Morning out with Mama...

This morning I had to run The Blue to the vet to be dropped of for tests, will let you know more when we do. While I was talking to the tech about The Blue (yes we actually do call him The Blue) outside next to the car a delivery guy was checking out the stroller hitched on back. He waited until Blue was inside and asked if the stroller just sits there and how it doesn't fall off. As I was telling him about the strap, my brain stopped and thought oh *!@* I didn't even put the strap over the stroller! Luckily the vet is only 5.6miles away and yes I did map it out. So now that the strap is secure and I no longer have the fear of what could have happened we were off.

This is the first time I have ever taken the kids with me to a store. We stopped by Starbucks, Mama needed her caffeine badly, and then on to Target. I was going in to return an item and thought about looking around. I found some storage containers I had been wanting and without a cart I scoop them up and carry all 3 under my arm. I little difficult yes, but I was not going to the front just to go back and remember what I had found. I did use a cart once I found one and pushed the stroller and pulled the cart, I was so proud I was doing this all by myself. While I was walking out of the store a woman said well if she can do that I can do anything...made me smile. I thought about taking them to lunch by myself and had to really think about it, in the end we had lunch at home. So this may have been a ramble however I wanted to make sure I had this on the blog for my kids to read when they are older. I did not get any pictures unfortunately.

Stroller on my car.

I tried to blur everything out here, see that black strap, that's what holds the stroller on and what I did not attach this morning. There are divots in the hitch for the wheels but one large bump and the runabout would have been gone.

I was able to capture pictures of Elizabeth Sage getting into the chair in stages this morning.

Now what's next on my list, lets try to go out head first!

Below are a few pictures from Mothers Day. It was so nice spending the day together, our big outing was to the grocery store and it was great, the kids were great, and Mama was happy.

Mama with all her babies even The Blue

One last thought, I highly recommend not wearing the Super Mom shirt out without at least one child. I had to run to the store and boy did I get A LOT of looks. Yes I saw and heard whispers as I would walk by. I did wear it proud and when someone did ask me where I got it I told them the fabulous Designed For Babies website.

Here is a picture of the kiddos last Mother's Day...what a difference a year makes.

Love to you all!!!!

Amy-Jo

You asked we answered

A long long time ago in a world far away we talked of doing a Q & A post and for you to send in any questions you may have. Finally we are here to answer, and if you have more questions let us know.

Q-The most asked question is how did Brandon and I meet.

This could be a blog post or two itself and I plan on doing so in August. So put shortly we met when we were 14 at a high school football game. We talked a little and one of us always had a significant other. Then in 2003 my cousin who just happens to be a best friend of Brandon's was married and we reconnected there and haven't missed a beat since.

Q-Which of the kids' personalities are the most like AJ; which are like Brandon?

Madison is definitely me (AJ) 125%, picky eater, is very cautious of germs, and does not like to be dirty. Elizabeth is Brandon to a T, she gets this grin and I see trouble in it just as I see in Brandon. She is his mini me which scares us so much! Logan is both, he is so happy like me and can be very stubborn and both Brandon and myself are. He is a determined little man just like Brandon.

Q-How often do you get together with the other Quad parents in the DFW area?

Not as often as we would like. If we all lived closer together this may be different, however with numerous children and busy lives as it is we talk more often than we see each other. I miss them all and wish I could see everyone at least once a week.

Q-What is the kids' happiest/funnest time in the day? i.e. morning? after lunch? never?

Happiest time of the day for all of them is usually the morning right after breakfast, they have so much energy and are just itching to get on the move. The funnest time of day is when Brandon gets home from work, the kids go to the gate in the kitchen when Blue barks because they know Daddy is home and he will have more energy than Mommy at that time.

Q-Does raising multiples feel surreal to you now? Was it ever?

It is, I love it and would not change it for anything in the world. We don't know any different and this is our normal. At first we couldn't believe it and I think even though we saw them on ultrasound every week it was not "real" until they were here even though we could not hold them.

Q-Besides your helpers, what got you through the early days of no sleep, frequent feedings/changings, etc.?

Honestly caffeine once I was done pumping. We were very sleep deprived, we did not have helpers other than our Moms and my Nana who came down at different times to relieve each other. We would be delusional at the 3am feedings and just laugh for no reason or come up with funny and sometimes not so nice nicknames for the kids, that is how Logan became Lougee. Brandon helped a lot even though he had to get up early to work. I have a schedule and routine that we stuck to no matter what at that time and I did not stray from it ever.

Q-I don't know if this is somewhere in your blog or not, but how did you meet? propose?

This was kind of answered in the first questions. Brandon proposed on the day we moved in to our first house. I came home from work and was so mad he was not coming out to help me carry my car load in. Once in the door I was confused and eventually got it :0).

Q-I suspect they will be Spartan fans right?

This is a big NO, they will be raised watching Michigan. However, we do cheer for MSU when they are not playing MI and I do cheer for Penn State ahead of MSU. Sorry, and green spartan gear in this house is for burp cloths or rags.

Q-How do you do it all?

Plain and simple we have to. It does not seem like extra work for the most part as I have said it is normal for us and we do not know any different. I am OCD about many things and have to get things done otherwise I don't sleep.

Q-Is it getting easier as the babies get older?

Heck no, it is harder in all honesty. The girls are into things if they are awake and are always keeping us on our toes. Logan is work, but in a good way, he wants to do more and is motivated by his sisters so I am always working with him as long as he is awake.

Q-Do you like being a SAHM?

I love it and it was always my dream to be a Mom and stay at home with our children. I had planned on working until we had our second child. It can be stressful but there is so much I get to see every day that Brandon doesn't. I rarely miss anything new and when I do I am crushed. I personally believe I have the best job there is.

So this last question is not a question at all but a comment we received on a prior post regarding March for Dimes and the March for Babies walk we participated in. We normally ignore comments that frustrate us or are mean however I feel I need to respond to this. I don't know if this encourages people or makes them happy that they got to us.


Comment:
I think the March of dimes is a great thing for preemies but there would be less preemies if doctors would do less fertility treatments. Multiples can be controlled and I believe that there are too many multiples especially families who ask for help from neighbours. If you have those children then raise them yourself.

A response from a fellow multiple mom is below:
Well anon, you can be pissed at the parents that couldn't have kids and went to fertility treatments all day long, BUT it's not the preemies fault. I'm pretty sure no one is asking you to raise them or even pay for them. It's donations for preemie research and the fight against premature birth. Not all preemies are born due to multiple pregnancies. If you don't like it, don't donate, but keep your opinions to yourself!!

My response:
I could not put it better myself and that is why I used my amazing friends comment. We had no other choice to have our own children, without fertility treatments our MIRACLES would not be here. I have wanted to be a Mom since I can remember and when my dream of that was not happening I cannot explain the pain and emotions I had and still have today.

We were not asking for anything for us but for research so hopefully one day any baby born premature may not have to go through was past babies have such as ours. Without the research from March of Dimes who knows how or where our children would be today.


Thank you for all the great questions, if there are anymore out there let us know and we will try to do this again.


Sending out love to you all!

Amy-Jo

Silence...Good or Bad

There are not many times during the day I have complete silence other than after the kids are down for the night. We let the girls have freedom in the living room, dining room(kids eating room and ball pit room) and the foyer. Unfortunately I did not get the eyes in the back of my head installed yet so until that day comes I am always nervous when there is silence for longer than 30 seconds.

Below are some examples of the good silence times and the bad.

Sweet little man sleeping while Mommy is cleaning up...Good

Madi Belle doing her thing while her sister is still sleeping...very good.

Lizy Bear silent...hmmmm, well this time it's for the good.

Mommy finding Elizabeth Sage up two steps...Bad!

The girls are up to something here, I couldn't catch it in time but Elizabeth was playing with the door and trying to reach the lock...Bad.

Let me see Logan, I think there is something in there...Bad, Miss Lizy it is your hand.

Poor Madison while sick, this one I say good but bad.

Yes Elizabeth Sage I saw you turning the handle, thank goodness you can't get it all the way-Bad

Elizabeth teaching Madison how to climb stairs...very very bad, Mommy is in even more trouble now!

I heard a door and thought it was the air conditioning pushing it shut and found this instead, who did it? Bad girls

Oh wait what's all this stuff Mommy hides from us in the closet...

When I found them this was a good thing and they were happy and resorted to be very bad screaming girls.

Miss Sage is that a seat? To me this is bad to others maybe not, I see standing and falling next.

Needless to say Elizabeth opened up our bedroom door today and we were off to get safety locks and are praying she doesn't figure them out. She is one smart cookie I tell ya. She loves going to bed right now and nap time as we let her climb/crawl up the stairs. She is trying so hard to figure the gate out and I dread the day she does, it was left open once and Daddy found a Lizy in the office with him. He actually thought I carried her up there to trick him, uh nope honey this one is all you.

And she's off...

We have a few posts coming up one of which is our Q&A. Hope you are enjoying your weekend.


Love to all!
Amy-Jo