Easy Canvas

For months I have been talking about about purchasing a large canvas for Heidi's first year portrait. Heidi had two sessions within a month (one with our photographer Patti Todd Photography and one with my sister's Betty at Serendipity Photography) because we had her 1 year session and a family (entire) session. It was so hard to choose with picture, but we ended up choosing one from the family session - this session you purchase a CD rather than prints.

A week or so after our photo sessions I was approached by Easy Canvas to blog-review their canvas - what a coincidence, right? It was a perfect opportunity! So, I went to their website to check out the canvases that they had to offer. I had browsed a few other canvas sites, but I really liked how this one had the option for a custom size print as well as a couch that you could "see" your canvas size over the couch for a true comparison on how the end result should appear. I decided upon a 16 x 24 size. In this same section there is also an option for how thick you would like your canvas wrapped - standard or gallery. I chose for the standard. Next you upload your image. You then have three options on how you would like the canvas to be wrapped - your image, a mirror, or a border. I chose to have the image continue on the wrap. Next you have the options for retouching or color retouching - I left mine as is because our photographer already had everything set for us. Then you checkout and you are done! Simple as pie! Check out their site to turn your canvas into pictures!

We have a few other pictures we are adding on the sides, but in true new Kimberly form we have not decided on what we want to do yet. We as in John and myself - not two Kimberlys :)

Show Us Your Life - Scrapbooks

Well, I am about 2 weeks behind in blog reading, but that is okay and I am okay with being behind. I did want to take part in Kelly's "Show Us Your Life" entry for a couple of weeks ago because this is something I have currently been working on. I am a scrapbooker, but unfortunately I am a perfectionist and "my work" is never good enough. It can be expensive to purchase all the little trinckets and things to make your pages flashy and to be honest I have other things I would rather spend my money on. Time is another issue and having a toddle full of fun energy is another reason I have changed my ways in scrapbooking.

I started using Mixbook.com as a digital scrapbook that I will have printed into a book. I am almost finished with Heidi's 1st year {and I am thankful that I blog her monthly things so that I could go back and look at them with writing in her book!} and once I print it out I will let you know how it turned out in print. I am current and up to date with this year, its just a process of working on a past year. I was so inspired with how the scrapbook was looking {and the one I am going to show up is still a work in progress} that I have begun to go back to other years and redo a few things digitally. I have scanned old wedding invitations, part invites - you sent it I have saved it and now scanned it. Now I can add all the little momentos into a digital scrapbook! When I finish this year I will show you that one as well. Its a work in progress and I only allow myself an hour or two a week to work on it, but once I am caught up it will be so easy to stay on top of!

On a side note - another reason I am excited about the digital scrapbooks is because if there is ever something that happens to a book I will always have a digital copy and I can reorder anytime!

Example of the rough draft/currently in progress book for Heidi's 1st year:

| Learn About Mixbook Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

Heidi - 15 Months

 Heidi - today you are 15 months!

Things of note for this month:

You fold your hands when its time to say the blessing before our meal. 

You demand to use a fork and to have a napkin. You love to wipe your face!

 Each morning you wake up and demand the "mone" and "mote" - phone & remote.

You love to dance!

 You are wearing a size 4 diaper and 12-18 months clothes.

We have put you into your semi-big girl bed and you are very good at crawling in and out. Now if we could just get you to sleep in it :)

 We can ask you questions and give you choices and you will answer us. Simple questions of course like: "are you done with your bath?" "milk or water?"

 Puzzles are such a favorite. You are so good at them and even though getting the piece to actually fully fit in its place you can put each puzzle piece where it belongs.

 Recently you hate for your diaper to be changed.

You love being outdoors.

 You are like a little collector finding new things to pick up and inspect.

We are still nursing - mainly anytime I am with you, but during the day while I am at work you have 1% milk.

 It sometimes takes you a little while to warm up to people you haven't met or haven't been around in awhile. You become so shy and my usually talkative girl becomes mute. For now I will call it good manners :)

 You absolutely LOVE watermelon - you are still such a wonderful eater. You also really enjoy bell peppers!

 I think you are accustomed to these photo shoots each month because when I pulled out the sticker you grabbed it and tried to put it on your belly. When I sat you in your chair you started saying bear over and over. Then you needed to add a new character to the group - glowworm.

  

ADPi

Lately I have been singing all of my old sorority songs to help Heidi go to sleep. Either she likes them and they lull her to sleep or she sleeps so that she does not have to hear me sing anymore. Regardless its a win-win situation! One of my sorority sisters sent me this cute shirt and Heidi looks adorable in it! I really hope that Heidi wants to join a sorority, even better if its ADPi. It would be so special...

Sophomore year - Bid Day Fall 2001

 Freshman year - Parents Weekend Spring 2001

Heidi - 2011

Life Goes On

No matter what happens in your life - it never stops. Well, unless you are dead of course, but then really if you think about it your "life" still isn't over because we're all going to have life in Heaven. Anyway, time never stops and people continue to go about their mundane daily routine. In the middle, at some point a tragedy happens and you want to freeze time. You want to stop the world around you so that you can have your time to grieve without having to live - without missing life. It is so hard to grieve fully and live your life fully {while enjoying it} at the same time. Sometimes it would be nice to have a grief bubble where we can go have our moment and the world just gives us that chance to grieve without seeing life go on.

Recently I was with some other moms and we were having the normal conversations about motherhood and kids. At some point, at the end of the gathering, one of my dear friends pulled me aside and apologized for perhaps making me feel uncomfortable during the conversation. This friend of mine is really so sweet - she always makes sure to remember Hudson and is so thoughtful. I told her everything was fine - no uncomfortableness. I got home and found a facebook message from her again apologizing. A week later I was finally able to write her back. {right now I cannot find the time to write more than a simple sentence before I must tend to something else}.

Before I sat to write I started thinking about life moving on - how it is ignorant to the fact that your heart is bleeding for time. Wanting so badly to have a moment, just one moment when the world stops and lets you grieve without having to push forward in the motions of continuing living.

When I wrote my friend I told her that she had nothing to apologize for - that she didn't make me uncomfortable. {You might want to know that she has a little boy that was born April 2009, so Hudson and he would have been about 2-4 weeks apart had I gone full term}. Does it sting to hear stories? Yes, of course, but that is natural. It is something I face continuously. Even though part of my life has stopped, the rest of my life {and the rest of the world} is still going. Babies were still being born {um, hello, every week for 4 months a friend/family member would announce they were pregnant right after I lost Hudson - I wanted to stab my eyes with an ice pick}. I would rather hear the stories than hear the silence of people not knowing what to say around me because they do not want to be insensitive. There is definitely a difference of someone telling me what their children are doing versus telling me that I need to have a boy for my second child. In regards to the latter portion of that sentence - I have learned to grin and bare it.

I read an article stating said something about parents that lost a child due to stillbirth or before their year birthday were more likely to die earlier than other parents. Dying of a broken heart. I didn't see the actual numbers, but I can definitely believe it. If I didn't have Heidi I do not think I would be as far along in my grief process as I am today. I think having her gave me the ability to still grieve for Hudson, but Heidi has given me the chance to patch the cracks of the brokenness my heart felt. The broken part has been replaced with love and joy while still letting part of my heart grieve.

Life goes on. We live and we die - and eventually we will all be living again in Heaven.

Melanie's Baby Shower

This weekend we celebrated Baby Dervan :) Melanie is one of my oldest {as in someone I have known a long time} friends and I am so excited for their little girl to be here in October! Not too much longer! I do, however, believe that her mom is even more excited about being a grandmother. She has been hinting for years ever so subtly - ha!

Prayers Needed

Dear blog world - filled of strangers, friends, and family;

Tonight I am asking all of you to keep my cousin and his sweet family in your prayers. I am going to copy and paste the latest e-mail update - without too many personal details in order to keep identities private. Please note at the bottom how even in this difficult time my cousin is remaining faithful to our mighty God. We all know that with prayer and God anything is possible. I will update when I am updated. Thank you in advance for your prayers.

I hope this finds you all well and have a great
weekend. This is the latest update thought Friday 8-26-2011.
We met with Doctors on Monday and Thursday to receive the facts and a
schedule. The cancer is Transitional Cell Carcinoma and the PET scan show
more cancer than we thought and that it has spread to my lymph nodes. No surgery is planned. "V" and I are meeting Monday with the Oncology team to
become educated on the chemo treatments. We are hoping to get an Infuse port
installed this week so I can start the Chemo treatments on Tuesday 9-6.I am
desperately trying to get the pain regulated and am not having much success
though tonight. Please continue to pray for me and my girls as this is what I
am counting on for success .
I know that God is in control and I live knowing
that his grace is sufficient for me .

Do your best
Prepare for
the worse
Then trust GOD to bring Victory .
Proverbs 21:30 The
Message