Perkins sextuplets of Pearland turn one year old

April 29, 2013 5:03:58 PM PDT
The Perkins sextuplets of Pearland just celebrated their first birthday.

The party had a circus theme, and life has been a little bit like a circus since those babies came home from the hospital.

At that time, the smallest weighed a little more than a pound while the largest was 2 pounds 15 ounces.

Now they look like any other toddlers, only there are more of them!

Six times, the Perkins family sang "Happy Birthday" on Saturday, and then it was time for cake and cameras.

There was Levi in the blue helmet -- a happy guy who wears the helmet to correct his head shape. Leah was in the red tutu and likes to cuddle. She was last to leave the hospital and continues to get therapy each week. Red-haired Allison in the yellow tutu is feisty and a diva. Caroline in a purple tutu is already walking. Easygoing Benjamin is trying to talk. And then there's Andrew, who is the biggest.

"[Andrew] can move better than everyone else, so he can take their stuff from them, crawl on top of them and try to pin them down," mother Laura Perkins said.

The parents like the babies' increasing mobility, but it keeps them busy, too. At least now they sleep through the night.

They eat three at a time at a table their church friends bought at a daycare supplier. They're grateful for the help they've received from volunteers and church friends who help them change 30 diapers a day.

People have been so generous with us," Lauren said. "I actually have not cooked dinner in a year and a half, and I have not bought a single diaper."

Volunteers stay with the babies so Lauren and David can get out one night a month. They also babysit while the parents attend church each Sunday.

"The manpower and the volunteers, that's been the biggest help," father David Perkins said.

They said anytime they go somewhere it's a production. And when the needs of six babies becomes overwhelming, Lauren said they try to take it one day at a time.

"There will be bad days and crazy days where everyone is crying at the same time, and you're just counting down the hours until bedtime, and that's OK to cry to get upset," she said. "The next day is a new day."

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