Can a mom have one day of "NO COMMENTS" PLEASE!!

Well, we went to the Live stock show today! I can't say it was the best outing we've had. It wasn't the worst...but i was definitely upset about how i planned it so strategically(spelling), thinking we'd be the only one...or close to the only people there during the day in the middle of the week! BOY, WAS I WRONG! It was like walking into a barnum & bailey circus...FULL OF SCHOOL CHILDREN! Now obviously, i don't have any problems with children, i have my own, BUT i planned it so we'd have a good time and the it would be nice and quiet! NOT SO! My MOM friend Melody went last week(we had planned on going with them but the girls got sick) and she said the place was EMPTY! OH My goodness, what a bad day to go! The girls did get to see some cows, some goats and a few other animals. BUT i feel guilty, like Hannah didn't get to experience it like i planned! We were so upset about all the kids EVERYWHERE...we almost left right after we got there. BUT, i decided to let Paul take the girls for a walk and Hannah & I would stand in the longest line ever just to get into the petting zoo! She did have a blast. One goat was even so hungry he tried to eat her dress! LOL! She was yelling "mommy, he's eating my dress"...as we tugged the dress out of the poor hungry over stimulated goats mouth! The birthing center was really cool...we did get to see a BRAND NEW baby calf that was born last night at 11:50p and weighted in at a whopping 65lbs at less than a day old. We also did get to see a ton of baby piglets. Other than that, we didn't get to see much. I'm sad, but i know there is always next year. See pics below:

On another note in regards to the title of my post. I wonder...really wonder...will there seriously ever be a day when no one will make a comment to us. It's so funny how no one looks twice at you if you have a baby...or they didn't when i had just Hannah....i mean people would look and say how cute she was..but weren't intrigued about my life..and/or wouldn't walk by and just blurb out a comment. BUT BOY, with the girls...it's just so different. I think everyone we passed, from the drive of the tram, to this one guy that was talking to us about how it's so expensive to buy things for babies and then not be able to sell them after you done...(WHAT????). Then one guy said "UH OH, TRIPLE TROUBLE...did he NOT see that i have twins and a bigger daughter...it's not triplets goofy...it's TWINS! Hannah doesn't even LOOK like them..she's not the same size...she doesnt' even have the same hair color! Anyway, I know i always rant and rave about how we never really do have time to just enjoy without people being nosey and asking quesitons..making comments...staring and pointing. I guess everyonce in a while i'd just love to go somewhere and no one stare at us. Today was bad...i mean really bad. So, maybe next time we go out just for a little fun i'll dress them differently and see if people still stare. Actually, now that i'm thinking about it...that sounds like a really good idea...just a day out without stares and comments. I wonder if people will even notice if i dress them differently. I'll let ya'll know after our next outing!

And here are some pics from the week so far..

Here are a few pics from the precious picnic table i bought in hopes of using for the girls for snack time. This was actaully a bad idea that is now flipped upside down in the corner...you wouldn't believe it but the very first hour after the girls got home from MDO Tuesday Sarah crawled right up on top of it to get up on to the counter. I caught her...but it could have been bad. Where in the world did she get that bright idea from...i don't know! Needless to say it's going outside now. That way there's no reason to climb up on top of the table! Oh, how my girls are MONKEYS! The climb on SOO much! Another cute pic of the table. Good idea...but so much for keeping it inside for snacks! UGH!

The Invisible Mom

Another MOM sent this to our Yahoo group. It really touched me! Just thought i'd share!
Enjoy!


Invisible mother..it all began to makesense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this ? Can you tie this? Can you open this?? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.' I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!?

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it. And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.' I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become. At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree. As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women. Great Job, MOM!

The best Morning of S & S's life for ME so far..

You wouldn't believe it, but this time change thing is doing amazing things for my children! They(and me too) did not wake up till 605a! HOLY SCHNIKES! I couldn't believe it! AMAZING! I am SOO excited...but i better knock on some wood. I hope this sleep thing continues...but you never know. SO they slept from 8p-6a! That's a whole 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep! I'm shocked! YAHOO!

My body will adjust fast...so if they can stay on this schedule...i'll be one Happy MOMMY!

I also forgot to add on the last post...that we had our date night Sat night. Ashton came over...and Hannah did just fine with her. We haven't had her come over in a while because we've been using Samantha a bit more since she lives 2 houses over...so it's not as long of a drive(Ashton lives ONE block over...LOL). Both girls are soo sweet....i'm just ready for the day when we can leave earlier than 745p to go out to dinner. BUT, i can do this for one more year. By the time we can talk to them and tell them...they will just have to deal with us leaving earlier. This year has flown by...so it won't be long. We had a nice LOUD night out. I keep forgetting how LOUD Ruth Chris Steakhouse is...BUT we had a gift card from Pauls partner from Xmas...so we thought we'd use that. Thanks to Bob & Theresa we had a nice meal and a bottle of wine...and all we had to pay for was a sitter. :) Either way, just getting out with my husband for a night out was nice. Just sitting there...eating...and not worried about keeping the girls occupied for an entire dinner was great!

We also went for our weekly dinner out as a family Friday night...as always, the girls did great. We even tried colors, but i just don't think they are ready yet. There was a family that sat by us with a little 4 year old. He was HILARIOUS! He was doing the spitting kinda thing at Hannah...and she was yelling at him(both in a not so nice way). I kept telling Hannah to stop and just not talk to him...but he was doing different little annoying things to her the whole time. All in all it was actually kinda funny. Then when we left as we were walking out the door of red lobster...it was packed and then ususal...everyone we walked past had to take a double take of the girls. I don't think there will ever be a time we can just go somewhere and no one stare. Of course i don't really mind...i'm sure i was JUST as interested as everyone else that doesn't have twins is about them.

On that note, Saturday when we went to pick up the play set...there was a girl there that was obviously pregnant. Her whole family was with her and we were just standing in one place staring at the big playset making sure that was what we wanted...as they walked by her dad said "don't you want twins" to his prego daughter. She said "NO, NO WAY"! At first i walked up to Paul and said how rude...after i told her..."o, it's actually REALLY fun!" And Paul brought up a good point...everyone that has twins has a different perception of twins. Before i had them..i would totally say the same thing. "NO WAY!" So, i then decided it wasn't actually rude..it's just normal for some to say that..i was there, until i actually had mine. At the same time there are some that see the girls and say "O, i ALWAYS wanted to have twins" and there are times when i say "O, you THINK you do...till you have them"...so i really go both ways on the whole thing. Of course, when i say it i'm joking, because i wouldn't change having twins for the world...but the people that don't actually have them have NO idea. So what i'm getting at is, it's kinda a loose loose situation to anyone that has a comment for me. LOL! You say you want them...but you don't really know and haven't been there...You say O i'd NEVER want twins...and you have no idea how much love you get from having TWO babies at once. Best thing to do is...if you don't have multiples and aren't related to me in any way...nor my friend...just don't say anything! LOL! Nah, i'm kidding...nothing you can say will actually offend me anyway. This is my life and i love it just the way it is no matter what people say...funny or rude!

Our New backyard attraction!

This is going to take about 10 years to build...but we've started! This is from Sunday...Day TWO of production! Doesn't look like much...but we've got the second story floor down and the upper deck floor on too! This thing is HUGE...25 x 12! It's going to take up a bit portion of our backyard...thank goodness we have a huge back yard! THIS is why we bought this house...for the backyard! Day 1 of production...my goodness...it's the biggest puzzle i've ever seen. Each piece actually has a letter and number on it...that coincides with the directions. It's funny...Pauls bro STEVE would LOVE putting this together! He loves puzzles!

Another pic of the end of day 1!

Playing on the slide laying in the grass..the girls had a blast and their hair was so staticy it was hilarious!

Playing in the boxes that held the wood for the playset!

We put part of it together before we moved it out...

There were a total of FIVE boxes...it's amazing how they can fit everything for that huge set in such a small space!

Another shot of the wood

See post below this one for the pics of over 2000 screws in the set! I've been having some MAJOR problems with blogger this morning...SO these posts are all out of order.

What have we been doing this Beautiful Saturday!

I GIVE UP! I've been trying to load some pics ALL day! Let me try a new post!

Below is pics of the 2000 screws we'll be using to install our new play system for the girls! It's really for ages 2-10, so for right now we're going to have to watch the twins and teach them how to climb up the ladder...but once they get it...it'll be tons of fun. Of course it may take a few months to build...so by then they'll be a few months older! LOL!

Below are all the sets of different hardware needed for this gigantic set. We've decided to put the thing together on our own. I called on company that actually installs play systems. They said because of all the pieces it would be 700 to install! WHAT? Yeah right...that's what my hubby is for, right? So, Paul & i are going to do it ourselves...we worked on it all weekend. I have more pics...let me try a new post and see if that works!

Mommy told you once...and she'll tell you again!

When you wake up before 6am your punishment is sleeping on the living room floor! LOL! Not really, but girls come on...if you fall asleep on the floor like this you MUST be tired...can't you give mom a break and sleep till...even 530a! This 445a thing is getting old and mommy is getting grumpier and grumpier by the day. The girls literally fell asleep in the middle of the floor while they were playing. Again..way before their real nap time which is 10a. They fell asleep at 915a!
I know they are supposed to have pillows till 2..but look at them sleeping on them. They seem so comfortable...i wonder if that would help them sleep better at night! Superstar SAM!
Sam playing jail bird!
Two jail birds!
Sarah says "peek a boo"

FINALLY BACK TO NORMAL!

TGIF!!!!!!

Well, after 5 days of sickness, my life is getting back to normal. Besides having cabin fever(and the weather is really yucky today so we can't go outside now that they are feeling well), everyone is over the sickness. Thank goodness! I really can't explain how excited i am that my girls are acting like themselves again. Last night they were dancing to every song that came on when we were watching American Idol...it was soo nice! Now that i've seen what life can be like with sick kids, i'm much more appreciative of my happy, feisty well children. I like it that my house is a mess because the girls are well and pulling out every toy is sight. I like it that i have to move toys to the side just to walk through my living room or kick plastic bowls under the counter to get through the kitchen. All this means my kids are happy, well and back to their normal. With all that being said, i don't think their appetites have come back yet. They are not eating well..not drinking much milk and probably lost a bit of weight. Either way, that'll all come back with time.

This weekend we aren't doing much. Paul is thinking about going to sams to buy that swing set so he can get working on his weekend project for the next few months..LOL! I promised Hannah we'd go to Red Lobster tonight...because she talks about going there all the time(i think she just likes saying "red lobster" more than she likes eating there). Then, tomorrow night, Ashton is coming over to watch the kidos so we can go out to dinner by ourselves. We try to get out about every other week just to get away for the evening after the kidos are sleeping. I'm excited and ready for a night out!

Just another day in Paradise...

Since hopefully all the population reading my blog is an adult i'd like to share my morning in a nutshell. Sarah screaming all morning at the top of her lungs wanting to be held even while i'm doing chores, making breakfast and anything else...she was just hanging on my pants all snotty and crying. THEN, as if that wasn't enough, Hannah didn't feel like eating...she had already spit up some breakfast on her plate because she just wanted to watch t.v. I told her to get moving and stop staring at the t.v. I've now learned that we're just going to have to revert to NO TV at all while we're eating any meal...it's too distracting for my non-eating child. So, after she stuffed all her food in her mouth as fast as she could...tried to swallow b/c i told her if she didn't eat it all she would not get any snacks(which we should just completly cut out anyway, but the snacks keep the twins from crying). So anyway, i told her to go wash her hands and she could go back to watching t.v. I then hear this screach...and low and behold her breakfast was ALL OVER the floor in the laundry room. You know, i don't want to say this has nothing to do with the virus, although neither of the twins puked. BUT, it could also be manipulation. How do you know??? I just don't know! Anyway, what i'm getting at is all this teen pregnancy could be stopped really quickly if these kidos had a glimpse of my life(LOL). When my sister used to come over when the girls were younger and cried all the time and were really colicy, she'd always say...this is the BEST form of birth control! LOL! So, there's no real point to this blog...just ranting on about my day so far. Luckily the twins are already down for their nap...YEP, you got that right. 9am and sleeping. Reason being, the WOKE UP AT 415A! YEP, that's CORRECT....4:15A! I just can't figure them out...who in the world would want to wake up at 4:15a! Besides the fact that Sarah didn't want to go to bed last night and we fought and fought with her till about 9:30p then she woke back up about 10:15p screaming...we let her cry it out for about 15 or 20 minutes(she finally went back to bed)...how else are they going to learn...and i knew they weren't sick because we had JUST put her down! She wasn't warm and ate her whole bottle like a champ. Talking about 2 weeks in a row filled with stress! I REALLY need a break from all this...what i'd do for a nice fruity drink on a beautiful sand beach relaxing with my hubby and no children in sight! AHHH...i CAN dream though!

BAD BAD VIRUS!

Here are some pics of the beginning and ending of what kind of toll, the virus took on Sam. It was bad...i'm sure over 104 temp...very lethargic and didn't want to do much of anything. Of course the day she started to feel better...Sarah & Hannah got it. It's been a crappy week around here. Lots and Lots of crying and everyone wanted to be held. No one wanted to take naps or sleep in their beds and lots of tylenol was used to keep the temp down. Sam got in Sunday morning and broke out in a rash from the waist down on Tuesday(one day after i put her through the blood and urine testing). Then Sarah got it Tuesday as Sam was ready to get moving again...and was down most of the evening Tuesday and Yesterday was REALLY REALLY BAD! I couldn't put her down to literally go to the potty. I had to hold her or listen to her whale at the door of the potty. Poor Hannah was a trooper through the whole thing. Sarah is finally on the up and up today. I haven't had to hold her constantly, all morning. I see the beginnings of a rash(it's sooo weird how it starts on their privates really bad and then moves down to the knees and feet), which is actually a good sign...that means we're at the end of this yucky virus. I look forward to the girls getting older when they can say what's wrong and what they need to make it feel better. For Hannah it's normally some water and gum! :) FUNNY how GUM can make ANYTHING FEEL BETTER! She could break her arm and i bet gum would make it all better! LOL!

We're going to miss the easter egg hunt this weekend with my MOMS since the girls are probably still contagious! So we'll just have our own little "family hunt the Saturday before Easter Sunday, of course, including Allison in the hunt too! I'm sad about missing it...but with so many preemie twins around there is no way i want to chance spreading it around!


The beginning of the Virus!
Another day of sickness for Sam!
Ahh...finally feeling better! It's funny because normally we only give baths on Monday, Wednesday & Saturday because it's a big production and they don't really get that dirty..but with the fevers and all we've been bathing them EVERY NIGHT! It's actually not too bad...and they LOVE taking baths!
This is what the rash looks like on her legs...it's 2x's worse on her privates!
Can't see this well but it's all over the back of her legs & her feet too!

Identical triplet boys born...AMAZING!

Check this out...i thought I was special being blessed with identical twin girls...

This lady had identical triplets. Chances 1 in 200 million!

I was going to just cut and paste article...but sometimes if you go back to the article it disappears after a while...so i just copied and pasted the whole article!



MANHASSET, N.Y. — When they get older, Logan, Eli and Collin Penn may blanch at the notion they wore nail polish to their first press conference. But it's the only way their parents know how to tell the boys apart right now. The identical triplets were born last Wednesday at North Shore University Hospital _ an event so rare that an obstetrician estimated it might happen just once in 200 million births.
The triplets' mother, Allison Penn, was impregnated with just one embryo through in vitro fertilization, said Dr. Victor Klein, a specialist in multiple births and high risk pregnancies who delivered the boys. That embryo split in half and then one half of that split again, he said.
"This is the first one we're aware of in the literature in the country in which they only put back one embryo" and a woman gave birth to triplets, said Klein. "Most people put back two or three embryos and you just never know."
Klein said identical triplets are born at a rate between one in 60,000 and one in 200 million, depending on the research.
Allison Penn, 31, said she and her husband Tom, 46, had tried to have a baby ever since they got married about four years ago. Although she once thought of having several children, the disappointments over four years revised her dreams downward.
"When it took us so long to get pregnant, I just assumed we were going to have one and that would probably be it," she said. "So I thought one would be good."
/**/

And when she and her husband were told three youngsters were on the way?
"I looked over at Allison and her mouth was wide open and her eyes were like saucers and she didn't say a word," Tom Penn said. "Then I realized that it was possible and then I started to laugh."
He confessed he couldn't get over the irony.
"Everything we had done was to have one baby," he said. "Anybody who says God doesn't have a sense of humor. Everything we did was just for having one baby and now we have three."
Tom Penn, a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, estimates that the family will go through 10,000 diapers a year, but North Shore University Hospital is donating a two-year supply for the boys, said executive director Susan Somerville.
The Patchogue couple is also relying on Allison Penn's mother, Marianne McGuire of Manchester, N.J., to help out with the eight feedings a day and other chores.
To help tell them apart, the boys have a dot of maroon nail polish on their fingers. Logan Thomas, who weighed 4 pounds, 12 ounces, has a mark on his thumb; Eli Kirkwood, a 4-pounder, has polish on his forefinger, and Collin McGuire, at 4 pounds, 11 ounces, has a mark on his middle finger. Except for Logan, who may have a problem with a non-functioning kidney, all the children are healthy, doctors said.
Allison, an education specialist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said she has not decided whether to return to work.
"That's one of those `one-day-at-time' issues," she said.

All Sick on the Myers Front...

Well it's official. Sarah & Hannah are both sick. Hannah just woke up from falling asleep on the couch..sure enough...she's Burning up! I swear the tylenol is flowing here like alcohol does on New Years Eve...LOL! Paul said the sickness is in my blood and i'm sure to get this icky bug. I pray i don't...otherwise, how would i take care of my sicklings? UGH! This is the worst part about having 3 kidos...i always worry about them all being sick at the same time and me trying to take care of them...and hope i don't get it. I remember a situation a long time ago when Hannah was a baby. Paul and I both ended up with a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE case of food posion and we fed Hannah pretzels all day because neither of us could seriously get up off the couch. We both ached everywhere! When i finally got better...i hoped that would NEVER happen again.

Anyway, hopefully Sarah will get a good nights rest. She went straight to bed when i put her in her crib...i sure hope she sleeps till at least 3a.

Hannah hasn't had a fever in a long time...it's not to bad now because she can tell me what hurts...what she needs etc.

O dear...i hear a baby crying...gotta run!

2 down 1 to go!

YEP, that's right...Sarah is sick now! Who would have guessed. After all the work trying to get urine..if i had just waited one more day...i would have known. I actually knew pretty early this morning from the rash on Sam. It started on the feet and is making it's way up her body.

Anyway, Sarah has never been this sick before. POOR BABY! She is sooo clingy and cries constantly. I just want my sweet happy babies back. I guess at least Sam is back to normal. She was totally dancing to american idol tonight...so she's ok. Sarah couldn't get comfortable but finally fell asleep on Pauls lap. It's going to be a rough day tomorrow. So my plan...sit on the recliner and hold my Sarah all day. I'm not going to worry about dishes, clothes or ANYTHING besides feeding the babies, changing their diapers and holding Sarah.

Hannah may actually have it already too. She got out of the shower and into the tub with the girls but was shivering the whole time. Then i got her out really fast and she was screaming about how cold she was the whole time. She is never that cold after a bath. I even went and blow dried her hair she was so cold with goosebumps. She's laying on the couch under 2 covers right now...she wants to sleep on the couch tonight...but i think i need some rest before my long day with sick babies tomorrow...so i'm going to put her in her bed and see what happens.

The results are in...

I was WRONG! It's actually a virus! YEP, it's one of those weird viruses that all you ever get is a high fever over 103! CRAZY, CRAZY! I don't recall Hannah ever getting this...but know at least i know. It seems to always be my sweet Sam that gets these weird things. Anyway, i actually figured it out before we even got the results back from the urine because all of a sudden Sam broke out in a very weird rash. It's kinda funny...but not really...the rash went from her feet...to her knees....to her privates...and now is going up her back! SOOO WEIRD! SO, now we wait...and wait and wait. We won't know for about 10 days IF anyone else will get it. I read there is a 10 day incubation period. UGH! So now we're pretty much stuck in the house for 10 days...maybe less. I will take the girls to school on Thursday if no one is feeling bad. I do have the weird feeling Sarah WILL get it though because the twins share cups, spoons and anything else they can put in their mouths. They even share snacks...so i'm sure it's coming....it's just a matter or time. YUCK! BUT at least i know so i won't freak out. Just do the normal...tylenol and motrin, rotating out until the fever breaks. I know some people(my sister for instance) feels very strongly about not giving motrin...but the fever was NOT breaking at all with tylenol! I didn't have a choice...and i'll do it again if Sarah gets the virus. To me it's either that...or dehydration and brain damage from an extremly high fever. Now psycho mom is going to be feeling cheeks and heads for a week! Poor Poor kidos! :)

That's all for now...today i had the twins alone. It was fun...but weird!

Samantha is doing better

Well after a day of stress and crying i think(crossing my fingers and praying)that Sam is doing better. She is acting WAY better...although Paul said she actually looks worse today than she did yesterday. At this moment Hannah is chasing Sam around in the living room and they seem to be having a good time. The CBC we did today at the dr's office came back inconclusive...so now we wait till she urinates enough for me to get a sample from one of those darn bags and take it back in tomorrow.

Sam's temp seems to be gone now...but man today when she woke up from her 2.5 hour nap(she never naps that long) she was burning like a stove. Now, she seems to be fine but fussy when she doesn't get her way.

I'm taking Hannah to school tomorrow but i'm going to keep the girls home...since i don't know what's really going on with Sam. I'd take Sarah to school...but i have this vision of my poor sweet baby being all alone at school...bawling her eyes out wondering why her partner in crime is not with her. SO, i'm going to keep them both home.

Please pray we get a good nights sleep. Last night was bad. Sam woke up at 214 and we really didn't get much sleep after that. I didn't let her cry it out like normal since i knew she wasn't feeling well and i didn't want her to spike a huge fever and me not know.

What i think of the fever...

Although my husband may think otherwise..i have this motherly intuition that my sweet baby has a UTI. Reason being, this morning after giving her a ton of liquids...one bottle at 4am and another bottle at 6am, some syringes of water last night, she had one small diaper of urine and it didn't smell very good. She woke up at 214a crying...so i went and got her and that was pretty much the end of our good nights rest. I'm exhausted as i'm sure Paul is too, but more so, i want to get my baby well! Despite the fact that my hubby said "just wait it out, maybe it's a 24 hour virus" i'm going to take her in anyway. I know it drives him crazy b/c he has to take off from work and no one else at his job has the convenience of this...but what am i to do? If my kids were all in day care it'd be simple...keep the one that is sick home and take her by herself. They are not in day care...so what do the SAHM's do with the other kids when one is sick and needs to go to the dr? Take all THREE, when PAUL & I can't even control all THREE in the dr's office???? Seriously! Either way, Sam had a 99.5 temp this morning and so i'm sure it's on it's way back up again...we'll see. If she has another stinky urine diaper i'm taking her in either way. IF i didn't think it was contagious, i'd have my parents come over and watch the kidos. Unfortunately, i don't know for sure and don't want to get my parents sick if it is contagious.

I just do NOT think a child has a 103.7 temp out of the blue...and the next day she's fine and there's nothing wrong. Fevers are a way of fighting off something...you don't get them for just NO REASON!

BTW, Sam is already lethargic and grumpy...so it's something! Right now she's just laying in her anywhere chair...while her sister is messing with her. I know poor Sarah just wants to play...but Sam doesn't! Something is obviously wrong with Sam!

Temp Down to 100.1

Well, after tylenol, motrin & more tylenol...the temp was down to 101.1 and then to 100.1. It's going down...THANK GOD! We are going to stay up till 1030p and give her one more round of motrin and hit the sack. I'll check her throughout the night(then need lots of coffee in the morning) and make sure her fever doesn't spike back up. Right now she just can't seem to get comfortable. She's laying on dads lap...but lots of moving around and grunting. MY POOR BABY! I feel soo horrible for her!

My sister Jennifer said Allison had issues with a fever a few months ago...she ended up having a virus. SO, it's either that or an ear infection. My girls haven't had ONE yet....so it could be that. Who knows.

I'm sad though because we had planned on taking the girls to the Houston Live Stock Show with Mel & Ben and Katelyn & Sydney on Tuesday but now we're not going to be able to go...unless it's just an ear infection which isn't contagious. I'm going to call the Dr. in the morning to make an appt for Sam to get checked out either way. UGH! This is by far the worst part of parenting...having to worry all night about your sweet helpless baby...that can't even tell you what hurts or what's wrong.

Temp 103.7 and hopefully on the way down!

Sam woke up this morning in the usual mood...kinda grumpy but not horribly grumpy. As the morning progressed she seemed to not feel good. I didn't really realize it till after we got home from the grocery store. BUT, it had started before b/c after breakfast she fell asleep in the middle of the floor at like 8am while the girls were playing around her. We woke her up...took her to the store...and now that i think back she just didn't look herself. Her eyes were quite dreary...she just didn't look right. We got home from the store and the girls all went outside to play...Sam wanted inside. Paul ended up holding her ALL day long. She'd sleep for a bit...then wake up...then sleep for a bit...then wake up. She was eating ok...but not great. Finally, i took her temp at like 430p. LOW AND BEHOLD...she had 103.7! HOLY SMOKES! Talking about deserving first place for the bad mommy award of the YEAR! I can't believe i missed her lethargy all day until 4:30p! WHAT A BAD MOMMY! I feel horrible. Anyway, we had given her some tylenol at 2p because she felt a little warm...then 430p i gave her some motrin and she now seems to be acting normal. We haven't given her any milk all day except for her morning bottle...and after the 430p motrin i jumped in the bath with all 3...in a luke warm back to try to get her to feeling better and get the fever down. I'm going to go check her again and see if the temp has gone down...i'm sure it has though b/c she doesn't feel as hot. I sure hope she gets better soon...i just hate it when my babies are sick and all you can do is hold them and comfort them. POOR SAM!

14 months & 4 Days Later

Today the girls are 14 months & 4 days old. It was a great day...and most importantly Paul & I both agreed we are finally starting to feel like our normalcy in our lives is coming back. We first decided since it's such a beautiful day to take the girls to traders village, which is a huge flea market not to far away. After that they were kinda fussy so we decided to go to McDonalds and then have a picnic outside. Although it was a mess...and the dogs probably ate way more food than the girls...we had a GREAT TIME out in the back yard enjoying the day and eating on a blanket like a normal family would do.

While we were cleaning up we had a bit of a small disaster! I couldn't believe it but Sarah somehow came walking up to me with #2 all over her hands. SO as i walked inside to clean her up...Paul came walking in and said "we've got a problem. Sam was naked and had #2 ALL over her legs..all over her. YUCK x's 2! It was DISGUSTING! We didnt' know what to do....so i jumped into the shower with clothes and all...and scrubbed them both down at the same time. Paul then took one at a time to change them...then i got dried off. It was a mess...but a FUNNY MESS...that will be a story to tell one day. Paul then came up to me and said...we have people poop in the backyard somewhere. Of course, he retrieved the diaper that one of the girls had figured out how to take off...and all is better now. Still gross to think about the people poo in the back but it's funny!

So, after all this took place we decided to be even MORE adventerous and took the girls out in front and help was Pauls truck! Hananh's at that age where she had a BLAST! She was scrubbing and scrubbing! It was soo cute.

Now we're all inside getting ready for a mid spring time nap! The girls HAVE to be exhausted....and i hope the sleep for a while b/c i have a ton of cleaning to do!

Here are some cute pics from the day!

A family pic..thanks to the camera timer....BTW it was GEORGOUS TODAY! high 70's and i changed into shorts and a tank for a walk later...where can you live other than TX where you can wear shorts and tank tops in March!?

Hannah took this one...what a great pic!The twins making a mess with their food...it was ALL OVER the blanket!My sweet Hannah...she's such a precious sweet big girl!Another of Hannah...she's just soo cute!Family pic less dad...Another family pic of our picnic i the backyard!Sarah with 10 or 15 french fries in her hand...she was hording them...not eating them!

Sam gave me a kiss...notice how she opens her mouth! SOO CUTE!Sarah trying on dad's shoes!
One shoe on...where did the other one go?
O, there is the other one! Just a cute pic of my girl in her cute new spring dress!

Washing the car...Sam was actually holding a stick...she has the obsession with sticks lately...she picks them up and carries them all over the place!

Hannah & Daddy cleaning the truck!Another good one of the truck wash...Paul has not washed his truck in over a year...it was DIRTY!The girls pitched in and helped scrub the wheels...And MY FAVORITE PIC...Hannah was soaking afterwards...so i took her dress off and told her to go stand in front of the truck...kinda like Vanna White..LOL! One day she's going to strangle me for this pic! Just playing in the backyard!

Sarah is NOT allergic to Bee's!

Last night we got home from our normal friday night family dinner outing to Chillis. We got home around 630p so i decided to go take them in their room and get them ready for bed. After i got Sarah dressed i picked up Sam to get her dressed as i was also coaxing Hannah into getting her clothes on and stop walking around naked. While all this is going on i hear Sarah SCREAM at the TOP OF HER LUNGS...she didn't stop. I looked down and low and behold there is a bee walking on the ground. I told Paul..I think Sarah MAY have gotten bit by the bee although i wasn't sure at all. Paul grabbed her and sure enough she had a stinger in her finger. Paul pulled it out right there. She was uncontrolable. I had no idea what to do...no one has gotten bitten that i can ever remember...so I call my sister Jennifer because i know they have had problems with Allison being so allergic to mosquito bites. Jeff said give her benadryl and put some meat tenderizer...we did the benadryl but decided to skip the meat tenderizer. We took them all outside in their pj's because being outside ALWAYS distracts them. Sure enough she calmed down a bit. It was on and off for about a half hour and finally she forgot about it after i gave her her nightly bottle. This morning it's still puffy and red(just where she got bit)...but she totally forgot about it so i'm not going to worry. If you look at the pic you can't even tell because i was squishing her hand to hold her still...it's her pointer finger. I'm just so thankful she's not allergic to Bees...that could have been really bad if she had been allergic to them! Now, we're going to do some research into getting an epi pen...just to keep around the house...i don't know anything about them..i don't know if you can use them on a 1 year old...i know nothing. BUT, i know we need to look into them either way. Just to be on the safe side.