I work out.

February 24, 2016February 24, 2016Amber Leave a comment

I work out

There’s a cute little t-shirt design circulating around my moms of multiples group with vinyl lettering stating, “I work out. Just kidding! I have quadruplets.” I’ve informed hubby this would be an excellent gift for me because it’s quite accurate.

After people discover I have quadruplets, the next question is often “How are you so small?” I don’t have a gym membership, and I don’t work out, but seriously I don’t need to. I HAVE QUADRUPLETS. It’s a workout every. single. day. all. day. I don’t have a FitBit or similar gadget, but if I did, it would most certainly indicate that I walk a gazillion steps each day. I literally do not sit down until I’m going to bed, and when I do I conk out fast. When when we sit down for family meals, I find myself getting up numerous times to take care of various things. If you’d like to know what a typical “easy” day for me is, check out my diary on Fort Worth Child, here. (my entry ends at 9:15, but at that point in the day I’m usually up tackling chores or whatever until at least 11:00 pm, sometimes even midnight.) Before Christmas, we went to ICE! at the Gaylord with my sister and her fiance. Much to our chagrin, each of us ended up toting a child clad in a huge parka through the line and exhibit. It was undoubtedly a challenge for all of us. I got a huge chuckle days later when George, Matt, and Courtney all complained of burning biceps, but I didn’t even notice. I’m apparently used to lugging an extra 25-40 pounds and my biceps are well conditioned.

Sydney at the Gaylord Texan ICE exhibit

Gaylord Texan ICE 2015

A typical day for me is a decent workout, and then I have intense weight training and cardio days, like Monday. Harper and Mason bounded into our room at about 6:30 am, and we immediately noticed Harper’s eyelashes were covered in gunk. Pink Eye. Definitely pink eye. After peeling myself out of bed, I logged onto the computer and requested an 8:00 am appointment with the pediatrician. It was the first one of the day, early, but I wanted to knock it out. Plus, we had a play date planned with our quad buddies, the Bells. There was a miniscule chance this gunk was non-contagious allergies, and if so I wanted to keep our playdate. After requesting the appointment, I started scrambling to get everyone ready for the day. I was feeling pretty accomplished. All kids were dressed and fed by 7:15 am, and I donned my “mom uniform” aka yoga pants and a pullover (perfect for a work out!). At about 7:30 am, George called and in a flustered tone said, “You’re going to kill me!” I couldn’t imagine what sin he’d committed so early. In a rush to get to work, he mistakenly took my car keys instead of his own. This would be fine except there is only ONE key to my Explorer, and even worse, George was too far from home to turn around. Scenarios began rushing through my head.

I could cancel the appointment. It was probably allergies anyways. Right?
I could insist George take a half day, and request a later appointment. I wanted this to be a good solution, but I knew it wasn’t. He’d waste over half the day driving.
I could load the kids into our EasyGo Foldable Wagon and pull them to the pediatrician.

Which would your choose? Being a workout buff, I obviously chose #3! I pulled the wagon from the garage and loaded the four into it and began huffing it. I started strong, the sidewalk was smooth and flat, and I was energized. And then I realized we live in a ~~rather hilly~~ mountainous neighborhood. Heaving a wagon that outweighs oneself uphill most certainly counts as cardio and weight training. Wheesh! We made it to the office in 15 minutes, which wasn’t shabby. I probably smelled awful and looked like I’d run a marathon, but we made it. As we waited for the doctor to check Harper, I started wondering if she’d say it really was allergies or nothing to worry about. I’d be seething if so….I’d loaded four kids into a wagon, walked uphill (both ways), and paid our copay. This was one of those moments when the kid needed a legitimate diagnosis.

This wagon was a Christmas gift from some friends, and it is nifty! We parted ways with our quad stroller because the kids were unwilling to ride it in, but for long walks lost stamina. This wagon folds flat and fits easily into our trunk, but fits all four kiddos!

When the doctor walked in she immediately noted, “I know which child I’m seeing today!” She then examined Harper’s ears, eyes, and throat. It wasn’t long before he had a diagnosis of conjunctivitis and a double ear infection. Poor guy! I felt bad that he was really sick, but it did legitimize our morning jaunt. Since Rylin was beginning to show symptoms, a prescription was also called in for her (A-M-E-N). With diagnoses made and prescriptions written, we were headed back home at last. Pink eye is terrible, people. Just terrible. Sydney was taken victim two days later, and Mason is holding out but is probably doomed to the same fate.

We have two tiny bottles of eye drops to be administered one drop per eye THREE times per day PER kid. Of course, these little drops while miraculous with their healing powers, are not appreciated by the children. When they spy the bottle, they take cover and have to be wrestled like crocodiles. We then drop one droplet onto closed lids because nobody will open their eyes for this fun. Then we pray something gets onto the eyeball banishing the eye goop from our home.

In case you wondered how I stay slim without a gym membership, I have quadruplets. It’s a workout just managing the day to day.

What’s nuts is I’ve walked the kids to the doctor and dentist on my own volition, not just because I didn’t have keys. There was a time when the kids were so difficult to load into car seats that loading the stroller and walking was easier. Plus, it was a workout.

hugs!

Amber

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Food Revolution Phase 3: Family Style Meals

February 10, 2016Amber 11 Comments

mealtime peace

Dating back to our newlywed days, George and I have eaten dinner together at the table with no interruptions. Family meals were equally important with the addition of children. When the quads were babies, George constructed a quad feeding table, which worked well for spoon feeding them. When they were about two years old, we transitioned to a family dinner table, which helped us better enjoy family meals because we were facing each other. For a while, mealtime was a pleasurable experience, but then it became dreadful.

Eliminating snacks certainly didn’t improve mealtime, and changing our snack menu improved nutrition, but still did not alleviate mealtime stress. Once again, I was back to the drawing board. I thought back to a conversation I had with one of our ECI therapists about a year ago. She too experienced mealtime woes and found the work of Ellyn Satter quite helpful. The foundation of Ellyn Satter’s work hinges on this principle:

“The parent is responsible for what, when, where. The child is responsible for how much and whether.” – Ellyn Satter Institute (ESI)

I thought we’d done a decent job following this principle as well as many of the other recommendations of the ESI.

Served three meals a day at regular times with snacks in between
Sat at the table to eat
We ate as a family with no interruptions
We did not operate as short order cooks and did not limit our menu to appease anyone
We always served something the kids would like at meals, and included a satisfying starch
We let the kids choose which items from the meal to eat and how much of each item
We denied snacks between the regular meal and snack times

Despite all of these long standing mealtime habits, there were disgruntled children at our dinner table and it was unpleasant. Having quadruplets means that many of our daily tasks are completed in an assembly line manner, which makes things efficient and fair. The kid’s plates were no exception. In the past, after a meal was prepared, we set out the kids plates, filling them with each part of our meal. We ended up with four identical plates that were doled out at the table. During the meal, they were allowed to opt out of eating anything on their plate and were encouraged to put unwanted items to the side. They could also request more of anything they especially liked. Yet, there were many nights that kids screeched about something at dinner. I had one final idea I wanted to attempt.

While I was cooking dinner, I started asking the kids to set the table, giving each child something to set out. They took this new responsibility very seriously, and it really helped me because it completed a task and kept them occupied while I was busy. Once the meal was ready, we placed all of the food on the center of the table. Then, we’d take each dish, going around the table to ask each child if they wanted any. If it was an item they could self serve, we let them. If it was too difficult for them to manage, we’d ask them where (the where is critical) on their plate we should put the food, and how much. This small change was magical. Three year olds crave independence and control over anything they can manage. Giving them the control over what went on their plate and where it went alleviated our mealtime stress.

We’ve been serving all meals in this manner for about a month. In that time period, not one child has thrown a fit. In fact, the kids have been extremely complimentary about their meals saying things such as, “I like this meal, Mama!” (Mind you, they are complimenting the very meals that previously sent them into a tailspin.) They’ve also tried foods they previously denied. They don’t clean their plate, and I don’t want them to. Instead, they are eating until they feel satisfied and most of all, they are happy. Mealtime peace has been restored!

Rylin didn’t want to oblige me for a photo, but her plate is a really good example of how it was designed by her. She really loves tomatoes and she chose a tomato salad with Japanese dressing on it. The other three aren’t as keen on tomatoes and opted out.

How is dinner served at your house?

hugs!

Amber

Food Revolution: Phase 2 Snacks Redefined

February 7, 2016Amber 5 Comments

snacks redefined

When eliminating snacks was unsuccessful for improving dinnertime, I was back to the drawing board. First, I considered our goals for dinner, and with feeding in general.

We wanted the kids eating a well balanced diet that was adequate for health and growth. This was critical since our family has experienced chronic constipation, food allergies, and our children are much smaller than same age peers.
We wanted the entire family to have pleasant mealtime experiences.

Since banning snacks basically created hangry children, I decided it was time for everyone (adults and children) to redefine snacks. Over the past few years, we developed poor snacking habits. The majority of the time, snacks consisted of food with minimal nutritional value. Snacking wasn’t the problem itself, the bigger issue was these foods often became substitutes for meals and the kids weren’t getting adequate nutrition. Keeping this in mind, I tweaked the snack menu.

When our typical afternoon snack time arrived, I started offering several choices that included primarily fruits and vegetables, and other sources of protein such as nuts or dairy. In the beginning, the kids were NOT pleased with these options, and often on their own volition skipped snacks altogether. On many occasions they demanded off menu items. Instead of catering to their whims, I continued offering a variety of options that included items I knew they’d enjoyed before. We have two tiered basket on the counter top that is always full of fruit (often chosen by the kids during shopping trips), and these were consistently offered as snacks. In addition, if someone didn’t eat part of a meal, and it was an item I knew they liked, I put it into lidded containers color coded by child. Leftovers could then be added to the snack menu.

Here, we had left over Greek yogurt, apples, and pasta that was untouched at lunch.

After the weeks trudged on, the kids finally started trying their new snack options and enjoying them. I could not believe it when Sydney chose apples for her snack, and then gobbled them with a huge smile on her face. This was a BIG deal, people. Sydney is a self proclaimed “carnival” (e.g. carnivore) who loves to nosh meat and carbohydrates. Fruit and veggies have never been atop her preferred foods list, yet she decided apples were indeed tasty. While we were shopping, she requested grapes. This was huge for her.

Raw carrots for snack? Why yes! And look at those smiles!

During this process of redefining snacks, our snack menu is somewhat limited. At the same time, our previously enjoyed foods are not “forbidden” either. I want the kids to learn how to enjoy a variety of food and feel satisfied with some of the most nutritious foods, but to also appreciate treats. I enjoy desserts and salty snacks, why shouldn’t they?

Even with better snacking habits underway, improving the kid’s nutritional intake, my second goal was not yet achieved. The kids were often fussy at dinner, claiming to be “very hungry” then refusing to eat anything presented to them. It was not uncommon for one or more children to proclaim something such as “This is DISGUSTING!” (Thank you, Pixar for Inside Out, and adding “disgust” to the children’s emotional vocabulary.) It seemed that the kids took turns having a dinnertime tantrum so we’d experience at least one per night. Even worse, tantrums occurred even when we served favorite meals and despite the fact we told them they didn’t have to eat anything they didn’t want. Dinner was an exasperating experience most nights.

At this point, we were on the cusp of accomplishing both of the feeding goals, but weren’t quite there. Stay with me, I know many others are having similar struggles and are eager to discover what finally made all the difference in the world.

Hugs!

Amber

Food Revolution Phase 1: Snack Detox

February 4, 2016February 7, 2016Amber 8 Comments

banned snacks

I was ecstatic when the quads were able to start eating purees. I genuinely enjoyed preparing homemade baby food and introducing new foods to their palates. They had favorites, but typically tried whatever landed in their mouth. Beginning table foods was another exciting adventure for us. The quads loved practicing their pincer grasp to stuff morsels of food into their mouths. As babies, they were relatively good eaters.

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When making baby food, I froze purees into silicone ice cube trays. Then, I thawed combinations of purees to create meals. This one was a favorite: mango and avocado.

2-IMG_3962

Then toddlerhood began. Toddlers are notorious for being picky eaters and my foursome was no exception. Just before age two, they became VERY opinionated about what they would or would not sample. We decided early on we weren’t catering to anyone’s whims and we continued to present a variety of food at each meal. We never forced them to eat certain things, but encouraged them to taste since children often need at least a dozen opportunities to sample something before deciding they like it. As our finicky toddlers transformed to preschoolers things went from bad to worse.

1-IMG_7497 3-IMG_7553

As preschoolers, the kids began articulating their strong opinions about food and how it was served. If we so much as cut their sandwich in a triangle instead of a rectangle, someone would burst into tears. If a preferred food didn’t materialize when requested, tears. Dinner became frustrating. After working hard to prepare fresh meals I’d hear protests at the table, tears streamed, and some kids ate nothing from their plates. On occasion, dinner tantrums were severe enough that kids needed breaks away from the table to compose themselves. By bedtime, whining of hunger would begin since no one ate a decent dinner.

After months of this, I decided it was time for a food revolution. I assessed our eating habits and noticed that afternoon snacks seemed problematic. I’m not against snacking, and know that a grazing pattern is good for one’s metabolism (I’m typically a grazer), but snacks were seriously interfering with dinner. I was allowing the kids to fill themselves on salty carbohydrates (e.g. goldfish, veggie straws, pretzels) and by dinner they weren’t hungry. Initially, I tried using small Gladware containers to monitor portions, but things didn’t improve. It seemed that if these kids consumed a single goldfish it would expand and fill their stomach before dinner.

For a few weeks, I put the kibosh on all afternoon snacks. It was a difficult transition. The kids whined after nap as I prepared dinner, but I stuck with it. ABSOLUTELY NO SNACKS!!! To accommodate the change, I started serving dinner about half an hour earlier than normal. The kids were hungrier no doubt, and they ate a little more at dinner. Our problems were only partially solved, however. There was still plenty of moaning and lots of tears about dinner. Our frustration continued, and dinner was a stressful time. Eliminating snacks was clearly not the solution to making dinner more pleasant.

Stay tuned to find out what we did next, and what we did to finally improve dinnertime.

Do you have afternoon snacks at your house? Is dinner time stressful for your family?

Hugs,

Amber

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Stupid Cupid

January 29, 2016January 28, 2016Amber Leave a comment

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In case you were oblivious, Cupid has landed and love is in the air. Apparently Mason spied the solar powered Cupid bobble head in the playroom window after he woke up. He darted into the kitchen and in giddy tones proclaimed the following:

Mason-“I saw Stupid in the window!!! It’s Valentine’s Day!”

Me- “What did you say? You saw what?!?!”

Mason- (with a puzzled expression) “What’s that little Valentine’s angel named?”

Me- “Do you mean Cupid?”

Mason- “YES! (giggles) I think I was speaking Spanish!”

Naturally this little Freudian slip unleased questions about the word stupid and resulted in a teachable moment about appropriate use of the word “stupid”.

Hugs,

Amber

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Old McGuire’s Farm

January 27, 2016Amber Leave a comment

Quite a while ago we promised the kids we would take them to visit our friend Ed’s cattle farm. The kids periodically asked when we’d go, but we never carved out the time. We even started singing “Old McGuire’s Farm” instead of “Old McDonald.” This winter our farm visit finally came to fruition. The weather turned out to be far cooler and windier than we anticipated, but everyone had a delightful experience nonetheless.

We started out with a cozy hayride to visit the angus cattle and buffalo. I must admit, baby buffalo are cute critters.

Then it was time for each of the kids to take turns riding in various vehicles, including my favorite, a John Deere tractor. Being a vehicle aficionado, Harper was elated!

One all the tractor rides were complete we were feeling pretty chilly. A little hot chocolate and fire roasted s’mores helped keep us feeling warm, at least temporarily.

High straight line winds eventually convinced us to head into the barn for more adventure. There, the kids took turns pretending to drive Ed’s vintage cars and chatted with his mounted deer. George’s ventriloquist act thoroughly impressed the kids who genuinely believed the deer spoke to them.

Everyone had such fun exploring the farm that we cannot wait for a sunny spring day when we can go fishing in the pond!

hugs!

Amber

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Outdoor Play, Everyday!

January 21, 2016Amber 8 Comments

outdoor play

I hate it when I don’t take my own advice with the kids, especially when it involves one of my “soapboxes”. This is one of those instances. Professionally, I receive numerous requests to consult with parents and teachers regarding behavior and academic problems in children. Over the past decade I’ve observed hundreds of classrooms in many different schools. I often find myself fidgeting while observing lengthy lectures in elementary classrooms and think to myself, “I can’t sit still this long, why are KIDS expected to do so?!?!” For behavior problems (e.g. off task behavior, verbal or physical aggression, fidgeting) I always recommend additional opportunities for sensory motor activity. I’ve advocated for hyperactive children to get additional recess, or at least extra opportunities to move during their day.

When school staff uses removal of recess as a consequence I’ve encouraged them to at least consider what I dubbed “alternative recess” where the child is not permitted to use the playground, but instead can exercise, run laps, walk the perimeter of the playground, etc. to avoid making them sit still. When teachers are told they cannot provide more than 15 minutes of recess per day, but struggle with behavior problems, I encourage them to sneak physical activity into their lessons. Some teachers take breaks between lesson and lead in classroom exercises while others take the class outdoors for lessons. In order for children to be ready and able to attend and follow directions, they require adequate physical activity. This year I cringed as I overheard a kindergarten teacher announce “You won’t get recess tomorrow if you are hyper like this again! You can’t handle recess.” and when another teacher opted for indoor recess because it was “too cold” (it was about 50 degrees and sunny). Kids are not equipped to remain still and quiet indoors for long periods of time, and there are ramifications when adults expect it.

During the heat of the summer, I took the kids for walks around the neighborhood and we played in the front or back yard at least once per day if not more. If it was miserably hot, we used water to keep things comfortable, or ate cold snacks like watermelon and popsicles. Sometime around October I mentally thought it was too late in the season to do water play and put all the water toys away, but it was still HOT here. There was less daylight at that time too and the rain came. It must’ve been about that time of year that we stopped playing outside daily. We got into a rut of indoor play and being quite lazy. When the holidays came, we over indulged in television.

No surprise, the kids weren’t napping well and were often cranky. DUH! They didn’t get adequate physical activity and outdoor play. Since having that “ah-ha” moment, I’ve made a conscious effort to take the kids outside to play at least once, if not twice daily. If it’s cold or damp, we dress for the weather and find few legitimate excuses to stay inside. The kids typically balk and fuss about going outside, but once they start playing they forget they wanted to stay indoors then fuss when playtime ends.

Outside, the kids have noticed shapes in the clouds, experienced static electricity, and “cooked” meals using garden harvests.

Sasha has enjoyed sunbathing again and the chicks found plenty of bugs to nosh.

Our play equipment has been enjoyed again.

The American Heart Association recommends that children two and older get at least 60 minutes of moderate physical activity daily.

One of the major reasons we moved from our old house was for a yard with ample space for play equipment, a garden, kids to run freely, and to house backyard chickens. We’ve invested quite a bit in the yard to make it a sanctuary for our family and it must be used every single day. Since getting back outdoors, the kid’s behavior has improved. They sleep better, are in better moods, are using their imaginations, and are learning. I’m reaping these benefits and so are the furry and feathered members of our family. Outdoor time serves us well! Sometimes it takes a little effort to get kids dressed for outdoor play, but it’s always worthwhile.

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Peppermint Mocha

January 14, 2016January 14, 2016Amber Leave a comment

@FourtoAdore.com

During the holiday season we took the kids to Starbucks for a hot cocoa date and ordered a peppermint mocha for the adults. When Sydney batted her big brown eyes and begged for a sip, Daddy obliged. Her thoughts on the beverage….

“Mmmm, coffee! It tastes like chocolate toothpaste!”

A toothpaste flavored beverage doesn’t sound particularly enjoyable to me, but Sydney seemed to enjoy it, and I thought it was a good peppermint mocha.

What will these kids say next?!?!

hugs,

Amber

Quadruplets Quoted

January 8, 2016January 7, 2016Amber 1 Comment

@FourtoAdore.com

The kids have been rather gregarious for a while now, but in recent days they’ve been coming up with some hysterical and sometimes heartwarming material. In fact, I purchased a blank journal for each of them and have done my best to jot down our favorite quotes. If you follow us on Facebook, you may have seen a few cute ones posted.

This gem comes from Harper.

Harper was busily playing with his rescue vehicles when he announced,

Harper: “Mom! The fire truck and ambulance are having a baby!”

Me: “Oh really…What kind of baby?” (I was thinking boy or girl)

Harper: “They had a train!”

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Harper and the happy new family!

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Happy Friday! Stay tuned for more quadruplets quoted…

hugs,

Amber

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Train Ride {Summer Bucket List}

December 30, 2015Amber Leave a comment

Yes, you read the title correctly, it says “Summer Bucket List“, and it’s December. I set out to take the kids on a train ride as part of our summer bucket list, but our trip was delayed significantly. Nisey and Poppa gave the kids a train ride coupon for their birthday in July, and then we all decided it was much too hot to enjoy during the summer. Nisey and I researched local trains and considered which would be most enjoyable for three year olds. We determined the train at the zoo was both cost effective and ideal for preschool aged kids (e.g. classic looking train with a 15 minute trip). Then we waited crisp, yet sunny weather for our trip. After Poppa purchased our tickets we boarded the Yellow Rose and awaited departure. Harper could hardly believe we were riding on a legitimate train.