I started a new blog which will make it easier for me to share pictures and videos. Please visit it at:
http://www.thechickletsandcompany.com
and let me know what you think!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Mars and Venus
As a way of getting to know one another, each week Cam's class has a "Star of the Week." During the week they get to bring in a backpack full of their "stuff" to show their friends, bring in a favorite book to read, or have read, to the class, and the parents get to write a letter to the class about their child. They also fill out a questionnaire about themselves and bring in family pictures, then at the end of the week the Star Student is sent home with a poster board signed by all of his/her classmates, stating what qualities their classmates like about them.
Cameron was Star of the Week during the first week of school and he really enjoyed it. He got to bring in his favorite magic tricks, his stamp collection, his weather station (he's a science geek), and a few of his other favorite toys to show his friends. He chose to bring in his favorite picture, which is one of him, as a baby, throwing up on Scott's face. The boys thought this was hilarious. I had a hard time composing a letter about him that wouldn't embarass and mortify him. As a mom, it's not easy to write about your child without getting all mushy and sentimental!
That Friday Cam brought home his poster board that was signed by his classmates. The sentiments are SO divided between the sexes! Check this out....
BOY: "You are nise [nice]"
BOY: "I think it's cool that you like magek [magic]"
BOY: "I like Cam because he is funny"
BOY: "You are good at building things"
BOY: "He helps others"
BOY: "He is a good friend:
Not much emotion, right? Just very matter-of-fact. Then there's this:
GIRL: "You are the sun in my eyes"
GIRL: "You are the love in my heat [heart]!"
GIRL: "You are sweet, loving and caring"
GIRL: "❤You are nice to people❤" (she added these hearts)
GIRL: "You are seshly!" Seshly? Did she mean "sexy?" What else could seshly mean? Do 7 year old girls know what sexy means? And if so, does it apply to 7 year old boys? Is Cameron bringing seshly back?
Oh my god, are boys and girls different! I read the board out loud with Cam when he brought it home, and although he did enjoy what the girls wrote, he was clearly embarassed, too! It didn't help that I had to tease him a little bit.
Me:"So you're the sun in ______'s eyes, ey?" (name has been ommited to protect the innocent)
Cam: "No"
Me: "And you're the love in ______'s heat?"
Cam: "No. Stop it!"
Scott comes home and sees the poster laying on the counter.
Scott: "What's this?"
Cam: "I got it from school"
Scott: "Oh, let's see what your friends have to say about you"
Cam: "Okay, but we're not talking about it."
Let me just say that I'm terrified of what I have in store when I have three 7 year old girls. If they think that boys are seshly at that age, what is it going to be like when they're 13, then 15, and 17.... It makes me shudder. We're so screwed!
Cameron was Star of the Week during the first week of school and he really enjoyed it. He got to bring in his favorite magic tricks, his stamp collection, his weather station (he's a science geek), and a few of his other favorite toys to show his friends. He chose to bring in his favorite picture, which is one of him, as a baby, throwing up on Scott's face. The boys thought this was hilarious. I had a hard time composing a letter about him that wouldn't embarass and mortify him. As a mom, it's not easy to write about your child without getting all mushy and sentimental!
That Friday Cam brought home his poster board that was signed by his classmates. The sentiments are SO divided between the sexes! Check this out....
BOY: "You are nise [nice]"
BOY: "I think it's cool that you like magek [magic]"
BOY: "I like Cam because he is funny"
BOY: "You are good at building things"
BOY: "He helps others"
BOY: "He is a good friend:
Not much emotion, right? Just very matter-of-fact. Then there's this:
GIRL: "You are the sun in my eyes"
GIRL: "You are the love in my heat [heart]!"
GIRL: "You are sweet, loving and caring"
GIRL: "❤You are nice to people❤" (she added these hearts)
GIRL: "You are seshly!" Seshly? Did she mean "sexy?" What else could seshly mean? Do 7 year old girls know what sexy means? And if so, does it apply to 7 year old boys? Is Cameron bringing seshly back?
Oh my god, are boys and girls different! I read the board out loud with Cam when he brought it home, and although he did enjoy what the girls wrote, he was clearly embarassed, too! It didn't help that I had to tease him a little bit.
Me:"So you're the sun in ______'s eyes, ey?" (name has been ommited to protect the innocent)
Cam: "No"
Me: "And you're the love in ______'s heat?"
Cam: "No. Stop it!"
Scott comes home and sees the poster laying on the counter.
Scott: "What's this?"
Cam: "I got it from school"
Scott: "Oh, let's see what your friends have to say about you"
Cam: "Okay, but we're not talking about it."
Let me just say that I'm terrified of what I have in store when I have three 7 year old girls. If they think that boys are seshly at that age, what is it going to be like when they're 13, then 15, and 17.... It makes me shudder. We're so screwed!
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
We're Back!!!
I don't know if I have any readers out there anymore, but just in case, we're back! My computer died several weeks ago and it's taken me a while to get up an running with my new one. I went from a PC to a Mac, so there's been a slight learning curve involved with some of my programs. But so far, I'm a huge fan of my Mac!
So, where to begin....
I guess the biggest news is that all the kids are in school now. Did you get that? ALL the kids! Not just the boys, but the girls are going to preschool 2 mornings a week for 2 1/2 hours. That gives me 5 glorious hours a week to myself! To some, that may not sound like much. But for someone who hasn't been alone in her house in more than 7 years.....it's fantastic!!! A friend of mine asked if I cried when I dropped them off on their first day. I did, indeed. Tears of joy, that is. I think I had a perma-smile for a week!
The girls were pretty typical on the first day. They were all excited about going to school (not knowing what it meant, but knowing it's something the boys get to do), but once we got there and brought them into the classroom they all freaked. They cried for about 15 minutes, and Scott cried for about 20. We listened outside of the classroom until we knew they were calm and settling in, and listening to them cry made Scott want to run in, scoop them up, and bring them home. Of course I would have cut his legs off at the knees before he made it to their door, since they would be coming home with ME! Oh, come on, you all know how much I love my girls, so don't look at me like that! They only cried for about 2 minutes the second day of school, not at all on the third, and by the fourth day they were running into school.
They established their roles in their "pack" on the first day of school, already. Tara seems to be the mother hen, barking out orders (No toys, girls! Sit down!) and trying to keep her sisters in line. Dru is the leader of all things naughty and doesn't believe that rules apply to her, and Dayne is caught in the middle. She seems to have an angel on one shoulder (Tara) and a devil on the other (Dru), both trying to pull her over to their side of the fence. Unfortunately, more times than not, she ends up on the dark side. Who can blame her? Toys or teaching? That's a no-brainer. The issue with the girls is at "Circle Time", a time when all the kids are supposed to sit nicely in a circle (hence the name) and listen intently to the teachers. When Dru isn't defying the teacher and leaving the circle to play with toys, she's rolling around on the floor like a rollie pollie. This seems to be her way of giving the finger to authority. Needless to say, she's spent a fair amount of time in their yellow "thinking chair" (aka "time out chair"). Oh boy....
Another big change in our house is that Ty is now in school full days. You can imagine how quiet the house seems without his presence. I'll admit that I was really worried about how he would adjust with full days of structure and discipline, but he seems to be doing a great job. Aside from the one teeny-tiny phone call from the elementary principal, he's doing great!
Don't all kids flood the boy's bathroom? No? Well, apparently, Ty was pulled over to "the dark side" when he was using the bathroom at lunch time a couple weeks ago. He was washing his hands when two of his little friends came in, and one of them showed him how fun it is to put your hand under the faucet and spray water everywhere. So Mrs. Jaberg, the principal, calls me, with my little angel sitting in her office, and tells me how they flooded the bathroom and had to miss recess to mop up the floors. She then puts Ty on the phone with me and he was crying so hard that I literally couldn't understand a word out of his mouth! She said he was the most upset of all the boys, and she didn't think he'd be doing it again! When I saw her a few days later she told me that she had to stifle her laughter and put on her stern face when she walked into the bathroom and saw them splashing and laughing, having the time of their life! Then she brought them back to her office and said it was the funniest sight, the three of them sitting stoically in the chairs with their little legs sticking straight out because they're too little to touch the floor! I'm glad she was amused! So was Scott. He couldn't have laughed any harder when I called him to tell him what had happened, and I had to remind him that this was a serious infraction when we talked to Ty about it after school. If Scott had talked to Ty about it alone I'm convinced he would've been high-fiving him and asking him how far he got the water to spray! Although I have to admit that I was laughing a little bit on the inside!
I wish I could tell you that all of my kids were perfect and never got into any trouble, but how much fun would that be?
Cam is working like crazy to prepare for a magic show. He's been obsessed with magic for 2 years and has more tricks than David Copperfield. He's ready for an audience and wants to have a big show and invite half of our community. We're going to shoot for sometime in November, so I'll let you know how the big event goes after then. He also started playing soccer this season, which is a huge deal considering he's always hated the idea of this particular sport. He decided on his own that he wanted to try it, and he is great at it! On the field he is so confident and focused. He really gets into it and goes after the ball. He's even swung a few elbows! It's so fun to watch him really enjoy and get into a sport.
I'll finish this update shortly. Now that I'm back, I have a head full of things that I want to post about. A lot goes on in this family in two months! Until then!
So, where to begin....
I guess the biggest news is that all the kids are in school now. Did you get that? ALL the kids! Not just the boys, but the girls are going to preschool 2 mornings a week for 2 1/2 hours. That gives me 5 glorious hours a week to myself! To some, that may not sound like much. But for someone who hasn't been alone in her house in more than 7 years.....it's fantastic!!! A friend of mine asked if I cried when I dropped them off on their first day. I did, indeed. Tears of joy, that is. I think I had a perma-smile for a week!
The girls were pretty typical on the first day. They were all excited about going to school (not knowing what it meant, but knowing it's something the boys get to do), but once we got there and brought them into the classroom they all freaked. They cried for about 15 minutes, and Scott cried for about 20. We listened outside of the classroom until we knew they were calm and settling in, and listening to them cry made Scott want to run in, scoop them up, and bring them home. Of course I would have cut his legs off at the knees before he made it to their door, since they would be coming home with ME! Oh, come on, you all know how much I love my girls, so don't look at me like that! They only cried for about 2 minutes the second day of school, not at all on the third, and by the fourth day they were running into school.
They established their roles in their "pack" on the first day of school, already. Tara seems to be the mother hen, barking out orders (No toys, girls! Sit down!) and trying to keep her sisters in line. Dru is the leader of all things naughty and doesn't believe that rules apply to her, and Dayne is caught in the middle. She seems to have an angel on one shoulder (Tara) and a devil on the other (Dru), both trying to pull her over to their side of the fence. Unfortunately, more times than not, she ends up on the dark side. Who can blame her? Toys or teaching? That's a no-brainer. The issue with the girls is at "Circle Time", a time when all the kids are supposed to sit nicely in a circle (hence the name) and listen intently to the teachers. When Dru isn't defying the teacher and leaving the circle to play with toys, she's rolling around on the floor like a rollie pollie. This seems to be her way of giving the finger to authority. Needless to say, she's spent a fair amount of time in their yellow "thinking chair" (aka "time out chair"). Oh boy....
Another big change in our house is that Ty is now in school full days. You can imagine how quiet the house seems without his presence. I'll admit that I was really worried about how he would adjust with full days of structure and discipline, but he seems to be doing a great job. Aside from the one teeny-tiny phone call from the elementary principal, he's doing great!
Don't all kids flood the boy's bathroom? No? Well, apparently, Ty was pulled over to "the dark side" when he was using the bathroom at lunch time a couple weeks ago. He was washing his hands when two of his little friends came in, and one of them showed him how fun it is to put your hand under the faucet and spray water everywhere. So Mrs. Jaberg, the principal, calls me, with my little angel sitting in her office, and tells me how they flooded the bathroom and had to miss recess to mop up the floors. She then puts Ty on the phone with me and he was crying so hard that I literally couldn't understand a word out of his mouth! She said he was the most upset of all the boys, and she didn't think he'd be doing it again! When I saw her a few days later she told me that she had to stifle her laughter and put on her stern face when she walked into the bathroom and saw them splashing and laughing, having the time of their life! Then she brought them back to her office and said it was the funniest sight, the three of them sitting stoically in the chairs with their little legs sticking straight out because they're too little to touch the floor! I'm glad she was amused! So was Scott. He couldn't have laughed any harder when I called him to tell him what had happened, and I had to remind him that this was a serious infraction when we talked to Ty about it after school. If Scott had talked to Ty about it alone I'm convinced he would've been high-fiving him and asking him how far he got the water to spray! Although I have to admit that I was laughing a little bit on the inside!
I wish I could tell you that all of my kids were perfect and never got into any trouble, but how much fun would that be?
Cam is working like crazy to prepare for a magic show. He's been obsessed with magic for 2 years and has more tricks than David Copperfield. He's ready for an audience and wants to have a big show and invite half of our community. We're going to shoot for sometime in November, so I'll let you know how the big event goes after then. He also started playing soccer this season, which is a huge deal considering he's always hated the idea of this particular sport. He decided on his own that he wanted to try it, and he is great at it! On the field he is so confident and focused. He really gets into it and goes after the ball. He's even swung a few elbows! It's so fun to watch him really enjoy and get into a sport.
I'll finish this update shortly. Now that I'm back, I have a head full of things that I want to post about. A lot goes on in this family in two months! Until then!
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Why Didn't We Make International News?
This was my sister's question when she forwarded this article from MSNBC yesterday. My mom also saw it as a crawler on CNN. I know identical triplets are rare, but I don't think they're as rare as the article states (1 in 200 million). I thought it was around 1 in 25 million. Either way, I don't get why it made international news. It must have been a slow news day.
"Rare Identical Triplets Born in Austria"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20180886/from/ET/
Does anyone know how to change the appearance of a link (above) to display my own text instead of the web address?
"Rare Identical Triplets Born in Austria"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20180886/from/ET/
Does anyone know how to change the appearance of a link (above) to display my own text instead of the web address?
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
What Would The Godfather Say?
I'm sure you've all seen "The Godfather". You may or may not remember one of the first scenes that takes place during his daughter's wedding. In a conversation with his daughter and new son-in-law he says to them, "May your first child be a masculine child". Whether this is his wish because he believes this would be the preference of the couple, or he just wants to ensure the family "business" is carried on, I'm not sure, but he never mentions what the preferential gender is for the succeeding children. Maybe this means he doesn't care, and that he'd welcome these children into his family regardless. We obviously do not have a family as depicted in this movie, nor are we trying to follow suit (this wouldn't work, as I tend to ask too many questions), but it just so happens that our first child was a masculine child. And so was our second. Let me introduce you:
Oh, and he asked me to delete all the pictures of him dressed up like a princess, but I can't. These will have to resurface at some point later in his life. He also didn't want me to show them to any of his friends, so please don't show them to your kids. Or mention to him that you've seen them. He woudn't be happy with me. I guess he's not completely uncensored.
Oh, and he asked me to delete all the pictures of him dressed up like a princess, but I can't. These will have to resurface at some point later in his life. He also didn't want me to show them to any of his friends, so please don't show them to your kids. Or mention to him that you've seen them. He woudn't be happy with me. I guess he's not completely uncensored.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Lazy Days of Summer....
Bring on the lazy days! This past week we wrapped up our last two "big" summer commitments, so now we have very little to tie us down to a schedule in August.
The boys both had a week of Camp YKoda, with the bus picking them up at 8:00 and bringing them home at 4:15. It was nice having the week with just the girls, although Dayne was sick for the first half of the week so we were only able to squeeze in a playdate and the zoo at the end of the week. We need to look into getting our own exhibit at the zoo, because the girls got more attention than any of the animals. You know you're an attention-getter when the Gorilla Keeper says to the crowd "Forget about the gorillas, look at the triplets!" I wonder when the girls are going to get sick of it. It happened for me a long time ago. Sometimes it would be nice to just enjoy a peaceful outing with my kids without being stopped by every other stranger asking personal questions and wanting to take pictures of my girls. One day I'll post a blog with some of the funny and obnoxious comments and questions that we've gotten over the past couple of years.
After Camp YKoda, Cam had a day of rest before he and Scott went to Cub Scout Camp for three days. I really missed the big guy by time it was all over! He's never been gone for more than one night so the house felt really empty without him. There was definitely less foot traffic without their friends coming and going all day!
My mom and Kenny have "date nights" with the kids, where they take one of them for some one-on-one time and to have an overnighter. Last weekend was Ty's turn, but he wanted to bring one of his sisters (this was shocking for us!) so he and Tara had a sleepover together. Cam didn't want to sleep in his room alone so he slept in Tara's bed. Dayne and Dru were so excited about their new roommate that it took 2 hours to get them to sleep. In these 2 hours they were working poor Cameron like a dog. They had him changing their pajamas, getting them water, bringing them to the potty, etc. etc. I told him they were playing him for a fool, which he thought was pretty funny. On my last trip up to put the hammer down and get the girls in bed (again) Cam was wrecked! He asked me "Mom, can I please have an Ambien CR?" Ambien CR is one of Scott's drugs (he's a pharmaceutical rep) but I didn't think he'd ever talked to the kids about them. Amused, I asked him why he wanted an Ambien CR, and he said "Because it makes you go to sleep and helps you stay asleep." I asked if Scott had told him about it but he said no, that he just sees it on T.V. That's good marketing.
Earlier I had asked Cameron to brush his teeth before bed. I haven't had to help him or supervise him brush his teeth in a couple years now, so I usually just have to remind him and send him on his way. This time I had happened to be in his bathroom cleaning, so when he started to use his ACT mouth rinse I told him that he needed to brush first, rinse second. He said "Oh, I don't brush my teeth anymore. I just use this." Eeeewwww! I said "What do you mean you don't brush? How long has it been since you've brushed your teeth?!" To which he replied "A really long time." Double eeeewwww. So I decided that I needed to brush his teeth that night and his gums were a bloody mess! Boys are gross.
Ty had some deep thoughts brought on by a Children's Hospital donation dish at the store. It's one of those bowls that you drop a coin into and it circles around and around until finally dropping into the collection bowl at the bottom. After using up all of my coins he was pretty pleased with himself and said "That money goes to Jesus, right Mommy?"
Me - "No, it goes to Children's Hospital to help sick kids"
Ty - "No, it goes to Jesus"
Me - "No, the collection plate at church goes to Jesus, this goes to sick kids"
Ty - "But it also goes to Jesus"
etc, etc, etc, .....I finally let him have his way and believe that he just sent 17 cents to Jesus. Then he said something about God, I can't remember exactly what, but it turned into this..
Ty - "God died, right?"
Me - "No, honey, it's Jesus that died"
Ty - "Ooooooohhhhhh. That's so saaaaaaddddd. Jesus is one of our Presidents, right?"
Ouch. I'm so glad no one was around to hear that. It brought me back to when Cam was smaller and we went to my great grandmother's funeral. We were one of the last to walk in so the pews were full and the church was silent. We were getting ready to sit when Cameron pointed to Jesus hanging on the cross and asked loudly "Who's that?" At that time my grandmother thought that we went to church every Sunday, and I never corrected her, so he kind of outed me at that moment. I think I need to get my kids to church more often, ey?
After Ty's revelation about President Jesus, he jumped right into how babies are made. Nothing like throwing me from one fire into the next. Fortunately, he didn't ask any questions. He was more or less explaining to me his great knowledge of how babies are made. A better mother may have corrected him and fine-tuned some of the details, but I was perfectly content with him believing that the baby is always in the mommy's tummy, but it's when she eats a lot of eggs that the eggs go into her tummy and make a shell around the baby. Then the baby has to stay in there for a couple of days to grow before it comes out. Sounds good to me. He's only 5. The rest of the details will come in due time.
The girls are back in dance class and are adorable, if I do say so myself. I'm going to keep them in dance classes as long as possible so that they won't look like me on the dance floor. They don't have good dancing genes from either parent, although Scott can do a mean Backstreet Boys imitation.
Until later, enjoy some lazy days!
The boys both had a week of Camp YKoda, with the bus picking them up at 8:00 and bringing them home at 4:15. It was nice having the week with just the girls, although Dayne was sick for the first half of the week so we were only able to squeeze in a playdate and the zoo at the end of the week. We need to look into getting our own exhibit at the zoo, because the girls got more attention than any of the animals. You know you're an attention-getter when the Gorilla Keeper says to the crowd "Forget about the gorillas, look at the triplets!" I wonder when the girls are going to get sick of it. It happened for me a long time ago. Sometimes it would be nice to just enjoy a peaceful outing with my kids without being stopped by every other stranger asking personal questions and wanting to take pictures of my girls. One day I'll post a blog with some of the funny and obnoxious comments and questions that we've gotten over the past couple of years.
After Camp YKoda, Cam had a day of rest before he and Scott went to Cub Scout Camp for three days. I really missed the big guy by time it was all over! He's never been gone for more than one night so the house felt really empty without him. There was definitely less foot traffic without their friends coming and going all day!
My mom and Kenny have "date nights" with the kids, where they take one of them for some one-on-one time and to have an overnighter. Last weekend was Ty's turn, but he wanted to bring one of his sisters (this was shocking for us!) so he and Tara had a sleepover together. Cam didn't want to sleep in his room alone so he slept in Tara's bed. Dayne and Dru were so excited about their new roommate that it took 2 hours to get them to sleep. In these 2 hours they were working poor Cameron like a dog. They had him changing their pajamas, getting them water, bringing them to the potty, etc. etc. I told him they were playing him for a fool, which he thought was pretty funny. On my last trip up to put the hammer down and get the girls in bed (again) Cam was wrecked! He asked me "Mom, can I please have an Ambien CR?" Ambien CR is one of Scott's drugs (he's a pharmaceutical rep) but I didn't think he'd ever talked to the kids about them. Amused, I asked him why he wanted an Ambien CR, and he said "Because it makes you go to sleep and helps you stay asleep." I asked if Scott had told him about it but he said no, that he just sees it on T.V. That's good marketing.
Earlier I had asked Cameron to brush his teeth before bed. I haven't had to help him or supervise him brush his teeth in a couple years now, so I usually just have to remind him and send him on his way. This time I had happened to be in his bathroom cleaning, so when he started to use his ACT mouth rinse I told him that he needed to brush first, rinse second. He said "Oh, I don't brush my teeth anymore. I just use this." Eeeewwww! I said "What do you mean you don't brush? How long has it been since you've brushed your teeth?!" To which he replied "A really long time." Double eeeewwww. So I decided that I needed to brush his teeth that night and his gums were a bloody mess! Boys are gross.
Ty had some deep thoughts brought on by a Children's Hospital donation dish at the store. It's one of those bowls that you drop a coin into and it circles around and around until finally dropping into the collection bowl at the bottom. After using up all of my coins he was pretty pleased with himself and said "That money goes to Jesus, right Mommy?"
Me - "No, it goes to Children's Hospital to help sick kids"
Ty - "No, it goes to Jesus"
Me - "No, the collection plate at church goes to Jesus, this goes to sick kids"
Ty - "But it also goes to Jesus"
etc, etc, etc, .....I finally let him have his way and believe that he just sent 17 cents to Jesus. Then he said something about God, I can't remember exactly what, but it turned into this..
Ty - "God died, right?"
Me - "No, honey, it's Jesus that died"
Ty - "Ooooooohhhhhh. That's so saaaaaaddddd. Jesus is one of our Presidents, right?"
Ouch. I'm so glad no one was around to hear that. It brought me back to when Cam was smaller and we went to my great grandmother's funeral. We were one of the last to walk in so the pews were full and the church was silent. We were getting ready to sit when Cameron pointed to Jesus hanging on the cross and asked loudly "Who's that?" At that time my grandmother thought that we went to church every Sunday, and I never corrected her, so he kind of outed me at that moment. I think I need to get my kids to church more often, ey?
After Ty's revelation about President Jesus, he jumped right into how babies are made. Nothing like throwing me from one fire into the next. Fortunately, he didn't ask any questions. He was more or less explaining to me his great knowledge of how babies are made. A better mother may have corrected him and fine-tuned some of the details, but I was perfectly content with him believing that the baby is always in the mommy's tummy, but it's when she eats a lot of eggs that the eggs go into her tummy and make a shell around the baby. Then the baby has to stay in there for a couple of days to grow before it comes out. Sounds good to me. He's only 5. The rest of the details will come in due time.
The girls are back in dance class and are adorable, if I do say so myself. I'm going to keep them in dance classes as long as possible so that they won't look like me on the dance floor. They don't have good dancing genes from either parent, although Scott can do a mean Backstreet Boys imitation.
Until later, enjoy some lazy days!
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
We have triple the triplets!
Welcome to the house of fertility! We are proud to announce the arrival of Tina-the-Guinea Pig's triplets. This picture was taken just a few hours after they were born. Look at how furry, cute and alert they are - and how BIG they are! How did they all fit inside of her? The kids haven't named them yet, as the determination of their sex is pending. With Ty giving Tina her name and Cam once naming a fish "Home Depot", the possibilities are endless. The second set of triplets are nesting in a flower pot on our front porch, though sadly, the smallest one died. The third set of triplets are upstairs sleeping in their twin beds. I don't know if it's something in our water, so visitors beware!
Our summer has officially begun. Though the boys have been out of school for 3 weeks now, it's been 3 weeks of running around from Safety Town, to swim lessons, to T-Ball, to baseball. We're now starting our lazy days of summer. This was the first week we would wake up and not have to rush to be somewhere, and we actually had to stop and think "What should we do today?" That's what summer is all about.
Ty had Safety Town each morning for the past 2 weeks. Safety Town is a great program for kids going into kindergarten where they cover every aspect of child safety, including bike safety, stranger danger, electricity, poisons, seat belts, playground safety, and animal safety. Cameron went to this program two years ago and came home paranoid that everything around him was surely going to kill him. I'm surprised he ever got the courage to leave his bedroom, because he was freaked out by the power boxes in our backyard, the cleaning detergents in the closet, the cars driving down the street, and the swings on the playground. He was rightfully fearful of the swings since a couple weeks later, at his birthday party, he broke his collar bone by walking in front of a swing in motion. Ty has taken his Safety Town training a little more in stride and is just more aware of wearing his helmet and buckling his seat belt, and I don't think he'll ever drink our dishwasher detergent.
Ty had Safety Town each morning for the past 2 weeks. Safety Town is a great program for kids going into kindergarten where they cover every aspect of child safety, including bike safety, stranger danger, electricity, poisons, seat belts, playground safety, and animal safety. Cameron went to this program two years ago and came home paranoid that everything around him was surely going to kill him. I'm surprised he ever got the courage to leave his bedroom, because he was freaked out by the power boxes in our backyard, the cleaning detergents in the closet, the cars driving down the street, and the swings on the playground. He was rightfully fearful of the swings since a couple weeks later, at his birthday party, he broke his collar bone by walking in front of a swing in motion. Ty has taken his Safety Town training a little more in stride and is just more aware of wearing his helmet and buckling his seat belt, and I don't think he'll ever drink our dishwasher detergent.
The kids have been spending a lot of time in the water in the past few weeks. Scott's parents (Mimi and Papa) have a boat and the boys and Tara went tubing a couple weeks ago. Cameron is VERY brave in the water and loves it, and he's really turned into a natural swimmer. The boys tried kayaking this past weekend with Kenny and really enjoyed it. Cam is old enough to go out on his own, with the kayak attached to a rope so we can pull him in, and Ty went out with Scott. Tara, our water baby, has even gone tubing and kayaking. All the girls love the swimming pool, but Tara is the only one brave enough to leave the shore.
Today is the 4th of July and we're going to be going to our friend's house this afternoon before going to the Village (we live in a Village!) concert and fireworks. Dayne has a fever, so Scott and I will be tag-teaming staying home with her today. Fortunately our friends are our backyard neighbors, so we can bounce back and forth easily.
Have a great Independence Day!
Today is the 4th of July and we're going to be going to our friend's house this afternoon before going to the Village (we live in a Village!) concert and fireworks. Dayne has a fever, so Scott and I will be tag-teaming staying home with her today. Fortunately our friends are our backyard neighbors, so we can bounce back and forth easily.
Have a great Independence Day!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Happy Birthday, Cam!
Yesterday Cameron turned 7! I still find it impossible to believe that I have a second grader. Scott and I reminisced with Cam about our eventful day 7 years ago, telling him about how I had to ride in an ambulance, lights and sirens and all, from one hospital to another because he was determined to be born early. He loves hearing the story about how he just couldn't wait to meet his daddy (Scott's version of the birth) and seeing pictures of himself after he was born, connected to all the wires and tubes.
Today Cam's having a party in our backyard with 10 friends. It's a "water fun" party, complete with a double slip n' slide, sprinklers, inflatable pirate pool, and a couple hundred water balloons. It should be pretty easy for us. I think if you turn over control of the water hoses to a group of boys they can pretty much entertain themselves.
You all remember our newest member of the family, Tina the guinea pig, right? Well, she's becoming an even bigger addition than we thought. She's pregnant. At first I just thought we were over-feeding her. I knew she was still young and had some growing to do, but this was ridiculous. Then when I felt her belly moving I realized that she had the worst case of indigestion ever, or she had been a busy little girl before we bought her. When I told Scott about the impending birth his knee-jerk reaction was "Well, we're bringing her back to the store! We can't take care of baby guinea pigs." I think the horrible memories of the late night feedings with the triplets had come rushing back to him, and he panicked. When I reassured him that we weren't going to be responsible for feeding the babies every two hours, and that there would be no additional diapers to change, he was comforted. So now we just wait. This will be a great learning experience for the kids. It'll be interesting to see their reactions when the babies are born. So far, their insight is like this:
Ty: "Number one, she's a mommy. Number two, she's going to have babies."
Cam: "She can't be a mommy because she's not married." (My work here is done...)
Girls: "Babies? Belly? Babies? Belly? Babies? Belly? Babies? Belly?..........."
We'll let you know when the blessed event happens. Please let me know if you have room in your homes and hearts for a new member to your family. We'll be looking for good homes for 2 to 5 little ones......
More later - I have a few hundred water balloons to fill.
Today Cam's having a party in our backyard with 10 friends. It's a "water fun" party, complete with a double slip n' slide, sprinklers, inflatable pirate pool, and a couple hundred water balloons. It should be pretty easy for us. I think if you turn over control of the water hoses to a group of boys they can pretty much entertain themselves.
You all remember our newest member of the family, Tina the guinea pig, right? Well, she's becoming an even bigger addition than we thought. She's pregnant. At first I just thought we were over-feeding her. I knew she was still young and had some growing to do, but this was ridiculous. Then when I felt her belly moving I realized that she had the worst case of indigestion ever, or she had been a busy little girl before we bought her. When I told Scott about the impending birth his knee-jerk reaction was "Well, we're bringing her back to the store! We can't take care of baby guinea pigs." I think the horrible memories of the late night feedings with the triplets had come rushing back to him, and he panicked. When I reassured him that we weren't going to be responsible for feeding the babies every two hours, and that there would be no additional diapers to change, he was comforted. So now we just wait. This will be a great learning experience for the kids. It'll be interesting to see their reactions when the babies are born. So far, their insight is like this:
Ty: "Number one, she's a mommy. Number two, she's going to have babies."
Cam: "She can't be a mommy because she's not married." (My work here is done...)
Girls: "Babies? Belly? Babies? Belly? Babies? Belly? Babies? Belly?..........."
We'll let you know when the blessed event happens. Please let me know if you have room in your homes and hearts for a new member to your family. We'll be looking for good homes for 2 to 5 little ones......
More later - I have a few hundred water balloons to fill.
Monday, June 18, 2007
I Couldn't Have Said it Better Myself
Quote of the Day provided by Ty:
"It's a great day for sitting outside and drinking."
"It's a great day for sitting outside and drinking."
Saturday, June 9, 2007
A Medley of Events
We have been so busy the past couple weeks! The kids have had a busier social schedule than I've ever had, even when I was single and living in Chicago! The boys have been wrapping up the school year with performances and concerts. Ty had a spring concert with the elementary classes, and he was in all his glory. Fortunately he was in the front row, because he definitely wanted to be seen and heard! Then Cameron's class put on performances for the parents in their music room. The kids got to choose their talent for that day and most did a song & dance as a small group, but Cam, not being a big singer, chose to play the xylophone solo. I was really proud of him, because he's never been a kid who's comfortable in the spotlight and I would think playing by yourself would be more stressful. So he played Mary Had a Little Lamb about as quietly as the instrument could play and spoke in a whisper when he introduced himself. It was so sweet. He would have rather been anywhere else in the world at that moment! He's like me in that respect. I don't do center stage well, either.
But speaking of talent, Ty has found his. He came into the kitchen the other morning and showed me that he could squeak just like Tina, their guinea pig. After he forced the sound from the back of his throat he looked at me with a really excited expression and said "I have a talent!" I'm so proud of him. I'm sure he'll make millions from it.
My dad came and visited from Colorado for a week. It's always nice to see Grandpa Jack, and the kids really enjoyed it. The girls had him wrapped around their fingers. All they had to do was look up at him and say in their sweet Minnie Mouse voices "Grandpa Jack" and he melted. He's so easy. He brought the boys to see Shrek 3 while he was here, and from that movie we've planned our Halloween costumes for this year. For those of you who haven't heard, Shrek and Princess Fiona had triplets (sorry for the spoiler) which gives us the perfect head count. Scott could be Shrek, myself as Princess Fiona, Cam as Puss 'n Boots, Ty as Donkey, and the girls, obviously, as the triplets. This is all just talk, though, because I don't see myself and Scott dressing up for trick or treating. And why I'm already thinking about Halloween, I don't know.
Memorial Day weekend was pretty low key. My mom and Kenny took all of the kids for the day on Saturday so Scott and I took advantage of the free time by sorting kids clothes. This was obviously Scott's idea. Sunday the kids played at home in the morning then I brought the boys swimming while the girls were napping. Scott was sick with the flu that day, as was my girlfriends husband, so they both spent the day moaning on their couches. Now don't get me wrong. I'm very sympathetic when Scott's sick. If you're sick, the couch or the bed is where you should be. But what's up with the moaning???? Why do men have to moan when they're sick? Scott swears that every time he moans he gets a bit of relief. I'm just wondering what the Labor and Delivery ward would sound like if men had to go through childbirth.
The boys are taking swimming lessons now to get tuned up for summer. Cam became a great swimmer last summer so I just want him to take one session of classes to get used to the water again, and Ty is just really getting the hang of swimming, and not just playing, so he'll need a couple more sessions for me to feel comfortable. The girls have never been big fans of the pool until last weekend. I took the girls to the pool by myself, since it was Scott's reserve weekend, thinking I would only be there long enough to get them all in the water kicking and screaming one time. Well, for whatever reason, ALL THREE of the girls decided that they LOVE swimming, and as soon as they saw the pool they started running to it to get in. At that point I was in over my head because I wasn't expecting to have to try and restrain 3 toddlers from getting in the pool without me or floaties. But it worked out great. Since I'm physically unable to hold all of them at once I had to dress them head to toe in floatation devices. They looked like the Michelin Man in their vests and water wings, but they had so much fun floating around the pool like little ducks. They're going to be in for a rude awakening the first time we take off all the floaties and realize that they can sink like rocks!
Cam had a bad day in school Monday. They had a substitute teacher and he decided he was going to goof off all day. He was in a lot of trouble when he got home and spent the afternoon in his room writing apology notes to the teachers, and he lost TV priviledges for a week. However, I made the mistake of making him tell me everything he had done wrong that day. He told me that his friend had been encouraging him to make noises, one of them being to bark like a dog! So my mood went from furious and surprised by his behavior, to slightly amused at the image. How bad of a parent is that?! Then he demonstrated the bark and I busted out laughing! I couldn't help it! I was trying sooooo hard to keep a straight face, but the demonstration pushed me over the edge. So I completely unraveled the seriousness of his behavior. Mother of the Year.
Another Mother of the Year moment was last weekend when I turned around and noticed that our back door was open and two of the girls were gone. Now they'd only been out the door for a few seconds because they had just been in the kitchen with me, so I walked outside and found our neighbor walking them back home from ACROSS THE STREET! Oh ya. I'm good. Their balls had apparently rolled down our driveway into the street so they went into the street to get the balls and decided to stay out there and play!!! I was sick to my stomach thinking about what could have happened in those few seconds. I've ordered a mesh fence to pull across our driveway to catch any balls or kids that come rolling down the hill.
Have a wonderful weekend. My next post will have pictures of the girls new big girl beds!!!
But speaking of talent, Ty has found his. He came into the kitchen the other morning and showed me that he could squeak just like Tina, their guinea pig. After he forced the sound from the back of his throat he looked at me with a really excited expression and said "I have a talent!" I'm so proud of him. I'm sure he'll make millions from it.
My dad came and visited from Colorado for a week. It's always nice to see Grandpa Jack, and the kids really enjoyed it. The girls had him wrapped around their fingers. All they had to do was look up at him and say in their sweet Minnie Mouse voices "Grandpa Jack" and he melted. He's so easy. He brought the boys to see Shrek 3 while he was here, and from that movie we've planned our Halloween costumes for this year. For those of you who haven't heard, Shrek and Princess Fiona had triplets (sorry for the spoiler) which gives us the perfect head count. Scott could be Shrek, myself as Princess Fiona, Cam as Puss 'n Boots, Ty as Donkey, and the girls, obviously, as the triplets. This is all just talk, though, because I don't see myself and Scott dressing up for trick or treating. And why I'm already thinking about Halloween, I don't know.
Memorial Day weekend was pretty low key. My mom and Kenny took all of the kids for the day on Saturday so Scott and I took advantage of the free time by sorting kids clothes. This was obviously Scott's idea. Sunday the kids played at home in the morning then I brought the boys swimming while the girls were napping. Scott was sick with the flu that day, as was my girlfriends husband, so they both spent the day moaning on their couches. Now don't get me wrong. I'm very sympathetic when Scott's sick. If you're sick, the couch or the bed is where you should be. But what's up with the moaning???? Why do men have to moan when they're sick? Scott swears that every time he moans he gets a bit of relief. I'm just wondering what the Labor and Delivery ward would sound like if men had to go through childbirth.
The boys are taking swimming lessons now to get tuned up for summer. Cam became a great swimmer last summer so I just want him to take one session of classes to get used to the water again, and Ty is just really getting the hang of swimming, and not just playing, so he'll need a couple more sessions for me to feel comfortable. The girls have never been big fans of the pool until last weekend. I took the girls to the pool by myself, since it was Scott's reserve weekend, thinking I would only be there long enough to get them all in the water kicking and screaming one time. Well, for whatever reason, ALL THREE of the girls decided that they LOVE swimming, and as soon as they saw the pool they started running to it to get in. At that point I was in over my head because I wasn't expecting to have to try and restrain 3 toddlers from getting in the pool without me or floaties. But it worked out great. Since I'm physically unable to hold all of them at once I had to dress them head to toe in floatation devices. They looked like the Michelin Man in their vests and water wings, but they had so much fun floating around the pool like little ducks. They're going to be in for a rude awakening the first time we take off all the floaties and realize that they can sink like rocks!
Cam had a bad day in school Monday. They had a substitute teacher and he decided he was going to goof off all day. He was in a lot of trouble when he got home and spent the afternoon in his room writing apology notes to the teachers, and he lost TV priviledges for a week. However, I made the mistake of making him tell me everything he had done wrong that day. He told me that his friend had been encouraging him to make noises, one of them being to bark like a dog! So my mood went from furious and surprised by his behavior, to slightly amused at the image. How bad of a parent is that?! Then he demonstrated the bark and I busted out laughing! I couldn't help it! I was trying sooooo hard to keep a straight face, but the demonstration pushed me over the edge. So I completely unraveled the seriousness of his behavior. Mother of the Year.
Another Mother of the Year moment was last weekend when I turned around and noticed that our back door was open and two of the girls were gone. Now they'd only been out the door for a few seconds because they had just been in the kitchen with me, so I walked outside and found our neighbor walking them back home from ACROSS THE STREET! Oh ya. I'm good. Their balls had apparently rolled down our driveway into the street so they went into the street to get the balls and decided to stay out there and play!!! I was sick to my stomach thinking about what could have happened in those few seconds. I've ordered a mesh fence to pull across our driveway to catch any balls or kids that come rolling down the hill.
Have a wonderful weekend. My next post will have pictures of the girls new big girl beds!!!
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
This is Ty singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" in Spanish. At least that's what he tells me. The only Spanish I know is what I've learned on Dora the Explorer. So please, if any of you know Spanish I'd love to know if Ty is fluent or if he's just along for the ride in class. Remember, he still can't pronounce his "r"s. It doesn't matter either way. It's just adorable to watch him!
Saturday, May 19, 2007
This is the Year
Ty turned five on Thursday. He said he needed more time, and will learn the names of his sisters when he's five. 2 days down, 363 to go. I hope he proves to be a faster learner at school.
Great Minds Think Alike
The girls are making GREAT progress with their potty training and are now in "big girl underwear" full time now, with the exception of naptime and nighttime. There are, of course, still accidents but we're definitely at the point of no return with diapers.
Last week one of the girls went #2 during naptime (when they all wear pull-ups) and proceeded to take off her diaper before I got upstairs. If you've read my previous posts then you know what happened next. This time there was evidence that they tried to clean up the mess that they made based on my findings in their trash can. Now, in the past the girls will ALWAYS rat out the offender, "Dayne pooped", "Tara pooped", or "Dru pooped", but this time none of them wanted to take the fall. I walked into the room and asked "Girls, what happened in here?!?!?!" and they all replied, in stereo, "Dolly pooped!"
Not having time to argue about it, I brought them all straight to the bathtub and continued to grill them. I really didn't care who pooped, I just wanted to see who was going to be the first to send her sister up the river. But I couldn't break them! Dolly pooped. That's their story and their stickin' to it! In case their word wasn't going to be enough (I was a bit sceptical that the Dolly had pooped) they had actually taken the clothes off one of their Cabbage Patch dolls and smeared poop on her bum!!! I had to overlook the grossness factor of this and focus on the shear brilliance of my 2 year old daughters. That's impressive, don't you think? They still have a limited vocabulary but were able to communicate well enough with each other to devise this wicked scheme. And they've been unflappable in their follow through. I asked them for a couple days afterward, one on one, "Did Dayne poop?", "No Dolly pooped". "Did Tara poop?", "No, Dolly pooped". "Did you poop?", "No, Dolly pooped". Impressive.
I'm a bit terrified by this, because if this is how crafty they are at 2 years old what are they going to try and pull when they're 16?!
Or maybe the evidence speaks for itself. Maybe Dolly really did poop. I'll never know for sure because these girls are not going to break.
Stay tuned for their antics in 14 years. Yikes!
Last week one of the girls went #2 during naptime (when they all wear pull-ups) and proceeded to take off her diaper before I got upstairs. If you've read my previous posts then you know what happened next. This time there was evidence that they tried to clean up the mess that they made based on my findings in their trash can. Now, in the past the girls will ALWAYS rat out the offender, "Dayne pooped", "Tara pooped", or "Dru pooped", but this time none of them wanted to take the fall. I walked into the room and asked "Girls, what happened in here?!?!?!" and they all replied, in stereo, "Dolly pooped!"
Not having time to argue about it, I brought them all straight to the bathtub and continued to grill them. I really didn't care who pooped, I just wanted to see who was going to be the first to send her sister up the river. But I couldn't break them! Dolly pooped. That's their story and their stickin' to it! In case their word wasn't going to be enough (I was a bit sceptical that the Dolly had pooped) they had actually taken the clothes off one of their Cabbage Patch dolls and smeared poop on her bum!!! I had to overlook the grossness factor of this and focus on the shear brilliance of my 2 year old daughters. That's impressive, don't you think? They still have a limited vocabulary but were able to communicate well enough with each other to devise this wicked scheme. And they've been unflappable in their follow through. I asked them for a couple days afterward, one on one, "Did Dayne poop?", "No Dolly pooped". "Did Tara poop?", "No, Dolly pooped". "Did you poop?", "No, Dolly pooped". Impressive.
I'm a bit terrified by this, because if this is how crafty they are at 2 years old what are they going to try and pull when they're 16?!
Or maybe the evidence speaks for itself. Maybe Dolly really did poop. I'll never know for sure because these girls are not going to break.
Stay tuned for their antics in 14 years. Yikes!
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Cam: Silent, but Deadly and Other News
I walked past our bathroom this afternoon and caught Cameron using his brother's toothbrush to scrub the inside of the girl's 'just used' potty. He put the toothbrush back on the counter and turned around to leave the bathroom when he saw me. I asked what he was doing and I got the expected response. "Nothing".
"No, seriously, Cam, what were you just doing?"
"Boy stuff."
I won't bore you with the rest of the conversation where I'm wearing my Mom hat and discussing good choices vs. bad choices, right from wrong, and health vs. parasites, but a teeny tiny part of me was laughing inside. Not because I want my youngest son to brush his teeth with you-know-what, but because Cam had such a satisfied smirk on his face like he had just pulled off the best practical joke ever and stuck it to his brother all in one.
Tomorrow Ty's turning 5! Hard to believe. We had a bug-themed birthday party for him last week which was great until the end when we realized that one of his friends had killed his hamster. He was pretty upset when I told him about it the next morning because he really loved Fast Eddie, but he seemed to get over it later when we left the pet store with a guinea pig. They're more durable. The boys are both so gentle with animals, but Fast Eddie's passing was just a reminder that not all kids are. There were about 7 or 8 adorable guinea pigs at the pet store to choose from, and then there was the one that the boys picked out. A face only a mother could love (or a small child, in this instance). You're going to LOVE the name Ty chose. Tina. We have a guinea pig named Tina. We've had her for a few days already and I can now call her by her name without laughing. The kids love her and she's very sweet, so we're glad to have her. Welcome, Tina. R.I.P. Fast Eddie.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Chicago, continued
So anyhow, to continue my previous post, we stayed at the Sutton Place Hotel in Chicago which I don't think is used to seeing large families. At one point I left our room for some reason and when I opened the door our "neighbors" were opening their door next to us and the man seemed frozen by the level of noise coming from our room. He looked at me and said "You've got to be kidding me". Sorry. There's a lot of us.
Our friends Aisling and Brian did Walk America with us the next morning with their 3 kids. Aisling's a much better woman than I am because she's in her first trimester of pregnancy which is exhausting and her babies always kick her butt with morning, day and night sickness, but she didn't complain once. Those Irish women are tough old broads. Aisling is my friend who I consider responsible for my large family. Three years ago when I was telling her about how I was on the fence about having another baby she told me "You'll never regret having another one, but you might regret it if you don't". And there it was. The one sentence that made my decision crystal clear. The one sentence that has echoed in my head hundreds of times since, while I was so ill in my first trimester that I thought these three little parasites were literally sucking the life out of me. And while I laid in a hospital bed for 3 months, an hour away from my family. While I layed there in pain with torn abdominal muscles and a burned esophagus from constant heartburn. While I was trying to sleep with a head under each of my rib cages and another that felt like she was always trying to come out. While I laid there for three months waiting to see if Carly and Sonny would stay together when it was revealed that he fathered a daughter with Alexis and also got Sam pregnant between his mob dealings. Then I still heard her words of wisdom months later during many of my 25,000 diaper changes, while trying to feed three babies with only two hands, while praying that they all sleep at the same time for just an hour so I could get a quick nap in. And don't get me started about her words screaming at me during the crying fits, temper tantrums, endless laundry, dishes, dirty floors, and poop smeared walls. But I can honestly say that I hear her words the loudest when I see my girls belly laughing over some joke that only they know, or watching them play Ring Around the Rosy, or when they fight over which of them gets to sit on my lap for a story. Through all the chaos I'm always reminded that we are SO blessed to have our family. We were reminded of this on the March of Dimes walk, seeing several t-shirts with pictures of babies who were born way too early to survive and knowing how those parents would give their lives to live our chaos. We didn't get too far into the walk before we walked by Millenium Park and the kids splashed around in the water fountain for the rest of the time. I kept thinking that we got off track from the walk because our healthy kids just wanted to play and be kids, and there were a lot of parents there who just kept walking for their kids who couldn't be there. We know how lucky we are, and Aisling - you're right. We'll never regret it.
Our friends Aisling and Brian did Walk America with us the next morning with their 3 kids. Aisling's a much better woman than I am because she's in her first trimester of pregnancy which is exhausting and her babies always kick her butt with morning, day and night sickness, but she didn't complain once. Those Irish women are tough old broads. Aisling is my friend who I consider responsible for my large family. Three years ago when I was telling her about how I was on the fence about having another baby she told me "You'll never regret having another one, but you might regret it if you don't". And there it was. The one sentence that made my decision crystal clear. The one sentence that has echoed in my head hundreds of times since, while I was so ill in my first trimester that I thought these three little parasites were literally sucking the life out of me. And while I laid in a hospital bed for 3 months, an hour away from my family. While I layed there in pain with torn abdominal muscles and a burned esophagus from constant heartburn. While I was trying to sleep with a head under each of my rib cages and another that felt like she was always trying to come out. While I laid there for three months waiting to see if Carly and Sonny would stay together when it was revealed that he fathered a daughter with Alexis and also got Sam pregnant between his mob dealings. Then I still heard her words of wisdom months later during many of my 25,000 diaper changes, while trying to feed three babies with only two hands, while praying that they all sleep at the same time for just an hour so I could get a quick nap in. And don't get me started about her words screaming at me during the crying fits, temper tantrums, endless laundry, dishes, dirty floors, and poop smeared walls. But I can honestly say that I hear her words the loudest when I see my girls belly laughing over some joke that only they know, or watching them play Ring Around the Rosy, or when they fight over which of them gets to sit on my lap for a story. Through all the chaos I'm always reminded that we are SO blessed to have our family. We were reminded of this on the March of Dimes walk, seeing several t-shirts with pictures of babies who were born way too early to survive and knowing how those parents would give their lives to live our chaos. We didn't get too far into the walk before we walked by Millenium Park and the kids splashed around in the water fountain for the rest of the time. I kept thinking that we got off track from the walk because our healthy kids just wanted to play and be kids, and there were a lot of parents there who just kept walking for their kids who couldn't be there. We know how lucky we are, and Aisling - you're right. We'll never regret it.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
To Catch You Up...
I just posted a few new pictures of our kids that we took a few weeks ago at the park. That morning we rode our bikes into a neighboring city and had breakfast at a mom & pop restaraunt before we went to the park. It was the first time we'd taken all five of the kids to a restaurant, as Scott and I are still haunted by the memories of how the boys behaved in restaurants as toddlers. We were so surprised at how easy it was! I don't know if it's because we sat in a corner booth so the kids were trapped on either end, or just that girls seem to be SO MUCH easier at this age than boys, but they stayed in their seats, didn't scream or have tantrums, and only spilled 2 glasses of milk. Relatively speaking, it was actually enjoyable! So much so, that we've gone out to eat with them all a couple times since. Some of you may be calling us weanies for living as recluses for the past 2 1/2 years, but those of you who have endured a family meal with us understand. You're probably amazed that we take them out in public at all.
We had a blast in Chicago, and Walk America was a great experience. We had PERFECT weather which allowed us to do a lot of walking around the city and down by the lake. We really stood out from the young and trendy crowd pushing our quad stroller, and I'm pretty sure served as a birth control reminder for some of the horrified onlookers. As soon as we got to the city we met our friends Tommy and Ginger for lunch. From what Scott tells me, they're doing well. I wouldn't know, as this was an "unsuccessful" dining experience with the kids so I didn't get to sit down much. Actually, the kids were great. We were at a bar so the kids were having fun just running around and practicing their "Heely's" (modern day skates), and we were in the middle of potty training so there was always someone who had to "go". I'll never understand the novelty of public restrooms for kids. Yuck. From there we checked into our hotel then walked around for a couple hours. My favorite memory from that afternoon was when Shayla, Ty and I were walking a few yard behind Scott, Cam and the girls. We were admiring some of the great homes in the Gold Coast area and Shayla and I commented on one big, gorgeous house that stood out. Ty, holding my hand, looked up to me and said in his sweetest voice "Mommy, when I marry you we're going to live in that house, and we won't have to go on vacation because we'll already be here." Aaaww. I can't believe I ever get mad at that little angel. He's given me a much prettier picture of what it could be like if he were to live with us as an adult. My previous image included him with long hair, living in our basement watching MTV all day.
More to come in a little while. It's time to get the kids up for school.
We had a blast in Chicago, and Walk America was a great experience. We had PERFECT weather which allowed us to do a lot of walking around the city and down by the lake. We really stood out from the young and trendy crowd pushing our quad stroller, and I'm pretty sure served as a birth control reminder for some of the horrified onlookers. As soon as we got to the city we met our friends Tommy and Ginger for lunch. From what Scott tells me, they're doing well. I wouldn't know, as this was an "unsuccessful" dining experience with the kids so I didn't get to sit down much. Actually, the kids were great. We were at a bar so the kids were having fun just running around and practicing their "Heely's" (modern day skates), and we were in the middle of potty training so there was always someone who had to "go". I'll never understand the novelty of public restrooms for kids. Yuck. From there we checked into our hotel then walked around for a couple hours. My favorite memory from that afternoon was when Shayla, Ty and I were walking a few yard behind Scott, Cam and the girls. We were admiring some of the great homes in the Gold Coast area and Shayla and I commented on one big, gorgeous house that stood out. Ty, holding my hand, looked up to me and said in his sweetest voice "Mommy, when I marry you we're going to live in that house, and we won't have to go on vacation because we'll already be here." Aaaww. I can't believe I ever get mad at that little angel. He's given me a much prettier picture of what it could be like if he were to live with us as an adult. My previous image included him with long hair, living in our basement watching MTV all day.
More to come in a little while. It's time to get the kids up for school.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Chicago, Chicago, that Toddlin' Town
We're leaving this morning for Chicago to walk in the March of Dimes' Walk America. For those who don't know, March of Dimes is the leading organization whose purpose is to prevent prematurity and save the lives of babies. As you know this cause is close to my heart since Cameron and the girls were all born 2 months early, and I went into labor with Ty 2 months early as well. Ty was the only one of my babies who listened to me and stayed inside as long as he should have, and he hasn't listened to me since! But that's okay, because that was when it mattered the most.
I've tried to explain to the boys as best I can what we're doing tomorrow and why. I explained, with elementary wording, that people were giving us money to take a long walk with a bunch of other people, and that money was going to be given to scientist and doctors to buy medicine and medical equipment for tiny babies who were born too early. I knew they still would probably not understand since what's happening with the money isn't something I can physically show them, but Ty had a pretty good idea in his head about what was going to happen. Last night he told me how he can't wait to go to Chicago "to see the little babies, because I've been wanting to know how they cut you open and took me out." Back to the drawing board.
The only glitch in our plan for the weekend is that late this week Dayne and Tara decided to finally get serious about potty training. They've been wearing big girl underwear for 3 days and have been doing a pretty good job at making it to the potty most times. Dru is still ticked that she hasn't figured out how to "make it happen" like her sisters, so she's digging her heals in and isn't interested in trying anymore. The problem is that with the 2 1/2 hour car ride and all the excitement in Chicago there are going to be a lot of wet pants if I keep them in their underwear. The simple solution is to obviously put them back in pull-ups for the weekend, but I've been trying so hard to get them potty trained, I don't want them to regress and think that diapers are an option anymore now that we've made such a huge leap. But I really don't feel like packing 15 extra outfits and cleaning up accidents all weekend, so I'm going to have to.
The hightlight of my week was yesterday when I came upstairs from the laundry room and found Dayne sitting on the toilet going poop - ALL BY HERSELF! Only a mom can appreciate the excitement in this. For those of you who are tired of reading about poop and pee on this website, I apologize. Sadly, it's a big part of my life right now, but I think I can finally see an end in sight and I'll soon be able to clean up the contents of my blogs.
Have a great weekend, everyone. I'm sure I'll have some interesting Chicago stories to share with you next week.
I've tried to explain to the boys as best I can what we're doing tomorrow and why. I explained, with elementary wording, that people were giving us money to take a long walk with a bunch of other people, and that money was going to be given to scientist and doctors to buy medicine and medical equipment for tiny babies who were born too early. I knew they still would probably not understand since what's happening with the money isn't something I can physically show them, but Ty had a pretty good idea in his head about what was going to happen. Last night he told me how he can't wait to go to Chicago "to see the little babies, because I've been wanting to know how they cut you open and took me out." Back to the drawing board.
The only glitch in our plan for the weekend is that late this week Dayne and Tara decided to finally get serious about potty training. They've been wearing big girl underwear for 3 days and have been doing a pretty good job at making it to the potty most times. Dru is still ticked that she hasn't figured out how to "make it happen" like her sisters, so she's digging her heals in and isn't interested in trying anymore. The problem is that with the 2 1/2 hour car ride and all the excitement in Chicago there are going to be a lot of wet pants if I keep them in their underwear. The simple solution is to obviously put them back in pull-ups for the weekend, but I've been trying so hard to get them potty trained, I don't want them to regress and think that diapers are an option anymore now that we've made such a huge leap. But I really don't feel like packing 15 extra outfits and cleaning up accidents all weekend, so I'm going to have to.
The hightlight of my week was yesterday when I came upstairs from the laundry room and found Dayne sitting on the toilet going poop - ALL BY HERSELF! Only a mom can appreciate the excitement in this. For those of you who are tired of reading about poop and pee on this website, I apologize. Sadly, it's a big part of my life right now, but I think I can finally see an end in sight and I'll soon be able to clean up the contents of my blogs.
Have a great weekend, everyone. I'm sure I'll have some interesting Chicago stories to share with you next week.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
We Should've Bought Stock in Huggies
Just out of curiousity today I decided to calculate how many diapers we've changed since Cam was born June 22, 2000. Obviously it's a guestimate based on the boys both being potty trained at 2 1/2 years, and the girls being 2 1/2 now. I figured the first few weeks babies need about 10 diaper changes a day, then the number slowly dwindles down to a mere 5 to 6 diaper changes daily. Based on these numbers, we have changed approximately 25,000 diapers in the past 6.85 years, with 15,000 of those being in the past 2.5 years. 5,000 per kid. 25,000 diapers. 25,000. 25,000! I hate to toot my own horn, but I think you could now call me an expert. And I dare my kids to complain when they have to change my diapers in 50 years.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Only 23 days left!
Okay - maybe it's just me, but I truly believe that Ty is still living in denial and doesn't believe that his sisters are here to stay. They are 2 1/2 years old and he STILL doesn't know their names! Don't get me wrong, he obviously realizes that he has three sisters named Dayne, Tara, and Dru, but to save his life he couldn't tell you who's who. Nor does he care to try. Now I realize that the girls DO look a lot alike (hence the term "identical") and most grown ups have a hard time telling them apart, but it IS possible. Cam has been keeping them straight for us from the day they came home from the hospital. He has an uncanny ability to tell them apart from across a crowded room in the dark. We don't know how, but he does.
About a year ago Ty was in a timeout for doing something to Tara. When his timeout was over I told him that he needed to go apologize to her. He walked into the room where all three girls were playing, and with a scowl on his face looked at each one and said "sorry, sorry, sorry". A blanket apology, knowing that one of the apologies would land on Tara. I told him that day that I thought it was time he try to learn his sister's names. His response was "When I'm four, I'll learn their names". That seemed logical to him, and he was turning four just a few weeks from then, so I didn't push him. He turned four 338 days ago. He'll be five in 23 days. He is no closer to knowing his sisters now than he was then.
Another example: A few months ago Ty brought me a project that he'd been working on, and proudly showed me the paper that he'd written the names of "everyone in our family". I was very impressed that he was writing names and sounding out words (see previous T-I-T post), so I read it out loud. He wrote "DAD", "MOM", "CAM", "TY", and "FLE" (he told me to sound it out - it spells "family"!) He said "That's everyone in our family!"
"Everyone?" I asked?
"Yep!"
"Are you sure you're not forgetting anyone, Ty?"
With a look of astonishment that he'd actually forgotten this, he said "Fast Eddie! Can you help me write Fast Eddie?" For those of you who don't know, Fast Eddie is his hamster.
Cam jumps in saying "Ty, you forgot the girls!"
"There's not room for them. Mommy, can you help me write Fast Eddie?"
If that's not denial, I don't know what is.
Over the past couple months I've been pretty persistent with trying to get him to take the time to take some good hard looks at the girls to notice the differences and sort out their names. He still only calls them "Baby" and "Other Baby", or if they're wearing different colors we might be lucky if he calls them "Purple Girl", "Pink Girl", or "Yellow Girl".
I'm at a loss as to what to do. Do I keep persisting, and explain that the girls would be so happy to hear him use their names every now and again, or do I look on the bright side knowing that because of his labels the girls will learn their colors faster?
About a year ago Ty was in a timeout for doing something to Tara. When his timeout was over I told him that he needed to go apologize to her. He walked into the room where all three girls were playing, and with a scowl on his face looked at each one and said "sorry, sorry, sorry". A blanket apology, knowing that one of the apologies would land on Tara. I told him that day that I thought it was time he try to learn his sister's names. His response was "When I'm four, I'll learn their names". That seemed logical to him, and he was turning four just a few weeks from then, so I didn't push him. He turned four 338 days ago. He'll be five in 23 days. He is no closer to knowing his sisters now than he was then.
Another example: A few months ago Ty brought me a project that he'd been working on, and proudly showed me the paper that he'd written the names of "everyone in our family". I was very impressed that he was writing names and sounding out words (see previous T-I-T post), so I read it out loud. He wrote "DAD", "MOM", "CAM", "TY", and "FLE" (he told me to sound it out - it spells "family"!) He said "That's everyone in our family!"
"Everyone?" I asked?
"Yep!"
"Are you sure you're not forgetting anyone, Ty?"
With a look of astonishment that he'd actually forgotten this, he said "Fast Eddie! Can you help me write Fast Eddie?" For those of you who don't know, Fast Eddie is his hamster.
Cam jumps in saying "Ty, you forgot the girls!"
"There's not room for them. Mommy, can you help me write Fast Eddie?"
If that's not denial, I don't know what is.
Over the past couple months I've been pretty persistent with trying to get him to take the time to take some good hard looks at the girls to notice the differences and sort out their names. He still only calls them "Baby" and "Other Baby", or if they're wearing different colors we might be lucky if he calls them "Purple Girl", "Pink Girl", or "Yellow Girl".
I'm at a loss as to what to do. Do I keep persisting, and explain that the girls would be so happy to hear him use their names every now and again, or do I look on the bright side knowing that because of his labels the girls will learn their colors faster?
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Spring Break
It's been a busy few weeks, as opposed to the rest of my weeks which are just rest and relaxation, right? The boys had spring break a couple weeks ago and we only had one nice day of weather. They were ready to take out their swimming pool and sprinklers on Monday, but then the reality of Wisconsin springs brought us back to reality the next day with a 30 degree temperature drop. We did make it to the zoo and had a great time. We were practically the only ones there so the boys had the attention of the zoo keepers on several occassions and asked a lot of questions about the animals. The penguins were the big hit for all the kids. The rest of the week the boys caught up playing with friends that they don't get to see outside of school too often. I'll post more later about Easter and more potty training adventures. I've added some new pictures to the slideshow, so be sure to check those out. Check in again soon!
Friday, March 23, 2007
A Season of Discontent
We're 2 days into spring and Ty is really bummed. For the past 3 or 4 weeks he's been asking daily (sometimes 2 or 3 times daily) is it spring yet? No, Ty, in 17 days. Is it spring yet? No, 8 more days. Is it spring yet? You get the picture. So March 20th is finally here and the first thing he said is "one more day until spring!" Later that morning a friend of mine threw out some typically useless trivia, and told me that it would officially change over from winter to spring at 7:07 that evening. I hope our tax dollars don't go toward paying someone to calculate the exact second of a season change, but anyway I couldn't wait to tell Ty! So that night in his room when he was getting ready for bed it finally happened! I was a few minutes late, but don't tell him. I said "Guess what, Ty? It's finally spring!" He jumps out of bed screaming "yay, it's spring!" and he runs to his window, pulls up his blind, and his face just dropped. He said, totally confused, "where are all the flowers?"! The rug was pulled out from under his feet. Walking home from school today he was still looking for flowers. He thinks he doesn't have to wear long pants and jackets now that it's spring, nevermind that it's 30 degrees in the morning. This one has really thrown him for a loop.
But on a brighter note, there are signs that Scott and I are doing something right with our kids. On our way to gymnastics Tuesday there was a huge rally of about 4 people outside Fountain Park in Sheboygan, all carrying anti-Bush signs. I had Cam and two of his friends, Maddy and Kim in the car and Cam asked what they (the protesters) doing. I told them that there were some people who don't like our president, and these people decided they wanted to let us know this since they didn't have jobs or anywhere else to be at that time. Okay, I didn't really say the part about the jobs, but I was thinking it! :-) He didn't say anything else about it in the car (I think he was too busy wondering why these people don't have jobs since unemployment is so low) and it was left at that. I dropped the kids off at the YMCA for gymnastics and they go to my mom's office (she works there), and I guess it went something like this:
Cameron runs into the office, looking upset.
Cam: Nana, you're never going to believe it
Nana: What?
Cam: There are ACTUALLY people out there who don't like George Bush!
Kim: Ya, they don't like George Washington!
Nana: What are you talking about? (trying not to laugh and admit to him that she's "one of them")
Cam: There are people outside with signs and they're saying that they don't like George Bush!
Nana: (Trying not to admit that she's "one of them") Well, when you live in the United States you have the right to choose who you like and who you don't.
Cam: Well, I would NEVER say that!
Kim: Ya, I would never say that I don't like George Washington!
Maddy: (she says nothing, probably bored to tears by the conversation, just wanting to get to her class)
And my mom says the conversation ended something like that, with Cam still in disbelief that there are people who don't like GWB, but I don't believe her. If I know her she sat him down and told him terrible lies that he would never hear at home. And I know for a fact that she called my sister that night to let her know that she wanted to do an intervention with him. Their visits with my kids are now supervised. Scott has never been prouder!
Nothing new with the girls. I haven't spoken to them since the big poop debacle. I'm still scraping poop off their lampshade. The only explanation they're giving me is "Dayne poop! Dayne poop!" No, you don't say? They owe me big.
But on a brighter note, there are signs that Scott and I are doing something right with our kids. On our way to gymnastics Tuesday there was a huge rally of about 4 people outside Fountain Park in Sheboygan, all carrying anti-Bush signs. I had Cam and two of his friends, Maddy and Kim in the car and Cam asked what they (the protesters) doing. I told them that there were some people who don't like our president, and these people decided they wanted to let us know this since they didn't have jobs or anywhere else to be at that time. Okay, I didn't really say the part about the jobs, but I was thinking it! :-) He didn't say anything else about it in the car (I think he was too busy wondering why these people don't have jobs since unemployment is so low) and it was left at that. I dropped the kids off at the YMCA for gymnastics and they go to my mom's office (she works there), and I guess it went something like this:
Cameron runs into the office, looking upset.
Cam: Nana, you're never going to believe it
Nana: What?
Cam: There are ACTUALLY people out there who don't like George Bush!
Kim: Ya, they don't like George Washington!
Nana: What are you talking about? (trying not to laugh and admit to him that she's "one of them")
Cam: There are people outside with signs and they're saying that they don't like George Bush!
Nana: (Trying not to admit that she's "one of them") Well, when you live in the United States you have the right to choose who you like and who you don't.
Cam: Well, I would NEVER say that!
Kim: Ya, I would never say that I don't like George Washington!
Maddy: (she says nothing, probably bored to tears by the conversation, just wanting to get to her class)
And my mom says the conversation ended something like that, with Cam still in disbelief that there are people who don't like GWB, but I don't believe her. If I know her she sat him down and told him terrible lies that he would never hear at home. And I know for a fact that she called my sister that night to let her know that she wanted to do an intervention with him. Their visits with my kids are now supervised. Scott has never been prouder!
Nothing new with the girls. I haven't spoken to them since the big poop debacle. I'm still scraping poop off their lampshade. The only explanation they're giving me is "Dayne poop! Dayne poop!" No, you don't say? They owe me big.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
It Takes a ShopVac to Raise Triplets
When will I learn that old adages don't apply to triplets? There's a saying out there that if a baby is crying, put them in water and they'll stop. The idea being that they'll be having so much fun splashing in the water that they'll soon forget what they were so ticked off about. There's definitely something to this. It's worked for us in the past. But only with one baby at a time. Today the girls were getting stir crazy and fighting with each other while I was trying to get a few things done around the house. I decided that I'd fill up both sides of the kitchen sink, throw in a few cups, bottles, scoops, etc. and let them go to town. I knew there would be water to clean up and they they would be wet, but it would be worth it for the girls to be occupied for a while so I could get a few things done. They were having a great time for about 1/2 hour while I was in the kitchen with them. Measuring, scooping, transferring water, and just a little bit of splashing. I was pretty happy with myself for being so resourceful, then I left the room. That was my first mistake. My second mistake was assuming that their laughter and shrieks meant they were having fun doing the same thing they were doing while I was in the room. I definitely know better than that! Since, from upstairs, it sounded like they were having such a great time I just let them be while I was making beds and putting clothes away. After a while I went downstairs to check on them and literally had to splash my way over to them! They had been pouring cups of water on each other and emptied out the sinks onto the kitchen floor! I could only be mad at myself, of course, but by the looks on their faces when I came into the room they knew they had done something wrong. That, and Dayne said "oh crap" when she saw me! (We'll talk about good parenting vs. bad parenting another time). It took about a half hour to clean up the mess, but it was still worth it. I'm finding that the price is high for a few minutes of peace and quiet, and I've learned to appreciate the "down time" so much more than I used to. Maybe next time I need to fold laundry I'll just leave them alone with some jars of fingerpaint.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
"The Chiclets"
My friend Amy's 3 year old daughter, Holly, calls the girls the "chiclets" instead of "triplets"! How perfect is that? It's official. They now have the name for their future girl band. Thanks Holly!
Friday, March 16, 2007
I'm a bit concerned...
So this weekend I ran over Cam's bike with Scott's truck. In my defense, the bike was laying on the garage floor - and to get into the garage we have to go up a hill and around a corner. With Scott's truck having a much longer front-end than my van I didn't see it. Anyhow, as Cam and I are driving to the store to get him a new bike the other night he told me that he still wanted to keep his old bike. Our conversation went like this:
Cam: I still want to keep my old bike.
Me: Why? It's broken.
Cam: To remember.
Me: Remember what?
Cam: The old days.
You'd think you were talking to an old man lately, with his "younger years" and "old days" comments. Is it possible for a 6 year old to have a mid-life crisis? He is turning 7 soon....really gettin' up there. I'm going to hate to see the state of him when he's 50. How much crap will he have accumulated between now and then for sentimental reasons? Maybe I should introduce him to picture taking and scrapbooking. It'll take up much less space than all of his old bikes.
Cam: I still want to keep my old bike.
Me: Why? It's broken.
Cam: To remember.
Me: Remember what?
Cam: The old days.
You'd think you were talking to an old man lately, with his "younger years" and "old days" comments. Is it possible for a 6 year old to have a mid-life crisis? He is turning 7 soon....really gettin' up there. I'm going to hate to see the state of him when he's 50. How much crap will he have accumulated between now and then for sentimental reasons? Maybe I should introduce him to picture taking and scrapbooking. It'll take up much less space than all of his old bikes.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
The Younger Years
Cam told me yesterday that a friend of his is still attached to his TeleTubbies stuffed animal. He just shrugged his shoulders and said "I guess he's still holding on to his younger years." His younger years??? I thought we were still right in the heart of their younger years! It made me laugh to myself thinking about how big my 6 year old thinks he is, then made me sad to realize how big he really is! It goes too fast.
Speaking of growing and maturing, some of you have already heard about the great strides Ty is making in school. More specifically, spelling and reading. He has a fantastic teacher and his class is learning much more than I would ever expect from 4 year olds. Each week they learn a new letter, the sounds it makes, and how to put it together with other letters to create a word. When it was Ty's turn to go to the front of the class he put together the letters T - I - T, and announced "this says tit!" I guess his teacher and other moms in the room had to control their laughter, and the reading teacher got a bit flustered and moved on quickly! For the record, I don't believe Ty knows that this is an actual word with a meaning, as it's not a word we use at home (and I hope he doesn't hear it on Sponge Bob Squarepants.) I like to think that he was just demonstrating to the class his knowledge of the sounds that letters make. Let's hope. You gotta love the innocence of the "younger years".
Speaking of growing and maturing, some of you have already heard about the great strides Ty is making in school. More specifically, spelling and reading. He has a fantastic teacher and his class is learning much more than I would ever expect from 4 year olds. Each week they learn a new letter, the sounds it makes, and how to put it together with other letters to create a word. When it was Ty's turn to go to the front of the class he put together the letters T - I - T, and announced "this says tit!" I guess his teacher and other moms in the room had to control their laughter, and the reading teacher got a bit flustered and moved on quickly! For the record, I don't believe Ty knows that this is an actual word with a meaning, as it's not a word we use at home (and I hope he doesn't hear it on Sponge Bob Squarepants.) I like to think that he was just demonstrating to the class his knowledge of the sounds that letters make. Let's hope. You gotta love the innocence of the "younger years".
Aaahhhh.....I feel better already!
I just scheduled appointments for myself for a pedicure and massage at the Kohler Water Spa, where I'm going to enjoy a full day of pampering with some girls at the end of the month. I felt a load of tension lifted from my shoulders as soon as I hung up the phone! My girlfriend, Carol, has been nice enough to invite me on her annual get-together with her high school friends for the past few years. Carol and I met through our perinatologist while we were both pregnant with our triplet girls. We had the same due date, but she made it a few weeks further into her pregnancy then I did so my girls are just 3 weeks older than hers. She also has a little boy who is Ty's age so we have a lot in common. Anyhow, a big thanks to Dr. Carr, had it not been for her I wouldn't have a new friend in Carol and wouldn't be looking forward to a much needed "me" day in a couple weeks! Oh, and a BIG, BIG thanks to my wonderful husband who's footin' the bill!
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Diaper Duty is Over!!!
Based on the title, most of you are cheering for me and waiting to congratulate me on getting all 3 of the girls potty trained. Not so much.... While I was busy putting together my introductory note (see below) Dayne and Tara were busy changing Dru's poopy diaper. I found this out when Dru came upstairs carrying her poop wrapped in a wet wipe! After having her deposit the package in the potty and scrub her hands (which were very clean, actually) I went downstairs to assess the damage. I'm pretty hardened to poop disasters, based on many recent "poop parties" aka "nap time", so I knew this mess wouldn't phase me. Just another day in the Uselding home. I was surprised to see that they actually did a pretty good job! They had taken the changing pad out from the cupboard and it was obvious that this is where they had changed her. They had thrown the dirty diaper in the garbage (good girls!) and used half a box of wipes for the job. Dru still needed me to clean her up a bit, but you could tell they had given a good go at it! So the girls are either a) ready to be potty trained b) type A neat freaks like their Papa, or c) terribly neglected by their mother and having to take care of their own business. I wonder what they're up to now while I'm posting this....
Shawna
Shawna
Hi everyone! I decided to check out "blogging" to see what it's all about, and decided that it'd be a great way for me to keep everyone up to date with what's going on in our family. It's never dull, and there always seems to be at least one funny story a day of one or more of the kids. Funny to us, that is. You can be the judge. It's also a good way to easily post pictures of the kids for those of you who are always asking, but never receiving (sorry!), current pictures. We're really starting to realize how quickly they are changing and growing up as we watch the girls and see that they're not "babies" anymore, and Cam is acting more like a "kid" than a "little boy". And Ty, I think, will always have a bit of little boy in him, even when he's grown. I wonder if he'll still want to snuggle with his mom when he's 30, though?
My mom's husband, Kenny, has set up a websight that he's been putting short videos of the kids on. I've added the link for that site to this webpage. He always comes over armed with his camera, so when we're unable to, or forget to, grab a camera he's often around to capture the moment for us.
Thanks for checking this out!
Shawna
My mom's husband, Kenny, has set up a websight that he's been putting short videos of the kids on. I've added the link for that site to this webpage. He always comes over armed with his camera, so when we're unable to, or forget to, grab a camera he's often around to capture the moment for us.
Thanks for checking this out!
Shawna
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