Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Happy 2nd Birthday, Elise!

Happy Birthday, Elise!

Today we should be holding you, singing Happy Birthday, and helping you blow out two little candles.  Instead, we'll be eating cupcakes in the cemetery after the kids get out of school.  Another year has passed without you in my arms.  Time is pulling us further apart, but my heart is just as close to you as ever.

I am so happy that you survived labor and birth.  I am so thankful that you are part of our lives.  We got 4 days with you!!!  Beautiful, love-filled days. 

Most days, I still have moments where I can't breathe because I miss you so much.  You are so loved and so missed.  The pain is still just as raw, but it has become a part of my daily life, instead of defining it.

I love you Elise! 

I loved these tiny little overlapping finger!  Overlapping fingers is a marker for Trisomy 18, but it just made me love her even more.

Elise's beautiful face, free from tubes.

You ARE loved!

Perfect in every way.

The year Elise died, I started a garden for her.  I searched through many plant nurseries for a flower that would bloom around her birthday.  I found two and planted them.  One came back last year, but didn't bloom.  This year it did bloom!  And it's blooming on her birthday. 





 Thank you for remembering Elise with me on her birthday, and always.