Disney World - Day 2

Magic Kingdom: We left the part at 6:30pm and Hannah pooped out before we got home again. I don't have much time to talk this morning as we're trying to get there earlier than yesterday. However, first thing out of Hannah's mouth this morning, "Can we ride Splash Mountain again?" It was a hit to say the least!!

Disney World - Day 1

Animal Kingdom: By 7:20 tonight I am sitting on the deck having a drink and both kids are sound asleep!! Hannah fell asleep on the ride back to the condo and we dumped her in bed filthy. lol!

Both kids did AMAZING today at Animal Kingdom! After yesterday's drive & Austin's SCREAMING fit that last nearly 7 hours, I was so very worried. He ran a 102.5 temp on Sat and has a snotty nose now. Today was practically perfect, though. We missed the water ride (Kali Rapids or whatever it's called). We FASTPASSED it and when we returned to ride it it closed within a minute of us walking up the aisle. In fact, I was there in time, but Jason went to FASTPASS Mt. Everest and I was waiting on him. Oh well, next time!

So far so good!!! I purchased tickets this morning in the lobby of the condo. The guy gave me 5 days instead of the 3 days that I had purchased. So....we have decided to skip Sea World tomorrow and do Magic Kingdom on Tues & Wed. This might allow us to go later on Wed, have lunch with Cinderella, and then stay for the fireworks. We'll see how it goes.

Since my laptop is dead (died on Thurs), I can't post pics. Plus, now that I know a little more about how the parks operate, I want to have our strategy planned out for tomorrow. Btw, the Baby Stations are AWESOME!!

Take care everyone!

How does your garden grow?

By the Square Foot!! (yes, yes...I'm still here, just can't seem to keep up!) Check out our Square Foot Garden. It's FINALLY planted. My perfectionist husband took probably 6 weeks to get these boogers built. I seriously thought it might cause a divorce. Oy!

But, they are done now and contain a little bit of everything. We can't wait to see how these work out. We even used Mel's Mix.

The twins are here!

They were born yesterday at 35 wks gestation and are doing well in the NICU. Welcome to the world Juliana (4 lbs 2 oz) & Sara (4 lbs 14 oz)!

March for Babies

Saturday we finished the March for Babies, formerly known as WalkAmerica. It was a rainy day, but cleared enough for the walk.

Happy 5th Birthday Hannah!

Five years ago today, the most amazing gift was placed in my arms....all 8 lbs 3 oz of her. Happy Birthday Hannah! Our first glimpse at you was a black and white picture of a morula that was transferred on August 2, 2002. My....look how you've grown.

I love you!

Mommy

And the winner is....

Congratulations go out to Sharon R. She is the winner of drawing for participation in the Emmazing Grace Spring Mini-Donation Drive. Special thanks to ALL that donated: Emily, Nancy, Sharon, Allyson, Kathy, Rebecca, Ashley, Tina, Monique, Larissa, Catherine, Jeanine, Brandy, Amy B, Amy D, Kenneth, and Nina & Rodney.

As alway, my lovely assistant drew the winning name. Please excuse her attire. She is muli-talented and had to be pulled from her painting duties downstairs with her Dad to assist in the drawing. :-)

And, the blind drawing was performed...

Sharon R will be receiving the lovely basket full of various yarns and a couple of Bath & Bodyworks lotions. Sharon donated so much that when Hannah wasn't satisfied with just one drawing, she kept on drawing names. "Mom, why is it always Sharon?"

Thanks again everyone!! As I've said a gazillion times, Emmazing Grace wouldn't exist without all of your SUPER support!

AVON Fundraiser

An internet friend of mine named Stacey, who is also a bereaved mom, is an AVON rep and has offered to donate all of her profits to Emmazing Grace from her internet orders now through April 15th. Her site is here if you would like to purchase something.

Be sure to chose DIRECT DELIVERY so that the products will be shipped to you.

Also, use the code REP10 for free shipping on orders over $10. Can't beat that!!

Finally, make sure you let me know if you order something so that I can tell her it's from one of the Emmazing Grace supporters.

I guess it's time to get some sunscreen and Skin So Soft. Mosquito season will be here before you know. And, although it seems we'll never have warm weather again, it's bound to get here eventually.

Thanks Stacey!

Mugs in the Morning

Emmazing Grace made Mugs in the Morning today. Here's the link to 11Alive's site. It looks like a video of the broadcast will be uploaded later.

ETA: The video is now up. Click here to watch it. It's short and to the point, but that's how it is every morning.

Do you remember?

Do you remember the triplets that I made the tiny bereavement gowns for? My friend just told me that Michelle was admitted over the weekend with contractions and is on mag. Michelle is 30.5 weeks pregnant with twins this time. Please pray that she can keep the little ones in a bit longer. She gets her 2nd steroid shot for the babies' lungs tonight. If I remember correctly, the maximum benefit is 24 hours after the last shot, but don't quote me on that.

Bad News

Baby Hunter lost his fight for life last night. I just got the news from Kathy. I know my Em was up there welcoming him with open arms.

My deepest sympathy goes out to his family. I believe Kathy's original email said that they had already lost a 18 weeker. There are just some things that we will never understand. I have a lot to ask the man upstairs one day.

7 Satin Bonnets

These little bonnets were made over the weekend (between power outtages due to the tornados) and mailed to Teresa today. Teresa is a Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep photographer in Ohio. I sent her some little gowns last week from Emmazing Grace and she requested some satin bonnets to go along with them. I've had the privilege to view some of her photographs and they are just amazing. And, what a blessing the NILMDTS photographers are! I swear, she must be on the road non-stop to the hospital. In addition, I can't imagine seeing loss like that so frequently.

Editted: I just counted the bonnets in the above photo....ummmmm, there's only 6 bonnets. I wonder if the 7th one got mailed or is still in my sewing room somewhere. :-) Such is my life these days! Enjoy the giggle at my expense!

For Baby Hunter

These are a few things for Baby Hunter. This is a little friend of Kathy. He was born at 1 lbs 5 oz. Over the weekend, he contracted NEC, the same intestinal infection that Emma was unable to beat. He had the procedure to put a drain in his intestines. This is the same procedure that was being performed when Emma's heart stopped for the last time. I am fighting for little Hunter like you wouldn't believe. His little footprints have already left his mark on my heart.

I made a little blanket for him. I hope that he can at least lay on it if he can't be wrapped in it. I'm sure it will be quite a while before he can have things close to his skin. Micro-preemie's skin is so very delicate. You can actually see through it in the early days.

"Peanut" is the name of the elephant. I dug it out of some of EGF's things and thought it was so appropriately named for the little peanut that Hunter is. The journal is for Mom and Dad. I bought it a couple of weeks ago in the $1 bin at Michael's.

I tried a new applique stitch (for me) per Amy's encouraging. I did ok with it....could have been worse, could have been better. It's not as nice as Amy's strawberry for sure!

SightWord HopScotch

Hannah's been giving me a hard time about her sight words. He teacher sent "congratulations" in the weekly newsletter to those that have learned them. Hannah isn't one of them. If she has to think for half a second, she says, "I don't know." or "What is it?" Today we got out and did hopscotch with them. When she jumped on one, she had to say the word. It took me some coaxing to get her to cooperate, but the only word that she would get hung up on was "are."

Btw, this is my good idea for the year. LOL!

193

I've never been to one of the big consignment sales. Last night was pre-sale shopping for consignors. It was NUTS!!! I got there about 5 mins before it opened and the line was out to the parking lot. Everyone had laundry baskets in their hands to carry the items around. Thankfully, I still had one in my car from when I dropped my items off on Monday night. It was madness. People were taking everything off the racks, moving to the corner, and sorting what they really wanted.

I spent $193. YIKES!!! But, didn't pay more that $6 or so per item....other than the Leapfrog Learning Table ($12) and the train table ($75). The train table was my frivolous purchase and I kind of wished I had not done it now. It's a big table with 6 bins underneath. There are some tracks with it, too. Hannah doesn't play with her trains anymore (although she may now that we have a table) and I could have waited a bit longer for Austin to be big enough.

I got a 6 pc Gymbo set that is like new. It's the yellow and green line, not sure the name of it. I may split it up and sale what I don't want. I also got a Hartstrings capri set, blue with strawberries. That's really the only namebrand things I was able to pick up. When checking out, I realized all the bathingsuits and nicer Easter dresses were on a rack up front. I'll do better next time now that I have a little more experience. LOL!

166

166 items off to the church consignment sale. It was a bit sad to part with some of these things, but what am I going to do with it? No more babies for us so there's no need to keep it. I kept special items, although I really have no idea why I'm keeping every Christmas and Easter dress of Hannah's.

Last night (the 1st night of drop-off) there were TONS and TONS of items already. What a consumer driven world we live in!! I get to pre-sale shop on Wed night. Why buy new when there is prefectly good pre-owned clothing for a fraction of the price?

All this made me think of an article I recently read about what ends up in our landfills. By the way, today I called for a second recycling bin.

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

NILMDTS was on the Today Show this morning. If you want to watch click here, but grab a tissue first. These photograohers do amazing work! I've been in touch with one in Ohio and her photos are breathtaking.

EGF Happenings

Just wanted to do a quick advertisement for EGF again. Life has hit a crazy busy spurt again, so that explains the delay in posts. All is well, though, other than minor colds.

EGF is doing a Spring Donation Drive this month only. I know it's not technically spring yet, but ohhhhh how I want it to be. Requests from burial garments to financial assistance have really picked up. I'll have 1 prize drawing instead of 3 this time, but I'll make it good. :-)

Also, we are fundraising with mugs. Shipping charges are more than I would have liked, but isn't EVERYTHING getting more expensive these days.

Mugs are $8 + shipping.
Shipping is:

1-2 mugs = $6.25

3-4 mugs = $8

You can paypal to info@emmazinggracefoundation or send a check to Emmazing Grace Foundation4815 Tabby Stone DriveCumming, GA 30028

The mugs will also be submitted to the local NBC station that is advertising non-profits on their morning show. I hope me make the show!!

Gotta run....someone is waking from his morning nap.

In Loving Memory

Sat, Feb 9th, was the 5 year anniversary of my mother-in-laws death. She died from a rare form of cancer called cholangiocarcinoma. It originated in the bile duct and had her entire liver before she knew it. She died 2 days shy of 2 months since her diagnosis and 2 months before Hannah was born. Sadly, she did not live to see her "baby girl."

Since this is a crafting blog, more or less, I thought I would share our favorite painting that she made for us. It's painted on silk. She told us is was the one and only time she'd paint on silk. :-) She was a very talented woman, could crochet, paint, sew. She loved crafting. I now have most all of her old craft magazines. Anyway....

We love and miss you, Miss Joyce!

For CRAYON out loud!

Happy Valentine's Day for CRAYON out loud! These are crayon hearts and really simple to make, after you get the crayons peeled. A tip to peeling them is to soak them in water first. I bought one of the silicone Wilton mini-heart pans at Michael's. Break some crayons and melt in the oven at 250 degrees. Let them cool and they pop right out.

And, this is sure to stop a good nighttime sewing session. WHOOPS!! My serger got the best of me here.