11 months!

Happy 11 months to my sweet dynamic duo, affectionately dubbed in blogland as

Bud and Daisy.

Yes, they are 11 months old today!!!

(I really find it hard to believe that they are almost 1!)

And the world is their oyster!

They are busy, busy!

They like to chase their big brothers and have crawling races, play the piano... yes, they are gifted!
They also enjoy cheesin for the camera!!

They a drink from a sippy cup and have tons of teeth and love to feed themselves.

Every now and then they get into a tiff, but mostly, they love each other and make the rest of us smile...a lot! Daisy putting her chompers to use as she swipes a toy from big brother Bud.

Can you guess which one we have started calling "Bruiser??"

Here's a hint... it's the one who is still not sleeping through the night!!! Mercy!

Happy 11 months sweet babies!

We are so blessed to have you in our family and can't imagine the past 11 months without you! We are looking forward to your big day!!!

And yes, for those of you wondering, we are having a party.

The planning is already in the works!

What's for dinner?

SPAGHETTI!!!!

YUMM!!


The babies had their first taste of spaghetti the other night and as you can see, they loved it!


They also had peas (an all time favorite) but they have that every day so it was no biggie.
The"big ones" also had birthday cake.

Do you think they liked it??

Beds

Whew- what a day! Finally all my little loves are sleeping.
It looked a little uncertain for a while there. You see, one of my Monkeys decided this weekend was the perfect opportunity to perfect his climbing skills... climbing out of his crib, that is. We warned him, talked to him, encouraged him to stay in his bed and to never, ever climb out. After all, he could get hurt. He didn't listen.
So, once again, my plan was thwarted! My plan included Monkeys in the crib until they were 3 so as to avoid increased chaos at bedtime and naptime. No.such.luck.

Thankfully I found an awesome deal several months back on twin beds on Craigslist. I also found a great sale on some bedding. So, I had everything I needed to set up 2 big boy beds, except courage. I needed a big mama dose of that! I put it off on Sunday, he climbed out of his crib. I put it off on Monday, he climbed out of his crib again (but only after he screamed his head off and woke up his brother).
So we set up 1 bed last night just so they could get used to the idea of it and look at it, sit on it, etc. The didn't sleep in it. And, since he was in his crib last night, he climbed out of it again this morning.

While Puddin was at preschool I frantically set up the beds and maneuvered around what had now become an obstacle course, since I had not disassembled the cribs yet. Just in case.
(note to self: assembling twin beds while cribs are still up in the room is not easy, especially with 2 babies and 2 toddlers needing you every few minutes!)

Nap time rolls around and Monkey Do jumps right in his bed, raring to go. Typical. That's why he's affectionately named, Monkey DO. Monkey See on the other hand, just wasn't feeling it. He had a much harder time but to make a long story short, he finally fell alseep. And thankfully both of my sweet Monkey's slept for nearly 2 hours!! Tonight they both went to bed pretty easily and are sleeping soundly right now!! YAY, YAY!

After their nap I decided to go ahead and take the cribs down, I mean who am I kidding?? There is no going back around here. So as I was taking them down I got to thinking about all of our cribs/beds.... follow me here... it gets a little confusing or crazy, whichever you prefer!

When hubby and I got married we had 1 bed and a spare bed. = 2
Puddin was born and we added a bassinet, a travel bassinet and a crib. =5
The Monkeys were on their way soon after and we added 2 more bassinets and 2 more cribs.=9
Went to a consignment sale and sold Puddin's original bassinet but came home with a pack and play.= still @9
Puddin moves to a big girl bed and we take the guest bed for her room and put away her crib in the attic. = still @9
Surprise!! Bud and Daisy are on their way... and we are 1 crib short! UNBELIEVABLE since we have 9 places to sleep and only 5 people living here.
Unexpectedly a sweet friend with older twins offered her cribs to us (they were matching-Yay!).
So we added 2 more cribs for Bud and Daisy bringing our "bed" total to 11.
We found solid wood bunk beds on Craigslist for the Monkeys and snatched them up knowing we would eventually need them. = 13

Now, the bassinets have all been put away and the pack and play is used only as needed, so as of yesterday, we had 2 beds and 4 cribs up and going.
Tonight, the beds out number the cribs in my home! That hasn't happened in a LONG time! It's weird to think that the majority of my children are now in BEDS as opposed to cribs!
I know- I have some weird things running through my head!
And, just in case you're still with me on this... We have a 4 beds, 5 cribs and 3 bassinets and 1 pack and play. So if you ever need a place to sleep, albeit, uncomfortably, stop on by!


Oh- and Bud and Daisy are 8 months old today!! They are absolutely precious!!! I didn't get a picture today- I know, shame on me! But I was a little busy with the whole "bed" thing so I'll have to snap one tomorrow. It's hard to believe they are closer to 1 than to newborn, (and still not sleeping through the night.) I'll have to save that story for later!

6 Months

Happy 1/2 birthday to sweet baby Daisy and baby Bud!!
Yes, my sweet little newborns are 6 months old today!
It's hard to believe! We celebrated their 1/2 birthday with a 1/2 birthday cake tonight. The big kids enjoyed it while the babies ate sweet potatoes! They were fine with that.

And in honor of the event sweet and sassy Daisy finally decided to sleep through the night last night! Yes, finally! She actually went 5 hours and 50 minutes before she insisted on needed a bottle! Can I get a woot-woot!!

I'm telling you- it was an answer to prayer! 6 months of feeding that girl every 3 hours was nearly wearing me out! The cutest thing about it though is that even when she wakes up to eat in the middle of the night she puts the biggest, cheesiest grin on her face like she is sooooo happy to see me!
It really is very sweet!
But I am so, so thankful I didn't have to see that sweet little face last night!
I hope that doesn't offend anyone!

I don't have their 6 months stats yet. They won't be going in for the well check until they are 7 1/2 months. I didn't want to make an "extra" trip to the cesspool of infection...aka, the pediatricians office, so I scheduled their well check along with Puddin's 4 year well check on the same day.
Yes, apparently I am a glutton for punishment.
It will be a hard, yucky, tear filled, screaming, temper tantrum filled kind of day, all packed into an hour or so in a tiny 8X8 room.
But, it will be over in 1 trip and won't have to be repeated again for several months! Plus it's one less trip we have to make and that equals one less opportunity for my kids to come home with some sort infection!
So, since I don't have their stats I can share their 4 month stats... Bud was 17.9 lbs and Daisy was 15.5 lbs, I can't remember their length and I don't want to go look it up! Sorry!
Anyway, I can say with confidence that they do weigh even more now and Bud is still heavier and bigger! Daisy also has 2 teeth and Bud has none. They are eating cereal and sweet potatoes so far and guzzling milk by the bottles full! They are both rolling from back to belly but not belly to back (Mommy hasn't allowed for much tummy time with 3 wild ones running around the house... makes me a bit nervous!) They are "talking", "talking", "talking" up a storm! They are also reaching and grabbing for toys, chewing on everything, doing crunches when they lay on their backs and dare I say....whisper... think... sleeping through the night! Oh, I pray last night wasn't a fluke!

Here is a picture snapped tonight just before bedtime....

They are so yummy, sweet! Seriously, always smiling and happy, even when they don't feel well!

And here is one of the whole crew. The first 1 was taken 5 months ago and used in the birth announcement and the second one was taken tonight just before their bath!

All of my babies! My heart hurts sometimes I love them so much!

Call me Charlotte

Well, it's been a busy month around here. Most of which I haven't blogged about because, well, it's been busy!
One very special event did take place though. Daisy got her 1st tooth!
All I could think about as I looked at that shiny little pearl of a tooth was Charlotte's Web.

Yep, that's weird, I know.

But I love books. Always have and because I taught little people for so long I have tons of great children's books. Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White, a classic, is probably also my favorite chapter book. In fact, Puddin and I have started reading it together at night. It's her 1st chapter book and she is loving it!


So back to Daisy...
As I looked at her tooth I was reminded of this...

"I am sure that everyone one of here in the barn cellar will be gratified to learn that after four weeks of unremitting effort and patience on the part of the goose, she now has something to show for it."
- Charlotte the spider

Believe me, after the days and nights of teething that we went through, Poor Daisy deserved a medal! A speech was the least I could do! This sweet baby girl had such a hard time with the teething! She also is my earliest teether so far!

Thankfully, she is now back to her sweet, easy going self these days.

LOVE HER!

5 months

****UPDATE****
Babies pooped out tonight before I could get the "5 month shot". I will work on that tomorrow!

Sweet little Daisy is teething! Today I can feel her teeth starting to cut through! She and Bud are 5 months old today!! UNBELIEVABLE! How can they be that old already?? It seems like March was just last week! I noticed over the past week they are also trying to roll from back to belly. They aren't rolling from belly to back yet...but that probably has something to do with the fact that they don't get a lot of tummy time.

They sleep on their backs and when they are awake I get a little nervous putting them on the ground on their bellies with 3 other wild children running around! We do have a play yard but it is being used around our exercise equipment right now. So tummy time is limited to when Puddin and the monkeys are sleeping and the babies are awake and I have a few minutes to sit in the floor with them.

I'll post a 5 month picture later tonight. Right now Bud is sleeping and Daisy is having issues...teething! poor baby! She never cries so when she is whiny I know she really doesn't feel well.
Gotta go for now!

Happy 4 months!

These sweet babies are 4 months old today!

Could they be any cuter?!?!?!

I could seriously, just squeeze the stuffin out of them!

I'm listening to them squeel, and babble and coo right now.

I just LOVE those sounds.

They are perfectly, perfect... right down to each little dimpled roll!!!

And yes, they are getting to be little rolly-pollies!

And no, they still a not sleeping all night!

But I look at the other 3 (who are sleeping all night-yay!) and remember that they too took a while, a long while, before they slept through the night.

I know these little darlings will too. Each day we are 1 day closer to a full nights sleep!

oh- and on another note.... I officially have 1 child completely potty trained!!

WOOO-HOO!!! No more diapers for Puddin, ever- not even at night!!! But more on that later!

Weekend Recap

I'm posting a little later than usual but things here have been a bit busy. I guess that's the way it's going to be from now on. Funny, it still surprises me!

Hubby and I are still working out the kinks on the dinner/bath and bedtime routine. Just about the time we think we have it under control, one of the kiddos throws us a curve ball and we have to figure out a new plan! Thankfully, it went pretty smoothly tonight with our new changes. We'll see what tomorrow holds!


This weekend we were busy too. It was the first weekend in a while that we didn't have somewhere to be so we took advantage of it and tried to get some things done. Although, Sunday night I looked around and several of the "projects " that we were planning to finished were still left unfinished. ohhhh. There are just not enough hours in the day anymore!


I was able to finish some dresses for the 4th. They turned out pretty cute! Now I'm working on my kids' outfits for the 4th.

We also squeezed in a little pool time. We've upgraded our pool and the kids LOVED It! Although- it still isn't big enough, but it will do for this year. My little Monkeys have turned into a couple of little dare devils on this thing! They were so fun to watch!

We broke open the box of cool pops! Yumm!!

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We had a piano concert on our new baby grand. Monkey Do was so excited to see it he didn't even wait to get his diaper on!

We had a little brother bonding time... They look like they have concocted a plan! Maybe I shouldn't have exposed poor little Bud to these wild boys!

And the babes tried cereal for the first time. They did ok with it but I think we will wait a few more weeks. It still a little early to introduce it but when you are suffering from VLS you'll try about anything to get a few more hours of sleep.

Bud wants more!!

Daddy helping out!

And today we had cupcakes with our "cousins" the Kennedys! We all had a great time. And I just have to say, it was fun to have them over! I had 8 kids by myself ranging in ages from almost 4 months to 8 1/2 and they were all super! It helps that they enjoy spending time with each other. And for the record- it was the better part of my day! (The morning had been a little stressful).

Hope your weekend was great too!

The Nursery (Take 2)

Well, I'm off to the fabric store to get some (I hope) super cute fabric for our 4th of July wear... you know my children all have to match. So, Melanie, if you read this I will be searching for something sooo cute your girls will be the bells of the ball! I'll let you know what I find.


But before I head off on my adventure I wanted to post the finished pictures of the nursery.
I'm doing this post for 2 reasons...
1. because I have some family members that haven't seen the room and wanted to see it. I really want them to feel like they are a part of our lives and giving peeks into our home (and daily activities) can do that.
2. Because this room wasn't hard or expensive to do. Anyone could take these things and make them their own- cheap and on a budget- just like I did. The hardest part was deciding on a theme!

So, I do still need to find a bookshelf for their room, but until I do we will call this finished! Click here to see the last post on the nursery. It was "finished" then too, but sort of like a cake without frosting... not very good! So, during those late night feedings I had some time to think and conjur up the things I could add, cheaply, to frost this little cake of mine.

This is what I came up with....
Polka Dot Paradise!



This is the view into their room as you top the stairs. This is the kids eye view!

This is the view from the door way. Hubby painted the walls several times until I really had something I liked and could work with. I free handed the polka dots. It's not hard to do at all.

Changing table/dresser. This was originally Puddin's dresser. The vinyl letters are left overs from a project I was doing in Puddin's new room. I was limited on letters so I went with "smile", "love" and "dream".

Just past the dresser in the diaper shelving and Bud's crib. Both cribs were given to us by a friend in Arkansas that has a sweet set of twins too! The white outfit hanging is the suit Bud wore home from the hospital. The art work is custom from a friend. The camera above it is part of the video monitor we have in the room. Ignore the diaper genie. It's collecting dust and needs to be listed on craigslist since we are now using cloth diapers.

Next is Daisy's crib. I had intentions of making the bedding for the babies but it became increasingly uncomfortable to sit at the sewing machine and I was running out of time. So, I ordered the bumper pads and skirts from Target.com. I was able to make the curtains though. They are made from white sheets and ric-rak! The lamp used to be in my classroom but has since had a baby room makeover with left over ric-rak and trim.

This chair was a floral print that we originally had in the living room. I recovered it with a bed sheet and ribbon and added a pillow and a lamb that I had as a little girl. The art work above is from Puddin's old nursery. The art work is really just pages from the children's book "Guess Gow Much I Love You". It's one of my favorites and when I coudln't find what I wanted for PUddin's nursery I bought the book, tore out the pages I wanted and framed them. The colors were perfect in this room so we left the art.

The foot stool is the one I mentioned the other day. Sooo easy to make! It literally took me less than 30 minutes! I started with an old $5 stool from walmart that I had in the garage. I added foam and batting and fabric! Voila!

Puddin's old armoire worked great in this room and since there were now 2 babies in here we needed the storage so we left it in here.

Closet door. Small table to hold the much needed clock and baby monitor. I needed something else to add to the table so I snagged one of the other kids bunnies they had no interest in and printed on card stock each babies initals and framed them. Then I printed a Bible verse (Ephesians 3:20) that reminds me of my children but especially these babies. I had all of the frames on hand so I printed everything on cardstock and framed them. I made the skirts on the table from left over fabric.

You probably noticed these "polka dots" hanging over the cribs. These are my answer to mobiles. All of the mobiles I looked at were way too expensive (times 2) and I didn't really LOVE any of them. These polka dots, also known as tissue paper flowers, have always been a favorite. They used to sell gigantic ones at Six Flags over Texas when I was a little girl and I had to have one every time we went. When I was teaching we would make them for various different projects and one night, they just popped in my head! I already had tissue paper and the clear thread I needed to hang them. The best part is that because the babies beds are placed under a vent so every time the air cuts on the polka dots move!!! They also look like peonies, which are my favorites, so that's an added bonus!

This last picture is just for fun. Remember the photo of the chair and the lamb that is in it? The lamb was mine as a little girl. It was in my Easter basket when I was very young. anyway, I remember when I was 6 years old, the seam in the back came open and I decided I needed to perform "open back surgery" to repair him. Yes, I called it that. Anyway, I found my moms needle and thread and here is the result.

Aren't you glad you weren't my patient! I was practicing my sewing skills at an early age!

I'm tackling the "frosting" on Puddin's room next.

Stay Tuned!!

Ideas are all in place. Now I just have to get busy creating. So much fun!!