Birthday Dinner

So... my babies turned 2 yesterday... {sniff, sniff, big sigh!}

As sad as their growing up is for me, I do love that they are getting old enough to go out to eat - woo hoo! We have taken them out to very low key places to eat (think sub places, pizza places, local hamburger dive...), but never a 'sit at a high chair, eat off of your own plate and behave' kinda place. Before we had the triplets, we loved going out to eat. That is one of the few things that I miss about my 'pre-kid' life, but we are slowly getting back there.

To celebrate the triplet's birthday, we went out to eat!!!
We chose to go to Red Robin. All of my kids love french fries, the place is loud and the staff usually does a great job when we take Quin there. We weren't disappointed. The food and the staff were great, and the babes did a fantastic job! My parents, my grandpa and my Uncle David joined us.

Easton was excited to see us all from his 'head of the table' position.
It totally helped that they had presents to open while we waited for the food. I hope they don't expect presents every time we eat out now ;)
Ellery

Easton

Gianna

Dinner was great, but... the big highlight was that the staff sang Happy Birthday and each of the babes got their own ice cream sundae. YUM! They loved every drop of them!

The people watching, french fries, presents, sundaes were all good, but what did the girls love the most??? The Balloons!

Ellery was so distracted with her balloon that she almost didn't eat all of her sundae. Good thing she caught the waiter as he was trying to take it away!

My dad, Popa, and Gianna

Ellery never let the balloon get more than 6 inches away from her, leading to the most static electricity hair that I have ever seen on a 2 year old! Poor girl has fine, crazy hair to begin with, she didn't need help from the balloon ;)

When we got back to the house, I was hoping for a picture of all three kids and me. No such luck! Good thing I can count on Gianna for some lovin'!
Quin had some ups and downs when it came to the focus being on the triplets, and not on her. She handled it well for being only three! She did want to play with all of their presents the moment we got home though!
Thank you to my parents, Grandpa and Uncle David for the gifts and helping us at the restaurant! It was a great way to spend their birthday!

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY BABES!!!

WOW! I am in amazement when I think about all of the gains that Ellery, Gianna and Easton have made since their first birthday! In the last year they have gone from just barely learning how to crawl, to now running circles around the house and each other! I can't believe that it really has been two years since the triplets were born. Time really does fly when we are having fun!

Over the past year they have become a more interconnected and cohesive group! Each of them (including Quin) is keenly aware of where the others are and what they are doing. I love to sit and watch them interact!
With that being said, one thing that I am truly in awe of is the triplet's individuality! I don't think three children born within two minutes of each other, could be more different. (Then we throw Quin in the mix, and she is even more different!). We try to encourage and celebrate their unique personalities.
What amazing little beings all four of my children are - I am so lucky to have been blessed to be their mother!

Here is a snapshot of where each of the triplets are today...

Ellery
Within hours of birth:

1 year old
2 years oldEllery is my most serious child. She is a watcher, and takes EVERYTHING in. She is not a risk taker, and has to do things almost perfectly before she is willing to try something in front of others. She is the most shy of the three, and is currently going through a stranger anxiety phase (and takes much longer to warm up to males). Ellery is a problem solver, and loves to do puzzles and read books. She also LOVES to color - she has perfect pencil grip (something this teacher momma is proud of - ha!). Even though she is serious, she loves to have fun and dance around with the others.

Gianna
Within hours of birth 1 year old
2 years old
Gianna is warm and friendly, and so sweet! She is the mother hen around our house. She watches over the others and lets me know when something might go wrong. She is by far the best at helping us pick up. She is a lover - giving kisses and hugs to all of us at unexpected times... I just love that! She also loves to read and take care of her 'babies', but her favorite activity is dancing! She loves music and rhythm! She stops whatever she is doing at the faintest sound of a beat - and she is actually very coordinated, yay! She is very good at imitating others and is a quick learner.

Easton Within hours of birth: 1 year old
2 years old
And then there is my little man... he melts my heart every time I look at him (they all do really!). There is just something about a boy though! Easton is his own little person, and has his own agenda. It blows me away how much 'boy' there really is in him! He loves wheels, building blocks, riding toys, pretend tools, his vacuum, running, climbing,... Easton is non stop! He is definitley the peanut of the bunch - but I think it has a lot to do with the fact that he is go, go, go! He loves to laugh, and playfully tease others. I can totally see him aggravating his sisters in the very near future with his silly and teasing ways!

Once again, he did not want to keep the birthday hat on for the camera. But, every time the camera was put away, he would grab the hat and go! Silly Monkey!

The only therapy that the triplets are receiving is weekly speech, at our house. Their verbal skills are definitely behind, but I am sure they will catch up over time! All three of them talk, just in their own little languages - and... they totally know what each other wants (Quin is great at understanding them also).

Thanks again to everyone who has hung in there with us for the second year of the babes lives! We continue to be blessed with amazing family and friends!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BABES - I love each of you so very much!

When Mom's Away, Linc Gets to Play

My sister, Abbey, and her husband, Kirk, were able to go to Vegas for a long weekend. While they were away, my parents had the pleasure of watching Lincoln - woohoo! I took my awesome foursome over for the whole day on Saturday - and we had a blast! My brother, Nate, was also able to come and play for the day!
I love to watch Lincoln interact with all of my kids (I know I say that every time we get to see him!). What is even better? Seeing my brother join in on the kid fun! The six of them (my four, Linc and my brother) played ALL day long. Thanks again Nate!
Nate is trying to show the boys how rough housing is done right!

Abbey and Kirk have a great sun room/play room, full of toys new and old. Quin dug out Lincoln's old (door jam) jumper. Her immediate thought for what it was??? A giant stethoscope :)

Growing up we would often have family 'dance parties' after dinner. I have continued this tradition with my own four. So... Quin thought it was only right to include Lincoln, Uncle Nate, Popa and Gigi!

Ellery and Gianna even did a little table dancing - go girls!

We missed having Abbey and Kirk around, but sure did love our time with Linc!

Slip Sledding Away

Two weekends ago we took the kids sledding for the first time. There are some incredible sledding 'mountains' near our home, but we needed some tame starter hills. We brought them to the school (playground) where I teach. Quin loves going to my school and was super excited about bringing her sled with her!
Quin was scared to go down alone at first, so Jason and I both were each able to re-live our sledding days for the first few rounds.

She finally became brave enough to make it down on her own - and loved it! Within minutes a certain Ms. Ellery was screaming mad - She was dying to get on that sled!

Quin obliged! :) She was happy to have the babes go down with her.

Gianna

Ellery

Easton

The triplets took a couple trips down on the sled together.

It was very cold out that weekend, and the triplets didn't last long. So, I brought them into our school's gymnasium. We gathered a few balls and I thought they would love to kick and chase after them. Well... that only lasted for a few moments until they found the...

drinking fountain!

What can I say... they live a sheltered life. HA! All three kids were fascinated with pushing the side buttons, seeing the water fly and trying to catch it. When Quin came in from sledding she was happy to show them all of the ins and outs of the fountain.

We spent quite a bit of time shooting hoops, throwing balls and going up and down the steps.

I love going home with 4 exhausted kiddos!!!

Icy Fun

On Saturday we took our Sizemore four down to Holland for the ice sculpting competition. What a neat, free, entertaining family activity! It was fascinating to watch the carvers! They each had different techniques and tools. It was magical to see them carve such cool creatures out of big ol' blocks of ice! Quin didn't like it when they used the chain saws - 'too loud', but liked it when they used their little drills and sanders. They even use irons.

There were a lot of fish and birds. This dragon was different and looked like a lot of work!
Quin loved this eagle! It was very cold out, but the sun was shining, and added beautiful light reflections to the different ice sculptures.

My only complaint was that they didn't close the main street down, so it was VERY crowded! It was difficult to get the strollers through the crowds that gathered behind each sculpture/carver. It was even more difficult to get pictures of them because there were so many people walking in front of them.

This was our favorite fish (plus it was on the large corner giving us lots of room for a picture op).

The Apothecary Shop had a family of four Eskimos carved for people to stop at for pictures. If our kids were a little bit older, it would have been cute to get their pictures all at once. Hopefully there will be more interactive sculptures in the future - cute idea!

If you know me at all, you know that I HATE the cold and winter. I do have to say though - if you can't beat it, why not join it! We had a lot of fun watching all of the events!

First Skate

This past Sunday Jason took Quin ice skating for the very first time! She has been dying to go for over a year now. Jason loves hockey (that may be an understatement!). He watches it on tv, has taken Quin to a few hockey games and up until recently our whole basement was a Red Wing haven. He may have had more fun than Quin!

The city of Holland has an outdoor rink this year, so it was nice to bring her to a local rink. When we got there it was snowing big fluffy flakes. Quin was more interested in trying to catch them in her mouth, than getting on the ice. She thought catching the flakes (and getting them stuck to her face) was hilarious!
As we got there, a few hockey players were finishing their game. After they left, the ice was completely empty for a few minutes. It was nice to have the rink to ourselves! While Jason laced up his skates, I walked Quin around the rink. (It was covered in snow, so it was easy to walk on - Jason was upset there wasn't a shovel. Oh well!)

Of course we brought the babes! They love getting outside, and it was the perfect chance to use the Choo Choo wagon for the first time (it worked like a charm!).

Gianna

Easton

Ellery

Quin and Jason spent a lot of time practicing skating (a.k.a. walking/falling/sliding...) around the rink. The whole time we were there, there wasn't more than ten people total at a time. It was nice to not feel rushed or feel like they were going to be run over by speedy know it alls.

I ran over to the other side of the rink. The babes sat so nicely almost the whole time watching Jason and Quin (the three little heads to the right side of the picture).

Before I know it, the babes are going to want to be on the ice chuggin' along with Quin!

Jason and I drove seperate so that I could take the babes home when they got too cold. What troopers they were. The four of us left just a few minutes before Quin and Jason, but they probably could have made it the entire time!

A big thanks to Jalen for letting Quin use his skates! She thought it was so cool to have his skates!