All Grown up

I hope that some day I can get a shot like this when they are all 15 & 16 and smashed into the bathroom getting ready... it is quite the meeting spot right now. And we have gone through so much toilet paper lately. Casualties of the potty war I guess. Roll one went into the bathtub, roll two was unwound and roll three was shamelessly dropped into the toilet....

Meanwhile our house is still spotless... or well... kinda... not really... actually very messy....I'm not sure if Abby ever found what she was actually looking for.

The girls are slowly starting to feel better. My precious Kiley is growing up so quickly!

When did they grow up? I swear I only turned away for just a moment. (Kara)

And baby Chris ... so cute :o) He is just starting to smile and coo... 

And Abby told me she was going to tell her teacher on me again... time for bed!

Letter to my Son

My dear Christopher,

One month already? Hard to believe how quickly time has flown by. It truly vanishes right before your eyes. So Christopher how big are you? 8lb 9oz (they said 8lb 15oz but you had a pretty full diaper so I'm going to fudge a bit) & 21 inches.

Things you are doing: You are just starting to look and really "see" faces. You have the most inquisitive look on your face when you stare at Daddy and the girls. Mom you hang out with a lot so I tend to either get the happy (I've been wanting you to hold me mom) face or the sad (why didn't you pick me up sooner) face.

You still sleep quite well most nights. The last few days you have had a lot of trouble sleeping because your nose gets stuffed up and you can't breathe. You and the little boogie sucker are not friends right now, he makes you quite upset. You refuse to sleep in the pink bouncy chair for more then an hour at a time and prefer to snuggle up next to mom or force me to lay on my back so that you can lay on top of my chest. Perhaps you just don't like the color pink? (lol)

We started you on cloth diapers and you are doing great with them! You like to be changed a little sooner because the cloth 'feels' wet unlike disposable diapers. Does this mean you will want to potty train sooner? Believe me your dad and I won't mind in the least if you do!

Your sisters love to hold you and kiss you... in fact it's hard to keep them from kissing you constantly. You put up with things really well, as it is good you do. My dearest little buddy those sisters will be after you for the rest of your life, it is better now to accept it and join their ranks. I promise I won't let them force you to play Barbies all the time (though you will need to play occasionally) and I'll make sure they play matchbox cars or tractors with you.

Always know how much your father and I love you. We thank God for all of the beautiful children he has allowed into our lives. May you grow up to be a strong man of character and love for the Lord.

Love,
Mom

Yesterday

Trying something a little different today- here was our chaotic day- :o) Enjoy the photo overload... 

7:15- Girls all up, trying to get them ready for the day. Kiley to the potty, Kara to the potty, tell Abby to go to the potty, dress Kiley and Kara, tell Abby to go to the potty. Pour cereal for all three. Change Christopher, sit down to feed Christopher, refill Kara's bowl of cereal, finish feeding Christopher, refill Kiley and Kara's cereal.

(Abby and Kiley filling their shopping carts)

8:00- Wake Tom up, get Abby dressed, prepare coffee machine in the rare case I have enough time and energy to get some. Get dressed.

(Kara browsing the meat market)

8:15: Tell Abby again to find her shoes, have lengthy discussion about lost fairy wings, break up fight between Kiley and Kara. Go over diaper bag to make sure we have everything we need. Find three pairs of shoes, Herd group into the car, tell Abby again that we don't have time to find her doll's fairy wings. Pack up Christopher and decide that instant cappichino will have to suffice this morning.

(The girls farming-Abby was pulling carrots out)

And the day has begun... exhausted yet?

9:00- Research Study appointment with Christopher- where of course he WILL not go back to sleep like they want.

(Kara was too afraid to go near the pretend pig...)

10:30- Chris and I walk out with 35 dollars in gift cards and a package of diapers (part of the research study) Tom has returned from dropping Abby off at preschool.

(Can you find Abby and Kiley?)

10:45- I run Kiley and Kara into the bathroom at the mall while Tom looks for a tool he needs. We browse through the clothes that is on clearance and pick up another package of Dora undies and a pair of jeans for 5 dollars.

(Kiley and Kara having coffee and a meal in the sod house)

11:00- Tom and I tell Kara to put back the candy bar (why do they put it at their levels!) for the third time. She obeys well but stubbornly keeps at it. We pay for the clothes and Tom has one other place in the mall he would like to check.

11:15- Kiley and Kara sit in the mall hall in a little seating area with couches and chairs. A man at a piano begins to play music and they start to dance. Scare off the man that had been sitting their previously. (sorry!) Still no tool so we leave to go get Abby.

11:30- Pick up Abby from preschool and admire her little goodies and Easter Basket.

11:45- I stop into Hyvee to pick up Sandwich things- the cart I chose shocked me every other step (annoying!) After I finally found the bread which was cleverly hidden near the alcohol (apparently if you drink you must have bread... or is it a buffer of some type?)  I am shocked to see all of my kids in a shopping cart behind me. Tom informs me that not long after I left Abby decided she HAD to go to the bathroom. So without a phone he had to drag all of them into the store and get Abby to a bathroom. Fun times.

12:15- we stop at Subway to pick up lunch for Tom and I. Take Kara and Kiley in for another bathroom run. Taking two toddlers into the bathroom is a lot of work- especially when they don't understand that surfaces in a public restroom like the toilet, toilet bowl, floor... are extremely disgusting. I had to wash each of their hands twice... and then forced them to line up against the wall and to stop TOUCHING things!

12:30 WE FINALLY GET ON THE ROAD

1:00 Everyone asleep in the car after a little Simon and Garfunkle Scarbarough Fair... peace at last (Tom is asleep too)

(Daddy teaching his three girls how to change a tire already... lol)

2:00- We arrive at the Children's museum- we somehow got lost and while admiring the play ground missed the fact that there was a large T-Rex Dinosaur standing in front of us... not sure how we missed that.

(This dinosaur and one other are motion activated, Kara is hiding behind me right here. It was quite impressive and scary!)

The musuem was great for the kids, if we didn't live an hour away I think we would be up there quite often! Everything is kid geared and yet fun for parents too. These are the photos you have been admiring through this post :o)

By 4 o'clock and another potty accident the parents were all ready to go home. The promise of fruit snacks led the girls out of the musuem and they all told the staff how sad they were to go (loudly). We headed back to town and picked up chicken nuggets for the girls who were now starving (at 5 o'clock)

5:30- we were parked outside the medical spa- I had a 30 minute massage scheduled at 6pm. Well of course all three had to go potty again. The spa people were so wonderful letting me drag my three into the spa bathroom to avoid another accident.

6:00- an amazing massage- the best I have ever had. The lady commented on the amount of tension I had in my shoulders and back... surprise surprise eh?

7:00 we made it home, fed them again and got ready for bed... phew what a day!!!

Onward April!

Declare a National Holiday! The girls slept in past 7am! (Till 7:30) lol and I can honestly say that Christopher had a pretty decent night himself. I'm glad his fussy nights of being up till 2am have gone away at least for the present.

Our weather has been absolutely unbelievable, 90 degrees yesterday! I had the girls out playing in the sprinkler for an hour (on April 1st) I had completely forgotten that it was Palm Sunday yesterday, thankfully I had the girls fairly dressed up. Abby was pretty confused about being rushed into a line of kids and being given a branch to wave while she sang. Sadly no camera came along for this. It was still pretty special to watch her singing with the other kids. We are finally reaching this stage!

Christopher has started to become very interested in faces and the people talking to him. He will just look and look at you, perhaps give a little smile and make a few squeaks. Soon he will be gabbing away with the rest of the girls. Hard to believe he will be a month old tomorrow!

Tom worked 8-12am again last night so we spent most of the evening with my parents. My brother and future sister in law were there and wanted to see Christopher. They picked up a few cute outfits for him, I can't wait until he can fit into all of the cute outfits people have picked up for him that are 3 months.

We are planning to go up to the Children's musuem today after Tom's job interview. It is supposed to be closer to normal temperatures today so we figured it would be a good day to get out and enjoy that.


Well I need to scrounge up more panties for a few little girls and put down this snuggly little baby. (also need coffee!)

Till later...

Spring Bliss

3Sons are a heritage from the Lord,

children a reward from him.

4Like arrows in the hands of a warrior

are sons born in one’s youth.

5Blessed is the man

whose quiver is full of them.

Abby (3) Kiley (2) Kara (2) & Christopher (3 weeks)

All of my beautiful beloved children. 

There is no end to work and messes when you have 2 year old twins. But the bond these two share is unbelievable and I am privileged to be able to watch this grow and develop. I couldn't imagine my life without them. (Kara is doing the kissing, Kiley wiped it off and said "yuck!"

Spring is here. And I'm in love :o)

Last of March

Third day in a row I've had the best of intentions to post on here. Of course you already know how that went.

Wednesday we went to the zoo with all of the kids, we checked out the Dino exhibit. Kara hid behind my legs for most of it. Apparently the giant T-Rex growling with it's large teeth was a bit frightening (The V-Raptors taking down some other herbivore were not exactly fear relieving either)

Abby just wanted to go see the deer (I know... we go to the zoo to see deer) It was still a lot of fun with possibly only 10 other people in the entire place we had a free run. And we found out our membership ends in May not March like we originally thought. (perfect!) Christopher traveled in my Moby wrap. Have I mentioned yet how much I love this thing. I'll try to get a photo of him riding around in it but here is the gist of what it is: A large piece of fabric that you wrap in a certain way to hold babies.

 A) He can snuggle up close, feels secure and will often sleep when I'm shopping because he feels like he's being held.
B)I can slip him in and out with no trouble
C) The fabric packs up quickly in the diaper bag for troubling... Or I can just wear it around!

Yesterday Abby had Preschool again and I took her along with Christopher. We had an elaborate conversation about Easter, Jesus dying on the cross and his coming back to life again. It was pretty amazing listening to her talk about it... especially since she is 3.... and when there are inserts like "Mom fairies don't die" and "Swiper doesn't like heaven because he is naughty." I was really impressed with how much she understood... and was glad at the same time that fairies and Swiper made it in because after all... she is still 3.

The weather has been beautiful and we have been spending a lot of time on walks, going to the parks or just hanging around out in our backyard. I'm not sure if I'm ready for the temps to go back to a more normal 50 degrees (wait it's the end of March, why are we complaining!) lol

Potty training is progressing, we are still having a lot of accidents but they seem to be understanding the concept more and more. I'm hoping that maybe by Easter we will be a little more consistent? Time will tell! Once K&K have it down I believe Chris will be transitioning into cloth diapers... after potty training twins cloth diapering honestly doesn't seem that bad. :o)

I think the thing they love the most (outside of sitting on the potty 50 times a day- their choice not mine) is that they get to wear dresses all day and no pants... that and their Dora panties :o)

Potty Wars

I was armed with an arsenal of new panties, the famous Ribbit potty and a large laundry basket...

Wow I'm not sure if I'm prepared for this potty training thing! (With a 3 year old and a 3 week old) I can hardly turn around without someone needing something or doing something they shouldn't be. I think we went through nearly the entire drawer of panties.

Our goal for the day... to recognize that A) They are wet ... dont ask me, somehow they aren't picking up on that. and B) That when they are wet they just 'peed' and need to go on the potty. Rewards are also harder because it never fails that the minute I'm sitting down to a screaming Christopher to feed him... SOMEONE needs to go potty. So off they run and I have no idea if they actually go or not. So far I've held off on the treats unless I actually see them go. Not sure what I'll do with this issue.

So we are on to Day 2 of the potty war. Kiley has successfully gone twice I believe (yesterday) and Kara once. They love to run to the potty and most importantly flush the big potty (yikes our poor water bill!)

I'm almost ready to throw in the towel but we'll give it a true shot before I give up. I know they can do it. It just might be more work then I was hoping for (haha!)

(FYI... potty training twins is 3x the work of a single child... I'll let your mind picture the rest)

Tom is working a part time night-ish position lately. The nice thing is that it allows me to stay at home with him and have extra help during the day. The down side is that we really need him to have a full time position soon. But what this means is that I have all 4 to put down at bedtime.

Chris's fussy time starts at 7:45pm- usually when I'm finishing up the other three girl's bath. I get all three scrubbed, pj's on, teeth brush, last chance potty time and then into beds. Then it's hugs, music on, and prayers... (Chris is usually screaming through part of this) Thankfully bedtime has gotten a little better on most nights but it can be quite frustrating at times especially as I'm trying to rock Chris to sleep.

Last night about 8:45 Kiley decides she needs to pee, so Kara and Abby also need to go (of course) Chris is screaming in the recliner while I do this. Kiley sits on the potty and then drops her pj's into the pee. So I sit Kara down on the potty while I change Kiley. By the time I get back Kara has also dropped hers into the toilet. (awesome) Chris is screaming, Abby is running around laughing because she finds it hilarious. I FINALLY get them all back into bed and Chris calmed down when Kara informs me that her kitty ni night is missing... goooooo figure.

We never did find the kitty blanket but she was satisfied with my answer that Daddy would find it when he got home from work.

Final Time: 1 hr 40 minutes - About as long as this blog post ;)


Happy 3 weeks Christopher- hard to believe how quickly the time is passing by. (Still a wonderful little baby who sleeps so well and is such a charmer. Your sisters love to give you kisses, hold and talk to you. )

Photo bomb

The sun is shining, coffee is in hand and a snuggly baby is curled up on my chest. It's a good day. (Screaming in the background... lol)

Kiley and Kara have been 'going at it' more lately. Most of the time I'm not sure I understand what it is they are fighting about. I think the two of them will need to work out whatever issue this is regarding. Their first fight of the day?


Twin Fight One: Kiley doesn't think that Kara needs the bandaid on her knee and keeps trying to rip it off when Kara isn't looking.

Kiley is so upset about this she is still hiding. She started out crying in the hallway and is now underneath the end table by the couch. Eventually she will decide it is ok to come out.


Abby is playing nicely with her ponies and trying desperately to get Kiley or Kara to pretend to be a boy and marry her. (Neither of them want to play with her at all) I think she has resigned to marrying her prince Barbie. (Note to readers looking for birthday ideas: Another prince Barbie (male) would be nice)


We had discussed going out to the Children's museum but Tom didn't really want to go today. Maybe I can talk him into helping with things around the house and going instead on Wednesday. I would like to go to town today and see if I can find sandals for the girls. They all need pairs of them desperately.

Yesterday we went to my parent's house. We haven't been down there in awhile because of being sick or both of us being so busy. The girls had a lot of fun and we probably spent like 3 hours outside . They helped do chores and fed and watered the bunnies (of course wanting to hold them.)

 (Kara)

(Kiley)

Note to my girls and my little prince... if you ever look through your photos and wonder... why are there so few of mom and I? It's because I was there behind the camera :o) Always following you around and clicking snapshots.... and occasionally trying to sneak in a photo of myself.

(Side note... doesnt my sister look a lot like me?!)

Sweet Cuddles

Kara is currently debating with me regarding why she believes that the pink shirt should not be on Kiley but on her instead. Not so happy about that. The more we have these debates the more I am ready to not by a unique thing for them... they are both going to get the same thing! (hah... I wish)

Christopher is cuddling in his favorite spot, head tucked up under my chin and curled up in a ball on my chest. I love how he does this but at the same time... it makes it hard to be motivated to do other things in my house! I apologize to you laundry, dishes and  various other home tasks. i have a baby to snuggle and you have been terribly neglected. :)

Tom has Abby, they should be coming home from preschool soon. Abby is still loving preschool immensely and learning a lot. She hopes that every day is Tuesday or Thursday so that she can go. Thankfully she didn't come down with whatever bug Kiley and Kara caught. They both had the stomach flu again yesterday! Tons of puking... not so happy mom and dad lol. The rest of us are all healthy so I'm hoping that means Christopher remains healthy too.

A few surprises came our way in the form of a package and envelope. I continue to be amazed by the kindness and generosity of the people we call our friends and family. Being on maternity leave and Tom still working part time... well... believe me... we appreciate every single gift more than anyone might ever know.

March March March

I'm snuggling on the couch with Christopher. Probably should be doing thank you cards or cleaning up the kitchen... or living room... or bathroom... let's face it about every room needs a good cleaning. But I like snuggling babies... and they don't stay little very long.

Abby had preschool again this morning but we brought the whole crew up this time. Tom and I and the other 3 ran errands around town while we waited. Abby was the special star of the week so she brought pink cupcakes to school with her (and was very excited about these pink cupcakes)

We were able to stop in and have Tom get his hair cut... almost had Kiley and Kara get theirs done but decided not to when they wanted to charge 10 dollars a piece... 10 dollars for a little trim? Come on... if I had the slightest clue about hair I would do it myself. The lady that I have do my hair is willing to do it for 6-7 dollars a piece so I guess it's a little cheaper. Ugh... perhaps they will just have to sport the baby mullet look a little longer lol

We played outside quite a bit, I'm enjoying the nice weather as well as the girls. We have a little desert from all of the play sand that has been dumped around the yard. Poor grass... hopefully it comes back lol. Some time on a walk and at the park finished up our night... Kara has been very excited that the birds are coming back and likes to point them all out to us. Kiley is loving Christopher and wants to kiss him repeatedly. :o)

Well I think Christopher and I are going to take a little bath and then get ready for bed.