Festival of Trees 2014--Coleson's Tree

Last year, Coleson patiently watched as we made ornaments for our Festival of Trees, tree and as soon as the event was done he asked if he could make "a boy tree" for next year...So this year he made a Minecraft themed tree! With a little help from Baby Love Foundation and some sweet ladies in our ward, he produced an awesome tree!

 

 

 

It sold for $175!!! When we took the kids to the festival there was a crowd of boys surrounding the tree! Coleson succeeded in making an stellar "boy" tree!

Festival of Trees 2014

The Festival of Trees is one of the largest fundraising efforts, each year, for Primary Children's Medical Center. Kristen and I had so much fun putting together our Very Hungry Caterpillar tree this year. She is an amazing crafter and made all the caterpillars and food ornaments!

 



 

 

 

It took all day to get it decorated!

 

 

Thanks again to everyone who donated toys and books to go with our tree! It really made it amazing!

 

 

 

At it sold for $425! It was purchased by a foundation that takes the trees and puts them up in hospitals and care centers. I am so happy not only that it sold, but that children will be able to enjoy it and I hope it will help make their Christmas season a bit brighter.

Already working on...

I know that Christmas is a long way away, but I had a beautiful, white, 7 foot tree donated to the Baby Love Foundation for the Festival of Trees 2014...Therefore planning began! Amelia's favorite book when she was in the hospital was The Very Hungry Caterpillar. With the help of my good friend Kristin and her amazing creativity, I have started planning a Very Hungry Caterpillar tree.

(Coleson and I also decided to do a small Minecraft Tree, but more on that another time.)

Today, while running errands I came across this adorable water bottle! How cute, right?! It got my mind working on the display that could go around and under the tree. After I got home and got the kids in bed I jumped on-line and started searching...

I went first to Amazon and found so many, cute, "Very Hungry Caterpillar" toys! I started adding everything to a wish list. Click Here to see it!
 (If for some reason the link doesn't work, go to Amazon.com, click on "Find a wish list", type in Brian Fromm, and the click on "Festival of Trees Donations") There are  many items on the wish list but they are just examples of things I would love to decorate around the tree with. I'm sure there are other stores that have similar toys. I am so excited at the idea of what's out there that will fit into our theme. If you see anything, please let me know, or better yet pick it up and donate it to our Festival of Trees project.  Any color of felt (for making the ornaments for the tree) is the other thing I will need for this tree.

I have a few projects in the works for this year...If you would like to be involved I would love some help! If you would like to be involved, but aren't close or have much extra time, monetary donations are always needed and can be done at: 

babylovefoundation.org. 

*Baby Love Foundation is a  501(c)3 non-profit organization and all donations are tax deductable!

Festival of Trees

Festival of Trees is a large event done each year in Utah for the benefit of Primary Children's Medical Center. People from all over the state come to decorate trees, wreaths, center pieces and even quilts to be auctioned off. I worked on 2 trees this year.  On Monday I loaded up the car with our trees and decorations and headed up to the expo center with my friend Kristen to start decorating! It took ALL day but I was really happy with what we were able to donate. 

The first tree I did was this 2 ft tall pink tree. It was decorated with hair bows, headbands and necklaces that could be taken off and worn.

Kristin working on the tree!

The second tree was done by the Baby Love Foundation. Volunteers made ornaments and others donated the tree & decorations. It was an 8 ft Nutcracker themed tree.

I was soooo happy to take the kids back last night to look at all the trees and see that both my trees had sold! The Nutcracker tree sold for $300 and the hair bow tree sold for $75! That money goes directly to Primary Children's Medical Center!

I'm already planning my trees for next year!

Generosity after the holiday season:

Amelia is coming up on her semi-annual MRI and we, of course, will be bringing up a load to donate when we go to Primary Children's Hospital. The holidays were super crazy and busy for everyone. So, this year, we wanted to focus on the hospital needs after the big holiday push for kids toys.

They always need blankets so those who donated those-thank you! We will gladly collect blankets any time!

Primary Children's currently has a need for supplies for Valentines activities for the children. (see image below) If you would like to donate feel free to bring donations to our house. We can also accept cash donations!!!

(We are hoping to get our non-profit status for the Baby Love Foundation soon and will send you a receipt because donations will be tax-deductible retroactively.)

If you need more info on how to make a donation or our address to send a donation please e-mail me at accessoriebylindsey@gmail.com

Amelia

Just a little bit about our baby love...

She is at a super fun age where she talks all the time, repeats everything she hears, is excited about everything, and occasionally is sassy and defiant. She is very intelligent and likes to "do it myself!"

She loves to color and is surprisingly good at coloring inside the lines.

At dinner the other night, she couldn't even be bothered to stop coloring while getting a drink!

Her imagination is coming to life. She likes to take care of her dolls and stuffed animals and pretend to cook!

She tries to keep up with Coleson and the other kids around but she is still needs her beauty sleep! She has begun to pick up on stalling techniques that Coleson often tries before bed like "I'm hungry!", "I need a new pillow!", "Come say goodnight again!", and so on...

She has her next MRI on August 2nd. We, of course, have blankets to take up with us to donate! If anyone would like to donate blankets, quilts, toys or whatever bring them by! Or, let me know and I'll come pick them up. Thanks again everyone for being so supportive of Amelia and her foundation!

Another Follow-Up and Drop Off

Amelia had another follow-up eye appointment at Primary Children's Hospital today. The doctor said that everything looks "perfect" and her vision is great. After the appointment we dropped off a huge load of quilts, receiving blankets, and burp cloths from the Baby Love Foundation. Thank you everyone for your donations!

It was a great morning!

MRI

Tuesday Amelia had a follow-up MRI and appointment with the Neurosurgeon. We were up at 5am and didn't leave until almost noon. Lia was such a trooper!

She was so sweet and happy...until they put in her IV...but shortly after she was sedated and having her MRI done.

She came out of sedation well and was really funny. I'll upload a video soon. Unlike some kids who come off of Nembutal angry and agitated, Amelia comes out loopy and giggly! We went down to Dr. Walker office to hear that her scans were completely clean! They are happy with her progress in development.

By the end of our visit Amelia was tired and hungry. (So was I!) But we sent Brian back inside with our first donation from the Baby Love Foundation! A big bag of blankets and a big box of toys! Thank You to everyone who donated!

The Baby Love Foundation is on it's way to being approved as a non-profit organization, we've secured babylovefoundation.org to build a web-site and we're planning ways to raise more funds. Amelia will go back to Primary Children's Hospital in 6 months for another follow-up and we're looking forward to the donation we'll be bringing!

It's official!

The Baby Love Foundation has been incorporated! Now we are working on getting our non-profit status! If you'd like to make a donation checks can be written to the Baby Love Foundation and I'll be able to issue you a receipt for your tax records! Yay! We're getting it done!