What a week...

Whew it has been a week that's for sure. I started a fitness camp on Monday with some of the locals. I've committed myself to waking up at 4:40am Monday through Friday for the next 6 weeks to have my rear kicked by a trainer in hope to get into better shape and best case scenario, lose a pound or two. Being in athletics all through high school as well as playing volleyball and cheering, I've had my fair share of workouts. It's been what...omg...8 years since I've graduated therefore have been in no "real" kind of exercise program in nearly a decade. Nice. Hopefully by the end of this 6 week program I'll consider myself, dare I say...fit. As for this moment in time I resemble an 84 year old grandmother in need of her cane to get from point A to point B. My muscles are extremely sore and I've been reminded all week of just what a quad pregnancy can do to your once strong abdominal muscles. The quad's have two new words in their vocabulary "exercise" and "sore". Just this morning I let out a ridiculous moan as I sat bent kneeled FELL down to change Brody's diaper. He softly laughed and said "I sore!". I'll keep you posted on the whole workout thing.

As for the babies. If I truly thought they could, I'd bet they read this blog. I mentioned in the last post how we've had more good days than bad... why oh why did I put it in writing? I'm telling you, they can sense it. This week has been a rough one to say the least. I've been tired, sore, and a little stressed as we slowly approach the potty training stage and the little normal "2 year old" things they do have worn my nerves big time! I've captured some of their mischief on camera to share with you (and to show them when they get older and are blessed with 2 year old angels of their own).

I can remember when they were little, they couldn't even see what was on the tables or dressers, let alone reach for it.

Our first work of art on the wall by Mr. Korbin. As silly as it sounds, color time is stressful in our house. They fight over the crayons, they "hog" them (another new word in their vocabulary by the way) Kylee still occasionally eats one and on top of that drama I'm trying desperately to keep them contained so our carpets and furniture stay they color they are. This particular day they were in the table, I walked away for 4.8 seconds and come back to this...

Using more bins to their advantage... and yes that's a boy in a pink pull-up...Korbin, being a sweet brother, makes sure Brody is in on the action too. "There ya go BroBro, now reeacch, I got ya!"
The ball pit is the one thing I want to get rid of because it takes up SO MUCH ROOM but it's the one thing they play with every single day. Just this week they learned they could push and slide it away from the wall and learned some new, more exciting ways to play with it. Here we have Korbin ready to fly down the slide ON his truck while Miss B takes a leap from the couch behind him into the balls...

Oh and in case that doesn't make me nervous enough, Korbin, after successfully making several trips down the slide going forward decided it may be even more fun to go backwards... Each day that passes is just one day closer to the day you see a post about someones broken arm.

I'll end on a good note. Today I took them all to the local grocery store by myself STROLLERLESS! Like I mentioned above we're slowly entering the potty training stages and we ran out of candy (m&ms and skittles as rewards). It was morning, therefore the store isn't busy and we JUST needed a few little bags of candy so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl. I loaded them up with their Monkey backpacks that also double as leashes, just in case. As we pulled up to the store, I was surprised at how all of the feelings rushed back from when I first started taking them out by myself when they were itty bitty. What if they make a scene and I look like a huge idiot in front of everyone for even trying this? I pushed the feelings of insecurity away, unloaded them one by one and strapped on their backpacks. We had a mob of people watching as I herded them from the car towards the door but we made it in successfully. The first thing they saw upon entering were mylar sports ball balloons hanging in the checkout lines "LOOOOONNNSS!! LOOOONS! BALLSS" they all yelled at one time causing everyone to turn and look. We continued towards the candy aisle and they listened pretty well. At any given time there was a total distance of 20 feet between the first one and the last one as they walked and gazed up at everything at the same time. I'd find myself yelling "Baxlyn slow down, wait for the others...Brody speed up...Kylee look out, watch where you're going!... Don't touch... This way this way!" I know people could hear me across the store and I lost count of how many times I apologized to people for the kids walking into them or their cart. Luckily we live in a small town and the employees of the store "know us" as do a handful of the customers. Everyone was very sweet and told the babies how good they were doing and how impressed they were with their good behavior. Needless to say I left feeling relieved and just a little more confident in my abilities as a Mom of multiples! As smooth as it went we have no intentions of letting go of the strollers just yet!

Until next time!

Life at 2

Two and a half. In just 5 short months my littles will be 3 years old. As far as "Terrible Twos" go, I gotta say the last few months have been REALLY good for us (knock on wood)! Shortly after their 2nd birthday we had a rough time but lately, as much as they drive me crazy, we've had more good days than bad. From what I hear it's no longer Terrible Twos, it's three that's the hardest, so we'll see what next year brings! For now, it's a life of new exciting stages and their little personalities are shining through more and more as time passes and I love it!

It seems like yesterday they were saying "Dada and Up" and today we're having full blown conversations with them. Their vocabulary has gone from a little to a lot in just a few months. They're slowly but surely learning their ABCs, 123s and nursery rhymes. Colors...that's another story. Really, I've been trying for months and e v e r y t h i n g is blue. They know there are different colors, they can say yellow, red, black...etc but when it comes down to it blue is their first and only guess. The wall is blue, their celery is blue, the dog is blue..everything! I know, they'll get it eventually but gah, kinda drives me nuts!

They always surprise me with how much they really do know. We have story time where we read and look at pictures in books, I ask them to point to a certain object and Kylee, Korbin & Baxlyn just about knock me over excitedly trying to point to that object as fast as they can. Those three are anxious to repeat numbers and colors and such but Brody on the other hand, tends to sit back and watch and I wonder if he pays attention. Just the other day I listened outside his bedroom door as he said/sung "A B C D...pause...H I..mumble mumble P...pause... 5 6 7...long pause...2 3...I can't count." It was so so adorable, make me wish I could have a camera running all the time! Sure he missed letters and numbers but it showed me he does listen and is picking up a few things along the way! Korbin's version of the ABCs goes like this "A B C D, Q I S. YAY!" He's so confident it's hilarious!

Last night I was preparing their bath while they ate dinner. From the bathroom I hear Baxlyn singing "Jesus love me dis no...Bible me so...mumble mumble... long... Yes Jesus love me...Bible tell me so!" Not believing what I was hearing and knowing that If I turned the corner and she saw me she would stop, I just stood there with my jaw on the floor and listened as she sung the song I've been singing to them for a while. It's these moments that remind me I WILL miss these days. Just like their newborn stage, these days will quickly be gone as well.

Kylee, this girl is something else. She's a people person and continues to easily wrap other's around her finger. When we're out in public people are drawn to her... literally drawn to her since they were tiny babies. It's freakishly amazing. Complete strangers constantly mention her smile, her eyes and her sweet spirit whether we have them all with us or just her alone. While the other three are playing with toys, running and laughing Kylee would much rather sit with you and talk about the people and dogs she knows. The memory this little girl has is incredible. She can meet a person or a dog (sounds funny I know, but she LOVES dogs and animals in general) one time and she will not forget them. Just the other day she went potty on the potty (YAY!) and wanted to call Bella, Cody and "da udda one" (meaning the other dog, Tess) to tell them. Really? Let's not call Nana, let's call your friend's dogs...? So we did and she proudly told them she went potty on the potty.

With age they're becoming more independant, which is mostly good. They enjoy helping me with laundry which helps me and keep them busy. They think it's great when I throw all the dirty clothes in the hallway and let them carry it from there to the washer by themselves. It takes about 10 minutes total and is super cute to watch. The three take one little shirt or sock at a time while Baxlyn tries to carry as much as she possible can dropping things all along the way. I'm now able to bribe (yes bribe) them by saying "If you want to help me with laundry you have to put up toys.." works like a stinkin' charm. Laundry = reward, who would have ever guessed.

Another thing they enjoy and look forward to is the trash truck. They hear the truck coming from down the road and sprint to the front door to wave and watch through the glass window. The trash guys, I have a feeling, look forward to seeing the quads too. The driver pulls up and stops right in front of the house so he can wave at the babies and then pulls up a few feet so the men on the back on the truck can wave as well. It's been a ritual for several months now. No matter what's happening at the time the trash truck comes, they have to go watch. We've had therapists have to take a break during therapy sessions just so they could go wave, it's hilarious. I'll have to get it on video some day!

A few more things that float their boats at this stage are flossing their teeth, putting their dishes in the sink, checking the mail and being allowed to touch "cool things". By cool things we're talking the "bikel" aka the exercise bike, the vacuum, the mailbox and hairdryer. It's these little things they are SO into now days that make it fun for me as their mom. Who gets excited about carrying laundry? Who wants to call a dog on the phone? Who would rather floss their teeth than watch TV? My little 2 year olds, that's who and I love them for their little cute, weird obsessions!

Equal Rights

So you might be thinking the boys taught the girls (see here)... we'll they didn't. All has been good until the girls spotted the "auuww-some" tape wrapped around the boys' diapers after nap. The girls, having no clue what the purpose of the tape is, INSISTED they have it around their waists too. Who am I not to allow them to be cool like their brothers?! Oh silly girls...