I've fallen in love with the color purple

Joe and I were married on April 30th 2010 in Las Vegas with about 20 family members and had a traditional wedding ceremony on July 30, 2011. (We were 4 weeks pregnant with our sweet Elliott on July 30th and as we look at our wedding pictures on our living room wall we smile to know she was with us during that happy celebration).

I had chosen shades of purple for the July ceremony mixed in with blues and pinks and our flowers were beautiful. I thought I loved the color purple then...

A few months ago I was becoming increasingly nervous that we wouldn't have anything for Elliott when she was born. I wanted to find a dress for her but how do you pick out just any old dress for your daughter in our special situation. I looked online a few times but nothing seemed right. So one day I decided I would make something for her. I didn't think I would be able to make a dress for her so I decided to make a blanket. I went to Michaels, asked a sales clerk which of the two were easier to learn, crocheting or knitting and after she answered me with crocheting I picked out a beginners book and taught myself how to crochet. I chose a pattern for a blanket that looked simple enough and picked out three colors of yarn, pink for a baby girl, blue for Joe's favorite color and purple for mine. It took me a few days to get the hang of it but I finally did and was able to crochet a blanket for our sweet Elliott. A unique pink, blue and purple blanket just for her.

February 3rd was not our "due date", April 6th was. We were going in to the hospital for an amnioreduction to prevent early labor and ease the increasing pain I was having from so much amniotic fluid. In just two weeks it had increased from 35 to 47 and I was in so much pain. However, the same procedure we hoped would prevent early labor put me in to labor just a few minutes into the procedure. Things moved very quickly and all I could do was pray for peace and strength. There are many things about February 3rd that were not  part of "our plan" but were certainly God's plan. For one, we were at hospital we never intended to deliver at but God placed a special nurse with us that day. Her name is Reilene and she sat down with us as one point before we went in for the c-section and explained that she was part of a "committee" of nurses who worked with families like ours and she had some things for us. One of those things was a dress for Elliott and she brought in three for us to choose from. I only remember seeing two, a pink one and a white one with purple stitching around the collar, waist and sleeves and with a matching purple and white hat, and of course that was the one we chose. The purple dress and it fit her perfectly.

The day after we had Elliott my friend Mandy came to visit us in the hospital and she brought a few gifts. One of those gifts was a beautiful purple rosary. I immediately loved it for its color but never mentioned to her that purple was my favorite color until yesterday. We were standing in my bedroom at home and I was showing her Elliott's shelf in our room and mentioned that the rosary was still in our keepsake box. I told her how much I loved the color purple and she went on to tell me that she had chosen purple because that is the color of Elliott's birthstone. I wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. I had no idea, I hadn't even thought about her birthstone, it's still surreal that we said hello and goodbye already, on February 3rd.

Elliott's birthstone is amethyst, a beautiful purple stone.