Bereaved Mother's Day

Today, one week before Mother's Day, is International Bereaved Mother's Day.  This day's purpose is to acknowledge all the forgotten mothers; those of us who hold our children in our heart instead of our arms, and those yearn to have a child, but for reasons beyond their control have not yet experienced that joy.

Don't forget these mothers next week.  Mother's Day is a difficult day for many women; let them know they matter. If you know a woman who has lost a child as any age, or one who struggles with infertility reach out to her.  It can be as simple as a text, and email, or a phone call.  If their child had a name, use it.  Don't be afraid to talk about a lost child because it is often just what the mother needs.  I can't speak for everyone, but even though I miss Leo terribly, I find great joy in his memory and I am truly touched when someone acknowledges him in some way.  Many of us fear that our children will be forgotten.

I don't ask for myself.  Because of our beautiful little Isabella I know that I will always be recognized on Mother's Day, and I have some special people in my life who will always remember that I'm still Leo's mom too.  My heart goes out to all the women who struggle on Mother's Day.  Please remember that they are mothers too.

"Joy and life abound for millions of Mothers on Mother’s Day. It’s also a day of appreciation and respect. I can think of no Mothers who deserve it more than those who had to give a child back."
-Erma Bobeck  

 If you'd like to learn more about International Bereaved Mother's Day, parental bereavement, or are a bereaved parent yourself looking for support, consider visiting the links below.

Carly Marie Project Heal


STILL Project

Still Standing Magazine

Faces of Loss, Faces of Hope

March in Review

A little late, but better late than never right? Here is what we were up to in the month of March:

Made new friends at the library

 

Played in the snow

 

Danced

Daddy built a barn

 

Celebrated Audrey's sixth birthday

 More snow came

  

We crafted

 

Channeled Eloise

 Visited Leo

Spring showed up

 

 

The bunny came!

 

 

 And hid some eggs

 

Resulting in one unbelievably balanced egg hunt. 19 eggs each!

We have a lot to look forward to in April.  Spring is finally here, we have a lot of house projects to work on, and we will be honoring Leo's memory at the March for Babies.  There's still time to get involved if you are interested.  Use the link at the right to visit our team pages!

 

Another milestone

Leo's due date has come and passed.  Thank you to those of you who reached out to me that day.  I'll admit that I teared up with ever text, email, card, etc.  I think it would have been much worse if no one had acknowledged it.  We had a rather low-key day.  Clint and Isabella gave me a Willow Tree figurine and we took Leo some fresh flowers.  We came home and ate pizza because our darling daughter woke up crying about pizza that morning, "I want my pizza!"  Apparently, she had a dream that Daddy ate all her pizza. Silly girl. 

It makes me sad to think that I would likely be holding my brand new baby boy right now if everything had worked out, but I'm trying to focus on other things.  We've started house hunting again.  I don't know if we'll be moving anytime soon, but we thought it would be helpful to get a better idea of what we're looking for and how much we'll need to spend to get it.  I think we're going to contact a realtor for advice on preparing our house to sell, although we already have a few more projects in mind.  I think we're going to go ahead and paint the room that would have been Leo's a more neutral color.  Maybe it will be cathartic or something, and some work needs to be done in there anyway.  We'll have many more projects to keep us busy if it ever warms up. 

Of course, we also have the March for Babies to look forward too and we are off to a great start for that!

February

Leo's due date is one month from today.  Several months ago I was really looking forward to the month of February, and now I'm absolutely dreading it.  I kind of wish I could crawl into bed and sleep until March 1.  Of course, these "milestones" will never end.  After this one passes we'll have the anniversary of when we found out I was pregnant, the first time we saw him on ultrasound, and of course his birthdate.  This one seems to cut particularly deep though, knowing that I should have a new baby within the month, but I won't. 

I will probably be a bit under the radar for the month of February.  I might still post here, but I'm going to avoid Facebook and the like for my own benefit.  If you need to reach me you can call, text, or email.  I know I'll be ok, but it will already be hard so I want to avoid anything that might add to that.

100 Days

100 days from now we will honor our baby boy's memory by participating in the annual March for Babies on April 27, 2013.  The money raised through this event will help fund research that could prevent other families from experiencing such a tremendous loss.  Please consider supporting the March of Dimes either by joining Team Leo David and walking with us, donating to our team's efforts, or through your own efforts.

You can find out more by visiting our team page below, or clicking the banner at the right.  We truly appreciate your time and support.

Team Leo David

Have a little girl?

Check out the Isabella series by Jennifer Fosberry.

Isabella received the first book, My Name is Not Isabella: Just How Big Can a Little Girl Dream?, as a gift from my aunt and we both loved it.  In the story the little girl imagines she is several prominent women in history such as Sally Ride, Marie Curie, and Rosa Parks.  No pink, frilly princesses to be seen.  

The second book, Isabella: Girl on the Go, came out last year was less impressive for me, but Isabella still requests it often. I'm sure the fact that her name is in the title doesn't hurt.  This one has the main character imagining herself going to famous landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, Big Ben, and Chichen Itza. This story also features the father, whereas the first one featured the mother.

The third book, Isabella: Star of the Story, comes out in April land I've already pre-ordered it on Amazon. This one features Isabella imagining herself as characters from classic children's literature.  I am seriously excited about this one!

I would really recommend checking these books out if you're sick of princesses and would like to read a book that is about more than marrying a handsome prince.  Each of the books also has a reference guide in the back explaining each person or place portrayed in the book.  This section is particularly helpful when he tells you he's never heard of Chichen Itza.

And no, I didn't receive anything for recommending the books.  I just happen to love them and thought you might too.

March for Babies 2013

As some of you know, I have participated in the local March of Dimes chapter's March for Babies in the past. This year Clint and I decided to organize a team for Leo. If you are interested in donating or joining our team feel free to contact me or visit the link below for more information.

Team Leo David

The walk is still a few months away (April 27, 2013), but I am already so excited to do this for our baby boy.