*note* I’ve had this post sitting in my drafts since just after Fat Tuesday. Please don’t ask me why it has taken me so long to get it posted because I really don’t have an answer. I’ve just finally decided to get on it and get it done!

I’m very proud to say that we’ve been selected as the March of Dimes March for Babies 2010 Ambassador Family for the Rochester, NY event! We are SO happy and honored to be asked to carry this awesome title! We love sharing our story with people at events like these because we don’t share our story with too many people on a regular basis. If you’d like to support our cause and sponsor us for the walk, you can do that here. I, personally, am just about halfway to my goal. And my team, as awesome as they are, has surpassed their first goal and is on the way to making the second. This is the first year that I’ve been able to recruit people outside the 5 of us to walk. My cousin Amanda is walking in Kentucky and I’m so thankful that she is joining us this year! My sister is walking, too, though she’s walking with her Moms group. That doesn’t matter to me. I’m just glad she’s walking!

Since my original draft of this post, NY is the first chapter to raise over their $200,000 goal…the state family teams have raised over a millions dollars already so far in 2010! That is fantastic!

It’s almost kick-off time for March for Babies. Because I’m interning at the March of Dimes this semester, I’m getting a jump start on fundraising while I work out some interesting (and hopefully fun!) incentives for family teams to raise more money, and perhaps for donors who donate a certain amount. So, without further ado, here’s my fundraising widget. Feel free to donate, if you can. You can also read our (brief) story on my page, or search for it here on my blog (I’ve posted it a couple of times before). If you can’t donate, you can still support us by leaving a comment here if you’d like. And, if you have any ideas on how to get teams and/or individuals to raise more money, I’d love to hear them!

This is my last semester of undergrad! I’m so excited to start, too. I don’t technically start until Monday, but I had my first day at my internship today. I’m interning at the March of Dimes, which is an organization I’m already pretty immersed in. I figured I might as well put all that work to good use and get 6 credits out of it! I’m super excited! I’ll be a family teams specialist, with a little bit of admin work. I think it will be fun to get a feel for the inner workings of a non-profit.

I went back to campus yesterday to turn in some necessary paperwork to fix something that should have been fixed a long time ago. I found out last week during my winter session class that I’m being counted as an out-of-state student for tuition purposes, despite the fact that I’m getting a state grant that’s only available to residents! No one had bothered to tell me that I needed to fill out a residency affidavit prior to the fall semester. I paid 3 times what I should have in tuition for last fall and the winter term! Had I known, and had everything been squared away last summer, I would never have had to take out student loans.

So, I had to take the residency form to school to get notarized and turned in so they’ll change my status. I’ll get a massive refund this semester, too, because of that. That’s nice, but it still stinks that I wouldn’t have had to take out the loans I’m getting refunded to me in the first place. The only good part about that is that I was able to pay for my text books out of that refund. And because I’m taking a political philosophy class AND a politics in literature class this semester, there are a LOT of books! It’s nice to know I’ll have them all when the semester starts, though.

Today is National Fright for Preemies Day. If you’ve read my blog at all, you probably know by now that we have 3 preemie children, 2 of whom were micro preemies. If you don’t know our story, here is the short version (search my blog for the full story. I’ve posted it before, though it’s been quite awhile):

Our twins were born at 27 weeks gestation, 13 weeks early. They spent only 6 weeks in the NICU out of the 12 they were projected. We were very fortunate on every front. Though they came dangerously close to needing a transfusion (and being diagnosed with TTTS, or twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome) we never had to go through that. They were jaundiced, had their eyes fused shut for the first two weeks of their lives, were on oxygen and in temperature controlled isolettes, couldn’t be held for the first 2 weeks of life, had sleep apnea, and several other “minor” problems. They are 8 and a half and to this day, have no lasting effects of their prematurity. Unless you count the fact that they are a bit short for their age. Then again, if you know me, you know I’m only 5 feet tall, so it isn’t a stretch to equate the two things together

Prematurity is the #1 killer of newborns and can lead to lifelong disabilities. What’s worse is the number has increased 31% since 1981. It can happen without warning and for no known reason, much as what happened to me. Though I had a uterine infection due to loosing my mucus plug around 25 weeks with the twins, our youngest was born 4 weeks early for no apparent reason. I was on an oral medication for a month prior to his birth because I had gone into early labor (that’s 8 weeks early…not as early as his brothers, but early enough). My doctor had no idea why. She conceded that some women just aren’t made to carry a baby full term. I suppose, at least with my youngest (who will be 7 next month), that that is the category into which I belong.

Though the March of Dimes has made great strides in developing things to help premature babies survive and live healthy lives, we still have a long way to go. Won’t you join me in this fight? If you’d like to help, you can donate to our family team in anticipation of the 2010 March for Babies in May. You can also head over to the March of Dimes website and join the fight.

It’s November 3rd and I nearly forgot to change my blog theme to reflect that this is Prematurity Awareness Month! I don’t have much time since I have to head to class in a few minutes. But, I wanted to make sure I told you all, in case you forgot or didn’t know

Sunday was the March of Dimes March for Babies. It was a beautiful walk along the Erie Canal. Altogether, I’d say it was a much better walk than last year. More organized, more entertainment, more food, much better location. It was much harder to fundraise this year, though. That was my downfall. But as the family teams chairperson, I’m looking forward to calling people and getting feedback. Can’t wait to hear what they think of the new place, etc. I took several pictures, especially along the canal. I have never walked along the canal before, and would love to do it again in a different spot. There are lots of locations to walk along the canal. Anyway, here are the pics I took from the walk, in no particular order:

I’ve decided to dive in and take part in this month’s nablopomo theme. I’ve neglected my blog for far too long and it’s high time I start giving it some love. May’s theme is sweet. I can’t say I’ll be posting on the theme every day, but I’ll try. Today, though, I guess I’ll just give a big, huge update. We’ve been super busy this last month and May isn’t looking any less busy. We had my sister-in-law’s wedding the first weekend in April, which was fun, but exhausting all the same. I’ll post pics at a later date, once I get them all re-sized and blog friendly I stayed in Indiana for the following week to finally meet my niece for the first time. She’s SUCH a cutie! So sweet and chubby! I’ll post pics of her, too! Then we had Easter and our wedding anniversary. Then my father-in-law was in town, and then we had Ryan and Zach’s birthday this past Tuesday. April was a fully-loaded month for us and I’m glad the spinning has finally stopped!

This weekend, I think we might be going to the circus. I remember going as a kid and loved it. I would love to take the boys. I think every kid should experience the circus just once in their life. Then on Sunday, the twins and I are walking in March for Babies. I’m only abt halfway to my goal (which I ended up lowering). You can sponsor us, if you’d like. You can also read our story there.

After that, next weekend we’re taking the boys to Day Out With Thomas. That was our birthday gift to the twins. I can’t wait to see the look on their faces, either! I’ll definitely be posting pics of that for all to see! We took them to Red Robin Tuesday night for dinner. and I’ll get those pics up, too. I’m going to work on resizing them tonight/tomorrow. I promise to get them up by Monday.

A great accomplishment happened this week in our house…Brian received his NWA seal of approval! We’re celebrating tonight with yummy dessert and a movie (or back-logged dvr’d svu’s, lol).

We’ve also joined a photo challenge over at PhotoChallenge.org. They have a daily challenge and a monthly challenge. Until now, I’ve only been doing the daily challenge. But I think I’m going to start the monthly challenge this month. It gives me a way to hone my photography skills, anyway

For now, I’m heading out side to enjoy the beautiful weather. I hope you do the same!

It’s that time of year again…the time of year where I start fundraising for the March of Dimes March for Babies. There are 91 days left until my walk on May 3rd and my goal is $500. I think that’s completely doable in 3 months, don’t you?

I am once again the co-chair for the Rochester family teams. I enjoyed it immensely last year and am looking forward to getting more involved this year. I think they want us to do some committee work, too, and I am very excited about that! I’ll definitely be posting more about that as time goes on. Until then, here’s the link to donate, if you’d like to help me support the March of Dimes. You can also read our personal story , or at least the cliff’s notes version, there. At some point between now and May 3rd, I’ll post the full version of our story, something I haven’t done in a very long time (if ever on this blog).

As you can see from my blog design, it’s Prematurity Awareness month again. It started last weekend, obviously, but I’ve had so much going on that I haven’t had a chance to post anything about it. I also made a new banner for the occasion. The small inset banner in the middle is supposed to be animated, but I’m having trouble inserting it into my banner and getting it to actually animate. I’ll keep working on that to see if I can figure it out. If not, it still looks ok. I’ll try and start posting info again, like I do ever year. I can’t guarantee I’ll do it every day this year, but I’ll try to get something up a couple of times a week at least.

I ran across the pictures of the twins right after they were born and will hopefully get those scanned and posted, as well.

So, there. Not much time to post today (at least not right now), but I wanted to “kick off” Prematurity Awareness month on my blog, even if it is a week late!

Happy weekend!

Yep, you read that right. 2 weeks from tomorrow, Brian’s being locked up. To be released on good behavior, he needs to raise $800 for his bail. Whatever did he do to get thrown in jail, you ask? Why, he’s MDA’s Most Wanted Citizen! It’s time for the 2008 Rochester “Stars Behind Bars” campaign for the MDA, and Brianis being locked up to raise money. To help him raise his bail money, you can make a donation by clicking here. He needs to raise as much as he can before the 29th, the day he’s thrown in jail. Make a donation to help Jerry’s Kids!