I begged Craig since the girls came home to update the blog, but apparently the lack of sleep hit him quite hard and it never got done. So now I (Heidi) will give you an update from their return home to current day. 

Evalyn Clara came home August 15th, 2012.  

Lillian Charlotte followed shortly after on August 21, 2012 (my actual due date)

 Grandparents holding the girls for the first time

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The boys were so excited.  All except for our 2 1/2yr old.  He kept saying, "What?! Another baby?!!!"  He was so confused as he had never seen the girls before.  Poor guy.  Talk about being displaced!

My boys started school the next day.  Somehow I knew everything would happen at once!

Evalyn was on oxygen and an apnea monitor until November. It was such a happy day when she came off.

  We so were lucky to have both families travel to California to see the girls be blessed at our church and spend Thanksgiving with us. 

We had a wonderful Christmas 

One month later a county sewer line broke and our kitchen, our two downstairs bathrooms and our back patio were filled with sewage.  Let's just say it's been an extremely trying time.  We moved out for about 6 weeks then moved back in while the house was under construction.  Luckily the kitchen was in fully functioning order in time for the girls 1st Birthday party.

  

 Our sweet hula dancers

 Picture timeline of the girls 1st year

 Not quite sure what the big deal is

 Their feet never touched the ground

One of our wonderful NICU nurses had told us how it is Hawaiian tradition to have a Luau for the first birthday to celebrate the survival of  the 1st year of life.  We found this very fitting for our girls.  It was wonderful to celebrate with so many of our friends and family who had been there to help us.  Even some our fabulous NICU nurses showed up after their long shift at the hospital!

The girls are now almost 18 months old!  Time has flown and the NICU almost seems like another lifetime.  Don't get me wrong, I still think about it and it's still very painful to look back on the pictures.  Thankfully our girls are thriving and happy.  They are crawling, climbing and getting into everything!  They have great help from physical therapy, occupational therapy and developmental specialists.  Evalyn takes a few steps at a time and Lillian has taken her 1st step.  We know that we have some challenges ahead and are still praying that they can keep overcoming these challenges.  They have come so far and beaten so many odds thanks to the prayers of many and our Heavenly Father's blessings.

Thank you for following our story of success and for all your support and prayers! 

   Evalyn and Lillian at 15 months old  

   

Lillian and Evalyn at nearly 18months