Whew!

I am beyond relieved. I had my second mammogram today, and everything is just perfectly fine. My doctor thinks I had a cyst due to the time in my cycle that I had the first mammo. It's completely gone and there are no other concerns.

What a long week of worrying. I was pretty sure I was going to be just fine, it's just the last couple of days that I really started to get nervous. I'm glad this is behind me!

I am so thankful for all of my friends today. While I was in the waiting room at the radiology department, my phone was blowing up with text messages. It was really comforting to know that so many of my friends were thinking of me and praying for me.

I'm off to Zumba so I can literally "booty shake" all the stress away! Love Friday night Zumba with my peeps!

Annual Mammogram

A couple of weeks ago, I had my annual mammogram. I know I'm a bit young to be starting mammograms, but my sister passed away from breast cancer when she was only 29. Plus, my mom is a breast cancer survivor so I screen early. Before you get all worried, I'm about 99% sure I'm going to fine.

On Friday afternoon, I got a call from the radiology department saying that I need to come back for a repeat mammogram because there is a concern on my left side. I think my heart stopped beating for a second when I heard the person on the phone telling me this. The girls were in their cribs for quiet/nap time. I pretty much fell to the floor crying. My biggest fear was coming true. I know it seems dramatic, but with our family history, I get nervous every single time I have a mammogram. I impatiently wait for the card in the mail telling me everything is fine. This time, the card never came. Instead, I got this awful phone call.

I was told I had to come back for another mammogram and that the radiologist would review the results with me on the spot. There was no other information that could be given to me at this time. I would need to speak with my doctor for more information. This was on Friday afternoon at around 3pm right before a holiday weekend. I was too upset to be pissed.... but later was completely pissed that they chose to call me at 3pm right before Christmas when there was nothing that they could do or nothing that they could tell me.

When I got off the phone, I immediately tried to call Bob at work. He didn't answer his office line so I called my mom and asked her to come right over. I was crying pretty hard and new I couldn't handle the girls on my own that afternoon. Then I emailed my doctor begging for more information and hoping that he would get the message before he left for the weekend.

My mom is awesome. She was able to semi-calm me down and she really helped with the girls. I was pretty much a big ball of weepy mush. I just felt so hopeless. I had watched my sister lose her battle and her poor son has been without his mother. I cannot imagine not being here for my girls. They are my world!

I was so thankful because around 9:30 that night, my doctor returned my email.

This is the what he said.....


Barbara,

I was not in the office this afternoon and just got your message. 

The mammogram showed a very small area of asymmetry in the superior and outer left breast. There were no suspicious calcifications, or architectural distortion. This means that they did not really see anything suspicious for cancer.

Most of the time these asymmetries turn out to be just differences in how the pictures were taken. It just takes a small fold of skin to make the pictures look this way.

Radiology wants some additional pictures to see if this finding is just the way the pictures were taken.

Sorry that you received this news before the holiday weekend.



I was so relieved. For around six hours that day, I thought I might have breast cancer. I know I was jumping to conclusions, but when you have my family history, it's hard not to fear the worst. I have my follow up mammogram this Friday. I am still a little bit nervous, but I'm hanging in there. I have an appointment for an ultrasound right after the mammogram, if it is needed. That way, if they do see something, I won't have to wait all weekend to find out what it is. I'm trying to stay optimistic that the asymmetry is just due to the way the pictures were taken and that everything will be okay.

It's amazing how a scare like this really puts things into prospective. There were things I was worried about and life stresses as always, but I'm not as worried about those things now. I'm just thankful to be blessed with an amazing family, three beautiful healthy little girls and wonderful friends! That's all that matters.

I won't leave anyone in the dark. I will post an update on Friday to say that everything is okay! But in the meantime, prayers would be comforting!

Rachel licked an apple!

Rachel licked an apple today. She put it up to her mouth and stuck her tongue on it. I'm not talking about just the skin of the apple. At first, she played with it and put it to her mouth a few times. Then she handed it to me and said, "open." At first I didn't think she was serious, and I asked her if she wanted me to cut it. She said, "open" again. So I cut a peice off and she started playing with it and putting it back on the apple like a puzzle peice. She would touch the inside of the apple and say, "wet" and "water." She was really into it and excited about it. She then put it up to her mouth and out came her tongue.... then she licked it! I was beyond surprised.  I just had to whip out my phone and snap a quick picture of this monumental moment! 

I never thought I'd be so excited for my child licking an apple. But hey, this is just super awesome. Any progress, no matter how small, is just huge around here. Rachel's second therapy session on Friday went really well. I left the session with peace and excitement in my heart. Praise the Lord. He lead us to the right place and the right therapist. I am so thankful. 

Bob called me from the store on his way home from work and asked me if we needed anything. Of course I said, "apples. bring more apples."

The good news post

Last week was rough. Really rough. My worry for Rachel and her eating issues are a little better now, but we're not out of the woods yet. We won't be for quite some time. After a lot of heart to hearts with her therapy team, including her feeding therapist that she most recently had, we decided to put her in "Sequential Oral Sensory" (SOS) feeding therapy. 

We've actually been discussing this type of therapy for a while. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, there was an SOS training seminar and conference in the bay area that I wanted to go to. Her OT was not able to attend, and since our services will end on the girls' 3rd birthday, our OT wanted me to get training in this feeding therapy technique. However, we found out that they would not allow non-professionals (aka parents that aren't therapists) to attend this conference. I was really bummed. 

When her food strike happened, I panicked. She was barely getting 300-500 calories per day, and that included her milk intake. What mother wouldn't be worried? I started researching every option available. I was willing to travel and pay anything just to find her some help. I talked with the Star Center in Colorado. I also consulted Los Altos Feeding Clinic. Both seemed like good options. The biggest issue with those two places was that we would need to spend weeks away from home. As a mother of triplets, that just wouldn't work. Then I got a referral from a friend of a friend to an SOS feeding therapy center right here in our area. Our most recent feeding therapist, Stephanie, agreed this would be a great place for Rachel. I wish I could still use Stephanie, but we all feel like it's best for Rachel to have the therapy outside of home and with me not in the room. During the time we were working with Stephanie, it was all in our home with distractions (aka triplets). Also, we both feel that Rach was just not ready for feeding therapy when we did it. Her speech, both receptive and expressive, are greatly improved now. I am certain we are ready for this fresh start. She is so interested in food, but you can see the fear in her eyes. It breaks my heart for her. I look forward to seeing her happy little face around food. 

She had her first session Friday afternoon with Julie, her new therapist. It went pretty well. I have to admit I walked into the office as a complete skeptic. We've been through so much with this issue. I just thought it would go the same as it always has. I was pleasantly surprised. Julie is amazing. She starts with a sensory warm up and then slowly gets her ready for the transition into the feeding room. Once in the feeding room, Mommy says bye bye and see you in a little while. Then I go to another room and watch. I can see and hear everything that is going on, but Rachel cannot see me. What impressed me was Julie's ability to stay completely calm and flat during the meltdowns. And yes, there were a few of them. The difference was that Julie was able to keep Rachel's interest and bring her back. Usually, we had to end a session when the meltdowns got out of control. 

SOS therapy is meant for children with Sensory Processing Disorder. I think we're in the right place. Rachel was all smiles and still happy to play with Julie even after the hard part (being presented with a new food) was over.  I left the appointment feeling happy and very optimistic about making progress. I'm told that it's going to take 4-6 months to see some good progress and about a year for her to fully recover from her food anxiety. I'm really happy to have a fresh start at this process. I'm not happy about how expensive it is, but we are making it work because our daughter's health depends on it! 

We are feeling all of your prayers! I have received so many emails in the past week from my friends and family telling me they are praying for us. We are also on the prayer lists at four churches. We are blessed with so many prayer warriors, and I am so grateful. 

Rachel is eating just one 6 ounce jar of strawberry banana baby food per day. The rest of her diet consists of organic animal crackers, bbq baked lays, and gerber yogurt melts. She also drinks about 20 ounces of milk per day and a couple of cups of juice. Sometimes I can even get her to drink vegetable juice. 

Also, she has made a giant leap forward by drinking out of a straw. This may seem like a small accomplishment to some, but for her THIS IS HUGE! Just allowing a straw into her mouth took so much practice and courage. You can see that she wasn't quite comfortable at first, but now she is mastering it. 

 

I bought some fruit smoothies tonight that are not very thick. I'm going to see if I can get her to drink it tomorrow. I'm hoping she will because then I could sneak much needed nutrition into a smoothie. 

So thank you everyone for your prayers and support. It's not always the easiest thing to let go of the worry and trust that God will take care of you. I know He will. He has certainly heard all of our prayers and has lead us in the right direction. 

Hey, look! A Blog Post

Once again, I have neglected my blog. The last month has, of course, been a busy one.

I'll start with my super fun trip to Portland/Vancouver area in mid-Oct. My cousin (and BFF) lives up there, and I hadn't seen her in over a year, so I am so happy I finally got over my fear of flying and got up there. I really lucked out. One of my close triplet mommy friends's husband is a Southwest Airlines Captain and so she hooked me up with a free ticket. It was a stand by ticket, but I'll stand by for a free trip to see my bestie any time! I flew up on a Friday night and home very early Monday morning. We had so much fun. I finally got to see Roloff Farm. I've been a fan of the "Little People, Big World" TLC show for years, so it was a treat to get to see their farm and go to their pumpkin patch. It did feel a bit weird going to a pumpkin patch without my girls, but it was fun to see my cousin's little one enjoy the "punkins." My cuz and I went to the movies and out for late night munchies at a diner, followed by shopping the next day. Fred Meyer is my new favorite store to buy kid's clothes. It was also my first time ever flying alone. I am one of "those" people who has panic attacks on airplanes. I did really well this time and stayed panic attack free. The glass of wine on the way up there sure helped! I can't wait to fly up there for another weekend again!

What else has been going on? We finally closed on a house for Bob's mom. The last house we were in escrow on fell through. It was actually a blessing in disguise because we were able to find her a better house in an area much closer to our home. Right now, she is living with us but will be all moved in to her house probably around the first of the new year. I think we're all relieved that the search for another house is done. We'd been looking since April and put countless offers out there. Whew!

So Morgan has really developed so well with her language skills. I'm not in denial about her PDD-NOS diagnoses, but I wonder if she would still get that diagnoses if she were retested today. She has grown so much, it's almost as if she is a different kid. She's looking at me when she's talking. She asks me for things. She brings me toys she is interested in. These are all things she didn't do just two months ago. Only time will tell, but I am hopeful that she'll continue to blossom.

Our biggest concern right now is Rachel's feeding issues. In the past three days, her eating has gone from bad to worse. She is eating less than 500 calories a day and it's really scaring me. She's refusing her baby food and is down to 3-4 other foods, none of them nutritious. I really wonder if she is on the brink of change. Like, maybe she is tired of baby food. I think that is a real possibility. My thought is that she is afraid to try something new. I'm really not sure. It's like she doesn't even get hungry. Also, in November,  her pediatrician decided to do a full blood count and we found that her iron stores are low. She is not anemic but is in danger of becoming anemic. I started her on a liquid multi-vitamin called PolyVisol with Iron. She only took one dose of it a few nights ago. The next day she didn't want to eat much. I wondered if the iron was upsetting her stomach so I took her off it. I don't think that's the case though since the last two days have been exactly the same. She just doesn't want to eat. Her feeding issues have just been going downhill. She has gone from eating a variety of baby foods to just a few kinds. Now she won't even eat her "go to" foods. I am at a loss. I don't know what to do. I've been doing a little online research and am looking for a new feeding therapist or feeding program.

I've found a few options. There is a new type of feeding therapy for kids with Sensory Processing Disorder, which is what Rachel was diagnosed with. It's called SOS. The only issue is that the therapy is super expensive. There is also an intensive feeding program in Colorado I'm looking in to. I've got a call out to just about every place in town, one place in the bay area, and then the Star Center in Colorado. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get Rachel the help she needs. She's getting dark circles under her eyes and I know she's not getting what she needs. She has an appointment with her doctor on Friday morning. I'm trying to use every option that I have no matter what the cost. I'm done sitting back and just hoping things will get better.

I put this out on Facebook last night. A call for prayer! So if you would pray for my little girl, we would be grateful. I am giving this up to God. I believe He will work this out for us and lead us in the right path to help our Rachel!

So that's our update! Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season. I'm too tired to proof read tonight... and I took Nyquil right before I started typing. Darn cold... I've had it for four days now. ugh!

Park Play Date

We had a fun park play date with the girls' triplet boyfriends last week. My friend, Deana and I were very proud of ourselves for wrangling six toddlers with just the two of us. We actually make a really good team. She mans one end of the park while I work the other. No toddler left behind and we just constantly count to six!  hahahaha...... They usually end up staying really close to each other. 

The kiddos did really well. We were at the park for just about an hour and we didn't have one meltdown. My girls are getting to know D, and her boys are getting to know me. It's all working out great. We really enjoy hanging with these sweet boys! 

Back to reality

Morgan had her psych evaluation on Tuesday morning. We were surprised, but then also not surprised that she was diagnosed with PDD-NOS. I think I was in denial leading up to her appointment. It's just the more I read about autism and PDD-NOS, the more I started to associate Morgan with some of these characteristics.

Here is the definition of PDD-NOS. This is copied from the Autism Speaks website.

Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) is one of the autism spectrum disorders and is used to describe individuals who do not fully meet the criteria for autistic disorder or Asperger syndrome.

PDD-NOS may be thought of as “subthreshold autism," or a diagnosis one can give a person who has “atypical symptomatology.” ²  In other words, when someone has autistic characteristics but some of their symptoms are mild, or they have symptoms in one area (like social deficits), but none in another key area (like restricted, repetitive behaviors), they may be given the PDD-NOS label.

The last 24 hours have been very emotional. I've cried, been angry, felt confused, and have been in denial. Then I get mad or sad again. It's been a tough pill to swallow. The good thing in all this is that Dr. M isn't 100% confident that this is, for sure, the right diagnoses long term. She fits the description right now. However, he thinks she is borderline enough that it could go either way as she develops. He has recommended that we re-test in about 2 years right before she turns 5.

Right now, I'm trying to just take all of this in. I wanted to be able to share the reasons why she was diagnosed, but I don't have a copy of the psychologists report yet. Once I get the report, I can really get into the reasoning behind it. Unfortunately, after talking extensively with Dr. M, it just seems like he's right on the money with this. I hope with all my heart that he is wrong and that she will make amazing strides with continued therapy. He has seen cases where it's just tough to diagnose in a 2 year old and that after a couple of years, the diagnoses doesn't make sense. But then he's also seen cases where it has turned into a full autism diagnoses.

This will probably place her in the same 4 day a week preschool program as Rachel. They are both categorized as "severely delayed" with their language skills. Dr. M feels like Morgan is way too advanced to place her in the class with the autistic children. I have a call out to the school district to discuss this as well as an IFSP meeting with the girls' therapy team and case worker next week. I am feeling a little bit better after talking this all out with Amy, the girls' OT. She and I have come up with some goals and a plan as to how we want to move forward with their therapies. We plan on making the most of the last 3 1/2 months we still have before their services are transferred.

I will post in more detail as soon as I get Morgan's report. I can't think of everything off the top of my head right now so I'm not going to try.

Sophia had her evaluation today. She soared through it with flying colors. She has some mild sensory issues and is classified as just having a "mild speech delay," which makes me happy.

Right now, the plan is to take this one day at a time. I'm seeking support through our local Warmline chapter that offers help for families with special needs children. It's too much to try to look too far into the future at this point. "One day at a time" is the new motto!

Good news!!!

I can't even begin to express with words how thankful I am that Rachel does not have autism. She also does not have PDD-NOS or any other type of PDD. She does have sensory processing disorder as well as auditory issues and language delays. These are all things that can be treated through the therapy she is already receiving.

For the first time in over a year, I am feeling free of the stress and worry that I had for her. It's been a long road with my precious Rachel.  Last year at this time, we were going through worry from the tumor on her ankle. There were several months of waiting and thinking about biopsy results. At the same time, she was being seen by several therapists that were all concerned because she shows signs of autism. The question was always there even though a lot of her characteristics and behaviors were unlike those of children with autism. But then of course, some of her characteristics were in line with them. I'm so glad that the question has finally been answered once and for all. Now we can focus on the sensory, auditory, and language issues.

Knowing that Rachel was not diagnosed takes away the majority of concern that I had for Sophia and Morgan. The psychologist and the girls' therapy team still want them to undergo the same testing. They will likely not be diagnosed, but just by doing this testing, it will help us to better understand the areas we need to work on. Their appointments are next week.

I am really proud of Rachel for doing so well. Her evaluation lasted just about 3 hours. She didn't have any meltdowns or tantrums. She was such a good girl, plus she had a room full of toys all to herself. About 2 hours in, she did say... "A truck, cars, home." That meant she wanted to go home in Daddy's truck.

One of the main reasons several of the therapists thought she could have autism or PDD-NOS is because of her eating issues. Dr. M explained that children with the same sensory processing disorder have issues with food and all of the different textures. Some of these children are even mis-diagnosed with autism because their symptoms are alike. The good news is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. When Rachel's language skills improve, we will be able to talk about foods and even let her help choose what she would like to try. We're told it's not going to be an easy battle, but that she will improve with time.

I am very relieved and it really feels as if a huge weight has been lifted off of my chest. I feel like now that we know what she is dealing with, we will be able to help her now and make some good progress.

When we left the psychologist's office, I had a good cry. It was definitely much needed relief for my baby girl who has been through enough in her almost 3 years! I look forward to watching her blossom when she starts school in February!

Ready or not....

In a few days, we start the process of the girls' pysch evaluations to determine if they are on the autism spectrum,  have aspergers, PDD-NOS, or any other diagnoses to try and find out what, if anything, is causing their developmental and speech delays.

Rachel has the first appointment on Wednesday. Needless to say, my stomach is in knots and I have a lot of anxiety about it. I know this isn't going to change who she is or change our life right now. If anything, I think some sort of diagnoses would only help us to her her. I just can't even describe the sense of overwhelming feelings I am having about this.

It's not just Rachel that I have anxiety about. It's all three. They are my babies. Dealing with the fact that one or all of them could be labeled as "special needs," is heart breaking. I know things could be worse, so I am of course incredibly thankful for their health. But I just want the best for my girls as all mothers would. I don't want them to struggle.

I had a meeting last week with two of the girls' therapists. They know how stressed out I am over the testing and were discussing what to expect as well as how to navigate the girls' upcoming IEP meeting with the school district. This meeting made me realize what an awesome team we have fighting for our girls. Both of the girls' OT's have offered to keep in contact with me after the girls turn three and will no longer be in their program. They want to be there for us to offer advice or just a comforting ear. I am so thankful for them. I know we aren't alone in this.

They also referred me to a local support network for parents of children with special needs. I've already made friends with one of the mom's (Kathy)  in the girls' play gym class who is a member of the network. I'm going to attend one of their get togethers so I can connect with some other local moms going through some of the same things we are. My multiples club has been such a great support to me so I know a similar group for parents of children like mine will be helpful. We've already had a couple of play dates with Kathy and her son, and it's been just what I've needed to feel a sense of normalcy. I know I've said that it's hard not to compare the girls to other toddlers their age, but I always do. On these recent play dates,  I found myself so relaxed and happy hanging out with another mom who totally "gets it" with what we are going through. She and her son are going through the same thing. Both of us mentioned that it felt good not to have to see "normal developing toddlers the same age" and be comparing them the whole time to ours that are somewhat behind.  In fact, Rachel will be in the same preschool program as Kathy's son since we are practically neighbors. I'm glad to have met her.

Sophia and Morgan's appointments are next week. I'm getting myself mentally prepared for whatever news comes our way. I'm going to do my best to remain optimistic.

However, if I eat lots of brownies this week........... um..... I can't be held accountable for it!

Preschool already? Yikes!

A couple of days ago, we had the girls' transition meeting with the school district. When they turn three, they are no longer eligible for the infant early intervention program. At that point, if they still need services, the school district takes over. I'm really thankful that they are eligible for either a preschool program and/or speech therapy services.

I've been a little emotional over the results of their assessments. I received copies of the reports, and even though I always prepare myself, it's never easy to see that your children have significant delays. Their perceptual/fine motor and cognition skills have improved and they are only about six months delayed in those areas. So that was good news (compared to last year).

It's the language skills area that we have the significant delays in. For "gestures and play," and their receptive and expressive language, Rachel "masters skills" at the 9-12 month level with scattered skills to the 24 month range. Morgan "masters skills" in the 15-18 month range with scattered skills to the 24 month range. Sophia "masters skills" in the 18-21 month range but also has scattered skills up to 30 months. Although, I think if retested now, Sophia would score much higher. Her speech and ability to understand has improved so much. It's a huge difference from where she was just one month ago when their assessments were completed.

Based on the assessments now, the school district determines what programs they would qualify for if the decision had to be made today. This is just something they go over with the parents to give them an idea of what is available. The final decision on placement isn't done until they turn 3. So based on what we know right now, Rachel will most likely be in a preschool program that is Monday-Thursday in the afternoons for two hours. Morgan is borderline and could either do the same program as Rachel or a two day a week speech program in a preschool setting. Sophia will likely not need to be in the preschool program and will just need speech therapy once or twice a week. I'm kind of stressed out over them possibly being in three different programs. My hope is that either Sophia and Morgan would be in the same program or that Morgan and Rachel will. We know Sophia won't be in Rachel's class. I asked them if they ever take into consideration that they are triplets and I can't be running them all over town like that. They said they each have their own IEP and their own goals so it's important to work it out. So if they need different programs, there isn't anything I can really change about it. I know it's best for them so I'm not going to cause a stink over it. I'll work it out if/when I need to.

If Sophia isn't in a preschool program and just needs speech therapy, then Bob and I will find her a preschool to go to when she is 3 1/2. She will need something structured since if she doesn't qualify for the school district's program, it will be by just a hair. So it's important that she still be in some sort of program so she can keep moving forward. Oh and did I mention that the school district's preschool is just like public school so it's not going to cost us anything other than our taxes.

Just processing all of this information has been overwhelming. I was a little irked by the representative from the school district. She had to tell me, more than once, that this is the first set of triplets she's had where all three of them were in early intervention services. What the hell was I supposed to say to that? I know she didn't mean any harm by it, but I have a hard enough time with this situation. I didn't need that pointed out to me.

It will be interesting to see where they are placed. Of course all of this depends on their psych evaluations that will test for autism. I don't think any of them are on the spectrum, but I've also learned to never say never. I've been reading the book, "Just Take a Bite." It's a guide for parents of children who have severe food issues or aversions. The book is basically describing Rachel. Unfortunately, the book focuses on children with autism, aspergers, or PDD-NOS. So there are a lot of things about Rachel that points to being on the spectrum, but then there are also a lot of things that are opposite from it. All three girls show some signs, and that is why we are doing the testing. We need a final answer on it.

Don't get me wrong. I am very happy that they are going to receive continued services. I know it's best for them. I'm nervous about leaving them in a new classroom that they are unfamiliar with. They've never been anywhere without me. They will also possibly be separated. Morgan doesn't like to be separated from the pack. She's so sweet and always makes sure all "babies" are accounted for. Our OT suggested to start to practice leaving them at my mom's or a friend's house. We'll start there and work up to leaving them one at a time. It'll probably be harder on me than it is for them.

I can't believe that in just four short months, my girls will be three years old and possibly in preschool. I'm just not ready for that. In my eyes, they are still my little babies!

5K

A couple of months ago, I decided I wanted to try another 5K. I hadn't completed an official 5K since 2005. I don't know what has hit me over the past several months. I have been so focused on getting my body back to healthy and fit. It's become very important to me. I am not only doing this for myself, but I'm doing it for my daughters. I want to be healthy for them.

So I asked my running buddy, Claudine, if she wanted to do this race with me. She has been running for months (completing her first 5K earlier this summer), so I knew she'd be up for it. We found a race that was fundraising for a local autism research center. I jumped at the chance to participate.

Most of my running has been on the treadmill. I was only able to get out and do a couple of practice runs with Claudine before the big race today. I wasn't sure how well I'd do since hitting the pavement is a lot different than treadmill running. I usually treadmill run 2-3 miles at least 3 times during the weekdays, and then I do 3-4 miles on Saturdays and Sundays. So I knew I'd at least have the stamina needed.

Here we are before the race started.

We ran together for probably the first half mile. Claudine is such a good friend. My pace was just a little slower than hers so I had to talk her into leaving me in her dust. I knew she wanted to go for a personal best. I did too, but I knew I'd be holding her back since she is more of an outside runner than I am. For some reason, the first mile was the hardest for me. Once I hit that one mile marker, I stepped up my pace and felt like I was in a good groove. There were a couple of hills that I wanted to walk instead of run, but I forced myself to keep running. I wanted to be able to say I ran the whole time!  

I finally hit the 3 mile marker and couldn't believe that the finish line was UP A HILL! I felt like I had nothing left, but I found my inner runner and sprinted to the finish line!

Claudine had finished almost 2 minutes ahead of me so she and her hubby snapped a pic for me at the end of my race. I pretty much thought I was going to pass out at this point but I was just so proud that I had made it!

Here's our "sweaty pic" after we tried to cool down a bit.

Claudine was really proud of her banana hahaha........

I'm just so darn proud for doing this. I also made a personal best on my time and ran it in 33:25 minutes. That even beats my 5K times back when I ran a few races in 2004 and 2005. I've worked really hard to lose a lot of weight, so just completing this run today felt great. It's hard to believe that just 4 and half months ago, I was almost 40 pounds heavier and could barely walk around the grocery store without getting winded. Go me!

I'm already planning my next run. Can't wait to do this again very soon!

Thankful

Today was a good day for our family.

I took the girls up to my dad's house until nap time so that Bob could have some kid free quiet time at home.

They love it up there and had a great time!

In the afternoon, I got to go to the gym for almost 2 hours (got a long run in and did weight training - it felt great!) then came home and took a nice long hot bath while reading my favorite magazine.

It was my turn for some quiet time.

Then I had dinner with some of my closest girlfriends.

Without them, I'd be total mommy goo and would likely develop an alcohol problem.

Seriously, this Mommy business is hard stuff.

I'm so thankful that I have such wonderful friends who totally "get it."

They were just what I needed tonight.

This Mommy is refreshed and ready to take on the week!

Lately

Even though Summer doesn't officially end for another couple of weeks, we are already into the swing of our new Fall schedule. I was able to scale back the girls' therapy sessions to just two days a week. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are very busy days for us, but the girls are thriving with their new routine. I'm enjoying the balance that we have now with our days.

My 12 weeks with my personal trainer ended 3 weeks ago and I am already feeling myself slacking off a little bit. Ugh! I did great for the first couple of weeks. I joined Crunch Fitness and was going 4-5 days a week until this past week when I wasn't feeling very well. I'm all better now so the plan is to get my act together and drag my butt to work out tomorrow. I'm signed up for a 5K run with my friend Claudine next weekend that benefits a local autism research center. I'm excited to run this. I haven't "officially" done a 5K since 2005. I'd really like to do a 10K in November. I'm going to work towards it and really give it my all. I think I'm getting to a place where I enjoy working out. I've been inactive for the last week (was sick) and I am feeling so lazy. I miss how good I feel after a work out. It's also nice to have some "me time" after Bob gets home from work. I usually cook dinner for him and the girls, feed them, and then head out for my work out. It gives me enough time to exercise before I'm too late at night when I'm tired. Then I can still be home for the girls' bath and bed time routine.

I do plan on purchasing more sessions with my trainer,  just can't do it for another couple of weeks. At first, I felt really guilty about paying someone to help me work out. However, this has been the only thing that has motivated me and I've learned how to challenge myself. A trainer makes you do things that you think you can't do, which in turn, makes you feel like... well, SuperWoman! I'm only ten pounds away from where I was the day I got married, and I'd like to lose another 20-25 pounds on top of that. I want to be the mom on the playground who is running around chasing her kids without getting easily worn out. And...I'd like my butt to actually fit on the playground equipment or the kiddy rides in amusement parks. I just want to look and feel healthy again. It's been a long time.

We finally found a new home for Bob's mother to live in. It's crazy that during the "housing slump," homes have literally been flying off the market. I think we put offers in on 5 or 6 houses before we actually got one. We should be closing escrow next week. I'm really happy that she will be living so much closer to us. I think it will be good for everyone.

Sophia said the cutest thing the other day. The girls' therapists were leaving our house and they always say "good-bye friends," and the girls will sometimes say it back. This time, Sophia kept saying "good-bye friends" and then she looked all sad and said it again. A few minutes after they were out the door, she came up to me with a look of hope on her face and said, "need some more friends too?" She was so proud of herself for asking to have her needs met. It was the sweetest thing ever and I loved the precious look in her eyes. Sadly, I had to tell her that they weren't coming back until the next week. She did okay. I distracted by reading her a book.

We had a fun play date with our triplet boyfriends this morning. My friend Deana and I have decided to have weekly play dates and rotate whose house it is at. We've been doing this for three weeks now and it's a lot of fun. Her boys are 7 months younger than the girls. I have to admit that it's been hard for me to do play dates, and I had pretty much been avoiding them for months. It's difficult to see the developmental differences that the girls have. I was really dwelling on it. But you know what.... Sometimes you just gotta get over it. Plus, the girls love their little boyfriends! We've already arranged their marriages so don't be trying to cut in people!

Oh speaking of Deana.... I had my very first pedicure today. I know! I'm 35 years old and I had never had one before. I am stubborn. I don't like to pay for something I can do myself. D talked me into going with her, and I gotta say, it was awesome! Best 60 minutes of pampering ever. I think I might be hooked now.

A few days ago, I was reading an online friend's blog. (You know, someone I have never met in person hahaha... don't we all have a few of those kinds of friends online?) She posted a link to a friendship blog by the author Irene Levine, who wrote a book called, "Best Friends Forever." It's a book about dealing with the loss of a female friendship or your best friend. Last year, I wrote about losing an old long time friend. This blog has been so intriguing to me and I've been reading it, as well as excerpts from the book, as much as possible lately. It's been nice to see that I'm not the only one who has gone through this. I mean, almost four years later, I'm not over it completely. I have moments of sadness where I really miss my old friend. I wonder what she is doing or if she misses me at all. I can't change the past nor can I do anything about what has happened (I've tried.).  I'm not the same person that I was before I became pregnant and had my girls. Motherhood changes you. The loss of a friendship changes you. I've learned what it is to be a good friend and how to cherish those relationships. I am so thankful and feel blessed for the friendships that I've built over the past few years. I will never take anything like that for granted again. I'm in a good place.

Okay, I'm getting a little deep for as late at night as it is. So until next time, this mama is signing off.

You're Gonna Miss This

The girls and I were dancing today while listening to the radio. They love their Barney and Wiggles cd's, but today I had it on the country music station. We were getting down doing the honky tonk and then the song, "You're Gonna Miss This," by Trace Adkins came on.

I was holding Morgan in my arms and swaying back and forth with her dancing. We were both loving it and she was eating all the attention up.

As I was listening to the lyrics, I looked around the room at my beautiful girls dancing and was brought to tears. They are amazing and just so precious. I am so blessed.

This song touched my heart so much, especially the chorus.

You're gonna' miss this
You're gonna' want this back
You're gonna' wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna' miss this

I've been having a rough time lately with the girls' therapies and assesments. Things have not been easy. I've been so wrapped up in what we are going through and what they are not doing......when I should be focusing on how far they've come and what amazing things they are doing right now. We are having all three of them evaluated for autism, aspergers, and PDD in October. It doesn't mean they have any of these, it's just something we need to have done for when their services are transferred to the school district. My stomach has been in knots about it all. But the fact is, the outcome of these tests will not change our family. They will not change who my girls are, and they will not change our life right now. Everything is going to be okay.

And I will miss this time one day. 

Monterey

I can't believe it's already been a month since we took our first overnight trip with the girls. I guess this post is better late than never.

When I first approached Bob with this bright idea to take the girls on their first vacation, he thought I was crazy and said there was no way he was traveling with three two year olds. I was up for the adventure, so I called my Mom and asked if she wanted to go. She and my 19 year old niece decided to join us. We figured an even adult/toddler ratio would work out pretty well. We had also decided to make this trip with no expectations at all. You just never know what is going to happen when you're with 2 year old triplets.

We went on a Tuesday and the plan was to leave my Mom's house at 9am. I was so proud of myself for getting us all packed and in the truck (I'm calling our Chevy Tahoe a truck...because it kind of is one) by 8:45am. This was going to allow me time to get to my mom's and hit the freeway on time.

About halfway to her house, I heard the truck making a very loud screechy sound. At first I thought there was no way it was our truck. I put the windows down so I could hear better, and sure enough, it was our truck. When I got to mom's house, I called Bob right away and told him I didn't think we could go. It's a 4 hour trip and I knew part of the trip was basically driving through the boonies in semi-high elevation. He thought I was just being a paranoid girl and came over so he could prove to me that the truck was fine and send us on our way. Poor Bob..... He test drove it and realized that he couldn't let his family drive 4 hours away in a truck that might break down. He had really been looking forward to having the house to himself for some quiet time, even taking the day off of work to take full advantage of our empty house. So he did what any desperate daddy would do. He called his brother, who is a mechanic for some emergency repairs!

Thankfully, it was just something simple and we were on the road by 11am. It was two hours behind my master schedule. I was pretty relaxed about it though and just decided to roll with the punches. I was thankful we were able to still go that day.

We drove about halfway there and stopped for a late lunch at a Jack in the Box restaurant. It also happened to be the girls' first time in a restaurant other than the mall food court.....um, not that it's a sit down place, but it was still something new. Here are the girls enjoying some juice while they waited for their food. There were only two high chairs so Morgan got to sit at a regular chair like a big girl. She was so good too. She sat there quietly eating the whole time. 



The only issue we had at lunch was that the restaurant was very close to the freeway. Every time a semi-truck drove by and made noise, Rachel would sort of freak out. She likes to look at trucks and will even point them out while we're driving. Poor thing just didn't like being so up close and personal with the trucks. The restaurant was basically in a truck stop so it was surrounded by trucks and noises that scared her. She did the best she could. Sophia had her moments of not liking the trucks too. Poor kiddos just don't do so well with loud noises. Other than the noises, the girls did a good job and ate their lunch. We were back on the road in no time.

They surprised me during the long drive. We were pretty much meltdown free.  It helped that we had the dvd player going for the majority of the trip. It was good for them, but not so good for me as the driver. The darn thing blocks my view of the rear view mirror and I'm not so comfortable driving with just the side mirrors in the big SUV. I did okay though. I would just make my mom check my blind spots when changing lanes. haha...

After about 90 more minutes on the road, we arrived at our hotel. Thankfully, I had called in advance so that we could check in an hour early. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Seaside just a couple miles from all the action in Monterey. That hotel is awesome for families. We had a two room suite and you get free drinks and a fabulous buffet breakfast. It made it easy for me to get the girls their beloved milk on demand! Plus, my mom and Tiana had their own room to sleep in.

I think we were at our hotel around 3pm ish. We quickly checked in and got the girls (and all of us) changed into warmer clothes. I love that we can go from being in the 90's in the valley to the 60's on the northern coast. The main reason we went to Monterey was to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Our hotel sold us two-day passes for the price of one so we decided to head down there right away since we were only staying one night.

The first afternoon we visited the aqaurium, we used one single stroller and 2 back-pack harnesses. We lucked out that it wasn't very crowded since we were there so late in the day. Morgan loved everything about it. She would walk right up to the floor to ceiling tanks and was excited about the giant fishies! Sophia liked bits and peices of it. Rachel wasn't too sure about it all. She would stay happy if we kept the stroller moving or if I was carrying her. She did love this tunnel that was like you were under a waterfall. She really loved when the water would come crashing down over it. You can also view the waterfall from one of the outside decks and she enjoyed that part too.

We got swarmed by people asking about the girls and if they were triplets and you know.....all the fun questions that comes with the territory. It was kind of my fault. I had dressed them exactly alike because I thought that it would help us keep track of them better. It wasn't too bad though. Plus, the girls looked super cute. How could anyone resist admiring them?!

Here are a few pics inside the first day we were there. The first one is Sophia taking her turn in the stroller.

       Here's Morgan. She was all smiles the whole time. She kept saying, "Oh fishes."

Here's Rachel. This is one of the only pictures I could get of her out of the stroller or out of my arms. She wasn't too fond of the place. But she did pretty good considering she has some sensory issues.

We ended up staying at the aquarium for around an hour and half then headed back to our hotel for dinner. By this time, the girls were just done. They didn't sleep in the truck on the way down, so no nap meant cranky toddlers. We weren't about to take them into a restaurant. We planned on getting some take out for our hotel room. We ended up ordering from Chili's since it was right in the parking lot of the hotel. They said our order would be ready in 15 minutes. So I left the girls in the hotel room with my mom and neice and ran down to get our food. It took over 45 minutes.......I was NOT happy. Thankfully, I had brought a lot of snacks so at least the girls weren't starving by the time I got dinner up to the room.

I had prepared myself mentally for a terrible night's sleep. The girls really surprised me though. It was just a few minutes after 8pm when we were done with dinner, milk, and getting into jammies. I brought one pack n' play from home and the hotel provided two more for us. I thought the girls would be all fussy and not go to sleep. However, they went right down with no problems at all........and then slept all night until 7am. Morgan did have a little cough, but other than that, we all slept really good.

We got up the next morning, had breakfast at the hotel, then were on our way back to the aquarium. This time, we used the double and single strollers. It had been exhausting the day before chasing the girls all over. Plus, we knew it would be more crowded before noon. I have to say, I was so amazed by the sea horse exhibit. It was really neat to see. We went to that one first since we knew the girls wouldn't last very long being inside a crowded space.

Since my neice had never been there before, after we saw the sea horses, my mom and I took the girls to the large outside decks so that Tiana could actually see the other exhibits. Here's a pic of Mom and the girls enjoying the outside waterfall. The girls LOVED it when the water would come crashing down. They would count until the water would spray out, and then they would just laugh. It was fun to watch them.

Here I am with my precious sweeties. I'm so glad we got to take this trip. 

I had some moments of nostaliga being in Monterey. Bob and I took our very first vacation together here as well as our honeymoon. The last time I'd been here was for our honeymoon. I wished Bob was with us and that we had a babysitter so that we could go to our favorite romantic places. Ah well, someday!

We didn't really do much other than the aquarium and walking around on Cannery Row. The girls were a handful and they weren't always happy travelers at the same times. They kept asking to go home all morning so we just stayed until around noon. We made a stop at a Carl's Jr for lunch. We didn't want any meltdowns so we went through the drive thru and ate in the parking lot. It was actually nice since it was only about 70 degrees outside. I think we were on the road heading home by around 1:30 or 2. 

Overall, I'm glad we made the trip. Would I do it again while the girls are still 2 years old? Um, no thank you. hahaha... but we did have a lot of fun moments and the girls learned some new words, like shark, tunnel, ocean, parking garage...hahaha. It was fun bringing my sweet babies to my favorite CA town. We made some good memories.  I can't wait to bring them back again one day. 

Random Catch Ups

Okay, I know it's been an entire month since my last post. I don't know why I just wasn't in the bloggy blog mood. So I'm going to do a random update post for now to play catch up.

I made the tough decision to discontinue Rachel's feeding therapy. Between her feeding therapist and I, we just weren't very pleased with what the behaviorist was doing and decided that Rach just needs a break from all of this. She has shown a little bit of progress over the past year, but not enough for us to justify putting her through the exercises. We still have access to services until her 3rd birthday so if we think she would benefit from future feeding therapy, all I have to do is say the word and it's back. I communicate with the feeding specialist by phone and email. I'm currently reading a book about toddler/childhood feeding. One is "Child of Mine, Feeding With Love and Good Sense." I also just ordered a book called, "Just Take a Bite." I'm hoping that by taking a step back, we will see some progress. In the meantime, meal times around here are still sometimes an adventure but we're hanging in there and she is healthy and growing. That is what is most important.

Remember when Sophia jumped our of her crib on my birthday? Well, Rachel jumped out of hers a couple of weeks ago. Morgan is our good daughter and has never tried to escape. LOL! Anyway... I freaked out the day Rachel jumped out. She fell so hard and pulled the curtains in their bedroom down with her. Not cool! I put in a call to a local baby specialty store to see if we had any options for crib tents. I bought tents about a year ago but ended up returning them because they didn't fit on our cribs. Well, my prayers were answered because there is a larger new tent out for convertible cribs. I rushed down to the store and bought three. It took a little bit of adjusting to. The first night, Sophia thought sleeping in a tent was the coolest thing ever. Morgan pretty much didn't have a reaction, and Rachel....well she hated it. However, the next night, she did just fine. Now they all like to zip the tents closed themselves. I think it gives them a sense of security. I certainly feel better knowing they are safe in their cribs and won't be trying to jump out. We (mostly meaning me) just aren't ready for the switch to toddler beds at this point. I'm hoping to keep them in cribs until they are at least three.

One of our favorite family things to do now is to have dinner and play time at the mall when Bob gets home from work. I'm so happy that Bob finally decided to join us for a meal out. I've been taking the girls to the mall food court for lunch for over a year now and they have always done pretty well. I think we've had a few meltdowns here and there, but it's mostly been good. The first time we did this as a family, I was so nervous. I knew that if the girls had a meltdown and didn't eat well, Bob wouldn't be coming back out with us for a while. He doesn't like the attention that we get when out in public so it's taken him a long time to come to terms with it. The girls did great at dinner. I was a proud mommy. We then took them down to the toddler play area and played for almost an hour. They are doing so much better around other kids now. We're learning to take turns and NOT steal other toddlers' sippy cups. haha... I'm so excited now that we actually get to go out for dinner now. There are nights when I don't want to mess up the kitchen and we're all aching to get out. I think Daddy really enjoys watching his girls run around the playground too. Plus, it's air conditioned!!!!

Last week, my friend Dainey and her daughter Shannon, went to the zoo with us. We had so much fun. I only used a double stroller and let the girls take turns walking around since we had 3 adults to 3 toddlers. Rachel prefers the stroller, but the other two loved running around. There was one time that Sophia was scared by the chimpanzees though. The chimps are behind a glass wall and one sort of ran at us. She didn't know that it couldn't get her. She screamed and reached for me. I felt so bad for her. She really didn't understand that there was a wall there. Other than that one incident, it seems as if they are really starting to enjoy seeing the animals. They point at them and say what they are. Although..... all of the ducks, birds, and well....anything with wings..... was a "chicken" according to my trio. They were cracking us up saying, chicken, chicken, chicken. They also had their first ride on a merry-go-round. If I can figure out how to get the picture off of my phone and onto my blog, I'd post a pic. I already uploaded it to my FB page. They loved the ride. At first, it was obvious they were scared. But one the ride got moving, they were full of smiles and giggles. It's so nice going out with good friends. Dainey and Shannon really love our girls. I met them when the girls were just 4 months old and they came in as volunteers to help us in those early days. They have been a huge blessing to our family. In fact, we consider them part of our family!

So what else... Oh the girls have a new speech therapist. We're pretty much back to our full time therapy schedule. They are still receiving OT, physical, and speech. Their old speech therapist doesn't work for the county anymore so we were assigned a new one. I met her last week and adored her right away. In fact, I think she is a much better fit for our family. The girls age out of this program at 3 years old. At that point, the school district takes over. We are just finishing up their 2 1/2 year assesments tomorrow and will have their transition meeting pretty soon. That's the meeting where I find out what services the girls will qualify for after we age out of the current program. I'm nervous about it. Also, I've really grown attached to our current team and will really miss them six months from now. I think the girls will too.

Now it's time to toot my own horn. I have 2 weeks left of the 12 week trainer program that Bob bought me. I'm very proud to say that in 3 months, I've lost 35 pounds and almost 10 inches from my body. I'm a few pounds lower than my pre-pregnancy weight. It's happened so fast but it's been such hard work. I'm working out about 4-5 days a week and really sticking to my diet. Well, 98% of the time I'm sticking to the diet. haha... A girl has got to have a glass of wine or dinner out once in a while. Bob said he may be able to buy me another 8-12 weeks with the trainer since I'm making such good progress. I had such a tough physical struggle after having the girls. It's hard to believe that just three months ago I had surgery and had been experiencing constant abodominal pain for over a year. I even got tired easily at the grocery store and my legs would be killing me by the end of the day. Now I can run a 10 1/2 minute mile and I even have a teeny bit of muscle tone on my arms, which is totally new for me. If I don't end up buying more sessions, then I will likely join a gym so I can continue this healthy path I'm on. I'd really like to lose another 25-30 pounds!

So that's it for now. We had a fun overnight trip to Monterey a couple of weeks ago. There are lots of fun pictures and stories to tell from it so I will try and post that really soon. Hopefully, I won't be stuck in blog la la land anymore.  And... I'm too tired to proof-read this so please excuse any mistakes for now.

4th of July fun

 Last weekend was a lot of fun. Every year in the small town that my family is from, there is always a lot of 4th of July weekend fun going on. The whole downtown (which doesn't even have stoplights) becomes a fun carnival for families complete with a parade. My dad lives within walking distance of downtown so we decided to head up the hill and go to our first parade.

As you can guess, we got a lot of attention. I think it was because we met up with a friend of mine who was there with her twins. Small world, but a friend who is in my multiples club is also from this little town. We had 5 toddlers between the two of us. People were asking if we were all related. It was kinda fun. We also ran into a mom who was there with her 16 year old BGG triplets.

Here are the girls enjoying their first parade. Silly me, I forgot my good camera so just had the camera on my droid phone so the pics aren't the best. Rachel didn't love the noises from the fire trucks and police cars that were part of the parade. She spent most of her time with her arm over her face. I felt bad for her, but she also needs to be exposed to these things to help overcome her fears. There were parts she really liked too. The girls all loved the horses. They kept saying, "hi horsey, hi horsey." And Sophia would say "look datsa horsey."

And um.... What's a parade without a drag clown?

And yes, I did find the clown a little bit strange, but they had some normal clowns that were a lot of fun.

My Aunt, Janet, was with us too. She bought the girls snow cones and cotton candy. The snow cones were not a winner with the girls, but I thought the cotton candy would be. Sophia and Morgan ate some, but they made the funniest faces and tried to scrape it off their tongues with their hands. I'm sure they will love sugar one day, so I'm okay with them not loving that stuff right now. It was fun to have them try something new though. And as you can probably guess, no Rachel did not eat either one of these treats!

After the parade, we headed back up to my dad's house for lunch. Oh and I must mention, pushing that heavy stroller up the 2 hills to his house was torture. At least it was a good work out. The girls had so much fun hanging out in my dad's garage playing with toy trucks. They were occupied with them for a couple of hours at least. Even though it was a super hot day, the garage (with the garage door open) was still nice and cool. Let's just say "your dad might be a red neck if he has a swamp cooler in his garage and actually uses it." Yes dad, you might be a redneck....but this was established a long time ago. HAHA!

Here are the girls playing with the trucks. They were lining them up like a choo choo train. I've never seen anything keep their attention for so long before! And Morgan really loved that chair she was sitting in and spent most of her time in it.

All of this parade fun was actually on July 3rd. On the 4th, we decided to stay home and play with the kiddie pools in our backyard. Rachel scared the heck out of me after nap. She has been waking up so fussy from nap lately. I finally figured out that she was hungry.....you know... from all the "not eating" that she does. Anyway, that day she was throwing a huge tantrum. I put her down on the floor because she was really mad and thrashing while I was holding her. She ended up sitting up and then throwing her head back to the floor hitting her head on this wooden rocking elephant toy we have. She cut her head open, and I just about passed out from worry. Thankfully, a friend of mine is an ER doctor so I called to get her opinion on whether or not I should take Rachel in. She had me text her a picture and it wasn't serious at all. I just treated the cut at home with neosporin. I can't even tell you what a relief it is to know that advice is just a quick phone call away from a trusted friend. Rachel is doing absolutely fine. In fact, you can barely see the spot where she cut it, and the knot in her head is completely gone. She sure did freak me out though. I started to give Rachel milk right when she wakes up now and it seems to have stopped the post nap tantrums. Now if only we could get her to eat more we wouldn't have this issue.

Other than the head incident, we had a great 4th of July weekend. I'm really looking forward to next year when the girls might enjoy seeing some fireworks! 

Sick of being sick

We are on day 9 of illness in this house. Ugh! It started last weekend.

After a very fun day playing outside in the water, Rachel had a fever at bed time. She went to sleep just fine and I wondered if she was just tired or overheated from the day's activities. At around 11 that night, she woke up and threw up all over herself and her crib. Poor baby. I ended up having to put her in the pack in play portable crib in our bedroom. (And I kicked myself for not having extra water proof mattress covers.) Well, I wanted her near me anyway. The next day, she had a fever but then seemed fine by Monday.

I was happy that no one else got sick because our friends were babysitting the girls for Bob and I so we could go out for dinner. I cherish those rare nights when he and I get to "date."

That night, poor little Morgan woke up throwing up all over herself. She woke me up around 1am. I heard her crying and saying, "it's okay, it's okay." She was so upset, and I felt so bad for her. She was in there comforting herself by saying it was okay. My heart breaks just thinking about it. So she spent the night with us in our room.

On Tuesday, Sophia had a fever and her stomach flu was coming out of the other end. Morgan's fever went up to almost 103. It was a pretty awful day. By Wednesday, I thought we were over it all. Then Rachel started coughing and having a runny nose. By Friday morning, our whole house was sick again. I even had a fever that neared 102 ish. Bob and I have really had it rough all weekend. I'm sure all parents would understand how hard it is to take care of sick kids when you're sick yourself. The sleepless nights and fussy days.... Just blah!

In other news, remember when we had to spend a ridiculous amount to replace our oven/microwave wall unit last January? Turns out it was a $2,400 mistake. Our new oven started doing the same thing the old one did. It would just run out of power and die. Long story short.... It has everything to do with the circuit breaker box or whatever the heck it's called. We called the electrician who lives across the street and apparently this has been an issue in most of the homes on our street. He's had to do upgrades to several of our neighbors' homes. So tomorrow our power is going to be off for 6 hours while the replacement/upgrade is being done. This issue also explains why our three year old dryer has been taking almost 2 hours to dry clothes lately. Our electricity bill has also skyrocketed in the last few months. All of our appliances have been running longer because of the shortage of power to them. Isn't home ownership grand? HA!

I'm just hoping that the girls are all on the mend. It's been a lonnnnnnng week and I'm ready to have my healthy happy girls back. I'm doing a lot better myself. Bob still has a pretty awful cough, but hopefully it will be better soon too.

In happier news...... I'm proud to say I have lost 29 pounds in the last 8 weeks. Working out with a trainer and knowing he is keeping me on track, has made all the difference to me. Today I zipped up a pair of jeans that haven't fit me since before I got pregnant. I still want to lose another 30 pounds so I have a long way to go. I missed my work out session on Saturday morning due to being sick so that was a bummer. I'm hoping to be able to go tomorrow. It will depend on my cough and if my sore throat is gone. I'm so OVER being sick.

It's JUNE, not flu season. Apparently, we missed the memo that flu season is over. I say flu since we all had fevers. But... I'm not a doctor so who knows. Plus, we all had flu shots. Grrr... either way, I hate it when we're all sick.

Boring.....

I am really not doing a good job at this "blogging every day in June thing" that I wanted to do. Oh well. By the time I get the girls bathed and in bed, I'm exhausted. Then I have to wash dishes and clean up a bit, not to mention try and get loads and loads of laundry folded. Oh the life of a mommy. haha....

The good news... I'm down 23 pounds since my pre-op surgery appointment. I've been sticking to my healthy diet and exercise regimen for the past 6 weeks. I've had maybe 5 "cheat" meals where I've splurged, but I have been getting right back on track the next meal. I used to let one cheat meal throw me off for weeks at a time, and of course that is why I gained so much over the last year. So I'm feeling pretty darn good right now. It's a nice change! I just feel so much healthier. Also, here's a record... I haven't had a coke since May 5th!

We're enjoying a break from therapy. It's kind of nice not having specific plans each week. We were able to make it to one of the play dates today that my multiples group has each month. We usually always miss it because of our busy schedule, so it was nice to get out and have some fun. Morgan is such a stealth little thief though. She stole my friend's son's snack and sippy cup and took off with them. Stinker... She also took a hat from another little boy. I think I need to step up her time outs at home when she takes things from Rachel or Sophia. She just doesn't do it very often at home. It's usually when we're out of the house. I need to keep an extra eye on her. Sophia took a little time to warm up to the play area we were in, but once she did, she was unstoppable. I was really proud of the girls for climbing to the highest spot on the play structure and going down the big slide. Okay, I was proud but terrified they would fall at the same time. Thankfully, the majority of the moms there were from our club so we all keep an eye out for each other's kiddos.

Time for me to get some sleep. My trainer has been kicking my ass lately and I have an appointment with him tomorrow. I must say though.... I love that I am getting out of the house and that I get to take a little time to do something just for me!

Day at the Zoo

I can't believe it's been a year since our last trip to the zoo. I packed us a picnic and headed out this morning. We met my mom and niece there, and we all had a really fun time. 

Morgan was really excited to be there. She kept saying hi to all the animals. "Hi giraffe," "Hi monkey," she'd say while waving with excitement. Oh she was just the cutest little thing!

Sophia didn't like being contained in the wagon very much, so since it was three on three, we let her run around a lot. She was happiest when she was free to roam. She seemed to like the smaller animals the best. She even said "ink ink" when looking at the flamingos. That's how she says "pink."

Here are Morgan and Rachel looking at....um.... I don't remember!

 I think the duck pond and flamingo area was the girls' favorite. We walked by it several times, and each time they wanted to stop and check out the action. I think they liked that the ducks would come really close to them. They had a pretty good view from their level. 

Here we are taking a little snack break. I'm such a proud Mommy!

I'm really pleased the girls did so well today. Sophia had some moments of being not so happy, but what 2 year old is happy all the time?! We're going to spend a lot more time at the zoo. I bought a family membership today and splurged a little. I got the membership that gets us in as many times as we want for a year as well as 2-3 guests depending on whether or not Daddy joins us. That way, we can always bring along a friend (aka helper) or two. We also got 20 passes for the train and merry go round with our membership. Not too bad! So I plan to make a lot of zoo memories in the next year!

Today was also special because it's our five year wedding anniversary!  Since we were sick all week, we didn't get a babysitter in time for us to make plans to go anywhere. We ended up getting some sushi take out and watching a movie. (Shh don't tell my trainer about the sushi!) It was a perfect ending to a really nice day. There's just something about the way I have been feeling lately. I'm finally not in pain all the time and am really enjoying life and taking time to see all the blessings God has given me and my family. It's a good place to be!

Sick in June

So not cool.....

I had to miss my neice's high school graduation yesterday because I have the plague.

Okay, it's not the plague, but it's a pretty awful cold.

Sophia has been coughing during the night, but seems to be just fine during the day.

Morgan has a little runny nose and Rachel shows no sign of illness.

Here's to hoping they don't get the cold like I have it.

Today is day 3..... I'm really hoping I feel better tomorrow. It's a long day taking care of the girls when I feel like crap.

I'd have some cheese with my whine.... but cheese isn't on my diet. HA!

Kicking butt and losing weight...

So I wasn't going to admit this, but after "coming out" and telling some of my girlfriends tonight, I think I can share this now. The big news????

For the past two weeks, I've been working out with a personal trainer. I know.. It seems a little silly that I wanted to keep it a secret at first. For the past two years, I have been packing on the pounds and failing every time I try to lose weight. I have been complaining for months about how fat I was getting and I think Bob was a little tired of me complaining about it all the time.

So as a Mother's Day, birthday, and anniversary present (because they are all within one month of each other), he bought me a 12 week package with a personal trainer in a private studio. There just wasn't any way that I was going to step foot into a gym with other people right now.

I'm so thankful that Bob did this for me. I really need to be held accountable and have someone push me harder than I push myself. Now I have someone who is not my friend or family member who knows how much I weigh and exactly what my measurements are. You can't cheat when you have that kind of motivation. Plus, this was an amazing gift that Bob gave me so I'm not going to mess around and not drop the pounds!

I'm very happy to say that I've lost 20 pounds since my surgery. 10 of those pounds have been lost in the last 2 weeks while working with the trainer. I am starting week 3 with him this week. I'm lifting weights and doing exercises that I would never push myself to do. I thought my "at home treadmill work outs" were hard, but they are nothing compared to what my trainer has me do. It's been an interesting experience so far. I'll be honest. There are some days I'd rather sit on my butt and not work out. However, we paid for 12 weeks in advance that keeps me accountable. I am going to show up for every scheduled work out!

I go for 3 one hour sessions a week and then work out 2 days a week on my own. Now that I don't have abdominal pain anymore, I am feeling so much healthier. I just know that THIS IS IT.

This time, I am really going to stick to it and reach my weight loss goal. Go me!