Carleigh’s 3rd Birthday

I wasn’t sure how year 3 would be. I was hoping it would be a good day but you just never know how emotional or not it may be. Thankfully, both the day before and her actual birthday were good days. Even the days leading up to her birthday weren’t bad. I only had a couple moments. I think maybe I would have had more had I not been so busy with everything and taking care of the girls. The girls certainly keep my hands and mind busy just themselves, especially Lainey!

The day before her birthday something neat actually happened. The 27th was the day we went into the hospital for my induction with Carleigh. In the early morning on the ride to the hospital I was able to feel Carleigh hiccup for the last time. On the morning of the 27th around the same time Evanee got the hiccups. It was just really neat and I wanted to share. It totally took me back there but not in a bad way. It made me smile to remember that time because I think of Carleigh’s last hiccups as a gift from her.

The week before Carleigh’s birthday I ordered her cake. I knew I didn’t want to get a huge cake and have a ton of it left over like the previous year so I got a small cake and browsed the internet for possible designs and customized it with the colors I wanted. I think it turned out really good. The cake ended up being bigger than I thought it would and we still had cake left over so I took it into work the next day to share. It was delicious!

I had Anthony pick up the cake the morning of Carleigh’s birthday and also some balloons too. Before we left the house I made sure to get a pic of us all in our purple and with Carleigh bear of course!

We went to the cemetery so that I could change Carleigh’s flower arrangement to a more spring one and to also release the balloons we had gotten. I let Kyndra release the balloons when it was time.

After we were done at the cemetery we spent the day as a family at an aquarium. The girls really enjoyed it, especially the shark tunnel. Carleigh bear even came along! We visited a candy shop next door to the aquarium and picked up some goodies for all of us (cotton candy for me!).

When we got home we had steak and twice baked potatoes for supper and then cut into Carleigh’s cake.

I had wanted to go through Carleigh’s pictures and perhaps some videos too but that didn’t end up happening. By the end of the day I was so tired I just wanted to go to bed! I did spend a little time the day before though looking at a few items in her memory chest so I’m glad I at least got to do that.

Happy 3rd Birthday

Wishing my sweet little girl a happy 3rd birthday in Heaven. I love you and miss you.

Today we both have the day off work and are spending the day together as a family and remembering our little girl gone too soon from our arms.

In Our Hearts Photo Pendants

I wanted to share a little about In Our Hearts Photo Pendants. My friend Celia now runs this blog (it was previously run by my friend Heather). Celia offers pendants to help keep the memory of your baby close. You can get photos, footprints, or another image to remember your baby and then hang the pendant from a necklace, suncatcher, or other object.

Below are 2 pendants I have had made. The first was made by Heather when she ran the blog and I gifted it to my mom. The second was made by Celia and is on its way to me now.

These pendants would make a wonderful gift for a friend and fellow bereaved mom or dad. They would be good for siblings too. A $5 donation is requested to help with shipping costs and these pendants are well worth the small cost. To find more about how to get your own pendant or one for a friend please go HERE or you can send an email to InOurHeartsPhotoPendants@gmail.com.

You can see the many pendants that have already been made on the blog.

Sufficient Grace Online Auction

The Sufficient Grace Online Auction to benefit Sufficient Grace Ministries is fast approaching!! The auction is set to be held from April 4-6. You can find all the information about the auction on the FB event page. The actual auction will take place on my Caring for Carleigh FB page.

We are currently in need of donations for the auction. There are over 80 items currently up for bid and last year we had over 140 items. I would love to be able to have more items this year. Any new or handmade item is welcomed. If you are interested in donating an item please email me at caring4carleigh@yahoo.com. Thank you! We hope to be able to raise over $2000 for the ministry, which helps grieving women and families.

2 to 3

In just 2 weeks it’ll be Carleigh’s 3rd birthday. Wow! I can’t believe it. It’s really snuck up on me this year. Surprisingly, I have been ok for the most part aside from a moment here and there. I think it is mostly due to being so busy all the time with life and my other girls that I don’t have time to sit and think about things.

We definitely plan to celebrate her birthday in some way. I’m not really sure what we’ll do but I do want to a cake for her again. I don’t think I’ll get one quite as large as the past 2 years otherwise we will have tons of cake left over. I’m sure we’ll release some balloons too. I guess I just don’t feel the need to plan it all out this year.

I know I want to make her a special flower arrangement for her birthday. I totally need to get on that already.

Oh sweet baby girl, I can’t believe you would be approaching 3 years old. I wish I could imagine you at 3 but it’s so hard. I really don’t know who you’d be.