Yes, I've been away from the blog for far too long. It's hard to believe it's been so long since my last post. Well...not really. I can say that parenting 4 2.5 year olds is the greatest challenge I've ever had. I know I know they're more independent so it should be getting easier, but it doesn't get easier. It's just different from what we've had before. They're all the same age, so different, and all on different levels of crazy.
Aiden enjoys talking, and when I say enjoys it I mean he is constantly talking. In the car he is pointing out octagons, diamonds, and everything else we pass. At home he asks many times what our favorite color is, but really what he wants to know is what color shirt we are wearing. He feels we should wear our favorite color everyday or at least change it when our shirt changes. :) He loves to ask questions and quote lines from Toy Story. He frequently quizzes us on what color an object is that he is holding. He is also the screamer still. He cries a lot, and will often times tell us so and so needs a spanking. I try not to laugh when he tells me "I want Lexi Lou get a spanking!", but he does say the craziest things. He gets so excited, and of course so angry that he literally clenches his jaw and makes this noise. If he is excited it is like a laugh, but if he is angry it is like a growl. He also has no concept of personal space, and I realize he had none to start off with, but seriously. For every moment he spends screaming and asking a million questions there are many more moments when he makes my heart explode with love. He runs around and just falls. Not like he trips he just makes himself fall to the ground then says "I OK!". Recently we went up to VA for a weekends, and while I was trying to change his diaper he said "DADGUMIT MOMMA! GET OFFA ME!". It was in that moment that I was so thankful that I am trying to watch what I say. Today he stopped looked at me and said "Momma you pretty..." he made my year with one small sentence.
Maxwell is the instigator. The animal lover. The class clown. The emotional. He is a momma's boy to be sure. He still loves Mickey, and really anything we put on the tv. He stops and stares at whatever we put on. He picks on his siblings, makes them cry, and doesn't share. He steals toys, pushes them, and tackles anyone that walks past when he is playing. He turns around and wakes everyone up from nap by rubbing their backs softly and saying their name over and over. He hands out milk, and in the morning he loves to hand out oatmeal to everyone. He doesn't listen and when he is aggravating and I tell him to go sit in time out he looks at me and smiles. The rascal thinks he can get away with anything. He screams when he doesn't get his way, and throws toys. He also lashes out at everyone when he gets in trouble. Sometimes it is because we tell him he needs to go sit down, sometimes it is because he took a toy and we made him give it back, and a lot of times it is because he won't listen to what he is being asked to do. He gives the best hugs, and has learned he can say "No like it" when he doesn't like something and when he does like it. If he doesn't like it he'll say "no like it" and push it away. If he likes it and says it that when I go to take it he shoves it in his mouth and laughs. He loves all animals, and constantly takes off running after whatever animal he sees walking down the street if he can. I often feel like I have 18 eyes, or maybe I just feel like I should have so many so I can keep a look out for every dog that is walking past our house at any moment.
Lexi Lou. My Do It Phillips as I like to sometimes call her. She is very independent, and wants to constantly do it herself or help me do it. I would just like to say mornings/afternoons/evenings basically LIFE was so much easier when she let me do everything for her. She says "MY DO IT" at least 1000 times a day. Getting in her seat, getting her water, putting her shoes on, putting on her pants/underwear, flushing the potty, and certainly walking down the stairs. The only time she doesn't say it is when we are walking into daycare. That is when she clings to me crying "upupupupup" until I finally stop and pick her up. She like to help Momma in any way. I don't always need help, but I try to find ways to involve them. Alexis likes to say who gets what octagon and diamond on the drives to/from daycare. She also is the only one allowed to have the horses we pass. She is the bossy one, and the one most likely to sit down and not budge until she gets her way. she is coming along great with potty training but still in pull-ups based on her frequent accidents. When she goes peepee in the potty she says "my pee pee YAY, Lexi!". Then she starts with the my do it's.
Carolyn is basically potty trained. She doesn't go during naps and very rarely has accidents. She hasn't 100% mastered the whole pooping but she is getting better. She also says my do it during certain times, but doesn't push the issue if it's already been done. I try to let them all do as much as possible so they realize what they can do without momma and daddy's help. It can be frustrating though because Carolyn almost always pulls the my do it card when I'm running late. ;) she knows I'm rushing so she takes her sweet time. She aggravates as much if not more than Maxwell. She will pick on everyone...even Andy and I. She is talking more and more and finally getting her colors down! For the last 2.5 years I was worried she might be color blind, but she is just taking her time. She talks and talks when she is alone, and recently has been talking even more when they are all together. It use to be that Aiden was the only one talking, but now they're all chattering. She likes to help momma and loves to ask for Daddy at night once he leaves the room. When she gets mad or doesn't want to go to sleep (every night) she starts her lists of wants. I want milk. I want juice. I want dat. I want tv. I want couch. I need to go potty. It doesn't really matter if you get her something because she will continue down the list. After everyone has been tucked in she stands up and says "I wanna be tuckeded in!". The smallest of the crew and still the most attitude. Her favorite question is "what's dat? What's dat momma?". She is also the best at counting. Where aiden says 2314 she says 123456789.
The months have flown for us recently, and they are learning more and more. I've struggled recently with learning how to get them to listen and discipline. Time out is a must but doesn't always work. We ask if they want spankings and sometimes they get them if they continuoiusly misbehave, from what I can see spankings don't work. Sometimes timeout doesn't work. I've tried talking quietly to gain their attention. It works well. As does making them sit out when we are playing and someone gets too rough. Not everything works for every child it's just figuring out what works best for each child. It's hard when you have one in time out trying to escape and two coming over to play with the one in timeout. I haven't mastered discipline yet, and it is so tiring trying to figure it out. I am constantly wondering how I can improve to make our home less hectic. I think every parent struggles with something and for me it is discipline. I being consistent is something I struggle with and I know that is 95% of the problem.
We've successfully transitioned from high chairs to booster seats, (mostly) open cups, and we are getting there with potty training. The boys aren't interested like the girls are and want the treats when one of the girls get them, but aren't willing to really go potty to earn the treat. Aiden thinks if he washes his hands he gets a treat because we flush, wash hands, and then give the treat. Maxwell actually did the best at first, but wasn't very interested after the first and second day. Carolyn just got it and made no big fuss about it.
This past weekend we made cornbread muffins together. Each of them stirred the batter and then they poured some batter into the muffin tin. They really enjoyed it so I am excited to do more cooking projects with them. I'm not sure what we will do next but I'm thinking of maybe doing jello with them. I also have some fun painting ideas using shaving cream that I saw on pintrest. There are so many good ideas I'd like to try and plan on trying two a weekend for the next few weekends.
It is still adorable though so I usually end up laughing instead of taking her picture. She is doing really well with saying Hi and bye and waving when she says it. I’ve noticed Carolyn really loves wearing dresses and will just seem more excited when she is getting dressed. 
Then they discovered they could open them and jelly beans were all over the ground. They ate some of them off the ground jelly beans covered in dirt and grass. Yummy!
