Below are some birthday photos of Gavin with his first birthday cake. Gavin’s first birthday was on Friday, February 23, 2007. Happy first birthday to our precious baby!
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Here are some new photos of Gavin and his sister Lauren taken in February and March, 2007.
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My cousin sent me a card that said, “Wear cool boots, they make you feel like you can handle anything.” This would have been a week for some cool boots! Gav gets so much food at night his body isn’t able to process it all so he is like a little vomit volcano. I feel so bad for him, but he doesn’t seem to be phased by it. It’s a little more work for us – changing his outfits like four times a day, and a lot more cleaning and laundry. Apparently, the vomit volcano thing is “typical”, although I don’t think anything about this whole experience falls under the category of “typical”!
Gavs had his zillion and one shots for his one year check up (his poor little legs are all puffy and swollen). We were very pleased to hear that his head circumference finally falls on the lowest notch of normal – which is… awesome (does anyone use that word anymore?). He is getting closer to being on chart for his height and weight. He looks like a little boy now, for so long it seemed baby baby baby, but now I can see the distinct difference. Even in his mannerisms. He wants his sippy cup and is trying out sucking through straws and wants to be in the thick of things. He is watching his sister like a hawk and is ready to leave mommy to be with the big kids! Still not crawling, but dangerously close and his bottom left tooth is giving him a run for his money! Teething is eternal!
Lauren and I often play a game, “I love you more” and then we list things that we love and tell each other that we love each other more. Example, I love you more than unicorns and bubble gum. We were in the midst of it during our afternoon lunch and it was my turn. As I was looking at my little beauty, I was about to begin when I hear her fake burp. This gives me slight pause and then she holds up her little hand to let me know she has something important to say, “I am going to burp the alphabet, erp A” What????!!!! Where did she learn this, to my knowledge Jay nor I can complete this feat so I have no idea where my baby girl is coming up with this stuff. She has a way to keep you on your toes! She also informed me that she knows that metamorphosis is when caterpillars build a chrysalis and become butterflies. I can thank Baby Einstein for that. She is up to three books now for bedtime story time and we get a new sack of books each time that we go to the library. The library here just hooked up to a whole new network (sweet) and we can find everything online and have it sent here. I’m like a kid in a candy store, ahh the little simple things!
I bought Lauren a booster this week and decided to go with a real simplistic one, just a plain ‘ol booster. Sometimes you look around at all the baby gear and you think, man this is over the top, so I thought I’d scale back. The first day I put her in it she falls asleep and is tilted at a 90 degree angle flopped to the side. My advice is to get one with a back if you are in mid transition of the car seat debacle…this one isn’t going to cut it! Any suggestions out there on a good one?
Take care and let the sunshine baby!
Jill
“The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”…Mitch Albom
The wonderful community of Darlington have lovingly devoted themselves to helping our sweet baby Gavin. On Saturday March 3rd, they continued their devotion by holding a special benefit in his honor.
Due to the generosity of these incredible people, the benefit raised an amazing $15,000 for Gavin’s fund. Between this benefit and collection canisters in the area, the devoted citizens of Darlington have raised close to $20,000 to help give our darling baby a second chance at life.
There are some special thank yous to extend to those involved with Gavin’s Darlington benefit:
A very special thank you to Jay’s parents, Nancy and Dean Winslow, and the entire Winslow family for planning the benefit.
Another special thank you goes to Ranch House Lanes for hosting the event.
Many thanks to the Wiegel family and friends for donations and contributions.
We are so thankful to everyone who donated an item, volunteered, provided entertainment, purchased an item, came to the event, and supported Gavin. The event was perfect and exceeded our wildest expectations.
As always, we are endlessly grateful to the special Darlington community for their prayers, donations, and support for Gavin and his family. There are no words to express our appreciation for your continued love and devotion to Gavin.
One of the sweetest sites under heaven had to be the Ft. Atkinson Preschool and Childcare children conducting their “nickel war” from February 19th through February 28th on behalf of sweet baby Gavin. Together, these darling angels raised $429.51. But, that is not the end of the story. Ms. Kay Sweet, their lovely instructor, decided to add her personal donation to baby Gavin’s campaign fund, bringing their total to an awe-inspiring $500.
The word angel comes from the Greek word, “aggelos” and means “messenger”. We graciously thank these extra-special, extraordinary “messengers” for working so hard to tell sweet baby Gavin’s story, and for their deep love in embracing his unfolding destiny. We are grateful!
I’ve sat at my computer probably ten times trying to find the right words to say. The words that could convey how much it means to us to know that Gav won’t have to worry about the financial cost of his disease, and what a relief it is to know that he will never be denied anything because we don’t have the financial weight to back us. Thank you to everyone who was inspired by his journey and donated, volunteered, prayed and/or shared their story with us. It has been a journey, one that will last a lifetime and each component of it will stay with us always!
Thank you to everyone who has helped us get to this point! It means so much to us and to Gav. He has had many blessings in his life, and this is another one! May all good deeds come full circle and may you be equally as blessed and have the pleasure of knowing how blessed you are!
We will throw a celebration during the summer to thank all of you when it’s nice outside and there aren’t so many illnesses to spread! Details to come!
Jill
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”
—- Anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901-1978)
When sweet baby Gavin was born we asked God to change the medical facts of his body. But we learned, at least for the moment, that that wish could not be granted. So instead we prayed for strength, for hope, for courage and God gave us each of you.
You have made things different, through your prayers, your kindness, your compassion, and your generosity. Thank you for allowing us to fall into your arms. We will never exhaust your inspiration.
We will always remember how, oh so very much, you all loved sweet baby Gavin.
Jane Schwalbach, Gavin’s Grandmother and Gavin Winslow Campaign Chairperson
An innovative Social Studies final exam had some Kettle Moraine high school students creating and customizing projects that would make a difference, implementing those projects, and finally, reflecting upon their project’s effectiveness.
Certain groups and individuals chose to construct various fundraising projects for sweet baby Gavin. Together they raised a glittering $2,185.00.
The students hosting these projects included:
Alison Hablewitz
Austin Poker
John Johnson
Katlyn Vogel
Jenna Chirillo
Shanley Bodoh
Kylie Yagoda along with the community of St. Anthony on the Lake, located at W280 N2101, Highway SS in Pewaukee contributed $1,485.00 to the total.
There were also twelve other students who participated in these projects that wished to remain anonymous.
Thank you all so very, very much for choosing to become a part of the very deep and delicate chain of baby Gavin’s life. You truly are his “golden stars.”
What a weekend! We all celebrated Gavs birthday on Friday and just relaxed and hung out together. It was so nice to all be in the same place at the same time! Gav is looking a little older, OK OK, maybe not older but bigger. He is tipping the scales at 17 lbs! That, and we have gotten word that we will be getting his previous dialysis machine back! (A newer and much better machine that will allow him and us to sleep much better.) Talk about birthday wishes coming true! Between his new weight and all this snow shoveling, I am going to have arms of steel! (Although, I want to say thank you to all my neighbors who rescued us this weekend with snowplows, we had a small mountain at the end of the driveway!)
Gav is starting to crawl backwards, hasn’t quite figured out the whole forward motion – but it’s fun to watch. It gets him a little hot though, because when he finally gets the drive to do it he ends up further from his goal than before. Pretty soon I imagine that he will be crawling and then the true fun begins! Luckily the house is pretty baby friendly already so we only have a few adjustments to make. Look out world pretty soon he will be on the loose! Now if I carry him, he refuses to be anything but outward facing. He has also developed what Jay and I call floppy feet to throw his temper tantrums and let us know when he is displeased!
Gav is starting to stop eating orally, and I am concerned that we will have to rely solely on his feeding tube. While it’s not the end of the world, since I have gotten quite good at placing it and “little magic hands” Gav has also gotten good at pulling it out, I just don’t want him to lose the ability to self feed and have food aversions. I would like to avoid that whole bag if at all possible, but I can’t argue with the results of the feeding tube. It has made an amazing difference and now it feels like there is no stopping us to get to the 22 lb. marker! Plus, they changed some of his meds so I can leave the tube out during the day and place it in at night to give his cute little face a break! Gav liked touching his birthday cake and licked the frosting once but never put it in his mouth.
I asked Lauren what she thought of this snow this morning and she gave me what Jay and I are now calling a “Laurenism”—-
Me: “What do you think of all this snow?”
Lauren: “You know what I heard.”
Me: “What?”
Lauren: “That Christmas is going to come AGAIN!”
Me: “No hon, Santa only comes once a year and he just came.”
Lauren: “Well, thats not what I heard.”
Me: “Leprechauns will be coming soon, but Santa has the rest of the year off.”
Lauren: “Only Santa can handle this snow, leprechauns are too small.”
She then stormed away in a huff and returned with crossed arms. I was then told that I wasn’t a very good mom because if I was a “good mom” I would just call Santa…and then an argument with a three year old ensued of which I will spare you the details.
Apparently I got a 2 on the Lauren “mom-o-meter” that day, because when the conversation ended I was still “not a very good mom” AND no longer a friend. Are three year olds little teenagers in smaller bodies? Rationalizing with a three year old is not a possibility. Seriously cute, but seriously independent at three!
Well, Gav is getting up from his nap and Lauren is done so I better tend to the kiddos. We feel truly blessed for all that we have in our lives and truly grateful to the doctors, nurses, staff, friends, family and community that have gotten us to where we are now. It is true that it takes a village to raise a child, and Gav is proof of that! May you live each day to the fullest and embrace all those who you love!
Jill
The wonderful people of Darlington have planned a special benefit for Gavin. Here are the details:
Tickets costs are $10 for adults, $5 for children, and children who are 2 or under will be admitted for free.
The event will be held at:
Ranch House Lanes
17096 State Hwy 23
Darlington, WI 53530
608.776.3171
Please contact Jay Winslow via email at winslowjl18@yahoo.com with any questions regarding the event.
Happy 1st Birthday to our precious baby, Gavin. You are and always will be our connection to every rainbow.
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Save Baby Gavin 