Circus Time!

Jackie surprised Lilly for her birthday and gave us circus tickets. Andy and I took the girls to the circus while Jackie and Thomas stayed home with the boys. The girls were so excited and to top it off we had great seats.

Right when we sat down Lilly hailed the snow cone guy over and before I knew what was happening he was handing the girls each a snow cone and asking Andy for $18. This was just the beginning of our circus spending spree.

"Girls! Look at Mommy! Yay!!!"

Awful shot but it captures the excitement. Ella and Lilly both were pumped.

I didn't get any good pictures and not a single animal picture between balancing food on my lap and holding Ella's seat down so it wouldn't pop closed on her but we did see elephants, tigers, and zebras too! We had a great time and the boys did well at home.

Happy Sunday!

5 Years

Don't ask me how our baby is five years old but it happened. Lilly turned 5 on Thursday and has had a few days of celebrations.

Lilly woke up to find her present waiting for her. One of Andy's colleagues refurbished our old hard drive and we bought a new monitor. She was super happy since she's been using my Mac and I don't let her on as often as she'd like (she always jams it up somehow some way). We set her page to go directly to pbskids.org and she has spent a lot of the weekend playing games.

Lilly headed off to school on her birthday with her birthday snack (rice krispie treats shaped like flowers and multi-colored), goldfish, and water. She wore her favorite jeans and her new Hello Kitty t-shirt that Ella gave to her.

After school we had Jackie's family over for dinner and cake. Lilly wanted a Barbie cake and the only one I could find was a petit cake so she got her very own. *Too bad she really doesn't eat cake just like her mommy.

Everyone else ate from this Barbie cake ...

Lilly's brothers and sister also gave her makeup, a rainbow bathing suit, a new gymnastics leotard, a sketch pad, and some Fancy Nancy books. She put on her make up for her birthday dinner (reminiscent of her recent black eye).

On Friday we headed to Chuck E. Cheese for a little celebration with two of Lilly's friends. She only asked to invite Lindsay and Timmy so we met them there for lunch. Lilly wanted to wear the same outfit (it was washed of course). She is in a major jeans phase. *Side note: Just today one knee of her jeans wore out and after a major hysterical sobbing fit, she agreed to let me put a flower patch on the knee. I can now see from these pictures that it was ready to give at any moment. I also called Gap with her sobbing in the background pleading with the lady to find me the exact pair but no such luck.

Lilly adores Timmy so much and I don't blame her. He is such a nice little boy with super sweet parents.

Ella was in her glory. She's never been to any such place and she was in Heaven. Lindsay is Ella's fellow animal lover and she helped her guide the horse.

The three stooges ...

My friends Chris and Kristen were so helpful with the babies. At one point I couldn't find them and looked over to see them hysterically laughing while holding the babies up to the sketch booth (it sketches their photo). They were laughing and the babies were sobbing. I was cracking up.

My favorite picture of the day and I didn't even take it. No clue who took it but it's so cute because Ella was really studying what she wanted to get when she turned in her tickets.
I love her reflection in the glass.

This picture is blurry but it's the very first picture I've ever taken where both boys are smiling! They were stripped down to their onesies because it was one hundred degrees in the place. I was soaked in sweat and I'm usually freezing. Gabe's cheeks were bright red and hot to touch.

This picture cracks me up because I think the ball is actually going behind Ella's head.

Lilly and Timmy sat in this ride/game for a long time. I don't even know what they were watching but it held their attention for quite some time.

Real life caught on camera. Ha. This picture says it all. How haggard do we look? I like to post pictures that are picture perfect but this just sums up our lives right now. We are so far from perfect but are so blessed and happy.

Lilly ~ our first born, our beautiful baby girl whom Mommy longed for. You are so funny, smart, sweet, spunky, and wild. You keep us on our toes and talk like you are grown. You love music and dancing and you are so observant. You remember everything and everyone. Your face lights up when you're happy and you are going to go places in your life. That, I am sure of. We love you so much. Happy 5th Birthday big girl.

7 Months

It's true ...

The boys are 7 months old today. I don't know what it is about the 7 in this equation that makes me feel like they're a year old. I remember this happening with the girls too. They're closer to a year old than they are to a newborn.
It seems impossible and it makes me sad.

The other day all the kids ended up in Gabe's crib. I don't even know how it happened but it was beautiful. They hung out together, in the crib, for a good half hour. The sunlight was streaming through the window, the kids were giggling and hugging and kissing. Bliss.

The boys are changing every single day. It's such a cool time to be a parent (is there ever an uncool time?). The chair pictures are getting harder and harder to capture. I thought a prop would help ...

Luke was impossible to keep in one spot.

Finally I was able to get them to both look at me, stop crying (they were crying during this photo attempt and thanks to the girls behind me they stopped), and look somewhat pleasant. Luke looks much bigger (he's not) because he was lunging toward the camera.

The boys are so sweet and easy. They love to play with toys and they spend the majority of their day on the floor, together, playing. They also eat baby food three times a day and they're both sleeping through the night (Luke from 6:30 p.m. - 4 a.m. and then back to sleep and Gabe from 6:30 p.m. - 6:30 a.m.). They smile and babble and laugh. They love their sisters and are very tolerant. The girls love them so much and spend a lot of time playing with them and talking to them. It's very sweet.

Guess who's sitting?

Gabe works so hard in physical therapy and is now sitting for short periods of time, playing on his belly all the time, starting to pivot to reach for toys while on his belly, and we're starting to help him creep. He works so hard and gets so proud when he does something that makes us clap. He is still very calm and even has a polite cry. Gabe observes everything around him and is extremely patient and laid back.
He's such a sweet baby.

Luke is into everything now! He is crawling all over the place and loves to play with any and everything he can get his hands on (especially this tutu).

Luke doesn't spend much time sitting because he is always on the go. He always has a smile on his face and is very busy. He's a hungry boy and loves to eat! Luke will be pulling up soon which scares me because I know how the rest will unfold... Time to get out the baby gates. Luke is eager and busy but is also a sweet sweet boy and a very good baby.

I am so grateful that we lucked out with four healthy, happy, and great kids.

7 Months!

We're 7 months old today!

More from our mommy later today.

*Our mom told us to tell you she loves this picture because a picture is worth a thousand words.

Valentine's Day

I have thought about blogging a lot. I think about it, I organize my thoughts and think about my pictures and then ... someone cries, someone needs a new diaper, someone is hungry, someone is thirsty, someone falls, someone wants loves, someone wants to read a book, someone wants to play baby or Don't Break the Ice or Twister ... and life moves along at this pace until evening falls and the house is quiet and I fall into my bed and I sleep. It feels so great.

We were so excited for Valentine's Day around here. The girls laid their outfits out to ease our morning hustle and we picked up a few little gifts for the girls and Lilly was very excited to deliver Valentines to the kids in her class. She wrote the name of every child and signed her name on every card all by herself. She even made a special card for her 'special' friend, Timmy.
Her backpack was packed and waiting by the front door.

When she woke on Monday morning Lilly dressed quickly and waited anxiously for school. Intermittently she told me her belly hurt. She's said this before so I told her to lie down and she did but quickly got back up to eat breakfast and watch TV. While I was preparing her drink I heard it ...

... she threw up clear across the family room (Yay! I love to clean throw up!). Suddenly, Valentine's Day came to a screeching halt. I went into sick child mode taking care of Lilly and putting her in her pajamas and into her bed. The rest of the day the girls hung out at home but Lilly acted and felt fine.

They had fun with their stickers and Valentine toys (small toys over candy any day).

Hey Ken, can I have a cool drink poolside?

*The above was my $10 (all of it!) Valentine score from Target. I love a bargain especially when Ella loves playing with Barbie dolls.

On Monday night Lilly went to bed and I assumed she'd be returning to school on Tuesday. Around 10 p.m. she woke up and came downstairs (a very first for her; she never leaves her bed once she's asleep). She told me she felt sick and again threw up. On Tuesday we hung at home again but Lilly felt fine. She played all day even spending an hour outside enjoying warmer weather. Wednesday was the day we finally celebrated Valentine's Day. Lilly delivered her Valentines at school and the boys and Ella dressed the part.

*The only picture of the boys from that day and Lilly took it.
If I was Photoshop savvy I would have cropped myself out.

Ella waiting for Lilly to come home and play with her!

Me: "Girls, please stand still so I can get a picture of you in your heart shirts."
Lilly: "Mom, I want to change and the house is so messy there's nowhere to even stand."
Me: "Yes, I realize I need to clean now stand against the wall and smile. Why are you giving me goofy smiles?"

Happy Valentine's Day a week late.

Shaggy

Do you think I need a haircut?

This poor kid. Her hair is crazy. It is still taking its time growing in, it hangs in her eyes, it goes in many different directions ... but she likes it. I will eventually have it trimmed but for now we're enjoying the shag.

Yummy

Tonight I took a picture of Luke when I realized (through my lens) there was something on his face. Upon further inspection I saw what appeared to be ...

... chocolate ice cream. Apparently Lilly was kind enough to share. These two are already in cahoots. I'm sort of scared for our future.

Gabey was in bed for the night while these three hung out and entertained one another. Luke loves the chaos.

They literally just roll around, dance, jump, spin, and act crazy to music. Luke joins in now that he's mobile. He giggles and giggles at Lilly. Ella loves to act wild like her big sister and then say, "Mom mom, my big?"

Thankfully, the girls love their brothers so much. I imagine it's only going to get wilder around here in the upcoming months. I'm buckling up for this ride...

Chomp Chomp Chomp

We have teeth!!

Luke is sprouting two teeth. He is our earliest 'tooth-sprouter' to date. The girls got their first teeth at 7.5 months on the dot so I wasn't even thinking of teeth for the boys yet. Luke's our most difficult sleeper so when he'd been extra fussy regarding sleep I didn't consider that teeth could be a contributor. Not only did he cut his teeth first, he's the only of our children (Gabe excluded) who allows me to open his mouth and look at his new teeth. He even let me photograph them! Thank you Lukey Duke.

Our baby boy is sprouting teeth and sitting and semi-crawling.

I can't take it.

I'm glad Gabe's not quite there yet so I still have one more baby to enjoy these last baby developments we'll get the joy of experiencing. Wahhhh.

Boy Boys

The boys are growing and changing so quickly. I won't tell you what it does to me...

Gabe has made great progress with the help of time and physical therapy.
He's a happy little dude.

He can now push all the way up and roll over and over again.

This picture mimics the one above but I just couldn't decide which and Luke has 3 pictures on here so ...

Luke, aka Lilly, is so busy I could hardly get these pictures!
He is a smiley little guy too.

Luke can push up high, roll over and over again, and he's about to crawl.

He will not stay still. He constantly has his eye on the prize.

The boys have completed our family in so many ways. I look at all the kids sitting around the table during lunch and I just smile. Lilly holding Ella's hand, Ella chatting it up with Lilly, Luke and Gabe taking it all in and sharing toys (we call Luke "Swiper" since he takes Gabe's toys). Life is good.