So Many Mielers!: Farewell 2015!

What a December we had here. The babies turned three months old, and spent the entire month sick. Can you believe it? They've had colds for a full third if their short little lives! Thankfully that didn't stop us from doing our big three month photo shoot.

The colds aren't slowing them down too much. They love play time!

I followed up with the doctor weekly, but since they weren't running fevers it was only last week that the doctor wanted to see them. He confirmed that they do indeed simply have lingering colds that they keep passing and mutating between them. We are hoping that the end will come soon. There was other good news from the doctor's office when the kiddos hit the scales. Their weights are amazing! Micah is over the 80th percentile and all are over the 50th percentile. Here are their weights as of last Tuesday.

Micah- 10lbs. 7oz.
Becker - 9lbs. 12oz.
Roland - 9lbs. 8oz.
Marin - 9lbs. 13oz.

Because of their colds we've been extra careful about visitors. RSV is our biggest fear during the winter so there is lots of hands washing and sanitizing going on around here. Our first Christmas together turned out to be very quiet. Andy's parents were both out of town. We had planned to see mine, however my dad caught a cold and had to stay away, and my mom had the flu running through her office so she had to stay away as well!

Our Christmas group photo in their outfits from Grandma Mary. Roland has been working on his pout for weeks now and on Christmas Eve he felt that all his hard work had finally paid off. You can't see the subtle lip quiver in the photo, but, oh, trust me, it's there.

People keep asking whether we got all the babies photos with the tree and the answer is "no".
I guess being the big brother has it's perks!

Christmas Eve was warmer than average for Michigan so we decided to load the babies into their strollers and head out for our first walk. We bundled the kiddos and headed downtown. It was a great walk, followed by the not so traditional Christmas Tater Tot Casserole and viewing of one of my favorite movies, the 80s Classic, The Beastmaster. On a side note, if you haven't seen The Beastmaster, do yourself a favor and watch it. And if you are going for the full 80's B movie experience, make it a double feature with the original Clash of the Titans staring the incomparable Harry Hamlin. You won't be sorry.

Bundled up in their warm suits from Becky!

First outing in the strollers. We let the BeagleDog get in on the action too.

I want to take a moment to talk about a serious topic with which you may not be familiar. Two words. Bald shaming. Bald shaming has gotten a bad rap but you can't argue with results. Just days after my little talk with Micah he began to sprout beautiful new hair buds and now barely three weeks later he has a gorgeous head of hair!

In addition to his new hair and awesome weight gain, Micah has started smiling and cooing. He gets sweeter every day. He loves to sit up and look around. He has outgrown all his newborn clothes and this morning got to wear his first hand me down from his daddy, a really groovy Packers sleeper. I think he looks pretty handsome!

So Many Mielers...So Many Chins!

Becker continues to squeak and dance. He loves both! Our little runt is becoming a big guy. For a while he was as wide as he was long. I had taken to calling him The Block. Now he's finally getting tall, though his face still looks like a square. A very cute square. A very cute, blue eyed, fuzzy headed, squeaky square.

Roland has been such a mellow guy lately. He is our champion sleeper these days. I have to wake him up almost every night for the overnight feed. He has an awesome smile, and, like the others, is starting to imitate facial gestures like grinning and sticking out his tongue. He is spending a lot of time awake and loves looking around at his surroundings. He has been spending quite a bit of time in the floor seat and adores the view!

Marin is, well, cranky. She's a bit of a diva. Definitely a drama queen. She has mastered the cry and can manifest multiple giant, fat tears within moments of the onset of the tantrum. If she is picked up she is suddenly and magically happy. She has decided she's not a huge fan of her Rock and Play, but absolutely adores tummy time. This is how a typical Little Lady day unfolds.

Me: Put Marin in Rock and Play after feeding, burping and changing

Diva: "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Me: Pick up Marin, sit her upright in my lap.

Princess Pork Pie: So very tired. Can't keep eyes open. Must crumple right here in mommy's lap. "Zzzzzzzzzzzzz."

Me: Yay, sleeping baby. Back to the Rock and Play

Drama Queen: "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Thankfully, when she's sweet she's super sweet and it more than makes up for the cranky times. She is a super snuggler. She also refuses to wear two socks, but has mastered keeping one on for several days.

Marin operates in two modes. Sleeping...

...snd Sassy!

A couple weeks ago Andy and I were able to drive to the wedding of one of his high school friends in Chicago thanks to the Grandma's willingness to babysit. It was a great evening and a much needed foray into adult conversation. Hopefully I didn't slip and baby talk to anyone.

A rare glimpse of me NOT in my pajama pants.

As we close 2015 and welcome 2016 I can't help but be reminded of how richly God has blessed us this year, with four healthy babies, amazing family, wonderful friends, and the best Prayer Warriors ever. I hope that we have been, and continue to be, faithful stewards of all that has been entrusted to us.