Kingston's Birthday -- Update

I have been overwhelmed with the support I have received on this project!  You all are absolutely amazing!  We are currently at $120.00 raised!  That means we only have $80.00 more to go before I reach my goal.  You can still donate using the "Donate Now" button on the right side bar or you can buy a necklace also using the "Buy Now" button on the right side bar.  These necklace prices will only last until August 11th (though you will still be able to order necklaces after that)! 

Again, thank you to so many who have donated and bought necklaces so far! 

Kingston's Birthday Gift

(Picture courtesy of The Vintage Pearl)

Right after my twins were born (almost TWO years ago!!), I bought myself this necklace from The Vintage Pearl.  I love it so much!  It's like my secret way of telling the world that I have one more kid than what their eyes see.

Now, as I said, the twins are almost two years old.  I cannot believe all we have done since then.  I miss my little Kingston more than words can express, but I'm beyond grateful for the little memories I have of him.  Some examples are his hand and foot molds, his bear made from the blanket he was wrapped in at the hospital, and all of the photos we have of him.  All of this was provided to us by an amazing organization called Angel Watch.  The best thing that ever happened to our situation!  They blessed our life beyond measure.

For Kingston's birthday this year, I want to give back to Angel Watch.  I thought to myself, "Self, what have you just adored from this whole experience that you could provide for other families in the same situation?"  I came up with this idea.... Hand-stamped necklaces with the angel baby's name on it and their birthstone.  Yes!  Perfect!  Like I said, I adore mine.  I wear it with pride and I want other mother's to feel the same way about the babies that they lose all too soon.  So, I have purchased the supplies and will soon be making hand-stamped necklaces.

This is where you come in.  I obviously cannot fund this project on my own.  What I'm asking is this.  Could you spare a few dollars to help out families that lose their babies?  My goal is to raise $200 by August 11th (Kingston's birthday).  I hope to be able to raise enough money to at least provide this service for the next year and hopefully more!  If you would rather, you could purchase a name necklace for yourself and all proceeds will go back into this project.

You can use the "Donate" button in this post or in the right side bar if you feel like donating.

If you want to purchase a necklace, use the "Buy Now" button either in this post or in the right side bar.  If you purchase a necklace, please TRIPLE check the spelling of the names.  The necklace will look very similar to the one you see above from The Vintage Pearl except a different font (but I assure you, it is just as adorable).  I will post pictures as I start making the necklaces so you can see just how amazing they are! Angel Necklaces One Name/Tag $10.00 Two Names/Tags $17.50 Three Names/Tags $25.00 Thank you in advance for your support!  I cannot even tell you how many lives this is going to bless.  Thank you, thank you!

Bedhead

Dear Elliot -- 2 Months

Dear Elliot,

Two months!  Are you kidding me!  We are officially 1/6 of the way to your first birthday.  Time needs to slow down! 

Elliot, you have proven to be a very mellow and delightful baby.  You have started to smile every once in a while.  By every once in a while, I mean whenever you are around your dad.  You adore your dad and I adore that!  It's so cute to see your reaction towards him.  You seem to be liking Scarlet too.  She still loves you.  She now has to give you a good-night kiss before she goes to bed. 

You're still waking up all night long.  It's exhausting.  However, there is nothing quite like waking up to a little miracle and watching you fall back asleep in my arms. 

You are still wearing newborn clothes here and there, but we have mostly moved you into 3-month clothes now.  You are growing like crazy!  Scarlet didn't wear 3-month clothes until she was 6 months old.  I love being able to compare her size to where you are.  It's crazy!  I'll take you to the doctor tomorrow for your 2-month check up and to see how much you have grown.  I'm excited to see where you're at on the growth charts. 

You have started to coo and do the cute (or cuke as Scarlet would say) baby talk.  I'm excited to hear more of that in the near future. 

Elliot, keep making me smile!  You're such a blessing in our lives and I have no idea how we ever lived without you! 

Love you always,

Mom

Dear Scarlet -- 23 Months

Dear Scarlet,

Can you believe that in just one short month you are going to be two years old?  What happened to this last year?  I think we were so occupied with moving to California and then the arrival of Elliot, that life just happened very quickly this year. 

You have proven yourself to be an amazing big sister.  You have only kicked Elliot in the head once and only thrown a few things at him.  For the most part, you adore your little brother.  It was like you knew he was coming to be a part of our family and you just kept on with life like nothing ever happened. 

You have become extremely talkative lately.  Everybody loves to have conversations with you because you just ramble on forever.  You get at least one phone call a day from somebody who just wants to listen to you talk.  Some of our favorite words you say right now are:

• Cuke as in "My new shoes are so cuke!"
• Yellow.  Everything you see is yellow... and today you decided that it can also be pink.
• Soos and socks.  You even call your pants socks. 
• Pease and tane to.  When we have something delicious and you see it, it is usually followed with "Pease?"  Then we give it to you and you will say "tane to."  Also, when we spell out t-h-a-n-k-y-o-u, you will say "tane to."
• Where ee go, where ee go?  You will usually do really cute hand gestures with this one.
• Boops.  This can be referring to boobs or boots. 
• Carlie.  As in, "Scarlet, what's your name?"  "Carlie"  It comes from us calling you Scarlie all the time.  You'll even shout it out when you see a picture of yourself. 
• Me:  A is for?  You:  Apple!  Me:  B is for?  You:  Apple!  Me:  No.  You:  Ball! 
• Dammies.  Translation:  Jammies.

I'm sure there are some words that I'm forgetting right now.  We absolutely love your little voice and all the new words you are learning. 

Scarlet, you still make us smile every single day.  You also make me a very busy mom, something I always dreamed of.  You are quite a tornado right now.  You like to throw your toys everywhere and tip everything over.  I'm hoping this phase doesn't last too much longer.  I think I fold 27 blankets a day... or maybe it's just the same blanket 27 times.  I'm not sure why I keep trying. 

Keep making me smile!  I love you!

Loves,

Mom

What I Love Wednesday -- Music Nostalgia

Do you know what music nostalgia is?  The other night Ryan and I were flipping through our vast iTunes library.  Each song we would pick would take us back to a time in our life that we LOVEd.  We started with the songs from when we were dating.  Ryan went for songs from Thrice and Thursday.  My songs were from Julianna Theory, Early November, and A Perfect Circle.  Each song we would listen to put us back 9 years ago when our lives were so care free and different.

After our dating life, we listened to Ryan's band from back in the day.  It reminded me of being at Muse Music or Velour in Provo, Utah.  It's funny what memories music will surface.  It brought back those feelings of being newly in LOVE with Ryan and developing relationship and finally getting married.  I LOVE going back to that time in our lives and reliving certain things.

I also LOVE when I'm driving in the car and a song from my childhood summers comes on.  The other day it was Pearl Jam.  It reminded me of being up at Snowbird and going to Lake Powell during the hot July summers in Utah.  I half expected to smell cigarette smoke as I listened to the music.  I'm not quite sure why.  Maybe I just associate some songs with the smells of certain things.  I told Ryan the other day that I LOVE cigarette smoke in the fresh summer air because it reminds me of being on vacation.

You should really try out your LOVE for music nostalgia.  It's so fun to go back and remember all sorts of fun times in your life.  Then you'll get excited for all the fun times in the future when you can look back to now and listen to the music of now and LOVE it all over again!