Keep your clothes on child

Christmas came early for me this year, and today's blog is coming to you from my new ipad. My lovely wife was kind enough to get it for me and because I have an ability to guess my gift before it even arrived, she let me have it early.

Lily had her kindergarten Christmas party this week so I was able to take a little time off from work to attend her party with her. We had lunch and she introduced me to all her friends, but the best part is how excited she was that I was able to come to her school and spend some time with her. It will be interesting to see how long it takes before she is embarrassed. I even wore my ugly Christmas sweater to the party, and she thought it was great. Now I plan to wear the ugly Christmas sweater every year and I know it won't take long before she thinks I am a complete dork.

It's been a big week for Lily as she is about to lose her first tooth. She has been waiting for this day ever since her friends starting losing theirs and she could not be more excited. She won't let pull it though, which is somewhat disappointing for me.

The twins are getting crazier and crazier by the day. We are really starting to experience the double trouble phenomenom. If you get one of them alone they are perfect angels, but let the, loose together and they just feed off each other. Where they come up with some of their ideas is beyond me, and they know the things they are doing are wrong but I guess they figure it is harder to discipline the two of them and at least they will go through the punishment together. Tey have torn their closet apart completely ripping all their clothes down. I wine tin during nap time the other day and Abby was standing on thE window while Chloe was jumping up and down on the bed not 5 minutes after I just been in there and told them not to get put of bed. I walked into the media room so they could Skype with mama and papa last night anD they were running around the room with Lawson chasing them except Abby literally did not have a stitch of clothing on. They get that from Kasey obviously.

Lawson is testing his language skills and is trying to talk more and more. He keeps saying something that sounds like car, but we are not quite sure what the child us trying to say yet. The only thing we know for sure is that when he grunts he is hungry.......or pooping.

Maybe my new toy will allow for some time to blog a little more often. We are trying to post more because I know we are forgetting some very funny stories. They may not be funny to us at the time but when we look back they will be.

Jeff, Lasey, Lily, Abby, Chloe, and Lawson Boy

Just another Saturday

With all the social media and venues to keep in touch with one another and know each other's every waking thought, it has created yet another pet peeve of mine.  It is just human nature but apparently everybody feels it necessary to share how busy and stressful their lives are.  We all know the person who every time they post something on Facebook, it is nothing but drama and woe is me and my life.  Makes me cringe every time I see they have posted something.  You know who you are.  Kasey would tell you I have no emotions, but I cry every time I watch the movie Rudy.

I say all that to preface my blog and state that I'm not complaining about our busy schedule.  It goes back to the original motivation for starting the blog, which is to document the kids lives over the course of time.  Some day when Kasey is changing my diaper and we can't remember all the crazy days, we'll have something to remind us.

So this is what our Saturday looks like today:

-Kasey woken up twice last night by screaming twins and not in a good mood today.  I didn't hear a thing.
-All 4 kids waking up one a time are now up and watching Mickey which give me time to run out and grab some pancakes from McDonald's so we don't dirty the kitchen.
-Crap, Abby saw me leaving and insists on going and close to a big fit if I don't take her
-Kasey picking all the kids clothes out for the day since I will be dressing them and she doesn't trust that I will dress the appropriately.  I make sarcastic comments and get the evil look
-Kids eating their pancake.  Lawson finished first and grunting for more.
-While they eat, mommy showers and dresses as she has to work this morning.
-Mommy is out the door and taking my car as we will make a car switch later, and she informs Lawson has lost her keys, so we will have a scavenger hunt for those shortly.
-All 4 currently occupied watching Go Diego Go.....Lawson standing in middle of coffee table with finger in nose
-Twin just walked by and I smell Poop
-As soon as I'm done with the blog, we will change diapers, and start getting dressed
-At 10:30 the 4 monsters and I are going next door for a one year old birthday party
-All bags need to be packed before we leave because as soon as we finish we are piling in the car to go pick up Ms. Lauryn (probably be a couple more poops in their somewhere)
-Hopefully kids nap on the way down
-Upon picking up Ms. Lauryn, we are going to mommy's school to swap cars as I have to go to work for a few hours for month end inventory
-Mr. Lauryn will watch kids until Mommy finishes around 2:00
-They will pick up mommy and go to another birthday party
-I anticipate another poop and possible spanking along the way
-(Lawson still standing in middle of table but now crying, Lily and Abby yelling at each other over a balloon, and Chloe going blind 1" from the TV
-Hopefully I will be done with work in time to make the last part of the birthday party
-After the party, Ms. Lauryn can escape away from the monsters, and wouldn't blame her if that involved copious quantities of adult beverages.
-From the party, we have friends that are nice enough to still invite all of us over for dinner.
-Once the kids have done their best to destroy another family's home, we will depart to our home and immediately put everybody to bed. 
-Everybody says their prayers, and we have a nice family moment and tell everybody how much we love them despite the fact that I almost drop kicked one or all of them at some point.
-Mommy and Daddy try to read a bit, but only get 2 page in before fading away.

I'm convinced this is the point where they all get together around Lawson's crib and conspire against us.

Have a great weekend, we are!

Jeff,  Kasey, Lily, Abba (that's what Chloe calls her), Chloe, and Bruiser

Thanksgiving 2011

Happy Thanksgiving to all.  Today I am thankful for many things in my life starting with my wife who will be cooking us a wonderful meal this afternoon.  I am thankful for my 4 beautiful children who amaze and frustrate me daily.  Sitting here right now, I hear the twins yelling for me to come get them out of bed.  Did I mention they are in their big girl beds now, and all they need to do is roll out of bed.  I should be thankful that they actually listened to me when I told them they would get spankings if they get out of that bed again.

I am thankful the twins have learned to put on their pull up diapers by themselves, which means they are that much closer to being potty trained and we will eliminate the voluminous amount of poopie diapers that flow through our house.  I am thankful Lawson Boy has mastered his walking skills even if it means he can climb up on the kitchen table by himself or shut himself in the pantry and will himself to reach the food on the top shelves.  I am thankful for the TV to distract 3 little girls for a few minutes so I can write this blog without them jumping all over me and yelling in my ear all at the same time.  I have yet to learn how to listen and answer 3 girls questions at the same time all while Lawson is pulling at them and hitting them so he can sit with me.  If he is sitting in my lap and one of the girls wants to join us, the boy grunts at them and hits them.  It's fair to say he is possessive, and frankly I don't blame the boy as often as he has gone off to play nicely all on his own. 

We are thankful for family who pitch and help out when I was out of town, or will be assisting with the delicacies we will enjoy today.  Last week when while I was traveling, Lily was able to spend some time with her mama.  It seems Lily decided she would test her boundaries with Mama and basically see what she can get away with.  Mama threatened to spank her at one point, and Lily called her bluff and told her, "go ahead".  Mama tried another tactic and told Lily she would have to go home if she was going to continue to act like this toward her.  The guilt tactic did not really work as Lily told her, "OK , I'll see you later".  I am thankful for Lily, she cracks me up. 

We are very blessed and I am thankful for many more things in our life.  Hopefully each of you have as much to be thankful for as we do.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Jeff, Kasey, Lily, Abby, Chloe, and Lawson Boy

 

Congratulations Ashie and Todd!

Jeff and I with Ashley and Todd on St. Patrick's Day 2010

Today we got to start the day with some good news, Ashley Boyd (who is an adopted member of our family-basically) and her boyfriend Todd are engaged!  I met Ashley when she was fresh out of college and started working at my company.  We have both moved on from that job and into another job together and Ashie has continued to be part of our family.  Lily and Ashie are best friends.  Ashie would be so nice and babysit Lily for us when Lily was a baby.  There were many nights that Ashie would watch Lily for us so we could get a night out on our own.  Of course Lily loved these nights since Ashie would indulge her in whatever she wanted to do and she would bring Foxy.  Lily and Foxy are also best friends.  Lily has always had a love for dogs, but especially Foxy.  Foxy even had her own song, which Lily would sing at the top of her lungs:  "Foxy Lady, Foxy Lady Boyd!"  Lily would sing this whenever she knew Foxy was in the house or randomly in the grocery store.  People would ask us, "Who is Foxy Boy?"  I guess Lily couldn't quite pronounce Boyd.



Lily and Foxy when Lily was 18 months



Lily would sit down on the ground and pat her legs and Foxy would come running. We even have a picture of Foxy in our living room.  We often get questioned about why we have a picture of a dog that is not ours in our living room.  It was supposed to be a picture for Lily's room, but Lily insisted on it being displayed in the living room.  Ashie gave her this picture when she moved from Dallas to Houston to be with Todd.  Although we miss you Ashie, we are so happy for both you and Todd!

This week our house was a little calmer than usual.  Mama came to stay with us all week while Jeff was out of town.  The kids loved having their Mama in town all week and it helped keep them from missing their Daddy so much.  The twins are still having to adjust to sleeping in big girl beds. It generally means no sleeping at naptime.  I am not ready to give up naps quite yet so I keep at it.  Usually, when I go in to get them up they are different outfits than what they were wearing when I put them down.  They also keep stealing each other's blankets in the middle of the night which causes them to wake us up a few times a night to switch them back.  Right now they are fighting over who gets to brush my hair.  Abby is throwing a major fit and Chloe is being very patient.  Chloe keeps saying in a very calm voice, "Aba give me some room.  You need to go upstairs to your room!"  Abby just keeps trying to intimidate her through physical force.  I don't think my hair is going to survive this battle.  Abby just got a spanking.  Chloe is very upset.  "I need to see if my sister is ok.  Do you think she is ok?  Daddy is mean, right Mama?  He spanks.  Don't let him spank you or me."  I told her that her Daddy is not mean.  Abby isn't following instructions.

Lily is enjoying kindergarten and making new friends every day.  We had a parent teacher confernece with her teacher and found out that Lily is doing very well in school, but she's a little too laid back.  She doesn't seem to have a sense of urgency.  For those of you that know me then you know she clearly gets this from Jeff.  Lily's favorite class at school is computers which leads her to constantly ask us to let her play on our laptops.  She plays learning games on our computers and can be entertained for hours so we have to force her to take a break. 

Lawson is learning new words every day and starting to communicate with us more and more. Usually he just wants more food.  He thinks Daddy is the funniest person alive and will give Daddy big belly laughs for anything.  This morning he got up before his sisters so he managed to get breakfast twice.  I think we need to start saving money now to help us afford groceries when he is a teenager.  He is still holding is own with his sisters.  They pretty much give him whatever he wants and shower him with attention.  On the off chance that they don't bend to his will, then he will give them a smack down UFC style.  The boy hits hard and leaves marks.  Good thing he is also pretty charming and can smile his way out of trouble.

We hope everyone has a relaxing and safe holiday!  I am cooking the whole Thanksgiving meal by myself this year.  I am sure this will lead to lots of material for the next blog.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Jeff, Kasey, Lily, Abby, Chloe and Lawson

Catching Up

As usual Jeff and I have been too busy to think much less update the blog.  Since I am home sick today, I thought I would catch everyone up.  Let's start with Halloween.  Lily decided that her brother and sisters would dress up as piggies.  Jeff and I tried to go with a Little Red Riding Hood theme, but our follow through left something to be desired.  Lily didn't want to be part of the group even though it was her idea.  She wanted to be a witch.  The twins and Lawson loved their costumes.  The twins would walk around snorting like pigs.  It was pretty cute.  When they figured out that all they had to do to get candy was say Trick or Treat, it was on.  Here are some pictures of Lily and the Twins after their first trick or treat.  They are all very excited.

Lawson figured that walking from house to house looked like too much work for him.  He knew that all he had to do was look cute and the candy would come to him.  So he just chilled in the wagon with our neighbor Judson . 

Lily is enjoying school and making new friends.  I am still amazed that my 5 year old gets to and from school riding the bus all by herself.  I have seen the carpool line at the school though so I am glad that she enjoys riding the bus so much.  Her cousin Jack is fascinated by this too.  He doesn't understand why Lily gets to ride the bus alone and he doesn't.  Especially since he is a few months older.  Aunt Mary and Jack had Lily over for a sleepover while my brother was out of town.  Lily loves to go over there.  Aunt Mary really spoils her and they get to do all the girly stuff Aunt Mary can't do with her boys.  While Lily was over there they got to go to Uncle D's house and hang out with him and soon to be Aunt Karissa (Aunt Mary's brother and his fiance). They were going over things that each of them do well and the fact that Lily rides the bus to school by herself was top on the list.  I can't believe how big she is already and how quickly time has passed.

As Jeff mentioned in the last blog, the twins are determined to destroy the house piece by piece.  Once they accomplish that they will then start on each other.  This has been a problem since they were old enough to move.  This is when they were about 6 months old.

This time they were fighting over my book.  Who knew Eat, Pray, Love could cause such turmoil.  Of course as much as they fight they also love each other just as much.  The girls have recently discovered that they can get out of their cribs.  This means that they are up to no good whenever we think they are sleeping. Usually they get up and play with soap and water in the sink.  One time Abby wanted her diaper changed during naptime.  So she grabbed, diapers and wipes and climbed into Chloe's crib.  Chloe then tried to change Abby's diaper which resulted in poop everywhere.  Now that they can crawl out of their cribs this has resulted in them climbing into each other's cribs at night.

So we had to bite the bullet and put the twins into big girl beds.  They are  no longer babies and its a little sad that they are so grown up.

 Lawson is also pretty excited about the big girl beds since he can climb up and jump on the beds at will.  Other than that there is no too much going on with him.  He is such a bruiser and constantly terrorizes the twins by trying to take their Minnie Mouse dolls and blankets.  I would feel bad for them, except they did that and worse to Lily.  They kind of deserve it.

Unfortunately, for the twins he is stronger than they are so they always lose.  If they do happen to win then he will just smack them.  Today he was trying to climb on the chair with the girls and I.  Abby didn't want him to climb up so she was blocking him.  He solved that problem with a slap across the face.  Let's just say his pimp hand is strong.  I felt bad for poor Abby, but you can't stay mad for long at cutie like this.  Even when you know he is up to trouble. 

 Happy Veterans Day!  We hope 11/11/11 is super lucky for everyone and have a safe weekend!

Jeff, Kasey, Lily, Abby, Chloe and Lawson (aka Bruiser)

What did you do?

Things are crazy with work and home life and it is becoming increasingly harder to find time to update the blog, but I am trying to make the effort as the kids have been up to some mischief that needs to be documented as proof for them read some day. 

The twins especially have been up to no good and we have come to the conclusion that they are conspiring to tear the house apart piece by piece.  Last week before bedtime, we were going through our normal routine of changing diapers and brushing teeth.  I called them into the bathroom to brush their teeth and I couldn't find the toothpaste.  As I went to open the bathroom drawer it felt funny and as it opened, water came splashing out everywhere.  The drawer was literally full of water to the very top.  When I asked who did it, I was expecting them to start pointing fingers, but instead Abby looked at me with pride on her face and admitted that she had accomplished this all by herself.

After coming home late the other night, I went directly to the media room to spend some time with the kids before bed time and the twins greeted me with a hug and kiss.  I looked to see what they were watching and noticed that my big screen TV was covered with wonderful works of 2 year old art.  Once again the culprit was proud to admit it was her......this time it was Chloe.  These are just 2 of the many recent incidents that have led to our new favorite saying, "what did you do?"

Lily had her first slumber party at the house last night and we had 3 other girls at the house.  I am not sure I was prepared or ready for the realization that kindergarten girls are boy crazy.  The good news I learned is that Lily is the only one of the group who does not have a boyfriend or been kissed by a boy.  We loaded them up on pizza, popcorn, candy, and sprite.  They got in bed around 10:00 and we heard them still playing around 11:00 when we went to bed.  About 1:30, we woke to 3 of them standing next to the bed and Lily tells me, "Daddy, we can't fall asleep because we ate too much candy."  I'm not sure what time they finally fell asleep, but I have a feeling 3 other families besides ours is going to have some tired girls with attitude problems today.

Lawson Boy is using his new found skill of walking and climbing to his advantage.  Abby had a cookie and was sitting at the kitchen table eating, and a few minutes later Kasey and I looked and found that Lawson had climbed on the chair, and from the chair he had climbed on and was sitting in the middle of the table sharing Abby's cookie with her.  Probably not the safest place for a 1 year old to be sitting.  He doesn't learn very quickly, because just the day before I had taken his high chair tray off which he protested by yelling and arching his back over the side of the high chair and landing on his head. 

Things will never be boring around the Strait house.

Jeff, Kasey, Lily, Abby, Chloe, and Lawson

Slumber Party

Lily had an idea this weekend.  We try and be good parents and encourage their ideas and creativity, but frankly letting her run with this idea was very poor judgement on our part.  She asked if she and her sisters could have a sleepover.  So Saturday night we let them climb into the bed in the guest bedroom and we kissed them goodnight.  Well, we kissed them, but it was anything but goodnight.  After closing the door, I hung out to see how long it took before they started in.  Abby and Chloe began laughing and then I heard Lily say, "girls, girls, when mommy and daddy go to sleep, we can all get out of bed and go get in bed with them."  I'm not sure how many time we had to tell them to get back in bed and be quiet, but even Lily was telling the twins to go to bed.  Needless to say, they were having a great time.  The last time I went up the stairs Lily had already fallen, I dished out a couple of spankings, and they finally went to bed.  That was around 10:45, which is a couple hours after their normal bedtime.  That night wasn't the bad part, the fun began the next day when each and every one melted down so badly I could hardly see straight.  Lesson learned. 

Jeff, Kasey, Lily, Abby, Chloe and Lawson Boy

Lawson Walking

Football Friday

Lily and I went to the Celina football game last night and I was able to get a glimpse of what every Friday night will look like in a few years.  Even at 5 years old she couldn't wait to walk around and see if any of her friends from school were there.  Lily was very excited to see her kindergarten teacher, and even though she could not tell you what the score was if her life depended on it, she could tell you every detail of the cheerleaders and dance team.  She isn't exactly the best football watching buddy, but we were able to get some good quality time together hanging out and eating junk food. 

One of the reasons we live out in the boonies of Texas is we feel there is a higher quality of family living with higher moral and ethical standards.  When Lily dropped her ketchup packet for her hot dog, the lady next to us had her son run and get another packet and without hesitation he took off to get some ketchup and also brought Lily back a glow stick he had her talk about earlier.  It's really nice to see people raise their kids the way we hope to be raising ours. I just hope Lily is not learning too early that boys will do many things for her if she asks; though I fear I may be too late as this afternoon I saw her asking the neighbor boy to walk her bike back up the hill for her.  I guess I could just consider it resourceful of her.

Lawson Boy is enjoying his new walking skills though he is literally trying to run before he walks.  He gets going too fast at times and those little feet just can't quite keep up.  The pride in his face as he walks around the house is pretty funny to watch.  When he knows that you are watching him, he gets this big grin on his face, lifts his arms in the air, and then starts clapping for himself. 

The personality differences between Abby and Chloe continue to develop.  It's fun to sit back and watch them interact with people and see how they handle certain situations.  Chloe is becoming quite the people pleaser, or she may just like to gloat in front of her sister.  I got to Abby for something the other day, and Lawson was once again trying to hurt himself by playing on the stairs so he received a stern verbal beat down.  After the air cleared and all the crying settled down a bit Chloe busts out with, "Daddy, I not in trouble, I a good girl!"  Abby looked up with anger and disgust at the insinuation being made that she is not a good girl, and before she could get up enough speed to run across the room and blind side her twin sister, I grabbed her and made sure they both knew they were good girls.  Disaster was averted, but it took a while to talk Abby down from wanting to put a beat down on Chloe.  

I've had many of you comment on the blog lately and we are trying to update it more regularly, but thing have been busier lately than usual.  Thank you continuing to read it, it does provide incentive to keep up with it.

Jeff, Kasey, Lily, Abby, Chloe and Lawson Boy

Tornado Twins

So my assumption has always kind of been that Lawson would be somewhat reserved and quiet and that his sisters would do all the talking for him.  It's still really early, but I'm changing my tune quickly.  The boy is really starting to babble now and as his 3 sisters keep talking louder and louder, he babbles louder and louder in an effort not to be out done.  It does not appear that he is going to take a back seat to all the estrogen, and if he's going to go down, he is going to go down with a fight.  Those 3 girls are so very sweet to him, especially when he starts crying.  If he is not getting his way, he let's them know with a verbal attack and with his fists.  As the baby of the family, he apparently believe that he deserves all the attention.  I had Abby laying down and I was changing her diaper, and the Boy crawls on over and gives her a couple of fists to the chest.  I'm not really sure why, but best guess is he thought that should be his diaper????  One of these days, they are going to retaliate on him and I'm going to have to let it happen no matter how many tears he shed.

Lily received her first report card and did very well.  She passed everything on the test with the exception of one question.  After recognizing the U, she did not pronounce the U sound correctly.  Frankly, I'm surprised her teacher was able to get through the entire alphabet because Lily usually gets bored after 5 letters when I do it with her.  Kasey's family is in town right now and Lily had a birthday party that I took her to, so after the party she and I celebrated her good grades with date night.  We went to Gattitown for pizza and games and then stopped at DQ for ice cream on the way home.  It's nice to get some one on one time with her once in a while and really have a chance to pay attention to what she is saying.  I think she probably feels like she is interrupted a lot around the house when she is trying to tell us stuff, and it's probably true many times. 
In the car she was telling me how she was kind of sad when we were leaving the party because she wasn't going to be playing with her friends any more.  Then she was happy because we were going to Gattitown and were going to have a fun night and she said, "that's just the way the world works, one minute your sad and the next your happy."  Thank you my five year old philosopher.

I think I'm going to start referring to Abby and Chloe as the tornado twins.  Those 2 can literally turn a room upside down in the matter of seconds.  It really is quite amazing and distressing all at the same time. Good news is now that the weather has turned cool, we make them eat outside all the time and just hose down the patio.  Cuts clean up time at dinner almost completely out when you use paper plates too. 

As I'm writing this, I can hear Kasey in the other room, "Lawson, no, no......no hitting!"  And Lily just explained to Kasey that she got to go to Gattitown because, "Daddy was proud of me for something".

Jeff, Kasey, Lily, Abby, Chloe, and Bam Bam

Chloe's Band aid

If you did not see the blog last week, the Boy is attempting to walk now.  He took five steps this evening and his face lights up when you praise him like he had just won a marathon.  That statement is nothing more than a simile because let's face it,  Fat Boy will not be running too many marathons.  Based on the amount of times he hits his head, he won't be winning any spelling B's either.  Do you remember the movie Tommy Boy........classic Chris Farley movie?  At one point in the movie, Chris Farley's character gets hit with a 2x4 upside the face and he keeps complaining that it hurts.  "Not so much here, but here", he says as he points to a huge mark on his face.  Well Lawson Boy took yet another tumble down the stairs this evening, and after some time I noticed a big long mark on his face.  I started laughing because I could just picture my 1 year old son looking at me asking me, "are you sure I don't have a mark on my face, not so much here but right her."  Makes me laugh again writing about it, the kid cracks me up!

All this walking seems to have intensified his already large appetite.  You would think at some point, the child could not keep eating the way he does.  I can't go into the pantry and get a snack without him following me like my shadow.  The boy could be at the complete opposite end of the house and if you even think about getting up to get a snack, he can sense it and he'll come flying at you with his little food grunt noise that he makes.

Lily is growing up so fast and turning into quite the young lady.  She cracks me up with her stories from school and her explanation of her social interactions.  She tells us how her feelings get hurt a little when a certain boy and girl are playing and she thinks they are leaving her out.   She is only in kindergarten, I can only imagine the drama factor increasing exponentially as she gets older.  Hopefully she will continue to be open with us and tell us about, but I know that will all change at some point. 

You hear about phenomenons that happen between twins and stories about one feeling another's pain, and it is somewhat interesting to think about.  We certainly do not look for these type of things to happen with Abby and Chloe and frankly I don't put a whole lot of stock into the stories you hear.  I do believe that there is very special bond between identical twins and a closeness that other siblings and friends will never experience.  Maybe it's because they will spend very few days apart for the first 18 years of their lives.  If you spend that much time together, it makes sense you could finish somebody elses sentence.

Chloe has a sore on her thumb that looks a little infected so we have been putting antibiotics on it and this evening I put a band aid on it so she wouldn't rub it while she slept.  I put them down for the night and after about 5 minutes, I heard one start crying and then the other start screaming.  When I went up there to see what was going on, I found Abby literally scared and yelling, "Chloe lost her band aid, Chloe lost her band aid."  Chloe was crying but not nearly as hard as Abby.  I went to console Abby at first and she just kept crying about Chloe's band aid.  As soon as I picked up Chloe to see if her thumb was okay and put a new band aid on her, Abby immediately calmed down and laid back down to go to sleep.  In no way do I think that Abby felt the physical pain that Chloe felt, but she felt emotion and empathy for another person like I have never seen.  It was really pretty cool to see!

Jeff, Kasey, Lily, Abby, Chloe and the weeble wobble

Lawson Steps

The Boy has taken his first steps.  Our after dinner ritual has been to crank up some music and let the girls dance around in hopes that they expend the cornucopia  of energy.  Lawson likes to stand holding on to the wall and show off his dance moves.  Kasey was sitting next to him encouraging him to come to her and he took his first steps before launching himself into her lap.  I think out of all 4 kids, the is the only one we both were able to see take his first steps.  We officially are out of the baby stage for the very last time.....woohooooooo!  Now if the twins would please just get potty trained.

Kids want to play, so cutting this one short.

Jeff, Kasey, Lily, Abby, Chloe, and Lawson

Finish You Dinner!

My intentions are good as I write tonight, but you will have to forgive me as my brain has turned to mush after a long day.  So just a few facts and it's light out.  Lawson will cruise, do squats, dance holding a wall, but the Boy refuses to let go and walk on his own.  It's still OK with me because once he does start walking, he will have his hands free to grab and smash things at will.  He was feeling blah for several days after the stomach bug, but after watch him slam 3 large pieces of pizza last night it is safe to say the child is feeling better.  We had rotisserie chicken this evening and as I was cutting it  up I literally could not keep food on his high chair fast enough to make him happy.  So much for thinking I was cutting expenses when he quit the formula.  We are going to have start hitting the kids eat free buffet lines and just pull his chair up to the serving station and let him go to town. 

As much as we try not to have sugar and sweets around the house, we have gotten in the habit of bribing the kids with treats to finish the dinner.  We are miles away from the days when it was just Lily and we could stick to our ideals.  When I see new parents now and how determined they are to raise their kids a certain way to do this and not do that.....well I just have to laugh.  I still believe in all those things, but the little devils have a way of beating you down.  Anyway, we promised the kids a cookie when they finished their dinner and we generally wait until everybody is finished to pass out said cookies.  If Lily isn't pleased with the menu items, then she tends to take her sweet time finishing dinner as was the case this particular evening.  The cookie had actually motivated Chloe and Abby to finish their meals, and as you have heard, Lawson does not need encouragement to eat.  Chloe was not too pleased with Lily's progress and felt she was holding up the show, so with a hint of encouragement and a hint of rage in her voice she yells, "Lily, finish you dinner, NOW!"

I can't remember if I wrote about this or not, but Abby and Chloe's newest phrase is, "Daddy, you hurt my feelings.  Don't hurt my feelings."  It has really become a catch all phrase for anything they are not pleased with.  Should I scold them for something then I have hurt their feelings.  Should I pass the cookie out to one child before the other, then I have hurt their feelings.  Should I not respond to their 10,000th demand of the day in a timely fashion, then I have hurt their feelings.  Safe to say, with 4 women in our household and my propensity at times to not be in tune with others feelings, there are a lot of hurt feelings around here.

Lily has caught her bus every day this week.

Jeff, Kasey, Lily, Abby, Chloe, and the Bottomless Pit

Where's my bus?

Where to begin?  Life has certainly changed in our household over the past 3 weeks.  Instead of working from home and being there when the kids wake up and have breakfast with them, I am usually at the office before most of them are out of bed now.  Lily rides the bus to school every morning, and home every afternoon.......well not every afternoon.  It is not my habit to answer phone calls from numbers I don't know, but I happened to answer one today and it was her teacher telling me she had missed her bus.  She tells us stories over dinner about her day and about some kid named Aidan who rides the bus and talks to Lily and her friend Lizzy.  I've not met this kid Aidan, but I can tell you I don't like the boy.  The realization is setting in that I can no longer be there to protect her from every bad thing in this world, but that doesn't mean I won't jump on that bus and scare the ever loving poo out of that kid.  Despite the occasional bad apple, Lily loves school and she love riding the bus.  She prays every night and thanks God for her wonderful day at school and for another wonderful day tomorrow.  We were getting home a little late from dinner the other night and while in the car she asked if she could please go to bed right away so she would be in a good mood for school the next day.  My prayer, as wishful as it may be, is that she keeps that same attitude for the next 13 years. 

Lawson Boy still refuses to take his first step.  The child is cruising all over the place and will even stand there not holding on to anything with his head full tilt back drinking from a sippy cup, but as soon as he wants to go somewhere he drops down and starts crawling.  The boy knows how to make his Daddy feel good after a long day of work though.  As soon as I walk into the house, he comes crawling over with a big grin on his face yelling, "da da, da da".  All the kids are good about making us feel good when we get home, and it's a pretty good size welcoming committee.  They also make you feel good when you are leaving as Ms. Lauren can attest to.  She was trying to leaving the other night and they were not ready for her to go home so they decided to climb into her car and strap themselves into her seat belts.  The only reason they did not end up riding with her is the powerful persuasion of candy lured them from the vehicle.

The twins are now on the downside of the terrible twos and we are watching them grow into there personalities.  Chloe appears to have taken on the role of the rule nazi.  Though it doesn't appear all the rules apply to her directly, she is more than willing to point out when you are doing something wrong.  If I tell one of the other kids not to do something, she is right there beside me parroting me.  She has even decided to start telling me what I can and cannot do, which as you might imagine does not really fly with me.  Both of them have apparently discovered their feelings.  Should I get on to them about something, it is now followed up with, "Daddy, you hurt my feelings.  You say sorry Daddy."  As tough and crazy as Abby is, she can be especially sensitive at times and you can expect Chloe to come rushing to her aid and giving me or Kasey the business.  Funny how they can fight tooth and nail with each other one second, and the next second have the others back and be ready to go down swinging for them. 

Kasey has been a real trooper the past several weeks as well.  She is working full time and coming home to the craziness for a couple hours until I can get home.  Unfortunately for her, she got stuck with the lions share of Lawson, Abby and Chloe going through the stomach bug.  After three youngsters are ralphing all over the house, I swear it would be easier to just sell the place and move.  The twins however felt it would be easier to try and clean the walls and floor with pink princess toothpaste.......and I shall let you take that mental image with you into your weekend.

Jeff, Kasey, Lily, Abby, Chloe, and Lawson Boy

Lily's First Day of School

On the day that Lily was born I thought kindergarten was so far away.  I remember thinking that she would be our baby forever.  Just like many things with parenthood, I was so wrong about that.  Yesterday was Lily's first day of kindergarten.  It was also Jeff's first day at his new job (he accepted a promotion last week).  So it was a big day in our house.  As I was making lunches for everyone on Sunday night our sweet nephew Sam called Lily to wish her good luck on her first day.  Such a sweet boy!  Jeff was sad not to walk Lily in to her class, but I told him it would be mostly Mom's.  I don't think Lily was nearly as excited for her first day as I was. 

Once I promised her pancakes for breakfast she perked up.  Of course I had taken Lily shopping last week to buy her first day of school dress.  It was something I have looked forward to doing and we had a fun day getting school supplies and her outfit. 

We got in the car and started driving and I realized I don't know exactly where the school is.  Jeff always drives and I am distracted with the other kids.  No worries,  I can just follow the trail of tears and minivans to find my way.  Once we got to the school and I of course had to take some more pictures:

We got to her class, which was mass chaos.  I put Lily's things away and she sat down and started coloring.  I was excited to see that sitting right next to her is our pastor's son.  Jeff was hoping that they would be in the same class and was very excited to find out that they are not only in the same class, but sitting next to each other.

Lily endured a few more pictures and really wanted me to go so she could get on with her day.  I was very proud of myself for not bursting into tears and grabbing my baby and running out of there.  I even managed to keep it together and not fully cry (just a few teary eyes) the whole day.

I often marvel about how fast Lily is growing up and I wonder where time as gone.  When I was eating breakfast with Lily I almost fell out of my chair when she said, "What's up with my hip?  It hurts."  We just went from kindergarten to the old folks home?  Hello reverse Benjamin Button.  Lily is taking her new found responsibility of being a "Big Girl" very seriously these days.  Yesterday afternoon Lily was cleaning her room since she promised Jeff she would.  I went upstairs to check on her and this is what I found:

I asked Lily how Lawson got in the chair and she told me she put him there.  He was in time out for messing up her room.  As you can see he looks really sorry.

Poor Abby and Chloe did not know what to do without Lily and Daddy home yesterday.  So they did the only they could.  Crank up the volume.  I think they both spoke only at a yell the whole day.  Poor Lauren is having to get here earlier now that Jeff is leaving early so I am sure that did not help her morning routine.  Abby's new thing is to ask, "How?".  When I tell her not to touch my computer she says, "How?"  I say, "By taking your hands off of it."  She says. "How?"  then "How am I touching it?"  I thought these kids couldn't drive me any crazier.  Good thing we love them so much.

Meet The Teacher

Last night we took Lily up to her new school for Meet The Teacher.  Wow!  She starts her first day of kindergarten on Monday, and it just does not seem possible.  The memory of her first day in this world with us is still too vivid in my mind to believe that this day has come already.  As we walked down the halls of her school in search of her classroom, I could not help but be excited for her knowing all the wonderful things that lay ahead of her over the next years through elementary, middle, and high school.  The cheerleaders from Celina High School were there to greet all the kids and I began to wonder what activities Lily and all the kids would participate in.  Would she would be a cheerleader, or would she rather play soccer, basketball, a musical instrument, or would her talent for arguing shine through on the debate club?  What about the twins and the Boy......hopefully he is not a cheerleader.  I was getting so excited for her and I told Lily how jealous I was of her and how I wish I could be going into kindergarten all over again.  There are so many things that I want to tell her and prepare her for, and make sure she cherishes over the years.  And then I realized as I watched her, the last thing she wants is her old man trying to explain to her all these moments, experiences and feelings (good and bad) in front of her as she takes her next step in life.  What makes it so great is not knowing and living the experiences wide eyed.  So as parents we do our best to teach and prepare them and just like learning to ride a bike we let go and walk beside them and when they fall and stumble, we pick them up, hold on to them, and let them go again. 

Not only is Lily starting back to school on Monday, but I accepted a promotion with my company and am starting my new gig on Monday as well.  Since Lily was born, I have been lucky enough to have a job that is flexible and afforded me time to spend with the kids in the morning, help pick them up from daycare, and just be around them.  This new gig is a great opportunity but the hours are long and not nearly as flexible, and so we adapt.  The good thing is Lily will be busy with school, and the twins and Lawson are young enough that they won't really notice the change.  In the end I'm not going back to kindergarten, but we are entering a new phase together as a family, and that is just as exciting.

With everything going on recently, I have neglected to write down some of the things the kids have been up to.  Lawson still isn't walking but he is so close.  He is certainly growing a personality, and as charming as he is at time, the Boy also has quite the temper.  Wonder where he go that?  The twins continue to amaze us with the things they say, and we enjoy sitting back just listening to them have conversations with each other.  It is rare that agree upon something for no other reason than they are sisters, but it is nice to see them play so well together.  Even though they argue and have sibling rivalry, they  are as loyal as you can get if an outsider tries to pick on them.  The next door neighbor was over and he began playing with Lawson.  Chloe thought he was playing a little too rough with Lawson and she immediately put herself between Lawson and the kid, held her hand out and said, "no touch my Lawson".  We are learning that Abby is quite the scrapper too.  They were at Chick fil A playing in the play area and one little girl kept pushing and bossing not just our kids but all the kids that were there.  This girl was older than the twins and she made the mistake of pushing Chloe and Abby.  After Chloe's verbal assault on the girl that Abby did not feel sufficed, Abby walked up to the girl, kicked her, and yelled, "no push!". 

One more quick story to end the blog.  We dropped Lily off for a sleep over last night and of course the twins did not like to see Lily go without them so to cheer them up I told them I would get them ice cream, and that did the trick.  For the next 5 minutes as we drove to Sonic, Abby sang about ice cream and Chloe just kept talking about ice cream.  As we pulled up to the menu and before I could put the car in park, Chloe instructs me, "Daddy, push the button and order my ice cream!"

Jeff, Kasey, Lily, Abby, Chloe, and Wobbly Legs

Happy Birthday Lawson Boy

Time flies when you are having fun, but it is still hard to believe that the Boy turns one year old today.  As I reflect on the past year and try to remember the stages and milestones that he has hit on the way, I realize it has been a hectic year with 4 kids, but I think we have done our best to enjoy the time and enjoy the stages of our last baby.  Lily being the first kiddo, there was a certain anxiety of being new parents but we took time to thoroughly enjoy our time with her.  When Abby and Chloe came along we were just trying to maintain our sanity and it was tough to enjoy their infancy due to the sheer amount of work involved with twins.  So we made a conscious effort with our little surprise to enjoy him.  Fortunately he was a very well behaved baby and it is actually a close call as to whether he or Lily were easier to raise.  It's still hard to look back and remember everything which is why I started documenting a lot of it in the blog in the first place.  One thing is for sure, if you had told me several years ago we would be raising 4 kids ranging in age from 5 to 1, I would have told you that you were smoking crack.

We held his birthday party for him last weekend, and while Lawson seemed to enjoy the party I know we had a good time in his honor.  I was a little disappointed he didn't dive into his smash cake with the rigor we had hoped for, but he was still able to get plenty messy and plenty of sugar in his system.  My family and Kasey's family were all in town and came over to the house as well as some friends and their kids making for a very chaotic experience.  There were probably close to 20 kids running around the house and though it sounds horrible, it was a lot of fun having everybody over and enjoying themselves.  A comment was made about all the kids running around and if it would cause me anxiety, but then somebody pointed out that 20% of those kids are mine.

For several months now I have been pointing out how there is a light at the end of the tunnel with Abby and Chloe and I am happy to say that light is getting brighter and brighter.  If you do not have kids or they are still infants, many of the frustrations we enjoy with 2 year old is the fact that they know what they want, but they are not able to verbalize it to you so they whine and cry because they get frustrated.  There is only so much of the whining that I can take before I want to jab an ice pick into my ears so I won't have to hear it any more.  Even though their is still the occasional melt down, they are  becoming experts and communicating and they are able to let us know what they want.  The down side is we now have 3 girls who can communicate very well, but they do not know how to let the other finish jibber jabbering before they butt in resulting in all 3 squawking at the same time. 

Yet another skill the twins have mastered is the ability to cast blame on to the other.  Not only are they quick to point out when the other is doing something wrong, but they are testing the waters as far as blaming the other even when they were in the wrong.  Fortunately it is very easy to spot when they try to pull this off.  We are born with a sinful nature and the ability to lie, but we are not born with a good poker face.  Whenever one of them tries to blame the other for something they have done, it is written all over their face. 

We were on our way to San Antonio last night in the car and they were getting restless and starting to complain.  I informed them that if they continued to complain, they would not get a treat when I stopped.  Abby quickly pointed out, "Chloe is complaining, not me".  Come here Chloe so I can wash the off the grease from the bus you just got thrown under.

We still have several hours for Lawson to take his first steps by his first birthday.  He just stood for about 7 seconds on his own, but he won't quite take those steps without holding on to something.  Come on Boy!

Jeff, Kasey, Lily, Abby, Chloe and the Birthday Boy

No Comments from the Cheap Seats

It was Kasey's turn this week to take a pseudo vacation and travel for business.  She has been in Phoenix since Sunday and though it is a nice place to visit, August probably isn't the best time of year for it.  If you have been reading the blog, you know when one of us is traveling we usually do a series titled Daddy or Mommy vs Kids.  I cheated and called in reinforcements to come and help out for the week so it a better title would have been Daddy and Mama vs Kids.  We have had home cooked meals every night, a clean kitchen, and the laundry pile has never been smaller.  Mama is going to need a vacation very soon from all of this.

Lawson had hit last bottle of formula yesterday.  He will still get milk in the bottle for the next week as I was threatened with my life if Mommy got home and he was no longer taking a bottle.  I did some math on the formula, and if you figure 4 kids drink 4 bottles a day for 365 days each, it come out to just over 5800 bottles that we have fed them.  I'm not going to do the math on the amount of money that was spent, suffice to say that is a bunch of formula. 

The kids been up to their normal shenanigans this week and are even picking up the pace a bit.  With the twins new found skill of mastering the English language, we are constantly in stitches over the things that come out of their mouths.  During dinner this evening Abby was getting an earful from me due to her behavior, and Chloe was sitting across the table basically reiterating everything I was saying because they love it when the other one gets in trouble.  I turned my attention to Chloe and told her, "I don't need any comments from the cheap seat."  Chloe responded by looking at Mama and said, "cheap seats, what does that mean?"  Later on at this same meal, Chloe was doing something she shouldn't have been, and I gave her the stare to let her know I disapprove.  Before I could even say anything, she once again looks at Mama and says, "uh oh, I in trouble."  I'm starting to think that they are just trying to put on a comedy show for Mama. 

Continuing with the Chloe Comedy Show, all the kids had gone to lunch with Ms. Lauren and mama at Mooyah.  While waiting in line to place their order, I guess Chloe got bored or felt that it was taking too long and the other patrons were bored so she decided to entertain the entire restaurant by singing Jesus Love Me.  My understanding is that it was not a quiet version under her breath, but rather the belted out Jesus Loves Me at the top of her lungs.

I'm convinced that Abby is going to be a long distance runner or something similar.  The child has more energy than I can fathom, and she could not sit still if her life depended on it.  Even when she is standing in one place, her legs are still moving.  The other morning I got them out of bed as usual, came down stairs to make breakfast, and I look over and she is literally just running in circles around the furniture.  When I figure out how to bottle that energy up...........

Lily has been in some kind of mood this week.  She has decided that she is going to push me my limits by back talking and having an answer for everything.  It really doesn't matter what I say, she has decided this week she is going to argue with me and get the last word in.  I leave it at this, somethings gotta give, and it won't be me.  There may be a drop kick involved, I'm just saying.

It's been a fun week and everybody is excited for Mommy to get home this evening.  Lawson has his first birthday party this weekend, so the good news is only 17 years to go, right?

Jeff, Kasey, Lily, Abby, Chloe, and Lawson Boy

Mommy vs. Kids Day 3

Being a parent puts you in a lot tf crazy situations.  One of them is the fact that your day is centered around poop.  For example, today I went in to get Lawson and he was standing in his crib with have his diaper off.  His diaper was full of poop.  Thankfully, I got there in time for a crisis to be averted.  Once a crib has been painted in poop it is never the same.

He of course saw nothing wrong with the situation.  He got a little breathing room, clean sheets and blankies.  All around win for him.  As you can see he started out the day pretty happy. 

When you have 3 kids in diapers the goal is start reducing that number as soon as possible.  We talk about the potty with the twins.  They sit on the potty.  They put their dolls and stuffed animals on the potty.  The fundamentals are there we just need patience.  Everyone who went poo poo in the potty today raise your hand.

That's right.  Abby went poo poo in the potty!  This might be the most excited I have ever been about poop.  We all celebrated and danced around.  Abby got a piece of candy for her efforts.  Really , it was good timing.  She looked at me and said, "My diaper." with a frowny look on her face.  I ripped that diaper off faster than a Le Bare dancer with a pair of velcro pants and got her on the potty.  Chloe was really excited by Abby's success so she had to try her hand at this potty thing.  Unfortunately, success was not so easy for her.  She was very upset that she didn't get candy too.  Hopefully, she will learn the lesson that rewards are earned not given.
The kids have been getting a little stir crazy lately, but the extreme heat has kept us indoors.  So today I came up with the idea of finding a bounce place that has open jump.  It was just what the doctor ordered.



The girls were very excited about their bouncie adventure today, but the one thing that made the biggest impact was the car wash.  They just told me they had fun at the bouncie place, but I got details about the car wash.  They told me all the colors of the soap and all sorts of details.  Who knew a $4 car wash could be so entertaining? 

Only 1 more night night until Daddy comes home! I know he is enjoying the cool weather in San Diego, but we are ready for him to come back to us.  Just in time for me to take off to the center of the sun... uh... Arizona.



Mommy vs. Kids Day 2 (Miss Lauren is Back!)

One of the things I cherish as a Mom is being the first thing my kids see in the morning.  This isn't possible every day so I really love it when it happens.  When Lily was a baby Jeff and I would race into her room in the morning just to see her bright smile.  One time Jeff body checked me into the wall just to beat me out to those wonderful smiles.  When Chloe was an infant she used to wake up every morning at 4 am and I would go get her out of her crib and put her in bed with me.  She would sigh and put her head on my shoulder every time and go right back to sleep.  Abby has always been a ball of energy practically leaping out of her crib into your arms.  Except for the morning she painted her crib with poop.  She was a little busy that day.  Needless to say Jeff was very unhappy he was the first on the scene.  Getting up every few hours with Lawson was exhausting, but I also loved it,  It was a time when I had him all to myself and I knew he was my last baby so I had to appreciate every moment.  Since all of these are such precious memories for me, I thought I would share the morning wake up with everyone.

Here is Abby

Chloe



Lawon (Holding his favorite ball from Ai Fort Worth)

These happy faces are something I look forward to every morning even if it is at 5 am.  Unfortunately, Lily got out of bed before I could get her morning smile so here is a pic of her when I got home.  Usually the child is in some sort of strange outfit like pjs and pink cowboy boots or a princess outfit and crocs.  Today was no different.  I really like the blue cinderella socks with the ballet shoes.  It adds that much needed pizzazz to an otherwise dull outfit.

In case you haven't picked it up from Jeff's earlier posts, we do believe in teaching our kids discipline, right from wrong, telling the truth, etc.  The telling the truth part can be interesting.  This weekend I folded some laundry and I put it upstairs in a laundry basket while the kids were napping.  I meant to put it away when they got up, but I forgot.  I ended up regretting that decision since I walked upstairs yesteray to find the laundry basket was now in the media room and the laundry was all over the place.  I asked Lily why she hadn't done anything to stop this and she said, "I didn't know they were doing it.  I was in my room reading."  I almost went with it until I realized Lily can't read yet.  Nice try kiddo.  She quickly amended her answer to she was looking at books, which is her version of reading so I gave a pass.  Reluctantly.  Another similar story comes to mind.  I was changing Chloe's diaper and I stepped on a part of the floor that squeaks.  Abby looks at me and busts out laughing.  She says, "Excuse you Mommy!  You tooted!  Say Excuse Me!"  I explained it wasn't me, but the floor.  I even showed her over and over how the floor squeaks and makes that noise.  She just gave me a very skeptical look.  She didn't buy into the floor squeaks theory even with proof.

Not only do we try to teach our kids things, we also learn from them.  Their unique perspective on the world around them is pretty funny.  Today a dump truck was dumping rocks behind our house.  Probably clearing some area for construction.  This scared the twins so Lauren was explaining that it was the driver's job and he was not scary.  This somehow turned into Chloe's favorite subject:  Where is Ashie (Ashley Boyd).  She took this to mean anyone can drive a truck (true) therefore the truck driver must be Ashie.  I think the kid is going to need some major tutoring when it comes time for her to answer the reasoning questions on the SAT. 

Tonight at dinner I was using Chloe's necklace (she always has one) to make shapes.  The kids called out the shape and I made it.  This opened the door for lots of conversation.  I heard all about the Mickey Mouse they watched that morning.  Apparently, Pete was quackers.  I asked if they were quackers.  Chloe said, "No, I twin."  Abby said, "No, I a girl."  Which led them to tell me that Lawson is a boy and so is Daddy,  I asked them where Daddy is.  Chloe said, "He went Bye Bye".  I asked her where he went bye bye.  She said, "He went Bye Bye in his blue car." She would make a great witness on Law & Order.

Well, its time for me to try to get some sleep before I have to get up and do this all over again.  Apparently the twins were trying to get out of going to bed and tried to hide from me tonight.

At least they are coming up with creative ways to stay up rather than just running from me screaming.  I thought I would leave everyone with pictures of the kids going night night.  It really is a sweet thing to be a part of.  Good night to everyone from the Straits!







PS-Only 2 more night nights until Daddy comes home!  We miss you Daddy and can't wait to see you soon.





Mommy vs. Kids Day 1

Well, Jeff is off to San Diego today.  So he is going to enjoy 4 kid free days, 3 kid free nights and 70 degree weather.  He had to pack a jacket.  Life is not fair.  Especially when you consider the fact that my work trip next week is in Arizona.  The temp there hovers around the same temp as the sun.  Anyway, in Jeff's absence I will be taking over the blog.  You will find my version is a lot more detailed than Jeff's.  This is due to the fact that I am a girl, I've been with them all day and that I am chronicling our days for Jeff since I usually have his attention for about 5 seconds on the phone. 

Today I took a vacation day to be with the kids since Miss Lauren is enjoying a much needed vacation in Cabo.  I don't mean to minimize anyone's job or their commitment to their work, but I don't care how hard your job is Lauren's job is harder.  This is evidenced by the fact that this summer many family members have invited Lily to come stay with them for an entire week.  The twins have received no such invites.  Its not that they are bad kids or undisciplined or that our family members don't love them whole heartedly.  Its that there are 2 of them going through the Terrible 2s.  No easy task for anyone to take on, even us, and we made them. 

Our day had an inauspicious beginning.  It appears that our baby boy has discovered that diapers come off.  He is clearly a Strait based on how comfotable he is in his birthday suit.  For those of you that don't know, Strait men have an anversion to clothing and apparently it is hereditary:

I had to chase him around my room for a few minutes to get a diaper back on him.  This is very similar to the sprint he does to avoid going night night.  Apparently our boy is a nudist at heart.  The poor boy was having a rough morning.  First, he found out we have a no diaper, no bottle policy at home.  Second, he had to endure another of his sister's attempts to make him look pretty or cute depending on their mood.  I was wrapping up some emails for work and I heard Lawson start to cry.  It was more of an offended cry rather than a hurt cry.   I looked over and Abby was trying to put a clip in his hair.  Not just any clip, but a glittery clip with an Easter Bunny on it.  He will put up with having to play with pink toys, princess balls and even being decorated with marker, but not a glittery, Easter Bunny clip.  He has standards.

Thankfully, our wonderful neighbors invited Lily to come over to play with their son Jake.  This allowed me to hit Target to shop for groceries with only 3 kids instead of 4.  This also allowed Lily to have someone her own age to play with for once.  I often get asked how I grocery shop with 4 kids.  Yes, I grocery shop by myself with all 4 kids.  A lot of times Jeff or Miss Lauren will come with me, but circumstances will arise where I have to bite the bullet and go it alone.  Here is the cart configuration I use.  Lawson in the front, twins in the basket and Lily walking beside me.  I also keep a hand held basket in the bottom of the cart to hold most of the groceries since the twins tend to sample items if they are in the cart with them.  We will get home and discover bite marks in the turkey hot dogs, cheese or half the grapes missing due to the twins helping themselves during the shopping trip,  Here is a before and after shot of the grocery cart:.

Before:

Here we are with the groceries and the kids in the cart:

The trip to Target went relatively smoothly.  Abby only bitch slapped Chloe once.  That's about as good as it gets for us.  I also learned that the twins really are listening to every word we say.  During our trip to Target Chloe looked at me and said, "Seriously!?!  Seriously."  She also said, "You have got to be kidding me!?!"  Both times referred to her accomodations in the cart.  They both also told me that Lawson is being Widiculous (Ridiculous-for those of you that don't speak 2 yr old). 

While the twins nap we let Lily play or rest while she watches a movie.  Usually, Lawson will wake up before the twins so he gets to play with his big sister.  As you can see he really loves to get some attention from his big sister.  I did have to explain to Lily that she can't put her little brother on the couch and just walk away.

After naptime I decided to take the kids to the pool.  Its a great way for them to work off some of their energy before bedtime and they love it.

Our kids are scared of many things dogs, wasps, trains, etc.  However water is not one of them.  Lawson really loves to splash in the pool, the twins will jump in and out for hours and Lily will swim until she just can't keep going.  So at the end of the swim we have hungry and very tired kids.

 Tomorrow I go back to work so I won't have so many details about the kids' day.  I am sure Miss Lauren will have plenty of stories for me when I get home.  We have all missed Miss Lauren and we can't wait for her to be back.  She will be greeted by the kids like the rock star that she is.  I told her that she will never have another job where she will greeted so enthusiastically.

Only 3 night nights until Daddy comes home.  Daddy, we miss you very much!  We hope you are having a good trip, but we can't wait for you to come home.