One Month Old!

Tuesday, April 28

Yesterday Brylee and Ellison turned one month old! It's been a busy month, especially this past weekend. The entire Marsh family was here to celebrate Grandma Marsh's birthday, so the Marshmallows had plenty of people here to spoil them! We took advantage of the reunion to get family photos taken. And to top off a great weekend, the girls' newborn photos were finished! So, I'm warning you now.....there will be photograph overload in this blog!

Brylee Quinn

 

Brylee weighed in at 6 lbs, 8 oz at her one month checkup yesterday and is 19 inches long. She was seen by her cardiologist last week and he determined that her heart is just fine! All of those positive thoughts and prayers worked, so THANK YOU to all of our loved ones! She does not require any follow-up cardiology appointments, and therefore is a perfectly healthy little girl!

 

Ellison Mae

 

Ellison is the "big" sister weighing 7 lbs, 1 oz and is 20 inches long. You may notice that her skin tone appears more red in the photos (like she has a nice suntan). This is a result of the extra red blood cells she received in utero, as well as a touch of jaundice she's still dealing with. She will be checked again in two weeks to make sure her jaundice levels are going down. Otherwise, she is very healthy as well!  



Here are some more photos from their newborn session:

 

Aren't they amazing?!?!

SO, still think they are identical? Fraternal? Well, we will know in the next couple weeks. We're having a DNA test done just to be sure. It's called a twin zygosity test, which involves swabbing the insides of their cheeks. We send off the swabs and should have the results soon.

The newborn photos were quite a challenge! Getting two babies positioned and asleep at the same time is quite an ordeal. Our session lasted about 3 hours, and that was for only 5 poses! But if that was hard, our Marsh family photos were much more difficult. Turns out positioning newborns is infinitely easier than dealing with two almost two-year-olds! Devyn and Kinley were not huge fans of sitting still and looking at the camera. And their adorable hair bows and shoes didn't survive long enough to make it into the photos, BUT all things considered, we still got some great pics!

 The gang's all here!

 First official family photo!

 LOVE Grammy and Ellie's faces:-)

 My favorite!



Four kids, two hands? No problem!

 

"Girl Power!"  -Brylee

 

Getting big already!

 

Due Date

Sunday, April 19

Yesterday was Brylee and Ellison's due date. They are already three weeks old and are doing great! They sleep so much I sometimes forget they're even here! They've both seen the pediatrician for their newborn checkups and are very healthy. Brylee will have another examination by the cardiologist in the coming weeks to check on her heart, but so far she seems perfectly fine.

Kinley pretty much ignores her new sisters completely. Even when we bring one of the babies to her, she pushes them away as if to say, "Get her out of my face." Devyn, on the other hand, is much more interested. She will point at them, hug them, and bring them toys (I recently found about 7 puzzle pieces sitting on top of Brylee in her bouncy chair).

 Doing what they do best....sleeping. Ellie (left), Brylee (right)

 

The morning lineup (please excuse the bed heads and lack of pajamas).

Brylee and Ellison said, "No photos please!"

 

 

The "big girls" are now 22 months old. Devyn is as crazy as ever! She is incredibly dramatic and averages about 100 meltdowns per day. Anytime something doesn't go her way she throws herself on the floor and puts her head on her hands. She LOVES to be outside! If you leave the door to the garage open she'll get into the stroller, buckle herself in, and wait for you to take her somewhere. She also enjoys emptying things...like the fridge, diaper bag, kitchen drawers, toy baskets....whatever she can find.    

Devyn taking a break from her normal trail of destruction to read a book in her baby sister's bouncy chair.

 

Kinley is our independent one. At times she will play with Devyn, but most often she prefers to play by herself--probably because Devyn usually takes her toys and runs away with them. She continues to receive physical, occupational, and speech therapies. Her progress is slow, but steady. She still LOVES to watch her Baby First channel on TV and likes it when we sing to her (apparently she doesn't mind our horrible singing voices).  

       Kinley's excited face!                               Practicing her standing.

 

 

Fun at the park:

They slept through their first trip to the park.

 

And just a few more randoms....

 Luckily there hasn't been a baby in the bouncy chair when one of the big girls has decided to sit in it.

 Kissy face!

Miss Lily's first day with each set of twins. Can you tell who is who?

Top: Devyn (left) Kinley (right) January 2014

Bottom: Brylee (left) Ellie (right) April 2015

 

Backyard Fun with Miss Lily

Two Celebrations

Friday, April 10

Our family has had a lot to celebrate lately! First, we enjoyed a great Easter with the Bjerke and Marsh Grandparents, and of course, Brylee who was home from the hospital.

 

Torturing Brylee in her Easter dress and an attempt at a Pinterest inspired basket photo

 

Devyn and Kinley seem thrilled with their Easter baskets....

 

Our first Easter egg hunt

 

Easter in the NICU

The Easter bunny found Ellie too!

 

 They loved coloring eggs!

 Easter Photo

 

 

Our second reason to celebrate happened on Wednesday, when Ellison Mae was finally discharged from the hospital and came home to join the rest of her family! At twelve days old, Ellie came home weighing 5 lbs, 11 oz.

Passing her car seat test and taking one last nap in her NICU crib.

 

Devyn woke up from her nap to find TWO baby sisters in the kitchen.

Doesn't she look thrilled?!?! 

 

 Getting our first baths. We have our first photo shoot tomorrow! Brylee (above) Ellie (below)

 

 Who's the baby? Hopefully she doesn't sit on one of her sisters.

Daddy's newest girls

 

Brylee's Homecoming!

Friday, April 3

 

What a wonderful surprise to walk into the NICU today to find out that Brylee was being discharged! It was quite a shock actually. I knew she was getting close, but I was definitely not expecting it today. At exactly one week old, and weighing 5 lbs on the dot, Miss Brylee Quinn made it home just in time for dinner.

"I'm outta here!"  -Brylee

Before she could be released, Brylee had to pass a 90 minute car seat test to make sure that her breathing rate and oxygen levels would remain stable. Our little 5 lb peanut disappears into that big ol' car seat when you put her in.

Car seat test

And of course, she couldn't leave without saying goodbye to her sister! Ellison is doing good as well. Her feeds have been increasing steadily, and she is a great eater! She is still waiting for her IV to be removed and to no longer need the jaundice light. One nurse estimated another 3 days or so, but we don't know for sure.

 Ellison

 

Daddy's first time feeding Ellie

Our first side by side photo

"Bye Ellie! See you soon!" -Brylee

Two sets of grandparents were anxiously awaiting along with Devyn and Kinley, who had no idea what was about to walk through that door!

"Hmm...what is that?"  -Devyn

"Hey! That's MY carseat!"  -Kinley

 

 

Kinley didn't seem too thrilled or impressed with Brylee. Devyn was much more curious at first. Once their dinner was served though, they completely forgot about Brylee and didn't seem too bothered by her presence for the rest of the evening. It will be interesting to see how they react as they notice her more and more, and especially all the attention she (and Ellie) get from Mommy and Daddy.   

 

                            Grandpa and Brylee                            Devyn hugging her new sister

 



Grandmas and the Granddaughters

 

 And finally a couple pics of the big girls from their trip to the park with Grammy Marsh and Daddy:

Kinley loves to swing!

 Devyn loves to run around!