Crazy Time of Year

Life has been kind of crazy with a number of things over the last week; finishing Christmas cards for work, getting fundraiser calendars ready for our cat sanctuary, helping Sara's Uncle move in next door....  very little time to think or relax. In the midst of all this craziness, Olivia is never far from our minds. There just hasn't been any time to decompress or process this time of year w/o our Little Peanut, I'm just waiting for the overflow of emotions to come.

In lieu of a full post, here some pictures of our memorials we've set up for Olivia.

On top of our entertainment center:

The picture of Olivia was taken less than two days before she died. Sara and her mother had taken Olivia for a stroll at the local nature preserve. Olivia had just started to enjoy her diverse surroundings. The look Olivia displays in the picture was very classic for her. She wouldn't just look at you, she would look into you. There always seemed to be a wisdom in that gaze, maybe she always knew more than us what was coming....

Sara and I picked up the clay sculpture in a small art gallery in Arizona as described in this previous post. I spotted the sculpture in the gallery window and knew it had been placed there for us. The simplicity of the sculpture belies its true beauty.

The shared form between mother and child.
The loving gaze shared between mother and child.
The warmth of the embrace.

On the other side of the sculpture is Olivia's Hospital Photo. It is such a bittersweet photo.  It represents a future of dreams, expectations, and hopes, all parents have for their children. It recalls a hopeful innocence, before everything we ever held true came crashing down.

Our other memorial revolves around Olivia's Ashes, accompanied by numerous angels and guarded by a Welsh Dragon.

Not that we could ever forget out precious Little Love, but these memorials help keep her close to our heart daily.

We miss you Peanut!