Why Is It...?

We have a container of crayons. We have a container of washable markers. Why is it that when a toddler manages to find one of the few non-washable markers in the entire house,

Paige

they go straight for the face? I washed it when I first found her. Didn't come off. I took this picture. Rod washed it when he got home. Didn't come off. We washed it in the bath. Didn't come off. We go to the doctor for flu shots tomorrow morning. Oh well, I guess the nurses and staff will get a chance to see how things sometimes go around here.

My Little Love Bugs

Rod's Aunt Connie has been a huge help to our family since the quads were born. Actually, even before! She would visit and bring wonderful food when I was on bed rest. She still helps often with the kids and they adore her! Anyway, she and her husband, Mark, recently celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary and he surprised her with her dream car. A 1979 Volkswagen Beetle convertible.

She came over to the visit the other evening and drove her new Bug. We took the crew out to see it. They all immediately wanted to climb in! They loved it and did not want to get out. The next day I was talking about our car to Will, but the kids heard "car" and started yelling for "Connie's car!" They already know this is a much cooler car than our big @$$ van.

All the kids piled in the back seat.

They wanted to take a ride but, needless to say, they didn't go anywhere without car seats.

Drew even had his cool shades ready to go cruising for chicks!

Fall Festival

This weekend was our multiples group's annual fall festival. We took the kids and everyone had a blast!

The quads dressed as the Teletubbies!

Paige, Drew, Izzie and Julia

(Will was excited to see other big boys and immediately took off to play with them)

There was so much for the kids to do...

There were climbing toys

and hay rides.

Then they went trick or treating

Will was Obi Wan Kenobi

Izzie helped Daddy give out candy

The funny party of the evening was that a set of older triplets decided to be Teletubbies also (their Mom wore Tinky Winky.) My kids were amazed to see other Teletubbies!! The big girls were very sweet and each took the corresponding quad trick or treating with them.

Paige and Katie were both Laa-Laa

Drew and Sophie were a

"Double Dipsy"

We had a great time and the kids all loved their costumes.

I Do Myseff!

As the quads grow, I love watching them conquer new skills and get closer to independence. I am so proud of all that they have learned. However, the words I have been hearing so much recently- the words that make me cringe- are a toddler's offended cry, "I do myseff!"

More and more the quads are wanting to do everything for themselves. They insist on buckling themselves into their boosters for each meal, buckling their car seats, even dressing themselves! This is a normal stage of development, I know. The problem is, even when they can do it themselves, they are incredibly, painfully slooooww.

I want to be a good Mom to my kids. I really try. The one quality I never seem to have enough of is patience. I know that they need to master these skills for themselves and this is the only way they will learn, but come on! If I am loading the crew into the van, it is because we need to be somewhere. Today!! I try so hard to be patient and let them figure it out on their own, but some days, I just do it for them. They get angry and cry, but we get to leave.

Then there is the dressing. Julia is the most stubborn here. She gets upset if I try to help at all. Some days this means her shirt gets put on backward or something is worn inside out. She loses her mind if I try to turn it around, so if we don't have anywhere to be, that's how she walks around that day. It's not worth the fight.

As frustrating as this is right now, I know that my days will be easier when the crew is able to do more on their own. Won't it be nice one day to climb in the van, remind everyone to buckle up and be on our way, rather than strapping everyone in myself? Won't it be nice when I can just set out outfits and they take care of the rest- or even pick out their own clothes? In the mean time, I'll just keep working on my patience. Breathe in and breathe out. They're learning and they'll get it in due time...


And because I know you're really just here for the pictures...

Will built Stella a dog house out of a cardboard box
(he's wearing underwear- I just realized he looks naked in this picture)

Izzie loves swinging

Julia

Drew

Paige wearing her big brother's tie

Will Rocks

Will is constantly telling me about all of the different jobs he has. He is a farmer, a police officer, a fire fighter, a veterinarian... It's a really long list (I wonder all his income is going?), but included on this list is a paleontologist. Today I was getting the quads ready for their nap and he asked if he could go out back and dig for fossils. We have a patch of dirt under our deck where he likes to find fossils (rocks). I told him it was fine and he could go out. I got the crew upstairs and down for their nap. It took a while to get them settled in. When I left their room and went into the hallway, this is what I saw through the bathroom door.

Will washing his "fossils" (and feet) in the bathroom sink

I asked him why he took his clothes off and he said, "Don't worry Mom, it's not cold out." He took them off outside!! I asked why and he simply said, "I didn't need them." Of course, our next door neighbors are having a party and some people are hanging out on their back deck. Sorry Gary and Tammy!

Yes, this is the boy who just had surgery yesterday. I think he's doing just fine.

I never know what that child of mine is going to do next!

Patched Up!

My poor Will has had ear troubles his entire life. He got his first ear infection (bi-lateral, of course) at four months old and hasn't stopped since. He has had tubes put in three different times. He has had his adenoids removed. In the last year or so, his infections had really slowed down and we thought we had turned the corner and could put his ear troubles behind us. Then at his five year check-up, he struggled through his hearing test on his left ear and completely failed in his right ear. His ears were once again a mess. We went back to the Ear, Nose and Throat specialist.

The last time Will had tube put in, he had "semi-permanent" tubes put in. This means the tube had a phalange which opened behind his ear drum to hold the tube in place. Apparently, Will's tubes had "migrated." They were trying to come out of his ears, but were held in by these phalanges. The tubes moving were damaging his ear drums, so his doctor scheduled surgery for today to remove the tubes and patch Will's ear drums.

Like I said, Will has had several surgeries for his ears, but it still scares me. I was able to tell myself that it is very minor surgery and he would be fine. I know this to be true, but last night I barely slept a wink. General anesthesia is always scary.

Will in his gown ready to go!

This morning we went to the surgical center. Will was a good boy and answered all of the nurse's questions and spoke to the doctor and anesthesiologist. He seemed fine until the nurse said it was time to go back to the operating room. Will simply said, "No." He was not going to budge. The nurse and I tried sweet talking (and a little bribing) but got nowhere. She asked the doctor if I could walk him to the OR instead of her. He was fine with that, so I carried him back. There, I held him while the anesthesiologist put a mask on Will. After a couple of breaths, I could see his eyes drooping. He went out and I left the room. That was kind of hard.

Luckily, the surgery didn't last long and once he was awake and had eaten something, we got to bring him home. He is doing great! He is enjoying getting to rest in Mom and Daddy's bed and watch videos. Hopefully, we have finally closed the book on Will's ear infections.

We Take on King's Island

We took the crew to King's Island yesterday. We knew the first Sunday of October would be cool, but it was cold! We were surprised at just how cold it was, but decided we would just make the best of it. The good news is the cold kept many people away. Our kids are not so great at waiting, and we were able to walk on to most of the rides. This was the first time the quads rode anything! I was so excited to watch them on the different rides.

Rod's parents came up for lunch, but it was too cold for them and they didn't want to stay. They wanted to take the kids on one ride before they left. What is the logical choice for the first ride for toddlers?

The Haunted Mansion

Okay, maybe not the obvious choice, but it is Will's favorite ride. Each car has guns and you can shoot the ghosts. Will was not afraid and I think the quads are too young to know that it was supposed to be scary, so it was fun. Besides, everyone was with Mom and Daddy or Grandma and Grandpa.

Then Will rode the bumper cars

Next we rode the little trains
You can't see them, but this is Will, Uncle Shawn and Drew

Mommy and Izzie rode together
(it was so cold everyone has red noses)

Next we went to the cars. This was hands down the quads' favorite ride! They rode it four times in a row!! They loved running around and picking out which car would be theirs. Sometimes they shared a car, sometimes they each rode alone, but they had fun every time!

Drew made that pink Jeep look good!

Julia looking tiny in a red Hummer

The quads in the same car-- brought horrifying glimpses of 14 yrs in the future.

Can't think about that yet!

It was at this point that my camera battery died. Oh well, we had tons of fun and the kids were so well behaved!! We stayed way later than we had planned, but it was worth throwing our schedule out the window for a wonderful experience.

Will even went on his first roller coaster! He screamed the entire time. When it stopped he said, "That was the worst ride ever! Let's do it again!" We had to buy the photo the park takes during the ride. He rode with Rod and Uncle Shawn. I can't tell who is having the most fun.

funny boys

Teamwork

While I cleaned the kitchen after breakfast, I put the crew in the family room to play. When I looked in, I had to get a picture of what I saw. The girls were working together to rock the rocker/recliner.

I love this picture because it perfectly captures each girl's personality. Little Miss Izzie is sitting in the chair, letting the other girls do the rocking while she enjoys the ride. Sweet Julia is standing and pushing as hard as she can to rock her sister. My funny little Paige is perched on top, pushing off with her feet each time the chair rocked back. Working and enjoying the ride (while finding the most dangerous position possible-- a Paige standard.)

They were all having a lot of fun and doing it together! I guess that's all that really matters.