In the Moment

I took some time off from the blog. Not really on purpose, I just ran out of time and decided that for the whole week of Christmas, what I really needed to do was focus on my family. I wanted to be in the moment.

I avoided Facebook, Twitter, texts, phone calls, and internet (for the most part.) I played in the snow with my kids, drank wine with my sister in laws, READ some books! (WHAT?) I thoroughly enjoyed “Maxed Out” by Katrina Alcorn, “A Lady in France” by my friend Jennie Goutet (an incredible memoir!), 11/22/63 by Stephen King, and I am now deep into “The Forgotten Garden” by Kate Morton.

And I just was.

It was super.In the moment.

We celebrated my birthday, Tiny’s 2nd Birthday, my niece’s birthday, Jelly Bean’s 4th birthday, my sister’s birthday, and today is my sister-in-law’s birthday.

We played in the snow in Upstate NY. A welcome treat for a southern family.

And now, as the year ends, I hope I’ll find the time to write one of those posts about all of the wonderful things that happened this year (because a lot of really wonderful things happened this year) but to be honest, I kind of enjoy the freedom of not being tied to getting a post published.

So maybe, just maybe, I’ll wait til next year. Continue enjoying being in the moment.

Or maybe, I’ll find the time to put it together.

But in case I don’t, I do want to tell you about a few things of late. (The books are amazon affiliate links, fyi!)

• One – Sunshine After the Storm, Inc is now a non-profit. Assuming there are no issues with the filing of the paperwork. Now I begin the journey of establishing it as a 501(c)3. I have started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money so that we can donate copies of the book to hospitals and bereavement support organizations. We have raised about 9% of the requested funds. It is a long work in progress, but I know for a fact from the many comments and reviews we have had that this book is making an impact and helping those who have experienced the loss of a child to grieve.

• Two – I am OFFICIALLY a free-lance writer! I got my first paycheck this week! Woohoo! I have been writing articles for Regional Parenting Magazines, under the tutelage of the amazing Christina Katz and my hard work is finally paying off! You can see one of my articles “Seven Things to Ditch to Succeed in a Fitness Magazine” on Neapolitan Family.

• Three – I self published Sunshine After the Storm: A Survival Guide for the Grieving Mother which included contributions form over 30 mothers and fathers grieving the loss of a pregnancy, infant, or child. In our five day free Kindle giveaway, over 1700 copies were downloaded! I made a trip to the local hospitals and donated twelve copies of the book to the Maternity Ward Bereavement program. More donations will be forthcoming. We began a website: Sunshine After the Storm, where we hope to continue providing hope and encouragement for grieving parents.

• Four – I contributed to three other amazing anthologies this year. The Motherhood of All Meltdowns is a fun and thoughtful look into the challenges that mothers face every day while raising children. It’s a look inside the real lives – messy stories about the worst moments in these thirty mothers lives. You will laugh, you will cry, you will realize that you are not a bad mother if you can’t keep it together. We also have a website community at the Mother of All Meltdowns. And the kindle edition is currently on sale for 0.99!

• I also contributed to the HerStories Project: a beautiful anthology of stories of friendship between women. Including some stories grieving the loss of a friendship.

• And finally, I contributed to the beautiful project by Becky McCleary at Raising Loveliness. She compiled beautiful stories of gratitude in her free Ebook on Gratitude.

It was a busy year. I don’t envision life slowing down any time soon, but I do hope to remember what it feels like to be in the moment with my family, and to try to remember to visit this place as often as I can.

xoxo,

Alexa

• Author
• Recent Posts

katbiggie

Freelance writer at Kat Biggie Press

Alexa B, who blogs as "Kat Biggie" is a wife, mother, and writer. She has three children and one in heaven. She recently self published a book entitled "Sunshine After the Storm: A Survival Guide for the Grieving Mother" which is available on Amazon. She blogs about life after the loss of one of her twin daughters to TTTS, motherhood, all things parenting, advocacy, grief support and social good.

Latest posts by katbiggie (see all)

• What to say when a baby dies ; words of comfort - October 31, 2019
• Try listening to her, not fixing her – October 15th - October 15, 2019
• Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Book Bundle - October 3, 2019

katbiggie on Google+