A Journal Spread, a Fabulous Trade, and Lots of Photos!

To begin, thank you everyone for your warm thoughts and comments regarding my grandmother's death. It meant a lot to my family, especially my dad (who is her son). He even went to the effort to figure out how to leave a comment on the post (which is a feat for him!) thanking everyone. Her funeral is tomorrow in Minnesota, and although I'm not able to make it, my thoughts will be there.

And then, in art-related news, I received my trade from the talented Erika! We agreed to trade a few weeks ago, and I've been anxiously awaiting my piece. I requested that she make me something that represented my family, and here is what she did:

Isn't it gorgeous? I love, love, love it!! As she explains it, the trees are (left to right) Jason, Riley, Noah, and myself. Noah is still touching me since he's still so dependant on me. Then, I'm not sure if it's visible in the photos, but there are tiny raindrops throughout, signifying the ups and downs of family life. Both she and I lived in Seattle for long periods of time though, so we both feel that rain isn't always bad!

Right now, I've got it on a shelf in the kids' bathroom with another piece of hers which I got on Ebay. I purchased this piece last year after finding out I was pregnant with Noah, figuring that the two trees could represent the two kids. So my new piece fits perfectly with it!

Here is the piece that I sent to her. She didn't want any specific theme other than the shape to be tall and narrow, but I snuck some references to her family in there. She has three blonde little boys, so I included the image of a blond boy, and then also images of four red birds (her husband and three boys) and a brown bird (her). There is some text on the piece from a poem about a little girl who doesn't want to let the boys know about eggs in a nest, for fear that they'll steal them. I thought that with three boys running around, there's bound to be some mischief that Erika has to deal with!

And then, today, both my boys obliged me by taking simultaneous naps (amazing!), so I was able to do this spread in Noah's book. It is about how he is becoming so adept at using his hands and playing with his toys. I just can't believe that he is at this stage already! Aren't I the mother of a newborn??? Anyway, here is the spread. I couldn't get the best photos of it for some reason, so these will have to do!