2018 Christmas Toy Drive is ready!

(Image is my daughter, Liam's big sister, standing in front of the tree at Children's later year when we dropped off our donations from the 2017 Toy Drive)

Hi all!! Now that school has started and we're all getting into the swing of the new school year, I wanted to let everyone know that our 2018 Christmas Toy Drive is officially ready! I'm excited about this year and the changes I've made. As a reminder.....

What you need to  know for 2018:

1) This year we will be collecting stuffed animals. Because of their softness and huggableness they make a great gift for sick kids. They provide lots of comfort.

2) All stuffed animals must be new. They cannot be used (even gently used). This is a guideline from the hospital. They can't risk exposing kids to any germs, viruses or anything else. Anything donated to us that is used I will have no choice but to donate to Rescued Treasures. Again this is NOT my rule and it's for the safety of these sick kids.

3) All donations need to get to me by the 10th of December. This gives me 15 days to inventory everything and a 15 day window to set up delivery with the hospital.

4) You can contact me on our Facebook Page Shooting for Liam, shootingforliam@yahoo.com or for a quicker response you can email me at my personal email aubinbryant@yahoo.com

Below is a printable flyer for you to share. If you own a business and are planning on having a drop box for donations please contact me so that I can list your site on our facebook page and blog as well as coordinate pick up days and times for donations. 

2018 Christmas Toy Drive

I know its only February (March tomorrow) but I've been thinking about this years toy drive since I dropped last years off at Valley Children's Hospital and I'm making some changes. First I want to thank everyone who donated to last years toy drive. Thank you for helping make Christmas great for the sick kids stuck behind the glass at Children's...

(My daughter Lanie posing in front of the tree at Valley Children's when we dropped off 2017's donations.)

The changes I'm making are simple and sure to make this year's drive reach more kids. Every year I'll pick 1 kind of item that I'll be collecting. This way it's easy to remember what we're in need of, and we can reach more kids than ever. There are also guidelines we have to follow given to us by the hospital.

What you need to  know for 2018:

1) This year we will be collecting stuffed animals. Because of their softness and huggableness they make a great gift for sick kids. They provide lots of comfort.

2) All stuffed animals must be new. They cannot be used (even gently used). This is a guideline from the hospital. They can't risk exposing kids to any germs, viruses or anything else. Anything donated to us that is used I will have no choice but to donate to a local thrift store or to toss.

3) After holidays is the best time to pick up stuffed animals for a fraction of the cost. Easter is coming up and you can get a lot of stuffed animals on clearance getting "more bang for your buck".

4) All donations need to get to me by the 10th of December. This gives me 15 days to inventory everything and a 15 day window to set up delivery with the hospital.

5) You can contact me on our Facebook Page Shooting for Liam or shootingforliam@yahoo.com

6) I'll have a graphic made for you to share soon. Please share our blog post and Facebook post.

2016 Christmas Drive Success

On December 22nd we braved the fog and the hour drive to Valley Children's to deliver gifts just in time for Christmas. Thank you every who donated to our annual Christmas drive in memory of Liam Michael Bryant. We delivered the following with smiles on our faces and joy in our hearts because we know that these gifts will put smiles on the kids in the hospital:

59 complete care packages

Plus the following loose toys: 

16 bubble wands

5 tea sets

1 nerf sport toy

6 coloring books

29 stuffed animals

If you don't see the items you donated listed above, it's because they were put into a care package. Each care package included at the least:

1 toy

1 stuffed animal

1 book or coloring book

crayons, color pencils or markers to go with the coloring books

Some care packages included blankets

NICU care packages included stuffed animals, socks, hat, book, blanket and toothbrush for a parent.

I know each kid loved every toy, every blanket, every stuffed animal. Thank you for helping us help make their Christmas's a little brighter.

(Involving kids in our mission is something I strive for with each event/donation. Liam's big sister Lanie, the blonde in the middle, is always involved in every aspect of Shooting for Liam. From picking out items to donate, to putting together care packages and planning picnic's, she's right there by my side.)

We are already working on next years drive so if you didn't get a chance to donate this year, know you still help with next years. We are now accepting donations for 2017.

Thank you everyone for helping us do something great in memory of our sweet little lamb.

Christmas Drive

This December marks the one year anniversary of when our sweet little lamb became an angel. We are doing a drive in his memory for Valley Children's Hospital.

We want to deliver these packages to the hospital around December 15th and are asking for the following items:

*backpacks or tote bags

*books (for all ages)

*stuffed animals

*blankets (baby-teen)

*small toys

*journals or notebooks

*coloring books or activity books

*crayons, color pencils and pens

*toiletries (NICU parents)

*tethers and baby toys

*baby socks and hats

*on the go snacks (granola bars, protein bars, etc)

These are just some ideas of the kind of things we'd like to include in our packages. We are putting together care packages for newborn to age 19 as well as parents in the NICU. Often times parents are too worried for their babies that they forget to eat themselves or even pack the essentials like a toothbrush or hairbrush. Adult coloring books and puzzle books are a great thing for NICU parents as well because often times there are long stretches of time when they cannot hold their baby so they just sit at their side These items would give them a much needed break as well as relieve some stress. 

We are also having an online Jewelry in Candles party to raise money to purchase items for these care packages. This party will be active until 10/09/2016 and 100% of the commission is going to buying more items for children's hospital. Click here to shop our Jewelry in Candles party

If you'd like to donate items, please contact us on our Facebook page or email us at shootingforliam@yahoo.com

A care package we made for a family who was in the NICU at Children's hospital August 2016.

Our donation to Children's in memory of Liam in April 2016.

Just some of the items we donated in April 2016.

October 2012, our tethers for teethies drive. 

Sensory Play: Christmas

Kids that spend a lot of time in NICU or the hospital tend to have sensory issues.

CDHer's are no exclusion.

In fact many survivor have sensory issues.

Parents find that these issues are hard to overcome.

Our survivor Liam is no exception.

Liam still has sensory issues at 3 years 4 months.

We've worked very hard with him to work through these issues,

and hard work is the only reason he's doing as well as he is.

For the majority of his Liam's life,

he hated textures.

If it wasn't super soft he refused to hold it.

He hated the feel of playdoh,

sand,

uncooked rice and noodles.

We worked past this by playing with these things over and over again.

We still have a lot of work to do.

Sensory bins are awesome.

I love how there is so much in such a small area.

It's meant to stretch their ability to be handle the stimulation with each passing use.

With Christmas coming up I thought to do a Christmas themed sensory bin.

In my Google search I found many I like.

This winter themed sensory bin is so simple and cheap.

Everything in it came from the Dollar store and added up to $5!!

I adore it. I found this at Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Blog.

She has several amazing sensory bins that I am looking forward to making for Liam.

This snowy sensory bin looks like so much fun!

We found this gem at Blog Me Mom

I feel like this is a two for one deal.

Not only so the kids get the sensory aspect out of filling the ornaments,

but when they are done,

you get some great ornaments for your tree.

I love that they used beads as well as sand to fill these up.

It gives me a great idea to use other materials as well.

I found this AMAZING idea over at Little Bins For Little Hands.

Love this sensory bin.

It has some of Liam's favorite things.

Found at Four Little Piglets

We are already so excited for Christmas!

Can't wait till closer to Christmas to do some crafts with the kids.