Birthday Weekend

I cannot believe Alexis, Jack, and Faith are 1-year-olds! Although the last year felt both fast, because we were so busy taking care of three babies and having various family and friends come visit, and slow, because we didn't get out much as we had to protect them from germs since they were preemies, we made it through the first year as new parents!

We considered throwing a small birthday party with a few couples that have been a larger part of Alexis, Jack, and Faith's lives (or just our lives) over the past year, but due to scheduling conflicts and not wanting to make the weekend stressful with throwing a party, we decided to just celebrate with Micah's parents. I'm really glad that we kept the weekend low-key as it was still a lot of fun and we have a lot of great memories, but it also gave us space to reflect on this weekend a year ago and how scary the birth of our trio really was. Having babies born premature is not ideal, and the way that the birth of our babes came about definitely made the experience traumatic for me. That said, ultimately this weekend was a celebration of Alexis, Jack, and Faith and how far they have come from the 3 lb, 3 lb 3 oz, and 2 lb 13 oz babies that they were a year ago!

Here are some photos from the weekend:

This is a comparison of the first diaper size Faith wore (doll size??) vs the Preemie size that Jack and Alexis wore (and they all came home wearing) vs their current size 3 diapers

Friday morning we all went out to eat at Flying Star and it was gorgeous on the patio! Here is Micah and his dad with Alexis and Jack.

Micah's mom with Faith

My parents sent a water table for their birthday so we set it up and enjoyed using it all weekend! L to R: A, F, J

Faith and Jack

We have been enjoying grilling and eating on our patio. The babes enjoyed playing on the grass before dinner. I love how Lexi is playing with the ball and tupperware.

Jack always has a smile for Mommy

Our setup while we eat outside (the babes already ate earlier)

Alexis

Jack

Faith

Birthday morning! A, J, F

They were pretty excited and it was hard to get them to hold still!

Jack

Opening gifts! PJ's from Uncle Kyle, Aunt Jodi, Brayden, and Adelle!

Working on their "big gifts" from Mommy and Daddy.

Although we technically gave the dolls to the girls and the cars to Jack, this is what happened after the gifts were opened :).

Faith thought the best part of her doll was the tag

Bag of balls! They worked together to get them all out!

Between their morning and afternoon nap we headed to the YMCA to swim at the pool. We are so happy that the Y is a 10 minute walk from our house so we don't even have to load our babes into car seats!  Although they don't look thrilled here, Jack, Alexis, and Faith all enjoyed their birthday swim...I just forgot to take pics while they were in the water and by this point they were ready for lunch and their nap.

Birthday cupcakes made by Micah's mom that I frosted and decorated. This was MUCH simpler than the ONE cake we made for their birthday party in Michigan so I might be using this strategy in the future!

Unfortunately we didn't get any good pics of us with our babes on their birthday, but we do have a family photo shoot planned for this weekend which I'm really excited about!

Grandpa and Grammy with A, J, F

All watching Daddy intently as he tries to light the candles in the wind

Alexis

Jack

Faith

The aftermath. They all enjoyed the cupcake and the frosting!

More presents Sunday morning since we didn't have time to open them all on Saturday (the guys were working on garage projects as well this past weekend). Alexis and Jack are ready!

Puzzles and clothes from Aunt Bex, Uncle James, and family. They also gave us the cute "It's My Birthday" t-shirts that they wore on their actual birthday!

Alexis playing with the great musical motorcycle push and ride toy from Grandpa and Grammy

We did make it to church, but Jack was having more fun playing than listening to the sermon.

And so were the girls. We always sit in the back section so the babes can play behind the wall without disrupting everyone since everyone else sits in front of the wall. It is time to put them in the nursery, though, as we are now spending time chasing them as they try to crawl away so it makes it hard for us to pay attention :).

We are so proud of Alexis, Jack, and Faith and we look forward to the next year as they learn to walk, talk, and do all sorts of things!