Brie's Wedding Weekend!

A month after the bach party in San Diego, we all met up in Austin for the big wedding weekend.  It was SO much fun to have weekends with my girls two months in a row, but Austin was special because all of the boys were with us and we rarely get to spend time with them.  

Rehearsal dinner was on a paddle boat on Lady Bird Lake...  Honestly, I was kinda dreading this, because Texas in August is miserably hot, but it turned out to to be overcast and a titch breezy.  Horrible for good hair, but nice for an outdoor boat ride!  We had fun gabbing and mingling with Brie's family.

The Girls! (Minus the bride.)

Misty, Amy, Ellen, Kimber

Forgive all of the couple pics, but each of them are so special in their own way... I could write a book on each of them and wish a picture could convey how fabulous they are.

The Wilkins

The Reids

The Farleys

The Soon To Be Fergusons

And of course, the Howells

Everybody

As we were making our way back, we got to see the Congress Bridge bats fly out for their nightly feeding... we were assured that they fed on bugs not humans.  It was amazing to see millions of bats filling the sky... (It took me back to my childhood watching the bats at Carlsbad Caverns.) I couldn't believe they all fit under that bridge.  Can you see them below??

The big day we spent the entire day with the girls getting hair and makeup done....

Look at that hair, Brie!!

The trolley came to get us all from the hotel to take us to the wedding.  Minor hiccup with the trolley breaking down on the freeway, but a replacement arrived just before we started really sweating.  Whew. 

We had some time on our hands, so lots of trolley pics!

Me, Amy, Misty

Brie and her sister Laurie

Old College Roomies -- Apt. 203, y'all!

Getting Brie Dressed...  Her gown was AWESOME!!

The wedding was at the Barr Mansion, which was GORGeous!  The unfortunate part of being in a wedding is not being able to take pics of the actual wedding. But you can see pictures of the venue here!

Lots of after wedding pics...

Stephen and me

Amy and Kimber

The signature drink was a Moscow Mule... You drink these in a copper mug.  I had never heard of one until the bach party, but now I see them everywhere!

This was in an O magazine when I was at the doctors office.

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson!!

Dancing with Shae just like the good old days...

Hey!

End of a wonderful evening...

Stephen and Shae totally stole my camera and these are only two of the jewels that I found!!  Totally dorks and I love them!!!

And, of course, we had to do a jump picture...  (This one is by Brie's photographer Whitney Lee Photography.) 

We have been doing this jump forever!!  Here is our first one... circa 1999!!

Progress. Progress. 4YO Update.

I wanted to be there fully, completely for each one.  

I wanted to be able to hold them until they stopped crying.

I wanted to listen to them with undivided attention.  To hear what they had to say without any distractions or input from others wanting my attention.

I wanted to make sure I knew what their favorite book was.

I wanted to make sure they weren't worried about something that they never had a chance to bring up.

I wanted them to feel like they were an only child... if only for a few hours.

So I did....

I took each one to their four year old check up individually and had a lunch date afterwards.  It sucked up a whole week for me and I got nothing else done, but I loved every minute of it.

BRIELLEN JEANNETTE

29 lbs - 6%

38" - 16%

Out of the five, she is the only one to get a not so glowing review... because she hasn't gained weight since December.  The doctor thinks that it's because she was sick so much and that by getting the ear tubes, she will start eating more and gain weight.  I'm not so sure... this girl is STUBBORN!  It is like an act of congress to get her to even try a bite of anything new.  Plus, she has stopped eating peanut butter, so I am SO worried that she will not gain the weight she needs to when we go back to the dr. next month. 

Nothing makes you question your parenting ability than a child who is not growing like they should... ugh!  ANY advice on how to feed a picky child is greatly appreciated!  I think I've tried everything, but maybe the wise moms reading this will tell me something I've missed!

When I asked Brie where she wanted to go eat, she said Mexican.  So we tried a new place called Alicia's in Cypress... Awesome food!  

Even though she asked for Mexican, she would only eat queso...

I wish... I could get this girl to eat more food!!

IVY ELIZABETH

36 lbs - 60%

40.5" - 68%

My big girl.... Just like her mama, she likes to eat!  Seriously a snacky girl.  She would eat all day long if I would let her.  We are still on a strict-ish eating schedule, so I don't spend all day in the kitchen, but this girl will ask for something to eat in between all meal and snack times.  NOW I know why mom's let their little ones chew gum!  

Bookstore to get new books... (After this trip, I made getting a library card a priority.)  Am grateful that my kids like to read, but sheesh, $15 for a book!?!)

She wanted chicken strips french fries and lemonade, so we went to Willie's Icehouse.  (It's funny, they ALWAYS think they want lemonade, but HATE it when they drink it.)

LUKE HARRISON

34.5 lbs - 33%

39.5" - 16%

Still my serious one, but has a silly side that I find SO endearing.  

He chose Mexican food... To mix it up I took him to Gringos (love!)  He's my tortilla guy and will eat a million!  Gringo's has self serve ice cream and he was in chocolate heaven!  
Hi. My name is Luke. And I am a chocoholic.  He tells me a story involving chocolate everyday.  (He is borderline robot-oholic as well.)

Green is still his favorite color.  If you ever wondered how powerful a parents influence is on a child, this is an example... His color was green when he was a baby, so everything he has has been green.  Even after giving him plenty of opportunities to change colors as he gets older, he still chooses green.  Four out of the five are this way.  

MITCHELL THOMAS

35 lbs - 38%

40.5" - 56%

Silly, silly boy. Constantly making jokes and laughing his big belly laugh!

(No makeup for me this day... rough night the night before.  Not a rough night as in having a good time, but rough night as in being woken up a million times in the night for not very important reasons... Someone had the nerve to wake me up in the middle of the night to ask me to get them a book!!! Excuse me, but I. don't. think. so.)

Once Luke let it out of the bag that Gringo's had ice cream, there was no other option of where to have lunch, no matter how much I tried to convince him otherwise.


Mitchell makes up for any picky eaters that I may have.  He can EAT!  For the amount of food he eats, he should be huge!  

SIDNEY ALUN

28.5 lbs - 4%

37.5" - 10%

Our sunshine girl.  Always happy. Always wakes up with a smile.  Always eager to please.

Even though she weighs less than Brie, she is steadily gaining weight.  She eats EVERYTHING, but like a bird. 

And here we are back at Gringo's....  

Ice cream!

I was amazed at how SHY each of them were at the doctors office.  They had to do small tests to make sure they were developmentally on track.  Like "stand up, clap your hands, then sit down"... to make sure they could follow directions. Not ONE of them would do it!  So bashful.  I just begged the doctor to take my word for it!!  I can't help but think this is because they are always together as a group.  Once again, I ponder the dynamics of being a quintuplet and how it will affect their personality.  

It is so easy to get caught up in worry about their development, their future... Am I doing things right? Am I doing things wrong? Am I going to screw them up because I didn't do this or I did do that?  Do I have the right parenting style? Am I too strict? Too laid back?  AHHHH! 

I then have to just take a deep breath and remember that I am not in charge... These are God's children and they will turn out perfectly the way He wants them to either because of or in spite of what I do!

-P.S. Uncle Neal... YES they desperately needed a haircut and YES I have since taken them.  :)  

San Diego Bach Party!

I've told you about one of my oldest, dearest friends, Brie... Well after a spicy dating life that was fit for the Hollywood Silver Screen, she finally picked her Mr. Right!  So, more for an excuse for girl time than celebrating her last days of being single, we blew the hot Houston summer and spent a weekend in beautiful San Diego... (La Jolla to be exact which is one of the cutest little towns I've ever been in!)  Couldn't have asked for a better time with my bestest friends!! 

And yes, I said summer... as in July...  Only 4 months behind... oh, well...

Day 1 - Wine Tasting in Temecula

I didn't even know there was a wine region in Southern Cali, but alas, there is... Not as fab as Napa/Sonoma, but it was really cute.

Kimber, ME, Misty, Amy, Cassy, Brie

Sisters!

Limo Ride

Winery #1 - Longshadow Ranch

It was a titch country....

Winery #2 - Wilson Creek Winery

Kimber and Aim

Special Girl....

That night we went to dinner at George's Ocean Terrace and it was AWESOME!  The view was incredible and food fantastic.  They even brought us soft blankies when the sun set and it got cold!  You HAVE to go here if you are ever in La Jolla!

Brie, Kimber, Misty, Cassy

Amy, Elle

It was cloudy, but still an amazing sunset!

Day 2 - Shopping and Brunch

This is the day that I learned about the ultra cute, uber expensive exercise clothes brand Lulu Lemon.   Apparently, I was the last one in Houston to know about it... I see it everywhere now and one day I will be able to buy a sock from there!  

Kimber, Elle, Amy

Bloody's!

We had big plans to go to the beach, but these old girls needed to prepare for the big night ahead.  Seriously, between all of us some needed naps, others needed red bull and there was a stop to the pharmacy for tums.  I am not going to name names, but suffice it to say, we are not as young as we once were!  

On one of my kid's music CD's, there is a song called "The Old Gray Mare"... Have you heard it?!?  The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be, many long years ago.  This is us... sad, but true!  :)

From Above Pic 

We got tired of the long line of girl pics....

Dinner in downtown San Diego at cute restaurant called Analog.

Made it to the club...

Blondies

We spent the whole night laughing...

And dancing....

Enjoying being with each other...

And being silly...

I love these girls beyond imagine and to spend an entire weekend with them was amazing....

As Ron Burgundy would say.. You stay classy, San Diego!

P.S.  Thank you, sweet Stephen, for taking care of our wonderfully crazy children, so I could take a much needed break!