So hard to believe that is has been a year since I had Matthew. If you have never read (and want to read) my birth story, you can see it here. Of course, Matthew had no idea that today was any more special than any other day but we all spent the day soaking in the realization that we have had him to love for one whole year. Matthew is such a funny little guy. He keeps us laughing everyday, all of us. We spent the day in full birthday celebration and preparation mode. He loved it all.
The little ones and I dipped some new beeswax birthday candles to make up for forgetting to dip him one during Candlemas. Of course you can’t just dip one candle because this is one of our children’s favorite activities, so they each made one and we put them away.
The girls felt he needed a new pair of Farmer Boy pants and we still had a bit of that chicken fabric that I used in his nursery, on his quilt (which you see on the table there under the cake), in the bunting that hangs over his bed and so it was the perfect fabric to use for the pockets.
I made the Farmer Boy pants from one of Poppa’s suit shirts which he got a teenie bit of bleach on. The shirt is almost perfect except for that so I used the sleeves and will put the rest of the shirt away for a boys quilt later.
The birthday crown has a bear on one side because Matthew means bear and he is totally a little bear. On the other side of the crown is a rainbow to symbolize the fact that he is a rainbow baby. He came to our family to heal hearts in so many ways but mostly mine. To heal my momma’s heart from a baby that I never got to meet and from Alexandra getting married just three weeks after he was born. I truly don’t know how I would have gotten through this year without him but he has made everyday so beautiful.
Erica and I baked a honey cake and we took advantage of all the basil in the garden to make a lemon, basil frosting for the cake. It was just like eating summer, so bright and fresh! I may need to make this frosting again in the winter when we need a pick me up. The honey cake is just sweet enough to be a cake and was perfect with the sweet, tart frosting. I think I may use the same recipe to make the cupcakes for his birthday party in 2 weeks. So good!
Matthew got frosting all over his new Farmer boy pants and birthday crown and just about everywhere else. He loved the birthday song so much that we ended singing it a few more times to get him to keep clapping. While we were singing for the umpteenth time, he stuck one foot in the cake and then both hands, so fun!
Yesterday was the first time he has had any sugar other than what is already in fruit. I should probably explain that I don’t give any solids to my babies until they are pretty close to a year old. It is a but challenging at times but it is best for their digestive system as babies do not have the enzymes to digest most foods such as grains until they are nearly a year old. Two months ago he began with avocado and bananas and then all the fruits and veggies and then we added beans and eggs, then slowly dairy and meat and then finally grains such as crackers and bread and yesterday he got sugar!!
I got to sneak a little cuddling time before he went to bed and I must say that I was very surprised that he did not react to having sugar but instead fell right to sleep in my arms and I got to rock him for a bit before I too was falling asleep. And then the moon came to take his first birthday away and it was over. This morning, I promise you he looked bigger to me as I heard him talking to himself in his bed and went to pick him up. I got that same toothy smile he gives me every morning and then my heart swells and we start the day.
Thank you to all of you, really! Your coming along with me this year and sharing all of my little proud momma moments with him are near and dear to my heart. I have cherished every comment and email and if I haven’t said it in a while, let me say that I feel so blessed to share our journey with you. Thank you!
I will be back tomorrow with a really cool new giveaway from a wonderful small business and also announce the winner of the baby knits book. Hope to see you back here tomorrow.
