My great aunt, Aunt Bev, who was the closest thing I had to a grandmother for many years, succumbed to Leukemia 6 years ago. She was always a fighter, always an optimist, and always a planner. I have to laugh remembering her specific orders for certain mums to be planted in the flower boxes at her house before she passed. Knowing that people would be over, she hated to think the flower beds would look neglected or out of season. She also insisted on a margarita machine at the house after her funeral. She was my kind of lady, and I didn’t even realize it so much at the time.

When we began training we had the opportunity to meet Luke, our honored hero. He’s nearly 3 now and has been in remission for a while, but I shudder to think all he has been through in his short life so far, and it makes me incredibly grateful for the health of my loved ones, especially Kendall.

And, just last week I met another wonderful man who lost his partner, the love of his life, to Lymphoma this spring. I just can not imagine going through something like that, and it breaks my heart.  A Light the Night team was created in his memory, and last month they raised over $10,000 for the LLS. It’s really such an inspiration to me.

My goal is $2,900, and I’m just about $600 short of reaching that. I’m hoping this final fundraiser will put me over the top, but I need your help. If I can get just 120 readers to donate $5, I’ll be there!

There’s more in this for you, though, than just the warm fuzzy feeling you’ll get from it. I’ve managed to get some last minute product donations from some awesome companies and will be giving them away to random donors when I get back from my marathon on November 18th (that’s 2 weeks from today). Every person who donates $5 or more will automatically be entered to win one of the prizes.

Here’s a list of my awesome sponsors and what you could win (I am still in the process of contacting companies and will hopefully be adding to this. If you’d like to donate a prize, please send me an email – jlll at babyrabies dot com- and let me know!):

SunshineDiapers.com – $50 store credit – one winner
Bloom Maternity- Skip Hop Pronto- one winner
BearHands- BearHands from the Buddy collection- one winner
Hugs and Kisses Designs- burp cloth, bib and paci clip set- one winner
Blogs By Mandy- digital invitation design – one winner
Blogs By Mandy- blog makeover – one winner
Ultimate Cupcake – one dozen gourmet cupcakes- two winners
Boogie Wipes- one 30 count pack of Boogie Wipes – three winners
NippleSeal- one NippleSeal – two winners
Happy Baby Foods- one Happy Baby prize pack – one winner
Digi Time Capsule- one My Pregnancy Digi Time Capsule- one winner
Three Peas Co. – (TBD)

Added 11/9

ShutterBuddy – One Shutter Buddy – one winner
Lassig- one Lassig Messenger Bag – one winner
Maureen Lipinski- one autographed author’s copy of A Bump In The Road- two winners
Sincerely Silver- Navajo Bear silver pendant and necklace- one winner

Added 11/12

Hot Mama Designs Jewelry – $100 credit toward purchase of your choice – one winner

Hopefully I’ll have more to add to this list the next couple weeks!

So here’s how it works, just click HERE to make a donation. It will ask you for your full name and address, but none of that info will be shared publicly. I will, of course, need access to that to arrange for a prize to be shipped to you if you win.

Starting today, anyone who makes a donation will be eligible to win, but the donation must be for at least $5. If you’d like to have multiple chances to win, please make multiple donations of at least $5. If you just want to donate more than $5, go for it!

Unfortunately, I am only able to select winners from the US and Canada (and some prizes only ship to the US). If you are from another country and would still like to donate, I would be so grateful, but please know that we won’t be able to ship any of the prizes to you.

I know that with all of your help I can get to my goal, maybe even smash it. I really appreciate the donations, and please help me spread the word. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is a fabulous organization doing a tremendous amount of good. Thank you so much!! GO TEAM!

Scott  (my husband) and I trained for and completed the Marine Corps Marathon 4 years ago, and I think if there is anything out there that can come close to preparing you for med-free labor and delivery, running 26.2 miles while repeating over and over in your head, “what the HELL were you thinking?” is as good as it gets.

Marathons are a lot like having a baby, I think.  You have to work for months to prepare for them.  You’ve got to know how to pace yourself, how to breathe, how to stay calm when you hurt so bad you just want to scream, “somebody put me out of my misery!”  You have to take one step at a time, stay hydrated, you will crave oranges toward the end, and then you will want to vomit.  And just when you think you can’t do it anymore, you can’t possibly survive one more minute, you see the finish line, and it’s crowning.  The reward makes the race worth it.  Although, you will most likely leave telling yourself you are NEVER doing that again.  However, months or years later, you will forget the pain, and only the memory of the prize landing in your hands will remain.  Then you will think it’s a fabulous idea to do it all over again.

Now, don’t go reading too much in between the lines there.  I’m by no means saying I’m ready for another baby.  I am, however, ready for the early morning training runs, the blisters, the shin splints, and the accomplished feeling of crossing the finish line again. So Scott and I signed up to run the San Antonio Rock & Roll Marathon on November 15^th.  See, since we’ve made it through the year, I’ve healed as completely as I ever will and am pain free, and we’ve all started to get some good sleep, I figure we need to go and erase all of that.

We began training last month with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s  (LLS) Team In Training (TNT) program.  We completed our last marathon through a similar fundraising program and found it to be highly effective and motivating.  So, admittedly, we signed up to fundraise for TNT mainly for the coaching, support and motivation they would provide us, and not so much for the funds we would provide them.

However, our focus and inspiration grew exponentially when we had the joy of meeting our honored hero at our event kickoff.  His name is Luke and he is 2 ½ years old.  As I sat and watched him at the front of the room, I was taken aback at the wave of emotions that passed over me.  His infectious smile and cheerful clapping made me grin from ear to ear.  His playful spirit reminded me so much of Kendall, and I imagined they would make great friends.  Then, just as soon as my heart warmed from Luke’s presence, it began to ache and I found myself fighting the tears threatening to fall down my cheeks.

 At 13 months old, Luke he was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML), requiring him to go through 6 rounds of chemo every 4 to 6 weeks and numerous blood and platelets transfusions.

I sat there, not able to wrap my head around how his family can possibly have so much strength, how heart wrenching it must be to see him undergo painful treatments. (Hell, I can barely make it through Kendall’s immunizations.)  It pained me to think of such a cheerful, young boy having to endure so much in his life already.  And, naturally, I began to think, “what if that were Kendall?” 

Thanks to the wonders of medicine and advancements in research and treatment that the LLS and TNT help to fund, Luke has been in remission since April 2008 and is living life as any other 2 ½ year old would be.  He plays with his older brothers and enjoys pulling his mom’s hair lightheartedly as she tries to carry on a serious conversation (as he demonstrated at the kickoff).

We left the kickoff with a new outlook on training for this next big race.  We are running for Luke.  We are running for his parents and his brothers.  We are honoring their family’s strength.  We are training for and finishing this race because we are lucky enough to do so, because our son is healthy and we are immensely grateful for that.  We are running because we don’t know what the future holds, but for today, we can endure the aches and pains, the early, early, early mornings, the heat and the humidity, all so we can support Luke, his family, and others who are forced to run their own exhausting race against blood cancers.

Combined, our goal is to raise $5,800.  And, as I’m sure you can gather, this is the part where I ask for your help.  Any donation, no matter the size, will help us reach our goal, and ultimately, help fund research to find a cure for blood cancers.

 I’m asking for help in a few ways.

1.     You can make a personal donation by visiting this link anytime.

2.      I’m hoping to organize two fundraisers, one of them being an online giveaway/raffle type thingy (am I allowed to call it a raffle?? IDK… still fuzzy on the legalities). Details are still in the works, but I am in need of some donated loot to giveaway.  Please email me – Jill@babyrabies.com – if you or your company can help.  It will be run and promoted through this website.

3.     SPONSOR ME!  I am offering ad packages in exchange for several levels of corporate sponsorship.  The levels and prices are as follows:

Platinum Sponsor – $1,250 tax deductible donation (1 available)

            You/your company will receive a large banner ad on BabyRabies.com for 6 months, an ad on my Twitter background (@BabyRabies) for 6 months, 1 blog post dedicated to telling my readers all about your business and/or product. AND your corporate name on the back of all race singlets to be worn by the entire North Texas Team In Training chapter at all events for one season. Think of all the exposure!!

Gold Sponsor – $750 tax deductible donation (1 available)

            You/your company will receive a medium banner ad or large sidebar button ad (approx. 300×250) for 6 months on BabyRabies.com and 1 blog post dedicated to telling my readers all about your business and/or your product.

Silver Sponsors -  $250 tax deductible donation (4 available)

            You /your company will receive a small sidebar button ad (approx. 100×100) for 6 months and you will be featured, along with other Silver Sponsors, in a blog post all about your business and/ or your product.

Bronze Sponsors- $100 tax deductible donation (10 available)

            You/your company will receive a sidebar link for 6 months

If you are interested in learning more about the sponsorship packages, including my most current website stats, or about the North Texas Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Team In Training, please email me atJill@Babyrabies.com

If you’ve made it this far, thank you and please pass the on the word. GO TEAM!!