Milestones: Strength & Perseverance

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Milestones: Strength & Perseverance

About the Photos/Memory: When we were given the assignment ‘milestones’, I knew I was going to create a page with a very literal interpretation. Milestones are something that we have been watching very closely since my son was born. He was very premature and at high risk for developing complications in the future. So as each milestone approached, we held our breath and prayed for the best. I chose to use very contrasting photos - one of him as an infant and one today as my tough little football player. Because when I see the boy, I still remember the baby.About the Design: Kristina and Jamie provided a beautiful mood board full of constellations, navy blue and mint. I combined patterned papers from the Lucky Charm collection and embellishments from the Unchartered Waters collection to achieve this layered look. While anchors are traditionally a nautical element, they are also a symbol of stability and strength. Constellations remind me of the future and dreams. Stability, strength, the future - these were all things closely related to the story behind the page. The layers behind the photos include a calendar (the marking of time), an anchor (strength), a sun (seal) punch in a bright yellow and finally a round constellation die cut. To further embellish the round constellation die cut, I stamped a bull's-eye image from a Mama Elephant in the center and added enamel dots to add color.To balance the layout, I chose to add a few rows of chipboard numbers to represent the months/years. I added a jewel with one of my favorite sentiments ('choose happiness') to add a little pop of dimension to the rows. Sewing on the large, opaque title and adding some splatters of paint complete the page. The Journaling: Milestones. Never would I have imagined just how important that word would be to me. You were born 12 weeks early at just 2 pounds. In the beginning, the goal was simply survival. After some time, the future impact of your extreme prematurity became our focus. The doctors threw out scary terms like high autism rates, cerebral palsy, partial blindness, ADHD, PDD and a host of alphabets I can't even remember. It was a waiting game at that point. A ‘wait and see as he gets older and reaches each milestone’, then we'll know. At 18 months, we knew you could see well, speak and connect socially. The walking though - not so great. You were so stiff, they said possible cerebral palsy. They recommended leg braces and I refused. We waited some more and at 2 you did it on your own. It's been a long road, so excuse your old Mama when you see tears at your football games. Because when you run that ball, she remembers that sick baby and that toddler with braces on his legs. We're almost at the end of those milestones. Not unscathed, you have your issues. But know this - Mama is always with you every step of the way and we have been blessed beyond measure. Prematurity does not define you, perseverance does.