Christopher's Room Dedication

This past Sunday on May 17th we dedicated Christopher's room at Presby Plano. It was a super special day for Steve and I to see that it was finally complete and BEAUTIFUL! Daisy did such an amazing job interpreting our vision for the the tiny space. I don't know how she did all that in such a tiny space, but it's awesome! It's beautiful, comfortable, feels luxurious, and more importantly is cozy and warm. Before the space was very yellow, too bright, sterile, uncomfortable, and overall not very welcoming.

The night we stayed in the parent room our focus was Stevie Dee. We weren't jotting down comments on the paint color, or the crazy ceiling fan. We just wanted to get through a night on our own with our daughter before we took her home. It's nice when you're in a stressful situation to be surrounded with something warm and comfortable - mission accomplished.

Not only will parents use the room on their overnight stays in the NICU, but many parents will retreat here when they need to be alone, pray, have a quiet moment, or spend the last hours with their baby who won't be going home. Our prayer is that this room will be a place of healing, and bring wholeness to any broken situation for the parents.

Christopher was only here for 1 day. One day. His life was significant and just as important as someone who lived to be 99. Christopher had a purpose that was fulfilled in a very short time. I think as long as God has us here... we have a purpose. It can be humbling at times, but the bottom line is whatever your purpose God will be with you to see you through. Someone once told me - "God didn't assure us a flight without turbulence, but He did guarantee a safe landing"

Posting pictures below of the room now, and some of the "before" shots.

Before picture 1

Before picture 2

WOO HOO & THANK YOU!

Is this not the cutest face you've ever seen?

I hope you all had a great Easter. The weather wasn't so lovely but we all had a nice time at the lake. Stevie Dee is growing like a weed. I had to take her to the dr yesterday (she has a cold) and she weighs 20lbs. I'm grateful she is growing and learning new things, but sad its going by SO FAST! BOO HOO!

I cleaned out her shoe drawer and found her little diapers we kept from the NICU when she was only 3 lbs. My gosh I had forgotten just how tiny she was. The diaper looks like it would fit on a small toy doll. Back then we thought those tiny little poos were so funky in that tiny little diaper - now her bigger diapers have bigger poos (they are supremely funky). Enough poo talk.

Today I mailed $2670 to Presbyterian for the Christopher & Stevie Hickman Fund! This puts our total cash donation approximately at $8K! We're so thankful for each of you - without you Camp Christopher wouldn't be possible! We think about our little boy every day. Time does heal a heart, but his memory will be with us always, everyday, all the time.

We'll keep you posted on the room progress. Everything is set to be done the first week of May and we're tentatively planning his room dedication on May 17th at 2:30.

Love,

Erin

New Boots & Fun at the lake

These are my gorgeous new boots that arrived this morning. They are my Christopher & Stevie Dee twin tribute boots, and they are the most awesome things I've ever seen. They were designed and made by Tres Outlaws boots. www.falconhead.com

My left boot is for Christopher, he was positioned on my left side when I was pregnant, and my right boot is for Stevie Dee - she was on the right. The boots have all sorts of crazy details on them! I just had to show them off. Chawyne and Scott did a great great job. You should see some of the boots Scott has done - one pair I saw in Denver was over $15K - they had inlaid silver pieces, and tons of tooling.

Below are pictures of Stevie from the lake this past weekend. She is quite the little outdoors-girl. She really loves to be outside, and when she isn't outside she crawls to the window to look outside.

She is 10.5 months old now, weighs 19lbs, and is growing like a weed. She is on the go, go, go. Her hair is getting a little thicker, and her chunky thighs are starting to thin out a bit. So sad. I love those chunky legs.

We're making progress on Camp Christopher. I recently sent additional information in the mail with a letter and pictures of the floor plan, furniture, and pictures of the room as it is now. If you would like to receive a package in the mail please email me your address.

erinehickman@tx.rr.com

I want to say thank you again to everyone who has contributed to this cause. It means so much to Steve and I. Now I must go - our daughter is trying to open and close the drawer on the filing cabinet. It's an accident waiting to happen!

Good night!

9 months Old

Hola amigos y amigas,

Stevie Dee turned 9 months old yesterday.  She had her checkup today with Dr. Mobley (I highly recommend him if you are in need of a pediatrician). 

She's holding steady at 18.5 lbs, she is 28 inches long (she's grown 1 ft since she was born, gained 15.4 pounds).  Crazy how fast that child has grown.

Stevie was the recipient of a Hep B shot today - her very last dose, and she was thrilled about the entire experience.  In addition to the exciting shot, blood was drawn to test her iron levels and to check to see if there was any lead in her blood.  Lead?  My question too.  Courtesy of our uber efficient Chinese peeps who used lead in some of the paint in toys they make the CDC (Center for Disease Control) now check the lead levels in children.  The nurse explained that 99% of the time children test negative, but if they are positive there is a pill form treatment to combat the lead.  SO, a new thing to add to my list of parental worry - uber efficient Chinese toymaker peeps.

Duty calls - Stevie is hungry and I better grab her before she starts gnawing on something hazardous.

Love,

Erin

Well Helloooooooooo

Hi peeps that read this blog!

My apologies that it has taken me almost 2 months to put up a new post.  This morning I'm bringing you good news and a few other Stevie updates.

The Good News!

My very talented sister-in-law (Daisy Stoops www.cdistyle.com) created the design plan for the Camp Christopher parent room in the NICU.  The plans were approved last week and we can begin the next steps!  We will have the room complete by May 11 so we can dedicate it on the twins birthday, or sometime around their birthday.  

We will be creating a registry for the room.  This will include lamps, a TV, a sleeper sofa, console for the TV, mirror, glider rocking chair, artwork, IPOD speakers, and a few other things.  If you would still like to make a contribution you can select something from the registry, or make a cash donation.  We have raised over $5,000, and our goal is still to raise close to $10K.  The cost of the furniture and accessories counts toward the overall $10K goal.  I'll keep everyone posted on this. 

Please pray for us as we move forward.  I'm really humbled how God has brought us through this experience, we miss Christopher so much still, and think about him at least 100x a day.  Watching Stevie get bigger we can't help to wonder - what would Christopher have been like and looked like?  Would he have been as crazy as his sister, or a gentle little soul.  My heart just gets a little heavy thinking about it, and yet I'm still thankful we had the time with him we did.  I pray the parent room that will now be Camp Christopher will be FULL of GOD's grace, and healing mercy.  For anyone who steps in that room I pray that they would immediately feel a sense of peace and comfort no matter what situation their child is facing.

I'll do my best to post pictures of the furniture and other things that have been selected for the room.  

Stevie Updates!

Our 3lb baby now weighs 18lbs and 6oz!  We went yesterday to get her 5th dose of Synagis - the medication that helps keep her clear of getting severe RSV.  She did get RSV in December and PRAISE GOD it was a really mild case.  

She is almost sitting up all by herself.  She rolls and scoots all over the place - not crawling yet. She is getting more and more hair everyday.  

She also enjoys shopping.  Aunt Ashley and I took Stevie into Neiman's yesterday and while I was trying on clothes I let Stevie roll around on the floor of the dressing room.  NOW before you call me crazy for doing that - let me tell you I scoured the floor for random pins and other funkies before I let her do that - AND I put down a huge blanket.  She had a ball checking herself out in the mirror and chewing on the hems of clothes that were in her reach.  Another praise - My child is a shopper! THANK YOU!  She comes by it naturally - trust me.

Stevie is the light of our lives.  She brings more joy than I ever thought possible.  

Other misc news:

One of my dear friends and I started a business last November.  Ashley Hill-Friend and I have known each other since college and are sorority sisters (Go Chi-O!).  We launched Fringe Fashion Group and are having a blast.  Our company offers apparel and accessories up to 80% off retail. Our basic mission statement is - Taking the retail out of retail!   We currently have mens and womens apparel.  Our website will launch early February - www.fringefashiongroup.com . 

If you'd like to see us - come down to Crowne Plaza on February 5 and 6 - 7050 Stemmons Freeway - Mockingbird / 35.  We'll be setting up shop with Old Gringo Boots and Triple Creek Home Decor for 2 days.  It will be a blast.  

Love all of you,

Erin

She is almost 7 months!! Time flies!

I am still waiting on details from Presby Plano about the parent room that we'll now be decorating.  I posted this several weeks ago.  We're really excited, and if you know anyone who would like to donate to the cause it would be greatly appreciated.  We're about $7K shy of meeting the $10K total donation.  We'll get there and help would be appreciated.  Don't forget it is tax deductible and we are approaching the end of the year.  

Here is the text from that post:

We are still raising money for Camp Christopher.  We have been approached about considering decorating a parent room in the NICU now vs. a pediatric room.  There is a an immediate need in the NICU to have a parent room where parents can spend some quiet time (away from beeping monitors and alarms), also a room where parents of very sick babies can spend the last moments with them.  We did not have that opportunity with Christopher, the hustle and bustle of the nurses and doctors were an earshot away while we held Christopher.  

Since we have such a strong bond with the NICU we feel this may be a good place to start utilizing the funds from The Christopher & Stevie Hickman Fund, however the room project is still a goal.  I will have more information on this in the next few days and will keep you all posted.  We are so thankful and humbled by the generosity of our family and friends that have given.  

Time flies, doesn't it?  In 2 short days Stevie will be 7 months old.  She is almost 16 lbs now, and growing taller every day.  She is doing really well and we say our prayers everyday for her that she will continue to be healthy and be protected from any kind of funkiness going around out there.  She is still receiving the Synagis shots and will continue to get an injection 1x a month through March to protect her from RSV.  

Stevie is still enjoying her "mommy and me" yoga class.  I think she is going to be a social one.  I can't imagine where she gets that from!

We had a great Thanksgiving! We spent a week in Rockport, which is about an hour from Corpus Christi. The weather was gorgeous and Stevie put her feet in the sand and ocean for the first time.  She loved the beach - thank GOODNESS, we'll spend a lot of time by the water.  

Thank you for the continued prayers!

Love,

Erin

Have you seen the "melamine in formula" emails?

I'm sure most of you have seen the email that is going around about the melamine found in formulas that are made in China, and also tells you to check the bar code which will tell you the country code.  

Stevie is now on Enfamil Lipil & sometimes Nutramigen (made by enfamil - if you're child has a poop problem Nutramigen is the overnight wonder!).  At 10:30pm I read this email and proceeded to my kitchen to thoroughly check her cans of formula for information on where the product was made - it didn't say specifically the product was "Made in ....."  So I emailed Mead-Johnson the parent company for Enfamil.  Here was their response - if any of you are using Enfamil you can be assured it is all made in the USA.  

--------------------

Thanks for your e-mail, Erin, asking where our infant formulas are manufactured. I appreciate having an opportunity to respond.

Our infant and toddler formula products distributed in the United States are manufactured in the United States.

I have passed along your suggestion to modify our labels to add where our products are manufactured. I thank you for taking the time to relay your thoughts.

We appreciate your interest in our products, and I hope this information will be useful to you. Please let us know if you have additional questions about our products or if we can help you again.

Sandy Willett
Product Information Department
Phone: 1-800-222-9123
E-mail: MJProductInformation@bms.com
Websites: http://www.enfamil.com and http://www.meadjohnson.com