Trip to Denver

My Valentine's Day was spent with Corbin! We left for Denver(his first trip) On Wednesday morning. The girls were all crying as Corbin and I got out of the car at the airport. I fet bad! But I knew they were in good hands with Ninny!
Corbin stayed in the "front pack" all day at the airport, except on the plane. He was so funny and LOVED being held and getting ALL of my attention. I loved it as well. I never get to be with any of my kids for that long, alone! It was a great Valentine's gift! Our big adventure was so we could meet Camdyn! That is our newest cousin! He is the baby of the family now! (ok, by 3 months). This is the first time my sister has had a baby after me! It was so fun to see him and hold him. I already forgot what it was like to have a little infant in the house! His brothers, Evan and Grant are getting so big. They amaze me and are very loving brothers. And his sister, Ally, or Baby Ally as Chloe calls her is so cute. A Princess among Princes! She was funny around Corbin.
Emily(my sister) and I had a chance to visit in between all of the everyday needs of the kids! But it was still a terrific visit! We are all, yes, all 6 of us going in a few weeks! Yikes!
That might drive anyone to drinkin!

4 little Hearts for Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day! It has an entirely different meaning now that we have 4 little kids in our house!

I stayed up Tuesday evening to make Heart Shaped Cookies for Cubbies at church on Wednesday night. I also made Heart Shaped pancakes to give the girls in the morning on Wednesday! I was tired but loved doing it. I decorated a little bit before bed and wrapped a gift for everyone, including Fred. Each of the girls got a pair of Pink Sunglasses! And Corbin a new toy for his carrier(Which L&A already have taken as their own). I also wrapped HiHo Cherry O for Chloe to open! Fred got boxers and these great pictures of the kids. Our real gift to each other is a trip to the beach I need to book ASAP!

The kids all wore their "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" shirts, and Corbin "Heart Breaker".

4 months/ 19 months/ 4 years

Ahhh! I cannot believe Corbin is 4 months old! It has flown flown flown by! He is a DOLL!!! I seriously could not have asked for a more precious little baby.
Buhbuh, as he is effectionately called by his sisters, is a happy and healthy little guy. He weighed in at 18lbs 4 ounces! I was floored. The twins are only 27 lbs, and Chloe 31! So, I think by the time he is 1 he will pass them all up! He will need to just to protect himself. Every once in a while I will bust some short girl in my house trying to climb in his swing or carrier with him. He laughs at them non stop. He has no idea they could hurt him:)
Feeding him is a challenge....either L&A are trying to help me, or he is just cracking up at me. I have to turn my head the other way so he will stop smiling and eat! He wakes up around 6:30 every morning and tells us some long serious story that we have no idea what it is all about. By 6:45 he is usually back asleep until I muster the energy to get him up and fed at 7:15. Life in our house is all about the 5 minute increments. I think after the kids are older, I could write a book, "My life, My day in 5 minutes!" Then around 7:30 Chloe appears on the stairs. Once I finish with Corbin around 7:40, I head upstairs to get, "The sisters", as we refer to them, up. Down for breakfast. Corbin gets ready while the girls eat. Off to school and all over again!
But I love it! I love my craziness! One thing I crack up at is this ?...."Do you have a nanny?" No, I have a Ninny(Chloe calls my mom).... But what I really want to say is....I don't want to miss out on every crazy minute! Don't get me wrong. I am tired and worn out...some days down right crazy(fred will tell ya)..but aren't we all!
Put it this way....This is from a Bible study I am doing...'There are many nights I am a women who will drop into bed at night and know she has not had one solitary minute to think about herself'(Jill Briscoe)... that isn't a bad thing...because if we only think about me me me..."And..you know what? I am bored to death of me."(Erma Bombeck).
Anyway, love to you all!

14 weeks and a CHUNK

Corbin is the most precious baby ever! I am glad my girls can't read yet:) He really is. He makes the sweetest cooing sounds and giggles. Chloe and I can get a good giggle out of him just about every morning. He has HUGE eyes that smile right at you. I have always thought that if you could see someone smile with their eyes, that meant they were truly happy. I think he is truly happy! AND FAT! I can't believe what a chub this kid is. He was 16 lbs 4 ounces at 13 weeks. I can't imagine what he will be at 4 months! He is already in 6-9 month clothes! He makes Laurel look skinny:)
Laurel is actually thinning out. I will miss he chubby legs and bottom! She is so sweet. But lately she has a temper. If she wants something there is no stopping her. She will do well with setting Goals! Anabelle....what can I say. She is entertainment at all times. She is so smart and figures everything out...sometimes not for her own good! She is so compassionate. When someone cries she runs up to them and gets right in their face. She tilts her head and her eyes get real big. Then she babbles something and says it with such concern and importance.
I opened the fridge yesterday and 2 Dr. Pepper cans flew out and landing on the tip of my 3rd toe. Right in a row. Needless to say I screamed really loud. I had to be creative in the words! Anabelle came flying up to me with her silky. She tried to hand it to me....so sweet!
Chloe...she is about 4 going on 16 at times. Hello! So cool! These are just some of the words I have heard lately! The funniest was....Let's hit the partaaaaayyyy! My my my. She is so sweet. Trying to figure out her role...the boss, or mom's first baby. It is hard! She is amazing us with her spelling and writing. Sometimes I wonder how she got so smart:)
All in all we are doing great....same old antics at our house...just more diapers:)

3 little monkeys

The girls were silly tonight! Corbin was asleep and probably thrilled he was far away from them!

Christmas and 11 weeks old!!!

We had a wonderful Christmas...It is amazing to see Chloe understand that Christmas is not just lots of gifts...but Jesus Christ being born into this world!
That being said, I did hear the occasional, "Are there any more presents for me?"
She is only 4!
Corbin is so sweet. He is smiling all the time and giggles a little bit..
The girls were all crowded around his carrier the other day and were able to get him to smile. Laurel was loving it!
All 3 babies have been fighting colds. It has been pretty yucky in our house lately! The girls are finally over it, but poor Corbin is still fighting it off. We have been to the dr 3 times in one week! But even when he feels his worst, he is still smiling. And sleeping! This blog is so late bc I have to do one of the worst things in the world(in my book)...I have to wake a sleeping baby! Yes, Corbin has been sleeping 9 hours. And now I have to wake him up to give him a breathing treatment...Hopefully this will just be a few nights...but then I hope he doesn't get use to it! Anyway, I hope you all are doing terrific and the New Year brings lots of happiness!

Ginger Bread House Party at 10 weeks old

Corbin is 10 weeks old. I can't believe it. He is such a big boy! And so darn cute. It is nice having a sweet baby in the house when everyone else is acting like spoiled children! I think when you are the baby of the family, you probably are seen as an angel. I mean, he doesn't talk back. He doesn't go up the stairs when he is not suppose to. He doesn't take toys away. He doesn't go on the big slide in the backyard wihtout mommy. He doesn't eat dog poop(oh...yes...that would be my sweet Anabelle!). He smiles at me even when it is the middle of the night and I look like crud! I think I am going to make him my mamma's boy so he will never leave me:)
We had another busy weekend! L&A got their second flu shot on Saturday morning. I felt so bad for them. They were so giddy on our way to the dr office. They had no idea. I got them hashbrowns afterwards and they were pretty happy.
Chloe had her cousin Ella Kate spend the night. It is amazing to see how excited she is when Ella walks in the door. I took them to see Charlotte's Web. They loved it. I did, too. And I cried! Corbin has been sleeping every well. From about 10-5:30. Saturday night he went till 7:30. How great is that!
Hopefully tomorrow he will have more of a boy room then a girl room. Mom is almost done with his bumper pads. We had our second annual Ginger Bread House party. The kids really enjoy it. So do the mom's. We get to visit! L&A were pesky as they just wanted to eat the candy! Corbin was perfect as always!

Some pictures, Birthday, Santa and cute boy

9 weeks old...Christmas around the corner

We have had a busy few weeks. Chloe turned 4, had a birthday party, we saw Santa, Corbin slept 7 hours, he is smiling, and Laurel and Anabelle... Well...A picture says a thousand words....As Chloe would say..."They are a mess"

Life is pretty good in the Sparks house. I made my first outing to the mall with all 4 kids yesterday. It wasn't as bad as I thought. We got there around 11:30 and the girls played with the train table at the book store. Chloe and I sat on the floor with Corbin and read some books. We went to buy Charolettes Web. Headed to the food court to eat. I was truly impressed with myself. I had lunch in front of each kid and bottle ready for Corbin in record time! Then of course, off to the play area. That is where people kept double taking. You could tell the were counting the kids and trying to figure it out. Of course the girls all matched, so it was obvious they went together. After that we made a few stops for gifts. Let me tell you Bath and Body Works has everything at stroller little hand level. I looked in the stroller before we left and Anabelle has collected a few things we didn't buy! I was so glad I caught it before they caught me!
The entire time Corbin was just smiling and cooing. What a happy little boy, considering a life full of girls!

8.5 weeks old...time flies

I am a little behind in posting any pictures. Life gets a little busy with 4 short people in the house! Corbin is 8.5 weeks! He is a big boy! 14lbs 1 ounce. That puts him in the 95%! I kept telling Fred he was a fatty! Not Fred, Corbin!:)
He is smiling and cooing all the time. It is so sweet and makes me feel appreciated:)
Chloe turned 4 on the 6th! She is such a big girl. She was VERY confused about turning 4 on Wednesday and her birthday party being Saturday. She also was VERY sad today when she got her shots. Afterwards she looked at the two, very nice, nurses and said, "I don't like them anymore!" I felt so bad for her.
She only wanted to go see my dr and his nurses afterwards. She had me so heart broken I almost took her to my drs office just to make her happy. However, a diversion to candy seemed to work.
L&A are good as well. Laurel like to sit on everyone lately, and Anabelle just tries to repeat everything we say!

6 weeks old

I can't believe it has already been 6 weeks! Time flies when you are having fun(or when you are so busy you forget to have a glass of water...Which is good bc you also forget to go to the bathroom!). Corbin is a chunk. I had to take all the kids to the dr last week. What a chore. I was sweating by the time we got into the doctor's office. 3 of the 4 kids were sick! Corbin and Laurel with colds and Anabelle with a sinus infection. I always prided myself on the fact that my kids never were sick as babies...Pride will do you in every time. As we were going in and out of the hospital last week I ran into a number of nurses that I now know. I feel like I should have an employee badge up there!
I also had my last dr appt this week. It was almost sad(not so sad that I was to go back anytime soon) because we have been there non stop. The dr and 2 nurses have always been so nice to me and the kids. Chloe was sad when I told her we won't be back for a long time.
Corbin weighed in last week at 12lbs 4 ounces. That is 1/2 the size of L&A! He is a big guy. I think he eats twice as much as the girls did at this age. Must be a male thing. He is still a happy baby, sick and all. Sleep well. He did sleep 6 hours on Saturday night. But that was short lived. I think he doesn't understand the rule in our house...you must sleep through the night at 6 weeks or 10 lbs. Take your pick! Everyone else is doing well. We are getting ready to decorate for Christmas. Chloe is very excited. L&A are trying to say real words. Well, ones I understand. Anabelle says a version of 'Laurel Emily.' If you ask Laurel if she can say Anabelle, she just nods her head yes. Today the 3 girls sat outside at a little table with snacks and giggled for about 20 minutes. Chloe amazes me with her patients with them.
We hope you have a great Thanksgiving.

What a CUTIE!

GIRL POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GIRL POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CORBIN ROY

Get this dog away from me!

Precious at 4 weeks!

Wow, Corbin is 4 weeks old. Well a little older, but I didn't have time to get to this before now! He is doing well. Last night we fed him at 11:30 and not again until 5:30! It was greatness! I am hoping this will soon be a trend and he will go a little longer! He got to meet his cousin Allyson this week as well as his Auntie Emily. I suppose we won't encourage him to call her Auntie like the girls do. He may get a little roughed up from the boys!
Not too much going on other then the usual...eating, sleeping and lots of diaper changes! However, after reading a friend's blog about bringing home twins....I am quickly reminded of how FEW diapers I will be changing this winter compared to last!
I did have my first outing all by myself last week, with all 4 kids. I am going to add the email I sent to my girlfriends describing it! As well, some fun pictures of the growing "boy" as Chloe says!
The subject of the email was:
my night! 4 kids, 1 parent!

This was me at church tonight!

I had L&A in the side by side stroller, Chloe hanging on it from the back and Corbin in a front pack on my chest. I wheeled everyone into the church with a diaper bag and my purse hanging off the back. I think I heard, "Are they ALL yours" about 10 times. Finally I got Chloe to Choir, and realized I didn't have the pacifier with me, it was in the car a mile away! And still 1 hr before Fred would be there to help me. So I decided if he started crying I could probably be a pacifier since he was smashed against my chest anyway! Got down to the "cafe" where they have a play area for little ones. Got a HUGE dr pepper, actually Mr pibb which totally ticked me off. Then got to the play area and never got to drink anything bc I was chasing L&A around. And trying not to josel(sp) Corbin too much. At one point L&A had emptied my diaper bag and purse. Anyway, finally I hear my phone ring but I am not sure where it is. Then Laurel cried bc she is scared...that is bc my phone was ringing in her hand. Fred is almost there. He says he will take all 3 kids home, that gives me 1 hr by myself. I jump on it. So then i am finally sitting alone and writing the endless thank you notes I have and people want to chat with me. I totally don't want to be social, I want to be ALONE! Anyway, got home had a HUGE chat with Fred bc I had to spend 45 minutes picking up dog gifts in the back yard so the kids could play! At one point I said, "I am getting rid of these dogs." Chloe freaked out! I felt bad. Anyway, all is ok now and I am off to bed. I think I got to eat 1/2 a thing of yogurt before L&A ate the rest this morning. And I think that is it. But I am too tired now to find food. It is the new diet...4 kids and a yard full of gifts!

Love, Julie