Snow Fun!

Happy Halloween To You, Merry Christmas To Me

In case you hadn't noticed, my Christmas present to myself is getting my blog caught up  :)

Happy Halloween!

Censured By The Princess

I would just like to say... this reminder note is so uncalled for.

Stuffed

Kinley and her neighbor friend Kylee sewed Tanner a pillow stuffed with grocery sacs (awwww, sweet!).  Tanner then decorated the pillow for posterity!  Um... I think all of the wildfires and evacuations have seriously messed with his head. Doesn't this artwork just scream rest and relaxation?  He colored this right after the most recent wildfire threat.

Happy Birthday, Tanner Banner!

Our big boy turned seven years old this year. His personality is truly endearing; he is uncommonly gentle and unfailingly inquisitive.  He is also blessedly obedient and a more than a little neurotic (he comes by one out of four traits honestly enough).

We call him "The Scientist" because he is always building with legos (or trash) and asking the most fascinating questions.  He is my deep thinker; I need to start writing his questions down.  He does it all the time at school too.  His teacher says while he always asks questions appropriate to the material being discussed, they are usually so completely outside of the box that the other kids don't even understand the question, much less the answer.  She adores him, saying that he adds humor and variety to what can sometimes be monotony in the first grade.

We had a low-key birthday this year, celebrating with presents and a family viewing of Avengers.  We just love our sweet Tanner Banner!

 Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!!

 Thanks again!!

 Artistic treasures from Kinley

 Then came... The Tantrum.  It's rough when big brother receives your fondest wish for his birthday.

 As I said at the time: "Tanner, my wish for you is that you will experience joy in your birthday presents equal to the Level 12 Tantrum Of Broken Dreams that Crew expressed when you received them. Happy birthday, big guy. Happy birthday."

Mr. Robotic

Tanner is forever creating "robots" up in his lair, upcycling our cast offs.  One mom's trash is a little boy's treasure.

Linking Up with Lincoln

Once upon a time, Dex and Crew were born at 28 weeks in one special little neighborhood. Months later, just as we were preparing to move away, another family moved in to the neighborhood, unbeknownst to us. This family had lost a son (Colton) at 26 weeks in February of 2009 and then the very day before our twins' first birthday in November 2009, Colton's little brother Lincoln made a startling entry to earth ... at 28 weeks.

The bishop of this special ward/congregation that had seen its share of loss and NICU drama in previous months pulled the mom aside (whose name happened to be Megan)  and said, "So, I know this girl... she just moved out of the neighborhood... and she has this blog... and she's walked an eerily similar path...and...yeah, I think you guys need to meet." Or something like that.

Megan B. (Colton and Lincoln's mom) reached out to Megan B. (Dex and Crew's) mom and thus began an easy and natural friendship.  Emails, texts, and hours upon hours on the phone while little Lincoln fought his way through the NICU, even landing at PCMC (Alcatraz) just like Crew.

It's been several years since our NICU boys survived their medical incarceration and we have made several attempts to get together, all of which have fallen through (usually because of illness because we are both neurotic about germs -- thanks a lot, preemie life!)

But we finally did it!!!  And it was marvelous. It was exactly as I imagined that it would be... except that the other Megan B. is about a foot shorter than she appears in pictures.  Apparently our runt statures are yet another thing we share in common!

The boys didn't know quite what to make of each other, but they were charming for the camera all the same!

Crew and Lincoln -- TOGETHER AT LAST!!!!

As undeniably crappy as it is to be a NICU and/or infant loss veteran, I feel abundantly blessed because of the meaningful experiences and friendships that have come into my life as a result.

Silly And Stringy

They had no idea how fun silly string could be!

"Stick 'em up!"

 Whoooooops.

 Uh oh... someone can dish it out, but can't take it.

 All better!  Joining forces against the common enemy!

 "Mom, next time we need 6 more cans of this stuff, ok?"

Fat Camp

Crew really wanted to take his dieting "before" shots.  It looked fun when mom was doing it, I guess.

He still only weighs 23 pounds soaking wet.  To our eternal frustration.

The Ice Shanty

On the very last day of summer, we ventured to The Ice Shanty to see what all the fuss was about. YUMMY!!

Look!  A little friend just his size!

L'autumn

Where has the time gone?

Well, it seems that our family blog has taken a back seat recently to other time-consuming adventures that have been pulling me in a million different directions this fall.  I've been active on Facebook, but it's just not the same.  I made two blog posts in November.  TWO.  That feels a little sacrilegious to this prolific blogger.  However, it's not so surprising when you realize that I have been getting my regular blogging fix on my Teeny Tears blog.

These last few months have been... intense.  I can't really complain because it has been all wonderful things, but I feel a little like I've been dog paddling across the English Channel; just happy that my head is above water and that I still have the strength to move along.

Teeny Tears has kicked into high gear, delivering more than 5,000 bereavement diapers in the last month alone, for a total of more than 17,000 diapers delivered since our launch one year ago.  Our project was featured on KSL television last month, bringing even more awareness and enthusiasm!  We now have volunteers all across the United States, in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.  And yes, I do try to keep them all straight, to know and recognize every one of our 200+ volunteers and their teams by name and story.  I can't help it.  Our diapers are already being used in facilities in 40 out of 50 states.  We recently made our first donation to Guatemala.  I would say it is a dream come true, except that I never actually dreamed it would be so successful.  We've been doing a lot of restructuring and mentoring, allowing me to step back from a few of my responsibilities, but the common phrase around here is, "Teeny Tears never sleeps".

I was recently called as the Young Women's President of our ward/congregation.  I am very well supported by amazing counselors and advisers and am blessed with the sweetest young ladies I could ask for.  With all of the neighborhood move-ins and new Beehives that have turned 12 in the last year, our program has quadrupled in size since last January.  I am really excited about the new Youth Curriculum that is being rolled out next month.  It's an exciting time to be part of the LDS Youth Programs and there is no place I would rather serve!  But yes, it's busy.  Very busy.

I was briefly Kinley's "room mom" at school until I suckered another gal into relieving me of my duties.  Now I am just a plain ol' classroom volunteer and that's just the way I like it!  I still serve on the PTA board and maintain the school blog.

We took an awesome trip to Disneyland in November, something we planned well in advance in order to keep our hearts light during "NOVEMBER".  The week before that, we all escaped to Park City with friends for 4 days.  Then of course there was November itself, always a mixed bag.  It's true that we didn't allow much time for wallowing this year.  I still managed to find it, I assure you.  Ahem.

Then there is just the run of the mill strep throat episodes and quasimodo cyst removals (benign, but gross), Thanksgiving, epic Black Friday flannel sale, Young Women in Excellence, and oh yeah, I'm in charge of the Ward Christmas Party next weekend.  The kids are out of school all December, which I absolutely love.  Kinley and Tanner are so relaxed and getting along really well.  They are so great about including Crew in their shenanigans and when he's not beating them about the head and shoulders with their own toys, he's a pretty fun little guy to be around.

So.... that's where I've been the last few months.  But I could never let my blog languish and die off completely, so family updates are on the way!