I'm sitting on the patio this morning with Cami sharing some toast (actually she's just stealing it so I don't have a choice- lol!) and I wanted to share our newest project with you guys. Yep we have another one- lol! We're getting the Aiden's Hope page together and it will be ready for viewing soon! The lovely Franchesca is working her magic on it for us so you know it's gonna be fabulous!!! I am so excited about everything we're doing as we create this organization!
In the mean time I want to introduce our newest project called Peace, Love, and Dragonflies. *Skipping around my patio* Doesn't that name just make you smile?!?! I love it!
As you all know dragonflies are my thing with Aiden.....my reminder of my precious little man. So of course I had to create something to include dragonflies right?
Right now we are making available Dragonfly Story cards....you can read the Dragonfly Story here. These cards can be ordered as just one for yourself or in large sets for groups or memory boxes. They are really perfect for those of you creating memory boxes for families- such a great story to share with other grieving families. These cards do require a little work so we are asking for small donations to keep our supplies up. You can find a donation box on the blog page if you'd like to request one or more Dragonfly Story cards. The Dragonfly Story request form is also available here. Here's a pic of some of the cards:
Very very soon we will have Dragonfly Ornaments available for purchase as well! Woo hoo!!!! Can't wait to show you what we've been working on!!! You're gonna love them! These are also perfect for you to have just for yourself or to include in memory box donations to hospitals or groups.
So please grab our button and take a look around the site. We'll be making updates soon so stay tuned!!!
It's that time again! I am so glad that we've made it to another Saturday! I've missed you all and I can't wait to read what has made you happy this week!!!! So here's my list for the week :)
♥ TheMarch of Dimes Walk for Babies- OMG I just have to say a super HUGE thank you to all the amazing people who have donated to my Walk for Babies in honor of Aiden! When I decided to do the walk a few weeks ago I set my goal at $500. I told Nygel I knew there was no way I could raise that much money by May 1st but I wanted to try anyway. By the end of the first day I had $490 and 5 people on my team!!!!! My friend John (who is also walking on the team) told me "Ummm I think you need to raise your goal- you're clearly gonna get $500)"
WOW!!!! I am so humbled by everyone who has donated to the cause. I hope that our walk helps a lot of families not have to experience the pain of losing a child. If you'd like to check out my page, donate, or join my team click here!
♥ Cami Cam- We missed her soooo much while we were gone and I am amazed sometimes at how attached I am to her. Some of you may remember that I didn't really want to get a puppy when Nygel did. But this dog has given me some things that I never expected to have again after losing Aiden.....laughter, joy, fun times. Thank you Cami for always making me smile and being on my Happy List every week! Here are some pics from this week:
On a walk around the neighborhood
Big girl yawn!
Serious face!
Giving me kisses :)
♥ Making people smile :) I love this and get so much joy from the joy of others :)
♥ Chinese Food!!! Yum! Had some from my favorite place last night!
♥ Flowers! I think this is on my list every week too! Nygel loves Elephant Ears and my mom and I planted some for him in the yard. The one by Aiden's garden is starting to peak out :)
And I just love this picture of some flowers in our neighborhood. I posted it on the Blocks of Love blog page as well!
♥ New pillows- just got some cute ones for the couches!
♥ Cute nail polish on my toes- I love summer!!! OPI is my favorite brand of nail polish! I love the cute cool names they give their nail polish colors! My absolute favorite OPI color ever???? Lincoln Park After Dark!!! A very lovely dark purple shade :) I have several bottles of this in my bathroom!
♥ My new devotional book- I love this book!!! It's so cute and fun and just a lovely devotional for busy women. Hmmmmm......I think I may know some of those ladies! I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good way to take some time for yourself!
♥ Breakfast- ummmmm love breakfast and I'm ready to get some right now!!! My favorite breakfast items- cheese eggs, bacon, hash browns, grits, and biscuits and gravy :)
♥ Carson- I feel like I don't talk about my Car-Car enough because Cami needs so much attention all the time- so spoiled :) But Carson is my little angel. When I was pregnant he got up with me every single night when I couldn't sleep and kept me and Aiden company. He knew Aiden just like we did :) He is the most friendly cat and he LOVES people!! He loves to visit and make new friends.
I love this little cat! I call him my monkey cat and he sleeps with me every night :) I also make up songs with his name in them and sing to him all the time- this really cracks Nygel up!! Love my little Car-Car!!!
His perch- hiding from Cami!
Look at that sweet face :)
♥ Getting my hair done by some one else!!!! Love my Gabriel! He is the best!
♥ Shopping- think I'm gonna do some soon!!!
♥ Working on projects!! Nygel and I have lots of time this weekend so we are going to be working of lots of nice little things :)
♥ BBQ & Grilling!!! My absolute favorite thing about the summer time is GRILLING!!! I love BBQ and I make some killer BBQ baked beans. We are going to get a new grill this weekend!! Yay! Can't wait to grill later today! Here's a pic:
Isn't it cute????? Can't wait to get this baby going!!!! Ummmmmmmm.....hot dogs!!!!!
So that's my list for this week! I hope you enjoyed it! I can't wait to read what has made you all happy this week! Don't forget to add yourself to the Linky AND copy and paste the code to your post so others can link back to all the other Happy Lists! The Linky will be open until Monday for those that need some extra time :)
*****UPDATE***** I've had a few people ask how to add the Linky to their post. It's easy just follow these steps: 1. In the blog list at the bottom of this post there is a link that says "Get the code here.....". Click this link :) 2. Copy the code from the Linky website 3. Go back to your post and click the tab that says "EDIT HTML"- normally we work in "COMPOSE" when we write blog posts. 4. At the very bottom of your post (while in the HTML tab) paste the code from the Linky website. 5. Publish your post 6. The Linky code should appear at the bottom of your post with all the entries in the blog hop listed. 7. Enjoy reading all the blogs!!!
And if you won a prize from me yesterday don't forget to send me an e-mail!!! I'm going shopping for supplies tomorrow and I want to get yours too!!!
Ok so I am WAAAAAAY overdue for a post! Things have been so hectic and it feels like I've been running in 5 million directions! Is there any way we can add some extra hours to the day???? Pretty please!!!!!
So this is a catch up post so I can get back on track with all my mamas. Please bear with me because this one is going to be a little long :) I still have to read all your Happy List posts from this past Saturday and I will be sure to comment on them all like I usually do- I promise!!!
First I want to tell you about Seattle. It was a really really cool city! We have decided we have to go back again when I'm not there for work. I love my profession and I got some great pharmacy time in, connected with old and new friends, spent some time with the people from my school including the Dean, and learned a lot of new things about pharmacy. It was great! In my down time Nygel and I got to know Seattle. I loved walking around the city and exploring, Pike's Market, all the gorgeous flowers, and of course delicious yummy food! Here are a few more pics from the trip:
Yummy veggies at the market!
Goose Eggs??? Just had to take a pic!
Ginger Ale and Root Beer- yum!
The first Starbucks ever!
Yummy chocolate goodies :)
Nice cool beverages!
This hammer was just awesome!
OMG I can't tell you how much I love Crab legs!!!
My dragonfly pin from H & M! Love this!
Pear bread pudding!!!! Fabulous!
I love love love these purple flowers!!!
Had to get a pic of my TOMS in Seattle :)
Me with a big grin!
Us at Pike's Market
See I told you- lots of fun!
After we got back from Seattle it was Aiden's 5 month Angelversary. This is part of the reason I'm so behind on everything. It was rough for me dealing with this and when grief hits you all know there is no stopping it. This month it really knocked me off my feet. I felt like sadness was hitting me over and over again like a ton of bricks. It was horrible. Nygel and I decided to send Aiden some balloons that Saturday. I wanted to do this with my mom before she went home that morning but we couldn't get the balloons Friday night which made me pretty sad. Then I got a text from my sister Saturday afternoon that said "Always Remembered" with several pictures- here's one of them:
This made me soooooo very happy! My mom, sister, and niece sent balloons up to Aiden. Love them!
So Nygel and I got our 5 balloons- one for each of his precious 5 months in Heaven. I wrote on each of them special notes from me and his daddy. And then we went out to let them go. The wind was blowing like crazy and at first I didn't want to let them go......but we did. And here's what it looked like:
Nygel asked me "So where do you think the balloons go?" to which I replied "They go to Heaven of course!" He was like....ok Tash. Some of you may remember that when we were in the hospital with Aiden there was a very special moment where Nygel was holding him and singing a Bob Marley song to him- Three Little Birds. So that is officially their song. After we let the balloons go and Nygel asked me where they went we looked up into the sky for a long time watching the 5 little balloons make their way to our son with the special messages of love we wanted him to have.
Three little birds flew in a line together over our house! I ran to Nygel and said "Babe did you see the birds!?!? Aiden heard you- he got the balloons!!!! I told you they went to Heaven!!!!" Wow......thanks baby boy for letting mom and dad know you are always with us and you love us just as much as we love you. I love you Aiden!
Next up is the Haven of Hope retreat this past weekend. It was great! Great food, lots of fabulous new mommies that get how I feel on a daily basis, beautiful scenery, and lots of time to be open with my feelings. We were blessed with so much that weekend and I am thankful for the women that put the retreat together. We had lots of time to talk about our little angels and were given some amazing gifts made with love. This lovely blanket was made by Sharon at Heck of a Blanket in honor of her son Roy. We were all in tears by the time she finished her story and passed out the handmade blanket she made for each of us and our children. It was amazing!
Here are some pics from the rest of the weekend:
Welcome Basket
Dragonfly Story Cards
An alligator in the water!! Yes there were lots of these!
Beautiful Scenery!
My Val!
New friends....just amazing women!
Fran and Mary working on their bracelets
Val's lovely Hailey Bracelet
All my jewelry (This one is for my Tiffany-lol!!)
Lovely Rose!
They even had Swiss Chard!!
We had to get a little play in the makeup time in- love TaNia's makeup kit!!!
I also finally got to meet the lovely Franchesca in person and she was just as fabulous as I expected her to be! And of course she helped me with my Aiden bracelet! Thanks Fran!!!!!!
Aiden also visited me in Cleveland, TX- gotta love that son of mine. The whole weekend dragonflies fluttered around me everywhere we walked. It was amazing! Like he was saying "Hey mommy- I love you!" I love you too baby boy!
The other great thing about the weekend is that I met a really amazing mom who has agreed to help me with my Aiden's Hope project because she's done something similar in her town. Thank you God for putting the people in my life that I need the most right now. Thank you for helping me make this thing a reality. I can't wait to share Aiden's Hope with you all!
Speaking of Aiden's Hope I also have to give an update on all my Aiden projects :) This makes me smile so much.....I love doing work in my son's name! I swear some days it is the only thing that keeps me going. And I know he's up with me on all my late nights and early mornings watching as I work on projects to help other families who are missing their special little angels.
So far I have gotten through about half the current Blocks of Love requests. I am uploading them and posting to the website as quickly as possible- the first set should be available by tomorrow!!!! I do apologize for the delay- this emotional roller coaster called grief really takes some of your days away when you least need it. Instead of doing what you planned, you do your best to just stay above water. I also plan to have the order form up for personalized block orders in a few days. I've had several requests for custom blocks so I need to go ahead and get the form up.
We also have a logo for Aiden's Hope!!!! Yay! It is so fabulous and I can't wait to share it with you! Working on the webpage now and I hope to have that up soon. I can't tell you how near and dear this project is to my heart. I know that it is what God wants me to do with my life right now. It's what drives me to get up and go each day.....knowing that my baby boy is watching all the good work we're doing.
Nygel and I are also in the process of opening an online store!!! Woohoo!!! Lots of handmade goodies to come so please keep checking back! Can't wait to share these awesome crafts with you!
Also if you know anyone interested in our Face2Face groups here in Houston.....both the Southwest and Northwest Houston groups will be meeting up on April 30th for a Mother's Day Brunch at 11 am. We will be doing a potluck picnic and some Mother's Day crafts! Yay!!! *Jumping up and down with excitement over doing Mother's Day crafts* Again- yay!!!! So if you know anyone close to Houston that would like to join our group please ask them to e-mail me for information on our Mother's Day Brunch. I hope to see a few of you there!
Finally the REALLY good stuff!!!!!! I owe you guys a giveaway from the last Happy List Saturdays and there were 28 entries including the comments on liking our Blocks of Love Facebook and Blog pages. If you know me then you know I could never give away just one thing! SOOOOO since I'm making the prizes myself I decided to do 3!!! Woo Hoo!!!! Makes me feel good to give stuff away to mamas who deserve it! I have to apologize for my Random Generators looking so crazy- I could not get them to copy and past properly!!!! Anyway......here we go........
First Prize- Handmade Personalized Blocks of Love
True Random Number Generator9Powered by RANDOM.ORG
Our Little King!!!!!
Yay Jen (Ryan's mommy)!!! Please contact me by e-mail (aidensmom112@gmail.com) so I can create your precious Ryan's blocks with the colors/themes that remind you of him :)
Yay Raquel (Jeremiah's mommy)!!! Please contact me by e-mail (aidensmom112@gmail.com) so I can create your book. I use one of mine as an address book to keep up with the names of all the fabulous mamas I've met on this grief journey and I just made one to use as my new journal :)
True Random Number Generator10Powered by RANDOM.ORG
Everything Ebach!!!!
Yay Molly (Hayes' mommy)!!! Please contact me by e-mail (aidensmom112@gmail.com) so I can create your little Hayes' blocks with the colors/themes that remind you of him :)
Whew!!!! So I think that's it for now....I'm all caught up!!! I have got to make sure not to get this behind again because this post is ridiculously LONG!!!! Now I just have to visit all your blogs and see what you've been up to. I miss you all and I pray for your peace and strength every day. Your little angels are always on my mind and in my heart.......
So this morning has been bittersweet for me. I'm so very excited that I am starting up the first of our Aiden's Hope projects and sad at the same time because I'm missing my baby boy. Sometimes I really do sit back and say is this my life? But I want to share with you all one of the many things I've been working on these last few weeks.
Blocks of Love is the first project I'm rolling out under the Aiden's Hope umbrella. Aiden's Hope is the organization Nygel and I have created to honor our son. We hope to provide support to families grieving the loss of their children. Please stay tuned to this blog for updates on Aiden's Hope- the website will be up and running soon. You can read the Blocks of Love story here and sign up to have a picture of your little angel's name taken with our love blocks. Please grab our button and share with anyone you know who might like to have a picture of their little one's name.
I could definitely use your prayers for this project as well as the Aiden's Hope project. Everything is still a work in progress so bear with me as I work on this. More good things to come!
This week has been rough. I have had a really hard time dealing with everything this week and while I have managed to keep it together during the day my nights have been not so great......
So I decided that I needed a happy list today. In case you missed my first happy list you can read it here. I really feel like sometimes I need to remind myself of the good and happy things in my life. For today's list I decided to include a picture with each thing that makes me happy. Today I'm visualizing my happiness! Here is my happy for today:
1. Carissia, Kayla, and Mummy will be here in 3.5 months!!!! Woohoo!!! (I put you first this time little sis- lol!)
2. My new camera! My mom sent us a camera as an early anniversary gift- love her! I'm taking my first photography class today and I couldn't be more excited! Can't wait to start taking pics of all my projects for Aiden!!!
3. Watching the Karate Kid (2010) for the 4th time this morning and FINALLY finishing the whole movie without falling asleep :)
4. Aiden's Cross- I came across this cross while shopping the other day and it reminded me so much of Aiden. I had to have it.....isn't it beautiful!!!
5. Cam making me smile even when she's being bad :)
6. Nygel- everything about my amazing husband. This pic is of him and Cami Cam at the dog park.
7. Our first Face2Face group meeting today!!! If you know anyone in the Southwest Houston area please tell them to stop by the Cheesecake Factory in Sugar Land at 6 pm today!
8. My Granny- she's agreed to do something just fabulous for a lot of baby loss families in my little Aiden's name :) Love, love, love my granny. This is her and my baby cousin Sean. Isn't she beautiful????
9. Working on my craft room! Can't wait to get all my projects going. This picture is one of the early stages. The couch will be coming out to make room for my desk and shelves!!! More pics coming soon!
10. This box!!! It makes me so happy!!! It came last night and I can't wait to work on the little surprises inside!! Stay tuned!!!!
That's my happy list for today. Hope you all enjoy your Saturday. It's a rainy one here in Sugar Land but I'm in a great mood! Off to get ready for my photography class!
I'd love to hear from you! 
