Hardest. Time. Ever.

I know this lovely flu/nasty cold is only the first of many to hit us all at the same time. Thankfully, Bob has the best immune system I've ever known and is the only one who isn't sick.

We are on day 8 of this lovely illness. It all started last Saturday when Rachel and Morgan had the poopers that I thought would never end. Sophia never got that part thank God. The cold, stuffy runny noses, and cough is the worst right now. Morgan is pretty much on the mend. She does have a leftover cough, but is pretty much back to sleeping all night and being mainly happy during the day.

Poor Sophia is having trouble breathing through her nose and has a cough that turns her precious little face red. She has trouble drinking her milk because she sucks the milk down while trying to breathe through her mouth. She keeps coughing milk up and then wants nothing to do with her bottle. She is getting enough though so she'll be fine. It's just so hard to see her miserable.

Rachel had a rough night last night. She had a fever in the middle of the night of 101.4, but by around 5am, her fever broke and she was able to get some sleep. Poor thing had been up about every 20-30 minutes overnight because she was having trouble breathing through her nose and coughing. During the day today, she seemed so much better. She just had the occasional cough. When I put her to bed tonight, she started coughing and ended up throwing up in her crib for the second time this week. Bob had gone out to get us dinner so I changed her sheets, and cleaned her up. She woke up again a little while ago because it's so hard for her to sleep when she can't breathe.

I woke up this morning feeling worse and my right eye is swollen. My first thought was pink eye, but I'm pretty sure it's not. I think it's because my sinuses are miserable and my face just hurts from the pressure. UGH... I just want this plague out of our house!

The past week has been a hard lesson as to what life is like taking care of three sick toddlers while I've been sick myself. It's been nothing short of awful. I think I got worse this weekend because I haven't had any rest or time to get myself better, which is fine. I'm a mommy now and that is how it is. I just didn't know it was this hard. I had to drag my butt out of bed so many times last night so help Rachel and it wasn't the first night this week that I didn't get any sleep. I do have to admit that the only upside (not that it's a good thing at all) to all of this is that my babies have been so cuddly this week and I've really been soaking up all love! :)

I keep wondering when we'll all be better. This week has been so hard on us. My poor mother had to expose herself to this. She was here three days this week to help me with the girls, wash dishes, fold laundry.... go get us groceries! I'm so thankful that she helps us so much whenever we need it. Also, Bob has been so amazing this week. He took a day off of work Wednesday so I could get a little extra rest. Then today, after he worked in the yard for a while (which is much needed right now too) he played with the girls, fed them dinner, cleaned the kitchen....all while I slept for about three hours. I'm so glad he isn't sick too.

Blah... I'm hoping we all get better really soon. The girls and I haven't been out of the house in over a week and I think we all have cabin fever. They've watched Sesame Street and The Wiggles more times than I would like to admit, but they've been so sick that it's the only thing that has kept them from crying all day. I have a whole new respect for my triplet mom friends who have school age children. I really was so naive and didn't think it would be this hard when we all got sick. Dragging a mattress out of a crib to clean up puke while a baby is crying and you feel like you're going to puke yourself....yeah, not a good time.

I keep telling myself....just a few more days and we'll all be better! Please keep those prayers coming!

As soon as we're better I'm going to get the girls out of the house for some better stimulation than our stinking television! UGH!

Is this week over yet?

Ugh, what a crazy week this has been. The girls and I have been so sick. I thought we just had a mild stomach flu, but our stomach flu has turned into a nasty cold. I still have a bit of the stomach flu lingering, but it's mostly better. I just have the cough and a stuffed up nose.

The girls are sort of in the middle of it. Well, Morgan is getting better. She still has the snotty nose, but her cough is a lot better than it was. Last night, Sophia barfed up her milk from coughing. Tonight, it was Rachel's turn for that. They've both got such a nasty cough too. I haven't called their doctor because they are still eating and drinking and having wet diapers. There isn't anything their doctor could do for them anyway. We've just been giving them Tylenol. We're keeping a close eye on them. Since Morgan is getting better, we know Sophia and Rachel have the same thing and will get better too.

So that has been our lovely week. I had to cancel all my helpers this week so they won't catch our lovely bug. Not having them here truly makes me more thankful that they still come after a year. I always get behind on the laundry and the house work when I don't have them. But Mom came to my rescue as always! My mom has been here two days this week helping with the girls and washing dishes and folding laundry. Bob stayed home with us Wednesday so I could sleep. I'm hoping I will be feeling better tomorrow so I can take care of the girls without having to have my mom come over again. I hate exposing her to this, but I haven't been able to care for three sick toddlers alone while being sick myself. UGHHHH... I just want us to get better.

I had to cancel Sophia's appointment with the pediatric physical therapist. I need to call them tomorrow to reschedule. I hope we won't have to wait 2 weeks again, but it will be what it is.

I wish I had better news to report or some fun pictures of the girls to share, but we've had a pretty miserable week here.

We'd love some prayers to be healthy again very soon. :)

Sick babies and a nauseated Mommy

TMI Warning. This post is mainly about POOP.

It all started Saturday morning. Morgan woke up with a surprise for Mommy. She had a major poopy diaper blow out. It was all the way up her back. Poor baby. I had to clean her up as best I could with wipes so she could still drink her bottle that I knew she wanted. As soon as she had her milk, we headed right up to the bath tub.

Then at lunch, Rachel made a poopy mess in her high chair. I usually keep a onesie on them underneath their clothes, but not this time. (lucky us) Poor baby was eating her lunch and then stopped. She grunted at Mommy and then was covered in poo. It went up her shirt, into her belly button and alllllllllllll over the back of the high chair. I had to call Bob from outside (he's turning our backyard into a child proof play area). He came to finish up lunch with Sophia and Morgan while I took Rachel upstairs for her bath.

It was just a messy messy day. Plus, all three of them have had snotty noses for the past several days. Poor Morgan has an icky cough now too.

Then last night, Rachel was up from around midnight to 3am coughing, snotting up, and crying. I had her in bed with me and was trying to calm her. She was in and out of sleep, but I was awake because its not easy to sleep with a snotty restless one year old. I felt so bad for her. By 3am, she was finally good and asleep so I put her in her crib. I got about 3 hours of sleep until 6am when they all woke up. Bob got up with them around 7 and I went back to sleep for another hour.

Sophia is the healthiest one at the moment. Rachel seemed back to her normal self today. Morgan still has a cough and snotty nose. It was a lonnnnnnnng day for this mommy. I don't feel so good myself. I think the girls had some sort of stomach bug that caused all the poopers. I've been having stomach cramps and nausea all day. UGH....

So I hope I feel better in the morning. Sophia and I have her physical development evaluation to go to. She is really in the "if you're not my mommy, I don't want you near me" phase. I'm afraid she's going to cry the whole time. But you never know, maybe she'll surprise me!

I hope this little virus/bug/illness/whatever it is....leaves our house asap! I don't like seeing my babies sick. Ugh!

Food Fight

Welcome to meal time. Sometimes it's a little bit fun (insert sarcasm). Its always hectic, but it's never pretty. Food usually ends up on me, all over them, and definitely all over the floor and their high chairs.

Here they are at dinner last night. I made them some scrambled eggs with cheese, toast (because sometimes all I can get them to eat are eggs and toast), and some peas. Morgan was the only one who ate the peas. Sophia and Rachel just tossed theirs on the floor. Stinkers! I ended up giving them baby food squash so they'd have a veggie.

Here is the aftermath.... I have to wipe 6 hands and 3 faces up after each meal. I even had to take Sophia and Rachel's pants off because they were covered in food. That pile in the bottom right is the pile I had swept up before taking this picture. Oh the insanity. Hahaha...

This was after I spent about 20 minutes cleaning the chairs, floor, and trays. We're all ready for the next day so we can do it all over again.......3 times! I used to laugh when I'd watch (gasp) Jon and Kate +8. Kate used to say she would sweep and mop 3 times a day, and I thought she was crazy. Now I do it too....well, not the mopping part. I only spot mop once a day!

Feeding the girls usually stresses me out a bit. It's hard getting them to try new foods. I feel like we're in a food rut. I feed them the same things over and over because they reject about 95% of anything new. Yesterday, I was out and about at lunch time and I decided to stop and pick up a kids meal from Chick-Fil-A. (Even though I'm not crazy about them eating fast food, but there is a first time for everything and I was desperate.) What kiddo wouldn't like waffle french fries and some chicken nuggets right? That's right! MY kids! Rachel wouldn't touch it (no surprise there really). Sophia ate a bit of one fry and then threw the rest on the floor. Morgan gagged on her fries and spit them out. No one would touch the chicken. I ended up feeding them yogurt, fruit, and cereal. I give up.

So at dinner tonight, I made them a new recipe. Porcupine Meatballs. A week ago, they were eating my meatloaf like it was going out of style, so I thought for sure they would like the meatballs. Plus, they have rice in them so double bonus for a grain as well as protein. Well, as you would guess, Rachel wouldn't touch it and gagged when my mom tried to feed her some. Morgan spit it out... I don't think Morgan likes meat so much yet. Sophia chowed down on them, stuffing so much in her mouth that she freaked me out. She loved it though so I'm a happy Mama.! They also had some green beans to go along with their meatballs. Morgan really liked them as well as Sophia. Rachel.... Well, we ended up feeding her baby food. I gave up! (I think this pay back for all the times my mom had to make me peanut butter and jelly as a child since I pretty much refused anything she would cook...and she is a great cook!)

I'm just glad my mom was here again to help me with dinner. Dinner time has become the hardest part of my day. Bob is still at work when the girls eat. It's almost too much to either cook, heat up, or prepare their dinner when I'm alone. I can do it. I do it by myself most weekdays, it's just not easy at all. Then the mess..... OH THE MESS.... Ugh!

I'm just thankful for implementing TV hour after dinner. It allows me to clean up and it gets me to their bedtime with my sanity still somewhat intact.

Any toddler food suggestions for picky eaters are welcome!

Nap Limbo?

I haven't played Limbo since back in my skating days. I was always too tall for that game.....I never won!

Now we're in nap limbo.... I'm losing this game too. :)

I tried. We tried.... Gave it our all... It was just too early to function on one nap. Tuesday and Wednesday mornings were beyond miserable. The girls literally cried from 10-12:30 when it was nap time. Lunch time was a huge mess with yogurt hair treatments and food all over everything. The girls were just TIRED!

Yesterday and now this morning, morning nap has returned. Yesterday, Rachel didn't sleep during her morning nap, but she played in her crib while I took a shower. Morgan and Sophia were sleeping within 5 minutes. This morning??? They are all sleeping and it didn't take long at all. I don't know what this means or how long it will last, but for now, I'm going to keep letting them sleep in the mornings. If they don't sleep, we'll just have quiet time and then maybe adjust the afternoon nap a bit. I'm going to do what freaks me out the most..... On the days they skip morning nap, I'll wing it with my master schedule. We all know I HATE not being on schedule. I figure I'll see how the next couple of months go. Maybe we'll be ready for one daily nap by the Summer.

I have to honestly say I will miss those long 2-3 hour afternoon naps. It was pure bliss. I got dishes done, laundry folded, and I even got to sit down and eat lunch! (insert gasp here). I liked the idea of being able to have the morning to go out and do things, but we can wait for that. The girls need their beauty sleep and I need my sanity!

Mommmmmmmmmy

Welcome to my day. It was one of those days when the girls all wanted me at the same time...over...and over...and over...and over....again... until bedtime. As I've shared, we are transitioning to one nap, which obviously, isn't going too well. The girls have been super fussy and this mommy doesn't know if she made the right decision to make the switch. I'm trying to stick to it for at least a week, but if you were at my house today....uh... you wouldn't have stayed very long. I thought I was going to lose my mind. All of my tricks didn't work and I had Sophia pretty much attached to my hip for most of the day. It was just an overall exhausting day.

It was a day when I needed MY Mommy! And yes, she delivered!

(Also, this picture was taken for a reason.....which I will explain at a later date!)

Naps, Naps, Naps....

Over the past month, as I have complained about before, the girls' naps are a pretty much off schedule. We all know I hate not having a schedule. I don't think any triplet mom could function without one.

Last week, Sophia and Rachel didn't take a morning nap at least 4 out of 7 days. Morgan's morning nap was about 20 minutes long. It became all too clear to me that it was time to make the switch to one nap. I think I have resisted as long as possible, but it's time now.

We started yesterday. I was determined to make nap time 12:30pm. Bob and I decided to get the girls out of the house after breakfast to keep them entertained, so we took them to Home Depot. We picked out new flooring for the kitchen, checked out some paint samples, and bought a chain saw. (Bob is cutting down the fruit trees so our backyard will be more kid friendly.) The girls did pretty good until we got home around 11am. Morgan started melting down. Rachel and Sophia were okay at that point. I fed them lunch..... then all three of them started the meltdowns. I turned to our trusty friends, "The Wiggles," and let the girls watch TV for a while before I gave them their bottle. At 12:30, it was time for nap and they were all asleep within 5 minutes. They slept almost THREE HOURS, which is like a miracle for naps in this house!

Today....so far, so good. I took them for a walk this morning and then we came home and played until lunch time. When I put them down....5 minutes..and bam....they were OUT! They've been sleeping for an hour and a half now. I think this schedule is going to be good for us. We can start doing more outings in the mornings. Before, I was always limited to only going out between 12-1:30. Now we have a few hours in the morning to do whatever.

I could really get used to these long afternoon naps. We just need to get through the next week or so while we adjust!