I hate being a mom sometimes...

Today started out great (click here for previous post), and then hubby called to tell me that Eva said her tummy hurt and didn't eat her waffle, but brought it to school with her. I said, "Well, she woke me up at 5 am and said she was hungry, so I gave her some grahm crackers and refilled her cup with water" He said, "Well, she didn't eat the crackers and her cup was full." So I figured she was just hungry. So I pick her up from school and the teacher says that she wasn't her usual peppy self and complained of being cold all day. Ding, ding! She must have caught a cold. So we go home and I give her some tylenol and I ask her if she wants to go to ballet and swimming today, that we could stay home if she wasn't up to it. She said she wanted to go and then, SURPRISE! hubby came home really early (3:30) so that I didn't have to bring the trips with. So I'm really exicited, thinking that since there was a half hour between ballet and swimming, we'd go to the kitty shelter and play with the kitties there. After ballet, Eva comes out crying and says, "Mom, I just want to go home and go to bed." Now I KNOW she's sick!! So on the way home, I'm a little bummed out because we didn't get to have a special day, but also because she's not feeling well. Then Eva says to me, "Mom, remember the last time I was sick and you told me that if I couldn't make it to the potty, to throw up in the wastebasket?" "Yes" - Oh My God! Please do not tell me you have to throw up, right here, right now!! "Well, I did that at school today." Huh? No one told me about that!! "Honey, did the teacher or a parent help you?" "No mom, everyone was outside playing and I came in to go potty, but couldn't make it." Oh great! I can't WAIT for school tomorrow! lol
So, why do I hate being a mom? Because Eva is sick and there's NOTHING that I can do to make it go away. I hurt knowing that she doesn't feel well and that no matter what I do, it will bring a smile to her, but she will still feel crummy. How helpless I feel. I wish I could just place my hand on her and say, "Be well" and she would be. (sigh)

My mornings are easier (sorta, lol)

I'm so excited (and this is sooo sad!). I saw in Sunday's paper that Menards had a 4 slot toaster on sale, so I went there yesterday and picked it up. What's wrong with the old toaster? Nothing, except that it only has 2 slots. With 4 kids, it takes forever to make toaster waffles, or bagels, or even toast in the morning! It's hard enough bringing one baby downstairs, change them, bring them into the kitchen and put them into their highchair, give them cheerios, pop two waffles in the toaster, run upstairs, get the 2nd baby, bring him downstairs, change him, bring him into the kitchen and put him into the highchair, give him cheerios, take out the two waffles, put two more waffles in, run upstairs, get the last baby, change her, bring her into the kitchen, give her cheerios, fetch the last two waffles out, put them aside, give one cooled waffle to Eddie, split the other cooled waffle in half, then half again and give a quarter to Ella and a quarter to Eddie. Then put milk in sippy cups and give each baby their sippy cup. Then make coffee for myself (I KNOW, I should do that first, but I'm just too lazy to run downstairs, make coffee, then run BACK upstairs to get a baby!!) and figure out what I'm going to eat! Are ya tired yet? All this takes around 40 min's each morning. The only way it gets quicker is if Jer is home. But anyway, this morning, when I brought the first baby into the kitchen, I put in 4 waffles into the toaster and a bagel for myself into the old toaster, got the 2nd baby and when I brought him into the kitchen, the food was done! By the time I brought the 3rd baby into the kitchen, the waffles were ready to eat! Whoo, hooo! They got their food faster, which means LESS whining! Oh, gotta love that!

At least she's pretty....

Eva bowls on Friday afternoons in the Bumper League and my cousin's two kids, Abby (8) and Cassy (5) join us along with Aunt Linda. So they put on their shoes and start to bowl. So while Abby is bowling, Eva and Cassy are goofing around and then Eva squeals and says "Oh my gosh! We have the same shoes!!"
Ok, at least she's cute!

Ooops!

I went to pick up Eva from preschool and her teacher wants to talk to me. Uh oh, you think, NOW what? The teacher says Eva's been smelling kid's butt to see who has poopy pants. She told her this wasn't something we do to. I started laughing and told her "Sorry" and then had to explain that her dad doesn't always know when the babies need a diaper change, so he'll sniff their butts to make sure! So I had a talk with Eva on the way home that we only sniff OUR babies butts and noone else's! lol, oh, what next?

Eddies first time driving a car

Here's my little man, having a ball driving his car while we were shopping at Lowes. Isn't he cute?

Trinity starts

Eva started her Irish Step Dancing Class today.
(To see their website, go to http://www.trinity-dancers.com/)
Just like ballet class, parents don't get to watch the class. They have 2 times a year that we can watch and I can't wait! They are also teaching them how to count in Gaelic as well as the folklore of Ireland. I thought this would be good since our last name is Irish, but Gerald really never knew his dad and therefore, none of the irish traditions.

Movie Night at Church

Today was movie day at our church. They held it outside on the festival grounds. They had all the chairs set up under the pavillion. The only problem was that it became unseasonably cold, it got down to the mid 50's!! We were very cold, but it was a good movie. They showed "Night at the Museum" and if you haven't seen it, RENT IT NOW!! I'm glad I saw it because I am not a fan of Ben Stiller, who stars in this movie, but it was a good movie and I liked Ben in this movie. I have a picture that I took, but it didn't come out very well. These are the times that I really miss my SLR camera.

Some pictures of our new kitty

Eva's happy that we have a new kitty
This is the same toy she had at the shelter, so I ran out to Walmart this morning and bought one for her

The newest member of the family...

Our house just seemd so empty without a kitty greeting us at the door or sleeping on our lap. Even though we still have one kitty, she's pretty shy and likes to keep to herself. So one day, I was looking at www.petfinder.com and I saw this kitty and just HAD to have her. So I sent in our application and the store called us back and said to come in that night to see her as they wouldn't hold her. So I picked up Gerald from work and we went down there to see her. Well, it was rush hour, so instead of an hour, it took us 2 hours to get there!! And she was even cuter in person and after reassuring the sales lady that I wouldn't let the babies maul the kitten, we got to bring her home. They called her Marble, but that just didn't seem to fit her. so we decided to name her Sophie, but Eva said she's a princess, so she is Princess Sophie.

Carpenter in training

Lowes had a workshop for kids where you made a squirrel feeder. Here she is, putting it together.
TADA!! Here it is, all finished. Grandpa would be proud of her.

Eva starts Bumper bowling league

Eva started her bowling league today. On the way there, Elmo was standing on the corner, so I had to turn around, park, and let Eva give Elmo a hug. Aaaah, to be 4 again!!
At bowling and they have a coach there to help the newbies.

I miss my little girl...

I took the triplets to Storytime for Toddlers today and it was the same librarian that was there when I took Eva to storytime and I started to think about Eva when she was 18 mos and all the things we used to do and I started to cry. I was trying to be discreet (as much as I can be with a triplet stroller and 2 babies on my lap) when this lady that I didn't even know came up to me and said, "You look like you could use a hug" and hugged me! I lost it and told her "Thanks, I was just thinking about my oldest, whose in school all day now". My, how time flies. Wasn't it just yesterday that she was only toddling?

Joey's first haircut

Eddie may not have a lot of hair, but Joey REALLY needed to get his haircut. So I took him to the local barber and he was such a good boy, he didn't cry at all. Eddie, on the other hand, cried when the barber's puppy licked him in the face! lol

Picnic in the Park

It was a nice day today, so we took the kids to the park. I packed a nice lunch, brought some wine for dad & I, and off we went. Well, a lot of people had the same idea we did (of course, it was Labor Day Weekend!) but Eva was excited because of all the kids there. Eddie crawled into the choo choo all by himself and ate his cupcake in there. As you can see, he has frosting on his feet!!


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Here's Ella, playing ball with her big sis.

Here's the family, just chlling out.
Me, being mugged by little people - how fun!
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Ella likes wine, watch out! Must be the French in her (she liked the cheese too!)
Only two baby swings, but three babies - what do you do? Put two babies in one!!
Joey LOVES swinging. He's burnt out the motor on one Fisher Price swing and he's getting too big for it. Do they make one for bigger kids?
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The best we could do to get a picture with ALL of them in the photo. Forget them all smiling at the same time. Forget them all looking straight ahead at the same time. This is what you get!!
A picture of the park as we were crossing the bridge on our walk.

Now what do I do?

Eddie took out all the toys, climbed in, got comfortable, then when he wanted to get out, COULDN'T!! I was laughing as I took this picture.

Eva's first day of preschool

Today was Eva's first day of preschool. This year, she will be going Monday thru Friday, 8:30 am to 3:00 pm. How time flies, didn't we just bring her home? Now she's 4 and going to school all day. And next year, she'll be in Kindergarten. Oh, my baby is growing up too fast. She still likes to cuddle on my lap, but she takes up my whole lap! lol

TADA! Joey's standing!!

This is the first time Joey pulled himself to a stand!! He is coming so far!! The muscle relaxer is really helping his therapy sessions and he is really along. Before I know it, he'll be walking! yikes!!

Family Camping Weekend (or, we should have had a boat!)

This weekend, we went on our annual Family Camping Weekend with Jer's family.
We camped at Bong State Park, so it was close to home. It rained so hard and so much, we thought we'd need a boat to get home.
Eddie, helping out.
Lori, helping with the trips.
The trips, waiting for breakfast
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Cooking in the rain - oh, what fun - NOT!!
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It rained so hard and so long, all the kids ended up in our trailer, watching a movie on our portable dvd player (Thank God I brought it!!)
And on Sunday, it was STILL raining!! We were beginning to wonder if we were going to have to build a boat and collect animals!!

Ella meets a bunny

We went to a playdate (through Meetup.com Kenosha Moms Group) today and they had a bunny there. Ella got to pet it, but she wasn't too impressed. I, on the other hand, liked petting the bunny - they are soooooo soft!

Got to meet Karen S from the triplet group

I had to go to Gurnne Mills to Burlington Coat Factory, so Karen said she'd meet me there with her kiddos. It was GREAT to meet another mom of triplets, even though one of her's is an angle now, she'll always be a triplet mom.

Goodbye our little friend

Today I awoke to find that Snuggles wasn't doing any better, so we called the vet and they said we should bring her in and have her put out of her misery. That was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. She was our little lap warmer, our little snugglebug in bed with us. I am really going to miss her. We brought her home and buried her in our flower bed. She was an outside kitty that made her home with us, so I thought it fitting that we return her back outside.

Jer's 25th Class Reunion

This weekend, Jerry had his 25th Class Reunion. They had a mixer on Friday night at the Woman's Club downtown. Saturday afternoon, they had a picnic at Lake Andrea. Saturday night, they had dinner and dancing at the RecPlex on Lake Andrea. Jer was on the comittee, so he had to show up early to set up and I met him at the mixer, which was a lot of fun. We took the kids with us to the picnic. We then dropped the kids off at my aunt's house, and then went to the dinner. Even though I wasn't in the same class as he was (or for that matter, the same school!) I still had a pretty good time.

PB & Jam in the Park

Peanut Butter & Jam Noontime Concert Series
Time(s): 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Location: Veterans Memorial Park, 54th St. & 6th Ave.
Description: Enjoy a free concert in the park featuring Stockwood. A twist on the name of their hometown Woodstock, IL. Stockwood is the world's youngest Beatles Tribute band. Already at a young age, they're seasoned performers with a real love for the Beatles and an impressive knowledge of the band that broke up a quarter of a century before they were born. A must see act! The concert series is presented by the City of Kenosha and Happenings Magazine.

Potty training blues

So today was a bad day. Before swimming, Eva peed on the couch, even though she had a pull-up on. She swore up and down that she didn't have to go and I let it go because she hadn't really drank any water all afternoon. Then, I was in such a hurry trying to get her out the door for swimming that I forgot to bring a pull-up, so I let her wear her swimsuit home. We get home and she's pooped in her swimsuit!!! So I sent her to her room until it was time to eat, then after we ate, she went back to her room. My heart is breaking because I don't know what to do for her. I've done all the tricks with success, but as soon as the "game" or "prizes" stop, she stops going on the potty and goes in her pull-up. And yes, I've put her in underwear with vinyl pants and it's the same thing, she just goes in them and doesn't tell me! grrrrr I don't know what else to do. I'm calling the dr tomorrow to see what she has to say.

Baby Shower for Aiko

My cousin Jimmy (sorry, you'll always be Jimmy to me!) and his wife, Itusko, took a vaction to the States from Japan, so his mom threw them a baby shower. We had a picnic at Brown's Lake, but the day was kind of overcast. My mom & dad and myself had to attend my Uncle Jim's burial, then we went out to Brown's Lake to join my dad's side of the family.
Some of the grandkids with their kids.

Itsuko, Jimmy and Aiko

Sad Day for Us

Yesterday, my Uncle Jim passed away. He had had cancer that had spread, so now he is at peace. I was fortunate to get to say Good-Bye to him. When I went to leave, I kissed him and said, "I love you." and he said, "I love you. And don't cry, we'll see each other again." I think I cried all the way home, glad Jer was driving. I miss him very much and I have found out so much about him in the last couple of days that I'm sad that I never took the time to really get to know him, even though he was my Godfather. I will always have a place in my heart for him and I feel like he is watching over me now. Uncle Jim, remember that I love you!! You were my favorite too!

Rest In Peace Mandy: 5/1988 to 7/2007

We wish we could have told you,
in words you'd understand,
We wanted you to stay with us.
This wasn't what we'd planned.

We wish somehow to tell you,
How empty we now feel.
A part of us went with you,
A part that time can't heal.

We wish we'd once more hear you,
in your softly, rumbling purr,
to hold you on our laps again
and stroke your beautiful fur.

We wish we had you back again,
to fill this empty space.
But one day we'll be together
in a far, far better place.

Busy Day

First, we went to the Kenosha Airport with the local Multiples Club to see the planes coming in and taking off. We had a snack on the lawn, then got to see one of the planes up close because one of the families had one.
Peanut Butter & Jam Noontime Concert Series
"Time(s): 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Location: Veterans Memorial Park, 54th St. & 6th Ave.
Description: Enjoy a free concert in the park featuring Gizzae. Combining traditional Jamaican roots reggae with the exotic beats and rhythmic sounds of Soca, Creole, Calypso, Cumpas, Jazz, Rock and Blues, they bring a dynamic and progressive roots flavor. Over 100 years of musical experience collectively and 4 Grammy awards playing music professionally with acts such as: The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Ziggy Marley, The Talking Heads & more. The concert series is presented by the City of Kenosha and Happenings Magazine." We had a good time. I included some pictures of the harbor area.