Save Baby Gavin

Kurt Lakatos, the owner of Krav Maga-Milwaukee, has generously offered to conduct two self-defense seminars at his studio. All proceeds will go to Gavin’s fund. To view the event flyer, click here.

Defense from the Ground - Krav Maga Milwaukee, with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu expert Jon Friedland, will introduce you to the dangers of ground fighting and how to maximize your chance of survival in this dangerous environment.

Defense from the Ground Saturday, January 6, 2007 Noon to 2:00 p.m. Krav Maga-Milwaukee Studio 17000 W. Capitol Drive, Brookfield. For driving directions, click here. Tickets $30 in advance, $40 at the door. Space is limited, register early. For tickets, contact: Kurt at 262-412-3757

To find out more about Krav Maga Training and Kurt’s studio, please visit their website at www.kravmaga-milwaukee.com.

Kurt Lakatos, the owner of Krav Maga-Milwaukee, has generously offered to conduct two self-defense seminars at his studio. All proceeds will go to Gavin’s fund. To view the event flyer, click here.

Defense vs. Common Street Attacks - Krav Maga Milwaukee will prepare you for the realities of violent street assaults and how to protect yourself with the most practical and efficient means available.

Defense vs. Common Street Attacks Saturday, January 6, 2007 10:00 a.m. to Noon Krav Maga-Milwaukee Studio 17000 W. Capitol Drive, Brookfield. For driving directions, click here. Tickets $30 in advance, $40 at the door. Space is limited, register early. For tickets, contact: Kurt at 262-412-3757

To find out more about Krav Maga Training and Kurt’s studio, please visit their website at www.kravmaga-milwaukee.com.

Paige Brien, a graphic artist from Lake Mills, has begun a “Fight with Food” fundraiser on Gavy’s behalf. She has created and donated posters and stickers to local restaurants owners who want to participate in her program. Customers who eat at participating restaurants will see a sticker on their menu that will ask customers to add one dollar to their meal total. At the end of her campaign, all of these collective dollars will be donated to baby Gavin.

Paige has asked that we recognize the efforts of these special contributors:

• The Lake Mills Golf Course and Saucee’s Restaurant and Mr. Marc Nelson. Mr. Nelson has implemented this campaign throughout his establishment.
• Russ’s Painting and Mr. Russ Christianson.
• RONIN, LLC – for supporting the cost of marketing materials.

Paige will continue to update this list as other establishments join her “Fight With Food” campaign for sweet baby Gav. Our warmest thanks Paige. Thank you and to all your wonderful donors for being so generous to our sweet baby Gavin.

If you know a restaurant owner or are a restaurant owner who is interested in participating in this fundraising opportunity for Gavin, please contact Paige Brien at 920-648-6920 or Jane Schwalbach at janeschwalbach@yahoo.com.

Here’s an image of the poster and menu stickers:

“You never know how heavy a burden you carry until its lifted off of you” - how true that is. Now that we are home, and Gavin is doing wonderful, wonderful, wonderful we can all live life as it should be lived. Its been such a relief to see him bounce back so quickly and better than he was before. We had a doctors apt today and they thought he looked great! In retrospect, I wonder if it was really colds or backlash to the problems that they operated on that was making him so uncomfortable, maybe a combo who knows. Either way he is just so full of life again. He is cooing and moving and eating like a champ and it couldn’t be more fun to watch his curious little mind at work. He is so interested in everything! Between him and Lauren they get like a million kisses a day! It is so fun to see him and Lauren light up at all the Christmas decorations! Lauren went to sleep last night with a candy cane under her pillow and dreams of Santa coming to her house. I can’t express enough how nice it is to be together again as a family, to have my daughter, son and husband together again, and happy and healthy and out of the hospital. (Bummer that Jay had to go back to work after the holiday weekend!) This is the best holiday gift that I could get! Hope this finds you all enjoying the super nice weather outside and spending it with those you love! I must admit I am looking somewhat forward to a little snow to get more into the spirit, but I am sure I will regret saying that. I think Santa is coming to the Mills next week, so I think that Gavs is going to get his first glimpse at the big red man and Lauren will be elated, he comes in on horses, what could make Lauren happier than that?

Here is the latest copy of Gavin’s event newsletter. This newsletter includes information about the latest fundraising events for Gavin. Please feel free to print and distribute this newsletter.

To open and print this newsletter, you will need Adobe Acrobat. To download Acrobat, click here.

A concert with Jim is an active sing-along and clap-along for young children. Jim bangs out energetic rhythms on his banjo while everyone sings, claps, jumps, dances and even sneezes along. Visit www.jimgill.com to learn more about Jim and his energetic children’s concerts. To see more details about the event, please click here to see the event flyer.

To purchase tickets online using a credit-card, please click the ADD TO CART button below. Once you have ordered, please print your PayPal receipt or confirmation e-mail and bring it to the event to verify your ticket purchase.

A Concert of Music and Play with Jim Gill Sunday, January 21, 2007 3:30 pm (doors open at 3:15 pm) Sheraton Brookfield Hotel in the Brookfield Ball Room Advance tickets $10 each, $12 each at the door (under 1 year free) To order tickets by mail, contact: Samantha 262-548-0614

For driving directions to the Brookfield Sheraton, click here.

To listen to Jim’s latest CD, please click here

A lotta smiles were seen walking out of the Country Springs Hotel on November 11th as shrewd seasonal shoppers avoided the black-Friday-slapdash and instead, ‘Shopped for sweet baby Gavin’s Life’. Thank you Samantha Christianasen for warming baby Gav’s upcoming winter nights with your “Shop For Life” Consultant Open House Fundraiser, raising over $1,254.41. We are so grateful!

Most smiles are started by another smile, and that is exactly what Angie Hallmark and her Youth Group of 2nd through 7th grade altruistic kids from the Methodist Church in Lake Mills have drawn on the face of sweet baby Gav’s fundraising campaign. We would like to offer each of them a deeply-felt thank you for their early holiday treat – raising over $464.00 (their grand total is not quite yet official).

Speaking of treats…we want to extend an especially warm and grateful thank-you for the “sweet smiles” provided by the James J. Cholate Shoppe located in Lake Mills. They created a candy-bar fundraising program explicitly for Angie and her kids, bringing this magical project to life! We are so very grateful.

We are honored to send special thank yous to the following Consultants who so generously donated a portion of all their sales, from their premium and glittering merchandise, at the Shop for Life fundraiser held in honor of our sweet baby Gavin:

• Angie Rewolinski – Consultant for Crayola
• Sue Karras – Consultant for Discovery Toys
• Tracy Loughney – Consultant for Lia Sophia
• Jennifer Newkirk – Consultant for Mary Kay
• Claire Doelger – Consultant for Pampered Chef
• Jill Fischer – Consultant for Silpada
• Kristin Niedziejko – Consultant for Tastefully Simple
• Lisa Castro – Consultant for Tupperware
• Sue Mews – Consultant for Usborne Books
• Kim Hierlmeir – Consultant for Tupperware

Certainly, little Gavin’s been ten times blessed. Thank you all for making a wonderful difference! This wonderful event raised $1,254.41 for Gavin.

Warmest thanks to the Country Springs Hotel in Waukesha, and their gracious, kind-hearted front desk staff, for donating the use of their lovely establishment for this fundraising event.

What a great day, since leaving the hospital life has been full of good surprises. Gavin is eating like a champ, polishing off one—get this—and a half jars of chicken and rice (his new favorite) for dinner, so I took a picture of him so you can see his delight. The nurse called his little fat creases- bracelets…we need more bracelets or maybe we should call his little rolls his bling, because they are worth their weight in gold…so its wonderful!

The kids are both settled back at home and are so much more relaxed—it’s wonderful. I officially left today for two hours and Gav was excited to see the return of the juice sippy cup. Jay said that he picked it up with both his hands and stuck it in his mouth.

After rereading the hospital journals, I realized that I said that the doctor can’t help. I just want to clarify that his doctors have been wonderful, and I know if they could, they would fix him…sometimes I say things in frustration, but I just wanted to make sure I clarified, that although they can’t fix his problem, they are the only reason that he is alive, so I appreciate all they do!

Well, we are all still in our turkey coma, but hopefully tomorrow we will get out more and enjoy this beautiful weather! Lauren decorated the back window with some window paint to start getting the kids into the holiday spirit and we put up little trees in both their rooms. Gav is into the lights and Lauren needs hers on now to fall asleep.

I added a video of Gavin and his cousin, Annalyse, when she came to see her cousin in the hospital. Gav loves her (and baby dolls). I think that he is somewhat pleased he is no longer the low man on the totem pole, but as you can see, he is all about getting her hair, and hands on this video (and in this one he doesn’t take her nuk, but loves grabbing her nuk away). Hope all is well and you can all enjoy your good weekend! We can smile and relax—- all is calm!

Here’s a short video of Gavin with his brand new cousin, Annalyse. She went to visit him at the hospital and they played in Gavin’s hospital crib!

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Here are some new photos of Gavin and Lauren at home enjoying Thanksgiving!

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We are getting out of here and going home! Gavs a happy talking machine and Lauren wants a tea party! Gavin waved at his docs today, too cute! Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s day 3 and things are looking a little brighter, Gav is up and moving and seems to be doing well without his pain meds. He looks normal again so I am starting to relax some (okay so there is no such thing as relaxing in a hospital, but feel less anxiety for sure). He played with his cousin Annalyse today in the hospital crib and managed to steal her nuk right out of her mouth. You would have thought that he won a gold medal in successfully swiping the nuk because he was grinning from ear to ear, he just kept taking it out and putting it back in – Annalyse on the other hand did not appreciate the gesture!

Thanks Julie for calling and keeping me optimistic (I hope that the small fire has been extinguished), sometimes you just need a little nudge to keep going. Jay always tells me that it’s a marathon, not a sprint, at first I thought it was catchy, but now it drives me somewhat crazy, but it’s 100% true. Can’t let anything knock you down too long. I heard a quote, life is not about how many breaths you take but how many moments take your breath away. He does take my breath away. I could just kiss his dialysis machine and whoever invented it. It gives him life, all this, all these battles are so that he can live, what an innate survival instinct babies come with—now it’s our job to make sure that his life and world are worth it! Hope you are all having fun, still no expected date of release, but we will see, I hope not too much longer! Hugs, Jill

Day 2 at the hospital and things are looking a little more complicated than we hoped. They think that his right kidney may have gotten bruised (which is apparently common) so we may be in here a little longer than my overly optimistic prediction of two days. Today he woke up and looked like the stay puff marshmallow man so we just hooked him back up to his machine.

Sometimes because he looks so normal, you play this mind game with yourself, maybe the doctors are wrong, maybe his kidneys started to work, and with every surgery, maybe this will be what fixes everything, and it will all go back to normal—-but seeing him today made me realize all over again how sick he is.

I know that I have to come to terms with all this, and for the most part, most days I am, but it just keeps happening. It’s still happening, over and over, and when your kid is sick, you just can’t function. Even when Lauren is sick, it’s like the world stops until she is better. And THIS is like a whole new level of sick. There are always like a million doctors around and none of them can do a darn thing to make him better, to fix him. I can’t wait until this hospital stay is over, and we get our happy, giggly, curious baby boy back. Time stands still here, it’s like it sucks out the world and you exist in this new hospital world, it’s weird.

Anyway, I am going to get back to Gavs, hopefully I will find some time to sneak away and give some more updates. Your comments and guestbook entries really help liven up our spirits. It helps to know there are an army of people out there thinking of him and wishing him well. I think Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving is on, so Gavs may get his first dose of Charlie Brown!

The fundraising event held in Gavin’s honor this past weekend, Caberet at Latte Café, was a great success! It was a standing-room only crowd who enjoyed a variety of talented performers! Our many thanks go out to Gavin’s Aunt Ceil and cousin Jodi who organized and ran the event. We also want to thank the many talented performers who gave their time and talents for Gavin’s cause. It means more to us than you’ll ever know! Below are some pictures from the event:

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Gavin is out of surgery and doing good, his pain seems much better controlled today then on Wednesday and he’s talking and just ate. Surgery was a success so now we will wait and see how everything plays itself out. We are hoping to be out of here in about two days so let’s cross our fingers that all goes as planned! Thanks for all the good thoughts!

The eve before the second surgery and things are just moving in slow motion. Gav can’t sleep tonight, he still seems pretty uncomfortable so hopefully tomorrow will give him some relief. Lauren can sense that things are happening and is very distressed by the littlest things, however she is Dr. Lauren and has diagnosed us all with the stethoscope we brought back from his first visit. I think Jay and I are just wishing it was tomorrow at 11 so Gav would be through this hurdle. I hope that they are able to get this all taken care of and we won’t have to be back there until we start gearing up for his kidney transplant. We were told about what a beautiful job my aunt Ceil and cousin Jodi did for his fund raiser at Cafe Latte - thank you, thank you, thank you and thanks to all those who sang/performed.

We have so much to be thankful for: great family, friends, strangers who are offering their prayers and good wishes. Good doctors that care about their patients and a good education to think for ourselves, a nice house to look forward to come home to, sweet neighbors. Gavin’s disease at times can take over our life, my doctor said there are times that it will seem like a nightmare, and there is definitely that, but it also makes you realize how lucky you are. How many things that you have that you just take for granted, what a miracle your body is, how life should be lived each day, how forever you have your family, to laugh with your kids and make them feel like they are the best thing on earth and boost their self confidence through the roof. To let go of the little stuff and worry less about what others think and become more secure in what you think, to do good to others - somebody always has it worse and to always be kind. We are lucky, so very lucky! May Gavin’s luck continue tomorrow (its gotta, he’s got the luck of the Irish in his blood) and lets hope for a quick and painless recovery! We love you Lulu and Gavs to the moon and back! Just Breathe (thanks Glenda) that will be my mantra tomorrow.

Just a quick reminder of the major fundraising event this weekend for Gavin — “Caberet at Latte Café”. A wondrous marriage of talents—singers, pianists, poets, photographers, artists, dancers, and musical performers, along with a silent auction is being sponsored by From Hair On and the Latte Café to help raise funds for transplant-related expenses in honor of Gavin.

Please don’t miss this cabaret-style event planned for this Saturday, November 18th and Sunday, November 19th, from 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. at the Latte Café. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted in honor of Gavin. Additionally, From Hair On will donate $5.00 from every client service provided in the salon on Saturday, November 18th.

The Latte Café is located at 13780 W. Greenfield Avenue in Brookfield. Here are the driving directions to Latte Cafe. Please get out this weekend and enjoy this very special event which is being organized and run by Gavin’s aunt, Ceil Schwalbach, and his cousin, Jodi Curtis. If you have any questions about this event, you may contact Ceil or Jodi at 262-784-0922.

Here is a short video of Gavin at home before his surgery. Whenever he gets excited, his hands twist and fly around like crazy! We love to call him “Jazz Hands”!

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