handsful

I hate to blog out of order.  Call me a control freak…unfortunately, the title fits more than I’d like it to.  For instance, I was nearly twitching in my seat watching the kids fold the clean towels.  They were doing it all wrong.  But, I think I’m getting off topic. 

I must back up to birthdays again.  Back on the 11th, we had a family birthday party for M, P, E, and L.  I made 3 cakes (with lots of help decorating) and bought one (Ethan wanted an ice cream cake).

Marley requested chocolate cake, buttercream frosting.

it says Tater (Payton’s preferred nickname)…he chose strawberry cake, buttercream frosting.

Cookies and cream, Ethan’s favorite flavor hands down. 

Lainey wanted a cookie cake.  Abbey designed and decorated it with L’s help.  The characters say “Lainey”. 

Time to sing…

She enjoyed the attention!

Make a wish and blow!

harder!

she did eventually get them blown out :)

It was a great party. 

Guess who else had a party? 

These characters say “Happy Birthday Dang Yu Hai”.

The birthday boy with some friends :)

I love seeing him have his own special day. 

A pink flower just for Dylan.  I wonder how wired up all that sugar made him? 

Oooh, I think he’s gonna try it. 

Can my friends have some, too?

Awww…she’s letting him help cut the cake. 

We were so happy to get these pictures.  I was told that the party was held on the 7th, since the 4th was on a Sunday and adoption related matters aren’t held on Sundays.  I hope he was told that his mama and dada sent him his birthday treat. 

So, 5 cakes later and we have 12 year olds, a 4 year old, and a 3 year old.  Last post about July birthdays.  I promise!  ;)

Marley, Payton, and Ethan…my preemie triplets who each weighed in around 3 1/2lbs…are now 12 years old.  Officially pre-teens – 1 year till teenagers – 4 years from driving.  (yikes)

Their birthday was actually fairly laid back…as pretty much all of our summer days have been.  They slept in, and then requested cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  Well, I had none in the fridge and didn’t have all the ingredients for homemade.  I did have a roll of biscuit dough, so after some imagination on my part, I presented them with cinnamon rolls.  They were good, if I do say so.

That night, they opened Abbey’s presents to them.

purple and pink camo sleeping bag

always suspicious of his sister, he’s listening for ticking.  Or, breathing.  Turns out it was an Xbox game.

Earlier in the week, Marley found just the comforter she’d been looking for, so that became her birthday present from us.  The boys were wishy-washy about what they wanted until it was too late.  We think we’ve hit on a couple of things, so we’ll do some internet surfing.

Then, we headed out to dinner…

Yummy dinner, followed by the usual birthday ice cream.  This time, there were no birthday singers – we were fine with that!

Now that they are 12, I decided to do a “who they are now” kind of post.  Listing things that really define them.  Afterall, I’m seeing glimpses of them as young adults these days (gulp), and I want to remember this season in their lives.

Marley –

Loves all things horses – dreams of owning her own horse farm with lots of other animals scattered about.

Hates all things related to thunder storms.  And splinters.  And peanut butter.

Loves to read – chapter books about animals are favorites.  Currently reading The Percy Jackson series.

Prefers to wear double-layered tank tops and jeans.  Isn’t fond of anything remotely “cute”.

She’s creative – loves to draw, color, cook, and write stories.

Loves to make other people happy, but can still flash a mean temper.

Payton –

Loves his brother intensely…can be just as intensely mad at him, too.

Hates injustice, soda, and wearing anything other than his favorite black shorts.

Orders lemonade at every restaurant.  Everytime.

Has a gift in drawing, especially cartooning.  Which fits his personality perfectly.

Little kids are drawn to him, and he loves that.

Prefers friends to call him “Tater”, and has a knack of making us laugh.

Ethan –

Hates reading, talking on the phone, and hearing his baby sister cry.

Loves soda, sugary cereal, and junk food.  Too much.

Has decided that baseball is not his thing.

Has decided that guitar is his thing, and he does it very well.   That and video games.

Always has arms full of silly bands and a rope anklet on his ankle.

Is a bit of a daredevil and loves a thrill.  Skateboarding, wakeboarding, skiing, roller-coasters…you name it.

I couldn’t be prouder of my triplets…who they are now, and who they are becoming.  Happy 12th M, P, and E!

The night before Lainey turned 4, I was joking with her that I wanted her to stay 3.  She laughed her “oh, you’re so silly, mommy” laugh and said “no!”.  I asked why she couldn’t stay 3, and she said “Lainey wants to be a big girl!” 

Well, Lainey girl, you are…

Good morning, sunshine!  So, how old are you today?? 

Oh!!!!  FOUR!!

Dressed up for July 4th…I mean, her birthday!  Same thing.  She’s ready for church!  (She looks so OLD here!)

sometimes those eyes do disappear when she smiles!

A birthday-girl sandwich.  heh heh

Middle and little sister share a hug

More posing with the birthday girl.  (ignore my goofy grin)  There’s no shot of Abbey with Lainey because most of us were already out the door when Abbey came downstairs.  She’s got her daddy’s “late” gene.  :)

After church, we headed out to lunch.  Fast forward to dessert.  Before the other kids got theirs, a bunch of waitresses came over and sang a VERY LOUD birthday song to Lainey.  She got very serious and tried hard to ignore it.  Then, they planted this in front of her and she wasn’t as serious anymore…

must. get. every. last. drop. 

Back home and time for presents…one from mommy and daddy, and one from big sister Abbey.

A blow up pool with sprinkler!  Awesome!

It’s all she asked for…

A little mechanical hamster.  She named it Tashu, same as one of Marley’s hamsters.  She made it a little bed in her wardrobe :)

Time to try out the pool.  The big kids do the hard work. 

Lainey had the easy part!  She loved it. 

Yes, that IS a taco with 4 candles in it.  Lainey requested her birthday dinner be from TB.  She absolutely adores the place, wants to eat there EVERY time we suggest going out.  So, we sang to her and she blew those candles out!  It took a few tries, but she did it.  In fact, for each taco she had (3), she put the candles in again, we sang again (in triple time!), and she blew ’em out again! 

It’s hard to believe that she’s 4 years old.  I look back at the pics of her when we first received her at 19 months old and think how little bitty she looks.  She’s so growny and independent, loves helping me out with whatever I’m doing (I know, that eventually wanes a bit…), and simply can’t wait for her brother to join us.  Oh…Dylan.  That’s right!

He turned THREE on July 4th.  We sent a cake to him using the in-China organization called www.ladybugsnlove.com  We’re waiting for pics of his celebration (the company takes the money we send and gives it to the orphanage with the instructions to buy the cake and provide digital pictures proving that the money was used for that purpose)  We’ve seen many birthday celebration pics, and were fortunate that Dylan was in a few of them!  I hope he enjoys having his own party :) 

In the meantime, Abbey bought a birthday present for him, too.  We’ll have it here, waiting for him. 

Thanks, Abbey…he’ll love it. 

Next stop…Marley, Payton, and Ethan’s birthday on the 7th! 

 

Yes, 14.  1 year away from a learner’s permit, 2 years away from driving…if I keep going, I’ll get lightheaded. 

After a family trip to the mall, where Abbey had a mini-shopping spree, we came home for cake.  Her request…chocolate cake, chocolate frosting.  She IS my daughter, you know. 

Laughing, as her dad serenades her with the birthday song.  Oh, if only you could have heard…

A couple of presents at home…a capo for her guitar and a new voice activated alarm clock. 

Happy Birthday, Abbey.  We love you to bits.

Taken on the way out the door…the birthday girl wanted Italian, so we headed to a new place called Sarnelli’s. 

Buon appetito!  The girls enjoyed their meal too, but Marley vetoed the use of the photo.  She was putting food in her mouth (gasp).

Lainey was fine with sharing her picture…despite all the olive oil on her face from the scrumptious bread.  If you ever find yourself in Orange Park, FL, you must stop by Sarnelli’s! 

With my birthday “out of the way”, we’re full steam ahead on Christmas!

Eleven years ago yesterday, three of the cutest kids entered the world – all within 3 minutes. 

I gave each child the privilege of choosing what we had for each meal of the day.  Ethan had breakfast. 

I cheated and used crescent roll dough. 

The breakfast theme continued with Payton’s choice for lunch – pancakes.  They’re supposed to be 11’s.  Don’t be too critical. 

Once Randy got home, we did presents…an Ipod charger/speaker/clock radio for Payton.  He loved it. 

tracks for Ethan…to go along with the fishing poles and gear that Randy got him a couple of weeks ago. 

Marley is positively joyful over her present.  Picture coming up.  ;)

Marley chose dinner at Chili’s…good choice!  They treated the birthday trio to free desserts. 

We’d not planned on the desserts – the birthday cake was waiting at home.  Well, since I’m THAT kind of mom that just HAS to have the blowing-out-the-candles shot on the ACTUAL birthday…

Yes, it’s a hamburger.  No, I didn’t make it – again, I cheated and bought it.  Maybe next year I’ll do more of the homemade thing. 

Marley’s present??  A tiny little thing…

she calls Boone.

July 4th has become a split holiday for us…first half we celebrate our Lainey’s birthday and then we switch gears and do the red/white/blue thing.  It’s hard!  I wonder if she’ll eventually want to have her birthday on the 3rd.  Must be that much harder to have your b-day on Christmas or Easter! 

Here’s how she started her day:

Does that look comfy to you?  After I turned her table top fan off (which always wakes her up INSTANTLY), I got this:

Stretch, yawn.  Smile.  We’re blessed, she almost always wakes up happy as a clam. 

Now, a girl has to begin her birthday clean, right? 

Rinsing her hair with a butter tub.  That’s right, we’re high class. 

The next part of the day was spent riding to the dealership to pick up Randy’s car (it had been there during our vacation for oil change, etc.) and then some errands.  Including Target, where we bought Lainey a new booster seat.  We call it her big girl seat. :)

After lunch and a nap, it was time for cards and presents. 

She was jabbering away with the card, and then the $$ fell out.  As you can tell from the pic, she was shocked.  She jumped up and started handing out her money to each of us.  lol… We gave her an Aquadoodle mat and a toy camera and THEN we had dinner.  This is all riveting, huh? 

How old are you, Lainey??

Carvel ice cream cake!  She was so excited to BLOW out her candles (she’d been practicing), but didn’t quite have the air pressure to do it (darn fistula).  Daddy ended up helping a little. 

We devoured the cake, I changed her into her 4th of July shirt, and we headed out to watch fireworks at our friend’s parent’s pier.  Lainey heard the first one, promptly buried her head in my neck, scared to bits.  I took her home…we had some “rock rock” (rocking chair) time and I put my big 3yr old to bed. 

I’ll have her updated weight/height after her well check up next week.  Until then, here are a few things we learned about Lainey on our vacation. 

1.  She loves spicey wasabi peas.  She called them daddy’s brown food. 

2.  She prefers fast carnival rides over kiddie rides. 

3.  She has zero fear of heights. 

4.  In the car, she loves to call your name over and over and over.  Then, once you look at her, she says “ummmm” and trys to think of something to say. 

5.  She hates loud noises. 

6.  She’ll only pee in the woods if you sing Itsy Bitsy Spider.  Sounds weird, but it worked. 

7.  She loves rolling down a grassy hill. 

8.  If she has a choice of color for something, it’ll always be blue.  Light blue to be exact. 

9.  She all of a sudden started actually coloring a few days ago…not just scribbling on the page, but actually trying to stay in the lines.  What a big girl :)