Penny #103

I found a penny the other day when I was walking into a store! I was just htinking about how long it has been since I last found a penny. Thank you so much for that penny hun! I love you and miss you so much.

Capture Your Grief

I participated in Capture Your Grief, by CarlyMarie and her Project Heal. October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. To help raise awareness and honor Aurora, I instagramed my pictures and shared them on facebook. I waited until today, to share all of my photos at once here.

Each day had a different theme, and for some of them I wrote a little story in the comments section.

Thank you Carly, and to all of those who I shared my photos with. It really did help me heal, I said some words I have never said before... and shared some pictures I have never shared before. It has helped me, even 2 and a half years later, heal a little more.

Penny #102

I found this penny over a week ago, and I don't know why I haven't gotten around to posting it. I am sorry about that.

Thank you for the penny in the parking lot. I found it just before running into a co-worker. We were buying gifts for our students and just happened to be stopping at the same store. Thank you so much hun! I love you.

Penny #101

Thank you for the penny today that I got while we were out shopping. It was laying in a puddle of water, and I made your big brother grab it so I didn't have to stick my hands in the water. :) I cannot believe I've found over 100 pennies from you so far. It's amazing.

Angel Of Hope

Every since we learned about the Angel Of Hope, we knew we had to get a brick in there for Aurora. We ordered it almost a year ago, and it was finally placed in and dedicated today!




My parents also got a brick for Aurora, so there are two of them, right next to each other!





Despite it being chilly and damp, it was a beautiful ceremony honoring all of the children gone too soon.

Penny #100!!

Wow! I found penny #100 today at work! It was on the floor of the teachers lounge, sort of out of the way. What a nice way to start pregnancy and infant loss awareness month!

Thank you so much for the penny Hun. I cannot believe I've found 100 pennies from you already. Love you!

Penny #98 & #99

Thank you for both of the pennies today! The one I was not expecting one single bit. We were walking through the campground, where nobody has been for a couple of weeks, and it was just laying in the middle of the grass.

The second was at the restaurant where grandma, poppy, daddy and I stopped on our way home from the river.

It's always so nice to know you are with us when we go up there. You would have loved every moment of the river! Or at least I would have hoped you would have loved it.

Penny #97

Thank you for the penny today at Boldt Castle. We would have loved to take you here and show you a castle that I have visited since I was very young. Thank you! Especially after that penny yesterday that I couldn't pick up! Love you babe!

Photo #421

Pennies can be in strange places!

When I visited a connivence store today, I noticed this penny stuck in the crack by the main door. I did try to get it out, but it was in there pretty good! Even though I didn't pick it up, it still made me smile.

Penny #96

Thank you so much for the penny today! Your cousin Parker had dropped a penny by my car, wanting me to find it. So I did, then dropped it when he wasn't looking. But when I got into my car I glanced at a spot, and saw a brand new penny! One your cousin didn't drop! Thank you so much for that!

Penny #95

Thank you so much for the penny today at the store. It was a new store that we haven't been to. It was very sweet of you to give me this penny after today. Love you!

Thanks Pinterest

Thanks to Pinterest, I found a really great idea on another way to honor and cherish Aurora.

She had a closet full of clothes that she never got to wear. When we cleaned her room, most of the clothes were packed away for "baby" and some were packed in Aurora's bin.

I hate that there is a ton of stuff in her bin. I hate it for the fact that it's just sitting there. It's just going to become a big bin that gets stored away.

To help on that feeling. I took some of the clothes, and cut it up into squares.

I am not a quilter, nor do I sew well at all. Pinterest gave me the idea to take those squares and crochet around them. I did a practice blanket, that I still need to finish. But I started working on Aurora's as well. I really hope this blanket turns out as beautiful as it is in my mind.

I am going to pair the fabric squares with regular crochet squares to hope fill the blanket out more. Much like I am doing with the practice blanket I started. I am really excited to finish this blanket!

I also plan on taking smaller scrap squares and making it into a baby blanket for any possible future babies... and I also have yards of fabric that we bought to make curtains above her closet and never got around to doing that. I'm going to have to make something out of those as well.

Penny #93 & #94

I knew I was going to forget to post about these pennies yesterday!

But thank you sweetie for the pennies yesterday. The first one I found at the fair, I was walking around with your cousins and your big brother while daddy watched the tractors. The second one was at the gas station, after your cousin spilled gasoline all over me! Thank you so much hun. I love you!

Penny #92

Thank you for the penny today! I wasn't going to stop at that store, but at the last moment I decided to. As soon as I rounded the end of my car, there it was. I also wasn't going to park in that spot. I'm so glad I did.

Love you honey!

Penny #91

On Thursday I found penny #91 while I was out shopping with your big brother. Thank you so much for it hun! Your brother and I just finished throwing a couple pennies from heaven ourselves, so I was quite shocked when I found the one from you. Love you babe!

Penny #88 & #89

As I was posting penny #90 from my phone, I accidentally wrote it over the penny #88 & #89 post :(. So I lost it. :( and since I found those pennies a month ago, I cannot remember exactly where I found it. I'm sorry babe. Thank you for those pennies.

Penny #90

Thank you so much for the penny today. Dad and I both went out to grab something for dinner when I saw it. I still don't know if I totally believe that daddy didn't throw it for me to find as I walked into the store before he did. A penny is a penny and in glad it was from you. Love you.

Penny #86 & #87

Thank you so much for both pennies today! The one was right on Uncle Shauns driveway. The other was right outside the house where daddy and I are getting our tattoos to honor you. Love you babe!

Hanging With Friends

I play a game on my phone called Hanging With Friends. It's basically like hangman, where a friend makes up a word and you have to guess it. You have so many strikes to guess the word or you lose a balloon.

Well, today when I was making up a word for my friend, I noticed I could make this word. It made me smile and started out my day well.

Small smiles

I love finding things that remind me of my angel. Things that stop me in my tracks, and make me smile. I love you Aurora.

Penny #85

Thank you so much for the penny today. It made up for the penny I found yesterday, but could not get because there were things in my way. I was so bummed yesterday with that penny. But the one today totally made up for it! Thank you so much hun!

Penny #84

Thank you so much for the penny today at Aunt Theresa's house. I was standing there, waiting for her, and admiring the million slugs that were crawling around after the rain. I just kind of noticed it there, in the corner of the stairs. Thank you so much! Love you babe!

Baby Blankets In Memory Of Aurora

I've been in contact with Mollianna's Mission about donating baby blankets for her care packages. I wrote a little something regarding Mollianna's Mission here.

I posted something about the baby blankets on my crochet blog, Simply-Crochet.

As I was making a picture to go along with my post... check out what happened.

The width of the image is a perfect 421 pixels!! Thank you sweetheart for that special little sign!

Even if I do not get donations from others, I will be donating blankets in your memory. I love you sweetheart!

Penny #83

Thank you so much for the penny this morning!! I had to stop at the grocery store on my way to work to pick up some frozen meals for lunch. I was thinking about that penny I found yesterday on my way in... and on my way out, there was a penny!! You made my day hun! Love you!

Penny #82

I am still so shocked on where I found a penny yesterday that I almost forgot to post about it!

Yesterday, when I finished working for the day, I walked out to my car. This is something I have been doing everyday since March. And when I looked down I saw the shape of a penny, but it looked more like a stone. When I kicked at it, it was truly a penny! I was shocked!

Thank you so much hun!

So glad I found this!

Through a local farmers market facebook page, I found this website: http://molliannasmission.org/

I remember sitting in the delivery room talking about a funeral, and where we were going to bury Aurora. We knew quickly, as Jason and I had discussed very briefly before, that we'd like to be cremated and placed in the columbarium at my childhood church. My grandfather is placed there, both my grandmothers had niches saved for them... and my parents had talked about saving niches for themselves. Jason and I had only talked about where we wanted to go a handful of times, thinking that we'd have plenty of time to discuss this down the road.

However, on April 21, 2010.... we had to make a decision. I knew wherever we laid our daughter to rest, I would need to be there as well. So the only place that had made our "potential" list, was it.

Answering the "Where" question was very difficult!

Answering the "How" question is sometimes just as hard. How are we going to pay for this?

Luckily, in a weird sense of the word, we have some very loving family members and co-workers. Between everyone who donated money to us just days after we lost Aurora, we had enough to pay for her entire niche, her name plate, funeral costs, urn, and we even had money left over to plant flowers at the columbarium. The "how" question became easy for us.

However, the "how" question is not so easy for everyone. So today, when I came across this website, it brought tears to my eyes! I know I need to find out more about the mission, and find out how I can help other families purchase headstones for their children.

On August 19th, I have donated a memory box to the local hospital. As well as helping with headstones, Mollianna's Mission creates care packages that you can sponsor. I know for sure, instead of making a memory box, i'll sponsor one this year!

I hate that pregnancy loss and infant death happen, but it warms my heart to hear of others doing some good in their child's name! I hope to be involved in this mission more in the future!

Penny #81

Thank you so much for the penny today! I took Bianca on a short walk down the street and back, and there it was, in someone's driveway. It was hardly noticeable, and I almost didn't think it really was a penny... but, it was! Thank you so much hun!

Penny #80

Thank you so much for the penny today!! It was a totally unexpected and unwanted trip to the store to grab something I forgot for the bread I was making. I was so happy that I found that penny, it made the trip totally worth it! Love you babe!

Penny #78 & #79

Thank you honey for both of my pennies yesterday! The one was before work, when I stopped at a store. The second was after work when I stopped at a place with a few colleagues of mine.

It made me smile when I went to pick up the penny, because my one co-worker started yelling at me not to pick it up because it was tails side up. But the other co-worker with us yelled back at her "No! It's from her daughter!" I love that she knows that.

Thank you baby girl!

My Necklace

I bought my very simple and cheap necklace not long after Aurora died. It's a stamped plate with her name and her birthstone. I fell in love with it and rarely take it off anymore.

About a year ago, a friend gave me two more charms to add to it. A dragonfly and a penny, which if you have read this blog or know me, you know how perfect it is!

Sometime, early last week, I lost the dragonfly charm. I noticed it was missing after I took a shower, and I honestly thought it was gone for good. However... this is my story.

Every day I was weighing myself to see if I had lost any weight. From this point, I hadn't. Then Sunday came. The day after Aurora's birthday.... I pulled out the scale after eating breakfast, stood on it and noticed that I had dropped 6 lbs! First of all, I never weigh myself after eating! So I thought for sure it would show that I gained! I was so excited to finally see some progress in my calorie counting.

Then, as I was putting the scale back. It was there that I noticed the dragonfly charm, and it was sitting directly on top of a penny. I honestly couldn't believe my eyes! Every day I put this scale back and never once noticed it there! I'm still very quite baffled over the whole thing. What a wonderful job my angel is doing, to make me notice it when I did!

Happy 2nd Birthday in heaven!