Remembering Jackson

     One of the hardest things about losing a baby is not being able to share many memories with your child.  Every moment of those few short days with Jackson was precious.  One thing I have come to realize is that you cannot have too many keepsakes!  We were lovingly given so many treasures to honor our special boy. It's nice having so many reminders of our baby.  Here are just a few things I will forever hold dear to my heart.

His little foot and hand prints from the hospital....

 The Bereavement Coordinator at the hospital made these precious hand and feet molds of Jackson for us.  Even though he was only 21 weeks gestation he definitely had Jason's hands and feet!  It was so adorable to see his little fingers and toes that looked so much like his Daddy's!  We keep these displayed in little glass domes in our living room.

                                                  Adorable little baby feet.

   Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep came and took beautiful pictures of our baby boy.  We were given a  slide show of all the precious images.  I watch it all the time.  Our photographer also let us choose this adorable outfit for Jackson to keep.  She had so many cute outfits that are hand-made and donated by volunteers that have also lost a baby.  I can't believe all the time, energy, and love that must have gone into this little gown.  It fit him perfectly.  We buried him in an adorable white tuxedo gown and decided to keep this precious little outfit.  Words cannot describe how much we treasure those sweet portraits of our baby boy!

She also gave Caden and Elise these adorable little diapers that were just the right size for their baby brother.  It's a beautiful way for them to remember him.  We buried Jackson in one of these cute little diapers.

These are two of the precious blankets that were lovingly wrapped around my little boy.  My mom had his name and birthday monogrammed onto them for us to have as keepsakes.  We love them!

  My Grandma Anderson, Jackson's Great Grandmother, painted this beautiful box for us to keep all of Jackson's special keepsakes in.  I LOVE it!  She is a very talented artist and I am so grateful that she was willing to make this for us.  There is a lot of symbolism in the artwork.  If you look closely, the clouds in the sky are angels.  Each one represents a family member of ours who has passed on and his with Jackson in Heaven.

Our sweet photographer also gave me this beautiful bracelet and charm set.  We buried Jackson with his little charm tucked in with him.  It's a nice way for me to feel connected to my baby.  I also have another bracelet with an angel charm that matches the angel charms I left in the casket with Jackson.  They represent the two miscarriages of our other sweet babies.

                                                     Here is his little charm.

   I wanted Elise and I to have some special jewelry to wear to the graveside service.  I got her this little heart necklace and a heart bracelet.  I wore a heart necklace too.  They are special keepsakes to remember that special day.

 I am just starting to get into making jewelry.  I found this pretty angel charm and I wanted to put it on a necklace so I can always have 'my angel' with me.

     My cousins gave me this beautiful ring with Jackson's birthstone in it.  His birthstone is a pearl.  I love wearing it!

     I wanted Jason and Caden to have something special to tie them to Jackson too.  I got the three of them matching tie pins with the Temple on them.  We clipped Jackson's onto his little outfit.  Caden loved matching his baby brother!

     This is the baby lamb we buried with Jackson.  I wanted him to have a stuffed animal to keep him company.  I got an extra one to keep as a keepsake.

     The hospital gave my kids these little stuffed hearts to remember their brother.  Caden loved his so much he slept with it every night!  I was very worried they would get lost because they were so small.  My mom let my kids pick out a special stuffed animal and then she sewed the hearts onto them along with a letter 'J' so they would always have a special reminder of their baby brother.

My sweet sister-in-law gave me this adorable mama and baby bear.  I keep it on my nightstand.

     The grand kids painted these little wooden hearts for the funeral.  We were excited to keep them as keepsakes!

     I love these special figurines we were given to honor Jackson.  I especially like this beautiful white angel one!

       I have always loved Willow Tree figurines too.

      My Grandma gave us this gorgeous rosebush to plant in our yard in Jackson's honor.  I have really enjoyed caring for it.  I go out and visit it sometimes when I am thinking of Jackson and it isn't a convenient time to go to the cemetery.  The name of the rosebush is 'Remember Me'.

     Jason's family gave us this beautiful house plant as well.  I love the little blue butterfly ornament that came with it.  I always think of Jackson when I see a butterfly, so this is very special to me.

  These are Jackson's ornaments that we get to put on our Christmas tree each year in his honor . . .

     I kept my pregnancy tests that I took when we found out we were expecting Jackson.  It's a bittersweet reminder that he was a real part of our family and we were so excited to have him.

My beautiful 'Jackson' bereavement doll from Angel In My Arms Dolls.  (My mom ordered one too!).  It is the same length and weight as Jackson was (10 inches and 12 ounces).  It is so wonderful having something to hold that is the same size as my little Jackson!  It really helps with my 'empty arms'.

Such treasures!