Highlights as of late.

A good flight: Delta provides entertainment as far as free satellite TV, and even quizzes on individual screens in front of each seat "to keep us sane" as Britney put it. Watching TV is just about all you can do with a squirmy babe in arms, so I appreciated that. And it was a pleasant surprise since I usually fly on Southwest where such luxuries aren't present. We had a crew of KC's mom and dad, Janice and Clyde, Britney, the babies and me.

Bumbos: I was so excited to try out the Bumbos as soon as we got home. I knew they were ready for them and they are so adorable all sitting in a row. They love the new view and I think these will really come in handy. Already I've used it to put them in as I prepare bottles or eat dinner and it works like a charm.

Church: We went to church!! I know, crazy. But I had four extra adults to help me. We made it just in time to hear the opening prayer. This in pretty impressive if you take into account that we still don't get too much sleep each night, church starts at 10, and we didn't decide that we were going to try to go until 9 (this means the babies all got baths, but I went with a day-old ponytail). We only stayed for the first hour, and the babies were little angels eating the prepared bottles right when we sat down and sleeping the rest of the time. I haven't been to church since July, so it was a big day for me as well as the babies. I even put on dangly earrings again. I feel like I'm coming out of this little cave I've been in for the past several months, and it feels pretty good. (From the looks of it Ruby looks pretty mad, but she was a sweetie.)
DC: Britney and I were able to take a jaunt to DC before KC's dad left (he only stayed a few days) since we're not sure when we'd get another opportunity without the extra hands at home. She made the regular tourist type things much more of an adventure for me since I'd seen them all before. We loved the fresh crisp air, and the hot chocolate as we walked up and down the National Mall, and trying to spot things from Night at the Museum 2 (apparently a movie I MUST see). Here I am by Julia Child's kitchen in the Smithsonian.

Shopping: Britney and I also got to do some shopping at the mall/Costco without any babies and found some great things for them (including 3 little swimsuits), and perhaps ourselves. I felt like such a normal person walking through the mall like I used to. Except this time I went mostly to baby departments, and got to see three sweet smiles when I came home.


Annapolis Mall: Janice, Britney and I took the babies to a different mall. We all sttrapped a baby to us and perused our favorite stores. We got a lot of stares and a lot of questions as people realized we were all together. Mostly people were tired for us, as they should be. Again it was nice to catch a glimpse of my old lifestyle. I actually bought a couple things for me! Though most of my purchases were for the babes again, of course. And Janice treated us to Cheesecake Factory takeout for dinner! It's always nice to have a change in routine.

Cuteness: This is a part of the babies' regular daily activities (along with being naughty, but we won't dwell on that). Just thought I'd share a little of what we get to see all the time. They seriously make us laugh all day long with their new found curiosity, and little voices that chatter. It's so fun to see them recognize me as they turn toward my voice and see their giant smiles, and watch them discover their surroundings. I can't wait to see how they interact with each other.

Rearranging: the living room that had morphed into baby territory is turning back into the adultish space we once knew, adorned with baby paraphernalia of course, but still it feels good to get things back to a more civilized state. I also worked on their room, trying to get everything to fit just right with three cribs and all. Thanks to Brit for the good input as I seem to be spatially challenged. I had originally planned for only one crib until they were ready for their own, and now's that time. And while they've been living in the living room, the nursery has really accumulated a lot of stuff we didn't feel like putting away. And in preparation for three babies sleeping all night long (I can feel that this will happen soon), we needed the nursery ship-shape and ready to go.

Fun with family: What kind people I have in my life. I am constantly in awe at how willing and wonderful they are to my high maintenance family. I can get pretty cranky and stubborn with all that is on my shoulders these days, so chipper, cheerful faces are so refreshing. I'm sure my helpers are extremely tired as well, which I feel terrible about. But I have to trust that they really do want to be here to help, even if it means being exhausted. We agree that days of better sleep are on their way. Janice, and Clyde (when he was here) have been beyond helpful holding babies non-stop, allowing me to take Britney out on the town. Janice has also been great to help with housework, and meals among other things.
Britney is just a gem. She takes such good care of the babies and even helps in the kitchen. We decided that we need to keep a constant supply of munchies (doughnuts has been out favorite lately) to keep our spirits up. These babies keep us going enough to work off the extra calories. We are always laughing to tears about who-knows-what, we love to harmonize as we sing the babies lullabies or Disney songs, and we also enjoy a middle of the night serious conversation now and then when we have to rock babies for a while. We have the nights down to a pretty good routine, but we are prepared to change things a bit when Janice leaves on Tuesday. We might have to stock up on caffeine.
We also had a little birthday party for KC last Thursday as it was his 33rd! What a husband I have. I did a shortcut dessert, chocolate raspberry cheesecake NOT from scratch, but can you blame me? A special post for KC is forthcoming.
Wow it seems I'm always so relieved to get a post done. Most of this was written one-handed and took forever. And it's probably full of typos that I don't care to read through again to fix. Maybe I'll just refer you to Britney's Blog more often. Speaking of which, there's a new post you must see.

Until next time, whenever that may be.