Hannah Goes Potty in the Potty Chair

For a few weeks Hannah has been telling me "pee-pee" and "poopy" and pulling on her diaper. Not getting my hopes up, I introduced her to Liv's old potty chair. And like I suspected nothing happened but she loved sitting on it. About a week later after supper she started pulling on her diaper saying "pee-pee" and she started heading toward my room. Our door to our room is always shut. No one under 2 is allowed, but we do have the potty in our bathroom. Since it was right before bath time I thought we could give it a try so I sent her in with Adam. A minute later he comes out and says she actually went! We were all so proud of her!



Here she is on the potty! One day she may kill me for this, but I'm just so proud of her!



It's not much but I'll take it!

I'm not going to get my hopes up and expect this to be the end of diapers for all, but it is a reminder that diapers aren't forever, and my babies won't be babies forever either. :(

All Bundled Up

It was a half way warm December day so I had Nicole bundle the kids up and let them loose.



Hayden and Liv.

 

Hannah



I think Jonathan is either mad that Hannah took Cole's phone from him, or because he is wearing girls mittens and some ridiculous hat that his mom thought was really cute.

Great Grandma Powell and Aunt Aubrey's Birthday Celebration


A surprise party for Olivia's Aunt Aubrey was held at Great Grandma's retirement place. Their birthdays are back-to-back so they do usually celebrate them together. Aubrey had just gotten back from Cayman so we had rum cakes and ice cream for dessert. It was a good time and the kids had a lot of fun playing the piano with Great Grandma P.

Great Grandma Powell, Aubrey and Olivia



Mom, I promise I wasn't going to hide this empty water bottle in these pretty flowers. Promise.

Grandma just figured out that those are trick candles in her rum cake.



Hayden, Hannah, Great Grandma and Olivia playing the piano!



Great Grandma with Hannah and Hayden.

Its hard to believe grandma is 96 years old!  Amazing!!!

First Snow

On the weekend we had our first good snow Olivia was really excited to go out and play. So her and Adam got all bundled up and had some fun in the snow.

Mom I'm ready to go outside now!

Cleaning off Grandma's car.

Dad's helping too!

Look, I'm shoveling the sidewalk!

Wondering whats going on out there. 

Hannah and Hayden watching dad and Liv shoveling snow

Dad got Olivia this cool sled.

Dad making sure Olivia's buckled in before they go down the big hill!

Down the hill they go

Wee!!!!

Down the road to our house.

They played outside for awhile but mom had to come in because she was getting COLD!

Celebrating 60 Years

On Sunday afternoon we went to the Amana's to celebrate Adam's Grandma and Grandpa Sadler's 60th Wedding Anniversary! 

60 Years! Can you imagine???

Here is the happy young couple!
Myrna and Roy Sadler

Cousins. Tommy and Jonathan Sadler
Jonathan was a momma's boy all night until he found Tommy.

Hayden and Sarah, Tommy's girlfriend.

Jonathan, Tommy, and Ralph Stimson, Grandma Myrna's brother.

Olivia getting a horsey ride from Uncle Tom.

We all a wonderful time and were glad that so many of us could get together. We missed Muffy, Roy, Emily, Jill and their families, but understand how hard it is to get back home.

And of course I didn't take any pictures of this event, so I had to rely on my wonderful, smart, and beautiful aunt Julie for these pictures. Thanks again Julie!

Oh, and Grandma and Grandpa, if you are reading this, I can't tell you how glad I am that the two of you found each other, and I'm sure that one day our children will thank you as well!

So here's to Grandma and Grandpa, Congratulations on such an amazing accomplishment! Adam and I only have 54 more years to go before reaching that one!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I give thanks for Adam, my children, our families, our friends, Nicole, our church, and last but not least our Savior, because without him I wouldn't have any of those things to be thankful for.

Jonathan, Olivia, Hannah, and Hayden

Have a Great Thanksgiving!

The Things People Say

I was reading a blog earlier and she was commenting on things that people have said to her, or things that she has heard them say about her and/or her children while they are out and about...which leads me to this post (she has quads, God bless her).

Now that the kids are a little older I have started to feel more comfortable taking the kids out by myself. I have taken them to the Westdale Mall, which is pretty much obsolete, and to Target all by myself. So far I have learned two things. I have learned that the only way to get anything accomplished is by taking the quad stroller, and by not making eye contact with anyone you come across. Taking the stroller is key because if they are buckled in they can't go anywhere and they won't think to fight about it. Now, by taking the quad stroller you really have to implement the second thing I've learned, do not make eye contact. It seems as though by making eye contact with any random stranger you are inviting them to ask, or say, whatever on their mind.

Example:

It's 9:15am in the Target parking lot. I just dropped off Olivia at preschool and need to pick up some milk and things of that nature. So here I am loading my kids into the stroller when the women parked next to me comes up to her car and starts putting her groceries in the trunk. I've got the Hannah in Hayden in the stroller wearing lots of pink, and the lady says, "Looks like you've got your hands full." This is a very common statement and does not bother me at all, then she comes closer and says, "I bet you boys keep your mommy very busy." I ignore her since she must be color blind. Then I reach back into the Suburban to get Jonathan out and she says, "There is more!" I reply, "Yep, one more, and one at preschool." And then out of the mouth of this not so old old bag comes this, "Well, it looks like mommy needs to stop." As in stop having more kids! What?!! Then I calmly told the nice older lady that my husband and I were going to try having at least five or six more in hopes of getting our own reality show! Okay, so I didn't tell the old bag that but I reassured her that, "mommy" had stopped. Seriously people! I mean it's one thing to think it, but to say it out loud...keep it to yourself.

Other examples that are not so annoying but frequent:

"Are those all yours?"

"Oh, are you a daycare provider?"

"Are they all identical?" Note: A boy and a girl can not be identical. One is a boy, the other is a girl, that is called fraternal. If you've made this mistake (Cari) don't worry, I didn't really think about it before I had them either. :)

"Are they natural?" This doesn't bother so much because they are, but if they weren't I might be a little more sensitive to it. My thought is this, no matter how they came to be, they are a blessing and a miracle. So unless you are going through some trying times of your own and are curious in that way, you might want to forgo that question.

This one was from a man, "So what kind of combo do you have going on here? I can't figure it out."

Don't get me wrong. I don't always mind questions, especially if you, or someone you know, are going through something similar. But if you are a stranger standing next to me in the check out line at Target and ask me if I had them all vaginally the conversation is going to stop there.

This was a picture of my first trip with them all to Target. Another lesson learned that day. Make sure your 3 year old goes to the bathroom right before you leave. We didn't have any accidents but I was yelling instructions at her through a stroller wedged bathroom door! Oh and save the trip to the bakery counter for your free cookies until right before checkout. They can't yell if their mouths are full. That is probably the most important thing to remember.

Go Pack Go!

Adam and I went to the Greenbay/Vikings game with my sisters and my dad this year. It was Adam's first visit to Lambeau Field, and I think he had a good time. Husbands aren't usually allowed but my sisters made an exception for him just this once. Every year my sisters go to at least one game with my dad. Now that we are back in Iowa I hope that I can get back on that wagon.

We had THE perfect tailgating spot. Right next to the stadium.

Right to Left: Adam, Jenna, Crystal, Dad, me and Theresa.

Sister not pictured is Paula. She had to work, boo-hoo!

Theresa and Dad cooking up some chili and a one pound burger! No one ate the burger but it got a lot of attention. People were stopping and taking pictures of it!

Adam and myself getting ready to go into the Hall of Fame.

Standing next to Aaron Rodger's and Clay Matthews' jerseys. Amazing!

We had amazing seats and an amazing time. And to our disbelief, some not so bad Viking fans sitting in front of us.

Here we are after the game! The Pack WINS!

My sister Theresa making Adam pose with a can of Pigs Eye beer after the game that he got from the tailgaters next to us!

This pole was right next to our van. If stood too close to it you could feel the voltage running under your feet. Don't worry, I stopped Crystal before she got any closer!

Dad and Theresa celebrating a win.

Go Pack!