my little big boy!

Usually Jackson tries so hard to be as big as Hailey. He wants to have a juice box, drink out of a big boy cup, go potty on the toilet, buckle his own seat belt, sit on the bench for dinner, ride a bike, go down the fireman's pole, jump off the couch...and many, many other things! But, the truth of the matter is- he is closer to Maysen and Maelle's age than Hailey's. 

Korey and I are always giggling at how cute Jackson is and the funny stuff he says and does. Hailey tries so hard to be funny and make us giggle, but Jack- he just is funny. He's always doing funny stuff on accident. :)  Last night, Korey was wrestling with Hailey and I said that the tickle monster was going to come and get her and poor Jack got so scared and crawled onto my lap with a little whimper because he thought that a monster was coming and he was scared of it :) He's kind of a little "chicken" and scared of a lot of stuff, but that just makes him all the more precious in my sight! My all time favorite, though, is how he takes Hailey so seriously. He assumes that she's the boss of him and whatever she tells him he must do. And, for him, that often means giving up his sippy cup or his special plate or sitting on the side of the sandbox, crying, because his sister said he was in a time out. It cracks me up how much he adores her and listens to her! He really is the most easy going kid (most of the time...unless you give him milk when he wanted juice, you sit in his chair, take his blankie or he sees a treat that he wants...) and I love that. He never whines or complains about Hailey taking whatever bowl of snacks she wants or whatever plate of food or whatever sippy cup. He never throws fits about going down for a nap or to bed- he just blows kisses and off he goes. He even will substitute one of the baby's blankets for his, if I forget his. He doesn't often throw a fit about going somewhere or leaving from somewhere. He just sorta goes with the flow and is willing to do whatever we all do (or whatever Hailey wants to do)! The only place that he really truly hates to go is the church nursery and even at that, as long as we send the babies and a blankie he doesn't throw a fit! (usually) :)

 I'm really glad that my little boy is not growing up as fast as he'd like. I am so enjoying his age and his sweet, precious spirit! I don't want him to loose that. I know that someday he's gonna grow up and get bigger and not want to snuggle with me. I know that someday he's gonna go out and play catch with his Daddy instead of fighting over my lap. I know that someday he's not gonna be satisfied and comforted with a hug, a sippy cup and his blankies. I know he's not always gonna be fearful and run to his mommy for security. I know that someday those little bumps and bruises are probably going to be much worse. Sadly enough, I even know that someday he's gonna give up his 3 hour afternoon nap and just play all day...So, for now, I'll just revel in the fact that Jackson is still a baby and that he loves his momma, loves his sisters, and loves his blankies! :) 

Kelly's new house!

 Last Friday Korey's little sister and her husband bought a new house...on Saturday we went up to visit and check it all out. It was super fun to see it before any work done- now we'll be able to fully appreciate all the work they do :) It's such a cute little house, perfect for a first home!! 

It even came with a fun glider rocking chair that the kids both loved playing on. 

 May and Ellie had a great time rolling around on the floor- cleaning it with their little butts :) 

 the best part about the house (if you ask hailey) is that there's an extra room with a bed in it- all ready for Hailey to go up and visit. She was even calling it her bedroom already :)

 the kids were already "breaking in" the new bed and trying out it's "bouncyness" ;)

Congratulations on the new house, Kelly and Ben! Thanks for letting us visit and see it!! 

no words needed for this sweet picture

8 years...

Today in church I realized that it was only 8 short years ago, this weekend, after a church picnic, that a very cute boy- who was home from Madison for the weekend- asked me to go run errands with him at Walmart...and the rest, as they say is history!! 

I'm soooo thankful for this man. He is my rock. I just absolutely adore him. I think he's super sexy and incredibly hot. I know that I am (without a doubt) more in love with him today than I was the day that we got married and I know that I think he's way more incredible now than I did then. I've seen him weather some pretty huge "catastrophes"and do it all with humor and grace. I've seen him cry at his grandpa's funeral, I've seen him tear up as he held his beautiful first born daughter, I saw him glow with pride as he held his son who looked so much like him and I saw his fear filled daddy eyes as he followed his twin daughters to the NICU. He has held me and comforted me, through some of the scariest, darkest and most fearful times of my life. He has made me laugh at his silly stories, songs, and antics. He has kept me hopping and going trying to keep up with his energy and stamina. He taught me to fish, to shoot a gun, and most importantly to kill my own spiders. He does laundry- even folding tiny little baby clothes. He makes dinner. He mows the lawn. He feeds babies- I call him the great baby whisperer, because even if Maysen or Maelle won't take a bottle from me- they always do from him. This man means more to me than anything else in the whole world. I just love how we can be whoever we are with one another. That we can laugh at ourselves with each other. That we can be embarrassed but then come home and tell the other one and laugh and giggle and make fun of each other and it's all ok, 'cause we know we are head over heels in love! All those things about Korey are so wonderful, but what I like the best is that I know that he is going to come home every night. I love the security of knowing that even though my bed may be empty for a night or two that he'll be back and that he's always gonna be there. There is absolutely no way that I could handle each and every day without the knowledge that Korey's got my back!

I love you, honey, and I'm so glad that you invited me on that "date" to Walmart 8 years ago!! Let's get away to Walmart, again, some day soon!! ;) hehehe!! 

6 months!

Maysen Ann and Maelle Kay have been a part of our family for 1/2 a year, now!! Yikes! Can you believe it?? I, seriously, can not!! It truly doesn't feel like I've been a mom of 4 for that long, but I guess it's true- the calendar doesn't lie :) 

Here are some new photos of my two sweet princesses!

these girlies are growing up fast, too! It's leaving all of us in awe and just plain impressed with all the stuff they're learning and doing these days:

*Both girlies LOVE the swing outside. We found a second one, now, and they both just love to sit out there and swing and watch Hailey and Jackson run around and play- it's wonderful!!  

*Both of them are eating cereal, mixed with some prune juice. 

*Maelle is still our "mover and shaker" of the two and gets around a lot more, but it's not because Maysen can't, because when she wants to she'll get all over the basement, she just seems more content to just sit and play with certain toys and let Maelle do all the rolling around :)

*Both girls are getting up on their hands and knees and rocking! I know- super YIKES!! 

*Maysen tends to smile and chat a little bit more than Maelle, but now that I say that I'm sure Maelle will be the chattier one tomorrow- they love to prove me wrong :)

*the girls are still doing great at nursing together and even with the fact that they're getting a little bigger- they are so much easier to feed. My back has been killing me because of the weird position we have to sit in, but it's still nicer than before! And...the best part is- they are eating a TON faster, now!! Yay! the longest they nurse is in the morning and that's sometimes for 30 min, but all the other times are under 15 minutes!! woohoo for more time to do other things!! :) (boohoo for less excuses to not fold my laundry...) ;) 

*the girls also are getting a little harder to keep on the same schedule. It seems like every other day one of them will want to sleep less/more than the other one and it's so incredibly hard to wake the good sleeper up, knowing that when I put them both down one of them is going to scream and cry 'cause she's not ready to fall asleep yet! I have heard that this is just a stage and I'm hoping it's a very short lived one :)

*May and Ellie are just the biggest smilers and they both love to giggle and it's so much fun!! We all have been enjoying them tons- especially Korey and Hailey!! :)

*Both of the girls are sitting up in the shopping cart- making it a lot easier to take them grocery shopping or on trips to Target ;) 

*I really can't believe that we all made it 6 months. I've heard that the first 6 months with twins is the hardest and I'm praying my heart out that that is true. I have really loved being a mom of twins and have enjoyed life with these two little ones, but it has been an exhausting and purely crazy 6 months and I'm just really looking forward to a little bit of an easier time in the next 6 months! (or at least hoping for it...) 

Great Grandma Yetter

I have always had a special place in my heart for my Grandma Yetter...not sure if it's because she lived around the corner from us, because we're so much a like (we even both burn cookies, because we're so busy trying to do a million things and forget about them...), or because she just let me get away with so much, but for whatever the reason I just love this dear lady!! She is one of the biggest reasons I've always been sad that I don't live super close to my mom or Korey's mom. I have such fond sweet memories of picking wild plums in her woods, sneaking over to her house, eating popsicles, "stealing" frozen grapes out of the freezer, watching TGIF shows at her house, sliding across her floor on the little slippers she knitted, helping her clean, and playing with my cousin at her house! She was one of the first people to see each of my children after they were born and I think it is the sweetest thing in the world to see her enjoy my kiddos! 

 I love you, Grandma!

Jack really is probably her "favorite", but he was sleeping while we were taking pictures, so she didn't get to have any with one of her only great-grandsons! (my cousin gave her two) :) 

great moments

life has been crazy and fun here...here are some highlights:

a few nights ago I forgot to turn the baby monitor on...oops! Not sure if it's coincidence, but surprisingly the girls slept the longest they had in days that morning ;)

 this sweet little princess decided to play "kitty" and pee in the sandbox...her great mom could barely stop laughing long enough to tell her that wasn't really a great idea!

She also learned how to "pump" on the swing!! woohoo!

 this little girl (Maelle) and her sister have started getting up on their hands and knees and rocking back and forth!! AHHHH!! would it be bad if I just pushed them down?? I'm so not ready for them to be crawling around... 

 both Hailey and Jackson are spending a lot of time outside, these days, and I don't always have the ability to push them on the swing or put them on the swingset...so, Jack learned how to struggle and pull himself up on  swingset so he can head down the slide, run over the bridge or even, yes, try out the fireman's pole!

Jack and Allie have become fast friends, lately :) I think Allie's just so deprived of love and wants so badly to have someone pet her and pay attention to her that she doesn't care who it is, so she's had a lot more patience with Jack and has even been letting him crawl on her and hug her up :) 

 food has apparently been a big deal around here...we had decorate your own waffles one night when daddy worked late, oreos for breakfast the other day, thanks to my great neighbor, pickles for dinner (at least for Hailey, who gave all her hamburger to Jack and stole all his pickles)

Maysen and Maelle have started eating food!! woohoo! I dropped one of their late feedings and it has been AMAZING for all of us :) It's a little annoying to feed two babies, but it's totally worth it- plus, don't they look adorable in their little highchairs?? :) 

 One of the biggest advantages to having all your kids close together is that they are all at the same "stage" and they don't mind entertaining and playing with one another!! It's absolutely precious how much the younger two love watching the older two and the older two love playing with and smiling at the younger two!! 

My all time favorite, though, is the garbage trucks...Jack finally figured out that they come in the morning and pick up our garbage and he's been LOVING it! We've all had to sit and watch and wave at them...and we've all had to cry with and try to console the sad little boy when he realizes that it doesn't come every day- just on Tuesdays :) 

comments

It's kind of weird the type of comments we get about our family...it ranges from the "yikes! all these kids are yours??"  to, "How do you do it?" to, "wow! I wish I had twins" or "I always wanted twins" to, "I have kids 13 months apart- that's just like twins" to, "you guys are amazing. I could never handle all those kids"! It just never ceases to amaze me how people are going to react and I feel like I hold back or act "guarded" until I see how they react. I know it shouldn't matter how people react, I know I shouldn't care what anyone else thinks, and I know that nothing matters other than what Jesus Christ thinks of me, but I still struggle with it! In fact, I found out I was pregnant about a year ago and didn't tell anyone because I was so embarrassed and was so afraid of what people would think! (how pathetic, huh?!) So, yesterday, we got some not so wonderful comments from a lady and I thought I had been prepared for that and was almost "waiting" for it, but it still took me by surprise and angered, shocked and saddened me! All these reactions have been good for me, though. They have made me truly re-think my reactions to people and made me come up with some good "retorts" and really made me think a lot about what I say when people say things to me! It's always better to react to people and things in a positive way and even more than that it's better to react in a God-honoring way! It's nice when people say things to us like, "wow! you guys have really clean and un-smelly kids. I would never know you had 4 little kids" (ok, so it's nice to be held to such a low standard, but come on- would you really expect that I should have smelly kids, just because I have 4 of them?? besides- kids love water and Mom's love free time- they sorta go hand in hand) :) But, it's still not a "good" response! Because it's putting all the good on Korey and I. It's slightly less wonderful than saying, "you guys are amazing", but it's in the same category and it's basically putting us on a pedestal and it's a little scary to be up there. It's not only a lonely place and bad for my ego, but it's a place that I'm definitely going to fall from, because the chances of my kids being "smelly" or unkept looking or badly behaving is fairly good- we all have times where our kids look bad, act bad or smell bad, right?! 

So, how should we react when people tell us stuff that seems horrible, awful or overwhelming?? How should we react to scary, intimidating or crazy news? (don't get me wrong- I still react negatively when I hear some news that seems "wrong" to me...I'm just working on it and trying my best to react correctly and say the right thing) I truly don't think that having 4 children is anywhere akin to having some sort of disabling disease or cancer or any other seemingly horrendous news, but apparently it is pretty awful- judging by the reactions we receive, so here are my top 5 things that we shouldn't ever say to a mom with a lot of kids!

You should never:

1)swear in front of children- regardless of how many a mom has, they still have ears and mouths and tend to pick up on words much better than you think!!

2)make a huge deal of  how many children someone has...children are a blessing from the Lord and when we are given a blessing from God we don't throw it back in His face and say we don't want it

3)say "I could never do that" because you never know what you can do until you have to! You have an amazing strength resevoir that you probably don't even tap into most days! (as do I and I am guilty of not using it)

4)say, "God never gives us more than we can handle and you should take that as a compliment". As nice as that is, it's totally WRONG! God never promised not to give us more than WE could handle He promised not to give us more than HE could handle!! I think that's precisely why He gave me 4 kids that are so close in age- He knew I couldn't handle it and that each day I would have to rely on His strength or I'd fall apart and He likes to keep me at a place where I need Him daily!

5)tell a woman that abortion would have been an option for one or two of her children! NEVER, EVER, EVER!! 

Instead here is what we should say:

"wow. Look at all those beautiful  blessings from God. Your heart must be incredibly full of love. I have no idea how you handle it- I will pray for you!" (and then do it) :) 

I think that regardless of what is going on in our life and what news we have to share, just telling someone that we will pray for them is always a great response! Because, truth be told- I don't know how I handle it, either...I just don't have a choice. I have to get up each day- feed babies, dress toddlers, make meals, change diapers, wash clothes, clean little bodies, talk silly, wrestle, play trucks, and enjoy life- and since no one is offering to do it for me and I wouldn't take them up on it, if they did, I just have to take God at His Word, grasp onto His promise of strength and "do" life!! 

mini "me"

Jackson has looked like Korey since the moment he was born and has pretty much acted like him for that long, too, so you'd think that I'd get used to it, but honestly, it still takes me by surprise how much he acts like his Daddy and ALWAYS- without fail- puts a HUGE smile on my face!! I absolutely adore Korey and I love seeing Jackson act like him! :) 

 Ever since my friends started posting photos of their sons and husbands with lawnmowers I've been dying to get one of Korey and Jack...unfortunately, Jackson has been a little "skittish" of the lawnmower- specifically the noise of it! So, I've been talking it up a lot...got him his own lawnmower...and been patiently waiting for this day:

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my "men" :)  

(you may notice that Jack's not super close to Korey, but I guess it's safer that way, right?!) ;) 

fuzzy heads

that's what Hailey and I have begun affectionately calling the twins these days, 'cause their hair is so fuzzy :) Enjoy some pictures of our little fuzzy heads living life!! (check out #2- it's Maysen chewing on Maelle's head...)

Mothers of Multiples

(or MoMs) are a different and special group of ladies...they have a funny sense of humor, a huge amount of compassion, the ability to "feel" you...in short- they just "get" each other! I know this because last night I did something that was incredibly out of my comfort zone- I left my house after my kids were put to bed(when I'm usually changing into pajamas and settling in for the night), I took a bag of chips, an iced tea and took a drive, all by myself to a MoM's garage sale preview event! This was such a huge thing for me because, as much as I love meeting people and talking to them- I like to have my "comfort" with me- generally in the form of Korey, Hailey, Jack, Maysen, or Maelle. But, Korey pushed me out of the house and made me go and as much as I hate to admit he's right- I had a great time, I found some great deals, and I enjoyed driving in peace and quiet! The best part of it all was meeting mom's like me! I know that Mom's of twins have no corner on the "busy" market nor are they the only mom's who are overwhelmed, overworked, and overburdened; but it's definitely a different kind of overwhelming than I felt with either of my other kids! Never before have I met a group of mom's who I could just say, "I'm overwhelmed" and they absolutely knew immediately what it felt like, what I was feeling and could just give you that "I know" look! It was AMAZING to meet other mom's who knew exactly what I meant when I said I loved and hated nursing my twins...when I complained that I felt like a milk cow, but just couldn't bring myself to wean them...when I said my back hurt from it, I got looks of knowing and remembering...when I asked for advice and encouragement they were actually able to supply it from their experience! The second best part was meeting tons of mom's with older twins and hearing their stories of how cute their kids are and what my life will be like soon. In some ways Hailey and Jackson already have a very close relationship, but according to these mom's that is going to be nothing compared to what the M&M's relationship is going to be like and that's so exciting to me! It gives me hope- keeps me going- encourages me- reminds me that its not always going to be like it is now!  Mostly it was just great to meet other mom's who had twins and had survived! They all looked like they had it a little more together than me and that gave me hope! Hope that someday I won't be just surviving, hope that someday I'm going to have more time and energy to enjoy my twins, hope that someday I won't fall in to bed physically exhausted and overwhelmed every night, hope that truly God did know what He was doing when He blessed me with these two cherubs and lastly, hope that He will see me through it- just like He is these mom's! 

more of the bike...

the kids and I went on our first bike and walk this morning...it was soo fun!

 doesn't she look so proud??  and happy??

 needless to say, Jack is not very happy that he doesn't have a bike to ride and has to ride in the stroller with the babies!

 the babies sure aren't unhappy about it, though!! :)

(of course we had to stop at a park...because there's like 500 of them in our town and you can't go anywhere without passing one) :)

AHHH! do you see these two daredevils at the top of the huge slide??

(at least Hailey's still wearing her bike helmet...that should protect her) :) 

 gotta love sisterly love

 too bad for Maysen there were only 3 swings...she didn't seem to mind, though, she enjoyed hanging out in the stroller chewing on the book she and Maelle always "fight" over!

 poor Maelle had to chew on the swing...i know, I know- it's kind of gross, but, seriously, isn't this one of the cutest pictures you've ever seen?? and look at those huge rolls on her arms??!! Ahhh, you gotta just love it! :)

I told you I thought Hailey's new bike was cute :)