Our Annual Donation has been made....

Each year on November 28th we make a donation to the March of Dimes for reasons that are obvious to our family. Granted our children have been born on dates other than November 28th, but this is a date that has great significance to our family... and we like to honor this day in our lives with a donation to a cause very near and dear to us.  We could donate money to the March of Dimes any time of the year (and we do), but for us donating in November and December  is even more special because if you make a donation using your MasterCard, MasterCard will double your donation (up to $225,000) with their matching gift.

In the event that you would like to donate to this amazing cause yourself please know that you can do so by clicking the picture below .

Happy 6th Birthday Delainey

Happy Birthday my precious baby girl! I can not believe that you are  years old. You were our take home baby...you were the little 5 lbs 6ozs miracle that changed our world/lives forever.

6 years ago today you came into this world bright eyed and ready to take on the world...and you have. You have taken every obstacle that has been given to you and you have rocked it baby girl! Keep it up precious baby girl... I know that you are not technically a baby anymore, but you will forever be OUR BABY GIRL PRINCESS :)

May all your birthday dreams and wishes come true precious girl.... we love you!!

Delainey Chevelle Krumwiede

November 28th, 2003

5 lbs 6 ozs 19 inches.

Happy Birthday Delainey! We love you more than you will ever know!!

Love Mommy, Daddy, Shelby, Avery, and Brody

Ups and Downs....highs and lows

There have been a lot of these in the Krumwiede household this past week.

The first down is that Chad's truck didn't start last week...not cool. The first up is that at least we can borrow my aunt's second car until we can afford to have it fixed.

The second up was that I was able to help a friend out while her daycare and had a great time doing it. The second down was that Brody was less than impressed with the situation and there for was rather crabby.

The third up was Delainey's amazing conference last night...she is doing amazing and we couldn't be more proud...she does have an issue with talking, but we have talked about it and know that she will try hard to improve upon that. The third down was Brody seems to have some digestive issues going on right now, so his diaper changes have not been fun for us or him... Poor guy.

The fourth up with this morning everyone had a good morning...we all got dressed and out the door without any battles, fights or crying...HUGE UP... but sadly there had to be a huge down to that because you know what goes up must come down. I raced home this morning for my weekly phone call with my Director for the March of Dimes and it seems that they did not get approval for continued support of my position, so as of 12/1/09 I am out of a job. This is sad...it sucks...it hurts. There are still alot of emotions wrapped up in this but I know that this little bump is not going to change the way that I look at the March of Dimes and it certainly isn't going to change the way our family is gonna rock it when it comes to raising money for our Family Team next Spring.... if anything it will get me more motivated because if any state needs a Family Teams Specialist it is in fact North Dakota (and the other smaller states that would benefit from this amazing position)...

So now I am gonna sit and wait for my next up ...because you know that it HAS got to be coming... Right??

Weigh in Wednesday - Shrink-a-versary Week 4

Today is Wednesday...and we all know what that means... WEIGH IN DAY and the beginning of week 4 of the Shrink-a-versary challenge over at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. If you haven't joined in on the fun yet, please feel free to do so...and no you don't have to be a girl..we have boys there too.

This week was a good one for me as this morning when I stepped on the scale it read 238.8. This means that I have lost 2 lbs since last week, which works for me. I have been working really hard on eating the right things and also on making certain that I am taking time through out the day to eat. I have this horrible 'mom' habit, that I spend so much time running after the kids, trying to fit in my work hours for the March of Dimes, school work, house work *you know the drill for those of you who 'just' stay home like I do* that I often forget to eat...heck the other day I even forgot to feed my kids... (hey when they brought it to my attention at 1:30 that they still hadn't eaten I made sure they had an appropriate lunch of PB sandwiches, apple slices and cheetos...they had milk too..) so this in turn would turn into me being starving after the kids were in bed and when it is certainly not the best time to eat. But this week I made a very good effort to stay on top of it... granted I snacked more than anything, but it was things like apple slices while in the pick up lane at school, or a bowl of cheerios  while checking my email in the morning... for me it was a success.
My goals this week are:

• continue to journal my food and track my points
• continue to drink 200 ozs of water
• exercise 3 days this week
• no snacks after 7pm *except for Thursday and then only a light snack*
• stay OUT of the 240s apparently my body is too comfortable here...no more 240...
  

I think those are good goals for this week...especially since I know I am gonna have to get strict with myself the following week with Thanksgiving coming up...thankfully we are going to the in-laws so it will be easier to say no to some of the tempting foods...because I will be to busy chasing my babies :)

Who Will Fight For Preemies???

"We need to fight-- because Babies shouldn't have to"

Today is National Prematurity Awareness Day  and if you know ANYTHING about the Krumwiede family -- ours and extended-- prematurity is a cause that is VERY near and dear to our hearts... Did you know that every year over half a million babies will be born premature (meaning prior to 37 weeks gestation) in the United States, and in North Dakota alone EACH WEEK 20 babies will be born preterm, 3 of those being very preterm (which means prior to 32 weeks), 11 babies will be born low birth weight (less than 2500 grams) and 2 babies will be born very low birth weight (less than 1500 grams).

These are SCARY numbers...Being the mom of 4 preemies, and the auntie to 4 more (Kellen and Shea were born at 29 weeks 5 days, Hailee was born at 36 weeks, and Our Precious Ella* was born at 24 weeks gestation). I feel that sharing the mission of the March of Dimes is my way to give thanks for the miracles in my life, it is my way to give back...IT IS MY DUTY.

A very special THANK YOU to the March of Dimes for all that you do. It is because of the March of Dimes and the awesome work that they do that more and more children at being born healthy ** every day, and going home with their parents as every child should. It is because of the March of Dimes that polio has almost been irradicated, it is because of the March of Dimes that there is testing for metabolic diseases such as PKU in newborns, it is because of the March of Dimes that surfactant has come about, it is because of the March of Dimes that synagys vaccines are here to help preterm infants fight off the deadly disease of RSV. THANK YOU MARCH OF DIMES....THANK YOU!!!

  * Ella is not technically our niece, she is actually Chad's cousin Ryan's daughter. She passed away in June at 83 days of age to read their story and see the new mission for Ella's life please visit Ella's Halo*

** being born 'healthy' in the eyes of the March of Dimes does not mean the definition of  'perfect' as society has labeled it... Healthy means as close to term as possible...**