A thank you & Noah's painting

Well, I fell off the bandwagon and missed a few days of my 31 day blog challenge. I knew it would be a stretch for me considering it was during the month of July, the hardest month for me to live through anymore with Noah's birthday & anniversary of his death during this month. I was hanging in there but then my grandpa died last weekend and what little rope I was clinging onto to get through this month, snapped. I had already been reliving so many memories of this time frame with Noah, that grandpa's death really brought to surface even more emotions I had been trying to suppress. Especially because I am so close to my grandma, my heart just aches for her.

So I missed some days of posting and only did what I needed to which happened to be a few reviews that were due. Such is life, we set goals but sometimes God has a different path and we just need to roll with it, and rolling with the punches is something I have been learning these last few years.

I also just wanted to give a huge thank you to those who have been sending me messages, texts, calling and offering up prayers these last few weeks. I am so thankful that many of you realize what a bittersweet month this is for us. I very much appreciate those of you who acknowledged Noah's birthday as well!!!! It saddened me that those who should've acknowledged his birthday didn't, but it reminds me to focus on those that do care and remember and be grateful for these dear people.

And if you think I'm just being overly sensitive, please, please go read this article on what this babyloss mom shares. She shares many good things but just to highlight one of her statements:
If you chose to acknowledge my daughter’s birthday or the anniversary of her death on the first year, it’s terribly gut wrenching when you didn’t bother to acknowledge the second or third or fourth. Do you think any subsequent birthday or anniversary is not as sad for me?

She hits the nail on the head not only with birthdays but everything else she writes I totally relate 100%!

-I’ve been left repeatedly heart broken as friends that I truly loved and never thought would walk away from me tossed me into the too hard basket or – more hurtfully – the crazy basket

-It’s been on going to get my friends and family to understand what it’s like to walk in my shoes. I’m angry about that. When I should have been grieving, I was defending myself.

- I  personally know though, if I found out a family member or friend had been diagnosed with an illness or disease, or worse, their child, I would be on Google immediately finding out more about it and how I could help them the best. So why is it that this doesn’t seem to apply with the death of a child?

 I'd encourage you to read what she wrote and maybe you can get a glimpse into my thoughts from another perspective. The only way we are going to break the silence & misinformation on infant death and grieving is by educating those around us.

Several months ago, a dear friend who has been along on this journey from day one, blessed us with an amazing gift. She had a given a friend of hers a few photos of Noah and I and this talented friend painted a picture of Noah & I. This photo doesn't do it justice, it's simply breathtaking!!!!

Thank you again Shannon for this amazing gift!! We will always treasure it and think of you when we look at it!!

I haven't forgotten about the sky lantern video of babies names. With everything going on in the last week, it just took a back seat but I will be working on it as I get a chance. It was so great to be able to remember so many other babies as we celebrated Noah's life.

Thanks for bearing with me. I am starting to see this grief fog lifting and am working on getting back on track one step at a time!