For as long as I can recall, the holiday season (Thanksgiving and Christmas) have been reminiscent of the movie, Four Christmases. We are very fortunate to have the majority of our extended family within the metroplex, but during the holidays it can get dicey making the rounds. The radius around the metroplex can mean jaunts of several hours and over one hundred miles from one holiday hot spot to the next. One year I believe we ate FOUR Thanksgiving dinners in a single day!
Since the quads arrival, we knew the holidays would be a bit different than our usual. While the babies are growing and thriving, it can be easy to forget they are still preemies. Yes, Harper is wearing SIX month clothes now, but his lungs are still underdeveloped when compared to same age peers. This means, we are on lock down even on Christmas. Besides the fact that they are preemies, George and I have a history of getting very sick this time of year after visiting so many people in tight quarters. We’ve been to Care Now for the past four years running for everything from the flu (that’s when we started getting the shot) to bronchitis. Keeping that in mind, we knew we weren’t making rounds this year. Honestly, I haven’t the foggiest idea what we’ll do next year when we have four 17 month olds getting into everything…
For fear of becoming shut-ins, we decided it would be okay to head to my parent’s house for an intimate gathering and family traditions. My Dad also picked my grandparents up for a quick visit since Grandpa hadn’t seen the babies since they were four days old. Even planning a small family Christmas meant a lot of planning on our end. It felt as if we packed everything but the kitchen sink; we packed four pack ‘n’ plays, 20 pre-filled bottles, four sets of pajamas plus a spare, and an entire package of diapers and wipes. We started feeding babies at 8:00 am and were unloaded at Nisey and Grandpa’s house by 10:30 am! That’s including the one hour trip over the river and through the woods. Not shabby for traveling with quads in tow huh?
Everyone is happy that we finally arrived at Nisey and Grandpa’s.
It doesn’t matter where we are, there is always a feeding frenzy about every three hours. If we’re lucky there are more adults than babies so they get individual attention.
We even put Great Grandma Mc to work feeding Mason.
Harper was the first baby to open a Christmas gift. I think he could fit into the box!
Rylin went next. I just love how their gifts were bigger than them!
Aunt CiCi made each of the babies a quilt with their name embroided to match their curtains and sheets for when their cribs convert to toddler beds.
The boys’ quilts look like this. I love the quilts so much, I may need to figure out how to display them until the babies can sleep with them.
Nisey made each baby a NICU keepsake box to store all of their tiny stuff (e.g. diapers, clothes). She also managed to make ornaments with their hand and footprints while we were away one afternoon.
Aunt CiCi snuggled Sydney and Stella together.
Grandpa Mc made friends with Stella. Actually, I think she jumped into his lap.
Grandpa giving Harper some individual attention. We’ve noticed that these two have a bit of a special bond as Harper is apparently my Dad’s “mini me”.
Sydney morphed into a very fussy girl in the evening. Dad taught George how to “fly her” they way he used to do with my sister when she fussed. It is no coincidence that Sydney also looks so much like Courtney that we call her “mini Courtney”.
Courtney found these goofy elf hats for George and I to sport.
Nisey used a warm compress to help soothe a fussy Sydney.
I figured Rylin would make a cuter elf than me.
The babies enjoyed looking at a new Christmas tree.
Mason is finding dexterity in his hands and enjoys grabbing everything within reach then trying to munch it. Here he’s gotten some ribbon.
Everyone is all cozy in their pajamas for the ride back home. Notice the present aftermath behind them.
By the end of the evening, we snuggled all of the babies up in their Christmas pajamas and headed back home. We managed to get everyone in the house by 8:00 pm for their final bottle of the night and then we tucked them all safely into bed after saying our bedtime prayers. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
hugs!
Amber
Four to Adore 