Welcome to Georgia's Journey

Georgia Lily Lucas was born at home on October 6th, 2008 4:15am, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She was diagnosed with SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy) on April 1, 2009.

On April 3rd Georgia was taken home, to be near her sisters and the rest of her family and friends. Nearly three weeks later, on April 21, 2009, she died peacefully -- in the loving arms of her mother and in the same room in which she was born.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Our Logo

Thanks to the amazingly kind and creative genius of Rick Sellar we now have a logo. Check it out! We love it and hope that it will soon become something that people all over will recognize. Thank you Rick! We couldn't be more pleased!

Love to you all,

Kristen


Friday, October 1, 2010

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time a couple rushed excitedly to the hospital anticipating the birth of their first born child. They were thrilled beyond belief to welcome a baby girl into the world and couldn't believe how it was possible to love a human being as much as they loved this little one. The baby girl delighted them with everything from the way she curled her fingers around daddy's pinky, to the way she made little noises as she stretched and squirmed. They took their baby home and were prepared to live happily ever after.

Somewhere between two and three months the mother noticed that her baby didn't seem as strong as some of the other babies her age. She didn't put any weight on her feet and still had a really hard time holding her head up. Worried that there might be something wrong, she decided to make an appointment with the doctor.

The doctor agreed that the little girl seemed weak and started a whole battery of tests. A few days later when they met again the doctor explained to the couple that their daughter had Spinal Muscular Atrophy. The couple was devastated as the looked into the eyes of their baby. They had lots of questions and felt like their fairy tale family was falling apart.

"Not to worry," the doctor said. "Spinal Muscular Atrophy affects 1 in 6000 babies but it's easily treatable nowadays. A few years ago it was considered a death sentence but thanks to the determination of so many dedicated families, doctors and scientists it's an easy fix. Your daughter will grow up to run and play just like all of the other kids."

The couple looked at each other in relief and held their baby tightly. She was going to be just fine and they all lived happily ever after...

A fairy tale today... A reality tomorrow...
Join The Journey
End SMA

Love to you all,

Kristen


Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Crunch Time!

One week tomorrow and our Georgie would have been two years old...hard to believe. I have been pretty preoccupied lately getting everything ready for this year's Georgia's Journey of Hope. I just realized that I haven't even posted pictures of the girls' first days of school yet. We have been collecting prizes, selling tickets, dropping off letters and flyers and even doing an interview. : ) If you don't check in with facebook, there should be a piece about our event this Friday on Global here in Winnipeg. It will also be available online for anyone out of town that is interested. We want to give a huge shout out to Craig Larkins who took the time to actually do a story about Georgia, SMA and raising awareness.

The prizes have been steadily rolling in and everything seems to be falling into place. Mike and I went back to the venue today just to check everything out. It is much bigger than last year and there are actually 3 different rooms which should cut down on the noise. Anybody who would like to come but hasn't purchased tickets is welcome to just pay at the door (same price). I have been continually checking things off of my list but it just seems to keep getting longer! I am hoping that we will have it all done by Friday night as Saturday we are going to have family pictures done in the park with our friend Tanya Lynn and then I am hoping to relax - just a little.

The girls have settled into their fall routines nicely. I am thrilled to say that Maya is loving school and excited about going. Calla is also enjoying school but is often exhausted by the end of the day - Grade 1 is tough that way. Both of the girls are dancing and swimming again. I'm pretty sure that Calla actually goes to socialize with her friends and Maya goes just to show off her dance attire! : )

Aria is growing like crazy! She is now over 15 pounds. With her big blue eyes, sweet smile and round chubby face, she has us all ready to do her bidding. She has even decided that the only place that she would like to sleep during the day is Daddy's arms. Mike has been obliging so far but I have been trying to lay her down sometimes because Mike will be back to work in a couple of weeks and my arms aren't as strong as his!

While I admit that I find this time of year really hard, I am also continually moved by the number of compassionate people we find ourselves surrounded by. I'd love to start naming them off but it would take me all night and I still have lots of stuff to do. : ) To all of you that continue to support us, help us, make us laugh, watch our kids, drive our kids, hang out with us, send us messages, share our story and just plain love us - thank you!

Love to you all,

Kristen