Simple Joys At Home

October. It's infant loss awareness month. And today, October 15th specifically, is infant loss awareness day. It's a good day, because for so many, the loss of a baby is a silent pain, one that isn't talked about. In having a day like this, however sad it is, we can maybe allow others into our circle of grief, and at the same time, comfort them in theirs.  For us, October is a month that we should have a birthday, but we don't.  You see, we should be celebrating a first birthday this October.  But we're not.  And furthermore, if we were celebrating that first birthday, we wouldn't have our Mercy girl. Mercy Grace, we joke, since her middle name, Anna, means Grace.  It's strange, this loss. We can't imagine life without her, but in order to have the lives we grieve, we couldn't have her. It's one or the other.  If we had Baby J, who would be one this month, we couldn't have Mercy. And likewise, if we had had Baby A, who would've...

If you've been around for long, you probably know about the baby our family lost in March of last year, the second baby in a row. That loss was a difficult journey , but in many ways it opened my eyes to how widespread miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant loss is. So many people around us have suffered this lost, and nearly everyone, if not every single person you'll come in contact with in your lifetime, has been impacted by the loss of a baby, whether their own or someone else's. It's not often something that you hear about though, and that's sad to me, because there's so much pain surrounding these losses, and so many could be helped in healing by hearing of others' journeys. Shortly after those two losses in our family, I came up with a way to honor and remember those babies, as well as some of the babies lost to friends and family around us. Enter what I'm calling "The Baby Project". It's a whole new product line in my Etsy shop...

I wonder if I'm the only one that finds it a bit ironic that blogging more often was on my list of goals for the year , and here we are arrived in May, with this being only my second post this year. In my defense though, life has been way crazier than even I imagined. It has a way of doing that, you know? It still kinda surprises me when I think of it being May already - I mean, it still feels like it should be the beginning of the year. I thought I'd give y'all a little recap of what life's been like... In the middle of January, my parents went to Nevada for a week - Daddy was going on a business trip, and Mom was able to go along. That left me at home in Texas with all 8 younger siblings. Quite doable, but that Sunday while they were gone, I made sure to get everyone to church on time for Sunday School, so that they could be in someone else's care for that 45 minutes. On the 21st, I met up with my parents in the airport, had a few minutes with Mom, and then trav...

This day, Friday, May 29th, 2015, holds a lot of significance for our family.  Two months ago today, we lost the littlest member of our family .  Four years ago today, my aunt died in a tragic car accident.  And seventeen years ago today, my oldest brother, the one who made me a big sister, was born.  This week is unarguably one of the busiest weeks in the year for us. With four birthdays in the space of six days, this week is known as "birthday week" to us. In some ways, it's like Christmas broken up and spaced out over those six days. The rush and busyness, the last minute treat-making, the hurriedly wrapping gifts, and the celebrating.  But in all the busyness, there is grief and reflections.  Losing a sibling was/is undoubtedly one of the hardest things I've walked through . I never even met her, and yet the ache is so deep. I don't understand the why.  "Why?" Was brought up a few weeks ago, when we released balloons ...

You know that I hurt, that I'm grieving. But it's awkward for you. I get that. Maybe you haven't been there, or maybe you were to young to understand or remember.  You find yourself in an awkward position - you want to be a comfort, but you don't know what to do or say. I know. We've all had our turn being there, not knowing what to do or say, how to respond. Maybe you stay away, because you don't know if you would be welcome, or even if you were, what you would say. Maybe you reach out, because you have been there, and you know . Maybe you're forced into being there and you offer the best words of comfort that you know how, but it's still awkward, uncomfortable. But here's the thing - there are no perfect words. Sometimes there are no words at all.  When death crosses your path, nothing else anyone can say or do will heal your broken heart. And that's okay. Yes, there are some things that comfort, and some things that sti...

I wrote this post last night, and the grief was deep. Today, right now, it is easier, for the moment. But I know that it won't always be so. Three weeks ago today, I lost my youngest sibling. Miscarried, at just nine weeks. It was a grief far greater than I could've imagined. I ached so much.  Not for this baby's sake, because I knew that he or she was (is) in heaven with God, which is by far the greatest place to be, but I ache for me, for my other siblings, for our parents. There were (are) so many hurts. It hurts that I never had the chance to meet this sibling, the opportunity to cuddle and rock it as a newborn, the gift of watching it grow up.  So many things I never had the chance to experience with this baby. I thought I was doing better, that I was moving on. It still hurt, yes, but not the raw grief like at the beginning. But raw grief comes again. I have yet to be able to talk to anyone other than my family about t...

         Starting tomorrow evening (11/28/2013) I'll be having a Black Friday/Cyber Monday SALE in my Etsy shop !  I sell all sorts of fun crocheted items, such as hats, cowboy boots, and doll shoes.  I also have a few little girls' aprons for sale. All items will have between a 15% and 50% discount in honor of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This ONLY applies to my Etsy Shop , and NOT my Facebook page .  This also does not apply to custom orders, although I will still be taking custom orders during this time. Sales will start Thursday evening, and end either Monday night or Tuesday morning.  Four+ days of savings!  Keep in mind that this is the perfect time to purchase Christmas gifts!  Hope to see you there!  Visit my shop --->  https://www.etsy.com/shop/SimpleJoysAtHome

 As many of you may know, I have an Etsy shop that I opened back in January. You may wonder what that has to do with you... I'm now offering a coupon code to all my blog readers! Yay for you! You can now use the the coupon code "BLOGFRIEND" to receive a 15% discount off anything in my shop. To top it off, right now is the perfect time to start ordering Christmas gifts. Everything in my shop is handmade, so if you wait until too close to Christmas, you may not get your package in time. Here's a sneak peak of some of the things you can find in my shop: Oh, I also do custom orders, so if there's something that you want, and can't find in my shop, be sure to send me an email! Here's a link to my shop:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/SimpleJoysAtHome

I said in my last post that I'd share the most exciting thing that had happened since we moved, so here he is! My sweet little brother, Joshua. I had wonderful plans of posting sooner, but, we were/are on new internet, so I was limited as to how much I could do online, and after editing all the pictures for the last post, as well as other people using the internet, there wasn't much left. Needless to say, this didn't make top priority. But now, we've just started our next month's worth, so I can use a bit more :). Hopefully  I'll have another post this week, with some more random life, but I'm not making any promises this time :), For some strange reason, my life is just a bit busy just now.  One other happy bit of news though, is that we're finally closing on our house, so we'll no longer be renting!