Mommy and daddy getting in some luvin' for the cameras - Holy Hottie - look at that man! I am one lucky gal - that's for darned sure...

Yes, Jeremy is amazing as he gave me the ultimate "hall pass" - an all-girls trip to Vegas for 2-1/2 days!!! No better place to finish healing up from surgery than poolside, right? Right. All systems a-go for mama T feeling about 90% and rising by the day!

Now let me be very clear here - the Vegas trip was almost entirely free otherwise I would not have even considered the possibility. But, as luck would have it, I was offered frequent flier miles for the flight, we stayed in my parents timeshare for free, plus we had a kitchen so the first thing we did was head to the grocery store and stock up on beer, booze, and ummm... something else, something else... think, think... oh yeah, some food too. We split it all up between the 6 of us groovy gals and I think it cost something like $28/person for all that. And I don't gamble to boot.

Nice. Double nice.

Yeppers - It was all about getting some time away in the sun by the pool, relaxing with my girls. And boy did we maximize! Thank you to my mom, sister in law Jess (fellow pumper - thank goodness!), Steph, Dana, and Kris for a rocking good time - love you girls!! I have some pics... if only I could download them off of Aiden's underwater digital camera he let mommy borrow. That's no joke by the way.

Oh, and just for the record, we watched the MSU game poolside in a cabana that day... hope it wasn't snowing TOO hard up here in Michigan...

Hee, hee, hee...

But in all seriousness, I was sick for 3 days before we left panicking about leaving. Not that I doubted Jeremy could do it with me gone for crying out loud (Okkkkkkkkkk... so I was nervous about that a SMIDGEON too) but because the babies are only 8 months old and I knew that I would miss them and the big boys like the dickens! It's weird to go from 24/7 with your children to just taking care of yourself... whoa. That whole concept of "free time"? Whoa whoa. Laying by the pool WITHOUT water wings, sunscreen, plastic boats, balls, and kamakazee children jumping in with no regard for the depth and the fact that can't REALLY swim alone in 12 feet of water?

Priceless.

And let's not underestimate the power of a good mid-day buzz. I mean it. Those of you who have children understand what I'm saying here - and ESPECIALLY anyone who is a nursing mommy! It just doesn't happen. Period. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that you don't go around slammin' 'em back while your kids are awake and in need of a fully functioning parent. And so, us Vegas gals did the best we could to start mixin' up the pina colada - strawberry daquiri's by noon or so.

Just doin' our part, ladies. Just doin' our part.

Then, just like THAT it's time to come home again, straight into the welcoming arms of your loving spouse (THANK GOODNESS) and beautiful children who offer you nothing less than a heroes welcome everytime with their messy kisses and smiles so big their lips crack!

I love life.

Our family is in the midst of greatness right now, with the babies on an amazing schedule and growing and changing so much every day, the big boys rocking our world with the darndest things they say and do to make those little babies laugh (and mommy and daddy in the process)... these are the days. We couldn't love our family more. Cam and Summer are thinking about crawling about any second now - it's SO EXCITING!!!

But we are sad to announce that it doesn't appear that ANY of the quads will be getting teeth until they are about 10 years of age. Or at least that's what I'm going to start telling myself and everyone else because I'm sick of saying "They must be teething" to everything that gives them a hard time and being made a fool when 8-1/2 months later... NOTHING!!! What gives man? Oh well, we like yogurt and ice cream well enough... we'll be FINE with no teeth - ha!

Enjoy these pics of our family as of late -

Aiden turns 5 and LOVES Caleb's birthday present this year...

HELLLLOOOO new Tigers baseball jersey! Nice pick Cale - brownie points here. Quads loving storytime with mommy... (l to r - Dane, Brock, Cam, Summer)Cutie Summer Girl...Cam my little man...

Brockee lighting it up...
Ahoy Matee! Swash-buckling Dane laughs so hard it's contagious!
First time duel tubbing it up for the Lew quads (l to r - Dane and Summer) - A PLAYMATE IN THE TUB??!! HOW FUN!

Dressed to impress the illusive Easter Bunny... and melt mommies heart... l to r - Cam, Dane, Brock, Summer

The Lew crew - minus mommy and daddy - l to r - Caleb, Cam, Dane, Brock, Summer, Aiden

Mommy and Grammie win a Mother-Daughter makeover - WHAT!?!?! THANK YOU GTWOMAN magazine!!! 6 hours of pampering later, whoa! Check out these two hottie mommies!

The Boys and The Babies...Alone?

Tonya went to Vegas...Jeremy, the boys, and the babies DOMINATED!

That's right, total, complete, absolute DOMINATION!

While mommy was out soaking up the sun and sucking down the strawberry daquiri's, we were sucking down ounce after ounce of formula! Well, Caleb and Aiden tend to steer clear of that stuff and my formula tends to be more of the "daddy variety"...

While mommy was out dancing the night away, we puts the Quads on the flo and partied to Jimmy Buffett, John Denver, and The Wallflowers! The Quads love Jimmy Buffett!

Total DOMINATION!

One question remains - could Jeremy have done it all by himself?

For the most part, I did it alone. Tonya's dad was there in the morning and evening. During the day, he was off at our pad in Bellaire making that puppy more sellable. Volunteers came over on Thursday and Friday for a few hours which allowed me some quality time with Caleb and Aiden.

I will say, the volunteers we had over appeared to be quite suprised when they waltzed into the cottage. I think they were expecting to see Caleb and Aiden impersonating Spiderman by clinging to the ceiling with their ears plugged while daddy frantically tended to four screaming babies. What they did waltz into was a tightly run ship! DOMINATION! Clean house, Aiden and Cale rockin' it, babies sleeping or playing happily on the floor, etc, etc. Heck, even found time to do the laundry, sweep floors, vacuum carpets, etc, etc.

I will say my patience about wore out Saturday night. Just needed a breather. Those Quads wear you down man. Getting a couple hours out with Caleb and Aiden is great, but it was essentially during baby nap time so it wasn't a break per se, rather extremely fun quality time with Caleb and Aiden.

What did I ultimately get out of Tonya's vacation?

A much greater appreciation for the Number 1 wife and mom in the world. I know she rocks. But until you do it alone, though I did have some help, you just don't really know what it's like. The days when she doesn't have any help, she's the best, without a doubt, and it really is amazing that she does what she does. Love that girl of mine. Need to tell her that more often...

So what else is new? Quads are 8 months, Aiden just turned 5, and Caleb will turn 3 at the end of April. Where does the time go?

Caleb and Aiden are my best buddies - I just love spending time with them. They are the world to me and it is tough not being able to spend more time with them. Really tough.

At the same time, spending time with The Quads is amazing, especially when you consider that whole time thing. Hard to believe we are at 8 months already. Won't be but a couple weeks and they will be crawling and teeth will be coming in and all that fun stuff!

On another note, our house in Bellaire is not sold or rented.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, life's a bitch man. At least we have a house. When you look at what's going on throughout Michigan and beyond, having a house has come to be a big deal.

So, in all likelihood, we will be back in Bellaire in May. It's not what Tonya and I want, but we will definitely make the most of it - you can count on that! Something miraculous could happen, but we are initiating plans to move back home. Although it's not where we need or want to be, we will have a place that is our own and a place with space. No doubt we'll miss the luxuries of the cottage, but at the same time, we will have space.

For the record, I could have done it all by my little self...

DOMINATION by Quad Daddy and the Lew Crew!