My baby boy turned five. I love all my kids equally to pieces. I truly do. It's a love that's immeasurable. But each one holds the key to a very unique spot in my heart. And for this sweet child of mine, it's something we share in common. There's something about the way that the Lord chose to bring my boy into the world on the very same day that He brought me to life, is just striking. Even after five years, every time I think about it, it just seems too magical to be real. But God does stuff like that. Sort of how two years ago He decided to surprise us with a special gift that was due to arrive on the five year anniversary of loosing my mom. He does things like that to remind us that He's there. And He's more powerful than we can comprehend. And that He loves us beyond measure.
Back to the boy. He is such an amazing little kid. I will say, the majority of the grays that I now proudly adorn are probably due to this giggly little thing. The one who loves to talk and tell stories with such animation. Eye brows raised and sometimes burrowed during the intense moments of his story. He's a character. He's a charmer. He's a joy.
He is also nonstop energy. One who keeps me on my toes. All. The. Time. Most everyone who's ever been around him know exactly what I mean without having to explain any further.
He is also so filled with love. More love to share than I've ever seen in a child. And he gets his pleasure by revealing that love. He doesn't hold back. If he feels it, he shows it. And usually tells it to. When he's filled with joy, the world will know it. It's a contagious joy that I wish I had. Full body joy which I adore. But when he's upset, look out. He makes sure everyone knows. He has no issue telling you how angry he is and why and what he thinks should be done about it. And if he feels like shouting out in pain (whether physical or emotional) he goes for it. Not worried about who may see him or what they may think of him. My older two are very reserved when it comes to this. They don't want a single soul to see them upset or have a meltdown. They will hide feelings and bottle them up. I think it's a gift to be able to express himself the way Fletcher does, we just have to keep trudging through the act of self control.
He is all about knights, castles and the medieval period. We have been reading a lot of books about this time in history and he is soaking it up. He and his brother put together their money to buy a very cool wooden castle. And they've been buying the various pieces to go with it ever since. They've accumulated quite the collection. So for his birthday we had a few friends over to celebrate and threw in a few knight touches.
He wanted a bounce house in the worst way so we ordered him an extra awesome medieval castle bounce house / slide combo. When it arrived the morning of the party, we were quite disappointed to see a sports themed one get set up. Fletch had been talking about his castle bounce house for over a week and he looked at me and said "Mom, that doesn't look much like a castle. The things at the top are supposed to be pointy, not a football, basketball, soccer ball and baseball". The guy played dumb about it and acted as if we never specifically requested the sports one even though we made a big deal about getting the castle one, and even made a follow up call to confirm that we were getting the right one. My heart was crushed to see his disappointed little face. I think the guy picked up on it too. He offered to leave it with us for three whole days and pick it up Monday night instead of Saturday evening. And he left us the pool attachment so we could convert it into a water slide. That made Fletch perk right up and he never mentioned another word about not having a castle bounce house again. It wound up raining nearly the entire time of his party, so the kids were soaking wet and wound up having a water slide anyway. They had so much fun! In the end, Fletcher thought it was the best day of his life. And he made sure to tell us so.
This was taken just days before his birthday. This beach is one that we used to visit often during my pregnancy with him. Being a late summer baby, my body became used to being half in the water, half in the sand, feeling the waves pound upon my aching feet. The cool ocean water was right where I wanted to be. The kids affectionately referred to it as "our beach" because we were there so much. We'd often bring dinner here and just play and relax as a family. We even went for a visit one Christmas evening only to find that the only other people on the beach happened to be some of our neighbors which we thought was really funny and strange. I have many pictures of my progressively growing belly taken here and now that it's said and done, I cherish them with all my heart. I guess overtime, we all grew a deep love for the name Fletcher and what this beach meant to us. We lightly talked about the possibility of naming the baby Fletcher if he was a boy but truthfully, everyone had us convinced that he was a girl so I never thought too deeply about it. Even though I felt it was a boy from the very beginning, at times I struggle with listening to the opinions of others over my own intuition.
When the moment was right, on September 20th, 2009, the morning of my 28th birthday, Josh guided our baby out of my womb. As he lifted him out of the warm water that filled our tub, he looked up at me and said with a smile that I'll never forget "it's a boy!". Oh it was such an awesome moment in my life. I get goosebumps as I allow myself to go back to that moment. I know homebirthing isn't for everyone and I know it's not ideal for all circumstances either, but I truly feel that it is an experience I wish everyone could have. Even just once.
After the rush was settled and tub was drained, we snuggled up in bed with our new boy. It didn't take us long to settle on his name. Fletcher Eli. Aka: the Fletch Meister. Fletchy. Or just plain old Fletch. We later learned that his name means "arrow maker". And we think that's pretty rad too. And so does he. As far as Eli goes, it was the name of one of my mom's favorite uncles. She fondly spoke of Uncle Eli. She brought it up over dinner one night when we were discussing options for names when I was newly pregnant with Gracie. When I learned she would be a girl, I stuffed Eli deep down in my heart but it wasn't hard to find and dust off when the time was right.
On a whim, the night before his party I snuck into his dark and quiet room and pulled out a black tee form his drawer. I had an idea to attempt my first ever freezer paper stencil shirt. Google it, the directions are all over the internet. It was so incredibly easy and I'm in love with the way it turned out. Just what this boy needed to feel like a knight on his special day. I used silver metallic craft paint and I think I shouldn't have put it in the dryer but I did. And I am in LOVE with the results. I should take a picture to show you but it became all vintagy and worn looking. Filled with creases and a few areas where the paint had slightly worn off. It looks so much cooler now than it did in the beginning. I am seriously in love with the look and I can't wait to make more.
Aaron (who also happened to be born at home by our same AMAZING midwife) has been Fletcher's bestest buddy in the whole wide world. This kid will rock your socks off, he's amazing!
Fletch was blown away when this dragon pinata arrived in the mail. It was his first pinata ever and it made him feel like such a big boy to have this be a part of his party. (see that cute little blurry baby in the background? That's our pastor's little bit. I love that she made her way into the picture.)
Aurora (to the left) is Aaron's big sister. And quite a beauty she is. Her beautiful mom was my homebirth inspiration. After hearing her amazing testimony of her homebirths, I knew it was for me.
Fletcher's Grandma and aunt Katie are the absolute sweetest ladies ever. They make sure to never let a birthday go by without an incredible cake to celebrate with. Those of you who have ever baked and decorated a theme cake know that this is no easy task! Especially when there are four little ones who don't seem to stop having birthday's every year.
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These two are truly two peas in a pod. Fletcher is so deeply in love with his baby sister and most of the time has issues with giving her some space. He just can't get enough of the girl. He caters to her every want and need and acts as if his role in life is to care for and protect this little princess. I think it's chivalry at it's finest.
