Almost Party Time!

I know I have posted this pic before, but I love it so much that I had to post it again. These sweet savvy little women will be having their 3rd birthday party tomorrow! (actual b-day not till Tuesday) I can't believe it, time goes so fast! They are so excited, and are looking forward to polka dot cakes, and presents. Hope I get some good party pics!

Have a great weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

Another last minute Wordless Wednesday!

We have a climber on our hands :).

Clogged Drains & Soyaki Sauce

Well, I guess I knew the afternoon wasn't going to be easy when Ella came around the corner and said, "mom, you have a serious problem going on in the bathroom..." That comment just didn't sit well with me considering I have 2 newly potty trained 2yr olds in the house.

Me: Ella, I am feeding the babies. Is someone hurt, or is something broke?

Ella: I don't know what happened, but the water is going up in the toilet instead of down!"

Fantastic.

Have you ever just wanted to sit there and pretend you didn't hear that come out of their mouth? Like maybe if I sat there long enough feeding the babes, that the problem would go away, never to return again?

No such luck.

Let's just say that the whole situation involved an entire pack of Kandoo Wipes, 1 flooded bathroom, 2 men on my roof with a pipe cleaner, and a check for $250.

Now that, was an expensive pack of wipes...

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On a different, random note, I just bought a great sauce at Trader Joe's called Soyaki Sauce. It is really good! I could do with a little less sodium, but it is absolutely fantastic for cooking. I am going to make stir fry with it tomorrow night....mmm, I love me some stir fry veggies :). I will post the recipe later!

Orange For Stellan!

Can you tell we love this blanket? Get out your orange and wear it for little Stellan and his family!

2 Sweet Little Loves

...They really are, too sweet...

I can't believe they are already 5 months!

Look at those little feet! Kinley loves this Bumbo chair.

But what she really wants, is to be held by her mama :).

Raya loves to be talked to...almost as much as she loves putting toys in her mouth.

Speaking of putting things in her mouth, this is her favorite little duck, we don't leave home without it.

Just wanted to share some updated pics of the babes. Hope everyone had a great Monday!

*****Be praying for Stellan and his family.*****

Cloth Diapers Here We Come!

Alright, I've given this a lot of thought. Now that I have only 2 in diapers instead of 4, I believe that we are BumGenius bound. Isn't this diaper so stinkin' cute!? Not to mention that they are also more cost effective, better for the environment, and so much better for our little ones bottoms ;).

Does anyone use BumGenius and absolutely love them? What don't you like about them? Any other brand out there that you can't live without? Anyone use Kissaluvs? I want to hear your opinions!

Also, does anyone use Kushies Diaper Liners? (pictured below) I read some good reviews, but just want to hear more about them before I place an order. If you have never checked out the Kushies Baby website, head over there, they have adorable stuff.

I would love to hear what you have to say, and about your experiences!

Gettin' Some Fresh Air

It was so nice to get out today in this amazing weather! The girls were ready to get some fresh air and get some energy out at the park.

Here are the 5 little girls I love most, in birth order...hee hee.

Are those blue eyes I see on Kinley?? :) We think the girls will definitely end up with blue eyes, which I love! Our older girls all have brown eyes like their mama.

The babies aren't quite ready for the swing, but I thought Raya looked too funny...I love my chubby babes :). As you could see, it was really sunny, so I couldn't have them out of the shade long. But I think they too enjoyed a warm & breezy afternoon.

Now let's just hope this weather is here to stay for awhile!

Happy Friday!

Wordless Wednesday

This Wordless Wednesday is a little late...but hey, it's here :)!

Here is Charlotte "Huntin' Eggs."

We Took Our Crew, To The Zoo

We ventured to the zoo over the weekend with some of our good friends, Mike and Melissa. They have 4 kiddos, including a set of twins, which is actually what brought Melissa and I together back when I was pregnant with Reese & Charlotte. The rest is history. We left the babes with Grammy & Papa and headed to the zoo with only the older girls in tow.

Reese Spent most of the day like this...

The kids did some feeding...

The kids did some snacking...

And then, mom and dad stared at this for a while. That's right, that is a regular Radio Flyer wagon with monster wheels...wonder where we can buy one of those...and wonder why we would buy one of those.....hmmm.

Great afternoon overall!

I'm Not One To Brag

Unless of course we are talking about my girls ;).

Not that I'm partial.

Look at this little beauty.

I can not believe she is almost 5...where has the time gone!??

2 Things

First, there is a party going on today in the name of chicken.

That's right, chicken.

Chick-Fil-A is having Customer Appreciation Day. You go buy what you want today, then you get it all free the next time you eat there!! Yep, free. You would've thought I won the lottery this morning when I went there to get my "on-the-run" eggs w/veggies and coffee. I was on the phone w/ my friend Bec, and we were laughing so hard at how excited I was over this deal, that I had tears in my eyes. (from laughing, not cause I was so emotionally moved by the sale...although there are some sales that do bring me to tears.)

And don't think I was the only one who was excited, I saw 2 friends there getting in on this deal while we were in line...I love my fellow savvy, money-saving, mama's...you know who you are ;).

It obviously doesn't take much to excite me these days.

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Second, I got some emails asking if I had any advice on potty training multiples, and what worked best for the girls. I warn you, I don't have any brilliant or miraculous potty training tips. I did however, write an article about what worked for us over at Multiple Bliss that was just published today.

Go here to read it.

Complaining 101

I usually try not to complain...but I'm just going to let it out!

I'm stressed out.

So many things in the air.

So many new decisions.

A couple frustrating situations.

I am thankful for our many blessings. But I feel discouraged today by circumstances that are out of our control. But again, I need to be thankful. So I'm going to find humor in the chaos, because that's how I deal.

I'm thankful that it's 4:30pm, and I haven't showered.

I'm thankful that the girls destroyed the bathroom while I was feeding the babies, whole roll in the toilet, sink filled to the top, soap everywhere, and their clothes were off...still haven't figured that one out.

I'm thankful that I've been spit up on 300 times today, which doesn't really ruin anything since I haven't showered yet.

I'm thankful for the bag of Easter candy we got at the Easter egg hunt, that is clearly coming between me and my "get in shape" agenda.

And speaking of Easter candy. If you see me in the holiday candy aisle, please, for the love of all that is holy, hit me over the head with a chocolate bunny, and drag me out of the store. I won't be offended, I promise, I actually think it will bring us closer.

Whew...I actually feel better. Thanks for listening.

I don't need to worry.

I don't need to ask why.

I don't need to be mad.

I just need to trust.

When I feel like this, I start to remember that there are mamas & families out there that are truly going through real hard times, and it brings my focus back.

I need to be praying for Abby.

Praying for Stellan.

Praying for Veiyah.

Just to name a few.

I need to be focusing on Him & His Plan.

Ahhhh, blogging proves to be therapeutic yet again.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

How Did It Get To This Point?

Clearly, I'm a little behind. I have been focused on Potty Training, and the laundry has suffered...in a big, 4 overflowing baskets, no idea where anything is kind of way. This truly may the situation when it might be easier to just drag all these baskets to Goodwill, and buy new.

The up side to this? We now have 2 new members to the Potty Trained club! It was chaotic (still is a little), but worth it. However, I may be changing less diapers, but I'm in a public restroom 3 times more often than I was before. And if you know me, you know that I hate public restrooms. I'm the one that doesn't touch anything, and opens the door with a paper towel.

I won't touch the sink in a public bathroom, but I will eat popcorn off the floor at Target. I don't get it either.

You know what makes me a little crazy? The girls don't tell me when we walk in the store that they have to go, that would be too convenient. They tell me when we are all the way in the back of Target, while I'm trying to feed the babies in the Patio Section, and I have 15 things piled on top of the stroller. Since they are new at this, when they say they have to go, I have to get them to the potty, quickly. Insert me running through the store, pushing the double stroller, both babies crying cause they didn't get to finish eating, yelling, "do not pee in your underwear!!" Haha, I can only imagine that we look somewhat like a traveling circus. Oh the joys of motherhood...wonderful and insane all at the same time.

It's amazing that I haven't pulled my hair completely out.

Patience...I need to get me some of that.

Look At Those Legs

I am seriously loving BabyLegs. They are really convenient, and so stinkin' cute! I can't wait to put each pair on these 4 chubby little legs! Go check them out, they have great prices, and sooo many designs!

Rollin' & Diaper Free Twins

While I have been spending most of my recent days sitting on the side of the tub potty training our almost 3yr olds, Raya decided she was going to start rolling over...but blogger won't let me upload the video!! Just imagine a chubby, sweet, blue eyed little love rolling from her belly to her back...too cute. Hope to upload it soon.

Anyway...

Is it hard to potty train twins? Yes & No. I think I will be writing about it over at Blissfully Domestic very soon. I will say now that I am extremely proud of these 2 little girls, and they have done extremely well...better than I ever imagined. I have always felt that if you just wait till the child is ready to potty-train, it takes a week or less...and the girls have made me truly believe in that again this week.

But Oh, we had our moments.

At any given time this week, there were 6 of us in the bathroom at one time. Or for that matter, 6 of us in the big bathroom stall of a public restroom...at that point, I think I knew what it felt like to get in & out of a clown car, you know the ones I'm talking about.

We did have a chaotic moment in a public restroom when one of the girls had an accident. She knew she had to go but all the stalls were taken and she just couldn't hold it. (maybe I should call ahead and ask for them to block one off for just us since they can't quite "hold it" yet.) And people, when you hear a child crying, "I have to go, I'm going to go in my underwear!!", could you hurry it up in there a little....plleeaase.

Sorry, I tried to say that in the nicest way possible.

So I got her up on one of those nasty nice little changing stations, and stripped her down to change her. Apparently though, when I said, "don't move", she interpreted that as, "turn around in a complete circle." I will spare you the details, but know that I did have poop all up one sleeve...and mommy doesn't usually bring an extra change of clothes for herself. I had to get creative.

More on that later...maybe. It's one of those memories that I'm trying to block out of my memory.

After a long couple days of potty training 101, Reese appears to be exhausted. Today, it was time to lay down the guitar, put a pillow over her face to block the light, and catch some zzzzz's. Potty training, it's intense.