Our normal wacky family

John got his hairs cut today. He cried and cried. Not sure if he's afraid of the razor or if he likes his super-wild hair. That kid is pure joy. Its really a pleasure(?) being able to see how he grows into adolescence and adulthood.
Today he loved me so much he climbed on my back and pulled my hair really hard. And I couldn't get him to let go. In all honesty, I think a screw is loose, or some neurological term that he's just a wee bit different. He stuffs all his food in his mouth and looks like a chipmunk. But then sometimes he just spits his food out after he chews it. (Which really, really aggravates me)
Another odd behavior is his aggressiveness or his lack of boundaries when it comes to playing with others.
He walks on his tip toes a lot and he's just a screwball.
I've heard preemies can have neurological issues and I wonder sometimes if there is something different about him or if he's just got my sense of humor. However, I'm more of a planner and don't like to get dirty, so I wouldn't ever spit out my food or even pile it on top of my hair like he does.

Matthew pulled out one of his stitches today. I've been keeping ointment and band aids on it, but he will pick it off occasionally. The doc said to just put a butterfly band aid on it and keep it covered. Sure doc, easy to do with an almost 2 year old.

In other important news, everyone is on the mend here. The appetites are back, the normal playful selves are back and its such a relief to see.

Jacob has an issue today at school. Today at school some of the "bigger kids", probably 7th & 8th graders came to read to the preschoolers. Jacob freaked out, he started sobbing and didn't want to go by them. Mrs. Micheel consoled him and let him know she wasn't leaving and would stay in the classroom. He did sit and listen to the "big kid" read to him.
Makes me wonder why he freaked out. Did the change of the situation scare him? Did a big kid walking into his classroom intimidate him? Did he think Mrs. Micheel would leave him?
Just when I think I've got him figured out, he throws a wrench into my psychological evaluation of him.

Due to leap year and my 365 Day blog pledge, there will be no posts tomorrow*.
* Unless for hospitalization, 72 hour evaluation, or act of God.

Blog 101

This blog number one oh one, one hundred and one. I have had that much to say in three months. No surprise.



I'd like to address a few issues that have confused the readers. My husband received a phone call from one of my readers who had some concerns about what is true and what is false in my blog.

Let me address those issues now. There are many different writing styles (i.e. autobiographical, research, personal forms, etc..) which I choose to write in the first person. I would further categorize it as autobiographical, narrative, and I'd like to think its creative.

During my blogs I will use the following:


IRONY/SATIRE - Its meaning is different from what is written. A cutting remark, bitterness, and I personally prefer it to direct insults. For instance in this blog, when I said, I bought the Tide to Go pen today to try on their clothing, but somehow I knew that this was not the time to try this on Matthew's clothing. I said this in sarcasm "Jackie".



CREATIVITY - There are only so many ways to describe puk and poop. Yesterday when I said, I got out the magic 8-ball out tonight. I asked the 8-ball. "When will my babies start feeling better?" Reply Hazy, Try again.O.K. ... Next question, "Will I ever stop smelling puk and poop?" Better not tell you now.And I dropped the magic 8-ball. Oops. OR when I use a play on words in my title like WWE not Wii. (Wii is current, its hip and we don't have it, but we have John who is into wrestling, hence the World Wrestling Entertainment reference) OR I went to the doctor today to have him look at my neck. The nurse who took my vitals looked at me and said, "Theres something different about you? Is it the Chicken with Wild Rice Diet?" And my reply was, "No, its the stomach flu diet." This is a reference to that soup commercial that is playing with all the ladies where the black dresses. OR when I used Metallica songs for my blog titles. The Struggle Within and then I would tie it to what I had talked about that day.... creativity, odd, but still creative.

TRUTH/FACT - Honesty, reality - what really happened. This is 95% of what I write. Like the other day when I went to the dermatologist and she ACTUALLY said that she'd love to have triplets. I REALLY went to the doctor and she REALLY said that. OR the conversation with Jacob the other day. I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to Jesus." And I thought it was the sweetest thing that Jacob was asking Jesus to make me feel better. I said, "Did Mrs. Micheel tell you to pray for me?" And replied, "Nobody did, I'm asking Jesus to make you and the two babies feel better." That really happened and since I didn't have the recorder on, it wasn't verbatim.

FISH TALE - A stretch of the truth. Some things did happen, but to make the story more interesting, persons or events may have happened but were changed to make the story more impressive. Heres a couple of examples "Jackie". Yesterday when I said I used a magic 8-ball, I really didn't. But I did think those questions and wondered what I should do. OR a couple of days ago I wrote, when I asked to be admitted for observation due to having the flu and the doctor said no. I then asked for a pain killer and a sedative and he said Matthew wouldn't need one. I told him it was for me. I did ask the doctor to admit Matthew and I so I could get a good nights sleep, but I didn't actually ask him for a sedative. I didn't want him to call social services on me.

Honestly, sometimes I can't even believe what happens here on a daily basis. What a weird and wacky world of raising children. But we try to do it hormone free without testing...

Jacob the fixer

I'll be posting some pictures on flickr later so check em out!

Alrighty. O.K. Amen. The end. I got out the magic 8-ball out tonight. I asked the 8-ball. "When will my babies start feeling better?" Reply Hazy, Try again.
O.K. "When will my babies stop pooping every 1/2 hour?" Outlook not so good.
Great. I was hoping it would be over by now. I shake the 8-ball again and ask, "Should I take Brooke to the doctor for her bad bad diaper rash?" Signs point to yes.
Alright, I'll make an appointment with her pediatrician tomorrow. Next question, "Will I ever stop smelling puk and poop?" Better not tell you now.
And I dropped the magic 8-ball. Oops.

On to better things. Jacob and I had a deep conversation on the way home.
Jacob: Mom, I have a hole in my hat. We need to call Grandma Plamann and tell her.
Me: Jacob, I can fix it.
Jacob: No! I want Grandma Plamann to fix it.
Me: (Rolling my eyes as I'm driving) O.K. we'll call her when we get home.
Jacob: Yep, she's a fixer. Grandpa Plamann is a fixer too! He helped us build our house!
Me: Yep. ( I just agree with him because he talks a lot. I mean a lot)
Jacob: Yep. Grandpa Plamann is a fixer. He and daddy put in our floor.
Me: Yep.
Jacob: Uncle Kelly is a fixer too! He changes lightbulbs.
Me: Yep, Uncle Kelly is a lightbulb changer. (I'm laughing inside... Kelly is an electrician)
And Jacob keeps going on and on about who helped us build our house even though we just remodeled it.

And another cute Jacob moment.
The three of us are eating dinner tonight. Jacob is mumbling something to himself and I catch the end of it which is, "and make mom feel better." I asked him to repeat what he just said. And Jacob said, "I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to Jesus." And I thought it was the sweetest thing that Jacob was asking Jesus to make me feel better. I said, "Did Mrs. Micheel tell you to pray for me?" And replied, "Nobody did, I'm asking Jesus to make you and the two babies feel better." It was probably Grandma Callaway saying his prayers with him then.

Weeelll, how sweet is that?

A bathtub, a sedative and a really good book

I went to the doctor today to have him look at my neck. The nurse who took my vitals looked at me and said, "Theres something different about you? Is it the Chicken with Wild Rice Diet?" And my reply was, "No, its the stomach flu diet." But I was glad she noticed I lost weight. :)

Update on our family:

Scott, Jacob, & John are still healthy.
I am recovering from the stomach flu, but have really bad neck pain and Diazepam isn't helping so I'm going to the chiropractor tomorrow.
Matthew likes to try to get his bandaid off, but then soon forgets about it. Did eat a little bit today, had between 6 and 10 dirty diapers today and did drink some. I think he's on the upswing.
Brooke did not eat anything today, drank a little bit, and had a ton of dirty diapers. Her bottom is sooooo sore. But she doesn't want to sit in the bathtub and I've been putting Maalox on it to kill the sting, then Desitin and or Vaseline on it. I let their bottoms airdry if possible and I'm not using wipes, I"m using washclothes. Any other suggestions would be much appreciated. She HATES her diaper changes.
And if she doesn't have a wet diaper by tomorrow morning, I'm going to bring her in. Actually, I'm going to check her right now and probably give her some milk and cuddle with her for a bit.

A river runs through it

I am not kidding, I think I changed 25 messy diapers today. Along with most of those diapers was a whole clothing change, a clean up of where ever they were standing and sometimes my clothing too.

I think our washer has been going non-stop today. Just imagine, I'm testing diapers right now. Poor saps who have to look at those babies!

About the only funny thing that happened today was that Brooke and John were both crying and sitting on me and Matthew had had enough of the noise so he did a Jacob imitation (who does a Moses parting the water imitation). He put up his hands and in the same tone of voice Jacob uses, he said some garblygunk about the babies. Jacob usually says, "Babies! Thats enough!" Moses said something like, "Part the waters."

It was pretty funny because he even thought the noise was obnoxious.

Brooke was the most sick today with throwing up and numerous, numerous runny diapers. Matthew didn't throw up, but had several runny diapers. John, its hard to tell if he's getting sick or just being his normal self. He whines and cries if hes not the one on my lap. He did get some lap time tonight after the other two have gone to bed.

Jacob is home today now since Grandma Callaway got sick. He's been very helpful.

Really? Naw....

A quick synopsis of our day...

Some firsts in the Callaway household....

First time Scott has been puked on while holding a child (not just that baby spit-up). Brooke got him while she was laying on his chest.

First time we have had to clean vomit out of a vent. Scott went to the store to get a whole new vent and had to clean out the duct. (Thank you Matthew)

First time any of my babies have had stitches... (see picture below)
Matthew and John got into a cupboard that had glass in it. the baby lock broke and Scott was going to fix it later tonight. I was in the middle of changing a really bad diaper in the bathroom with Brooke and wasn't around to tell them no. (Like it would have mattered) John got a few cuts on his fingers and Matthew had one minor one on his foot and left hand while the thumb on the right hand had a good slice down the side.

I asked to be admitted for observation due to having the flu and the doctor said no. I then asked for a pain killer and a sedative and he said Matthew wouldn't need one. I told him it was for me.

Also, the first time that I ever got a picture of any of the babies and Cosmo Kitty together. She and John sat by each other for about a 1/2 hour. John was so excited he kept kicking his legs and she was getting agitated so I moved her by me.


\

Tying up loose ends

PLEASE, PLEASE let spring come soon!

We've been very lucky in the past that this has never happened to our family before. Matthew came down with it Thursday, I came down with it Friday at dinner time and Brooke, sometime in the night.

Luckily, I have it the worst of everyone. I'm hoping that my little Johnny and Scott don't get it. Jacob is thankfully at Grandpa & Grandma Callaways and they said they'd keep him one more night.

Being a mom and being sick don't go together. But I'm glad I can still be here to take care of my babies when they need me the most.

Two baths a day is not enough

Each day with children is a different journey. Each day with triplets can be...fun, joyful, exciting, uneventful, busy, hectic, overwhelming, stressful, and just plain work.

I have a new appreciation for everyone who has had a sick child and had to care and comfort that child while taking care of their other children. And basically keeping those other children out of the vomit and runny diapers.

Poor Matthew threw up last night. I went to check on him, but he was already sleeping soundly, but he had thrown up in his crib. So I cleaned it up the best I could and let him sleep. He has not thrown up since then, but hes had very runny diapers. He woke up from his nap and even before I opened the door, I would smell that overwhelming strong-sweet smell of diarrhea.
He was basically covered from head to toe and he needed a bath, his bedding and blankets needed a bath, the changing table needed a bath and my clothing needed a bath. I have clorox wiped almost everything that I touched from his trip down to his crib to the changing table up again to the bathtub. I have washed my hands probably 15 times and I swear I can still smell it on my hands.

I bought the Tide to Go pen today to try on their clothing, but somehow I knew that this was not the time to try this on Matthew's clothing.

On the other hand, Matthew has been playing very nicely today and I'm trying to put in fluids so he stays hydrated. He has eaten a bit today too. Brooke and John broke into the closet where we keep all our shoes, diapers, toys and other miscellaneous things and the parts they could reach were picked bare and scattered all over. I guess I'll go clean that up now.

Shoo, Shoo FLU!

Puke and poop. Its what I'm dealing with today. Matthew has it and I'm guessing the other two will get it.

This is one of those, "Calgon take me away" moments.

My little project

If your name is Terri or Amanda, please do not read this blog or I will keep the blanket for myself.

I know I'm stealing someone else's thunder by saying this but,
"It is finished!"
I have a few friends that either had a baby or are having a baby soon and I like to make blankets for them. I've probably made 20+ blankets for myself, friends and family over the past seven years.

However, its a little harder to find the time to make blankets now that I have four monkeys running around.

The pudding experiment

This is my latest attempt at childproofing. The babies will push the chairs over to the cupboards and play in the sink, take stuff off the counter and work the microwave.

I caught all three of them in the act today and I yelled, "What are you doing?" (I was coming down the stairs, so I had to raise my voice so they'd hear me) They look at me and two of them got off the chair and they all grabbed something from the floor and took off to the dining room. It was like scaring a pack of cats or hyenas.


I have posted more pictures on flickr of the yogurt and pudding experiment today. All babies used in the experiment were bathed immediately after.

Mom, you're in the way!

New pictures up on Flickr! Check them out!

Jacob is TRYING to watch TV. I guess I'm in the way!

bedrest for the weary

I had this fantasy today when the kids were sleeping and Jacob was quietly playing.

It was hot, and I was sweating. The heat of the sun made me groggy. The sound of the waves hitting the beach was lulling me to sleep. I needed some hydration so I propped my head up on my arm and reached over to get my icy cold margarita. I drank and drank and drank until the glass was empty and then turned over so my tan would be even.

O.K. I have snow fever. We've had 76 inches of snow this year. I think I would lose the babies if I put them outside right now the snows so high. I'd rather have snow than cold weather, but this year we get a bunch of both. Tomorrow its supposed to be -1. That's negative one. That's below freezing. Way below freezing.

Oh, and it doesn't make me any happier knowing that people around me are enjoying Mexico and Jamaica and other Caribbean islands while I'm here on my 3rd cup of hot chocolate.

On to the monkeys. Jacob has been climbing in to bed with me early in the morning. It wouldn't be so bad if he wouldn't touch me. I don't mind cuddling and all that while I'm awake, but when I sleep, I don't want a little one pressed up against me wiggling all the time. And it seems those sharp sticks they call elbows are always getting me. And they take up 3/4 of the bed while I'm left plastered to the wall.

Matthew came up to me today with his raggie (diaper rag) and kept saying "raggie" in his own mumbojumbo. He is the sweetest child. I don't even know how he could be from Scott and I he's soooo sweet. He's a very happy loving child who is content to play on his own most of the time.

Brooke has been really cuddly lately. Its funny because she makes mewwing sounds like a kitty or puppy when she wants to be picked up or wants to be on my lap. We've been kissing and hugging all the stuffed animals lately. She also grabs at herself like she knows she's got to go to the bathroom. Twice today I checked her diaper after she did that and she went right after that. I don't know if she's ready for potty training, but I'm not. Its a lot of work! And she's only 22 1/2 months. Maybe the next time I give her a bath I'll get the potty seat out and put her on it.

John. Some countries would pay to do research on John. Again, Scott and I wonder what defunct genetic pool he came from. He can be the nuttiest of babies and then the sweetest most helpful child on other occasions. His latest thing is to say, "eh, eh, eh!" and then I have to guess what he wants. I say, "milk?" and he shakes his head no. Then I say, "eat?" and he says, "no!" Then I say, "read a book?" and he shakes his head. And then I say, "should I change your diaper?" And he says "yahhh." And he did have a dirty diaper. So now John and I play this guessing game several times a day. Real fun. Maybe he should learn to talk!

And I can't forget to blog about this very important day. Not just because its my nephews birthday and he's the big 0-5, its the day 2 years ago that I was put on bedrest.
I went to the doctor and had the ultrasound to measure my cervix and take a peek at the babies and my cervix had thinned to the point that I was put on bedrest at home.
The first couple of days were hard on me because your body gets so sore laying around all the time, not to mention that big bump in my middle. And then the emotional part of the bedrest which was not being able to take care of Jacob and knowing that I had to do everything possible to keep those babies in.
I had:
45 days of bedrest until the babies were born
1 trip in an ambulance
3 separate stays in 2 different hospitals
24 days in the hospital before the babies were born
24 days of Magnesium Sulfate
140+ monitorings of the babies heartbeats/activity
24 days of blood draws every 6 to 12 hours
24 days of a nurse monitoring my "output" so they could adjust my IV's if needed
24 days of someone else making my meals for me

Those days were the difference for my children who were born at 33 weeks. God has blessed us with healthy children. They have their quirks, but they are healthy. We're very lucky!

No more David Haselhoff!

Yadayadayada... more snow, more snow and more snow. But below that snow is ice. They even closed the malls down today!
Scott and Jacob went out to snowblow and shovel and play after dinner tonight. I think I saw one car drive past today. Everyone is staying put.
O.K. this is ridiculous! A new show debuted tonight - Knight Rider. Wasn't that a show that I watched as a young pup? Didn't they learn about reviving old shows? Look at the Dukes of Hazaard Movie, The Million Dollar woman thing that was on this fall, etc...
Now that we're older, we can figure out that their plots and gizmos are hokey and won't watch. Pleeeaazzzee! Don't do that! It ruins our good memories of our childhood.

Sleeping Beauties

Sometimes when I go into the babies room because someone is crying, I'm not sure which baby it was because they all look peaceful.
Sometimes, when I go into the babies room I find them in wierd positions.
Sometimes when I go into the babies room, I find them awake and looking at me.

This was one of those nights. Brooke was awake, sitting up with no NUK. So I gave her a NUK and laid her back down. She laid there quietly watching me cover up the other babies.


Matthew was sitting up sleeping and when I ran to get the camera, he had tipped over into this position. He was slightly awake too, but didn't really look at me or follow me around with his eyes.
He has a lot of characteristics of Jacob. Laying with the butt up in the air, rags all around him and in his mouth.

John. John, John John, John. My shrinks bill will be so high with some of his tendencies. Do you think he's got enough NUKs in his hand?
Jacob sleeping peacefully in his crib around 22 months.

On the go!

Jacob and I stayed up until 11 p.m. last night. I think he could have lasted longer, but I told him that we both were going to bed.

Luann and I took the kids to a basketball game today. They were good the first half, but the second half was a little crazy. Matthew wanted to get down and didn't want to be held. Brooke wanted to get down too. John still wanted to be held, but was content to read a book on my lap. Jacob was running a car up and down my body, hair and face, which annoyed me a lot.

I know that the people behind us probably felt extremely sorry for us juggling four kids. Or they were just glad they weren't us.

The St. Peter girls won and Jacob and I will go back to watch an afternoon game and Luann is coming over so the babies can nap.

Scott and his dad will be boat shopping. :)

We have my nephew Jordan's 5th birthday party tonight. Hopefully it will be fun and the kids will be on their best behavior!

Triplets is not a four letter word

Alright, its 10:00 p.m. and Jacob is sitting next to me watching Miss Spider. I told him a couple of days ago he could stay up as late as he wanted tonight. There is no signs of wearing down, unlike me. I am yawning, comfy in my new flannel pink heart pajamas, and trying to fulfill my obligation to blog 365 days of the year.

I went to the dermatoligist today so she could look at my dry patch of skin on my face. Nothing wrong with me except for unbalanced texture to my face and sensitive skin. I was telling her when I first noticed the drypatch....

Jean: "I was on bedrest and hospitalized before giving birth and I notice a dry patch on my right cheek right after I delivered. I wonder if my skin went through some type of stress or trauma that this happened."

Dr Lee: "Thats probably coincidence that it happened right after delivery. Why would you say your pregnancy was stressful?"

Jean: "I had triplets."

Dr. Lee: "Triplets! (she totally lights up and smiles) I would LOVE to have triplets."

Jean: Not sure if I said anything because she just said something I never ever hear. (replay please)

Dr. Lee: "Triplets! I would LOVE to have triplets!"


We got to talking and she has two children already and would love to have more. Its nice to hear from someone that triplets would be a blessing and not this God-awful thing.

And, AND, then when she gave me this stuff to put on my face she said without laughing or smirking, "if you plan on becoming pregnant or breastfeed, you have to discontinue this cream."

I like it that she didn't just judge me like a lot of people do by saying, "you must be done" Good doctor, like her, give her two thumbs up.

I'm somewhat worried about Jacob. Almost every meal that he eats, when he's halfway done, he excuses himself to use the bathroom. He comes back down and finishes his meal. I'm afraid that he is making himself throw up so that he can finish his meal. I never thought I'd have to worry about a bulimic son.

Happy Valentines Day????

Happy Valentines Day, I think. This is Brooke's signature look. I've heard it called her shy look, a stink eye, coy...




John thinking to himself "What is HER problem?"


Brooke was sad because she wanted to look at what the pictures on the back of the digital camera. Matthew wanted to do the same thing, but at least he didn't cry about it. John wanted to play with the drawstrings on his pants and Jacob... this is dramatic Jacob who didn't want to be in pictures. He didn't want to go to swimming lessons, he didn't want to do anything - even listen. But he thinks he can still go to the boat show with Scott and I tomorrow night.

Perspective

What a day! I'm emotionally exhausted. I belong to FVMOM, a wonderful group of ladies who are in the same boat as me. Its nice to know I'm not alone in this parenting/multiples stuff.

There are a few members who are going through some pretty rough times. My friend Cindy has TWO sets of twins, 5 & 2. I've got a link to her blog on the left side of this page. Her daughter had surgery today for Chiari Malformation. If you click on Cindy's name, it has a link to Michelle's website where she explains what that is.
Cindy called tonight while we were having a meeting to give an update on her daughter Riley. Apparently it was just in the nick of time that Riley had this surgery or she would have been paralyzed. THANK YOU GOD FOR GIVING CINDY THE DRIVE TO KEEP GOING AND FINDING THE RIGHT DOCTOR TO HELP RILEY. THANK YOU GOD FOR A SUCCESSFUL SURGERY!
Enough of the caps.
My friend Michelle has a daughter Karly,13, that has ovarian cancer. You can read about it on her blog. Karly is due for her 4th round of chemo next week. On top of this, Michelle and her husband Brian were blessed with twins last year, but sadly one passed away in utero.

I really can't imagine what either of these two families has or is going through. I wish I could help out more. Give them strength, be a shoulder to lean on. If you're reading this, say a prayer for them.
It puts our lives in perspective because really, the little things just are that, little.

WWE not Wii

Its not dog fighting, its not cock fighting, its kid fighting, or wrestling, as I like to call it. Don't call social services yet...
We took these pictures to capture Johns wacky, odd, hyper side and this tells the story of why he's one of a kind. (I'll be loading some pictures to flickr too)

NICU evaluation update

A catch up on the Callaway Family.

Scott is still working a lot. He's getting a cold. I'm looking at him as I type this and he has no clue that I'm blogging about him. (hehehe)

I am in the middle of making two baby blankets for a baby born last week and one due in one month. I'm not having luck in finding time to make them. I probably have about three hours of work left to do.
I am also trying to organize some rooms and get stuff cleaned up but its hard with the babies running around getting into stuff.

Triplet update. John showed Brooke and Matthew how to push the kitchen chairs over to the counter to get stuff on the counters. (Knives have been moved back behind the faucets.)
The babies have been eating a lot lately. They eat their meal and then come and beg for more from me.
Brooke has been super cuddly lately and wants to be held and get hugs. She's more independent so this has been a nice change. John has been spunky John. Today I was trying to get him dressed and he ran away from me and tripped and his the side of his face on the endtable. Luckily we have rounded edges. I put a potato on it right away cause I heard that helps with the swelling and bruising. If for some reason it wasn't supposed to be a potato and it was supposed to be something else, I'm sure the starch was good for his complexion.
Matthew has been into playing with Matchbox cars. He loves to line them up and play with them.
If I didn't blog about it, Jacob has a really nice time with two boys at Sunday School. He was running around playing with them as I got there. It was nice to see him interacting.

Today, Luann and I took the babies to a NICU clinic at Children's Hospital Fox Valley. They offer a free clinic for NICU alumni at 6,9 and 18 months adjusted age. My kids missed the 18 month appointment and we were fortunate to get in this month.

On the way there, I had one of those moments that my heart jumped up in my throat and stayed there. I was driving on HWY 41 and just around a bend a car had spun out. There was a car behind it and one ahead of it. The car was near the median in a snowbank and some guy was trying to push the car out.
It was slippery because of the snow, I was going 70 mph and no one had their flashers on. Oh, and this was just around a corner!
I put on my brakes, felt them lock up, and had to move to the far right lane to avoid the cars. I knew that no one was right beside me and luckily there was a car in the far right lane, but we were going at different speeds so we weren't by each other.
Having the kids in the car makes me a more defensive driver, but now I'm a little gunshy of the highway.
If any of those people that were in their cars happens to read this blog, heres a few tips!
DO NOT GET OUT OF YOUR CAR ON THE HIGHWAY! PUT YOUR *&%$ FLASHERS ON! CALL THE POLICE SO THAT YOU CAN SAFELY MOVE YOUR CAR.
And on to the appointment.
They all passed with flying colors. Matthew weighed just over 27 lbs, Brooke and John just over 24 lbs. They did weigh them with their diapers on though.
They tested their coordination, thinking, motor skills, verbal and they scored between 20-27 months on everything. Their verbals were 20.25 months which is their adjusted age so the speech therapist wasn't concerned. However she's calling in 4-6 weeks to see if they have progressed.
They gave each of the kids crayons to see their scribbling. The physical therapist asked me how often they color. My defense right away is, "they don't that often. They outnumber me! They put them in their mouth and throw them!" But surprisingly no one did that today in front of the therapist.
Then she asked about using spoons and forks. (Pull the string on the see and say toy) "They don't that often. They outnumber me! They put them in their mouths and then throw them!"
Fastforward a few minutes. When asked if they sort their colors or know their colors, I say, "they don't that often, they outnumber me! they put them in their mouths and throw things!"
They assured me I was a good mom and then we all went home.

Yesterday's blog

Instead of getting on the computer last night, I went to bed. But I did blog in my head what I would have said.



I could not remember when I woke up what I was thinking about until later today, but it went something like this.



Many people give up stuff for Lent. If its such a bad habit, why not give it up permanently? This is one advantage being Lutheran has over Catholics.



In the last few years if I were to give up something for Lent it would have been sleep. I wasn't getting it anyway with being pregnant and having babies last year. This year I'm going to add to my habits. I'm going to try to shower every day, not wear my clothes to bed, and not wear my pajamas shopping.

flickr pictures - come and get em'

I just posted a few more pictures on Flickr. The link is located on the bottom left under websites I look at.

John's day

Well, we had guests over today. Chris and Melissa and their children, Grace and Ethan, came over this afternoon and ate dinner with us.

Grace is almost four and I think she loves to play with Jacob and the babies. She was busy chatting on the phone, probably with her cousin. John decided to sit next to her... and touch her hair. He's probably got hair envy.





Then John decided to throw all the clothes in the bins that Melissa brought over down the
stairs. Such a big help, he is!

multiples tips for dummies

So last night I made heart and star shaped cookies on a stick. I followed a recipe that was given to me by the Cookie n Crumbs lady. The first batch was gluten-free for my friend Melissa who is coming over tomorrow with her two kids and her husband Chris. The second batch was regular flour and it really didn't turn out because it was more sponge-like than cake-like. So I have a lot of broken hearts because they keep falling off the stick.

Jacob and I decorated the cookies tonight after the babies went to bed. He will be bringing each of the preschoolers a cookie and his teacher also for his Valentines party on Tuesday.

I have conducted a taste test and the Duncan Hinzes strawberry frosting is not better than the Pillsbury french vanilla frosting. I have varied the test samples, trying different methods of spreading, glopping and dollopping and I am conclusive in my results. Pillsbury wins all my delegates.

I do often wonder if people really get my sense of humor or if they just don't. Up until recently I wanted to be buried with a smile on my face, but now I've changed my mind. I think my crows feet will be more prominent if I'm smiling so whatever serene look the mortician wants to give me that minimizes wrinkles is fine by me.

I've thought of some short-cuts that may be good for those of you who have multiples or just have a lot of kids.

1) Skip cleaning out your childs ears with a q-tip. If there is a lot of earwax, it will fall out. Let nature run its course.
2) Instead of using plates and bowls which can cause more dishes, just put the food right on the table or on the floor. This makes it easier for you and the dog to clean up later.
3) Daily bathing is highly-overrated. Especially in winter. Your children's skin can dry out so try bathing every two to three days and it saves YOU time.
4) Teach your older kids to help feed and dress the younger kids. You can sleep in then.
5) When babies are really little... you don't have to change into a new outfit everyday and into pjs at night. They tend to poop and pee so much that you're changing onesies and outfits enough. Just change them as needed which tends to be more than enough.
6) I intensely dislike changing crib sheets. So put a waterproof pad below them and you can just wash the pad when they wet through.

Sharing... what was I saying?

You know how you walk out of the room to do something, but then you can't remember what you wanted? Or you have something very important to tell your spouse/mom/friend, but then when you see them later on, you totally forget? Or when you put something in the oven and you totally forget you had it on until you smell smoke and the fire alarm goes off? Or when you put your child in a time-out and and a 1/2 hour later they ask if they can come out of their room?

I think these things happen to all of us. I had several things to blog about tonight, witty, light, reflective of the events of the day. But I forgot.

Lets see...
The babies got to play with the basketball hoop and the balls that came with it. I've seen a lot of fighting and heard a lot of screaming over who retains possession of said balls. Surprisingly Brooke loves to carry a ball around, juggling, throwing, bouncing it. I'm hoping she's my basketball player.
Luann and Mark were over today and Luann stayed over this afternoon while I went to Dinner Helpers and saw my friend Michelle and my friend Shell Dinters niece, Jennice (it rhymes) who works there. Luann must of been folding some laundry today.
Later on I caught Brooke picking up laundry from the floor and giving it a good shake before giving it to me. I tried to get it on the recorder, but when she saw me with the camera, she stopped doing it.

All three babies helped me unpack groceries today. John took out each spear of Asparagus and put them on the table. He and Brooke did try a spear, but their faces showed their dislike of the tall, skinny green vegetable.

Scott and I got our taxes done today. It totally pays to have a bunch of kids because in the end, the government owes you a lot of money. I swear the government pays us to have children. Just not three at a time.

Then, the babies ate hotdogs and apple slices for dinner. Then 10 minutes later Scott and I had Cheesey Penne Pasta from Dinner Helpers.

You know how you're eating dinner and you feel your dog nudge your elbow or put their paws up on your legs because they are begging for food. If you ignore them, sometimes they go away but if you feed them, you'll never get rid of them.

Well, this is another instance that children (my children) are not all that much different from dogs. I feel a nudge on my arm and look down. There is Brooke, who grunts, "eehhhh". Nice. I say, "Use your words Brooke. Do you want to eat?" Magically as if they multiply, another one appears and climbs on the chair next to Brooke to get a better look at my plate. Now the big teddy bear one just smiles and doesn't say anything and its hard to resist such innocent eyes. THEN, my littlest animal had to come over to see what he was missing. He starts whining and pushing at Brooke. So I had to share my meal with them. I couldn't believe that they ate the hamburger/sausage stuff with no problem. They pretty much eat anything I put in front of them.

So that makes me wonder why they are different from Jacob. He would only eat about 10 things at that age. And I did try to feed him different things too. Matthew is more like Jacob and doesn't like certain textures. But still, Matthew eats a wider variety of things than Jacob did.
I wonder if they see us eating that they are interested or see one of the babies try it so then they are interested or if they don't get enough food and really are hungry.
Since our end of dinner signal is them throwing their food, I'm not so sure its the latter.

Oh, what I wouldn't give to be able to figure out whats in their little heads.

School days, Is summer here yet????

Sigh... I'm so glad I'm a grown up so I don't have to re-live childhood.

I've put two and two together and figured out that Jacob can be more difficult (sassy, not listening, not kind to babies) after school on Tuesdays and Thursday. At first I thought it was just Shell Dinter coming over on Tuesdays, but since we just saw her on Wednesday and the behavior (Jacob's, not Shell's) was better, there goes that theory. :) (JK, BFF right Shell? Until Jacob sends you home)

The following conversation is based on actual events and the names and places has not been changed.

Jacob is sitting in the foyer playing with the the animals and barn. His look on his face is typical cranky Jacob mixed in with some frustration.

Mom: Jacob, who did you play with at school today?

Jacob: (Looking down at his toys and everywhere but me) I played with myself today.

Mom: You didn't play with anyone? Did you talk with anybody?

Jacob: No one wants to play with me.

I keep hearing this over and over in my head. My heart is breaking. I so want to fix his problem, but there is a fine line between being that intrusive mom and a mom that is supportive and helpful.

I sent Jacob's teacher a note telling her about the incident. We have discussed his shyness or unwillingness to try to join with the other kids. His self-confidence is really low in school too.

I told her that I was going to try role-playing with him. He and I could pretend that we were at school and he could ask me to play with him. He named a few boys that he'd like to ask to play.

I don't want him to be that kid that is always on the outside looking in. I want him to have friends. I want him to like school. I want him to have a positive self-image.

I'll gladly take suggestions.

Jacob plays well on playdates and with his cousins that are 7 & 9. I don't understand why there is such a different person at school.

An update on the full day kindergarten. I've decided to send Jacob for 1/2 days to start out next school year and as he asks to spend more time at school we'll add a day or two each week until he's fulltime. The kindergarten teacher seems to be fine with that. She's very understanding and she's also Jacob's preschool teacher.

I have talked to a few different moms whose children go 2 1/2 days (two full days and one 1/2 day) to kindergarten and to moms who have sent their children to 1/2 day kindergarten when full-time is offered and feel comfortable with this decision.

He'll be full-time in school in 1st grade and going 7+ hours a day is very tiring. Besides, I still want to do things with him and the babies in the afternoon. Or at least the opportunity to neglect the kid myself instead of him just playing by himself at school.

Where's the mute button?

Today was a whirlwind of activity.


The kids can mess up rooms faster than I can clean them up. Sometimes when I'm picking up toys and putting them in a box, John will come and help me. I heep praise on him and then Brooke comes over to help. Not Matthew though, he just keeps playing and doing his thing. Of course Jacob is the BEST helper, but he can also be the one who wins the award for really messing up stuff.



Today, Shell Dinter and I took all the kids to the Children's Museum or now called The Building for Kids. This was the first time that I had ever been there and barring the potential germ issues, it was a lot of fun.

The museum had a grocery area where we could pretend checkout with groceries, fish and birds, had a lot of educational things with a slide that is really a beating heart, an art area, and most importantly an area for ages 3 and under AND its gated off. Although I think he found the weak spots of the wall and gate area. Maybe next time he'll figure out how to get out.


Then, Matthew fell asleep on the way home because he didn't or wouldn't take a nap today. And of course when he woke up 45 minutes later he was so out-of-sorts that he just cried and cried. If you looked at him he would, literally, break out and cry!



And, although this is a WHOLE different blog, but I limited John and Brooke's Nuks to their cribs today. They did o.k. with it, I had to listen to a little more whining, but it was just whispers compared to the noise Matthew and Jacob were making.



So, I'm really happy tonight when all the kiddos are in bed and there is no noise. Between Jacob's banter ALL DAY LONG and the kids whining, it can be a bit much.

The Walmart Incident

Did you ever feel like you were in a cartoon?
Today I was at Walmart in the checkout line. (Thats not the punch line.) Next to me was another family checking out. This is not the PC way of describing them, but they were ghetto, south-side, baggy pants, corn rows, gold caps and all.

There was an guy checking out, a younger woman taking stuff out of that cart and then behind the cart was a the younger woman's beau, daddy, partner in one of the motorized carts. In the front of the motorized cart was a toddler approximately 18 months to 2 years old.

The strapping young man who thought it was cool to ride in a motorized cart was cooing to the toddler. "Say heeeelll yeahhh!" "Say heeelllyeeeaaahhh!" The toddler is engaged in the man's speak. He laughs and giggles. The man says, "heelllyeaahhh!" again and finally the toddler repeats him saying in a squeaky voice, "heeeyaahhhh!" This went on and on. Finally the baby's mama came by and she heard and laughed and said something in ghetto-speak. The man laughed and said, "hellyeah" again. And then the toddler just kept chanting it.

Bad, bad, bad!

What poor role models. This kid has no chance to know what normal is. Thats not the way to teach respect and boundaries. Good thing I had no children with me, especially Jacob. He would have picked up on that right away and I would have had to knock the guy off his block.

I may not be a perfect parent, but I do try to be a living example.

No fair! Won't share!

Jacob, Grandpa Callaway and Scott went tubing at Plamann Park on Sunday again. Jacob just loves to go tubing! He never gets tired of tredging up the big hill.


Defense, keep-a-way, silliness, droopy onesies giving them a problem?


I just can't put my finger on it, but there's a breeze coming from somewhere that's making me chilly. (Click on picture if you'd like to enlarge it)

For those of you wondering about the last couple of days pictures. I do dress my children in more than onesies, so please hang up the phone to social services. When I feed them messy food or its time for pajamas is when they get stripped down to their skivvies.


Its been a hard day for a certain four and a half year old to share. He wants to play with the play kitchen and have a "festival" or make cakes and then the babies touch his stuff.





I feel for him. I'm trying to teach him that while he really is having fun playing with the toys, that the main level is EVERYONES toys and we have to share. I try to tell him to give them a toy or two and they'll be happy or teach them to play with him. But today if looks could kill, I'd be dead about ten times over. So he spent some time on the stairs and in his bedroom.

He tends to push them away when he doesn't want them to touch whatever he has. I'm trying to teach him to use his words and tell them no or call me.

Its so hard to share!

That reminds me of a song! Sing it with me! LONG LIVE ROCK!

GIgANTic day in the bush

Happy 22 month birthday babies!


The little lion cub has found the leftover remains of his older cub brother's dinner. He gleefully tears into the antelope (lasagna).


He delicately manuevers the utensils to tear into the meal.



Another lion cub finds the meal. The little lion cub fights off his brother to retain control over the tasty meal.


He's beeing surrounded by both sides. Oh no! What is my little lion cub going to do? I better take the sharp utensils away before he takes out an eye or two.


The little lion cub pouts as mama lion gives some to the other lion cubs. Little girl lion cub is tickled pink by the food.

Tu-tu-oh-ate

This is what happens when food is left on the table.

I feel naked without my sandals on!

This picture reminds me so much of Jacob at this age. Matthew is such an angel.

Jacob at 18 months. He used to help himself to the food in the pantry.

Jacob just over two years at the old house.

Ball anyone?

Tonight I took the babies to my niece Katie's basketball game. We were there for an hour and they weren't really interested in the game or following the ball around. They were more interested in the crowd and the noise.

At this age, I used to take Jacob to my nephew Nick's games. He just loved to watch the ball and would sit for the whole game just watching where the ball was.
Not these kids. They were probably just happy to be out of the house near others.