Our family

Our family

Monday, February 26, 2007

Our Trip to Our Grandparents House!



The boys have been over the moon with excitement. Grandpa called and said he was coming to get them and bring them up to the Disney world of grandparent houses. If we could have harnessed the excitement and energy Matthew displayed for the 2 days he waited to leave we could power an entire 3rd world nation.

The boys left on Thursday morning, the triplets and I met them up there on Friday afternoon. Our first order of business was swimming. In my parents development there is an indoor pool. This is a highlight for the under 5 set. They love to swim. And I adore getting all five in and out of their bathing suits. It only takes about an hour to get everyone ready to go. It is the re-dressing in the ladies locker that is a little stressful. I am thrown the occasional dirty look as bringing in 4 boys to the ladies room is frowned upon despite their tender ages..they are all exhibitionist and the minute they are free of there suits they can't wait to show the ladies what they got.

However bathing suits don't hold a candle to 5 snow suits, 5 pairs of boots, 5 little hats and 5 little gloves, all necessary for what turns out to be 15 minutes of sled ridding.

Mark has been adding to the nerve shattering preparations for each event by howling all weekend and insisting on being in my arms, not just in my arms but in my arms while I stand. Sitting is not an option. When he does decide to go for a walk, his pants fall down. That's right about 10 different times his pants fell down or all the way off. When I try to change his pants the intensity of his screaming escalates, so grandma and I dutifully keep putting the pants back on.

The day of sled ridding and swimming were capped off with s'more making. As soon as grandpa put the makings on the table to put out a marshmallow fire the chocolate for that s'more was stolen! The evidence was quickly consumes so we were unable to bring any charges. My money is on Cara however.

I don't think any of the kids could have had a better time. My parents and me couldn't keep our eyes open for more than an hour after we got them down. The sleep of the truly weary his heaven sent!

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Schools out


Well this is a vacation week, which means much scrambling on my part to keep the kids entertained, because honestly the idea of 9 cold days sitting around the house watching elmo and the wiggles well, not so good. Of course if I was mom of the year I would plan toddler friendly crafts (what they may be I can't say, but certainly would not include glitter) and wonderful baking projects. The baking's biggest weak spot is that I seem to eat more of it then all 5 kids combined.

So we head out. The triplets love to go out. It is one of greatest things about hanging out with 2 year olds, No matter what the plan they are down for it. They see you reach for their coats and a frenzy of emotions and activity ensues. All want to be first and are willing to use some muscle to get to the front of the line. . There are fist fights, tears, laughter, and screaming(from the kids, that is) as we head into the van . The second order of business, in the kids minds, is to find the diaper bag. Because they know there will be snacks! They love snacks. Though breakfast ended only an hour ago everyone wants to score the best snack before they will even consider getting into their car seats. The problem with that is the best snack is consistently whatever the other person has. So inevitably their will be more heightened emotions. I spend my time buckling in people and helpfully either yell or mutter: Why am I taking any of you? And other parental gems.

The thing I admire most about there enthusiasm for outings is that they don't have any idea what the outing will lead to. They could be going for a 12 hour trip, to a weeks vacation, or a five minute car ride to go get shots at the DR's. They truly epitomize the saying of "it is not the destination but the journey".

Apparently by 4 these soft sentiments have passed and attention to minute details rules. Where are we going? with who? when? which car? will we eat lunch there? who will sit next to me? Will there be a bathroom there? Can I use it? What will I eat for lunch? Why isn't Alexa coming? Will Brentie be there? Sara? Can I bring my sunglasses? book? toys? Why do we need to where these coats? where are we going? who will be there? Will Alexa come? Why don't you call her mommy? Did you bring my drink? in my cup?...you get the picture. I don't know if the repeated questions are because they didn't hear me or they have distracted themselves so much they have forgotten the answers. My modes operands is to answer patiently for about five minutes then tell them they are not allowed to speak until we arrive. They actually seem to like when I get to the point of telling them to stop talking. They lean back in their chairs and munch peacefully on their snacks.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Mark aka little dude



This is Mark on his 2nd birthday only 6 short weeks ago. A dare devil of kid, he will be giving even Matthew a run for his money in a year or two. He insists on things going his way, only sits in seats that he has chosen will not eat 'baby food' eating only what the grown ups and Matthew choose. This includes Chilli, tomato sauce, chicken on the bone and obviously cake.


Thanks to Mark, we now have a new nighttime routine. It used to be that sometime after supper the babies went downstairs to hang out for a few minutes before bed, while the boys enjoyed a movie to wind down before going to sleep. This no longer holds water for the triplets.Mark realized first that he was being short changed and when I would call the kids to "abajo" he would run to the couch grab a small pillow and put it on his lap and sit as quietly as possible waiting for the boys movie to start. Any suggestion that he go downstairs met with frantic screams, and once arriving downstairs he would throw himself in front of the den door and sob until someone opens the door and he would run to his spot on the couch and sit again (he actually has a "right spot" and will forcibly throw anyone out who tries to sit there-thank goodness the big boys are so understanding!) So now all five enjoy a movie, however it is necessary to still put them down first if you are home alone to put all five down.

So now, we have the boys shut the TV and the lights and all five kids say their good night on the stairs. The boys head to their room until they get the all clear, and then they tip toe back to the living room. This is the only way the triplets will go to sleep. The babies love saying night-night. For now this is doing the trick. After the good nights they all head right to their room and begin fighting about who will be rocked first...yelling rock, rock!

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Boy genius and Boy brave


We strongly believe as all good parents do, that are kids are brilliant, beautiful and put on earth to save the world, but we are finally getting proof positive that Chris is brilliant. He is 4 and consistently knows his left from his right. Not only that but he will say "no mom the one on the left. "

He knows all of the planet in the solar system He knows why we can't live on the other planets. We have had other glimpses of genius from him. He can read all of the road signs and has a firm grasp on sound letter relationships. What any of that could possibly lead to of course is impossible to know...it could be nothing or it could be a Westing house scholorship. I just find it as riveting as Britany's new hair style.

The next day after considering boy genius, I was introduced to boy brave AKA Matthew. We took him sled riding for the first time this afternoon. He had never been before, but soon after hearing the words sled riding sometime earlier this week. He has been talking about going. He didn't know for sure what sled riding was but he knew it was for him. And wow was he right. We trudged to the top of the hill, and the first thing he said was I want to go down alone, no grown ups! And that was it. Off he went like a seasoned pro. Starting our forward spinning around, going backwards and falling off were no deterents to his daring do.

I absulotely cannot wait to back with the babies. Let's see who ends up sitting it out in the car and who will follow Matthew's lead!

Friday, February 16, 2007

Are we there yet?


I woke up this morning to the 10 degree temps and the frozen tundra which is Bayside Queens right now. I snuck quietly down the stairs to get ready for an early day at work. An 8;30 client made it necessary to get a move on. I hear the babies starting to stir in their cribs. Dalila is up and getting ready for her early morning. Despite the fact that her friend stayed with us and they were up chatting until late.

The babies woke up and boy were they upset! Usually so happy in the moring this morning was obviously going to be different. Maybe they were peeved that the au pair came to get them instead of their mom, though this could just be wishful thinking.

I have to go, after the boys are finsished with preschool we are heading up to the grandparents. By we I mean just little old me and the 5 screaming amigos. The early morning screaming does not bode well for my weekend.

We get them relatively calm and I go off to work. Where I sit in my office waiting for my no show client...when the phone rings and my patient husband says that I have left the house with the keys to all three of our vehicles. whoops. I have a real problem with keys. Loosing them, stealing them..you name the key crime and I am guilty.

I pick up the boys and drive them to school. I head back to work. I am anxious to get home and pack, get the boys from school and hit the road for a 3 hour drive. But another phone call and it is the sad news that the roads are closed, people have been sitting in their cars for up to 15 hours, the national gaurd is sending in hummers to rescue the stranded drivers How do I miss this news? I really can't say.

The boys took the new exceedingly well, over their slice of mommy guilt pizza. We headed to the library for videos to help us get through another long weekend at home. I was starting to look forward to a cozy weekend at home, when Mikie first threw up, then he threw up again and then Matthew threw up then he threw up again.

Make that a cozy and gross weekend.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Let's get this blog rolling

Well today I got this blog set up. I have tried this once before and even figured out how to get a picture on the blog, but then all was lost and I never figured out why. I can tell you that at that time I had 5 children under 3, so the loss was even harder to take!
I finally got all five kids to sleep and thought I would try once again. I am the mom of twin boys who are 4 and triplets that are 2. It is hectcic life to say the least and at times I love my unique position and other times it can make me feel a bit overwhelmed.
We were lucky in that all five of our children are healthy. They were born big and close to full gestation so we have no issues complicating our complicated lives. Our biggest baby that takes all of our attention is our bussiness. We have our own and it is consuming. We are never quite finished with work.
Well lets' see if this blog sticks or if I lose it once again. Tomorrow I pack up the five for a trip to the granparents house. They are three hours away. My husband will not be joining me because of the big baby I mentioned before. Wish us luck on those frozen icy roads tomorrow