4th Annual PICU Gift Drive

Welcome to the 4th Annual PICU Gift Drive in Memory of Averie Elizabeth

For those of you new to the gift drive, here is our story...

"Our daughter, Averie, was diagnosed with mitochondrial disease at the age of 4. She spent a lot of time in and out of hospitals, especially in the last few months before she passed away. We spent from August 2011 to October 2011 bouncing between Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford and Spokane Sacred Heart Children's Hospital...so much that it became home to us. When Averie passed away November 13th, 2011 (age 7), it was heartbreaking and unexpected. I always had hope that she would be healed and be herself again someday, the heartbreak was even harder because it was right before the holidays. 

Many people sent cards, flowers and support, but when my husband's military unit decided to donate toys to the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) instead of sending flowers to us, we decided to match their efforts. 

With the help of family and friends we ended up to donating almost 60 sets Kohl's Cares books and stuffed animals to the PICU at Sacred Heart that first year!"

Averie- age 7
This is the last picture we have of her before she started having constant seizure activity.
She would pass away 4 months later.

Since starting our annual gift drive, we've heard such great feedback from families that received the sets. Our goal each year is to raise enough money to buy a set Kohl's Cares book/toy for each child who stays in the PICU during the month of December. We know how hard it can be to have to spend the holidays in the hospital and we think these beautiful gifts will help make a child smile and make a very special Christmas gift!

Have you heard of Kohl's Care's? They are high quality books and stuffed animals that you can buy for $5 each - 100% of the net profit of these books and toys is donated to kid's health and education initiatives nationwide. Win win!

This years theme is Classic Disney Animals, like Simba, Dumbo and 101 Dalmations!

(this event is not sponsored by Kohl's, we just REALLY LOVE the quality and cost of these books and toys!)

Seriously adorable and I can't stress enough how much it means to the families who are spending their holidays in the hospital.

To make this gift drive work we need your help! 

A donation of just $10 buys a book/toy combo!

Just $10!! 

We need to raise enough to buy at least 60 sets- if not more!! ( last years event raised enough to buy over 110 sets!! That's almost two months worth of gifts! )

AMAZING!!!

Even the smallest donation helps!

Pleas visit our fundraising page!

4th Annual PICU Gift Drive - Go Fund Me

I encourage you to share share share this!

A Halloween Gift

This year Halloween was pretty much as perfect as it can get. It was beautiful weather, my darling little Elle got to dress up and trick or treat for the first time and we finished up the day with a steaming bowl of chili and cinnamon rolls( a weird N. Idaho combination I still really don't understand...)

I am usually a last minute costume shopper, but this year was a little different. I connected with another mother, Melody, who's daughter also had Alpers( read about it here) like my older two children. Her daughter passed away this year on my son's birthday...she messaged me that day and we bonded instantly...not just  because our kids passed away, but because of this story she told me.

Here is her story in her words...

"Leah came home from the hospital (she came home the day before Thanksgiving). She was initially doing very well, much better than when she was in the hospital. She had a g-tube placed the beginning of Feb. and I guess it was around April/May she first started to deteriorate. She was sleeping more and just having a harder time. It was extremely difficult for me to see knowing this was truly the beginning of the end for my only baby. One night, a particular bad night for my girl, I was very emotional and just a mess. When I brought her to bed with me, crying and holding my beautiful girl's hand, I prayed and I prayed. I prayed for a sign that after she died, she would be okay. I needed to know she would be okay and not alone. I never left her...even before her seizures started, I could never not be with her. And it was tearing me up in side to know we would be apart. I honestly thought about taking my own life to be with her, so she wouldn't be alone. So, I prayed for a sign and cried myself to sleep. That very night, I dreamed of your angel. Averie came to me and although she never uttered a word, she told me Leah would be okay. It was as if she did speak, but I didn't hear her with my ears....I heard her with my heart and soul. I would never be able to convey the peace that gave to me. I believe your girl was my sign from God. I was able to come to terms with my daughter's death afterward. I was still heartbroken and sad. I still would sometimes cry myself to sleep. But, I knew she would be okay when it was her time and I didn't feel or have thoughts to go with her anymore.
She died on August 29th. She was 19months old. Come to find out, this was your other angel's birthday....I took it as an additional sign, my girl was in good company in heaven."

I cry every time I think about Melody's story because I know that she has found the peace that I have...we are far from done grieving, but I know that our angels are there with us and everything is OK. She, like I, uses her creativity as an outlet to deal with the grief. She sews the most beautiful children's clothes...they are such good quality and you can feel the love she puts into them.... I would buy everything she makes if I could afford too! One day she posted that she really wanted to make a Dorothy costume...which just happened to be my daughter Averie's favorite movie. She watched it all the time and even dressed as Dorothy one year for Halloween. We actually had Wizard of Oz on loop during the last month that Averie was at home before she passed away. She couldn't communicate with us, but every time the movie was on her heart rate would calm down and she seemed so at peace. I mentioned this to Melody and she insisted on making and sending Ellery the costume. Bless her heart!!

Averie- Halloween 2009

 Of course you can imagine how much this touched me...it just seemed like my little angel in heaven was sending me a message this time...letting me know she would be right there with me always. Within a couple of days the costume was here and I was bawling like a baby...it was so beautiful and brought back a flood of memories that I will cherish forever! Do I have you crying yet? Cause I am... If that's not enough, we are doing our 2nd Annual PICU Gift Drive and one of the book/toy sets is Wizard of Oz and Toto! I don't think that is a coincidence!

Here are some other pictures from Halloween this year...!

She just steals my heart everytime I look at her!

Please check out Melody's Facebook page Myleah: Clothes and Bows !

Stairway Art

I have been MIA these last couple weeks... due to being in full on nesting mode!
Which is a good thing and means I have been knocking projects off my list left and right. I also celebrated my 30th birthday in there and had my parents come visit for a week! Who says turning 30 isn't a blast!?

Having my mom stay with me was a HUGE blessing! She helped with many of the little projects that desperately needed done( like hanging tons of baby cloths and ripping down offending border in the baby's room)! She also helped with a few projects I was too afraid to tackle on my own. One of those was my stairway photo wall... I have a very hard time committing on where to hang artwork, my mom on the other hand just goes for it! Her house is an example of how to hang art work correctly...it all makes sense and is always the right scale for its location. I don't know how she does it! I, on the other hand, way over think everything...which is why my mud room is pretty much an art work storage area. Kinda sad! SO...while she was here, I asked if she would help me hang pictures in my stairwell. I wasn't going to hang much art work until the walls and trim got painted (notice the lovely honey colored stair rail ..blah..), but I think my nesting mode makes me want our house to feel more lived in. Thankfully my mom took on the task and showed me a thing or two in the process!

I had a ton of black framed family photos and an empty one I wanted to make a sign for. We got the idea to add a few other empty frames to balance out the first one!

{Averie's Tree}

We planted {Averie's Tree} to celebrate our beautiful angel's 8th birthday. We picked this Weeping Cherry Tree...

 it depicts everything I feel when I think about Averie. Every spring( hopefully right around her birthday!) we will get to see it bloom Averie's favorite color, PINK!  How precious is that! I picked the weeping tree to represent both my sadness and my happiness. I miss my daughter so much, but I know she is in heaven...playing with her brother...running, riding horses, dancing, singing,...all the things that she slowly lost the ability to do here on earth. Every time I see this tree I will think of her strength to fight and grow. The wispy flowing branches remind me of her spirit, free and beautiful.

The pink blooms remind me of her diva side, all princess all the time. This tree is also a place for me to come when I miss her,...something to watch each year become bigger and even more beautiful, just like she would've done if she were here.

I envision many years to come...of Ellery playing under this tree...of family picnics in the shade of its branches...the anticipation of those first spring blossoms...seeing the branches blow in the breeze from my office window...always there.