The Most Insane Day EVER....

Yesterday was without a doubt, the most challenging day I've had since I think the twins were born.  It was just a bit crazy......we began by leaving the house before 7 am, as Dustin was having minor surgery at 9:10.  Or so we thought.  The dr. was late, how unprofessional right?  Well, I'm not one to talk, but I am NOT late for medical things.  Just saying.....My father-in-law, "Papa", my go-to babysitter, had plans that we all forgot about, so luckily my sister Tori came through in a pinch and was able to be at the house early to babysit.  She did have to take off of her job, which I felt bad about.  Luckily it's at my old job, so everyone is friends and very understanding (thanks girls!).  At about 11:30, we were able to leave the surgery center.  I have to say, Dustin coming out of anesthesia was HILARIOUS!  He kept saying "OoooooooKaaaaaaaaaaY" whenever the nurse or I said anything.  It was a hoot.  At one point he and I were both hysterically laughing, I just knew we were going to get thrown out of there.  After stopping at two different places for food for the patient and at Target for his meds, we were finally home.  Tori greets me with "There's been a situation since we talked."  I thought, Hmmmm...we talked 15 minutes ago.  Well, Emilynn threw up three times.  Twice on the sofa, once on the recliner.  She was sleeping in the recliner.  Carson of course gave me the run down, because he always reports everything.  My aunt Debbie has nicknamed him "Peter Jennings".  He's a funny boy.  Anyway, Tori had to get to work so Carson and I proceeded to strip the couch cushions and put them in the wash.  I also got chicken boiling for soup for my patients.  I convinced Carson to take a nap with me, then we all got up and Emmy kept telling me "my tummy hurts".  Then she threw up, again.  I got that all cleaned up, and proceeded making my soup, chopping veggies, deboning chicken.  In between all this was a few baby feedings, comforting my girl, checking on Dustin and taking him drinks, food, ice, etc.  Then Emmy throws up again...a lot.  She starts crying she needs a bath, which was true.  I call Papa and he's an hour away.  He didn't think I'd need him.  Okay, next I call my Mom who grabs my grandma and says she'll head up to help.  I was able to bleach the floor and clean Emmy enough to wait till they arrived.  The baby needed feeding again.  I was feeding him when they arrived with Pedialyte, Ginger ale, and gatorade.  Thank goodness!  I wasn't able to leave the kids to bathe them, so that was my main problem.  I needed about 12 hands and only had two.  Carson and Henry are both snotty....I have 4 patients right now.  I was able to bathe the twins, finish feeding Henry, feed Dustin.  My help left after I got things settled and then Papa came by to see if we needed anything else before bed.  I got the twins tucked in, got some laundry finished, got the couch put back together, and when I finally sat down to eat some soup it was 10:45 pm.  A crazy, busy day.  I didn't really get stressed out, but I did realize I needed help.  I am always frustrated when I have to call for help, but sometimes it can't be avoided.  I have to say, it is getting easier to ask for help and I don't think people mind when you ask for their help.  I hope not anyway.  It was really the worst day for everyone to get sick.  I don't know what was going on with her, she didn't get sick today at all.  No one else got it, so I guess it was something she ate maybe.  ??  Who knows.  All I know is my hands are full.  It is a blessed fullness though.  I love taking care of my family.  It is truly a blessing to be able to do so. 
Speaking of family, Tuesday was my Mom's birthday and today was my Dad's birthday.  We enjoyed celebrating both with dinners.  The kids LOVE birthdays. It's fun to enjoy them through their eyes.  Any cake at our house is called "Happy Birthday to You Cake" by Carson.  He says it really fast and it's so cute!  I guess all cake is birthday cake to him. 
 Emmy did go to dance tonight, she wanted to and wasn't feverish or anything.  Her perfect attendance continues.  Her teacher said she did great.  We were late because she at first didn't want to go, then cried and did want to go.  I'm glad I took her cause she was happy to be there. 
Well, it's late so I'm off to bed. 
The weather isn't looking good for our zoo trip, so we'll see if that happens.

My Favorite Kind of Weekend

We had a nice, quiet weekend and I have to say-they are my favorite kind.  I love this time of year, it's not too hot outside and we can be out there all day long if we want.  I did start with a cold, but luckily I was only really, really feeling bad one full day.  I was worried because my chest was hurting from coughing but luckily that passed after a day too.  Now, I just have a runny nose and little cough.  Thank goodness.  I had flashbacks to my 2 month cold I had back in December/January. 
I think one thing I love about the warm, nice weather is all the things the kids can enjoy outside.   Sidewalk chalk is huge at our house right now.  We played outside over the winter, but I guess the frozen sidewalk wasn't as fun to draw on as the nice warm one.  Everything is fair game too- Dustin's truck has been written on in chalk.  Our cat, Sunshine, was sporting a blue foot today.  Dustin brought that to my attention and we got a kick out of that.  She is truly the best cat!  She puts up with a lot from us!  :-)  I think I just love the sidewalk chalk myself because we didn't have a sidewalk at our house growing up so I kinda think it's neat.  Bubbles are also very fascinating right now and we got fresh sand for the sandbox.  Once it's even warmer we'll get another blow up pool and we'll be set!  Haha!  We even went and got a new refrigerator for the shed so we can have nice, cold drinks while we're playing outside.  Well, that wasn't the only reason, we'd been planning to get one for a while.  It was nice to get cold juice boxes and water out of the fridge though!  Playing in the shed/"man cave" is also fun and the kids have their Cozy Coupe car and truck in there, Carson's workbench in there, Emmy's kitchen in there.  Today Dustin was blasting their Sesame Street CD in there.  Don't tell him I told you- some man cave, huh?  :-)  He and the twins were dancing and having a ball.  He really is the best Dad!  He also kept the twins this morning while Henry and I went to Sunday School and church so I'd get a break and he wanted to catch up all my laundry and dishes for the week.  Did I mention he's awesome?  :-)  I got to enjoy lunch out with Amanda, Wayne, and Hunter also which was nice.  I hadn't eaten out with Hunter in forever and that used to be our weekly routine after church. 
Well, I desperately need to get some sleep.  Tomorrow is a busy day with Henry's two month check-up, hopefully a haircut for Carson, picking up Emmy's recital dance shoes (I bought some but they are too small-my kids have HUGE feet!). I've learned a hidden secret about stay-at-home moms....they don't stay at home!!!!!!  :-)  I will update with Henry's stats tomorrow night hopefully.  It's a busy week all around, my mom & my dad both have birthdays this week.  We are also going to the zoo Saturday with the whole family-all grandparents and a picnic lunch.  I had a lot of fun last time we went and took a picnic there.  I hope the kids enjoy it and Emmy isn't scared of the animals.  We'll see!

Lessons Learned

I learned a few things today. 

Don't try to get the wrinkles out of a wedding dress before a portrait session with a TRAVEL sized steamer.  It will not work and you'll have a teary-eyed bride and a chaotic situation on your hands. 
You will have to pull out your best matron of honor tactics and call for back-up.  Back-up being the wedding planner with what seemed to be an industrial-sized steamer in addition to another steamer from the seamstress.  All is well and you can then get on with the photo shoot.  My friend Nicole looked beautiful and we had a lot of fun.  It is a day I think we'll both remember and laugh about later.  We may or may not have hurled the travel sized steamer in frustration.  And the wedding planner is now on my speed dial. 

I also learned that it is nearly impossible to get pine sap out of a child's hair and on their face.  Who knew it was so hard?  Why would you know?  In case your child is a tree-hugger like mine (literally, she hugged a pine tree while I was at above-mentioned photo shoot), you can get sap out of hair and off of skin with baby oil.  Hair will be greasy for a while, and also your child may smell like a pine forest.  They will be clean though, and smell oh-so-fresh! 

Never a dull moment in my life!  :-)  And I wouldn't change a thing.  More tips to come as I am faced with various challenges! 

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!  I hope it's a lovely day of remembering the true meaning of Easter, with lots of family time.  That is what I'm looking forward to, anyway!  It's Henry's first Easter, and he has a cute outfit to wear that my aunt Debbie got him.  For church, I was able to match all three children with clothes we already own, except I did buy Emilynn a dress.  Henry is wearing the outfit Carson wore for HIS first Easter to church.  So sweet.  I love my boys! 
This evening we went to our church's annual egg hunt, cookout, and church anniversary celebration.  It was nice, yet chaotic as far as our crew goes.  The twins did great hunting eggs, they are really into it this year.  Carson found 9, Emilynn found 10.  They were thrilled, and immediately ate all the candy.  Fine with me, none to bring home.  Emilynn opened a Nestle Crunch Egg and said "Meatball!".  I think they both ate some paper.  After they were done with that, they got a bit crazy running towards the road and all around.  We actually barely ate, I ate some of my plate.  Dustin ate nothing.  We just couldn't leave the kids unattended.  I reminded him it WILL get better as they grow.  They were SO excited and also very overstimulated, coupled with no nap today = recipe for craziness.  Luckily, no one seemed to really pay much attention.  We left after the egg toss-I had to stay for that.  Nicole & I are partners for it.  We lasted a while before our egg broke.  I thought we had a chance to win this year-maybe next year.  Anyway, tomorrow is church, then a fun evening at my grandma's with our entire family- my mom's side plus my dad, step-mom, and sisters.  We play games (Amanda's in charge-of course), hunt eggs, and eat.  Lots of fun!!!! 
I hope everyone has a blessed day! 

You Get What You Pay For.....

The toddler bed we bought Emilynn lasted about....a month.  Maybe a little more or less.  $60 gone.  And such go things with multiples.  I used to watch Jon & Kate Plus 8 and I vividly remember them shopping for beds and how they said they wanted to spend more for quality.....just a faint memory.  Who knew I'd have multiples in the future?  Well, I do agree you get what you pay for.  I certainly would love that $60 to put towards the next bed.  Anyway, I am going to start searching for new twin sized beds and just get some nice quality ones.  I am not going to rush into anything, just browse.  Right now, Emmy's mattress is on the floor and she is thrilled to be "camping" as we've been calling it.  She thinks it's great fun.  She actually broke the end off of the toddler bed, Dustin repaired it, and it bit the dust for good Monday night.  The new beds will eventually belong to the boys, so I'm keeping that in mind during my shopping as well.  Emilynn will eventually get my sister's old bedroom suit, which is very girly with flowers painted on it and she already has a bedding set for it from her cousin Shelby. 

In other news, I forgot all about posting about my "girls night out" last week!  Friends and I went to the Melting Pot, which is a fondue restaurant.  It was a lot of fun and good fellowship.  I think if I go back, I'll just get the dessert.  That was the best part.  The other parts were good too, I even loved the salad (We had four courses!).  I just really loved the dessert and it was pricey for the courses.  It was a great experience though.  Oh, Henry went with me.  He never woke up the whole meal- 2 1/2 hours. 

Henry goes everywhere with me.  Dustin says I'm making him rotten-haha!  I think I kinda am, but hey, he's our last baby so I'm indulging myself.  I really am going to have to start getting him on a more stringent routine though and start his napping in his room.  :-(  Sniff, sniff.  He's almost 2 months old!  It has flown by so far, but of course everyone says it's a blur when you have a new baby.
I just got the baby swing up and going today, and how did I live without it for this long?  I can get my housework done in the evening now, so much more efficiently than stopping every few seconds to replace a paci or just comfort Henry till he goes to sleep.  Or, I can cook dinner without needing 8 arms!  Ha!  :-)  I appreciate the inventor of the baby swing-that's for sure! 

I took all 3 kids to Walmart today.  "You did WHAT?" was Dustin's reaction this evening.  Yes, I did.  Here's the thing.  They love riding in the car.  Love it.  If I forget to lock the car, they hop in when we are outside.  Always attended of course!  Always!  So, today I decided we'd go to Walmart and get sand for the sandbox.  Dustin & I had both forgotten it on several different trips between us to Walmart and Lowes.  I called Nan to see if she'd just sit in the car for me to run in, but she had plans.  We passed Meme on the way, so she was my other thought.  So, I decided I'd tackle it myself, I mean, how hard could it be?  We went to Wendy's for lunch and then I strategized and decided the easiest thing would be to park by a cart return and put all 3 in the cart.  The baby was on top, twins in the bottom.  It worked very nicely, and everyone behaved.  We were able to get some baby supplies, seeds to plant to start seedlings, and the sand.  I re-loaded the kids, loaded the sand, and headed home.  Success!  Now, I don't think I'll grocery shop for my big once-a-month trip with the kids, but our weekly trip for bananas and other perishables-totally doable.  I'm so glad when I can do things independently.  Makes me happy! 

By the way, when we do go riding, we have to go a certain route.  First by the tractor place, then by the train tracks and trains....now we've added.....a giant dinosaur.  He's been in town beside the consignment shop a few days now and the kids LOVE him!  He's probably 10-12 feet tall and a t-rex I think (from what I've learned watching Dinosaur Train-haha).  Emmy says each time we pass him "Dinosaur, Rahhhhh!".  Carson says "Dinosaur Train."  It's quite interesting.  My dad and I were talking today and he said he'd like to have it.  Really Dad?  What does anyone need with their own personal 12 foot dinosaur?  Dustin says it'd be cool in the yard.  Must be a guy thing!  All for now....and yes, I will change that Christmas pic soon.  :-) 

Highlights from the past few weeks

I have been a blogging slacker lately...and I didn't even realize till I checked just a bit ago at the date of my last post.  Boy, time sure flys by when you're having fun!  :-)  Here's what's been going on with us in no particular order: 

• We finally made it to my Granny's house last week for her to meet Henry.  It was a nice visit and we only broke one thing, so I'd say that's a good visit.  Kidding!  We did break something, and I felt bad.  We are getting better though, so you don't have to hide if you see us pull into your driveway, I promise!  :-)  Anyway, Granny was glad to see us and we were glad to see her.  I used to go to her house once a week when I worked, and also when the twins were small.  I need to be more intentional about seeing all the great-grandparents once a week.  That is always my goal, but I have to say, it's hard work taking the children anywhere these days.  The twins are into everything!!!! 
• Dance is going great!  Emmy's little group is doing so well, they added a second dance for them to the recital.  I am SO proud of her.  Her teacher was saying just this week how far she's come.  It's like we started in September and she was still so much a baby.  Now she's a big girl that talks ALL the time, and she is so confident.  She goes right into her class and I think she's one of the more animated and involved ones now.  My baby is growing up too fast!!!  Speaking of dance, she will be taking dance this summer.  We decided to keep right on going with it.  She loves it and doesn't understand summer break, so we are just going to keep on going.  I am hoping she will stay with this same group of girls from here on out, but I need to talk to her teacher about it.  We started her 4 months early, so I will discuss if her teacher thinks she's ready to move on to Pre-Ballet and Tap for the fall.  Summer I'm not sure about.  We like her class though and they are her little friends, so I hope they stay together.  I like all the moms too.  One girl's family brought Henry 3 of the cutest outfits last week, I thought that was so sweet.  We really have a good group and it's been nice getting to know new friends! 
• Carson on the other hand, likes being my baby.  :-)  LOL.  I've always said this.  He's definitely Momma's boy.  Papa comes and gets him almost everyday to give me a break and takes him to do his farm "chores".  He helps feed cows, etc.  I have to say, this has given Carson so much confidence.  He just beams when Papa comes to get him.  He leaves without tears and is so proud to go.  It's been hard for me to let go and let him do this, but I just say a prayer and give him all the hugs and kisses I can.  I know it's good for him. 
• Henry, our "caboose" as we call him, is great.  I am so in love with that boy!  In the beginning I thought it was so strange to have just one baby.  I felt like I was "missing" something....like-another baby!  But, we've gotten into a routine (a very, very loose one, nothing like what I had for the twins) and I am thoroughly enjoying him.  He goes everywhere I go and he's my little buddy.  He snuggles with me in the mornings after his first feeding and he's just a bundle of love.  The twins love to help hold him, feed him, and anything they can.  They are very protective over him and get upset if they think we aren't bringing him somewhere.  I have to literally put his carrier on the porch before Carson will step out of the house. 
• I had my 6 week dr. visit this past week, and Henry and I did some grocery shopping afterwards.  It's hard to believe it was only 6 weeks ago he was born.  I will post his birth story soon. 
• As far as how we're actually doing.....I feel like some days are great and "I've got this" and I"m super-mom with a clean house, clean laundry, precious, darling children that always listen, supper on the table...you get the idea.  Other days, I'm barely treading water.  It just depends.  We have found we have to do at least one, sometimes two loads of laundry a day to stay ahead.  If we skip one load a day, the next day there are three.  You figure the math because it baffles me!  The problem is, I can't put most of it away until the twins are in bed at night, or during nap if I should be so lucky for them to take a nap.  Naps are scarce these days and I'm trying to adjust.  It's hard.  Dishes are the same, a load a day.  LOVE my dishwasher, couldn't live without it.  I'm already planning to save up for a new one, just in case it goes out.  More often than not, there is some type of food ground on the carpet no matter how hard I try to avoid this and promote good table manners.  I have to say- the times the children are in their high chairs for lunch can be the only times I can either eat, go potty, or do something that requires no little children involved-like empty the dishwasher.  SO, sometimes food gets thrown in the floor because I am not sitting right there beside them.  I've decided I get a pass.  All moms of multiples get a pass.  If your child has bad table manners, do your best, but don't sweat it and never compare your multiples to a singleton.  Seriously.  It's apples and oranges I've found.  Ok, I'm off topic.  My point was I also vaccuum every day.  Most of this happens after 9 pm when the kiddos are asleep.  That's why I blog at ummmmm....1 am. 
• Speaking of behavior, we are in the midst of terrible 2s.  It's rough and some days I feel like all I do is correct bad behavior.  I feel like I am making progress, slowly but surely.  They are definitely testing the waters and trying to determine boundaries.  It is really neat though because they are learning what they can and can't do and are so much more understanding of it.  They are able to do a lot more around the house, which is cute.  I let them do "chores" and they both enjoy them at this age.  Both like to empty things into the trash can.  That is the new big thing and picking up sticks in the yard.  Carson will pick up sticks for the longest time, like an hour. 
• I have to say the most rewarding thing about this age has been seeing the lightbulbs go off as I've been teaching the kids ABCs and counting.  Emilynn counts to 11 and Carson goes up to about 10.  Both do ABCs and I think the neatest thing I've found is how they've learned that letters written on stuff everywhere is ABCs.  I had started writing their ABCs for them on the magna doodles and on posterboard and one day it just clicked.  They saw something with writing and yelled ABCs!  It was so rewarding to see that and it's fun because they are so eager to learn and show off what they know.  I am having fun teaching them-we are going to start working on colors soon, we haven't touched much on those yet.  Here's a plug for Sesame Street-it really has reinforced a lot of things and it was what started them with counting.  It's really the best educational cartoon out there in my opinion!  We just love it.  They will watch some other shows (mostly PBS) but they always ask for "Elmo" which means Sesame Street. 
• Softball season has started-it's in full swing.  I can't remember if I already mentioned that but we've been to one game of everyone's so far- Abbey, Madison, and Lys.  I just love ball games and sports!  Emmy grabbed her little bag chair the other day, slung it over her shoulder, and said "Momma, I gonna play that ball."  I thought it was so cute.  She may or may not have ran onto the field at Lys' game Friday night.  We had a long talk when we got home about going to ball games and how she wouldn't get to go if she didn't listen and ran from me.  She really loves to go and asks to go, so I hope that is incentive to behave.  In my defense, someone had left the gate open.  Carson came over and wanted to sit in my lap and asked me to "talk" to him after I was done talking to Emmy.  I thought that was funny.  He thought it was special I guess.  Emmy is truly my challenge though.  I think her fiery, free spirit and determination will take her far in life, but it a challenge during the terrible 2 phase.  She is a joy though and for the first time the other day told me, "I love you Momma" without prompting or me having said anything first.  It just melted my heart. 
• I almost forgot-we might actually be going on a vacation this year.  We were both against it last year because we couldn't imagine trying to get the kids to sleep somewhere else and worry about something being childproofed, etc. etc.  It just wasn't worth it.  We had a pool and sandbox and that was enough for us!  :-)  This year, we may make a short trip to see....drumroll please.....the "real" Thomas the Tank engine!  He's going to be close to us in June and I can't imagine the kids' excitement in seeing him.  They are all about Thomas and trains in general and so we are probably going to Tweetsie Railroad to see him.  I am excited because I know how much he means to the kids, and I think they will do okay leaving home this year.  Meme and Poppy might go with us, which would be a lot of fun!  Alyssa could ride rides with the twins.  Sir Tophamm Hat will also be there-for all you Thomas buffs.  Or "Chomas" as Carson calls him.  :-)  It's all steamies and diesels at our house.  Emilynn is actually more into Thomas than Carson.  Luckily we live in a railroad town, so we see trains every time we leave the house.  Papa took Carson to the rail yard a few weeks ago, and he said he never stopped talking the entire time.  I can't imagine.  Tractors are also a big deal here, we have a John Deere movie for kids that we watch at least once, sometimes four or five times a day.  I know more about the history of tractors than I ever imagined I would! 

Well, that's some of the updates from our past few weeks....I'm off to try to finish addressing the baby announcements.  I have a never-ending "to-do" list.   Will post more later.  Maybe pics soon.