Dylan welcomes in 2009....

2008 made Dylan a BIG brother! What a sweet little boy welcoming his little sister home!

Dylan cheesing it with his Aunt Britni!
Kids getting loves from Amber's mom, their Grammie!

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2009, hopefully a year for bright days, new beginnings and togetherness for our family. 2008 brought many new things for our family and Dylan, at times it was not easy. But we made it thru and Dylan has a new little sister to run and play with! We found out I was pregnant with Danielle in the very beginning of 2008 and we immediately begun to wonder how Dylan would cope, what would this mean for him and how would we give equal attention to 2 well deserving children? Well first brought bed rest for mommy and daddy taking over virtually all of the house and child duties. Mommy was unable to lift Dylan from February until June of 2008, that was VERY difficult and to be honest, at times, depressing. To not be able to hold your child is not a good thought. So we improvised!! The ottoman fit nicely up to the side of the couch and that brought much snuggle time for mommy and Dylan. In June Dylan's sister Danielle was born and his world changed. It was daycare, and busy days for mom and dad with a new baby not home yet but in the NICU, then the eventual other challenge of the baby being 40 miles away at the University. Mommy not seeing Dylan in the morning because I was at the hospital by 5am to do feedings and Daddy not seeing Dylan at night because he was at the hospital right after work. But it worked, the baby is now home and what a great big brother Dylan is!

New Year's Eve brought early to bed for Mr. Dylan. A runny nose started and he was exhausted. New Years day brought FOOTBALL galore and most importantly Hawkeye Football. Away we went to a Bowl Party and Dylan had a great day playing with the kids and puppies and tonight he was even more exhausted. Bath and then bed at 6pm and he didn't fight it one bit!

2008 Dylan had many milestones. The most important one was not one hospital stay!! YAY! One whole year without a hospital stay was very exciting!! Dylan begun walking early Spring 2008 and now, he is a running, fun loving, very active and talking 2 year old. And what a little character and a friendly little man. He so much as hears the door creak or someones feet on the floor and he is greeting whomever with 'hi'! We were a little curious as to how Dylan would handle a new baby around. We took him up to the hospital a few times to make the initial acquaintance and made sure we took Dylan with the day we brought Danielle home. We feel this really helped because until just the past few weeks we have not seen any form of jealousy. Now all we see is him wanting to be included when we are in her room changing her diaper etc. So he will stand by the changing table or if she is in her crib we lift him up to see what the baby is doing, this has helped a lot. The equal attention has been key, our sitter has done wonderfully with this also and really we have not let the 'jealously' become and issue.

We can't wait to watch Dylan grow more and more in 2009. What a wonderful gift that we have been blessed with. There isn't a day that goes by that we take our children for granted, we are very fortunate to have them here with us today. Thank you lord for our miracle babies! We ring in the New Year with hopes of a happy, healthy, safe family for the whole year in 2009. We do not want to take any day with our children for granted. We want 2009 to be a year of new beginnings for our family. Bright days, new starts and togetherness. Time surely does just fly by, in September Dylan will be 3 years old. It is hard to believe that today he is just over 2 years old. He is thriving, growing strong and being such a good boy and big brother. We truly love the gifts that god has given to us in 2008 and we are excited to watch that gift, our little boy, grow and learn new things in 2009.
From our family to yours, Happy New Year! May 2009 bring health, prosperity and togetherness for our family and yours.~