Weekend Fun

We had a fun weekend. Liz and her girls came on Friday and we took the kids to the Splash Park. They had a lot of fun. Then Liz stayed with the boys and I took all the girls to the summer matinee of "Hotel For Dogs." We had fun.

Kayla, Paige, Sierra and Bailey

Paige going down the slide. This is the first year she has attempted the slide. She has always been to scared. She is finally getting a little braver each year.

Kayla and Bailey doing the slide. Kayla did both the red and yellow slide with Bailey. She is not as scared as Paige.

Sierra, Paige, Kayla and Bailey playing in the jets.

Liz with Collin, Aiden and Brock trying to make his move for the grass.

On Saturday the kids played most of the day. They put the sprinkler under the tramp and just had a fun time. Matt was working on the new addition all day Saturday. He and a friend got all of the siding up and it looks so good. Then he had to oil the new roof. It is so different to go out and look at the new part. I can hardly wait for it to get done. This week he is going to do the insulation. Hopefully that will go fast and then we can sheetrock and paint. The end is near.

Party Time

We had a little party for the boys on Monday night. They were kind of clueless about what to do. They weren't really sure what to do about unwrapping the presents. Paige and Kayla helped them out quite a bit. They got a lot of fun toys and a wagon. When it came to cake, I gave them each a cupcake. They kind of picked them apart and then broke pieces off. None of them even tried to eat any. Since all they eat is baby food still I was wondering what they would do. It was a fun party and I still can't believe they are ONE.

Me and the boys (Aiden, Brock and Collin)

Collin, Brock and Aiden (showing more interest in Brock's present than his)

Aiden, Brock and Collin trying our the new wagon

Happy Belated Birthday

Well the boys have reached the official milestone of ONE Year old. I can hardly believe that it has been an entire year. They have grown and changed so much. They are so fun and precious beyond words. We sure didn't have the birthday that we expected.

On Thursday around noon Collin just started really whining. He didn't want me to put him down at all. We rocked for awhile and it just seemed to get harder and harder for him to breathe. Matt came home around 3 o'clock for lunch and I decided to take him to the doctor. By the time I got there, he was doing a constant little whine noise and he was miserable. They hooked him up to a proximeter, which measures his oxygen level. You should be between 90 - 100 normally and Collin was sitting around 74. Not good. When they listened to his chest it was real wheezy and crackly. So they sent us the the ER. When we got there, they hooked him up to oxygen and took a chest x-ray and did a breathing treatment. It wasn't pnemonia, so they figured it was either an asthma attack or a virus. They decided to admit us. So Collin and I spent the night in the hospital and Matt stayed at home with the other kids. He was so restless all night and he just didn't feel good at all.

Friday morning I called Matt and he said Brock wasn't doing good. He had all the same symptoms. So he dropped the girls and Aiden off at my Mom's and I took Brock to the doctor. When we got there, they said the same thing with Collin. Brock's oxygen wasn't quite as low. He was in the low 80's. So off to the ER with Brock. They did the same procedure and then admitted us. The good thing was that they moved us to a big room so both boys could be in there toghether. At this point we figured out that they got the same virus. So Matt and I stayed the night at the hospital with both boys on Friday and the other three stayed at my mom's.

I bet you can't believe what happened Saturday morning, besides being the boy's birthday. You guessed it. Aiden was doing the same thing. By this time we were smart enough to go straight to the ER. So at one point Saturday all three were in the hospital. That sure wasn't where I wanted to spend their birthday, but what do you do. At least they didn't know it was their birthday and it made no difference to them. Saturday afternoon they released Collin. He was doing a lot better. So I took him to my mom's with the girls. Matt's parents came Saturday night so they took Collin and the girls home and Matt and I camped once again at the hospital.

By Sunday morning Brock was doing way better and Aiden was never quite as bad as the other two. So by Sunday afternoon, they released both Aiden and Brock. I was so glad to be home. Three nights in the hospital was way to much. So now we are home and the boys are doing a lot better. They still wheeze a little and are have really stuffy noses. We have to do breathing treatments with them every 6 hours and that is time consuming, but at least we aren't in the hospital.

So tonight we are finally celebrating the boys birthday. I think I am more excited than they will be. It should be fun.

Here are some pictures then and now of the boys. I can't believe the little miracles that they are. I am looking forward to this year and all the fun things that they are going to start doing. Happy Birthday Aiden, Brock and Collin!!!!

Matt, Collin, Brock and Aiden in the hospital room.

Aiden then............

Aiden now............
Brock then...........

Brock now...........


Collin then.....

Collin now..........

4th of July

We had a fun 4th of July. Saturday morning we all went to the parade. The boys got sprayed by the fire hose right at the beginning, and they absolutely hated that. Eventually they all fell asleep and that was great. The girls got lots of candy and had a fun time. After the parade we went up to my mom and dad's and had a cookout. It was fun. That afternoon we washed cars, had a water balloon fight and just relaxed. The highlight for the girls were the fireworks. They loved that. The boys had already gone to bed, so they missed all of the fun. Next year, I'm sure they will enjoy them.

The kids at the parade. Don't the boys look excited?

The boys love to sit and play with a spoon (and steal each other's) while we eat at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It is funny to see how excited they get over a plastic spoon.

Stairs

Brock has finally mastered the art of crawling. It sure didn't take him long once he figured it out. He still isn't all that fast, but he can sure get around and reach anything he wants. His favorite are the stairs. I'm not a big fan of that and I need to purchase a long gate to block the stairs so he can't even get to them. I'm sure when I put that up he is going to love it. He also got his first tooth on the bottom. It finally poked through about 3 days ago.

Aiden also got his first tooth on the bottom. He is also getting his top 2 teeth. He out of all of the boys is the worst teether. He is really whiny and isn't a good sleeper lately. I can't wait for those 2 teeth to pop out so maybe he can cheer up a little.

Collin still has just the bottom 2 teeth. He is such a content little guy. I wish they were all as good natured as him. It is funny to watch when Brock is crawling, Aiden and Collin just sit there on the floor with their toys playing and watching him go. I have tried to help them crawl and they just face plant. They don't quite know what to do. I'm sure they will figure that out in time.

They all liked to be held and rocked to sleep for naps. I have decided that I can't do that anymore. It takes so much time and they fight it half of the time anyways. So I have set up a play pen in my bedroom and a play pen in the craft room. I put a baby in each of those and put one of them in their crib and I let them cry themselves to sleep. Right now it is brutal, but after a few days I am hoping they will realize that it isn't so bad. It makes it hard to have them strung out all over the house though, because keeping the girls quiet isn't an easy task. They are learning though.

Sitting and Crawling

It has finally happened. The boys are all sitting up. It is so nice. They love to sit and play with their toys. When they something else that they want, they tip themselves over and scoot over to get it. Brock is by far the most mobile. He actually gets up on his hands and knees and actually does a little crawl mixed with scooting. He has been attempting stairs already. I don't know if I am ready for that or not. They are definately more content lately and I know it has alot to do with being able to sit. Collin has two teeth. Aiden and Brock are almost at one. I can feel them almost breaking through. They have been a little whiny but not to bad.

Summer vacation has been marginal. It has rained so much lately that the girls aren't really able to get outside and play much. There are days when I just want to send them out in the rain and lock the doors so they can't come in. I know that sounds really mean, but I get really tired of them waking up the babies. Oh well, life goes on.

Tripped Out

Yes, it is finally me. I am back from all of our family travels. I sure have a lot of catching up to do. First off, our adventures started clear back on Memorial Weekend. We went to Island Park for our annual Hill Family Reunion. It was such nice weather and we had such a good time. There is nothing quite like dutch oven food and we sure had alot of it and it was all so yummy. The boys did really well and seemed to enjoy being in the great outdoors.

Kayla, Collin, Aiden, Brock and Paige

Collin, Grandma Ricks, Aiden, Aunt Liz, Paige, Bailey, Kayla and Sierra

We got home on Monday from that and then I spent all day Tuesday(26th) and Wednesday (27th) getting packed and ready to leave on Thursday (28th) to head out for Lake Powell. It seemed like I would never be ready to go, but Thursday afternoon rolled around and we packed the suburban clear to the top and we pulled out for Utah. Paige was able to miss the last day of school so we could get a jump start on the drive. She is glad to be done with the 1st grade and is looking forward to summer vacation.

Thursday night we stayed in Bountiful and then on Friday we headed out early and drove through Zions National Park. It was really pretty and it was something I had never done. We had a good time. Friday night we stayed in a hotel in Kanab, Utah. What an interesting experience staying in a hotel with three babies. They did pretty good, put at one point in the night, all three of the boys were in bed with Matt and I.

Kayla, Aiden, Brock, Collin and Paige

Saturday morning we got up and headed for Lake Powell. I was so glad to finally arrive and get all of our stuff on to the houseboat. Sunday was Paige's 7th birthday and she had fun playing in the sand, riding the wave runners and going tubing. That night we had a cake and presents. She got lots of clothes, littlest pet shops, lincoln logs and a set a pink golf clubs. She loves to go golfing with her dad and so she is super excited to have her own clubs. It was also her cousin Blake's birthday on Monday, so they had a combined cake and then we did some luau games. It was a lot of fun.

Blake and Paige

The rest of the week went well. The girls loved being there with their cousins and riding the tube and wave runners. The boys even went swimming and loved it. They were really good and slept really well. The last two night were not so good. Collin cut his first tooth and was miserable from that. Then all three of them got their awful coughs back and weren't feeling to good. We survived a week though and we are glad to be back on land.

Aiden, Brock and Collin

Kayla, Paige, Brock, me, Collin, Hannah, Aiden and Alyssia

Matt wakeboarding

Aiden, Brock and Collin

The sandcastle me and the girls built
Paige, Matt, Kayla, Hannah and Kyle on the tube

Saturday we were able to go to two baptisms and a blessing and then another blessing on Sunday. It was a jam packed 10 days and I am not going to go on any more trips for a long while.