The Little Things Thursdays: Installment #8

March 21, 2013Amber 6 Comments

I love when the Little Things Thursdays come back around each week. Thursdays help me pause to reflect upon the past week and all of the wonderful things that transpired. Even though the purpose is to delight in little things, this week we seem have more BIG things to celebrate. I hoped to write full posts on a few of them, but never managed to carve out the time to write them. Hmmm, I wonder why….

1. March 20th was a momentous day in our family. George and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary. We had a hearty chuckle when George thought it was our eight instead. I’m relatively certain that the hoopla of 2012 caused a mental lapse for George and a few more gray hairs. Several weeks ago, Rebecca at A Beautiful Ruckus took a poll asking fellow quad mamas how much they felt having quads aged them. I responded, “not at all”, which likely comes as a surprise (considering the strain of carrying them and how demanding caring for them is now). The truth is I do feel older, but the fact is that I am older. Every day that passes I am one day older than before and I am okay with that. George and I look so young in our wedding pictures, but we were young then, nine years younger to be exact. In our nine years of marriage, we’ve had moments of sickness and health, richer and poorer with each experience helping us to grow together. Through it all, there is no one I’d rather have at my side than George.

George and I met at a pancake breakfast at church. I surprised him with the ingredients for a hearty breakfast for dinner and we spent the evening cooking together. Cooking as a team is something we really miss.

George and I met at a pancake breakfast at church. In honor of our anniversary I surprised him with the ingredients for a nostalgic breakfast for dinner and we spent time cooking it together. He planned to bring take out home and let me take a luxurious bath. Since I beat him to the punch with dinner, I got a rain check for tomorrow.

On March 20th the babies also celebrated their eight month birthday. I took another obligatory crib picture of them. They are really starting to fill it out! Harper is officially in nine month clothing and Rylin is in 6/9 month clothes. Sydney and Mason insist on keeping their six month wardrobe to make sure that clothing storage is a challenge for me.

2. Okay, this one is a little thing, but worthy of mention in our Big Things post. Grandaddy did not style Sydney’s hair. It was a tad chilly when we took an evening walk so she donned a bear hat. She looked like this when I removed her hat! Serious case of hat hair, I think.

3. Do you notice anything different about our recent quad feed? This is MAJOR progress at our house!

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that this does not happen the whole feed all the time. However, we are making huge gains in the fact that they are interested, willing, and able to hold their bottles independently. I have not used our bottle buddies in the past week at all!

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the fact that this does not happen the entire feed all the time. The way Rylin decided to look at her bottle is fairly common during a feed. However, we are making huge gains in the fact that they are interested, willing, and able to hold their bottles independently. I have not used our bottle buddies in the past week at all!

What little or big things filled your week?

hugs!

Amber

Who wore green today?

March 17, 2013Amber 3 Comments

Here is our March artwork. I commissioned my friend, Jen, for this one. We agreed a four leaf clover was appropriate.

On this beautiful Saint Patrick’s Day we took the babies on a mini road trip to my parent’s house. I say “road trip” because it’s an hour drive there and taking the babies anywhere besides a walk seems like a road trip. We stuffed the van with a package of diapers, package of wipes. four pairs of pajamas, eight bibs, four booster seats, a swing, a travel crib (mom has two more), four bottles, two cans of formula, four jars of baby food….you get the idea. It was everything but the kitchen sink and it practically looked like we were going out of town. In everyone’s best interest, we waited to leave until after the babies’ morning nap. I knew they probably wouldn’t get much shut-eye at Nisey and Grandpa’s so I thought at least one good nap was in order. After their 11 am spoon feed (green beans) and bottle we corralled everyone into the van and hit the road in our green attire. Thankfully, the babies made good use of their time in the van and took a decent nap.

Everyone wore green today in honor of Saint Patrick. And of course we didn’t want anyone being pinched.

A faux road trip seemed to be an occasion worthy of shoe wearing for everyone.

Upon our arrival, the babies made note of their new surroundings. Eight little eyes darted around the living room fully aware that we weren’t in Kansas anymore. They clearly knew it was new territory. Rylin being her pensive self really seemed to take it all in and pouted a little bit initially. When everyone was settled, the big people enjoyed a home cooked meal complete with cabbage and potatoes in honor of our Irish heritage. The babies of course were served some delicious formula. After lunch, George, my sister, and I headed to visit my Grandfather while the babies stayed behind. Nisey and Grandpa reported that the babies took a short nap then devoured their spoon feeds despite being in a new place and using booster seats for the first time. The babies also apparently met many of my parent’s neighbors while we were away.

Before we headed home, some of our extended family was able to drop by to meet the crew for the first time. While the babies were a bit apprehensive about meeting so many new people they all acclimated very well. Rylin really sized each person up, but was eventually won over by my uncle Clarke. Sydney who reserves laughter for special times erupted in giggles when my uncle Mark played with her. Harper does not know a stranger yet and enjoyed cuddle time with whomever held him. And Mason, well, he flashed his dimples way too many times to count. Instead of rushing home, we fed the babies their final bottle before leaving. George and I feared there would be dire consequences of moving sleeping babies from the van to crib. To our surprise, the babies handled it all in stride. Mason didn’t stir a bit and the other three were awake but went to bed without protest. Whew! It was a lot of work taking the babies out for the day, but we had a lot of fun and it was much easier than previous trips with them. We’re all looking forward to getting out and exploring more this spring and summer. My sister and I have grandiose plans for a field trip to the zoo and a shopping excursion with two babies (we’ll take the two who took a good morning nap!).

When Rylin finally warmed up to Clarke, she smiled at him and enjoyed this little game.

Props to Uncle Mark who got Sydney to chuckle.

My mom's sister, Linda, with Sydney enjoying a little Baby Einstein.

My Aunt Linda and Sydney enjoyed a little Baby Einstein and cuddle.

It’s so much easier feeding four babies when there are more than four adults. I don’t think I fed a single baby after 11 am today.

Harper was enamored with his Aunt CiCi tonight. He kept touching her face and grinning even while eating.

Oh yeah, we celebrated my belated birthday. My sister made this yummy s' mores cake found on Pinterest.

Oh yeah, we celebrated my belated birthday too. My sister made this yummy s’ mores cake found on Pinterest. Oops, someone forgot birthday candles so they improvised with a tea light.

This was cute. Grandpa sang to the babies as they waited to go back to the van.

How did you spend St. Patty’s Day? I hope you at least wore green and if not that you were pinched. I know I made sure to pinch everyone who forgot and that was most everyone in our family except the wee ones I dressed.

Hugs!

Amber

The Little Things Thursdays: Installment #7

March 14, 2013Amber 3 Comments

Oh yes, it is Thursday again and time to recall the little things!

1. On Friday, Nisey and Terri cared for the babies as usual. However, my mom’s friend, Lilian also joined the troops. I was proud to find out that Rylin developed “stranger danger”. Apparently she sized up Lilian and pouted to the point of tears. I know it sounds nuts to want your baby to cry in the presence of a visitor, but it means she’s met a developmental milestone where she differentiates familiar and unfamiliar caregivers. I was also pleased to learn that when she realized Nisey approved of Lilian, Rylin was okay with her too. To top it off, Lilian brought the babies a huge box of Luvs! It’s amazing how just as our diaper reserves were almost depleted, she restored them a bit.

2. Mom and I had a fabulous time shopping at our local Just Between Friends consignment sale. They are held in our area twice a year and offer everything from clothes to playground equipment. The girls are outfitted up to about size 2T thanks to hand-me-downs from generous friends. The boy’s closet, on the other hand, is a bit more sparse. Mom and I headed to the sale on half price day and scored a bounty of spring and summer clothes for a fraction of the original price. I also found a few books and toys as well as two pairs of Lucky Brand flats for myself (a benefit of having miniature feet is I can wear kid’s shoes!) The girls got a few swimsuits and sunhats. I was really grateful that Mom as with me because it was relatively chaotic and the line to check out involved an hour wait! On the upside, the line wound through the goods so we stumbled across a few bargains while waiting.

Just Between Friends is a nationwide franchise so check http://www.jbfsale.com to see if you have one in your area. I’m planning to consign some of our big-ticket items at the next one!

3. I took Mason to the doctor by himself on Monday and decided it was a worthy occasion for shoes. He’s never worn shoes before since he doesn’t walk, but they are pretty cute. He was enamored with is kicks. If you look carefully you’ll notice they are sharks.

I also want to point out the fabulous seat he is using; I only wish I discovered it sooner. It is a Summer Infant Super Seat. It is similar to a Bumbo allowing a baby to sit upright on the floor before they can sit independently. However, it also converts into a booster seat that can attach to a dining chair for small infants or toddlers up to 40 lbs! The best part for us is that the activity tray is removable so they stack for storage and travel. We now have four of these seats.

The Super Seat doesn’t come in the same selection of colors as the Bumbo, but they do come in boy and girl color combinations at least.

4. My Dad brought GiGi and GG Paw up for a visit on Saturday. Sydney demonstrated a bit of stranger danger with GiGi, but soon realized she was okay and settled down. The babies enjoyed showing off some of their new tricks and snuggled with GiGi a bit.

5. This week is spring break so I’ve enjoyed having George at home with me. We took advantage of our usual babysitters Wednesday (and will again on Friday) to go out on a date and run errands sans babies. We started or morning of by getting our haircut and styled by our Mane Man, Matt. We were both in dire need of a fresh style. Afterwards we enjoyed some sushi before darting around town with our to-do list.

Zushi Sushi is one of my favorite spots because they have a huge variety of vegetarian sushi and offer soy paper rather than traditional nori. I enjoyed a Tropical Roll stuffed with asparagus, avocado, cream cheese, carrots, and sprouts topped with mango. George and I really want to expose the babies to sushi so they grow up appreciating different cultures and foods. I thought it was neat that my sushi contains three foods they already enjoy! I could almost puree the sushi I had for the babies.

What little things filled your week?

Hugs!

Amber