Pregnancy + Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

This morning Curran got to "meet" his older brother.

I'm so glad he'll always have this bear to snuggle and play with and love.

I've really been missing Baby M lately. I wonder what our family would be like with him here, what he'd be exploring and learning, what little quirks he'd have. He'd be one this New Years Eve. 

Its been almost a year and a half since we lost little Baby M, and now we have our sweet, spunky Curran in our arms. But we'll always love, miss, and remember our first baby boy.

Since Mothers Day 2013 when we lost him, I've had several friends go through pregnancy and infant loss as well. I think of them today too. Some have become pregnant again, some have not. No matter our individual stories, no matter if we have children on this earth right now, we're all mothers and fathers to babies, to angels. 

I'll be lighting a candle at 7pm to remember Baby M and to show my love for all those families who hold babies in their hearts but not in their arms. It will join the wave of light that will reach across the world as thousands of families like ours, as well as the friends and loved ones that support them, light candles in honor of their angels. 

-------------------------

Mommy, Daddy, and your little brother, Curran love you so much, sweet babe. 

-------------------------

If you'd like a very special way to remember your angel baby, please consider donating to The Littlest Feet, a project created by my friend, Brittany, to remember her darling Abby.

Museum Day Live! at the Seattle Art Museum.

A couple weeks ago Smithsonian magazine was hosting Museum Day Live!, a day during which many museums across the country offer free admission. The Seattle Art Museum was participating so we decided last minute to hop on a ferry and head to Seattle for a free museum day. Considering how much it costs with the ferry to get there, its nice to save forty bucks on admission prices! And it was nice to do something we liked to do as a couple before Curran came along, plus we got a chance to get the little bub started early with a love of art.

 After the art museum we went by Pike Place Market to grab some greek yogurt (so, so good!) and cannolis.

WARNING!

Whatever the bakery in the market is selling as a cannoli, is in fact not a cannoli. Its a fraud! We had gotten our cannolis, hopped on the ferry back home, got Curran in bed, and finally sat down to enjoy our treat. But disappointment was swift and our purchase a waste. They were essentially shells filled with buttercream frosting. They advertised their cannolis as having a cream cheese filling--which, first of all, cannolis aren't made with cream cheese (that red flag should've stopped us right there). But then, it wasn't even cream cheese filling. It was like they scraped the creme off of oreos and piped it into cannoli shells. So, so disappointing. 

If it sounds like I'm being a little dramatic…well, fair enough. But you guys, they were a disaster. We spent the rest of the night day dreaming about our delicious cannolis from Maria's in Boston last summer and wishing we could get our paws on just one little crumb of those tasty beauties. 

But ahhh, I dream.

Cannoli impostors aside, we had a great time in Seattle on a beautiful day. Sometimes its hard to want to get out and do things with a baby, having to factor in his naps and diaper changes and meals and packing everything he needs and is a stroller better or should I just use the carrier and what if he just cries the whole time and and and……and sometimes you just have to forget about all that stuff and just get out there.

In other news, we're really loving it up here in Washington. We love our little house, the people are so friendly, our ward is hands down the best we've ever been in, we're exploring things we've never thought to before, and my favorite part: we actually get to experience fall for the first time since we moved from Virginia two years ago.

Life has its ups and downs but we are really, really happy here.