Four

I need to say that I feel like my normal self right now until I start trying to have a conversation with someone besides Trent or do something like update a blog or write a thank you note. Then I realize that I’m at the mercy of post-pregnancy hormones and 3 hour sleep stretches. Trent just asked if I was writing a really long post. Um, no, it’s just taking forever to come up with complete sentences.

And even on my best day, how can I describe what a complete joy it is to welcome Tate to our family and have him as a part of my life? He’s wonderful. I’m blessed beyond my wildest dreams to have these two little guys near me every day. Rush is a great big brother, continuing to give lots of hugs and kisses to his little brother. Today Tate was laying on a blanket next to Rush while we were reading a book and Rush reached over to hold his hand. I’m so glad they have each other.

My mom headed home yesterday after a week of helping us, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I spent most of her last day here tearing up when she mentioned going home and crying when she left. It was like being ten-year-old Kelly anticipating getting dropped of at camp, anticipating being homesick. It wasn’t because I was nervous about not having her help, it was because I knew I was going to genuinely miss having her around. It makes me so jealous of people who live in the same town as their parents, and not just for the free babysitting.

I recently started to realize that having children is changing who I am, and in a good way. During the first week home with Tate it was cold and rainy for a few days and I started going stir crazy for fresh air. In my past life I would spend my entire lunch break reading at my desk and was generally content to be inside. I didn’t realize how accustomed I had become to spending every morning or afternoon (or both) in the yard or at the park or in the cul-de-sac. Tate had his first trip to the park when he was a few days old and we’re basically back to our daily outside routine.

Tate has been a quiet little guy so far, but we did sneak some of the “happiest baby” techniques on him when he was crying the other night. Trent and I received the dvd as a gift after Rush was born and all the techniques to calm down a baby involve s-words: swaddle, shh-ing, side…this picture is “side”. He immediately calmed down, but his expression was clearly “I’m calm, but I don’t know why, and I would probably rather be crying.”

So being a family of four is rolling along fantastically. 7:40 PM on a Friday night, both boys are sleeping, and I’m heading to bed because one of those boys won’t be sleeping for long.

Introducing...

Tate Arthur Williams

January 11, 2011

1:36 PM

8 lbs, 4 oz

Tate is a healthy, beautiful, charming, adorable baby and we’re overwhelmed with love for him. We’re all home now and have successfully managed 24 hours of being two adults in charge of a newborn and a one-year-old, but to keep it successful that’s all the computer time we have for now. Welcome Tate!

Better Than 12 Drummers Drumming

 

 

 

Handmade Gifts Wrap Up

I’m doing one more post about handmade gifts, because they consumed so much of our energy over the past few months, yet we couldn’t really talk about it. So. Here we go.

For my sister I made the market tote from Amy Butler’s Sew-It Kit. Lesson learned: if you take the time to actually follow directions and buy home decor fabric and the fabric says “dry clean only” even though it’s 100% cotton, if you wash it, most of the heavy starch will wash right out of the fabric. It still turned out fine, but geeze fabric makers. Who dry cleans cotton?

And because Casey is the easiest person to shop for/make things for, she also got a little travel card game set. (On second thought, I might be making all these things for my idea of Casey or the college version of her. She’s a minimalist now might be throwing all this stuff away or donating it to Goodwill as soon as she gets it. I need to snoop around next time I’m at her house.)

There was the collection of make-up bags using the Flossie Teacakes tutorial that went to some of my sister-in-laws and my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law. For once I did a really good job of buying just enough fabric, which is kind of disappointing because I was looking forward to having more scraps left over.

Rush drew his Aunt Kelley’s name in the Williams family handmade gift exchange, so he made this cute apple stamp lunch bag/produce bag/tote. He loves painting.

I made a crayon roll for Rush and adapted the pattern for colored pencils for our neighbor’s children. Rush is currently more interested in the metal lunchbox where he stores his crayons because he can stand on it and reach things on the bookshelf. He’s also into using markers from my marker box. Maybe for now I’ll just tuck away the crayon roll for travelling. There are sharks on the fabric, so maybe it will be a good rainy-day-at-the-beach toy.

Maybe my favorite gift was the pillow I made for my brother featuring a silhouette of his dog Mel. It was risky, because what single, 25-year-old male has “quilted pillow made by pregnant older sister” on his Christmas list? I think he liked it though, or at least he’s polite. I was inspired by a quilt that Kellaura’s mom made with her dogs on it.

For my dad, I designed a set of postcards with a map to their beach house on one side. If he and my mom invite friends for the weekend, they can give them the card with directions and any other notes they need to add. I did have a slight breakdown when I sat down with my box of black and white postcards still warm from Kinkos, excuse me, FedEx Office, and jars of paint and realized it was going to take forever to paint each individual card…who in the world thinks it’s a good idea to hand paint postcards? It’s not like color copies are restrictively expensive these days. I think because I generally enjoy making cards it never crossed my mind that it might be a time consuming gift. I finally just buckled down and painted them, but still consider it kind of an insane thing to do.

We didn’t get pictures of everything, specifically anything that had to be mailed or sent early, like the beaded cross for my sister-in-law, or anything that was wrapped as soon as it was finished, like the purse I made for my mom. Hopefully these gifts are being enjoyed somewhere.

I hope we didn’t run out of all our good handmade gift ideas. We should probably get an early start for next Christmas. We’ll have two children this year, so I guess I should get started around April or May. Trent should start now.

Trent’s Christmas Projects

I almost don’t know what to say about Trent’s Christmas projects.  “If you’re gonna be a bear, be a grizzly” seems appropriate.  When he decided to really jump into woodworking and make Christmas presents, his creative, hardworking, perfectionist spirit took over.

After full days at work, he spent night after night in our garage and our neighbor’s garage to design, build, and paint an incredible kitchen for Rush and managed to finish 8 (eight) cutting boards as well. 

I think our neighbor put it best when he saw the finished kitchen:  “Well, I think you’ve created a family heirloom.”  We are not getting rid of it, ever.  Either our grandkids will be playing with it at our house or Trent will have to make something cool every time we have a new child so they all have something to take to their own homes for their kids to play with.  

I really like that it’s painted just like our kitchen.  It’s not just that our kitchen walls are blue and so is the toy kitchen.  It’s the same paint that we used for our kitchen walls, so in fact it matches perfectly.

The cutting boards, or excuse me, serving boards, were a lot more work than either of us anticipated, but they turned into a beautiful finished project.  The end result is so smooth and polished that I almost wouldn’t believe that Trent actually made them, other than the fact that as Christmas day drew closer and closer I was nagging him for daily updates and schedules.

He pulled it off and finished everything.  The kitchen received its final coat of polyurethane on December 23 and the serving boards were still leaking mineral oil into their wrapping paper as they sat under the tree, but all were finished and beautiful.

Trent did walk home from the neighbor’s house the other day with a stack of woodworking patterns.  I think he’s getting an early start for next Christmas.

Shout Outs for 2011

Cabbage and black-eyed peas? Check. We just finished our New Years Day meal –yes, a day late thanks to not having the energy to cook yesterday due to colds- so we’re ready for 2011. I love all the possibilities wrapped up in a new year. I can put my shoes away one time and feel like I’m a brand new, clean, organized person who doesn’t leave her stuff everywhere.

I recently read a letter in Dear Abby that was so appalling to me that I wrote Abby a letter in response and even used my real name instead of my pen name. A woman wrote in saying that she and her niece had a tradition of getting together every year to make handmade Christmas cards. Last year the woman received a check in the mail from one of card recipients with a note that said something to the effect of “here’s some money so you can buy real cards next year.” What a disgusting response. I hope that woman and her niece find some nice friends who will appreciate their cards. Not only do Trent and I genuinely enjoy making things, we also love receiving things that other people have made as well. The handmade gifts abounded this year, so here’s a hearty shout-out to everyone who put their time, energy, creativity, spirit, and heart into gifts for our family…

My brother Hunter painted this picture of birds for me. Again, is it fair that one person should be so good at some many things? I considered stealing the painting he made for my sister, but in the spirit of Christmas I refrained from hiding it and let her take it home.

My sister Casey photo-shopped the picture of Rush (below the birds) for Trent and also made bath salts for me. I've already used them once, so relaxing.

In Trent’s family, we drew names this year and made a gift for that person. Trent’s mom had me and I received this fabulous twirly scarf, which received multiple compliments when I wore it to church today.

Trent’s sister Kelley had Rush’s name and made him a picnic blanket which rolls up and ties for easy transport. We were already using it on Christmas morning. I really hope the name drawing/gift making sticks as a new tradition. (Side note and confession: I drew my niece Trinity’s name and haven’t finished my gift yet…maybe tomorrow?!? I stalled after cutting out the fabric. Trent finished his gift for our nephew Tanner, so I’m the hold up on getting that package in the mail.)

My mom gave me the Christmas tablecloth that my grandmother embroidered for her. My grandmother made it while recovering from both a heart transplant and eye surgery, so I plan on honoring her time and love by using the tablecloth.

Rush’s godmother Kate, the reining queen of the handmade, sent him a very cool mat that hold three matchbox cars, includes a road for driving them on, and rolls up to contain it all and take places. She also sent the green monster that, in the picture below, is about to eat the road.

Then there is our neighbor Alan, who instead of giving us a gift should have sent us a bill for advice, electricity, and sandpaper after Trent was in his woodshop garage for hours, night after night, working on his own Christmas projects. Instead Alan made a nutcracker for us and his family gave it to us with a box full of nuts. Not only was it incredibly thoughtful, but I’ve always wanted to have a bowl of shelled nuts with a nutcracker out during the holidays.

I’m not forgetting Nick and Kellaura who, besides being the most thoughtful gift givers ever, made homemade peanut butter cups for us. If we’re getting into baked goods…the peppermint cupcakes from Kim, the toffee cookies from my mom…yum…obviously none of that is pictured because it’s gone and contributing to the baby weight I’ll have to start losing soon. If I did forget to mention any handmade gifts, it’s only because they have already become such a part of our daily lives that I didn’t remember to take a picture. To anyone who has ever made a gift for Trent, Rush, or me: thank you. I will never send you a check to buy something “real” next year and I will always use what you make for me.

(Related note: One of my favorite short stories is “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. If you make a gift for us, we use it. Happy New Year.)