Tigger was a Texter, but I'm just not a Tweeter

I am not a good blogger. The true bloggers of the world are out there, day in and day out, posting at least every 24 hours. They even tweet and link their tweets to their blogs so all of cyberspace (or at least all of cyberspace that cares) can see what antics and shenanigans make up their daily lives.

I could say that I don’t post daily because I don’t have time. But if you just glance at the blog roll over at “I Love Multiples” you will see a whole host of bloggers with triplets that post daily. Yes, I’m a slacker.

So why am I here? What is this blog for? Is it, as originally intended, to update far flung friends and family on the harrowing adventures of raising four children? Is it a way for me to prove to myself that I can still string together a couple of coherent thoughts on less sleep then I ever imagined? Is it my version of a baby book? (Since God knows those three beautiful books we bought for the triplets aren’t going to see any ink, well, ever.)

My guess is that it is somewhere in between. So, until I figure it out, enjoy these pictures.

(And did you know Tigger was a texter? TTFN! Ta Ta for Now!)

This is an old one (September 2009) but we worked so hard for it I just had to put it in!

Go Huskers!  Go Jayhawks!  Go Hawkeyes!

So cute, Paige!

So cute, Joshua!  Go fix that sink!

So cute, William!

So cute, Matthew!  Now where are you going to go?

We're coming for you, Mom!

Matthew:  I think they are going to put us in there together!

William:  No WAY!!!

Matthew:  Told ya.

I'm doing quite well, thank you.  How are you?

A freind told me there aren't enough (any) pics of the parents on the blog. 

Here's one to prove we're still standing....at least today. :-)

What becomes of the broken hearted?

Dear 15 year old Joshua,

I imagine by now you are probably at least as tall as I am. If genetics have smiled on you then you still have Dad’s metabolism as well as his athleticism. I imagine that your beautiful brown eyes have only gotten more striking with age and that your intellect has grown in-kind. You’re bouncing real basketballs now instead of the red & black Spiderman Nerf ball you held so dear when you were little, and I am confident that you no longer need Dad or I to lift you up to make a basket.

I’m also sure that around this time you are probably experiencing your first true broken heart. You won’t remember, but when you were three you told me your heart was broken and you asked me to fix it. You didn’t really understand what having a broken heart meant, it was just a phrase you had heard in a book we were reading to you. But now you understand and I so wish that I could take my index finger, make a small heart on your chest, give you a kiss and tell you it was all better. You believed me then, but I know you wouldn’t believe me now.

What I will tell you is that life will move on. It won’t be easy, and it won’t be fun, but time is a great healer. As your Grandma always says, “this too shall pass.” Being 15, I don’t expect to hear more than a, “hmph” from you when I say this, but I’m going to say it anyway.

Then someday when you are 36 and your three-year old son asks you to fix his broken heart you’ll remember your first true broken heart with a bit of whimsy. You’ll look down at the eager face of a three-year old who still believes that you can fix anything, and you’ll want to just wrap him up and insulate him from everything in this world that could hurt him or cause him any pain. You can’t, of course, nor should you. And that realization will tear you up inside and hurt more than any broken heart ever could. Given that you’re 15 you can’t fathom being 36 but, trust me, it happens in an instant.

As for what you are feeling now, it will get better – I promise. But until it does, just know that I love you and that I once fixed your broken heart. And if I could, I’d do it again.

Love,
Mom

Blog 365? No Way!

Some of the blogs I follow are participating in the 365 Blog Challenge, i.e. posting something every day in 2010.  I can't even begin to think about that...I'm still trying for once a week!  Maybe in 2011 when everyone is a little older and the chaos is slightly more controlled...maybe.

But, I am going to try and post more often and with a few more pictures.  So, with that, I thought I'd share just a couple Christmas pics.  Isn't everyone cute???

Matthew, Paige & William looking as identical as I can make them!

The big boys!  Joshua with his favorite cousins in all the world, Coty & Quinton.

2009 Redux

There aren't adequate words to describe 2009 for this household.  A year that doubled the size of our family in three short minutes. 

So many changes.  So little sleep.  So much to be thankful for.

So with that, here are some scattershot thoughts on this - our most monumental year.

• Thanks first to God for giving us four amazing, beautiful, healthy children.  Although I do look forward to the day when I can discuss with him the logic of sending three of them at one time! 
• Besides being the best husband in the world, Carl has now earned a second doctorate in formula preparation.  By last count he has prepared approximately 18,260 ounces of formula in the past seven months.  (98 oz/day; 665 oz/week; 2,660 oz/month).
• Joshua - no longer my baby.  You are smarter than we are and we love it!  Who ever thought my pregnancy pillow would take on second life as a giant worm?
• Matthew - our mover and shaker.  I'm waiting for the moment when I turn around and you are running across the room at me.  It won't be long. 
• Paige - the Zen baby.  I appreciate your amazingly calm disposition, sweetheart.  But your brothers are on the move and you need to learn to hold your own.  Taking the book back from William last night was a good start!
• William - my gentle giant.  I can't wait until you can sing the songs along with me.
• Haley the dog - Don't worry, Joshua still corrects me when I say we have six members in our family.  Despite your tense relationship lately, he loves you.  You'll be running around the yard together soon.
• Did you know that the nurses in Mercy's NICU are angels?
• A person can function on an average of 4 hours of sleep a night.
• We have the best families in the world.  Their support has been amazing.  Enough said.
• Everyone knows that baby laundry spontaneously regenerates.  Just imagine that cubed.
• On a related note, laundry is more fun when done in a fancy new cranberry red front loading washing machine!
• Professional house cleaners are not a want - they are a need.
• You can fashion a dinner out of eggs, breadcrumbs and peanut butter.
• Take me down to ExcerSaucer city where the toys are great and the babies are pretty!
• Do not wrap your three-year old's Christmas present in a baby diaper box.
• I remember 1999 turning to 2000 like it was yesterday.  Great conversation with great friends, much port wine and child-free frivolity ensued.  While I will see midnight this New Year's Eve, I highly doubt port will be involved.  (Unless you want to make the trip out, Jaz?  Then I'm sure we could find a way to incorporate port!)
• How can a decade pass so quickly yet an hour with a crying baby in the middle of the night seems to last an eternity?
• At the end of the next decade of this millennium my babies will be 13, 10, 10, & 10 respectively.  When I think about it that way, time can't go slowly enough.

A Christmas Scene

FADE IN:

JOSHUA AND MOM ARE SITTING AT THE KITCHEN TABLE EATING DINNER AFTER FINISHING A ROUSING RENDITION OF RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER.

               JOSHUA
     Mom, who’s Glee?

               MOM
     What do you mean, sweetie?

               JOSHUA (EMPHATICALLY)
     Mom, who’s Glee?

               MOM (TRYING TO FIGURE OUT CONTEXT)
     Honey, I don’t know what you mean.

               JOSHUA (GETTING ANNNOYED)
     Mom, WHO’S GLEE???

MOM RUNS THROUGH LYRICS OF RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER IN HER HEAD AND IT HITS HER, "AS THEY SHOUTED OUT WITH GLEE."

               MOM
     OHHHHH!!!...as they shouted out with glee! 
     Honey glee isn't a person in the song.  It means that they were happy! 
     Glee is another word for happy!

               JOSHUA (TRYING TO PROCESS THIS IN HIS 3 YEAR OLD MIND)
     That’s dumb.

MOM LOOKS OVER AT DAD AND THEY REALIZE THAT THEY ARE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE - THE THREE YEAR OLD IS SMARTER THAN THEY ARE.

FADE OUT.

525,600 Minutes

On November 6, 2008 we saw this:

On November 6, 2009 we have these:

What a year.

One I can hold, not squishy, with a little bit of green.

Any guesses on what today’s pithy title refers to?

Those were my eldest son’s requirements for his pumpkin patch pumpkin. Joshua attends an outstanding pre-school and this week the school arranged a field trip to a local pumpkin patch for its “Junior Bankers.” In addition to a fun hay rack ride, each child got to pick out a pumpkin to take home. And while the ceremonial picking of the pumpkin was supposed to be the highlight of the trip, ask any of the three year olds what the best part was and they will tell you without equivocation, “RIDING ON THE SCHOOL BUS!”

Did you know that God cares about field trips too? There were 32 three-year olds participating in the pumpkin fun and approximately 17 parents had signed up to go along. About a week before the adventure the school sent out an e-mail that indicated there may not be enough room for all parents on the bus. The e-mail encouraged parents to form car pools and even volunteered to coordinate the car pools if parents requested. I can only assume that the e-mail did not engender the hoped for response because the day before the trip an e-mail was sent to all of the parents indicating that only 6 parents would be allowed on the bus…and I was one of them!

I didn’t ask to be one of the six parents on the bus. I didn’t go to the director and indicate that I couldn’t possibly car pool since my van is, literally, filled with car seats. I didn’t raise my hand and demand special treatment since I am paying a small fortune to the day care every week. I didn’t try to explain to Joshua’s teacher the melt down I knew would come if Joshua got to school on Tuesday and learned that he had to ride the bus without Mom. I merely planned on being one of the first parents there so I could rely on a first come, first served argument, but in reality I knew that probably wouldn’t work. So I simply held my breath and hoped and prayed that I would be able to ride on the bus since that was really the source of Joshua’s excitement. Then the e-mail came out. I exhaled and, most importantly, I no longer had to hedge when Joshua bounced up and down with the thought of riding the school bus with Mommy.

Now I know there are many of you out there that will see all of this as merely a coincidence or a random event. And, who knows, maybe the school did select the parents at what they considered random. But I choose to see something bigger and, yes, even divine at my inclusion. Because my little three-year old has been through a lot this year too. And he needed something that was all his to share with only his Mom. While we can tell him over and over how special he is and how there are so many things he can do that the babies can’t do, sometimes he just needs something concrete. Sometimes, he needs an experience that puts him on top of a world without babies. Sometimes he needs to be able to act silly and look at trees and big trucks out the window of a big yellow school bus. I wish you all could have seen the joy on his little face.

So thank you, God, for the best ride on a school bus ever. And thank you for caring about the little things in life too.

And yes, Joshua got a great pumpkin. It was just the right size, wasn’t squishy at all, and on the back side was just a little bit of green.