Catch up time!

Once again I am behind on my blog! Things have been a little crazy and busy but that's the normal for us. My shower was last weekend. It was really nice! I got over 1300 diapers and 1600 wipes plus a lot of nice baby gifts. Started making me a little more excited for the baby not that I wasn't excited but sometimes it still seems so surreal that we are having another baby and it's coming in the next few weeks. My sisters were so nice to give me this shower and of course Aaron and I had to practically get divorced to get the house cleaned. We were up until 2:30 am on Friday night cleaning and preparing and still preparing 5 minutes before people arrived -- nothing new for us though just hard when your pregnant and there were 5 kids staying here (ours and Keely's 2) that were all under 3 years old.

All the kids were sick last week. All had a fever and Ethan threw up once. They weren't all sick at once: Ethan and Addison were and then Caden and I were sick. I think I feel better but them being sick threw a wrench into our schedule. We never went to school once last week, had to cancel our preschool transition meeting, missed developmental therapy, and we were going to have photos taken but decided that was a bad idea if the kids were sick and cranky.

Addison got her new glasses but won't wear them for more than 2 seconds. I have yet to make it back to Walmart to get them adjusted and buy a strap or get new ear pieces to keep them on better. They are PINK and very cute!

I have 5 weeks left and think either from being sick or just being near the end I am starting to get really wore down. Also I have been super grouchy today! Be glad you don't live here! The kids were more than a handful today and I don't know if it's because they haven't been out much in the last week or what. They better shape up!

We are on the countdown to the big birthday bash! Feels like Monkey Central here. Aaron and I are working on all kinds of MONKEY projects. The kids are excited for their birthday and I am hoping that the toys we got them for their birthday will keep them a little more occupied until this baby comes.

Oh yeah and my 8 month old digital camera fell off a shelf and didn't make it. The screen went haywire. It was almost the same amount of money to buy a new camera as to try to have Kodak fix it. I only had 4 people offer to lend me their camera for Halloween and Kids' Birthday Party but I was freaking out thinking I might have this baby and not have a camera! How could I miss those important first moments and memories. I don't have cute and fun photos from the triplets now I don't want to be jipped on that aspect again!

It's going to be a busy week: we have to clean the house again, get all the birthday projects and food ready, and make up for all the missed appointments last week, and it's Halloween too!

Funny sayings and some Advice

The kids pick up funny expressions all the time and when I hear them say them I am surprised and amused. Caden is OBSESSED with SPIDERMAN in the worst way. He calls him "Spiderman Web". I'm pretty sure it is both the first thing in the morning and last thing he says at night. Last week he cried because I didn't' have a Spiderman Web shirt for him to wear -- he had wore 4 of them that week and we ran out in his size. He finally agreed to wear something else. Caden is also very expressive -- he is easily excited. Now if he gets excited about something he sucks in his breath and says "Oh Goodness!" -- It is so cute!

Addison picks up on everything so we really need to be more careful with what we say around her! She is really expanding her play skills and using dolls and little people to act out things -- the things she has them saying is so funny and cute. One of her choice phrases lately has been "For me???"(with major emphasis on the "me" part), especially if we are talking about a gift or party. The way she says it is so funny. Papa Ronn was here one day and he often says "Hi Big Boy" to the boys when he greets them. Ronn was out in our yard and I opened the back door and Addison said "Hi Big Boy" to him. I've heard her say it to other people too.

Ethan continues to develop his speaking skills and I'm convinced he can say anything he wants to and probably does but he's very difficult to understand and I have a hard time sometimes unless I have a good context to go with it. His choice phrases are "I cry", "I tired", and "You alright?" The "I cry" and "I tired" are things he says when he's upset about something to get some sympathy. He asks "You alright?" when someone may be hurt and he even asked it of himself the other day when he choked on food at IHOP (ask Addison all about it she is telling everyone about it and it happened 2 days ago -- she can give you all the details you want and more). Yesterday we were all reading a book together but the kids wouldn't give me room so I said "back up" 3 times in a row and Ethan repeated it 3 times too. I was counting my fingers with him and after a couple times I said "one" and he would point to his fingers and say "two". I also heard him say "four" and "five" yesterday too. It's there . . . it's coming . . . it's a relief . . . won't be long and I'll probably be blogging to complain that he won't be quiet!

If you ever have triplets and they are almost 3 years old (I know some of you do) DO NOT take them to the pumpkin patch without someway to contain them. It was my idea. I said to Aaron "we don't need the choo choo wagon -- they can just walk." Oh what a mistake! They were everywhere and running to get places. They wouldn't stay together and with there only being 2 of us we were running too (that's fun when you are 8 months pregnant). They tried to go into places that we you had to pay for and we hadn't. Somebody walked in front of the horse drawn hayrack and could have been trampled. I'm glad they didn't see the corn maze or we would still be there looking for them. They were picking up apples in the store and eating them before we even paid and we weren't planning on buying apples. It was not a fun time at all. I got ZERO fun photos. I'm glad we already had pumpkins at home so we didn't have to take them out into the patch and pick some. I had a jealousy moment too where I saw this cute little baby probably about 6-7 month old dressed in cute clothes and a "bat hat" sitting among a pile of pumpkins and not one, not two, but three people (the mommy and 2 grandmas) were all standing there snapping photos. And here's me running and screaming one kid's name while carry the 4th child in my belly and trying to figure out where Aaron is and if he has one or two kids. Oh, I bet we were a sight!

Look what I found today!

This photo popped up on my screen saver today. Ethan was 19 days old in this photo holding his daddy's pinkie. It is such a sweet photo. One where you don't see a lot of equipment and he was awake. I think I have used this photo on a scrapbook layout previously but I am thinking it would be a good one to use as a single photo on a layout.

Delivery Day!

Today I am 32 weeks 6 days pregnant and it's the same day in the pregnancy that the triplets were born. I feel like any extra days are just a gift even though you can't even compare the 2 pregnancies at all. This time is so different and so much more enjoyable overall. I love being able to feel this baby move, with the trio I really didn't feel them much partly because I was on magnesium sulfate for 9 weeks and made me feel numb and partly because they were so jammed packed in there that they couldn't move too much. I dug up some the first photos we have of the kids on the day they were born. They aren't pretty pictures like most parents have of the their children's first hours of life. The photos seem to be more about the equipment than the babies. It's hard even now 3 years later to see these sometimes as it brings back all those memories of a really hard and scary time. We didn't know what was going to happen and Aaron and I took turns falling apart -- at least we both didn't do it at the same time. I can't believe we made copies of these photos and proudly handed them out to people to show others like my co-workers at school, our friends, family, etc. Looking back on these now they are shocking and scary! Still when I see them I think of how far the kids have come and how lucky were are even with some of the issues we have had especially with Ethan. So here's to holding on another 6 or 7 weeks in this pregnancy so I can have super cute photos of this baby (equipment free!) to pass around to everyone!

Addison weighed 3.8. She looks pretty good here- it was only a matter of a day before her lungs collasped and she had to have chest tubes and be put on the vent.
Ethan weighed 2.6 and was the reason the doctors delivered me. In this first photo, he looks REALLY GOOD! The photos we have for the next few weeks continue to get more horrific. We have some where you can barely even tell there is a baby mixed in with the all the equipment. He isn't even on the vent here yet just the C-PAP. He ended up being on a vent to breathe for him for 12 long days!

Our big boy, Caden, weighed 3.15. We got to hold him 2 days after he was born. He didn't really have any issues medically. He was home within 12 days.

More Equipment!

Addison had an eye doctor appointment today. She needs glasses! Not a huge surprise since Ethan and I both wear them and Aaron is supposed to wear them. She has an astigmatism (so do I). With her strambius (crossed eyes) that she had eye muscle surgery for last December, she has one eye that is weaker and so with her eyesight not being perfect it can cause the one eye to get even more weak so glasses should prevent that from happening. I wonder if she will wear them. Ethan does pretty good now but took his almost 1-1/2 years to start wearing them consistently. Of course he was only about 5 months when we got his first pair so that was hard for him. We didn't pick any out yet; I think we will get them locally rather than from our eye doctor because it's over an hour away and if she needs them adjusted it's a long way to travel to get them fixed. I am going to talk to Brodie's mom about it tomorrow to see how she likes Shopko where they are going as opposed to Walmart. Ethan's glasses and hearing aid, all the new baby stuff and now I have one piece of equipment to keep track of!

I'm not a Stay-at-Home Mom!

Oh, this month is crazy! We have so much going on! I am sick of it already and it's only the 10th! My list of things to do everyday is long and keeps getting longer because I don't get anything crossed off from the day before mainly because in the morning we have school, errands, or appointments and then I think during my 3-4 hour break of the kids' nap I will get TONS done -- well it doesn't happen because if I sit down for one second I end up feeling very sleepy and nap -- like today I slept for 1-1/2 hours and by the time I was awake enough to do anything the kids were up. Aaron is helping a lot with the birthday stuff which I don't feel behind on all that stuff but my sisters are having a "baby party/shower" for me on the 20th. {I know, you don't have baby showers for 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th babies but this is more of a party and since I didn't really get to go to a shower with the trio since I was in the hospital that thought it would be nice to have a get-together and I am excited!} I don't have to do anything for it just have to get my house cleaned which I am slowly working on but I also have 3 (and sometimes 4) people messing it up faster than I can clean it.
I hope things are slower in November and then in December I plan on not going anywhere unless it is absolutely necessary. I will not want to go anywhere with 4 kids in tow anyway! Where is the "staying-at-home" part of this mom thing? Hopefully I will find out in December!

Only 8 weeks to go!

Time is flying by! Only 8 weeks left! I'm 8 months pregnant -- don't I look it?

Our Buddy, Brodie

On Saturday we went to a Buddy Walk which is a program to raise awareness and money for Down's Syndrome. Our Buddy is Brodie. He is 2-1/2 years old; we met him last year at playgroup and now he attends All Aboard Preschool with us too. He is such a sweet little guy. I really like his mom, Sara, and we have become good friends. Sara and her husband, Bill, have 2 other children, Seth (in 3rd grade) and Katie, 3 years old. They are super nice and are a lot like our family. Sara is a very patient person and does a great job working with Brodie. I find her inspirational. Sara's parents; Alison, our preschool teacher, along with her 2 children; and Krista, our developmental therapist also walked for Brodie. Only bad part was it was about 90 degrees so it was HOT! And we lost Ethan near the end -- all the kids were playing on this large playground equipment with tubes and slides. When it was time to go I couldn't find him and looked everywhere and was beginning to panic. Somehow he had managed to walk (probably run) away to a bounce house several yards away where someone must have helped him off with his shoes and lifted him in. Some nice lady brought him over asking if he belonged to anyone. I don't know how he did it without any of us not noticing but that was a scary moment. Anyway I'm really glad we went and the kids had fun they are still talking about their "Brodie Walk".