Water guns and park fun

The weather (except the last two days) has been really nice here (not as nice as in Fairbanks though). The boys and Rikk have been spending a lot of time outside enjoying the sun and fresh air...plus it tires them out quite a bit and makes bedtime easier. Here are some pics of them outside having fun.

Kyler taking names...

...and kicking butt!

Kyler showing how tough he is with his little water gun.

Walker having fun.

Kyler thinking about how to get on the swings.

Hunter showing off on the monkey bars.

Kyler "working out"

Quick update on everyone

Rikk and the boys had a BLAST last night having a water fight and one again today. I wish I could be there to join in on all their fun, but glad that the boys are getting to spend so much time with Rikk. Really, he will never be able to spend this much time with them again, so I am glad they are all enjoying it.

Conner is allowed to have three feeds that aren't thru his tube. We have been doing two breastfeeds and one bottle at night. Last night he took his WHOLE bottle (52ml I think)...YAY...and today he nursed 36 and then was done. While I went and pumped the nurse actually got him to finish the rest of his feed in a bottle. YAY...He has to take at least 80% of these feeds orally to go up to four feeds. Looks like tonight could be the night we get that accomplished!

Kooper has been a little bit slower, but still doing better than nothing. He is only on two feeds orally and today we did the BEST nursing than we have ever done. He got 26 nursing and only had to have 14 thru his tube...YAY...we were high fiving each other like crazy!!! His bottles range anywhere from 14-30ml orally, so he is definitely slower, but we will eventually make it.

Babies have been coming and going and it was starting to get a little frustrating, until the nurses pointed something out. They said that I have to remember that these little guys went thru a lot of trauma and stress while I was pregnant, unlike a lot of the babies here. Even though they were fine at birth, it may take them longer to figure things out than babies who had a breeze pregnancy. That makes a lot of sense and I have since stopped comparing them to other babies and Kyler's stay here.

Every time they nurse more than zero, bottle feed more than zero, it is a victory that brings us a little closer to getting home. They will get it in their time, not my time and I just have to be patient.

Oh and Kooper will have an x-ray either today or tomorrow to varify if there is a knee joint or not on his leg. So we will let you know what we find out.

Boys will be boys!

The boys and Rikk went exploring the other day on the base to look for animals and a good place to go fishing. They came across this really cool playground at in the middle of nowhere. And as you will see from the pictures, I definitely wasn't there to help "supervise" the boys!

The cool playground

What boy hasn't done this?!

Hunter and Walker enjoying the lake

Maybe it was cold at first

Kyler being "one" with nature!!!

Donuts and Baths

*We forgot to take pictures of Conner's bath...what horrible parents we are! And the blue round things their heads are laying on are their donuts. It's to help with their head shaping. The physical therapist thought they were laying too much on the sides of their heads and not enough on the back. And I couldn't get the pics to all rotate again. They show they are rotated where they are stored on the computer, but when put on the blog they aren't.

Conner and Kooper after their baths

Kooper getting his bath

Rikk doing his famous hand shot with Conner, showing how small they really are.

Me giving Kooper his bath

EXTRA TOUGH AND SPECIAL

When I was pregnant with the twins, when we found out about the TTTS we also found out that little Kooper was going to be an extra tough and special kiddo. Kooper has a partial amputation of his right leg. We were told that this was more than likely caused by the amniotic band and that we are very lucky that it was his leg and not another part of his body. We were also told that he had his knee joint...but the physical therapist that comes and sees him says she is 99% sure that there is not knee joint, just his upper leg bone. Having a knee joint would make a prosthetic a lot easier for Kooper, but it's okay. We are told that once he starts showing signs of wanting to walk, to got him a prosthetic. This will NEVER hinder Kooper, he will run and play with his brothers just like any other little boy. We feel that this is probably why we were blessed to have twins...Kooper will have Conner by his side to help protect and stick up for him. We truly are blessed to have both these little babies, along with our other three boys.

Zoo Field Trip

Rikk was able to go with Hunter and his class on their field trip to the zoo. They had a lot of fun together! Here are just a couple pics from that day of Hunter and a few animals.

Walker and Kyler meet the twins

Walker and Kooper

Kyler and Conner

Kyler, Rikk and Conner

Walker and Kooper

Pictures of the twins

The twins are doing great. They are off all IVs and just hooked up to the monitors. They are also snuggled next to each other in a crib. They just have to work on eating and then we can go home. This whole pregnancy and delivery has been a true blessing and miracle. Rikk, Walker and Kyler finally got to see them the other day...Hunter hasn't because he has had a cold and we don't want to risk it with the twins. I will give the details of everything later, just want to try and get some pics up between feedings.

Conner is always on the left and Kooper on the right if together.

Kooper

Conner as an old man (couldn't get the pic to rotate)

A couple pics

Conner ? Matteson

Kooper Kevin Matteson

Rikk trying to get away with wearing his ball cap!

Me just waiting for the babies to both be out

Meet the Twins...without pictures :(

As some of you may already know, we had the twins. They were born Saturday, May 9th at 34w 2d and it was a great early Mother's Day present! Conner ? Matteson (Ferb) was born at 5:38pm weighing in at 5lbs 4.9oz and 18 1/2 inches long. Kooper Kevin Matteson (Phineas) was born at 5:38pm weighing in at 3lbs 15oz and 16 1/2 inches long. They both have an olive like complexion and dark hair just like Hunter and Rikk.

They are absolutely beautiful and you can really see the difference in their sizes. Kooper seems to be perfectly healthy, no oxygen or anything needed. Conner was on oxygen for about 24 hours and now his oxygen is fine, they are just using it to help with the pressure.

Rikk hasn't been able to hold them because he has a cold, but I have and they are just so cute and tiny! The boys can't wait to see them and for us to bring them home...although the day I had them Kyler didn't want me to...he wanted to be the baby and was very loud about it! We will try and get pictures up here as soon as we can. Thank you all for your prayers.

Soon!

I will make this short and sweet because I think it is a sin for men to blog. Dawn was admitted into the labor and delivery yesterday. Nothing to report as of yet but it is getting close. She was having contractions all night. I will post a comment when she has the babies.