Happy Birthday, Jesse!

In case you can't decipher this Walter White inspired breakfast, Jesse turned 28 today! 

He took advantage of the free birthday breakfast at Denny's before work. Since it was a workday and he didn't need to go in before 8, Jackson accompanied him. 

As soon as Jackson was dropped off, we got to work on baking the requested carrot cake. Jackson can be trusted with every step of the recipe, with the exception of peeling and grating carrots.

The kids and I brought Jesse lunch at work. They had Open House last night so the classroom was neat and orderly. I think James and Amelia had a secret mission to reverse this. James has a sixth sense on where to find cords. It is always the first thing he finds in a room.

The girls raced up and down the hallway

until Maddie surrendered in exhaustion.

Jackson played the role of teacher by talking on the phone, typing on the keyboard, and writing on the board.

Our kids will never be able to escape the classroom setting.

Jesse enjoyed his lunch and birthday cake.

One of his colleagues also celebrated a birthday today, so his team surprised them both with lots of snacks. I'm relieved that Jesse seems genuinely happy with his new school and team!

Once Jesse returned home, Jackson presented him with various gifts that Jack had collected throughout the house. 

My mother made such a big deal out of birthdays. I'm subconsciously training Jackson to be the same way. We sang "Happy Birthday" multiple times throughout the day.

Dinner was Chinese take-out per the birthday boy's request. Jesse has begged me for years to stop inviting the whole family over for his birthday. I finally gave in this year and honored his wish, though it felt counterintuitive. Jesse's mom must have felt the same way, because she stopped by for a late visit, along with our sister-in-law and nephew.

I hope Jesse was made to feel special today and that he is continuously blessed with good health and happiness in the upcoming year. Happy Birthday, love of my life!

Backyard Fun!

Our children have been blessed with all the clothes, toys, and books they could ever need during their first years. However, we really haven't had any kind of outdoor playsets or large toys that all four kids could play with. Until now!

With only a small fraction of the babies' birthday money, we were able to purchase two Little Tikes playsets off of Craigslist.

Jesse's brother and sister-in-law bought the babies the water table we had wanted.

Jesse's mom bought this extravagant climbing playset with tunnel. We chose to keep this toy inside so the babies would have a safe place to climb in their playroom/nursery.

And finally, Jesse's father built a sandbox that all four kids can enjoy.

We've been able to spend our evenings in our own backyard playing with water, sand, slides, swings, etc. I predict many afternoons will be spent playing in our backyard once the weather is cooler, Jesse goes back to work, and the babies are walking. Here are some action shots from the past few days.

In addition to all the big toys for the triplet's birthday, they were also blessed with food, wagons, electronic toys, shoes, gift cards, cups, and more.

There are so many fun things for James, Amelia, and Maddie to explore!

Birthday Week

July is full of birthday celebrations!

1. Happy birthday to me!

I celebrated my 28th birthday with not one, but two family get-togethers. Unfortunately, the birthday lunch I requested caused me to be violently ill for the next 12 hours. Apparently fried shrimp and cake is not much of a treat when your body is used to eating fresh produce and meats.

In addition to an upset stomach, multiple events throughout the day caused unnecessary stress. Red dye that only created pink, being unable to attend weekly coffee, having to cater to Jesse's schedule, and resentment over not teaching next year were a few of the factors that put me in a bad mood. Thankfully, the evening ended on a high note with my family piling into our home for a taco feast.

2. Happy birthday, USA.
Fourth of July was very low key. The only celebrating we did was lighting several packs of sparklers on fire.

3. Happy birthday, Jason.
Jesse's brother, Jason, was surrounded by family and food of his choice. Hopefully those two things were enough to create an enjoyable birthday. I didn't think to actually take a picture of him, though I did take a few pictures of the daughter of a family friend playing with the trio. They could totally pass for quadruplets.

4. Happy birthday, Katie.
I completely missed the traditional midnight phone call to wish my sister a happy birthday. Hopefully I was able to redeem myself by showing up for lunch with a chocolate mocha cake. I love that lunch with sisters takes priority on our birthdays. This is a ridiculous picture for multiple reasons, but it is a pretty accurate reflection of our silliness.

With four birthdays down, we have four more to celebrate next week. My niece is turning 17, then James, Amelia, and Madeline are turning ONE!

Eleven

Maybe it's because eleven was the most significant year of my childhood.

Or maybe it's because I spent every day for five years surrounded by 10-11 year olds.

Or maybe it's just because I adore everything about these girls.

Whatever the reason, when my nieces turned eleven, I knew I wanted to do something memorable to celebrate. Their birthdays fell just before spring break this year. I proposed a few different options and they decided to have a sleepover at our house.

Our time together began with eating a mac-n-cheese lunch before heading off to a park. They chose to play mini-golf. Jackson actually used his golf club correctly this time, but he started wandering around after the second hole.

We did the typical playground stuff-swings, slides, climbing, etc.

I was prepared to relax in the shade. I brought a blanket and toys for the trio and Jack. We had bread to feed the ducks. All was picture perfect...

Until we were attacked by geese! Seriously, these were the most aggressive geese I've ever encountered. Poor Jack was hysterically running away. I think they were just territorial because when one of the geese got up we discovered a huge nest of eggs. Regardless, they were pretty darn intimidating!

After our park adventures. we came home for brief downtime before dinner. Between the eight of us (2 nieces, Jack, trio, Jesse and I) we ate twelve quesadillas in addition to beans and rice. I can't imagine how much food we'll tear through when the triplets are older.

After dinner is always the most stressful time of our day because the kids are getting tired and Jesse and I are busy cleaning and trying to get everything ready for bed. The girls took the babies upstairs to play. Jesse loaded the dishwasher and made his lunch for the next day while I wiped down the high chairs and swept. When we were finished we just looked at each other and said, "Hmmm. You think they could just come by every day?" 

The girls and I got the babies ready for bed,

while Jackson and Jesse inflated the air mattress and made the bed.  Jackson was so excited that his big cousins were spending the night. It took a bit of coaxing to get him to come upstairs and read stories.

After my kids were in bed I went downstairs to spend a few hours catching up on eleven year old gossip and taking quizzes in girly magazines. The good news is that I love chatting with my nieces and could stay up talking to them every night. The bad news is that I'm more out of date than I thought in regards to teen celebrities.

The following morning flew by as I rushed to get everyone fed, dressed, and out the door in time to take Jack to preschool. After dropping Jack off, we headed to the mall for a shopping spree.

The babies and I had hours of entertainment watching the matching fashion show that took place. The entire time I kept staring at Maddie and Amelia while thinking, "Is this what my life will be like in ten years?" I certainly hope it is!

After buying new dresses, we obviously had to go home and do makeovers.

At some point throughout the afternoon we also ate a shocking number of homemade waffles, picked up Jackson from preschool, and cared for babies (nap, diapers, bottles, play, neighborhood walk, etc).

The girls are such little mammas already. I love it!

Happy belated 11th birthday, girls!

Birthday Celebrations for Jack

Birthdays are more like birthweeks in our house. Here's how we spent the week celebrating Jackson's birthday:

Monday: I baked a cookie cake to take to Jackson's preschool on Tuesday. Jackson picked out the dye color for the frosting and decorated the cookie with sprinkles.

Tuesday: Per Jack's request, I provided pizza and cookie cake for lunch at school. I emailed the parents ahead of time so they knew not to pack a lunch. There are only 8 kids in his class and I know them all by name because I hear about them constantly. His peers were more excited about touching the babies than eating pizza. When it came time for the kids to sing "Happy Birthday", Jackson said, "Wait. I not have candles." I blushed a bit and informed him that there were no candles. Oops.

Wednesday: The birthday boy awoke early as usual. My goal for the day was to let him choose anything he wanted for food and entertainment, and to sing "Happy Birthday" as often as possible. His breakfast request was strawberries and "special waffles" (aka cinnamon rolls cooked in a waffle iron). We stayed home since Maddie had her PT at 11. Jackson found great entertainment from watching workers reshingle the roof on our next-door neighbors house. We spent two hours outside before he came back in and zoned out in front of the TV.

After lunch, I took Jackson to the park and Sweet Frog for a special treat. I honestly don't know what happened, but we needed an exorcist for Jackson at Sweet Frog. His meltdown included laying on the floor in front of the register kicking and screaming. I asked him if we needed to leave and he said, "No. I calm down now." Gee, thanks! Sure enough, he returned to his normal (albeit tired) self while we indulged in our frozen yogurt. We even managed to sneak in a quick trip to Target afterwards before he crashed in the car.

Thursday: Our morning was busy with the Easter egg hunt and picnic at school, followed by an afternoon at the park. While the babies napped, Jackson and I went through over a thousand pictures on my computer and talked about what a big boy he was now. I later narrowed down my favorite pictures of Jackson to 75, then uploaded them to Walgreens to print.

Friday: I picked up and sorted our pictures. I've made a large, framed collage for the previous two years. This year I decided to display the photos throughout the house. I put all the pictures related to potty-training on the bathroom door, close-ups beside the hallway mirror, messes with food were displayed in the kitchen, etc.

I stayed up until 1 a.m. baking Jackson's birthday cake.  It turned out well, but a Batman cake from WalMart would have been just as well-received and given me the opportunity to sleep.

Saturday: Party time!  Nearly twenty family members filled our home and yard. Jackson asked for pizza, so we had salad and pizza for the birthday boy. The weather was perfect which meant the kids got to take advantage of the hula hoops and balloons my mother-in-law brought over. Jackson didn't understand the concept of waiting to open all of his presents at the same time. He opened almost every present as our family members arrived. Silly boy! After everyone left and we cleaned the house, Jackson spent the evening wearing his new Batman pajamas, riding his new Batman tricycle

I'm overjoyed that Jackson was able to feel so special this week from his teachers, classmates, and family members. 

Photojournal of Jackson, Age Two

Exactly three years ago today, our life changed when we welcomed this face into the world at 4:28 AM.

8 lb, 15 oz burrito baby

Three years later Jackson Lee is still challenging and blessing us each day. I am so proud of what a reflective, considerate, determined young boy Jack has become. To celebrate Jackson turning three, here are some of the most memorable moments and photos from his third year of life (age two).



No more cribs or pacifiers, big boy room makeover (April 2013)

First trip to the zoo (April 2013)

How my boys spent every Saturday morning in spring/summer

What happens when you let a 2 year old eat a PB&J in the car

Pre-triplets, when bedtime routines consisted of an hour of rocking, singing, and stories with Daddy

Watching planes take off at Airport Overlook (June 2013)

First train ride (June 2013)

Fun with Sparklers on Fourth of July

Final photo as a family of three (July 14, 2013)

Meeting his siblings for the first time (July 15, 2013)



Favorite hobby, feeding the ducks (August 2013)

Alligator cookies (September 2013)

One of many picnics in the park (September 2013)

Catching football after church potluck (October 2013)

Pumpkin patch (October 2013)

Batboy (October 2013)

First day of preschool (October 2013)

"Can we return them?"

Fall Festival/Halloween Costumes (October 2013)

Mr. Resourceful determined to get his candy bucket (Nov. 2013)

Fun at Freedom Park, Panthers Obstacle Course (Nov. 2013)

Annual beach trip (Nov. 2013)

First circus (Nov. 2013)

Final month in diapers

Pinterest Fail=Crazy Christmas Cards

Decorating the Christmas Tree (Dec. 2013)

Finding Jackson the Elf each morning (Dec. 2013)

Starring as Joseph in the school Nativity

First bicycle, Merry Christmas 2013



3-Day Potty Training (Dec. 2013)

Testing out his new ride (Jan. 2013)

Dr. Jack enjoys Discovery Place Kids membership (Jan. 2014)

Clifford Cuddles (Jan. 2014)

Superhero Birthday Party for Cousin Levi (Feb. 2014)

Snowstorm (Feb. 2014)

Building First Snowman

Sous-chef

Visiting the local fire station (Feb. 2014)

Fearless on the Slide (March 2014)

One of hundreds of meltdowns throughout the year (Mar. 2014)

First mini-golf, confused at the 18th hole (April 2014)

Happy birthday, Jackson Lee!