Love him

Playing catch up

I haven't blogged too much this month and there are a few events worthy of blogging about (mainly for my memory). 

• We took Canon to the Nashville Zoo on February 18th. Canon asks us all the time to go back to the zoo, so we found a warmer day and we headed to the zoo. The elephants, giraffes, and meerkats are always a highlight for Canon as far as the animals go. We always ride the carousel and the train. Canon is really into trains right now, so riding the train was a big deal! We had a great family day. 

• For Valentine's Day we treated ourselves to the Lady Antebellum Concert. We both really like their music, so this was a perfect concert for us. Jess's parent's watched Canon while we headed out to dinner and the concert. We had a great time and the concert was so worth our time and money! Thompson Square, Darius Rucker, Lady Antebellum, Luke Bryan, and Sara Evans all performed. 

• On March 8th Jess had sinus surgery. For some reason I was very anxious for his surgery (that isn't rare at all really). I am working on it people. :) He did well through the surgery, but had a hard time recovering. Everyone we know that has had the surgery had a rough time during the first few weeks post surgery. My mom came to stay with us for a few days to be an extra set of hands. He is now doing well, but not sure the surgery has worked the way we would have liked it to. We'll see. 

• Canon rode a horse for the first time. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures. Hoping to get some from a friend soon. We went out to a local stable to watch a friend go riding. I thought Canon would enjoy watching her ride and just being outside since it was a gorgeous afternoon. They asked if Canon wanted to sit on the horse and Canon said he did, so I sat him up there and he loved it. Before you know it he was riding the horse around the ring for 20 minutes. Five months back on his birthday we tried to put him on a pony and he flipped out, so I was elated that he was so comfortable on this big horse. He did not want to stop rididng. He even fed the horse carrots. He is my country boy and that makes me very happy! :) 

 Hoping I will stay caught up on blogging for a while. 

Healing

Having things that remind me of Will, making traditions that include Will, and helping others is a part of my grieving and healing process. I absolutely love going into Hobby Lobby because they always have pinwheels. That is our thing that reminds us of Will. I seriously smile going down the aisles and thank God while I am in the aisles for the little things that He gives me that remind me of Will. Christmas and Will's first birthday were a little easier because we started some traditions and I know I will look forward to those traditions every year. 

And now we have started something that I hope will turn into more. As I had said in an earlier post we asked family and friends to bring donations (hats, booties, blankets, outfits) to honor Will for his first birthday. Well two weeks ago we took those donations to the hospital where we had Will. They had asked me to wash all of the items, so I did that and tried to put them into complete sets (outfit, blanket, and hat or booties). I wanted to make sure they stayed together, so I wrapped them in ribbon and labeled them using some precious paper that a sweet friend gave us shortly after Will died. 

I had been talking to a nurse manager at the hospital on the phone for a few weeks about what we wanted to do, so we set a date and we headed to the hospital for the first time since we had said goodbye to Will. I was so nervous to go back. As we were parking in the parking garage my thoughts flooded back to how I felt when I left the hospital empty handed. As soon as we walked in I was fine and I was just excited to hand over the items. We also had brought cookies, a veggie tray, and fruit for the nurses to say thank you for all they did for us and for other families. 

Debbie, the nurse manager came to meet us and after talking for a while we were able to go to two of the wings we stayed. Jess pointed to the rooms where we stayed, but I could not remember. It just so happens that my favorite doctor (maternal fetal specialist) was on the wing, so we got to speak to him! We have so much respect for him and are so thankful for everything he did for us, so it was so wonderful to be able to thank him again a year later. We then headed to the labor and delivery wing and were able to deliver the snacks and donations personally to the nurses. We were also able to talk to a few other people about ways we could help out and possibly get a few things started. They all seemed so excited, so that of course made me excited! I am looking forward to what could get started. 

This was such a healing time for us to go the hospital (Canon was also with us)! Jess and I both were pleasantly surprised about how much time everyone spent with us and the reaction we were given. I felt very validated and that means so much to grieving parents.

Most of the donations before they were packed up. 

We hope to do this every year on Will's birthday.