Long time, no write

I know. It's been....well, forever, since I posted here. I promise an update very soon. A lot has happened, road-curving, roller coaster type stuff. Not with the girls but other life stuff.

Anyhoo, I wanted to post about our upcoming walk with the March of Dimes. Our team is walking for the 7th year! It's hard to believe that it's been that long, but I guess so, since Lindsey & Sydney are 7 years old. This cause is near and dear to us. The funds we raise go to help with many things: research, programs and keeping healthy babies and prematurity on everyone's mind, making people aware of the issues around not just prematurity, but how to have a healthy pregnancy and baby, in general.

Over the years, you've helped our team raise nearly $20,000! I'm so, so grateful for your support! Please give what you can! Every DOLLAR helps! Just click the link/badge below to make your donation and to view the girls photo montage from last year. Thank you SO much!

Please help!

Our annual March for Babies is coming up in less than three weeks and so I am making a plea for help! Our family is committed to helping the March of Dimes. They provide much needed funds to many different organizations for research grants, pregnancy programs and education for medical personnel. Many programs are being cut due to lack of funds.

I know the economy stinks, but please, give a few bucks if you can! Every little bit makes a difference!

It's been so neat to see how the girls are starting to take a more active roll in the fundraising and telling their story. They are just really beginning to understand that their beginnings, their first few months of life were much, much different that most other babies. It's been interesting to see them process that information and share it with others.

We have had so much support over the past six years. Thank you SO MUCH! Please visit our walk page and donate what you can. March for Babies or Click the bar on the side. Tell others about us and ask for their support too! We can all make a difference!

We really do need your help!

Turn up your volume!

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By the way, I PROMISE a real update very, very soon!

Thank you from all of us!

More summer happenings...

I've definitely been more absent these summer months! I can't believe how fast time is flying by. I know this always happens though. Today was the most perfect summer day ever! I enjoyed it a bit by sitting on the deck and reading book, just enjoying the warm summer sun, bright blue sky and the best part...low humidity! Thankfully, we only get bursts of humidity here in the summer. It would not make me happy to live in an area that is humid all the time.

The first day of August was one of those humid days and we spent the afternoon over at great Aunt Sherri's house with Lindsey and Sydney's second cousins. They had a lot of fun floating around the pool and trying out the slide. We were intending on getting another week's worth of private swim lessons this summer, but time just ran out. Here are a few pics from that day:







Then, later that weekend, we were invited to an Awards Celebration for the March of Dimes which included attending a Minnesota Twins game! We had the picnic right at the Dome and then proceeded to head down onto the field for a "march" around the basis. We brought Lindsey and Sydney's cousin, Chelsea, with us, as she is an AVID Minnesota Twins fan. We all had a wonderful day!
When we first arrived, we picked up our awards for Top Team and I also received an award for Top Walker (#10 for the entire state of Minnesota)! We are very proud. We work hard, all of us. I'd like to thank our team for all the efforts as well! We couldn't do it without you!

More pictures from the day:













Now, we are starting the countdown to KINDERGARTEN! Only eight more days! We had a parent meeting last Wednesday and we have Open House this Wednesday. They already know their teachers, but this will be fun to go in and see the classrooms again.

More updates soon!

THANK YOU!

We were worried about the weather on Sunday, but it turned out to be a beautiful day...sunny, a little on the cool side (about 50*F), but great for walking! No jackets needed!

After church, I headed down to the walk site to help get ready. I am a committee member so I needed to be there early. DH and the girls came later, along with the rest of the team. And can I just say a HUGE THANK YOU to all who came out to walk with us too: Mom, Sandy, Sherri, Renee, Darren, Kristy, Chelsea, Dylan and their friends, Lincoln, Grant and Harrison, Lisa, Steph, A, Alex, Jen, John, Ali and Josie, Shelly and Steph. It's so fun when we have family and friends together for this event!

I was also quite impressed with Lindsey and Sydney this year. This is the second year we didn't bring a stroller. However, this year, we did bring the bikes! GREAT idea! Lindsey walked half of the first loop (a loop is a mile) and then proceeded to ride the rest of the loop and ride two MORE loops! Holy buckets! That was three miles! Sydney was too far ahead the first loop so missed picking up her bike, but the rode another loop. Then she was done and headed to the playground!

Thanks also to Rochelle and all my other committe members! As always, it's great to work with you!

Again, we were Top Team and I was Top Walker for our walk location. We all work very hard and it's all because of our wonderful supporters!

I hope you enjoy my little montage of the day (turn up your volume):

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Next year... think about joining us, will you?

We need help in order to reach our goal!

This Sunday our family is walking in the annual March of Dimes March for Babies (formerly WalkAmerica), rain or shine, and it's looking like it's not going to be shining either.

You all know the story of my girls, born at 24 weeks, 114 days in the NICU. If you've just come across my blog, you can check out their Caring Bridge page listed in my sidebar by their pictures to read more of Lindsey and Sydney's story via my early journals. Our family is dedicated to giving back, raising money for the March of Dimes. It's been so neat seeing Lindsey and Sydney get more involved with our fundraising efforts. They help me spread the mission of the March of Dimes and this year, they signed every letter we sent out! They are SO EXCITED for the walk this Sunday! I am so very proud of what little ladies they are becoming!

This is the sixth year walking with our family team. Each year, I set a goal a little bit higher than the previous one, and we work very hard to raise more money than we did the year before. We are getting so close, but are still short of our goal. Please help if you can! Large or small, all donations make a difference! Click this banner to make a donation:


I will leave you with a few of my favorite pictures from five and half years ago...

Lindsey:





Sydney:



Going home, a very happy day!



Thank you for reading, for caring, for supporting...we greatly appreciate it!

WalkAmerica was a SUCCESS!

Thank you all for your generous donations and support! We were, once again, Top Team for our walk location. We raised over $3,500 and I was able to exceed my personal goal as well! It was a beautiful day! 85*F and sunny to start. I will not complain about the weather, as the previous two years were rainy and snow flurries! But I will say that I was glad it clouded over a bit for most of the walk. A nice breeze off the Mississippi kicked up too. VERY nice!

Since I was on the planning committe and we were the Ambassador Family, we had to be there early to help set up and to take pictures. We set up a table with pics of the girls through the years. Amazing! In my last post, I posted a pic of our local newspaper. Here is another town's paper where we made the FRONT PAGE! It was a very nice article.


And here is our Photo Display...


Here are a couple shots during the walk at the first fun stop...




And here are our little Ambassador's modeling our TEAM shirts!


I want to thank all the team walkers, Grandma Gloria, Uncle Darren, Aunt Kristy, Chelsea and Dylan, Aunt Jane, Brandon, Brenda, Ryan & William, Lisa and Andrea, Sandy and a special thanks to Mrs. Palla, Lindsey & Sydney's preschool teacher, who showed up to walk with us! We didn't expect her and it was such a nice surprise!

We had such fun and can't wait until next year!

Ambassador Family newspaper article

The fundraising is going well and we are having a blast being the Ambassador Family this year for the March of Dimes WalkAmerica. We've given a couple newspaper interviews and also a radio interview. THAT was a lot of fun! Here is a picture of one of the newspaper articles, a full page spread. Very cool!


We are still trying to reach our goal. $2, $5, $10 - it all really goes a long way to saving babies! Click Here to Donate

I'm off to get some arch support for my shoes. Seems I'm having a problem with fallen arches and need to get orthotics. These will have to do for now. I'm a little nervous about all the walking on Sunday, but I'll get through. It's going to be a great day!

Thanks so much for your support!

Please, the March of Dimes needs your HELP!

On Sunday, April 29, 2007, our family will be participating in the March of Dimes WalkAmerica event to help save babies from premature birth, the #1 cause of newborn death. This is our fourth year walking as The Niehaus Twins Team and this year we were selected to be the Ambassador Family for our walk location. We are very excited to share our story and have been busy giving radio and newspaper interviews. It's been a lot of fun and we are looking forward to walk day!

Some of you may or may not know that our daughters, Lindsey and Sydney, were born 16 weeks early, weighing only 1 lb. 1.5 oz. and 1 lb. 2 oz. at birth. This picture is an example of how very small they were. It is a copy of Sydney’s footprints taken at Thanksgiving when she was about seven weeks old! We couldn’t get footprints before that, as they always had some kind of IV in their feet. Lindsey and Sydney are now happy, fun-loving preschoolers, thanks to the March of Dimes. The March of Dimes funded the research that resulted in the development of artificial surfactant...used to help mature the lungs of premature babies. Without artificial surfactant, Lindsey and Sydney would not be here today.

America’s babies need your help. Please visit our personal Web site to make a donation and learn more about the March of Dimes.

ANY donation is greatly appreciated. We CAN make a difference! By helping fund research that will help with preterm labor signs, education programs, and tools to help health care providers find better ways to detect risk, we can be a part of the solution.

Fifty years ago, your dimes conquered polio…PLEASE give us a hand with preterm birth. Thank you!