hello! I hope you’ve already seen lots about this very worthy cause to support, but I wanted to post about Baby Ike and his family here too…

Rachel wrote today:

By now, many of you have heard about Baby Ike here in Austin who is currently in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Dell Children’s Hospital, sedated, on paralytic medications and recovering from an operation in which he received a tracheostomy. Ike’s mom, Kari Anne Roy, is a brilliantly hilarious writer and a beloved member of the Austin community. She and her sweet family have been put through the wringer this year. You can read their full story on the Ike-a-saurus web site, and be sure to check out how the “Ike-a-saurus” name came to be.

Rachel also suggests five ways that we can help as crafters and craft-buyers, and thanks to her ideas I am pleased to announce that everything in my Etsy shop (all of my Bead Simple kits and next week, a signed copy of Button It Up) is for sale with all proceeds going directly to the Roy family. If you have a chance to spread the word or get involved yourself, they are welcoming all crafty and financial support.

My heart goes out to Kari Anne, Steven, Sam and Georgia, and I am sending my love and best wishes. I have not talked about it much over here, but this has been a tough year and my own little baby, Pearl, has had some persistent medical problems. After some very hard months, we’ve had the gift of working with some wonderful doctors and therapists at the children’s hospital here in Portland, and I am more grateful than I can say that she is doing so much better. I can’t imagine how hard it must be for the Roy family as they face this crisis so bravely — I’m hoping that Ike’s treatments will be gentle, his recovery will be quick, and that they will be together at home again very soon!

Thank you for reading and please let Rachel know if you would like to join the cause as well!