Too Many Babies?

Alright, it’s official…apparently.  You know your life is not quite what it once was when your day starts off with a friend from another town posting a message on your Facebook wall saying they just saw you and your family on TV…

So yes, the show is officially going to happen and I can officially tell you when and where.  Not that there has been any doubt about it happening for some time now, but it kind of becomes very real and undeniable when you see a promo for it on the tube!  Discovery Health is the network, March 4th is the date, 8 pm (ET) is the time…oh yeah!!!  Our show is the fourth and final show to be aired during Discovery Health’s Baby Week.  Baby Week kicks off on March 1st and each of the four shows is featured on consecutive nights, with ours “batting cleanup.”  Apparently, the fact that we are last in line is actually a good thing – it means that ours will be promoted the whole week so they are expecting good things from it.  The commercial that is running now is not specific to our show – it is a promo for Baby Week – but there we are, upstairs hanging with The Fab Five then later is a shot of three of them in the backseat of our car…too much fun!

Oh yeah, I’m leaving out one very important detail:  the name of the show!  Let me just throw this out there before I let you have it – we really, really do not like the name!  “Too Many Babies?” is the name, at least for the pilot, and its only saving grace is the question mark at the end of the title which thankfully takes the edge off just a bit.  The words “too many babies” may have crossed our minds at some point during the pregnancy, but never once has it come up since they were born.  Seriously, thank God for the question mark though I believe the content of the show will answer the question…definitively!  The name actually makes sense from a marketing and business standpoint – nobody knows who we are and they need something short, punchy, and descriptive to grab people’s curiosity and get them to watch – but we do not like it, nonetheless.  We are hoping that if it goes to series, the name will be changed, which is fairly common, or so we are told.

Here is the copy of the actual press release that hit the web today:

“TOO MANY BABIES?

NEW SPECIAL! Premieres Thursday, March 4, at 8 PM (ET/PT)

Casey and Ethan Jones had the perfect life – high school sweethearts turned man-and-wife, with a successful family business and a darling daughter to boot. They thought that one more baby would make life complete – but instead, they got the surprise of their lives when Casey found out she was pregnant with quintuplets. Today, their lives could not be more different – and this hour-long special shows how the family is adapting to a whole new ballgame.”

We are also being told that they will be setting up a website just for our show, which I’m assuming will be linked off of Discovery Health’s website.  This will be pretty cool as the production company has been sending us “webisodes” that will be loaded on the site once it is up and running (I think after the show airs) to help people get more familiar with our story.  They’ve been really fun and cool!  I’ll be sure to pass that info along once I know more about it.

And one final, cool little tidbit that got confirmed today as well:  TLC will definitely be airing the show at some point in the future after Discovery Health airs it!!  That is a big one…TLC!!!!!

Oh, I just remembered I never mentioned anything about the production company so let me hit that subject really quick.  Their name is Megalomedia and they are an Austin documentary filmmaker (technically, our show is a documentary).  The biggest show they have done to date is “Half Ton Teen” which is about morbidly obese teenagers and their struggles with their weight, surgeries, and everything else going on in their lives.  There are other versions of the “Half Ton” theme and they are all done by Megalomedia.  The guys are really awesome people and have been great to work with!

I’ve got to tell you what just happened…I just took  a short break to watch one of the webisodes that I had not seen yet and I’ve got to say, y’all are going to LOVE this show!!  We have not yet seen the final product, but everything that we have seen from Megalomedia has been dead-on accurate in how our lives really are and the emotions that we have encountered along this path!  We are hoping to see the finished version in the next few days…yay!!!

I guess I should explain the title of this post before I go…and just so you know, Casey is going to kill me!  She was in the office as I was starting this post and I asked her what the title should be.  She jokingly said, “My Sexy Wife” and I typed it in.  We had a good laugh about it, but not as good as the one I’ll get when she sees it posted………if there is any way possible to video her reaction, you know I’ll post it!! And since we are talking about video of our family, I’ll end this post with a few short clips that I shot this afternoon while I was hanging out with the kids…

Y’all take care!

Well, we did it…the babies’ birthday bash went off without a hitch…hallelujah!!  The turnout was great, the mood was electric, the babies did awesome, and the hosts survived (and so did our home)!  We had all of the usual birthday fare – cakes and candles and crying and crazies – and we threw in a bounce house for the older kids who otherwise probably would have been overwhelmed by the spectacle of it all!  Thank you to everyone who helped in planning the day and making it a success, to everyone who came and brought gifts, and to everyone who could not be there, but kept us in your thoughts!  Here is a small sampling of the pics we captured of the festivities…there are more photos on the JonesLife Facebook page so become a fan and check them out!

As you might imagine and as the pictures can attest, Christmas at our house this year was…what else…chaos!  Five not-yet-one-year-olds, three others under age seven, and seven adults made for some interesting yuletide times!  I believe we (meaning Casey and I) hit every one of the major Christmas emotions several times each – joy, contentment, excitement, and of course the lesser celebrated, but ever present buzzkills – stress, frustration, and irritation (fortunately those didn’t stick around long!).  All in all, the day was very different, very chaotic (the adults didn’t open any presents until 5:00 that afternoon because of everything that was going on with the kids!), and in the end, very fun and memorable!

In other news, Jack and Lila got fitted for their DOC Bands on Monday and we are scheduled to get them in early January.  What you see in the pictures is a pair of pantyhose stretched over their heads which smooths out the features of their scalps so that a very accurate 3-D picture can be taken.  The picture is then used to create the shape of the band. Once we get the bands, they will be worn 23 hours a day for 3-4 months (Jack is likely to get a new band at that time and have to go for another 3-4 months with that one).  We will take them into the office every two weeks to have the bands adjusted to the babies’ changing scalps and we will also be doing some stretching exercises with both babies to help loosen up their neck muscles.  It will be a little bit of a hassle, but we are happy to do it so that we can avoid all of the problems that could pop up later in life if we did not go through this.  Plus, we’re really excited to decorate the bands!! :)

And finally, a cool little follow up story from our Thanksgiving trek to Denton.  When we stopped for lunch in Waco, a lady came over because she, “just had to see the triplets!”  Imagine her surprise when she discovered that there were two more babies in the bunch!  Well, her husband came over to see the babies as well and we chatted a bit with them, making a fast friendship there in the tiniest restaurant in Texas.  They were a really sweet couple…they even helped Eliot wash up after her meal as Casey and I had our hands quite full!  On our way out the door, they asked for our address and said they would like to send us some gifts for the babies and, sure enough, when we got home five days later, there was a package on our porch.  As it turns out, these folks own a small manufacturing company in Waco that produces Critter Pillers Neck Pillows and other travel cozies of all types.  What they sent us was one of each of the different animals in their collection of Critter Pillers…I think there were eight in all, of which Eliot quickly claimed six or seven of them! Anyway, I just had to pass on the story because they are such cool people and hopefully they can receive a little business in return for their kindness (they did not know about our website or ask for any type of publicity when they offered to send us a gift).  So if you like doing business with good people and need a cool gift for the travelling kid crazies in your world, check out their website at www.wolfmfg.com!

I was working in the office this afternoon (I work from home) when we had one of those moments.  We have kind of a busy house as you might imagine and from time to time, as it seems to in everyone’s life, things started to happen all at once.  These moments do not happen very often, but they are not too uncommon either, and we’ve grown accustomed to such bouts of busy-ness in our little world.  Here is what happened in the span of about fifteen minutes…

Eliot and I went upstairs to play with the babies for a few minutes as two of the volunteers were getting ready to leave. Before the two volunteers left another arrived followed a couple of minutes after that by a second volunteer, both ready to play with babies for the 3:00 shift.  Right after that, a third volunteer arrived unexpectedly to drop off a casserole she had made for the night (dinner…thank you!)…and of course she came up to say hi to the babies…who wouldn’t?!  So now, we’re up to five volunteers, five babies, one Eliot, and one supposed-to-be-working dad.  As the dinner-bringer exits, I hear a knock at the door, but do not see anyone out there so I forget about it as my phone starts ringing…I didn’t make it in time to answer.  As the phone stops ringing, the doorbell begins its chime, but again, no one is there.  So I head downstairs to see why we seem to be the victim of some pranksters only to discover that a friend has stopped by to see the babies…unexpectedly…that happens a lot…

What are we up to now?  Oh yeah, still at five adults, five babies, one Eliot, and one supposed-to-be-working dad because one volunteer left and the friend came in.  Alright, so we’re settling in, two volunteers are heading out, two are getting their hands on babies, the friend is doing the same, Eliot is playing, I’m refereeing, and yes, the phone and the doorbell both start to ring…again.  This time I make it to the phone and guess what, it is a contractor I work with who is in the neighborhood (literally) saying he needs to stop by…awesome timing.  And the door?  That is one of Eliot’s neighborhood friends coming over to play for awhile. So I go downstairs to meet the contractor then quickly head back up to pick up where I left off, which I think was holding Jack and occupying Britton.  The friend stayed for about ten minutes and had to head out (I think he had had all he could handle!) so I walk to the door with him.  And as things begin to settle back down, the count which will remain for the next 30 minutes or so is two volunteers, five babies, one Eliot, one friend of Eliot’s, and one still-supposed-to-be-working dad!

And, oh yeah, the whole time this is happening Casey is in the bedroom laying down in recovery from the shower she had just taken…recovery from the mommy makeover is a bit ssslooooooowwwww…

And now, this supposed-to-be-working dad is writing a blog because I’m having a hard time concentrating on the work that I was supposed to be doing…imagine that!

Thank you to all of the volunteers and friends who help to keep this house hopping!!  Good times in the JonesLife…I just had to share!

Eliot is the Photographer!