Tag archive for "The Fab Five"

Happy Birthday to The Fab Five!!

The Fab Five

Happy Birthday to The Fab Five!!

25 Comments 17 January 2011

Wow, has it really been two years since The Quint Invasion began its all out assault on our once quiet little family??  YES, it most definitely has!  And while some of the times seem like they just happened for us yesterday, most of it seems like it was ages ago.  We’ve packed more activity and change and joy and struggle into these last two years than anyone would ever guess possible, but somehow we’ve found ourselves happier, healthier, and hopefully a wee bit wiser at the end of this 24 month journey than when we began…

So happy birthday to The Fab Five!!  Happy 2nd anniversary of quint sisterhood to Eliot McKenna and happy 2 years of survival and memory making to Casey Ann and me!!  It has been surreal almost all of the time, stressful much of the time, joyful and memorable every last second of the time……………..and here’s to many more years ahead filled with much more of the same!!!!  We love you Brooklyn, Britton, Jack, Lila, Ryan, and of course Eliot!!

Happy Birthday, Brooklyn Faith!!  First born of The Fab Five, the sweetest of the bunch (not an easy title to hold with this crew!!), and a much needed dose of calm amidst the storms that roll through our home on a regular basis!

Happy Birthday, Britton Grace!!  Call her Baby B, Itty-Bitty, Little B, Little Mighty, or Britt-Britt, but don’t call her a wallflower!  Second born, first to let you know it doesn’t matter!!

Happy Birthday, Jack William!!  In the middle while in utero, born in the middle, and likely consigned to a life of being in the middle of all of these crazy girls, but still keeping his cool!  Yep, he’s still “Laid Back Jack”…most of the time….!! :)

Happy Birthday, Lila Addison!!  Our Eliot clone in appearance and in deed, mischievous and adventurous, the fourth born is usually the first in line for any new adventure, though Lila is often the one to form her own line leading to the adventure she prefers to embark upon!!

Happy Birthday, Ryan Elizabeth!!  Ryan the Lion is now simply “Ry-Ry”…last born, but star of the show; quick to smile and quick to cry…always a joy!!

Happy 2 Years of Quint Sisterhood, Eliot McKenna!!  A little unsure of things at first, now she’s a pro!!  Her star continues to shine just as bright even with five little understudies vying for the spotlight!!

Thank you to Ella Bella Photography for continuing to provide our family with incredible pictures to help us tell the story of life as a Jones!!

**Due to our filming commitments with TLC, we unfortunately cannot share pictures or other details of the holiday season, the Quints’ birthday party, or any other events that have happened along with filming new episodes of “Quints By Surprise”.  It is sooooo hard for us not to be able to share more, but once the new episodes hit the air, we will definitely post pictures of all of the activities involved!!**

My Sexy Wife

Good Times

My Sexy Wife

15 Comments 11 February 2010

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!

The Riverbend Diaper Drive

Giving Thanks

The Riverbend Diaper Drive

6 Comments 09 February 2010

The Jones 8 and our little entourage made our way back to Riverbend Church yesterday to kick off the diaper drive they are hosting for us this month.  Man, it was great to be back!  We are really looking forward to the day when we can make more regular Sunday morning appearances, but yesterday made it clear that we are not quite ready for that!  It took four adult helpers (thank you, Stevie, Michelle, Tricia, and Avery!) to help get The Fab Five primped, prepped, stuffed, and buffed for their big appearance on stage!  Imagine getting five babies bottled, changed, dressed, fed breakfast, calmed, and buckled into their car seats in a little less than an hour and then you can imagine why it took so much help…and oh yeah, me, Casey, and Eliot still had to manage to get ready at the same time..aaaaagggghhhh!!  In spite of the chaos, the event went great – Riverbend is always so good to us!  We skipped their morning naps, but the babies did not seem to notice (no meltdowns and no crying on stage!) and Eliot played the role of Superstar Big Sis better than ever!

The Entourage and The Fab Five

Britton Plays Peek-A-Boo While Ryan Blows Kisses

Britton Plays Peek-A-Boo While Ryan Blows Kisses

We are so grateful to Riverbend Church and the generosity of the congregation for making this happen for us!!  We are proud to be associated with a church home that puts its faith into action all across Austin and around the world.  Here are some of the other outreach programs Riverbend and its members did during 2009……

  • 10,000 meals served to the homeless and poor across Austin by Riverbenders, with a goal to more than double that 2010.
  • 3,000 underprivileged children received Christmas gifts that might not otherwise have, thanks to the generosity of Riverbend’s congregation.
  • Over 450 volunteers serve all across Austin in September.  Riverbend’s 30/30 project (30 service projects in 30 days) touched the lives of thousands of Austinites.
  • 8 trips to Reynosa Mexico by Riverbenders, helping our neighbors across the border who struggle with no running water or electricity.
  • Teams of Riverbend volunteers provide meals, school supplies and encouragement to families, students and teachers in some of Austin’s most challenging public schools.
  • Exploratory service and outreach trips to Guatemala, El Salvador, Uganda and Rwanda, as the Missions team researches a possible 3rd world serving opportunity where our people can use their time, talent and treasure to make a difference in this world.

Riverbend’s motto is this:  We exist to allow others to experience God’s love and grace, both on our campus and off our campus, reaching out especially to those who are bruised, battered, broken, and bored, and are looking for help and searching for something more.  We have been members of this church for seven years now and it has been so awesome to join this church community in living out its commitment to Christ’s principles.  I never would have guessed that we would have a need to experience first-hand, but now I cannot imagine how we could have gotten along without it!

For more information on the diaper drive, click here:  Riverbend Diaper Drive.

Getting Primped Backstage

DOC Bands and Doc Visits

The Fab Five

DOC Bands and Doc Visits

8 Comments 28 January 2010

Now that all of the festivities from the birthday party have died down a bit, I finally have a chance to update you all on the DOC Bands.  Also, the babies all went for their 12 month pedi- checkup this week and I have the newest stats to prove it!  More on the stats later, but first I have to say that we feel so incredibly blessed with the health of The Fab Five!  To think that only 12 months ago, not one of these little guys weighed more than three pounds nor could they eat or breathe on their own simply blows us away!!  Today, the hum, beeps, and nerves of the NICU have been replaced by laughs and squeals and countless smiles to brighten our days…good stuff!

So, first with the DOC Bands…all is going very well! The pictures above are of our two little head-knockers getting measured for the bands. It’s a really cool process – the stocking over their faces helps to get a very accurate, 3D picture of their scalps by pulling their hair tight against it. With that picture, they create a full sized model of their skull so they can make the bands the exact right size and shape. Pretty amazing stuff! The bands are not tight in the least bit, but they provide very gentle pressure in the areas that we are “holding back” from growth which allows the other areas to round out as they should.

Jack and Lila, from the moment they had their bands on, have not noticed them a bit. It has not affected their moods, their sleep, or anything else at all (as you can probably tell from the pictures above and below)…thank God! Every once in a while, they will pull on them and the other three like to have their fun every once in awhile, but these times are rare. I don’t have any pictures that do the decorating justice so look for that in future pictures. All in all, it has been pretty seamless, except for when Ryan first saw Lila wearing her band…she pointed at her head and started cracking up!! It was really funny and so typical of Ryan!

Stats!  Stats!  I have stats!!  The babies all made the trek to the pedi- this week, Lila and Ryan on one day, Brooklyn, Britton, and Jack a few days later.  And let me tell you, they are doing great!  They are all caught up to a full term baby in terms of their motor skills and behavior development and only Britton is still small for her age.  There is a chance that she may catch up, but she may be a tiny thing her whole life…only time will tell.  The only issue we have now is with Jack, believe it or not.  There is a heart murmur that our doctor has been hearing consistently at each of his checkups. At this point, we do not believe it is an issue, but Dr. Ma recommended that we take him to see a cardiologist and we are doing that tomorrow.  Pray a little prayer for Jack, if you can!  Here are the stats and a couple of cute pics from the doc’s office…

– Brooklyn Faith:  weight, 18 pounds 10 ounces (25%), height, 30″ (90%)

– Britton Grace:  weight, 15 pounds, 8 ounces (3%), height, 25″ (3%)

– Jack William:  weight, 22 pounds, 1 ounce (55%), height, 30″ (75%)

– Lila Addison:  weight, 18 pounds, 15 ounces (30%), height, 28″ (40%)

– Ryan Elizabeth:  weight, 18 pounds, 11 ounces (25%), height, 28″ (40%)

The Birthday Bash – A 5 for 1 Special!

Good Times

The Birthday Bash – A 5 for 1 Special!

5 Comments 20 January 2010

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!

All Eight

Britton

Ryan's Tantrum

Poor Jack

Brooklyn Loves Cake

Lila Loves Cake Too

Opening Gifts

Blowing Out the Candles

A Birthday Celebration and So Much More…

Giving Thanks

A Birthday Celebration and So Much More…

3 Comments 16 January 2010

Circle of Life

I wrote this letter to the JonesLife volunteers to thank them for all they have done over the last year, but we wanted to share it with everyone out there who has been involved in even the tiniest way in helping us to survive and thrive in this, year one of the Quintuplet Invasion…

Dear JonesLife Volunteers,

Can you believe The Fab Five is turning one tomorrow?!  We are so excited to celebrate their birthday with all of you!  I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for what you have done for us over the past 12 months and in that regard I’d like to share a quick story with you.

As part of the filming for the documentary that is being filmed about our life with the five, I was being interviewed the other day when I was asked a question that I had not considered, only because to me, the answer was obvious.  However, in answering the question, I realized that the answer may not be as clear to others as it was so in my head and in Casey’s thoughts as well.

The question was simple:  “The birthday party…why are you guys throwing such a big party?  Why are you inviting this chaos into your home…I mean, 100 people?  Why would you do that?”  And this was my reply…

Are you kidding me?  This is a CEL-E-BRATION!  I mean, think about the history of what a birthday celebration originally meant – it was a true recognition of the fact that you had survived in this world another year.  This day and age we’ve lost the meaning of that because surviving another year, especially in America, is pretty much a given…it’s expected.  But this day is different; this birthday truly is recognition of what these babies have been through and what we have encountered as a family in the last 12 months.  Think about it, these five babies faced a life and death situation on the day of their birth.  I mean, we never really questioned whether they would live or die, but if they hadn’t been born where they were born and been under constant care for nearly three months and been given the most advanced treatments that the gift of medical science would allow, they likely would not have survived.  Truly, truly this is a birthday celebration like most families have not experienced!

On top of that, think about what this family has faced since the babies were born – the NICU days where they were strapped to every machine imaginable for their simple survival was not an easy thing to endure.  The sleepless nights, the constant feedings, the complete upheaval of every aspect of our lives, the challenge to our marriage, the challenge to Eliot’s state of mind, the strain on our close relationships, the crossover from being virtually needless to being incredibly needy…those things are not easy to overcome in a lifetime, let alone a single year on the calendar!  In spite of all of that, this family and this marriage is not merely surviving, we are thriving!

And, of course, this day is also a way of saying thank you.  We are doing this not only to celebrate the babies, but also as a way to honor the people who have helped make our family’s survival a possibility!  We have met some amazing people who have put their own lives on hold so many times and in so many ways just to help our family feel a slight sense of relief from the magnitude of all of this…change, challenge, stress, LIFE.  There is absolutely no way we would be where we are today without the help of our family and the volunteers, most of whom were complete strangers before the babies were born, others we barely knew.  This party is as much about thanking them as it is about celebrating the birth of our babies!

This party, this birthday celebration, this gathering is about so much more than cake and ice cream and a simple song.  It is about God’s blessings and God’s gifts and about God’s guiding hand on these five tiny lives, on this family’s pulse, and on the hearts of the great many people who faithfully provided sustenance and rest and relief.  Given all of that, how could we not celebrate?  How could we not give back this one small moment to recognize what this period in our lives has been and what it could not have been without?  I don’t see how it could be any other way…

So again, we say, “Thank you!” to all of the volunteers, family members, and friends who have helped us get through year one of the Quintuplet Invasion!!  It has been a challenging year, no doubt about it, but more importantly it has been a fun year and a year of incredible growth – literally and figuratively!  When we say we could not have done it without your help, you probably know better than us that we mean exactly what we say!

God Bless,

Ethan, Casey, and The Six Pack

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