Special, Secret Gifts

Isaiah clearly wins the title of "Best Gift Giver" in our relationship.  You know, if it were a competition.  I'm sure none of you compete over anything so silly.  But (sigh) he is a natural.  He's thoughtful and creative, and can even expertly wrap his own gifts.  I know, no one believes that last part, but it's true.

I try to be thoughtful and creative, but a lot of times I stew over trying to be SO thoughtful and SO creative that I worry at some point I might give up altogether and just start getting everyone a gift card to Target.  Just thinking about that makes me relax a little... 

But this year for Mother's day, having a better appreciation for what they went through and all, I wanted to do something extra special for Anderson's Grammy and Grandma.  An idea came to me after swooning over his little curl in the back of his hair and realizing that it wouldn't stay like that forever.  It startled me a bit.  I suddenly wanted to cement this little, perfect curl in time. 

Then I remembered those sweet, old-fashioned silhouette paintings and thought it would be the perfect way to have a keepsake of how he looked, at that very stage of his development.  I know I could've done it in Photoshop, but I happened to know an incredibly talented artist, Angelina Briggs of Studio A, and asked her if she'd ever done something like that.  She hadn't, but I trusted her anyway and asked her if she could make three - one for each grandma, and one for me.  We both did some googling for inspiration and I took about 3,457,985 almost-profile shots of Anderson (he does NOT sit still, that kid!).  Somehow I managed to get at least one she could work with. 

So this:

Became this:

Became this:

 

Anderson's little curl has already changed, his hair growing out and seemingly different every day.  But now I have something permanent to look at and remind me of that one little moment when I was admiring his curl. 

When she opened hers, Kris (AKA Grammy)  kept saying, "oh, this is priceless!" and I agree.  (Definitely contact Angelina if you are interested in having her create something priceless for you.  She is amazing.)  Thank you so much Angelina!! 

But that's not all! 


I got to be part of another secret gift recently.  And did I mention that I am not the best when it comes to keeping secrets?  I mean, I can do it, but it is really, really hard.  I just get so excited!

My college friend Darci is about to have her first baby this August.  We talk just about every day online, so I know every detail of her daily life, but we haven't actually seen each other in person since her wedding three years ago.  So...when her wonderful, awesome, and somewhat mischievous Aunt Judi, Cousin Ali, and mom Becky contacted me and asked if I'd be willing to be a surprise guest for a surprise baby shower in May, I thought I would explode keeping it from her!  Seeing the look on her face when I walked through the door was so worth all of the pretending over the last several weeks:

Here she is, looking happy and relaxed on our boat ride around Keowee Key in South Carolina:

And here we are at the surprise baby shower:

Having the chance to feel her baby kick was overwhelming, since I usually only get to see these momentous occasions over webcam or YouTube.  Of course, when I felt her baby girl kick I cried and then made everyone else cry.  That's what Girls Weekend is all about, right?  It was a weekend I will never forget.

Now, if she'll only tell us that baby girl's name...darn her for being good at keeping secrets!  :-)