Catching Up

The day after Hayden, Payson and Madison's birthday party weekend, I cancelled our playdate plans and declared a "Pajama Day." I was exhausted, the kids needed some down-time, and they also needed the chance to finally open their presents and play with them. The kids were excited to stay in their jammies all day, and we had a great time at home.

The day before, we had gone to a Cowboys game while Grammy and GP graciously agreed to watch the kids back at home. I ran into Santa Claus decked out in blue. I felt bad for all of the kids that were hoping to see him dressed in red at the mall for pictures that day, because he decided to come to the Cowboys game instead.

The stadium, which we first experienced as Party Passers at the OU game last September, was super cool and our seats were incredible. The big screen is enormous and even though our seats were so close to the field, we had to keep reminding ourselves to watch the field, not the screen (out of habit from having a much worse view).

That evening after the kids' party, we headed to a nearby Christmas festival. It was quite cold so we bundled everyone up. Thankfully they love wearing their hats and mittens so we have no power struggles there... yet!

There was some fake snow coming down from a window and
Hayden tried her best to catch some.

Grammy, GP, Aunt Chelsey, Mikayla, Chloe and Emma were in town for the triplets' birthday party. The kids had a blast with their cousins and Hayden loved the extra attention she received due to the higher-than-usual ratio of adults and big kids to little kids. Hayden was thrilled to be holding hands with both Mikayla and Chloe on the way into church on Sunday.

Then, as we left church, she got to hold Grammy and Chloe's hands on the way out. She is so used to fighting over Mommy or Daddy's hands that it was such a treat for her to hold two hands at once.

Hayden, Payson and Madison now regularly have playtime under our bar stools. Madison likes to hand out books to everyone and say, "One for Payson, one for Hayden, one for Madison." It is so cute.

Baby Jesus is a big hit in our house. There is always a battle over who gets to hold and play with the Baby Jesus from our Little People Nativity and from our Advent Calendar. Here Hayden wins carrying two Jesus figures from each set. Mary and "Jofephs" are also highly sought after.

Payson's Daddy gives him a rockin' Mohawk.

My friend, Amanda, always has great activity ideas for her identical twin girls that are one day younger than my three. We borrowed her rice box idea and while it went well, I think it turned into a much bigger mess than she had at her house. The kids loved it though, and it will definitely become a weekly activity.

I got this next idea from Amanda as well. On Hayden, Payson and Madison's last day as one-year-olds, we brought out some shaving cream for some squishy, messy fun. Hayden really liked smooshing the shaving cream through her fingers.

Payson is sometimes hesitant of new things but he jumped right in and before long his face was covered in shaving cream. Although it seems far off, it won't be long before he's putting shaving cream on his face on purpose!

Madison had a blast getting messy, as usual!

Merry Christmas!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Today Hayden, Payson and Madison turn TWO! What a fun, exciting, challenging and memorable two years it has been.

If you are new to the blog or want to take a job down memory lane, check out our post describing, in short, our experience on December 19, 2007.

Happy Birthday to HAYDEN! Hayden is a princess, goof-ball and a little Mommy all rolled into one. She is super independent, and oftentimes stubborn, and likes to have her own space. She plays alone well but prefers to shadow Mommy around the house and be a helper. She likes shrieking (to the dismay of her sister), barking out orders, and testing her boundaries. She loves accessories and hats and knows how to be silly and make you laugh. She sings constantly, is a ballerina in training, and adores animals.

Favorite food: Cheese and fruit. And I have to cut her milk intake off at 24 oz/day or else she might drink 40+ oz. She often drinks 8 oz. in under 5 minutes.

Favorite toys: Anything soft and stuffed, baby doll and her baby doll stroller. She is also desperate to get her hands on lotion and diaper cream containers, Mommy's make-up, everything in Mommy's purse and just about anything that is for adults.

Dislikes: Depends. She likes something if it's her idea or if she's in a good mood. But if she's unhappy, simple tasks like getting diapered, dressed, having her hair done or being buckled into the car seat can become a wrestling match.

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Happy Birthday to PAYSON! Payson is simultaneously all-boy and all-loving. He is very laid back and is always laughing and smiling. He doles out hugs and kisses all day long and says "Hi Mommy" and "Hi Daddy" throughout the day. He loves to roughhouse, throw things and climb. He is very curious, eager to help, a great sleeper and a bit apprehensive about new things. The TV puts him in a trance (just like his Daddy).
Favorite food: Breakfast foods (pancakes, eggs, oatmeal, etc.) and meat.

Favorite toys: Cars and anything small enough to fit into the palm of his hand. He has recently become a master at board puzzles and he loves to read books in our laps.

Dislikes: He's a little bit of a scaredycat, so sometimes, if too close, he dislikes motorized rides, new animals, puppets and life-sized characters, and unusual loud noises.

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Happy Birthday Madison! Madison is full of fun and adventure. She is bold and beautiful and knows how to get her way. She is outgoing, active and super silly. She has high-highs and low-lows and can change moods in an instant. She is a master snuggler, she's eager to speak and to learn, and she pushes the limits.

Favorite food: Crackers and carbs, in general.

Favorite toys: Toys that interact and make sound, baby doll and baby doll stroller, play kitchen and play food and anything else that she can cram into her stroller.

Dislikes: Giving up her plate, etc. after mealtime, sharing her assigned toys and waking up.

Here's where we are developmentally. At age two, one or more of the kids can:

Count to ten and sing the ABC's (though still incorrectly - shh, don't tell them!), say "please" and "thank you" without prompting, determine what is big and what is small, name colors and shapes correctly some of the time, jump and get both feet off the ground, sing a good portion of about 15 songs, use some pronouns, make small sentences, follow a three-part or more command, recognize their printed names and assigned colors, play simple games, complete board puzzles, climb up and down stairs without using hands or holding on (makes me nervous!), take off their own shirt and pants and put pants on, use a fork and spoon, ask for a diaper change, name their everyday objects, do a somersault unassisted, blow bubbles in the water, blow their noses, buckle, zip and unzip.

They can now clearly make lots of requests: up, down, in, out, open, close, go, stop, stand, sit, push, hug, kiss, more, yes, no, all done, help, plus a myriad of others.

They are taking pretend play to another level and they talk out loud to themselves using real words as they play. They are also talking to each other using real words and are beginning to speak for each other.

Happy Birthday Hayden, Payson & Madison! We love you very much!

A special thanks to our friend Betsy at Betsy Marie Photography for taking such great photos of our family! Here are some more great shots:

2nd Birthday Party

So I get these weekly email updates about how my kids are growing and developing based on their age. This week it said, "Are you planning your child's birthday? A good rule of thumb is to invite as many guests as your child's years. So a 2-year-old would have two guests."

Okay, so does that mean you only choose two cousins to attend and leave out the rest? Do grandparents count? I totally get the theory that you put a child in timeout for as many minutes as their age (which, no, I don't think is long enough), but regarding birthday guests, this just doesn't make sense. Yes, us moms can go overboard with our children's birthdays, but hey, for these first few years (if not all!), it's more about us celebrating that we've survived them!

So, not only did I ignore conventional wisdom, I went to the opposite extreme (but not on purpose!). We had an awesome turnout, and while not everyone could make it due to the usual schedule conflicts, we didn't have a single person cancel due to being sick (which seems to be unheard of in the middle of December!). Last year, we had to reschedule our little family-only birthday party due to so many people being sick. But this year it was a packed house and, looking back, I refer to it in my mind as organzied chaos!

The invitation:
(As always, click image to enlarge.)

All decorated and ready to party!

Once the guests started pouring in, an overwhelmed Madison went to Grammy as a safe-haven.

Half of the kids were multiples (7 sets), so at least half of the parents were used to crowds. The crayon station was a hit and so far I haven't found any crayon on the wall!

We had an "Under the Sea" theme and decorated the house with fish (which I now know are hard decorations to find in the middle of winter). The cookies and cake we made were a big hit which is good because it was a lot of cake! I made four cakes to make one long, layered cake. A special thanks to my master cookie decorators Keith and Chelsey!

I swore that I was going to get around to painting our cut-out board earlier this year, but, like last year, I spent the late hours of Friday night and the early hours of Saturday morning working on it. This year, it's a picture of two mermaids and a surfer boy. We haven't yet taken a photo of Hayden, Payson and Madison in the cut-out, but there was one other family the illustration worked perfectly for, the girl-boy-girl Hickey triplets: Reese, Brooks and Sloan, pictured here.

Here are my big helpers of the day: Chelsey, GP and Pops. Thanks to everyone who helped me pull the party together!

Madison avoided the crowds by hanging out in Grandma's lap. As always!

Payson loved this kids table we borrowed (thanks Uma!) and spent much of his time eating his "piggies" -pigs in a blanket- and everyone else's left at the table. Since the girls were wearing their tutus, Payson accessorized with his blue cape which was Keith's when he was a kid.

Once we got the kids seated at the table to sing Happy Birthday, we gave them a cookie to hold their attention and distract them from the huge cake sitting in front of them, and it totally worked! We sang to each one of them individually which they usually love and ask for, but they were super straight-faced and didn't crack a smile during the entire three verses. Too many eyes on them I guess.

Hayden made such a sweet birthday girl.

Payson wasn't fazed by the crowd at all and loved watching all of the people. I made their party hats and was pleased when they actually wore them for a few minutes!

Madison was more interested in her cookie than in the cake. At one point, when we were taking lots of pictures, she closed her eyes real tight and had a really irritated look on her face. We couldn't help but to laugh. She had had enough of the spotlight, I guess!

Family photo!

My friend, Misty, and her quads, Skye, River, JuJu and Rayne leaving the party.

Payson and cousin Chloe reading his new book. These two are quite a match and played hard together all weekend long.

Birthday girl Madison donning one of the tutus I made for her and Hayden.

Birthday girl Hayden opening a few presents after the party.

The party was a success, and we all had a great time. Thanks to everyone who came to help us celebrate my babies turning two!

Let It Snow!

Hayden, Payson and Madison had their first experience with snow last week. They got to watch it come down outside of their window upon awakening on Wednesday morning. It didn't stick to the ground where we live but the snowflakes were big and beautiful.

Then this weekend our neighborhood had a Christmas festival and brought in actual snow! The kids LOVED it and could have played in it forever if it wasn't a windy 40 degrees outside. Look at all of those grins!

Madison inspecting a piece of snow close up. It got stuck to her hand but she screamed when I tried to help her brush it off because she wanted it stuck to her glove!

I love warm climates, but would love to have snow greet us a few times a year so we could have more moments like this.

The kids were in awe of Santa's reindeer and kept asking to go in to pet him.

My multiples group had a children's Christmas party and the kids got their first picture with Santa. There was no way they were going to let us hand them off so we joined them for the photo. When Payson turned hysterical in Hobby Lobby after a surprise encounter with some porcelain Santa figures a few weeks ago, I knew a Santa photo wasn't going to happen without us. I was actually impressed with how calm they were after their freak-out with the super-sized Elmo this fall. At first Madison was turned around staring at Santa just trying to figure him out!

We walked into the party using our walking rope and the kids held on for the entire 30+ yard walk. We even had a few falls and they still didn't let go. Practice makes perfect!

At the party, Payson was mesmerized by the tree and the extra-large ornaments. Christmastime is so magical when you are a child!

Hayden loves accessories - hats, shoes, bracelets, you name it. It's so fun to have her prancing around the house in various gear. Here she is hamming it up with her reindeer ears.

We still aren't really doing TV with the kids yet, but I couldn't resist sharing the 1964 Christmas classic, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, with them. I love this picture of them all leaned over the side of the couch watching Rudolph and Hermey bond over their shared misfit identities.

Payson snoozed a little longer than normal the other morning and after ushering the girls out of the room, I went back in to get a picture of him sleeping. He's got this big 'ol crib and he was sleeping against the side with his feet hanging out of the slats. And by the way, Payson completely climbed out of his crib about a week after I wrote about how he was getting close to doing it. But it scared him to be standing on the ground alone in a dark room so he hasn't done it since.

Tonight, after changing the kids into their warm Christmas jammies, I took them for a half-hour trip around the neighborhood to view Christmas lights. During the ride they kept asking for more as they have done when we have randomly driven by lights or looked at them through our windows this last week. They particularly loved all of the yard decorations, and the Santas and snow globes were their favorites. While we were out we were greeted by a very loud firetruck driving around the neighborhood carrying Santa who was handing out candy.

We finally put up and decorated our tree this weekend. This was the closest the kids had been to the tree all day without pulling on ornaments or branches.

Anyone else doing The Elf on the Shelf? Today I hung our elf, Alvy, from the light/fan and they loved his unique location. Hayden found it without any prompting and they talked about him all day.

This week I had three Christmas parties to attend. It was nice to get out, but we were exhausted all weekend due to the late nights. Still worth it! Here's a picture of me and twin moms, Alison and Melanie, at my multiples group holiday party. (Yes, I recently chopped and donated my hair - 9+ inches of it!)