Happy Birthday Sophie Grace Maui

My plan was to celebrate Sophie Grace Maui turning three this month. I was going to make a big deal of it on facebook and have a mini champagne toast at the store and make it special. But then as I was doing my taxes and looking over my old receipts from years prior I realized something. Sophie Grace Maui turned 3 weeks ago. For some reason I always thought it was at the end of March, but in reality it was in the beginning. So Happy Birthday Sophie Grace Maui, I'm so sorry I missed it!

I decided that the very least I could do was reminisce by posting the photos we took in the very beginning...

Still do this day lighting is our biggest dilemma..

Sophie Grace Maui, actually called Sophie Grace Designs, started as a little kiosk in Whalers Village Kaanapali. Notice that it's dark in the photo? That's because I used to be open 10AM-10PM all day everyday. I'm so glad that's out of my system. At first I didn't mind being there all of the time. But after a few months it wore on me. Greg and I used to have dinner there most nights, taking turns helping customers. And on the days that we got rained out we would pack up the beads and sit in our teeny tiny ohana/garage that we rented and make jewelry together.

God has been very good to us through our little jewelry adventure and I wouldn't change any of it (even the hard parts) for the world.

P.S. We finally had a photo shoot of the new store so I will be posting those next week.

P.P.S. In case you were wondering about my last post: Sophie is back to normal not throwing tantrums and not climbing out of her crib.

Kicking and Screaming

Yesterday I took Sophie with me to the post office on the way to daycare. We got there early so I pulled her into the front seat with me and she played with my iPhone apps as we waited. When the post office opened we went inside and she danced around the people in line making friends with everybody. On the way back to the car I found myself thinking what a lovely morning I had with her.

BUT then I tried to put her in her car seat and all hell broke loose. Oh my. I had never seen her throw a tantrum like that. Especially not in public. She flailed (is that a word?) her body around like a fish doing everything she could to not go in that seat. She screamed and cried bloody murder and I think she might have even smacked me. It became such a scene I finally had to go inside the car from the other side and shut the door so that nobody witnessed our struggle. Because honestly, they probably would have thought I was trying to kidnap her by all the kicking and screaming.

I was so shaken up by it that I didn't even notice until half way to daycare that my emergency brakes were on. When I got to daycare and pulled her out of the car I got a whiff of her diaper. So I of course blamed myself for being an idiot and not realizing that the reason she didn't want to sit down in her seat was because she knew what was coming. I did everything I could to hold back my tears of guilt as I dropped her off. When I finally got to the shop I locked the door behind me, burst into tears, and called my Mom.

The thing is though that the dirty diaper ended up not being the issue at all. Because apparently she threw tantrums for the rest of the day. And then this morning when she did it again I looked at her sternly and asked, "Do you want to go in your crib?". This line normally works like a charm. I can say it anytime of day no matter where we are and she takes me seriously. Even if we are in the car on the other side of town with no crib in sight. But this morning she just looked at me and said, "OK!". My jaw dropped. I didn't know what to do. So I said,"fine, in you go!" and in she went. When I peeked in a few minutes later I caught her with one leg swung over the rail climbing out and smiling with pride as she did it!

Two days ago I had a child that behaved. Two days ago I had a child that on the rare occasion she didn't behave I could put her in her crib for a two minute time out and everything was right in my world again. Two days ago my daughter was too small to climb out of the crib. Two days ago I thought I had this mother thing down.

I would love to say I came up with some parenting epiphany since then. That God whispered in my ear that everything would be OK. But even now as I write I can hear her jumping in her bed like it was a trampoline laughing at me and refusing to sleep. I am at a complete loss.

Tsunami

When Greg called me last night and asked if I was watching the news I thought that he had caught me watching American Idol, something I promised I wouldn't do until he got home. When he started talking about Japan and tsunamis I started looking out the window to see if he was spying on me from the street. But then I turned on the news and realized that it wasn't a joke at all. It's at times like these that I am so glad I live upcountry far away from the ocean.

I immediately began calling all my friends who live in evacuation zones and offering them a place to stay. Most of them, including my Mom, hadn't even heard the news yet. Greg had the privilege of stopping by the store on the way home and standing in line for a few hours for some water and canned food. My stepson filled the cars up with gas (also a very long line) and hit the ATM machines for us. I turned the fan on full blast in Sophie's room to try and drown out the noise of the emergency sirens before they started. These are just some of the things that you do to prepare for a tsunami. And then at 2AM the news announced the wave heading our way had increased from 6 feet to 8 feet. So off Greg and Ty went to empty the Paia store of all the things I wasn't ready to see wash away.

I know that I'm very blessed it all ended up OK. I know that I'm very blessed to not be in the kind of situation that those in Japan are in. Dealing with death and loss on such an extraordinary level. I know that I should be feeling something different in my heart than what I'm feeling right now. But to be honest, to be really really honest, I'm struggling. Sophie Grace Maui has had some challenges these last few months that I haven't been able to really write about. And just like this, they were all because of events that had nothing to do with me. As a Mom trying to provide for her family I'm frustrated because I know that this too will effect us. Spring Break is our busy time, I bought supplies to gear up for that busy time. And now with the airports closed and tourism put on hold, I'm sad.

Please don't judge me. It took everything in me to admit that. In the grand scheme of things my little business is not important. I am very very blessed. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm feeling a little discouraged...

Hello There

I realize that it's been 30 days since my last post. I haven't given up on my blog. Not in the least. But you know that post two posts down? The one that talks about increasing my payroll and stepping out in faith? The one that says it was going to be hard? Well it was, and still is. I'm learning that when you step out in faith there are many rewards, but also many tests and a few attacks along the way. I had barely hit "post" when the challenges began rolling in. I won't get too detailed as there are people I love who might not want their lives written about. But let's just say this, my business was almost uprooted by circumstances that had nothing to do with me and my household has almost doubled permanently (no I did not have a baby).

It might be a few weeks before I'm back blogging on a regular basis. BUT it's Saturday and I'm not working just like I said. Through it all I'm sticking to my decision to work less. And no, blogging isn't work. Greg is running errands and Sophie is napping. So for the first time in 30 days, I can do whatever I want!