Kayla-Christmas party

I just wanted to share a picture of all our girls in their hats. They were all really happy and looked so cute! 🙂

Kayla-Can good things come from a bad situation? AWANA lesson

I know I have posted Brayden’s story on here before, but on Wednesday at AWANA I am teaching the lesson. I am in the 5th and 6th grade girls group. I thought I would post my lesson here first and if I don’t like it, I can keep tweaking it. Wednesday is injury night. All the kids get to pretend like they are hurt lol. That is why I am teaching Wednesday. Marcia, the director would like me to tie injury night in with Brayden. Anyway….here it goes.

Who knows what tonight is?
Has anyone ever had stitches or broken a bone or been really sick and had to be in the hospital? Did you think it was the worst thing that could happen to you?

Last year was one of the hardest years of mine and my family’s lives. My sister called me to tell me that she was pregnant. I didn’t think that was a good thing. I didn’t think that she was ready for a baby. She wasn’t in church and she was living for herself. It was not a good situation for a baby. But not long after we found out, she moved in with our grandma and started coming back to church. We called her baby our miracle baby, because he brought her back to us and to God.

In October her doctor sent her to Indianapolis to get an ultrasound she wanted to get some measurements. There they told her that her baby had Anencephaly and was incompatible with life. -Does anyone know what incompatible with life means? – The doctor gave her the option carry to term to induce early. That means that she would have her baby really early and there would be no chance of him surviving. She said absolutely not. Brayden was alive and she wasn’t going to be the one to end his life. She was going to carry him as long as she could. -Can anyone tell me a verse in the Bible that says that Brayden was alive?-
Psalm 139:13-18

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.

This verse tells me that Brayden was known to God even before he was born. God knew about his condition and loved him.

He was a very active baby and we got to watch him kick and play while he was still in Kara’s tummy.

Could God have healed Brayden?  Yes, there are many examples in the Bible where Jesus healed the sick.  Can anyone think of any examples?

The paralyzed man lowered down on the mat – Matthew 9:2-8

The bleeding woman who touched Jesus’ robe – Luke 8:40-48

Jesus heals Jarius’s daughter – Mark 5:38-43

Jesus had the power back then to heal the paralyzed man, the bleeding woman and the child who had died plus many more.  God still has that power today.  We prayed for healing for Brayden, but God had other plans for him.

On February 6 of this year, my sister scheduled a c-section. We got to witness several miracles that day. God revealed himself to us that day. At the hospital they only allowed one person in the delivery room, but at the last minute, they let me go in. I was nervous because I hadn’t prepared myself for it, but when they laid him down in front of me, I had no problems. I was able to look past his deformity and see my beautiful nephew. I was the first one to tell my sister that he was breathing. My mom had broken her elbow a week or two before and she was the first one to hold him. She said that when they put Brayden in her arms she didn’t feel any pain. We had a photographer come and take pictures. She was a Christian and had a lot of similarities with my family. Brayden lived an hour and a half and passed away in his mommy’s arms just how she wanted it.

Who wants to read Romans 8:28?
-And we know that for those who love God all things work together for the good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Who would have thought anything good could come from the loss of baby? Since Brayden has passed away, I have met so many new people and I have been able to help other families like mine. I crochet hats for their babies. I had a friend donate some homemade hats for Brayden and now I am able to do the same thing for others. Of it weren’t for Brayden, I wouldn’t have found out that I have a talent for crocheting and I wouldn’t have been able to make the new friends I have, or been able to help them in the same way that we were helped.

After I finish, I will open it up for questions, in case any of the girls want to know anything else about Brayden.

I am really bad at concluding things, if anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate it! Thanks for reading his story again. 🙂

I will bring in some of the hats I have made for people, here are the ones I am thinking of bringing.

I will also bring a few pictures of Brayden. Here are the ones I will share with the girls.

There are a few more, but I can’t find them at the moment.

Pray that I am not too nervous and that I can speak clearly. Also that I say what needs to be said. Thank you!

Kayla-Big Project=DONE!!!

I finally finished the hats for my Awana girls. We only ended up having to do 20, so that was only 10 a piece for each of us. I finished my 10 (I still have one more for one of the teens) and I am so happy to have them done so early! I think thy look great.

Here is my newest one. Pretty boring in the front, but here is the back….

Caleb says it needs more tassels so that some of them hang in the front. What do you think?

and here they all are! Not to bad! 🙂

Kayla-VACATION!!!!

I am on vacation this week!!!! Actually it is a staycation. We don’t get to go anywhere. We are taking this week to get our house really clean. Today is my husband’s birthday and I feel bad that we are spending the whole day cleaning. I did make him breakfast and I will make him a yummy dinner.

I also want to use my time off to finish the hats for the AWANA girls. I am working on the last one for the girls. We have a couple of teens helping out and I want to make something for each one of the too.

. This is the latest hat. My husband doesn’t like the flower, he thinks it needs to be flatter, but I like it.

I will also be sending out packages to Virginia and Emilee this week. I can’t wait for them to get the stuff for their little girls!!

Kayla-More hats!

I have been trying to get more of the hats for Christmas done. I had to go buy yarn last weekend and spent about $80. I am hoping that gives me enough yarn to finish up! I have 8 finished hats I think, so only 22 left! I hope our girls like them.

One of our girls 2 favorite colors are orange and green. I thought this looked like a pumpkin, but when I added the flower it looked a little less like a pumpkin.

The flower on this was supposed to be a blue flower with a little purple, but when I put it together, you can barely see the blue! Oh well it doesn’t look too bad.

I want to keep this hat, it actually looked good on me, but one of our girl’s favorite color is red, so this one is hers.

. This hat is for little Kennedy. I was trying to make an adult sized hat, but I didn’t have enough yarn. I think it will look cute on her. 🙂

Kayla-Rough Week

I haven’t crocheted much this week. I have had a rough week and can’t seem to get motivated to crochet. One of my Anencephaly mommies had her baby, Caleb, this week and as much as I am happy for them, they got to meet him and he lived for an hour and 45 minutes, it still makes me sad. My friend Amber lost her nephew, Carter, this week too. He was a baby and had an infection. They couldn’t help him. There was no joy in that situation. It is weird, but we can find joy in the babies we know have Anencephaly and in the time we get to spend with them. But as far as I know Carter was born healthy and this was totally unexpected and so sad. I didn’t know either of these babies personally, but I know Amber, and I went to school with Carter’s dad and my heart breaks for them. I made hats and booties and a little jacket for Caleb and I got to know his mom a little bit. She was very sweet. I just feel so sad for them.

This is the set I made for baby Caleb.

This is the hat I made for Baby Carter. I didn’t even get to send it to him.

Onto a happier note, Brooke and I are going yarn shopping tomorrow and possibly to the Covered Bridge Festival tomorrow. That should be a lot of fun and we can start back up on the hats for our Awana girls. We only have 26 more to go… It shouldn’t take too long. At least I hope it doesn’t! Why can’t these girls like baby colors? I have tons of baby colored yarn! Oh we’ll, it will be fun. 🙂

Kayla-Hats, Hats and more Hats

I have been working the last few days on the hats for the AWANA girls. We have decided to make 30 hats so we know that we have enough for all of the girls. Brooke and I have broken it up do we each only have to make 15. I have made 4 and a half so far. I have really enjoyed it. I have been able to use new patterns which I am getting slowly better at reading. 🙂 I still like to make stuff up on my own too. A lot of the flowers and bows I make are my own pattern or a version of a pattern I have seen on YouTube or something. I like doing my own thing.

The bow on this hat was made up by me I think it turned out ok. 🙂

Our Big Project

Brooke and I are going to make hats for all of our 5th and 6th grade girls at church. We work in a program called Awana on Wednesday nights. We had 16 girls last Wednesday and that was just the 2nd week! I expect to need to make at least 20 hats maybe more! It is just the two of us right now, so hopefully we can get it done!!

The beginning of the first hat I am making. At least it is a start!

We will post more pics as we go.

This hat started out really well, but didn’t turn out so well. I couldn’t get it to fit my head no matter what I did.