I love my little family

Aria is really smiling a lot. I finally caught it in a picture.

Aria my sweet little girl.

For some reason the bottle looks almost as big as Aria does in this picture.

On Memorial Day we had a Porter BBQ at our house. It was so much fun. Grandma took care of the twins so we could play. What a nice grandma. She had everything under control.

This is how Zachary sleeps with his arms up by his head.

My precious little boy.

Zachary and Aria Chillin'

Samuel loves his brother and sister. He can hardly keep his hands off of them.

Samuel pre hair cut.

Samuel post hair cut. What a handsome boy.

Daddy's favorite position.... SLEEPING with a kid on his chest.

Yeah!!! We finally got a double jogging stroller. We used it the other day in between rain storms. We would have got caught in the middle of one walking home had not a lady in our church stop and picked up Samuel and I jogged rest of the way home just before it started pouring down rain. Of course I'm in the worst shape of my life and my heart was about to burst out of me by the time I jogged home, so we broke the stroller in good that day.

Look at me... I'm a big boy now.

Look at me... I'm a big girl now.

My sister Maria (Spokane, WA) got on my case because I hadn't updated my blog for a while. So this is for her. Of course, she doesn't have a blog so we can't keep up to date with her family. Come on Maria... get up with the times!! ha ha

Anyway- it has been raining for two weeks now and we have been stuck in the house. We did get a couple of short breaks and took advantage with some walks. Aria is 8 lbs 3 oz and Zachary is 10 lbs 5 oz. Aria is smiling a lot and I love it. Zachary has a cute smile but it takes a bit to get him to smile. They are both starting to sleep longer and that makes the nights better for Travis and I. Now if we could keep Samuel in his bed. I'm just too tired to walk him all the way back downstairs to his bed so he sleeps with us. Actually me..... we share a pillow. Don't let him know, but I enjoy cuddling with him. Samuel is soooooo busy. The older he gets the busier he is. I've got to figure out a way to channel that business to help me out. ha ha The other day I asked him to go hang his jacket up. He came back and I asked him if he hung his jacket up. Sam... No Mom... Why not? Sam.... it's incapable. Then the other day he was in watching me put my make up on and said.... "mom, you're a good looking lady." Not sure where he got that from but hey it made my day. I love my little family. I thank the Lord every day for the 3 blessings he has given me. I'm also thankful for a husband who feels the same.

Professional Pictures

We had the twins pictures taken by the same girl who did Samuel's newborn pictures. Please look on the left side of the blog. She does such a great job at capturing the moment. You can look at her web site and blog at www.stephanietueller.com.

Never enough time

Mother/Daugther Moment (Mother's Day 09)

Aunt Amy put flowers in Sam's hair and thought it was pretty cute. Daddy wasn't sure about that.

Sam is still a love bug. I love it.

First day at church. They looked so cute.

Zach, Maggie (cousin) and Aria. Maggie was born one month before our twins. She is the smiliest baby. She is a little cutie pie. She is my sister Amy's little girl.

I just love this picture. It is so them. Zach is always so serious and Aria is wide eyed and looking around (well when she is awake).

So sorry it has taken me so long to post again. There is never enough time in the day or night. All the kids are growing so fast. Zach is close to 9 lbs and Aria is close to 7 lbs. They are both doing great. Samuel can't keep his hands off of them. He is always wanting to help me which in turn takes me twice as long to finish the bath or what ever I was doing. But hey, I hope that helpfulness grows up with him. Samuel is doing great with the potty training. He is actually wearing underwear to bed and doesn't wet them. We are so proud of him. The twins birth mom and her mom came over on Birth Mother's Day (May 9). It was fun to celebrate this very special day with them. We love them both. Travis and I finally celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary (Jan 31 the night before the twins were born) this past Friday. My sister Amy took on all the kids (and did an amazing job) and we went to dinner and got a hotel room. We had a great time and very much enjoyed the full night of sleep with out interruptions. But we missed the kids and couldn't wait to pick them up Saturday morning. We are loving the nice sunny weather. We get to take the kids to the park and on bike rides. We are so grateful for all we have and all those who are so helpful with our very busy time of life.

Time Flies

Grandpa Rasmussen, Aria and Zachary 4-17-09
We have had so much family and friends coming to see the twins and I've taken all their pictures but I thought it would be a little bit much to put all the pictures on the blog. But they will all go in their baby books. (When ever I decide to do that. I still haven't done Samuel's yet)

Easter was such a beautiful day. Samuel had a blast finding the Easter eggs.

Samuel, Aunt Camille, Aria and Zachary

I made all the kids their Easter baskets out of a tin can and paper. I thought they turned out pretty cute. But by far the twins were way cuter in their Easter outfits. Aria is always leaning on Zachary. I think it is so sweet. I didn't get Samuel in the kids Easter picture as he was sick and we were keeping him away from them so they wouldn't catch what he had. I felt so bad but he ended up running a pretty high fever for 6 days and finally took him to the doctor. He missed be able to hang around his brother and sister.

My mom and me where trying to get some pictures of Zach and Aria one morning. They were so patient with us. As you can tell by this picture, they are getting pretty tired of it.

My sister Maria from Spokane WA came to visit us last week end. Again we were taking pictures of all the kids. Mae (2nd from the front) is her little girl of about 6 weeks. They are in the process of adopting her along with her sister Marley. Anyway big brother Sam crawls up and comforts Aria. He is going to be a great big brother. I can just tell.

Samuel and potty training. It's a never ending process for us. But Grandma Rasmussen said if he went #2 in the toilet he could have an A&W Rootbeer. We thought if he held onto it that it might encourage him to go. Well the soda pop is still on top of the fridge. Maybe some day. Any ideas?????

Samuel is a great helper when it comes to his brother and sister. He likes to wash out the bottles after we get done feeding the twins. He is helpful in may more ways and I'm so thankful to have such a willing son.

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to get an update up again. Time of flying by so fast that I don't really have much time to do anything. Everything is going good. My mom has gone home and now it is up to us. YIKES!!! We have done alright if you don't count not getting much sleep. ha ha Really it wouldn't be to bad except Samuel has been sick and was getting up a lot. Things are looking better for Travis and I now, but the bags are still under our eyes. :( ha ha We are having so much fun getting to know Aria and Zachary. Aria is feisty. She is really content most of the time but when she needs something and we aren't moving fast enough she will let you know. For such a tiny little thing, her yell is piercing to the ears. Zach on the other hand is pretty laid back. He will let you know but you can pacify him to hold out a little bit longer. He is more like his dad and Aria is more like her mother. They are so sweet. When they look up at us and we connect with their eyes we just melt. Samuel is always talking to them and telling them it's ok. They are good babies, thank goodness. Two is hard at the same time and we are blessed to have such good babies. Our life is crazy right now but in a great way. I love our little family and thank the Lord for it always. We had a placement party (we called it that) with the twins birth mother. Usually that happens at the hospital, but because they were in the NICU we decided to have it when they came home. So our birth mother came out and we took lots of pictures and had dessert. She made each of the kids a blanket, including Samuel. We had a great time and enjoyed hanging out all together. We love her very much and will always cherish out friendship with her. We have also had two baby showers thrown for us. One was by my visiting teachers from my church. It was a lot of fun and Aria and Zach received lots of good stuff. My sisters and mom also through us one. I can't believe how generous everyone is. My work friends got us a double snap in go stroller. That will be very helpful. Then people have been dropping of gifts and dinners (which Travis is loving. He hasn't had this many dinners since we've been married) You all are great and we appreciate you all. We can't wait to be able to be out among you again. RSV season is suppose to be over on Mother's Day. So that is the day we are shooting for. See you then. Aria now weighs 5 lbs 7 oz and Zachary weighs 6 lbs 13 oz. They are growing so fast.

Home at last

Big brother holding little sister and little brother at home (4-4-09)

Getting ready to leave the hospital on 4-4-09 Mommy and Zach, Daddy and Aria

Aria and Zach waiting patiently to leave the hospital. Aria actually has to ride in the bed crib but we carried her out in a car seat. 4-4-09

Aria bath time 3-31-09

Zach Bath time 3-31-09 He was hungry

Back together again in an open crib 3-27-09

Zach and Aria 3-27-09

As you can tell Aria and Zachary are home with us. They came home on Saturday (4-4-09) It has been a crazy week. My sisters have been over a couple of times this week helping me spring clean the house and set up the nursery. Travis and I have been staying up late doing last minute touch ups to the basement. We finally finished the basement and the carpet is in. It is sooooo nice. Samuel's bedroom is downstairs now and he loves it. If you come to visit he will want to show you his new bedroom. He actually is sleeping through the night downstairs. I wasn't sure if he'd stay down there by himself, but I was pleasantly surprised.

It is so nice to have our family at home all together. The twins are on a pretty good eating schedule of about 4 hours. It is really nice. They sleep through Samuel going in and checking on them and all the noise we create right outside their room. Infact, we don't even shut their door. They are use to the noise being in the NICU for so long. Samuel loves having them home. He is such a big help with getting diapers and throwing them away. He is a great big brother. We look forward to showing them off but until after RSV season is over (Mother's Day) we are unable to have kids come into the house to see them. We will be so excited to have them meet all their cousins and feel so bad that we have to wait so long. They are growing fast. Zachary came home at 5 lbs 4 oz and Aria came home at 4 lbs 2 oz. We thank all of those who have helped us out up to this point. With family and our ward's help it made it possible for us to visit the twins and have Samuel watched. We love you all and appreciate you so much.

3-22-09 Update 7 weeks old, 35 weeks gestation

Zachary's 1st Bottle What a big boy!

Aria's 1st Bottle What a big girl!

Bother and Sister after bath.

Zachary

Aria

Sorry the pictures are not as clear as the previous pictures. Previously I had been using my mom's really nice camera. These past weeks I had to use mine which isn't quite as nice, so they are a little bit blurry. They have done really great this past week. Zachary weighs 4 lbs 4 oz and Aria weighs 3 lbs 4 oz. Zachary is gaining almost an ounce a day and Aria is gaining a 1/2 an ounce a day. I asked the doctor why she isn't gaining as fast as Zach is and she said that little girls usually burn more calories as they are more active. They seem to move their arms more then boys I guess. But she is strong as ever. They both have started taking a bottle once a shift. (twice a day) But probably will move up to twice a shift because they have mastered the one feeding. It was so fun to hold them and feed them. They burped good too. Probably on Tuesday they will put both of them into an open crib together so they can keep each other warm and be together like they were in the womb. I'm very excited for that. Samuel has been sick for the last couple of days so we have been unable to visit them. We don't want to pass anything on to them but we miss them very much. We feel confident in the care they are receiving with their nurses and that helps out. We are starting to see their little personalities coming out. It is so much fun to interact with them. We are so very excited to bring them home. Hopefully in a few more weeks.

3-14-09 Update

Zachary after a bath. 3-3-09 (look at the matching outfits)

Aria after a bath. 3-3-09

Aria loves to be in the warm water. 3-3-09

Zachary loves to be in the warm water also. 3-3-09

Grandma Rasmussen took Samuel to play at the park with his cousin Londan and Aunt Shea one day while I was with the twins. He had a great time. Thanks Grandma

I thought this picture was so cute of Samuel and Londan.

Proud Daddy. He finally got to hold both of them at the same time.

While Travis was holding them they were holding hands. They have been missing each other. I'll have to remind them when they get older that they use to like each other. Ha Ha 3-8-09

Sorry I didn't get an update last Sunday. Things got a little crazy so I was unable to take the time to update my blog. My mom has gone to be with my new niece (Mae) in WA with my sister Maria. She was born March 8. She is the 1/2 sister to Marlee and they will also be adopting her. It is very exciting. Maria and Roger now have 6 kids. YIKES!! 4 boys and 2 little girls.

Zach and Aria are doing great. Zachary has moved into and open crib and is keeping his body temperature up to where it needs to be. He weighs 3 lbs 13 oz. He is just a sweet boy. When I talk to him he just stares at me. It is actually looking like he has some auburn coloring in his hair. He is such a handsome boy. Aria is finally starting to put on the ounces. ha ha She is now 2 lbs 14 oz. They say they can't hear her heart murmur anymore so they feel the PDA has closed. That is great news. Once she gains a few more ounces they will put both of them in a bigger open crib together and they will be able to keep each other warm and finally be back together again. I'm so excited for that. We finally got the coveted window seat at the NICU so Lori, Bret, Amy and Shea came to see their niece and nephew. I brought them right up to the window so they could get a better look. Samuel loves to look in at them. He will blow them a kiss. He is always asking questions about them and if they are still on oxygen. He is very worried about that. ha ha I was talking to one of the doctors there and they thought that they might be able to come home in another 3 or 4 weeks. We are so excited to have our little family together. We thank all those who have helped take care of Samuel while my mom has been gone. It is comforting to know I have many places that I'd trust Samuel to be at and also to have a great time.