A swinging good time

It was an interesting week at our house. Without going into all the details Eli and Tristan were sick with fever and Barrett is going through a phase of fighting sleep. So after being cooped up for a while we all needed to escape the house. We went to J.F. Gregory park to feed the ducks and turtles and play at the park. It was the first time I put the babies in swings. They LOVED it! They must have swung for 40 mins while the kids were playing. It was a good time for all of us and a much needed escape.

"Do you know why?"

This is the phrase I hear about 30 times a day from Eliana. She will make a statement about something and then ask the infamous question. "I had a good day at school. Do you know why?" "My favorite color is yellow. Do you know why?" etc. etc...It is great to watch my kids go through these phases of learned and communicating. At times I think "could you please stop saying the same thing over and over again!" Then I have to remind myself that she will only be 4 years old for another 2 months. Then she will be 5 then 6 and then before I know it she will be a teenager. So I have to treasure every moment I get to observe my children growing and hope that I can always contribute in a helpful, loving and positive way.

I love my children. Many times when I am out in public with all 4 of my kids people will make comments like "Oh, I feel sorry for you" or " I wouldn't want to be you." That isn't as common as "whew, you have your hands full." I simply say "It is great being me." I have been blessed with beautiful children who are precious, loving, fun, smart and always entertaining. My babies are always so happy. They rarely cry and I keep waiting for the day they will act out in public or give me a hard time while driving around. They are little angels, sweet as could be. So YES, I love being a mother of 4.

I wonder what Eli or Tristan will start saying next? Whatever it is, I am sure they will make me smile.

One step closer to ITALY!!

I just LOVE our AMX sky miles card. Thanks to all our everyday spending we have two first class tickets to Italy for 3 weeks next May. YEAH!!!! This will probably be our one and only get away without the kids for a romantic adventure. I am looking forward to Chris being my tour guide as he takes me to the places he served on his mission and meet the families he still keeps in touch with. In Rome we have a beautiful place to stay thanks to his friend Monica. I have always been enchanted with Italy since I was a little girl. I lived there from age 2-6 but I only remember the little neighborhood we lived in and the lemon tree we used to climb. I have other memories of our travels as a family. I have an amazing husband that will steal my heart all over again in the most romantic country. Every girls dream!

Can't plead innocent now can you!!!

Our new dog Bella is wonderful and is a great addition to our home. However, she came with some bad habits. She has a passion for chewing up everything and digging in the dirt. She is VERY smart and aware of her misdeeds. As soon as they come to my attention she cowers. So I show her the evidence, put her nose in it and scold her. After the MANY many times I have done this she still persists to misbehave. I am going to have to do some research online to find some good advice. I need to buy her a good chew bone to crave her fixation. I have let her stay out of her kennel a few times at night and just when I think she has finally learned the rules around here she poops or pees in the house while we are sleeping and I inevitably step in it while I am wondering in the dark taking care of babies in the night. So she is restricted to her kennel at night. She used to sneak into the kids room and sleep with Tristan but I had to stop that when she chewed up some stuff in their room.

SO Bella is guilty as charged and needs to shape up. Any dog trainers out there willing to give my advice?

Why I dont read many books

OK, I really do love to read but I can't do it and have my normal life function at the same time. I put off and procrastinate most everything until my book is done. The kids always demand a lot out of me so they dont get thwarted the way the household chores do. I finished Breaking Dawn in the Twilight series. Good read for me. It is low key, easy to read and has a good story line. I also enjoy the characters. So today I have lots on my agenda to play "catch-up" so I must go.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Since we are saving money for our Italy Trip Chris didn't want me to send him any thing that he would have to carry home with him. So I sent him the normal package of magazines, beef jerky and stuff from the kids. I still wanted to do something a little special for him. So the kids and I decided to throw him a party. Eli and Tristan helped mix the cake and swirl in the chocolate. After it cooled I frosted it and they decorated it with sprinkles, M&Ms, colored frosting and candles. We also made a banner and colored it to show him how much we care. I video taped our little party for dad and sent it to him on his b-day along with lots of pictures. Thankfully he loved it! I am extremely grateful for modern technology that allows us to communicate half way across the world with those we love. Chris treated himself to a rootbeer and a small ice cream. He hadn't had either one since he's been in Iraq. Then he got to fly. So a fairly good day for a soldier on his birthday in Iraq.

Our daddy's the BEST!

Barrett
Eliana
Soren
Tristan

It is times like this morning that crushes my heart. My sweet little boy Tristan woke up and said "good morning mommy. I miss my Daddy!" " I know baby. He is going to call this morning and you can talk to him." "I want to see his body" "Me too, me too. We just have to remember all the fun times we shared with daddy while he was here with us and before you know it he will be back home, holding you in his arms and wrestling with you on the floor. Be brave, keep remembering and loving him." "OK mommy, I will be brave!"

He makes a comment about missing his dad daily. It is difficult for him to understand why dad is away and can't come home to him. It is so sad and unfortunate that Chris has to be away from his family. To miss out on so many milestones and creating memories. However it is a time to teach our children about daddy's job and how important it is that he serves our country with honor. Despite any political views people may have, my husband is a patriot. He loves and serves our nation without complaint and does the best he can. He is our hero and we love him. So we will trek forward in our lives and face the hurtles while he is away.

We miss you Chris, DADDY! We will be strong and brave until you come home. We hope you can feel our hugs all the way across the world.
LOVE, Damato family

Cutest faces you've ever SEEN!

Soren and Barrett are getting the hang of sitting up. I coudn't resist taking pictures. They were being so smiley and fun. I got some great video of Barrett sounding like a Bear and talking. Then when they were both sitting together Barrett reached over to hug Soren and took him down. Barrett thought it was funny but Soren wasn't so pleased about it.

True to his name (Barrett)

Barrett is discovering sounds. He is constantly talking all day long. Some of his new sounds are a gargling noise, baba, nana and my favorite is his BEAR noise. He growls all the time. Eliana calls him Brother Bear. He is such a delight. His demeanour is always pleasant and he looks as though he is cooking up brilliant ideas in that little brain of his. He is definitely my introvert compared to Soren but everyday I see more of his personality shine. Such fun to have these twins and watch them grow together.

Soren slept through the night

Yes, my little guy fell asleep at 7:30pm and I had to wake him up this morning at 6:45am to take Eli to the bus stop. I thought he would be crying and desperately hungry but he woke up with smiles and happiness. I had to question myself on who I gave a bottle to at 1am. But I remember it was the baby with snaps and Soren had on zipper jammies. I know this is just a teaser! Whenever they sleep long or do something great the next day is always a let down. But I will take it when I can get it.

Tantrums

We have been talking about how Grandma and Grandpa are leaving in a few days and the kids are getting sad. We stopped by the DEERS office to see if they were busy so my mom could get a new card. As soon as my parents stepped out of the truck Tristan threw the BIGGEST EVER tantrum. "I want to go with them!!" If I was smart I would have called after them to wait but I new they were coming right back because it would be busy. Sure enough they were back as soon as they left but Tristan was screaming his head off. I mean WOW, I have never seen a tantrum like this one before. I had to pick him off the floor of the truck. He wouldn't sit in his seat. Kicking and screaming. I finally got him buckled in and mom had to put her hand over the red button so he couldn't undo himself again. Finally after a while he stopped the screaming but he was still just as upset. He said he wanted g-ma and g-pa to leave right now! He acted out this same way when Daddy was leaving. He doesn't know how to express his feelings about people leaving him.

There was no reasoning with him this time. We were all out of the truck going to the water park and he wouldn't get out. Mom decided to stay with him until he was ready. After he realized I wasn't coming back for him he gave in to moms bribe. She said he must be getting hot in there and offered to get him a nice cold Dr Pepper. (she knows the way to his heart...haha). He was still a pill for most of the day. The water park was disappointing. The sprinkler park was shut down and so was the slide due to a wasp's nest that had recently been destroyed and a life guard had been bit. After several upset people complaining about it not being open they finally opened it right before we were leaving. We went down the slide several times and in the sprinklers for 5 mins. I was also upset because they wouldn't' allow the babies red floaties in the pool. Saying they were unsafe and they had seen several flip over. Well, if you have seen these things you would know that my little 7 month olds were not going to tip these things over. So my life was extra hard at the pool with the babies. My dad was swimming and helping but he kept letting Barrett flop his face in the water so I took over. All in all we have had better days but we still managed to have a few laughs.

The kids didn't want to leave as usual. We tried to go out to Love's Sea food tonight but they are closed on Mondays. So we went out to Fatz cafe in Pooler. It is kind of like a chili's. Great food and all the kids did pretty well. Tristan actually ate 3/4s of his cheeseburger!! Amazing!

My two Dancing STARS

Eliana Loves to dance! She grabbed Tristan and said "Dance with me!" She pulled him close and then said "This is how you do it...you hold my hand out like this...and put your other arm on my back like this." It was extremely funny to see these two siblings dance like they were professionals on a show. I just know they will hate these pics when they get older.

Barrett rolled over and has a tooth!

We have been wondering who was going to roll over first. Both babies have been doing so well with moving side to side and throwing the leg over and getting SO close to rolling over but it just hadn't happened yet. This morning I was holding Soren and Barrett was hanging out on the floor watching baby Einstein. I looked over at Little Bear and he was on his tummy. I said "grandma, wasn't Barrett on his back just a second ago?" My prediction is that Barrett will be first to crawl and Soren will be first to walk. We will see how close I am.

Last Friday Barrett got his first tooth. His bottom two teeth have been swollen for several days and his bottom left broke through the gums first. Soren has been drooling for weeks but there is no sign of teeth yet. I have a good friend whose little girl didn't get her first tooth till she was 18 months old!! All I need to say about teeth is...Man, am I glad I'm not nursing anymore! :)

Jekyll Island

We had a great time today at Jekyll Island. When we got there we drove around the little island to see the sights. Then we went to lunch at a restaurant on the Pier. Tristan was behaving oddly. He didn't want to sit with us and he was going to the other side of the room and hiding under the tables on the floor. I must have tried getting him to come sit down and behave for 15 mins before I just gave up and said Whatever! No one else was sitting in the up stairs area we were in so he wasn't bothering anyone but ME. He eventually got over what ever he was feeling. Strange kid. Then we went to the Sea Turtle Center. I was surprised at how interested the kids were in the exhibits. They stayed in the small room for 30-45 mins just looking at all the turtle stuff. Then we went outside to the hospital part. It was sad to see so many turtles that had been severely injured. most by boat propellers. Jekyll Island is a habitat for sea turtles and they are everywhere. I was SO hoping to see one out on the beach but no such luck.


We finally went to the beach. We picked a perfect spot right next to the sand bar. We could walk out forever and the water was till at our ankles. Which made it perfect for the kids to play in. Eliana has reached the age where she constantly BUGS me with " Are we there YET?" The whole way down, and the whole time before we got to the beach. The beach was beautiful and hot! I went over Tristan twice with sunscreen but forgot to do Eli a second time and she got burned pretty good. Their favorite part was picking up shells and sand dollars. We must have brought home 10 sand dollars. Call us killers but they were all alive. Eliana was holding a sand dollar like it was a trophy and when Grandpa said it was alive she jumped, squealed and dropped it in the water. So funny to see. Then we were walking in shallow water when the tide was out and there were little tube like sea life sticking out of the sand. When Eli looked down and saw that she was standing on them and they looked like aliens coming out of the sand she FREAKED out and hoped up and down like a monkey. She was very scared. I pulled a few out of the sand and showed her and they are only an inch long and look like a miniature straw. She was still creped out about walking on them. Tristan LOVED playing in the water. He sat down and that was that. He laid and kicked, crawled and splashed. He and Zach had a blast playing in the mini waves. But poor Tristan got stung by something. There were jelly fish everywhere. I stepped on one and nothing happened to me but I think he may have grazed one while sitting in the water. He had a red mark on his back about an inch by 2 inches.


When we were all packed up and headed back to the truck I couldn't find me keys. I looked in all the bags, pockets of the stroller and all over the sand. I said a quick prayer. Tristan looked at me and said "mom, why are you praying?" I said sometimes it is good to pray when you need help. And I need help finding my keys so we aren't stuck here at the beach. So I was off backtracking and soon after I left mom felt prompted to look in the stroller again and found them in my short pocket. But the good part was I experienced a magical moment all to myself on the beach. The wind picked up very strong and the beach was empty of people. The wind was coming from my back and the sand was blowing so fast and strong across the beach that it looked like a soft cloud was racing by my feet. It was awesome! I wish I had my camera for the picture but I would have hated to get all that sand in my new camera.

I for sure thought the kids were going to sleep on the way home but they played I spy and other games to keep them occupied. When we got home Eliana was the one to act out from tiredness. Poor thing was mad because Tristan got the pink washcloth and she wanted it. She was crying in her bed and said " I never get pink! I've never gotten pink!" I looked at her like she was crazy and then teased her saying what color is your bed? your pj's? your blanket? etc...she started laughing and smirking because she got my point. As soon as I kissed them goodnight they were out. I am hoping for a long nights sleep.