Diva

In my last post, I mentioned that Lily seems possessed. She does, but in lieu of the word 'possessed' we are going to use 'diva.' It sounds nicer. She's been getting 4 teeth in and I believe that that is the reason for some of her diva behavior, but by no means am I going to put it all on teething. She doesn't get off the hook that easily.

Once, she woke up at 9:30pm crying. Jack and I were watching TV and I decided to check on her. When I opened the door and went to her, she began screaming like a diva. Hands and legs were flailing and I thought she was going to bust a vocal chord, she was screaming so loudly. I rushed her out of the room so her brother and sister wouldn't wake up. She wriggled out of my arms and fled down the hall like a banchee, I mean, like a diva. She ran screaming all the way down the hall and didn't stop until she ran into a pile of to-be-folded laundry at the end of the hall. She fell into it and then began scratching at the walls. She wouldn't be comforted and nothing I could do would have helped at that point. I've experienced this diva behavior before and know how she works. I stuck her ina pack in play in our spare room and let her get all of her screaming out. Jack and I cracked a bottle of wine and turned up the TV for a while. After about 10-15 minutes, I went back in knowing full well that she'd fall into my arms. I got it right and she cuddled like she hadn't seen me in days. She watched some TV with me and Jack and then we put her down and she fell asleep instantly.

Another diva episode happened about two weeks ago. She wanted a toy that Ellie had and I told her that she needed to wait until Ellie was done with it. Diva Lily came out fast and furious. She ran up to me with "that look." I told her that she needed to be careful lest she hit or scratch me and land herself with a spanking and time out. She controlled herself, but flew over to the table and was getting ready to push everything within reach off of it. I reminded her that she can be mad, but she cannot destroy anything. She let out a diva scream and flew over to the leather footrest and scratched it. The 4 long fingernail scratches will fade over time. I find it hard not to laugh during these episodes because I now that nothing is wrong with her, but she becomes so angry and often hits the point where she just can't even control herself.

She is just a love, but she throws quite a temper tantrum. Don't you just wish that sometimes you could put on a show like that too and just let all the frustrations out without being judged or scaring your young children? I do.

So, I know I'm behind. I've never been a journaler and in fact, I clearly remember in 5th grade, we had our journal books and each morning when we arrived, we had to sit and write a paragraph about whatever. I hated it. I never knew what to write and if I was thinking about it in my head, then why should I write it down and more to the point, why should the teacher be reading it? I'd love to write a book with helpful hints about triplets because there is nothing out there. Sure, Happiest Baby on the Block and Babywise are great, but how does it work and how is everything different when you have 3 babies instead of 1. Believe you me, there are many differences. The idea of writing a book and getting the profits sounds great, but I'm not a writer.

Anyway, here are some recent pics. By recent, I mean within the past 6 months, since I blogged last. I've actually been busy cleaning tomato out of carpet and sunscreen off pots and pans.

Liam was a frog-turtle. The story behind that new species is that I bought him a turtle costume from Babystyle and he loved it. Later, he changed his mind and decided that he wanted to be a frog. Too late, but luckily he believed me when I told him that he was a frog, but looked like a turtle. He said a "frog-turtle" and it fit perfectly. Lily was a flitting ladybug and Ellie was a bee. They were miserably sick that week, but were so beyond thrilled that thye just had to knock on a door and someone would just give them CANDY! They couldn't believe it. I couldn't deprive them because of a fever.

Lily caught on fast to the whole holiday. We had been on our cul-de-sac and then covered the cul-de-sac behind us. We had hit about 16 homes and on the last one, Lily marches up the door and as soon as the lady opens the door, my well-behaved child yells, "I want candy!" I was so proud.

Look at the look on Lily's face. She still can't believe that she gets to eat candy. She was so excited. I still feel that way when I eat it. Candy makes me happy.

More to come. I promise. I'm into it now. All my pics are downloaded. I've got to tell you how Lily seems possessed when she gets really really mad, our flights to and from CA for Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving and the snow we've been playing in. Oh, and the switch from cribs to toddler beds.

I'm Back

I know it has been a while. There's been a lot going on around here! For one, I started working. I'm working 3 very part time jobs, but it is keeping me busy. I love them and it is actually nice to get out of the house. Two of my jobs are on weekends or evenings, so Jack is with the kids. My other part-timer is on Wednesdays and I have an awesome sitter who comes and does endless art projects with them. You know, the art projects that you dream about doing when you have kids, but when you actually have kids, the mess and clean-up involved is just too much sometimes. Yesterday, she collected leaves, cut out a tree from a box, painted the tree, had the kids paint the leaves and then hot-glued the leaves to the tree. First of all, I would never have even thought of that and secondly, it wouldn't have turned out as cute as hers did. Oh, she does the art projects and takes wonderful car of my kids even with her 1-year old daughter whom she brings each time. Gotta love it!

Here's how the week has started:

Monday: I had to get to a triplet group meeting (Jack was out of town) so our next door neighbor was coming to babysit. I had 20 minutes til she came. I was making dinner and on the phone making a Dr. appt for Ellie. I took out some ingredients to make a salad for the kids, but when I went to get the 40 grape tomatoes, they were gone. I could have sworn I took them out, but maybe I had put them back in when I was opening and closing the fridge. Oh well. I went to the playroom to get the kids and lo and behold, all 40 of my tomatoes were spread around the playroom CARPET and smooshed. It looked like they stomped to their hearts' content on the tomatoes on my carpet. And, for a bonus, there was pulp and seeds in their hair. I have never been so mad at them! I get frustrated, yes, but never livid, can't-breathe-mad. After a short rant, I told them to get to their kitchen chairs pronto.
I had 15 minutes to clean the floor and at least start dinner with them before the sitter came. I had to pick up all the tomatoes, pulp and seeds and then got out my awesome carpet stain remover and sprayed away. After about 10 minutes, I went back to the kitchen to get them their dinner.
All the time I'd been cleaning, they had been sitting in their chairs, SILENT! To have 3 2-year olds sitting silent is a miracle. I proceeded to give them their dinner and lecture them. They ate for 10 minutes in silence. I'm not kidding!!! A full 20 minutes of silence!
Ellie said she was done so I got her down and knowing that she was the one who pulled the box of tomatoes down, I got down on her cute little 2-year old eye level and told her, "Don't you ever take anything off this counter again. I'm not mad anymore."
She followed up with, "Mommy all done mad?"
"Yes, baby, I'm all done being mad."
Liam pipes up, "Mommy happy!"
"No, baby, I'm not quite happy yet, but I'm not mad."

Tuesday: They were playing happily in the kitchen with all the pots and pans, so I took a few minutes, meaning probably 4 minutes total, to run upstairs and do a load of laundry. Just as I'm coming back down the stairs, Ellie says, "Mommy clean hands?" Uh-oh. There was a white creamy substance all over her hands and as I turn the corner in the kitchen, there is a chair pulled up to a counter and pots and pans all over the floor. Wait....the creamy white substance is all over the pots and pans too, and my cupboards, and Lily and Liam. As a result of my master detective skills, I deduce that they have pulled the sunscreen off the counter, unscrewed it and wiped it everywhere! Note to self: sunscreen does not come out in the dishwasher, nor does it come out if you use scalding hot water and dishsoap. If you're invited to our house for dinner, the dinner you are served may have a slight sunscreen taste. The excess wine that we will be serving will take care of that taste.

Wednesday: I went to work and maybe stayed a little later than usual. :)

I'll work on getting pictures up.

It makes me feel good when....

We are watching the women's Olympic beach volleyball match and Liam looks up at Kerri Walsh on TV, points and says, "Dere's Mommy!"

I wish Baby, I wish...

My Babies are Almost 2!!!

My "babies" turn 2 years old tomorrow! In thinking back over the past couple years, I thought I'd write about our struggles with infertility and how our 3 beautiful babies came to be.

I can't belive that time has gone so quickly. I never thought it could be like this. When I think back to when the babies were born or when I was pregnant, it seems like last summer and I have to remember that it was 2 summers ago. If you had told me that by my 5th wedding anniversary (November) I'd have 2-year old triplets, I would have laughed right in your face. Yet, here they are and my life has been changed upside down for the better. What did I do before these babies were here? I must have been bored, but I know that I wasn't. I had an unexplainable longing in my heart for a child and so looked forward to the day that Jack and I would start trying to have a baby. I never thought that infertility would throw a curve ball.

We were married in November 2003 and had talked about having kids since before we were engaged. We knew it was something that both of us desperately wanted, me more than him though. We were both older when we got married (not really, but a little bit in baby-making terms) so on our 1st wedding anniversary, I went off the pill. For some reason I thought that I'd be blessed with two stripes the first month. Nope. Maybe the second? Nope. I allowed myself that 3 month adjustment when you go off the pill after being on it for so long. Still nothing. I began tracking my basal body temps in the morning and noticed after 2 months that it looked like the blade of a saw, not at all what it should look like. I made an appointment with my OB and took her all the evidence. She agreed that I wasn't ovulating and I started on Clomid.

Clomid has a mind of its own. I didn't like that at all. I had severe hot flashes at random times throughout the day and night and I was on edge, emotionally. Hot flashes that would have me violently throwing off the covers in the middle of the night in a sweat or sticking my head in someone else's freezer at a bridal shower because I thought I was going to pass out and because the sweat running down my head was messing up my makeup and getting my clothes wet. Those kind of hot flashes. Jack was doing the laundry one day and instead of being thankful, I cried when he dropped a sock and told him that he just didn't care that much about me if he could drop a sock and not pick it up. Poor guy. He put up with a lot.

Three months of Clomid and a shot to ensure I ovulated did nothing, so my OB handed me a list of names of REs and sent me off. I cried all the way home. How could we have fertility problems? This soooo wasn't in "my plan" and for those of you who know me, I stick to my plans like all Type-A people do. Following testing, we found out that Jack's sperm don't like to swim so we got our heads around the infertility idea and began our journey.

Fortunately (for me) I had a friend who was also going through infertility and I got the name of her RE and we have a family friend who is an OB and she gave me the name of a friend of hers who is an RE. I picked my RE and we met with him in September 2005. He suggested that we start with insemination since it is not as expensive and not as invasive. So, after the battery of tests that I had to go through, I began injections in November 2005 and we had our inseminations in December.

December 2005 was a busy time for us. Jack had decided to take a new job that would move us away from my family and RE in Southern California to Denver, a beautiful city, but a city where we knew no one. We had movers coming December 17th to move all of our things and put it all in an apartment we rented. We were set to go out to Denver in January. I quit my job as a speech therapist in a school and wasn't sure if I'd get a job or not. A lot was depending on the result of our insemination.

On Friday, December 16th, I left my school for the last time and was finishing packing before the movers arrived the next morning. Jack was in Atlanta for a training and the phone rang. "I'm sorry Christie, but the pregnancy test was negative." I was so crushed. My life was packed up in boxes to move to a new state without support, my husband was away and I found out that my newly adjusted infertility plan was squashed. They gave me an appointment for January 5, 2006 to begin IVF. I know that most people try several times with insemination, but with our diagnosis, it would have been a waste of time, so said our RE. It was during all of this that my best friend told me she was pregnant and wouldn't you know it she wasn't even tryign to get pregnant!

After the news, Jack and I decided together that I would stay with my family in SoCal and continue on to IVF and Jack would move to Denver by himself. After spending Christmas with my family, Jack and I drove to Denver and I helped him unpack while he began his job. At that time, we were in a teeny tiny one bedroom apartment. He worked from home and needed an office, so our bed was in what was supposed to be the dining room and his office was in the bedroom where he was able to close a door. Jack drove me to the airport on January 4th.

January 5th, we began the whirlwind of ordering meds and learning how to inject myself. I actually still have all my extra syringes. I'm not sure why I don't throw them out, although it is either because I'm too lazy to find and drive to the disposal area for those kinds of things or because I'm sentimental. Maybe a little of both. I got used to the injections, but definitely had my days where I was ready to inject and just broke down. Why do I have to give myself shots and go through all of this when 15 year olds can get pregnant one time? Why do most of my friends have no problem getting pregnant. When I was going through all of this, one of my friends, who ended up getting pregnant on her honeymoon (accidentally) said that "it (infertility) was better than getting pregnant when your husband looks at you." No, it really isn't. I'd much rather have that "problem." It was a really hard time emotionally.

I had my egg retrieval surgery on January 28th and the transfer on February 1st. The retrieval wasn't as scary or bad as I thought it would be. It was nice to be put to sleep and I didn't have any problems recovering. My RE retrieved 13 eggs and all 13 were fertilized that day. Jack flew in for my surgery but had to go back to work a few days later, so my mom went with me to the transfer. A day or two before the transfer, our RE called me to discuss how many embryos to transfer. He gave me all the stats for my chances of getting pregnant at all, if we put 2 in and if we put 3 in. On a sidenote, I've never won anything, ANYTHING. I just don't have that kind of luck. Oh, I've entered contests and even bought lottery tickets (not that I expected that to go anywhere, but I can hope) and I've never won. So, this track record did have some bearing on my decision regarding the embryos. Anyway, our RE said that I had a 70% chance of pregnant at all, which is good, but not a guarantee by any means. If we put in 2 embryos, I had a 35% chance that both would take. If we put in 3 embryos, I had a 35% chance that we'd get twins and a 5% chance that we'd get triplets. He recommended that we put in 2 or 3. So, rather than go through everything we'd been going through and not get a baby, we decided to put in 3. Our decision was made over the phone. Difficult? Oh yes. I wanted Jack right there so we could talk about it face to face. Instead, we discussed over the phone before the Dr. called back. Three it was.

After the transfer, I just didn't feel that it worked. I laid in bed, like they told me, for 5 days doing nothing. I didn't feel anything. I think I was expecting (hoping) to feel everything the books say you'll feel when you're pregnant, but I felt nothing. About a week after the transfer, I felt a painful pinch in my abdomen area. I chalked it up to left-over cramping from the surgery or transfer or something. Looking back, I think that pinching was one of the embryos latching on, but I don't know for sure.

On February 13, 2006, I had my bloodtest to determine if I was pregnant or not. Jack flew into town to be with me for the test and results. After the test, they told me to go home and not worry. Right. Early that afternoon, I got a call from my favorite nurse and I could tell by her voice that the news was good. She said that I was definitley pregnant and most likely with more than one. Jack and I were thrilled! Then she said my HcG number: 656. I don't totally remember what the "normal" pregnancy number is, I think somewhere around 100. Yes, I was definitely pregnant and would have to wait to find out.

This post is getting really long, but I'm on a roll and the kids are still sleeping. :)

Our first ultrasound revealed 2 well developed fetuses and 1 that was significantly smaller than the other 2. The Dr. said that it looked like that one wasn't going to develop any further and that he didn't expect to see it at the next ultrasound. That was a mixed blessing. Did we want triplets? Not really. Did we want twins? Definitely! But, we were torn...we wanted to root for our little baby but not completely.

The next ultrasound, we saw the first 2 again and then he scanned over to the other side of my uterus. There it was! Bigger than the first 2. Amazing. The room got really quiet and the Dr. and nurse just looked at us. The Dr.'s tone of voice got quieter and he said that in this case he didn't think selective reduction was needed. It wasn't going to be an option, but it was nice to hear a Dr. say that it wasn't needed.

Anyway, this post got a little off track, but thinking that those little fetuses are my healthy beautiful babies who will be 2 years old tomorrow just makes me a little nostalgic.


I'm working on another post to follow this one about their birth and some pictures from their birthday. Also, we flew to CA last night and I have some stories about that flight also. Flying iwth them is definitely getting easier, but it is still A LOT of work.

Christie

Lily

Aaaaah, Lily. There is nothing relaxing about this girl. She is a firecracker and the only one I have to keep all 5 of my mommy eyes on. Ellie and Liam will stay close to me when we are out and out of the stroller, but not Lily. She will be gone in a flash and has no problem becoming friendly with anyone, as evidenced today when she was flirting with 6 firemen in Dairy Queen. They were nice looking...she has good taste.

Lily was born the smallest, at 2 lbs. 10 oz. and she has stayed the smallest, at 21.5 lbs at 2 years old. She makes up for her little size in personality though.

Some facts about Lily:

* Her cry sounds like a firetruck (maybe that is the reason for the affinity towards the firemen); so much so

that I once looked out the window because I thought a firetruck was on our street. No joke.

* She is the least picky eater of the 3.

* She just crumples and is a love when she is teething.

* Lily is our ham. She adores the camera and says "cheese" whenever she sees the camera, even if it isn't my

camera.

* While she is the most outgoing, she is the one copletely content to hang out by herself and look at a book.

Lily "cheesing" in her carseat...remembering fun times at the zoo.

I constantly have to watch this child. If we go out without the stroller to a busy place, like the zoo or aquarium, she gets the backpack with the leash. No question about it.

She loves chocolate, like her mommy's daughter should.

She loves to accessorize and has always liked to put things on her head and around her neck. Even as an infant, she'd put ANYTHING around her neck. We've always had to keep an eye on her.

In other news....Liam went pee in the potty tonight. We gave htem a chance before putting on night time diapers and jammies and lo and behold, he peed and then promptly stood up and put his hand in it. No, I'm not beginning potty training, but if they ask, I'll happily put them on the potty to try and pee. They get one M&M for pee and 2 for poo. Since we are being frank, Ellie tried to get an M&M for passing gas on the toilet. I'm proud, no doubt, but no go.

Ellie

Ellie-Belle is a sweet heart, but definitely has the head strong qualities that both her mother and father possess. She is definitely a Momma's girl. Whenever we go somewhere, she and Liam stick close to me.

If this girl could swing all day, she'd be in heaven. Whenever we go to the park, she runs straight to the swings and swings until I have to extract her and refuse to put her back in. Sounds mean, I know, but it is the only way that I can get her to actually get out some energy at the park. Eventually, she gives up and comes to play on the slide or whatever with me, Liam and Lily. On the other hand, Liam and Lily ask to swing and then say "All done swing" about 30 seconds later.

Ellie is a Mommy's helper. She loves to do anything that I do. She copies the way I brush my hair, drink water, put on chapstick, etc. She LOVES to get into my bags, purses and drawers, pull things out and hand them to me with a "Thank you Momma." When we have friends over who have babies, she is insistent upon giving the baby his/her bottle, paci, diaper, bib and whatever else is in the diaper bag. She's a love.

Jack and I are so thankful that we have been given the opportunity to raise this beautiful little girl.

Liam

This is how Liam sits in his car seat, although he is hamming it up a bit in this shot. Whenenver I turn around, if he's not taking something from the girls, he is chillin' in his seat with his hands behind his head.

If we were all this easy to please...shark jammies and "geen cocs" (green crocs). He asks for them as soon as he wakes up.

I just love this little dude and am so thankful that God has entrusted him to me and Jack.

How did I Do That????

It is mornings like these, that I look back and wonder how I survived when the triplets were little.

Liam has been teething and isn't handling it well. Poor little guy. This morning at 4am, he woke up screaming, "Liam wants the book!" He yelled it 4 or 5 times (I lost track in my semi-conscious sleep) and then all was quiet. I was so relieved! Well, it didn't last long. He began yelling for me at 4:17am. Looking back, I should have placed him in the pack n' play that lives in one of our guest rooms; however, he so sweet asked for "Mommy's bed" and I was still delirious from coming out of a great, but bizarre dream, that I brought him into our bed. Jack is on a business trip this week so it is just me here holding down the fort. No one slept at all...I'm tired and I really wonder how I did feedings every 3 hours that took 1 1/2 hours to complete, only to get up and do it all again an hour later. My hat is off to you new multiple Moms.

Some days do you just look back and wonder how you accomplished everything? It doesn't matter if you have triplets, twins, quads or just several children of different ages. Yesterday was one of those for me. We have been really busy lately and the kids have been thrown off their naps, so I decided that yesterday, we'd just hang around the house and play in the water in the afternoon. The only thing we had to do was go to a triplet bday party at 5:30pm. I didn't even have to do dinner!!!

At 11:45am, one of my friends called and asked if I'd watch her 10-month old for a couple hours. A work meeting had been rescheduled and she didn't have anyone who could babysit. No problem! She brought Amelie over at 1:30. I fed my kids, gave Amelie a bottle and put her down for her nap at 2:30, then we all went outside. Amelie was still sleeping at 5pm when her Mom picked her up.

Here's where the day got a bit crazier. That morning, I had decided to wash all 3 car seats. I mean, really wash. I took them completely apart, washed the fabric, the straps, everything. At 4:17pm, we can in from outside, wet, covered in different colors from chalk and I realized that the car seats had yet to be put together. Oops. We had to leave right at 5pm, after Amelie got picked up. That gave me 40 minutes to change 3 toddlers, change myself, re-assemble 3 car seats and install them in the car. Mmmmmm....

I actually accomplished it, threw the kids in the car as soon as Amelie's Mom left and off we went to the party.

Whew!

Today, we have a zoo trip planned after their nap. That's all...hopefully.

This is how we play...Lily has a strainer and pretends it is a hat. Liam takes the opportunity to get up on his knees, slap the handle of the strainer and laugh as the strainer flies across the room. Lily cries and puts her "hat" back on. Liam laughs and repeats and repeats and repeats.

This is a pic from the triplet picnic we went to in June. I just think it is the cutest picture of Lily. She rode around and around on this train in her favorite pink car.

Here's the five of us at the triplet picnic. L-R: Liam, Ellie, Lily

My Little Talkers

Ellie, Lily and Liam will be 2 years old on August 20th. I can't believe that these beautiful children have been in our lives for almost 2 years. How boring life must have been before them. Ha ha ha! Well, I think that my "old" life was boring sometimes, but sometimes I miss having my own things. Now, they eat everything off my plate, even if it is THE EXACT SAME THING that is on their plate. In fact, I try to make mine look EXACTLY like theirs so that I can (maybe) eat a whole meal, but it doesn't work. I constantly hear "Lily bite?" "Ellie bite please?" "Liam bite?" They do the same thing with my drinks..."Ellie/Lily/Liam sip please?" This tactic that they've chosen can actually work to my advantage though. I've been able to get veggies and carrot juice in their little tummies because I play up how delicious my food or drink is and they will inevitably ask for bit after bite after bite after bite.

Anyway, they are talking up a storm. There is constant chatter in our house that is punctuated by screams. Each one has his or her own strengths. It is fascinating to watch them grow. No matter what all the scientists say, boys are definitely wired differently than girls. I have not taught Liam any different behaviors than I've taught the girls, but he takes more risks physically than the girls do and he tackles the girls. Yes, you read that right. Neither Jack nor I taught the act of tackling, but Liam would be a fine addition to any flag football team. He comes up behind the girls, wraps his arms around their waists and holds on until he takes them down. They cry, he laughs, gets up and goes after the next sister. You can't teach that. It hasn't been football season either, so I know he didn't learn it from watching football. It is just innate in boys, I guess. Like I said, it is fascinating watching them grow.

Ellie:

Ellie come work Mommy?

I see you Liam/Lily.

Ellie funny.
Ellie blankie dirty.

Mommy wash blankie.

Ellie is a doll. She loves anything having to do with fine motor actions. She gets so excited when I bring in their car seats so that I can wash the covers. She will sit for up to 30 minutes just putting the buckles together. She asks for help to unbuckle, then she does it all over again. She is in heaven when she gets to help me cook or clean. She picks out the shoes she wants to wear and tries to put them on herself.

Liam

Liam drink chocolate milk.

Daddy sleeping. Wake up Daddy.
Where go?

Liam want more noodles.

Pink cup fall down.

This sweet angel boy is amazing. He can count to 10 without help, name up to 8 letters and colors without help. He even looks out the window and points out letters on the billboards. It was crazy when he first started doing this. He loves to read, wrestle and is generally a happy almost 2-year old. I love this little guy.

Lily

No fighting.
Lily want bite.
Where go bear?
Help! Lily poopies.

Lily is by far the most outgoing of the bunch. She is the one that I have to watch like a hawk whenever we go somewhere. She loves to just wander and follow whatever she finds interesting at the moment. Like today, we were leaving my allergist's office and she turned right and followed another fmaily while we turned left to go to the car. She loves big kids and this family had 4 big kids and she found them to be far more interesting than she did us. I guess I can understand. :) If I had just let her go, she would have been completely happy until she turned around and Mommy wasn't there. I've let her go before and silently followed and she had a grand ol' time for about 3-5 minutes before she looked up and didn't see me. She will say "hi" to anyone and loves attention. Lily is completely content to be on her own but definitely checks in with me when she needs some company.

Sorry about the spacing. I can't figure out what's going on. I'm totally computer challenged. If anyone has any idea why my computer is changing the spacing on its own, I'd love to hear about it.

Blogger and my computer aren't letting me upload pictures. Dang it! I'll try later.

We found the best park near us. It has a little red train that goes around the park, a man-made stream with a nice sandy rock bottom that kids can walk and splash in and a little red barn with a petting zoo that includes pics, cows, goats, chickens, ducks and a turkey. The kids loved being able to pet the cow and play in the dirt with the pigs. Of course, I would rather not have them in the mud with pigs, but if you can't do it when you're a little kid, then when would you be able to take advantage of that opportunity? They had a great time and we, of course, washed our hands well after that activity.

Our 4th of July was pretty mellow around here. We played in the sandbox and pools in our backyard all day, BBQ'd hot dogs for lunch and just hung out as a family. Fireworks don't really start til around 9;30 here, because it is so light, so we knew the kids wouldn't make it. Jack and I put them down around 7, then we rented National Treasure 2, ate pizza and had some wine and beer on our front patio and watched the fireworks show on our street. Surprisingly enough, the fireworks going off right outside the kids' bedroom window didn't wake them up.

I have to get allergy shots twice a week and I take the kids with me. Yesterday, Ellie, Lily and Liam were unusally "verbal" as the nurses said and Lily was the ring leader. A little boy, around 7, came in with his mom. While she checked them in, he kneeled on one of the chairs and watched Ellie, Lily and Liam playing. Lily stood up and yelled "Sit down!" at the poor boy. He got off the chair and ran over to his mom. Talk about a bully. The poor boy was scared off by a 23 month old the size of a 13 month old. That's my girl!!!!

Oh, we also went to a triplet picnic put on by the triplet group here in Denver. We ate lunch and then took some rides on the train. Well, the kids did. Actually Lily stayed on it for an hour going around and around. Liam and Ellie didn't take to it very much but Lily claimed the pink car and loved every minute.



The train at the park.


Lily, Ellie and Liam walking in the stream at the park. They kept getting more and more daring and by the time we left, they were soaking.

Ellie, Liam and Lily, soaking wet after playing in the stream.

The triplet picnic. My kiddos at the table and my friend, Suzi, and her kiddos in the triple jogger.

Cameras, Diapers, Talking and Pee

I've slacked a little on this blog. We've had some wireless internet problems so my computer, with all the pictures and everything was pretty much unusable.

I recently got a new camera! Before the babies were born, Jack and I bought a video recorder that also took still pictures. It was great for the birth and for their time as infants when they just sat there. The problem was there was a slight delay when I tried to take a regular picture. Plus, it was big and difficult to carry around. Now that they are moving at lightning speed, I would aim, press the button and look at the picture. Often it was half of a face, if I was lucky, or more likely, nothing at all. So, I'm pretty happy with this new one that is just a bit bigger than my cell phone.

In other news, they've figured out how to remove their diapers. I'm in a Yahoo support group for women with triplets who are similar in age. Recently, a woman posted asking for advice on how to prevent her triplets from taking their diapers off. I half snickered because "oh, mine haven't done THAT yet. I must be in the clear." Whever you think that, triplets or not, watch out. The other day, I was in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher and Ellie came running in saying something like, "diaper off." No, I thought, but I looked down and sure enough, she was diaperless and elated with herself. We all went on a diaper hunt and Lily came up with the missing diaper. Then, last night, about an hour after Jack and I had said "goodnight," Lily started crying the "hurt cry." I went up and her little leg was stuck in the railings, her diaper was lying on the other side of the crib and there was a big went spot on her crib sheet. Dang! She had taken off her pajama pants, taken off her diaper, peed on her bed and then gotten her leg stuck. I've heard all the tricks...duct tape the diaper on, put the diaper on backward, put zip-up jammies on backward. Anyone have some others? Because it is summer and it is hot, the duct tape diaper may become a reality over here or maybe we'll just potty train and day goodbye to diapers! Right.

Within the past couple months, there has been a total language explosion over here and as a speech therapist (in my past life), I couldn't be happier. Ellie is using 3-4 words, Lily has 2 word phrases pretty solid and Liam has 2 and is even getting in 3words sometimes. I love this age. I've loved them at all ages, of course, but now, I'm getting sleep, they are a little more independent and they can understand and talk.

Jack had a "conversation" last night with Lily. A conversation, to my knowledge, hasn't happened before. Ellie was crying outside with me (well, I wasn't crying) in a time out while Lily and Liam had been cleaned of sand and were inside. Lily walked up to Jack and said, "Ellie crying." Jack acknowledged that yes, Ellie was sad. He asked, "Why is she crying?" Lily responded with, "Hit Mommy, never." Jack affirmed that she was right and she is never to hit Mommy. We are impressed with our children. Seriously though, they haven't been alive 2 years yet and their abilities just amaze me. I'm constantly trying to up the ante with them, so that I don't come to have low expectations with them. We love watching these 3 little people grow into bigger people and are so blessed to be able to see it happen everyday.

We have started to develop an interest in the potty. Every time I go, they run to their potties and ask that their diapers be taken off. So far, Ellie has peed twice, Lily once and I don't think that Liam quite "gets it." He enjoys being "nakie" so he's pretty content when his diaper is off. Ellie does get it. She tries and tries to go pee and her little face gets red with the pressure that she's exerting. After the fact, she jumps up, looks in her toilet and is just tickled to death with her accomplishment. I'm definitely not beginning serious potty training at 22 months, but why not encourage their curiosity? Maybe it will make the whole process easier if it is something that they want to do, rather than something that I'm making them do. My goal is for them to be potty trained by 3. That goal gives me, well, them, 26 months to get used to the potty. Until then, diapers are pretty convenient. I can do anything I need to do, go on errands, go to the park or the zoo, without bringing a potty or constantly scouting out the closest bathroom.



As for our summer plans, we are staying here in Denver until the middle of August, when we take our annual big trip to Southern California to be with my family. We have some visitors coming this summer, so that should break up the coming months a bit.

As always, I will leave you with some pictures.



We went to the zoo with a friend of mine and her daughter, Hannah, who is in the 4th car and only 4 days younger than Ellie, Lily and Liam.

The Questions Keep on Coming

I understand the fascination of having 3 babies at once. Just when I think I'm used to looking at 3 beautiful sleeping babies, well, toddlers, in their cribs, I realize that I have THREE sleeping babies for whom I'm responsible (Jack's responsibility is implied, of course). I'm responsible for teaching them to not hit, to listen to directions, to eat their food and not throw it. It is up to me to teach them to love books, to discover bugs and dandelions, to begin instilling a love of learning. While saving for 3 college educations, it is up to me to get them ready for preschool by learning numbers, colors, the alphabet, by teaching them to sit and listen, how to wash their hands and that crayons are for coloring, not eating or drawing on each other. I get it.

When we are out in the world, I get stopped....A LOT! It seems that almost every person who passes us utters a comment. Most of them I hear, but are not directed at me, like "Wow! She's got 3 babies" or "Look at that stroller!" I've learned to ignore most comments. I used to stop and acknowledge a nice comment but now, I put my head down and pretend that it is just me, Ellie, Lily and Liam at the mall, zoo, Costco or wherever

Often I want to make a smart-ass comment back, depending on my mood. I never do. I'm not that kind of person. A lot of times, I wish I could come back with a zinger. I think about it and I usually have one just dying to pop out of my mouth, but the commenter means no harm. It is a curiosity to have 3 babies and this person is different than the 20 previous commenters. I have to remember that. I don't want to hurt feelings.

There are some questions though that just are SO inapporpriate and I'm constantly amazed that people don't find them too personal. Maybe they are embarrassed after we leave. Who knows? When those questions come up, I either make up an answer or I give an ambiguous response that will make them think and hopefully realize that they've crossed the line.

For example, here are some cross-the-line questions/comments:

1. Did you use fertility drugs? I'll tell you if you tell me about you.Let's talk about YOUR last woman visit.

2. I assume you used drugs, why? WHAT?!?!?!?

3. Are they natural? No, actually they are plastic! Can you believe it! They are really doing amazing things with plastic these days.

4. Did you deliver naturally or C-section? Does the way in which my beautiful children came into the world really matter?

5. Are they healthy? Most of the time. How is YOUR health? Really, I do understand the curiosity, but would people really want to know if my child has some devastating health issue? Why would I discuss my children's medical history with a stranger?

6. I'd kill myself if I had 3. I love to hear this one. Seriously, why would you say that to a Mom in front of her children?

7. Do twins or triplets run in your family? They do now, especially when they are in trouble.

SOME DON'Ts:
1. Tell me that I have my hands full. I know that I do. Think of something more creative.

2. Ask me if they are all identical. Look closely...I have a boy in the mix so that narrows the field. For those of you who may not know...boys and girls anatomically CANNOT be identical. Look at my girls...they look completely different. Related? Yes. Identical? No.

3. Ask me if all 3 of them are twins. No further explanation needed on this one.

4. Ask me if I got a lot of sleep. Are you insane? I'm sure that you can figure out this one by yourself.

5. Ask me if they are all mine. Do you want to do errands with 3 toddlers? Sometimes I just want to tell them that I get bored with the same errands with one baby so bringing along another toddler or two makes the day a little more of a challenge for me.

SOME DOs:
1. Ask their names and personalities. They are 3 different little people with completely different personalities. They are not 1 entity, even though they were born a minute apart.

2. Tell me how beautiful they are. Every Mom loves hearing about how beautiful, perfect and talented her children are.

3. Tell me that you are amazed and impressed that I'm out and about with 3 toddlers and that we all are happy. We are and I love beign with them.

I leave you with some pictures...






Ellie is wearing Liam's safety goggles from his tool bench. She loved them and they actually dress up her outfit a bit, huh?




Liam and Ellie eating some "pos-cle" and playing in the pool. Lily was still getting her beauty rest.



She's up and more beautiful than before!

No More Babies

My baby boy is now becoming a toddler. We cut his hair today. It was hard, but I'm not one to cry about these things. He did have these beautiful curls on the back of his little head. BUT, those curls only showed up when he needed his hair washed, that is, when his hair was getting dirty. They were perfect though and curled around his ears and the nape of his neck all the way to the top of his head. Beautiful. When his hair was clean though, it was a poof ball of fuzz. Not at all attractive, well, always attractive to his Mommy, but it was time for a cut.

When the girls got their hair cut, I decided to take them to the cutesy kiddie salon. That's what first time parents do, right? Make the cute memory. Well, the child (seriously, maybe 18) cutting my baby girls' hair butchered them. They looked horrible. So bad, in fact, that I'm not even putting the pictures up. I'm a little embarrassed. Their hair has since grown out, but I still look at those pictures an dcringe a little. She even put their hair in a pink bow that reminded me of a poodle. Anyway, for Liam's cut, I took him to my hair dresser, whom I love! Look at what she did to my baby:

Before his cut...cute but getting a little shaggy in front

He was so perfect perched on that little riser. Sweet little guy was just perfect.

I LOVE THAT LITTLE DUDE!!!!

Family Day Out

In the spring and summer, I like to plan Saturday get aways for the 5 of us. Last year, we went up north into Boulder to explore, but now that the kids are older, I want to keep them involved and active outside. Plus, we moved to CO from Southern California when I was pregnant with the trio and sick all day long, so Hubby and I didn't explore our new beautiful state as much as we would have liked.

This past weekend, we took a drive to Evergreen and walked around the Lake. We saw some huge female elk grazing in backyards and this rather odd sign:

Keep gate closed from what?

Here are some more pictures from our day: