Tattoo Time

 

So, heres my new tattoo.

I must say, I like it quite a lot! The top symbol I acquired a few years back, at the ripe old age of 19, when I went to visit my dear friend Austin in New York City. I got off the plane and before we had even reached his apartment we had hatched a plan to go get tattoos. Nothing premeditated, I had no clue what I was getting I just wanted one. In hindsight.....kinda stupid. Austin ended up not getting anything at all, but he always was the smart one out of the two of us.

So for going on almost 8 years now I have had this random black mark on my back. Its actually the japanese kanji for "eternal" or "forever". I just picked it cause I thought it looked nice. But recently I started feeling like the tattoo needed to be completed, filled out somehow in to something with, you know, meaning. I started searching and I came upon the design for the bottom portion of the tattoo. It is the japanese kanji for "mother", and convienently enough had three flowers. One for each of my three fabulous children. I knew instantly it was perfect. I even emailed it to Dean for confirmation and he agreed. Perfect.

I then began pondering what colors I would use for the flowers, tossing about the idea of birthstones....but then the boys would match since they are both August Leo Birthdays. And the fact of the matter is, my boys are entirely too different to be the same color in my tattoo. I discussed it with Dean and said I thought Eden would be a good "Blue" and Jude would be a good "Green". but not like pale anything, I wanted really bold, dark, jewel tones. He thought that sounded good, but just to be certain I asked the boys themselves.

Me: Hey guys, Mommy wants to ask you something.
Them: Yeah?
Me: If you were a color, what color would you be?
Eden: (without a moments hesitation) Blue.
Jude:(with a small pause) I think I would be green, cause I am always on green at school.

Awesome.

Hannah's color I had to debate a bit, pink would be nice cause its a cherry blossom after all, but it just felt too girly-girl. Plus, Erin made me promise not to make Hannah's flower pink. And Erin doesn't usually ask me for much, unless its important. So it was then either purple or red, and I eventually chose an amethyst-y purple. I think it suits her quite nicely.

I got my tattoo done by a very nice guy named Chris, who told me all about his ex-wife and 4 kids he never sees which made me sad. But I couldn't be too sad because I was very focused on NOT crying while getting tattooed. I didn't want to look like a wimp after all. Most of it was actually painless, except right in the center. I did have to say "ouch!!" very sincerely a few times, but no tears were shed. Cause I'm tough like that.

And now I must swear off tattoos forever. Done and done. That way Erin doesn't have to lay awake at night worrying what I might do next. You're welcome, Erin. :)