Painting with Pudding?!?

and enjoying the medium…

Have a great weekend!

Love,
Kami

18 months and counting…

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

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

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

My So-Called Blog

Who knew it would be so difficult to keep up with day to day happenings in the Lambe household!  Man, you would think I had school-age kids home for the summer with how busy we’ve been around here.  Truth is, I have quite a bit to report so I will just use this post to play catch up.  I apologize in advance if it is a bit lengthy, but we do use this blog as somewhat of a baby book and I would regret not getting these firsts written down. Hmm..where to start? That’s easy.

Look Who’s Walking?!?

That’s right, the little Lambes are ALL walking.  Sloan was first to walk a few days shy of her 15 month birthday. (Please be nice and not point out the fact that that was over TWO months ago and I’m just now posting!)  She had been taking unassisted steps for over a month before but never more than 5 or 6, and then one night, she just walked right across the room!  Needless to say, she is loving this new found independence.  

“Look at me Momma!”

So Sloan was first, and then about 3 weeks later, it was…Rocco, Jagger and Madden (all a day or two or three apart.)

Rocco, Madden and Jagger showing off their skillz!

Like I mentioned, Sloan had been practicing her steps for over a month when she decided to start walking so she was a little more graceful than boys.  Seriously, I don’t know if we have ever laughed so hard watching the boys try to walk.  I would sit on the couch and just take in the scene…three miniature drunk men staggering, stumbling, falling down all over the place.  What I loved the most about it was that they were LOVING it!  It was like a new trick.  ‘Konk my head on the brick floor…doesn’t matter…get up and try again!’ laughing the whole time.  Here’s a little snippet of their trial and error…

Our life is completely and forever changed now that we have four walking babies toddlers! Yikes!  Just like with every milestone, we never cease to praise our Lord above for the miracles that they are and the joy that they bring into our home.

Walking? What Next? Swimming?

Yep.  You read right.  The little Lambes graduated from their first swim school.  Last year, a close friend of mine enrolled her daughter, who is about a year older than mine, in a “first splash” swim class.  She told me all about it and I had to check it out for myself.  I was amazed at how well these young kids were doing even only after 2 weeks.  Since my parents have a pool, I knew we would be in the water quite a bit and thought it would be a good idea to expose them early hopefully making them more comfortable in the water.  Our lessons were the first two weeks of June (a month and a half ago…ahem..be nice) and it was Mommy & Me class (or in our case…Daddy, G.G., Grandmama, Nanny, Big Pop or the mail carrier – as long as he’s available!)

The class started off very slow..easing the kids into it. They learned how to blow bubbles in the water, kick their feet, move their arms and they even got to go underwater.  I must admit, half-way through the course (on underwater day) I started to question if the class was the right thing to do.  Although Sloan did great from day 1 – totally fearless that girl, the boys didn’t love it…at times they only tolerated it.   Well we stuck it out, and boy, am I glad we did!  All four are totally comfortable in the water...more than comfortable, they absolutely LOVE it!  They will go underwater with no problem whatsoever.  Rocco’s favorite thing to do is blow bubbles.  Madden loves to kick; he does it in the bathtub even.  Jagger and Sloan just love it all! 

  Looking good on Show Off Day!

Nanny and Sloanie

Jagger, G.G. and Rocco

Grandmama and Madden

Look at her go!

Madden

Sloan even poses for camera underwater

Jagger – not too sure!

Rocco – even more unsure I think!

Just so I’m clear, by no means are they swimming independently, but they are very comfortable in the water and I believe they did learn things that will help them learn faster to do so.  The class was definitely a success in my book!

Madman Update

Nothing but good news to report! Madden had another checkup in June.  There were no changes in his condition and actually his heart rate was a tad bit higher than it had been, still low for his age but an improvement still the same.  He still remains asymptomatic even with his condition of complete heart block. The doc was so pleased at his appointment that we aren’t scheduled to go back until September!  We are still praying daily for the Lord to heal his heart and praising him for this good news.

Whew!  Now, I feel better.  I still have some more updates coming your way like our first family vacay and first haircuts! Stay tuned.

Love,
Kami