Hi Daddy... Hi Daddy... Hi Daddy...

This is Avery's FAVORITE saying. She just ADORES her Daddy & each & every night when he comes home this is what she says to him. The funny part is that she will try & look him in the eyes as he is cleaning up the kitchen saying "Hi Daddy... Hi Daddy..." CONSTANTLY! He will say "Hi" back to her but that is not enough. She must love hearing her voice. I wonder where she gets that from!? LOL! It is SO cute but it does get old sometimes. I will then repeat "Hi Avery.. Hi Avery... Hi Avery..." back to her & she just smiles! She is such a fiesty one but SO adorable & I love her so! Some days I just look at her & anticipate how much trouble she will give me once she gets to be a teenager! Oh I cannot wait! Ha! For now we have her little quirks, her stubborness & her...

Hi Daddy... Hi Daddy... Hi Daddy...

a nice change...

Today we had MOPS and like usual we rushed to get everyone fed & dressed. I dislike rushing! One of these days I am going to get there early! As it was we arrived about 10 minutes late. Usually on MOPS thursdays all we do is RUSH, RUSH, RUSH! We rush getting fed, getting dressed, getting there, etc.. UGH! Once there I attempt to get them to walk inside because it takes me even longer to get them loaded into the stroller. I think when I finally find the easiest way they will no longer be attending! LOL! Once we enter the nursery area to sign them in, the tears start to flow. Not from me but from them. I SO dislike that part of the morning. I know they LOVE being there it is just that they forget how much fun it is. All they can think of is that Mommy is leaving us! Try getting 4 kids signed in, logging my info, passing off their diaper bag & sippy's without one of them tugging at me or better yet crying. It is rough! I thought today would be just like the rest since we missed our last MOPS get together. 2 sessions, a month, is a LONG time for a toddler. It is like basically starting from scratch. Well, today was such a different day. We walked in & they did not make a peep as I signed them in. They did not cry or whimper as we walked down the hall to their room. The best part was that THEY walked in on their own! Yes, they were acting like BIG people! There was NO crying or anything, I was SHOCKED! Maybe they are catching on to this & actually remember how much they enjoy it. Weirder things have happened! Ha! Today was such...

a nice change...

Hold your fork!

Ever have one of those days where EVERYTHING goes wrong & the things that come out of your mouth is out of order or just plain wrong!? Well the past two days have been that way for me. Yesterday started out good. We were at Grandma's & she went with us to run a few errands. I was FINALLY able to get two pairs of work pants exchanged. It is SO hard to go anywhere that is not a drive thru with these youngin's. It is just SO much easier to bring Grandma along to watch them while I run in to do what I need to do. Well, it took more that I expected & we were driving ALL over town to get my pants. I almost wanted to forget it all & turn the BURB around & go home but we perservered. We drove about 40 miles & in the end they had to order my pants. On our way back to civilization is when my day went from good to bad. We were in an accident. 4 cars in front of me stopped quick which started a chain reaction and I ended up hitting the vehicle in front of us. LUCKILY my mom, the babies and I appeared unscathed. The woman in the car in front of me & her kids were ok too. However for the BURB it's a different story! It needs some major work done! I could not even drive it! UGH! Needless to say I was upset. I am now in a TOO SMALL rental van until the BURB gets fixed. Funny how no vehicle ever fits us! I feel SO out of place, like I am missing something. I find I am thinking about what could have been & even short tempered at times. Now fast forward to this evening at dinner. My WONDERFUL hubby picked up Chinese so I did not have to cook. Wasn't that sweet of him!? He has been trying to ease my mind ever since the accident but it does not seem to help. Here I am making sure the kids are fed. I made them Macaroni & Cheese, one of their favorites. They are all chatting away telling me that they want more & instead of me saying "I'm coming!", the only thing that came out of my mouth was...

Hold your fork!...

memories...

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. I really do believe this & hope that I remember ALL of my "memories" when I get older. My mom was SO good about capturing our "moments". She would take pictures of EVERYTHING! I have class photos where my mom wrote the name of each child on the back of the picture so I would remember my friends. We had like 25 people in each of our classes! It was CRAZY! We also have albums & albums of trips we took growing up. One trip that I remember was when we went to Washington D.C. when I was 10 years old. Well it was more of a work vacation for my Dad. Being that he was in the swimming pool industry he had a Convention to attend & brought the entire family along. My father was VERY big on history & especially politics so this trip was a good way for him to show us EVERYTHING! He even wrote these fancy letters to our Principals stating why this trip would be a great learning experience & why we should get excused absences for the week. They LOVED it & after a few stipulations we left on our road trip. One stipulation being that we each had to do an "assignment" about our trip. Mine was a scrapbook which I still have. We loaded up the car & off we went. My parents had a BIG pad that covered the entire rear of our station wagon for us to sleep on if needed. There were no seat belt requirements back then. Gosh, I am dating myself! YIKES! I remember my Dad telling us as we approached the D.C. area that the first one to spot the Washington monument would get a quarter. A QUARTER! Like that was some BIG money! LOL! However each one of us wanted to be the first one to spot it! TOO funny! Prior to our trip my Dad had written to our congressmen about getting tickets to the White House, Capitol Building, The Federal Mint, etc... We had plenty to do! The weather that fall was VERY freaky & it was VERY cold! We were some VERY UNPREPARED Floridians! My mom had packed me PLENTY of sundresses but NO sweaters! Needless to say my scrapbook shows how crazy we looked. A hoodie over a sundress in 32 degre weather! HA! It is weird how I can almost remember that entire trip just by looking at my scrapbook! It is weird how that works! My hope is that all the blog posts, pictures & video I take of our life do that for our kids. I hope that they have plenty of...

memories...

This I know for certain...

That being a mommy is NOT for sissies! That this "mommyhood" really is really HARD work and that raising quadruplets is DIFFICULT! I know that I have wanted children since before I can remember. I know that LOVE my husband & children more that I could ever say! I know that someone must know more than me when they say you can potty train toddlers! LOL! I know that if a toddler is quiet for too long they will get into T-R-O-U-B-L-E! I know that I have to put bibs on them at EVERY meal if I do not want to do more laundry than I already do! I know that our life is all about schedules! I know that there is NEVER enough time in the day to accomplish my tasks! I know that God gives us no more than we can handle. I repeat this to myself MANY times during the day! LOL! I know that I absolutely LOVE when I take on a new "mission", the harder it is to achieve the better! I know that blogging is my new found passion! Being able to capture all of their "priceless" moments for posterity! LOVE it! And most of all I know that in this CRAZY life we lead that I am exactly where I need to be!...

This I know for certain...

he was jealous...

OK, There has been SO much talk about the woman from CA with the octuplets that I just HAD to post this. My hubby told me that he was jealous, that he wished we had eight babies to love! Can you believe that!? Not me! I love the four I was blessed with and am quite content! I about passed out when I heard she had 8! I think she did not think that decision through. Hopefully the babies are healthy & she will get some help! Lord knows she will need it! Having one baby is HARD work but to have 8, YIKES! After thinking about what 8 would be like I just wanted to knock some sense into him for saying it! He was JEALOUS! Is he CRAZY!? He then said he would have LOVED to have four more just like ours! First that he would want ANY more kids at all and then to want 8! I'm telling you he is CRAZY! I think he forgot exactly how HARD that first year was, heck it still is hard! Now don't get me wrong, he does a ton around here to help me with these children & no matter how much I love them I do not wish I would have had 8! I am perfectly content with our "party of 7". I just cannot believe...

he was jealous...

to bite or not to bite...

We have two biters on our hands. It is quite SCARY! Little Miss Avery & Miss Linz have taken to biting each other. They do not do it very often but they do it & it drives me CRAZY! The other day they looked like two dinosaurs attacking one another, there was no blood or marks just acting it out was enough for me. It sort of reminded me of something you would see in the Jurassic Park movie. They stood there like two dinosaurs face to face, jaws open wide. They were almost salivating like they wanted to eat one another! I do not know what I am going to do. They think it is funny & laugh when I catch them trying to bite. I am SO tired of saying "No Biting!". I guess the good thing is that they only bite one another and not other kids, when they are excited or when one of them trys to take their toy. Camryn will tattle on them if she gets bite. EACH & EVERY time she gets bit she will point to one of them and say "BITE". She knows to tell me so THEY can get in trouble. Oh what am I going to do. Lately it has all been about whether...

to bite or not to bite...

In the dark...

Well, We did it, We joined the ranks of the masses & Grandma's computer has been infected with a VIRUS! Everything is all screwed up! We have no Internet access and we have to wipe the computer clean. What exactly does that mean? Needless to say I am less than excited about this! I am currently posting this via my new iPhone. Thank Heaven for my V Day gift! It came to the rescue! YAY! So, There will not be any new posts for awhile at least not until we are up & running again. For now we are...

In the dark...

Potty Training Progress Report # 2

OK, It has been almost a month since my last report & I thought I'd post an updated "Progress Report". I must say that when they say patience is a virtue it really is!! I am searching DEEP within myself to find it! LOL! Some days are better than others. I cannot tell you how many times I have just wanted to throw in the towel. Potty training 4, well 3 kids because I gave up on Brendan for the time being, is H-A-R-D! I do not know what I thought this experience would be like. I guess I was dreaming things would be a piece of cake & they would just take to it. I mean I would not want pee or poop near my butt longer than it took to come out so why don't they?! Today we started out with their new training pants. I purchased some the other day & they now have each have their own color & design. So far this morning has turned out pretty good but then they realized how to take their pants off & on. Lets just say they were pretty much off most of the time. I had at least one naked butt running around the house until I could catch up to her to get her panties back on. Will they ever "get" this!? I wonder if this will be worth it or should I just wait awhile longer. I must admit that of the 4, Linz has really taken to it. She has already pee pee'd in the potty 4x today & did not wet her pants at all! Can we have some excitement here & a few high fives? YAY! I just hoped to have more to share by the time I posted this...

Potty Training Progress Report #2...

Is there a method to all this madness?

Our little Brendan has thee WEIRDEST quirks that make him, "him". One being when he just about freaks out when he sees the slightest bit of water on the floor. My interpretation is that he knows he can slip when he walks on a wet floor but the weird part is that the "wet spot" could be across the room & he will still freak out! He starts whining & crying making sure we see what he sees. I guess that he has fallen one too many times so now EACH and EVERY time he sees what he thinks is a drop of water he will start crying. At first we thought this was funny but now it is getting REALLY old! Another thing is how he reacts when one of his three sisters come towards him when he has a toy. He will just drop whatever it is, run & then cry. They may not even be after what he has, he just thinks they are! See the pattern here? I SO wish he would toughen up! Now do you see why I referred to him as a "weak link". I know that can be interpreted as harsh but that is him, how he is at this moment in his life. I keep saying to myself that once he gets older he will grow out of it, toughen up & eventually get them back. I'll get back to you on that! LOL! I wonder if these weird quirks will ever get better?

Is there a method to all this madness?

Buccal Cellulitus...

This is the latest ailment to affect our household. It actually sounds worse than it actually is. It is a fancy name for a skin infection & it has called Lindsey "home" for the past few days. Luckily we caught it early because it could have turned into an abscess which we do not need! This all started with a small spot on her cheek that looked just like a bug bite. Being in FL we often get mosquitoes and for some strange reason they LOVE to bite her, probably because she is SO sweet! LOL! Well I gave her some Benadryl & she continued with her day as normal as could be. It was not until AFTER her nap that we knew there was a problem. You should have seen her face! Half of her cheek & chin was all swollen, warm to the touch, pink & hard! It looked TERRIBLE! She still had her cheery disposition but her face looked like it belonged on an ALIEN! When she smiled half of her face would not cooperate and basically it looked distorted. Poor Linz! I knew I had to take her in to see the Doc. I had to think fast since it was already 4pm. Michael arranged for Aunt Kara to come over & LUCKILY, Grandma & Aunt Pat were able to watch the others until she arrived. Off we were, 45 minutes away, to see Dr Stout. I make it in record time & did not even have to wait once we got there. YAY! Dr Stout took one look at her & said I believe this is Buccal Cellulitus. Like I know what that is! LOL! She then said it is basically a skin infection caused by bacteria getting into the skin & causing an infection. Now I need to tell you there was no scratch or cut this was just a raised pink bump. She said it could be VERY miniscule for the bacteria to get in, possibly in her mouth. Luckily we caught it in time because she did not have any fever yet. All she needs is 7 days of antibiotics and then should be as good as new. YAY! Before we could leave she had to outline the swollen area on her face so when we came back the next day the Dr could tell if the meds worked. Once the appt was over you would have thought she was a cranial/facial patient with all the marks on her face! LOL! I'm telling you the things these children expose me to! I can now say that I have heard of ...

Buccal Cellulitus...

THEIR dictionary, 1st edition...

Lately our foursome have been saying some, shall I say, "interesting" words. They have their own lingo, sort of like words out of a "new" dictionary. The way they pronounce things just cracks me up! I have to have them repeat themselves a few times until I get what they are saying. Is this normal!? I have to remember that they are just 2 and they will be talking up a storm soon. Uh Oh! I knew I needed to jot these down for posterity! There's "Bup" for cup, "Bee" for Boy, yet "Bee Bee" is Birdie and "Bee Bob" is Uncle Bob, TOO weird! "Duhl" for Girl, "Lee Lee" for Linz, "Lu Lu" for Lauren, "Nah No" for Piano. (Grandma has a piano that they get to play each day! Now you know why I have invested in ear plugs! LOL!) The other interesting thing I have noticed is that some words they can pronounce perfectly. Why does that work that way? Remember this is my first crack at this 24/7 parenting thing. Dustyn was 5 when I entered the picture & before that I just had nieces & nephews to play with but they went home every night. hahah! These amazing creatures are our CHILDREN, little sponges remembering EVERYTHING we do! You laugh but when they do something AMAZING in my eyes I have to remind myself that it only gets better! They will grow up, be law abiding citizens & remember EVERYTHING Michael & I taught them, SCARY! So each day when they say a new word out of their "dictionary" I write it down while I just chuckle to myself. What words am I going to hear next?! These kiddo's and...

THEIR dictionary, 1st edition...

2, 4, 6, 8, Who do we appreciate!?...

Grandma, "Auntie" Debbie, Delia, Karen, Linda, the list goes on & on... SO many people help us run like a well oiled ship! I get to work during the week because Grandma "loans" us her house while Debbie & Delia take turns watching the little ones for me. Working is my escape from the "busyness" of life. I SO look forward to getting out of the house amongst the people. I know it is hard to believe but answering 911 calls are a piece of cake compared to 4 demanding two year olds! hahah! Karen is my mom's neighbor and when I was little I hung out at her house playing Barbies with her daughter Mary. I was 9 years her senior but we had fun. Karen's children have grown up and now she gets to play with mine. She has come to our rescue on many the occasion! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Michaels cousin Linda has watched the little guys for us too! She has taken them over night & has even agreed to take Avery & Lindsey while Debbie takes Camryn & Brendan for 4 days when we go to LA for a wedding. I am SO excited! We have SO many GREAT people in our lives. We need to break out the cheerleader outfits & start cheering...

2, 4, 6, 8, Who do we appreciate!?...

Superbowl Sunday...

2 years ago today was my "adjusted" due date. You see when you are having multiples you NEVER go full term so my WONDERFUL doctors picked Superbowl Sunday as the day we would strive for. The Superbowl was in Miami that year & if everything would have just lined up right in the Universe our Miami Dolphins would have represented us in it. But it was not to be all the way around. As it was I made it 4 weeks longer than quads make it & delivered our miracles on the 17th of January, The Miami Dolphins had their worst season and the Indianapolis Colts went on to beat the Chicago Bears & win Superbowl XLI 29-17. I cannot believe that it has already been 2 years since that day. I SO wanted our little ones to be born in "the age of Aquarius..", you know free spirited & EASY! I ended up with Capricorns! I just know I will be in for it in the coming years! LOL! The funny thing is that even though they were born on January 17th they were all home from the hospital in time for...

Superbowl Sunday...