I can't believe it it this time of year again! I can't believe this is the THIRD year of these giveaways! That is very exciting for me! It all started with a tiny idea in this mama's head; just a little something to help get a few of us through the first Christmas without our babies. It turned out to be so much bigger than I had imagined, and for that I am thankful. I am thankful for each and every one of you. Without the hosts and participants, none of this would happen, so, thank you, thank you, thank you! To me, these giveaways are a bit of joy that we can spread to one another as we honor and remember our beautiful babies, because without them, none of this would be. I am grateful for my girls, Sophia and Ellie, for many reasons, but one of them is for all the lovely people whom I have met here. Without all of you, I don't know where I would be.
Okay, enough with the sappy stuff...on to the giveaway!!!! If you read my last post, you saw a little hint about where today's giveaway would be...and it is RIGHT HERE!!
If you are new to my blog and story, you may not know that after I lost my girls I was inspired to create. I began making hand stamped jewelry and haven’t stopped since! It brings me peace and joy and I absolutely love it! For today’s giveaway, I am offering a very special item from my etsy shop.
I really adore this necklace. I first made it for a very special boy’s mama. If you are interested in reading more about this family, click here. Make sure you have some tissue nearby though! So, to enter this giveaway, leave a comment here and tell me if you plan on doing something to keep your baby extra close to your heart as you celebrate this Christmas Season. I know they live in your hearts everyday, but I like to hear all the ways we include our little ones during special times like this. Good luck and don’t forget to check back here tomorrow to see who the winner is and where the next giveaway is being held! xo
P.S. If you are on face*book and want to like my page, you can see new designs and get coupon codes and sale info too! You know, just in case you wanna!
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You are so sweet to host these giveaways & this one of your own. The piece is lovely! You had a pink tree for Sophia & Ellie & it inspired me to get one for Meredith last Christmas. I have some new ornaments to add to it this year. It is in my guest room & I couldn't bring myself to take it down last year. So we decided it will stay up all the time & when I need to look at it and remember her, I can.
ReplyDeleteOh what a wonderful first piece for a giveaway! I have an angel tree, it's a blue tree lovingly called Calypso's Tree. It's got all of her angel's on it and periodically over the years I've added angels in memory of other angels.
ReplyDeleteI also decorate Calypso's grave and she has got her own Christmas tree and toys and lights out there.
Love it, Tina! We get one or two new ornaments for Gracie each year to put with the rest of her things on our tree. We also do a balloon release after our big family dinner on Christmas Eve.
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful sentiment! I love your designs.
ReplyDeleteLast year we had just lost our sons and barely survived the holidays. This year we are going to start donating two toys in memory of our boys to Toys for Tots that we think they might have liked. We are also going to add a new ornament to our tree and light candles for them Christmas Eve.
We always go out to the cemetery on Christmas eve and leave a poinsettia out there at our babies grave and we sing silent night and have a family prayer. We also always hang up her sticking with the rest of the families and Santa always places a white rose in it so at least it isn't hanging there empty.
ReplyDeleteAs always, my dear friend, thank you for hosting the giveaways, and this one in particular. I know I won last year, but I love this poem and necklace. I'm excited for my giveaway too this year. YIP!
ReplyDeleteWe put up two special pink trees in our house in honor of our girls. We also have special ornaments on our tree with their footprints and their names. I am hoping to get my 2 year old a little more involved this year since he gets it more. I like the Toys for Tots idea mentioned above- I might need to try that one.
ReplyDeleteThank you for doing this because the holidays as a BLM are extremely hard. This year we have a live tree that is decorated in angels and butterflys to represent my 2 angel daughters.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a beautiful piece of jewelry! Every year we decorate a small Christmas tree to take to Freja's grave... We also have special ornaments for her that we hang on our tree in our home. I also put a stocking out for her which the kids love... We talk about her so much in our every day lives and I feel confident that she will forever be an important member of our family.
ReplyDeleteYour jewelry is beautiful!! Oh my goodness I am going to like your facebook page now. The ways we remember and honor Kael are we include him in our family Chirstmas cards, we decorate his grave, Ill be burning a candle in his honor as well as giving away pictures of him for the holiday! We will talk about him often as usual and make sure to especially remember him Christmas day!
ReplyDeleteIt has been 2 years, 15 days since I kissed my 5 year old son goodbye. This Christmas will be the 3rd without him. I've always found a special ornament to put on our big family tree, but this year, I decided to get him his own special tree. It's a mini tree that sits in our kitchen beside his memorial shelf. It's decorated in cowboy/country ornaments because he was a true country boy!!!
ReplyDeleteYour jewelry is absolutely!!!
Come visit me at ashleyquarles.blogspot.com!!
Ashley
We always get a small tree and let the kids decorate it and take it to the cemetery. We also put out some other Christmas decorations.
ReplyDeleteOur big tradition is that we find a little girl who is the same age Sydney would have been and we give her Christmas. Last year and this year, we've been able to find special little girls whose families were having a hard time through a friend, so we're able to personalize it a little more. It's so hard to buy the things I would've bought for Sydney, but it also makes me happy to know that she is someone's angel and hope. We weren't sure we could afford it this year, but some things fell into place and it worked out. <3
I love your giveaways Tina! And love that you do this! For Christmas every year, we buy our MJ a Christmas ornament, put his stocking up, and write a note to him in his journal. We miss him so much . . .
ReplyDeleteMegan
Mommy to my Twins
Will and Angel MJ
meganskaggs@sbcglobal.net
Thank you Tina! I'm a big fan of everthing in your Etsy shop, you'r so talented! To keep Dylan close to our hearts during the season, we have a TON of ornaments on the tree to commemorate him and, every year, we buy a new one (or two or three ;)!
ReplyDeleteKat @ In Dylan's Memory
That is so very sweet. We bought an ornament for our baby last year, and I've been searching for something significant to wear, some outward sign of my love for our baby, and I haven't found anything that works yet. This is lovely - and so sweet of you to do this. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteIt is beautiful Tina! We do many things in memory of Mikayla and Chase but my favorite is filling their Christmas Stockings with acts of kindness done for others during the Christmas season. We invite our family and friends to participate with us as well. You can read more about it here on my blog http://chasingourrainbow.blogspot.com/p/mikayla-and-chases-stocking.html.
ReplyDeleteFor the last 3 Christmases I have bought Lily a new ornament for our tree. I feel like this way at least she has something on the tree because sadly I can't put her presents under it...
ReplyDeleteInstead of placing a generic angle at the top of our tree, we place a small pink hippo in honor of our daughter Chloe. This will be the second year that we celebrate Christmas without her.
ReplyDeleteFirst let me thank you Tina for hosting this giveaway and coming up with the idea. Thank you to all who are hosting a givaway this year and those who are entering. Each year since Shealyn passed (this will be our 3d without her) We put up her own little tree. And each year we buy or make a new ornament for her. I also add the things I won in the first year of this giveway, stocking, angel wings etc. We also go to a Compassionate friends memorial candle lighting ceremony.
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited to take part in the giveways this year! This is our second Christmas without Drew and this year I made him a few ornaments to go along with the ones we bought and received last year. We also have a stocking for him.
ReplyDeleteTo remember Drew this year, we "adopted" a little boy his age and bought Christmas presents for him since his family couldn't afford them. It was a little hard to do, but also wonderful to be able to buy an 18 month old toys and clothes, since that's all I want to do for Drew.
What a beautiful piece...(((hugs))) to you and all babyloss momma's and daddy's.
ReplyDeleteEvery years, since she's been gone, I get an ornament for my daughter to place on our tree. I have it engraved with her name and the year. She may not be with me, but I can surround myself with pieces of her.
ReplyDeletedontlicktheferrets@gmail.com
Beautiful piece, just lovely.
ReplyDeleteWe buy a new ornament each year for Florence, we also decorate her grave with a little pink tree and ornaments. This year I've also bought some solar powered fairy lights that I will use in her garden.
We also donate the money we would spend on gifts to charity.
Honestly, the prospect of another Xmas without her is something I'm not really allowing myself to think of right now. x
Love it! You are so creative!
ReplyDeleteJust finished decorating Amelia's grave for the winter and got her a new (red) candle to light in her memory over the holidays. I hope to get some ideas from others comments here on your blog. Thanks so much for doing this!
this is so awesome! thank you for hosting this giveaway. i always decorate wyatt's grave for the season. but after reading some of the other comments i think he may need a blue tree for his ornaments this year. we wii always find some way to make him a part of our holiday.
ReplyDeleteLuckily (?), we're always traveling during the day of Alexander's passing (December 19).
ReplyDeleteGiven this, in November, my other kids took toys to the Children's Hospital. I worry about those that won't make it to Christmas. We hope to make this an annual event.
Thank you so much for coordinating this and to all the mothers who give and participate.
We buy an ornament, make a donation to the Stillbirth Foundation, write her names on the cards we send out and visit the cemetery, but it is never enough. Never enough.
ReplyDeletexo
My dear friend,
ReplyDeleteYou are an absolute inspiration to many...and I cannot thank you enough for sharing your girls with all of us along with creating beautiful pieces of art to help us remember those we miss and love. These giveaways are amazing!!
Last year was the first year I did anything to remember Kennedy, and I think my favorite was finding two little one year olds on the Giving Tree in my area who needed things for Christmas. I will continue that tradition each year as I think about what I would have given my sweet little girl that year. <3
Again, thank you, sweet friend. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with and hosting my own day on the 12th!!
this is so sweet. This year, we are going to buy a hand-written and autographed copy of the lyrics to the song One More Day by Rocket Club. Our sweet River's picture is in that video and I couldn't think of a better gift this year! Thank you for coordinating these giveaways. Honored to be part of it!
ReplyDeleteWe will do the usual placing of our lost daughter's Christmas ornament on the tree, and often we try and make it to the Carols by Candlelight they hold in the children's garden at the cemetery. Plus we will also be 'buying her a gift' that goes under the giving tree at our local shopping centre.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I'm new here via 'Tuesday's Hope', nice to *meet* you ... xx
Thank you for doing this. I know that the holidays are so hard on us, and just being able to read other BLM's comments and know that I'm not the only one that is out there is my saving grace. At our house, we have our kids pick out gifts that they would have liked to give to their brother. We wrap them up and send them off to our church. We have a little tree, that we decorate together. We also go to his grave and decorated it. This is the third year that I've participated in these giveaways, unfortunately, that means it's been three years since I lost my Patrick. But anyway, Thanks to you, I've met so many wonderful people, and that is the most wonderful gift. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is our first Christmas without Aidan. I have already put up a special tree just for him. It started as just something from me. My wonderful support group has quickly followed suit and I keep getting wonderful ornaments to add to his tree. I leave it constantly lit and you can see it when you pull in our driveway. We already have so many ornaments I will have to get him a bigger tree next year!
ReplyDeleteThank you for organizing this lovely give-away!
ReplyDeleteYour question is another reminder me to think about how we want to mark this 3rd Christmas without our daughter. The past 2 years we've bought an ornament in her memory, and I imagine I'll buy another one this year. I also have special candles that were given to me last Christmas in memory of Acacia, so I have them to light this season (and anytime, really). And this year will mark our first year remembering Acacia, and celebrating with our rainbow baby, Allison.
So sweet that you are hosting these beautiful giveaways! Your jewelry is amazing!
ReplyDeleteThis year I've done a lot of things to honor my little Aiden. One of my favorites is a handmade ornament I made for our Christmas tree. Also a huge thing for me this year is hanging up all our stockings- last year I couldn't bear to take them out of the packages.
Thanks again for this wonderful giveaway!
xoxo
OMG! I was just admiring that beautiful necklace on your fb page. Gorgeous! I'm so jealous of your talent. I can't believe it's been 3 years, either. Time has passed in a blink of an eye. I look forward to your giveaways and enjoy the cheer it spreads amoung our community. I finally invested in stockings with the girls' names on. I'm so excited to hang them. We have also decided to donate to a charity that gives art supplies to children in the hospital fighting cancer- in Ella's honor. Much love to you, Tina. Hope we see each other in 2012. xo
ReplyDeleteWow, what a gorgeous necklace. I love this giveaway idea you have come up with.
ReplyDeleteI lost my baby girl just 7 weeks ago. We plan on visiting her grave a lot since we will be home for the holidays and able to visit. I plan on decorating it for the first time as well. We have also made special ornaments with her picture on them to give to family. I made a keepsake photo book for my husband for Christmas of pictures of just him and her. We are also planning on gathering items to donate to the NICU and hopefully prepare and serve meals to families that have babies in the NICU. Thank you so much for hosting this!
How beautiful! I can't tell you how much I love that necklace! Thank you for such a lovely giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThis year was the first Christmas that I actually got to visit Laken's grave and decorate before hand. Last year was an awful snow storm and it broke my heart that I didn't get dress her spot in beautiful snowmen, angels, etc. As last year we will include Laken and hang her stocking, 1st Christmas ornament and this year her 2nd. I'm also blessed to have met such wonderful friends who have remember Laken with us and sent us items in memory of our sweet girl.