Four.

Today we celebrated our son, Patrick’s, 4th birthday. Four. If I’m being honest, I think this has been the toughest birthday yet. I’ve very much felt the pull of life moving on without him, so today has been rough. I almost didn’t take Stitch to “school” this morning. We were very late, but we made [...]

Patrick’s Spot: How We Created a Space in our Home for our Child who Died

Last week I spent some time with Pregnancy After Loss Support's founder, Lindsey Henke. At lunch before she dropped me off at the airport, we were chatting about our first born children--our stillbirths. She asked if Patrick was buried or cremated. I'm always a little defensive about this topic. I know we made the right [...]

Our Family Heart

Some families have a family crest. In our family, we have a family heart. See, we're storytellers--through words and illustrations. Through that storytelling, we show our love--for each other and for the world. If you are new to our family's story, let me try to catch you up. On our first date, my husband and [...]

By |2018-02-14T17:14:50-04:00February 14th, 2018|Family, Our Story, Patrick, Stitch|0 Comments

Making Holiday Magic after Loss

I've been talking a lot about the magic of the holiday season this year. I feel it in me, and I see it in my daughter's eyes. Each night, she opens her Advent present so carefully, so expectantly, so delightfully. It's precious. I want to bottle these moments. But, if I was to be really [...]

By |2017-12-20T16:39:54-04:00December 12th, 2017|Family, Grieving, Parenting, Parenting After Loss, Patrick, Stitch|0 Comments

Giving Thanks and Offering Hope: Tips to Survive the Holidays when your Heart Hurts

I'm feeling reflective this morning. It's Thanksgiving, and today we stuff ourselves with delicious food and kick off the holiday season. For the first time in several years, I'm actually genuinely excited about this holiday season. I'm sure there will be some tricky moments along the way, but after navigating three Thanksgivings, Christmases, and New [...]

By |2018-01-14T13:16:14-04:00November 23rd, 2017|Family, Life after Loss|0 Comments

Tips for using Favorite Things to Encourage Early Language Development: Rainbows

The first stop in our favorite things series is rainbows. In the world of pregnancy loss and pregnancy after loss, rainbows signify the baby born after a loss: the rainbow after the storm of loss and grief. I didn't really embrace the whole "rainbow baby" thing while we were pregnant with Stitch, but this spring [...]

Parenting Joy: Her First Steps

Hold the presses! Our Halloween Favorite Things series will return tomorrow. Today we need to pause and celebrate. STITCH TOOK HER FIRST STEPS!!!! Ahem. Nope. Let me shout it again: STITCH TOOK HER FIRST STEPS!!!! Our 19.5-month-old little love has lagged in her gross motor development, and we broke down and had her evaluated by [...]

By |2017-10-10T17:15:47-04:00October 10th, 2017|Family, Parenting, Parenting After Loss, Stitch|0 Comments

Dear Mama, please don’t put your car seat in the shopping cart seat

Dear Fellow Mama in the Grocery Store, Please know I am coming from a place of love and concern. I don't share this photo lightly, and I definitely don't share it to shame. I tried to make sure to remove as many identifying factors as I could. And I totally wanted to steal your Oreos [...]

By |2018-01-14T13:20:27-04:00September 12th, 2017|Family, Parenting, Parenting After Loss|0 Comments

Getting Real about Toddler Sleep

The clock on my phone reads 11:18 AM. My daughter just fell asleep for her nap, and I brewed my third cup of coffee so far today. As I sip it, I want to get real with you about toddler sleep, at least in our house. If you can relate, grab a cup of coffee [...]

By |2018-01-14T13:25:00-04:00September 7th, 2017|Family, Parenting, Parenting After Loss, Stitch|0 Comments

Post-its for Patrick’s Third Birthday

We're excited to announce the return of Post-its for Patrick to celebrate Patrick's third birthday on April 2, 2017. Some may remember that we held our first Post-its for Patrick* to commemorate his due date, August 18, 2014. It was a twist on Random Acts of Kindness, and it brought us and others so much encouragement [...]

By |2017-09-04T22:58:21-04:00March 20th, 2017|Family, Patrick, PostItsForPatrick|0 Comments
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