My MUST haves...

I decided to share with everyone my "must haves", those things that make my life SO much easier & I never leave home without. These items are ALWAYS with us! We have to take with us when we are out on one of our "adventures". Some days if I know I've forgotten one of them I am known to turn the BURB around just to pick up the forgotten item. Here goes...

1. Dex Products Bibs - they are SO easy to clean & just snap up! We always have a bib! Less ruined clothes maes me a happy mommy! PLUS There's NO Velcro! (Velcro is a mother's worst nightmare!)
2. Playtex Coolster sippy cups (LOVE these cups!) in our BIG insulated bag of course!
3. Our Skip/Hop mini diaper bag changer. It holds just enough diapers, wipes & diaper rash cream. PLUS it has a fold out pad to change them on. (I have not carried a diaper bag in FOREVER!)

My MUST haves...

starting from scratch...

I decided that today will be a new day. That all of the past "BAD" days will be washed away like I have no memory of them. Sort of like starting from scratch. This is good in theory but can I really do it. Well I am trying. I figure I need to do something since I have at least another year & a half of them at home with me so I better do something to make it easier on myself. So here are some of the things that I have done to "change" things.

1. Pray more for guidance from God. I need this!!
2. Get a playset so they will have another outdoor play area.
3. Work EVEN harder on potty training so we don't have to deal with any more diapers.
4. Remember that coffee is not to be left any place within their reach. =)
5. Create some "mommy" time so I do not feel overwhlemed.

These 5 things do not seem unreasonable. Half of them I can do. I just have to put my mind to it. Things can be SO overwhelming at time that my mind gets scattered. Please pray for us, or better yet me. Since there is only one of me I need it!
remember I'm...

starting from scratch...

a VERY good day?

Today I had one of those days where EVERYTHING went wrong! Camryn has started climbing out of her crib! Yes, my life has taken yet another turn. It seems like each day there is something NEW going on in this household. They have continued their "nakedness" by taking off their diapers whenever they feel like it. No, it's not to be a BIG girl or boy, I believe they do it just to drive me CRAZY! LOL! They seem to think that taking OFF their diapers & peeing on the floor or better yet in their crib is now the FUNNIEST activity of the day! I cannot wait for the day when they ALL will be potty trained! Pray for me! Another "trick" is to climb on various toys, namely their toy drum, to reach TALL things. They will turn the lights off & on, open the front door to try to "escape" (Thank heaven for deadbolts! LOL!) or climb up just to get COOL things off the counter. Usually it is my purse that they are after & they will porrage through it like little scavengers! Today was an even EXTRAordinary day. Today Avery dumped my coffee (thank goodness it was cold!) all over the dining room table. Daddy better be ok with my clean up job because they wore me out! I tell ya they are QUICK little devils too! They get into even more messes while I am cleaning up their last one! The BAD part about all of this is that they do all of this right in front of me. I tell them "NO" & they do it again! Some days I feel like I just ran a marathon and it will only be 9am! These are my VERY bad days! It is in these moments that I usually call my hubby to tell him that they NEED preschool. He will reassure me that I am doing a "great" job but I do not feel that I am. It is days like today that make me feel that life as a SAHM is not for me! I do NOT do well with days like today! Makes me feel that my life is like that movie "Groundhog Day"! You know where he wakes up to the SAME day EVERY day! That is my life! In the end I know that I do not have much choice in the matter. Michael & I cannot switch positions in our lives. He is the main breadwinner & I am the SAHM. He will continue to watch them on the days that I work & I'll continue to have work as my outlet from my CRAZY life! There is no way that we can afford to send them to preschool. The cost is just TOO much! We will be lucky if we can get them into a voluntary Pre K at almost 4! Let's just say that life in the Fulton house is ROUGH! Having four two year olds is ROUGH! For now I just perservere & wake up each day trying to make it better than the last. That HOPEFULLY I will have more good days than bad. I ask myself when will I feel like I have made a difference? When will they listen to what I say? & most of all When will I have...

a VERY good day?

Happy Spring!

Hi Everyone! Here are a few NEW pic's of our "tribe". It took quite a few pictures to get these few! We hope you all enjoy looking at them as much as loved taking them!

Here's a photo of our 4 in their new BOAT clothes! Thank you Aunt "Larry"! =)
Mr B with Miss Cam Cam posing on our front porch! Gotta LOVE that grin!

And last but not least Miss Avery & Miss Lindsey doing their thing in matching dresses, Can you guess who is who? Hope you all have a...

Happy Spring!

priceless...

Lateley we have had some "priceless" moments in our household. Our little Brendan has become quite the talker of the family. He will try to say practically anything. For the most part we can understand him the best. His new phrase or word has been "Whatzup dude". He must seem to like the feel of it roll off his tongue because he says it ALL the time! It all started when my mom's neighbor Jim would come to visit all the munchkins and ask Brendan "What's up Dude!?". He just LOVES when Jim says it & has copied him ever since. I think he particularly LOVES the dude part. I catch him saying it when he is alone. He will get a HUGE smile on his face & then start to giggle after saying it. He must know that we get a kick out of hearing him say it. In the beginning he would say it whenever we asked him to. You know like it was a special trick and we wanted every other person to hear him do it. Yes, we turned in those kind of parents, the ones that have their kids perform right then & there for friends & family. Well he no longer does it on "command". It's like he has to be in the "mood" or something. LOL! I must say that it just cracks me up when he says it. Makes me realize that he is not going to be my baby boy much longer. That he is growing up SO quickly & I need to capture these moments. Oh how I love snuggling with my little man! We will sit down together & carry on "conversations" all the time. He will try to say almost any word I throw at him. Some words come out perfect, others like cantelope are not so good but just as funny! He loves to copy anything we say. UH OH! We better watch out what we say around him! LOL! The "dude" part, well that is just PRICELESS! He is TOO TOO cute! I just love these moments, especially the ones that I just HAVE to write about! they are...

priceless...

booster seats...

This is the latest plight in my life, why restaurants never seem to have ENOUGH booster seats?! I agree that we happen to have a "tribe" & we may not get the 4 that we need. HOWEVER, most families have at least one kid, maybe two. Why not splurge & get a few to accomodate the many!? It really bugs me when a brand new restaurant that has just as many booths as they do tables would they only have 2 for the ENTIRE place! This is what happened to us when we went out to celebrate Grandma's birthday! The place Grandma chose just re opened as a NEW Steak House. It used to be a Hop's restaurant. You know the place that used to make their own beer. Well, they went under just like most other places due to the economy. I think people just did not want a microbrewery anymore. So enters the NEW "Original" Roadhouse. Now do not get me wrong, the food was YUMMY but they made us a LOT of promises getting us in the door. First they took our reservation for a party of ELEVEN at 6pm over the phone and once we arrived they said they do not take reservations. HOWEVER they had our name on the list & then told us they gave our table away. Michael was a bit peeved about that. As a family with 4 toddlers we ALWAYS plan ahead & there are a few "needs" that we have to have for us to have an enjoyable meal. The BIGGEST need is either a booster chair or high chair with straps. They just do better restrained with no means of escape! LOL! Being that we were a LARGE group they now had to get creative in trying to accomodate us! It ended up that we could not all sit together which was fine BUT they did not think of the arrangements before they sat us down. We were across the aisle from each other & 1 table was about a foot higher off the ground than the other. You know the kind that you have to step UP to get into? I did not think it would be a problem once we had our 2 boosters that they promised us. Well, the next thing was that they could not find ANY boosters for us. It ended up that they only had 2 for the ENTIRE place & they were already taken. Imagine they only had 2! YIKES! I pity all of those other families also waiting for a seat! In the end they expected us to put 2 highchairs at the end of each booth. Remember the table is about a foot higher than the other booth so it was going to be interesting. Knowing that the aisle should not be blocked as a fire hazard I kind of got worried. First was the two highchairs at the end of a HIGH booth. Camryn & Avery did not like it one bit! Then just 3 feet behind them was another set of highchairs. The waiters had to squeeze in between the 4 highchairs just to get through with their food orders, etc. The weird part is that no one ever thought to move us! You can already tell that it was not much fun mostly for me but we were there to celebrate Grandma so we made the most of it! People can not believe that we take our "tribe" out to eat, but they LOVE it! AND for the most part they are VERY good that is with restraints! LOL! No one understands our plight because they do not deal with this day in & day out. You view things TOTALLY different when you are raising multiples. I decided right then & there that I am going to purchase our own boosters so we NEVER have this problem again. We left after dinner, no coffee & dessert. I just wanted to get out of there! Michael told me that the manager told him that they would take care of us the next time we came in. Little does he know that we will not be taking him up on that anytime soon.
So my message to all of you restaurant owners out there, Buy more...

booster seats...

THREE wheels...

Today is Grandma's 79th birthday & she got a new set of wheels, a three wheel bicycle to be exact! Yes, she is now part of that "older" sector & is now the proud owner of a three wheeled trike. You know the kind of bike that kids LOVE to ride but adults never seem to want to own! LOL! Grandma was an avid bicyclist in her "adult" life but then all her aches & pains took over so she stopped riding all together. A BIG factor in this decision was having to have both of her knees replaced. She has been afraid to ride a "regular" bicycle ever since. Frankly I do not blame her! I cannot tell you how many times she has told me how much she misses it, especially now that she has her "bionic" knees! LOL! SO, I set out trying to fill that void for her. Being that we live in South Florida we see a lot of "older" people riding around on them. The problem was that I was afraid she would take one look at a 3 wheeler and say "No way!, I am not THAT old!". LOL! I mentioned my idea to Michael & my brothers to see what they thought about it. They ended up coming up with this scheme so I could see if she would want one without buying one first. The deal was that I was to tell her that a "friend" at work had one & wanted to know if I knew of anyone that could use it. That would break the ice so to speak. Seemed harmless so I was in. Now all I needed to do was tell her but getting her to fall for it was another feat! Well, she sort of bit but did not express EXTREME interest so I mentioned it AGAIN to her. I said that maybe she could try it out. Three wheels are better than two, how she could get exercise, etc... She did not really say much about it UNTIL one day she brought the subject up on her own with me. She asked if that "friend" still had the bicycle because she wanted it. I was SO happy that she wanted it but remember this was a made up friend with a made up bike and if I did not come up with a bike I'd be in trouble! I ended up telling her that I would check the next time I went to work. This scheme was turning into a reality! I called my brothers & told them that we should get her a bike for her birthday. They had some apprehension about whether she would use it, etc. We discussed maybe getting a used one since they do not come cheap. So I was now on the hunt for one & I needed it QUICK! My mom mentioned it again & I told her that they gave it away already, whew! Little did my mom know that I had all of my "connections" on the hunt for one already. As luck would have it a friend found one just this week! YAY! It's all in the timing, just in time for her birthday which made it even sweeter! When Grandma saw it for the first time she was excited but VERY nervous. I was told she sat on it, then glided a few feet down the driveway when she almost crashed into her car & scraped up her leg. Grandma ALWAYS gets boo boos! )= This is definitely going to take some getting used to. I realized that my next purchase for her will have to be a helmet! Now if I can only get her to use her new set of...

THREE wheels...