Born With A Broken Heart® 2013 Angel Calendar

Order your 2013 Angel Calendar now!

Check out the pages of the calendar here

A SPECIAL THANKS to our fantastic artists for the Angel Calendar:  Hazel Hunt, Erin Marshall Ayscue, Angela Peddle, Tina Marie Crain, Sarah Barnes, Irina Martin, Natasha Boozer, and Casey Sallee.  A worldwide project that could NOT have been completed without YOU!

Shop Scentsy, Support March of Dimes!

Click here for more information about March for Babies

Thank you to Erin Grimm!!

Shop Touchstone Crystal, Support March of Dimes!

*Order by December 16 to receive your items by Christmas!*

Click here for more information about March for Babies

Thank you to Jamie Arena!!

Amazon Cash Back Shopping

Want to get cash back from Amazon shopping, but you've noticed that Amazon isn't on any of the major cash back sites?  Here's a step-by-step guide to getting cash back every time you shop at Amazon!
Any questions, or if I'm missing a step, just leave a comment on this blog and I'll answer it as soon as I can!

Step 1: Click here and sign up for Squidoo (it's free!)
Step 2: Click the orange "Create a Lens" button
Step 3: On the section called "New Amazon," click Edit
Step 4a: Select "Let Amazon Pick" and fill out any search term
Step 4b: Select "Let Me Pick" and paste an Amazon product link in the box, then click Add Item.  Up to 5 items can be listed.
Step 5: Scroll down to the bottom and click Save
Step 6: If you want other people to find your lens and possibly use your links, making you money, you'll need to add more modules to your Lens.  Click Publish.  (If you didn't add more, it will ask you if you really want to publish, click Publish Anyway.)
Step 7: Upper left-hand corner, click Dashboard.  Your lens will be in the list.
Step 8: Save the link to your lens (Mine is http://www.squidoo.com/amazon-cash-back)
Step 9: Every time you shop at Amazon, start by opening your lens page and clicking on one of the items in your list.  (You don't have to purchase the item you click to)
Step 10: To get paid, you'll need to specify your PayPal email address, which you can do under the Settings tab.

But There Is

But There Is
October 25, 2012
Jessica Reilly

There shouldn't be caskets so small, they can be lifted by one man.
There shouldn't be lives measured by months, days, or even hours or minutes, instead of years.
There shouldn't be sisters asking to go to the hospital, to see a baby that isn't there.
There shouldn't be babies who don't get a first birthday.
There shouldn't be gravestones with dates so close together.
There shouldn't be parents left asking "Why?"
There shouldn't be cemeteries called "Babyland."
There shouldn't be a child who didn't get to meet her baby brother because he didn't live long enough.
There shouldn't be mothers leaving the hospital with empty arms.
There shouldn't be a crib waiting for a baby who will never use it.
There shouldn't be mothers who whisper Hello and Goodbye in the same breath.
There shouldn't be a mother crying when she sees a hospital, because that's the only place her baby lived.
There shouldn't be balloon releases instead of birthday parties.
There shouldn't be memory boxes that can hold every item from a child's short life.
There shouldn't be friendships formed by the bond of children who died too soon.
There shouldn't be parents who have to decide when their baby will die.
There shouldn't be a father who tries desperately to breathe life back into his baby.
There shouldn't be grandparents saying goodbye to their grandchild.
There shouldn't be a baby sister who has to meet her big brother through pictures and stories.
There shouldn't be a list called "What not to say to a grieving parent" because
There shouldn't be a grieving parent.
There shouldn't be.
But there is.

Make Change in a Child's Life

Why Participate in Change Makers?

Eric and Kathy’s 36-Hour Radiothon features the incredible, heartwarming stories of children and families who have been cared for at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago (Formerly Children's Memorial Hospital).

Get involved and support the more than 148,000 kids the hospital treats every year by becoming a Change Maker. The Make Change in a Child’s Life program turns your small change into a big impact to make a difference.

Just ask 6-year-old Jack Czapla. One day after undergoing an injection with one of the chemotherapy drugs he takes in his fight against acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), his nurse put on a plain Band-Aid^® instead of the kind he usually received picturing a popular cartoon character. The nurse explained that they were out of “fun” Band-Aids^®, which are typically donated to the hospital. Jack came up with the idea to have a lemonade stand to raise money to buy more fun Band-Aids^®, for other kids with cancer. Read Jack’s Story.

Make Change in a Child’s Life is a fun way to teach your kids about giving back or engaging your company to make a difference. The program is simple:

1. Sign up online. You can either register for a change collection bag or raise your funds through online e-mails and appeals. You can even do both!
2. Collect your own spare change and ask your family, friends and co-workers for their extra pennies, nickels, dimes or quarters to help the kids and families served by Lurie Children’s.
3. Turn in your change at any Fifth Third Bank location throughout the summer until September 7, and tune into the Radiothon on September 7 and 8!
4. Go here to find out more about Eric and Kathy's 36 Hour Radiothon

Are you making money from TreasureTrooper yet?

Hey there! I wanted to tell you about this website I came across that I've really been enjoying. It's called TreasureTrooper and it's a real fun place to earn some extra money on the side. I signed up on May 20, 2006, and have already been paid $381.83, plus $150 in Visa gift cards, and a $20 Amazon gift card! Basically, you just get paid to complete offers. It could be anything from signing up for a Credit Card for $40 to completing a survey for $1. There are thousands of offers to choose from!

There are also a bunch of other ways to make money at TreasureTrooper, but I can tell you more about all that stuff later. I wanted to send you this email because TreasureTrooper currently has a promotion going on, in which, if you sign up now using the button below, they will automatically start you off with $3 in your account!

This is a totally free service, so, if you have five minutes to spare, sign up and take a look around. If you decide it's not for you, no big deal. I've just been really excited about it and wanted to tell a few people. Let me know if you have any questions.



My TreasureTrooper stats as of October 3, 2012:


Some of the checks I have received:

Please help me save babies

On Sunday, April 28, 2013, I will once again be participating in March for Babies in Chicago.  If you're able to make a monetary donation, please click here, select an amount and fill out your information.  Even $5 can make a difference.

Some ideas to get a $5 donation:
Ask 4 friends to match your $1 donation.
Set aside a dollar a day.
Get $5 out of your change jar at home, or put a change jar on your desk at work.
Forward this page to a friend or family member, and ask them to donate $5.

If you can't make a monetary donation right now, here are some other ways you can help:
Go to this page, Like it, Tweet it, Share it, Pin it:  http://www.squidoo.com/bratmarchforbabies
Shop online at 1,200 retailers, donated amount will vary by store.
Sign up for SavingStar, confirm your account and add a grocery card.  Fifty cents will be donated.
Purchase any of these March for Babies products, or any of these Amazon products, a portion of the sale will be donated.

I will hopefully be adding other ways to help.  To see the donations from the other ways to help, check out this page.

My March for Babies Fundraising Amounts
2008:  $582
2009:  $505
2010:  $285
2011:  $360
2012:  $1,050.80

Daily Deals

Get rewarded when you shop online

 shopper?  Click here to learn how to get cash back on your Amazon purchases!

Done with that book, DVD or CD?

Another way to support TEAM CHD

If you have a blog or web site, we would love it if you added this banner to your page!



Copy this code to your website to display this banner:
<a href="http://www.squidoo.com/bratmarchforbabies" target="_blank"><img alt="Support Team CHD!" border="0" src="http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i18/xbratx99/teamchd.gif" /></a>

An Important Letter to Moms-to-Be

Dear Mama-to-be:
We know that pregnancy can be a scary time. We know that sometimes it’s just too much to read about sick babies, much less babies that pass away, but we’ve asked our friends, family and even strangers to share this letter on forums, emails and anywhere else.
We don’t want you to spend your pregnancy in fear, but we want to tell you about something that we all wish someone had told us.
Sometimes, your baby’s heart doesn’t form right, and your baby is born with a congenital heart defect—often this happens in families with no history of CHDs, like ours. Many of these babies are diagnosed in utero. Most of these babies live and even thrive.
It’s more common than we thought, affecting about 1 in 100 babies. Our babies weren’t detected until after birth, and we want to give your babies a better chance.
Recently, the federal government recommended that every baby be screened for heart defects with something that’s not painful, simple, non-invasive and inexpensive, pulse oximetry. And, it won’t interrupt important mother-baby bonding time—mom can hold baby during the screen done sometime after 24 hours of life. The American Academy of Pediatrics and others endorsed that recommendation, but every baby isn’t screened yet.
We want you to talk to your doctor about it. We’d also like to make you aware of the signs of CHD in an infant: excess sweating, beaded sweating on the child’s forehead, trouble feeding, turning blue and tiring during feeding.
Chances are really, really good your baby isn’t 1 in 100, but if s/he is, we want you to know.
Love,
Kristine (http://www.corasstory.org/)
Ruth (http://thecorbinstory.blogspot.com/)
Natasha (Mom to Max)