London pauses for a minute before going into Miss Cengic’s classroom, separated from sister as anticipated. At least you are at peace with being next door neighbors. Last week it was love at first sight when London first met her teacher because “she is SO pretty!” Somehow that fact alone chased every butterfly from your stomach.

Maddie is a little uneasy but a lot brave. Running a fever last night and skinning your knee on the way into school once again demonstrates your resilience. And, you are at advantage because your teacher’s name, Mrs. Wood, is easier for all of us to remember.
We couldn’t be more pleased with the pivotal instructors you and London will be spending seven plus hours each day with.

Any sentimentality about the first day of school was eclipsed by the shock of waking up this girl and finding out that she had spent 12 hours in her crib having removed her diaper…Way to provide an angry distraction so your mom couldn’t event think about crying, including the short trek to school, the drop-off, and the appropriately named ‘crying room breakfast’. I was beginning to blend in with the fathers in the building, you know with the ‘whatev’ shrugging of the shoulders.

Home again, the entourage has grown to seven babies (weren’t we trying to cut back?) while you have every couch to yourself and I am restless.

That brings us to now. Liv is wandering the house and I am wondering why it is so clean, and quiet. Isn’t that what I’ve been asking for all these years? However home doesn’t feel like home without you; your cereal bowls still in the sink and pajamas on the floor, I am waiting for you to spring from the crevices of the toy closet with your makeshift confetti and surprise one of your favorite princess guests, whose birthday it always seems to be.

I keep thinking about this conversation I had just five years ago in the NICU, after a particularly hard day when I wondered out loud to one of the nurses if having sick babies is something a person can ever recover from. And she changed my life, because she said to me, “This is just something they did…just like Kindergarten will be something they did.” The heartache of subsequent days was thwarted because of the vision you’d be doing just what you did this morning. I am more proud of you than I could ever have hoped.

Liv jumps out of the armoire yelling “surprise!” just the way you would, perhaps practicing for your grand return in just five hours. Three musketeers down to one feels so empty, but she is basking in my full attention and my day, and my joy, is already full
to
the
brim.

And now the tears can flow.

Upon first getting to the hotel, these three were bouncing around the hotel room like pinballs, even in pitch black at 11:30 at night, which was to be expected. Only after a little dose of Blues Clues did they settle down enough to sleep, of which Olivia, the non-cuddliest child we have would only sleep on mom’s left shoulder. (Turns out she snores AND talks in her sleep…something about cheese?) Two babies kicking me all night!

Ryan has been dying to go to the NASA Space Center ever since we moved here. With the girls’ recent interest in space, it seemed like a great idea. Here we are touring a little mock up of what it is like to be an astronaut.

We were able to go on a little tour and see one of the control centers.

Family picture. At this point I was not so much interested in the exhibits as getting out of the heat.

We played ‘Where’s Waldo?’ with Olivia the whole time. I loved that she brought her baby with us everywhere….Keep in mind this baby is only one of the five in her entourage!

The kicker for me was walking into what we thought would be several exhibits in this warehouse–

and seeing this! This shuttle was so huge it took my breath away. We walked around staring at it for over an hour and still were blown away.

We have shots from every angle.

Another family pic. I was impressed that random strangers kept offering to take our picture, not only that but they also knew how to work the camera.

These Asians had been working up the courage the whole tour to ask if they could grab a shot of L & M….I had to document the moment!

Can you believe we did NASA and the beach in the same day? Here we are at Galveston, my favorite part of the trip.

Liv and I lounged from these chairs while the twins built sandcastles and jumped over waves with Ryan. I love the smell of the ocean and how relaxing it is to listen to the waves. After awhile, Livvy thought it would be fun to chase Seagulls and make friends with other families, charming her way into many a beach setup. I guess she follows in the twins’ and my dad’s footsteps, always on the lookout for new friends.

Our last stop Saturday morning was at the Kemah boardwalk, which turned out to be my lesson in recognizing signs of heatstroke in pregnancy! I ended up camping out the whole time at Starbucks, guzzling yummy passion iced tea while Ryan attempted to take the girls, including a very height-phobic Madelyn on some rides. Needless to say, we left early. We learned our lesson not to attempt a carnival at mid-day during record heat in Houston, while 9 mos. pregnant!

The girls did eventually find a brilliant way to cool off…

Even Olivia, and baby #4.

Here’s our sweet London on the carousel, undoubtedly the only one who came out of the Kemah boardwalk happy! I’m certain the place would be a blast under different circumstances. Funny enough, the girls’ favorite part of the trip was swimming in the hotel pool and eating at Panda Express, two things we enjoy quite frequently at home. I guess everything’s just better on vacation. And the .2 minutes I got to spend with Ryan weren’t so bad either. Here’s to another eight-infinity years!

James showed up with a box of some pretty hard core fireworks, complete with snappers and sparklers for the kids. Pretty much James and Ryan did the lighting while the rest of us watched out for five kids poking someone’s eye out. Gwen and Harry seemed to get the hang of the sparklers better than my three children, who kept putting them out in the bucket, halfway burned.

Liv and Grandpa Barlow.

and again with Ryan. Love that little tongue.

Little London hams it up for Grandma.

Ok so these fireworks were insane! Blinding, deafening, smoking, shooting fire in all directions. But really, who laughs in the face of danger more than these two? Not to mention, we totally showed up all two of our neighbors who were also setting off fireworks in broad daylight.

And the cheering section, of which I accidentally hopped up on about 2 lbs. of candy.

Liv and Grandma Barlow and said candy.
How nice was it to have two extra adults around to keep the kids away from fire?

I made Baby Liv slow down for a minute but apparently the sugar rush wins over a great picture hands down. I didn’t get a shot of Lonna that day! But I think by then we’d had enough of pregnant belly shots, not that Lonna’s even counts as a belly.

Ok so what is it about Roman Candles that makes some grown men revert back to age six? We finally talked these two into moving things into the backyard as they had previously ALMOST hit the house, the neighbor’s and our cars, oh and what was that about watching for poking out eyes? At any rate, this portion of the fireworks turned into some kind of sporting event, with the rest of us sitting on the porch swing yelling, “Watch out for the kids!”
Ultimately, our 4th resembled New Years where we did most of the celebrating about six hours in advance and wrapped things up right about bedtime. Throw in some apple pie, good conversation, and yummy chocolate covered Rice Krispy treats and there is my perfect kind of holiday. Later we watched fireworks over the lake right from our bedroom window, then I loved watching, and not being stuck in, the traffic on our street for the next two hours. So probably my first fourth with no mosquito bites, now there is one for the record!

Ryan and Liv had a few hours together one Saturday when I took the twins to a birthday party. It turns out a quick trip to the bank can become quite the Daddy Daughter date. Also, I just noticed Liv’s legs more closely match “Brown Baby” than any of the others….it figures.

Oh she has Ryan wrapped around her little finger setting up the whole thing for lunch, complete with a sun umbrella.

The other day Madelyn came running to me out of breath because Liv was dumping Rice Crispies on her baby’s face. Who knows what else these babies have ingested? I don’t envy her role as Mother Hen of four newborns.

And another shot eating chocolate on the couch, yes, two things only Dad would approve of together. The shiner on her face is from falling down the stairs as she has recently started descending facing front, to accommodate the babies of course, and sometimes wearing Princess dress-up shoes in addition. Oh Liv, I can’t wait to see you as a big sister.

Meanwhile, we decided to complicate things even more and throw another matching girl into the mix. Olivia couldn’t have been more tickled to be included in what has turned out to be a very exclusive duo…

Even if she doesn’t always get the memo on which direction to run.
Can you believe the color of our lawn (dad especially)? Photoshop need not apply. When our lawn guy promised he’d have it looking like this in a couple of months, I chuckled thinking what a great salesman he was. We are all pleasantly surprised. The only thing keeping us from running our toes through this luscious lawn is a measly couple of thousand violently angry fire ants, of which we have the man of the house to thank for spending hours upon hours slowly warding them off.

An impromptu shot of Ryan Jr. *
The people in the ward just started noticing I’m pregnant! I guess they have not recently seen me in a bathing suit. Every now and then it hits me that this really is the last baby…during the smooth sailing parts like today I think we may want more, but then the heartburn hits and I tell Ryan that we are never doing this again.

And what is a family event without corn on the cob–

and this girl?
The other day, that is before childproof doorknob handles on the pantry became an emergency, I caught Liv going through the trash and scarfing remnants of un-cooked corn on the cob! That is how much she loves it. I think she eats more of it than any member of the family, not even saving room for the main course or dessert.

And a special shout-out to the man behind the camera to whom I did actually shout out, ‘Put on a shirt so I can take a picture of you!’ And so he did and he got all handsomed up and I missed it due to rapidly increasing forgetfulness. At any rate I have loved celebrating you today, and the father you are to our girls.
And my own dad, and father-in-law, how blessed we are to have you in our lives. I hope everyone had a wonderful Father’s Day and got to chow down on some form of corn too.

*Not his real name, though with ten weeks to go we hope we can think of it soon.

I think my hesitation with this process began precisely at my own birth, where my own parents declared that I should be known as the name held dear to their hearts for decades, so I’m told. But surprisingly not the name they had intended, really, because as precisely as they had decided “Leslie,” as equally precisely was the name interpreted– “Lezlie.” All 29 years and counting.

I wonder how there was any ambiguity in the name at first; I used to correct my teachers and new acquaintances all the way up until 2nd grade and then found the effort futile. As an adult, I realized the name, by means of social context, truly was meant to be pronounced with a ‘z’ and that people are just saying it the way they had always heard, no offense. Interesting, it seems the name itself, was bestowed with a built-in flaw.

These days, the z follows me around 99% of the time, yes that is ninety-nine people out of a hundred, the one my mother must have corrected somewhere along the way, but the good news is I no longer hear it. The z doesn’t even register on my radar, though Ryan picks it up sometimes…’Why does this person think your name is Lezlie?’ he will comment to me after such an encounter. ‘Because it is,’ I usually answer. Remarkably though, we still run across that one, who upon hearing my name, does in fact parrot it back to me correctly, pronouncing the ‘s,’ and I scratch my head and wonder. Perhaps the whole thing is not so much about the name as who has the ability to hear, or rather, listen.

And so begins the process of giving this little person the name by which we truly intend him to be called. Ryan and I may have a million different ideas running through our heads and that’s okay, but at least one thing we can agree on, no funny spellings or interpretations. His name, whatever it is, is going to be as clear as day. You hear that son, you will not be misinterpreted from birth. Furthermore, as with every child, there is extra parental research regarding nicknames, what do his initials spell, what is the worst thing the kids on the playground could come up with, do we want to pass on any family names, is this name a good match with siblings’, not to mention will anyone in the family hold a grudge for stealing the one name saved for future posterity. And lastly, if that’s not enough pressure, be sure to check local listings to see if both your newborn twins’ names are present on ‘The Suite Life of Zach and Cody’ (of which we’d do again in a heartbeat and besides, our twins are infamous for it ). Follow all these steps correctly and we may in fact have a winner…but in the meantime sleepless nights must ensue.

And with that I have created for ourselves even more pressure than even the incredible task of raising you.

P.S. Just in case anyone is wondering, today I told Ryan I am changing my name to (wait for it)–
LEZZZLIE
all capitalized with three Z’s, just so there is no ambiguity.

Good thing your outfits still fit from the last time we took up ballet, and check out the requested Barbie Island Princess-inspired hairdos with little purple embellishments a la Auntie Alice (she even sent one for Liv). And come to find out, we do the general public a favor by wearing name necklaces.

Getting warmed up with new friends.

Plie! Who knew both of you were already quite familiar with beginning ballet moves; of which we have Barbie Nutcracker and Angelina Ballerina to thank, not to mention your 6 months pregnant mom’s rusty 8th grade skills!

And we sachet across the floor!

After the first day, we headed to Walmart to pick up some things for dinner and you were already trying out your moves, seriously oblivious to the fact that you were crashing into shopping carts and confused shoppers alike. I think there’s a lot more where that came from!

The ceremony was quite elaborate and included the handing out of diplomas, singing of many little preschool songs, not to mention thoughts and a prayer from the Community Church’s pastor. I held out pretty well until the slideshow at the end which included pictures of the entire year and an emotional ‘then and now’ baby picture compilation set to that country song about how quickly children grow. I couldn’t help but think what we were doing five years ago in the NICU and how far you have come, singing your little hearts out the whole way.

Madelyn’s teacher Miss Wendy and the girls. Madelyn just found out Miss Wendy won’t in fact be her Kindergarten teacher and has been crying every morning since. It has been music to my ears to hear how much these kiddos love school, even homework.

Madelyn’s friends Liam and Adeline. Madelyn’s class was smaller and a great little mix of personalities. These kids are all BFF’s.

London’s teacher Miss Sandy and the girls. I never thought we’d survive splitting up the twins for preschool, but it has been a good experience for them. For one, it means double the friends, but I also noticed they spend the entire drive home from school catching each other up on the latest.

London’s classmates Joey and Celine.

Proudest mom ever!

L & M got a little restless towards the end. I couldn’t help myself from turning totally paparazzi on them. Sorry twins, blue is your color.

And an end of school pool party thrown by Madelyn’s friend Courtney.

Olivia instantly puts Madelyn to work at home. I think she’s the only one happy about school ending.

And they’re off! Big plans for summer I can assure you; the swimming pool is calling our name. And the catch phrase around here these days–
“Look out Kindergarten, here we come!”

Meanwhile, since the twins have been anticipating the event of their birthday since mid-March, I knew the pressure was on round these parts. Thank goodness for Heather to help out the night before.

Who doesn’t love a little cheery mouse to wish them happy birthday at the breakfast table? Especially when the menu consists of your favorite chocolate donuts and a platter of strawberries and grapes.

I love that you are now old enough to spout out phrases like, ‘This is the happiest day ever!’ and ‘I am so happy I could cry!’ which reaction I had no idea 79 cent vases from IKEA could provoke, even from Livvy.

You got to work right away opening presents…

The Barbie dress-up clothes you chose out months ago and had to watch me put in the shopping cart from the corner of your eye, just to make sure. London the ballerina and Maddie the bride, and yes, you have already switched twice since then.
After a couple of hours of dress up and Barbies, you asked me, what’s next mom? to which I replied ‘Anything! Today is your day,’ while I was thinking… (don’t say it, don’t say it, don’t say it)
but you said it–
‘Swimming at the lake!’
So there was packing, and sunscreening, and wrestling down Liv to get a swimsuit on, making lunches, blowing up floaties, more packing, and an hour later, we were–

Ah, paradise right?
All of you clearly too busy to look at the camera, let alone hold still. You chased down an entire family of ducks, ate your requested lunch of tuna sandwiches and Cheetos, floated out to sea a few times, made a new friend, and, did I mention announced to every person on the beach that it was your, both of your, birthday?

Livvy’s third word surfaces (first and second used strictly for emergencies)–”Ducks!”
And a point.

After the lake we had a pizza party dinner, at which point in time we had completely run out of steam. The girls were able to chat with Daddy and open their presents from Grandma & Grandpa Davis, and finally muster up the energy to blow out some candles.

(Pretty sure London’s cupcake only had four candles on it, that’s how tired I was!)

All of us went to bed early, thank goodness, and when I asked you your favorite part of the day London said:
‘All of it…except when I was in time out.’
That about sums it up.
Happy Birthday to my darling little five-year old girls. I am the luckiest mom in the whole world!

Livvy kept a safe distance from the animals at the petting zoo by means of her tallest option possible–Daddy.

Could you blame her? For some reason all the goats kept coming at her with a friendly face full of this!

On the other hand, L & M had to literally chase down the animals they wanted to pet, goats and baby chickens alike.

Liv finally warmed up to the baby bunnies.

As did Madelyn. Love her expression, pure joy.

I admit I was reluctant to hand this little bunny over to the kids, so sleepy and snuggly!
At this point, our only non-allergic non-hysterical pet option.

There were some pony rides.


(Does this image bring up flashbacks of Mary-Kate and Ashley in How the West was Fun for anyone else?)

Face Painting and Balloon Animals.

Little Ladybug

and a Tulip.

and this intense puppet show where you get all sorts of prizes for dancing! These two were front and center on the dance floor, to the tunes of “Shake Your Booty” “We are Family” and “Dancin’ in the Street” nonetheless. You know, the classics.

Top it off with some burgers and ice cream and it couldn’t have been a better night. PLUS: we had to park in the parking lot and shuttle to Pfluger Park via school bus, which event the girls could not have loved more. Who’s excited for Kindergarten now?
Can’t wait for next year y’all.

*And by beer I clearly mean lemonade.