8th Angelversary

I know I say this every year, but I cannot believe it has been 8 years already since I gave birth to a sleeping angel! 

I woke up this morning to take my daugther to work and then go to the local Dollar Tree to get some boxes for our donations. When I returned home, my husband had warned me "not to make a big deal when I get on Facebook". So, I sat down at my desk and was getting ready to do listen to my church's online sermon when I thought I would check Facebook first....

Well, I was ugly crying by the time I had read through what he had written me, along with all of the sweet comments. Here is a screenshot of one of the posts he left me:

Here are the donations boxed up and ready to be delivered in a little bit. My parents usually join us in the evening for balloons and sparklers, but they are out of town this weekend. But we plan to still fire off our sparklers and eat cupcakes. 

I posted this little tunic because I just love the vintage look to the fabric. This is one my mom made. 

 

 

The patterns for the tunics and buntings are from Angel Outfitters.

(There are some knitted hats at the bottom of the box my mom made too).

 

Capture Your Grief - Day 19

"Project"

How to Make a Knitted Hat (Nehemiah's Hat)

 I bought this kit at Wal-mart.

 The size yarn to use is between size 3-5.

 Make a loop

 and tie it around the knob,

 loop the yarn around the prongs,

 once you have went around one time,

 go around one more time,

 tie it off on the knob again,

 hook the bottom over the top yarn

 and over the peg,

 push the yarn down a little bit.

 Start looping the yarn around the pegs again 

and repeat the steps above.

Once you have gone around about 4-5 times,

untie the tail from the knob & let it hang.

 Once you get 4-5 inches long

 cut the tail about 3 inches long.

 Thread the yarn thru the blue needle.

 Pull the needle thru each hoop

 and pull the yarn off of the peg.

 I thread mine thru one more time 

and then pull tight.

 Tie a knot two times so that it will

not come undone.

 Pull the yarn thru the inside of the hat

and cut off.

 Take the tail and thread into the needle.

 Stitch upward thru the stitch

 as far as you think you need to go.

 Turn the hat inside out and take off

needle and cut excess off.

 You are done!

You can roll the bottom of the hat up and down depending on how small you need to make it. I have read on other sites about making clothes for preemies and babies that have passed away, not to use yellow yarn as it will make the baby look bad. If you have any questions, please comment and I will respond.

Nehemiah's Hats

I am getting ready for our second annual delivery of Nehemiah's Hats. I have almost doubled what I made last year, so I believe I will be able to donate to both hospitals' NICUs.

It is just hard to believe that this year will be 5 years since our precious baby became an angel.

Here is a preview of what I have so far...still knitting away.

I think when I have some free time I may do a step-by-step instruction post. I did buy a smaller loom this year, but the hats are really teeny..think I might make some of those if I have time that they can give to the tiniest of babies.

I got some ideas from a blog I fell upon this evening, click here. I might try these next year. I will keep yall posted of what is next! 

Hope & Prayer

I had made hats this past October to donate to our local hospitals. Unfortunately I got a late start, so we only had enough for one. We ended up donating to the hospital that Nehemiah was born in.

In each hat was a little card that told what the hats were for & listed my Team Nehemiah Facebook page for them. I check my page every now & again to see if anyone might have posted something.

A few weeks ago I had noticed someone had actually posted on my wall about her nephew receiving a Nehemiah's Hat. I was so excited to see this, but I was upset because the comment had been posted exactly one month before I actually read it. I was excited anyway to see that someone had received one of my extra special gifts.

Unfortunately, this little soul has been called back home. I cried for almost the whole day upon finding this out. So, I messaged the woman who left me the message & she messaged me back. This sweet little baby had been born with a birth defect that ultimately shortened his life.

This just proves right here how important the March of Dimes is & how important it is that we continue to donate for research on the cause & prevention of prematurity & birth defects. We have come a long way, but there is still so much more work to be done.

So, my mission for the new year is to get more awareness out there & hopefully get started earlier this year then I did last year.

For now though, lets have hope & pray daily!


"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer" Romans 12:12

Balloon Release

Well sweet son, we had quite a day for 4th Angelversary.

After your sisters got out of school we went home & picked up your daddy & baby brother & we headed to the hospital with our Nehemiah's Hats. Daddy picked them in case you did not already know that.

When we got to the registration desk to find out where the nursery was, we were greeted by the charge nurse named Patty. She asked us what we were delivering to the nursery, so I opened the box to show her the tiny hats we had knitted.

Before she took them upstairs to be placed on the little babies' heads, I explained to her about our sweet baby (you) & how we do something every year in honor of your memory. She was so sweet & said she was taking them right away to be distributed.

We left there with our hearts (faces) smiling.

We then went & picked out your birthday balloons. Andrea got an orange star, Makaila got a white star & Crispin got a blue star. Daddy got a Happy Birthday & I got you a sports balloon. It was super windy outside, so we sat inside the van & wrote our messages on your balloons.

I took these pictures of each of our balloons.







One problem, when Makaila got out of the van, the wind ripped her balloon out of her hand. She cried so hard because it got away. So daddy let her hold his. Crispin did not know what to think about all that was going on, so he sat holding your bear.









We miss you sweet angel & love you dearly. We hope you had an awesome birthday in Heaven!

Love,
Mommy, Daddy, Andrea, Makaila & Crispin