Happy 3rd Birthday Marcus James Kelly!

I can't believe you will be 3 years old tomorrow sweetie! Marcus I'm not sure we can ever fully explain to you how much we love you! Getting pregnant with you was like a dream come true for us, and you have made Mommy and Daddy smile and feel so blessed every day since... The delivery with you was a difficult one, however you were so worth the wait! When you were born you were so alert and looking around almost as if you were taking it all in. Watching you grow and learn has been an amazing experience and has shown us our most important job in life...being your parents. You are a wonderful son, an amazing big brother, and each day with you is so much fun. We are so thankful to be your parents, you will ALWAYS be our baby. We love you Marcus! Happy Birthday buddy!

Marcus Birthday weekend and visitors!

Levi and Carson
Marcus and Jen
Jen and Cole
Friends
Hanging out

New matchbox cars!
Jenny and Jen
Not sure who is enjoying the new toys most?
Cole enjoying some games
Marcus and Mommy

Marcus loves his Mayma
Marcus and Jen
Marcus, Mommy, and Daddy

Cole and Chuck E. Cheese
Carson
Marcus new sweats!
Blowing out the candles!
Daddy and Marcus

Party animal being silly!!
Birthday boy!
Carson
Cole looking at himself in the mirror
Kelly boys enjoying the Merry Go Round

Marcus and Bob the Builder
Cole and Mayma Ballew
Carson...see, smiles plastered to his face!
Jen enjoying time with Cole
Mmmmm.....pizza

This weekend the Minnis family planned to visit us and celebrate Marcus 3rd birthday. As it turned out Nate had work obligations so he stayed behind with the kids and gave Jen an opportunity to come visit us. She surprised me and brought my Mom along, so it was a wonderful weekend of birthday partying, laughing, visiting, and hanging out. Thanks guys for making the trip to see us, it meant more than you will ever know! Friday they got here in the afternoon so we visited, then went to eat dinner at a great Mexican restaurant here. Saturday we took the boys to Chuck E. Cheese for Marcus birthday! He loved it, but wanted to stay away from the stage area as he was afraid of Chuck the mouse. He really liked the rides and then especially the games where he could win tickets. Surprisingly I think Carson enjoyed himself the most that day, and I say surprisingly only because he is usually scared of rides and things like that. He had a smile plastered on his face the whole time. Poor Cole is cutting some more teeth but he was a trooper and hung in there, however he didn't get to enjoy it as much as the other two boys. We came home and they all took long naps while the rest of us enjoyed an afternoon of visiting and checking out the town of Sioux Falls. I took Jen to see the Falls, while I warned her not to get too excited because it's nothing THAT spectacular, but it is kind of cool. I think she liked it! Today we took Jen and Mom to the church we've been attending then went to breakfast at IHOP...the twins kind of had a melt down, so Levi left early with them. We tried, but you never know what you are going to get with three little ones. I guess we just have to be flexible, and some days, VERY flexible. :)

Marcus loved the Magnetix that Nate, Jen, Payton, and Cade got him! He's been making wierd alien guys with them all evening. He also loved his new sweats that he got from Grandma and Grandpa Kelly, his various toys from Mayma and Papa Ballew. Mommy and Daddy got him some cool stuff too!!! Man it's GOOD to be 3!

Our week in review

Sweet Marcus

Cole taking a nap...as you can see he pulls his sheets off every time we leave the room...so does another little guy.
This one! Carson likes no sheets too! Someone is not sleeping???
Carson playing
Cole playing
Partners in crime!

Playing football in the house!
And it's a touchdown!!!
Mommy snuggling with her babies
Marcus riding his tricycle
Shhh.....it's naptime.

Yesterday I had my health assessment done again at the wellness center. I'll keep the details to myself, even though they were all positive results. However I will share one detail I am really excited about. In two months of working out 5-6 days a week and eating healthy, I lowered my cholesterol by 28 points!

Since the last time I posted I went and got my hair cut. I had been growing it, but I really didn't know what for. Levi likes it short and I was tired of it, so I had it cut. My friend Carrie and I went to a girl here in Sioux Falls, whose boyfriend is in Levi's class. She did a great job and it was fun to get to know another person here in town. Over the weekend we didn't do too much. Saturday morning Levi studied and the rest of us hung out here as usual, then Satuday afternoon when the kids were napping Levi and I watched the Missouri Tigers football game. I must say they are much more fun to watch than in past years! Marcus and I played outside when he got up from his nap since it was so nice out. Sunday the weather was much different and very cold. We went to church, came home and Levi studied until late afternoon. Monday he had a big test, today he has a big test, Friday a big test, and Monday a quiz, 6 article reviews to do by end of next week...you can see where I'm going with this, it's a busy time for him!!! But he is handling it all well. Yesterday he helped me take the twins to the doctor for their 12 mo (late I know...so it was actually almost their 15 mo) appointment. Marcus had the duty of carrying the diaper bag. We probably looked pretty funny with our family of 5, two nurses, and Dr Bauer and a resident all crammed in one tiny exam room...The doctors and two nurses took turns being in there, but it was nice to have two nurses, it really helped move things along and all questions were answered at the same time for both boys. The twins were pretty much behind in shots due to lots of ear infections last spring, then we moved here on their first birthday so we couldn't get the shots done before we left (since insurance won't cover unless on or after their birthday)...SO then we got insurance here but that took forever and many hassles. All that to say, they had to get lots of shots. They both handled it well. Cole cried a little bit while being weighed (it's ok buddy, I want to cry sometimes when I'm being weighed too), then he was fine the rest of the exam. Carson was fine the whole time until the end of the exam when the doctor wanted him to lay down so he could feel his belly...He's just very stubborn sometimes and didn't want to lay down, so he got angry and cried uncontrollably for about 15 minutes. Getting four shots didn't bother him near as much as someone breaking his will to lay down!

Anyway, Cole weighed 24 lbs, Carson 21. Cole was 31.5 inches and Carson 30 inches. Those stats put Cole at the 50th percentile and Carson at the 15th percentile. The boys really only say Mama and Daddy, then seem to have their own little language between them that we cannot understand. Dr Bauer said this was extremely common between twins...and they will probably be in no hurry to communicate with us. We are so thankful they are healthy, and we thank God every day for all three boys. It's hard to imagine what life would have been like without them. Marcus goes to the doctor in a week and a half for his 3 yr appointment. Hard to believe he's getting so much older! We're gearing up for a Chuck E. Cheese outing on Saturday to celebrate his birthday. He is very excited!!

Visit from Mike Cleary

Breakfast with the boys
Hugging Levi goodbye
Mike and the boys

We had a good time the last few days having Mike with us! However he got me hooked on the game Soduko, but hopefully it won't become an obsession...it is a fun game. Little Marcus even wanted to get in on the action and play that "number game". It rained the whole time he was here so we didn't do too much, but we did have plenty of time to visit and we all went out for dinner last night at a great mexican restaurant here in town.