[When creativity strikes..] 

I got this cute little teddy bear at target right after Cam was born. Typically, I get my necessities at Wal-Mart or Amazon but we had an unused gift card and the bear was just so darn cute. Ingenuity makes it – my new favorite baby plush! I saw a couple other options from the company as far as design/animal variation but the teddy bear is the only one made out of this warm comfy material.

Cam LOVES her bear! She gets so excited trying to cuddle with it and likes to “gum” the back of its head… quite possibly the cutest interaction I’ve ever seen between an infant and a toy. I keep her bear with her as much as possible because I feel like it makes her happier, kind of like a Lovey security blanket.

My son Mac is 2 ½ years old and usually does pretty good behavior-wise from day to day. He’s doing a heck of a lot better at being the Big Brother than I was anticipating. Sure, he can still get a little wired and scare Sissy but for the most part, he has really surprised me by how well he now gives gentle little hugs. This boy is 150% BOY, loves getting dirty and is not afraid of anything – just melts my heart <3.

Then it happened… Mac rips Cam’s bear out of her lap and says, “Mine!”.

Mac has PLENTY of his own stuffies so I assume he’s just acting like a normal toddler in this instance. I gently reminded Mac that this teddy bear was Sissy’s and she needed it back to feel better. Yeah no, I didn’t think it’d work either. Then I reminded him of the “Walla” he keeps in his crib to cuddle with at bedtime & prayers. “Walla” is a super fuzzy blue koala bear that my sister got for Mac before he was born. We call him “Walla” because Mac cannot say “Koala”. I guess I was able to appeal to his emotions with this one because he roughly threw the bear onto Sissy’s lap before making his way back to grab “Walla” from his crib.

Over the next couple of weeks, Mac continued to take Sis’ bear and cuddle with it himself. He’d give it a big hug and eventually would place the bear gently back on Cam’s lap. My mom heart started to feel bad: maybe Mac really did love this bear and want one of his own, maybe he just wanted it because she had it… either one makes no difference in the outcome of my story. I was determined to get him a warm cuddly bear of his very own.

Mac’s bear arrived about a week ago so now my babies both have a bear of their own! Except, the only difference between them was the amount of “dinge” on one and a piece of fluff that stuck out on the right cheek of the other. Here is where my creativity and resourcefulness get sparked and I knew just what these little bears needed. I went to my closet and pulled out three pieces of clothing. A black #3 Dale Earnhardt shirt and a red #8 NASCAR Earnhardt Jr. shirt were still hanging reliably in the back (these were my grandma’s favorite shirts that I inherited when she passed; too big for me to wear but didn’t belong anywhere else.) I also grabbed a folded grey patriotic USA sweatshirt that had gotten some wear since my grandpa passed last November. It had served its purpose by covering my pregnant belly during these past winter months. 

Three pieces of clothing that had belonged to people I missed SO much would serve one last purpose by being placed as patches on the cherished stuffies of two little people I love more than life itself. Being my firstborn, Mac was able to meet and often played with my grandpa Jack – I hope Mac continues to remember him. I was pregnant with Cambrie when my grandpa died so she will never meet him or my grandma Linda on this Earth.

I don’t have a sewing machine so I worked on these the fun old-fashioned way by simply hand sewing specific patches into the front of the bears. They came out looking better than I expected… not professional and perfect but instead seem to offer a feeling of home & comfort. This was a fun project that I could feel good about, and the price was right!