Christmas - Part II

There are endless hours of fun to be had opening and closing the bedroom door

Second only to crawling into the old tub (now the "lifeboat") that sits out in the hall

Alex in his dreaded beaver hat

Ella in her bunny hat gone awry

Helen is working the McDonald's drive thru

We put up our frog tent and are having a great time playing in it

It's like being eaten by a giant frog!

The Cauleys on Christmas Eve

Christmas morning - Ella and Alex opening presents (they were more interested in ripping paper and eating it than seeing what was inside)

Helen likes the new blocks - they taste yummy!

Alex is actually reading the owner's manual before he tackles his new toy

Alex supervises while Helen checks out her stocking

Alex is worn out from all of the excitement at Grandma's

Ella loves suckering her cousins into walking her everywhere

Alex and Ella discover the meaning of childproof locks on Grandma's cabinets

Ella and Helen clap away

"Boy, it sure used to be a lot easier for the three of us to fit in this chair"

Ella and Helen want an honest opinion - do these jeans make their butt look big??

Alex likes pushing Ella around on the cart

It was a fun and adventurous Christmas season. We spent a couple of days in Georgia with Cecil's grandmother then a few days in Ohio with my parents. The trip to Ohio went pretty smoothly. The kids did fine on the way there but the way back looked to be pretty dicey since the kids were really tired by then. Thankfully we got them all to sleep on the plane so they slept most of the way. I think the highlight of the trip for me was sitting on the plane with Alex asleep in his car seat next to me, Helen asleep on my lap, and Ella sprawled out asleep on my Cecil's lap across the aisle from me. It has been a long time since I have held a sleeping baby and there is little that compares to it. It has also been a long time since I could just sit and watch our kids sleep. It is so sweet to watch their little mouths suck at something not there, or to see them get startled in their sleep but never wake up. It was so peaceful sitting there with everyone sweetly sleeping and just enjoying this time with all five of us being together.

It took the kids a couple of days when we got home to get back to normal. They had to decompress and catch up on some sleep. But there was no denying how happy they were to be home. The laughed and played all afternoon and kept looking at us as if to say, "Thanks for bringing us back here."

Ella has been up to her old tricks. You may remember that a month or so ago she decided to try squeezing through the gap in the stair bannister. Well, she succeeded. A few days ago I was in the kitchen making bottles and when I came back in the family room, Helen was stuck in the gap in the stairs. I extracted her and realized I only saw two babies. I looked around for Ella but she was not in any of her usual hiding places. Both gates were closed so I knew she could not have gotten out but still, I could not find her. I started looking around the whole downstairs but still could not find her. I was a little scared and worried but not terribly so because I knew she could not have gone far. But still, I could not find her and that was more than a little troubling. Then I remembered that she knows how to climb the stairs. So I looked up and there she was, sitting at the top of the stairs just as pround as could be. She finally got herself through that gap and climbed all the way up there. Poor Helen was just trying to follow her! That night Daddy put a bunch of zip ties across the gap as a temporary fix to try to contain the escape artist. It may just have to hold until she grows enough to not be able to fit through there -- or until she figures out a way around those too!

Christmas Part I

On Christmas Day we flew to Ohio to see Grandma and Grandpa and the rest of the Ohio clan. The trip went as well as could be expected when travelling with three babies! Here we are in the airport in Ohio waiting inside where it was warm while Daddy got the car seats in the van outside (where it was 30 degrees!)

Helen in her old crib back at Grandma's

Grandma and Alex

Ella showing Grandma and Grandpa how she can clap

Ella playing with her new Christmas toy

The whole Boeckman/Cauley clan - Grandma, Grandpa, my brother Brad, my sister in law Alison, my niece Caroline, my nephews Andrew and Matthew, Helen, Ella, Alex, Cecil, and me.

The Cauleys - me, Cecil, Helen, Alex, and Ella

Ella getting her cousin Caroline to walk her around the house - again, and again, and again, and again.....

Helen and Alex playing with new toys at Grandma's

Mommy with Helen, Ella, and Alex

It was actually warm enough in Ohio one day to go for a walk - Andrew and Caroline did an excellent job pushing the strollers

Alex in his doggy sweater - complete with big floppy ears!

Sweet Ella - she looks so innocent....but we know better :)

Ella getting Daddy to take her for a walk

We discovered Grandma's pots and pans!

We are still in Ohio so these are only the pictures that I pulled off of Grandma's camera. I have a lot more at home that I hope to get up later this week. Thankfully the weather has not been too bad here in Ohio. It is cold but no snow storms - thank goodness! The kids were a little restless on the plane; it was about a 2 hour flight. Alex was in his car seat and the we each had one of the girls on our laps. One would think that since we were flying during nap time that everyone would sleep. No such luck - there was a way too much exciting stuff going on! Everyone slept in the car on the way home from the airport though.

Once we got here, it was a flurry of social engagements. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we had parties at Grandma's house with lots of people to visit and lots of kids to play with. Everyone was pretty exhausted and very stimulated. The kids did great though and held up pretty well. Even Helen warmed up quicker than usual - as long as no one other than Grandma, mommy or daddy tried to hold her within the first 30 minutes of strangers arriving. Tomorrow is the flight back home and hopefully it goes as smoothly as the flight up here. Then we have a week to recover and it is off to Disney World! We are cramming in a year's worth of excitement in a couple of weeks :)

Big Steps and Getting Ready for Christmas

Alex wiggled around enough on the changing table that he crawled right off of the changing part and ended up with all of the diapers. He thought it was a great adventure.

Last weekend we had several Christmas parties. The first one was with our multiples group. Lots of twins and triplets everywhere. Before we were ready to party we had to fuel up.

Mommy and Alex (he's eyeing the cookies and can barely contain himself)

Miss Helen

The Bouncy House was fascinating. We were not big enough to be get in but we loved watching all the other kids jump around.

Feeling it bounce around was pretty exciting too

Are you my mother?

Picture with Santa - even this went well, although notice that I am still holding Helen

Sunday was the Cauley Family Christmas at our house. Ella instantly made new friends.

Helen and Mommy with Alex and Christina behind us

Ella gets Uncle Jerry to walk around with her - she cannot get enough walking and will walk with anyone who can tolerate the aching back

Alex on a wonderfully warm day - we had to break out the short sleeves for the 80 degree weather!!

Queen Ella with her mantle of rings

Our new shirts to keep track of our birth order :)

Ella and Helen getting ready for Christmas

Alex loves to pull all of the books onto the floor

Happy Helen

Helen has decided that the fireplace is the new most interesting place - and her siblings are happy to follow suit

We tried spaghetti and loved it. Unfortunately Ella was one spaghetti covered mess. Good thing it was bath night!

It has been really busy getting ready for Christmas. On top of the Cauley Christmas and our other party last weekend, we also had a neighborhood party. They had a horse drawn wagon going through the neighborhood. The kids did that too and loved it. The sides of the wagon were the perfect height for them to stand there and look out. Helen was a little skeptical but Alex and Ella were smiling and laughing.

We now have lots of new tricks too. Helen and Ella can clap and wave bye-bye. Alex thinks he is clapping but he is really waving bye-bye. Every time I say "Yeah!!" when Helen waves bye-bye, Alex thinks saying "Yeah!!" means its time to wave. So while the girls are clapping when I cheer and say "Yeah!!", Alex starts waving. Too cute. And he's so serious when he does it - like he knows it is a test and he's looking at me to make sure he is doing it right. I don't have the heart to tell him he's got it backwards. At least he is not clapping when I say bye-bye!

The biggest news is that Ella took her first steps last night!! She's been cruising and walking around holding onto only one of my fingers but last night I moved a few feet away from her and held out my hands. I could tell she was a little nervous and hesitated, but then in pure Ella fashion, gave it her all and just went for it. She took a few steps and then fell into my arms. Then she repeated her trick again when Daddy came home. So exciting!! Helen is doing a great job of standing on her own so I suspect she will not be far behind but she's always been a little more cautious so I'm not sure how long. As soon as I can convince Alex that there's more food if he walks, I'm sure he will do it.

Last week I took Alex to the doctor because he was not always keeping his bottle down. Of course I diagnosed him with reflux and decided that he needed some medicine. The doctor did not agree. She said I was overfeeding him! So I've had to cut him back but what's a mother to do when the human eating machine drains his entire bottle and eats everything I put on his tray and STILL looks at me like "Where's the rest???" No doubt he is a healthy thriving boy!

This weekend we are going up to Georgia to visit Cecil's family then next week it is off to Ohio for Christmas. Say a prayer to the flying gods that these three kids are relatively well behaved on the plane :)