Thanksgiving and Christmas 2015

We weren't quite ready to venture out with Caleb and the babies for Thanksgiving...so everyone came to us!  They cleaned before hand, cooked all the food, held babies, played with Caleb and cleaned up afterwards.  They even put up our Christmas tree for us (I'm afraid I may not have gotten around to it otherwise)!

Caleb couldn't seem to hold his eyes open whenever the camera would flash...

The babies really enjoyed looking up at the beautiful Christmas tree, and Caleb kept saying, "Peepaw put up Christmas tree" and "Thank you, Peepaw!"

We also had family over for a delicious meal (provided by the talented Jon Paul Holland) right before Christmas.  Not only was the food excellent, but it was fun getting to see all the cousins hang out together and play outside...in the dark with flashlights!

We finally mustered up the courage to take all three kids to Ellijay for Christmas Eve.  We don't have any pictures of that, but we had a wonderful time enjoying great food and even better company.  It was hectic getting everything together to take three kids under three out for the day (including two hour long car rides), but it was worth it!
After staying home for Christmas morning, we made our way to Tony's parents house to continue the celebration.

I think Caleb enjoyed the box more than what was inside!

We continued the fun the next day with visits from Peepaw, Briena, RaRa, and Grandpa. 

I'm not sure who had more fun with Caleb's new tent:  Caleb or Daddy...

Now we just need everyone to come help us take the Christmas tree down...

Friends for Life

I have been friends with Becky for over a decade.  We met at church, where she was the leader of a Bible study I was in.  At the time, she was newly married, with no children, and I was still in college.  Marriage and children for me seemed very far off at the time.  Even though she was only a few years older than me, we were in very different stages of life, and because of that, I never would have thought that she would be more than just a casual acquaintance from church.  Fast forward to today, and she has been a mentor, role model, best friend, and someone with whom I share all the ups and downs of life.  She prayed that Caleb, Wren and Judson would come into our family - probably more than we did.  She met us as we came home with Caleb for the first time - weary from traveling with a newborn.  She was with us as Wren and Judson came into the world.  I can still hear her saying to me, "You can do this, Alicia."  When I want to quit or cry or both because of the burdens of life, she tells me to do the next thing.  I couldn't imagine life without her and her encouragement. 
And her sweetness and encouragement don't stop with her.  Her daughter Anna has the sweetest and most gentle spirit.  She loves Jesus, and that love overflows in love and kindness for other people.  She is a hard worker and a model of Godly character.  Like her mom, she's beautiful, inside and out.
When I was in labor at the hospital, Anna sent me this letter:

 On the back, she wrote two verses, one of which was the verse her mother used when she was in labor with Anna and the other was the one I had chosen to help me.

Then when we returned home from the hospital, she came to visit and gave me this letter:

[I still can't believe I have three children either, Anna!]

While she was visiting, she held Wren, something that she had been looking forward to.  Can't you just see the pure joy on her face?

Even though she's older than Wren, I pray that Anna would be a role model for Wren and that they would grow to be close friends, as her mother and I are.  Who knows?  Maybe 20 years from now, we'll have a picture of Wren holding Anna's new baby...

Learning to Fly

I'm going to be honest (and all you seasoned parents of multiple children are going to find this amusing)...just a few short weeks ago I was completely overwhelmed with the thought of being alone with all three of my children at the same time.  To be real honest, I was scared of being left alone with just two of my three children!  We had gotten so used to having an extra person at the house to help right after the babies were born that even the thought of just Tony and me caring for all three of the kids at the same time was a little much.  I've never in my life taken care of two newborns at the same time for more than a few hours, let alone taken care of two newborns and a two year old...24 hours a day, seven days a week.
I remember the first time that I was left alone with Caleb and Wren.  Tony was at the hospital with Judson, awaiting his release to come home, and all of my helpers were enjoying a much deserved day of rest.  The morning went by mostly without a hitch, but when Tony called to tell me that it would likely be after Caleb's bedtime that he came home with Judson, I panicked.  I called my sweet mother-in-law (who had already spent much of the previous two weeks with us), almost in tears.  As I was starting to ask her to make the hour long drive to my house to help me, I said something along the lines of, "I guess I have to figure out how to handle this sometime, but..."  As my sentenced trailed off, she said, "Well, yeah, I did it with Tony and Brent [Tony's older brother]..."  I know she would have dropped everything she was doing to come over right then and there, but I also knew she was trying to tell me that I had to face reality and learn to manage my own household...alone.  It was then that I knew that it was time to leave the nest.  If not now, then when?  I told my mother-in-law that I would call her if I needed her but that I was going to try to handle the kids myself.  And so I did...mostly.  Granted, there was a temper tantrum that resulted in Caleb peeing in the floor out of spite and there was one point when all three of us were crying, but we all survived mostly unscathed.
It may have been a bumpy start, but since then, we've learned to spread our wings and fly (even if there are some unexpected nose dives every now and then).  Tony and I have each been alone with one, two, and three of our children, and it seems to be getting easier.  I've learned that two babies is really not much different than just one baby (or maybe that's because ours are so good?).

And I've also learned that toddlers can actually be quite helpful (with the right motivation and if they're in the right mood).  Sometimes their idea of "help" may not be the same as ours (e.g., carrying a partially open and leaky container of barbecue chicken sideways all the way from the kitchen to the bathroom so his weary mama could have a snack), but at least they try. 

Shortly after Judson came home, I made my first outing with Caleb and Wren to a local park where we walked on the trails.  While Wren slept in the stroller, Caleb and I had a great time enjoying nature.

 We've even all been out to the park and store together a few times.  Such trips usually start with Tony and me looking at each other thinking, "Are we really about to attempt this?"  Sometimes I just break out laughing because of the absurdity of it all ("Is this really happening?  Are we really driving a minivan with our three kids loaded up in the back?").  Preparing to go on these outings usually takes more time than we actually spend away from the house, but at least we got out for a while.  It doesn't always go smoothly, (Yesterday, we arrived at the park only to realize that we forgot Caleb's shoes and the double stroller for the twins.  Oops!) but we're making it!  We can do this!  Even if some of us have no shoes on...Even if there is a trail of barbecue sauce staining the carpet through our bedroom...
Thanks for nudging me out of the nest, Sheila!