Pages

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Egg Shells & Playgrounds

my house is filled with egg shells
they cover the carpets like jagged white snow..
we walk on them every time
you open the door, laptop in hand,
scowl on your face, telling me
"I don't even want to come home anymore."
i just keep trying and trying but
nothing is good enough.
all my good intentions are lost
when everything i touch fucks up
so i'm just gonna hide here
under my blankets in this cozy bed
and pretend it doesn't bother me
that everything i do turns to shit -
really, what is it -
something's got to give.
my feet are scratched up and
my hands are bloody too
from trying too hard to hide the tears
that i'm not ready to work through.
i've done the best i can
and i'm still losing this fight,
the battle i'm waging aginst myself
over what is wrong and what is right.
all i know is who i am
and who i'm still learning to be
and it's no one else's decision to judge
my place in society -
you can take your pasted smile
and the person you pretend to be
back to the sand box with your
elementary school buddies
and play Xbox until you drop-
i'll be over here doing my thing,
'cause you can't make me stop.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

For the Greater Good

My good friend Brea is the craftiest, most creative person in my life right now, and she is making jewelry for The Greater Good.
Here are some sneak peeks at her work:


















Check out the etsy shop here. It benefits some great kids!

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Not For the Faint of Heart

Warning: This blog is about miscarriage and may contain graphic sentences you don't want to envision. If that bothers you, please stop reading now.


On Wednesday morning, I woke up and took Cole to school. Since I'd been feeling a little off, I stopped at CVS and ran home to take a pregnancy test before meeting for a play date at the park. I popped those two pee sticks in the car to 'think' and five minutes down the road, this is what I found:

I went into the park, saw the pirate mommas, and eventually spilled my news like I was talking about some stranger... After two miscarriages, you tend to get a little distant from your pregnancies during the early stages in case it doesn't end up resulting in a baby. On Thursday night I had coffee with fellow pirate Emily and came home feeling excited. I started thinking maybe this one will stick, maybe this one is meant to be, maybe Cole and Stella are meant to have a little brother or sister. I already had a name chosen (Everley Mae or Asher Miles from our previous name choices)...

At 3 am Friday morning, I woke up to pee and had some slight bleeding. At 8 am, I woke up covered in blood and immediately freaked out. Shaking and crying hysterically in the bathroom, the miscarriage started as soon as I sat down on the toilet. I cried even harder and tried to wipe the blood off of myself, until finally giving in and moving blindly toward the shower running, where I knew my husband would be. I climbed in the shower and shook, holding him and howling hysterically because we had just lost another baby.
Since then, I have been resting and trying to keep my thoughts in check. Kevin is taking care of the kids and making sure I get enough to eat and drink.

My first miscarriage happened when Cole was 7 months old. It was a blighted ovum, where my body thinks I'm pregnant and a gestational sac grows, but no baby grows inside it. That really made us want to try for another baby, which resulted in Stella being born in December 2010.

My second miscarriage occurred in April 2012, without my knowledge. After missing my period and getting a positive test, I started the next morning and got a negative test. The ultrasound established the pregnancy had been on my left side and had occurred so early on that I wouldn't have even known if I wasn't so aware of my body.

This time, I knew I was pregnant and was hopeful, but it didn't take. Blood tests showed my progesterone levels were low, making the uterus lining unable to carry the pregnancy. Most likely, this was the case in the April miscarriage, too.

So here I sit, on my third miscarriage with two beautiful babies I am able to hold in my arms to get me through this. I am so grateful for their love and the support of my husband and amazing women who have been there, or haven't been there and just want to show their love and support.

Miscarriage is something no one ever talks about; why shouldn't we? Isn't it better to know we're not alone than to suffer through it in silence?

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Late Night Ramblings

....It's late.
The kids have been asleep for hours
and the buzz of the tattoo machine could lull me to sleep
if the lines on my skin weren't so painful.
Florence + the Machine plays in the background-
lifting me up, providing my peace,
chasing away the devil in me.
I keep trying to hold my head up
but some days I'm just tired of trying
and I want to throw in the towel 
but there isn't a clean one
to throw anywhere.
Tattoos are my escape, 
my meditation, my passion. 
My ink tells stories of love and memories and reminders to be strong-
because at times strength leaves my hands,
leaving the darkness to set in
and stormy waves crashing in my days
when i'd much rather them be sunny.
I think of what made me-
dirt roads and midnight drives,
scribbling poetry on napkins at the coffee shop late at night.
The first apartment where I lived alone
in the third story of a historic building above one of the many town bars,
where I could lay on the floor to hear the echo of the bands playing below.
The music spoke to me-
inspiration was abundant in that studio with the fire escape
that holds many memories of snowy night guitar serenades
and English tea and sleepless nights..
and heartbreak. 
In this home i am surrounded by love and light,
the faces of my babies, the calls of 'mommy',
the late-night talks and cuddles a reminder of just how sweet life is
with the hum of the tattoo machine at my ear. 
*
 

fall fashion

Monday, September 10, 2012

Tattooed Hippie Pirate Mommas calendar peeks!

December 2013, Samantha

Dawn is August 2013
We have the final photos for the THPM 2013 calendar! Yay!
If you like these, you definitely need to go buy a calendar at www.tattooedhippiepiratemommas.com. We'll take preorders while we design them and have the calendars ready to go soon... Hopefully by late October, they'll be ready to mail or put in someone's hand.

Meet the amazing ladies of the Tattooed Hippie Pirate Mommas 2013 calendar.

Skye is February 2013

Stephanie is January 2013

Leisha is April 2013, waiting for showers

Kendra is sweet in May 2013

Bekah is lovely in June 2013

Bio page for Stacy

Sanja is July 2013

Cover girl Kate

Azure, March 2013

Brook: November 2013

Suza: September 2013

February 2014: a group shot

January 2014: Dawn

October 2013: Lacy
    



I've decided not to be in the actual calendar, just a bio page about the group. I can't decide which picture of myself to use. Please leave a comment with your favorite one! Here they are...