Twins!

We are delighted to have added the first set of twins to our family!

On April 27th, Valerie gave birth to beautiful twin girls.

The girls were born at 37 weeks and 2 days, via a planned C-section.

Joanna Michele Waller

7:29 PM

5 lb. 7 oz

18.75 in

Ruth Susanna Waller

7:32 PM

6 lb. 6 oz.

19.75 in 

Joanna

Ruth 

Happy family of 6!

Ruth and Joanna

Ruth and Joanna

Joanna and Ruth

Joanna

Ruth

Joanna and Ruth

It works out great...Abigail and Timothy each have "their own" baby!

The girls are identical twins and as they are beginning to fill out a little bit, they are becoming quite difficult to tell apart. We are looking forward to trickling down to Texas over the next few weeks and getting to meet these sweet little girls!

Pinning and Graduation

On December 13, 2018, HollyBeth finished her nursing degree at Waubonsee Community College.

Her nursing class

HollyBeth receiving her pin, cords, and certificate as a member of the nursing honor society.

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Dad got to pin her as a nurse.

Most of the family was able to attend. Believe it or not, we were faster getting our picture than most people who only had a few family members there! 

HollyBeth's goal is to become a Certified Nurse-Midwife. She calls Laura and Tucker "her babies", because they are the first two births she was ever privileged to see.

On May 18, 2019 she walked in the graduation ceremony at Waubonsee. She graduated with honors and received her Associate in Applied Science in Nursing, which she completed in December. She also received an Associate in Arts, which she completed in May.

Dad was the only one who was able to attend the graduation in person, due to work and travel schedules, but the rest of the family was able to watch the live broadcast of the graduation and caught some nice screenshots of the occasion.

 

HollyBeth gave an "I Love You" wave to all the family watching on the livestream.

HollyBeth has already started the next step of her education, an online RN-to-BSN program. She is enjoying working at a local hospital as a nurse.

We're proud of you, HB!

Welcome, ChristyAnna!

We are delighted to announce the arrival of . . .

ChristyAnna Joy Mueller

January 15, 2019

2:34 am

9 lb. 3 oz.

22 in.

Lots of beautiful, dark hair!

Because it is flu season, the hospital was not allowing visitors under the age of 18 . . . starting, sadly, right on ChristyAnna's birthday.  The kids were very disappointed that they couldn't go to see her at the hospital, but it made her homecoming even more special.

Her siblings adore her!

Janna is doing a great job being a big sister for the first time . . .

. . . although she was distressed that "The baby's not working!" (in her own words) when the pacifier failed in its responsibility to pacify her.

Karis turned 6 on January 19th, and she was praying that Mommy wouldn't be in the hospital for her birthday.  She was delighted to have Mommy and her little sister home in time for her birthday . . . plus Nana, Papa, and several of her aunts and uncles who came up to meet ChristyAnna and celebrate with Karis.  (Her other grandparents and several of the aunts and uncles on that side were also able to come celebrate the birthday girl . . . and bring the cake!)

I love how Rusty is holding out his hands for her...so sweet!

Finally his turn!

Awww!

Welcome to our world, Baby Girl!

2019 Cousins Photo

We enjoyed having everyone together at New Years again this year, although it was a much shorter time than usual.  As always, we made sure to get a picture of all the cousins.  This year, we decided that they had outgrown the couch, so we moved them to the stairway . . . but it looks like they're outgrowing that pretty quickly too!  It always takes a while to get everybody looking, but this year we ended up with only two crying children, so we considered it a success!  :-)

We took the opportunity to also get a picture of all of the "original" siblings.

Happy New Year from all of us!