New Hair Bow

Brooke tried on one of her first hair bows today. This is one her Aunt Ashley gave her. We thought it would be too big for her tiny face, but it's actually pretty darn cute!!!

Kid Pics

Time for some more pics of the kids. Everyone is doing great. Brooke is eating well and gaining weight and Jackson is eating VERY WELL and certainly gaining weight. All is going well, so let's hope it continues as Tyler goes back to work.

It's hard to get good pics of our cutie, she's still so tiny!

I think she saw her Dad getting out of the shower, common reaction.

Brooke's first bath, which she seemed to enjoy for a second!

I think Jackson looks like an elf in this shot. Either way, he and his Mom make a pretty pair!

Jackson is a little heartbreaker, even with all the self-inflicted scratches!

Only 3 months difference!

Jill thinks Brooke looks like the little Berenstein Bear. I agree, cute as can be, always wears pink, and spiky hair with a bow!

Utah vs BYU 2008

...or Max Hall for 2008 Holy War MVP!!!

Saturday marked another great day for The Curtis Clan - the Utah Utes
finished the regular season undefeated at 12-0. Best of all, it came at the
hands of Max Hall, Austin Collie, Bronco Mendenhall and every self-righteous
BYU fan on planet earth. Sorry if I sound a little bitter, but after
growing up a Ute fan during the lean years and enduring the short end of the
rivalry stick, it sure is nice when we're on top. Like 2004, not only are
we on top, we've got something BYU doesn't - a berth to BCS bowl (again).

Anyway, rivalry aside, the game was fun. It was a treat being able to sit
with the family this season. I even got to storm the field (something I've
regretted not doing in 2004. Led by Bradley, Ashley, Jeff and I ran out and
met the team and thousands of other fans at midfield. OK, Jeff kept going,
he wasn't storming the field, just cutting across the stadium to get to the
car, but it still counts. We met Jordan out there too.

Ashley posing seconds before the game ends

Storming the field

Running Back Matt Asiata

DB Robert Johnson

QB Brian Johnson

2nd year in a row the house got "decorated by some BYU fans in the ward

Blue painters tape and crepe paper

I was hiding behind the fence watching to see exactly which kids where involved

My response - sugar cookies and a nice note. All the RED cookies tasted great. The BLUE ones may have had tons of garlic and onion powder dumped into the dough!

Welcome Home Brooke and other fun weekend tidbits!

This past weekend was jam-packed. Of course, Brooke has been in the NICU since being born which means a minimum of twice daily trips to the hospital to spend time with the new one. Needless to say, we were tired before the weekend began.

Then, Saturday was the annual Curtis Holiday party. We started with a breakfast that included specialty pancakes - you could choose between M&M's, blueberries, raspberries and more. After breakfast we had a fun donut eating contest followed by pinata smashing and then the annual nativity recreation. Thanks Mom and Dad for throwing a great party.

After the party, Jackson was hanging out with his cousins at Grandma's when Jill called with the great news - Brooke was being released on Sunday! We were finally going to get our baby home!

So, a second-to-last trip to the hospital to celebrate and then back home - the day wasn't over yet, we still had Grandma and Grandpa Woolums 50th Anniversary dinner! After rushing to finish our scrapbook page, we hustled downtown to Biaggi's where everyone was waiting to celebrate.

We had a nice dinner and were able to present the scrapbook to G&G Woolums. Especially fun was watching their reaction to the Photoshop'ed picture of Jared in the tub with his father-in-law! Thanks Jody, Jennifer and everyone who helped put the dinner together.

Well, the weekend was only partially over. Sunday was the big day! We dropped Jackson off at his second home (Granmama and Cranpa's) with Aunt Ashley and the happy parents got to bring little Brooke home. We spent time a quiet afternoon and evening together and even though their was some fussiness going to bed (no names, but he's a new big brother), it was about the best day ever - our long-awaited family finally is all together!

Thanks to everyone that has called, been a babysitter, brought food, given clothes and prayed for our little family. We love you all.

Enjoy the pics -

Welcome home beautiful!

Check out big brother and little sister.

Look how teeny she is compared to Mom's hand.

My two lovely ladies

The feeding tube didn't last long - I'm a Curtis!

Daddy-Daughter time in the NICU

Curtis party fun with a donut contest

The Bro's & Sis' had a friendly faceoff

Gage congratulated Jeff and me on a donut contest well-fought

Recreating the Nativity - an annual Curtis tradition

Ever heard of father/son-in-law bathtime? Me either. But Richard and Jared sure look happy!

Pics of my princess

My little princess with her binky and pink bow















Jill had to wait days to eat - chocolate cake couldn't taste better!
















Brooke doesn't love the flash on Dad's camera















Pretty sure she was saying "GO UTES!" (before beating TCU!)

All bundled up and pursing her lips, just like big brother Jackson used to so long ago when he was a few days old! (3 months ago)

Introducing...Brooke Leigh Curtis!!!

Well, we thought she might come early, but Jill's body decided Brooke should make an early appearance on earth! Jackson is now a big brother.

On Tuesday, Jill went to one of her many doctor appointments, but her blood pressure was high and they found that she was developing toxemia. She was admitted to the hospital while her husband frantically tried to get stuff so Jackson could stay at Grandma's, Shadow could stay with Charlie/Baxter/Maxie and Jill could have some clothes and a toothbrush!

After lots of drugs trying to induce Jill into labor and LOTS and LOTS of waiting, we finally got to have a C-Section. Brooke was born on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at 4:28pm. She was 4lbs. 11 oz. and 17.5 inches long. She was just about 4 weeks early.

Jill is doing great and recovering quickly. Brooke is in the NICU, but was taken off oxygen, is eating bottles (although she gets most of her food from the IV and is working on holding her own body temperature. We love her lots and can't wait to bring her home!

Jill is ready to be done, but the little bun doesn't want out of the oven!

Little Brooke's first checkup

One proud Papa!

All bundled up

Funny Utah song

Looking for your Jackson-pics-fix? We'll get to it (he is a darling little stinker!) All the new pics are on Jill's computer.

In the meantime, here is a song I heard on the radio. It was created and sent in by a listener and while it's a little cheesy, it's terribly funny!

Have a listen and GO UTES!

Our Fate-Not Yours

Can you believe this little guy is almost 2 months old? It’s amazing how fast time flies… and how fast these babies grow.

Jackson has his 2 month check up the other day. Here’s the latest and greatest stats:

Weight: 10 lbs 14 oz.
Head: 40 cm
Length: 22 inches

He moved up from the 15th percentile in weight class to the 53rd! He’s an eating machine too, taking in about 3-4 oz. every 3 hours. He loves his bottles!

The nights are getting a little better. He’ll usually have one longer stretch of sleep of 4-5 hours every night, followed by 3 hour intervals. Not bad at all! For some reason, he has decided that he doesn’t want to nap in his crib during the daylight. He’d rather be held or in his bouncy seat. He just wants to be where all the “action” is, we guess.


He’s doing great… healthy as can be and happy!

the dog days of summer...

Now that I'm home during the day, Shadow the dog has the liberty of going outside as much as she wants to. Most recently, she's been spending the entire day outside. And, most of the time, this is what I see when she's not sleeping in her dog house.

Last weekend we took at trip up to Talitha's cabin (Tyler's boss) in the Uintas. Although the cabin isn't nearly as nice as the Bear Lake cabin, it was still a good time. Other than grunting all night long... Jackson did really well too. Here's a few pics.

First Smiles...

We got our first "real" smiles from Jackson this week! And we even got a few pictures!!!

Life seems so crazy these days and we don’t know where the last weeks have gone! This little guy just turned 6 weeks old. He’s growing up so fast. It’s amazing to look at his newborn pictures and see how much his looks have changed in the past weeks. His little cheeks are filling out and he has the sweetest eyes in the whole world. We absolutely love them. Don’t you think he’s the cutest little thing on the planet? He’s such a handsome little boy!!! Jackson is still doing well. He’s still eating great (as you can probably see from his pictures). He’s eating about 3 oz. every 2-3 hours. He’s also sleeping pretty well. He’s on a 3 hour schedule at night. This past week, he’s gone to bed around 9:00pm and then got up to eat around 1am, 4am and 7am. He goes right back to sleep afterwards, so it’s really not too bad.

This past week we had our first Family Home Evening. Okay, okay… it’s really not like us to be all over that -- we're terrible with FHE. But, we were invited by Ty’s sister (Emily) to go up to the canyon and roast marshmallows for s’mores. So we bundled up the little guy and headed up there. Ty’s parents, two of his sisters and their families were there. It was a good time. Jackson loves being outdoors, so he was happy the whole time. It's always a good time we get to spend an evening with all the cousins too!

Little Brooke is getting pretty excited to join the crew. As I'm writing this post, she's doing somersaults (or flips). Or maybe it's the hiccups. All I can say is that she's extremely active, and she's growing -- which mean's I'm growing. I'm starting to feel the long three months ahead of me and I can just visualize myself getting huge.... but we're excited for her to get here. We're starting to work on her room and we hope to have it all ready by the time she arrives (unlike little Jackson's room which is still in the works).

Well, we're going to get the blogging thing down! So, this is our post (for now). Please enjoy the latest pics!

With love,

Ty, Jill & Jackson (Shadow too)