a special place for the girls...

For me, there's not a day that goes by that I do not think about the girls... about how they felt in my stomach, they way they looked when they were born, the struggle they went thru during their days in the NICU, and the day we spent holding them after they had passed... these memories live on in my heart and reply in my mind over and over... I love my memories... they allow me to go back and re-live those moments... and although the future has changed... these memories will remain the same...

Other than our memories, we created a special place for the girls where Shane, Jazlynn, Jayden, and I can go to when we want to see Arianna & Brianna... After the twins services, on Monday, February 27, we brought home the urns and set up this special area... actually, Shane set everything up while I was up in my room looking at pictures... he spent maybe an hour on it, putting in the glass shelves, wiping everything down, then gently placing each item in the perfect place... when he called me down stairs to take a look, I was speechless... of course, I had to rearrange a few things to make it look "better" (because wives just do that)... it was beautiful...

We put all of Arianna & Brianna's keepsake items that the hospital gave us, including their blankets, hand and foot prints, some of the clothing items that they wore in the hospital, some hospital items that were used on the girls like their eye covers, tape, etc. and large butterfly pillows that were hung on their cribs after they had passed (there was even one on my hospital room door that acknowledges that there has been a passing - but I didn't take that one home)...  my brother and his girlfriend Tashia also gave the girls heart-shaped necklaces with little pink crystals in the center that are to represent their memories are always in their hearts... Shane's sister made Arianna & Brianna their own burp cloths with their names and little angles embroidered on them...

Arianna & Brianna also have their own Minnie Mouse ears with their names embroidered on the back... a gift from their older sisters from Disneyland...

Every week or so, we place a new fresh flower arrangement on a little table that sits next to them... Shane said we're going to get a second table and so that we can always have 2 sets of flowers... one for each of our precious angels...

Everything together is wonderful... it's a beautiful place that we can honor our girls... it's where we often pray as a family... it's where Jazlynn and Jayden come down to talk to their sisters and tell them good morning or good night... it's where I stand, for what seems like hours, and wish I were holding them in my arms or listening to them cry... it truly is a special place for the girls...