Beauty Will Rise Giveaway

Anth and I are visiting family this weekend, specifically my new niece Kinsey who was born on November 5 and his grandpa who isn't doing well. We'll be getting in a lot of visits!

My Aunt Becky and Uncle Buck have completed Carleigh's memory chest and they brought it to my parent's house. I saw it last night for the first time. It is AMAZING. I can't wait to share it with you all. It means so much to me!!

I have an idea of something special to do for some of you and I'd like to try to do it this weekend. Sorry, but I have to keep it a surprise!

I want to let you all know that I am now an affiliate of My Forever Child. If you click either one of the banners on Carleigh's page or the links from now on and purchase an item I will make a certain percentage of the sale. Now, I am doing this not to make money for myself but to be able to giveaways for all of you. So, if you know of anyone purchasing through My Forever Child have them do it through my links! Thanks!

I mentioned before of Steven Curtis Chapman's new CD Beauty Will Rise. I bought the CD yesterday and WOW! It is really good. Each song is written through the eyes of a grieving parent. I highly suggest buying this CD. I actually bought 2 extra copies of the CD. One will be put in for Harley's raffle. If you would like to donate or make an item for this please let me know. Thank you to everyone who has already expressed interest in donating. I appreciate your generosity so much! I will be setting up the raffle on Monday.

The other copy of the CD I am going to give away right now!! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment saying you want to be entered. This giveaway will run until Thursday 11:59 pm EST with the winner being announced on Friday at whatever time I get around to it. Good luck! ;)

Grateful for the Gift

Walking With You was created by Kelly of Sufficient Grace Ministries to help support those who have lost a child. Together we share our stories, helpful information, scriptures, encouraging words, prayer requests, and more. To join in on Walking With You please visit Kelly's blog.

This month we are focusing on our gratefulness for the gifts we were given and the ways our lives were changed by the lives of our babies.

I never imagined my life would take this course. I never imagined my child would be given a fatal diagnosis. I never imagined that I would have to bury my child. But yet, it has all happened to me. Am I angry that this happened? No, I'm really not. I feel I've been given a great gift and I would never want to give it back now. In fact, sometimes I feel like I've had the greatest blessing and that I'm the only one that got to experience it.

She was part of me for many months. I felt her every moment. I was the only one to feel her hiccups, which were so light I had to focus on them to feel them. We had a bond that wasn't broken when she died. It was still there when she was born. I know because I felt it. I still feel connected to her. I am grateful we shared and continue to share something so special.

One thing I am quite thankful for is knowing ahead of time that Carleigh wouldn't live. It gave us time to prepare and to capture and cherish moments with her. When I plan something I really plan it. I had pretty much every detail planned out for Carleigh. Her birth plan is proof of that!!

I already knew through my experience with Jordan that you can draw closer to God through tragedy. It was no different with Carleigh. The very day we got our diagnosis, I felt Him. He assured me that all would be ok. We would eventually lose our daughter here on this earth, but we would not lose our faith in God. It has actually grown stronger and deeper. Our trust in Him is absolute and unwavering.

But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God. I will always trust in God’s unfailing love. I will praise you forever, O God, for what you have done. I will trust in your good name in the presence of your faithful people. Psalm 52:8-9

I am grateful for many things over the course of our journey with Carleigh-the many prayers, support that was given, the love and comfort we felt, the gifts and cards we received, the kindness from strangers. It all means so very much to us.

There is no doubt that this whole experience has changed me. There is much that is good but there is also some not so good. I'm working on the not so good, but it's a process. Our lives have changed dramatically and we have to learn how to live this new life. There'll be good days and bad days, but as long as we stick together and lean on God we will make it through. All I ask is for patience from those around us. This isn't something we will get through quickly. We still need you. We still need words of comfort and gentle hugs.

I am indeed grateful for this journey, but most of all I am grateful for the gift of such a beautiful daughter.

Carleigh's name gallery and more

I have finally gotten around to creating a name gallery for all of Carleigh's pictures that so many wonderful people have sent me. I looked at several different sites to host all the pictures but finally decided to create a Facebook page since it could hold the most photos and people can interact on the page too. So you can visit Carleigh's page here. Now that she has a page, I will be deleting her group on Facebook. No sense in having both, really, and I think it will be easier.

I was going to hold a giveaway this week but have decided to put that off until later. What I would really like to do is hold another raffle for Harley. If you remember, she is the special little girl who passed away from Alper's Syndrome. She was born in January 2008 just like Kyndra and her mom Katie and I were in a due date club together on Cafemom. I know there are still needs to be met and I would really like to help them out. I would really love to have several items besides the one I would provide to raffle off to try and raise as much money as I can. If you or someone you know would like to make or donate an item for the raffle please email me at caring4carleigh@yahoo.com. I would like to get this up and running as soon as possible. And thank you to everyone who made the last raffle such a great success! I truly appreciate it! You can visit the blog or caringbridge page to read her story.

I got a sympathy card in the mail today from the University of Findlay. It was a nice surprise. Inside the card it says, "Our deepest sympathy on the loss of your little Carleigh. From your friends at Findlay." Then a bunch of people signed the card. I'm not really sure who they all are but it's nice. I imagine they found out from the update I submitted as an alumni. Maybe it'll be in the next alumni magazine.

Some of you may be aware that Steven Curtis Chapman's new CD Beauty Will Rise was released today and the first single off the CD is called Heaven Is The Face. Oh my goodness. This song is AMAZING. If you haven't heard it pause Carleigh's music player at the bottom and play this video below. I've already bought the mp3. Yeah, it's that good.