Photo courtesy of Jessica Teesdale
MP was recently introduced to the work of Portland-based artist Jessica Teesdale. Known as Clay Tile Mom, Jessica creates keepsake hand and foot print tiles.
The busy mother of three started her business in 2008. Since then, Jessica schedules print sessions at her home studio, playgroups or spaces like Smudge Art Studio in Freeport. The tiles are popular with families who want to capture a moment in time.
Sessions with Jessica take about 5 minutes for each child. She brings the printed clay back to her studio, shapes the tile, then glazes and fires the clay in the kiln.
Like her clients, Jessica says she cherishes a tile of her twin daughters’ hands and feet that a friend gave her years ago:
The tile is on my bedroom wall. I love being able to feel the imprint of their hands and feet. It is an amazing reminder of how small the babies were. After that, I have done clay prints of my kids each year. They grow so fast.
FMI: visit Clay Tile Mom.
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I am the permanent legal guardian for my “son” Eric. I couldn’t possibly love him more or less than my biological children. His mother was an employee of mine when he was born and I was her birth coach. After struggling for a few years, she made the brave decision to ask me to permanently care for him. I have a video from when he was born via c-section. In the nursery I was taping him, and the doctor asked if I wanted to cut the cord, in my memory I thought that was the first time I touched him. But when I watched the video with Eric a few years ago, I noticed that as I walked over to cut the cord, I briefly touched his hand. As we watched that together I got goosebumps and cried and cried. Our favorite song is from Tarzan when Tarzan’s adopted mom sings “come stop your crying it will be all right, just take my hand, hold it tight.” Our bond is forever, and began with a touch of the hands.
I got goosebumps from reading your story. Thank you for sharing it.
Best Wishes to you and your family.
Marina
Thank you Marina. We’ve been having some great family time this week. My oldest is headed to Afghanistan and we’re fortunate to have him home for a couple of weeks. Eric is so in love with his big brother. And then there is the displaced middle brother who WAS the baby . . . 🙂
I loved the nights when my son and I were alone in the hospital when Daddy was home with our first son. Baby was so new and warm and cuddly. It was such a special time getting to know each square inch of him. 🙂
My son is only two, and already there are entirely too many cherished memories from which to pick. Every day seems to bring several new priceless moments. Last night, my husband was gone for ten minutes and when he returned I had three stories to share with him about things he had missed.
If I absolutely must pick one memory, though, it would definitely involve cuddling. These days, while I watch him run around and around in endless energy and excitement, I find myself daydreaming of the delicious moments when he would burrow into my lap, lift his little hand to my ear, and drift off to peaceful sleep. There’s nothing like seeing your child happy and safe and resting in your arms.
One of my MANY most favorite memories of my little nugget, actually happened just a few minutes ago. For 18 months being put to bed has not been one of my daughters favorite things. It has come with screams, kicks, head banging, flights out of both crib and pack n play…needless to say, it hasn’t been pretty. The miracle book came in the mail and we put it to work immediately.
So in her bed she went for her nap, I sat here staring at the video monitor with the volume turned up, yes, I said UP. I watched her laying in her bed and listened to her little voice hum, ‘Are You Sleeping’, for 10 minutes before drifting quietly off to sleep. Ahhhh – music to my ears!
My baby boy is just 5 weeks old. I am cherishing every single moment with him and learning all about him. My most precious moments with him so far are are just laying on the couch with his warm little body cuddled on my chest. He’s also just started to smile and they light up the room. There is nothing like seeing your 1st child look at you and smile!
I cherish the moments when my two sons are with each other and they don’t know I am watching. They have formed such a beautiful bond with each other. I love to watch them love each other.
My best memories are of holding each of our babies for the first time…our youngest just turned 1…I would love to do tiles for each of our little ones!
I am a Mom of three. My oldest is 3 1/2, middle is 14 months and youngest is 4 months. I cherish being able to stay home with all three and watch them all start to engage with each other. My middle daughter is just learning to walk and my oldest son will hold her hand and walk slowly with her. My youngest will coo as she watches with wide eyes her big brother and sister run around the room. My middle daughter will put her head up close to her sister and they’ll talk their own language.
I love listening to my three year old daughter sing ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ to her soon to be one year old brother! He adores her and she is so proud to be his BIG sister! I love watching their sibling relationship evolve!
Liam
Liam is my first child, born June 8th last year. He was 16 days late and ended up in the NICU for the first 12 days of his life. I couldn’t put my hands on him for 5 days and because of this I cherish each and every memory with him. While he was strong and we were optimistic, I never take for granted the fact that we may never have brought him home. He is growing strong and is extremely smart. At 3 weeks from his first birthday he is walking almost completely on his own, says 3 different words and loves to make me laugh. I keep a calendar handy to write milestones and look back with amazement at how quickly he has grown. Most recently my favorite memory is how proud he was to pull himself up on the couch, turn and let go to walk to me, all the while grinning and giggling in excitement. I am grateful to him for teaching me what true love really means.
I cherish the simple everyday ones – laughing while changing, smiles while feeding.
The memories I cherish most are probably not the sweet quiet cuddly ones, but the laugh outloud, can’t believe he said that kind of memories. My oldest son who just turned 5, has been saying some funny things:
-“I am so happy, I am not going to be bad anymore.”
-“How does a baby come out? Do they crack you open?”
-Blue: “Why do you have two boobies?” Me: “Ummm….” Blue: “Why does Bear need to drink two glasses of milk?” (I was nursing my youngest at this time) Me: “Ummm…”
These are a few that I happened to write down, but there are so many more, and of course some inappropriate. 🙂 I just love how his little brain works now, and just pray that time slows down so I can enjoy it more.
We have gotten many handprints from Jessica and even a pawprint (a Father’s Day gift for my husband…his/our dog turned 15 this year)! Jessica is awesome at what she does! Her customer service is unbeatable and prints are adorable. Her prints are hanging on the wall of in-laws’ and aunts’ houses up and down the east coast!
I was home from the hospital with my second baby… my daughter was just days old and we were able to escape the noise of the house to my bedroom where we could just lay and snuggle and sleep, skin to skin, with my litte peanut on my chest. I’ll never forget the way she smelled and the sweet little noises she made…. true love.
One of the most precious moments with my son was when one night while singing & rocking him he started singing with me…. He was about 20 months!