I need pictures

My blog is sooooo BLAH! I need pictures. I need a revamp. I have bloggers envy. I see things that are SOOO cool on other people's blogs and I think..WHOA (Joey moment) I could SO do that (if I knew how). I would love to be able to post things in my blog and have them separated so I (or you) could find them easier at a later date..like favorite recipes. Lots of ideas but completely computer illiterate (not to mention the fact that I don't have a computer...that COULD be a problem, LOL!)

Anywho. SOO....we figured out it was INDEED roseola. Noah's fever broke on Tuesday night and he promptly broke out in an oddly familiar rash. I tried to take a picture but for one the lighting was very hard to see it and for two that kid is just too darn fast. Who am I kidding, I wouldn't even be able to post it if I DID capture it! In any event, I am glad that is all over with and I can safely write down in their baby books DONE, check mark, X, finito. NO MORE GETTING ROSEOLA! I'm SO glad it's not like hand, foot, and mouth and once "gotten" causes lifelong immunity. Not that it was a terrible illness...but glad at least SOMETHING won't be coming to our house again. It's enough to think that cold season is around the corner. I am actually contemplating getting the flu vaccine this year. GASP!!!! I know. ME! I NEVER get it. But to be honest the thought of POSSIBLY getting it along with all the munchkins and the hubby...just not my cup of tea. So I MAY be standing in line at work to get it (hopefully it will not cause me to faint as I did with my last 3 vaccinations).

We have been starting to look for bunk beds. I know the boys are still too little to put in beds but I just KNOW Noah is going to figure out how to get out of that crib one day soon and it's gonna freak me out so I want to be prepared. Plus Elijah is growing like a weed and is getting too big for his toddler bed. The plan: sell his toddler bed set (are you reading this honey? Did I mention this before? Oops if I didn't), as well as rid our house of all the misc. junk we've been hoarding for the past few years and try to earn enough money for bunk beds. I've been scouring Craigslist. I just am not sure what to get. Jake says metal. I say wood b/c I like the look better and you can get a trundle as well. Then each boy can have his OWN bed. I also want to get a new and bigger dresser. Now that they are getting bigger the boys clothes are taking up a lot more space. There is a nice big one from IKEA that is about $250 that I like. I don't have to be overly picky. I know the boys will probably destroy it. Anyway, I'm thinking the mattresses might actually be the largest expense. I kinda hate to get used ones. I mean, the kids will use them for the next 10-15 years. It's not like we have enough room for them all to have full or queen size beds or something. I know how I feel sleeping on something uncomfortable...I don't want them to not sleep on something uncomfortable. Especially being boys..I'm sure comfy beds will come in handy as a teenager.



These are examples of what we were looking at. I found some interesting images on google when I looked for pictures to post. Some of them I think would have been AWESOME to have as a kid!


Uh...HELLO?! How sweet is this? And to think all three would still have their own bed. Actually I think the bottom one is a trundle too!



Awesome! Wouldn't fit our wall...unless they were toddler beds...but still...way cool!


Even though we have 9 foot ceilings, I'm not sure how this would fit. I think as teens we may have a problem.


I actually found a guy on Craigslist in the Phoenix area that makes custom beds like these. I thought it was kind of cool. Relatively inexpensive too. I think he wanted $320 for an unfinished bed, $420 for a finished one.
Lots of ideas...too many actually. The boys and I took a trip to IKEA to check out their bunk beds. Elijah found his idea of a perfect room. It was a teenager room. A loft bed with a couch under it and some cabinets with a TV in it. THAT is why it was his "perfect" room. Little stinker. He keeps asking for a TV in his room and I keep telling him NO WAY!! EVER!!

So our trip to IKEA was interesting. Even more interesting was going to eat there. Of course all the signs say LEAVE STROLLERS HERE! I ignored them. What's a girl to do when two of her three children don't walk AND she has to get food. I didn't have any merchandise so I figured no big deal. I got a few looks but hey, they can live in my shoes for awhile and then they will understand. I don't think they'd be trekking to the IKEA diner without a stroller! Afterwards I was REALLY ambitious and took a trip to the mall to let the kids play at the play area. That was...interesting. I found out that Elijah is really compassionate about other kids feelings (a girl started crying and he was immediately at her rescue asking her what was wrong and telling her not to cry) and that my twins are bullies who like to pull older kids hair. I don't think it was intentional but you would have thought that they were killing the kids the way that they were screaming. Seriously? Of course I looked like the mom who couldn't control her 1 year old. Then they all noticed I had two. Wait...three. Then it was ok...I got sympathetic looks.
I think I am getting the hang of "going-out-with-children". I have become creative. I took the kids to chic-fil-a the other day. Again...interesting. I had to immediately put them in the highchairs and wheel them around next to me. Then, of course, Elijah had to go potty. Wasn't prepared for that! What did I do? Wheeled the high chairs next to the bathroom and held the women's bathroom door open the whole time Elijah was in there. I could see his shoes and thankfully there wasn't anyone else in there. Thank God he didn't have to poop! I would have been in trouble. No, he would have because then the whole restaurant would have to see his nakee butt bc I was not about to leave the twins by themselves. I don't know how people with triplets/quads/etc do it. They all deserve a medal.
I nearly forgot to mention our new additions. Did I ever mention we have a snake. I can't remember. We have a snake now. Not my favorite but not the worst either. What is the worst? That we have to have mice IN OUR HOUSE to feed it Hank. No bueno. Don't like mice. However, Elijah does. He became a little attached to a mouse we were going to feed Hank and I felt guilty seeing him...so I came up with a BRILLIANT idea. What's at our house now. Hoppy and Lil' Dude. Dwarf Hamsters. And are they fast!


This is actually not one of them, but has similar coloring. They are pretty cute and as they do not have red beady eyes or tails I am ok holding them. They get nervous though and puke all over your hand. Not too appealing..oh well.

The sad thing. We gave Kitty up. I feel terrible. I just couldn't care for her (and look, here I got more pets). Her fur was just out of control and the boys were getting it all in their mouths and were really starting to torture her. I just couldn't keep them away anymore and she was starting to resent them. I couldn't give her the love she needed. I am very sad though :(

I guess I've babbled enough.

Roseola anyone?

Do you recall my post about Jonah and Elijah being sick? I *think* I posted it....anywho...Noah felt left out. So he promptly (ok, so 2 1/2 weeks later) spiked a 103.5 fever (104.5 last night) and has not been himself. Poor thing. Of course, I realized that I am a little dumb...or perhaps a little off on my childhood diseases. When Jonah was sick it was higher fever and diarrhea. Elijah...diarrhea. What I didn't realize was that the rash the Jonah broke out with a few days later was probably not one of his new crazy allergies to food but probably infact roseola. Why Elijah only had the diarrhea (let alone got it at all) I do not know. How did I come up with this diagnosis? Well, some of the ladies on my mommy team were "talking" (typing?) about it and while I am a nurse, I am not completely up on my childhood illnesses (I know, I better get the ball rolling with how sickly my clan is). This should give you a clue as to what it actually "is". http://www.medicinenet.com/roseola/article.htm
I suppose I will know for sure in a couple days if Noah breaks out in a rash. I surely will not be taking them to the doctor...at least right now. We are in the process of changing doctors. We just found out that the PA and Dr. that are in our primary care dr's group are NOT covered by our insurance. And though I received at bill at the beginning of the year AND CALLED ABOUT IT we just found out this information. Meanwhile we have had 17 doctor visits. Aparently they are somewhat chosey bc they have paid some of the bills. We are just praying they pay the rest of them as it is not OUR fault bc I asked about this back in January and was told not to worry, it was all covered. Famous last words I suppose.

So I've been wondering...when do sickly kids stop being sick...bc I'm over it!

More Elijah-isms

Elijah keeps me going. He makes me laugh...even when I shouldn't be laughing. Just yesterday something he said made me cover my face with the Sunday paper just so he wouldn't know that I was laughing at with him.

A few recent conversations:

Elijah: I want ice cream!
Me: No, you didn't eat your lunch.
Elijah: Listen to my story (to which he goes on about how he likes ice cream and wants some)
Me: The answer is still no.
Elijah: Wait, wait, wait....you not listening to my story. Listen to my story!
Of course he can't say his "L's" so this makes it even more hilarious. We went around in circles for awhile with this conversation.

Elijah: Where's my cowboy boots?
Me: You outgrew them. I put them away.
Elijah: WHAT?!!! Give them to me!
Me: I can't. They're put away. You don't fit them.
Elijah: I can't believe this. I'm going to my room forever! (stomps away)
A few minutes later.
Elijah: I can't believe this. This is ridiculous. I'm so mad.

Background: Driving home from the store. Getting ready to make lunch. Car in front of us SLOOOWWW.
Elijah: Lady! Get a move on! I wanna get to my house NOW!
Me: Elijah. That's not being very nice. We need to be patient.
Elijah: But Mom, she's goin' slow and I hafta get to my house NOW!

Elijah: When I get big like you, I can punch someone in the face.
Jake: Elijah, that's not very nice. We don't punch people in the face.
Elijah: But Dad, bad guys are someone.
Nice save buddy...nice save.

Happy Birthday to my boys

As hard as it is to believe, one year ago I was going to bed hoping and praying I would go into labor. I had made spicy chicken tortilla soup for dinner and had taken Elijah to the park hoping that my very ready self would be welcoming the boys soon. Whether it was the spice or the exertion I don't know  but it worked and by 5 am my water had broken and by 730 both boys were in my arms.

What will we be doing to celebrate? Well, not very celebratory I'm afraid as Jonah and Elijah have a pretty bad GI bug (and have had it since Tuesday). Just when I think we are done with it, I hear, MOM I gotta go poops HURRY!   Yeah...not so fun. Poor Jonah is just not himself  and wants a bottle of milk soooo badly but a repeat of vomit all over is just not something Jake can stomach (or rather un-stomach) again. Oddly, Noah is relatively fine...just gassy.

Well, despite the illness I hope to capture some good photos of their 1 YEAR BIRTHDAY and maybe sometime get around to actually post them.

Oh yeah...Noah started walking. ok, so it was a few steps...like 4...so it counts right? He's done it more than once now and tands for longer periods of time...YEAH NOAH!

The Countdown Begins

Six days until I no longer have 2 babies in the house. I cannot believe it. It's a little bittersweet. When people ask me what it's like to have twins they often are taken back by my reply of "It's terrible...and wonderful". I LOVE my boys. L.O.V.E them...but to be quite frank the sleepless nights are still very familiar in our house. I never realized how wonderful of a baby Elijah was. I never realized how blessed we were that despite the few cases of hand, foot and mouth disease (okay, and the holes in his heart), Elijah was relatively healthy. The twins are CONSTANTLY getting some kind of medicine, whether it's ibuprofen/tylenol for fevers and teething, albuterol for wheezing (thankfully not too recently), amoxicillin/augmentin/etc for strep throat or ear infections (mark yet ANOTHER for Jonah last week), or benadryl (the new flavor of the month) for the recent MANY outbreaks of hives/swelling from being allergic to something (such as cinnamon...really..come on...cinnamon?) I figured out that since the beginning of the year we have been to the doctor 17 times, urgent care 4 times, ER once and hospital once (for Elijah..his only occurance remarkably). I cannot believe this. I don't remember this much illness at my house. I'd like to be done and over it all. And to think that cold/flu season hasn't started yet. YIKES!

I have been quite behind on the blogging end of life (I know, you can't imagine why) so I'll update you on us all.

Elijah: We found out that as of now he does NOT need open heart surgery. PRAISE THE LORD! We will be following up yearly and as long as his heart does not further enlarge (except for the average "growing" it needs to do to keep up with the rest of his body) he does not need any intervention. YEAH!!! He is quite the character and makes me laugh daily...which is much needed and highly appreciated by his doting Mamma. On Friday he got out his tools and started hammering "nails" into his bedroom door. This is the conversation that quickly transpired.

Elijah: HONEY!!! HONEYYYY!!
Me (finally realizing he's talking to ME): What do you need Elijah?
Elijah: Um. I need a favor. Could you get me my hammer. The little one. It's right there on the floor.
Me: Oh, okay. Here you go. (Walk away)
Elijah: HONEY!!!  HONEYYYYYY!!!!
Me: What do you need.
Elijah: Um. Could you do me a favor? Could you get me my saw? The black one.
Me: Here you go. What are you doing anyway?
Elijah: I'm locking up the monsters in my room.
Me: There's no monsters in your room.
Elijah: Well not anymore, I locked them up.
Me: Oh good, you let me know if you need me anymore. (Walk away)
A few minutes later
Elijah: Um, Mamma..I'm not calling you Honey anymore because I don't need your help anymore, I'm done fixin'. You're my Mamma again. Okay?
Isn't that funny? He repeats things that Jake says a lot so it's understandable he would pick up the "Honey" thing I guess.

Jonah: His newer "trick" is creeping on furniture. He doesn't let go yet and still mostly crawls but he's working on movin' up in life. He waves hello and says hi. He plays peak-a-boo. He says "all done" in sign language (and I SWEAR he says it verbally as well). He loves to wrestle with his brothers and eats like a horse. Sometimes I think he eats more than Elijah! He has finally mastered the sippy cup and straw although he is unlike his older brother and would still rather have a bottle of milk than a cup. He has had a few episodes of hives and facial swelling to things (like Cinnamon Toast Crunch) which has now made me nervous of giving him new foods. Oddly, he also had a really bad reaction to tanning lotion (not put on him, but on someone holding him) causing every area touched to break out lobster red and hot-to-the-touch like a bad sunburn. Very wierd.

Noah: On his way to walking. He lets go of the furniture often and stands for seconds at a time and is trying to master walking and holding just one of our hands. He is either laughing or screaming. He definitely has a sense of humor. He is a morning baby and wakes up wide-eyed and bushy-tailed even though his Mamma tells him to just go back to bed. He has thinned out a bit and (I think) is actually taller than Jonah. Be warned of his fingers...they are deadly weapons! He reaches that index finger right up to your face and before you know it your nose is bleeding all over everything! He also drinks from a cup/straw but WILL NOT drink milk from anything BUT a bottle. He just immediately spits it out at you. Not only that but it STILL has to be warm. No cold milk for this prima donna!

Jake and I..we are sleep deprived and tired right now. We've had a lot of things break and we are constantly on an opposing schedules so it's hard to have family time, couple time, or "me" time. While this is just a shortlived we know (we hope), it has felt like an eternity and I think we are just tired. Just when the boys start to sleep through the night it seems like someone gets sick or they have a growth spurt or it's Elijah that gets up...something...it's always something. While I will miss my little "babies" I will be glad for a little recovery time from their first year of life!