A few of my favorite things...

Did you have a nice Christmas?

Ours was nice, it was hard as could be expected, but we did celebrate better than we did last year.
We decorated Dylan's Autumn Blaze tree with lights!

And we were very bless with cards and many gifts this year.  But there was one particular gift that I can easily say is my favorite :)

Our little flower girls (Patrick's second cousins-KayKay and LoLo) with the help of a babysitter (and maybe their mom too!) made us this beautiful picture. 

I was of course a sobbing mess and hopefully I didn't scare the girls too much. I was able to get out the words that I absolutely loved it and that I loved them so much for making it.  Seriously the greatest gift that you could EVER give a grieving parent, is acknowledging their lost child. <3

I will get facebook messages or text messages from family telling me that their girls or the twirlies are talking about Dylan and Noah. And asking questions about them.  I know some people can't fully understand why we are now talking about Taylor, the baby we lost with a miscarriage many years ago. But Taylor is still our child.  The loss of Dylan and Noah gave us another chance to see that we need to continue to acknowledge our other child together. So Patrick and I tell people we are parents of 3 angels.

What was your favorite holiday gift this year?

Merry Christmas

Hope you all have a safe and Merry Christmas.

My version of A Bereaved Mother’s Christmas Wish List

Someone posted this in my loss of a child support group, and I wanted to write my own.

I agree with the mom that wrote this. "what do you want for Christmas?" is a very hard question for me to answer.  And you can ask my family how difficult it is to get a Christmas list from me...I'm terrible.

But the problem that's so hard for me is, no one can really give me what I want for Christmas. I'm not trying to sound glass half empty or down, it's just how it is.  I wish that I could tell them I wanted silly little trinkets for the house or a gift certificate to the hot new restaurant. In all honesty, it's not what I want...

So here's my list of things that I want for Christmas this year:

1. I wish I could smell my boy's baby smell one more time.  You know the smell I'm talking about. It's the mix of Johnson & Johnson baby wash/shampoo mixed with a splash of baby spit up. and to me the greatest smell ever.

2. Dylan would be two this year and I wish I could see his little face light up when he opened his Christmas gifts. And see the excitement in his eyes when he woke up Christmas morning to see all the presents magically appear from nowhere overnight.

3. I wish that on Christmas, our families  would "fight" over who gets to hold Noah and who gets to have Dylan sit on their lap.

4. I wish that I had my little helper in the kitchen to "decorate" Christmas cookies.

5. I wish Dylan and Noah were here to pull all the lights and ornaments off the tree.

6. I wish I could have seen the boy's reaction to seeing snow for the first time and will always wonder if they would've cried or loved that weird cold white fluffy stuff.

7. I wish I could feel Dylan's hand squeeze my index finger one more time.  Hold their little hand wraps around your whole finger and they grasp on for dear life.

8. I wish I could blow on their bellies making them giggle and laugh.

9. I wish I had ever gotten to hear those giggles.

10. This one I'm stealing from her's (see above)  "I wish others could understand my pain without judgment and without having to lose a child."

Pinterest success?

We don't have a fireplace, so we therefore don't have a cute mantle with pictures and adorable decor.

I needed to come up with a different way to display Christmas cards, so off to Pinterest I went.

I found this:

(Pinterest link here)

So I tried it :)

please pay no attention to the stuff on the counter ;)

I think it worked out :) I plan on painting the close pins for next year... just for a little sparkle ;)

Rumor has it...

Did This song pop in your head?? (and don't you hate the ads before youtube videos???)

Back to the rumor!!

It is going around that as the years go by, less and less support is shown to grieving parents and their missions to help other families, dwindle off.  We did have less people join and walk with us in 2013 than in 2012, but we still had a wonderful turn out and continued support across the country.

Please don't stop walking with us. Please don't stop supporting the March of Dimes and our mission to help babies stay healthy.

The sign up for 2014 is already available!!

Sign up here: http://www.marchforbabies.org/team/devoted2dylan
(Click on the "Join this Team" --it's under Dylan's picture)


We will have shirts for 2014!! Click HERE for the order form.
(We will ONLY be taking orders this way, so not by email or by pm's on facebook)



See this good looking group of people?!?! Join us this year! :)

ALSO please mark your calendars!!

2nd Annual Devoted to Dylan KickOff Party and Silent Auction!

At Molly Cool's Seafood Tavern Feb 8th 2014 at 6pm!

We already have a TON of amazing auction items!! Bring your family and friends! 

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  At :Molly Cool's Seafood Tavern

  
  

December 8, 2013

Light your candles this coming Sunday!!

WORLDWIDE CANDLE LIGHTING
Sunday, Dec. 8th at 7 pm

Held annually on the second Sunday in December (this year, December 8, 2013). The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting unites family and friends around the globe as they light candles for one hour to honor and remember children who have died at any age from any cause. As candles are lit at 7 p.m. local time, creating a virtual wave of light, hundreds of thousands of persons commemorate and honor children in a way that transcends all ethnic, cultural, religious, and political boundaries.
The Worldwide Candle Lighting is a gift from The Compassionate Friends to the bereavement community allowing us all to join together in unity to remember and honor the memories of all children so they may never be forgotten.

I Can!

My first semester back as a college student is ending very soon.  I was so nervous to go back, but I am def glad that I did it.  I kept telling myself that I was crazy that I wouldn't do well.  That I couldn't do it.
It's rough when your biggest enemy is who is looking back at you in the mirror.

But I proved her wrong!

Not only could I do it, but I've been dominating 
I'm getting good scores on my exams, and getting in my assignments on time. My job isn't suffering and I'm still making time for myself.  Dinners have been a tad trickier, but we've managed.

I need to remember to stop telling myself that I can't, and refocus on the "I can".

What was your recent accomplishment?
What were some of the challenges you faced?

Thanksgiving 2013

I hope you all had a blessed and safe Thanksgiving this year!

What was your favorite side dish?

Did you try anything new?


Did you brave the stores and go shopping on Friday?

my answers:

What was your favorite side dish?

my favorite is always the green bean casserole.  This year was a little different, I prefer it with the canned french cut beans LOL.

Did you try anything new?

I need to "grow a pair" in this department...I very rarely try something new. I like what I like :)

Did you brave the stores and go shopping on Friday?

We did, BUT ONLY because the hubby wanted to check out coats at Boston Store.  We did most of it online!