Jacob's due date

Jacob was due 5/29/03. He was born on 5/19/03 weighing 8 lbs 9 oz and was 21 inches long. I'm glad he came 10 days early. If he would have been 10 days late, I'm thinking he would have been 10 lbs and a C-section.

Pet peeves

Two days in a row, someone has ruffled my feathers.

I get a bill from the hospital. Its from February. They will send the collections agency after me in 7 days. So I call the hospital. They tell me to call the insurance that there are some questions they'd like to ask me before they pay the bill.
O.K. so I call the insurance company. I normally have great luck with Network. I get to talk to a live person fast and they can normally answer my questions and I don't get passed around like a hot potato. The lady says that it should have been processed and they'll readmit it, but I should call the hospital and let them know that the insurance company is reviewing it again. Soooo, I call the hospital back and talk to the collections department again. This is another lady. She's says that I should call the insurance company back and tell them to have someone there call her and let her know that. I guess my word isn't good enough.

I just started to laugh. Uncontrollably. I could help it. Everyone tells ME to call everyone else so they don't have to do their job.

The Finger

On Sunday before the finger incident Uncle Kelly and Aunt Julie came over for a bit. Kelly was showing the kids how to take off leaves and bark on the trees. Thanks Uncle Kelly.

Matthew was really liking this ride on toy. Although it has since stop working, it is still fun to sit on. Love the cheesy smile!


Look at the monkeys. Seriously, are John and Brooke two peas in a pod? They really get along well. Matthew is another level than those two are.

Playing musical chairs. Had to put these chairs away at the end of the day because they were trying to use them to get stuff on the counters.

The infamous finger.

Now for my pet peeve of the day. I get a call from the community blood center. Its 7:15 p.m., I sigh and pick up the phone. The lady, bless her, is a volunteer and she's just following up from the last time I gave blood and wants to schedule another donation. I tell her I plan on giving at a drive at the end of June. Meanwhile, John is screaming because he is hungry and Jacob is wacky and being loud and the other two monkeys are running around. She goes on about what drive and when and so on. The babies are just getting louder and I can barely hear her. I tell her that nows not a good time to talk. I plan on signing up on-line for the blood drive. I definitely threw her by telling her it was not a good time to talk. I mean, she could HEAR why it wasn't a good time to talk. But she still went on. I interrupted her and said, "its my children's bedtime, I can't talk. Thanks." And I hung up.

PEOPLE! You need to switch gears and hurry it up. I think when you try to hurry people up it only makes people slower. Jeez.

You'd think they'd pick up on the secondary clues... the crying and the background noise. She's a volunteer and I should cut her some slack... but this is a real pet peeve of mine.

I've been in stores with my children and they are crying and I'm trying to get through line or go through line you'd think clerks would want to hurry us through.

Kids and I went to monkey joes tonight. Our big thing was that we walked 20 feet to the entrance of the play area without the stroller or harnesses. I put them on the side walked and whistled for them to come follow me. Jacob rounded up the lager (Matthew) and he herded him to the store. We had such fun going down the slide and running around. The babies played with basketballs, but really aren't interested in going in the inflatables. Not sure why. Jacob likes the obstacle courses and the slides. We had to leave after 45 minutes because John was breaking through security and looking out the front door. He wanted to leave.

ER - the sequel

Its going to be a long one, so go grab something to drink, sit in a comfy chair and hold on.

Not in chronological order, but in order of importance.

I got a call at approximately 7:45 p.m. from Scott who was at his parents house. He said, "Could you come over and take Jacob to the hospital, he cut the tip of his finger off." So, luckily Luann and Mark had stopped by and I told them I had to take Jacob to the hospital and ran out the door. I sped all the way over to Grandpa and Grandma Callaways.

Jacob was crying and he had a rag on his finger. Scott showed it to me and maybe a 1/4 inch of his finger tip was cut off. It looked hamburger raw. Scott was moving the trailer which has a swing tongue and at the same time Jacob put his finger in the hole, which line up with the swing tongue to hold it in place when its straight. (Imagine a cigar cutter) Ouch.

So I sped all the way to the hospital - which I am very familiar with. I had been there once in February with Matthew, once for myself in March, we skipped April and now the third time in May. Jacob cried and shrieked all the way there.

So, knowing that waiting would make it worse, I wrote down on the 2 inch by 2 inch area to describe why we were there - cut the tip of his left finger tip off. I could have put, laceration to the finger, but I wanted to get in since Jacob was having a melt down in the ER.

We had such nice nurses. They were very caring and told him that they knew he was scared and it would hurt, but they had to look at it so they could make it better. The doctor was very nice too for the 30 seconds we saw him. We were in and out of the hospital in less than 40 minutes.

This will be described in unmedical terms. They put this piece of foam over the tip that was cut to help promote the growth of skin and stop the bleeding. Then they wrapped this gauze stuff over his finger and then put this metal thing that goes from the base of his finger to cover the tip so if he bumps his finger, he won't re injure it. Then they put this sticky gauze over that to keep it in place.

They also gave him Motrin with Codeine (bless them) to help with the pain.

Now for the normal Callaway stuff. Jacob set up a boat show today at the house. He made a sign and had Scott write on the sign, "Boat Show, please put money in bucket" or something like that. He put the minnow bucket and sign on the mailbox so people could pay and then come see the boat. Very entrepreneurial.

Brooke keeps taking her pants off. I have to be creative when I dress her because if her pants are elastic, she takes them off and tries to run around naked. We went outside today after dinner and they played on the swings and went down the slide and take everything out of the toy box for me to put back in later.

Then Aunt Julie and Uncle Kelly came over to drop off some stuff for the rummage sale and they played with the babies in the front yard. Pictures will be posted tomorrow.

Because of this emotional roller coaster and lack of self-regulation, we stopped at Dairy Queen on the way home from the hospital. Jacob had an ice cream cone and I had a small (small is somewhat a self-regulating move) doublestuff Blizzard with Reese's Peanut Butter cups and fudge covered cookie dough. It filled my emotional needs, but I may still have a drink too.

Diaper testing

You know how life seems to be in hills and valleys? Ebb and flow? Sanely smooth or crazy insane?

The last two days with the triplets have been crazy insane. There is not just one thing that has made it that way, but several little things.

I must admit, I don't usually have too many bad days where I end up swearing in front of the children or when I get so frustrated that either they go in their rooms or I go in my room for awhile. Or where I actually feel like I have taken two steps back on the organizational process of things.

Matthews new thing is throwing. He throws Everything. John has been through this phase already and I kind of thought that we wouldn't see this again. I'm guessing this is a cause and effect type thing for him, not a "I really want mom to pull her hair out so I'm going to dump all my food on the floor and then throw the plate." So I'm going with the cause and effect thing because when he does that I say, "No, no throwing" and look him in the eye. He gives me that million dollar smile and giggles and for a moment I think he's not going to do it. But he waits until I turn away and does it again. So the effect of that is that he gets put in his crib for a time out. I can't get any of the babies to sit in a naughty spot, so this is the best I can do. (Don't judge me unless you've lived with triplets and an older sibling)

Brooke seems to shriek and throw fits when she doesn't get her way. I love the fact that she's talking more, but PLEAASSSSEEE use your words and not scream in moms ear. And then she tries to hit me or pinch me. I tell her she'll go in her crib if she doesn't stop and she usually shakes her head no (passive aggressive) and then she strikes again.

I don't think I've said this often or even at all, but John seems to be the best behaved triplet right now. Sure, I may be used to his quirky behavior. But he really isn't a problem at dinner time, has not hit or kicked me (except for diaper changes - which is normal for him) and is generally been pretty happy. He still has problems transitioning, but that is our normal.

Jacob, since I've started that marble system has been a perfect little boy. He put on all the babies socks and tried helping with their shoes today so we could go outside. He'll get things for me, mostly eat his food without complaining, and get dressed without a big battle. If this lasts only for a week or two it has definitely been worth it. I'm thinking he may be task-oriented and this may be a good reward system for him.

I have to put in my 2 cents worth on diapers. I bought White Cloud diapers (Walmart brand) because they were clearancing them out. They are size 5. They really do not fit the the child's body and they droop severely when there is a minimal amount of pee in them. I have had to change Matthews outfits a couple of times now because he drinks a lot and the diapers don't hold it all.
Next test was Pampers Baby Dry size 5's. Over all I do like these diapers. They don't really droop too much, they more or less clump. But Matthew still can fill these and I have had one leak on me.
My normal diaper is Huggies. All the babies are in a size 5. But I think Matthew has leaked out of these too. So I'm guessing that I may have to go to the overnights for him or size 6.
But having one in a size 6 and the other two in a 5 is such a pain. It requires thought and preparedness. Which sometimes during diaper changes, I don't have and I'm guessing that neither will the other people that change diapers look to see if there is a 5 or a 6 on it. So maybe I'll mark all the 6's with an M and that will be more noticeable.

I think I'm really going to work on Brooke getting potty trained. She seems really interested, but doesn't connect sitting on the toilet with going potty. So any advice is appreciated because I want to do this in one week or less. I don't want to drag this out for 6 months.

results are in

I really find it interesting how people find my blog. Here are the search results.

pro and con to have four babies
other words for love
picture of a lady monkey dressed up
i'm all dressed up and ready to go
john - feeling in my fingers
grinding photographs accident
granny wearing big diaper
i feelings in my fingers
kelly laabs
2 year old pouring water on friend's head
monkeys that are dressed up
i feeling on my fingers i feeling on my tell
other word for love
big underpants
show me pictures of monkeys dressed up
callawaymonkeys.blogspot.com
matthew triplets
triplet babies pictures
giglio blog, triplet

I find it humorous that most of the results are about underpants or diapers.

Elizabeth Bennett - my hero

I'm up way past my bedtime watching one of my favorite books turned into a movie, Pride and Prejudice. Its the newest movie with Kiera Knightley. I have programmed the DVR to record but just can't seem to walk away from the TV.

If I was a child of mine, I would have just turned it off and told them to go to bed. I guess I need some self-regulation.

Hence why I joined Weight Watchers on-line. Good luck to me. My margaritas are 3 points so I think those may be the first to go.

La la la!

O.K. Sit down, Today, I don't really have much to say. I don't have anything specific to blog about. Its Memorial day weekend. Its Scott's birthday. I made him cupcakes and plan on putting filling in them. Scott's planning on going fishing on his birthday with Jacob and Grandpa Mike.

I heard one of my all-time 1980s favorite songs today. Midnight Blue by Lou Gramm.

Ordinary conversation

John seeks sensory input. That's the diagnosis by Birth to Three teacher and Occupational therapist. It just took me six months to call them because it was hard to put a name to Johns wacky behavior. It makes me so happy to know that with just a little bit of different play and other stimulating techniques, he shouldn't seek so much physical touch. Meaning he'll stop crashing into everyone and everything. The other thing that I've noticed about him is that he drools and they think he has poor muscle tone in his mouth and even in his core. I got him some teething toys that he can chew on and bite into because otherwise he tends to bite me when he's happy.

Very interesting stuff to me. Matthew is also being evaluated for his speech. I think he just soaks things up and doesn't verbalize much, but it will be reassuring to have him tested.

On another note, I was on the phone yesterday with a neighbor who wanted to know my address so she could drop something off. I told her my address and she said, "Oh, you have the daycare." And I replied, "No, I have triplets." Its interesting how other people perceive us.

We have started Jacob on the "marble system". He's got a happy jar and a sad jar. All his marbles are in his happy jar, but if he's sassy, doesn't listen, mean, or not a good brother he gets a marble in his sad jar. And when he gets 5 to 10 marbles in his sad jar, he gets toys taken away. And when that doesn't work, he doesn't get to go fishing with dad. And that would kill him. He lives for fishing. But the good thing is that he can earn his marbles back. Yesterday he changed into his clothes right away in the morning and that usually is a big battle so I was really happy with him and moved a marble.

Now he'll say, "I don't want my marbles in the sad jar", and I think today and yesterday we've had a lot more listening and a lot less sassy mouth.

5 year checkup

Right now Jacob is scrubbing the kitchen floor. You'd think this would be punishment, but its not. He LOVES to help. He's using the scrubber part and then using the mop part. Either I'll have a flood in my kitchen or it will be the best job ever.





O.K. its 20 minutes later and it was a flood. Jacob wasn't strong enough to wring the mop out. But its the thought that counts, definitely.


He had his 5 year check up today. He was in the 95% for his height and the 75% for his weight. I prayed for a tall, healthy child and it looks like I got it. I didn't tell him until this morning that we had a doctors appointment because he worries about the shot part. Well, when the nurse came in with the shots, he had a melt-down, but was fine immediately after the shots. Its just that fear of the unknown. We all know that fear all too well.



It brings me back to when I first saw three heads on the ultrasound.


We went to the zoo for Jacob's birthday, not many really good pictures of anyone since a certain 5 year old wouldn't really cooperate and its hard to see the kids in the stroller.

Enjoy the great weather!

What a deal!

Today we went to Sam's club and they had a special on some low at hand diapers. Big boxes of Pampers for $25.00 when they normally were $37.88. I scooped up three even though they were a size six and the kids are in a size 5. I would have taken more, but had no more room in my cart.

I put some new flickr picks on the site too. I have to get the zoo pictures uploaded today also.

The big birthday party

Jacob smiling and patiently waiting while mom takes the traditional birthday pictures. Cake decorating is not my forte. No matter how hard I try. But the baking of the cake, I've got that down.


Jacob loves these outdoor sets/action figures where he can pretend he's catching/shooting some animal.

This was a stubborn pinata. Jacob had several turns at it. Then three more kids had turns at it. Then Jacob again. Then mom went postal on it. Then the kids again and finally it got knocked down. I think we got our moneys worth out of this thing.

What type of flower are you?

I am a Daisy What Flower Are You?

the week in pictures

John not very happy about sharing his box..

Lining up cars.

Sister, knowingly irritating brother by touching cars.

Just an innocent bystander.

Big white bass!

Triplets double as birth control

I am sitting here and totally went blank as to what I was going to blog. I must have bloggers block. OR, it could be the Diazapam that I took before bed. Doctor approved and most importantly prescribed and a must if I want my jaw to not hurt like heck in the morning.

Tonight I took the monkeys out for a walk. The triple stroller stops traffic, creates sore necks, whiplash and just plain old curiosity. The things in the triple stroller create many questions like, "Are they triplets? Boy, you must have your hands full! Is that hard to push?" These are all questions we have heard before and usually on a daily basis. One of the neighbors (and I use that term relatively loosely) stopped me because their dog wanted to sniff my crotch and lick me all over. Then the dog tried to take the NUKs out of the kids mouths because it looked to be like this dogs toys.
So the woman asked the usual questions and then her 13/14 year old daughter came up and the mom said, "Oh, if you ever need a babysitter, my daughter is almost 14 and she could babysit for you!" I replied, "I can barely keep track of them, I wouldn't wish that on a teenager." And then I may have mumbled something about it being good birth control and I'm sure that probably wasn't appreciated. But half the comments directed to me about my children aren't appreciated either.

Seriously though, I would never get a 13/14 year old to watch my children and here's why.

I don't think they would have the patience in dealing with three 2 year olds.
I think that when the children decide to scatter and conquer, she'd be on the phone to her mom calling for resources.
There's three times the diapers, food fights and the crappy stuff that toddlers do that frankly only someone who loves them can tolerate.
And I am freaked out about teenage babysitters in general because of some of the things I did when I was a babysitter (put the kids to bed early, wasn't the best at playing with them, and talked on the phone when they went to bed). Another reason is that Scott has had cases or we've heard of cases of abuse.
Until my children are old enough to let me know what is going on and be able to distinguish right from wrong, etc... my children are not going to be let alone with strangers or teenagers or most men.
Am I paranoid? Yes, yes, and Yes! I only get one shot at this parenting thing and I don't need other people causing harm to my children and putting them in therapy. I'm sure some of my issues will send them into therapy anyway.

Even in your Underpants!

Its three nights to Jacobs birthday party and four nights to Jacobs birthday. AND tomorrow Jacob is going fishing with Grandpa Plamann and daddy. He is sooo excited. Except his nightcrawlers and worms have passed into another world. So now Scott will have to buy some commercially grown nightcrawlers.

They are going fishing for White Bass and for everyone not around here, Fremont, WI is the White Bass capital of the World. People from all over the country come to fish the White Bass Run. Personally, I do not eat the fish from the Lake Winneseptic system. There are fish advisories around this area and I think this area is high in Mercury. So, there is probably a reason why we have a high cancer rate and a high infertility rate in this area.

Also, today I discovered the reason Granny Underpants were made. You remember making jokes when you were younger about your mom or grandmother wearing big underpants? "Oh no, not the Granny underpants!" We all swore we'd never be caught wearing or even touching these things. If we had to do the laundry wed take a stick and pick them up? Remember those underpants?

Well, today while trying on clothes for our picture on Sunday I knew why they were invented. To back up, I have triplets. My stomach stretched enough for three babies to fit comfortably(?) for 33 weeks. The consequences of me carrying babies to this length of time is extra skin, jowls of a dog, charpea ish like, a third pouch, a unique musical instrument for my kids to play on... you get my drift.

So I'm in Kohls trying on some Capris. And I have to adjust my extra skin to fit in my pants. And then I could see the extra skin/extra pouch at the top of my pants. And I realized if I had Granny underpants that would keep the jowls of the dog in so I wouldn't have to tuck it in every time I put pants on. They have a slimming effect to them and could make my extra pouch look curvy instead of so prominent.

My doc even said that this extra pouch will not go away. Only plastic surgery would be an option. Some skin does bounce back to its regular shape, but in these types of cases, my genetic gene pool failed me.

Its hard to be 32 years old and have a pouch. But it is awesome to have four healthy children knowing that I did everything in my power to keep them inside me as long as I could. But I tend to forget that fact when trying on clothes.

Oh John

Children are so quirky. Maybe they pick this up on their own or maybe they get it from their parents... verdict is still out.


Remember that Pac Man sound that Pac Man makes when he's eating? That's my John when he's eating. He makes a sound between Pac Man and a Hoover vacuum cleaner. Its HILARIOUS!

A quiet Mothers Day

Some people go to AC, some people go to LV, I go to the U.P. for some gaming action. My present from Scott for mothers day was to get away with my parents to Upper Michigan and do a little gambling.

I must say it was very nice and its refreshing not be involved in an routine for 24 hours. It was also very nice to spend some quality time with my parents. Really!

Jacob missed me the most of everyone. I got hugs when I walked in. I was surprised to find out that the babies didn't cling to me after their naps and until they went to bed. Although I did get a lot of kisses from John and a couple of friendly bites. This kid has some oral fixation issues.

I'm also very disappointed that Amanda didn't win Survivor.

Mother's Day

Happy Mothers Day to all the women in my life! I posted new flickr pics.

Its playing over and over in my head

Jose Cuervo - you are a friend of mine.

I like to drink you with a little salt and lime.

This song has been going through my head ever since I took my friend, Mr. Cuervo out of the top cabinet and mixed it with a little bit of classic lime margarita mix. I like mine on the rocks. Not that slushy stuff.

The sad part is that Jose Cuervo is empty and I need a new bottle. However, and there is a however, that bottle took about 4 years to empty so that tells you a little about my drinking habits. I go without any type of alcohol for four or five months and then I'll have three drinks in a week. Yep, I should really see someone about my drinking problem. :)

The thing that I should really admit, which makes me, me is that I actually thought the lyrics of the song was, " Jose Cuervo - you are a friend of mine. I like to greet you with a little song in mind." And then I started thinking about it. That rhymes, but does it make sense? And then I thought about what you usually have with a margarita, which is lime and then it clicked.

Its like that song lyric, "Eyes without a face" and I always thought, "How's about a date?" I was seven when I got that 45, what did I know?

Always read the fine print

So last night after my FVMOM meeting I did a little bit of shopping. Walmart, superstore, easy shopping, one stop, cheap prices, etc... So I picked up some stuff, needed toilet paper. On one of the end caps they had Soft and Gentle for $5.00. Single roll, not the double roll which does not fit into the wall toilet paper things. Super deal. Picked it up and put it in my cart. Started reading the fine print and it said, "75% recycled fiber". Huh, rewind that... "75% recycled fiber?"
Are toiletries supposed to be recycled? I'd prefer them to be a one-time use thing. I mean, what exactly are they recycled from?

Jacob's birthday is in 11 days and his party is in 10. I have a feeling that's why he's been acting poorly. He doesn't listen, he's sassy, he's not been the kindest big brother, and he's probably just being a normal 4 almost 5 year old. He's normally such a kind, thoughtful child. He has been very stubborn about listening, he wants to do what he wants to do - when he wants to do it. I hope it changes soon. Its very wearing for a parent to be consistent.... and to endure it for 12+ hours a day.

And in the days of DVR's, TIVO, replay, etc... Why can't we just have a do-over button for our children? Things start to go badly, they are in the middle of a melt down and we just hit the do-over button. I call do-overs all the time when I play games. We rewind things and fast forward things all the time. I'd just fast-forward over the meltdown and concentrate on the hugs.

Our little handyman

Jacob told on me this morning. He told dad as he was leaving the house that I poured water on his head. Then today he told me he didn't want water on his head anymore. I told him that he should listen and not sass back. He's also been threatened with getting his mouth washed out with liquid soap, getting his worms thrown in the garbage and his deer antlers taken away from him.
Today Jacob decided to fix our window seat. There are two holes in it that need some wood putty. Jacob made his own wood putty. I saw him bring in a little tea cup filled with water and thought nothing of it. Then I walked out of the room for a little bit and came back to him mixing his McDonald's french fries with water and putting it in the holes in the window seat. What an inventive boy making his own putty. I told him that dad would have to get the wood putty out and water makes wood weak and rots.

Next, we're in the car going to our bi-weekly trip to Sam's club. I'm stopping at a stop sign looking around for traffic. Jacob exclaims, "Why does he have a brown nose and is black skin?" In a matter of 1.2 seconds I thought all of this - first, my eyes widened - alot! Then I thought, Is he talking about a person? Then I thought, "What the hell?" Then I thought, "why would he ask this question now?" We've seen people of all different races before and this never came up.

So, I turned my head and saw that he was talking about a black bird and thought, "Whew, its just a bird." And then I thought, "I have to go to my library and find my books about differences in peoples and culture and we'll read through them again." And THEN I thought, "Am I so worried that he'll point out people who are different than my family and then I'll have to explain why or that he'll ask the question to the person?" And THEN I thought, "What am I worried about?"

In dear old Appleton, Wisconsin the population is about 95% German, Dutch, Irish and maybe a few Polish. The other 5% is African American, Spanish and Hmong. We are so homogeneous that its really easy to raise children without ever knowing there is a whole different world out there. Our idea of crossing identity lines is a Lutheran marrying a Catholic. Are you gettin' my drift?

Water therapy

Nothing like pouring water over your childs head to get his attention. Lately Jacob has been breaking down and having fits. I don't remember what his issue was at the time. But we had just gotten in from a walk and he rode is bike and he complained and whined the WHOLE time. Then it didn't help that Brooke cried the whole time. She's starting that whole great, "I'm 2 and if I don't get my way, you'll HEAR about it" crying thing. So the walk wasn't pleasant.

Then Jacob demands, yes demands, chocolate milk and water. I had kids crying and they wanted their milk so I gave him chocolate milk and was working on the babies and he threw a fit. I gave him water and he started yelling and then I picked up the water and raised it over his head because he was trying to grab it and also was hit me at the same time. So, instead of smacking him senseless or kicking him (which is what 2 year olds do), I poured the water over his head. Well, it did stop the tirade. I sent him up to his room and on the way up he smacked John in the head and he started crying. Its not like him to hit John. That's his current favorite. Boy, did I see red.

The short of it was that he stayed up in his room. He did apologize and tell me he'd listen. But we had a talk about doing what I say, before he gets sent up to his room, not just after. He did stay up there for awhile and when I asked him what he was doing he said that I had hurt his feelings. And then when he finally came down he told me he didn't want a plate put on his head anymore. You know, it wasn't a plate, it was water.

I think tomorrow if he's not good, I'm taking his worms away. He took them to school today along with his tackle box for show-and-tell. I asked him how the kids liked the worms. He said no one liked them because they didn't move. He was pretty disappointed.

(Disclaimer: I'm not a perfect parent. So pouring water over his head really made me upset for losing my temper. But I also don't want to be hit.)

Treeroots, clay and more roots

Yesterday, Scott and Jacob started leveling the ground and taking out the old rock and shrubbery. Today was a day of digging holes, putting in landscaping borders and becoming a frequent shopper at Home Depot.

John was walking around while Scott was digging a hole and fell into it. We were going to plant him, but he's too wiggly and really shouldn't get that much sunlight.



Jacob was instrumental in helping me pick out the scrubs and perennials at Home Depot and then helped me unload everything and he had his own notions about where he wanted to plant everything.


He had put some landscaping border around each plant to protect them from animals eating them. He is so thoughtful and such a hard little worker. He even helped Scott clean up all the containers and empty bags of soil. Sometimes Scott and I just shake our heads at how thoughtful he is and how he really can plan and build things on his own. I can't wait to see what his interests are as he gets older. We could use an engineer in the family. Although he still wants to be a hair cutter. Not a bad profession either, I could use some discounted haircuts.





This next picture is pretty telling of how it is in our house. Jacob hard at work and Brooke, the supervisor/dictator, just sits there and tells him where to dig.







Jacob is not a slim child, yet his regular pants sometimes droop on him. Even with the adjustable waist features, sometimes his pants droop.
So as you can see, he did remember to put on underwear today.


I took the babies out after dinner to play outside and gave them bubbles and work gloves and stuff to play around with. I think Matthew ate more bubbles than he actually blew.


Check out Michelle's blog, she's got a great piece on recyclable bags. I try to use them as much as I can. I put them in my van in the front seat so I remember to use them when I shop.

Play dough

This is the first time I have allowed the babies to play with play dough. Why? Because its three times the pain of cleaning it up. Because I know that they will all try to eat it. Because I know that the youngest monkey will through a fit if he can't hoard it all.
And what happened? John tried eating it the most. Matthew was interested in stacking the containers. Brooke and John liked making shapes with the cutters, kind of, and a lot of it got dropped on the floor. And look at the picture. Where is all the play dough? In front of John.
But I will do this experiment again. There wasn't so much crying during this time.

After the babies naps we went outside. They played in the sandbox, ran around the yard looking for weaknesses in the fence to escape and then when that became boring they decided to swing. We could swing all day.

I love to swing too. It was one of my favorite things to do as a child. That and play tether ball.





























This is one of my favorite pictures of Jacob. He was helping dad all day take out the old landscaping. We'll (Scott and Jacob) busy planning landscaping stuff for the next couple of weeks.

Chopped liver

Tonight as Scott was putting Jacob to bed this was the conversation.

Jacob: I wish mom worked and you would stay home.

Jacob: I miss you dad when you are at work.

Scott: I miss you too buddy.

Jacob: You must miss me a lot when you are at work.

Scott: I do.

Jacob: I love you Daddy! (And gives him the biggest squeeziest hug)

It so nice to see that they have a great relationship and Jacob can express his feelings. Now, on the other hand, when Jacob reads this later on in life, I'd like to point out a few things.

Jacob, I do work, I do your laundry, I make your meals, I clean up after you, I try to keep the house clean, I take you places and take you outside to play. And I do that for three of your siblings. So I do work, I just don't have to leave the house to do it. Sometimes I wish that I could work too. Just 4 to 6 hours a week just to focus on other things besides planning a meal that is least likely to be thrown on the floor or stain clothing.

I brought you in this world, I have nursed you, up until the babies were born I had given you probably 95% of your baths and always tucked you in at night. I take you to swimming lessons, to the doctor, Wild Air, and other fun things. When you are old enough, I hope that you still don't wish that I go back to work. It hurts to take second place at times. but I think it has to do with testosterone.

Someday

I read this book to Jacob for the like, the fourth time, and I still teared up when I read it to him. Now that's a book that stands the test of time.



One day I counted your fingers and kissed each one.

One day the first snowflakes fell, and I held you up and watched them melt on your baby skin.

One day we crossed the street, and you held my hand tight.

Then, you were my baby, and now you are my child.

Sometimes, when you sleep, I watch you dream, and I dream too...

That someday you will dive into the cool, clear water of a lake.

Someday you will walk into a deep wood.

Someday your eyes will be filled with a joy so deep that they shine.

Someday you will run so fast and so far your heart will feel like fire.

Someday you will swing high-so high, higher than you ever dared to swing.

Someday you will hear something so sad that you will fold up with sorrow.

Someday you will call a song to the wind, and the wind will carry your song away.

Someday I will stand on this porch and watch your arms waving to me until I no longer see you.

Someday you will look at this house and wonder how something that feels so big can look so small.

Someday you will feel a small weight against your strong back.

Someday I will watch you brushing your child's hair.

Someday, a long time from now, you own hair will glow silver in the sun.

And when that day comes, love, you will remember me.



I usually get that mushy feeling at the page it says I watch you dream. And then I start to tear up a few pages later.



The babies were all whiny at bedtime. Brooke was out-of-control crying, the kind of crying that is only going to be consoled by mama holding baby. So I got her out of her crib and rocked her for awhile. As the babies get older, I cherish every time I get to rock them. Pretty soon I may not get the opportunity anymore. O.k. chances are with three babies, I'll get a another chance, but...



I got a comment posted on my blog a few days ago after I wrote about some of my favorite books and how my love for my children felt. I made the comment that my love for my husband compares little to the love I feel for my children. It wasn't meant to mean that I didn't love my husband. I do love Scott. (Scott, I love you and I know I don't tell you enough) And I think the family unit is important, doing this as a family, taking time just for Scott and I are all important. But I feel like my children are my top priority. I worked hard to bring these kids into the world and I don't feel guilty letting the world know that they are my number one priority in raising them to be nurturing, caring citizens in the world. I'm fortunate enough to be able to stay at home with them and sometimes that means my husband works crazy hours for us (or it can mean that there is just a lot of crime out there too).

This country has a high-divorce rate and that doesn't even take into consideration the couples who have gone their own ways that never did get married. There are many families whose priorities are pretty "skunked" up. There is a lot of putting oneself first and a lot of material obsession with this world. We all have to take care of ourselves first - mentally and physically - but that's not what I'm talking about.

I give myself to my children so that they have a soft place to fall. So that they learn self-confidence, self-love, independence and they function in the world.

No more shots until Kindergarten!

My mom and I took the babies to get their Hep A shots yesterday. Its so interesting to see the differences in the babies. Immediately when the nurse walked into the room, Brooke started tearing up and clinging to my mom while the boys were still looking around seeing what they could get into. She knew what was coming... the boys didn't.

And then Grandma promised them ice cream. Now, they probably wouldn't have remembered that we promised them that, but we did want to keep our word. So we took them to Culvers and fed them lunch. Brooke liked the custard the most and John and Matthew were a little bit less excited.
Jacob was so funny. We put two tables together for all of us to sit together and he was busy moving chairs around, giving babies their food and just overall being our third set of eyes.