The Coast

Before leaving for the coast, Adia, DiDi and I took a walk with the babies. It's fun to take them in the wagon, especially since Adia likes to pull them.




Colie also came back from a month in Germany. Adia missed her tons.


We headed to the coast for Monday and Tuesday. It was great timing since it was supposed to be in the 90s at home. We were surprised at how hot it was in Florence though. I kicked myself for not packing better, but it always seems to be chilly there, even when it's warm at home. Adia ended up skinny dipping in the pool at Gramma and Papa's house because I didn't bring her swim suit. We then had an awesome dinner, Adia took a bath and then fell asleep pretty fast.

The next day Papa made a big breakfast, including gluten free pancakes for Adia. She was super excited, but then didn't end up eating much. She couldn't wait to head to the aquarium and beach. It was a longer drive than normal with road construction in traffic, but Adia got a little nap on the way. She was asleep when we pulled into the parking lot and it took her a little bit to wake up. Once she was awake, she was raring to go. I think the one thing that really helped wake her up was nearly having a bat fly into her. Not your normal middle of the day occurrence.


The twins quickly fell back asleep in the stroller and Adia couldn't decide what she wanted to look at first. We headed to Oddwater, but then it was time to feed the sea otters. She wasn't too interested with them, mostly because the crowd was so large that she couldn't get too close.


I knew she used to always love the seals so we headed that way. For some reason they weren't doing their usual swim in a circle. That confused all of us and Adia quickly got bored. She wanted to see the sharks instead.




She loved walking through the shark tubes. She's been talking about sharks for days. She was soon telling me that one shark was the mommy shark and another was a daddy shark. There were baby sharks too. It was cute. We saw divers in one of the tubes and a VERY BIG shark in another. Adia called it a big daddy shark, but the volunteer let us know it's actually a female and the largest in the tank.


We walked along the path until we came to the "play area." Daddy's right, not sure if the dolphin, whale, seal, turtle and tortoise are more sculpture or actual things to play on. We did attempt some family pictures though.








It was then on to the touch pools. Adia was super excited for that. Last time we were there, she had a hard time reaching anything, but this time she could. She touched every thing there was to touch and wanted to touch even more. I was really proud of her.


I think she was pretty bummed that not everything was "touchable".






We did find some more things for her to touch though: SHARKS! She didn't believe us that they were sharks though because they were so small. She loved petting them and one actually kept coming back for her to pet it.




We also found Nemo.


And went back to the fish tank you could climb inside. Adia loves that thing.


We made a quick stop at the gift shop before leaving. Adia picked out the best $5 I think I've ever spent. She now has a pair of binoculars that she absolutely loves.




Everyone was getting hungry, especially Adia, so we headed to Sizzlers. Adia didn't eat very much, but the twins were in a great mood. Adia also used the potty several times. She also used it several times at the aquarium.






We said goodbye to Auntie Colie in the Walmart parking lot and then headed to the beach. I used to go to Seal Rock all the time as a kid, but it's changed a lot since the last time. The path was almost gone and it was hard to get the twins down to the beach. Adia had fun though and the twins put their feet in sand for the first time.










It was then time to head home. Adia kept asking to go home, but we had to stop at Gramma and Papa's house first. We packed up our stuff, fed the twins and left. Driving home took forever because of all the road construction too, but Adia slept through it, so did Daddy. It was a great trip, with terrific weather. I hope we can do it again soon.

Pizza Pizza

Adia had her flu shot today. I left the twins with DiDi and took Adia in. I told her where we were going, what was going to happen and why she had to get a shot. She seemed ok with it, but I knew she didn't exactly know what was happening, even though she saw the twins get their shots. There were lots of kids in the waiting room, but luckily they were all waiting for flu shots too. Adia looked out the window and climbed under my chair while we waited. (There's still no toys in the waiting rooms because of swine flu.) Her name was finally called and we went back. I set her on the table, pulled down her jeans and held on tight to her hands. The look of betrayal on her face when the needle went in, broke my heart. I nearly cried with her. She only cried a few seconds though. By the time the band aid was placed, Adia was done crying and ready to leave. She was smiling again before we walked out the door, but only because she got a sticker and could press the elevator buttons. She did let me know that she couldn't walk anymore so I had to carry her.

We came home, picked up DiDi and the twins, and headed to pizza. There's a new place in town offering gluten free pizza. Adia's never experienced pizza at a pizza parlor before. I think I was more excited then she was. We ordered and sat down. Adia was literally bouncing while asking when the pizza would get there. When it did arrive, Adia burned herself on the cheese, but soon stealing olives off the pizza and eating big bites. She even asked for ranch to dip her crust in. It was a good pizza. I'm so happy that we'll have one more place to eat with her. We'll even be able to order pizzas for birthday parties!




After we finished eating, we let Adia play in the play area. It was her first time in a ball pit and she didn't know what she was supposed to do. She had to watch some other kids jump into it before she knew how to play in it. She also followed some other kids to get on the big tunnel, slide, climbing thing. I had the hardest time getting her to leave. She wanted to stay and play all evening.


We stopped by the library and then headed home. Adia fell asleep in the car so she missed seeing Daddy before he left for work. When she woke up, she asked where he was and said, "I want my daddy." I felt so bad for her. Mira had already started her nightly screaming, which had caused Leia to start crying too. We decided we'd head to the grocery store. The twins fell asleep, but woke up screaming when we got home. Mira's still screaming, Adia's watching Arthur and Leia keeps waking up to Mira's screaming. Hopefully they'll go to sleep soon because I'm exhausted.


from last night

Save me

This is what I wake up to most mornings.


What you don't see is Adia next to them. Four in a queen sized bed is a little rough, but when you're tired, you're goal is to get as much sleep as possible. Therefore, I often fall asleep with one baby on one arm and another on my chest. Adia climbs in sometime around 1 or 2am most nights. She's had a occasional night where she's actually slept all night, but they're rare. Lately she's been getting up in the middle of the night, coming to bed and then telling me she needs to use the restroom. We get up together, she pees then demands that I pee too. Whatever works for her, but she has been staying dry all night.

What really cracks me up is each time I lay the twins on the floor, Adia lays down with them and says, "Take a picture?" Often times, I do take pictures, but sometimes I'm merely letting the girls stretch, kick and wiggle and they are serious wigglers.


I'm absolutely loving that Leia smiles now. It took her some time to start, about 2 weeks after Mira started smiling and cooing at us, but now I can almost always get a smile out of her. Mira hasn't been smiling at me as much, but all I have to do is smile at Leia and say, "Hi Leia!" in a sing song voice and her whole face lights up.




Mira, not so much. I have to work harder for a smile.

Adia and I have been spending lots of time at the mall lately. She wants to play and it's a good place for her to go. Gramma came with us once this week and I also took all 3 girls by myself. The hardest part about going anywhere with all 3 girls is trying to get them in and out of the house. It's like juggling babies, especially when Adia's not in a helping mood and I have to figure out how to close the door and lock it while holding both babies. When Adia's feeling particularly helpful, she shuts the door for me and that helps bunches. Once we're out the door, it's not so tough. The twins ride in the stroller or I wear a baby and Adia rides. Lately she's been walking while holding onto the side of the stroller. She's growing up so fast. She can now climb on the car at the play area, which has been something she's been trying to do for ages. She always sees other kids do it and would get so frustrated because she couldn't figure it out. For awhile, other kids would boost her up or pull her up, now she can do it herself.






Most of the times that we go to the mall, Adia gets ice cream too. It's out little treat. The last time she picked mint chip ice cream while I got chocolate frozen yogurt. I'm so glad she picked mint chip because she ended up stealing mine and I ate hers.


Adia's getting really good at dressing herself. Most days she picks out what she'll wear that day and then dresses herself, with some help when she needs it. Yesterday she spent a huge chunk of the morning butt naked after her bath because she said she wasn't ready to get dressed. I didn't push the issue and since she's more inclined to use her potty while naked, I wasn't worried about accidents. Eventually she told me, "Ok mommy, I'm ready to go to the mall now," and got herself dressed. She even put her pull up on by herself! The only help she needed was to snap and zip her jeans.


Potty training's going pretty well. She suddenly got interested and has stuck with it. Today she wore her big girl panties all day. We went out to breakfast and to Target and she didn't have a single accident. I did become extremely familiar with the Target restroom, but she went every time. When we came home, she went multiple times, including pooping in her potty. She actually didn't have a single accident the entire time she was wearing them and she caught herself when she started to. She then decided it was too much work and put a pull up. That was immediately followed by pooping her pants and not wanting to pee in the potty until it was bath time. She really confuses me sometimes. I will always be amazed though that all 3 girls can sink up pooping at the same time. When we got back from Target today, Adia pooped in the potty just as the twins both filled their diapers so I had 2 screaming babies and luckily, Gramma was still here to help Adia.

Speaking of screaming, the girls know how to make your ears bleed. They screamed almost nonstop this afternoon for 6 hours straight. I wanted to die. Nothing I did would make it better and once I managed to calm one down, the other would just make her start screaming again. I felt awful for Adia since she wanted some mommy time and I was so frazzled that I wasn't a very nice mommy. We did get in our cuddle time before she fell asleep tonight. We also took a bath together and she helped wash baby hair. These were our 2 small reprieves this afternoon:




The most exciting moment today was my new diaper bag arriving at my door. I spent a small fortune on it and really debated whether I should get it or not, but the bag I was using just wasn't big enough. The new bag is perfect for twins and was even made to hang on a side by side double stroller. I just packed it and there's room for more stuff in it, which makes me happy. It also has a zip closure and it's own compact changing pad. I'm loving all the compartments too.

Look-Alike Meter

Best Picture Ever

If only we could have had Adia in it too.

appointments, shots and pumpkin muffins

The twins had their 2 month appointments today. I was definitely curious about how much they weighed. Mira is 10lbs 9.2oz and 21.3in. She's the 40th percentile for weight and 10th percentile for length. Leia is 9lbs 11.6oz and 22.1in. She's 20th percentile for weight and 35th percentile for length. Adia was in between their weight and length at 2 months. Their doctor says they look great and can't believe how fast they're growing. It was then time for 3 shots a piece and an oral vaccine. They didn't mind the oral vaccine, but I've never heard a baby scream like that before. I remember Adia crying and screaming, but nothing like that. They both fell asleep afterward and I gave them tylenol when we got home. They've been fussy all afternoon, but are asleep now.


Adia was with us at the doctor's appointment and did pretty well, even through the long wait. The doctor even gave her a sticker. She followed me when the girls got weighed and measured and also when the doctor examined them. She wanted to make sure no one was hurting her babies. I thought she was going to come unglued when the shots happened. She doesn't like it when her babies cry.

We went out to lunch at Red Robin before going home. Then Adia and I went to the mall. She wanted to play at the play area and I thought it would be some good mommy-daughter time. We looked at shoes, played, rode the quarter machines and the escalator and got caramel apples. She said she had a fun time. It was then time to come home and make dinner. Adia painted while I made chicken soup, but she helped make cheesy bread.


She's definitely become a good helper lately. Not only does she help with diaper changes, but she can help cook and tonight she loaded the dishwasher! She's been trying to help make and wash bottles, but she's not quite old enough for that one. She was so funny with the dishwasher though. I thought she was going to start stealing dishes from Gramma and Daddy, just so she could put them in there. She didn't care if they were finished with dinner or not!