Yesterday (Friday) was my last day in Texas. It was just Rachelle and myself taking care of the babies.
We tried on two different occassions to get a picture of me with all the babies. I wish I had set up my Flip so people could see all the effort poor Rachelle and Virginia went to to get a decent picture. I haven't seen the pictures yet but I'm sure at least one of them came out cute.
At lunch time Rachelle and I loaded up all the babies and went to Chik-fil-A. It was pretty tasty, but I'm not going to talk about the food. I don't know how Rachelle loads up all the babies by herself because it took the 2 of us quite a few trips in and out of the house to get 5 babies in and out of the carseats.
After the babies woke up we went over to Virginias house for fajitas (which were also really good! I would get fat living there). The babies crawled/walked all over the place, Riley and Kaiya entertained themselves, and we mostly just sat and watched them. Virginia loves to help people, but she doesn't really accept help very much.
After dinner was completed, Rachelle was going to go to a parenting class so that left Jayson, Virginia, and myself to put the kids to bed. All of the kids needed diaper changes when we got home (not suprising) So Jayson changed Ryder and unloaded things out of the car while I changed Rustin, Kassidy, Kyndall and Kaydence. While we were doing that, Virginia was trying to pull 5 clean sets of pajamas out of the laundry basket. Kaydence was "helping" her by throwing every piece of laundry she could get her hands on and Kassidy was pulling all the "nuggies" (silky blankets) out and running away with them. Virginia, Jayson and I got them all dressed in their pajamas and down for bed. The front room was a little messy and the kids' pajamas didn't necissarily match, but they were all clean and sleeping by the time Rachelle got home.
Rachelle dropped by after her meeting to say goodbye and ended up staying at Virginias til almost 11. It was really lousy having to say goodbye because we were just starting to get to know eachother and then I had to leave. I wish the trip never had to end.
Saturday:
I woke up at 5:15 so I could get to the airport and catch my plane. I was hoping they would bump me so I could stay another day, but no such luck. The flights were really quite dull. I was stuck in Denver for 2 hours but I survived it.
I ended up getting home about 3:00 cali time, and my family met me at the airport. I told them I'm moving to Texas. They laughed. But I am. The people are nice, housing is cheap, and I think its just all around better.
I'm going to bed. Its 11:37 PM Cali time and since I got up at 3:15 AM Cali time and didn't really nap, I'd say I'm about done for the day.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Texas Trip Day 4
Today it was just myself and Virginia with the babies in the morning. The babies love their "Gigi" and so they were pretty giggly and cute for most of the day.
I got a bunch of video of them which I will compile into better movies of them when I get home. I think I have footage of every last one of the babies hands or faces right on top of the lens.
Riley went to a friends house after school and so Kaiya had Gigi, her mom, and me all to herself after school while the babies napped. She really enjoyed that to the fullest. She was moving from couch to couch sitting with each of us just to make sure all the focus was on her. Which of c0urse, it was. :)
For supper we went to this really quirky place called Rudy's. Its a big deal in Texas and when I tasted the food I could tell why! It was so good. They serve you on big sheets of paper and they have a really ammusing hand washing machine which I have a picture of. Its like a drive through washer for your hands. The babies were getting a lot of stares at the resturaunt. I guess it isn't often that you see quintuplets, so its okay to look. What really got me were the people who asked dumb questions. "Did you know there were five?" "Are they all yours?" "How do you survive?" God bless Rachelle and Jayson for not responding in the sarcastic way I likely would. "No. I had no clue there were five. I couldn't figure out why I was getting so big with one." "No. They aren't all mine. I just picked them up at H.E.B and they were on sale for a great price."
After we put the babies down for bed Virginia took me out shopping. She won't let me pay for any food or any thing really! It drives me nuts! We did have fun though. People here sure do have a lot of pride in their state. Virginia bought me a really funny t-shirt that says "Y'all wish" next to a big picture of Texas. I'm hoping to find a more femine cut shirt later on in the week.
Today was a true Texan day with going to Rudy's and to the mall. It was fun.
I got a bunch of video of them which I will compile into better movies of them when I get home. I think I have footage of every last one of the babies hands or faces right on top of the lens.
Riley went to a friends house after school and so Kaiya had Gigi, her mom, and me all to herself after school while the babies napped. She really enjoyed that to the fullest. She was moving from couch to couch sitting with each of us just to make sure all the focus was on her. Which of c0urse, it was. :)
For supper we went to this really quirky place called Rudy's. Its a big deal in Texas and when I tasted the food I could tell why! It was so good. They serve you on big sheets of paper and they have a really ammusing hand washing machine which I have a picture of. Its like a drive through washer for your hands. The babies were getting a lot of stares at the resturaunt. I guess it isn't often that you see quintuplets, so its okay to look. What really got me were the people who asked dumb questions. "Did you know there were five?" "Are they all yours?" "How do you survive?" God bless Rachelle and Jayson for not responding in the sarcastic way I likely would. "No. I had no clue there were five. I couldn't figure out why I was getting so big with one." "No. They aren't all mine. I just picked them up at H.E.B and they were on sale for a great price."
After we put the babies down for bed Virginia took me out shopping. She won't let me pay for any food or any thing really! It drives me nuts! We did have fun though. People here sure do have a lot of pride in their state. Virginia bought me a really funny t-shirt that says "Y'all wish" next to a big picture of Texas. I'm hoping to find a more femine cut shirt later on in the week.
Today was a true Texan day with going to Rudy's and to the mall. It was fun.
Texas Trip Day 3
Virginia couldn't be there to help with the babies yesterday so two of Rachelle's friends came over while Rachelle got a chance to go out and go shopping.
That was actually one thing I had wondered about, how she went shopping. One day a week some people come and watch the babies so that their mom can go and get things. Kassidy clung to me for most of the morning because I was the only volunteer that she knew. Kyndall and Rustin fought over toys for the whole morning. They have a ton of toys, but Kyndall and Rustin always want the same toy. Kaydence is a koala baby. She doesn't walk independently yet, so she likes to be carried.
Some of the babies napped from 1:00 until 3:30 after napping from 9:00 to almost noon. They sure do play hard!
I did get a chance to meet their older child, Kaiya, but Riley was not seen very often. Virginia said that he tends to be very busy in his room after school and so you don't hear from him much.
Kaiya was a crack up at dinner. Riley told her to sniff the pepper shaker, and being that she is only 5, she did it. Of course, for any of you who have ever sniffed pepper, it made her sneeze and then she complained about her nose hurting through the whole meal.
After we got the babies down for the night Rachelle took me out to see some of Texas. I really appreciated that and I was also a little surprised she was willing to do that. She took me to see a bridge where 750,000 bats migrate to to have all of their babies. There were so many and they kept flying out from under the bridge for at least 40 minutes. This description does not do it any justice really. It was just incredible. Then Rachelle took me to the capital and she told me some really interesting things about Texas. I never knew that Texas had been owned by 6 different countries. Rachelle also told me that every time they have a picture of every Governor up on the wall inside the building. Each time they get a new Governor they move all the pictures of every single previous Governor up on the wall for the new picture. It seems like a huge waste of time to me.
Rachelle is so nice and smart. She is funny about numbers just like I am. She doesn't like to have prime numbers of anything. Too bad she had 7 children!
I haven't seen much of Jayson. He seems very tired when he comes home and I don't want to bother him. He is a good father though, he reads with all the kids every night.
After touring some of Austin with Rachelle, I went back to Virginias house. She is the nicest lady you could ever meet. She is always trying to push food on me and refuses to take any money for it. She is just a genuinely amazing and kind hearted woman.
I am really enjoying myself here and I would love to come back again.
That was actually one thing I had wondered about, how she went shopping. One day a week some people come and watch the babies so that their mom can go and get things. Kassidy clung to me for most of the morning because I was the only volunteer that she knew. Kyndall and Rustin fought over toys for the whole morning. They have a ton of toys, but Kyndall and Rustin always want the same toy. Kaydence is a koala baby. She doesn't walk independently yet, so she likes to be carried.
Some of the babies napped from 1:00 until 3:30 after napping from 9:00 to almost noon. They sure do play hard!
I did get a chance to meet their older child, Kaiya, but Riley was not seen very often. Virginia said that he tends to be very busy in his room after school and so you don't hear from him much.
Kaiya was a crack up at dinner. Riley told her to sniff the pepper shaker, and being that she is only 5, she did it. Of course, for any of you who have ever sniffed pepper, it made her sneeze and then she complained about her nose hurting through the whole meal.
After we got the babies down for the night Rachelle took me out to see some of Texas. I really appreciated that and I was also a little surprised she was willing to do that. She took me to see a bridge where 750,000 bats migrate to to have all of their babies. There were so many and they kept flying out from under the bridge for at least 40 minutes. This description does not do it any justice really. It was just incredible. Then Rachelle took me to the capital and she told me some really interesting things about Texas. I never knew that Texas had been owned by 6 different countries. Rachelle also told me that every time they have a picture of every Governor up on the wall inside the building. Each time they get a new Governor they move all the pictures of every single previous Governor up on the wall for the new picture. It seems like a huge waste of time to me.
Rachelle is so nice and smart. She is funny about numbers just like I am. She doesn't like to have prime numbers of anything. Too bad she had 7 children!
I haven't seen much of Jayson. He seems very tired when he comes home and I don't want to bother him. He is a good father though, he reads with all the kids every night.
After touring some of Austin with Rachelle, I went back to Virginias house. She is the nicest lady you could ever meet. She is always trying to push food on me and refuses to take any money for it. She is just a genuinely amazing and kind hearted woman.
I am really enjoying myself here and I would love to come back again.
Texas Trip Days 1 and 2
Most sincere apologies about the fact that the first three days are posted together. Videos and pictures will come up in a later blog.
For those who don't know, I had the oppurtunity to go meet the Wilkinson Quintuplets in Texas this week.You can check out their story at http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LndpbGtpbnNvbnF1aW50cy5ibG9nc3BvdC5jb20=.
Day 1:
I got on the plane and left Redding at 9:45 AM by the time I got to Texas it was 5:25 their time (3:25 Cali Time). I didn't sit next to anyone terribly exciting. I think that girls only sit next to good looking guys in movies.
Anyways, it took me about 20 minutes to find Virginia (the lady I'm staying with) in the little tiny, 6 round baggage claim. Virginia is one of the sweetest people ever. She is this tiny typical Southern woman, drawl and all. She is so nice though, really friendly and outgoing.
We ended up going to meet the Wilkinsons that night which was suprising to me since I figured that since it was already like 6 o'clock they probably wouldn't want people around, and maybe they didn't, but they let us come anyways. The babies were absolutely adorable. Rustin (the bigger of the 2 boys) came up to me right away, and by the end of the evening, most of the babies were actually okay with me.
I got to help with mass bath time, which is basically stripping down 5 babies, washing 5 babies, and then drying, dressing, and diapering 5 babies. They also weigh them to keep track of their progress. The biggest baby is 19 pounds while the smallest baby is only 15. After bath they do jammies after changing everyone and rubbing them with lavender lotion. They also read to the babies 3 times a day, and they all seem to enjoy it. The whole time I was there, I did not hear a peep out of their older to kids (Riley and Kaiya).
At 7:30, the older 2 went to bed and I chatted with Rachelle (the mom) for a little while. She is an amazing woman. She is so organized and smart and very, very nice for letting me come. I also met her husband Jayson breifly, but he seemed really exahusted. He is a really involved dad though, which is great, because with that many babies, you really need all the hands you can get.
I was actually a little worried after this first meeting because it was kind of akward being in a house where I didn't know anyone, but I knew it would get better. Afterwards, I went to Virginias house.
Day 2:I woke up at 7 AM (5 AM Cali Time) to shower and eat breakfast and then went over to the Wilkinsons about 8. We did breakfast which consisted of myself feeding Rustin, Rachelle feeding Kassidy and Kyndall, and Virginia feeding Ryder and Kaydence.
Afterwards we cleaned up the babies and put them down for a nap. Each baby sleeps in a different room for nap time (as opposed to bedtime where they all sleep in the same room). They each slept for 2+ hours, and I slept for a little while too! I was tired and my schedule is all messed up.
After nap they each have a bottle. I fed Kaydence her bottle, Ryder part of his bottle, and Kyndall her bottle. Kaydence is quite the little charmer with her chubby face and happy little smile. She and I played pass toys back and forth for about 25 minutes. Ryder is not too sure of me yet. He is the fussiest of all the babies but he has his really sweet and adorable moments too. Kyndall is just a teeny-weeny ball of energy. She is running all around constantly. Rustin is my little buddy. He has a deep voice for a baby and he likes to follow me arond. Kassidy is a big time mama's girl and so she isn't too interested in me. She is very sweet and cuddly with both her mother and Virginia though.
Then they played for a few hours. I was amazed at how often they got into little fights, I mean, they are only a year old! They snatch at eachothers toys whenever they get a chance.
After playtime they had lunch. They each eat some baby food and some solid food. The solid food is finger foods, which they all feed themselves. After that was clean up and another nap.
The three girls (Kassidy, Kyndall, and Kaydence) didn't nap. They laid in bed either singing to themselves or crying until 3 o'clock. Then they got up and had another bottle. Their big brother and big sister came home. Riley is 8 and seems like a very tenderhearted little boy. He was showing me the things he can do with his keyboard while he practiced the piano. Kaiya is 5 and is going through a faze where she only wants to talk like a baby. This doesn't really hide the fact that she is very articulate and wants to play with everyone. She is rough with the babies from time to time, but she does obey when you tell her to be soft. We had play time and then came dinner.
Rachelle fed Rustin, Ryder, and Kyndall while I fed Kassidy and Kaydence. After dinner there was more playtime, then jammies, books and bed.
These kids are very routined and stay on a pretty strict schedule. Of course, with 7 kids, what other options do their parents have? Today was much better as far as my feeling comfortable. Rachelle and Jayson like me I think, 3/5 babies will willing hang around me, and I think the older two pretty much like everyone. Right now I'm waiting for Virginia to come and get me, and then we'll go back to her house and hit the hay. At least, I will. Because its like 10:00 Cali time.
For those who don't know, I had the oppurtunity to go meet the Wilkinson Quintuplets in Texas this week.You can check out their story at http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LndpbGtpbnNvbnF1aW50cy5ibG9nc3BvdC5jb20=.
Day 1:
I got on the plane and left Redding at 9:45 AM by the time I got to Texas it was 5:25 their time (3:25 Cali Time). I didn't sit next to anyone terribly exciting. I think that girls only sit next to good looking guys in movies.
Anyways, it took me about 20 minutes to find Virginia (the lady I'm staying with) in the little tiny, 6 round baggage claim. Virginia is one of the sweetest people ever. She is this tiny typical Southern woman, drawl and all. She is so nice though, really friendly and outgoing.
We ended up going to meet the Wilkinsons that night which was suprising to me since I figured that since it was already like 6 o'clock they probably wouldn't want people around, and maybe they didn't, but they let us come anyways. The babies were absolutely adorable. Rustin (the bigger of the 2 boys) came up to me right away, and by the end of the evening, most of the babies were actually okay with me.
I got to help with mass bath time, which is basically stripping down 5 babies, washing 5 babies, and then drying, dressing, and diapering 5 babies. They also weigh them to keep track of their progress. The biggest baby is 19 pounds while the smallest baby is only 15. After bath they do jammies after changing everyone and rubbing them with lavender lotion. They also read to the babies 3 times a day, and they all seem to enjoy it. The whole time I was there, I did not hear a peep out of their older to kids (Riley and Kaiya).
At 7:30, the older 2 went to bed and I chatted with Rachelle (the mom) for a little while. She is an amazing woman. She is so organized and smart and very, very nice for letting me come. I also met her husband Jayson breifly, but he seemed really exahusted. He is a really involved dad though, which is great, because with that many babies, you really need all the hands you can get.
I was actually a little worried after this first meeting because it was kind of akward being in a house where I didn't know anyone, but I knew it would get better. Afterwards, I went to Virginias house.
Day 2:I woke up at 7 AM (5 AM Cali Time) to shower and eat breakfast and then went over to the Wilkinsons about 8. We did breakfast which consisted of myself feeding Rustin, Rachelle feeding Kassidy and Kyndall, and Virginia feeding Ryder and Kaydence.
Afterwards we cleaned up the babies and put them down for a nap. Each baby sleeps in a different room for nap time (as opposed to bedtime where they all sleep in the same room). They each slept for 2+ hours, and I slept for a little while too! I was tired and my schedule is all messed up.
After nap they each have a bottle. I fed Kaydence her bottle, Ryder part of his bottle, and Kyndall her bottle. Kaydence is quite the little charmer with her chubby face and happy little smile. She and I played pass toys back and forth for about 25 minutes. Ryder is not too sure of me yet. He is the fussiest of all the babies but he has his really sweet and adorable moments too. Kyndall is just a teeny-weeny ball of energy. She is running all around constantly. Rustin is my little buddy. He has a deep voice for a baby and he likes to follow me arond. Kassidy is a big time mama's girl and so she isn't too interested in me. She is very sweet and cuddly with both her mother and Virginia though.
Then they played for a few hours. I was amazed at how often they got into little fights, I mean, they are only a year old! They snatch at eachothers toys whenever they get a chance.
After playtime they had lunch. They each eat some baby food and some solid food. The solid food is finger foods, which they all feed themselves. After that was clean up and another nap.
The three girls (Kassidy, Kyndall, and Kaydence) didn't nap. They laid in bed either singing to themselves or crying until 3 o'clock. Then they got up and had another bottle. Their big brother and big sister came home. Riley is 8 and seems like a very tenderhearted little boy. He was showing me the things he can do with his keyboard while he practiced the piano. Kaiya is 5 and is going through a faze where she only wants to talk like a baby. This doesn't really hide the fact that she is very articulate and wants to play with everyone. She is rough with the babies from time to time, but she does obey when you tell her to be soft. We had play time and then came dinner.
Rachelle fed Rustin, Ryder, and Kyndall while I fed Kassidy and Kaydence. After dinner there was more playtime, then jammies, books and bed.
These kids are very routined and stay on a pretty strict schedule. Of course, with 7 kids, what other options do their parents have? Today was much better as far as my feeling comfortable. Rachelle and Jayson like me I think, 3/5 babies will willing hang around me, and I think the older two pretty much like everyone. Right now I'm waiting for Virginia to come and get me, and then we'll go back to her house and hit the hay. At least, I will. Because its like 10:00 Cali time.
Friday, August 1, 2008
August 1
Today I worked bizarre hours. 8:00-10:00 and then 12:00-4:00. We just hung around the house today, because we had visitor after visitor after visitor. When your mom has 8 siblings, a lot of aunts and uncles come to visit.
Other than that, I've not done a whole lot. I need to go to the gym, so I'll probably do that around 8 o'clock. I need to run some laundry. And dinner. I have to figure out dinner. Either my mom cooks or I do, so maybe she has a plan.
Other than that, I've not done a whole lot. I need to go to the gym, so I'll probably do that around 8 o'clock. I need to run some laundry. And dinner. I have to figure out dinner. Either my mom cooks or I do, so maybe she has a plan.
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