Planning...

is all that seems to keep my mind busy. I know exactly what we're planning for, but it keeps me busy. Of course, I'm planning on the arrival of Sophia (which is about 2 1/2 months away), but I'm also planning a benefit dinner. I've had several people ask me if we were going to hold one, so here we are... making the plans!

So we decided to do a simple dinner, spaghetti! How original, I know. But who doesn't love spaghetti? There will be live entertainment, which has already been covered thanks to a good friend of ours. Baskets to raffle off. Baked goods for sale. Now all we have to do is figure out a place and time. We're aiming for June, which I think gives us plenty of time. And we'll be contacting our church to see if we can use the hall. Which I'm sure will not be a problem!

So right now, we're looking for people to help out. Donating a basket or two, volunteering to help cook/serve the food, bake up some old recipes... nearly anything! We'll also be needing the help of a person or two to design flyers for this event. If you or someone you know would be willing to help us, please click on the "Contact Us" tab and send us an e-mail!

Now, you may be asking yourself, "Why are they going to host a benefit for their daughter if the funeral costs have already been covered?" The answer is simple! We're trying to raise funds to cover the cost of Sophia's headstone. I refuse to bury my baby girl unless she has a headstone shortly after. And truthfully, we're asking for help from everyone who can, because we are a low-income family and were not prepared for something like this to happen. Or you may be saying, "What are they going to do this for if the doctor's turn out to be wrong?" That would be fantastic! An answer to my prayers. And in the case of us being blessed with a miracle, all the funds will be donated to the March of Dimes. Fair enough, I think.

I thought alot about what I would do with the money raised if she were to survive. At first I said, "Well maybe we could use it to buy Sophia clothes and carseat, etc. since we don't have any of that." But then I figured, "No, we'll manage. The best thing to do would be to donate it to the March of Dimes."

So, I'm still looking for some ideas as to what else we can do at the benefit dinner. Like I said, we'll have baskets to raffle off and a bake sale. What else can we do that noone else has? How can we make this event different from all the others? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Now, on another note, I want to apologize to those who follow Sophia's blog closely. I know I haven't been updating as much as I should. But, life has been hectic. Not to mention, I've been in a fair amount of pain for the last 4-5 days. I've got this awful pain in my left rib. And sometimes Sophia likes to double team me. Almost like she knows her mama's rib is hurting. So while the left one is hurting, she'll kick or punch the right rib. Makes me wonder what kind of sense of humor she would have. My guess is, her daddy's!

We're creeping up on Week 26... and I'm late on posting a pic. So here it is!

25 weeks and 3 days!

                             Thanks for stopping by. Don't forget to leave your ideas... I'd love to hear (or should I say read) them!