2nd round bloodwork

Yeseterday I schlepped Sam & Nate in for their follow up bloodwork.  I say schelp because my pedi's office isn't exactly set up for multiples.  I had to carry them in (in their carseats) through 2 doors that swing out (not slide & aren't automatic...they're manual).  Then I told the girl at the desk I was there to do bloodwork.

OK.  Head on up.

You got that right.  I had to head on UP.  UP 2 flights of stairs.  But first, through a swinging half door.  For that I had to go through twice (go through & drop a baby off.  go back and get the other baby and go through again) and a dad and his teenage son both watched me.  So up 2 flights of stairs I go carrying two 17+lb babies in their carseats...

Yes at the same time...I've got to work out somehow...

Did I mention how narrow the stairs are???

So we get up to the top and the bloodwork was no problem.  Just finger pricks.  Both boys sucked away on their binkies and didn't make a peep.  Then I load them back in their carseats to go back down the stairs.  One of the two lab girls says to me...

I don't know how you're going to get down those stairs.

Ummmmm....
YOU COULD HELP, YOU MORON!!!

I politely say I've got it all under control and that my chiropractor loves it when I do these kinds of stunts.  I get to the bottom of the stairs without dropping anybody.

Success!!!

So then back through the swinging 1/2 door thing (which is now swinging in my favor on the way out) and out the 2 sets of doors that I manually have to open. 

Phew!!!  We made it!!!

Oh, yeah...and did I mention???

The bloodwork came back fine!  Whatever the problem was has resolved itself!!!

YAY!!!

Head Bean

I'm not sure if it's the teacher in me or if I stole the idea from somebody else or maybe it's a combination of the two but we've instituted "Head Bean" in our home.
Head Bean is a special title that goes to one boy each week.  The HB get special privileges for the week.  Right now the privileges are pretty silly, but as the boys grow, they will become more exciting. 

When one of the babies is HB, he gets to:

• be 1st in the tub (before the water gets peed in)
• ride up "front" next to Eli (in the other captain's chair)
• be the 1st in/out of high chair
• be the 1st to get diaper changed
• be the 1st in/out of bed
• go on special trips with mama/dada

When Eli is HB, he gets to:

• choose who gets to sit next to him
• go on special trips with mama/dada
• choose which baby goes on special trips
• get a special treat after food shopping (which is a special trip)

In the future, I imagine the HB will get to:

• brush teeth first
• wash hands first
• go pee first (yes, we only have 1 bathroom)
• choose bedtime story
• go on special trips alone with mom/dad
• choose 1 dinner for the week
• get in the car first
• choose spot in the car
• anything else we can imagine

9 month pix!!! YAY!!!

I can't even contain my excitement for these pix!  Gail does such a fabulous job!  She is so patient and creative...I think I might marry her (watch out Dave).  If you like what you see and decide to try out the place yourself, make sure you tell her we sent you!  We'll get referral credits (& heaven knows we could use them x3!).

I won't try to delay this anymore....

Drumroll please....

Ben-Sam-Nate
They had a ton of fun eating this rug...

Ben-Sam-Nate
Sam was very serious and refused to smile the whole session.

Ben-Sam-Nate
Gotta love the tushy shots!!!

Nate

Sammy
Why'd she pick the chubby one to be the chef???

Make way for Benji!!!

Rub-a-dub-dub
3 babies in a tub
It was a tight squeeze!!!

Sam-Nate-Ben
Last shot of the day...can you tell???
They're in the Christening outfits.

Love them!!!

10th Mirthday!

Check out these handsome men!!!

10 months old today!!!

Nate-Ben-Sam

We didn't even have to "fake" Nate sitting up this time.  He did it all by himself!!!

A day at the beach!!!

While watching the weather closely, we've decided that any weekend without rain, should be a weekend at the beach (or at least 1 day of the weekend). I didn't get to go a lot last summer because I was hot and swollen and miserable most of the time...hmm...I wonder why???

The boys ventured to their 3rd state...MAINE! We went up on Saturday for a super fun day in Ogunquit. Ogunquit is a very unique beach in that it is shaped like a penninsula with a river on one side and the ocean on the other. When the tide goes out, there are tons of warm little tide pools to play in. We knew low tide was at noon so we'd have plenty of time in the tide pools with the boys.

We look at it as a practice run for our trip to the Cape next month.  We definitely learned what we needed to pack and how much we can actually leave at home.  We even managed to walk downtown to do a little shopping and get a little ice cream (none for the babies though!  maybe next year!).  

4th of July Weekend

We had a super busy 4th of July weekend.  Saturday started off with Eli going to a birthday party for a friend from school.  The boy's parents picked him up and dropped him off at our house so we didn't have to hang around and pretend like we were having fun!  It was Eli's 1st "real" playdate!

Then, later Saturday, we went up to NH (where fireworks are legal...unlike MA), to Dave's cousin Cathy & her husband, Todd's house. He & his neighbor go all out and blow all kinds of stuff up and it's always fun to watch. There's also a pre-game party at the neighbor's house where we hung out beforehand...

Eli in the salt water pool...lovin' the life!!!

Nate-Ben-Sam
chillin' on the freshly manicured lawn

Nate-Sam-Ben
Getting ready for the show

Renee-Eli (hands over ears)
Nate-Sam-Ben
during an intermission

 Then Sunday we headed up to my dad's cottage in NH for some beach and campfire time.  The only problem was all week the weather was supposed to be in the 90's and gross...then Sunday morning the weather changed to 70's and rainy...fun...We made the best of it!  I was determined to get the boys in the lake and get my S'Mores on!!!

Sammy's not so sure

Ben could get used to this

Nate just loves the sand between his teeth

Nate-Sam-Ben
The  biggest problem was keeping them from eating sand...or rocks...or who know what...I didn't have enough hands to keep their hands out of their mouths...It was probably very funny to watch...



To prevent them from snacking on any more sand, we put them in their floaties.
Eli is with Nate & some crazy lady is with Ben & Sam.
Nate loved his floaty.
Ben had enough pretty quickly.
Sam kept trying to crawl out of his.



Eli & Dave on the raft

The babies' first camp fire...
Sam-Ben-Nate-Eli

Eli's first marshmallow of 2011

 Then Monday we headed out to the parade.  We staked our claim the night before and put our chairs in place.  Note to self:  put chairs out in the daylight so you can see where the shade is...We put ours out at night and were in full sun the whole time.  We brought a spray bottle of water to keep everybody cool.  Here are the boys wearing the firecracker headbands we (me & Eli) made.

Ben-Sam-Eli-Nate

 Later that afternoon we took a group shot...or at least attempted it...

Dave w/ Nate
Renee w/ Sam
Eli w/Ben

We then thought it might be fun to try out the babies in Eli's pool.
Eli-Sam-Ben-Nate
It was a blast until...
we heard a rumbling in the distance...
which brought on crazy thunderstorms.

  Once it was over...this is what Dave saw...right over our house (on the left)...

And in the process of all this craziness, somebody decided to cut 2 new teeth on the top...

Mr. Ben
a.k.a.  Toothy McGee

 Today we went to a free kids show for Curious Creatures downtown at Boarding House Park...I let the babies out long enough to take this shot and then had to put them back because they were having too much fun eating the grass...

Ben-Eli-Sam-Nate

Let's get caught up...

I feel like it's been forever since I've posted and what can I say...being a stay at home mommy to 4 boys is a little time consuming to say the least.  I'm usually DONE by the time Dave gets home and I turn off my brain and wallow in mindless TV til I fall asleep on the couch...

We got Pea Pods.  These are travel cribs that we'll be using when we go on vacation next month.  We've been practicing with them for naps in the living room.

Sam

Ben

Nate

 We went to Parlee Farms and saw some goats, chickens, & sheep and ate some yummy ice cream.  We were supposed to go strawberry picking too, but the fields were closed...boo!!!

Eli-Sam-Nate-Ben

 We took extra bubbly bubble baths...

Sam

Ben

Nate

 We went to the babies 1st Spinners game (or the 1st 4 innings anyway)...

Ben & Dave

Sam-obviously upset that we had to leave early

Renee-Nate-Eli

 We went to the park and got our swing action on...

Nate

Sam

Ben

 We lowered Sammy's crib...

...since he started to crawl belly off the floor and today he pulled up!!!