The Very First Kiss

For those of you who may not know, my youngest son Spencer is autistic and non verbal, yet he is also very loving, kind, and sweet. His autism is not classical in the sense that he is quite affectionate and craves physical touch and attention. Knowing that will help you make a little bit more sense out of the journaling on this page about the relationship he has developed with his little sister.

The papers, stickers, 3D embellishments and letters are all by American Crafts as pasrt of their "My Girl" collection. The buttons and washi tape are by Queen and Company. 

The journaling reads: "When you were first born Claire, Spencer didn’t really know what to think about you. When he came to meet you at the hospital he didn’t really understand what was going on like your older brothers did. Still, he held you for a moment and gave you this kiss on the head. Now, a year later, you two are great friends and playmates! Spencer now loves you very much and loves to kiss you. He is so patient, kind, and loving towards you, even when you are messing up his stuff. When that happens he gently picks you up under your arms and carries you carefully off to where you can’t reach his things—all the while kissing you on top of your head as if to say “I love you Claire, but please stay out of my things.” He also always makes sure that he kisses you goodnight even if you don’t really want him to. You are very lucky to have Spencer as your brother Claire! Photo July 7th 2013, Journaling Fall 2013"

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He is her Number 1 Fan

I have one of the kindest and sweetest 11 years old there ever was. He is a tender hearted soul with with a maturity and love for others that you just don't see much at his age. He especially adores his little sister, and she adores him right back. This began long before she was born. Ty was so unbelievable excited when he found out that we were having a surprise baby. Despite being at the age where boys are normally rather anti- girl, he wanted the baby to be a girl from the beginning. When we found out it was indeed a girl he was again super excited and he started saving up his money to buy her a doll.

After she was born he started calling her "Precious Claire," and he still calls her that now. He loves to carry her around and give her rides up on his shoulders. He can always make her laugh and smile--even when she won't do it for me. The closeness of their connection must have started before this life, it's the only way I can explain the sweet and tender connection they seem to share.

Anyhow, this layout is about the first time Ty held her. My parents brought all of the boys up to the hospital to meet Claire after she was born and I was able to take this photo of him smiling down at her. It was sweet brotherly love at first sight!

The journaling reads: "Ty, I picked you to be the first of your brothers to hold Claire. I picked you not because you are the oldest but because you were the most excited about Claire before she was born. You were super excited from the very beginning! Then when we found out the baby was going to be a girl you were “over the moon” with happiness! You have never once been anxious, worried, or jealous like I thought you might be. You have always been full of enthusiasm and joy for this moment, when you first got to see and hold your new sister. I just know you are going to be a wonderful big brother to her!"

Again, this is the Bundle of Joy Girl line from Echo Park. I mixed in a couple of older chipboard pieces from Pebbles, some Queen and Co baker's twine and pearls, and more stamping with my rotary phrase stamps from American crafts and K and Co. The title was done with my Silhouette Portrait.

These larger Chevrons running down the side were made using my EK Success corner punch. If you look close you can see this is just a whole bunch of corner punches stacked together.

I added a few accordion flowers for interest plus some smaller "chevrons" made with my Zig-Zag Border punch by Fiskars.

Thanks for vising and have a great weekend!

What is a Baby Anyway?

Happy Monday morning everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I have another Pebbles Seen and Noted layout to share today, this time about Spencer and his reaction when Claire was born. For those unfamiliar with Spencer you should know that he is autistic and non-verbal. It is often hard to explain abstract things to him so I don't believe he really understood what was going on while I was pregnant. The whirlwind surrounding Claire's birth was a bit surprising for him, but it didn't take long before he became another of Claire's biggest fans. After he figured out that she was going to be sticking around he quickly started wanting to hold her and is constantly giving her kisses. It really is sweet to see his love for her.

Other than the Pebbles papers, this layout also has lots of Queen and Companies Washi Tape and some title work done with my Cricut and Sure Cuts A Lot. I wrote the "baby" part of my title in Inkscape and then cut it out from red paper. The rest of the title was done with the font typewriter.

The journaling reads: "Spencer you didn’t really understand much of what went on when Claire was born. You were patient during all the changes and seemed to be trying hard to understand what this new little baby meant. I found you one day sitting on the arm of the couch staring down at Claire in her swing. You sat there for quite awhile and watched her. It was just as if you were taking a moment to study her and figure out what she was. You must have figured it out because not long afterwards you started giving her kisses all the time and including her when you said your prayers. You now seem genuinely happy to have her as part of our family. Fall 2012"

Thanks for stopping by today!