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

Thanksgiving