Fun themed birthday party

(Topic: Birthday party themes, reclaiming self)

Hi Friends!

Recently it was my birthday. This being a Saturday post, I don't want to delve too deeply into the life-after-loss side of things, but I will briefly mention that choosing themes for my party, based on MY interests, is something I've decided to do post-loss, as a way to help me recognize my own interests, beyond the thought of "I should be mothering a two-year-old right now". So I have fun parties, just to explore other sides of myself!!! My birthday happens during Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month (October) too, so I make an effort to separate my celebration from that theme.

I'm sharing these pictures mostly because I had so much fun putting together the theme!

I bought myself flowers to lighten up the place! My subconscious intervened, though, because I ended up with the infant loss colors...

Pookie wearing a birthday shirt to help celebrate!!!

I took myself out for my favorite treat for lunch (virgin strawberry daiquiri) because my birthday was on a weekday.

For my party, I chose an interest of mine - last year it was construction themed, this year I chose trains!

One of my ideas was to play a train game, too, but only if there was a chunk of time without toddlers..... there never ended up being that chunk of time!!!

Favors

New picture I bought when we visited Altoona (post on that will be coming in January...)

One of my sisters even themed her present!!! I also ended up getting another game that has trains as the theme :)

Each origami thing or other item represented an option for a day together doing something. We ended up biking a towpath trail and taking a train! Very fitting :)

Yours,

Sarah

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Resource list: Visit my spreadsheet at www.tinyurl.com/infantloss

Dover Trip - With Pookie

(Topic: Weighted Bears, adventures/travel)

Hi Friends!

Lately hubby and I have been travelling a lot (work, mostly) so while he's busy, Pookie and I explore! If you haven't met Pookie, he is a weighted bear representing our son Charlie (you can read more about our loss story by clicking on the tab at the top of the page for Who is Charlie?). Pookie, however, has developed his own character, and it's fun to have him go on pretend adventures with me while we explore. Honestly, it's less lonely, even if I do get some strange looks sometimes...

One of our recent trips was to Dover and New Philadelphia in Ohio, and I had a whole morning to explore. Not only were they quite lovely towns, we also stopped at a park that Pookie particularly enjoyed - because I read him a book while we walked! It was a pretty cool idea, actually, that I think other libraries could mimic in other communities.

Essentially, a book was deconstructed, and the pages were arranged on pedestals like this along a walking path (in this case, around a pond). It wasn't a long path, so it would be very easy for a toddler or small child to have the stamina to go all the way around, especially with the incentive of the story!

Pookie enjoying the sun :)

We saw this really neat dragonfly!

While tigers are our main symbol for Charlie, dragonflies catch our eye too, for two reasons. While hubby and I were still dating, he got me a gorgeous pair of earrings with blue dragonflies, but then the summer that we first visited Charlie in the cemetery, there were little blue dragonflies everywhere all the time. Haven't seen them since, interestingly. So now dragonflies are a bit of a secondary symbol, reminding us of Charlie.

This lovely tree tunnel caught my eye. I love geometry in photos....

I carry Pookie in a baby carrier - since he weighs as much as a baby, he can get pretty tough on the arms after a while! This makes it a lot easier. Downsides are that it gets hot where he's against my front, and that people's weird looks get stronger.... If they ask, I am upfront about explaining what Pookie represents, but not many people actually ask.

There are a couple videos below... it was a lovely day. Enjoy!

Yours,

Sarah

To subscribe, find the "subscribe by email" note in the left column and enter your email there. Posts will be emailed directly to you whenever I post them!

Resource list: Visit my spreadsheet at www.tinyurl.com/infantloss