Auction Benefit: Stephanie Nielson and Carol Decker

For those waiting for me to comment further on my Sarah Palin post, I have plenty more peppery things to say about Palin and the various arguments swirling around regarding motherhood, the White House, and so-called sexism in evaluating Bristol's mom, but I am saving my post for one week from now and putting the controversies and my habitual crabby musings aside in preparation for a very different week at Crabmommy.

Starting Monday, September 15, I will be running a silent benefit auction all week long, with fabulous items added every day, to raise funds for the following two moms:

Carol Decker is a Washington mom who battled a devastating Streptcoccal pneumonia infection, resulting in the emergency c-section delivery of her second daughter. Immediately following the caesarean, Carol had both legs amputated below the knee, as well as her left hand, and she is blind, a condition that may or may not improve. She is now a new mom to 3-month-old Safiya, in addition to her elder daughter Chloe, and the Deckers are facing home rehab estimated at $80,000 that insurance will not cover. Read more about Carol here. Go to a great auction happening right now for Carol here.

Stephanie Nielson is an artsy vintage-inspired mom-blogger from Arizona. Stephanie and her husband Christian were recently severely burned in a private plane crash. Many of you may have heard of Stephanie by now since Design Mom spear-headed "Nie Nie Day," with auctions held for Stephanie all around the web. Stephanie has burns over 80% of her body. She also has 4 kids.

I do not know either mother, though Stephanie's delightful house was featured at Cookie magazine, in Nesting, the design blog that sits right next door to my bloglet.

So. The auction: I have some amazing--AMAZING--items for you to bid, starting Monday. From incredibly stylish Japanese-inspired maternity and nursing wear to gorgeous felt booties to packs of personalized Mabel's labels for home and school (and many more items besides), my friends all over the web have been fantastically generous in donating mom and baby wares to the auction. There will be good loot up here, oh yes indeedy! So tell your friends and come back next week.

How will it work? We all know Crabmom is a bit tech-challenged but I will try to keep directions and rules clear. The basics: there will be a minimum of 2 auctions each day, one to benefit each mom. The winning bidder will pay 100% of the bid into a Paypal account whose details I will forward, and email the receipt to me prior to receiving his/her item. Not too hard, is it? Minor changes to the rules and program may occur as we get underway and I get a better feel for how it's going. Overall, expect gorgeous objects from a variety of stylish and kind-hearted peeps.

Please, bring an open wallet and come back Monday, and often throughout the week! Truly the Crabmommy does not lie when she tells you there will be screamingly lovely things available on this here blog!