Poop is The Word

What's with the fascination with "potty talk"? Why do my kids love to say poop, poo poo, and poopy more than anything else?
Looking to head this off, one day I told Jake and Emily if they cleaned the play room up they could say poop as much as they wanted the rest of the day. I don't think I have ever seen kids clean so fast. The immediately started saying "poop" and prancing around.
About 6 hours later I swore I would never do that again. The word has since been outlawed but now they slip it in by accusing the other of saying "poop". Like "mom, Jake said "poop"! and "I did not say "poop" Emily", "yes you said "poop" Jake, I heard you say "poop" like this "POOOOOPPPP", "Emily I said "po-op" not "poop", we aren't supposed to say "poop" Emily, right mom? We are not allowed to say "poop"? And so the argument goes around and around....

I think I'm losing my mind.

Random October Pictures

It's a little dressier than I usually get for breakfast but that's just Audrey.

Nothing like a good breakfast smoothie.

This is what happens when you think they are playing nicely in their room together.

This is our breakfast windowsill. I didn't know that until recently.

Before the crack of dawn at the Mother's of Multiples garage sale. Jake and Emily camping in the back of my car while I set out buckets of baby clothes.

We went to a petting zoo in October. Everyone loved feeding the goats, deer, and sheep. We could have done without the bees though, Audrey is the first one to be stung by one.

The girls and a momma goat. She was sweet.

See all the little piles of food? Nate made those. He liked the goats just fine but really loved playing with their food.

By the end of the day we were so exhausted and mentally drained it was all we could do to pick out some pumpkins and head home.

Nate and Audrey at their school's costume parade. Nate liked his costume so much he did 5 laps around the class after we put it on.

Jake and Emily had a storybook character parade at school. Jake went as Jeremy Jacob from How I became a Pirate and Emily went as Pinkalicious from the same named book. We had to custom make Jake's tee shirt with fabric spray paint and contact paper. It turned out perfect.

She was very proud of this costume. We peaced it together and she looked fantastic.

Happy Halloween!

It was a busy day for us. It started with Jake's belt ceremony at Tae Kwon Do early this afternoon. Then the block party at our business shopping center, home for naps and lunch, then dinner and trick or treating. It was a fun day but definitly packed full of things to do.

Audrey and Nate of course don't remember Halloween last year, so esentially this was their first year. Audrey, with her Canadian accent, was screaming/squeaking at the top of her lungs at the kids walking by, the lights in peoples yards, and the pumpkins on the porches. She could not have had a better time. She ran to and from the first few houses yelling out everything she saw along the way "Doggie! Rock! Pumpkin!Candy!" A bottle rocket would have been a good costume for her but she was a very cute ladybug instead. She tired after five or six houses then rode on Jeff's lap the rest of the way sneaking candy out her bag here and there.
Nate was very excited too. He was screaming and wiggling in his car seat on the way to the neighborhood we were trick or treating in. The first house, he trotted right up to with the rest of the clan but tried to turn back and run at the last minute. The second house he made it all the way to the door but wouldn't walk up to get his candy. The third house he went right up to the lady and got his candy. The fourth house he went right up to the lady and as she bend down to put candy in his bag he screamed and threw the bag at her! I carried him for several more houses all of which he didn't want anything to do with it. At the seventh or eight house I was still holding him and after the lady put candy in his bag he reached in his bag and gave her some back!
Jake and Emily went house to house like a team of professional candy samplers which is actually what they would be if it were a real job for a four year old. They actually rang doorbells and said "trick or treat". I was very proud of them.
We ended the night with too much candy and a glow stick bubble bath (see the picture).

...and the WATER is the problem?

About two hours ago Jake and Emily were placed in my bedroom to watch a movie and have some "quiet time" before Halloween gets started. I say "quiet time" loosely. Anyway, one of the 100 times one of them came out of the room for something Emily comes out of the room and finds me in the office. She says "Jake just spilled water all over your bed". I got up and headed into the bedroom expecting to need a beach towel and only find a 2 inch spot of water. I turn to Emily and say "that's what you called me in here for?" She shrugged in semi-agreement while my brain finally registered the sound of rushing water. "Where is Jake" I asked, she said "the bathroom", so I headed in. He was standing at the sink with the water on full blast (only the cold knob). I asked him "what are you doing Jake?" He said "trying to wash this stuff off my face", as he looked up from the sink. His face was COVERED in a magic marker. Pink and magenta magic marker. Picture a masquerade mask, yep that's the one, all around the eyes, down the nose and across the cheeks. I wish I had the sense to take a picture but all I could think was "and you called me in here for the WATER?" Later I realized she also did all 10 toes, his right shin, and his thumbs. At least today is Halloween! No one will notice. :-)

One Year Ago...

These pictures are from October 2008. Sometimes I look at them and think I can't believe it's only been a year! With all that's happened it feels more like several years have passed. Then again, it seems like just a few months ago I took Nate and Audrey to the church and did a photo shoot in their "TW" "IN" shirts.....

Nate's sense of humor was really showing up that day. He still likes to make funny faces and in fact loves to make his "mean face" for people that ask.


I remember that while he was very little lots of people asked if he was a girl. He has such soft features and large eyes. I think his hair being longer than Audrey's didn't help either! His toupee was really flapping in the wind during the photo shoot. :-)


Yes, he's eating grass, but Audrey licked that stone bench so they were even.

We went to the zoo two weeks in a row last year. The weather was just so nice and we had such a good time we couldn't pass it up. We'll be heading back there soon now that its cooled down again.

The giraffe's are by far the most interesting animals at the zoo. It's unreal how large they really are.

We also went to Old McDonald's Farm. We went (our first time there) with my Mother's of Multiples group. It's such a neat place that the kids can't wait to go back again. Luckily that will be next weekend. Nate and Audrey stayed in the stroller almost the entire time last year because they were only partial walkers, mostly still stumblers.

They have dear, that you can pet and feed. I couldn't get enough of this one. Jake and Emily fed them so much that they didn't want to eat anymore. Worried about the deer making it through the night without them there to feed them, Jake and Emily made a huge pile of food by the deer's stomach as soon as she laid down in the shade to rest.

Last Halloween Emily dressed up as Ariel and Jake was Spiderman. The day their preschool had the costume parade Jake threw a huge tantrum as I was dressing him and the zipper broke. We were already late so I didn't have time to fix it. I had to dress him in an old lion costume he had from the year before. He had outgrown it but we made it work....kind of. It really was horrible and I cried while I fixed his Spiderman costume with iron-on Velcro. This year his Grammy bought him a brand new Spiderman costume with a nice sturdy zipper and built in muscles. Jake likes to put it on then put his clothes on over it and say he's going as Peter Parker! How did he think of that?

There's Peter!

Tae Kwon Do!

Jake recently started Tae Kwon Do. He was determined that he would hate it but we made him try it just once and he was hooked! He cried when we made him go in the first day. After the warm up he started to settle down a little. Then he actually had fun. Then when it ended we couldn't get him to stop kicking and punching! He was thrilled that he's allowed to play fight with a room full of other kids and they're all play fighting too! It's just too good to be true!

That's Jake fifth from the left.

Update

Ugh! Nursing school has kept me so busy that I keep forgetting to post an update!

Audrey: You are such a Binky addict! Sometimes we sneak you one in the middle of the night if something wakes you up and you can't go back to sleep. You love the Binky so much that it sends you into an instant coma! If you only knew that we have a whole Ziploc full of them hidden in my office! Oh I can just see you passed out in the middle of the floor surrounded with Binky's! The really funny part is that you don't even know it! You see, the Binky falls out of your mouth sometime during the night and gets lost in the bedding. So when you wake up...no Binky; "It must have been a strange yet wonderful recurring dream!?!"

Nate: "Weegoles daddy Weegoles!" You finally put in a request and it was The Wiggles! You have always been so easy going and sweet that sometimes I worry you are being trampled by the bigger personalities in the house. You seem to enjoy almost everything that is watched on the TV and played in the living room but yesterday you finally chimed in and asked daddy to put on The Wiggles for you. It made me happy to see you get exactly what you wanted and everybody likes The Wiggles! Good job Nate!

Emily: You have babies in your belly! Some days you only have two but most days you have five or six. This morning while you were coloring before school you said you had ten babies and ten puppies in your stomach. The most popular names for your babies are Calla, Callie, Lauren, Annie, Henry, Hannah, Joy, and Grace. I like that you love babies so much and I hope that you have a huge family. There really isn't anything better than kids!

Jake: You still love to be "loved on" as we call it. You have me carry you or "hold you" everywhere we go! If daddy goes too then either you ride with him or have momma carry you. We know that one day soon it will end so we carry you now as much as we can. We're going to miss it when its past. We're also going to miss those early morning visits in bed. You come in around five am about three days a week. You like to spoon daddy with one leg up on him. ;-) We'll miss that too, although it would be weird when you're ten!

Wordless Wednesday

Audrey's Babies

Did I ever mention how much Audrey loves babies? She loves to undress them, dress them, feed them, and carry them around. What she loves to do most though, is to put them to sleep....

Something Funny

This is Audrey giving Nate a bath. She's "reading" a Leaps and Bounds catalog. I DID NOT set this up. She actually had her leg crossed before I made a run for my camera. She's turning the page in this picture. I wonder if she ordered anything?

Birthday Party!

Nate and Audrey's birthday party was on September 5th. We had to move the party back a weekend so they could attend a friends birthday party on the 30th and 31st. It didn't matter though, late or not, we had a great time. We decided to keep it simple and just invite family. We didn't overload them with gifts or activities, we just filled the house with balloons, cupcakes, and a few really good presents.

Nate and Audrey really liked all the balloons. We let them keep all 36 of them for two days, then I started popped them when they weren't looking they slowly started disappearing.

Audrey and Nate learned to say "Gorilla".

How could anyone be so tiny and cuddly?

She is the life of the party.

You really can't have enough balloons. One of these years I'm going to do over 100. I just want to see what it will look like.

Audrey's cake is in the front in the picture. Hers has tiny sprinkle balls. Very cute, girly, and crazy. Nate's has Jimmies, very fun, imaginative, and more masculine. Don't ask me how I got the sprinkles on the sides of the cakes! I'm still finding them on the floor! Both cakes were white cake with white frosting and about 8 inches tall. I made them so the kids could put their hands in them and do as they pleased. To my surprise, everyone wanted a piece! So we let the kids get a few fingers of frosting then cut the cakes and shared with everyone. Turns out they were excellent cakes.
The cupcakes were Devil's Food with variable frosting and toppings like Reese's and mini M&M's. Next time I want to try mini Oreo as well. Wouldn't these be cute in mini cupcakes with various toppings? Hhmmmmm. We need a school party to make cupcakes for so I can try it!

Happy 2nd Birthday Nate & Audrey

Nate,
I love your smile and how cuddly you are. You love to be held and could be carried around for hours or just watch a movie on Daddy's lap. You are the boss of the table always telling everyone to "eat, eat". Everything you say is funny and you have such a cute way of pronouncing each word, although you speak the least out of everyone. You are everyone's buddy and Jake and Emily often fight over who gets to hold you next. You fill our hearts and home with love and happiness.

Audrey,

We like to say Audrey is Spicy. You have such passion for everything and we love your fire. You laugh loud, play hard, and run fast; my kind of girl. You love babies and barbies and dressing up in Emily's clothes. You love to be chased so you often snatch something up and run with it. You keep us laughing at the table with your antics, sampling food from everyone's plate. You are creative and wonderful and you fill our house with joy.

About Last Weekend

Nate and Audrey turned 2 today! Yeah! Last weekend we were going to have their party but decided to hold off until next weekend because we were already invited to two parties and we didn't want to miss them. Nate and Audrey didn't mind because they were invited to both anyway, even though they only got to go to one due to a nap time conflict. So Sunday I took the four kids to the party at a local "kids gym". The party was fun, the people that worked there had everyone playing games and Jake and Emily enjoyed seeing their friends. Nate is usually the first one to warm up to a crowd (for now anyway), so he was off and playing in under a minute. Audrey hung on me for at least 15 minutes before she would even try the slide.

After a while Audrey discovered the ball pit. She climbed the ladder into the pit and out of the pit over and over. Sometimes she would mix things up and run to another piece of equipment and back again. Her energy was unreal. I think she was frightening the mother's of singletons.

In all honesty, I think lots of moms of singletons are overwhelmed by my brood. They have a certain look on their face, its common to most of them. Sort of wide eyed, on-high-alert, danger lurking every where kind of look. I can see that they feel overwhelmed for me. It makes me uncomfortable at times and its why we don't accept every invitation, and we aren't invited everywhere. Its also why I cherish my Mother's of Multiples Group. I don't get those looks from those ladies. They're sort of the super hero's of the mom's world.

So while I was watching Jake and Emily, Nate and Audrey were playing like I had never let them play in their entire life. FULL THROTTLE. Audrey was attempting to run across the ladder into the ball pit, she found the stereo hidden in the cabinet and turned it off, snuck into the storage closet, and I'm 90% sure she bit another child. I could not take my eyes off her for a single second. Meanwhile, Nate wanders into danger with a smile on his face. I'd look across the room at him (while standing guard next to Audrey) and he would be climbing off something backwards with nowhere to put his foot. He gets himself in unique situations. I'd have to run to help him and then immediately turn to find Audrey again. It was fun for the whole family.

The other moms were nice enough, and there were lots of kids there so I wasn't drawing too much attention, but the party still had its awkward moments. I could tell that some of the women were wondering why I would bring all four kids when its so obviously difficult. I do it because I don't like to take the easy way out just for the sake of having an easier time. I'd rather have a harder time and know I did the right thing for my kids. We don't play video games, watch TV in front of the the kids, eat fast food, or keep toys in their bedrooms. Those things aren't easy sometimes but its the right thing to do (for us).

When I left the party I took the kids to the grocery store to pick up supplies to make cupcakes for Nate and Audrey's party at school today. I could have just bought cupcakes but that would have been too easy.

Tonight Was The Night!

Tonight was the first night Jeff and I have taken all four kids out to eat, at a restaurant, by ourselves. There are many reasons why we waited this long. First of all, Nate and Audrey sit at our table, eat for 30 seconds then say "all done" waving their hands and get down. They usually finish eating before I sit down to eat my dinner. We figured they would be ready to head for the door before dinner hit the table at a restaurant. Second, if you have ever been to my house then you have seen Audrey sitting on top of a table. She usually tries to climb on top of the table at some point during dinner. I really need to make a video of a normal dinner at our house.
Anyway, we decided tonight would be the night. It was spur of the moment but we both felt we were ready and Nate and Audrey have been staying at the table longer, so why not! First we thought of IHOP but it was 5:30 on a Sunday and they take 45 minutes to get the food out when no one's there. Then we thought of eating in a fast food place but its fast food and we don't really like the kids having that stuff no matter how good the place is. So we went to a grill by our house that has butcher paper table cloths and buckets of crayons at each table. Our kind of place. We went in together, explained to the kids (briefly) how to act in there, ordered our food and sat down. Everyone colored on the table cloth while waiting for the food, which only took 10 minutes to get. Everyone ate their dinner nicely and stayed in their seats and not a single drink was spilled! I even got a nice complement from a lovely elder man who stopped by our table on his way out, leaned over to me and said "your an excellent mother". I was beaming with pride. When the man walked off with his family Jake asked who he was and I said "a friend of mommy's", because he certainly is now!
During dinner I had one of those brief thrilling moments where you suddenly see all the exciting changes in your near future. Oh part of me can't wait to take them so many places and do so many things! I'm excited for them! I get excited about all the little milestones like when you can ride bikes together for the first time. Its hard when we think that we won't get to go through all these milestones again with more babies (babies are habit forming) but we have been so unbelievably blessed that I just lose myself in my kids. Aaahhhhh, how I love my family.

The Long Lost Pictures

So a while back I read somewhere that you should always shoot in RAW mode (we're talking cameras here). I never had shot in RAW before but immediately switched my camera over thinking I was going to have even better pictures. The pictures pretty much looked the same as before but the images....well....they have been stuck on my memory card for months. What they failed to put in that article was that you need to make sure you have RAW editing or managing software to even download the images. I was very upset because I was not willing to give these pictures up. I finally found the right plug in for my software and have the pictures downloaded. So here are my precious long lost pictures of Jake and Emily playing T Ball in May 2009.

Cooking

Back in the day when Jake and Emily were little, I let them help me in the kitchen mixing cake and making cookies. I always used Egg Beaters so there wasn't a fear of uncooked eggs making them sick and it wasn't like I had them turn the oven on for me, it was safe fun. I felt that as long as they were interested they deserved to get their hands in there and have some fun even if things got messy. I waited a little longer with Nate and Audrey for this milestone because they just didn't seem ready yet. Yesterday was finally their day though. I was making brownies and Jake and Emily came in to help. Little Audrey was in the living room peering at me over the baby gate wondering what we were doing. I could just see it in her eyes, she was ready and I knew it. I grabbed her first then Nate, and the camera, and we made brownies together.

Stuff...

Audrey has her own form of punishment that she dishes out. When she sees fit, she will bonk you square on the head with something, even if you're already in time out.

Have you ever heard that cats have something like 25 different meows? Well, Nate has that many different screams. He uses screams with varying pitches and duration for almost every situation. Excited? Give it a little scream and get up on your tippy toes. Want something I have? Bend at the waist and let it come from deep with your gut. Gonna throw something at me while I'm not looking? Open your mouth and let a raspy whisper of a scream escape while you take aim. See, it works for everything!

Nate and Audrey met their first pool frog tonight. Audrey wanted to touch it but was afraid it was going bite her so she would reach for it with one finger then quickly draw back and say "froggy ouch". Nate wanted to poke it so badly but all he could muster was a pointing finger and a scream. He almost poked the frog in the nose by accident though. He would have really freaked out if the frog joined us in the pool!

Jake and Emily make up their own jokes now. Most involve the words potty and poo.

Emily made up a song and sang it for us two days ago. "I'm going to the zoo zoo zoo, how about you you you?" I'm still singing it in my head.

We took all the kids to gymnastics the other night for their open play time. I had to stop Audrey from getting on the trampoline 19 times. 19 times she climbed up the four big steps and dove for the trampoline where bigger kids were jumping. 19 times I took the stairs two at a time and dove to grab the back of her shirt just in time....while holding Nate. You should fear my awesomeness :-)

Nate and Audrey sleep in twin beds now and eat at the table in chairs, no high chairs.

Audrey likes hamburgers.

Nate likes grapes.

Nate and Audrey would do almost anything for M & M's.

Emily has her hair cut short now, just above her shoulders. She's been asking me for that haircut for several months. I had to make sure she was serious before we had it done. She seems happier now and more talkative. I can't get over how cute it is.

Jeff is Jake's best friend.

Audrey loves Jake but some days she calls for Emily incessantly.

Nate is the most cuddly baby I have ever met. He loves to lay on Jeff tummy to tummy while they watch TV.

Audrey shows all of her teeth when she laughs. So does Emily.

Audrey loves her Strawberry Shortcake water wings. She wore them in the bath two nights in a row.

All four kids like to eat crushed ice while they take a bath. They actually get excited about it "ice, ice".

Audrey carries a blue stool around with her looking for opportunities to climb. She has a serious climbing addiction.

Nate loves to yell "geettdown" at Audrey.

Audrey used to call all Barbies "bubbles". Now she calls them "Bardeees".

Audrey loves Barbies.

Nate loves a yellow string haired gymnastics doll we have. We call it "gymnastics girl". He twirls her hair and sucks his thumb. He's so sweet.

Jake is so athletic. His body will do almost anything he tries. Those gymnastics classes will serve him well.

I just bought a bike trailer yesterday and have already used it three times. The babies love it and Jake and Emily thought it was fun too. I'm glad I can finally take them all for a ride at the same time.

Nate is the first one to start dancing when the music starts.

Recent Trip

We recently went on a trip to visit family. Here's some of my favorite pictures...

Those are not real grapes.

I took at least 15 pictures of all the kids together. This is the only one where we can see all the kids faces and Audrey isn't screaming at the top of her lungs. I almost had to photoshop in a new head for Audrey. I'm glad I didn't, I actually like her fussy face.

Audrey's little bit of sass in this picture is cute. Just keepin' it real.

Nate went down the slide so fast his outfit unbuttoned and came half way up. We just snapped him back up; that's why Marybeth is laughing.

In real life the color in this place is shockingly bright (think circus colors). I had to tone it down a bit in some of the pictures because it was too distracting to look at. That's why most of these have an old fashioned look to them.

You can't tell here but she's very tan. The weather outside was above 100 but the kids played in the pool every chance they got and have nice tans to prove it. I stayed inside to study and have the pasty skin to prove it.

The old folks.

The Comparison

I really need to stop comparing, just not today. It's too much fun! So here's Jake and Emily when they stopped using the high chairs....they were 18 months...

So here again is Nate and Audrey...at 22 months...

Change is All Around Me

I get pretty excited about change, and with my kids, the excitement distracts me from the fact that they are growing up. I don't like that they are growing up. Not because I want to keep them small forever but because the passage of time is just way too fast. I can't take in enough fast enough. Well, here we are at another milestone. Audrey climbed out of her crib last week, so this week we moved Nate and Audrey into toddler beds. We also graduated them from high chairs to the table with cushie seats. Its strange because I remember thinking Jake and Emily were such big kids at this age and now I see Nate and Audrey and they seem like babies to me. My perception has completely changed over the last two years. okay, so on to the pictures....

July 4th

Happy 4th of July!

We had a great time visiting and swimming. The fireworks were awesome, as usual but Nate and Audrey didn't make it (too tired) so that made me sad. We've never missed a year yet so I was missing them while it was happening but had a good time anyway.

Pictures will come soon...

July Update

Okay....so I haven't blogged in a month. Wondering why? I started nursing school. Not just any nursing school but an accelerated BSN program. I figured I would fill every waking minute and a few non-waking minutes with more stuff to do. I can't remember being this tired outside of the first month with newborn twins at home. Its crazy and I don't know how I have made it this far. Two classes have already ended, a new one is starting and clinicals begin tomorrow. I have 6 classes at once right now, the equivalent of 20 semester hours, plus the 72 hours of clinicals in the next four weeks. All I do is survive from test to test right now.
So why am I doing this to myself? So I can help take care of you and your kids, that's why. Its somehting I thought about during several points in my life. It seemed to be "up my alley". Then one day, while I was sitting in the PICU standing guard over my critically ill daughter, I saw a nurse come in to care for her equally sick room mate. I think it was maybe the look on the nurse's face when our eyes connected or something, I don't know, but in that very moment I thought to myself no matter what happens with Audrey, when I come out the other side from these days (the darkest days of my life) I will be that person for someone else, like she is for me. The nurses in that PICU shouldered an unimaginable burden for me and I will shoulder it for you. So, as difficult and impossible as this program is, I will push on until I cannot anymore. I will switch to plan B if I have to, but somehow, God Willing, I will be that person for you. Pray for me that God will pour into me an overflow of whatever I need so I can do this for you.

What did you say?

So there are certain words you never want to hear at certain times....because they mean something bad....something very bad. Normally these words don't even make me flintch, but in the right situation....YIKES!

Last night, giving Nate and Audrey a bath I decided to video tape them just for fun. I like to keep little clips of our daily life stuff so I can remember what it was like "back when". I turned on the camera and was taping Nate talking to himself. I was hoping to cathc Audrey and Nate kissing since its their new "thing"; she kisses his head and chin and he repeatedly sticks his head out to receive more kisses. They both think its hysterical.
Anyway, I was taping, not paying attention, no real action happening so I kinda zoned out. I was tired. Then I heard it. Audrey said a word that suddenly put my brain on high alert but I wasn't really listening so I asked "what did you say Audrey"? There it was again,"poo poo" she chimed. It took my brain about 2 seconds to comprehend it and put it all together in context before I audibly gasped and shot straight up grabbing both babies and whisking them out of the tub. Yep...she pooped in the tub. Oh, even better...as I was zoning out I apparently caught the whole dirty dead on video tape. A video you won't even see here by the way, but I'm sure we will laugh for days when we uncover this forgotten gem in about 30 years!

Ray Ray

This morning after feeding her donut holes, Audrey decided Ray Ray needed more food. Maybe something more substantial than a few donut holes. Audrey went to the dog food bin and got one tiny piece out. She turned around and called "Ray Ray, comemear, ear." Mandy Ray ate the little piece of food right out of her hand. Audrey didn't even drop it on the floor, she let Mandy eat out of her hand. Next, Audrey got another single piece of food. She called Ray Ray again and fed her from her hand again. A few more times she did this.
Not feeling like she was getting anywhere fast enough, she took the scooper and filled it with a cup of dog food. Then she started giving Ray Ray one piece at a time out of the cup. I thought it was so cute. I suggested she pour the food into Mandy's bowl that was sitting on the floor. Audrey looked at me, toddled half way over to the bowl, then dumped the food onto the floor. She's just so darn cute, and she loves her dog Ray Ray.

Busy Busy

We have been very busy lately with lots of new stuff always happening here. Somedays I can't even keep up with what's new.

Nursing school starts soon so I've been busy taking two prerequisites online to get them out of the way. I am aware that my plate was already full but adding nursing school to the mix isn't all bad. In fact, I'm convinced that its exactly where I'm supposed to be.

The kids (big twins) are in T-Ball and are having a great time. T-Ball is awesome, if you haven't tried it yet, I recommend it. Each child gets lots of attention and everyone gets to participate without much waiting around. Parent involvement is also encouraged which is a real plus.

The little twins are getting so tall. They love dancing to music. Nate loves Mc Hammer (You Can't Touch This) and Audrey loves Cyndi Lauper (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun). Jake's song is Billy Idol's Dancing With Myself and Emily likes Vacation by The GoGo's. Can you tell I love 80's music?

Speaking The Truth

I was listening to one of my favorite Podcasts today and it touched on a subject that reminded me of something.
Back when I was pregnant with Jake and Emily, a close friend of mine who had two young children close in age, said to me "oh you just wait, this is going to be so hard, you're going to need help, and oh, just wait until this happens and that happens,". It irritated me for several reasons. Here was a person, yes a mother, however, someone who had never experienced twins before telling me how my life was going to be. Telling me how difficult it will be and what I will be able to do and what I wouldn't. This wasn't the last time I would face someone trying to tear me down nor was it the first.
There were times when complete strangers would approach me and insist that I would need help or their prayer to get through. People insisted that we couldn't do it alone with two sets of twins because Jeff is in a wheelchair. People are still shocked sometimes when they see us all in public together, as if they knew what we were capable of. As if.
I don't know why people, especially mothers, do this to each other but I know I've done it to others as well. I wish I could take that back.
So, what I learned from my Podcast today was don't let people speak difficulty, obstacles, defeat into your life. That little voice in your head that talks non-stop, don't let it repeat the words of defeat that others have spoken to you. Instead, speak success into your life and it will come to pass. Tell yourself that you will lose weight, that having twins will be nothing but pure joy, that you'll go and do more than you ever imagined! And when that little voice creeps back in and tells you that you can't...tell that voice that Lisa said to shut up!

Summer Has Begun!

Summer officially begins at our house as soon as the pool reaches 81 degrees. I know it sounds very warm, surely we could swim while its in the 70's, but it just ain't so. For some magical reason, a dip in my pool, even on a sweltering day, while in the 70's will cause hypothermia in less than 15 seconds. Its just true, accept it. So, today was the day the pool finally reached 81 degrees and not because I accidentally left the pool setting on "heater" but because its summertime here. :-\ Oh well, we're swimming and that's all that matters by golly!

Summer time around here is all about playing outside and the pool facilitates burning off unlimited amounts of energy from all four kids. This translates to a happy momma.

Let the fun begin!

Wordless Wednesday

Philosophy

Kids say some pretty funny things on a daily basis, but it seems we have a theme going on in the house. Here is a conversation I hear a lot:

"Mommy, tomorrow is today right?"

"No, mommy, last night was tomorrow, this morning right?"

"No, wait, mommy, tonight is this morning, yesterday."

"Mommy, tomorrow is this morning right?"

"No Jake, mommy, tomorrow is yesterday and today is this morning, right mommy?"

"Emily! Not yesterday! Tomorrow is tonight!"

"No wait, today is this morning and later is tonight."

"Yes Emily, that's right."

"Mommy, tomorrow is yesterday, right mommy?"

No Jake, yesterday was before and today is this morning, right mommy?"

These were my replies while making dinner with crying babies pulling on my pants:

"What?"

"Wait, what?"

"No, wait?"

"Jake...no, wait."

"Yesterday....what?"

"You guys, wait....what?"

"Yep"

"Yep"

"That's right."

"Exactly."

They Do This To Me...

They steal my breath away...every single day...

Why Do They...

Ask "can I eat this?" when they find something on the floor of the car?

Ask "can I see it?" when anything related to poop comes up?

Walk all the way to my room in the middle of the night just to have me walk them back to bed?

Constantly argue then cry if I threaten to separate them?

Take off their clothes as soon as we get home?

Change their clothes constantly?

Get a "second wind" as soon as I try to put them in bed?

Talk so dang loud in the bathtub when they're only 12 inches from eachother?

Say "mom?" at the end AND beginning of every sentence making me say "what?"

twice for every sentence they say?

Ask questions they know the answers to (ex. "mom, is that your hand?" while pointing to my hand)?

Ask questions they know the answers to in a new way, as soon as you answer (ex. "mom, is this your foot?" while pointing to my hand)?

Ask questions they know the answers to with a differnet approach, as soon as you have answered twice already (ex. "mom, is this your hand? while pointing to their foot)?

Wordless Wednesday

Backyard Playground...

Just for Fun

I like to continually challenge myself to do something unexpected for my kids or something that requires a little extra effort; going the extra mile for them makes me happy.

This time I put Christmas lights up on the play equipment. You should try it, its worth dragging them out of the attic for.

I also found a use for all those Chuck E Cheese tokens that will never be used...I buried them in the sand box and now they have a new life as buried treasure...

These Crayons Are Making Me Thirsty!

One of the neatest toy inventions in the last few years was Tadoodles Tub Crayons. Although the first five minutes they are unleashed in your bathroom is horrifying... they are awfully cute!


...later you realize it really does come off with water.

The best part of the tub crayons is that you can draw ON your kids. I find this part particularly satisfying. After a long hard day its a nice way to unwind...




Be sure to keep a bottle of water handy though, they will make you thirsty, especially the blue one.

My First Award

I won an award for my blog! YEAH! My lovely friend Mama Jenn awarded me the Lemonade Award for blogging with Attitude and or/Gratitude. I am definitly grateful for this award! Thank you so much Mama Jenn!

Now, there are some rules for receiving the Lemonade Award. I need to nominate 10 bloggers which show Attitude and / or Gratitude. The thing is, I'm so behind and exhausted, I'm going to take some more time to distribute my awards.

Now, please visit Jenn's blog to read about the sleep-walking adventures in her house! It's unbelieveable!

My Kids Are Trying to Kill Me

At least I think it might be true. I am convinced however that they are conducting psychological experiments on me. Somewhere in this house must live a secret room where they keep all their files and equipment. Possibly even night vision goggles and black footie pajamas. Not convinced just yet? Case in point:

Tonight must have been Emily's turn to be the point man and the other three were data collectors. They must have worked it all out while they were at school because the experiment began as soon as we picked them up. Jake threw a tantrum just as we excited the doors, throwing himself on the ground because it was Emily's turn to sit up front in the van. Now at this point you would normally assume Jake was the point man but I think he was just setting the scene for Emily's part. Next, Emily taunted him from the front window of the van when he finally decided to get in, by saying "I get to si-it in the fron-ont and you-ou don't". How nice. They must have covered the taunting at school that day because it was a new twist.
I finally get Jake settled in his car seat, mostly by force, then I'm pretty sure Jake winked at Emily signaling the shift in point man. Emily turns on the heat at this point. She says she can't see the TV from the front seat and has a major tantrum all the way home. Screaming. Screaming so loud that I actually started laughing out loud because it was so over the top ridiculous. I couldn't exactly hear myself laughing but I'm pretty sure I felt the strain on my vocal chords. Jeff said she screamed for the entire 3 1/2 minutes it took to drive home. She had another tantrum inside the house and I had to drag her to time out....several times.
At this point Jake is being rather nice but he keeps reminding me of that fact by constantly pointing out "mommy, I'm not having a tantrum"..."mommy, I'm not screaming"..."mommy, .."..."mommy,..."..."mommy,..." while Emily continues to scream at the top of her lungs while trying to escape from her time out. Little twins are running around and fussing because its dinner time and a pizza is in the oven. This would be the equivalent to say, having footballs hurled at you while listening to loud music you don't particularly like and answering a random mix of trivia and philosophy questions.
Jeff managed to get the heat off me by putting a new movie on TV. Bolt. I was able to finish making dinner and feed the little twins. I snuck some food for myself while Jake and Emily were glued to the TV on break.
Soon it was bath time for the little twins. Jeff was eating dinner with Jake and Emily while I bathed and took pictures of the babies. I tried to ignore it but, there was a lot of drama coming from the kitchen so I had to take a peek. Apparently Jake and Emily had come off their break and the plot was in full swing again. Jake was pretending to throw up at the table to emphasize his pretend repulsion to mixed vegetables. Unfortunately he's a Method actor so he actually did throw up a little on his own lap. How nice.
After the babies went to bed we decided to make ice cream sundaes (because we are insane). The kids were quiet while they refueled and plotted.
Next came bath time. I put Jake in charge of turning on the water and sent them both into the bathroom while I tried to coax my computer into printing a recipe for tomorrow's dinner. I hear Jake crying that high-pitched someone-just-bit-me type of cry. Emily bit him. Yup, right in the heine. Not too bad really, no teeth marks, just enough to get the ball rolling again. Now I have to wash her and get her out of the bath so she can sit in time out...again. And again she throws a bigger tantrum, screaming, and well, you know the rest.

Hopefully their boss gave them the day off tomorrow.

Monsters etc.,

Every once in a while my kids decide they are going to be afraid of something. A while back Emily, one day, decided she was going to freak out during a thunderstorm. Refusing to let her be afraid for no reason, we all went out on the front porch to watch the lightening so she could see there was nothing to be afraid of. It's not like the lightening was striking houses and we were running through a field with tin foil on our heads, it was a pretty mild storm.
So, anyway, one night as an excuse to keep from going to bed, Jake and Emily played the I'm-afraid-of-monsters card. Now, mind you, we had just spent the last year putting them back in bed 50 times a night and endured endless last minute requests, questions, and "mommy, mommy, wait, .....uummmm......" while they think of something else to say. There was no freaking way I was about to let them play the monster card. If I didn't kill this now there would be no sleep for mommy for about a year. So instead of telling them there was no such thing as monsters, to which they would reply "yes, there is" and thus they would win by keeping me engaged in a never ending arguement, I simply scoffed. They looked at eachother then back at me with raised eyebrows and I told them this:
Me: "Of course there are monsters but they don't dare come near this house (I looked out the window for dramatic effect). Monsters are so afraid of mommy's that they won't come near a house where one lives."
Jake: "Ohhh, what would happen if one comes to scare the kids?"
Me: "Mommy would say 'RRRRAAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRR' and the monster would run away."
Emily: "He would go crying to his mommy."
Me: "Yes."
Emily: "Then he would drive your car to see his mommy?"
Me: "No, he's not allowed to drive my car, no one drives mommy's car. He would have to run home."
Emily: "He would run to see his mommy?"
Jake: "No, no, wait...mommy would say RRRRRRAAAAAWWWWWRRRR....no, wait....the monster would come to the window and scare Jake and Emily, then mommy would say RRRRRRAAAAAAWWWWWRRRRRRR. Right mommy?"
Emily: "No, wait Jake, the monster would....."
Me: "Okay, okay, you guys, its bed time."
Emily: "......to the window and scare the babies like RRRAAAAAWWWWRRRRR, then mommy would scare that monster...wait, wait, the monster would..."
Jake: "No Emily, the monster would.."
Me: "Okay, okay, that's enough! We're going to bed now."
Jake: "...he would come to the window and mommy...."
Me: "That's enough! STOP TALKING! (shutting the door)"
Emily: "mommy wait, wait...the monster..."
Jake: "Emily, no! That's not right! The monster would come to..."
Me: "STOP! the monster would come to the window, mommy would scare him and he would run home crying to his mommy. Okay, now that's enough. GOODNIGHT! (shut the door)."

Faint voices: "....the monster would..no Jake...."

Next time maybe I'll just say there's no such thing and shut the door!

Write Your Name

This was the first time Jake and Emily wrote their name on a card for someone or really on anything meant for someone else. They learned how to write their names last month and have been practicing everyday since. Jake decided to get a little more creative with his. It's a real milestone.

Wordless Wednesday

Things I'd Like To Know...

Why does Jake want to stand on me when I say something that makes him happy? The other day Jake was fussing about going to Lowes with his Dad until I told him Lowes sells M&M's. If he asks nicely when they get there Dad will get him some. Jake smiled sweetly and touched my face with one hand then said "mommy, I want to stand on your head" then gave me a big squeeze and tried to climb up on it! He did this again tonight in the bathroom in a similar situation.

Why do people with one or two kids assume I can't do certain things because I have four kids? The other day at a kids party another mother said to me "well of course not, not when you have four kids" after I said a certain fancy grocery store's fruit was over priced and not worth the money. What they heck does she know about me and my brood? Go ahead, pay $5 for a mango...see if I care!

Why do people assume I'm more laid back in a careless way than others because I have four kids? I get comments all the time like "Oh, she won't care, she has four kids". What the heck is that all about? Although I have seen a lot of things and done a lot of things don't mistake my maturity or ease for being lackadaisical or careless. I just don't waste my energy freaking out unnecessarily like others do.

Why do people assume they can ask if we did IVF or not? Do people ask that same question to people with singleton babies? Most successful IVF outcomes are single babies so wouldn't that make more sense?

Why isn't it common knowledge that identical twins MUST be the SAME sex? We need to rethink the scope of high school Biology class, maybe include a tad more info. Hmmmm. Something to think about.

Why are organic eggs always brown? My grocery store does not carry white organic eggs. As a matter of fact, I now make it a point to look for them at every grocery store I visit. Do they even exist?

Why did Land O Lakes Butter think it was necessary to manufacture butter in half stick sizes? Was the cutting of a butter stick just too much for some people? Did they get complaints? Let me tell you, if you're having trouble cutting a stick of butter in half, the butter isn't your biggest problem!

Wordless Wednesday

New Challenge For You

Today's challenge is to buy one thing from the produce department that you have never bought or cooked with before and look up a recipe using that ingredient. Tonight I made Acorn Squash. Although I have seen them in magazines looking beautiful and sugary I have never tasted or cooked an Acorn Squash. Last week at the grocery store I realized that I don't buy about 97% of the things in the produce section. I should buy more, I know that you are supposed to shop the outside of the store but who cooks with Bok Choy? What the heck am I supposed to do with a Leek (besides throw it in the trash because no one in my house will eat it)? So, I decided I would pick one item I have never purchased (that looks edible) and learn how to make something with it. I picked the Acorn Squash because its kind of cute, very acorn-ish, and I like pumpkin, yellow squash, etc., so I'll probably like this one too.
Next I had to learn how to cook it. I looked up a recipe on www.allrecipes.com for just the basic cook-it-till-its-done kind of no-frills recipe. Then I forgot to print it. So, tonight rolls around; a week later. I decided it was now or never because the giant acorns in my fridge aren't going to last forever. I pulled them out thinking I would just make something up and low and behold, they had a sticker on them with cooking instructions. :-) Serendipity. I just followed the simple recipe and low and behold, excellent Acorn Squash to go with my grilled chicken and brown rice. I'm not going to post the recipe because I don't want to spoil the fun! Be sure to leave a comment telling me what you made.

Random Picture Challenge

September 2007

11th picture

This picture was taken in my front yard 9 days after the little twins were born. It was humid that day and we took the big twins to have their pictures taken at JC Penny. They took maybe two descent pictures that didn't even look professional. When we came home, before the kids ripped off their outfits I set them up in the front yard and took a few pictures myself. The one above wasn't so great but it's a great memory and in my front yard.

I also took this picture that day...and its pretty good.

Thanks to 4 Little Men & Girly Twins!

Interview Me

Helene at I'm Living Proof That God Has a Sense of Humor was interviewed by another blogger recently and it was too much fun to read her answers. Helene offered to interview other bloggers and i just couldn't pass it up. Here's her questions for me:

1) Like me, you have two sets of twins...what's the strangest reaction you've gotten from people?

It always shocks me when people are negative about it. I've heard comments like "Oh, my gosh I feel so sorry for you" and once in a parade with all four kids a man shouted "two sets of twins? How's she still walking?" to that I replied "little early for drinking isn't it?"
Most people are perplexed, shocked, wide eyed, and make brilliant comments like "you must be busy". Boy, I never get tired of that one!

2) When's the last time you laughed at yourself? Tell us about it.

Oh, you just HAD to ask this one! Today, that would be today. I was getting the little babies out of the van, one in each arm. I got them both, slowly started backing out of the van watching between my feet for the side steps, one foot steps down....second foot steps down....loud "thoink" noise and fabric ripping...can't move....I CAN'T MOVE...I slowly craned my neck around one of the babies to see my pants caught on the car door. I've hung myself by my pants pocket with two babies in my arms! I quickly stepped back up into the van and leaned away from the door to rip the hole bigger so it could free itself. Walking in the house through the garage I started laughing so hard my knees were wobbly. All I could think about was Jeff's wide eyed expression while he watched it all unfold without saying a word! Hahaha...still makes me laugh! Oh...I can't believe I just told you that.

3) You just won the lottery, worth $10,000,000....what would you do with the money?

Buy new pants! Then, pants on, I'd take a nap. Then I'd buy a vacation home in Palm Springs. I might also consider getting a bigger place where we live now. I'd eat chocolate. Then, I'd fly to meet Helene at the spa while cleaning ladies scrubbed my house top to bottom and fun nannies did crafts with the kids. Oh, and I'd send Jeff to man spa where they all have internet access through laptops they use while watching nonstop Plasma HDTV, sitting on oversized lazyboy recliners, getting massages, and ordering the best take-out money can buy. That's it.

4) What do you love most about your husband? What do you love least?

I love that we have so much in common and are usually on the same page. We have the same sense of humor so we laugh a lot and we talk a lot too. We are both pretty easy going.
What I love least about Jeff is that he thinks he's funnier than me. It's just not true.

5) The Learning Channel called....they want to do a show about a family who has multiple multiples, starring your family. Would you do it? Why or why not?

I would do it. I sometimes forget just how different our family is from other people's because I'm so used to it. I think it might be interesting for people to see two sets of twins and a dad in a wheelchair. Just because we make it look easy doesn't mean it is!

Now, it's your turn bloggers!

1. Leave me a comment saying "Interview Me".
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions.
3. You then update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Let's play!

Catching up...

Okay, since my last post....

Nate woke up with a mohawk two days in a row. I went in his room in the morning and his little head emerged from a jumble of blankets in a perfect mohawk. It was so cute I just combed it and let it stay. I think he liked it, I know Jake did.."hey everybody, look at Nate's crazy hair!"

Jake had another round of soccer practice and a game the following day. We were on time for the soccer practice but he just didn't want to participate. He was having a melt down on the sidelines and we finally had to just leave. The next day he had a game and he did participate some but he needs more practice to feel confident. So, we are going to kick it into high gear and help Jake get on track. In the mean time I got this nice shot of Jake on the sidelines at the soccer game.

Oh, and this time when they formed the steeple O' people Jake walked over to me and said plainly "I'm not doing that". I had to laugh out loud, its just too funny.

Audrey now walks with one or both hands behind her back. We don't know why. She just does. Like a professor pacing the hallways. She must know things we don't.

Emily had another horseback riding lesson. This time she rode "Tank", who is a horse, not a pony. I think she was actually the most comfortable on Tank, maybe because he rides smoother. I like to think its because he's just so cute. I could take this big guy home.

5 Minutes Ago...

Five minutes ago out in the hot tub/spa/"little pool", whatever you want to call it....

Jake: "Mommy, can we swim in the big pool"?

Me: "No, not right now, it's freezing cold"

Emily: "Why"
Jake: "Why, the little pool's warm"

Me: "Well, we have the heater on, so its warm in the little pool but the big pool's cold. Don't worry though, in about a month the big pool will warm up and we can swim in it every day."

Emily: "Why"
Jake: "Why"

Me: "Well, in the winter the sun is low in the sky and the house shades the pool and the air is cold so the pool stays cold. In the summer the sun is high in the sky and the pool gets lots of sunshine and the air is warm so the pool heats up"

Emily: "Mommy, do you like to step in poop?"

Jake: "Oohhhh, Hahahahaha"

This confirms my theory that all kids are born with ADD and most eventually outgrow it.

Baby Art

Nate's painting :



Audrey's painting:

Throwin' Twin Signs

I'm not really sure what this is all about. I wanted to take a few pictures of Jake and Emily in their room. This is what I got...I'm not sure where it came from but it must be a twin gang sign of some sort.

Soccer

Friday was Jake's first soccer practice. Jeff took Jake and they were right on time...at the wrong field. We both thought it was at one location close to our house but it turns out it was across town. But, the coach has a kid named Jake on his team so Jake got to practice with the wrong team until it started raining. Jeff wound up driving around trying to find the right place while Jake fell asleep in the car. It's a good thing he did too because Jeff discovered the soccer field is not wheelchair accessible, not even close, even though they're new. Go figure. I guess the YMCA assumes people in wheelchairs don't have kids that like soccer.

Anyway, Jake's first soccer game was the following day so the whole gang went to support him. Audrey was throwing up that morning and in the car but we toughed it out anyway and she fell asleep shortly after the game started. Jeff, the babies, and Emily watched from the van while I hung out with Jake. All the kids freaked out equally so no one parent felt like the freak show for too long. Even the coach had to dead-weight-drag his son to the sideline like it was 10:00 pm at Wal-Mart (side note: avoid Wal-Mart after dark).

All in all it was a good time. All the kids roughly ran in the same direction, the brave kicked at the ever elusive ball, the lucky actually made contact with it, and I think maybe one child actually understood what they were trying to do. At the end of the game they had all the parents form two lines facing eachother. Each parent them formed a tunnel (looks more like a steeple) by joining hands in military-ish fashion so the kids can run through it and feel the love and support of everyone who made this day possible. All the kids lined up and the coaches sent them rushing through the house O'humans and all the kids came out the other side crying. I'm not really sure what all went down in that house in the three seconds it took to pass through but Jake said he definitly didn't want to do that again.

Happy Valentines Day

Valentines day started off with an early morning trip to Jake's first soccer game. Then it was breakfast at Chick-Fil-A and a fun day of messing around and playing outside.

Anyway...

Oh, what a week its been! This cold and flu season has been a rough one for us. We keep passing stuff around. It seems like its been months since all 6 of us were well. Last week Emily had strep throat and this week I have pink eye so bad I had to wear sunglasses when dropping the kids at school so as not to frighten the children! Yeah, I've got the almost-swollen-shut stink eye going on.
But through it all we have managed to continue our quest to rid our shelves of overprocessed foods and food-like substances. Why just the last night Emily and I made chocolate chip cookies from scratch and tasteless tasty home made dog treats for Mandy. How do I know they are tasty you ask? Well, because Jeff ate one by accident Mandy loves them! I will need to tweak the recipe a bit before I post it so be on the lookout.
Anyway....me and my stink eye are going to bed.

Wordless Wednesday

Monday Morning Challenge

I am particularly inspired by other moms who put a great deal of effort into their lives. I am always impressed by someone who seeks to be better than they currently are. If you are a stay at home mom and you strive to be the best at it, I'm inspired by that. If you need some inspiration, just check out some of the links in my blog roll.
One of my favorite Pastor's once said "if you're the smartest person in your circle, then your circle is too small". I'd agree with that. I started following a handful of blogs just last year because these women make me better. Better at what I do now (mother of four [two sets of twins], wife, friend, business owner) and inspired to stretch myself to do something new. Don't just settle for what's easy or popular. One day you will be old and refelcting on your life. On that day you don't want to think "I wish I had...", but rather "I have great memories of...". So today I am challenging you to stretch yourself just a little. Put forth more effort today.

Today's challenge: Learn to make something new from scratch.

Recently I have read a lot of disturbing information about preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, non stick pans, etc., It concerns me a great deal and I require better than this for my children. I'm not going to any extremes here, just want to get away from so many chemicals even in the simpler foods. Don't know what I'm talking about? Read the label on your Pancake syrup. Why doesn't it contain maple syrup? That's messed up and that's precisely what I'm talking about. Throw Mrs. Butterworth in the trash where she belongs and get some 100% maple syrup next trip to the store.
So, in my disgust, I was inspired to earn to make some staples from scratch. This weekend I learned to make tortillas from scratch. It turn out, while they wern't perfect, my son (older one) and husband both said they were the best tortillas they have ever had. Now its your turn to make them and when you're done, compare your ingredient list to the one on the packaged tortillas...then throw them out.
This recipe is from my favorite recipe website, aside from Kayotic and The Pioneer Woman, of course.


2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder (you can try it without this as well)
1 tablespoon shortening or butter or bacon grease (use more if needed)
1/2 cup HOT water (you may need more)


In a large mixing bowl, combine together flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, if it still looks like a pile of flour add more shortening/butter/fat.
Add the hot water and mix until the dough can be gathered together. If necessary, add more water (1 teaspoon at a time) until the dough comes together. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 15 minutes (important step!).
Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll into rounds. On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to flatten and stretch each round into a circle 7 inches across.
Cook on an ungreased skillet over medium high heat until brown spots begin to appear on the tortillas. If your tortillas are very stiff increase the heat a little, cooking too long causes them to be hard. Keep covered with a clean, damp towel (keeps them soft) until ready to serve.

Baby Legs

If you have a baby and don't have Baby Legs, get them now...

Ponies

Emily recently started horseback riding lessons. She isn't interested in sports like Jake is but she seemed to be the first in line to ride every chance she got. So we signed her up at a local place for a "Lead Line" lesson to see how deep her interest runs. She is doing well so far and looks forward to it every week.


Emily rode "Tiffany", a Paint horse, last time we were there. She did very well riding and walking her around.


Emily's favorite part of the lesson was walking the horse back to her "house" to brush her.

Tiffany was tired so she was happy to get back to relaxing as well.

Taco was the first lesson horse Emily rode at this place. He's a neat little guy and apparently is in love with Tiffany even though she doesn't like him. A little horse drama going on there.

After the lesson Emily's instructor showed her the hay barn so she can understand what horses eat. She brought a couple of handfuls of hay back to the horses as a treat.

Random Picture Challenge

November 2007 44th picture:

This is me holding baby Audrey just days after she came home from the NICU after more than 60 days in the hospital. It was only a few more days before she was sent back to the hospital for RSV. I thank God everyday for letting us have more time with her!

The Park

So today we decided to pick the kids up early and let them blow off some steam at a local park. I didn't bring my camera because I was planning on letting Nate and Audrey run around in the mulch and enjoy themselves so I needed my hands free for fielding babies. Oh how I wish I had brought my camera...

After 10 minutes at the park Emily needed to use the bathroom so Jeff took her while I watched the babies. Audrey was trying to climb up the slide and I was holding Nate. I gave them a few rides down the slide and they both enjoyed it. Audrey wanted more. She toddled on over to the steps of the large play structure. The first step is pretty high, 12 inches at least, so I waited to see what she would do. She pulled herself up. I started walking over. She looked back at me, eyes wild and said "Aaaeehhh" then giggled and headed up the second step. Holding Nate on my hip I walked quickly over as she continued to climb. She was just out of reach; she's picked up the pace now so I stepped up onto the play structure to catch her. She's already at the top of the steps. She's now on the platform heading straight for the slide! She didn't even hesitate! I came up the last few steps and squatted down beside her so I could get a tight grip on her body but she moved away too fast! She DOVE for the slide head first!!!!!!! Hands stretched out in front of her like she's heading down a backyard Slip N' Slide! I thrust forward and grabbed...I got her ankle! Holding on tight I hesitated for a second trying to figure out what I was going to do with one baby upside down and Nate in my other arm....she, she, she's still sliding! OH NO! HER PANTS ARE COMING OFF!! I squeezed tighter but she continued to side....head first down a 7 foot slide with a hump in the middle!! HOLY CRAP! Audrey picked up speed and her pants slipped completely off along with one shoe. I hopped on the slide as fast as I could and followed her down. She was giggling all the way....shirt, diaper, and one shoe....caught a little "air" over the hump and softly somersaulted onto the mulch at the bottom. Just as I came to a stop at the bottom she lifted her now dirty head up, got up, said "Aaaaeeehhhhh!!!!!" and looked for the stairs to do it again! Jake had been watching from the slide next to this one and he was already laughing. He had to ask me "mommy are you crying or laughing" because tears were streaming down my face as I tried to dress her before anyone saw what happened! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! Thanks Audrey!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday To Me....Indeed!

For my 38th birthday this month, I was given some very nice gifts as well as some new toys for my camera. Thanks everybody! Now you can reap the rewards too....

Something About Me

Following in trend with my favorite bloggers here's 16 things about me you didn't know....

I don't have a favorite color and never will. I like different colors for different reasons at different times. For that same reason I don't have a "favorite" of most things.

I don't like it when people refer to someone as their "best" friend unless they are talking about their spouse. It alienates their other friends.

My husband is a Paraplegic (T3-complete C4-5 incomplete(technically an incomplete quad)). He had an accident when he was 21. No, I didn't know him at the time. I met and married him when he was 29.

Jeff and I met and married in less than one month (23 days I believe). We will celebrate our 14th anniversary this year.

I like unique things, especially when buying gifts for people. I like to give something unexpected and sometimes spend months trying to find the right thing.

While I am not ambidextrous I can use my left hand for most things including writing and shooting pool.

From age 17 to 20 I played pool 5 nights a week on most weeks.

Up until the last 4 years, I would wake up every morning singing a song. I'm just too tired now but I'm convinced it will start up again one day.

I remember most of my dreams and a lot of them are funny. Sometimes I laugh so hard in my sleep I wake myself up!

One of my House Rules is "No bike riding in the kitchen"...as opposed to the rest of the house where its perfectly acceptable.

I depend on God for everything and have a close personal relationship with Him. I pray several times a day for myself as well as for other people.

I love my long hair (past the middle of my back). I have cut it short several times in my life but just don't feel like myself without it.

I love teaching people and secretly (or not) want to teach Junior College later in life. Not as my sole job but for fun, on the side.

I love taking pictures of my kids so much that I have 15,000 currently stored on my hard drive.

I don't like insincerity in people, especially in myself. The night Jeff first said "I love you" I avoided saying it back because I thought it might sound insincere since he said it first. I waited several days before telling him.

One of the women I most admire in this world is Elizabeth Hooker. Not because she is the mother of the world's only living set of deaf-blind triplets, but because I stand in awe of what God poured into her so she can be the mother of the world's only set of deaf-blind triplets. I don't pity her or her children, I don't look at them and think "I'm glad its not me", or "those poor girls", or "boy, I thought I had it bad (smack yourself if you've ever said that)", I look at them and think wow, God made Elizabeth larger than life. He equipped her so she may thrive in this unique circumstance. That's a girl I'd like to know. The Dunn triplets add something very valuable to this world exactly the way they are, which is by the way, exactly the way God wanted them to be. They have a unique life, all of them. http://www.notbysightfund.org/ We should all be so lucky to know someone like them.

Naughty Monkeys

Just the other day Audrey suddenly realized that with a little ingenuity she can climb to new heights...Emily and Nate are just there for support...

That's what I get for leaving cereal on the table. Cereal attracts monkeys.

The Camera

Our camera (point and shoot) has become the hot commodity lately. One day I made the mistake of letting Emily take a picture with it. She took a picture of Jake. Then a fight broke out. Then many pictures were taken, mostly of grabbing hands, the floor, the ceiling, and objects moving near the speed of sound. I recently caught Emily red handed and hiding the camera behind her back. The following is the story of what happened to the camera that day:

We keep the camera up on the bar for convenience so we can grab and shoot at a moments notice. I walked into the living room from the hallway and saw the ottoman suspiciously placed under the bar. My motherly instincts told me this was no mistake; it wasn't placed haphazardly, it was squared up against the wall nice and neat like. Like it had a purpose. I hadn't been in the laundry room that long, maybe 5 minutes. I paused in the entryway and took in the scene. I was sure the ottoman had been used to commit a crime, it just wasn't clear what that crime was. Jake was to my right, playing on the floor in the playroom. He didn't even notice me standing there. Guilty kids are ever on the look-out for mom so it couldn't be Jake. Innocent.

I could hear Nate and Audrey emptying a cabinet in the kitchen of all the plastic sippy cups and tiny bowls. They sounded like they were a few minutes into the job and knee deep. By the sounds of it one was busy banging sippy cup lids against cereal bowls while the other was climbing inside to drag out my box of random Tupperware-like containers. Besides, unless they were skilled like two Chinese acrobats they couldn't have reached anything by standing on the ottoman. We'll revisit that acrobat theory later, but for now....Innocent.

My eyes moved across the living room and locked with Emily's. Guilty. Standing between the brown leather chair and TV, she was looking right at me. I started walking toward her and she started smiling at me. Not in the evil "come any closer and I'll kill the camera way", more in the "I'm testing you to see if you know I'm hiding your camera behind my back" kinda way. I smiled back so I didn't tip her off, and continued walking toward the bar. I didn't want her to run until I knew what her crime was and what she was hiding behind her back. As I passed the bar on my right I quickly assessed what was missing, the Canon PowerShot, affectionately known as the "little camera". I passed the bar and continued walking toward Emily hoping she wouldn't run across the tile with the camera in her hot little hand. Still smiling, I held out my hand and asked for the camera, she twisted and tried to get away begging me "no mommy...no...let me take a picture...just one time...okay mommy, one time?" "Okay Emily, one time" I said. She took one picture and I wrangled the camera away from her.

The next day Jeff was flipping through the pictures on the memory card and asked me "who had the camera?" The following is what we found on the memory card:

1963 Dr. Spock

1963 Dr. Spock as pilfered from a friends e-mail:

"In this method you do not sterlize anything until the formula is in the nursing bottles, and then you sterilize everything together"

Mixing the Formula
Evaporated milk.................10 oz
Water............................... 20 oz
Corn syrup........................ 2 tablespoonsfuls
(to make 7 bottles of 4 1/4 oz each)
Mix the formula...etc...

Sterlizing the Formula
"Cap the bottles. If you are using the kind of nipple that is held in place by a plastic cap, you insert the nipple upsdie down in the cap, cover with a disk, then screw the cap on. Leave the caps only partly screwed on so that there will be a space for hot air to escape as the bottles head up, and to re-enter as the bottles cool again. If you are using the kind of nipple that is stretched over the neck of the bottle, you do not put it on the bottle until feeding time. Meanwhile you cap the bottle with a glass or aluminum cap."

"Place the bottles in the wire rack in the sterilizing pail, put an inch or two of hot water in the bottom, put the pail on the stove, and heat. The water should boil for a full 25 minutes. It has been discovered recently that there will be the least scum to clog the nipple holes if the formula is allowed to cool slowly without being shaken at all. So leave the sterilizing pail with the cover on right on the stove (with the heat off). When the bottles are luckewarm or cool, screw the caps down and place the bottles in the refrigerator. If you are using nipples that stretch over the neck of the bottles, boil them for 3 minutes in a small saucepan with cover, drain, leave the cover off until they are dry, then recover, and leave in the saucepan until used."

"If you cannot keep the bottles cold until feeding time you will be safe if you heat each bottle to boiling before giving it. Put the bottle in hot water , bring to a boil, boil for 10 minutes, then cool it down to body temperature before giving it."

There are sections on "Managing Your Children" "Aiding Popularity" "Jouncing in Infancy(??)" "Scurvy" "Gunplay" (the child who can play at hurting and killing is able, as a result, to be more friendly than the child who bottles up his hostile feelings) "Timidity and Sissiness".

Well I'm off to make some sugar water bottles and get out the guns so my little one will grow up to be friendly and not a sissy. HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Emily's Makeover

Emily tried on her new play makeup.

BMX Jake

I know he's only 3 years old but Jake has a dedicated interest in his bike, scooter, and skate board. We bought Jake his scooter on his 3rd birthday. He opened the box, we unfolded the scooter, he got on it and went across the room, I think I fell out of my chair. :-) Next came the bike. We got a cheap one that was sturdy so he could crash it many times without us getting upset over it. We kept the training wheels on until for about 6 months. He had been begging us for at least 2 months to take them off but we thought it was too soon. On Thanksgiving Day Jeff finally gave in a removed them. It took Jeff maybe 5 minutes of instruction and Jake was riding all over the house without training wheels. Jeff has since pimped his bike with peggs.
Shortly after Jake got his bike, Jeff had a skateboard made for him. That's right...he had a skateboard made for him at a skateboard shop. Yup. He loves riding it and will be ripping it all over the skate park in the near future.
In the mean time, here's a short video of Jake at his favorite skate park. He's not doing any tricks or fancy riding right now (those videos are to come as he just learned to "bunny hop" and wheelie), just cruising with his peeps...

For all I know Jake could be average for his age, but I remain totally impressed with my son. I think he's gifted and you won't convince me otherwise. Go Jake go!

Random Picture Challenge

Following the game created by this blogger here's my random picture:

The 21st picture of May:

I read books to the kids every night. I started this routine by reading to them in the bathtub because I had a captive audience that way. I could read 10 books a night and they listened to every single one! We have since graduated to reading the books while laying on the bed after the bath.

The picture is Emily showing off some of her favorite books that she grabbed off the bathroom countertop.

Thanks for the game Brittany!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

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December

Brandy Lou - August 2000 - December 2008

Those of you that are close to me know how much I was frustrated by this dog. She was terrible at times and did unspeakable things, but she was a LOVED member of our family. If I had the chance I would do it all over again in a second. I would try harder, speak kinder, and love her more. Even when you know the end is near, it's always too soon. Brandy was terribly sick for the last four years (she had Addison's Disease, ITP, and Thyroid Disease) and while we are extremely sad we are glad she is in Heaven now and feeling good again!
The loss of Brandy has reminded me that all those little things we fretted over and were irritated by didn't really matter at all. I hate that I get so self centered and caught up in my own little world that I forget how precious life is. I always think I have more time. I'm glad that Brandy reminded me that life is so precious but its very tragic that hers ended so quickly.
Brandy, I will love you always and I miss you very much.

Here are some fond memories and favorite things about Brandy Lou:

We got Brandy in October 2000, just before Halloween. She was tiny and feisty and LOVED us. Brandy insisted on sleeping on our bed with us from the first night she came home. If we refused her she would howl ALL NIGHT.

When I went to class at U of H I used to put her in the bathroom so if she had an accident it was on the linoleum and not the carpet. One day she howled so much she lost her voice. The vet said that rarely happens.

Brandy used to run errands with me when she was little. One day while I was dropping off dry cleaning she was barking and howling at me from the car. Her feet were up on the steering wheel so she could see me and every time she barked she honked the horn! The dry cleaners thought it was so funny that I taught my dog how to honk the horn!

Every day when Jeff got home from work he would be greeted by Brandy at the front door. She would climb all the way up onto his lap and bite him in the nose because she was so excited to see him.

When Jeff would lay down in bed Brandy would come over to him and lay her head on top of his face. We have no idea why she would do it but it was funny to see.

Brandy loved to search the house for food. It was her favorite activity. When she was a puppy we would hide treats all over the house and she would search for an hour or more until every last one was gone.

When Brandy was little and we lived in the apartment she would run in circles on the grass so fast she looked like she was being fast forwarded on film. We used to laugh hysterically watching her.

Steam actually came off her poop. On a cold night, it's really pretty funny to see.

Brandy used to run cuckoo all over the house and Mandy would sit on the couch and bark at her every time she passed by at lightening speed.

Brandy snored.

Brandy would sidle up to me in bed at night (when she slept with us) and if I tried to move her over a little she would growl at me.

Brandy hated getting a bath but would run around the house rubbing on everything as soon as I let her go. Getting a bath made her very spunky.

Brandy's favorite spot was sleeping on the cushions on the back of the couch. When someone would come to the door she would peek over the back of the couch and bark from there without ever getting up.

Brandy used to love removing the squeaker from toys. It was her mission as soon as she got a new stuffed animal toy.

Sometimes she would snort like a pig right before she gave a kiss.

When her water bowl was empty she would scoot it across the floor until you came and filled it back up.

We got Mandy so Brandy would have a friend to play with while we were at work. When we brought Mandy home she was sick with Kennel Cough and had to stay in a play pen. Brandy laid at the side of the play pen all day until Mandy could come out and play with her. They were best friends right from the start.

Our early pictures of Brandy were not digital but here are some good ones:

Merry Christmas

Christmas was wonderful this year. Jake and Emily were so excited about it this year they talked and talked about what they would ask Santa for. When Christmas morning came Jake was the first one up. We slept with our bedroom door open so we would know when they got up. I woke up to Jake playing with his new guitar and looking at all the presents under the tree. Because the little babies are into everything nothing was under the tree the night before. They hadn't seen a single present and now the tree was overflowing with colorful gifts and some unwrapped toys that Santa left for them. The milk and sugar cookies were gone and Santa left a glittery note for the kids telling how nice they had been all year and "keep up the good work"! It was magical. He brought everything they had asked for and more!
As soon as Emily saw the talking Elmo "Live" Santa bought for Nate and Audrey she whisked him away and said "No! Him's my daughter"! She didn't let Elmo out of her sight all day. maybe Nate and Audrey will get to play with Elmo after the new year. :-)

Desperately Seeking Santa

Last Friday I had a spark of determination and made an appointment at a local photography studio to have the kids pictures done. I've been putting this off for some time now. I was hoping to get a really good local photographer out to my house, then I wanted someone to do outdoor pictures of us, then I couldn't find a good freelancer in the area, etc etc etc. Planning to have the pictures taken is a logistical nightmare. When I finally found an awesome semi-local photographer who was willing to just sell me all the pics on a disk, she kindly informed me that her "studio" isn't wheelchair accessible and she can't do a studio set up at our house. So last Friday I finally bit the bullet and made the appointment with the local pretty descent mall photography studio. They have taken some good pictures of Jake and Emily in the past and they use a descent camera so I can crop and zoom their pictures till the cows come home.
Any mother can appreciate the level of difficulty here. The outfits must be coordinated, not only with each twin but also cross referenced with each same sex sib. Then back-up outfits must be arranged. Then the magical time of day that will work for all four needs to be determined. Then from that magic time we must plan, in reverse, all the events leading up to the taking of the pictures. That includes planning time for shopping or rummaging for the outfits, gathering hair brushes, hair gel, lotion, toothbrushes, baby wipes, diapers, diaper cream, socks, shoes, tights, hair clippies, extra underwear, extra clothes, jackets, casual clothes for after, snacks, drinks, back-up picture clothes, wallet, keys, cellphone.
Even though it was short notice sometimes having a little extra pressure helps get things done. I made the appointment Friday for Monday afternoon. As we have learned, kids don't like changes in schedule so we talked it up all weekend, promising we would make time to get our pictures taken with Santa while were at the mall.
Monday morning the kids come in and wake me up at 8:00 am. Its a little late but not a big deal. I get up, get dressed, check the weather, and head back to get the babies. I make the babies and Emily oatmeal and Jake picks a small box of cereal from the variety pack. The babies finish eating and start to get fussy so I set them free in the playroom while I finish my oatmeal. I look up at the clock and its already 9:00. I glanced at the to-do list on the fridge and remember that we need milk. Crud, I'm already short on time and my day has only just begun. Jake and Emily start fighting in the playroom and one of the babies is crying. I head out of the kitchen in a hurry, grab Nate, and take him back to the bedroom to get him dressed for school. Next I wrangle Audrey and get her dressed for school. I get out clothes for Jake and Emily but only manage to get Emily dressed. I come back out into the entryway where Audrey has removed everything from all the backpacks. I start picking it all up and repacking the backpacks. Jake starts yelling from the kitchen that orange juice spilled. I said okay and asked him to get a towel and wipe start wiping it up and I'll help in a minute. Then he said "but there's ice all over". I asked who got ice? He said Emily did. Emily said no she didn't. I asked who got ice from the fridge? They said no one did. I immediately started trying to think what they could be mistaking for ice and it struck me. GLASS! Oh crap! I said "glass? Is it glass?" Jake said "oh, yeah glass, Ray Ray [the good dog] knocked the bowl off the table." Yep. Glass everywhere. Emily got the vacuum while I tried to keep Nate and Audrey out of the kitchen long enough to grab the baby gate to block it off. I swept as much as I could but now its almost 10:00 am and i have got to get them to school! I get the last of the milk, put Audrey's shoes back on, beg Jake to finally get dressed, shove stuff in backpacks, grab the keys and go. I forgot my wallet so I had to come back home after dropping them off, its now 10:15. I check the e-mail and call the business we own to check in. I make a business call that can't wait then head out the door to get shoes for Jake and pants for Nate. Wal-Mart has neither so I head over to Kohls. I find the stuff at Kohls but have to stand in a long line. I suddenly remember that I still need milk for the babies. Driving back home I look at the clock and its 11:45. Our picture appointment is at 2:00. I still have to shower and gather all the kids stuff as well as pick them up. It was tight but I showered and picked up the kids as fast as I could. I got them home and started undressing and re-dressing them in the entry way. After all I had PROMISED them REPEATEDLY that I would take them to see Santa! We headed out to the mall but had to go straight to our photography appointment because it was already 2:00 and if we missed it we would have to reschedule and we were so close to having it done! Jeff dropped us off and we rushed past Santa to the mall elevator the kids started screaming with excitement and I swore one last time that we would go see him as soon as were done. We made it to the picture appointment five minutes late which equals "right on time" when there is only one wrangler (me) per four kids. The picture appointment went...well...we got a few good ones, lets just leave it at that. After pictures we headed back down stairs to see Santa because the big kids have a working memory now and there was no way they were leaving without seeing him. We got in line. We stood in line in the same spot for 15 minutes without moving more than three feet. Looking up the line I can see that it twists and turns about seven times around Santa's Workshop. There must have been 100 families in front of us and the line wasn't moving AT ALL. I begged the kids to come back later when the line wasn't so long. They weren't going for that at all. Thinking fast I told them that we should drive to the other side of the mall and see if we can get to Santa that way. They jumped on that idea and I whisked them under the ropes and out to the car. Jeff had driven around the parking lot looking for a handicapped spot for an hour. He finally got one eight minutes before we came out the doors.
I knew there was another Santa set up down the street from the mall and they wouldn't know the difference. We arrived in front of the other Santa's shop and found a note on the door telling us he left to feed the reindeer and he'd be back in an hour! Now the kids are crying and we have Gymnastics in an hour. We assured them we would go to gymnastics then come back to see Santa after dinner. They cried themselves to sleep in the car while Jeff drove me to the store to get milk. We dropped Jeff and the babies off at home for a nap while I drove a sleeping Jake and Emily to Gymnastics. Again, I had to reassure them we would go back to see Santa as soon as I woke them up for Gymnastics. Once more when Gymnastics ended. After dinner Jeff and I dressed them in warm clothes (not the perfect outfits they had on earlier for pictures as I planned) and headed out desperately seeking Santa. We needed ANY Santa at this point. We headed to the first Santa down the street from the mall (would be less crowded) and they were closed. We rushed to the mall, whose Santa was scheduled to close in a half hour. We slid into a line that was only half of what it had been earlier that day. We were in it for the long haul now. Jake and Emily barely put up a fuss at all. They stood in that line for an hour to see the Big Guy. Nate and Audrey didn't do as well. They fussed, pulled, cried, yelled, rubbed their eyes, wanted up, wanted down, wanted a blanket, didn't want a blanket, sat in the stroller, stood up in the stroller, etc., It was a never ending battle to keep them entertained and contained. Audrey did learn to say Santa while standing in line though. That was neat and gave me tears of joy.
We finally made it to the end and ropes gave way for us! Oh man, the sudden freedom from the rope maze was invigorating! Then to see Santa! Well that was just the cherry on top! I was so tired and mentally exhausted I was giddy. I was almost home free, just five more minutes! Jake and Emily went right up to Santa to talk to him while I gathered Nate and Audrey in my arms to pass them off for the picture. Santa looked scared and unsure but I put them down and rushed to get out of the camera's way. Two shots, maybe three then it was all over. Nate was crying, Audrey was staring up at Santa and Jake and Emily were the happiest kids on God's Green Earth. To see their faces...it was so worth it.

The Big Boy's 1st Haircut

Nate finally got his first haircut yesterday! He certainly looks like a big boy now and I'm ashamed of how long it took to get this simple task done. Emily couldn't be more proud of her Big Boy.

The Required Amount Is Five

So today, inspite of the 40 degree weather, me, being a Super Deluxe Mom, took the kids to the big park with the ducks. I even packed the bikes in the back of the van. Jake didn't mind the weather too much and rode his bike all over the large grassy area. Emily attempted to swing but with the wind chill coming off the lake she only lasted five minutes before she asked to go home. It was a good thing too because just then the wind gusted up and I thought my ear fell off.
I gathered up Emily and let the bidding begin with Jake. "Hey Jake, Emily's freezing, what do you say we go home and make some hot chocolate?" He circles me on his bike. I added "I can make the kind with marshmallows" he says "do we have marshmallows", he's testing the water now. I replied "Yeah, sure we do (maybe not), I can even put whipped cream on top", he stands up on the peddals of his bike as he glides past the swing set, he's thinking now. Emily burries her head in my shoulder and says "its too cold, I want to go home mommy." I threw out "I'll even put a candy cane in it", Jake stops the bike and says "a candy cane, oh" I said "yeah" nodding my head and walking toward Emily's bike hoping that my nodding will seep into his subconscience and he'll say yes without knowing why he said it. He said "mom do we have a candy cane?" I nodded. Then he said "mom do we have five candy canes?"
It seems to me that for some reason Jake believes five is the minimum required number of anything. If you ask him if he would like to read books he will ask for five. If we go to the store and I ask him if he wants a package of gum he will ask if he can have "one, two, three, four, five gums". Its always five.
Way back when they first began counting things in general it was always three. Three was the fun little number to end a good count on. I recall carrying Jake on my hip as he watched a lady walking behind me "mommy that lady has one, two, three boobies, she has three boobies mommy." All I could muster up through the giggles was "yeah Jake look at that, three boobies" without even looking behind me. I'm not really sure at what point the number five became the number but anything less, well, is just less. Now I'm wondering just how far Jake will take the number five. Next year when he turns four will he move on to bigger numbers like seven? I'm not sure why he does it but it seems to be for a reason. Perhaps he thinks five sounds like a lot so anything less just isn't a lot of something. I'm not sure but I think his little three year old quirks are interesting.

Free Wheeling Jake

So, on Thanksgiving day, after we returned home, Jeff taught Jake how to ride his bike without training wheels! Jake has been begging Jeff for a while now to take them off. We tried once and he just wasn't ready. This particular day it must have been all that pent up energy or turkey power, I'm not sure, but Jeff took the training wheel off and in less than five minutes Jake was riding around the house! Check out the amazing video!

A Little Catching Up....

Okay, so I have a little catching up to do. Here we go...
We spent the actual Thanksgiving day at my sister's house.It went okay. We lasted about 3 1/2 hours which was way longer than I figured being in a totally un-baby-proofed house filled with lots of people Nate and Audrey did not know. Turns out that Audrey was the lady of the hour. She roamed around the house asking people to hold her. I think everyone had a chance.
Nate was a little shy but he didn't cry which was surprising. I fully expected him to start crying as soon as we arrived but he never did. He stayed close to momma but hung in there until the end.
Towards the end of our stay, pretty much as soon as the kids finished eating, things started to go down hill fast. Jake and Emily desperately needed to be loud and play and it just wasn't happening there. We gathered our things and got out in a big hurry. I think we took Jake and Emily for a bike ride when we got home and let the babies take their much needed late afternoon nap. It was fun but with this many young kids, its always better to be home.
Other random stuff: Nate now has five teeth. Audrey still has six. The babies don't use bottles anymore and we switched to whole milk from Next Step. Audrey walks all the time now and Nate just started walking as his main mode of locomotion. If time is a factor he might still crawl though because its slow going walking; he still walks like a robot. He's so proud of himself when he's walking across the room. Each step is so careful and planned, his arms stretched out in front of him for balance, his face so happy and excited. It makes me so happy to see him that way I just try to soak up every moment I can. I could watch him do this all day.
Audrey tries to repeat almost everything she hears now. Today she said - Santa, duck, all done, Christmas tree, Ray-Ray (our friendly dog), and thank you. She also rode the vacuum cleaner for the first time. I suspect it won't be the last time. Nate occasionally attempts to repeat words but mostly he likes to stick to usual sounds. Besides, who has time to repeat random words when you spend as much time laughing as he does? I think he wakes up giggling. I wonder if he giggles in his sleep?
The kids have been sick on and off for three weeks now. It started with Audrey catching a virus. The doctor confirmed it wasn't anything to worry about. Next Nate came down with Croup. That was rough and a little scary. Before he got over Croup he caught RSV. Two days later Audrey had it. Next Jake and Emily got it and finally Jeff and I. Currently we are all sick with RSV and are considering having the house tented and just pumping Xopenex through the ventilation system. Jake seems to be the first recovering. I think Nate might be number two. Emily while well enough to go to school, still has the cough. Audrey was hit hard unfortunately and needs double treatments several times a day. She is coming around its just going to take her longer to clear her lungs. Jeff and I are miserable. While it won't drag us down like the kids it sure is an annoying virus to have but the show must go on!

Escapology

Look out Harry Houdini, let me introduce you to the newest escapologist...Nate. He's always been a shifty little fellow and loves to make us all laugh with his antics. His newest trick is nothing short of pure magic. Little Nate can slip himself out of a five point harness in a matter of minutes without making a sound. He simply fidgets for a moment, then stands up and the straps that were binding him fall to his feet. He's so proud of his death defying act that he ceremoniously raises his hands and claps and shouts at his accomplishment!

They're Melting!

A recent conversation between Jake and Emily in front of the fish tank:

J: What happened to all the fish? We only have one...two..two fish "Emoly"?

E: Ooohhhh Jake. They melted.

J: Oh yeah "Emoly" they melted [nodding his head like he forgot a commonly known fact]. Mom we need more fish all ours melted.

Surprise Visit to Arkansas

We recently made a trip to Arkansas to surprise Jeff's mom for her 60th birthday. We left on Wednesday night and arrived 8 hours later at about 5:00 am. We hid out in the van around the corner from her house and waited for her to go to work then Jeff's dad let us in the house. The drive was long as always but well worth the effort.

Jeff's brother, sister, and sister's kids arrived later that morning and we all enjoyed a nice day together before the big surprise when Jeff's mom came home. We planned on hiding Justin's rental car but leaving our van in the driveway. When she arrived home from work she was very excited to see us and our four kids. She was so surprised that we drove up to see her for her birthday without her finding out. While she was gushing over the kids Jewel and her kids sneaked outside and rang the doorbell. Jeff's mom answered the door and was floored all over again! She never expected to see Jewel and her kids who flew out from California. Then a few minutes later when she started to calm down again, she turned around and saw Justin standing in the dining room. I think if we had anyone else pop out we might have had a medical emergency!

The kids played around the house and rode the golf cart. They visited Grandma a few times so they could eat ice cream for lunch and swing on her porch.

We went to a park, Playworld, and all the girls got their nails done at the salon. All in all it was a huge surprise and a really great weekend with a very tight family.

Halloween

Halloween this year was interesting. Emily wanted to be Aerial and Jake wanted to be Spiderman. Easy enough. I ordered the costumes months in advance and had them more than a month early even though they had been on back order. The plan was for Nate and Audrey to dress up in the Tom Arma costumes we had been saving for them for pictures then wear comfortable Halloween outfits. That was the plan anyway. :-

The night before Halloween, we couldn't find the Tom Arma costumes anywhere. We looked and looked then argued and looked again. Darn. Okay we still had the cute Halloween outfits to wear. We're covered.

Halloween morning, the zipper broke on Jake's Spiderman costume while he struggled to take it off while having a complete melt down only 15 minutes before the school parade started! After spending the morning rushing around the house trying to find one of Audrey's Halloween socks with flashing lights and the other glow-in-the-dark black cat hat, I started to have a melt down of my own!

Thank Goodness Jake has the heart of an angel and he graciously agreed to wear the lion costume from last year that I was able to find in a storage box in the garage! He was sad, I could tell, but he honestly did his best to pull through with a good attitude wearing a costume he had outgrown by 4 inches at least.

Nate and Audrey wore their orange onesies and black pants without the awesome glow-in-the-dark black cat hats and socks with flashing lights. Everyone made it to the parade just in time.

While they were at school I managed to fix Jake's costume replacing the zipper with Velcro. Earlier I found the missing sock with flashing lights and about an hour ago I finally found the glow-in-the-dark black cat hat in the attic.

Hopefully the only thing they will remember about this halloween is how they handed out candy to everyone that came to our door (Emily holds the bowl and Jake passes it out) and how Grammy took them to 7 houses in the wagon and they filled their pumpkins with candy. All in all it was a great Halloween!

New News!

Audrey started walking! She can now walk across a room without holding onto something. She kinda walks like a robot and it makes me laugh but its soooo cute! I think she's excited about it too. Check out this video we took of Audrey "helping" her Daddy out at the park...

Nate is doing great. He's getting tooth number 3! He does take a couple steps here and there but isn't in a big rush to start walking. His time is coming though and he needs to start walking for his own protection! Nate is still as silly as ever and everything makes him laugh.

Nate and Audrey have very different temperments. Nate concentrates hard on a task while Audrey is all action. Audrey will tear something down in a few seconds while Nate will spend a few minutes trying to put a single foam sticker on the bath tub wall. Both have tons of fun doing things their own way.

Both Nate and Audrey eat table food and toddler food now. Audrey had been doing well with it for a little while but just wasn't consistent. Nate had a difficult time with the transition and needed to do it in his own time. Now they both love their table food. Audreys favorites are green beans, peas, broccoli, bananas, bread and noodles. Nate loves all Italian food, bread, meatballs, ground turkey, peas and apple sauce.

Nate & Audrey's Photo Shoot

While Jake and Emily were at AWANA on Sunday I took Nate and Audrey outside at the church for a photo shoot. I never seem to get around to doing this so I'm glad I got some descent pictures.

Old Mac Donald's Farm

Saturday we went to Old MacDonald's Farm in Humble with The Mother's of Multiples. We had such a great time! The kids got to feed sheep and deer and pet cows, horses, goats, etc., Everything you can imagine! We also took a train ride around the park and played on the swings and slides. It was a full days worth of activities packed into three hours. Even Nate and Audrey had a good time.
You can see in one picture Jake and Emily visiting a deer that is resting on the ground. Well this deer must have had many visitors on Saturday because by the time Jake and Emily came he wasn't hungry. Jake decided to give the deer food anyway so he will have it for later. The picture is Jake making a nice pile of food next to the deer's tummy "for later" when he gets hungry again.
Their favorite part was feeding the little sheep. Nate and Audrey liked the train ride the best.

Hurrican Ike - Vacation in AR

After Hurricane Ike rolled through and we spent two days without power we decided to pack up and vacation in Arkansas until the power came back on. Well, we packed up and left Sunday night (Ike came on Friday night), our power came back on Monday, but we were having such a good time we decided to stay a while.

We visited with Grammy and Papa (of course), Grandma and Grampa, Mrs. Margaret and Christin, and Jason and Laurie. We went to an awesome park and also an indoor play place that even had something for the babies to do. We also saw a local parade and Emily and Audrey went horseback riding. It really was a great vacation; Mandy and Brandy even had a great time!

YEAH NATE!!!

Nate is getting his first tooth! OMGoodness! It took 13 months to grow one but he did it! Now we don't have to get dentures for him! :-) Our little gummy man has been busy trying to cut a tooth and it finally broke through. I'm so happy for him, he's finally "toothin' it" big baby style! :-)

Update

Audrey is now getting her fifth tooth! Her nickname has become Chompers. She claps her hands, says momma, papa, dada, hi, baba, and can "yell" at us using baby babble when she gets mad. She loves green beans, corn on the cob, peas, fruit, toast, bread, baby cookies,...pretty much everything. She started eating table foods and eats them most of the time. Audrey also loves Ray Ray (Mandy). She will do her super fast "double time" crawl to get to her if she's laying on the floor. She loves to pull her fur, squish her face, and lick her head. Poor Mandy! She's such a tolerant dog!
Audrey can cruise around the furniture and hang onto Jeff's wheelchair and walk behind him. She has taken one very small step without hanging onto something but is mostly still working on standing unassisted. Audrey is now Binky free and although she takes them away from other babies at school, she doesn't miss it. Audrey is cuddly, lively, and so sweet.

Nate must wake up laughing. He laughs at almost anything. He cracks himself up and everyone around him. He is extremely ticklish and loves to play peekaboo. Just saying the word peekaboo cracks him up, even when he's crying. Actually, saying almost any word cracks him up if the delivery is right!
Nate loves to yell. Nate also loves to hear himself yelling. In the car Nate likes to start a lively corus of "AAAAAHHHHHHHH"! He gets all the kids going at the same time.
Nate also loves to rock the crib. He stands up, hangs onto the side and rocks back and forth as hard as he can. Then he starts laughing, slumps over, bumps his head on the rail, and starts the process over again. Oh, the fun just never ends!
Nate can clap his hands, say dada, hi, and uh-oh. He can also stand in the middle of the floor unassisted but doesn't cruise unless he must to get something. He also loves to feed people their own necklace or anything else he has at the time. He's been known to try to slip something into my mouth when I wasn't paying attention! He also likes to wiggle his eyebrows when he's being tricky trying to get some little bit into my mouth. He's just plain silly, so tiny and cute,wiggly and sweet.

Emily's whole life is babies. She wants to go get Nate and Audrey the minute she wakes up in the morning and she sleeps with at least five of her own babies every night. Most of the babies in her collection don't have names but a few do: Cia, Big-Girl, Audrey, and Nate. She recently started hugging Nate and Audrey and telling them that she loves them. Although she is still very much learning what she can and cannot do with Nate and Audrey, she has become quite a little mama.
Emily also loves ponies rides (real ones), painting her toenails, pink, purple, dancing along with something on tv, the movies Flushed Away and Bee Movie, gymnastics, Aerial (The Little Mermaid), and wearing clothes that match baby Audrey's. Emily loves to be in charge of something or to be appointed some duty that might include being the boss of someone else at some point in time. Her expressions make me smile and I like her funny sayings like "its Halloween time its not Halloween time its Halloween time" and "for Halloween I going to be Aerial for Santa comes to town". She's so silly at times, cuddly, sweet, and just dying to take care of everybody.

Jake is a man's boy. He loves everything boyish but isn't afraid to put on Emily's princess dress or metallic pink sequin shoes to get a few laughs! he can run fast in those shoes too! He's silly and sensitive. His temperament is almost exactly the same as when he was an infant. I can make him laugh at the drop of a hat but he is powerfully sensitive at times.
Jake loves skate boards (has two), his Razor Scooter, bikes, motorcycles, helicopters, football, soccer, baseball, golf, swimming, and basketball. He seems to excel at every sport he tries. He can hit a baseball pitched to him, make a basket, and kick a soccer ball thrown to him. He rode his Razor the day he got it on his 3rd birthday and while it took him longer to master, he can ride his custom skate board too. Jake is amazing, loving, kind, and thoughtful. He told me at dinner recently I was a "good cooker".

Happy 1st Birthday Nate & Audrey!

Well here we are again, the little babies turned one! I can't believe how much has happened this last year and how big they have gotten.

Their birthday party was nice and we spent it with family at home. I made giant cupcakes instead of a traditional cake and Nate & Audrey each got their own. Audrey looked at her cupcake like she was positive she wouldn't like it but changed her mind after she had a lick. Nate was positive he was going to throw his on the floor until he tasted a little, then decided against tossing his precious cupcake.

The First Three Years

Since it is my goal to remember as much as I can about what it is like to raise two sets of twins I feel the need to summarize the first three years.

The first year begins with the "slug" stage, as I like to call it. The babies are tiny, fragile, and your love for them is immeasurable. All they do (preemies especially) is eat and sleep and make teenie tiny squeaky sounds affectionately referred to as "preemie squeaks". By the end of the first year they go from a slug baby to a walking - possible one or two word talking, mess making machine. The change is so dramatic it blows me away. Truly unbelievable how that much change can happen in that short of a time.


The second year is full of drama. During this year they finally figure out that they have pretty much allowed you to make all of their decisions for them...up to this point. This is the year they finally ask themselves "do I actually WANT apple juice...hmmmm...YES!....strike that, NO....ummm, YES, I do!....ummmm maybe NOT....UGH! I DON'T KNOW! AAAHHHHH!!"

The third year is by far the most dramatic personality wise. They change from having a loose understanding of simple concepts and language to having a full conversation! This is also the year their imagination turns on and their memory starts to work, although they still refer to everything as either happening "this morning" or "yesterday" and the future is always "two weeks" away. This is also the year I feel like my little Jake and Emily are disappearing and tiny people are taking their place. I'm excited for them and all the things to come but kind of sad to see the little people slowly disappear. I'll miss them.

Milestones

I can't believe it's been a year and at the same time its been the most challenging year of my life. We have been through so much this past year and all of it has changed who we are as individuals and who we are as a family.
Looking back at Nate & Audrey's extended hospital stay, all the procedures they had done, etc., there were times I was sure that God was only going to let us keep them for a short time. There are certain people who entered our lives at that point, prayed in our place, lifted us up, and carried us through that valley. I will never forget the lessons they taught me as long as I live. They know who they are, I don't need to say their names. May God's blessings rain down on them and overtake them all the days of their lives, for we have been blessed beyond belief for just knowing them. And may we one day, be that blessing to someone else. In the name of The Lord God, Amen.
I can't wait to see what He has in store for our second year, as our best days are yet to come!

Our Story...technically speaking...

Jake & Emily and Nate & Audrey (along with several others) were concieved on August 7th 2004, at about 9:00am. On August 10th 2004, Nate & Audrey were placed in cryopreservation. At 7:33am on August 10th 2004, Jake & Emily along with two others, were implanted in my uterus. On August 30th 2004, I had my first ultrasound which showed a single pregnancy. On September 1 2004, I had my second ultrasound which showed a twin pregnancy. On September 3rd 2004, I had my third ultrasound which showed a triplet pregnancy. Sadly, by October 1st, one of the pregnancies had ceased. That day we learned we had lost identical twins but were still blessed with a twin pregnancy. Jake and Emily were born on March 15th 2005 at 12:21am (Emily) and 12:24am (Jake).
Nate and Audrey were thawed from cryopreservation on February 13th 2007 and implanted on February 14th at 10:00am. No others survived the thaw. On March 5th 2007 I had my first ultrasound and it showed a single pregnancy. The following 4 ultrasounds all showed a single pregnancy. On March 16th, my 5th ultrasound, showed a twin pregnancy! Nate & Audrey were born on August 31st 2007 at 2:27pm and 2:28pm; 3 years and 24 days after their conception.

You Can Call Me Leslie

Jake and Emily come up with the funniest stuff on a regular basis. I never know what new thing they are going to get hung up on next. When Jake was little there was "the word of the day". Each day there was some normal word that would make him laugh hysterically each time I said it...for no reason. Once they could talk there were the never ending mispronunciations and nick names everything received. Belligator = Elevator, Gym-magic's = gymnastics, meximo = Eskimo, you get the idea. There was also that short time where at each meal Jake would declare some food on his plate unfit by saying "I no like this" in a Spanish accent and sliding his plate away. Then came the need to touch everyone/everything with a single finger. One night while the plumber was at our house fixing the disposal Jake whispered "I want to touch Ricki". The need wasn't limited to Ricki and eventually included construction vehicles, police officers, and our mail lady. :-) Next, Jake started naming his stuffed animal dog; Pickles, Hocho. Then he came up with non-sense names for everything but mostly for himself; Mr. Momijo, Roki Roo Roo, etc. Now he periodically wants to be called Leslie. Not sure why, but he just likes the name and thinks its funny. What will Leslie think of next?!

Bathtub

So there was this famous bath tub photo of Jake and Emily....
So of course I had to re-create it with Nate and Audrey...just for comparison!

How funny is that! I don't think I need to say any more about that, the pictures speak for themselves! Oh, this is Jake and Emily at 9 1/2 months and Nate and Audrey at 11 months.

Weekend Update

What a weekend we have had! It was a little bit busy but very fun. Here's the update:

Friday, August 1st, Audrey had her first french fry. Nate was too tired to stay up that night so he went to bed early. We had Wendy's for dinner, and decided to try giving Audrey a french fry. She liked it a lot, maybe too much!

Saturday, August 2nd, Nate stood up in is crib for the first time! Jeff was home with the babies and I was at Ben's birthday party with Jake & Emily. Lucky for me I was on the phone with Jeff when it happened so I wasn't left out.

Saturday, we went to Ben's birthday party at his house. It was very fun and we had a lot of friends there. Just a great time jumping on an inflatable and hunting for treasure in the sandbox. We also received a ton of toys and stuffed animals from Taylor! That was a nice surprise and went well with Emily and Jake's suddenly renewed interest in Santa! [every morning they ask if Santa is coming 'this morning'; I tell them it'll be a little longer].

Sunday, we went swimming early in the morning, then took a nice long nap after lunch. We picked up IHOP for dinner and Nate & Audrey had pancakes! I'm not sure how much went down compared to how much went on the floor but they seemed to like it anyway. Another first!

Sunday night, August 3rd, Nate & Audrey took their bath in the big bathtub for the first time. I've been holding out because I needed to buy a new bath mat and wait until they were stable enough sitting up. They had a blast playing with the water! I can't believe we are done with the infant bathtub!

What a weekend! Whew!

Butterfly Kiss

Jeff got Emily hooked on butterfly kisses before bed some time ago. It kind of became a routine of some sort. Each night she would ask for "a kiss, and a hug, and butterfly on this eye and this eye" pointing each one out individually. Its really an exhausting routine every night because she uses this laundry list of requests to delay my leaving the room. The funny part is that they eyes have to match up. If I don't do it just right she will correct me. My left eye must butterfly her right eye. My right eye must butterfly her left eye. It mustn't happen too high up, that's too close to the forehead. Not the cheek either. The eyes have to match up or she will start over again reminding you which eye of yours must match up with which eye of hers. Even though sometimes it irritates me, its one of those things that she does that shows her personality and spirit. Because of that, I love the butterfly kisses.

They Finally Went Swimming!

Nate and Audrey finally got to go in the water! We were invited to go to the new Creekside Park family swim park with some friends on Saturday July 19th. Jeff and I had not yet taken the kids but heard it was wonderful so we planned on making a day of it. A friend brought lunch for everyone and we packed the drinks and all four kids plus a pack n' play and headed out. The swim park was incredible! It has a lazy river, kids play structure, water slides, foutains, and a huge bucket of water that dumps out every 10 minutes. It was an amazing day.

Nate and Audrey went in the water for the first time this summer. This summer has had such intense heat and sun that I just couldn't bare to bring them out in it. They did have a good time and enjoyed the water but were only able to stay in the sun for 15 minutes before it became too much for them. I'll enjoy taking them in the pool again sometime when it cools off a little or we have a nice cloudy day.

Jake and Emily played so hard that day when we got home they both slept for several hours on on our bed with Jeff. We will definitly go back again soon.

The next day we had another splash party with The Woodlands Mother's of Multiples (WMOM). This time it was at the Windvale pool and was equally fun even though its a much smaller park. I will definitly take them back again.

Swimming Lessons

Jake and Emily started swimming lesson at the local YMCA on Monday. The first day we had a lot of trouble getting either one to go in the water. Jake finally decided he would try it at the very end. He let his teacher, Ms. Katie, take him out and back several times with a "surf board" (actually a blue kick board). Emily never went in the first day. The second day, Emily went in almost right away but Jake sat it out. He finally went in during the last 10 minutes. The third day Emily went in right away again and did everything Ms. Katie said. She's been so shy lately that it was nice to see her building her confidence.
They have both done very well for their first time. Jake had to sit out the rest of the week because he has an ear infection. Hopefully he can get back in the water next week.

Total Recall

Once Jake and Emily passed their third birthday their long term memory kicked in. Suddenly the can recall things that happened more than a year ago. Before their birthday they didn't remember anything that didn't happen yesterday. Now I hear things like "mommy do you remember that time I pooped in the bathtub?" Yes...I do remember. :-) And "mommy do you remember we went to Grammy's and rode the tractor," etc., It's so funny how they've been storing this information all this time and now the flood gates are open!

Audrey Stood Up!

Little Audrey stood up in her crib! Emily and I went in the babies room on July 15th, to get them as usual, and what did we find.....Audrey standing up! She was crooked but she was doing it!



She hadn't even attempted this before so it was a complete surprise to us. She has since done it two more times.

Nate Did it!

Baby Nate can finally sit up all by himself, just like a big boy! It took him a long time of trying and trying but he finally did it in his pack n' play on July 10th. He fell over shortly after. :-)

July 4th

The 4th of July came and went so quickly this year. It's a favorite holiday around here as we have developed a ritual. We swim and BBQ all day then go to the bowling alley parking lot to see the fireworks. We've been parking at the bowling alley for four years now and we look forward to it every year. The first year we took Jake and Emily they were just 4 months old. We packed them in the car, heart monitors and all, and made it to the bowling alley. You can see how happy Emily is in the picture! They did actually like the fireworks though and they still do.
The second year, Jake and Emily were 16 months old. It rained so we had to stay in the car and watch the fireworks from there. Jake looks so much like Nate in this picture. They have the same profile and hair. Dad and Lynda were here visiting that time.




The third time, Jake and Emily were 28 months. It rained again so we stayed in the van and watched the fireworks with the kids sitting on our laps. I remember Jake wouldn't stop talking that year and he kept pushing buttons and flipping switches while sitting on Jeff's lap in the drivers seat. I didn't get any pictures of them at the fireworks because we were crammed in the car, but the whole night is on video. When we got back home they were so wound up we let them burn off some of that energy on the ponies (see the picture).

This year Jeff's parents were here to enjoy it with us. Nate and Audrey were tired because their bedtime is 7:00pm and fireworks start at 9:20pm, so we had to wake them up to put them in the car. They stayed awake most of the time though and only cried during the finale when the fireworks grew to loud for their little ears. Jake and Emily don't remember the previous years, although we tell them they were there. One day they will remember and we'll be so glad we took them every year. Maybe one day we'll actually bowl too!

4th of July Parade

The 4th of July was awesome this year because we got to be in the local Parade! I have personally never been in a parade but most importantly, my kids got to be in one. Thanks to the local chapter of Mother's of Multiples for inviting everyone to walk in the parade...

We had a lot of friends in the parade and watching along the parade route. It was so incredibly hot that day its a miracle we made it. We had to get up at 6:30 am and get everyone ready so we could be at the staging area by 8:00 am. It was a very early morning and a long wait until we started walking. The temperature was in the 80's when we arrived at 8:00 am but was in the 90's by the time we started the parade route. The kids did great the whole time and hardly fussed at all. Nate and Audrey slept part of the way and Jake and Emily just enjoyed watching everyone.

This was my view during the parade. Jake is looking for Barney who we just passed. In a minute he'll be yelling for Elmo!

Nate & Audrey

Nate and Audrey are rocking back and forth on all fours now. They will start crawling any time now, with Audrey being the most ready to crawl. Audrey is also making huge strides with her two tiny bottom teeth. She will chew and bite almost anything she can get her mouth on. She has also started to reach for me when I reach for her and she will stick her tongue out if I stick mine out. Audrey can sit up with help but not for long then she falls over.

Her nickname has become Mini Mouse because she has the tiniest little voice ever. It's ultra feminine and cute. Audrey's favorite toy is a mirror or another child; Jake and Emily make her laugh. I think she is also sensitive and reminds me a lot of Emily in temperament.
Nate loves to be on his stomach. He kicks a lot and when he gets excited it looks like he's trying to swim across the play mat. When I pick him up from school he gets so excited he "swims" through the air to me! I need to get it on video.

He "talks" a lot, mostly to his toys and me and Jeff. Almost anything will make him laugh if done properly. His body kind of goes limp when he laughs hard so if he's on his stomach he puts his head down. It gives the appearance that he's in that "silent mode" laughing which makes it so much funnier. His body is ticklish too and he laughs when I change his clothes if he's in the mood. He smiles first thing in the morning when he wakes up. Jake and Emily did that too. Just happy babies I guess.

Nate is starting to have stranger anxiety now. He's seems to be fine with some new people and some make him cry. He has an extra sensitive personality that really comes out sometimes. His temperament is like Jake's.

Last Friday was crazy hair day at school. Jake wore his spiked and messy. Emily had 5 or 6 pony tails with different colored rubber bands. Nate and Audrey both wore Mohawks. Nate's hair is so long on the top it almost naturally goes into one. Audrey's hair is so short it was the only thing I could do to make it look "crazy". Her Mohawk is only about 1/2 inch tall!

The Weekend

Well, Jeff was out of commission for the weekend with strep throat so we only had one shepherd for the flock. It wasn't so bad though because Olivia's party was happening!

The party was at Northshore Park and the weather was hot but breezy. It was a typical birthday party with pizza, cupcakes, pinata, and pony rides. Jake and Emily were shy as usual but had a good time after they warmed up to the idea. Nate and Audrey seemed happy to be out of the house. They just hung out in the stroller and with a few friends.

Emily rode a pony for the second time in her life. I put her on the bigger of the two ponies, Cassie, first. She screamed the whole time. I just kept walking next to her hoping she would get over it because she wanted so badly to ride. She didn't, she just screamed. I'm glad I kept her on the pony though otherwise she would not have done it again. As soon as her ride ended and I took her off the pony...still crying...she said "I want to ride again." :-)

Jake rode the smaller pony, Baby Girl, next. He placed my hand on his leg, held on to the saddle horn, and just looked straight ahead smiling. He was okay but wanted me close by just in case he needed me. I was so proud because it was his first pony ride ever and he wasn't afraid to try it.

All-in-all it was a great party and a pretty great Saturday. Sunday was a little tougher because I was flying solo (remember my wing man was down) and the kids really missed Jeff. Late in the afternoon I finally thought to let the kids call him on his cell phone from the kitchen phone. They jumped at the idea, so I put the phone on speaker and set it on the kitchen table. Jake and Emily, talking amongst themselves, which is funny to begin with, came up with the idea of telling Daddy a joke. Their joke was to tell Daddy "go potty." That's it, just the words "go potty daddy" were enough to send them both into hysterical laughter. I showed them how to redial the speakerphone and for the next hour or so all they did was call Jeff in the bedroom, talk for a little bit then tell him "go potty" a few times and laugh. I guess that qualifies as telling their first joke. How funny is that?!

The Giraffes Are Going To Sleep

For a short time, that seemed like a very long time, Jake and Emily were impossible to get to sleep. Here's an e-mail I sent to a friend and fellow mother of multiples as we were discussing "keeping it together" when everything goes to pot:

Here’s a glimpse of a trying night:
They seemed over-tired tonight so I tried getting them straight in the bath after dinner (7:15). They played nicely for a little while then started fighting. Then the screaming started. Then the 5 month old twins started screaming because the house was too noisy. Then I put Emily in time out because she was hitting me when I asked her to stop screaming and tell me what was wrong. Then she followed me around the house screaming while I tried to make bottles for the babies (hoping they were just hungry). Then Jeff finally came out of the office to help. He entertained them for 5 minutes while I calmed the little babies down. Then the screaming started again. Then the little babies started screaming again. I went back into the bathroom to ask Emily and Jake to stop screaming. Nothing happened. We got them out of the tub and into pajamas and into their room. Still crying at this point but not screaming. Little babies are still screaming at this point. Now Jake wants a different pajama top. I said “no”, he starts screaming again. Emily is still crying, why you ask? No one knows for sure at this point. Little babies are still screaming. I start to freak out and yell “stop screaming” (see how clever I am). No one stops of course. My brain is doing back flips from the noise. I send Jeff in to deal with the little twins in a not so nice way because he isn’t using his super powers to stop the chaos and so now I’m pissed at him too. Now I spend almost an hour in Jake and Emily’s room calming them, (holding, kissing, rocking, etc). Jeff successfully got the little twins to sleep again. I finally leave the room and go to the next room over, our office. Then I put Jake and Emily back in bed five more times as they just keep coming out of their bedroom. I thought they were sleeping! Sigh. It’s 9:00pm…again. Why always 9:00??? I have no idea. Apparently their brains are on timers. They shut off exactly at 9:00pm every night and magically turn on again at 7:00am the next morning. I’m learning to accept it. Maybe one day I’ll stop fighting it and just go with the flow. It’s just taking me longer to adjust since the amount of kids in this house just doubled.

One night during this short time that seemed like a long time, I came up with a brilliant idea. Once the kids were in bed I would help them calm down by telling them who was also going to bed at that very moment....all the kitties are going to bed, all the dogs are going to bed, all the birds are going to bed, Grammy and Papa are going to bed, Gammie and Grandpa are going to bed, Mrs. Huckabay is going to bed, .... in a soft soothing voice. It worked like a charm. Somehow it also "stuck" and became requested at bedtime. Then for a while it was forgotten as bedtime became easier once again. Well, its back now. After going to the Houston Zoo twice in a week the kids have animals on the brain. Just last night Emily came back out of her room after putting her in bed and said "tell me whos going to sleep mommy." Of course it took me 5 minutes to understand her tiny voice and funny way of saying things but I eventually got it. I always start and end with the giraffes. They're my favorite and I think they're hers too.

Bad Day Gone Good

So all morning I was preparing the kids for Olivia's big party with "ponies and pizza". The kids were begging to get ready at 9:00 am but we held off until 10:00 because the party started at 11:00. All morning "ponies and pizza! ponies and pizza!" Like I didn't see this coming....so the time rolls around, we all get ready for the day. I even took a nice picture of the kids right before we went out the door to the big party.

When we got to the park there were lots of decorations around the big pavilion and at least 40 or 50 people, all adults. As we started across the grass I took one more quick picture of the kids looking cute before ponies and pizza covered them from head to toe.

When we reached the pavilion a lady greeted us right away and asked "who we were with". I said "they're in Olivia's class". She said "Olivia who?" The color drained from my face and I learned that we had just crashed a West Point Academy graduates' reunion party. Yep. Jake and Emily cried and asked 100 times "where's Olivia?" while I shuffled them back to the car to try to keep the giant pink present from getting too crumpled, because now that wrapping job has to last

another week. I confirmed my "bad momma" mistake with Jeff on the cell phone as soon as the lady said "West Point Academy" and I recalled seeing 50 adults with name tags plastered to their shirts.

I let the kids play at the park for a while but the humidity was particularly high this morning and it had to have been 90 degrees; the kids were dripping sweat in less than 5 minutes. I talked them into going swimming at home and making pizza for lunch. While we were eating pizza in our bathing suits a storm rolled through and poured rain. Ixnay on the oolpay [pig Latin]. I was seriously bummed.

Time for the good news: After Jake and Emily refused to settle down for a nap, we compromised and let them play in their room for half an hour while we cleaned up. After that, the storm cleared and we went swimming! The day got even better when "The Grandmas" and Debbi, Robert, and Taylor came for over for dinner. Somehow sitting around the table trying to talk over golf at 150db turned my bad day into a funny story to share over pork chops. I love how that works :-)

Friday Night Update

Well, Audrey is getting her first tooth! It started coming in on Wednesday. She is chewing on everything she can get her mouth on but she isn't fussy at all (which we are greatful for)! She is also practicing sitting up using a Boppy and is doing very well. It won't be long before I find her sitting up in her crib in the morning! Way to go Audrey!
There was a fire drill at school today and they said Nate laughed the whole time the alarm was sounding. That little baby just cracks himself up all the time. He is almost always smiling. It's funny though, this morning Emily was crying in the hallway because I wouldn't let her in the babies room. I was changing Nate at the time and every time Emily let out another big cry Nate made a boo-boo lip. He's a sensitive baby like Jake was. That's my boy!
Tonight I broke out my bicycle and rode with Jake and Emily down to the park. They love riding their bikes now and don't have much trouble. Jake was so excited that I was riding a bike too, he kept looking at me instead of where he was going. He started drifting to the curb, as soon as his training wheel rode up on the curb, his back tire would come off the ground and his bike stopped inspite of his peddaling. This happened several times. He's was just so happy to be out riding his bike with momma he didn't care if he had to get off his bike and pull it down off the curb a few times; he was smiling the whole time.
Emily has a new "baby" in her collection. Her name is "big girl". She's cute. Emily puts her in the baby Bumbo and Jumperoo, bouncy seat, and empty car seats. Nothing will freak out a momma quicker than seeing a "baby" sitting in the Jumperoo at 3:00 am!
Tomorrow is Olivia's birthday party at Northshore Park and a visit with "The Grandmas" and Sunday is the Father's Day BBQ and pool party!

Dental Floss

The name of the game is now "dental floss"! Jake and Emily are the most well flossed 3 year olds in The Woodlands. They floss several times a day and try to take their little floss container to bed with them. They recently had their first dentist appointment with Dr. Jon. Jake was very brave and didn't cry at all. He sat on Jeff's lap and layed back while they cleaned his teeth and did the exam.
Emily cried during the teeth cleaning but liked the exam. I think it was just her shy side coming out. They were both very proud of themselves afterward for going to the dentist. We tell them "Dr. Jon would be so proud" while they floss their teeth everyday. We can now use denatal floss as a reward for good behavior. Funny.