Funny pictures from yesterday and today

Oops! Seth found the Christmas presents! Granted, they weren't exactly hidden. :)

David with the buzzy bee he loves pulling around.
Will walked a bunch more today out on the porch, all five babies climbed onto the coffee table (four at a time), Seth started throwing a ball (including to his cousin Mari who is visiting, hooray!) and Gracie started standing on her own! Woo-hoo! 

The kids love playing in the water left over from the rain. Will, Marcie and Gracie

What do you get when you dump baby cereal puffs onto a box lid for the kids to eat out of? A new seat for David.

And yet another seat for David! Marcie's used this one too, including as a "car" that her daddy drives.

Dedication video

It's entertaining, but I'll warn you that it's long. It takes a while to dedicate five babies! Curt did a wonderful job and we are honored to have him as our pastor and friend.

More dedication photos

Gavin holding Gracie, Marcie with me, Isaac in front laughing

Left to right: Gavin's dad with Will, Gavin's mom with David, Isaac, Gavin with Grace, Marcie and me, my mom and Seth

David and Grace switched people for this picture. I think Pastor Curt is saying what a big job Isaac has as the big brother these babies will always look up to. Curt performed Isaac's dedication at 8 months old. It was special to have Isaac up there again with the same pastor and five baby siblings!

Isaac's big job includes tolerating being poked and prodded by David, clearly!

I don't know what Curt was saying at this point, but it got a reaction from us. :)

Gavin with David again

Will, Grace and David

Marcie and Seth had to stand, then crawl, David had to walk then crawl, Isaac had to stop David from walking off the stage or opening the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, Mom Jones had to jiggle and comfort Grace, and Dad Jones had the easiest baby in Will as everything started to fall apart during the prayer.  

With Gracie beforehand

A couple dedication and other photos

Marcie with Jenn, the maker of the beautiful christening gowns and the boys' dapper vests for their dedication. It was a really special day yesterday, honoring to God despite the shenanigans onstage! I'll put the whole video on the blog.

David on the prowl before the dedication

Seth eating his Subway sandwich after the dedication. He didn't want little bits, he wanted the whole thing! He's eating so well, praise God. Please keep praying! He has some swallowing issues with hard textured foods.

Such a cute little moment, watching Baby Einstein. Marcie likes to lean back and Gracie likes to lean forward rather than sit. Seth is sitting and playing with a pacifier. He really enjoys sucking on it now! He sticks EVERYTHING in his mouth.

David on the baby scale (we moved it right afterwards) and Will "driving" on the coffee table. SO cute!

David's table walking video

Pumpkins and monkey business!

Thanks to someone we don't even know (Brenda S.'s daughter), our kids were pretty darn cute for my parents' church's fall festival. 

Will, Seth, David, Marcie and Gracie

My dad is proudly pushing his little people around, with Gavin following. LOTS of people at Hillcrest Baptist bless us!

Monkey business!!

David, Marcie, and now Will climb everything they can. David loves to stand on this little "train," the fireplace hearth, the windowsill, the coffee table, the Fisher-Price "garden" wall, the couch . . . keep praying for these babies' safety!!

"How did it go?"

I had to laugh at the number of people who asked me that today! Clearly at least a few people are "keeping up with the Joneses" on our blog and saw that I was quint-wrangling on my own this morning. I have to say, today went pretty well! When Gavin walked out the door and I turned to see all those little faces looking up at me, I said out loud, "You guys are sooooooo cute!!" And I was very happy to get to spend the morning with them. They definitely love being right at my feet. They "helped" me do the laundry, empty the dishwasher, put on my makeup, and mess up everything in their path. Wow, the house was wrecked!! But I did indeed get dishes done and bottles washed and a load through the laundry. However, in exchange for that I had to vacuum/sweep up a bowlful of dry Cheerios and a package of broken cookies that had been spread all over the living room and carried into the adjoining areas. Mr. Seth saw the package of cookies up on a little table and made quick work of pulling them down and dispersing the contents far and wide. He was a wild man today!

Helping me clean the lint screen. Marcie's way of helping always includes eating. (She spat it back out again. Besides, what could be cleaner than lint?! It's been washed and heat-dried!) They really did a bang-up job! Note the lint in Seth's hands and on Gracie's right ankle. I think some is also protruding from between Will's pacifier and cheek.

I was still in my pajamas when sweet relief arrived in the forms of Hallie and Lyneé at 1:00. :) But it really was a fun, busy morning with no time to feel tired or bored, for sure! It helps that I have the world's five most endearing babies. Case in point: Gracie was laughing so much I wondered what she could be laughing at, so I turned around and saw she was laughing at her own reflection in the oven door. She thought she was so funny! And Will toddled all over with hesitating but proud steps, complete with flapping arms and ecstatic vocalizations. David briskly cruised the halls and rooms with his treasures (see below), Marcie climbed up into her throne of toys a few times, and Seth used furniture, walls, gate, anything to avoid having to actually crawl. He wanted to walk all the time if at all possible!

Gavin asked me this morning if I had seen his cap, but I hadn't. He said, "Well, it's floating around here somewhere." Shortly after he left for work I noticed David climbing onto the coffee table, and I wondered what specific toy he was so intently pursuing. When he started yelling with joy and pride I turned to see him holding Gavin's cap. A prize indeed!

An old picture of David hiding between pallets at Costco. He's barefoot and in his pajamas because we had to whisk him out of bed and into the car seat to take him to the pediatrician for a last-minute, urgent appointment. He had a double ear infection, so we took the prescription straight to Costco, and of course he wasn't content to sit and wait and in the cart. :)
Sam took this picture before she left. God bless you, Sammie! We miss you!!!!

Our "biggest" blessing!!

How could I leave Isaac out of the last post??!! He's our WONDERFUL, delightful, polite, kind, gifted, handsome, loving son and big brother extraordinaire to the quints! At least I said there were more than five blessings, right? There are too many to count, but Isaac definitely deserves a huge mention. We love you, our precious first-born, and we're more proud of you than we can ever say!

With Seth on the trampoline. Isaac loves to take the babies on there and they love being gently bounced around by their big brother! They think he's a ton of fun and they all adore him. He's just the coolest, and he's entertaining!

Counting our blessings - and there are more than five!

Hi all!

Today was a good, happy day. We are so very blessed in many ways:

We are blessed with good friends who are really family. Aunt Pam (in the red shirt) was there for my birth, the births of my brother and sister, Isaac's birth, and even the quints' birth (whew!).
Aunt Cynthia, too, has been one of my treasured aunties for as long as I can remember.

This photo was taken tonight around the table: I love how Marcie is licking the table, and what a mess Will (front and center) and David are. Seth is grinning away at Aunt Cynthia, and Aunt Pam is at the helm as usual, spooning food in as fast as she can. Even Seth ate really well, thanks to the delicious stew Thera (another one of our great blessings!) made the kiddos. Please keep praying Seth eats and drinks progressively more of his daily nutrients and that all the babies stay healthy - huge blessings we cannot and do not take for granted!

We are blessed with a plethora of toys and playmates!

Marcie likes to climb everything, even into her toy box. She's the real Queen of the Heap. She's quite feisty in defending her toys, turning in circles on her little bottom to evade the would-be toy-napper (usually Will, behind her in this photo), who's then forced to crawl around and around her. She'll complain out loud and eventually put the toy in her mouth and crawl away at top speed if necessary.

David is on the far left. [We find the pacifiers are really an eardrum-saver at times, another blessing! It's hilarious to watch the kids do perfectly in-sync swaps, as though each other's might taste better.]

Will has started walking all over now! He doesn't take more than a few steps at a time (I think his max was 10 today), but he's doing it more and more. He walks like a sumo wrestler or like a muscle-bound cowboy who's spent too many days in the saddle. It's adorable, and he's very proud of himself. And Seth loves to walk holding on to one finger only! He's insatiable, walking as often as he can.

We are blessed with close-knit, loving families on both Gavin's side and and mine.
This photo was taken at Dad's birthday party last night; we were trying to recreate an old photo taken back when it was just us five Petersons. I am so glad we're now blessed with Courtney and Calvin! I LOVE my in-laws on both sides! Tomorrow is cousin Levi's and Aunt Jody's birthday (Gavin's nephew and sister-in-love). A very happy birthday wish from Texas, ya'll! ;)

We are blessed with five healthy, [mostly] happy almost-one-year-olds who were due November 3rd, 2012, but have actually been in the world since August 9, 2012 and beaten the odds by miles, thanks to God's gracious Hand at work in them and in answer to the prayers of thousands of people.
We can never fully express our gratitude to the Lord and to you, at least not on this side of eternity!

(These two photos were for my dad's birthday card. He had the shirts made for their first birthday.)

I bet you all remember who was born in what order? Just in case: Will, David, Marcie, Seth, Gracie

We are blessed with TWO girls! I am so, so, so glad that I got my little girls. I remember the ultrasound when we found out the sexes of the babies: the first three were boys, and I started getting a little panicky that we wouldn't get even one girl, when I really, really wanted two girls and three boys! I know we don't often get exactly what we want, and that in those cases the Lord has something much better for us, but I'm very glad His best for us included Marcie and Gracie. :)

The other day Gracie was crawling around while holding a disposable aluminum 9x13 pan with only her tiny teeth. It was nearly as big as she is; she could have sat in it quite comfortably! 
There are so many funny things each day (the blessing of HUMOR!); I wish I could film it all and remember!

Well, I'd better close as I am tackling the care of all five on my own from 9:00 to 1:00 tomorrow. We'll see how it goes! The many, many gates up in in our house help contain the crazy, and the days have been gorgeous. (Blessing upon blessing) The kids are loving being outside, and I love watching them. Will I be able to get any laundry or dishes done? We shall see! Report to follow . . . 

Love and gratitude for caring, praying, and being part of our "extended family" of blessing!

Carrie

P.S. We're having the quints officially dedicated to the LORD this coming Sunday, second service. 

Marcie videos

These are funny enough to be worth sharing, I think:

My brother says this looks like a Hair Club for Men support group ;) Really, it's Marcie on center stage, "big" brother David trying to defend her from Daddy, and sweet Gracie getting a little giggle in.

And another (she's a ham!):

Saturday pictures

Handsome Seth scraped his nose on the cement!
He was very tough and only cried a short while.

Will does NOT like the taste of the flower garden like he thought he would. Marmi (Gavin's mom) is amused :)

Marmi with Gracie and David, Will in the middle, and Neomi (who used to take care of Isaac as a baby!) holding Seth.

Gracie is wearing the sweater and bonnet Gavin's grandma "Murmpsie" made Marcia when she was a baby!
Beautiful job, Murmps! I need to get pictures of Marcie wearing it. [Note David in the far right background.]

The color perfectly matches her eyes; a sea green/blue color with flecks of gold. [David progressed across the yard!]

Grace, Marcie and Will through the back window of "Aunt" Naomi's car.

One year ago today

David came home October 20th, 2012, weighing 5 pounds 10 ounces.

About to leave the NICU, 37 weeks gestation (3 weeks before his due date of Nov. 3rd)

Today, walking around, exploring his world like a big boy:

Goodbye, Sam!

Here are a few pictures from a really fun goodbye party we had on Sunday night. She leaves tomorrow morning. Please pray for safe travel and God's richest blessings to go with her. We LOVE you, Sam!! You've made life with quints do-able and fun; you've been my second (and third, and fourth) brain. You've lost countless hours of sleep caring for our sick babies. You've spent many nights in the hospital with Seth so we could be home with the other four. You've loved, cuddled, fed, medicated, changed, flipped, played and giggled with our kids for nearly nine months, and we can never fully express our gratitude.

With Marcie, Gavin's mom

Sam is a huge University of Michigan fan, but we Petersons are Michigan State Spartans. I therefore had to package my gift appropriately. My brother and sister with her. They love her and want to make her a permanent part of our family!

Ah, Marcie, walking all over Aunt Sammy. ;) The kids think Sam is a jungle-gym!
My mom with Seth, Sam with David, Gavin's mom with Will, my sister with Gracie, and me with Marcie.

*Sniff* This says it all. We're so proud of you, future nurse, our Nanny Sam!

Random photos October 14th

David on a rainy walk with a piece of wood. He likes to take something with him wherever he goes.

Our good mate from Down Under, James, with Seth

Papa (Gavin's dad) reading books to Gracie and Will. 

Will and Marcie squeal and scream when they love something. Will and Marcie REALLY love their bath.
Gavin's helicopter flight helmet has built-in active noise reduction. Put it all together. ;)

Grandpadad feeding the troops Aunt Pam's brownies. YUM! David is on his lap, Marcie just in front, Seth eating (he's been eating well, praise God - please keep praying!!), then Will, the Grace with a mouthful of brownie.

Will playing with the rain spout.

Marcie with a dirty face from the brownies. And a cute little view of Will's right eye and chubby hand. :)