Daddy Pete with his gloves on...

I just had to share a "funny" that Avery told me the other day. With all the drama that has been going on around here it was nice to have something funny to smile about.

First off I need to share who Daddy Pete is, he's the father of two of our good friends who we now get to call "friend" & the tribe call "Daddy Pete". We have socialized with their family & the tribe LOVE him. He works for the Fire Dept. where we live & coincidentally has been on duty both times I have called 911 from home. Working for a police/fire dept. I rarely call 911 unless it is an emergency & recently we have had a few of those.

We called a few months back when Lindsey took a face plant into the coffee table & needed stitches & then for the most recent "event". You see my 81 year old mother with 2 artificial knees slipped on the wet patio & broke her leg. Yes you read this correctly, she broke her leg! Her femur to be exact! Our patio is a sore subject for me, it has tile floor & when wet it becomes a hazardous area! Needless to say Mom slipped on the wet part & down she went. We knew something major happened to her leg but did not know exactly until we had X-Rays in the ER. Both times Daddy Pete was on duty & the paramedic that came when we called. All of the kids were very attentive to what all was happening to Grandma but Avery took it especially hard. She had the look of concern on her face, wanted to make sure she was OK & was even weary about seeing her in the hospital with an IV & oxygen. She kept saying Grandma is your leg better?

So all of that brings me to her conversation with me the other day. As we were leaving the hospital Avery tells me I don't want Daddy Pete to come over anymore wearing gloves. At first I was confused, she LOVES Daddy Pete! Why would she not want him to come over? Then it dawned one me. She did not want him to come over on duty!! The gloves she mentioned are the latex ones that he wears when checking out a patient. That girl is SO smart! She does not want any more accidents to occur & especially does not want to see...

Daddy Pete with his gloves on...

Aave & her PINK house!...

Ever since the tribe was born we have pretty much color coded EVERYTHING! It started with their bottles, we used the Playtex drop in's kind. They have colored rings around the nipples & the liners are about as sterile as you can get so that's what worked for us. Just about anything that made life easier we did. Camryn had yellow, Brendan had blue, Avery had pink & Lindsey had purple. I think that's when it all started. Bottles then turned into sippy cups and blankies turned into towels. The color coding cycle just continued & once they understood which color was theirs it all went downhill from there. They even want to wear clothes in the color we "assigned" them. It's weird how that decision we made has effected their entire life! Some days I wonder if their "favorite" color would be different if we never implemented our "system".


While riding with her Daddy she spotted a PINK camouflage truck. {Why someone would do that is beyond me!} She made him pull over & get a picture of it to send to me. It's an obsession I tell ya! Then just this past week while out & about we drove through this residential neighborhood. They are just like their mother & spot the unusual, this time it was a house. It was a rather cute house, on a corner lot & nicely manicured but the kicker was that it was painted PINK! Actually bubble gum pink would be more accurate. The minute Avery saw it she squealed with delight! Like I could miss this house as we drove by. Jokingly I said you want me to stop so you can get a picture next to it? Wrong thing to ask a girl OBSESSED with anything pink because she did not even hesitate & yelled out "YES!". Before I knew it we were out of the 'burb & in front of the house. The people who saw us must have wondered what in the heck are they doing! ha! The rest of the day she made sure to tell everyone about that house! TOO funny! 

Here is a picture from that day!

Aave & her PINK house!...

what we do for fun...

We have a few rituals here, some that sort of "appeared" due to our circumstances at the moment. One of those "circumstances" was finding things to do while Camryn attended speech. For 2 hours 2 times a week our foursome turns into a threesome. It's weird how in more ways than one that dynamic affects me. VERY VERY weird missing a child even if it's just for 2 hours twice a week! I almost have to re train my brain into believing they are triplets for the day. One of our new activities has been visiting our local zoo. Let me tell all those people out there that may think that they cannot afford it, buy a family pass! It is such a great deal for anyone, especially for families like ours PLUS it helps support the zoo! It's such a GREAT, GREAT deal! My how our tribe LOVE going to the Zoo!


Each child has their favorite animal that they have to visit while there. The child that is the most vocal about that would have to be Brendan. He has to see Mardi the White Alligator & the Malayan Tiger exhibit EVERY time we go there. In fact he makes a point of telling me that about 10 times each time we walk in their entrance. {Like he would even think I would not already know that! LOL!} One cool think about the Tiger exhibit is that for the 1st time in zoo history the mama tiger gave birth in captivity! Yes she recently became a mama to triplets! COOL huh?! Too bad she didn't have quads! =] They have a video monitor set up so we can see the cubs being cared for by their mama. Such a wonderful thing to witness!

Avery has taken to the Black Bear & Otter exhibit. On our most recent trip we happened upon the Black Bear talk at just the right time. The trainer told us how the bears are actually brothers, Lewis & Clark, whose Mama died when they were mere little cubs. That is why they can co exist here. I have to say that those Black Bears are pretty darn cute! I could not get over their massive size! One even stood up & scratched his back on the fence. It was funny to watch. Just down from the Black Bears is the River Otters & boy do they remind me of the tribe! They are cute, have a TON of energy & most of all are quite mischievous! Maybe that's why Avery LOVES them! hahah!

Then there's Lindsey, she LOVES the Koala Bears. The zoo has two koalas on exhibit who almost always are sleeping when we visit. It's weird how that happens! Each time I hope for them to be awake but nope they are fast asleep. One of these days I hope to see them awake! =] Either way she still loves them! Heck I love them too! In fact I wish they would let me snuggle one! They look SO cuddly & cute! Interestingly enough their "home" is on the way to where the Tigers live so we slip in for a visit each time we are there.

Want to know another one of the exhibits they absolutely LOVE?! The Python!! Yes they LOVE LOVE LOVE peeking in on the massive snake! It looks to be like 10 feet long! YIKES! While they check out the snake I check out the snakes living quarters. About 3 feet from this HUGE python are several turtles. I wonder if they could be his dinner at any point? If I were them I think I'd be scared! VERY SCARED! =] I really do not think there is an animal at the zoo that freaks them out! =] What can I say they are their father's children! LOL!

Besides all of these cool exhibits they also have a BIG fountain that the tribe can play in. Yes it's recycled water, yes they chlorinate it but most of all it is fun! Being that we live in S Florida that fountain sure does comes in handy on those extra HOT days! Some days we even make a return visit after picking up Camryn just so she can play too! This is just some of...

what we do for fun...

the five finger discount...

I have been having a really difficult time with Camryn telling the truth or just plain being BAD! I say I because I'm the one that is with her during her awake hours. I deal with stuff that never seems to happen when Daddy is around. She beats to her own drum & does NOT listen to anything I try to tell her. Some days I just wish Calgon would take me away because my head hurts from beating it up against the brick wall we shall name Camryn! I pray for the day that she will listen to me the first time I tell her something. =]

Let me set the stage. While Cam attends speech I usually take the rest of them to the zoo for an afternoon adventure. They LOVE visiting the animals & we make good use of our annual pass. Some days we will even return with Camryn so she can partake in our adventure too.



This one particular day Camryn was with us as we ventured throughout the zoo. Daddy cut our visit short by asking me to get the 'burb to the garage for some new tires. So there I was rounding them up & hurrying them out the exit. Camryn walked out first, then Lindsey, followed by Avery & then Brendan was just front of me. If you have ever been to the Palm Beach Zoo you would know that they have a gift store just before the exit. Don't all attractions do that?! They want you to spend even more money at their store before leaving to go home. Well to make matters worse this gift shop places a table full of clearance items outside the gift store entrance just before the zoo exit to lure people in. I do not pay that much attention to it because I do not need any more STUFF in our house so I just walk past it & out the exit.

Well apparently my children are NOT like me because on this particular day one of them, OK it was Camryn, decided to "visit" this table on the way out. Before I even realized it & after we cleared  the exit Brendan says Mommy she has something from that table. I turn to see what he meant only to find a rather TALL man dressed sort of professional, black shirt & khaki's, coming out of the gift store & looking in front of me. That is when I saw Camryn hiding something in her hands. It all happened so fast, my first reaction was to say "What do you have?" & then "Bring it to me". She walks up to me coyly & hands me THREE packages of WebKinz trading cards. She stole them off that table! You guessed it, the man dressed professionally was security & saw the entire thing. He says "I'll take them". I felt absolutely horrible! My child just stole something right under my nose without me even realizing & was caught red handed!! What kind of mother am I?! UGH!

I started to walk out to the car & then said to myself  "No, she is going in there to apologize". I walked the entire tribe back into the gift store while I stood Camryn by the cashier telling her to apologize. She flat out refused. I tried everything, told her she would not come back to the zoo which she was fine with. I did not know what I was going to do. Finally I used the one thing that works, Pete. Pete is a deputy that works with me & someone the tribe does NOT like. Not because he is a bad person but because he was stern with them when they needed it & they did not like it. SO there I was threatening her with calling Pete. Then & only then did she apologize. It's sad when threatening to call a police officer is the only thing that works! I really do not know what I am going to do with her. She can be so darn stubborn! I felt like such a bad mother, like none of the things I have taught her about right & wrong sunk in. I even cried on my way to see Daddy. I know every kid does this at least once in their life but even that does not make me feel better. I even sent the Palm Beach Zoo a message in Facebook to express my sincere apology over her actions. Here's what I sent them.

          Subject: Sorry
          I want to express my sincere apologies for my 4 year old daughter Camryn's moment of thievery at the
          zoo gift store today. She grabbed 3 WebKinz card packs as we exited. Luckily her brother saw her do
          it & told me. I returned them & after much coaxing she apologized. Sorry for her lapse in judgement!
          I'm still trying to think of ways she can redeem herself the next time she visits.
          Cathy Fulton


I really wanted them to know just how sorry I was. I just wish she would have kept her hands to herself & never even attempted...

the five finger discount...

I am never going to use a Q-tip again!...

I have been sort of out of the blogging loop these past few weeks. After all of the stuff with the "B man" I really thought I was going to finally catch a break. 2011 has not been that good to us in the medical bill dept. It seems like when we have one medical issue along comes another. Let's just say that I am NOT a happy camper. First Brendan had his ASD closure on his heart, then he contracts Salmonella from God knows what (I thank my lucky stars that the rest of the tribe did not get it!) Lastly last week while doing our nightly routine ie: bath, trimming of all the nails & cleaning of the ears with a Q-tip. Yes I use Q-tip's. Trust me after what I tell you next I will not be using them EVER again! You see Linz moved her head away from me & the next thing I saw was blood by her ear. I really do think the Q-tip went into her ear. Amazingly I did not panic. I just flushed her ear out & made sure her ear was dry. I asked her if her ear hurt & as usual she said no. (These children have a VERY high pain tolerance!) so off to bed they went. The next morning she had dried blood on the side of her head so I decided I better take her in to the Dr just to make sure. To make a LONG story as short as possible, she was diagnosed with a busted ear drum. She had to take antibiotics & ear drops for 10 days & then get re checked. sigh... Only me! That brings us to today when I took her in to the Dr for her check up. The ear drum is healing but now the Dr thinks it may have injured the middle ear so she now needs to get her hearing tested & then see an ENT to possibly get tubes. Isn't life grand?! UGH! They say things come along in sets of threes so I am hoping we are good till at least the rest of the year! I swear...

I am never going to use a Q-tip again!...

unplug me!...

These past few days/weeks have been quite the adventure in our household. It all started on a Friday afternoon with one BIG poop. I know, TMI but it's the truth! I'm truly sorry to be so graphic but that was the last time we saw a normal BM from Brendan. You see after that poop we were visited by the diarrhea monster. He was unfriendly, mean & downright DISGUSTING! Everything went downhill from there. Bren started with a low grade fever & decided he did not want to eat but the good stuff began on Sunday. Yes the vomit began! Fortunately for me I was at work so Daddy had to clean up both poop & vomit! (Remember we made a pact LONG ago that I was poop & he was vomit! He was NOT happy!) A call to the Pediatrician was in order & by dinnertime it was determined he needed to go to the ER ASAP! So my dinner break turned into sick leave & off we went to the ER! His fever went from low grade to over 103 (YIKES!) & we was VERY dehydrated! They started him on fluids right away. Getting fluids means an IV which he was NOT happy about in the least! Besides the IV they needed blood work. Again he was NOT happy! I think they tested him for EVERY virus there was & they all came back negative! We really thought it was rotovirus by the way his poop stunk! P U! By the end of the evening they decided to admit him because his infection level was high & his sodium level was really low. So off to the PICU we went. I was NOT prepared to be staying overnight.



The nurses were nice & took good care of Bren but my bed was NOT comfy in the least!! I think I got 4 hours sleep cumulatively & then I was awoken by a resident to answer a questionaire! Let's just say it was a ROUGH night! I think we went through about 8 diapers overnight. The poor kid had the runs & if there was a drop of it he wanted that diaper OFF! He still had issues drinking (vomited again) & eating so the IV remained PLUS he had a high fever yet again. They decided he needed to stay over another night so Michael swapped places with me. I went back to Grandma's & he stayed there with Bren. By this time they moved him from the PICU to Ped's where his room had 2 comfy bed's, one for Bren & one for Daddy. Where was that bed when I needed it?! LOL! Taking care of the girls was no piece of cake because as many already know having an odd numbered amount of kids makes things VERY hectic! Someone is ALWAYS ticking someone off & girls love DRAMA! I wanted to swap back with Daddy but of course he knew a good deal when he saw one & stayed!! =] Brendan's ER visit turned into a 3 day hospital stay! He went from having the runs & not drinking, to drinking some Gatorade to eating off the BRAT diet which then turned into an AG diet. He was FINALLY freed two weeks ago this Wednesday & they granted his wish to...

unplug me!...

near to perfect vision...

This appointment was WELL overdue. We took the tribe to get their eyes checked. One good thing about being a preemie & a quadruplet is that you get a LOT of prevenative care at an EARLY age. Since about 6 months old they have seen a pediatric opthamalogist & went every year since that was until the fall of 2009. We missed last years appointment so this was something he had to do ASAP! Last year we, Daddy, Dustyn & I, had our eyes checked by our eye doctor & the tribe tagged along. It was then that we found out he could see them too! YAY! We appreciated hearing this because that would save us a TON of $! Sadly it took us until the other day to make that appointment for them! =[  Luckily my niece Katie was in town visiting so she helped me. 2 kids in one room & 2 in the other, they did great! First there was Linz...

Linz chose to be the first one seen!

It was Bren's turn!

Avery was too quick for me to capture on film =(

But I did get one of the 3 of them waiting while it was Camryn's turn...

The three of them waiting for Cam to get her eyes checked

Finally it was Cam's turn!

Dr Leffler & the tribe!

It was very interesting to see how they all fared once the testing was all done! The "twins" aka Lindsey & Avery, had identical vision, their deficit's complemented their positives so they were good to go. Brendan had more stigmatism & more far sightedness that he will need glasses within the year. If you ask me I think he will look SO handsome in glasses just like his mama! =] Last but definitely not least there was Camryn, our brown eyed beauty. She apparently inherited her Daddy's vision because when all was said & done the Dr said she has...


near to perfect vision...