Happy 3rd Birthday Macy!

So on Friday, we packed up the boys and drove 7.5 hours south to Effingham, IL (Well, it took us 7.5. If you didn't have to stop twice, it might only take you 6). For the majority of the trip I played flight attendant, sitting turned around in my seat and passing out a constant stream of snacks, dealing with passenger complaints, playing movies and holding a pacifier in Owen's mouth (he has trouble holding it in himself). All the while saying, "Yes we are almost there."

At one point Chris and I passed a giant billboard in the middle of Indiana that read:

Hell is Real.

We got a good laugh out of that. First, because when we passed it, our minivan was full of overtired, sick of riding in a car, noisy children and one hungry baby. Second, because who puts up billboards like that?? 

But every minute of that car ride was SO worth it!

Because we got to celebrate this sweet girl's 3rd birthday,

Something to know about Macy is that she likes to wear dresses, specifically princess dresses. It's not uncommon for her to have several dress changes throughout her day. Lucky for her she has plenty of dresses to change into. :)

Her birthday was no different. She chose a pink chiffon number and rocked it with a Happy Birthday crown and princess wand.

The boys were SO excited to get to celebrate her birthday with her. 

At one point I joked that Macy was the princess and Colin could be the prince. To which he said, "I'm not a prince Mommy! I'm a builder!"

So we decided that he could build a castle for princess Macy. That seemed like a good deal.

My brother Gavin met Owen for the first time this weekend too! 

Such a natural :)

Presents time!

 Gavin took this picture of our brother Kyle watching Macy open a gift of ballet slippers. I love this photo. Kyle is such a wonderful father to his two daughters and I love watching him with them.

Macy's favorite gift though was this new ride:

Can you tell that Macy's favorite color is pink?

One of my favorite moments was watching the boys "helping" Macy ride her new bike down the sidewalk. 

Here's the only picture we have of all the cousins, Reese and Owen included. 

Finn and I holding our babies :-)

He picked out the baby he's carrying as his birthday present for Macy but he also enjoyed taking care of the baby while there. Such a little nurturer he is :)

Happy Birthday Mimi! We love you!!!

Remember Macy's first and second birthdays?

The babies first time to Gramma and Pop-Pop's!

Last week we loaded up the mini van and went to visit my parents in Michigan for the week.

My dad drove with me and Chris stayed home to, you guessed it, do some work on the house!

Two adults, three babies, one two year old, one dog, bags and bags of baby supplies!

As we pulled out of the driveway, all the babies were screaming and I, crammed into the very last seat in the very back, had my face pressed against the window mouthing to Chris, "Let me out......!"

I was joking.

Sort of. 

Colin, as you can see from the above picture was READY and EXCITED! He'd been looking so forward to this trip and wasn't going to let anything diminish his excitement, even a car full of screaming babies and a mom trying to sneak out the back. 

So as I was pressed up against the window yelling, "Let me out... Don't leave me alone in here!", he was excitedly waving goodbye and saying, "Going to Pop-Pop's house!! Yay!"

In truth, if it weren't for Colin's excitement, I may have chickened out, pulled the car back in the garage and called it a day. 

But we pressed on!

Once we got going, the babies fell asleep and slept the whole way. Phew!

We had a wonderful week!

Three babies dressed for bed....

 

But maybe not so sleepy....

Finn and Everett

Finn

The guys! 

Getting ice cream with Gramma!

In the city, we don't have much of a yard so it's always quite a treat for Colin to get to run around my parents yard.

He also got introduced to baseball. He LOVED it and the rest of the week kept asking, "Wanna play baseball?!" to whomever was around.

My parents neighbors, most of whom I've known since I was a teenager, were amazingly helpful. 

The phone would ring with a neighbor on the other end saying, "I've got a free hour, can I come hold babies?"

My response was always a casual, "Sure."

What I really wanted to say was:

"YES, YES! Don't walk, RUN over here!" :)

Seriously, as a mom, there is almost never a break. It's hard to find time for a break and even harder if you have so many kids that it really takes more than one person to care for them. At my parents house, I got to go for a pedicure/ manicure and really enjoy myself knowing that my boys were each getting one on one (sometimes two on one) attention by awesome people!