Thanksgiving Painting 2014

I love Pinterest and I have pinned a lot of cute ideas over the past couple of years, but I never seem to get around to doing any of the cute ideas. One thing I love to pin on Pinterest is hand/foot print ideas. I think it's so sweet to have hand/foot prints of little ones because it's a way to capture their smallness, since they tend to grow up too fast. So, since I have lots of little turkeys now, I thought I needed to have a turkey painting in my house. The babies & Brady did so good with the painting and I'm so proud of how my "masterpiece" turned out. It's so special and I'll treasure it for the rest of my life.

Brady

Brant

Mia

Mia

Rayleigh

Tessa

Gracie

My Masterpiece!!! I'm so in love!!!!

Halloween 2014

So the quints' first Halloween is officially over. I have to say, this was by far my most favorite Halloween ever! We had so much fun. Our whole family dressed up like the 101 Dalmatians. Our babes were little Dalmatian puppies, and let me tell you, they were adorable. Steven and Brady were dog catchers. And I was the evil Cruella De Vil! I have been excited about this Halloween for a while. My stepmom found the puppy costumes back in the summer, and I had a friend paint Steven and Brady's shirts, which were awesome! I used stuff out of my closet and my friend's closet to dress up like Cruella. We went to 5 houses to Trick or Treat and that was all we could handle. After we got back home, all my family came over for a hot dogs and s'mores by an open fire. We had an awesome weekend.

I can't wait to start thinking up some ideas for next year's Halloween. It's going to be hard to top this year!

I got these Halloween bags from Pottery Barn. I was like a little kid at Christmas when they finally came in....they are so cute and the perfect size for just enough candy collecting.

The cutest Dalmatians I've ever seen!!!

Sweet Mia

Happy Tessa

Brant with his tongue hanging out.

Miss Gracie

Happy Rayleigh

All my loves for our first Halloween together as a family of 8!!!

It's so hard to get Brady to sit still...

My mischievous dog snatcher!

I sure do love these two guys, even if they are evil dog snatchers!!!

Trick-or-Treating at Grandmas.

The Seals' Pumpkin Patch 2014

Here's a few pics of our little pumpkins. And, let me state the obvious, it is SO hard to get a toddler and 5 babies to all look and smile and keep their eyes open at the same time. We had fun taking these pictures and I hope you enjoy them.

Daddy was hard at work on the pumpkins and Brady was overseeing that everything was being done right.

Happy Fall from the Seals family!!!

Quints 7 Month Pics

I took the babies for a checkup this week and they are all growing well. They are all on the growth now...woot woot!! They are doing so good. They are grabbing for things, laughing, and rolling everywhere. We're having so much fun with them and I can't believe they're already 7.5 months old now.
Here are their latest stats:
Mia: weight- 13lb 4.5oz (1%) length- 25in (3%)
Tessa: weight- 14lb 12oz (10%) length- 26in (20%)
Brant: weight- 14lb 10oz (1%) length 26in (5%)
Gracie: weight- 14lb 12oz (10%) length 26 1/8in (25%)
Rayleigh: weight- 14lb 8oz (10%) length 25 3/4in (15%)

Germs Not Welcome!!!!!

Being a mom to 5 babies that were born prematurely has taught me a lot about germs. Like any new mom, I want to get my babies out and share them with my family, friends, and the whole world, but right now, that's not the safe thing to do. Now that we've entered into the dreaded flu & RSV season, it's more important than ever that we take every precaution to keep our babies healthy and safe. As we've already experienced, when one baby gets sick, they all tend to get sick, which makes life 100 times more difficult than it already is, so we're trying to do everything we can to avoid germs.

We have a sign on our doors stating that if you're sick in any way to please not come in our house. We love visitors and we hate that we're so cutoff to the world, our friends, and family right now, but this is the only way we know to keep our babies safe from illnesses. Here are some tips to help limit the spread of RSV (and most other illnesses as well).
*Cover coughs and sneezes
*Avoid sharing cups and eating utensils with the baby
*Wash hands well and often
*Avoid kissing baby (strangers should not kiss, hug, or touch babies without parent's approval)
*Keep baby's surroundings and belongings clean.
*During RSV season, keep baby away from crowds and especially people with cold-like symptoms

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a virus and is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and/or pneumonia in babies who are younger than 1 year of age. Premature birth and certain types of heart and lung disease put some babies at high risk for developing RSV (babies born early - at 35 weeks or earlier- are born before their lungs and immune system have had a chance to fully develop). It's important for high-risk babies to be kept away from anyone who exhibits any of these symptoms: coughing, sneezing, runny nose, and fever. Some signs and symptoms that your baby may have severe RSV disease are: coughing or wheezing that does not stop, difficulty breathing, & bluish color around the mouth or fingernails.

While I was at the doctor's office this week with Tessa, I read a sign that said, you are considered sick if you exhibit the follow symptoms: rash, sneezing, congestion, runny nose, coughing, mattered eyes, diarrhea, sore throat, fever, or vomiting. So I've decided to adopt the same rules for my house. Visitors are considered sick if they have any of those symptoms and we urge you to not come visit until you no longer have those symptoms.

There is something magical about little babies, they have a way of drawing people's attention (mine included), but now that I'm a mom to 5 little babies who are at high-risk of developing RSV, I try to stay back and just look. It's hard for me not to touch or even to hold a baby of a friend or relative, but I know how protective I am of my own and I would never want to spread my germs and make any baby sick. So I'm trying to abide by my own rules when I'm around other people's babies now and just look and not touch.

So, here's to good health!

Rayleigh - 7 months

Sweet baby Rayleigh is 7 months old. She is now that biggest baby (or she was at the last weigh-in). She weighs 14lbs 5.5oz. She's much more vocal. She coos and smiles all the time. She's a good eater, she's likes her baby food and is taking her bottle like a champ. She has gotten very rotten, she loves to be held. Her hair has gotten so long and is dark brown. Her eyes are also brown. Everyone says Rayleigh looks just like Steven. Her new nickname is Pacifier Bandit because she will steal the other babies' pacifiers, sometimes she'll steal a paci right out of one of their mouths! She always wakes up with a smile on her face. She's doing good with her therapies. She rolls over very well. She loves attention. It's easy to know when she's ready for bed because she puts her hand over her eyes. She looks so good in bright colors.