2012 Year in Review

As we look forward to everything that 2013 holds in store for us we look back over the past year with many fond memories and disbelief that the quads are already 3 years old...

January 2012 - Bye bye cribs...Hello big kid beds!  The quads made the transition to toddler beds with great success.  A year later they have yet to make it a party in their room by getting out of bed or going into someone else's bed.  We are very fortunate!

February 2012 - They tried finger painting for the first time and had a blast doing it!  Matthew and Aubrey graduated from night time diapers to 100% underwear...proud moment in the Hickey home!

March 2012 - We had our first trip to the Children's Museum in North Conway and the kids had a great time.  They didn't want to come home!  Our kitchen got a new make over and the kids learned to play Hungry Hippos and Lucky Ducks.

April 2012 - Cameron and Brady decided to join the ranks of the big kids by saying goodbye to nighttime diapers and diapers were officially gone from our house forever!  The teach me time clock became a very necessary permanent fixture in the kids room, keeping them in their beds until the light turns green.

May 2012 - I traveled to NOLA to have four fabulous days with my favorite quad mommas while Daddy held down the fort at home with the fabulous foursome!  The kids played their first game of mini golf and had a terrific time doing it!  Daddy and Papa Digger made us a nice big yard to play in!

June 2012 - The quads made the cutest ring bearers and flower girl around when they were in Nick and Elise's wedding.  Another great trip to the dentist and a quaddler play date at Chuck E Cheese were some other highlights of our month.

July 2012 - The boys got buzz cuts as Aubrey's hair had finally grown out to a length that I could actually do something with it.  Daddy built us a sandbox in our new yard and we got a sand digger to play with in there.  A trip to Clarke's training post to see the bears do tricks and meeting new friends Braden and Olivia and their mom Karen at Funspot were definitely highlights of our summer.

August 2012 - A trip to Santa's Village with the Nadeau quads was a ball and had the kids looking forward to a return trip with Nick and Elise the following week.  Learning to ride their bikes and getting a trampoline from Memere and Bumpa definitely added to the excitement of the summer.

September 2012 - The quads turned THREE and we celebrated with a trip to Walt Disney World!  They had a blast meeting all their favorite characters, riding rides, and going to Sea World.  We returned home to dance classes that the boys quickly dropped out of!

October 2012 - Apple picking, pumpkin carving and a tour of the fire station were the highlights of the month!  They dressed up as four aces and went Trick or Treating...winning two costume contests in town!

November 2012 - Poor behavior and discipline became a big focus here and following the guidelines in the book Love and Logic things turned around and we were able to get back to a less crazy household...it's a total learning process and we still struggle each day...age three is HARD!

December 2012 - This was by far the best Christmas season we have had yet!  The kids enjoyed every single moment...meeting Santa, picking out a Christmas tree, seeing Christmas lights, making Christmas ornaments, making goodies and delivering them, and of course giving and receiving gifts!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Will I ever get a good group pic again????

When I try to get a nice picture it usually starts like this...


Then quickly turns into this...


Then this...


Finally this...


I take back all those times when they were little when I couldn't wait for them to get bigger to take better pictures...little did I know I would LOVE for them to participate that well again!

Christmas!

This year has been the BEST year so far with the fab four...they are totally excited about the magic of the Christmas season and have enjoyed every single moment.  I would love for them to feel this way every Christmas for the rest of their lives!

Coming down the stairs to see if Santa came...then Daddy ruined the video ...


So excited to see all the presents!




The look on their faces was worth every single penny spent...




















Matthew aka Mr. Pokey Pants...opening his favorite movie Over the Hedge!


They love to work on stuff with Daddy so these little tool boxes were a huge hit!


New car seats!!!  Brady sat in it and said "MOM!  I have ROOM!"


The Princess opening her Princess Dress Up Trunk!


I took the foursome out shopping for Ben and he did the same for me.  They put a lot of thought into each of their gifts and were very proud to give them to us!

Cameron gave Ben a blue flash light because black and blue are Ben's favorite colors and there were no black ones!


Aubrey got Ben a hooded flannel jacket.  She said he needed one because he never wears a jacket!


Matthew gave Ben some yellow sleep pants...so Ben can give them back when Matthew is big enough to fit in them!


Brady gave Ben a camo shirt because it is like the camo shirt that the boys wear and daddy told them he liked them!


Matthew gave me a new kitchen clock because my old one broke!


Aubrey gave me some new pink rubber clogs that she loves to wear around the house!




Brady gave me a new cookbook...so I can learn to cook some suppers!


Cameron gave me a green pan because green is your favorite color, right mom?  Ummm...sure Cam!


Our final gift was a family gift for all of us from Grandma and Grandpa Reynolds...we cannot wait to go out and camp this summer!


After gift opening was done we headed out in the kitchen to find that Santa not only ate his cookies and drank his milk but left them some new mugs, packets of hot cocoa and a little note!




Then we got dressed and ready for the day.  Aubrey is always a willing model...the others took some convincing but we got an ok photo!




Then our cousins came to celebrate and we tried to get a group picture...try is the key word!


Finally it was off to Grammie and Papa Amadon's for lunch and the last of our celebrating before heading home to play with our new stuff.  They are already asking if Santa was coming again next Christmas Eve...it's gonna be a long year!

Christmas Eve 2012

This year we spent Christmas Eve at Grammie and Papa Brann's house with family and friends and the kids had a great time.  They were well behaved and loved opening gifts as well as giving their gifts to everyone else.  Matthew's favorite part was hanging out with his cousin Aidan...I am sure Aidan was glad to see him leave because Matthew doesn't leave the poor kid alone.

Clowning around!




An attempt to get a picture of all the grandkids...


Present time!










Aubrey's solution for getting what she wants?  Ask Uncle Tom for it because as she told me "He always gets me what I want!"


Does it fit the criteria?  Is it pink?  Check!  Does it have hearts?  Check!


Is there a dancing Princess?  CHECK!!!


She knew he would come through for her! ;)


Talking about their favorite gifts.


A quick change into our family jammies made by First Firefly, a picture then home to get ready for SANTA!


We had to sprinkle the food out for the reindeer to help them find our house...


Put out cookies and milk for Santa...

Christmas with the Cantons

We got to have the Cantons over to have dinner and exchange some gifts.  They got us one of the most fun gifts ever...season passes to Santa's Village!  Uncle Chris made sure to tell the kids that the passes meant they could go "whenever they wanted" and he also let them know that Santa's Village was open the very next day.  Guess where we had to go the next day???

Rudolph welcoming them to the park!


Riding on the Merry- Go-Round








Come on...


Riding the drums...Cam was pouting behind Ben!




Feeding the reindeer!






Riding the Peppermint Twist...notice the crazy girl with her arms in the air!


Time to go...Matthew was FREEZING!!!