :). When my oldest is at school,my second son uses me as a substitute for his Star Wars stories. $28 a meter is very disappointing! Enjoy your accommodations!

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  12. Thanks for the suggestions Val! I will see if I can hit it up tomorrow after the zoo! A, I am actually smack next door to Tanglin at the St. Regis! It has been our entertainment almost everyday ha! Can you believe the kids clothes at the forum though? Oh my goodness so cute but hello expensive ha!

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  13. If you ever figure out how to get them to stop drinking bathwater, please share. That is one thing that nobody listens to me about. I mean, I am just the mom, what do I know?
    Good luck on getting your little man better.

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  14. Hi Kelly, I've read your blog for a while now (and enjoyed all your lovely projects -- I'm making my daughter an Easter Bonnet headband as we speak) but I've never commented...today you got me to de-lurk so I can commiserate with you on the Star Wars obsession! I can totally relate to your "counting to ten" moment -- sometimes I have to try to gently explain to my 7-year-old that not everybody thinks about Star Wars as much as he does, so we sometimes get a little tired of talking about it. Usually there's about a five-second pause before he goes back to asking me whether or not I think the Millennium Falcon is a better ship than a droid tri-fighter. :)

    I hope your wee guy feels better soon! Hang in there!

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  15. I think $28 is too much, but if I hadn't been to a fabric store in a year I would totally cave.

    I hope the doctors can get your little one straightened out. I love his name, he shares it name with my new nephew.

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  16. Can't wait to see what you come up with for lbb! Here's to feeling better soon

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  17. Ha! This made me laugh...I don't have any kids yet (9 more weeks till my little boy is here!), and I STILL have to have Star Wars conversations. My husband is a nut. But I love him anyway!
    Feel better soon, Finn!

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  18. Don't feel bad, every parent misses some stuff. My girlie had a terrible time potty training and many UTIs before she was even 4. Finally at 5 a new Dr sent us to a urologist and long story short, after a minor surgery, she was fixed and finally potty trained. I can't tell you how awful I felt for all the times I fussed at her for having an accident when she honestly couldn't help it.

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  19. LOL! Sounds like a conversation my 5 year old son would have.

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  20. I have to agree with Lindsay. $24 a metre is the norm here in Australia (or around $8ish dollars from my favourite fabric store Hawthorne Threads).

    I hope Finn is feeling better soon.

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  21. Awwww.....hope your little guy is feeling better soon. And if you need some relief he can skype with my son, they'd have a great conversation! LOL It's all he talks about. And I've never seen any of the Star Wars movies so I almost never have a clue about what he's talking about. :)

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