My name is Natalie and I am the owner of Stitches by Natalie. I started Stitching by Natalie in 2011 and now here are some fun facts about me and how my business bloomed.
I am married to my college sweet heart after he swept me off my feet our Senior year of college. We meet thru some mutual friends and it became clear we were meant to be with all of our craziness. In fact, our first date he stood me up!!! Can you believe I even gave him a second chance?! I was hesitant but I did and it's a good thing I did;-)
My husband Jon and I welcomed three boys to our crazy life and have one baby watching over us in heaven. Our boys are all 2.5 years apart and are closer than every. They play, flight and laugh together all the time. It warms my heart seeing them interact with one another. My husband works two full time jobs so we do not see a whole lot of him. He work's hard at his day job then comes home to farm on the nights and weekends and when it's planting/harvest season he is home for a quick change in clothes then out the door. We live on a farm that his Grandparents built years ago. It's simple living around here and I wouldn't change it.
Our three boys have taught us some much about love and parenting!
After my first son was born I left the work force to become a full time stay at home Mom. This was a easy decision for me as I knew I always wanted to be a Mom. While home with little Gavin I began sewing things for him which opened up into making things for other people as gifts. It was then that I found my passion for sewing keepsakes. See I never found this passion while my Grandmothers and Mother taught me to sew... then it was to "boring" to watch. In my mind I thanked them for siting me down and teaching me the in's and out's of sewing. I first started with the Memory Bears, offering them locally for sale. It was clear that people need to find comfort in something after their loss. Knowing I could help just by sewing a cute bear made from their someone specials items was heart warming. A feeling I will never forget when they see/hold their Memory Bear. (some of the first bears)
Each Memory Bear that I make is made to help heal a broken heart. The Bear's help mend hearts and bring peace to those who are suffering. I knew I needed to bring more joy to people and I found a way thru the keepsakes. The keepsake line grew along with my family. I now have 3 boys and 15 Birth Animal keepsakes in the shop.
It's been a fun ride and I cannot wait to expand what I have to offer.
Here is just some of the back story of Stitches by Natalie! I have so much more to tell but I need to sew!
Come back and check out the blog as there will be guess bloggers and more fun!
Natalie
]]>As a grew older and had kids I wanted to spoil my boys with all the toys but I soon learned that it was to overwhelming to give them SO many toys. They were not using their imaginations like I did when I was little so I knew just what to do even if it was going to be really hard getting rid of many of their toys. One day I asked the boys to help me make donation bags for a local charity and they were so excited to share their toys with kids that didn't have many. We cleared out a ton of toys which was amazing.
From then on I knew I had to give them toys that would spark their imagination! When I discovered https://www.picassotiles.com/ I knew that all their toys were perfect for our family! Everything they sell is great for stretching the imagination and getting the boys to think outside their normal play and start playing in a new way. We have the camp set and the boys were so excited to get a tent and all the accessories to go with it. It came with everything they needed for a camping trip in the house. The best part about the Picasso Tiles toys is that they are affordable too.
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Making Memories with Your Kids
When I think about making memories with my family as a kid I always go back to family traditions. My husband and I have worked in some form of the restaurant business for most of our adult lives. So not surprising most of the memories we’re making with our kids are made in the kitchen or around food inside or outside of our home. So here are some of my favorite Family Traditions we’ve made for our little troop.
1. Lamb on Easter Dinner and the Kids Help
Mint Jelly and Lamb is our families Easter tradition. Our kids love to cook, and I know when they look back and think about making memories in our house our kitchen will be a place they will think fondly of. Lamb and Mint Jelly was a family tradition of my husband’s family and I’m happy to carry it on with my kiddos. With both of their grandparents on my husband’s side being gone it’s nice to also teach them about their Dad’s family traditions.
2. TugBoat Race
Tug Boat Race happens every Labor Day Weekend on the Hudson River. Our “anything with an engine” loving son is obsessed with boats but drew a liking to specifically Tug Boats. So when he was barely the age of one we discovered the Tug Boat Race. While we normally ride the Circle Line tourist boat to go out and watch the race, last year as we arrived right as the boat was pulling out of the dock. It was raining my three-year-old was devasted and crying. He wasn’t going to get to ride the Circle Line to watch the race. Then suddenly, the captain of the Patricia tug boat with two boys around my kids age saw what had happened. They happily scooped up our family and we got to ride the tug boat in the race. Best part is we WON. Afterwards my husband even took home 1st place in the spinach eating contest.
3. Katz on Thanksgiving
Now that have kids we do make a turkey but that doesn’t stop us from having pastrami sandwiches at Katz Deli every year for lunch. A family tradition once started over a decade ago when the power went out on our block for Thanksgiving. We ended up at the one place open for Thanksgiving lunch with the best Pastrami Sandwiches one has ever had. We normally skip the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and opt into a less crowded tradition the night before with the blowing up the Macy’s balloons so we have plenty of time to cook on Thanksgiving while still fitting in a nontraditional lunch. My kids love going to this place. The sawdust, the smell of fresh
sliced pastrami I hope someday my kids can take their children here and show them how to properly eat a pastrami on rye
4. Macy’s Santa and Korean BBQ in Korean Town
We’re lucky (crazy) enough to be raising our kids in NYC which means we get some good-looking Santa’s at Macys. After seeing the big guy himself we always head two blocks over to Korean Town to hit up our favorite Korean BBQ in NYC, Miss Korea. My now four-year-old says this is the best day of the year. It combines his two favorite things; Santa and Meat.
5. Cutting Down a Christmas Tree and saving a Pine Cone
My husband is notorious in our neighborhood for having the biggest tree you can possibly fit into a NYC apartment. Once he had to cut the entire back of the tree out to get it in the door. The bigger the tree the better for Santa to spot us he jokes. We always drive outside of the city and to a Christmas tree farm where we let our kids pick out (as long as it’s gigantic) our tree for that year’s Christmas. The kids love cutting it down and picking out a pinecone from it. Which we save and keep every year, so we always have a memory of our tree.
This is just a glimpse into our family’s traditions and how we make memories with our kids. It’s always a helpful reminder to myself that my kid is just as happy doing paint projects on a rainy day as they are out exploring the city. All that matters to them is that we’re all together.
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I remember the operating room being kind of pleasant, actually. I had expected a cold, sterile room, but all the white fixtures gave it a Scandinavian kitchen vibe, impossibly organized like an IKEA magazine photo. I’d been on bed rest since the 29th week of my pregnancy – 5 weeks ago – when my water unexpectedly broke. It was plenty of time to google everything related to c-sections, so when the doctors came to my room, I enthusiastically asked whether they would let me watch so I could experience the “family-centric gentle cesarean” I had read so much about. They also reviewed what would happen to my baby, for the umpteenth time, who being born at 34 weeks would have to be whisked away to the NICU. Don’t get your hopes up, they said. They would do their best to give us skin-to-skin, but no promises. Your baby might not be breathing. Its heart rate might drop.
As the spinal block took full effect, my husband was escorted into the room and he took a seat by my right shoulder. I asked anxiously whether he’d remembered the camera. “First incision, 9:20 AM.” None of my googling had prepared me for the feeling of abdominal surgery; my stomach felt like that one drawer everyone has in their kitchen, the one full of junk, and the doctor was rummaging around in it to find a pen. Slamming the drawer farther open, to check the back. These last few minutes with my baby inside my uterus felt so short. I had been struggling with the sadness of knowing my pregnancy wouldn’t go full term, and feeling robbed of those last months.
“Okay, your baby is about to be born!” It was 9:27. I craned my neck to peer down towards my belly. The doctor on my right had two small purple feet, and seconds later I saw a bottom, a spine and wrinkly torso. The second doctor held what looked like a shoe horn. With a last jolt and a firm pressure under my ribs, he cranked down on the lever. Out popped a head, breaking suction with the fluids and other junk in the drawer. I heard two short, but determined cries. “Dad, do you want to announce the gender?” the doctor asked my husband, holding the baby for him to see as nurses orbited with suction bulbs and towels. My husband turned to me, “It’s a boy!”
Moments later a nurse held a small bundle near my head. I reached out and found his arm, stroking it with my finger. I remember his tightly shut eyes, his face like a raisin. And then they were gone. We didn’t have our midwife, we didn’t have a newborn photo shoot. We had seven weeks in the NICU. Today, the memory of my 4.5 pound purple raisin being pulled out of me in an IKEA kitchen is the most precious thing I have, and I’m so glad I saw it happen.
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I've wanted to be a mama for as long as I can remember. And "mama," specifically, for all it's storybook-ness. I imagined myself making porridge, melting crayon ends into psychedelic rainbow cupcakes, sewing aprons, replacing button eyes, climbing trees in great kite rescues, baking bread, building fairy homes and knotting the tiniest beads on the end of the thinnest thread, so nothing beautiful could ever slip off. All my heroics as a mother would be quiet, without a cape.
When my oldest was small, I would walk her through the mall in a fugue of postpartum depression. The first time her eyes really lit up, she toddled into Windsor Fashions and clutched a sequined gown and said, "dis!" In my overalls and sneakers I followed her as she took it all in, toddling down the storefronts to the MAC Counter. She banged the counter, "dis!" She lined her lips with a marker and perfect precision in her car seat. She was everything I never expected.
When our second came along, we moved her sister's old clothes into her new room. We laughed when she kicked off tights, tucked dresses into her diaper, pulled at patent leather shoes. We worried, some, when she said she was a boy. Every. Time. She was our small, fat spark - all giggles and faces. She could not understand. Or we could not. Each day she was a little quieter, a little softer or paler, like construction paper hung in a window. She cried at night, throughout. She would tantrum when someone said girl or she or her or sister. She pulled at her hair and her body. She laid on her stomach for diaper changes. She started hiding under a blanket when friends came, when we were home, when we rode in the car. One day she said, "would you like me to pretend to be a girl? Would that be better?" And no. It would not. What could we do? But talk. To her, doctors, therapists, teachers, friends, Google. We asked her, who she is. She said she was a son. She told my husband, "I just want you to say, I love you, my boy." And we did and we do. And a bright light came back to him. His scribbles became self portraits over night. He toilet trained in three days. He started sleeping through the night for the first time ever. And when we cut his hair he said, "oh!" to the mirror, surprised and joyous, "I is me!" And he is. And I hold him and his truth and his sister and know that there are no quiet heroics in motherhood. There is much unexpected heart shouting and soul shrieking and spirit surprising. And for my sweet boy, there is a book, for now, that is just the shape of him. Because I want him to know, that while his story isn't everyone's, it's an important one. For him and for all the hims and hers.
Book link: https://www.amazon.com/Baby-RPenny/dp/1985143658/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&dpID=31ldfaK2cmL&dpPl=1&keywords=th e%20baby%20r.%20penny&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&qid=1519708228&ref=plSrch&ref_=mp_s _a_1_1&sr=8-1
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Today's blog post comes from Alex Mooney, mama to 3 adorable kiddos and photographer. She's sharing how photography is a key component in making memories with her brood. We love Alex's newborn photography - especially those Fresh 48 snaps in the hospital blanket! And after those photos? Send that blanket in to us to turn your once in a lifetime memory into an heirloom quality animal for your little one.
Photography is a huge part of our home -- being a photographer myself, I love to snap all of those fun little life moments, candid childhood captures that I can! And what a great way to make a lasting memory than with photography, right!? Cause in the age of digital pictures, snapping candidly and carefree allows to you to take seemingly unlimited memory holders on a single tiny SD card.
One of my favorite things to do with my kids is to make lasting memories with them -- not just with the activity we’re doing, but having it documented as well! And not just momtog here doing the documenting, but flipping the camera over to them and letting them snap away with the memories too. To me, this is twofold: we are not only doing something fun and ‘memory-making’, but my kids are the ones doing the memory-keeping by snapping those pictures of our activities!
My oldest, my son Patrick, is the most excited about playing ‘kidtog’ when we are out and about -- from the park to Target to playing with our geriatric dog Scooter -- he is all about being the one to snap! He loves using his little sisters as his subjects and even complimenting them on what they’re doing while he’s snapping! However, as much as he loves taking pictures, he’s quick to hand the camera (or phone) back to me so he can join in on the fun with them.
I love photo-documenting what we’re doing everyday and then using those snaps to make into separate activities with my kiddos! They love decorating their room with printed snapshots from our adventures and activities as well as helping me design photo books and Chatbooks that we’ll get printed to have on hand to show off in our house. My kiddos are super into art as well, and love to take pictures and ‘cut them out’ and paste them onto new posters and drawings that they make for the grandparents and their teachers.
Some people think that always having a camera or phone in your kids’ face is a bad thing, but I disagree! Obviously being a photographer I have a little different perspective, but I truly think having that camera out to capture all of those memories being made really makes lasting, forever remembered memories for both myself and my kiddos! I embrace technology and use it to my advantage, and if it’s going to help me make more memories -- and memories that I will forever remember (and be able to remember, thank you digital imagery and social media!) -- with my kiddos, I say bring it on!
You can find Alex on her blog, Instagram, and Photography website. Alex resides in St. Louis and snaps everything from birth photography to first birthdays, brand photography and more.
The beginning of it all.. after several hours of nurses and doctors trying to stop my labor my oldest son was born five weeks early and weighed in at 5lbs and 19 inches long. It was love at first sight for my husband and I; our hearts had never been so full.
After our son was weighed, he was immediately moved to the nursery to be monitored for difficulty of breathing. It was the scariest moment of our lives. It was the longest six hours my husband and I had to endure. Our son was kept under a heat lamp and we were able to view him, but more than anything we wanted to hold him and cuddle him. We had imagined our son being born, but this was not part of our birthing plan.
Every hour that passed was another hour that I was not able to nurse my newborn baby. As a mom, I knew he needed that early nourishment. I was given a breast pump, and with the assistance from a lactation consultant I was able to express milk. My heart sank as I did not plan to pump, I wanted to nurse my newborn son. Thankfully, after several hours my tiny baby gained strength and was brought back to me. I tried to nurse him as soon as he got back to the room but he was reluctant to latch on. I was told that this was common with preemies but I was determined.
The nurses then brought in formula to mix with my breast milk to help give him the additional supplements he needed. We tried to get him to latch on to a bottle but he would not, so I was shown yet another method, cup and spoon feed him.
For days I cup and spoon feed my little boy. I was devastated to feed him in this manner because I knew it wasn’t enough. This wasn’t part of my plan.
Every chance I got I tried unsuccessfully to get him to latch. I felt defeated and overwhelmed knowing that I could not provide for my little boy in ways that I had imagined.
Days later he succeeded and latched onto a bottle. It was a relief, a step in the right direction. For the first time I was able to see how much he had eaten. Pumping became part of our daily routine. Although he was being supplied my breast milk I was still hungry for knowledge. I wanted to know everything I could.
I tried many different strategies in hopes that I would be able to get my son to latch on. I purchased a nipple shield, hoping that would help him transition from a bottle to my breast. For two months I tried occasionally without the shield to see if he would accept my breast but it proved a failed attempt. He would take the bottle or he would nurse with the shield in place.
I felt defeated until one day my son and I were visiting family, we were up before everyone else. I took my little three month old baby and settled into a cozy chair in the living room. The room over-looked a calm, deep blue lake, the sun was rising and the view was breathtaking.
G smiled and looked into my eyes and it was at that moment that I prayed that we could do this together. I lifted him to my breast and he latched on! It was a miracle. We did it! From that moment on he was breastfeed. No more pumping. No more bottles. And I couldn’t have been happier or more satisfied. My little preemie and I conquered a huge obstacle and he is now a strong, independent, caring four year old boy.
My breastfeeding journey was not easy, but it is my own. Each of us have obstacles we have to overcome. It may not be a preemie, it may be something else, but know that you can do it and you aren’t alone. Each day can prove new challenges, but know that together you, your family and baby can overcome it with love, patience and perseverance. Our children deserve the best that we can give them and for me that was breastfeeding.
I will never forget nursing my boys, they were the most memorable moments. I enjoyed looking down into their big eyes and seeing and feeling all of the love we have for each other.
** These photo's were taken of my youngest K and I by the talented Wandering Fawn in Northern Michigan. I wanted to capture the most natural and beautiful thing I did for my son's.
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Change is difficult and I think that's what causes us to feel empty or alone. You close up and continue to live every day yet you have lost your sparkle. Maybe this is you now, or maybe life has treated you well and this is foreign - great!
Feeling alone is not something I go around talking about or I'm proud of, actually it's quite the opposite. But, I'm hopeful someone out there is screaming: "Yes! This is Me!" You are not alone my friend! Most of us have that feeling of being empty or alone at one point or another. Hang in there!
Last week my family went camping, we had a great time and settled into a spot next to the playground. I was hopeful my children would make some new friends that would keep them busy. I was wrong. There were some great kids who wanted to play, but, my daughter wanted no part of it. There was one young girl in particular who kept coming over and asking her to play and my almost seven year old kept saying, no thanks. At least she was polite.
She choose to do her summer school workbook instead of playing with new friends. I watched her sit at the picnic table as the kids played in the sand, built sand castles and ran around laughing and talking to one another. I noticed her watch the kids, then return to her workbook. I wondered if she felt alone. I felt sad that she didn't want to play. Did she think she wouldn't fit in? Where did these feelings come from that caused her to not to join the others?
But as I watched my daughter I realized she was incredibly content just sitting there with our family. A few minutes late her younger brother came over and they started laughing and tickling each other and I realized that they are best friends. It's okay if she doesn't want to join the others.
It's okay if you don't always fit the mold. You won't belong to every group, people may exclude you for reasons you're unaware of and that's fine- that group just isn't for you. Tell yourself, it's okay. My daughter didn't fit the mold of these kids, but she was content playing with her brother and working on her book. My heart was full watching them play together. Life will always have its ups and downs. We just can't get stuck down. We will all feel alone or empty from time to time, find your tribe. Find the people that will love you just as you are, those are the people that will help get your sparkle back and help you to feel full and alive.
By Andrea Bertels
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