Us lately...

Gosh, I can't believe it has taken me so long to post about all the fun goings-on in our world lately. Well, first and foremost--our girls are doing great! Avery is now 5lbs 10 oz, and Matilda is not far behind at 5lbs 6oz! They are actually newborn sized now! Even though they are still tiny they look so huge to us. Also, they have graduated to nursery B--meaning they aren't "intensive" anymore! Babies in nursery B are pretty much only on a little bit of oxygen, or none at all, and receiving feedings by tube still--but that's pretty much it. We are also doing nutritive feeding with them both twice a day. I am so impressed with how well they do for their age. The doctors and nurses have assured us that it's pretty much just a matter of them getting the feeding down before they can come home. Although they are doing great, it still could be a while. As always we are just delighted with their progress! In other fun news, my mom and my brother Eric were able to come out for a quick visit last weekend. It was so fun to have them here!Eric meeting Matilda for the first time
Nana holding both
Also, while mom was here, some cute friends in my ward threw me a shower...it was so fun! Thanks Carlee & friends!

mmm, yummy food! Also, we bit the bullet and bought a mini-van. Unfortunately we couldn't fit two car seats in our little truck so we had to upgrade. We were hoping to get something smaller--kind of a half-step up to a mini-van, but we soon realized that between two car seats and a double stroller we would run out of room for anything else...so... never thought I'd say this, but I am a mini-van mom at age 25 and loving it!

...our new MPV! Also, we have been receiving really cute crotchet booties and hats from a friend of Grandma Stutz's and I finally brought them in to the hospital for the girls to wear. Well, we put them on and never laughed so hard! Especially at Matilda... this hat makes her look like a little granny...

Little Avery all bundled up.

Avery and Matilda say "Hi"

Bonding with Mommy and getting big!

What a fun week we have had--especially for me, Mom:). We learned on Monday that Avery was down on her oxygen dosage just enough for us to do what is called a "non-nutritive feeding," and Matilda just made the mark yesterday. Basically up until this point the girls have been fed breast milk through that little tube in their nose, and I have been pumping like crazy. But now, I get to be a little more personal with my girls! Now a part of our daily time together includes one of these special feedings. Basically, I go to the hospital, pump until I am empty, and then I am able to bring the girls to breast to practice without drowning them--they still have to develop the talent of swallowing. They have both done really well with it, and I have been absolutely giddy over the bonding that takes place between us! They can't go too long without getting totally exhausted and falling asleep, but we are just wanting them to get used to the idea. What helps is the nurse will have their tube feeding start a couple of minutes after our "practice" so that they associate the "full tummy feeling" with being at the breast. (Sorry if this is making some of you uncomfortable--especially our male readers--but it's just so exciting!) So hopefully, after lots of practice the girls will get good at alternating the breathing, sucking, and swallowing so that they can nurse solely. Speaking of the girls' nutrition, I feel like they have gotten so much bigger! We just gave them their baths last night and they both seemed so big to me (even at a whopping 4 lbs:)). Recently another set of twins born at 27 weeks were bedded near our girls... and they look so small to me-- it is just so fun to see how far our girls have come!
Matilda last night... love the smirk:)
Itty-bitty Matilda last week

Avery last night--giving her admirers a good wink!
Avery about a week ago...



Holding both...
Enjoying my time with my girls...
Closer shot so you can see the girls' faces...they loved sleeping like this.

Our two peas are finally in one pod!!

Avery and Tilly are finally sharing a bed! It has been such a nice change! We love seeing them together, and we can't help but feel that they probably missed each other. This is a picture of the previous set up. Jordan and a nurse are at Avery's bed in the back there, and then Matilda's bed is on the right, closer to the foreground,in front of the curtain. We were grateful that they were as close as they were (it could have been worse), but it was kind of a challenge to stay at one bedside at a time-- and to make sure each was getting the same amount of mommy and daddy time.


Avery's giraffe bed, Matilda had one just like it... these beds were actually really cool because they helped the babies keep their temperatures, but now they are big enough to hold their own temps-- woohoo! And the result....... an open bed! Yes, those are two little babies in there. I have to admit, it kind of looks like a jail cell... but we are just so thrilled they are together in the same crib, we can live with it.They look a lot alike to me in this picture... it's so fun to actually see them side by side and compare!Coordinated onesies, compliments of Nana...Jordan doing a "double hold" for the first time!Now that they are co -bedding, they are also able to co-bathe. Here they are keeping each other company in the tub.Hi Matilda!
After their bath we put them in these cute little matching onesies we got from Aunt Julie...

All snuggled up, ready for bed. I absolutely LOVE this picture-- It looks like Matilda is having a conversation with an almost-asleep Avery. "So anyway, I was like..."

Eating lobster and getting smart...

Well, we did it! We have been married for a whole two years--and survived! It has been absolutely wonderful-- I am so grateful to be married to Jordan. He is truly the man of my dreams, and such a wonderful dad to our little girlies. Since I hadn't craved sea food since before my pregnancy, we decided that it was definitely time to revisit Red Lobster (We LOVE that place!). After stuffing ourselves silly, we went and saw Get Smart at the dollar theater. HI-LARIOUS! It was nice to have an evening to celebrate-- especially while we still have such excellent babysitters in the NICU:) We spent the rest of that evening holding and snugging our cute girls. As for presents: Jordan bought me a really cute jewelry box, and I surprised him with a love note delivery made of cookies. It was such a fun day-- I can't wait to do this forever!


I ordered these from the internet, and they turned out to be the most delicious little shortbread cookies! yum!Yes, I am picking my teeth with a lobster claw-- don't worry it was just for the sake of posing.

Jordan looking drunk on lobster. We ate soo much and it was all soo good, but we felt super glutenous afterwards...
Us and our yummy desert. Have I ever mentioned how much I love being in the foreground of pictures? yuck.

We just can't help ourselves!

These girls are just too cute, and so photogenic! Plus, I promised to post pictures of Avery's first tub. So here are some more pictures that we have taken in the last little while.

p.s. If you do not like looking at pictures of cute little girls, this is not the blog for you.

p.p.s. Happy anniversary Jordan! Love you:)

Matilda & Avery

Okay, sorry for the poor quality of this photo. It is actually a picture of a picture... but I thought I would post it so that you could see what they look like side by side.

I love this picture because it actually makes Avery look somewhat "chunky." I was so glad I had brought these preemie onesies in for them to wear because, as you can see, they are almost too small already!

Little Matilda. I definitely think she has a lot of me in her.
Daddy and Tilly making one of their favorite faces.

Avery slowly going into the tub...
Washing her face... look at those cheeks!
Washing her arms.I love this picture! She is totally relaxed and enjoying herself until this rude awakening... but we have to clean the baby's back, right? They are both so good in the bath though... even if they really do hate it, they never cry!
Here Avery is thinking "I could get used to having my head scrubbed."

All done!
So, when we got to the hospital one night we peeked in on Avery, and this was her position. Just chillin'-- funny girl...