Thursday, April 30, 2015

Sawyers Art 2015

 
Josh and I are so excited to be collecting art supplies again this year to donate to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA)! We will begin collecting them tomorrow, May 1, until Tuesday, May 26. I will be taking them down to CHOA on May 27. As you know May 27 will mark two years since Sawyer's passing, but last year it was very healing to be able to take such a large donation and give to the hospital on a day that really holds so many sad feelings.

I created a flyer this year, that hopefully we can make go viral, and I will post that at the bottom of this blog post. Here is the link to our post from last year. We were so overwhelmed with the success and we are going in to this year fully expecting this year to be even BIGGER, but we need your help!

We are looking for *NEW* art supplies. Supplies must be new because they are being donated to the hospital and we want to make sure they are free of any possible germs. Here is a detailed list of things you can donate:

-Construction paper
-Printer Paper
-Colored Pencils
-Crayons
-Markers
-Pens
-Stickers
-Yarn
-Beads
-Glue
-Scissors
-Glitter
-Bubbles
-Playdoh
-Stencils
-Foam
-Paint
-Paint Brushes
-Pipe cleaners
-Ribbon
-Chalk

These items will be given directly to the Child Life Specialists and both children in the hospital and their siblings use the supplies as "Art Therapy". All of the supplies are well appreciated and last year they were so thankful!

Out of town but want to donate? You are more than welcome to visit our Amazon Wishlist! Here is our flyer - please share with anyone and everyone you think will be willing to help us make a wonderful donation in honor of Sawyer's 2nd Birthday!

 
 
Thank you in advance for your help/donations!
 
With love,
The Murphys

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

It never ends...

I've been slacking on updating the blog and using it for what I really intended - to get my feelings out and "on paper". But here lately I've really been needing to write, and quite honestly I have just been putting it off because I thought the 'feeling' would just go away, but it hasn't.

We are well in to the month of April, which means we are that much closer to May. The month of May holds such a negative connotation for me, and many others. The month of May holds the day of my firstborn's birth but also his death. The month of May is holds 18 days of reminders of the battle we fought for him, starting at his first second of life outside the womb. The month of May just makes me sad and want to crawl in a hole to hide until it is over. But the reality is that it is never "over". Sure - May goes by and the actual month ends yet the cycle of grief continues and never ends, constantly changing and constantly surprising me.

I have cried every day the last week on the way to work and have told no one, well, until now. As May quickly approaches it becomes tougher and my emotional state quickly becomes less and less easily managed.

^I started that a week ago and I am just now at a place to finish it. The week before the heart walk was rough and I was reminded that grief never ends. It constantly changes. And, I am less aware of my triggers. "Team Sawyer" raised a great amount of money to be donated to two great organizations that are working towards finding better ways to treat CHD's. Not only was this past weekend the heart walk, but it was also my birthday! I have always loved birthdays. In fact I have scolded my mom about never throwing me a surprise party and she says "you always plan something first" and it's true. As my birthday comes and goes it now also serves as a reminder that Sawyer's birthday is literally just around the corner and I have 13 days to get it together and make it through. I don't want to say the rest of my life will be in the shadow of his death - but the reminders that he isn't here are always around.

Grief is a process that I don't have figured out, and that is okay. I don't have to have it all together all the time - a piece of my heart is and always will be missing.

-Ashlyn

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Rhory Camille: Seven Months!

We are now on the downward slope towards one year! It's hard to believe our little princess is already 7 months old a - time moves much too quickly. Rhory is getting closer and closer to crawling (although right now it is backwards lol). She loves food and has gotten better and better at eating "real" food. I am so happy with our decision to do baby led weaning and skip purées. She also has some great skill with the spoon, feeding herself applesauce and yogurt!

Here are some pictures from her 7th month of life:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



 


It's been another great month!

Love,
Ashlyn