Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

(Pictured Above:  Hooded towels become a family affair.  Here is Mason (at 4) all snuggled in Ryan's (almost 2) baby towel. )

 If you've been around me long enough, you might have figured out that when I show up at a bridal shower, I bring an apron.  When I show up at a baby shower, I bring a hooded baby towel. But which came first?  Which one did I start making first?  Remember this old jump rope jingle? Does it give you any clues?

Well, here is the real story.  

I started making the hooded baby towels first.  My boys are adopted.  Which meant baby shower, gifts, then baby.  However, just in case things didn't work out, we didn't go heavy on a baby shower.  That is, until we had the baby home and in our arms.  Mason, my first, got to be the star of his own baby shower.  What a joyful time to be blessed with so many gifts.  Almost three years later, we were in line for our second adoption.  I tell my first child, "You made us a family." and my second, "You made us complete."  My first adoption was actually near perfect.  You know, no morning sickness, no braxton-hicks.  Oh lucky me!  The best part, and the worse part, I suppose, was that we knew five months in advance we would be adopting Mason.  We knew we were having a boy. We had time to prepare, but five months felt like an eternity. Enter child number two.  What is it about the second one?  The first one aims to please and the second child aims to , well lets just say that baby #2 should come with a warning label, "PREPARE FOR IMPACT."  I received a call in my office, Craig happened to be there with me.  I remember the question, "We have a couple expecting a baby.  The baby is due in five weeks.  Would you like to adopt this baby?"  

We said "YES"

Now if we were a reality TV show, it might have been called "Say YES to the Mess."  It got messy real FAST!  Just FIVE weeks to get ready for this baby.  Was it a boy?  Was it a girl?  We didn't know, so we had to pick out a boys name (Ryan) and a girls name (Jordan)!  Definitely no time for a themed bedroom and besides, Pintrest hadn't been invented yet.  I was working full time and had to train my back-ups.  Once this baby arrived, this pending maternity leave was going down!  I was so excited that Mason was going to have a sibling.  So excited that God heard the cries of my heart and He didn't have me wait six years!  (Seriously, I was like, "God, please! Mason is almost 3, we are ready.  Please don't have us wait like 6 years!")  We painted, we put the crib up, we prepared my back-ups at work.  It was all hands on deck, but we were ready.  

My manager, at the time, took Craig and I out to lunch to celebrate.  That is when the gift happened. He gave us a package, said his wife found it at a craft show.  We opened it and it was the most humble mint green terry cloth hooded baby bath towel.  Little did we know we would come to adore that thing.  We didn't just adore it . . . listen, we LOVED that towel.  It was big enough to fit both Mason AND Ryan in it at the same time.  Ryan used it FOREVER.  I remember moving from Oklahoma, to Virginia, to Minnesota, to Texas and he was still using it in Texas at 8 or 9 years old!  Man!  What a gift!


Life got pretty darn busy raising boys, working full time, moving all over the country. Eventually we were no longer carrying diaper bags, the boys could get in and out of the car on their own, finally that person that makes stuff, that curly girl that sewed her own dresses for high school events, that designed and made her own wedding veil . . . That creative girl . . . started to resurface. I looked at that hooded towel, I examined how it was made, I visually took it apart in my head and I just had to make one myself.  Of course, I turned right around and gave it as a gift. I am most certain it was a reversible blue towel with white bubbles.  The trim was little rubber duckies!  Oh man, so dang cute!  I was so sad when those towels were discontinued.  You might have one of those yourself.  There were towels with angels on them, lavender towels with daisies, green with frogs, white with roses, hippopatamus'.  There were so many over the years.  I continuously bought up whatever kids towels were currently in stock.

The year of my twin granddaughters, I chose the cutest towels with bright polka dots.   My all time favorite reaction was when their momma pondered, "Will the girls ever be big enough for the towel to stop dragging on the ground?"  "Yes." I said, "Yes, just a wee bit before they go off to college. . . So wrap them up tight, take lots of pictures.  It goes by so fast."

As sweet as the gift was to us, I always remember the givers, Brian and Carol.  It's a privilege to share this story and acknowledge that it all started when someone blessed us with a gift that was handmade. I look at my current stash of baby bath towels.  Oh my goodness, there are some good ones in there. I can't wait to get them made and posted.  My latest towel creations was for a little boy named Henry.  He is the grandson adopted into the family of Craig's manager.  Craig just knew they had to have one of our towels as he shared our adoption stories.   Always, while I'm creating these precious towels, I'm listening to praise and worship music.  I'm thinking about this new life that is just beginning.  I'm praying over them, calling them out before the Lord.  Speaking blessings, boldness and protection over their lives.  All they need is a bundle of joy to make their story complete!  If you are looking for something special, contact me and we can work something out. 

Are you part of this baby towel story?  What towel did you receive? How old is that baby now?  (My boy is 22 and my granddaughters are 6!)  Share your story in the comments below.  I would love to hear from you!

Blessing galore!

Always Kris . . . always curly.

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