The Gardner's

Big Boy tooth

2011-02-17T20:35:00.005-06:00

Caleb and I were talking at the kitchen table before bedtime and I noticed somthing looked different in his mouth. His big boy tooth was coming in on the bottom. His excitement was SO adorable. He was holding his fists tight and saying 'YES!' over and over again. It was almost as if it was an official right of passage into big boyhood. This was clearly a big deal to him and no one could take this away from him.

Red head rage?

2011-02-02T20:29:00.003-06:00

A lot of people ask me who rules the root and I'm not exactly sure because all of my kids can pretty much hold their own. This video is an example of something that happens often and this time after listening to the fight for several minutes I decided to document the experience to share with everyone.

Cohen and Cecilia are fighting over the weed eater. At one point in the video I tell Cecilia to stop and that was because she started to bite Cohen. They are not big biters, but occasionally they will lash out on the other person and sometimes they even bite what they are trying to get. I only tell you this because when Mark watched it he said 'wow, you really tried to stop her huh?'.

The video stops when the doorbell rings and everyone ran upstairs to see who it was. The weed eater was left behind and forgotten.

Updates on the kiddos

2011-01-29T22:52:00.002-06:00

Caleb-Caleb is soon to be 6 an couldn't seem more grown up. He loves school and seems to be doing well also. Don't get me wrong we still have struggles with his school work since we try to supplement at home, but I think we are more recently in a groove with that. He knows many words, can count to 100 and identify numbers. He is great at problem solving and really thinks about what he says and expresses his thoughts well. I sometimes laugh that he is a little chatter box. He loves to talk to people about what is going on and asks lost of questions. He always seems to be listening and has the best memory when he wants to.

He has lost two teeth since the beginning of school and has two others that are really loose. I think just today that his one top tooth is about to pop through his gums. He is going to start playing indoor soccer soon and have a practice and a game each week which is a change from the hour long practice and game split. I am anxious to see how he does especially since Mark is not the coach. My hope is that there are some kids on the team that will push him to excel.

Christian-Christian is the one I refer to as the mamma's boy. He seems to always want me and is super cuddly. He loves his Christmas bear, sing-a-ma-jig and of course his blankies. He knows what pacifiers and drinks are his but tends to 'borrow' anyone's cup that have juice in them and suck it down in seconds. He is the one that drinks the least amount of milk, but still drinks a lot. He reminds me of Caleb in many ways, but in many ways not. I think he is going to me my train lover. He really likes the little cars and has been found organizing hot wheels. He still has his moments where he has to be put into time out or into his bed until he can calm down, but now that he can get out of bed he just comes back when he is better so that is nice. He likes to hug and says hug. He can be a stinker at nap time because he pretends to be sleeping

Cecilia- She is out little princess and not that we call her that all of the time I think she is going to be. She definitely knows there is a distinction between her and the boys. The other day I tried to give one of the boys a purple bowl and she flipped out and screamed 'MINE'. So now she not only knows the purple and pink cups are hers, everything else that are those colors should belong to her as well. She got a set of triplet babies for Christmas and she loves one of them, the pink one. I was worried about it getting dirty so I put one of her preemie outfits on her and she likes that. It has a hat too and she is obsessed that the hat be on at all time. Some days I think about gluing the hat on but don't. She definitely has the motherly instinct and still brings the boys their lovies when they are hurt or upset and passes milk out in the morning. She had the funnies laugh and at the same time lives up to her red hair. She will fight it out until the end. She walks with a waddle. I finally convinced her to wear these one barrettes in her hair but I still can not get her to wear bows. This is important since her bangs are finally long enough to get into her eyes. I put her in pig tails today and it was adorable. She still is very tiny and I would be surprised if she weighs 22lbs. I think she has gotten taller, but no bulking up. Not worried at all, but there is a definite weight/height difference between her and they boys, I think they are probably closer to 28lbs at this point.

Cohen-Cohen is the stuffed animal man. He took a liking to the stuffed animals that were brought out at Christmas time and still have not given them up. I think we could be a bit more disciplined about his obsession, considering he has about 30 in his bed at a time. He just snuggles in and falls asleep so he is a happy guy. But he still loves his blankies too. His hair has gotten a little darker since the summer, but also seems to have lightened a bit lately. He is out figure it outer. At Christmas he mastered the train, can play pinball by flipping the flippers even though his arms are barely long enough and can be found 'working' on things with a butter knife (which is why the second round of locks were just installed on the silverware drawer). He is a great jumper and can jump with two feet at the same time and has been able to since he was small. He is a 'mans man' meaning he loves men and clings to them when around, especially grandpas. He likes to wrestle and seems to be an instigator of such events.

All of the babies LOVE Elmo however I think they love Barney just as much. I love them all very much, but oh how they test me and my patience.

More to come because I am going to get back into this!!

I'm back

2011-01-29T21:49:00.002-06:00

So I totally suck and hate the fact that my blog has been so neglected. I decided at the beginning of the year that I was going to update it, and even go back if I could, but I was not going to set myself up to fail either. So much has happened since August when I last updated. I have gone back and added photos and comments with the correct date, but it is just not the same. The photos bring back memories, but not the complete details which is why it is so important that I keep this current-ugh!

Life seems to have gotten the better of me since the end of August. The babies moved from 2 naps to 1 and that whole entire process was not fun. It was around the time Caleb started school and needed to be done since they were not napping in the afternoon, but I lost my hour in the am to get things done. Not that life wasn't busy to begin with, it just seemed to get worse. Constantly trying to keep them moving so they would not fall asleep all the while getting Caleb up and out the door to school and then picking him up at the bus stop just a short time later. Taking the babies places so they had a change of scenery, but not too far otherwise they would nap in the car and that would be a disaster. Unfortunately since August that has not changed a whole lot especially since Cohen thinks it is time to get up at 5am. Now he can fall asleep at 8am because he has been up for so long rearranging things in his room.

The babies can get out of their beds which makes us crazy. Yes, I still call them the babies even though they are almost 2. I could buy them crib tents, but they are 50 a pop and I need 3 so we are just dealing. They are almost 2 and Caleb was in his big boy bed by then too. Most of the time is it not that bad and we have figured out that if we sit 'on guard' in their room they will stay in bed and go to sleep. Sometimes at nap time I too nap in the rocker until they all pass out.

They are very challenging, more so now than when they were infants. When they were babies I was tired, very very tired, but they were very good babies and I was blessed. Now, they wear my butt out. It is a mental and physical exhaustion. The constant battles, constant clean up, constant control, constant correcting along with the constant fun and laughter. Most days I don't know whether to laugh or cry. As of recently we have added more locks to drawers that were never locked before, added bungee cords to gates and chairs to keep them safe, locks that were thought to be good failed and had to be replaced with newer fancier magnetic lock and now we need a key to access our utensils.

Potty training has started, I think they are ready, but I am not sure that I am. I just never thought it would happen so soon. Someone said to me how wonderful it would be for them to be out of diapers and yes if I could snap my fingers and that would happen that would be great, but this has been a total nightmare. Everyone wants to help each other and someone is flushing while the other is waiting for something to happen. Toilet paper everywhere. Concerned helpers and celebrators at the same time. Christian is probably the most ready, Cecilia is on the verge and Cohen I haven't even attempted with him but he is definitely an active participant. He has gone in the potty several times, but could really care less other than the reward. I actually moved the potty chairs to the living room since that is where we are mostly but they still seem to fight over the same potty chair even though they are EXACTLY the same. Being naked seems to work the best for them however now is the time I wish all of my belongings were covered in plastic and I didn't have any carpet. I guess just like with anything else there is probably not a 'great' time so I just have to work hard on the ones that are ready and go from there.

Caleb is still the best big brother that we could ask for. He is rough at time, but he is also very generous and caring at the same time.

Lego's

2010-09-28T23:31:00.001-05:00

I found a tub of legos on an incredible deal for Caleb. Cohen clearly likes them as well.

Hayride round 2 Sept

2010-09-25T23:26:00.001-05:00

I think we definitely need 4 swings. Could this be any cuter? Just wish Cecilia was looking up. They are really getting the hang of big kid swings.

Crazy Cohen and daddy

Caleb

'I said do not throw any more hay out!' Cohen and mommy

Hayride round 1

2010-09-25T23:15:00.001-05:00

The triplet group always has a hayride at one of the moms house. It is so much fun because she has an awesome set up and a wonderful host. Aunt Sarah had gotten all of the babies a Halloween shirt so they were looking festive so Mark Caleb and I had to join in and wear similar fall colors. Wow does Cecilia's hair glow when she wears orange!

Family photo on the hayride

They recently had some work done at their house and there was a HUGE dirt pile so of course that was Caleb's favorite part.

Cohen playing with one of the MANY toys. I swear they have 3 of everything with is great when there are literally 85 kids there

Christian was lovin on the new kittens there. He was so sweet to them and just giggled when he was holding the babies.

Cecilia...our pumpkin actually sitting on the hayride...guess she was taking a break from throwing all of the hay out.

Craft Time

2010-09-21T22:54:00.001-05:00

Caleb decided to make some crafts and someone really wanted to help him out. He was happy to let her help out today, but I'm not so sure I was a fan of what her idea of crafts were. Most of all of those small foam pieces ended up on the floor and are a pain to pick up-ugh! But they had fun, right?

Cohen enjoying a banana

Christian enjoying a banana

Cohen's first Haircut 9-19

2010-09-19T22:42:00.001-05:00

Cohen was really long overdue for his first haircut, but we just hated to do it. He clearly does not know what is going to happen here and seems excited.

Clearly he was not a good participant in the hair cutting experience. Stylist daddy struggled a bit with his angry customer.

Still not happy and not interested in a post haircut photo op.

Caught

2010-09-08T22:41:00.001-05:00

Cecilia likes to climb up in her chair (she usually sits in this one) and play with the phone or grab things off the table or throw things over the ledge, but today...she got caught...literally. Her dress got stuck on the center piece so she was hanging there by her dress. Of course I did not free her,. I grabbed the camera to capture the moment.

Jammie Time

2010-09-07T22:29:00.002-05:00

What better way to enjoy the morning and trap your kids for a group photo? They love playing in each others beds and today it was Christians.

Cecilia, Cohen and Christian

Labor Day cont

2010-09-06T22:23:00.001-05:00

Apparently someone loves the lake. Cecilia maxin and relaxin

Caleb

Breakfast! In this picture it was the first time I realized how much Cecilia and and Aliyah look alike.

Labor Day Weekend at the lake

2010-09-06T22:16:00.000-05:00

Labor day always seems to be the unofficial end to the summer season at the lake. Most of the time we go back after this weekend but it is always so nice since it is one of the few weekends the whole family is there.

Caleb, Caiden, Nolan, Grandpa G and Preston getting ready to roast some marshmallows!

Caleb doing his thing :)

How many can I have?? Caleb, Caiden and Nolan

Aliyah and Cecilia....the only girls must stick together.

Getting ready - Labor Day weekend

2010-09-02T21:41:00.001-05:00

Of course everyone likes to help get ready for a weekend away at the lake. Cohen was packing the cooler and Christian was helping out by handing him things and even better, closing him in so he could pop out.

Crazy Cohen

Cecilia FINALLY let me put a bow in her hair. Not the best picture, but I had to prove that it actually happened.

Kindergarten Day 2

2010-09-01T22:01:00.002-05:00

So the second day of school Caleb came home and told me that he had gotten lost and did not know where his classroom was. He knew from that from the library you go up the stairs and turn, but he did not know which stairs or how to get to the library. So I asked him what he did and like it was no big deal he said I just asked someone and they told me where to go but he didn't know his teachers name either...he called her the wrong name. Problem being that he still did not know how to get there the next day.

So, my thoughts are churning about the no teacher and never seeing his classroom so I could not help explain and now my kid is lost at school. UGH! What happened to the name tags that would identify them as kindergartners and the extra help they would get off the bus. I called the office and they of course said that all he had to do was ask for help the next day but I did not feel like that was enough. Caleb is no dumb kid. If you show him the way he will find it but all of this mixed up stuff was not right. I spoke to another mom and she suggested I contact the principal. She was not in her office when I called and since I had to be at work in a bit I shot her an e-mail. She of course called right away, but I missed her so she responded via e-mail that she would personally see to it that Caleb was walked to his classroom. Thankfully she was great and reassuring and Caleb did not have any other problems.

Date night

2010-08-30T21:35:00.001-05:00

Mark and I got to go out one night and since it is such an event and I thought we looked nice I figured why not take a picture. Here we are.

Of course Caleb wanted in on the photo action too. How could I resist??

So Cute!

Team work

2010-08-30T21:34:00.001-05:00

Talk about team work. These kids really know how to work together to get into stuff. The bathroom drawer is one of the hot spots that they love to hit. Here Cohen was using Cecilia to get up higher unfortunately she could only stand it for so long.

Blankie babies - Aug

2010-08-30T21:24:00.000-05:00

Caleb has always loved the blankies that my mom has made for him and still has what we like to refer to as a yarn rag. When I was pregnant with the babies I of course wanted a hand made blanket from grandma, but I knew that for one was a lot of work and for two I knew I would need as much help as I could get when they got here from her so I didn't want to use up her precious time before hand. Much to my surprise at the 'Bath' I was given a box with 2 blue and 1 pink hand knitted blankets, just like the ones Caleb loves. I was so excited that she spent the time to make them for the babies.

You never know what you kids are going to cling to and fortunately and unfortunately all of my kids have loved their pacifiers and blankets. Here they are with their lovies.

Cohen decided he liked one of Caleb's smaller blankets that my mom had made so he handed his blue one off to Christian. She also got him another green one with a bear on it. Green blankies and green pacifiers.

Christian clings to the original blue blankies and his blue pacifier. He, like Caleb sometimes used his blankies as floss so there are quite a few loose strings that have been tied up. Grandma made him another blue one, but the originals are his favorites

Cecilia has the original and of course Grandma made her a back up too.

Kindergarten

2010-08-29T20:44:00.005-05:00

Kindergarten morning started with Mark making pancakes for breakfast. Caleb told him that he makes the best pancakes in the whole entire world so of course Mark was thrilled to make them for him. Caleb was not as hard to wake up as I thought he was going to be but 6:45 is definitely WAY earlier than his 9am wake up. This is actually a big adjustment for me too since I was used to rolling out of bed at 7 and then being lazy for awhile before we had to do anything. Now it is rush to take a shower, get Caleb and the rest of the kids up, fed and out the door to walk to the bus stop by 7:40.

During breakfast Caleb got a call from his 'friends' aka cousins Caiden and Nolan. He had a good conversation with him while enjoying his pancakes. I think what really was supposed to happen was that aunt Trisha was calling to tell Caleb to have a good day and the kids took over the call.

Mom dad and Caleb before heading to the bus stop

There are lots of kids at the bus stop, and one of the kids is actually in his class. He w as really excited when the bus showed up and ran off. No tears from this kid. I didn't think it would bother me, but I was a little sad to see him seem so grown up. After the bus picked him up we went to school to meet him off the bus and go to the parents boo hoo breakfast. This is Caleb after he got off the bus. He was excited to be at school.

After the conversation the night before Mark and I could not resist taking a picture of this sign we found in school.

When we got to school we walked Caleb in but were not sure where to go since he did not have a classroom. We checked with the other kindergarten teacher and she said that we needed to go to the library. We met his teacher and she seemed very nice. Caleb told us that he was fine an that we could leave him. Mark and I headed to the boo hoo breakfast to chat with other kindergarten parents.

After picking up Caleb from the bus I got home and there was a message that he was absent. Knowing that I left him with his teacher an just got him off the bus I was not too concerned, but obviously wanted to know why they called. Apparently they had two name tags for him so when the second one was not given out he was marked absent. Seemed to be first day flubbers so I was understanding about the situation. Had I been home when they called I might have freaked a little especially if I had not taken him into school.

All and all the first day went well. Caleb seemed to be excited about school...mostly about the playground, but still happy to be back.

Family Photos - July

2010-08-29T20:42:00.003-05:00

Cecilia July photos

2010-08-29T20:41:00.006-05:00

Christian July photos

2010-08-29T20:40:00.003-05:00

Caleb July Pictures

2010-08-29T20:38:00.003-05:00

Twas the night before Kindergarten

2010-08-17T22:43:00.000-05:00

Its the night before kindergarten and I am not sure what to think about how tomorrow is going to go. I didn't think that I would be bothered by him going to kindergarten, but I'm not so sure anymore. He's been in school for the last two years but we had meet the teacher night yesterday and we were supposed to meet his teacher, see his classroom and go for a short bus ride before the ice cream social. Well, as of yesterday he has no teacher and no classroom and that really bothered me. I know it is for the best because now there will be two classes of 15 instead of one with 30 kids, but still. So, tomorrow I guess we are all going to meet his teacher provided they were able to hire one. The plan is that he will get on the bus and then I will be there when he gets off the bus to take pictures.

I'm not sure that Caleb really understands what the big deal is about him going to school since he has been going to school for the last two years. Everyone keeps saying things to him about is so now I am worried that everyone is making too big of a deal about it. I do think he is excited about riding the bus but tonight he told Mark and I that he is worried about the bullies because God told him about them four hundred thousand ninety five years ago in his dreams. I just figured that when he mentioned bullies he was thinking of a movie like A Christmas Story but who really knows and once he pulled the whole God thing into it I was confused.

I am most worried about how I am going to get him up in time to make it to the bus stop which is about 15 houses away. I figure that I will need to drive to the bus stop and then the babies and I will walk up there for pick up. It should be interesting since it is SO early and he is not good about going to bed. Mark promised him that he would eat breakfast with him so I'm sure he will be excited to get up. Heck, the babies like waking him up no matter what so that will be fun!

Benda what? Bendaroos!

2010-08-17T22:05:00.000-05:00

It was interesting when Caleb started pre-school two years ago that they talked about how kids progress as they get older with their art. Over the last year or so Caleb has really come into his own with describing and drawing pictures and the progress has been really neat to watch. This is just one of many pictures that he has made, but I thought it was cool because it was made out of bendaroos and it was on the wall next to my bed. He said it was a guy holding a balloon and can ice cream code with two scoops.

Swinging

2010-08-17T21:57:00.000-05:00

After the kids played in the water we ventured over to the playground and to the swings which is their favorite thing to do at the park. They LOVE to swing and most parks only have two baby swings so what we have to do sometimes is put them back to back. People look at us funny, but the kids are happy (and contained).

Cohen and Cecilia Cohen

Christian, Mark and Caleb in the background shooting them with a water gun

Christian

Cecilia

Day at the Park

2010-08-17T21:47:00.000-05:00

Two Sunday's ago we decided to take a trip to the park after nap time. One might think that this was a crazy idea considering Mark told me on the way there that the heat index was 110 degrees. Yes, it was nuts, but everyone is going stir crazy in the house and this particular park had water!! Suits? Who needs suits when we can just wear our clothes and avoid the extra step of dressing everyone when we have no idea how long we would be staying.

The babies and Caleb all loved it. The stayed in the water section for the most part and then ventured over to the playground equipment. It was so nice to have Mark there to help keep them corralled.

Cecilia trying to hide behind the bench

Christian

Caleb

Cohen

Adult ADD

2010-08-17T20:00:00.003-05:00

So clearly I am a bit scatterbrained these days since i posted the same story twice on the blog. I will just go ahead and leave it just for grins. I seem to walk around aimlessly these days forgetting what I was going to do from point a to point b. We were at the family 4th of July celebration in August and as usual I was walking in circles and forgot that I needed to get the kids pj's since they were getting out of the bath. I obviously looked lost so someone said something to me and I told them that I had ADD. Her response was no, you have CCC. I thought that was pretty good.

Caleb funnies

2010-08-06T22:30:00.004-05:00

We went to costco the other day, I think it is my new favorite store. We got there right when it opened and unfortunately what I did not realize is that the sample ladies do not come out until 11. I was only there for a couple of things so I really had no intentions of being there when the samples showed up. Caleb was begging for samples and the sad part is that between bathroom breaks and circling the store several times looking for Christians shoe that he threw out and getting the 3 items we were there for it took us an hour. Caleb begged and begged so we stuck around long enough for them to get ready and it might as well have been Christmas. the babies even know those people have food and they want it too. So Caleb tells the sample lady that old people make the best stuff. Not once, but twice. He really liked what she had to offer, however I don't think she found the humor in what he was saying.

Caleb is really into numbers and he told me today that he had not had Trix cereal for 400 million, 542, 33 thousand, 56 and 78 hundred DAYS!! This is normal conversation for anything that he wants and is trying to tell me that he has not had in a long time. Sometimes, well most of the time, the 'long time' is either a couple of days or hours.

Ring around the rosy!

2010-08-06T22:29:00.000-05:00

It is so nice to be around other moms with kids either the same age or older. I always seem to pick up on different tricks and fun things to do with the kids. Not too long ago I was thinking about ring around the rosy, but I didn't think the kids would get it. Last weekend at the lake Aunt Trisha and Aliyah invited the kids to play with them and Cecilia and Cohen love it. I have even gotten them to hold each others hands and it is so stinking cute. Sometimes they just hold hands and spin in a circle while I sing. Christian loves to watch and giggles a lot but is not really interested.

Brushing teeth

2010-08-06T22:25:00.001-05:00

The babies love to brush their teeth or really just eat toothpaste and suck the water out of the tooth brush. Well, I guess I can just think that they have really good oral hygiene. The constant fighting and pushing finally drove me to get a second bench so they could get to the sink a little easier. They all fit a little better now, but still push and fight. Mark thinks we should just go buy two more benches so no one has to share, but I'm sure they will find something to fight about.

Cecilia, Christian and Cohen

Cherrios

2010-08-06T22:20:00.000-05:00

So this is what happens when the bungee is left off the chair and I decide to run to the bathroom. I was gone for about two seconds when I knew something was wrong by the amount of squeals and giggles. Sigh.

crazy hair

2010-08-06T22:12:00.000-05:00

The boys seem to enjoy running their fingers through their hair...when their hands are full of food. Here are some cute pics.

Christian with spaghetti noodles

Cohen with a little food gel.

No pics of Cecilia. She is currently on a food strike and all meals except breakfast are promptly thrown to the floor.

Christian's 1st Hair cut

2010-08-05T08:55:00.000-05:00

Christians hair was getting pretty long, but for some reason we could just not bear to cut it. First hair cuts are like a passage into toddler hood or something of the sort. They just look so much bigger and grown up once they get that first snip. So we delayed it long enough and the other part of the problem was that Mark had decided that he was going to be the stylist. He has been wanting to cut Caleb's hair and I'm not to excited about that because he has so many colic's that even the professionals have a hard time with him. Once I finally made it to the supply store to get the scissors it still took a couple of days to get it trimmed. He did really well and so did Mark. Caleb was the assistant and combed the hair down so Mark could cut. I of course cringed every time a cut was made thinking it was going to be WAY too short. In the end it turned out great for Marks first shot at cutting hair.

Christian being a good little guy...not really sure what is going on other than enjoying the water spray.

Mark holding Christians head and Caleb combing the hair

Almost done!!

The assistant!

Swimming!

2010-08-04T14:49:00.001-05:00

This past weekend we went to the lake with Trisha and her 3 kids. Jacob thought we were crazy to go since there were 7 kids and 3 adults, but it really was not that bad. Up until this point the babies had really not been in the lake swimming for more than like 2 seconds and they did not like it. Well, this weekend they took the plunge, literally. Saturday morning we took a long boat ride and found a cove to anchor and swim. They were practically jumping off the boat where the ladder was on the boat and Mark was having a hard time holding them back. I was already in the water and Mark did not have his suit on so it was all me. I have never been crazy about holding the babies in the water, but I did it. At one point all 3 of them were in and loving it.

Caleb made a big step this weekend too in that he started jumping off the dock and boat into the water. He was having a blast and Mark threw a Frisbee to him as he jumped off the dock and tried to catch it. He loved the game and actually caught it a couple of time.

Cecilia and Christian in the water. Mark was trying to hold Cohen back so that is why it is not that great of a shot.

Caleb funnies

2010-08-02T22:36:00.005-05:00

So I decided to take Caleb to the school by our house so he could ride his bike on the track. Mark had other plans so I thought this would be fun for us to do since there was a playground there too, if all else failed we could play there. Caleb right off the bat did great once I got him started. He takes off around the track and as the track goes to the left he keeps going straight. I of course am half way around the track and take off running with the babies in tow. He apparently decided he wanted to stop, but it just so happened before the turn and was headed for the hill that went straight into the street. The funny thing was that Trisha and Caiden were coming to meet us there and they were coming down the street and saw the whole incident unfold.

At the same track, there were other people there walking and Trisha says to me did Caleb just run into that Lady? I look to where he is and he is on the ground and she is brushing off the back of her legs. So we run up to where they are and she has already taken off...running. Mind you she had been walking the whole time we were there. So I ask Caleb if he hit the lady and he says 'no'. I press further and he says, 'all right, but she was in the way'. We had a nice little conversation about politely letting people know when you are coming up behind them like a 'beep, beep'. So he takes off and within seconds the boys have caught up to the woman Caleb ran into. Trisha and I were watching closely thinking she might run off the track if she hears them coming , she did not, but she did leave. As Caleb rounds the track and approaches the cheer leaders I hear him yell 'get out of the way!' I guess that is better than running into them!

Today at costco, Caleb was insistent that we get samples. I of course did not know that the sample people did not come out until 11 and we got there at 10. Fortunately for Caleb we circled the store looking for Christan's shoe that he threw out of the cart for awhile and back tracked several times deciding what to get. Oh, and of course the bathroom break that took longer since the checker would not let me past without unloading my entire cart. (I have been to that bathroom a ton of times with unpurchased items. They don't let you out without a receipt anyway). So when we were done in the bathroom we had to reload all of the items back into the cart. After the first sample, Caleb said 'Mom, old people make good stuff'. He of course meaning this as a total compliment since most of the sample ladies at Costco are older, gray haired grandma looking types. I of course thought it was cute until we got to the lady with the yogurt. As he tasted her peach yogurt he says to the sample lady, (as he is commenting on how good his sample is) that old people make good stuff. She smiled and said 'oh really?'. I wanted to crawl back into my shell. I think she knew what he meant, but still!! I of course felt obligated to buy the yogurt so we have been enjoying that all afternoon.

Big Boy Bike!!

2010-08-02T22:07:00.001-05:00

Mark and Caleb decided about two weeks ago that they were going to take the training wheels off Caleb's bike. I'm not really sure that Caleb was 100% on board with the idea because at times he was so resistant. I think that is just his personality at times though when he can't do something he doesn't want to even try. Teaching him things does seem to be a huge challenge of our patience, but if we stick with him it works out in the end. The most frustrating part is that we know he can do things but refuses to try.

Well, we finally convinced him he could do it and it didn't take long. The hardest part was finding a time that we could get him out to a flat area to practice. Once we get to the top of our street it is pretty flat so that is really where we practiced. Mark would go one direction down the street with him and I would follow with the babies and then on the way back I would take Caleb and Mark would take the babies.

Sweedish fish finally did the trick. After dinner last Wednesday night we went for a ride but before we went out Mark was eating sweedish fish. We all love them so we all wanted some. I grabbed a pocket full and told Caleb that the fish would be calling his name and if he rode his bike he could get one. He of course thought this was really funny since I was calling out 'here fishy, fishy' and saying 'Caleb, I see a fish up at the next corner...focus on the prize!' This was the best he had done ever. He rode almost the whole way back home without any help other than starting off.

Caleb and I way ahead of Mark and the babies

Me, taking a picture and dangling sweedish fish out for Caleb to get.

Arch

2010-07-28T16:02:00.003-05:00

I have been wanting to take Caleb up into the arch for a long time. He see it quite often when he go to my grandmas in IL and I guess he has probably seen it somewhat close up, but he had never been to the actual base of the arch and up inside it. I was excited to take him since most places I get to take him he has already been to. I had not been there since I was about 10 so it was I didn't really remember what to expect either.

His whole focus was on getting up to the top and then to get dippin dots on the way out. Oh, and he wanted to take a picture for Mark. Once we got in, we had to wait about 30 minutes for the next available tour. We checked out the museum and then got in line. Once in line we had to wait and watch videos which of course for Caleb was a lifetime.

Once at the top Caleb was a little nervous he was going to fall, but then he got the lay of the land and was excited to check it all out. We were only up there for about 5 or so minutes, but enough time to see what we needed to see and get on our way to get those dippin dots.

I have to be honest that I was REALLY nervous about the capsule ride and looking down from the top. As I have gotten older I have become anxious about small spaces and heights, but I was a big girl and did just fine. It actually wasn't bad at all. We were lucky though because we were with another mom and dad and their 5 year old little girl. I was envisioning several other large people with Caleb and I.

Mom and Caleb waiting for our ride back down

Caleb and Busch Stadium
Caleb in the capsule

Caleb and the Arch

Daddle

2010-07-28T15:53:00.002-05:00

I think everyone needs a daddle and Aunt Sarah thought the babies needed one too so she gave it to Mark for Christmas. We have had it out several times since and it was more fun for Caleb than anyone else, but most recently everyone joins in on the fun. The daddle is a dad saddle and straps ever your shoulders and around your waist. Mark is more like a bull when Caleb is riding, but a gentle pony with the little ones. Caleb is usually on crowd control and helps the riders on a off.

Even though it is called the daddle, during the day I have to step in a play horsey. I find it more fun to watch and it is definitely easier on my knees.

Christian - Woo hoo!! Cohen - Giddy Up! (Caleb and Cecilia in the background)

Caleb

The lake..take two cont

2010-07-21T21:47:00.002-05:00

More pics of the kiddos.....

After Cohen crashed the neighbors kiddie pool the day before we decided to just legally take them all over to play and they were diving in before it got too wild and we brought them back to play with the hose.

Cohen

Cecilia (little red), Cohen with the hose and Christian
Christian making his dog bark..hoo hoo

Cecilia being the wild woman that she is.

The lake..take two

2010-07-21T21:27:00.003-05:00

We had not been able to make it back to the Lake of the Ozarks since memorial day and were getting a bit frustrated. So last week things fell into place so that we were able to not only go, but leave early on Friday and not come back until Monday. The extra added bonus was that almost the whole family was there with us. We have yet to be there by ourselves since the triplets were born and I'm sure we could do it but it is so nice to have the extra hands and eyes around especially for Caleb. At home Mark or I can handle the babies but at the lake many time we both need to be with them and Caleb's agenda is not always the same.

This weekend seemed to be so much more relaxing than memorial day was. I guess it is because we got over the hump of not knowing what it would be like with all 4 kids and are past the nervousness of it all. The babies seem to do really well with big groups and on the boat they just sit and chill. The boys in particular love to drive with Mark but someone is usually always standing looking out at the waves and water. It was a hot one so we were sure to have a cooler full of ice for them to play in and eat and all was well. Caleb spent a lot of time in the water and fishing. Grandpa put some steps into the water from the grass so the kids like to walk into the water and swim around to the ladder. I enjoyed driving the boat while Jacob and his friend tubed. It was fun to try to knock them off and I was successful two times. I decided to tube after they were done and 3 days later was still sore from it and I don't think I had nearly as rough ride as they did.

Caleb seems to really appreciate his time at the lake. This year on boat rides I have caught him relaxing in the back of the boat. This is the good life!!

Caleb, Caiden, Preston and Nolan

Our chore this weekend was to get a picture of all of the grand kids regardless of whether they were screaming or not. Lots of pics were taken and I think this was the best of the worst.

All 10 Gardner Grand kids : Jacob, Caleb, Cohen, Caiden, Cecilia, Nolan, Christian, Aliyah, Preston and Noah

Daddy and his helpers, Christian and Cohen

They're all mine

2010-07-15T13:54:00.002-05:00

I know they are all mine because they love salsa & chips, Jalapeno cheese dip & chips and kettle cooked jalapeno chips. I have corrupted them all at a very early age!

Whipped Cream!

2010-07-15T13:48:00.002-05:00

Caleb found the spray whipped cream in the fridge and we had some fun with it. He made whipped cream cup cakes with sprinkles for his 'friend' Caiden. We froze the cup cakes and took them to Caiden last night and he was very excited to get them. Caleb insisted that I have a whipped cream nose too and that we take a picture to show dad.

Monkey off my back

2010-07-11T21:42:00.003-05:00

I think I am finally caught up with the blog. 18 posts in two weeks..whew! It has been a big weight on me and unfortunately I know I have missed a lot of funny great stories over the last few months by not updating on a regular basis, but hopefully I can keep up now. yeah for me!!

This is what it has come to....

2010-07-11T20:18:00.004-05:00

Its no secret that we breed monkeys here at the Gardner house. Caleb scaled the pantry to get to the hidden treats at a very early age and the triplets are not going to be any exception to that rule. Most recently they have been climbing on the kitchen table. We had been doing our best to keep the chairs pushed in until Cohen and crew figured out how to move the chairs out and over to what they want. What they want is to get whatever is on the counter, in the sink and on the stove, most of which is dangerous.

Today was the last straw. I decided to make bacon and was SO looking forward to a BLT sandwich for lunch. I needed to run to the store and when I got back there was no back and guess who ate it?? Mark admitted to having some, but the rest was eaten by the little monkeys.

Mark and I discussed it and we needed to take further action. The plan was at nap time for me to go back to Lowes for bungee cords. According to Mark I got the fancy kind but I was worried about them getting hooked on the regular ones. Plus, the ones I got would be easy to unhook so that we could let Caleb in and out of his chair easily. The straps did not go so well....for some of us.

Cohen very upset about the straps on the chair.

Boom! Boom!

2010-07-11T09:32:00.002-05:00

The weekend at the lake was SO much fun. Tons easier than we thought it be. The babies enjoyed all of the steps up and down. They have very plush carpet so by the end of the weekend Cohen would just slide all the way down. Cohen is a HUGE dog lover so he was super excited that there were two there. Cecilia liked the
a lot too, and Christian really was indifferent. Everyone loved to play pool or similar games with the pool balls. The trick was to keep the kids off the table and the balls on it.

As usual the babies went to bed around so they unfortunately did not get to see any fireworks. That was fine with me since Christian, even though he looks and acts a whole lot like Caleb is afraid of his own shadow.
The kids all loved to play at the sand beach and I even convinced Caleb (well actually it was a bribe/threat). The babies were left with Mark and when we got back I was instructed to not ever leave him and the babies alone on the beach again. Apparently it got a little stressful since they loved the water so much. We loved that they loved it, but sand is such a pain in the butt to clean up.

The fireworks display is always the highlight of the weekend. Other highlights were the karaoke machine and the Breathalyzer. We were all up too late and got up way to early, but hey, it was fun. My only regret is that I did not get any pictures of the kids in the sand or really anything at all.

Bath time- Christian and Cohen

Bath time-Christian, Cohen and Cecilia

Nolan, Caleb and....all of the fireworks
Blue lipped Caleb and mom on the boat waiting to watch the awesome fireworks display

Road Trip!

2010-07-11T09:29:00.003-05:00

Every year for the 4th of July we go to Mark's Aunt Lisa and Uncle Steve's lake house right outside of Columbia, MO. This year I talked Mark into going and as time got closer he was the one reassuring me that it would be ok. Going there is really not much different than going to the lake of the ozarks, but it is closer to home so that is nice. There are usually about 30 or so people there which makes for an exciting time. WE decided that we would not wait until closer to the babies bed time to leave since Cecilia refuses to sleep in the car anyway. We went ahead and turned all of their seats so they were facing forward and that way we could throw food at them at dinner time. As it turned out Mark actually got off work early so we were able to load the car while they were napping and on the road by 3ish. They weren't sure what to think about sitting forward, but they had little devilish grins that showed they were really excited about it. They were fine for awhile, but were not interested in their sandwiches or fruit I brought so when we stopped so Caleb could go to the bathroom I pulled out the m&m's. They were a huge hit and stopped the crying for a little while. The M's tied them over until we got there but Cohen was not happy.

When we arrived we were given the coveted 'cave room' This is the room below the garage that is cold, dark and quiet. The bonus is that it is also the play room so it has the roller coaster and tons of toys/books. On the way to our room there is a sunk in fire place that we were worried about falling into, but they were really careful around it.

While Mark unloaded Cohen discovered that they had a dog (who quickly wanted to be away) and the steps up to the loft and down stairs.

Caleb watching a movie trying to drown out the screamers with his headphones
Christian and Cecilia which chocolate covered faces

Cecilia and Cohen (very unhappy..screaming for more m&m's)

Bows!!

2010-07-10T22:22:00.000-05:00

The babies have really started to want to play with all of Cecilia's bows. Keep in mind she has a whole basket of them along with a hanging ribbon full and has no hair. I really shouldn't say that she has no hair, but most of it is on the back of her head and the little hair that she has on top only holds a small bow. When I put the small bows it is like sharks attacking and it is immediately ripped out. Some days I am worried that the little bit of hair on her head is going to get ripped out with the bow, but so far so good. I actually have just given up on putting bows in her hair for the time being.

This particular day was different though because everyone wanted to wear bows and lots of them. Here is Cecilia modeling 3 or 4 and yes, we do know that Christmas was 6 months ago.

Christian has the best hair for bows and seems to like his white one. Caleb kept yelling at him to take it out so it became a funny game.

Oh, and mommy can't be left out. Caleb is photographing the models.

Cohen wanted NO part of the bow pictures

Happy 60th Dad!! June 20th

2010-07-10T22:20:00.000-05:00

My dad turned 60 this year!!! We took him out to dinner with my grandparents, Jason, Sarah, Emma and Logan. We left the babies with my mom so we could actually eat and enjoy our time out.

Being the nice daughter that I am I found this hat and made him wear it throughout dinner. He was a good sport and the kids really got a kick out of the hat since it had 'candles' on top. We wished him many more great years and ate till we were stuffed.

slip n slide

2010-07-10T22:15:00.000-05:00

Who doesn't love a slip n slide?? Caleb got a spider man slip n slide for his birthday so I pulled it out for the kids to play with. Obviously the babies don't really know how to actually slide but they loved the water that sprayed on them and the pool where the water gathered at the end.

It was a typical weekend day so Mya, Jen and Abigail came over from next door to play as well. This time was different though because I decided that it would be a good idea to slide...yeah, not so much. I think I knocked the wind out of myself when I hit the hard ground. Jen was nice enough to grab my camera and capture the moment and thankfully she did because I don't know that it will happen again anytime soon. Once was enough for awhile.

Cohen and Cecilia walking the slide and Caleb ducking at the end.

Crazy lady on the slide
Cecilia

Caleb

party time

2010-07-10T22:11:00.000-05:00

We went to Meghan's graduation party and there were scattered showers but the kids were able to get out and play. They rearranged all of the rocks in Chris and Barbara's back yard and made sure that they tasted OK before they put them back. Grandma and PaPa brought their pool so they could splash around and play with rocks in there too. Thankfully they didn't do too much damage (I think) but had a great time. Grandma gave wagon rides in the rain. Caleb was at the lake and Mark was watching the world cup soccer game so it was just me and the kiddos.

Cecilia

Cohen

Christian

Ben, Cecilia, Cohen and Christian

The park

2010-07-10T22:09:00.000-05:00

My mom, the babies, Caleb and I ventured out to a park that off Manchester Rd that was nestled in a neighborhood. It had a little water feature with was ok...it shot up one stream of water and then crashed down the the kids. I think it was meant to be more like a mushroom sprayer, but not so much. This was the first time that the babies had been to a park. Even with the two of us, it was pretty stressful. The babies are not shy so all 4 of the kids pretty much took off in different directions. Thankfully we were not there very long, but long enough to get a couple of pics of Caleb playing in the water. He and grandma stayed longer and I took the babies home.

I 'got my feet wet' but not sure that we will be doing that very often. The sad part here is that I feel bad for the babies that they don't get to experience a lot of the things normal one year olds would because there are three of them. Its the mom guilt that kicks in, but all the more reason to get that swing set in the back yard. We will have it before the end of summer. Right now I really don't even want to think about putting it up in this heat!!

Polite drivers

2010-07-10T22:00:00.000-05:00

Polite and naked. They wanted to take a little drive after a dip in Grandmas pool. Cecilia was not really interested in sharing her car so I guess the 'road' was good enough. Cohen really liked the 4 wheeler too.

The boys

2010-07-10T21:52:00.000-05:00

Caleb has throughout the past year definitely had his favorites among the babies. Currently Christian is his best buddy. Here they are one morning giggling.

Egg hunt

2010-07-10T21:48:00.000-05:00

It only seems appropriate that I am just past posting about Easter that Caleb had an egg hunt for all of us. He had me close my eyes and count and then we had to race to find the eggs. The person with the most eggs won...hmmm..I wonder who won. He was nice enough to share the eggs with the babies who of course loved the candy inside...yum!

Cecilia Christian

Cohen

Memorial day...at the lake

2010-07-10T21:38:00.000-05:00

Memorial Day always seems to be the official beginning of summer and lake time. This year was no different and we were prepared with large gates. You never know what to expect on trips with kids and they were great. We decided to put all of the babies, Caleb and one parent in the bottom room since it has such easy access to everything. This is the room that we have slept in for quite awhile, but we really have outgrown the small room and double bed. Caleb really claims this as his room and always wants to sleep there too.

Caleb is always great at the lake mostly because he LOVES it there. He has become quite a little fisherman this year and can even put his own worm on the hook and take the fish off sometimes. He loves to swim and even jumped off Eifferts dock (two story) with Mark. He's done it before which is still a total surprise to me since he still won't go down the slide on our dock. We hardly hear a peep out of him since he is so occupied with swimming, fishing and playing with his cousins. With most things we do not it always seems that we miss out on our time with him since the babies demand so much. Thankfully we have great family support and he is really good about understanding what the babies need. Our 100% Caleb time is during naps and after 7pm when the babies go to bed.

Babies.....They were all great. I came prepared with two large gates so that we could make a large yard area for them to play in that was safe. AS it turned out we really didn't need them, but it was nice to know they were there just in case. They all took their turns enjoying the view from the front of the boat, but Cohen seemed to be the most excited about the wind in his face. We really went from nap time to the boat for a ride. They played in the sprinkler one day and were ok with that. We put the boys in the water to swim, but they both screamed the whole time.

All in all it was a great weekend. Just getting over the hump of traveling with tons of stuff for just a weekend is the hardest part.

Christian and Mark

Caiden, Nolan and Caleb

Cohen

Cecilia

Fish

2010-06-26T20:50:00.003-05:00

I went downstairs to change the laundry over and Caleb was 'in charge' while I was gone. I hear him calling me calmly....mom....mom....mom...we have a problem....mom...the babies got all of the fish out!!!

So what do you do. They were actually diving into the pile of goldfish. It was so funny because they were so excited about their accomplishment.

Christian, Cohen and Cecilia

Lunch time!

2010-06-26T20:43:00.002-05:00

Caleb decided one day that the kids needed to eat lunch outside. They love cheese so he went in and grabbed the block. The problem is that it was very hot and 100 degree temperatures and American cheese do not mix well together. Before 'lunch' was over I was scraping melted cheese off the deck and picnic table. YUM!

Cecilia

Cohen and Christian

Off to kindergarten

2010-06-26T20:41:00.003-05:00

Caleb has been in pre-school for the last two years so I really didn't think that going to kindergarten was going to be a big deal. In fact, earlier this year when we were trying to teach him his letters I wasn't quite sure that he was going to make it to kindergarten. He took a turn for the better and all of a sudden it all clicked. Now he seems so grown up and is excited to start at his new school. He loves to write and knows all of his letters.

Mark and I went to kindergarten boot camp so we are prepared for all things to come. I think the biggest change is that he will be taking the bus. That will seem really grown up. I guess my biggest fear at this point is that Caleb's personality will not click with his new teacher. We met her at the boot camp and I'm not so sure about it. I guess I just loved his teachers for the last two years and they loved him as well. He's pretty adaptable so I'm sure it will all work out.

Public schools do not have any sort of graduation but there was a presentation in the library and this is the certificate he received.

Pool is OPEN!!

2010-06-26T20:38:00.004-05:00

The weekend before memorial day we had to get a pool, it was SO hot!! It was the first test of how the kids would be in the water. Caleb has always loved the water and Christan is definitely the same way. Cohen likes to hang onto the hose and play with it and Cecilia could have cared less.

The kids 'enjoying' the pool...or at least some of them are. and the others are trying to escape (Cecilia and Cohen)

Mommy and Cecilia. Yes, there is a 30lb diaper on the table next to us which belonged to Christian.

T-Ball

2010-06-26T20:35:00.002-05:00

Caleb started playing t-ball this spring and seems to enjoy it. He plays once a week on Monday and then there have also been a couple of Saturday games. I think his favorite part is the icee after the game. He is very competitive these days and likes to win a good race so there have been a few times where the boys all run after the ball and end up rolling around on the ground. One time he 'won' the ball but insisted on cleaning all of the dirt and grass off of himself. His coach asked him what he was doing and he told them that if he got dirty I was going to make him take a bath. What a joke! I'm sure they think I am some sort of clean freak now which is far from the truth.

Mark and I have been alternating going to the games since it has been hot recently and so close to their bedtime. Caleb asks when the babies are going to get to come watch him play, but really doesn't seem to mind that they have to stay home either.

He did it!

2010-06-15T10:34:00.004-05:00

I am so proud of Caleb because he has been pull-up free for almost two months and it has been weeks since he had an accident. I decided it was time to stop wearing pull-ups when they were dry half of the mornings. My other incentive was that I was tired of buying them. As we got closer to running out of them, I kept telling him that he was a big boy and didn't need them anymore. I'm sure that part worked, but I know Caleb and he works better when incentives were involved. So, I went to the dollar store and bought up a bunch of stuff and started wrapping. We also made a chart called 'Caleb's Good-Nites' and every morning when he did not have an accident he got a check mark and a choice of a gift. I had promised him that if he got 5 nights in a row he could get a bigger gift.

Every morning he was very excited about the chart and opening a present so it did the trick. I knew that like anything else the newness would wear off and everything would just fall into place and it did. Once the presents were gone he didn't ask about them anymore and has not had an accident since. Since he had been accident free for such a long time I did take him to get a color blaster water gun one afternoon that he had been begging for. What a mistake! That thing is the worst toy I think I have ever bought. First off, it leaks so you have to hold it upright. If it leaked water that would be fine, but the water is dyed and there are warnings that it might stain clothing and anything else it touches....and it does stain. Caleb used it a couple of times and I too think that he was very disappointed with the product. His super soakers are much more fun!!

Girly Girl...I think NOT!

2010-06-12T23:50:00.003-05:00

Cecilia, much like her mommy is not afraid of a little dirt. She on other other hand does not mind eating it but her mom does.

YUMMY!

She somehow recruited Cohen to dig in the dirt with her. They were like little piggies squealing.

Field Trip

2010-06-12T22:48:00.004-05:00

I was excited to be able to go on Caleb's field trip with him. We went to Grants Farm with his entire class. The first thing we did was to feed the goats and the funny thing was that he walked in with conviction. It was like he knew how to handle a crowd with only one bottle. I on the other hand am still traumatized by the time the goats ate me when I was little. I remember the exact outfit I was wearing and am still scarred from it.

He was telling them it was ok and that there was enough for everyone

Caleb and Nolan

Scary camels!!! I was afraid they were going to eat him but he didn't seem to mind. He kept finding food on the ground..probably from all of the other scared kids..and feeding them more and more. I had heard of them eating peoples hair so I was little frightened, but all went well the day we were there. (in this pic are Caleb, Aunt Trisha, Uncle John and Aliyah)

Happy Anniversary to us - 7 years!!!

2010-06-12T22:22:00.003-05:00

Since it is not very often that we get dressed up and go out we went next door so our neighbors could capture the moment. We had a busy weekend and our anniversary was actually on Monday. We asked the sitter which night worked best, Friday or Saturday and Friday it was. Every year we go to the Melting Pot for dinner and usually that is about it. We both LOVE to go go there and look forward to it since it is such a great date place and also because we only go once a year.

It is hard to believe that 7 years has gone by already. We started as 2 and now we are a family of 6. It is so bad, but when we are out I sometimes forget that we have 4 kids. 4 wonderful kids, but sometimes it is nice to focus on something other than them and the hum drum of life for a night. We had a really nice time out and on our anniversary we watched our wedding video. This year was different because we shared it with Caleb. He only wanted to see the kissing part for some reason and was disappointed that it only lasted for a second. He did however like watching it and seeing everyone walk down the aisle and told me I looked pretty.

I think we're still pretty cute!!

Allergic??

2010-06-12T22:06:00.002-05:00

So what does a mom do when she thinks that her kid might be allergic to something??? I don't know, but I grabbed the camera. I figured I would need to show the doctor what was going on and explaining without pictures is just not as much fun.

After the kids were one I gave all of the kids cinnamon and sugar toast and Christian and Cohen's faces got really red. Nothing else happened so I was not too concerned about it. At their one year appointment as I was telling Dr. Wilson about what happened Mark says...'wait...you gave them cinnamon and SUGAR toast??' and I respond, 'yeah, so....anyway they got really red and were breathing fine, etc, etc' and Mark says again 'cinnamon AND SUGAR?' What the heck? Who eats just cinnamon on toast, of course you have to have sugar. I told him if he wants to get up every morning and make a gourmet breakfast for us before he leaves for work that would be fine with me and the discussion suddenly ended. Somehow we manage to have these little discussion in front of our pediatrician who undoubtedly laughs at us and I am sure thinks we are nuts.

So they have not had cinnamon since but I did give them hummus and this is what happened to Christian. AS you can see his skin is a bit irritated, but he is very happy. Not too concerned as I think hummus and cinnamon are more of a skin irritant than a severe allergic reaction.

Christian

Notice the red 'v' on his neck

group photos 4/19/10

2010-06-12T21:57:00.003-05:00

I've come to the realization that a group photo for 4 kids is pretty hard to come by these days. Undoubtedly someone is not looking at the camera, or screaming or just plain not interested. The babies seem to love to be in each others cribs so I thought I would take a shot at it this day. My mom had left us for a 10 day vacation and the play was to try and send her a picture of the babies, but that never happened. This is Cohen's crib and as you can see his mobile has nothing hanging from it since he yanked all of the little fish or whatever they were off. No one cares anyway, they just enjoy his music that he plays for everyone morning and night.

Caleb, Christian, Cohen and Cecilia

Cohen, Cecilia, Caleb and Christian

We're famous

2010-06-04T21:36:00.004-05:00

Well not really, it is all about who you know. My bestie, Julie works at Ladue news and they needed a mom to talk about blogging since they lead they had backed out. I didn't mind so they called me and then at the end of the conversation it was the dreaded request...can you send me a picture of you and the kids. Um...sure. Cause I have TONS of those. I thought for sure there would be at least ONE. Not so much. I think I have figured out that Mark does not know what the camera looks like and now that we have 4 kids you might as well bank on winning the lottery because your chances of getting a good pick of all 5/6 individuals involved is pretty much impossible.

We had a triplet play date that week at the zoo and I had asked another mom to take a picture of all of us and unfortunately I did not think it turned out so the painstaking process of trying to get a picture of me and the kids was interesting to say the least. I put them in their best and well the rest is history. After about 40 shots I gave up and this is the best one of the bunch. As it turns out the one from the zoo actually looked pretty good.

This is the picture that we used for the article.

Good bye..so long...farewell!!

2010-06-04T21:03:00.003-05:00

When the babies turned one we said good bye to a lot of things.

Bottles!! They were being fed about 7 ounces at 7, 11, 3 and 7. At this point they were all holding their bottles themselves thanks to Marks work on the weekend. I felt bad and always tried to hold at least one of them since that was one of the few times of the day they were snuggled. We took away their middle of the day bottles and started giving them sippy cups with milk. Since I was still pumping I mixed in my milk when it was available. I thought it would be harder to get rid of the morning and night bottles but I think it was more of a crutch for me. I liked knowing that they were getting that full bottle of milk so they would get the required amounts and many nights at 6 they were crabby and the bottle helped. Next, I eliminated the morning bottle. Mark on the other hand still liked to give it to them on the weekends (he knew they liked it and he loves to be the hero). This was all fine and dandy until they starting turning the bottles over and were basically dumping them everywhere. I came home and all of the bottles that were left in the cabinet were on the counter and were going to be 'thrown away'. So that was the end of that and they were done with bottles.

So long formula......hello milk. I this would be a great easy step and it was, but a gallon of milk a day...gees. It is a good thing that we have an extra 'beer/milk' refrigerator. I could not imagine if we did not have an extra fridge, we would have to do to the store every day. One day when I was at costco I looked at the cart in front of me and there were about 10 canisters of formula so I asked her how many kids she had and of course she too had triplets. I knew her name from the multiples group and we she was saying how nice it will be not to have to buy formula and then she looked at my cart and laughed because I had 6 gallons of milk. I told her that was her future cart. Milk is definitely much cheaper than formula, but we did get a break since we used about 50% less formula since I was supplementing with breast milk. It was still a small fortune and someday I will calculate it all out,...maybe when they are all out of diapers.

I had been trying to wean off of pumping and it took me about a month of being in sheer and unbelievable pain most days. This pain is like no other. There is nothing good that comes from it and you never know when it is going to go away. I was making approximately 45ounces of milk a day so my body definitely had some adjusting to do. I was so happy to be able to return that pump to the hospital and 'get off the machine'. I have to admit it wasn't terrible and it forced me to sit down and either read or watch a show most of them time. I am really proud of myself too for actually doing it for a full year. I will admit that I do miss my friends. I now know what it would be like to have a breast implant and go up 3 cup sizes. Maybe someday, but not that large and I'm sure they would be filled with something other than milk. I also miss the 500 plus calories that I was burning sitting still. I can definitely tell that workout is gone. I'm trying to get back into a routine of actually working out since the babies are getting so heavy to pull around the neighborhood. It is nice to get out by myself too.

Big strides were taken and of course the little troops did well.

Easter!!

2010-06-04T20:45:00.002-05:00

It only seems appropriate that I'm just now posting our family photo from Easter and we just had an Easter egg hunt yesterday. Easter, just like any other holiday is a whirl wind tour, but we always try to remember what it is all about. Its not the eggs or the candy that matter.

Here we are at my Grandma and Grandpa's house Easter morning. Later in the day we went to Mark's parents house for more family, food, eggs, treats and fun. The kids as usual had a great time!

Black tongue...busted?

2010-05-25T14:28:00.004-05:00

So I learned a cool trick from my next door neighbor that if you tell your kid their tongue will turn black when they lie you can catch them better. So I decided that would be great to do with Caleb since he is the master at lying and I can never tell if he is telling me the truth or not. Of course it is minor things like whether or not he drank his milk or dumped it down the sink when I wasn't looking. He tells me often that he too has eyes in the back of his head but they are hidden just like mine.

So today I was taking a shower and Caleb was eating his cheerios. When I got out he asked for a treat because he ate all of his cheerios and even drank the milk. Next he goes on to say look mom...is my tongue black as he sticks it out. What the heck?? How do I respond? So I run to the sink and there is an empty bowl there..no milk, no cheerios. So I move it quickly and check to see if I can see anything in the garbage disposal. I seriously did not know what to do. I don't know if he was telling the truth or just testing to see if the black tongue theory was really true or not. I guess I will never know but I assumed he was telling the truth and gave in to the treat.

I do have to say though that he is his worst enemy. He always ends up ratting himself out like the time he was supposed to finish what was on his plate and not only did he dump it all in the sink, but pushed it down into the garbage disposal hole. He tells us, "I ate all of my dinner and didn't put any of it in the sink or the garbage disposal' At first glace that was true until I looked closer remembering our garbage disposal lesson a couple of weeks prior. It was all there.

This kid is tricky so I am just going to have to stay on top of his game....yeah right!!

Easter Eve Celebration

2010-05-22T22:32:00.002-05:00

The Easter Eve celebration is always the night before Easter at grandma and papa's. It is the training session for the pick up and delivery of eggs back to the baskets and the beginning of a sugar high. This year my mom dressed up in her pink feety pj's and wore bunny ears and hopped around the room as she passed out the kids stuff. It was definitely a treat but I am not sure if it will become a new tradition or not but the kids loved it. Cecilia (aka, grandma's tick) had matching ears and didn't seem to mind wearing them at all. Who doesn't love egg hunts!!

Cohen on a mission....egg or street...I think I'll choose street!!

Grandma and Cecilia in matching ears
Caleb

Christian...hmm...what is in all of those eggs :)

Purina Farms

2010-05-22T22:05:00.004-05:00

On Good Friday the multiples group was having a play date at Purina Farms. I had not been there since I was you and was going take Caleb only by my mom volunteered to tag along so we brought the babies too. Not so sure it was the best idea since there was not a whole lot for them to do there and it was SO packed. A couple of different times my mom and I split so we could maneuver the babies through the crowd and manage Caleb. It was a really pretty day so it was nice to be outside.

The highlight of the day for the babies was definitely NOT the visit with the Easter bunny. Caleb really enjoyed the dog show and we were able stick it out long enough for him to see it. The babies played in a grassy area and my mom and I took turns sitting with Caleb. The prize for the kid that was able to go be the helper was a light up dog pen that he HAD to have it. That pen is so cool that it was used to write on the seats of my car. Caleb was cleaning for quite some time and just saw the pen for the first time a couple of days ago.

Cohen...Get this big furry thing away from me!!

Cecilia-HELP!!!

Christian...save me!!!

Easter egg dying

2010-05-22T21:51:00.003-05:00

Last year I don't think we even dyed eggs, but this year we made up for it. 3 dozen eggs were dyed at the Gardner house and Caleb really enjoyed it. He made special eggs for everyone and we only had a few fatalities (cracked eggs).

March 24th-Caleb's birthday

2010-05-22T21:42:00.002-05:00

aww...my baby is 5!!!!! For Caleb's birthday which was a Wednesday he really wanted a cookie cake. Mark made him wait until he got home for his cookie and any presents. I caved and let him have one small one. He had school so he was able to take cookie cake (yes, he likes cookie cake) there as well to share with his friends. He was supposed to have roller skating lessons that night, but we decided at the last minute to do something fun with him and we took the whole family to Incredible Pizza, one of Caleb's favorite places. Not only was it exciting to be able to go, but it was special too since it was the first time we had all been out together for dinner in months! Mark and I were not sure how things would go, but it went really well and it was good for all of us to be out together.

Here is Caleb enjoying his candles.

Here is the crew at dinner.
Here are Mark and the babies watching Caleb bowl.

YES!!!!!!!!! He loves to bowl.

Birthday Party - Caleb

2010-04-19T22:20:00.003-05:00

Caleb said that he wanted to share the party with the babies so we had one big bash on the babies actual birthday (just so happens it fell on a Sunday). Aunt Sarah made Caleb's Sponge Bob cake and even colored the cake orange to make it more special. He was just as excited about the babies turning 1 as he was about his birthday.

Birthday Party - Babies

2010-04-19T21:59:00.003-05:00

The babies all had different opinions about their party. Cecilia was a 'tick' on my mom and was not a fan of all of her guests. Christian loved the crowd and really started 'working it' before the afternoon was over..meaning he walked on his actual birthday more than he ever had. Cohen was indifferent. He has been on the move for so long he was really interested in the steps and constantly climbing up them.

Here is a cute picture of them eating their own special cakes Aunt Sarah made. The boys got soccer balls with Chelsea Blue (Mark's favorite soccer team) and Cecilia got a flower. Note the boys feet in this picture.

Cohen, Cecilia and Christian

Christian really enjoyed his cake and had it all over him.
Cecilia enjoyed a bite and then cried for Grandma to rescue her.

Cohen was enjoying Cecilia's milk and eventually picked his cake up like an apple to eat it. YUM!

Pre-party

2010-04-19T21:32:00.003-05:00

Getting ready for the party was no small feat. As with any party I usually stress out and Mark appears to be walking aimlessly around the house so of course I have to assign him more tasks. With the kids birthdays being only a couple of days apart the big dilemma this year was one or two parties. We wanted Caleb to feel special, but we also did not want to spend a fortune on parties and make it a hassle for everyone else. After much deliberation we decided on one party for family and a couple of friends at our house. Since we have family and friends over on a regular basis we wanted to spice it up a bit and were lucky enough to be able to borrow a small bounce house from a friend. The day before the party was filled with cleaning a cooking. Mark grilled pork steaks so they would be simmered and tender for the party. Since we knew the weather was going to be crummy we decided to see how the bounce house would fit in the playroom. Since it was close to bedtime we stripped the babies down and let them play. We did let Caleb in but it was mostly by himself to go crazy :)

Cecilia

Christian hitting Cecilia with a sword
Cecilia (L), Christian (center) & Cohen (right)

Cecilia (Left), Christian (center) Cohen (right)

Butterfly house

2010-04-19T21:14:00.005-05:00

Caleb was on spring break and my mom insisted that he and I go do something and she stay with the babies. We decided to go to the butterfly house since I had never been before. It was clear to me when we got there who was take who. Caleb showed me all the ropes on what to do and where to go. He of course loved it and so did I. He was right. I did not want to bring my coat into where the butterflies were, I would have died since it was so warm in there.

Here he is patiently waiting for a butterfly to land on his hand. I was impressed with how long he sat and waited. It has happened before but since there were so many people there that day (spring breakers) he was disappointed that one did not land on him. Later one did land in his hair which he thought was funny.

This is a blue morph, and there were tons of them there.

After the butterfly house we enjoyed the playground since it was such a gorgeous day.

March 1

2010-04-19T20:55:00.002-05:00

March was a very busy month for all us of. Planning and preparing for all of the kids birthday party was probably the biggest thing. We also stated spending a lot of time outside. The babies LOVE it outside and prefer to be there as opposed to any where else. We travel everywhere in the choo choo wagon and they have graduated from their infant carriers to their big boy and big girl car seats. I really didn't care about giving the seats up, but just hated to lose my triple decker stroller. Sad to see it go, but the wagon is serving us well.

Cecilia still loves to eat wipes (pictured below) Christian with his smoosh face...and all of his extra hair (where did that come from anyway??)

Cohen AKA Belly man still on the move and a lot quicker these days.

Cecilia directing the lunch crowd. (Cohen left and Christian right)

Toothbrush pictures

2010-03-23T21:50:00.002-05:00

Christian, Cohen and Cecilia

Cohen, Christian and Cecilia
Cohen, Christian and Cecilia
Cecilia likes to point at people and giggle.

Getting Bigger

2010-03-12T23:18:00.002-06:00

The last couple of weeks have been big for the babies. This past week Christian got this 4th bottom tooth and Cecilia got her front left tooth. They all got tooth brushes and graduated to new car seats. They are all still turned backwards and will most likely stay that way for awhile. Cecilia is still only 17lbs (both of the boys are 21lbs) so until she reaches 20lbs they will most likely stay that way. We really researched the car seats so that they were skinny enough to all fit in the middle seat like they did with their infant seats. I think they like they like them, but it makes my life a little more difficult. I have a system though with a gate blocking the door so hopefully that will help manage the loading and unloading into the car. Trial and error (repeat). New phases and new places. We are most definitely excited that it is spring though and can get outside. Christian and Cecilia are not walking yet, but taking many steps here and there. I expect them to take off any minute.

Lemonade for Sale

2010-03-03T10:00:00.007-06:00

One Sunday dinner, Caleb decided that he wanted to sell the lemonade that we made. He wanted to make a sign and even made attachments so that it hung from his neck. He wanted to charge $1.00 per cup. He likes to sell things and is usually pretty convincing, but in most cases never takes money from anyone. There have been occasions when Mark has hosted poker and he has even tried to sell the beer (that the guys brought) back to them. Last time at poker I could hear him yelling from upstairs 'Popcorn! Popcorn for sale if you ate your dinner!'

Below is a letter that Caleb got from Grandma and Grandpa Kopsky after selling lemonade. I love it so much I had to post it. If you know K, you will love it too.

'Dear Caleb,

Grandpa and I were thinking that was really good lemonade that you were selling Sunday so we decided to send along another $1.00 so each cup cost us $1.00 which adds up to $2.00 for 2 cups. They were big cups also.

We were thinking (but of course it's up to you) that if you have a lemonade stand this spring or summer you might think about lowering your price to .25 or .50 a cup or serving a smaller amount of lemonade in each cup.

There will be other children with lemonade stands and they will probably not be charging quite that much as a $1.00 a cup.

But you are the person in charge of your business and you will have to determine what you think people will pay.

We wish you luck with your future business.

Love,

K & PoPo'

Whoopie

2010-02-28T22:07:00.002-06:00

This weekend was a great one and surprisingly we really did not have a whole lot going on. Today I was honored to be the Godmother to Owen Yu, my friends Michele and Adrian's newest little addition to thier family. I am the Godmother to 3 kids now and could not be more proud.

We had to move the furniture around in our living room earlier this week because the babies were getting on the couch and there was concern with them falling over the back and down the steps. With moving the furniture we need to move our tv and components and so we took a trip to the furniture store. Because it was so nice we had talked about going for a walk but ran out of time. Caleb really wanted to go for a walk and usually when he wants to do that he has an ulterior motive. Today he wanted to go to Walgreen's to replace his whoopee cushion that he had popped a week or so ago.

We ran out of time to do the walk and visit the furniture store so we just drove to walgreens and let Caleb get his whoopee cushion. Surprisingly they were on sale 3 for 3.98 and they are regularly 3.99 each. What a deal!! You might night think so, but these are not just your ordinary whoopee cushions, they are refillable one so you never have to blow them back up which is a bonus.

So, I'm not sure if it was a smart decision or not, but we went to walgreens first and then weekends only furniture and someone had some serious gas the entire time we were there. I thought it was hilarious, Mark seemed annoyed and the other people in the store weren't sure what to think.

SHOES

2010-02-22T20:34:00.002-06:00

Today was a big day for the babies, we went shoe shopping!! Since Cohen is walking everywhere I figured it was time to get them. He wasn't so sure about them at first, but got the hang of it right away. Christian is not a fan. He kicks them off all of the time and curls his toes making it difficult to put them on...which is probably why they fall off so easily. Cecilia didn't seem to care either way. She was more interested in the sales people gooing over her. Now, the question is was Velcro a smart idea. I thought so at first because the idea of tying and untying shoes all day long would be miserable, but then on the way home I could hear them playing with the Velcro. This should be interesting!!

I am actually looking forward to all of them walking. It will be so nice this spring to not have to worry about them crawling everywhere outside. Spring can't get here fast enough!!

Christian size 4.5, Cecilia size 4, Cohen size 5

I would have taken a pic of all of them in the shoes, but trying to get that would have been a joke :)

God

2010-02-22T20:15:00.002-06:00

Caleb - Mom, what does God eat?
Me - food
Caleb - What kind of food?
Me - Well...I guess the same kind that we eat.
Caleb (after a long pause) - I think he eats Chicken pot pie...yep...chicken pot pie, that is what makes him strong.

Covert operation

2010-02-22T12:26:00.003-06:00

For the past month or so things have become increasingly tricky with the babies around. So, as the title of this post suggests, simple things throughout our day have become secret missions. Loading and unloading the dishwasher is nearly impossible with them around. They not only climb on the door of the open dishwasher, but climb all the way in, pull clean dishes out and make them dirty or pull dirty dishes out which is gross. Throwing something away in the trash/recycling cans which are in the pantry is hard too. They like to eat trash/paper and pull the broom/dust pan out along with anything else they can get their hands on. Opening the refrigerator or freezer door because they of course like to climb in and pull everything off the door. Changing the channel by remote or calling someone on the phone. These are all simple daily tasks that now have to be planned accordingly when babies are present. I find myself sneaking to do all of these things and find great joy in my success when my missions go unnoticed. I complain about this, but at the same time, I think it is hilarious. Have you ever tried to pull 3 babies out of the refrigerator, listen to the fighting over the phone/remotes. I am outnumbered and need to choose my battles carefully.

pickles

2010-02-21T22:56:00.002-06:00

So, I was eating bread and butter pickles and the babies seemed interested. Two of the chips were gone and the third was found half eaten...I think they liked them.

Time passes so quickly...

2010-02-15T22:03:00.005-06:00

I can't believe it, but the time is already here. I have to actually plan birthdays for 4 kids!!

Last year at this point I had been in the hospital for 27 days and had no idea what would happen. Each day I inched closer and closer to a safer zone, but still I was like a time bomb. My friend Sam sent me a care package from FL and it had valentines decorations in it and we decorated my room on Superbowl Sunday. I never knew how long I would be there so decorating was always a big step. It was sort of a commitment to say that I would still be there on that day and I was. Valentines came and went and Mark had to find me St. Patricks day decorations. It was a good feeling and I remember feeling strong at that point. I didn't mind being there. Don't get me wrong, I felt like I was missing out on the world outside and especially my family, but I knew deep down where I needed to be. It was hard for me to relax and do what I was supposed to do in the 'outside' world so I was stuck. The monitoring was nice and I knew that everyone inside was safe inside me for more days. I looked forward to visits from friends and family and especially good reports from the doctors and nurses. Believe it or not I was working hard laying in that bed. A different sort of job if you will. I had to be mentally strong and I think I pulled it off. Deep down, I was scared to death, but I also knew that I could do it and did not want small sick babies. It was always nice to see Sr. Laverne Wester every Monday morning excited to see that I was still there. I could have cried every day, but I didn't and I think I only cried once or twice during my stay there and it was probably because of something Caleb said to me. I was focused on the prize.

I'm sure this seems random, but thinking back to last year is really emotional for me. There was so much going on, but at the same time, we were just waiting. No one knew what was to come and I guess that is the miracle of having babies..especially multiples. God has blessed us more than we could ever imagine. Mark was saying tonight how the past year has gone by so fast and it has, but at the same time Mark and I have grown so much as a couple it is amazing. I guess it is sink or swim and we must have swam our butts off because I feel like we are closer now and more of a team than ever before.

Our house is destroyed daily daily by the cutest babies in the world. I pick up so they can destroy it again, it is a fun game...really.

Caleb

2010-02-15T21:53:00.003-06:00

Caleb seems to be getting older and older by the minute. We have been working on his letters a lot and he is making great strides. He loves when people come over and we have had people over a couple of weekends in a row for Sunday dinner which included uncle Pete's b-day and Grandma K's b-day. He also had Caiden spend the night and can't wait for him to stay again.

The snow has been a HUGE hit and he has really enjoyed that...when he is able to get out. Mark has been to 'go to' guy here and luckily that has worked out. I have only had to go out in the snow during a couple of nap times. Playing on the deck has sufficed him which is fine with me because it is cold out there!! He really wants the snow to come up to the bottom of his window so he can make a tunnel out. He is also still on a mission to get his mermaid from the ocean.

CiCi Lou Lou...and daddy

2010-02-15T21:40:00.003-06:00

Cecilia definitely loves her daddy more and more these days and whenever he is around they are like two peas in a pod. Sickening some days, but that is is little baby girl and since he only has one, I guess he feels like he has to spoil her ALREADY.

Here they are hanging out on the couch. Of course she wants to drink his coffee, and surprisingly she is actually sitting still on the couch. She loves to be on the couch and walks along it most of the time. I also like this picture because it shows her one big top tooth. Her 4th tooth finally popped through, so she has two bottom and two top teeth. The top ones are on the side so it just looks different. Cohen had the fangs since they both came in at the same time, but she has only had the one side tooth so we are not sure what to think of it.

Cecilia is still not walking, but standing independently pretty often. She is very vocal when someone takes something she has and can spot a cell phone, cordless phone or remote from across the room and must have it, similar to Cohen. Its funny how they know to hold the phone up to their ear and Mark gets called often. It amazes me that not only can they get my phone unlocked, but call and put it on speakerphone. I have to say though that our phone is off the hook a lot these days.

Giving sweet kisses!!

Christian

2010-02-15T21:30:00.002-06:00

Christian is as sweet as ever. He has been a little under the weather lately, and actually had an ear infection as of last Friday. He, like the others have not been interested in their bottles, but I hope it is just from the snotty noses. He still has 7 teeth and stands for long periods of time on his own, but has yet to take those first steps. Caleb still says that Christian is his favorite and that is his best buddy. Christian loves to sleep on the pillow frog that Caleb had originally given to Cohen. Once Cohen was no longer interested in it, it was passed to Christian who loves it. It has been nice since he has been stuffy to prop him up on it, but even if we do not, he always ends up moving to lay on it anyway.

Christian favors me over Mark a little and tonight he would not go to Mark. I only point this out since he is the ONLY one right now that actually wants me when Mark is present. It feels good to be loved, especially when the other 3 kids in the house are hanging on someone else :)

Christian with Cohen in the background

Triple threat..Cohen

2010-02-15T21:18:00.004-06:00

Cohen is a little thief these days. He hoards and steals everything and most days he likes to throw all of it down the steps. Whenever phones and remotes are missing I always look on the stairs. It is amazing that they still work. On this pic he has the horn, and both remotes and is truly in his 'element'.

Cohen has been walking like Frankenstein for about a week now and every day he gets better. He can even get into a standing position from squatting without any help. He really still loves balls and today he actually kicked the ball. Yes, we have it on video since he can barely walk and is trying to kick the soccer ball. Mark of course is so excited but at the same time we are truly amazed at his natural ability and draw to the ball and now kicking. Mark was holding him and kicking the ball around the other day and we guess that is where he got the idea from. He laughs hysterically when Mark 'plays soccer' when he is holding him.

Cohen still has 6 teeth and seems to be the bully of the bunch. He is obviously on the move and lately he has been very clingy to Mark. Mark of course loves it when the babies hang on him.

A Day in the Life cont.

2010-02-15T21:08:00.004-06:00

So I guess in the interest of time I forgot to mention that I do eat breakfast, lunch and dinner on my original post. I may be standing, but I do eat I figured I had better clarify since I have withered away to nothing, but I do eat and most of the time it is quite a bit. All this work makes me hungry and I need to keep up my energy for these kids!!

A Day in the Life

2010-01-28T20:48:00.004-06:00

6:30 am - My typical day starts around 6:30 when I hear the babies stirring in their beds. Whenever they wake me up I pump which takes between 20 and 30 minutes depending on how loud they are yelling at me.

7:00 am - By the time I get done pumping and bottles made, I'm usually in their room by 7 to feed them. Cohen usually has a poopy diaper first thing so we have to take care of that. After I feed them their bottles and change diapers we move to the kitchen for breakfast. Breakfast consists of O's and some fresh fruit. They are feeding themselves these days so they snack on O's while I slice up pears, bananas, kiwi, peaches, blueberries and applesauce or whatever we have on had that is semi soft. In the meantime, I make hot tea for myself. Next we usually have to re change diapers since the fresh ones have gold linings and they like to dirty them right away. Sometimes if they are not really wet I will wait until after breakfast to change them since I know I will have to do it again either way. Then we tackle getting dressed. Since it has been so cold and the babies rarely make it out these days depending on the sleepers I will let them stay in their jammies. Most the of the boys sleepers are a little big so if their feet don't stay in place when they try to walk/crawl they are guaranteed a change in clothes. While doing all of this Caleb usually gets up and I try to get him to eat something which usually takes awhile. By the time we finish getting everyone dressed it is almost 9 am and nap time.

9:00 am - I usually try to get Caleb situated with breakfast and as soon as I put the babies down for their nap I take a shower and get dressed. I am selfish with this as I require a shower in the morning in order to wake up and feel normal. I can be selfish, right? So Caleb usually watches some cartoons while I take my 5 minute or less shower. I think I could go to the store and come back and he would never even miss me. Once I am out and dressed I start working on Caleb to do the same. He never wants to get dressed or brush his teeth so sometimes it takes awhile.

10:00 am - The babies are usually awake by now which makes Caleb happy. We all play for awhile and then at 10:30 I have to pump again. Bottles at 11 and then everyone gets lunch. Caleb usually wants chicken nuggets or a peanut butter sandwich and the babies get a cheese, a veggie and sometimes a fruit and or meat. After lunch depending on the day determines what happens next. Monday we are home all day, but Tues, Wed and Thurs I have to take Caleb to school. Most days someone (my mom) is here to stay with the babies, but if I have to take them we are all in the car by noon.

1pm - nap time for the babies. The hope is that they will take a LONG nap, but sometimes this happens and sometimes it does not. Most days they are up by 2:30. Depending on how long they nap determines what gets done in the meantime. Sometimes I nap, sometimes I clean, and if Caleb is here we usually play.

2:30- pump again
3:00 pm - feed bottles and on Wednesday I have to pick Caleb up from school and I have to leave at 3 to get there on time which is tricky. Most Wednesdays there is someone here so I do not have to take them, but if not I have to feed them early which works somedays and others not so well. After this bottle is usually when I start making dinner since it takes me awhile.

5:00 pm - Babies get their dinner. They eat a veggie, meat, fruit and of course O's. Caleb is hungry early a lot so sometimes I feed him too now and I usually try to eat while they are eating as well. If they are happy in their seats sometimes I actually get to sit and eat but usually it is standing. I'm ok with that. Food is a priority, and if I don't eat, I get crabby and that is not good. Every day I call Mark and ask him what time he will be home and every day he tells me the same thing, between 5 and 5:30. So whenever he strolls in he can either eat or take a shower. If he does not take a shower right away he usually has to wait until the kids go to bed since it is crazy time. So unfortunately most nights we do not all sit and eat together, but one day we will. Mark usually has someone at the table with him and most of the time we are all still in the kitchen hanging out so he doesn't have to eat alone.

6:00 pm - If it is bath day the babies get stripped down as soon as they are done eating and we start baths right away. Bath day is every other day and they LOVE it. They know when we are taking their clothes off what comes next and they all crawl to the bathroom squealing when the water is turned on. Caleb usually takes a bath with the babies too, but they really have so much more room to move around when he is not in there so we have been trying to talk him out of getting in with them. Bath time has to be quick so I can pump so usually they swim for awhile and then we start handing them off to get lotion and dressed.
6:30 pm - Pump again and make bottles
7:00 pm - The last bottle of the night and and then the babies are pretty much done. Sometimes it is difficult for them to make it to 7 and if blankies are out in sight they are usually laying on them. I try to give them a late afternoon nap, but they will have no part of that. It would be nice if they would and maybe the evenings would be a little more bearable.

7:30 pm - Once the babies are in bed we usually have some time with Caleb and try to get him ready for bed. He has been staying up later these days, but he also does not have to be up in the morning at any certain time so even if he is up later, he can sleep later. He is usually in bed by 8:30, but we read to him and cuddle for a bit so that takes time. Most nights he has to get back up and go the the bathroom too. Delay tactics, but for the most part he is really good about going to be and is usually fast asleep.

8:30/9-whoever does not put Caleb to bed is usually cleaning up the kitchen and picking up toys. We have to do this otherwise the next morning is a nightmare. Sometimes by the time this is all done it is 10 and we head to the basement pub as Mark likes to call it to hang out for a bit. Most nights we are up too late trying to catch up on each other or shows that have been recorded. Laundry, sweeping, mopping, cleaning, shopping, etc all have to fit into this time slot as well. Before I go to bed I have to pump again.

Whew, I am exhausted just writing all of this!!

Caleb 4 years 10 months

2010-01-27T22:14:00.003-06:00

Caleb is doing great and loving the babies a ton. We do have his special area set up in the play room so that we can keep the babies safe from his small toys. He also thinks it is really cool that he has a 'special' area which is great since the babies are into everything and it was starting to get to him. We are really working on his letters and it finally seems to be clicking. WE play a game every morning before he gets to watch cartoons. Most days he prefers to delay the game which is kind of nice since it is his choice to not have the TV on and he is not bugging me. TV is our biggest challenge, but it is getting better. Just this week we had to register him for kindergarten. Don't ask me where he is going because I don't know. Currently he is registered at St. Margaret Mary and Blades (the public school). It has been a tough decision which obviously has not been made yet. We have until August...right?

Currently he is in a swimming class and loves it. We really wanted to get him involved in something that we could do with only him however he asks every week if the babies could come. Normally we would honor his request, but his class is not until after their bedtime so even if we wanted to we could not bring them.

Caleb and I were able to sneak away to his favorite park, 'the rocket park'. We usually just play on the playground, but I had heard there was a creek and an awesome hill for sledding that we should check out. Since it was cold and we had been stuck inside so much I wanted to get him moving as much as possible. It was a nice little walk and here he is running...most of the time it was away from the camera, but I caught him.

Since Caleb has school in the afternoon, mornings tend to be pretty lazy. He sleeps in until he feels like getting up which is usually well after the babies are up. This particular morning I when I walked in the babies room Caleb was in Christians bed 'resting'.

Cecilia 10 months

2010-01-27T22:04:00.002-06:00

This is probably one of my favorite pictures of Cecilia. She has the biggest smile but is stingy with showing it, especially for pictures. We do get this smile a lot when she is in what I like to call 'Disney' or Caleb's room. There is something about his room and especially his bed that they all love, especially Cecilia. She still only has two bottom teeth and one fang, but the other one is on its way in. She too stands independently, but not as much as the boys right now. She is definitely a girl though and does this little turning of her head thing when you talk to her which is kind of a shy/'I'm cute' look. She is a wild woman in the bath tub and dives around and sneaks in drinks of the 'forbidden' water.....but is very discreet about it.

Christian 10 months

2010-01-27T21:56:00.004-06:00

We have decided that Christian is going to be our little musician. He crawls around the house with a horn or a kazoo in his mouth pretty much all of the time. Not only are they in his mouth, but he hums into the kazoo and blows the horn so it is quite entertaining. He now has 7 teeth. One snuck in on the bottom when he was sick last week. He is standing for long periods of time, but no real steps just yet.

He has a sweet smile and I think he is still changing. I can't quite figure it out yet, but I think his face is getting thinner and he hair is getting a little thicker. I love the blonde hair, but Caleb's hair was that light too and now it is so dark. In both of these pics his hair looks wild and that is the new growth.

Cohen 10 months...first word

2010-01-27T21:47:00.004-06:00

This is Cohen tonight...not the best pic, but I wanted to show him with the Ball because he said his first word...other than mama and dada. He says 'ball'. . It comes out more like baw, baw, baw, baw though. I told Mark when he got home and had him bring this blue ball into the bath tub and when we said ball he got really excited and started saying it. This kid is crazy about balls so it is only appropriate that it would be his first word. From early on he has always known what to do with them. He gets up on his knees, puts the ball over his head and throws it. He will also play back and forth with you. Its almost like primal instinct.

He has also been spotted standing for long periods of time and taking a step or two at a time before falling. He is SO close to walking, but still a little shaky. Before long I am sure he will be running and kicking that baw, baw, baw!!

Cohen no longer has fangs as his front teeth have come in.

Conflict..

2010-01-27T21:36:00.002-06:00

Tonight I was trying to take a picture of Cecilia with her new hat grandma made for her. She had been turning her head to the side and smiling big, but tonight Cohen wanted that bug off her hat and he was on a mission. I had to put all the pics because it was so funny. This is really a daily occurrence here at the Gardner house, but typically the fights are over remotes, cordless phones, cell phones and horns/kazoos.

Cohen-hmm...what is this pretty thing. Cecilia-Get away from me!!

Cohen-ooh I almost got it, but she is getting away!!
Cohen-get back her missy!!

Cohen-I've got you now!!!

Cecilia--HELP ME!!!

And then the rest is history...Cohen ripped the hat off and it was his :)