Happy First Birthday!!!

I cannot believe that a whole year has gone by! By far, the fastest year of my life. I am so proud of my little guys for all they have accomplished this year. And, I have to say I am pretty proud of Mark and I too for surviving!

 

I made a couple videos for the boys. My first stab at any sort of thing like this so hopefully one day when they are grown up they like it. And I hope you enjoy them too!

 

Happy Birthday to my boys! I love you!

Celebrating Garrett and Rhys:

 

Remembering Ben:

Some of the photography in the videos is done by Cynthia Korman. Thanks for letting me use them Cynthia!!!

People Who "Get It"

November 7 was the anniversary of the day we found out Ben had passed.

During this whole journey, I have encountered many people who just don't "get it". Granted, "IT" is a hard thing to understand unless you have been through it yourself. I try to always keep in mind that everyone has the best intentions and even when some people say hurtful or insensitive things, they always mean the best.

However, there are a few people out there that do "get it". It's sad, really, because usually these are people that have experienced some sort of loss themselves. Sometimes not though, sometimes they are just really compassionate and thoughtful people that seem to have a gift for saying the right thing.

Anyways, I have a few friends in particular who "get it". One of these friends Lisa, left these flowers on my doorstep on November 7th.

It brought a smile to my face. So thoughtful. I love the significance of the two blue and one white rose.

Thank you Lisa.

And thanks to everyone else who "gets it" and isn't afraid to talk to me about Ben.

Halloween 2012

I am really behind on blogging here. Sometimes even to find the time to upload pictures is too much.

But better late than never.....

Here are some snippets of our Halloween! We had a great time and our costumes were a hit. Although Rylen was disappointed that I didn't have a costume. Truthfully, I'm not all that into Halloween but I guess when you have young kids, you sort of have to be.

Rylen was tired from his party at daycare, so he only lasted six houses. I think he wanted to hurry home so that he could dig in to his candy. It worked out for the best, because he didn't really get much which allowed me to throw all the "rules" out the window. "Sure, eat it all!" I told him. I figured if it was all going to end up in his body anyways, we may as well get it over with and avoid a month long "candy fight" every day. I'm sure this won't win me any "Mother of the Year" awards, but the upside was that once it was gone, it was gone!!!

 

Garrett and Rhys thought trick or treating was pretty neat. They seemed fascinated by all the activity.

They were super cute "fire puppies". But, colouring their noses black was apparently a gross violation of their personal comfort. I may as well have tossed them in hot oil. Kids are so funny. And they are very particular about their noses!

Anyways, we had a great night. But I have to say, I was glad when it was over. Bring on Christmas!!!!