Hockey for a Great Cause!

We are so excited about Saturday night! When the Huntsville Havoc take on the Jacksonville Barracudas at the VBC, they'll be wearing special "pink" jerseys. That's right - PINK jerseys. The jerseys will have the Melissa George Neonatal Memorial Fund logo on them. Then after the game, they'll auction off these game-worn jerseys and 100% of the money raised will go to Melissa's Fund.

This is an important fundraiser for us because it's time to replenish the fund, so to speak. We recently bought eight cardiac monitors for the NICU at Huntsville Hospital and we need to build our funds back up so we can buy the next piece of equipment the NICU needs.

The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. In fact, Chris and Ann Catherine are going to drop the puck! It's going to be a great night and we hope you'll join us! To learn more about ticket prices or to see a seating chart of the VBC, go to www.huntsvillehavoc.com.

Two Months Old!

I can't believe it! Lilybell (my nickname for her) is two months old! Time flies when you're not getting any sleep :) Actually, I can't complain. This weekend she slept through the night for the first time! We put her down around 10pm and she didn't wake up until 6:30 am! Of course, since this is my second child I knew better than to get excited. And just as I suspected, she woke up twice the next night. Oh well, you can't have it all.

I don't know how much Lily weighs, because we haven't been to the doctor lately. But I do know she's a little chunk - and I mean that in a good way :) Believe me, after giving birth to a 1 lb 15 oz baby, I can tell you there's nothing better than a fat baby! And even though they are 18 months apart, I think Lily will probably catch up to Ann Catherine in size in about a year. Why do I think that? Because at Christmas, Lily wore an outfit that Ann Catherine wore last Christmas. Why is that surprising? Because Lily was 6 weeks at Christmas, and when Ann Catherine wore the outfit she was 6 months!! See what I mean? I guess that's just the difference in having a term baby and having a preemie!

Happy New Year!

Some years are better than others. To be honest, Chris and I were happy to see 2005 go. Although it brought indescribable joy with the birth of Ann Catherine, it also brought unbelievable pain with the death of our daughter Melissa. I was truly happy when the year came to an end.

2006 was completely different. In April, we learned we were pregnant again. In June, we celebrated Ann Catherine's first birthday. In August, we had our first annual Swim for Melissa and raised more than $40,000 for the Melissa George Neonatal Memorial Fund. That money allowed us to buy new life-saving equipment for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Huntsville Hospital. And in November, we welcomed the arrival of our newest miracle - Lily Baker. This year has truly been amazing!

We are hoping that 2007 brings us just as much happiness. After all we have been through, we no longer take that happiness for granted!

Here's hoping 2007 brings you peace and prosperity! Happy new year!

Our Christmas Dilemma

Our family had so much to be thankful for this Christmas! 6 weeks before Christmas, Lily Baker came into our lives. That's the greatest gift we could ever have asked for! And despite her early entry into the world, Ann Catherine is healthy and thriving. We are so blessed!

Having said that, we faced a Christmas dilemma this year: What do you get a 6 week old baby for Christmas? Lily didn't really need any toys. Number one, she's too young to really play with anything yet. And number two, we already have a playroom full of toys! So we decided to take the practical approach. We bought things for her room. We bought pictures to hang on the walls. And she also got a lamp and a mirror for her dresser. I know it's not that exciting, but it's stuff we really needed. And she's too young to even know what's going on this Christmas so I took advantage of it :) I'm sure next year will be an entirely different story!

As for Ann Catherine, Santa brought an awesome gift - an Elmo chair! Ann Catherine loves Elmo and loves to sit in her chair and watch TV. I've attached a picture of her on Christmas morning sitting in her chair playing with her new learning table.

Christmas took on such an incredible meaning for us this year! At times it was hard to believe how blessed we are! Our family felt so complete this year with the addition of Lily. I hope your holidays were just as happy!

p.s. If you're wondering why I didn't post any pictures of Lily, it's because she slept all day on Christmas :) What a life!

Spirit of Hope

What an amazing night! Tuesday, December 12th was the 2nd Annual "Spirit of Hope" Tree Lighting at Huntsville Hospital for Women and Children. Part of the proceeds from the tree lighting go to the Melissa George Neonatal Memorial Fund. Last year, we raised enough to buy a transport ventilator for the Kids Care ambulance. Premature children who are born outside of Huntsville are brought to the hospital aboard that ambulance. The ventilator they had on board was old, so we were so happy to be able to buy a new one. Premature babies are often born with lung problems and they need to go on a ventilator after they are born to help them breathe. This year, the NICU is in need of more cardiac monitors. We hope to buy 6-8 of them from the money raised from this tree lighting. I don't have an exact amount raised yet, but I do know that as of Tuesday, we had already sold more lights than this time last year. My sincere thanks to all of you who supported the tree lighting this year, and who have supported Melissa's fund in the past. 100% of your donation goes straight into the NICU to buy equipment and other things the nurses and doctors need. Your donation truly does make a difference. You are helping the doctors and nurses save the tiniest lives, and as the mother of one of those "miracles", I can't thank you enough!

This year's tree lighting was extra special for us. Not only was Ann Catherine there, but Lily joined us also. Melissa's fund is a huge part of our lives, and we want Ann Catherine and Lily to, not only take part, but to know how Melissa's short life is impacting premature babies and their parents. To learn more about our fund, click here.

Merry Christmas!

Today I dressed the girls up in their Christmas outfits and attempted to get a picture. We thought there was no way Ann Catherine would cooperate, but she did! Lily slept through the entire thing. I just thought I would share the pictures with you. Merry Christmas!

Double the Trouble, Double the Fun

Wow! I never realized that adding just one more child into the mix could change things so much. Some days I don't know if I'm coming or going :) The mornings are just complete chaos. Ann Catherine is walking all over the place, pulling things out of cabinets and such. And just when it's time for Ann Catherine to eat, Lily decides she's hungry too and starts crying. And then when I start feeding Lily, Ann Catherine brings a book to me and wants me to read to her. Talk about multi-tasking! Some days I feel like I'm "learning on the job" - which I guess I am. This is - without a doubt - the hardest job I have ever had!

Having said that, I wouldn't trade this life for anything! I feel like my family is complete. After Melissa died, Chris and I always felt like something was missing. Even though Ann Catherine brought us more joy than we could ever imagine, we still felt like our family was missing such an important part. Lily has brought such a sense of completion to our family. She in no way replaces Melissa. No one could ever do that. But she has truly completed our family. We feel so incredibly blessed. When we lost Melissa, it was the worst pain I had ever experienced. At that point, I never could have dreamed that God would bless our family in this way. It's so true that his time is not our time. And while nothing will ever take away the pain of losing Melissa, Lily has brought so much happiness to our family. She'll never know how she has changed us.