latest work

All pieces (except for the fairy) are available for purchase on June 1 from Bela Dubby in Lakewood, OH. Come to my show June 12 from 5-8 and see in person! Also can be purchased on my etsy site. See etsy link on the right side of this page!

A Different Child

A friend of mine sent this poem to me today. She also lost her baby to a CHD and knows the pain well (we love you Hailey & Kaia!). I told her that very often I find myself crying...more often now than a few months ago. As I feel this baby kick, I remember her. I miss her. The feelings flood back. The horror, the joy, the sadness...they come in great detail. They mix with the great joy of what's to come in this next child. And we know that this baby will know his/her big sister and love who she was and is in our lives.

"A Different Child"
by Pandora MacMillian

People notice
There's a special glow around you.... See More
You grow
Surrounded by love,
Never doubting you are wanted;
Only look at the pride and joy
In your mother and father's eyes.
And if sometimes
Between the smiles
There's a trace of tears,
One day
You'll understand.
You'll understand
There was once another child
A different child
Who was in their hopes and dreams.
That child will never outgrow the baby clothes
That child will never keep them up at night
In fact, that child will never be any trouble at all.
Except sometimes, in a silent moment,
When mother and father miss so much
That different child.
May hope and love wrap you warmly
And may you learn the lesson forever
How infinitely precious
How infinitely fragile
Is this life on earth.
One day, as a young man or woman
You may see another mother's tears
Another father's silent grief
Then you, and you alone
Will understand
And offer the greatest comfort.
When all hope seems lost,
You will tell them
With great compassion,
"I know how you feel.
I'm only here
Because my mother tried again."

the world wide web

It's official. Little Lion Designs now has a space on the great big world wide web! Please come check it out! My complete portfolio of fabric work is on there. It's a very simple website that I created last night in a few hours on our mac. I love free software! Someday I'll get some real web design software and create a spectacular site. But for now, this will do the trick. You can subscribe to the photos section too, so it will update you on when there are new pieces up.

Here's the link. www.littleliondesigns.com

Yay!

Today

Today, in the knowledge of such tragedy, loss & fights for life.... I am reminded to be grateful for my health, for my husband and love life, for my family, for the life inside of me and for our glowing happiness that eminates from living simply and simply living.

Ultrasound awesomeness

Look at how cool our baby is. He/she may be small, but it's already giving us the peace sign during it's fetal Echo. It's saying, "I'm cool guys, really. No worries. Can you shut off the lights?". This child fits in already. Peace and love baby! And what is that in front of the leg? Is that the other leg or the chord or something else? Any u/s experts out there?

Newbies!

this one here is "Lily":

Click image to make bigger.

This one is "Moonlight & Copperfoot".

Click to make image larger.

Both will be available for purchase at my June show at Bela Dubby! (June 12, 5-8 pm in Lakewood).

Latest lions

See facebook page for details.

baby update

Hey all! We had our 21 week ultrasound yesterday. Everything initially looks good, but our baby is on the small side. They want to do a fetal echo on tuesday to rule out any heart defects being the cause of his/her small size. It could be that we are just making a small baby. It could be the stress I was under. It could be the baby's heart. It could be another defect. Or it could be an inuterine growth restriction. We are hoping and believing that it's just a small baby. After the fetal echo, we will have another u/s (in 4 weeks) to remeasure him/her to make sure the growth is on track. Please keep baby Urban in your prayers as we go through this testing. We want him/her to be big and strong and healthy. Here's some new pics :)

Look at that face! Great straight on pic! And cutie profile too!

Agave is the new HFCS? Oh no....

So, there's some new studies out now about the dangers of Agavé nectar. Agavé has been very popular over the last several years because of its low glycemic index. It was believed to be a slowly metabolized "sugar" that didn't spike your blood sugar levels and was thought to be the best and safest sweetener around for our bodies. It was even considered safe for diabetics. This all-natural sweetener has been a sugar substitute in countless all-natural snacks and has been sold on shelves as a fad-liciously delicious sugar substitute. It is very popular in vegan bars and snacks (because they can't use honey for vegan food), and has extended into almost all raw food bars and snacks, as well.

So, what's the problem? Well, new studies have shown that, while it may have a low glycemic index, it has the highest fructose levels of any type of sweetener on the market. In fact, we all know the dangers of high fructose corn syrup, right? Well this sweetener has a fructose level that is 15-45% higher than HFCS. If these studies are correct, this means that Agavé is by far the worst kind of sweetener you could put in your body (although, I still think artificial sweeteners are way worse for reasons medical science hasn't even begun to study yet.)

You can read one of the articles about these latest findings here. (click)

It's back to 100% pure grade A maple syrup as my sweetener of choice for now...until the baby comes and I can have my raw honey again. Yummy!