First Campfire - 2010

Tonight we went to a friend's house and let the kids experience their first campfire. We didn't actually camp, we just visited for a few hours. We had a big, roaring fire and cooked hot dogs right over it. Of course, you can't have a campfire with hot dogs and not have smores and hot chocolate. It was a lot of fun and thankfully none of the kids fell in the fire. :)

Halloween 2010

We went trick or treating in our neighborhood again this year. I have always liked doing it old school and taking the kids door to door rather than to busy, crowded festivals. There is just something about taking your kids trick or treating the way we did as kids, that I find to be a very neat experience.

All dressed and ready to go!
Getting excited... about getting lots of Halloween candy and the Texas Rangers World Series Game Four!

Our first stop... our neighbor's house.
My neighbor is a real fireman and he dressed up in his fireman gear to take his kids trick or treating so I just had to take Tyler's picture with him.
Back home from trick or treating now we are passing out candy to all the kids and of course having a little candy of our own.
Tyler and Whitney really enjoyed passing out candy to the others. I was so proud of them. Hannah, on the other hand, refused to pass out any candy. Ha!

Arboretum Fall 2010

I bravely agreed to join my MOPS playgroup in taking the trio to the Dallas Arboretum last week. I knew it would be a challenge, but I am really trying to step out of my comfort zone and be more brave when it comes taking the kids out by myself to places that specifically do not have a shopping cart involved.

Just about anytime we have somewhere to be in the morning, whether I have help from Craig or not, it is difficult. We don't rise super early at our house, so when we have to be somewhere by 10a.m., it always proves to be a challenge. The Arboretum is a good 50 minute drive from my house, so getting out the door that morning was hectic to say the least. But probably not quite as hectic as getting the kids and I out the door and to MDO in Allen by 9:15.

Craig laughs at me when I talk about how hard it is to get out the door this early and my response is... "I can get myself out the door this early, no problem but when you have 4 people to get fed and ready and having to stop to potty every few minutes, it creates a bit more difficulty."

After we (Craig was off work that day with appointments all day) got them ready and loaded up, I was not half way there and Whitney said she had to potty. I just ignored it because I was certain she did not need to. Then, somehow I got stuck on the 635W HOV lane so I took a slight detour before getting back on track to the Arboretum.

Once we got there, only 5 minutes late, I might add, I unloaded all the kids in a VERY busy parking lot, which had Mommy so frazzled it wasn't even funny. I got out my walking rope for all the kids to grab a loop and walk in. They all got a little twisted around the wrong way which is pretty common. Then Whitney fell and skinned up her knee pretty good. She cried as I hugged her while trying to keep the other two from getting in the street where everybody and their dog was coming in to the park.

We get to the gate, meet up with our friends go inside and take our first potty break. Fail - nobody went. I tried the public restroom and my portable potty in hopes they would feel comfortable enough to go there but no such luck.

Off we went to see the pumpkins. My crew is very shy in new places and are all slow to warm up. We had a pretty good size group with us that day so this is why I think nobody noticed when me and the trio got left behind. Meanwhile, I was dealing with one very fussy little boy. Stopped at a bench to have a little talk with him and then my friend realized I was not with them so she came back to give me a hand.... literally!

Once we get to the pumpkins, they were all still very fussy, clingy and not wanting anything to do with any kind of pumpkin, but it didn't take long before they warmed up and started having a good time. I gave them a little tiny pumpkin to hold and all the bad attitudes were gone...for two kids at least. :)

It was virtually impossible to get the three of them looking through this window at the same time.
We played on hay bales and held pumpkins while getting our pictures taken; we ran through pumpkin houses; we went through hay mazes and watched as our friends got their faces painted. Then we stopped for another potty break and a friend helped watch two kids for me while I went in with just one. No luck with any of them after trying the regular potty and the portable potty. Starting to get nervous about the pottying or lack thereof.

We then headed over to feed the fish and just as I gave my kids their bread to give to the fish, they started eating it. Turns out there were no fish at that location so we headed to another and thankfully our friends shared some bread with us to feed to the fish since we had already eaten our fish food. Ha! The kids really enjoyed throwing bread in and watching the dozens and dozens of fish swim over and eat it all up, while the moms kept a close eye on the many toddlers inching closer and closer to the edge.

After that, we stopped for a picnic lunch and boy were our kids hungry... or at least mine were. :) After a nice lunch and a short play time, we headed toward the exit but this time, I gave Tyler Mrs. Jennifer's hand. So much easier for my girls to keep up if they are holding an adult's hand. I think I spent the majority of the time walking through the park with my head turned around, while telling the kids "come on; keep up; we're getting behind" etc.
We stopping by the petting zoo just before we left. The kids got to pet the goats, sheep, rabbits, donkey and chickens. Then we were off to the car and on our merry way back to Oklahoma! We made it home with zero accidents which makes Mommy very happy! : )

I do think I have been making small strides to get my kids out more. Just taking them to the regular places I go like Target and Kroger, except now adding potty training to the mix, is a much bigger and more complicated task. So, I go from that to driving almost two hours round trip, on foot - w/o strollers and potty training??????? Made for a pretty exhausting day for me but I do think the kids enjoyed themselves and I did too for the most part.

I have another playdate at an open gym on Tuesday and I am hoping this will be much easier on Mommy. Crossing my fingers the kids won't clam up like they did at the Arboretum or have a potty accident.

Another blast from the past

I had gotten this bumble bee costume from somebody when the babies were very very small and forgot about it when I bought the girls their costumes. I figured it was too girly but wanted to try it on him anyway to see how it looked with jeans because I wasn't going to put him in tights. Obviously when I got it on him, I could tell this costume just wouldn't work. It was also a little small and I had a hard time getting it over his head.
Whitney loved her costume.

Hannah loved trying on her costume.

I then put Tyler in the manly costume I bought him. He was still pretty upset about the other one. I think Whitney is starting to join in with Tyler.

Seriously, a huge melt down.

Halloween night and ready to go... Whitney is not happy this time and pretty much had to be held all night.

Out the door. Tyler would not let go of Whitney's fairy wand.

We even took Piglet with us but it didn't really help our sensitive girl.

They were getting tired of walking so we went back home, got strollers and headed back out again. We had to make a longer trip across the neighborhood to see Ms. Debbie.

We are home now after a long but exciting night of trick or treating. I think she is tired.

"No Mommy, you can't have my candy."

Scoping out all the candy they got.

**There are two new posts below this, so be sure to scroll down.

Pumpkins in February!

Way back in October, we took the kids to a pumpkin patch and they got to experience many different things including hay rides, a petting zoo and a pumpkin patch. It was a lot of fun and I would like to take them to this again this year.
Checking out the animals.

They seemed to enjoy the hay ride.

They weren't fans of the dirt in the pumpkin patch.

Having a hot dog.

Tyler saying, "It's just hay!"

Halloween, 9 month weigh-in, Arboretum and much more!

Another long post...so get ready. A lot has been happening!



Halloween night we went over to Jennifer's and we took the kids to the park for swinging, hotdogs and a parade. Then, we took the kids trick or treating. Of course, mine didn't get any candy - we just went along for the ride. Then, we stayed over for a while, had chili, caught up with friends and played Wii.

Here is Samantha, Jennifer's baby. She was a poodle for Halloween.

Tyler, Whitney, Hannah and Sam shared swings while we waited for the parade to start. Tyler said, "Get me out of this thing already."

Whitney was the lobster for Halloween night since Hannah got to be the lobster for their 9 month pictures earlier in the day. Actually, Whitney was the crab...goes better with her crabby mood all afternoon. :)

Sam swinging with Hannah.

Hannah getting ready to chew on the back of the swing. Gross!

My little crab....

Hannah always chewing on whatever is in her reach...this time, the glow necklaces.

Tyler always hamming it up. Poor thing was a little warm in the fleece superman costume.

Tyler is continuing to be more and more interested in Lacy. Lacy just lays there while he crawls on top of her. She does so well with them, but yes, in case you are wondering, I do watch her very closely with them.

Hannah is reading to Whitney.

Craig has been on vacation this week and we have been enjoying our time together doing lots of things this week! Look at Hannah...she adores her Daddy! Monday, we took the babies to their 9 month well visit at the pediatrician.

Whitney my sweet little girl. She weighs 14 pounds 13.8 ounces and is in the 1 percentile for her weight. She is doing great on the length. She is 27 3/4 inches long and in the 54th percentile for length. The little stinker is about to fall off the charts but good thing I am not too worried about charts! She is perfectly healthy anyway! We are just going to have to try to get a little more milk down her. I sure hope she will take more milk on a daily basis and gain a little weight because otherwise it looks like she is going to be on formula past one year.

Whitney also got her first tooth Monday. I don't have a picture of it because it is barely coming through and very hard to see by opening her mouth with my finger in her mouth. I can't imagine trying to get a picture of it.

Whitney can crawl now as of this week. She doesn't get around too much but she does crawl/drag across the floor when she sees something she wants. She is also holding her own bottle all the time now! Yay! All the babies can now hold their bottles.

Tyler my BIG boy baseball player (don't you just love the hat??? Pretty darn cute if I do say so myself.) weighs 19 pounds 1 ounce and is in the 23rd percentile for weight. He is 28 1/4 inches long and is in the 47th percentile for length.

Tyler is crawling around like nobody's business. I can see the excitement in his body language that he knows how to get around now. He is pulling up in his crib, but that is about it.

Tyler (as well as Hannah and Whitney) have suddenly starting drinking their bottles in a much quicker time period. They have ALWAYS taken 30 minutes or more to drink their bottles with the exception of a few times of taking it in 15 or 20 minutes. Well, this week and last week, they have started a new trend of taking them in 10 or 15 minutes on a regular basis! HALLELUJAH! FINALLY!

Hannah, my other little squirt. Hannah is in the same boat as Whitney in regards to weight. She weighs 14 pounds 12.7 ounces and is in the 1 percentile on weight. She is 27 1/4 inches long and is in the 36th percentile on length. Even though she looks like a wino here (HA!) don't let that fool you. She, like her sister, doesn't have much of an interest in drinking her bottle. I personally think they are just going to be small, petite girls. But, it sure would be nice if they will eat more, otherwise they may never turn forward facing in their car seats.

She is also crawling about the same as Whitney. She has some very interesting ways of getting around these days.

She likes to sit up in bed and has just started playing peek-a-boo.

Hannah still has zero teeth.

This is our "Joe the plumber"! Gotta have a little political humor!

Earlier this week, we went to the Arboretum together. I actually got the babies out of their stroller for a few pictures this time. (Whitney, Tyler, Hannah)

Whitney was not liking the hay at all!

Whitney and Daddy at the froggy fountains.

Tyler hamming it up again. This was our first picnic together.

What a cute picture and we loved the view. Impossible to get everybody smiling. :)

What is everybody looking at??? Impossible to get all three smiling. :)

Ignore the feet in this picture but look at the beautiful babies, and sky! Tyler crawling away of course. He is too busy for pictures. Impossible to get all three looking. :)

The babies and their hero! Impossible to get any looking. :)

Our beautiful family! Impossible to get any looking. :)

The babies finally fell asleep so Craig and I took some shots together. Yes, I am feeding a baby in the back of the car and yes the door is shut! I am trying to see how limber I can get and how skinny I can get.

I found Hannah like this this morning. She either took her diaper off, somebody else helped her or it came un-velcroed. Isn't she a mess? So, I thought I had enough time to grab a camera and snap a shot of her without her diaper on, but actually, I didn't. Notice she is laying on top of a book??? When I picked her up, she had just peed on the book! Nice!

We have been wearing these babies out this week with doctor's appointments, the Arboretum, house hunting (nothing serious yet, just scoping out neighborhoods for next year), Christmas shopping (before Craig's shoulder surgery), eating out and we have a few more fun family things planned for the remainder of the week (like attempting an early matinee') as well as some "me time" without the babies. We just wanted to get out and enjoy our time together and we have!

Also, we have been hoping the babies would get more accustomed to being out and would learn to sleep more in their stroller.... Not so much. You wouldn't believe how much running we've been doing and they still seem to sleep very little, but surprisingly, they do very well and cry very little. I guess next week will be back to normal - staying home most of the time feeding babies and letting them get normal naps. I don't get out much and feel very confined at home, so this has been nice.