Day 5: 26 Days of March of Dimes

So, now that all of the T-shirts have been ordered, I want to tell you a little bit about what Finn will be wearing on walk day.  You see, my biggest hesitation with using CustomInk.com for our T-shirts was that a Youth Extra Small (2-4) is going to SWALLOW my peanut child whole.  He's still so tiny!  Although, he has had a big growth spurt as of late as his head is FULLY above the tabletop of the table our TV sits on.  He used to just walk right into it.  Now, it's eye level, so it slows him down a bit...  Anyway - he is still in 12m shorts, some 12m shirts, and a few 18m shirts.  A 2-4?  Not gonna happen.  While I did go ahead and order him one just to have, I had to come up with SOMETHING different...

Last year, we used It's a Preemie Thing for our T-shirts, and they came out GREAT!  She specializes in preemie wear, so of course she had lots of onesies to choose from.  While CustomInk has onesies, they are very limited and end up being pretty pricey for just one.  Etsy to the rescue!  Since Dream Weaver Prints had already made the artwork, I just needed to find someone to screen it for me.  I was so lucky to come across a shop on Etsy that hand colors their own baby oneises, AND prints on them!  JACKPOT!  (More on this shop once I have the product in my hands!)  I have been working closely with her to get a onesie that will actually fit Mr. Finn, and still coordinate/match with the rest of the team!

Finn's Custom Onesie
Since I could make his super special and just for him, I changed it up just a bit.  The front screen on his shirt will say "Finn" where the Team shirts say "Finn's Fans."  After all, he is the Team Captain!

Front of Finn's onesie

I had the same feeling about the back print of the shirt as well.  The quote on the back of the Team shirt is by Winnie the Pooh and it says "As soon as I saw you I knew an adventure was going to happen."  Well, he IS the adventure.  That didn't make as much since on the back of his shirt.  So, Dream Weaver Prints went back to the drawing board.  Drawing from the popularity of the "subway style" art posters popping up everywhere, I made this for the back of his shirt - chock full of information about how he started and how far he has come.

Back of Finn's onesie

I am VERY excited to get this one in person as well!  She is hand dying the onesie to be a teal similar to the Team shirts, and the print will be a bright yellow (also similar to the Team shirts).  And, surprisingly, it was STILL cheaper than one from our Team shirt supplier in plain old (boring) white!  WOW! 

Come out to see us at Theta Pond on September 28 to see how the shirts all turned out!

Grasping at Straws

I am pretty sure I have never been more happy with one of my children accomplishing a simple task than I was last night!  HE GOT IT!  He really got it!  We have been grasping at straws – literally – for over 3 months to get Finn to transition from the bottle to a sippy cup as recommended by our pediatrician.  He hates sippy cups. HATES them!  This kid is strong, and opinionated, and he was having nothing of this sippy cup business.  So, friends suggested straws.  I know for a fact Emma and Lara got straw cups by about 7-8 months, and Jake by 10 months.  Finn just wants to bite down on the straw as hard as he possibly can!  Then pull it out of the cup!  UGH!   We even had one straw cup (highly recommended) by Playtex that you could squeeze to help get the flow started.  HE HATED IT!  You see where this is going, yes?

In my ever growing  love of the Internet and all things social media, I am lucky enough to find very resourceful pages to follow on Facebook.  Some of my favorites that I follow that deal with prematurity and the NICU are It's a Preemie Thing,  Peek-a-Boo ICU and Life After NICU.  Around Christmas time, someone posted about the “Mr. Juice Bear” from Beyond Play on the It's a Preemie Thing page.  I was very interested in it, but wasn’t ready to purchase it just yet. My mind changed about a week later after more unsuccessful attempts at sippy cups and straws. The special squeeze bear and tubing straws arrived Thursday night last week.  My mom tried it with him on Friday, but he just wanted to play with the cute bear!  I mean, he is cute…  (And yes, this is a honey bear bottle and basic tubing, but it works!)  But when I tried it Saturday at dinner, HE DID IT!  I had been squeezing the bear to prime it get the milk into his mouth, and suddenly one time he actually closed his lips and sucked the milk on his own!  And then he did it several more times!  

He has been using it, as well as the Playtex cup mentioned above, successfully all day!  He still tries to bite the straw more than he should, but he can do it!  He can close his lips and suck!  YAYAYAYAY!  So proud of him!

And in other news, we had Finn's 15 month / "I SHOULD BE ONE" photo shoot this week!  I am so impressed with Shawna Meyer and Touch of Wonder Photography!  We had a GREAT time in the mini-session we won back in the fall with her contest!  The hat and scarf he is sporting were the props I won from Shutterfly Prop Shop in the same contest.  This is the image Shawna posted as a sneak peek!  I can't wait to see the rest!

We Marched

It was cold, drizzly, and dreary.  All morning we prayed for the sun to make an appearance.  But, it didn't.  We dug out all the hats, scarves, and gloves we could find, loaded up the stroller, and the kids, and headed over to the pavilion at the lake for the March of Dimes March for Babies Stillwater.  We ate some hot dogs and cookies, drank some water, and then had our opening ceremony.  I even had a little speaking part in it!  Then, we walked.  The whole way.  All 6 of us, plus a few other Team Finn's Fans members.  It was cold.  But WE DID IT!  Even Jake (age 5) made it all the way around the 3.2 mile trail.  He did have a few less than stellar moments, but he MADE it! Because even he knows how hard babies fight to survive!

(We had everyone take off their coats and un-bundle for the pictures, but most of the time we were all covered up to stay warm! See how red Finn's nose is in the leading picture???)  it was COLD!!!!)

We KILLED our team goal, and turned in over $1650 as a team, earning us the award for most money raised by a family team.

We also entered the T-shirt contest sporting the awesome shirts done for us by It's a Preemie Thing - and we won!  SO PROUD of our team shirts!

Big Sister of a 1 pound miracle, Finn's Mommy, Big Brother of a 1 pound miracle, Finn's Daddy, Finn NICU Class of 2011, Finn's Aunt, Big Sister of a 1 pound miracle, Finn's Cousin

And here are a few other pictures of our cold, grey day.  So proud of our family and the passion they have for the March of Dimes. 

And now, we begin our reign as Ambassador Family!

It's the Final Countdown!

Finn - 1 month old

We cannot believe that Finn is turning ONE this Friday!! What a year it's been!!

This weekend is the March of Dimes - March for Babies Stillwater walk. We are so grateful for what this organization has done for us personally, and for what they do for every tiny baby and their families!  The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.  Our family believes passionately in this mission!

We've set a Finn's Fans team goal of $1500 and we are getting so, so close. We need to close out the walk donations by Wednesday evening - so the final push is on! We are $300 short as a team right now .... are there 15 individuals out there who would like to donate $20 each? Maybe 10 individuals who would donate $30 each? 4 individuals who would like to donate $75 each? There is a link at the bottom of this post to donate securely with your credit card online. Rather use a check or cash?  Comment, call, tweet, text, facebook, etc.,  and one of us can get in touch with you!

Are you local?  Can you Spare a Dime?  There is a small purple bucket in my office (325E Willard) where you can drop your dimes (or other spare change) to help Finn’s Fans meet our fundraising goals – and see pictures of Finn throughout the last year.

Why are we raising this money and walking? We are walking to give hope to the more than half a million babies born too soon each year. The money you donate supports programs in our communities that help moms have healthy, full-term pregnancies. And it funds research to find answers to the problems that threaten our babies. These walks have taken place since 1970 and have raised an incredible $2 billion to benefit all babies.

Click HERE and PLEASE help us help these TINY babies!!

 Come join us Saturday at Noon at Boomer Lake, to see our Finn's Fans team 
in our PURPLE "It's a Preemie Thing" shirts, too!

Monday Musings

My to do list is a bit more manageable this morning.  I got some things done this weekend (one of my deadlines passed), and Britt and I worked together on some of Finn's 1st Birthday party details.  I feel better about our progress for all of our events, but we still have a LONG way to go!

I have a bout 1/3 of my items tagged for the Adorable Affordables sale - but I have all the tags printed!  Until, of course, I find those 5 last minute items I stowed away somewhere and forgot about... I have to get cracking on hanging the clothes and pinning the tags on.

I just made my first "mock-up" for the party favors for Finn's party.  Things I learned...

• While paper is easier to fold than card stock, these will work much better with card stock
• cut precisely!
• I need a scoring tool!
• there is a fold missing on the template.  It won't work with out it.

Here is your sneak peak:

And you may have seem my Instagram (BetsWeave) earlier last week with this sneak peek that Finn will be revealing that day:

And, the March for Babies shirts are ordered!  I simply CANNOT wait to see them in person!  I think It's a Preemie Thing is printing them this week!  EEP!

And one last thing, Mr. Finn is in the running for the Gerber Generation Photo Serch 2012 in the "sitter" category!  Click on his badge to log into facebook, "Like" the Gerber page, and vote for him to win!

Got the T-shirt?

We are 43 days from the walk, and Finn's Fans are at 77% of our fundraising goal.  I am confident we will get there, but if you are still wanting to donate, please click on the March of Dimes march for babies logo on the right side of this page and do so soon so your contribution will count towards our total goal on October 6.  Or, read on to see how you can order a shirt for our team and add your contribution that way!

It is time to finalize our T-shirt order!!!!! 

We are ordering our custom Finn's Fans T-shirts from It's a Preemie Thing.  (All images on this post are from their Facebook page.)  They will all have the team name "Finn's Fans" on the front with the trademark preemie footprints indicating Finn's gestational age at birth (26 weeks) and birth weight (1 pound 14 ounces).  The back will say "Finn is proof miracles do happen."  They are all purple shirts, and they have white printing on them.  Available is all sizes - infant, youth, and adult.

The shirts will feature the March of Dimes March for Babies logo on one sleeve, and the It's a Preemie Thing logo on the other, as in the example pictured below:

The shirts vary in price based on size, but we have chosen to set the price at $20.  It's a Preemie Thing donates $2 of each team shirt sold to the national March of Dimes, and we will add any profit from the sale of our local shirts to Finn's Fans totals.

If you would like to show your support for Finn's Fans by purchasing a shirt, please email me with your size and an email to send you a paypal invoice (or arrange other payment).  I will be closing orders at 12noon on Tuesday, August 28, 2012.

So, here's the breakdown:

**Order your Finn's Fans T-shirt

**All sizes - infant, toddler, youth, adult

**Price is $20 - paypal preferred

**Orders close Tuesday at NOON!

Please comment here or email me if you have any questions!  Thank you for your support.  One day, all babies will be born healthy.

Finn's Fans

We are working diligently to raise funds for our Finn’s Fans March of Dimes March for Babies Team!  We are at 63% of our goal.  There are 52 days left until the walk!

Here is how you can join Finn's Fans!!

1. Join our walk here in Stillwater. By joining our walking team, you can set your individual fundraising goal that will be added to our team amount. Our totals will then go to the March of Dimes. (Click the link at the bottom of the post to go to our March of Dimes Team Page)  And by joining us to walk ... you will get an AWESOME Finn's Fans t-shirt!! (Check out some examples from It’s a Preemie Thing here: March for babies Team Shirts 2012

2. If you are unable to join us for the walk, you can still support our team and the March of Dimes by making a monetary donation. I can be as little as $1 and as much as $1 trillion!! (Click the link at the bottom of the post to go to our March of Dimes Team Page)

3. Times are tough ... we know that first hand. If a monetary donation is not in your budget, please join us in praying for all the walkers as well as all the March of Dimes researchers and organization.

We are truly blessed by your friendship and we thank you in advance!!

Britt & Betsey Weaver
Emma, Lara, Jake and Finn

Finn’s Story

Finn’s Fans event page on Facebook

March for Babies Finn's Fans Team Page

Name our March for Babies Team!

(For those of you new to our blog, see Finn’s Story here)

Hard to believe that tomorrow is the first day of August!  This summer has just flown by.  Which is good, and bad.  I am ready for school to start so the big kids can get back into a regular routine.  This summer has been nuts with their schedule changing every few days what with camp, trips, and play dates.  But, I am sad because my baby boy will be 10 months in a few days.  SO HARD to believe.

That means we have a little over 2 months to plan for 2 FABULOUS events!  The first is Finn’s 1^st birthday!  We have a theme picked out (thanks, again, Pinterest!), but no other details nailed down.  We also have an idea of our “big” gift to him, but there are still lots of plans to be made!  

But the other event is not just for Finn, but for ALL the families that have (or will have) premature babies.  It is the March of Dimes March for Babies.  The Stillwater March is on October 6 at Boomer Lake.  We are getting our team together, but first we need a NAME so we can sign our team up with the March of Dimes and set our fundraising goals!  Plus, we need a name so we can design our shirts!  We will be using “It’s a Preemie Thing” to print our shirts, and we have to have the name decided to get started on that planning as well.  They do a great job and the shirts are so cute!

This is where you come in!  We have listed below the “final contenders” for our team name.  Britt and I each came up with 5 names we liked, and this list is what we have.  (There aren’t 10 because there was some overlap on the choices!)

Finn’s Dream Weavers (since we call our family the Dream Weavers)

The Fighting FINNtastics (A take on the Fighting Temptations, and the word fantastic)

Finn’s Huckleberries (Huckleberry: to be just the right person for a given job)

 

Feet for Finn (It is a march, after all)

Finn’s Fans (this needs no more explanation)

Team Finn (a little GLEE reference…)

Finn’s Foot Soldiers (A nod to being Christian soldiers as well)

Finn’s Friends (*I’ll be there for you* – I know you are singing it in your head!)

Finn’s Fighters (Like an army)

Here’s how this is going to work.  In the comments section of this post, you can vote for UP TO TWO (2) NAMES for our team. VOTING ENDS AT 5:00PM CST ON FRIDAY AUGUST 3.  I will be keeping a tally of the votes in an excel spreadsheet (LOVE!).  Each person who votes for the winning name (one with the most votes) will be put into a drawing to win one of our team shirts.  In the event of a tie, the Dream Weaver Kids will make the final choice.  Please include contact information such as an email in your reply if you wish to be included in the drawing for the shirt.  If you are local and want to walk with our team, you will have a shirt to do so.  If you are not local, we will mail the shirt to you when they are ready!  So, get to commenting!  We are so grateful for you being with us every phase of this journey, and we want you to be involved in this step as well!

We will also post our fundraising information and goals once we get out team set up on the March of Dimes website this weekend.  If you would like a T-shirt (I will post pictures when the design is ready), you will be able to order one for $20.  Proceeds will be added to our team fundraising goal.  More info to come about that as well!  STAY TUNED!