Broken Windshield?

It's summertime. It's the time where we take long road trips and family vacations and. . . .come home with a broken windshield as a result. Summertime is peak time to get windshields replaced because of baseball games that land a ball in your windshield, or, a rock that gets flung at you while on your way out of town. You have to get it fixed, right? Why not help your favorite charity in the meantime?

Invision Auto Glass has been in business since 2002 and is a fan of Lanee's Legacy. They would like to see us continue to do what we do and have come up with a plan that they would like to offer to all of their customers. It's a plan that will enable you to make a donation to us with absolutely NO OUT OF POCKET EXPENSE FOR YOU!!

If you have a windshield that needs replaced and have full coverage insurance in place, simply call them and their very experienced installers will come to you, replace your windshield and in turn donate $50.00 to Lanee's Legacy!!

Here's a few things you would want to know about a windshield company before choosing them to work on your car:

Do they use certified technicians? YES

Do they use all original equipment manufactured parts (OEM)? YES

Do they guarantee their work 100%? YES

Are they a preferred provider by ALL insurance companies? YES

Do they offer free mobile service? YES

How easy is that? They handle all the paperwork. They deal with your insurance company. They come to you wherever you are. This is not just an offer for valley residents. They offer their services to most Arizona cities. So, if you live in the White Mountains, Flagstaff, Tucson, or almost anywhere else in Arizona, please call. Don't forget to tell them that you want them to donate $50.00 to Lanee's Legacy in return for using their company!

CALL: 480-278-6203

Boxes and more Boxes

At the beginning of this year, Lanee's Legacy set a goal that we would have the means (i.e. financial support and manpower) to make at least 40 boxes per month to distribute to hopsitals and individuals who need them. Here we are into May now and feel very blessed to say that so far, this goal has been met. It has been a busy few months for Lanee's Legacy as we have added additional hospitals to the list (I'll give you the update in a minute). We feel blessed to continue to get to do what we do. We are currently scheduled through June, but if you have a group or organization that would like to participate in this service project, please don't hesitate to contact us! It is so wonderful to get to know and work with amazing people that join us in our passion for service and helping those who stand in need.

We were lucky enough to have a photographer at one of our box making nights who graciously provided us with a CD of pictures from our night. Thank you to Megan Klug at Rosemary and Me Photography for donating your time and talents to documenting this night for us. I wanted to share some of these pictures and the wonderful women who contributed to this night:

At the beginning of the night, we have tables that look like this:

Thanks to our wonderful volunteers. . .

We then had tables that looked like this:


To update you on the list of hospitals we now serve, here it is:

Banner Desert Medical Center
Casa Grande Regional Medical Center
Scottsdale Healthcare (Shea Campus)
Scottsdale Healthcare (Osborn Campus)
Banner Thunderbird
Banner Estrella
Banner Baywood
Banner Gateway
Flagstaff Medical Center

We are doing our best to make contact with other hospitals. The trick is finding the correct person that oversees this department. If you notice a hospital you currently live by, work at or are connected with in some way NOT on this list, please help us by getting us in touch with the right person and we will be more than happy to add them to our list of hospitals we serve.

The perk for all of us in doing this is getting to take road trips together! We always joke about "the further the better" and the idea of being jetsetters! Although, I don't really know why they get a look of skepticism on their faces when I suggest a shortcut. Sheesh. . .it's not like the last two I suggested haven't worked out so great?!? Alright, well they haven't been so short, but they've been fun, right girls? It makes me happy to hit the road with two of the greatest gals I know! It was just two weeks ago that we all traveled to Flagstaff for our first visit with the women who volunteer for the TLC (To Lose a Child) Program at Flagstaff Medical Center.

Rayel: "the navigator":

Our "shortcut" took us through payson and pine area. It was such a beautiful drive, but the higher up we traveled, we noticed this:

Then we saw this:

Keep in mind that we did this on the last day of April! There was no spring in sight! Rayel insisted that we pull over "play" for a minute: Kat's making a snow angel:

Snowbowl Mountains:
When we arrived in Flagstaff, we met up with the girls from the TLC program at Pita Jungle for a yummy lunch and then on over to the hospital for a tour and to donate boxes. We had a such a great time making this trip and was especially impressed with Flagstaff's program and the awesome work they are doing to help families who are experiencing a loss. Good job!

Thanks to everyone from those who are helping us make these boxes to those who are requesting them for their hospital! This is what it's all about!

The Birthday Challenge and PF Chang Marathon!

First, we wanted to update you on the many donations we received from our challenge for DeLanee's birthday. We had so many people participate and it turned out great!! We feel so blessed at how many items we received that will go inside our boxes. Here's what we received:

Jewel Cases: 50
Packets of Kleenex: 116
Journals: 51
Brag Books: 4
CDs: 250
Pens: 93
Forget Me Not Seeds: 10
Chocolate Bars: 36
Hard Tack Candy: 7 bags
Cameras: 66

Monetary Donations $89.00

We were also donated new (and improved) glue guns with carrying cases. So awesome!!

We assembled 60 boxes last week with the help of the Gilbert 9th Ward as well. As we've said before, it is a humbling position to be in to watch of all these donations come (in whatever form). Thank you to everyone who participated in our challenge and encourage you to not stop now. These boxes will be delivered off of our shelves in no time, so please. . .keep them coming.

We want to introduce you to a very special person. A couple of weeks ago, a good friend of ours, Dr. Sonal Gahndi, participated in the PF Chang Marathon.

This was her first marathon to compete in and I can't imagine the amount of work and training that goes into participating in one of these. What a sense of accomplishment it must be to complete something so amazing though. She not only ran for herself, but also Lanee's Legacy! We had the opportunity to sit down with her last week and hear all about the run and thank her for her support to our organization. She is a doctor at Phoenix Perinatal Associates and sees families everyday who are facing unfortunate circumstances with their pregnancies and babies. She spoke of how hard it is to become close with her patients and want so badly to give them the outcome that they want, but sometimes, is unable to do so. She has so much compassion towards them. How blessed we as patients are to be in such good hands of not only very qualified doctors, but understanding and kindhearted people as well. We had a good time at lunch getting to know her better and hearing about the martathon. Thanks to her hard work and effort, she raised over $600.00 for us!

Thanks Dr. Gahndi! Lanee's Legacy LOVES you!

A Special Day to Remember

Today is a special day for Lanee's Legacy and especially for me. Today, 6 years ago I was blessed with a sweet little girl who would change my life forever. Each morning on the 28th of January as soon as I open my eyes and my mind settles into reality, it starts to replay the events of 6 years ago. This year was no different. The first thing my eyes saw on the morning after I had DeLanee was her. I was laying on my side facing her tiny baby bed and when I opened my eyes, I saw her little profile. She had a very cute little nose that looked like her brother's and I remember thinking how similar their noses were. This morning when I woke up, I wished so badly I could see that little nose again. I had her at 12:58 a.m. on the morning of the 28th and so waking up to the night's events were so blurry and almost like a dream. It was a terrible reality to wake up to. Everything that we had been privileged to do with her the night before was now over and now we had to move on to the stuff that nobody wants to face. We had to take care of the "details" and I wished we could just rewind time.

I'd like to share some of the moments we were able to capture with DeLanee in the short time that we had her. Thank heavens for pictures and that we can, in a way, "rewind" time to replay moments that are precious to us. I realize I have never shared pictures of DeLanee on this blog. Many mom's who have lost babies prematurely sometimes are hesitatant to share their babies because they don't always look the same as full term healthy babies. They are smaller, not developed fully, and their skin is so fragile. If they have medical abnormalities that are visibile this can be uncomfortable for some people and the last thing a mom wants to see is the look on someone's face or hear a comment that is hurtful when they are looking at their precious baby. DeLanee's condition caused her entire body to become hydropic. The cyst she had developed in utero filled her entire body and major organs with fluid which is what caused her demise. Her skin was also very dark from this as well. She weighed 4.6 ounces at birth of which 2 lbs of that was fluid. To me though, she was perfect. My entire pregnancy I cherished her every move and prayed that I would be able to hold her for even a moment while she was alive. I wanted her to feel of the love I had for her. I knew I couldn't take away the challenges she had been given but I needed to be able to love her through it. So, when I was able to finally hold her and love on her, it felt so good. We were so blessed to have an amazing night with a special little girl. We gave her a name, a blessing, bathed her, dressed her and loved on her until it was time for her to go. Almost my entire family was in that room and their was a lot of love going on! I will always long for more. . .but I am thankful for what I was given.

This is my sweet little DeLanee. It looks like I have gigantic hands in this picture, but my hands are really quite small. When I look at her hand clutching the tip of my finger, it reminds me of just how tiny she was.

This is DeLanee's older borther, Garrett. I know these two have a special bond. He called her "TeLanee" and I think he too was eager to give her the love he had as well. Do you see the two noses? Garrett is 9 years old now and loves her just as much.

In this picture, he was helping zip up her little outfit after we had bathed her.

The following pictures are just some of the family that was in that room:

The quote that goes on the top of Lanee's Legacy's boxes read:

Some people come into our lives
and quickly go…
Some stay for awhile and leave footprints in our hearts.
And we are never ever the same.

These are DeLanee's footprints:

Today was a wonderful day. New memories were made and her footprints continue to be in not just my heart, but others. I know her little footprints and have made it into many lives and I'm so thankful for that.

We had an AMAZING response to our challenge. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! We are still tallying up the numbers and are anxious to share them with you. It is such a humbling position to be in to witness the generous hearts of so many wonderful people that show their love to those they don't even know. Because of your donations, these families will also be able to capture and preserve vital memories that they too will be able to "rewind" when they feel like it.

6 Years of Change (and a challenge)

We have a challenge that we hope you are up for and that I want to tell you about, I hope you'll endur with me for a minute as I explain why.

Very soon it will be what would have been DeLanee's 6th birthday - in 9 days to be exact. Every year at this time (actually starting on December 2nd), my thoughts and heart are reminded of everything that we were going through during that time. Why December 2nd? December 2nd is the day I had an appointment with Phoenix Perinatal Associates. I remember being so sad and afraid of the results that I was about to find out. I was praying for a miracle but preparing myself for whatever the outcome may be. I knew no matter what that I would carry the pregnancy to the very end, but I hoped that we would be given a favorable outcome. I didn't get the prognosis we had hoped for that day. In fact, it looked very, very bad for my daughter's fate. I layed on the ultrasound table and listened as the ultrasound tech told me one by one everything that was wrong with my little girl. I had never felt more heartbroken than what I did that day. The diagnosis day, December 2nd, is what started a whirlwind of events that lasted until January 28th. Actually, anyone who has lost a child knows that it lasts much, much longer than that.

Here I sit, almost 6 years later, thinking of my sweet daughter, how I miss her and wish I could just hold her and love on her. I wish I could be attending a ballet recital she was participating in. I wish I was going to visit with her kindergarten teacher at parent teacher conference when I visit her brother's teacher. I wish she could have gone and rode horses with me and my kids last week at their grandparent's house. I wish for this and so much more.

Last week the Lanee's Legacy board had a meeting. We always start our meetings with what we call a "Lanee's Legacy moment". This is our time to share any stories or feedback we have received from anyone who has contacted us. We have found that by starting our meetings this way, it motivates us and inspires us to continue moving forward. A couple of weeks ago we were contacted by a mother, who had lost not just one, but two babies. Her kids are all grown now and she is blessed with 21 grandchildren so far. She lost her first little boy to an umbilical cord accident and was born still many years ago and then a few years later gave birth to a baby boy, Nathan, who was diagnosed with Trisomy 18 and lived for 7 weeks. She had 9 children in all and told us that she knows great joy but also knows the meaning of grieving the loss of her children. She told us that "my arms still feel the loss, even though my life is full as I've been so blessed with many children and grandchildren." She also told us that after she delivered at Mesa Lutheran Hospital she felt like the nurses and staff were very kind and helpful, but still remembers how empty her arms felt coming home.

Smith Family with baby Nathan 2 days before he passed away.

So now, as I am coming upon my 6 year anniversary of DeLanee's birth and death, I am thinking of my new friend, Linda Smith, and what it might feel like when I am in her shoes and have been a mother of an angel baby for nearly 20 years.

I also have been thinking about the boxes and how they have developed over the past 5 years as well. I came across pictures of the very first boxes that were put together on DeLanee's first birthday. Oh, how they've changed! If I remember correctly, I donated just 20 boxes in 2005 on her first birthday and they were just the boxes - nothing inside of them. Every year since then, they have developed and grown into something more and we donate more often than just her birthday. We feel so blessed that we have been able to help so many families since her first birthday (somewhere in the neighborhood of 450 boxes) and can't wait to see how many more families we can help - especially after 20 years.

What they looked like the first year:

In the last few weeks we have been able to add 4 new hospitals to our list of those we donate to. They are:

Casa Grande Regional Medical Center;
Scottsdale Healthcare (Shea Campus);
Yavapai Regional Medical Center; and
Banner Baywood.

We are confident that this list will continue to grow not just here in Arizona, but other states as well. (Hopefully we'll have some updates on out of state hospitals very soon)! But as you can see, we are growing to meet the needs of other hospitals as they attend to those who are grieving the loss of their baby. Now more than ever we are in need of donations that are listed on the right of our sidebar. Not only do we want to make sure that a mother's arms are filled with something as she leaves the hospital, but that they are also provided with necessary items to help them through their grieving process. We recently heard from a mother that told us if she had not been given a camera in her box, she would not have any pictures of her daughter. When I heard this I cried. The impact of what that means for Lanee's Legacy and what we need to continue to do is enormous. The pictures of my daughter are so priceless to me and I can't imagine not having them. Every mother must be given the opportunity to take pictures of their babies if they want. We want to make sure that this happens!

So, the challenge is this. As DeLanee's birthday nears in just 9 days, I would like to pose a challenge to any who would like to participate in seeing just how many items we can collect for the boxes that will be donated to these new hospitals that are requesting them. You can drop off any donations to Phoenix Perinatal Associates located at: 1840 S. Stapley Drive, Ste. 131, Mesa, Arizona 85204, or, you can contact any one of us at our e-mails listed on the right and we will make arrangements for your donations to be picked up. We also have a pay pal button as well as a PO box that you are more than welcome to use for monetary donations or otherwise. It is: Lanee's Legacy, P.O. Box 601, Queen Creek, Arizona 85142. Let's see how much "change" we can make from that first year we donated to now. We'll update you with our success!

What Have You Done For Someone Today?

For those of you that have been checking in on our blog and waiting for an update, we're sorry it has been so long. Ever since our event it has been a bit of a whirlwhind. We have been in the midst of organizing, organizing and more organizing. Not only are we forming our non-profit and working on executive proposals and prospectuses (all terms we are learning about), but we have also been busy doing LOTS of boxes. This, of course, is the part we love! We have made a delivery to Banner Desert Hospital and have even seen our boxes reach as far as Australia and North Dakota.

We have been working on teaming up with an AMAZING group of medical professionals - Phoenix Perinatal Associates. They are specialists in the area of obstetrics and gynecology with advanced training in the management of high-risk pregnancies. I was referred to their office when I first learned of the news with DeLanee and have had 2 babies with their office since then. I have felt so blessed to have been in their care during one of the hardest times of my life as well as the happiest. I cannot say enough good about the level of treament you receive as a patient as well as the compassion they show you as an individual during a difficult time. I am so happy at the interest and support they have shown in sponsoring Lanee's Legacy and appreciate all they've done so far. We recently used their offices to assemble boxes as well as being able to store our supplies. I (and my family) are so happy to not have my living room stacked to the ceiling with boxes!! They currently are storing many boxes that are completed and ready for delivery as well as those that still need completed. Those who are in need of one of our boxes can now go to their offices to pick one up. They will also be happy to receive any donations anyone would like to offer.

We also were recently invited to a Winter Wonderland Festival in Kearny, Arizona that the Copper Basin Chamber of Commerce hosts. During this event they do a luminaria honor walk where those who want can buy luminarias (lighted paper bags) in honor of a lost loved one. Christine Hartin and Nathan Broyles are residents of Kearny and lost a son, Zayvian David Broyles, to fetal hydrops. They were given the opportunity to choose which charity would receive the proceeds from the luminarias. We were so honored that they would select us. We had such a good time participating in their festival and were happy to meet so many awesome people!

Thank you Christine and Nathan!

Their son's luminaria:

I would like to share a story with you I recently heard. Its about a man named Dr. Jack McConnell. He was 1 of 7 children who lived in a humble home and grew up in the hills of Southwest Virginia. His father was a methodist minister and his mother a homemaker. Every night around the dinner table, his father would go around the table and ask each of his children the question "what have you done for someone today?". This became so engrained in the children that they would look for opportunities to do a good turn for someone else each day. As the children grew their motivation changed to an inner desire to help others.

Dr. McConell came to have a distinguished medical career and acheived wonderful things throughout his life including the development of the tuberculosis tine test, participated in the early development of the polio vaccine, supervised the development of Tylenol, and was instrumental in developing the magnetic resonance imaging procedure, or MRI. But what Dr. McConnell calls his greatest accomplishment is that he created an organization called "Volunteers in Medicine", which gives retired medical personnel a chance to volunteer at free clinics serving the working uninsured. Dr. McConnell made this statement: “In one of those paradoxes of life, I have benefited more from Volunteers in Medicine than my patients have.”

I don't want to compare us to Dr. McConell (we can't all be that great, right?), but what I can relate to is that we often feel this same way in that we benefit far more than any recipient mother of a box. What I have learned is that in one of the darkest times in my life it was helping others that ultimatally helped myself. It was by attempting to look outside of myself to notice someone else and what they may be going through to realize I am not alone.

I am reminded of a scripture in Luke 9:24 that states: “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.”

I believe that what this scripture is trying to say is that unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. I have certianly found this to be true in my own life.

Recently we have had SO many people help our organization to ensure that no mother leaves the hospital empty handed. We appreciate those that have taken time from their lives to help us. It is my hope that anyone who participates in assembling boxes, making donations or providing service in any other way may also experience some of these same feelings that Dr. McConnell was talking about. We certainly thank everyone that has helped us recently in furthering our cause and helping those that need it.

Making Boxes!

We have been busy trying to get boxes ready to assemble. With everyones kind generosity we have been able to buy most of the stuff to make the boxes, however we are finding out that we are running low on a few items that go inside the boxes. Our goal is to never let a mom leave the hospital empty handed. We have a 160 boxes that we are trying to get completed, but are in need of the following items:

*journals

*indoor disposable cameras w/ a flash

*small packages of kleenex

*ink pens

*mini photo albums

*memorex jewel cases

*hard candy (ie butterscotch disc)

If you would like to donate any of these items please feel free to email anyone on the board. Giftcards to Scrapbooks Etc. and Hobby Lobby are also appreciated.

We feel extremely grateful to all of you who believe in Lanee's Legacy and are willing to help.