Sunday, May 08, 2011

Happy Mother's Day!!

I hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating your Mother's or celebrating with your children and enjoying your own motherhood.

I got to spend the weekend away with my husband at Hershey Park, PA - lots of rides and lots of chocolate but no kids :) It was a nice break. I'd say that covers Mother's Day even though it was more for our 15th anniversary.

Now for Mother's Day I got a different sort of gift - my favorite kind:

Photos of my family!

My beautiful kiddos :)



The whole family - I think this is such a cool shot:



More of the family - seems like Rachel was not cooperating! Stinker...





My handsome boys...





And my beautiful girls...









I think these are my favorite - the individual shots of the kids - how cute are they?











And no photo shoot is complete without some good photos of me and my favorite guy!





A big thanks to Megan Keys from Keys Photography for the great shots! And of course, Happy Mother's Day to me :) I hope I can actually get some of these on my wall soon...

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Now I Feel Like A Parent...

There are few milestones in the life of kid-dom - like being born, walking, learning to use the potty, starting school - but the most dreaded of all makes me really feel like a parent:

BRACES!!

I'm sure college will be that much worse but braces is one of those real big expenses that parents face.

Now I'm good at using coupons but darn it they just don't make coupons for braces! Sure they have insurance but I have to say their definition of "co-pay" and mine are quite different. Fortunately, the Lord was gracious and provided a way where the braces aren't as expensive as they could be and o, how grateful I am for that! Of course, this is just child #1...

The big before:



Unfortunately, Kaitlyn has a very large overbite and that for me necessitated the braces - even the orthodontist was concerned about her teeth chipping because of their position in her mouth. Beyond that she has a jaw that doesn't align and one that even when it does her top jaw is actually inside her bottom jaw.

Sooo... to fix all that she actually has to have a very special bracket inserted in her upper and lower jaw - 10 years ago this would have been head gear but they have found no one wants to wear that (go figure) so someone invented the brackets to go inside the mouth rather than outside - yea!

NOT happy as they put the brackets in...



Brackets are in, getting ready to put on the top braces:



Top braces are on, just 4 for now and no wire yet - that will come after we've spent a few weeks daily adjusting the bracket:



All done - I think this look is more pain than gratitude. What do you think?



And today (after):



She is surprisingly good spirits despite the discomfort that I know she's in. The smile here is about how much she can close her mouth for now. I also notice that the photo doesn't show clearly enough how much metal is actually in her mouth!

We're looking at a 3-year process - a long, slow journey but so worth it in the end - I look forward to seeing the finished "product" - for now I can just enjoy making the payments and this quite large childhood milestone.

Now that makes me feel like a parent... but I love it!

Sunday, May 01, 2011

Counting Down To 15 Years

In 10 days Kirk and I celebrate 15 years of marriage. Fifteen years may not seem as big as the tenth or twentieth anniversary but it's pretty big to me :) The past 15 years have not been without their bumps and bruises - amazing highs and amazing lows.

When we said our vows all those years ago I certainly didn't foresee a lot of what lie ahead. I mean who could have predicted we'd have 5 kids? I wouldn't have guessed I'd have 4 girls especially that 3 of them would be triplets! At the time we lived in Florida and now we're in Virginia. We've lost Kirk's mom since our wedding and we still miss her. We have no idea what lies ahead but I am grateful that I still have Kirk standing next to me as my husband and my best friend.

So, 10 days out from our anniversary I thought I would take a moment and list 10 reasons why I love Kirk - this is not an exhaustive list and it isn't in order from least to greatest but it's a small attempt of mine to show my husband how I love him and how happy I am that we will be celebrating 15 years together.

10. He's a hard worker - he works full time at his job and then comes home and helps me with dinner or other activities at home and then goes back to work at his other job to make sure our family is provided for.

9. He has amazing talent - I am constantly impressed at how good he is at what he does. God has given him the talent he has and he uses it well. I don't understand half of what he does but I see the results and they are amazing! He writes for THIS magazine and THIS one - how cool is that?

8. He has a tattoo with my name on it - come on, that's just cool! Not only does it have my name but he designed it, got it done and surprised me with it about a year and a half ago. How's that for romance?

7. He's a great dad - ever since Kaitlyn was born he has pitched in without question or complaint. When the triplets were born he helped with feedings and changings. Now that they're older he makes every effort to spend time with all the kids and they have a great relationship.

6. He has a servant's heart - not only does he work to provide for our family he helps me at home whenever he can. When I say "Do you mind grabbing this for me?" He always responds with "Don't mind at all" - I aspire to his servant's heart.

5. He puts up with me - I'm not putting myself down here - I'm just stating the obvious that I am a flawed sinner and Kirk has put up with me for 15 years with patience and love.

4. He always encourages me - whether it's couponing or writing or mothering or whatever I endeavor to do he is willing to support me and encourage me and help wherever he can.

3. He forgives - a bit like #5 but even more than that - another lesson I can take from my husband - the ability to forgive - I am grateful to constantly be on the receiving end.

2. He loves Christ - he has a strong faith in Christ and I love to see it grow as he strives to love me as Christ loves the church and as he strives to love me in a self-sacrificial way. I love to have theological discussions with him, to discuss the Bible and what we have learned - our relationship with one another is greater because of his love for our Lord.

1. He is the man God created for me - while not every day is easy (despite being awesome Kirk is a sinner too!) Kirk is the man that God created for me and I for him and I am proud to be his wife.

I'm know this isn't a complete list but this is a small idea of how blessed I feel to be married to Kirk and to be loved by him. I am very excited to be celebrating 15 years of marriage in 10 days. By God's grace we are still together and by His grace we will be together for many, many years to come.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Multiples Field Trip

Besides friendships with moms who understand what it's like to have multiples the moms of multiples club I belong to provides lots of family activities. One of them is field trips - a few weeks ago the girls and I took a tour of Harris Teeter but this past Friday I got to take the whole family since it was Spring Break.

We met everyong at Frying Pan park and did a self-tour of all the animals on the farm. Believe it or not it was COLD - think 45 degrees! And just as we were leaving it was starting to rain. Can't say it was the best day for a field trip - and when you notice Caleb wearing my jacket you'll realize how unprepared we were for the low temps - but we still had a pretty good time :)



We're already looking forward to the moms of multiples Spring party on Saturday.

And keep checking back this week for a special treat - can't wait to share! (NO, I'm NOT pregnant...)

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Way Back When-esday: Swings and Cherry Blossoms


It's time for the swings again - at least in between the rains that just don't seem to let up.

Looks like my girls are continuing to grow and April is time for my annual tradition of taking photos of the girls on their swings. And the only fun way to see new pictures of the girls on the swings is to take a look at the past years first.

Julianna Mabel: still my princess - she is by far my most talkative 4-year-old - she is always curious and always has questions - she can't wait to have her ears pierced, she wants to wear all my jewelry and asks me often when she'll be able to get married. She loves to be praised and enjoys being my helper and the 2nd mommy to the girls mostly by giving them instructions on what they should wear, what they should play and how they should eat. She's still the boss!

April 2007



April 2008



April 2009



April 2010



April 2011



Rachel Gabrielle: she's still the quietest of the three yet when I take her out alone she's very talkative and has lots to say. She constantly repeats my name in conversation "mom, can I have this? mom, can I do this? mom, did you see mom?" Really if you sat and listened to her you can't help but laugh at the sheer number of times she repeats my name. She's also very clingy and is VERY much a mommy's girl. None of the girls can sit next to me at dinner without clinging to me but Rachel is by far the worst. At least I always feel loved :)

April 2007



April 2008



April 2009



April 2010



April 2011



Alyssa Elaine: Alyssa is my character. On the one hand she's in her own world but on the other hand she is the most helpful - when I take her grocery shopping she loves to help get the groceries, she loves to help when there are babies around and if I ask her to do something I almost always hear, "Oh yes ma'am" and it's done. But she's also my fraidy-cat - she's afraid of the dark, she's afraid of scary points in movies (even ones she's seen and not always in the spots you'd think but I often find her watching TV from our dining room which is 2 rooms away from the family room but she can still see the TV - she's just getting further away from the action) and she woke up during nap yesterday to cry about pillows - she was afraid of them. She's just so silly.

April 2007



April 2008



April 2009



April 2010



April 2011



And what would spring be without Cherry Blossoms? This is another one of those things I wanted to do with the girls every year but in years past the rains come and we don't get pictures before our tree drops all it's beautiful flowers but this year I was able to snap some shots - check it out - I love these!

Julianna Mabel - she's a ham for the camera - just LOVES it - if you couldn't tell

April 2008



April 2011





Rachel Gabrielle - she's enduring the tree this year

April 2008



April 2011





Alyssa Elaine - she is SOOO tough to photograph - she just does NOT want to look at the camera so I'm always getting either a weird smile or a decent smile but not looking at the camera and while I do love photos where people aren't looking (see hers below) it would be nice if I could actually capture a decent photo of her looking at me and smiling!

April 2008



April 2011





Wow! That was a huge post but April is my favorite time of year for photos - despite all the rain I love the weather and the blooming flowers and taking pictures of the kids outside for the first time really in months.

See other Way Back When-esday posts at Twinfatuation and thanks for letting me take this trip down memory lane - I swear it feels like yesterday that I did this post for 2010 - how is it possible that another year has gone by already??

Saturday, April 16, 2011

School Egg Hunt

Yesterday the triplet's preschool class had their Easter party/egg hunt. It was certainly a learning experience for the teacher and I! Wow! I think there is an art to making egg hunting not too hard and not too easy. Meaning I have a bad feeling there are a few plastic eggs still in the grass...

It started out so well - they were all lined up, ready to find the right numbered eggs for their baskets.



But a few of the eggs were just a little bit harder to find than others and by a little bit I mean impossible.

Still, it seems like the girls had a lot of fun! Probably because they were some of the most eagle-eyed of the group and had little trouble finding their eggs. Or maybe they're just used to fending for themselves against their older brother and sister. No, I'm sure that's not it - has to be that they're eagle-eyed.

I've got one!







Classic Julianna pose:



Rachel found some eggs.



Alyssa's having fun!



Searching, searching... This is serious stuff.





In between they waited patiently for the rest of their classmates to find the remainder of their own eggs.



Yep, patiently...



(And I've got to wonder what Alyssa is thinking! Any ideas?!)

Today is the beginning of spring break - 10 days of home with the kids! How many egg hunts can I do exactly before they get tired of it?

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

The Three Words I Hate The Most...



"She's NOT Sharing!"

Oh, I hate them.

If you have more than one child you understand.

The definition of "sharing" for any 3 or 4-year-old is really "she's not giving me exactly what I want at the very moment I want it"

My girls do fight but honestly for the most part they get along, however, when it comes to a toy or a game or a pillow or a blanket or a small crumb they've found on the floor - if one of them has it and the other one wants it then all I hear is crying and tears and the utter angst of a 4-year-old little girl.

With my older two I had the "advantage" of saying to my oldest, "he's younger be nice to him" but now...

Now they're all the same age so they are on equal footing so to speak - no one is younger or older - I can't say that so I'm left with the dilemma of how to intervene. Most of the time the fighting occurs out of my view - they're in another room and I have NO idea who had the item first and they're looking to me to resolve the situation.

Ultimately I let them know that they need to work it out among themselves but oh how I hate those words...

(Photo taken on St. Patrick's Day on a field trip to Harris Teeter - as if I'm not there enough already!!)