A Stitch in Time

Baby Bird passed the two week milestone with flying colors along with Mama Cat who is settling into her new job as a SAHM.  Here is the quilt and Baby Bird in all their glory.  Just love him to pieces!

"May your sorrows be patched and your joys quilted."

Happy Day, Daddy-O!

Happy Daughter's Day...uh, I mean Happy Daddy's Day!  You see, I feel like the one who has been given the best gift on Father's Day.  I have a father who has been everything a dad should be and more.  He has been a true friend.  There are too many lessons learned  from Dad to list them all, but let me share a few of my favorite.

• Your belly button holds your bookey up.  Okay, I just had to get that out there.  If no one ever told you why you have one, now you know. Dad can tell you the whole story.  It's pretty bizarre, but believable when you are six years old.
• "Go wax your car." What Detroit and Japan won't tell you.  Whenever new car fever struck, my dad would tell me to go and wash and wax my car.  Sure enough, a few hours spent primping my ride would usually cure car fever.  Don't forget the wax part.  It's very important that your car shines when you are done, not to mention you''ll be too tired to go car shopping.
• "I didn't send you to college to drop classes."  I was going through some adjustments my freshman year at college and my advisor suggested I drop two of my classes to stand a fighting chance of passing my first semester.  Feeling relief, I gleefully informed my mother of this.  A few hours later, my dad called to tell me I would be doing no such thing and to suck it up and get to work.  I passed the courses and finished school on time and with a GPA that I could actually own publicly.
• Practice makes perfect.  Whether it was learning to jump rope or play the piano, good ole Dad was always there to give me an audience and wipe away the tears of frustration.  In fact, he would inspire me to go beyond learning and strive for perfection.  Not in a pressuring way, but in a "I honestly think you can." kind of way.
• Shortcuts often become scenic routes.  You're not lost when you are taking the scenic route. Your outlook on a situation makes all the difference in the experience you will take away from it.
• Make a difference. He truly enjoys helping people.  He is generous to a fault, but the world needs more people like that.
• "Be careful what you put into writing. You never know who will read it."  Boy, that has been some of the best advice ever.  I had the misfortune of sharing my feelings toward a teacher when I was in junior high only to have the note fall into her hands.  Ouch. On the other hand, I have written down feelings and thoughts to hold on to fresh memories and provide a gift to those I love.  Like my Dad. 

~Happy Father's Day!

Chapter Two

Baby Bird has hatched and is more beautiful and miraculous than I could have ever imagined.  Did being in the waiting room for the second grandchild feel just like the first time when I was waiting for PDub?  No, it was different and special, just like this wonderful little baby boy!  A friend once told me that "Love multiplies not divides."  I believe with all my heart that is so true.

Mama Cat and Daddy Jaybird delivered Baby Bird at 9:28 p.m. on June 8.  He weighed a whopping 8 pounds 4 ounces and was  21 and 1/2 inches long.  He has blue eyes and blonde hair like his daddy and loves to be cuddled just like his mommy. 

Never one to take the miracle of birth for granted, I give thanks and praise for his safe arrival.  Now let the adventures begin~

Anticipation

Here we go! We will finally get to meet Baby Bird this week. Stay tuned!

The Nest

I just returned from a wonderful weekend with Mama Cat and Daddy Jaybird.  I had hoped to bring you pictures of Baby Bird, but he is not quite ready to hatch.  In his place though, I have pictures of his nest!  It is adorable!!  Mama Cat would call it modern vintage.  See if you have a better description. 

This is a mobile Mama Cat won at auction at shopgoodwill.com.  I had no idea that such a website existed, but she was looking for this particular mobile and just lucked up in her search.  If I remember right, she won it for less than ten bucks. I was having trouble following her train of thought on the 'modern vintage' thing until I saw it.

Before their move, Mama Cat and Daddy Jaybird were limited in storage space.  They found this dresser on craigslist and it was perfect for storage and just the right height and width for a changing table.  You would not believe how deep the drawers are. Baskets tuck easily underneath for even more storage.

These are a few of the finds Mama Cat has picked up along the way from different antique shops.  I love the wagon!  It's a Radio Flyer and I think it was still in the antique booth because it was filled with stuff like a display.  As my mama would have said, "You can't find these anymore!"

Speaking of Great Grandmothers, their presence is in the nursery with sweet touches.  The yellow frame was repurposed with the ABC print from her maternal great-grandmother's antique booth and the bookshelf holds a cross stitch that says, "Bless this hard-working engineer" and was from her fraternal great-grandmother's home.  Mama Cat's 'Papa' was a railroad engineer.   The shelves are shower gifts from the hostesses who found them on her Pottery Barn registry. 

Winnie the Pooh is another memento that made it to Baby Bird's nest.  He was Mama Cat's security blanket and she never left home without him.  Well, sometimes she did, which meant we would have to turn around and go back for him.

Mama Cat purchased the chair from Buy Buy Baby and the rug from Garden Ridge.  She loved the muted colors of yellow and gray and used them as the backdrop colors for the nursery.

This is not just a baby quilt.  This is THE quilt.  Mama Cat made this while perched in a hotel during the transition between cities.  Each fabric was meticulously selected and arranged. It is the center point of every thing else she did.

So, here it is...all put together and ready for Baby Bird...

All it needs now is~

Are We There Yet? Are We There Yet? Are We There Yet?

In just a few weeks, Baby Bird will be making his appearance!  Mama Cat is looking great, but she is well aware that BB is getting bigger and bigger each week.  I was able to feel him moving around and he is packing a great punch and definitely not the little butterfly flutter I felt when she shared his movements with me the last visit.  Soo excited to see this little boy!!!

So is his nest ready?  Not just yet.  Mama Cat and Jaybird just moved to Alabama, and while his nursery is painted, there are some repairs that must be addressed before the furniture is set up.  Breathe, Mama Cat, breathe.  It will all get done in time.

In the meanwhile, she was showered on her last trip to SC and sent home with books, books, and more books!  Yay!  I love baby showers that stock the library!  She got some wonderful titles, classics, and new ones alike. 

I gave her Little Mouse and the Big Cupcake. Little Mouse is in a hurry, but he finds a chocolate chip raspberry filled cupcake that is much too big to handle alone.  His friends come by chippng in to take a nibble until finally...it's just the right size for Little Mouse.  I loved the message of sharing, helping, and the wonderful illustrations that tell the tale.  I know Baby Bird will love it, too. 

She received so many wonderful classics.  The Country Bunny, 

Guess How Much I Love You , The Golden Children's Bible,

Skippyjon Jones just to name a few.

If there's one thing my girls and I have in common, it's that we love to plan a party. This was so much fun and was a much needed opportunity to gather and celebrate this bundle of joy.

Now, let the countdown commence!

Is he here yet?~

Only One Mother

When I was in first grade, my teacher, the dear Mrs. Sanders (who just turned 109 by the way), had a chart with the poem 'Only One Mother' printed neatly on it.  I, of course, could not read, but each day we would recite the poem until one day without even realizing it, I was reading!  Now, Mrs. Sanders was brilliant to use this to teach her small pupils, but the real inspiration for me was the connection I made instantly with the message.

Only One Mother

by George Cooper

Hundreds of stars in the pretty sky,

Hundreds of shells on the shore together,

Hundreds of birds that go singing by,

Hundreds of lambs in the sunny weather.

Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,

Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,

Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,

But only one mother the wide world over.

Today, 51 years later, the poem came back to me just as I remembered it as a little girl who adored her mother.  Today I lost my mother, my one mother, my friend.

Today, Heaven celebrated her arrival.

Hundreds of kisses, Mom~