Are We Alive?

Yes! By golly we are. I could say we’ve been busy for the last 7 months, and while yes that is true, I have been a little on the lazy side also.

We moved out of my parents house in January and back into our own which we rented out when we found out I was pregnant. I did not have a computer when we moved back in, but kept online using my phone and my work laptop. We did, however recently purchase a new computer.

So lets get right to it shall we? I’ll do the fastest version of the past eight months that I can.

January

Although January was a good month. There were some sad moments. As most mom’s know, that time of the year is a beast for viruses. Nick and I were supposed to go on a trip to Kansas for Moni’s 30th Birthday Party with 15 other Quad couples. Nick’s Mom came in to help my Mom with the kids while we were gone, but we had to cancel our trip. All the kids were sick. Luke had bronchitis, Lily had croup, Sarah had RSV, and Ava was the worst off. Since she was diagnosed with Chronic Lung Disease in the NICU, she is more likely to getting the sickest of the sick. She ended up with RSV and Pneumonia. We had to take her to the hospital, therefore missing our trip. She ended up in the hospital for 5 days. We were so upset that we missed the trip, but happy that we were here for Ava an she is doing much better now!

 

We were also glad that Nana was there to help. It was a rough couple of weeks. Nana read lots of stories to them and played with them.

 

 

 

She also took them on frequent walks. They love taking walks!

 

 

 

 

Grand pop and Mom Mom also come over to visit quite frequently. Even though they live right down the street, they can’t get enough of them.

February

February was a better month. No one got sick and we had another visitor. My friend Kara came to visit. We played a lot and went to the part when she came down.

 

 

 

 

                      

Sarah & Lily

        

Luke & Ava

While Kara was down visiting, I was looking at new cars. I’ve had a mini SUV since before the kids were born thinking ahead. Thinking, this would be a great family car for 2 or even 3 kids. Little did I know, I was going to grow to a family of 6. So, finally after finagling ways to get around, Nick and I purchased a 2011, Honda Odyssey. At first I did not want a minivan. Now, I can’t see having anything else! I absolutely love it and recommend it for anyone who has more that 2 kids. The room is amazing and the trunk space is unbelievable.

 

And here we are at a different park. They love the slide! Thank you for the shirts for the kids, Casey! They still wear them. For those that have multiples or just one or know someone that is pregnant, check out Designed for Babies. She has some fantastic things!

          

     

March

In the month of March we had a few play dates with my friend Brandy and her three kids Aidan, Connor, and Emma. Emma was born exactly 3 months before my kids. She is a doll baby. I also had the opportunity to be Connor’s Kindergarten teacher this past year. Here are a few play date pictures.

Brandy & Emma

(Ava in the background)

Connor, Aidan, & Emma

All the 2 year olds drawing and coloring! Can you guess who is who from above?

Pajama and Movie Time!

Thanks for having us over and letting us be kids and mess up your house!

Also in March, we took our first trip to the Zoo. They kids had fun, but of course for some reason, the day we chose to go, it happened to be one of the hottest days. It was unseasonably hot! Sarah was not feeling very well got a little over heated. She ended up sleeping through half of the trip.

Daddy and Sarah checking out the Zebras.

Lily had a great time as you can see! She was excited the whole trip.

They had a few favorite animals!

They loved the momma monkey and her baby!

They couldn’t stop laughing at the penguins!

Ava & Luke loved the Giraffes!

Sarah & Lily could not stop talking about how pretty the flamingoes were!

Even though Sarah was not feeling her best. She was a trooper. Overall they had such a good time. We plan to go back again sometime in the fall.

April

April was a pretty busy month. We went to a barbeque, had quite a few visitors and had a special visit from the Easter Bunny!

Early in the month, we went to a Barbeque hosted by our friends Amanda and Christian and their two beautiful children Gracie and Ian.

      

      

We had a great time. There were lots of children, lots of chatting and lots of food. Below are some pictures of the barbeque.

                 

Reilly swinging Lily and her mommy Jolene reading with Ava.

All the girls Playing while Like enjoys the swing! Then he finally decides to join in.

Luke’s girlfriend Emma seem a little upset that he’s playing with other girls!

She seems to get over it pretty fast and decides to play with Lily instead

Daddy decided to play some soccer with some of the bigger kids….so did Sarah!

At the end of the day, the kids were tired and had a great time! The mom’s did as well!

The following week, we had a lot of visitors come in to visit. My Grandmom, Aunt Lynnie & Uncle Steve, and my Aunt Kathie & Uncle Bob. My Aunt Lynnie and Aunt Kathie are my Dad’s sisters. My Dad’s other sister,  Aunt Jeri, lives here (right around the corner), in Florida.

Here are some pictures from their trip down………

 

 

 

The girls were facinated by Aunt Kathie’s jewelry. She finally let them play with it, and of course, they broke it! Sorry Aunt Kathie!

We also took a trip out for lunch with everyone…the kids missed their naptime, but they were troopers, considering!

Sarah & Ava decided to try lemons for the first time! LOL!

Sarah kept trying it (silly goose), but Ava knew right away it was nooo good!

The kids spent a lot of time playing with their Great Aunts and Uncles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aunt Lynnie reading a book with Ava and looking at the stars with Sarah.

Uncle Steve playing with Lily! They were looking at the stars too

Luke had a great time playing cars with Uncle Bob!

Aunt Lynnie, Aunt Jeri, and Aunt Kathie (all sisters) helped to make sure the kids ate a good dinner and got some dessert too!

Just had to put THIS picture of Granny in here! She won’t like it, but everyone else will get a kick out of it The kids love her so much…she is a hoot! Notice the beautiful flower in her hair? Lily told her she needed one and that she looked so pretty with it in her hair. Isn’t she gorgeous? LOVE YOU GRANNY!!

The kids had a great time swimming with Aunt Kathie. Even though the water was a tad chilly (we know it’s refreshing to you Aunt Kathie!) the kids still enjoyed it!

My handsome little stinker!

 

We had a great time during their visit! Love and miss you all!

Easter time was fun. The kids got to meet the Easter Bunny a few times and went on their first Easter Egg Hunt!

 

 

Ava was under the bushes looking for eggs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lily rocked it out! She got the most eggs, by herself!

They of course had to look through each egg and see what was in there!

Mom Mom and Grand pop took the girls down to look at the lake. Luke was too scared to go.

By the time I got my picture taken with the kids, they were grumpy and tired and wanting to take a nap.

Easter Sunday was very exciting. Below is a picture of their baskets and a few pictures from the day!.

Yes, that is a big container of cheese balls! They love them, what can I say. They were very excited about it!

Of course the kids were spoiled by both sets of grandparents. Both of them got them Easter baskets. Nana and Pop Pop mailed their Easter baskets down.

 

The kids found out what ring pops were and fell in love with them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a long day, we all relaxed and watched a movie.

May

We had more visitors in May and more play dates.

Our friends Dan & Anna and their kids Michael and Max,

and Greg & Martha and their kids Morgan, Noah, and Else

came down for their 2nd Annual Florida trip. We had a lot of fun together. Below are some pictures of their trip.

The big boys chillin’ on the beach.

 

 

 

There goes Dan filling up the buckets AGAIN!

 

 

 

 

 

Anna and Michael cuddling on the beach.

Max is staying cool in the water.

Else is filling up her bucket.

Noah’s trying to keep cool in the sand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morgan is taking a break from the water and the sun.

Luke and Sarah were tired from the swimming and the sun. They were having a hard time keeping their eyes open.

 

Meanwhile, Lily and Ava couldn’t get enough!

 

Morgan and Ava

Luke, Else & Lily

Lily and her Godfather Greg

Sarah and her Godparents Anna & Dan

All the kids except Else who was didn’t want her picture taken

Gotta love this picture. The last one before everyone leaves and Sarah and Luke weren’t having it! We had a great time and can’t wait to see you all again next year!

June

In June we had a great visit with Nana,  Pop Pop, and Aunt Tara who came down to visit for a week. We spent a lot of time in the sun and water! Below are some pictures…

    Pop Pop & Sarah                                                         Nana & Lily

                                 Aunt Tara & Luke

Pop Pop & Ava

Nana & Sarah

Pop Pop swimming with his girls

Hey the gang’s all here!

The girls love to float on the raft & Luke loves to be solo!

While everyone was down, Mom Mom was nice enough to watch the kids while the rest of us went out on my Dad’s boat for some adult time.

Nick and I relaxing in the Gulf…..

Nana relaxing in the Gulf as well!

Grand Pop and Pop Pop relaxing on the boat….

and Aunt Tara happy as can be!

Luke loves pictures…can’t you tell?

All the girls!

We miss you all very much and can’t wait to see you on your next visit!

We also had another group of visitors come the very next week. Krista, Brad, Connor, and soon to be the next new Baby Hoge!

We had some fun!

We went to the water fountain park and met up with some friends.

Lily

 

                                        Sarah

    Luke & Ava

 

 

 

 

Krista, Brad & Connor

 

 

 

Krista loves kids! She’s having a blast with all of them. Goooo Krista!

 

 

She even got in the baby pool with them all! What a sport

We had a great visit with them and want to say congrats to the Hoge family who welcomed Baby Caleb into their family this past week! We can’t wait to meet him!

July

The month of July was bittersweet for me. My Aunt Susanne, Uncle John, and my cousin Sean came down for a visit. Sorry to say I didn’t get very many pictures, but something tells me I’ll get plenty of pictures of them with the kids soon! I got to go away with some of my closest friends and at the same time had to say goodbye to my summer. I started back to work August 1st. Yes, school starts early down here in sunny Florida!

Below are some pictures of the kids and a few from my fabulous trip!

This is one of my favorite pictures. The kids love Great Uncle John! Here are a few pics of him with the kids.

Sean became quite the babysitter while he was down. The kids really enjoyed his company as well!

Great Aunt Susanne seems to have a thing for boys. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that she has 3 boys of her own!

I’m sure we will be seeing them again real soon! Miss you all!

Happy 4th of July!

Our Quad Mamma trip this year was a blast! It was quite rainy, but we made the best of it. We went to Biloxi, MS and New Orleans, LA. Below are a few pictures from the trip.

Me and my travel partner Jenna!

I know there are lots of other pictures I could post, but…if I did, they would be never ending because I would have to put one of each of my girls and the trip was 2 months ago. It seems like it was yesterday.  I had such a good time and can’t wait to do it again next year! Please forgive me, my sweet ladies. You know I love you all very much!

August

The last month. I don’t have very many pictures at all this month. It was a very busy month trying to get back on track for work and getting the kids back and forth to m parents house. Here are a few from last month. Our friends Dave and Jen came down with their 2 daughters Lauren and Chrissy. They haven’t seen the kids since their Christening. We had a great time with friends.

The girls were playing dress up with the kids and they loved it!

 

Lauren & Sarah

Dave & Lily

Chrissy & Ava

So now that I’ve caught everyone up on the past 8 months. I promise that I will be more consistent for the rest of the year. The kids will have their 3 year old check up next month and will be turning 3 on October 11th. I can’t believe it.

Here is a picture from last year. This picture, along with the others displayed at the top of my blog were taken by Dimitri Jansen. His website is A Reflection of You. He did such a wonderful job last year! He is wonderful with the kids and they love himI hope he will do it again this year!

Till next time!

Kelly