Blessings

Kiley is startling in the bassinet near my bed. Ugh our room is a mess... I think I need to get around to cleaning it ... some day :) Right now there are so many other things I need to do...

...like making preeties with chalk on the cement pad in our backyard with Abby
...going for a walk with the twins in "Hawk" and Abby pushing her baby doll in her pink stroller
...sitting in the recliner and snuggling with Kiley as she tries to discover a way to get her mouth on my chin (she loves that for some reason)
...like cooking plastic fake food in a pretend coffee maker and enjoying the apple sandwich Abby has made
... watching the "Elmo Abby" video for the 100th time with Abby
... singing "One, Two, Three... Jesus Loves me" With Abby and tucking her in like a little bird, in her very own little bird's nest. Did I mention my mom did this for me when I was a little girl? She used to tuck me in every single night, say my prayers with me as a little girl every night as I went to sleep. Even when I was a highschooler she would come and sit on my bed to talk about the day. I want to do that for my girls....

It's funny how being a mom makes you reflect. If you've heard this before I apologize but when I was in first grade my teacher had us do a project that was supposed to help our classmates get to know us. They asked all of the usual questions like "what is your favorite food", "What is your favorite color" and they had us cut out pictures or draw things as part of the answer. So I remember drawing my family (short a few of the members we have now!) and there was this spot that said "What do you want to be when you grow up" I remember this so vividly because so many people didn't get why I cut this random picture of someone out of a magazine when most people did things like a fireman or a doctor etc etc...

When I grew up I wanted to be a mom.... more badly then anything I have ever wanted to do that has always remained true. And I've had such great examples of parents. God blessed me more than I will ever know.

The girls are ever so mobile now. Tom had to rescue Kiley or Kara from under the table tonight. (sorry girls... not sure who it was he couldn't remember) Still funny to think that one of you made it from the living room to under the table before Dad noticed. :)

Please pray for good health for my girls... I know that they are just minor little bugs but Kara and Abby can't seem to kick this nasty cold and I'm sure that it is frustrating for them to feel so icky. I would love for Abby to be healthy on her birthday that is coming up! Hard to believe she's growing up so fast....

"Mommy hold you?" Quite possibly more beautiful even than "I love you" from Abby... probably because it is such a tangible, physical expression of our love. "Yes Abby, Mommy hold you"

Warmmmmm

I just wanted to post that Kara is running a temp again tonight. 100.6 so not too high but enough to make her uncomfortable. I gave her a little Tylenol and that seemed to help her get to sleep. I think one of the girls are stirring but I'm unsure which at the moment.

Abby had a great therapy appointment her Occupational Therapist is soooo impressed with the progress she has made! Who could be surprised lol? She is incredibly bright and honestly sometimes I think it isn't so much anything 'wrong' with her it's more redirecting or improving MY parenting skills. It has so much more to do with me then her. I learn how to be more patient in certain circumstances... I wish all moms of toddlers had the benefits of going through therapy like this, I've found it's helped me interact with other toddlers as well because I understand the way their brains work a little better and I've learned activities that work well with toddlers. Simple things. Who couldn't be overwhelmed with the hundreds of thousands of things being thrown at them constantly and the sheer number of things they are learning. It makes me appreciate toddlers and babies more :)


I'm proud of her.

I hope tomorrow brings less rain and warmer temps. We are ready to play outside again!

New Sign Off

I decided that I should change my profile name to something more discrete. One of the nicknames my dad gave me as a little girl was 'goose'... seemed fitting to change my profile name to "Mother Goose"

Wasn't I cute? :) Hard to believe I've grown up isn't it Dad?

It's still raining!

Kara is singing herself to sleep as I write this while rocking her in the rocking chair. It is pretty sweet considering she is warm and soft and smells like baby shampoo. mmmm

Today was a little crazy but not too bad. I took all three girls into the doctor alone which can be a bit scary. Thanks to my super awesome stroller I am now dubbing "Hawk" (Because it's yellow and black and looks like Hawkeye colors... yes I'm that mom) things went ok. Abby sat on one side, Kara in the other and Kiley rode in the Beco. I was a little worried that it wouldn't fit through the doors or into the exam rooms (if you have seen the clinic you would understand) but it maneuvered beautifully! It had a great rain shield which was awesome considering it rained ... again. I got nearly as many compliments on the stroller as I did on the twins... but the girls always win out. BTW Abby also loves the stroller which in my book makes it worth every single cent.

Abby was running a low grade temp when I brought her in. The doctor said there are two options. 1) It is a cold virus that is going around and this was the first day aka the worst day... or 2) he stated that RSV is really going around right now and they might have that. 3-4 days is when it peaks. He seemed to be fairly optimistic that because they got it before and not that long ago that they might still have some immunity built up against it. He said to keep an eye on Abby's cough and give her a neb if she starts to get wheezy but for now give her Tylenol/Motrin for the fever/feeling icky. And her ears looked ok by the way so no ear infection ( I think I will be forever paranoid about her having ear infections after I let her go so long with the last one)

While we are on medical updates I may be switching formulas with Kiley and Kara. I don't think it is agreeing with their little tummies. Kiley has also started breaking out in a rash on her face after I feed her from the bottle. I'm still only giving them a bottle once in awhile and have really pulled back since we started having issues. I talked with the clinic and they will probably try two other types of formula to see if they like them better.

We went to the mall after the doctor's appointment. I really just needed a little time out of the house and because it has been so rainy (and cold!) I couldn't take my girls outside. We ended up walking around the mall for an hour and a half. The surprising thing? I didn't buy a thing! Ok I bought lunch for Abby and I but that was under ten bucks. :) She was so cute sitting in the stroller munching on her chicken nuggets and apple fries. She loved going for a ride and she did so great! She even helped to put Kara's pacifier in when it fell out. (Another bonus!) Kiley and Kara took naps while we looked around. It was a nice break but time to go home!

Abby sang along to one of the Kutless songs that was on the radio while we drove on the way home it was so cute. She kept catching the last few words "Jesus coooomes" And would sing that whenever it came to that point in the chorus. She really does love music! When we got home Abby ended up taking a 3 1/2 hour nap, Kara took a 2 hour nap and Kiley took a 2 hour nap... slightly staggered but enough to allow me to lay down for an hour or so. It was nice! Rainy day naps are the best.

 K&K helped.

Check out the video on Facebook :) If you can't get to it and want to watch it please comment below and I'll try to link you to it. 

3 Fevers

Well all three of my girls were running temps last night. They have all had the runny nose icky bug for two weeks now? I'm wondering if it went to their ears. I put a call into the doctor this morning to see if we can check for ear infections because honestly... having three run fevers and crazy cranky is beyond what I can handle alone. It took Tom and I until 11:30pm last night to FINALY get K&K down ... and to STAY down. I got them to sleep 4 times last night and 3 of the times they were up 10 minuets later. Frustrating to say the least. Abby is also coughing so it's time to make sure there isn't more going on. If there isn't so be it... I want to make sure!

Under Construction!

Please bear with me as I try to get the bugs worked out of this new template. Takes time and that is something I just have in limited bursts! Eventually things will be pretty again!

**Update**

Things are closer to being finished! I think I like the look of this layout better than the last and I hope that you enjoy it too. If you have any suggestions please let me know!

Rain Rain Go away... :)

We had a wonderful day at home with Tom and the kids. The weather was nasty and wet and cold but it was nice to snuggle up indoors. I will be ready for this rainy bit to end so that we can go outside and play again! The girls are taking it well being cooped up and we have tried to make a few little trips out of the house to make things easier for us all. I love this picture of my girls... Abby's shirt says "Big Sis" but it's hard to read when she is so snuggly with her sisters.

It sounds like my new stroller will be coming tomorrow! (Or perhaps the day after... it's hard to know) But I'm so excited about it and cannot WAIT until we can all go for a walk with it! It will make our trips out much easier. It is a Schwinn Double Jogging stroller that has some pretty cool features like individual reclining seats and a  front wheel that can be either locked or allowed to swivel. I wanted to have it before Abby's 2nd birthday party. :)

Kiley only woke up once last night at 3am.  Now Kara was up 5-6 times or more but at least Kiley was only up once! (There are days I swear having one baby is easy as pie... lol) But Kiley slept amazing in the crib and I'm hoping that she will continue this sleep pattern... even if I think that is wishful thinking. But maybe! I'm trying an experiment and put Kara into the crib tonight to see if she sleeps as well in it. If so there is a good chance here in the near future that we may be figuring out some way of getting both girls into a crib. But then we have to figure out where to put it!

For those of you waiting for the Barney dance... I have tried to video it unsucessfully twice now. She danced... but stopped by the time I got out the camera. It seems like she has a sixth sense that can figure out when I'm about to record her doing something super cute. Oh well! Perhaps I just need to be better prepared with the camera. At least the battery is charged now!

Abby can mimic pretty much everything we say now which means that are television viewing options are extremely limited right now. Which is ok... we should be cutting more of it out as it is. Hard on a rainy day though! It is amazing to watch her learn 'our language' and when to use certain phrases. Like today she said "Want apple" today when we were grocery shopping. Which might not seem like much compared to what she has been saying... but this was totally unprompted and she used the word 'want' to tell us that she 'desired' the apple. Ok enough tech speak but after 'studying' Spanish for how many years it is amazing to me how kids pick up language and learn it so quickly. She can also sing the entire Twinkle Twinkle Little Star song and she is working on the 1,2,3 Jesus Loves Me song along with her Abby Cadabby Lullabye.

My favorite thing that she says is still "Mommy hold you Abby" My heart melts into a pool of mush when she says that. Or "Sorry Mommy!" when she does something naughty. Oh it's hard to discipline when she so earnestly says that she is sorry! Especially with those beautiful brown eyes. We are really starting to see her beautiful personality come through... like any two year old she can be a little 'terror' sometimes but she truly does have an empathetic and caring heart. I hope that I can continue to nurture that!

Well time for bed before babies awaken. :) Aren't they special?

Happy Mother's Day

If you still read my blog I'm sorry that I haven't posted much lately. Things have been a little hectic around here as I had finals this last week, have been editing for three different photo sessions and combined my efforts with a neighbor to participate in a city-wide garage sale.

So yes a little crazy.

The girls finally seem to be on the mend even if Abby's little nose still likes to keep running. Thankfully they are all starting to sleep a little better. I 'think' these last few nights I've gotten a little more sleep finally. I think they are sleeping in 3 hour stretches instead of 30 minuets to an hour. I know of at least twice when I was so tired I couldn't get up to get one of the girls out of the crib... but honestly she went back to sleep and it was just a few minuets of crying. It makes me wonder if I should be letting them cry a little once in awhile at night?

The strategy won't work with the bassinet though as it is too unstable and small for me to let one of the girls get worked up in. Part of me wonders if I should get another crib or how much longer this arrangement will last. I have a suspicion that they sleep better in the crib. Do I move a piece of furniture out, buy another crib? I can't move Abby out of a toddler bed... or would she be ok? A lot of questions... I'm not sure what the right thing to do is yet. Any suggestions out there?

Can I just say I love my girls? I love how Kiley snuggles her head into my shoulder and makes these soft squeaky sounds when she is happy to see me and how she grabs my face in her hands and tries to eat me. Or how Kara makes little roaring/growling noises when she is excited and how she laughs when I play with her. Did you know that when they see me they smile? They search for my face in a crowd... how special is that? And Abby... I love when she wants me to hold her and my heart melts when she plays with her babies or sings or takes my hand in hers. I love when she can sense that I'm having a bad moment and she tells me "It's ok mommy" while patting my back or giving me a hug.... she kisses my owies and tells me "No more owies mommy.."

A few of my favorite mother's day quotes to ponder and enjoy:

She never quite leaves her children at home, even when she doesn't take them along.  ~Margaret Culkin Banning


A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them.  ~Victor Hugo


A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.  ~Tenneva Jordan


Sweater, n.:  garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly.  ~Ambrose Bierce


Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs in my field, since the payment is pure love.  ~Mildred B. Vermont


Happy Mothers Day :)