Diaper Update

Today was an awesome day!

I talked to a nurse manager at Bromenn about donating a few sets of teeny diapers.  Bromenn was super excited to accept some of the sets!  They have babies that are too young to be sent to Peoria to the NICU and sometimes they have stillborn babies.  These babies and their families could definitely benefit from having these precious little diapers.  The nurse manager asked if I would be willing to come in and talk to all of the L&D nurses at their next staff meeting about why I chose to make these and how they should be given to parents that have just lost a baby.  I will write more about that experience once it happens :)  I'm so excited that this hospital would like to help others by giving out the diapers.

Next, I talked to the nurse manager at The Children's Hospital of Illinois in the NICU.  This is where Braelyn spent her 12 hours.  They also are excited to accept our donation.  Matt and I will be delivering 2 baskets filled with diapers on December 14.  I can't wait to drop them off.  I'm just feeling really good about helping others who are going through a similar situation as Matt and I did.

I had some extra flannel left over and I mailed it to another angel mom who makes tons of diapers!  She told me that she would donate the ones made from the flannel I sent in honor of Braelyn.  That made me really happy too.  Who knew that Braelyn would touch people all the way across the country.

One other organization I wanted to mention is Robby's Rabbits.  You can find them on Facebook.  This is a mother who is honoring her son who passed away far too soon.  She sends stuffed rabbit's to mom's who have lost children.  I had 90 yards of ribbon that I ordered that was too thick to tie around the diaper sets.  I contacted her to see if I could donate the ribbon for her to tie her cards around the rabbits neck.  She gladly accepted.  I felt good that the ribbon went to someone who is doing good for others!

This diaper project has been going on for a few months and I am so ready to make the donations.  I have been overwhelmed by the support you all have given to me.  Thank you again for everything.  I will continue to update my blog as we make our deliveries.

Giving Thanks

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year!  This was the last "1st" holiday for Cole man (if that makes sense).  I think Thanksgiving was a great one to end on for him since he is now old enough to eat table food.

We got together at my mom and dad's house for the day.  Mom made a TON of great food.  I don't think I could have eaten any more if I had tried.  She is a wonderful cook and we always know when we go there we are going to eat well.  We had all of the traditional fixings.  Cole loved it all!  He tried turkey, potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, and rolls.  He was one happy little dude.

My sister and Kyle (and the babies) came over too for the day.  Kate laid on the couch all day (b/c she's soooo lazy...jk Kate!).  It was great to see her up and at mom and dad's for a change.  I'm sure the new scenery was good for her mental state too.  I know from experience it gets so hard to sit inside your own house day after day.  She looks great...and is getting HUGE!  Those babies are growing which is a great thing.  We got to feel them moving for most of the day.  That's one of the best parts of being pregnant.

After we ate, we spent a lot of time playing with Cole.  My mom and dad have a huge toy box full of toys from our childhood.  It brought back a lot of memories when Cole was dragging them out.  He had a blast and wore himself out quickly.  The guys all watched some football and the girls browsed through the Black Friday ads.  My mom also got out some old home videos of us as kids.  We like to do this when we are all together for the holidays.  Watching some of these videos we realized Cole looks like my mini-me. :)

It was such a great day for all of us to be together.  I am so thankful for my family and how much they have stood by me throughout the years.  They have accepted Matt as one of us and they unconditionally love Cole.  And they even put up with Ritz coming along too!  I always have such good memories each time we go to my parent's house.  I love that childhood memories come back to me when I'm there and I love that we are making new memories too.  I want their home to be a place that Cole has such fond memories of when he gets older.

Thanks mom and dad for a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I also ventured out once we got back to Bloomington to do some Black Friday (or Thursday) shopping.  I went to Toys R Us around 11 p.m. and got the two things I wanted for Cole.  I walked in, found what I was looking for, walked right up to a register with no line and paid, and was back in my car within 15 minutes.  No rush or crowd at all.  I decided to wait around and go to Kohl's when they opened at midnight too. I did stand in line to get in, but I didn't get out of my car to go stand in the cold until 11:55.  I got into the store quickly and found everything I went for and got in line to pay.  The line to pay was already pretty long even though I didn't dilly dally around.  But I still got out and back home within a half an hour.  It was a short but successful shopping trip.  I may have to do my shopping on Black Friday in the years to come.  I scored some awesome deals for both Cole's Birthday and Christmas.  Funny how I said I'd never have a kid close to Christmas...and here we are again this year celebrating both within a 4 day span :)  It's ok...I'd do it all over again if I had to!

We put up our Christmas tree on Sunday and I love sitting in the evenings with the lights turned down and the tree lit up.  I love all of my Christmas decorations.  I realized I have way too many when we started dragging out the tubs.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and are ready to celebrate the Christmas season.  I hope that in the midst of all of the busy times that the holidays bring I can remember to celebrate the real reason for the season.

Cole is 11 Months Old!

Little man is 11 months old today!  Only one more month until he's not a baby anymore...  This year has just flown by.  We have made so many good memories and I can't wait to continue making more!  I love this little guy more than life itself!!

Ohhh, he has an eye...

Would you quit with the pictures already, mom?

He discovered he can climb into the basket

Just chillin'

So grown up!

The Big 3-0!

Yesterday was the big day...I turned 30!  I remember thinking when I was a kid that 30 was sooo old.  But now that I've hit that milestone I don't feel the same way.  I am really looking forward to my 30's.  I think a lot of good things are in store for my family and I can't wait to experience new milestones.

I had a great day celebrating!  Lots of well wishes from friends and family to start the day off right.  I only worked a half day, and my mom came over and took me to lunch and we shopped around a little bit.  We picked Cole up early from daycare and did a lot of playing once we got home.  My dad and Matt joined us after work and we had take-out from Olive Garden, an apple pie, and presents to celebrate.  It was the perfect night.

I love seeing my parents interact with Cole.  Having him here this year to celebrate my birthday made it really special.  Cole entertained Grandma and Grandpa by showing them his toys and crawling around everywhere.  His giggles are the best sound to hear in the evenings.

Thanks mom, dad, Matt and Cole for making my day extra special!!!  (We missed seeing you Kate & Kyle).

Prayer Request

My sister was admitted to the hospital today because her cervix has funneled and shortened.  If you remember my pregnancies, this is what happened to me.  Luckily she has a cerclage and it's doing it's job.  She was released this afternoon after some careful monitoring, but she is to remain on strict bed rest the rest of her pregnancy.  Please say a few prayers that these sweet little babies stay put for several more weeks!  We love them all so much and they are already a big part of our family.  I would trade places with my sister in a heartbeat b/c I would never want her to be in the same situation I was in...but since that isn't possible, I'm doing the next best thing-- asking you all to pray for their family!