Two of a kid's favorite things...

Swinging...

and milk and cookies.

 And these babies are our two favorite things!

We're Home!

Woohoo! After 81 days in the hospital...it seemed like the day would never come--but it did! The last couple of nights have been kind of rough as we have had to stay the night in the hospital with the girls and "prove" ourselves. Matilda is still on oxygen and a monitor, so they wanted to make sure we felt comfortable with all of the equipment before turning us loose. We were discharged yesterday at about 12pm, and took the girls on their first van-ride to our house! We are so happy to be all together at home. Anyway, I hope to post lots more pictures and news soon... but in attempt to take the good advice I have been given on a number of occasions... While they are napping, I will nap:) Thanks again for all of the continued love, prayers, and support-- I will let everyone know when visitors are welcome!

p.s. and a whopping THANK YOU to all those who took care of our girls in the hospital-- we will have a post dedicated to you in the future!

One Tube Less!

Okay, so this is kind of a strange post... but we have just been so excited this week, as Matilda and Avery have been able to lessen their facial hardware! Yep, they have both been on room air this week, and are generally doing well. They have had a few "swings," as they call them, here and there... but we are so proud of them! Our next feat is to get rid of their nasal feeding tubes, and then they will be real-life babies!
Sleepy Matilda... she is such a doll!
Avery and her all-too-frequently-seen "stop blasting me in the eyes with the camera flash" scowl..sorry Avery, we just can't help it...you're too cute! She had previously sneezed out her feeding tube, so we just had to get a shot of her cute little face before they put it back in.
Matilda & Avery

When I peeked in on them during one of my visits, this is how they were sleeping--so cute! I just love how they don't mind being in each other's space. One of the nurses said that once, when she peeked in, Matilda's hand was in Avery's mouth and Avery was just sucking away!

Pumpkins and punkins...

We hope everyone had a very happy Halloween! We had a good time dressing up the girls and celebrating a holiday devoted to candy:) Anyway, those of you who have had the pleasure of meeting my husband know that he is a big kid at heart. So, we carved our jack-o-lantern after one of his favorite cartoon characters--Aang from "The Avatar."(Which is a really entertaining show if you are looking for a new, clean series to watch:)



We also put up these scary silhouettes that mom brought us-- I know what you're thinking...'terrifying'...:) What makes them special is that my mom has had these same silhouettes up in her kitchen window during Halloween ever since I was a wee trick-or-treater. Lindsey found the exact same ones, and bought them for me. It was fun to relive that little memory...
These cute buckets were given to the girls by the hospital's parent support group. They are so sweet... they leave fun little treats for us and the girls every week!
Here they are! The picture you have all been waiting for! Our little punkins...while Mom was here she found these cute Halloween onesies. As you can see, the girls did a brilliant job of making them look simply adorable--the nurses were commenting on our very cute pumpkin and ghost all day:)


Matilda & Avery
Mmmm... yummy girls. Here we are giving them a kiss goodnight before putting them back in bed:)
Goodnight girls! Jordan and I spent the rest of the evening eating candy, visiting Uncle Nate and Aunt Jai's spooky house, and watching Young Frankenstein. It was a fun holiday for us--very low key... I have a feeling we should appreciate it now while the girls are small and don't care what their costumes look like and how much candy they get:)

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 size. 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!

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--the Mom:). We learned on Monday that Avery was low enough on her oxygen dosage 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 ability to breathe and swallow simultaneously. 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. 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.