September's Photo-a-day challenge

Originally, I had planned on following what was probably last September's photo-a-day challenge from FatMumSlim. But then inspiration struck me.

I'll just make my own!

Sure!

I'll flip to a random page in the dictionary, point at a word with my eyes closed and viola! Challenge.

Hold one, let me find my dictionary.

BEE'S SEPTEMBER PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE

(as dictated by an old Webster's dictionary)

Okay, so a few I had to reflip for because I kept getting words like "chlamydia" and "dysentary" and "hemoglobin". Overall, though, it's a decent list left wide open to interpretation.

Join me if you like. Blog them yourself (and send me a link, please!) or post on facebook or twitter with #beesseptemberphotochallenge.

Happy photograping, everyone!

August in review and September in preview

Oh, August, August... where have you gone?

Usually, August is a pretty crazy month for us. In 2010, our daughter was born so August usually entails a birthday party (and usually more than one because my father-in-law, sister-in-law and niece are all August "babies"). So this year, Girl Bee turned 3 and with our vacation mid July, she essentially had 3 different birthday parties and her big gifts actually arrived after her birthday so her birthday basically lasted an entire month this year.

Ask any three year old. That's heaven.

August was a shockingly productive month as far as crafts go. I didn't think I'd gotten that much done, but when I went through my pictures, I kept saying "Oh, yeah, I did that. And that! And that!"

This month, I made my first mei tai! It's definitely a beginner's mei tai, but it wears pretty well considered.

I see some improvements that are possible, and maybe in a few months, I'll give it another go.

I made my first stuffed animal, too. Well, stuffed mermaid.

And Girl Bee got an upcycled tank top dress to match her mermaid. 

She also got a red floral dress with a shirred top (again, room for improvement).

I'm starting a grand overhaul of our entire bed set and finished some of the pillows.

I finished the blanket for Boy Bee that I started back in March.

I also finished a blanket for a dear friend expecting  a baby boy any day now.

I finished some cross stitch, too!

And with that, we pounce upon September. With September comes fall!

I know! Autumn already!

Pumpkin in everything, Halloween, Thanksgiving... I'm so excited to get Fall going.

So without further ado, here's my September craft goal list:

I have a few crochet beanies to make:

-a strawberry for a dear friend with a niece on the way

-an aviator hat for a dear from expecting a son

-a dinosaur beanie for Boy Bee

-an owl beanie for Girl Bee

I also plan on working on a sneak peak of the little Bee's Halloween costumes.

I'm working on piecing together some sort of lesson plan for Girl Bee to start gearing up for preschool.

I have some cross stitch to finish. 

I'm going to upcycle another shirt into a dress for Girl Bee.

I'm also going to play around with some bow ties for Boy Bee.

I need to finish that baby doll quilt for Girl Bee, too...

Also, Mr. Bees has an anime convention coming up and needs a cape, polymer clay pendant necklace and two sets of boot covers.

For September, we're also working on a totally low-carb diet plan for the adult Bees, so there should be plenty of Pinterest recipe reviews.

AND

My first ever Photo-a-Day Challenge!

There you have it! 

Who else is super freaking excited for Autumn?!

Oh, and Happy Race Your Mouse Day. 

...whatever that might be.

Our Story: Tiny Wings

I posted previously about a situation that had made life difficult but that I wasn't ready to discuss it yet.
Now I think I am. 

August 19th is the Day of Hope.

It's a day to commemorate and spread awareness of pregnancy, infant and child loss. 

As many of you know, there is a day in October used to commemorate the same. 

Aug 19th is also about breaking the silence regarding the loss of pregnancy or child.

There are a lot of families who have endured the same painful event - many don't feel like speaking about it. 

Of course, you can read more about it at the link above, but that's the gist of it.

It's been three months for us, and now I feel ready to finally open up about it. 

There's nothing shameful in losing a pregnancy and it is a shame that there seems to be a cultural stigma around the idea of losing what could have been.

So here's our story.

In late April 2013, we fell pregnant with my IUD still in place.

We quickly became hopeful and attached despite the fact that we knew things had a fair chance of not turning out the way that we wish they would.

What we didn't know was that it was an ectopic pregnancy.

After four ultrasounds, three pelvic exams, nearly twenty blood draws, and two methotrexate injections, it was physically finished.

We had a week of hope in another child before everything went so rapidly downhill. 

In that time span, we had even picked names. A name in a week is an absolute record for us.

Thankfully, my body was able to handle the situation and there were no hospital stays involved, but it was a long time before I was back to feeling like anything close to normal.

Even though we knew for so short a time and nothing came of it besides a home pregnancy test with a positive result and scarring on my arms from having blood drawn so frequently, our hearts still ache.

Time, of course, improves all things.

But it's hard to accept.

You were here for so short a time, but will never be forgotten.