A friend of our's from college, Julie, sent me this great Lego picture! She was spelling her kids names with Lego's one day, and thought of us. Thank-you so much!!
You can see the rest of Whitney's Name Gallery pictures by clicking the photo below:
And if you're wondering what's up with this name thing, click HERE. :-)
You can submit photos for Whitney's name gallery, too! Just email your picture to me:
sheyennew (AT) gmail (DOT) com
My friend Shannon (the one I met in L.A. a few months ago) took these pics for us while she was on the Big Island in Hawaii several months ago. Thank-you so much, friend. I think of you and Aubrey often!!
On some cooled lava flow...
On a black sand beach!
I love this one-- her name in Hawaiian!
On a beautiful white sand beach!
Thank you so much Shannon!
You can see the rest of Whitney's Name Gallery pictures by clicking the photo below:
And if you're wondering what's up with this name thing, click HERE. :-)
You can submit photos for Whitney's name gallery, too! Just email your picture to me:
sheyennew (AT) gmail (DOT) com
Just thought I'd let you guys know that I've been working hard on a new series of pages for this blog. It is called "Heart Songs" and has several pages full of poems, quotes and songs relating to Infant Loss and healing.
I am still working on a few of the pages, but I hope to have them up soon! So for now... go check it out! Hope you can find some words that sing to your heart.
Reverb 2010- Day 7
December 7 – Community. Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011?
Surprisingly, I have found an incredible source of community from an online group on the Babycenter Community boards. I mentioned them here in my Resources page. There are several "groups" that I am a member of online, but its generally the same group of women in all of them. All of them are moms who have carried a pregnancy despite an adverse prenatal diagnosis, and all of them have lost their babies. 
If there is one thing I have learned about community, it is that you don't have to be in close proximity in order to connected by your very souls. All you need is common experience and a desire to know that you are not alone. That's how I came across the Carrying To Term group-- I was looking for other women like me, with whom I could hopefully relate.
I have been extremely blessed this year to have several of my "online" friends become "real life" friends, by meeting in person. It was so great to hug their necks, talk about our babies, and lend our unspoken support to each other through understanding and tears. Community is one of God's greatest gifts to his children, and for us to not partake in it is a huge tragedy. We are missing out on an integral part of what it means to be the Body of Christ.
Reverb 2010- Day 6
December 6 – Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?
Oooh! This is great! I just made something tonight and I'd love to share it here on Blogla Land, but its a Christmas gift... so I'll have to wait a bit to post a pic.
I used a lot of pretty scrapbook paper, some glue, ribbon and my Cricut. :) I'll post pictures later!
I have a million crafty projects bookmarked on my computer... everything from embellishing a knit sweater to building a Pott*ry Barn daybed knock-off. But I have yet to really work on one project. I'd LOVE to set aside more time to work on those crafty things... so maybe next year I'll make crafting a priority.
Reverb 2010- Day Five
December 5 – Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why?
Dreams. Expectations, and taking things for granted.
This year, I've let go of a lot of my expectations of things... experiences, people, institutions, my husband and myself. I guess the best way to explain this is to put it this way:
When a woman becomes pregnant, people say she is "expecting." She is expecting a baby, of course, but its more than than... she is expecting that things will go well, that the baby will be healthy, that her body will not fail her unborn child, and that at the end of 10 months, she will have an addition to the family. Expecting. I've had several people ask me if I am "expecting." I suppose some people think its a more delicate way to ask if I am pregnant, but I just want to respond, "No! I am NOT expecting anything. But I am pregnant."
I've completely let go of my expectations of how things are supposed to be. That life will all "work out" and that normal life will always be 'normal.' But that's not the case.
I've let go of my expectations of experiences. I have lived moments this year that I thought would be far less painful than they actually were. But I've also overwhelming experienced moments that were far beyond my wildest hopes and dreams. Before we went to Egypt, I had some limited expectations of what it would be like... you see, I've been enchanted with the land of Egypt for as long as I can remember. I once dressed up like Cleopatra for a Social Studies project in 6th grade. I went all out-- even spray-dyed my hair black. Which actually turned out to be kind of a disaster because the wash out black spray began flaking off and getting black EVERYWHERE. But I've always dreamt of visiting one of the oldest civilizations known to man. So when the opportunity arose to travel to the land of my dreams (thanks to my parents living there now!), I tried to imagine what it would be like. I built up some expectations of how I would feel standing amongst hundreds of thousands of heiroglyphics that were carved years before Christ... but none of my expectations even came CLOSE to that experience. Seeing the pyramids, walking into ancient tombs and standing in the midst of holy temples filled with mysteries that have yet to be solved, my expectations were blown out of the water er, sand. I was rendered speechless... awestruck... humbled.
I've let go of my expectations of people. Unfortunately, I have many examples of how my expectations of people have deeply hurt me this past year. But I don't want to focus on the negatives... so I'll write about ways my expectations were pleasantly surprised. My husband is amazing. During Whitney's birth and after, he never ceased to amaze me. He didn't squirm away from the unpleasantries of childbirth, and in the hours and days following, he was right by my side in the most unpleasant of moments. His love and support-- though it has always been my rock-- was more than I could have ever dreamt it could be.
And in the end, I've surprised myself. Survived darker days than I ever thought I could. Of course, this is all due to God's incredible grace and comfort, which (surprise) has also blown away my expectations.
So I learned early on in 2010 to let go of my expectations.
