Stay Home or Persevere?

Our goal this morning? Go to Franklin Park and play. Time we got up and started preparing for the day? 8:30 AM. Time we left the house? 10:00.

I'm not sure if fate is telling me to just stay home, or if I'm suppose to buck up and just persevere. Today, I persevered. Other days, I just chalk up to a loss and start all over the next day.

This morning, I laid out the boys clothing and then sat in the living room eating my bowl of cereal when a baby started screaming. I set down my bowl and ran to the baby. Thus started the feeding/burping/changing/dressing cycle. During this time, I hear the boys go, "Uh oh, that's a BIG mess!" They had stepped in my cereal bowl, thus spilling it all over. Ugh. Baby #1 done, mess cleaned up, Baby #2 started. Meanwhile, the boys were instructed to get dressed and go potty. Joshua did as he was told, Thomas fooled around. Now, when it comes to leaving the house, it's like a finely tuned machine. One part is upset, and everything goes haywire. Once the girls are loaded into car seats, we have 10 seconds to 4 minutes of happy time before absolute hysteria hits. Therefore, it's is imperative to immediately pile into the van upon placement in car seats. Thomas, unfortunately, had not followed directions and was not dressed, nor did he have shoes on. Too bad. We left the house with him carrying his gear and the promise that I would help him once we arrived at the park. A good lesson in listening I hope. The girls had meanwhile spit up all over and were going for the 10 seconds of happiness and had already started the hysterical screaming. The screaming gets so loud that I have to yell to the boys to be heard over the screaming. We all load into the car. Thomas is upset he forgot his magnifying glass and monkey backpack. Too bad. Normally I'm a softie, but today I just wanted to get to the final destination. I had promised myself no more caffeine (to see if it helped the girls be happier) and failed as soon as we left the house...Diet Cherry Coke for me! We got to the park and Thomas looked at me, "Why do I only have one shoe?" Are you kidding me? Back home we go. Thomas' shoe is not where I saw him drop it...oh yeah, it's right next to his car seat. Ugh. Back to the park. At this point I'm thinking it might have been easier to just stay at home...but we persevere. We get to the park and unloaded and the rest of the trip is easy. I packed lunches for the boys (no reason to pack myself a lunch since I don't have enough hands or time generally). Mom called and brought me lunch and provided an extra pair of hands. The girls were nice and quiet and loved sitting in the sunshine, the boys played out all their energy. Life was good...until we got home. The boys are doing well and Thomas is actually currently asleep. Joshua is yelling at him to wake up, so that's awesome. Molly had her first blow out. Front to back neck to hairline. Awesome. However, 3/4 are sleeping, so I'm off to switch laundry and clean the kitchen. Plus, I have to shampoo the carpets after all the spilt milk this morning!

Walking Does the Marriage Good

Today was Thomas' filling. He did wonderfully...apparently. My total apprehension when it comes to dentistry is not helpful when it comes to these issues. I'm so grateful Dan was able to take a couple hours off and take him to the appointment. He was cuddly and groggy when he got home, and my eyes still teared up, but he did great and didn't complain throughout the day.

The girls have decided to wake up and show off their attitudes. Basically, if I'm home alone, if they are awake they are crying. If someone shows up, they automatically stop crying and either sleep or are happy and awake. It's extremely frustrating and I can't wait for them to get just a little bit older and more able to interact and be kept busy. I'm cutting down on my caffeine to see if that makes a difference too. :( Today, after rest time, the girls did their typical 'everyone scream at once for hours on end' time, and I had pretty much had enough. I yelled upstairs to the boys that we were going for a walk and they'd better get shoes and jackets on pronto. They were SO happy. After a trip around the block (with the girls each in their own sling), I decided I was brave enough to venture off to a nearby park and ran home to get a sweatshirt and lock up the house. The boys had a blast collecting acorns and were happy just running around and playing on equipment. The girls quieted down for most of the park play and only fed once and then were quiet.

Dan and I have taken to walking at night with all four kids if the weather is nice. It's inevitable we need something from the store so that's an easy destination. The boys ride in the jogger and we each sling a girl. Last night we tried slings, tonight we tried snugglies. Dan and I really enjoy it because we get a chance to walk and talk and it just feels like good quality family time. Plus, Dan pushes the jogger and slings a girl, so I'm left with just one baby which feels pretty darn nice! Here's a picture of Dan tonight. He had Molly in the snuggly and then because it was so cold, put his coat over the top of it, so she's nice and warm and tucked inside his jacket. :)

43 Month Boys and 4 Week Girls

Boys at nearly 4 weeks.

Girls at 4 weeks.

The boys are 43 months today and the girls are 4 weeks. It worked out perfectly, so I tried to get pictures of all of them at some point in the day.

Well Behaved Children

Some days just turn out right. We were so busy this morning and I can't be more thankful that my children all behaved when necessary.

It started off with the boys' dentist appointment. Both girls did their share of crying, but alternated so it was never overwhelming. The boys played nicely and shared with the other kids. Very impressive (until the other kid tried to share the floss that Thomas was using...yuck!). Gotta draw the line somewhere! Turns out Thomas has his first cavity. I nearly cried just upon hearing it. I realize it's not a big deal, but I am not a dentist person (as in I take valium before I go). I immediately called Dan and gave him the date of the filling so that he could take the time off to take Thomas. I would just sit there a mess and be no help at all. Please pray that this goes well for him and is not traumatizing...I'm already traumatized for him.

We then hustled down to the pediatrician for another check up on Joshua's face. His cheek got worse instead of better over the weekend, and my brother (an ER nurse) suggested we get it checked again. It's not clearly being defined as anything. He can't tell if it's ringworm, or excema, or something else. We got new medicine to try and see if it works. Ugh. Then we were sent up to the lab for a culture of his cheek cells. This was basically the lab tech scraping skin off his cheek. It took about 20 minutes to even get called in...that was neat. Probably the hardest part of the whole day. I stood in the hallway and instructed the boys to run their little hearts out, and run they did! Joshua handled the scraping like a pro. I felt so bad for him and you could tell it was hurting, but he never complained once. Afterwards though, he was really upset. It began weeping and he thought it was bleeding. It was then itching and he thought something was really wrong. Poor guy. Hopefully the cells come back as something definitive so we can treat it and be done with it.

The boys hung out while I did a quick feeding and changing of girls and then we were off again. I had promised the boys if they were well behaved and listened that they could get an ice cream cone. They were so excited!

Overall, we got lots done this morning. The girls are back to eating more regularly and not as frequently (don't get too excited, it's still VERY often, but at least I'm not always attached at this point). :) Everyone was well behaved and I got many compliments on the behavior of all 4 kiddos. PHEW! I'm exhausted!

Off to rest time now!

Family Pictures

Today we got our first picture EVER of the 6 of us. It seems crazy to say that we are now a family of 6! The pictures went alright, and we ended up with a few good ones.

Halfway to the Weekend!

We're halfway there! While the week has been rough with boys perfecting the tantrum and girls deciding that they want to eat nonstop, it seems to be turning around. Monday was just a train wreck and we chalked the day up to a loss and started over on Tuesday. Tuesday might just be Joshua's favorite day of the week thus far. We met our friends at the "jumpy house." It was our first time out to a social event since the girls arrived. The boys were absolutely thrilled to be able to run and jump for an entire 2 hours! It totally wore them out too! Joshua was just happy to be with his "best friend Anna" who he hadn't seen in quite a while!

Today, mom was here. I waited all morning with all four children screaming counting my moments until she arrived. I did manage to give the girls baths and get everyone but myself dressed. The minute she arrived the girls fell fast asleep and the boys decided to play independently upstairs. Go figure. Mom and I enjoyed some adult conversation, folded laundry, and picked up around the house. Thanks mom! Grandpa Bob stopped by this afternoon and gave Thomas some much needed baseball time outside. He showed grandpa Bob how he can hit off a pitch and hit several "home runs." :)

The boys are exhausted, I'm exhausted. An early bedtime for all.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's that make such a difference in our lives!

Our day was pretty uneventful. It started off with our first time back at church since the girls were born. The girls did great and the boys even did alright. It is definitely more difficult with 4 kids, but we got several compliments afterwards, so it must've been alright!

We then got our regular doughnuts and paper afterwards and headed home. The remainder of the morning was spent outside in the backyard. The boys took a nice long nap (after Joshua showed us how well he has perfected his tantrums) and Dan ran some errands while I rested on the couch and hung out with the girls.

We woke the boys up to go to Dan's parents and had pizza and brownies and some regular ol' family time. I'm sad we missed my family this year, but hopefully I'll see them this week and get more family time.

Here are some pictures of the five grandchildren from the Domrese side. And then pictures of the grandparents with the kiddos too!