Smiles, sinuses, spit-up, siblings, and some sleep.

So, we made it across the country with a crew of four adults and three babies and made it intact. That was my mom, dad, sister Elise, and me. KC is staying to work until Christmas Eve, and then he is joining the fun. Though he did help us as far as he could go. It was exhausting, with the little sleep we got the night before, and all the falderall it takes to travel with children. They were great little travelers with the exception of Bennett's projectile vomiting all over me and him (which he continues to do about once a day). And of course I brought extra clothes for him, but not for me. I managed with the stink on me for the rest of the flight, and when we made it home we were greeted at my parents home with several of my lovely siblings and a lunch for us. And, they fed the hungry babies for me. Nice.

So since then we have had many kind friends and family come to see these little lovelies, and help out so much. Family members have also been so kind to take on some of the night shifts. I got seven glorious hours of sleep in a row the other night thanks to Jeff and Lili, mom and dad, and Matt and Courtney taking over that night shift. The best Christmas present there is!! It was especially nice because I have had a cold since last Sunday. I seriously can't go on a trip to Utah without something ailing me. I made my traditional trip to the urgent care in case it was turning into a sinus infection, as my colds often do. Add sleep deprivation with sinuses, raw throat, and itchy eyes, and it's great fun. So the extra help is greatly appreciated.

We've hit some major milestones with their first REAL smiles. It was so wonderful to see them look right into my eyes and smile at me for the very first time. And the most amazing thing was that they all accomplished this within the same 24 hours. Ruby first, then Alex the next day, then Bennett a couple hours after that. We were able to catch some pictures, though we had to act fast so they aren't so great. KC is missing them like crazy (even the crying-he must be pretty lonely), but I assured him that when he sees the smiles for the first time it will be just as adorable as the first time I saw them. We can't wait for daddy to come join the fun, being all rested and ready to hold babies. Maybe mommy will get a little break!

Seeing their little wonderful smiles for those few seconds somehow made all the hard times worth it. It reminded me that they will progress to other stages of life and won't stay in this newborn phase forever, though it feels like it sometimes since they have been like this for so much longer than they should be. They are about a month past their due date, so I am hoping to see some changes in their behavior in the next couple of months, fingers crossed.

Here they are:

Alex

Bennett (He's been the hardest the take a picture of. This will have to do for now.)
And here's the star Ruby. She hands them out more than anyone else. I just love seeing that open-mouth grim.