A passing storm

A hurricane was scheduled to hit Hawaii today, but thankfully it veered north and missed the island. Souvenirs of this hurricane are heat and humidity. The air was so heavy today it was hard to breathe. A light rain fell on and off all day today. A perfect day to nest. To try to stay cool. We turned to comfort food and watermelon. Lots of cold cold watermelon. Currently that is Liam's favorite fruit and we are keeping the fridge stocked with it. A treat that Ross and I are enjoying immensely.

Today was all about this little boy. We read book after book, played ball, sang songs, played with ice, danced, took everything out of drawers (mostly him), put everything back into their places (mostly me), and did puzzles. Oh my, this boy of mine is starting to really understand puzzles. He can put together one of his nesting puzzles, and with each piece that he fits together, he looks up with this big grin and claps his hands and then raises his hand for a high five.

I took the camera outside and took pictures of the flowers surrounding our yard to try and document the passing storm. The rain made everything so green. So alive. There is a clean that perfumes the air right after the rain comes. I sat outside for a bit while Ross played with Liam inside. It was nice. Breathing in while listening to the faint laughter coming in through the screen door.

I had originally planned to get back to working on some long neglected WIPs, but instead paper crafting took precedent. Liam got some wooden animal magnets for his birthday. They are themed. Four themes to be exact. Ocean, Farm, Safari, and possibly animals down under. I have to check on that. We put two of the themed animals up on the fridge: Farm and Ocean.  This is a favorite spot for Liam. He loves taking them down and arranging them. Although it is nice to see that he understands the concept of taking them off and putting them back on again, there was something missing about the activity. It bothered me to see those animals on that stark white fridge. Lonely and homeless and devoid of a place to belong. So during nap, out came the construction paper, wrapping paper, recycled paper, glue gun, and out came a little scene for the ocean animals to live. They even got real starfishes and a shell to accommodate their little home. It was such a treat to see Liam wake up and discover this little scene. How he played with the starfish magnets and moved around the animals. Creating this little scene was such fun. I forgot how wonderful simple paper crafting can be. As I was crafting it, my mind was whirling with so many different ideas. About how this activity could be expanded as he got older. Since there are four themes, a theme on the fridge could be rotated every month. The medium in which to make the scenes could differ as well. Collages, painting, crayons/markers, tear art, thumb print stamping, are a few that came to mind. Collages or drawing/painting a background would be wonderful! A great activity to teach about ecosystems. I am starting a goodie book of all the activities and recipes I want to do as Liam gets older. This will definitely be one of them! Oh the possibilities!

The little animal magnet set was purchased at Target, but I also found them here if you're interested!

Turning One

It took him all morning, but in the afternoon he finally discovered it. His little reading area. First the quilt was removed. Then the stuffed monkey crocheted for him by an auntie. Then his hippo puppet. But then, he discovered his little basket of books with some puppet books that we got for him at the zoo waiting. And sat down he did to turn the pages. I sat down with him and read to him with funny voices for the animals and my heart soared as he laughed. We got through four books. Four books with my little boy. Oh how wonderful this moment was!

Ross asked me the question, "why is a reading corner so important?" I thought on that question long and hard. And my answer was that I wanted to send the message to him that reading is important. Important enough to have a space of its own. And there were so many blogs and books that moved me in that direction. Like this post by Meg of Mama Liberated  and this book  which has a whole chapter on creating learning spaces.

There was so much baking done during nap time! Baking and present wrapping. And yes, a birthday crown.  One that has an elastic in the back so that it will grow with him as we celebrate more and more birthdays together. The pattern was from here if you are interested in making one of your own.

Oh my little boy. Celebrating his one year was just like I hoped it would be. Filled with his favorite people to play with. Filled with people who love him so dearly. Filled with good food and laughter. The celebration centered around him. His favorite foods (with some adult additions). We had watermelon, poi, and seaweed for him. And new to him was Korean chicken. A favorite in Ross' family during celebrations. For the adults, we had poke (marinated raw fish) to go with the poi. And oh how everything went!

There were a few toys added to the toy library to be rotated in. But mostly my favorite thing was watching him have an evening of fun. Everybody was so eager to play with him. Catch and blocks and peekaboo. Yes, oh this little boy had fun. And laughed so loud.

It was such a lovely day. One! Oh my. One whole year old. One full journey around the sun. Oh little one how much you have changed. How much you have changed us. Looking back it was such an amazing year. I can't wait to see what this one will bring.

The after glow

Oh this first celebration was a wonderful day. Liam was surrounded by love. So much love. I'm sitting here, long after my little boy is asleep, going through the pictures and really trying to soak everything in. How fast celebrations like this go.  I hope that it made an impression on him. I know that it did on me. The importance of family. The importance of sharing special occasions together. Of marking milestones with thought and love.

Tomorrow I will work on a post that really captures how wonderful his first year celebration was. But for now, I'd just love to keep these precious memories close. And this little big boy of mine closer.

Good night everybody.

One Year Changes

How is it possible, that a small change like a hair cut, can make a baby into a little boy? Oh my heart. Yesterday Liam had his first year hair cut. I will spear you the mama sentimentality. I could talk about how he was bald for the first three months of his life. Or that he use to have these little wisps of hair that grew on the sides of his head and we use to call them 'wings'. Or that when I look at him I still can't believe he was that little baby that we brought home from the hospital right before a tropical storm hit the island. No. Instead I will show you the first picture that I snapped of his little reading nook.

Oh this little corner. I set it up for him late into the night. And it is waiting patiently for him as he sleeps. Waiting for him to wake up and discover this new space. A space just for him. A place to read - or more likely throw the pillows around, try to take the frame off of the wall, and move his chair around like a push toy. But in my mind it is a place for him to look through his books. For us to read together. For us to impress upon him the wonders that reading can do. The worlds that it can open up.  Oh how much I want for you my sweet sweet boy.

Thank you everybody for sharing this journey with us. I hear him now, his little waking sounds. It's time for him to discover. To find. And I am waiting with my camera. To document this memory of him turning one.

Aloha and Happy Monday friends!

Grateful Sunday

There are so many moments of gratitude throughout the week. Moments that took my breath away. Moments that gave me joy. I wanted Sunday to be a day that I reflected on a moment that I was grateful for. That I wanted to meditate on and savor. If you want to join me then leave a link in the comments section. Gratitude is so catching. I'd love to share it with you. 

This was a picture during our beach day. Liam and I shared watermelon and watched the finches play around us. This moment was so peaceful. So calm. So perfect. This picture was taken right before a medical procedure happened in our family that brought stress and anxiety into the rhythm of our day. Everything is alright. The procedure was done just for a precaution. But oh how it reminded me to never take our health for granted. To never take the ability to run in the sand and to chase after the waves, or to breathe the salty sea air in deeply for granted. When stress levels ran high and it felt like we were moving in three different directions - this moment, in this space, gave me a place of peace. And for that I am so grateful.

Treasures

It was one of those days. When the thoughts in my mind just seemed to weigh on me. Like a physical tangible weight. My shoulders felt slumped. Everything felt slumped. So I decided today, come rain or come shine, we were going to the beach. My favorite beach. Where Ross first took me when we were dating and we had one of those talks. Those talks that take two people and bring them to a point of understanding. A place where they intersect. 

This was a bit of a milestone marker for me. I have never taken Liam anywhere by myself. Until today. Where I knew that the sand and the water would be stimulation for him and healing for me. And oh how wonderful it was this morning. Two and a half hours of just discovering with my little boy. Of eating snacks (can you believe this little one of mine loves roasted seaweed! Who would have thought!) and on his part (and whenever I kissed him, a bit on my part) a lot of sand. Of touching the water and watching him crawl away from the fast approaching waves and into my arms. Of walking hand in hand with him as we gathered corral and lava rocks in our bucket together to take home so we can bring a part of this peaceful moment with us. 

I know how healing nature can be. How the sand and the waves just feel like home. I know how beautiful our island can be. I don't know why it takes moments of complete blah to get me out the door so that I can be in it. To place ourselves in the best parts of the place that we call home. 

I am grateful for today. For our spot. For our moment. And that moment of peace that comes when you take the time to breathe - not just air - but space. Both physically and emotionally. 

When we got home Liam fell asleep on our car ride back. And when he woke up, got to play with the corral and lava rocks that we collected today. Today we started a nature basket on the top of his toy shelf. Where I can pull it out for him to rediscover and possibly remember our wonderful morning together. When he felt the sand on his toes and walked with a happy and fully present mama, collecting treasures on the beach. 

A finish - just in time

It's done. This quilt that I have worked on for months, is finally finished. His abc quilt. According to the archives, I started this quilt back in April. Stitching up those little blocks were so wonderful. This project really helped me to step out of my comfort zone. Instead of back stitching (my go to stitch) everything, I really pushed myself to learn all of the stitches that were used for this quilt. And I am a little more confident now with embroidery.

It's wonderful isn't it? A project that pushes you to learn something new. And how wonderful and generous people are on the internet with tutorials. YouTube. You can learn anything on YouTube it appears.

The format of the quilt also pushed me to be better. I have a hard time reading 2 dimensional diagrams. I am more of a visual learner. But I was determined to make this quilt exactly like the pattern was written. I didn't want to make adjustments simply because I wasn't comfortable with it. Or because I was scared to do it. And keeping on keeping on paid off. The blocks came together so nicely. When I did my test block (That little e for energy), it really was an easy way to construct a block. After that, chain piecing made putting these little blocks together a breeze!

A bit about the project:

The quilt pattern came from Kristine Czepuryk's book S is for Stitch. You can find it here .
The finished size of the quilt was 34" x 39 1/2"
The fabric was a bundle by Quilt Dad. The bundle was Nature elements.
Quilting done by hand with Pearl 8 cottons in Ecru.

Oh that picture.  That is a memory I want to hold close about this process. So many of the stitches that went into his quilt were done with him sleeping in the sling. Close to my heart.

Happy stitching everybody.

Linking up to Finish it Friday with Crazy Mom Quilts

Oh! If you liked his little bear pillow, I blogged about it here  or you can find it in this book.