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My babies are six! How did they get so old? Their big day was yesterday and we all had a blast, despite a few snafus.
We started the day bright and early... 7am. I'm pretty sure they were up before then, but the night before I told them not to wake us up until the sun was up. I'm surprised they held off as long as they did. After opening gifts, Hubby made pancakes. I had to cut everyone off after two because I knew there would be plenty of cake and cupcakes to come.
Hubby picked up the cake for yesterday's party and the cupcakes for school. (Yes, I'm that mom, the one who sends in store bought cupcakes. I don't have the time to make 45 cupcakes!) Hubby came home with one box of cupcakes. I ordered two. I frantically called the bakery. The woman who answered tried to tell me I only ordered one box. I told her to look at the form again. She told me I filled the form out wrong. I told her a bakery employee filled it out. She said she would have the second box ready in about 10 minutes. Crisis averted, except for the fact that Hubby had to drive back to the store.
We celebrated with a small cookout in the backyard and only invited two families with children, plus our neighbors and my in-laws. At the last minute one family wasn't able to attend, but the other family we invited has triplets, so there were still plenty of kids to help us celebrate!
By the end of the night we were all exhausted. Two of my girls were asleep within minutes of being tucked in. The other two were out soon after that.
This morning they played a few rounds of their new game Hungry Hungry Hippo and then headed to school with 45 pink Toy Story cupcakes. All in all, it was a great 6th birthday!
Yesterday was our first time attending a party for multiples. It was interesting to be on the "other side" of things for once. It gave me some insight on how parents of singletons must feel when they're invited to parties for my daughters.
The invitation arrived a few weeks ago. The party was for a girl in my daughters' preschool class and her twin sister, who is in another class. I have to admit, the invitation stressed me out. It was for both of the girls, but we only know one of the girls. Did the mom just not want to print separate invitations? Should I buy a present only for the one we know? For both? Auggghhhh! You think as a mom of quadruplets I wouldn't have to think about this. I should just know what to do. In my defense, when we've had birthday parties I have either made it clear that the party is for all four or I've instituted a "no gifts" policy. In the end I bought coordinating gifts for both of the girls. One received a Disney Princess tea set with some other Disney Princess gifts (a paint set and some puzzles), while the other sister received a Tinkerbell tea set with Tinkerbell gifts (paint set and puzzles). I'll be honest, I was quite proud of myself for being able to find the exact same things but different characters. Shopping for and coordinating gifts for twins is so much easier than doing it for quadruplets!
It was nice to be at a party where the "quad factor" wasn't a big deal. Everyone was so used to seeing twins (the birthday girls) that it didn't phase them to see another set of multiples running around. (I'm pretty sure many of the guests thought I brought two sets of twins). Besides, there was yet another set of multiples... a set of nearly-one-year-old triplets. (I just have to throw in a side note that the triplets were born via a surrogate... who just happened to be the mom of the twin birthday girls!!! I tried not to ask "annoying" questions since I know how that feels, but I was fascinated by it all. So know I also know now how strangers feel when they're asking me questions. Most of the time they likely feel how I did... fascinated and trying not to come across as intrusive).
In closing, I would like to thank everyone who voted for me in the Second Annual Multiples and More Blog Awards. I won!!!! Thank you for your support. It truly means a lot to me to have faithful followers, whether you're friends, family or just enjoy my blog. I would also encourage you to check out the other two blogs nominated in my category, as they are both outstanding. It really was an honor to be nominated alongside Two Little Monkeys and Silly Precious Piggies.
Oh, and I've decided to give Twitter one more try. I deactivated my account awhile ago after it was hacked, so let's hope this time around goes a little smoother. You can follow me here. (Thanks MaryAnne for being my first follower!)
This year my daughters' birthday fell on a Saturday. This meant we spent the entire weekend celebrating. It was fun, mainly stress-free and a tad exhausting. Here are some things I learned.
- Taking four girls to a doll store the day before their birthday and telling them they can pick a doll can be quite overwhelming.
The girls' godparents took them to the American Girl doll store and let them each pick out a Bitty Twin doll. (The dolls come in a set of two and each girl received one doll). If you are not familiar with American Girl dolls, let's just say there are tons of accessories and clothes you can buy, along with dozens of doll options. I've never seen my girls so quiet. They just didn't know what to think. I held Tortilla up to the case with the Bitty Twin dolls and asked her if she wanted to take one home. She shook her head no! Fortunately, Sue Sue knew which doll she wanted and then her sisters realized what was going on and wanted to pick one, too. (They are all quite happy with their dolls now. Interestingly enough, Sue Sue and Roo, who share a room, picked the same doll. Cakes and Tortilla, the other roommates, picked matching dolls, too). After a plea on this blog, I found someone who makes doll clothes. I gave each of them a dress on their birthday. They have dressed and undressed those dolls dozens of times since yesterday. If you are looking for inexpensive, beautifully made doll clothes, shoot me an email and I'll put you in contact with the person who makes them!
- Something is going to go wrong.
No matter how much you plan, something is going to happen to make you shake your head. I promised the girls a birthday breakfast of blueberry muffins and smoothies. The blender broke that morning! Fortunately, Hubby is quite handy and managed to fix the blender for one final "blend" and the smoothies were saved. (Now I get to treat myself to a new blender, which may not sound exciting to many of you, but I've been wanting a Magic Bullet for a long time.)
- It pays to sign up for a company's email list.
Instead of a party, we opted to treat the girls to their first visit to Chuck E. Cheese. The grandparents who live near us came, as did the girls' godparents. About a week ago, I signed up for Chuck E. Cheese's email list and received a batch of coupons just for signing up. If you go to the restaurant without coupons, for $27.99 you get one large pizza, two soft drinks and 35 tokens. With my coupons, we spent $29.99 and received one large pizza, one medium pizza, four soft drinks and 35 tokens... plus I had a bonus coupon to receive 20 free tokens. Once you add in the two additional soft drinks and four milks we purchased, we spent just over $40... not bad if you look at the prices without coupons. Besides, I didn't have to clean anything up! (Oh, and after using our 55 tokens we were ready to go home for cake and ice cream).
- Mermaids really do exist.
Our celebration continued on Sunday with a trip to our local aquarium. It's a pretty pricey adventure, but the woman who taught our swim lessons works there and invited us as her guests. She took us to her office and let the girls hold a tree frog and touch a snake and a bearded dragon. Then we were free to roam the aquarium. One of the shows involves "mermaids" swimming in the tank with fish and sharks. It was pretty amazing to see the underwater stamina these women have. They didn't have any air tanks (a diver was nearby) so they would have to surface every few minutes. While they were underwater, they were smiling and waving and acting out a lesson about conservation and clean water. After the show, the mermaids were pulled out in a wagon to meet the audience and take pictures with little girls. (I say girls because not a single boy wanted to pose with the mermaids).
All in all, we had an amazing and fun birthday. Now I should probably figure out how to top this in another year! (Oh, and just a little clarification: While I mentioned some specific products and places, no one paid me for this post. I just think it would have been silly to refer to these places as X or Y. Hmmmm, maybe they'll thank me later for the free advertising!!)
In just a few days we will be celebrating the big "5." This birthday is a little bittersweet. Five is a big deal... my babies aren't babies. But we're going to have fun.
This is the first year we've really acknowledged their individual tastes. In the past, I've made them share a cake or a theme. This year, we're not having a big bash with friends. It was too stressful last year, so we're spending the money on a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. For some reason, my daughters decided that you're not allowed to go to Chuck E. Cheese until you're 5. I decided to humor them.
Anyway, when it came time for the cake, I was a little stumped. I looked through the cake book at our local grocery store, but nothing jumped out at me. I talked it over with Hubby. He asked if I could have four small cakes made. I tried one time at the grocery store bakery and it was a huge hassle. Hubby suggested we make the cakes. Typically when you make a round cake you make two layers. Instead, we'll just make four one-layer cakes (this means we are going to have plenty of leftovers because none of us eat a lot of cake). Each of the girls requested different toppers. It was like looking for a needle in a hay stack. I went to our local party store, which was a wasted trip. The girls want Sleeping Beauty, Hello Kitty, Strawberry Shortcake and Cinderella. The princesses were easy to find at the party store... but Sleeping Beauty had on a blue dress. (What?! She ALWAYS wears pink... I think). The selections for Hello Kitty and Strawberry Shortcake were disappointing. I finally left the party store and went to a toy store. For much less than the price of cake toppers, I found four toys to put on the cakes. I'm still not happy with the Hello Kitty toy I found, but it will have to do. I bet next year when none of them request Hello Kitty, I'll find tons of cake toppers!
It's bound to be a busy weekend, but hopefully a fun one! I'll tell you more about it next week!
With this post, I am setting myself up for potential spammers. I'm willing to take the risk. I need some help with my daughters' approaching birthday. They will each be receiving a Bitty Twin (one twin each, not one set of twins) and I want to buy each girl an outfit. But I don't want to pay $24+ per outfit. The dolls are 15-inches. Do you know someone who makes doll clothes for a reasonable price? Have you seen a good sale? Do you already own Bitty Twins or Bitty Babies and have some insight on where to find cheaper clothes than the ones offered by American Girl? Craft shows are out. They tend to happen on Saturdays when I work. As soon as I come home from work, Hubby is on his way to work and I can't do birthday shopping with the girls in tow. Any suggestions are appreciated.
I have officially survived a 4th birthday for 4 girls that, appropriately, lasted 4 days. Our celebration began Thursday. My daughters took cupcakes to school and their teacher made each of them a "birthday crown."
The fun continued into Friday (their actual birthday) when we surprised them with a V-Tech Smile. All four of them have been eyeing Hubby's Playstation, so I thought it was best to buy an age appropriate and somewhat educational video game system. Hubby thinks it's funny that I had trouble playing the "difficult" level, which is meant for six year olds. We also saw Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Unfortunately to see the 3D or IMAX version we would have blown more than $50, so we settled for the non 3D version. It's a pretty funny movie. Appropriate for children, but a few jokes thrown in for adults. We also had more cupcakes.
Saturday was the day of the big party. The weather was perfect and (I think) everyone had fun. We played games, we ate cupcakes, we ran around until we were all exhausted. What more could you ask for from a party for preschoolers?
Sunday was a day to relax. We played some of their new videogames and watched a movie. Oh, and we had cupcakes! Yes, my daughters are on sugar overload.
Today I'm trying to get back to the normal routine. Roo didn't want to get dressed. Sue Sue didn't want to eat breakfast. Heck, I didn't want to take them out in the pouring rain to go to school... but I did... because today is another little girl's birthday and they're having cupcakes at preschool!
Tomorrow is a big day in this family. My four daughters will turn four. How did that happen? When did they go from 1 1/2 pound babies fighting for their lives to these... these... people?
This birthday is a hard one for me. Basically I have to face facts: my babies aren't babies. They're beautiful little girls, who will grow into teenagers and adults. It's such a blessing to see how far they've come, but a little sad, too.
Just the other night, as I prepared for bed, I checked on my girls. All I could do was stand there and look around the room. It's amazing to be in their room in the middle of the night, watching them sleep and know they beat the odds to survive. It's also amazing to look around their room and realize we managed to fit four cribs/toddler beds in there. I'm still stressing about our plan to move them to twin beds in the spring. Something tells me we'll be saying "bye-bye" to the room we use as an office so we can split the girls into two rooms.
So much has happened in four years. They've learned to walk, talk and (finally!) use the toilet. I take none of these milestones for granted.
For now, my daughters still love to snuggle, still love to be held. I cherish these moments because it's only a matter of time before I become "uncool," before they start rolling their eyes at me or give exasperated sighs. So, bring on the birthday cake, but don't let my little girls grow up too fast. Happy birthday!!!!
My daughters will turn (gasp) four in a few months. I really want to make a big deal out of the four turning four. One mom I know suggested a golf theme, as in "Fore!" I thought maybe a mini-golf party would be fun, but then I realized it's probably not a good idea to give a group of preschoolers golf clubs. I can just imagine the injuries.
Another mom of quadruplets said she did a Beatles theme (the Fab Four), which we may go with, too. I'm thinking an "under the sea" decor (to go with "Octopus's Garden") and maybe a yellow submarine cake. We're considering looking at whether the local aquarium has birthday packages.
Clearly I need more ideas. Are there other "four" themes you can think of? We did a Fantastic Four cake for their first birthday, so that option is out. Let me know if you have any ideas.
