Birthday Party Pictures

The birthday party was held on 4/1 Sunday (Palm Sunday and yes, April Fools' Day) although their real birthday was April 3rd. Here are some of the pictures I have gotten so far.



Hunter, Just a Swinging

The girls on their new swingset




Party goers



Gabby with her Godmother, Nicola
Auntie Granny with her godkids Hunter and Lexi

Auntie Amanda and Uncle Ant


CAKE CAKE AND MORE CAKE








Releasing Balloons for our Preston

Alexandria.. Then and Now

Allikins in the NICU... My how small :(



Playing on her playmat











Ready to walk!!!

Gabrielle... Then and Now

Gabrielle learning to eat


Gabrielle is starting to eat cereal here














Gabby playing; isn't she cute?

Hunter Then and Hunter Now

Hunter in the NICU

Hunter when he came home from hospital













Hunter NOW!

Our First Birthday Party

We are having their first birthday party on April 1st 2pm at our home although their birthday is actually April 3rd. No I wouldn't let my babies be born on "April Fools Day" so people could say that we were the "fools" who had quads on April Fools. We are having a baby einstein theme as that is what the kids are into out of all that is out there right now. I can't wait till they can appreciate Winnie the Pooh (my favorite). Anyways... we are having it catered (courtesy of my parents), having a tent put up outside because my home is not big enough to support the inivitation list, planning games for the younger kids (and maybe a couple for the adults), and having a slideshow. It is pretty ambitious of me to try to complete a slideshow before Sunday. We will see if it happens. Well, here is kind of a preview of that slide show... I will have the following posts entitled:
Hunter Then and Now
Gabrielle Then and Now &
Alexandria, Then and Now

If by chance I should of invited you and forgot to invite, please let me know. I am a disaster at organization lately and have been racking my brain asking "Who didn't I invite that I should have." Nothing there anymore after 1 year with the babies.

Hunter wins a pageant

I don't have the pics yet, but I will post them here when I can. Hunter won a baby pageant and got a $500.00 mall gift certificate, entry to state finals (actually 4 states' finals), and a sitting with a professional commercial photography in Illinois (guess he won't be taking advantage of that prize). He was so cute. The girls didn't enter. Allie had bruises on her head where she had fallen and quite frankly it's too expensive and too hard to manage walking 3 across the stage!! Comments have not come in a while. Is anyone out there????????? HELLO

Great Grandma

Great grandma calls Hunter an "old soul" and gravitates toward him. The two will sit for hours together; Hunter loves his great grandma. He doesn't get along quite as well with is grandma. She says they "clash."

Christmas Pics

At Gramma and Grandpa's House

Grampa came home from Iraq for 30 days and got to spend a little time with the babies. Sadly, he is already on his way back. Here are a few memories we saved.

Dolphin FANZ

I bought the babies Bucanneer outfits for football season, but when I took them over to Anthony's family's house (BIG DOLPHIN FANS), they threatened to burn the outfits. Suddenly, each had their own dolphin outfit. Here is Gabby and Hunter with their cousin Lauran (top) and their dad (bottom)at their Auntie Granny Lauran's house after they hijacked my kids bucs outfits and replaced them with their team's outfits. It's tradition that they spend Sundays at their house watching football. Mommy finds a way to escape during that time as she dreads football PERIOD. Alexandria is at the bottom with Hunter and daddy.

Fairies and Pixie Dust

Just for fun, Lauran and Judy dressed the babies up as fairies and took pics. Alexandria is at the top, Gabrielle in the middle, and Hunter at bottom. I think these are some of the best pics I have.

Trick Or Treat

TOP: Alexandria and Gabby (Bunnies)
MIDDLE: Hunter (Eyeore
Bottom: Gabrielle,Hunter, and Alexandria









The babies' first Halloween. I wanted it to be special. I had to convince my mother to purchase halloween costumes for them and after much disagreement, she finally gave in and purchased them costumes. She didn't think there was any point dressing them up to get candy they cannot enjoy yet. I fail to look at the practicality of that belief. But, alas... Alexandria and Gabrielle were bunnies and Hunter was the cutest little Eyeore I have ever seen. We took them out for about an hour and a half on Saturday (the day they celebrate trick or treating here in this community) with Lauran, Judy, and several others. Sunday they had trick or treating at the mall and we went there for an hour to collect the goodies. Thru this experience, I have learned a valuable lesson. Having 3 babies (and one angel) means MORE candy for MOMMA AND PAPA!!!

Beauty is In the Eye of the Beholder

I keep hearing about these baby beauty contests they seem to have every week at the mall. Usually, I hear about it after the fact and I think to myself, my babies would win hands down. So, one weekend not to long ago, I had nothing to do. I had driven by the mall on the way to an event and seen the marquis which said "Little Mr. Octoberfest this Saturday at 12 pm." So I thought to myself, why not enter Hunter? Well, I found the number to the beauty pageant people and made the call (going to significant trouble to find out about the event) and I learned that it was for girls and boys and cost $45.00 to $100.00 per child (depending on what you sign them up for as they have all these add ons). So, I decided I couldn't leave one or two of them out. All 3 had to be in it or none. Finances were bad, so I called my mom up and got my mom and grandma to contribute the minimum entry fee for the babies. I got them all dressed up, fed, changed, into their car seats, into the car and I was met at the mall by my husband and his niece who assisted me in showcasing the children. I was amazed at the pageantry dresses, headgear, and pageant moms who coaxed their children into cute poses, stances, hip rolling, etc as they paraded next to them while the children walked on stage. I looked at my little babies, dressed in nothing but simple clothing and thought... "They are the most beautiful babies here." We were at the mall by 11:30 and signed up for the pageant by 12:30. The pageant started after 1PM, close to their next feeding time. They are usually in their best moods 20 min or so after they are fed. So, we started feeding them right before the pageant, but by the time they had to take their "walk" across the stage at the mall, they were still quite hungry and ready for a nap. Alexandria and Gabby were not exactly smiling and laughing, but they managed to make it through it without a cry. Hunter went up with his dad and only had one other baby as competition. The results? Hunter won for most beautiful baby "prince" while his competition won every other category (all the extra contests we didn't pay for - most beautiful eyes, best costume, best smile, most photogenic, etc.). Gabrielle and Alexandria had 5 other babies for competition and went away with 3rd runner up. I felt HORRIBLE. I didn't see how they could be 3rd runners up!!! I wanted a recount!! The competitive side of me came out and it wasn't the best side of me as I recapped how beautiful my children were in comparison to the other babies. I questioned if I was crazy for thinking they were so beautiful. My mom tried to console me by telling me that Gabrielle and Alexandria were not hurt a bit - it was just my ego. Oh well, I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I don't think I will do the pageant thing again soon. At least they all have a nice trophy and I have a memory to share with them when they get older.

Tigger and Piglet

Here are a few cute pics of Gabrielle (Piglet) and Hunter (Tigger). These were taken when they were about 4 1/2 months old, but I had to share anyways.

6 months old!!

Hunter at top with cute t-shirt
Gabrielle and Alexandria on Aunt Judy's lap
Girls in crib holding hands :) cute huh?









October 3rd, 2006 marked 6 months of life for my 3 little beauties, however they are 4 months old (adjusted for prematurity). On Oct 4, 2006, they had their doctor's appointment/check-up and received all these lovely shots. They were very upset for the rest of the evening. Gabrielle just couldn't be consoled. I had all 3 of them crying at once, as I tried everything to satisfy them including: singing, reading to them, giving them baby tylenol, feeding them, playing with them, talking to them, cuddling with them, etc. Despite all my efforts, they didn't calm down. We loaded them up and took them for a drive to grandma's for a nice little break from the whining. She was met with smiling happy babies who fell right to sleep after she bathed them. She thought I was crazy when I said they wouldn't stop crying for me. It must of had something to do with the ride in the car and the bath (despite grandma's belief that she's the apple of their eyes and can magically make them happy at any time).

Fortunately, this doctor's appointment, mom got to be exempt from due to other obligations. Their aunts took them to the doctor and had to deal with the long wait, the screaming, the feeding and changing, and oh yes, did I say the long wait?? Ha ha!! Got out of that one. I hate to see my kids get their shots, especially the RSV shot. They cry for at least 20 minutes. It is horrible. That shot really hurts. But, there were plenty of arms to hold them and love them with me not there. The doctor was very impressed with their development. They are certainly on a 6 month level, though they don't sit on their own yet like they should. They do play with toys, move toys from one hand to another, talk, laugh out loud, lift their arms up when they want held, roll from side to side and front to tummy, etc. Hunter is now 16 lb. Alexandria is 13lb 13 oz and Gabrielle is 12 lb 13 oz. They are eating meals (cereal, fruit, and veggies) 2 times a day. The doctor wants to move it up to 3 times per day and we will be adding 4 oz of juice in a sippy cup. I have no clue how they can do that yet!! Should be fun.