Parenting is Hard

The boys have a cold again which means they are not sleeping well at all. I hate when the kids are sick.  They have already been sick so many times this winter.  Colds, runny noises, and teething means that everyone around here wants to be held non-stop. Holding two babies is not easy! Holding one and having the other sit and cry makes me feel terrible. Not to mention, Grace is going through a total Mommy phase right now. Mommy phase combined with a few terrible two tantrums are making for some rough days around here. This parenting thing is hard and sleep deprivation is totally kicking my butt.

So enough of my complaining, here's to hoping that everyone feels better soon.  Through all of this winter sickness I love that these three continue to smile and be for the most part happy :-)

Can you tell them apart in these next two pictures?

Reid was the first picture and Jack was the second.  They seem to be getting harder to tell apart.

Fun with Caroline and Joe while Grace was napping.

Siblings

Siblings are the best and I can't imagine these three not having each other! It's so fun to see the way they are starting to interact. The twins adore Grace and she just loves these little guys. I'm looking forward to the coming months and years as these three grow up. I hope they grow up to have the same relationship I have with my sister and brother :-)

Grace loves her brothers! She calls them her "bubbies"



Big boys sitting up

Back to school

Grace went back to school today after a few week break. She wasn't very excited to leave this morning but I knew once she got there she would have a good time. She has been so good at home with me that I was sad to see her leave. She always finds ways to entertain herself while I'm busy with the twins. One of her favorite activities is lining up all of her things. This activity keeps her occupied and quiet for quite some time.

Puzzle pieces....

Swim diapers....



Books....

Busy doing puzzles...



And their off....

They may be small but nothing is stopping these two. The twins are officially off and moving. The days of laying them on a blanket for tummy time are over. My life as I know it may be over! They are not crawling on all four's but more like army crawling along the floor. They see something now and they go for it! Grace is not sure what to think about this as they go for all her toys. She was yelling the other day "Oh no they are moving!" Which are exactly my thoughts!! I left them for one minute today to come back and find Reid sucking on Diesel's tail. I know, totally disgusting and sorry I didn't have my camera in hand to capture this. I guess boys will be boys! Things are about to get interesting around here :-)

Tired from all of this moving around...maybe they will start sleeping better at night now?!



Recent Pictures

All dressed and ready to play in the snow!

Bedtime attire must include a nightgown over footed pj's!

Reid loves to stick his tongue out now ;-)



Pretending to be asleep on Daddy so she doesn't need to go to bed.



Visit with Santa

Here are the pictures from our visit with Santa. Grace was super excited and waited very patiently for our turn. When it was our turn she ran up to Santa and jumped on his lap and asked for a Dora doll. That's when the first two pictures below were taken. I think right after that she turned around and got a good look at Santa and wanted to get down. Luckily no tears

were shed at all :-)

Christmas Cuties

This was my attempt at getting a picture of the kids for the Christmas cards. Almost impossible to get all three kids smiling and looking the same direction. Plus Jack spit up about 5 mins after the outfit was on. Oh well, still cute ;-) Reid is on the left and Jack is on the right.



Grace Madeline

Grace, Gracie, Gracie Goo, May, Ruby, Ruby May, The Nugget (now known as The Big Nugget), whatever her nickname may be she is a wild child! By the way...the nickname thing is a Dery thing! This little one is FULL of energy. She is fearless and very active. She climbs just about anything, including into her brothers cribs. She is our little monkey. She is constantly making me nervous that she is going to get hurt or hurt someone else for that matter. This cooler weather has had us stuck in the house more often and Grace tends to be flying off the couch if we don't get her out of the house. Lately we have been taking her to a few indoor play gyms to burn some energy. She LOVES it!! When she wakes up from her nap or if we are in the car driving she asks if we are going to what she calls
The Playhouse!

Mike at the top of the slide with the kids. Not sure who was having the most fun?!

Headfirst!

I have a feeling it's going to be a long winter :-)

Family Photo Session

All my mom wanted for her birthday present this year was one group photo of our entire family. Well that's easier said than done! Our family consists of seven adults and five children. Trying to get everyone looking the same direction and smiling was not an easy task. We ended up pulling it off though and got quite a few cute shots. It was a success! Happy Birthday Nana :-)

Now our individual family shots went a little bit different....the kids were getting tired and not cooperating. This first picture basically sums up how our session went! Grace didn't like that Jack and Reid were crying. I love the look on Mike's face! He was trying so hard to smile through the crying. Love you Babe!

One last cute one of Nana and Papa with the kids!

Just Plain Cute

I couldn't figure out how to turn this video the right direction but I figured I would still post it. 6  months old is proving to be such a fun stage. The boys are super happy and easy going babies! We couldn't ask for anything more.