life.

In the latest issue of Newsweek, you will find an article. One that hits a little close to home for me.

You can read the full article here.

It's worth the read. I suggest you grab a tissue.

first quilt of the year.

I LOVE my sewing machine.

I finally got my mom's birthday gift finished...three weeks late. But I did it and I love how it turned out. Especially since I did no measuring, at all.

Its not for a bed, but for cuddling up on the couch reading a book or, in my Mom's case, watching FOX News or CNN. Mom, I hope you like it.
I picked out the fabric just for you.

This isn't my first project on my new machine, but I can't post the other one yet.

I have found a love for stippling. I think I'll be doing it on most of my quilts I make. I hope to make one a month, at least.

******

on another note.

Sunday, we went out to visit Olivia. It had been the first sunny day we have had in weeks (it only lasted two days). We hadn't been out there in a while because of the snow. (Its kinda hard to haul a 5 year old and a car seat through 3 feet of snow.) When we got out there, they had plowed clear out by where Olivia is buried. They had had a funeral there sometime last week. I will just note that I am greatful for the chimes that hang on a hook just above her. They had plowed the snow right up to her, even moving the rocks we placed out of the way. I think they would have plowed right over her had it not been for the chimes. My baby has a large amount of snow sitting right on top of her grave. If the headstone had been placed, I think they would have destroyed it.

It made me a little frustrated. Matt wasn't as concerned about it as I was. What if we had spent time beautifying her little place and they had ruined it. I feel as if it is sacred ground.

When you grieve the loss of a loved one, emotions come and go at really odd times. It has been over 14 months since Olivia's death. I find that I will start crying and not sure what has set it off. This past Sunday was Stake Conference. The Stake President told a story of a gift that was given to his son's family at Christmas time. The gift was a cookbook from an 8 year old neighbor friend of their son. When they opened it they weren't sure why he had given it to them, until they read the dedication page...

a few months before Christmas, this family experienced a miscarriage. Written on the dedication page was a note from this boy, "To the Pitchers, because they lost a baby and they need a gift." (I hope I got most of the story right)

Both Matt and I were in tears, I don't know if it effected anyone else the way it did us. For an 8 year old neighbor boy to remember what this family was grieving was just sweet.

I hope that people don't forget my daughter or what she meant to us. That another baby doesn't replace the one that was lost. Everyday I look at Sarah, she reminds me of what we would have been doing last year with Olivia. I think about the complaints I made while I was at the end of my pregnancy with Sarah, and regret wanting to be done, because that was all I had with Olivia.

I would write more, but I am headed down to the hospital for photos this afternoon.

blessing day.

yesterday was Sarah's blessing day. She was such a good little baby and didn't fuss or cry at all. In fact, she was pretty happy the whole day. I guess it helped that I figured out what gives her gas...lettuce. Isn't that great? I craved salads all through my pregnancy but they gave me such bad heart burn and indigestion that I didn't eat them. Now, I can't eat them because they give Sarah gas.

Anywho... her blessing was sweet.

Her dress was made by my friend Karen's Aunt Kris (I hope I spelled your name right). I thought it was going to be big, but since we waited until she was 8 weeks old, it fit perfectly. Kris made Olivia's dress also.

It is absolutely beautiful. She sells them, so if you are interested, let me know and I can get you her information. I made her sweet little headpiece in about ten minutes on Saturday night. I think I am going to have to make a few more of these. They are SO EASY!
I have a hungry baby, so i will have to keep this post short.

headstone

we finally decided on a heastone for Olivia. We wanted simplicity, and it turned out perfectly.

This is what we decided on. The footprints are Olivia's and they will be as close to her size as they can get. It will be on black granite with white writing. It will sit at an angle off the ground. Because of the ground freezing and since it finally decided to be winter (it started snowing here today), it won't be put in until Spring.

I am glad we finally got this done. It has been bugging me for so long. Olivia's grave won't look so temporary with her little sign, not that I wish it were even there, it will jsut look finished finally.
There is another little baby that was just buried by Olivia. I will visit her and bring apples for her too.

what did we do for Thanksgiving, you ask?

My day before Thanksgiving was spent with the flu. It wasn't fun. I don't recall the last time I was that sick. Luckily, Julie and Becca were around to do the prep work for Thanksgiving and I just laid on the couch and got up every few hours to nurse the baby.
Thanksgiving morning I was feeling much, much better and Sarah even let me get a little sleep through the night.

With a bunch of cousins in town, Brinley was in heaven and I haven't seen much of her. She has been spending the nights with them and having a blast.

So, with me feeling better and family in town, the Thanksgiving Day festivities began with me picking up the turkey from Longhorn Barbecue. I will just say that it is so nice to have someone else cook (smoke, in our case) the turkey and leave the oven open for other things to be baked. By the way, the turkey was DELICIOUS and I think it should become a tradition...

Then Matt and I took Sarah out to Olivia's grave for the first time. Actually, she's been out there, but sat in the car with Matt while I visited her site. It was a little...okay, a lot...emotional for me. I guess because when I saw Sarah there, it just brought back a flood of memories from a year ago and the thoughts of where Olivia would have been if she were here.

Since my Mom is staying with my sister, Corinne, until she has her baby and my dad worked Thanksgiving day, we crashed at their house, because it can fit everybody, and made button trees again this year...Do you have any idea what 10,000 buttons looks like? Well, it's a lot and no that wasn't a typo, i really meant 10,000 buttons.It was fun. We also played a little RockBand again, until my dad came home. He doesn't particularly like that game. It's a bit noisy.

We also spent a good chunk of time going through ads for early morning shopping. That's right, we are some of those crazy people that get up at 4am to go shopping with the 8 million other crazy people just to get a good deal. And I took Sarah with me...she was perfect and I bundled her up for the 23 degree weather. I actually ran into quite a few new babies with their moms while shopping. I say" If your going to be up with the baby at 4am anyway, why not go shopping."

When we got home, it started to snow and has been snowing all day...it was perfect for the start of the Christmas season. I got my Christmas decorations out and will work on the outdoor lights tomorrow. Since Matt had to work today, we are going to wait til tonight to decorate the tree. It should be fun.

thank you Merv for watching all the kids so that Julie, Brian and Becca and I could go shopping. And sorry, Julie, for giving you the flu...