Monday, May 21, 2012

Three Reasons I'm a Mom...

Motherhood has been an interesting journey for me so far. I'd say it's been more of a refiners fire; showcasing my biggest weaknesses while at the same time unveiling unknown abilities and characteristics. Despite all that though, I have three toddlers who think I'm awesome and have made me into the not-so-perfect mother that I am. Since 99% of the time I talk about our 'activities,' I wanted to talk/update about the kids and what makes them awesome. I want to remember this stage and each of their personalities, quirks, funnyisms, etc...

So here goes.

These were some pictures I took in honor of Mother's Day. I needed a new one for a Mother's Day project with all of them sitting and looking and smiling.  However, being the maniac toddlers that they are, they wouldn't sit still or cooperate without their bedtime buddies in tow. So the buddies got to be in the photo as well. Zachary is holding Mr. Bear (he calls him Bee), Leah is holding Baby, and Caleb is holding Beary (Clark's bear as a little kid). 


We'll start with Baby A or the Queen Bee.  Funny thing is that she does not have that type of personality at all.  I wouldn't even really call her that much of a diva.  She is just pure sweetness.  Leah went through a rough patch with strangers and strange places.  She still lets it get the best of her sometimes but for the most part, although shy at first, she is very sweet and friendly with other people.  She only cuddles at night, never during the day as she is too busy doing other things.  She loves to carry cups or buckets around full of things like cars, rocks, puzzle pieces, etc...  Then occasionally she'll find a quiet spot and lay everything out before throwing it all back in again.  She has started this new thing where if anything in her possession is taken, she screams bloody murder and comes running to find me.  Luckily her language is phenomenal so I tell her to calm down and use her words.  She immediately proceeds to say rock, car, baby, block, book, or whatever was taken and I know what I'm looking for.

Just last week she counted to ten all by herself.  I can't believe how proud and excited I was.  She was equally thrilled with my delight and kept doing it over and over.  She knows probably half the alphabet but really needs a lot of prompting to get through it.  Her letter sounds are great though and coming right along.  She rarely gives me any trouble during the day with the exception of her teasing.  She is SUCH a tease to her brothers.  She takes something they are playing with and takes off running!  Of course they're crying and she laughing and running all over the house.  Basically she is just looking for a good time which is why her and Clark get along so well.  Some of my favorite moments are when I'm in the kitchen preparing a meal listening to her laugh while Clark chases and tickles her.  It's so sweet.  Just like her.   


Caleb Caleb Caleb.  The one word I'd like to use to describe him is passionate.  He has so much passion it's crazy.   He's overly passionate about EVERYTHING he does and you'd think it was the end of the world with the way he cries sometimes over things.  Lots of times I think he's injured and come running to his side only to find that the box he was playing cars on got stuck between some chairs.  He is super focused while playing cars, building with blocks, drawing with chalk, etc...  I always feel so sad when he is disrupted by the others or when something he built is destroyed because he's usually just minding his own business and working so hard.  It is CLEAR to us that he will be the one out in the garage or backyard with Clark helping with projects.  He is the biggest helper and comprehends everything we ask of him.

He does fit the mold as the youngest sibling and can sometimes be left out or picked on.  However, he is bigger than the other two and knows how to get his way if he needs to.  I often have to break up fights where he is simply lying on top of one of the other two while they are crying for help.  Sometimes I see him as an introvert/loner but other times his personality is so loud and fun.  He can really get into some fun laughing spurts with the other two.  He's not the best sharer but is so obedient and quickly does what I ask.  Clark took him on some errands this past weekend and the dynamic in the house was so different without Caleb.  Quieter, calmer, and a little less exciting.  He sure does add a spark to our family mix.


Lastly is Zachary.  He is the cutest little bugger I've ever encountered.  Him and I can really have some bad days.  He is very stubborn and fiercely independent.  Usually he is attempting to do something impossible like lift a heavy bin, fit a circle into a square, open a book from the wrong side, etc... and he REFUSES to let me help or instruct.  If I do manage to pry something from his hands to show him the proper way to do it, he arches his back, starts rolling on the floor, and doesn't want to play with the item anymore.  It's lose-lose in those situations and the only thing I can do to get him out of his funk is to engage one of the other kids in something really fun so it'll draw him over.  He was stubborn right from the get go though so I knew we were in for some challenges with him.

Luckily he has some big blue eyes and a sweet little voice so just when I feel like I've hit my limit, he brings me a book, bats his eyelashes, and starts talking his talk.  Soon we've made up and we're reading together.  He's not much of a hugger but when I am lucky enough to be given one, I squeeze him extra tight and try to savor the moment.  He is always on the move and loves to push things around the house.  Bins, buckets, boxes, strollers, anything that'll move.  He knows what he wants and keeps me on my toes.  No relaxation allowed!  He has the cutest laughter and I can never get him to laugh as hard as he laughs with his siblings.  He usually is the center of attention/life of the party whether it's making someone laugh, making someone cry, or giving kisses all around.  He's quite the handful, but it's a good handful. 


I get sad sometimes because I know this period where they think I'm their superhero won't last forever.   For now though, I'll enjoy my super powers and squeeze my trio just a little bit tighter.


Peek-a-boo!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The Language of Zachary...


So the kids are really into books right now...especially Zachary. I often come in the living room and he's sitting on a pile of books while reading one of his favorites. Leah usually joins him and they jabber and laugh together. It is the sweetest thing. Caleb doesn't usually sit and read but he takes advantage of the time the other two are occupied and plays with his favorite toys with no disruption. We usually check out books from the library but since pages inevitably get ripped, I knew we needed to purchase some more of our own.

Obviously I don't want to pay full price for books that will likely take a beating, so we hit up some garage sales and also the used book store. Ironically during our book outings, we had two kind of awkward experiences. The one at the garage sale involved a large family. One of the members had a camera and started snapping pictures of us wildly. Like bending down and trying to get all different angles. I just ignored him because honestly, what is he going to do with all those pictures? This has happened only once before but not nearly as blatant and obvious as this guy. Awkward! The lady running the garage sale offered to say something to get them to stop.  She said that particular family was not very-well liked.  Funny.

Our second and more funny moment was at the half price book store. We were outside going through books and the kids were in the stroller. A nice older asian man approached and was super interested in the kids. He asked how old they were and if they were actually triplets. His English was a bit broken but, for the most part, very understandable. Here's how the end of our conversation went:

Him: "How much weight?"
Me: "Oh they were about 3-4 pounds each, so pretty small."
Him: "No I mean you."
Me: "How much weight did I gain?"
Him: "No how big was your, um, womb?"

Haha! I tried not to look totally startled by his question and just babbled something about how we didn't measure. Again, he was so nice so I'm not trying to make fun of him but that was definitely a first for that type of conversation!! Never been asked about my womb size.  :)  Aside from our awkward moments, we did come away with some 'new-to-us' books. One of which is about buses and I've had to tape it back together five times already. The kids love it to the point of fighting and ripping it apart.

Lately Clark and I have been getting the biggest kick out of the kids and what they're saying. They seem to be doing very well with their speech development and say a lot of words clearly and correctly. Then there is Zachary. No...not the boy. The language. The kids are fluent in it and Zachary created it. He says the most random words that make zero sense to us but the other kids know exactly what he is saying and often repeat it. Here are some examples...some of which I've been able to decipher the meaning:

Dock-a-duck (this is Zachary for fire truck)
Ga-bookey (we think this has something to do with books)
Yuck-a-bee (TBD)
Ah-no-mee (possibly hot air balloon or I know me...who knows)
Chup-a-chup (this is Zachary for chirp chirp when talking about a bird)
Da-boo-gay (tractor or truck)

Zachary says these words often and VERY fast. Like he is fluent in his own language. It's hilarious and Leah woke up from her nap the other day repeating yuck-a-bee. I have no idea but I pretended to know and she seemed satisfied with my response.

Aside from all the toddler chat and book-buying we've been doing, we also tried out a nearby splash park this past weekend. I have been too chicken to go by myself (high disaster potential) so I had to wait until Clark could come too. Splash parks are really fun and this one has a nearby sand area. The trio loved the sand but since it was pretty hot we headed over to the fountains thinking they would have the time of their lives.

 This is what they did the whole time instead...



They just hung out on the stairs and ran around the amphitheater area. I think the fountains were a bit too overwhelming cause the kids would get drenched and weren't interested in them anymore. Leah was the worst. Once she got a little bit of water on her clothes she had a freak out and I had to promptly remove all wet articles of clothing. Although she's just wearing a diaper in the pic, she did start out with a couple more layers on top. Come to think of it, she got a little weird about the sand being on her hands as well. Basically all my dreams were dashed for this summer and all the time we were going to spend at the cool splash pads around here. Looks like we'll have to find another water activity.  Backyard pool maybe or Clark's ongoing slip-n-slide dream.  Who knows.

I'll end with this gem.  Dad and his posse just chillin at the splash pad.  It doesn't get much cooler...

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Frenemings...

I just made that up.  It's a triple combination of words.  Fitting for our trio of toddlers.

Friends.
Enemies.
Siblings.

All three roles can be played out in a matter of minutes around here.  One minute they are friends, the next they are tolerant siblings, the next they are biting/screaming/crying/toy stealing enemies.  However, just as fast as they become enemies, they turn back into friends and are reading books to each other or going 'nigh-nigh' on the kitchen floor with their bedtime buddies...



Sadly, my mood can change just as quickly as theirs and I'm easily caught up in the emotion of the moment.  Usually not in a good way either.  Seriously, the ups and downs in this house are insane.  I'm working on being more of a 'constant' for them and more predictable in how I react to things.  Key words:  working on.  Poor kids.  Some days I think a tantrum is funny and other days it's inappropriate.  They never know what to expect.  Poor Clark too.  He never knows if he's coming home to a stressed- out nutcase or a calm, cool wife.   We pray each night as a family that we can be more understanding and patient with each other.  Most importantly, that we can work together.  This period of learning manners, communication, and appropriate behavior is slow going but I think we're making progress everyday.

The kids attend a church nursery for two hours each Sunday.  TWO HOURS when Clark and I sit peacefully.  The other hour is another story but again, they are learning what to do and how to act at church so we are getting there.  What's interesting is that they don't play with each other at all in nursery.  They act more as siblings than friends and totally do their own things.  Leah plays with the kitchen, Zachary is a wanderer, and Caleb finds a couple good cars and sits in the middle of the room.  I'm glad they get some time 'apart.'  Anyway, they've been coloring in nursery so I was feeling like I needed to do some of that at home as well.  That way I can reinforce teaching them how to sit, hold a crayon (not eat it), and draw on a paper.  I should probably get some cool coloring books now that I'm sitting here thinking about it.

I found that washable markers are easier for them to use, albeit much messier, but with the markers they don't have to push so hard to draw.  It took me about six minutes to tape all three papers down.  Then six minutes for them to get tired of drawing and five seconds after that for the marker stealing to begin.  Synchronized drawing anyone?

They trio was having a grand old time in the backyard with the sidewalk chalk one day, acting as the best of friends, but Caleb started collecting all the chalk. Then Zachary stole from his collection. All the while Leah was trying to sneak inside and draw on the tile. So after battling all of that I decided that chalk time was over. All the sudden I was the enemy and this was the result...
video
Then during dinner they were all kisses and loves. Such a cute video...
video
The ups and downs are difficult to keep up with. Moreso sometimes than all the physical stuff. At the end of the day though, they are siblings who love each other unconditionally no matter how many instances of enemy attacks arose. Beyond the sibling love, however, I hope they can grow to be great friends when they're older even though they are already so different from each other. We should probably start including that in our nightly prayers. :)

Monday, April 16, 2012

Disaster Potential...

I recently checked out our downtown aquarium because I had heard lots of praise about it and I've been looking for something to do regularly with the trio. Tickets are pricey but I wanted to see what all the buzz was about. Obviously I get nervous for such outings and often talk myself out of going because of the 'disaster potential'. 'Disaster potential' is how we measure all activities with the triplets and this usually refers to instances when we can't keep all the kids happy, controlled, and quiet. Activities that have HIGH 'disaster potential' include but are not limited to:

Story time at the library
Playing out in the front yard
Going to the post office
Eating out at a restaurant

That's just to name a few that seem like pretty simple activities but have incredibly high 'disaster potential'. At least on my scale. Clark's scale might be a bit different. Anyway, the 'disaster potential' for the aquarium was moderately high when thinking about the drive downtown, possible traffic, parking, crowds, dirty diapers, dirty bathrooms, no food allowed inside, not enough room for the choo choo wagon, kids getting bored, etc... However, I decided to just buck up one morning and try it out just to know whether we should ever go back.

The trip went surprisingly well although it did take me MUCH longer to get there than I anticipated. I have since learned the BEST time of day to avoid any traffic problems. Really the only issue we had was that Leah came down with a sudden fever while there so I had to rush through, trying to still let the boys enjoy it, and get Leah home for a nap. I did purchase season passes which is totally uncharacteristic of me but after last summer I know that the heat here can make even the most sane person a little bit crazy. Now we'll have somewhere cool and dark to visit during the hot months of summer...a BIG reason why I didn't buy zoo passes instead.

In three weeks we've been four times which has paid for the pass already! We usually spend a maximum amount of one hour there just because I don't let the kids get out (remember disaster potential) and they aren't super excited about all the little tiny exhibits that older kids can spend loads of time looking at. We just hit up the big ones like the otters, birds, flamingos, sharks, manatees, turtles, and the Jaguar. The kids sat and growled at the Jaguar for about 15 minutes. It was hilarious.


Here's the tunnel where the sharks and sawfish hang out. The trio did more people watching than shark watching I think...


Maybe one of these days if the aquarium seems a little dead, I'll let the kids out to roam around. For now though, they don't know the difference and enjoy what they see regardless.

Clark had a day off last week (belated Martin Luther King Day) so we did an aquarium trip together. Afterward we came home, napped, ate lunch, and attempted another high 'disaster potential' activity: eating out. In the past we've tried to feed the trio food from the restaurant we were at which sometimes turned into lots of crying and protesting. This time we decided to feed them a big lunch prior to leaving so they were full and happy. Our method seemed to have worked because they just pieced off our meals and colored with their crayons without a peep! I would never go out to eat with them alone but with two adults and three full kids...it was pretty enjoyable!

We went out to eat at Red Robin because it is one of our favorite places from out west. Plus they have campfire sauce (mayo and BBQ sauce mix) which is to die for. Although I LOVE LOVE fry sauce (mayo and ketchup mix...restaurants never know what I'm saying when I ask for it here), I wasn't particularly thrilled when Clark introduced it to Caleb. I know eventually they'll all eat sauces in general but in some cases, I like to delay the inevitable. Because as we all know, once you start you can never go back. Anyway, obviously the kid was all about it. His dipping skills were pretty impressive...


We were feeling pretty successful after two drama-free activities that day. It reminds us and gives us hope that not everything with the triplets will be chaotic. :)

To end such a wonderful day with Dad, we turned around on our drive home and saw Leah and Zachary holding hands.


No disaster potential here.
Melt our hearts.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The Most Boring Egg Hunt Ever...

We knew it would be. We did zero training or preparation for the big event. I didn't even have baskets; however, I did buy eggs randomly in the dollar isle at Target about a month ago so we went ahead and threw them out on the lawn. We put goldfish and cheerios in the eggs but after they found and ate about two, they were over it and left the rest in the grass. I definitely thought they'd be excited over picking and gathering them. Guess they were too cool for it. There were a couple eggs with tootsie rolls in them and of course those were a hit so obviously candy is the big drive for motivation. I'll keep that in mind for next year. ;)

We did have the sprinkler going at the same time along with the water table filled up so I just think there were lots of distractions. It was such a beautiful day though. We sat under the canopy and enjoyed every second of it. The kids played out there for almost 1 1/2 hours without problem. They've just recovered from a viral infection called Hand, Mouth, Foot Disease (NO idea where they pick this stuff up) so having such a peaceful, fun day was delightful!










The sprinklers were much more entertaining for everyone and the boys loved them. Leah...not so much. She didn't like the splash parks we went to last summer either so I wasn't surprised. Point is, the egg hunt was nothing short of anticlimatic. I'm not sad though. Plenty more years to come.

Monday, April 2, 2012

The State Flower...

After Clark returned from a bike ride last weekend, he said he found the perfect spot for pictures with the famous Texas Bluebonnet. Right at a busy intersection, behind the liquor store, underneath the power lines. Perfect. :)

Although the bluebonnets show up in strange places, they are a sight to behold and MANY other people had the same idea as us. The field of flowers was packed with other families trying to get some decent photos.


No activity can begin without some proper kissing and hugging.





The trio are very interested in flowers right now and like to pick all the dandelions they can get their hands on. Taking neighborhood walks has become a risky activity because often times, before I can catch them, a beautiful rose/tulip/daisy has been picked by their curious little fingers from someone's lawn. Surprisingly they didn't pick ANY bluebonnets (Clark picked the one above). They were so good and just pointed and touched.



This stare down was for a biker going way too fast along the trail. If looks could kill...


Had to get one with all the boys although the bright sun ruined it...


Caleb was all about this group photo. So excited that he burst into tears...










Gotta love our little bluebonnets!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Remember Us?

You know, the parents of triplets? The ones with the fresh wrinkles and tired eyes? The ones behind the camera, behind the scenes of all the chaos?

We're certainly not as exciting as three toddlers but yeah, we're still here. Sometimes we lose ourselves a bit in the shadow of the trio. We go out in public looking somewhat disheveled knowing that no one will be looking at us anyway. Everyone's eyes go straight to the trio...which is expected. Mine would too. But the most embarrassing part of all is that the second place their eyes go is to my stomach. To check out the damage that carrying three babies can do. It's awkward.

Anyway, we had a fancy night a while back and just got our hands on the evidence. A night with just the two of us and no babies for anyone to look at. We tried to smooth out our wrinkles and catch a nap that day so we didn't look so tattered. Last Christmas we opted out of Clark's company party due to the strict feeding demands of three new babies. This year was obviously different so we got a babysitter and headed out. The party was Downtown at the Ritz and we were able to enjoy some good food and I was able to put some faces with names finally. The people that Clark spends far more time with during the day. I always like meeting people and being surprised with reality vs. my expectations. Sometimes I'm spot on and sometimes I'm so off with the look I've imagined for someone. That next Monday I even had Clark take a picture of his audit room so I could have that straightened out mentally as well.

We had a fun time and headed home after I had eaten way to many gingersnap cookies. On our way out we spotted the free photo area so we slipped inside for a quick shot. Unfortunately we had to pick up the prints downtown and Clark doesn't ever go down there. Due to a flood at his current client, however, he had to work from downtown for a few days. While there he searched through the hundreds of pictures and found our gem.

So here we are. In all our glory...


Triplets and 6 1/2 years of marriage hasn't aged us too terribly right? :) Clark is just as young and handsome as he was the first time we met so I think I made the right choice.

I just couldn't end a post without a few pics from tripletville. I took this picture because all three mouths were stuffed with cantaloupe and COMPLETELY silent. It was a wonderful moment.


I took this one because it was equally as wonderful. All three sitting peacefully and unrestrained. They had a picnic dinner and didn't give any protesting, crying, or food throwing. Not only that, it was just so dang cute to see them all at their picnic table chatting away about sidewalk chalk and the taste of mandarin oranges.


It was a beautiful weekend and we spent it all outside. Picnics, parks, and lots of playing. I love the spring!