The "Secret"

Not that I am the only person to have four children, twins, or even kids fairly close together, but seeing that these characteristics do all apply to me, I am often asked "How do you do it?" I am not exactly sure what the "it" is people are referring to. Maybe they are impressed by how well they all are behaved and just didn't know it was possible to have four such amazing children. Maybe they see that I have showered, dressed in clean clothes, and applied some make-up as well as done something with my hair most mornings. Maybe they ask because my kids are driving them crazy and assume they must be driving me crazy as well. The third hypothesis is the most likely (as anyone who has spent much time with us would second), but anyway, on to the real point of this post and that is the secret to how I do "it".

The answer: Coca-cola and chocolate!

The fact of the matter is I am craving both right now. I have both available in my home but they don't really go along with the fact that I am officially trying to lose the rest of my "baby weight". I figure 33 years is long enough to carry it around. Just kidding . . . Rachel and Cole with be two in less a month (CRAZY!) and I have decided it is time. With cutting down on my soda intake at the beginning of December and trying to actually eat three meals a day instead of snacking during the day and eating dinner at night, I have lost between 7-8 lbs. I feel really good about this, but it doesn't take away my daily -okay, HOURLY- cravings for soda and chocolate.

I was hoping by writing this post, I might be able to take my mind off the cravings and avoid the kitchen for a while. It seems to have helped for now. We'll see how long it lasts!

Day 3

of napping on the sleeping bags went well too! Hurray!

An Experiment Going Well

Cole has been climbing in and out of his bed since he was about 15 months old. Some days/weeks/months he is more interested in doing this than others, but it has now become a regular routine at afternoon rest time and in the morning when he first wakes up.
Anyway, I have been considering moving Cole to a toddler bed for a while now. I know this won't contain him and may even make sleeping at bedtime more difficult (he generally falls asleep within a couple of minutes of laying down each night), but I have been hoping the novelty of a new bed and the fact that I am not trying to contain him would make him feel okay about laying in bed to fall asleep at naptime and HOPEFULLY even in the morning when he first wakes up, although I think this second desire is much less likely to happen.

A couple of things I had to consider were all our travels over the Christmas holidays and decided to wait until we returned so he would be content to sleep in cribs and such on the road. The other thing I have pondered is the idea that Rachel is very content in her crib. From experience with these two though, I know without a doubt that I cannot make a change such as this with just one of them. They are very in tune with what the other one is doing, eating, wearing, anything/everything and making sure things are "fair". I am sure this will be a popular word in their vocabulary once they learn it.

On to the experiment phase . . . yesterday Cole was exhausted but seemed to roaming aimlessly around his room and wouldn't settle in to sleep. Rachel was trying to sleep but Cole's roaming was disrupting her. So, I got out the new sleeping bags they got from Grandma Hunt for Christmas, spread them out on the floor with a pillow and blanket and VOILA! sleep. Cole fell asleep very quickly. Rachel read books for a while, but then konked out. They were both still asleep when it was time to pick Robbie up from school. Again today I stretched out the sleeping bags, and they are snoozing away on them. Rachel again took a little longer as she was checking things (books and drawing pad) out a bit, but always bringing them back to her sleeping bag space.

This is a good sign that the toddler bed transition will go well. In fact, I might even hold off a bit and let them continue napping on the sleeping bags so they can continue to keep to their normal bedtime and sleep routines.

Note- Rachel can climb in and out of her bed as well (she was actually the first one to do it last spring), but chooses not to most of the time. She is happy to let Cole bring her toys and books and remain in restful respose in her bed.

Shopping Nightmare

I took Rachel and Cole to Wal-Mart prior to picking Alexa from school at noon. Now I have had "bad" shopping trips before where I am circling the store because I can't seem to follow my list (or because I left it at home) or I have a hungry child who wants to eat everything in the cart or I have little people with me that are feeling a little too energetic for the confines of the grocery store. All of that pales to my shopping trip today. Poor Cole was so tired from our trips that he just wanted to be held. He is, however, almost 30 lbs. and I had one those huge carts with the double seat for kiddos which are hard enough to push with two hands, let alone one. Therefore, I would not carry him. I did offer him food from the cart which he vehemently declined. This in itself shows how tired he was because he didn't get to 30 lbs because he nibbles at meal time or only eats when he is hungry. My shopping was completed fairly quickly for not having shopped for food for three weeks (I was in line less than 30 minutes after walking into the store), but it was not quick enough for the little man. He started crying within 5-10 minutes from the start and by about 20 minutes was clawing to get out of his harness seatbelt amidst his screams. I only saw one person I knew (there may have been others I knew who saw me as I was trying to stay focused to get done quickly) who gave me a sympathetic nod and I heard a lot of "Someone isn't happy today" - YA THINK?! At the check-out, I let Cole out of the cart after I had put the groceries on the belt. He immediatly stopped crying and put his head on my shoulder with a sigh as if to say, "This is all I needed, Mom." As the clerk worked through our items, I was prepping Cole for the fact he would have to ride in the cart to get out to the van when we were done inside. I think he was hoping that if he ignored me, it wouldn't be true because I got neither his normal wide-eyed, enthusiastic nod nor his eyes narrowed, pouty mouth head shake. When it was time to leave the line, I gently talked to him about the next step and did my best to get him back into the seat which he fought with all his might (and he is one tough kid), so I plopped him into the front seat of the cart. At this point, I could feel many eyes on us as he continued to fight and scream. He kept trying to climb out and several people gasped as he did just that. Remember though, Cole is my climber so I really had no concern about him hurting himself as he climbed because that is just what he does. I was more concerned with him following directions and staying with us in the cart because I knew as soon as he got all the way out he would flop on the floor when he realized that I was not going to carry him. All gentleness left at this point and I could feel the concerned glances becoming more condemning stares. No worries on my part though because I was just doing what needed to be done. I did hold Cole at the van as I unloaded groceries into that back and he did fine getting into his carseat to leave. I guess all things considered, I shouldn't call this a shopping nightmare because Rachel was an absolute gem (I could have been dealing with both of them the entire time) and I only forgot one non-essential item and we got to school to pick up Alexa on time.

Progress has been made!

I went into the office/den/guest room/craft central on Saturday afternoon and spent a couple of hours sorting and filing papers so I felt like my life was in order then I got started on my crafting later (actually LATE) that night. I got some more done Sunday afternoon and last night. I am happy with my progress and did enjoy it. I think to myself that I look forward to later when my kids are more self sufficient and I might have more time to work on things, but then I look at my mom was also has a thousand projects she would like to do and still doesn't feel like she has time.
I guess no matter how many kids, how much you work, and how old or young you are, you only have what time you make for what you feel is important. Time is kind of like money in that way. My (very wise) grandfather told Rob once long ago that no matter how much money you make, your bank balance will always be the same. Over the years (with a few ups and downs along the way), we have found that to be true.
I seem to digress because this posting began with talking about my crafts, but oh well . . . I believe I did promise some pictures, so I will have to take some and get those posted. Perhaps, I should wait until after Christmas, however, so no one sees their gift here first!
Ten days till Christmas, Folks! Hope you are all happy, relaxed, and enjoy the love and miracles of the season!

Turkey Cupcakes and more

As I was posting my last blurb, I realized that I never shared the photo of the turkey cupcakes the kids made. One of our friends (the fiance of an athletic trainer) stopped by and helped coordinate the effort of the turkey making on Thanksgiving morning while I did some cleaning and organizing for our gathering later in the day. The kids had fun.

Interestingly enough, the cupcakes were the most popular dessert! I figured my kids would eat them and they would look cute. Nope! More cupcakes were eaten than pieces of pie and dessert squares combined.

I also found a picture of the set table before the crowd came over. Not very exciting, I know, but I didn't get a chance to take a shot of everyone at the table.

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The last photo is of Cole's belly after the meal. He may have won the biggest increase in waist size in a pre-meal to post-meal measurement.

Making Something

I LOVE MAKING THINGS - whether it is food in the kitchen or some kind of craft. In fact, I look forward to holidays because there often so many fun ideas of things to create. There have been previous years where I made all of our gifts for Christmas- partly for a financial reason, but an even bigger part is that I love doing it. HOWEVER, this year I have no interest in making anything! I got out some craft supplies in October for some projects that I was planning and I have done nothing with them other than move them from one spot to another when they get in my way.
I am not actually sure if no interest is my problem or that it is difficult for me to find the time and space to make any real progress without interruptions which then deters me from even getting started. I have a couple of projects that I really would like to complete that aren't difficult or too time consuming, so I am hoping to complete them this weekend. One of them is our annual teacher gift. Once completed, I will add a photo and blurb (or at least I will try to). The other thing I haven't done anything of is bake cookies or make the variety of chocolate treats that I usually do. I have all the ingredients for those things as well.
I'm sure once I get started, I will have get in the mood and enjoy myself. For any readers out there who might receive one of these gifts, please know that your gift was made in love even if you feel my reluctance to get started on it!