Cheyenne's adventures in twinville!

Poor Cheyenne has had to be very creative to keep the kids from being bored this week as well. Yesterday she took all three for a walk in the wagon. Ethan and Kingston shared a seat and Ethan even put his arm around Kingston to hold him in. They all had a great time except for Cheyenne who realized very quickly that she is not as young as she used to be. Ha Ha!

She even played ball out in the front yard with all three of them. I would have never attempted that but it went really well and the kids had fun playing outside. No one ran in the street either isn't that amazing.

Today I gave Cheyenne the little backpack harnesses that I bought a few weeks ago. I haven't tried them yet but have been very excited to. Wendy has used them for a long time and they seem to work really well for her. I told Cheyenne that I hadn't used them before but she was welcome to try them out. So after snack she latched the kids up in their backpacks and headed out the door. She was carrying Kingston and had the twins on the harnesses. She said by two houses down she knew that this was a really really bad idea!

Paige wanted to run and was dragging Cheyenne behind her. Ethan starting walking backwards looking at his monkey over his shoulder. She said if he walked backwards then it would move where he could see it better. Poor Kingston was just holding on for dear life all the while pulling her shirt off! She said on top of all that she was laughing so hard at the situation that she was having an even harder time. So just picture it- one baby is pulling her forward, one is pulling her backwards, and one is dragging her straight to the ground! Is that not hilarious!!!

She said then Paige did a little turn and got wrapped up in her strap. Cheyenne had to let go of her so she didn't fall and then of course she ran like hell. Ethan had by this point sat down and was playing in the grass so she sat Kingston down next to him and took off after Paige. Both the boys simply sat there playing with the grass as she grabbed Paige and headed back to them. She managed to get them all back in the house and said to hell with the harnesses! Cheyenne said she was just praying no one was watching her out their windows! She took a couple pictures of them trying on their new backpacks but I left the camera at home at lunch. I will add the pictures on Monday.

We will see what Cheyenne can come up with for next week to keep them from getting bored until Melissa is all healed up. :)

Ethan was so bored the other day he was just sitting under the high chair. Poor baby, ha!

Killing time and burning energy

Wednesday evening after I got home from work I decided to take the kids out. I had to come home at 3 pm because Cheyenne had to go pick up her older boys from school so we had some time to kill. I was out of diapers and wipes so I loaded the kids up and headed to Walmart. I rarely ever take the kids to the grocery store especially alone. I can't push a basket if I am pushing the stroller and Paige still throws a fit if you stop moving whatever she happens to be riding in. I had no choice this time because it was Dallas' late night and I had to have wipes for the evening. Walmart went well even the check out lady was impressed. How did you get both kids, a large box of wipes, a large box of diapers, a large pack of night diapers, and two cans of pears to the counter without a basket. Twin Mommy Skills that's how!

Being at home made me think of Bruce and the kids were feeling very pent up being stuck at home all week. I decided I would head to the mall after Walmart. We have never taken them to the mall before mostly because we aren't really fans of the mall. We don't ever just go looking at the mall unless we need something from there. I decided I would be okay taking them to the little play area by myself because there was only one exit and the rest was walled in. The kids had a blast at the play area!

There were only three things that Paige couldn't play with and of course those were the three things she kept trying to do. The first was escaping through the opening into the mall. I somehow recruited a helper that was seated by the exit and she alerted me if Paige somehow got past me. It didn't help that the exit had a huge cut out elephant that looked like the one in her favorite peekaboo book. She was just drawn to the opening.

The next things she wanted to do was take every one's shoes and socks out of the little slots. Gross! Don't touch other people nasty shoes and socks.

At least this was HIS shoe and sock!

The last and most tiring of her adventures was climbing up on the padded bench that circled the entire play area for the parents to sit on. She would climb up on it and run as fast as possible. She did this over and over no matter what I did and of course eventually Ethan had to try it. Gees, come on! Please you can climb on everything else but that!!!

She also could not WALK anywhere she had to RUN. She kept dragging her feet on the mat and falling face first into the floor. She never cried but I imagine she will be especially bruised in a few days. She ran over one little girl and a stroller running wild and not looking up. I swear that child has no fear and a very high pain tolerance.

I could barely catch a picture of her at all because she was running so fast!

Ethan loved everything about the play area! He kept going back to the big tree and playing with the big movable lady bugs.

He thought the little fence you could crawl through was really cool too. He was a bit bravery than Paige in the climbing aspect. He climbed on everything he could. He figured out how to climb up the little slide and refused to climb up the correct side. He kept getting in the bigger kids way of sliding but they were all very sweet and patient with him.

This is the right way up the slide and this would be the wrong way up the slide!

He also tried to escape a few time but it wasn't his main objective like his sister.

After I was sweating and exhausted from the play area we went for a stroll around the mall. The kids loved looking around at all the bright colorful things. We watched the carousel as I tried to decide whether I wanted to sit with both of them on a bench and ride it or not. I opted to wait for Daddy so they could both ride on a horse.

We parked on the second floor at the glass above the ice skating rink and watched the people skating while they enjoyed some animal crackers and water. They both enjoyed putting their feet on the glass in front of them. Sorry about that maintenance. We made our way back to the car and headed home for dinner. All in all we had a great time at the mall and we will definitely be back to burn off some energy in the future.

See why I was tired when we left... both kids going different directions.

Surgery everywhere!

I never heard from Melissa on Tuesday night about how her surgeon's appointment went and I was really starting to get worried. I sent her a text on Wednesday morning and found out she never called because she was admitted to the hospital Tuesday evening. She was in so much pain and they found out her gallbladder didn't have any gallstones; however, it was only working at 9%. It was inflamed and literally poisoning her body. She had it removed Wednesday night and got to come home yesterday evening.

Cheyenne is watching the kids until Melissa is back on her feet. When I talked to Melissa yesterday morning she seemed optimistic about being able to watch the kids next week again. Oh sweet Melissa you are crazy!!! Can you imagine having a two hour surgery, resting for a few days, and then taking care of four toddlers all day alone. She is officially crazier than I first thought. Just kidding, love you Melissa!

Cheyenne has made arrangements to watch the kids next week so Melissa can rest but I hope to get to go see her this weekend. Maybe I can take the kids for a short visit just so they can see each other. Remember the week before we were home because of Ethan's surgery and this week it was Melissa's surgery. Everyone is just out of wack around here lately and we all can't wait for life to settle back down into a boring routine!!!

The Hardest Thing We Have Ever Had To Do!

This Tuesday was not a good day in the Mayfield home. Tuesday morning Cheyenne came over to watch the kids because Melissa had another appointment in the middle of the day. Melissa was meeting with a surgeon to see about taking out her gallbladder. She has had problems with it over the past two years and she has been in a lot of pain lately. I opted to have Cheyenne bring Kingston over and keep the kids at home so Melissa could rest until her appointment. (Well rest as much as she could with her own twins still at home!)

When I came home at lunch Cheyenne said that Bruce our Boston terrier wouldn't come inside the house. I went out side to check on him and had to carry him back in the house. Bruce's problems started about a month ago when he started yelping in pain. He was leaning to the right and it was obvious that something was wrong with him. I took him to the vet on Sept 4th for the first visit and they diagnosed it as two ear infections with bacteria and yeast in both ears. That explained his pain and the problems standing his equilibrium was off.

Within two days I was back at the vet because he was getting worse. He was now vomiting and shaking. They decided that he needed nausea medicine because the pain pills were making him throw up all his medicines. We also had x rays done of his neck because they thought he had a slipped disk or something that was also affecting his legs. He would stand and his front feet would cross and slide until they gave out from under him. It was simply not good.

Throughout the last month he was on antibiotics, pain pills, nausea medicine, anti-inflammatories, and steroids. We took him to two different vets and had him tested for most everything they could test for. We didn't want to give up on him until we knew we had done everything possible to help him. On Tuesday evening I took Bruce to the vet one last time to see what else we could do. By this time he was not doing good at all. He couldn't stand up and he was in so much pain. The vet said it was obviously something neurological and to do anything further would mean taking him to a neurologist. Yes they have specialist for animals too. The vet said he would have to have many test to figure out what exactly was wrong and even if money was not an option his chances for recovery were slim. They think it was either cancer, a stroke, or meningitis but regardless there wasn't much more we could do for our baby Bruce.

I took Bruce home to tell Dallas the horrible news. We got Bruce as Dallas' birthday present when we lived in Mansfield so many years ago. Bruce was our first little bubba and we have truly lost a family member. We decided we could no longer allow him to live in such pain and we knew we had to let him go. We put Bruce to sleep on Tuesday night and it was the hardest thing we have ever had to do. Today is one of the first days I can even talk about it without getting sick to my stomach. Our house has not been the same and probably never will be. Zoe and Brianna are just now starting to understand he isn't coming back home. In the weeks to come I imagine it will get easier but so far I am so deeply sad words can't even explain it...

Our first three children.

Bruce and Zoe were play buddies.

He loved to bark and hear himself talk.


He liked his sleep too!


When we had the carpets cleaned he just followed the furniture.

Rest in Peace Bubba Bruce. You were a great dog!

Swimming in balls!

I told mom that the kids were getting bored being at home and she might have to be inventive to keep them happy Sunday while we were gone to the Cowboys game. When we got home this is what we found.

How does she come up with this stuff? The kids loved everything about the swimming pool full of balls! The balls don't go everywhere like they do when the kids dump over the ball pit. They liked getting in and out, in and out, in and out. They loved walking around in the balls kicking them too.

They woke up Monday morning and watched their morning cartoon in the ball pool. Too cute!

Of course Daddy had to join the kids in the swimming pool when he got home from work on Monday evening. Daddy and Ethan made up a new game. They would go crazy and move all the balls around and then stop. They would wait a minute and say "go" and do it again. Ethan loved being the one in control of the "go" and it wasn't long before Paige joined in the game as well. Surprisingly she actually let Ethan continue to control when they went crazy. Enjoy!

Don't you hate it when you ruin a video by laughing or talking.
I couldn't help but laugh they were so funny :)



I couldn't chose between these two so you get both.

Cowboys game

Months and months ago I purchased tickets for the Dallas Cowboys vs. the Washington Redskins game this past Sunday. At the time I didn't know it was Kingston's first birthday. Cheyenne decided to do a Cowboys themed birthday party on Sunday and have everyone stay for the game after the party. I called her as soon as I found out the date and told her we had tickets for the game and wouldn't be able to come. She was of course disappointed since Kingston's best little friend is Ethan. Dallas and I decided that since the game wasn't anything special we would go to a different game, sell these tickets, and go to the birthday party instead. Well it was a good plan but it didn't work out that way.

I put the tickets up for sale on Stubhub but do to the high seller fees I had to charge more than I paid to even make most of my money back. They weren't selling on Stubhub so I moved the listing to Craigslist. I had two interested people but neither one of them worked out. On the Saturday before the game I was texting and calling everyone I could think of trying to get rid of the tickets. I helped Cheyenne get ready for the birthday party late Saturday night and I thought I had found a buyer but in the end that fell through as well.

At this point I started offering the extra ticket to people to go with Dallas and I would take the kids to the birthday party. My older brother didn't want to go and Dallas' dad didn't even want to go. I could not believe how difficult it was to get someone to go to a Cowboys game with him. It would have been no problem finding a taker if I had been giving the ticket away for free but we just couldn't afford to lose that kind of money. They were very good seats and I wasn't "giving" them to anyone.

Sunday morning I called Cheyenne and told her we weren't coming. I decided to go to the game with Dallas and called mom to come babysit last minute. She threw down everything and rushed over to keep the kids. We are soooooo spoiled with such amazing grandparents!!!! Cheyenne was disappointed but she knew I tried my best to make it all work out and it just wasn't happening.

Dallas and I threw stuff together to go to the game and headed out around 12:45 pm. We hit traffic and it was not moving. We decided to take a chance on a sign that said Gold/ $ parking. We debated for quite some time whether we should take the path less followed or continue to sit in the non moving line that we knew led to general parking. We followed the empty path and were told no way, no how by a cop guarding the entrance. It was apparently Gold parking only and some idiot put a $ for no reason. Yes sarcasm intended! We kept going and ended up parking in the University of Dallas parking lot for $20 and the stadium wasn't any further than it would have been from general.

We decided not to grill the hot dogs we had brought since we were on the side of a street. We sat out behind the car drank a few beers that weren't $8.00 a pop and talked with all the other fans. We headed up to the game and I realized immediately how badly I need new shoes. It was a good 10 to 15 mins walk to the stadium and in the gate. We got in the gate and realized we were on the opposite side of the stadium from our seats. We started the walk around the stadium to our seats. They were definitely the best seats we have ever had at Texas Stadium. We were only 19 rows from the field and they were aisle seats so we had extra room. The only problem was that the seats were in the sun for over half of the game but we both had wore hats so we were good.

Farwell Texas Stadium. Of course D had to add to the 'wall' of beer!

We had a great time at the game even though the Cowboys were not in attendance that day. You could tell from the minute the offense hit the field that they were not having a good day. Poor Tony Romo just didn't have his game together that day. He was over throwing people and receivers were dropping everything he did manage to get to them. Safe to say I wish they would have won but we did have a great time.

I do have to say that the 15 mins truck back to the car was like the walk of shame. I would say 3/4 of the entire crowd if not more were Cowboys fans and not a one was happy afterwards. It felt like we were walking Green Mile back to the parking lot. Oh and then the ride home with my Cowboys obsessed husband... we won't even go there.

And here come the boys... D can't stand Rowdy, ha.

Kneeling before the game. Witten's touchdown!

Sun anyone? Can you tell by D they aren't doing well.

Huddle up boys. Come on Tony... is Jessica here or what!


The ultimate fan. Witten what a man... he he

Touchdown! But it was just too late...

The birthday party went really well and I am eager to see pictures and video from it.
Happy 1st Birthday Kingston!

Friday after surgery

Friday after surgery we went ahead and kept the kids home because Melissa had a doctors appointment in the middle of the day. Dallas and I had both been off all week with Ethan and we needed to go to work. I worked half a day while Cheyenne watched them and then I kept them once I got home. Ethan was still cranky but he was running all over the house and we had to move all the climbable toys out in the garage.

Friday evening Melissa brought Addi and Landon over so they could visit Ethan. Melissa had only seen him one time that week and wanted to come check on him. When she walked in the door with Landon Ethan almost came unglued. He was so excited!!! Landon didn't know what to do first so he ran in circles in the playroom deciding where to begin. Melissa walks back in with Addison and they were off. The kids played like they hadn't seen each other in months! They played from 3:30 until 6! I was a little worried that Ethan was playing too hard but I figured if he felt like it then he was okay. He hadn't seen his friends in a week and he missed them very much. It was really fun to watch them all play together and Melissa and I had a while to chat as well.

Can you imagine taking care of all four of these kids 5 days a week!
Yes, Melissa is nuts!!! She calls them her quads :)


Aw how cute! The boys are both smiling and the girls look annoyed as usual.


Ethan was in the yellow bucket so of course everyone wanted in the yellow bucket. To avoid world war III we got everyone their own colored bucket. Then we realized- Photo Opp!!!