Meg's 4th Birthday

In a complete attempt to buy Meg's love, her birthday gift was this car. She loved riding around in her cousin's Gator in Kentucky, and we thought with the year she has had, she deserved it! She did enjoy the gift, although it is Sophie doing the driving which seems fine by Meg. We spent her birthday doing what she asked - going to Build a Bear and building a new bear with her cousins. We had gone to the cake store a few days earlier and bought tops for the cupcakes, went out for burgers and she was happy! At least for the day. Then it was back to sharing the house with twin baby sisters who get the majority of the attention. What a tough way to be the middle child! But Meg sure does enjoy life. Her energetic personality, her constant need to move (she doesn't walk - she skips everywhere!) and her sweet disposition make these days with Meg a blast, albeit tiring!!! Happy Birthday Meg!

Cate and Molly are ONE!!!

Cate and Molly celebrated their first birthday many, many times. Initially I was going to just do a party at the house on the Saturday after their birthday, but then the day of their actual first birthday came, and I felt a little guilty about not doing something on their actual birthday. So we went out for pizza at Happy Joe's, our favorite impromptu birthday spot. I don't think the babies had any idea what was going on, but we all had fun! They wore hats, ate pizza and ice cream sundaes, and got serenaded times two.



Molly kept her hat on long enough for a picture, but Cate wasn't so keen on the idea! On their actual birthday, they got to eat cake twice as well. In the morning, Laura came over and did "smash cake" photos. They each had their own cakes, we stripped them down to their dipes, and let them go at it! Molly wasn't such a fan, Cate dug right in, and they both ended up a mess. The pictures turned out super cute, though, with great shots of both of them!

A quick bath, and it was time for the next event. Small family party at the house, low key, with more cake. This time in their high chairs, but the end result the same. Messy! Straight to the bath after this party, that's for sure!

Preschool Graduation

It was Sophie's big graduation day! She has been a "student" at Webster Hills Preschool since she was 2, this year being in the pre-K Discovery room. Not only did we have a special mother's day program where I got a pedicure and massage courtesy of Sophie, but they also had a graduation ceremony this year. The kids all wore their dad's white shirts, donned the graduation caps, and received diplomas. It was so cute! Hard to believe she will be starting kindergarten in just a few short months . . . where has the time gone?

Disney World

We decided in the fall that a Spring Break vacation sounded like a good idea. And Sophie & Meg were a perfect age for Disney. However, as life with the twins was starting to get a little crazier with the addition of mobility, we started second guessing this decision! It ended up being so much fun. My parents flew down and stayed with us and were such a huge help, making the trip even possible. We stayed in a great condo that we rented from a friend, and the girls had so much fun swimming, playing mini golf, and swimming! We went to Disney actually just one day, which was plenty. We got there pretty early, and the twins "napped" on and off throughout the day. I was typically holding one or another, mostly Molly, but for the most part they did well. We even stayed for the Electric parade. Sophie's favorite part was It's a Small World - she could have stayed on that ride all day!

The only ride they were not fond of was the Pirates of the Carribean. Not necessarily that scary for a grown-up, but obviously too scary for a 5 & 3 year old. When we got off, Sophie told us that as parents we should have checked out the ride first and made sure it was okay for little kids! Meg liked just about anything, but did get a little tired by the afternoon and actually fell asleep in her stroller. Pretty sure that was a first!

Cate too! She just slumped her head forward and fell asleep while we were walking around! It was so funny! Why they wouldn't just lay back on the stroller I have no idea. I think just too much to see.

We spent the rest of the days just at the pool, which Sophie & Meg especially loved. Our friends the Hessler's were also in town so we got together for a BBQ with their family, and also drove out to Daytona Beach to hang with them there. It was pretty cold, but the babies actually did well with the sand! They both started to crawl on all fours about a week before the trip, and they are pretty quick, so it makes life a lot more interesting - for them and us! They didn't like the pool as much as the older girls, but that's probably because they are more interested in crawling and exploring than being held in the water. And it's not exactly relaxing for us in the water with them either!

We spent one of our last days at a character breakfast at Chef Mickey's at 7 am - the only time they had available when I made the reservation 3 months ahead of time! All the kids loved it, and none of them were scared of the big giant heads! It really was a lot of fun, and we got a lot of good picks. I especially like the one of my parents. They had a great time too!

Cate and Molly look more and more different every day. Their personalities are so different as well. Cate still pretty easy going (hence falling asleep face first) and Molly requiring a little more attention. Both are really good sleepers, and did great on the trip in their pack n plays, which is also what made the trip doable. Adaptable sleepers. They both still wake between 1-2 times at night to eat, but go right back to sleep. Hopefully sleeping through the night is coming soon though! We call Cate "Spike" because her straight blond hair sticks straight up! Too cute!

Sophie is 5!

We had a family party at our house for Sophie's fifth birthday - can you believe that she is 5 already? She wanted a yellow cake with blue icing, easy enough. Spaghetti and meatballs is the birthday meal that I convinced her that she wanted! The next weekend we had a birthday party at a little ice cream shop in downtown Webster for all of her friends from preschool, girls from the neighborhood, and a few more friends. All in all, there were about 13 4-5 year olds at the party - it was too cute! We played some games, ate ice cream and cake, and opened gifts. It went really well. I made a Hello Kitty cake that I forgot to take a picture of, although I think Laura did so I'll have her send me a copy for posterity. The party was only an hour and a half, but it seemed like a long time to try to entertain all the girls. I was happy when all the other moms came back! We had about 10 minutes to kill at the end, so we played musical chairs to the tune of "I'm a Barbie girl" and whomever didn't get a chair, got to man the ipod. No one lost! I'm not sure whose idea it was, but the girls all loved it, and finally the party was over. I can't believe I have four girls to plan these events for!

Meg is getting so big too! She has really gotten interested in her little sisters, some days too interested. She is always trying to move them, or pull them by their arms, or lay on top of them. It will be in there best interest to learn how to walk, or rather, run. Not so long ago, she asked me if it was about time for Cate and Molly to go back to the hospital! It has been a difficult adjustment, I think, but she's getting better. It must be hard to be the middle child in such a huge way. She makes up for it with her energy and spirit. She is always moving, climbing, jumping. One night we thought she broke her arm when she fell off a kitchen stool. She fell off something at preschool too and scraped her face. They found her once on top of the water fountain! She has so much energy I can't figure out her sleeping. Some nights she is up until 10 if she takes a nap, but we literally have to wake her from afternoon naps and in the am, and she is grouchy. But when the evening comes, she is bouncing off walls! Hard to figure her out, but we're working on it. Meg and Sophie also had their first trip to the dentist which went really well, although I haven't told Sophie that she has to go back for a cavity.

Cate and Molly are having more and more fun every day. They love watching their sisters play, and they love, love trying new foods. Especially Molly. She will try anything. Today she ate black beans and avocado pieces! They mainly like feeding themselves, and although we still do spoon feed them baby food, they'd prefer to feed themselves. Molly gets most in her mouth, Cate is still mastering the skill. They both are crawling as well, army crawling, Cate being the faster one. Molly can get herself into a sitting position, whereas Cate just stays on her tummy. Molly is also pulling herself to stand, so we had to lower her crib already :( Where is time going? Too fast indeed.

Cate also talks quite a bit, with lots of babbling, a new sound every day. She waves her hand and says ba-ba, and Molly likes to play "so big". They talk to each other from their cribs in the am, and they literally play with each other on the floor. They have this toy that looks like a house, with a door, and they will crawl through it to get to each other. They love to steal each others toys, and play with each others hand or hair when they are feeding.

Holidays 2010

It was a busy holiday season at the Ward house this year. Both Sophie and Meg were super excited about Christmas, and really got into trying to find Rudy the elf on a shelf every morning. They consistently asked for the same toys, asked Santa, and were really happy to see said gifts under the tree! Sophie got her "leapfrog video game" and Meg her "talking baby". Meg opened the baby all gone and exclaimed "My talking baby!" It was too cute.

We spent Christmas much the same as most years, with a trip to Cincinnati the week before Christmas to celebrate with Greg's family, Christmas Eve Mass at 4, and Christmas Day at my parents house. Mass went amazingly well considering we were there from about 3-5 in order to get a pew, and the babies really did great. They were most excited about all the paper to play with! They are at a great age, six months, with both of them sitting but not yet mobile. It is nice to be able to set them down and watch them play.

Cate and Molly have gotten so big! As I said, they are both sitting well, and love just playing on the floor. They are in pretty good routines with an early bedtime, two consistent naps, and waking 1-2 times at night. When they do wake up, they go right back to sleep. 1o minutes of feeding, and back in their cribs. I am trying to not make the same mistake I made with Meg when I would fall asleep in the rocker with her. It was no wonder she was still not sleeping through the night at 11 months. All in all, the nights are going well, and I am not yet tired of getting up. Greg is a big help as well, helping getting the babies situated on me, and helping to get them back into the cribs. This tends to be the most challenging part, the physical maneuvering of two sleeping babies, getting them back into their cribs without waking them! the nights when Greg is gone in the hospital are hard, but they are luckily not to often. Breastfeeding is still going well, and the babies continue to gain weight. Gone are the days of reflux and weight loss!

This picture is Cate and Molly in their cloth diapers that I am addicted to. As a way to make changing multiple diapers a day more fun (fun you say?) I decided to give cloth diapering a try. I LOVE it. Love it. Addicted to the diapers. It was really easy the first six months when they weren't getting solid food, and so far with the introduction (slowly) of solids, it is still going well. I have to keep myself from buying more of the cute Flip covers, as I do not need anymore, and a big reason I did it was to save money!

For New Years I was unfortunately on call, but we had our friends the Hessler's over for a low key night. All the kids had a great time. Sophie fell asleep watching Lightning on the couch around 10, but all the other kids (minus the twins) were up at 11 for East coast New Year's. Having said that, Meg was still awake at 1 am when we were trying to go to sleep, bouncing on our bed! What a night owl! I think she would stay up every night if we would let her.

Another Three Months - Too Fast!!!

I would like to start by saying that I hate my computer. I spent almost two hours working on this entry, only for my wireless connection to somehow be dropped without my knowledge and none of it was saved. So this will now be a much abbreviated version! Life is getting a little more organized with the babies already being six months old. They are getting so big, and are on much more of a schdule. They are in bed most nights by 6, getting up twice at night still to eat. Unfortunately, Cate's sleeping through the night was more the result of her reflux, and not gaining weight. I actually had to start waking her at night starting in the beginning of September because she was losing weight. As her reflux has improved, and with the extra feedings, she has steadily continued to gain weight, and although still smaller that her sister, is getting there!

These are my favorite sleepers. They are in them a lot! I try not to always dress them the same, but it is often easier just to grab two of the same. Molly is on the left, and Cate on the right. Molly is almost sitting up, and Cate isn't too far behind. She prefers to roll everywhere, and can roll across the room if left alone for too long! They really look different as well, with Cate looking as if she is going to have Greg's blond hair, and Molly's more like Sophie's. No more red heads like Meg - we couldn't handle it!

We started the twins on solid food on Thanksgiving, and they were really grateful for the rice cereal. So far so good. We've had bananas and green beans as well. I was reluctant to start on the solids too soon, because it is just one more thing to make life hectic, but they seem to be enjoying it. They like their high chairs as well, which is a good thing, because unfortunately they spend a lot of time there, while we try to get ready for work, or get dinner ready, etc ...

Cate is on the the top getting her first taste of yummy rice cereal, and Molly loves it too!

The girls enjoyed dressing up for Halloween, with Meg being a princess, and Sophie being Hello Kitty. I stayed home with the babies since they are in bed by 6, but we did put some pumpkin onsies on them. I promise I will get them costumes next year! Sophie and Meg are doing so much better, adjusting to life. They are playing with the babies more, and helping out a lot. We try to do things with just them as well, like the top picture when we went to the Forest Park Balloon Glow, to help give them attention too. It must be hard on them to always hear "I have to feed the babies first" but they seem to be happier again. It is completely insane here. And they sense weakness and are running the house most days! But it is starting to settle down a little, and Greg and I are trying to regain control!!!