Since starting my photo blog, I've been getting a lot of inquiries from people - friends, family, and even strangers! They've asked me to take photos of them, and so...I've launched Two Angels Photography (www.twoangelsphotography.com).
Of course, if you know me, and you follow this blog, then you will realize the significance of the name...and here's the logo:
This past week marked three years since we lost our girls. Some days, I can hardly believe it's been three years, as it feels like it just happened, and then other times, it seems like it was so long ago.We marked our special days with several things.
August 18th will always be remembered by me & Nick as Angelina's angel day, as that is the day that she passed away. My sister watched the kids for us so we could go to dinner, visit the cemetery, and then go to our MOSAIC meeting at St. Pat's. It was nice to have the meeting on that day - it's a group for parents whom have lost children (of any age) so to be in the company of others that understood how we were feeling was very good for us.
August 20th is the day that Angelina was born still, and yesterday, the 21st, was Gabriella's birthday. So we decided to celebrate them with a trip to Red Robin, in Brighton, as we likely would have done that had they survived, and then to the cemetery. We stopped on the way and picked up two new butterfly garden stakes - they're on springs so they actually 'flutter' in the wind. One is pink - for Angelina, and the other is yellow, for Gabriella.When we arrived at the cemetery, we found a BEAUTIFUL balloon bouquet that my sister Monica had brought for the girls. It was so gorgeous, we decided not to put out the pink and yellow balloons that we had gotten from Red Robin - we felt like those would take away from the bouquet that she had brought.
Here are a couple of pictures:
Sorry for not updating recently! April 2009 has been a VERY busy month for us, as you can imagine!
Let's start with Christopher...on April 14th, we took him in for a recheck to the pediatrician. He gained 28oz in just two weeks - or 2oz per day! He weighed 9lbs 11oz, was 22.25" long on the 14th.
I took him back to the doctor today b/c I thought he might have reflux - he's been crying during feedings, arching his back, having 'wet' burps, and spitting up quite a big, especially for a breastfed baby. Well, he was up to 10lbs 7oz today. So he gained 12oz in just one week! What a chubber! Unfortunately, he likely has reflux, so we'll be trying out an Rx of Zantac for him to see if it improves things. Less pain for him will likely equal more sleep for Mommy, so I'm looking forward to trying the meds.
Here are a couple of pics of Christopher:
Now an update on Nicholas...let's see...new words include "Wow!" and "OK!" We got him a swing set this weekend and Nick put it together, just in time for it to rain overnight Saturday and get cold and dreary for Sunday. He did get in a few minutes time on it on Sunday, but not for long.
Easter was a fun time! We used plastic eggs, of course. You will NOT find pictures of Nicholas dyeing Easter Eggs in this house, so we did what we could with what we had. Dominick and Nicholas had an impromptu Egg Hunt in the backyard - here are a few pics of Nicholas from this month.
The Easter Bunny visit was courtesy of the LAPOM Easter Party at Miss D'Anna's house.
Playing with a car from the Lo Iaconos:
Drawing with his MagnaDoodle (from the Easter Bunny):
And a pic of the earth family of four on Easter:
We did go visit the girls' grave and put out Easter decorations for them...I'll try to find the pictures - I thought I had uploaded them but can't find them!
So, today Nick, Nicholas and I went and got the girls' grave blanket. I understand it's something VERY customary to do in cold-weather states, and not so much in warm-weather states.
Anyway...we always go to the same place, Meier's Flowerland/Nursery to get it. They do the BEST job! This year, we needed to get new bows made b/c the ones that we had done two years ago were looking kind of beat up.
Since Angelina was dressed in pink, that's *her* color. Since Gabriella was dressed in white with a yellow & white blanket, those are *her* colors. I got them the poinsettias and the cute angel banner at Dollar Tree! And the angel picks in the blanket are from when we got the first one two years ago.
So, here's what the finished product looks like:
A friend of mine that I met online was kind enough to tell me about a wonderful woman that lives in Australia, named Carly. Carly lost her son, Christian, and had a dream one night about her children writing their names in the sand at Burns Beach.
She offers a wonderful ministry for grieving parents. She will write your child's/children's name in the sand for you and will snap a photo. What a WONDERFUL way to remember the beauty of your child's life, as brief as it may have been.
And so, without further adieu, please visit Carly's blog to see Angelina & Gabriella's names in the sand. Angelina Nicole & Gabriella Marie - Names in the Sand
Angelina Nicole, born sleeping 08/20/06
Gabriella Marie, born & entered heaven, 08/21/06
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