Kings Island (Ohio amusement park)

Ok, so I know what your thinking. You are thinking, " What were WE thinking?" Well...we have tried to make our lives as normal as possible from the very beginning of this incredible adventure. Why not Kings Island? Other families take their one year old to water parks so why not us. Yes, it was just Chris and I with our four little ones. Here we are at the water park in the littlest water play area. We took the kids in and Chris and I sat facing each other with our legs spread out in a triangle and our feet together to make a sort of little area for the kids to play in. Luckily we are both tall so this worked very well until Sophia decided she wanted to explore. Now here we are getting ready to change them to leave. Notice Sophia was trying to escape and got herself trapped in the chair.

NOTE TO PARENTS: This works well to contain little children, just put their legs through the straps and you have a few minutes to get everything together. Also, always check the washable swim diaper for any solid debris before yanking it off. YUCK!!

Henry and Sean watching a county music show. They all love music.

Edith and Mommy at the show. She loves her mommy.

Getting ready to leave, we took one last picture of the tower and Kings Island sign. On the way home they were so tired. Sometimes I wonder, after one of our little excursions, if it is really worth the trouble. We love our children so much and want to take every opportunity to share new experiences. Though this was not our first time to take the kids to Kings Island, we went two times last year, this was their first time at the waterpark.

Overall we had a great time:) YES, it is worth it. At the end of the day they are always worth every little hassle that comes along with trying to have normal experiences with four one year olds.

Pregnancy Photos

Ignorant Bliss is what I like to call it. It is funny how I spent my whole pregnancy worrying about getting all four of the babies here safely. Cramming food down my throat every 2 hours to make sure I was getting enough calories. It never occurred to me how hard it would be to actually take care of four babies.

I am sooooo blessed by how healthy our children have been, we are firm believers in washing hands, a lot, and using hand sanitizer when washing is not as easy. We have only had one cold in the past year and only two of our kids needed an anti-biotic. We are Blessed. Recently we did deal with all four of our kids having a bad reaction to their 1 year vaccinations. They all broke out in red dots, nearly scared me to death. I thought they were getting chicken pox or measles from the vaccinations. It lasted about a week. NO sleep and lots of crankiness!! This was our little family before, three little hairy kids. Our little hairies are so spoiled, I have never left them overnight except when I was in the hospital for a week prior to deliver and a few days after. They go on all vacations with us, we use to take them with us everywhere but now it is not possible with two strollers and four babies to take care of. I am hoping as the kids get older and more independent it will be a lot easier to take our little hairies along with us sometimes.

My pregnancy is a strange memory to me. It was filled with everyday anxiety. I woke up every morning praying for the safe delivery of my little ones. At 14 weeks I had an abdonimal cerclage. Most people are familiar with the cervical cerclage where your cervix is sewn shut to help prevent early delivery. An abdominal cerclage is when your uterus is removed through your abdomen, similar to a C-section, and two slits are made in either side. They then insert a piece of tape ,as I like to call it. This tape as a hammock inside the uterus to keep the babies from pressing on the cervix and causing very premature labor. I do believe this played a key role in helping us make it to 32 weeks and 3 days with only a short hospital stay before delivery.

It seems so long age, even though the kids are just one. Time has flown by. I can barely remember the first 3 or 4 months when Chris and I were so sleep deprived that we did not know what was going on. We did not have much help and what little we did have fizzled our after just a couple of weeks of all of them coming home from the hospital. I am not sure how our marriage survived all the sleep deprevation and constant caring for our children. There was no time left for us. But here we are still going strong, most of the time. I am sure if you caught us in a particularly stressful situation we may not seem like the happily married couple we once were but be are working on being more patience with each other during those stressful times. Afterall, we do love each other. It was that love that made us want to have a family together!!!

Our first swim

We love the water so... it only makes sense that our kids would right? We were a little nervous about our first time in the water. Afterall it is a lot of responsibility taking four infants into a swimming pool. They all loved it. I was prepared for a little crying or maybe a little resistance but they all got in a started splashing. Here they are from left to right.
Henry, Sean, Edith, Dad, and Sophia. Edi playing in the water. Shortly after this photo was taken she did a nose dive into the pool nearly scaring both her father and I half to death. She did not cry she was just a little stunned. She continued to play after that with her daddy.

Sophia loves to splash. She spent most of her time splashing in the water in her little boat/airplane.

Sean had a good time just floating around. He is our water boy he cries everytime you take him out of the bath tub.

Henry became very tired very quickly. He was to first to come out.

The BIG Play Pen

Our first outside playtime went wonderfully. We purchased two of the big play yards that hook together. Here is Chris, Daddy, putting the kids in it for the first time. It was such a beautiful breezy afternoon, we all had a great time.

Aside from the occasional kid trying to escape, by shaking the side of the pen, they played for a long time. This little set up will allow us to cook out and still keep the kids happy. We are always looking for ways to make our lives easier and more enjoyable. Not to mention it is much more fun to do things as a family!!

Walks with Mom

Because I value my independence, my brother bought me a quad stroller when the kids were first born. He knew how important it was for me to be able to take walks and go places with the kids by myself. Our home is not exactly quadruplet friendly. On days when the kids and I go for a walk there is a very long process to get all of us out the door. First all diapers are changed, kids are fed, and bags are filled. I take the quad stroller outside and down the steps. It weighs over 40 lbs, by the way, without the kids and bags. I then take all bags to the stroller and drag a pack and play to the entry way and prop the door open so I can see the kids at all times.

Once they are all in the pack and play in the entry way I then take one at a time out to the stroller and strap them in. It is quite a lengthy process but well worth it. We all need fresh air from time to time!!! What a workout each kid weighs about 20 lbs. Add that to the weight of the stroller and you can kiss that baby weight good-bye!! Which by the way I am still hanging onto about 30 lbs.

Let's try a toddler biscuit

So we went to the doctor last Friday and she said they are ready to start on some real food. I decided we would try some of those biscuits. It did not occur to me that the biscuits would be gummed to death and rubbed all over faces, hands, hair, clothes, chairs, and trays. Someone should write a disclaimer on the box.
Edith managed to make the biggest mess on her face. She had big chucks stuck everywhere. YUCK! Henry gummed his little biscuit down to a tiny stub that we had to take away for fear of choking.

Sean managed to drop his bisciut on the floor twice. He got a new one once and then we decided it time to start cleaning up.

Sophia had crunchy biscuit in her hair and all over her hand and even up her arms. I have no idea how this child got so dirty with one little toddler biscuit.

This incident ended with four little babies in the bath tub. This was our first attempt at all four in the tub and it will be our last for a while. The kids were slipping and sliding everywhere and there was hardly room to wash them and rinse their hair.

Even though it was a messy experience, aren't they soooooo cute!!!

The Group Picture

Have you ever tried to get four one year olds to pose for a picture. Well... I can tell you it is not an easy task. I do not have many GOOD group pictures. Imagine trying to keep four little ones lined up for at least 5 seconds, long enough to pick up camera aim and snap. Here is our attempt a couple of days ago at getting a group picture. I lined them up and gave them each a toy, ran in front and snapped. They obviously being faster than me took off. Here again I am not sure how they got so far away I only took 4 steps.

Not only this time did the kids take off but Pierre one of our 3 toy poodles decided he would come in and see what was going on.

Another failed attempt.

The best we could do. Edith with a toy in her mouth. Sean getting ready to take off. Henry looking quite stunned and Sophia, well... I not really sure what that look is all about. If you add some black and white effects you can almost make yourself believe that you have done a good job at taking this group photo. :)

The Sock Caper

Henry were are your socks? Hurry mom and you can catch her. Sophia has stolen my socks. Zowee quick get the socks!!

Why didn't someone tell me about these neat toys before? Sean in the background of course is looking at his socks thinking, "That looks so fun!"

Hey, this is fun. WOW! Socks.

Who would have thought that socks could provide so much entertainment? In years to come when they receive the dreaded sock for Christmas I will always remember how excited they were to take of their socks and wave them in the air. Priceless!!

Indiana Downs

This was our first trip to Indiana Downs this past weekend. Believe it or not we had a really good time. The kids didn't really care much about it they just like being outside. The picture is mommy with Sean and Edith and Daddy with Henry and Sophia. Sophia was not excited about the whole experience but she did like being cuddled in her blanket.

Henry, well... he was a little bored by the whole thing! Ha Ha.

Edi was having a great time playing with her paci.

And Sean really liked the tractor that smoothed out the track after each race.

Grandma was cuddling up with Sophia and Henry.

Grandpa was cuddling with Edith.

Overall we had a really great time. It was inexpensive, free, and outside which we love. The only downfall was that there were several people smoking around us but at least we could get away from it. I am sure we will return again sometime.

Congratulations Melissa

All of us at Melissa's Graduation. Though you cannot see from this terrible picture all kids are sporting T-shirt for Melissa's Graduation. First is Edi with her grandma. Her shirt says, "Melissa Rocks". Next is Sean with Melissa. His shirt says, "I Love Melissa". Next is mommy with Sophia, her shirt also says, "Melissa Rocks". And last but not least is Henry with Sam, a friend. Henry's shirt says, "I Love Sam". Soooo cute!!

Congratulations Cousin Melissa our 2009 Graduate. We are so proud of you!! Melissa is holding Sean, he loves her soooo much!! Cousin Amanda holding Edith at Melissa's Graduation.

Henry Loves Sam. This is Sam who also is a 2009 Graduate!! Way to go Sam.

Morgan holding Sean at Melissa's Graduation. Morgan also is a 2009 Graduate. Congrats Morgie, we love you!

The Party is Over

It was so awsome to celebrate the kids first Birthday. They were exhausted at the end but I think they like being the center of attention. They got to make a mess with cake, for the second time, and they openned some presents. Although I think their favorite was the picnic table BOX. They pounded on it for a long time. It is hard for me to believe they are already one year old. Boy has time flown by. It seems like only yesterday I was at work waiting for the official word that I was indeed pregnant. It has been a crazy tiring year but it has also been wonderful. Edith, Sean, Henry, and Sophia in their new chairs.

Sean, Sophia, Henry, and Edith playing in their new ball pit.

Hey where did all the balls go??