Forever Loved Angel Gowns

Just wanted to make a short post about the project the Baby Mama below had started in 2014. It's a very special project that has gotten much bigger than we ever thought  it would. You see in 2010 Sherie and John lost twin boys at 22 weeks of gestation. When the tiny babies were born they were swaddled in large towels that left them barely visible at all but there was nothing else for them to wear and there was no time to go shopping during this hard time.

.Sometime later Sherie had seen that someone in the States was making little baby Angel Gowns from donated wedding dresses but no one was doing it where we live in Ontario. So she thought what a wonderful thing it would be to make some Angel Gowns from the couple of wedding dresses people may donate and that's how Forever Loved Angel Gowns was born.

Well, the dresses started pouring in as well as any kind of sewing notions like ribbon and thread which is always needed. It seemed everyone had a heart to help out with this very special purpose. Since then hundreds of dresses have been donated and processed by Sherie, myself, other family members and soon many other volunteers across Ontario.

Wow, what we thought was going to be a small project has gone on for two years and shows no signs of stopping. While the cause of our purpose is sad we find solace in the fact that the precious babies who leave us too soon will be sent off with dignity and respect they deserve and the parents will be helped in a way they may not have even thought of.

So proud of my daughter Sherie and others who give their time and effort for this cause.

http://foreverlovedangelgowns.com

Baby Mama

Feeling a little nostalgic so looked up some baby pix of 9 month's old mom, Sherie.
Love these pics.

Buddy

Just a short post today because I'm sick ... again ... with the flu. It just won't go away this winter. Goes in circles in our family. First I was sick, then hubby, it's lasting long for him and now he gave it back to me, thank hubby.

Our little dog Buddy is much like our Jaxon, easy going, cool and just wants to be cuddled all day long. Even so he likes to be the boss of his older brother Junior and Junior lets him except when it comes to food. Just don't touch the food.

9 Months

This baby is almost 9 months old. Nine months inside his mommy and now 9 months out in the world. He has grown so much. Jaxon is such a cute and cuddly baby. When you pick him up he just curls into you making you feel so good. He is very easy going and cool with whomever is holding him. He hardly ever fusses unless he is sick or you try to wipe his nose, that is a no go. Otherwise he's pretty well perfect and is such a cutie pie with incredible sparkly dark eyes and a smile that just melts your heart. Happy 9 months Jax. We love you so much.

Brothers

This beautiful photo was taken by my daughter and edited by me. She took this of her sons in the bath and she had to be quick to get this because the boys are so in motion all the time. They love their bath and it's a good bonding time for them. Love the closeness shown here. My heart can just burst.

Maya Smile

I edited some photos last month to make them look really vintage and wonder now if this is perhaps what Maya's birth mother may have looked like. Maya has an especially wide and bright smile that can light up any room. Maybe sometimes she looks at herself in the mirror and wonders where she got it from.

Her Life Before Us

Maya's life before us is very complex. She comes to us with many insecurities most of which show up in her day to day dealings with events and with us. There are many triggers to her insecurities, too many to mention but slowly, very slowly she is dealing with them as we are. Most of the time her life before us stays well hidden deep inside her, there are good times and bad times and because there were some good times it makes it all the harder for her to deal with her current life with us.

In some ways I think she wishes she still had the life before us. I will not give out her whole life story but we see signs in Maya that she is working very hard to accept the life she has now. It's not always easy, not by a long shot. It will take many more years before her insecurities disappear. She tries to seem very confident but inside she is not so it's a constant battle of what she thinks she can do and what she can't do. In some ways she wants to have full control over her life and us and in other ways she seeks constant help even with things she can well do for herself.

I wish there some photos of her as a baby and growing up but there is nothing. Any photos only start in Feb 2013 when she came back to the orphanage. She was fostered ever since she was a baby. How I wish we had those to connect her life before us to her life now. Her life before us matters. Even though we try to move on with our life now, doing things we need to do like go to school, go to work, go shopping etc each and every moment that other life is still inside her head and her heart. It's going to take time and patience, a LOT of patience for this transition to happen from her life before us to her life with us.

Here are some photos of Maya at the Shangrao orphange a few years ago.

with one of her foster sisters

in a dress we sent for her

Maya is good with little kids and they seem to gravitate toward her

she has a couple of young nephews she adores but says she'd love to her own

little brother or sister