NICU reunion

This is a very brief and short blog- sorry!! I need to do so much better at updating!  But- life is busy and great!

 B(brody)L(leighton)T(tatum)

                                                                 These miracles are 5!!!!

                                                              The best shot of the day!

                                                                           Silly Loves!

                                                     Look how big those feet are now!

 These babies were less than a week old when the awesome nurses did imprints of their feet onto an apple- it hung outside the NICU for all the parents to see.  those feet are smaller than your thumb!

On Oct 17th- we went to the NICU reunion- Tatum's 5th one!! Hard to believe still that my little girl is 5!!!!  Anyways- while in the NICU we made some lifelong friends- friends that are there for us no matter what or how often we get to see each other- which isn't nearly often enough. And these babies pick up where they left off- hugging each other and not wanting to let the other one go..... They formed a bond in those little isolettes.... Well, before the reunion, we had a little photo shoot at Centennial park.... here are some of my faves!!!! I love you all!

Tears

to make a LONGGG ( 5 year) story short- I will give you a summary.  Jeremy... Tatum... JD.... and Conner; love them more than I could ever imagine.  We have gone through things in the last 5 years that OBVIOUSLY not even death could seperate.  They are my life..... and I have been remembering way too much lately.

You all make me so happy

5 years old!

The Princess' Cake

Queen Laura and Princess Tatum

Love her soo much

blues

Royal Pajama Party

The queen recieving Royal pampering

Lovely little Princesses

Let me tell you!  I love a party- but more than that- I LOVE PLANNING parties!!!! This party was by far- the best I have achieved so far!!!!  We had a Princess Party- complete with royal proclamation invites- and you must be dressed in your royal attire to attend!!! All the girls were beautiful pricesses and the boys were the Knights!  We had a royal dinner, princess games and cake and punch in "fancy glasses"!  After the Princes and Knights went home, we had a royal pajama party for Tatum and her friends.  It was so much fun!!!

The wonderful and crazy life of the Kelly's: RMH Birthday Dinner 2010

The wonderful and crazy life of the Kelly's: RMH Birthday Dinner 2010

RMH Birthday Dinner 2010

Everyone has that ONE place that holds a special place in their hearts; that ONE place where they feel loved unconditionally; that ONE place where you know that there is always a friendly face and a hug waiting for you; that ONE place that no matter how bad your day has been- there will always be some encouragement waiting for you.

That ONE place for me is the Ronald McDonald House.  And that place isn't just there for me- it is there for soo many people.  It is truly run by angels and I have NO doubt that God built it himself.

Our birthday Celebrations are just a *tiny* way of thanking them for being there for us when we needed.  And maybe be can give encouragement to someone while we are there.  Kinda helps to see that these 1 pound babies grow up to be 5 year olds too!

blankets

For anyone who has known Tatum for any amount of time, you know that she loves her blankets!  She has 6 fleecy/silky blankets and slept with then nightly!! When she was little, we never left the house without one or two of these blankets.  Her love of these started when she was tee-niney in the NICU.  Actually- the first time I held her, I was using one of these blankets.  Everyone of her blankets have a story and we LOVINGLY remember where each of these blankets came from.  We even had professional pictures made at 1 year old with one of these blankets....

Fast forward to about a month ago:  Tatum got a BIG GIRL bed from my dad.  And that first night she slept with the blankets.  And I think that was the last night.... She didn't need them anymore.  What happened to not being able to sleep without all 6 blankets??  I wish I could remember the last night she wanted her blanket(s)- wish I had taken a picture to remember when she obviously grew up over night.  This past week, we cleaned up her room and boxed up some things that we didn't play with anymore.  We boxed up some dolls and toys that were mine from childhood that she is gonna save for her babies.  I washed all the blankets and asked if she wanted to out them away.  She said she wanted to save them for her babies, but wasn't ready to put them in a box but didn't want to sleep with them- could we just put them where she could see them if she needed them.

Whew- there's still hope she's not grown yet! And I'm so glad that she didn't want to box these blankets up- I think I need them!

Happy First Birthday Conner