...And Babies Make Five!

Back in the Saddle Again

2012-01-17T04:01:00.000-05:00

You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello

Hello blog. Long time, no post. I am quite torn about what to do with you, I must say. But, the fact is I need you. I have been needing you. Now here I am, begging for you to take me back. In reality, you have no choice in the matter, you will publish what I write, but I enjoyed the little dramatic moment there.

You see, you are a therapist of sorts, only much much cheaper. In case you didn't know, however, I must tell you that the interwebz can be a very scary place. I have hidden you, exposed you, and hidden you again. And yet now I have the urge to expose you once more. I do so with much trepidation, however. There are some sickos out there. I have encountered some for sure. But the truth is that I really enjoy blogging, and not secret, behind closed doors blogging, but laying it all out there for the world to see blogging. By the "world" I mean the four or five people who might actually read this thing, including my mother and my sister and other relatives forced into indentured blog-reading servitude.

So here we are. I release you from your bonds of privacy. I hope to update you often. I may even try to write some posts filling in the gaps between my last post and today, other than to say that lots of stuff happened, and the triplets are now five.

Teeth, Onesies, and Closure

The trio have just started losing their baby teeth, and I feel like this one activity has become such a rite of passage, maybe more for me than for them. You see I have saved the preemie clothes they wore in the NICU for all of these years. I have not been able to part with them. They have been a reminder of how tiny they were when they were born, what little fighters they were, how far they have come, and of how lucky and blessed I am to have them at all.

But now I feel ready to give the clothes away, just like that. I feel at peace with it. I took three little tiny hats from the bag of clothes and made them into pillows then cut little tooth shapes out of a white onesie and sewed the tooth shapes on the front of the pillows to make a pocket they can put their teeth in for for the tooth fairy. Making the tooth fairy pillows for them gave me such a sense of closure. They are not babies anymore. They will always be my babies, of course, but that chapter of their lives is over. That chapter of my life is over. They will start kindergarten in the fall. They are not babies anymore. They made it. I made it.

I am going to donate the rest of the preemie clothes to the NICU of a local hospital here in town for families who are just starting this chapter of their lives along with many prayers that they make it too.

Moms of multiples are freaks of nature

2010-11-24T01:18:00.000-05:00

I cannot think of enough places to post this video. It is genius.

Picking Apples and Pumpkins

2010-10-17T22:02:00.001-04:00

This weekend we drove out to Chiles Peach Orchard to pick apples and pumpkins. This place is the best! It is not overly crowded, the people who work there are so nice, and we always come home with tons of goodies! Here are some pics from our trip!

The trio excited to get started.

Ian showing us the way to the apples.

LOTS of apples! We picked Fujis and Granny Smiths.

After we picked apples, we headed over to the pumpkin patch.

Maddie and her pumpkin.

Emma and her pumpkin.

Ian and his pumpkin.

Three kids...check. Three pumpkins....check. Success!

After we paid, I ~~crammed~~ piled the kids into this chair.

Here they are last year in the same chair. It is amazing how much bigger they look this year!

We had a such fun a day! I think, however, I went a wee bit overboard with the apples this year. Today I made apple crisp, and tomorrow I'm making apple pie. I plan to make apple cake, apple muffins and apple pancakes. Any other suggestions for how to use them up? I have no idea how to can them, but I may need to find out. Any tips would be great!

I Made Debacle Bread Today

2010-10-10T00:13:00.004-04:00

How do you make debacle bread, you ask?

Start with a banana bread recipe. Then go to store to buy the sour cream you need, but don't have.

Next, begin assembling the ingredients and realize you are short on sugar and have no baking soda. Make substitutions as you desire and continue with the recipe. You're not going to the store again!

Then, when combining the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, spill half of the dry ingredients on the floor. Continue mixing anyway, bake, and viola, debacle bread!

Sometimes it is a burden to be this smart all the time.

Other Quick Updates

2010-10-07T01:52:00.001-04:00

1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was awesome! It far exceeded my expectations. I just finished it and have already downloaded The Girl Who Played with Fire to my Kindle.

2. Sauce Chronicles: The sauce is getting better every week! I messed up last week by buying the wrong tomatoes....again! This week we did a taste test between Mike's Dad's sauce and mine, but because of an ingredient discrepancy (one of us used dried and the other used fresh), we couldn't make a fair comparison. I have a pic that I hope to upload here later of the two sauces, side by side. In the end, we mixed them together with quite excellent results. Updated with the pic!

3. I made a roasted chicken with root vegetables and homemade bread for dinner tonight. It was YUM! There is a second loaf of bread waiting to be sliced, toasted and covered with butter in the morning for breakfast. Cannot wait!

4. I have been reading back through the blog tonight, and I am so very glad I wrote all of this stuff down! Blogging Mamas, I highly recommend taking an evening and reading back through your blog! I am amazed at how far we have come since I started this thing.

Rebels With A Cause...Maybe?

2010-10-06T23:58:00.001-04:00

It appears that Maddie is entering some sort of rebellious phase herself. I have the feeling this is the same type of rebellion that Ian has been exerting for some weeks now. He has been refusing to eat when everyone else is eating, get dressed when everyone else gets dressed, leave when we are all going somewhere, and go to bed when everyone else is going to bed. It is exasperating to say the least! Now Maddie is refusing to bathe when everyone else is bathing.

Aside from the Mommy-guilt sucker punch that tells me I'm doing something wrong, I've come up with two plausible reasons for this behavior. Either they are plotting against me to snap the few thin threads that keep me tethered to the sane world, or this is might just be typical four year old behavior. I guess I'll break out my copy of The Happiest Toddler on the Block to see what Dr. Karp has to say. As an aside, I cannot say enough that Dr. Karp's The Happiest Baby on the Block was a LIFE SAVER for me when the triplets were infants. I very highly recommend it! That is all.

Now on one level, I love that my littles are exerting some independence. I am even proud! On a much more more practical level, I have no idea what to do about it! I want to foster their independence while avoiding chaos and maintaining my aforementioned weak grasp on sanity. The easy stuff, right?

You know, I'm not sure if I prefer the constant screaming and crying that we encountered during age three or the screaming and crying at age four that occurs only when we REALLY have something else we need to be doing or some place we need to be going.

I really love these little rebels and want them to learn how to handle their emotions in a constructive way. I mean, it cannot be fun to want to cry that much! If you have a minute, please send this Mama some prayers, or thoughts, or strength, or love, or hugs, or advice, or something....anything (wine works too)!

p.s. It would be great if someone could explain why at least one of my children always has to poop DURING dinner. Thanks!

Vacation 2010, Installment Three, With Pics!

2010-09-27T01:17:00.000-04:00

Firstly, please forgive me for double or triple posting these pictures. Most are duplicates of those on Flickr, which I think are also linked to Facebook.

Despite the challenges of the week, our vacation this year was pretty darn good. It was really nice to have a break from our usual routine. I was thrilled to just be out of the house! I work from home, and sometimes feel like I never leave the house. I swear I'm nearly a shut-in.

Anywhoo, back to the pictures. :)

My trio tearing up the beach.

Maddie and Ian playing in the ocean with Daddy.

Emma not playing in the ocean.

Emma being baby wolf pup.

Emma and Mommy.

A whole lot of Ian.

My sweet Maddie.

Maddie Sand Monster!

Ian and Maddie conspired against the sea gulls. Maddie would throw food at them, and Ian would chase them away at the same time.

Here is Emma helping too, or walking like an Egyptian. I'm not sure, ask the Bangles.

I love this picture of Maddie. She was so happy feeding the gulls.

The Gnome Game

These creepy gnomes were in the bedroom we stayed in at the beach house. I was just not having them in there with me, so I moved them to another bedroom, where they look quite happy, no?

The creepy little fellas found their way all over the house and in our cars during the gnome game. I had so much fun finding and hiding them that I decided to make friends with them before we left.

Igor

I took a couple of pictures with my phone the first day we were there, when Igor was still on his way. He was way offshore, though. We had red flag (no swimming) warnings the first two days we were there.

I really wish I had gotten a picture of the water coming all the way up to the dunes. That was just freaky. This is how calm the ocean was on the last day we were there. I took these pictures in the morning, just before the sun came up.

Then I watched the sun rise.

Watching the sun rise was such a peaceful ending to our hectic vacation trip!

Summer Vacation 2010....Update

2010-09-23T22:10:00.000-04:00

Improvements

Today was a much better day! Ian and Maddie played in the ocean today and loved it! Ian was so worn out from playing in the waves that he fell asleep in his little beach chair afterwards. Adorable.

Mike and I also got a chance to sneak away for lunch together, just the two of us. My parents stayed with the kids, giving us a much needed break.

Emma even came down to the beach on her own accord this afternoon, and we managed to reintroduce her to the waves. She was not thrilled, but not terrified either!

And I found out that my Mom brought her camera! She and I have the same camera, and she is going to let me use hers until I get home and transfer all of my pictures off. I was so happy to get some pictures of the kids loving the beach today. As soon as I get home and transfer the pictures, I'll post them here or on on Flickr.

Best of all, no one asked to go home today! Ian and Emma told me they both missed home, and I told them that I did too, and it was okay to miss home and like the beach at the same time. Maddie, on the other hand, may want to live here forever. She is such a little fish!

Beach Reading

I have been having a hard time finding something decent to read on my Kindle. I just finished Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, which was awesome. That man is an incredibly gifted writer. I was fascinated by his writing prowess almost as much as the story! He is a veritable anti-Dan Brown, ahem. But that is another blog post all together.

At any rate, now I am having a hard time finding anything else to read that is as good. After finally trying a couple of major snoozers, I finally decided to find out what all the hubbub is about and downloaded The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I just started reading it, but so far it has sparked my interest.

One Last Note

I am in complete denial about this so-called "Fall" thing. I am at the beach. It cannot be Fall until I return home. That is all.

Summer Vacation 2010

2010-09-23T02:30:00.000-04:00

Oh, where to start! This vacation has been, challenging, at best. Firstly, I forgot my camera. :( I keep meaning to pick up a disposable camera while I'm here, but I forget! When we got here, hurricane Igor was on his way up the coast, but way off shore. Still the waves were insane here, and at high tide, there was literally no beach. The ocean came up to the dunes in front of the house. Today was the first day that we actually had a beach that we could stay on all day.

The kids have been all out of sorts since we got here. At least one child has asked to go home, repeatedly, every single day. There has been a lot, and i mean A LOT of whining and crying. It is very difficult to get everyone to agree to do the same thing at the same time, and we just can't accommodate every child's wants all the time. None of the kids are eating much or very well, all of them are constipated, some may or may not have colds, and Maddie threw sand in Ian's eyes today. Sigh.

And then there is Emma. Last year Emma hated the ocean and was terrified of the waves, but she would happily play in the sand under the shelter we set up on the beach. This year she LOVED the beach...on the first day. She ran and splashed in the surf even! We were so excited for her, until, she was running through the surf and fell. The poor thing did a total face plant. Water and sand was all in her mouth and up her nose. That was all it took for her to regress even worse than her fears from last year. Now she doesn't want to go on the beach at all, and when I dragged her down there today, she sat in Mike's lap and cried. We convinced her to walk down the beach to see the trucks driving on the beach in the 4X4 section. After our walk, she did finally play in the sand and seem to enjoy herself.

Mike and I are both a bit frazzled from all of the crying and whining. And I can't help but wonder what I am doing wrong. Maybe I should try to make some sort of routine for them? Maybe we need to make a plan for the day and let them know what it is and help pick some of the activities? Maybe I should not be awake at 2:30 a.m.? Maybe I need to lower my expectations? Maybe I just need to chill and realize this is all normal 4 year old behavior? Maybe I should just drink more daiquiris!

Emma's Tumble

2010-09-06T22:30:00.000-04:00

Emma fell down the stairs this morning. Yeah, those stairs. I was still in bed, and Mike was downstairs with the other two, when I heard thump, tha thump thump, thud. I jumped out of bed and looked down the stairs, and the poor thing was all upside down about three steps from the bottom. She hadn't made a peep.

I ran down and picked her up. I asked her if she was okay, and she said "Yeah." I asked her if she was scared, and she said she was. Then I asked her if anything was hurt and she said that she bumped her head and her nose and her knee. I asked her my standard litany of head injury questions, which includes, but is not limited to, the following: What is your name? What is my name? What is Daddy's name? How old are you? What did you have on your birthday cake this year? What did you have on your birthday cake last year? What color is a stop sign?

She was able to answer all of the questions correctly, and she was able to walk and run without any problem. So off she went!

Later Mike asked her why she didn't cry or ask for help if she was scared, and she said she was trying to be brave. OMG I swear that nearly broke my heart. My poor, sweet, little toot.

I have been worried about those stairs since we moved here almost two years ago. I have told the kids a million times to please hold the railing when they go down the stairs.

As sad as I am that she felt like she wanted to be brave instead of crying, I am incredibly grateful that she wasn't hurt! Her little head has been through enough! I don't know that I have ever posted about her previous head injury. I'll have to look back through the blog. If I haven't written about it yet, then maybe one day I'll get around to writing it all out. It was a very bad day to say the least!

Sauce Chronicles, First Attempt

2010-09-06T00:11:00.001-04:00

Mike's dad makes the most amazing pasta sauce (or gravy, if you prefer). He makes it every Sunday. He starts the sauce early in the morning and lets it simmer all day long. He learned how to make this sauce from watching his grandmother make it. There is no recipe here folks!

In an attempt to preserve the heritage of the sauce, I have taken it upon myself to try to figure out how to duplicate its tomatoey awesomeness.

And okay technically this was my third attempt at making the sauce, but it is just too confusing to start a series of posts and call the first one the third attempt, so here we are.

The first time I used San Marzano tomatoes, which I prefer for pasta sauces in general because they have a nice, clean, bright flavor. But for some reason, they just didn't work for "the" sauce. Then last week I used a can of tomatoes that already had basil in them because I just wasn't paying enough attention in the grocery store. Fail!

So today it was back to the drawing board. Here is today's attempt at the sauce.

And this week I added on to the challenge.

I made meatballs. I did make a quick call to my sauce advisor to make sure I had everything I needed for the meatballs, and picked up some precious sauce making tips along the way. Here is the sauce with the meatballs!

I'm think this version turned out to be 50% successful. The sauce was very close, but was not quite right. The meatballs, however, were perfect!

Next Sunday, I will try again!

One of Those Days

2010-08-30T00:13:00.003-04:00

Disclaimer: I wrote this post last night, but before I was able to post it, I feel asleep. Mike came home from work to find a nice cold cider sitting on my nightstand, a Netflix movie I'd waited all weekend to watch just blaring away on the TV, my MacBook on my lap with my hands on keyboard, and me just completely passed out in the bed.

*****************

I'd like to preface this post by saying that I love cutting the grass. We live on 2.5 acres, and it takes about four hours to mow the entire lawn. That is four uninterrupted hours that I spend outside, in the sun, listening to my iPod, and letting my mind wander. Those four hours are precious to me. I look forward to them the way other people look forward to a day at the spa.

All week I had planned to cut the grass today. I arranged for my parents to watch the kids because Mike worked this weekend. Then, this morning, Ian woke up with the barfs, about 45 minutes before Mike had to leave for work. Poor Ian felt so bad, and I just knew I was going to need to be with him all day. We quickly arranged for Mike's parents to take the girls so that Ian and I could stay quarantined for the day. We gave him some Zofran and Sprite and Mike went off to work. Ian felt much better after taking the Zofran and said he was hungry. I gave him some toast and waited. All good. I feel a migraine starting. Not good.

Ian wanted more food. I gave him some banana and waited. All good again. He wanted more food. I gave him two more pieces of toast and another banana. He wanted more food, but I made him wait. All good again. The girls left with Mike's parents. I watched Wall-E with Ian. All good. I realized I forgot to send epi-pens with the girls, so Ian and I drove them over and he napped in the car. All good. Migraine getting worse. Not good.

We got home and Ian wanted more food, so I let him pick this time. He ate chips and popcorn, and everything was fine. The Zofran wore off, and he still felt good. I took migraine meds. Good.

The girls came home. Ian seemed fine and was very happy to see his sisters! I drove all three kids to my parents' house and came back home.

I was going to get to at least get started on the lawn! I mowed the front yard and was one last pass away from finishing the side yard when...the stupid mower ran out of gas. I find a full (and heavy!) gas can in the garage and call Mike to ask him if there is anything special I need to know about filling the gas tank in the mower. Yes, he says, the spout is broken and we don't have a funnel. He just pours it in. So I try. Disaster. The gas can is too heavy for me to lift and pour with any accuracy whatsoever. Gas goes everywhere. Not good.

I leave the poor mower sitting in the middle of the side yard and go back to my parents' house feeling somewhat defeated by the day. We have fun, though. The kids eat dinner, bathe, get dressed in their PJs, and we head home. I am hoping with fervent hope that they will fall asleep in the car, but nope.

We are about two miles from the house when we come upon a police officer turning around all of the traffic. There was a bad accident, and the road is closed. Great. It is now 10 p.m., and I have to take a 30 minute detour through dark, winding, country roads, in the fog with three wide-awake four year olds. Sigh. I say a quick prayer for the people involved in the accident. It must have been a bad one. We turn around, I confirm an alternate route home with the police officer, and off we go. We finally make it home, and all three kids are still awake. Despite being awake, they all three insist that I carry them up to their beds, as if they were asleep. So I carry them, one by one, from the car in the garage, all the way up to their room and put them in their beds, where thankfully, they go too sleep with little fanfare.

I am pooped, and the lawn still awaits my attention. Tomorrow, after work, I have a date with the mower and the back yard. I just hope we all can make it.

Rebellion and Granola Bars

2010-08-28T19:56:00.004-04:00

Ian has recently entered some sort of rebellious stage, which is really not like him at all. I mean I guess all kids go through this kind of thing, but this is the first time I remember Ian really being rebellious.

When we do any kind of regularly occurring activity, like eating meals, getting dressed, and taking a bath, he refuses to take part in it. He will not eat when everyone else is eating, he will not get dressed when everyone else is getting dressed, and he will not take a bath when the girls are bathing. I mean, eventually he does, but it is like he wants to be the one who decides when it happens. At first he would just say "not yet' when I asked him to go along with everyone else. Now, though, he gets mad when we are eating and says, "No eating allowed! Stop eating!"

I mean I hate to break it to him, but he does not run the show around here. I just really do not know what to do to stop this behavior, though. It is rude, and it interrupts the girls and everyone else in the house. I think on some level it is a way to get some attention. If you don't eat, that is definitely going to get a reaction. I just loathe the idea of making him go hungry if he doesn't eat when everyone else is eating, but I equally loathe giving in to his demands and having to put everyone (and everything) else on hold so that he can follow his own timetable. Then again, he has always been so low on the weight charts for his age, and that worries me. Plus he won't sleep if he doesn't eat a good dinner, or he gets grumpy because he is hungry, etc.

Has anyone else gone through this or is anyone going through it now? What did you do or are you doing about it?

On a totally different subject, we made these homemade granola bars today, and they are awesome!

They are crazy easy to make and impossible to mess up. The kids can help make them, and mine love the part where they get to press the mixture into the pan! AND the best part (for me) is that so many commercial brand granola bars have nuts in them or are processed with nuts, which makes them a no no for my trio, but these are completely nut free!

This is the second time we have made this recipe. The first time I substituted 1/2 cup of rice cereal for 1/2 cup of oats, but otherwise made it according to the recipe. The bars were delicious, but very, very sweet and a little dense. This time I had planned on making them with half oats and half rice cereal, but being the genius that I am, I had no no rice cereal at all and hardly any oats. The kids were really excited about making them, so I had to improvise.

I only had 1 1/2 cups of oats, and I added 2 1/4 cups of Kix cereal, then I cut the brown sugar by half because the Kix are already sweet. I also used 1 cup of chocolate chips and 1 cup of raisins, instead of 2 cups of chocolate chips. I thought for sure they were going to be a disaster this time, but they weren't at all! They were very tasty! These bars were much lighter and crispier than the first batch I made. They were not too sweet, and the raisins gave them a nice chewy texture. Here they are!

A few notes: In the reviews for the recipe, several people said that they pulled the bars out of the oven halfway through baking and pressed them down in the pan again, then put them back in the oven for the remaining time. I did smash mine halfway through baking when I made this recipe the first time, but I did not do it today. I didn't like the way the chocolate chips got all smeary during the pressing last time.

However, I did find that the bars we made today were more crumbly than the first batch. I am not sure whether that crumbliness was due to the ingredient substitutions I made or my lack of smashing during the baking. Next time I make them, I will smash them again and see how much difference I think it makes. By the way, Ian would eat these granola bars anytime...as long as no one else is eating them at the same time.

Triplet Golf Outing and MiniMe Gets a Haircut

2010-08-24T20:37:00.006-04:00

Last week Mike took the kids to play mini golf, and the results were hilarious. Here are my tiny athletes at work.

Emma is the BEST! She has clearly inherited my natural talent for all things sports related.

Maddie actually kind of understood what she was supposed to be doing.

Ian also employs the Emma method, but is slightly more successful.

Then today, Maddie got her very first big girl haircut. Here she is after getting beautified.

She reminds me of a diva working the runway in this one.

We took her to my stylist, who commented that Maddie's hair is exactly like mine, and unfortunately for her, it really is. Tonight at dinner, she was imitating me and being silly in general, as usual. Mike wanted to get some pictures of me and my little MiniMe, so here we are just being silly. Please keep in mind that my own hair is hideous at the moment, and I am in serious need of a haircut myself.

She was being so funny that I could not stop laughing.

She is such a sweet girl. :)

Emma and Mommy Day

2010-08-19T00:42:00.011-04:00

I took my Tiny Toot out for her day with Mommy on Saturday. She wanted to go to the mall, a fancy restaurant, and ... wait for it ... Target! She brought along her new Mommy and Baby Cub toy. Ian really wanted Eve from Wall-E to enjoy a special day, so she came along for the ride too. Here are some pics from our day!

Emma and Mommy getting ready to start the day.

For our shopping trip, Emma picked out earrings for herself and some for Maddie. I steered her into the Redskin store and bought myself a new jersey! Then we wandered around a bit and watched the train. Emma said she was hungry, so I took her around to the restaurants and let her pick a fancy one. She picked California Pizza Kitchen.

It was a really nice day, so we decided to eat outside. Here is Emma coloring her menu.

Silly me thought that she would gladly share a pizza with me for lunch, but she said it was yucky. She LOVED the milk they brought her though!

Mommy and Baby Cub loved the pizza!

So did Eve!

I finally ordered Emma some buttered noodles because she eats those at home all the time, and she said she she really wanted them. Then she decided that they were too "fluffy" even though to me they tasted exactly the same as they do when I make them. Mommy and Baby Cub loved them though!

Here we are finishing up our lunch and getting ready for the rest of the day.

We stopped by the fountain and threw in some pennies.

Here is my little shopper finishing up her shopping adventure. Poor Mike.

Then we were back in the car on the way to Target. Here are Mommy and Baby Cub flying over the car!

Eve flying over the car (sort of).

Mommy and Baby Cub at Target!

And here is Emma at Target, our last stop for the day. This is the face she made when I asked her to smile. I took a ton of pictures, and they all had the same wide-eyed Stepford child grin.

Maddie and Mommy Day

2010-08-14T22:07:00.015-04:00

Ack! I am 2 weeks late posting about Maddie's day with Mommy. My sweet little MiniMe decided she wanted to go to the new Children's Museum, a "fancy" restaurant, and Target (of course!) for her special day out with Mommy. Here are some pics from our day!

Maddie and Mommy ready to go!

Maddie at the Children's Museum, riding a whale.

The museum has a castle with dress up clothes, two thrones, and all kinds of royal goodies. I asked Maddie if I could take her picture on the special princess chair, but she was not at all interested. Instead, she wanted to wash clothes. Sigh. Here is my lil Cinderella hard at work. I wish she washed clothes at our house!

Then she wanted to ride the train, and this ridiculously bad picture of us is the best I could capture of our train ride together.

Maddie painting.

Maddie on the pirate ship.

A note about the dalmatian pup she is holding. I had planned to take a bunch of pictures of him at the museum, just like I did with Baby Firetruck on my day with Ian. However, Maddie cleverly stashed the toy away in the aforementioned castle almost as soon as we got there, and neither of us realized he was missing until we were about to leave. Thankfully, he was right where she left him, but his absence can truly be felt in the photos from the day.

I did, however, manage to procure a picture of the dalmatian pup flying over the car.

Maddie decided after all of that playing that she was hungry and ready to eat at the "fancy" restaurant. I had no idea where she wanted to go, but as we were driving down the street, she pointed out the window and said "There it is! There is the fancy restaurant!" Which turned out to be...

I have a hard time eating at restaurants with Maddie. Even though she has had Red Robin several times, and the restaurant is great about providing allergen information for the items on the menu, I still have a hard time relaxing. The server seemed a little clueless and dopey, and those two things are not good when you are entrusting that person with ensuring no peanut products come in contact with your child's food.

As it turned out, everything was fine. Maddie ate the bun off of the top of her turkey burger, and she ate tons of french fries (no seasoning!), then declared herself full and ready to go to Target!

Maddie and puppy all buckled in and ready to go.

Dalmatian pup at Target.

Maddie and puppy in Target, ready to shop!

I had a great time with Maddie on her day with Mommy. She was just so sweet and fun and chatty! We talked all day about everything.

I really need to work on calming my nerves when I take her to a restaurant. I cannot keep her sequestered at home for her entire life, and she is going to have to learn how to handle herself when she goes out to eat. I just need to figure out how to be the role model she needs me to be.

Ian and Mommy Day

2010-08-01T01:27:00.016-04:00

Saturday, I took Ian out for the day to do whatever his little heart desired, just the two of us, well and Baby Firetruck. Ian picked the Children's Museum, McDonald's, and Target. We had a great time, and it was just so wonderful to have some one-on-one time with my little man.

Here are some pics from our adventure!

Ian driving the ambulance.

My little sun, who is also my little son!

Ian driving a race car.

Baby Firetruck on the bridge over the water model of the James.

Baby Firetruck having more water fun.

Baby Firetruck in the dark cave.

Baby Firetruck milking a cow.

Ian and Baby Firetruck putting on a puppet show. This is, btw, Ian's fake smile.

Baby Firetruck in something in the art room. I am not sure what that thing is.

Ian driving a tractor.

Ian's Ironman toy flying over the car.

Baby Firetruck flying over the car.

Our drawing of Baby Firetruck.

Ian and Baby Firetruck admiring the drawing.

Ian on the slide.

Ian and Mommy having lunch at Old McDonald's.

Ian getting a big ole Mommy smooch!

Ian waited forever for his turn in the ambulance while other kids (some attended, some unattended, some younger, and some much older) jumped in front of him. I finally had to just haul him up in there and put him in the seat. I had no idea your kid had to be so aggressive at the Children's Museum! Later on in the day, a little girl came over and took something right out of his hands, and her mother was RIGHT there!

Which begs the question, what do you do when something like that happens? This is the second time that some kid has taken things right out of my kids' hands. I can tell you that I was furious both times!!! What I wanted to do was kick the mothers in the shins, but to quote the great Tori Amos, "I believe in peace, bitch!"

My kids don't go to daycare or preschool and are not exposed to many other kids. They are not always good at sharing with each other, but the learned a LONG time ago not to take things something out of someone's hands!

Other than that rudeness, and me completely freaking out because I thought someone stole my iPhone in McDonald's, it was an awesome day. The iPhone, btw, was in the car the whole time. I am a genius!

Picture Envy!

2010-07-31T00:09:00.002-04:00

Okay, spill it, triplet mamas. How are so dang many of you such good photographers? Was it something about all of that placenta and amniotic fluid that made you handy with a camera, and if so, why didn't I get that?!? Seriously, you know who you are!

I am so jealous of all of the gorgeous pictures taken by some of my triplet mama friends. Share the talent, ladies! Some of us suck with the camera!

I am too lazy to post links right now, but I will. Oh I will. I plan to completely out you...all of you!!! Then harass you until you tell me how it is done. Or hire you. Not sure which yet.

The Triplets Are Four!

2010-07-27T23:31:00.005-04:00

How my tiny babies are four already is just beyond me. I didn't get too many pictures of the party, but here are a few that I did take.

We had a small party with just family. Mainly because I didn't send out any invitations. Next year, people! There is always next year. The kids had so much fun, though, and are just now coming down off of the high of all of the sugar, gifts, and attention.

I have to say that I found age 3 to be incredibly challenging. There are times when I think I have been as stressed this past year as I was when they first came home. There is just so much crying! Attitude and crying. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING is a big fat hairy deal to them. Seriously, Ian will only eat with one specific green fork, so it has to be washed after every meal. Actually I could (and should) get more, but of course the stupid thing came from Ikea.

They are fiercely protective of their "favorite colors" to the point that one of the other kids can't even say that they like someone else's favorite color. BTW, their favorite colors are as follows: Ian, green; Maddie, blue; Emma, red. And you better not like those colors!!

I also do not understand how a toy that is tossed aside with no thought one minute can be crucial to their very survival the next. I spend several hours of my life every week searching for baby firetruck so that Ian can go to bed. Emma constantly leaves Rolly the dalmatian in the car, then suddenly cannot live without him for another second. Maddie's beloved lost objects are not a specific, but she gets worked up the fastest and has the hardest time calming down. We take so many deep breaths in this house, I swear we're gonna huff and puff and blow this house down one day.

I am really hoping things get better soon, but so far age 4 is not looking much different at all. Maybe the best thing to do is to just start buying booze by the case to help me get through it. Heaven help us.

Adventures in Gardening and Baking

2010-07-20T18:07:00.018-04:00

We decided to make raised beds for our garden this year. I really wanted to try square foot gardening, but it got too mathy, and I got confused. It happens. We planted cucumbers, green peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, string beans, rosemary, basil, oregano, parsley, eggplant, and...watermelon. We have a watermelon plant that has plans for world domination. We call him, the Audrey III.

Audrey III has jumped the fence and is on his way across the yard. We also believe he may be writing a manifesto that he plans to share with the rest of the plants to recruit them to his cause. In an effort to halt his endless efforts for power and control and supplement my endless pursuit of tastiness, I picked three of his offspring.

I was foiled again as they were not yet ripe. I'm not sure what Audrey III has planned for retaliation, but we are keeping the kids far away from his end of the garden, just in case.

There have been some casualties in the garden this year (plants, not people). We lost the cucumbers, green peppers, parsley, and the strawberries aren't looking too hot. I have had two mini harvests, and it looks like we are going to have plenty of tomatoes ready very soon. Here are the meager provisions our garden has offered up thus far:

I am hoping to put in two more raised beds next year. We have been composting this year, and I'm hoping that using more compost in the beds will yield better results next time.

I have also been baking lately. I love baking bread. I tried to make Pugliese, and it was all going so well right up until the very end. Here is a picture of it in the final rise. It looks so promising!

See that towel? That floured towel? The one that was specifically mentioned in the recipe? Yeah, that was my downfall. Apparently I didn't flour the towel well enough because my beautifully risen dough stuck to the towel and all of the bubbles that were meant to create a light and airy crumb deflated like a week old balloon. Sigh. I just formed it into another ball and gave it a quick rise in a greased bowl, but it was too late. The bread had a wonderful taste, but the texture of white bread. Boo!

This is the look I was going for:

The Bread Bible, by the way, is awesome!! All of Rose Levy Beranbaum's books are amazing. She is a baking genius.

Undeterred, I forged ahead with my plans to make focaccia the next day. I can report much better results, but I still managed to mess up the texture. I used too much olive oil on the sheet pan and then was inpatient and took it out of the oven too early. The maths and the patience, we no get along. Here is a picture of the finished product.

I do plan on posting more about the kids soon, and maybe some pictures if I can get them to sit still for a few minutes.

We Have a Bee in our Trash Can

2010-07-16T18:08:00.003-04:00

We have a bee in our trash can. Sigh. This sentence has come to embody the wild kingdom that is our home in the summer. We have also had a visit from a snake on the front porch, a bird in the garage, many spiders, and a plethora of bees and wasps. I LOVE bees and spiders in my garden. In my home, not so much. Snakes, I'm not a fan of anywhere.

In the yard, we have had numerous raccoons, a gaggle of deer, and at least one bunny who hides under the flowers in the flowerbed and runs away when we open the door.

The porch has been the home to at least 3 wasps nests (all of which bit it), and two bird's nests (which stayed and were probably what enticed the snake).

The joys of loving in the country!

So I'm going to try blogging again. I miss it. The triplets turned 4 this past Sunday. *sniffle* I can't believe my babies are so big. I need to upload some new pics. Sadly, I have lost the cord that connects the camera to the laptop. I will, however, not rest until it is found! Okay, that's a lie. I'll do plenty of resting between now and then. But I will wonder where the cord is while I'm resting.

A Little of This, A Little of That

2009-06-10T20:13:00.003-04:00

We have been venturing out some lately and taking advantage of the fun summer things going on in the area. We went to the Ashland Strawberry Fair last weekend and had a blast. They had a fire truck and ambulance you could get in, a bounce house, tons of strawberries, and plenty of stalls set up offering all sorts of crafts and toys and goodies. I realized that I should have taken more pictures, maybe some pictures of the actual strawberries, and that I should have brought my camera. These were taken with my iPhone.

Ian driving the fire truck:

Maddie driving the fire truck:

The girls with balloons:

Ian with his balloon:

They would not leave the balloon tied to their wrists, so two ended up in a tree and one ended up "in the clouds" as Emma says.

We also got a little pool for the back yard. I really need to take some pics of them swimming. They are adorable! Maddie is such a little fish. Mike took them to the pool where we used to work as lifeguards today to swim. Maddie jumped right off the side of the big pool into MIke's arms without hesitating. He said he dipped her under after she jumped and she came up kicking, just as thrilled as could be.

In other news around our place, I've planted several flower beds and a vegetable garden. In my vegetable garden, I'm growing tomatoes, basil, green peppers, rosemary, cucumbers, yellow squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, green beans, lettuce and corn. I lost a few cucumber plants just after we planted them, but it looks like those left are thriving. I can't wait until my yummy veggies are ready to harvest. I really need to take a picture of my garden too.

On a more serious topic, I've really been thinking a lot about whether or not we should have more kids. I have always thought that I wanted at least one more. Partly, I'm sure because I still feel entitled to the singleton experience that I missed last time. But that isn't the only reason, because that would be a pretty crappy reason to have more kids. I have just felt like our family has not been complete, like I have so much more to give. This whole contemplation has had me thinking more and more about our infertility experience. And, as sad as it may sound, I'm not sure I am willing to try again. I don't know if I can go through that heartache again. Maybe that is a pretty crappy reason to decide not to have more kids, but I don't know if I can feel that broken again. When I think back to the time before we started fertility treatment, I don't remember being so obsessed with getting pregnant or having a baby. I mean, I desperately wanted those things so much that my arms ached for the baby I couldn't make. But what I remember feeling, more than anything else, was that I was broken. That something so essential to being a woman, to my link in the circle of life, to my purpose on Earth was just broken. I'm not at all saying that a woman has to procreate to be fulfilled or purposeful in her life. I'm saying that a woman should be able to if she so desires. I just couldn't fathom why I would have been made a woman with all of the requisite parts and plumbing, if it was all for nothing. I remember thinking that we just had to figure out what was wrong and fix it, and then my entire existence in the universe would make sense again. Then I'd be able to have a baby, the baby. I would be a mother. And now I am mother. I did have the baby (and two more to boot). We were (a little too) successful in fixing what was broken. And now I don't know if I can go back there. I don't know if I'm strong enough to endure the roller coaster of hope and despair again. My arms no longer ache because I have been blessed with more beautiful little people than I can even get my arms around at one time. Perhaps I should be thankful for what I have and how far we have come, put my singleton dreams to rest, and be content in our perfect family of five.

Wonder Pets My Boyfriend

2009-05-03T08:14:00.003-04:00

I haven't been blogging much because we've been sick. First the stomach flu, then fevers with stomach pains, then a cold. My cold is lingering forever, probably because I haven't gotten much rest from taking care of everyone else.

But, in the midst of our back-to-back sickies, Ian said something that made me laugh, so I thought I'd share. We have been teasing Emma for a while that Diego is her boyfriend because she gets so excited when the show comes on. So Diego comes on, and I ask Emma if he is her boyfriend. Then Ian says "Wonder Pets my boyfriend!" That made me laugh so hard!

Easter 2009

2009-04-12T22:14:00.002-04:00

We had a great Easter! On Saturday I cut out construction paper bunnies and the trio glued cotton balls on them to make them soft bunnies. They had a blast! This morning the Easter Bunny brought them each a basket with treats and crayons and other goodies. Then we went to see Mike's parents, and they got to dye eggs there. When we got home we dyed more eggs and decorated them all with stickers and crayon. Everyone had great fun. I'm sorry that we didn't get to see my family today, but my poor Mom has the horrid stomach flu that passed through here. She really was not feeling up to Easter celebrations today at all. :(

Here are some pictures from today!

Emma and Ian being silly.

Emma and Ian being sweet.

We finally convinced Maddie to pose for a few.

The trio with Mike:

The trio with me:

And for comparison, our Easter pics from 2008:

And Easter 2007:

My babies have gotten so big!

Sick, Sick, and More Sick

2009-04-07T16:36:00.004-04:00

Ya'll, this has been one bad week. Emma started with the stomach flu last Monday morning, and was so sick for about 3-4 days. We were so worried about her that we took her to the pediatrician twice! First she would not pee. She hadn't had a wet diaper in more than 24 hours when we took her in the first time. The doctor sent us home and told us to call if she peed or if she developed a fever. She finally peed and we felt better. Then she would be sitting in my lap, and she would stand up on me right to her her tip toes, sink her tiny fingers into my shoulder and cry in pain. She would scream "Owie! Owie! I hurting! I hurting!" My poor sweet baby. It was awful!! She must have been having some terrible gas pains, stomach pains, pooping pains?!? I don't even know. We took her back to the pediatrician, and he said that she just had a really bad stomach virus.

Then she finally started to get better when Ian started getting sick. I swear I have changed the sheets on our bed in the middle of the night more times this week than I have in the past two months! It was just exhausting to be home by myself at night taking care of a sick child and changing the sheets on a bed that has two other children sleeping in it without waking them up. I don't think I slept at all while washing and changing sheets, towels, blankets and clothes, changing diapers, and bathing and comforting my poor sick babies.

Ian too has had the horrible tummy pains. Even though for the most part he is feeling better, he still cries "It's hurting! It's hurting!" when the pains come. He looked so sick on Sunday that I just cried.

Maddie looked like she was coming down with it too on Sunday, but so far has powered through it pretty well. She has such a stronger constitution than the other two, it seems.

I myself have not been feeling too great either, but Zofran has kept me going through it all, and Mike just started feeling sick yesterday. It has been brutal, even though I very heavily relied on my family for help during the day on Saturday and Sunday.

In the midst of all of that turmoil, the hard drive on my work laptop died on Friday. I was supposed to have a new one yesterday, but it isn't here yet. I'm hoping it shows up soon. I'm able to keep working from my second laptop, but everything is taking so much longer without my regular laptop!

Please send some healing prayers or vibes our way and some happy hard drive prayers and vibes too! We can use them!

Two Things

2009-03-25T13:30:00.002-04:00

Well, firstly I have to say that I got my first nasty comment on this blog! I must really be somebody important now. It was about my Crazy Coupon Lady post, and she actually said "Shame on you!" What a hoot! That made me laugh. She obviously doesn't know that I later recanted all of my crazy coupon statements upon becoming a crazy coupon lady myself!

Secondly, I'm thinking of going private with this blog. There are a variety of reasons, none of which have to do with the above mentioned nasty comment (that made me laugh), but I've been thinking about it for a while. I've pretty much decided to make the move to keeping a private blog so that I can be a little freer with what I write, and so that my children's lives aren't as exposed as they are now.

If you would like access to the private blog, please email me at kellyanncoleman@yahoo.com or leave a comment here with your email address.

The Zoe Rose Memorial Foundation

2009-03-03T19:35:00.002-05:00

My friend Keira is, in short, an inspiration. She has endured more than any mother should be expected to face, and through it all she has been a beacon of hope and grace. Last February, one of her sweet baby triplets, Zoe Rose, passed away from an infection she contracted while fighting the flu and pneumonia. Zoe and her sisters Avery and Lily were micro-preemies, which means that they were born before they reached 32 weeks gestation. They were born at 25 weeks 5 days and all faced a tremendous set of challenges to survive. Zoe was the most fragile, and her tiny body was just unable to fight all that was thrown at her when she got sick.

Keira has created The Zoe Rose Memorial Foundation to help other parents of micro-preemies navigate the tumultuous road ahead of them. Please visit the foundation's website and consider making a donation to help these parents receive the resources they so desperately need to inform themselves, find solace in those who understand their fight, and provide the best possible care for their tiny infants. Also, please pass the word along so that other parents of micro-preemies can find the site.

You can also join The Zoe Rose Memorial Foundation cause on Facebook.

Winter Storm '09

2009-03-01T22:46:00.002-05:00

I'm here sitting on the bed while my three tired little toddlers sleep. It has been, and continues to be, quite a day. We woke up this morning, and the husband and I devised a plan to drive to Charlottesville to go to one of the two Harris Teeter grocery stores there. I have MISSED my Harris Teeter since we moved, and once we found out that there were two only about an hour's drive away, we didn't need much convincing to make an outing of it. We spent way too much money, but I got all the things I have been missing since we moved: pita chips. mini baguette, hand rolled chicken burritos, fresh-made salsa, etc. Driving back we ran into some big snow (for us!). I was surprised because I thought this storm wasn't supposed to start until this evening around 6pm. Here's a picture I took from my iPhone while we were driving.

We came home to enough snow already on the ground to build a snowman. It was the trio's first snowman!! We went out in the backyard and put this little fella together.

I call him Snaggletooth. Emma was not really into the whole snow thing. She stood on the patio and barked orders at us. Maddie stood beside the snowman and repeatedly reminded me that he needed eyes and a nose. Ian was a helper, who helped me push the big snow balls around the yard to get them big enough to become Snaggletooth, himself. Maddie did shout "Happy Birthday!" a number of times whilst I was affixing Snaggletooth's nose and snaggly teeth. Methinks we've developed a bit of a Frosty the Snowman obsession of late.

So here I've been having a love affair with the snow all day. Me: Isn't it so pretty? Don't you just love the snow! Let's make hot chocolate. Boy, it is so nice to be in here snuggled up with the fire and some hot chocolate, while watching the snow fall, isn't it?

Everything was so lovely and just dandy until just before dinner, when the TV started getting all pixelated and wacky. Blasted DirecTV. The dish must have gotten covered with snow. No problem, I think, we'll just read books, or watch DVDs if needed. Phew! Crisis averted. But, honestly, I'm not ready to admit defeat just yet. The satellite dishes are installed on the little mini roof area over the breakfast nook. The laundry looks out over the mini roof where the dishes are installed. Aha, thinks I, I just need a stool and a broom. I'll pop this screen out, reach out the window and clean these suckers off a bit. If only it were ever that simple. The broom did a pretty good job, but didn't reach all of the areas I wanted. So I found a mop with those scrubby cloths strips on the end, and tied the cloth strips onto the broom handle to elongate my reach. I even tried to get at that thing through two windows, and it looks like I did something. But alas, no TV.

Still, it isn't a huge deal. I mean, we watch too much TV anyway. Then, the power starts to blip on and off, on and off, on and off. Each time taking out the lights, the TV, and the DVD player, and sending the trio into a panic. Crud. I gather up my laptop and my iPhone. I quickly installed a free flashlight app on the phone that turns it into a flashlight by illuminating the entire screen area bright white. When the brightness setting is turned all the way up, it works pretty dang good! We all finally get in the bed, and they are all just losing it. They were really tired today because they only got a quick nap in the car on the way home from Charlottesville. To calm everybody down, I find a couple of Kipper episodes on YouTube (thank you YouTube). Then I decide to download some episodes of the Backyardigans from iTunes. Great idea, except that with the air card that we have to use for internet connectivity, the service is painfully slow tonight. iTunes guesses that it is going to take hours, nay DAYS to download the four episodes I picked for them. Nice. Finally I just shut off everything, snuggle them up against me and sing every theme song from every show we've ever watched until the girls are asleep. Then, my sweet, sweet boy, asks me to sing Silent Night, and I do. He has been falling asleep to Silent Night almost every night since the beginning of December.

So here I am, awake. A few minutes ago I looked out the laundry room window to see if it was still snowing and to scowl at the satellite dishes some more. In the distance I saw a couple of great flashes of green light, then our power went out again. It came back on, then flash, flash, flash, and it was out again. It is back on now. I'm not sure if it will stay on or not. The snow seems to be taking a break here and there, but the wind is crazy out there. We've already lost some siding and a number of roof shingles due to the wind this winter. I wonder what will blow off of our house tonight. So that is my report from the Winter Storm of '09. I'm sure there will be more to report tomorrow (snowfall totals!), but I'm ready to call it a night for now. Oh wait, there goes the power again! Ugh.

An Emma Moment

2009-02-28T11:42:00.002-05:00

This memory is one that I don't want to forget, so I'm capturing it here for posterity. A few days ago, it was still nice enough outside after work to play in the yard. We were running down to the fence and back, and Emma wanted me to hold her hand while we ran. Then she shouted in her loudest voice "Hey everybody! I'm holding hands with my Mama! Hey everybody! I'm running with my Mama!" She looked so happy and so proud to be running down the yard with me that my heart nearly melted right on the spot.

Embracing Change

2009-02-19T10:27:00.005-05:00

I'm now firmly entrenched in my third week of working full time again. I have to say that I feel much less stressed now that I'm not at home all the time. I always felt a little overwhelmed at the thought that the safety and health of three little people was my sole responsibility all day long, every single day. I know that probably seems silly because, after all, I longed for these babies. I mean, that responsibility is what I asked (begged) for. Somehow, though, I was not at all prepared for the intensity of the job. I am constantly terrified of missing some important sign of impending doom, and I never take typical toddler injuries in stride. A part of me knows that skinned knees and toes, head bonks and colds are just a normal part of life, but another part of me is always wondering what I could have done better to prevent them from happening. On the outside, I try to play it cool so that they aren't afraid, but it is hard to stifle my rising anxiety when I see blood or a big goose egg.

I know I need to get over the anxiety because it isn't good for me or them, but I feel much more comfortable knowing Mike is at home with them. He is much better at keeping calm when someone gets hurt. Plus, I figure he would know if an injury was serious, much better than I would.

I really love my new job. I love using a part of my brain that has remained dormant for so long while I beefed up the brain muscles necessary for mothering triplets. Sure, I used the work part of my brain some when I was working part-time, but it was more like rousing it out of a slumber two days a week, after which it ambled back into its corner to snooze again undisturbed. Now I feel like my work brain is awake and alive.

My friend Cherie just started working full time as well, and she said that she feels more balanced than she has in a long time. I feel that way too. I feel like finally the old me and the new me are playing nicely together, instead of being at constant odds with one another. And sometimes it feels nice to just accomplish something. I mean really complete something and have it be done, not to be redone again and again every few hours.

I do miss my sweet, funny babies. They like to jump around in the room I have set up with crib mattresses on the floor. I had hoped that it would be a nice quiet space for them to read and relax, and maybe move into once they were ready to leave the family bed. Of course they had other plans, and apparently we now have an entire room dedicated to being a bounce house. So, last week Mike was home with them as they jumped all around on the mattresses, and Ian must have skinned his toe on something or other. He was leaving little blood smears all over the place. When Ian finally noticed that he was bleeding, he told Mike that he had "sauce" on his toe. My sweet boo-boo bear.

SAHM No More

2009-02-06T19:17:00.002-05:00

Well this week I hung up my hat as a stay home Mommy and joined the ranks of the working mother. About a week after I was laid off, I heard about another potential job opportunity with the same company, on the same contract. The only catch was that it was a full time position. In today's economy, I just didn't feel like it was something I could pass up. Then began a two month trial of paperwork and log jams and red tape and just about any other term you can come up with for a whole lot of difficulty. I understand that there were a lot of things going on behind the scenes to make it all happen for me. It literally came down to the LAST minute, but the job is mine!!

I am beyond thrilled to have the opportunity to return to the same contract, and I even have the same manager (love that woman)! I am also incredibly touched and forever grateful for all of the efforts that went on behind the scenes to make sure I got the job. It feels so good to know that all of the hard work I put in didn't go unnoticed, and that I am viewed as a valuable employee and an asset to the company.

All of that being said, I really struggled with the thought of giving up my post as the captain of this here ship at home. But, the truth is, as much as I hate to admit it, I LOVE working. I feel like a world of stress and anxiety has been lifted from my shoulders. I'm sleeping better than I have since before I was pregnant and enjoying my time with the kids much more than I did when I was home with them everyday.

Maybe I just function better as a working mom. It really wasn't what I thought I wanted for me or for them, and that is what is going to be difficult for me to accept. I feel disappointed every time I compromise what I thought was best for us. I hate feeling like I haven't lived up to my parenting ideals, and I have a hard time accepting deviation from my goals, even when things turn out better for it! But, does anyone really live up to their mothering expectations? Why are we so hard on ourselves as mothers? Why are we always striving to be the everything to everyone?

My Secret Life

2009-01-23T18:41:00.002-05:00

In my secret life, I'm a rockstar. No, really. I'm the singer in a rock band. Or, well, I'm a singer in Rock Band. My band mates and I get together and, well I don't want to brag or anything, but we seriously rock. Throw anything at us, and we can take it.

I cannot describe how good it feels to have my avatar up there on that stage working the crowd up into a frenzy with her fantastic vocal stylings. And what can I say about my band mates? I mean, better musicians cannot be found. And my band mates are not the kids. They are two other rockin' awesome grown ups. I don't know if they are having as much fun as I am, but I really hope so!

Drives Me Crazy!

2009-01-17T08:22:00.002-05:00

My trio have devised a new plan to make me insane, and I honestly don't know what to do about it. Here's the scenario. One or two of them will be completely adamant about something. And it can be something silly, like "Mommy sing too!" Then, as soon as I start singing, whichever ones didn't ask for the singing become equally adamant that I NOT sing. And no matter what I do, sing or not, someone has a complete screaming fit. Now repeat about 500 times a day, over any trivial matter you can imagine.

I've tried "I'll sing this time, and then next time I won't sing," but that doesn't seem to help at all.

When they fight over a toy, we use a timer to take turns. I set it for anywhere between 2-5 minutes and when it beeps then the next person has a turn. I had to build up to that one, and at first I had to count to 10, then switch, until they got the idea. Then I moved to the timer. I'm wondering if maybe I need to use a timer for these other conflicts we are having. But between using the timer for timeout and sharing, and then if I add this behavior to the timer, our house will be beeping all day long.

To end on a positive note, they have gotten very inquisitive lately. I love when they point to something and say "What's that?" or when they say "What's that sound?" when they hear something unfamiliar.

And some pics. Don't let the cuteness fool you!

This one is from last night. They were lying in the floor watching Funny Monkey (Curious George), again! Ian is a big boy and doing his breathing treatment all by himself!

I put the chairs across the opening between the kitchen and the family room to keep Roomba confined to the kitchen (it comes with an invisible wall thinger, but I didn't have batteries for it yet). They took the opportunity to make a train.

Visual Aids

2009-01-06T18:35:00.003-05:00

It has been a while since I posted any pics, so here are my little ones in all of their glory.

Ian

He picked out these PJs all by himself, then added the hat.

Maddie

This is a true representation of Maddie. She almost always has some food on her face. You can wipe it away, but it always comes right back.

Emma

Ian helped her pick these out.

Hi, I'm Your New Neighbor

2009-01-05T20:10:00.003-05:00

We live on a pretty big piece of land out here in horse country, but there are two houses relatively close to ours. Our three houses make a little row between an equestrian center on side and a small wooded area on the other. Here is how I met these two neighbors.

1. The Sunday before Christmas, we were in full cleaning mode at the house. I was decked out in my best cleaning attire: sweat pants, ratty t-shirt, hair pushed back out of my face with a headband that makes my bangs literally stick straight up in the air. To add to the festivities of the day, we had to disassemble the vacuum cleaner and dis-impact its bowels before reassembling it and continuing on with our cleaning mission. By the afternoon Mike and I were both filthy, but the house was blessedly clean.

Just before dinner, the doorbell rang. Emma went into an immediate screaming fit being that she is "scared of people" as she says. Maddie was happily sitting in her chair eating some dinner. Ian had a poopy diaper that Mike was attending to. This is the state of things in our house as I open the door to greet the neighbors. They were very sweet and have two beautiful 6 year old boys, one of whom sang a lovely Christmas song as I opened the door. I'd love to tell you what song it was, but it was barely audible over the sound of Emma screaming. They introduced themselves, brought us a really sweet Christmas present and welcomed us to the neighborhood.

As I opened the door to introduce my family, or at least the girls, who were the only ones visible, I remembered that they were wearing their game day Redskins uniforms, which look to anyone else like Halloween costumes. I quickly introduce Emma and Maddie because Ian is still having his diaper changed, then closed the door.

I was so embarrassed about how I looked, that Emma just screamed like a banshee the whole time, and that my kids seemed to be dressed in Halloween costumes in mid December. At least the house was clean, right?

2. This introduction happened just this evening. I went out to the garage to get the Curious George movie out of the car (great movie, BTW). Ian and Maddie were mad that I left the room and followed me to the door, then closed it. As soon as I heard that click, I knew we were in trouble. I was locked out of the house with three screaming toddlers inside. The doors to this house lock behind you, and even though I have told myself a thousand times to hide a key outside I hadn't done it yet.

I had no jacket and no shoes on. At first I yanked the screen out of one of the windows and tried to get in that way, but with no luck. I'm crazy meticulous about locking the windows. So I ran to the other neighbor's house in my sock feet, introduced myself, explained the situation, and then asked if I used her phone to call my parents. My mom sent my dad, and called my sister, who lives closer. I waited an eternity outside the front door watching Ian and Emma just cry and cry for me. Maddie, unruffled by the goings-on, was sitting in a chair watching the evening news.

My neighbor was so nice and stayed with me the whole time. She offered me shoes and a jacket, but I declined. Honestly I was so hot with anxiety about everything that I was sweating!

My sister showed up about one second before my dad did. She pulls a crowbar and pickax out of her truck and heads to the garage door, which is the only one non dead-bolted at the moment. But before she tries braun, she pulls out her driver's license and tries to get the door open burglar style. It totally worked!!! I was SO happy to be back inside!

An that is how I met the neighbors. There is never a dull moment here!

Back in Blog

2009-01-04T15:45:00.002-05:00

It feels like I haven't blogged in forever, and although it hasn't been that long I have very much missed my blog time. We have been busy with one thing or another since we moved, and now 2009 is upon us and in just about a week or so, we'll be the parents of three 2 and a half year olds, which makes us a mere 6 months away from parenting 3 year olds. How that much time has passed since we had our sweet little mostly 4 pounders in July 2006 is really just beyond me.

I feel I am really lacking on details about the trio, and because this forum is not only an outlet for me, but also a virtual baby book of sorts I really feel the need to bring it up to date on the goings on around our house.

Emma

We have one very sassy little monkey on our hands with Emma. I feel the need to start with her because she is the ringleader of our group. The smallest, the last born, the one who didn't even have a heartbeat at our first sonogram is now running the show. We call her the TD, otherwise known as the Tiny Dictator.

For the last four or five days she has taken to wearing her winter hat all the time, except while sleeping or bathing. She also has to wear a jacket (sweater) all the time. Something about that hat brings her some sort of comfort and safety because when she is scared (the repairman came to fix our fridge) or sick (we've all had horrible colds), she feels best when she has her hat on. Add the jacket, duck blanket and lamby, and she's on the way to feeling better.

She has developed a fear of hippos, and has to have me assure her at least five to ten times each night that there are no hippos in our house, no baby hippos and no big hippos, no hippos in the bed and no hippos hiding under the pillow.

She talks all the time about everything you can imagine, but mostly she likes to give orders. We're steadily working on her "please" and "thank you" routines, but this child is a work in progress. My sister Amy came over to play with us one day when it was nice and warm out. We were running around the yard and playing on our slide. Emma just figured out how to climb the ladder by herself. She went up a couple of times on her own and slid down with Amy cheering her on. Then she pulled out the drama by pretending she couldn't get up the ladder alone anymore. Amy said "You can do it!", to which Emma responded "No, you CAN help me!" That's our Emma.

Maddie

Maddie is so very sweet and funny and very silly. She loves to sing, read books and laugh. She reads Brown Bear and Polar Bear every night. She can turn the pages and tell the story all by herself. She's getting close to knowing all of the words to Mr. Brown Can Moo Can You as well. She loves to sing and can be heard throughout the day singing to herself as she plays. She knows all the words to Frosty the Snowman, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and some favorite tunes from Dora, Diego, and her favorite, Wonder Pets.

She is definitely our most routine dependent child, and likes for things to be just so. If things aren't too her liking, look out! She definitely has her mother's temper! When she is at her most content, she is a sweet and snuggly girl, who still carries around Mike's shirts all day long.

She is a bit of a motor mouth as well, and I really can't imagine where they get that from. Her favorite thing to say is "That's so silly!"

Ian

My sweet boo-boo bear. Ian is really just a little darling. He is very easy going, which is a good thing considering that he has to keep up with those two sisters all the time. He is very much into cars and trucks and anything that goes vroom-vroom. He loves trains and helicopters and airplanes. But, he's also very much in touch with his feminine side. He has a pink blanket and he loves to watch My Little Pony.

He is nearly weaned now, only nursing for about a minute or so at night before bed. On one hand I feel really ready to be done, but I know when he is finally done for good I'll miss this special part of our relationship.

He is doing really well with his breathing treatments. The Pulmicort really seems to be helping. The first chest cold he had after starting Pulmicort, we only had to give him one dose of Albuterol. He is in the midst of his second chest cold, and so far he's done great! His breathing has been fine, and he hasn't needed any Albuterol at all! That is a massive improvement over all of the other times he has been sick since getting RSV last Christmas.

He is quite talkative himself, but not on the same level as the girls. One of our favorite games is to talk about what would be in the trucks we would drive. For instance, I'll say that I drive a truck full of chickens. Then he'll say he drives a truck full of cows. Then we just start filling the trucks full of nonsense like bubbles, stinky socks, candy or balloons.

Ian has developed a fear of doggies, and I have to spend as much time reassuring him that there are no doggies as I have to spend telling Emma there are no hippos.

Where To Start?

2008-12-06T09:01:00.003-05:00

Really, I'm not sure where. I guess I'll start with my own stuff and then meander around a bit, hopefully remembering everything I wanted to write about. I got laid off from my job on Tuesday. I'm really feeling much better about things than I was when I first got the call, but honestly I'm still struggling here sometimes. Yesterday, we took Ian to the new pediatrician for a well visit to just get to know one another. When I was filling out the forms, I realized I have never had to put "N/A" in the blank for my employer. Well, not since I was about 15 and started working in my grandfather's flower shop on the weekends.

I know my job was only part-time, and I am not the primary breadwinner for our family, but we really do depend on that money. l have heard much scarier and sadder stories just from this round of layoffs at our company, not to mention what is happening to so many other hard working people out of jobs all over the country right now. I have to say, though, that I understand how these things happen. Our company underwent a merger, and people just had to go. I'm really not at all upset with my company or my managers. I am deeply saddened because I really loved my job and the people I worked with. You know that saying that 20% of the workforce does 80% of the work? I never felt like that was the case at this company. It felt great to be a part of such a smart and hardworking team.

I'm really trying to look at this situation as an indicator that my life is just meant to take a different path right now. I want to have faith that God will take care of us, like He always has. I want to be optimistic about what is to come for us. But in reality I'm feeling pretty scared and pretty crushed right now. Part of me wants to just wallow around in my own little pity party, and part of me wants to take this opportunity to make some changes in my life. When, if not now?

I am worried about losing my great reason for getting out of the house a couple of days a week. It was easy to assuage the mommy guilt when I knew that my income was needed. Now I feel a bit claustrophobic when I think of all the days piling up with no real reason to get out and give myself a break. I really, really looked forward to my work days. And, not only did working give me a break from home life, but it also allowed me to feel like my old self again. I feel like so much of me just died off or went into hiding when the triplets were born that I couldn't even get in touch with my old self again. But, when I went back to work, that was the one place where all that I was before I was Mommy was alive and well again. I can't describe how good it felt to just be Kelly, and not the-one-with-the-triplets, or Mommy. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade those titles for the world, but sometimes it is easy to lose yourself when you are always being defined by your relationships to others.

Please, please keep us in your prayers or send us some positive thoughts. I feel like there is something out there for me. I just hope that I am paying attention at the right time and courageous enough to follow through when I find it.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

2008-11-28T20:03:00.002-05:00

We had great Thanksgiving yesterday! We hosted here, in our new home, and it was just so beautiful and wonderful and special for me. I cheated on the meal, and split the cooking with my Mom. She made the turkey and some of the sides, and I made the rest. Everything came together and was simply delicious.

On Monday, Mike and his Dad brought over his grandmother's dining room table, which has been in storage for a few years. It is a gorgeous table, and it means so much to us that we can enjoy it in our home too. My grandmother gave me two beautiful prints that came out of her dining room. We hung them on the wall, and they looked just amazing next to the table. I could not be more pleased with that room and all of the love behind each piece. We've never had a real dining room before because in our last townhouse, we used the dining room as a playroom. Yesterday, it felt just homey and right setting the dining room table full of our china and all of the delicious food. The kids loved having so many people around to hold them, feed them and spoil them.

This year, in particular, I feel incredibly thankful for all that the good Lord has done for us. He took care of us recently in a way that was so profound and perfectly timed. I know that He is watching over us and keeping His loving arms of protection around us at all times.

Lastly, I'd like to say that I am missing my grandma very much this time of year. She passed away 15 years ago this past November 19th. She was one of the most loving and kind women I have ever encountered, and I feel especially blessed that she took the time to care for me in her special way when I was just a tiny infant and as I grew into a young woman. Loving you and missing you always, Grandma!

Rewind - Halloween!

2008-11-23T23:01:00.003-05:00

I just realized I never made a Halloween post, so here it is. At least I got it out before Thanksgiving. I had written earlier about my apprehension about how our peanut allergies were going to inhibit our trick or treating fun, but our neighborhood had a great program where folks signed up to give out non-food treats. I was equipped with my list of addresses where one could procure such treats, three cute toddlers dressed for the occasion, three epi-pens, one choo choo wagon, extra blankets, pants and jackets for cold weather, one great friend and her family. I thought we were prepared.

What I was not prepared for, however, was how strongly Emma would object to the entire experience. The poor child hated trick or treating. She cried the entire time. The. Entire. Time. She only went to the door of one house, and after that I just didn't have the heart to make her try it again. Maddie, on the other hand, loved trick or treating! She said "more house, more treat!" Ian was a little overwhelmed by the whole thing, but he seemed to like getting the treats.

So here they are enjoying Halloween, or not.

We're Here!

2008-11-19T15:14:00.002-05:00

I have so much to blog about that my mind goes completely blank when I think of how to begin. So, I'll just begin with the obvious, we've moved! We are mostly unpacked, but still have a couple of things in boxes. So far I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our new home! We are out in the country a bit, and that has taken some getting used to; but we are close to both sets of parents or grandparents, depending on how you look at it!

We hired movers, and used Hilldrup. They were fantastic, and I'd highly recommend hiring them if you have a move in your future.

Other quick things that I want to mention:

We had a few flurries here yesterday! Is it that time of year again, already?

The kids have had a huge language explosion lately, and are regularly saying 6-7 word sentences with a couple of 11-12 word sentences thrown in there. Ian, in particular, has stunned me lately. They also say the funniest things lately. They have really gotten to be so entertaining.

In just the past few days, they have learned how to climb into their highchairs by themselves. We have wooden restaurant highchairs, and I'm partly proud and partly terrified every time they climb up into them.

Lastly, I think I might be completely crazy for thinking that we are going to host Thanksgiving here this year. Wish me luck on that one!!

Super Fast Update, Just for Charlotte

2008-10-29T22:39:00.003-04:00

I only have a few minutes to post, but I wanted to post a quick update on us. We are busy packing while the little ones unpack everything we put into boxes. They are also decorating all of the boxes with lovely crayon scribbles. The movers won't have any trouble finding which boxes are ours! We have also been purging like crazy. We've been donating things left and right and have made several trips to Goodwill with our monster SUV filled to capacity. I hope everything we have donated finds a good home. It was hard to part with some of the baby things, and although I hope we will have more children, that small glimmer of longing wasn't enough to justify moving so much stuff.

Tomorrow is the BIG day! We're closing on our first home! I'm am beyond excited!! I just cannot wait until those keys are in our hands, and the house we love so much is ours.

Here are some recent pics of the crew.

Helping Mommy make cookies:

Wearing their "baseball clothes" on game day.

Baby Take MY Toys!

2008-10-20T11:06:00.003-04:00

We are, to borrow a phrase from FLYlady, flinging, like crazy as we prepare for our move. We've made more trips to Goodwill already than I care to admit; but yesterday, out of exhaustion and desperation, we just started piling stuff up by the trash can for trash day today.

This morning, much to our delight, some of our neighbors came by to check out the things were were tossing. We were thrilled that someone wanted to take them! The kidlets, however, not so much. Maddie was banging on the front window crying "MY toys! MY toys!" and "Baby take MY toys!" Then the other two joined in on the act. It was an all out riot of toy-stealing hysterics. Mike, between fits of laughter, finally explained somewhat successfully, that it was okay, and how proud he was of them for sharing their toys.

Sometimes you really just cannot guess what kind of antics they will come up with.

The Monkey Mystery Solved!

2008-10-10T11:46:00.004-04:00

I guess I should have added a little more info about the monkey in my last post. It is really nothing exciting. Every once in a while, Mike's brother gets the opportunity to help care for a baby monkey. I think this is maybe the 3rd or 4th monkey he's had in his care. The babies are thrilled at the sight of a little monkey. Apparently this one pooped the last time they were there visiting because I hear "Monkey pooped! Ewwwww, gross!" about 20 times a day.

This Is Really Happening!

2008-10-07T21:56:00.004-04:00

It is slowly dawning on me that we REALLY are moving. Mike got his official offer letter on the new job. Things are moving along wonderfully with the new house so far. We are packing up our home, changing our address, switching our utilities, and figuring out where we want our things to go in the new house. I'm getting excited!

And because I haven't posted some in a while, here are some pics and a video.

My little apple eaters

Maddie getting into the spirit of Halloween a little early

Me, snuggling a tiny baby monkey

Note the preemie diapers. Our babies used to wear diapers that size!

Hugs, Triplet Style

Good News About Halloween!

2008-10-05T21:39:00.003-04:00

I just found out that our neighborhood is offering a voluntary "non-food" treat option for kids with food allergies or for parents who don't want their kids to get so many sweets. If you want to offer a non-food treat, you let the HOA know. Then they send out a cute little indicator that you put in your window on Halloween to let trick or treaters know you are offering the non-food treat. Then they also send a list of the homes participating to those who are interested. Yay! I feel so relieved. Now we really can have the full Halloween experience.

A couple of side notes on peanut allergies:

1. Red Robin has a GREAT allergy menu. You just have to ask for it. I asked if I could take one home, and they even put it together in a little folder with a page in the back for my notes. And they update the list every month, so all you do is go in and ask for the update and they replace the old information with the new. I lurves me some Red Robin!

2. Pizza Hut's pizza sauce came up as a no-no on their website for folks with peanut allergies. I would never have guessed that one! Dominoes and Papa John's are both okay, but Pizza Hut - nope! To me it just reinforces the fact that you have to check the labels on EVERYTHING because you really never can tell. Thankfully one of the new Toscani Pastas from Pizza Hut (the bacon mac and cheese) was safe for them to eat.

Halloween and Peanut Allergies

2008-10-03T11:02:00.002-04:00

As Halloween is approaching, I'm once again contemplating how the peanut allergy will affect our lives. I would obviously have to go through all of the candy, and to be honest, I'd probably either throw most (if not all) of it out or give it to someone. Partly because they don't really need candy, and partly because so much candy contains peanuts or peanut products or was produced on machinery that also produces peanuts. And even those piecees that are peanut free would be co-mingling in the bag with all of those other peanuty products.

Then there is the issue of who holds the candy bag while trick-or-treating. I was thinking that this year they could hold their own little Halloween bags, but now I'm not so sure that is a good idea. I know I've seen plenty of bags of candy that have gotten a little melty and oozed a bit, or have had a rouge piece in there that broke free of its wrapper and lolled about in the bag rubbing it's chocolatey goodness (or peanuty badness) all over the other pieces.

And therein lies the problem. If they hold their own bags, what if they come in contact with some rouge piece of peanuty confection? Maddie's exposure, as far as we know, was a hand contact exposure. What if they put it in their mouths!?! I shudder to think! I like to think that I will be watching them so closely it wouldn't happen, but if I learned anything it is that you NEVER know what they can do, in one second, with your back turned.

But, if they don't hold their own bags, will I feel like they are missing out? Maybe it doesn't really matter now at age 2, but what about next year? Do 3 year olds really understand what they can and can't have? Do 4 year olds? Do 5 year olds? Is it my responsibility to make sure no peanut products make their way into the bag, even this year? How do I do that other than collecting the candy myself? Or do we do what we did last year and just not get candy at all? And even so, I'm going to eventually have to come up with a solution to this problem. Anyone have any suggestions? I hate, hate, hate peanut allergies!

My Sweet Boy

2008-09-29T10:44:00.003-04:00

I wanted to upload this pic with my last post, but didn't get around to it. So here's my sweet Ian in his very own post.

I Want A New Drug

2008-09-26T09:55:00.002-04:00

All the kids got sick this past weekend, and just as it has happened since he had RSV last Christmas, Ian started having fast breathing and belly breathing on Wednesday. We gave him his nebulizer treatments, stayed up all night, and decided to go back to the doctor to find out why this is happening every time he gets a cold and what we can do about it.

It turned out to be a great appointment. We saw the same doctor Ian saw for his ER follow-up with RSV. He thought that we should put Ian on some preventative medicine to try to keep colds from spiraling down into breathing difficulties every time. I always feel comforted when the doctors have been through something similar with their kids. The doc also said that Ian might outgrow the breathing problems associated with colds by the time he is 4, but if he doesn't then we are looking at a life-long asthma condition.

I just feel much better that we are doing something to help Ian handle colds better. I know they are a normal part of being a kid, but it is heartbreaking to see him struggle to breath every time he gets sick. The plan is to give him a steroid neb treatment twice a day, every day, for the next 6 months to get him through the cold/flu season. Then we'll re-evaluate. There is also one more med that we can add if the current treatment doesn't seem to be helping, and we can still use albuterol for acute symptoms. Maybe now I'll feel more confident about taking them out and getting them exposed to germs?

After the doctor's appointment, I took Ian to the grocery store to have his script filled at the pharmacy. While we waited, he walked me all around the store looking at everything. He told me all about the balloons, apples, bananas, pumpkins and lights. After our trip around the store, we bought some blueberry muffins, I grabbed a coffee from Starbucks, and we sat in the Starbucks area eating "treat" while I drank my coffee. He was just so cute! And he was such a sweet and good boy the whole time. He didn't fuss or cry or whine at all. He smiled and giggled, ate his muffin and even helped me clean up the crumbly muffin mess we left behind. I was amazed at how good it felt to be able to focus all of my attention just on Ian.

To get one-on-one time, I always take one to the grocery store with me when I do the shopping and when Mike is able to stay home with the other two. But somehow this was different because I wasn't so distracted by trying to get the shopping done. This time it was just the two of us, enjoying each other's company and undivided attention. I'm thinking now that I'm going to add this Starbucks and treat ritual to our shopping trips every time.

Perfectionism

2008-09-19T12:41:00.004-04:00

I'm not even really sure where to start with this post. This one's about me. I am, at this very moment, feeling completely overwhelmed. I hate feeling this way. I've now gotten to the point that I feel so overwhelmed that instead of just picking something small and getting started on all that I have to do, I'm ignoring everything and freezing up.

So here's my attempt to unfreeze myself by unfettering myself of all of my worries. Here they are, in no particular order and, for that matter, making no particular sense.

We're moving in 8 weeks.

We're buying our first home.

The lending industry is in complete turmoil, and I'm afraid of what that means for us.

Our current abode is overstuffed with junk.

The weather is getting chillier, and I have no idea where the fall clothes are for the trio.

I'm keeping my job, but instead of going into the office, I'll probably be working from home.

Ian is not sleeping well and is driving me crazy.

Mike is getting impatient with me because although I very much want to move, I am still stressed by it.

I'm nervous about how the kidlets will react to the move.

I'm running out of ideas for how to entertain the kidlets during the day, and we are all getting bored.

I feel scared because I don't feel in control of what is going on right now.

I'm sad to be leaving my friends here.

There are PLENTY of things that I'm excited about too. I LOVE our new house. I love, love, love it!! We are moving back closer to family, and I am thrilled at the thought of having some help and being able to spend more time with our families. I am BEYOND thrilled that we will be there for the holidays this year. But still, and this is where my crazy, perfectionist brain is such a brat, I feel like maybe I'm a failure because I want to move back home.

I have been pretty actively working on my perfectionism lately. I've been giving FLYlady a try. I looked at the website a few years back, and thought NO WAY could I do it. But, I've been taking baby steps and trying to accept setbacks as they come. I do feel like I'm eliminating chaos from our home and improving a little bit everyday. Actually, it was an email from FLYlady today that prompted me to write this post.

I really have such a hard time shutting off my perfectionist brain. I feel so uptight right now because of our move and home purchase. I feel like I have to stay on top of everything and keep every little detail in my head or we're doomed for failure. But, really, the truth is, I'm not an irresponsible person. I have a good team of people around me now to help me through the process. My aunt is our realtor, so I trust her to let me know if I'm missing something. I also trust myself to call her when I have a question and not worry about feeling stupid.

Then, why can't I just relax, let go of my perfectionism, trust those around me, and have faith that everything is going to work out just right? Why do I feel like I have to control everything?

First Finger Painting - Updated

2008-09-05T18:42:00.008-04:00

In my never ending quest to find something new and interesting for the trio to try, we dove right into the world of finger painting last week. The results were great and amusing. So far they have loved finger painting far more than coloring or play-doh.

***Update***

Okay, the first time I made a slideshow to go with this post, I used Slide.com. I used to use One True Media, but they must have done away with their slideshow feature and now only have the montage feature available. I really wanted a slideshow and not a montage. Enter slide.com. After getting the slideshow all done and posting it, I realized only the first 4 or 5 pictures showed up in the slideshow, then you had to click to go to their site to see the rest. Maybe I did something wrong, but that isn't what I wanted. So now I'm deleting the Slide.com crappy, mini, 4 slide slideshow for a One True Media montage. Any suggestions on a GOOD slideshow website?

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Preemie Brain

2008-09-05T14:19:00.004-04:00

As the fall approaches and we are now past the 2 year mark and all officially caught up with full termers, I find myself unable to shake what I call my preemie brain.

On one hand, Mike and I are already looking forward to all of the fun fall and winter festivals, activities and holidays that we can finally share with our children and our families. Some of our family members have never met our trio! One part of me is beyond excited to get out there and be, well, normal.

But there is a part of me that is utterly terrified. My preemie brain still sees October as the time of year when a dark cloud of potential illness settles over our home and doesn't lift until April when RSV season is over. This is how we have lived for the past two years. This is the only way we know how to do fall and winter with children. You keep them home and safe and away from all sickness in hopes that RSV will not darken your doorway.

The craziest part of this thinking is that we DID get RSV last year. Even though we took every precaution, we still got it. And, even though Ian spent half of Christmas day in the hospital and gave me a couple of scares for the next few days, everyone really did turn out just fine. We survived it. We beat it!

So, why can I not turn off my preemie brain? Does preemie brain ever go away? Why do I still feel a flutter of panic in my chest when I glance at the calendar and see "OCTOBER" lurking there at the bottom just waiting to spring pestilence and plague upon us?

Blogging Mama Meet-up

2008-09-03T14:39:00.006-04:00

Yesterday I had the great honor of meeting up with Karen again, who organized our crazy triplet picnic, and with Keira from Tripled Pink. Lucky for me, we met up near where my parents live, so I had sufficient childcare to spend the afternoon eating lunch and chatting away with these two amazing triplet mamas.

We talked about everything from infertility struggles, to fertility treatments, to our high order multiples and high risk pregnancies. We talked about the struggle, joy, trauma, triumph and grief of our lives. It felt like we could have gone on talking until the whole place shut down and they kicked us out, and even then I would have begged to stay.

The whole day was truly a joy for me, and I can only hope that Karen and Keira got as much fun and fulfimment out of it as I did.

p.s. Karen said I needed to update my profile picture because I don't look like the old one. So, I cropped those two lovely ladies out and used myself from this pic as my new one. It is hard for me to find a picture of myself that I find halfway decent. What do y'all think of the new one? Does it look like me?

Edited to add: The only thing that would have made the day better was if Jessica had been able to make it! I can't believe I forgot to add that the first time.

And Chaos Ensued

2008-09-03T14:23:00.006-04:00

I really don't know any better way to describe the tremdous fun we had at a triplet family picnic that Karen. who used to pen My Perky Ovaries, organized for local triplet families a couple of weekends back. Twelve triplet families showed up, and it was utter madness. It was, multiple madness, if you will.

For me, our trip to the picnic came with an extra bonus. Ian had the sniffles, so he stayed home with Mike. Since Emma has such bad stranger anxiety these days, we decided to let her stay home too (although I think eventually she would have loved it). In the end, only Maddie and I made it to the picnic. It was really nice to have a morning to spend alone with Maddie, well and 30-some other children. She and I had a great time playing at the park where the picnic was held.

It was one of our first outings where there were going to be alot of other people and children around, and I felt very nervous about our peanut allergy situation. Our picnic items were peanut and tree nut free, but I felt afraid of what other folks and their kids might be eating. And really, I'm not all that afraid that a stranger will give her something that she's not supposed to have, but I am afraid that some peanut butter will be smeared somewhere from a messy little eater and she'll get into it. I guess, though, really there is no way to prevent that from happening. We just have to go out there and live our lives and hope for the best. Still, I put a nametag sticker on the front of her dress that said "I have a peanut allergy." and for good measure, I put one on the back of her dress too. I really think it probably looked more like a sticker saying "I have a paranoid Mom."

As part of the picnic festivities, we got a group picture. I'm a little sad that my entire trio wasn't there to be included. Even without my extra two, it was about the crazieest picture I've ever been a part of. Maddie and I in the middle, sitting on the ground in front of the bench.

A Few Things

2008-08-28T13:16:00.004-04:00

Here are some snippets of the goings-on in our house lately:

Map Hole

One of our Kai (Dora) DVDs has a part where the map has a hole in it. I'm not even sure which DVD it is, and I haven't watched the entire episode to see what becomes of the hole; but Maddie endlessly upset by it. At least 20 times a day, she comes over to me all concerned and repeats "Map hole!" about a bazillion times. Every time I repeat back to her that it is sad/upsetting/worrisome that the map has a hole, but that she shouldn't worry because it was all fixed, the hole has gone bye-bye and the map is all better. This kind of concern has only been rivaled by the balloon that the neighbors let go in their backyard, and my trio witnessed. For weeks and weeks, maybe even months, we could not go into the backyard without someone repeating "Balloon BACK!!" over and over in a panicked voice.

My Little Diva

Okay, this is another Maddie story. I wrote about it on Twitter, but feel it deserves more attention. Maddie is SO me. She really is her mother's daughter. I am an attention hog. I know it. There is nothing I love better than a stage and a live audience. I have rarely experienced a more thrilling feeling than when performing. Heck, just take me out for karaoke and I'm happy! I used to pretend perform all the time as a kid for as long as I can remember. Anwhoo, so back to Maddie. Last night she did something that is SO me, I nearly died. We have a hearth gate at the bottom of our stairs, that has a few stationary sections and a door in the middle. So this evening, the gate door had been left unlatched. Well, Miss Maddie took this opportunity to have herself a little show. She threw the door open, stepped through in grand style, shouted "TA DA!!", and flung her chubby little arms arms up in the air above her head. Then she did it again, and again and again. At first, I couldn't see her because I was in the kitchen, but it sounded like she was having so much fun in there that I had to see what she was doing. When I saw her in action I nearly fell over laughing. I love my sweet little diva!

Emmy

Emma has taken to calling herself "Emmy." She will say "Mama kiss Emmy arm." or "Mama get Emmy paci." She has also been saying some pretty long sentences, like "Come on guys, wait a (for) me!" or "Come on guys, come a (with) me!" Actually she says "come on" quite a bit throughout the course of the day. She is a real chatterbox, that Emmy.

Counting

Ian has been counting more and more lately. He really likes to count the wheels on vehicles, big trucks and buses being his very favorites. However, almost everything has 6 wheels, no matter how many wheels it actually has.

Mission Possible?

We had the most wonderful outing the other day with NO strollers. Mike and I had to run a couple of errands. We needed to stop at two stores and we only needed a few items in each store. When we got to the first one, we thought we'd see if the trio would walk in with us, holding our hands. It totally worked! Emma wanted to be held while in the store, but the other two held my hands the whole time and we walked all around with no problems. It was so amazing. Granted, it was the pet store and there were lots of things to see. They loved it.

Then they all held hands back out to the car. The next store was Michaels, so not nearly as cool for them. But to our surprise they did great again. We did have a bit of a meltdown waiting in line to check out. One of ladies waiting in line said "Are they triplets?" and when I said "Yes they are." I could hear the mumblings and gasps spread through the check out lines. I really don't know what anyone actually said because I was trying to keep Maddie from bolting for the door (she's our runner, apparently). Ian actually waited patiently in his spot next to Mike for me to round Maddie up, and took my hand back when I returned. I can't even describe how free and, well, normal we felt!

Great Recipe!

2008-08-22T19:00:00.004-04:00

I don't know about yours, but my kidlets LOVE macaroni and cheese. I usually just make the boxed kind, but today wanted to try something different. I just made this Quick Macaroni and Cheese recipe from Simply Recipes, and it was awesome. It was fast to make, and all three of my picky, powdered cheese loving toddlers actually ate it and asked for more! I added more pasta and easily stretched the sauce with a few extra splashes of milk. This is such a great basic mac and cheese that so many yummy things can be added to it. I'm thinking cooked shredded chicken and broccoli next time. Enjoy!!

Summer Fun!

2008-08-20T21:16:00.003-04:00

I am trying to get better at taking pictures, so I had an impromptu photo session in the backyard. Some of them turned out just so dang cute that I had to share. They may not be great pictures, but the subjects couldn't be better.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ian Nursing: How We Got Here

2008-08-18T18:27:00.002-04:00

I've had a number of people ask me why Ian is the only one who nurses, so I thought I'd explain how we got here. If I've already covered this topic on the blog, please forgive me.

The short answer is that he is the only one who would latch. But, that's not entirely true, and nor does it encompass the complex circumstances that lead us to where we are today. I guess it really all started in the NICU. I never felt like I got very much breastfeeding support in the NICU. I really only tried a couple of times. Sometimes the nurses wouldn't even check to see if there was breastmilk in the fridge or freezer before giving the babies formula, despite multiple signs up at each isolette saying to always give breastmilk first. I found most of the lactation consultants to be brusk and impatient. It is hard to describe how helpless and powerless I felt in that kind of environment. Really, I wish I had been stronger and stood up for myself and my babies more, but I didn't. Then they came home.

I had the most incredible fortune of having two amazing women help me when my babies came home: Mike's Mom, who is a midwife and has coached many, many mothers and babies through their first foray into breastfeeding, and Mike's Aunt Trish, who breastfed all five of her children and was a LLL leader at one time. Both offered invaluable advice and encouragement as I struggled with trying to get all three to nurse.

Ian, as I mentioned, was a great nurser. From the first time he tried it, he was a champ! He was really meant to be a nurser. He was the S-L-O-W-E-S-T bottle drinker ever. We always had to take his pants off, and tickle his feet and head to keep him awake long enough to drink one. Sometimes I would feed him the first half, put him down, feed both girls, then come back and finish Ian's bottle. But, when he was nursing, he could stay on for an hour or more without falling asleep. When he was around 6 weeks old, I stopped giving him bottles at all and exclusively breastfed him.

Maddie HATED nursing. She just hated it. She screamed and screamed whenever I tried to nurse her. She would not latch. I tried a nipple shield for a while, but honestly she wore me out. She did latch pretty well for a short period of time at the height of her colicky phase and seemed to actually enjoy nursing. I probably should have encouraged her more to keep it up, but I didn't.

Emma was really quite a good little nurser. She wasn't the nursing champ that Ian was from the very first time on the breast, but with a little work she could latch and eat quite well. But, Emma had severe silent reflux for which she needed an apnea monitor. When she was re-hospitalized just after coming home from the NICU, her pulmonologist recommended thickening her feeds with Simply Thick to control her reflux. We did that whenever we gave her formula or pumped breastmilk, and it really was the best thing we did to control it. When she was nursing, however, there was obviously no thickener. She refluxed every time I nursed her. I just got scared, so I stopped nursing her.

Then I pumped for a while, but eventually I lost my pumping time when I no longer had help during the day. It was a difficult decision to move the girls to formula. I still sometimes feel guilty that I didn't try harder to nurse them, but I'm making my peace with it. They all three are obviously equally healthy and smart!

Tiger Poop Poop

2008-08-13T16:50:00.004-04:00

As my trio have started to gain an awareness of their bodily functions, some funny new behaviors have emerged. Emma never tells me that she has gone poop poop, but instead she tells me that someone/something else has. Several times it has been Maddie or Ian, but today it was a Little People tiger from the Noah's ark collection. Here's our conversation about it:

Emma: Tiger poop poop.
Me: Did the Tiger go poop?
Emma: Uh-huh.
Me: Would the Tiger like a new diaper?
Emma: Uh-huh. Tiger diapo.

In other news, the garden is coming along with some minor disruptions. Twice I've had a hornworm on one of my tomato plants. I couldn't get a good picture of the first, but I did get one of the second. Here's the dreaded hornworm in action.

They stayed away from the plant co-planted with basil, and both times attacked the other plant. They are really destructive in a short period of time, and for fun they are nocturnal. So now that I've defeated the hornworm twice, I've got black bottoms on my tomatoes. And again, it is only on the plant that doesn't share a pot with the basil. Time for more research! Next season, I'm definitely co-planting all tomato plants with basil.

Maddie is getting her molars, and they seem to be giving her a pretty hard time. She's grown even more attached to Mike's shirts and now has to have one with her everywhere. She has several styles of wearing them, but her favorite is what I like to call "Statue of Liberty style" as seen here:

And lastly, some more videos. One featuring shirt!

Thank YOU

2008-08-04T21:46:00.002-04:00

Thank you to everyone who has been so encouraging through the last few months. This is a long overdue thank you for all of the information and wisdom about our peanut allergy. I am feeling much more confident by arming myself with information and the experiences of others. I'm so grateful to all of the parents of children with peanut allergies who came before us and worked so hard for allergy awareness and better ingredient labeling.

Thank you for all of the encouragement in our weaning journey. I so often feel like I have no idea what I'm doing in this parenting journey!

Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers for my someone having a tough time. Right now things look like they are improving, so they are all very much appreciated.

Weaning Update

2008-08-04T21:12:00.002-04:00

My boy, my boy. My sweet, sweet baby boy. He still nurses before bed and when he wakes in the morning (but not before 6am), but not at all in between. I'm getting sleep! I'm getting actual, real, consecutive hours of sleep for the first time in at least 2 years and counting the pregnancy, nearly 3 years. Physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually I feel like a new person. I really don't even think that I realized how much the sleep deprivation had affected me.

I feel like I'm able to focus more on myself and my own needs now. I'm eating better (mostly), exercising, and drinking more water. I'm getting a shower everyday.

So, how'd we do it? Pretty much the same way I described before. I turned away from him once he was asleep the first time and popped him off if he was nursing for too long. I also introduced a lovey by giving him a little stuffed animal doggy to snuggle with at night. Mike, in a stroke of genius, fully animated him one night into a "Kipper" dog who dances, jumps and gives kisses. Now Ian loves his Kipper dog and nearly runs up the stairs before nap or bedtime to get him.

Honestly, though, as sad as it sounds, the hand, foot and mouth disease probably really helped things along. The mouth sores made it too painful for him to nurse very much. My poor bub. He was really quite miserable.

It was a little rough at times, and there was more crying than I would have liked; but I'm glad we did it. Mike did alot of night comforting to give me a break while Ian was adjusting, and now those two have such a great bond. In fact, when Mike is home, Ian wants him to do everything. Only Daddy can put him in his chair, bring him his cup, get him in and out of the car, etc. You really gotta love two year olds and their opinions!

So that's the story of our night weaning. A chapter of our lives are over, and I'm okay with that. I'm proud of myself for making it as long as we did.

Cute in Motion

2008-08-03T19:52:00.004-04:00

Until I get around to posting a real update, here are some videos.

Tickle or Tackle?

Decision 2008

Peeky-Boo

Emma Dancing

Oh and some pictures too.

This week Maddie decided she wanted to take her naps in the Kai (Dora) bed like a big girl. I have no idea what changed her mind. They have mostly been using the Kai bed as a launching pad for sonic jumps across the room. Edited to add that in the pic you can see that she sleeps with not one, not two, but three of Mike's shirts.

The other two, however, are happy to take over my side of the bed, including my pillow.

Two Year Appointments

2008-08-01T10:39:00.003-04:00

We had our two year appointments over three different days since last Thursday. I decided to do them one at a time instead of all together so that I could have a chance to actually hear what the doctor had to say and so that Mike and I could get some alone time with each of our little monkeys. Mike's sister, Shelly, came up to stay with the other two so that Mike and I could go to each appointment together.

For some reason, I got little stickers with their stats for Emma and Maddie, but not for Ian. Different nurses do different things, I guess. Anyway, all I can remember are their weights, so I'll share those.

Ian - 26 lbs 8 oz
Maddie - 26 lbs (I'm pretty sure this is wrong because she wouldn't stay on the scales and my arms tell me she weighs more than Ian)
Emma - 24 lbs

They are three nice, healthy babies! That's what we learned. No concerns at all. Maddie still tip-toe walks, especially on her left foot, but they said that was pretty normal for at least another year. Otherwise, they are doing great. Emma screamed pretty much the whole time during her appointment, but she's still working through her stranger anxiety stage.

They all three got the MMR vaccine, which we had delayed from the 15 month appointment. They did just fine and were smiling again a few seconds after it was given.

The sweetest thing happened when we left the last appointment, Maddie's appointment. As soon as Maddie walked out of the doctor's office, she said "Ian, Toots (what they call Emma now), home!" My heart nearly melted with love in that moment knowing that she missed her brother and sister and couldn't wait to get home to see them.

Oh, and now that we are two, we are DONE with RSV season isolation! Whoo hoo! Yippee! Yahoo! Yee-haw!

Bad Blogger

2008-07-30T11:14:00.002-04:00

I have so many things I want to blog about, but we've been a little crazy here lately. Anyway, here's a quick and dirty version of upcoming blog posts I've promised myself to write:

1. Weaning update - he's nightweaned!!!

2. Two year appts - 2 down, 1 to go.

3. Funny things they say these days - "Come on guys!" (Emma)

4. Our new toys - choo choo wagon!

5. Birthday party montage

There are some other things going on too that I can't blog about, but ask that if anyone is the praying type to say some prayers for someone having a tough time. Any good thoughts or positive energy is also really appreciated for those who aren't the praying type. :) Thanks!

Genius

2008-07-21T16:07:00.003-04:00

I will NEVER give out my real email address again!!

http://10minutemail.com/10MinuteMail/

Eating My Words

2008-07-17T21:29:00.002-04:00

Dear Crazy Coupon Lady,

Please accept my humblest apologies. I must now admit that I have joined your ranks. I have even purchased a coupon organizer. It is hard to describe the thrill I get when I see that total drop on the checkout screen. Oh how the high and mighty have fallen.

Kelly the Coupon Lover

Bollywood

2008-07-17T21:01:00.002-04:00

Thank you So You Think You Can Dance for reminding me how much I love Bollywood films. My faves, you ask? Lagaan, Devdas, and Monsoon Wedding. If you haven't seen one yet, get out your love for dancing and drama, add a big box of tissues, and enjoy!

The Minutia of A Walk

2008-07-16T14:02:00.004-04:00

I remember when I used to just leave my house and go for a walk. It was a simple as that. If I was feeling extra motivated, I would don some mesh shorts, a sports bra, my good sneakers and my iPod before heading out. At the time, that felt like a lot of preparation.

Now, preparation doesn't even come close to describing the undertaking necessary to make a walk happen. Here are all of the things we need to go for a walk.

1 triple stroller
3 children (dressed and in clean diapers)
1 Mommy (or Daddy)
1 can of spray-on sunscreen
3 sippy cups filled with ice water
3 snack bags filled with goldfish crackers
3 pairs of sunglasses
3 hats
3 pairs of shoes
3 epi pens
3 single dose Benedryl packets
1 cell phone
1 set of house keys
1 garage door opener
1 bottle of water for Mommy

Once all of those items have been procured, sprayed on skin, placed in hands, on faces, on heads, and on feet, or stored in the stroller basket, the walk is actually quite enjoyable. We have been walking about 2.5 miles every morning that I'm home.

Happy 2nd Birthday!

2008-07-10T20:00:00.003-04:00

My wee babies will be two tomorrow. Happy birthday, my sweets. My love for you grows each day. Its depth and breadth knows no end.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

First Art Project

2008-07-10T17:00:00.002-04:00

We thought Emma was being suspiciously quiet. It didn't take long to figure out why.

Happy Fourth of July

2008-07-08T22:43:00.004-04:00

I was just reading back over my past few blog entries and thinking that I was looking downright un-American by not having a post about the Fourth of July. What is there to say? The husband worked. Ian was miserable with HFM. Although, in the positives column, Shelly was here and we did see a handful of fireworks. It was WAY better than last year, and we live in a great country.

Happy freedom America! Thank you to all who have given of your time and lives in the effort to gain and maintain our freedom.

Slide!

2008-07-08T21:50:00.005-04:00

Okay, so you know how the back of the bathtub is slanted so that you can rest your head comfortably back there whilst soaking and maybe enjoying a good book or the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly? Well, Ian has decided that part of the tub is a slide. Tonight he kept standing up, putting his little bum on the back of the tub, yelling "Slide!" and then sliding down into the the tub causing a big splash and making Maddie laugh hysterically. Of course he waits to try out his new trick while I'm getting Emma dried off and diapered. That sneaky little bugger.

I finally had to just let the water and out and haul him, kicking and screaming, out of the tub. Maddie continued to giggle and say "Bruhwer slide!" until it was her turn to get out. Note to self: find appropriate time out spot in the bathroom.

Don't Call It a Comeback

I've also been brewing a big post about pop culture and the return of the Gen X greats - The CW is remaking 90201! Molly Ringwald is in a new series! NKOTB still suck, but I still love Joey! - but alas, all of the witty remarks I've made to myself in the past few weeks have long since escaped me. Second note to self: put notebook beside bed to thus capture witty remarks. I will say one thing. A number of weeks ago, in EW, Diablo Cody said that, in college, she and her friends called 90210 "BH Niner." Please, what dorks. Everybody knows it was called "Bev Niner." Other than that one faux pas, I thought the article was hilarious. I think all of her articles in EW are hilarious, even if I haven't seen Juno yet.

Tuesday Toot

My babies will be two on Friday. Two years old. I find it hard to believe. These have been the two most difficult, satisfying, trying, happy, frustrating, exhausting, love-filled years of my life. Just when I think I can't possibly love my children any more, I do. We've nearly survived the first two years, and that deserves a toot in my book.

A Pox Upon Our House

2008-07-07T23:05:00.003-04:00

Last week, Ian came down with hand, foot and mouth disease (the all mouth version). The poor bub was miserable, and his mouth was a mess of sores. He's thankfully all better now, and so far the girls haven't shown any symptoms. I'm praying it doesn't spread! One up side to having HFM is that another name for it is Coxsackie virus, which is really just fun to say.

I've yet to come to a definitive conclusion about the effects of HFM while weaning. It hurt to nurse, so Ian has hardly nursed at all in the past week. I'm not sure if that means he'll want to nurse more now that he is well or if he'll be less inclined. Today he only nursed twice. Once in the afternoon and then again briefly before bed. Last night he nursed briefly before bed, but not again until 5am! But, he did wake frequently in between, only he was able to get himself back to sleep by snuggling with me instead of nursing. I'm going to call that great progress!

Another bizarre side effect from our nursing changes came about as a result of counting to 10 and then being all done: Ian can count to 10! Well, he doesn't ever count one, but he can count from 2-10. It is so cute when he does it. Sometimes he wants to count higher, so he just keeps saying 8, 9, 10 over and over again. I love it.

In other news, Mike's sister, Shelly, was in town this past weekend and together she and I took the tots to lunch at Bertucci's. I'll call the event moderately successful. Maddie did great, ate everything in sight, acted silly, chattered away with the waiter, and sang songs. Ian got restless, but was pretty easily distracted. He didn't eat anything, but at least he stayed in his chair despite many protests of "all done". Emma, on the other hand, did not enjoy lunch at all! But, she's got a fierce case of stranger anxiety right now, so who can blame her. Either Shelly or I held her the entire time until she just started boo-hooing so loudly that we had to leave. Luckily I had already paid the check as soon as the food arrived, so we were free to go. Still, I'm proud of us for trying! Thanks Kelli, for the restaurant recommendation! Afterwards we went to the drive thru Starbucks, and Emma was just so upset about the whole thing. She kept pointing to the road and saying "Go! Go!"

Now we keep asking Emma if she wants to go to a restaurant, and she says "NO!", and if we ask her if she wants Starbucks, she says "No Bucks!"

Where's Ian?

2008-06-30T22:29:00.000-04:00

Weaning

2008-06-30T21:53:00.006-04:00

I know that since the first day Ian swallowed a glop of smooshed banana, the weaning began. But, we've now started actively weaning him. I say "we" because Mike is such an integral part of the plan. I finally decided it was time for a number of reasons. Firstly, he is able to fall asleep and stay asleep just fine for naps when Mike is home with them, so he really doesn't need to nurse to sleep. Secondly, I am finding nursing just completely uncomfortable right now. I'm not sure if there is something happening with me hormonally or what, but I just do not enjoy nursing him anymore. I'm no longer able to go back to sleep when he wants to nurse at night, and I can feel the effects of sleep deprivation wearing me down in so many ways.

He really doesn't nurse much during the day, but when he does I've instituted two changes. First I sometimes put him off until later. And second, sometimes we count to ten or twenty and are finished after that amount of time has passed. For the most part, he is doing great! He sometimes just jumps right down out of my lap when I get to ten. Other times, especially if he is tired or not feeling well, he can get pretty angry. He has the right to be angry. I completely understand it. I try to balance being sensitive to his feelings and my own desire to make this a gentle transition with my desire to make progress.

At night, things are a bit more rocky. Maybe I shouldn't try both at the same time. I reread Elizabeth Pantley's No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers. I found alot of really helpful advice, as always! I picked two things to try, and we've been trying them for about three weeks. The first technique is called "Move the milk", and it works like this: instead of snuggling up next to him all night, I turn on my back so that it is harder for him to nurse. The downsides are that sometimes he gets frustrated, and also I'm not naturally a back sleeper. Although, on the upside, he nurses sometimes for literally two seconds before going back to sleep, which is a huge improvement over the half hour nursing sessions we were having! The second technique I'm using is the Pantley Pull-Off. If he nurses for longer than a minute or two, I pop him off. Sometimes he comes right back, but I keep repeating it every 30 seconds or so until he finally turns over and goes back to sleep on his own.

Some nights are harder than others, though. Sometimes Ian gets particularly worked up in the night and wants to nurse and nurse, but really I can't take it anymore. Mike has been great at stepping in and rocking him back to sleep or just holding him while he cries (poor bub) so that I can have a break. If Ian is having a hard time going to sleep, Mike will put him to bed by himself, which means putting all three to bed by himself. What a man!

It's a process. I fully expect it to take another 6 to maybe 12 months for him to be totally weaned. It is also a bittersweet process. I love him and I want to make him happy. I still feel that he would learn to fall asleep and stay asleep on his own without any intervention from me at all. I also still believe that, in time, he would wean on his own. I feel sad that I haven't lived up to my personal parenting goal of giving him the time and support to allow him to do things in his own time. But at the same time, I know that the time is right for me to end this chapter in our relationship.

Tuesday Toot

2008-06-24T21:43:00.005-04:00

We have constipation situation. Well, really we have a bunch of situations, but I liked the rhyme.

Maddie has had some BAD constipation. Like, really bad. She can't get anything out after straining so much that her little face turns purple. And she just cries and cries and says "bum-bum" about a thousand times a day. Corinne, who must be the coolest person on the entire planet, again came to my rescue by picking up some glycerin suppositories and bringing them by. I gave Maddie a half dose yesterday evening, and she finally had a huge BM about 40 minutes later. She was an entirely different person afterwards. She was laughing and running around, eating and smiling, dancing and spinning in circles. My girl was back! Unfortunately she did get a raging diaper rash later in the evening. Poor gal can't catch a break.

Then this morning she was crying "bum-bum" and straining again, so I gave her another half dose. She pooped almost right away, and then again in the car on the way to our playdate with Jessica and her crew. BTW, while at her house, I used some Diaper Goop that Jessica blogged about, and I swear by the time we got home Maddie's diaper rash had gotten so much better. I am definitely going to buy some of that stuff! I really hope Maddie is able to get things moving on her own now, poor little lady!

In addition to all of that, Emma scraped her knee on Sunday and wouldn't let Mike wash it. Monday it was looking kinda nasty, so I had to wrestle her down to wash it and put some Neosporin on it. And Ian had a big, red, swollen foot where he had a bug bite that required some cortisone and a dose of Benedryl. Well, okay, the Benedryl helped with the swelling, but also gave him (and me) a pretty good snooze last night.

So in the last 48 hours I've handled one backed-up bum-bum, one raging rash, one nasty knee, and one bug bite boo-boo. Phew! I feel like a regular Florence Nightingale over here. I think that deserves a Toot!

Parenting

2008-06-22T13:20:00.004-04:00

Boy, this is a tough job. And an ever-changing one. Just when I think I've got things figured out, they change.

This whole peanut allergy thing has really thrown me for a loop, and caused me to reframe my views on parenting. Honestly, my first response was to go back into our cave. I wanted to just make sure that everything was a safe as possible, and the best way to do that is to stay home. I want to protect her. That's my job as her parent, right? But Mike, being the ever more steady-headed of the two of us, keeps reminding me that we can't live our lives like that. We don't live in a cave. And the truth is the world isn't always a safe place.

My initial internal dialog has been "protect them, protect them, protect them." But, and this is so hard for me to accept, protecting them from everything is impossible. And really, at the heart of it, it's not my job. My job, as their Mommy is first to love them, and second to prepare them.

Does that mean that I just them go on out into the world with their limited vocabulary, and hope they avoid peanuts (and other dangers) on their own? Do I just leave the cleaning products out where they can reach them, or let them cook dinner? Absolutely not, but it does mean that I need to let go of some of my inner control freak. I need to get a firm hold on my own fears.

Granted, I still think it is absolutely absurd, almost comical at times, that something as mundane as a peanut can potentially kill my child (maybe all of my children); and sure, I'm going to do everything I can to keep them safe from peanuts and other dangers in the world. But one day they are going to leave me and be out there in the world on their own. Keeping them home teaches them nothing. They are going to make mistakes in this life, but they need to know that is okay to get out there and try new things, not peanut things, but lots of other things!

I grew up afraid of so many things. I was a nervous, anxious and fearful child; and I'm still a nervous, anxious and fearful adult. But I don't want my children to grow up that way. Sometimes I wonder if parenting is more about growing up yourself than it is about raising the children.

Then I wonder if maybe this revelation has nothing to do with the peanut allergy thing at all. Maybe the toddler stage changes everyone's perspective. When I see my trio trying to do so many things for themselves, I am seeing the first steps to independence. It's hard to comprehend all of the changes they have been through in the past two years. Maybe I'm just getting sentimental as we get closer to their second birthday next month. I'm already a little weepy about it. When am I going to stop crying before every birthday? Ever?

No Who Hash

2008-06-19T21:39:00.004-04:00

Today, during naps, I was lying there thinking of all the fun treats my kiddos can't eat. I was feeling a bit like the Whos in Whoville when the Grinch stole Christmas. Please indulge me a bit further in my pity party, and I swear I'll put on my big girl panties and stop complaining. Here's the list of everything I could think of, not including all of the things that might have, at one time, been in the same vicinity as a peanut:

No PB&J sandwiches (Aren't they supposed to be a staple of the pre-schooler's diet??)
No Reece's Peanut Butter Cups
No Reece's Pieces, and therefore no Reece's Pieces Sundaes from Friendly's
No Crunch N' Munch
No Chex Mix
No Rocky Road Ice Cream
No Nutty Buddies
No Goobers
We'll buy no peanuts or Cracker Jacks (no baseball games??)
No Try My Nuts (I can personally vouch for the addictive deliciousness of the butter toasted pecans, chocolate toffee almonds and white trash.)
No Hubs (I usually eat enough of these each Christmas to make myself sick.)
No peanut brittle
No pad thai
No Chick Fil' A
No PayDays
No Snickers (No Snickers? Everyone knows the best treat in the world is a Snickers and a Coke.)
No Baby Ruths
No Toastchee crackers (We ate those endlessly when we went to the river as kids.)
No Trail Mix
No peanut butter cookies with fork marks on top

There were probably more, but I can't remember what I was thinking a few seconds ago, much less a few hours ago. Now I just need a couple of people to come over, hold my hands, and sing around a giant tree; and I'll feel much better.

Positive for Peanut Allergies

2008-06-19T04:06:00.003-04:00

Because I'm feeling totally unimaginative, I'm just copying and pasting the same text I emailed and posted in other places, with one paragraph added to the middle.

I just got the call from our pedi, and Maddie tested postive for peanut allergies. She was a class 3 on a scale from 1-6. Honestly, I'm just really upset about it. I know lots of kids have peanut allergies, and it isn't the end of the world. I know she might outgrow it (25% chance).

At this point, we aren't testing the other two. We are going to proceed as if they also have the allergy, and practice strict avoidance of all peanuts and tree nuts. Maddie actually tested negative for tree nuts, but the chance of cross contamination is high enough, in most cases, that we will avoid them. I also got a script for another set of epi-pens so that I have one for each child.

I just feel so scared and worried for her right now. I feel like it took forever to get to the point of trusting others to take care of them, and now I'm right back to not feeling safe leaving them with my parents or anyone else. I feel like no one will be as vigilant as me in keeping them away from peanut products. I'm terrified of having to use the epi-pen, and even more afraid that I won't recognize that I should be using it.

Obsession of The Week

2008-06-16T16:53:00.006-04:00

Kipper : (almost) two year olds :: Baby Mozart : three month olds

Father's Day 2008

2008-06-15T22:58:00.001-04:00

Happy Father's Day, Mike. You are such an amazing Dad.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mary, Mary, Quit Contrary...

2008-06-15T05:26:00.003-04:00

How does your garden grow? Oh, so glad you asked! Here are some updated pics. Honestly, I can't believe everything is still alive, and dare I say it? Thriving!

Sadly, though, my pretty flowery plant nearly bit it last weekend. I'm nursing it back to health, but it is just not as pretty as it was.

And now, for some pics of a couple of other creatures I'm growing. They seem to be thriving too!

I think this picture might be my very favorite of Maddie. And then, there's the upside down version!

Clearly a tendency towards a career in the medical field runs in the family. We're thinking cardiologist.

Success!

2008-06-13T13:22:00.004-04:00

We took Maddie to the lab for the second time this morning to try to get some blood for her peanut/tree nut allergy test. They were totally unsuccessful the first time we took her, but this time they got a great vein right away! Yay!

Mike took her, and he said she did such a good job. When she was done, they gave her a sticker that said "Hug Me. I was very brave today." So I did. Mike did say that she said "All done! Bye-bye!" while they were in the middle of drawing her blood. If only it worked that way, right?

So now we are full time praying that the test comes back negative for peanut/tree nut allergy. I have to give HUGE kuddos to any family dealing with food allergies. It has been exhausting trying to police what she is given to eat, explain to our families what she can and can't have, and keep the unknown out of her diet when so many times we forget to check for peanut products in our excitement to see her try something new and yummy. We've only had to manage a few weeks, and I'm already tired of asking everyone what their fried products are fried in, or checking the internet for corporate phone numbers when she's eaten something cooked in "mixed oils", or practicing with the epi-pen and teaching others how to use it. I realize that this might be our reality for the rest of her life, but I sincerely hope it isn't. I really want her to be able to eat Chick Fil A and Pay Day bars. Mmmmmm. Pay Day.

Congratulations Joanna!

2008-06-11T23:37:00.006-04:00

This past weekend my great friend Joanna made the journey down from New York to Virginia, sparking a reunion of sorts. When I first graduated from college and got my first real, grown-up job (a whopping 10 years ago now), I met an amazing group of friends. Little did I know when I walked into that nasty, grimy, brick building that I was going to meet such incredible people, who would have such a lasting impact on my life.

Jenn, Joanna, Donna, Laura and I became such fast friends. They were my work buddies, dinner buddies, drinking buddies, and soul bearing buddies. We went on haunted hayrides together (well they did) at Halloween. We had Christmas parties (ham delights and puffs). We comforted each other through tragedy, illness and surgery. We celebrated each other's achievements and always, always gave each other the unvarnished truth, even when it hurt.

Then time moved on and things changed, as they always do. Some of us moved away, and some of us got married and started families. We hadn't seen each other in at least four years, when we got the word that Joanna was coming to town. I was so excited to see everyone again, but honestly a little nervous too. I was wondering if it would be the same between us, or if too much distance had eroded our friendships.

On Sunday we all met for dinner, and had the BEST time. It was as if nothing had changed, even though so much had changed. I don't remember the last time I laughed or hugged anyone so hard, other than my own children. And the best part was finding out that Joanna came to town to tell us all in person that she and her boyfriend Patterson had gotten engaged! I am so stinkin' happy for the two of them.

Here's the one picture from the night that my camera liked. My apologies, Donna, that your eyes are closed in this one! Doh!

Left to Right: Donna, me, Laura, Jenn, Joanna.

I knew I shouldn't have been blogging with half a brain. I totally forgot last night to mention that Rachel also joined us, and was SO kind to drive me to and from dinner so that I could indulge in some adult beverages. I was really hoping my picture of ALL of us had turned out, but I had my camera on some weird setting.

For Kelli

2008-06-06T23:13:00.002-04:00

I'm pretty sure they are too old to be playing with this anymore, but they still LOVE it. I had to take the cloth seat insert out because they were getting stuck in it. Somebody plays in it everyday. Now that is toy that has gotten some use!

Then a few days ago I found the girls in there like this:

But Maddie managed to escape.

Crazy, Crazy, Crazy!

2008-06-06T19:53:00.001-04:00

Apparently crazy is either contagious or hereditary.

Agenda: Meeting 12:30, Tornado Warning 2:30, Meeting 3:30

2008-06-05T09:52:00.004-04:00

That was my afternoon yesterday. Seriously, that was some insane weather! I was at work yesterday, and got a weather alert from weather.com on my cell phone for a tornado warning at home. Need I remind you of my completely irrational, insane person, outright phobia of tornadoes? I started calling Mike to see what was going on. Then I noticed that it was naptime, and I knew that everyone was asleep. I checked weather.com a couple more times and saw that the storm was moving towards us, and then we got the tornado warning too.

I decided to see what was going on, so I went over to the windows facing Route 28 (I work right across the street from Dulles). One minute I'm standing by the windows watching a plane land, then it looks like a hurricane outside, and then it went totally black out there. I could not see a thing. Suddenly there was an obvious change in air pressure because the group of people I was standing with all said that their ears popped at the same time. Mine ears are impervious to air pressure changes it seems because they are STILL all jacked up from the death flu.

I figured that we are in a pretty safe building because a 747 can land across the street and I don't hear a thing, but a bunch of us high tailed it down to the first floor just in case. When we got out of the stairwell, the lobby was FULL of people. At that point I didn't know whether to be comforted or even more freaked out.

And all of the time that this was going on, I kept calling home. Mike finally answered the phone, and dutifully got on weather.com and talked to me until the warning had expired. All the while our trio was peacefully sleeping.

And now for something totally unrelated. Do you know what this is?

You're right, it's a BOAT! Or at least that is what we call blueberry muffins here, for some inexplicable reason.

Still the Best!

2008-06-03T12:27:00.004-04:00

I was looking back through my blog recently to see how long I had been friends with Corinne (a year ago May 26th we had our first playdate), and I stumbled upon another post that was so interesting to me.

Apparently, my babies have been eating real food for almost a year now! In this post dated June 27, 2007, I blogged about giving them some pasta and sauce for the first time and how much they loved it.

Mike's Dad makes the very best pasta sauce ever, which he learned how to make from watching his grandmother make it. I really need to learn how to make this sauce correctly, but for some reason I never get it right.

We had sauce again a few days ago, and I couldn't help taking pictures for comparison. It is still the monkeys' favorite meal. When Maddie saw me making it last week, she screamed "Doodles!" (noodles), spun in a happy circle and ran to her highchair.

Ian

Maddie

Emma

Weekend Fun

2008-06-03T08:01:00.002-04:00

In an effort to save time for Mike's golfing adventure this weekend, we decided that we were going to spend the night with the kiddos at his parents' house on Friday night. We had spent the night there before with no real issues, but it had been a long time. We usually split up, and I lie down with Ian and Emma on a double bed with bedrails in the guest room. Mike and Maddie sleep on the pull out couch in the den. Something must have spooked Emma when we turned out the lights because she just lost it. It was a rough night. She wanted Mike to hold her all night, and would wake up crying every couple of hours. I'm really not sure if that means that they aren't ready for that yet, or if we should do it more often to get them used to it.

Other than that, we had a great weekend. On Sunday we went to Cox Farms to look at the flowers. They had chickens and goats, which was a big treat. They also have a big wooden choo-choo train that the monkeys played on and had so much fun. Mike has some pics on his phone, but I didn't even think to take my camera.

As always, I'm wooed by the vegetable plants. I fancy myself a gardener, even though I have a notorious black thumb. This time I bought two Roma tomato plants, a patio tomato plant some mint, basil, and rosemary. Here are some pics of my little beauties. I have yet to stake my Roma plants, but I'm sure it needs to be done. Any suggestions? Bamboo stakes? Wire baskets? Also, if you see any obvious mistakes that I've already made, please let me know. I'm so clueless about plants!

Roma Tomato and Basil

One of the pots at Cox Farms had planted these two together, and then I read that it is good for them to be planted together. I'm giving it a try.

Patio Tomato

Mint

I think this one might actually need a bigger pot already.

Roma Tomato and Rosemary

These poor fellas haven't been potted yet. I'm thinking of planting them together.

Six Word Memoir Meme

2008-05-30T14:24:00.005-04:00

Rachael at Little Bites of Heaven tagged me for this meme, and it really is a cool one.

The Meme originated over an idea that was prompted by the book written by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser, Not Quite What I was Planning: Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. It's a compilation based on the story that Hemingway once bet ten dollars that he could sum up his life in six words. His words were- For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.

Here are the rules:
1. Write your own six word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
4 .Tag five more blogs with links.
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

So here's my six word memoir.

A recovering perfectionist: flawed and forgiven.

That memoir pretty much sums up two of the greatest lessons of my life. One is that it is okay to be the imperfect, mistake making, sometimes frazzled, often late person I am. I had to learn to let go and embrace all of the ugly humanness that I had been working so hard to hide from the world for so long. Mistakes are normal, and they don't make you a bad person. Everybody screws up. The key to making mistakes is to learn from them. It took me a long time to learn that as long as I kept running away from them, putting my hands over my ears and singing "La la la la la" or otherwise making everything look like I lived in a rose garden with no thorns, I was never able to pay attention to the lesson. And when you're missing the lesson, you're missing everything.

The other great lesson was about forgiveness. Having the strength to say you messed up and ask someone for forgiveness takes a lot of guts. I think it is even harder to forgive others when they have slighted us. Honestly, though, holding anger or hatred towards another person doesn't do a thing to harm them, but does an awful lot to harm you. Still, what is hardest, but most important, is forgiving ourselves.

I've made mistakes, and I figure I'm probably likely to keep on making them until the day I leave this Earth. But I'm not going to be a slave to them. I'm going to love, learn, forgive and move on.

Here's who I'm tagging. I apologize if you've already been tagged for this one. Feel free to ignore or participate as you wish. My feelings won't be hurt either way!

Kelli at Triple Play!
Jeannie at THREE for the Price of One!
Cherie at It takes More Than an Egg
Jean at The Calloway Monkeys
Cindy at Follow Our Journey

HEY PAULA

2008-05-28T18:54:00.001-04:00

More evidence this chick is certifiable. I wonder what medication they give her to keep her on the planet during American Idol.

Tuesday Toot

2008-05-27T16:20:00.003-04:00

Today's Tuesday Toot is really about my day yesterday. Oh, and for kicks, it is in haiku.

Four loads of laundry
Dishes in the dishwasher
A three hour nap

Num-Nums, Are YOU??

2008-05-27T15:53:00.002-04:00

A few nights ago Ian climbed into the bed, went over to his spot, got himself settled and asked for his nums. He was so cute. Num-Nums, are YOU???

Ugly Sexy

2008-05-26T22:43:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago I had a conversation with my friend Cherie about men who are ugly, but you somehow find sexy. I have a theory that every woman has the hots for at least one ugly sexy man. Mine is Jack Black. I find him so sexy, but I have no idea why. Then again, I also have a huge crush on the freecreditreport.com commercial guy. F-R-E-E that spells free creditreport.com, baby!

So spill it ladies, who is your ugly sexy crush?

Oh, and I also think it works in reverse. There are plenty of supposedly sexy guys who I think are ugly, like Matt Damon. I don't get that one at all!

Where Ya Been?

2008-05-26T20:58:00.002-04:00

I'll tell you where we've been. To Sicksville, and it hasn't been fun. After I started finally feeling better from what I've termed the death flu, Ian got it. Then Emma and then finally yesterday Maddie started with it. Oh yeah, and Mike too. Poor Mike, he's had to work for the last four days while sick and with no voice. I really don't even know how he does it.

We've been on a steady diet of Motrin and Tylenol with a couple of nose drops and some suctioning on the side. Ian has been the worst. All he wants to do is nurse all day, which is great because it feels good and it gives him lots of good germ fighters; but is hard to accommodate with two demanding little girls needing care.

And then being the genius that I am, I decided to take the monkeys to my in-laws on Saturday: down I-95, on Memorial Day weekend. Smart move! I completely expected what is normally a two hour drive to take a bit longer, but had NO IDEA how much longer it was going to take. Thanks to a spectacular tractor trailer fire, we had the pleasure of enduring a 25 mile backup, making our trip four hours long instead of two. The kiddos really did great. They slept, watched DVDs and ate snack for a while, then we rolled down the windows and listened to the sound of no one driving anywhere fast, and then finally once we passed the semi fire and go back up to speed, they slept again. After that experience, I decided that staying home with three sick babies and toughing it out while Mike worked through the holiday was a MUCH better idea.

Brief American Idol Commentary

2008-05-21T21:50:00.001-04:00

1. Sit down, Paula. For Pete's sake, he's GAY! He's not interested in you.

2. I'm totally over my crush on George Michael.

Back In Action

2008-05-21T16:21:00.003-04:00

I'm finally feeling better today. I still sound terrible, but am feeling MUCH better. Thank you Wheels for the info on the Merc Viv. We did have it in our kit, so I used it all day Saturday, and by Saturday night my throat felt much better.

It turns out I never had Strep. It was negative both times. I don't know what I had, but it was N-A-S-T-Y!!! I know that I have not been that sick in at least 8 years, and I have never had a sore throat that bad, ever. At one point all I could do was clutch my throat and cry. I couldn't sleep and I couldn't eat. It hurt so badly that I couldn't bear to talk. Me. I. Could. Not. Talk. That is huge because I'm a blabbermouth.

But today I'm back at work. Mike is nearly out of his mind from taking care of the monkeys by himself for the the last week. Thankfully the only day he worked this week was Monday, and I sure did pack those kids up and take them to my parent's house for that day. I could handle the drive, but not much more than that.

Anywhoo! I'm all better now, but my poor little boo-boo bear has it now. One of the great things about nursing is that as I make antibodies against the sickness, Ian gets them too. But one of the downsides is that he also has the most contact with me, making him the must vulnerable to catch stuff from me. I'm hoping that it passes quickly for my little man, and that the girls don't catch it at all. Of course, that is nearly impossible. In the meantime, I've been putting his cold remedy herbs in a cup of juice for him, and the girls are getting their daily immunity herbs in their juice cups. Why I didn't think if that sooner is beyond me. If he doesn't seem to be improving, I guess it is back to the pediatrician's office for us.

How could you not want this little cutie pie to feel better?

Cute

2008-05-17T16:29:00.003-04:00

Emma's new word is "cute". Everything is cute. She says "Hi cute baby" to her babydolls, "Hi cute Ma-Ma" to Maddie, "Hi cute kitty-cat" to the cats, and "Hi cute Mama" to me. I love it. Hi cute Mama. That is just too much.

Me, I'm still sick, but slowly coming back to life. I've been looking decidedly un-cute, despite what Emma says. I went to the doctor yesterday when my tonsils started looking like they had been dusted with confectioner's sugar. My rapid strep test came back negative, but the doctor said it sure looks like strep. I'm now awaiting the throat culture results from the lab. In the meantime, I'm try to rest and stay away from the monkeys.

Being Sick

2008-05-16T01:49:00.005-04:00

I hate when the babies are sick. I'd rather be sick myself any day than have them be sick. That being said, though, it really sucks when I'm sick.

I feel like crap today. I have a wicked sore throat, fever, chills, body aches, headache, basically the works. Either the flu or a bad cold has overtaken me, and Mike had to work today.

If there was any day ever that I wanted him to stay home with me, today was the day. But, his job doesn't really allow for that sort of thing. This morning I couldn't help but to start crying when he left.

And to top it all off, Alex went to the groomer this morning, meaning I had to figure out some way to pay for him and pick him up with three babies in tow. I had no way to get the monkeys into the groomers and come back out carrying a 20lb cat in his carrier. I called the groomer and paid for Alex's haircut over the phone, solving part of my dilemma, but I still had to get there by 6 to pick him up.

Do you ever have days when you feel like God must have sent you an angel? Today was one of those days for me. This afternoon as I'm fretting about how to pick up the cat, I called my dear friend Corinne to vent about the situation. Being the amazing person that she is, she offered to pick up the cat. Then when I told her that I was sick and that we might not be able to have a playdate this afternoon, she insisted on taking my trio to her house to play with Carter and Taylor so that I could get some rest. I am still blown away by what a sweet and kind person Corinne is. She took my little ones to her house for 2 and a half hours AND fed them dinner. She was truly an angel to me today. And, this isn't the first time she's come to my rescue. When my babies had RSV in December, she came over and helped with the girls so that I could focus on getting Ian's breathing under control and take him to the pediatrician. Thank you so much, Corinne. I could never, ever think of a way to repay such a kindness if I tried for the next 10 years to make it up to you.

Hey Allergy

2008-05-13T19:28:00.003-04:00

Maddie had an allergic reaction to something today. We think she got into some peanut butter off of a butter knife when Mike was loading the dishwasher. We had not yet tried peanut butter because of my obsessive fear of food allergies, even though we have no family history on either side.

Mike called me home from work, and when I got here she started to develop big welts on both of her eyelids and then on her tummy. I had called the pedi on the way home and made an appt. We quickly bought and gave her some Benedryl and headed off to the doctor's office.

They basically said there was no way to know exactly what happened until she is tested, so we have a script for an allergy test for peanuts and other tree nuts. We also got a script for a epi-pens to have on hand just in case.

Here are some pics of our girl with her swollen eyelids. They actually look MUCH better now than they did earlier today. Lucky for us she is as spunky as ever today, and doesn't seem the least bit bothered by the allergy. In fact, it was really hard to get these pics she was running around so much.

...And Babies Make Five!

Back in the Saddle Again

Moms of multiples are freaks of nature

Picking Apples and Pumpkins

I Made Debacle Bread Today

Other Quick Updates

Rebels With A Cause...Maybe?

Vacation 2010, Installment Three, With Pics!

Summer Vacation 2010....Update

Summer Vacation 2010

Emma's Tumble

Sauce Chronicles, First Attempt

One of Those Days

Rebellion and Granola Bars

Triplet Golf Outing and MiniMe Gets a Haircut

Emma and Mommy Day

Maddie and Mommy Day

Ian and Mommy Day

Picture Envy!

The Triplets Are Four!

Adventures in Gardening and Baking

We Have a Bee in our Trash Can

A Little of This, A Little of That

Wonder Pets My Boyfriend

Easter 2009

Sick, Sick, and More Sick

Two Things

The Zoe Rose Memorial Foundation

Winter Storm '09

An Emma Moment

Embracing Change

SAHM No More

My Secret Life

Drives Me Crazy!

Visual Aids

Hi, I'm Your New Neighbor

Back in Blog

Where To Start?

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Rewind - Halloween!

We're Here!

Super Fast Update, Just for Charlotte

Baby Take MY Toys!

The Monkey Mystery Solved!

This Is Really Happening!

Good News About Halloween!

Halloween and Peanut Allergies

My Sweet Boy

I Want A New Drug

Perfectionism

First Finger Painting - Updated

Preemie Brain

Blogging Mama Meet-up

And Chaos Ensued

A Few Things

Great Recipe!

Summer Fun!

Ian Nursing: How We Got Here

Tiger Poop Poop

Thank YOU

Weaning Update

Cute in Motion

Two Year Appointments

Bad Blogger

Genius

Eating My Words

Bollywood

The Minutia of A Walk

Happy 2nd Birthday!

First Art Project

Happy Fourth of July

Slide!

A Pox Upon Our House

More Videos

Where's Ian?

Weaning

Tuesday Toot

Parenting

No Who Hash

Positive for Peanut Allergies