Isn’t it about time for a visit from Mom?

I think so. And it just so happens that my mom is getting on a flight in a couple hours to come play with the babies and me. We had originally planned for her to arrive in late August, but as the babies have become more mobile, and as more and more teeth show up, things are starting to get a little tense around here. So mom graciously offered to change her ticket to an earlier date, and stay until her original leaving date. I have my mom all to myself until September 20th, and I am one happy girl.

It was a pretty hard decision for me. Not that I don’t want her here. It’s just the opposite. But I felt like I was letting myself down by accepting help. And there are many other children of hers where she lives that would love her around, I’m sure. We explored some other later (but earlier than that the original) dates, but she would always just tell me she wants to come at the soonest available date that her ticket could be changed. So I eventually swallowed my pride, and said I would love to have her as soon as she was willing to come. And, boy, am I glad she is coming.

These kids can really wear a person out. So much lifting, so many buckles (high chairs, car seats, swings, strollers, etc.), constant entertaining, and lots of holding (or crying because I can’t hold them all). We have our happy moments, but there is something about teething, mixed with mobility, and hot weather that is so exhausting. I have been surprised at the energy and stamina I have been able to maintain while taking care of the trio until now, but I think I hit a small wall with this new phase they are in. It will be so great to have my mom here to help me through this little challenge, and also help me get this place baby-proofed.

Sometimes I am just so spent, I can’t have any fun with the cuties. At times I even feel too tired to sing songs or play Pat-a-Cake. I know how much easier it is with two people, because on the weekends with KC home, it’s amazingly refreshing to have the help. So I can just imagine  how rejuvenating two months of having mom around will be. And it’s going to be fun for me to have a buddy to chat with all day, too.

I’m feeling a little spoiled having so much help, but I know I’ll be a happier, more productive mom because of it. And I have a whole list of plans and appointments to check off while she is here. Well three lists, actually: One with things I want to do alone, one with things for mom, the babies, and me to do together (or just mom and me after bedtime), and one for KC and me (which I guess also includes stuff that involves the whole family.) I am excited.

For Britney,

who is going to Disneyland this week (one of her favorite places on the planet), and was more than excited when KC’s Aunt Jill sent us a package several months ago with these cute shirts in it. Have fun Auntie Britney! We miss you.

(I know lots of other family members from both sides are also super-fans of the magical place, so this can be for you too, okay? She’s just been counting down for months on her Facebook status, so we thought we’d say hi.)

What. There was a sale.

Have you tried that Dark Chocolate Velvet? The others are good too, but oh man.

Unexpected Long Weekend

The storm from yesterday is still having consequences, leaving a huge area without power. Not our neighborhood, thank goodness. I know power outages are no fun, and very inconvenient with all the food going bad in the fridges, and houses being 100+ degrees. (I started to panic thinking about what we would do with our family without power for more than a few hours-hotel?)

But there are some silver linings to long term power outages, like when your husband’s work is closed, due to having no power, and he was sent home upon arriving in the morning. We are thoroughly enjoying having KC here to help and entertain. And I have been free to just leave anytime I want. On a Monday! What a nice surprise. He’ll probably have to make it up, but for now, we’ll take him. I think I’ll start filling up the pool right now

Still, I can’t help but feel terrible about those still in the dark. And the heat! I hope they’re making it by somehow.

3 Ws.

While driving an African friend to church one weekend, he joked that there are 3 Ws that you can’t always trust  in America: Women, work, and weather. I could take offense to the first, but instead laughed, and said he was probably right. Especially about the weather.

We have had some serious heat. Unbearable. We sometimes can’t even take our morning walks we look forward too so much, because it’s already too hot by 6:30 am. During the afternoon, forget about it. It’s hard to breath.

Just yesterday morning, KC and I decided to take advantage of morning naptime by weeding the front yard that had gotten way out of hand. We were prepared to be hot, but wow. I started with plenty of energy to get the job done, but after working through the constant stream of sweat running into my eyes for about 30 minutes, I really ran out of steam. I knew it was time to call it quits when I tried to pull on a weed, and I kind of lost my grip as it just slipped through my hands . I told KC I was done, and he followed. I took off my gloves (I had  pair of latex gloves under an old pair of gardening gloves for added protection from those annoying prickly weeds we have so many of) and I could seriously pour sweat from them, my fingers left dripping. Seriously. My skin had already started to wrinkle, my hands were so wet. I had no idea because I was too hot everywhere else to notice. We came inside, drank about a gallon of water, and I started to feel dizzy and nauseous. I guess I chose to come in at the right time. Yikes. This heat is dangerous.

So today, I was resting my eyes as the babies took a nap. (I tried to nap too, but sometimes it’s hard to relax long enough to fall asleep, especially if I know the babies are going to wake up soon, which can be frustrating if you really are trying to sleep.) Then I started to hear some strong winds and thunder, followed by a rainstorm. I loved how relaxed it made me feel as I was drifting in and out of sleep. I mean, who doesn’t love being warm under a blanket during a good afternoon storm? When we were all up, the after-rain sun was shining, and I got a call from a friend asking if we survived the storm. I proceeded to tell her that I enjoyed the nice little rainfall during my rest time. She was confused and said there were extreme 60 mph winds that knocked over huge trees at her complex, and all the power in their area was out. I guess I slept better than I thought. We looked outside, and sure enough, large braches has fallen down in our front yard. At least we got a fun game/pizza night with our friends because of it (the heat in their apartment was getting bad.) Oh, and she just called to say their still don’t have power at 11 pm. Looks like we are having a sleepover too. Heat+no power=no sleep. I couldn’t  allow that.

So, my friend was definitely right about the last W. You never can trust this crazy, unpredictable weather here in the east.  I won’t even be surprised if it snows tomorrow, though, that would be too good to be true.

It just occurred to me. . .

that I haven’t seen any spit up for days. Weeks actually. I am more than happy that that phase has passed. It was annoying. But I’ve learned that everything with babies is gradual, so maybe we haven’t seen the last of it. But as least I’m not cleaning it up/changing peoples’ clothes after every feeding.

Anyway, I think we are in need of some videos and pictures around here. Brace yourselves.

You can tell they had a good nap when they have blanket, or hand markings all over their faces. I love it. Post nap hair is also fun.

Relaxing in the pool, that we sometimes use as a play pen. It keeps this crazy girl semi-contained.

She’s always doing this little pose on her side. My little prima donna.

They love cheerios (I’m glad they graduated from the puffs. It’s a lot cheaper.) And they love blueberries, either frozen in their feeders, or cut in half, on their tray.

Alex is now in the getting-stuck club.

A new favorite pastime.

Tub time.

Spinach Smoothies for breakfast. (Hey, we drink them, why can’t they. Thanks for the idea Mel!) Though, after a while I just fed it to them with a spoon. There was more ending up on their bibs, than in their tummies.

Alex tuckered out after some errands

Alex can often be found scratching his bare belly while chugging his milk.

Bennett, apparently very excited to be using Ruby’s towel.

SO much easier to do three at once. This is a great advantage of them being able to sit up.

This is a long one, so don’t feel the need to watch it all. The first couple minutes are the best anyway. And we're not quite sure what B's fascination with that weird choking sound it.

Bennett must’ve really liked those peas. I love the enthusiasm.

This girl loves her big brothers.

Sometimes it’s fun to get kicked.

They can even entertain each other from across the room.

Check our Ruby’s new trick. (And don’t mind that she was between her pjs and play clothes.)

Welcome Ruby

First of all I don’t know how I forgot these other very common questions and comments. They are winners:

• So you’re done having kids now, right?
• That’s the way to do it, three at once!
• You are smart, having your whole family with only one pregnancy!
• How did this happen?!
• Are they natural?
• Do multiples run in the family?
• I have three (or more) too, but not all at once.
• Can I have one? 

Obviously, they don’t realize what a multiple pregnancy is like, or that a lot of those are pretty personal statements, but I know they don’t mean anything but kindness, humor, and a little curiosity. People are funny.

Anyway. . .back to the star of the post. Welcome, Ruby, to the world of teeth! She has been uncharacteristically fussy for the past couple weeks, so I knew it was coming. She had a cold during the boys’ first teeth, so I thought, just by a huge coincidence, that she was teething too with the symptoms being so similar. But nope. Here she is, about a month later, with a little tooth poking through her gums. It had been threatening to break the skin for days now, and it’s almost impossible to get my stubborn girl to let me check it, but I think it finally made its way through. Little Ruby has joined the club. Alex has also cut his first top tooth, and has been a great sport about it. I think he’s my best teether. Bennett still just has the bottom two, but I’m pretty sure he is going to catch up pretty quickly.

As much as I love to see them grow and progress, this teething thing has been pretty hard on mommy, here. Especially with all the sleep disruptions. I hope I make it though all the teeth yet to come.

Little Magnets

I’ve become one of those moms. The ones with several kids tagging along as they go about their errands. I used to look at them in awe, and wonder how they made it to the store and back home in one piece. When I would shop alone, with no one else to care about but myself, I have to admit, I was a little relieved that cart full of children wasn’t mine (a rare occurrence). But now I understand why parents do such things as take all their small kids to the store, no matter how hot it is, or how many car seats you have to buckle. At least for me, it’s mostly just about getting out of the house, or killing time, even on Saturdays when KC is with us. Usually it’s just to Aldi, Costco, or Target, but we have been known to peruse the Mall from time to time. And I just may be the little bit productive in the process. My babies have proven to be great little shopping companions. Sometimes it’s nice to have the company. (But sometimes it’s not, and for those times, I have a babysitter. I’m not too crazy.) Once it was raining, and I almost just turned around and went home because I wasn’t sure if the babies would like sitting in a wet cart and riding through the rain to the store. But it was warm rain, and the babies like water, so I dried the cart well enough with a burp cloth, and they were all smiles covered in misty rain as we leisurely walked into Costco. They loved it and it turned out to be one of my most fun errands with them yet (maybe because I bought a new vacuum that I love). It may seems silly to you, but when I was pregnant, I never thought anything like this was possible, so it’s a accomplishment to me. Taking them places used to make me a little nervous, but now I see it as an adventure, usually quite a pleasurable one. And we always seem to make a lot of friends.

Babies are just fascinating to people. Even just one baby. I remember going places with my sisters or friends, and their kids, and thinking it was so funny how many people stopped just to say how cute their baby was. Babies just have that charisma to attract a crowd. So it’s no surprise that when I go anywhere with all three, we turn a lot of heads. I try to walk briskly, but there are always certain questions and comments that we can expect (some more intrusive than others).

• Wow, you have your hands full!
• Are those Twins? Oh, Triplets?!
• How old are they?
• Are they identical?
• Are they all boys? (Baby girls can be bald too, btw.)
• Two boys, and a girl? (Some people guess right.)
• They’re so happy!
• My sister/cousin/aunt/friend/mom’s friend’s daughter’s husband’s brother has twins/triplets too!
• How do you manage?!
• You are blessed!
• Did you make it full term?
• Just wait until they are older.
• Did you have a c-section?
• How much did they weigh?
• Those are YOURS?!

And the list goes on. Yes, these questions are all from perfect strangers, usually just in passing. Funny, the liberties people take, just because I have three cute babies with me. I often wonder what it would be like if I was a shy person. Most people are very nice, that I have been happy to meet. The other day, we came across a pair of identical twin girls, who must’ve been in their late teens/early 20s, dressed exactly alike in pink velour sweat suits, and identical hairstyles. I also met a girl at the Library that was 35 weeks pregnant with twins. She looked about like me a year ago with a very large belly, and exhausted expression (though much skinnier everywhere else, and walking around just fine). We had a good time talking about what she is about to encounter. As much as I love to celebrate these babies, and very proudly claim them as my own, I have mixed feelings on all this attention, but that’s another post.

I’m happy to join the take-your-kids-everywhere club, and hope that my sweethearts continue to behave well enough to continue these fun outings.

I can’t seem to stop taking pictures of my little shopping buddies all crammed in the cart.

 

Emilys Way

Some of you already know this, but when I met KC, he lived in a house that was on Emilys Way (I guess street signs don’t care about apostrophes). We were just friends for a while after he moved there, and I joked that it was too bad we didn’t like each other because it would’ve made a cute story that he lived on such a ironically named street. And look at us now. Together with that very story to tell.

We have been trying to get a picture by the sign for as long as we’ve been together, and last Friday night, about 5 years later, we finally did it. We were on a date and, after consuming too much Mexican Food, and being to tired to go to the 2 1/2 hour, 8:30 showing of the movie we wanted to see (date nights just aren’t the same as they used to be, with energy-sucking children in the picture), we decided to take a drive down memory lane. We had a babysitter, after all, and didn’t want our date to be cut too short.

We finished off our night out by going to the grocery store and buying our favorite ice cream (Haagen Dazs Pineapple Coconut, I love you.), and some impulsive candy. I guess while we were free from the kids, we felt like we were invincible in the gaining weight department. We enjoyed our treats while we watched a couple episodes of Friday Night Lights, our new favorite stay-up-too-late-cause-we-get-sucked-in TV series. A good night. I’m so glad I decided to keep that boy that lived on Emilys way.  

Whoops. and What to do?

First of all, I just fixed about a dozen embarrassing typos and nonsense sentences in the last post, and I’m sure there are more. That will show me to speed through my proof-read while babies are whining at me. Not like it’s the first time, nor will it be the last. I have just never been a good proof-reader. I promise I know that “new” is not the same as “knew”. You were probably just looking at the pictures anyway. I blame it on mommy brain. That’s all there is to it. Or maybe I need to be more diligent about wearing my glasses, or read a text book in my “spare” time.

That brings me to another topic. I’m finally to the stage of mommy-hood where I can see why extra curricular activities are such a big part of being a stay-at-home mom. There is a reason why Etsy, blogging, cooking, and photography have become so popular. I LOVE my babies like crazy, but sometimes I just need something to challenge me or take me away for a moment. Baking and cooking have always been something for me to fall back on in situations like this, but I’m not as motivated in that area right now for some reason. I guess I’ve just been down that road, and am glad to use those skills should the opportunity arise (I don’t really want a bunch of sweets around the house while I’m here all day, and don’t get to the store a lot to be creative will all our meals, and when I do, I’m either in a hurry or tired). The Culinary Arts is still my first love when it comes to hobbies and interests, but I’m ready for my brain to go in a different direction. Am I sounding a little desperate here? If so, I’m not. I just mean to say that I want to take advantage of this time I have at home, when my babies don’t need me, that is. I know life is just going to get more crazy in the years to come, so I feel like now is the time to take something up. Do you moms out there know what I’m talking about?

I don’t want to go crazy or anything. Just a little something on the side that won’t turn into a priority or a chore, but that I look forward to. But let’s get one thing straight, I am not crafty. Scrapbooking is so far out of the question, it’s not even funny. And, though I own a few crochet hooks and have used them in the past, I don’t see myself reaching for them when I have a moment to spare. See, I’m a little picky in this area of my life, which is why I often resort to shopping, napping, reading, blogging, working out, watching a TV series, movies, or baking. All are short-term, non-committal type things, that just get me through the day. But sometimes, I just want to be more productive/creative than that (but most of the time, I feel completely justified in just lounging around during every tiny moment to spare).

I know I am doing the most important thing right now, taking care of my babies. I’m not trying to fill a void, because any previously existing voids are definitely filled by my loves now. But there has to be a little outlet for me somewhere for those rare, quiet, alone moments while they are youngins. I can see it being really fun when the babies are old enough that we can do things together. I have plenty of ideas for when that day arrives.

Maybe I’ll be a bit cliche and join a photography class. That seems like a productive use of my time. I can see that skill being very useful in the years to come with my own family, and I even have the equipment to get started right away. What are some other stay-at-home, road-less-traveled hobbies out there I could give a go at? Anyone?

Just slow down for a second.

I guess it’s because these babies were tiny for so long, without a lot of rapid progress, but now everything seems like it’s happening so fast. They discover something new almost every day, and it just makes me so happy. KC and I usually have a little slide show of the day when he comes home. I love this age the most so far (besides their 4 lb.stage, I would love to visit that age again if I could).

As you’ve probably noticed, they are all great sitter-uppers. I really can’t believe our Bumbos are in storage now. They were our friends for so long that it seems almost sad to put those out of view. Though, my living room feels more spacious because of it. Oh, and look at those cute bibs my mom made for us.

Along with feeding themselves with their bottles, they can also pick up little pieces of food with their chubby little fingers and feed themselves. We’ve been practicing with little puff snacks for a while, and one day last week, they just got it. The boys first, and the next day, Ruby joined right in. It’s so weird that I can just put a little pile of snack on their tray and they are content to just sit and eat by themselves. We even were able to eat our Sunday dinner while they sat in their little booster seats eating away (we usually wait until they are in bed to eat). Alex likes to hold it right where he can bite down with his two little teeth. I think he likes the crunching sound. Bennett can usually be found with both of his hands in his mouth while he tries to find the puff in the middle of his fist. And Ruby eats a lot with her left hand. Hmm. . . do we have a lefty? Anyway, this is a big development that just kind of snuck up on me. Definitely a plus.A BR

We don’t use swaddles at all anymore. Just straight into the cribs with a little blanket. They look like such big kids sprawled out in their cribs. I love when I lay them down and they start immediately rubbing their eyes and squirming around to get themselves into their favorite sleeping position. Speaking of sleeping, we are cutting down to only two naps now. They were waking up way too early (4:30, ugh) and after a few days of that, we knew a change must be put into action. They still need a third catnap from time to time, but mostly can stay awake for longer periods of time without becoming crazy people. This is good and bad. I loved having those three time slots of me-time to look forward to, but it was also limiting. Now we have more time to play with friends, or go out as a family on the weekend. And maybe we’ll even make it to church more than once a month.

They are scooting and rolling around the room a lot these days. Ruby mostly. She prefers going in reverse, especially on the slippery wood floor, and has gotten herself into a few predicaments. I am going to be really glad we have our big play yard now. And no more casually playing on my bed. They can go in too many different directions for me to feel safe about that. I’m not looking forward to baby proofing the house, but it must be done.

A (Trying to roll around while eating doesn’t work too well.)B R

Another change around here is that I discontinued pumping about a month ago, and nursing a few months before that. Nursing was just too hard with me here by myself, to be strapped to a baby when the others might need me. I have heard of those die-hard, exclusively breastfeeding, triplet moms out there, but I just couldn’t do it for my sanity’s sake, even though I loved it, and worked really hard to get the babies to learn when they were born. I kept up the pumping as long as I could. (It’s not the same as nursing when you are solely pumping, so it wasn’t productive enough to keep going.) I wish I could’ve gone longer. I’ll probably always wish that. I wish they could’ve had pure breast milk for their whole infancy, but that just wasn’t in the cards. I did pump several times a day for nine months, and that was a sacrifice, especially in those difficult first months. But it wasn’t even an option for me to not do it. There were three main reasons to make pumping/nursing a priority in my hectic life. For the babies’ health, first and foremost (especially with them being preemies in the RSV season), to help me lose weight secondly (oh, it was nice eating whatever I want, and still lose the baby weight), and to save money on formula. I made the bittersweet decision to stop pumping when the winter was over, the doctor said they could go on a less intense (and less expensive) formula, and when I reached my target weight. It’s the end of an era, for sure.

Other goodies:

Grabbing (anything that we are eating, holding, or using.)

Wrestling

Smelling good after baths (KC’s mom made these fun towels. We are definitely growing out of the little ones.)

ABR

And we do find time for some good snuggling.

Wow, do you think that’s enough? For now anyway. I’ll be back soon, I’m sure.