Surviving Triplets

That's exactly what we are doing at the moment. A virus has attacked our home. It all started on Monday w/ Gabi, Tuesday w/ Ian, & Friday w/ Sofi. Of the 3, 2 have croup. No fun. We are in survival mode, much like we were the 1st three months the babies were home. Yes, waking up that often to administer Tylenol & make sure we aren't dealing w/ breathing issues.

Long story short...I promise a longer story when this is all done. Thanks.

Mommy's Sewing Addiction...

Cuz that's why I haven't been writing.
I'm bad.
I can't help it.
I bought more patterns,
I love patterns.

And to think I use to be scared of them.
HA!
Don't know what Todd is going to do
about this new addiction of mine.

I need more room.
Seriously.

And the best part?
The girls are getting really good at modeling my creations.

Sofi seems to shine behind the camera.





And Gabi ain't too bad herself,
normally taking the more bashful role.

Ian is done w/ PHYSICAL THERAPY!!!!

It was determined today that Ian no longer is in need of PT services. Not like it is a huge thing but it is a HUGE THING. He has met all of his goals & besides still being a bit wobbly due to the whole lingering balance issue, he is on target.

That's my boy! We are so proud of how far he has come. He was assessed at the level of a 4-5 month old when we started this journey. He was 11 months old. That is a half year loss in motor skills. Not something any parent wants to see happen to their child, especially since it seems like he just learned it all.

He was on the cusp of walking. Pulling up & cruising. All to be dashed away in a heartbeat. It took another 7 months to get there. It was so sad but he persevered. He became stronger b/c of his struggles. And the whole while, being a pleasant little boy. The most good-natured, happy-go-lucky, loving, little boy.

Sometimes I wonder who struggled more. Him or me (us...Todd included). There were nights I would mourn the loss of his skills, of who he was & who he had become. To say that my heart broke is an understatement.

So, yeah. This is a big deal. A.really.big.deal.

He still gets speech therapy. His ECI coordinator, Melissa, still comes out 3/month doubling as a speach therapist so he is really getting quite the attention in that area. We are hoping he "graduates" & will not need services after this.

Either way, it is great to have our little boy back. Praise God.

PS ~ Don't you love his shorts? I made them & this little boy has worn them for 2 days. He doesn't want to take them off!

And we're done...

Although things were going ok this morning & I got Gabi to actually pee on the potty, at least most of it, the constipation & whining b/c they couldn't pee just broke my heart. Not even 5 minutes after putting on a pull up, Gabi finally pooed. 3.5 days later. My heart hurts.

I'm not one to admit to failure. To admit to jumping in to something so quickly but let's be honest, my dumb ass didn't plan well enough for this. My hubby was right. My babies are exhausted from not sleeping well. Sure that they were just as stressed through the night as I was. Hopefully we will all get some good rest & great cuddles w/o having to worry about pee.

So, here's to the next time...

Day 3...the am...

I'm going to stick it out today, just in case it really is suppose to click sometime today. Ian is catching on albeit it 1 pittle at a time. I actually got Gabi to the potty on time this morning although she already started to pee on the floor, through her panties, most of it ended up in the potty. Finally, after 3 days.

Ian pooed last night in his overnight undies. Now if I can get the girls to go. Doesn't matter if it is in their panties...they need to get it out!

Must have been the good, hard sleep that has me motivated today. Must have been getting out of the house yesterday night after the kids went to bed. What ever the reason, my batteries are recharged for now.

So here's to Day 3...& to hoping & praying...what's one more day of pee anyway?

Day 2...the pm...

I think I might be done. Time to asses having tackled this virtually on my own. Yes, I'm admitting to not having done it quite right. Actually, I've been pretty consistent but I'm totally.wore.out. I'll see how I feel tomorrow & even give it another go once my batteries have been recharged. Maybe they'll get it but if they don't, I'm not going to freak out. Done doing that.

Todd really helped me put things in to perspective & if this attempt flops, I will take a 2 day breather & we will tackle this together...as a couple, a mommy & daddy.

God help us all!

Day 2...the am...

I just have to say, sometimes you pick & choose your battles. Overnight diaper free is not a battle we chose to fight. Day time diapering...fine. Overnight...I need my sleep & the methodology behind the 3 Day Potty Training Manual is that you stay in the room all night long & sorry, if it were 1 child, yes.

3, no.

So we call them big kid overnight panties. They are pullups so they feel the wetness when they pee. And this is the battle I don't want to fight. So there.

Day 2 morning progress is slow. A few tinkles in the potty by Gabi & Ian but they are still having accidents. I am terrified of nap time. TERRIFIED.

The one good thing that happened between yesterday & today, Sofi woke up at 2:30 am to pee. She called out for me & so I ran upstairs. It took putting her on the potty twice but she finally peed & peed well. She didn't make it the whole night w/o peeing in the pullups but I think that is major that she woke us up.

We are almost at lunch time & have had minimal success w/ Ian & Gabi but I'm hoping this will eventually click.

Never mind...we started :)

I got to sleep in & I didn't fully tell Todd what the details were of starting the potty training...oops. Time to rework our plan...

And the reworked plan is that we started a little late in morning. All the kids held their pee while swimming & all went pee on the potty. Daddy is making a panti & underwear run at Walmart. Say a prayer...

or ten.

Bring on the potty training...

My good friend Susan lead me to a blog written by a quad mom & their adventure in PTing. It talked about this "3 Day Potty Training" ebook & so I was sold. I mean, come on. In THREE days? Well, we will have to see since tomorrow is Day 1 for Miss Sofia.

She's totally ready. Completely. She knows how to control herself as evidenced this week. Let me recap for you...

Tuesday morning when we got in the pool, I decided to let the girls go diaperless. She peed herself when we got downstairs & promptly came to me whining & pointed to her mess on the floor. I didn't scold her. I took off her bathing suit bottoms, cleaned her up, cleaned the floor, rinsed the bottom & put it back on her. I mean, we were going out in the pool. No biggie.

I'm pretty sure she held it the whole time we were outside. It only took once for her to "get it" & not want to soil herself w/o a diaper on b/c as soon as we toweled off, she asked for the potty. I ran upstairs & got it for her, took her bottoms off & she went in the potty. Only a little though. Big praise & the potty dance followed immediately.

Then I put the diaper on.

Shouldn't have. She totally let loose & filled that diaper up immediately. I should have put her back on the potty. Lesson learned.

Fast foward to Thursday. We did the pool thing again. This time, she didn't pee from the time I put her bathing suit on until we started toweling off. Her potty was there waiting & she went to it immediately & peed. No hesitation.

But, I learned. So when she came to me to ask for her diaper, I told her to go back & finish on the potty. And she did. Quite a large amount. Again, I was a proud mommy!

This, of course, was still not enough to convince me to put her in big girl panties. But tonight, it was. Right before bed she has been asking us to sit on the potty. Every night before we put the overnight diaper on, we let her. Tonight, she went. Repeatedly. Like it was Musical Potty Chairs (we had 2 potties upstairs). It was H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S. She would strain, pee a few drops, jump up & potty dance w/ Todd & I, then move to the next chair, sit, strain, pee, potty dance...oh forgot that she would hand the potty to Todd for cleaning...then go to the next potty...sit, strain...blah-blah-blah.

You get the picture. She gets the picture. WE get the picture.

Sofi is ready. Tomorrow the big girl panties go on & we aren't turning back. And yes, I bought the ebook for $21. Pretty much everything I expected it to be. The only thing, it recommends that we do all 3 at one time. And the quad mom did all 4 at one time.

I think I'll stick w/ Sofi first. Then see how it goes.

Wish us luck. I've written a whole blog about it so now I have to do it.

I apprehensive? Hell yeah.

Hopefully I will be writing something positive in a couple of days.

A real summer day!

There isn't a whole lot out there that I won't try. I pride myself in being a daring person & not asking for help. That's the way I am. The whole "you made your bed, now you gotta lay in your bed" is pretty much my motto in so many ways. The day we found out we were having triplets & we decided to keep them all, I knew my life would be different in more ways than I ever could imagine. I guess I didn't realize how differently.

Where in the world am I going w/ this?

I somewhat envy those moms that can pack up their child & go somewhere it requires only the supervision of ONE adult. Mainly, the pool, as it is summer & hot. I was a pool rat. Lived there, slept there, played there, eventually became a lifeguard there...you get the picture.

Did I mention how much better I look w/ a tan? Well, it's TRUE. There is just 1 tiny problem...or should I say 3 not so tiny problems. And, they really aren't "problems". I've stayed away from the big pool & I've stayed away from the inflatable baby pool in our very own backyard.

It has been killing me. Really. I'm meant to be outside. Although I don't love the heat, it is my friend & I do enjoy the activities associated w/ the warmer weather.

I'm a bit long winded but I guess I feel the need to explain before I get to the point b/c a lot of people just don't really understand how hard it is to have to always plan every moment out, to not be spontaneous (although I have gotten quite good at loading up the kids at the last minute & go to Target/Walmart/Hobby Lobby, etc.). And I don't want this post to seem like a pity party b/c it isn't that either. It's just me sharing the ways having 3 or more complicates the simplest things.

Back to the point. I've been trying to figure out the logistics of getting the kids in to the big baby pool we got for their b-day in March. How was I going to get their bathing suits on them, diapers, sunscreen, insect repellent (b/c if you live where I do, there are mosquitoes out ALL.THE.TIME.), water, towels...everything needed to not go back inside & leave the kids unattended in or near the water.

It's all the little things that add up. The only way is to actually do it, hit all the bumps & then plan accordingly. Like I said before, I don't like to reach out for help. Not really my style BUT I knew I would need help to do this, at least the first couple of times, until I had a road map drawn out.

Allison volunteered for the job. She came over yesterday & by the time she got here, we were already in the pool. The kids were having a blast & so was I. BUT, it was a good thing she was there. I had to go in a couple of times for little things & it was good to have her there to watch the kids.

It was good that she was there b/c we don't have a fenced in small area in our backyard & I was afraid the kids would want to run all over the place & although they didn't, they did get out & try to drag chairs in to the pool so again another example of why I didn't want to go at it alone.

Honestly, there were quite a few times it was good to have Allison there. She had my back. The kids had fun. I had fun. I'm pretty sure Allison had fun. And I felt accomplished. Like we actually experienced a REAL SUMMER DAY.

Mom, is this what I think it is?


Cuz Gabi had NO fear! As a matter of fact, the only time she got out was to check out the little splash pad.


I told you she was having a good time, esp when that volcano started spewing water! Ian soon followed while Sofi was a bit hesitant.


Doesn't this face SAY.IT.ALL.


We got <3 onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqdAlXp9CM3HbRgNX1U-YClMzDYO8U-YMmg2pWicXq3ICN0smY2N-1he0RzMkHYPRjmmAC5m5-In2AEbAJiXe6PpTCcas5rDx2uHcYkEgp4_VjmZahOoYCiOgHqcUZHoorsDrSa_spZDr6/s1600/DSC_0020.JPG">
Oh, did I mention that the crocodile also spewed water? Can you tell how thrilled Sofi was?


Love this shot. Love this shirt.


After a good hour in the water, it was time for a snack at the picnic table.


Now, all we need is Daddy to join in & it will be perfect! Hoping to do this again Saturday :)

Rainy Days

Spur creativity. So, when the boxes from Diapers.com came, I got busy trying to tape them together to make the kids a house. The result was this...


Sofi was the first to move in. When I mean move in, I mean she found every set of keys, Matchbox cars, & phones that she could find & moved them in along w/ a few pillows & blankets.



She was soooo moved in, she didn't want to share. Sorry Brother, no entry allowed!


Now that there is actually no rain for the next week, I am hoping to get the kids in to the baby pool. Something we have yet to do. I just don't feel comfortable doing it alone but I'm going to have to bite the bullet.

A light switch & a broom

My boy has gotten creative.
He's obsessed w/ switches.
When I mean obsessed,
I mean...

O.B.S.E.S.S.E.D.

He loves to turn the lights on & off.
That's his new thing.
It really is the cutest thing ever.

Until he holds everyone up at the bottom of the stairs.
Yes, turning the light on & off.

You know the deal.
Ian has been in therapy b/c of the cerebellitis.
B/c of this, he is a little behind, but not much.

So what you will see in the video caught us off guard.



He normally isn't the problem solver.
I guess he wanted it bad enough.
Gotta love my little boy.

More pics from the 4th :)

We had fun over at Grandma's & Papap's house for the 4th. The bbq was great & the kids really enjoyed themselves. Going over there is always a fun experience for them. This time, they really got in to coloring.

Check out how good my Gabi Girl is holding that crayon! Most definitely a righty, just like her momma.


Sofi decided to join in the fun.


She's my lefty. Just like her Daddy & Meme (my mom).


Notice that Ian isn't in the pictures. He's too good to color. Such a boy! They also had fun tearing up their room w/ Grandma.




All in all, a great day! A very special thank you to Grandma & Papap for feeding us all & putting up w/ the tornado of a mess the kids left behind!

A "Thank You" from Brandi

I know many of you have wondered how Brandi & her husband, David, are doing. They are getting by, day by day, as expected. Brandi took some time out & posted a thank you to all that prayed for them & also donated money.

I also want to thank you all. Without your help, they would not have the money they would need to pay medical bills. It is amazing what total strangers can do!

Here is a link...

A Great Big Thank You from Brandi

Happy 4th of July!

We are going to stuff our faces w/ bbq.
The American tradition.
More pictures to come.

And for the record,
this was the best shot.
And, yes.
The same outfits as Memorial Day.
EXCEPT, the girls are wearing their bows :)

Please have a safe holiday weekend!
No drinking & driving!

Holy Cucumber!

I don't know if there is anything more to say.

Ok, there is more to say.
Those things are BIG.
They came out of my garden.
And they are delish.

I like being an urban farmer.
Did I mention they are delish?
Burpless cucumbers.
BIG & delicious.

0h.yeah.baby.