Coolest Butterfly Award

Now don't I feel even more special? My new friend, Karen, at Lil Momma's Haven has nominated me for a coolest blog award! Check out Karen's blog - you will LOVE her journey to motherhood story - it's so awesome. And she's a cool person herself. :)



The Fabulous-Coolest Butterfly Blog award comes with a few rules: Put the logo on your blog and link it back to me. Nominate 5-10 blogs which you think are fabulous and cool. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog. Share the love and link it back to this blog.

A while back I got a Fabolous Blog Award and nominated five fabolous blogs :) This time around I will make some new nominations for those of you have very cool blogs:

Mary Beth at Four Silly Sisters
Cadi at Triple Blessings + One
Cherie at It Takes More Than An Egg...
Candace at hickey-family-party-of-5
Angie at The Dunbar Triplets

Thanks you guys for your very cool blogs! I enjoy reading them and look forward to more great posts!

On another note - please pray for this family:



They lost their daughter, Tuesday, last night to cancer - she was 2 years old - just one month older then my girls. She leaves behind her parents, 2 big brothers and her twin sister, Piper. I can't imagine their pain. I would be lost without all of my children so please add them to your prayers. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.

To My Fellow Moms of Multiples...

You all are awesome!

I'm not exactly sure what the statistics are for number of triplet births. I know they're out there - spontaneous vs. "artificial reproduction"; identical vs. fraternal - a mix of both but it doesn't matter - there are more then you think.

A few days ago I posted my frustration. To be honest it was a jumbled mess and I wasn't even sure it was coherent but what amazes me is how quickly my moms of multiples friend's chime in to say "hey, we know how you feel!" and "it will get better"

Do you know what that means?

I'm not alone! Believe me it feels like it sometimes. I can't tell you how many days I wish a mom of 2-year-old triplet girls would move in right next door and we could be BFF's forever but alas my neighbors are, well, some of them aren't great (some of them are) - none of them have triplets (or twins).

To all of you who know what it's like and have been there or who will be there I am glad to be part of an amazing community of multiple moms - it's something I wouldn't trade for the world. Even on those days when my girls are driving me crazy I am still glad to be a triplet mom. And that is due in part to the amazing moms I have come to know in person and on the computer.

Thanks for making my day!

Snow... Finally!

I have good friends who live in parts of the country that get snow ALL the time. To them our measly three inches today means very little but to us it's something big! School was closed and all the kids got to wade into the white unknown and soon to be scuffed up :) But it was pretty while it lasted.

Before going outside - the girls were obsessed with seeing the snow and were fighting over the front windows so I directed them to the back:



Heading out into the "snow" - I know, I know you can see the grass through it but it's the best we've gotten this year!



Julianna LOVED the snow - she had a great time picking it up and playing in it...



Rachel seemed to enjoy the snow pretty well - mostly she liked picking up clumps and "throwing" them at me - this mean smushing it on my leg...



Alyssa was having a hard time - every time she fell down she cried until we picked her up - she did, however, love the swing and didn't want to come in when I asked so I guess that meant she liked it. (I liked the picture better sideways)



And the girls all together on the sled again. They are just about too big to put all three of them together - poor Rachel was in the back and in the end she was like "get them off me!!" All Alyssa could say was "help!"



Sweet shot of the girls - they did this themselves and even stayed long enough to say "cheese" - we're making picture progress!



And this is what the big kids do with their snow day - play DS! Who wouldn't hate school?? Wondering how much after the last picture I took this one? About 4.5 seconds! These girls are quick and did I mention they're into everything??



Thanks for all your prayers - I am still feeling homebound and really wishing I could get out more with the girls. I get out without them which is nice but I long for the day when I feel "normal" again. Though I am stuck wondering if there ever is normal again after triplets?

Isolation

I know this blog is really for the kids - pictures of them, videos about them - all in an effort to help me remember what life was like when they were little and to share with friends and family who find our family interesting. But today I thought I use my blog to share a little about how I'm feeling with 2-year-old triplets!

When the girls were first born they were so tiny. Okay, bigger then "normal" triplets but still quite small. How is that I felt less trapped at home when they weighed all of 5 pounds? Possibly due to the help I had. My mom was here for two months so I always had someone to talk to. The girls transported easily in their great Triple Decker Stroller. Loved that thing. They slept wherever we went. It was easy.

There was nothing easy about the rest of their first year. They were mobile but not enough to make them happy. In order to survive we took the girls out often - to wander Target, grocery shopping, whatever it took - we left the house.

But now no one wants to stay in their stroller, everyone wants to walk and I can only chase so much. So mostly I sit at home. I'm sure some is the cold but I really feel that things are so much harder now then they were. Three temper tantruming two-year-olds.

Conversations I hear during the day:

Julianna: my mommy
Rachel: no my mommy
Julianna: no my mommy
Alyssa: Can't talk but she grunts her intentions pretty well

This usually ends in one or more girls throwing themselves on me or the floor crying - always fun.

Julianna: where are you mommy? where are you?
Mommy: reply with wherever I am
Julianna: where are you mommy?

You get the idea...

The girls aren't really talking yet to each other - Julianna can talk plenty, Rachel is often to quiet to hear and Alyssa still isn't saying much but whenever I hear them giggling or just being quiet I know it means trouble. Usually it means my bathroom is being torn apart - they love my stuff in there - Q-tips, band-aids, toothbrushes and toothpaste - oh they love it. And then mommy's in there cleaning it up.

I know this too shall pass but truly who thought 3 two-year olds were a good idea??!! I know everyone says God only gives us what we can handle and I believe that, I'm just not sure I believe it about myself...

Would You Join Me?

I have invited to be a contributor on a very cool website: Blissfully Domestic - there is a wealth of information and fun stuff there from being frugal to cleaning your house. As you may have guessed I haven't been invited to contribute to either of those - ha!

No, I've been asked to contribute to:



Interestingly enough one of my new year's resolutions was to publish more or at least write more. And although I'm only sort of considering another child I did and do feel that this year the Lord will take me in one of two directions - another child to keep me home for even more years to come or into a writing career.

Don't get me wrong - neither will take me out of the home but I can't really do both. Writing takes up a lot of time and I have a hard enough time finding that time when I have five kids that all sleep through the night and nap very well. Where in the world would I fit it in if I had a newborn?!!

Anyway, maybe this is the beginning of my answer and the push I need to accept the five children I've been graciously blessed with and go on from there. Because right now Kirk isn't ready for or desiring more and he's convinced I'll never be done. Maybe he's right - cute kids are addictive! I mean I really thought I was so done when I was pregnant with the girls. But now that is 2 years behind me and I think "am I really done?" On the other hand, there is a point where you need to be done and move on. Right? Well, maybe not if I'm Michele Duggar :) (which I'm not nor am I trying to be).

All that to say it's a great oppurtunity and I look forward to sharing with even more people through their site. Please consider checking them out and subscribing to Multiple Bliss along with some other feed you may find interesting! There's something there for everyone.

I am still keeping up with Tightwads with Triplets so do check out that site - Cherie and I have added lots of great stuff in the past few weeks!! What can I say? I have triplets and everyone already tells me I have my hands full - I might as well live up to that!!

Carb-Only Diet

Apparantly my girls did not get the memo about the Atkins diet. They have decided to take the opposite approach. Great.

For breakfast today: cereal with milk in sippy cups because it's on the run

Snack: more cereal - the girls are obsessed with cereal and will eat it whenever I will give it to them. Heck, even if I don't give it to them they will go into the pantry, find a box and pull it out. Did I mention they love cereal?

Lunch: I served a hot dog, cheese and bananas (no carbs or that's all they would eat) - Julianna ate the cheese along with Alyssa's cheese. Alyssa ate her bananas and Julianna's bananas - it was a fair trade. Rachel ate some cheese, maybe a hot dog bite or two. That's it - that was lunch. They did drink their juice.

Snack: Popcorn - sort of. Then they got a hold of Quaker rice cake snacks and ate those instead. Fought over them really. More carbs.

Dinner: I served chicken parmiagna, broccoli, egg noodles and garlic bread. Notice I offered them options - I offered them some protein, I offered them some veggies but no, they devoured the egg noodles and they devoured the garlic bread. And drank their milk.

I know kids are picky - I have two older kids so I know this is normal but when they end up eating chips for dinner or cereal all day or I throw away their food because they don't eat it. They do like waffles and oatmeal - more carbs. Alyssa will eat some fruit which is great but the other two won't. It's just one of those things about toddlerhood that frustrates me as a parent! Why do I feed them? Right, it's required by law :)

I just hate the question from the pediatrician about how they are eating because I know I can't force them to eat and I really do try but they just aren't interested. I know this will pass - my older kids eat a very well-rounded diet but for now I have to endure this stage and hope they survive to childhood!! Some days I find this so frustrating. Don't they know that food is expensive? Maybe they heard about my good grocery deals this past week :) Still, I seriously hate throwing away good food.

There are so many things about my girls that are completely different - Julianna likes tie-blankets, Alyssa likes one fluffly pink blanket and Rachel has recently become obsessed with crib sheets. Each of them likes to have their certain things and play their certain ways but when it comes to food toddlerhood is universal and food is just not nearly as fun as jumping off the couch or stealing from their sisters. At least I know they're normal...

Do You Know Your Animal Sounds?

A Special Visit

Tonight I got the privilege of joining my friend Kristy in visiting her newest little munchkin, Ben in the hospital. I even got to hold him :) He's all of 4 pounds right now - last time I saw him was the day after he was born and then he weighed 2.13 pounds - so, technically he's huge!! And doing excellent. Lord willing he'll be home within the next few weeks and then Kristy too will have her hands full :)

Mama's here...



Ben in his isolette:



On the way to his bath:



In the bath - under the heating lamps thus the reddish/pink color - sorry!



After bath - looking so cute :)



So little - he has his brother's eyes:



I got a chance to hold him :) He was so light - almost felt like nothing! I can't believe Rachel ever weighed this...

A Look Back

I have been tagged by Denise at Goosey Lucey, Turkey Lurkey & Chicken Little for another blogging "game" :) Here are the rules: Open a photo or document folder and choose the fifth folder and then the fifth photo in that folder. Next, post the photo with a description about it and then tag 5 friends to do the same.



It's a picture of Kaitlyn turning 6! I was pregnant with the girls and my 5th folder containts pictures from her party. Here's something we no longer see from her but really did then:



She would constantly tilt her head to be cuter for the picture. Always made me laugh. And look how little Caleb is in this picture!! He was such a "baby" at 2 1/2.

Ironically this is my 400th post on this blog! Wow! I can't believe what started out as just sharing with everyone about my triplet pregnancy has turned into such a record of our lives.

This is my first post from June of 2006:

"I am currently 12 weeks pregnant with triplets :) In a "normal" pregnancy I would be out of the danger zone now but as this is a higher risk pregnancy (not my term!) I'm basically never out of the danger zone. I was given a 20% chance of a total miscarriage before 24 weeks. I have no idea if that risk is reduced now that we've seen the babies so many times and they look good. I imagine it has but who knows?"

And a picture of the girls on my first post:



If I had known then what my life would be like I might have relaxed a tad knowing they would be healthy but stressed more knowing all the work involved!!

Thanks so much Denise for this very well timed look into the past :)

And I nominate: everyone who has yet to be nominated and would like the joy of participating!! Lots of my friends already have so for those of you who haven't check out your old pictures and feel free to share.

Firestation Tour

A.K.A. I finally got out of the house with just the girls and we had a lot of fun!

A little less then 2 years ago Kirk, myself and all 5 kids were out at Target. The girls were quite small then and became a huge spectacle - who can blame them my girls were (are) so cute?! Anyway, I ran into another shopper who asked if I belonged to a moms of multiples club. I said I did not. At the time I had a reason - I was quite afraid that a multiples club, generally usually a twins club would be moms of twins sitting around complaining that moms with just one baby "don't get it".

This bothered me for 2 reasons:

1. I have 2 singletons and they are hard on their own as any one with any child already knows

and

2. I had triplets which meant I could "one-up" the twin moms but I don't think of it like that. There's really only so far you can go up with that. My friend Misty has quads but guess what? She still talks to me! Imagine that :) My point is that everyone's situation is unique and difficult in it's own way. While it is important for moms of multiples to bond (I believe this is very important) we can't discount everyone else just because they only have one or only have two, etc.

So, to be honest I hadn't wanted to join because I didn't want to spend an hour or so complaining. To be fair I had seen a newspaper article that basically indicated this is all the moms did!!

Back to the mom I met at Target. This mom (Mandi of the Brownie Bunch though she doesn't update her blog anymore) invited me to the moms of multiples meeting and informed me that she had 5 kids as well - 2 older ones very close together, a set of twins and then a surprise baby just one year after the twins so "irish triplets" I guess. She also let me know the club did have some sets of triplets.

Turns out I had little to be worried about. I nervously showed up to the first meeting and got asked multiple times (ha!) if I had twins. Nope, I said, I have 5 month old triplet girls plus two more. It's been fun to say at introductions ever since. And while we do talk about how much harder it is to have multiples then singletons and I have had to laugh at the frustration with twin strollers - trust me it is MUCH harder to come across a good triplet stroller and I know Misty is laughing at me since she had to have a quad stroller - I have generally had a great time getting to know all the moms of multiples in my area.

That being said - and wow, I didn't expect that to go so long but I am a writer so what are you doing to do? Today some of the club got together and took a tour of the local fire station. The girls had a blast!! In fact, they would all 3 still be sitting up in the firetruck if I hadn't made them get out. Except maybe Rachel who did NOT like the dirt on her hands from the stairs to climb up (but that child hates dirt on her hands at anytime anyway).

Here are some of the pics I took:



Julianna was totally interested in everything the firefighters were telling us:



They pointed up to a hose and Julianna looked up - she was really enthralled with the trucks and the firefighters:



A firefighter with all his gear - none of the girls would get near him. Bummer - it would have made a cool picture. Alyssa ventured towards him once but ran away so fast I only got a blur (I'm using my old camera and it just isn't as good).




Julianna did NOT want to move through the firetruck. When I asked her later if she liked the firetruck she told me she liked the seat. Can you tell?



This is her "don't you make me get out of this seat" look:



Rachel wasn't as thrilled about being up in the truck but a few times she tried it out then quickly turned to ask the firefighter to take her back out!



Once Alyssa got in she didn't want out! Every time the girls came through the truck they wanted to run around to the other side and get in again...



Only the firehats could deter them from their beloved firetruck :)



I think they had a great time despite their lack of understanding what a fireman or firetruck is. I'm glad we went and I'm glad we're a part of a multiples group so the girls can get out and have some fun. I did get a group shot of everyone but it was very dark and hard to see - if I get a better one I'll post it later. As for my girls I could only get one of them to stand next to the firetruck for a photo - the others were either clinging to me or running away. Aah the joys of having triplets...

Indoor Climbing

We have been pretty cooped up this past week - the weather has kept us in even though the girls have requested the slide outside numerous times. The kids even had off of school on Tuesday due to icy weather.

So, our big plans for today included taking down the Christmas decorations and grocery shopping. Wow! Major excitement here at the Nelson household.

But daddy is super smart and invented some fun for the girls:







Oh did they cry when daddy put the ladder away! And if you're wondering I wasted basic batteries to get the shots - still no charger!! AAAAGH!!

My Camera Has No Batteries

And I haven't been able to find the charger since we got back from Florida. What have I missed?

- Julianna taking Caleb's hand and leading him down the stairs to play with him while Alyssa held his other hand so he could help her down the stairs. He even said, "Mom, take a picture of this!" and I couldn't :(

- Julianna sitting on my lap to sing rock-a-bye baby. I am determined to get this at some point because if it's very cute.

- All three girls playing kitchen together - wow! I really should've gotten that.

- Caleb "babysitting" to make sure the girls didn't get hurt in the basement so I could work on the computer and Kaitlyn could do her homework. Of course, he had to come up and tell me what they were doing every few minutes but otherwise he's a great babysitter.

- The "new" stage the girls are in which is the hand holding and pulling you where they want you to go. Oh, it's the fun one. As soon as my backside hits the chair one or the other comes up to me to take me to whatever it is they need. I'd like to say it means less tears but it doesn't.

- Julianna pretending to be a frog in my bathtub - saying "I a frog, ribbit, ribbit"

- Alyssa and Julianna crawling around the island pretending to be cats

- Rachel learning to give hugs

- Julianna and Alyssa playing with Kaitlyn's dollhouse - really their dollhouse but we haven't let them play with it yet - they really love it.

But I have good news!! I have pictures from the girls last play date right before we went away to Florida - my friend Sandy and I actually got all five of our 2 year olds lined up on the couch, looking forward and almost all of them smiling at the same time! Wow, miracles do happen.

Poor Lollipop

It's rare that I even mention the cat but today I felt for him so I had to share. The poor cat missed us greatly while we were gone. He hasn't left our sides since we've been home. He cries (loudly) whenever he can't find anyone and today he even jumped on my back as I was leaning down to get more attention!

So, I'm not completely surprised as to how much he has put up with today. For one thing I was *this* close to getting a picture of Rachel hugging him. You know how that goes - the poor cat is looking at me saying "please help me" as Rachel grins like a kid on Christmas morning.

But the cat is soo good he just takes it. I can tell he doesn't like it but he doesn't scratch the girls (he still has his claws), he doesn't bite them (though he does us) and for some strange reason he doesn't run away.

If only that were all for Lollipop (in case you're wondering it's Kaitlyn's cat and she named him). No, today I was cleaning up the girls lunch and the girls decided to play downstairs. Not unusual - they play downstairs and do very well playing together. I was only seperated from them for not even 10 minutes when I went down to put them down for nap.

I come down the stairs and Alyssa is sweetly playing with the kitchen - talking to herself and pouring herself some tea. Very sweet.

Then I hear it. The sound of cat food and giggles. Oh yea, I know this can't be good. I head to the storage area that is the unfinished part of the basement - usually closed off with a door that has a hole in it (we did NOT make this hole - it was there when we bought the house but it works as a cat door) to avoid just this situation. And there I find Julianna gleefully dumping cat food into the cat's litter box!!

And there I find Rachel scooping Lollipop's food into his water dish with one of the play spoons that go to the kitchen!

What is the attraction?!! Does it not smell?

And yet still the cat is fine with the girls pawing at him and trying to "pet" him which sometimes involves dragging him by his tail, pulling his fur and trying to sit on him. Amazingly he takes it all - he really is a great cat and he deserves his own post today :)

Driving Home Is HARD!

We are home :) Yea! That's the good news but yesterday was an extremely exhausting day. Somehow it's always easier to go down to Florida and so hard to come back! Hmm, wonder why?

How did it go?

Overall better then last time - I think. Well, sort of. On the plus side, everyone slept. Yes, even Alyssa. Huge plus! We even had two babies asleep at once. Imagine that?! Very cool.

On the downside, Rachel cried every hour probably close to 10 or 15 minutes each hour. Seriously. Even after 10:45 when everyone else was asleep (including her) she cried every five or ten minutes. I have no idea why! She did take 9 naps though. What could she have to cry about?? I think she was just extra tired - the night before we left she was still awake at 11 PM and then awake again when we got up at 5 AM - thus the 9 naps :)

But we made it. Ran into traffic, had to make a few extra stops for potty breaks - everyone was awake and screaming at 10 PM. All the girls cried before 9 in the morning. Lots of tears, it was an exhausting day. But I did get to come home to lots of great Christmas cards and that was a bright spot! I think I will keep them up for an extra few weeks just because they make me smile so thanks to all who sent a greeting our way.

Now back to life, back to work, back to school.

On a different note - check out my new blog:

Tightwads with Triplets

My friend, Cherie (who's triplet blog is private) is working on it with me since I think she knows more then I about saving money :) And if you have any money saving tips please let me know.

Hard To Say Goodbye

We always know that we will have to go home once we arrive at Grandma and Grandpa's house but it's always hard to say goodbye. After two weeks of having Kirk around plus Grandma and Grandpa and often Aunt Kim we are heading home in the morning where it will once again be just me with all 5 kids during the day :(

What makes this time even harder is that the girls really know who Grandma and Grandpa are this time. Today Julianna walked through the house saying, "Where's Papa?" She can often be heard saying "Where are you Granma?" She can also say "Aunt Kim or Hi Aunt Kimmy" It's just too cute so of course my mommy brain or more my mommy heart is just breaking that tomorrow morning I'm going to drive these little girls away from their Grandma and Grandpa and they don't even understand why! I know they will be fine but I always feel bad that they have no real concept of what's going on - like why we are crazy enough to sit in a car for 17 hours one day and just show up somewhere else!!

Some parting shots along with proof that it is seriously hard to take a good photo of three 2-year-olds!!









Some fun shots with Aunt Kim who came over tonight to say goodbye :(





And a great shot of Grandpa with Kaitlyn and Caleb



More news when we get back to VA and back to "normal" life :( Please pray that we are safe and that the girls sleep just a tad longer then last time! With Alyssa I'll take anything!! Although I am thinking she's afraid of the dark. TV or lights on - no screaming but as soon as they are off she loses it. Weird, huh? Is she even old enough to be afraid??