The Jones Girls

She lived in the next town over, Whittier, and then got this house in my neighborhood. I pass her house all of the time during my walks, running errands, etc. Helicopters have flown over our homes when the babies come home from the hospital and there is lots of media coverage and loads of curious people wandering about.   Not fun for any of us…

Guess what happened to me today at the bank? I had a really bad experience with a man at the bank.  I took all 4 girls with me to the bank on the way to run our errands (I don’t have a babysitter or nanny). You can imagine the sight waiting in line with all 4 girls. I accidentally bumped my purse very lightly into the man in front of me and he yelled at me telling me that he is very fragile and can fall over very easily. I excused myself and apologized for bumping into him. Then he started making these nasty OCTOMOM remarks to me, saying I had too many kids and that I was irresponsible just like her. I was insulted and retorted back that he didn’t know me and that I was a responsible and loving mother and wife.   He started arguing with me. It turned into a yelling match in line. Apparently this man gives all of the bank tellers a really bad time and no one likes to wait on him. He is was a real jerk to me and then when he got to the teller he was a jerk to the teller, the poor girl. Everyone in line was just watching in horror as this man and made himself look ridiculous. The bank teller that helped me told me she couldn’t stand him and that she was glad that I stuck up for myself and she wished she could tell him to be more polite to all of the tellers at the bank.

I tell you, I think the media has twisted this whole thing and has made a miraculous and beautiful thing of having multiples or even just having babies or children in general look shameful and disgusting. It is really a shame….

A couple of weeks ago Miranda was running in the house.  She tripped on her own feet and landed on her face.  Her 2 top teeth bit very deep down into her lower lip.  She was screaming and it was a scary scene.   It took 40 minutes to get the bleeding to stop.  I put a cold compress on it and she sucked on an ice cube.  I took her to the dr. and they tried to put stitches in her lip.   They tried putting a needle in her lip where the deep cut was.  It was a horrific scene and unbearable to watch her endure.  

So I took her to ER and we spent about 5 hours there.  They gave her a shot to sedate her before putting stitches in her lip.   They also set her up with an IV as protocol.   She never really got sedated, just sort of loopy.   She was awake and screaming when the doctor put the stitch in her lip.  The doctor said I might want to leave the room.  It was excruciating for me to watch so I left the room on his advise.   I think the ER was just as traumatic as taking her to the doctor’s office.  We got home at about 10pm that night.

The next morning she managed to pull the stitch out.  It is healing very well and hopefully she won’t have much of a scar.   It is a physical reminder for her and all of the girls not to run in the house.

She loves jumping on my laptop and using the mouse.  She navigates really well and knows how to type her name with the keyboard.  I let her visit 2 child friendly websites, www.Kidzui.com and www.MickeyMouseClubHouse.com   Like father like daughter…LOL!!

In early February a sweet doggie came into our lives.   Cliff was down in San Diego at a Customer.   The owner, Barbara, mentioned she had a been boarding a rescue dog for a few weeks and was looking for a home for the dog.  She brought the dog to her office every day and he behaved perfectly.  She had posted Lost Dog posters all over town as well as contacted The Dog Shelter and she was not able to locate the dog’s owner.  She asked Cliff if he would like the dog.  Cliff told Barbara to call me, that I was involved in fostering rescued Bichons.  Barbara thought that this dog might be a Bichon.

Barbara called me and said this dog was really sweet and had a wonderful disposition and was POTTY TRAINED.  She e-mailed me pictures of the dog.  He definitely didn’t look like a Bichon.    I told her I was concerned how he would be with our kids and we both agreed that if we took the dog but he didn’t work out in our family that she would take the dog back and find him another home.

So Cliff told me he was bringing the dog to us from San Diego which is a 2-1/2 hour drive.  I had no doggie stuff except for a couple of cans of dog food left over from a dog I had fostered a few months ago.  Cliff and I decided this would be a surprise for the girls.  Savannah had been asking for another dog and so Cliff and I told her that she may get a dog for her birthday.  C The day this dog came home was exactly 4 years ago that we brought Savannah’s dog, Scottie home.  Scottie now lives with a family friend, Barbara, up in Ventura.  

When Cliff arrived home with the dog the girls just squealed with delight.  This dog was so cute!!  He had white long fur and looked like a mix of Shitzu and Maltese.    They were so surprised, especially Savannah.  The dog immediately bonded with the girls.   Savannah named him “Tangles” because his fur was a little tangled. 

After a couple of days of having him, we decided to call him Teddy Roosevelt.  If you put glasses on him, he looks just like Presdient Teddy Roosevelt!!  We call him Teddy for short.  I took him to the vet the very next morning and he got his shots.  They checked for a Micro Chip on him to identify him but he didn’t have one.  I thought he was 8 years old based on a little gray at the edge of his ears.  The Vet said he is a baby, only 2 years old!!   He is not fixed either.  He doesn’t mark territory, doesn’t pee in the house, and he has a very calm and relaxed demeanor.  So I am not worried about fixing him right away.  If he were a girl I would do it right away 🙂

Now we have a doggie bed for him and he is a part of our family.   We love him so much!!

I surprised them and took them to Disneyland.  I just love our Disneyland passes!!   We spent the day at California Adventure.  We saw the production, Aladdin, the production, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, an outdoor production of all of the Disneyland Characters and we had meet and greets with Mickey Mouse and Cinderella.

Then I took them to see a really fun interactive show for the production “It’s a Bug’s Life”.   Then we ventured into “It’s a Bugs Life” play zone and went on a couple of fun rides.    It was a beautiful, sunny day and the girls had a blast.  We got home at about 7:30pm.

Last month Savannah bumped into a friend and loosened her top tooth.   We took her to my Uncle Ned, who is a Pediatric Dentist out in Manhattan Beach.  He took X-Rays and said hopefully it would tighten up and may turn a little yellow.  It did turn a little yellow and hasn’t gotten completely white again.  It is finally tightening up though.  Now her 2 lower bottom teeth are loose.  I don’t think she bumped these teeth and I am wondering if her 2 bottom teeth are loosening naturally.  

Potty training is going very well for Miranda and Amanda.  Miranda does really well going on the potty chair, about 85% of the day now.   She has peed in the toilet 2 times.  She poops about 75% the time in the potty chair now.  She pooped 4 times in the potty chair (had lots of diarrhea poor baby!!)  She still wears Huggies Overnights at night time.   She did have a completely dry night time diaper 2 mornings in a row!!  I am very proud of her!!

Amanda goes in the potty chair about 65% of the time.  She has pooped a couple of times in the potty chair.   She also wears a Huggies Overnights diaper.

Maryssa has no interest in potty training yet.  Sometimes she thinks it is a fun and novel idea to take her diaper off and sit on the potty chair.   No pee pee in the potty chair yet though!!

I remember when we were potty training Savannah when she was 18 months to 2 years old.  She had not interest in it and played in her poop.  This was back when I was pregnant with the triplets.  When the triplets were born she was only 2-1/2 and she still had no interest in potty training.  I had the triplets in diapers and Savannah in diapers and this went on for 6 months until Savannah turned 3.  Once she turned 3 in March 2007 I took her to preschool and showed her all of the fun playground stuff.  I told her the preschool would not let her join unless she potty trained and wore panties.  We began potty training the very next day and within a few days she was completely potty trained – night and day.   She never had to wear a night time diaper after that.  She never used a pull up diaper either. She went straight from diapers to panties.  How lucky was I and she just amazed me!!  The triplets are potty training earlier than Savannah but need Pull Ups during the day and need a night time diaper at night.