The Party of Seven: It's 2012?

Wow, 2012...its already the middle of January and I have neglected to write! Let's catch everyone up to the latest since my last post....

Before Christmas break, Leah had a class party, Seth had a Christmas play, all the girls went to a tea party, there was a Panthers football game and of course, some last minute shopping!

Then, Allyson, Elizabeth and Emerson turned ONE. Holy cow, my babies are one! We had a gathering, of about 40 to celebrate the occasion. The girls wondered what the fuss was about, clinging on to me, Joel and my mom with all their might. They did allow most of Leah and Seth's friends to hold them, but that was the extent of their willingness to be away from us. We had fabulous cakes (which I couldn't cut into because they were too adorable, see picture below) and a toast to surviving the first year. What a great time to be with family and friends and share our little joys with the group.

The too cute to cut cakes

Their first year was about survival. Making sure everyone was fed, changed, clean and happy. It was a tough year. Any parent of triplet would agree that just making it through that year is a miracle. Add two older children to the mix and you have, well, it could be called a little herd. We have more grey hairs and had less sleep than most. But we made it. And with it we now have babbling, crawling, signing, laughing little wonders who make each hard moment of the past year disappear.

Ally is ONE

Izzy is ONE

Emmy is ONE

Each day brings a new accomplishment. All three can hold their own bottles (took a year to master, but hey, they got it!). And soon those bottles will be a thing of the past. All three pull up on furniture and cruise around a bit while holding on. Ally is the only one who will just stand, not holding on to anything, and is days away from that much anticipated first step. They each are getting a mouthful of teeth...requiring some extra holding on the days the teeth cut through. There is less and less baby food, more grilled cheese and chicken by the day. Although, little miss Izzy really must think she can grow and thrive on cheerios, puffs and maybe a little cheese when she's in the mood. We take what we can get and are just happy to be where we are with our family.

Our Four girls

Oh yes, back to the final days of 2011...Christmas! And Hanukkah! Well, this year, it was one big event, so let's call it Christmukkah! The big kids got most of their wish lists and the babies, well, they got little rockers from Santa...who shops at Ikea. Joel and I got a gift too...we went away for about 36 hours to a little Inn and spa tucked away in the mountains of North Carolina. We are so thankful for ALL that made our get away possible. It was much needed and an awesome way to end 2011.

Christmas Day

So, here we are in 2012. I think ahead to the summer...Seth will be 5, Leah will turn 8 and I will have 3 runners! OK, so let's stay present...I am trying hard to take each day as it comes, focus on what really counts in life and be grateful for what I have. And what I have is so much more than I could have dreamed. So to all you out there who say, "how do you do it?" and "what's it really like, you can be honest..." here is my answer:

I just do it. I look at my five kids and they are worth every second of every day and they deserve the best from me. So I just do it. Better yet, I live each minute with them, feeling their joys, crying their tears, and loving every laugh. No one ever said that an amazingly wonderful life would be easy, but I can say that my amazingly wonderful life is worth living.