March for Babies Kick-Off

Today, i am kicking off my personal March for Babies campaign. My goal this year is to personally raise $2000.00 for the March of Dimes.

I have donated to many charities over the years and what I have found about the March of Dimes is that the mission is always at the center of their fundraising. Every event I go to or meeting I attend, there is always someone their talking abou their experience with the March of Dimes. The March of Dimes is so much more grass-roots than other non-profits I have been exposed to.

I always say that if it were not for the March of Dimes, my boys would not be here. I don't always tell everyone why this is the case.

My boys needed Surfactant to breathe when they were born as they were born with respiratory distress due to their prematurity and small size. Without it they would have died!

This is why I am forever grateful to the March of Dimes research....

The March of Dimes has a long history of funding research on newborn lung development and has invested over $12.5 million in researchers studying this important issue. One of the most important breakthroughs in this field was the work of T. Allen Merritt, MD, at the University of California San Diego Medical Center. His research showing the effectiveness of surfactant therapy for premature babies with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) helped convince the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve surfactant therapy to prevent and treat RDS. Surfactant is a detergent-like substance produced in the lungs that aids in breathing. Since surfactant therapy became widespread, infant deaths due to RDS have dropped by over two-thirds. The March of Dimes continues to support research to develop new and more effective surfactant therapies.

The FDA didn't approve Surfactant until the 1980's. That is in all of our lifetimes. Had we been born this little and premature, we would have died. That fact always puts this into perspective for me. There is still so much work to be done so half a million babies have a healthy start in life.

Please help me support the March of Dimes by going to www.marchforbabies.com/karenuad

Here you will find my Walk team and how to sign up to walk with us or donate to our team.

Where is Santa?

I was telling my friend Heidi this cute story and she said "oh you have to right that down." I don't know why I haven't blogged this yet. So here it is..

I took the boys to the bank to deposit some checks. I thought the bank I went to had a drive through teller but it didn't so I was forced in 2 degrees weather to take the kids into the bank. I was giving the teller my checks when I hear both my boys shouting "HO HO HO". Everyone in the bank looks and they are pointed to a dear old man who was short, stocky with a grey beard and rosy cheeks from being out in the cold. I tried to quiet them down but louder they point and shout "HO HO HO". Everyone cracked up laughing while I shhhed them telling them it wasn't SANTA. In the end, I hated to spoil it for them so I decided to tell them Yes, santa is at the bank.

Just ask my kids where santa is...they will shout "AT THE BANK" with delight.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a blessed holiday season. The new year is upon us and I have lots I want to accomplish this year.

1. I always have a New Year Resolution to send birthday cards out. I admire those people who always remember birthdays with cards that always make it to the recipient on time. I am always good for a birthday phone call and chat but cards have never been my thing. I say every year that this will change and I will again attempt it.
2. I want to get better organized. My new laptop will definately help with this. I can stay in bed and pay bills, blog, work etc. I just love this thing!!!
3. I want to work on my blog more. I want to customize it to fit my personality. Just have to learn how!
4. This year another mom and I who volunteer with the March of Dimes will be starting a NICU support group. This is a big project but will be so rewarding when it is up and running. I can't wait to report how the year goes with this.

5. This year I will get to my pre-marriage weight!! After years of infertility, twin pregnancy and emotional eating through 3 1/2 months in the NICU, it is about time I am able to fit back into my wedding ring. 15 pounds already gone, only 15 more to go!!!

6. This year Liam and Tommy will start pre-school. I feel the tears already welling in my eyes. Can't believe these were my 1 pound babies.

I won't bore anyone else with the rest. I am hoping for a highly successful and rewarding year. It is already off to a great start. Mark's new job is allowing for so much more family time which eases up so much stress on the both of us.

I also got a new digital camera for Xmas. I am just learning to use it so here are some photos during a pre-bedtime photo shoot!

TOMMY

William

New Mission--finding a cure for diabetes

This past weekend, my dear 9 year old niece, allison was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. It makes me sick to my stomach to even type that. Our entire family is very upset but for some reason i am taking it extra hard. Sick children just tears me to pieces and when it is someone that i love so much it is horrible.

So this post is dediated to Allison. Who has brought so much strength to our family.

Allison was born just 9 days after my sister, Laura died from a horrific battle with tongue cancer. Allison is the reason our family pulled it together and had hope again. She was the bright spot in a very dark time for all of us. She is much to young to know the significance of the timing of her birth or how it affected our family.

Allison has always loved life. She has always been full of energy. She loves animals and babies. i always tell her that when he grows up and gets married, she should have 10 kids and 5 dogs. She will someday be an amazing mother. She loves to take care of things. She even called me all the way from Hawaii so i could make sure her Webkinz were all taken care of. LOL.

She loves my little dudes beyond words. If she hasn't seen them in a week, she will call to set up a time to see them. It melts my heart to see the way she mothers them and loves them. She will never know what that means to me. She can spend hours with them and not ever be bored with them.

She has a strength and confidence about her that I never had at her age. She is never afraid to talk to adults. She tells you what she wants and she knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. This will suit her well with what she is facing now.

She is just in the learning stage of how diabetes will change her life but if I know my Allison, her life won't skip a beat. She will find ways to manage this chronic beast and live life to its fullest at least I sure pray this is the case. It potentially can be life-changing and i am sure in some ways it will. It would be tragic for her to lose her zest for life.

My prayer is that in her lifetime we see a cure for this disease. She did nothing to deserve this but I am sure she will be an example to us all on what strength really is.

Love you Allie!

husband tag

I got tagged from Laura at A View from Our House. She has beautiful engagement and wedding photos on her blog. I don't have a scanner for old pics and most of you know what my husband looks like although he looks completely and I mean completely different from when we first met. Even his sisters didn't recognize him in a photo I have sitting behind our kitchen sink.

Anyway, here's the tag...

1. Where did you meet your husband? In Mike Warbel's dorm room, my junior year at John Carroll University. I was on my way to dinner and then Mass. Mark said "you can't eat before recieving communion". I told my roomate Meg, "he's cute, too bad he is a jerk".

2.How long did you date before you got married? 8 long years. When we eventually did get married it was the right time!
3. How long have you been married? 6 years
4. What does he do that surprises you? Not much that surprises me. He did bring me home a puppy as a surprise.

5. What is your favorite feature of his? his strong body.

6. What is his best quality? determination and motivation and sense of humor.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? he as 2. 1. kare 2. O.K (stands for Oblivious Karen)

8. What is his favorite food? Pizza
9. What is his favorite sport? To perform, Powerlifting, to watch Football and Fighting (if that is a sport).

10. When and where did you first kiss? The day finals were over; outside Tavern Company (aka Tav Co). i laid one on him. it was wonderful!

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? just spend time together. We used to play a lot of scrabble. We like to take walks and take road trips. Time in a car is good quality us time.
12. Do you have any children? Miracle momo twins who defied all odds, AKA little dudes!
13. Does he have any hidden talents? Photographic memory. He can remember the craziest things.
14. How old is he? 33
15. Who said I love you first? He did. He thought i was going to say it so he stopped me and said it first.
16. What is his favorite music? he likes almost all music. just not country.
17. What do you admire most about him? When he decides to do something, he totally commits to it and nothing will get in his way of succeeding and reaching his goals. Also, he always tells the truth, always!

18. What is his favorite color? Blue, definately Blue.
19. Will he read this? Most definately! he loves my blog and gets impatient when I am a lazy with posting.

Be Thankful for the Children

Well this is the end of the holiday weekend. Since i haven't gotten a change to post since before Thanksgiving, I sure hope everyone had a Blessed Holiday. There are so many things I am thankful for. For one, I am thankful for the handful of people who actually care what I say in this blog.

We took the little dudes to Mass on Thanksgiving morning. The little dudes were little terrors during Mass. As they were crawling under the pews and turning the music missals into missles, Fr. Pete began his homily with 5 things to be thankful for. While I hate to admit, I forgot numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5. i do remember that number one was to be Thankful for Children.

I am truly thankful that i have the little dudes and that they have the abilities to crawl under pews and throw the Word of God. I am also thankful for all the other children we have in our lives, Our 2 nieces, 3 nephews, our friends children as well as the other NICU miracle babies that our still in our life. Each child is truly special and a wonderful testament to the goodness of God.

I look forward to this holiday season experiencing for the first time through the eyes of my 2 year olds.

Who's the real monkey?

Ok everyone, I had been feeling a little uninspired lately in my blogging. It might be because my husband (my biggest blog critic) told me my blog was a little downer. I guess my posts on the election and prematurity awareness month were not very witty or funny. So in an effort to bring a light-hearted fun to the blog, let me tell you about the Burrows Family Sunday Morning.



We decided to attend the first annual Pet Expo at the IX Center. I still have this burning desire to add a new doggie to our family so i figure it would be a good place to check out some different breeds. it has to be the right dog for us. I am going to follow my head and not my heart with this decision (let's hope!).



We had a fantastic time. The little dudes had a great time meeting lots of new doggies. They showed off their Rocking Pony Croc shirts to all the reptile people. They seemed to like the reptiles a little too much (I am in big trouble). Mark even got to hold a trantula.



Tommy enjoyed the Air Dog Demonstation where the doggies would jump into a swimming pool. William enjoyed giving all the dogs huggies!



The best moment of the day came when the boys spotted the Chimp. We couldn't resist getting a photo taken (even if it cost $20.00). What we don't do for our children!



So here is the photo. I don't know who seems happier...Mark or the Monkey???