Day 7: What to Say

These are all things that were incredibly helpful and heartwarming things to hear people say after we lost our girls.  Things like this never need an explanation, sometimes it just takes knowing you're thinking of us to get us through the day.

Day 6: What not to say

When people talk to someone who has lost a child, they often don't know what to say.  In an effort to fill the awkward silence some pretty hurtful things come out of their mouths.  I tried not to be hurt by them, knowing that they were honestly trying to help but sometimes it still stung.  Here are some things that hurt, keep them in your minds and hearts the next time you enter into a conversation with someone like me, that they may hurt and cut to the bone if they come out of your mouth.

Day 5: Memorial

I painted these as part of a group project from one of my online support groups for my first mothers day without my girls.  The one on the left says "yet in the stillness of the night, my empty arms still hold you tight" and on the right says "mom holds her children's hand for a moment, their heart forever".  Going through your first mothers day without your children in your arms is almost too much to bear.  It's supposed to be a day to celebrate your motherhood, not a day to mourn that even though you're a mom very few people will still recognize you as one because they can't see your children.  This project helped to keep my hands and mind busy on such a hard day.

Day 4: Most Treasured Possession

These memory boxes are my most treasured possessions.  In them are the striped blankets that are the only things that I have that touched my sweet Emilyn and Hailey.  Their footprint blankets were also wrapped around them in many of our pictures.  Then there's the "I'm a girl" cards (3x5 for size reference) with their birth stats, and also their hand and footprints to the right.  The hats on the left side were made by my mom and the hats on the right were donated by Calivn's hats, a charity that provides hats to families in the size that would have fit their little ones that they have lost.  This literally is all I have that truly belonged to my girls, if I ever lost these boxes I don't know what I would do.

Day 3: After Loss Portrait

This was one week after we lost Emilyn and Hailey.  I am holding my girls one last time before we released their bodies to the funeral home to have them be cremated.  It's the last time I ever saw my little girls' in their earthly bodies.

Day 2: Pre-Loss Portrait

This is a picture of me on my wedding day to Charles, before Emilyn and Hailey were even thought about.

Day 1 Capture Your Grief Photo Challenge: Sunrise

I'm doing a 30 day photo challenge started by another angel momma Carly Marie.  Here is all the information about it.

http://carlymarieprojectheal.com/2012/09/capture-your-grief-this-october-2012-for-pregnancy-infant-loss-awareness-month.html

Sunrise on the first day of pregnancy and infant loss awareness month.