Blogging Break

Yawn......(waking up from my blogging break). Wow! October and November are crammed full of activities for us. For the first time in my life I am finding myself wishing we could just get through these holiday months...quick please. For those of you that know me well, that is a very uncharacterisitc statement for me to make! I am usually the one that is getting into the monthly themes full gear. However, I seem to have something, rather 4 little somethings slowing my pace down a little these days. :)

Let's see....at this point October is now over. Arik and I were unfortunately both working Halloween night so we didn't get to see our little gobblins and ghoul all dressed up ( had to write it:) We picked out the costumes earlier in the month and the boys got a little use of them throughout the month. Maddox was Thomas the train. Jax was Pumkin Whinnie the Pooh. Ty had a monkey suit and Olivia had a little ladybug dress. I will have to atleast get a picture of the twins in their costumes b/c my mom said that they just got too tired to even put them on. Plus the weather was a bit too warm, afterall they weren't intended to be sweatsuits! You know with our Florida weather it's so hit or miss. The one year that I dress them as beachbums it will be like 50 degrees out. ( Don't laugh you Northerners! )

Progress wise the twins are doing great. Olivia gets in her little walker and is all over the place! That little girl books it. Ty has zero interest in mobility. He is chubby...happy and content just relaxing with as little motion as possible.....takes just after his dad ( wink wink...III'MMMM just kiddin' ) On a serious note his therapy is seems to be helping. His little head is still womped out, but he looks both ways and sits with his neck straight now. At this point it's just a matter of his noggin taking a natural re-shaping to his new found posture.

Jaxon is my little munchkin. He is so spiteful! He told me in the car the other morning, "Darnit mom, I don't love you anymore " Before my shock at his new word set it, I had to wipe the smile off my face. He is also in a real sociable faze. You ask him his name, " Nufing " age, " Nufing" whose your mommy, "NUFING!!" ( Nothing for those that may be slow at toddler translation ) Clearly him and Maddox think that word has a different meaning b/c they both seem to use it a lot.

...( Just a side note......the boys are in the living room watching Oobi and for those of you that don't know...Oobi is a talking human hand. You know, the kind when you draw a face on the side of your hand and then make it talk??? How it keeps their interest I have no idea, but Maddox told me the other day, " Mom, Oobi's not boring. " Oops, I guess he heard me say that! But honestly, 30 minutes of a high-pitched talking hand? ) ....

Okay, onto Maddox. He is my big boy. Each day he is losing more and more of his little toddler stage. It hit me real hard once when he was walking next to Arik. He is so tall and "gets" so much. I looked at him and it was hard for me to imagine that he is still only 3. I feel like when I talk to him now we have full conversations. His memory is sharp and he picks things up so quick. Today we went to the Fire Dept Chile cookoff and he threw the balls at the dunktank and watching him ....phew what an arm! I know I am his mom and I am partial, but it's to be expected. I did have to explain to him tonight that he "finished his popsicle first" and that he did not , " beat Jaxon up " .. He came in the room holding his popsicle sticking claiming, " Mom, I beat Jaxon up! I ate ALL my popsicle."

Life is still crazy, I'm not gonna lie. I know that it will be for a very long time. But things are definately settling down. I can feel the air being let out of the crazy balloon. I want to continue blogging. However, my stinkin' camera batteries are dead and I have been procrastinating getting new ones. I take so many pictures on my camera phone throughout the day, but it is such a long prcess to load those up and I get lazy by the end of the night. I will continue, I'll try to keep up the dailies, but if not atleast a couple times a week. Until next time!!

First of Many I'm sure

We had a little incident today with Jaxon. The ladder to the "new" bunkbeds is vroken, so we had it set to the side until Arik can finf the right hardware to fix it. Well, the boys had other plans. I was in the living room feeding the twins and next thing you know I hear a thud and a cry. I ran back and found Jax crying on the floor. After asking Maddox what happened, he told me that Jax tried to climb the ladder and fell off. I didn't see any bumps or marks, but Jaxon said that he hit his head. Now usually Jaxon hurts himself, brushes it off and goes at it again, but this time he just wanted to be held. I sat with him on the rocking chair for a good 15 min and he just had his little head rested on me. He really wasn't even watching the cartoon I had on. I looked down and asked him if he was okay and he burst into tears and said, " Nooo." The next thing I know I along with the rocker and floor am covered in throw-up. I immediately called Arik. You know it's so easy to give advice, but when it's your baby it's a different story. He told me to take him to the ER. So our neighbor watched the twins, thank you Jennifer and Mad, Jax and me took our first bumps and bruises trips to the hospital. Of course when we got there Jax turned into a little maniac and he was also less than thrilled about being checked over, but the good news is he's all right! My mom came along and after we got the green light to go, she took the boys home. The rest of the evening was uneventful and Jaxon is back to his normal self. Of course I got the warning from everyone, "That's boys for ya...get used to it! " ....But what if I don't wanna??:( Well, I guess I can't put them in a bubble!

Sunday Football

What a great day we had. There were a few no shows due o the sickness making its rounds, but still a fun time. I think everyone was a little tired, so it worked perfectly that we could just kick back and relax a bit. I had older kid patrol ( Arik's buddy brought his 3 year old ) and the twins joined in on the game action inside. Again it was blistering hot so it wasn't practical for all the kids to be outside. I set up the sprinklers to keep the boys cooled off and they ran, played and jumped in the mud. All of them we so well behaved today. The twins actually took three nice naps...together...and were content for the most part! So I can't complain. I am getting finished up here. I just laid the babies down and showered the boys. It's going to be a nice early bed tonight and I am going to curl up with leftovers and watch my taped shows!!

Fire Open House

I took the kids to one of our fire stations today that was having an Open House. They do it once a year and put on really great demonstrations and let the kids look, touch and learn on and with some of the equipment. They simulate an accident and even have the Bayflight helicopter take the patient and lift off and re-land. For the most part they enjoyed themselves and other than the fact it was in the upper 90's with no breeze, so did I. I didn't get many pics. The ones posted of Jaxon are him doing a mini-combat challenge. He had to run though hydrants, put out a fake fire and carry a large bear to safety. He got a kick out of it, but Maddox thought he'd be better off observing and didn't participate! We are having a small football party tomorrow, so I am going to get back to picking up and making a dessert!!

Cuteness that is Olivia

Althoug it is not her Halloween costume, I thought this little kitty/leaopard suit was too cute and just had to share! When she is on her belly there is a little tail that sticks up in the air:)

Look At This Chunk

MMMM....Could just eat em' up!!

All is Well

Busy busy, sorry for the lack of posts and updates. I have completely dove into decorating Olivia's room. It all started with a yardsale find of two small matching night stands with white whicker baskets and light pink lining. It snowballed from there and I have been painting, organizing and decorating. From the posted pics you don't really get the full effect, but I am overall pleased with the outcome. The last thing I'd like to do is add nice pink and white sheer curtains. Anyways, so just when I thought I was about done, my mom hooks me up with a set of free bunkbeds. Grateful, but now another project on my hands. It still needs another mattress and they are white, dirty and have stenciled pink flowers along the front. I am contemplating where I want to take the theme of the bos room. I would like to do something that works with their red curtains I already have up. So who knows. I am just squeezing and throwing all my "freetime" haha into getting the rooms done, so I will update as able. Kiddos doing great though. Olivia is all over the place now. Little stinker. Ty is making really good progress in his weekly therapy sessions. He can now look both ways comfortably and hs noggin looks better already. Maddox is LOVING school. His new teacher is awesome and he can't wait to go each day. Jaxon is holding his own. He holds his own and certainly lacks no attention. He is a very active boy and catching on quick to big brothers antics! As for Arik and me , we are both settling into our roles as parents of four and yes believe it or not...as hectic as things are still , I do notice it getting easier:)

Flu??

I came home sick from work today and have been curled up pathetically in bed all day. Thank goodness my mom was off and she had the kiddos for me. I'm tellin' you , the one year I don't get the Flu Shot and I have symptoms twice. Just doing my best to stay away from the kiddos. Anyways, here are some pics from the Domestic Violence Walk we went on yesterday morning. It was 3 miles over out beautiful bridge and for a good cause.

Bean Bean the Earring Queen

Livi Bean is a big girl now. It's official, I had her ears pierced today. She took it like a champ too. One "piercing" ( haha ) scream and then just a ticked off scream for the second side. They are beautiful little pink stones on gold studs and she looks adorable. I couldn't get a good shot because the flash hid them. But here is her little ear. ...... Daddy will be so surprised :) ...... we talked about it, don't worry!!

Jax Attack!!

Folks, there has been another attack in the Smith household. I urge everyone to take cover and wear Kevlar if entering our home. A facemask is advisable as well. The Jax has bit again, except this time poor Maddox was spared and yours truly took the hit. Holy Smokes!! Is that what Mad has been putting up with??!! Those chompers are no joke. Like lighting and for no apparent reason his little teeth sunk into my thigh. I reacted with no shame and smacked his meal masher right in the middle of the mall, grabbed him by his arm and plopped him down next to a bench threatening that, "You'd better not get up Mister!!" And guess what? He just stared at me blankly. It's been an hour and my leg is still throbbing where he got me. The picture doesn't do it justice. Little man has to shape up and realize that he doesn't get what he wants by "biting the hand that feeds him!" ....... sorry, had to say it:)