Our Loss

Source: tumblr.com via Alex on Pinterest

I've been pretty MIA these past few months - that's no secret.
Lots has happened here and it just feels awkward to get back in to blogging without talking about what's been going on.

On November 13th we found out we were pregnant, and on December 20th, we found out we lost the baby.

The first bit of my absence was to blame on extreme fatigue - growing a person takes a lot out of you! :)

And the second part of my absence was just...a rest. Time to think about things, reflect, and to come to peace with the way things ended up.

We were so excited for this new addition to our family and couldn't wait to share the news with everyone on Christmas.

Needless to say, things didn't exactly go the way we planned {though I did have an odd feeling from the start}...but that's okay. I can now say that I truly find peace in knowing that it was meant to be.

There were tears.
There was anger.
There was frustration.
There was disbelief.

But there was also hope.
And joy.
And love.
And happiness.
And finally, peace.

There's a greater picture that we're not capable of seeing, and I just have to trust that it will all make sense later.
In my humble opinion, everything happens for a reason.
I have a whole new understanding of what it means to experience a loss.
I can relate to mom's who may be going through the same thing.
I appreciate those close to me SO much. Time is precious.
I know I'm going to have a whole new appreciation and love for our next little bundle.

It still feels good to share, and celebrate the little life that we created. I have complete faith that we will have another baby, and that someday Isaiah will be a big brother - the timing just wasn't quite rite.

Honestly, we're all doing fine. If anything, this has only helped us to examine our life and figure out what means the most to us.

We're so thankful to our friends and family who have been an outpouring of love and support for us. We appreciate it.

I've become a bit of an open book, so if you'd like to know more about this process, have gone through this yourself or have any questions, feel free to ask :) alex.heater@hotmail.com

Source: redletterwords.com via Alex on Pinterest

Family Photographs

A few weeks ago we had photographs of our family taken by a dear {semi-retired} friend of mine.

I'm.In.Love.

Warning - picture overload is about to occur.

I can't wait to turn some of these into canvas!

Happy Halloween {Part 2}

My son loves Halloween.
Not likes.
Not likes a lot.
loves.
LOVES.
We've had so much fun all month talking about pumpkins, spider webs, Dracula, Frankenstein, ghosts and everything in between.

Numerous trips to the pumpkin patch, and daily drives past festive Halloween decorated houses. October has been busy :)

Last night we had such a good time taking our sweet monster trick-or-treating, visiting friends at scary houses and eating candy.

Even if the he did get to bed 2 1/2 hours past his normal bed time, it was a night well spent and he had SO much fun.

Honestly, I'm dreading the fact that it's now November and 99% of people are going to be taking down their Halloween decorations.

{you know, there's always those random houses who have witches and tombstones up year round}

 If you love me, and understand how difficult it is to explain to a 2 year old that Halloween is over, please leave your Halloween decorations up until Christmas.

Thanks.

Happy Halloween!

From our scary monster.

Hope it was safe,

filled with fun,

and lots of candy :)

Bring on Thanksgiving

{entering The Paper Mama Photo Challenge here}

I'm Back!

I'm alive!

Who knew?

In  case you didn't notice

{though I'm secretly hoping you did}

I basically fell off the face of the planet for about a month.

Apparently, I needed a break.

I started back to work as a toddler preschool teacher after having the summer off,

and in between finding my balance of work, home, wife, mommy, crafter and blogger; blogger fell off the deep end.

The first few days I didn't write a post I can't even describe the amount of guilt I was feeling. Regardless of my lack of inspiration and time, I still felt a need to write...something!

As the days went on, my guilt slowly disappeared {hence the reason there hasn't been a post since} and quickly turned into enjoyment.

I can honestly say it was a great break. I spent quality time with my family, didn't feel pressure to constantly check my phone for new emails, or address my blog. My mind felt less....busy.

I'm so thankful I took a few weeks to give myself some time off, because now, I have this renewed excitement and I feel full of inspiration!

I guess that sometimes all you need is a little break!

Here's a peek at what we've been up to:

Potty training boot camp

Visits to our local farm

Crafting custom orders

Practicing our 'moustache lip'

And bubble beard...

Had a great day at the train park

And, checked out an art festival that had some a-ma-zing sidewalk chalk

Whew!

I appreciate that you stuck around and waited for me...

look forward to lots of fall inspired recipes and crafts, super great handmade shops, fun tips on living green and, of course, some super adorable pictures of my little man in between.