Wild and Three

*singing along to his birthday song* C made these sweet Baby F and fox beeswax figures!
My sweet, spitfire baby boy is three!!  How does time fly by so? It feels like forever since I was last pregnant yet I can still remember it so well. I can still remember all his little kicks and hiccups and then I can remember when they stopped. I can remember going into labor and having that gut feeling something was wrong. I can remember my midwife's words of how he wouldn't have made it if we waited even a moment longer to get to her and the weight of my very tiny 5 pound baby in my arms. Oh my sweet baby boy. He was an answered prayer and his life is truly a miracle. I am forever blessed for knowing him and love him more than I could ever put into words.

He is the most demanding, energetic and strong willed of all my children, but I feel like that is because he had to be such a strong fighter at the beginning of his life. He wants the world to know he is here and not someone to be forgotten. I love his strength and tenacity. All of these traits that might be challenging at times to parent will serve him well as he grows into an adult. Especially when you couple them with his enormous compassionate heart, his ability to love in any situation and his little gentlemanly manners. Not to mention his love for cuddling and giving hugs and kisses every moment of the day. Goodness, I am the lucky one!

I apologize for the rather horrible photos. It was so dark the morning of his birthday. We stayed home and kept it low key because we just really needed some down time as a family. Of course, everything was fox related. It reminded me a lot of his first birthday. I honestly don't remember much of his second birthday, as sad as that sounds. I think I have tried to erase most of that year in Oregon from my mind.  He even wore the same pants I made for him on his first birthday. Would you believe I made them so big that he can still fit into them at age three?!

He mostly received clothes from us. I couldn't really think of anything fun and exciting to give him. I guess that is what happens when one's birthday is exactly one month after Christmas. His Nana and Grandpa made up for it though with a new book and a John Deere toy to play with on his farm mat I made him. Oh let's not even talk about the 10 year in the making farm mat. I shed a few tears after I took it out of the washing machine (purposely felting it as per the pattern) and it came out super felted and literally half the size it was. All the beautiful detail is now gone but you know what? He still loved it and that is all that matters. C made him a sweet set of beeswax figures seen above (goodness how I love them) and Kevin's Dad (!!) sent him some tinker toys that he and L instantly built things with. Lastly (and perhaps the most uncommon gift to give a three year) he got his own peace lily plant. Our church is filled with peace lilies and every Sunday Baby F is always admiring them. It seemed like the perfect gift for him and he loved it. He tells everyone all about "my plant". He might be a crazy plant boy in the making - like mother like son I suppose? 😂

Wild and Three

The Buddy Bond

I mentioned on Instagram that my family and I were in Portland recently for a short day trip. K's beloved 8th grade buddy was graduating from high school so we wanted to make sure we were there for such an important event. K was thrilled at the thought of seeing her buddy - they still have such a special bond and K really looks up to her like a big sister. They hadn't seen one another since our last visit to Portland in 2015. She was so excited that she hardly slept a wink the night before.

We spent the days before the trip in preparation. I finished up K's dress that she requested while she sewed a gift bag for her buddy with the leftover fabric. She then tucked her most treasured nature finds into the bag, including a whole sand dollar that she found on the beach here. After she finished her treasure bag she clipped a baby spider plant from her special spider plant (she received from her 1st grade teacher on her very first day of school) and gently placed it in a pot with fresh soil and worm castings. She also picked the first rose to bloom at our house just before we left to give with her gifts.

K patiently sat through the three hour long graduation ceremony (unlike her brother that I ended up taking outside to play) and then waited in quite a long line before she was finally reunited with her buddy. Well worth the wait, of course! I hadn't seen K so happy in ages. They were able to catch up a bit and even discuss having some time together before college. K was absolutely glowing by the end of their time together. What a precious gift her buddy is to her (and the rest of us)!

K as a first grader and her 8th grade buddy then: And now:

The Buddy Bond

From the East Coast to the West Coast

Two shark loving vegetarian boys (I wish we lived closer together, I think they would be the best of friends!) When your very best friend since the 4th grade texts you out of the blue to say that she is driving through your little town - you drop everything to see her. We grew up in New York together but both ended up on the west coast, her in California and me now in Oregon. Funny how that works out,huh? When I told my children who we were meeting they were so confused - how could Mama's best friend be here?? Even though they all know who she is, K is the only one to have met her and that was when she was a tiny baby. I can't believe it had been over ten years since we saw each other! It was a short visit filled with lots of catching up, laughing and yawning from exhaustion (coffee is a must next time) but one worth savoring for sure. I am feeling so very grateful!! Now to find a way to meet up more often...

And on another note I had to share this image below because well, if you know my children you know that not one of them would ever take a pacifier. K was pretending she was a pediatrician and that she took babies temperatures with a pacifier thermometer. She put a tiny bit of peanut butter on the pacifier to get him to take it (the evidence of this is all over his face and head!).

From the East Coast to the West Coast

Old Fashioned

The other day I was asked if I make my girls' clothes. I shyly answered yes, just as I normally do when I am asked that question, or if I knit my children's clothes. Back in Portland, a question like that would be a compliment, as many of us there love to be more connected to our roots, live simply and make or repurpose as much as we can ourselves. But this time, the question seemed different. I felt it in my stomach. The question reminded me of those childhood moments when someone asks you something they already know the answer to, just to hear you say it so they can make fun of you about it later. It was almost as if sewing our own clothes wasn't "good enough" or perhaps too old fashioned.  Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think this person was trying to come off that way at all, but the tone made me think about how others may look at us and our choices.

This interaction took place shortly after being told "We were poor so my Mom sewed our clothes." by someone speaking of her childhood. Needless to say, all of this talk has me feeling a bit self conscious now. I wouldn't want my children to be embarrassed or to feel out of place because they wear handmade things. I mean, I don't think they do feel this way at all. They always tend to gravitate towards the things I make them in their closet over the mass produced items they own. The same goes for toys or other everyday items. They seem to choose handmade, just as I seem to.

I choose to make my children's clothes because I love doing so.  Contrary to what might be a popular belief - sewing (or knitting for that matter) your own clothes is not less expensive than buying them. Sometimes it actually costs much more. But the satisfaction that comes from making something with your own hands for someone you love just does not have a price. Not to mention that I am not particularly fond of the styles for children clothes nowadays. I prefer to dress my children as children - not miniature adults or teenagers. That's just my own personal choice though.

My Grandma used to sew my Halloween costumes for me as a child and I loved it. I used to take her talents for granted not understanding how much goes into what she made me. Boy do I appreciate them now! I just wish she was still here for me to tell her so. I can still remember one Halloween lamenting over the fact that there were no Princess Allura (of Voltron) costumes available. My Grandma sat down with me and watched an episode of Voltron, and sketched out Princess Allura's dress and crown. Then by the time Halloween night came I had the best costume there was! Those are the kind of memories I truly hope my children have.

Why should making things from our own hands be looked down on? Is it not something to be happy and perhaps maybe even a tiny bit proud about? Every stitch tells a story, and each fabric used speaks of what my children love at the moment. And what about the food we make from scratch? The sprouts we loving tend to in our gardens? Call me old fashioned but these are the things that I love. They are part of the fabric that weaves my family together.

Old Fashioned