Merry Christmas!

"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel- which means, 'God with us.'"  

Matthew: 20b-23

Happy Birthday Jesus Christ, Son of God!  

And a very Happy New Year!

Hugs!
Becky

Winter Wonderland!

As I quickly pluck this on the keyboard, our generator is humming in the background.  Nothing says Tis' The Season like an ice storm a lovely Winter Wonderland!  Where we live in Michigan we have had a mix of rain, freezing snow, melting and more rain that has produced some of the most magical scenes.  The trees look like they are made of glass and snow gently falls... however, this beauty also has wreaked havoc on power lines and Mr. Consumers Energy says it may not be until Dec 26 until we get power again--- so for the second time this season so far, we Thank God for our generator!

 I can't believe it is almost Christmas!  I have meant to do so much blogging but alas, the best laid plans can easily fall to the wayside when life is unbelievably chaotic, and I know we ALL felt the pinch of a quick Christmas Season this year!  So, get ready for a very abridged blog about our last month.  I probably will not have time to proof-read this as I need to hand wash dishes before the babies wake up, so bear with me!

Thanksgiving:  We had a lovely time at my parent's the week before, and then for Thanksgiving Andy's parents rented a cozy cottage on Lake Michigan for 2 days over Thanksgiving.  Here is the gang!

 Nutcracker:  Jenna & I started a tradition last year that will continue for years to come and will eventually also include Hannah & Lauren.  We go, GIRLS ONLY, to see the Nutcracker performance (right now the GR Youth Ballet is the perfect thing, but maybe in years to come we will go check out the GR Ballet's performance). Jenna LOVE LOVE LOVES the Nutcracker and I kid you not, from the end of November until well after Christmas, she dances to the Nutcracker music almost every night (most of the times complete with a change of clothes into something swirly and dance-worthy).  The babies love the entertainment as I wipe them off from dinner!

Babies Expanded Boundaries + One Nap Schedule:
Well, our 17 month old quaddlers have finally decided to go down to 1 nap.  Well, the boys were ready for a while and while Lauren would still LOVE two naps, majority wins and when one morning they all suddenly weren't tired for that first nap, I knew we were at the changing point.  It has been about 3 weeks and they are mostly adjusted to the 1-nap schedule, but mama certainly wishes they would still sleep a little longer.  They were sleeping (2) 1.5 hour naps, and so I thought they might sleep one good 3 hour nap:  uh, no.  I am lucky if they all sleep 2 hours, on lucky days they sleep 2 1/2, but sometimes it's only 1.5 hours still.  No worries because they go down like a charm at 7 PM and sleep a solid 12 hours, so I can live with that!

And the Expanded Boundaries?  The animals have outgrown their cage (ha ha, joking... kinda).  So I decided to give the babies basically half of our house.  Since we have an open floor plan, I decided to re-arrange the furniture yet again and block off the kitchen, fireplace, computer and dining area for safety reasons.  We put mesh backing behind our not-quite-standard-hallway-railings, close the bathroom & bedroom doors, gate off the stairs, and viola!  New and Improved Baby Boundaries.

The only problem is, there are FOUR very little and curious munchkins.  And so every day hour minute is interesting!!!

This photo was taken right before the expansion.  It needs an explanation:  the kids love to climb on me and I bounce them.  It starts with one, then another climbs on, then another... I am laughing hysterically because Lauren decided to sit on my face.  This is her falling off because of my uncontrollable laughing at me literally being swarmed by them!

Jenna's Christmas Party!  She made this beautiful Snowman decoration for us and I loved being able to go to her Christmas Party at school.  Jenna enjoys Kindergarten now and has become the most impressive little reader!!!

Schmidt Sunday Dinners
Our amazing, wonderful neighbors have us over every single Sunday night for dinner.  It started a few months ago and while we always enjoyed their company, we have grown even closer to this amazing family.  It is really the only time the babies get out of the house and everyone loves everyone else's company!  This past Sunday we celebrated Christmas with them and snapped some pics.
Let me say it again: we LOVE our neighbors!

Mike & Diane with our kids and some of theirs (they have 8!)

 

And that brings us up to the present!  

Hope you have a Wonderful & Merry Christmas Eve & Christmas Day!  

Hugs!
Becky

Snow Exploration Lite

I have literally "met" tons of other moms-of-multiples via online forums since I found out I was having quadruplets.  Two of them are also quad-mamas, both have babies near ours' age, both blog, both are named Amber, and both live in Texas.  I know, a little confusing.  Well, Texas has been having some crazy snowy weather.  Amber B recently blogged about their Texas snow here.  Amber S blogged about getting her kids out for some snow adventures here.

A beautiful view of our backyard.

I decided that if my Texas Quadmamas could enjoy some snow exploration, their Northern neighbor could, too.  HOWEVER, unlike brave Amber S, I decided to let the children explore snow in a "Lite" version first, before going through all the trouble suiting up 4 toddlers!

The kids were very curious and happy to play with snow!

I took a few plates of snow from our deck and let the kiddos explore after breakfast.  At first they were not quite sure of the white fluffy stuff, then they loved exploring and playing with it, but after a while the cold set in and they let me know they were "ALL DONE" with snow.  Sure was fun while it lasted!  And a bonus:  the snow cleaned up breakfast from their trays like a charm!

Lauren was surprised at how cold it was.

Tanner & Tyler were amazed that it squished into balls & towers!

Hannah has a snowball for YOU!

There is so much more I could blog about: Our family's Thanksgiving, Jenna & my second annual date to the Nutcracker, how the babies are doing so much more & are down to 1 nap/day... but for now, hope your Season is Merry & you get out and enjoy whatever the weather brings you!

Hugs!

Becky