March for Babies Fundraiser

It's that time of year again...March for Babies time! This year I have two big goals to reach on walk day.

1) Raise $1,500 by walk day

2) Walk with my team and still be pregnant with my little boy. My due date is the day of the walk


I'm going to be doing contests to try and reach my goal. I only need $940 more to reach it!

The first contest begins today and ends March 22nd at midnight. For every $5 you donate to my March for babies page (or a cash/check donation), you receive one entry to win a $25 TARGET GIFT CARD. If you donate $25 will receive 6 chances to win. We will put everyone's names into a hat and Kailyn will pick out the winner. I will post the winner on this blog and facebook. I will mail the gift card to the lucky winner, if you aren't in the Altoona area.

 Every donation counts when it comes to saving babies lives.

This is Why I March for Babies:

Kailyn was born at 35 weeks and had to be rushed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. In the NICU she received a life-saving treatment called surfactant therapy. With funds from the March of Dimes, Kailyn was able to breathe on her own within days. She had to learn how to eat on her own and overcome jaundice. Kailyn is now a happy and healthy 4 1/2 year old with a baby brother on the way.

We created our team, Kailyn's Kruisers, to help give back to the March of Dimes for saving her life. Since forming in 2011, we have raised over $12,000 for the March of Dimes in our community.
The money we raise helps save premature and sick babies.

1 in 9 babies is born premature. Prematurity is the #1 cause of newborn death and the biggest threat to babies' health today. Through March for Babies, the March of Dimes is funding important research to find out why premature birth happens and what can be done to prevent it. There's nothing more important than to give every baby a healthy start in life. Each year over 143,000 babies are born in Pennsylvania and over 16,000 of them are born premature.

The March of Dimes is getting closer to uncovering some of the causes of premature birth and working to find answers.

We need your help. Please join us in the fight against prematurity. If you can't join us on May 2nd for our walk, will you consider donating to my walk.

www.marchforbabies.org/linz1632



It's March for Babies time....

It's that time of year again....March for Babies season!!! This year is very exciting because I am due with baby number 2 the day of the walk. My goal is to attend the walk then go to the hospital and have him :)
I will just be happy to make it to 39 weeks this time.

The next picture is the reason why I walk. A baby's first day shouldn't be their hardest. Kailyn was born fighting for her life and we don't know why she was born early. It should be the happiest day for a first time parent. Kailyn's Kruisers is helping the March of Dimes fund research to stop premature birth, help the smallest babies survive, and give information to moms about striving for 39 weeks.

March for Babies Macy's gift card giveaway!

I thought it was time for a giveaway to help me raise money for my March for Babies walk.

Starting today until March 13th, for every $5 you donate to my page www.marchforbabies.org/linz1632 you will get a chance to win a $25 Macy's gift card.
To enter, click on the link above or contact me if you want to pay in cash/check (made out to the March of Dimes).

No donation is too small! Thank you for helping me reach my goal to help all babies be born healthy! 

www.marchforbabies.org/linz1632

The next picture is the reason why I walk. A baby's first day shouldn't be there hardest. Kailyn was born fighting for her life and we won't know why she was born early. It should be the happiest day for a first time parent. What Kailyn's Kruisers is doing is helping the March of Dimes fund research to stop premature birth, help the smallest babies survive, and give information to moms about striving for 39 weeks.

Kailyn (6 hours old) the first time I saw her after she was taken to the NICU. This picture was taken for me to see everything before I went in to see her.

Losing a grandparent is harder with a little one...

I've had a lot of time to reflect this weekend while visiting family in Pennsylvania.  As I sat by my grandmother's bedside at the local hospital,  I couldn't help finding myself thinking back to almost four years ago. The end of February 2010, my family and I sat around my grandfather's bedside and said goodbye. He hung on until my grandmother could get there. She had been in and out of the hospital also. Back to present day and we are waiting for my Gram to return to Pap. This was three weeks ago. The doctors gsve my Gram two to three weeks. This past week, we said our goodbye. I know that she's no longer in pain but it still hurts us.
Kailyn has been very good with everything that has been going on. She knows that her Grammie isn't here anymore, but she doesn't understand why she can't see her. We told her that when people pass on, they go way high up in the sky. Now she said that she needs to get her money so she can get a plane to go really high up in the sky to see Grammie jumping on the clouds with Pappy Dively (my grandfather who passed away when I was 3 months pregnant with Kailyn) and her other PapPap (husband's grandfather who passed 2 years ago).
I don't have the heart to tell her that it's impossible to see her. We took flowers to her grave the day after the funeral. Now Kailyn wants to stop by and give Grammie tons of flowers.

The New Year...

I can't believe it's 2014 already! Last year was a very busy year for us and this year won't be slowing down! I finished my Training Manager internship today and start in Maryland tomorrow, helping a fellow manager out for awhile. I just hope the snow holds out for now :(

We will be traveling to PA in a couple of weeks to have our Christmas with family that we couldn't see on Christmas Day. Kailyn is really excited to see all of her cousins. She already knows that she wants to stay at Mamaw's house Saturday night so she can have a sleepover with her oldest cousin Noah. So we'll have a bust weekend running around seeing people, plus watching the Broncos play.

I have one more step in my training until I graduate...passing the final interview!! I'm nervous about the interview just because it's the final one with my boss' boss.

Sometime this month or beginning of February I will have my gallbladder/hernia surgery. I've known since August when I went to the doctor for a follow up after having pneumonia. I felt a bump around my belly button when I coughed. The doctor sent me for an ultrasound and indeed it was an umbilical hernia. They also found that I have polyps in my gallbladder and need to have it taken out. Why couldn't my gallbladder have acted up last year when I had my appendix out? So now I'm having "a two for one deal" as Dr Kriss, my surgeon says. This will be my third surgery and fourth procedure. I'm the only one of my mom's girls to have surgery. After this, I'm done for a long time!

For Christmas, J bought me a new camera and I've been playing every couple of days.

Kailyn's serious look

She loves her candy necklace

Kailyn playing with her cousin Mason

Playing with her vanity that Mamaw and Pappy Rick bought her

Laughing at her kitty BooBoo

Busy months...

It's been awhile since I've posted on here. I've been working crazy hours at work 55+ hours and basically coming home, making/eating dinner,doing laundry, getting clothes ready for the next day while K gets a bath (with dad's supervision) and bed.

I wanted to announce that we were selected to be the 2013 March of Dimes Signature Chef Auction Ambassador Family! The auction is the day after World Prematurity Day and what better way to celebrate the day with honoring Kailyn. I have to write a speech and I have no clue what I'm going to say. This dinner is just one way I'm helping to kick off my team's walk for next April.

Also this coming week I turn the big 30! Or as my friend Kelli and I say, the 5th anniversary of our 25th birthday. I don't know what my husband and Kailyn have planned but I'm sure it will be fun :)

www.marchforbabies.org/team/kailynskruisers

March of Dimes week

This has been a very busy week for us. Wednesday morning Kailyn, my sister Brittany, and I went to Forever Broadcasting and did a radio circuit for the March for Babies walk. It was fun talking to the different DJs and having people say that they've heard me on the radio. After the radio station, we went to my old high school (Central HS in Martinsburg, PA) to try to get the students interested in coming to the walk on Sunday. The school had just started raising money a couple of weeks ago and wanted to meet us. And of course after leaving school we had to go to Ritchey's Ice Cream and  Kailyn stole my White House Cherry :( She usually gets a strawberry cone but wanted my cherries.

Today Kailyn and I took my nephew Noah to the bus stop then got breakfast. We went shopping for a new super cute outfit for K for her TV interview (aka mom talks and k just sits there). We had to stop and get the Altoona Mirror (local paper) because Kailyn was in the Life section for the March of Dimes. This afternoon we had our TV interview on Central PA Live. It was fun!! I had never been on TV like that before. Kailyn was pretty good for an almost 3 year old with no nap. She woke up around 6:45am and just crashed about 10:30pm. I almost had her asleep 5 times today but she just wasn't having it.

Tomorrow we are going to Kmart to try help the employees get that last push for donations from customers. Kmart has been a National Sponsor forever. Then our walk is on Sunday. I have to get up in front of 300+ people and give a speech about our story and how the March of Dimes has helped us. I guess I better get off her and start writing! Below is a link to our TV interview. I thought that we did pretty good!

Central PA Live

Three of our Kruisers (Sarah, Lauren, and my sister Heather) sporting their shirts at Kidspeace in Duncansville.

Donate today at:

www.marchforbabies.org/team/kailynskruisers