Adventures in Potty Training - Part 1

I miss diapers.

Yep, I said it. I'd rather have four kids in diapers then go through this potty training thing. I'd rather have four infants who are on a three hour feeding schedule than potty train. I would rather have a root canal than potty train...actually, I haven't had one, but I'm pretty sure if given a choice, I'd go with the root canal.

This. Is. STRESSFUL!

And also the number 1 most frustrating thing I have EVER tried to accomplish. Ever!

We now have 2 out of 4 potty trained. Abby is on deck and starting tomorrow. But lest I forget all of our potty training adventures before everyone finally has a turn to earn M&Ms, allow me to regale you with tales of the first two: Ellie and Elijah.

I started off with the best of intentions. I thought, "This is going to happen, and we are going to rock it!" I was super prepared, and I was going to train all four at once. Oh yeah, let's get this party started:

We even did the part where we all went to Walmart and picked out special underwear. Everyone got a 3-pack of a character of their choice, and then we went with generic underwear to round out the collection because underwear is surprisingly expensive for the small amount of fabric you get in a 2T/3T size. Actually, I could say the same about adult underwear, but that would totally derail this post.

Elijah, Abby, Caleb, and Ellie

Clockwise from top left: Ellie, Abby, Elijah, and Caleb

Best laid plans, and all that jazz.

Day 1: So that fateful Monday morning, we were up and ready to hit potty training running. I wasn't going to force it on anyone, but I wanted to give everyone the option to try. Ellie, Abby, and Elijah were all game. Caleb wasn't interested. That's cool. I can roll with that. We will start with three kids. Look at me being all laid-back.

Elijah, Abby, and Ellie...enjoying breakfast on the potty

So there we sat. And nothing happened.

Eventually, I let kids get up and wander with instructions not to pee on kitty cat (Hello Kitty), princess (Princess Sophia) or Mickey Mouse.

Apparently, it takes more than that to keep kids from peeing themselves. Let's just say that my vinyl tablecloths that covered the couches and floor rug ended up coming in very handy. Except when Abby decided to venture upstairs. You know how normally when kids have an accident, they freeze in place with the "Oh crap!" expression on their faces? Yeah, not my Abby. Abby had an accident while upstairs playing in her closet. Instead of doing the freeze thing, she decided to run through the house while continuing to pee. Through the house. There was pee in the closet, in her room, in the hallway, down the stairs, and through the living room. By 9am that Monday morning, my whole house had been mopped.

Meanwhile, Elijah and Ellie were peeing all over the place downstairs.

My mom arrived at about 10am that morning to provide backup, and I'm pretty sure the direct quote out of my mouth when she opened the front door was, "I hate my life." She laughed. I can't wait to be a grandma.

Okay. Too many kids. Too many kids trying to figure this out at once and only one me.

"Elijah. Buddy. I think we better put you back in a diaper and focus on the girls first. You'll have a turn soon. I promise."

So by lunch on day 1, I had already reduced our potty training adventures by one child.

Unfortunately, day 1 finished with nothing actually IN the potty.

Abby and Ellie

Day 2 dawned bright and early, and the girls took their places on their potty chairs. We sat there for 2 hours and 45 minutes....and nothing. Seriously. How do these little people drink two cups of juice AND hold it that long? Abby was even dry when she woke up...and nothing. Frustrating!

So I let them up to play and put them back on the chairs every 20 minutes to try again.

Eventually, I had a whole other problem that I hadn't really figured into the equation. *I* had to go to the bathroom, and I couldn't hold it much longer. I put both girls on their potties, told them to stay there, and ran upstairs. By the time I came back down, both girls had relieved themselves. On the floor. It seems that Abby sat there until she had to go, then stood up and peed directly in front of her chair. Ellie peed across the room.

You have got to be kidding me!

But I soldiered on, pushing far more juice than I like to under normal circumstances. Thankfully, we got two successes out of Ellie, so I guess the juice was worth it.

Cita helping us pass the time. Caleb is on her lap, Ellie and Abby on the potty chairs

A few hours later, I finally had Abby sit there long enough that pee ended up in the potty. I clapped and cheered, my mom clapped and cheered. Random other kids who were standing around clapped and cheered. We pointed at the pee. We clapped some more. We handed her "chocolate". We cheered some more. And Abby was more confused than I have ever seen her in my entire life.

End day 2.

Day 3 dawned with one child in underwear: Ellie. Abby just wasn't connecting the dots. She's like our 6 cylinder baby who fires on 5 cylinders. Maybe we just need to wait a little longer until PEE + CHOCOLATES makes sense in her brain.

So Ellie was up. And on day 3, she had zero successes. Why me??????

Day 4, she went back in a diaper. Caleb had heart surgery on day 4, and that weekend was spent saying goodbye to Sean's grandma. *sigh* I may have tried to take on too much that week.

But the following Monday, Ellie and I buckled down to get this done. It took three more days, but then she got it! And she even started pooping in the potty that week as well. I was so proud, and so thankful we finally got one kid done! We took the rest of that week and the following week to perfect the art of peeing in the potty, and her accidents are few and far between now. She is very proud of being a big girl! We save a little over $50 a month every time a kid learns to go in the potty, so I was pretty thankful that we could at least eliminate those diapers

Elijah's Turn: Elijah wasn't supposed to be the 2nd kid to potty train. Everyone "knows" that girls are easier to train, so I assumed that I would be going back to Abby next. But with Abby's confusion, and Elijah's interest in the potty, we decided that he was probably our better bet.

Friends. Girls and boys DO NOT potty train the same way.

First of all, there is that whole dingaling thing. Second, there is still the dingaling thing.

It's not just a matter of getting a boy to go in the potty, you have to teach proper aim at the same time. Proper aim with minimal handling. You know what I mean?

So I dove into potty training Elijah thinking maybe we could do this in 3 or 4 days since he had watched Ellie succeed, and I knew he was gunning for the candy. Yeah, not so much.

I will say this for him though, that kid perfected the art of holding it and not having accidents on day one. In fact, he did so well, that he held it all morning and all evening for eight solid days. I get that some of y'all like to cold turkey the potty training and stop diapers even for naps and bedtime, but I am not that brave. So because I was a chicken, he would pee the second he got a diaper on for nap or bedtime.

Elijah

At the end of day 7, I told Sean that maybe we should wait a little longer on him. 7 days is a good try, right? However, Sean pointed out that we were saving money on diapers since he wasn't peeing in them, or peeing anywhere else. Good point. So on day 8, I put him in underwear again....and the kid peed in the potty mid-morning! No one was more surprised than I was. And Elijah was incredibly impressed with himself for peeing like a big boy.

Elijah

He has peed in the potty every time since then, and loves it!

Unfortunately, he is also a very smart little guy. He figured out immediately that the more he pees, the more M&Ms he gets. So he now pees, literally, every 15 minutes. He squeezes out a teaspoon or two, then get's his 2 M&Ms, waits 15 minutes, and repeats. All. Day. Long.

I don't know whether to be frustrated that I'm spending more time with his pee now than I was before he started going in the potty or impressed that he has figured out how to maximize his candy intake. So instead of putting the kibosh on the 15 minute pee intervals, I bought the party size bag of M&Ms at the store this weekend. I keep telling myself that a bag of M&Ms is cheaper than a box of diapers.

So we are now two kids into potty training, having a lot of successes, saving a lot of diapers, and going through an unbelievable amount of candy.

Ellie and Elijah

Abby is next up tomorrow. And yes. I will probably shut the door to her room so that she can't go pee in her closet again.

I miss diapers.

Yep, I said it. I'd rather have four kids in diapers then go through this potty training thing. I'd rather have four infants who are on a three hour feeding schedule than potty train. I would rather have a root canal than potty train...actually, I haven't had one, but I'm pretty sure if given a choice, I'd go with the root canal.

This. Is. STRESSFUL!

And also the number 1 most frustrating thing I have EVER tried to accomplish. Ever!

We now have 2 out of 4 potty trained. Abby is on deck and starting tomorrow. But lest I forget all of our potty training adventures before everyone finally has a turn to earn M&Ms, allow me to regale you with tales of the first two: Ellie and Elijah.

I started off with the best of intentions. I thought, "This is going to happen, and we are going to rock it!" I was super prepared, and I was going to train all four at once. Oh yeah, let's get this party started:

We even did the part where we all went to Walmart and picked out special underwear. Everyone got a 3-pack of a character of their choice, and then we went with generic underwear to round out the collection because underwear is surprisingly expensive for the small amount of fabric you get in a 2T/3T size. Actually, I could say the same about adult underwear, but that would totally derail this post.

Elijah, Abby, Caleb, and Ellie

Clockwise from top left: Ellie, Abby, Elijah, and Caleb

Best laid plans, and all that jazz.

Day 1: So that fateful Monday morning, we were up and ready to hit potty training running. I wasn't going to force it on anyone, but I wanted to give everyone the option to try. Ellie, Abby, and Elijah were all game. Caleb wasn't interested. That's cool. I can roll with that. We will start with three kids. Look at me being all laid-back.

Elijah, Abby, and Ellie...enjoying breakfast on the potty

So there we sat. And nothing happened.

Eventually, I let kids get up and wander with instructions not to pee on kitty cat (Hello Kitty), princess (Princess Sophia) or Mickey Mouse.

Apparently, it takes more than that to keep kids from peeing themselves. Let's just say that my vinyl tablecloths that covered the couches and floor rug ended up coming in very handy. Except when Abby decided to venture upstairs. You know how normally when kids have an accident, they freeze in place with the "Oh crap!" expression on their faces? Yeah, not my Abby. Abby had an accident while upstairs playing in her closet. Instead of doing the freeze thing, she decided to run through the house while continuing to pee. Through the house. There was pee in the closet, in her room, in the hallway, down the stairs, and through the living room. By 9am that Monday morning, my whole house had been mopped.

Meanwhile, Elijah and Ellie were peeing all over the place downstairs.

My mom arrived at about 10am that morning to provide backup, and I'm pretty sure the direct quote out of my mouth when she opened the front door was, "I hate my life." She laughed. I can't wait to be a grandma.

Okay. Too many kids. Too many kids trying to figure this out at once and only one me.

"Elijah. Buddy. I think we better put you back in a diaper and focus on the girls first. You'll have a turn soon. I promise."

So by lunch on day 1, I had already reduced our potty training adventures by one child.

Unfortunately, day 1 finished with nothing actually IN the potty.

Abby and Ellie

Day 2 dawned bright and early, and the girls took their places on their potty chairs. We sat there for 2 hours and 45 minutes....and nothing. Seriously. How do these little people drink two cups of juice AND hold it that long? Abby was even dry when she woke up...and nothing. Frustrating!

So I let them up to play and put them back on the chairs every 20 minutes to try again.

Eventually, I had a whole other problem that I hadn't really figured into the equation. *I* had to go to the bathroom, and I couldn't hold it much longer. I put both girls on their potties, told them to stay there, and ran upstairs. By the time I came back down, both girls had relieved themselves. On the floor. It seems that Abby sat there until she had to go, then stood up and peed directly in front of her chair. Ellie peed across the room.

You have got to be kidding me!

But I soldiered on, pushing far more juice than I like to under normal circumstances. Thankfully, we got two successes out of Ellie, so I guess the juice was worth it.

Cita helping us pass the time. Caleb is on her lap, Ellie and Abby on the potty chairs

A few hours later, I finally had Abby sit there long enough that pee ended up in the potty. I clapped and cheered, my mom clapped and cheered. Random other kids who were standing around clapped and cheered. We pointed at the pee. We clapped some more. We handed her "chocolate". We cheered some more. And Abby was more confused than I have ever seen her in my entire life.

End day 2.

Day 3 dawned with one child in underwear: Ellie. Abby just wasn't connecting the dots. She's like our 6 cylinder baby who fires on 5 cylinders. Maybe we just need to wait a little longer until PEE + CHOCOLATES makes sense in her brain.

So Ellie was up. And on day 3, she had zero successes. Why me??????

Day 4, she went back in a diaper. Caleb had heart surgery on day 4, and that weekend was spent saying goodbye to Sean's grandma. *sigh* I may have tried to take on too much that week.

But the following Monday, Ellie and I buckled down to get this done. It took three more days, but then she got it! And she even started pooping in the potty that week as well. I was so proud, and so thankful we finally got one kid done! We took the rest of that week and the following week to perfect the art of peeing in the potty, and her accidents are few and far between now. She is very proud of being a big girl! We save a little over $50 a month every time a kid learns to go in the potty, so I was pretty thankful that we could at least eliminate those diapers

Elijah's Turn: Elijah wasn't supposed to be the 2nd kid to potty train. Everyone "knows" that girls are easier to train, so I assumed that I would be going back to Abby next. But with Abby's confusion, and Elijah's interest in the potty, we decided that he was probably our better bet.

Friends. Girls and boys DO NOT potty train the same way.

First of all, there is that whole dingaling thing. Second, there is still the dingaling thing.

It's not just a matter of getting a boy to go in the potty, you have to teach proper aim at the same time. Proper aim with minimal handling. You know what I mean?

So I dove into potty training Elijah thinking maybe we could do this in 3 or 4 days since he had watched Ellie succeed, and I knew he was gunning for the candy. Yeah, not so much.

I will say this for him though, that kid perfected the art of holding it and not having accidents on day one. In fact, he did so well, that he held it all morning and all evening for eight solid days. I get that some of y'all like to cold turkey the potty training and stop diapers even for naps and bedtime, but I am not that brave. So because I was a chicken, he would pee the second he got a diaper on for nap or bedtime.

Elijah

At the end of day 7, I told Sean that maybe we should wait a little longer on him. 7 days is a good try, right? However, Sean pointed out that we were saving money on diapers since he wasn't peeing in them, or peeing anywhere else. Good point. So on day 8, I put him in underwear again....and the kid peed in the potty mid-morning! No one was more surprised than I was. And Elijah was incredibly impressed with himself for peeing like a big boy.

Elijah

He has peed in the potty every time since then, and loves it!

Unfortunately, he is also a very smart little guy. He figured out immediately that the more he pees, the more M&Ms he gets. So he now pees, literally, every 15 minutes. He squeezes out a teaspoon or two, then get's his 2 M&Ms, waits 15 minutes, and repeats. All. Day. Long.

I don't know whether to be frustrated that I'm spending more time with his pee now than I was before he started going in the potty or impressed that he has figured out how to maximize his candy intake. So instead of putting the kibosh on the 15 minute pee intervals, I bought the party size bag of M&Ms at the store this weekend. I keep telling myself that a bag of M&Ms is cheaper than a box of diapers.

So we are now two kids into potty training, having a lot of successes, saving a lot of diapers, and going through an unbelievable amount of candy.

Ellie and Elijah

Abby is next up tomorrow. And yes. I will probably shut the door to her room so that she can't go pee in her closet again.

Dear Mom Who is Tired of Reading "Dear Mom" Posts

Dear Mom,

I see you sitting there in front of your computer.

You're tired and taking a much needed break. You've turned on an episode of Dora the Explorer for the kids and settled yourself into a chair at the kitchen table. You reach to tug your computer closer to you since you've pushed it back so little fingers don't send FaceBook messages to all of your friends.

Glancing toward the quiet living room, you settle in to scroll through your news feed. When did it fill with so many photos of dogs? It's not that you don't care about dogs. You just don't have time to even think about adding a dog to your family when the munchkins in the living room already eat up all of your time...and food. Then there are the friends whose vague statuses leave you wondering what exactly they are getting at. You've given up on reading those. Not enough brain cells left at the end of the day to decode messages. Candy Crush notifications flow through your feed as you see that more friends have conquered the next level. You on the other hand, are still stuck on level 65 because the stupid chocolate won't stop growing. Then you realize that your best friend's birthday was yesterday because someone just wrote "happy birthday" on their wall. You forgot it. Thank goodness most people haven't figured out their privacy settings yet so that you can see what "friends of friends" post.

And then you see it. Hidden amongst the photos of new landscaping, vacations, and slightly tipsy drinking photos in your newsfeed is a blog post.

Another "Dear Mom" post.

You read the first two sentences that have been pulled into FaceBook with the title and realize that you haven't read this one yet. But you read two different ones last week, and at least eight different ones last month.

Hmm...for a brief moment you consider reading this one too, but then you realize that they all say pretty much the same thing. And you could write your own "Dear Mom" post without even trying.

You already know about the jelly on the backside of the highchair. And honestly, you don't care. It isn't hurting anyone just sitting there. Besides, the bug guy came and sprayed last week, so it won't attract anything anyway. Sure, there are piles of clothes to wash, but there are also still mostly-clean clothes to wear tomorrow. Eh, never do today what will keep until tomorrow...or something like that. And even though you're tired, you know nap time is coming. Some moms work on cleaning the house straight through nap time. Not you though. You always fully embrace the kids' nap, because you like to takes naps yourself. No harm in a little downtime.

As you sit back in your chair, you know that your quiet minutes are coming to an end. But now you are curious. How many times is a blogger going to rip off of this idea and write a letter to other moms? You hate to say it, but you're pretty sure that this writing device has run it's course.

As the closing theme song for Dora the Explorer plays in the background, you decide against clicking through to the post and play level 65 in Candy Crush again instead. And silently, you hope that other bloggers catch on to the fact that the "Dear Mom" posts are overused and come up with something different in the future.

(This is totally written tongue in cheek in case you couldn't tell. I'm not knocking any particular blogger, because I think they truly have some wonderful things to say. But seriously, is anyone else getting tired of the "Dear Mom" posts?? If so, don't forget to !)

Dear Mom,

I see you sitting there in front of your computer.

You're tired and taking a much needed break. You've turned on an episode of Dora the Explorer for the kids and settled yourself into a chair at the kitchen table. You reach to tug your computer closer to you since you've pushed it back so little fingers don't send FaceBook messages to all of your friends.

Glancing toward the quiet living room, you settle in to scroll through your news feed. When did it fill with so many photos of dogs? It's not that you don't care about dogs. You just don't have time to even think about adding a dog to your family when the munchkins in the living room already eat up all of your time...and food. Then there are the friends whose vague statuses leave you wondering what exactly they are getting at. You've given up on reading those. Not enough brain cells left at the end of the day to decode messages. Candy Crush notifications flow through your feed as you see that more friends have conquered the next level. You on the other hand, are still stuck on level 65 because the stupid chocolate won't stop growing. Then you realize that your best friend's birthday was yesterday because someone just wrote "happy birthday" on their wall. You forgot it. Thank goodness most people haven't figured out their privacy settings yet so that you can see what "friends of friends" post.

And then you see it. Hidden amongst the photos of new landscaping, vacations, and slightly tipsy drinking photos in your newsfeed is a blog post.

Another "Dear Mom" post.

You read the first two sentences that have been pulled into FaceBook with the title and realize that you haven't read this one yet. But you read two different ones last week, and at least eight different ones last month.

Hmm...for a brief moment you consider reading this one too, but then you realize that they all say pretty much the same thing. And you could write your own "Dear Mom" post without even trying.

You already know about the jelly on the backside of the highchair. And honestly, you don't care. It isn't hurting anyone just sitting there. Besides, the bug guy came and sprayed last week, so it won't attract anything anyway. Sure, there are piles of clothes to wash, but there are also still mostly-clean clothes to wear tomorrow. Eh, never do today what will keep until tomorrow...or something like that. And even though you're tired, you know nap time is coming. Some moms work on cleaning the house straight through nap time. Not you though. You always fully embrace the kids' nap, because you like to takes naps yourself. No harm in a little downtime.

As you sit back in your chair, you know that your quiet minutes are coming to an end. But now you are curious. How many times is a blogger going to rip off of this idea and write a letter to other moms? You hate to say it, but you're pretty sure that this writing device has run it's course.

As the closing theme song for Dora the Explorer plays in the background, you decide against clicking through to the post and play level 65 in Candy Crush again instead. And silently, you hope that other bloggers catch on to the fact that the "Dear Mom" posts are overused and come up with something different in the future.

(This is totally written tongue in cheek in case you couldn't tell. I'm not knocking any particular blogger, because I think they truly have some wonderful things to say. But seriously, is anyone else getting tired of the "Dear Mom" posts?? If so, don't forget to !)

17 Google Searches Used to Find "A Beautiful Ruckus"

It's true. I'm very easily amused. And honestly, I look for the little funny things in life as they are often easier to come by than the big guffaws. I thought you might enjoy something that made me laugh this week!

I have this nifty little tool that runs in the background of the blog and lets me know how many people visit it each day. (Hello!) It also tells me what search terms people are using to find my blog. And that's where it gets interesting!

I present to you, 17 real search terms that people plugged into Google that routed them to our blog. Most of these, I wouldn't connect to my blog at all! I'm leaving the spelling exactly the same as how the original searcher typed it in. I'm also including some helpful responses in italics in case they didn't find what they were looking for:

• What do you call the gadget that you squeeze apples through to make applesauce? (an applesauce maker or mill)
• "chicken christmas tree topper" (Like a real chicken? Or a stuffed animal?For a stuffed animal, try the toy department. You're on your own if you want a real chicken.)
• baby boys peeing in the woods (I know I haven't blogged about that because everyone is still in diapers!)
• big fat poopy and wet big kid and adult diapers for play (Okay, I have blogged a lot about diapers in general...but...)
• do infants have short arms (In case you were wondering, yes they do.)
• every time i look my brother is grinding his teeth (If he is an infant, give him a teether. He'll appreciate it. If he's 15 years old, give him a teether. He won't appreciate it, and that might help.)
• exhausted mom decals (Send me an email. I'd be happy to send you a photo of myself.)
• how many babies is quad triplets (Uh...12 maybe? Let me know if you figure it out, because I'm very interested to hear what you come up with.)
• how many sides does a quadruplet have (Well, personally, I have my right side, my left side, my good side, my bad side, my fat side, my photogenic side...I'm guessing a quadruplet will have a similar number of sides.)
• how to buy spectacles with complete details (Suggestion: Read the terms and conditions)
• how to baby proof for quadruplets (Just give up now. You aren't going to win.)
• how to get good haircuts for people without husbands (Before I had a husband, I just called my stylist to see when she could fit me in for an appointment. Actually, it still works the same way now, so no need to relearn that technique once you get married. If you don't have a stylist, I bet a friend could recommend a good one.)
• how to make applesauce from the 1600 (first you have to find some apples from the 1600's...)
• i laughed so hard i choked on my (What? You choked on your what??)
• i screwup cutting sons hair (Been there, done that. Don't worry, it grows back!)
• quadruplets is not that bad ("Quadruplets *are* not that bad."  They may not be that bad, but it looks like something else might need a little work...)
• oh quadruplets (I hear you!)

Which one is your favorite? Personally, I have to go with the "quad triplets" one. And I thought I was large when I was pregnant!

This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

It's true. I'm very easily amused. And honestly, I look for the little funny things in life as they are often easier to come by than the big guffaws. I thought you might enjoy something that made me laugh this week!

I have this nifty little tool that runs in the background of the blog and lets me know how many people visit it each day. (Hello!) It also tells me what search terms people are using to find my blog. And that's where it gets interesting!

I present to you, 17 real search terms that people plugged into Google that routed them to our blog. Most of these, I wouldn't connect to my blog at all! I'm leaving the spelling exactly the same as how the original searcher typed it in. I'm also including some helpful responses in italics in case they didn't find what they were looking for:

• What do you call the gadget that you squeeze apples through to make applesauce? (an applesauce maker or mill)
• "chicken christmas tree topper" (Like a real chicken? Or a stuffed animal?For a stuffed animal, try the toy department. You're on your own if you want a real chicken.)
• baby boys peeing in the woods (I know I haven't blogged about that because everyone is still in diapers!)
• big fat poopy and wet big kid and adult diapers for play (Okay, I have blogged a lot about diapers in general...but...)
• do infants have short arms (In case you were wondering, yes they do.)
• every time i look my brother is grinding his teeth (If he is an infant, give him a teether. He'll appreciate it. If he's 15 years old, give him a teether. He won't appreciate it, and that might help.)
• exhausted mom decals (Send me an email. I'd be happy to send you a photo of myself.)
• how many babies is quad triplets (Uh...12 maybe? Let me know if you figure it out, because I'm very interested to hear what you come up with.)
• how many sides does a quadruplet have (Well, personally, I have my right side, my left side, my good side, my bad side, my fat side, my photogenic side...I'm guessing a quadruplet will have a similar number of sides.)
• how to buy spectacles with complete details (Suggestion: Read the terms and conditions)
• how to baby proof for quadruplets (Just give up now. You aren't going to win.)
• how to get good haircuts for people without husbands (Before I had a husband, I just called my stylist to see when she could fit me in for an appointment. Actually, it still works the same way now, so no need to relearn that technique once you get married. If you don't have a stylist, I bet a friend could recommend a good one.)
• how to make applesauce from the 1600 (first you have to find some apples from the 1600's...)
• i laughed so hard i choked on my (What? You choked on your what??)
• i screwup cutting sons hair (Been there, done that. Don't worry, it grows back!)
• quadruplets is not that bad ("Quadruplets *are* not that bad."  They may not be that bad, but it looks like something else might need a little work...)
• oh quadruplets (I hear you!)

Which one is your favorite? Personally, I have to go with the "quad triplets" one. And I thought I was large when I was pregnant!

This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

Extreme Last Minute DIY Christmas Gift Tags

The internet is full of the most adorable ideas on how to decorate anything and everything. DIY (do-it-yourself) crafts are all the rage, and everyone seems to have a new twist on an old favorite. Seriously, if someone ever locks me in a Hobby Lobby, and I will never be bored or run out of Pinterest crafts to create!

In true blogger fashion, I'd like to share one of my own simple, inexpensive, yet fully customizable DIY crafts that you can still get in before Christmas! The beautiful part? I can almost guarantee that you have everything you need to do this floating around your house right now. A lot of bloggers make that promise when introducing a craft, but wait until you actually see how brilliantly easy this is, you will totally thank me!

Today, we are looking at creating the perfect last minute Christmas gift tags for your gifts. It is so easy, you won't even need a template. In fact, I'm not even going to give you one, because I want you to feel free to use your imagination and creative genius here.

What you will need:

-A gift or an empty box depending upon how much you like the recipient

-Wrapping paper, a brown paper bag cut apart, or a few gently used disposable napkins (don't cut corners and wrap your gift in well used napkins. Quality, people. Quality!)

-Sharpies

The first step is pretty self-explanatory. Wrap your gift. Not much to it.

Now for the fun part, grab your sharpies and write directly on the wrapping paper to label the recipient and giver.

I know, I just blew your mind right??

If you are really into the Christmas spirit, add some mistletoe or a snowman. 

And that's it, folks! An awesome DIY Christmas Gift Tag that you don't even have to get your printer out for!

I like to tell my parents and my husband's parents that I've done my part in supplying them with grandkids. I now feel like I've done my part by contributing my own DIY craft to the blogsphere. I also created a "pinnable" image (see the first photo) if you would like to share the simplicity and creativeness of this craft on Pinterest!

Thank you so much for reading along! And I'd love to hear how your Christmas Gift Tags turn out if you give them a try! :-)

This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.

The internet is full of the most adorable ideas on how to decorate anything and everything. DIY (do-it-yourself) crafts are all the rage, and everyone seems to have a new twist on an old favorite. Seriously, if someone ever locks me in a Hobby Lobby, and I will never be bored or run out of Pinterest crafts to create!

In true blogger fashion, I'd like to share one of my own simple, inexpensive, yet fully customizable DIY crafts that you can still get in before Christmas! The beautiful part? I can almost guarantee that you have everything you need to do this floating around your house right now. A lot of bloggers make that promise when introducing a craft, but wait until you actually see how brilliantly easy this is, you will totally thank me!

Today, we are looking at creating the perfect last minute Christmas gift tags for your gifts. It is so easy, you won't even need a template. In fact, I'm not even going to give you one, because I want you to feel free to use your imagination and creative genius here.

What you will need:

-A gift or an empty box depending upon how much you like the recipient

-Wrapping paper, a brown paper bag cut apart, or a few gently used disposable napkins (don't cut corners and wrap your gift in well used napkins. Quality, people. Quality!)

-Sharpies

The first step is pretty self-explanatory. Wrap your gift. Not much to it.

Now for the fun part, grab your sharpies and write directly on the wrapping paper to label the recipient and giver.

I know, I just blew your mind right??

If you are really into the Christmas spirit, add some mistletoe or a snowman. 

And that's it, folks! An awesome DIY Christmas Gift Tag that you don't even have to get your printer out for!

I like to tell my parents and my husband's parents that I've done my part in supplying them with grandkids. I now feel like I've done my part by contributing my own DIY craft to the blogsphere. I also created a "pinnable" image (see the first photo) if you would like to share the simplicity and creativeness of this craft on Pinterest!

Thank you so much for reading along! And I'd love to hear how your Christmas Gift Tags turn out if you give them a try! :-)

This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.