Tuesday Tuesday Tuesday

 (Kiley)

They always tell you that "they grow up so fast..." and in the midst of late night feedings, multiple blowouts and baby food smeared on every surface you sometimes forget that. Or putting your two year old in time out because she managed to dump a whole can of rice on the floor just because she knew you told her not to.... and then you turn around and suddenly... they aren't sweet little newborns any more! Some how right before your eyes they are changing and growing and learning new things.

Especially with Abby... I can't believe how grown up she is getting. 

A few things she is enjoying right now:

• Riding her 'bike' (Tricycle)
• Elmo & Abby Cadabby & Cookie Monster & Ernie & Big Bird & Grover
• Holding the baby puppies that my sister brought over to stay with us for a few days (such cute pudgie things!)
• Cereal.. the girl who NEVER eats breakfast wants like three bowls a day! Something about Trix I guess
• Splashing in the pool... or really anything involved with water
• Making cookies (the fake wooden type)
• Changing her baby's diapers or putting different clothes on them. 

Kara and Kiley have added another food to their small diets... bananas. I think they liked the sweet potatoes better. I'm sure they will catch on to them fast though. Wow are they little munchers. I managed to get in TWO feedings with them today. What a lot of work. Kara is especially hard to feed because she likes to get her fist and hands involved which usually contributes to baby food being everywhere. If you can hold onto the spoon while feeding her than it is a success. I guess she just really gets excited about her food! I think they really love being able to try new things. Abby loves to help when I let her... sometimes it's just too hard to have that many hands involved!

The girls have really dropped their formula intake. Apparantly I'm still able to keep up with them... perhaps it's the increase in other calories but I haven't felt the need to supplement. My other question for you seasoned mommies out there. Kiley has on 3 separate occasions puked baby food back up after eating? With different foods. Is this normal? Kara doesn't do it and I don't remember Abby doing it when she was little.... It's not a lot but enough to stain my carpet.... lol

Let me know if you have any ideas! 

Night!

Green Beans and Sweet Potatoes

... that is what the girls are into now. Kiley will eat both, the sweet potatoes with a little more fervor than the green beans. Kara on the other hand gags when I give her the green beans. So far I've only been able to feed them baby food once a day. I probably should increase this but I guess we are just starting out so perhaps it isn't too bad.

(Kara)

(Kiley)

The girls are all recovering from our crazy weekend. Abs had her two year check up yesterday. She got one shot which she was less than thrilled about. Otherwise she did well. My pediatrician.... I know I've complained about him before... and maybe I just need to bite the bullet and switch but good grief I swear he doesn't listen to a thing I say..

I told him that when she was bit/stung by a bug she had a reaction to it... I asked him what could have caused that type of reaction (aka type of bug... bee? ant? other?)... his response. "A bug probably bit or stung her." um... yes... I just said that. Perhaps I should clarify more. Bee or ant allergies can have more severe 2nd reactions... I wanted to know if he thought it could be possible she had a reaction to one of them... but yes,... a bug got her.... why didn't I know that.


Doctor "So she's drinking plenty of water and milk?" No... she doesn't drink milk. This is like our 30th visit (exaggerating) ... I've told you she's intolerant to the milk protein, it upsets her stomach. Doctor: "Oh she has a milk intolerance? Ok..." Then he starts going through the developmental things like potty training etc. Doctor "You can drop her intake of whole milk to 1% or 2% milk" Seriously?! I just told you she doesn't drink milk. 

I stopped talking at all to him at that point and let him finish his routine. I seriously don't want to take the girls in for their 6 month check ups next week. He does... not... listen. Not to anything I say. Ok rant done. I should just change doctors eh?

(Kiley)

Otherwise Abby is doing very well.  On the smaller size for her age as far as weight but with how much that girl runs who is surprised!

Kiley and Kara can sit up mostly unassisted right now, a few tip overs are to be expected. Kara is really army crawling around. Today she was chasing me as I was vacuuming at my Mom and Dad's house. Kiley is just starting to 'womp' as we call it on her hands and knees. I'm sure she'll be right behind Kara soon... or going in the opposite direction as she loves to do. I think in a way Kiley is more apt to cry until we pick her up... balancing on her stomach and flailing her hands and feet. Kara is more gung ho and will come after us if she wants us. The more upset she is the better she crawls... wow they can scream when they are mad. Sounds like angry little bob cats... sometimes it's a little funny how much they sound like baby cats.

(kiley)

The twins are sleeping so-so right now. Better than lately but not as well as before. Hoping for a good night tonight... my head hurts I'm so tired. And THAT is my cue to go.

P.S If there is an overload of Kiley photos... it is because the other two have not been as interested in 'playing' with me and my camera habits lol. Hopefully more soon!

A wedding, A zoo... and some cake!

Wow what a busy weekend! We had a bunch of Tom's family come up for a wedding and to celebrate Abby's birthday. It was a whirlwind but I think we all had a lot of fun.

It was a little crazy going to a wedding with two 6 month old babies and two 2 year olds. Yep it was a lot of work to keep all of them semi-quiet! There were quite a few other kids and babies at the wedding so I didn't feel too bad but I really didn't want Abby's "Duckies!!!!" To show up on their wedding video. Thankfully we survived and after a supper at the reception hall we called it quits. The wedding started pretty late (6pm) so by the time we got out of there it was almost 9:30. The kids were exhausted.

Yesterday we went to the zoo to celebrate Abby's birthday. She also got a few fun other toys from her Grandma and Grandpa and her aunts and uncles. She got a little tea cart with all these little dishes and then some play food to go along with that from McDonalds lol. She got a little stroller for outside and a set of outdoor tools and a bubble gun. Of course a few outfits to go along with that too and some Abby pj's.

The zoo was a lot of fun but HOT and HUMID. Strange how the weather can flip from 40's and windy to 80's and humid... and windy. Tom's family came along with my grandma and a friend of mine. We were quite a crew! Sadly Africa was closed off so we couldn't go back and see the elephants and other animals like that... but I think we were all hot and tired and needed some AC. I'm so thankful for everyone that came out to play with us. I'm sure we will have to go again sometime with just our little family. Thankfully we didn't have the winds yesterday at least. I think the whole week has a chance of storms. We went out to eat at Olive Garden after the zoo... that was a zoo in itself! I think we were all a little sad that the $6 soup salad and breadstick deal isn't around anymore. hmmmm :(

I made a cake for Abby's birthday... yes a homemade cake with homemade icing and decorating and everything. The cake pan that I used was less than wonderful however and took off the top layer of the cake... which I had to scrape out of the pan with the help of Tom's mom. I had to draw the Abby Cadabby completely free hand with icing... and it was my first attempt at even decorating a cake like this so I didn't quite get everything I needed for the icing bags and ended up having to duck tape the tips to the plastic bags. In the end I was quiet impressed it turned out as well as it did. If you are a cake goddess please don't judge my amateur abilities!!! lol In the end it was for Abby so that is all that matters... but Abby? If you are still into Sesame street in a year... we are doing Elmo!

Abby is still sleeping, I think she is completely worn out. She has her 2 year check up today... hoping she doesn't need to get shots or she will be cranky! But we will see. Kara is really 'womping' now and is rocking back and forth on her knees and hands. Won't be long till she is really crawling now! Time for some coffee and cleaning!

Graduated

It's hard to write when you are listening to The Land Down Under music video playing in the background. Seriously makes me laugh every time I listen to it. So funny! I love the stuffed koala :o)

So today...

Abby and I played outside quite a bit again but it was slightly more windy and so less desirable. Still beautiful out though! We did some vacuuming and she enjoyed me chasing her around the living room with it. She did find it scary when she accidentally turned it on once. It might have just startled her a bit.

Kiley and Kara had their doctors appointment with the GI specialist today. Wow did they ever get a lot of attention! So many of my co-workers commented on how much they look like Abby did when she was little. They also loved the flower headbands I had on them... and my stroller Hawk. Many people call it the "Caddilac of strollers" which makes me laugh. I do love that stroller!!  But Kiley is 15lbs now and Kara is 14lb 11oz. Both growing like weeds! He said they were both doing wonderfully and don't need to come back any more. They are graduated! Yay!

On to solid foods!

But that is the big news for now :o)

And the winner is...

Those who picked Kiley....

Because she is the one wearing the purple flower

Are they starting to look more alike?

Birthday Birthday Birthday TWO!

So I had every intention of writing in my blog last night, I even had the page opened and ready to go. But then I got distracted and forgot about it again. By the way... I discovered that a ten second timer, balancing a camera on grass and wrangling three girls for a picture is hard work. But I still thought this picture was too cute. :)

Abby's Birthday:

Monday we had a little celebration over at my house. My dad and brother also have birthdays within a few days of Abby so we celebrated a little for them too. My dad picked up some Godfathers (yum!) and Tom and I picked up an ice cream cake- where the remnants are still sitting in our freezer. Anyone want cake? We first made a run to town and got Abby some balloons. She really really loves balloons and a special Abby Cadabby balloon topped it even more.

It was so much fun to have my family over. The weather was gorgeous and the guys threw a football. My parents got Abby a little T-ball set and she spent most of yesterday hitting the ball. As long as I cheered whenever she hit it she thought it was the most amazing thing. They also picked up a wiggly catterpillar sprinkler that I'm excited to give a try once she has someone to run through it with her. Right now she is a little unsure as to why I want her to play with something that sprays cold water at her. When I turned down the pressure she enjoyed filling her little bowl up with water and giving her baby a bath. Whatever works! My parents also picked up a little Elmo phone... which Kiley and Kara have had a blast with. I keep hearing the "Boop boop bee boop" sound of Elmo making button noises lol.

My dad and brothers and Tom went and picked up some 'new' outdoor play equipment so our backyard is starting to really look like a playground :) I also picked up a few more plants to landscape the back with. I got 4 out of the 5 planted yesterday and Abby helped me water them. "Flower thirsty mommy?" One flower really got a good drink! We also planted the flowers that my mom gave me for mothers day and a few 'distressed ones' I picked up at Lowes. They sure didn't look distressed to me but for 50 cents I'll take them!

Yesterday (Her actual birthday) was quieter and we just hung around the house and played. I had thought about going to town to a park or something but she was having so much fun with her new toys. Tom and I got her a little red 'bike' (tricycle) that she absolutely loves. We knew it would go over well because every single time we walked by one either on a walk or in the stores she would say "Abby's Bike?" She already has it figured out how the pedals work, now she just needs to build up strength towards pushing it. Yesterday I would periodically sing the birthday song to her and tell her that it was her birthday... whenever I did that she would get the goofiest smile on her face and say "Abby's Birthday!"

Kiley and Kara are both just about to the point where they can sit up... still a bit tipsy but they can do it once in awhile. Kara especially can really crawl and yep... thats right I still don't have a gate. I think I need to go find one today. It's too hard to keep track of two crawling babies. Kiley so far only really goes one direction... backwards. So as long as I point her in one direction we do ok. They enjoyed the weather yesterday too. I'm loving the 70's. We are going to have another birthday party with Tom's family and a few others this weekend. We are just going to go to the zoo and I'm going to attempt to make an Abby Cadabby cake. Be forewarned I have never decorated a cake before! My sister I think is going to help. Well Abby is hungry for oatmeal, cheese and hot dogs.... mmmm....

Bugs and Other things

Off to bed but before I go, a few updates. Beautiful weather outside means less time at the computer inside... so a slight delay in blogger posts. We have been going on a lot of walks, Abby tagging along pushing her little pink stroller with either a doll inside or 'baby Elmo.' We also FINALLY got some weed killer/turf builder down on the lawn and amazing... I hope it means our lawn will look nicer longer. So we got some yard work done, Abby got a new set of play toys for outside (lol as if she needed more) and I started reorganizing the basement so that there is a designated play area. I think it will work great considering our living room was getting overwhelmed with toys lately.

There are a lot of projects that I have on the "To Do" list. It's nice to get a few of them marked off. Tom asked me if I was nesting... I told him "Yep due any day" hahahaha.... no it's called SPRING cleaning... I'm in the mood to declutter and improve things around the house and it's hard to do alone. So when I have an extra body to help with crying babies then I jump at the chance to get things done. I need to fold the laundry on our bed but I feel like it may end up on tomorrow's list. 

Speaking of crying babies my poor Abby had an allergic reaction to something. We are guessing it was some type of bug but her right eye was swollen up and purple/red and she had welts the size of silver dollars on her arms. And it wasn't just the welts... I knew something was wrong when she kept crying and crying and crying and crying. So as soon as I figured it out, and got her on Benedryl every 4-6 hours things seemed a little better. Ugh I wish I caught on to when she wasn't feeling well better! I try so hard to but sometimes it's just so hard to know. Today was the second day and finally tonight it was starting to go down. The picture below is a lot better than what it looked like before! It was almost swollen shut this morning and dark purple,red.  It concerns me that she had such a reaction to something and I don't know what it was... mostly because the first reaction isn't the worst... subsequent reactions could be much worse. Hopefully it's nothing but I will keep a closer eye on her while she is playing outside. It just didn't really show up until 2-4 hours after she was out playing. Who knows.... The nurse I talked to said it would take about two days to get better. I hope tomorrow is easier for her!

So we didnt go to church this morning. But if you were at my house this morning you would understand why. 

Tom and I got a chance to go out on a date tonight. My brave mother and sister babysat while we went out to a movie and had supper. It was amazingly nice. We even got asked if we were over 21 which shocked both of us. We didn't even want to sample the wine. I was so upset with the service I would have walked out except that Tom had ordered a soda and I didn't want to mess with paying for it. We just ordered the soup, salad and breadsticks and it took them forever to get it to us! I hate it when the waiters/waitresses make it seem like you are an inconvenience to their social life. Seriously awful service! But outside of that Tom and I had a lot of fun. :) Abby was a little sad when my mom brought the girls back to our house and we hadn't gotten home yet. Tom read her a few stories and sang a few bedtime songs with her and she was feeling much better. I'm sure she was just over tired and had played hard at my mom's house. Hard to believe her birthday is in two days! Can't wait to celebrate it :)

Well time for bed!

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?