Thursday, December 24, 2009

25 Days of Giveaways...Day 29, final day!!!

Let me start by saying Merry Christmas to you all! Getting through the past couple days has been very difficult for me. I think our Christmas Eve Dinner had a few tears in it. Its just so hard for me not to imagine how things should be so, but I will get into all of that in another post. Today (Christmas Day) is 8 months since Sophia & Ellie left us. It is hard to believe that if they could have survived they would be that old already! What a fun age and a fun time of year, if only they would have survived...

Note: The following has nothing to do with my giveaway!!

Right after Thanksgiving we had our annual family pictures taken. This was hard for me too because it was not what I had pictured for our Christmas cards this year. I imagined Hutch & myself each holding a baby with Brady & Emma standing in between us. The photographer, "R", who is a friend of a friend, surprised me with a picture of two leaves floating in water. As soon as I saw it I knew it had to be included in our Christmas card. I had "R" photo.shop in the girls' names and a little message onto the photo. I was so touched that she thought of doing this for me, for my girls. Sarah also did a flower with all of our names on it...I too love it and had to include it as well. So, since I do not have all of your physical addresses here are pictures of our family's Christmas Card. The top photo is the cover of the card and the second photo is the top & bottom inside of the card. Take a look and know that I am wishing you all the best for this Christmas and a very Happy New Year...we definitely all deserve it!



And now what you all really came here for...The Last Giveaway!!!! I am not offering anything new, I have not had time to be creative and come up with a whole new project. So, I am offering a piece of jewelry from my etsy shop again. I have a few pictures posted here, but again, I am willing to work with you to make the perfect piece that fits your needs. So to enter, leave me a comment and tell me something about your Christmas...how it was for you, anything special you did, what you thought of the giveaways, anything you want to tell us. I will be leaving this giveaway open for a few days...I know it is a busy time and everyone might not be reading today, so I will randomly choose a winner in a couple days. Thanks again everyone for making our days a little brighter!

Love to you all and especially to my sweet little girls. xo

38 comments:

  1. Merry Christmas to your family. Mine is being spent at work, in a hospital and I am working both tonight and Christmas night. Christmas is hard this year and I thought if I worked it would be easier, but I am finding out no matter what it hurts so bad.

    I love the giveaways, I have met so many new bloggers and look forward to following thier stories. I hope this is done again next year because I will for sure join.
    Thank you and happy holidays!

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  2. Hi Tina. Hugs to you! We hosted 19 family and friends for Christmas Eve dinner. After dinner we released 25 balloons. Our 5 year old nephew made this the highlight of the night. :-)

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  3. Your card came out beautiful!

    Merry Christmas!!

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  4. Hey Tina

    Have a happy, happy Christmas
    sending you all our love

    xx Ines

    PS if i win again :-) I'd give it to my friend, B. Would that be ok?

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  5. We spent Christmas Eve with my family and my mom surprised me with two ornaments for her tree. One for Jonathan and one for our early loss, Little One. It was very special for me knowing my family recognizes both of my babies in heaven.

    Thank you Tina for doing this. You are truly amazing!! Merry Christmas and huge hugs!! Your cards are absolutely beautiful.

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  6. What a beautiful holiday card. I love how you incorporated Sophia and Ellie. It's perfect!

    We stayed in our pjs all day yesterday and will do so today, too. We way he'd The Hangover, a terrible appropriate Xmas movie. :) We had lots of laughs, though.

    Merry Christmas, Tina! Thinking of you today.

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  7. The card is beautiful! Hubby and I are spending today with family. We have brunch at my dads, after which we will all sit by the pool and play games/chat, and then dinner in the afternoon. I hope you have a wonderful day!

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  8. Merry Christmas! I'm this day won't be without tears for many of us. We are going to my parents house, where there will be lots of children, and one pregnant cousin. sigh.

    You know I love your stuff! I hope that this day isn't too difficult. Thinking of you!
    MB

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  9. the card turned out wonderful. You have a beautiful family, and I'm so sad that your sophia and ellie could not be in the photo as well.

    Your jewelry is beautiful too. I'm hoping to do more etsy shop spotlights on my blog in the new year. let me know if you're interested.

    I'm sorry I missed the chance to be a host of a giveaway but maybe next time.

    I'm having a tough time today. :( I miss my family so much... I wish they hadn't had to die. or I wish I went with them. :( we loved christmas.... now it just sucks and i'm spending the day alone.(with my dog)

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  10. Thank you for coming up with the wonderful giveaway idea. It has been a bright little light in this difficult time. We just returned from "seeing" Sylvia at the cemetery. Now being lazy for most of the day before heading to the in-laws. This December hasn't been without many tears of sadness longing for my daughter...
    In love, tears and heartache,
    Beth
    www.houselogfamily.blogspot.com

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  11. I love the giveaways! It brought me to so many blogs I would have never found on me own. Although I wish so many people weren't going through this pain - I am glad I've found such a supportive group. I would def. be interested in hosting one next time!

    What an awesome Christmas card! I love how you managed to include Sophia and Ellie.

    Christmas just is ridiculously hard today. The hubby and I decided not to celebrate with our families and just hang out with the dogs. well it is 11 am and we have already decided to stop speaking to each other for the day ( an actual fight over who had to go get coffee because we were out).

    I think today will be hard and tearful for many of us.

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  12. Merry Christmas Tina! The card is beautiful! I just love it! These giveaways have been so much fun. I have loved meeting new people and reading their stories, it really has been a great way to spend some of my time this holiday season.
    Today has already been a busy day for us, one Christmas down and two to go! However I really am looking forward to seeing good family and friends. That is really what means the most to me at this time of the year.
    Again Merry Christmas, I hope you have a wonderful day…you deserve it!

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  13. I want to say thank you Tina, for coming up with this marvelous idea of spreading joy through our community this Christmas. I know I really needed it. I felt like I had something to look forward to.
    Today, we are 300 miles away from our babies. I am having separation anxiety like no other, but I know that they are having a huge celebration in heaven with Jesus himself. We're trying not to do too much today. On a different note, the doctor has given us the ok to start trying again, so that was a welcome Christmas gift. :)

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  14. Thank you for coming up with and implimenting this wonderful idea. I have met so many wonderful people who I plan to continue following. I owe you a great deal of graditude. Thank you !

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  15. Merry Christmas to you and yours as well. Your card is lovely. You are simply a wonderful person for putting all of these giveaways together, it has given so much of us something to look forward to reading everyday.

    The jewelry is just lovely and I would love to have one of those necklaces in memory of my Shyla Joy.

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  16. Merry Christmas! Your card is BEAUTIFUL! Love it!

    Christmas here has been okay- better than last year (the first year without our identical twin girls, Vivian and Annemarie). But I still feel their absence, and I still wish they were here.

    I am also far away from my family this year, which makes it hard...have tried to call them, but no one is home. Grrrrr!

    The jewlery is beautiful. I would definitely get something to incorporate my rainbow baby (Blythe) with the names of vivian and annemarie, and my older daughter annika.

    Merry Christmas.

    Lots of love,
    Erika

    littletinyfootprints.blogspot.com

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  17. Tina, I just got the necklace I ordered from you. It is beautiful!! You do wonderful work!

    Love your holiday cards!

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  18. Hi Tina--love your christmas card. It's beautiful. And love your jewelry, of course.

    xoxo

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  19. I love your Christmas card!! Also, thank you sooo much for this giveaway idea. It's really given me something to look forward to this holiday season. The support I've found in blog world is immeasurable.
    xo
    Ashley

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  20. Well, I survived Christmas Day, and all in all the entire holiday season has been bearable. This was our 2nd Christmas without Dylan, so the pain isn't still raw. It's there, it reminds you it's there when you least expect it. We bought him another ornament for our Christmas tree, which will probably be our ongoing tradition to remember him during Christmastime.

    Tina, these giveaways have been wonderful. They've connected me to other's blogs that I'd never read. If/when you decide to do another round of giveaways, I'd love to host one! I think the babyloss community has been incredible. Reading story after story makes my heart ache but I am blessed to know that I'm not alone in this journey. Thank you for thinking of this!

    Kat
    www.indylansmemory.blogspot.com

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  21. Oh I so hope I win. I still need to complete my necklace with another charm! For Christmas we just had immediate family over including my parents. We just ate and hung out and then went and looked at Christmas lights throughout the neighborhood. For my triplets we always get a little something for them and this year my mother got us three butterfly candles. Nuts to think they would be almost 3 years old. I miss them so very much...

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  22. Beutiful card! Merry Christmas to you and I love that you came up with this idea! December is a hard month, but with your help it bacame a little easier! I am spending my time vactioning on the beach, its a very much needed vacation!!

    Nicolle

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  23. This Christmas was a rough one but we still survived it. It was so hard to imagine a life without my little girl but we're here.

    The card was absolutely beautiful, the photographer did amazing work! How thoughtful and sweet to include the picture of the leaves, was a beautiful representation of your girls.

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  24. Tina,
    First of all, that Christmas card is beautiful. Just so beautiful! Secondly, I just wanted to echo everyone in thanking you for the giveaways! It's been so much fun (even though I didn't win LOL) and helped me to discover new people out there!
    My Christmas was very strange. I sulked a lot but tried not to let myself totally break down. We haven't even opened presents yet because we're just not excited. My highlight was my nephew, who just makes the time go by quickly! I'm home at my mom's, too, which always helps.
    Thinking of you
    xxoo

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  25. I love your Christmas cards. With our Christmas cards, Chad and I held the boy's bears and flowers. It is so hard to know that we should have been holding babies.

    I love the idea of the giveaways. It was a great way to help us all get through the holidays. Gave us something to look forward to everyday. Thank you for hosting it.

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  26. I just want to say your Christmas card is lovely. That is so sweet of your photographer friend to add those two leaves for you, for your girls. So sweet. Sending you *hugs*

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  27. LOVE the card and I just love that you did this giveaway promotion this month. It is such a good idea.

    I just did a post about our Christmas. It was much better than last years but it's always tough. Holiday's are supposed to be celebrated together and when you son lives in Heaven, that's impossible. I am grateful that my JOY is returning as I approach the 2 year anniversary this March but my heart is still broken.

    Hugs,
    Trisha

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  28. Thinking of you and yours, Tina, and remembering your girls with you. Thank you for organizing the giveaways! xo

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  29. Ahhh, Christmas. Made it through with lots of thoughts going to our George of course. My five-year-old boy and I lit candles after Mass for George and all the other angel babies. xo

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  30. Hi!

    I think the card is beautiful. My husband and I spent the day with our family. We went by Max's grave and spent time there before going to my grandmothers. It was a good day... not as bad as I had feared.

    I think the giveaways were awesome Tina! I think you did an excellent job organizing the event. I feel like I got so much from my comments! It was very encouraging. :-)

    Ash

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  31. Hi Tina,
    I lost Amelia and Alexander to PTL on 11/10/09. I spent the day in a fog. Smiling on the outside, dying on the inside. I have been in PJ's all day. I hope your girls Sophia and Ellie are playing with Amelia and Alexander today. Lizy from Chicago

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  32. Tina,
    the card is beautiful. thank you so much for coming up with this great giveaway idea. it really brought some fun to a difficult time of year for so many of us. i spent christmas with my family. it was a somewhat numb day. the joy and excitement of the holiday just isn't there in the same way any more. to honor our daughter we had her "say it with flowers" picture printed for our family members and signed it as a gift from her.

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  33. You are such a talent and I must say that your card also warmed my heart! It turned out just absollutely beautiful and perfect!!! I look forward to reading about your day in a future blog- having been 6 years out mine was quite peaceful- but something about going to church and hearing, "sleep in heavenly peace" always has me shedding a tear- knowing the peace that is there and that I too will feel it one day!
    Hugs!
    Laura

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  34. I wanted to thank you so much for putting on this contest... If it hadn't been for coming here everyday and reading the stories of all the wonderful ladies that are going through the same things I am, this Christmas would have been much more lonely than it was. I took solace in the fact that I wasn't alone in my grief for my little boy and that helped to buoy me up just a bit in our first Christmas without him. I still cried and wanted to be somewhere else the entire day but it was easier to get through, at least. Thank you again.

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  35. Oh I *love* that! What perfect cards (well, as perfect as they can be) and what a dear friend to help you put them together. I hope your holiday was peacful, sweet friend. ((Hugs))

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  36. Hi Tina! I LOVE your Christmas cards and family pictures. They turned out great! I also wanted to say that your 25 days of giveaways was a total hit! Thanks for organizing all of that. I still can't believe how perfect it was that my day for the giveaway was the same day as my bloggerversary! Merry Christmas to you!

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  37. i hope i have not missed the deadline :-)

    i also hope that you and your family had a wonderful christmas. your 25 days of giveaways was amazing, and such a huge hit for all us BLMs bless you

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  38. Merry Belated Christmas....and I do hope that 2010 brings you all things wonderful that life has to offer.

    Beautiful Christmas card...love it!

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