Tonight I could not think of anything to cook.  Everyone woke up early from their naps & were a cranky li’l bunch of babes.  Here is what Harper ate: a leftover piece of french toast, asparagus (which I cut up really small & told her it was green beans) (low, I know, but I needed her to eat!), raisins, strawberries, grapes, blue corn chips, & hummus.  I fed the boys their food & everyone was still cranky.  In walked Super Hero Daddy with hotdogs & hamburgers some precious precious people made him bring home to me.  They were *heavenly*!!! 

On other occasions when I am at a stand still & the creative dinner juices aren’t flowing, I will make:
Chicken Fingers (chicken, dipped in melted butter, covered in smooshed Ritz Crackers & baked @ 350 for 20-30 minutes).  Mac & Cheese (noodles, butter, cream cheese, & real cheese plus a little salt & pepper).  Scrambled Eggs & fruit & toast.  Or a hodge podge of whatever I can find… like tonight.  That only works if Chris isn’t eating though… otherwise, he’s starving in about an hour. 

Please pass along some tips for what YOU do for dinner in a pinch??

Love~
ML

PS… I LOVE the crock pot.  best invention ever!  Just wish I could get my mind to remember to use it at 10 o’clock in the morning! 

Q: Is hard for you to always be at home and not really seeing the outside world? 
A: Not anymore.  I missed it when I was first on bedrest – especially church.  I truly think it is a privilege to be at home.  I have the honor of being a mom and teacher to my children every single day.  I dont just write that here and not feel it with every fiber of my being.  Sure there are days when I am exhausted and I want to cry… well, I do cry, but it is not because I want to be somewhere else.  It is usually because I dont know how to respond to a situation or because I am mad at myself for responding the way I did (raising my voice at Harper, getting frustrated at changing poop for the 14th time that day, etc)  Yet, I have become so accustom to being at home, I don’t wish to escape anymore.  I think there is something completely freeing when you are able to be content where you are and not wish to be somewhere else.  I’ve had plenty of times where I’ve wished to be somewhere else, and now I try to hold onto every second of where I am because I know I will never have *these* seconds again.  Plus, when you have to move 4 children in and out of carseats and get all the stuff together to get them from Point A – Point B, then take them out of the carseats and get all the stuff into the destintion just to relax for an hour or 2 to do it all over again… going out becomes a lot LESS appealing!  I know one day it will be easier to get them in & out of the car, and therefor, we will be going a lot more!  I am relishing in the time being at home without the pressure of going anywhere or doing anything.

A: Go blow up a balloon.  Let it sit for a few days.  Then clip the end of it and slowly let the air out.  This is exactly what it looks like.  Seriously.  I actually am quite proud of all the stretch marks because it reminds me of the miracle God performed in me.  I used to think I would have a tummy tuck eventually, but now, I wouldn’t have a tummy tuck unless I had developed hernias (which is totally possible w/ multiples – but I don’t have any! Yay)   My stretched out skin is my battle scars.  Plus, I am never ever going to go through surgery for fun!  That c-section was the pits!

Q: Where did you get the things you use to prop up the boys’ bottles when they are in their boppies? Do you have any other (LOVE the homemade wipes – haven’t bought one box of wipes! Thank you for sharing!!) ideas that are geared for parents of multiples?
A:  Well, the bottle props I got from a friend who had multiples and she passed them along to me.  I haven’t been able to find them anywhere else, but I have seen these on other moms of multiples websites: Milk Maid Bottle Prop.  I would love to learn how to make these b/c they are awesome! 

Here is an email I sent to a friend about tips I would give to moms of multiples:
1. Don’t buy multiple swings, exersaucers, baby stuff. Just rotate. You do need 2 of each: infant carseats, cribs (well, eventually… we used one until they were 3 months), bouncy seats (they were great for feeding!), boppies.

2. Get those babies on the same schedule asap! This is how we survive.

3. Swaddle ’em up tight & use white noise to help them sleep. This is key w/ multiples since they will be sharing the same crib & same room.  Our boys do not wake each other up at night if one cries!  nap time is a different story!

4. Accept help… anything… if she doesn’t want people caring for babies, they can still load the dishwasher, do laundry, clean the house, make food, take the big kids out, let mom have a nap!

5. Give nursing an attempt. Breastfeeding Multiples is a good book that gave me lots of advice. I only lasted 6 weeks when I started weaning (a total of 8 weeks once I was done), though.. hah! It may seem like it is completely not do-able, but in the end it could save lots of $$! However, if you can’t or choose not to, to dump mommy guilt at the curb… it’s the worst! (I can talk to you more about this… whew, it was a journey for me… but was I freed from the guilt in the end!  The overall decision was best for my family)

6. Start collecting diapers now before the babies are born.  We had an amazing Diaper shower & a group of Sunday School classes that named themselves “The Diaper Brigade.”  We’ve just started buying diapers again this week!  

7.  Keep a changing station upstairs and downstairs so you are running up and downstairs all the live long day.  

And that is all I can think of right now… hah! I will try to keep a running list if I can think of anything else & get back to you! I really liked the book Chaos 2 Calm (on organizing stuff).

Q: Are you sure, and I mean really sure, that Maverick is Maverick, Warner is Warner and Crews is Crews? Is there even the slightest possibility that they were mixed up at the very beginning?
A: LOL!  I always thought this when I saw other identical multiples, but I definitely know who is who!  In the hospital they were over-labelled.  Then, right when we got home, we painted each of their big toes a different color.  (W-yellow, M-Green, C-Blue).  That stayed on there for a while, and after that, I was able to tell their differences.  They each have their distinguishing marks: C-birthmark on his L shoulder. W- has a little red mole (hemangioma) on his scalp. M- nothing distinguishing (other than his hacking cough right now)  When I go back & see their first pictures right after they were born & covered all in white gunk, I know exactly who is who!  Crazy huh? And the pics aren’t labelled!
I must tell on myself though, the other day, I went to get them up at nap time & realized that I had put W in M’s crib and M in W crib.  If I don’t pay attention, even I will get them mixed up!  LOL!

A: Well, we aren’t sure yet. I have always wanted 5 kids (and Chris has kind of been thrown into having 4 – so what’s one more?! ;-D He originally wanted), 2 but right now it is just too early to say.  Life is very very busy right now.  We said we will see when the boys are a little older.  However, with them being confirmed identical, that means it DOESN’T raise my chances any more than usual of having multiples again.  (If you have fraternal twins, the odds of having multiples again are raised)  If they were fraternal, I think our decision would have been made for us.  I guess we will see how the next year goes.  If I’m not crazy (or maybe I will have to be crazy!)…. we *MIGHT* be adding another Blanton Babe.  More prayer & life to be lived before we know for sure.

And that ends the Q & A Segment of the 100 Posts. 

Love ~
ML

Q:I have had lots of questions about our schedule & how I manage it: take a shower, go to the grocery store, when is Chris home, etc.?

Trying to recount a day has had me tripped up on this post.  Why I don’t know. Maybe because even when I type out what our day is supposed to look like, there are always variations.

So, when do I shower: If I wake up with an alarm & not a crying baby & I’m feeling ambitious or have somewhere to go, then I will get into the shower before anyone wakes up.  If not, then I will shower during nap time #1.  One thing that is great about having a girl is that she does not have the need to destroy things, so I usually will put her in the bathroom with me, give her 2 Q-tips and ask her to clean the shower door while I shower.  And she does it! It is fabulous! 

When do I go to the grocery store: I usually go on Thursdays when these two wonderful women come to love on my babies.  They are usually here in the morning and stay through early afternoon.  If my trip isn’t extensive (not a lot of coupons), then I will take Harper.  Also, I go to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings to get meat, veggies, flowers, eggs, & milk.  Sometimes we take the whole fam & it is crazy fun. 

When is Chris home: I won’t disclose his exact schedule, but we start celebrating the beginning of our weekend on Thursday night & he is home all day Friday & Saturday.  I love having him home.  On Thursdays I am soooo excited for our weekend to begin!  Friday we usually have some sort of special breakfast made by Chris, and Saturdays are usually Farmer’s Market days. 

Here is how our day is supposed to go:

 The morning usually starts off at 6:30 or 7.  Chris wakes up first and makes bottles for the day.  I am NOT a morning person, so I usually stumble out of bed around 7 or 7:30 needing coffee!  I love starting my day with coffee & time with Jesus, but that doesn’t always happen.  I will sacrifice sleep though if I’m feeling especially depleated or I have a really long day ahead of me.  I need the wisdom of the Lord & good communication with Jesus to get me through my day!

As the boys drink their bottles, I drink my coffee.  It’s great because now, they just sit up & crawl over to me to play!  They usually burp themselves on the way over.  Gone are the days of trying to coax out a burp   They are growing up!  We play for about 15 minutes and then I make breakfast & get Harper up.  

Breakfast is served for the boys around 9ish, then we play or I clean up the kitchen.  They will help as they eat the leftover cheerios off the floor.  

Around 10-12 is nap time.  I will get ready, do laundry, straighten the house, do my “chore” of the day,
 and make sure I have snuggle time with Harper.  This is hard to sometimes stop in the day, but it is so rewarding.  We will sit on the bed read some books or watch a DVD.  It makes such a difference to the way she behaves the rest of the day.  After snuggle time, we will go start lunch.

12/1230 – lunch time.  This time is difficult b/c Harper still wants to just have my attention and the boys think they are starving to death…and they are still very dependent on me feeding them.  It is very crazy & loud.  But once tummies are full, life is much better.   **Side note:  I started giving them table food this week at lunch.  Oh. My. Word.  I didn’t know whether to laugh because of the obscene amount of food all over them and my kitchen.  I mean, it was disgusting.  Times three.  And they are boys, and boys are very very different than girls – even as babies, and even in the activing of eating.  I called my mom and told her this.  She replied to me that one of the most vivid memories she had was of her identical brothers throwing peas at each other at dinner.  After she said that, I realized that I had a tiny glimpse into my Mama Dot’s life.**

After lunch I wipe the boys down which sometimes just results into a full out bath.  We will sometimes go on a walk, but that is only if it isn’t blazing hot outside.  Otherwise, i will put on a DVD while I clean up & get everyone geared to naptime.

2- Bottle #2, but I think they will be dropping this one soon… once they get more food into their bodies than ON their bodies.

2:30-4/4:30: Naptime – woot! woot!  I have me time for the first hour.  Then, I do laundry/house stuff or phone calls or emails and try to start dinner.

5:30- Dinner time!  Crazy again.  But more baby food is included here than table food, so that is nice!  I feed them usually about 4-5 jars total + some oatmeal+ a banana.  This is just a weird time for Harper.  I usually just let her wander around and graze-eat.  She is tired with a finicky appetite.  When Chris is home, he can sit with her & she does much better.  She is at a lovely phase when she says ” No like it!”  Oh it drives me nuts!

6:15- We will go for a walk or do bathtime depending on the night.

7:30- bottle #3

8:00- night night babies
8:15- night night Harper
8:30- clean kitchen, start dishwasher, finish laundry, get ready for the next day, blog, hang out with Chris, etc. – usually not *all* of these things, but at least 3 of them
10:30/11 – night night

Q:What do you do when one baby wakes up after only a few minutes, and it is clearly nap time? 
Well, I’ve tried a little bit of it all, but I think there are a couple of factors in having a successful naptime.  


#1- whitenoise to drown out other babies cries.  We have 3 noise makers under each crib.  It sounds like a tidal wave is in the boys room!
#2-Babies need to be tired.  Sometimes I want naptime to arrive sooner, so I will try to force it.  That only makes all of us miserable.
#3- Once babies are crawling, nap life is sooo much better b/c they really work out to get tired!  
#4 – I have tried to seperate them.  We went through a period of a month or so where we kept one in a pack n play in our closet with whitenoise (the closet had a vent – important if you try this!), one in our bathroom with whitenoise & the window covered with a towel, and one in the nursery.  It was good b/c babies slept.  It was bad b/c breaking down & setting up a pack n play was inconvienent as well as trying to dance around the one in the bathroom.  They are all sleeping in the nursery again.
#5 – a little crying won’t hurt em (this is when they are separated).  Especially as they get older.  With Harper and Crews, they have both had to cry it out at one point for 30 minutes.  I didn’t start the CIO really until they were over 6 months (many start sooner than this, I just couldn’t do it).  Warner & Maverick havent’ needed to (yet).    But with C & H, it never last longer than 30. 

Do you and Chris get one on one time together?  

Yes we do, but we have to be much more conscientious about making time together. Many nights we fall into the bed exhausted.  However, there are some days that I start gearing towards bedtime at 2:00pm!  I will make the coffee for the morning then, get in my pjs, get the babies in their pjs, make sure the kitchen is clean & dinner is ready.  That way, once everyone is down for the night, Chris and I can have uninterrupted time together, and we can get in bed early if we so choose.

Part 3 coming tomorrow!

MLB

…that I completely forgot to blog yesterday.  I thought after doing something for 21 days, it was supposed to become a habit.  Welp, not here. Completely forgot.  Guess I have too much going on.  

For the last week, we’ve been trying out a new schedule.  One that was delightful the first day (got to spend individual time with each baby), and then quickly plummeted downhill after that.  But, for the life of me, I could not change it.  Until today, when my wingman was here and we were able to work together. 

We are both exhausted.  It’s amazing how sweet, cute, squishy babies can wear you out so quickly.  But they can.  Guess that’s why God made them cute. 

Since the schedule changed back to normal (where *everyone* naps at the same time… all were napping seperately–gahhhh), I may have more time to blog again, so I will be finishing up the Q & A post.  Then, hopefully getting some more fun pics up. 

So, off to get a good nights rest.  Be back tomorrow with more!

Love
ML

Here is a funny picture of how my mom feeds babies when she is here.  😛

A: This is a tough one.  The boys play well on their own (well, when all 3 are together) and right now, little objects (a ball, a spoon, a block) keep their attention for a while.  With Harper, it is more difficult.  She really wants my attention right now.  I will give her little projects or activities to keep her occupied while I get one task done: sink full of bubbles and a cup (requires a little clean up!), little beads on pipe cleaners, getting her to stack as many blocks as she can before they fall over.  One thing I’ve noticed is if I take time to sit with her for a little while and teach her how to do an activity or how to use her imagination (it only takes a little bit with a child), she will be occupied for a little while.

She helps me unload the dishwasher or put the clothes in the washing machine.  She isn’t into cleaning too much, though.  And, I will say, that I am not opposed to DVDs – some of our favorite are Elmo Goes to the Doctor, Baby Signs, and Baby Songs (songs about a child’s day – getting dressed, brushing teeth, sharing, etc)  As the boys get older and can do more, we will watch less & do more together.

I decided when we let Bekah go, that my children would be my first priority and a clean house would be second.  I do try to pick up and keep stuff in line, but I will be honest and say my house doesn’t stay completely straight.  I want to teach my kids to take care of their things and to put them away, but I know that will come in time.

As far as creativity goes, I love to be creative, I NEED to be creative.  However, there isn’t always a ton of time to do this, so time has to be made.  One way I find a creative outlet is rearranging something – today, it was the pantry.  I did it during naptime, and then finished up while everyone was playing.  Harper helped me as I had her re-arrange cupcake liners.  She played with them the rest of the evening!  I have started sewing and doing hand embroidery.  Harper has sat with me and helped pull or push the needle through. I really like the book The Creative Family, and look forward to when the kids get a little older to implement lots from that. I know that it will take focus and planning to do more elaborate activities, but then there is so much around us that is simple & can be used for creativity. 

A:  I am working on a series of post hopefully coming to you within the month (titled Our Miracles) about this very topic. It is waaaaaaayyyy too long and amazing for this little questionairre!

A: Usually about 6 out of 7 days on average.  If I don’t get dressed I physically feel terrible later in the day.  Some days it just doesn’t happen – especially when one or more kiddo is sick.  And, when I say get dressed, it isn’t anything fancy!  It is usually sweatpants/ yoga pants & t-shirt, or a casual dress.  I LOVE fun casual dresses… they are functional & make you feel girlie – even if you get puked on.  Also, I try to put on shoes every morning.  FlyLady aint kiddin’ when she tells you to “get dressed to lace up shoes.”  You get soooo much more done!!!

A:Italy!  I haven’t ever been and have always wanted to go to Italy with Chris.  I think everything is so romantic, and I would love to eat real authentic spaghetti, pizza, & whatever other yumminess is lurking over there!

A:  Physically, I love his tallness and strength.  I feel so safe and taken care of in his arms.  Plus, he has the sweetest scent (even if he is sweaty – seriously :-)).  Mentally, I love our conversations on finances or health or books (that I’m reading – he’s not a big reader, so I’m his Cliff Notes:-D, but he is getting better!)  I love setting goals with him and working on them together.  Spiritually, I love how he is just a rock for me.  He rarely gets shaken by something, and his faith stays strong.  He just has a trust in Jesus that is beautiful and comforting.  Emotionally, he listens to me but also has a very humorous side.  He is a big goof ball & makes me laugh.  He teaches me not to take life so seriously, to laugh and be playful.  It is neat how through the journey of marriage, you can either choose to make your spouse’s differences something that irritate you or become endearing.  I want to always choose the latter. 

A:  So, I have been thinking about this and I can’t think of one from childhood, but I can think of a really embarassing & funny story from college.  This story popped into my head a couple of weeks ago, and I just laughed and laughed when I thought of what I did!  A little background first, though.  My grandfather (mom’s dad) was a doctor.  So, my mom, following her father’s lead, never let us miss a day of school if we “just didn’t feel good.”  We had to have a fever or have a stomach bug in order to miss school.  And to add to it, I had a major bought of hypochondria in elementry school, so I always had to “prove” my illness… lol.

Seriously, why am I tattling on myself?  I guess b/c embarrassing stories bond us,.

Sooooo, one of my favorite classes at Liberty was one I took from Ergun Caner on Church History.  He is a very gifted and well respected man – an amazing preacher with an amazing testimony.  Now, I know when it comes down to it, he is human too, with embarassing stories of his own… but, still, he is Ergun Caner…. Soooo, on with the story…Dr. Caner had a very strict absence policy.  I woke up one morning with a bad case of upset stomach (and I wasn’t throwing up).  So, at 7 am before class, I gave Dr. Caner a call and all that my mother had instilled in me came flowing out.  (no pun intended) Anyway, I left him a message on his office phone about why I wasn’t in class that day.  I even went as far to say that I remembered eating a bad strawberry, and I had been up that night with several “cases” but that I didn’t have a fever.  LOL… I ended my call saying that I hoped he would excuse my absence.  Looking back, I am soooo embarassed I did that! 

Part 2 will be on the way soon!