Recent Happenings

I really need to post. But there isn't much going on at our house. Plus your blogs are so fun to read. And lets be honest, I'm checking up on that nephew of mine over at Meg's blog everyday (keep up the frequent posting Meg - I'm impatiently waiting for every picture!).

That little dude is giving me anxiety. It's a love hate relationship having another preemie to worry about, another NICU to adjust to, another stressed out time for my sister and her husband. Not to mention the rest of the family enjoying the roller coaster with them. Blah...NICU days seem to really draaaaaaaaaaaaaag. We really could do without seeing a NICU ever again I think.

But Beau is a total stud. Is there any question that he is all boy? He has us wrapped around his finger. Brooklyn is itching to meet him - she isn't allowed in the NICU. We quickly taught her to say "Beau"....hilarious to hear her say his name!

On other updates, we did actually have a fantastic Christmas until Meg decided to go into labor that night. Both families were so generous it makes me feel guilty. Brooklyn enjoyed opening all one gift, then left the rest up to mom and dad to open for her. She was busy being entertained by anyone who would talk to her all day.

(Her hair.... what am I going to do with it?!)

Speaking of this daughter of ours, when did she decide to get all grown up? All of the sudden she's big. And sassy. And finally growing some hair. And definitely figured out the word no. I love her! She's so tall, its funny to watch her next to kids her age. She sorta dwarfs them. Hope she'll appreciate her long genes someday!

(Love those big blues of hers!)

As for Roger and I, not much is new. Roger is working his tail off. I'm feeling lazy and guilty watching him day in and day out. He's so busy that I'm tired just watching him! But he still makes my heart go faster when I see him dressed up everyday. Love him.

Well, that's about it. Now I will happily read all of your blogs and let ours be for another few weeks I'm sure. I'm such a slug. So go do a new post so I have some more reading material!

Beau Scott Bland

This adorable baby has stolen our hearts. I find myself constantly thinking about him. I call Meg everyday, multiple times, to check in on him. I can't get enough of just looking at him. What a miracle.

Roger and I met this angel the day after his birth. I thought I was prepared to hold it together. After all, he came out huge compared to Brooklyn. And was doing so so so well! I walked into his little corner room, barely even registering anything else around me. Meg's first words to me in that moment were "he's big huh?". I instantly started to cry. Because, NO, HE'S NOT BIG. He's just tiny. I have no clue where he's hiding that extra poundage, but he is just so little.

I was stunned at how strongly my emotions took over that day. I worry, constantly. I love this little man. Because he's my twin sister's baby! And my nephew.

I am as protective of him as I was of Brooklyn. I watch his NICU nurses and pray they are as kind, gentle and sweet with him as our NICU nurses were. Truly, they will make or break this experience for Meg and Dev. Trust is so incredibly hard to give to someone when they are watching over someone so special to you!

So many people have asked Roger and I if this has been difficult to watch. If it reminds us of our experience last year. I have to answer that with both a yes and a no. Beau is progressing so fast! It's a relief to watch him breathe on his own. No gray spells, no ventilator, no translucent skin. But the stress we felt with our baby rivals the stress I feel for their baby. He may have three weeks on Brooklyn, but he's still 9 weeks early people! Plus, Meg and Dev are in a unique situation....they're not in their own home.

Megan and Devin are rock stars. They have been so strong. But they are dealing with unimagineable stress right now. My chest feels heavy when I think about everything they are trying to handle in their lives. Devin is in medical school, in a different state! They are having to pay two out of network yearly maximums! They're living out of suitcases right now! And most importantly their son is in an ICU. Yes our family has done this exact scenario a lot...but it doesn't get easier each time it happens. The burden just gets passed around.

But at the end of the day we can say with absolute certainty that this little boy is one loved baby! We cheer him on, celebrate each day that passes with no setbacks, and look forward to the day he can go home with his proud mom and dad.

To Beau - we sure do love you little man. Brooklyn is thrilled to have another cousin. We feel lucky to be able to watch your story happen. To watch how much your parents love you. There are angels watching over you...providing the world with another Christmas miracle this year. Counting down the days until you can come home!!

Update on Meg and Baby

Hello friends and family. Meg asked me to do a quick post to update everyone on the baby and her. I should probably be doing this on her blog, but don't have her access info yet. So it will be on ours for now...

Baby Boy is doing well. He is named now, but I'll leave that up to Meg and Dev to do the fun reveal on that one. He spent a few days on Cpap and is now on a Nasal Canula to help him breathe. All other systems are a go for now! Yay Baby Bland! I'll let Meg give more details when she finally has time to sit down and do a blog post about their little guy.

Meg, herself is doing okay. She's having some complications from delivery (We think. We hope!), and is on her way back into the ER as we speak. So for now please continue to pray for this family, they've had a roller coaster of a 'vacation'.

Meet Our Nephew....

Welcome to the world Baby Bland! We love you and are praying for you!

To the NICU staff at IMC - take good care of this little stud, he is so loved by his family.

To Megan and Devin - congrats! He's tiny, perfect and adorable! We loved him instantly! We love you guys and are praying so incredibly hard for you three!

Happy Holidays

This was our christmas card this year.

After sending it to our families we realized we had hardly any left. We have a lot of family.

So I'm posting it. Sorry if we didn't send you one. I'm too lazy to make a trip back to Costco.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!

This Face...

Totally innocent right??

What this face is hiding is the tornado this child is! She is into everything!! If we come over to your house please close your toilet lid. Brooklyn will unroll your entire roll of toilet paper into the water and then eat it. I about died the first time I caught her doing this. And gagged when she did it a second and third! Gross, gross, gross.

Brooklyn leaves a disaster behind her these days, I've resorted to cleaning up only twice a day (during her nap and bedtime). This week she's decided pulling my clothes off the hangers is fun. And emptying the drawers in the kitchen, her bedroom and the bathroom. All stuff she shouldn't be touching. Forget her toys, taboo stuff is way funner!

Cannot believe its Christmas already! I'm feeling the itch to do all of the fun Christmas activites sooner than later, because Christmas day will be here before we know it!

It's been a fun filled weekend of tree decorating, christmas lights and family parties. Pictures to come next time Brooklyn gives me a few minutes to myself. Love that girl! :)

Utes, Sun and The Blands!

So excited........

To finally get to see these two again!!

My eyes about popped out of my head when I saw Meg. Is she seriously THAT pregnant? When did that happen? Baby Bland decided to grow - a lot! Cook away baby, you still have a few months to go okay?

Phoenix is such a blast. Despite the cold front they had the week we visited, the stubborn side of us still wore short sleeves and capris. But don't worry, I was a good mom and dressed Brooklyn warm. Did I mention she slept through the night every single night we were there?!!! Ummm, love her. We cuddled on the air mattress. We missed Rog. He was kinda upset to hear she slept so well. Don't worry, it was just a phase, she's back to getting up 2-3 times a night.

We left Roger and Davis home, they had work and school. Gotta be able to pay for their wives fun! But Roger was probably okay with that - we literally shopped every. single. day. Really. And we squeezed in a Utah game too! We won, go Utes! Brooklyn is a fan - I'm determined to win that battle in our house. :)

We were all tired after the game, it was cold and we cheered lots. Brooklyn kinda sums it up for us.......

Don't mind her huge sweatshirt. It's Meg's. I lost her warm clothes somewhere on our walk into the stadium. Had to get creative, we were two hours from Glendale.

The rest of the trip consisted of shopping (already mentioned that one), eating, swimming, attempting nursery in Meg's ward (and having lots of people think Iwas her and wonder why I wasn't looking very pregnant - better suck in my gut!) and feeling Baby Bland kick.

Thanks for hosting Blands! Now we'll see you this week. As in tomorrow. It's taken me this long to get to this post, oops.

(I've also decided I REALLY need that baby to get here. Everytime I go shopping for Brooklyn, I find something for Meg's baby too! Roger might not let me leave the house anymore!)