Merry Christmas!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We sure did!

Emily, Hailey and Addy opening gifts

Ry having a bawl putting together pink gifts and 3 little dollies with lots of helping hands. :) He's such a good dad!!

The girls having "tea time" with Uncle Shane

We got to spend Christmas Eve with my sister in law's parents and sister! It was great to be with them! We opened White Elephant gifts with them and then also did our "traditional" round of "chimes" to various Christmas Carols. It is quite comical how hard it can be to just ding a chime on cue! :) Lots of laughs... :)
So I feel a little distracted this year....I wasn't able to listen to our Christmas Eve sermon at church because I was in nursery so then it doesn't feel as much like Christmas to me. But I realized that that IS what Christmas is all about - honoring the biggest Servant of all time. So, even though I couldn't hear the sermon this year and spend time singing Christmas carols, I am thankful that Jesus still works in my heart...and helped me realize that what REALLY matters...is serving Him and honoring Him for ALL that He has done for us. I'm humbled yet again...that He came...not because He had to...but because He WANTED to...and because He LOVED us SO much. Happy Birthday Jesus! :)

Cousin Time!

This past weekend, we were lucky enough to have a visit from my brother and sister-in-law and my niece Kamryn! It was SOOO great to be with some of my family for Christmas! Kamryn has started walking now so we had fun watching all four girls walk around together. We tried out our sled hill and the first day, Emily was a fan, Addison hated it, and Hailey was in between. :) But then today, all 3 girls went down the hill by themselves! Crazy! They kept saying "myself! myself!" Here the girls are all bundled up on the swings. Kamryn - Addison - Hailey - Emily

We opened some presents last weekend and the girls were loving it! They ripped open the presents, took a glance at what was inside, threw it to the side, and then said "more presents?" They know HOW to say 'thank you' but we're working on teaching them true appreciation. :) Here's Addy, giving Kamryn a big "thank you" hug....or maybe it is more like a "thank you" headlock.
Hailey and Kamryn
And we always give the girls baths together...but we had to see HOW many girls we could actually fit in the tub! (HAEK)
Hope you all have a Merry Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior! What a great day!

Twas the Night Before Christmas...for Moms!

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the abode, Only one creature was stirring, and she was cleaning the commode. The children were finally sleeping all snug in their beds, while Visions of Nintendo and Barbie flipped through their heads. The dad was snoring in front of the TV, With a half-constructed bicycle propped on his knee. So only Mom heard the reindeer hooves clatter, Which made her sigh, "Now what is the matter?"| With the toilet bowl brush still clutched in her hand, She descended the stairs and saw the old man. He was covered with ashes and soot, which fell with a shrug, "Oh, great," muttered Mom, "now I have to clean the rug." "Ho Ho Ho!" cried Santa, "I'm glad you're awake, your gift was especially difficult to make." "Thanks, Santa, but all I want is time alone." "Exactly!" he chuckled, "So, I've made you a clone." "A clone?" she muttered, "What good is that?" "Run along, Santa, I've no time for chit chat." Then out walked the clone - The Mother's twin Same hair, same eyes, same double chin. "She'll cook, she'll dust, she'll mop every mess. You'll relax, take it easy, watch The Young and The Restless." "Fantastic!" the Mom cheered. "My dream has come true!" "I'll shop, I'll read, I'll sleep a night through!" From the room above, the youngest did fret. "Mommy? Come quickly, I'm scared and I'm wet." The clone replied, "I'm coming, sweetheart." "Hey," the Mom smiled, "She sure knows her part." The clone changed the small one and hummed her a tune, as she bundled the child in a blanket cocoon. "You're the best mommy ever. I really love you." The clone smiled and sighed, "And I love you, too." The Mom frowned and said, "Sorry, Santa, no deal. That's my child's love she is trying to steal." Smiling wisely, Santa said, "To me it is clear, Only one loving Mother is needed here." The Mom kissed her child and tucked her in bed. "Thank you, Santa, for clearing my head. I sometimes forget, it won't be very long, when they'll be too old for my cradle and song." The clock on the mantle began to chime. Santa whispered to the clone, "It works every time." With the clone by his side, Santa said, "Good night. Merry Christmas, dear Mom, you will be all right." ~ Author Unknown

Away in a Manger

Please excuse my lovely singing :) but I thought I better capture the girls' first attempt at "Away in a manger" :)

What do you get...

What do you get when you have 2 moms, one 3 year old, 2 sets of 2 year old triplets, and 1 newborn on a playdate....?

"Yea, sure."

The girls are getting so big! Their favorite thing to do lately, is play hide and seek - a big kid game! :) They don't really get ALL the rules and such...but they LOVE to play. I especially love when they start playing by themselves. I hear them counting "one, two, three, nine, six.....here i come!" That's when the one who is hiding runs out to see her sisters who are looking for her. They giggle and giggle. I LOVE watching them get better at playing together! Like right now, they are all carrying around purses, wearing their necklaces...and telling each other "bye...see ya! ta ta! adios!" Then I'll say, "where are you going?" And they reply so matter of factly "shopping." And now, they are headed upstairs and are having a big discussion about who is going to read a "Bible shooreee (story)." I wish I could always capture these moments! They also love saying the word "sure" now which is just funny to me. I say "Would you like an apple?" "Yea, sure." Just sounds funny coming from a two year old!

When I put them down for naps, since they don't take nuks anymore, they spend more time chatting and "winding down" before they fall asleep. I would love to put a camera in there and watch how it all goes down. But somehow, someone must just lay down and say good night or something! Cuz they go from jumping and giggling and chatting up a storm to SILENCE. Not sure how that works! So today, I just stood up there and listened for a while. They are hilarious. They start jumping in their cribs...and then Emily starts saying "No more monkeys jumpin' on the bed." Then they start saying "meeny meeny meeeny" (translated "eenie meenie miney moe) They LOVE it when the last "moe" lands on them. So fun. :) Anyways, just a random update about their latest antics. :) Here they are "hiding" from me.

Yesterday we went to a dress up birthday tea party and Hailey was ALL OVER the make up and LOVING it. Most kids had on 2 necklaces but she had on about 20. All the girls ate their tubes of lip gloss but loved putting it on. When I kissed their faces, I choked on lots of blush. :) It was so funny to see them imitate me. Kinda scary actually! They learn so fast!

Hello Snow, Bye Bye Nuks!

(Addison, Emily, Hailey)

Snow! Even though I wasn't ready for all the HEAVY snow to shovel since our snow blower is broken, I was excited to see the girls play in it this year! So...it took me 35 minutes to get them all dressed and ready to go out! I was tired before we even got outside! Somehow, as soon as the girls got outside, they discovered that you can eat snow. So off went their mittens and in went the snow. They had the most fun just eating it! I tried to go sledding w/ them but I think I need more adult help. :) They kept crying because their hands were cold...but then I'd put the mittens on and they'd scream to take them off. So...we only lasted 30 minutes outside. Oh well, at least we got out of the house! Here's Hailey

Here's Addy

Emily
Emily & Hailey
Happy Addy

Last Sunday, we had the girls' NICU Christmas party for all the NICU "graduates." We love going and seeing all the nurses and doctors and even meeting other parents of preemies. :) It's amazing how going through something like that can instantly bond you to others who went through the same thing. Emily & Hailey were fans of Santa this year but Addison wanted NOTHING to do with him!
So, the girls have a lot of changes coming up in the next couple of months with potentially moving to their big girl beds, getting rid of their nuks, and potty training? So, last Saturday night, we randomly asked them if they wanted to be big girls now and go to bed with no nuks. To our great surprise, they were actually okay with this idea! (I've asked them before and it was always a HORRIBLE idea because the tears started flowing). But I guess they felt like being "big girls." So, we took all the nuks away and said we had to give them to babies now and they aren't babies anymore. Again, surprisingly, they went to bed okay! We couldn't believe it! So in the morning, since we were totally not planning on this, we wanted to give them a present or SOMETHING to reward them. So luckily I had some early Christmas presents to give them. They each opened up a play cell phone! They love them so much that now they have hid them in special spots and we can't find them anymore! Oh well. They got the idea that going w/o nukies is a good plan. :) So, the past couple of days, naptime has taken a little longer for them to fall asleep since now they can all jabber forever but bedtime at night has actually gone pretty well! In the morning, they all wake up and say "bye bye nukies!" Sometimes they still ask for them, but it's like they "get it" that they don't need them anymore! So, so long precious nuks! We couldn't have made it this far without you! So now my "big girls" have moved on to sleeping w/ other "lovey's." Addison - blankie, sheep, and parrot (but she calls it a chicken)

Emily - blankie, monkey, puppy

Hailey - blankie, bear, flamingo (but she calls it a goose)

Here they are admiring their cell phones. :) They are growing up SO fast!

What do YOU want for Christmas?

So we've been telling the girls that Christmas is coming and that we celebrate Jesus' birth on Christmas. So..whenever we mention the word "Christmas," they think of Jesus! So, when we asked them one day "What do you want for Christmas?" And their response, in unison, was "Jesus!" We thought it was kinda funny... and sweet. :) But the more they KEEP saying this, the more I realize how RIGHT they are. The BEST present Addison, Emily, and Hailey could EVER give us as their parents, would be for them to WANT Jesus in their hearts and in their lives. To always want MORE of Him each year. Now I find myself praying that they remember what they said when they were just 2 years old...and that they remember HOW they keep saying it...with such exuberance. It's no wonder Jesus said "Let the little children come to me...for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." I'm amazed at what my girls can teach me at such a young age. May we all become more like a child in our exuberance and willingness to come to Him this Christmas season! :)

Christmas Prep

Can't believe it's December already! I like it when the winter goes by fast though since it's not my favorite season. :) But...I do love Christmas time. :) The girls have been having so much fun with all of the festivities. :) Yesterday I attempted to bake Christmas cut-out cookies with them. I just tried to have a "laid back" approach and then it didn't matter if half the dough was eaten or if all the cookies turned into blob shapes instead of cute snowmen and angels. :) Not to mention the flour that was all over the kitchen. :) But it was fun. And we made a memory - right? :) So yea, now today we might attempt the frosting part!

And, last weekend, the girls helpled decorate their trees. It was fun that they could actually help this year! We only broke 3 ornaments - so that's not TOO bad. Hopefully that's it though for this season! It's so fun that they each have their own tree to decorate though - a gift from my parents for their 1st Christmas! Their trees have their own "color" ribbon on it...and it's the same ribbon that we made into bracelets to identify the girls when they were babies. So that's fun. Then they can start collecting ornaments for their trees when they eventually move out of the house! SAD! I can't even IMAGINE that!

Anyways, we've been busy...or at least I've been trying to KEEP the girls busy...because they've been acting up a lot lately. Ryan was home for a lot of days in a row over Thanksgiving and I'm pretty sure he was excited to go back to work. :) The girls have just been whining more than usual and fighting and we feel like constant referrees sometimes. Any suggestions on how to curb the whining habit would be great! Also, I remember being SOO excited for the day the girls could walk so that we wouldn't have to carry them everywhere anymore...and I could give my arms a break! But, now that they can walk and run, they've just been wanting to be carried everywhere lately. Now I know that in a couple years I'm going to want to hold them and they won't WANT to be held...so I should just embrace it all. But I'm telling you, it breaks your heart to only be able to hold ONE of our daughters now and have to say no to the other two. Once one asks to be held, then the other 2 want to be held too...and then you just can't anymore because they weigh 30 lbs...and then there are tears and it spirals downward pretty quickly after that. Ahh!! Ryan even fell down the stairs the other morning carrying all THREE of them because you just feel so bad when you can't hold them all and they are CRYING to be held! (No worries - everyone is fine) :) So yea, turning 2 has been fun - with all of their communicating which cracks us up all the time. For instance, this morning the girls said "Daddy go?" And I said, "he's in the shower." And then Hailey said "skinky?" And I smiled and just said "yep, daddy was stinky." :) I just love how their little minds think lately. But, turning 2 is also a challenge! We love watching their little personalities develop but at the same time, all of their opinions are tough to work with ALL day long! :) They fight over who gets the green plate...or the yellow nuk...and who gets to sit in what chair...and who gets to wear what necklace...and who gets to be carried up to bed first...and who gets to turn the pages of the book and on and on it goes. Some days I have more patience than other days. The best days are when we have activities planned and I have nothing to do...no laundry, no cooking, no cleaning, no agenda :) ...because then they can have ALL of my attention and then they act much better! :) I'm just rambling...but just thought I would share a tidbit about life as we know it right now so I won't forget it...and I know I'm going to MISS this stage sooo much very soon. :)

Emily ate a LOT of cookie dough. She was trying to be so sneaky. It reminded me of myself when I was little. I ALWAYS snuck the dough. That's WHY you bake cookies, isn't it? :) Here they are enjoying the finished product. :) (HAE)

Emily - so focused on getting that ornament on JUST right.

Addy - admiring her work.
Hailey
Making Boboli pizza's together one night. :)

"Chupp-ut"

Well once we got back from our quick trip to Iowa, that night, Emily broke out in hives - AGAIN! That poor girl is now allergic to amoxicillin, omnicef, rocefin, AND sulfa drugs! Ahh! So she just CAN'T get sick anymore! We've been to the Dr. a lot lately as everyone has been getting pink eye. But now we're good - hopefully Ryan and I don't get it! :)

The girls are cracking us up all the time with their little languages. Some words they say clear as day and then others sound nothing like the word. For instance, no one would know what the girls are saying when they say "chupp-ut" But oh yes, that's 'ketchup.' - and they ALLL say it that way, crazy! :) They LOVE to dip ANYTHING in to ketchup by the way. :) They especially love taking their french fries, then dipping it in the "chupp-ut" and then licking off the ketchup...and then going back for another dip with the same fry. This is very hard to watch...but they're getting better at taking a BITE of the fry now. :) They are really very good eaters which is so nice. Last night, they ate SOOOO much broccoli we couldn't believe it. I didn't like broccoli until I got MARRIED! :) So they are doing pretty good. :) Not much else is new! :) Here's some random pics:

Where's your Happy face?

Your Surprised Face?
Your Sad face? (mad and sad look the same) :)
Your Laughing face?

Daddy and Addison
Hailey - Taking good notes from her daddy
Emily - nice form!
Can't wait til we can take them putt-putting. :)
Another try at the Halloween pic. (EAH) Still not the best. :) Oh well - next year? :)

Belonging

We just made a 7.5 hour whirlwind trip to northwest Iowa with the girls for Ryan's Grandma's funeral. Grandma Dooyema had suffered from Alzheimer's disease for many years. She has been in a nursing home for a while now...and on Wednesday morning, as she was being wheeled to breakfast, she told the nurse that she didn't belong here anymore. Then, she took a final breath and went to meet her Savior in heaven. I am in awe that even though Grandma Dooyema had forgotten so many things over the past few years because of her illness,...the one thing she had NOT forgotten, was WHO she belonged to. She knew her time had come on earth and I imagine that she heard Jesus calling her "home." How neat that she was able to go with such comfort and assurance.

Whenever I hear these words that I learned way back in Sunday School when I was younger, I will always think of Grandma Dooyema's testament of faith - even in her last moments here on earth.

"My only comfort in life and in death is that I am not my own, but BELONG, body and soul, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ."

Happy Halloween from the Dooyema Hive!

Really - we wish you a HAPPY Halloween! :) (Our little bees got woken up out of a deep sleep, were thrown in their costumes, then sent outside for a pic in the cold...yea - not soooo happy) :) But, they did cheer up. :) We went with some friends to the zoo to go trick or treating there. It was great! The girls had a good time and got lots of candy! They wouldn't really say trick or treat...but near the end, Addy started to realize that if she said it, she'd get candy a lot faster. :) They just LOVED holding on to their little candy baskets.

Last night, Ryan and I had a good time too. We went to a costume party! Our neighbors hooked us up with some great costumes! I went as Cruella DeVil and Ryan went as a 101 dalmation or a "big doggy" as the girls would say. :) Ryan's costume was great - it even came with a paw that would bark if you shook his hand. :) And check out that tail! :)

Here are the host and hostess of the party! Martha and George Washington!

Creative - the "Swine - Flu"
Best Costume - Popeye and Olive - HOMEMADE!

Friday morning I wanted to attempt to carve pumpkins with the girls but thought I better recruit some help. :) So Grandma Kathy came over and we went to town! The girls loved it. They just kept on wanting to put all the seeds back INTO the pumpkin so it took a while. :)

Here's Hailey
And Em
And Addy

The finished products! So fun! Happy Halloween everyone! :)

Fall Fun!!!

So today was the PERFECT fall day in Wisconsin! Gorgeous sunshine, amazing colors, 65 degrees...and a Packer win!! Love it! The girls woke up to BIG piles of leaves and boy did they have a BLAST! :)

Addison, Hailey, Emily

Addy
Hailey

Hailey, Emily, and Addy lining up to race to the leaves....and they're off!