bath day...

As I have probably mentioned before, our Linz has just started having a "lovey", you know the stuffed creature children can not live without! None of the kids really had anything that they were really attached to UNTIL we went to my nieces high school graduation in May. We drove up to Atlanta & I made sure each of them had something to snuggle with while they slept in their pac n' plays. If I only knew that this would create more drama in our lives I may have re thought the entire thing!Lindsey's snuggly happened to be a stuffed Panda bear that Dustyn won God knows where! She liked it so much that it was an easy choice for her. We gave her the name "Patty" & that was that! WELL little did I know how much that event would change our entire lives! Now we cannot go twenty minutes without her asking any one of us where that darn panda is! It's CRAZY! I get afraid if we forget it at Grandma's!UH OH! As you can see Patty is her new best friend, she takes her EVERYWHERE! Needless to say that the Panda get's quite dirty being dragged over heaven & earth! SO I designate a special day to give her a "bath". I make sure I tell Linz the day before that tomorrow "Patty" is getting her bath so she will be forewarned! It has seemed to help her grasp not having her around for the two hours it takes to wash & dry her. Sometimes she will forget & when I tell her she is having a bath she will run into the laundry room. It is SO funny to watch her run in there just to watch her spin in the washer! LOL! I just wonder how long "Patty" will hold up for her...



bath day...

won't you be my neighbor?...

My mom has THEE greatest neighbors! Whenever we visit her, which is a lot, we always have one or two of her neighbors gather on her porch. I wish I could say they were coming to see me but we know the REAL draw, the tribe. The feeling is mutual!

Just the other night we attended the 6th Birthday party for my mom's neighbors daughter. Jennifer & Boris are such a great family, they have 3 daughters in fact they give us MANY hand me downs! You know how I love hand me downs! The birthday girl is Ashley & she was turning 6! She is SO cute. For months she has walked over to see the babies & would tell us that her birthday was "tomorrow". Her big sister Emily would say nooo it's not tomorrow & laugh! I never knew when the real day was! So when Ashley came over on Thu asking us to come to her party I was perplexed. I checked with her mom & yes it was in fact her big day! They celebrated with a pool party! I was excited because the tribe has been swimming a lot lately & LOVES the pool! The bad part was that we had NO swim diapers! We were given a bunch awhile back & we finally ran out!
That's partially due to the fact that we do NOT use them in our pool. So far I have only had to clean up 2 pooptastrophe's! Yes we had poop in the pool! It was Cam Cam who did the deed! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd pick someone's poop out of the pool! There I was making sure I got all of her terds! YUK YUK YUK! It was disgusting but cleaning up floating ones is SO much easier than what it could have been! PLUS it's SO much cheaper than having to buy swim diapers each & every time they go for a swim! Now when we are going to be in someone else's pool I will splurge. Mommy did not plan well & there were no swim diapers to be found, so NO swimming. Tell this to 4 two year olds! They were NOT happy! We dressed them nice since they would not be swimming & walked over to the party. Instead of being in the pool we had 4 FULLY clothed two year olds walking around the pool! We had a lot to watch out for! The pool was full of six & above aged girls. They SO wanted them to come in & go swimming!

Only one "accident" where Cam tried to sit on the steps of the pool & got her dress soaked. So then she was just in her diaper! I am going to plan better from now on! We had such a fun time hanging out with the adults, eating all the tummy munchies & then it was time for the pinata! Yep a pinata! It was SO cute how Vinny, Ashley's older brother, sat on the roof holding the pinata rope. What a brother! Needless to say it took awhile to get that puppy open! The kids went crazy when they finally broke it open & all the candy flew out! Our kids now LOVE candy! Thank you Jennifer! LOL! A fun time was had by all! I wish our neighborhood was like that!

won't you be my neighbor?...

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...

adventures from toddler HOOD...

Working for a police dept. you hear a lot about "hood's". You know, where you are from, your neighbor HOOD. Well my "hood" these days is Toddler HOOD and I am DEEP into it with NO chance of turning back! MANY people have scared me by saying 2's are nothing & I need to watch out for the 3's! YAY! Having that knowledge I wish we could just skip over the 3's entirely! Yes I love our children BUT remember we do have 4 of them! 4 whiny, CRAZY, neurotic and sometimes cannibalistic children! Who would have thought human flesh tasted so good!? LOL! Some days life here just really sucks! Sorry to use the "S" word but that is really how I have been feeling lately. I have never been one to hold back how I felt so why start now? This past week has been a real eye opener for me about my Mr B! He seems to have taken on a new role in our house, our CMM, better known as Chief Mischief Maker! I have found him on several occasions wreaking havoc in their bedroom. He has ALWAYS been the "good one" & now I am beginning to re think that title! He has singlehandedly given me SO much EXTRA work this past week! Diapers strewn all over the place, shampoo squirted all over the floor, pulled EVERY wipe out of the wipe container & today smeared zinc oxide all over himself & his sister! What am I gonna do with this boy? I am going to have to do some bedroom furniture re arranging ASAP! It may not look pretty but it will get the job done! (= What makes matters worse is that I am STILL recuperating from having my wisdom teeth extracted. I am the WORST patient when it comes to pain in my mouth! Not feeling all warm & fuzzy if you get my drift! These children have gotten on my very last nerve & it's only Tuesday! ugh!! I think my hubby wishes that I would lose his number so I would STOP calling him when they push my buttons. It's hard dealing with the 4 of them on a good day let alone a BAD one. Our life is just plain HARD! I just want some relief. Last night RELIEF came in the form of Daddy taking the tribe to the grocery store by himself & leaving me home, ALONE! I cannot tell you how much I needed that! I did not even have to ask him to do it! WOO HOO! Being that I was "off duty" & without kids I could then take a pain pill for my jaw. I try not to incapacitate myself when it's just them & me at home alone. That one pain pill did wonders! My head felt better, my jaw stopped throbbing & for once the house was QUIET! No one at my feet screaming my name or upset because one of their siblings ticked them off. I actually felt like myself again & not the lunatic that has been so upset lately. I actually cleaned up & organized a bit. I remembered how much I LOVE organization! (= I got to watch a TV show that I have had on the DVR for the past month. YAY! I love it when I can actually accomplish things! They were gone a little over 2 hours but it felt like FOREVER! I actually looked out the window wondering where they were! CRAZY but true! Oh to think of the MANY gray hairs I will get from these munchkins & it's just the beginning of...

adventures from toddler HOOD...

just another rainy day...

Today started out pretty good. I woke up earlier than normal, 630AM, to the start of a terrible storm, I could hear thunder, I am sure there was lightening somewhere & just knew that the rain would be coming. SO I ran outside TRYING to be pro active & started to fertilize the lawn. Yes I know that was VERY stupid of me but I could not waste the opportunity to get our grass back into the GREEN column.Ever since the pool was built our sprinklers are kaput then we had these munchkins well you know where the money goes! Just to set the record straight when I went out there was no lightening just some thunder in the distance. Anyhow, I succeeded & hopefully our lawn will start to take shape soon! While I was out in the elements the tribe was FAST asleep. In fact they did not wake up until almost 915! WOO HOO! I just love days like today! However I do not love having the kids INSIDE bored out of their minds but I just love a rainy day filled with thunder! If I did not have these responsibilities of this house & these buggers I would have slept in myself! But NO... I was outside in my bathing suit getting drenched! Once the tribe awoke they kept me entertained. Camryn always asks where Daddy is & I tell her he is at work. She then pointed to her wall like she did the other day. This is the same wall in their nursery that I have partially painted with a bi plane pulling a sign. She then tells me that she wants her Daddy to fly the plane! Awhh... These are the moments I treasure! Spending time with the munchkins when they are GOOD! Today was a new day! They got along & actually had some fun! We watched Yo Gabba Gabba on Mommy's bed. Yes it is "Our" bed however they seem to think it's just mine & I let them! LOL! They LOVE watching that show! Something about those goofy looking characters acting all goofy & dancing around gets them excited! I enjoy it because they are happy & there's no screaming going on! YAY! The rain stopped for about an hour and we actually got some sunshine so I took advantage & let them have a quick dip in the pool. I LOVE how they are becoming little pool lovers! Brendan especially! He LOVES swimming around the pool with mommy. We usually go in au natural, what a sight to see, 4 naked babies! No need for me to wash even MORE laundry! LOL! I was so happy when nap time arrived because I could get some more stuff accomplished. That is what I thought! They wreaked havoc the short time they were in there. I think Camryn is starting to corrupt her brother because HE was the mischief maker today! Diapers & wipes all over the place PLUS a broken picture frame! What am I gonna do!? And to think this was a GOOD day! Oh and it's...

just another rainy day...


w

the BEST daddy ever...

Three years ago on Father's Day we created these little buggers of ours! So I only saw it fitting to share with you some of the snap shots of our journey! We have had MANY wild but fun times these past three years! Here's a little glance down memory lane! We hope that all of our Daddy friends out there have a HAPPY Father's Day!






Here we are on our way to the Fertility Doctor's office












The tribe when they were just three.. Can you tell who is who? LOL!












When three became four!!!!















Three days BEFORE I delivered!















Co-bedding started REALLY early...













Party in Camryn's crib 12 o'clock sharp! (=















Four little Fulton's on their 1st Birthday!











Daddy & his girls, Father's Day 2008 (Brendan is sitting with Grandma behind them)











The tribe & their leader, Father's day weekend 2009







Daddy you are the BEST tickler, game player and in our eyes you can fix EVERYTHING! Just remember this when we turn sixteen and ask you for the car keys! We'll be saying you are...


the BEST daddy ever!...

I was run over by a MACK truck...

This past week has been a rough one for me. I had the week off & since we're home I made a list in my mind of things we need to do around here. Things we have let go for way TOO long! The list is HUGE! There is so much to accomplish & not enough time to do it in. Everywhere I look there are MORE projects left un done. I have books to pack away or donate, bedroom's to finish painting, crafts to finish putting together, the mental list goes on & on... I really try to motivate myself but some days I just give up! I tell myself that tomorrow is another day! YEAH RIGHT! I try & I try to accomplish one thing but then another item takes presidence. Then I'm screwed! Before I know it chaos has entered our home. I do not like chaos! The minute the tribe goes down for a nap I start dealing with my stacks of stuff! I could never get things done when they are awake. I tried it once & it was a catastrophe! They were into EVERYTHING! SO I try little by little, stack by stack, project by project. The worst part is that seeing unfinished projects gives me such anxiety. I need to have everything in it's place. That is a terrible way to feel when you are a parent of multiples. I know that you cannot sweat the small stuff. I wish I could get over feeling that way! One thing I did accomplish is laying down the rubber mat in our den. Well sort of. I need help moving the BIG pieces as you can see. I get into a groove & then the tribe wakes up & I have to be "Super Mommy", fixer of all wounds and a woman that makes everything ok. Well I may be a woman but I do NOT feel "SUPER"! What I want is help! I want someone to realize that being in this house full of toddlers brinking on the "terrible two's" is tough! I am spent! It sounds terrible but I just wish for some alone time. Some time for me to take care of me. I can not remember the last time I went out by myself let alone with my husband, who's he? LOL! I also want to be able to get through the day without calling my husband in tears. Telling him that I want to drive off into the sunset because I cannot do this! They need SO much & I am spread so thin! Yes, we have made it pretty far into this multiples mayhem BUT I really feel like I am failing! Failing at being his wife because we never seem to have quality husband & wife time. I cannot tell you the last time we went on a date! YIKES! Then theres the household situation. A clean house? Yeah right!? At least we don't have bugs! LOL! I used to love making meals for Michael. Try out new recipes. That seems like eon's ago! I RARELY make a home cooked meal! If I do make a meal I almost always forget the side dish. You know to make it a well balanced meal. My meals are NEVER well balanced! It's more like making ravioli with sauce & that's it. Now my mom would make sure she made a salad & garlic bread with her ravioli's. Why do I not remember those things? Heck I am lucky if I remember to give them their sippies! I am SO bad about that! Now being a mommy X5. Thats the sinker. Having four toddlers at my feet crying because someone {Lindsey} bit them, or another one took the toy that they think is theirs. {You need to learn to share little people!}. If they fall down & get a scrape I try to not let it affect me. I will tend to them but I cannot get all emotional over that when there is bound to be another life altering event happening soon. I guess I have been in way TOO many Doctor's office when it was not a well check up that I just roll with the punches. I guess it's my way of dealing with a house full of screaming children wanting the one & only me! Now you may wonder if I have spoken to my doctor about how I feel & the answer is yes. I have had blood work done & hopefully he can "fix" me! A lot of this could just be hormones but the fact remains, I have quadruplets. My life is going to be crazy & different than most. Please keep me in your prayers! Who would have thought being a wife, a mommy & then taking care of the house would be SO dang hard! All I can say is that some days I feel like...

I was run over by a MACK truck...