Great-er Tater

So, Tater's birthday is this coming Monday. I CANNOT believe how both fast and slow this year has been. Some days I don't remember because there was so much going on and each day was a blur. Some days I remember all too well (good and bad) because they seemed to go on forever. But all in all, it's been a good year. Last March 31st was a horrible day. Of course it was good in that we had Tater but the news we got seemed to be so devastating. No one could give us answers-Tater wasn't doing good and that's all anyone knew. We were in such a fog and weren't really sure if we wanted answers at the time. Our families NEEDED answers and we were pulled between wanting to know everything and not wanting to know too much and then trying to explain all that we found out to everyone else. Everyone was confused and scared-just thinking about all of it now gives me a lump in my stomach. It was something no one should ever go through but I do think those first few weeks proved to us we can make it through uncertain times and that knowledge has come in handy since.


We made it through the year! My first idea for celebrating how far Tater and the rest of us have come is to throw a huge keg party. How else to celebrate getting through stress than with beer?! But then I remembered how I can't have more than one beer before I fall asleep and that wouldn't be much fun. So of course the next logical step in my crazy mind was figuring out how can we pay tribute to the people who have gotten us and this wonderful little fighter we have to this point and I thought-"Why not beg for money?"

Not for us but for the Huntsville Hospital for Women and Children's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. That place and the people there mean the world to us. They truly became part of our family the 6 weeks Tater was there and we love them all so much. They are the best of the best when it comes to health care professionals. We would not have made it emotionally without their support. Tater would not be the healthiest kid most people have seen on a vent without their care. They deserve more than praise-they deserve things that will make their difficult jobs easier.

So, you see that nifty little green button at the top left of this page? It's a link that will take you to Tater's Birthday fund page on the Huntsville Hospital Foundation's Onlinelifeline.org site. Directions for how to donate to the PICU are on the page and we appreciate you helping us out with this very, very much. Huntsville Hospital is a not for-profit hospital and they depend on donations to get the little extras that make things easier in stressful situations. If we could raise enough money to buy a little something in Tater's name for the PICU, I know they will greatly appreciate it. And we might be able to keep our reign as the best family ever to be in the PICU (our self-appointed title mind you-we like to prop ourselves up like that).

Of course, I'm begging without any sense of entitlement. And I would hate for any of you to think we expect this of you. It's something that's there if you would like to do it and if you don't that's fine by us. Thanks!