Whitney's Backpack

Whitney got a new backpack. I'll admit, it's actually a "kid-leash". Is it inhumane? No! It's saved her from running into the street, and me from running after her. At any rate, she loves it because it's a dog and it took days before she was willing to take it off! Oh, and she voted too! Hooray for early voting and the new electronic thingy's! We are definitely major fans!

Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Family Pictures

We had a really sweet girl come and take pictures for us. Her site is btadesigns.blogspot.com in case you're interested.

Here are a few of our favorites!

New Pics!

My computer broke! This means that for now, I can't post as often as I'd like to. In all my spare time now... (as if life with 2 kids is easy!) I decided to try my hand at "photography". Here are a couple cute ones of our new little Devan Dean!

and a few of our sweet little Whitney Jo!

Just Some Pics

Little Devan Dean

Devan Dean Andrus... has arrived!

We are so excited to announce that Devan is finally here. We are so grateful that things have turned out as well as they have and we're feeling very blessed at this time. Devan Dean Andrus was born at 4:13am on 10-9-8 and weighed in at 7 lbs 6 ozs. All is well but there is quite the story attached. Feel free to check out the short simple version, or the long, detailed one.

Short Version:

Brittany went into labor at 8:30 Wednesday night (October 8, 2008) and was in labor for about 8 hours, at which time, she went in for an emergency c-section. Devan was born at 4:13 am and after some work, has done very well.

Long Version:

Ron and Brittany decided to attempt a VBAC which is a Vaginal Birth after Cesarean. Brittany had her membranes stripped at about 10:00am on Wednesday (October 8, 2008) and had contractions most of the day, but they were sporatic and minor. As she was sitting on the bed, reading scriptures to Whitney at about 8:30 Wednesday night, her water broke. She called Ron, got the neighbors to come get Whitney, finished packing and headed to the hospital. Ron and Brittany arrived around 9:30 and were immediately admitted. She was in labor until about 11:30 and was progressing nicely. She got an epidural around that time and should have calmed down, maybe taken a nap, and really felt a lot of relief. Brittany was anything but calm. By 4:00am, Devans heart beat had dropped to about half of what it should have been. The doctor watched him for a few minutes, then judging by the baby's heart rate and Brittany's negative response, he informed Ron and Brittany that a VBAC was no longer an option and that they needed to go in for an immediate emergency c-section. Brittany was given some extra anesthesia, Ron was put in scrubbs and they headed in for surgery. This is about the last thing that Brittany remembers because she was so tense that they gave her some strong sedatives to get her to relax. Brittany woke up around 5:30, remember nothing, and wondering what happened. Ron filled her in on the details. Brittany's uterus had ruptured. Devan's head, fortunately and unfortunately, has acted as a cork so that it minimized the internal bleeding. Her uterus tore vertically on the inside. It was kind of an S shape as it tore up one side of the scar, across the scar, and then down on the other side. They cut through and pulled Devan out, and set him on Brittany's stomach. Ron thought he was dead. He didn't cry, he didn't move, and he didn't have good color. He scored a 1 on his Apgar score (out of 10). The only thing he had was a very weak pulse. After 2 minutes, he started crying just a little. They continued working on him and eventually he started moving his arms, then his legs, etc. The doctors determined to keep him in NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit) for the day so that they could keep a close eye on him. By 8:00 that morning, he had improved so much, so fast, that they released him and little Devan was able to go see his mom and dad.

Baby and mom are both doing well right now. Brittany's been up and walking although she's MUCH more tender and sore than she was with the first c-section. This is likely due to the 8 hours of labor and tension leading up the operation. Devan is a tough little guy and has a MUCH quieter cry than his older sister, Whitney.

All in all, we are thanking our Heavenly Father for the many blessings that he has given us at this time. Life is a precious gift and right now, we're feeling humbled, and very grateful for that gift.

Still Waiting!

So Devan's actual due date isn't until October 14th. However, Brittany has been progressing nicely for 3 weeks now. Brittany is 90% effaced and dialated to a 1 or 2. "Anytime now" has been the plan. Brittany and the doctor expected Devan this last week. (Sept 29-Oct 4)

However, Devan is being a little bit shy apparently. We're still waiting. When Brittany went into the doctor's office on Thursday, he said there hadn't been any change and then started to discuss what the plan would be if Brittany ran over the due date. Not a pleasant conversation.

Cross your fingers and pray really hard that this kid comes soon! Brittany is very uncomfortable! In all reality, we're just really excited to meet little Devan and have him join our family! That always calls for impatience...I'm sure.

Update on the Baby!

He's coming! We're not quite sure how soon he's coming, but little Devan Dean is definitely on his way! Brittany's due date is actually October 14th... but with the way things are progressing, we could have a September baby instead... maybe not, but maybe yes...
Brittany is more than 70% of the way there and has started to dilate. She also has frequent contractions but not consistent. We'll see how long it lasts. Doctor is predicting that he'll be just over 8lbs. at birth.

Yea!

Climb On In!

This just cracks me up! Twice in one day, we found Whitney climbing into containers that were laying around the house! How cute is that?

Whitney can say 4 words!

Whitney has, for a while now, been chatting. She babbles, and babbles, and babbles. She's a lot like her mom was at that age. It's almost as if she's made up her own language and wants everybody to hear it. She talks the most when she's at home (in her own element) and in the morning right after she wakes up. It's adorable and mom and dad love it! Whitney also has a couple of stuffed animals in her crib with her. She has a bunny, a cat, a puppy, and 3 bears. She absolutely won't sleep without the puppy, but the only word that she's picked up and uses correctly consistently, is "bear". She points to her bears all the time and says "bear"...without so much of the "r" sound of course. So now she can say hi, ma, da, and bear. She also knows where the baby is and loves to lift up mom's shirt to pat the baby. The great part is when she lifts up dad's shirt to pat the baby! He doesn't find that too funny! Perhaps we've confused her, because she'll also life up her own shirt and say "baba" for "baby"! Oh well, she'll figure it out eventually... :)

Time For A Change...

It was time for a change...
www.whitneyjoandrus.blogspot.com has now officially been changed to www.theandrusfam.blogspot.com

As our family grows, so much our site. We have to make adjustments for a boy now rather than everything being pink and cute for our little girl...

It's time to make this a family thing so here's a little update...

Ron is busy working and doing a great job! He's been busy hosting booths at the Preston Rodeo Days, Box Elder County Fair, and next weekend he'll be doing Peach Days in Brigham City. These shows bring in a TON of business that we're very excited about! A huge shout out to Dad Andrus for his help at Box Elder. He came and did the entire show with Ron so that Brittany and Whitney didn't have to. What a blessing! Other than work (which Ron absolutely loves!) Ron enjoys spending time with Whitney, fishing...and that's about all he seems to do these days!

Brittany is 8 1/2 months pregnant and is starting to slow down! The baby is due in 6 weeks and the count down has begun. She's been busy however, with lots of "projects" and you can check out her new personal blog at www.theanythinggirl.com if you're interested. She has just been put in Young Women as the Personal Progress Leader and is excited about the fun times to be had there. She spends her time blogging, cleaning, watching Whitney and doing Sudoku puzzles!

Whitney loves to talk, eat, and smile a lot! She has her own language that I wish we could capture and put online. It's adorable. Ron or Brittany go in to get her in the morning and she has a huge story to tell from the previous night! We love it!

Devan likes to kick. Brittany is convinced he's going to be a soccer player! He had an ultrasound today and he is all boy! (But we'll spare you the pics...) He was wide awake at 5:00AM this morning, but didn't want to open his eyes or get his hand out of his face at 10:00AM for picture time. Everything looks good and he's expected to be right around 8 lbs. He's 5lbs, 5oz right now and as mentioned before, there are six weeks left!

It's so hard to tell what these things are... but here's a size shot of Devan's face...
And another side shot of his face with the placenta in the way...
For anybody who doesn't know, these sepia colored pictures here are 3D. It's kind of fun to see your kid before he comes out!
This big mass in front of his left eye is the placenta again. It apparently didn't want to get out of the way so we could get a good shot...

Even when she is sad...

Even when Whitney is sad (this time because she's been put to bed)...

she will still pull out the biggest smile as soon as she sees the camera is on her! She knows the camera loves her!

What a Cheeseball!

I don't know where or how Whitney figured out what the camera was for... but she loves to give the biggest (and sometimes cheesiest) grins whenever anybody tries to take a picture! We absolutely love it!
Greatest toy we've bought up to this point has been a Mrs. Potato Head. Obviously Whitney's head is a little larger than Mrs. PH however, it's kept her occupied for hours!

Whitney and I have been hanging out at the Box Elder County Fair with Dad this weekend. Whitney loves animals and we love to see her reaction to them. The pigs were the funniest! With all their squealing and oinking, Whitney was amazed at these giant creatures that made so much noise!