Happy 2nd Birthday Candace!

So many thoughts fill my heart and mind this day. So many precious memories happened 2 years ago. As I've been looking through pictures it has been comforting to see so many of these precious moments captured. With each picture comes a thousand memories and I wanted to try and share some of these memories through pictures, since it's easier than putting it into words.

It was such an angelic moment the first time the children saw Candace.There was so much awe, wonder, amazement, and love with welcoming this precious little one into our family. It was a glimpse of heaven.

The incredible joy we all felt of being together as a family for such a brief time. Knowing this would be a very short hello and soon goodbye, we cherished every moment. In this picture you'll notice Zach's finger pointing down. He was counting. G'pa Carroll bribed him to take 5 pictures and he was keeping track, just a funny memory.

Candace was encircled in the arms of so many who loved her and felt of her incredible spirit.

Her sister Hailey.
Her brother Zachary.

Her sister Shaylin. Her mom and dad.

Her G'pa & G'ma Flake. Her G'pa & G'ma Carroll. Our family was surrounded by angels, both earthly and heavenly, in person and in spirit. All that was done for our family spiritually and physically couldn't possibly be captured in pictures. Thank you to all for your gifts, cards, thoughts, prayers, hearts, time, caring & compassion.

There was amazement with each thing Candace could do. In this picture Hailey is feeling her little mouth suck the pacifier. And here's a close-up of Hailey feeling Candace's mouth with her pinky through the pacifier. The other memory with this picture is my black thumb. My hands were numb the last few weeks of pregnancy and I unknowingly smashed my finger in the car door. It wasn't until I tried to walk away, that I noticed my thumb was caught in the door. Such a silly memory, but my black thumb happened to be in so many pictures.Zachary was so tender and sweet with Candace.Shaylin couldn't give her enough kisses. This picture is a harder one for me to see. What I wouldn't give to be able to hold my little angel in my arms again and kiss her. To smell her sweet body and kiss her soft cheeks. Candace had so much hair. Here it's still pretty wet and matted down. As it dried it was curly and so soft. She also had hairy little shoulders, which made us smile. Candace blew so many bubbles. This is something that even Hailey remembers clearly. Lots of bubbles. This picture also captured one of the moments when Candace showed some reflexes and gave Hailey's finger a little squeeze. This was another miracle, as her limbs were usually limp and not moving like a newborn's should.

Seeing her beautiful body was amazing. It was so perfect in every way. Every inch of her was perfectly formed, except for the top of her head. I love this picture because she looks so chubby, even though she was only 5 lb 1 oz. This picture is another tender one for me. I remember a specific feeling I had during my pregnancy, and that was that this little girl was going to hang on and live through delivery because she wanted to be in her daddy's arms and experience what that felt like with her physical body. She loved her daddy. I can't really put into words the connection I felt between the two of them.

My sweet baby, I just couldn't kiss her enough. How do you capture enough snuggles and kisses in 23 hours to last a life time? Happy Birthday my sweet Candace. We love and miss you so much!

This weekend I'll add pictures to Candace's blog of our family celebrating her birthday. Or if you want to watch her slideshow and remember her today, just click on her name.