Just a few things.....

that I've been up to:)

First off, I found a quilt shop nearby. Red Hen Fabrics is the only quilt shop that I have been able to find since living here. Its about a 30-40 minute drive during good traffic. I will be going back! They have great prices! I just wish they had more jelly rolls, honey buns, and charm packs. But I did get the fabric I'm going to use for the siggy swap. I picked out 4 different fabrics, 3 Amy Butler and one American Jane. I plan on doing the blocks in the same color but just using the four different colors in 101 blocks.

Then yesterday, I went out with friends from the garden club. We had a blast! We found a new antique store, and I was really good and didn't buy anything:) That was because I had already spent too much at Lowes! Then we had lunch, and went back to Lowes for more flowers. And then headed to Cool Beads for beads for a necklace to wear to the garden party. I spent about an hour or so at Mary's house learning how to bead. Thanks to Mary I have a new hobby, jewelry making. (like I needed something else to do)

I made a few extra pairs of earrings:)

This is the fabric that I'm making my dress for the party out of. It's so much prettier in person.

And the shoes to go with it! The shoes came first then the fabric:) Aren't they perfect for a garden party?

I've been busy this morning early, before it gets so hot here, outside working in the garden and repotting some violets and my orchid. We got some tomatoes, peppers, artichokes, eggplant, and asparagus planted last night. Tonight we'll plant the rest of the tomatoes and other seeds that I have. I already have basil, garlic and onions coming up. Everything that we have planted vegetable wise, has been from seeds that I started indoors except for 4 red pepper plants. I'm working on getting some pictures of the garden. It looks good, but there is just so much red clay here!

Now I think I'll go sew up some siggy blocks:)

To Keep Myself Busy.......

I've joined a few swaps!

The Modern Siggy Swap!

And the Pincushion Pass!

But first I have a new dress to make for the garden ball that will be on June 4th at The Hydrangea Festival! I can't wait! My garden club is a co-sponsor for the event. I'm hoping that my violets will still be in bloom so that I can enter them in the flower show. Right now they are so beautiful! 

 And I have a few plants to get planted.

I think I have enough to keep me busy for a little while:)

4 Weeks

I can't believe it has already been 4 weeks. 4 weeks tonight at 22:53 since my precious baby boy was born.

I think, for the most part, that my husband and I are doing really well. We have tried to keep busy gardening and being outside doing things together. I've gone with him on a few of his business trips, which happened to be back in VA so that I could see my family and friends there. That has helped me alot!
My blood pressure and my liver enzymes are trending down and I'm now down to one blood pressure pill a day. We still don't know what happened and maybe we'll find out something in a few weeks. I do know though, that my blood pressure had nothing to do with any of this, it only started going up while I was in the hospital.

We have had such an amazing amount of support. I can't even remember how many cards, emails, facebook messages, phone calls, meals, flowers, and other gifts that we have received.

One absolutely amazing gift is this beautiful quilt that was sent to me this week by my friends from the Potholder Pass. I've never met these ladies. 17 ladies that don't know me or anyone in my family, all got together and made these beautiful pinwheel blocks to put into a quilt in memory of Little E. There are blocks from Canada, Norway, Australia, the UK, and the US. I can't even begin to describe how special this is to me. These beautiful ladies did such and amazing job. Every stitch is just perfect! The fabric choices are just perfect! It is so soft and perfect!

You can see the whole list of contributors here on Amy's blog. (Amy, I borrowed your pictures as I have not had a chance to take my own yet, I hope you don't mind)

I never could have imagined how hard this was going to be. It seems that there is something new to face each day. Learning to live with the reality that I am not going back to the hospital in June to bring home my baby boy, because the reality is I'm going to be bringing him home on Friday from the funeral home. For the last 7 months I've patted my belly and told him what I was doing, where we were going, everything. Now I catch myself starting to do that, but my belly is soft and flatter and just feels so empty.

I have my husband and I thank God that I do. Without him, I could not handle this. We have laughed and cried on each other. We've done everything together the last few days. But he had to go back to work today, I did not want him to leave, but I think he wanted to stay here more than I wanted him to.

We have had an amazing amount of support and prayers from our family and friends. It amazes me and fills my heart when I get on here and I read the comments from people that I've never met before and some that I have, and I see that they have posted on their blogs requesting prayers for my family. I can't even begin to tell you how much that it all means to Eric and I, and my whole family. I sometimes forget, not really forget, but don't think of how this has affected my daughter Morgan. She lost her baby brother and she is grieving too. My heart breaks for her, she was so excited about him. She was going to be a great big sister!

I will get back to blogging about normal everyday life at some point, but right now this is my everyday life.

I just want to Thank you all for being here for me and my family.

There are no words

I don't even know how to start this post. I'm lying here in the hospital emptier than I've ever been before. (please forgive any mispellings and grammatical errors, I am on pain meds right now and no sleep)
On Friday morning I went to the dr for my routine 2 week checkup and we did not hear a heartbeat, after an ultrasound with a specialist we were sent to the hospital for an induction. My sweet little baby boy was born last night at 1153pm. He weighed 2.2 lbs and was 14 inches long. He was absolutely perfect, except he was not crying or moving or wanting to nurse like he was supposed to. The hardest thing that I've ever had to do was hand over my precious baby boy to the nurse to take for an autopsy knowing that I would never see him or hold him here on earth again. It's so hard for me to watch my husband and see how badly he's hurting. I'm hurting too, but its different when you watch your strong husband lose his baby boy, his namesake. We're both so thankful for the time that we had him to hold and to love on. We're so thankful for the friends and family who've shown their support and offered up prayers. We're thankful for the pictures that we have of our sweet baby boy and the little momentos that hospital has given to us. We're thankful for the wonderful nurses and doctors that have helped us through this tragedy. I thank God for the blessing that he placed in my life for such a short time.

My Mothers Garden

I came across some of these pictures last week of my mom's garden and a cookout that she had there. Her garden was breathtaking! And the cookout, well the pictures speak for themselves! We had a GREAT time!

Also when I found the pictures I also found an essay that I had to write for an English class in college. It just happens to be called "A Walk Through My Mother's Garden". I thought I would post it here to go along with the pictures. I'm dedicating this post to all of my friends that are tired of snow and dreaming of spring.

A Walk Through My Mother's Garden

A walk in my mother's garden is perhaps the most relaxing, peaceful journey that anyone could take. At any time of the year you can see some beautiful hint of color.

In the dead of winter small purple, yellow, and white crocuses pop up from everywhere. Winter pansies are still in bloom and are strategically placed throughout the garden.

My favorite time of the year is the first weeks of spring. When you walk through the garden, you will see beautiful daffodils (of all shades of yellow), pastel tulips, little purple grape hyacinths, and the deep green of the newly budding plants. Red bud and Dogwood trees are in bloom. The lilacs fill the garden with such a beautiful sweet aroma. There is a bench that I love to sit on and watch all the birds that flock to the many birdfeeders throughout the garden. There is also a squirrel feeder at which the squirrels and birds fight over the corn that is put there for food. When the fountain is turned on it makes such a relaxing peaceful sound.

Purple clematises trail over the porch rails and the mailbox. In a few weeks the lavender will be blooming with its breathtaking aroma. Peonies in shades of light and dark pink will soon be in bloom. The sweet smell of roses fills the air. Climbing roses, tea roses and bush roses in colors of red, pink, orange, yellow, white and peach are scattered all over the garden.

Purple coneflower, daisies, brown eyed susans, and lupines start to add more color. White, pink, and purple butterfly bushes attract beautiful butterflies of all sizes and colors. Bees swarm to the gorgeous red bee balm.

By the time fall comes around the dahlias, chrysanthemums, and blanket flower add color to the fading garden. Nasturtiums are spreading all around the steps of the porch. Pumpkins sit scattered throughout the garden to add a little more variety in color.

At any time of year when I need peace and quiet I can walk through the garden, and I am truly amazed by the simple yet beautiful miracles that take place every day.

Can you see that my mom knows how to throw a true Southern Living outdoor kinda party? Those truly are the best kind!

As for the paper, I made an  A+!

First round of potholders finished!

These are the potholders that I made for the potholder swap. I hope my partner likes them! She said that she liked orange and green. The quilting was done by mom on her new Babyloc quilter. (see mom, I told you I would give you the credit!)

It was a secret swap, which made it lots of fun! I will receive my potholders from someone other than who I'm sending these to. I'm so excited and can't wait to get mine! And I'm gonna sign up for the next swap as well!

Now on another note. Has anyone elses blogger changed any? When I'm posting, I don't have spellcheck anymore and the way the pictures are uploaded is different. And I don't like it!