Scrapbooking the hard things...

It's fun to flip through our albums and see all the wonderful things that we celebrate; birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, losing teeth, new babies...

But, sometimes we need to get real. It's hard to write about things that are not so happy, but I think that it's necessary for future generations who look through our work to know that not everything was rosy all the time and that that is OK!

So, I'm sharing a couple of layouts that I have done that are of difficult times. The first one is a letter to our daughter about an argument that her daddy and I had and how I was sorry for how I acted. The second is about the day I found out that our daughter had cerebral palsy.

Here's the journaling for the 1st one:

Your daddy and I got into a fight today. No, not on the day that I took this photo, the fight took place almost a year later. This photo of you, taken on a day so long ago, seems to capture your innocence and your character that you showed today. The argument that Daddy and I got in today was one that no child should have to witness. We said mean and hurtful things to each other. We called each other names. Mommy even threw something. All of this in front of you and Joshua’s watchful, trusting eyes. At one point, you ran up to your room. Later, when things were calmer, you came back out. You went to Daddy and told him that you were scared and had gone to your room to pray. You told Daddy that you asked Jesus and God to help you get Mommy and Daddy to stop fighting. Thank you Jordan, for your strength and your faith. I’m sorry about the fight and especially about letting you and your brother watch. I am so thankful though, that God sent you to us, you are an angel from Heaven, a most precious child.

Journaling for the second one:

Of course Daddy and I knew that there was something wrong., You were a little big late walking, you had an odd crawl, you kind of tip toed, and your right leg muscle was not developing like your left. We were referred to a physiatrist in Indiana who diagnosed you with a tight right heel cord. We could handle that. You started physical therapy, had botox, serial casting, and wore an ankle foot orthotic. Really, we could handle it.When we moved to Iowa, we went to a new physiatrist who recommended a different kind of therapy. We waited to hear from our insurance and that was when we found out. I opened the letter and scanned it. No one had told us. No one had said those words to us before. Here it is, in black, viciously circled, denied, not medically necessary. It hurt. Plain and simple, it hurt. I called the doctor, called the insurance; told them it was wrong, just wrong to not tell me the diagnosis, to let me find out like this. It didn’t take long though, not long at all, for me to look at you are realize. It doesn’t matter what the doctors say, what the insurance says, what anyone says, you are still our sweet little Jordy Girl!