New Direction

We've made some changes as to how we will help families. A social worker I spoke with suggested that instead of providing checks for families it would be better to give gift cards. It makes it easier for us and for the social worker. Instead of the social worker having to apply for assistance, he/she can give the family what they need exactly when they need it.

So we are asking for either a donation in the form of a gift card or money and we'll purchase the gift cards. For now the only gift cards I am asking for are Wal Mart gift cards and MasterCard gift cards. From what I read on their website, the gift card does not charge a fee the first time it is used (Visa does). We are going to do gift cards in $25 increments.

The website is close to being finished. I had to wait on a couple of things before I could come close to publishing it. Now I need to make changes and then I am going to premiere it May 1! Hopefully the same day that Pepsi accepts our application.

Half Marathon

A half marathon is not easy. I learned that this weekend. My friend, Isabelle, is participating in one in a couple of weeks. Saturday she asked if I wanted to accompany her on a practice marathon. I agreed thinking that it would be a challenge. Challenge is a gross understatement. So I have a lot of respect for people who can do marathons (whether half or whole). One person I greatly respect and admire completed a half marathon this weekend in St. Louis in 2 hours!

I met Erica while we were in the NICU. Her daughter was across from Alyssa's room. It's amazing how God places the right people at exactly the right time. Erica has been so supportive and helpful with this organization. She has helped me with finding out what to do, where to go, and really did the first fund raiser for Hold My Heart.

It touched my heart when I received an email from her Sunday to tell me that close to $1000 was raised! I mean how awesome is that! If you are one of the people who donated, thank you so much!

One of the best parts of the email was this picture. Not only did Erica help raise money for the organization but she had t-shirts made also! I love it! Here is a picture of Erica and her beautiful daughter. Thank you again Erica!

So Refreshing!

Ok so in case you don't know Pepsi is giving away money! So I applied on the Pepsi Refresh website but...I didn't make it for the voting pool for March. So please pray that our foundation will be in the running for April! I am super excited as the amount of money could help so many people in Missouri.

Once I find out if we are in the running for votes I will post here and on Facebook. Then I will need you to vote!

On another note...I had to remove the logo because I didn't realize how HUGE it was. I'm not sure how to resize using this website (I've tried trust me) so I removed it until I can get a smaller size. So hopefully soon I will have the logo back up and it won't take up half the screen. :)

Website is still going...Not up and running yet. I have to call tech support for Go Daddy and I've been putting it off. Good thing is that they have 24/7 support so I will do so Saturday night. Or Monday after work. I'm learning that this process will not be done in a day. Or a week. Or a month. It's hard - I want to get everything done! But one step at a time. I'm learning that more and more.

I hope that my next post will have some good news...preferably about Pepsi.

Under Construction

It's been awhile but I've been hard at work. Now that I am on spring break, I am using as much time as I can to get a website up and running. It's proving to be a little difficult. But I have an awesome logo (thank you Jill) and I am super excited!

I am also going to use this week to contact social workers at different NICU's. After much prayer I've decided on 4 NICU's around the state of Missouri. I still need to meet with my board but this is proving to be difficult. Trying to get 3 people together to approve the bylaws, budget and all of that jazz is hard when we all have different schedules and commitments. Please pray that we can get together. Once we approve everything we can finish applying with the IRS to be a tax-exempt organization.

Thank you so much for your prayers. I will update when I have more information. I hope that our website will be up and running by the end of the week!

Great News!

We are a go! I got the Missouri state papers in the mail yesterday! I am so excited! Now the work begins. I am typing up a letter and working on a website. I am trying to get everything done but I know that I'm going to really have to work during Spring Break (the 2nd week in March). I'm just glad that we are a go before the race!

I'm so thankful for all of my friends and family who are pitching in to help! God has trully blessed me with amazing people. In other news a very good friend who has a very good friend designed a couple of possible logos for me to use! Talk about exciting!

Please continue to pray for this organization. Now that I have a lot of work cut out I'll be updating here more! Thank you for all of your prayers and support!

Good news!

The application for Hold My Heart Foundation is on its way to the Secretary of State! I have an EIN number and everything which means I can open an account, PO Box. Now the real work begins! I feel really overwhelmed but I know that it will all come together. I have a lot of really awesome people who are offering their time and services to help get this started.

I hope to have a logo soon. Thank you Jill for talking to your friend! I have someone who offered to get a basic website rolling. So I hope to have the ok from the state, a website and logo by the end of February! I know the blog name still says Tiny Footprints so I guess once I get the ok from the state I will start a new blog.

I am so incredibly excited! The other day I was reading the bible and it occured to me that what I read should be the basis of the mission statement. The verse is from 2 Corinthians 1:4. It says "He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us." When I read it I realized that is exactly what this organization is about! It's amazing what God does the more you allow Him control.

So I am busy trying to get everything typed out for my website and a brochure or something to send to businesses that I am going to try to get to partner with us. Please keep me and Hold My Heart Foundation in your prayers!

Back to the Drawing Board

Turns out Tiny Footprints can't be used. Bummer right? Not really! Here's why...


We went to Winter Jam in St. Louis. Awesome concert! Third Day! Newsboys! And my favorite Tenth Avenue North! For those of you who do not know, Hold My Heart by Tenth Avenue North is the song we chose for Alyssa's video. I consider it her song and I was extremely excited to hear it live.


Hearing it live was so awesome. I cried. If you haven't heard it before it is absolutely beautiful. Every word was how we felt when our doctor told us she wasn't going to make it, every day when she was in the NICU and when she passed. We prayed so hard, begging God to heal Alyssa - and He did...just not the way we wanted or imagined. And this song just reminded me everytime my heart broke that He is there through the pain - holding my heart.


Jessica (my sister) found out that they were going to be out to meet the fans. So we waited in line and I bought their CD for them to sign. I shared my story with the band and one member knew the pain we felt. I told them about how God was leading me to start this organization but that I couldn't name it what I originally wanted. It came to me a couple of days ago that Hold My Heart would be so fitting. So I asked if that would be ok and they said yes!

So I fixed my application (again) to change my requested names. Please pray that this time my application will go through without any delays. I want this organization to help provide comfort to families and remind them that no matter what they are going through He is there holding their hearts.