we bit the bullet?...

We finally bit the bullet and the tribe now has a new BIG kid bed at Grandma's house! It was such a BIG decision to make because what do you do when four kids share the same room? In an ideal situation we would have more bedroom space & split them up two & two but no we are not the fortunate! )= I mean four seperate beds can eat up a TON of space in a bedroom! Luckily we have some pretty awesome friends who always think of us & came to our rescue! Not only did we get everything we needed in a bed but it was FREE! When you are part of a party of seven anything FREE is MUCH appreciated! Their new bed is a twin over a full BUNK BED, yes I said BUNK BED! After tossing around many different bed ideas this just works for us! It kills SO many birds with one stone & the tribe absolutely LOVES it! I realize now that they needed this change more than I could ever imagine! [= I have to send out a HUGE Thank you to my good friend Renee who gave the bed to us! It's hard to believe that I used to lay down on this very same bunk bed when her girls were little! They are about to graduate high school! YIKES! I am SO aging myself there! ha! So Renee & family the tribe wants to say THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! & THANK YOU! You have helped our munchkins grow both physically & emotionally! [= It was SO cute watching them see the room being painted, the pieces being put together & then finally being able to check out their new bed! This process has taken us a LONG time to complete! I think I started this "project" about 3 months ago. I first painted the room this cool shade of green, then I deceided to paint chalkboard paint in there. I figured, let them be creative! That turned into a MESSY, MESSY idea! When you live in two homes it is hard to finish anything! Basically this bed was the last piece of the puzzle.Now to get them to NOT climb up to the top bunk! I know, I am CRAZY if I think they will not climb up to the TOP bunk! I mean the bed is practically calling out to them "Climb up here..." LOL! Let's just say any worries that I had about them having a bunk bed flew out the window when Daddy showed them how to climb up & down the bed. Yes, he actually showed them how to get to the TOP bunk! arghh! His theory being that you cannot expect them to stay away from it & they need to learn what to do! Hello!? They are three years old after all! The things you do when you are a parent of MANY! hahah! Anyhow, after about thirty minutes of exploring it they have become semi pros at it! I had forgotten that they have already had some BUNK BED experience from climbing up & down their friend Ashley's bunk bed.Even knowing that does not help this mama feel any better, I mean the thought of them falling off the top bunk FREAKS me out! Let's just say there will be MANY night time checks to make sure that NO ONE is caught up on that top bunk! After all is said & done should I be happy that...

we bit the bullet?...

the monkey crawl...

Having a swimming pool & a pond in your backyard creates quite the dilemma when you have 4 toddlers who cannot swim. Swimming lessons X4, YIKES! I have checked into it & though important it's also VERY expensive! So where do you find the money?Looks like at least for now it will be Michael & I giving them half assed lessons. I keep telling myself that it is better than nothing! We really are SO lucky to have built our pool BEFORE quads because we never would have built one after them. Heck we would never have been able to afford one now! CRAZY but true! SO we're lucky, broke people with FOUR munchkins that need to learn how to swim! I take them all out in the pool pretty much every day. In the beginning it was rough. They did NOT like it if the water was TOO cold or better yet they did not like going under the water. My how things change with just a few short months. They LOVE it! They will sometimes stand pointing out the sliding glass door "MY pool". I kid them & say NOOO it's MY pool & they would joke back saying it was theirs. We went all out & got ALL the bell's & whistles. At that time we had the money & I never thought I'd become a mommy so this was to be my "sanctuary".


Well it turned out better than we could have expected & now 3 1/2 years later it has served us well! We have a sun shelf where if I ever sunbathed I'd lay out & get my vitamin D. But now it is their playground. The perfect place for a toddler to play! They actually behave & stay there while I bring one of the tribe out into the pool for some "mommy swim lessons".




The twins, Avery & Lindsey, aka "The twins", are WILD! They will jump in towards you, go under the water & come up grinning! Nothing phases them! Brendan is becoming a little fish. He is cautious but LOVES it when I take him under water or get him kicking those legs of his. PLUS he does not want to leave the pool when it's time to go in. Then there's Camryn, the MOST cautious one of all. She can perform leaps & bounds above the rest of them BUT does it the safest way possible. She watches & learns from EVERYONE.She pays attention & sees everything!







My six year old niece can swim like a fish & there was Camryn watching her EVERY move. In two short days she taught Camryn what we've been trying to teach her, them, since March. How to grab onto the side of the pool if they ever fell in & get back to the steps. My cousin Lori started showing them that & we have repeated it hoping they would "get" it. Thanks to Lauren our Camryn can now go all the way around the pool doing...







the monkey crawl...

experiences...

For some strange reason I feel that I need to post this due to comments I have received on previous posts. Like I have copied peoples stories & posted them on our blog. CRAZY! There are MANY similarities between things that occur in OUR household that have also happened out there in your households. When something funny happens with our munchkins I don't hold back, I share it. When I find something I just absolutely LOVE I tell everybody! I want to make other multiple mommies lives SO much easier. That is my goal. However I blog more for our kids than for anyone else. I want them to know about their life, about the things they did. Funny things they started saying, how they interacted with one another. Our children have such an advantage with all the technology out there for us to capture them with. I have accounts with Blogspot, You Tube, FaceBook, MySpace, Tot Spot, etc.. all about them! They will have plenty of places to go back to as a point of reference in their life. The added bonus for me is hearing from YOU! To have a mom tell me that it sounds as if you were writing about us! We all share a common bond! We relate to one another because we are sisters in the same club. We are all mommies! Our experiences are similar because we all seem to go through the same stuff just at different times. Our life is an open book & I love to share our experiences with each of you. I would never have been able to have gotten this far with our foursome if it were not for my multiple mommy friendships. SO if there is something I post that sounds like something you have gone through please tell me! I want to hear from all of you! I LOVE hearing your comments and please remember that we all have similar stories just with different little people cast in the starring roles! We all learn from our...

experiences...

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...