March of Diapers!

Update: We have 120 sets of diapers sponsored. My goal was 100, but don't let that stop you from sponsoring a set or 10!

Hi everybody,

Cohen here again. Sometimes when my mom thinks I'm napping I sneak over to her computer to write to you guys. Me and some other people are doing this thing called the March of Dimes in May. I'm pretty excited about it because I finally get to get out of the house and see a whole bunch of people. Oh, and I get to help raise money for little babies like me and my brother. 

The original team goal for the March of Dimes was $500. Well, we passed that up and have $1700!! I don't really know how much that is, but Mom says it's good. So, now we raised our team goal to $2000. The thing is, my mom has only raised $95 of that and she feels like she can do a lot better than that. My GRAMMA has raised more money than her! Mom says she's feeling a little bit embarrassed about it. Maybe people are tired of giving or are just busy and forget. Mom says this is near and dear to her heart so she's not going to give up yet! I thought maybe I could help her out a little bit.

I've been trying to think of a new way to help her fundraise. I told her it would be a good idea to combine the two projects she's already working on. She has this new friend, Megan, who she's been working with, who also lost one of her twins to TTTS. Megan started this project to make tiny diapers to give to families that have lost babies. She lives far away and calls Mom and me the Seattle branch. Mom is pretty proud because she just completed the first set of 60 diapers to take to the hospital here in Bellingham. Her next set will be of around 120 diapers to give to UW, the hospital me and Carter were born at.

Mom says she loves this little project because it would have been really meaningful to her to have a little diaper to put on Carter. A little piece of normal in the chaos. The diapers fit babies as small as 20 weeks and fit up to 36 weeks. Each family is given 2 diapers, one for the baby and one for the family as a keepsake. See that little diaper on the right? That's the size Carter and I would have worn when we were born.

So, here's the plan. In order to help keep Mom motivated, and to raise money for other preemies like me and Carter through the March of Dimes, you can sponsor a set of diapers (2 individual diapers, one for baby, one for family) or a larger set of diapers! It's pretty much a win, win situation. Diapers for babies and families and donations straight to the March of Dimes for preemies. Click here to donate and then be sure and let me know that you did.

Sponsor:

 One set of diapers $2

Set of 5 diapers (10 individuals) $5

Set of 20 diapers (40 individuals) $20

AND, if you sponsor any diapers, leave a comment or email me at keepingupwiththekimmels@gmail.com. At the end, we will have a drawing and the winner gets to babysit ME while Mom sews all these diapers. AND the winner can pick the next hospital (after UW) that she donates the diapers to (local to me or local to you)! Thanks everybody, little preemies need your help so they can grow big and strong like me! I gotta go before Mom catches me...If you have any questions just let me know, I will try and sneak back at my next naptime.

Go Team Cohen and Carter!

The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. Please join us in helping other preemies.

Easter Weekend - Sunday

Easter morning! He is risen! I had been looking forward to Sunday all weekend. This was a very special Easter for us. We were finally bringing Cohen to church for the first time. I had left a little Easter basket for Danny on the couch the night before. I woke up in the morning with Cohen and came out to the couch to see Easter baskets. Danny has been making me an Easter basket every year since we started dating. I thought he had forgotten/been too busy with his wisdom teeth and all, but nope. He remembered. And it made me very happy. I love that he does this every year and this year he made one for Cohen, too. So, I let Cohen dig through his basket and took a few pictures.

 

I decided not to get Cohen or I dressed until right before we left so that he wouldn't ruin either of our outfits. I had a small moment when I realized that I didn't even know how to take a baby to church! Do I bring his carseat? Do I bring his toys? What if cries? Or burps? Or starts doing his poop grunt? I ended up packing him a small bag, a blanket to swaddle him if he got too wild, and his carseat because we can cover it and sometimes we can get him to go to sleep in there. 

 {This was the best family picture we got...not used to that thing they call "the sun"}

Gramma and Grampa decided to come to our church with us since it was a big day for the little man. We got to church early to claim a spot in the last row where I could sneak out if with Cohen if I needed to. I wasn't quite sure how Cohen would do because he's been a little wild the last couple days with all the activity. We played his calming CD for him before we left which seemed to help a little. I had told our pastor's wife that we would be bringing Cohen on Easter Sunday. She told our pastor who said he was going to announce that we were there. I figured he would forget, but sure enough they announced that we were there with Cohen for the first time and then made us stand up so people could see Cohen. Our pastor gave a brief little overview of what had happened, that Cohen was born at 1 lb 8 oz (which is always so shocking to hear) and that we had lost his twin brother. They also gave us a rose which was really special. Unfortunately, I forgot the rose at church and didn't realize it till we got home. Danny tried to go back for it, but everyone must have left in a hurry for their Easter lunches! 

 Anyway, Cohen made through the first part of church before he was just getting too wiggly and I had to take him out. We walked around the church a little and then sat on a pew right outside the sanctuary where we could still hear things going on but where less people could hear Cohen's babbling and loud sigh/yawning. After awhile Gramma came out and relieved me and I went back to the service. It was so good to have him there and we got to show him off to a few people. Even though it was his naptime, Cohen refused to sleep so we were sure he would take a nice, long nap when we got home. Nope. He slept for 45 minutes and then was up. 

{Gramma and Grampa in the back with Cohen}

We went over to my parent's for Easter dinner and birthday cake for my nephews and my brother. My mom always gets a balloon for Carter at each holiday so we can remember him. We took it outside to let it go. They always blow in the direction of our house :)

 

{Excited to send his brother a balloon}

  {Getting ready to let it go...}

 {There it goes, over to our house. We love you Carter!}

Easter Weekend - Saturday

We originally had plans to go to Seattle to have lunch with some of my friends, but we had to cancel because one of them had a cold. It was probably for the best since I had been sick with a cold all week too. So, instead, Saturday morning we went to the Green Barn with Gramma while Dad mowed the lawn. Cohen got to sample an orange while he was there and he loved it. Of course.

After our little outing, Gramma brought us some hard boiled eggs to decorate. We didn't dye any this year, but we did add some bling with glue and modge podge. Pretty fancy huh? Unfortunately, I left them on the table to let the glue dry and totally forgot about them. I found them later that night...so I guess we won't be eating them anyway. I don't like them anyway so I'm not that upset about it.

Saturday night Danny met up with some friends for a birthday/going away party for our friend Jimmy who is getting deployed. I had a nice quiet night at home watching some shows on hulu.

Easter Weekend - Friday

Please forgive the following mass amount of posts...we had a really fun weekend and I have lots I want to remember. Both my boys are in bed early after a busy weekend so I figure I better do it now while I can.

Every year my sister Karen puts on an Easter egg hunt for the kids. She always gets good candy and has lots of eggs. She added a few more this year for me Cohen. It was hailing like crazy about an hour before the hunt but then all of a sudden the sun came out. We walked down to the little park, which is right in between all of our houses, to see if she needed any help spreading out the eggs. But, she was already done! So, we just walked around and let Cohen plan his route.

 {This is what you do with them, right Mom?}

 {Family}

 {I think I'll save this one for later...}

 {Those big kids got nothin' on me...}

 {Egg? Where?}

{Cousins}

{Checking out his loot}

 {Giving Gramma kisses}

Easter

Easter has taken on a new meaning for me. I've heard the Easter story over and over since childhood. I have always known the facts that Jesus died on the cross and rose again after 3 days.

This year, I feel like I have a different understanding. I can relate to the pain that God must have felt watching his son die. And, he understands my pain because he has been there too. He knows what I am going through. Although the circumstances are obviously very different, I know what it's like to feel your heart break and to experience the loss. And God allowed this to happen, for you and for me. I'm not sure I can say that I would ever be able to give up my son's life for someone else's, especially a bunch of sinners.

The importance of Jesus' death and resurrection have also taken on a new meaning. There is a new depth of understanding in the fact that without Jesus, without his choosing to die and overcoming death, we wouldn't have the hope of seeing Carter again. Some days, knowing that I will get to see Carter again is one of the only things that keeps me going. I can rest in the knowledge that my son is safe and even better, he is in the presence of the one who created him! I am thankful for a love so deep that someone would give up their own life for me. Someone who would take on every single thing I ever have and will do wrong and take my punishment and then allow me to be in heaven with him forever. So thankful for what God has done for me!

I'm not scared of death anymore, it has been conquered! That has never been more real to me than this year.

If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge aginst those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died - more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
                                                                                              Romans 8:31-39

Happy Easter!

Fess Up Friday

* After not eating real food for a few days (this is a VERY big deal for Danny), I was reading off all the Burger King coupons to him and he finally yelled at me to stop saying Whopper because he was sad he couldn't have one. Then he accused me of taunting him. Poor boy has taken to changing the radio station whenever an ad comes on about food.

* I'm a pretty big baby when I get sick. I tell everyone I have the plague.

* Danny had his wisdom teeth out Friday. Sunday night I woke up in the middle of the night in a panic,
asking him if he had been taking his antibiotics to which he replied "What antibiotics?" Whoops, nurse fail.

* I have special superpowers. I can tell how a day is going to go way ahead of time. Like when I am up changing a poopy diaper at 3 am and glance over to see the cat barfing on the rug, I know it might be a rough day. I know, it's amazing. 

* I may have eaten an entire loaf of french bread by myself. I'm not exactly sure how it happened so fast, but based on the fact that Danny couldn't eat real food...it was either me or Cohen.

* I stayed in my pajamas more days than I got dressed this week. 

* We are sneaking Cohen to church for the first time on Easter!

* And, in the spirit of confessing...I usually take about 10 pictures of Cohen to get ONE good one..most of them look like this

 {Oh, and here are his chompers! You can see them better now, but it's too hard to get him to hold still to take a picture. See above}

10 Months

Cohen, you are 10 months old (6 months 3 weeks adjusted)! This means you will be ONE in only 2 months...how time flies. You continue to amaze us every day with the new things you are doing. You watch us and the world around you intently, trying to take everything in. You want to do anything and everything. It's like you know how hard it was to get here and stay here and so you want to take full advantage of life. I hope you keep that throughout your whole life.

You are still a very busy boy and you want to experience everything you can.

- You weighed 15 lbs 15.5 oz and were 27 inches long at your appointment a few weeks ago. It always amazes me that you could be 15 lbs heavier and 14 inches longer than when you were born!! And yes, I will still be saying this when you are a teenager.

- You can get up on all fours and rock back and forth. You can also turn circles and scoot backwards.

- You say "hey" (your OT got it on video!)

- You went to church for the first time on Easter

- You have 2 little teeth

- You are very polite when you wake up, yawning loudly, talking softly...if that doesn't work to wake up
 Mom and Dad then you yell a little.

- You found and ate your toes for the first time at your OT appointment! I almost cried because it was such a "normal" baby thing to do and it was so sweet. 

{A little yogurt for lunch}

Please say a little prayer that Cohen doesn't catch this cold I have! I'm hoping that maybe he is the one that gave it to me since he had a little cold last week (which I was blaming on teething).