Our Family

Our Family
Fall 2015 - These are my people

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Scrapbooking Sweet Solveig

Scrapbooking is one of my favorite things to do when I have time.  How I wish there was more time to work on scrapbooking!  It's one of those things that I have to create time for in order for it to happen.  So, I'm excited to say that I have a scrapbooking date in the near future with a few friends, including my CM consultant, Pam.  On that date, the plan is that I will come prepared with my Solveig pictures in hand, and I will leave with her scrapbook created in four hours.  I'll be doing a "power layout" plan and it will hopefully help things to go quickly and smoothly.  I'm going to use this book and these papers, in case you're interested.

A few nights ago, I realized in preparation for my scrapbooking date that I needed to get my photos in order and ready to go.  There were none printed, other than my ultrasound pictures, so I set to work going through all the photos which we and the nurses took of our daughter, and the ones that sweet Jen took.  As I looked through the mass of photos which I'm so grateful that we have, I found myself getting really weepy all over again, feeling like it was just yesterday that we had Solveig.  And it was okay.  It was good to see her and to remember her.  It was just hard to pick and choose the photos for ordering as there were many that looked similar.  So I ordered a whole bunch of them, knowing that it would almost be easier to sort through them in hand rather than on the computer.

Last night, I got together with my sweet friend Keri from high school.  She accompanied me on my journey to the photo store to retrieve my photos.  I not only printed ones for the scrapbooking project, but also some for family and for our home.  Keri and I sat at a coffee shop and she graciously looked through all the photos with me.  Only good friends do that kind of thing.  It had to be hard for her to see the pictures.  For me, I'm so used to looking at them that it doesn't really phase me anymore.  But for someone else, I could see how it would be more difficult perhaps to look at the pictures.  Keri said she was glad to look at them with me, and I'm so glad that she did.  Thank you sweet Keri.  You're a keeper.  And I'm glad that I've known you for so long.  Thank you for bravely and gently walking this road with me.

I have a question for those of you who have lost your babies...

Did you display photos of your deceased child in your home for all to see?  Just in your bedroom?  In a back hallway?  Only in a photo album or also in a photo album?  Hidden on a shelf or proudly on your coffee table?

We're trying to figure out how and where we will place our special photos.  They're such amazing treasures...especially the ones from Jen.  And I am not afraid to have a few of them out for others to see.     I realize this may not be socially acceptable in some circles, but I'm okay with it.  Erik and I have yet to figure out what will work for us together in our home.  This isn't something two people get to discuss every day - new territory for us in this grief journey.

I'll be curious to see what you have to say about this.  Thanks for your input.

And I'd love your prayers as I get ready to create my baby's photo album.  I'm sure it may be emotionally difficult.  Yet, I feel very ready to do it now.  Like I said, I'm really used to seeing the photos so it doesn't upset me in the same way as it used to.  More than anything, it just makes me glad to see our family together with our precious daughter whom we will always cherish and love.



This is one of my favorite candids that we took of our kids together.  They were incredibly sweet and gentle with their little sister...

Today I'm linking with Tesha...

6 comments:

The Howell family said...

I have a photo book that I made with all of Claire's pictures. I treasure it and take it with me the few times we have traveled since. I have placed two pictures of her on our "picture table". One is of my husband and I kissing her and the other is of her hand around my finger and her face in the background. We didn't get the chance for professional pictures. They are just some my sil took. They are the ones I feel least self conscious about where she doesn't look so dead. I need to have her "displayed" with my other children and to be able to look at her daily. This is a personal preference though. I only let certain people look at the photo book b/c it has pictures of her right after she was born without her bonnet and gown so they are pretty personal. I used poems and scripture in the photo book. If you want to know which I used e-mail me mandkhowell@yahoo.com Hope this helps. You will treasure your book!

Kim said...

I love the family photo you have displayed at the top of your blog. I think this would be a precious photo to have displayed in your home. At this point I have photos of Seth displayed in the hallway. But there is a picture that I don't have printed yet that I want to display in my family room. I will display it there once I have it printed.

I certainly have an assortment of photos. Some of them you can certainly see Seth is not alive. But there are some that he just looks like he is sleeping. This is the sweetness of my baby boy that I want the world to see when they enter my home.

I will be looking to see your post after you have finished the scrapbook. This is something I want to do as well. Actually, I was given as gift a completed scrapbook for Seth by our youth girls at church. It is beautiful. All I need to do is add the photos and memories and it will be complete.

Unknown said...

I still keep my scrapbook with me. I made it when I was in high school..


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Anonymous said...

My husband and I talked at length about this. We lost a baby due to miscarriage at around 10 weeks. We also had another very early miscarriage. We made a collage on the 6 month anniversary of her birth that includes the ultrasound,her name, a poem, a prayer, and a couple of photos I took (the day I found out I was pregnant and the day after we found out we lost her). It is in our dining room where anyone who comes over can see it (open floor plan). We plan to do the same for our second baby even though we don't have an ultrasound. We took a picture of our first baby, but she is so small and you can only see the arm and leg buds (not fully developed arms and legs). If she were more developed, I would have included the photo as well. I just didn't want to deal with questions like "what is this." Those babies are our family and I don't want to hide that they existed because others are uncomfortable. It is a personal decision, but that is how we made ours. I have a friend who lost a baby due to stillbirth at 8 months. She has a photo of her baby in the living area as well. I wanted those pictures where I could see them and that is the main reason, but I also want to work toward taking the stigma away from talking about the babies we lost. Your photos are beautiful.

trennia said...

Such a beautiful photo pf your children.

Anonymous said...

I want to encourage you to do whatever you feel comfortable. My best friend who lost her baby keeps pictures of Parker in her living room. I love pictures and feel so stongly that you should not feel like you can't keep them wherever you want in your house. I would love to see more of them sometime. Praying for you and still thinking of you and Solveig.
Erica