I survived...

my first trip to the grocery store with all four kids and no Paul. it was an event for sure, tiring and far too long--i kept forgetting things across the store, and where i would've just run across the store alone if paul were there, i couldn't leave them alone to grab something--but no meltdowns, like i had anticipated, no crying from either baby (in fact, freddy fell asleep) and while there was a lot of "can we get"s from Keith he took the "no"s pretty well, even if it didn't deter him from asking again in 5 seconds. and while i got the comment "you have your hands full, don't you!" a lot, no one looked at me like i was crazy or asked "are they all yours??" 

Look! Picture evidence!

and, for the record, that stupid enormous cart is huge and annoying to push around. it doesn't corner well and this particular one tried to turn right if i didn't strong arm it constantly to the left. also, with all those kids in the cart, there's not much room for groceries so this is not practical for anything more than a few items. In fact, I had to move a bag of groceries to take this picture because they were sitting atop freddy's head a little. :)

yay me! 

okay, i'm pathetic, i know, but this was big for me!

 My baby girl is 2 today. Yep, already. I could've gotten a picture with her all cute and clean, but I love the chocolate frosting on her face (with the obliterated cake remains in the corner of the picture. She searched only for frosting after awhile.) 

So far I know that: 

she loves her siblings, all of them. She asks for Keith when he's at school and is excited to get him when school's over. 

She has a great sense of humor and loves to tease and play games.

She is agile and loves a thrill.

She likes to sing and dance.

She's very bright and observant.

She LOVES her daddy. A lot. 

She is competitive and will sometimes only do something for me if I ask Keith to do it after she says no.

She's very independent and stubborn. She prefers to do things on her own when she can. This is possibly why she can already dress herself when Keith could not at this age.

She's VERY verbal and loves to talk. A lot. Unfortunately.

She's goofy and likes to make people laugh.

 I love her and she makes me laugh. She is so much fun and I'm so excited to see how her personality will continue to develop. 

Paul took this one about a week ago. She was just tuckered out. It was only about 6:00 pm.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEXA!

Coolest present ever:

I meant to post this LONG ago but kept forgetting to take a picture of it. 

This was Paul's Mother's Day gift to me. 

It is the most awesome, thoughtful gift he's ever given me. 

I love my hubby and all four of my crazy kids!

my earliest walker?

 I went to get the crying boys out of their cribs to find this:

pulling himself up on things to stand already. . .wow. i'm pretty sure this is before either of my other two.

Life without internet...

has been really tough. i'm not a fb addict or anything like that, though, i admit, i probably spend a little more time than necessary on it. but what i discovered is that i have SO much information and do so many things on my computer! i pay bills, i keep my recipes (which i discovered i don't print out often enough), i talk to distant (and not so distant) family members, and i look up answers to questions about almost everything! it's been a very LONG 4 weeks while my computer's been away getting fixed, but i'm still grateful that at least it broke the day BEFORE my warranty expired. plus, all the time away gave me time to spend with my husband, do quite a bit of reading, and just generally enjoy being disconnected for awhile (i know, i know. i said it drove me crazy. . .but it was also kind of a relief in a way.)

so, be prepared! i'm behind on pictures an info, but i'm going to try to catch up and jump back into the blogging world. well. . .maybe wade, but i'm giving it a go!