I have finally looked through all of the pictures that were taken at the party (my wonderful sister-in-law took them for us).  Here are a few of my favorites!

It was a great party!!  The boys had so much fun that they went to bed at their normal bed time and slept until 7:45 the next day.  It was so nice for us! :)

In other news Aiden is now saying, "No, no, no" and "No, mine."  Noah has learned to roll his eyes.  Reese is refusing to sleep through the night.  Ah yes.  They are certainly testing the waters.  I just didn't know it would happen so soon.

A party and a check-up

The past week and a half have been very busy for us!

The boys had their fabulous first birthday party.  It was a 3 ring circus.  Seems fitting, right?  :)  They had a blast!  Reese ate most of his smash cake, Noah ate a lot of his and Aiden only took a few bites (too tired by that point).  They weren't really into opening presents, so I did most of that.  They love cards though, so they looked at cards more than anything.  I promise to post pictures soon!

They also had their 1 year check-up.  Their growth has really slowed down now that they're moving.  Noah is by far the biggest at 30.25 in and 21 lbs.  Aiden is in the middle at 29.25 in. and 20 lbs. and Reese is the peanut at 28 in. and 18 1/2 lbs.  He's so tiny compared to Noah!  She said they all look great and was surprised at the level of activity.  Ah, yes.  Something we experience on a daily basis.  They are into EVERYTHING!  Nothing is safe. They can even open drawers.  Something that I'm learning with multiples is that they learn together.  When 1 can't do it they work together to figure it out.  It's a mixed blessing for sure!  I'm glad they're learning, but frustrated that they terrorize the house.  By 9 o'clock one morning they had played with dirty socks, flip flops, dog food...the list went on.  She also gave them an order for a hearing rescreen since they were preemies and in the NICU.  I'm fighting this out with insurance right now, because they don't want to pay for it.  That seems to be a theme lately.  I spend a lot of time on the phone arguing with insurance companies and billing departments.  She also recommended that we have Noah's eyes checked.  We've noticed that when he focuses one eye moves to the middle more.  Nate's eyes do something similar.  We figured better to have it looked at and be wrong than assume nothing is wrong.  If he does have a problem we hope some sort of vision therapy will help and avoid the astronomical cost of glasses like Nate's.  So, that appointment is on Monday.

Well, the boys are sleeping so I need to go tend to my Friday duties..cleaning like a madwoman while I have some time to myself.  :) 

Happy birthday boys!!

It's hard to believe that almost exactly 1 year ago, down to the minute, our boys were born.  At 10:16 Aiden was born with a loud cry.  At 10:18 Noah was born with a loud cry.  At 10:20 Reese was born with a little cry that sounded more like a sheep.  :)  It was such a relief and a joy to have them here.  I can remember that day so vividly.  I can remember when they rolled me to put me onto a different bed to go to the recovery area.  I was sure they were going to roll me right off of the bed.  I can remember telling Nate to go see the boys and leave me to my misery as I regained feeling and was sick.  I can barely remember going down to see the boys and only holding Aiden.  When I watch video of that day I don't remember that a nurse had to help me hold him because I was so tired and weak.  What a flood of memories!  What I remember most is when they came in to tell me I was going into the OR after 2 other c-sections.  I looked at Nate and said, "Well, I guess now we know when their birthday will be." 

Today I am happy to have them turn one, but a little sad that my babies are growing so fast.  I feel like I can't blink or I might miss something.  I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to stay home and watch them learn new things every day.  Today we will do some fun things to celebrate.  This morning they had pancakes, sausage and strawberries..a favorite breakfast for sure!  We're having 2 of their cousins over for a "pool party" in our baby pools and a special lunch and special supper.  Saturday we will have some family fun with Nate and next week Saturday is their party.  I'll be sure to post pictures of all of the fun activities that we do.  I will, of course, be taking pictures of everything.  I wish we had more pictures of the day they were born, because there are things I don't remember and things I didn't get to see.  Today I will take as many pictures as I can.  I don't want to miss or forget anything about such an incredible day.  It's a big day for them, but a big day for us as well.  By the grace of God we've survived our first year with multiples!  It's been a bumpy road at times, but we're still standing.  When we talked about having kids before the boys we always thought we would have 2 kids.  Suddenly we had 3 at once and realized we're not the ones who get to decide that.  That's why on the boys' birth announcement we put this verse, "for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago" (Isaiah 25:1b).  This is not something we planned or thought we would ever experience, but we sure are glad that in perfect faithfulness we were blessed times 3.  What a great gift!! 

Happy 1st birthday to our 3 wonderful blessings!!