Sunday, February 21, 2010

Mother's Day ~ May 9, 2010

I realize more every day how truly blessed we really are. Chris and I both have full time jobs, our puppy is pretty funny, his parents live very close, and my parents don't live too far away either. Both of our families are healthy, and our parents are all very sweet and kind. We have great friends and we are getting to spend time both growing individually and as a couple. And the weather has been B-E-A-UTIFUL these past few days.

Recently, I have been wanting to give back, but I wasn't sure how, and I hadn't really found anything that tugged at my heart. Well, today I did. While sitting at work, I was hitting the "next blog" button, and came across a very sweet family. Her daughter passed awy last year at the tender age of 2, but the blog talked a lot about the first 4 months of Maddie's life, where she lived in the NICU.

For some reason, this story really tugged at my heart. Someone brought "Care bags" and she said it was incredibly generous and helped ease some of her stress about things. This is amazing since she needed to put all of her time and focus on Maddie.

So, I have decided I am going to make some "Care bags" for one of the local NICUs. I know it will take me awhile to get all of the items, so I figure these would be GREAT mother's day gifts for these families. I would like to make 10 bags, and any help would be greatly appreciated. I pulled the instructions that Maddie's mom used when she "paid it forward" and made bags.

"Ways to Help -
1. You can donate money to be used to purchase products for the bags. I will be going and getting stuff for these bags over the next few weeks.
2. You can donate products. I've put together a list of ideas, and most of the products are pretty inexpensive. Here's the list:

-hand lotion (extreme care)
-chap stick
-kleenex
-antibacterial lotion
-energy bars
-gum, mints, and mouthwash
-toothbrush and toothpaste
-hairbrush
-wetwipes
-oatmeal cookies (oatmeal is good for breast milk production)
-a notebook and pen to journal thoughts, procedures, etc.
-Disposable cameras (so other people can take pictures when the parent's are not there)
-trail mix
-bottle for water
-crossword puzzle or sudoku (anything to help the time pass)

3. You can donate food. As you might have noticed, there are a few food items on the list above, but I'm sure any food would be appreciated. If you live close and want to make something homemade, I'll get it from you the day before Mother's day (May 8).

4. Time. For anyone who lives close, I think it would be fun to have someone to go shopping with, decorating the bags, and delivering the bags.

I know Mother's Day is over two months away, however, if I'm going to do this I want to do it right, and I think taking time to make sure they are perfect will make them even more special. ANY help would be great. Like I said, I would like to make 10 bags, so I need at least 10 of the above items. Thanks again guys and God Bless.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

p.s. I will keep updating on how its going as time goes on.

2 comments:

  1. What an amzaing daughter I have raised! Count me in to help anyway I can. It will be a blessing to everyone involved

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