I am a wife to my wonderful husband Brian and mom to Owen, my sweet baby boy who is now in heaven. I'm a speech-language pathologist, pinterest-lover and a DIY-er. I love to decorate and turn ordinary things into something special. I love to plan parties and showers, while paying attention to every last little detail. I love trying new recipes and baking gluten free treats with healthy ingredients. Over the years, I have fallen in love with running. I ran my first marathon in January 2013 and didn't hate it! I also have an etsy shop where I make and sell custom onesies. It so much fun and keeps me quite busy.
On February 23, 2014 we welcomed our beautiful baby boy, Owen, into this world, and our lives were forever changed. The day after he was born, we found out he had an extremely rare congenital heart defect known as Shone's Complex. After six weeks in the CICU at Egleston, cath procedures, and two heart surgeries, he went to heaven on April 7, 2014. He touched more lives in his forty-three days of life than most do in a lifetime. We love him with all our hearts and miss him immensely.
I started this blog after I got married to keep up with what we were doing and to share pictures from our lives with friends and family. No big deal. Just a friendly little blog with happy pictures. Nothing too deep or personal. That has now changed. Through my grieving process after losing Owen, I have found great comfort in other "baby loss mamas" through their openness and honesty on their blogs. I want to be that for someone else who is going through something no parent should ever have to face. Losing a child. I find that writing and sharing my thoughts is healing.
Some of my posts may seem heart wrenching and sad, but that's just because I think it's important to be real. The most important thing is that I have hope. I have hope in the Lord, and because of Him and his sacrifice, I will be reunited with my sweet baby again in heaven. I am forced to live with an ache in my heart because I miss him so much, but I am thankful that his body is healed and that he is with our Heavenly Father. Owen has taught me to treasure every little moment in life and to not take anything for granted. I wanted him to live so badly and to be able to tell his amazing story, but God had other plans. I may never understand why God took Owen away from us, but I feel honored that He chose me to be Owen's mom. I feel privileged to be able to share his story. Thank you for following our journey through life.
Hi Allison, I just read your post. The two things that stand out to me the most are the words, "hope" and "trust". You can have hope in the Lord that you will see Owen again one day. What a wonderful hope the Lord has given us all that believe in Him! You can also trust the Lord's heart. His ways are not our ways and there are so many things during this life time that we don't understand. But God will remain the same. Yes, you will see Owen again and what wonderful parents Owen has in you and Brian! Your story can serve to help other parents that are going through similar struggles. What a wonderful way to reach out to others! My prayer for you is that God will be with you and you will feel His presence and strength each day!
ReplyDeleteHi Allison, I stumbled on your page, as I'm trying to plan a wedding shower and I saw your post from pinterest on flowers from coffee filters. Well, as I randomly scrolling through your page, I saw a post about Owen's passing and I thought to myself.....I bet he was a heart kid. Sure enough, I read his story and realized he was. I'm a fellow heart mom. My daughter is now three and has had two open heart surgeries. I cried the whole time I read each part of his story. Heart moms are some of the bravest women I know! I'm sorry for your loss. He looked like a sweet little boy with such strong parents. I must also add that while reading your stories, I felt like you were very articulate and reminded me of a certain group of woman I know, speech pathologists. Sure enough, I stumbled on your about me section and there it was. From a fellow heart mom and SLP, I just wanted to say hello and thank you for sharing your family's journey.
ReplyDeleteWow, Casey, it's crazy how much in common we have! It's true though how you can tell heart kids from pictures without even knowing once you've had one of your own. I hope your daughter is doing well! I'm sure she is so strong, just like all heart kids are. I know you must be so proud of her. Thanks for reading our story and reaching out. It's such a small world!
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