Kitchen Notes and a Giveaway!

When Theo was only a month or so old, one of my fondest memories of him, of us, was his body, still in fetal position, nestled against my chest in a sling.  It was during the month of May, our windows open, birds chirping.  My hair was long and lustrous thanks to all those pregnancy hormones and my post-pregnancy body full and nourishing life in a new all-encompassing way.  Barefoot in the kitchen, I moved gracefully gathering ingredients, stirring this and that.  I was baking a loaf of homemade bread. I was a new mama still needing to nest.  Batshit crazy tired, I felt more beautiful than ever before.  I fondly recall looking down at my new babe, his head dusted with unbleached all-purpose flour.  I felt right.

Pregnancy hormones long gone, babes in slings a memory as faint and beautiful as early morning mist.  Now, almost five years later, my boys still hang in the kitchen with me daily.  It's our thing.  It's our spot.  A baptismal dusting of flour on the head replaced with flour, well, everywhere.   Huge messes, sometimes more than I bargain for in the "help" department.  For now though I eat it up.  I know a day will come when kicking a soccer ball out front with neighborhood buds will be so much cooler than hanging with me over boiling noodles and cake batter.   I trust that as years go by it will be in the kitchen where we continue to meet, where we will continue to nourish our roots and grow.  Each day a new memory.  This place where I still feel right and trust that I always will.

When a friend of mine recently added kids' aprons to her shop, I instantly knew what I'd be giving my boys for Christmas.  Not much of a surprise that they absolutely love them!  In fact, once the cookies are in the oven, flour cleaned off counter and floor, the aprons stay on - for now they are capes, or art smocks, or little marsupials keeping Legos safe and warm.

Liz, the creative goddess behind Knitknot & Gumdrop started her Etsy shop "as a means of focusing my wildly, erratic, creative energy."   Handmade and with love you can find simply adorable onesies, scrumptious bonnets, whimsical aprons, and more.

Generously, Knitknot & Gumdrop is giving away an apron to a Mama May I reader for your little one.  Between now and Friday you can enter the giveaway by leaving a comment - a kitchen note.  A link to a favorite recipe maybe...or a memory from the kitchen that you will always savor...or just that Knitknot & Gumdrop rocks! 

Using random generator, I'll announce the winner over the weekend.  {and you can choose your apron preference - boy or girl print)

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