That crazy girl...

Harper is still learning the rules of our house as she transforms from little toddler monkey to little girl and we're working on getting consistent (well,really me) with her as she's so darn funny & cute, it's been easier to let some thing slide. This week, she's big into pretending to be an airplane. While standing on her chair, arms spread out, yelling, "I airplane, Mommy, I airplane"
Me, "Harper, sit down"
Harper, "No"
Me, "No is not one of your choices, sit down."
She sits down for two seconds, back up again, "I airplane, I airplane"
Me, "Harper, sit down. If you get up again, you're done with breakfast"
Harper, "Ummm...no."
Lily chimes in, "That crazy girl needs to learn the rules of our home"

Harper is TWO!

Where did the past two years ago???? I've never been sad about the girls birthdays but I was a wee bit sad that my toddler is now becoming a little girl. A very opinionated, super charming, everybody loves her, class clown of our group two year old. I will always remember Harper as my best birth, I wasn't wacked out on drugs during my C section, I was able to nurse her and hold her right away, lots of visitors, cuddled with her on Thanksgiving watching the Macy's parade, nursed her while going through Black Friday ads...good times! Yeah, I'm ridiculously cute and I'm TWO!

Uhhhh...maybe I could open my own presents????

Elmo cake, first cake I've decorated. It didn't come out too horrible and since she's two, she thinks it's awesome. And Lily told me I did a perfect job so it must be all right.

Sporting her new Elmo backpack!

Family Pics

Soooooo....I'm behind on blogging. We had our family pictures done a few weeks ago and I LOVE them. Now that our family is complete, I've been itching to get pics done. The girls did great, had great help from our sitter/hairdresser/friend Kelly to wrangle the girls & Mia, our photographer was super impressed with how well the girls did. I know it's prideful but I feel so good when someone comments on the girls behavior like, "ok, we're doing something right". It's those moments when I have all of my little people and Jason together & I get overwhelmed with how unbelievably blessed I am to get to raise them & share it with our rock star of a Daddy.

Our new pet...

We have captured a "woolly worm" aka caterpillar! Girls found him out on the playground and my neighbor made the great suggestion that they put him in a jar. I wouldn't really mind except we already had some cups with elder box bugs that Lily was keeping as pets. Soooo...we now have a pet caterpillar, he lives in a big tupperware container, the poor caterpillar curls up into a tiny ball every time Harper squeals because she gets VERY excited when Lily takes him out to "play". Tonight, I asked Lily what we should name the caterpillar.

Lily, "Elle" Elle is her best friend at school
Lacy, "We should name it Lacy"
Jason, "How do you know it's a girl caterpillar?"
Lacy, "Daddy, because it has eyelashes!'

Today was a successful day because....

I didn't run away. This is what I said to Jason after I put the girls down tonight. After an awesome day yesterday of family pictures, hanging out AND I got some errands done alone, I was so looking forward to a day of nothing to do but stay home. However, a day of nothing to do is kind of an oxymoron with our crew...
Haley sounded hoarse last night before bed but I had just pried a ladybug she was trying to eat out of her mouth so thought maybe it was that. During the night, we heard her cough which sounded a little croupy but didn't wake her up. Then, this morning when she woke up, her breathing sounded HORRIBLE. We have tons of experience with croup but this was so much worse. It was a high pitched sound and it was every time she took a breath. Called our ped at 6:30a, told us to head to the ER which we did. She was happy as a clam, still sounded horrible though. Jason told me to make sure to tell them she may have eaten a ladybug or something else. ER was great, super quick, we got a breathing treatment which made our super laid back baby super hyper trying to climb over, under and around the hospital gurney. Told like 5 different people she may have eaten a ladybug, was reasurred 5 different times this was not due to a ladybug. Now I'm the weird Mom whose kid may or may not have eaten a ladybug. Headed home with prescriptions for an inhaler and steroids. Still sounds bad but it does sound better, praying she sleeps tonight...for all our sakes. This of course made me one irritable Mommy which I HATE. I had to be warden to make the girls clean up their room. I did end the evening by reading each of the girls a book so maybe they won't go to bed thinking "Man, what is wrong with her????" Tomorrow is another day, hopefully a healthy one...

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

Big girls heading out trick or treating with Daddy
Who would have thought a chicken, a ladybug and a wagon?

Trying for a group shot..first of many...

Still trying...

Mama, please brush my hair, it's CRAZY

Chickens drink from bottles, don't they?

My baby chicken

Kisses from my witch

Strawberry Shortcake & a witch, best friends forever

All four girls looking at the camera, no one's eyes are closed, no one is crying or running away = SUCCESS

Still trying...

Harper is supposed to be in time out, standing in the corner but must have spotted something more interesting outside.

My first attempt at sewing, ignore the mismatched shirt underneath

Haley NEVER falls asleep like this so I had to get a picture of our sweet baby

So big!

Reminds me so much of Lily & Lacy when they were little!

Hanging out on the fire truck during our block party

Girls ,made their own pizza, said it didn't taste good so refused to eat it. Then, told me later they loved making pizza.

Our new normal

Our lives have gone through ALOT of adjustments in the past 2 months, for the past 5 years my time has been my own. Road trips when we want, pajama days when we want, head to the park on a whim. People look at me like I have two heads when I tell them I have more freedom as a Mom than I did when I was working full time. Yes, I have them with me but it was up to me how we want to spend our time. Not anymore, we are now privy to the school calendar, school drop off, pick up madness, homework, making sure we get reading time in, Lacy's speech, chores AND our family time. Family time is hard to come by right now, we just haven't started school, Jason has a new job which is so much more time consuming than his previous one. Grateful? I'm unbelievably grateful he has this opportunity and he's enjoying what he's doing. The girls & I have adjusted to long days while Jason is working or traveling but I'm still trying to figure out how to fit everything in, make sure he stays connected to what is going on at school, at home when he can't be here. I make lists of things to talk about with him so I don't forget funny things or just day to day stuff. I have no doubt that we'll find our new normal...probably just in time for another new adventure.

And she's off...

Sweet little Haley is CRAWLING! Just like Harper did, she went from a wobby sitter to sitting herself up and crawling in the space of a few short weeks. She's been scooting for awhile but a few days ago, the girls asked me to put Haley in the playroom. They like to each take a "baby" for playing house. I put Haley down and she saw some necklaces the girls had on the floor and like she knew exactly what to do, started MOVING! So, we will now have to put away teeny tiny tinkerbell teacups again for the last time! She's such a great baby, she fell asleep drinking her bottle before nap which she never does so I picked her up, snuck upstairs and just rocked her for a few minutes in peace. Although I look forward to her getting older, I savor those tiny little moments because all I have to do is look at my giant kindergartener and know how fleeting they are.

Columbo Day!

Conversation on our way home from Walmart yesterday:
Me to the girls, "I'm so glad we had a little break from school. We had so much fun."
Lacy, "We did not have school because we had Ms. Lauren's Halloween party"
Lily, "No, we didn't have school because it was Christopher COLUMBO day"
Me, "I think it's Christopher Columbus" while I'm laughing hysterically
Lacy, "Who's Christopher Columbo?"
Lily, "He had three ships, the Nina, the Pinto and the Christopher Maria"

Ummmm...NO

Harper's speech is really taking off thanks in large part to some tips from Lacy's speech therapist. Her favorite words are still "NO" and "Mine" but she is starting to say some short sentences like, "Mommy, where Gracie?" our neighbors dog. When she asks for something like a cookie and I say no, she'll just start this droning, "pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease". I'll say no again and then she'll start "pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease". We have these silly conversations with Harper that go like this, check out the video!

Walmart

I have no problem running errands with the girls, well until I actually do it and then I remember why I try not to do it often. Biggest problem is I have no cart space. Harper is in the front and Haley is in her carrier in the back. So, I decided to run to Walmart with the gaggle and let Lily & Lacy push a cart with the stuff and I would push the baby cart. They're always wanting to push the cart so I thought this would work out splendidly! Not so much. Gave Lacy a turn first with the cart, Lily pouted because it wasn't her turn. After 3 steps, Lily pouted even more because according to her, "It's never going to be my turn" and then after 4 steps, Lacy said she didn't want to push the cart anymore which was fine because she couldn't even see over the cart and was going to run people down. By the time we actually got to the back of the store to start our shopping, Lily said she didn't want to push the cart either because "my legs are hurting from pushing the cart" So, then through most of the store, I'm having to do this weird pushing & pulling of two carts. We make it to the checkout, Haley starts fussing, Harper starts fussing because Lily & Lacy are playing with the junky toys they put in the checkout lines there. Then, Haley really starts crying so I have to get her out of her carrier which makes Harper even madder because now EVERYBODY is out of the cart and she's not. Harper aka Houdini gets out of her cart seatbelt and is attempting to stand up which thank goodness she had her rain boots on which don't fit through the leg holes very well. So I'm holding Haley, making Harper sit down, trying not to look like the crazy Mom at walmart who has no control of her children. Unloading the cart, telling Lily and Lacy to get to the cart and stay there. So, while the checkout lady is asking me "Are those all yours?" "Yes" and "Going to try for a boy?" "No" and "your poor husband" "No, he really loves his girls", I'm unloading bags from the bag carousel while still holding Haley with one hand and she projectile spits up her bottle with large chunks of carrots she had for lunch all over the floor and the bags. Yep, I think I'll just wait until the weekend next time.

Am I really having this conversation?

In my bathroom, trying to gain a few seconds of peace before we head out the door,Lily comes in.
Lily, "What color would my throw up be if I ate a cucumber?"
Me, "Green, I guess"
Lily, "When I ate Cheetos, my throw up was orange"
Me, "Yep"
Lily, "What color would it be if I ate a green pepper?"
Me, "Green but you won't eat a green pepper"
Lily, "And if I ate squash, it would be yellow"
Me, "Yep"
Lily, " And if ate meatballs, it would be brown"
Me, "Can we talk about this later?"

Dinner Prayers

Jason's out of town and we usually do a little less conventional Grace at mealtimes & here's what it was tonight.
Me, "Girls, lets talk about what we need God to help us with" "Mommy needs help knowing what to do when we're having trouble being good listeners and to be patient"
Me, "Harper, what do you need God to help you with?"
Harper, "Cookies!"
Me, "Awesome, Sissy, what do you need God to help you with?"
Sissy, "That a dinosaur does not eat Haley"
Me, "Great, I think Hecan work that out. Lily, how about you?'
Lily, "That I love you and that we put away our clothes the right way next time"

Morning Madness

I know every mother across America does it too but getting everybody out the door by 8:10 is super challenging to me, especially to try and do it without being a drill sergeant. 4 & 5 year olds do not share my sense of urgency...at all. I hate rushing them through breakfast when we've had 5 years of hanging out at the breakfast table for an hour & now we've got at most 30. I hate having to interrupt Lacy when she's talking to herself in the mirror for 10 minutes instead of brushing her teeth. And when I tell her, it's time to get shoes on, she tells me, "But I haven't brushed my teeth yet" And this morning when they're supposed to be brushing their teeth, I found them in my closet. Lily, almost naked with some towels as blankets on the floor because she said she was cold and Lacy just digging through my craft supplies for absolutely no reason. It's so hard for me to patient. I've tried to make a game out of it. I've told them that we've been turtles for a long time in the morning and now we need to be faster. They picked Kangaroos as the animal they wanted to be like, so there are many mornings when I can be heard saying,
"WE ARE KANGAROOS, WE ARE NOT TURTLES, GO GO GO GO!"

Sit Down Mommy.

This blog post is nothing more than a reminder for me that I need to sit down more. When I sit down for more than a minute, my gaggle usually come sit down with me and these are the moments that I cherish. I love when I'm sitting on the floor and all four girls are within 12 inches of me. God delivered me a stomach bug yesterday to help remind me of this. I make these ridiculous to do lists every week & while I know that laundry does have to happen, bathrooms need to be disinfected, meals cooked, I need to be better about the importance I place on these things. I like checking things off my list but maybe I'm putting the wrong things on there. No, I shouldn't have to put, "Read Bible stories before nap" on my list or "Help Harper with colors" but I want to be intentional about spending time with them just as I am with keeping the house clean, running errands or making phone calls. I absolutely do not want to look back at this season & think, I didn't spend enough time with them, just being with them.

Harper's new do...

Harper's new haircut courtesy of Lily, and of course we have family pictures scheduled in a few weeks. Awesome. This happened in the basement one Saturday, Harper came up the basement stairs and kept pointing to her hair. She's not overly easy to understand at this age so Jason & I thought she bumped her head. We kept saying, "You bumped your head? You're Ok" "Yeah, you bumped your head, ouch, you're Ok" Of course she's probably thinking, "Idiots, can't you see they butchered my hair?"

Later that day, I was out and Jason called and asked me if I had noticed Harpers hair, of course I said no. Got home and sure enough I noticed Harpers hair. After interrogating the girls and them not fessing up at first, Lily was the culprit and as we later discovered, Lacy was too busy giving herself a haircut.

We of course gave a lecture about NOT CUTTING YOUR SISTERS HAIR & then a few days later at breakfast I was asking the girls if they were good listeners for Daddy ( I had sewing class) & Lacy reported, "We were good listeners Mommy, we did not even cut our sisters hair in the night" Way to go!

Bananas

Lacy just can't tell me about stuff anymore, she has to show me. If I try to say, just tell me about it, she'll take my hand and say "No, Mommy, c'mon, c'mon you've got to see this" So, at lunchtime, Lacy announces (I have no idea why they have to announce it)
"I have to go potty"
Me, "Ok, go"
Lacy, a minute later, "Mommy, come see this, come see this"
Me, "What is it?"
Lacy, "No, Mommy, you have to come see this"
Me, "Ok, I'm coming"
I open the door the bathroom, see Lacy sitting on the potty eating a graham cracker which is gross enough and warranted a conversation how we don't EAT in the bathroom and then...
Me, "What is it?"
Lacy, "You've gotta see this Mommy, my poop looks just like a banana"
Me, "I don't need to see it"
Lacy, "No Mommy, see, it looks just like a banana"
Me, "I do not need to sit and we do not need to talk about it" "And we do NOT eat in the bathroom"

Pappy Post

Pappy broke his hip today so before lunch, I told the girls we needed to Pappy prayers to our "regular" prayers so then the questions start:
"Did his hip fall off?"
"Is there a big hole?"
"How will his Dr. get to the hospital? It will take so long"
Then later, I just got off the phone with my Mom telling her how Pappy was doing, when I got off the phone...
Lily, "Who were you talking to?"
Me, "Gramma"
Lily, "Why were you talking to Gramma?"
Me, "I was telling Gramma how Pappy was doing"
Lily, "Because Gramma's going to marry Pappy?"
Seriously, how do their little brains come to THIS conclusion?

Lacy's 1st day of Preschool

Lacy and I survived & thrived her first day of preschool. I worry so much more about Lacy because she is so much quieter and less likely to speak up but she did GREAT! Did great at drop off, no tears, no clinging to my leg. Teacher showed her where to wash her hands and she didn't really notice me leave. When I picked her up, she was playing on the playground with a few other little girls, totally in the mix with the kids. I breathed a little sigh of relief, it would hurt my heart so much if I had seen her hanging out on her own. We had speech this afternoon too and Becky said she went on and on about everything at school so that's a great sign. Me, I missed her, alot. Lacy is my buddy, she's my mini me, it doesn't bother her when her underwear is on backwards, shoes on the wrong feet, chocolate all over her face, leggings inside out. Those little things just don't matter to her.

Lily's Kindergartenisms

Driving Lily to school today, I asked her who she played with on the playground on with before school. She said there were no kindergarteners, just 1st graders and she didn't know them.
Me, "If you don't know them, you just say, "Hi, I'm Lily, what's your name?"
Lily, "But I'm too shy"
Me, "Lily Newton, you are not shy"
Lily, "I am around first graders"

Getting out the car this morning, it was Lacy's first day of preschool, Lily gives her a hug and says, "Have a great first day of school Lacy!"

From our trip...

I still haven't blogged about our trip but didn't want to forget sweet Lacy's persistence about her stinkin' Tinkerbell jamas. We stopped at LJ to spend the night on our way to Atlanta & I only packed an overnight bag to bring in with bare essentials which for 6 people is still alot of stuff. The rest of our clothes and the sacred tinkerbell jamas were in the overhead luggage carrier which we were NOT going to dig through. Here's my conversation with Lacy that went on and on.
Lacy, "Mommy, can I wear my tinkerbell jamas?"
Me, "I can't get them Sissy, they're in the top part"
Lacy, "Mommy, can you pease pease pease get my tinkerbell jamas?"
Me, "No, we're not getting in there. You can wear your clothes to bed, your jamas I have for you or nothing"
Lacy, "Pease, pease, I really really want my tinkerbell jamas"
On and on and on and on until I say....
Me, "Sissy we're not going to talk about it anymore"
Then she sneaks off to ask Jason who also said NO and then comes back kind of following me around.
Lacy, "Mommy..."
Me, "Lacy, I am not going to talk about tinkerbell jamas. Is this about the tinkerbell jamas"
Lacy, "No"
Me, "Great, how can I help you sissy"
Lacy, "Why did we have to put my stuff in the way top"
AAAAAAAHHHHH! She did survive because Lily probably got so tired of hearing about the jamas that she took off her Ariel nightgown and let Lacy wear it.

God stories...

Yesterday, Harper was whining when she was playing with the girls and usually I ask, "What did you do to Harper?" but she's been REALLY whiny so instead I just asked, "What's the problem girls?"

Lacy, "Harper's following us, make her stop following us"
Me, "I can't make Harper stop following you"
Lily, "Only God can, right?"

Earlier, I was getting the girls ready for quiet time and Lily said,
"Can you make it darker" (They like it dark so they can play with their flashlights and forts)
Me, "Nope, only God can make it darker when the sun goes down"
Lacy, "What can you do Mommy"
Lily answers, "Mommy does everything else"
Pretty much!

Twins when we grow up...

On our way to school, the girls sometimes talk about how they're going to live in the neighborhood across the street from us. So we will live close to Mommy and I can come for dinner too. Then, they added..
"and we will be twins when we grow up"
Me, "You can't be twins unless you were born at the same time from Mommy's belly"
Lily, "No, we want to be twins when we grow up"
Me, "You can't be twins when you grow up"
Lacy, "Yes, we will. We will be twins and live in that neighborhood"
Me, "Ok"

Lessons from our layoff

Now, that Jason is back at work and we're back to our 1950s style marriage that works so well for us, I want to make sure I remember the lessons that I want to take with me.
1. I CAN be happy anywhere as long as I have Jason & the girls. As much as I would love to be back somewhere with family someday and somewhere that doesn't have snow 4 months out of the year, it's just not as important as the six of us.

2. My husband rocks. We were together ALOT the past 3 months and after an initial adjustment, it was pretty great. Even through the crap, he can make me laugh like no one else can. He kept his spirits up more than I would have been able to, spent a huge amount of time with the girls just hanging out. Unbelievably blessed to be his wife. He has always been the steady one in our marriage, laidback, even keel. I tried and I think succeeded most of the time in being that kind of person when we went through this, it helped me become the wife I wanted to be.

3. I love being home with the girls. I knew this before but didn't appreciate it as much. We talked one day about if I had to go back to work, well Jason mentioned it and looked at him like a deer in headlights. I didn't sleep that night and felt nauseous just thinking about it. Some days are crazy, some days I want to lock myself in the bathroom for 5 minutes because well, I just want to but I wouldn't change it. I get to do my dream job which is hanging out with my girls all day, every day, 24x7.

I wanted to write this down since this blog is something for me to reflect back on as we journey along in life, now that things are back to "normal".

First week of Kindy completed!

We we've made it a whole week of kindergarten..I think Lily is settling into her new routine and the rest of us are following her lead. Our 5 years of "lazy" freedom are over and everyone is now out the door, loaded into the car at 8:15 5 days a week. Lily was having a rough time talking back and being unkind to her sisters last week, I sent her to her room without finishing her craft and she was up in her room sobbing. I went up to her room to talk it out, here was our conversation:

"Lily, why are you have such a hard time being kind to your sisters"
Lily, while catching her breath, "I think...I think it's because I'm working so hard at school"
Me, trying not to laugh because I know she's totally serious.
"Lily, next time you feel grumpy or like you're going to be unkind, just come as Mommy for a hug. Maybe you just need some extra hugs"
I have to remind myself that this is the biggest change to her little world she's ever had, that even though she's having a great time, she's getting used to being more independent, me not being there to remind her to do things, making her own little friendships without me hovering. We're all navigating our new normal...

Leaving the nest..well for 3 hours a day

My first baby girl is headed to Kindergarten in two short days and she's so unbelievably ready but I'm still not. I get choked up when I go to Walmart and walk by school supplies or when I even think of dropping her off that first day. Jason told me the other day, "She is going to school, you have to take her school, we are not homeschooling" and "This is not like when you didn't want her in daycare, she has to go" I know, I know. And although I've thought seriously about homeschooling, it's probably not the best option for our family and I want her to have that experience right now. Yes, there are days that I think it's great someone else will have to answer her incessant questions for 3 hours 5 days a week but most of me is sad that this phase of her childhood is over. I've had 5 years of being with her almost every day. There will be other influences on her, positive and negative. That someone will hurt her feelings and I won't be there to fix it. I remember bringing her home and being so scared of this little person I was responsible for, her crazy crying spells those first few months, going back to work for one whole day before we knew that me being home was the best thing ever. Lily is so used to be the leader, I think it will be a great experience for her to not be the boss all the time. Lily is my one who questions everything, challenges my answers, is in timeout frequently but she's also so thoughtful, will get her sisters drinks/snacks before she gets her own, will clean up a room for me just because, super smart, makes cards for random people she just met, asks our neighbors if she can have dinner with them or run to home depot if that's where they're headed. Plain and simple, she's our Lily.

What Lily will learn in Kindy...

We pass Lily's school everyday on the way home from the gym and of course, then have to talk about it. Today, it was...
Lily, "Mommy, know what I'm going to learn in Kindergarten?"
Me, "What are you going to learn?"
Lily, "I'm going to learn how to read, how to do instruments and how to be on a stage"
Me, "Who told you that you're going to learn to be on a stage?"
Lily, "Mrs. White" Mrs. White is her Kindy teacher who she has maybe said 10 words to so far.
Me, "Are you sure that's what Mrs. White said?"
Lily, "Yep"

Harper's just nuts...

Gave Harper a cup with some grapes in it for snack, thought she was done but then I found her putting grapes in shoes and then using the shoe to dump the grape in her mouth. Not even her shoes, just gross.

What Daddy should pray for...

Lots to blog about but Haley's been sick, settling in from our trip,etc. so that will have to wait but this morning Jason was getting ready to go to church, then come home to take Lily & Lacy to the beach while I stayed home with the little ones.

Lily, "Where's Daddy going?"
Me, "Church"
Lily, "So he can pray to God to thank him for the beach"
Me, "Something like that"

What would happen?

From Lacy, "What would happen if a dinosaur ate Haley & Daddy?"
Me, "I don't know, what do you think would happen?"
Lacy, "The dinosaur would probably have a bellyache"

I do not like...

From Lily:
"I really do not like having so many boogers in my nose"

Happy Hearted Lacy

It occurred to me today especially that my sweet Lacy is not a complainer and it again makes me grateful that all our girls are so very different. I love that she just eats what is on her plate, usually asks for more, loves fruit and some vegetables. Love that she gets so excited when we buy her any little thing. Love that she wears her underwear backwards most days and sometimes her flip flops on the wrong feet, if you tell her about it, she'll just say, "But Mommy, they feel good" Love that she wanted to buy a stuffed baby giraffe for Jason but now carries it around everywhere and sleeps with it.

Harper the Ham

Harper is our ham, our class clown, one that will do anything for a laugh and then do it over and over.

Wow, a stepstool & a sink full of bubbly water! And I've got on my cool new rain boots. It's my lucky day!

Yes, I just opened every cabinet & now I'm probably going to see if there's anything good to eat in the overflowing garbage bag before Daddy takes it out.

Playroom Sleepover

Lacy & Lily wanted to sleep in the playroom the other night, and as part of my new parenting resolution to say YES whenever possible, I said YES thinking they wouldn't last 20 minutes in there. Well, they did. They spread out their sleeping bags, pillows, Sissy's 50 million animals and then finally fell asleep until 2 am when they came to tell me that their light bright light wasn't staying on and then at 4am when they came to tell me they were going to the bathroom and then at 5:30a when they came to chat with me while I fed Haley. Of course then they slept late & Jason said, "Wow, they slept really well in there"
"No, they didn't. They were up 3 times" Me
"I'll shut up now" Jason
Of course as soon as they got up, they asked if they could sleep in the playroom again.

Thinkin' the girls are ready for fall...

It's that time of year again, the time of year when I go through about 20 giant rubbermaid tubs of little girls clothes. I have memories of my Mom doing this with us to see what fits, what doesn't, what we needed and it's fun that Lily & Lacy are starting to do it with me. They can look at the sizes & know (most of the time) whose bucket it goes in. Anyway, this of course led to them wanting to try on of all things their footie pajamas. FLEECE footie pajamas, it's like 90 degrees this week. Of course these are from 2 years ago so they fit Lacy but are ridiculously small on Lily. I told Lily, "Those are too small for you" "No, they're not, I just can't sit down"
They wanted to play outside in them, I vetoed that idea but they put them right back on when they came inside and requested hot chocolate for a snack...

Haley's a swingin'

Haley loves the baby swing on the playset. I always say I can't wait until next summer when everyone can just hang out outside and play all day but at least now, she can hang out in her swing while the big girls play. Lily was pushing her and Haley laughed & squealed at her, so cute.

Haley with her customary mohawk and giant drool bubble

Where's my giant book of answers?

Lacy & Lily have started asking questions about birth,death, Heaven, God, getting smooshed, cemetaries and every other uncomfortable subject you can think of that doesn't have easy answers. Conversation today on the way home...

Lily, "What's that building?"
Me, "It's a church, see the cross?"
Lily, "For dead people?"
Me, "No, for people that are alive"
Lacy, "Where are the dead people?"
Me, "Dead people are usually in the cemetary, remember the one by our house?"
Lily, "Why are they not in Heaven?"
Me, "Ummmm..." think fast, think fast.
Me, "Well, their bodies are in the cemetary but their spirit & their soul are in Heaven if they loved Jesus"
Lily, "Where's Jesus?"
Me, "Remember? He's in heaven"
Thank goodness they took a break in the conversation to talk about what they were going to eat for lunch but then they saw a police car....
Lily, "I think that police man is going to help someone"
Lacy, "Who is he going to help?"
Lily, "Somebody who got smooshed"
Me, "I bet the policeman will help take them to the hospital to see the dr."
Lily, "No, they're going to Heaven"
Me, "Maybe the Dr. will be able to make them better"
Lily, "Nope, they're going to Heaven"
Lily, "They can't talk in Heaven"
Lacy, "Why not?"
Lily, "Their mouth was smooshed"
Me, "When you go to Heaven, Jesus makes you all better. You're not smooshed in Heaven"
And although these questions leave me stumped sometimes & a little nervous about all the questions to come, it's amazing to me how their little brains work through such complex ideas.

What would happen #3780

Lacy's what would happen question for the day...
Lacy, "Mommy, what would happen if a spider tried to change Daddy's diaper?"
Me, "ummm, I don't know, what do you think would happen?"
Lacy, "Well, the spider would be this (holds her arms out wide) big. And would change daddy's diaper.:
Me, "Ok"
I didn't even ask why Daddy is wearing the diaper, why there is a giant spider changing his diaper because I'm a little scared of her answers.

Buckle Up!

One of the hardest parts of mothering for me is that children have NO sense of urgency. So, when I say girls, go get your shoes on. I think they must hear me say, "Finish playing dollhouse, get a drink of water, push my puppy in the stroller and then if I still remember what Mommy said 5 minutes ago, I will find one shoe and then need her help to find the other"
Getting buckled up to go somewhere is one of my huge pet peeves. Lily & Lacy have boosters that they can get into and buckle/unbuckle themselves. Well, they can if they haven't horribly twisted up the seat belt and it's not stuck. So, our conversations go like this when we're about to leave.
Me, "Newton girls, load up"
Me, "What's the first thing we do when we get in the car"
Lily & Lacy, "Get in our car seats, buckle up"
They head out to the car, I get Haley in her car seat, go out to the garage and usually find a scenario like this.
Me "Girls, we are not watering our flowers, riding our bikes, scooters, pushing Harper in the stroller, picking bugs up off the floor,etc. We need to get in the car, get buckled" They then will get in the car but usually before buckling up, they'll need to situate their water bottles, animals, get a favorite book, talk to Harper, ask where Haley is, where we're going, if we can go through the big puddle, why the road is so bumpy, if I brought snacks, if Makayla will be at the gym, if Erin can come over that day,etc. This is usually when I take a deep breath so I don't start screaming.

Sweet Haley Mae

Seriously, I have to live with all these other people? I thought for sure I requested a family with NO other children?
Sleep now sweet girl, your sisters will be carrying you around like a sack of potatoes in the next few hours

New York State of Mind

Conversation between Lily & Daddy
Lily, "When will we go to New York?"
Daddy, "Why do you want to go to New York?"
Lily, "It's my favorite state"
Daddy, "Why is it your favorite state?"
Lily, "They have so much candy there"

Family & Friends

Had lots of fun with the girls on the trip, took Lily & Lacy to see Toy Story 3. The girls have been to the movies with Grandma & Grandpa so this was our first time seeing them watching a movie. It was 3D and they didn't quite get it so they kept taking their glasses off. Lacy was just as thrilled with her Icee as the movie, Lily got a little restless and told me she was sleepy a few times. Jason said, They're at such a fun age and he's so right. They're done with diapers, bottles, almost done with naps so it's so easy to just pick up and take them anywhere. Mammy tells me not to wish my life away but I will be glad when we're able to do more things as a family without having to worry about the baby schedules.
Hung out with Aunt Cheryl and Lauren at the pool, little nervous about taking all of them to the pool but it was so much fun. Harper loved it, Haley slept and hung out in her stroller. I love it when I think things will go horribly wrong and it turns out just fine. Lily & Lacy wanted to spend the night at Aunt Cheryl's, probably because she's so much fun but also because she has two cats that I think they want to terrorize.
Thomas came to play with us at Mammy's house which was great just to watch how fascinated they are just because he's not their sibling and he's a BOY which we don't get alot of. That's something I miss because we're far away, I would love to be able to have them grow up together and be close. We even ventured out to Cracker Barrel with our "Party" of 12. I use the term party loosely, it is anything but a party and anything but relaxing when you have that many children eating out. LOVED watching the munchkins play together...

Lacy pulling Harper who only weighs 7 pounds less than her.
Trying to get a good pic of Thomas & Harper. They're probably thinking, "Woman, move out of the way, we're trying to see if Elmo is on"

Do I not just look like Jason Newton but with a giant yellow polka dot bow?

I said, "Move woman, we're trying to watch Elmo?"

Thomas pulling what suspiciously looks like a purse...SSSHHH! Don't tell Neal.

They like this bathtub since it has doors, they can have PRIVACY

Harper, livin' the good life, eating chips and hanging out with Daddy

Everything tastes better when you sit on a blanket and it's at the pool

Shwimming!

Woman, don't touch these toys! Everything was just fine until you girls showed up...

Teeny, tiny, baby Grant