Florida Trip

This is the girls' second Florida trip and they are only 3 years old! Last trip we were on the gulf, but this year we were on the Atlantic side at New Smyrna beach (about an hour from Orlando). We went with Lara and Charlie and their family, Dan's parents Mike and Deb, and Dan's brother Pete. We had absolutely gorgeous weather and we were gone the perfect week from Minnesota. It seemed like we were gone for longer than one week, but mostly because we were away during the Boston bombings, plus a couple big snowstorms. (Duluth got 2-3 feet of snow in a couple of days while the cities got less.) This Boston bombing was so sad to hear about, especially because I am a runner and I couldn't believe these guys would do that at such a positive environment. Anyways, my friends that ran it are safe so I am thankful.

When we booked the trip, Dan and I had decided that the girls were too young for Disney World and that it would be a nightmare but then we just went for it! It wasn't determined what day we were going to do it, so on Wednesday I woke up to Dan saying "We might be going to Disney- like right now". "What?! OK!!" That is just how Dan's family rolls. We only went one day- it was exhausting but fun. The girls did maybe slightly better than I expected. They were freaked out during parts of the Little Mermaid ride and the Winnie the Pooh ride (it was really gentle but some parts were too psychedelic for them I think!) They seemed to enjoy "It's a Small World", the Dumbo ride, and the Magic Carpet ride. I can't tell you how many comments we got, both at Disney and just in general on the trip. We stayed for the 9pm parade so the kids could see their favorite characters one last time. We were just too tired for the fireworks (I know I was at least!)

Grandma and Grandpa with their granddaughters (sweeeet shades!)

Cousins at the entry to Magic Kingdom (Dane, Josie, Sofia, Madeline, and Peter)

Grandpa and Madeline on the Winnie the Pooh ride (yes, she wasn't too thrilled)

Waiting in line for "It's a Small World"  (M, S, J)

Dane and Peter meeting one of their favorite characters

Peter, Buzz, and Dane

While we waited for the family that rode Space Mountain, the girls played.

Just a cute pic of how the girls got around when they were too tired

Madeline sleeping on daddy on our way out of Disney- long day for a little body!

All the other days were spent playing on the beach and at the pool. Our condo was RIGHT on the beach- just perfect. The beach was quiet with soft sand. The first time we went to Florida, the girls didn't handle the sand that well, but this time they had a blast. It's also nice going when they are older and don't need two naps. Will was easy on the beach too. He normally took a nice 2 hour nap in his car seat or under the shade tent we brought. I have to add that he blows out of his size 2 diapers, so I have been using them up on THE GIRLS! The diapers are small looking on Will and only a little smaller looking on the girls. It is MUCH different raising a full-term boy compared to my petite girls!

Waiting for the first beach outing of the trip!

Yay, the beach!

Peter playing with beach toys

Josephine going for a casual beach stroll

Being turned into mermaids (and merme!)

Nice, Sofia! (Kinda reminds me of Zoolander's pose)

Zoolander

Grandma and Madeline (I had to zoom-in in iPhoto to see who that was!)

Surfin' USA!

Had to show the surfin' pic from 2 years ago! What a change!

Sister fun! (S, J, M)

I think Madeline is keeping an eye out on the fishing :)

Dane shows his surfing skills too

At the National Park beach (couple miles away)

The girls and Peter doing some digging

Dane playing

Sofia!

Beach scene

Snack time! (Peter, Sofia, Madeline, Josie)

Dan towing Josie

Madeline working on my birthday cake (a little late!)

Uncle Pete teasing a crab, Sofia helping with the lighting

Sand crab at night!

I wish I were still there!

Josie and her truck!

Josie in the water

Run, Sofia!

Lara and I tried to get a good beach shot- this is the best I got (Dane, Peter, Sofia, Josie, Madeline)

More play

Madeline running in the water

We usually went to the pool after nap. Of my girls, Sofia enjoyed it the most and was learning to kick her feet and doggy paddle with her arms. They haven't had any swimming lessons- official or otherwise. Madeline liked it, but not quite as much as Sofia, and Josie was the most tentative. Overall they did much better than the last time they were in the pool. Dane is a really good swimmer and Peter doesn't have much fear either. 

The cousins at the pool! (Dane, Madeline, Josie, Sofia, and Peter)

Dane jumping in!

Dan and the other guys did some fishing and caught one of our dinners- yummy! One night we went out to a restaurant with fresh seafood. The restaurant had a dock where manatees were known to hang around. Guess who spotted the manatee first- Dane!

Our family at the restaurant (S, J, M)

Lara, Dane, Charlie, and Peter

Father and son

Madeline and Grandma

Grandpa with Josie and Sofia

The girls looking at their dinner

Our family (appetizers on the table- clams from the restaurant's own clam farm)

Sorry, no seafood for you, Will!

We spent one night at the Waldorf on the Disney property. It was very posh and the pools were fun (including a lazy river, a gradual entry pool, and a kiddie pool that was only one foot deep). Mike and Deb are still there because Mike has a work conference. We met up with some friends- Jake and Michelle- on Saturday for dinner at Downtown Disney. Fun times!

Sofia, Madeline, and Josie playing in the kiddie pool (it was quiet at the pool area because it was a  "cool" day at only the lower 70's- fine for us Minnesotans!)

Will and I lounging at the Waldorf pool

The whole crew at the Waldorf- our family left for the airport two minutes later!

Today we finalized a baptism- this Sunday! The pastor who came to the hospital to baptize the quads when James was sick is about to retire so we had to schedule it quickly so he could do it.

I know it's redundant to talk about weather in Minnesota, but I have to add that we got a dumping of snow last night. We even lost power from 5am to 8am. This weekend we're supposed to hit upper 60's! Will spring be here to stay? Hope so! I have to go buy some mud boots because I think we're going to have a long mud season. Have a great rest of the week, everyone!

Belated Easter

I need to get up some Easter pics because this is basically my scrapbook! Easter this year was a "winter" one for us. We celebrated in Duluth and it snowed, of course. Last year, the kids were outside for the Easter egg hunt in long sleeves! This year the hunt was inside. It's funny- all the cousins played on their grandparent's deck while it snowed and it reminded me of this past Thanksgiving. Who would have known it would snow on Thanksgiving AND Easter. It's been a long winter (and it's not even over yet!)

What did the Easter Bunny bring us??

Josie examining her chocolate bunny

Great-Grandma Peterson with all of her great-grandchildren

Our little big family (S, J, M)

Great-Grandma with her newest great-grandson Will

Lara, Charlie, Peter, and Dane

Sisters! (Josie, Madeline, Sofia)

About to star the Easter Egg Hunt!

Madeline was pretty good at finding those eggs!

Sofia

This a short post because I have a big Florida one to post!

The Hang of it? For now!

Will is over 12 weeks old- almost 3 months already. I feel like we're in a good groove and I'm basically doing what I was doing before Will came around. We've done the grocery store/Target/Costco, library story-time, open gym, walks, and going to the doctor (once for me, once for Will), and even Como Zoo! I won't lie and say it's easy, and if I can get away with going to the store without the kids I do that! I rely on the Baby Bjorn for these trips.

Will has rolled over a couple times but not regularly. He likes tummy time to a point and has let out a handful of giggles! He is getting up once a night still. The girls wake me up just as often if not more lately! The bummer part in our house is the never-ending cold. Luckily no RSV or anything serious, but an infant with a runny nose is no fun and can make the feedings hard. I took him to the pediatrician last Friday to check out his skin (turns out he has ezcema- he was really itchy and I've never seen an infant scratch so intently) and he weighed in at 13 lbs 14 oz. To put that into perspective, Sofia weighed less than that at NINE months old (six months adjusted age...the other two were more than that).  Will is still a really laid back and content baby. We are basically in the golden age of babyhood right now. Happy, not yet mobile, and getting more predictable.

Some tummy time!

What a pleasant lil' guy!

Smile!

Madeline (by Andy)

Josie (by Andy)

Sofia (by Andy)

Right before dinner this past weekend: one of those days when the girls refused a nap.... well, well, well, who doesn't need a nap? (Madeline was the only one who fought off sleep)

My brothers Ben and Andy came over for some quality time. Ben is still around now house hunting because he's moving back this summer!

Uncle Andy with Sofia, Josie, and Madeline

Uncle Andy was very proud of this fort :)

Will's the only one looking! (photo by Andy)

Uncle Ben and the girls looking at a picture book (photo by Andy)

The girls are more like preschoolers each day! Their play is all cooperative (unless they are fighting of course) and it involves lots of pretend. Just this morning I was in the kitchen and I heard "Cheeeeeeese!" and "look at mommy!" I peeked into the living room and saw that they had lined up some dolls on the couch and were pretending to take pictures. Dolls are a big thing now too. They take all of my baby equipment- like boppies, wipes, his clothes, his tummy time play mat, etc to put in "their" house so their babies can use them. I peek in on them and see their dolls doing tummy time- so cute! They also demand to be chased, usually by daddy, an uncle or a grandpa/ma. They call the chaser the monster. I swear, they don't get tired out doing that!

One of my all-time favorite pictures... my future track star, Madeline! (I can dream, can't I?) She has pretty good form, doesn't she?? This was taken by Andy during a Monster-Chase game.

Animals getting lined up!

Will's thinking "What you lookin' at?"

This video below is hilarious. Sadly, I missed this while at the store last Friday night. The girls were downstairs and yelled for Dan, who was upstairs at the time. They said "Look out the window down here!" Dan asked what is it that they saw and they replied "a beaver!" They were close! It was a muskrat. Don't ask me why it was in our egress window, but it was. You may need to play this video a couple of times so you can understand the toddler dialog. Some of my favorite parts are "He's getting cold!" and "We touch it, daddy!" Dan managed to get this creature out with a bucket, but it put up a stink. It hid at first but then started to go on the offensive! Luckily, the story ended well and Dan is uninjured and the muskrat is still alive - probably under our sunroom/house, but oh well!

Good job if you made it through the whole post- it was long! Hope you all have a good week.

2 Months Old!

Life has been so hectic that I haven't had a chance to update. Last week was extra busy... my second case of mastitis (didn't get serious- caught early), Dan was a little sick, the girls had an endocrine appointment, Will had his 2 month appointment (complete with fussiness after shots), our laundry washing machine BROKE (after being behind already from a couple weekend trips and life in general), ETC. (ETC means life is busy without all the extra stuff happening!)  Uftda! I hope this week is a little more low key.

Will is 9 weeks plus now. At his 2 month appointment he weighed 12 lbs 12 oz and he was 23 inches long (which puts him at 70th and 50th percentiles respectively).  He is a big boy and he is still a content, easy baby. When he cries for no apparent reason, we're wondering what's wrong, why is he crying!? Then we remember that babies do indeed cry once in awhile. Knock on wood he keeps up this temperament, at least until the girls get easier. 

Will being his pleasant self today.

Just for comparison, the Sofia weighed 9 lbs 9 oz, Josie was 10 lbs 10 oz and Madeline was 10 lbs 7 oz at over 2 months adjusted age (5 months real age). It's weird having a big baby after those peanuts!

We're starting to think about the girls' preschool for next year. We need to decide quickly because spots fill up fast. Also, we have a Florida trip coming up in April- yes we are flying with all 4 kids for the first time- ahh! Would you be scared if you saw our family board the plane? 

The crew (Madeline, Josie, Will, and Sofia)

The cousins eating homemade pizzas (Peter, Madeline, Sofia/cow, Josie, and Dane)

Life father like son (and a couple photo bombers in the background)

Ok, just for fun, here are the girls around 2 months adjusted age. Who does Will look like the most?? Anyone in particular or no one?

The Threes: Terrible or Terrific?

I'll give you both sides and let you decide on your own.

First, the case of terrific....

-The girls actually know their colors, are learning letters slowly, and can do big kid puzzles (with some help)! Not the easy ones, the actual jig-saw variety.

Madeline working on her puzzle.

-Overall, the girls have known how to act when interacting with Will. They like touching him very gently but aren't all in his face. I feel like when my girls were 2 they wouldn't have understood that.

While watching a show, Madeline cuddled close to Will and interacted with him off and on.

Love this picture! 

-I love listening to them talk. They are especially talkative when they are not too wound up (during story time at night in particular). They talk about "yesterday" and "tomorrow", and who likes what, etc.  So fun!

-Once in awhile they will play with other kids! (They have played with their cousins for awhile now.) They stick together and are pretty cliquey at ECFE, but they recently made a friend at tot time open gym and had a blast with Anna and Elsa (my friend, Leah's kids).

Ring around the rosy, pocket full of posies.... (with Anna and Elsa)

We all fall down!

-I don't need to use the stroller for many outings. I can count on them to stay close in the parking lot. We're not to the point where they would stay with me during a grocery store trip or anything, but it's progress!

-They are still impatient, but I can reason with them on why we can't have dinner yet (we're waiting for dad!)

-Potty trained! (kinda)

Here is the case for terrible...

-This:

The girls were happily giggling while Dan and I were in another room. We had no idea what they were up to.

-This:

This was at 10 pm, more than an hour after we put them to bed (and had already told them to stop talking and go to sleep multiple times). They had taken their PJs and diapers off and were trying on clothes I had stored in their dresser.

Not cool. (Although we laughed after they couldn't see us!)

-This:

OK, so playing in the mud isn't a big deal, but it is if grandpa told them to stop and they just ignored him and kept doing it! Where are my good listeners?

-I can't just dress them how I want anymore! They know who has to wear what color and often insist on particular shirts, even if it's for the third day in a row. I say, pick your battles! I do know this is a very normal toddler type of phase and they are just craving independence, yada, yada, yada. (Sometimes I purposely put a TV show on that distracts them because then they won't notice what I'm putting them in- HA!)

-It seems like they get into more stuff now than when they were two. They never would have helped themselves to Resolve carpet cleaner and some wash cloths and cleaned the front door as two year olds, but YUP, they did that yesterday. Next time I'll show them where the Windex is.  (Just kidding, we're finally getting a lock for the cupboards.)

-Neediness and tantrums are still full-blown sometimes. Sofia is having the hardest time lately with neediness, but it is tied in with the whole baby adjustment, I believe.

-Potty training. It's on both sides because although they are basically potty-trained they still have accidents and it's stressful being out in public  After so many accidents you just want them back in diapers!! I never thought about how easy diapers make your life until it was time to lose them.

What I look forward to is for them to be "independent" potty-trained, for them to dress themselves (they're working on it), and for me to trust them when they're in another room. I am not wishing time away, but I can fondly anticipate the future, right?

Here are a couple more pics...

Leah practicing holding a newborn again! (She's due to have her 3rd child- a BOY- in March).

Sofia playing Jake and the Pirates

Josie happy to be showing off her "meow's yarn" (a loofah).

Meanwhile, Will (three weeks old now) is a very laid-back newborn. He only cries when he's hungry and when he's sleeping we barely remember he's there! Last week he was giving me good stretches at night, but the last three nights he wants to be fed every two hours still. I'm lucky, though. I know that he will get more demanding, but I'm hoping it's at the same time the girls get less demanding, more independent, and/or more trustworthy. (I know those are lofty hopes and dreams but maybe I'll be so lucky!)

Will! 

Nice outfit! (Thanks, Jimmy and Susie!)

Luckily, I have had great help since Will has been born (Thanks, Deb and Mike and mom and dad!) A new baby makes everything more complicated, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it and won't need as much help. The hardest part to do alone is from dinner until the girls' bedtime because Will naturally cluster feeds. Since Dan is home during that time it's great, but he is set to travel next week.

Hope you are all doing well!

Introducing Our Newest Love, William James Klopp

He's here, he's here! I'm so over the moon in love with our son, William ("Will"). Pregnancy, labor and delivery, and our son are all I could ever dreamed for. The quad pregnancy was very unique and it produced my first loves, but I am so happy that I could experience the normal singleton pregnancy, too. If you have some time, here's my birth story. Sorry if it's too long! If you want to skip the story and just see some pics, there's a link at the end of the post!

The Birth Story- UNABRIDGED!

Honestly, I was getting quite impatient for our son to make his appearance. I wasn't that uncomfortable, really, but was ready to see him and not have a big belly in the way! The 39 week OB check-up showed some progress that my body was starting to get ready, but of course the nurse practitioner couldn't give me a good guess when he'd come. I was planning on trying for a VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean) so there was no scheduled C-section and I also was hoping to avoid being induced. Soooo....I started going on some good walks! I had a good walk the day after Christmas trudging through snow, a good walk on Friday, and then another with just Odin on Saturday morning. Anyways, earlier that same Saturday I woke up at 3:30am with contractions that felt much different than the Braxton-Hicks that I had been experiencing lately. I couldn't sleep once they started because I was so excited and nervous that labor could actually be starting!

    Saturday morning, the contractions were irregular but still felt different. I decided to take Odin for a nice walk for some peace and to see if it could start labor. When we put the girls down for a nap, I started paying attention to contractions and they seemed to get more regular at 10 min apart or so. By the time the girls woke up, they were getting painful so I put a movie in so I could lay down and continue timing them. (Meanwhile, Dan went ice fishing - which I condoned - before the nap because I thought labor had stalled and was a false alarm). Throughout the movie I realized these contractions were coming every 4 to 5 minutes and I had to concentrate and try to relax my breathing. When Dan came home, he said he was going to cook us crappies, but I said, NO....we're going to the hospital. He was shocked and started freaking out! It was kind of funny to watch! He hadn't packed anything beforehand for himself and he was just scrambling trying to get ready. I called Dan's aunt Mary and uncle Dave to come watch the girls and they got to our house very quickly. 

    The ride to the hospital was kind of like you see in the movies. I was yelling at Dan to "ease into those stops!!!!" because I was getting really uncomfortable, plus Dan was probably driving faster than he should have. When we checked into Labor and Delivery, they said they would monitor the contractions and see if my cervix progressed. (The first cervix check was 3 cm..the last appointment it was 1 1/2 cm) The nurses told me if my cervix didn't progress they would send me home even though I was getting contractions every 3-4 min at the time. I was so scared they were going to send me home like that! I couldn't wrap my head around the fact I might *not* be in labor. Well, after less than an hour of monitoring, the nurses told me the doctor reviewed my charts and said I should stay since I'm relatively high risk (VBAC and positive group B). That was a relief! Soon after, the nurses checked me and I was at 4 cm, so I would have stayed anyways.

   Originally, I was hoping I could cope through contractions, but I didn't have my mind set on going drug-free. I hadn't taken any birthing classes- it was too hard to find the time and spend hours on Saturdays. Anyways, I quickly realized I was not prepared and basically begged for an epidural. I just could not relax my body. Once the epidural kicked in, I was the happiest girl ever! After an hour on the epidural, my water naturally broke, and things really picked up the pace. I was at 8 cm before I knew it, and half an hour later I was fully dilated and ready to push. It really struck a chord when the nurses brought in the baby warmer. That was probably the most surreal part before the actual delivery.

   I pushed through 5 contractions- which ended up being 20 minutes because the contractions spaced out a little more. He was out and my world changed! Dan and I were in complete and utter awe and what just happened. I can just picture seeing William on my belly and Dan's reaction. It was such a great experience. I want to cry just thinking of it again! We arrived at the hospital 7:30pm (?) and he was here at 1:15 am. Pretty quick!

   William weighed in at 8 pounds, 5 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. His head circumference was 14 inches. His Apgar scores were both 9. During labor, Dan and I quickly made our guesses on weight. Dan guessed 7 lbs 10 and I guessed 8 lbs 1. He's a good-sized boy! It is sad to think about, but he weighed more than all four quadruplets combined. 

   Overall, I had a great birth experience.

Coming home felt great and the girls have been interested in him. They also seem like they need adjustment time too which is to be expected. When I'm not nursing him, I try to give them a lot of attention, but there is so much to do!
    Speaking of nursing, that has been going well- of course it's still painful but he is vigorous and hungry. I'm glad he's a "Madeline" eater and not a "Sofia" eater! (Sofia as a baby was quite lazy and often didn't want to eat.) He's still too new to have much of a schedule and he's been unpredictable. Usually he'll want to eat every 2 hours. At night he has given me 3 whole hours! Woohoo! Yup, I'm pretty tired....
    I'm putting all the pictures on Flickr again because it's much faster, and frankly it has taken a couple different attempts to finally get this blog up! Hope you all had a fabulous New Years (I barely knew there was a holiday)!!!
     Lastly, Dan and I want to thank ALL of our help these last couple of days. You know who you are and we greatly appreciate it all. What would we do without family?