Sunday, June 19, 2011

It's been a long time...



Getting ready for their wedding debut!

Cooper is always happy!






























I knew it had been a long time since I had updated my blog, but it was only when I looked at it today that I realized it had been since Christmas time.  I apologize and let me just let you in on what's been going on between then and now.


During the winter and fall, our household went through a lot of sickness.  Croup happened twice, strep about four times, ear infections twice,  the twins and I had a virus trading off about every two days, Carter had an allergic reaction and broke out in a rash all over his body, I strained my back and couldn't walk for two days and struggled for a week, Jury Duty, not to mention all of my migraines that I was genetically blessed with went on over kill!  We were all trapped in the house because of the weather and sickness, and it felt like we were never going to get better and we would never escape the walls of this house, but we survived!


The twins have grown up so much within this six month's time.  They are speaking in fully sentences, cracking jokes, listening and obeying, and potty training is going extremely well!  Cooper has learned to sit up, crawl, pull up, stand, has gotten teeth, and say a few words.  Isn't it amazing everything a child can learn to do in such a short amount of time?


Carter and Hutch turned three just a couple weeks ago.  I have heard that one of the few days that a person has perfect recollection of is the day(s) that there child was born, and it seems like just yesterday I was pregnant and being rolled into the operating room to have the boys.  This year, they had a donut birthday party at our neighborhood playground.  When you asked the boys what they wanted for their birthday all they would tell you is that they wanted donuts!  In my opinion, cake can't hold a candle to a donut, and Carter and Hutch would tell you the exact same thing!  We had a wonderful time at the party celebrating with family and friends, and we feel so incredibly blessed to have so many people who love all three of our boys.
Holding a frog
All Boy! 
Hutch
Carter


Some funny or cute things I can recall that have happened or been said these last months:


Carter, "Papa can't walk. His feet don't work, they need batteries." 




Clint, "Boys you need to pick up three toys and take them back to your room."  Carter responds, "Dad I only have two hands."




Cooper is so loud in the church nursery, that when the workers see him coming they immediately scramble around to take all the sleeping children to another room so he will not wake them.


Hutch had an accident and peed in his underwear and when Clint asked him why he didn't go to the potty he replied, " I was tryin' to phart."


Carter said that his hand hurt so Clint gave his hand a kiss, and Carter held out his finger and asked "What about this one?"  So Clint kissed his finger and something came off on his lips.  When Clint asked Carter what it was, all Carter could do was giggle and say, "My booger!"


Cooper leaned in to give Hutch a mouth wide open kiss, and Hutch said, "Hey, I not a puff!"


Carter was on the ground playing with his Little People house and I asked him what he was doing his response, "I am building a ramp for Papa." He wanted to make sure his play house was handicap assessable for Papa. 


Only at our house do hear at prayer time,  "Thank you God for sandcastles and poop."




I promise to try and do better at this blogging thing!  


Until next time,
Jaclyn



Cooper

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Just Hutch and Mommy

On very rare occasions I am able to get a glimpse of what it would be like if I were able to have one kid.  Clint and I never experienced this.  We went from the two of us to a family of four, and then quickly after that to a family of five. Today was and extremely special day.  Hutch woke up in a bad mood.  Clint and I were afraid he might be getting sick and so we decided not to take him to church.  Hutch and I stayed home.  I think he was faking it!  We have sat and watch The Polar Express, played, and I have cleaned.  There has been no picking or fighting.  Do you know how easy it is to have just one two and a half year old around?  It is so easy and laid back.  Though I would not trade my three little boys for anything, I just thought I would let you all know that you should enjoy the one on one time you get with just one kid.  Hutch and I are having a blast!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Signs that the Twins are No Longer Babies

I remember having the boys and hearing from several people, "Don't blink or you'll miss them growing up."  Well, I can tell you there have been several times I have acted like I Dream of Genie and wanted to miss the whining, fighting and picking, but there have been several things the boys have been doing and saying lately that really show me how time flies when you are both busy and having fun.




Carter loves to come up to Clint or me and say, "We are going to church in two minutes." "I am going to take a bath in two minutes." "I eat dinner in two minutes."  He seems to think anything can be done in two minutes.  




Hutch has been talking about Santa.  "Santa bring presents to me.  He bring me cars."  I hear that several times a day.  I will ask, "Can mommy bring you cars?"  He replies, "NO, mommy not, Santa bring me cars for presents."

The boys get into several fights a day.  If they aren't fighting over a toy, one is picking on the other.  If one of them says yes, the other will say no, and they will fight over the word for at least five minutes.  It would not be a normal day at our house without them getting in trouble for something.  I mean, who has perfect two year olds?  So, when Carter gets in trouble he gets extremely embarrassed and will walk over to a different part of the room, lay down on the ground, look at you and say, "I'm going night night." Hutch just likes to tattle when he gets in trouble.  The other day, he reached for something breakable and after several times of being told no he ended up getting a swat on his hand.  He ran over to his daddy and said, "My mommy hit me."  Talk about being opposites.

The boys know serval landmarks and LOVE to point them out as we are getting close to approaching them or as we pass them.  For McDonalds Carter will say "That's where we get French Fries" Hutch will follow up with, "And get chicken too!"  For Braums, "Milkshake! Milkshake!"  We will pass the t-ball field and the golf course and they let us know what it is.  They know where their grandma works, and love to tell me as we pass, "Grandma gives me cookies!"  If we drive by my parents neighborhood, the boys know every entrance you can go in and know where and when to turn to get there.  They get very excited to see church.  They are extremely interested in school buses, police cars and firetrucks.  Every time we pass a fire station, Carter takes quick inventory.  He can tell you if all the trucks are there or if one or some of them are missing, I do not lie.  He knows how many should be in there and keeps count.  The fire trucks keep their doors open, and the boys love to tell us, "Doors open!  Fireman can get in fast!"

I called Hutch by Cooper's name and he said, "Mommy, I NOT a baby!"  

I walked in the boys room after there nap because I could hear them playing, and when I opened the door they both were on their tummies putting together puzzles and looked up at me and smiled.

The Big 12 game is on tonight and the boys were watching it with Clint.  We put them down for bed and Clint went in to check on them.  Hutch was on his floor waiting for his daddy and when Clint opened the door Hutch asked, "Daddy I watch football with you?"

The boys make me laugh and smile with all the things they do, but it seems like just yesterday they were Cooper's age.  It is hard to believe that Cooper will be doing and saying similar things so soon.  I love my three boys.


Monday, November 29, 2010

A Colorado Thanksgiving

Well, a few months ago my family decided they wanted to spend Thanksgiving in Colorado.  We had all gone last year and most of us has a great time, me on the other hand I was tied p with morning sickness and eventually had to announce the news to everyone that I was pregnant with Cooper.  This year we were just tied up with three kids ages 2 and under. :)  Did you know that as of 2 years old you have to pay for an airplane ticket?  Last year the boys were under two and so we flew.  This year, since we are extremely frugal and maybe a tad bit crazy, all five of us drove the 12 hour drive to Colorado.  We left at 6:30 pm so we could drive over night and so we could have sleeping kids most the way.  Our seating arrangements are very precise. Clint drives, he can get extremely carsick, Carter has to sit in the front section of our back seats because he too get carsick, we found out the hard way we can't watch movies, go on curvy roads, or stick him to the very back of our van.  Hutch get to sit up next to Carter, luckily there is a space between them, otherwise there would be a ton of picking going on. Cooper is placed in the very back of the van, and I sit back there with him because he HATES, I mean hates with a passion the car.  If he wakes up and sees no one is there next him he screams.  So we got our seating arrangements down, and another thing we have down is our packing. We have night time diapers, and potty chair, change of clothes in case Carter does get sick, snacks, juice, formula, warm water in a canister for bottles, trash sacks, the boys favorite Christmas CD... Sandy Patti, and of course Buzz and Woody.  I must say the drive to Colorado was for the most part enjoyable.  The boys made there Buzz and Woody talk to the moon, we sang Sandy Patty songs, we ate our snacks, we quoted Pixars movies, and we quacked like ducks for about five minutes.  The boys slept and the woke up and then slept some more and woke up again. It was when we passed Denver and got to the icy roads that Clint got car sick. So a very unusual turn of events happened, I drove. Now Clint is in the back of the van making sounds that make you sick, I am driving on icy roads at about 5 in the morning having had no sleep in about 22 hours, Cooper is crying because it is time for him to eat, Carter is crying because he couldn't see his dad, and Hutch is calling every semi we pass Mack and every tow truck pass Mater(refer to Pixar's Cars).  Our life was crazy at that moment, but we made it there none the less.

I don't think the word vacation is fitting for parents with a baby or toddlers, or both.  There is less rest and relaxation on a "Vacation" than when at home.  You worry about your surroundings and how your kids are treating things, they don't sleep as well, their schedules are off, there is some cabin fever going on at an unfamiliar place and so are they bugging everyone else around them.  All that said, the boys got to play in the snow.  Carter, our picky one, was OK until he decided it was too cold and to hard to walk in it.  Hutch rolled around in it, stuck his face straight in it, threw snow balls at everyone, Hutch had a blast and is still talking about it!

I got a lot of pictures and some video, and some memories were made, but it always feels good to be back home. Am I right?

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Random Stories

I thought I would be better at posting more often, but to my surprise, having three boys two and under keeps you rather busy!!!  I have some funny and cute stories to tell you that have happened since the last post.




I love listening to cds in my car, and the kind of music I listen to is usually the kind of music I could sing.  So one day all the boys and I were in the car driving to church and we were listening to "How Great Thou Art" the backseat was quiet the whole song (this is rare!!!), and when the song ended both boys said "Amen!"  It made me laugh and tear up at the same time.  It was as if they were listening to the words of the song and understood them and saying, "I agree, How Great Thou Art!"  It is amazing what music can do!



We are slowly easing our way into potty training at this house.  Carter is a little better at telling us he needs to shew shew in the potty.  Hutch is more of our magician.  He disappears for a few minutes and comes back in the room with something in his diaper. One day Hutch told me he wanted to sit on the potty.  Well, he wanted to sit on the potty and eat his popcorn. Normally, eating while using the restroom would gross me out, but this was a good tactic to get Hutch to sit for a while.  I left to give him some privacy and came into the kitchen to clean the dishes. Carter thought he would stay in the restroom for moral support. In fact, he was even teaching Hutch what to do.  I looked down the hall, and Carter was telling Hutch, "No, Hu you push your weenie down."  That's right folks, Carter was demonstrating on Hutch how he needed to sit and pee pee in the potty.  I laughed and called my mom and told her the story, and when I hung up I could hear Carter doing his scream cry that he has perfected. I ran in to see what was wrong and again I started laughing. Hutch had managed to sit on the potty and pee on the bathroom tile, and Carter had managed to slip on the pee and fall into the puddle.  I guess Hutch should have listened to Carter!




Cooper is still being an extremely good and precious baby.  Since three weeks old he has slept for eight hours at night.  He now sleeps from about 10:30 to anywhere between 7 and 8:30.  Very rarely do we have to wake up and feed him in the middle of the night.  Amazing!  Since the twins are in mother's day out, Cooper and I get to spend time together.  So he took a trip to the fair with me and some of my family, he goes shopping, out to eat, to movies, and even to my sister's ultrasound appointment.  I never really even worry about taking him anywhere because he is so good.


As a stay at home mom, sometimes I just get tired of being in my house do the same ordinary thing over and over, so one day I packed up all of the boys and took them to my sister's house so we could do the same thing in a new location.  My sister, Jennifer, and I ate lunch and the boys and Emily played.   Hutch ended up tripping on a rug and falling into a chair.  When he fell into the chair his tooth went through his lip and so he had a cut on the outside of his mouth and a gash on the inside.  Jen and I kept debating on what to do, but Hutch decided he was ok and wanted to go ahead and play. It was time to put them down for a nap.  We set up two pack and plays for Carter and Hutch.  I could hear them playing in the room, jumping up and down in their pack and plays and giggling and so I went in the room and told them to lay dawn and go night night.  Five minutes later there was no change in their giggling and so I went to see what was going on.  When I cracked open the door I knew someone had pooped, and so I stepped in the room to see who it was and what did I see? I saw Carter who had taken off his pants and socks and Hutch who had taken off his pants, socks, and diaper.  Hutch had pooped and taken matters in his own hands and taken off his diaper, but from the looks of it, it looked like he threw that dirty diaper across the room into Carters pack and play and then Carter threw is back across the room where the diaper laid fully in tack on the carpet.  Not as messy as it could have been.  I am glad my sister was there because together we thought it was hilarious.  That night when I was sitting at home I got a call from my sister that she when to go get some pajamas out of her dresser and found some smashed poop on the dresser.  A day away from our house was no ordinary day!



Well, we are getting excited about Halloween around here.  We are going to have a Lion, Carter, a Giraffe, Hutch, and a Football, Cooper.  The lion and the giraffe have been playing like it is Animal Planet at our house.  Carter runs up behind Hutch and tackles him.  They love all the decorations for Halloween and are sure to point out every single pumpkin they see.  I think they will really enjoy trick or treating this year.  I will let you know how it goes!



Monday, September 13, 2010

Doctor's Office

Let's talk about the doctor's office.  Cooper had his two month appointment today, and this appointment is not very fun because it is the first time babies get shots.  Cooper and I signed in at the desk, anti bacterial gelled my hands, and started walking down the hall to go to the seating area.  As I was walking and carrying Cooper in his car seat I begin to scan the waiting area for two reasons.  Reason number one- how busy is it, will this take long.  Reason number two- where do I want to sit.  Today it was very busy and there were no seats where you didn't have to sit next to anyone.  Don't get me wrong, I am not a loner, but I don't like to sit next to anyone at the doctor's office.  I was going in with a healthy baby I wanted to come out with one too!  I start looking.  I dodge the kids that are coughing and the parents that look like they have been up all night with a sick kid.  I also dodge the kids that look like they should be in school and are too old for well baby check ups.  I look for the baby car seats. I see a mom with a five week old baby.  SCORE!  I felt very good about my choice of where to sit.  As I sat waiting to be called back, I start to people watch and maybe a little ease dropping.  I am glad I didn't sit next to the kid with strep throat and the other with pneumonia, but I still clutch on to Cooper hoping no one comes close to him or I.  I notice one kid rolling on the nasty waiting room floor.  GROSS!  Another kid is talking to a toddler he does not know and touches the toddlers lid on his cup.  I am relived when Cooper and I get called back.  Call me cautious or afraid of germs, but I got a baby to protect.  If we come home with a sickness we are quarantined in our house for two weeks at the shortest, and after a winter of being locked in the house for six weeks with back and forth sickness between the twins, I am more extreme.
Sweet Cooper
Waiting at the doctor's office.

We got into the doctor's office, and sweet baby Cooper got weighed and measured.  He was perfect, but that is not news to me. :)  In between when the nurse was in the room and when the doctor came in Cooper and I had some one on one time.  Who ever said having one baby was hard?  I am here to tell you after having twins, one baby is nothing!  The doctor came in, we talked, and she walked out to go get the nurse to give Cooper shots.  Cooper and I had a little talk.  I told him even though this was going to be hard for the both of us, it is better for him to get the shot to protect him.  I am serious, I spoke out loud and told him that.  I think it made me feel better.  Cooper did great.  He did cry, but as soon as I picked him up and put the lifesaver that is the pacifier in his mouth he calmed down.

During that doctor's appointment, Cooper and I had an hour together just the two of us, and though it was neither of our favorite place to be, I enjoyed every single minute of being with my sweet baby.  He is such a good little baby.  Seriously, why do people complain about having just one baby?

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Trip to Tulsa

Clint has been wanting to take Carter and Hutch to the Oklahoma Aquarium in Tulsa, and we finally made the plans to do it.  We had my parents watch Cooper for the day and we packed our travel diaper bag and left.  We made sure we left during the boys nap time so we wouldn't have cranky boys, and we couldn't have planned it more perfectly.  The boys slept the whole way until about ten minutes upon arrival.  We would ask if they were ready to see fish and Hutch would say, "I see pis and sharks!" Carter would reply, "Otay!"  We took our strollers in, but the boys quickly showed us that they were big boys and could handle it on there own.  Carter hopped/skipped to each tank and Hutch excitedly ran a few steps to the next tank.  They got to touch starfish, stingrays, and some sort of small spotted shark.  We saw beavers and otters playing in the water, and we walked through a huge walk through tank full of sharks.  We had an hour and a half of fun and we could have stayed longer!  We decided we would go in the gift shop before we left and see if there were any cheap keepsakes we wanted to get, and of course I found myself trying to sweet talk my two year olds.  They had picked a submarine that you play with in the bathtub, and their Grammy and Papa, my parents, already have this toy.  I wanted them to get these fun, cheaper toys, that were a shark and an alligator head on a stick that you make it's mouth chomp.  Of course, the boys got their way because they didn't want to put the boats down, and I bought the other chomping toys for Christmas stocking gifts. Win-win situation?


We went from the aquarium to my maternal grandparent's house near Tulsa.  We were very excited to stop off at their house and visit and eat dinner with them.  Clint and I agree that my grandparents could have a number one rated reality television show.  They crack us up!  While we were there the boys got to ride the golf cart, feed the horse a carrot, look for rolly pollies and eat some yummy food!  I am so lucky to have such wonderful grandparents, and I am glad that my kids are getting to know them.  We said good-bye to grandma and grandpa and headed home.  Clint and I were very careful to choose when to pull out the DVD player for the boys.  You see, Carter inherited his great-grandma, grammy, and daddy's motion sickness.  We knew if we were going to try out a movie it needed to be at the end of the trip and not the beginning. Luckily we made it home with no problems, and we watched and quoted Finding Nemo the whole way!



It is fun making memories with the boys!