There were so many great nominees for our Baby's First Year Giveaway that it was hard to pick just one without honoring some of the other great submissions as well.
WINNER OF THE BABY'S FIRST YEAR GIVEAWAY—Shelby Livingston
Shelby was my daughter's daycare teacher when she was a newborn. Shelby loved her and all the other babies so much and even babysat for us sometimes as well. While her job is to love on others babies, she wanted one herself so bad but didn't know if it was possible. Fast forward, and she is due this March.
Shelby writes on Facebook, "PCOS is mean and not fair. I was so convinced that it (pregnancy) would never happen to me. Everyone around me was so kind and would tell me "its ok, it'll happen".....but it still hurt. So bad. I had seen so many negatives that when I got a positive I didn't believe it. I thought my cysts were sending out false hormones and it wasn't true. But it was....what an amazing thing that it was! And now I have dear friends who are still struggling and some that it will never happen for and my heart breaks for them because I've been there. You're not alone in this. Anyone who is struggling with infertility, I'm always here to talk and know that my heart hurts for you every day"
Miss Shelby deserves this subscription box because no matter how much she hurt inside, she still loved on all of us new moms and our babies. To Shelby--Love you and so excited for you and baby Charlie! You are going to be an awesome momma!
—her friend Liz Fernandez
Runner-Ups
Five runner-ups were selected from the hundreds of submissions we received and each won $25 of Tubby Todd shop credit! Thank you again for sharing such heartfelt submissions!
NOMINEE: Kameron Durr
NOMINATOR: Shannon Brown
My friend happens to be my sister-in-law. She is an amazing, talented person filled with drive, passion, and love. She and my brother had gone through years of infertility until just recently when, after a year of IVF struggles, it worked and she became pregnant with TWINS! December 1, Henry and Oliver were born, 6 weeks early. It was not easy for Kameron and after 48 hours of long labor, a c-section was performed to get the boys here.
These boys are fighters! They spent two weeks in the NICU, then defying the doctors' thoughts of them staying until the end of January went home this past week. If anyone deserves this year of Tubby Todd it would be Kameron, Henry, and Oliver. Plus this whole family is just adorable, and perfect!
NOMINEE: Ashley Zandonella
NOMINATOR: Michael Zandonella
I can't think of a more deserving person to win this giveaway than my wife, Ashley. She has always made natural wellness a priority for us and our twins. Now that we are expecting baby number 3, which was a huge surprise, I know she would just love this.
NOMINEE: Natasha Vahk
NOMINATOR: Inna Tsypan
Natasha was married for five years before she had her first baby girl. Her labor was very hard, long, and painful. When she received epidural, it didn't work and they had to administer it numerous times because it wore off very quickly. Eventually, her baby was stuck in the birth canal so they had to perform an emergency c-section.
Her C-section didn't go smoothly either as the baby was still stuck and they had to try to push her back in order to get her out safely. After such a traumatic delivery, Natasha's baby Adeline was very colicky, later it was found that the baby was lactose intolerant. That was a rough time for Natasha. Now the baby is teething and it seems like Natasha really can't catch a break. It is her baby's first Christmas and I believe Natasha could really use some Tubby Todd right now. She has never tried it before and this would be such a sweet gift for this well-deserved momma! Thank you for the chance! <3
NOMINEE: Emily Summers
NOMINATOR: Kelly Bernards
Emily and I have been best friends for, like, ever. We seriously don't even remember how we met, but there are rumors of nursery school at church :) We are currently both pregnant and due within a week of one another-me with my 2nd girl and Emily with her first child, a baby boy!! We are thrilled. Em has poured her college years and adult career life into working with children with Autism. She worked in an elementary school setting for 10 years, before recently receiving her post-masters certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis.
She now works one on one with students as a Behavior Analyst and makes such a huge positive difference in their and their family lives. I am so proud to call her my bestie and thinks she deserves to be spoiled with nothing but the best now that she is expecting her own child, after pouring goodness and hope into others children for years. Please pick her to win!! She will be so grateful.
NOMINEE: Tamaryn Keough
NOMINATOR: Heili Simons
I nominate my beautiful daughter Tamaryn, who became a mom for the first time Dec. 28/16. She had recently married and moved across the country from WA to GA, where her husband is stationed in the Air Force. There is no family nearby, no friends, she essentially didn't know anyone there except for Josh, her husband. When Blaire was born, she dove right into motherhood, persevering through the sleepless nights, colic and frustrating breastfeeding issues - in fact, breastfeeding never did mesh for them, but she continued to pump for 8 months to ensure her baby was solely fed breastmilk.
In addition, her husband was diagnosed with Meniere's Disease during this time, making it difficult for him to be helpful during episodes. Despite it all, she was determined to finish her Master's Degree, so she enrolled in an online program and also got a part-time job as a neurologists personal assistant. She is a rockstar, I am SO proud of her and I think she is MORE than deserving of anything that brightens her days! She is awesome! (And Blaire is pretty cute too!)
