I'll End With The Big Kids

The month that is :) Can you believe the 2nd month of 2009 is already over? Time goes by so quickly though sometimes it feels like it's hardly moving at all like when I'm being toppled by 3 two-year-olds. Wow, they are just physically exhausting.

So, instead of the babies I'll share some cute pictures of the big kids - after all they are a big part of my life too!

Kaitlyn is such a big help and a sweet girl. I really love this age - wonderful! I recommend it to everybody :) She helps with her brother and her sisters. She works hard at school and plays hard at home. I am proud to be her mom. Yes, she needs a bang trim but she told me she wants to wait till she can't see - lovely, huh?!

Kaitlyn with her cat, Lollipop. She loves animals - all of them. She loves to read and draw and can't decide what she wants to be when she grows up. I just pray that she's happy and I look forward to being there with her to see her do it.

My sweet Caleb. He never stops talking and he has more energy then any of us (even the babies - really). I hear more then I've ever wanted to about Mario and Nintendo DS. He's my shadow when we're home together and loves to "keep me company" - he always makes me laugh and as my only boy has a special place in my heart.

Caleb loves his sisters and there is nothing cuter then him asking one of them to play with him - I love it. Here he is jumping into the pictures I was trying to take of Julianna. He's so goofy :)

Even though I've had a rough month of up and downs I can end the month so grateful for all my kids. I am blessed beyond imagination and I never forget that! I hope you and your family are as blessed as we are.

And I'll try to get a happier picture of Alyssa in March...

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I can't help it - the look is priceless! And SO Alyssa :)

Sometimes It's A Good Quiet

Every once in a while the girls play quietly together while they are awake. Right now it's a hugely rare moment but it's great when I catch them playing puzzles or blocks together. Usually the quiet is a bad thing such as the girls are destroying a packet of gum together - that won't kill them will it? Or they are tearing apart a tree leaf by leaf. Or they are mashing the play-doh colors together in one big glob. Or they are pouring the popcorn out onto the table, bench, floors, themselves, you get the idea.

But once in a blue moon I come around the corner and see this:



Or this:



It's Julianna just sitting quietly. You must understand that this is incredibly rare. She is a very outgoing, fun loving girl who doesn't like to be alone so when I find her just sitting there by herself I HAVE to photograph it.

Of course as soon as she sees me I get this:



She is soo funny! Always makes me laugh. And she has started saying "love you mommy" which of course, melts my heart. Sometimes this age is perfectly wonderful and sometimes they act just like 2-year-olds!! But in those quiet moments I will smile and be ever so grateful for the blessings I've been given.

My Little Towhead

I really thought when I had my kids that they would all be bald and blond. That they would have no hair till they were like 2 or 3. Instead I got 4 kids with dark brown hair when they were born and one little toe head. Sure Caleb's hair turned blond and still pretty much is but nothing like Rachel. No, she's got a whole look of her own. In fact people argue with me as to whether or not she's one of the triplets because she looks so different!



But, you know, that's what makes her special :) That and her seriously blue eyes!

One thing she doesn't have yet: fashion sense. Check this out - what is she thinking??



And this is my Rachel trying to say cheese while also trying to see the picture I'm taking of herself. They are at that age where they can say "cheese" for the camera but they also want to look at the picture that you've taken. I bet it was easier to take pictures of kids before digital cameras...



Who can resist this smile? Even when it is covered with food :) She sure can be cute when she wants to but let me tell you she still cries whenever she gets the chance!

I'm Going to Colorado!

Oh my word! I just found out. I'm both excited and freaking out. I just received a scholarship including registration, food and lodging! Wow! All I have to cover is airfare.

I keep asking what direction I should go in and the Lord keeps pushing me towards writing. Now I have the task of preparing and I guess I'd better prepare even better for this conference then last!

The even cooler news? The conference happens to be at the same place that Kirk and I honeymooned 13 years ago and our 13th anniversary is May 10th - just 3 days before the conference starts. So, it's a conference, a 2nd honeymoon and an anniversary celebration all in one!

If I wasn't so nervous I'd be more excited...

Turning My Frown Upside Down

Nothing changes my mood more then listening to this little guy talk - did you see his face - cracks me up!!

And thank you for your prayers I'm feeling better today.

I Need A Mommy Mental Health Day

I am border-line sick. You know that place between I feel great and I feel like I'm going to die and can't leave the bed? Yea, I'm there.

It's just a head cold and a sore throat but it's wiping me out. And, mommy's don't get sick days. Not that I don't have a wonderful husband who wouldn't allow me to stay in bed if I were deathly ill but I'm not. And that leads to mommy guilt.

I'm not sick enough to dump the work load on Kirk but I don't feel well enough to mentally deal with the kids. The constant screaming because someone stole a toy or someone else hit their head or stubbed their toe - it's draining.

And the physical work of being jumped on, clung to, pulled on, sat one, pinched and shoved. I just cannot imagine having twice this at once let alone twice this plus twins plus 6 other kids. That new octuplet mom thinks she has it bad now - she ain't seen nothing yet! Regularly someone is asking me to pick them up - usually Rachel - so that I will read her the book she wants or draw her the picture she wants.

It's exhausting and today I just don't have the patience or voice to deal with it!

I hate complaining - I do but I feel like sometimes I have to write it down so that someday I can look back and remember the hard times too. And so I have proof that when I'm asked if it really is harder to have 3 kids at once and I smile and sigh and say, "yes, yes it is" and walk away knowing at least someone else has heard my pain!!

On a different note I'm not sure if I shot myself in the foot with this or not but the girl's got Play-Doh for Valentine's Day (yes, the store bought kind because I'm sorry I'm just not that crafty mom who makes their own). They LOVE it. Had a great time just sitting around playing with it. Takes up a good hour of our day.









Yes, I know they need haircuts - it's on my to-do list along with a few hundred other things!!

2 Corinthians 12:9-10: "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

I know things could be a lot worse then my struggles but today they seem hard so your prayers are appreciated :)

To My Parents, With Love

Today is Valentine's Day.

Today is also my parent's 39th anniversary.

I know, sweet huh? Well, the really cool thing is that they still love each other. My parents have been an awesome example of what love and marriage should look like. They also got married very young yet they are still together.

I am hoping that my marriage will look like theirs in 26 years :) And I want to thank them for their love and commitment to each other.

I hope the rest of you had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Ours was relatively quiet - actually went to family day at our bank - they were all over the girls and we got extra special treatment - like cutting in the caricature line and making sure all five of my kids had a special teddy bear. Super sweet :)

The kids caricatures from today - yea, he gave the girls halo's - that was certainly an addition :) No way are they angels!!



As for the big kids - Kaitlyn is a princess and Caleb is her ninja warrior rescuer.

Happy Valentine's everyone and a special Happy Anniversary to my parents!

photo by KaCey97007

#1 Christmas Gift

I know you're thinking what? Christmas was a long time ago but let me ask you this: what toys are your kids still playing with?



My girls have been playing with the Mega Blocks for six weeks. If I want to distract them all from anything I ask them to play blocks - they immmediately come running. Especially Julianna who quite often will grab my hand and say "pay blocks mommy" and if I try to leave she chases me and says "no pay blocks mommy, seet down!"

We build towers and fight a lot over who had what block first but it's nice that they have something we can sit and enjoy.

#2 Gift? Dancing snowman that was technically my gift from my parents but has been confiscated by the girls who obsess over snowmen (just like their mom!)

#3 Gift is singing care bears from Grandma and Grandpa - what is it about the singing toys?

"I See Plane!"

Actually we all did - we made an impromptu trip to the Air & Space Museum located near us. Kirk needed to take some specific photos for the magazine he writes for and he wanted to take the older kids along. I thought the triplets might enjoy the planes so we loaded everybody up and headed out.



I was right the girls had a great time saying "I see plane!" over and over again. There's no running allowed which confused the girls but they managed to stay with us pretty well. A HUGE improvement over last year. It's amazing to see that we can now go out with them and they listen and stay with us. I love it - opens up a whole new world! Not that I'd say it's easy yet but we're on the road to easier (it's never really easy with small kids...)



Yes, that's us in front of the space shuttle. So cool :)



And here's a close-up of us in front of the landing gear.



Kirk and the kids are in front of the plane (Blackbird) that will be appearing in the next Transformers movie - I loved the first and now I'm even more excited to see the 2nd - apparently one of the robots has been hiding at the Air & Space museum for years :) Great premise - I love it!

Plane inside:



Plane outside:



Yes, girls we saw lots of planes today! Maybe one of my 5 will be a pilot someday or an astronaut - I'm not picky...

25 Random Things About Me

I have been tagged about 10 times on Facebook to list 25 random things about myself but I'm hardly ever on FB - between all the blogging and life I don't have time so I decided to follow the lead of a few fellow bloggers and list them here. So, now you can either enjoy my list or ignore it cause it's just more then you ever wanted to know about me!

1. I got married at the ripe old age of 19.
2. I found out I was infertile at 17.
3. I was dating Kirk at the time - told him he could back out cause I might never be able to bear him kids - yes, I've been eating my words for 9 years.
4. I have written 3 suspense novels.
5. I haven't published any of them - I'm really bad about even submitting.
6. I wanted six kids when I got married - I've been pregnant with six kids but lost one at 12 weeks - I guess I got my wish?
7. At one time I wanted to be an Interior Designer.
8. I have enough decorating books to make any designer jealous.
9. I love books on decorating, writing, forensics, organizing and living frugally.
10. I was first tagged by Keira at Tripled Pink! so I have to add that just like her I really hate to clean.
11. But I do love to organize - too bad I'm not good at either one of them.
12. My father is a pastor and has been since I was like 10.
13. I still miss my mother-in-law a lot even though she's been dead for more then 5 years - I still wish she could have met the triplets!
14. I grew up in Florida but couldn't take the warm weather any longer so we moved to Virginia just a year after we got married.
15. I played the flute in high school - I was terrible - faked like I knew it in the marching band.
16. My favorite thing to eat at night is Fun Dip - I'm addicted.
17. I really don't care about Valentine's Day except that it's my parents anniversary - I think it's a waste to spend that much money on flowers.
18. I am currently addicted to clipping coupons and buying cheap at the grocery store.
19. I really love being a wife and mother.
20. I love that I have a big family that includes triplets.
21. I'm attempting to teach my girl's sunday school class - it's not going well - the girl's aren't taking me seriously!
22. I can't do one thing at a time - usually I am juggling at least 4 things - blogging, writing, checking e-mail, watching TV - it's amazing I ever get anything done. I think this is why God gave me triplets :)
23. I wish I knew how to shoot a gun.
24. I am NOT a morning person and could stay up all night long if I could sleep till noon but since that isn't going to happen anytime soon I have to make myself go to bed every night by midnight just to try and get 7 hours sleep (more like 6 these days) but I do sleep in on the weekends thanks to my wonderful hubby.
25. I really love comments on my blog!

"I So Cute Mommy" and Other Sayings By Julianna

Julianna always makes us laugh. She is still the most talkative among the 3 so usually I hear one-sided conversations.



Today Alyssa said, "aaggh, ugga, wabba, etc." - I have no idea really what she said but it comes out like that - lots of babble. To which Julianna replies, "okay, Assa, I coming."

I have mentioned this before but Rachel likes to cry - loves it in fact and looks for every opporunity to do so especially if she has been wronged and someone takes something from her. Now she is manipulating her sisters. Julianna will have something that Rachel wants, Rachel will proceed to throw her temper tantrum, Julianna will hand it back to her and say, "okay, okay, okay" - basically "make it stop!"



She also likes to say, "Be right back!" and announce to me where everyone is at all times "Daddy work", "Katen school", "Cayeb school"

These girls make me laugh all the time - they also don't sit still well for pictures. I was trying to get a decent head shot with their new bows from Cyndy but they were NOT cooperating. Okay, Rachel was a little. Sadly, that is the best picture I got of Alyssa. Can you tell I need to hone in on my photographer skills?

Oh well, at least you can tell that they are "so cute!"

Energizer Triplets...They Keep Going and Going and Going

...I wish I had their energy!

A New Alyssa!!

It seems like just yesterday I was introducing "Best Friend Lauren" and now I have the pleasure of announcing best friend Lauren's new baby sister, Alyssa Jane. She arrived yesterday 2/3 at 2:57 PM weighing in at 7.11 pounds and 20 inches long.

Now not only do Joanna and I have two kids born on the same date a year a part, our last daughters are named Alyssa :) Great minds think alike! For the record, I'm thrilled she used the same name - doesn't bother me a bit. Just confirms it's a good name :) Alyssa Elaine and Alyssa Jane - go figure.

As for my Alyssa please pray for her. She will be evaluated for a speech delay on March 6th. I'm not particularly worried - she may just require some therapy but I want to know as soon as I can whether or not she has any delay and if so, what I can do about that.

I also want to say congratulations to my friend Sally who welcomed Violet Dawn last Friday. Congrats girls on your new babies!

A Woman Had Octuplets...

And so began a huge moral and ethical debate over reproductive technologies and who actually has the right to treatment and who has the right to refuse treatment. As a mom of "just" triplets I find higher order multiples frustrating. Not because I don't think it's cute but because I get asked about them all the time.

Everywhere I go I am asked "Do you watch that show John & Kate plus 8?" I do sometimes but what does that matter? She has sextuplets - I have triplets. They aren't the same thing. I'm not sure if they're asking because they're hoping that I watch to make myself feel better? It's their way of saying, "you don't have it so bad, someone has it worse then you" - trust me, I know. Lots of people have more kids then me, some of them even have 5 at the same time!

Yes, it may have been inappropriate for a doctor to put so many embryos in if indeed she did IVF and not IUI like I would suspect (I've NEVER heard of a doctor putting 8 embryos in a woman at one time especially someone as fertile as this woman apparantly is). But what frustrates me is that people are now saying it's unethical for her to have had more because she already has 6. Maybe this could be true due to her mental state but to say that a doctor should refuse treatment based on what someone already has is just unfair.

All five of my children were conceived using reproductive technologies (and the grace of God - ultimately He alone is the giver of life but I did seek a doctor for treatment). I have a medical disorder called polycystic ovarian syndrome which causes me not to ovulate, ever. So, I would be one angry woman to seek a doctor's help for more children only to find out he is refusing me treatment because I already have five. How would it be his/her place to tell me this? If I were a fertile woman who would tell me I couldn't have kids? I find it quite unequal to say a fertile woman can have 10 children but an infertile woman cannot.

There should be no denial of treatment based on what a woman already has. There should be responsible treatment BEFORE conception because selective reduction is murder and should not be an option. I couldn't imagine my life without one of my girls and if there had been more I would have kept them all. But I worked closely with my doctors to try and rule out high order multiples. By God's grace I have them and it was His plan that I do because none of my doctor's wanted me to have so many.

So, please when you think about this story don't lump all infertile women together. There are millions of responsible women out there who should not be un-done by one woman's mistake (if it is one - that's for her to decide herself and I pray her children are well taken care of as they grow). I am thrilled to have five kids and if the Lord allows I would have more but for now I am content with what I have been given. I would hate to be judged by my reproduction whether lack there of or in excess! How about you?

Just one woman's take...

Help, My Girls Like Dora!

I have been dreading this day for so long. I'm not a big fan of kids shows. There probably aren't many parents who are. But there are some shows that I find less annoying then others. Dora is one that annoys me. I know she shouldn't - she's a small kid with a huge head that couldn't possibly really be held up by her body who runs around unsupervised saving the world with a monkey named Boots. It should be a cute show - it is sometimes - Caleb LOVED Dora for a long time. Now the girls like her too - I was hoping this day wouldn't come.

I think it's the repetitive nature of the show. After a while I just want to say "enough already! They got it!"

The map sings, "I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm THE MAP!" Really? What else would he be? He's a rolled up piece of paper!

Then he tells Dora over and over and over where she needs to go. "river, forest, purple mountain; river, forest, purple mountain; river, forest, purple mountain, etc." Then Dora asks us where we have to go. Was she not listening?! Why is the map telling us anyway?

And can Dora really save anything? Ugh, the things we mothers go through just to make it through the day :)

What shows annoy you?