Squish Squish Snuggle Snuggle

Quinn told and Jake told Claire,
"Let go sit in the big comfy chair."

Squish, squish snuggle snuggle.
Will there be enough room?

"Wee" said Quinn to Jake and Claire.
"I'll beat you to your seat in the big comfy chair."

Squish squish snuggle snuggle.
Will there be enough room?

Here comes Jake and tag along Claire.
Both on their way to the big comfy chair.

Squish Squish

Snuggle Snuggle

Now their all in the big comfy chair.

Based on the book "Chicka Chicka ABC"

Wordful Wednesday is Host by Angie.

Independence Streak

My Darling Daughter,

We need to have a little chat. I just want to tell you how happy I am that in this mess of boys, I got my one little girl.

I just love the fact that you like to go online shopping with me at Gymboree.com. We have so much fun looking at the sale pages and picking out outfits. Your sense of style is really coming along. I love the fact that you like shopping. Maybe someday we can graduate to the actual mall until the time when you deem me to uncool to be seen with you.

I also love the fact that every time I go into the kitchen to make dinner, you either beg to help me or you go into your little kitchen and start making dinner too. You always make your specialty, "white chicken pasta." You will happily set the table and I just love that.

It makes me giggle when you try and mother your brothers by yelling, "Stop it, now! You get on the naughty chair!" Really, sweetie, they barely listen to me. I don't think they are going to listen to you but I do appreciate the effort. I'll take all the help that I can get.

What I need to talk to you about is this independent streak that you are on. Now, I know that you are suppose to learn to do things for yourself. It's all part of growing up but right now the fact that you want to put your own shoes on or dress yourself is really a pain in my ass.


Especially, the long drawn out tantrums that you throw when I won't let you do this. I don't like this when it happens at home and I really don't like it when are on the floor kicking and screaming for all your worth in the middle of the store.

I know that you can do these things and I know that I have to let you. And upon occasion I am will to do so. But you are just so slow and I just don't have that kind of time. We keep a strict schedule.

And besides, while I am waiting for you, your brothers are on the loose doing God knows what in the van. Most likely, its eating food that they find between the seats which is not good for them and kind of gross.

And right now, since I have still have to do these things for your brothers it really doesn't help all that much. Besides the fact, you are making your brothers look bad. You see, boys are slow. It takes them a while to pick up on things. So how do you think it makes me them feel to watch you put your shoes on all by yourself when they don't even know that shoes go on their feet?


So how about this, I will let you put your shoes and coat on. But you have only the time it takes me to get the boys dress and I will even promise to do it at half my normal speed to give you more time. But then I am going to do it for you.

It's a compromise, sweetie.

Life is full of them.

We will re-evaluate once your brothers catch up with your skills.

Love,
Mommy

Am I Raising Monkeys or Kids?

My kids are climbers. They always have been. As soon as they could walk, they started climbing on things. I am convinced that they learned to walk only to be able to climb on more things. You know, because when you can crawl you can only climb on toys, over turned chairs and the stairs. That doesn't get you too high or to the dangerous things.

They all climbed out of their cribs. The all have climbed onto the cupboards and gotten into things that they should not. And they all have knocked lamps off coffee tables. We really need to buy stock in light bulbs for the amount of times that we have to change the bulbs in our lamps.

It doesn't matter what I do, they just like to climb.

I have even had a babysitter tell me that she really doesn't like to watch my kids because their climbing makes her too nervous.

For the most part, they climb because they like to jump off of things or do as they call it, "big jumps" especially Quinn. (For the record, the babysitter wasn't really crazy about this either.)

I have recently discovered that Quinn like to climb up onto the rails on the cribs (that are now made into toddler bed) and walk along them. I don't know if he is trying to train to be a tight rope walker for the circus or what but he likes to get up there.

So far he has not hurt himself so I really didn't know that he was doing this. But I recently learned he does this and sometimes he gets himself stuck between the crib rail and the wall in what I can only imagine is a painful position.

I gathered this from his painful screams during what was suppose to be nap time. I raced into his room as the blood curdling screams became louder and more intense. Upon opening the door, I found Quinn pinned spread eagle between the wall and the crib rail on Jake's crib.

As I carefully removed a very upset Quinn, Jake rolled over and woke up from his sleep for a brief moment, he told me everything, "Mommy, Quinny stuck again."

Now I have to add something here. I totally wanted to take a picture. It pains me that I don't have a picture. It would have been perfect for this post but even though, I am a mommy blogger, I have to draw the line somewhere. I think that its making my kids wait while they are in pain for me to get a picture is where I am going to draw it.
For now.

Read to Me.... Not!

I have a confession to make.

It is not something that I am proud of but I think that I have to put it out there.

Please don't hate me, hiss or boo at me. I feel that this place is a safe place where I can be loved and excepted.

Ok *big sigh* Here is goes. I am just going to say it, you know like this was an AA meeting or something.

*stands up*

Hi, my name is Jen and I am a mommy that doesn't read to her kids.

*whew*

There I said. Man, that is like a weight has been lifted. I feel so much better. But I also feel that I need to explain myself.

Alright, so the truth is that I don't read to my kids often. Its not like I out right refuse to read to them but it is something that I really don't enjoy. But I used to.

When Hayden was little I used to read to him all the time. It was something that I really enjoyed doing. We would sit and look at books together for hours, well not hours but many, many minutes. He especially liked the flip books. We would open each flap and talk about what was under each one. It was really fun.

Well, the little kids, Jake, Quinn and Claire, really like these kinds of books too. And I like to read and share these books with them but there is one problem. I have one lap and there are three of them.

Things usually start out really well. One of them will be in my lap and the other two will be on each of my sides. We begin reading and talking about the pictures when one of the kids sees something that they especially like and want to get a closer look at. That onne gets really excited and begins to push at the person in my lap which is then interpreted as a threat, meaning that they are being challenged for the place in my lap. The shoving begins, then the hitting, which usually includes me getting hit in the nose, and lastly the screaming match over who's mommy I am.

"MY MOMMY!"

"NO, MY MOMMY!"

"MY MOMMY!"

"NO, MY MOMMY!!"

"MY MOMMY!"

"NO, MY MOMMY!!!"

Well, you get the picture. And this all ends with me getting so irritated that I push the kids off my lap and leave.

I am really hoping that this is just a phase and they will grow out of it because I would like to read to them, really I would but not if they keep choosing this one book for me to read.

This is my second reason that I don't like to read to my kids.

Every.single.time I say to them, "Hey guys, do you want to read a book?" It never fails that they will find this book and bring it to me. They just love it but I can't stand it and if I have to read it one more time, I am not sure what I will do.

I have tried to hide this book. I have tried to give it away and I have even tried to throw it was but each and every time my efforts have failed. I don't know how they do it. There must be some kind of alarm or censor on the book that alerts them to what I am try to do.

What is this book that I speak of? Well it is 'Night-Night, Baby' a touch and feel book.

Seriously, its not even a story book. It is just a book that lists all the things that babies do before bed.
"Time for dinner!"
"Can you feel the bib on the baby?"

"Bath time is with a rubber ducky to play with"
"It's so shiny."

"The bath is over."
"Now we get dry!"
"Feel how fluffy the bathmat is." and so on.

Each picture, which I am pretty sure is older than me, has a texture to it that they can feel so maybe that's why they like it. But I just don't get it and I think that they babies in it are kind of creepy looking. I am pretty sure that I saw one of the babies move its eyes to watch me.

*shudder*

So there now you all know my dirty little secret. I am not proud of it but this is the way its has to be, right now. I am just thankful for daycare and school because I know that they are reading to them and nurturing their little minds. Because I am not, well at least in this area.

This post was brought to you by Writer's Workshop.
Need something to write about, head over and pick a prompt.

Fight for Preemies

At 26 weeks pregnant, I was admitted into the hospital with cervical shortening. I had been on bed rest at home but with a two year old Hayden running around, I wasn't following the doctor's orders as strictly as I should have been.

So I was admitted for closer monitoring and strict bed rest. To be honest, I knew that this day was coming. They had told me at my very first high risk OB appointment that usually women who are pregnant with triplets have to go on bed rest and many of those women end up in the hospital.

But even though, I knew the day was coming, I was shock when I was actually admitted. I went in for a routine doctor's visit and after the ultrasound, the doctor sent me straight to be OB triage to be worked up for admission.

I was pretty sure that I was not going to have the babies on that day or the days to follow but suddenly being in the hospital made the fact that I was going to have premature babies really real.

But as I settled into being in the hospital for what I thought would be the remainder of my pregnancy, I pushed all those worries and fears out of my mind. I made it my number one goal to just stay pregnant as long as I possibly could.

Until one weekend when I had reached the 30 week mark, my physician said to me, "You know, you really should go and take a tour of the NICU. I don't think your babies will be coming soon but you should at least prepare yourself for what might happen."

His words took my breath away because for the past 4 weeks my goal was just staying pregnant. I had not even let myself think about having premature babies. But I also knew that carrying my triplets full term probably not possible, especially if you asked the skin on my rapidly expanding belly.

But none the less, we, no I, needed to prepare. So Jeff and I set up a time to tour the NICU.

I remember being wheeled into the NICU and immediately my mind went into nurse mode. I am an ICU nurse myself, after all. My eyes went to the monitors and my brain began to process the data. But there was a problem, all this data was wrong, the numbers were too high and some where way to low. My nursing instincts kicked in and I felt like I had to treat something.

It was like the nurse that we were with could read minds. She looked right at me and sensed my need to do something, "Remember this is the pediatric world. You work with adults. I know the numbers look wrong but that is because they are babies, not adults. Everything is fine. And now, you need to be Mom and not Nurse."

I relaxed and let my focus switch as we were taken around the NICU. We were shown different nurseries where the babies might be. We were shown different machines that they might be hooked up too. And we were also introduced to other parents.

Whenever I think about this night, there is always one parent, one Dad that sticks out in my mind. He sat in a rocking chair reading by a dimly lit monitor. His daughter was in an isolette. She was so tiny, so fragile. Her eyes were still fused shut. Her skin was so thin that I could see her blood vessel through it. And she was shaking because of the ventilator that she was on.

He told me that she had been born at 27 weeks. His wife just went into labor for no reason. It all happened so fast that his wife could not get the steroid shots to help her tiny lungs develop. They had had a rough road but as he lovingly looked down at his small, precious daughter, he said, "She is getting better. She is a fighter."

Still to this day, as I watch my two year olds run and jump around, I wonder about him and his daughter. I wonder what happened. Is she healthy now? Is she running and jumping around? I truly hope so.

Technically, Jake, Quinn and Claire were preemies being born at 34 weeks. But I never really thought of them that way. To me they seemed like normal babies, just small, Jake 5lbs 12oz, Quinn 5lbs, 9oz and Claire 4lbs 3oz. We were very blessed that even from the beginning they were just in the 'feed and grow' nursery. During their 10 day stay, that is all they had to do.

I can't even begin to image what it much have been like for that father and his wife to watch their baby struggle for her life. But it happens. Every day there are babies that are born prematurely and they begin an up hill battle for their lives.

Today is the day to raise awareness of premature births. To quote The March of Dimes, "Every year, 20 million babies are born too soon, too small and very sick ― half a million of them in the United States. November 17 is when we fight."

I am also joining Debi in this fight.

Ready for Christmas?

It always happens at the same time every year. After Halloween is done and not even forgotten Bam! Its time for Christmas.

Christmas begins to show up every where. The stores begin selling decoration. The mall puts up their trees and lights. The radio starts to play a never ending stream of Christmas music.

Normally, this puts me in a bad mood. I sorta get all, 'bah humbug' about the whole thing and I want to scream at the world, "What About Thanksgiving?!" It seems that they are all in such a hurry to make the holidays go bye. It is good to be Thankful. Why must be skip Thanksgiving?

I usually refuse to think about Christmas until Thanksgiving is over. I refuse to even look at the decoration. But this year something happened.

I took the kids to the mall and as I walked with my head down, I heard quite the commotion going on around me. "Yook! Yook, Momma! Stars! Lights! Oooo, so purdy!"

I forced myself to look around and saw, almost for the first time, all the wonder that Christmas is. Big green tree sparkling with white lights and red bows on the top. Silver stars danced on the celling. Through the eyes of my kids, I saw the magic of Christmas.

So this year, I say bring on Christmas. I am going to be ready and start sharing the spirit now. That is why, when I was contacted to review two new children's books. I jumped at the chance. The two books that I was asked to review was 'The Nutcracker and the Mouse King' and 'The Christmas Magic'.

I love the ballet of The Nutcracker. It is just not the holidays for me until I see the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies. But I never realized until I read this book, that I did not know the story of the Nutcracker. I never knew the whole tale behind the ballet.

Now, I really enjoyed this book. The illustrations are fabulous. Each page is an adventure for the eyes in pictures.

But I must say that the book itself was a bit too old for my my kids right now. I tried to read it to Hayden but he lost interest about a quarter of the way through. But that does not mean, I won't try again in the years to come. Because who doesn't want to hear a story about a Princess, a seven headed mouse king, a battle, a Nutcracker, Toyland and dancing sugar treats.

The next book, 'The Christmas Magic' was much more our level and was a huge hit. Jake, Quinn and Claire couldn't get enough of Santa and the reindeer getting ready for Christmas.


This book just spoke to me. It is all about waiting and getting ready for the Christmas magic. I loved the reading about how Santa gets ready for Christmas. It made me want to get out my jingle bells and give them a polish.

This short trailer, really does a wonderful job showcasing the book.


Bottom line, I really, really liked these books AND I want to share them with you. The company that had me review these books is offering one copy of each book to TWO of my readers.

That is right, TWO of my readers have a chance to win these awesome Christmas books to share with your family.

If you would like a chance to win, just leave me a comment telling me so. If you want an extra entry or two tell me (in a separate comment) that you are a follower of my blog or subscriber of my RSS feed. If you are not, then become one.

This contest will end on Monday, November 23, 2009 at 11:55pm EST. I will announce the winner on Tuesday, November 24, 2009.

I can't wait for you to read these books with your kids. And is it too early to starting saying, Happy Holidays?

I received no compensation for this review besides copies of the book.

Difference Between Boys and Girls

Having triplets has been an interesting journey so far. It has been full of many, many adventures but it also has been a learning experience.

I think that one of the best things about having triplets is that you can have two difference sexes of children at the very same age and development level. This has really been really neat to watch.

I always knew that males and females were different but we really are wired differently and it shows from the time we are young children.

For example, Claire is growing up in a male dominated household. And while she can throw down with the best of them in a wrestling match and a sand fight. She also is a natural born mother. Her mothering instinct just comes out.

From a very young age, Claire began to 'mother' her brothers. She tells them no when they are doing things that they are not suppose to. She will try and calm them when they are sad or hurt. She mimics me in her play and things she likes.

I also noticed that even without having an actually baby doll in the house, she turned stuffed animals into babies and plays house with them. She just has natural instincts and no matter the toys around her, they just come out. It is really fun to watch.

Another area where boys and girls are very different is in how they eat. Well, I can better show you this one.This is Claire's bowl of cereal. She uses a spoon and for the most part gets all the food into her mouth. Sure, there is some spills but that is expected, she is only two.


There is Jake and Quinn's bowls. Their spots look like there was a cereal and milk explosion. They rarely use a spoon and instead, kind of just dive right in and eat. You have to stand back or risk getting soaked.


Interesting, right? But it is not very fun to clean up every single morning. *sigh*

Now, I know that every child is different and sometimes, even in my house they cross the gender lines. But it is a neat thing to watch. But it also makes me wonder what is in store for the future.

"I Think You've Hit The Jackpot!"

The sky was a bright blue and there was a crispness in the air that sun could not cut. It was unusual to see the sun in December but is was good to feel none the less. It must mean that good things are coming. Today was a good day. Today was the day that we were going to see our baby for the first time.

I found out that I was pregnant the day before Thanksgiving. The treatments had finally worked. No more hormone shots. No more every other day blood work. No more uncomfortable vaginal ultrasounds. No more wondering if I would get pregnant. No more being disappointed.

I was pregnant again for the second time. My HCG levels had been low but steadily rising. Even though the treatments put me in a high risk for multiples, with the lower HCG levels meant that this really wasn't possible.

We were going to complete our family with one more baby and today we were going to see that little bean with the little flickering heart beat.

I was so anxious. I just wanted to be reassured that everything was alright and that there was just one baby. I wanted to see that little heart beat.

We arrived at the doctor's office and waited for my turn. I tried to busy myself reading but I just couldn't. I let my eyes wonder around the room. I watched another couple comfort each other in the corner. Then all my emotions seemed to hit me in the face. I tried to control myself but I just couldn't.

The last twelves weeks of the treatments had been an emotion hell for me. The constant worry and wonder if I would be able to get pregnant. How far would we need to take this? Could I be alright with just one child? Would I be able to adobt a child? Could we afford this? As I watched the woman cry with her husband, I too felt a tear run down my cheek. I knew the reason she was crying, I could feel her pain. Because I had been there, I was there.

I was snapped back when my name was called. Jeff took my hand and together, we walked back to the exam room.

I disrobed and waited for the doctor. I folded my arms over my belly and said a little prayer, "Please God let the baby be alright. Please God let me just see a strong beating heart."

The doctor entered the room and began the examination.

When was the dose of medication?

When was the date and time of intercourse?

When was the date of the positive pregnancy test?

When was your blood work drawn?

And so on, as he reviewed my charted. I room was quiet for a moment while he read and then suddenly he looked up and said, "Alright then, lets have a look."

My heart raced with anticipation and fear. "Please God....." I prayed and he slipped in the probe and moved it around to find what we were looking for.

"Well, I think we have hit the jackpot!" He said.

I was so busy preparing my heart for bad news, for something to be wrong that it took me a moment to realize was he was saying. When the word 'jackpot' registered, I opened my eyes a looked at the screen.

When I saw the screen, I knew. I saw two small beating hearts on the screen. Not one but two babies. All I could think was "two babies, two babies." Then the doctor spoke again, "Well, I see two here and then there is something else."

I whipped my head towards the screen as in that moment the reality hit me. "Something else? Something else? Please God let it be a tumor."

"Yup, yup there it is. See there? Its another heartbeat. So we have three strong beating hearts," the doctor said as he verified each one. "So, I would say that you hit the jackpot. Congratulations. Everything looks good so far but I will want to see you again in two weeks."

And with that he handed me the picture of the three bean looking babies and left the room. It was then that I remember that Jeff was sitting in the room with me. I looked over at him sitting in the corner, still and quiet as a mouse. I hopped off the table and got dressed.

We walked out of the room, made the follow up appointment, laughed when the receptionist said, "Wow, three babies. That's awesome," and headed out to the parking lot.

As we approached our cars, I looked at Jeff and finally spoke, "So what do you think?"

Jeff looked up at me and said, "I can't talk now. Later. Later, we will talk. Bye." And with that he lightly kissed me on the cheek, got into his car and drove off.

I then walked back to my car and once I was safely inside, I cried. I cried for joy. I cried for fear. I cried for Hayden. I cried for the unknown. I cried for the three babies. I just cried.

According to Plan

Sometime in my unorganized haze, I realized that I had not gotten my renewal notice to renew the registration and license plate for the van.

Normally, I would have just renewed the thing online the day I got it. But for some reason this year, they didn't send me one or it got lost. Which in all honesty, is probably what happened that or one of the kids ate it.

Since, I came to this realization over the weekend and my birthday is Thursday and we are leaving on Thursday, that left me little time get it renewed. I figured that it couldn't wait until we came home because, just my luck, my parents would be driving our van around and get pulled over for expired license plates.

The Secretary of State's office is only open during normal business hours aka 9am to 5pm, so going after Jeff gets home from work was not an option. I decided that I was just going to have to go during the day and take the kids with me.

I know, I know. Commit me to the loony bin now. I am totally crazy for trying to do this but I was really left with no choice.

All morning, I psyched myself up for the adventure. After naps we were going to go. I filled my arsenal with multiple tricks; DVD player, juice, snacks, DS, Leapster, coloring books, crayons, books to read, a Costco size bag of chocolate chips, etc. I was the entertainment and distraction queen.

I told myself to just expect some tantrums. I prepared myself to get scoffed at and judged. I readied myself to deal with falls, snot and poopy diapers. I was truly ready for anything and prepared to wait for days or so it felt from the weight of my diaper bag.

In a last ditch effort make a successful trip, when we got to the SoS office, I turned around in the van and addressed the kids. I told them what we were doing. I begged Jake, Quinn and Claire to please stay in the stroller. I told Hayden how proud I was of him when he acted like a big boy. I promised treats and play time at the mall for good behavior. And, I am not proud of it, I begged on my knees them to listen and obey.

They all gave me that 'your crazy, mom' look but agreed to my requests. I accepted but wondered how long this would last.

My hope began to fade and I saw failure on horizon when I couldn't get Hayden to walk with me across the parking lot because he had to check out each shiny item he saw.

But I was in too deep. We were here now and come hell or high water, we were going to get my license and registration renewed.

As we reached the door, I took a deep breath, said a little prayer and opened it. I expected to find a room to be full of people. I expected every chair to be taken and people spilling out into the lobby. I expected to have to try and maneuver my huge stroller around tons of people all while trying not to knock over some little old lady in a walker.

I expected all of that but what I actually saw what much, much different. In fact the office was just about EMPTY. That's right, there were only a hand full of people there. Now that I think about it, I may have even seen a tumble weed blowing through there.

I walked right up to the counter, told the woman what I needed and she helped me. No taking a number. No moving to the next line. She just helped me. She even made small talk with me and the kids.

The whole transaction took less than 5 minutes. Actually, it took me more time to get the kids in the stroller and into the office than it did for them to process and renew my license.

As we walked back to the car, Hayden looked up at me and asked, "Mom? When are we going to have to sit in the chairs so I can play my game?"

I looked at my registration paper and I looked at Hayden but I didn't have an answer. All I could muster to answer his question was a shoulder shrug. I was sorta in a state of shock.

I had always heard of these things happening but it rarely ever happens to me. It is just such a weird feeling when things go according to plan. Simple, easy, quick.

Triplet Play At Its Best

I love this video.

It is just my three babies,
well I guess they are toddlers now,
playing.

It is child play at its best.

Pure, Innocent, Silly, Fun

A Fairy Tale

This week in the blogosphere is a special week. This summer Moxie Media Girls has sent their mascot Mona around the country on a special trip to visit bloggers all over the country. She hit over 40 states on this trip. And this week, all the bloggers have been showing off what Mona has been doing on these visits.

Well, Mona came to Michigan and she happened to stop in out neck of the woods. She got kind of lost while trying to pay us a visit so she got here after all of our summer trips were over. And to be honest, we are really not a traveling kind of family (for obvious reasons).

So to tell you about Mona's adventures while visiting us, I have come up with this little story. Sit back, relax and get ready to hear the tale of

'Mona's and the Buried Kingdom'.

Once upon a time, there was a Mommy.
She was a very busy and over worked Mommy who very much need a break.
For her house contained four children under the age of 4, including two year old triplets.

Each night she dreamed of a night out with true one true love, Prince Jeff.

What was this poor Mommy to do?
Never fear!
It's Mona to the Rescue.
She can handle anything, she's got Moxie!
Mona sensed this Mommy's needs and swooped in to help her.
"You will go out with your Prince tonight," she said.
When these words were shared, something magical happened.
The Mommy turned into a beautiful Princess.

And off the Mommy Princess went for a night on the town with Prince Jeff
and other Prince and Princesses of the land.

Now the children of the house were thrilled that Mona was going to stay with them
They loved her so, especially the little princess-in-training.

But Mona even is all her wisdom, really didn't know what to do with the children.
She was feeling greatly out numbered.
So she did what the Princess Mommy would do when feeling over whelmed and stressed.
She loaded the children in the van and drove.

The children screamed for chicken nuggets so it was off to the Kingdom of the Golden Arches.

But something happened there that Mona was not prepared for, she began to loose control. Her Moxie powers were no match for the energy and activeness of the triplets.

Her control of the children weakened even more when the returned to the Buried Castle.
During a game of hide and seek, the children imprisoned her in a small castle.
But Mona is used what little Moxie she had left and easily escaped.

Mona feared all was lost when the children tossed her in a toy volcano which threatened to erupt at any moment.

Mona knew she needed help so she went to her oldest and most trust advisor.

But when told him of the children, especially the triplet at the age of two, she could not make out his words through his laughter.
So Mona returned to the castle fearing all was lost. But thing were much, much worse. Because while Mona was away, the Prince and the Princess Mommy had returned.
The Princess Mommy was angry for Mona had left the children to run a muck in the castle.

Mona felt bad that she had let the Princess Mommy down.
So she retreated to the pile of unloved toys to hide.
For the wrath of the Princess Mommy was not something to mess with.

Mona sat and wallowed in her troubles. She wondered what she could she do to get back in the good graces of the Princess Mommy?
Then she remember she had Moxie!

Mona made all things right with the Princess Mommy. She let her care for the children (something the Mommy did best) while she took care of the shopping,

the laundry,

and the changing of the diapers.

Well, all this pleased the Princess Mommy so much that she gave Mona the one thing she couldn't resist, the thing that she needed to refuel and continue on her journey.


With her strength renewed, Mona spent one last night in the Buried Castle.

She read the children stories and then sent them off to bed.
She kissed them Good Night and took to the sky.
Off to hopefully a more relaxing next stop.
(Curious where she is going, go visit Mama Kat, one of her official tour guides.)

And they all lived happily ever after.
Then End.

Let's Go Out To Eat

I like going out to eat. There is just something about not having to come up with an idea about what to eat. It is such a joy to be able to sit down, look at a list of food, pick something and then have someone bring it to me.

All my needs are catered to and taken care of. If I want a drink, I ask and someone brings it out. If my food is cold, I ask and someone brings me something warm. I am finished and someone comes and takes the plate away. It is fabulous.

So since eating out is such a pleasure of mine, how come my family and I don't eat out every single chance we get?

Well, the simplest answer is that we have four children under the age of five.

When we sit down to eat at a restaurant one or more or sometimes all of these following tend to happen.

• Crayons that are handed out to color the menu with become a very chewy appetizer that in the end wasn't a good idea to eat and must be spit out all over the table.
• One or more of the beverage containers must be spilled all over the table and into someone's lap.
• Highchairs are not a place to sit but a tower to climb on and jump out of.
• Running around the servers holding trays full of food and making a human obstacle course becomes a fun sport.
• Refusal to eat the food that you chose from the menu and instead eating what Mommy ordered leaving her to eat the over cooked macaroni drowned in ketchup.
• Stuffing a mouth so full with food that the only thing a person can do is gag and vomit all over the place.
• Even better, show sign of gagging but hold the vomit until Mommy is rushing you down to the bathroom and let it rip half way there making a lovely trail all the way down the hall.
• Throwing food at the people around you. Bonus if it hits people at another table.
• Eating the sugar packets because after all Mommy did give them to you to 'play' with but it turned out to be more fun and tasty to eat them.
• Running through the restaurant screaming, "NOOOOOOOOO!" as Mommy or Daddy tries to get you back to the table to eat.

Usually even before the meal is over, we throw in the towel and go home. But someday, somehow, my children will behave in a restaurant. But until then, I think I am going to save eating out at a restaurant, a thing for Mommy and Daddy only.

I am pretty sure that the staff of restaurants everywhere will thank me for this.

Yet Another First Day of School Post, but This One is the Best Yet

So here he is, my big Kindergartener.

The picture is blurry because he could not stop jumping up and down with excitement.
He was more than ready to go.

Riding the bus was awesome.
No, sweat. He entered it like he had been riding for years.
Mommy on the other hand, I had all the nerves for both of us.
I held back my tears as he bounced up the steps and I tried not to vomit as the bus pulled away, carrying my baby off to all kinds of new adventures.

He was so excited getting off the bus, he forgot about his backpack.
I guess he couldn't wait to tell me all about his day.

Hayden: "Mom, Mom! Guess what? I did a Barbie puzzle!"

Me: "Thats awesome. Did you learn anything?"

Hayden: "Yeah!"

Me: "What? What? Tell be about what you learned."

Hayden: "Um, I don't remember."

And the other kids, Jake Quinn and Claire?
Well, they missed Hayden very much and only asked me 5,631 times,

"Where Hayyen? Where Hayyen go?"

But waiting for and seeing the school bus totally made there day.

My Couch Will Never Be the Same

I am really a suborn person and at times, very slow to learn my lessons. You would think that after I found my two year old son sitting on the stove playing with knives while I was trying to sneak in a few more minutes of sleep. I would have learned the lesson that this was not possible. But, no this is not an easy lesson for me to learn.

Apparently, I have to learn it the hard way.

In my defense, I think that I am having such a difficult time learning this lesson because the boys, Jake and Quinn, insist on getting up before the sun. I can get up early in the morning but I have my limits and getting out of bed before 6AM is really pushing those limits.

When Hadyen was younger, he too was an early raiser. But I was able to entrust him to the electronic babysitter. I would get him a cup of juice and a bowl of dry cereal and then I would be able to go back to bed for at least 20 more minutes. It was awesome.

So why not try it with the others? I see no reason why turning Nemo on and giving them a cup of juice wouldn't be able to hold their attention long enough for me to get 20 minutes of sleep. I'll even agree to 15 more minutes. I just want to slowly wake up instead of hitting the ground running. That shouldn't be too much to ask.

But my younger children have tried to show me, time and time again that this is not a good plan. And lets just say that I finally have to agree with them.

After the playing with knives incident, I did learn that I could not go back to sleep but I figured that maybe I could just lay in bed and relax for a few minutes. I would be some what more aware of everything going on and listening for those tell tale signs of mischief.

When the kids came into my room, I got up, got them juice, changed diapers, and turned on the babysitter. Then then put myself back to bed to rest and I listened.

Five minutes passed, no mischief. Ten minutes passed, no mischief. I smiled to myself, very pleased that this time this was actually going to work when.... THWAP! Something was lofted onto the bed and smacked me in the face.

I opened my eyes only to discover that I had been hit with a wet diaper. Crap! They must have overturned the diaper pail and were throwing them all over the house.

"Jeff, Jeff! Wake up. Can you go and check on the kids? I think that they are playing with the diapers." He moaned and groaned and with a little help from me aka a shove in the back, he got up to investigate the trouble.

I couple minutes later, I heard him shuffle back into our room, "The diaper pail is fine." Interesting, maybe I forgot to put that diaper away. Jeff stood there for a minute more and then he went into the bathroom to get ready for work.

I lay there wondering if I needed to get up? It was quiet, no sounds of mischief. I could probably sneak in a few more minutes. I close my eyes and settled in when I hear Claire begin to yell. I willed quiet to return but alas, it did not.

"Alright, alright. I am up" and I threw back the covers and got out of bed.

Claire met me as I walked into the kitchen saying, "Yuck. Yuck. Yuck, Mom." I could tell by the way that she was walking there was something on her foot.

I picked her up and sat her on the counter to examine her. Then I spied the brown chunks on her foot. I had no idea what it was. I grab a towel and clean her foot off. As I did this she said, "Yuck, Mom. Jake poop."

I looked up and her and I am sure if you were there in the kitchen with us you would have seen the light bulb that turned on over my head as the realization hit me as to what the 'brown chunks' were that I was cleaning off her foot.

"What?!? Jake pooped? Where?"

I set her down on the floor and hurried into the living room. When I rounded the corner, I saw the disaster. There was Jake laying on the couch sans diaper, in all his full manliness. I saw that brown streaks not only covered his legs but were all over the couch. As my gaze scanned the room, I not only found more streaks but piles, piles of poop. Who knew one little poop could poop that much?

I wanted to scream and yell at Jake for somehow loosing his diaper.
I wanted to scream and yell at Claire for walking through the poop.
I wanted to scream and yell at Quinn all for touching the poop.
I wanted to scream and yell just for the sake of yelling.

But I didn't, I held me tongue and went about the process of cleaning up. I can now honestly say that after spending hours scrubbing poop from my living room carpet and couch, I have learned my lesson, no more sneaking sleep in the morning. And the electronic babysitter is SO fired.......
I think.

Its A Happy Birthday Summer Fun Give Away!

Ah, Summer.

It truly is one of the best times of the year.
Long days to play outside.
Bugs and Frogs to catch.
Warm weather to enjoy a swim.

What's not to like?

Well, two summers ago I was really, really anxious.
I could not wait for it to begin.
The reason?

On this day two years ago, Quinn, Jacob and Claire were born.
I was admitted to the hospital at 9am for an 11am c-section.
From that admission I wanted three things.

First, I wanted my epidural to take away all the aches and pains from the hugeness that was my triplet pregnancy.

Second, I wanted a catheter placed in my bladder so that I would not have to muster the strength to get up and pee every 7 minutes.

Lastly and most importantly, I wanted to hear the cries of three babies. I knew that if I heard them cry everything would be alright.

And at 12:15pm, I got my wish when Quinn was born.
At 12:16, I got my wish again when Jacob was born and at 12:17pm my wish came true once again when Claire came into the world.
Every one cried their eyes out including me.
Life was good but the adventure was just beginning.

So in honor of Quinn, Jake and Claire's second birthday and me surviving two years of triplets.
I am going to be hosting a Summer Fun Give Away.
I am giving away a Happy Animal Play Center.


This little pool promises hours and hours of summer fun and entertainment for the kids. And maybe if you're lucky, a blog post or two (wink, wink).

Now that the kids are entertained, Mommy needs a little fun. If I could, I would ship some Margaritas your way but I don't think that they would hold up in the mail. So instead, my gift for the Mommy (or Daddy) is a $25 gift card to Target.
Love, Target!

So how do you enter this lovely give away?

Well, for your first and most important entry, leave me a comment telling me how awesome I am. No, just kidding. Just let me know you want to be included.

For another entry, you can Follow me. If you already do, just let me know that you do.

For a third entry, you can subscribe to my feed in a reader or via email. If you already do that, just let me know.

For a fourth and final entry, if you have a blog or tweet on Twitter then tell people about my give away. Just make sure that you come back and leave the link to the post/tweet in the comment section so that I can check it out.

(This contest is open to all my readers. If you come here and read my blog but don't have a blog and want to enter, then send me an email and I will enter you.)

So there you have it.
And Happy Birthday Quinn, Jacob and Claire!
I love you guys more and more each day.
This is going to be an awesome Summer.
I can't wait to share all the fun of summer with my 2 year olds.



This contest will be open until Wednesday, June 24th at 11:00pm eastern standard time. I will announce the winner on Friday June 26th. The winner must have a valid email address in order to claim the prize.
Good Luck and Thank You for helping me celebrate.

How is it that They Know I Want to go to Sleep?

It has been a long, hard day.

The kids have been sleeping soundly for some time.
The house has been returned to more subdued level of chaos.

The toys have been kicked out of the walks, ready to be played with tomorrow. There is the hum of the dishwasher coming from the kitchen, drowning out Jeff's WoW voice chat.

Blogs have been visited and comments left.
My eyelids are heavy so it is time for bed.

Nightly routine and beautiful regiment of looking at myself in the mirror and sighing is complete. Teeth have been brushed and jammies are on.

I pull the covers back, turn off the light and lay my head down on the pillow when

Whoot Whoot Whoot!

The secret alarm goes off in the babies room.
I sit straight up and listen.
There is a soft muted cry.

Once.

Twice.

And then it stops.
Maybe this night it will not wake some one up.

Quiet has returned.
Good.
I sink back down, head gently laid on my pillow when

Whoot Whoot Whoot!

Again, I bolt straight up in bed and listen.
That damn alarm.
It must be triggered by my head hitting the pillow.

I hear the crying again but this time it is louder and more angry.
And then the call starts.

Moooooommeeeee! Whaaaaaw!
Moooooooommmeeee! Whaaaaaw!

Forget it.
I guess it can't go to sleep yet.
I get up out of bed and head upstairs to comfort the crying child.

I really need to find that damn secret alarm and remove it from their room. Either that or learn how to sleep sitting up without my head ever touching a pillow.

Blowing Bubbles...... Well Almost

Before and After

With the weather getting warmer, I decided to make a water table for the kids.
The kids really liked this idea.

Even if it did leave then a little wet.

But it also produced infectious giggles.
(Go on watch it and I dare you not to laugh)

I got this idea from this blogger.

I Can't Handle 3 Toddlers, Can You?

I can handle 3 infants. It is actually easy once you get the hang of it. Its all about the schedule. Once you have that you just repeat it over and over and over again. They ate, the play(in one spot), the poop, they sleep and repeat.

I can handle 3 wobblers. It is a little more difficult than the infants but not too much. Sure, they are on the move but its not too bad because they are slow and they are too short to really reach anything dangerous. They are also pretty dependent, still not really interested in doing things for themselves.


But

I

Can't

Handle

Three

Toddlers!


More specially, I can't handle three 2 years olds. These kids are going to put me in an early grave. The truth is that they are not even 2 yet and my white flag is already more than half way up the pole.

If you want to know what I am talking about just think about your own two year old, kid not two think of when they will be or when they were and multiple that by three. Yeah, you feel me now. It is non-stop three fold.

But if you truly don't know, I have examples.

Claire has learned to climb out of her crib. So now when she is suppose to be sleeping she is out in her room playing. She is free, I tell you free. The one place that I could put her where I knew that she would be safe and contained is gone.

We have had a total language explosion. Words and phrase are flying at me from every corner of the house. Everyone wants to know, "What's that?" "Where's Daddy?" and then there is the "Look, Momma Look!" and the "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" My head is usually spinning by 9am.

Along with this language explosion has come back talk. Every single time I ask Jake to do something or go some where, I get a big fat, "NO!" and then he runs in the opposite direction. Oh and Claire, she loves to scream "Mine, Mine, Mine!" whenever anyone touches anything that she has. And I am not going to even talk about the temper-tantrums, good Lord, they are fierce.

The other thing that goes along with being two is the independence and the limit testing. They want to do everything themselves from stripping naked at the most inconvenient times to drinking from a non-sippy cup like Hayden and then proceeding to throw the contents all over the house when they are done.

Some days I feel like I am in a constant state of battle, a battle of wills that is. I tell them no and they tell me no. I say it louder and they say it louder. I slap their hand and they slap me. Back and forth and round and round we go, all day long. Its no wonder by the end of the day, I am done. I just don't have anything left in me. Some days, I just give up all together. Discipline, whats that?

So you see, there is no way that I can handle three 2 year olds. No way! I just can't because then I start to think ahead to 3, which if Hayden is any indicator was much, much worse than 2, you will know why I have totally given the house over to the kids and crawled into the corner with my bottle of wine, rocking until it is all over or at least until they all hit 4. Yes, I think I can handle three 4 year olds.



Now I know that I must limit set and discipline my children and I do. This post is just me venting because Good Lord this is hard. I remember being pregnant and crying because there was no way I could handle 3 babies. Well, if I only knew. I would go back to 3 babies in a heart beat, 3 babies that was the easy stuff.

Let's Go for A Drive

When the weather is nice and warm, is there any better way to enjoy the it than going for a drive?

Driving along in your automobile
is all fun and games until...

the car tries to eat you.

Wordful Wednesday.