Sunday, November 30, 2008

Thanksgiving

Our good friends, the Woods, were crazy enough to invite our family to Thanksgiving dinner. As you can imagine, with a crew like ours we don't get invited many places, so if we do get an invitation we almost always accept! Thanksgiving morning we loaded up our van with 5 high chairs, 5 pack-n-plays (since we would be there long enough for the babies to need naps), 5 sippy cups, 5 bibs, 5 spoons, 15 diapers, plenty of wipes, 48 rolls, 1 festive Jell-O salad, 1 pan of sweet potatoes, 5 bottles of sparkling grape juice, 1 video camera, 1 tripod, 1 still camera, 1 large diaper bag and 5 “nuggies” (little blankets the babies sleep with). The van (affectionately nicknamed “The Beast”) was so full after loading all our gear that there was no room for people, so the babies and I walked over in the stroller while Jayson drove the van.

Once we got there, the kids (all seven) had a blast! The Woods kids had set up all kinds of activities for the babies to do—from dollhouses to trains to playing outside. I think the quints were just happy to be anywhere but our house! Their nap was strategically timed with dinner, so Jayson and I actually got to sit down and eat. It was great! The babies enjoyed the meal when they woke up.




Rustin



Kaydence



Ryder--checking out the Black Friday ads



Kassidy--a little bit upset when I told her she wouldn't be getting up at 4:30 am to go shopping with me :-)


Kyndall


Kassidy, Kaydence, Ryder and Kyndall--The Woods breed labradoodles and the babies followed Boomer the dog all around the house. Fortunately, Boomer was very good natured and didn't even complain when Ryder repeatedly pulled his tail!



Riley--enjoying the pumpkin pie!


Kaiya--her favorite part was the Jell-O and the chocolate pie.


Kassidy


Kaydence

Rustin--I think the tryptophan in the turkey is setting in---he's looking a little tired


Kyndall


Ryder


Calvin Woods, Natalie Woods and Rachelle


Jayson


Kyndall, Ryder, Kaydence, Kassidy, Rustin and Boomer--I am not much of an animal lover (I think kids are hard enough to take care of without throwing a pet into the picture) but I loved having Boomer there to clean up the floor after dinner!

The day after Thanksgiving we had a visit from Dr. Elliott--my doctor from Arizona. He was in town visiting his sister for the holidays. It was so fun to see him again! I think he enjoyed seeing the babies too. He is the reason I was able to make it to 34 weeks before delivering these babies! There were times near the end of the pregnancy when I was ready to be done, but he would not let me deviate from the goal of 34 weeks. Now that I have five beautiful, healthy, normal babies, I am so thankful that he pushed me as far as he did. I will be forever grateful for him and all he did for me!

Ryder, Kassidy, Rustin, Kaydence and Kyndall with Dr. Elliott

My friend, Lyndi, was also in town visiting relatives. Lyndi has 4 1/2 year old quads. She delivered her quads with Dr. Elliott also, and talked me into calling him when I found out I was pregnant with quints. Lyndi was a huge support to me throughout my pregnancy. She called every week to check in on me and I loved having someone to talk to who had "been there, done that."

Rachelle, Dr. Elliott and Lyndi







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15 comments:

Stephanie said...

Natalie sounds like a really good friend. How fun to see Dr. Elliot again! Fun pictures!

The Carlsons said...

that's awesome that you got to see dr. elliot again! yes, he is a great man and is doing great things for us MOMs.

glad to hear you had a blessed thanksgiving!

-quad mom of GGGG and a 4yo boy

Cammie said...

a lurker here....coming out to say....how CUTE!

Anonymous said...

Hi Rachelle
Oh wow how cute the kids are!! This is Kami's Mom in Phoenix, we are seeing Dr. Elliot this morning. I think you follow Kami's site, www.azcrisanti.blogspot.com she is 28 wks. tomorrow, yeh!! We love Doc Elliot, don't get to see him everytime, but love it when we do. Thanks for sharing your day with all
Linda

Anonymous said...

wow! you overpack like a first time mom! did you really think you would need something as simple as spoons, or do your friends eat soup with a fork?

Rachelle said...

Anonymous: My friends don't use COLOR-CODED spoons for their soup. Having things color coded makes it a lot easier to remember whose food is whose when you are feeding multiple babies!

Nichelle said...

Hi! I follow your blog through a fellow triplet moms blog, whom I met online. I Love to see all your pictures and read updates. I am a triplet mom to GBG born at 34 wks! Just thought I'd leave a comment this time... Happy Holidays:-)

gwtreece said...

Wow, no wonder they don't get to go many places. That wasn't much stuff but when you times it by 5, WOWWWWW.

Kelly said...

He he We call our Shih Tzu our housekeeper. She loves to clean up after the kids!

Misty said...

Rachelle,
What amazing friends you have! And to time it for naptime...wahoo! I so enjoyed seeing your pictures with Dr. Elliot! We are also so greatful to him for our healthy quads.
Take care,
Misty

Schauers Hours said...

That is so neat your doctor visited you, definitely not something any dr. I've had would do! What an adventurous thanksgiving! what a lot of work to accept an invitation. :)

BUILDING WITH 6 said...

Great Pics. We saw Dr Elliot this morning in OB Triage and we told him we saw his pics with your kids. He said he had a great time and it was great to see all the kids. I think he said all 9 of them total. Some of my nurses have asked if I knew anything about your family and I just said "I check out their blog" - they remember you all.

Jac Tubre said...

Hey Rachelle! Loved the post and I am with you on the packing and color coding...my life would be a train wreck without it!

It was soooo good to see Dr. Elliott's smiling face with your little munchkins :) While I delivered way shy of our 34 week goal, he was always supportive, upbeat and let me drag out the preeclamsia, pulmonary edema, HELLP syndrome thing a few days longer than anyone else would. I remember one of the other PPA docs on the phone with him the morning I delivered saying "either you come deliver these babies or I will" and Dr. Elliott came in to deliver my crew...he is a GREAT doc!

Jac

Kelly said...

The kids' Thanksgiving outfits are really cute. How nice to see your doctor and friend again. The kids...I just realized I'm not calling them babies. I know they are still babies, but they're turning into kids! Yikes! They are as cute as ever, Rachelle.

MommyLydia said...

What are you going to do if you are invited over somewhere you can't walk? Yikes!