Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny was even scarier than Santa. Kimball completely freaked out and had his hands locked around my neck, which upset the other two. We finally got him calm enough that I could sit with them next to the Easter Bunny (Kimball had to be on the far side). We got 2 decent shots. You can’t even see their super cute outfits, but everyone else in the mall admired them. They were quite the spectacle and enjoyed all the attention. Once we got out of sight of the evil bunny, all was forgiven and forgotten, and Kimball was ready to perform for the adoring crowds again.
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/My brother, Eric, and his family came for a 24-hour visit. He had to be here for a meeting, and since it’s spring break for their kids, the whole family tagged along. We had a really nice time. We played out in the yard in the morning, grilled hotdogs for lunch and made pizza for dinner. Their family is the one that has inspired our Friday night pizza tradition. They have so much fun with it that we started doing it about a month ago. We make our pizza dough with kamut, because Kimball can eat that. It actually tastes really good. I’ve been experimenting with the dough a lot since it has different properties than wheat, and there isn’t a lot of information out there about baking with kamut. Tristi helped me this time (we each made our kind of pizza so everyone could try some of each), and thanks to her guidance, it turned out better than ever. She also made us a basil, sun-dried tomato, goat cheese pizza that we will be adding to our repertoire. It was so delicious! We were really excited to see them and hope they come visit again soon (though packing up 5 kids is no small chore, so it may be a while before they come back).
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/The kids are still working on learning their numbers and letters. I haven’t counted how many they know, but I would guess Sawyer knows at least half his letters. He’s the most interested. When a letter comes on, he’ll yell out the name, then start yelling, “All done! All done!” because he wants the video to move on to another one, or he’ll start repeating the letter that comes next. The numbers are only 0-10, but they are doing great with those too. They are entranced by these videos and love to watch them.
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/We’ve been taking advantage of the beautiful weather and playing in the backyard. I have 2 stability balls (that I actually do use for exercise when I’m not pregnant) and a smaller ball that we take outside. This last week we’ve also had an empty diaper box that has been a big hit. Sometimes we’ll sit on the big balls and bounce with the kids in our laps, which they love, and sometimes we just sit on them because the ground is so much further down. The other day Kimball charged the ball Naomi was sitting on and knocked her off! He had the advantage of a sneak attack. She was ready for him the next time. He also occasionally tackles the Brinlee and Sawyer. They aren’t amused, but he is. Brinlee likes to mow the lawn by hand. She even goes to the trouble of going to different parts of the yard to rip up grass and bring it to us. She was trying her hardest to fill the diaper box, but she ran out of time.
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/Sawyer is working on his walking. He now walks around holding one of our fingers on a regular basis. In the backyard he walks all over the place that way. If one of us isn’t escorting him around the yard, he walks on his knees so he won’t have to touch his hands to the grass. They still wear pants (it’s not THAT warm yet), so his legs are protected. I’ve considered putting shorts on him on the warmer days to see what he would do and if that would inspire him to get up and walk, or at least stand. He has been standing solo and picking things up, especially the beloved green ball or some smaller boxes we have around. We’re pretty sure he’ll be walking by the time Quatro arrives. He’s still just so stinkin fast with the crawling that he’s not that motivated.
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/Adam is a lover of fine foods, like rootbeer and chocolate ice cream. Like any good daddy, he wants to share all the good things in life with his kids. Last weekend we were out shopping for a few new-baby essentials, and he had a rootbeer. He offered the straw to each of them. Sawyer immediately loved it and begged for more. Kimball looked very unsure of what he thought each time he took a sip, but kept asking for more. Brinlee just chewed the straw (she’s getting molars). I don’t think she ever drank any rootbeer. Then Tuesday night Adam gave them all their first chocolate ice cream. It was a hit to say the least. At first he put a little on each tray, and then started spoon feeding each of them. Once they realized what it was, they were grabbing fistfuls and shoving it in their mouths. We planned it for bath night, fortunately, because they were covered! Before the wheat allergy discovery, he was also feeding them Cocoa Krispies and other nutritious cereals from his bowl. When daddy got out the bowl, the kids would gather around his knees and squeal for Cocoa Krispies (or Cookie Crisp, or Cinnamon Toast Crunch, or Frosted Flakes, or Honey Graham Ohs).
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/My name is April and I am an addict. My vice of choice? Crunching ice. But only when I’m pregnant. I just can’t stop. My face is freezing, my tongue is so numb I sound like I’ve been to the dentist, I’m bundled up in sweatshirts in 70-degree weather, I can barely feel my hands, but I can’t stop. When I’m not pregnant, I really don’t care for ice. The kids love the noise of the crushed ice coming from the refrigerator door and want to be held so they can watch the ice come out. They also love eating my ice. They hold it in their mouths and then swallow. They all learned to say, “ice” very quickly. Now I just have to get them their own cup, since I don’t want to dig around in mine. Sawyer has recently added his own sign language for ice; he wags his tongue at me. It is so funny. They hear me crunching and charge me yelling, “ice!”, and Sawyer wagging his tongue in between his shouts.
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/Along with their fascination with ice and my ice crunching has come a fascination with the source of the ice: the refrigerator door. Kimball can just touch the trigger if he is on his tiptoes. One day he couldn’t, and the next day he could. I guess he grew that night. So I stood back and watched what happened. He reached up and tapped it and cold water ran down his arm and off his elbow. He was a little stunned, but he did it again, holding it a little longer this time, and got some spray in his face. Brinlee was standing next to him the whole time laughing her head off, which may have been part of his motivation. Brinlee’s laugh is so joyful that it sounds like she just might explode from happiness. He kept doing it over and over. I was changing Sawyer’s diaper at the time, but as soon as I finished I grabbed the video camera and got the last of it. Brinlee wasn’t laughing as hard as she was at first, but she was still greatly amused, and Kimball was soaked and so was the floor (Brinlee wisely stayed out of water range). After that I locked the water spout. I just wanted to let him experiment. Whenever he sees me get water, he runs over and touches it again. I know what he’s thinking, “I knew that thing worked, she just used it! What’s the trick?”
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/We’ve added some new words to our list besides ice. They say uh-oh, down, this, tower, banana, apple, water. They say “this” a lot. Anything they bring to us or point to that doesn’t have a name is, “this.” They also like to practice the words they know, but not necessarily in relation to anything current. Sawyer does it the most. All over the house you hear him repeating his favorite words, “ball, baby, all done.”
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/This week people keep stopping me to ask me if I’m ready to deliver any minute, or if I’m having twins. No, I have 6 weeks to go, and I’m only having one. “But that’s unbelievable! Your belly is so big! You have to deliver soon!” Um, no. You have no idea what a big belly looks like. You should have seen me last time. But thanks for the ego boost, lady.
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/Our kids are so cute, they even charm the thugs. When we walk through the mall, there are always some thugs walking around. They come in all varieties, the kind that wear their pants under their bums, the kind with lots of tattoos and piercings, or the kind that just look mean, but I have never passed one that didn’t make a comment to their friends or to me about how cute or cool our kids are. Sometimes they get as gooshy as a bunch of girls, “Look how cute those triplets are! Aww! That wagon is so cool!”
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/I’m looking forward to a normal delivery, and I keep imagining what it will be like. Here’s my fantasy:
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/We go on the actual scheduled date of my c-section (instead of an emergency c-section).
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/I’m wearing normal maternity clothes instead of a tent (since that’s all that would cover me).
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/I will be coherent during the c-section and remember what happened during the delivery and the following week.
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/I will get to see my baby right after he is delivered, instead of 4 days later (bc he’s not whisked off to the NICU and I’m not too sick to go see him).
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/I’ll get to breastfeed my baby.
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/I’ll receive well-wishers and congratulations in my room in my nice little nightgown and robe (instead of spending a week in ICU).
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/My baby will come with me when I’m discharged from the hospital (after a normal-length stay).
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/My baby won’t come home on a heart monitor.
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/I won’t be in a wheelchair for 4 weeks after my c-section.
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/My baby won’t have any emergency procedures or close calls.
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/Adam won’t be a basketcase because his wife and child aren’t at death’s door.
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/You know, the usual. It sounds so boring, but if you’ve never had it, it sounds like a dream come true.
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/We’re adding to our list of uh-oh behaviors. Outside we are not allowed to go on the patio. There is nothing but trouble there: a garbage can, grill, fertilizer spreader and tomato cages. They have the whole wide yard to roam, but the mystique of the forbidden 10×10 concrete slab is a siren call. After many time outs, Kimball walks up to it often, standing within 3 inches of it. He’ll stay there for a while before deciding to come back (good choice Kimball!) or step on it. He’ll step and stand or step and turn around and run back (which still counts as an uh-oh), or just put one foot on the concrete (which also counts as an infraction). His fascination with it has lured Brinlee there on many occasions. I was inside with Brinlee in time out, watching out the kitchen window, while Naomi was outside with Kimball and Sawyer. Kimball thought he was clear, so he came and stood on the patio. I walked out the door and said, “Uh-oh Kimball!” He turned, put his arms out like an airplane and ran for it. Those golden girls were bouncing on his head as he pursued freedom. Fortunately, mommy is still faster, and I caught him. I’m just glad he had his back to me and couldn’t see me laughing. Nice try, sweetheart. Mommy sees all; mommy knows all.
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/I hadn’t intended to be part of the picture, but there I am.
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/My lap has shrunk considerably, so poor Brinlee was barely hanging on. Even though one is hidden, there are actually 4 babies in my lap.
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/A little bedtime beverage with daddy.
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/Um, daddy, I think we have this backward.
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/Loads of fun to be had in a diaper box. I’ll save myself a fortune in toys.
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/”I’ve been working out at the gym. All the babes dig it.”
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/The neighbor stopped by with her dog while we were playing outside. This was their first upclose encounter with a dog.
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/Sawyer’s first bite of ice cream.
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/Chocolate ice cream is good! Kimball decided to dive in with his hands.
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/Brinlee has a taco goatee under her ice cream mustache. We also love tacos. Can you tell?
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/Playing in the yard with the cousins. We had a big time!