Matthew Raymond Beiter June 20th 1990 - May 17th 2010

The phone rang around 11:30 this morning, and the number on the caller ID said something like 019999919999. I was puzzled and almost didn't pick it up, thinking it was going to be a wrong number. Only, it was my Mom calling, which before she could say anything more than "Hello", I knew something was VERY wrong, not only by the sound in her voice, but because EST is 8 hours before Réunion time. Only bad news needs to be told at 3:30 in the morning. I don't know all the details of the accident, but it doesn't change what happened as a result. Matt was sitting in the back seat of a friends' car that was hit by another around the Muncaster Mill Rd area. The friends are OK; Matt died from his injuries. I am in shock, as of course is the rest of the family and especially his parents John (my brother) and Leslie, and his younger brother Kevin.
Matt is technically my nephew, but we're closer in age (7 yr difference) than I am with my older siblings, so we grew up together a little more like sister and brother. I spent several memorable summers with him and his family. I remember block parties and Fourth of July celebrations in the Rock Creek valley neighborhood when they lived at Drake Terrace, even the new basketball hoop that went up at the court where everyone played. I remember the townhouse in Gaithersburg, having sleepovers there, us playing with new neighborhood kids, and making forts in the basement. Then the four of them moved to a house with a weeping willow tree and swingset in the backyard. Matt attended Gaithersburg High School, but I saw him and rest of "JKLM" less as I was away at Clemson. Matt loved life; he laughed and joked a plenty, and could also be a trusting friend and family member.
I hope that as people support his immediate family in their grief in the weeks, months, and years to come, that they remember to laugh and smile as we celebrate his life. Like everyone, I am deeply saddened by this sudden and huge loss of life, but it is compounded by the fact that I live so far from family and can only be present in spirit as the family progresses to having a funeral at the end of this week. But, everyone, know that our family here in La Réunion is keeping Matthew and all those close to him in our thoughts and hearts forever. Rest in Peace Matthew. We love you.
To anyone who reads this, please feel free to leave comments on this post of any memories you want to share of Matthew.

Matt and I in January 2008, when I came back from Madagascar to visit home for a few weeks. I was surprised to see him looking so grown up because in the year and a half I had been gone, he had become much bigger than me!

Matt even came to greet me at the airport when I arrived.

Matt, Kevin, John, and Alex involved in an intense ping-pong tournement during the summer of 2008. Alex had just met this part of my family for the first time and they were having a blast trying to one-up each other; Matt even jumping around on an injured foot.

All the cousins/grandkids in August 2009, the day Alex and I held our renewal of vows.

Matt and Kevin. Matt readily agreed to be our "DJ" for the event and came dressed in his best, complete with a hat that quite a number of guests tried on throughout the night.

Like a proud Momma...

...I want to show off my first appliquéed garment! (insert "oooh!" and "aaaahh!" here)
I've been wanting to experiment with using interfacing and stablizers in clothes, and FINALLY worked up the courage to do it. It's an old ribbed tank top from Target that needed something. I liked playing with the directions of the stripes and making funky trapaziod shapes. What do you think internet?

Before:

After:

Making the switch to cloth

I've been wanting to write about this topic for a while, but I didn't know where to begin. I guess I first began thinking of using cloth diapers while I was pregnant. I had no clue what to do about finding them, using them, caring for them, or even paying for them. Being so unfamiliar with how cloth diapers have evolved in the past years, I also thought cloth was going to be a bigger hassle than Alex and I could deal with in addition to all the changes related to pregnancy, birth, and my obtaining the proper visa to live in a country where I didn't speak the language fluently yet (again).At that time my idea of cloth diapers were a big, white, square piece of fabric folded around the squrimming baby's body and secured with a big scary metal pin. So, the idea was put aside in my mind.
Though it never strayed far, as I was always feeling guilty about the amount of trash our family produces because of using the disposables. Always having to pick up an over-wrapped, over-priced package of diapers and wipes on trips to the grocery store made me glum. I thought of all the production that goes into something that only gets used for a few hours and then takes up space (and is super smelly!) in a landfill somewhere for thousands of years. And that somewhere can't be all that big a place considering we live on a tiny island. After talking to a friend here who cloth diapered her now 4 year old son without any problems I felt re-inspired to find out more about making the switch to cloth.
I searched several websites to first learn about using cloth diapers. I checked out all the Q&A pages on different websites and found this ENTIRE article (ps-that site is chock-full of good diapering info for anybody who needs to know more!) and also this "Myths and Complaints" page pretty helpful, especially in trying to convince my not too excited husband about the benefits of cloth diapers. After being thouroughly resolved, I then looked at different options available; AIO, Pocket, Fitted, etc. Here's a list of all the different types if you're interested. Then, I thought, well, hey, even if I don't yet have the cloth diapers, I could get started with cloth wipes. (I love having a sewing machine!) I cut up a couple of old, soft t-shirts into squares and zigzaged around the edges. I didn't care really what they looked like, as long as they were about as big as my hand.


I proceeded to make a very simple wash for the wipes using almond oil (baby safe!), baby wash and water. In the future I'd like to add tea tree oil to the recipe, but I can't find it here (yet).
So, after making the cloth wipes, I was like, why not the diapers themselves? There are tons of places to get patterns and the kinds of fabric I'd like to use to do that, but this one is pretty good. And this site sells you the precut organic fabric all ready to be sewed up. And look! A network of parents who swap diapers! There's a lot more out there folks.
We are in the process of ordering one each of three varieties to see which we like best, and to see which fabrics work best for us. After that, I may even be inspired to make our own.
I like the idea of Luc's bottom wrapped up in handmade love like that!

best wedding invitation, EVER!

Ok, I don't want to offend other friends and family who are in the wedding planning stages, because really this was meant to be a birthday package for 2 out of 3 people in our little family. I just thought it was cool to be invited to a wedding (well, they kind of have to invite me, I'm in it!) and get a care package with it! Mmmm, all those lovely things that you can't find here in mini-france. Plus, a big bag of macadamia nuts, guess who's making cookies this weekend! Hope the visiting in-laws will be impressed. (But if not, more for me!)
Seriously, let's admire this invite; handmade recycled paper with pressed flowers, ferns, and leaves? Bravo!