October 19, 2008

I have decided that once you have more than one child you can handle just about anything…and of course I’m speaking from experience because my three definitely give me a run for my money!

Last night we had a fun sleepover with Jude and Ava (my best friend’s children). Jude and Ally are 6 months apart, so it was almost like having a set of twins (which is a piece of cake once you already have a set), and Ava is 6 weeks older than Lauren and Olivia, so it was almost like having a set of triplets (which isn’t a big deal once you already have a set of twins, what’s one more?). Can you imagine if someone really had that life??? You’re probably thinking that we’re crazy, but again I repeat, once you have more than one child you can handle just about anything. I didn’t know what we were getting in to, but I figured how bad could it be? And to my surprise, it really didn’t seem too much different, and quite frankly, it was almost easier because Jude and Ally played ‘normal’ together (you have to know Jude and Ally’s relationship to understand what ‘normal’ is, they act like brother and sister, they play, fight, and beat each other up) and the babies played nicely together too. They all entertained each other, so Jerry and I didn’t have to. AMAZING, it was almost like we got a vacation but in reality we had 5 kids!

So our adventure started around 4:00. Jerry took Ally and Jude in the Jeep and I took the three babies in the Yukon. Yes we took two cars because even though our Yukon is like a bus, it won’t fit 5 car seats. So off we drove to Marne, MI to Jerry’s sister’s house for his nephew, Marshall’s 2nd birthday party. Jerry called me about 3 minutes into our ride and all I heard in the background was Jude and Ally giggling and screaming. I had to laugh because all three of the babies had pacifiers in their mouths and I had a nice quiet car. Every once and awhile I would hear a squeak out of one of the girls, but for the most part they were quiet the whole ride. We made it to Marne all in one piece, thank God! While we were at Marshall’s birthday party the kids played with all the cool toys. Then we ate dinner, had cake, played outside, and helped open Marshall's birthday presents. Marshall has a blow up bounce house that the kids loved. It was a little small for all the kids, but no one got seriously injured so that’s a plus. All five kids playing together.
Jerry's sister, Arlene, her husband Marshall, and their son, the birthday boy, Marshall.
(Above) Ava, Olivia, and Lauren eating. (Below) Jude, Marshall, and Ally eating.

The kids opening Marshall's birthday presents while Marshall mows the lawn.

Once the babies started falling apart we knew it was time to head home. The ride home wasn’t as quiet for me as the ride there, but it still wasn’t too bad. Olivia just couldn’t sit still and decided that losing her pacifier was a good idea, until she couldn’t find it, she wasn’t too happy with herself once she figured out that she really couldn’t reach it. She wiggled a little and finally had it in her reach, but while she was wiggling she lost her blanket…so she was still upset. Maybe next time she’ll just keep her paci in her mouth.

When we got home the 3 babies went right to bed, while Jude and Ally got to eat popcorn and watch “Dora Puppies”, as Ally would call it. They were so cute snuggling on the couch together. After “Dora Puppies” we read a book and they went to bed. Ally fell right asleep because she didn’t have a nap, but Jude didn’t seem to want to fall asleep. Around 10:00 I went up to go to bed and he was still awake. He had the light on in the bedroom and told Jerry and I that he couldn’t go to sleep. We tried to make him comfortable by giving him a fan and a book to relax him a little. Within 20 minutes he fell fast asleep….and slept until 9:30 this morning. That’s amazing to me, because my children have NEVER slept in that long…EVER! Our girls had a great time and we hope Jude and Ava did too. We can’t wait to have another sleepover!