First Ever Great Strides Video!!

I finally made a Great Strides video for Lil' Chris!! Every year, I have seen everyone else make one, but I never did. I don't know if it was b/c I just never had the time, or if I just didn't want to type what I would have to type on the video. It makes me sick knowing that all us CF families not only have to deal with the stress of CF, but also have to raise the money to fund VITAL research to find a CURE and get better meds! Cystic Fibrosis is NOT governmentally funded like other diseases. It's up to US to make the difference in these children's lives! It's up to US to help them live a "normal" life! It's up to US to help them live longer!

Now do you understand why I do all my fundraising and always ask for your help in donating? We CAN make a difference!! We CAN help these kids live longer!! We CAN make CF stand for Cure Found!!

Please help by clicking here or by clicking on the Great Strides link on the upper right hand side of my blog, to donate today. Every penny counts! Thank you so much for all of your support over the last couple of years:)

Without further ado, here is my first Great Strides video...

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thank you SOOOOOO much for watching and for donating! Please spread the word!
Thanks,
M

Fundraiser's Results & Upcoming Fundraiser's

This past week of fundraisers has been a lot of fun!!

I owe a BIG THANK YOU to:

Heather V.-2 CF children

Tina C.-1 CF child

Adam L.-1 CF child

Thank you guys soooooo much for spreading the word about my Friendly's fundraiser that was in your town. I would have done one in my town, but we don't have a Friendly's in my town anymore, and I like to try new fundraisers:) It was so nice meeting everyone's family:) I think it's great how they all came out and supported CF!

So, this is how it breaks down for my latest fundraisers:

CiCi's Pizza in Wooster:

1. $75 in tips, donations, and raffle for a basket of Bath and Body Works products(Thanks again Stacy A. and Amy;) BTW, Stacy A. was the one who won the raffle! She told me to keep the raffle prize and use it again next time. Isn't she the sweetest girl EVER!!! Oh yeah, we also had a super nice customer that said she didn't have any money on her, but that she would run to the ATM and come back...well, surprisingly she did!! She made it back right at 8:00pm when we were finishing up! Now how sweet is that?! A complete stranger! Wow, some people amaze me in their generosity!!


2. $25 in the 10% from the receipts...this is a total guess, since it takes a couple of weeks to get the check, but since it was so slow b/c of the snow, I think it is only going to be around $25.


3. $500 from Kohl's since I made the fundraiser an A-Team event. Thanks again Aileen, Stacy A., Stacie M., and Barb!!! You guys ROCK!!!


4. That makes the total $600!!! Not bad. If it wasn't for Kohl's, it would have only been $100.

Friendly's in Canton by the Belden Village Mall:

1. $210 in donations and for the raffle, which was a signed OSU basketball by the coach Thad Matta, an OSU t-shirt, OSU visor, and OSU flip-flops. I owe a BIG THANK YOU to HELEN from Kohl's who donated the autographed basketball. Thank you so much Helen!!! I was shocked as to how much I raised from the raffle!!


2. $130 in the percentage from the receipts. This again is a guess, but the manager did tell me that they did around $1200 that night, and since we get 10% for the first $1000 and then 15% for any over that, if I added correctly it should come to around $130. I'll let you know when I find out the true numbers for both events.


3. That makes the total $340!!! I wish I could have made it an A-Team event from Kohl's, but there was nothing for them to do. They (or maybe it's just this manager) had more rules than CiCi's. I couldn't buss tables for tips, or put my CF Facts papers on the tables, I couldn't walk around to the tables and tell them about CF or the raffle, and I couldn't even hand them papers about CF when they first walked in!! She said that they could pick up the paper if they wanted them. I handed them papers when they first came in anyways;-) LOL! The manager saw me, but didn't say anything. I think she knew I was a little upset about not being about to at least put my papers on the tables. I had told her that I do that at my other fundraisers. I think we still had a GREAT night!! It was even snowing that day and was bitter cold! The news said that it got down to -1 in Wooster that night! YIKES!! I was so happy for all the people that came out and supported CF even in the snow and cold! THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO DONATED!! For the raffle tickets, I sold them at $2=1 ticket, $5=4 tickets, and $10=10 tickets. I was surprised as to how many people bought the 10 tickets!! The winner of the raffle bought $30 worth and he was there b/c of Heather spreading the word, so again THANK YOU HEATHER!! I think he said that his wife works with Heather's sister. Luckily Heather's sister was still there and I was able to give it to her to give to Justin's wife to give to him:) It all worked out beautifully:) He was the one who gave the most money, so I was glad when the lil' girl pulled his name:)

Jeans 4 Genes

1. At Kohl's, my super nice boss let us do Jeans 4 Genes from October to January! Associates paid $3 to wear jeans or $2 to wear sneakers(tennis shoes as they call them around here;) or $5 for both. They got to do this on EVERY Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday for those months. Don't I have the BEST boss and the BEST associates!! I love my job!


2. Last I checked, we were up to $600!!! I'll find out the true total when I go back to work on Monday. I'll let you know.
   

All those fundraisers combined equals $1540!! YEA!!

Here is a list of my next fundraisers:

1. Tumbleweed-Tues Feb 9th all day, but must have coupon


2. CiCi's Pizza-Thurs Feb 25th 4pm-8pm


3. Tumbleweed-Tues March 9th all day, but must have coupon


4. CiCi's Pizza-Thurs March 25th 4pm-8pm


5. CiCi's Pizza-Thurs April 22nd 4pm-8pm


6. CiCi's Pizza-Thurs May 27th 4pm-8pm

I wouldn't mind doing another Friendly's one. I'll have to give them a call to set up another one. I have a number to try to get a golf fundraiser going, but I don't know much about golf, nor do I know anyone who plays golf. At our last Great Strides meeting, we talked about doing a spaghetti dinner to raise money. That might be fun:) If anybody has any other great ideas, please let me know:)

All in all it was a GREAT FUNdraiser week;) It wasn't much of a vacation for me though;) I was on vacation from Tues til Sun, but with getting ready for the fundraisers and doing them, it felt like I was working more than maxin and relaxin;-) LOL! I always get super stressed out for my first one, not nerves, just stressed making sure I have all my signs and stuff ready. Oh well, it was worth it for my Lil' Chris and for Jack & Allie, Nick, Kendall, and ALL CFer's!!!!

Which reminds me...please pray for Adam's 8 month old daughter with CF, Kendall. She had a fever of 104 the other day and hasn't been feeling well. Please lift her up in prayer.

I think that's everything for now, I'll let you know if I add any more fundraisers;)

M

Ayla's 1st Birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AYLA!!

I can't believe 1 year ago today, my sweet baby girl was born;) Boy did time fly by!! She was born on January 29th, 2009 at 2:52pm and was 7 lbs. 14 oz. and 19.5 inches long. I remember going into labor, like it was yesterday!(click on "January" below to read about it) She has been such a joy to have around. I love seeing her beautiful smile every day:) Yes, even at 6:30 in the morning;) lol!! Today she slept til 7:15am and woke up laughing;-) She is just too cute;) She must have known it was her birthday;)

Here is a montage from 1 year ago today until today:) The pics above were taken at Picture People, since Kiddie Kandids closed;( I think they did a GREAT job though! They even had us sign a paper so she could be one of their models...I guess to put up on their walls, though it would be cool if she shows up on one of their brochures or something;-)

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Here are some things she has been up to:

1. She started to get her 5th tooth in the beginning of January, but now her 6th and 7th teeth are coming through too!! She has 4 right now, 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom, and now has one coming through on the bottom right and left side of her 2 bottom teeth and one coming through next to her upper left front tooth! She has another one that may start to come through soon too:)

2. She has been standing up at the couch and has been cruising around them for awhile. She can pull herself up to stand pretty much anywhere, as long as she has something to hold onto.

3. She drinks just whole milk now. She started refusing her formula a month ago.

4. She eats only table food. Thank God, no baby food for her! Saves us some money:) YEA!!

5. She drinks out of her cups now instead of bottles...PTL!! NO MORE BOTTLES!! YEA!!

6. She can wave, clap, make kissing sounds like "mwaaaa", make clicking sounds with her tongue, and give big wet kisses, and say "uh oh", "momma", "dadda", "night night", put a cell phone to her ear and says "hello", and "cheese" when you try to take her pic:) They are all so cute!

7. She likes to babble and make lots of noise. Sometimes she sings and dances to some of the songs on the shows she watches;)

8. She usually wakes up sometime between 6:30am and 8am, and goes to bed usually between 6pm and 7pm.

9. She usually only takes about 2 naps now, and still puts her right pointer finger in her mouth and plays with her hair with her left hand when she gets tired;-)

10. She still has yet to say no(shake her head no) to ANY food I have given her!! She eats EVERYTHING!! I LOVE it!! When she is done though, she'll definitely let you know!! She either won't let you come near her mouth, or she'll pull the last bite out of her mouth. Lil' Chris used to just spit it out onto his bib:)

11. She'll pretty much copy anything you do, like making faces or noises or hand motions or even coughing;)

12. A few weeks ago she started putting her arms up when she wanted you to pick her up:)

13. She still has NO interest in walking yet!

If you would like to take a look back to my posts when she was first born, click on the months below(remember, they go backwards by date)...

1. January posts - Going into labor posts and Ayla's birth pics:)

2. February posts - The posts before we found out if she had CF or not, and more pics:) BTW, she does not, PTL!!!

3. All Ayla posts - This is every post I ever mentioned Ayla. I found them by putting her name in the section on the right hand side of my blog called "Search My Blog for Anything." This is a great tool, and I encourage you all to use it if there is something you are looking to learn about:) It shows 4 posts at a time. Just click on the title to read them and then hit your back button to click the next one. Click the numbers at the bottom of the fourth post to see more.

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, AYLA!!

WE LOVE YOU!

Love,

Momma, Dadda, & Lil' Chris

I hope you enjoyed a years worth of Ayla pics and posts;-)

M

PS. I'll post all about my fundraiser sometime this weekend:)

Nasal Polyps

Here is a great explanation of Nasal Polyps. I always wondered the whole story behind them. I always heard that a lot of CFer's get them. This may come in handy IF Lil' Chris ever gets them. I pray that he doesn't!!

I hope this helps you too and clears up any questions you might have had about them:)
M

CiCi's Fundraiser Went Great!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We had our first fundraiser of the year and it went great!! We had a lot of fun and raised some money for Cystic Fibrosis and got some awareness out to the public. Awareness is a big reason why I do these fundraisers. The more people who know about CF, the more money can be raised, and the closer we get to a CURE!!!

We raised about $600 thanks to my wonderful Kohl's team:)

Big THANK YOU to:

Aileen

Stacy A.

Barb

Stacy M.

Also a HUGE THANK YOU to Stacy A. for spreading the word about CF and the fundraiser and for her friend Amy who donated all the raffle prizes for the next 4 fundraisers!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

While we were at CiCi's doing the fundraiser, I talked to the manager about doing some more. So I set up some more dates....the last Thursday of Feb, March, April, and May. He said Thursday's are busier. Tonight(Tues) was slower than the times we did them last year, but it was very cold, windy, and snowy outside:( Hopefully Thursday nights will be better for us.

We had a Great Strides meeting before the fundraiser to go over some things for our walk coming up on May 1st. Thanks Erica and Mary for coming so we could plan for our big day in May:) I was happy to let them know that I raised $600 at Kohl's doing Jeans 4 Genes Days! Thank You To All My Wonderful, Generous Kohl's Associates!!!!! I also got Panera Bread to donate 100 bagels for our walk:) YEA!!!! The only other thing that I have done for the walk so far, is to get 2 radio stations announce it on-air closer to the walk date:) 94.1 and 104.5. Oh yeah, I also got our local TV company(Clear Picture) to put all my fundraisers and the walk on Channel 10 Community Notes:) I told them that I am planning on making another commercial for our CF walk too. It was a lot of work last year, so I better get started;0

Our next fundraiser is on Thursday 1/28 at Friendly's in Canton by the Belden Village Mall from 5pm-8pm. I can't wait, b/c this is my first time doing one at Friendly's:) I hope it goes well. If it does, then I might set up some more;) I'll let you know how it goes. Please keep spreading the word, b/c the more people, the more donations. Friendly's will donate 10% of EVERYONE'S bill from 5pm-8pm, and if we bring in over $1,000 in business(which the manager said isn't very hard), then they will donate 15% for every bill over that first $1,000!! YEA!!

M

CiCi's Pizza Fundraiser Tonight 4pm-8pm and Friendly's Fundraiser Thurs 5-8pm!!

Join us tonight(Jan 26th)

at

CiCi's Pizza in Wooster

and 10% of your bill

will go towards

a CURE

for

CYSTIC FIBROSIS!!

We will also be having a raffle:)

$1=1 ticket

or

$5=8 tickets

______________________________

Join us on Thursday(Jan 28th)

at Friendly's

in Canton by the mall

from 5pm-8pm

and up to 15% of your bill

will go towards

a CURE

for

CYSTIC FIBROSIS!!

There will be a raffle for a limited edition Ohio State basketball, signed by the Ohio State basketball coach, Thadd Matta!!

Please spread the word on your blog, facebook, or twitter to get as many people to come to these fundraisers for CF as possible!!

See you there;)

M

Lil' Chris Taking His Enzymes Whole with Juice!!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Here is the video of Lil' Chris at 2 1/2 years old taking his enzymes whole without applesauce and without a big straw!! YEA!!!

Here are the steps we took...
1. We started giving Lil' Chris one whole enzymes on top of a spoonful of applesauce, then started doing all 3 on one spoonful. We started this I think when he was about 1 1/2 years old. Before this, we would sprinkle them on top of the applesauce.
2. About 2-3 weeks ago (2 1/2 years old), I started letting HIM pick up the enzymes and place them on top of some applesauce and then feeding himself the enzymes. This taught him not to squeeze the enzyme or take it apart, and it got him to put it in his own mouth.
3. Last week I started the "Big Straw" method. I put the straw in a cup of milk and then pinched it at the top and put an enzyme in there and let him suck it up with the milk. He did ok with it. I would also let him put the enzymes in the straw. We started out with one, then started putting 2 in the straw at a time.
4. At this time, I started showing Lil' Chris how Mommy takes her pills(I have to take pills every time I eat too). I would tell him..."Look at Mommy take her pills" and then I would put my pills in my mouth and then take a drink. He watched every time and when I would swallow them and show him that they were gone, he would say "Good job, Mommy!"
5. After 2 days of the straw method, he started putting them in his own mouth and then would take a drink. A couple of times he would swallow them without any drink!! Only 2 times he kept it in his mouth too long and the lil' seeds came out. He quickly learned not to do that anymore. Now he does it like a pro!! Another thing I think that really helped him, was giving him lots of praise after each time he would do it right. I would give him a high five, a hug, a kiss, and I would tell him how proud I am of him. I think the first couple of times I might have jumped up and down with excitement;-) lol

I'm so proud of him every time I see him take his enzymes now:) It has made life soooooooo much easier. No hassle of the applesauce and no hassle of the big straw. We can now go out to eat somewhere and not have to worry about having applesauce, a spoon, or a big straw! I LOVE IT!!
M

Lil' Chris' BEST NEW MILESTONE EVER!!!! No Applesauce and now NO BIG STRAW!!

Today was so FANTASTIC!!!! Lil' Chris decided to surprise us....

This morning my husband talked him into picking up his enzymes and putting them into his mouth and THEN taking a drink!!! That's right....No applesauce for 2 days and now no applesauce AND NO BIG STRAW!!!! This kid amazes me everyday!! :) Praise the Lord!! I am in Heaven right now!!! My prayers have been answered! I couldn't be more happy and more proud of my boy!!

I have been waiting for this day ever since we starting feeding him spoonfuls of applesauce(with the enzymes sprinkled on top) when he was just 2 weeks old.

Yesterday he did a great job doing the "big straw" method, but was reluctant at times. Plus, I gotta admit...it was kinda a pain! I still think it was better than doing the applesauce, but my husband said he'd rather do the applesauce than the big straw. I told him we are NOT going back to the applesauce now. I guess that's why he decided to try to talk Lil' Chris into putting them into his mouth all by himself and then taking a drink. I have tried this many times off and on and he would NEVER do it. He would always spit it out. Well...my husband stood firm today and MADE him do it. It worked!! I think he started to realize that it wasn't so bad. He didn't cry or anything. Actually he took all 3 in a matter of a minute or 2!! My husband and I were SHOCKED!!

At his next meal, I stood firm and he took one, took a drink, took the 2nd one, took a drink, took the 3rd one, and took a drink! By dinner time he was taking TWO in a row and then taking a drink!! I was shocked! I only had to tell him once not to chew them. Oh yeah...and he started swallowing them BEFORE HE TOOK THE DRINK!! My jaw DROPPED!!

I can't tell you how much easier life is right now:) THANK YOU LORD!!! THANK YOU LORD!!! THANK YOU LORD!!!

M