Any organization tips you could give others? With multiples, things get confusing, so I made a chart. We charted the times each one was fed, each diaper change, each poop, and any special instructions. When we first brought the quads home, 5 weeks after their birth, it would take sometimes 45 minutes for one child to take a bottle. Well, by that time it was time to start feeding the first one again. ( Contrary to the picture Lana posted of me feeding several at once, I only fed one child at a time. That was staged! ha Actually, holding and feeding each one was one of my favorite one-on-one times with each, so I had decided not to prop bottles. I am not faulting a multiple mom who does. You do what you have to do.) Anyway, it was easy to lose track of time, so the chart was good, and especially if you had people helping. Also, we made up bottles each evening and stashed them in the frig. Lexi had a different formula than the others so hers were marked. From birth, each quad had their own color. This helped in so many ways, such as sippie cups, etc. So, if their cups were on the table, Lexi knew hers was red, Austin-green, Grant-blue and Candice-yellow. They loved their color--it was theirs--they owned it! Once again, it empowered them. Lana and Cassie...well they could have any cup anytime, just not one of the quads'. It's endearing how the "little ones" would drift to those colors for years!
Any advice about taking kids to Church/Vacations? It was a great day when we could take all the kids to church for the first time. I can honestly say though that I don't remember one word that speaker said! When we pulled up to church, the teenage kids from the congregation would rush out to help us get everyone unloaded from car seats and carry in a baby. During the service Billy and I kept 1 or 2 babies with us and Lana and Cassie. The other 2 were passed off to 2 willing church members, as we loaded them down with diapers, wipes, pacifiers, bottles, etc. Advice about taking kids to church, to out of town church meetings, or vacations--just do it! The hardest thing about traveling with 6 kids, 6 yrs and under, was packing for the trip. Once we were on the road I could smile. It was always worth the effort. When the quads were toddlers, we took a trip to Chicago in our minivan. One nice distraction when they got fussy or bored, was bubbles (just put the bubble wand up to the A/C vent). Of course, you have to do this sparingly or things can get soapy. On big trips, Billy always bought little travel games and new snack foods--that worked well for L & C and the 4 when they got older.
What month did you hit a wall? Why? When the quadruplets were about 6 months old, I hit a wall. First off, I was pretty sleep-deprived at that point. Four to six hours of sleep does not work for me on a consistent basis. Also, at that time I knew it was going to be a good while before the 4 would be out of diapers and through with bottles and able to feed themselves. I was feeling overwhelmed with "cabin fever". One simple thing helped me through this. Two sweet friends of ours stayed at our home and kept the kids(too difficult to pack them up & send them anywhere) so that Billy and I could take a little trip about 45 minutes away to stay at a bed-and-breakfast. We left on Friday afternoon and came back Saturday afternoon. The bottom line is sometimes you have to get away in order to be re-energized to be a better parent. Whether you have one or 19 kids, this is necessary. Don't be too proud to ask for help. We were blessed to have friends asking what they could do. We had to learn to accept it when folks offered. Well, just that 24 hour break was all I needed, and of course the entire time we were gone we talked about the children. From that point on, Billy and I would try to take little trips like that every 6-9 months.
Potty training?- I waited until the quads were 3 years old to train. Why? I didn't want to have 2 of them ready and 2 maybe not ready. And I sure didn't want to go through it twice. It took 2 weeks; the longest 2 weeks of my life! ha I lived in the bathroom. I used skittles; they got 1 for #1 and 2 skittles for #2. I think just the competition between the 4 of them helped also.
If you could do it over again, what would you do differently? That would be a good question for our children. We have tried to parent where we would not have any regrets. That doesn't mean we haven't made mistakes. We learn and are still learning. Parenting is probably the most humbling thing we do; it is one of our greatest reminders of our need for God.
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