My Year, My Heart

Many projects take me over a year to finish.
Or many years.
Mostly due to procrastination or an inspiration impasse.

This one took exactly a year.
And leaves me overwhelmed with joy while breathing through a tightened chest considering how quickly the time went.

This is the year in review of my sweet boy Lincoln and his dog Roldy.

 

 

 

 

 

 Month by Month Video:

Team Sammy - LEGO Bedroom

After Make-A-Wish Arizona called last September and asked me to help with their wish request for a LEGO room I cried with snot and all.
Some of that was hormones.
But most of it was fueled by the fact that I was snuggling my healthy, happy three-month-old baby and I couldn't imagine the heartache that parents must endure when their child doesn't get to be healthy.

And of course I said yes.

We finished the room last Saturday.
For Sammy.
An eight-year-old who has shown cancer who's boss.

Months ago I started plotting and counting LEGOS for his custom name art.

The double-sided Emmet pillow was stitched last week.

And the mural.
The mural.
That grew continuously from Wednesday night up until 45 minutes before the reveal on Saturday.

And all thanks to help from my family and volunteers from Make-A-Wish Arizona...who didn't get enough wish making in during their 8-5 shifts so they came to paint with me in the evenings.

Everything is awesome.
Everything is cool when you're part of a team.
Everything is awesome,
When you're living out a dream.

Truth.

I couldn't be more grateful to have been a part of this team.
Team Sammy.
Forever.

Here are a few more photos from the reveal and one of the news clips. The custom built in bed/dresser/desk combo was done by Thunderbird Custom Design and I can't even explain how fantastic it is. Perfect finish. Soft close everything. Soft close!

Sensory Board

Lincoln has successfully broken in everything in his nursery.

He's smeared poop on his freshly painted accent wall.
Spit up on the new rug...and chair...and dresser...and sheets.
Thrown his head into the door moulding.
Oh, and broken in this new mama's heart too, but I know he isn't done with that mission.

I think I'm most happy that he is truly enjoying his sensory board. We worked hard on it before he was born and as I was 9 months pregnant painting tiny touch ups along the edges, I often thought to myself, "I hope he actually gives a shit about this."

Photo by Patchwork Photography

He does.
But I would have been OK if he didn't.

Part of our morning ritual is peek-a-boo in the top mirrors and then he gets to touch the LEGOs. Until he pulls one off and eats it. Then my morning ritual will be crying and feeling like a bad mom for a few months and writing in my therapy journal during his nap.

I've listed out the items that we used to make the sensory board at the bottom.

We were originally going to use fake grass for the bottom center square, but the grass pieces pulled off too easily. Instead we went with a shower mat wrapped around a square of plywood painted green.

We used the Behr sample size paints from Home Depot and had plenty. They are only a few dollars each.

Anthony made a cleat set up to mount it to the wall.

A large cleat at the top and a smaller one at the bottom.

The lamp at the top was spliced with a cord to plug into the wall and connected to the light switch in the green square. We bought a green bulb for the light because color conservation wasn't part of the plan.

Products used:

Plywood sheet - 1/2" thick
Behr paint samples
Mirrors: Ikea LOTS mirrors - 2 packs
Ikea KVINTETT wall light
Green light bulb
LEGO Blue base plates - blue has been discontinued, but the green plates are the same size
Yellow steering wheel
Abacus - Ikea has one that would work just as well and is cheaper
Red light switch - from Home Depot
Clear bath mat

THEN:

NOW:

 

He slaps and spins those abacus beads like its his job.