Saturday 7 July 2012

The Bitter and The Sweet

If things had gone differently in December 2011, I'd be announcing a little one's arrival this month.  But, that wasn't to be. The miscarriage was sad  and disappointing but not life-altering like Adam's loss was, so, as a couple, we picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off, and decided to try again.

For years, I heard women say that a woman 'knows' when the family is complete.  I had fully expected to have that feeling of 'done' when Clara was born.  But, I didn't.  And, that worried my - What if the family never felt complete because Adam would always be missing?  But, for those few weeks last Fall, I felt it.  One more baby would complete the family.  One more baby and I could part with my maternity clothes and with the baby gear as the little one outgrew it.  That was the positive I could pull from the experience - I could have that elusive 'complete' feeling after all.

Now, here we are.  The last little DeChamp is due in January 2013 (but a late December arrival is more likely).  So far, all is going well, but the anxiety and worry that is part of the territory in a rainbow pregnancy is there, too.  While we are both hoping and praying to bring this last little one home, we both also agree that, no matter what happens, this is our last pregnancy.  So, we're trying to push the memories and anxieties off to the side so we can enjoy this last time as much as we can.

One last baby.

"We have suffered, but we have survived;  we are hurting, but we are enduring."
- Ben Van Vechten

Wednesday 4 July 2012

Guest Post - ArianaJaquysh

Here's a post from another great humanitarian Etsy shop, ArianaJaquysh, which helps support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by selling knit market bags and photo cards.  Here is how it began, and how you can help, in Ariana's words:

"Hello all - My name is Ariana.  I'm a wife, mama, knitter, and sporadic runner... and, on occasion, I like to combine knitting and running.

I had a fairly normal childhood... well, if a normal childhood includes living in a teepee on 100 acres.  My sister and I ran around like wild-beast children on my grandparents' property - climbing trees, exploring the castle (yep... a castle but it was filled with black widow spiders), and taking baths in the claw-foot tub in the garden.

Knit Market Bags
The flip-side of my hippie childhood was visiting my other grandparents - where we wore velvet dresses with ruffled socks and were taught to be "little ladies."  One of the things my grandmother attempted to teach us (mostly me because I showed more interest) was how to sew, knit, and crochet.  The sewing didn't stick and to this day I can barely stitch a straight line.  The knitting and crocheting stuck a bit more but even those I eventually forgot/stopped.

Then many (many) years ago I was visiting with a friend who knit but wanted to learn how to crochet so we swapped lessons and I've been knitting ever since.

How does this connect with Team In Training and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, you ask?  Well, first you need another little piece of back-story...

Inn 2009 I became very sick... tests and more tests but no good solutions or answers.  Luckily it turned out to be nothing major but I did have to have surgery.  In the middle of all this, my sister call and says "Hey, you wanna run a half-marathon with me?"

Um... let's see... I've been sick for over a month, barely eating, and losing weight too fast to be healthy and you're asking if I want to run 13.1 miles?!

"It's with Team In Training to raise month for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society."


Photo Cards
Oh... okay


And less than 2 weeks after my surgery we went to Kick-Off and started training.


When you join Team In Training you commit to raising money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society while getting phenomenal coaching and mentoring as you train for an endurance event.  Since I was a knitter and had, a couple of years previous, perfected my Market Bag pattern I thought "I'll sell my market bags and donate a portion to LLS as a fundraiser!"


And in my 4th (eeek!) consecutive year of joining TNT to run the Nike Women's Marathon, I continue to donate 80% of the purchase price of every market bag to LLS to help find a cure for blood cancers.  This year I've also added a few of my original photo cards - 100% of their purchase price will be donated to LLS.


This year, Nike will be on Sunday, October 14, 2012 and more than 20,000 women (and quite a few men) will take over the streets of San Francisco to help fight cancer.  Since the Nike Women's Marathon began in 2004, runners have raised more than $118 million dollars for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.


Here are a few ways you, dear blog readers, can help...
*Buy one of my market bags or photo cards through my Etsy shop:  ArianaJaquysh


*Buy a raffle "ticket" for one of my market bags - you about the raffle, right?  You don't?  Well, for every $5 donated through my fundraising page you'll get 1 raffle entry for my newest (not-yet-listed) market bag, Creamsicle!  You can see a picture of it on my Facebook page but you better hurry - the raffle ends July 31st!  Market Bag Raffle

*Or, if you'd like, you can simply make a donation - any amount, every amount, will help patients receive the care they need and help fund cancer research.  http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/nikesf12/acohen20ll

Whew!  I know... a lot of info!  But if you have any questions - about TNT, LLS, or just general questions for me - I'm more than happy to answer :)

xo
Ari"