quads and trips

Zoo!

| Pam

Yesterday, my friend Erin and I took the boys to the zoo to meet Ren and her daughter Alison and some friends who were in town for a wedding. It was lotsa fun!

Our friends brought the boys some Red Sox caps. They were so cute. Linus kept his on all day, Oliver took his off after a little while, and I think Miles may be a Yankees fan, because this picture was taken in the split second he actually left it on:

We walked around, Oliver proclaimed everything to be a “cat”, and then we found out that our friends the quads were also at the zoo. So we stopped at a little play area, and waited for them to catch up with us. Took some pictures there…

Miles was SO giddy to be on this toy.

They tried to climb the slide, but just ended up frustrated…

The quads arrived! There were little girls in pink EVERYWHERE. Seriously, it was like that scene from the Matrix when there were all those Agent Smiths. Or something like that. And less evil. You know.

Linus flirted with one of the quads…

…and she flirted right back…

Then we lined the wagons up for one big picture…

The boys have been doing SO MUCH lately. It’s so fun. Oliver’s saying “cat”, mostly to the cat, but at the zoo, to everything. (Did you know that an anteater is a cat? So is a monkey. And a zebra. And a bird. And a giraffe.) He was so excited to see the ducks and was quacking away at them. The weather was kind of yucky at the end, but it was fine. Those zoo passes are the best things ever!

10 babies! Part 2

| Pam

So yesterday we had our second playdate (here’s the first) with the other triplets and the quadruplets. Yes, that makes ten babies. Thank goodness they aren’t ALL mobile yet! This time it was at Stephanie’s house (mom of the other triplets) and, like Alicia, she has an enviable playroom. Toys, toys, and best of all, carpet! Man, I wish we had carpet in some of our rooms. I never wished that before.

Anyway, enough talk. Let’s see pictures!

All ten babies, playing. Click on the picture to see who is who:
IMG_0983

Babies and daddies:

Here I am, covered in my own babies:

Connor tries to break his friends out of baby jail:

Future prom dates for my boys:

This girl is a speed demon! This is a rare shot of Mary sitting still:

Babies! Babies! Baaaabbbieeeeesssss!!!

Okay, I’ll stop now.

Thursday

| Pam

You know what’s exciting? Tomorrow. Tomorrow is exciting because it’s a Catholic holiday and I have the day off. I have big plans. Unfortunately, sleeping late isn’t one of them. That would be truly magnificent, but alas, the boys are still going to daycare so I have to bring them before George goes to work. But I am going to go to the gym after I drop them off. And then I’m going to take the van in to have the (newish) tire looked at. Fun, right? Okay, maybe not that part.

But then I’m going to hang out with Kristie and Ren! Kristie lives in exotic San Francisco, and I haven’t seen her since the day before I went into the hospital. So she’s never met the boys! After having lunch and hanging out, we’ll go pick up the boys so she can see them.

It’s gonna be fun. Except for the tire part.

Speaking of fun, I had dinner with Stephanie and Alicia the other night. You know, my triplet and quad mom friends. After talking to them over the most delicious grilled artichokes on earth (HOLY CRAP), I came to realize I think the boys are eating too much formula and too little food. So yesterday, instead of giving them a bottle after daycare, we gave them some baby food. And then they had their regular evening bottle before bed. They were getting about 40 oz of formula a day, which is apparently way too much. Oops. This is why I like going to the pediatrician every month. But no biggie, they seemed fine with the change from bottle to food.

I’m also going to branch out with what they eat. Currently, they’re getting a lot of purees, and not much else. (Though I did find out they got animal crackers at daycare yesterday, which I have other thoughts on…don’t really want to get into here, am not too angry, but don’t want it happening again, but apparently they loved them…but I don’t want them eating cookies! But they gummed them good, and I am pleased they’re enjoying different textures…so we’ll see.) They’re getting better at picking up their puffs and eating them, so I’m going to add in some chicken and see how they like that. Thanks, of course, to Karen for her advice on this matter.

In other random excitement, I’m wearing my wedding band and engagement ring today! For the first time in a LONG time. Woo!

Sunday we have another playdate with the aforementioned Stephanie and Alicia and their kids. All ten babies will be together again! I think, since Ellen hasn’t responded to our last photo, we need an updated one. Yeah, we’ll be able to get a decent picture with ten babies. Yeah. Right.

And I can’t post without a picture, can I?

Since I don’t have any new ones, how about an old one? Don’t ask who this is, by the way. I don’t know. But he was not quite 2 months old in this picture. Ack!

Oh wait, this was on my phone. Here you go…

Fun.

| Pam

You know what I don’t like about this blog? Thinking of post titles. So they are lame, and will continue to be so. Just FYI.

Last night I had dinner with A & S. I could type out their whole names, but I’m too lazy. Instead, I will refer to them as A4 and S3. That way you’ll know I’m talking about Alicia, who has GGGG quads, and Stephanie, who has GGB triplets. The quads were born 12 hours after my boys, and the triplets, 36 hours after the quads. This makes me slightly sad because will they be able to come to the boys’ birthday parties? We’re going to have to work that schedule out in advance.

You know what I love best about A4 and S3? They don’t read my blog! I know, I know, that makes me sound ungrateful for those who do read this. But honestly, I’m not. It’s just nice sometimes to be able to tell someone a story and not have them stop you a few words into it, with “Oh, yeah, I know…I read about it on your blog.” So when I tell them I’m going on a trip with one baby, they gasp and get excited and ask questions. Heh.

We went to Superior, a Mexican place with yummy margaritas. Oh, I love you so, margaritas! And tonight, we have our Moms of Triplets & More (the “& more” was added just for Alicia) meeting, so I’ll be seeing them two nights IN A ROW! Fun.

Last night, the boys slept great – I wonder if it’s because they went to bed a little earlier than usual? In order to get to dinner, the boys went down at around ten to seven instead of 7:30-8 as usual. And we had NO wakeups! It was awesome. We’ll see if tonight’s the same, since they’ll be on the same schedule.

And on the subject of my sweet baby boys, you know what’s the best thing on earth? Going into their room in the morning when they’ve woken up. They’re generally not crying, just kind of playing with their crib mirrors or whatever.  I’ll say “Good morning Linus!” and he’ll turn his head and give me a huge, heart-melting grin. Oliver is usually laying on his back, gazing at his mobile, so I’ll poke my head over the top of his crib and get my big toothless smile, and Miles will look up and squinch up his face and maybe squeak a little at the excitement of seeing Mama in the morning.

That’s the best. 🙂

10 babies!

| Pam

So we made the news on Sunday night. I was going to wait to post until they put the video online, so I could post a link, but it’s not up yet. In the meantime, be prepared…the cuteness is going to hurt. Hearts will melt all over the land.

You ready?

Are you sure?

Maybe I should just post a link so that you can truly be prepared…

No, I’ll just post it.

Here we go…

Ten babies

Starting at 7:00, that’s my three boys, Steph’s trio, then Alicia’s four girls. All born within 48 hours of each other.

(Lemme explain the onesies – well, what’s to explain? We took this picture to send to Ellen. Ellen was born at the same hospital as them, isn’t that cool?)

5/9/08

| Pam

Linus is much better, whew! And it doesn’t look like the other boys are going to get whatever it was. (I’m still not 100% convinced it’s pink eye, since he’s the only one who got it, but whatever.) Today we go to the ped for their 5 month visit. Usually, our visits aren’t very exciting. But today we’ll have lots to talk about. They’ve been sick with, what, three different things in the past month. They’ve attempted solids. They’ve started rolling over. It’s all very exciting stuff. I can’t wait to see what they weigh. Anyone want to guess? Your prize is the triplet of your choice!

Their stats at their 4 month visit were:
Linus: 14#9.5oz (50th); 25″ long (50th); HC 41.5cm (25-50th)
Oliver: 14#11oz (50th); 24.5″ long (25-50th); HC 43.5cm (50-75th)
Miles: 13#15oz (25-50th); 24.25″ long (25-50th); HC 42cm (50th)

We have other exciting things coming up. Sunday is obviously my first Mother’s Day. I don’t expect exciting gifts (but I can’t wait for the days of pasta necklaces and glittery cards) but our moms are coming over and we’re going to grill steaks. Yum! The following Sunday is our playdate with the triplets and quads. All ten babies will get to meet for the first time! I’m very excited for that. And then Kristina is coming to visit. Yay! She hasn’t met the boys yet, so it’s going to be very fun. We’re driving to San Antonio because I have a conference for work, and I can’t leave the boys at home for a week. She’s going to get to know them very very well.

So yeah, good stuff!

4/29/08

| Pam

Funny…

I have one reader (hi Kelly!) who has a son named Linus. Pretty cool, yeah? And then today I got an email through Flickr from someone who has an Oliver AND a Linus. Now there’s gotta be someone out there who has a Linus, Oliver AND a Miles. 🙂

Tonight I’m having dinner with Alicia and Stephanie, the other moms featured in the ABC News story. I can’t wait to compare notes with them. Between us, we have six girls and four boys, it’s going to be fun to have playdates with them when the kids are older.

A couple of pictures…

Going on a walk…

The boys modeling their new cloth diapers.

Yes, I said cloth diapers. We’re trying them out, hoping to save a little $$$. And yes, it’s hard not to think of the impact three babies’ worth of disposable diapers is doing to the landfills. Hey, I even bought some reusable shopping bags! I’m so green! Woo!