International Multiple Birth Awareness Week

This week (Nov 1 – Nov 8) is officially International Multiple Birth Awareness Week. Who would have guessed? In honor of this, I decided to answer a few of the most common (and some slightly ridiculous) questions I get about my multiples! (Note: these are meant to be humorous and/or informative and not offensive in any way. It does not bother me to be asked these questions, but after you get asked the same questions over and over, you start to see the humor in some of them!)

Are they all yours?

YES


Are they natural?

No---some body parts are plastic and I think artificial coloring was used to make Rustin’s hair that fabulous shade of red. Just kidding---I know people don’t realize how silly that question is when they ask it. Of course they are natural, however they were conceived by the help of fertility medication (which I think is what people really mean when they ask that question!)


How many eggs did the doctor implant?

NONE. I did NOT have IVF. I was not ovulating on my own, so the doctor put me on medication to help me ovulate. He monitored me VERY closely and warned me that with the medication, the odds of twins was 20% and triplets was 5%.


So, what are the odds, anyway?

The odds of getting pregnant with quintuplets, if you are using fertility mediation, is 1 in 56,000. I actually had higher odds of getting struck by lightening in my lifetime than of having quintuplets.


Did you know you were having quintuplets?

I love my triplet-mom friend, Robin’s response to this question, “Uh... did you know you were having a singleton? Yeah, the same way you knew you were having one is the way we knew we were having three. This isn't 1922."


Were you trying for multiples?

Seriously?? No one in their right mind TRYS to have multiples and no sane doctor would help you. Multiple births, especially high-order multiple births, have very high risks associated with them for both the babies and the mother.


Are they all identical?

No---other than the obvious fact that they all look completely different, I have three girls and two boys, so biologically it just isn’t possible for them all to be identical.

Are they twins and triplets?

Nope, they are called quintuplets.

But you have some boys and some girls?

Yes, but they were all in the womb together, so regardless of gender they are still called quintuplets.

How much did they weigh when they were born?

They ranged in size from 3 lbs 6 oz to 5 lbs 1 oz. Their combined birthweight was 21 lbs 7.6 oz, which is the current World record.

Are they…okay? I mean, are they healthy?

Yes, we have been very fortunate. All of the kids are happy, healthy, and progressing exactly how they are supposed to be. They are very normal three-year-olds.

How are you going to put them all through college?

Teach them how to work!

Are you going to home school?

Are you crazy? Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my children, but the school system here is just fine and I am counting down the days (21 more months to be exact) until they go to kindergarten! Right now I have to put “keep children alive” on my daily “To Do” list, just so I can get one check mark at the end of the day. I am looking forward to having time to clean, organize, decorate, shop, etc.

How do you do it?

How does any parent do it? Let’s face it---parenting is a tough job, but somehow we all take what we are given and do the best we can! My life is busy and challenging, but we have a routine and we just take it one day at a time. Raising children is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but it is also the most rewarding.

Wow, you have your hands full!!

If I only had a nickel for every time someone said that, I wouldn’t have to worry about funding the kid’s college educations! One of my fellow quint-mom friends, Sara Tyre, has a quote on her blog that I have always liked. It says, “If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart!”

I am so grateful for all seven of my children. The fact that five came together certainly makes life interesting, but I can’t imagine life without even one of my precious children. Each came with his/her own personality and each adds a new dimension to our family. I love my life, despite the challenges, and I am grateful every day for the miracle that all of my children are.


Do you have the cutest quintuplets ever born?

YES....ok, no one has ever asked me that one, but here are some recent pictures and you can be the judge!

Rustin, Kyndall, Kassidy, Kaydence, and Ryder

Kassidy

Kyndall

Kaydence

Ryder & Rustin

International Multiple Birth Awareness Week

Halloween!

The kids had a blast with Halloween this year! They were definitely old enough to "get it". They loved looking at all the Halloween decorations in people's yards, making their own Halloween crafts, and dressing up. And of course, they loved the CANDY. Last year, we took them trick-or-treating, but they didn't really care about the candy. This year was another story! They loved getting candy, with lollipop's being the favorite. We practiced saying "Trick-or-Treat" and "Thank You" all week and they were so proud of themselves when they did it right. Last year Riley and Kaiya did not want to go along with any theme, but this year they wanted the quints to dress like them. The little girls were already planning on being fairies, since my mother-in-law made them cute skirts and shirts for the birthday and all I had to get to complete the outfit was wings wands. Kaiya had no problem going along with that idea. Riley wanted to be a ninja and talked Rustin and Ryder into wanting that too. They were hilarious doing their ninja moves.

Ryder, Riley and Rustin doing their "ninja" moves. It is amazing how much different Rustin looks when you cover up his red hair!

Kaydence, Kassidy and Kyndall---the little fairy princesses

Princess Fairy Kaiya

Ninja Riley

National Instruments, the company that Jayson works for, held a big family Halloween event. The kids loved playing the games and doing the crafts. This is the group shot with the photo background they had set up.

Doing crafts at the NI Halloween event----I thought it was funny that all the quints (with the exception of Kassidy) are all coloring with "their" color of crayon. This is so typical---I think I have branded them for life with these colors. When I asked Rustin what kind of candy he was going to get trick-or-treating, he quickly replied "blue ones!"

Halloween morning I made pumpkin pancakes for breakfast. The kids were so confused----they kept telling me that the pancakes did NOT look like pumpkins. I had to explain that the pumpkin was IN the pancakes.

With all the confusion at breakfast, I tried to make lunch a little more visually Halloween---we had mini mummy dogs and jack-o-lantern apple slices.

Kaiya, Riley, Rustin, Kassidy, Ryder, Kyndall and Kaydence....we did all our "Trick-or-Treating" this year at our church "Trunk-or-Treat" on Friday night. I was so excited to find pumpkin pails in all the quint's colors (except Kaydence who had to use orange, which isn't too far from yellow). Riley and Kaiya opted to carry pillowcases instead because they hold more :-)

It was so entertaining to watch the kids---their little personalities really came out. Kaydence was always lagging behind the rest, Kassidy always remembered to say "thank you" (and then made sure to tell me that she said it), Rustin ran from trunk to trunk and was super excited every time he got something, Ryder wanted to finely examine each piece of candy before he would put it in his bucket, and Kyndall was her usual sneaky self. When we got back to the car at the end of the night, Kyndall's bucket was fuller than all the other kids buckets, even though we went to the same number of trunks. While we were out, I noticed a few times that Kyndall would wait until the person handing out the treats was busy putting candy in someone elses bucket, then she would sneak her hand into the bowl and grab an extra handful for herself!

Halloween!

This and That

Potty Training Update!

It's been two months since we started Potty Training Boot Camp at our house. Surprisingly (at least I was surprised) Kaydence was the first one to graduate from boot camp. I am happy to report that Kassidy and Ryder are also recent PTBC graduates---yay! (If potty training were a Quint Olympic event, Kassidy would have won silver and Ryder bronze.) Rustin who was the early front-runner still has a ways to go, but has seen some progress this past week. And, Kyndall.....well, what can we say about Kyndall??? She likes to be the one calling the shots. Her personality is similar to Kaiya's, and with Kaiya, potty training turned into a horrible control battle. I decided it isn't worth it to go down that road with Kyndall, so I am just waiting until she decides she wants to be potty trained. She knows the basics, it is more a matter of her committing to use the potty all the time. So, I'd say overall we have about a 70% success rate at the moment!

Here are some pictures of the PTBC graduates and trainees that I took with my phone during a recent photo shoot with Kristen Duke

Kassidy--PTBC Graduate, Silver Medal Winner!

Kaydence--PTBC Graduate, Gold Medal Winner!

Rustin--Still in training, but getting close to the finish line

Kyndall--thinks playing in the dirt is more fun than potty training or having her picture taken

Ryder--PTBC Graduate, Bronze Medal Winner!

The Fab Five: Kaydence, Rustin, Kassidy, Ryder and Kyndall (a little bit of sun glare, but still thought the picture was cute)

So typical...whenever I try to get a group shot, there is always ONE who won't cooperate!

Halloween Update!

I was so excited about our Halloween costumes last year...the quints were the "Five Little Monkeys Jumping On the Bed" and Jayson and I were the doctor and the "mama". (Riley and Kaiya did their own thing). This year I couldn't get my creative juices to line up with my costume budget, so we aren't really doing any cutsie theme. All the girls (including Kaiya) are going to be fairies and all the boys (including Riley) are going to be ninjas. They will still all be cute and are so excited about going Trick-or-Treating at our church's "Trunk-or-Treat" activity tonight. We have been practicing saying "Trick-or-Treat" and "Thank you" all week!

Halloween 2009: 5 little monkeys, Doctor, Mama, Draco Malfoy (Riley), Angel (Kaiya), and my niece and nephew.

This year GG and Barbara decorated pumpkins with the kids---they used faces that attach to the pumpkin "Mr. Potato Head" style. The kids LOVE seeing their pumpkins on display every time we pull up!

The pumpkins have a face on both the front and the back---that way people from the road can enjoy them and the kids can look at them from the front window too!

Cassaundra was over last weekend and the kids found a praying mantis on Ryder's pumpkin. They were so fascinated!

I love the look on Rustin's face in this picture!

"Texas Quints" Update!

Nothing really new to report about the show. I still haven't heard when they are going to replay it, although I am sure they will sometime! We had a second "premiere" party (actually we called it a "replay" party) the Saturday following the premiere. The initial airing was past a lot of peoples bedtimes, and my kids wanted to have a party with all of their friends, so we had two parties. Below are a few pictures from the "replay" party. If you want to see more episodes of "Texas Quints", you can let TLC know HERE. Be sure to select "Texas Quints" from the drop down program list.

Playing Peek-a-Boo in an attempt to get the kids to look at the camera

Not sure what a great idea that was, but it did make for a humorous picture!

Wilkinson Family at the Texas Quints Replay Party!

In The News...

Austin Community College, where I have worked as an adjunct professor for the past 10 years, just did a spotlight on me and my family. You can get to it from the ACC homepage (watch the scrolling pictures at the top until my family comes up) or you can go directly to the story HERE. I thought it was a really great article.

This and That

Three-Year Pictures

Last week my friend and favorite photographer, Kristen Duke, took "three-year" pictures of the quints. They turned out amazingly great---especially since the kids were not in the best mood that day. For all you local Austin-ites, the pictures were taken at Old Settlers park by Dell Diamond. It was a great location with a big old barn, old truck, rusting tractors, etc. You can see even more pictures from the shoot on Kristen's Website. Kristen has been taking pictures of my kiddos since they were one month old----here is another link to some of my favorite "Kristen" pictures.

This one might be my favorite from the shoot--it's just so sweet and these two boys really do love each other. They are such funny little buddies.

Kassidy

Kaydence

Rustin

Kyndall (there is another one on Kristen's website with Kyndall doing her signature wink)

Ryder---I totally love this one of him! You would never guess he was my "Mr. Handful"!

Three-Year Pictures

How to Contact TLC

I finally found a spot on TLC's website where you can request more Texas Quints! Go HERE. You will have to fill out some personal info. On Step 1, it asks what your question is regarding, select "Network/Program related". On Step 2, select "TLC" as the network. On Step 3, where it asks for Program/Show, select "Texas Quints" (YAY--there is finally an option for Texas Quints---this is a recent addition!). In Step 4 you will finally be able to leave a comment.

If you have a minute or two, please pop on over there and fill it out----it sounds more complicated than it actually is :-)

For those of you overseas who don't have TLC, I think you could use this link to request that clips of the show be put on the website so they can be viewed on the Internet.

Thanks!

How to Contact TLC

"Texas Quints" Premiere Party

Monday night was the premiere of our TLC specials! We were so excited to finally see how everything came together from the filming! When we were originally approached by this production company, one thing that we really liked was that they wanted to do something a little different from other multiples reality shows----they wanted to focus more on the FUN and less on the drama. Now I know that I am completely biased, since it is my family, but I loved how the shows turned out! I thought they were laugh-out-loud funny and I loved that they tried to show each of the kids personalities. When they were over, I was left wanting more. I heard that they have about a 400 to 1 ratio for these shows----about 400 hours of filming for every 1 that makes it to the final cut, which tells you that they had to cut out A LOT of stuff and be really selective to tell the story.

Some of my favorite parts of the shows:

The Crib Cam---we knew that there was a lot of partying going on in there are night, but we had no idea just how much!

Jayson's Dance Party---the looks on the kids faces was priceless!

The diaper malfunction---perfect example of Murphy's Law

Baby Jail---I love the on-screen titles that listed the crimes

The Van Scrape---yes, this one is a bit embarrassing for me, but I have had several people ask, so I thought I would clarify---it was all REAL! I really scraped the van, I really peaked out and saw nothing, We really did not find the scrape until our first stop for gas on the trip, and what you saw on TV were the actual moments when we discovered it!

We had a big party with our friends to watch the premiere episodes. We set up a large screen with projector in a friend's backyard (Thank you Wilcox and Woods families!). I rolled out the "red carpet" and made everyone have their picture taken like they were at a "real" premiere. Despite the fact that it started to sprinkle 30 minutes before the party was supposed to start (what is it with me and parties and rain, anyway???) everything turned out GREAT! It was so much fun! All the kids loved seeing themselves. Rustin started crying when he watched his balloon go up in the sky---it was sad and sweet at the same time. Kyndall got upset when I started to get attacked with water balloons at the family party. I think some of their favorite parts were the special transitions---like Rustin finger-painting on the screen. When we watched the shows again at home, they wanted me to rewind that part over and over again, while they giggled like crazy.

The Quints on the "Red Carpet": Kassidy, Ryder, Kyndall, Kaydence and Rustin

The "Red Carpet" in the front

The "Red Carpet" and photo backdrop in the back

Goodie Table

I was so excited when I found these napkins on clearance at Michaels....they were perfect for our party :-)

Wilkinson Family on the "Red Carpet"

Getting ready for the show to start...we turned on "Dora" to entertain the little ones before "Texas Quints" started.

Kyndall, Kassidy, Ryder, Rustin and Kaydence watch the premiere!

I have had several people ask if there are going to be more episodes, and at this point it is up to TLC! We will let you know when we hear something! In the mean time, if you would like to tell TLC that you want more "Texas Quints", you can leave some feedback on their website HERE. (Note: I have discovered that Texas Quints is not listed in the drop down show menu, making it difficult to leave a comment...I'm checking into it.)

Thanks for all your support! We have loved reading all your emails, comments on the blog, and posts on facebook!

"Texas Quints" Premiere Party

Texas Quints Rap!

Here's a little something to wet your appetite...The production company just released this rap video that they made during the filming! Just two more days until the premiere of "Texas Quints"! Set your DVR's for Monday, Oct 11th on TLC (check your local listings for exact times).

Texas Quints Rap!