Dancing the days away

This is turning into a monthly blog, but at least it is still active!

We danced our way through May and I was so happy to have all 3 of my girls on stage being beautiful and rhythmic and performers. Their recital was The Wizard of Oz and it was magical for me as their mom.

Makaela had 4 costumes, but this was a favorite from her Jazz dance. Ella and Thea got to dance to the same song just one after the other as ballerina's.

Winter Blues?

I can feel the winter fog lifting! Life is starting to pick up and we are starting to see blue skies and remember what color our roof is under the melting snow.

The girls are starting to show off their fall and winter work in some performances. At school they get to have dance. But this isn't any dance, they dance to learn the core curriculum better. Makaela danced answers to multiplication & division, how to read maps, Native American dances, and a black lights moon dance. She was as graceful and rhythmic as ever.

Thea danced to Dr. Seuss books and performed a fabulous dance to a book the class had recorded reading with music: Mr. McElligot's Pool. Each child would just glow when they heard their voice reading their line from the book. What a fun idea! I did indeed get teary (you know how I love watching my kids glow as they share their hard work and talents), and the triplets got to go to Thea's performance (big outing!). Also the reason she doesn't have as many pictures. But she was so busy she hardly held still long enough for a picture, she was even cartwheeling across the floor at times!

 Now let me back up to Valentine's Day. We don't usually make a huge deal on this holiday. Mark & I keep it simple (since our anniversary is just a couple weeks prior too). On Valentine's we have started a tradition of having a nice dinner by mood-lighting with the kids. This year it was really fancy... Heart shaped pizza (haha!). But it was fun none-the-less and we also had treats and hearts we wrote on to each family member. This year will always be memorable though because when Mark & I opened our cards to each other we were completely surprised (and shocked) to realize that we had bought each other the same card! I had shopped at the grocery store at the end of January, and Mark bought his at Hallmark just a few days prior. So funny!

In the aftermath of Valentine's we had lot's of chocolates laying around, and on the weekend I worked I woke to hear that at 4pm the girls were hungry because dad had forgotten lunch (they had gone out for a walk!). I told them we would eat an early dinner so go ahead and eat a couple Valentine candies to hold them over. While taking care of the boys I caught a glimpse of Ella on the couch with this pile. I told her she didn't need all of those, just two was fine, but snapped a picture and went back to the boys. A few seconds later Mark comes in with a handful of 10 wrappers! "Did you mean she could have 2 more in addition to these?" She had already consumed at least 8-10 and this pile was not her taking, but what was left! Oh my sweet toothed Ella. She can out eat us all when it comes to sugar.

The other fun Ella at home moment is the new Disney Channel show "Sofia: the first." It's a new cartoon about a little girl who suddenly finds her mom married to a king so she must learn to become a princess. It is really an adorable cartoon full of music and good things. So every Friday since January there is a new episode and we record it, and after the boys go down for a nap we sit down and watch it together. Well, Ella won a Super Bowl contest at my parents party, so she took her money and bought herself a Sofia dress, amulet, and little toy figurine. What a fun day this was to go down to the Disney Store and let her shop! We tried on every shoe and a couple dresses in the fancy mirrors before she decided. Oh how I love my little girls. What a gift and blessing they are. 

 The boys. They continue to grow bigger every day. We are currently working on 3 very important, life changing skills. I think this is part of the reason time goes 3x faster with multiples. I am enjoying the moments I have, they go so quickly! But I also look forward to new skills that will change the simplest things in day to day life. Long days & fast months continue.

1. Sitting up.

We practice in a variety of places, this is how we eat solids. I can't wait until they have another way to play and view the world. And once they can sit up well enough I will also be anxious to start using my wagons to transport them on outings! (also waiting for RSV and the flu to disappear a little more)
Weston, Paxton, Creighton

2. Holding bottles

They are not very good yet, these pictures were caught by Mark during practice. They cannot hold them with more then 1-3 oz, and still lose their grips, but there is hope. And we practice this sometimes too.
Creighton, Paxton (top), Weston

3. Finger foods

I will soon be buying a new knife for all the finger food cutting I will be doing. And someday I will be very tired of chopping up food into "finger nail" sized bites, but these boys are ready to start heading there. So we are practicing holding foods and getting them into the mouth. For now we have 2 very perfect crackers to practice with. And they get better every time.
Paxton

It seems like from 6 months until 2 years of age you cannot keep up with all the new things your kids do every day. I can already see how quickly these next few years will go with 3 of them overwhelming me with their progress every day. What a blessing to have such healthy, growing boys. I feel more humbled every day to get to have a front row seat to all this. And I am still in denial that I get to be their mom forever. Wow.


Another big event was we took the boys out to dinner! It was my dad's birthday dinner, and it was at a fancier restaurant, so I must admit I was having some anxiety about the boys behaving (and their 6:30p bedtime also contributed to my anxious state going to a 5:45p dinner). But when we arrived my dad had told them about the boys and they had gotten us our own little area, like an alcove, away from most every one. It was perfect! My anxiety was gone and we enjoyed a most delightful 3 hour meal! The night felt so normal. I had to double check that it wasn't my birthday! Maybe I can go somewhere, even a nice somewhere, with 6 kids... as long as there are 6 adults.

Thea, Makaela, Ella, Paxton, Creighton, Weston

Another Winter Week at Home

It is yet another week at home hiding from the flu & RSV & other winter bugs. I am quite happy to be here enjoying the moments I get be a part of as mom of these wonderful kids.

Mark & the girls did get to go out on a daddy-daughter date the other night. When I asked the girls their favorite part of the evening they all agreed it was "dancing and dancing with daddy!" Ella even informed me she danced to Gangnam Style. They also ate cookies, and made Valentine's cards. What a great fundraiser by the high school!

 My Ella keeps me smiling, laughing, and playing all kinds of games. She is full of hilarious one liners all day. "My brain won't let me sleep mom" or "next time you read that book you need to stop so I can say that 'the cockatoo pooped on his head.'" And other comments involve food: "mom go check on the babies so I can get a chocolate" or "my tummy really thinks sandwiches in squares are tastier to day." She is just so fabulous! There are so many things she says each day I sometimes wish I could record her all day. And she is all girl. If I want her to wear pants I'd better be ready to battle, so most days she wears the same dresses over and over and is always adding her "fancy accessories."

Paxton & Weston

Looking very grown-up in "real" clothes

Paxton, my thumb sucker. He was the only one to nap in the afternoon on this particular day, and I know I have his thumb to thank. I am just not convinced that these little moments are going to be worth the pain of breaking the habit in the future. Never had a thumb sucker before. And I can't seem to stop him.

Witching Hour.

It exists in every home with children, regardless of age. They either run you ragged or exhaust you with crying. We are currently in the "I'm done with all my toys and just want you to hold me" kind of witching hour. Of course I can't hold all 3 at once any more, or if I try I get stuck and can't figure out how to put them down. Plus 16lbs x 3 babies = 48lbs (that is like a big bag of Costco dog food!), so I tire out quickly. Any way, so every day I debate which one to hold, or two, and sometimes we stare at the third one left behind, and then we switch. And often we are grateful for our MamaRoo's which  become my 3rd arm. But today, nothing was working. So I snapped a picture. Because that is what we do now-a-days when we are overwhelmed by our children. And then we ate early, and went to bed early. And early bed time is the best cure to the Witching Hour. Someday I will wish that would work on older kids. And tomorrow, we will do it again, but maybe in a better way.

For my musings in this post, I have been thinking about things I now appreciate, but never did before.

1. I am slowly weaning myself of the dinner help that my neighbors continue to bring in (we are down to just 2 a week!). So as I have been planning dinners and figuring out how to add this task back into my daily life, I had, what felt like, a significant thought. I have never really loved cooking. In fact, I learned to cook for my family because circumstances required them to eat (imagine that). Most of our favorite meals involve a crockpot or fairly simple recipes. And I realized that while I have always viewed this as a weakness, it is actually now a strength. If I had become a homemaker who taught herself to enjoy labor intense, complicated meals I would now have to re-learn how to cook the simple things that I can manage in my current days. So while I used to mourn my lack of cooking enthusiasm and consequently skill, I am now grateful for it. And with 3 future teenage boys I will have plenty of opportunity to develop this talent in the future.

2. I used to think that having 2 colic babies was just bad luck. But now, I am actually grateful to have had these months of coping with crying before. My patience and tolerance grew by leaps and bounds. Now I have 3 babies that not only cry, but if one cries loud, the other two cry louder! And it can feel tedious and intense as we often have to yell to each other just to hear one another over them ("go get your dance clothes on!" "You need a drink of water!?!" "Can you help your sister!" "How was school today?!"). But I am now grateful for my colic babies. Grateful they came one at a time. Grateful they taught me that crying doesn't cause permanent damage. Grateful they gave me experience. And most of all, I am grateful that no matter how much these sweet boys cry, they are not colicky, just normal.

Re-defined by triplets

There are a few words in our vocabulary that have new definitions since having triplets...

Quickly

Before kids this had one meaning (and when I run an errand by myself I remember what quick really is!). Then I had 1 child, and I had to re-adjust my expectations. And with each additional child "quick" changed just a little. Now with triplets, I am pretty sure my "quick" would be most peoples "slow." We can't be out the door much faster than 20-30 minutes due to fastening 3 infant car seats, multiple trips to carry them out, and inevitably finding something is missing or forgotten, and don't forget the other 3 kids that still have their own definitions of "quick". And so it goes with any simple task: playing, eating, moving from one room to another. Consequently, I am grateful others "expectations" of me have also been redefined!

Fatigue

I have never understood how people could function on little to no sleep. And now I have realized something important... you don't. We often are just going through motions, we just keep moving, and somehow the hours turn to days, and the days to weeks, and you find yourself wondering if you are going to remember much. We remember the important things, like feeding the kids (mostly because they remind us), but the dog has learned she has to remind us if we forget her food. We have been known to do things such as forgetting to rinse out conditioner from our hair, forgetting kids homework or piano, or forget to assign someone to teach the lesson on Sunday (normally a weekly habit). There are so many other examples... but of course I am too tired to have much of a memory right now.

Repetition

We all know how repetitious having a baby can be: you read the same books, sing the same songs, do the same activities every day. Well now I do those same things... but 3 times as much. I sing patty-cake 3 times, because each boy should get the chance to do the actions and giggle right? And we say the same nursery rhymes with tickles for each boy as well. Luckily we read the book once, they just have to squish together. But changing diapers, preparing bottles, doing bath time, lotioning the screaming child, and other such daily tasks are also now done 3x over. Luckily each boy responds with his individual personality, so while I am doing the same superman trick, they are each giving unique reactions. And we all know that we would do just about anything to be rewarded with that baby smile... even if we do it 9 times in a row, because then we might get 3 big smiles.

Service

I have never felt so humbled by the service people continually provide to us. It comes in unexpected text messages, phone calls, meals, diaper deliveries, help with getting kids to dance/school/etc., watching boys while I run errands, and the list goes on. I accepted months ago that I will never be able to write enough Thank You cards, but it is still difficult to accept that I won't be able to "pay back" these acts any time soon. We have a new understanding and appreciation for those who serve because they are good people doing good things for no good reason other than kindness. These are the people that make my days doable... because they are just generous people.

There are so many other words... but for now these are the ones that define my days.

Some pictures to share...

Bubble Time

Waiting for their turn in the bath

Ella showing the boys how to not roll out of tummy time immediately, but enjoy it...

 Ella propping up Creighton so I can try to get a picture of them all on their tummy's

 And the roll... Creighton & Paxton have it down!

Every Day Changes

Makaela continues to grow into a girl older and more mature each time I turn around. Her latest feat was learning to braid hair, and that alone wasn't enough... she then braided Ella's fine toddler hair. And she did pretty well for a first time. We are still so lucky to have our Makaela (and our Ella who let's her because she adores her).

Thea is really starting to develop her babysitting skills. She is enjoying the boys more and more as they start to smile and interact with her. We are so lucky to have our Thea too.

My Little One

With Ella home alone with me and the boys all day, I get to really enjoy her and the bundle of personality she is. Here are some of her goings ons:

Our Elf came back from the North Pole and Ella was completely delighted when she hid in her bubble gum machine! That meant she could carry the elf around with her all day! They had tea parties, built towers, and watched TV together.

She learned to sing Jingle Bells! And we heard it at least 100 times the day she did. So the next day I put her new talent to use and put her in front of a captive audience to sing and do her little dance moves. She started singing, and then turned to me after one line and said, "mom! we are missing one! he will miss it!" So we have done this show a few times now so everyone can enjoy it.

Ella never just talks. She is always posing while she talks. Toes are moving, arms are moving, legs are being pointed and bent, and her face is always animated! One day I took a basket of laundry to her room to put away, and had no babies in tow! For the next 40 minutes I don't think Ella even hardly took a breath, she talked, and talked, and talked. She was thrilled to have a captive audience! At one point she did pause for about 2 seconds causing me to look up and realize she had big tears. Before I could even ask what happened (a drawer rolled over her toe) she was talking again and wiping her eyes saying, "mom I just need my eyes to stop dripping so I can tell you my story still!" I do love this girl.

Another day we were wrapping presents and I went to feed babies. When I came back I found my entire roll of wrapping paper taped closed. "I did it mom! I can tape the wrapping paper by myself!" 

So goes life with our little Ella. It's wonderful.

Our Thanksgiving

Picking up where we left off...

Thanksgiving was wonderful, largely in part to having my kids home for 5 1/2 days! We spent the day with my parents and brother, since the babies have to avoid crowds much larger then this so they can stay healthy. We started the day off with a Feast with the Beasts at the zoo. One of the best moments was watching the elephants stomp and break open their HUGE pumpkins! We saw gorilla's and orangutans feast on pinata's, pies, and pumpkins, and a bunch of other animals enjoy their feasts as well! It was a good start to the day, and pleasantly warm. 

When we got home we discovered our oven timer hadn't worked, so our turkey had not yet even started cooking! So we took it down to my parents and house, and luckily they too had done a turkey, so we were still able to enjoy plenty of feast at the hour we had planned. And the boys hardly slept during this day! But all in all they did pretty well!

And the day before Thanksgiving, the girls had no school, so we had a big outing... to the library and adjacent park. Yup, pretty impressive! j/k But it was fun for the girls to finally get to visit the re-modeled park and have some time to browse books. 

Earlier in the week I had snapped a few moments:

A pleasant moment with the boys were not screaming, but rather making faces, smiling, and talking with me. Weston & Creighton (Paxton still snoozed).

And this is what a fairly typical feeding looks like. Weston and Paxton screaming to eat while Creighton looks on, waiting his turn. Creighton remains the most calm and mellow of the 3. He usually wakes up talking in his crib and kicking his legs. Weston always wakes up screaming. And Paxton usually complains upon waking, but he saves his cries for eating because that is when his reflux really gets to him. But they are all wonderful, and we love them each for their uniqueness!

And my Ella. Oh sweet Ella. She drives me crazy sometimes, but more often she makes me laughs. This was they day she asked me to take like half a dozen pictures of her ruffle bum outfit. What a hoot! This girl says the funniest things, and is so full of personality that I can hardly handle it! Love her to pieces!