Pin-Obsessed

Uh Oh, it has happened. I have joined the Pinterest world and have been infected with the obsession.

IT's SO ADDICTING!!

Nothing Profound, Just Wanted to Write

I have found that the reason why I stink at posting is because the bar has been set to high...by no one other than me.

I have placed myself in a bit of a pickle. If I don't feel I have anything of any kind of value to add to the blogging world, then I simply won't post.

Well that's stupid. After all, I didn't start this blog to be this inspired writer. I started it simply because I wanted to share about my life and the ramblings that build up in my brain. I wanted to vent my rantings, to shout out my victories and to share a funny anecdote.

So here it is. A rambling...

I am an avid reader of Real Simple magazine (can I get a "what what" from my fellow readers out there!). I have been subscribing to their magazine since 2007. I love them for their recipes (that I've never cooked, but love to dream about cooking), for their organizing tips and for their stories of daily life. For the past four years Real Simple has been hosting a contest for readers to enter. Each year (for the last four) they have submitted a question to be answered in essay form from a reader. The winner receives $3,000, a trip to New York and their story published in an issue of Real Simple. This years question is "When did you first understand the meaning of love?"

Not sure what I'll write about. I've tossed around several ideas, hopefully I'll find something worthy. We'll see. I'll post it here once I've sent it to Real Simple.

Things Change...Stuff Happens

As you all can see, by the lack of posts on my cupcake blog and the lack of updates regarding the cupcake venture...it ain't happenin. Things change, stuff happens and life rolls.

So no cupcakes. No side business regarding cupcakes. No catering cupcakes for weddings. No, up-to-my-elbows-in-batter moments. Things change, stuff happens and life rolls.

Now I'm focusing on other things. Like being a wife, a mommy and a volunteer.

I'm volunteering with Lifeline still. We had our first official meeting of Solace, a wonderful support group for us grieving moms. We had 5 women total there and it was a blessing!

I have also begun to volunteer with downtown Nampa and so far that has been a delight and growing experience as well.

So cupcakes may not happen this month, or even in the year, but that's ok because, things change, stuff happens and life rolls.

HAPPY SPRING!

Oh my word…

I wish I knew how to get motivated to share on here again. I do find that it’s difficult to continue about my son, simply because it’s been so long and the Lord has really healed us well. We still miss him and still find it hard to believe that he’s gone, but we are moving forward.

So I guess the only decision to make here is to move the blog forward.

Tomorrow evening will be the first meeting of a support group that I have started called Solace. It’s a group for women who have lost a baby due to miscarriage, stillbirth or SIDS. I’m so excited to get this group going. I do understand that the chances of a lot of women coming are slim. I understand that not everyone out there finds it therapeutic to talk to perfect strangers about their grief, but I am hoping that I am wrong. I would love for the group to be HUGE! I would love for women of all walks of life and in all stages of grief to show up. So that may be what I’ll be talking about on here. Not the women and their personal stories, but rather my journey from grieving on my own, to helping others heal.

I have found that my life purpose has changed. Before, when I was pregnant with Parker, I found myself to be rather turned in. It was all about me, and what was going on in the present time. Now I find that I desire, more than ever before, to help other mommies and daddies who have lost and help hold their hand through that pain and offer them hope that life will turn around. I am so excited, through this support group, to get that journey under way.

So this blog will still, to some degree, be about Parker and about our journey, but it will also start to be about general updates in this Harmon house regarding Geoff’s life, my life and Norah’s life.

For instance, one update is that I have started to volunteer with downtown Nampa, specifically with their promotions committee. This is so exciting for me because I will finally be able to utilize my skills in marketing!! I can’t wait!!

So thanks for sticking with me and stay tuned!!

Just Right...I Hope

I don't know what I think about all of this, but I have found that the closer I get to Norah's first birthday, the more strange it feels to finally be here.

I have waited over two years to experience a first birthday of my own. Well, not my own, but of one of my children. I know that we had Parker's first birthday, but it was not (obviously) how I had intended it to be. So now, to be faced, head on, with a first birthday in just two weeks is sort of freaking me out!

I'm really trying to not be that mom. You know, the one who goes way to "all out" for the first birthday. The one who buys way to many gifts and just makes an overall "too big a deal" out of this birthday. However, COME ON PEOPLE! WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR SO STINKIN' LONG!!

So I grapple. I grapple with the concept of over doing it to the point where I fear I'm "under" doing it. Ugh...

So, I hope I can get enough planned to make it a perfect first birthday. A Goldilocks birthday, if you will. You know, not too big, not too small, but rather...just right, here's hoping.

So Happy!

A few weeks back I think I posted something about wanting to start a support group at Lifeline for families who have lost. Well, on Monday night of this past week, I met with Willie from Lifeline and discussed the possiblity of starting such a group. I am so happy to inform all of you readers that this group will start meeting middle of January!!

I cannot wait! I believe that this has taken place all in the Lord's perfect time. According to Willie, after she received my email, asking if we could meet sometime to discuss this possiblity, she was informed by Diann (the co-director of Lifeline) that it was needed. I feel that is confirmation.

Our group is designed to help support women who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, infertility or any loss of a baby at any point during pregnancy or after. It is the only faith based support group in Idaho and one that, I believe, will affect many lives. I hope and pray that women from all around, all walks of life and at every stage of grief, choose to attend this group.

This is something that I feel I have been called to do. I believe that, after loosing Parker God reshaped the calling for my life and made this, supporting other families who have lost a baby, to be my new calling. OR, maybe and even better yet, maybe it was my calling all a long, and loosing Parker made it that much stronger, to the point where, every day my heart is burdened for new families I hear of who have lost.

I ask that you would join with me in praying for this support group. I will be working on a brochure to hand out at Mercy Medical Center's Labor and Delivery ward as well as local OB/GYN offices and Alsips Funeral Home. I ask that you would ask God to bring all the hurting families to this support group. That He would encourage other mommies and daddies who have lost to join together to help each other heal and grow together and closer with Him through this support group. That is my prayer.

Thanks guys and enjoy the extra hour of sleep.

Never Fails...

...every time I hear of another mommy and daddy who have lost, my heart breaks and I go right back to the place Geoff and I were when we lost our Parker.

I find myself desiring, strongly, to run to that mommy and tell her everything will be alright. I find myself wanting, so desperately to burst into their hospital room and reassure them that God is near and holding them tight.

But I know that I can't, so I wait and I pray for them every day. Every time I think about Parker I pray for other mommies and daddies who have lost.

If you could pray with me for these families, that would be wonderful!