BOOBIES...

I can remember when I was little I just HAD to have boobs! I mean my Grandmother, almost all of my Aunts & most of all my Mom all had BIG boobs so why didn't I? I can remember when I was about thirteen my Mom said "Cathy if you do not have them by now you will probably not get them!". I cannot tell you how upset I was hearing that coming from my well endowed mother! Say it isn't so! Needless to say I took in those words as a grain of salt & proceeded to do everything I could think of to get BIG boobs!I even repeated that phrase " I must, I must, I must increase my bust!". We all know how well that worked out! LOL! Well low and behold a few years later between sophomore & junior year of high school I blossomed. Yes I got those boobs I had been dreaming of! I think everything I wished for came back twofold! LOL! You know how they say the grass is not always greener on the other side? Well I could now relate to that saying! All that time I wanted to be just like the women in my family and have BIG boobs I never realized the pain having them would be! I think I have spent the rest of my adult life wondering why I wished that upon myself. Having boobs definitely does NOT make you a better person, it does not make people love you more, they just become two things people will eventually stare at. Oh do I have my stories in that dept! Unless you can afford a breast reduction you are stuck with them for life! Do not think for a second I did not already consider that! Anyhow when I finally got pregnant I knew that I would breast feed. If all those years of carrying these suckers gave me grief I would put them to good use & nourish my children! Nourish is an understatement!I got SO much milk I could have fed four more kids! Knowing that I was having quadruplets I think the good Lord made sure I would have more than enough milk to go around! LOL! A small part of me even hoped they would get smaller AFTER breast feeding but sadly that did NOT happen! Now for all you small breasted women I don't mean to complain but when you spend YEARS with neck & shoulder pain you tend to be a little insightful! I mean WHY would anyone want to get a boob job? I know that they, media, put up images of large breasted women everywhere but come on is having small boobs that bad? and please do not say that your self esteem is in your chest! Whenever my girls are around while I am changing we have the "anatomy talk". I want them to know their body parts & what better way than to also have mommy point out hers to them?! LOL! They now know where they came out of mommy, that girls have "coochies" {I know it's not the correct terminology but at least they got my drift!}, that boys have penises {Good thing there was one boy in the mix because the girls sure do notice that he is different than them!} & they know where their boobies are! They always tell me that when they grow up they either want to have BIG little boobies or boobies like Mommy's. I cringe when I hear that because I know all too well about what the pain in having them is! Not only pain in my neck & shoulders but I also have such a hard time finding clothes, bathing suits, dresses & most of all bras to fit me. I do not want them to have those challenges. Now I know that I cannot change genetics and they will get whatever they are meant to get. Knowing that I am raising three girls the one thing I can change is how they feel about their...

BOOBIES...

no diaper mommy...

Now one would think that when a child says "No diaper mommy" that means they are ready to potty train. I mean that is what that statement means isn't it? No more diapers. This is my latest challenge, understanding my children! They thoroughly confuse me! Is this their own language? Is it like reverse psychology? Do they mean what they say? Each morning when they wake up I ask them to go pee pee on the potty.I even put their potty's in front of the TV so they could watch their show while doing their business! We decorated them with stickers & their names. They pulled the stickers off! sigh... They will usually go sit on their potty or say no diaper mommy. What does that mean!? The even stranger part is that if I let them run around naked they will go sit on the potty & pee about 10x a day! If I put a diaper on them they will pee & immediately want it off! Hello! If you don't like the feel of pee next to your bottom then pee on the potty! It is a simple concept! LOL! Then there is the whole #2 issue. They would much rather do #2 in their diaper. OK, Brendan would much rather do #2 in his diaper because his sisters have done it on the potty without resistance. At times I feel like I am their personal pep squad. We throw out high fives & Yahoo's EACH & EVERY time they do anything on the potty. They even get something EXTRA when they go without me reminding them. I have tried it all! So here is the challenge I am faced with, What do they mean when they say...

no diaper mommy...

Happy Birthday to me!...

Well we made it! We made it through the "terrible two's" and have now entered what I have been told is even "better" than the two's... the three's! WOO HOO! Yes the tribe has turned three! We want to give a BIG thank you to all that have helped us get to where we are today! Today at church we were reminded of our HUGE church family. It was wonderful seeing a few of the volunteers that helped make those first few months bearable. If it was not for each of you we would not have been able to do it! SO again thanks! Today has been a day of reflection for me. It seems like yesterday that I was sitting in our fertility doctors office crying my eyes out thinking I would never have a child of my own. Little did I know then that our lives would be drastically different in such a few short years! WOW! SO much has gone on since that day! A miracle happened that day when against all odds we went for our last IVF cycle, implanting the last three embryos we had left. Never being pregnant I did not think they would take.You see I had about given up my faith in getting any of my prayers answered. Apparently God really did have a plan for us! Again, WOW! We had MANY people praying for & look where we are today, the proud parents of three year old quadruplets! I think back to when they all fit in the same crib. Now you can barely get them to stay still to pose for a picture! AMAZING how time flys when you are BUSY BUSY BUSY! Where do I begin to say what a gift it is to be their parents? Yes, it is HARD work! Yes I have bad days where I want to pull my hair out! Yes I wish we could afford to send them to preschool just so I could have a moment to breath! But through all of the hard stuff I am just happy to be called Mom. Motherhood is one of the best gifts I ever could have been given! Each year that we get to celebrate their miraculous birth is even more precious to me! I especially get excited when they chime in and sing...


Happy Birthday to me!...

hog tying them or paying for preschool X4?

Everyone warned me that the three's are the new "terribe two's". I did not believe it, I filed the info away & really thought OUR kids would be different. I thought they would just skate through toddlerhood & it would all be a blur like their infancy was. Boy was I wrong! The tribe will be three in Jan & have become WILD children! They have been little busy bodies these past few weeks, getting into stuff they never would have gotten into. They climb out of their cribs & just plain make my "job" even harder!My mom jokingly tells me I need to tie them up when they are bad! Now that's an idea! LOL! Then my brother says they need to make Velcro pajamas so they'll stay in bed! Oh the things we all could come up with to deal with WILD children! (= I just continue to talk to them like they are little adults. Asking them why they want to make mommy's life harder than it already is. I really thought I was getting through to them! ha! I know, they are TWO year olds, but this is how I cope! LOL! It seems that I am SO overwhelmed lately! Things I used to be able to get away with I can no longer do. Just today I took them shopping WITHOUT their stroller & all in ONE shopping cart. What was I thinking? They were completely awful! I know what it is to have soon to be three year old's with me on a shopping trip but those poor customers at Home Goods had NO idea what they were in for. They either ALL Wanted to sit in the only seat up front, wanted me to "Hold you", wanted to walk or better yet cried. Yes they have turned into cry baby's. sigh... I finally relented & rotated who got to sit up front & who walked beside the cart. Remember EVERYTHING in this household is about taking turns! A simple shopping excursion turned into a truly a memorable experience, one that I will not forget for a LONG LONG time! LOL! People always ask me how I do it, or better yet say that I am one brave woman to bring them out by my lonesome. What people do not understand is that I would forever be locked up inside these walls of our home if I waited to have someone go with us. There are VERY few people that know what it is like to raise these munchkins of ours & VERY few people that offer to help. Those people who do help are AMAZING, they know who they are & we love them to death. We would not be able to function with out them! I just cannot wait till they are old enough for school. Sad but true. I love them immensely however they are just TOO busy for even me, the queen of multi tasking! I dread the cost of enrolling all four into some sort of preschool but I get excited over the thought of having "me" time. I need this VERY badly! I just need a break from this full time "job" of mine. At this point I wonder which would make my life easier...

hog tying them or just paying for preschool X4?

Tuesdays Tribute #2...

Before I even started to write this post I knew who I would be giving a "tribute" to. I am SO lucky to have an AMAZING friend, a friend who happens to be another mommy of multiples! She has a set of quads & a set of twins! CRAZY! She handles it all with grace! We used to work together MANY eon's ago and WAY before children. She moved out of state after getting married & then she had her "clan"! One summer few years ago Michael & I went up to visit them & here is a pic from that trip.One day I hope to get back up north to visit them! For now our visits are online or over the phone! (= All I can say is that I really do believe that the Lord looked out for me when he put us together & we became friends! She really is the best! She gives me advice on things I may be facing or will be facing in the near future, she'll lend a listening ear when I need to vent, whenever I am having a BAD day, there seems to be quite a few now that these children of ours are soon to be two and a half & CURIOUS! LOL! I will call her up saying "I cannot do this job!". She then turns into my very own "Pep Squad" by telling me that she knows I can do it! Raising multiples is HARD work but the end result is SO worth it! She is practically the ONLY person that I know PERSONALLY that seems to know what it's like having SO many kids! SO Joellen, if you did not know already you are my...

Tuesday Tribute #2!

the pros & cons of life in the SAME bed...

CO Bedding has been on my mind a lot lately! I wonder if it has affected our children for the better or for the worse. I mean we still co-bed our little ones! OK not all 4 but 2 of the 4! The identicals which we sometimes refer to as the "twins" sleep together. They seem to be happy, healthy well adjusted children but are they really? I decided to write a post about it since we dealt with this arrangement on our last trip. Whenever you go away with little ones you always have to think of the sleeping arrangements. Our situation is a litle different since 2 of our 4 still sleep together. This may have started out as a necessity but has turned into something I think they crave. Don't get me wrong, we have an EXTRA crib in our garage but we have never had to set it up. The reason I know they want or need to be together has shone through or a few seperate occasions. You see whenever they go to bed, one of the "twins" will ALWAYS asks where the other is if she is not already in the crib. And once that other twin arrives they get a HUGE smile on their face & then lay down & get all comfy in their side of the crib. They actually have sides if you can believe that! Once they are asleep they are side by side. SO adorable! I bring up this co-bedding topic since we just got back from our latest adventure where sharing the same bed came in handy. I have to admit that we have co-bedded our quads since day one. Once they all got home from the hospital we had all 4 in the same crib for at least the first month or so. It was just easier in the beginning for me PLUS that is how they were in the NICU towards the end of their stay. On a few occasions they have even held "sleepovers" where another one of their siblings will get to sleep over in their crib. Then that ousted kid gets to sleep in the "invitees" crib. They like those rare moments but mostly they just like sleeping together. It is AMAZING to me how the "twins" just LOVE sleeping together! I myself like having a bed all to myself! LOL! When we went away for a family wedding in April they stayed with family& the "twins" cried the first night they were put in seperate pac n'plays. Once she put them in the same one they were fine. UH OH! Did co-bedding them cause that or are they actually so close that they WANT to sleep together? My hope is the latter & they WANT to be together. So after hearing that I knew that they would be ok when we brought them to GA and had just the one pac n'play for them. We actually brought a rather LARGE pac n'play, heck let's just call it a play YARD. The "twins" slept in there TOGETHER and my brother borrowed 2 other pac n'plays for Cam & Bren. There I was laying out liners in each of them & making sure they all had their snugglies. Everyone was happy & their "bed's" took up less room. Getting back to the whole co-bedding topic... We have discused this with our pediatrician several times & they say that the American Pediatrics Association condones co bedding. It helps with multiples especially, remember they were in the same sac in utero! I LOVE that I am actually doing something that is recommended! YAY! We are now getting close to the age that they will move on to their next stage of bed. I I SO WANT THEM TO STAY IN THEIR CRIBS AS LONG AS POSSIBLE! Whether it be a toddler bed or a twin is up for discussion. I cannot see having the expense of buying 4 toddler beds. I'd rather buy BIG boy & girl bed's, the ones that will last them FOREVER. SO I ask you, Did you co bed? If so for how long? and When is it TOO long? Oh...

the pros & cons of life in the SAME bed...

Jon and Kate plus 8...

Ok, I know that I am not the only one out there that watched the 5th Season Premiere of Jon and Kate plus 8 last night. With all of the talk going on I am sure many tuned in to see what all the hoopla was about. I watch their show pretty regularly. I too tuned in to see how they are doing. I am not going to pass judgement on the choices they have made. I do not know what it's like being them but I do know what it's like raising the children we have. Having multiples is HARD work! Not only hard work but EXPENSIVE! I could not imagine how they would ever cover all their expenses if they did not have TLC asking them to do a TV show! WOW! They say that the struggle of trying to get pregnant and/or having multiples can make or break a relationship! It's tough & I totally feel for them! Yes it's a shame that the entire world is watching their struggle. But I look at it very differently. I see this as an opportunity for them to show us, me, how to work through the good, the bad & the UGLY! To be there with them as they deal with their issues and come out stronger. I have so many people that give me unsolicited advice like they know how it is to raise quadruplets. This is unlike anything we have ever been faced with. I learn tips from the "pro's", those parents that have come before me that did this job. So I ask everyone to hold off judgement of the Gosselin's and let them figure out what is best for them. I just hope that there are many more years of...

Jon and Kate plus 8...

curiosity killed the cat...

Our children are getting SO curious lately! This is a good thing I know but it makes my life SO much harder! Instead of asking me questions about things they just do what they want! I feel like I am always running after someone & telling them "NO!". I dislike resorting to this but I am at my wits end! I keep reminding myself that they need structure but it is SO hard being consistent with a two year old! When will this end? I have been told by many "NEVER". LOL! These past few weeks have been SO rough! Keeping up with them, our house, my mom's house has made us just been plain TIRED! The kiddos have run us ragged. I also think that the terrible two's have set in! They seem to get into EVERYTHING! They get into Dustyn's room & RANSACK it! Luckily I fix it before he notices! Little does he know how much they LOVE his XBOX system! LOL! Other than locking his door I do not know what to do! Yesterday I had them outside while I was cleaning the gutters. I know this is not a "mommy job" but it needed to be done so I did it. It was actually not that bad. I felt like I actually accomplished something! YAY! The kiddos were EVERYWHERE! Camryn was my "assistant". She would help me however she could. Bringing me the hose, herding the children, etc. TOO cute! The rest of them definitely needed corralling. I would continue to talk to them while I worked. Sort of like keeping them in line. Sometimes it worked sometimes I was coralling them myself. Our "new" Neighbor saw me out there with all of them & must have felt pity on me! He yelled out "Looks like you have your hands full!". Yep! This is my life! Just this morning I found them in my bathroom with the tub running. Lately they seem to LOVE playing with water. Scary since they do not know how to swim yet. This has been such a challenge for us. I must say that we take them in the pool & teach them ourselves but it is not the same thing. Having quadruplets, four kids of the same age at the same time is TOUGH! No matter what people say they just do not know what it is really like. Some days I want to pull what hair I have left out! SERIOUSLY! Each & every time I stop a near catastrophe I just remember the saying...

curiosity killed the cat...

walking in my shoes...

I happen to have two different friends that have quadruplets, I know how lucky am I!? Joellen used to work with me years ago. She ended up moving away a LONG time ago but we continue to keep in contact. She too struggled to get pregnant & with medical intervention had quadruplets. She has a set of twins too but that is another story! LOL! Michael & I visited her family the summer before we got pregnant. At this point in our struggle multiples were not on our mind nor did we ever think we would have any. We just wanted one baby! Anyhow that visit with her is still etched in my memory like it was yesterday. We arrived just before she got back from grocery shopping with all 6 kids. I know, CRAZY! She had like 4 gallons of milk plus several bags of food. I was truly amazed! She has three boys & one girl, plus her twins are boys. The boys were wild! They each wanted out attention, wanted to sit by us for lunch, etc. Lunch that day was so funny. They wanted to eat something other than what was on their plates & Joellen did not budge. She told them that was their lunch and to sit down & eat! LOL! I am SO this way! ha! Being that they live up north they have a basement, this is something a native Floridian knows nothing about. Their basement was the BEST playroom ever! There was SO many toys down there for them to play with. I guess when you have that many kids you need a TON of toys! I decided right then that I wanted a basement, in Florida! hahah! I think we left their house that day in a blur thanking God that was not us! Ha Ha Ha, the joke sure was on us! Little did we know that just a year later we too would be having quadruplets! WOW! Life sure is amazing! Those who cross your path and you get to call them friend is too! Joellen & I were meant to have that connection! She is one of the first people I called when my triplets turned into Quadruplets. She calmed me down & said that life would be CRAZY but it's manageable. Her saying that was all that I needed to hear! Thank heaven for her! (= This is why I appreciate my friendship with her so much. She provides for me something that is a hot comodity around her, someone that understands all the chaos! I talk to Joellen especially when I am in need of an "experienced" quad mommy's advice. She helped me through those first few months with VALUABLE advice on what to do, how to feed them all at the SAME time & how important it was to keep to a tight schedule. That is SO important even now! We continue to chat from time to time over the phone. We have not been able to travel up to see them since that day in June of '05. But one day we will introduce our children to each other! My other compadre is Nicole, she is my "new" friend who lives about two hours S of me & her quads are 15 months old. We chat about schedules, their development & our mommy guilt quite a lot! Yes that is something we struggle with even now. It is always good to have someone to bounce ideas off that will not judge because they too feel like you. The cool part is that she lives so close. The bad part is that our schedules conflict & we never get together in person. I know, TERRIBLE! I have to work on that! I just keep telling myself that we will get together one of these days! At least for now we can give each other the support & encouragement we need. I cannot tell you how important it is to talk to another momma that is part of the same club! I value these friendships SO much! In this CRAZY life we lead I NEED more friends that have been...

walking in my shoes...

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

Ok people! A friend of ours needs your votes! Out in cyber space they have this award just for blogging, cool huh? It is called The Weblog Awards & a quad momma friend of ours is in the running for being the winner of the BEST Parenting blog. Their blog is called 4tunate and it is about their quadruplets, all boys, just a little bit younger than ours. She needs your help!Besides voting for them you all should check their blog out. Jen gives all moms hope that they can "do" this multiple mommy thing. Heck you do not even need to have multiples to appreciate her posts! So please click on the link http://2008.weblogawards.org/polls/best-parenting-blog/ & vote for them! They need everyone to...




VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

the DREADED annual...

Today the babies & I went to see Dr. V, my OB/GYN. He is such an AWESOME guy! He actually attends the same church that we do. I tell everyone that the Lord brought him to us at just the right time, I just know it! Anyhow, I had my annual appt. I brought the babies BY MYSELF & they did wonderfully! I warned his staff prior to my appt that I would be bringing snacks & stuff for them just in case he ran late. (They have signs up all over the place saying no food or drink). They said it would be ok for me to feed them. Little do they know that whether they said yes or no I was going to feed them! They surprised me & did VERY well so I never had to break out the stash of goodies. You all know the drill when you go to the Doctor. You have to get on the scale & get weighed. I SO did not want to get on that scale! ugh! It seems that I am finally up to my pre pregnancy weight, actually I have gained a few pounds more. I feel it too! You would think with all the chasing I do of these children that I would be the same weight if not lighter. Oh the scale was not good to me! I never weigh myself & really do not care about my weight EXCEPT when it comes to how my clothes fit. When they start feeling tight I know I need to lose a few pounds. Looks like losing weight is going to be #1 on the New Years Resolution list! Dr V did not keep us waiting & we actually got to chat a little about the babe's. He actually reads their blog! YAY! I owe so much to all of my doctor's for getting me through such a high risk pregnancy. I am SO happy to have my four HEALTHY babies but have no intention of having another. SO, we had the talk about what type of contraception would be best for me. I had already done my homework & decided on the Mirena. He agreed that it would be good for me & hoped it would be covered by my insurance. Heck, when I was pregnant with the babies my Peri had to get prevenative monitoring covered by my insurance. Can you believe that!? They had to have my Peri call them & EXPLAIN that it would save them thousands so they gave in & covered it. I can just imagine what they think about birth control! Insurance coverage & benefits is a struggle any way you look at it! Now my next obstacle is a mammogram. YIKES! Since my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer last year he wants to make sure I get my screening done. I have NEVER had a mammogram before & have only heard horror stories about them. Needless to say I am NOT looking forward to it! I am just so glad to be done with..


the DREADED annual...

at the mall with our quads...

A lot seems to happen when you go shopping with quadruplets. We get a lot of looks, I should say stares & quite a few comments. These children of ours are little attention getter's. I must say that we definitely meet people that we probably would not have met if it was just Michael & myself shopping. Last night we decided to take the babies to the mall to get some last minute items we still neededed for their Halloween costumes. We needed 3 pairs of PINK stockings!! Why can you never find what you need when you need it? We ended up having to settle for 3 pairs of white stockings. They will just have to do! We decided to hit The Children's Place & our sales lady was SO nice. I started out looking for the stocking BUT I got side tracked, this happens a lot, by their Christmas display. Yes they have Christmas stuff out already! It is not even November yet!! I went from the stockings to the Holiday dresses. Finding 3 dresses that are different but go well together can be a challenge. I have decided to not dress the twins alike for reasons I will explain in a later post. Once she found out why I needed 3 different dresses in the same size she had to see them in person! SO out to the front of the store she went to see them. AGAIN, we get this a lot! I would just love it if they would turn to me & say "Hey, I have a GREAT multiples discount for you!". This is my dream! LOL! Buying 4 of anything can get quite EXPENSIVE! Now that we found what we needed we now needed to find them food! It was dinner time & they were hungry!! I was not looking forward to finding a seat in the food court for all of us! ugh! Good thing this was a Wed night & the mall was not crowded, YAY! Luckily they will eat about anything so the food part will be a cinch, Chick-fil-a! YUM! We brought my niece Lauren with us so she entertained them while we ordered. They seem to LOVE Chick-fil-a just about as much as me! They love their fresh squeezed lemonade too! They ate pretty good. Nothing compares to being in your own home where you have everything you need, HIGH CHAIRS! hahah! Now we were off to Burdines, oops I meant Macy's, old habits die hard. hehee! After seeing the holiday dresses at the Children's Place I now wanted to check them out everywhere. It is better to be prepared! See how side tracked I can get!! On the way up to their children's dept. we were stopped by a very nice woman who offered me something WONDERFUL, a makeover!! YAY! I SO need this! After having these little miracles I have sort of let myself go. I raely wear makeup, NEVER get my hair cut let alone done up. I am in need of a change & Ni'Flame is going to give it to me! YAY! Now just to find the free time in my schedule to do this PLUS find a babysitter. We finally went up to check out their kids dept & their holiday dresses were nothing to write home about. I will just keep the one's that I found at Costco & Sam's. Yes, they sell holiday dresses!They seem to have the cutest girl's holiday dresses this year. Now I start my search for the perfect outfit for my little man. It seems that I will alway's be on a "mission". Thinking back gives me a smile that we survived aanother night out...


at the mall with our quads...

righty or lefty?...

Ok, I have been wondering a lot lately which of my children will be right handed or left handed. With as much that we have going on it right now it's amazing that I even have any time to think! LOL! My hubby says we do not want left handed children because it is a right handed world. I tend to disagree. I think there are more left handed people out there. I was at a preschool recently & they had an illustration of how to hold your pen if you are right OR left handed. See the world will accomodate you! Where was all of this info when I was little? I remember finding the left handed pair of scissors & then trying to cut with it. UGH! I used to think it would be cool to be able to write with both hands but alas I am a right handed person. Michael is right handed as well. They do say that left handed people tend to be more creative. I LOVE creativity! In fact many of my relatives including myself are quite artistic. Maybe they will inherit this! hmmm.. Well, we have attempted letting them use utensils at meals & they LOVE using them in their left hands. Is this a sign? What do you think the odds are for more than one quadruplet to be left handed? Will they be a...


righty or lefty?...

something hard to admit...

As I am sitting here listening to the Sprout channel on in the other room I reflect on my past ideas regarding Barney. I NEVER liked him! But our children have a different opinion on this purple fellow, they LOVE him! BEFORE kids I would speak ill of this creature. Basically just that I never "got" him. What is it with a humongous PURPLE dinosaur that gets kids all excited!? I just could not figure it out. WELL, fast forward my life several years to where I sort of "get" it. He is a fixture in our home just like Sesame Street. Again I never saw it coming! It is SO hard to admit that we watch this show, even sing his songs to the babies. My hubby on the other hand sings his own "version's", we won't go there! LOL! . I guess the truth is the truth! Our children just LOVE him! They will stop practically anything when they hear the intro to Barney and come running. I know, I know, Barney is a BIG, PURPLE Dinosaur brought to life from your imagination. I guess that is what makes him so special, that they use their imagination. I think the other reason he is so popular is due to the music. Children love to sing & dance! The creators of Barney knew what they were doing many, many years ago! LOL! It is AMAZING that when there is chaos in our house watching Barney will calm them down. They LOVE him, who am I to argue! I still can only take him in SMALL doses. I am not one of these parents that will buy everything with his image on it either & I will not be buying them Barney stuffed animals! I must admit that we inherited a SUPER LARGE Barney stuffed animal. It was a hand me down from my cousin. They climb all over him & again I did not have to buy it! (When you have 4 to buy for this is very good rationale!) The last thing that I should probably admit is that I sometimes even break out in song while I am at work. ANY song! ha! My ONLY defense is that I have quads & it's the only thing that keeps me sane!.. (good theory huh!? ha) So after 20 short months of being a parent I cannot get over the fact that we watch Barney! It is...

something hard to admit....

party of 7....

I have thought about this for quite awhile. What it feels like when we attempt to actually go out for dinner, a treat for us, and for it to turn out being a not too great experience. I really think this occurs because businesses do not know about people like us. They do not know what it requires for us to have an ok time. Let's just face it the real world has no clue what it is like raising multiples & I sure do wish they did. I have a "bag of tricks" that I ALWAY'S bring with us when we go out. It has their "feeding" bib's a must so their clothes do not get soiled, sanitary wipes to clean off EVERYTHING, a few table toy's to occupy their time and the minimal diaper stuff just in case.. Now what we can not guarantee is that the restaurant we end up at will be able to accomodate us with seating. Do you know how hard it is to feed toddlers in a "big boy/girl seat"? C-R-A-Z-Y!! They need structure & restraints/seatbelts so they are not able to wander around the place. Let's just face it most establishments can not accomodate a family like ours. You go out to eat & you are LUCKY to get 2 highchairs let alone 4! (Remember there are other people thinking like us & need highchairs too!) I would have thought S Florida of all places would have plenty since so many people vacation here but alas no. We feel like we won the lottery if we find a place that has 4! So we plan our dinners out around what restaurant & what time we think there is not a lot of families going to be there. We had this happen to us over the summer in of all places the local zoo. We decided to have lunch at the normal time, BIG mistake! LOL! They actually had quite a few highchairs more than a normal place would have had EXCEPT they were all in use! We started to bring our quad stroller in to feed them out of but luckily another mommy from my multiples group was there & gave us 2 of their highchairs. We were 1/2 way to the 4 that we desperately needed. It is in times like this I feel I should stand up on my soap box & share with the world by "multiples" struggles. I feel if I can help one person see what it is like to be a quad mommy than maybe I can help create change. Trust me when I see something that could be just a little better I tell them. I have complained to local malls that do not have motorized wheel chairs. (Besides helping a handicapped person they can help a pregnant mommy tremendously!) I am alway's on a "mission" to show people there is a better way. Not that I have enough on my plate, I just care. Currently my mission is in the "Mommy & Me" dept. SO many places restrict us by making it a requirement to have a parent per child for most activities. I really do not feel that a mommy of twins or more should not be allowed to participate just because she does not have anyone there to help her. AGAIN this is just my opinion but I will stand up on my soap box & share it with whomever will care to listen. If I can make just one establishment have more than 4 highchairs or organization let me attend minus 3 other set's of hands I will have done my job. For now I just hope for the best when I say Fulton...

party of 7....

a day at Costco....

Today Grandma & I took the babies to Costco, Grandma's home away from home. If we ever show up to her house & she is not home she is usually at Costco. The employee's there are like family to us now that we have had the babies. Especially Maria in the photo lab. She has watched them grow by seeing the pictures we take in for processing. I have even run into her at my local Costco. (She lives near us!) It really is a small world! It is amazing how much of a stir we cause when we show up to go shopping. In the beginning we would bring "BIG BLUE" aka our monster of a stroller. We decided that we could take them in their shopping carts since they are built for two. Thank you Costco for that! No other store accomodate multiples like they do. So we entered the store, I had the "twins" and Grandma had Cam Cam & Brendan. I really want to get a spy cam to attach to us just to capture peoples faces when they see us coming. The babies are used to it. They sometimes even wave. We went all over the store & had people following us at every turn. Things we heard were "Are they all from the same pregnancy", "Are they all the same age?", "Are they quintuplet's?"(NO there are FOUR not five of them here!LOL!), "Are they identical?", "How old are they?", I even heard a "You are a blessed woman". I LOVED that one because THAT I am!! We eventually made our way over to the food court to feed them some lunch. Those carts are even good to feed them in! One of the Costco employees came over & said I notice you did not bring their stroller. Even the employees notice our kids! I FINALLY took a picture of them there so Maria & the photo lab can display it. For now the babies just LOVE when they have...

a day at Costco....

it's a gecko, not a geico gecko....

Just the other day when we ALL were swimming in the pool at Grandma's we spotted a gecko. It seemed to be habitating under Grandma's umbrella stand. We spyed it for awhile until it darted out from under its cover & into plain view. The babies LOVED looking at their new "friend". We no sooner took one eye off of it & it jumped from the patio into mid air & then into the pool. I never knew geckos could swim! Well this little bugger did & EVERYONE in the pool freaked with the exception of Dustyn & his four little siblings. They LOVED the fact that their new friend was now swimming among them. (They are their father's children!) Dustyn took charge & went after it like a hunter catching his prey. He LOVE'S catching anything with legs! In fact he has a bearded dragon as a pet! He has had way too many "cool" pets to mention. Just say we have had it all. I once won an honorable mention from his school for having the most unusual pets! So he too takes after his Dad. I not only geographically live in the woods but my house should might as well be called a lodge. Dead animals adorn our walls amongst other woodsy things. SO when we spyed our new friend I could actually say it's...

a gecko, not a geico gecko....

Isn't life amazing....

Each and EVERY day these little buggers of mine AMAZE me! They are SO smart & continually show me that. It all started with one little step at a time. Now it has turned into a race!! They are full speed ahead & I am just along for the ride! I must say that it is the ride of my life! When I was younger the phrase was "You are a trip with no luggage". That is a good description of my life; full of laughs, laughs and more laughs! Too many occur & definitely not enough time to write about them! I will however include a recent one from a recent visit with Aunt Jodi (AJ) & Uncle Philip. Cam Cam did another "funny". (that is what I call most of my blog entries, funnies). They, just like any "newbie" that comes into contact with our four amazing little people always say the same thing... They are SO good! Do they think we raise ANIMALS! ha! They really are good & GOD has blessed us immensely in that dept. He gave us the pick of the litter!! (= It may take them 20 minutes to get to know you but once they are warmed up there is no telling what they might do. They LOVE people! I wonder where they get that from!? ha! (= Well, Miss Cam Cam loves to amuse & did not let them down last night! After dinner Cam snuggled with Aunt Jodi as she danced around the room. AJ assumed she was going to sleep because she was so still. Don't ever assume! ha! She was so proud of herself getting her to "sleep" when all of the sudden Cam bounce's up, smiles & shakes her head "no" as in I am not sleeping you silly woman! "AJ" just laughed! She really did fool her! Too bad they live so far away.. if not, they could experience this daily! The babe's learn SO much from all of us. I have noticed that the more I "blog" the more they want to "blog" too! They now think this keyboard is a toy. Uh oh! My only hope is that they grow up to be writers! I can wish can't I??

Hopefully 20 years from now when they read my post's they will know how much their mommy loves them! Remember 20 years down the road is the light at the end of my tunnel!! (=

Look at me Mom!....

Today the babies turned 18 months! Yikes! Where has the time gone?? They AMAZE me each & every day. I try to give them new experiences each day. That is hard to do with 4 of them!! ha! I think they give ME more new experiences than I can ever give them! Just yesterday Miss Avery showed us her "flying" skills as she entered our pool. She really does think she can swim & we tell her day in & day out that she cannot. She just stood on the side of the pool & jumped onto the top step of the pool. The only good thing about this is that the top step is about a foot deep & 6 feet wide! She has absolutely NO FEAR! It is a struggle! We hope to get them started with swim lessons in the next few weeks. It is VERY difficult to find an instructor that will assist me with 4 babies! I make a mental note of all of the things that I struggled with to help another mommy out. If you can believe it I have been fortunate to "meet" a few new mommies of quads. YES, I said quads! It seems like it is in the water down here! 4 sets of quads born down here in less than 2 years! WOW! I try my best to help these new mommies with advice & stuff. I think once the babies get even older it may be what I was called to do. It is like second nature to me! I just LOVE anything to do with multiples & most of all babies!!! Another sweet thing they do each morning is tell each other "hello". Camryn makes sure that she waves to each baby & even trys to give them a hug & a kiss. It is SO cute! She makes the "mmmuh.." when she kisses. Oh I just want to eat her up! She also listens & searches for things I say I need. She actually brings the item to me when she finds it! She is one smart cookie! Brendan loves to kiss & snuggle too! He also likes to whine! He cannot take it when his sisters antagonize him! He finds a toy he wants to play with & flash it is gone! They take it & the whining begins! I need for someone to tell me if ALL boys are this way! I know you will say that ALL men are that way but not sweet little boys!! =) Getting to miss Avery well she is just plain ornery! She is one spitfire! I do not know when it began because when she was a baby she was so patient & sweet. Now she just smacks & howls when she does not get her way. Can we say "terrible two's"! I am glad that I have only 1 like her! She is definitely one of a kind even if she does have an identical twin! Miss Linz is our sweetie pie! She has thee BEST personality! She smiles from the moment she wakes up to the moment she falls asleep. She LOVES to giggle & totally LOVES her big bro Dustyn! They have started calling him "D". It is SO cute! He loves it too! You hear "D" all day long now that he is out of school. Well, I cannot believe they are getting so grown up. I cannot wait for the next....

Look at me Mom!....

my little sprinkler....

Well, we have gone from smacking to spitting! Miss Avery seems to think she is ALLOWED to do this. Boy is she in for a rude awakening! She just started this today. She takes a swig of milk from her sippy cup then proceeds to spit it out! This is going to be a LONG day! I swear the next time their darling daddy teaches them any new tricks I am gonna scream! He thinks it is funny but I am here ALL day long dealing with it! At least it is the same child that is making all of the ruckus! (= I have said this before & I will continue to say it "We are going to fight! ". She has gone from being my patient one, to the heathen, to now just one little "spitfire"!

In times when we need some rain I have... my little sprinkler!