FOUR little FULTONS

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

the things my children say...

Are there a lot of pencils in Pennsylvania mom?

the things my children say...

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Road trips are about the only way this family of ours can get around these days. Our trusty 7 seater is packed to the gills with anything & everything a Floridian visiting a COLD climate might need over our seven day adventure. In my next life I'm investing in a car carrier! With each road trip we take we grow a little more wiser yet never wise enough. There's always something we forgot to pack (like a 4th pair of headphones) or a better way to do things (have each child have their own bin & that's all they can bring-NO EXCEPTIONS!). Why don't I remember these helpful tidbits of information when our next road trip arrives? With every road trip there's always moments when personalities clash or we're just plain crabby (I get crabby too! ;) ) and yes mommy has had to referee way too many times than I care to remember! Yet with all that being said I wouldn't change a thing! We are making memories people & for this I am extremely grateful! I cannot wait for our next...

road tripping adventure....

Monday, June 9, 2014

just bracelets...

Having four children the same age sometimes means some things slide a bit. There are times when I get a glance of their fingernails and realize it's been WAY too long since their last clipping or better yet it takes them saying "What?" WAY too many times for me to get that I may not have cleaned their ears out this month let alone this millennium.. (The ear wax they create can be quite DISGUSTING!). Well, today I took a good look at Camryn's teeth, I mean a really good look. This girl has only lost TWO teeth &there's not a loose tooth in sight. She is almost seven and a half, something just does not seem right with that. Upon further observation the mommy in me realized two things, First thing being that this girl has a small mouth even though she runs it WAY too often! ha! & second thing being she is most likely going to need braces. There does not seem to be very much room in that mouth for her big teeth to grow into. So I proceed to say "Cami I think you are going to get braces". She replies "Ooh I want bracelets". At first I was not quite sure if she heard me or better yet even knew what "braces" were. So I repeat myself, "You might need BRACES". That's when she replied like I thought she should have by saying "Oh what's that Mommy?". I tell her it's something that widens your smile and straightens your teeth. Little did she know that I once wished I could get braces but the dentist told my mom that my teeth would straighten out on their own.There's just something about a mouth full of metal. ha! It sure would be nice and a whole lot cheaper if it was...

just bracelets...

Saturday, December 29, 2012

wants vs needs...

This is an important topic that goes around in our home. When you have four little ones that constantly ask for stuff you have to put it into perspective. What it is that we want vs what we actually need. Sometimes they go hand in hand but other times, OK, most of the time we do not really need what we want! Weird how that happens! [= We have been SO blessed with so many hand me down clothes, shoes & toys that we really need for nothing. SO the next time you are about to make that purchase just think of your...

wants vs needs...

Thursday, December 27, 2012

wiggle it just a little bit...

The tribe went to the dentist recently & learned that they are no longer "babies" any more. Our "baby", Miss Linz, has two BIG teeth coming thru behind her baby teeth. How did I miss this?! How could I miss such a monumental thing?!? These teeth are not just breaking through the skin either. Man am I slacking! I need to have my "A Game" on to prepare for the big "tooth out" moment. Oh do I remember loosing my own baby teeth. I disliked the feel of a wiggly tooth so much that I practically pulled each one of them! I'm not sure if they will take after their mama in the dept. or not. We have been prepared for this moment with special tooth fairy pillows & a little tooth box to put the tooth in now we just need to get her to...

wiggle it just a little bit...

Sunday, December 16, 2012

cannot find the words...

After hearing about the tragic events that unfolded in New town, CT yesterday all I want to do is cry. Being a parent of four kindergardners made it even harder on my emotions. Why would anyone harm any innocent child? These parents did what they did every school day when they dropped their children off at school. Who would have thought that morning would be the last time they saw them alive? They go to school to learn, not to die. School should be a safe haven, a place where children should not have to worry about who might bust through the door wanting to harm them! Police officers are the ones that carry guns to protect us not a deranged man on a mission to kill. So I still sit here trying to wrap my brain around it. I have had many moments where all I do is cry. I don't know what to say to my children when they ask me why I'm crying. I don't know how or better yet what to tell my soon to be six year old children about this tragedy. I want to reassure them and myself that each day that we send them to school that they will be safe. I want to believe that senseless acts like this will never happen again & that no parent will have to deal with this again. I just...

cannot find the words...

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Read my lips, "NO MORE SAND!"...

I will be the first one to admit that I DISLIKE sand! I dislike it so much that if I can help it the tribe would never go to a park with sand. One might say that's wrong of a mother to feel that way but when you have four sets of feet tracking the dirt into YOUR car you might feel differently. When we hit the beach we rinse off competely to help limit what mama needs to cean up. Seriously a bottle of hand sanitizer & a mini vac are this mama's best friends! =) I have on SEVERAL occasions arrived to a park only to see sand & promptly pull away in search of a "sand-free park". Not only is it GROSS because who knows what animals & even children have done their business in it. DISGUSTING!! I know, I know I'm a bad mommy for not embracing it but seriously I really really do NOT like sand!...

Read my lips, "NO MORE SAND!"...

Our Story...

Ok I am now over 8 years into this "job" of mine, being a mommy to multiples, high order multiples to boot! They say that if you try to conceive without protection for one year with no success then you are infertile. Those words were a lot to take in. I sought answers from everyone. We started out with our 1st OB/GYN Dr William Casale doing the normal testing that they were equipped to do. We did it all, IUI's, spermwashing, etc. I then contacted RESOLVE, a wonderful organization for people like me (could not get pregnant). I started making mental notes of what I needed to achieve my dream, to be a mom! The next step was to go see a Fertility Doctor. We chose to see Dr Mark Denker. After checking me out he then referred Michael to see a Urologist who ended up putting him on clomid. Yes, men can take this RX too! It helps make more sperm just like it helps a woman create more follicles. It is AMAZING the things you learn when you are trying to conceive! After further testing we were both told we had fertility issues, I had fewer eggs than a woman my age & they were "tough", Michael had double vericasils so that in order for us to have the "best odds" we needed to go the IVF route. I had this feeling that it was not going to work right away, call it my intuition. So we bought a package, can you even believe that they sell "packages" like a travel agency? Our "package" included 3 rounds of IVF with ICSI, minus all the meds I would need. The drugs are an expense we did not even think of but had to purchase for this entire thing to work. Well, it ended up taking all 3 rounds of IVF & accupuncture courtesy of Dr Susan Schiff for me to get pregnant & boy did I get pregnant! (Trust your intuition!) We started out with very few follicles, only 3 fertilized into embryo's and all three took. I was finally pregnant! 8 weeks into my pregnancy one of the embryo's split & became identical. Can you believe that!? What are the odds? No one told me that could happen! AMAZING! We had a lot of decisions to make. No one thought that we should keep all four. In the medical world it is called a "selective reduction". Only a few doctors even do this procedure. We did not know what our future would hold just that we could not reduce anything! In the beginning we had a hard time finding a doctor that felt like we did & wanted our four babies to thrive! We finally found Dr Moises Virelles, a fellow Christian & my now OB/GYN. He then referred us to an AWESOME Perinatologist, Dr Gary Cohen. Having the two of them on our side we knew ANYTHING was possible! My pregnancy was really uneventful. I was put on "bed rest" at 22 weeks. I later found out my "bed rest" was unlike other women's bed rest. I was just not allowed to work. I continued to do things, just stayed off my feet as much as possible. If I went shopping I would ride a motorized scooter. If I went to a party I sat pretty much the entire time. I had no issues, my cervix was long & rock solid. I really feel that God wanted me to be a mommy! The babies were great! They kicked each other more than they kicked me! People would look at me & could not believe that I had four babies inside me, I tell you I was meant to carry quads! Now don't get me wrong, it was not a joy ride, I was miserable towards the end & felt it very difficult to breathe. I never even went into the hospital prior to January 15th. Even though I asked them to admit me MANY times!! On January 17, 2007 we welcomed our GBGG quads; Camryn, Brendan, Avery & Lindsey into this world. 1 set is fraternal & 1 set is identical. They weighed 4 lb 7 oz, 4 lb 4 oz, 3 lb 6 oz & 3 lb 3 oz. I made it 32 weeks 5 days when I delivered them at St Mary's Medical Center. They were all HEALTHY and they did not need to be intubated! WOO HOO! They were little miracles destined to be here! I had nurses come up to me & tell me how wonderful it was that I carried them so long, that it was a better gift holding onto them as long as I did than a Harvard education! WOW! We were SO happy, excited & most of all unprepared for how much our life was about to change. I will say it was a GOOD change! I cannot imagine my life without them! Everyone watches our little ones in amazement & they still do. This is their story....

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