Happy Birthday To My Dad!!

Today is my dad's birthday. It's actually a milestone birthday but I won't say which one - you can figure it out but he doesn't look a day over 40 :)

I am so thankful for my dad. Two weeks ago he was in a car accident. Kirk and I were on a date and we came home to hear that he was in the hospital. Fortunately I found out quickly that he was okay but talk about a scare! You never know when something could happen to someone you love. So today I am most grateful that my dad is alive on his birthday and while he's still sore (the car was totaled - not a fender bender) he's going to be fine.

Dad, Happy Birthday. Sorry I wasn't there today but I will see you soon. We all love you and miss you. You are a blessing to all of us and we thank God every day for you!

Newest Mother's Day Pictures

I know it's a little late but I finally got a picture of me and each kid individually. Remember the last ones I posted? They were all so little!!

Now they seem so big :)

But I can still pick each of them up and until I can't they aren't totally grown up! (This is me praying Kaitlyn isn't too big next Mother's Day!)

My oldest is growing up into a beautiful young lady. She'll be 10 in less than 2 months! 10! That's double digits. Good grief I remember turning 10. This is a big deal and I'M NOT READY!! Think if I put a brick on her head she'll stop growing?



He's 6 1/2 and he couldn't be happier about that. My little man. Such a handsome guy.



3 1/2. They are 3 1/2 - in less than 6 months they will turn 4. Someone told me that it gets easier when they turn 4. Someone in their family had triplets and they said once the triplets turned 4 things were easy. The way my life has been going lately I'm not so sure I believe that.

Born together but individuals each one. A blessing to me in their own unique way.

Julianna Mabel



Rachel Gabrielle



Alyssa Elaine



I have to add it is really hard to get a decent picture of Alyssa - the above is the best out of like 10 tries.

Let me give you an example of her picture taking skills:

Say cheese - with your eyes open please!



What's with the foot in the picture?



And the back of her head.



It's more fun to tickle mommy.



This is take 2 after all of take 1 failed miserably.



She is one unique little girl I'll tell you that!

All In The Line Of Duty

Is it just me or are there some days when parenting feels like war? Day in and day out you are battling with a teenager, a pre-adolescent, a toddler. Whatever stage you are in parenting is hard.

This week I can talk about it but let me tell you after it happened I was NOT a happy mom. It all started with Rachel coloring all over the wall. Such a mess. She now knows that she can't color on walls - again; not like this was the first time she had been told not to color on the walls!.

So, what was Rachel up to last week?

Well, if you can't draw on the walls with marker what else is there?

Toothpaste.

Oh yes. I realized that she wasn't in the basement like I thought she was so I went looking for her only to find her in my bathroom covering the walls (and everything else) with toothpaste.

Huge mess.

I sent her to her room and went back to clean up only to realize that I could not find the toothpaste. In fact, I was missing two tubes. There was no toothpaste in the bathroom at all.

I went back to get Rachel.

I brought her back into the bathroom and asked where the toothpaste was. She opened the toilet seat and pointed inside. If only it were that simple.

Inside were two tubes of toothpaste and about 10 toothbrushes. Nice. I had her remove them all and throw them away.

Problem was it still wasn't the two tubes of toothpaste I was missing. They were no where to be found.

So I ask Rachel if she flushed them and she had. She'd emptied and then flushed two tubes of toothpaste. Clogged the toilet quite completely.

Kirk and I spent a good hour removing the toilet from the floor, cleaning it out and then re-sealing it. Not a fun time at all.

But it did make this week easier when I was vacuuming up fish food from every crevice of Caleb's room after Julianna tried to "help" and feed the fish. Mostly I'm just grateful the fish are still alive and she managed to get very little in the bowl. Although I have to say that fish food is really gross and cleaning it up is a disgusting pain but I'll take it over toothpaste and clogged toilets.

I know some day this will all be in the past and I'll miss it but right now it feels like I'm walking through the trenches every day. But I'll continue to do - not for the love of my country but for the love of my kids :) Who are still all adorably cute by the way!

My Anniversary Gift

If you hadn't figured it out already I have an awesome husband :) I am very blessed to be married to him for the past 14 years. Especially blessed knowing he still puts up with me!

And my special gift this year was to have our family room painted! I have been wanting it done for a looong time but just settled on a color maybe six months ago.

Now my walls are blue :)

Kirk hard at work. Caleb, Kaitlyn and I helped while the triplets napped but once they were up Kirk was on his own. I had enough of a task keeping three three-year-olds out of blue paint!



That is one blue wall.



And the room completed. Still needs a bit of decorating like some pictures on the biggest wall but otherwise it's done. I like it. Of course, I love color :)



But you see the size of that wall?! It was so very sweet of Kirk to pain the room for me.

Thanks Kirk for 14 great years - I look forward to many more to come :) I love you sweetheart.

14 years ago today ...

Fourteen years ago today, God smiled on me in a way that I never thought possible. He found it in His favor to grant me something that most men can only dream of. He blessed me with this wonderful, beautiful girl as my bride. This is how she looked on this day fourteen years ago when she vowed to stand by my side, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, till death do us part. On that day, this radiant beauty became my wife. It’s a day I will cherish forever. It’s the day I found my other half. It’s the day Dorinda Beth took my hand, my name, and my heart.

Dorinda, my dear, Happy Anniversary! I love you more than words can express. You are lovely to me today as you were on the day we wed. The brightness of your smile and the glow in your eyes has never faded. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing! There's no one else I'd rather have at my side. You are my Love.

Happy Mom's Day!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom. Daddy had all us kids help make you a special card for your blog. We all worked hard. This is what Rachel meant when she said "We make letters!" (Yes, we have an apostrophe) We all love you very much and have a great Mother's day!!!

by Kaitlyn

2010 Baby Reunion

Today was Genetics & IVF 24th Annual Baby Reunion and we were thrilled to attend. Other than Kaitlyn not feeling so well we all had a great time. We finally arrived early enough to get a seat at a table :) I know, but this is a big deal! It's so crowded that the tables fill up quickly and it's very hard to squeeze a family of 7 into anything.

We had a great day eating good food:



Dessert for all to enjoy:





Getting faces (and other body parts) painted:

Kaitlyn got her arm done: it's a penguin.



Caleb had other ideas. And oh yes, this was before the family photo :)



Julianna got a butterfly.



Rachel wanted a lamb on her leg. No idea why.



Alyssa went with a dolphin on her arm. Her idea. "I want from the sea"



And getting fun balloon animals (or swords for Caleb):









Just a beautiful photo of Kaitlyn with her new stuffed bear (every year GIVF hands out a stuffed animal to each child with a t-shirt on it - it's something my older two very much look forward to getting!) Even though she felt horrible she still looked cute!



And we couldn't miss a photo with one of my very favorite doctors: Dr. K - love her! She is super sweet and an awesome doctor. It's a great pictures other than my eyes so don't look too close :) At some point Kirk will have to Photoshop it or teach me how...



When I can't spend Mother's Day with my own mom, I very much enjoy spending Mother's Day weekend with so many other women who have waded through infertility and been blessed. While I believe that God opens and closes wombs I know He uses doctors to help us and I am grateful that GIVF was there to help me along in my journey to becoming a mother.

I wish you all a very Happy Mother's Day whether you are already a mother or not :) And of course I send a special "I love you" to my mom who could not be a better mother to me. She is an example to me and I hope that I can be to my children what she was and is to me. I love you Mom! You're the best mother I could ever hope to have :)

Way Back When-esday: 1st Mother's Day with Five Kids!

This is one busy time of year for us! Mother's Day is Sunday (everyone knows that) and every year on Mother's Day Genetics & IVF hosts their annual baby party. And on Monday Kirk and I celebrate 14 years of marriage! So, it's a little hard to decide what to go back and look at :)

I figured I'd go with Mother's Day this week and Kirk and I next week. Seems fair right?!

All pictures are from May 2007 (I can NOT believe these are 3 years old already).

Look at that stretch limo stroller :) Some days I miss that thing. Can't wait to get back there this weekend and see everyone again and show them how much the girls have grown. And since we missed last year it will be the first one the girls will actually remember - I'm looking forward to that too!



Mother's Day 2007.

Mommy and Kaitlyn (6 years) - my first born; she made me a mom. She also looks like her mom and acts like her mom quite a bit - I love it :)



Mommy and Caleb (3 years) - my one and only boy and he's the sweetest boy ever if I do say so myself.



And the triplets (6 months) - who made me a mom of multiples and I wouldn't trade that for the world.

Mommy and Julianna



Mommy and Rachel



Mommy and Alyssa



They were all such babies then! I'm sure three years from now I'll think the same thing about today but still it's so amazing to me that we survived that stage and have come so far past it.

I hope to have updated pictures of everything this weekend so stay tuned. Want to play along? Head over to Twinfatuation.

Daddy's Little Helpers

It was finally warm enough for the kids to play outside again and they've been wanting to play in the sprinklers for a while. Well, this is the next best thing :) Helping daddy wash the car.



Today it's a lot of fun but ask them in a few years and I'm sure there will be plenty of groans!



The girls loved the idea of getting into their bathing suits and playing in the water until they realized it meant they were going to get wet :) They crack me up. I got them in their bathing suits after they got up from their naps so they assumed it meant we were going to Grandma and Grandpa's house to swim in the pool. They even asked if it meant the long drive was already over! We leave in a month for Grandma and Grandpa's and all the kids are just so excited. Love it :)



After a while the girls got into it and were willing to get themselves wet.



They even got into washing the car.



Alyssa more than the other two - she thought getting sprayed was great :)



After the cars were washed the kids got to play a bit. Caleb wanted to show off his dribbling skills:



And Kaitlyn was riding like a big girl on her "new" bike. She was doing an awesome job!



I know daddy was very greatful for all his "help"!!

Do Fish Count As New Family Members?

When you are certain that they will die at some point and they only cost $0.20 a piece do they count as family members? Do they even count as pets?

Caleb certainly thinks they do :) Meet John and Sam - our new goldfish.



This morning Kirk took the kids yard saling around the neighborhood (so sweet to give me a morning break!) and Caleb came across this fish tank for $1.00 - oh yes, my children are already bargain hunters! Kaitlyn bought a bike for $8.00 and she's been needing one for a while. I love yard sales :)



Caleb is very excited to have his first real pet. He once had a turtle in the back yard but you just can't keep a turtle for very long so we let him go. Caleb has wanted a fish for a while - his whole room has a fish mural in it. We had it done before he was born so while he hasn't totally outgrown it he's getting there. I figured a live fish would grow the "theme" up a bit. Of course, I was hoping to wait till his birthday but the bargain was too good to pass up as was the big smile on his face for our new $0.20 family members.



The triplets LOVE the fish. They are more fun to watch then TV. The only hard part is telling them they aren't allowed to pick them up and play with them!