1st Birthday Party

It was about this time of  night a year ago that things started changing.  The day was as normal as any that I had spent in the hospital.  An ultrasound showed that all four babies were doing great, all growing at a good rate.  I felt like I could keep going for at least 3 more weeks!  I was so excited that my friends, Anne and Sarah, had come for a visit, but as soon as they left, it started.  I was having back to back contractions, and was in a lot of pain.  Medicine was not making it any better.  And then, the dreaded Magnesium...I HATED that medicine.  I knew it was for the best, but never have I felt like my body was so on fire.  By morning, it was decided, by my doctors, that it was time.  So, May 14th, 2011, Oscar, Benjamin, Jaylyn and Harrison came into the world at 9:41, 9:42, 9:42 and 9:43.
I can't believe that these little babies, who spent the first few weeks of their lives with tubes, wires, alarms and sensors in their own little incubators, have grown so quickly and will turn 1 tomorrow.

We celebrated yesterday with a Dr. Seuss themed party at the Mulberry park...

I don't think Benjamin was feeling the best, so he wasn't really into his cake.
The other three LOVED it!

Oscar about to take another bite!

Benjamin is looking for someone to save him from the table.

Harrison kept getting so excited!

Jaylyn was the most fun to watch!  Look how intense she looks. 
She did more smearing than eating, but it was still entertaining.

So glad that our feeding grandmas could make it.
Elaine, Nancy, Vickie, Barb (pictured), Marlene, Betty and Bonnie
have been wonderful!

So many cute gifts!  Here they are in their new patio chairs from
our friends, the Ades'.

Don't Jaylyn and Harrison look cool in their new hats and shades from
Aunt Amy and Brianne!

Our wonderful friend, Brenda Thomas, made these adorable
smash cakes for the babies.

We are so thankful for all of our family and friends who came out to celebrate.  We are blessed beyond words!

Lilya Turns 3!!!

Loves her teddy bear from Anne

Jump-o-lene.
Jumping with Judy!

I cannot believe she is 3 years old already.  She wanted a Hello Kitty birthday party, and for gifts...a teddy bear and flowers (real and pink).  I have no idea where that came from, but of course she got all she wanted and more.  I was really worried about what the weather was going to be like.  We do not really have space to accommodate a lot of people now that our house has been taken over by baby furniture.  We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day filled with friends and family.  Here are some pictures to give you a peek into the party if you were not able to be there.



Emily and Amy swinging their little ones.



Thank you, Brenda Thomas, for a beautiful cake and delicious cake pops!

Time to blow out the candles!  Love the faces of everyone!

Just sneaking a little taste...

Enjoying her favorite birthday lunch, taco salad, with Kaleb.

Yay, a Hello Kitty shirt from Aunt Carolyn and Uncle John

Didn't even mind sharing her new Mustang with her friends, Claire and Isaac.

Wedding Weekend!

Wow, what a great weekend!  We survived our first weekend getaway.  My brother, T.J., got married, and I was in the wedding.  We had enough time to make plans to take helpers with us, so on Friday afternoon, Anne and I loaded up the car and headed to Indy.  As always, we were the center of attention from the time that we popped the hatch to the back of the van.  It looked like we were moving in instead of staying two nights.  Bags of diapers, wipes, bottles, formula, cereal, boppy pillows, boppy seats, clothes, toiletries...we loaded up two carts full of things.  Luckily, we had enough family that had already arrived at the hotel to help us carry everyone in at once.
I had just enough time to get us checked in and settled in the room before I had to leave to go to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  I know I say it a lot, but I don't think I could ever say it enough...I have the most wonderful friends and family ever.  Anne, Jayme and Missy took care of the kiddos all Friday evening while I followed the routine of being a part of the bridal party.  Anne said it was as if our room had a revolving door.  Everyone wanted to come and see the babies.  What wonderful friends to not only take care of all of my little ones, but also to put up with all of the visitors while I was out!
I was up and out again by 8 a.m. on Saturday morning with barely enough time to give the kiddos a kiss before I had to be down to have my hair done.  Once my hair and make-up were on, and I was dressed and ready to go, I made one last trip up to see everyone before heading to the church.  Lilya was so cute when I walked into the room.  She said, "Mommy, you look beautiful!"  It made me feel so good.
It was an extremely busy day...pictures, actual wedding (was gorgeous), pictures, more pictures, reception.  It was great to see so many people that love T.J. and Angela, and were there to celebrate their love for eachother.  The girls met us at the church with the babies and Lilya, and stayed in the nursery during the ceremony.  They brought them up for pictures, and headed back to the hotel.  For the reception, they were able to walk them over to the ball room, and take a little break themselves while family and friends took over with holding and loving on them.  Lilya was able to go and dance too!  My favorite moment was seeing my little brother, John, spin her while they were dancing together.  Since feeding time was at 10:30, we got everyone loaded back into the stroller, and Anne headed back to the hotel room with all 5 kids.  We hadn't really thought about the fact that it was 10:30 on a Saturday night, downtown Indy and Anne would be pushing a stroller with 4 babies while trying to coax Lilya to keep up.  I guess if you ever want to feel famous, all you need to do is take our quads for a walk downtown Indy on a Saturday night.  Anne said that people were snapping pictures, gathering around her, and one guy even stopped traffic so that she could cross the street!  They made it back just in time to feed again, and Lilya was so exhausted from all of the dancing that she fell sound asleep.  I'm sure Anne was thankful.  She was on her own for the night, and as always, I didn't have to worry about a thing...she took very good care of them.

Yesterday, we had to load up and head to T.J.'s to watch them open gifts.  We had to make a couple of pit stops on the way.  Lilya had to have a chicken nugget happy meal, and we had run out of formula, water, rice cereal and baby wipes (wow, I can't believe how much we use in just 2 days), so we had to stop at Target too.  The babies were great at T.J.'s, mostly sleeping the entire time we were there.  Lilya had fun playing with Judy too!

It was a weekend that I will never forget, and I am so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life to share events like that with.  I could never express enough how grateful I am for the help that I had so that I was able to relax and enjoy the weekend!  I have to admit though, I missed feeding my little ones.  I have not minded one feeding (even at 3:00 a.m.) since we got home yesterday.  Back to reality, and I wouldn't want anything less!

Oh Yes, I Did...

Some might call me crazy, and others might...well, everyone I know just called me crazy.  Yesterday, I packed up all 5 kiddos and the big quad stroller and headed to the mall.  It was Tony's brother, Matthew's, birthday, and I had not had a chance to get him a present.  I didn't want to show up for his birthday dinner without one and had noone to watch the kids, so we experienced our first shopping trip.  We were working with a bit of a time crunch.  I left the house at 11:30 and had to be home for the 2 o'clock feeding.  I have gotten pretty quick at loading and unloading, so I thought I would have plenty of time to look for a gift.  I forgot to take into account that I wouldn't be able to walk 10 feet without being questioned about the babies.  Luckily, Lilya was an angel, and walked beside the stroller the entire time.  This meant our only interuptions were other curious shoppers.  My favorite question that I was asked yesterday was, "Oh, you didn't bring them all by yourself did you?"  It was nice to prove to myself that I could do it.  I can get out and do things that I used to do without thinking twice.  Now, I just have to make sure I schedule plenty of conversation time in.
We were able to buy a birthday present, and made it home in time to feed at 2.  We packed back up at 7 and went to dinner at Tony's mom's.  It was a long evening.  The babies were all fussy, and I was really tired from our shopping trip.   We did manage to eat dinner, sing Happy Birthday, watch the opening of gifts, and eat cake.  Fussy or not, we like a good party...especially when there is good cake involved.  We can't wait to party and celebrate my brother, T.J. and Angela's wedding this weekend!