It's Been Too Long

  I can't believe I haven't posted anything since Halloween!  Here are a few photos and videos I came across on my computer.  This first one was taken the day Taze decided Olivia belongs to him.

The next one is titled Warning: Adjust Your Volume Accordingly.  Why do they scream?  Because they can.

Here are some pictures of the babies making their beautiful Christmas decorations:

Taze and his Santa

Liv and her Christmas Tree

Emma Bee with her penguin

Okay guys, let me see them!

Messy hands.  And chin for Livvy.  And shirt for Emma.

Here are some pictures of Taze and Livvy relaxing before naptime. 

Getting tired

Wait! Is Taze fake snoring??

Yeah, I'll totally laugh at that.

We did manage to get out for a walk one day this week.  It was cold but the sun was shining.  Only one baby had a hat in her bag so we improvised in the name of warmth.  The fresh air and exercise were well worth the pink cheeks and red noses.  Unfortunately I forgot to take Taze to the bathroom before we set out, so he had to pee on a bush along the way.  The 35 degree air must have been cold on his bare tushie but he didn't complain.

                            



                                    And we even ran in to a Christmas surprise along the way:

And last but not least...I love this picture!  Look at those teeth!!

HALLOWEEN!!

  Look at these cuties!  I love having little ones around to be excited about Halloween again.  I can't WAIT to do Christmasy stuff!!

Getting ready for our walk

They look like candy corn!

Enjoying the last sunny day for a while

"Hey Livvy, wanna hold hands?"

"...mmm ok.  This is sort of fun"

Besties now

Here's a video of the first time the three of them discovered that holding hands is fun.  Of course they headed straight to Nic's "man cave" where generally they aren't allowed.  Notice the sly look on Taze's face at the very end.

The babies brought their costumes to my house on the day our neighborhood's trick or treat.  They were the cutest things in town.

Fall Fun

This next video appears, from the state of Olivia's hair, to be just after nap.  I'd say I have no idea why Taze is still in his pjs, but that would be untrue.  Some days it just happens.  I get the feeling Emma and Taze are secretly plotting an escape.  Where could they go that could possibly be more fun than this Crazytown?

Three little pumpkins.  I gave them each their own to decorate and they had fun with it.  As you will see from the pictures, Livvy likes to keep things pure and simple.  She decorated all right, but it wasn't complete until it was undecorated.

Getting Started

Good Sharers

Livvy is getting into it

...but not in the mood for photos!

Working Hard

Little Cutie

Proud of his hard work

Finished Products.  Guess which one is Olivia's!

Here are a couple of pics from our walk.  Walks are less frequent now which stinks!  Oh, and the house where they dance on the sewer cap?  Yeah, they have a pit bull now.  We don't linger anymore.

And last we have some pictures of the little ones drawing with markers.

Working intently

I don't like it on my hands.

Watching what appears to be a scary movie.  Hyenas probably.

Funny Story

  I have to type this before I forget how funny this was.  All these comical things happen in the course of my day, but pick up time is so hectic that I usually forget to tell the story.  Livvy loves the letters of the alphabet, particularly the letter B.  Today she runs over with a JC Penney post card advertisement for their BIG sale, excitedly shouting, "I see B!  I see B!"  So I told her to follow me to the kitchen where I got out the scissors and cut out the big B and told her she can keep it.  Well, here came Taze, not wanting to miss out on anything, so I cut out the letter G and told him he could keep it.  By now Emma is on her way over and she's standing at my feet positively dancing.  I guess I was a little slow because I did not realize that the drawer where I got the scissors is directly below the container of Smarties that the kids get when Taze pees in the potty.  So I thought she wanted a letter.  Last letter left is the I, so I cut it out and handed it to her.  By now Livvy and Taze had moved out of the kitchen, Livvy to admire her B and Taze to discard the G, and Emma just stared at the I in her hands.  She started pouting, and I realized she was about to cry.  I said, "What's the matter?  I gave you your very own I".  And she wailed, with perfect enunciation, "I DON'T WANT AN I!"  I'm sure it was way funnier to witness it than to read it, but you have to understand, Emma's face was priceless.  She was completely bewildered to think she was getting candy and receive instead a stinkin letter.  Maybe you just had to be there.

A Lost Gem

I found this video hidden in a file on my computer.  It was taken on the last really warm day before this cold spell hit, so even though it was hot in the house, I was not about to turn on the AC.  So I let all three nap in a diaper, which I never do because I'm scared one of them will take it off in bed.  In this case however, all's well that ends well.

A Video Update

  The babies have this "taking turns" thing down pat!  They don't like it, but they understand it.  Even if one of them is in the midst of grabbing something out of another's hands, if I just say their name in my serious tone (oh yes, I have a serious tone) they will most likely let go.  They won't do it with a smile, but they understand.  Emma's feelings tend to get crushed when I tell her it's not her turn, so thankfully she isn't much of a grabber.  Now I am trying to get them to understand that although taking turns is what we do, sharing can be lots of fun.  It's coming along a little more slowly.  Yesterday Emma had on every single "pretty" in the toy box.  That really agitated Livvy who made a grab for the necklaces around Emma's neck.  After I reminded Livvy that it's Emma's turn, she backed off right away, so I asked Emma which one she thought Livvy could wear so they could both be pretty.  Out of nowhere comes Taze, screaming "NOOOOOO!" at the top of his lungs and actually steps between me and Emma!  Like I was going to rip the jewels off her body or something!  Seriously Taze, Emma can fight her own battles, trust me.  Nice show of chivalry though.  Here are a couple of videos of the kids being funny, which is how they spend most of their time.


This first one is called "I Sure Not". I started taping because Taze and Livvy were playing nicely, with the same toy at the same time.  As always, I grabbed the camera too late.

This next one is Taze trying to lend a helping hand.

And finally, Nic's home.  That's when the real fun begins.

Happy Birthday, Livvy!  The girls and I went to the store today and let Livvy pick out her own birthday present.  She chose a stuffed Minnie (no surprise there) and a blue penguin from a Nick Jr show we haven't seen.  Backyardigans?  Wonder Pets?  Whatever it is, she wanted that penguin.  After nap, when the big kids got home, we had cake.  We tried to sing Happy Birthday first but had to stop midway through because they both started SCREAMING for the cake!


She isn't always so serious!

Lunchtime is usually a good time to snap a few pictures. 

Two Hands!

This was way too awesome!

This is what she does with blocks: builds roads.

Dino Island

I love these toes!!!

Guess I've Been Slacking

Although these kids do things every day, several times, that make me bust out laughing, I seem to blank them out when it comes time to blog and I think I have nothing interesting to write.  I should take notes during the day.  Like when Emma runs out of my sight and starts hollering for herself at the top of her lungs.  "EMMA...?"  It's so funny!  Even though she does it every day, it never gets old.  Yesterday, I was changing her diaper, so my attention was focused on the task at hand and she scared me to death when she suddenly shouted "EMMA!" at the top of her lungs.  I looked up and she was covering her eyes with her hands and hollering for herself.  So funny, that kid.  Or when Livvy was walking along the road of big blocks that she lined up perfectly, but her foot was too close to the edge, causing the block to flip over and her to fall so quickly to the ground she actually did a complete roll.  Just as I jumped up she looked up, hair half covering her face, and said, "Huh?"  It was even funnier because of the way Livvy says "huh".  It's more like, "Huah" and yes, I struggled over the spelling to get it just right.  Anyway, when I realized she wasn't going to cry I backed off and said, "Whoa Liv, you fell hard" and she said (a response I hear 20x a day), "I know!"  And there's the Tazer.  His exploding vocabulary makes him a laugh a minute, when he's not using it to order me around.  He's also territorial so today when Emma was sitting on my lap relaxing, he rushed over.  When he realized I was not going to put her down so he could climb up he announced, "Peeee-ewwww", so I said, "Does something stink?" to which he repiled, "Yes. Emma".  A totally untrue statement.  Emma was fresh.
  We are still working on taking turns and just being patient with eachother in general.  They are all only-children at home so being here is a different mindset...or it will be soo, I hope.


PS.  I have a few pictures from the week but they aren't uploaded yet and if I don't post this now I will spend another day being a slacker.

Pictorial Update from Babyland

Emma found a brush and decided she'd like to play Beauty Shop. Her victims, I mean customers, were very patient with her.

This is what an average walk starts out looking like. Rather calm, biggest problem is telling Taze to wait for us, which he will. But it all goes south very soon because...these 3 can't stay together!! One of them will randomly decide to turn around and walk in the opposite direction and split the group. Livvy likes to venture up onto the porches of strangers. Taze wants carried if he hears a dog barking. Emma just plain ol stops walking when the urge hits.

Here is something they can all agree on. This is a corner lot down the street. I have no idea who lives here but I hope they work during the day because the babies love this yard and I figure any time they all like the same thing I must capitalize on it. So I let them stay as long as they want. They like to run to the fence to peek through the slats and they love to take turns dancing or jumping on the sewer cover. I love Livvy's hair in this picture.

Now that is isn't so easy to make the trek to the park I really should get some backyard toys. But the babies aren't that hard to entertain. Usually I just yell "RUN!"

...and Emma knows if she sits here long enough I will bring her a snack. I can't help it, it works everytime.

And finally, a little video treat for you to sample. This is a little game Nic once taught Taze and Taze has passed this bit of "fun" to the girls. I call it Bouncing Babies. It's loud, sometimes dangerous, and it wears them out before nap so I rarely put a stop to it...unless heads collide.

Tuesday

My own kids are back to school and although I could always use the extra hands, the babies are well behaved and it's not difficult at all to keep my eyes on three. The exception is potty time. Taze is accident free almost every day, but there are times he doesn't appreciate an audience. Today he started shouting, "No, girls!!" as he ran down the hall towards the bathroom. But Emma and Livvy are smart. They know that when Taze pees in the potty, they all get an M&M. Just one, much to Emma's chagrin. She has stopped stomping her feet at the single piece of candy and started accepting it for what it is. Anyway, when one kid thunders down the hallway it sparks a stampede whether you yell "no, girls" or not. Here are some cute pics from the past couple of days. The first ones are today's breakfast: chocolate toast. (Nutella on whole wheat)

Livvy lovin it.

Emma lovin it.

Taze Leave The Wash Cloth Thank You lovin it.

Later at lunch, Taze decided he is the funny man when Nic isn't around, and Emma and Livvy are happy to encourage him!

Here is one of Carly pretending poor Livvy is her life size Barbie. Livvy is always really patient when her hair is being done. It always makes me want to go faster just because she's so good about it!

Taze making lemonade: