Best Mom in the World????

Yesterday I bought the girls some princess nightgowns and Tinkerbell nightgowns with matching slippers. OH MY!!! They LOVE their new "pretty dresses." Apprarently this has qualified me for the best mom in the world. Do you think it will be this easy when they are teenagers? HA!

A cheerful heart is a good medicine. Proverbs 17:22

The morning started at 4:30 this morning given we had to be at Memorial Hermann Surgery Center at 6:00 for Cody's eye surgery. I haven't been up this early in a long time, but had no trouble waking due to anxiety regarding the upcoming procedure. I encouraged Jerry to work since this is his busiest time of the month; something which he did reluctantly, so Dad went with me. Cody once again had another eye infection so I was ready to get this done. We checked in and were soon called back to an exam room where they took all of Cody's vitals and put him in a little hospital gown with clowns and elephants on it. We spoke with the anesthesiologist and the surgeon and they assured us all would be fine. Cody was given a "happy drug" and then taken away from me. I watched as he exited through the surgical wing doors. The procedure was to take about 30 minutes and I did fine up to the point it had been 30 minutes with no word. Then my mind started to wander to horrible places. Not long after we were called back and spoke with Dr. Miller. The surgery had gone well, but the ducts were not only blocked with a tissue membrane, but bone (soft bone). They broke through the bone, put in a balloon to stretch things out, then silicone tubes which will remain for at least three months. When Cody woke he was inconsolable.... to the point I sent my Dad to Walgreen's for a bottle in hope the sucking would calm him down.... hurray, that worked. He sucked down one bottle of diluted juice and at the encouragement of the nurses we gave him another on the car ride home. Not long after getting home he reenacted a scene from the Exorcist and expelled all the juice; all over me and the kitchen. The rest of the day I have fought to console him and to keep him from rubbing his eyes. I look forward to falling into bed, but before I fall asleep I will thank the Lord for keeping him safe today, I will pray that this takes care of the problem, and I will give thanks for my children, my husband, and my wonderful parents who are always there when I need them.

Where are they now?

Cody is slowly meeting his milestones and is just a joy in our life. I think God knew this was our last baby and decided to have him grow up slowly so we could enjoy babyhood a little longer. I have to say he can hold his own with the triplets however. If they try to take a toy from him, he holds on tight and screams in protest. He is a tough little dude, but sure loves his Mommy. He got off to a rough start in life and is doing just fine.
Jadon who was also slow to develop (we even had him evaluated) is our little Einstein. He loves learning and pays close attention when we play learning games. He knew his ABC's as soon as he could talk. He is also my little lover boy. He is most timid and slow to try new things. He hates to eat, but loves to cuddle. At the gym today, one of the nursery workers commented on what a sweet little boy his is.

Addison is miss independent. She doesn't want any help and she is generally the 1st to learn how to put on shoes, take off pjs, put on clothes, get in/out of the car etc. She is also our most imaginative child. She plays alone a lot, putting her babies to bed, feeding her babies, lining up her animals, cooking in her kitchen. Very imaginative play. She doesn't seem too interested in academics at this point, hates reading and ABCs. I look forward to watching her develop.

Kaylee is our little devil with curly hair. "There was a girl who had a curl right in the middle of her forehead; and when she was good she was very very good and when she was bad she was horrid." That is my girl. She is bossy, has attitude, loves to antagonize, and is adorable. She is a handful with tons of personality and is downright funny. She always keeps us laughing, but she hears "NO MAM" a lot. She truly takes after her Daddy.

Recovering

Well,

We are still recovering from our busy weekend. Cody went to sleep last night without any problems, hurray!!! But Addison started running 102 fever yesterday with a cough and Jerry and I also seem to have slight colds. The goal now is to keep Cody healthy so he can have his eye surgery on Friday. Pray for good health at the Hopkins home.

Can you vacation with 4 under 3?

Jerry and I are planning a vacation to San Antonio next month and thought we'd get away and do a trial run this weekend so we packed up the family and headed to Galveston.

We woke at our normal time 6:30, Jerry went for donuts and we got the kids up at 7:00. About 2 hours later we were all dressed and loaded ready for a short va-ca at Moody Gardens. We pulled up to the Moody Gardens hotel at 10:15 ($229), checked in and changed 2 adults and 4 kids into swimsuits. Made sure we had sunscreen, towels, babyfood, potty seat, diapers and pull-up cameras, etc. We put Cody in the umbrella stroller and loaded it down with bags. In the lobby Jerry inquired as to the best way to get to the Moody Gardens lagoon. While he "chatted" with the concierge, I wrestled the kids... finally, "Everyone backs against the wall and don't move until I tell you to move!!" A few moments later (felt like an eternity) we loaded a shuttle bus to the water park.

The water park (free for hotel guests): we walked the kids to the far side of the lagoon to find empty seats, removed shoes, sprayed everyone down with sunscreen, removed t-shirts and cover-ups, put on floaties and headed to water. Upon entering the water, the lifeguard came over and told up no floaties were allowed only life jackets which could be rented at the gift shop. Not about to tell the kids to get out of the water, I told the lifeguard they would wear the floaties until my husband got back with jackets. They swam like pros with their floaties. Addison decided to remove hers and I kept her head above water while the lifeguard watched this all. When Jerry returned, we took off the floaties and put on the jackets. My perfect little swimmers instantly turned into corks yelling "help me"... they couldn't get upright so they rolled onto their backs and floated helplessly. Finally, I grabbed them all by the convenient handles on the back and drug them all to shore while casting evil glances at the lifeguard. So much for the lagoon.

We then walked them over to the water guns and fountains and let them play there for a while. The ground was not too hot for walking for anyone except Addison. Jerry had Cody and I carried Addison while telling the other two to walk, don't run, and don't dilly daddle. After about an hour at the water park, we once again loaded the bus back to the hotel.

The hotel: We once again changed 2 adults and 4 kids into dry clothes and re-fixed the girls hair. We went to the hotel restaurant for lunch ($31-kids eat free). The lunch was nice, not too hectic. We pulled out our walking rings ( 6 rings on a rope ) each person takes a ring with Dad in front and Mom in back so we could keep everyone together and on the same pace. We loaded the bus again and went to the aquarium.

The Aquarium ($32, kids under 3 free): The aquarium was a blast... the kids loved it. I really don't have any horror stories to tell. We saw seals, sharks, fish, penguins, etc. Jadon however was getting really fussy toward the end so he got carried a lot. We got some Dippin' Dots ice cream on the way out ($10)... personally, not a fan of that little treat. They are so cold it's like putting your tongue on a frozen flagpole. They freeze to the inside of your mouth. We loaded to bus back to the hotel.

The hotel Part II: We turned on the tv, put the triplets in one queen bed and us in the other. Cody was in the pack and play. Jadon crashed immediately, Cody not a fan of the routine change protested so I held him until he fell asleep about the time Jadon woke. The girls never napped. We once again fixed hair and headed to Galveston beach.

The Beach: About 5 minutes into the car ride the girls fell asleep. We let them sleep about 15 minutes but woke them given it was after 5:00 and too late to sleep. We hit the beach and it was a huge hit. We probably could have made a day of the beach. Given everyone was sandy and yucky we wanted to eat somewhere casual and outside... at 7:00, no luck.... all the restaurants were packed. We decided to wait it out at Joe's Crab Shack. We ended up having a really great dinner ($49).

The hotel Part III: The kids were being good and Jerry being a daredevil said why don't we go swimming. Not wanting to be a party pooper, I said lovingly, "Whatever you want to do dear." We changed 2 adults and 4 kids back into swimsuits and headed to the pool. The kids LOVED swimming after dark and we loved the swim up bar. This really was one of the highlights. We headed back to the room about 9:45 bathed all the kids, put them all in PJs then into their beds. The triplets weren't much trouble, but Cody knew this wasn't the routine and protested until 10:45. No one slept well.

The next morning: About 6:45 I guess, we woke to Addison yelling at Kaylee to get her feet off of her. Knowing Cody would need to eat soon we threw on clothes and baseball caps and went downstairs to eat. Not good..... Jadon did not recognize the food and refused to eat. Very unhappy he fought back tears and refused all foods, even chocolate milk one of his favorites. We scarfed down our meal ($26) and headed back upstairs to 4 tired, cranky, moody, no fun kids. What to do??? Go home??? We loaded the car with a wait and see attitude.

Killin' Time: We decided to try the rainforest pyramid and 4D show on Dinosaurs. We asked about the rainforest and we were told it was plants and birds, not too good for the kids so we decided to skip that one. But, the kids love dinosaurs and it's only a 15 minute movie. Ok, bought all the tickets ($9.95 per person, no freebee for kids) and made the long walk to the theater. Of course, I carried at least one child. We got to the movie 3 minutes before showtime PERFECT. Sat in the front row with our 4D glasses with great anticipation. The movie started, our seats rumbled (actually rumbles), lightning flashed on the screen, then wind started blowing on us, and a dinosaur roared and sneezed and we all got a spray of water on us. Very exciting... FOR ADULTS.... we had 4 screaming little ones to quickly get out of a pitch dark theater.... so much for the movie. Of course, after we were out of the movie Kaylee cried because she wanted to see it. I think if we could have gotten past the very exciting opening, the rest of the movie would have been ok, but no chance we were gonna calm them down there. At this point we just walked around and let them play on some playground equipment.

Next move?: We decided to load up and head over to the strand for lunch then head home. Before we got to the strand we had 2 sleepers and decided to head home. I dreaded the fact that I was still going to have to entertain 4 kids the rest of the day at home. Two more fell asleep as we drove then Jerry mentioned Kemah. OK... they can get a nap in the car then we can kill more time at Kemah (hence less time at home).

Kemah: We got to Kemah, put the triplets on the potty seat before setting off. They all pottied except Addison and walked down to the Cadillac Bar. Believe it or not, we had a great lunch ($53). Of course upon entering the restaurant Addison decided she had to potty.... Remember, we have dealt with getting 3 toddlers on a potty all weekend, just thought I'd mention it here. We walked around, fed the fish, and road on the train ($19)... at this point it was 3:30 and we were all tired and HOT!!! We carried all the tired, hot kids to the car... the longest walk EVER. Got everyone a drink of water and headed home.

Home: Once you get home the work isn't over. We unloaded the car, I made dinner for the kids, we entertained a while, gave everyone baths, and put them all down to sleep. ALL BUT ONE that is. My well trained baby is having to be retrained to sleep. As I mentioned in my sleep training post a while back, just one night can throw a wrench in sleep training. Cody fought sleep for an hour last night, hopefully tonight will be better. Jerry and I finally got baths and crashed.

A lot of work? YES
Worth the work? YES

Expensive? YES, but only gonna get worse after 3 years old.

Scared to death for San Antonio trip? YES

Click on pictures to enlarge:

In Rememberence of IRENA SENDLER

What an extaordinary woman:

Irena Sendler
There recently was a death of a 98 year-old lady named Irena. During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an 'ulterior motive' ... She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews, (being German.) Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger kids..) She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.. During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family. Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.

Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize ... She was not selected. Al Gore won, for a slide show on Global Warming.

Something to ponder...

You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

*Adrian Rogers*

How many kings?

I've been hearing this song on the radio a lot lately and really love it.

Chorus:
"How many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many Gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only one did that for me..."

It makes me wonder how many believe, but still don't have time for God, time for church, time to teach their families about faith and God's greatest sacrifice? Because I am a believer, I feel a enormous sense of responsibility to educate my children with regard to faith because society today is only going to try to lead them astray. I love them too much not work tirelessly trying to lead them to God.

My Hero

For those of you who don't know, my Mom has been sick recently and spent a short time in the hospital. She is doing better, but I wanted to give a shout out to her and let her know how much I LOVE HER!!! She is my hero and one beautiful lady.

Attention grabbers

Our neighborhood newsletter, "The Northampton Neighbor," had a picture of the kids in their choo choo wagon in the 4th of July parade (middle right). What a nice surprise. We were a site to behold in our 5 car choo choo; 4 cars for the kids and a caboose for all our stuff (cameras, drinks, etc). It's a cool little wagon I gotta say.

For the birds....

Jerry and I took the kids to Texas Roadhouse restaurant this evening and out front are a ton of pigeons which will literally eat right out of your hands. They were all about getting peanuts and would land all over you. I held them in my hand, on my lap, and shoulder all the time afraid of poop. Jerry had his cell phone so we captured some photos and video. The kids LOVED IT!!!!

Addison reads me a book

Brown Bear, Brown Bear is one of the kids favorite books. Here Addison decided she wanted to read it to me. CUTEST THING EVER!!!!

My luck has run out....

I guess I should count my blessings that the triplets are almost 3 and I've never had to deal with vomiting babies, but the curse has finally struck. Cody was immunized on Tuesday and later that afternoon began running a 102.2 fever. I assumed it was due to his shots and began the Tylenol and Motrin. The next day he still had fever and began vomiting... ugh.

On Thursday Jadon joined in the mix and began throwing up... then on Friday Kaylee started up as well. We all went to the pediatrician Friday afternoon and they still have ear infections which previous antibiotics haven't gotten rid of (drug resistant apparently) so they are on a new antibiotic (Augmentin) which causes stomach upset and diarrhea.

This is the 1st time any of the kids have ever had ear infections and we just can't seem to be able to get rid of them. Not sure why after 3 years they are just now getting ear infections. Well, we gave the kids their drugs last night and they all three proceeded to throw them up. Jadon and Kaylee in their beds, and Cody all over Jerry. You would have thought Jerry had been dunked in nuclear waste.... I've been puked on several times now, but haven't made a huge issue over it. Ahhh, Men....

Well, the antibiotic is upsetting already upset stomachs and now has the kids going at the other end as well - UGH, UGH, UGH. Needless to say, our house is stinky. Called the "on call" doctor this morning and got some anti-nausea meds so hopefully they will help. How Addison has avoided the illness is beyond me. Once the other 3 are healthy again she will probably get it.

I am exhausted.... I mean really exhausted. REALLY EXHAUSTED!!!! I feel like I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Kaylee is on the potty with the runs, Jadon is throwing up, Addison is having a fit because I accidentally flushed her tee tee without thinking, and Cody is in his high chair screaming because he dropped his drink. It's like this all day long.
I couldn't survive this without the help of my DAD (thanks Dad) and husband (oh, my Mom is also sick).

Jerry has done TONS of laundry today between the soiled sheets, clothes, towels, etc. THANK YOU JERRY - I LOVE YOU!!!

Pray everyone is well soon!!!
Note the sheets on the floor to help keep the rug clean.....



Did I mention I am exhausted?