Day 1 without my Jakey baby

Everyone keeps asking if Tyler and I slept last night, and I can honestly say yes, we did! We hadn't slept at all on Sunday night, so I think last night, our bodies crashed and we both slept. Now, tonight might be different, but we will see!

I got to call my brother, Nate, on his mission this morning. (He is serving a mission for our church in Ogden UT). Don't worry, I got permission from his mission president first! I told him our baby had died and that I was sorry he didn't get to meet him in person and now he would have to wait a while to meet him. He was really sweet. We talked a little about the plan of salvation and that at least we knew we would see him again. He is such a great missionary! I think he was afraid of talking too long.

After that, I don't think I got off the phone all morning! My parents were good enough to do the obituary for us, I called the mortuary, hospital, cemetery, and family members. They are great to do a lot of work for us.

I think we finally got dressed around 12pm and headed out the door at 1 to go meet with the mortuary and cemetery. I hated both of those. No parents should have to pick out the casket for their baby. It will only be 2 feet long. That made me really sad. You just think of caskets for big adults, and his is way too small to seem real.

My dad was great to go to the cemetery and find some plots and we bought 2 (one for Jake, one for Tyler and I) and my dad bought 3 others and reserved 5 others! I guess he wants all of us to be together! It will be great!

We had dinner brought by our ward and lots of nice phone calls and notes. I know lots of people want to talk to me, and if I don't answer the phone, don't take it personally. We really were gone most of the afternoon, and sometimes I just don't want to cry on the phone.

Here is the obituary that my mom sent to the AZ republic that will run tomorrow. On Thursday it will also include this photo. If anyone wants to come to the funeral, please come! We don't want anyone to feel unwelcome at the services. Here is the link

Jake Alan "Baby Jake" Dennison
Dennison, Jake Alan "Baby Jake"

"Baby Jake" was born Jan. 21, 2009 and was loved by his family for 19 days before he was taken back to his Heavenly Father on Feb. 9, 2009. All who were around Baby Jake felt his sweet spirit. We will have him forever. Thank you to the special doctors and nurses on St. Joseph's 7th floor for the 19 days. Baby Jake is loved by his parents Tyler and Elizabeth Palmer Dennison and brother Payton and sisters Maddie and Lexi. He is also loved by grandparents Carlene Dennison, David and Kathy Palmer and great-grandparents G.O. and Caryl Christopher. He will be taken care of in heaven by his Grandpa Jerry Dennison. Services for Baby Jake will be Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009 at 1:00pm at the LDS Westwood Chapel 848 N. Westwood St. Mesa. Visitation at 12:00pm prior to the service at 1:00pm. Internment at the Mesa Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Summerfield Ward 2791 E. Los Alamos Ct. Gilbert, AZ 85295 to make blankets for St. Joseph's Hospital.Gilbert, AZ 85295"

I have a friend that made a beautiful SOFT minky blanket for Jake (you can see it in the blessing pictures-Day 4) and all the nurses loved how soft it was, so we decided that we would make a bunch of minky blankies to give to the heart unit in Jake's name. If you want to donate, please feel free. We are going to start making them sometime in the next few months.

I might post some photos tomorrow of Jake and the kids holding him, but I need to make them black and white first. See you tomorrow.