A place for Caden

One challenge the Captain and I faced after Caden died was finding a place for "her" in our home.  By that, I mean, all of her stuff, the tangible things we had that held precious memories.

What do you do with things you want to keep... but you do not displayed in some shrine/alter-like fashion?

We kept all of her pictures up... until Rigg came along and then we had to find a healthy balance. We packed away all of the baby stuff we would use for other kids. All of the girl clothes went into a plastic tub in case we have another girl someday...but what do you do with all of the things that are special to her... the "Caden stuff" no other baby will have?

What I came up with was a memory chest. We put all the things that were just hers in the chest. Caden's chest.  Some clothes... her coming home outfit, her Easter outfit, her paci's... those wonderful/horrible hand molds, and gifts and photos we wanted to keep but had no other place for.

I saved all of the clothes that I remembered her in... and could probably never put another child in and not burst into tears...and I had a quilt made. It turned out wonderfully. The edge of the quilt is the bumper from her crib and the center is all of her clothes. The back is my favorite blanket she would always use.

My friend Stacey made me a scrap book. It is a treasure. It is gorgeous and makes me cry every time I open it up.

We also saved and framed one of the photo boards from her memorial service. It is just beautiful and holds some of our favorite pictures of her. This we hung in the office. It seemed like a good place... somewhere where we can still see and enjoy it, but not in such a place of prominence that it was jarring.

Well, now we are getting ready to turn the office into Rigg's big boy room and I struggled with what to do with her frame. Like I mentioned before, I do not want to make a shrine to Caden in our home. I want her to represented as a part of our family.. not a more important part then anyone else...

So ...

My friend Mindy and I made another for Rigg... and I plan on hanging them both in the hallway. I will make on for Ryder too, after his first year of life, and for any subsequent children that happen to come along.

Now we all have a place... don't you just love it when everything works out.... and in such a stylish manner too!