Conversation with a 5 year old...

"Mommy. Baby Ella is in heaven right?"

Yes, Delainey, Baby Ella is in heaven.

And Papa is in heaven now too right?

Yes.

Do you think that Baby Ella and Papa are together in heaven?

Yes, Delainey I do think that Papa and Baby Ella are together in heaven...

Did Heaven take baby Ella and Papa??

No Delainey, Heaven didn't take them. Remember they were both really sick and the medicine couldn't make them better anymore, so God decided to let them come live in Heaven with him, so they would be all better and could watch over us all, rather than be sick here on earth.

Oh... Ok.

**this is where I thought the conversation had ended, but it was far from over**

Later that night after bedtime was well under way and everyone was asleep, Delainey screamed out in her sleep. Rushing into her room I found her standing at the side of her bed with her "Angels" (a two piece picture frame with Ella and Papa's pictures in it) in her hand wide awake.

Delainey honey... whats wrong?

I'm mad at Heaven.

Why?

Because heaven gets my Baby Ella and my Papa. I want them back....

Honey I know we all want Baby Ella and Papa back, but they have to stay in Heaven with God, and be our angels remember. They will always be with us in our hearts and in our memories, but they can't come back to us. We just have to remember them...and know that they love us in Heaven.

Can we go to heaven and visit them?

We will all get to go to heaven some day, but right now we have to stay on earth. We each have things we have to do on earth before we can go to heaven...and once we do them then God will let us go to Heaven with him. And when we get there we will see Baby Ella and Papa and all the rest of our family...

What did Ella have to do before she could go to heaven?

*this was a hard one*
She brought many people together. She showed us all how to be strong and how to fight, but she also showed us what love is. She showed us how much you could love.

Oh.. ok

What was Papa's job.

He has the same jobs as Baby Ella sweetie.

How come Ella's job was done faster?

I think maybe Ella was just faster at her job what do you think?

Well Ella is a girl Mommy...girls can do things faster than boys.

*insert my small chuckle here*

Will they forget about us in heaven?

No, sweetie. Baby Ella and Papa will never forget about us while they are in heaven, just like we won't ever forget about them.

Oh...ok. Can I sleep in your bed ?

Yes, but only for tonight.

Please pray...

for our cousins Ryan and Taryn...

Their precious baby girl Ella passed away today. Ella was born in March at 24 weeks gestation and fought hard and strong for 12 weeks. But today her little body could fight no more...

Please pray for Ryan and Taryn (and the rest of our families) at this time of such pain and loss. All of our lives have forever been changed by Precious Princess Ella Jo Krumwiede.

While Ella was only with us for 12 weeks, the love and strength that this amazing little angel showed us is so great. We will all be better for having been blessed by the life of Ella Jo. Our hearts are broken...some day they will mend...but always will Ella have a hold on those mended broken hearts.

Thank you!
The Krumwiede Family

CONGRATULATIONS RYAN AND TARYN!!!!

You have GOT to go and check out Ella's Caringbridge site... Her mommy got to do the most AMAZING thing EVER this weekend with Ella, and her daddy got to have some special time too.
www.caringbridge.org/visit/ellakrumwiede

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST

Our 'niece' Ella is in need of some prayers right now. As you know Ella was born one month ago at 24 weeks gestation. She has been doing as well as expected for a micr-preemie of her age/size, but this last week she has been having some issues with retaining fluid *alot of Ella's nutrition is IV nutrients and therefor is put into her body via an IV and comes with 'extra' water*, previously she had been passing this water on her own. This past week the doctors have been giving her some medication to help her pee some of the excess fluid off, but it seems that those medications have stopped working.... so now Ella has got to get the excess fluid out of her system herself... so if you could please put some prayers out their for our precious Princess Ella, we would all very much appreciate it.... www.caringbridge.org/visit/ellakrumwiede

Thank you-
Kristin

A special Delainey moment/story...

Today was Delainey's day for show and share at school. As per the rules of being 5, she shared this information with us during our bedtime routine. I tried to passify her with taking a stuffed animal or something and she just down right refused. She needed to share "HER ELLA" with her class. So last night at 830, we were in line at Target printing out copies of a "Delainey's Ella"...

While we were buying our pictures I asked Delainey what she was going to 'share' with her class about her new cousin Ella, the following are Delainey's exact words:

"I am going to tell them that Ella is my super special tiny cousin. She is the same size as one of my Barie Dolls. She is very special because she loved her mommy and daddy so much she didn't want to stay inside her mommy's tummy anymore, because she wanted to see them right now. So now Ella has to stay in a pretend tummy until she can come home.But don't be scared because her mommy and daddy can stay with her at the special baby hospital. And once she comes home her, sisters, me and Shea-shea and Hailee are going to make Kellen and Brody play Barbies and dress up because there are more girls than boys in our family. "

This morning Chad also asked her what she was going to say to her class and she looked at him with the knowledge of the world and said "Daddy... I'm going to tell my class that ELLA is what the March of Dimes does...just like they saved my sisters and my Kellen and Shea...March of Dimes fixes babies when they want to see their mommies and daddies early"... There was more of this story, but it was a private moment between Chad, Delainey and myself and I feel best that we keep that part of the story and the memories we shared this morning private....

Chad of course thinks that I have brained washed Delainey into becoming a community activist, but what can I say...the girl has got MAD skills :) She also wants to put all the 'kidlet' (this is how she refers to herself and her cousins) pictures on a coffee can and ask people for money to save babies... isn't this kid the GREATEST?!?! So..beware if you see my 5 year old knocking on your door because those blue eyes and the story that comes with it will DEFINATELY make you part with this pennies ;)

MAJOR PRAYER REQUESTS:

I have several prayer requests right now:

First and foremost, our cousin Ryan and his wife delivered their daughter last night. Baby Ella Jo was born weighing 1 lbs 3 ozs at roughly 24 weeks gestation. Please add this family to your prayers... from what we told Baby Ella is holding her own for now. Please pray for a quick recovery from the surgery for Taryn. This is not going to be an easy road for them, but with God's grace and lots of prayers it should make it a bit easier.

Secondly, the Bismarck area is suffering greatly from flooding. My aunt, cousin and uncle and his entire family have been evacuted from their homes (all in different parts of the south side of Bismarck). We have spent the better part of the morning moving belongings and helping in any way that we can.

Heavenly Father-
With you grace and strength please surround us in our struggles and give us hope. Keep baby Ella, Ryan and Taryn in your arms during this journey for them. Please help the residents of our area to be able to stay strong and put their trust in you.
Amen...