Milestones

The other day a friend asked me what I thought was the biggest milestone the babies had reached so far. Of course, sleeping through the night was a biggie, but I think for me, the biggest milestone happened when the babies were about 8 months old. About this time several things happened. First, the babies transitioned to two naps per day, and I was able to get all of them on the same schedule. They ate at the same time, played at the same time and slept at the same time. Until that point, there really wasn’t a time of day that I could count on having some time for myself to get things done. Around 8 months the babies became a lot better at eating finger foods, which meant that meal times could be managed with less help. It was also at this age that the babies started crawling and scooting, which meant that they could entertain themselves a little bit.

About 8 Months Old: Kyndall, Rustin, Kaydence, Ryder and Kassidy

My friend also asked what future milestones I was looking forward to. Here is a list of the ones that came quickly to mind:

Top Ten Milestones I am looking forward to in 2009

1—The ability to eat with a fork and spoon
2—Talking
3—Talking in sentences
4—Old enough to be allowed into the Nursery at church (2 more Sunday’s to go!)
5—Ability to drink from a regular cup without dumping the contents into lap
6—Kyndall gaining enough weight to face forward in her carseat
7—Being able let them out in the front yard without all of them immediately heading for the street
8—Ability to walk up and down stairs (without looking like they are going to tumble to the bottom at any moment)
9—Ability to put on clothes by themselves
10—Switch from parallel play to more interactive play with each other

You might have noticed that "potty trained" is NOT on the list for this year----I don't think I will be able to brave that one until 2010!!

In other news….my mom was in town this week and we had a great time! As you can imagine, with five babies I don’t get out of the house much because. It is wonderful having my mom here because with an extra set of hands, we actually can get out. During this visit, we planned an outing every day---we went to Sam’s Club (twice), the mall, IKEA, the outlet mall, and lunch at Chili’s. We don’t actually accomplish a lot of shopping on these trips because people stop us to ask questions about every three feet, but we really enjoy just getting out----and it makes the day pass amazingly fast! Below are some pictures from her visit:

Eating Chick-fil-a at the Mall foodcourt: Kaydence, Kyndall, Ryder, Rustin and Kassidy

Eating Cheerios with bowls and spoons for the first time: Ryder, Rustin, Kassidy, Kyndall, Kaydence

Waiting for a Table at Chili's: My friend Halli, my mom, Kaydence, Kyndall and Kassidy

Me (Rachelle) with Ryder and Rustin

Kassidy checks out the toddler plate they brought out---the cherries, orange, olive and cheese were arranged in a smiley face

Riley on the new stilts "Mimi" (what the kids call my mom) brought him

Kaiya

Kassidy--the next American Idol

Kaydence

Rustin wearing the earing he stole from Virginia

Kyndall

Ryder kissing the baby doll (or maybe he is trying to eat it...)

While my mom was here, we tried to take a group shot of all the babies. They were not very cooperative, so this is the best we could do!

Kaydence, Kyndall, Kassidy, Ryder and Rustin

The boys: Ryder and Rustin

My favorite shot from the group picture attempt!

Milestones

Christmas 2008--Part 2

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning the babies woke bright and early at 6:15 am. Riley and Kaiya had been fretting for weeks about what would happen on Christmas morning. They were so worried that the babies would try to unwrap all the presents. Riley must have come up with at least 10 different ideas of what we could do to prevent the babies from “ruining” everything. In the end, all that worrying was for nothing! Although they were to young to really “get” what was going on, the babies were so excited about everything. My parents got them a kitchen set and that was the first thing they noticed. They ran right over and started checking it out. They were pretty oblivious to all the wrapped gifts that Santa had left. In the beginning, we tried to get the babies to open a few gifts. Once we started tearing the paper, they enjoyed ripping the rest off. But once they had a few things open, they were not interested in opening more. They were content to play with the paper, bows and boxes strewn about the room.

Riley and Kaiya, on the other hand, were a different story. I’ve decided that everyone needs a child like Riley on Christmas morning. He is a great present opener. He gets so excited about everything he opens---even the clothes! He even got excited about things other people were opening. My mother gave me a laminator, and when I opened it Riley exclaimed, “Oh WOW! You got a LAMINATOR!!! That is SO COOL! You have been wanting a laminator!”

Riley and Kaiya waiting until they were allowed to come downstairs

Kyndall, Rustin and Kaydence check out the kitchen

Kaydence, Riley, Rustin and Kaiya look in the stockings.

Riley and Kaydence

Riley

Kaiya

Kassidy

Kaydence

Rustin

Kyndall--Each of the babies got a new (or at least new to us) Wiggles DVD for Christmas

Ryder

Riley and Kaiya both got new Rollerblades for Chrismas

Kaiya

Modeling my new coat

Kassidy and Rustin open their present from Riley and Kaiya---five big bouncy balls

One of the favorite Christmas gifts---a Wii from Jayson's parents

Kyndall and Kaiya

Kaydence, Kassidy and Rustin check out the Rock and Play Piano Santa brought

Once the presents were open, it was time for our traditional Christmas morning breakfast of cinnamon rolls and little boxes of cereal.

Kaiya, Jayson and Riley

Since the babies went to sleep before we took pictures, we attempted to take some jammie pictures with them on Christmas Day. The boys were a little more cooperative than the girls!

Ryder, Riley and Rustin

Kyndall, Kassidy, Kaiya, and Kaydence

In the afternoon, Virginia and Ron came over and brought the babies five "push" toys: a popcorn popper, music roller, grocery cart, lawn mower and vacuum cleaner. They were a big hit!

Rustin and Ron

Kassidy, Kaydence, Ryder, Kyndall (and Rustin almost covered in the back)

Kyndall didn't care much for pushing the toys, but she did insist to get IN the shopping cart

Ryder almost immediatly became attached to the vacuum cleaner. I don't think it left his hands for three days--except at bedtime when we had to pry his fingers off of it. I had to change all his diapers on the floor so he could continue to hold it.

All in all, I have to say it was one of the best Christmases ever. Even though I never thought I wanted such a big family, I am so glad that things turned out the way that they did. My family is the most important thing to me, and they bring me such joy and happiness.

Christmas 2008--Part 2

Christmas 2008--Part 1

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we kept up our family tradition of inviting a few friends over for dinner. This year we had Jayson’s brother, Joel, with his wife, Tobi and their two kids, Alec and Cora. We also had our friends Brenda and Tyrone with their kids Luvinia and Joe, my good friend Cassaundra, and my friend Virginia with her husband Ron. Normally I love getting out the Christmas dishes and making the table look fancy with charger plates, centerpieces, candles, place cards and the works, but this year I kept it very simple with plastic utensils. A tablecloth and the gingerbread house that the kids decorated was the extent of our fanciness! The babies have recently learned how to climb up on chairs and tables, and we have had more than our share of broken dishes lately, so I thought it would be wise to forgo the China, crystal and candles this year!

The "Kid" Table: Riley, Joe, Luvinia, Kaiya

The "Adult" Table--Cassaundra, Jayson, Tobi, Joel, Ron

Kassidy, Kaydence, Rustin, Kyndall and Ryder

Cassaundra and Rachelle

Following dinner, we read from the Bible the story of Christ’s birth, and the kids acted it out. Kaiya played Mary this year. Luvinia was an angel. Riley, Joe, Alec and Cora doubled as Wisemen and Shepherds.

Kaiya aka Mary

Riley bearing a gift of a roll

Mary (Kaiya) is visited by the Angel Gabriel (Luvinia)

The wise men (Riley, Joe and Alec) offer gifts to the baby Jesus. They were all out of gold, frankincense and myrrh, so they used watches and cell phones instead.

By the time we finished dessert, the babies were tired and grumpy so we put them bed. Once our guests were gone, the four of us sang Christmas carols around the tree and of course took lots more PICTURES!!!

Kaiya and Riley being goofy!

The Girls: Rachelle and Kaiya

The Boys: Jayson and Riley

Jayson and Rachelle

Jayson, Riley, Rachelle and Kaiya

The traditional "pile" picture--I think Jayson is a little bit worried about next year, when the babies join in the pile!

Rachelle, Riley, Jayson and Kaiya in our new Christmas Eve jammies

We were having a little bit too much fun with the camera's self timer--everyone kept coming up with new poses :-)

Christmas 2008--Part 1