My name is Amie and this is my very first blog so bear with me. A little about me......I am married to an amazing man. He's my rock, my go to guy! We've been married for almost 19 years and it's been quite a ride! We have a handsome, smart, talented, 14 yr old son, Matt, and a beautiful, sassy, energetic, 2 1/2 yr old daughter here on earth and two precious babies in heaven. I own and operate a home child care. I am passionate about the important things in my life, I wear my heart on my sleeve, I love to shop, and wish I had an extra day in the week between Saturday and Sunday(don't we all!). I love chocolate, coffee, and wine (all in moderation of course!)I have been blessed to have some pretty amazing people in my life in good times and bad! Well, enough about me and on to how Project NICU came to be.
I recently discovered that I love to sew. I started sewing clothing for my two year old daughter, but she already refuses to wear hand made clothes. Even though she loves dresses and skirts, and I've made her some really cute ones, she just won't wear them. Seriously, she's quite the diva. So, a few weeks ago, I made a baby blanket as a gift for a friend that is expecting any day now. The blanket turned out so cute and mom to be loved it! She loved it so much that she told me I should start selling so that got me to thinking!. Although it would be nice to make a little extra money, I decided I wanted to do something with my new found "talent" (I use the term liberally, I'm no Martha Stewart) that was meaningful to me, represented something important to me, and allowed me to give in a way that was meaningful to others. Making blankets made me think about my own babies who were NICU babies, how traumatic those experiences were and how I could use these beautiful blankets (well, I think they are beautiful)to touch the lives of families experiencing the NICU.
And there it was.....the birth of Project NICU.
Ideas started flooding my brain like tidal waves! I started calling all the hospitals to see how many babies each currently had in their NICU's. One hospital had a staggering 34 babies, another had 40 some odd beds but couldn't tell me exactly how many were occupied on that day. Wow! That's a lot of blankets! I couldn't wait to get started. Rushed right out to buy fabric to start sewing my blankets for these precious little babies. I quickly realized there was no way I could afford to make enough blankets for even one hospital, let alone all the hospitals in Tulsa! One blanket costs almost $20 to make unless you get the fabric super cheap which I didn't for the first few. So, I decided to share my idea with friends and family on facebook. I created a Page and shared it on my personal page and immediately started getting "Likes" and people asking how they could help. I was blown away! I really thought I'd get a few likes, you know, from my mom and maybe a couple friends.
Currently we have 81 likes and several people volunteering to help sew, write notes of encouragement, make deliveries, buy fabric, or make cash donations among other things. I'm totally excited about this project! I'd love to see it grow into something HUGE, but even if we just get blankets to one hospital, to let those families know they are not alone, to make a difference for even one day, then so be it! But I believe together we can do something HUGE! Please share this blog and visit www.facebook.com/project NICU
I'd like to thank my wonderful friend, Jordan Sanders, for her support with project NICU and for setting up this blog! I am so thankful God put you in my life!
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