Brighten Your Tax Day

Because this can be a difficult day for some I thought I'd share a few things to hopefully make your day a little happier:





No idea what that is?? Oh come on! How can you not recognize the amazing photography of a 4-year-old? Yep, it's Caleb's handiwork from today. Be thankful I took out the other 7 pictures of his favorite blanket along with the one of the cats butt and the toys on the floor. Oh, yea, my feet aren't in here either...

And for another reminder from last year (since it still applies!):

Grocery Game Tracker Week 1

When I posted about using the grocery game a few weeks ago I got a lot of questions as to whether or not it works so I decided to share my results over the coming weeks and you all can decide for yourself :) So far though I have been very happy with my progress. I'm also going to share my weekly meal plan so that you can see that I'm not eating spaghetti every day or cheese and crackers. Please share your stories and feel free to ask questions.

Yesterday I took my grocery game list to Harris Teeter - I have a subscription to both Giant and Harris Teeter and I find HT to be better on all deals - I get 5 pages of items there instead of just 2 at Giant - big difference.

I spent $123 yesterday. Sounds like a lot but I saved $85!! Plus, I have to buy 4 to 5 gallons of milk a week regardless of price since the girls still need whole milk so for the rest of the world you can subtract $20 on my cost.

Couple other things:
- while chicken was on sale at Giant at a stock-up price I already has chicken from BJ's and a lot of it
- however, last week I used the grocery game and was able to pick up some bone-in chicken from HT for just $.29 a pound!! So, for $3.50 our entire care group will be having BBQ'd chicken this coming Sunday. Add $1 for BBQ sauce this week at HT and that's a meal for like 15 people for less than $5.

My meal plan for this week:
Tonight: pork chops (special frozen lemonade marinade recipe) with scalloped potatoes, broccoli, applesauce and biscuits (these I had)
Tomorrow: white bean chicken chili with mexican salad - all fixtures for both were on sale
Wednesday: chicken pot pie
Thursday: raviolis (on sale buy one get one free)
For the weekend: we usually go out or eat leftover since after all I will have plenty after all this cooking!

Check back next week to see where we are then...

Swingin' Fun

After some amazing backyard swinging fun:



Kirk took Kaitlyn and Caleb to some swinging fun of a different kind: their very first minor league baseball game. They had quite the evening. The game was enjoyable but apparantly a stray ball hit a small boy smack in his side and he had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital. What do you think the kids remember when they got home?

It's All About the Shoes

The girls have been obsessed with shoes lately. Their shoes, other shoes - whatever they can get on their tiny feet. So, it's only natural that when they get new adorable shoes and we have a gorgeous day that we must get them dressed, take them outside and takes lots of pictures.

And the best thing about this being the girl's second summer/year is that every picture I take I can compare back to last year and see how far they've come.

Julianna has really grown to LOVE the swing.

Rachel enjoys it too.

Alyssa fills out the swing much better now







And more pictures from today. They all just love the swing and running in the grass. And aren't those new shoes adorable? Yea, they love them too :) Mommy loves the clothes though. Man, girls are so fun to dress!

I HATE Mornings!!!

Anyone who knows me knows I HATE mornings. I'd rather stay up all night and sleep all day. I hate getting out of bed. Once I'm going I have trouble stopping thus the night person thing. I'm a firm believer that a body in rest stays at rest and a body in motion stays in motion. Makes complete sense to me!!

I have found a new reason to absolutely hate mornings. The girls could not be crankier if they tried. Okay, maybe they could. But every morning they just scream and scream. Not that they don't cry at other times but this is when everybody is at their worst.

Just be thankful I don't have sound for these:



Alyssa has given up...



Why we watch Elmo every morning for an hour!!



Julianna did not share in the misery this morning so instead of a picture from today I thought I'd share a cuter one from yesterday that shows Julianna's new loves: Drawing and Elmo:

Three Silly Sisters

For at least twenty minutes yesterday the girls happily played in Rachel's crib together. No one wanted out - it was very cute. The one thing I did miss on camera was Rachel laying down like she was going to go to sleep - she was half covered with the blanket and Julianna was patting her back :) Finally a sign of sisterly love.



I couldn't decide between the two which one was better so I decided to put them both up. Watch if you have time. I just love to catch them playing and talking! It's great.

The Story of Kirk and Dorinda

No, it's not our anniversary but 14 years ago today I asked Kirk to my senior prom. He had already graduated so it was my prom and not his. So, in front of my physics class (where we met - he was the teacher's assistant) I asked if he would go to prom with me. Fortunately, I had it on good authority that he would say yes.

And he did!

He gave me his phone number. I called him that night and we talked for a while on the phone. I even remember my brother banging on the window (he was 12 at the time - I was 17) asking me if I was talking to my boyfriend. I yelled at him that I hardly knew him!!

Instead of sticking to "just prom", Kirk asked me out on a date. And the guy who I thought would be a good prom date did become my boyfriend. In fact, on our first date one of my brother's friends asked me if I was going to marry this guy. What did these kids know that I didn't?

Despite my resistance to getting into a relationship (I had just come out of one), Kirk broke down all my barriers. After a year of dating he asked me to marry him and of course, I said yes.

He asked me at what I thought was a surprise graduation party for him. Instead, with cameras rolling he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife :) So sweet. One year later we got married.



Look how young we were! Just 19 and 20. We had NO idea what we were in for. Sure, I already knew then that I'd have trouble getting pregnant. Had even told Kirk that he could leave me if he wanted. I knew, I just knew that I wouldn't be able to have kids. Ha! Instead I now have more than twice the national average.

At one point I had wished that God could let me look ten years in to the future just to see. If I didn't have children then that would be okay, at least I would know and I would keep trying. Or if I saw that I did have children then I would be more patient and wait until it happened.

But we all know the rest of that story! I'm thankful now that I didn't see ahead. Who would be prepared for triplets?? Who would want to know that in advance? No, I'm grateful that the Lord never let me look ahead. It makes each day that much sweeter. Now I have five kids worth every second of the wait and they make me all the more grateful for what I've been given!

ACSI Science Fair

Today was the ACSI Science Fair (Association of Christian Schools International) and Kaitlyn did very well. Since she's only in 2nd grade and was supposed to be in 3rd for the fair I think she did fine and I'm very proud of her. Her school allowed 2nd graders to do a report and so much a project so her project didn't follow all the rules.

I am glad she got to have the experience anyway :) She got to meet a weather man, an astronaut who has been in space at least twice (sorry, I don't know their names)and may be on TV next Tuesday AM. She also got to see a bunch of other neat science projects which will give us plenty to work on next year!

Here's some pictures from today:

With the judges...



The astronaut:



They made a sign for ABC 7:



Listening to the weatherman:

I Wish...

I wish I had a camera following me all day. Before you think me crazy let me finish. Not like a camera crew to put me on a TV show or something but just someone there to capture the great and not-so-great moments that occur during my day.

Like:

- 3 girls running around the island and giggling as if it's the most fun thing in the world.
- finding 3 girls with me no matter where I happen to go - they are like ducklings - if I play in the living room they are there, if I head to the family room same thing - upstairs, downstairs, doesn't matter - I would love to share this migration with everyone so I'd at least have a record of triplets NOT going in 3 different directions like is always imagined
- the fights that ensue over an empty coke or pepsi can (yes, I watch them carefully) - there's something they love about holding that thing and if someone has it and it's not Julianna well, the world has ended in her book
- capturing Alyssa and I "talking" - she yells, she talks, she dances, she rocks and I can't get any of this on camera - the moment I turn it on, she's shy and doesn't want to say anything.
- the constant screaming so everyone can share how loud and crazy my world has become.
- the record I would have of all the things Kaitlyn and Caleb say because I can't remember them as I sit down to write even when I repeated them to myself in order to share the jokes with everyone.
- being able to share the video of the sheer amount of diaper changes I do every day - that and you'd laugh at me a lot for all the butts I sniff because I just know someone has pooped again in their clean diaper!
- capturing how my house can be clean and orderly and within seconds everything I've done becomes undone because the girls would rather have every toy in the middle of the floor and every piece spread out and every ball out of the ball pit (why is it that the only thing that ever stays immaculately clean are the shelves that are supposed to hold all the stuff?)
- the babbling between sisters because someday they'll wonder what it sounded like and what it was like when they were little and all I could say is I didn't get it on film.

I'm sure my wishlist could go on forever. As I read the blog of a friend who lost one of her babies recently I was reminded at how precious our time is and how we have no idea when someone we love could be gone. So, I wish that I had a way of capturing every moment so that I would never forget how they sounded, felt, looked. So, thank you for letting me share their moments with you on this blog because for now this is the best record I'm going to get...

Update on Rachel

Rachel got her first alone time out with Daddy today to see the neurologist. It certainly felt odd going somewhere with just one baby. I can't believe I used to complain about how much work that was. What a breeze! Didn't even need to use a stroller, just grab and go. Wow!

Anyway, the neurologist didn’t find any abnormalities or anything to worry about. There were no other symptoms of having a seizure or other neurological disorder. The fact that she wasn’t excessively lethargic or running a fever after the incident rules out any seizures. He said the description of the incident was in line with several cases of breath holding he’s seen before. So really nothing to worry about, he advised increasing her iron and trying to shock her out of the breath holding when she does it (blow in her face, splash water on her, etc.) but since it doesn’t appear to be a regular pattern there’s no need to medicate her. If it happens again or if there’s other neurological symptoms we’ll bring her in for an EEG and he wants to see her again in about 3 months to make sure her development is on track.

So really no worries. All is fine.

How To Feed Your Sister...

I used my camera so there's no sound - sorry! - but imagine them giggling at each other because they were. They think it is sooo funny. Rachel and Julianna seem to get along the best right now and constantly think it is funny to put their fingers in each others mouths. Alyssa finds it more fun to tackle and/or hit her sister.

And if you look close you can see our "new" table. We found a cheap table at a random furniture store and it works really well. I can finally take down the high chairs and we are DONE with the trays.



Current girl favorites:
Julianna: crayons (and she's getting it too!), pointing at EVERYTHING and she KNOWS what she wants, running in circles around the island - I guess they all like this though

Rachel: pencils, spoons and the cat - oh, and climbing on everything - Kirk found her standing on the desk, walking on the keyboard. Turn my back for a second!

Alyssa: cars (she finds Caleb's matchbox cars and carries them everywhere) and watching TV - doesn't really matter what's on though all the girls do like Elmo a lot right now

Port Discovery Children's Museum

What was the big surprise for the kids? I know you're all waiting on pins and needles. Kidding. We took the kid's to Baltimore to the Port Discovery Children's Museum. This is a great place. We spent a few days in Baltimore when I was pregnant with Caleb and took Kaitlyn to the aquarium but then I got really sick so only Kirk was able to take Kaitlyn to the museum and they had a great time. I've been anxious to get back ever since (can't get to the aquarium - they don't allow strollers there - yikes - are you kidding me?).

Anyway, that's why we just headed for the museum but it was great. It was 3 floors of kids friendly fun including a huge playground with zip line, two-story slide, wooden and rope bridges and all kinds of climbing walls. They played in water, went to Egypt, went through a wacky house and served us food in a kid-sized diner. As for the triplets they spent most of their time in the playroom for kids under 4 (Kirk and I took turns so we did get out of there a bit!). But they had a ballpit, kid-sized tables, books, blocks, and a pint-sized playground which the girls learned how to climb up and slide down.

We are throroughly exhausted but had such a good time and it was a great way to end the kids spring break...

Quick Update

After some minor chastising on the nurses part for not bringing Rachel in yesterday we have determine that it was not a febral (spelling?) seizure because she did not have a fever. This I already knew :) We are also pretty sure that she didn't just hold her breath and pass out because we would have been able to revive her immediately and it doesn't explain the stiffness.

We're being referred to a nuerologist - with lots of phone calls on the pediatrician's office we were able to be squeezed in on Tuesday morning at 8 AM. She'll have to have a basic workup and an EEG - should be fun. I'm sure it's nothing but we have to be sure. Oh the drama.

So what have we been doing with the rest of our time when we're not dialing 9-1-1 to save our kid's lives?

We have been on Spring break! Easter parties were last Wednesday and we've been off ever since. Thursday we had friends over, Friday I was babysitting again. Monday we were out at a friend's house. Tuesday we got to see daddy for lunch and go into his office. Everyone there loves to see how the "babies" have grown. Wednesday we were off to Chuck E. Cheese for a late b-day treat from one of the ladies at church. Don't worry we had extra hands to help with the kids so it was a lot of fun. Today, Kirk took off work and we were able to take the older kids to see Whorton Hears a Who. So cute! Very funny movie even for the adults.

And in all of this did I remember my camera even once? No, of course not! But I promise tomorrow when we take the kids "somewhere special" - it's a surprise for them - I will bring the camera!

A Rachel-Sized Scare

Yet another instance of calling 9-1-1 but thankfully this time we didn't have to take an ambulance ride. We all know how cranky Rachel can be and how much she cries and this was not one of her better days but by this afternoon she was fine and not so cranky. I was making dinner and Kirk was home when Rachel fell and started crying. This is completely normal. Kirk says we should note the time between babies falling down and crying. We re-set that timer every two minutes. I swear it's constant.

So, I don't think much of it and go in to check on her. There she is doing her normal thing of holding her breath and crying. Every kid does this - totally normal. But then she stops breathing. She never cried. She doesn't let out the breath. I panic and pick her up, nothing, no change. She's now turning blue and stiff as a board. I am FREAKING out. I thought she was chocking. On what I have no idea but the child wasn't breathing and wasn't responsive. I scream for Kirk who comes rushing in and grabs her. She becomes limp and I swear lost consciousness - she was out of it. Not herself. And she's not breathing. I'm thinking of how to do CPR on a kid and how to call 9-1-1 at the same time. Today was the first day I've ever called them because something was wrong (not to report another accident, etc.) The response was very quick and two paramedics were in my living room within like five minuts. Of course, the moment the dispatcher answered the phone Rachel was awake and acting normal and crying. It was nothing short of a huge scare in a small amount of time.

The paramedics didn't feel she needed immediate attention and thankfully a hospital trip wasn't necessary but they feel that she either had a seizure or just was so upset that she didn't breathe and then passed out. I have no idea which. I do plan to call the doctor because I do have a history of seizures in my family but hopefully nothing is wrong and it won't happen again. I'll let you know...

Happy Easter!

Okay, we have survived Easter. Does anyone else feel this way? It's a big holiday. You love it but you know it's a lot of work. Fortunately, some of the burden was lifted when we were invited to another family's for lunch. Since we have no family in the area it was just going to be the 7 of us. Instead we had lunch with at least ten other people, the kids got to play with other kids in a bigger yard and we were able to have a more enjoyable Easter egg hunt.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Kaitlyn's "loot" - small toys, new pajamas, toothbrushes, candy:



Caleb's "loot" - same as Kaitlyn's basically just for a boy :)



Julianna enjoying her eggs from her Easter basket. This is me trying to get actual pictures of the girl's in their dresses. We had no time since we were at church all morning - this is at our friend's house and the girl's weren't really cooperating (tired and hungry):





We couldn't get a decent picture any other way and so much for the dresses you can't even see them! It's a good thing we took them for a professional job :)



Easter egg hunting outside:



Caleb does actually have some eggs under that grass :)



Julianna:



Rachel (I had to chase her to get a shot):



Alyssa's got the idea...



Tuckered out - they refused to nap while we were out! (I think it was because they were sharing a room) - caught up to them in the van.



Rachel's out.



Alyssa's not so much.

I Love It! I Love It!!

We have been in our house for almost five years and we are just now getting to the last old appliance: the cooktop in the island. We've been in desperate need of one for a while so with a little tax money we are grateful to have a new one! Those of you who have been here and those of you who have graciously attempted to clean this thing will be as appreciative of this new appliance as I am :)

Before (and this is after cleaning):





And after (so cool!):





I know it's not the exciting stuff you visit my blog for but I'm really excited about it. I think this will make my counterop look cleaner, give me more space (since it's flatter) and hopefully increase the appeal of our home as we continue to think about selling and moving! Someday :)

My Life In Two Minutes

Yesterday I took a few video snapshots of minutes in my day and thought I'd share them since it's been a while since I've added some videos. They are so cute :)

If I were the cat I would have run much sooner!



I have been trying to capture this for a while now - watching them going up the stairs is such a funny, surreal and just cool - it's like a swarm. But I think this time I capture more their hate of the gate and their magnetism to the stairs...



And the Praying Mantis'. Okay, they hatched over the weekend while at school. They got fed one day this week and came home with us for Spring break which started today. We probably had like 20 live little nymphs. They were kind of cool actually. And we tried to feed them yesterday - the fruit flies are alive and well. The praying mantis nymphs on the other hand, not so much. I think we have utterly failed. We can't find a single live one today! What could have happened?? So, in this video they are alive and well and we are about to feed them some fruit flies but this morning we were disappointed to find them basically dead. I think the fruit flies have taken over... (If you don't like bugs - don't watch this video)

16 Months On The 16th!

Today is a somewhat special day. The girls are 16 months on the 16th. I think it's more special when they are actually that many years but right now age 16 is a number of years away (thankfully I think). For now I will take my special days when I get them.

New things this month: they can understand a lot more - like "bath" - they all head for the stairs and go up - in fact half the time they head up the stairs they go straight to the bath tub. Yesterday when we looked at some model homes the girls climbed the stairs and went straight to the bathroom - Rachel climbed right into the tub! So funny. Julianna is saying "nana" for bannana. Alyssa says "go" and "no" (and she's hitting a lot which is frustrating - just her sisters though).

As for teeth Julianna has a ton - 4 top, 4 bottom and at least 3 molars. Alyssa still just has her 8 and Rachel still just 6. Go figure. No sign of those two more bottom teeth anywhere :(

A friend of mine did take some fun pictures of the girls today but I don't have them yet so I'll share some silly pictures that I haven't shared before.

Julianna, a.k.a. Chipmunk (she hords food for hours - I don't know what to do - it's awful), Lianna (she has her name above her crib and she has mutilated the first 2 letters - we don't actually call her that). She's crazy and silly and FULL of life and she still loves that tiger...



Rachel: a.k.a. Rach (she tore off the last two letters), a.k.a pen thief (she's a pen addict! she's almost never walking around without a pen or a comb or a spoon or all of these at once)



Alyssa a.k.a. Lyssa (this we actually do call her and her name is fully intact on her wall), a.k.a. drama queen and princess (enough said)



And these are pictures of the back of her head - I'm trying to get her curls. When her hair is wet or she wakes up a bit sweaty her hair is sooo curly. I love it!! And she still has the most hair...





As for mommy, I got my hair chopped this weekend. What do you think? And be honest!! I was just copying my friend Cherie :) I like the color but I'm not sure about the length...

What I'm Tired Of And The Flip Side

As the girls approach 16 months (in 3 days can you believe it?) I've been thinking about what I'm really tired of experiencing.

So here's my not-so-comprehensive list of the things that I'm ready to be done with:

- my pants doubling as a snot rag or tissue
- babies crying at my leg and being unable to move without stepping on one of them
- feeling like I should be done with all the tears and yet I hear screaming all the time.
- my lap never being big enough to hold all three girls at once
- the girls fighting over me and other things - pushing, shoving, screaming - it's awful
- the temper tantrums when someone doesn't get her way - I know these won't go away for a LONG time if ever but I'm already tired of it
- knowing that I can't make them all happy at once - if I hold one the other one is happy, if I put one down for another that one screams too - I can't win
- always carrying a toddler - my arms are killing me - these girls are HEAVY!! (except Rachel who's still a peanut)
- trying to do anything at all while the girls are awake - it's basically impossible - computer, dishes, vacuuming, etc.
- cleaning high chair trays - right now we don't have any other options so I have to suffer through but yikes, it's getting old!
- feeling like my house has just survived a tornado every day
- my new and bigger food bills - and sadly, the fact that right now I have only scratched the surface of the cost of feeding five kids
- the constant questions (okay this is a big kid thing), "what's a tornado?", "does it hurt people?", "is this a penny?", "can I waste it at Old Navy?", "can I have that?", "can I have that?", "and that?", "what did you get me?", "can I have a snack?"

And the flip side - the things that I love and am not tired of:

- the girl's smiles and laughs - makes all of the above worth it
- listening to them giggle and talk to each other every night after we shut the door and turn the lights off - Kaitlyn is jealous of their constant "sleepovers"
- taking pictures and video of them
- dressing them in cute outfits
- giving them sippy cups - I don't miss the bottles at all!
- giving the girls milk - I will NEVER complain about the price of milk - after the cost of formula the cost of milk is nothing
- listening to the girls talk and watching them learn - it's quite adorable
- hearing their tiny footsteps in the house
- cuddling with any and all of my kids
- the unique experience of raising multiples - I feel truly blessed to have the chance to enjoy three kids at one time
- the older two kids playing together - making up games together and reading to each other - I love happy sibling interaction
- the knowledge that all the things I'm tired of will soon be a thing of the past and they will be grown in no time at all
- the sheer love and joy I feel for all of my kids

That's my list 16 months in the making. I wonder what it will look like in another 16 months. Those of you with older triplets are smiling because you know what I still have to look forward to. So with that in mind please pray that every day I remember what I'm not tired of rather then getting bogged down with the things I wish would go away!

Picture Slide Show

As promised here are some of the other pictures as well as some of the outtakes - these are NOT all of them. Like I said we took 188 - too many to share so I've picked a few of the best and funniest. Enjoy!