2009

What a year this has been. I have never felt so amazed in my life. God has blessed us with three beautiful amazing little girls. We went from wondering if we'd ever be parents to an instant family of five. I don't really like the saying, "what a difference a year makes," but WOW...What a difference a year makes!

I have never been more sleep deprived in my life. Somehow, I've learned to make it through the day on less than 5 hours of sleep. Sometimes less than 3 or 4 hours....and never in a row. But watching our precious girls grow and discover everything around them is worth losing sleep. We went from preemies to almost toddlers. Just saying the word, "toddler," just .....I don't even know. I can't believe we are less than 5 weeks away from their first birthday. I wondered how we'd get through this year.

There are so many people to thank I wouldn't even know where to begin. The girls are 11 months old and we still have 6 volunteers (now friends) that take turns each week and come over to help us. I don't know where I would have been without them. They've saved my sanity on many occasions. They've all seen my meltdowns were I was so exhausted and overwhelmed that I would just cry. The best part is that they all love our babies and that is just the biggest gift.

So as we say good-bye to 2009, I will always remember this year. It was the year that God blessed us with the family we always dreamed of. It was the year where we've grown closer as a couple and now have a bond for life. It was the year that I met so many new friends that I can't imagine my life without.

I'm ready for 2010. As good as 2009 was (and well...sleep deprived), I think 2010 might be even better as we watch our little babies make the transition to toddlerhood!

Happy New Year everyone!

Our first Christmas

Yes, I am a little late posting this as Christmas was just about one week ago. But once again, I'm going to play the triplets card.

We had a wonderful first Christmas as a family. The girls were spoiled by so many. I think we have enough toys to run a daycare center. It was really fun watching the girls tear through the wrapping paper and try to eat the bows. They didn't care about the toys as much as they liked the wrapping paper. Morgan especially...She just wanted to taste it as fast as possible before Mommy and Daddy would take it away.

All in all, it was exactly what I could have imagined! We feel so blessed to have our three perfect little baby girls!

AND... the hubby...well he spoiled mommy with a diamond heart necklace. Good man!

Thank You Cousin!

A couple of days before Christmas, I got a surprise package in the mail. It was from my cousin, (and BFF) Donna. When I first opened the package, I saw an old black shirt with lace on the bottom. I immediately started to laugh so hard. I have been begging Donna for that shirt for a couple of years. Every time she wore it, I'd tell her it was mine. When I saw her wearing it in pics on Facebook (or MS back in the day), I would again...tell her I WANT THAT SHIRT! But of course she wasn't giving a new shirt up that easily. My day finally came.....looks like she was finally able to part with it. hahahaha...... It might be a little worn, but I am so still going to wear it. It's MINE now! Cracks me up......

As I continued going through the contents of the package, I saw this ornament wrapped in tissue paper. When I saw what it was, my eyes started to fill with tears. It is simply the most thoughtful and wonderful gift. I had been telling her that I wanted to get something special for us to mark this amazing year. She knows me well and knows that even though I wanted something like this, I would never do it for myself. This ornament is perfect. There is no better way to mark how special this year has been.

So to my cousin and my best friend; I love you. You have been there for me through thick and thin, and I don't know what I did all those years without you in my life. Thank you for making our Christmas so memorable and special!

You are the best!

A proud moment!

So Rachel has been sleeping through the night every night for around two weeks. Don't go jumping up and down just yet... She is sleeping through the night in her swing. That's right... in her SWING! The good part about this is that we have cut out the 11pm-ish bottle that she would always wake up for. She doesn't wake up for it anymore. I've been enjoying more sleep. I'm still anemic, so I've been enjoying this sleep! Plans are being made to get her into her crib....you know...kinda like a new years resolution. haha... Whatever.. I'm just happy I'm getting better sleep and so is she.

Sleep isn't what this post is about though. Rachel did wake up around 11pm, but this time it wasn't for a bottle. She had pooped a nice big messy one. Poor little baby has the poopies along with some gas so I guess that is what woke her up. I took her downstairs to change her diaper. She still sleeps in our bedroom so I wasn't about to take her in the girls' room and change her there. Anyway... as I'm changing her, she rips this loud adult sounding fart.... and then looked up at me with her big smiley grin and LAUGHED! Giggled like it was the funniest thing she has ever heard. I'm not even sure if she knows that she is the one who made that funny noise! It was just the cutest thing.

Laughing at farts.... She is definitely her mother's daughter!

Family of five

Last year at this time, I was on bed rest and medication worrying almost daily about making sure our babies didn't come too early. I didn't (couldn't) leave the house unless it was to go to a doctor appointment. Christmas just didn't feel as much like Christmas. There were no chestnuts roasting or yule tide carols caroling. We didn't even bother with a Christmas tree.

What did we have? We had sweet denial. Oh sweet sweet denial. We had no clue of what we were in for. Plans were made for how we would take care of three babies, but none stuck. How could they have? Unless you've been there, you don't know what its like.

And here we are. The girls are a little over ten months old and we're about to celebrate our first Christmas as a family. I've dreamed of this day. I remember two years ago, when right before Christmas, we had yet another failed cycle of fertility treatments. I was crushed and just wanted to cancel everything. I know a lot of people can't relate to that, but its something I still think about. I'm really counting our blessings this year. As hard as taking care of three babies is, I wouldn't trade our crazy life for anything.

So what are we doing now that we are 10 months old? I know you want to know!!!!

Morgan is pulling up to standing, cruising the furniture or the baby gates or us if we lay on the floor. She loves being on her feet. She can walk around all of the activity play tables if she is holding on to them. She's feeding herself certain finger foods and talking to us all day long! She thinks she is part of me...kind of like an arm or a leg... When she finds out she is her own person...... man.....

Rachel is finally sitting well on her own. We were worried for a while there, but she's really getting it now. Her favorite thing to say is still the letter H. But she's added things like hhhiiiiiiii. And mamamamamamamamama..... Mooooooooommmm She loves to watch tv too. I know its not the best thing for her, but this Mama needs a little bit of break once in a while and Elmo really has a way with our kiddos! If the tv is on, Rachel likes to crawl to the edge of the play yard, pull up to her knees and watch it.

Sophia is also finally sitting better on her own too. AND...I finally got her to eat Gerber puffs. Morgan and Rachel have been feeding themselves Puffs for a while, but Sophia finally just picked one up a week ago...and ate it! We haven't looked back! Sophia is really into discovering the world with her pointer fingers. She touches everything that way. See exhibit A.

Exhibit A (hahahahahahahahaha)


As hard as this job is, I am constantly reminded how blessed we are. No, we can't go out into public without the paparazzi (haha..that's my new name for all the stalkers and rude people who ask inappropriate questions.) following us around. And yes, I am exhausted most of them time. But we have three beautiful and healthy little girls. You can't complain much about that.

So as you are celebrating with your family this year, please think of and say a prayer for all those couples who are still longing to be parents and who are dealing with infertility. I couldn't have guessed in my wildest dreams that God would bless me with triplets!

So we've had some drama lately...

First it was the car seats. Of course the girls have outgrown their infant seats. We recently purchased the Sunshine Kids Radian 65s. They are well known in the multiples community. They are the only car seat that can fit three in a row when you have a tight space. Our van??.... Definitely a tight space. Long story short, Bob wasn't able to install the seats. We had a couple of days where we wondered if we were going to get these seats in at all. I seriously thought we might have to get a new van. Anyway, I ended up taking the seats and the van into a local fire station and they got them installed for us. They had to have one of the female employees do some of the installing though. It was such a tight fit that a man's hands are too large to tighten the seat to the straps. So....it was just a stressful couple of days. I'm really thankful that our local fire department does this service for us.

So the car seats are just fine. Everything worked out and I thought I could relax.

Yeah......

A couple of days later, we start to smell this musty smell in the house. Our first thought was.... "the girls are eating more solid foods"..."and pooping more." lol... I started considering what I should do to keep the poopy diaper smell under control. I put baby powder in the trash bin, I considered buying one of those Diaper Genie thingamabobs..I had to figure something out....The smell was getting out of control.

Then I found the real source. I went into the closet that is under our staircase to get the Christmas decorations out. WOW...that closet smelled like a musty muddy rotten river. And what do you know??? We had a musty muddy rotten river flowing right underneath our house. NO JOKE! As soon as we realized that the crawl space access to our mid-level (tri level house) was at the end of that closet, we knew there had to be something wrong down there since we don't put diapers in the closet. A very good (and brave) friend of ours came over to diagnose the problem. At first he thought it was the outside sprinkler water draining under the house somehow. However, when he went under the house, he came back with a "not so positive" look on his face. Poor guy had to tell us that we had a busted pipe and that ALL the kitchen sink water and ALL the dishwasher drainage was draining under our house. The piping was completely broken. And we all know I run my dishwasher at least twice a day!!!

We were so worried it was going to cost us thousands. We ended up having to get a plumber out here to fix the pipe and then a different company to clean up the mess and pump the water out. Total bill: $1,100. I wanted to cry! Its always something isn't it? Thankfully it wasn't more so we paid the bill and our house doesn't stink anymore. The smell was the worst during the clean up. We had to open all the windows up and bundle the girls to keep warm. It was either that or smell nasty musty-ness all day...... But everything was all cleaned up this past Friday and by today, our house smells fresh again. Whew!

So that was last week.

Here's hoping for a much better week this week.!!!!

And coming soon.... We had some really cute pics taken by some pros. I will be posting them and giving the ten month update really soon!

Proof that I am crazy!

This picture was taken in the mall on BLACK FRIDAY, because yes... I'm cool like that. I've gotten up early to shop before, but never as early as I did this past Friday. Deana somehow managed to talk this sleep deprived NON-MORNING person into leaving the house at 3am. YES people, I said 3AM! My perky friend called me at 2:55AM and was already in my driveway waiting for me. She's certifiable (insane!) I tell ya! But oh what a good friend....She took me straight to Starbucks, which was open for all of us nuts! Mmmm Chai tea latte!

We were in the parking lot at the mall by 3:30AM! Our plan was to hit JC Penny. They were having a fab sale on small household appliances that I just HAD to have. (really...I had no choice. Things call my name and I can't control it.)

Anyway... We saw people actually getting INTO the store. So we jumped out of the car, but we weren't employees.... haha... The people getting in worked there! So we had to wait outside with the rest of them. We even tried to play the "triplet card" that usually works so well for me hahahahahaha...But not this time. I had to trample people to get to the front of the line. (Yeah right!)

Finally, 4am hit and we ran into the store. My plan was to go straight to the slow cookers, because who could pass up a $13 five quart slow cooker right? I ended up also getting a 7 cup food processor and a blender thingy (just like the "as seen on tv" Magic Bullet) but not the same brand....for a total of $70 for all three items. SCORE!!!

Took those items out to the trunk of the car because, clearly, carrying them around would hold us back from the rest of our shopping!!! (And a cute young hunk carried them out for us :) We went back in, and I ended up buying 3 shirts for myself and three SUPER cute Christmas pajamas for the babies. When the rest of the mall opened, we hit up Macys and I bought some unmentionables. Then we went to The Children's Place where I bought some cute white tights for the babes. After a quick break and some Wetzel's Pretzels, we decided to move on.

So we headed to Best Buy and bought a big fat nothing. Then I remembered Babies R Us was having a super cool diaper and baby food sale. I bought 8 packages of diapers for $40. Turned out to be just 13 cents per diaper, which as you know, ROCKS MY WORLD! Also took advantage of the BOGO sale on Earth's Best Baby food. Got 4 cases for $20. I LOVE good deals! Oh and I bought a toy for the girls too.

The thing that cracks me up about this shopping trip is that it was not MY idea and I spent more than Deana! I would never think to get up at 3am. I tell her that it is her fault I spent so much since it was HER idea. hahaha...I have to blame someone! I was handing out cash like candy!

We ended up having such a great time. I am totally game for doing this next year too. I think we're going to have to get up really early the day after Christmas as well. I'm hooked and the girls' first birthday is right around the corner! Also, we need at least a 12 foot Christmas tree for our tall ceilings. Can you say 50% off? (I can, I can!)

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and a fun weekend. We sure did!

Two sets of triplets take on THE MALL?!?!!!

My Mother's of Multiples group has a monthly coffee/play date at our local mall. Somehow I was able to talk my friend (who has 9 week old triplets) into going with me. Can you just imagine the stares we got with our SIX babies?! What was even more fun was that our get together had a great turn out. We had 4 triplet moms and 4 twin moms. We had such a great time. I was a little nervous about taking the girls out because we meet before 10am and my girls are usually napping from 9am-10.... But I thought I'd live on the wild side and see what happens if I took them to the mall instead. hahaha... The girls did great. They got tired and they all eventually fell asleep. I was thankful that, at the last minute, I decided to pull our small triple stroller OUT of the van and bring the nice comfy Peg triple instead.

Here are a few pics from that day.

Deana, me....and our SIX babies!



Turns out....I love this stroller (even though I hate it hahahahaha)


Morgan with her paci on her finger...too cute!


Oh and also a great thing about that day... While Deana and I were talking with our twin mom friends, a pregnant woman came up to us. At first we thought maybe she was just another looky loo.... because you know we get a lot of those... Turns out, she is pregnant WITH triplets! I am so happy she just happened to be at the mall that day. When I was pregnant, I was so overwhelmed and if I had known a local triplet mom or two....well that would have just been so helpful. So I'm really happy we met her and invited her to join our MoM group. I wish I had joined while pregnant. I think it would have been comforting since a triplet pregnancy can be so difficult.

It just turned out to be such a great day. I was so happy for Deana for getting out with her boys for the first time. I also love that my girls did so great. I look forward to many more fun outings like this! Good times!

This time, last year....

As soon as November came, I couldn't help but think about what was going on last year at this time. November 2nd was probably one of the scariest days of my pregnancy. We went in for our routine bi-weekly check up at 22 weeks.....and left the doctor's office fearing for the lives of our babies. Preterm labor. I had been experiencing contractions without knowing they were contractions. My cervix had shortened 2 centimeters in just two weeks. We were facing several very crucial weeks in the pregnancy. I was sent home with medication to slow the contractions and was told that bed rest for the duration was the best way to keep our little ones safe. The next two months were the longest of my life. I was so thankful just to make it to the 3rd trimester against all odds.

Somehow we made it to 35 weeks and 1 day before I delivered the girls. And look at us now. Here we are at over 9 months old. We have three healthy, beautiful baby girls who are thriving.

Our girls amaze me every day, and I feel truly blessed to be their mother!

Our girls

I've been taking so many pics of the girls lately. I'm quickly realizing that we have less than 3 months until their first birthday. Time is flying, and I don't want to miss a thing. Our babies are turning into toddlers right in front of our eyes.

So here are some recent pics of our cuties.

Rachel smiling for Mommy! Doesn't she just melt your heart?


Here is our happy Sophia! She is such an easy going baby.


Morgan.... So cute and she looks just like Daddy.





I often find the girls crawling all over each other...Who needs Twister? (Thanks Donna)



Sophia supervising and making sure Morgan finishes that bottle. (Or she is getting ready to steal it..either way. hehehe...)



And this picture would have been PERFECT if it didn't make me realize how badly our carpet needs to be cleaned. lol....



I'm not shy, I'll say it. WOW...these are some cute babies! We are truly blessed!

Just goes to show how tired I have been....

Okay I am cracking up. I just read through some of my recent posts on this blog and WOW...I am rambling and repeating myself. There will always be posts about how sleep deprived I usually am......but yeah... I should be blogging when I am not so tired.

Just sayin..... lol

We're 9 months old!

We've been 9 months old for a couple of weeks now, but you know I'm always late with these updates!

So what are we doing? Morgan was the first crawler. Rachel was the second, and Sophia started crawling one week after Rachel. WE ARE MOBILE!!!! Watch out world! (Note to self...buy more gates!)

We can all sit up. While Morgan has mastered this skill, Rachel and Sophia are wobbly sitters. Morgan can also pull up to standing. She pulls up on just about anything or anyone she can find. We're all babbling and talking all day long. Sophia's favorite thing to say is... Da da da da da da da da da over and over again. Morgan's is Ma ma ma ma ma ma ma mum mum mamama.. So cute. What is Rachel's favorite thing to say you ask? She likes to say the letter H. She pronounces it just like the letter sounds. Its funny to see your 9 month old just look at you and say H, H, H, H, H.....

The girls are really getting to be good eaters. They are eating us out of house and home. lol... I've recently had to buy double the baby food than just a few weeks ago. I think I finally need to get on the band wagon and make some of our own baby food. Plus, at 9 months old, I'm fully aware that they can start eating some mashed table foods. I'm so afraid of that though. Earlier this week, I was at Target with my mom and the girls buying, what else..... baby food. Well, everyone knows I am afraid to move on from the Stage 2 foods. So my mom talks me into buying a couple of jars of Stage 3 foods. I think we bought beef vegetable with rice and then one lasagna. I've tried giving the girls the Gerber Puffs and yogurt melts. Sophia and Rachel spit them out immediately. It took Morgan a couple of tries, but she will actually chew the puffs and melts and eat them. Anyway, so we get home and my mom starts to feed them the Stage 3 beef thing. I assumed they would spit it out since they spit out anything they are not used to, but my mom was just sure they'd love it. Well.... LMAO... They totally spit it out! (Well Morgan chewed a little bit of it, but she wasn't looking too happy about it.) I wish that they would have eaten it. I feel like I feed them the same things over and over again because I'm afraid of everything else. Needless to say, we have not tried the lasangna one yet. Also, Sophia and Rachel are such picky little eaters. They act like I'm trying to kill them if I put a green vegetable or baby food meat in their mouths. On the other hand, Morgan will eat anything you put in front of her.

Oh TEETH... Rachel is the front runner and she has 6, yes SIX, teeth. Two on the bottom and FOUR on top. The 4 on top have just come in, but she is oh so cute. Morgan has two bottom teeth and is cutting one top and one more bottom one currently. Sophia also has her two bottom teeth and is getting FOUR on top too....they just haven't broken all the way through, but I can see that they are going to any day now! So yes, I know they are ready for more foods. I am so afraid they won't know to CHEW the food. Go ahead and laugh at me.......

Overall, the girls are really doing great. We're so proud to be their parents! Time is just flying by. I can't believe we have less than 3 months until their first birthday. *tears*....

Yes, we have conventions!

I recently returned from my first "Mother's of Multiples" convention. Yes people, we have conventions. At first I really didn't understand why in the world moms of multiples would need a convention. I just signed up for it because some friends in my local club talked me into it. But after going, I realized it's for the same reasons that we join our local multiples club in the first place. We need to support each other and learn from one another. Being a mom to multiples is just a different experience! Also, it is a great excuse for a weekend get-a-way.

I had such a great time. I have to admit that part of the reason I went was just so that I could get a full night of sleep!!!! If you know the real me, then you know I am not the type that goes out of my way to meet new people. I have always been a little on the shy side. (I know...unless you know me...because then I never shut up.) Anyway, doing something like this is usually NOT within my comfort zone. I have to admit that I'm proud of myself for going.

I made sure to reserve my own hotel room. It was possible to get a roommate, but I really wanted to have some ME time and make sure that I got some really good sleep with no interuptions. When I arrived at the hotel, I let them know I was there for the convention and that I have 9 month old triplets and can't wait to get some good sleep. So the clerk smiled and then clicked and typed away on his computer and then said.... "I've upgraded you to a mini-suite. You'll get plenty of rest there!" (SCORE!!!!) I was so thankful and totally excited. When I went up to my room and saw how nice and big it was, I was so excited! I had a living room with a couch and lounge chair....and a GIANT king size bed all just for ME!

When some friends of mine called me to tell me they arrived, I told them about my sweet room and my free upgrade. We had planned on making drinks in their room after the Friday night activities, but instead we decided to move the festivities to my super cool suite! They were in my room within 15 minutes. lol....

The Friday night activity was a lot of fun! I must admit that we drank many appletini's so that made it even more fun. A few of us ended up in my room until just after midnight.... But I still got great sleep! The Saturday morning stuff started at 8am, but I decided I would skip the breakfast stuff and sleep in. It was soooooooo wonderful to sleep so long. I ended up falling asleep around 1am and slept until 7am. I woke up thinking it was time to feed the girls, and then I quickly remembered that I didn't have to do that, so I went right back to sleep until almost 10am! I have to admit that even though I slept so good, I wished I could sleep all day!

I got downstairs in time for the luncheon, which was really nice. We had a keynote speaker that I enjoyed. The afternoon seminars were a little....um... not something I was that interested in, but I still learned a lot anyway.

Overall, it was so nice to be able to get away and have some time for myself. I have to admit that as soon as I woke up Saturday morning, I missed my babies and wished I was home with them. After lunch, I couldn't wait to leave because I wanted to be with them. Maybe that's why I didn't enjoy the afternoon seminars as much.

I couldn't stay the full weekend because I'm just not ready to be away from the girls that long yet. As soon as the seminars were over, I was so outta there! I was practically in tears pulling in the driveway when I arrived home. I couldn't wait to see my sweet babies. I walked in the door and was greeted by three little girlies who missed their mommy. They were climbing all over me and I loved every second of it. I only had 30 minutes to spend with them before bedtime. It was the one night that I really didn't want them to go to sleep because I just wanted to spend more time snuggling.

As much as I missed the girls, having the time for myself was very refreshing. I'm so excited to be making new friends and meeting other moms who know what having multiples is like. I can't wait for the next convention. I've already got it marked on the calendar! Next time, I hope I can stay for the whole weekend!

Oh and I forgot to update about Rachel...although for those of you who get my Facebook updates.... you already know that Rachel is better now. She didn't have any infection and was back to her normal self by Tuesday of this past week. Sophia and Morgan have been lucky enough to NOT come down with whatever it was that Rachel had. I am very thankful my babies are all healthy!

Rachel, Rachel, Rachel....

Rachel recently decided to get sick. hehe... We think its because she knows Mommy has been reading a book about getting her to sleep through the night all on her own. She was literally days away from this sleep training! So she went and got sick instead.... Just to avoid learning how to sleep without mommy right by her side.

My poor baby! It started Friday morning. She was really fussy and refused her morning nap. She just cried the whole time. I had sort of starting the 5 minute check in, followed by a 10 minute check in....When she changed her cry after a while of me trying to get her to nap, I knew something was up. I think it was a little past noon when she puked. She had pretty much been refusing to eat all morning too. I didn't realize she was sick until she semi projectile vomited. It got worse as the night went on. Silly me...I didn't know you weren't supposed to try and feed a baby who puked. And I didn't know I should always have pedialyte in my house. She was fussy and it was time to feed her... I gave her rice cereal mixed with a little banana. She didn't puke again until late Friday night so I had thought she was getting better and that the earlier barf was just a one time thing. Our poor baby then puked several times overnight. I had to wait almost 45 minutes on the phone for a late night advice nurse. We ended up making an appointment for her Saturday morning to see a doctor. (Not her doctor, but one at the weekend clinic.)

She did really good at the doctor's office until it was just a few minutes before the doctor came in. She started screaming and was completely inconsolable. Then she puked all over the floor, a chair.... and the towel that I tried to catch the puke in. It was awful. We ended up having to stay for almost 2 hours while they tried to rehydrate her orally. They would have me give her 10 mls of pedialyte every ten minutes for an hour. (I gave it by syringe in her mouth.) By the 4th time, she was puking that up too. She wasn't sick enough to need an IV so the doctor sent us home and told me to keep doing what I was doing with the pedialyte and syringe. However, Rachel started to refuse the pedialyte too. She would NOT open her mouth for it and would turn her head when I tried. She hadn't pee'd for six hours too.

Then finally around 4pm, she drank a couple of ounces of pedialyte in a bottle. I thought she was better since she FINALLY wanted something to drink. About 15 minutes later, she puked that up too. I felt so helpless. Then she mostly slept the rest of the evening.

When she woke up, I could tell she was hungry and wanting to eat. I knew I was only supposed to offer pedialyte, which clearly, she didn't want! I called the advice nurse line (only waited on hold for a few minutes this time) and she told me to make a rice cereal mixture. 2 cups warm water, 1/3 cup rice cereal, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. I spoon fed her a few ounces over a course of 90 minutes. She was so hungry she was just eating it up as fast as I would let her. I had to wait about 15 minutes between giving her little spoonfuls to make sure she would hold it down. She did! So we went to bed and she slept for three hours. Woke up hungry of course.... so I gave her two ounces of formula and she did fine with that too.

She slept really good overnight....better than she normally does. Then napped really good all day today too. We slowly increased the amount of formula in her bottle over the course of the day. She has been MUCH better. No puke since yesterday around 5pm ish. It was such an awful weekend. The ONLY way Rachel would sleep too was if she was in bed with me. And of course tonight she doesn't want anything to do with her crib. Ugh... I was going to have her sleep with me again, but I'm so tired that Bob has her downstairs and is going to sleep in the recliner with her on his chest....if he lasts all night with her. We have a follow up appointment with her pediatrician in the morning because Rachel has lost almost one pound since her last appointment a month ago. I'm really concerned about it, but the doctor yesterday thought it was just water loss from all the throwing up. I'm hoping her weight is better tomorrow. I'm interested to see what her doctor thinks of this.

I'm proud of Bob and I for getting through the weekend. We were both very sleep deprived on Friday night and all day Saturday. I was up with Rachel and I had him get up for a while too because I needed him up to help me. Then Saturday I had to hold Rachel for most of the day because she was so miserable so he had to take care of Morgan and Sophia. We were both exhausted! Thankfully, we both got a little more sleep last night and my mom came over today so we could nap. Bob napped...I was too wired. So our house is a mess, the laundry is backed up....and I smell like baby barf...but at least we handled it. We are really hoping and praying that Morgan and Sophia don't come down with this stomach bug too. But if they do, at least I know what to do now. This really was our first experience with a sick baby. Needless to say, I was completely freaked out. I'm just so thankful Rachel is better. We're keeping a close eye on her sisters. Right now, neither one shows signs of illness. Whew!

Anyway...I better get some sleep while I have the opportunity! I will update about Rachel's doctor visit tomorrow.

Mothers of Multiples

A few months ago, I joined the local Mothers of Multiples group. I had been a member of an local online triplets group, (and still am)...I am just really enjoying being a part of this club. Its so nice to have the support and advice from moms who have been there or who are currently in the trenches with me. The group is mostly twin moms, but there are a couple of triplet moms with school age children. Having their support has just been priceless! I get so much encouragement and much needed advice and support from them.

The funny part.... I used to chicken out and avoid meeting new people. I tend to be on the shy side so joining something like this is completely outside of my little comfort zone. Even though I sometimes feel like chickening out and not going to a meeting, I'm always glad I made myself go. I always end up having such a great time and I come home feeling refreshed.

So if you are a new triplet mom reading this...run, run, run to your next local moms of multiples meeting. I'm so happy I joined!

Being a new mom is hard enough, but being a new mom to triplets can really put a person over the edge. Its physically exhausting, mentally exhausting....and just flat out overall exhausting. Rachel is still having sleep issues so I am still sleep deprived. My mom was gracious enough to take Rachel for the night a few nights ago so I could get some much needed sleep. (But of course I'm so used to being awake, that I didn't sleep good. ugh...) But...... As hard as it is, I feel special and very blessed to be Rachel, Sophia, and Morgan's mother. These perfect little babies depend on me for everything. They are really starting to show affection with their smiles and the way they look at me. If I get into the baby play pen, Morgan will stop whatever she is doing and crawl right over to me and just climb up on me. She is mumbling..mamamamamamamama... I know she may not be actually saying Mama yet, but she is OHHHH SOOOO close. Rachel started crawling in the last few days. Sophia is getting close...rocking on her hands and knees. I thought for sure Sophia would crawl before Rachel, but Rachel had to be first. Tiny but first!!!! They are just precious. Precious gifts from God and I will be forever thankful.

.....Even if I never get to sleep 8 hours in a row again. or 7, or 6...or...4. "sigh"

Mmmmm Yummy Goodness

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

I got this recipe off of allrecipes.com. It is sooooooooo good. I did change a couple of things to my taste and it turned out DELISH! Because I love this soup soooooooo much, I wanted to share it.


Here are the ingrediants

1 pound shredded, cooked chicken ( I put the chicken in the crock pot frozen and then shred it after its been cooking a few hours. It turns out just perfect.)
1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed ( I used a can of crushed tomatoes to skip a step)
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced ( I use 3-4 cloves because I LOVE garlic!)
1 quart chicken stock (broth) (the recipe calls for water and chicken broth, but its better with all chicken broth instead of water)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn

You'll also need corn tortillas to cut into strips or chips as well as cooking spray, like PAM.

Put chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in the chicken stock, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn. Cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.

To make crispy tortilla strips or chips....

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice tortillas in whatever shape you want. (I like to just make chips.)
Spray cookie sheet with PAM. Spread cut tortillas onto pan. Spray them with PAM and salt to taste.

Bake about 10 minutes. (Watch these suckers closely...I've burnt them a couple times because I'm such a master chef!)

I also like to add a little cheese and avocado! YUMO!

Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!

Side note...to my sister who doesn't like to eat bird... lol.. Use vegetable stock in place of chicken stock, and add a can of black beans instead of chicken!

Thou Shalt Not Blog at 3AM

That's all.

I haven't slept in 8 freakin months!

Rachel has been up since 1AM (it is now past 3AM). I gave her a bottle and then it was apparently play time. I can't put her back in the girls' room because she'll wake her sisters. I want to jump out the freakin window! This crying it out crap is total bull if you ask me. How long am I supposed to listen to this. I've read the books and blah blah freakin blah.... the books say let her be and she'll fall asleep eventually.

Oh yeah?

NOT MY BABY!

I've given her tylenol in case its teething. I tried the swing... Neither worked.

Now she is screaming in the pack n play and has been for over 45 minutes.

I hate to sound selfish, but if I don't start getting more sleep soon I'm going to have to be admitted to a loony bin. Last night, even Morgan and Sophia woke up a couple of times and they are usually really good "sleep through the night-ers!"

How in the world do I get this baby to sleep through the night? At almost 9 months old, this is getting ridiculous!

This is the hardest thing I've ever done. The sleep deprivation is unreal. The long days caring for them is harder than I ever imagined. I love my girls so much and I wouldn't trade having triplets for anything, but OH MY GOSH...... I don't know how many more sleepless nights and long days I can take!

I need a mommy break!!!!

We're 8 months old!

Hard to believe the girls are 8 months old. I'm a little late posting their "8 month old" update, but I'm going to (yet again) use my triplet card. I'm a busy sleep deprived mother of triplets! That excuse should get me out of anything......

So here are my Things! Thing 1, Thing 2, and Thing 3. I was lucky enough to "win" these t-shirts at my last club meeting (my local mothers of multiples club). I say "win" because I am the only mom in the club right now with triplet babies. The other triplet moms have school age kiddos. And then of course, the club is full of twin moms with babies and kids of all ages. Anyway... that's how I got those adorable shirts. I'm glad I got some pics of the girls wearing them because they barely fit them anymore (they are a 6 month size). I'm passing them along to a friend of mine who has 6 week old triplet boys! (The girls' future prom dates!)

I know...You want stats! I don't get the girls weighed for another few weeks, but I do know that Rachel is up at 16 pounds, 3 ounces. She had an appointment with her pediatrician to check on her clogged tear duct. (And yes, it is still clogged but getting better.) I don't think Morgan weighs much more than Rachel, but we know Sophia is still the chunky monkey in the lead on weight!

They all have two bottom teeth. Morgan got hers first and then Sophia and Rachel cut theirs on the same day. Must be a weird identicals thing! hehehehe... The girlies are just super cute with their teeny weeny baby toofers!

Morgan is the only one crawling. She is pretty much up on her hands and knees crawling too. The scoot crawl is no more. Morgan is mastering her new skill. She'll be a speed crawler before we know it. She gets so excited and just goes after whatever she wants, which still includes her sister's paci, hair, eye..... you name it! She also sits very well on her own. She doesn't go from sitting to crawling yet, but she's getting close. She also likes to climb on top of her toys and bang the crap out of them. Its quite cute!

Sophia rolls to get where she wants to go. She is just starting to really reach out for things she wants. She's rocking up on her hands and knees now so I don't think it will be too long before she just takes off. I thinks she'll skip the scoot crawl that Morgan started with and just go right to normal crawling. She can also sit up on her own really good.

Rachel is our backward baby....hehehe... She just started to get up on her hands and knees too, but she moves herself backwards instead of forward. She sees something she wants, but then she ends up scooting backwards away from it and then fussing and looking at me as if to say, "Mommy, please help me." She also can sit up on her own, but not for a very long time. She is very curious and so she will reach for something or turn her head and fall right out of her sitting position. She's rocking on her hands and knees too so we're just waiting for her to take off crawling.

Morgan is sleeping through the night like a champion. She sleeps 7pm to 7am without us hearing a peep out of her. (She's our favorite...sleeper...haha!) Sophia will sleep through the night about 5 out of 7 nights per week. The other 2 nights, she just requires some mild paci patrol. Speaking of pacis...they have all mastered being able to grab them and put them in or out of their mouths. Morgan can find a paci in her crib and go right back to sleep if she happens to wake up. (Hint..I put three in there for her every night so she can always find one.) Sophia and Rachel will not yet search out their paci. They just put it in their mouths if they happen to see one hanging around.

So on to Rachel and her sleeping habits...... UGH... Ya'll know she is my little one who keeps me up. She's so precious and little and cuddly... I can't help but cater to her every little need. I've tried the cry it out thing with her. She shakes and screams for way too long. So I'm reading up on some books and trying to decide which way I am going to go with her to get her to sleep all night. Right now the only thing I am consistent at is inconsistency. I put her in bed with me some nights when she is having trouble sleeping. Sometimes I put her in the swing that is next to our bed. (She's in it right now)....Ugh..I'm just lost as to what to do. We were supposed to move her out of the room with her sisters last weekend, but we got busy so that is going to happen this weekend. She keeps waking them up at night which wakes the whole house up!

Well, that's all I can think of at the moment. I'm exhausted as usual and should try and get some sleep myself.

8 MONTHS OLD!

WOW...is all I have to say about that!

Dear local Barnes and Noble....

I'm sorry I came into your store looking and smelling the way I did. You see, I'm the mother of triplets. I don't get much sleep and I rarely have time to take a shower....let alone shave my legs, do my hair, .....put make up on etc.! When I put the girls to bed this evening, there was crying....a lot of crying. They cried, I cried...we all cried. I am exhausted. When Daddy came home in the midst of all this, he told me to get out of the house.........so I did. I left the house in a t-shirt that I wore all day and smelled of spit up. I don't remember the last time I showered or washed my hair. I'm sure it has had to be in the last few days, but I'm just too tired to remember. And yes, I was wearing capri pants even though my legs haven't been shaved in who knows how long. And I was wearing sandals even though I am in desperate need of a pedicure. Don't even ask me how bad my greasy hair looked slicked back in that pony tail. Ugh....

But there I was in your store trying to steal a couple minutes of me time and escape all the crying. I couldn't think of anywhere else to go without spending money. I sat in one of your chairs and probably scared your poor customers with my overall greasy-stench-ness. I read some of your books I had no intention of buying..... Well, I am going to buy them, just not from you. (Hello Amazon... for a fraction of the price.) Anyway, I had no business being out in public looking the way I did. I used you!

Oopsie!

Just a few pics...

I just haven't been much in the mood lately for blogging. The girls keep me so busy and I'm still sleep deprived! So here is just a quick update before I go to sleep.

Morgan is on the move... seriously! She has figured out how to crawl and now she is going after anything and everything she wants. We finally set up the "baby jail." She's funny. She will crawl over to the edge of it, grab the side of the gate and look at me and fuss. She wants OUT! There is so much to explore and her parents are apparently limiting her creativity. HA! She's really cute though. You can tell she is so proud of herself for moving around!


This pic was taking a few weeks ago. (left to right...Morgan, Sophia, Rachel) They crack me up just rolling around and grabbing their toys...looking at each other.. They are really discovering each other. Its fun to watch. Well okay..it's not fun to watch when mobile Morgan crawls right over to her sisters and grabs their pacis and their faces. When Morgan is in the baby jail...(haha otherwise known as their play yard), I will put Sophia and Rachel in their exersaucers and then switch them up. I try to keep Morgan from tormenting her sisters! hehehehe.... I know she just sees them as play things right now!

I love this pic. Sophia and Rachel are like...Hey..you look like me. Wait no...you look like ME! So cute how they have their hands on each other like they are connected. This pic is just priceless!

So we have Morgan crawling, Sophia is almost up on all fours and she rocking like she wants to crawl. She is just starting to stretch out to try and grab something she wants. That's how Morgan started so I think Sophia will be next. Rachel...she is just funny. She is up almost on all fours too but somehow she always ends up moving backwards. They are all very curious and really discovering everything around them. Oh and they LOVE their daily walks. (Okay well almost daily.) I'm loving that the weather is cooling off because I can take them for walks any time of the day and I don't have to worry about it being too hot outside. I LOVE the triple jogger we have. I'm not saying I actually jog with it...speed walk really. Its a 50 pound stroller with three babies it it!!! Not so easy to push up this hill we have around the corner....good work out though.

Okay time for me to hit the sack! For some reason, the girls are waking up more at night much to my dismay. Morgan and Sophia were sleeping through the night pretty good and Rachel was the only one keeping me up.....the last three nights have been nothing short of awful and sleep deprived. I think maybe they are going through a growth spurt.

I'm going to take some 8 month pics soon that I will be posting. I can't believe my wittle babies are 8 months old! Yikes!

Random facts about having triplets...

A lot of people ask me how we do this. Not many people know someone who has triplets so they really don't know what all goes into having three babies at once. How many diapers do we go through? How do we feed three little mouths? Do we have three of everything?....and so on..... I'm going to give you a little glimpse into life with triplets.......

Diapers you ask? At first we were going through a pack of preemie or newborn diapers a day. That was around $70 a week in diapers! Now....we go through about 20 diapers a day. I've also switched to store brand diapers because I refuse to pay the Pampers price. I've used Pampers and to me, they are no better than the store brand ones I buy. My favorite are the Walgreens store brand and the new Up and Up Target brand. Both run about 15 cents per diaper which just totally rocks my world! People close to me say I am OBSESSED with diapers. I admit it. I really am!

Formula? A fellow triplet mom in my area put me in contact with a local Similac rep who has supplied us with some free formula. I get shipments once a month and this should last another 2-3 months. This free formula feeds the girls for about two weeks. Otherwise, I use the Costco store brand. I once heard that the Costco store brand was really Enfamil. However, the Similac rep told me that its actually Similac advance packaged as the Kirkland brand. She said they mix it and package it through a contract with Costco. I had no idea really. I knew Costco did that with most of their store brand products....but this is just perfect for me. I'm not the type that has to use brand name anything, but still. So our costs have been cut in this dept. Its still super expensive as we go through a can a day, but it's much less than what we were paying.

Baby food... No, I do not make our own baby food. I realize that this could save us money and blah blah blah. But the simple fact is...I HAVE TRIPLETS!! Who has time to make baby food? I don't even have time to shower most days. I smell like a trucker half the time! And speaking of baby food...... We've moved on to the Stage two Gerber foods (or sometimes the Target store brand depending on sales)... the girls are loving their food. We tried just about all the fruits and veggies. When they are 8 months old, I might have them try the stage two meals that have meat mixed in. Not sure yet...but WOW...I just realized they are almost 8 months old!

Moving on....

Assembly line... In our house, its all about the assembly line. I just do one baby at a time for everything from diaper changes to baths and getting dressed. Sometimes, after I'm done bathing and getting ONE baby dressed....I think those singleton moms have it so easy. They would be done. Not me...I have to do it two more times. But I know I'm blessed to do it two more times. I am, however, jealous of those little strollers you people get to use.

Speaking of strollers... I now have a collection. I have three (yes THREE) triple strollers. Its a sickness. It really is. I started out with a smaller triplet stroller.... meaning one that folds easily and isn't as spacious as it could be. Its a Norfolk triple. They only made these in 2006 and you can't buy them anymore. I got mine used from Craigslist. (Its kind of like the Baby Trend triple, but much better quality.) I also have a Peg Perego triple stroller. At first I loved that it is more spacious than my Norfolk. Also, it is much more comfortable for the girls. I'm not loving this stroller though. Its an older Peg... meaning no steering wheel like the new ones...also.. you have to remove the seats in order to fold the stroller. So I have the frame, and then three seats that I have to take apart and put back together every single time I use it. Its a pain in the behind! I'm going to keep using it though... because.. A. I got it for $150 which is a steal! and B. It really is the most comfy stroller I have for the kiddos! I also have my Q Series Triple Jogger which I LOVE!!!!! Best stroller ever. Can't be used in malls or stores, but its great for outside. I'm not done yet... I also have a single stroller.. and YES, we've used it..ONCE! haha... and then I have my coveted Step 2 Choo Choo Wagon. All of these strollers and my choo choo was a total of $575. Most people can't even buy a used Triple Peg stroller for $575 so I am quite proud of myself for how cheap I found all of this stuff!

So how many times do you run your dishwasher each day? Around here... we run ours TWICE! Once for bottles since they take up so much space. Those Dr. Brown's bottles have so many parts, but I LOVE these bottles. Then we run it another time to wash actual dishes. Its a pain, but it is what it is. Oh and I'm really starting to love our crock pot. I have been using it so much lately. Seems like its the only way to get a decent meal on the table.

Oh and do we have three of everything? Well, we have three cribs of course. We also started out with three bouncy seats, three Boppy pillows... Hmmm...I have two Bumbos...wish I had three, but since the girls are mostly sitting on their own, we don't need another one now. Two exersaucers and one jumperoo. Oh and two swings. We did also have three of the play/kicking gyms, but we've outgrown those. (Notice I say WE.... because yes... I've decided I'm one of the triplets. haha kidding... but I'm a part of it all so there..I say WE!)

Do NOT ask me if the triplets are natural. I will personally kick the rear of anyone asking that. Seriously... we have had the nicest comments in public as well as some rude ones. I actually had a woman in Target one day tell me to "admit it, you did IVF like that octomom didn't you?"I wanted to run her down with my giant stroller! Next time someone asks me if the babies are natural, I might ask them if their boobs are natural!!!!

And finally... How do I get through each day? Without our wonderful volunteers, I would be toast! Seriously. We are so thankful that even though our girls are 6 months old, we still have 5 volunteers (who I now call friends instead of volunteers) coming in two days a week to help me. Also, my mom and sister always come anytime I need a nap or just need the help! We are so blessed to have wonderful family and friends who are continuing to help us so much!

So that's my randomness for tonight. Rachel was a little fussy so I was up...but she has settled down so I am going to go get some shut eye myself while I can.

Also..not proof reading this so just a warning that I may look like an idiot in this entry!

Rollin, rollin, rollin......

Morgan is on the move. She's not crawling, but she is rolling. Rolling ALL OVER the place! Because she is the most mobile of the three, she is pretty much in control of the room. For instance, today she was playing with Sophia's paci. Well, Sophia wanted her paci so I took it from Morgan.....and that uh... kind of pissed her off. Anyway, I put the paci in Sophia's mouth and Morgan rolled right over to Sophia and took the paci...RIGHT OUT OF HER MOUTH! Later she rolled over to Rachel and took her toy. At least we don't have to worry about someone bullying her later on right?

Just a late night rant....

So Morgan woke up at 1:30. She never wakes up in the middle of the night. She's been running a fever for a couple of days so I thought maybe she had another one. Nope...no fever. Just fussy with a snotty nose. Poor baby. Of course her waking up...(she woke up screaming) woke Rachel up. And Rachel....well she has gone three nights in a row with no midnight bottle. I thought we were on to something. I tried comforting Morgan back to sleep, but Rachel was crying pretty loud too. I knew that if Rachel was awake, she wasn't going back to sleep without that bottle. So what does my genius butt do???... I gave them both a bottle thinking this would be the magic touch and they'd just go right back to sleep.

NOPE!

After I fed them, Rach went right back to sleep. But Morgan was fussy and had a stuffy nose. So I used that ball syringe thing and got her nose all clear of the snotties... by this time, it was about 2:30am...Morgan seemed to be settling down so I put her back in her crib hoping she'd go to sleep. Well as soon as I put her down she screamed bloody murder and that woke...SOPHIA up! NICE! So I quickly get Morgan out of the room and into the "pack n play" that we have set up in our room in case of such emergencies. Morgan continued crying, but I had to let her cry for a few because, otherwise, she won't go to sleep. That's just how she is.

Morgan finally gets back to sleep, but now Sophia is up. She's been up for over an hour now. Will NOT go back to sleep for anything. It's almost 4am.

I don't get this. My girls are over 7 months old and I'm still completely sleep deprived. We have our good nights where somehow.... by some miracle...they all sleep through the night. But then...there are the nights like this where I literally want to jump off of a bridge because I'm just so tired I can't take it.

You can bet your butt, I'm getting Bob up at the crack of dawn so he can take over and I can sleep! He originally said he'd be on baby duty one night this weekend. YEAH.... I guess he "forgot." That's right darling hubby....I'm calling you out on the blog!

I am sort of a believer that the whole.."crying it out" thing works in some cases. Of course not when a baby is sick or hungry.... but in cases where you know they are just overtired or something. However, crying it out...doesn't work in this house. Every single time I have tried it, they end up waking each other up and then I just have more to deal with. Yes, we do have a big house but bedroom space is very limited. The bedroom downstairs is being used as Bob's office and I don't want a baby downstairs at night anyway. That leaves their bedroom and ours upstairs. I do have the emergency pack n play so that is helping....but still!!! UGH!

The girls have been in their own room for a week now and I can honestly say.... it sucks walking down the hall all night instead of across the room. I'm not getting any more sleep than I was when they were right here next to me.

I AM GRUMPY!!!!

Update.... Just gave Sophia a bottle that I *gasp* heated up in the microwave!! She's almost back to sleep. It's 4:30AM... Now I know why God had me be the one taking care of the babies tonight. There is no way the hubby would have the patience to be up for three hours straight in the middle of the night! That bear needs his sleep! Needless to say.... I'm going to be sleeping until at least noon today!

First trip to the park

We decided we need to start getting the girls out of the house more often. We thought what better place than the park. We were so excited to try them out on the little baby swings. They loved it!!!!

Sophia was the first to try it out. She loved it!!! When Daddy started pushing her, she had the biggest smile. (Which I failed to capture on camera in time...but she's too cute anyway!)


Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

We think Morgan liked it the best. She smiled the whole time. That's our big girl!

Push me faster Daddy!!!!!

Here is Rachel waiting her turn to ride.

She didn't like it as much as the other girls. But...I think that is because she is smaller and uh... Daddy didn't sit her up as much as maybe she should have. We talked about maybe bringing a towel or a blanket next time to take up some room for her!!!

We took a little break and sat at a picnic table for a while. Bob was playing peek-a-boo with the girls (with his hat) and they LOVED IT!!! Sophia and Rachel were giggling so hard. It was super cute! Morgan was smiling but not laughing.... She has her dad's personality for sure!

While Bob was entertaining Sophia and Rachel, I was playing with Morgan. Look at those beautiful eyes!!!

Just hanging out in their stroller. (Or one of their strollers....hehehehe....Since I admit I have a stroller addiction!!)

We had so much fun today that we're going to go again tomorrow. We drove around our area today looking for parks that had three baby/toddler swings instead of just two....but no such luck yet. We're going to keep looking!!! Don't they know that triplets need three swings? hahaha....Oh and we just recently realized that the big huge triple jogger FITS in the back of the van!!! It opens up so many possibilities for us!!!

In other news... Last night was the girls' first night in their own room. Needless to say, I didn't sleep the best. Morgan did great. I didn't hear a peep out of her. Sophia needed a little paci patrol around 3am. (However...just today, Sophia grabbed her paci on her exersaucer and just popped that sucker into her mouth. I was so proud!) Rachel....well she just needs me more than the other two at night. She was awake from 11pm until almost 1am. I fed her, but she just wouldn't go back to sleep. Ugh!!! I hope that doesn't happen again tonight. She has had nights where she sleeps all the way through, so here's to hoping!

Hope ya'll are enjoying your Labor Day weekend!!

The girls' room...

Today was a big day. We moved the girls into their own room. I think I'm going to cry when I go to bed tonight. I LOVED having them in our room. But...I know it's time for them to have their own space. Maybe we will all sleep better. I doubt it....but I'm just sayin!

We're not completely done with their room decor. It's painted. The wallpaper border is up. We still need to remove the blinds and get some sort of child proof window coverings. Also, since their room is upstairs, we need a window guard. I also need to get some cute pics or something on the walls. We had trouble fitting everything in there. We might need to make some adjustments once they are more mobile. I worry a lot about a crib being near a window, but we will have a window guard up soon. (Meaning bars on the window...they have safety bars that can be removed easily by an adult in the case of a fire) Anyway.... Here it is for now.

See... Its a tight squeeze! Ahh, life with triplets!

Here's a shot of the paint color and the super cute wall paper border.

Now I need to start looking for wall hangings. I'm not going to do their names over their cribs since there really isn't space for that. Plus, I think everyone does that anyway. I will figure something out. The room did turn out cuter than I thought it would with three cribs in it. We're turning the downstairs living room into a play room for the girls so their bedroom is just for sleeping.

Up next? Now that they are in their own space...........Nap boot camp! We are terrible nappers and I need for that to change. I tried nap boot camp last week but I gave in because we just didn't have the right space for them. Now...its ON!

She must be gifted

We've decided our little Morgan is gifted. She recently started putting her own paci into her mouth........which WOW..makes our life a lot easier. Also, she is getting really really close to holding her own bottle.

She surprised us a few days ago and started reaching for the spoon we feed her solids with. We decided to go ahead and hand it to her to see what she would do. She was so cute. She grabbed it and shoved it right into her mouth....then looked at us like.."yay, I can do it!"



So here she is.....Gimme that spoon Daddy!!!!

Don't worry..I can do it Mommy! (as Rachel looks on in awe!)



See....peas...I did it!!!!


And here she is sitting up all on her own! She's the only one right now who can sit alone for longer than one minute. Sophia's record is about 30 seconds. Little Rachel's record is about 10 seconds!! They are all getting so close though!

Hey Mommy, look...I am sitting all by myself!!!!! I'm so cute!

So yep, she's our little star for the moment! We think since she is the fraternal triplet, she feels the need to be a little more advanced than her sisters!!! hahahahahaha.......

Welcome to my world

Since I don't just write about all the "peaches and cream" stuff.... Here goes.

Welcome to my world. If you want to feel like I do right now, go to your kitchen. Now pull out some pots and pans and pound them together to make loud noises for about 20 minutes. Now...bang one of them on your head until your head is ringing and you are seeing stars!!!!! lol...

I'm a freak. I know this. You don't have to tell me.

So you can just guess how my afternoon went today. It all started at around 3pm when it was time for nap#3. (And yes, we are working on combining naps 2 and 3 into one.) Anyway... For the last two days Rachel has refused this nap and Morgan has slept for 20 minutes exactly. As you can guess, this makes for a very lovely afternoon of the girls being overtired and cranky....which is super fun for this mommy.

The nap part really isn't all that bad. I am working on changing the nap schedule so their new habits are just confirming that they are ready for a change. Its the fact that we are sort of in a transition phase that is making it hard around here lately.

I feed solids at 4pm. Today... they all pretty much had NO PATIENCE between bites. Because yes, I do feed from one bowl and one spoon and everyone gets a turn!!! I'm seriously considering feeding them one at a time...but...ugh...that just seems like a lot of work. I got through the feeding and then turned to my trusty friend...ELMO. (It was a long day of fussing and I needed a break.)

So 6pm rolls around and it was time to get them ready for bed and start the bedtime routine. I brought their Boppy pillows upstairs (to give bottles) and then grabbed three pairs of jammies to bring down and get them dressed and diapers changed and the whole bit. I get them ready on the floor... because they like to have me right next to them and so this was the easiest solution. I just do one after the other. I started with Morgan. She recently started rolling all over when I try to change her diaper and get her dressed so I basically have to wrestle with her. Got her changed, lotioned up and dressed. Then I put her in the Bumbo chair next to me and grabbed Rachel to start on her. By the time Rachel was ready, Morgan managed to barf all over the Bumbo and herself soaking her jammies. So I grabbed the jammies that were meant for Sophia and put them on Morgan.

When Rachel and Morgan were ready, I brought them upstairs....came back down to start warming bottles... then grabbed Sophia and the bottles and headed back upstairs. I changed Sophia on the dresser/changing table upstairs. We keep clean jammies in the top drawer. After I got my Fifi changed, I opened the drawer, grabbed some jammies and sort of pushed the drawer closed with my hip....NOT REALIZING THAT MY WITTLE BABY had her little hand near the drawer. And YEP...I almost smashed her wittle bitty fingers in the drawer. It just barely got her, but she screamed and I cried and felt like I should be awarded the world's worst mother award. Luckily, I didn't break her skin or any bones.....it just got her a little. I'm so thankful I didn't close the drawer all the way.

My poor little baby was so upset and so was I. While she was crying, Morgan was screaming because I was late with bottles since we had the unexpected jammie mess and then finger smashing. Rachel was fussing too so I had three loud screaming babies! It was awful.

So that was my night. Now you know why I joke about jumping off bridges!!!!

Okay..in better news...The girls all slept through the night last night. ON THE SAME NIGHT! Rachel hasn't had her midnight bottle two nights in a row. They have taken turns sleeping all night...JUST NEVER ON THE SAME NIGHT! So this was awesome! This is also new for Rachel so I really hope that this is the start of something great!

See...ending on a positive..always makes things better!

Playing catch up

Since I have been a blog-slacker lately..... I'm going to try and play a little catch up on what the girls are doing.

Morgan

I'll start with Morgan because she is quickly becoming our wildest little monkey. I mean, just look at that face. She's like.. "Hey mom, does it look like I'm going to take a nap right now?" NO!!!!!!!!!

Little Mo Mo is our most mobile baby. She flings her body toward anything she wants to see, grab, touch, or pull on. She can roll around like a little pro. Also, she is just starting to master a little scooting technique. Daddy....we REALLY need those baby gates! She is also very talkative. She makes the cutest sounds...just babbles, and yells, and will literally scream when she is excited about something. At the end of most days, my head is ringing.....not my ears...my entire HEAD! Oh and she is really getting good with the hand eye coordination. She can grab her paci now and put it in her mouth....This really is the day we have been dreaming of because Morgan required A LOT of paci patrol. Now...teeth!!! She was the first to get a tooth. She cut her first tooth and then just a couple of days later, cut the second one. Now they are about halfway in and she has the cutest smile with her wittle bitty baby teef!!!

Sophia

Our little Fi Fi is just the happiest baby....I know...she looks a little sleepy in this picture, but she is just so darn precious and lovable here, I had to post this one. She really is a mommy's girl. She doesn't like it when I leave the house without her. Apparently, she gets a massive case of mommy-itus. Anyway, she is rolling both ways like a little champion as well. She is also just learning to scoot to get what she wants. She is the closest, I think, to getting up on her hands and knees. She really pulls that chest up high with her arms when she is on her tummy. She's not putting her own paci in her mouth yet....but as a courtesy, she does open wide for it when she sees it coming. She smiles and giggles all day long. It doesn't take much to get her to laugh. She just cut her first tooth this past Friday....so we can just start to see it when she smiles.

Rachel

Rachel is still the little peanut. She doesn't weigh much less than Morgan, but for some reason she just looks a lot smaller. As you can see, she likes to sleep on her tummy. She was really fussy that day so I rubbed her back so she would sleep. She has trouble falling asleep for naps. Anyway... she isn't quite as mobile as her sisters, but when she really wants something, she'll surprise me and roll over to it and grab it. She doesn't do it often, but when she wants to......she will! She frequently gives us these wide open mouth smiles that crack us up. Funny thing.... she and Sophia both cut their tooth on the SAME day. I'll tell ya...that was a fun day for this Mama!

So that brings us to where we are now. The girls are really doing very well. None of them are sitting up on their own yet, but they are all VERY close to it. I can put them in the sitting position with a toy right in front of them and they can sit unsupported for about 5-10 seconds before falling over. They are just so cute to watch. I think this pretty much sums up anything you missed while I was the world's biggest blog neglector. I am going to TRY to update this more often....

Edited to say... I am NOT happy with the way this post came out. Blogger changed it's editing format and I am too tired to fix this right now...so this is how this one will look. I don't even have the energy to proof read so....oh wella wella! And where is the spell check?