OUCH!

I told Lilly if she didn't start listening...

Teasing! Bad, bad joke.
I was in the ER the other afternoon with Gabe who has RSV when Andy sent me a picture message on my phone that said, "Best shiner yet." I was so upset I immediately called home and Lilly explained to me, through her sobs, that she'd been hurt playing with her mini trampoline. I can't stand trampolines but love the little 4ft x 4ft trampoline we keep for Lilly in our family room because she needs to blow off steam and it's perfect for that. It is not, however, perfect for sitting on at an incline or playing with outside of jumping...
Today I took the girls out for breakfast and grocery shopping. I seriously didn't understand why people were staring until I realized they were accusing me, with their eyes, of hurting my girls! Yes, Ella is injured too. Ella ran into a clothing rack at Macy's. She was trying to run from me and was turned around while running forward giving me the, 'Yep, I'm running from you' look when... BAMM.

After all the stares while we were out this morning I told the girls to give me the sad face so I could take a picture of their boo-boos.

Ella was cracking me up. She was doing this whimper and grimace that was hysterical. I tried to capture it. Here she is giving me her sad eyes...

Trying not to smile while whimpering.

And pointing at her boo-boos after Lilly did the same.

Pointing and giving me the sad face/sound. Ha.

Since everyone was staring at her in the grocery store, I explained to Lilly that they probably think I hit her and she giggled. Then I said, "Ok go along with this..." and continued to say aloud, "If you don't straighten up I'll pop you in the other eye." I am not making fun of abuse, I swear. Nor did I expect my charming daughter to play along with, "And then I'll punch you right back in the face!!" Nice.

Finally, a Christmas Post

Life's busy. I've been meaning to put together a Christmas post and it's taken me four days to get to it. I guess that's not so bad!

We had a wonderful Christmas. I had visions of years in our future when the kids are older and our house is full of Christmas magic. This year held plenty of Christmas magic and I tried to take it all in and relish in the miracle of the season.

Our festivities started with church on Christmas Eve. We decided that I would take the girls to the childrens' service and Andy would stay home with the napping boys. I had visions of sugarplums dancing in my head apparently.
Here we are before we left...

Yeah, it wasn't fun. It was hard. I wanted Andy to magically appear. The girls were excited being in the sanctuary and not in Sunday School, it was crowded, the service was boring (sorry, I feel guilty saying that), the girls couldn't see, I wore a sweater that was way too hot to wear while under pressure, and it was very stressful keeping the girls quiet and sitting nicely on my own. Lesson learned.

When we got home the girls sprinkled reindeer food in the yard. Ella was mid-change and ended up wearing Lilly's sweatshirt and boots. She cracks me up.

The girls went to bed without a problem and we braced ourselves for a 4 a.m. wake up by Lilly. We had a grand plan to keep her happy for a couple of hours before Ella woke (Ella is our very late sleeper). We put a present from us (since she found it 2 days before Christmas) in her stocking and we planned to let her open her stocking and then play with the present (iPod Shuffle).

Sometime in the night Santa came!

Much to our surprise, Lilly slept until 7 a.m.! This was truly a Christmas miracle. She often rises at 5:30 a.m. and is always awake by 6:30 at the latest. I fed Gabe around 6 a.m. and then waited downstairs for her to wake. It was kind of nice!

Good morning sleepyhead!

Lilly's first reaction.

We followed our plan to let her open her stocking but we also let her open a few other gifts while she waited. Ella woke shortly after so it all worked out (yes, I'd been stressing about the exact details for a few days...).

Sweet boy Luke woke before Ella. Hi baby boy. Merry Christmas.

Holding his very first present!

Lilly took it to open it for him and he reached for it back! So cute!

Rattles! He loves them.

Ella was adorable because she was so surprised when she saw all the presents. She ran to pick one out and then took it to a special spot away from the chaos to open it. She did this with each subsequent present. I can't take it.

Baby Gabe woke up and also liked the rattles. Hi precious baby.

At one point I caught a glimpse of the room from afar.
An awesome mess. There's nothing like Christmas morning.

Ella opening another present in her special spot.

She loves dogs. Dogs, dogs, dogs.
This dog barks, whines, wags his tail, and so on.

My favorite picture of the day. I don't know why. So cute, so genuine, so happy.

Kid shot (sorry Lilly, you were mid-yawn) but at least they're all looking!

I swear the boys liked their bows! Lukey was just hungry.

Babcia arrived to watch the girls open their gifts. She spent the day with us and brought them many gifts which they opened in the evening.

Lilly got an awesome microphone from Santa. She can hook her iPod to it and it plays her music aloud so we can all sing along. I think I like it the most. Just tonight Andy and I were singing duets while the kids were in bed. It rocks.

Another favorite picture. Ella's mouth is full of candy cane. The child ate so much junk on Christmas morning. Seriously, she can put away the sugar. Lilly is like me and isn't all that interested. She likes the idea of opening a treat but she rarely eats it. Ella's like her daddy.

The boys received a super cool track with cars that spin and then shoot out. The girls loved playing with it. I like it too! Boy toys are fun!

We opened gifts, ate a delicious breakfast comprised of Cinnabons, sausage and egg casserole and perogis, visited Jackie and Thomas to exchange gifts (we always go in our pajamas), hung out and cooked an early dinner (ham, green beans and more perogis), opened Babcia's presents, and constantly discussed and remembered why and what we were really celebrating... the birth of Christ.

Merry Christmas 2010!

5 Months!!

Our babies are 5 months old today. FIVE MONTHS! Wahhhhh.

I like both of these pictures for different reasons so I'm posting both.
Love Luke's adorable smile, active arms and legs, and toe curl.
I love Gabe's subtle half-smile.

Even though Gabe doesn't look like he has a neck, I love that he's so happy and lunging toward me (I caught him!) and I love their feet.
Again, Luke is looking like a big boy.

Hi sweet baby boy Luke!
Luke is a charmer just like his brother. His smile lights up a room. He giggles at his sisters (specifically Lilly right now), he's a voracious eater, he is active and wants to crawl. Luke rolls over both ways so he's officially mobile! Luke has always slept on his belly and once he's asleep he's out. He does take some time to fall asleep and he sleeps with a binky. Luke is such a good little boy and is growing, growing, growing.
At his last visit a month ago he was about 15 lbs and was 70%tile for height.

Hey there Gabey.
Our sweet baby boy has the prettiest brown eyes. We needed a brown-eyed baby around here! Gabe is laid back, affectionate, calm, and happy (we lucked out with these boys!). He likes to watch and observe. He likes to play with his toys and is starting to roll over from back to belly (he already rolls belly to back). Gabe is still receiving physical therapy but has already caught up and is right on target for a baby his age. Gabe has always put himself to sleep and is also a good sleeper.
He is a (left) thumb-sucker. He is the easiest baby on the planet (really) and will keep himself occupied and happy at all times.
Gabe is also growing nicely. He's 14 lbs and is also in the 70%tile for height just like his brother.

Smiling at Ella while exercising.

Luke can now push himself way up high!

Thank you Aunt Stephanie for our bouncy seat! We love it.

The workload with 4 children 4 and under is definitely a lot but I wouldn't trade these boys for the world. I'm so grateful they're here and cherish every single minute I have with them. Happy 5 months baby boys.

Santa Came to Town!

Every year Santa visits our house on a fire engine the week before Christmas. I get as excited as the kids. In fact, all the adults I know get as excited as the kids! We text one another when we see a glimpse or think they're nearing our street. We huddle up on the curb waiting and watching and analyzing.

The sound of the sirens in the distance for an hour, while we wait anxiously for them to come closer, gives us a thrill. This year I knew they were due to visit us around 4 p.m. but forgot and was saying goodbye to Lilly, Ella, and Andy as they headed off to gymnastics when we heard the familiar sirens. Lilly yelled, "Santa's coming!" and it dawned on me that indeed he was on his way.

Needless to say, we skipped gymnastics, bundled up, and readied ourselves for the long and exciting wait.
*I'm not sure why Andy looks so creepy here...

Ella was excited though she wasn't sure why! Last year she was traumatized and I wasn't sure how she'd handle the noise, lights, and Santa.

Luke even got in on the action. He waited until the truck was on our street and then he wailed. It was sooo loud.

Waiting!

Finally, the moment arrives. It's dramatic. It's pitch black out and the shimmering lights and deafening sirens come crawling down the street toward us.

The kids stand in awe and jump with excitement.

Ella was mesmorized.

Awe...

He's here!

Hi Santa!!!

A firefighter jumps off the truck and hands out candy canes to all the kids.

Ella was in her glory.

I love this picture. Lilly and Jonathan are pumped that they have their candy cane and Ella is still standing in awe and giving a half-wave.

Bye Santa! We'll see you soon!