Que sera sera

This month has been flying by.  Everyone is finally better.  I actually hung onto it the longest and for a while there I thought the babies were going to get a second round, but it was merely teething.

During my last doctor's appointment, we were discussing a whole bunch of issues, reviewed my bloodwork, etc. including my need to see an eye doctor for a check up and a gynecologist since I haven't been since I had the babies and they're going to be 20 months pretty soon.  I did try and go for a check up a while ago, but once I got there and realized that I mostly likely was going to wait for over an hour past my appointment time, I decided my time was too valuable and left vowing that I wouldn't return.  I was pretty mad that day.   So the doctor ended up asking me if I'm planning on having my more children, which up until recently, my answer has always been no.  Lately, I'm feeling the itch to be pregnant.  I think it's the combination of  a couple things - like being around people that are pregnant and wanting to experience that again.  I have a mostly positive recollection of my pregnancy (I think I may be blocking out the bad).  Part of me wants to know if I could get pregnant on my own (without the help of fertility drugs/intervention) and part of me wants to know if I'd have another set of multiples.  At this point, we're not trying to have any more children, but we're not, not trying either.  The way I left it with the doctor was - if it happens, it happens, even though I know financially, it wouldn't be the best idea for our family. 

I'm sure there are a bunch of other things that I should be catching up on, but I just can't seem to remember right now.  I've taken a ton of pictures over the past few weeks - some good, but not all.  I have really bad luck with cameras and lately, the one I have doesn't seem to capture movement very well.  Everything comes out blurry and believe me, it's not easy to get them to stand still. 

 The weather has been getting a little nicer during the day - not so cold.  So we decided to let the kids play around in the back yard for a little bit.  We got them all bundled up in some older coats and shoes because the backyard is a bit muddy.  They had fun despite only being out for about 20 minutes - it was colder than anticipated - just running around.  We did open a new toy for outside that they got at Christmas time - a play lawn mower.  They really loved it!

In other news, we got a new microwave.  The one we had kept turning itself off after being on for 2 seconds and the only way to get it back on was to reset it and enter the date and time.  This would/could happen about 5 times in a row before actually staying on.  It became a real annoyance - trying to heat something up for 30 seconds and it taking 5 minutes.  So we had looked around and decided on getting a microwave/convection oven from the appliance place downtown.  Tony installed it and has been a baking maniac ever since.  He's made cupcakes, soda bread, muffins, crackers and cookies!   He likes it more because it doesn't heat up the whole house like the oven would.  This should come in really handy when we have to bake alot of things for the kids and around the holidays!  So we had the pretty large box that the microwave came in and of course that's what they ended up playing with!  I cut a few holes/doors for them to peek through and they had a blast!

On the mend (finally)

Since 'that' weekend spent collecting germs, we've had a few rough days and nights with alot of runny snotty noses and coughing.  All of the babies are on the mend and so is Tony, but I, on the other hand seem to be having the most difficult time shaking the sickness off.  I've been to see my doctor on two occasions and have taken several days off of work.  (I'm so glad I still have unlimited sick time.)  On the first trip there, I was told I had bronchitis and given antibiotics and steriods.  After a few days and not getting any better, I went again and was told that I could possibly have pneumonia or even mono!  Great!  I went today for a chest x-ray and blood work to either confirm or rule out either of these diagnoses.  My supervisor at work is really awesome and understanding and let me know that I don't need to be a martyr and keep coming to work with pneumonia - it's ok to take another day.  The problem with taking another day off is that I feel like I'd actually work harder being at home with the babies.  She also let me know that if I continue to come to work sick - she'll expect no less in the future - even if I've lost a limb or something like that. 

Last weekend, my MoM's club had their annual flea market/sale.  I had been gearing up for it for a few weeks - going through clothes and other items that we no longer use/need.  I was going to skip it because I was feeling really crappy, but Tony stepped in and saved the day - or rather the sale!  We arranged for Mel to come over early in the morning and Tony and I packed up both cars with all the stuff that we were going to attempt to sell, drove the 40 minutes to Hamilton and started unpacking the stuff.  Luckily, there were several people from the club that were there to lend a hand and cart all of the stuff from the car into the library.  The place was already packed and trying to organize all of the things seemed like a daunting task, but Tony took it all in stride and started making chit-chat with others there and before we knew it, people were digging through the boxes of clothes and filling the Halo Farm bags for $5.00 a bag for their little ones to wear.  I think overall, Tony sold about $175 worth of items and we divided up the proceeds and added it to their bank accounts.  Tony made one purchase there from a fellow MoM - a little scooter with a ball.  He saw it and thought of little Tony who seems to like to ride the lion (ride-on toy), but he likes to try to bounce on it - so this ride-on toy seemed perfect.

Here's a picture of Amelia on it...

Here's a few pictures from the week - I realized that I never got any good pictures of the girls in their Valentine's outfits so I took a few.

Olivia loving on Buddy dog - or as she calls him "bo-bo"

 

Anyways, today - well now yesterday 3/7/13 marked 19 months for my babies.  Tonight was the first time in several days that I can recall that they all seemed really happy and content.  Not whiny at all and ate their dinner well and happily played together in the bathtub without altercation.  It was really nice.  I ended up taking a long video of them in the bath tub, but don't want to take the time to load it now or for that matter have it on here for any pervs to see.  So unfortunately, I'll keep my nude baby pictures to myself.

Thanks Chuck E Cheese! (not)

Last weekend, we attended a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese.  I had been there in the past for other parties, but not with children of my own - at least not ones running around.  I was pregnant the last time I went - I remember showing my ultra-sound pictures to my family.  Anyways, I didn't recall there being many things/games for little ones (18 months old), but was assured by my mother in law that there were and that it was for only two hours.  Well, my memory served me right - there wasn't really much the kids could do or if they were able to, they didn't want to do.  They had little rides and such, but all except Olivia was scared of them.  We did a few other games, but we had to hold them up in order to play.  They mostly roamed around and watched other people. 

Here's a few pictures of them while driving to the party... they look thrilled right?

The two hours went by pretty quickly and we ended up going over to BJ's with Tony's parents - I thought that by this point, they would have passed out, but nope, still going strong.  After what seemed like hours in BJ's, we were finally on our way home.  I think they were feeling really tired and giddy but still not falling asleep - nope - they were all trying to eat their shoes - and feet once we removed their sneakers. Hilarious!

They never did take a nap that day and it all seemed to work.  That brings me to today.  Everyone in the house is sick.  Earlier in the week, little Tony kept falling and hitting his forehead - he had a really big lump on his head and afterwards starting throwing up.  He ended up going to the ER that night because he threw up a few times and didn't have a temperature or seem sick.  They released him after a few hours and a CT scan that came back negative.  They thought that he possibly had a concussion or possibly came in contact with a virus - oh great! 
He threw up again on the way to the pediatrician's office - and she thought it was a concussion because at that point, he still didn't seem sick, but Olivia was starting to get a cough.  Well that cough developed into a 102 degree fever and more baby vomit.  I had forgotten how bad they all were when it comes to take medicine.  They HATE it and refuse to swallow the medicine - which in the end makes them gag and throw up.  The sick bug  has developed over the weekend and now everyone is sick including me and Tony.  That basically means sleepless nights for a while until everyone is better. 

I don't have sick pictures from today - which was the most miserable day we've all had.  Little Tony is crying as I write this trying to get comfortable and coughing every so often.  I also keep hearing the other two coughing from upstairs.  It's so sad to feel this helpless.  I wish I could take all their pain away right now.

Other pictures from this weekend include everyone wearing this set up bunny slipper/booties.  I found them going through some things getting ready for my MoM sale next weekend.  They're really cute, but a little small for them now, but I had to have them try them on and once one tried, they all wanted to put them on.

I took this video the other evening while they were eating.  We've been doing a little bit of signing with the babies - and well, one sign in particular has stuck!

Every morning

We've been teaching the babies some animal noises.  So far, they all can all do their own version of a dog, duck, lion and cat.  Amelia definitely has her 'meow' down.  They all know that the cat mainly resides in our bedroom and typically hides under the bed.  So every morning and multiple times during the day (if they're upstairs and if you let them, they'll all run into our room and check under the bed for the cat and talk to her if she's there.  It's adorable to watch them, but don't take my word for it...   Here is Amelia talking to the kitty.

Winter Wonderland

Winter storm Nemo blew threw yesterday/last night and left us with about 6 inches of snow.  I'm not sure when we started 'naming' winter storms, but I'll go with it.  I was told to leave work early when the rain turned to snow and it started to 'stick' to the roads.  My ride home took about twice as long as it normally would - but it wasn't only because of the road conditions - it was mostly because everyone else in the central NJ area decided to leave early too.
The snow let up a bit once I got home and then started back up around 9pm.  I went to bed around 11pm and had the alarm set for 5am so I could get to my weekend gig at Fort Dix.  It ended up that they delayed me arriving due to the snow, but I was up at 5:15am shoveling the driveway and sidewalk.  It wasn't until after that, that I received the text to come in later, so I went back to bed.
The day before, Tony and him mom had gone for the weekly milk/eggs run and also went on sled-quest 2013.  I guess any type of sled was difficult to come by - they went to two different Targets and at least a few Home Depot's and finally found a few.

Up until today, the babies had only ever seen snow - they had never played or walked in it.  Tony had his mom come over to help him out - or to at least make sure no one got into trouble.  Here's a few pictures of their time in our Winter Wonderland.

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More of what you missed...

The babies got to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus a few weeks before Christmas.  The Farmer's Market that we go to weekly to get our deli meats, etc. and the one that is across the parking lot from Halo Farm, where we get our 4+ gallons of milk per week had a strolling Santa and Mrs. Claus every Saturday during the month of December. 
We dressed the babies up in some matching/coordinating outfits and away we went.  We took them in the stroller and once we found Santa, we unloaded and tried to keep them in one place while trying to get a decent picture of everyone.  Tony didn't really seem to want to help at all, I guess he was more interested in getting his polish meats than getting a picture with Santa, so it was a bit difficult, but the Santa and Mrs. Claus were really great and seemed very willing to keep trying to get a good picture. 
Olivia was scared as I'm sure you can see in the picture... Little Tony and Amelia just wanted to keep looking at them so they were constantly turning around.  I had to get in the picture to keep Olivia calm enough to get a picture. 
Of course we were an attraction to look at as well.  The triple stroller really piques the interest of most people because they've never seen anything like it (empty or full!).  I actually ran into a fellow CJMoM member there with her 4 month old twins.  They were so cute and tiny and it's hard to believe my three were ever that small! 
Here are the pictures that we got that morning...

Here's what you missed...

Back in November, within the week after the hurricane or rather 'Super Storm' that it is currently being called, we had gone out to get our weekly milk and eggs.  We still didn't have power at home, but had the generator, but that was only powering up a few crucial things, like the refrigerators and get us some hot water.  Alot of the restaurants and businesses didn't have power either so we ended up eating lunch at Hooters in Lawrenceville.  We brought the babies in, got three high chairs and ordered chicken fingers for them plus food for ourselves.  We ended up sitting next two a family/crew from down south that had come up to help out with the clean up from the hurricane.  They didn't stare at us or the babies - which was really cool, but we chatted a little and told them that we had some downed trees in our yard and got one of their business cards. 

The whole time we were there, Tony kept asking me if we should have the Hooter's ladies pose with little Tony - and I told him it was fine with me, but he was too chicken to ask them himself!  So just before we were wrapping up to get going I asked our waitress and she happily obliged and got a few of her fell waitresses to pose with little man. 

Right after the picture was taken, we realized that little T had a disgusting dirty diaper that stunk to high heaven and we were very surprised that all of these ladies had smiles on their faces! 
I recall that Tony sent this picture on to his brothers with some like about how little Man has more 'game' than them. 

We also ended up hiring the crew we met to take care of the trees in our backyard so, in the end, it all worked out.