Celebrating Levi

A couple of weekends ago I had the privilege of helping host a baby memorial shower for a sweet friend.  What is a baby memorial shower, you ask?  A party you never want to throw.  Mandy and her husband Bryan welcomed their son, Levi on December 27, 2013.  He only lived a few hours.  I wanted to do something that would both celebrate the fact that Mandy was a mother, (Levi was their first child), and also help support her in her loss.  Having received a diagnosis of Trisomy 18, they knew that he wouldn't be with them very long, and were prepared as they could be, but seriously, how do you prepare for that?  I did a lot of scouring of the internet and a lot of crying.  There is a lot of heartbreak out there.  And not a lot of ideas for a shower honoring a baby who has passed on.  I am posting this in the hope that it will help someone else in a similar situation.  We decided to do a memorial shower where people could bring personal gifts for Mandy and we could do a simple service project that we could then donate in Levi's memory to some local hospitals.

I started with a theme-Okay, I started with a little Facebook stalking.  I saw that Mandy was a LOTR nerd.  I also like LOTR.  There are some amazing quotes on Pinterest.  I loved this one, "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future."  That was what we used for our shower invitation theme.  It also helped that the decorations could be woodsy and not your typical baby pink and blue.  

There are some AMAZING hobbit and LOTR party ideas out there.  I found some amazing ones here.  Serious cuteness.  I got the printable for the door sign there.  It was totally fun to hang it on the front door of the house where we had the shower.  

Typical shower games didn't seem quite appropriate, but I still wanted people to have fun, so we started off with Hobbit name tags.  I found a chart on Pinterest, and printed it in a font I found on dafont.com called hobbiton.  Also, everyone grabbed a clothespin, which is a typical shower game, out of a bucket and had to not say the words "precious" or "cute" without losing their clothespin.  The lady with the most pins at the end won a prize. 

This is one of my favorite elements of the shower.  My ubertalented friend Jen made these moss-covered logs, and then attached these cute gold-painted letters to them.  

They became a big part of our display in the living room.  We asked Mandy for some things that she might have from Levi's birth, and added some pix that we got developed and made into a photo display.

Here are some closeups of the photo display board.  I used the quote from the invitation, and also a cute rhyme someone had made on the internet.  I didn't want to just copy their work, so I just printed up the rhyme with no fancy graphics-if anyone knows who deserves credit, I would be happy to acknowledge them!  I just couldn't find a source!

One element I really loved in all of the decor was a little package of LOTR heart confetti that I got from JessiJs cute shop on Etsy.  That little package went a long way in making my little projects special.  I sewed together several hearts and used them as a garland in the picture display above.

Then I used a few more garlands to decorate a topiary, a little mossy picture frame and then just scattered the confetti around.  We also sent some home with the girl who is going to be putting together a scrapbook for Levi.  

We kept the food pretty simple.  Chinese chicken salad, hot ham and cheese mini sandwiches, fruit with lemon cheesecake dip and this AMAZING cake.  If you think it's pretty, you should have tasted it.  White cake with raspberry french buttercream filling.  I'm hungry.  I did not make it.  But I wish I had a piece left in my fridge.  

I have to say this is one of my favorite pix of Levi.  He looks like he is blowing a kiss.  So I filled up this little crate with kisses, and made a tag that said "kisses from Levi".  And I used it for one of our other games.  I found a LOTR the One ring on amazon, and hid it, in the candy.  I told the guests whoever found the ring would get a prize.  It was really fun that Mandy, the guest of honor, found the ring!  She said it was just because she spent so much time eating chocolate.  :)  Isn't she beautiful?  

We have always loved the story I'll Love You Forever by Robert Munsch.  I have read it to all my kids and our copy is falling apart.  When I started researching everything I could find about losing babies, I found that the author had written this book as a tribute to his two stillborn babies.  We decided to use a copy of this book for our guest book and have everyone write a special message in it.  

After eating and socializing we moved on to the project.  We made some teeny tears diapers.  You can read more about this special project at teenytears.blogspot.com.  These diapers are TINY.  We were able to cut and sew and put together many sets.  We actually are still finishing up some of them, and will be donating them soon.  The teenytears site provides you with donation cards that have the name of the baby you are honoring and the group of people who donated them.  

We also did a balloon release, which didn't photograph well, because I picked blue balloons.  Hello.  The sky is also blue.  Also, I first tried it without helium except in Mandy's giant balloon, because here in OK everything blows away, right?  Yeah, not so much.  Needless to say, it was kind of a disaster, but it was joyous and provided some laughter!

Some last decor details.  Oh, and I need to shout out to Tasha, our amazing photographer who donated her time to chronicle the day's events for Mandy, Carrie who made her gorgeous house available, Jen for all her many talents, Rhiannon who is all-around fabulous, and my own SIL Laurie who lovingly edited the pix Mandy and her family took of their brief but precious time with Levi.  Hopefully, aside from Marianne who is the only person who actually reads this blog, someone who really needs it will find their way here and find a little bit of inspiration to help lift another mom's burden just a tiny bit.  

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Andy's Mission Farewell

So eight months later...here are some pix of the birthday party/mission farewell  we had for Andy.  This is a terrible pic, but as usual, my camera was no where to be found so I had to use my phone.  I drew out the colors of the Uruguayan flag, white, yellow, and royal blue.  It was the end of August so there were sunflowers everywhere, a perfect addition to the table.

I did a picture display on our entryway bench with some mini flags in a garland.  We used pix from birth up to graduation and opening the mission call.

I set out some cards and pens for people to write some wishes/goodbyes for Andy.  We put them in his scrapbook after he read them.

This was a super easy detail but added a lot of drama- I took strips of crepe paper and cut them in varying lengths and then stitched them together on my sewing machine to create a garland.  They mimic the stripes on the Uruguay flag.

The AWESOME cake that my friend Karen made.  




One more shot, close up.  The detail was amazing and it was delicious!  She is super talented!



A little thank-you- mixed kisses and hugs in little paper sour cream containers with a sticker on it that had the address of the blog to keep up with Andy.

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5 ways estrogen could be killing you...

I know, kind of dramatic, huh?  But this is my journal, so I am journaling about my life today.  Do I think estrogen is really killing you? No idea. Perhaps if you are in the same circumstances I am, then it could be.   Do I think it is killing me?   Yes.  Why?  Here we go:

Number 1

Yes, here we have exhibit A:  the nearly graduated high school senior.  She is deceptively lovely and delightful. Talented, brilliant, loving, and mostly happy. BUT! Underneath that charming exterior lies a seething cauldron of teenage angst, independence, and ESTROGEN.  She is ready to fly the coop, and I am ready to let her.  Don't get me wrong-I will miss my daughter, but the DRAMA she comes with, not so much: what drama you ask?  what to wear, what to major in, what to have for dinner, and my all time favorite, what to order in the drive through, which usually occurs immediately AFTER we order at the drive through.  Then there is the classic burst into tears if you ask me about my day, for no particular reason. It will probably be boring around here when she goes off to BYU in the fall. Then again, maybe not:  

                       Number 2

              

That's because we have exhibit B-the middle schooler!

She is also lovely and delightful.  Also, very responsible, self-motivated and organized.  Clearly brilliant and talented as well.  But she got her mother's tendencies toward control-freakiness.  Is that a word?  It is now.  Mix that with the hormonal changes beginning to take place, and we have an ESTROGEN BOMB and no way to disarm it.  Luckily, she won't be leaving home for several more years, so she has some time to even out.  Because, once again:  DRAMA.  Usually about being late, or not doing things the right way, or most often about Number 3 doing something to drive her absolutely bonkers, like breathing.  You know, something annoying like that.  We LOVE puberty!

                        Number 3

Exhibit C-the 3rd grader.  DO NOT be fooled by that smile.  Or those dimples.  Or those big, gray/blue eyes.  This girl can throw some world class tantrums.  I don't know if it is a function of the estrogen, or of being the baby of the family.  She is also beautiful, brilliant, talented, and kind.  But she can push every one of my buttons. I think we are finally starting to outgrow some of that; probably just in time to arrive at puberty!  Yay.


                                               Numbers 4 and 5

Exhibit D and E:  the dogs.  Who are both girls.  I know.  Why we have so many girls in this house, I don't know.  But there it is.  They are spayed, but they still have estrogen.  How do I know?  Because they are also dramatic little princesses.  They spend their days ordering me around to let them in.  Or out.  Or feed them.  Or water them.  Or put them on the bed.  Well, that is just Sara, our 13 year old dog.  Sugar just hops right on top of me, and nestles in between my legs like that is her bed.  They are also cute and brilliant.  

Actually, maybe I should be Number 5, because I have entered the wondrous world of perimenopause. What is that you ask?  Well, it is all the ups and downs of the 11 year old, with the tantrums of the baby, and the insecurities that the high-schooler has!  Plus, night sweats.  Fun stuff. I really think it might kill me.  But don't feel sorry for me.  You should feel sorry for my husband.  Who,since Andy left for college and then a mission, is the ONLY man in this house of 6 girls.  Bless his heart.   

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Why you shouldn't keep your jammies in the same drawer with yourworkout clothes

This isn't a rhetorical question, like "where do socks go when you put them in the dryer?" or "am I the only person in here who can see that huge pile of unfolded laundry?" or " what is it exactly that meatloaf won't do for love? He'll do anything else, but not this?"
I guess that's not really a question in the title, more like a thesis statement. Anyway, I digress. The reason you shouldn't keep your workout clothes in the same drawer as your jammies is that you may be running late one day. And then, you will remember you have a hot streak of two days at the gym running, so you will run to your room and throw some clothes in your bag. Fast forward to after work, into the gym bathroom, where you have on yoga pants, socks, shoes, and sports bra. You reach in to your bag and grab your gray t-shirt...I mean, your gray pajama bottoms! I will admit right now that if it had been the gray pj top I would have totally worn that sucker. But I couldn't quite figure out what to do with the pants. Wrap them like a sarong-type thing? Wear them on my head? And keep in mind that just wearing a sports bra as a top is only acceptable if you are under the age of 30 and/or you look like Jillian Michaels. I am neither of those things. However, wanting to keep my aforementioned fitness streak going, I dug in my bag and found a black hoodie sweatshirt. That zipped. So I could wear it over the sports bra but zipped down to have a little ventilation and even look not as frumpy as I usually do when working out. I am not going to lie. It was hot. But I persevered and did my 40 minutes of HIIT! Now I am going to celebrate with a Reese's peanut butter cup. But with a diet coke, so the calories are canceled out. True story. And I am packing for the gym the night BEFORE from now on.

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How to Give a Missionary a Heart Attack

Not a real one of course.  That would be crazy!  But I am always trying to think of ways to brighten our missionary's day, and since Valentine's Day is coming up, we sent him a heart attack!  Even though I am pretty sure they don't celebrate Valentine's Day in Uruguay.  It's a great excuse for chocolate.  Right?

 Step one is to cut out a bunch of paper hearts.  Any size, any shape.  I advise having your three daughters do this.  If you don't have three daughters, look around.  Someone does.  You can borrow mine.  Then, write some sweet nothings on your hearts.  Or sweet somethings.  I think we wrote things we love about Andy, and also Valentine's wishes.  I use the term "we" loosely, because I was so busy getting everything together, that I didn't write on one. single. heart.  *sigh*  What kind of missionary mom am I?  Anyway, he still got lots of love from the girls and dad, and schlepping the package to the post office and filling out the customs form should get me some props, right?

Step two.  Throw in a whole bunch of candy.  We did hugs, kisses, and peanut butter hearts.  I would do whatever your missionary/recipient likes.  Sprinkle liberally over the hearts. 

Step three.  Since we are sending this to a boy, I always try to include some kind of toy that can be thrown, flipped, or bounced.  For some reasons, missionaries never get tired of those kinds of things.  Jumping frogs are perfect.  Plus, I figure he can always give them away to little Uruguayan kids.  

That's it!  Super simple and guaranteed to make someone's day!  And way more fun than a real heart attack.  Also, a lot less serious.  

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cs lewis printable

I love CS Lewis.  I find him extremely inspiring and very pragmatic about the gospel.  I was messing around today and this is what I made:

I don't know why  part of the d got cut off in the jpeg, but you can go here to download the pdf.

This quote reminds me of this talk by Elder Christofferson about our daily bread, found here.  It's a great reminder of why we need to rely on God every day.  

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Missionary Stocking Tutorial

 I wanted to make Andy a cute missionary stocking for Christmas, and I found a link here where you can order a stocking pattern.  But let's face it, you already know I am lazy, and it was already November.  So I went to Hobby Lobby and found two black satin stockings.  ( I try to do doubles of everything so the comp. gets to share in the joy!)  I just used this as a base and for the "slacks" portion of the stocking.  Next, I traced the upper area of the stocking onto the back of some sticky back white felt (with the paper still on!)  I cut it out and stuck it on.  Then I sketched a collar template, don't forget to do one in reverse, and cut two of those.  Then I followed with a small pocket, which was just basically a small rectangle.  I would put my templates on here, but I know everyone will find different stockings, so just using 

your own as a pattern is the best idea, I think. 

  I also hot glued some buttons on the collar and down the shirt front.  The next detail I added was a belt.  Again, I just traced the width of the stocking and made a strip about an inch tall.  This was also cut from sticky back felt.  I stuck it on, then cut a small rectangle out of yellow felt, which I hot glued, and then topped with an even smaller rectangle of brown.  I added a little sliver of yellow to be the tongue of the belt.  Wait, is that what it's called?  Anyway, that pokey thing that goes through the belt holes.

That one.

It's just a sliver of yellow felt.  

On to the tie!  I first had my husband tie some ties for me out of wide ribbon.  But they wouldn't lay right, or stay tied, and finally, I got the genius idea of just pinching the tie where I wanted the knot to be and pleating it a little with my fingers and gluing it.  Then, I wrapped that portion with a smooth piece of ribbon, shaped it into a triangle, and glued that.  Then the whole shebang gets glued onto the stocking.  I did leave the lower part of the tie unattached, because I thought it looked cuter that way.  Do it however your heart desires!  

I found a download for the tag here.  I just inserted into a powerpoint slide and put in the names myself.  Then printed and laminated them.  I don't know how well they stayed on, I will have to ask my son, but I did try to glue them on there pretty well.  

Hope this inspires you to send some joy to your missionary!  And since Rachel wants to go as soon as Andy comes home, I am sure I will be coming up with a sister missionary stocking!

Linking this up on or so she says...

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