APRIL

April has been so busy and I'm just now getting a chance to sit down and post our activities.

The big event we had was Julian's spring break. We flew to Atlanta to be with our families and to enjoy my sisters first bridal shower. We had so much fun, it hard to leave. We love being close with everyone and being in the south. It will always be HOME to us no matter where life takes us. We had a late flight to Atlanta and all the kids did great. I think its good to get them used to traveling early. They fell asleep toward the end of the flight and we carried them to get the car. All the kids loved being in Atlanta and we got to do many fun things. One of the most special things was seeing our family that we don't get to see often, especially my niece and the kids only cousin. They loved playing with Kinsley and talk about her all the time.

Our first outing was to the Yellowriver Game Ranch. The kids had a ball looking at the animals and try to feed them. It so much fun watching all the kids play together like they are old friends. I love that this new technology time allows us to talk face to face with each other. It helps families that live apart keep close ties with each other.

May May and PopPop with all their grandkids

An attempt to get a picture my 3.

These 3 could pass as triplets. I love seeing them playing together.

Checking out the yellow river

My big boy Julian

Holding hands and cousins that love each other. Priceless pic.

Feeding the bunnies

Stacy and Kins and Pop Pop and Alex.

These deer were way overfed this week. The game ranch was really crowded for spring break.

Bath time together and watching shows together.

Our lunch date together.

Trying to get a group shot at the Stanford's house after dinner.

Easter egg hunts at my grandmother's house during my sister's bridal shower.

At the airport on our way home to PA at 6 am in the morning! Not a great time to fly but the kids all do great.

"Babies" turn 3!

happy Birthday sweet babies!!!

Alex and Lilly turned 3 yesterday! I still call them the babies, and at some point someone is going to tell me they aren't babies anymore, but I can't help it. I will always call all my kids my babies, no matter how old they get. I think it's fitting that they were born on the first day of spring. Spring brings life to everything around us and things start to look up after a bleak winter. That's exactly what they are to me. They brought more life to our family. They were born to start fresh and grow just like the flowers of spring. They had had a rough winter and needed to come see us. I can't believe it's been 3 years since that day. Things are definitely much more hopeful and future brighter than that day 3 years ago. The babies are doing wonderful. They are very active, healthy, smart children that continue to thrive and develop. Their speech is improving dramatically. They can definitely communicate their wants and needs. They continue to have some twin talk and have conversations between each other that I don't understand. It's great watching them interact and to see their personalities continue to grow and define themselves.

Lilly is a girly girl. She loves jewelry, shoes, clothes, makeup, dolls, and is the social one of the 2.

Alex loves all things trucks, balls, curious George, and is a HUGE mommy boy. If he could be permanently attached to me, i think he would love it.

We had to move out our 3 year old check ups due to some recent colds. (it's been the story of my life this winter) So we will see how that goes in a couple weeks, but I don't foresee any problems, They are developmentally right on target. The only issue we still have is Lilly's weight. She remains under the curve, but always grows. She is still a little birdy eater, and doesn't usually put eating on a high priority level. She eats a great variety of food, just hard to get lots of calories in her. Alex still loves to eat, and eats most things I give him. Alex still has one preemie side effect. When he gets cold, they always end up in his lungs. His little runny noses typically end up with a very congested cough and antibiotics. You can tell his little lungs needed more time to develop, and have some lasting consequences but other than that he is a wonderful, loving, little boy.

Birthday day was pretty quiet but still turned out to be a nice day. It was just myself and the kids here to celebrate. Chris was traveling this week. Having the kids birthday so close to each other it's hard for everyone to come for both days, another downside to living far away from family. I feel like I have to pick and choose which child's birthday I want family to come visit for, and the twins are still pretty young and i don't think understand yet. So, next year they are due a big birthday party. i hope I managed to give the babies a great day.

The babies got the biggest smile when they got to blow out their own candle on their own cake. And they loved it when people sang happy birthday to them. You could tell they felt really special and soaked in the attention.

The cakes turned out really cute. They did the princess and the prince look to decorate.

both sticking their fingers in the icing to get a little taste.

Another treat in the day- Dee Dee and Papa sent them each a balloon bouquet with a stuffed animal. They love balloons and this also helped make their day.

Our day ended up at the park while Julian had his first baseball practice for the season. Their other love is to swing and thats what they did. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed one of our few days in a long time that we've been able to play outside.

Big smiles for mommy. That doesn't happen much anymore. They are getting to the age where they don't like to take their pictures.

And this is my 3 babies. The loves of my life. they are so special.

This is the other major thing that we having going on (as if our life wasn't crazy enough). We are in the process of moving soon. I can't believe how fast this is going. We are set to close May 15 on our PA house and close May 18 on our CT house. It will be so nice to be in CT and be together again. Chris has been traveling a lot, and I will have my family close by. A luxury we have never had and will be so thankful to be able to have our kids be so close with my parents. The house is moving right along, and everything is picked out and in the works. Lots to do until that time. We like to keep things lively.

2012 in full swing

January and February are flying by. I can't believe the year is already in full swing. I feel like Chris and I have been on super drive since this year begun. Chris had jumped into his new role at work with both feet and it is keeping him VERY busy and away most of the weeks, and home just for a few days. And during those few days he is home, it is mommy's time to go to work. So needless to say we are just passing in the wind. But we are both getting done what we have to and always putting our family first. It is official that Chris and I will be moving once again. (5th move for Henkel in our almost 13 years of marriage). I could become a professional mover at this point. Each time has been for career advancement for Chris, and I have been there to help him get to this point in his life. I feel like this has been a family effort, we have all made some sacrifices but it's all for the better of our family. This move isn't south were we were hoping to settle down, but it's 2nd best. We are moving to Connecticut. We are finally going to be close to one of our families. Neither one of us have lived in the same state as our family since we left for college, and this is long overdue. I am so excited to have my parents just down the street from us. My kids are going to get to see their grandparents on a regular basis and chris and I will soak in some help. We've been flying completely solo for the last 13 years, but it will be so nice not to ave to be alone all the time. So, we are very eager to get this move on the way. The house is up on the market, and we are all set to go. We are hoping the house will sell quickly because I have 3 little ones to clean up after all the time, which makes being house beautiful all the time quite difficult, but we will do our best.

This is how my day ends after a long day of work for me. I love crawling in bed with all my babies.

These are the babies new GA jerseys from Philip, Stacy, and Kins for their birthday. They love their "team" shirts as they call them.

Our big event for February was Julian's 8th birthday. Of course we the Stanford family has big plans, that means sickness is going to come. So this time was no different. The week of Julian's birthday, Julian came home from school Monday, and that night the dreaded stomach bug hit our house. I was waiting for it and dreading it. Julian stayed home for 2 days from school and then went back on Thursday. Thought we were in the home clear and that night the babies started getting sick. I think we have the worst timing in the world. Family was arriving on Friday. I just prayed and hoped for the best.

Mary, Tom, Kelly, David and Jess all flew in Friday and we had a great dinner together spending time with family that we don't get to see often. I love having a house full of people. The more the merrier to us.

Friday night the stomach bug hit me, and I spent all of Saturday in the bed. I forced myself to get up and get ready so I wouldn't miss Julian's 8th birthday party.

I can't believe that he's been in our lives for 8 years. I still remember the day he was born like it was yesterday. Every detail is still vivid, and I can still see his tiny face. I love the little boy that Julian has become. He is such a loving little boy that he makes me smile all the time. I love the way he tries at everything he does, his intelligence, his sense of humor, his drive, his love for others, and his spirit. Julian- you were one of the 3 best things that have ever happened to mommy and daddy. We want to see you continue to grow and strive to do your best in all that you do. We love you more than words can say.

Here are a few pictures from his party at Bounce U with some of his friends.

Going down the huge slides

Julian coming off the slide

David, Kelly, and Aunt Anne

Julian and his friends. We were so surprised that he had 23 friends come to play and celebrate. That shows how many people love Julian the way we do.

Julian blowing out his candles on his dinosaur cookie cake.

Found Julian and lilly sitting together watching TV. It was one of the sweetest things I've eve seen.

Alex didn't want to be left out.