Thursday, February 14, 2008

Happy Heart Day


Our family has a tradition of visiting the hospital on Valentine's Day and bringing balloons to all the kids in the hospital. It started out the year after we had Drew when Dan approached me with his idea to skip going out to dinner and buying candy and bring some love to the hospital instead. Since then we've done it every year and we really enjoy it! We choose Valentine's Day because it is close to Drew's birthday and also happens to be Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day. This year we bought 100 red heart balloons and attached each one to a bag of candy kisses with a note that said "From our hearts to yours. Love, a family who has been there." We also made plates of heart shaped sugar cookies with a note for the nurses.

Today we brought balloons to 36 kids in the pediatric unit, 25 babies in the NICU, and 18 kids in the PICU (we left some extras with peds). Drew was able to deliver some balloons personally to a couple of kids on the pediatric floor and some of the babies in the NICU. He was excited to see the babies and I think he remembered it from last year. It was so nice to teach him what it feels like to help someone else. I told him I was proud of him. I love this tradition! It feels really good to bring a true gift of love to those who could really use it and aren't expecting it. I never miss going out to dinner and the flowery parts of Valentine's Day because I am experiencing love with my family. And I think it's incredibly romantic that this was Dan's idea and I love his thoughtful, giving heart.

Thank you to all of our friends who helped us this year! My friends Katie and Jen helped fill the bags with candy and tie the notes on the bags. DeAnna helped me frost cookies and attach balloons to the bags AND helped pick up and deliver the balloons. There were so many they wouldn't all fit in one car! Kate helped me wrap up the cookies. And Faye watched Ava so that she could take her nap while we were gone.

Here's some pictures from today and the preparations that went into it.










If you want to learn more about congenital heart defects, please visit this site.

7 comments:

Kathy said...

Oh my GOSH...you guys are SO sweet!
What a great idea. I need to come up with something cute to do next year. Isn't it funny how these little guys put the whole world in a new perspective for us. What a hidden treasure that is!
Drew looks SO handsome and it looks like you had a fun night!
Happy Heart Day to you guys!
You deserve to start celebrating this day!
Kathy

Gina and the Gang said...

And Happy Heart Day to you too!

Gina

Lexi and Linzi said...

What an AWESOME blessing you guys were!!!!!

Anne Marie said...

Every year, I look forward to hearing about how the deliveries went! I always wonder, how DO they fit those balloons in their car? It's good that you had back up to help with the BIG delivery. I can only imagine how blessed those children and families felt to recieve your gift! Happy Valentines Day!

Unknown said...

You guys are awesome! I really want to steal your idea for next year. I think that is a great way to spend Valentines Day. Drew looked so adorable with his little heart shirt on. You are instilling great values into him and your such a good momma!

Happy Heart Day!

Kate said...

looks like it went beautifully this year; i'm glad drew got to really participate this year. love!

ps yay, my first blog mention! yes, it's true, i can make *anything* be about me. :-D

Amy, Steve, Molly, Paige and Garrett said...

I love that you do this. What a great lesson for your kids! Good job!