Reunited!

Rex Michael and Myla Jane will be two weeks old tomorrow!! The other night I went to the hospital alone and got to hold both of my babies together! They were reunited for the first time since the womb! I think they enjoyed their time together!

They are both in open cribs now which makes the room look so much friendlier. It is also nice for Dan and I because we are able to take them out of their cribs ourselves and hold them! Rex and Myla are doing great. We are truly blessed at their progress. The nurses in the NICU call them little "Rock Stars" because of how well they are doing and progressing! The last big hurdle before they can come home, if there are no big set backs, is gaining weight and taking every feeding from either a bottle or breast. They are still on their feeding tubes but when I am at the hospital I can try and breast feed them. Neither one has taken a full feeding but they sure do try hard and then they get tuckered out pretty fast! It's amazing the energy that sucking takes! We continue to be thankful for our two new babies and how they are doing. We are hoping that in the next two weeks both our babies will be at home with us. I am praying that they are able to come home within three days of each other!

Myla Jane

Myla waving hello

We are working on putting some meat on her bones!

"Kangarooing" with Daddy... I think she LOVED it!

Rex Michael

My little Stud! Check out the monkey outfit!

Dan and I are holding up as we make runs back and forth to the hospital. We are anxiously awaiting our whole family being all together. Quinton is still doing wonderful. He is such a joy to be around and keeps me busy! We continue to enjoy being outside and are taking advantage of the beautiful September weather. I cannot believe that it is already the 16th... man how time is flying! We are so thankful for Quinton over these last two months and what a tremendous little boy he is. During Aunt Kelly's visit to Des Moines last weekend she reestablished her spot in Quinton's heart with sour gummy worms and goldfish! We enjoyed her visit and her help!

Enjoying the outdoorsSquirrel watching!

He found one!

Playing at the Park!

My Favorite 17 month old!

I hope you all enjoy the pictures of our three beautiful children. I have a feeling in the weeks and months to come that posting pictures and updates will be put slightly on the back burner but I will do my best to keep you all posted! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Keep praying they come home soon! We cannot wait!

One Week Old!!

Rex and Myla are officially one week old today and Quinn is officially the cutest most active 17 month old! What an eventful week for the Rude Family! I know that I mention this every time but Quinton is so so so active. He has kept his Nana and Papa running after him. He daily takes them on nature walks and goes exploring all over. Nana and Papa have introduced him to acorns, crab apples, and many new bugs. Quinn also thoroughly enjoys playing with Papa's tools as they work on different projects around the house. He is quite the helper. I enjoyed using Papa's camera to capture a few pictures of Quinn yesterday. What a handsome boy!

The hose is still one of our favorite outdoor activities!

Being goofy!

Quinton has also become quite the master at Hide and Seek. Dan and Quinn love playing hide and seek all over our house!

Exploring!

Loving Life!

Although I am not supposed to pick Quinton up, I have really enjoyed being able to be a little more active this last week and be able to play with Quinn! He is truly a delight!
Playing with Mom!

Quinton shorts were soaked and he got ice cream everywhere so Quinn and Nana were washing their hands. Check out his great legs!!

Papa is exhausted from playing, playing, playing!!

Myla and Rex are doing fabulous! Every day they are improving and changing. They look different every single day! They just got their IV's removed today which means that they are getting enough fluids through their feeding times. This was very exciting. I love every day seeing less and less tubes on them. They have both gotten to try breast feeding. Rex seems to have mastered it and Myla is just getting the hang of things. I absolutely love being able to spend that time with them.
Myla is truly a beautiful little girl! Check out her long fingers!

Have you ever seen a more perfect little girl!

Rex changes every day... again truly beautiful. I know that I might be slightly biased but I could look at my babies all day!

I hope Mr. Rex keeps all his dark hair!

Myla and Me... she is just so tiny!

Rex and Daddy... enjoying some male bonding time!

Nana getting some cuddle time with Rex!

Nana and Papa are leaving tomorrow and Aunt Kelly is coming for the weekend! We have been truly blessed by their help and Quinton adores them. He just can't get enough of his Nana and Papa. Thank you all for your continued prayers. We cannot wait to get these babies home. They truly are delightful!

Our Three Kids!

We are now officially the Rude family of FIVE!! We are so happy that Rex and Myla are here and doing so well. They are now 5 days old. They are in the NICU but every day they seem to be growing and changing and overcoming different challenges that they face by being so early. Dan and I are so thankful that they were able to make it to 32 weeks.

They were both started on oxygen when they were born and after 4 days they are now breathing all by themselves, a huge feat for such little ones. They have increased their feeding every day through a feeing tube. Little Miss Myla was eating only 3 ml every 3 hours and is now up to 12 ml and Rex is at 15 ml every 3 hours. All of these little things are huge milestones for our little babies. They both had jaudice and their levels have dropped and today they were doing well enough to be off their lights. All around they seem to be exceeding expectations.

One of the things that Dan and I have really enjoyed is "Kangarooing" It is when we get to hold the babies skin to skin. The nurses have told us that it is very beneficial to our babies and Dan and I melt every time we get to hold them that way. They have stolen our hearts.

Rex is modeling a hat from his Great Aunt Sue!

Miss Myla getting to snuggle with Nana. Check out her beautiful face!

Myla Jane also modeling a hat from her Great Aunt Sue! Stylish already!!

Every nurse that we have had has made comments about Myla's "SPUNK!" They all say that she has quite a personality and is pretty sassy. She hates things on her face and pulls her hat down over her eyes to try and get ride of it and would pull her oxygen tubes out... very fiesty but so fun to see her personality coming out already. I think that she will add some fun to our family, she will definitely be able to keep up with her brothers.

Rex on the other hand has won us over with his mellow sweet spirit. He is almost always content and calm and very go with the flow! They say that boys almost always have more trouble in the NICU but Rex seems to be holding his own and keeping up with his sister. His dark hair and big eyes melt my heart!

Rex Michael

Rex is in a three way tie for the best looking boy I know!!

Sassy but Sweet!

So Precious

Looks a lot like his Daddy!

"Kangarooing"... can't you see how this is our favorite thing!

Quinton is doing wonderful! He is still totally unaware that his world is about to be rocked. Dan and I both agree though that we think he is really going to love Rex and Myla a lot! He has enjoyed more time with his Nana and Papa and doesn't seem to upset that Dan and I keep running back and forth to the hospital.

He has taken on a huge love of shoes and daily we try on every pair of shoes that he has. He discovered his winter boots the other day so he decided to model them for us and enjoys clomping around in them. He looks less and less like a baby to us and more and more like a big boy (although he is still my baby!) He is quite the explorer and keeps us all on our toes. He does not sit still for a moment but keeps going and going and going and going!

Aunt Dana and Uncle RyRy were supposed to be in Arkansas over Labor Day weekend but Rex and Myla decided to steel the show instead so they went to see Ryan's family in Ames and came to visit their new niece and nephew and play with Quinton.

He LOVES ice cream... especially the cone!

Having fun with Nana!

Thank you all for your continued prayers. We are truly blessed to have three amazing children. Keep praying for the growth and development of Rex and Myla. We desperately want them home with us. It is still a long road ahead and many more things they have to overcome. Dan and I need a couple more hours in our days as we try and figure out when to get up to the hospital and when to take care of Quinton and Dan has a million different responsiblities with the church. We hope and pray that it is only for a short while that we have to go up to the hospital. We are fully aware that when they come home we will be busier than ever but we cannot wait to all be under one roof. We recognize though that we really are so blessed. We cannot wait to share them all with you! All three of our children are truly wonderful!