The week ahead

What a week we have ahead!  It's CMN (Children's Miracle Network) week for us.  This week we'll be sharing Brinkley's story at two different CMN kickoff events.  Saturday Brinkley will be one of two CMN children featured during the televised Miss SC pageant.  Yes, our man is making his TV debut!  The Miss SC pageant will air at 8 pm Saturday night.  In the Greenville area you can catch it on MY40.  It will also be aired in the following markets: Columbia, Charleston, & Myrtle Beach.  

We're excited about sharing Brinkley and growing Team Brinkley!

Tomorrow morning at 11:30 Brinkley will be checking in at Greenville Memorial for surgery.  Dr. Gates will be closing the G-tube site.  We are expecting to stay overnight and will keep you updated.  With this in mind, we need our team to join us in praying for a smooth procedure and recovery.  

A peek inside therapy

Brinkley is working hard on his walking skills with Ms Deann in PT.  Here's a little taste:

On the next attempt he thought that Ms Connie (OT) would save him:

Notice how Brinkley can poke that lip out and look absolutely pitiful with the best of them!  (Please excuse my poor camera work.)

Social Butterfly

A few months ago I was given the opportunity to join the speakers bureau for the Children's Hospital.  At that time I wasn't sure exactly what that would entail, but I was soon to find out.  My first opportunity to speak came unexpectedly.  While at therapy on a few weeks ago I got an email from the program director.  She needed me to speak the next morning and wanted me to have a twenty minute presentation prepared.  Good thing I majored in public speaking!  Less than 24 hours notice of a 20 minute presentation would send most people over the edge.

I arrived at the hospital promptly that morning to make my presentation to a group of regional managers from Chico's brand stores.  I learned quickly that the speakers bureau is a part of the Children's Miracle Network fundraising efforts for the hospital.  I was not familiar with how CMN worked and exactly what they did for hospitals, but I got a crash course that morning.   

It's a good thing that I got that crash course because the coordinators and I hit it off well and Brinkley and I were asked to participate in several more upcoming events.  

Many corporations support the Children's Miracle Network as does the Miss America Organization.  Brinkley and I were asked to attend an informational session the Miss South Carolina contestants.  Immediately, Brinkley became a hit with the contestants!  We were in a video with the ladies that will be shown during the Miss SC pageant later this month about the CMN.  Brinkley was one of two local kids that were asked to represent the hospital in the video.  

As a result, Brinkley made connections with some of the girls and has been asked to appear with them to represent CMN at fundraising events.  We are honored to have these opportunities and look forward to sharing our story with others in our community.  Here are a few photos of Brinkley with his new girlfriends:

Grace Cromer Miss Walterboro Teen 

Miss Clemson Callie Martin

What a surprise!

We got a bit of a St. Patrick's Day surprise.  Late in the morning I checked my email for the first time.  Each week I receive emails from Sevenly about the cause that they are supporting for the week.  We have bought shirts from them more than once.  Imagine my surprise when I opened this week's email and this is what I saw:

Yes, that is Brinkley featured in Sevenly's ad this week.  He is the face of Down Syndrome this week (and an awfully cute face it is!).  You can see him on their website and Facebook page as well.  His photo is in the video on their website.  

This week Sevenly is supporting the International Down Syndrome Coalition.  Recently we, along with our photographer Jessi Nichols, released several photos of Brinkley to the IDSC.  Apparently they love Brinkley because this is not the only place they have shared him.  This is the cover of one of their Facebook pages:

We are so happy to see our little guy featured here.  He's an amazing little guy.  Hopefully his smile will help someone to see that our children are more than a diagnosis.  They are beautiful wonderful gifts!

Happy New Year!

Thank you for being a part of Team Brinkley this year!  Here's a little taste of Brinkley's thoughts on this past year.

We need lots of help with our Christmas project!

We are very excited about the opportunity that we have this year to serve the families of the GHS Children's Hospital.  Last year was tough spending the holidays in the hospital, but so many people played a part in helping us through.  This year it's our turn!  On Christmas Eve we will be volunteering with Happy Wheels* distributing gifts to every child at the GHS Children's Hospital.  (Happy Wheels is a SC non-profit group that collects new books and toys that are distributed weekly to children at our state's three major children's hospitals.)

As if that is not exciting enough, on the 26th we will be back at the Children's Hospital serving lunch to the parents.  We're having a traditional Christmas lunch so that these families can get a little taste of home even while their children are sick.  

We still need help with lunch!  If you would be willing to cook, please let me know.  We are serving ham & turkey, green beans, macaroni & cheese, sweet potatoes, bread/rolls, and dessert.  The hospital has told us to plan for 60 families, so we need lots of help!  Please contact us at projectbrinkley@gmail.com if you are willing to cook any of these items.  Also, if your buisness would like to get involved we could use gift cards for paper products (Costco, Target, WalMart).  

Thank you for helping make this a reality.  The families we are serving will be blessed by your willingness to give.  We can't make it happen without you!

*If you or your group would be interested in collecting new toys for the Happy Wheels cart we can get you information!

Project Brinkley: Christmas Edition

As Christmas approaches, we are reminded that Brinkley spent the entire month of December in the Pediatric Cardiac unit at MUSC.  This was not part of my plan for my baby's first Christmas.  A group of parents came in on Christmas day and served lunch to the families in the unit.  One of the ladies serving told me that they did this because they had all been there themselves at Christmas.  This made a huge impact on me and I want to pay it forward.  This Christmas Team Brinkley will be partnering with Take Heart to share this spirit with the families in our own children's hospital.  (You can learn about Take Heart here.)

Take Heart will be presenting the hospital with gifts and Team Brinkley will be serving lunch.  We need your help!  If you would be willing to cook or if your business would be willing to provide paper products please let me know.  I will not have specific numbers until the week of Christmas, but we would like to get a jump on the paper goods.  Monetary donations or gift cards (Costco would be ideal) can be sent to Team Brinkley c/o Crystal Holder 3504-351 Hwy 153 Greenville, SC 29611.  Checks should be made out to Team Brinkley and make note on the memo line that it is for the Christmas project.

If you are willing to cook please contact us at projectbrinkley@gmail.com and we will see which menu item you would like to prepare.  Thanks in advance!