Sew-Along Fail and Other Mishaps

I need to admit something to you - my first sew-along was pretty much a disaster. Three days in we received the sad news that my husband's grandfather had passed away. We were looking at spending about a week traveling to Ohio for the funeral and to spend time with family. In the midst of packing and making travel arrangements I remembered my poor little sew-along skirt and how sad and lonely it would be if it was left out of the sew-along. I may have cheated a bit and sewn the rest of it up all at once but can you blame me? Look at how sweet it turned out.

But even though my first sew-along was a fail, it doesn't compare to my next disaster - the CKC Matchy Matchy Easter Contest. I had been planning to enter the contest since the beginning of the month when it was announced. I ordered the perfect fabric, found the right pattern and starting cutting out the 50 or so pieces to put the dress together. I thought I'd have plenty of time to finish it when we got back from Ohio but I completely underestimated how much our lives would be thrown off track. I stayed up late Saturday night finishing the dress and let me tell you, you know you have a good husband when he is willing to roll hem and gather 10 yards of ruffle at 11 PM the night before Easter. We finished the dress around midnight and planned to take pictures for the contest the next morning - that's where things fell apart. 

Serena's Stripwork Double Layer Dress. Dress by Dandelion & Daffodil.
Pattern by Create Kids Couture. 

My 1 year old is teething you see. At 3 months the pediatrician told us that he had never seen a baby teething as aggressively as our little chica. Here we are at 13 months and my daughter has 12 teeth and 4 more just taking their time. To further complicate matters, she got her canine teeth before her molars! All this means my baby girl is fussy, defiant, cranky and refusing sleep. We are a tired bunch. I'm pretty sure it's been almost 2 years since I've had a full night's sleep. Even in utero my girl kept me from sleeping. At first it was nausea. Whomever named it "morning sickness" must've been a man because it was "all-the-stinking-time sickness." After that subsided, I had middle of the night hunger pangs. Then it was the kicking and tumbling and elbow jabbing and for the last three months of my pregnancy my gal had almost constant hiccups. 

So Easter morning came and went and so did my sanity. Pictures took a back burner to church, lunch with family and naptime. I pouted a bit when my daughter wouldn't cooperate for pictures - okay I pouted a lot - and ruined a perfectly good afternoon. By the time I was able to find a good picture, edit it and post it to the contest album I realized I was a full 12 hours past the deadline. I will spare you the details of the pity party I threw myself for the next 2 hours but it wasn't pretty. In fact, it was ugly, soul baring, and even a little scary. As a mom, I question every decision I make - is it the right one for my daughter, my family, my marriage. Am I giving my family everything they need from me and am I loving them like they deserve? I realized that my own selfish desires for something as small as a sewing contest had impacted my family's day because it had put me in a bad mood. 

This is convicting y'all (I'm from the South. We say "y'all.") The whole reason I gave up my profession to stay home with my daughter was so that I can be there for her. I need to focus on that right now and take a step back from the less important things. 

If you are a parent who works (inside or outside the home), how do you find balance?