Daily Post | August 21

Hey everyone, i haven't done a daily post in a long time and a lot of you guys like hearing about our every day activities! We have a really fun day yesterday, so I thought that I would share it with all of you! :)

1:00am: I started my day at 1:00am, when Emery woke up crying and wouldn't fall back asleep until around 2:30am. She seemed wide awake and ready for the day, but I obviously wasn't going to get up at 2:30! I eventually got her back to sleep.

3:00am: Nolan woke up hungry, but he went down easily after being fed luckily!

6:00am: I woke up for the day, showered, and got dressed and ready! 

6:45am: I got on my computer in my office and answered some emails and took care of some business and replied to your comments on my latest blog post! I usually spend an hour or so in the morning getting work done!

7:50am: I started breakfast for the kids, because for the past week I have been waking them all up at 8, because school starts soon and I want to get them into a routine! I was under the impression that school was starting after Labor Day, but suddenly the school board changed the decision, and we start this Monday, the 25th! They only let us know 10 days in advance! Anyway, I'm excited for the kids to go back to school!

8:00am: I woke up Adrian, Braylie, Gage, and Jamie and got them breakfast and then dressed for the day.

8:20am: Nolan and Emery woke up and I fed them and got them both dressed! This week Gage has soccer camp from 9-3 and Jamie has a t-ball camp for little boys from 9-12, so we left the house around 8:50. Both camps are both at the public high school only a few minutes away from our house!

9:10: We got home from camp and Braylie did her chores while I cleaned the kitchen and Emery and Nolan sat in the kitchen with me. They are 4 months old and they are getting so much better at sitting! Obviously, they sit with their boppys, but they can almost sit on their own!

10:00am: I dropped of Braylie at a friend's house while Adrian watched Emery and Nolan. On the way home I stopped at the grocery store to get a few necessities! 

11:00am: I put Emery and Nolan down for their nap and got some work done until I had to leave at 11:50 to pick up Jamie from camp.

12:25: I woke up the twins and fed them, and then I took Jamie and them with me to drop Adrian off at work!

1:00pm: I did a craft with Jamie and then he was really tired from camp so he went to sleep around 1:30 for a nap! I did some laundry, cleaned, and played with Emery and Nolan. They went down for their second nap at 2 after I fed them again. It seems like all I do is breastfeed! 

2:00-3:30: I cleaned the house from top to bottom! We were having friends over for dinner and our house was super messy! I was so glad that most of the kids were out of the house and that jamie, Emery, and Nolan were all sleeping! Jamie couldn't have picked a better day for a nap.

3:30: Gage was dropped off at home from camp by a friend, apparently camp went a little later! Jamie also woke up around then, and Gage wanted to swim in the pool so Jamie went with him! I woke up the twins and fed them, then went out onto the deck with them to watch the boys swim and get some fresh air!

5:00pm: Jeff came home early, to help me out! He watched all of the kids, and got them bathed, while I started dinner! We had about twenty people coming over for dinner, just for a last pool party before fall! I made pasta salad, coleslaw, a veggie tray, chips and salsa, and pulled chicken sandwiches! Jeff also grilled some hotdogs for all of the kids.

5:45: I drove over to Adrian's work to pick her up and also picked up Braylie from her friends house! Then, I got home and made sure everything was ready and then fed the babies again. Everyone was coming at 6:15, so we were a little bit rushed but everything turned out great! We had such a fun time with our friends! All of my kids and their kids played in the pool and everyone wanted to hold Emery and Nolan, so it was very relaxing for me to get a little bit of a break from the kids and just socialize with my friends! Around 8:30 we moved inside and the kids watched a movie and my friends helped me clean up. My best friend from college, Jessica, was in the area for a few weeks. She is married to Jeremy and has 3 kids, 10 year old Sophie, 7 year old Josephine, and 2 year old Jonah! My friend Drake from college was also came with his wife, Eliza, and their 4 kids, 4 year old triplets Danny, Elise, and Dylan, and their 9 month old, Emily! Lastly, my friend Lauren and her husband, Scott came. They are expecting a baby boy in January! Total, 13 people came plus our family, a total of 21!

9:30: Jessica and her family left, it was so great to see her before she has to go back to Texas, where she lives! Also, Drake and his family left. They are great friends of ours, and our kids love each other so much! Lauren helped me give Jamie, Emery, and Nolan baths while Jeff put Gage and Braylie to bed and Drake helped clean up a little bit. All of the kids, except for Adrian, were in bed by 10! It was a late night for them, since they are usually up that late, but it was a special occasion, and our last party with our friends before the new school year begins! :)

Q and A Part 2!

Hey everyone, here is the second part to my Q and A!

Q: How do you keep all of your kids entertained?
A: It definitely is hard, with 6 kids, to make sure all of them are entertained. But the truth is, they need to learn that they can't be doing something every minute of every day! It is good to just relax and have quiet time and just do nothing. Every afternoon while Jamie naps Gage and Braylie have quiet time in their rooms. It's great for me because I get to relax and get some work done, but it's also healthy for them to have some relaxing time to just read a book or play quietly alone! Having time alone is good for children to learn how to entertain themselves, because other people can't entertain them 24/7. But, I do have a lot of activities for the kids! I play games with them, our family is very big with board games. The kids love playing games with Jeff and I! Also, since we have a pool, during the summer they can basically go into the pool whenever they want. The rule that we have is that they can't swim unless Jeff, Adrian, or I is out there with him. Even though Gage and Braylie can swim, there are accidents and we are extremely cautious! It's also just fun to cuddle on the couch and watch a movie as a family. Our favorite movies are Aladdin, 101 Dalmations, and Toy Story 3!

Q: How many rooms does your house have?
A: We currently live in a 5 bedroom house. Jeff and I have a master bedroom, and the twins are currently sleeping with us. Last update on them I told you that they were basically sleeping through the night, but I think I jinxed it because the past few nights have been hard, they each have been waking up 2-3 times! Adrian has her own bedroom, Gage and Jamie share a bedroom, Braylie has her own room, and then we have a guest bedroom! I plan on keeping the twins in our room for a little while longer, because it's just easiest for me. Eventually I plan to turn the guest bedroom into a nursery, I will make a post on how that is going! We have a big living, a kitchen with a dining room attatched, a playroom, and an office. Jeff and I share the office because he does a lot of work from home, and I work completely from home! Jeff is a real estate agent and has so much paperwork that he can do at home when I need help. Currently I am happy with our home arrangements, obviously when the kids get older we will most likely have to move, or add on to our current house, because the kids will need their own bedrooms. But, I'm happy with how things are!

Q: Why did you start blogging?
A: I wanted to start blogging because I had heard about a lot of people doing it and thought it would be a fun hobby, since I love writing, and a place to document my kids lives! I was not expecting for it to become my job, but I am so thankful that it has been! I was planning on going back to work this fall because we need the money, but now I can stay at home with my kids! It is absolutely a dream come true, to make movie doing something as simple as writing a blog, and something I love doing! It's not all fun, because I constantly have emails to reply to and work to do, but overall I love it and wouldn't want to do anything different! :)

My Life

Hey everyone! I have been getting a lot of questions about my childhood and my life before I started this blog, so I decided to make a post about it!

I was born August 16th, 1975. My 39th birthday was actually yesterday! I was born in Orlando, Florida. I was the second kid in the family, my sister Amanda was 4 when I was born. I loved having a big sister and have amazing memories with her when we were kids! When I was 5, my mom and dad told Amanda and I that they were expecting another baby! We were so excited and I remember the first time seeing my baby sister, Allysa, in the nursery. Sadly, she passed away a few days after she was born due to heart and lung failure. None of the doctors saw it coming, and our family was devastated. A few years later, when I was 8, my parents tried again and had my twin brothers, Alex and Tyler! We were all so happy and I loved playing with my baby brothers.
As a child, I went to a public elementary school. I remember absolutely loving elementary school. I had a lot of friends until the middle school, when I was made fun of because of the way I looked. I was never the skinniest girl, but I was in no way overweight. I was bullied and it led to an eating disorder. I overcame it before it got terrible, but it was hard to deal with without friends. I finally made some friends who didn't care how I looked, and they are still my best friends today! Then, in high school Iwent through a tough time when I was taken advantage of by my friend, Jeremy. I was only a freshman and it traumatized me and I wouldn't have been able to get through it without my 2 best friends, Jess and Sophie. They always stuck with me! Then, my sophomore year, I met Jeff and we fell in love. He was just a few months older than me, and we had so much in common. He was so kind to me after what I had been through. I had a great high school experience with him as my boyfriend! I was on the school yearbook committee for 3 years, and I also played tennis all 4 years! Overall, I had so much fun in high school.

Jeff and I got married after my first year of college. I was 19 and so was he. It was August 16th, on my 19th birthday! Now, 20 years later, we are still such a happy couple! We had an amazing college experience, we went to the same college and roomed together after we got married. When I graduated, we decided to try for a baby. It took us 8 months to get a positive pregnancy result, and we were so happy! We were both out of college and had jobs and were financially stable. Sadly, 13 weeks in at my ultrasound we found out that my baby had no heartbeat. We were so upset. After I was recovered physically and emotionally, we were trying again. We spent a year trying to get pregnant, and nothing happened. We had a visit with a fertility clinic and I was deemed infertile. With the news in hand, Jeff and I decided to adopt. Within a few months, we adopted Adrian. She was 3 and had come from an unstable home and we were so excited to be parents! We loved Adrian so much and a few months later we got a call from the adoption agency, letting us know that Adrian's biological mother was expecting a baby and didn't want her. We, of course, agreed to adopting the baby. We were able to take home Braylie when she was 4 days old. I loved having a baby in the family, and Adrian loved playing with Braylie! Some of the best days of my life were with baby Braylie and Adrian.

When Braylie was 4, I found out that I was pregnant! I was so completely surprised, because I thought I was infertile. Apparently, my doctor had made a mistake. I had a very hard pregnancy, and it made me never want to be pregnant again. I had morning sickness 24/7 and developed preeclampsia. I had Gage 8 weeks early because I went into pre-term labor and had an emergency c-section. Gage was in the NICU and it was completely awful. I visited him every day but wanted him home with me so badly. When he was 7 weeks old, we took him home for the first time. He was so tiny, but he was a beautiful baby boy. I loved having a boy, and wanted another one to even out our family. We adopted Jamie 4 years later. The adoption agency contacted us and we couldn't say no! Jamie was the sweetest, easiest baby I ever had. He was so easy, but adorable! A few years later, I was late and took a pregnancy test. I was pregnant! At our 8 week ultrasound, we found out that it was twins! Jeff and I were thrilled, we always wanted 6 kids! My pregnancy with the twins was much easier compared to my pregnancy with Gage. I still had a c-section, which I didn't like, but I'm just glad that they got here safe! Now, I love my life, and I wouldn't change it for the world! Jeff and I feel like our family is complete, and we love it just the way it is :)

Q and A Part 1!

In this post, I have taken frequently asked questions from the comments to answer. I get so many questions daily, and it's impossible to reply to them all. So, I thought it would be a good idea to do a Q and A!

Q. What car do you have?
A. I have a Volvo SUV that seats 7. Nolan, and Emery are in the first row of seats, and then Jamie's carseat is in the back! Those are the kids that are usually always driving with me, so I have their carseats in my car! Since we do have a family of 8, we can't fit everyone in our car at once, but it's usually just me and the 6 kids during the day! Jeff has a Prius that seats 5, he also has a carseat in their for Jamie! Whenever we do long trips, we take both cars anyway, so it's not super crowded and the kids have more room!

Q. What are your kids favorite foods, and your families favorite meals to cook?
A. Adrian loves watermelon, green beans, and whales. Braylie loves goldfish and Ritz garlic butter crackers. Gage and Jamie both love strawberries and peaches. Gage also loves birthday cake Oreos, and Jamie loves orange freeze pops. He lives on them in the summertime! I have a meal plan every week, and go grocery shopping every weekend to buy all of the meals for that week. It's so much easier and more organized for our big family to have everything planned out and bought in bulk! We have cheesy chicken (chicken breast w/melted mozzarella cheese), pasta with spaghetti sauce or just plain with butter and salt, green beans, salad, and fruit at least once a week! It's hard to find a meal that everyone likes, and all of the kids love this meal so it's easy for me to make! We also like a rice casserole that I grew up having. It's rice and chicken cooked with a little cheddar cheese and pieces of broccoli mixed in! You barely taste the broccoli, so it's a good meal to get veggies into my picky eaters! Also, we love squash soup! We grow squash in our garden and I make it homemade and freeze it for the cold winter nights.

Q. What are your kids favorite colors?
A. Adrian's favorite color is green, Braylie's is pink, Gage's is blue, and Jamie's is green!

Q. What are your favorite vacation spots?
A. We absolutely love going to the beach! We go twice every summer, once with my family for a week and once with Jeff's family for a week. We usually go to Ocean City, NJ with Jeff's side and Ocean City, Maryland with my family. Also, my parents own a house in Maine! We love going to Maine, Jeff and I love the weather and the relaxing atmosphere! The kids love playing in the lake and going inner-tubing, and also having a lot of space to run and play! We go on walks in the woods, and it is so much fun! My parents live in Florida, and Jeff's brothers/sisters live in Seattle, so we also like to visit them! The kids especially love when we go to Disney in Florida!

Q. Do your kids play any sports?
A. Yes! Adrian does cheerleading at her high school, and has been doing it forever! She loves dancing too, and cheerleading is a great way to use her dance skills and also her flexibility. She grew up doing gymnastics. Braylie plays soccer every summer. I had her play in 1st grade, and she absolutely hated it. Then, she started again in 4th grade, loved it, and has been playing ever since! Gage plays soccer, basketball, and baseball. He is always involved in a sport, but he loves it! Jamie is actually enrolled in a soccer camp next week, it will be his first time playing on a team! I'm pretty sure that he will like it, because he loves kicking the soccer ball around outside with Gage!

Q. How do you keep the house clean with so many kids?
A. Let me tell you, it's not easy! When I first had Adrian, I was obsessed with keeping the house spotless. It would stress me out and then I wouldn't be able to enjoy any kind of creative activities because I thought it would make a mess. Since then I have lightened up, but I still love to clean! I actually have a cleaning routine that I do, and it really helps. There are things I do every day, such as laundry, doing the dishes, wiping the counters, sweeping the floors, cleaning up toys, exc. But, I clean the bathrooms every Monday, clean the kids bathrooms on Tuesdays, exc. The key to keeping a house clean is do bits every day and not leave everything to one day. I have learned to balance out what is really necessary and what isn't. Such as, it isn't necessary to  keep the playroom spotless. I originally cleaned the playroom every night and all the toys in their specific bins, but now I realize that that is not necessary because they will rip it apart a few hours later! I mostly focus on the kitchen, because with so many kids we have so many dishes and they pile up in the sink so quickly! Also, I sweep the floors multiple times a day in the dining room, because little children mean messes! Whenever we have guests, I do clean the house more than I normally would, because I love hosting people and like the excuse to clean!

That is all the questions I am doing for today, leave more questions below and stay tuned for Part 2!

Daily Post | August 1, 2014

Hey guys, we had a super fun last full day at the beach, and I thought I'd tell you all about it!

6:30am- I woke up and took a shower. Most of my kids sleep till a decent hour, so I like to wake up early to get ready for the day and get some work done! I just replied to some emails, I get so many emails it's crazy! Also, I planned out some blog posts and read comments.
7:30am- Jamie woke up and and I made him and I breakfast. We had pancakes with scrambled eggs, strawberries, and orange juice! After breakfast I got Jamie ready and made more food.
8:00am- Gage and Braylie wake up at 8 almost every day, so I had the breakfast ready for them! Gage had we Jamie had, but Braylie had scrambled eggs and a fruit salad instead of pancakes.
8:30am- Emery and Nolan woke up and I fed them while the kids played quietly in their rooms.
9:00am- Adrian woke up, got breakfast, and got ready. Then, I had her watch Emery and Nolan while I was able to do the dishes from breakfast and clean up the kitchen. Also, I started some laundry. With 7 kids, the laundry is never ending!
10:00am- I packed lunches for everyone on the beach and got everyone ready to head out to the beach at 11! I fed Emery and Nolan, and put them down for their nap. My mom actually wasn't feeling the best, so she stayed back at the house. It was great for me, because the twins could nap at the house and I wouldn't have to bring them out to the beach! They usually sleep for 3 hours.
11:30am: We were all out at the beach and having lunch. I pack turkey and cheese sandwiches for everyone, fruit, chips, and cookies. Then, I built a sand castle with Jamie while Jeff and my dad went in the water with Gage and Braylie and Adrian sunbathed.
2:00pm: Jamie was absolutely done with the beach, so I took him inside, gave him a bath, and put him down for a nap. He doesn't take naps everyday, only on days when he is super tired, usually on vacations! Then, while he slept Emery and Nolan woke up and I fed them, played with them, and began packing to go home.
3:30pm: The rest of the gang came inside and got all showered and cleaned up. I was able to shower then too, when my dad entertained the babies.
4:00pm: My mom was feeling better and had a craft ready for the kids when they came out of the shower. I fed the twins again and then had them in the kitchen with me while I made dinner. We usually have dinner around 5 on vacations, because we like to have the whole evening for activities!
5:00pm: I nursed the babies and put them down for their second nap of the day. This time, they usually sleep until 7 (2 hours). Then, we all had dinner!
6:00pm: We decided to go to the boardwalk, since it was our last night and I hadn't gone yet! My mom took them Monday night, but I just got to the beach Wednesday night, as you all know. The kids loved the rides, and Adrian loved the shopping! I just enjoyed spending time with my kids without the babies who constantly need my attention. I am so afraid of neglecting a child or not spending enough time one on one with my kids!
8:00pm: We got home from the boardwalk and I read Jamie his bedtime stories and put him down for the night. Then, I started a movie with Gage and Braylie while Adrian sat with Emery and Nolan nursed.
9:00pm- Gage and Braylie went to bed, and I nursed the babies before putting them down around 9:30. After they were all asleep, I got some more work done on my computer, did some cleaning/housework, and finished up some packing.
10:30pm: Adrian went up to her room, and so did my parents. Jeff and I watched some TV alone, to spend time with each other, before going to bed at 11:30.

I hope you guys enjoy these type of posts! Leave a comment below if you do :)

Jamie's 5th Birthday | Twins 14th Week Update!

I know this is a little bit late, but Jamie's 5th birthday was July 14th! I can't believe that I forgot to mention it! Jamie loves his birthday, just like another other 5 year old. Since the 14th was a Monday, we had his birthday party the following Friday, the 18th! My family and part of Jeff's family were able to come, and it was a lot of fun! It was a Cars themed party, so I had cute cupcakes to go with the theme, and I made and decorated his cake, shaped like a car! He absolutely loved it and, of course, was so excited about all of the presents he got!

The next day, Saturday, Jamie had his friends over for a pool party! It was 4 boys and 3 girls from his nursery school last year. Jeff grilled hamburgers and hotdogs for everyone, since the parents and siblings of the children were invited to stay! Adrian took Emery and Nolan over to my parents house for the afternoon/early evening, but Braylie and Gage stayed! It was so much fun, all of the kids loved the pool and I had a good time relaxing without worrying about the twins, talking to everyone! It was a blast.

The twins will be 14 weeks old today! I can't believe that they are already almost 4 months old! It feels like just yesterday, I was in Florida giving birth. Emery is doing amazing with breastfeeding, she is eating every 3 hours. She has also stopped nursing to sleep, which I am so glad because now Jeff can put her down if needed! Emery absolutely loves tummy time! She can hold her head up completely and is rocking side to side, and sometimes goes from her tummy almost to laying on her hip! I expect in the next few weeks she will roll over for the first time. Emery is still a mommy's baby. She doesn't like anyone else holding her but me and a few others. Nolan has been struggling lately with breastfeeding, he gets so distracted when he eats and doesn't eat as much as he should. I have been working on it, but if you have had the same problems with your baby please leave me tips below! He can also hold his head up, and is working on grabbing and holding on to objects. He has also recently learned to smile, and he always smiles when he sees Jeff, Gage, or myself! He absolutely adores Gage, whenever he is crying Gage can make him smile! Nolan also goes to sleep really well, which I am super happy about! He can sleep through anything, so I usually put him down first. Their sleeping schedule is going so well! There is a saying that every week of a baby's life until 12 weeks that they should sleep that many hours. (ex: 1 week=1 hour straight, 2 weeks=2 hours straight, exc.) By 6 weeks old they were sleeping 4 hours through the night, and they pretty much gradually increased until now, when Nolan sleeps completely through the night, and Emery wakes up to nurse once, occasionally twice! I put them both down 9pm, and Nolan usually wakes up around 8:30-9:30 in the morning, and Emery wakes up around 2-3am, eats, and then goes back down until 9! I am so glad that they are doing so well, and I am so thankful every day for them :)