Big Daddy's Birthday!

Yesterday was Jason's birthday!!! The kids WERE extremely excited, and much to Jason's dismay, they kept asking how old he was, and he repeated "39" at least 25 times (nice reminder!) They of course kept asking me, and I gleefully said "37" because no matter how old Jason is, I am still close to 2 years younger!
Anyhow, Cooper and I met Jason at Panera for a nice lunch, what a delight she is to take places! We laughed, because taking 1 child out is such a non-event to us. I mean, we are SO used to having 4 with us, 1 is really quiet, peaceful, and requires very little effort. She enjoyed a grilled cheese, and loved every moment with her favorite guy, Dad!

When the big kids got home, we went to work! We made cards, a sign, and decorated the table. Carter had made Jason a card at school where he printed "Happy Birthday Daddy! Love, Carter." I was so proud, he's really able to identify all the letters now and is starting to really sound out words. The funny thing about the card was, he made a picture on the front, and I asked what he and Daddy were doing, and he said, "Showering together!" I just wonder what his teacher thinks!!!

I made homemade chocolate cake, and a big pan of lasagna! The kids all had spaghetti, followed by the cake. Jason then opened his presents, and we had gotten him a digital picture frame full of family photos for his office, he loved it!

The Nanny Myth...

So, I need to vent for just a second. Recently, someone told Jason that it's really "no big deal" that we are having baby number 5, because we have a nanny. Now, for anyone who knows us personally, and actually is aware of the goings on of our lives, they know that our "nanny" (she's more like a regular sitter, or mother's helper) works actually very few hours a week. In fact, she doesn't usually work on the weekends, or past 5 in the afternoon, and usually works 2-3 afternoons a week. Sure, I know, that people hear the word "nanny" and immediately think it's some woman that lives with us, that takes care of the kids 24/7. But, that's simply not the case here. She is a great sitter for the kids, and 9 times out of 10, I am here too, trying to get my chores around the house done, or if I do leave it's to pick up someone (I do have 3 pick up times at the preschool!) or do the grocery shopping. I am not sure why I feel the need to explain all of this, but I do. Jason and I work VERY hard and I wouldn't want anyone to get the idea that we are sitting back eating bon bons! This position was created out of sheer necessity, remember, at one point, we had a 12 month old, and 2 preemie newborns. Now, it's MUCH easier with an almost 5 year old, 2 4 year olds, and an almost 2 year old (ok, not really) but the position sort of stuck. We've been extremely lucky to find people that care about our kids, and that are happy to do it on a regular basis!

I guess it's just a little irritating when I hear that people have this perception of what's going here. Especially since most nights I fall into bed from exhaustion, and that's certainly not from sitting at the nail salon all day or sitting around eating bon bons!

Thanks for listening...I just HAD to get this off my chest!!! :)

Chatty Cathy...I mean Cooper!

So Cooper is single handedly the CHATTIEST baby we have had thus far. Don't get me wrong, we have some very chatty preschoolers, but Cooper takes the cake for the earliest talker. She is now 22 months, and makes full, sometimes complex sentences. When you ask her things like, "Guess what?" she says things like, "What Mommy?" Yesterday, when she was caught NOT napping, when I asked her why, she said, "Cause Mommy, I so cold Mommy!" It's really quite comical. She walked into the kitchen tonight and said, "Dinner ready Mommy?" When she is in the back seat of the car she will say, "Can't hear it, turn it up!"

All of our kids are really chatty, and they didn't start out this way, so I can only imagine, what is in store for us when Cooper gets to be 3 or 4, YIKES!!!!

Winter break weekend!!!

This weekend, we took a trip to an indoor water park for a little break! The kids had a BLAST!!! It was actually the perfect water park for our family, not too big, and plenty of stuff for little kids. There was a pool with a slide that only had about 8 inches of water in it. Cooper really got a hang of going up and then down, she could do it all by herself. Olivia loved hanging in that pool as well, it was by far the warmest pool, and Olivia is not much of a "thrill seeker!" Annabelle and Carter on the other hand, loved EVERYTHING, the lazy river, the giant bucket that dumps water on the whole park, the bigger slides, and the tube slide that they went down with Jason. It was one of the dark, enclosed twisty slides, and they both loved it!!!!

Also, they had a special area, that had a cardboard box "fort." What a great idea, what more do kids need then a fort/maze made out of giant boxes. They played in this room, for hours!!! And, it was age appropriate for all of them, and enclosed, so we didn't have to worry about any escapes. They loved going out for breakfast in the morning, and eating dinner from a buffet at dinner. They had never had soft serve ice cream out of a machine and thought that was awesome. It's amazing what little it really takes to impress them! They slept REALLY well, even Cooper who had to sleep in a pack-n-play did really well. Carter got to sleep on the top bunk and didn't even fall off!!!


All in all, it was a great weekend!!! There really wasn't one bad thing about it, not one meltdown, not even from Cooper who managed to do it all without a nap each day, what a trooper (she did manage to take a power nap at the park on my lap!) We all had a wonderful time!

What a great day!

Today it was 62 degrees here! I packed up all the kids, and we headed to our favorite park! They were so excited, that you would have thought that they had never been to a park before. It had been a while, and Cooper really has the hang of things now that she is older, she was climbing, sliding, and running around like a big kid. And I have to commend all of the big kids, they really listen and get it, that if they aren't good, and cooperate, we are outta there! But, none of that was necessary, they just played and had a great time, as did I!!! And, of course, they all were excited that it was "Spring" so I broke it to them gently on the way home that it isn't going to stay this warm, and spring is still down the road a bit. At least we were able to enjoy today, it was really great!!!

Times, they are a changing!!!!

I have to make mention of the HUGE developmental strides the older kids have made lately. The twins who are now 4, and Carter who will be 5 next month (I can't believe Carter will be in kindergarten) have changed so much!!! Our lives have suddenly become SO much easier in many ways. We now have 75% of the kids dressing themselves, we no longer have to worry about "potty" emergencies, and our "internal" play group is now thriving!

They play incredibly well together, and fighting is very rare (I attribute this to the fact that in their minds, they are all on an even playing field, with of course the exception of Cooper.) We've been taking all 4 out to dinner, and everyone is pretty well-behaved and uses their manners. We aren't of course, taking them to any 5 star restaurants, but they do very well in a sit-down place. There was a time, where none of this was possible, with the older 3 being so close in age, and a baby in tow, it wasn't even something we attempted (we try not to set ourselves up for failure.) But now, our freedom allows us to do more with the entire family. And to be honest, even with the addition of baby number 5, I don't ever see us back in the position we were in when the 3 big kids were younger. They listen now, they help with Cooper, and they are all pretty mild mannered (no more worries about tantrums and such!)

It really has opened up a whole new world for us! We are enjoying our weekend outings, and we look forward to the weather warming up so we can do even more things!!! This weekend is our water park adventure, next month our beach trip, and then on to summer fun, we can't wait!!!!

Carter and his little sis

Carter and Cooper have a bit of a "special" relationship. Maybe it's because of the age difference, or maybe it's because the twins are so close, but Carter has ALWAYS loved his baby sister. In her lifetime, I can count on one hand the times he's been mean or short with her. In fact, he tolerates most everything she does, as if he truly understands that she is 3 years younger. He's been quoted as saying (when he's mad), "Cooper, you are going to make me count to 10!" Carter really doesn't have much of a temper at all, so he doesn't get mad very easily (emotional, yes, angry, no.)

Here are some pics of them having some fun, and of Coopy in the bath!

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Here is our little groundhog Cooper!

Lunch, birthday parties, and other "stuff!"

We have finally figured it out! To avoid the horrid winter, we must PLAN things! Last week it was Disney on Ice, and then a birthday party, this weekend it was lunch with friends at Bar Louie, yet another birthday party, and a Super Bowl party with more friends. Now, I am a FIRM believer in not "over scheduling," but there is a fine line between that, and being so bored we are all ready to cry. So, since no one has really been sick this winter (knock on wood PLEASE) we've been able to do some little things to keep ourselves busy. The "over scheduling" just leads to tired, very cranky, kids who just want to "chill" in their own house. Especially since they go to school 5 days a week. They just need down time in their own house. But alas, that also leads to "cabin fever" especially since we can't go outside!

So, we are trying to do our best to avoid the pitfalls of doing too much and the boredom of doing too little! Fine line.

We will see! We have a weekend trip to an indoor water park in 2 weeks, so that should really be fun, and of course a much needed trip to South Carolina in March, we are doing are best to find at least SOMETHING to do one day during the weekends until it warms up (which you know doesn't happen until April!!!!) Wish us luck!!! :)