The Big Birthday Countdown

I cannot believe Kean is only a few days from turning the big one! This past year has gone by so incredibly slow in some ways and in other ways, it has whizzed by. The other night we took the entire family to the St. Luke's NICU "Graduates" picnic. And everyone I had hoped to see-- was there! Remember, during Kean's 1 1/2 month stay in intensive care, he had about 5 roommates-- mostly sad stories with parents who rarely visited. He hit the jackpot with his final roommate, Izzy. She was adopted by the cutest couple from Provo, Utah. Izzy was born very early, had started thriving and gaining weight until she got pneumonia. She was one sick little baby when she was rooming with Kean.

Look at her now. They don't get much cuter. As for Kean, he slept through much of the big reunion.

That is, until his favorite nurse, Pam (in the green) woke him up to give him loves. She's the nurse who took care of him the most-- and she's the one who helped name him Nathan. Remember, she's the one who had to stop herself from calling him Nathan... before we had named him! Next to her is another one of our favorite nurses, Molly. Molly's holding Emily, Kean's little friend from Hailey, Idaho. Emily's mom and I became quite close during and following our NICU experience. By the way, Greer thinks Kean and Emily make "such a cute couple".

And finally, here's my other favorite nurse from NICU, Dan. When we were having major problems getting Kean to latch on-- Dan is the nurse who showed me (using his own body) how to self express my milk. He's the coolest! He and his wife are trying so hard to adopt a baby. So keep your ears open everyone.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous at how I'd feel at the NICU reunion because that whole experience was so traumatic for me. The children loved every minute of it-- St. Luke's had those big bouncing contraptions, face painting and all kinds of activities and games. On top of seeing the few nurses I really cared about, it was actually quite nice to see the doctors, other nurses, therapists and administrators. It seemed like any time one of the doctors wanted to talk to me while Kean was in NICU... they'd be the bearers of bad news. I used to dread any conversation I had to have with them. This time around, it was quite a different story. I'm glad we all went.

P.S. Three days until Kean's birthday! A while back, I wasn't sure we'd ever get this far.