Virtual Christmas Card

It's Christmastime---that time of year when we attempt to be clever and create cards to send to friends and family with photos and updates on our year. This year, we have been blessed to have the support of many people, many of which we will never meet. Since there is no way to reach all of you via the regular postal mail, I am instead posting a "virtual Christmas Card". Thank you for all your prayers, love and support and have a Merry Christmas!!!

Twas 2007 in the Wilkinson home,

A crazier year we have never known.

We started the year by selling our house,

Then went off to Disney to see Mickey Mouse.

On Jan 23rd life turned upside down,

We went to the doctor, couldn't believe what he found.

"You're expecting!" he said, "...and it's going to be QUINTS!"

And our lives have not been quite the same since.

We searched for a doctor to find the best,

Which led us to Phoenix and four months of bedrest.

We stayed near in Gilbert with Rachelle's Aunt Jeanie,

And good Uncle Rick, (who isn't a meanie.)

Meanwhile in Austin our new house was done!

But without all the help, it would not have been fun.

They cleaned and they painted, they worked without rest!

Yes, our family and friends are really the best.

Five babies were born at the end of July

At 34 weeks, their weights were quite high.

Kassidy, Kaydence and Rustin were first,

Then Kyndall and Ryder had their birth.

We moved back to Austin on September one

The life we call "normal" is really quite fun!

They're all doing well and growing up fast.

It's hard to believe how much time has passed.

Riley and Kaiya have been champs all through.

They both love to help, and know just what to do.

Riley's in second grade and at a new school,

He really likes reading and thinks LEGOs are cool.

He made a short "film" for the Reflections Contest,

The judges agreed that his was the best!

Four-year-old Kaiya loves dancing and dolls,

Dressing up pretty, and drawing on walls.

This year we'll remember—for we've really been blessed.

Thanks to friends and family, it's been a success!

Love,

The Wilkinsons

Kassidy

Kaydence

Rustin

Kyndall

Ryder

Kaiya and Riley

Virtual Christmas Card

Now Shipping!

The 2008 Wilkinson Quints Calendar is now available and orders are being shipped as they are received! To order the calendar, visit:

www.wilkinsonquints.org/calendar.html

The website has also been updated to show thumbnails of each months picture. I know I am just a little biased, but I think the calendar is totally adorable. Have you been wondering what to get for that person that has everything? This calendar would make a great Christmas gift! OK--that is the end of my calendar plug for this week.


In other news.....

This week we had a visit from Dr. Candice Park, the resident who delivered the babies. (Dr. Elliott was my primary care doctor, but I was at a teaching hospital and the residents are the ones who do the actual deliveries). She had a week of vacation and chose to spend half of it with us! We had such a great time visiting with her. I am not sure how much of a vacation it was for her, since she spent her whole time holding babies, playing with Riley and Kaiya, and making all kinds of wonderful treats.

Candice with Ryder, Kaydence, Kyndall, Rustin and Kassidy

While Candice was here, we took advantage of the extra help and pulled out all of our Christmas decorations. I just love the way the house feels when all the Christmas stuff is up! Of course putting up Christmas decorations, like everything else, takes longer when you have five babies. We were still in the process of putting up decorations on Monday, when Jayson's Aunt Victoria arrived, so she helped us finish the job.

Today was the babies four-month doctor visit. The doctors are amazed at how well the babies are doing. Developmentally the babies are exactly where they are supposed to be for their age. Their height and weight still have a bit of catching up to do, however. Here are the most recent measurements:

Kassidy: 11 lb 13 oz, 23 inches tall
Kaydence: 10 lb 8 oz, 22.25 inches tall
Rustin: 12 lb 6.5 oz, 23 inches tall
Kyndall: 8 lb 15 oz, 21.75 inches tall
Ryder: 12 lb 1 oz, 23.25 inches tall

The worst part of the doctor visit was all the shots!! Twenty-five, to be exact. Each baby had four standard immunizations and the synergis shot for RSV. Needless to say, the babies were not very happy about being poked so many times. The upside to the shots and doctor visit, however, is that after we got home and gave everyone some Tylenol, the babies took a great nap!

Now Shipping!

2008 Wilkinson Quints Calendar!

We are excited to announce a Wilkinson Quints Calendar for 2008. The calendar features 12 beautiful photographs of the Wilkinson quintuplets taken by some very talented photographers. The cost of the calendar is $20.00 plus $2.00 shipping and handling. The calendars will begin shipping the first week of December.

To order, visit http://www.wilkinsonquints.org/calendar.html

We have had a lot of fun putting this calendar together! In addition to ourselves, some great photographers have donated their time and talent to this project. These include Kristen Duke, Lanae Monson, and Rachael Olson. To see more of their work, check out their websites:

http://www.kristendukephotography.com/

http://www.lanaekay.com/

Here is a sneak peak at some of the pictures included in the calendar:

2008 Wilkinson Quints Calendar!

Blessing Day

This week was full of "firsts" for the quints. First Thanksgiving, first restaurant outing, first visit from Uncle Colby and Uncle Ryan (my brothers), first giggles, and first time to church. Because of the threat of RSV and other illnesses, we had not taken the babies to church before. This Sunday, however, there was a special event in the lives of the quints that took place at church.

In our church, new babies are given a blessing within a few months of their birth. This is a very special occasion. The babies are typically dressed in white and the blessing is often given by the father. To find out more about baby blessings, visit:



http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/priesthood/ordinances/blessing_children.html

This past Sunday was the day that we had our babies blessed. The girls were dressed in beautiful white gowns that were made by Jayson's mother, Sylvia, and his aunt, Linda. The boys looked equally handsome in their little white outfits. Several family members from out of town came for the babies blessings. My parents and Jayson's parents were here to witness the blessings, as well as my Aunt Jeanie, Uncle Rick and cousins Ashlyn and BrieAnne (whom I lived with while I was in Arizona). My sister-in-law, Tobi also drove in from Killeen to be there. In addition to family and ward members, some of our other friends: Cassaundra, Ellis, Troy, and Kelly, were also present. It was so wonderful to have so many family members there for this occasion!

The blessings were given by Jayson. There was such a sweet feeling that was present during the blessings. After the blessings, my mom, cousin Ashlyn and Riley and Kaiya sang a song written by my Aunt Jeanie. The song was so beautiful and it was overwhelming to hear Riley and Kaiya singing the chorus. When I looked around after the song, I noticed that I was not the only teary-eyed one in the congregation. All in all, it was a wonderful day.

Friends and family who came to the blessings.

Kassidy

Kaydence

Rustin

Kyndall

Ryder

The quint's first restaurant outing to Rudy's BBQ (for more details, see Jayson's Blog)

Blessing Day

Why I Have Five Babies

I think I have finally figured out why God sent ME five babies. I have never considered myself great “mom” material. I am not the favorite mom on the block. In fact, I am probably the least favorite mom---At my house, I don’t allow finger painting (too messy), climbing on furniture and counters (too dangerous), or running around barefoot outside (messy and dangerous). Video games and TV watching are off limits until rooms are cleaned and beds made. At my house, kids are required to eat a fruit or vegetable before they can have something they really want (pretzels, popcorn, goldfish, etc) for snack. No one is allowed to have dessert without at least trying everything I serve for dinner and chewing gum (before you are sixteen) is a punishable offense. When it took us so long to get pregnant the third time, I actually thought it could be God’s way of telling me that my talents lay elsewhere, and that I was supposed to do something else instead of have a big family.

Don’t get me wrong---I am not a bad mom and I love my children, I am just better at analyzing data than I am at dreaming up kid’s craft projects or playing with cars. When I found out I was pregnant with quints, I thought for sure God had made a mistake. The five babies were supposed to go to someone who majored in Family Science (I have a Masters Degree in Statistics) and who always wanted to run a daycare out of their home.

Now that the babies are here, I realize that God did know what he was doing after all. He knew I was a “numbers” person and was just trying to give me a bigger sample size! There is an amazing amount of data involved when you have quints. We keep track of what time they eat, how much they eat, when they take baths, what medications they take, how much they weigh, how often they puke and what type of messy diaper they have. My house is the ultimate test site for baby stuff. I have tried several baby products many times on multiple babies. With all this data, I could do some great analysis and make some terrific looking graphs….If only I had the time!

A Day with the Quints

"By the Numbers"

3 baby girls
2 baby boys
30-35 bottles
120-150 ounces of formula
40-50 dirty diapers
1-2 loads of baby laundry
5 baths
10 ears to wash behind
2 swings
3 bouncers
2 changing tables
3 rocking chairs
5 cribs
40 burp cloths
10 blankets
10-15 outfits
15 pacifiers
5-10 daytime volunteers
2 night nanny volunteers
50 fingers
50 toes
5 beautiful smiles

Kassidy

Kaydence

Rustin

Kyndall

Ryder

Why I Have Five Babies

The Quints First Halloween

Halloween marked the babies three-month birthday. In some ways it seems like it has gone so fast, and in other ways the pregnancy seems like it was ages ago. All of the babies continue to do amazingly well. Three are over ten pounds now--Kassidy, Ryder and Rustin. Kaydence is around 9 lbs and Kyndall finally broke 8 lbs yesterday. They have finally started to sleep for some pretty good stretches at night (by pretty good, I mean 4-5 hours). Because of the time change, they actually went to bed early last night, around 9:15 pm, and it was great!!! We sent home our volunteer and watched this weeks episode of "The Office". It was wonderful to be able to sit down (no bouncing, pacing or swaying!) and watch a TV show without pausing it every couple of minutes to attend to fussy babies! I am hoping that we can keep the babies on this sleeping schedule. We have been following a good bedtime routine this week and rubbing them down with lavendar lotion before bed, which I think has helped.

For Halloween, we didn't take the babies out, so we didn't get them actual costumes, but the Halloween sleepers with the "Boo" accross the bum were too cute to pass up! Riley and Kaiya dressed as Harry Potter and Cinderella and brought home way too much candy.

Harry (aka Riley) and Cinderella (aka Kaiya)

Rustin

Kaydence

Kassidy, Kaydence and Kyndall

The Whole Crew

The Quints First Halloween

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

A few days ago, I decided to take some pictures of the babies in their matching, bunny-feet jammies. I took several pictures, hoping to get at least one picture where all the babies looked good. Ryder however did not want to cooperate.

Finally, Ryder decided that all this picture taking made him want to puke. As luck would have it, I caught the action shot of this decision on camera.

The projectile vomit actually made it all the way to Kassidy (on the end all the way to the left) and required her to have a complete wardrobe change. Once it landed, Rustin and Kaydence got it all over their face and hair--only Kyndall made it through unscathed.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Adventures in Craigslisting

This week we have had "Auntie V" staying with us. For those of you in blogland who have been following our story over the summer, Aunt Victoria is one of the fabulous aunts who came to Austin for a week in July to help unpack and decorate the house. She is amazing. After moving, we have a lot of things that we no longer need. Aunt Victoria has been helping me to rid the garage of many of these items. Over the past couple of days, I have listed several things for sale on Craigslist. As people have come to the house to pick up items, it has been quite comical to see the different reactions to the babies. I wish that we could have had a hidden camera to capture them all. It usually goes something like this:

(I answer the door with a baby over my shoulder.)

Craigslist Person: "Oh, you have a baby! How sweet!"

(Craigslist person steps inside the door and looks around. They give a look of surprise and confusion.)

Craigslist Person: "Oh, you have lots of babies.....are these all (gulp) yours?"

Me: "Yes, we have quintuplets!"

Craigslist Person: "Quintup..oh wow...that's..."

Me: "Five"

Craigslist Person: "Oh!! …OH!!! Are you the ones???"

Me: "Yep, we are the ones."

(Craigslist person then proceeds to make several comments about the babies and eventually we complete the transaction and they leave.)

On the weekends, we have less outside help than on other days. Saturday evenings we typically take care of the babies by ourselves. Tonight the babies seemed to realize that we were a little shorthanded and decided to react by all screaming at the same time. Jayson, Aunt Victoria and I were all going from baby to baby, trying to console them, but we were having little success. At the same time, we were also trying to put Riley and Kaiya to bed. Right in the middle of all the chaos, a very nice gal named Amanda showed up to look at the TV we had posted on Craigslist. After the initial shock and questions (see above dialog), she asked if she could bring in her mother who was waiting in the car because she just "had to see this".

When Amanda and her mom came back in, all five babies were screaming, so we passed out sanitizer and put them to work holding babies. With Jayson, Victoria, Amanda, Amanda's Mom, and myself each holding a baby, things finally started to settle down. It was at this moment that Kyndall, who was being held by Amanda's mom, had a major reflux moment. This was no small spit-up. This was a huge projectile, all-the-way-down-the-shirt throw-up. I felt awful about the whole thing. It is not everyday when your kid pukes on a complete stranger. (Amanda's mom: if you are reading this, I am so sorry about your clothes!!) At this point Amanda and her mom made a quick get-a-way, generously offering to find people to help us out with the babies. As we closed the door behind them, all five babies resumed crying at the top of their lungs. We decided there were only two options: laugh hysterically, or cry hysterically. We chose to laugh. We laughed for a long time. Then we thought of what Amanda and her mom were going to tell their family when they got home, and we laughed some more.

Eventually, we did get all the babies calmed down and peace was restored. Later, as I sat in the rocking chair holding two of my beautiful daughters, I was overcome by the awesome blessing I have been given. Despite the fact that there are "moments" (and I am sure I will have many more of those in my future), these babies are such a wonderful gift from God. They are so perfect and healthy. I have been amazed at how much my capacity to love has increased since they were born. Not only have I been given these five precious little ones, but I have also been blessed to have Riley and Kaiya, who have brought so much joy into my life.

A rare moment when all five babies are content!

(Clockwise, starting from the left: Kassidy, Rustin, Kaydence, Ryder & Kyndall)

Aunt Victoria holding Kaydence and Rustin.

On another note, this weekend, Riley (our 7-year-0ld) wrote, directed, starred in, and edited his very first video. The video was for a school project called "Reflections". The theme for this year was "I can make a difference by...." Riley's subject was "I can make a difference in my family by helping with the babies." Check out Jayson's blog (http://www.wilkinsonquints.org/blog/jaysonblog.html) to watch the video.

Adventures in Craigslisting

Two-Month Doctor Visit

Last week was the babies’ two-month doctor visit. Normally doctor appointments are not something I look forward to, but this one was actually enjoyable! Things went very smoothly---due mostly to the army of help I took with me. Besides myself and my mom, three friends (Liz, Patti & Halli) joined in the adventure.

This was the babies’ first ride in then new van (affectionately nicknamed “The Beast”). Me, the babies and all of our helpers fit great, with room to spare. The doctor’s office was not very far---I think it took longer to load the babies into the car then it did to drive there. I have to admit that it was fun to be taller than everyone else on the road. Changing lanes and parking the Beast can be a little scary, but I am sure I will get used to it over time. We do plan on having a back-up camera installed soon, which I think will help a lot. It is awesome to have a vehicle that will hold everyone!!

The Babies First Ride in "The Beast"

When we arrived at the doctor’s office, the nurses took us straight back to the exam rooms, so we didn’t have to wait in the lobby. As we walked past the other people in the lobby, someone said, “What happened? Did they have a sale at Babies R Us?”

The boys were taken to one exam room and the girls were taken to another. The nurses came in and did measurements on all the babies, then two doctors, one for each room, examined each of the babies. They were both impressed by how wonderful the babies are doing. There are no real concerns with any of them---the biggest problem any of them has is reflux. Rustin, Ryder and Kassidy even made it on the height and weight charts (around 5^th percentile) for two-month olds.

Finally it was time for the immunizations. They each got four shots and one oral immunization. Of course, no one liked those, but by the time we got home most of the babies were sleeping, and all were peaceful. (An hour later it was a completely different story, however. Thank goodness for Tylenol!) The entire adventure took less than two hours, which is not much different than when I have taken just one baby to the doctor. I am very impressed with the pediatricians office for being so organized and ready for us and of course I am so grateful for all my helpers that came along!

This picture of Rustin pretty much sums up how the babies felt about getting their shots.

The Girls: Kaydence, Kassidy & Kyndall

The Boys: Rustin & Ryder

Riley and Kaiya pose with the quints for the Austin Family Magazine article.

Two-Month Doctor Visit

The Beast

Yesterday we picked up “The Beast”---our new 12-passenger van which was generously given to us by National Instruments, the company Jayson works for. When we got to the dealership and I saw the van for the first time, all I could think was, “This thing is HUGE!!” While it is wonderful to have a vehicle that our whole family will fit in, picking up this car wasn’t as exciting as when we bought our other vehicles. These types of vans are very low on frills and high on functionality. There was no leather seat upgrade, no DVD player option, and no sunroof option. The Beast doesn’t even come with a CD player. However, this vehicle has other features that I am sure will make us the envy of the neighborhood. Besides being able to comfortably fit 12 passengers, this van is long enough to fit rolls of carpet (as the car salesman proudly pointed out). It also puts me at eye level with the semi-truck drivers on the road. For someone who has a hard time reaching even the second shelf items in the kitchen, this is a pretty great thing. In addition, I am pretty sure that we could drive over tricycles and scooters (and maybe even small children) left in the driveway without causing any damage.

The babies are two months old now and all are doing wonderfully! They are getting so big. Sometimes it almost seems like they change overnight. Kyndall has had some problems with reflux, but she is still gaining weight, so the doctor is not worried about her. She has gotten me and several of our volunteers pretty soaked with her projectile vomiting, however. I have heard that some doctors claim reflux is not a medical problem, but a laundry problem.

The babies are awake quite a bit now and are even starting to give us some “real” smiles. I can’t wait for them to be more interactive. Of course all this awake time means that we stay really busy. Especially in the evening when they all want to get a good cry in before going to sleep. The good news is that they all seem to do pretty well overnight. They typically go longer between feedings and go right to sleep after eating. Getting all of them to sleep through the night is still in the distant future, however.

Kassidy, Kaydence, Rustin, Kyndall, and Ryder

This week we also had my mother-in-law here to help us. She is great with the babies and Riley and Kaiya think she is the most fun grandma ever. She enlisted some extra help Friday night so that Jayson and I could go out. We went out to eat and then we went vacuum shopping! Pretty romantic!

The Beast

Magazine Mania

For any of you bloggers that live in Austin, the October issue of "Austin Family" magazine just came out and the cover article for the month is about the quints. The picture on the front is totally adorable, in my not-so-unbiased opinion! The magazine is FREE and can be found at Randalls, HEB, and other local businesses.

Also, for bloggers nationwide, check out page 68 of "In Touch Weekly" when you are in the grocery store check-out lines this week.

Magazine Mania

The Exodus

It is amazing how time flies! I can't believe that it has been three weeks since we came back to Austin. The trip back to Texas actually went pretty smoothly, all things considered. Packing for the trip home was much more stressful than the trip itself---it is incredible how much stuff we accumulated during our stay!

For the trip home, we had one adult per baby---Jayson, my mom, Jayson's mom, myself and Candice Park--the resident who delivered the babies. We managed to squeeze all the babies, baby stuff, luggage, and people into two suburbans to get to the Phoenix airport. The trickiest part of the whole journey was getting to the gate. Airport security is no picnic even when you are traveling by yourself. Getting five babies, five adults, two strollers, five car seats, four diaper bags, two laptop computers, two video cameras, two carry-on suitcases, and five pairs of shoes through the detectors was quite a task! Fortunately the people in line behind us were understanding!

Rachelle, Candice (Dr. Park), Jayson, Betty Ann (Rachelle's Mom), Sylvia (Jayson's Mom), and the quints waiting to get on the plane.


The flight itself was fairly uneventful. Due to the full flight and some faulty seat assignments, all of us ended up scattered throughout the cabin. Once we landed the real circus began! Several local news stations were there to great us, along with our older kids, Riley and Kaiya, and a few friends who came to help us get back home. I have to admit that it was pretty fun to create a spectacle in the airport pushing our triple and double strollers around.

When we arrived home, this is the sight that greeted us:




I walked in the front door and was completely surprised to find that my front rooms had been transformed into most beautiful, wonderful, perfect nursery ever! My friends went all out to decorate, incorporating all five of the babies colors. In one room there are five beautiful white cribs--one for each baby with bedding in their color. The other room has two changing tables, rocking chairs and a large shelving unit with baskets to keep all the baby stuff. The decorations on the walls are so cute. There are even pictures of each baby with name plates in their color (a great "cheat sheet" for all the volunteers who have been coming) and pictures of Riley and Kaiya. An amazing amount of time is spent in these two rooms, and it is so nice to have such a wonderful environment to be in. The way everything is set up also allows us to stay organized, which is vital with so many babies! Every day I look at these rooms and am overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of those who were involved with the project. It was totally worth having five babies just to get this fabulous nursery!

The babies check out their new nursery suite.


The rest of the house looks great as well. I was gone when all the "moving in" took place and I am so indebted to Aunt Victoria and Aunt Linda, who flew out for a week to help decorate and unpack, as well as countless other friends and church members who helped move and unpack all of our stuff. For the first week we were here, all I could do was walk around and think, "Wow--I can't believe this is my house!" While Jayson's aunts were here, they also did a laundry room makeover, complete with a new washer and dryer purchased with donations from all of Jayson's extended family members. Uncle Ken donated all the wonderful cabinetry.

Since our arrival home, the quints are doing great! We weighed them all today and here are their current weights:

Baby ...................Birth Weight..........Today's Weight

Kassidy................5 lb 1 oz................. 7 lb 15.5 oz

Kaydence ............3 lb 6 oz ................6 lb 10 oz

Rustin ..................4 lb 15 oz ..............8 lb 9 oz

Kyndall ................4 lb 2 oz ................6 lb 6.5 oz

Ryder ...................3 lb 15 oz ..............7 lb 15.5 oz

Ryder has already doubled his birth weight. He and Kaydence have changed the most since we got here. Kyndall has reflux and has a hard time keeping food down, and hence has become the smallest of the bunch.

We have been so blessed with lots of help from friends, family and church members. Everyday I am overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity that has been shown to us.

I'll write more later about what "normal life" is like now.

The Exodus