July 2015

Our July started off with sick babies, of course. I had to take Rayleigh to the ER on July 3rd, because the clinic was closed for the holiday weekend. She tested positive for strep throat, so all the quints ended up on antibiotics. Thankfully, after about a week, they were all healthy. July has been hot and we haven't had much rain, not that we need it right now. My goal for this month was to have as much summertime fun as we possibly could. Here's what we've been up to.....

I took Brady on his first water park adventure and he had a blast! My boy is fearless and he loves the water!

Brady loved the water park.

Kristian and Gavin went with us.

The best way to beat the heat is to eat Dippin Dots!!

Since the quints were sick on July 4th, we stayed home and invited my family over for steaks and potatoes. It's always a blast when my whole family gets together!!!

Tessa

Rayleigh

Gracie

Mia

Brant

Brady

BJ, BL, G, M, T, R

I just can't get enough of Gracie's pig tails...that are so adorable!

I love this big crazy family of mine!

I decided to venture out with the kids. We took the quints to their first trip to the park. They had a good time.

Thank the Lord for giving me an even number of kids!

We also took the quints to the splash pad for the first time. Rayleigh, Brant, and Gracie loved it. Mia and Tessa weren't big fans. But we had a good time!

We celebrated 3 NICU Homecomings this month: Mia, Gracie, and Rayleigh!!

Mia

Gracie

Rayleigh

I took Brady and Gavin to the library for the summer reading program and they really enjoyed themselves.

Brady took swim lessons with Ms. Monica.

We took a family trip to Hot Springs, AR to play at Magic Springs. My best friend, Jessica, met us there with her two kids. It was a wonderful day spent went my wonderful family and one of my oldest and bestest friends!!!

With this crew...it's always a good time!

Brady was loving him so biscuits and gravy from Cracker Barrel.

Magic Springs with my big guys.

My little monkey.

Steven was  good sport and rode the rides with the kids.

Steven, Brady, & Rhett

The beautiful Miss Mary Ella

Rhett & Brady

This guy was wore out after a fun day in the sun!

 Another goal of mine for the month of July was to go on an outing with all my kids, just me and one child. I'm working on a blog post about my fun outings so stay tuned!

We finally took the whole family out to eat for the first time. We ate at Chick-fil-A and all six kids did great. Gracie loved the chicken nuggets and waffle fries. Brant at some too. Mia, Tessa, and Rayleigh just enjoyed being out of the house. And of course, Brady loved it!

Mia had an upper GI in Dallas last week. Thankfully, everything looked good with her tummy, the biopsies came back normal, we're so thankful for good news on her behalf. The GI doctor changed her formula and she is doing a little bit better. She is still vomiting, but not as much as before. Thank you to everyone who prayed on her behalf!!!

Waiting on the doctor to come out and give us a report seemed to take forever and I was a nervous wreck. Thankfully her tummy was good. After that good news, I started worrying about her airway. The night before the procedure she had a runny nose so I wasn't sure if she was getting sick. They last time she was put to sleep, she was sick and they weren't able to get her off the ventilator right away, so I was so worried that might happen this time too. I was so relieved and thankful when we walked to her bed and saw her peacefully sleeping with an oxygen mask in front of her. God is so good!!!

Waking up from such good sleep is never fun for any of us...thankfully she didn't stay upset for too long.

By the time we got to the car, she was all smiles.

What's Happening with the Six Sweet Seals this month.....
Brady
Brady loves summertime. He loves to play in the water. I've taken him to two water parks this month and he had a blast both times. He enjoyed Magic Springs also, he's fearless when it comes to riding rides. He took swim lessons and did okay. His behavior was terrible, he wouldn't obey his teacher and he wouldn't sit still long enough to learn anything. Hopefully he'll do better next year. I think it was a good experience for him and I want him be comfortable and safe around water. Brady is completely potty trained when it comes to peeing in the potty. Pooping is a different story! I don't know what to do to get him to poop in the potty. He is so difficult sometimes! And, finally, I've saved the best for last..... Brady is now sleeping in his own room in his toddler bed!!!!! Hallelujah!!!! Before I left for Dallas for my hospital bed rest, Brady slept in his crib in his room. After I left, he started sleeping with Steven and/or whoever was keeping him for us. When we finally brought all the babies home, they slept in their cribs in their rooms, but not Brady, he was in our bed. It was awful! He is a crazy sleeper and even when the quints would sleep, we were still up because Brady was all over the bed. I attempted to get him to sleep in his room several months back, with no luck. So I brought his mattress in our bedroom and put in on the floor beside our bed. He did good sleeping in our room. But, it was time to get him out and into his own room. He didn't have a bed time in our room. He stayed up as late as we stayed up and he's too young to not have a set bed time each night. So, while Steven was out of town for a week, I decided to bite the bullet and lay down the law! It was a rough couple of nights, but we have stuck to our guns this time and he's doing it! He takes his naps in his room and sleeps at night! I'm so proud of him! And I'm so proud we have our bedroom back to ourselves!! Oh, and I have a proud mama moment to share... Brady has memorized 5 bible verses!!!! My best friend, Jessica, told me about a book she bought and read with her kids; it's a bible verse for each letter of the alphabet. Her two kids ages 5 and 3 and memorized all 26 verses!! I decided to try it out with Brady and I am amazed at how well he's doing! He loves the stories and is memorizing the memory verses quicker than I expected him to! I'm so proud of him!!!

Playing at the park.

Swinging

This sure is a beautiful sight! He's being a big boy and sleeping in his bed in HIS room!

Sure love my little big guy.

Having cookies at the library.

Don't worry, he's okay. This is what happens when you don't listen to your mother. I told him to not let his train go behind the refrigerator but he wouldn't listen...here he's trying to get it back. Good 'ole mom came to the rescue and got it back for him!

He's all boy...he loves to run, climb, and jump around everywhere.

The Quints
The quints turned 16 months on the 18th. And I'm excited to announce that all five of them are walking now!!! They all started walking by 15 months, which is within the normal range of toddlers!! I didn't think Mia was going to meet the milestone by 15 months, but a couple of days before they turned 16 months, get did it! Now they are all walking around everywhere! It is so amazing to see five toddlers walking around. It also kind-of makes me sad, they're getting to the point where they hardly crawl anymore which means my days of having crawling babies everywhere are just about over. :(  It's so sad how fast they grow up! They also like to climb. Brant is especially bad about climbing. He can climb on anything! Brant can also open our doors. We found him in our garage one day just walking around. We have to keep our doors locked now. We also have a security system so the doors chime when someone opens them, so that helps us keep up with who's coming in and out. The quints love to pull the laundry off the couch when you're folding clothes. You have to hurry up and put the folded clothes away or they'll pull them off and unfold them. They also like to play a little game called Monkey See, Monkey Do. For some reason, they like to hit their head against our entertainment center. When I correct one and move them away to get them to stop, a different baby will crawl over to the entertainment center and start banging their head! It's the craziest thing ever! They are all sleeping well during the night, which is such a blessing! They have all been healthy since the first week in July when they had strep. They enjoy playing in water and getting to go outside. We stay inside most of the time because it is SO hot outside right now. We have been getting them out a little bit more lately. We surprised my mom and my grandmother by showing up to their house to visit and play. They rarely get to go to other people's houses so that was a big deal.
Here's their weights at their last weigh-in (about 2.5 weeks ago):
Mia:18lb 1.5oz
Tessa: 20lb 4.5oz
Brant: 19lb 2.5oz
Gracie:19lb 3.5oz
Rayleigh: 19lb 12oz
Tessa is our first 20 pounder!!!!!

They love playing on the school bus.

Rayleigh

Eating noodles is fun and messy!!
Gracie & Brant

Tessa & Mia

Mia & Rayleigh

We can't always be happy!

Brady & Mia

Mia

Mia & Gracie

Tessa

Happy Brant

Brant

Gracie

Tessa

Mia

Rayleigh

Supporting Team Paula!!

Crazy hair day for Mia

Tessa, Gracie, & Brant

Rayleigh

Mia practicing drinking from a sippy cup.

Rayleigh drinking from a baby bottle.

Gracie and Tessa playing with Daddy.

Rayleigh, Gracie, & Brant playing on big brother's bed.

A table full of blessings!

Brant can open doors now.

Gracie Lou Whoooooo!!!
I LOVE this picture of her... priceless!

My heart is so heavy right now. I learned last night that one of my favorite bloggers past away last week. I've read the blog A Blonde Ambition for years now. I didn't know the blogger, Leslie, personally, but I felt like I knew her through her blog. I started following her when she was a single twenty-something and have followed her through getting engaged, getting married, and having two beautiful daughters who are 2 years old and 8-9 months old. She had a heart condition that got worse after the birth of her second daughter. I cried when I read the sad news. My heart hurts for her parents, husband, and especially those two precious little girls who will never see their mama again. I'm going to miss reading her updates about style and fashion and the updates on her daughters as they grow up. Such a sad situation. Last night as I laid in bed crying, I couldn't help but think about my life and my family. On a daily basis I find myself complaining about some aspect of our life, whether it be the house being a mess all.the.time, unending laundry, trying to decide what to cook for dinner, which a constant battle, not having a big enough house for our family of 8, not having enough money, or being stuck in the house all the time because it's just too hard to get out as much as we'd like. All those complaints are petty and ridiculous! I'm blessed beyond my wildest dreams and yes, our life is crazy, hectic, and wild, but I have absolutely nothing to complain about. I'm alive and I'm healthy and I get to watch my precious children grow up every single day; that's nothing to complain about. Life is short; I'm going to treasure each day because I don't know what tomorrow has in store for me. I'm going to enjoy this blessed life God has given me!