January marks the first of our Spotlight Series, and we're choosing to honor Aunt Becky's daughter, Amelia, who is the sole reason that The Band exists.

Amelia, like so many of our children, was born with a birth defect called an encephalocele. She's gone on to vigorously beat neurosurgery and the odds stacked firmly against her.

So it's time to Band Back Together for Birth Defects. Share your stories. Tell your tales. We need to learn about the birth defects that have touched YOUR life. Let's rock out and tell the world OUR stories.

It's YOUR turn, The Band!

With eight tiny words, my world changed:

"Becky, there's something wrong with your baby's head."

You'd expect something more profound, more eloquent, more something to change everything, but no. My world shattered. Her life potentially in peril. Everything was the same. Everything was different.

It was my New World Order.

My daughter was born, January 28, 2009, with a previously undiagnosed neural tube defect, an encephalocele, and while most children with these birth defects pass away before or shortly after birth, my daughter lived.

She survived neurosurgery and has gone on to beat the odds. She is also the reason that Band Back Together exists. In her short life, she has done more good than I ever will.

What better person to kick off our Spotlight Series than someone who has so vigorously kicked ass, taken names and inspired so many?

This year, we here at Band Back Together are doing something new. Each month, we're going to ask for submissions about various topics (we're going to get the schedule together and put it on the sidebar) we'd like to shove into the spotlight.

Throughout that month, we'll post each of your stories. We'll also have a mid-month blog carnival showcasing some of the most varied stories. If you'd like to participate, simply submit as you normally would, just add "birth defects" somewhere in the title so we can make sure to get 'er up.

In honor of my daughter, Amelia Grace Sherrick Harks, I'd like to kick off our very first Spotlight Series by flinging the spotlight squarely upon Birth Defects.

So please, share with us your stories about birth defects - any birth defects. Congenital heart defects. Neural tube defects like Mimi's. Spina bifida. Cleft palate. Cystic Fibrosis. Down Syndrome.

We want YOUR story. We want to pay tribute to those of us who have birth defects and those of us who have children with them. Bring. It. On!

So, The Band, let's rock out for Birth Defects this January!