It's All in a Day.....and Night!

A schedule is crucial for moms of multiples and Amber has hers down to an art!

This helps Louis Dean and me  know exactly WHAT we should be doing and

 WHEN we should be doing it!

It also enables Amber to get away for a lunch date with her husband as she did today.

This place may look like a Babies R Us gone wild but Harrison has everything he needs

for his daily routine! 

So do his sisters!

The babies are hitting milestone after milestone and seem to be learning something new every single day!

I wish I knew what they are thinking!

I know they love their Grand dad and can't believe it if he walks by and doesn't pick them up!

He is seldom seen without a baby in his arms!

Trsytan is the picture of peace and comfort here.

I held her and she was crying so I handed her off to Grand dad

- it didn't take him 5 minutes and she was asleep!

Sweet! SWEET!

Tonight Amber and Mike went out to dinner with friends -

she is wise in getting out when she CAN!

Louis Dean and I did the whole bedtime routine and it works like a charm!

Each baby gets changed into PJ's and an OVER NIGHT diaper - this is IMPORTANT!

Next is their 8 oz of formula WITH rice cereal mixed in.

Easy peasy!

Then we read. Tonight I read The Twelve Days of Christmas to them.

This was one of the books Summer gave Amber when she was a baby!

One by one we carry them to the nursery where we zip them up in sleep sacks, turn on the sound machine and keep our voices soft and quiet.

After they are down we retire back to the den where we watch them on the monitor til they are all fast asleep. I love how close the babies are to each other. They sleep two to a bed and STILL inch as close to their sibling as possible.

This is Linda reporting from Quadville......

All is calm.

All is quiet.

Good night.

Babies, Cookies, and A Cherry Tomato!

 Louis Dean and I returned to Quadville this morning after a four day 'Staycation' break.

Granddad was happy to be holding a baby again!

Sometimes he held two at a time!

No baby is unhappy when Granddad is holding them!

Harrison GREW while we were gone!

 

Just look at how big he's getting!

I swear their looks have CHANGED since last Thursday!!

Trystan has discovered her toes!!!

Ah! That little smile just melts my heart!

Is this not the sweetest thing??

Louis Dean called me to come running with my camera!

Harrison and Kailey were just talking to each other!

 

Little Logan is already using modern technology.

I believe she starts her typing lessons tomorrow!

They will be helping me in the kitchen before I know it!

I baked up a batch of cookies in between feeding and holding babies.

Louis Dean promised the RV Park office folk a plate full.

I used to do so much baking and candy making at Christmas 

but have found myself doing less and less each year. 

Louis Dean nor I need to be eating so many calories.

Still......it was nice to bake a little this afternoon.

I miss it. But not enough to do much about it!

Last night I prepared the Girl Scout style dinner and it was all ready to pop in the oven just as soon as we walked in the camper door this evening!

We also had a salad which featured a very special little Tomato!

Poor Louis Dean misses the garden he had back in Brownwood where he lived before we married!

He grew some great vegetables. He's tried and tried to garden in Irving but we simply do not have the room. Even container gardens haven't done well.

So you can understand how proud he was of this cherry tomato!

I told HIM to eat it and he told ME to eat it!

We ended up cutting it in half!

Sweater Weather!!!

The 'Cold Front' - such as it was - finally arrived in the night and it was sweater weather today!

We enjoyed the little electric heater in the camper while we ate our stick to the rib breakfast of hot oatmeal, buttered toast and hazelnut coffee!

While I wore a sweater - a CHRISTMAS sweater - the quads stayed warm and toasty in their new PJ's!

I gave them all nice hot baths AFTER their lunch of spinach!

Not their favorite by any means and made for some interesting diapers later in the afternoon!

Two seriously pretty little girls!

Can you tell who they are?

Here's the other baby girl!She was helping her mom with the Christmas cards!

Amber can type like the WIND!!! Rightly so since her business is WORDS!

I did light duty today in Quadville. I arrived at noon and did the baths then left at 2:00 to do TWO errands (the bank and Sam's for a RX) which took TWO hours! I went back to the babies for TWO hours and it was time to go home! This day went by fast!

Louis Dean is working on HIS blog post as I'm working on mine.

Dinner tonight is a turkey and dressing casserole we froze at Thanksgiving along with garlic cheesy potatoes and Ranch Style beans.....and it's all nearly ready to eat!

I'm enjoying our Christmas Camper all decorated up!

Just need to do some 'damage control' before I can take pictures.

Leaving Louis Dean home alone for over 6 hours left some areas that need to be 'fluffed!'

Fortunately he wasn't in the bedroom so I do have ONE clean room!

Of course, there are only THREE 'rooms' in here and one of them is a tiny bathroom - which has its own Christmas tree!!!

My Santa (with his broken glasses which I have been meaning to fix for YEARS!) turns his head. I plopped a larger Santa hat on him and he can STILL move his head from side to side! His arm is also 'broke' so the candle is hitched on his belt. I need to mend a few things!

Above him hangs the largest Santa I have painted to date.

I like looking at him.

Tomorrow BOTH of us work in Quadville!

 Louis Dean misses those babies when he skips a day with them.

The weather forecast says the temp will dip down into the 30's tonight!

Perfect time to see if that electric blanket of ours still works!

A December Weekend in Quadville

One of the perks in living so near Amber and Mike is we can join them on Friday night 'Dinner and a Movie' - IN HOUSE, of course!!

That evening was pretty special since it was the very FIRST one of what will be many more in the future!

This was the scene as we entered.

I had gone back to the RV Park (aka 'HOME!') to get Louis Dean.

On our return the babies had been fed, changed and were ready for bed.

The last thing Amber does is read to them.

Last night they had a special 'Guest Reader' - Lisa!

Everyone loves Lisa! She and Amber were room mates in college and Lisa has a little boy just 16 days older than the quads Harrison!

As soon as the babies were asleep (and that didn't take long!) our dinner and movie started!

The dinner was Amber's famous Sausage Skillet Dish and the movie was......

Amber and Mike knew Louis Dean would love it!

It WAS a good movie - based on a true story.

I was completely exhausted by the time it ended!

I brought the dessert - Fudge Brownies, Blue Bell Vanilla Ice Cream and an assortment of toppings!

The party was over by 10:30 - it SEEMED so very LATE to all of us now that we live in Quadville!

Nice to have our little camper home only 6 minutes away!

We were back Saturday morning! Amber and Mike went off to a hotel in Houston for a little time away together. They were able to be a 'normal' couple for a whole day and night! Seeing a movie, going to dinner, shopping, looking at all the Christmas decorations - small pleasures that make all the difference!

We sent them off to have a bit of R and R while we took care of the quads!

Louis Dean has such a way with them!

Harrison DOES love him so!

Little Logan Bear is SO adorable!!!

She loves this bouncy thing!

Kailey had fun with this one!

While they don't have FOUR of everything they do at least have TWO!!

Harrison is using his boppy in a whole new manner now!

They are GROWING!

Look! Trystan is showing a little leg!!

She LOVES fabric and usually has a blanket or piece of SOMETHING in her hand - even if it is Grandma's shirt!

The Super Nanny, April, came for several hours arriving in the afternoon.

April is SUCH a blessing and helps in SO many ways!

She and I had put our heads together and came up with a few craft ideas for the quads.

One project is a secret for Amber from us (April, the quads and me) so I can't show that - yet!

It required FOOTPRINTS which then required some CLEAN UP!

We made this wreathe using the babies hand prints!

Guess how we made the holly berries?

We used Harrison's BIG TOE!!

This looks pretty just like it is.......

or you can embellish it even more!

April loves art and painted in some holly leaves to balance the canvas out!

This is how old the quadruplets were when we did this project.

I propped it on Amber's piano so she could see it when she got home this afternoon.

They LOVED it!!

It is a wonderful thing that the babies all sleep 12 hours at night!

They were asleep by 8:00 Saturday night and woke up around 8:00 this morning.

The parents came home shortly after lunch today. We are back in our camper where I have been finishing up my Christmas decorating and waiting for the COLD front that was SUPPOSED to have arrived this afternoon!

I took a break to soak in the hot tub for a bit.

Only in Texas would you use a Christmas towel at the pool in December!

Louis Dean was waiting for me when I got out with the fire burning and the lights on!

We sat out for awhile enjoying the smell of 'Christmas'.......

the tree, garland and fire!

Sunday Night Football is on and that will keep LD occupied while I fluff up with place with more 'debris!'

I have to admit he is SUCH a good sport about it all!!

CHRISTMAS is Coming!!

My Santas are DONE!!!

This is the one  I am keeping and then I have one all painted and packed in the truck to take HOME for Christmas! Our family has a tradition! Doesn't EVERY family have at least ONE?

On Christmas morning as many family members as possible gather at my sister's home for breakfast and then we do a Chinese Christmas Tree gift exchange! This is SUCH a fun thing to do and we spend a lot of time and thought on the gifts we take! I have taken different things over the years but for the last several my 'gift' has been a Santa painting. I paint a new one every year - 'NEW'  as in taken from a card or gift box and/or bag - and then painted up on canvas in oils.

I barely finished this one in time!!

As soon as we had our morning coffee yesterday I was out there putting on the final glaze.

My palette had seen better days but it served its purpose until the very end!

I lay out the paint when I start a new picture and then FREEZE it (by placing a palette paper on top, folding it in quarters and placing it in a freezer bag) in between painting sessions.

We spent today in Quadville and I admit it was hard to say goodbye to these precious babies!!

We realize what a blessing it is to be a part of their lives - especially since we have been there for them from 'the beginning!'

Louis Dean was determined to spend some 'Quality Time' with each one of the babies today - 

knowing it will be nearly a week before he holds them again.

Little Logan - who SMILES as big as she can every single time you say 'PRETTY!' - is usually most comfortable sitting BESIDE her Granddad where she can see what is going on.

However......Louis Dean has convinced her to be a 'Shoulder Baby' as well!!

He does have a way with these quads!!

He held them all during the course of this day! For EXTENDED lengths of time!!

SH! Don't tell Amber how much we spoil the babies!!!

How can we RESIST??

In between feedings, diaper changes, laundry and tummy time I wrapped presents, made Popcorn Crunch....

.....and worked on the quads Christmas gift!

A denim play mat for their tummy time.

All I have left to do on it is the 'quilting.' I will 'stitch in the ditch' along the denim squares.

I will do my best to get this done in time for Christmas!

Harrison and I had a BALL today as I made some weird mouth 'music/noise' and he laughed and laughed until he had TEARS!!! And so did I!!! We had so much fun together!

I usually put the TV on to the 'Toddler Tunes' and then sing/dance/entertain them.

Sometimes it works - and sometimes I am a total DUD!!

The thrill of it all!!! You never know when you will be a STAR in their eyes!

As I write - Louis Dean AND Lucy are both sound asleep - AND SNORING!!

The truck is all packed, the camper is clean and everything on our 'To Do' list has been DONE!!!

All that's left is for me to pack up my laptop and turn in myself.

3:30 am comes early!

He wants to be on the road by 4:00!

That's fine with me because I will be snuggled up in the back seat!

I promised him we can stop for breakfast at Sam's Cafe  in Fairfield, Texas.

They have a buffet Louis Dean dearly loves!!!

It will make a nice break in the drive home since it is half way or so!

And I AM anxious to get 'home.'

I want to see my other four grandchildren and my oldest two children.

AND my MOTHER and SISTER!

It's a wonderful thing to be able to live in TWO worlds!

I am so grateful God has worked out all the details of our lives that we can DO this!!

And by the way!! Have you noticed my new Christmas Blog look??

Part of it I did MYSELF!!

The header my talented daughter, Amber, did FOR me!!

She is a professional writer and you can check out her blog - which includes a tidbit where the quads were mentioned in Houston Modern Luxury where she was a senior editor before quads 'BQ' and is now a freelance writer and a regular contributor editor HERE!!!

I guess it's time for me to sign off and go to sleep!!

Catch you all later!!!