Save Baby Gavin

Gino Salomone, the host of WKTI 94.5 FM’s The ‘KTI Morning Show and the staff on the television program, The Morning Blend, aired Gavin’s story on Friday, December 22, 2006 and urged people to help him.

Click here to see what Gino said.

Again, another big thank you to Gino and the entire staff of The Morning Blend for helping us tell Gavin’s story, and for allowing us to link to The Morning Blend’s website to show the clip.

As you can see, Gavin has mastered “tummy time” and is rolling over, grabbing for his mini basketball, and his next stop is the NBA!

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If you reading this via email or a feed reader and don’t see the video, please click here to watch the video.

Feliz Navidad! Jingle jingle sniffle sniffle, we are over the flu and onto the cold so this Christmas was pretty low key! Lauren picked out tacos as her Christmas meal of choice and is relieved that Christmas is finally here; Gavin of course, chose green beans, three times a day. Although, Lauren is decidedly concerned that Santa won’t make it due to lack of snow, I assured her that he has some wheels for his sleigh too. Jay is worried that she is going to discover that the fireplace doesn’t have a chimney, but I told him it may be a few years until we have to explain our way out of that! Simple day, may we be aware of the treasure that you are! We did our birthday cake to baby Jesus and Lauren was elated that she got to blow out the candles and Gavin was giddy with the flicker of the fire, we will see how easy it is for her to sleep with the anticipation floating in her head!

I had just gotten out of the hospital last year at this time to spend Christmas with my family and I was told by one of the doctors on rotation that they caught Gavin’s problem too late and that he wouldn’t make it, that I should just go home and be with my family. We called him “Dr. Death”.

Then when he was born, they brought us in this room to start preparing us to lose our son. They told us that they would manage his pain and that we could have people come and visit him in this secluded room. We told them to do whatever they could, and I looked up at all the doctors and interns in the room, there must have been like fifteen people there staring at us, and I said “go make miracles happen”. As I thought about this room I thought that if it came to it, I would set it up like Christmas (even though it was February), so even if he didn’t make it to Christmas he would see what Christmas would be like, the lights, the love, all the people that shared their cheer.

Today is like heaven on earth, a day that I was afraid Gavin wouldn’t make it to, a milestone in his journey. It makes me believe that the odds of him making it to transplant is more than the 50%, that it’s 100%, nothing can stop us now! We have him and there is no way I am giving him back! We believe in miracles…we have two of them with chocolate kiss eyes and shiny red cheeks with smiles that can melt your heart. May your Holiday be bright and filled with love and joy, I have some snuggle time to get to, Disney Christmas is on - that crazy Donald, and we are tracking Santa on the internet. Right now Santa is in Peru! We have been blessed with many blessings, may you be too! Peace and love, The Winslows

Every now and then someone suddenly comes into our lives and steps up to the plate for Gavin. This week it was Gino Salomone, the host of WKTI 94.5 FM’s The ‘KTI Morning Show and the staff on the television program, The Morning Blend, who aired Gavin’s story and urged people to help him. Gino has taken Gavin’s cause so close to heart that he himself asked people to donate instead of Christmas gifts this year, which is so incredibly thoughtful and generous!

We appreciate all that you have done and are doing on behalf of Gavin. Thanks Gino, you prove the power of one can be very powerful! May all good things come your way!

Jill Winslow, Gavin’s mom

Continuing her culinary task, Paige Brien, our graphic artist from Lake Mills, who created the amazing restaurant sticker campaign for baby Gavin, has added $454 to his fundraising campaign. Thank you Paige for setting such a beautiful holiday table for baby Gavin. We are grateful.

This is a reminder to please sign up for the upcoming self-defense seminars to be held at the Krav Maga-Milwaukee studio located at 17000 W. Capitol Drive in Brookfield on Saturday, January 6, 2007. ALL proceeds from these seminars go to Gavin’s fund. Tickets for each seminar are $30 in advance and $40 at the door. For tickets, contact: Kurt at 262-412-3757. You can help save Gavin by learning how to save your own life using the special techniques taught by experts.

The two seminars available are:

Defense vs. Common Street Attacks - 10:00 a.m.-Noon - 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 from the Ground - Noon-2:00 p.m. - 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.

To view the event flyer, click here.

Sweet baby Gavin has just received the happy honor of being selected, by the American Legion Ladies’ Auxiliary of Lake Mills, to attain a $500 donation for his fundraising campaign. Just as we will never forget your service and dedication to America, so too, we will never forget your kindness to baby Gavin. Thank you all so very much for your distinguished advocacy. We are grateful!

TO THESE BEAUTIFULLY SPECIAL and VERITABLE SMILING FACES IN LAKE MILLS’ KINDEST 8th GRADE HOMEROOM

First, my deepest apologies to these charming 8th grade homeroom students. Initially I understood you all to be art students (an easy enough mistake when viewing the artistry incorporated in your magnificent posters). I must confess to you that I cried when I read your heart-warming advertisements displayed beside your winning and dazzling smiles. Thank you all so much for your exceptional kindness and for wrapping sweet baby Gavin in your beautiful blanket of love. We are honored!

Thank you so much again.
Jane Schwalbach, Gavin’s Grandmother

Here are the students showing their posters.

It was in a valiant effort to secure those elusive “young cares” for sweet baby Gavin Winslow, our little Wisconsin baby diagnosed with End Stage Renal Failure, and in need of multiple kidney transplants, to survive, that kind and generous-hearted employees from the Northwestern Mutual Company raised their glasses at The University Club’s wine tasting fundraiser. Fine wines, provided by Ray’s Wine & Spirits, along with a twist of luxury, provided by The University Club’s mouth-watering, sumptuous hors d’oeuvres and spectacular sandwiches made this gift-giving evening an enjoyable affair for all. Adding to the festivities were authentically elegant, and sportfully playful silent and live auction donations.

Thank you, each of you, for your impeccable attention to making this fundraiser a wonderful success. Together you raised over $10,000 for sweet little baby Gavin.

OH WHAT A NIGHT……

Many cheerful people contributed to this fundraiser:

• Jennifer Dean - University Club
• Patrick T. Horne
• Tammy Gawlitta…Event Coordinator
• Pam Blattner…Auction Coordinator
• Cheri Ryan…Volunteer
• Terri Lawnicki…Volunteer
• Tim Stein…University Club
• Shannon Behr…University Club
• Ray’s Liquor/Rick Lave…*Wine Sponsor
• Rafeal Andrews…Auctioneer
• Ione Dropp…Table Centerpieces
• Gene Eberhardy…The Printery
• Rita and Rich Zipperer

Table Sponsors:

• Behr Electric…Shannon Behr
• Melissa Burback
• Patrick T. Horne
• L’eft Bank Wines…Kim Fisher
• Lemberg Electric…Tim McGrath
• Mark Neumann
• Northwestern Mutual Foundation
• The Printery…Gene Eberhardy
• True Course Medical Data Analysis & Claim Service…Glen Boyle
• Don Tyler
• Whyte & Hirschboeck S.C….Phil Halley

*Ray’s Liquor donated 10% of all wine sales for the evening AND continues to give a 10% discount at their store when the brochure (which was created for this special evening) is presented.

Auction Items Donated by:

There is still time to enroll in the self-defense seminars to be held at the Krav Maga-Milwaukee studio located at 17000 W. Capitol Drive in Brookfield on Saturday, January 6, 2007.

ALL proceeds from these seminars go to Gavin’s fund. To enroll, contact Kurt at 262-412-3757. You can help save Gavin by learning how to save your own life using the special techniques taught by experts.

The two seminars available are:

Defense vs. Common Street Attacks - 10:00 a.m.-Noon - 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 from the Ground - Noon-2:00 p.m. - 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.

To view the event flyer, click here.

On Sunday, January 28, 2007, we will be holding a bowl-a-thon fundraiser for Gavin - “Bowlin’ for Gavin”. This will be a fun, family-friendly event and also a great way to get friends together to raise money for Gavin’s transplant-related expenses.

There will be a donation box at our “Bowlin’ for Gavin” check-in table for those who wish to contribute cash or checks to Gavin’s fund. All checks should be made out to COTA with “Donation In Honor Of Gavin Winslow” in the memo of the check.

Bowlin’ for Gavin Bowl-a-thon Sunday, January 28, 2007 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Classic Lanes Bowling Alley 5404 W. Layton Avenue, Greenfield. For driving directions, click here. Purchase tickets for bowling, pizza and drink the day of the event at our “Bowlin’ for Gavin” check-in table at the door. Adults: $10, Kids under ten: $5 - for three games with free shoe rental. Bumper bowling available for the kids. Purchase pizzas and pitchers of beer or soda and earn money for Gavin. Silent auction items for bid from various vendors. No limit to the number of games you can bowl.

Many thanks to Classic Lanes owner Gina Daroszewski for her generosity and to Jill Albrecht for her assistance in obtaining the venue for this event. And another big thank you to Samantha Christianasen for helping with the auction items.

For more information, contact Steven Schwalbach at sdjbach@hotmail.com.

If you plan on attending Gavin’s bowlathon on Sunday, January 28, 2007, please fill out this registration form by Friday, January 26, 2007. The bowling alley owners need to know how many lanes to reserve, so we need to give them as accurate a head count as possible. Thanks in advance for your help.

We would like to thank you, each of you, for coloring sweet baby Gavin’s world brighter. Thank you for deciding to do a “penny push fundraiser” at your Middle School from January 8th through the 17th in his honor. Thank you also for working so hard at creating posters to advertise your fundraiser.

Magdalena Abakanowicz, a famous Polish artist whose art always tries to address issues of dignity and courage said, “Art does not solve problems but makes us aware of their existence. It opens our eyes to see and our brain to imagine.” Thank you so much for looking deep into your hearts and seeing little baby Gavin, and thank you for helping us all imagine his dream of living. For your inspirational creativity, we are ever grateful!

It probably comes as no surprise that spaghetti is known as The “world-wide comfort food.” Certainly, it was that and much more to sweet baby Gavin after the Lake Mills Knights of Columbus sponsored their mouth-watering spaghetti dinner in his honor. This traditional Italian fare added $1000 to little Gavin’s fundraising campaign.

The Knights of Columbus have also donated an additional $2000 to baby Gavin’s campaign fund. This generous donation was possible because of monies raised from their 2006 Raffle.

Coincidentally, everyone can support this Wisconsin State Council Knights of Columbus Charity Raffle right now. Tickets are $5.00 – Drawing is April 28, 2007. This is what you could win:

• 1st place – $50,000
• 2nd place – $25,000
• 3rd place – 2007 Harley Street Rod or $15,000
• 4th place – 2007 Harley Sportster Roadster or $10,000
• 5th place – $5,000
• 6th - 25th – $1,000 each
• 26th-46th – $500 each

If anyone would like to purchase a ticket or get more information, please contact Jay Winslow at: winslowjl18@yahoo.com

We wish to offer our heart-felt gratitude to the Lake Mill’s Knights of Columbus for their kind support and thank them for their friendship. They remain a wonderful source of comfort.

The day of the great cookie exchange brought about quite a bit of action at the Winslow abode. Gavin got some more skills and is rolling onto his tummy all the time now. This is AMAZING, we have been working several times a day to make this happen, so this is a HUGE feat! Kudos to his therapists on that, I clap hysterically every time. I think I actually startled him once, whoops. He must be in that “anything you can do I can do better” stage because he is all squeaky mouse when his big sissy is doing something or has something that he doesn’t have. I expected that from Lulu not him, but on the flip side, it’s doing great things in motivating him to move that little bod of his. His temper is kinda funny to see, I am sure he doesn’t appreciate me finding humor in it, but it is too cute! He has figured out to release the ball into the hoop today (which is a 9 month developmental skill woo hoo, ya baby) and figured out how to flip open a door to make his farm light up—the kid’s got skills, skill-a-licious!

Lauren, on the other hand, was busy writing the CEO of the North Pole while I was baking (since she declined her nap time today, man that is always devastating). I had to write them down because they were so funny I had to pass them along. Every sentence began with Dear Santa:

Dear Santa,
Don’t forget my house, I live between Libby and Lainey.

Dear Santa,
Don’t forget to feed your reindeer, we don’t want them sick. I would like to help you with that.

Dear Santa,
if your bag is to full of toys, you can drop them off at my house.

Dear Santa,
If your bag is to full and you drop them in water, a mermaid will probably give them back to you.

It’s been a crazy busy day, and if I never see another cookie pan that will be fine (who am I kidding, who doesn’t love cookies?!) Tomorrow dance class and a house revamp before book club! Okay, I’ve gotta go, Lauren just came in here and said that she was going to change Gavin—code red!

Life is good in the Winslow house, Gav seems to be bouncing back, but I think that Lauren may be coming down with it though. I guess it's inevitable if one gets it, we all get it. She asked me before she went to bed tonight to call all of her friends and let them know that she was sick and would not be going to their houses. She fell asleep in the middle of her list: Payton, Libby, Lainey, and snore!

Well we had an exciting turn of events, Gavin rolled from his back to his tummy on purpose and is starting to stay there all because of a little orange plastic basketball from the Smo's (thanks Smo's for encouraging our future athlete)! He's obsessed with this ball; he must have it in close proximity at all times. It's an awesome tool to make him work his strength up! He's starting to get so opinionated and gives a little whimper when things are not going exactly the way he wants them. I must say, he whimpers for a millisecond before he gets pretty much exactly what he wants, but kids are meant to be spoiled.

I bought a food processor, apparently Gavin feels that he is above the baby food variety and prefers big people food, but doesn't have the chompers yet to handle the textures, so this is a new project to bulk him up. He is finally up in the 15 lb. range again for the first time tonight so we hope to keep him climbing, c'mon lucky 16, I wish it took me this long to gain 8 lbs.! The kids are going to help me bake a zillion cookies for our cookie exchange, but Lauren doesn't mind as long as she gets to lick the beater. She has to lick it on a certain stair, it’s a little ritual, after every ingredient she asks if I'm done yet. Gav is making leaps and bounds in his lip smacking talent and now I have to do a double take to see if it's him making all that noise or Jay. We've had a fun week with Sally, Annalyse and Nick and T. Things are getting busier and busier as the holidays approach! Cary and the girls will be here in no time and then Mike, Hien and Sam and things will really get stirred up! Lauren is a little perplexed at what exactly Santa does since she found out about these toy making elf characters, but she did give her list to him at breakfast with Santa. I asked her what she was going to ask for, and she told me she was going to “think about it.” Well, better get some sleep, why is it that kids never sleep in? That would be awesome! Take care and happy holidays! Hugs, Jill.

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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 Tickets $10 each (under 1 year free) For tickets, contact: Samantha 262-548-0614

For driving directions to the Brookfield Sheraton, click here.

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

Well, the bubble has somewhat burst, since Gavs and I are sick, again…ugh! It was sweet though, we took him to the doctor today and his big sister, Lauren, would not leave his side. She told the doctor it was because Gavin likes her and she made sure that he was not hurting him, because she was his “big sissy”, my little warrior princess. For me however, she wanted to watch me get my flu shot so I had to be brave. She is fascinated with shot giving, hence she watches the growth hormone shot being given to Gavin. Funny how a little needle makes you cringe, but it wasn’t so bad. She also wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t be ‘left behind’ and that I would be coming home. She doesn’t like me going to see the doctor after I had to stay in the hospital last year. She was taking her mommy home and that was that.

Gavin is falling short on his development milestones, which I know is no surprise but it’s just frustrating. I just want things to be easy for him, he shouldn’t have to work so hard for everything. Whenever the doctor asked a question I felt like saying, “ya he does that, of course he does that… he crawls, he says mama, dada”…but—-nope none of the above, I just wanted him to stop asking.

When you have a sick kid, sometimes it’s like being caught in a forest fire. It feels like it’s coming fast and it’s right behind you and you are just trying to stay ahead of it and put out the little fires along the way. You’re just clutching and running as fast as you can trying to get out of the grasp of this disease. You just want it to go away and stop, but it’s relentless.

Anyway, I am just beat, this cold has us both wiped out and Gav is losing weight again. I absolutely hate the numbers 14 and 15 because we have been between 14 and 15 lbs for like two months now. I know it could be worse, I know that we are so lucky that he eats on his own, but I think we will throw a party when we see 16 lbs! I anticipate a feeding tube for Christmas, my poor baby. But thank God for green beans because for the last three days, it is the only solid food that he will eat.

He’s obsessed with babies, they make him light up…it’s fun to see and he does this new lip thing. He’s getting jealous of his sister when she has a sippy cup and he doesn’t. He wants to be part of all the action, especially if there is a flashlight to be found. He’s such a miracle! Hope this finds you all well and enjoying the holidays around you! We have seen such kindness through all of this, it’s heartwarming to see how much good this world has to offer. I know that someday, my kids will be out there “passing it on”. Take Care!

Here are the latest items on Gavin’s eBay auction:

• NIB Leapster Game - The BackYardigans
• NIB Leapster L-Max Game - “NASCAR”

As of December 6, 2006, the bidding for these items have ended. Please continue to check for new items on Gavin’s eBay auction.