Four Little Lambes

He’s baaack!

2011-11-29T22:36:00.001-06:00

Our elf, Riggins, came last night! The kids were decked out in their new elf pajamas so we had an inkling that he might show up.

He appears to be quite the thrill seeker as he bungeed from our breakfast room ceiling fan!

The kids think he is super cool
(Don’t you just love those elf jammies?)

We celebrated Riggins’ arrival with a special North Pole breakfast that all the little elves got a kick out of.

Snowman Pancake, bacon scarf, m&m’s, snowflake sprinkles and marshmallows…yummm!
(thanks Pinterest!)

While they ate, I read the story about Riggins – including the ONE rule – you can’t touch him….yeah, we’ll see how that goes.

ALL ears!

Eight little elf feet and 40 little elf toes!

Riggins also took it upon himself to hang the kids’ new stockings. Ah…the stockings. Before the kids’ first Christmas, I bought 6 DIY stocking kits with very high hopes of sewing a personalized stocking for each of us. A bit ambitious, yes. This year I decided if I wanted to have stockings hung before they move out, I should put those aside and purchase some. What a relief! And they really are SO cute!

This is gonna be fun

geaux tigers, beat bama!

2011-11-04T21:32:00.001-05:00

Even our kiddos are hyped up about the big game tomorrow night! At school today, they made purple and gold “pom poms” (according to Sloan, “shakers” according to the boys) and paraded around the school halls chanting “LSU, LSU!” Haha! Roots really run deep in these parts!

Enjoy!

Follow the Yellow Brick Road…

2011-11-01T22:49:00.001-05:00

It leads to lots of sugar and candy! So yeah…I decided to go with the ol’ tried and true characters from Wizard of Oz this year for the kids’ Halloween costumes. I know, it’s been done many times over but I just couldn’t seem to shake the thought of the regret I would have for NOT doing it! It such a classic and of course I believe we have the perfect cast!

Starring…

Sloan as Dorothy Gale

Jagger as the Scarecrow

Madden as the Tin Woodman

Rocco as the Cowardly Lion

How perfect?!?

They looked SO cute…I couldn’t get over it and I couldn’t decide who’s costume was the cutest!!! I kept changing my mind the whole night :)

Daddy and his trick-or-treaters

the good witch

Interrupting trick-or-treating for a photo opp doesn’t produce big smiles from 2 year olds!

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

Icey Cream, Icey Cream!

2011-09-30T22:43:00.001-05:00

So tonight I had the great idea to bring the kids to get an after dinner ice cream. Well, really frozen yogurt, but they didn’t know. I just noticed this cute little shop right around the corner from our house this week and I thought the kids would love it. It’s was a first…not ice cream, but the going out for ice cream.

Oh the choices! I did choose the strawberry banana yogurt for each but they got to choose their own toppings…
Sloan – rainbow sprinkles
Roc, Mad & Jag (all the same – go figure!) – rainbow sprinkled chocolate chips

:)
(LtoR: J,R,M & S)

Yummmm!

Rocco. And I love seeing Jagger just digging right in with his hand. LOL!
(by the way, it’s a self serve shop and everyone gets the same size cup – they are only about 1/4 full for our little guys…after all, this WAS just an hour or so before bedtime!)

Madman, my silly nut!

Jagger

It was a great outing and a great family night. I didn’t even realize until putting this post together exactly HOW normal of a night it was for us. You see, I often tell Nick…”let’s go do something normal.” But even when we try to do something “normal” like go to dinner with the kids, it’s just not normal. Normal to us, sure, but not by others’ standards so we get tons of questions, comments, and stares. In no way am I easily offended or put off by those types of things AND I do love to see the joy my kids bring to others, but it is a constant reminder of how not normal we are. SO it just dawned on me, tonight was pretty normal! It really was. There was no one else in the shop except the sweet girl working. She was nice, she didn’t ask ONE question and she didn’t stare. Just a Friday night eating ~~ice cream~~ yogurt with my family. Very nice.

Hope you have a nice and normal weekend

Waving my white baby wipe

2011-09-05T23:35:00.001-05:00

Hiya! It’s been awhile, I know. But this weekend was definitely worth coming out from under my blogging rock I’ve been hiding under.

If you are one of my facebook friends, you may already know that I attempted potty training this weekend. It was sort of last week type decision. I originally was going to introduce it (we’ve already been talking about it for a while), but then late Friday I decided it was the perfect weekend to do the 3 day potty training lock down. I had a 3 day weekend with the labor day holiday. We had Tropical Storm Lee to keep us inside. And Nick was away for the LSU game in Dallas (GEAUX TIGERS!)

I had my stickers ready, candy stocked, 4 little potties cleaned, and my notes studied. The plan requires complete focus, dedication, patience, consistency, positive reinforcement and love. I was ready. It also requires watching the children very closely (like the only thing you will do) to 1)learn how they communicate their need to use the potty and 2)catch the start of any accidents so you can hurry to them to the potty to finish the job. According to the plan if followed properly, it will “click” with your child sometime by the end of day 3. Sounds great, right?

Before I go any further, let me just say that I consider everyday with my children a blessing. I REALLY do. It never gets old to me. Sure, I may have “grrrrr…” moments at times, but I try to have a positive attitude in most situations. Having said that, this weekend was probably in my top 5 for the most UNfun things I have ever done. Ha! So incredibly UNfun.

So. We started on Saturday. The kids were excited. I pumped the big boy and girl talk BIG time.

Who’s ready to use the potty?!? (M,R,J,S)

The beginning of the day…of course they all said they needed to go -- and of course, no one did!

I didn’t get to take many pictures once the day began, but this one was definitely worth capturing. Rocco told me he had to poop. So we ran to the potty and we waited. He started to get up so I told him to put his underwear back on if he didn’t have to go. He said “no” and went and picked up some reading material and returned to his throne! Now, he didn’t really go, but I still thought it was funny!

It starts early!

Another highlight. My mom came over to fix us lunch so I could stay focused on them. We had the idea to go out on the front porch just to get some fresh air plus the weather, although rainy, was nice. The boys slowly made their way off the porch and into the rain. The fun ensued. They absolutely LOVED it. And to be honest, it was a much needed break for me. There probably was more than just rain falling on the sidewalk, but eh who could tell?

Love those little underoos!

After 20-30 minutes of this, Jagger ran onto the porch to my mom and said, “This is a fun day G.G.!” LOL. I’m glad it was for you buddy!

Back to the potty training. As the day progressed, there were accidents…to be expected. I stayed positive. They kept coming. The kids were fine when I hurried them to the potty. No crying but they just didn’t go on the potty. Although extremely exhausting, I think I could have done that for 3 days until it “clicked” with each of them. But my problem started when one would creep behind the couch or in the other room and do their business and I would miss the accident all together. It would happen so fast. OR I would catch one in the act and be tending to that kid and then the other one, two or even three would start and I would miss theirs. Are you picturing this? They totally ganged up on me! I was missing so many of the accidents. I made it half way through day 2 before I started waving my white baby wipe.

I need to regroup. Tweak my “plan” a little. Be more effective. Like keeping them confined to one room and definitely having Nick on board and available to help. Any other ideas from you potty training pros are welcomed. We will try again, but not this weekend

There have been lots of changes around here lately. We’ve moved into our new home (hence my blogging break), the kids are each sleeping in their own room for the first time ever, they start a mother’s day out program this week, so maybe we hold off a little on this potty training business. After all, no kid ever goes to kindergarten in diapers, right? But as for Mother’s Day Out, diapers we wear!

Vacation :)

2011-08-07T22:15:00.001-05:00

Just getting home from our one week vacation to Orange Beach, Alabama with my whole family. We had a blast. All 18 of us. in one condo. ahem. yes, in one condo. Please forgive me if I take a few days to unwind.

Tonight I sorted through the almost 500 pics that I took this week (I promise to do a full vacation post soon with all the fun details), but for now here were a few of my favorites.

The day we arrived…running to the beach!
In the lead: Jagger, Rocco, Sloan then Madden

The 10 grandkids – supposed to be in birth order but Madden and Jagger pulled the ole switcheroo on us (first of many, I’m sure)
L to R: Evan, Jude, Griffin, Rylee, Nate, Sloan, Rocco, Jagger, Madden and Gavin

Life’s a beach :)

Love this!
L to R: Jude, Gavin, Griffin, Rocco, Jagger, Rylee, Madden, Nate, Sloan & Evan

Birds of a feather…

Those smiles melt me!

Hope your vacation was as great as ours!

Rollin’ with my Homies

2011-07-22T20:04:00.001-05:00

The Dirty South will never be the same after the Sweet Sixteen took to the streets!

Back Row: Jenn Suz Moni Amy Jo Sandra Charity Mari Kelly Gen

Front Row: Beth, Jenna Kami Casey Heather Jac Misty

Quad Mommas 2011 Shirts:

Front:

Back:

Our 3rd annual Quad mom trip was a blast and we are already planning QM 2012!

2 year photo session

2011-07-11T22:10:00.001-05:00

Only a couple months late…they were actually 2 years and 3 months old in these pictures. My good friend Mandy at Musemeche Photography was so kind to go to the Rural Life Museum here in Baton Rouge and shoot these awesome pictures of the kids. It was really a great place to take pictures. We just let the kids run and play and she just captured them in their natural element. Here are some of my favorites…

(L to R: S,R,M & J)

Pictures of 40 little piggies NEVER get old to me

(L to R: J,R,S,M)

And Sloan, being the little diva she is, may have a moment from time to time which gives us the opportunity to get pictures of just the boys together…

This particular time, she had just gotten into some ants :(
(L to R: J,R,M)

LOVE this one! (Little Miss in the mud/water? Maybe another day)
(L to R: M, R, J)

Does this look like trouble or what? (L to R: R,J,M) As for miss, she just wasn’t into what they were conspiring!

And I LOVE these watermelon shots! Jagger wasn’t into his watermelon this day, but it still made for cute photos!

(L to R: J,M,R,S)

Num Num!

Madden. Love those baby blues!

Big Boy and his watermelon stained cheeks!

Thanks Mandy for our awesome pics!

Have a great week!

Happy Birthday America!

2011-07-04T23:06:00.001-05:00

We had a weekend filled with lots of swimming, cupcake eating, flag waving and red, white and blue wearing…

They LOVED their first visit to a local water park

Madden & Rocco (Jagger is under there too just hidden behind the pole)

Madden seriously enjoyed celebrating his friend, Carli’s 4th birthday!

3 cool dudes and the diva!

Sassy Sister

Band of Brothers

Madden – proud to be an American!

Happy 4th of July!

Oh yeah, and Saturday was my birthday too! Happy Birthday never sounded so sweet…

A look into my iPhone

2011-06-28T22:55:00.001-05:00

I’m following in the footsteps of some of my blogging buddies and posting my iPhone pics. What better way to remember all of the special (or not-so-special) moments in our day to day lives. Who knows? This could become a regular blog post…I like the idea so much! For now, I’ll save you the picture overload from going back to the beginning of my iPhone relationship and just post the last couple of months…

(my apologies for any repeats to my FB friends)

Cookies at Grandmama’s & Grandaddy’s

Leave work to find my window busted. Nothing stolen and no foul play suspected. I can think of a million and one things I’d rather spend $250 on! ugh.

Hide and Seek. “I found you!”

Baby girl partied out but still not letting go of her balloon

Me with two of my favorite mommas Jac Tubre and Sandra Cochran -
having dinner at Tsunami’s with our hubbies

4 naked monkeys – waiting on mommy to bring swim diapers and swimsuits

Rocco overcoming his fear of clowns…one Bozo at a time

Nick in the ATL airport with Ralph from Survivor – too bad it wasn’t Boston Rob ;)

Me on a weekend getaway to Destin with my BFF’s

Nick showing the boys the pretty rainbow

Popsicles on a hot summer day

Daddy reading to Missy ma’am – yes, she is shirtless and there is a bow in his hair. She was about to take a bath, but I make no excuses for him!

Grandmama lovin’ on Madman (or the other way around – hmmm…)

The light fixtures are being hung! We are getting SO close…YAY!

Furniture shopping! Don’t worry, we could never do that color even though it’s pretty

The kids watching their cousin Nate and his team win the championship game tonight! GO BEARS!!!

Boy, am I thankful for iPhones! And videos?!? If it weren’t for my phone, sadly, I wouldn’t have very many!

Weekend Rewind

2011-06-19T23:49:00.000-05:00

I thought I would share about our weekend in reverse just for fun.

The Quadfather with his munchkins on Father’s Day

(L to R: M, J, R)

The boys really had a good time playing on the couch tonight before baths and bed. It's always fun to watch them be silly with one another.

"Hey guys, let's move the pillows!"

(J, R, M)

This afternoon we swam but I have no pictures because with these four (and no floaties) it takes all hands on deck. We had a wonderful Father’s Day steak dinner (by G.G.) today after church. Speaking of church, today was the first Sunday we’ve been back that we didn’t have ANY tears when dropping the kids off at Sunday School. Oh yeah, that’s progress folks! Nick and I gave each other a little fist bump as we walked down the hall!

We had a nice morning with the kids getting ready for church and loving on our daddy.

Eight little hands helping daddy open his present

Oooh – pretty shirt daddy!

Sloan wanted to wear it

On Sunday mornings we are like a tag team. I get the kids dressed while Nick is getting ready and then he comes to the playroom tags me and I go get ready. While he was getting ready, I snapped some more pictures.

My attempt to get them to sit still for a group shot – it doesn’t last long!
(R,M,J,S)

LOVE this one, but look who’s on the move!

“It’s SOOO funny, Momma!”

Oh and how cute are these shirts that I recently got for the boys!? The sayings are so appropriate for each of them.

Rocco – call me CHIEF!

Madden – RAD like DAD
Jagger – I run this TRIBE

They were really into reading their books this morning.

And found weird places to do it…

Outgrowing the ball pit too?

Hilarious!

No pictures from yesterday, but last night, we got to visit with Grandmama and Grandaddy. And the kids spent the whole day and had a blast with Nanny Alicia and Mrs. Cindy. Since we were kidless for the day, Nick and I got to run some much needed errands for the house. Always feels good to get things done!

Friday was Nick’s birthday and we had CAKE!

Mmmm….Daddy’s favorite – cookie cake!

The kids had been practicing singing Happy Birthday all day.

Singing HBD

Here is a video of their performance. It really starts around 28 seconds but I didn’t know how to cut the beginning out.

Hope y’all had a great weekend! And of course Happy Father’s Day to all especially to our Daddy, Big Pop and Grandaddy!

Go Daddy, It’s your birthday!

2011-06-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

Daddy,

There are lots of reasons why we love you and want you to have the best birthday EVER!

You crack us up.

You are silly.

You always kiss us goodnight.

Even when you are serious, we know you still love us.

You love our momma.

You are just the best daddy we could have ever asked for!

Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you.

Sloan, Rocco, Madden & Jagger

P.S. Hurry home tonight, momma says we get cake

…long about a Saturday night

2011-06-11T23:50:00.001-05:00

Remember this…

Seriously, where does the time go?

My 3 tow heads and brunette
(R,J,S,M)

Tub o’ babies

Jagger Cole

Rocca Rocca

Madman

Sloanie

Peek-a-boo!

They still LOVE their group baths! Even when all the water is gone they can be caught playing!

And just for kicks, here is a funny video I took this week. This dinosaur has been around for awhile (it was originally the big kids toy.) I guess this was the first time they had “played” with it when it had batteries.

Judge me if you want , I still think it’s pretty stinkin’ funny!

With Honors

2011-06-05T23:32:00.001-05:00

The kids “graduated” from their early intervention program this week. Okay, so I added the “with honors” part myself, but I am seriously so proud of them! Early Steps is a service for families of infants – toddlers up to 3 years old that have developmental delays. Being preemies, they all qualified for physical and occupational therapy and have been receiving it for the last two years. And within the last 9 months or so, the boys have also been receiving speech therapy. In the beginning their therapies were about twice a week and have slowly decreased as they have progressed and become more age appropriate in all of their skills. They have done so well that all of our therapists agreed that they no longer need their services! So awesome!

We were blessed with some great therapists that have become and will always be friends of our family. The kids have especially grown to love them – with all their fun songs, activities and toys. It is a little bitter sweet to know that we won’t be seeing them on a regular basis anymore.

Jagger with his speech therapist, Elizabeth

Danielle (PT), Sloan and Julie (OT)

Rocco and Candice (his and Madden’s speech therapist)

The whole gang, including our family service coordinator, Alicia

To Julie, Danielle, Candice, Elizabeth and Alicia – I can’t thank you enough for being so involved in our little one’s lives, for caring SO much and being so dedicated to helping them achieve their goals. You are all AWESOME at what you do and are so great to work with. You are a blessing to us and will always hold a special place in our hearts! Thanks so much!

Watch this guys!

2011-05-29T23:52:00.001-05:00

This week the kids took swim lessons again. Since their first lessons last year, they have always seemed pretty comfortable in the water, but I was still a bit unsure and anxious to see how they would do. This year we decided to do private swim lessons at the house…well worth it when you have four! First off, let me just say, at times I felt as though I was torturing the kids (no different that last year, I suppose)…the first mention of swimming with “Mr. Clay”, they went NUTS! Like crazy nuts. He would work with 2 at time for 40 minutes. We couldn’t be outside but we did watch through the windows. He was UH-mazing with them! They would cry through the whole lesson (not too bad, they really did settle down and by the last day there weren’t any tears for a couple of them!) but they did EVERYTHING he asked. He was really pleased with their progress and boy, was I shocked, and frankly a little nervous, about how quickly they became VERY comfortable in the water. I got a few video clips from today. In these clips, they were just warming up. By the time they were really “warm,” I had to put the phone down and get in!

This is Rocco showing his skills…

Sloan first (she is in the pink ) and the Jagger.

Oh and I didn’t get Sloan coming up, but I assure you there was a smile on her face and she rarely takes in any water!

Rocco again – he was really active today, but I really liked Jagger splashing around in this one!

Madden is the least likely to jump in and take off on his own, but he will do it! I thought this was funny of him pretending he was going to jump…love that take off position!

Our summer days are going to be very active! Whew! I’m already tired. But it is so much fun and I am so proud of them!

We also want to remember and honor all of the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Prayers and love to their families too. To the men and the women that are still serving, THANK YOU…

“This pop’s for you!”

Happy Memorial Day! Blessings to you and your families!

And the award goes to…

2011-05-26T22:33:00.001-05:00

When the babies (because they will always be babies to me) were really babies, I can remember we use to joke each night and award a “best baby award,” with criteria being sleeping the most, crying the least, and eating the best. No, it wasn’t an actual award of course, but it just might have earned them an extra squeeze that night

Each of their personalities are SO different and certainly have evolved since then. And since I believe that they might change over the next 10 years, I thought it would be fun to write down some baby superlatives at age 2. I jotted my answers down and then quizzed Nick to see if we had any differences and surprisingly there were a few. So on those, I put my answer in pink and Nick’s in blue.

And the award goes to…

Most Talkative – Jagger & Sloan – both very chatty.
Best Sleeper – Sloan. God love her – she must be just like me because the girl can sleep (in her bed) anytime of the day
Best Eater – Madden. Don’t get me wrong, Rocco, Jagger & Sloan can all put away a meal from time to time, but Madden, by far, is the most consistent eater not to mention the smallest…go figure!
Biggest Clown – Jagger. This dude keeps us in stitches all the time and you can tell he feeds off the laughs. Lord help us!
Biggest Cuddle Bug – Rocco. He’s always willing and ready to give a hug!
Best Smile/Laugh – Madden. Seriously melts my heart EVERY time!
Biggest Helper – Sloan & Rocco. I really was torn on this. Sloan likes being the little mama and feeling like a big girl…so in that sense, she helps. BUT Rocco is very helpful with picking up toys.
Biggest Daredevil – Jagger. NO. FEAR.
Most Fearful – Rocco. Clowns, coin operated rides, lizards, bunny ears, strangers. Aw…poor buddy.
Most like Daddy – Madden & Jagger. This was kind of hard for both of us.
Most like Momma – Sloan.
Biggest Charmer – Madden. Must be the smile :)
Friendliest - Jagger.
Most Independent – Sloan. The girl loves to do her own thing!
Easiest to tell apart (of the boys, of course! Sidenote: I always get crazy/funny comments, but I recently received one about how impressed she was that I can tell them apart, “especially the boys!” – ha! are you kidding me!?!) Rocco. It’s really not a problem for either of us, but Rocco is always so obvious. His full face I guess.
Most shy – Sloan & Rocco. Sloan is usually the last to warm up to someone and I especially notice the difference when I take her somewhere by herself compared to when I take one of the boys, she will cling to me more than any one of them will.

We are so humbled that God chose us to be the parents of these four precious beings. It is with the greatest joy that we watch them develop and grow every day! We love these little boogers more than we ever imagined possible!

The Story of Us

2011-05-18T00:00:00.001-05:00

Here we were…

Me – age 3 Nick – age 3?

So how did we get to be us? Was it love at first sight? I can answer that with a big fat N-O! This is how the story goes…

We had the hangout house, you know…the one where all the kids come and hang. I have two older brothers. Nick was a friend. He showed up sometime shortly after he and my oldest brother, Jason, graduated from high school, circa 1991. I was almost 13. Since Nick lived in the same neighborhood, he quickly became one of the “regulars.” Even if my brothers weren’t home, he and another one of their friends could often be caught hanging out with my mom watching “Days of Our Lives” – back when Marlena was possessed. Because he was cool like that

We also had a computer. Back in the day of AOL and dial-up internet connection. Those of you who know Nick, know that he is a computer geek. Back then was no different. He would spend hours on our computer. So what does that mean to a 13 year-old girl? Ummm….it means he was on my phone line and he was interfering with my social life! I could NOT stand him. I can remember shouting from my bedroom, “GO HOME! Get on your own computer!” And of course to him, I was just the pesky little sister whom he enjoyed tormenting.

Fast forward about 6-7 years. I’m grown…in college doing my thing. Me and my friends actually started hanging with my brothers and their friends/girlfriends from time to time. This is when Nick and I became friends. Seriously just friends. If you want to know the truth, I might have been still a little grossed out by him. After all – he was Nick! It wasn’t until October of 1998, that he came in my bedroom while I was studying (yes, he was still hanging out at my house) and the conversation went a little like this…

Nick: “Kami, do you think we could ever date?”

me: (after picking my jaw of the ground…seriously in shock) “uh…that would be weird Nick.”

Nick: “Yeah, yeah, that would be weird.”

The very next day, I started thinking. "hmmm…he IS kinda cute (which I had thought all along, but he was just NICK…gross) and he is a good guy. He is a Christian…” I mean, really, HOW could I resist this face?

So I gave him all the signals that I was interested and the rest is history! It was a shock to everyone! It was fun for us to tell people we were dating and get their reactions. All they could think of was how much we used to fight and how much we “hated” each other. It was SO weird for everyone, it earned us this spot on our family picture wall at my parent’s house.

It was even weird for us in the beginning. We would look at each other and say, “Ewww…you’re Nick” or “Ewww…you’re Kami!” – probably something that is not typical and NOT what you want to hear when you first start dating! Haha!

A few pics from our dating years…

It really only took me about a month or two – I can remember the exact moment but not the date – when I realized he was the man that I would spend forever with. We dated for 3 1/2 years, and were finally married on this day of 2002. (So I guess the moral of this story is – that we need to HAND PICK Rocco, Madden & Jagger’s friends! I kid, I kid.)

Our first dance as Mr. and Mrs. Lambe

Never on that day did I ever imagine – NOT in my WILDEST dreams- we would be here 7 years later…

and here 9 years later…

Nick,
I am so blessed to be celebrating this day with you today. There is no one I would rather spend this crazy, chaotic, joyful, and beautiful life of ours with. You make me laugh and I love you for that. Thank you for loving me always. Thank you for my children. Thank you for these nine years. I love you with all my

The Mighty Mississippi

2011-05-13T16:57:00.001-05:00

I took the kids for a stroll on the Baton Rouge levee yesterday.

Crazy and scary to see the water so high

Praying for everyone in all the areas that have been and will be affected…

Happy Momma’s Day :)

2011-05-08T22:36:00.002-05:00

This is how my day started…

That’s right. Nick let me sleep in! Believe it or not, Madden out-slept me by thirty minutes. 13 1/2 hours - those little boogers can sleep! After breakfast, we played upstairs for a bit.

The kids giving me a card

LOVE LOVE LOVE my necklace from Nick and the kids!

Then we went to the park to spend the day with my mom and extended family. The kids had a blast.

Rocco is not a big fan of slides yet, tunnels are more his thing

Looks like fun guys…haha!

Hiking with daddy

“Ready for our picnic lunch momma!” (J, R, M)

My sweet baby girl!

Momma & Me…yeah, she’s pretty terrific!

Then we headed back to the house for our long overdue nap. Ahhh…there’s nothing like a Sunday nap! Nick took the only pic of the day of me with all four right before our nap.

Such a blessing to me…these monkeys are!

Just for kicks, here’s another video message from our little ones…

Happy Mother’s Day and Happy Easter Bunny too!
P.S. HUGE thanks to Jennisa of Once Upon a Blog Design Shoppe for setting us up with our new blog design and layout! We LOVE it, hope you do too!

Goodnight Everybody

2011-05-01T21:29:00.001-05:00

A sweet video from our sweeties…

Sleep tight!

Love,
Kami

Our Happy Easter

2011-04-24T22:48:00.001-05:00

He lives! He lives! What a reason to celebrate. And boy have we done that today! It’s been a great family day for us.

The kids just waking up. They were getting a bird's eye view of the goodies the Easter bunny left them…even though it doesn’t look it, they were pretty excited to get downstairs!

Checking out their baskets...

Then we had cinnamon rolls (a treat in our house!) and fruit for breakfast…

“Happy Easter Bunny” – as Jagger would say

Sloan just couldn’t part with her cool sunglasses and water shoes the Easter Bunny left her during breakfast

And I would say Rocbunny was enjoying his ears a little more this year …

Easter 2010 Easter 2011

Then we went to church where we had a wonderful worship service. Until today, the kids have been doing great when we drop them off for Sunday school. This was our 3rd Sunday back since RSV season ended and today they were a lot more unwilling to go in on their own! I really hope that gets better soon.

We came home ate a BBQ lunch with my family and then napped. Ahhh…who doesn’t LOVE a Sunday nap! After naps, we had our annual Easter egg hunt on the compound. Even Grandmama and Grandaddy came over to watch/help!

That Easter egg hunting is serious business! Ha!

All the participants

Madden’s a pro now

Sloan looked like an Easter egg herself!

“Score!” – Rocco

Jagger decided he was only out for the golden egg (which he found by the way, with momma’s help) and ditched his basket!

After our hunt, we put on our swimsuits and played in the yard. It was such a pretty day.

Rocco

This cracked me up…Jagger was trying to drink the water sprinkling from the tree!

Oh and we have an exciting addition to the compound! The geese that have decided to take up residence here…I call them Gary and Gloria, had two goslings this weekend! It’s been so fun to watch. The names are still being debated. Any ideas? I tried to get a close picture, but I didn’t want to scare Gary and Gloria because they are real protective of their little ones right now.

If you look real close, you can see a little one behind the mama and one behind the daddy. They are SO cute!

Well, that’s about it for our day today! Hope y’all had a wonderful celebration with your families as well! Happy Easter from us…

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” 1 Peter 1:3 (NIV)

He lives indeed!

Love,
Kami

Crazy Coupe

2011-04-17T21:27:00.001-05:00

Nick laughed as he watched this little situation unfold yesterday and he managed to get some pics with his Iphone for me to enjoy too! I thought it was too funny NOT to share!

FYI – we have 3 other vehicles similar to this one. A cool fire engine that squirts water, a Buzz Lightyear Spaceship that makes neat sounds and a Police Car. Can anyone explain why it is they ALL want to ride in the pink princess coupe?!?

Hmmm…this ought to be interesting.

Madden - “This thing got room for 3?”

You think this is what they had in mind when they named it the cozy coupe?

Jagger – “C’mon guys, let’s rethink this!”

Now that’s more like it!

Hope you have a great week!

Love,
Kami

The House That Built Me

2011-04-05T15:18:00.001-05:00

If you are a country music fan, I’m sure you have heard Miranda Lambert’s hit The House That Built Me. In fact, the song won three CMA’s on Sunday night’s award show for single record of the year, song of the year, and video of the year. The very first time I heard that song, I thought of the houses that “built me.” I lived in only two houses from the time I was born until I was 20. We moved to the second house when I was 11. Both great houses with so many memories.

The Park Drive house. It’s the playhouse in the backyard that my dad built for me. It’s my first slumber party. It’s where I learned to ride a bike and swim. It’s where I lost my first tooth. Got my first puppy. It’s crawling in bed with momma and daddy because I had a bad dream. It’s my first best friend, Tara, living a few doors down. It’s the scar on my left arm after putting it through a window. It’s cinnamon toast and cartoons on Saturday mornings. It’s playing outside til dark. It’s so many things!

My playhouse on Park Drive

The West Tampa house (Sorry, my pictures of this one are in storage) It’s my own bathroom. It’s the game room with the ping pong table. It’s hangouts with my friends. It’s talking on the phone for hours and hours. It’s where I got my first car. My first boyfriend. It’s getting ready for prom. It’s losing my first dog. It’s my first heartbreak. It’s being home by curfew. It’s graduating from high school and starting college. It’s Nick asking me if I ever thought we could date one another (a whole other story – for another time!)

Houses are special! That song really got me thinking and I am so excited to know that our kids will only TRULY know one house. The house we are building now will be the house that “builds” them. But I know it’s not just the walls and rooms in the houses that make them special…it’s the love that fills those rooms. And my parents did an awesome job of making our house a home filled with love, respect, and most importantly, Christ. It is my prayer that we will/do also create such a loving, Christ-centered home for our kids to grow up in. Really…we feel so overwhelmingly blessed to be able to build this home!

Here are some pics we took this weekend of the kids in front of each of their rooms, looking out the front door and their tiny handprints that will always be impressed in our garage.

Love,
Kami

Here we go ‘round the Mulberry Bush…

2011-04-01T23:03:00.002-05:00

Or in our case the Mulberry tree.

Oh how I love this tree! I was so happy it survived when my parents built their house…isn’t it so pretty!?! There’s always a lot of activity under/around/near this tree. It’s great for climbing too! I can just hear the kids reminiscing about their memories of this tree 50 years from now.

Since the weather has been warmer lately, we’ve been spending a lot of time outside. Last week, I took the kids on a “nature” walk. Sure…it was just around the compound, but hey, there is a lot to be seen here!

We smelled flowers(J & M)

We found pine cones…and yes, Miss Priss had to go on our nature walk with her pink blankie and her purse!

We hiked (front to back R, J, M & S)

We played with sticks

We talked about how tall some of God’s trees are!

We even picked some flowers

And when we got back to G.G’s we found a frog on the front porch!

And oh…if you could see the top half of this picture…I'm bummed I didn’t capture it. Little priss was SO not in to the froggy touching her! (By the way, are those some legs of a little girly girl that LOVES to play outside OR WHAT?!?)

And then last weekend was so warm, we got out their swimsuits and their new water toys that they got for their birthday. One loved it (Sloan), One liked it(Madden), and the other two wanted nothing to do with the water (Rocco & Jagger.)

If you look close, you can see Rocco (in the middle) and how much he didn’t like getting wet

But don’t worry, he enjoyed sitting on the sidelines watching the fun…

So sweet!

She loves the water!

Madden & his pants on the ground – he’s checking it out too!

I can’t say enough how much I love that the kids get to grow up right next door to some of their big cousins. And it amazes me how much THEY (the big kids – ages 7-10) seem to love it just as much. They really are great with the kids and often times are cheap entertainment! Ha!

Evan, Griffin & Nate (front to back)

Gotta love that brotherly love…Nate & Evan

They are getting smarter about some things though. Like for instance, you want to eat a snack, you better hide it under a blanket or eat behind a tree, but one thing is for sure, you NEVER bring it out in the open!

Griffin sharing his snack…he learned the hard way!

Rylee and her beautiful smile!

Hank even enjoys the shade of the Mulberry tree

Jagger watering G.G.’s tree

Oh and the new toy on the compound…

Is this trouble or what?!?

Happy April everyone!

P.S. We made it through our second RSV season! Thank you Lord!

Love,
Kami

The Heart Walk

2011-03-26T21:58:00.001-05:00

The Heart Walk was today. I wasn’t sure how the weather was going to hold up for us, but it ended up being a beautiful day and lots of fun with our family and friends. I was proud that we made it there before the 9am start time especially since the kids normally sleep until 8am. We woke them early, fed them, dressed them and loaded up. We chose to do the 5K instead of the half one which may have been just a tad bit long for them, but they really did great considering. We only had one meltdown, which was nothing a little juice and snack couldn’t fix

The kids with their friends and cousins

Aunt Donna, Cash and Jana came out to show their support!

Madden, our hero

He is doing wonderful, by the way. If you didn’t know he just had surgery, you would NEVER know! We went for our one week checkup and the doctors said he looks great. He is playful. Active. Happy. We are SO thankful!

Rocco, one cool dude

Little Miss

Jagger

Team Madden – at the start line, but you would never know that by looking at Sloan!!! LOL!

Great turnout for the AHA!

Mike the Tiger was even at the start line! The kids weren’t thrilled!!

Such a pretty walk on the LSU campus

Come on team…almost there!

We did it! And with ONLY a 1 hour and 19 minute finish time – HA!

THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone that came out or donated to support the American Heart Association. We believe in their cause! SPECIAL thanks to Team Madden – Big Pop, G.G., Grandmama, Aunt KeKe, Aunt Sissy, Uncle Travis, Aunt Donna, Jana, Nanny, Meredith, Tiffany, Karoline, Emma, Mary Grace, Jude, Griffin, Rylee, Nate, Cash, and Gavin, for walking with us! Also want to thank Tim for designing our cool ‘Walking for Madden’ buttons and Dirk for making them for us! You guys ROCK!

Love,
Kami

Walking for Madden

2011-03-22T22:13:00.001-05:00

This Saturday…we are! The American Heart Association is hosting a Heart Walk in Baton Rouge and with Madden’s diagnosis of complete heart block this last year we wanted to help support and raise awareness for this wonderful organization.

Please feel free to join us in our walk or donate to a great cause. Our team name is Team Madden. We would love to see LOTS of friendly faces on Saturday!

Let’s walk!

Kami

one life saved, one life lost

2011-03-13T22:19:00.001-05:00

So first I’ll start with our very praiseworthy news…Madden’s surgery was a success and we are at home tonight! His heart will always beat at least 80 beats per minute. Oh how I love that news! Madden was a trooper. Despite my attempt to keep him sleeping Friday morning, Madden was Chatty Kathy the whole way to New Orleans! I think he enjoyed the one on one attention from momma and daddy. Not to mention when Grandmama, Grandaddy, G.G. and Big Pop got there….he was in heaven!

All smiles!

Before they took him back to the operating room, they gave him a sedative so the separation wouldn’t be so hard for him. Yeah…I don’t think it was hard at ALL (for him!) That little dude was so loopy and giddy, I think he would have even let Santa Claus himself take him back. This made it SO much easier on us. Still one of the hardest things though.

His surgery lasted about 1 1/2 hours and we got to see him about 30 minutes later. He was still heavily sedated because they wanted him to lay still and flat for at least 6 hours. So it wasn’t until the afternoon until we got to see those pretty blue eyes of his. He was pretty groggy and uncomfortable the rest of that day and night. I did get to spend the night with him in the PICU so that was another blessing. We had a better day and night Saturday and this morning his drain was pulled and we were discharged! I want to say a huge THANKS to Dr. Setty, and all the nurses and staff at Oschner Medical Center that took such special care of our little man! Sincerest thanks!

Soon after surgery, heavily sedated

One of the few smiles we captured after surgery

Madden is still really sore and weak from his surgery. So please continue to pray for his recovery and that his incision and abdomen stay protected these next few weeks.

Now to get to the blog post title. Friday morning, Madden’s heart was “fixed.” Around the same time Friday morning, our dog, Lucy was run over by a car and killed. Ugh. Not my sweet Lucy. Nick and I got Lucy a couple years after we got married. She was the dog I always wanted! A total lap dog. The kids loved her too. Ugh. I got the call late Friday evening. I wanted to breakdown. I did a little. But then I looked over at my sweet little man and I saw his new and improved heart beating in his chest. Thank you Lord.

I loved you, Lucy. I will miss you, Lucy. I will miss your spastic greetings at the door. I will miss watching TV with you curled in my lap after the kids have gone to bed. I will miss your barks letting me know of visitors (except if the kids were napping). I will miss you “cleaning” up under the table for me after the kids eat a meal. I will miss carrying you up the wood stairs because for whatever reason, you were too scared to go up by yourself. I will miss seeing the kids play with you. I will miss walks with you and the kids even if you did get tangled around mailboxes and trees. I will miss you being snug as a bug by my side at night. You were a good dog.

R.I.P. Lucy Lambe

Tonight I’m thankful to kiss my four beautiful children goodnight.

Love,
Kami

It’s Carnival Time….

2011-03-08T22:30:00.001-06:00

And EVERYBODY’S having fun! We took the kids to their first Mardi Gras parade on Sunday in Thibodaux, LA. Such a great time! And I also learned that this was Nick’s first Mardi Gras parade too! Tell me how it is you get to be 37 years old and have lived in Louisiana for 25+ years and never have been to a parade?!Hmmph. You think you know someone It made me super excited to experience this with all five of them.

The first timers – before the parade started, eating lunch

How do you like that contraption?!? G.G.’s brilliant design. And it was very safe, I promise, the ladders were staked down. I must say it made the parades much more enjoyable for us…to have the kids confined! They didn’t seem to mind ONE bit. It makes me giggle to think of what was going through the minds during the parades. I mean really…who are these people, on big moving things, that are throwing me fun stuff? There’s music. Everyone’s smiling. Everyone’s got their hands in the air. This is really fun, but weird. Haha! Can you imagine?

“Throw us something mister!”

I took LOTS of pictures so I put this video together. It also has pictures of the kids playing with ALL (and boy did they get some stuff!) their Mardi Gras treasures yesterday.

This is how you know a good time was had by ALL…

HAPPY MARDI GRAS! Hope everyone had a fun and safe one!

Love,
Kami

P.S. Madden’s surgery is scheduled for this Friday (3/11) at 7am. Please keep him, the surgical team, and us in your prayers. I will try to post an update over the weekend.

A Matter of the Heart

2011-02-28T22:48:00.001-06:00

Today, I got to spend the day with just two of the handsome men in my life…Madden and his daddy. It was nice. Unfortunately, we weren’t doing anything fun like going to the zoo or out for ice cream. It was a doctor visit.

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted an update on Madden and his condition of complete heart block. Truth is there hasn’t been a whole lot to report until recently. Since diagnosis in May 2010, he has been monitored for 24 hours via holter monitor every 6-8 weeks with an occasional echo to make sure the structure of his heart hasn’t changed. Madden has remained asymptomatic – praise the Lord! But with every checkup, Madden’s resting heart rate has continued to decrease slightly (at diagnosis it was in the 70’s and now it’s in the 40’s) and these latest test results showed that his heart rate dropped to an all time minimum of 37…pretty scary for our very active 2 year old.

Our cardiologist here in Baton Rouge and another pediatric cardiologist in New Orleans consulted with one another and decided that with his decreasing heart rate, it was time for Madden’s heart to be paced. So Madden is having a pacemaker implanted next Friday. Today was our initial meeting with the doctors in New Orleans that will be performing the surgery. Of course, we were shaken by the news of his need for a pacemaker so soon. However, after having our question and answer session with the doctor today, both Nick and I feel very positive and hopeful about going forward with the surgery. To hear the doctor talk, Madden will live a pretty normal life with a pacemaker. There is a short list of things that he won’t be able to do….tackle football, competitive wrestling, use a jack hammer or arc welder…not so bad, right? Other than those and possibly a few other things, he can do anything his little heart desires. Rough-housing with his brothers? Totally fine – believe me I asked! The most comforting thing that the doctor said to us today was that “Madden’s life will not be dependent upon this pacemaker. Something happens to it and his heart will still be beating.” Just slower I guess. Then you just have a matter of let’s call the doc and get an appointment to have the pacemaker fixed/replaced. So Why, then, are we doing this?, you may ask. Even though, his life is not dependent on the pacemaker, there is the risk that he may become symptomatic – with one of the symptoms being the heart stops beating. The doctor assured us that this was a very VERY low risk, but a risk nonetheless. So we (and the doctors) want to take every precaution that this won’t happen. We love our little guy WAY too much!

Every night we pray for God to “heal Madden’s heart.” Although a pacemaker is not what I had in mind when making that request, I believe that it is our answer now. His heart will work perfectly again. And I am excited about that! We humbly request your prayers for Madden and his upcoming surgery and recovery. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

"He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me..." Psalm 23:3-4

Love,
Kami

The Hoe Down Throw Down

2011-02-26T10:58:00.007-06:00

I love birthday parties. I guess it’s because my mom always had cool ones for me and I want to carry on the tradition. Give me a theme and I’ll run with it! I don’t know what made me decide the western theme for their second birthday…maybe it was just a good gender neutral theme or perhaps I just love cowboy boots and country music I think the party turned out really cute, but most importantly I think everyone had a good time including the birthday boys and girl.

The invitation…

Nanny Alicia’s dad has a chuck wagon that he was kind enough to let us use for our pictures. It was cold and the kids weren’t thrilled about their picture being taken…I guess they were playing the part of the “outlaws!”

The getup…

Boots for my buckaroos

Howdy Cowboy Roc!

Even Big Pop played the part

Although I didn’t get any pictures of the grub table, we served BBQ pulled pork sandwiches with potato salad and baked beans on tin plates. The waterin’ hole was stocked with root beer and Ma’s Sweet Tea, of course.

Another awesome cake by G.G.

Jude helped serve the ice cream

cupcakes and Happy Trails mix too!

We sang Happy Birthday four times for four special 2 year olds!

Digging in!

It is always a gamble to plan an outside party in February, but we could not have asked for better weather! It was a BEAUTIFUL day…sunny skies and 65 degrees.

The kids had a blast on the WILD WEST PLAYGROUND

The hitchin’ post photo opp

I think we had about 24 kids at the party. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of every kid on the saddle, but the ones I did were really cute!

A hayride was our cheap entertainment…

Madden, Daddy & Jagger

Nanny, Rocco, Jana & Cowboy Cash

Sloan with her BFF Karoline!

The presents…they really got into these this year!

The party favors…

Each cowboy and cowgirl got a personalized hobo bag with some goodies. We had a cowboy name for everyone like Ringo Rogers, Kid Kiger, Calamity Kaitlyn, etc. Very fun and the kids loved it!

And the award for the farthest traveled to attend the birthday party…

TTHANKS Uncle Bill and Aunt Pat for coming all the way from Nashville. We had such a good time with y’all!

Thanks to ALL who came and celebrated another year with us! We LOVE you all. And HUGE THANKS to G.G. for helping with the party! YOU ARE THE BEST!

Love,
Kami

Happy Birthday TWO you!

2011-02-17T23:20:00.001-06:00

No…this isn’t a post on the awesome party we had for the kids last weekend. The kids have all been sick this week with nasty coughs, colds, and fever – and Sloan has tonsillitis – which makes for a week with a lot of loving but not a whole lot getting done. I still need to sort through all the pictures and put a post together and will try to do that this weekend…promise. But here is one of my favorites from the weekend.

We did take them to the our favorite pediatrician for their 2 year “well” visit – even though they weren’t really well. I thought I would share their weights and measurements and some things they are doing at two.

Sloan Olivia
27 pounds 7 ounces
34 inches tall
Things you love: books, kitty-cats (really all creatures small and furry), shoes, brushes, baby dolls, pink blanket, coloring
Favorite foods: cookies, crackers (pretty much all carbs – just like all women!)
Things you say and do: You love to be clean and tidy up – I hope that sticks! Your Aunt KeKe says that you have a laugh just like the pillsbury doughboy – we just love it! You are very tough. Your new favorite saying is “Oh gosh!” You love to sing and I’ve caught you singing the whole alphabet song, but you won’t do it for me when I ask! You are the best sleeper. You haven’t quite learned your brothers yet…everyone is Jagger to you athough you know there is a Rocco and a Madden! You love to say “no, no Jagger!” to each of them. We love you SO much and are so proud of you.

Rocco Dean
28 pounds 13 ounces
34 inches tall
Things you love: books, dogs, bubbles, playing outside, wrestling with your brothers, blocks, baths
Favorite foods: meats, milk & juice
Things you say and do: You are a big helper when its time to clean up toys. You love to cuddle. Your voice is a little deeper than your brothers. You can also sing most of your ABC’s. You are almost always the first one awake in the mornings. You are a very happy boy with a sweet spirit. Grandaddy calls you Mr. Independent. You like to say “Yeah Baby!” – one of Big Pop’s sayings! You can count to ten. We love you SO much and are so proud of you.

Madden Jax
25 pounds
33 inches tall
Things you love: books, bubbles, playing outside, wrestling with your brothers, puzzles, coloring, dancing, baths
Favorite foods: You may be the smallest, but you are probably our most consistent eater. You eat most anything, but your favorite is probably pizza.
Things you say and do: To you, everything red is “Madden’s”, everything blue is “Rocco’s”, everything green is “Jagger’s”, and everything pink is “Sloanie’s.” You know your colors the best. You are very curious and you like to get into cabinets or things you are not supposed to. You get scared of big live animals (like horses.) You have a smile that will melt anyone’s heart. You are silly. Your favorite word is probably “No.” You can also sing your ABC’s and count to ten pretty well. We love you SO much and are so proud of you.

Jagger Cole
27 pounds 8 ounces
33 1/2 inches tall
Things you love: BALLS, books, bubbles, playing outside, wrestling with your brothers, puzzles, coloring, baths
Favorite foods: Breakfast is your favorite meal. You can put away some breakfast foods – just like daddy!
Things you say and do: You are a leader. If I am correcting your brothers or sister, you also like to chime in and say “Sit down!” “No, No Madden!”, etc. You make us laugh all the time and you feed off of our laughs! You are fearless and are a climber. You love to play with the big kids. One of your favorite words is “again!” You can sing some ABC’s and count to ten as well. We love you SO much and are so proud of you.

I am sure this year of the two’s will bring lots of changes and challenges. But thinking back at how awesome I thought they were just a year ago and how much MORE awesome I think they are now…I am excited!

Love,
Kami

Our Untold Story

2011-02-11T23:51:00.001-06:00

Since my babies’ (can’t I always call them babies?) second birthday is tomorrow – actually in just a few short hours, I have been reflecting on the last 2 1/2 year of this little life of ours. You see about 2 1/2 years ago was a day I will never forget and included the happiest moment of my life - up until that point anyway. It was the day I found out I was pregnant. I was at home. Nick was in the living room. I peed on a stick (Yes, I cheated and did a home pregnancy test the day before my doctors’ appointment…just couldn’t help myself!) I think I took a short moment to myself before running and giving Nick the news. I remember it like it was yesterday. I remember the feeling of complete joy and deepest gratitude to God for allowing this new life (or lives – we transferred 2 embryos with our IVF cycle) to grow inside of me. It was like He had lifted all the pain, sorrow, worry, and anger of the last several years with one little plus sign on a stick. I suppose that this feeling is pretty common for women finding out they’re pregnant who have struggled with infertility.

*Side Note: Throughout our pregnancy and even still today, we have consistently prayed that God be glorified through our kids’ lives. I’ve never shared this before (on this blog – our family and close friends already know), but I feel led to because I believe it is a true testament of our Father’s work. I feel its too powerful not to share.

So we’re happy and pregnant. At our 6 week appointment, we had an ultrasound to find out how many hearts were beating inside of me. Again, we did IVF and transferred only two embryos so we did have a higher chance of being pregnant with twins. Well we were. To think that I was unsure if we ever were going to have any kids at all and now we will have 2? Thank you Lord. Thank you.

Two weeks later, we go in for a routine ultrasound to check on our little baby A and baby B, as the docs like to call them, only to find out that there is now a baby C and a baby D. Four heartbeats. Four strong heartbeats. Wow! How could this happen? We only transferred two embryos. The doctors explained how one embryo split twice and we were pregnant with “identical triplets plus one.” The next 30 minutes to an hour were spent with our doctor explaining how extremely risky this pregnancy would be and the likely outcomes were not good….not good at all. At this point, we were advised to reduce our pregnancy in order to have the best outcome possible. We informed the doctor of our position on selective reduction and abortion…absolutely no way so “what do we do now?” I would have to come back next week (this appointment was on a Friday) to meet with a Maternal Fetal Specialist and would continue to be monitored by one throughout my entire pregnancy.

So we left there very scared and very overwhelmed. We spoke to our parents together. We prayed. We trusted HIM. We were going to be okay.

Next appointment…an ultrasound with a MF doctor. Our parents were in the waiting room for support. He didn’t say anything during the ultrasound, but afterwards asked us to meet him in the conference room. He began by telling us that he was 85% sure that baby C and D were conjoined. He would know for certain in a couple of weeks because the babies would be bigger and he could get a clearer picture. If they were conjoined, the chances of them surviving even if I did carry far enough were slim. The chances of me carrying far enough were slim. He went over everything with us first, then I asked him to bring our parents in to tell them the news.

The next two weeks were the longest, hardest, most trying, most soul defining two weeks of my entire life. Hands down. This news brought me to my knees. It knocked me down…mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I would try to go to work but then come home only after a couple of hours. I couldn’t function. Our situation just seemed SO impossible to me. I remember watching a documentary on conjoined twins…it just happened to be on TV that week – coincidence? I think not! But I remember being so terrified of these sweet innocent girls and thinking, how could I be a mom to conjoined twins? I became so hurt, so angry towards God. I remember thinking, I only wanted ONE baby God…that’s all I asked. Why can’t I just have a normal healthy pregnancy – you’ve made me wait for so long. Although I am not proud of it, I wavered in my faith. For part of those two weeks, I began not trusting HIM and began questioning whether selective reduction was the answer, if I can save one or even two of my babies and the others probably won’t make it anyway. Man, Satan was really having his way with me! But I NEVER was at peace with the thought of that. NEVER. And I know the Lord has forgiven me for those thoughts. Have I mentioned how much I love my husband? And how I am so thankful for him. He was so strong for me. He never wavered. He reminded me that God is the answer. We need to seek HIM. So that’s what we did.

On the morning of our next appointment, we woke up and just laid in bed for awhile. I had an overwhelming sense of peace. I turned to Nick and said “they’re not conjoined.” He said “what?” I said “Our babies are NOT conjoined.” He let it drop…I think even though he had been so faithful, he had already come to terms that we were going to have conjoined twins plus two more and that God would just help us through it all.

Ultrasound begins. Nick and I watched very intensely, counting every heartbeat fluttering on the screen. One…two…three…four. Thank you Lord. You could hear a pin drop in that room. The doctor and the tech were studying each baby so closely. Then I heard it. I heard the doctor and I will never forget these words as long as I live, “Hmmmm….it looks as though we’ve made a mistake.” I didn’t have to ask him to repeat it. I already knew. Nick held me as I giggled through my tears. We didn’t get to celebrate to long because the doctor quickly reminded us that this situation, although better, still was not “good.” I don’t know if I heard anything he said after that. All I heard was God telling me. “See Kami. Trust me. I am in control. Not you. I will take care of you. Trust me. I love you.”

That’s when we did our homework, God led us to a doctor we were comfortable with and obviously more confident (yet realistic) in caring for me and my pregnancy. We moved to Phoenix to be cared for and have the babies and as they say, the rest is history.

I tell this story not because we ended up with four healthy babies(although we did.) I tell this story not because God answered our prayer and the prayers of many (although He did.) I tell this story because I want to praise Him. I want to glorify Him. And He is worthy.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mothers womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:13-14

Love,
Kami

Super Bowl Dreams

2011-02-06T18:41:00.001-06:00

Maybe one day fellas!

Happy Super Bowl!

Love,
Kami

A Birthday Celebration

2011-02-05T11:09:00.001-06:00

Several months ago Billy Graf started planning a surprise 30th birthday party for his beautiful wife, Moni. He threw the invitation out there to all of us quad moms (and dads – no kids, ha! can you imagine?) all over the country to drive/fly to Kansas for her birthday party and I am guessing he never imagined that everyone would jump right on that opportunity! In the end 12 out of 15 of us were able to make it work, but we surely did miss you Kelly, Jenna and Misty! And can you believe, I actually think Billy manage to pull off this surprise?!? He racked up some serious brownie points last weekend. I’ve written before of the bond us moms share but it was really cool to see our boys hit it off the way they did. Really cool.

The mamas and papas (except for Billy & Moni haven’t arrived yet) Can you believe these crazy people are collectively responsible for 50 kids!?! Wow!

Waiting to surprise the birthday girl – yes, in a horse stall!

Back Row: Jenn, Sandra, Jac, Moni, Gen, me, Mari
Front Row: Heather, Beth, Casey, Amy-Jo, Suz, and Charity

Me with the birthday Girl

We had a blast and I am looking forward to many more vacations with these special people. I want to give a BIG thanks to Nanny Alicia, G.G., Big Pop, Grandmama and Grandaddy for taking care of our kids for us while we were away! We LOVE you!

Love,
Kami

Haircut 101

2011-01-26T22:19:00.001-06:00

Imagine this…4 hair cuts, $70, every 6-7 weeks (especially for the boys, Sloan can definitely go longer.) Yes, I know…I could get a cheaper haircut somewhere but we were really paying a little extra for the convenience of going to a salon with a playroom for the others while they waited their turn. I really started thinking about this and how this would add up over the years. Could I cut their hair? It really is laughable, but I kept thinking….maybe? Then, my mom’s stylist (SHOUT OUT to Jeffrey at Renaissance Salon in Baton Rouge) told her that he would give me a little haircut lesson and that he was sure I would have no problem with it. How nice is that?!? So off we went with Jagger yesterday for my lesson. Jeffrey was so great! He really took his time demonstrating the perfect haircut for me!

So Jagger got the professional haircut. That means Rocco and Madden would be my guinea pigs…oh my. It’s just hair, right? Here goes…

Rocco – before

Madden – before

First Cut. No turning back now!

Can I just say I have a whole new appreciation for stylists and their chasing method they have to use with kids! So so hard.

Madden’s turn – notice my concentration :)

He really did sit still much better than Rocco did

He even sat still for the clippers

Rocco’s finished look – Don’t look too close! Remember this was my very first time and I could have done more with him, but I guess I was a little slow because he was just OVER IT!

Madden’s do. Maybe a little better?!?

Nothing a little product can’t fix!

So I think I’m ready for this challenge. I will try this. But I promise you boys, momma will not let you walk around all gapped up just to save a few bucks. I will get better!

Love,
Kami

Rocco’s Road Rash

2011-01-22T21:48:00.004-06:00

Oh how could it be that my sweet Rocco woke up this morning looking like this…

And then I put him to bed looking like this…

This afternoon he took a spill down two brick stairs. Ugh…if only we could put them in a bubble ;) They are all SO active these days. It’s so much fun to watch them develop and get better at simple things each day. Running is now a favorite.

Madden chasing Jagger

I actually held my breath on this one! He ran off the brick path…didn’t miss a beat. Phew!

They are getting to be little daredevils. Jagger is probably the biggest one, but they all test the waters. They love finding new spaces to crawl into, new things to climb…really, you can’t take your eyes off of them!

Rocco - “Oops…busted!”

Oh and wrestling. I really do love it. I love seeing them laugh with one another. We’ve always rough-housed with them a bit, but now they are starting to do it with one another. It’s so much fun!

Madden, Rocco and Sloan watching the big boys

And by big boys…I mean the real big boys too!

Now I wonder where they get their ideas from? Hmmm…

Lots of laughs and fun and a couple of bumps and bruises along the way…guess that’s just the life a an almost 2-year-old! Speaking of, 2nd birthday party planning is in full effect (can you believe their birthday is just 3 weeks from today!) I’m so excited to celebrate, but really can’t believe it’s been ANOTHER year! Here’s a little hint for our theme this year ;)

So fun!

Love,
Kami

No Work Zone

2011-01-15T22:30:00.001-06:00

Until Monday anyway. I’m excited to say that Monday will begin the official building phase of our forever home! That’s right…the workers are coming to start forming up. Yay! So from this point on, there will be decisions, decisions, and more decisions…or so I hear. We are so excited and feel so blessed to be able to do this for our family.

Today was actually warm enough to go outside, and I thought it was a good idea to get pictures of the kids on our future homestead before construction begins. So we put on our rubber boots and went exploring.

Sloan – “C’mon guys, hurry up!”

Sloan was not digging the mud on her pretty pink boots!

Rocco and Madden – boys really do LOVE dirt don’t they?!?

Jagger sampling his very first mud pie - ewww!

Hard to believe that this time next year – they’ll be standing on our front porch!!

I love this one!

Also, I remembered our friend Chad took some pictures of the babies on our property (before it was cleared) when they were 9 months old. I found this one…

Who ARE those babies? Ugh. How fast. Sigh.

Love,
Kami

Game On!

2011-01-07T18:20:00.001-06:00

Tonight - Cotton Bowl 2011 – LSU vs. Texas A& M (our team vs. the Steece’s team) I couldn’t resist a little friendly competition with our quad buddies.

Our Fighting Tigers (Madden, Sloan, Jagger, and Rocco)

VS.

I do believe the CUTEST Aggies I’ve ever seen! (Savannah, Ethan, Andrew and Ben)

May the best team win! (and if the Aggies win that’ll be okay too ;))

GEAUX Tigers!

Love,
Kami

Bedtime Giggles

2011-01-05T20:20:00.001-06:00

It’s after they are fed and scrubbed, they are at their friskiest. Our MOST favorite time of the day…

Funny how each boy was grabbing or going for their foot in each of the first 3 pictures.

So tickled!

Too cool Jagger

Silly Madman

They love to climb on their daddy!
(and sometimes daddy gets hurt! haha!)

Sweet Rocco (Nick’s legs NOT mine )

The boys are rowdier than Sloan (at night) but she gets in on some action too!

And no…Sloan is not wearing makeup – she does have a shiner. She had a round with the coffee table and lost! Poor girl – I never imagined the first black eye would be Sloanie’s.

Climbing on Daddy again

We are SO gonna miss this!!!!

Love,
Kami

Top 10 of ‘10

2011-01-02T23:15:00.001-06:00

I was trying to pick my favorite picture of 2010 and then I saw this on someone else’s blog and thought it might be easier and more fun to pick 10. I still had trouble. But here are our picks…

First group bubble bath

RocBunny on Easter Sunday

Me and my four little loves

First trip to the beach

Sloan painting with pudding

3 boys, 3 smiles, a couple of sticks and some dog poop

In the front yard of the kids’ first home

Halloween – our 4 little rockstars

Madman and his daddy

We wish you a Merry Christmas!!

Hope to have just as many (or more) great memories captured in 2011!

Love,
Kami

HAPPY New Year!

2011-01-01T21:42:00.001-06:00

May your new year be filled with blessings.

Love,
Kami, Nick and the 4 little Lambes

Our Merry Little Christmas

2010-12-30T00:06:00.008-06:00

Someone once told me that when you have kids Christmas each year will just get better and better. Although we’ve only had two with our family of six, so far that has held true. Last year was awesome – just being our first one as a family and celebrating the birth of Jesus and all the many blessings God has given us. BUT this year, the kids could actually be a part of all the festivities and were a little more aware of what was going on I think. We even got to bring them to our Christmas Eve Candlelight service at church which we didn’t get to do last year because they were a little under the weather.

We are so blessed to be able to spend lots of time with both sides of our families and not feel torn to be in two places at once like so many families are. We usually have my family’s activities Christmas day and the week leading up to it and Nick’s family Christmas night and the week prior when his brother and sister (and their families) come in town. The kids have been great. A little tired possibly but they have been really rolling with the punches…staying up later, sleeping a little later, we even have transitioned to one nap this past week.

Here are some highlights:

Jude, Griffin, Rylee, Nate & Evan waiting patiently to open gifts

G.G. and her big boys

The kids’ favorite gift from G.G. and Big Pop

with Maw-Maw on Christmas Eve (someone wasn’t too happy!)

The boys sportin’ their LSU caps from Big Pop
(M, R, J)

Climbing stairs Christmas morning to see what Santa left them

Someone has been good it seems?!?

Sloan led the pack and went straight for the pink girlie loot….unfortunately, the boys did too!

Sloan’s ride

Jagger - “to infinity and beyond!”

Madden’s wheels

Officer Rocco

Family Picture – Christmas Day

Christmas evening with Granmama & Grandaddy

Grandaddy & Grandmama with their six grandchildren - (a same certain someone not too happy again!)
L to R: Jagger, Sydney, Rocco, Seth, Sloan & Madden

Since I took SO many pictures – here is short montage of our Christmas.

Oh man...if it really does get better and better, someone please pinch me!
Love,
Kami

Lights, “Ho-Ho” and More Pictures

2010-12-23T23:36:00.001-06:00

Last Saturday night, we had a family date night. We took the kids to a small Christmas light show in Port Allen, LA. It was nice. The kids didn’t “ooohhh” and “aaahhhh” over the lights (like I wanted them too!), but I think they enjoyed them.

After we looked at all the lights, we went inside for a visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus. The kids were totally cool with Santa while they were in their stroller, but when we started taking them out of the stroller to get a closer look is when the hysterics ensued…at least for Sloan and Madden. If you recall, Sloan and Madden were the two that I was holding for a picture with the mall Santa. This night they got their turn in Santa’s lap…

LOL – This is more like it!

Too many funny things about this picture (including the bird on Mrs. Claus’s head)

Jagger – not a care in the world!

Santa: “Seriously lady, come get your crazy kids.”

Me: “Okay…just one more!” (such a mean momma – LOL)

Memories were created - that’s for certain!

I also wanted to share some of our outtakes from our recent photo shoot and the winning photo that made our Christmas card this year. Remember – the smiling was an issue that day (and everyday when it comes to group photos!). Thanks to Chad Keith for all the great photos!

This one actually made the back of our card

A very close second

And the winner is…

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Love,
Kami

A little Christmas fun

2010-12-16T22:02:00.001-06:00

Our days are filled with all kinds of moments. We have chaotic ones, busy ones, loud ones, silly ones, fun ones, tired ones, fussy ones, and messy ones just to name a few. So I’ve learned that planned activities or crafts (especially when they are contained at the table :)) can be a great way to keep very busy toddlers very busy. This idea came from my Quad momma sistas – thanks ladies!

Step 1: Give kids a few sheets of tissue paper and let them go at it! This was probably the most fun part of the craft. They LOVED it!!!

This craft making business is serious stuff.

The tissue paper was also fun to throw!

Step 2: Let the kids put their torn pieces of tissue paper on clear contact paper.

Steps 3, 4, & 5 (for momma): Cover artwork with contact paper, cut into a fun Christmas shape, cut a hole in top and add a string. Voila! A cute Christmas ornament!

“Look Ma – a snowman!”

Jagger and his star ornament

Madden – so proud of his candy cane!

Step 6: Let the kids hang their ornaments on the tree.

The four masterpieces:

Hope you have a great weekend! We have a special family night planned…can’t wait to share!

Love,
Kami

Here comes Santa Claus…or not.

2010-12-11T21:17:00.001-06:00

Today was the day of the annual Christmas parade put on by our local fire department. There would be Santa “ho-ho-ho-ing” on top of the fire truck, loud sirens, candy and happy kids all around. As far as I know, there was not a schedule…I guess just listen for the sirens and be ready was the idea! When we heard the sirens way off in the distance, we decided we would take the golf carts and have our own little hunt for Santa.

Golf Cart #1: Griffin, Big Pop, Nate, baby Gavin, G.G. and Sloan

Nate and Griff

Golf Cart #2: Aunt Sissy, Madden, Rylee, Uncle Travis and
Hank(the dog)

Golf Cart #3: Me, Rocco, Daddy & Jagger

Jagger & Daddy on the lookout

We didn’t have any luck on our hunt. We followed the sirens and then we just didn’t hear them anymore. We knew they would come to our street sooner or later so we went back to the compound.

While waiting for Santa, we rough-housed in the front yard…

even the big boys got in on the action…

we played with sticks…
we found new play areas(a.k.a. Aunt KeKe’s front door step)…

we played in the grass…

someone got tired of waiting…

we played with Hank…

we entertained ourselves…

we played with daddy…

we waited…

and waited…

It was time for a nap and then it rained…

And he never came.

Somehow I don’t think the kids minded that he never showed THIS year….but next year Santa – you better COME ;)

Love,

Kami

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2010-12-02T23:50:00.001-06:00

My most favorite time of the year. I love it all. I love the music. I love the parties. I love the food. I love the family time. I love giving. I love wrapping presents. I love white elephant games. I love the cold weather. I love the lights and decorations.

Our tree is decorated and quad-proofed(well sort-of)!

More fun decorations!

I love the smell of a fire burning. I love those tacky Christmas sweaters (alright…love might be too strong of a word here, but they do make me smile.) I love sharing in the excitement as my niece and nephews anticipate the arrival of Santa Claus. I love the true meaning of it all. I love opening my mailbox and receiving Christmas greeting cards (the picture kind please!) I love making memories. I love family traditions and I especially love creating new ones with my family.

Yesterday, we (me, Grandmama, & G.G.) took the babies to get haircuts (boys only) and to the mall for their 2nd annual picture with Santa. (Confession: I absolutely love those pictures where the kids are crying like they are being tortured while in Santa’s lap. I guess I get why we, as parents, subject our kids to that kind of agony – I mean they really DO make cuter pictures, right?!) I was all pumped up and ready for the tears yesterday….bring it on, momma wants a framer..ha! Well, I had one (Jagger) that was pretty cool with old St. Nick. The other three, however, not so much. This was going to be great. Sloan was about to rip my shirt off like she was the Incredible Hulk(although that would not have made for a good photo op), Rocco had real tears and screams to match and Madden was crying while trying wiggle out of my arms to head for the nearest exit. So how did I get this…

A pretty decent picture. Bah-Humbug! There’s always next year ;)

After that wonderful experience,we headed over and ate lunch at Chic-Fil-A and then rode the carousel. Good times, good times.

Rocco

Madden. There’s that look again – he wasn’t diggin’ his tiger. Although, all through lunch he was waving and saying “tiger, tiger.” I’m thinking he might be into long distance relationships.

Then, after naps, we got all dressed up and headed to downtown Baton Rouge for our photo shoot for our Christmas cards. Yes, busy day. There is nothing quite like picture day. I mean it really is exhausting…trying to get 4 toddlers to “stay still”, “smile”, “say cheese”, “no, stop, no, sit”, “stand up”, “put your shoe on”, “get that rock out of your mouth”, “look at me”, “wait”, “just one more”, “let’s try that again”….and on and on. But it was a beautiful day….

Beautiful blue skies…not too cool, not too warm. Perfect.

A talented photographer, new haircuts, new clothes, and 4 happy well-rested kids…what could go wrong?

How about 4 kids that will NOT smile(in a group) when a camera is pulled out…it didn’t matter that their mother was flailing around like a buffoon dancing and singing. Nope, not gonna smile.

Seriously guys? c’mon.

How about shoes that won’t stay on…

Not even cotton balls and duck tape could do the trick…BUT they were REALLY cute!

Oh and how about a busted chin…

Thankfully, this happened at the end when we were wrapping up…poor baby girl.

Seriously though, we did get some cute shots in the end, but boy, did we have to work for them! Thanks Chad!

Today. Our elf came! If you are not familiar with Elf On The Shelf, you should check it out. From what I hear, it is clever and fun way to keep your kids behaving during the holiday season. I realize our kids are a little young and may not quite understand what our elf’s job is, but our cousins have been writing letters to their elves (not to mention including the request in their nightly prayers) to please send Sloan, Rocco, Madden & Jagger their elf. Please. Please. PLEASE. Low and behold, our elf arrived this morning…with a letter.

Yes, our elf’s name is Riggins. (For you FNL fans ;)

Do you see him? Look closer.

There he is! Whatcha doin’ there Riggs?

The cousins showing the babies their elf

Of course, we don’t forget the true reason for the season. We have already started teaching the kids about Jesus and His love for them and all of us.

Jagger and Madden saying “hello Baby Jesus!”

Merry Christmas to all and….

to all a good night!

Love,

Kami

Full Hearts

2010-11-25T10:07:00.001-06:00

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.”
1 Chronicles 16:34(NIV)

Happy Thanksgiving from the Lambes! Now go get your gobble on!

…to the beat of their own drum

2010-11-19T21:39:00.001-06:00

When it was time for our little army to eat a meal or snack, we have always marched them to their quad table. Sloan started marching like this first and the boys soon followed with the same exact marching style. So this really isn’t new in our household, but it is the first time I have gotten it on video(everyone except for Sloan).

Hope you have a great weekend!

Love,

Kami

Yeah…I’m with the band

2010-11-01T23:51:00.001-05:00

Before we get to the real deal costumes, I thought I would share some of our other festive pics of the season. These next couple were taken under the persimmon tree on the compound.

S, R, M, J – in their new glow-in-the-dark pj’s
**The first time they wore these to bed…Rocco cried and cried when we turned off the lights. Poor little guy was so afraid of the mysterious glow illuminating from his body. He didn’t glow all night ;) and we got a good laugh out of it!

Awww…sweet Sloan loving on Rocco! Happy Halloween little Lambes!

And Happy Birthday to our Big Pop – the best Big Pop (or pig pop as they would say) in the world!

We started brainstorming on ideas a few months back on what to dress the kids as for our Halloween party. Of course, we are still in the phase where they have no opinions and WE get to pick their costumes…which is OH SO much fun for me! I know in a couple of years it will be different (still fun though, seeing each of their personalities shine through.) So we went through the list , Wizard of Oz characters, 3 little pigs and big bad wolf - funny to think of Sloan dressed as the wolf, but not quite what I had in mind, um…let’s see…what else….well anyway, there were a lot of choices. How do you decide? So pretty often we get comments or questions about the kids’ names. Many people say how they sound like rock star names or ask if we named them after rock stars. No, we didn’t. But we liked the idea :) And that is how we got to this…

Guns N’ Rattles (because New Quads on the Block wasn’t cool enough for daddy)

They really got in to playing the part…haha! (Front to Back: S, R, M, J)

They even come with their own stage names…

Sloanie Sloan – our pop princess!

Roc-O – our classic rock guy, complete with bandana and smokey eyes!

MJ – our pop guy, Justin Timberlake inspired with fedora and skinny jeans!

Lil’ Jag – our punk rocker, complete with green faux-hawk and tatted sleeve!

Rock on sista!

Diva and daddy

Rockin’ the guyliner!

Down and dirty!

Just a swingin’

Oh MY cute baby booty in skinny jeans!

Who says punks can’t play football?

Lookin' for some groupies

Some other cute costumes at the party…

Baby Cash as a bag of cash and his parents, the bank robbers

Disco diva and Pocahontas

Rylee Shaine as pink cat

Evan as Guns N’ Rattles’ Agent

Trick or treating - rock and roll style….

“Make way…band coming through”

Daddy and Sloan leading the pack– the girl got it after the first house when she saw the candy go in her pumpkin. She was not letting go of that pumpkin…no way!

Jagger with Grandaddy – he was doing his thing!

Madden and Nanny – having a good time!

Grandmama & Rocco – our pokey man

Lil’ Jag: “Hey…where’d my bus go?”

Sloanie Sloan checking out her loot

“Hurry Daddy, the paparazzi spotted us!”

Hope y’all had a safe and fun Halloween!

Love,

Kami (a.k.a. G N’ R’s #1 fan)

Pumpkin Patch Kids

2010-10-26T21:46:00.001-05:00

Remember this from last year…..

2009 - Jagger, Rocco, Sloan, Madden

Today, we went back to the same pumpkin patch for some new pictures.

2010 – Sloan, Madden, Jagger, Rocco
(Geez guys – can I get one smile, PLEASE? Same expressions as last year…LOL)
Love it!

Okay guys…so it’s not QUITE as comfy as our choo-choo wagon!

Rocco: “I see you!”

Jagger Cole

Sweet boy

Hay Madden!

Sloan

My funny girl!

I love making new memories with the kids. And this week we are gearing up for our big Halloween Bash! I can’t wait to share this year’s costumes with you, but until then here is last year’s…

Cutest lambs EVER!

Love,

Kami

Future Tigers

2010-10-24T21:18:00.001-05:00

We had a fun time watching the big game on Saturday even though OUR tigers didn’t bring home the victory. It’s OK Tigers…we’ll get ‘em next time!

2028 LSU Defensive Line
(Rocco, Jagger, Cash, Gavin, Madden)

Our newest cousins – Cash and Gavin
Can you handle ALL that cuteness?

S, R, M, J

Jagger: “Go Long!”

Hope you have a great week!

Love,
Kami

Four Little Lambes at the Zoo

2010-10-21T22:24:00.001-05:00

I can’t believe we waited this long to bring the kids to the zoo. Right now they really love looking at animals in books and they know alot of the sounds they make so I just knew this was going to be a great age to take them. I was so excited for their reactions to see real LIVE animals. Not to mention we have been having great zoo weather!

I think tigers are probably the most popular animal in our household….with no influences from momma & daddy, I promise! So when I realized the tiger exhibit was the first one, I was anxious to show them and hoped that the tigers were awake.

At the first exhibit, they were sleeping.

I think Sloan was the only one that really noticed the sleeping tiger

At the second exhibit, the tiger was walking straight towards us. Notice the body language:
Sloan & Rocco – watching & maybe even leaning in a bit
Madden – If he wasn’t strapped in, I know he would have been out of that wagon SO fast!
Jagger – Also wanting to jump out the wagon. Make no mistake even though he was pointing at the tiger, I will tell you he was crying all the while saying “Tiger, Tiger!”
I really wish I had video footage of this. The pic just doesn’t do it justice.

Roc and Sloan and a little monkey

Pretty walk through the nature trail!

Waiting for the otters to come out and play

There’s one!

3 cool dudes!

After the tiger scare, Jagger did pretty well with the rest of the animals. Madden, on the other hand, did not. He was just a little uneasy of every moving non-human. This was a bit of a surprise to us because he is not usually frightened so easily.

This was pretty much Madden’s face (and he had the whine to go with it) when we said “LOOK at the _________!!!” It was actually kind of funny…my poor buddy!

Rocco entering the hippo

Madden finding it much more fun to be playing on the playground away from all those stinky animals!

What a great memory this zoo trip is! Can’t wait to make many many more! Maybe we’ll go to the New Orleans Zoo next time.

Love,

Kami

The Big Move

2010-10-11T22:31:00.001-05:00

Ahhh…feels good to be blogging again. So this time I have a perfectly legitimate excuse for my blogging hiatus. We have moved! As you may know, moving in itself is a very daunting task and to do it with four toddlers in the mix…well let’s just say I underestimated how hard that would really be. Whew…am I so glad that it’s over! Before we left, our good friend Chad Keith took these great family photos in front of the kids’ first home for us to remember and show them when they get older.

Great memories here!

So sweet!

This is one of my favs – even Lucy made the pic!

For those of you that know us, you are probably not too surprised to learn that we are now living on the “compound.” For those that may not know us or know what the compound is, let me explain. The compound is our fun way of calling the 8 or so acres where my mom and dad and both of my brother’s families live. This was not always our plan – to live on the compound, but I will say we are very excited about our children growing up here. I can’t think of anything better than being close to family. And I know – this doesn’t work for every family, but it really does work for ours. We are currently living with G.G. and Big Pop (how awesome are they – I mean talk about completely shake your whole peaceful, semi-retired life to the core, right?) while we build our forever home on the compound. So so exciting!

So what does life mean while living at ~~G.G. and Big Pop’s~~ our new home? WELL, let’s see…

It means our VERY own playground.

It means playing with our 6 cousins EVERY day because they live right next door.

It means getting a little dirtier.

It means sleeping in cool new bunk beds (just Madden & Sloan in the bottom)

It means more visits to Grandmama’s and Grandaddy’s because they are even closer to us now!

It means group baths in the big tub (even though it breaks momma’s back!)

It means swinging in the cave!

It means getting a little extra lovin’….because we were so deprived before!

Yeah, I would say they are pretty much loving life right about now!

Hope you have a great week!

Love,

Kami

Painting with Pudding?!?

2010-08-27T16:42:00.001-05:00

and enjoying the medium…

Have a great weekend!

Love,
Kami

18 months and counting…

2010-08-22T17:00:00.002-05:00

Since this is our virtual baby book, I need to take the time to write down everything about our 18 month-old quaddies. Rest assured, this post also has pictures and even a video so if you want to skip over all this baby talk…by all means go right ahead!

What’s a household with four toddlers like? Busy, busy, busy. We still stick to a schedule…although we may deviate from time to time. I think this is still best for both momma and the kiddos. Our schedule these days looks a little like this:

7-7:30 – Wake up and breakfast
9:30 – 10:30-45– naptime (all four on a good day!)
11:00 – snack
12:30 or 1 – lunch
2:00 – 3:30 – naptime (yes…we still have two-a-days! Hallelujah!)4:00 – Snack
6:30 – Supper
7:00 – Baths
7:30 – Bedtime (We are a long way from our 2 hour nightly routine!)

And when they are not eating or sleeping, they are busy ~~destroying~~ playing in the living room. It’s too hot to go on walks outside these days so if we are in the mood for a walk…we load up and go to the mall. At least once a week, we head to G.G. and Big Pop’s to go swimming…they love that! The babies still get OT and PT so the therapists come to “play” with them a couple days a week too!

Words we are saying (consistently): tiger (a favorite in our house – still working on LSU), dog, cat, bear, daddy, momma, fish, book, nose, bite, toes, eye, shoe, peek-a-boo, G.G., nanny, Pop, ball, light, duck, more, go, night night, bye-bye, car, juice, truck – to name a few. We have heard some tougher words that they say but maybe not as consistently as the others – kangaroo, grandmama, grandaddy, dinosaur, library, church. And of course, they love animal sounds too!

What are our favorite activities? reading (or being read to rather), playing in the ball pit, sliding, swimming, taking baths, watching Einstein, singing songs, climbing on furniture (a fairly new activity!), playing chase and being tickled. Oh, they LOVE to be outside…it’s just SO hot right now. We can’t wait for the cooler weather!

I am always looking for little outings that are fun and manageable. Just last week we took them to Portrait Innovations for their 18 month photo shoot. The photographer, Mary Beth, pulled me aside before we began to ask me about my “expectations.” I had to laugh because I know she was trying to feel me out to see how much pressure she was under to get all the kids looking, smiling, and in position. I think she was relieved to know that all I was expecting was four in the shot together! I believe she took 127 pictures in 20 minutes. We got a couple of decent shots…

Madden, Sloan, Rocco, Jagger

I love this picture for 3 reasons:
1. The boys are staring at us like we are idiots – if you only knew the shenanigans going on behind the camera, sometimes I think that would make the better picture!
2. I love Rocco’s hand on Madden. Too sweet!
3. Sloan, Sloan Sloan – that girl! She just would NOT sit down. You can even see in the first shot she is about to come out of that chair. This is just HER at this age, and I have proof…

Oh it is so a game! Since this is the reality of the situation, I always end up with a lot of pictures that look like this…

So these days it’s hard to get that perfect picture…maybe one day soon they will cooperate a little better! Until then, let’s remember this one…

Ahhhhh!

And now for 18 month stats…

Sloan
25#10ozs
31 3/4” tall
11 teeth

Rocco
24#13ozs
31 7/8” tall
13 teeth

Madden
22#3ozs
30 1/2” tall
12 teeth

Jagger
23# 11ozs
30 3/4” tall
14 teeth

It’s already hard for us to remember how small they use to be. I really had fun putting this video together and seeing just how much a difference a year makes! WOW!

Love,
Kami

Cut-n-Up

2010-08-12T10:36:00.001-05:00

Well, we finally decided it was time for our little babies to become big boys and get their first big boy haircut. The haircut was overdue, sure, but I think I was a little hesitant to take that baby look away from them. Just a little clean up…this would be good. Big Pop, G.G. and I loaded up all 4 and brought them to this wonderful salon that caters solely to children. It’s walk-ins only so we went on a Tuesday hoping that we wouldn’t have to wait too long….very good decision, we were in and out in no time!

Before shots:

Rocco - I mean, we always consider a mullet sighting a score, but I guess it is a little different if your own kid is rocking one!

Madden – saying goodbye to his not-so-cool do!

Jagger - “What momma? what’s wrong with a butt-cut?!”

Up first…Madman.

“OOOoooh Nice!”

Big Pop and Sloanie watching from the viewing room

Jag’s turn…

“Yeah, I’m cool!”

Roc Star…

“What is this lady doing to me?!?”

Finished product…

Thanks Brooke for making our dudes even MORE handsome!

Hope you are having a great week! Oh and by the way, the kiddos are 18 months old today!!!! Happy half birthday little Lambes!

Love,

Kami

Our First Family Vacation

2010-08-01T10:26:00.001-05:00

Orange Beach, Alabama - 7/7/10 - 7/14/10. We survived! Not only did we survive but we had a wonderful time. Let me just tell you about it.

What typically should be a 4 hour drive, it took us about 5 hours to get there...not too bad considering our load! We (Big Pop and G.G. were following us), stopped for about an hour to eat lunch and give the kids a break. My brothers and their families along with our friends, Jeff & Heather, and their two girls were all meeting us there. That's 10 adults and 11 kids(all under the age of 9)! It was wild but SO much fun. Before we left, I was quite concerned on how well the babies would adjust to being away from home an extended period of time. We have deviated from our strict schedule in the past, but this was going to be the ultimate test. I was especially concerned about them sleeping. They were going to be in our bedroom on the floor each in their own peapod. They have napped in them a handful of times but never slept in them all night. I was sweatin'. Whew! They did it and did it pretty well, I must say! I am so thankful because if our nights weren't good, our days were bound to be rough! So how did we spend our days? Swimming, of course, now that they are swim school graduates ;), eating, napping, and playing with our cousins! We only went to the beach one day - that sand creates all kinds of problems when you have four toddlers! BUT this would be their first time at the beach and in the sand so we couldn't wait for them to experience it...

Love it!

Madden: "Is it time to go yet?"

"What's the big deal?"
Once she got used to it, she loved it!

Rocco: "Can someone pick me up now?"

Jagger: "I'm not sure I like this stuff."

Probably my favorite picture from our trip...their first real look of the ocean. I wonder what they were thinking?

On Friday, we had a short but SWEET visit from the Cochran family. Sandra and Matt came to visit with their four almost 2 year olds, Cannon, Gunner, Lauren and Avery, along with their five year old...beautiful, sweet, hilariously funny and oh so helpful daughter, Hannah Noelle! I adore this family and am so glad they got to come play with us! As you can imagine when swimming with 8 toddlers, there wasn't many free hands to take group pictures. Sandra manage to capture this one for us...

the Lambes and the Cochrans

Nick left half-way through the week so he could get home and get back to work, and Nanny Alicia drove over to stay the rest of the week with us. What a blessing she is! Before Nick left, we made sure to get a family picture. I guess this was the best we could get...

5 out of 6 looking is not bad, right?!?

I took SO many pictures of our trip. So many that I really had a hard time condensing it to one song! But here goes, hope you enjoy!

Hope you have enjoyed your summer with your family!

Love,
Kami