It's not fair!

Alixa is roughly halfway through her pregnancy, and we have now left behind the nausea phase and entered wholeheartedly into the hormonal weepy phase. Over the past month or so there had been subtle hints of this transition, but events of this week really brought it into focus.

The first event was movie night, when Lix rented Toy Story 3 to watch with Jarom. The latest offering from the Pixar crew follows Woody and the gang as they struggle to deal with their abandonment issues when Andy gets ready to leave for college. It was a wonderfully done movie, as Pixar movies usually are, and at the end there are some scenes where Andy’s mom is giving him a hug and Andy has to give his childhood toys away to a little girl. **Spoiler Alert** Jarom was just trying to enjoy the movie but he kept getting interrupted by the sniffling coming from the girl on the other couch. After the movie ended, Jarom tucked Lix into bed and got ready to leave for his night shift, but before he left he checked on Jenna and then made a comment to Lix comparing Jenna and her stuffed animals to Andy and his toys. For some reason this set off the waterworks all over again.

Someday these two will grow up and leave Mr. Tiger and Midnight behind

The next day was the start of the craft fair that Lix and Kenz have been working so hard for over the past few months. The booth that they set up looked great, they had made approximately one trillion bows to go with the hats, bow holders, carseat canopies, and blankets. The doors opened and the people began to trickle past, admiring the display and commenting on the cuteness thereof, but not offering to buy anything. After a few hours Lix left to grab a bite to eat and had a breakdown. She thought of all the people she knows and wondered who would be the most sympathetic, perhaps someone who regularly weeps for apparently no reason at all. That person is Jarom’s mom. She was a great virtual shoulder to cry on, consoling her about the slow pace of sales at the fair and empathizing with her on the unfortunate truth that children inevitably grow up. Between that call and her always understanding and ever supportive husband Lix recovered admirably.



Business at the four-day fair improved each day, but after it was all said and done it fell short of the lofty expectations that had been set. Two days before the fair the inventory had been tallied and the anticipated gross sales amount was over $20,000. The first and most important business lesson that was learned is that theoretical sales are just that. I guess there is a reason that most start-up businesses fail in the first year of their existence. It is tough work. But the products that they have are well-made, so they will keep tinkering with the prices and look for new outlets for sales. I’d be remiss if I did not do my part by plugging their website, www.babybabblesboutique.com, where you can see examples of the things they do and place your orders. Free shipping on orders over $25!* Tell your friends! They do custom orders, too! (*offer not available in all areas, see website for details.) Hopefully they will be able to continue selling their inventory, and while they will certainly not reach the $20,000 mark, they can still make a little money.



Profitability aside, the experience has been a great one for Alixa. She very much enjoyed improving her seamstering talents, and has become better friends with Kenz as a result of their shared time and effort. And should she ever try her hand at another business venture (investors, hide your wallets!) she will be that much wiser about how to do it. Jarom is very proud of her for going out and doing this, and is also happy to have a new well from which he can pull jokes out of. Seriously though, go to the website and buy some stuff, or Jenna won’t get to go to college.

This is what happens to Jenna when she gets tired.

Recently we took a field trip with all the Richmond Winns to the petting zoo, where the goats apparently love Ritz crackers more than anything in the world.