Love

She is going to break some hearts some day....

It's still cold outside

I love this look... 

That's my princess Abby for you ;)

I got my new calendar yesterday! Harolds had an awesome $11 calendar sale and so I picked up a dry erase one (Normally $20) I think it is awesome and am trying to think of a way to 'decorate it' I'm thinking of putting a decorative frame around it but Tom is also considering shelves since we lost our 'key holder." I was pleasantly surprised at how large it is. Perfect for what I need to keep track of my crazy schedule this Spring.

Kara and her climbing shenanigans are driving me a little crazy. I'm just sure one of these times she is going to get hurt. But it's so hard to keep her from climbing on top of everything ALL the time. And she is incredibly persistent. Lol ALL of my girls are incredibly stubborn! The other day I noticed that Kiley was bringing me a lot of crackers. When I went to investigate... Kara was sitting on top of the table handing the crackers down to Kiley who was then taking the crackers to me... oh my

My Kiley is doing two very interesting things lately.... devouring all cardboard books .... and is terrified of stairs. I have had to put all the books up because she is EATING THEM... half of Abby books have the corners all mashed into brown mush.

This is as close as she will get now... I love it!  Kara on the other hand takes off like a crazed rabbit towards the open gate. She hasn't had the opportunity of falling down them yet and tries to walk down them standing up... oh my But she does enjoy a good car ride... backwards... 

Dishwasher boxes

Christmas break is counting down! One week from today I will be plunged back into the rat race of nursing school. I both dread and look forward to it... I'm ready to finish! Ready to be done with struggling to finish school while being a mother of three... and somehow getting laundry done.

Laundry oh you are the bane of my existence. Seriously... a plague. At least lately I haven't forgotten a load in the washer...

Another interesting note of interest (at least to me) is the focussed study in the Word... I admit, the craziness took over my life and the one thing I probably needed to be doing most I let slip some. So I decided that if Abby was going to be getting me up 6:30-7:00am and watching cartoons for an hour before the twins or Tom got up... that it was the perfect time to snatch a bit of coffee and some time for me to indulge myself in quite time reading and studying.

I'm on my third day and so far it hasn't been as difficult as I thought- waking up isn't always as easy (I need to go to bed earlier!) Funny though that the last two mornings she has been getting up 7:30-8:00... a test? Or was someone trying to get my attention? :o)

Speaking of Abby, she is already stripped of pj's and trying on her 'princess' dresses. I picked her up three headband 'crowns' and she has been playing with them in her new 'tower.' (The dishwasher box) Up to this point she has only fallen off... two? three times? Hard to convince her not to when she thinks she is Rapunzel. lol

Kara and Kiley have been more cranky lately. I'm not sure if it is teeth or something else going on? I sure hope they wake up happy this morning at least! There is nothing like a bath of green snot and drool.

I don't think we have much planned today, it would be nice to get them out but I'm not sure where we would go? I was able to get out for a bit yesterday to run a few errands, order my new glasses and it was nice to get a few things done. My good friend helped me pick glasses out and it was a lot less painful with her around. My awesome Mom is so wonderful to take time out of her day to come help me get things done, there are really only three people I trust other than myself to be able to watch all of the girls... which makes it hard to get things done that you can only do when you are alone... I am thankful for my mom's willingness to watch them for me so much. But the girls haven't left the house and I'm sure they are getting restless....

When we went to pick up our dishwasher Abby exclaimed... "There is Abby's new house! We need to find a key so we can open Abby's new house!" Hahaha she has large boxes figured out. (That white dress she is wearing is the one I can hardly get off of her even though I think it is a 12-18 month size? She likes it I guess)

Back to life

The days slip so quickly don't they! But here I am again, jotting away at my keyboard spattered with bits of baby drool and sticky fingers. We finished our last Christmas on Saturday with my Dad's extended family. The girls received once again some wonderful presents and we had a good time. This year has been amazing, and we are so grateful for the generosity of our family and friends. 

Kara and Kiley are babbling more and more now. Babababa (Bottle) has been very popular along with (Mum mum mum) Food. And we mustn't forget their favorites "No no no" and "Hot, Hot" Kara loves to tell me all of the things she finds that are hot, including her breakfast cereal. (which isn't hot, she made me blow on it to convince her though)

(Kara and Tic Tac)

Kiley is now afraid of going down the stairs alone (yaaaay!) Took her three times falling down them to get that but at last I have at least ONE child that doesn't immediately bee-line towards the gate the second Abby opens it. 

Abby is still very much the princess and wears her dress up dresses and things most of the day. I've decided I'm just going to put one set of 'real clothes' in the living room to put on her when she finally decides to wear them. The heap of laundry in the other room sighs in relief. She also insisted that she wear her pink sparkley shoes to church the other day...even if they were a little too big. The church goers got a kick out of them and her twirling during the church music. 

(Abby loves to brush hair and make it beautiful)

Kiley & Kara still hate being restrained during church and have a devious plan of trying to distract us constantly. Kiley also loves chewing to death the little cardboard books we got for Christmas (I've had to hide them) I took one away and she just screeeeeamed at the top of her lungs and wouldn't stop. Of course it was during the prayer...  

Here in lies the dilema. To try and comfort the one screaming child? Or chance that the moment one of us leaves with her that the other two won't notice? There are very high odds that the one screaming child will turn into three screaming children.

Who knew having children was a constant tactical exercise... I've learned we are a lot of fun to watch during the service. 

And a bit of an update on myself. (gasp) If you want to skip you can...  Perhaps you remember back a few posts I mentioned my having had 'Lazy Eye' as a child. I decided it would be a good idea to get into an optometrist to have a check up (it's been 4 years) My eyes were feeling tired and I was having a lot of headaches. 

My eyes as far as prescription goes, are actually pretty decent with not a lot of issues. I could probably live without any correction and be just fine. The problem is I have some form of a strabismus. Basically as it was explained to me by brain is fighting very hard to use both of my eyes. My left eye isn't as strong/good and so my right eye is very dominant. Up until now I was compensating pretty well but I guess the added stress of kids, sleep deprivation, school etc etc I can't do it as well as I was. After we talked I discovered I can actually tell when I'm switching vision from one eye to the next, and can't tolerate looking through both in the eye doctor lens things. (it forces both of my eyes to work together)

I asked him what would have happened if I hadn't come in, basically my brain would have given up trying to use the left eye and it would have become useless (blind) Ugh! 

Good news, it can be prevented! I just have to wear special glasses with prism lenses to make my eyes work together and make it less difficult on my poor weary brain. But that means no contacts and I will have to wear glasses pretty much all the time to try and reprogram things. 

Something that didn't bother me a whole lot until I started looking at myself in glasses. Whether it was all that pent up emotion from when I was teased as a child or felt ugly as an adolescent I just couldn't handle it. I felt awful. So I got out of there before I started to cry.

Tom my sweetheart happened to know I was upset and bought me a bouquet of flowers(love them so much, such a wonderful surprise!) and my mom stayed a bit longer to help me readjust a bit. (Thanks mom) I'm feeling better about it now, I was just soo overwhelmed and shocked by everything it was too much. My friend and I will probably go later and she will help me pick out a cute pair of frames. 

But kiddos are up and at em better hit the ground running... 

Good Times

An early trip in the morning went from 'waiting for Santa' to... mommy... let's go play with our toys. Abby has been up for awhile now to play with her two castles, princess Barbies... and to watch Curious George. She told me she was afraid of Daddy's computer downstairs.

May have to shut that down at night? Tom did a lot of work rearranging our basement downstairs. I worked yesterday on putting away the pile of things that got rearranged with it. Now we just need a good pickup to help us move everything! I need to take photos of everything to see if anyone wants anything before we take it off to some furniture mission. A new dishwasher will also be taking it's place along the other shiny black appliances. Perhaps we can all maintain our hearing now... at least we won't need to crank the volume on the tv or shout like an elderly married couple...

Merry Christmas to us ;) 

Kiley and Kara are working on more teeth... super cranky and some sour tummies. The diapers are sitting in the garage as they gave the house a 'recently changed' aroma... not so pleasant. 

Abby is eating a banana in the most peculiar way... sucking/smashing it on her mouth. Ugh. 

Not exactly sure what is on our plate today. Hoping to get my sister to stay the night and hang out with us today before the weather gets nasty again. They are saying possible 6 inches more of snow with strong winds and bitter cold... plus an ice bath before that starts. So we'll see where the storm goes but it may be a quiet New Year's Eve for us all.... 

Hark I hear babies... time to run!

(I bought 200 dollars in groceries last night... let's hope it makes us more than a week... wow they eat a lot!)

So this is Christmas :o)

And what a wonderful Christmas it has been so far...

The girls have all thoroughly enjoyed themselves and they have plenty of new toys to feel the hours here at home. New baby dolls, a Little People Princess castle (large and small) books, princess dresses, a mini trampoline, Fisher Price Gumball machine, Barbie Car, Play Dough, Princess shoes, bath toys and games to name a few...

(Kara, she got a little messy after supper, the shirt sufficed :P) 

We spent Christmas Eve with my parents where Tom enjoyed the time with my brothers playing WII Resorts. (I think they played for like 5 hours) We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Dinner and then opened presents. Abby was playing with my sister Tiffany at one point during the afternoon. Tiffany was supposed to be sleeping but eventually came into the kitchen to see what we were up to. Abby came running and said "Get back to bed, right now!"

I wonder if she has heard that before....

We went down to Tom's parent's house that evening and spent Christmas Day and today with them. Of course 'Santa' came to visit and left Abby a Barbie, coloring book and a few other little things. She was very excited to open her presents and begged me to let her go down and check the tree. When we asked her if she wanted to leave a cookie for Santa she said "Yes, put it in my hand." hahahaha

We had a good time down there and Abby loved spending time with her wonderful cousin Isaac. I get a kick out of how the two of them play together! Abby was playing in the living room and Isaac comes running in "Hi Abby, How are you?" Abby replies "Good, How are you Issac?" Issac: "Good, thanks, Bye!" They did this several times it was so cute! They enjoyed swimming in their diapers on a blanket pool/beach, opening presents and rough housing with Grandpa. Christmas afternoon we visited their Great Grandma's house and after about an hour of terrorizing it we decided it was time to head home.

We went sledding then this afternoon. They really had a lot of fun even though it was freezing cold outside!

We had a lot of fun but oh is it nice to be home :o) Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Worth it

Ok... I know I already posted today... 

But after the countless hours of screaming, time outs, mountains of poopy diapers, struggles to keep clothing on, short naps and sleep deprivation I saw this:

And realized how true it really... really... is...

Hello from Earth... down here...

I know... I've been MIA for awhile. The computer charger cord 'thingy' went out with a bang and a light puff of smoke. Thankfully no small children or pets were harmed in the process but suddenly my lifeline to people older than 2 wafted away....

I'm probably on too much. But what else could I possibly be doing? Laundry? lol

I awoke this morning to the sounds of Abby's disappointed voice exclaiming that Santa had not come. I remarked tiredly that today was not Christmas (6:40am btw) She then in very patient tones told me that Santa was very very very busy right now.

She also told me last night, while holding a small children's Bible (with Noah's ark on the front) that she wanted to read a story about pirates. Noah=Pirate... who knew?

I made bacon tonight and Kara came toddling quickly to the kitchen exclaiming 'hot hot hot hot!" Pointing at the bacon and standing in the warzone of spitting pork bits. The word, correct. The meaning still a little fuzzy...

(Kara=Blue Sheep, Kiley=Pink Sheep)

Kiley and Kara have been enjoying a 7:30 bedtime... almost as much as their parents. Their sleeping through the night is blissful.

Kiley has also learned the word 'hi' and they both feel the need to shout it at all passers by... just to make sure that two one year olds and a two and a half year old trying desperately to escape the shopping carts/strollers aren't noticed... who notices that anyways

I honestly don't mind the attention/probing eyes/questions, I know people are curious or want to feel important. I certainly know of more cousin's daughter's friends who have twins than I ever thought possible... but I try to be polite. There have been a few times I have had to bite my tongue... especially when they ask if they are all mine, if I know where babies come from etc. etc. "Yes... they are mine, I'm married, yes to a boy, yes we DO know where babies come from... while we are getting personal can I ask you what your favorite brand of Tampons is? Oh? I thought we were best friends..." Maybe one day I will get up the nerve... but for now I nod and prod the screaming children into initiating a getaway....

Someone once asked me if they fight.... do most siblings fight? Just curious if that is something twins shouldn't be doing.... They are sisters....  So just in case you were curious... yes... they do fight... 

I think we are past bedtime... the troops grow restless...

My Rapunzel

The girls are napping so I should probably be napping or folding laundry or washing dishes... the never ending tasks of such things. We got home from Abby's doctor appointment this afternoon around 12:30. At one of the checkups we had in the past I asked about her hair, the CNP took a look and said there were a number of things that could cause it to be doing what it is doing. (very brittle, falls out, breaks easily... she has a few small bald patches even) I had always thought that it was because of her 'hair pulling' that she used to do about a year ago.. but I haven't seen her do it in a very long time and her hair is still having issues. Really most people might not even notice it, but if you run your hands through her hair and look closely you can see it.

The doctor saw it. She ordered a CBC and Thyroid levels on Abby to see if there were an abnormalities. I knew when they took Abby in to lay her down that they should have had more in to hold her. I ended up having to almost lay on top of her to keep her from getting away from the poke. It wasn't easy but we got it done. She told everyone she could about the poke and her bandaid and how she got a sucker and stickers afterwards. It was pretty funny, the receptionists enjoyed her. We find out the results early next week I guess. If everything comes back normal than she wants Abby to go in and see a dermatologist.

Like I said... no shortage of doctor's appointments around here it seems. I just want to make sure there isn't an underlying cause that is making her hair fall out like it does. It literaly will come out in chunks at times! And goodness it isn't caused by over-washing... my girl HATES having her hair washed. We only do it when necessary lol.

So in case your curious there are a number of things that can cause it ranging from a Vitamin D deficiency, Zinc Deficency, Hypothryoidism (I have this), Iron Deficency... etc etc... so I guess we'll see where this takes us.

At least Rapunzel has really long 'pink' hair :o) For now at least she can brush that! 

Qwik Update

Ahh... homemade toys....

Tom was teaching Abby the difference between lemons and onions (play food) Onions "Make daddy cryyyyyy?" Lemons: *She does a pucker, spit face*

Abby has been enjoying time with the puppy when she comes to visit. The puppy loves Abby too :o) This was before we got all of the snow! The picture below is our backyard after the snow. 

Abby out helping Tom scoop the snow

.

The babies were too worn out from all that hard work..... lol