wilkinsonquints

Some "Firsts" before the Big First Birthday

2008-08-17T17:29:00.000-07:00

I have to start by appologizing because this post is chronologically out of order. I had intended to post these pictures a few weeks ago, but got busy with birthday pary plans and out-of-town visitors and it never happened. So, just imagine you are reading this BEFORE the babies birthday and it will all make more sense!

The weeks before the babies birthday were filled with several new experiences. Here are a few of the things they experienced for the first time:

First trip to Costco! My friend, Liz and sister Tiare came to help. Ryder, Kassidy and Rustin sat in the triple stroller and Kyndall and Kaydence got to ride in the cart. Because they were seperated this way, we had a few people that came up to the stroller and said, "Oh my goodness---I have never seen triplets before!!" (I bet they had never seen quints before either)

First trip to HEB (local grocery store)! Tiare and I did this one on our own with all seven kids. HEB has these great race-car carts that have a couple of seat belts in them, so we could fit all the girls in one and the two boys in the other. The girls were a little squishy, but they all had fun. We looked (and felt) a little bit like a parade as we went through the store. Tiare has been getting really good at her parade wave since she has been here. (elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist, wrist)

First Steps! Rustin was the first one to take some walking steps! He has always been my most determined one, and he just kept trying and trying until he figured it out. I love the early walking stage---the babies are just so proud of themselves when they take some steps and they have these huge smiles on their faces. It is totally adorable!

First Independent Stander! About the time that Rustin was figuring out walking, Kyndall figured out how to stand herself up in the middle of the room. Her balance was great when she was standing still---she could stand there forever, but as soon as she would take a step, she would fall over. She always tried to prepare herself for the walking attempt by laughing and putting her hands in the "Frankenstein" position. It wasn't until her birthday that she figured out how to take more than one step without falling. Now she is hilarious to watch because she has these cute spindly legs and she toddles unsteadily for 5-6 steps, falls down, stands back up, takes 5-6 more steps, falls down, stands back up, etc. until she reaches her goal. The whole time she is smiling and laughing.

First Birthday Present! Kyndall, Kassidy, Ryder and Rustin attack an early birthday present brought over by some friends that were going to be out of town on the babies actual birthday. I think they had almost as much fun with the tissue paper as they did with the actual present.

First Mac and Cheese! I am almost embarassed to admit that the babies were nearly one year old before they had Mac and Cheese for the first time. Giving one baby a bowl of pasta and letting them go at it creates quite a mess, and the thought of cleaning up FIVE TIMES that mess was a little daunting. But my guilt at depriving my kids of one of the rites of toddlerhood finally overtook my desire for cleanliness and I decided to go for it. The babies loved it, of course. They also made a huge mess, as expected, but nothing that a little soap and water couldn't fix!

Kassidy (I don't know if you can see very well in the picture, but several noodles made their way to her hair)

Kaydence

Rustin

Kyndall

Ryder

Quint Olympics: The Crawling Race

2008-08-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

When you need a break from watching the Summer Olympics in Beijing, check out the latest installment of the Quint Olympics! This episode features the Crawling Race.

BEFORE watching the video, cast your vote for who you think will take the gold in the poll to the right! ---->

If you missed the first two Quint Olympic events, you can see them here:

Quint Olympics: Toy Wrestling Competition

Quint Olympics: Cheerio Eating Contest

The Big Birthday Bash!

2008-08-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

Garage Banner made by Christine Woods (the same creative genius that designed my nursery)

After weeks of planning, preparing and baking, the day of the big birthday bash arrived! We really wanted to do something for the babies birthday that included everyone who had helped us out this past year. Making it through the first year is a huge milestone, and I know we wouldn't have been able to do it on our own. When I started making the guest list, I was amazed at the number of people who had helped our family in some way this past year. I send out 223 Evite invitations, and (unfortunately) I still missed some people, which I felt really bad about!

When I first sent out the invitations, I had no idea of how many people to expect! I thought we would probably get around 100 people at the party. But the RSVP list kept growing, and we ended up with around 187 people at the party!

We also had a lot of family here for the celebration. My brother, Ryan, who is on break from dental school came for a week. He was great to entertain Riley and Kaiya by taking them to the pool, movies, McDonald's, etc. so we could get things ready for the party. My sister, Tiare, was also here. She has been living with us for several weeks this summer as my "Quint Nanny". My mom flew in 1 1/2 weeks before the party to help me out (she is great at party planning). My aunt Jeanie and her daughter Kiera also flew in from Arizona to be here for the babies birthday. Jeanie is the one who took care of me and my family while I was on bedrest in Arizona. She also let us completely take over her house when the babies came home from the hospital. She is so amazing, and I am so glad that she got to be here for the big day!

The party was so much fun. The babies looked totally adorable in their coordinating outfits. My mom found outfits in all their colors when she took a trip to Hawaii. My cousin, Kiera, did the girls hair. Unfortunately, things were so busy at the party, that we didn't get very many pictures of the babies! My mom did snap a few before the bulk of the people arrived.

Kassidy, Rustin and Kaydence--Not quite sure what the fuss is all about!

Kassidy

Ryder

Kaydence

The party was "come and go". There was a "Quint Quiz" trivia game with questions posted throughout the house (If you want to check your Wilkinson Quint IQ, I have listed all the questions in the post following this one). There was also lots of food. I started making rolls for sandwiches about two weeks before the party and freezing them. I have to admit that I got a little bit carried away---every time I made a batch we ended up eating some, plus I undercooked the first batch, so I kept thinking that I needed to make more to compensate. I think in the end I made about 300 rolls. Fortunately they freeze well and no one in my family is sick of them, despite how many we have eaten lately!

Besides ham and cheese and chicken salad sandwiches, we had chips, several different appetizers brought by friends, cookies, ice cream and of course cake. The ice cream was provided by Dreyer's. I entered an essay contest for a Dreyer's Slow Churned ice cream party and I was a grand prize winner! They actually give away 1,500 "grand prizes", so it isn't quite as prestigious as it sounds, but hey---its free ice cream!!

Here are some pictures of the food and decorations:

The Food

High Chair Decorations. After the babies were born, my mom's friends threw her a "Quint Mimi" shower. The gal that hosted the shower made the baby cut-outs and signs. They are so cute, I was glad to have an excuse to use them again.

The Family Room

Another angle of the Family Room

The crib room--the signs on the cribs were part of the trivia game.

The Cake

Of course, the cake eating was the highlight of the night! We all sang happy birthday and each baby got a cupcake frosted in "their" color. Rustin was the first to dive right in. Ryder immediately started crying (so typical of their personalities!!!) The girls were all a little unsure of what to do. I love how my sister-in-law, Tobi, described in on her blog. She said, "If this had been a Quint Olympics then Rustin would have won hands down. He was the first to grab his cupcake and smother the life out of it. So funny to see them all clutching those cupcakes until they resembled play-dough!" Eventually everyone figured things out and made a pretty good mess of themselves!

Ryder, Kassidy, Kaydence, Kyndall and Rustin, moments after getting their cupcakes.

"Yum! I get it now!"

Kassidy

Kaydence

Rustin

Kyndall

Ryder

After most of the guests had gone and we had cleaned up the cake aftermath, we let the babies open a couple of presents.

Like most one-year olds, they were more interested in the tissue paper than the actual present :-)

All in all, it was a great day!

The Quint Quiz

2008-08-07T20:46:00.000-07:00

Test your Wilkinson Quint IQ by answering the questions below. (This is the trivia game from the babies first birthday party. ) The answers are listed as a comment. Good Luck!

1. What order were the babies born in?

2. Which baby had the lowest birth weight?

3. What famous fictional character shares a birthday with the quints?

4. What order did the babies come home from the hospital?

5. What was the record-breaking combined total birth weight for the babies?

6. Who was the first baby to get a tooth?

7. Who was the first baby to take steps?

8. What hospital were the babies born in?

9. Which baby weighed the most at birth?

10. Which baby weighs the most now?

11. Who was the winner of the toy wrestling competition?

12. Who was the winner of the Cheerio eating contest?

13. How many bottles do the babies drink in a day?

14. Approximately how many diapers do the Wilkinson's go though in a week?

15. Which baby has had the most ear infections?

16. Which baby used to crawl like a snake?

17. What is the nickname for the big white van?

18. Which new anchors volunteered to work a quint shift?

19. Which baby hates going to the pool?

20. What was the first restaurant the quints visited?

21. Which baby can stand up by his or herself in the middle of the floor?

22. What is the nickname for the stroller?

23. What was the name of the Doctor in Arizona?

24. What day did the babies come home to Texas?

25. What are each of the babies colors?

Happy Birthday Kassidy, Kaydence, Rustin, Kyndall and Ryder!!!

2008-08-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the BIG DAY!! Kassidy, Kaydence, Rustin, Kyndall and Ryder turned ONE!! It has been an amazing year. I am so grateful for the help of friends and family that helped us during the last year. To celebrate, we had a huge party with friends, neighbors and relatives. I will post another birthday update with lots of pictures from the big day as soon as I get a chance. In the mean time, several news teams were here this week, and I have put links to their stories below:

KEYE News story two days before the party

KVUE News Story

FOX 7 News Story

KEYE News story on the Birthday (they were at the party and got footage of the cake eating)

Hill Country News Article

There is also an article in the August issue of Austin Monthly magazine. The website was not showing the August issue yet, but it should be soon. The magazine can also be found locally at Costco, Walgreens and HEB.

Remembering the Birth...

2008-07-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

Picture of the board in my hospital room, exactly one year ago today. Most days is it hard to remember the time when my goals for the day were to finish watching Gilmore Girls and start on Season 1 of Alias!

A few months ago, I decided I better write down all my memories of the babies births before I started forgetting the little details. Now that the babies are just 11 days away from their first birthday, I thought it was a good time to put the finishing touches on the story and share it! It is amazing how much has happened in the last year. Looking at the babies now, it is hard to believe that they were ever that small!

Birth Story

Preparing for the C-section was an all-night process. First the area around where the c-section would take place had to be shaved. Then, I had to take a “cleansing” bath to get rid of any bacteria that might be present. Around midnight they came to put in not one, but two IV’s. Apparently I have really crooked veins, because it took three nurses four tries on one arm and two tries on the other arm to get it right. Then it was time for another cleansing bath (just in case anything was missed the first time). I also had my final weigh-in. In all, I gained 69 pounds during the pregnancy, and I was 54 inches around. I am only 62 inches tall, so I was nearly as big around as I am tall.

My mom and I measuring my tummy, the day before delivery.

At 5:00 am Jayson showed up. Originally, they had told me that I would be taken down to Labor and Delivery at that time, but we talked them into letting us stay upstairs a little longer to try to get some sleep (yeah right---I don’t think I slept more than a few minutes the whole night). Despite the fact that millions of people have c-sections, I was still nervous about the procedure. I was also anxious to meet the little people that I had been carrying for the past seven months, and I was praying that everything would be all right with them.

Around 6:30 am, the nurses came to take me down to the Labor and Delivery area. When I got there, my mom and aunt Jeanie were already there waiting for us. Jayson, Jeanie and my mom all donned scrubs and hair nets to get ready for the delivery.

My mom, Jayson and my Aunt Jeanie--Don't they look cute??

Around 7:15, Riley, Kaiya, my dad, my cousins and my Aunt Kathy arrived. Riley and Kaiya were so excited. They would all be in a special waiting room with TV screens showing the babies after they were born.

Aunt Kathy, Ashlyn, Kiera, Riley, Jeanie, Erika, Kaiya, BrieAnne, Jayson, my Dad

Dr. Elliott came in to check on me. He had been with his family on vacation and flew in the night before to be there for the delivery. He asked me if I wanted to wait just 5 more days so I could break the quintuplet gestation record. I told him, “NO!!!”. I was so ready to have those babies! (after the delivery we discovered that I had all the symptoms of preeclampsia except for high-blood pressure, so I probably wouldn't have made it five more days anyway)

Dr. Park, Me and Dr. Elliott

Finally the nurses came to get me to take me to the delivery. They loaded me into the wheelchair and pushed me down the hall. On the way we were greeted by another nurse, who explained that the room was not yet ready, so we had to turn around and go back. They left me in the wheelchair, thinking that it would only be a few minutes. After ten minutes of sitting, I couldn’t sit in the chair any longer (my tummy was so huge by that point that trying to sit was extremely uncomfortable!) and they helped me back onto the bed. Moments later they came for me again---this time they really were ready.

Me, just before being wheeled to the delivery room.

On the way to delivery! (For real this time!)

The delivery room was packed with people. Each baby required its own team of three people. For myself, there was my doctor (Dr. Elliott), the resident who was performing the delivery (Dr. Park), a fellow doctor from the practice who was assisting, the anesthesiologist, and a couple of nurses. Then there was one still photographer, two videographers, my husband, my mom, my aunt, and even a person whose sole responsibility was to record the babies birth times. (That is at least 29 people!)

The delivery room itself was divided into two parts. The surgery took place in the main room. The other part, sectioned off by glass windows, was where the bassinets waited for the babies.

View of the surgery side of the crowded delivery room.

View of the baby care side of the delivery room.

Once in the delivery room, I met the Anesthesiologist who gave me an epidural. Because I was so large, I had to be numbed from the chest down. This was such a strange sensation. I felt like I was suffocating because I couldn’t feel my chest moving up and down, and yet if I looked at the monitors, I could see that I was breathing just fine. The anesthesiologist was awesome---he just kept reassuring me that everything was fine throughout the entire delivery. After the epidural was in, they laid me down and strapped my arms to a board. At first I thought this seemed unnecessary, but then I realized that I the medication caused me to shake uncontrollably, so having my arms secured was a good idea. At this point, they put up the blue cloth so that I really couldn’t see what was going on.

Me, strapped to the board with the Anesthesiologist by my head.

Jayson came in and sat near my head and held my hand. In his lap, he held his cell phone with his mom on speakerphone so she could hear the delivery. I was surprised when only a few moments later I heard the doctor say they were ready to make the first cut. He called the time at 8:12 am.

Jayson with his mom on speakerphone. (He was so nervous, he actually hung up on her once and frantically had to call her back.)

Five minutes later, at 8:17 a.m. Kassidy was born. I heard her cry, and then moments later Dr. Elliott held her up for me to see. I couldn’t believe it! She looked beautiful and perfect and she was huge! Much bigger than I had imagined in my mind. I couldn’t figure out how five that size could have fit in me. She turned out to be the heaviest of them all. Next to come was Kaydence. She ended up being the smallest of the bunch, in contrast to Kassidy, but she was just as perfectly formed and beautiful. Then Rustin, Kyndall and Ryder followed. As each baby was born, I was amazed and completely overwhelmed with emotions. I was so happy to see all of the babies look so perfect and healthy and I was in awe at the miracle of it all. After all the months of anticipation, it was over in less than three minutes. The doctor held each one up for me to see, then the babies were passed to the nurses who took them into the partitioned room to be checked out by the nurses and doctors in there.

8:17 am Baby A: Kassidy, 5 lbs 1 oz

8:18 am Baby B: Kaydence, 3 lbs 6 oz

8:18 am Baby C: Rustin, 4 lbs 15 oz

8:19 am Baby D: Kyndall, 4 lbs 2 oz

Baby E: Ryder, 3 lbs 15 oz

This picture is a little gross, and yet morbidly fascinating at the same time. This is the bucket where they put all the placentas and umbilical chords.

Once each of the babies had been examined by the doctors and nurses, they bundled them up and let Jayson and my mom hold a couple of them. One of the nurses brought Kaydence over for me to see. Kaydence was so alert and ready to meet the world!

Me with Kaydence

All too quickly it was time for the babies to be moved. Kaydence, Rustin, Kyndall and Ryder were taken to the NICU and Kassidy was big enough and healthy enough to go to the regular baby nursery.

Most of the crowd left with the babies, and I was left with my set of doctors and nurses in the operating room to be sewn back together. Of course I couldn’t see anything that was going on the other side of the curtain, but Dr. Park later told me that they had to take my uterus out and set it on top of my abdomen to massage it and encourage it to start shrinking. After a singleton delivery, the uterus is about the size of a fist. Mine was the size of a football. Dr. Park also said that she put some stitches on my uterus that made it look like it had suspenders.

Once I was sewn back together, they took me back to the recovery room. Ironically, once the surgery was over and I was allowed to eat again, I had absolutely no appetite. It was amazing how much smaller my stomach was. I still looked pregnant (in fact the first thing Kaiya said to me when she saw me after the delivery was, “How come they left a baby in there?”), but I was a lot smaller than I was, and I could actually sit up at a 90 degree angle again!!! Now that the babies were out, my body didn’t know quite what to do, and my kidneys decided to stop working. I was put back on the magnesium sulfate (something I had done my best to avoid the last couple weeks of the pregnancy) and given some other medications to get my kidneys going again.

Before the babies were born, we had five names picked out, but we wanted to wait until after the babies were born to decide which baby would receive which name. I had thought that it would be difficult to assign the names, but it turned out to be very easy. For the girls, my aunt Jeanie had claimed the name Kassidy for the girl with lots of dark hair. (I had lots of dark hair when I was born). The littlest baby at birth was also the feistiest and the most alert and eager to learn how to drink from a bottle. She seemed to “march to the beat of her own drummer” and hence the name Kaydence seemed appropriate, which left the last name, Kyndall. For the boys, the names we had picked were Rustin and Ryder. When one of the boys had red hair, we knew he was supposed to be Rustin, which meant that the other boy would be Ryder.

Kassidy

Kaydence

Kyndall

Rustin

Ryder

Dr. Park surprised me by making five birthday cakes—one for each of the babies. Not only did she make five cakes, but they were all different—there was carrot cake, chocolate fudge cake, lemon meringue cake, strawberry cake and confetti cake. Not only is she a great doctor, but she is an awesome cook as well!

Birthday Cakes: Carrot, Chocolate, Lemon Merangue, Confetti and Strawberry

That night my family came back, and together we celebrated the birth of these five beautiful little miracles. It is a day that I will never forget. God has given me an incredible gift. These babies have truly been a blessing to our family, and I know they have blessed the lives of many other people as well.

Wilkinson Family, a few days after the birth.

Quint Olympics--Cheerio Eating Contest

2008-07-14T19:32:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest installment of the Quint Olympics featuring the Cheerio Eating Contest. If you missed the first event, toy wrestling, you can see it here.

Fourth of July

2008-07-11T07:43:00.000-07:00

Back: Riley, Rachelle, Jayson, Kaiya

Front: Kyndall, Rustin, Ryder, Kaydence, Kassidy

We celebrated the babies first fourth of July with my parents (aka "Mimi" and "Papa") and my younger sister, Tiare (pronounced T-R-E). Tiare just finished her freshman year at BYU and is living with us for July and half of August to help with the babies. Isn't she the BEST???

We started our holiday by taking lots of pictures, because, as we all know, there is some universal law that says:

Matching shirts = Kodak Moment

Ryder, Papa, Rustin Kassidy, Kyndall, Tiare, Kaydence

Papa holding Kassidy, Jayson holding Kaydence, Riley, Kaiya, Rachelle holding Rustin and Ryder, Tiare holding Kyndall

Top: Tiare, Mimi Middle: Riley, Rachelle, Jayson, Kaiya
Front: Kyndall, Rustin, Ryder, Kaydence, Kassidy

Once we exhausted ourselves and the babies taking pictures, we took advantage of the unusually high number of adults (5) and went to the pool. I expected the pool to be packed, but it was amazingly empty, considering it was a holiday.

Jayson, Kyndall, Kaydence, Riley, Ryder, Rachelle Kaiya, Rustin, Kassidy

Riley

(sidenote: Riley was awarded "Swimmer of the Week" at Swim Team this week!)

Kaiya

Kassidy probably loved the water more than anyone. She would stay in the floating boat all day if we let her!

Despite his serious expression in this picture, Ryder also loved the water.

Kyndall was a little less excited by the pool, but she didn't mind it.

Tiare with Rustin

Kaydence didn't want anything to do with the water. She preferred to sit with Papa in the shade (who also wanted nothing to do with the water).

After swimming, some friends of ours were brave enough to invite us over for dinner. The babies are usually so excited to be somewhere new, that they actually do pretty well when we take them places. (Kaydence, Kyndall, Ryder, Kassidy, Rustin)

This picture doesn't actually have anything to do with the fourth of July. I just thought it was cute, so I am throwing it in anyway. (Kyndall, Kaydence, Ryder, Kassidy and Rustin)

Big Brother Riley Turns 8!

2008-06-22T12:47:00.000-07:00

Riley and Kaiya with cousins Cora and Alec on his birthday.

This week Riley turned 8!! I can’t believe I have a child that old! I remember when I turned 8, and at the time, my mom seemed a lot older than how I feel now. Riley is an awesome kid. He is very sensitive and thoughtful of others. Every once in a while he sneaks in my room to make my bed or leave me a nice note. He loves to read, play LEGOs, and ride his bike. He just started piano lessons last week and he is on the swim team and loves it. He is very gentle and a great helper with the babies.

Riley and the new bike he got for his birthday.

Fun Facts about Riley:

Favorite Colors: Blue and Green
Favorite Food: Pizza
Least Favorite Food: Tomatoes
Favorite Treat: Ice Cream
Grade in School (2008-2009 school year): 3rd Grade
Favorite Subjects: Reading and Art
Least Favorite Subject: Math
Favorite Superhero: Spiderman
Favorite Thing To Do: Play with friends
Favorite Restaurants: Rudy’s BBQ and Taco Bell
What he wants to be when he grows up: Moviemaker

Favorite Riley Quotes:

Riley (at the start of every meal): “What do I have to eat to get dessert?”

Riley: “Mom, what does it mean to be famous?”
Mom: “It means a lot of people know who you are.”
Riley: “Oh, I get it, so we are famous, but not rich.”

The Scene: We walk into Jamba Juice where two older ladies are sitting at a table, drinking their smoothies. Riley suddenly starts sobbing.
Mom: “Riley, what’s wrong??!?”
Riley: “I just don’t want you to get wrinkles!” (sniff, sniff)

Riley (almost seven) in the Bluebonnets--the Texas State Flower

Riley (6 years old) playing T-ball

Riley (5 years old) on his first day of Kindergarten

Riley (4 years old)

Riley (3 years old) has always loved to dress up--in anything!

Riley--2 1/2 years old

Riley--1 year old

Riley--9 months old

Riley--5 months old

Riley saving the universe--4 months old

Riley (2 weeks old) on his blessing day.

Cast your vote for which baby looks the most like Riley in the poll to the right===>

Quint Olympics

2008-06-17T19:28:00.000-07:00

My husband, Jayson, made a video of the babies in the first ever (at least that I know of) Quint Olympics. Riley and Kaiya also star in the video as the commentators. Jayson posted it on his blog a couple of days ago but I am not sure how many people read both blogs, so I am posting it here too. We had a lot of fun filming it and I think Jayson did a great job putting it together. (If you've already seen it on Jayson's blog, than I appologize for the redundancy.) If you like this video, stay tuned....there are more events to come!

My Three Favorite Fathers

2008-06-15T13:26:00.000-07:00

In honor of Father's Day, I want to do a short post about the important men in my life who are fathers.

First, of course, is MY Dad! He is one of those people that everyone likes. He is outgoing, creative, diplomatic, funny and smart. One of my favorite stories about my dad was when he was 19 and serving a mission for our church. He served for two years in upstate New York. While on his mission, he spent a lot of time knocking on doors trying to share a message about the gospel of Jesus Christ. More often than not, this resulted in doors being slammed in his face. At one house, the lady that answered the door was particularly rude and unfriendly. After the door slammed in their face, my dad and his companion quickly ran around to the back door and knocked again. The same lady answered the door. Before she could speak, my dad smiled really big and said, "Whew am I glad to see you--that lady at the front door was so grumpy!" At this the lady softened and invited them in for a drink of water.

Red Hair buddies--My dad with Rustin

My dad with newborn Kaydence--It's hard to believe she was every that tiny!

Second is my husband, Jayson. He is such a great father to all our children. The minute he gets home from work, he steps right in and helps with the babies. He is usually the one that reads to Riley and Kaiya and tucks them into bed at night. He even gets up in the middle of the night (more often than I do) to move fussy babies into "solitary confinement" (pack-n-plays in places like the closet and storage room where babies can fuss without waking up the whole crew). He has a great sense of humor and an infectious laugh. He also puts up with all my imperfections, which is no easy job.

Riley and Jayson

Ryder, Rustin and Jayson. This picture was taken in November--I can't believe how much the boys have changed!

Third is Jayson's dad, Kevin. I appreciate the example that Kevin has been to Jayson throughout his life because it has helped make Jayson into the wonderful person that he is. Kevin is also a terrific Grandpa. When Riley was two, he took a week of vacation to take care of Riley so that Jayson and I could go to Hawaii with my family. Since the babies have been born, he has come by himself a couple of times to help with the babies. I don't know a lot of father-in-laws that are willing to use their vacation for babysitting.

Kevin with Kyndall, Rustin, Kaydence, Kassidy and Ryder

Kevin with Kyndall. I think Kyndall looks just like her grandpa (only cuter)

"Outtakes"

2008-06-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

Most of the time, I like to post really adorable pictures of the kids. This really isn't that difficult to do because let's face it---I have really adorable kids. (in my totally biased opinion of course--doesn't every mother think her kids are the most adorable things around?). However, to be totally honest, the cute smiling pictures I usually post aren't always the whole story. Today, I decided to share a "behind the scenes" look at what really goes on when we take pictures at our house...

The Cute Smiling Picture I Posted on the Blog...don't they look angelic?

Kyndall, Rustin, Kaydence, Ryder, Kassidy

What really happened during the photo shoot...

Cute picture of my cousin Christine and the babies.

Christine with Kaydence, Rustin, Kassidy, Ryder and Kyndall

What really happened during the photo shoot...

You probably don't recognize this next picture because we never did get a "cute" one to post to the blog. Have you noticed that Ryder does not like getting his picture taken? Even the Cheerio's we put in his mouth during this photo shoot were not making him happy...

Kyndall, Rustin, Kaydence, Ryder, and Kassidy

Kaydence was clearly unaffected by Ryders tantrum, but Kassidy decided to take matters into her own hands...

Poor Ryder!

No one was very happy in this shot of my friend, Halli, and the babies

Halli with Kyndall, Ryder, Kassidy, Rustin and Kaydence

But sometimes a change in location can do wonders...

Riley and Kaiya are not exempt. Even with all the pictures we take around our house, they have a hard time giving a real smile. Their "fake" smiles make it look as though they are being tortured (maybe because they rank picture taking right up there with eating a large bowl of raw tomatoes), but when we try to coax a "real" smile out of them, it usually ends up in laughter.

Before

After

Before

After

I think we usually average around 10-15 "bad" shots for every good picture we get. For the calendar, the number was more like 50. Thank goodness for digital!!!

Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Five Babies in a Tub

2008-05-18T13:31:00.001-07:00

With my mother-in-law here this week, we decided to be adventurous and give the babies their first bath in the big tub. It was quite a workout getting everyone undressed, weighed, bathed and dressed again---all while trying to prevent drowning and other life-threatening activities. The babies had a blast, and in the end, so did we!

Bath in the Big Tub...By the Numbers

1 Grandma
1 Mom
1 Big Sister
2 Cameras
1 Video Camera
1 Big Garden Tub
4 Inches of Water
2 Towels on the bottom of the tub
5 Pairs of PJ’s to take off
2 Wet Diapers
3 Poopy Diapers
1 Puddle of she-she on the carpet

(Note: she-she = what we call urine at our house)
2 Towels and
20 Sprays of Spot Shot to clean it up
1 Baby Scale
5 Cute Naked Bums
1 Bottle of Baby Wash
5 Washcloths
1000’s of Splashes

10 Ears to wash behind

5 Heads of hair to wash
9 Puddles on the floor
5 Hooded Bath Towels
5 Clean diapers
3 Matching Girls Outfits
2 Matching Boys Outfits
1 Baby Brush
100’s of Smiles
5 Clean Happy Babies!

More Fun Pictures from the Week:

Ryder, Rustin, Kassidy and Kyndall

Everybody loves laundry day at our house!

The whole crew in the morning before school:
Kassidy, Riley, Kyndall, Kaiya, Ryder, Rustin, and Kaydence

Mother's Day Dinner on the Back Porch
Kyndall, Rustin, Ryder, Kassidy, and Kaydence

Rustin, Kassidy, Kaydence, Ryder and Kyndall

Baby Council: Ryder, Kyndall, Kassidy, Rustin and Kaydence

A Tribute to My Mom

2008-05-11T04:34:00.001-07:00

Betty Ann Curtis aka "World's Greatest Mom"

Top Ten Reasons Why My Mom is the BEST!!!

10. She is super-organized. I have learned a lot from her, and being organized is the only thing that has kept me sane with all these babies!

"Mimi" with Kaydence, Kassidy, Rustin, Ryder and Kyndall

9. She is the ultimate multi-tasker

Mimi with Kassidy, Kaydence and Rustin

8. Growing up, she drove me (and my 5 other siblings) to all of our extra-curricular activities. She was our biggest cheerleader and almost never missed a performance, game, meet, etc. that any of us was in.

Rachelle, Mom, Tiare (my sister) Other siblings not pictured: McKay, Colby, Ryan and Shane

7. When it comes to finding bargains, my mom is amazing.

Mimi and Papa with Ryder, Kassidy, Kyndall, Kaydence and Rustin. (The outfits the babies are wearing were only $5.)

6. She makes magnificent meals in the microwave. Until I went to college, I didn’t even know that “normal” people brown ground beef on the stove

5. Family always came first with my mom. She made sure that we read scriptures and had prayer together as a family every day. We also had “Family Home Evening” every week.

The Curtis Family (minus Colby) in Summer 2006

4. Any moment can become a Kodak moment when my mom is around.

Our first trip to Rudy's BBQ with my mom and brother Ryan.

3. She is a good friend—she listens and gives good advice.

2. She is a terrific “Mimi” (what the grandkids call her)

Kaiya, Mimi and Riley at Ed Debevic's in Chicago.

1. She has been incredibly supportive. From the moment that I told her that we were expecting quintuplets, my mom has been there for me. She provided emotional support during the ups and downs of the pregnancy and she spent a large chunk of her summer taking care of Riley and Kaiya while I was on bedrest (in the middle of trying to sell her house and put on a huge family reunion).

My mom and I the day before delivery.

Since the babies were born, she has come nearly every month for 10-14 days at a time to help take care of the babies. She has sacrificed a lot in her own life to be there for me, and I am so grateful for her. I could not have asked for a better mother---she is the BEST!!!

Back: Mom, Rachelle Middle: Kaydence, Kassidy, Rustin, Kyndall Front: Ryder