Jumping, jumping, jumping

This weekend was a busy one for us. The week started by prepping for my rummage, which we held at my sister's place again. By Thursday we were ready to open. the kids did a great job of helping get ready and being patient with the rules. Thursday was a great day for us! A old high school friend stopped in...we got to catch up a bit. She had mentioned a rummage up the road having a trampoline. Friday my mom opened the rummage while I took the kids to school, so on my way back to Jean's I stopped to see if I could find the trampoline...and I did! We brought it home Friday night and started to set it up. Unfortunately it was not done prior to coming in for the night. Saturday we left town to go to the 45th reunion for Jeremy's fraternity. After returning yesterday, Jeremy finished putting it together and the kids were in it as fast as they could. They are loving it! It is a perfect size for them. Another great find!!!

All for one

One of the great things (and yes there are many) about having kids all the same age is the bond they have with each other. They will forever be best friends and will always have each other's backs. We have seen evidence of this many times. It is one of those things that will stop you dead in your tracks when you see it happening.
So we went back to have Alex's eyes checked. The vision is improving but the wandering is still an issue. The doctor told us to start patching his one eye to stregthen the other eye. She is hoping to see significant improvement for his vision at our next appointment in July, but does not think that the patch will completely fix the wandering and mentioned surgery to fix the muscles.
So Alex was not a big fan of having to wear a patch, so it took some thinking to figure out how to encourage him to keep it on for the 2 to 4 hours. Alex loves his animals esp his elephant, so I asked him if he wanted his animals to have a patch too. I encouraged him to encourage his animals that it is ok and that it will help their eyes. Worked like a charm. To make it even better was both Liz and Zach ran to get one of their animals to waer a "patch" too. All the while telling Alex it is ok and all the animals too.
Nothing better then sibling love!!!
Here are the kids with their animals...all patched up.

We LOVE our daddy!

These kids just adore their daddy. With daddy working long days and traveling more some days get to be a little long for the kids. You see these kids go nuts when daddy comes home...EVERY day! Even though they cannot officially tell time...they know what time he should be home and the questions begin....is daddy home yet? when is daddy going to be home? I can't wait for daddy to get home. If we happen to be eating when he gets home...all eating stops and they go running for him. Normally they help him with his bag and putting his lunch box away as well as a ton of talking...all at once. Everyone has something to tell him. Really I love watching it...he is such an amazing daddy. We love him lots!
Love ya babe!
Love, Us
Here they are enjoying some time on daddy's lap before dinner...
Today daddy returned from a trip and one of the things he needed help with was his riding helmet. Are they cute or what?!?!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!!! I know it is a few days late, but we went to the zoo on Mother's Day and I wanted to get that post done first.
This is the one day I use to hate, in fact dread. For six years I fought hard to reach my dream of being a mother. There were a few ups and many, many downs. Infertility is an awful disease to have. It is mentally, emotionally and physically draining. It become all consuming. You can't "just relax" or "let nature take it's course" or understand that "things happen for a reason". Everyone around you seems to be pregnant or get pregnant with ease or have kids already. You are constantly counting, wondering, worrying and more. Keeping your spirits up is difficult to say the least....every negative pregnancy test or every failed cycle is heartbreaking. It is like constantly getting knocked down and being asked to get up and try again with the same results, but you hold on to the hope that "this" will be the time. It is quite the mental battle to have within yourself. You want to BELIEVE that it will happen in one form or another. And THAT is what helps you get out of bed in the morning and keep trying.
So now this day is MY day. I love it! I have the hardest job in the world but would not change it for the world. I have tough days, but they fade away against all the good times. I thoroughly enjoyed being pregnant as I knew it would be the only time. I try to enjoy each day to the fullest as they fly by too fast and will be only ones. I am not a perfect mother, nor do I know everything. I do my best. I love my children dearly. I cannot imagine life without them and can't remember life before them. I love them more and more each day. Although the journey was extremely tough to have them, it has made me extremely grateful to have them. They are a blessing and should not be taken for granted. To Alexander, Elizabeth and Zachary...I am honored to be your mommy. You are my world!
So to all the other mommies...Happy Mother's Day...hope you enjoyed your day. For all that are on the rollercoast ride of infertility...keep believing.
Love, Jen

Taking the monkeys to the Zoo

A gift we got ourselves was a season zoo pass. This way we do not have to plan around the free days and hope for good weather and can go many times throughout the year and see new things all the time. Makes it a more leisurely visit. So the first trip this year was suppose to be at the end of April but rain delayed our visit to this weekend. This first trip was with Heather and her family, hubby Josh and their kids, Hunter and Jacy. Thankfully it was the better day of the weekend. This trip was based more on what the kids wanted to see rather then trying to see everything. We had a great time. We took only one 2-seater wagon with the idea of the kids taking turns walking. It worked very well. They were exhausted!!! Here are the pics from the day. Thanks to Heather and her family...look forward to the next get together! Love, Jen
The monkey grabbing a quick snack before entering into the zoo...
The dads showing the kids the gorillas...

Jacy...isn't she beautiful...just like her mommy!

The monkeys checking out the monkeys...swinging from vine to vine...hope they don't try that at home...

Grizzly bears sleeping...

Jacy letting Zach take a ride in their stroller...

Alex and Liz checking out the sea lions...

Polar bear sleeping...what is it with the bears?!?!

This beautiful peacock was within a few feet of us...we also ate with 2 peacocks patrolling...

Here is a male and female peacock that walked straight for the kids...less then 2 feet away from them...

Alex's favorite part of the day...the giraffes...daddy saw that one was real close to a viewing area...the kids loved getting that close...

The jaguar staring at us like we are the ones on display...

Perfect timing is all I can say...what a gorgeous animal...

And then the not so gorgeous, but still verying interesting to see.

I am addicted...

...to rummage sales. I LOVE them! I missed them during the winter months. They are my way of shopping. I love finding deals. I have found many last season and am hopeful I will find more this season. Last season I was more ready for the season to start. I knew what we needed and had a list, checked things off as I found them. This year not so much...it is a work in progress. One of the deals I have found so far was being able to complete the boy 4T wardrobe (all seasons) for only $60. This last week I found an awesome deal. The kids are really into dinosaurs, so I was on the hunt for them. I found a stuff animal at the second rummage, but found an even better dino at the last rummage. He is a HUGE stuffed dinosaur. I will continue to rummage and find the deals. Here are some pictures of introducin the kids to their new big dino:
Pure excitement...looks at Zach's expression...
Best thing to do with a large stuff animal....

wrestle!!! Notice Liz still on the couh watching and giggling in her "new" snow white dress up outfit...

But it was not long before she joined in...

and when you are done wrestling you stand him back up...the best $3 I have spent!

You know you have triplets when...

I found this from a couple other triplet mom's blogs and couldn't believe how true some of these were! They made me laugh. So, if you ever wondered what it was like to have triplets, here's a glimpse into life as a triplet parent. :)
*Your stroller has its own zip code.
*Dinnertime is officially declared an Olympic Event
*You arrive at your doctor’s appointments early just to read the magazines in peace.
*Your husband has seriously tried to motorize your stroller.
*There is no room in your refrigerator for food, all available space is occupied by pre-prepared bottles of formula.
*You look at a closet full of diapers and think “I’m running low”.
*A regular sized pack of diapers lasts only 3 days.
*Every morning you mentally prepare yourself for the worst before your enter “that” bedroom, (naked toddlers, wet bed sheets, diapers on the floor and three little voice saying “poop, poop”)
*You are obsessed with diapers.
*You are the only parents who can utter, “Stop playing with that, it’s not YOUR penis” with a perfectly straight face.
*You can throw French-fries to the rear set of seats without looking and none end up on the floor.
*You can change diapers standing up, while in line, at the Children’s Museum.
*You feel like a sheepherder instead of a parent
*You have people asking if you run a daycare because that’s what your yard looks like.
*You can carry 3 plates of food and 3 cups (or 4) to the table without spilling anything and you’ve never been a waitress.
*A trip to Target for diapers is a vacation.
*Your stroller costs more than your first car.
*You can hold at least three conversations at the same time.
*You no longer have a proper name you are either “The Lady With Triplets” or Moooooooooommmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyyyy
*You automatically divide or multiply everything by 3.
*You have diapers in your purse, in the glove compartment, your desk drawer and in every room of the house – just in case.
*Every square inch of seating in your vehicle is taken by car seats.
*You know you are a MoM when you can sweep, talk on the phone, AND read to your children all at the same time.
*Your monthly grocery budget is greater than the annual budget for the State of Rhode Island.
*The first thing you ask upon arriving home is for the poop and pee report.
*2 minute tasks take 30 minutes because you have to keep returning to the play room to break up fights, peel the kids from the wall, change a diaper you can actually smell from the next room, break p more fights, remove a child from the top of the couch, perform surgery on the VCR because there is an UFO inside of it, fill sippy cups back up with water because whatever was in them disappeared mysteriously (only later when you sit down on the couch you will find where it went) remind them not to jump on each other, break up a few more fights and change more poopy diapers.
*You not only are familiar with what a 300 count box of Kleenex looks like when they are all removed from the box one at a time, but you know for a fact you can’t put them back because you’ve tried.
*You curse stores for only having two of something in a package, or for only having two of something on their shelf.
*You buy Baby Motrin, Cough Syrup, etc, 3 at a time, and the clerk looks at you funny, while the whole time you are wishing they sold it in gallon containers.
*You pull 3 tickets for Car seats at Babies R Us to take to the register, and when you get there the clerk says, “Ma’am, I think you picked up too many of these or they must have been stuck together”
*You agonize over what it will be like when they get to school and you have three teachers to visit on parent night, three different sets of homework, and your babies aren’t even out of the NICU yet.
*Everyone in the neighborhood knows who you are, even though you’ve never met them before.
*The grocery store clerk has commented on the 6-9 gallons of milk you buy each week, telling you it would be cheaper to buy a cow.
*You’ve ever truly considered strangling someone who said, “you’ve got your hands full” or “I’d shoot myself”.
*You’ve ever been so sleepy that you can fall asleep with the baby lying on your chest and fail to wake up despite the fact that the baby is screaming directly into your left ear.
*You are both shocked by the rudeness, and amazed by the kindness of strangers in the same 60 seconds upon entering Target.
*Oh, and you consider going to Walmart at 11pm “going out”
*Because you’ve charted poops pees and food intake.
*You know at one time you did have a spouse, but now you can’t remember.
*You have to wash the dinner dishes by hand because the dishwasher is full of bottles.
*You don’t see anything unusual with the fact that you know not one, but several, triplet moms.
*A complete stranger walks up to you in the mall and says “my niece has triplets, her name is _________ do you know her?” and you can answer “yes I do”
*The awareness of silence strikes terror into your soul.
*You know the black market value of a Runabout stroller.
*You consider cereal dumped on the middle of the floor, not to be bad parenting, but rather a unique picnic breakfast!
*All kids are aware that any sippy cup left unattended is fair game.
*Whining is heard not just in stereo, but in surround sound!
*You go to an amusement park with your triplet stroller only to realize YOU’VE become the source of amusement, or you go to the Zoo and find the other visitors watching your kids more than the animals!
*Your peri says you look like a beached whale at 24 weeks.
*You know what the word Peri stands for.
*You use the word singleton.
*You need a hitch for your stroller
*You refer to your babies as A B and C
*$15.00 baby outfits seem too expensive.
*You buy a single weeks worth of formula, and the clerk asks you if you are stocking up.
*You intentionally feed all 3 kids from the same spoon and bowl even though one is sick, because you can’t bear the thought of 3 consecutive 2 week cold sessions, you’d rather have them sick at the same time.
*You enroll them in or join every activity and playgroup you can, you visit every playground in a 10 mile radius, sometimes more than 1 a day, just so you can be out of the house from dawn to dusk so you have less to clean up.
*After 20 minutes in the car you realize you are not only listening to the kids tape, but you are singing along with it, and there are no kids in the car.
*All of a sudden everyone you know, knows someone with triplets.
*Crib Tents? You can’t afford NOT to buy them.
*You know what a crib tent is!
*You consider leashes a viable safety option.
*You celebrate the birthdays of the people who invented the spill proof sippy cup and the auto repeat replay function on DVD players.
*You bought a dog (or have thought about it) to cut down on post meal cleanup time.
*Your home has become a complex maze of gates, locks and barricades.
*Your kids have never actually walked through the zoo or store, because getting out of the stroller is NOT an option.
*You are not horrified at the idea of “waking a sleeping baby” to eat. After all, it is time to EAT so sayeth the master schedule!
*When hearing of a new pregnancy, you first question is “just one?”
*You call one baby a singleton (before your triplets arrived, it was “a baby”)
*You don’t want to potty train because the thought of trying to take all 3 to a public bathroom yourself sends shivers up and down your spine.
*You make formula by the gallon and it lasts only 24 hours.
*Your pediatrician’s office recognizes your voice.
*You feel so so so BLESSED…..and tired. :)

A Weekend Away

We started out May with making a trip across the state to attend our niece, Mackenzie's birthday party. I worked Staurday morning so we did not leave town until early afternoon. We had a great time at the party. The kids played on the girls' swingset. They had a blast on the trampoline. Sunday they played outside riding toys up and down the sidewalk. We also made a quick trip to Papa's farm. Here are some of the pictures:
Nana walking along with the boys as they head to the corner to turn around...
Zach was pretty protective of the John Deere ride on...not shocking at all...

anything to be like his daddy...

Papa helping the kids get some corn to feed the cows...

Nana helping with the feeding process...they were trying to get an ear to the small caw standing in back...

Kids kept running up the corn crib to get more...they had a blast feeding the cows (cows seemed to enjoy it as well...lol)...

We then checked out the new baby kitties...the kids were very gentle with them...

One final thing was the boys checking out Papa's tractor before leaving the farm.