{Weekend Recap} First Family Road Trip, My ER Visit & Saying Goodbye to Snowball

Doozy.

That's about the right word to reflect how I felt coming off this past weekend. A doozy! I knew it'd be a lot of work, but had no idea things would wind up the way they did. But not to get ahead of myself...

The time had come for our first family road trip. With the help of my mom and my nanny, I got about six bags worth of food, toys, clothes, diapers and supplies all neatly packed for the quad squad and ready for the husband to load into the suburban. We headed to Houston Friday after lunch to visit good friends of ours for the weekend. We hauled both twin strollers and four pack-and-plays along with us, as well as our own bags for the trip, and everything fit! We had a trailer hitch we attached to the back that held the pack-and-plays wrapped in a tarp for rain-proofing, and still had a tiny bit of room to spare inside the vehicle. Pretty damn impressive, if you ask me.

The kids did very well on the four hour drive down to H-Town. Which is exactly how long it took us, with only one bathroom break for the husband and I. The babies slept on and off, read books and played with their new Fisher Price mini doodle pads I picked up at Target specifically for the trip. They love them and now look forward to playing with them during nap time as well! I packed a lot of other little odds and ends to help our trip go smoothly and used a few organization techniques to help me be as prepared as possible for traveling with toddler quadruplets, and will be covering all that in another post!

Soon as we arrived, the babies were off and running and exploring every nook and cranny of our friend's spacious home and playing with their kids—who loved every minute with the quads! It was awesome to see them all together. For dinner, the babies actually sat at the table in big adult chairs and ate their Spring Creek barbecue like champs. Then we dressed them for bed and put them down in their pack-and-plays, which we'd padded with a foam bedding topper cut to size and a pack-and-play sheet. They cried on and off for a little while but eventually went to sleep and no one climbed out, not once! We got to enjoy a movie night with our friends and their kids before climbing into bed ourselves. I was so tired!

Saturday we hung out at the house and went for a walk around the pond across the street, where the babies learned how to feed ducks for the first time. Even if Kailey still ate nearly every piece of bread that was handed to her! Little girl acted like she was starving! Harrison got the hang of it pretty quick and was launching bread pieces into the water and all the quads imitated duck sounds and got a kick out of watching them swim around.

Lunch was at Buffalo Wild Wings and the babies enjoyed playing with the electronic games the restaurant had on hand. Our friend's kids were so sweet and helped all the quads pull up the games on their screens and showed them how to play. Then we all dug into wings and chicken strips and lots of potato wedges! A quick round of diaper changes in the back of the 'burb and the husband and I loaded up our crew then drove around for about an hour so they'd nap in the car. It worked like a charm and we didn't have to fight them to sleep in their pack-and-plays at the house, which probably wouldn't have gone very well. This way we knew they at least got a little rest in an otherwise active day!

The afternoon was spent outside in the backyard, the babies ran around all over the place, spent time in the swing, took rides in the mini coupe and chowed down on snacks. Apparently the snacking and heat didn't go well with Harrison, who stopped running long enough to walk by and puke all over the patio! We had to go inside and cool him off, but he was back at it later on and the weather had cooled off. (It was over 80 degrees that afternoon!)

Saturday evening, we dined on fajitas and all the trimmings and got to say hello to several friends of ours that came over to visit. It was nice to see everyone after leaving Houston nearly a year ago to move to Dallas! The husband and his brother, who lives in Houston, fed the babies in their strollers so I could actually sit down and eat my own dinner. A little while later, in between a cold beer or two, we gave the quads baths and got them ready for bed. They were laughing hysterically and chasing the older kids around the house when Harrison threw up part of his dinner. He just gets too excited! It was time for them to call it a night so we piled all six of them into bed with us so they would calm down and drift off to sleep, then gently put each of them in their pack-and-play for the night. The husband went back out to socialize, but I was beyond exhausted and opted to get a good night's rest.

Sunday morning was met with a big breakfast courtesy of our gracious hosts and the quads sat in adult chairs at the table again and wolfed down sausage, bacon, eggs and hot-out-of-the-oven monkey bread (a lot like cinnamon rolls!). We got everyone dressed then made about 15 passes through the house to gather up all our stuff and re-pack our 81 bags then stuff them in the car. It was time to bid our goodbyes and make a run through Sonic for an easy in-the-car lunch of grilled cheeses and French fries. (Yes, we really outdid it with the fried food this weekend!)

The drive home wasn't quite as pleasant as the one getting there. The kids napped on and off the first hour or two, but afterward they were pretty unhappy with being stuck in their car seats. Finally we turned on the DVD player, which helped, but when we stopped for a bathroom break, Harrison threw up all over himself. Third time in two days, poor boy! He is such a good kiddo though, he never gets upset about it and just held his hands out and stayed still while he waited for me to climb into the back and clean him up. I grabbed a handy pair of clean clothes and got him all changed and wiped his car seat out then refilled everyone's sippy cups of water and doled out animal cookies for snacks. Logan and Kailey took turns wailing and screaming the rest of the way home, until we hit the outskirts of Dallas and they passed out until we pulled into our driveway. Whenever I'm coming back in town, there's nothing sweeter than the sight of that Dallas skyline...

Unfortunately, I ran inside to check on my cat, Snowball, to discover she had passed away just hours ago in her bed. Our nanny had been coming by the house to feed and water all the pets and had noticed Snowball seemed a little off that same morning. Snowball must've passed not long after, and I was pretty distraught at the loss. She was 17 years old and, just like my other older cat, July, who passed away last spring, Snowball has been with me throughout every major event in my life. I got her when I was 12 and she grew up with me and made every move to every apartment and house with me, nearly died while the husband and I were living in Scotland, but my mom and step-dad helped nurse her back to health, and she lived four more wonderful years with us. She loved our current house, too. Her bed sat at the landing mid-way up the stairs, where she could watch the ongoings of the house but have her own space. She'd often sneak down to sun herself in the afternoon rays that stream through our front door and she'd begun coming into the play room frequently and enjoying lots of petting and hugs from the quads.

The husband got the kids unloaded and changed, then finished unloading the car, while I mourned Snowball's passing and moved her bed to a spot where the babies couldn't see her. (They kept saying "cat" and wanted her to come into the play room.) I take solace in the fact that Snowball was very happy those last few months of her life, and that I found her curled up in her bed as though she'd gone to sleep and just never woke up. It gives me a bit of peace about losing her. My mom and step-dad came to the house a few hours later to pick up Snowball and bury her next to July, where my step-dad also planted a second rosebush in their memory. It was such a sweet gesture and I can't thank both of them enough.

However, we would be seeing them again in the wee hours as the migraine I got from crying and being upset (likely aggravated by already being stressed out and worn down) kept escalating the rest of the evening. By 11pm, I could barely lift my head, couldn't look at any light and was getting sick over and over no matter why type of medicine I tried to take. The husband had taken a Benadryl earlier, but was fighting the grogginess to take care of me and was becoming increasingly concerned. After four hours of getting sick from the relentless pounding headache that made my skull feel like it was splitting open, he called my mom for advice and they agreed I needed a doctor. So she and my step-dad immediately came back over (it was about 1:30am) to sleep in the guest room so the husband could take me to the ER. I was sick on the way there and walked in with my hand over my eyes and my face buried in a wastebasket I was carrying in the other hand. Fortunately, no one else was there so I was seen pretty quickly and had the nicest nurses and doctor. I received a bag and a half of IV fluids—I was pretty dehydrated, which was also beginning to contribute to my sickness—and some nausea and pain meds. I didn't have my Cheap Ass Easter Bunny with me for when they had to start the IV, but I did pretty well and less than two hours later, I was sitting up and eating gold fish. I only saw the face of one nurse while there, the one that discharged me, since I couldn't even open my eyes when I arrived. It was AWFUL!

By 4am, the husband and I were back home and getting into our bed at last. My mom and step-dad graciously took the breakfast shift with the quads so we could both get some sleep and I don't think I made it out of bed until 11am. What a great support system I have! I couldn't feel more blessed with having such wonderful family in my life that is there when I need them, never complain for a second or hesitate to do whatever it takes. I think my mom was pretty concerned, as she mentioned in her own recent blog post, and she didn't leave my house until she saw me walking around and feeling better with her own two eyes! That's a mother's love, and one I now completely understand!

Now that it's Tuesday, I'm happy to say I'm feeling better and more like myself. I've had the babies all on my own today and it's been going pretty well. I think we're all happy to be back home and back into the groove of our daily routine. I'm happy with no major changes for a little while, normal is good. ;)

While I miss my Snowball every day and wince every time I see the empty spot on the stairs where she's normally sleeping, I know she's in a happy place and that she and July are reunited. It was a hard loss for myself and all my family, as she's a part of so many hearts, and it's even more difficult since for the first time in my life, I don't have a cat. I've always had cats, and for most of my life it's been those two! So it's a pretty major adjustment and one that will take some time to heal. I appreciate all the sweet comments and support and even the gorgeous flowers that my friend Lisa took the time to send, even though she's living all the way in Malaysia. I love that the card is signed, Lisa of Labuan....thank you!

So that was our weekend and I hope I have no more ER stories or throw-up tales to report for awhile! Stay tuned for some new posts this week and don't forget to shop Origami Owl jewelry, where you can get 10% off your order. Check out my current giveaway for all the details!

{Weekend Recap} Sugar Highs & Go Fish!

I decided my weekend officially started on Friday at approximately 4pm. Because that's when I poured myself a (nonbreakable) glass of wine—from my Bota box of malbec, if you must know!—and gave the kids a change in pace with their afternoon play time. Instead of heading downstairs to the play room after naps, we hung out in Trystan and Logan's room with their bin of cars and two car mats to play on, plus snack cups of cheerios and frosted animal cookies. Which they decorated the floor with liberally, but I did not mind because I was happily drinking my wine and listening to the radio on the intercom while I watched them play. ;)

I just had to throw in that last photo of Logan because her hair is so pretty and I love pulling it into pigtails and ponytails and even a half-up do! She got her mama's thick hair, to be sure. 

The husband and I both fell asleep on the couch while we attempted to watch some TV shows on the DVR after the babies were in bed, and all four of them slept in on Saturday so we weren't downstairs for breakfast until 9:30am!!! I loooooove that my babies sleep in on the weekends without a problem, which makes for a really nice change in pace for mama and daddy! However, despite the late rising time, I was still so exhausted I could barely keep my eyes open so I took a 2.5 hour nap when the babies napped that afternoon. That's a rare occurrence, since I'm not really a nap person. They tend to slow me down versus help me out, but exhaustion has hit me hard this week. I was glad for the extra rest because the husband and I handed off bedtime duty to the nanny and hit a local resto for dinner with friends of ours. Much needed beers and delicious brisket enchiladas!

Sunday morning, I actually woke up feeling more energized and ran off for some donuts and kolaches while the husband changed diapers and brought the kiddos downstairs. It was the quad's first time to eat donuts and, of course, they loved them!

After a successful nap time during which I worked on my computer and the husband watched a movie (poor guy has a crick in his neck), we loaded up the babies and headed off for another first: a trip to Petsmart. They were totally fascinated!! We'd never plunked them down into the open area of a shopping cart before since they always sit in the belted seats in the front. But they took to it with no problem at all, sitting of their own accord (and saying "sit, sit!" to each other) when the cart was in motion, then occasionally standing up a little to get a better view of the animals. 

I think their favorite part were all the cats moseying around their boxes. The babies have come to love my cat, Snowball, who is now 18 years old!! And Snowball has come to adore the quads, she realized last week that she can come to the baby gate of their play room that opens into the hallway and lay beside and get petted by four sets of hands. She'll start purring and halfway close her eyes and doesn't even seem to care if someone pulls back a handful of fur.

Both the husband and I loved watching the babies discover animals in the flesh that we've been learning about and repeating nonstop for the past several months. They perked up at the colorful orange goldfish and watched the blue and green parakeets hopping about in their cages with unfettered excitement. We also walked by the dog training area that's enclosed by a solid clear wall of glass. But I felt like we were the exhibit instead since so many of the folks in there were pointing, oohing, aahing and waving at the babies when they realized we had four!

After Petsmart, we reloaded the 'burb and headed a few parking lots over to Costco. It was almost painful to put everyone back into their car seats for such a short distance, but we had already decided we were bound and determined to get our Costco shopping done. I was excited I wouldn't be having to do it solo later in the week, bulk shopping is exhausting!!

We were stopped many, many times in Costco on this particular outing—probably because it was a busy Sunday. Lots of gawking, stares and questions but thankfully no one was rude. We did try to politely exit a conversation with an older couple and the man just wouldn't take a hint and kept trying to ask us about intimate details of our daily schedule. But finally his wife told him to let us be so we could finish shopping while our kids were behaving so nicely! And another lady who was shopping with her husband ran up and asked the husband which baby was "Baby A" and had been born first. She excitedly explained she was a twin herself and thought it was so neat to see such an adorable set of twins. Then she glanced up and realized all the girls were dressed in the same tops and we were actually together, so I said, "Or quadruplets, which is even better!" with a big grin and her face just about killed me. Sometimes we like to have a wee bit of fun with people. ;)

Apparently I got a second wind when we got home, but we were also smart and picked up Pizza Hut for dinner so we could feed the babies as soon as we arrived. Always a great plan! They were enjoying their dinner 15 minutes ahead of schedule—despite a meltdown from Kailey afterward—and I wolfed down a slice of pepperoni and poured a glass of wine then unloaded our entire grocery haul, cleaned out the whole fridge and put everything away, all neat and organized! (Speaking of organized, I always have to have an organized grocery list when I hit up the store and have been using a simple printable one I found on Pinterest. Find it on my Organizing board.)

The husband neck still wasn't any better, so he started dressing the babies for bed while I took care of everything else. Saturday he was super motivated and I was exhausted, so it worked out that I felt better on Sunday! By just after 9pm, the babies were sound asleep in their beds and I'd poured a second glass of wine (yeah, yeah, I enjoy my wine at the end of the day!) and was headed to my bed and the DVR.

Oh, and don't forget to enter my giveaway before midnight CST tonight!! You could wine a bottle of Red Velvet wine, coconut lotion and body wash and cookie chips! Just click this link and follow the instructions at the end of the post.

Have a great week!

Office Mates

It's been a relatively quiet day around my house, which is a good thing because I've been able to focus on some work deadlines that have been looming over my head. And the temps outside are in the low 40s—never mind that it was 80 degrees two days ago—so wrapping up in a blanket in my home office ain't too shabby a situation to be in. Although I'll admit I do not keep an OCD-tidy desk, messy means money...

I tend to work on anywhere from two to four projects at a time, so there's always a ton of material floating around my space. The beautiful red roses were a surprise from my husband when he got home from work yesterday. And no, I don't have three beverages—the mug is my chicken noodle soup lunch! That book on the right, Birthdays for the Dead, is one that I'm excitedly cracking open tonight and is the newest tome out by a favorite writer of mine from Scotland, Stuart MacBride. I like to call my self-portrait below "Writer's Daze."

Of course, since the weather has decided to emit teeth-chattering gusts of wind and less than desirable temperatures, my little doggie family was allowed naps in their kennels in my office to warm up and take a break from the chilly backyard. Reese, pictured below, is about 10 months old and we've loved her since before we decided to officially adopt her! She had her spay surgery two days ago and still manages to run circles around me, the other two dogs and my white cat—who does not appreciate the game.

Then there are the "big dogs," as we affectionately call them. They never want to be separated and share the same kennel every night. They also had no problem passing out for a nap inside their crate, but Jersey (the black one) crept into more than one of my phone calls with her super loud snoring!

Crank up the volume and take a listen, this dog sounds like a human snoring! It took me a full five seconds to realize who was to blame. Was there a congested, sleeping midget under my desk?

Have a great weekend!

The Holiday Aftermath

Sometimes you just have to take a break.

Although I wouldn't necessarily call what I've been doing a break, but I did take a brief leave of absence from the blog and too many Facebook posts or updates. The husband and I were pretty wiped out after our trip to Italy—it took us 21 hours to travel back to Dallas—and our Christmas started the very next morning. We did five celebrations in three days, then packed up our three dogs and two cats and hauled the whole thing back to Houston.

My niece and nephews opening their Christmas gifts during our gathering at my mom's home. 

The husband and I on Christmas Eve.

All our dogs and cats sleeping on the drive back to Houston. It was a full ride!

From there, we immediately jumped into a bit of work, New Years celebrations and the husband's birthday activities. We didn't plan a party for him this year, despite it being his big 3-0, mostly because I surprised his pants off with a super nice new 12 gauge shotgun. Oh yeah, I rule.

On top of that, he got to attend the Houston Texans play-off football game, made even more thrilling by their sweeping victory. We popped into Vic & Anthony's Steakhouse for an early birthday dinner, and he's preparing to go deer hunting this weekend. All in all, not a bad series of events for having no party planned, wouldn't you say?

The mass crowds at the Texans football game.

The husband and I at Vic & Anthony's.

And I've been playing super-duper-major-catchup with work, which I'm happy to report is nearly back to normal levels. With the aid of my husband, we even managed to finish off my end-of-year tax reports, which are always a drag. They also make me sleepy.

Happy New Year!