We're home!!!!

We stayed at my MIL's house until 2/16. Here are just a couple of random pics in some of my favorite sleepers on them:

{taken 2/9, before bath}:

{taken 2/9, after bath}:

{Jared was SO sweet and sent me a package for Valentine's Day, which included an awesome note written with candy hearts, pink slippers, a plush dog, a bottle brush, some candy, and a baby healthcare kit}:

{Maw-maw & Paw-Paw (my parents), came to Utah and saw the girls for the first time on 2/12}:

{Ready to hit the road to Aunt Kiki's house on 2/13}:

{I couldn't resist taking this pic of sweet cousin Carma in her adorable dress after they got home from church on 2/13}:

Everyone talked me into staying the night at Kiki's that night (2/13). Carma was begging me and Judson even gave me a hug so I would stay (that's huge, ha ha!). Kiki took the night shift with the girls and it was SO NICE to be able to sleep through the night!

I went back to her house on 2/16 and stayed there two nights until we left for AZ on 2/18. Kiki took the night shift again the night before we left. She is so awesome!!!

{One of Paw-paw's favorite jokes--pretending to feed babies real food, in this case chicken enchiladas on 2/16}:

{This is how we fed the babies on the drive home, 2/18}:

We had great weather on the drive on Fri. but Sat., we had cold rain, freezing rain, snow, strong winds, fog, you name it. Getting in and out of the car to make bottles and get the girls out of their car seats to feed them was not fun! It was worth it once we got home, though!

{Jared had the foyer decorated for us, 2/19}:

{He was SO happy to see his girls and was ready to feed them--and they were ready to eat as soon as we got home!):

{During our last stop before home, we put the girls in these outfits}:

{He loves holding both of them at the same time}:

{Mommy catching some much needed sleep with Makenna, 2/20}:

{Cleo is great with the girls--and we all love the Boppies! 2/21}:

{My mom and I went and got a rocking seat and a swing; Paw-paw put them together and the girls really like them; Makenna, 2/21}:

{Avery in the swing--the chair turns so that it either swing back and forth or rocks side to side}:

The girls had their first dr. appt. this past Wed. (2/23). They are in excellent health and weighed exactly the same--8 lbs. 4 oz.!!!

My parents and I took the girls for a ride up to where Jared works. It's about an hour from our house. We met up with Jared and he showed us part of the mine:{And he showed us this really cool cemetery on the side of the rocky mountain}:

It has been so nice to be home as a family. My parents have been a big help but are leaving on Monday, then I'll be on my own, except for the precious few hours Jared isn't at work--right now is really busy for him. The girls are so sweet. It is fun to see their personality differences. Makenna has a shorter fuse and a more urgent cry--complete with these little coughs and yells to express her displeasure. She know what she wants and she wants it now! Ha ha! Avery is far more patient. When she does cry, it is a sad cry and breaks your heart. They're eating a little bit more and are going a little longer between feeding, especially at night, thank goodness. Sometimes, they even go four hours between feeds and last night they actually went five hours between two of the feeds! It helps that Jared slept with one of them and I slept with the other (on our chests), though.

I can't wait to take them to church but we are holding off on that for another month or two--church is one of those places where people think they can just go up and touch your baby and ask you to hold them. There were so many people coughing last week that confirmed our decision to wait, ha ha. We did venture out with my parents to a Mexican restaurant tonight, though. We tried keeping them in their car seats but they were having none of that so Jared held them the whole time--both of them on their tummies on one of his legs. It was pretty cute and he was still able to eat.

I'm having a lot of fun with the girls. Sometimes I can't believe this is really my life. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world! I love my daughters and husband so much!!!

The girls are growing!!!

Makenna was discharged from the NICU on 1/29; she was able to come to my room and stay with me for a couple of nights until Avery was discharged on 1/31. So we left the hospital on 1/31 and came here to my mother-in-law's house to wait for adoption stuff to go through. We have been waiting for our FBI background checks to arrive--they had it for 8 weeks. They finally came in yesterday! Now we have to get them to the county attorney in our hometown for her to get a judge to sign the adoption certification, then all of the paperwork needs to get to Utah and get cleared here. Until then, we are unable to bring the girls out of Utah. It has been very hard to not only have to stay in the hospital for six weeks but then have to stay away from home for another couple of weeks or more. Hopefully, we will be able to leave this weekend. Poor Jared hasn't been able to come up and see the babies since Christmas weekend! He has been swamped with his new job.

We are also still trying to sell our house in Louisiana. We had accepted an offer from a couple (after a few counter offers back and forth) and they came back and accepted, with a fix-it list. Now they are breaking their contract with the fix-it list (which is minimal) as the reason, although our realtor found out that one of their dads has offered them money to buy something with more land. So frustrating. So now we have to put the house back on the market and pray that it sells soon!

Anyway, back to fun stuff--the babies. :)

Here are some pics from the past few weeks:
{Avery (bottom), Makenna (top)}:

{Avery (left), Makenna (right)}:

{Bliss is holding them both at the same time}:

{Makenna, up in my hospital room after she was discharged}:
{Makenna, ready to leave the hospital}:

{Avery, ready to head out}: {Chilling at Grandma's--Makenna on left}:
{I love this pic of Avery--looks like she's ready to rumble, ha ha}:

{Makenna, enjoying her "hot" bath}:

{Makenna, napping in her bed at Grandma's}: {Avery in her bed at Grandma's}:
Photo session in some cute outfits:

{Avery}:

{Avery on left}:

{Makenna}:

I weighed them each at bathtime last night. Avery is 7 lbs. (over 3 lbs. gain since birth) and Makenna is 7 lbs. 3 oz. (2 lbs. 10 oz. gain). I just used my scale, so it's probably not exactly accurate but close enough. They are getting so big--that's what eating every two hours will do to ya, ha ha. Getting sleep is extremely tough to do, since I only have barely an hour between feeds by the time I feed them both and change diapers, etc. But I'm doing pretty well and having fun with them. They are SOOOO cute and sweet!

Shower #3!

Kiki and Nikki threw me a shower here in Utah last Sat. It was held at Kiki's house and it was wonderful! She made the most delicious and cute filled cupcakes. There were four different varieties--Nutella, almond poppy seed, raspberry, and pina colada. They were SO cute, too!:

She also made chicken salad crescents, crepes with cream filling and different fruit fillings and whipped cream, and a veggie tray, and a friend made this awesome sausage dip to be dipped in tortilla chips. Yummo!!! There was a great turn-out, including friends I used to work with, friends from my old ward here in Utah, some of Jared's family, some friends from Louisiana who now live here in Utah (that was fun to have a little reunion!) and even some of Kiki's in-laws (who I've gotten to know over the years by going to several of their family functions and even trips to Disneyland).

Here are some pics of the girls since last time I posted (I'm posting these from Photobucket and don't have time to resize them, so click on each one individually to see the whole pic. Sorry!):

They got out of the isolettes last week and are in a twin crib! Aaaaaawwww! :D *taken on 1/4:

*taken 1/6:

Avery with Aunt Nikki on 1/7:

Makenna with Aunt Nikki on 1/7:

Makenna, 1/7:

Me with Makenna, Grandma JaNene with Avery, 1/9:

Avery, 1/12:

Enjoying both girls, 1/12:

Makenna says "Hi!", 1/12:

The babies!!!

I'll tell the full story later, but we found out last Sunday evening that the dr. would be taking the babies via c-section the next morning. I bought a plane ticket that night and flew to Utah really early the next morning. I got to the hospital about two hours after the girls were born. Here are some pictures from the first time I saw them:

Makenna, with breathing tubes still in:

Avery's breathing tubes had just been taken out:
Aunt Kiki came and visited Thurs. night--this is with Makenna:

Makenna in a CUTE sleeping pose:

The girls after they were each bathed Christmas Eve--notice the Christmas bows:

Jared feeding Avery for the first time on Christmas morning, right after he got here after driving all night from AZ:

Jared and Makenna for the first time:

Makenna with her Christmas bow:

Avery with her Christmas stocking from Mom & Dad (I made hats for them both):

Makenna and her stocking:

Our first family/Christmas photo! :D The nurse unhooked them from all their IVs and all their wires for a few minutes for the photos.

The girls in the Christmas pajamas the NICU nurses gave them and the hats I made (Makenna on the left, Avery on the right):

How cute is this?!!!!!!!

Aaaaaaaaawwwwwww!!!!! (Avery)

Avery:

Makenna:

I was given a room here at the hospital to stay in until the babies are able to go home. Since Monday afternoon, I've gone to their feedings every three hours--I let the nurses do the midnight and 3am feedings, though, so I can get some sleep while I can. Before each feeding, I take their temperature, change their diapers, and move the oxygen sensor from one foot to the other. Jared wasn't able to leave AZ until 2:00 Friday afternoon; he had to stay for work and to do the adoption home study Friday afternoon. He drove all night and got here at 5:30 am, just in time for the 6am feeding. We're not allowed to let very many people in but the head nurse allowed all of the birth mom's immediate family to see the girls. Other than that, only my MIL, FIL and Kiki have been in to see them. We were told they would be here at least three weeks total but we'll see. They're doing really well. They just need to get to the point where they can bottle feed all of the formula they need to get all the nutrients they need (right now, they're given extra nutrients, fat, protein, sugar, etc. through an IV).

Avery weighed 3 lbs. 15 oz. at birth and is up to 4 lbs. 2 oz. She has been eating from the bottle since Tuesday morning and eats fast. Makenna weighed 4 lbs. 9 oz. at birth and is down to 4 lbs. 5 oz. She doesn't take all of her amount by bottle and has to take most of hers by the feeding tube. She is more normal for a baby born 7 weeks early. Avery just happens to be a prodigy at eating--she'll fit right in with the Tassin family, ha ha!

We are so happy and sometimes I just have tears of joy flowing from my eyes. Jared is so cute with the girls and is a great daddy, like I knew he would be. I can't wait to get them home and have them all to ourselves!

Well, I'd better get ready to go to the next feeding. I don't have much time between them to get much done. I'll post a little more about last weekend later. We appreciate all of you for your thoughts, prayers, and love. Keep it up because it's working. :) We love you all so much!