Bigger than normal

We went to the grocery store and they had all their easter stuff on clearance so we let the kids each pick out a stuffed animal. We all thought it was that the stuffed animals were all bigger than Kaia. Here's a picture of it. Can you find Kaia:












The animals eat dinner with us, read stories, with us and even pray with us. Here's a picture of them all with there animal. Notice that the animal has to hold Kaia instead of Kaia holding it:

Our Funny Jaed

Jaed has been on a roll at saying funny things lately. Here are just a few:

Kai is starting to talk a lot lately and whenever Jaed is around he interprets everything she says. Kai has said tree, star wars, Jaed, mom, and cookie so far and she's only two months old. I think we have a real genius on our hands!

Jaed asked me, the other day in the car, who was incharge of the town. I told him that the Mayor was in charge of the town and he asked me what his name was. I admitted that I didn't know his name and maybe when Dad came home we could ask him. Jaed then said, "Dad knows everything!". I, of course, didn't agree but said, "I'm so glad you think so, Jaed. ". He then stated, "Mom's know everything too, but you don't!". I didn't know for sure how to answer that so I just kept silent. So I'm the only mom on the earth who doesn't know everything...hmm...is that an okay thing?

Jaed was playing star wars with his sisters and Josie hit him with a light saber. Jaed fell to the ground and said, "Josie you got me. You cut me up!". Josie proudly announced, "I WIN!" but then Jaed jumps up and says, "No you didn't, Jesus healed me!".

Jaed is obviously catching on to our little sayings. When one of the kids needs something, Thayne and I always respond either "I'm coming" or "Ok, just a second". Well, Jaed was in the bathroom and needed some help and called out for Thayne and, of course, Thayne responded "Ok, just a second!". Jaed was quick to say, "NO, not a second. You won't come for 4 minutes. COME NOW!". Thayne and I just laughed and laughed. Josie is actually catching on as well. She needed my help and I told her I was coming but continued to finish up what I was doing. Josie appeared next to me and said, "You're not coming Mom. I called you and said you were coming but you're not coming!". Kids.......they're too smart!

Caffiene Addiction

Thayne drinks A LOT of Diet Pepsi and has been caught giving the kids a quick drink. Well, the other night I was puting the girls to bed and they were quite restless. We put the kids to bed about 7:30 and by 8:00 they normally are asleep but this particular night the girls didn't finally go to sleep until after 9:00 p.m.. I was frustrated, worn out and extremely bugged. I couldn't believe that it took them that long to fall asleep. I went over their day to see if maybe they didn't have enough activities or what but their day was really no different then any other day so the late night didn't make any sense to me. When I went back into our room Thayne told me that he had a full 24 oz of diet pepsi on his desk and now he can't find it. I marched right back in the girl's room, turned on the light and started looking around. I found the EMPTY bottle under Josie's bed. The girls had obviously gotten Thayne's drink, taken it into their room and shared the entire bottle. They were so wired on caffiene that going to sleep wasn't even in the plans. How can kids learn to be so sneaky at such a young age? The next morning we asked Josie about the empty bottle and all she coud say with her head cocked to the side was, "Sorry Mom!".

Two months!

I had quite the adventure today. I had to take all four kids to the Dr.'s for Kaia's two month check-up. WOW....is the only word that really describes our experience. First it started with a phone call. Our insurance company didn't assign Kai a Dr. so they had me call the insurance company while I was there to take care of it. Well, while I was doing that Indi said she had to use the potty so I pointed to where it was (about 6 feet from where I was, single bathroom) and she entered and shut the door. Well then Josie said she had to go and there happened to be another bathroom right next to the one Indi was in so I pointed to it and Josie went right in and shut the door. About three minutes later, I heard the toilet flush in the Indi's bathroom and then the door drastically swung open and out runs Indi naked from the waste down screaming "MONSTER" and pointing to the bathroom. I immediately knew it was the flush that scared her. I tried to calm her down while still talking to the lady on the phone. During this scene, out comes Josie with her pants and panties around her ankles saying, "Mommy, I pee'd in a cup!". By this time I either had to scream at them or laugh, and I chose to laugh. I kept telling Josie to go back in the bathroom and pull her pants up but she just kept repeating that she pee'd in a cup. By this time we had quite the audience. Several nurses and office staff came over to see what the heck was going on and about half of them said, "Oh my.....girls you need to get clothes on!", and then they would turn and leave. Thanks for the help people! Finally, I told the receptionist that I couldn't wait on the phone any more because the situation with my kids was getting out of hand. She took the phone from me and I went into Josie's bathroom where the girls were hanging out by this time. Josie was showing Indi where the cup was she pee'd in. I got them to pull/put their pants back on and was ushering them out of the bathroom when a nurse poked her head in and said, "Whose kids are these?". HELLO! I was standing right there with them, DUH! I told her they were mine and she was about to say something about getting them under control when I stopped her and said, "Don't tell me how to parent my children. I was on the phone with the insurance company!". The lady backed off and tried to apologize to me. I just ignored her and got my kids to the bench where they all sat down and I finished my call with the insurance company.
When they were ready to take us back to a room, guess who the nurse was that called out our name? Yep, it was the one I snapped at. I was a tad bit embarrassed but I just told myself that I did the best I could to get them under control and if she didn't like it then, OH WELL! She did tell me, once we got into the room, that Josie pee'd in a cup that had already been pee'd in by another child and that she dumped another cup out that was full of pee (which belonged to a two year old that they struggled with because he was afraid to pee in a cup and now they have to do it again). (Josie discovered the little cubby hole in the wall where you put your specimen cup after you pee in it.) I just rolled my eyes and shook my head. What could I do about it now.....NOTHING. Then right before the Dr. came in I was getting after the three older kids for being loud and hurting each other and they all started to cry which cause Kai to cry. So here comes in the Dr. with four crying kids and a frazzled mom. I couldn't hear a word he was saying because everyone was crying so I practically yelled, "CAN YOU SPEAK UP, I CAN"T HERE YOU!". He chuckled as he looked around the room and started hugging each child to try and calm them down. I'm sure he was wondering why I wasn't doing that but I was frustrated and frazzled I didn't even know where to start.
I did learn one major thing during this little adventure. I cannot take all four kids into the Dr.'s office again. I was inefficient when it came to crowd control.
Anyways, Kaia was healthy and has gained about 3 pounds since she was born. She had to get three shots and hated every minute of it.

Easter Day!

Jaed and Josie have been so excited for this day to come. Josie was up at 7:15 a.m. waking her brother and sister up telling them that the Easter bunny was there. Thayne and I hid eggs down in the family room and left a note for the kids explaining which color of eggs were theirs. Jaed could find and collect the blue and green ones, Josie could find and collect the pink and yellow ones, and Indi got the purple and orange eggs. When they ran across and egg that wasn't theirs they would call the owner's name out and show them where it was. Thayne and I were suprised and thrilled at how organized and delightful the egg hunt was.



















After they were done with the Easter egg hunt, we told them that the Easter bunny hid their baskets in the living room and off they went. They found them in a matter of seconds were squealling with excitement. The girls both got a purse and a fun chevron car while Jaed got a Star Wars figure (JarJar Binks) and two water guns.




































Little Kai slept and ate through most of it while snuggling either me or Thayne. Next year she'll be running around like her older siblings, though. After we let the kids eat some of their Easter candy for breakfast we put their Easter outfits on and went to church.

Thayne and I decided, before Jaed was born, that when the kids got candy for a holiday (Halloween, Christmas, Easter, birthday, etc.) that we would let them have as much as they wanted on that day. If they wanted candy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner then that's what they got, but the next day we went back to the normal schedule and candy was put up and given out sparingly. I believe in letting kids be kids during those holidays and it's a day that I can relax and not worry about making sure they eat every meal, etc.. Just so you know, we do offer the "good" meals but most of the time they are declined and they spread their candy out in front of them and dive in!

Easter Glamour

One of the best things about Easter, for me, is finding dresses for my daughters and making the accessories. I was able to find the girls matching dresses, even one in Kai's size. I made the girls hair ribbons and sewed lace on their socks they were matching head to toe! Here are the pictures of our cute kids:

School Picture

Josie had her first school pictures taken. She is so DANG cute! She is starting to have an opinion on what she wears and how she wants her hair done and I hate it. I want to be in charge!! If I don't let her have a say in it she cries and cries. There has to be room for compromise, right? The best part about having girls (so far) is dressing them and doing their hair. What will I do if I can't be incharge of that?

Attack of the pudding!

Having pudding at our house is quite a treat because the mess to clean up afterwards is so HORRIBLE that we try not to give it to the kids very often. Some of our kids are messier than others but one out does all the rest. She has to get EVERY last slurp of the pudding, no matter what it takes. Here's a play by play scene for you:

Indi has finished using her spoon and is trying to lick off as much pudding as possible:




















She is now trying to get her mouth down in the container to get as much pudding out as she can:




















Here she is showing me that there is still more putting down in the bottom of the container. Her tongue obviously couldn't reach down in there:




















After her spoon and her mouth are used to best of her ability, she goes for the hand. She digs out the pudding and begins slurping, sucking and licking her fingers until no more pudding is seen:




















She is completely done being attacked by the pudding (actually, I think she was the attacker!) and is very happy with her accomplishments:




















Here are the three stooges after their SUPERB pudding dessert. Josie is our cleanest eater by far:

ACNE!!

Well I was hoping that Kaia was going to avoid the baby acne but no such luck. It's starting to cover her face. Josie was my only other baby that had acne and she got it BAD. Here's a picture of Josie at 2 months old with acne:





























Now here is Kaia with just the beginning of that nasty acne (I couldn't decide which picture to use so I posted them all cuz she's so DANG cute!): Please notice the red hair on Kaia. Yes, it is turning red!

The Warner Bunch

Here are all of my beautiful children:





















It's amazing how much they all look alike!

No Time!

With a new baby in the house it's hard to find time to blog or for anything else I like to do. But, she's worth every minute of my time, that's for sure. It's been an eventful week! We took the kids to the dentist last week and he told us that Indi needs to be taken off the pacifier because it's causing structural damage. So we found all the pacifiers that belong to her and cut them up and put them in the trash. She cried at first but I just kept telling her that the doctor said "No more pi'ers (that's what Indi calls them)". It only took one bad night for her to get over them.....well kinda. Several nights after we took them away, I went in her room to check on her and found her asleep with one of Kaia's pacifiers in her mouth. It was pretty funny and pretty sneaky for a two year old.

A couple of days ago we were riding in the car and Kai started to cry. We searched everywhere in the car for one of her pacifiers but had no luck finding one. I did happen to run across one of Indi's old pacifiers so out of desperation we put it in Kai's mouth. She quieted right down but then Indi started up. She started to say, "NO Kaia, dat mine!!" "Get it out, Kaia!". I felt so bad for little Indi. She cried all the way home saying off and on, "Dat's my pi'er!". Finally we got home and I took the pacifier out of Kaia's mouth and hid it and offered Indi some chocolate and she seemed to get over the traumatic event.

I also told her that the doctor said "No more diapers" so she agreed to where panties. The first two days were rough but then we had two more days of no accidents. We're on day seven and we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. She does have a habit that needs to be broken soon, though. Everytime she goes to the potty she needs a new pair of panties. There is nothing wrong with the ones she was wearing but for some reason she's bored with them and demands a new pair. I have been giving in to her demands, for now, and folding up the ones she was wearing and putting them back in her drawer. Other than that little quirk, she's doing so well. If you ask her what the doctor said, she yells.."NO MORE PI'ERS AND NO MORE DIAPERS!!".

Bugged

Jaed didn't do so well this week at school. He got in red twice this week because someone bugged him so he hit them. I can't tell you how many times we have talked about not hitting even if someone bugs you but he's obviously not getting it. His teacher told me that she tried to talk to him about not hitting and his response was, "Well, it didn't hurt him/her." or "Well, he/she hit me back.". I'm hoping we can take care of these problems he's having at school before he goes to kindergarden next year or he'll be the first kid to be kicked out of school at age 5, I'm sure of it.

I really think it's starting to affect him that he doesn't have any brothers. Josie and Indi are playing so well together that they have no interest in playing boy stuff with Jaed. If Jaed wants to play with them then he has to play with barbies, dolls or ponies. He's told me several times that he hates girl toys so I know that he must be desperate if he plays with them. He told me the other day that he wants Kai to be a boy so he can have a brother. When I told him that Kai is a girl and we can't change that he said, "Well can you get another baby in your tummy so it can be a boy?". I felt so bad for him......but bad enough to get pregnant again right now.....probably not!

Josie and Indi were playing dress up and Josie wanted to know if I could find a boy dress. I asked her why and she said that Jaed wanted to play but he hated girl dresses so I needed to find a boy dress for him so he could play.

Egg hunt!

Our family was invited to an Easter egg hunt today. It turned out to be a beautiful day for an egg hunt and the kids were so excited. They had a great time searching for eggs. I do have to say that I was a little embarrassed that my kids had more eggs in their basket than any other kid. It was so bad, that I had to take some of their eggs and throw them back on the ground for other kids to pick up.

(Here they are after the egg hunt. Notice the abundance of eggs in Indi's basket!)



















(Here's Jaed with his basket. This is after he opened all the eggs with candy, in his basket, and ate them. The ones left have stickers!)



















(Here's Josie picking up eggs that were put her for the little toddlers. I tried to tell her that she needed to find eggs that weren't on the ground but she ignored me completely.)















(Here's Indi after only about 1.2 seconds of starting the egg hunt. She was running everywhere grabbing eggs. I don't know if I"ve seen her dart around so fast!)



















(Our little family! Kaia loved being outside. She was looking everywhere with her eyes wide open.)

Shorts

I had my first fight over clothes with my son. I always thought it would be with one of my daughters but nope, it was Jaed. He wanted to wear a specific pair of shorts to school this morning and when I saw them on him and told him that he needed to go back into his room and put on some long pants. He stomped off, mumbling something about hating pants and I went in to help the girls get dressed. I hadn't seen him for a bit and decided to check up on him. I wen to his room where I saw him with pants on but a huge bulky object underneath his shirt. I asked him what it was and he shrugged his shoulders. I insisted that he take out whatever was in his shirt which he did very slowly. Any guesses what it was? Yep, it was the shorts. I tried to explain to him that it was too cold for him to wear shorts to school and that sneaking them was only going to get him in trouble. I left the room to find out why Indi was screaming at the top of her lungs and left Jaed to "ponder" what we talked about. A few minutes later, Jaed came in our room and I noticed his shirt was halfway tucked in his pants so I called him over to fix it. Well, when I lifted his shirt up guess what I saw. He had put his shorts on underneath his long pants. I wanted to scream!! But I didn't. I told him to get in his room and take the shorts off. Again, he stomped off all mad but I did check up on him and saw the shorts on his bed. Finally, it was time to take him to school. We all were heading for the car when Jaed said, "Oh, I'll be right back!". He ran up to his room and then ran down the stairs and tried to make it past us to the car but didn't make it. I noticed that he was trying to hide something under his arm. I stopped him and guess what I saw? THE SHORTS!! By this time I wanted to throw those shorts in the garbage. I didn't even say anything to him. I just grabbed the shorts and pointed to the car.

First Jeans!

Kaia is wearing her first pair of jeans today! She looks so good and stylish. I've been waiting for her to fill out some more so she could wear these and today was the day!





































She is so dang cute even when she's crying!

All in one day!

Our Monday didn't start out so well. Both Jaed and Josie were late for school because they couldn't get moving at normal speed this morning. By the time we were all in the car, Thayne and I were so frustrated we drove the kids to school in silence while they sang and laughed like nothing was going on. Josie's new line is, "Mom, I said I was sorry!". Like that's suppose to make it all okay at the very moment. In her world, that's the way it works.....I just have to keep remembering that she's 4 and my son is 5 and I need to expect no more out of them than that.
Jaed got a yellow at school today because he hit a girl. I asked him why he hit her and all he could say was, "Well she was bugging me.". We have him the "no hitting" talk but I really think it goes in one ear and out the other. On the way home from school I heard him say to Josie, "Mark my words, BUCKO, if you do it again I"ll kick your bum (ok, he said butt).". I have no idea where he comes up with these sayings. For the rest of the day, Josie and Indi were calling each other "Bucko's" and getting mad about it.
Indi and I went to a playgroup this morning and she had a great time. There was this little boy, about Indi's age, that was in a pushing mood. He went around pushing the other kids and even tried to push Indi. I said "tried" because when he pushed her, she barely moved. He even used both hands when he pushed her but she stood her ground and said, "You don't push me!" and then gave him a dirty look. He looked confused but walked off. I wanted to laugh out loud but I was afraid his mom would ask what was so funny and I didn't want him to get into trouble so I just laughed inside and watched them play. He had alraedy gotten in trouble for pushing several times before that and I could see his mom was so frustrated that I didn't want to add to it. It didn't hurt Indi and she took care of the situation herself. I think the funniest part was that she didn't even move. All the other kids had either fallen or had to take a huge step from his push, but not our solid Indi. The confused look on the little boy's face was priceless as well. He was probably wondering why she didn't hardly move when he shoved her. HAHAHA, it makes me laugh just to think about it again.
We put Kai down for the night and I looked back to check on her and found her sleeping with her hands in the air. I hurry and grabbed the camera and took a picture:

Break is over!

Spring break is over and I'm not looking forward to the next 5 weeks. Thayne will be back to school and studying tomorrow to get ready for finals in a month. I can't wait until this semester is over.

Anyways, we had a great time this week, I think. We took the kids bowling which was quite an experience. The kids were so excited to go and somehow they knew what bowling was (t.v. I'm sure!). Josie and Indi had a hard time accepting that we all take turns and that they just can't go up and throw a ball down whenever they want. When I say "throw a ball" that is exactly what they did. There was no rolling for them. Everytime it was there turn and the ball started bouncing we looked to around to see how many people were staring at us that time. Once the ball stopped bouncing it headed down the lane in a very SLOW SLOW manor. Thayne tried to make the girls watch their ball when they let it go down the lane but it took so long to get to the pins that even they lost complete interest and were off playing. When we would cheer for them they looked up like they didn't know what we were talking about. It was quite humorous! Jaed actually did quite well. He understood the game and was focused when it was his turn. He ended up being in the lead most of the time until the end when Thayne bowled two strikes and pulled ahead of Jaed. Jaed would say to each of us when we got up to bowl, "Ok, focus!" and then he would follow it up with saying "You can do it!" and continued to say it until you threw the ball down. Pretty hard to focus when he's saying it over and over loud enough for everyone in the whole building to hear but his intentions were good. In the end, everyone had a good time and I was just happy that I bowled better than my daughters :).

We didn't clean as much as I would have liked but I guess I shouldn't complain. We had a wonderful week with Thayne home and I enjoyed the extra rest and less responsibility. We went to the park a couple of times and out for ice cream another time. The kids were enjoying it all, I'm sure.

More cute everyday!

Thayne and I are amazed at how much Kaia is changing everyday. She is so dang cute! She is awake tons more now and always is looking around with her eyes WIDE open. The novelty of a new baby in the house has worn off I think. They don't ask to hug, kiss or hold her as much and I'm perfectly fine with that. The only time it gets a little hairy is when we put her down on the bed. They all seem to run right to her when we do that. We do have a rule that they can't hold, kiss or hug her while she is sleeping and they do pretty well with that. She truly has a family who loves her!

































Josie and Indi love taking baths. They play in the bath until the water is cold, their skin is wrinkled, and their lips are purple (from the cold). Even after all that they still are laughing and so excited that they got to take a bath.

One Month Old

I can't believe Kaia is a month old already. It really has flown by and I'm excited to say that she is still alive! I wondered, a lot, while I was pregnant how I was going to keep her safe from her curious, determined, and sometimes "not so soft" siblings.... but I did it. Her little personality is starting to show. She is one of my more serious babies but we are already seeing some little smiles. She loves to be held but not kissed so much. She puts up with the kisses but I can tell they are not her favorite things. She loves to be talked to though. I can even get her to stop crying (most of the time) if I call her by name and talk to her in a soft voice.

Today, Jaed was trying to watch his favorite show on T.V. and Thayne was on the couch feeding Kaia. She absolutely hates to be burped when she is still hungry so when it was time to burp her, Kaia started to cry. I heard Jaed say, "Hurry up and give her the pacifier, I can't hear!". When she didn't stop crying right away he followed it up with, "Dad, she doesn't have any burps, feed her so I can hear!". I was laughing upstairs while Thayne was saying, "Jaed, you are not in charge." That one statement is repeated at least 50 times a day to Jaed. Thayne told me later that Jaed was extremely bugged that he couldn't hear he show. He is quite the "bossy-boots" as we call him in our family (well, Thayne called me that first but has given the name to Jaed now. I was more than willing to pass it down to him!).

Here are some pictures of Kaia at one month old and a snap shot of all our kids in a row. I can't believe we have four kids. I'm to young to have that many :).

Funny Stuff

My kids have done and said some pretty funny stuff lately that I've been wanting to share on my blog but finding the time with a new baby is making it a little hard. I have a few minutes so I'll put down as much as I can:

Funny things Jaed has done or said:

When the electricity went out a couple of weeks ago, we all gathered in the front room where there was more light from outside. The kids were running around and playing when Jaed stopped and said, "Watch and learn, sisters!" and then he proceeded to do a sommersault. Indi was the only "sister" that watched and learned though. She did a sommersault right after him!

There is a boy at Jaed's school named Oliver who things Jaed is the coolest guy ever. The only problem is that he hangs all ove Jaed and hugs him to the point that Jaed becomes extremely bugged. Last week, Thayne picked Jaed up from school and learned that Jaed had punched Oliver. Thayne asked Jaed why and all Jaed could say was, "Oliver really bugs me, Dad. He calls me his bestfriend but I don't even like him. He won't leave me alone!". Thayne said that he tried to help Jaed understand that we don't hurt other people even if they bug us but Jaed just responded, "But I HATE Oliver!".

Funny things Josie has done or said:

When the kids came up to see Kaia after she was born, Josie took one look at her and said, "She's brown!" and walked away. Kaia had quite a bit of bruising on her face so she did look a little darker than normal.

Josie has quite the imagination. We were shopping the other day and Josie found a small container that used to have candy in it. That container became her friend. She would put it down right in the middle of the aisle and then go around the corner and start counting. Finally she would say, "Here I come" and she would start looking around like she was searching for something. When she got right next to the container she would stop, look down and say, "I found you!" and pick it up and hug it. She did this several times throughout the store. I finally asked her what she was doing and she said, "Mom, I'm playing hide and seek with my friend!".

Funny things Indi has done or said:

At church, a week ago, I was sitting around several other women that had babies not much older than Kaia. I heard the door open to the room we were in and saw that it was Thayne and Indi. Indi was obviously suppose to come right to me and ask me for a diaper (since I had the diaper bag) but she was amazed to see so many babies. She started with the one closest to her and said, "Is that my baby?" and the mother quietly said "No" and indi moved along to the next baby and asked even louder, "IS THAT MY BABY?". By this time everyone in the room had turned around to watch Indi. Finally, the third mom she asked pointed at me and said, "I think your mom has your baby.". Indi said, "Oh, there's my baby!" and came right over to Kaia and kissed her head. I gave her the diaper and as she was walking out of the room with Thayne she said, "My baby is cute, Dad!". Everyone in the room was laughing.

I was holding Kaia yesterday and she started to fuss so I tried several different things to calm her down but she wasn't going to be happy at that moment. Indi kept telling me that Kaia needed her pacifier but I had already tried that and kaia wasn't interested. Finally, Indi said to me, "I think she wants me, not you!" and she held out her hands.

Kaia was laying on the bed a few days ago and Indi went right over to where she was and leaned down to kiss all over Kaia's face. Well, Kaia got a hold of some of Indi's hair and Indi screeched. It obviously scared Kaia because she started to cry and then Indi started to cry while saying, "Kaia hurt my hair. She hurt my hair!". We tried to explain to Indi that she didn't know she was doing it but Indi just wanted to be held and cuddled like Kaia, so we did.