The Dreaded Potty...

Potty training attempt number one has come and gone. 

I'm the type of person that when I get an idea in my head, I can't sit on it. I have to carry it through right away. Even if it's returning something to the store, which I know can be done at anytime, I still feel urgency and get in the car as soon as possible.  We were planning on working with Leah in a few weeks but a friend emailed the 'Lora Jensen 3 Day Method' for potty training and I was totally convinced to do it right away. So I went out the next day and got all the stuff and started.

The whole premise of the method is that if your child is over 22 months old, they are trainable and will be fully trained in three days if you follow the method EXACTLY. You throw all your diapers away and never turn back.  Not even for naps or bedtime.  Another important premise of the method is no sitting on the potty for long periods of time to 'try' and not asking them if they need to go.  Therefore handing over control to them.  The author said that kids want to be in control of these situations. I mean, this method has been featured on Good Morning America and has rave reviews.  I was totally on board. You basically keep your child right by your side for three days and rush them to the bathroom every time they are in the middle of an accident. I knew this method was right up my alley since I'm pretty obsessive compulsive and don't do anything casually. I was geared up and ready to follow Leah around(much to her annoyance). What I didn't realize, however, is that each time I was rushing Leah to the bathroom it was like a panic/startling experience for her which is definitely not up her alley. I tried to remain calm and positive even though it was a messy ordeal but even with some reassurance, it was still startling.  She likes plans, schedules, preparation, advance warning etc...

The first day she tolerated these panic attacks and the second day she was totally resistant.  She did not want to leave her toys (for good reason...being a multiple means hold on to your stuff or lose it) or what she was playing with just to go pee.  The second morning she held her pee for almost four hours!!  I kept talking to her and following my guidelines...letting her run the show and taking control.   But let's be honest, when have my kids EVER had control in their short little lives.  All the sudden Leah gets a little power and let me tell you, she ran with it.  Not only was she resisting the training, she was refusing to take naps or go to sleep, she was being defiant and disobedient, and was SOOOOOO emotional, especially before bedtime.  Clark said he didn't realize how emotional potty training was going to be!  Neither did I. The book said you should not discipline or scold your child during potty training.  It should be a happy experience.  However, I think that's why she starting acting out!  She had control and no consequences.

We were kind of excited to train one kid at a time because that hasn't really been a luxury for us.  Do something with the first kid, learn from it, and change/adapt for the next.  We have one chance to do everything because all the kids are in the same stage at the same time.  So with potty training, we always thought we'd do them all together but like the idea of having a second chance if something didn't work.  Boy it did not work.  I think a lot of it was I had NO idea what to expect.  I was not prepared emotionally or physically for how challenging this process is.  Of course I romanticized it a little and said our kids will be potty trained in three days, no problem! By day five at 3pm, Leah had one success out of eight.  I think percentages should be a bit higher at that point especially after using the Lora Jensen method.  So I gave her a bath, put the potty away, and put her back in diapers.  I have never been so relieved to see a diaper on her again!  Yeah maybe five days was too early to quit but again, I could not have imagined doing another day of all the drama and clean up.  Leah never even asked about her underwear, stickers, treats (she was bribed with freeze-dried strawberries since she refuses to eat any candy), or the potty.  It was like it never happened.  So weird.

Another big thing we learned about Leah is that although she loves to be a leader, show everyone how to do things, and be involved in everything, she does not like to be a pioneer.  She doesn't like to be the first to try something or do it alone.  She is a social creature as most girls are but I saw how it affected her potty training.  It would have been so much more exciting for her if one of her brothers was doing it with her, running to the bathroom, celebrating, etc...  That's how her whole life has been.  Doing everything with her brothers.  I think she felt isolated and pressured which may have been the reason for all the emotions.

Anyway, I'm probably reading way far into all this but for a two-year-old, this is a huge change.  So I had to swallow my pride and say it wasn't working.  I don't know if it was the method, personality, or social aspect for her, but I do know I'll be much more mentally prepared to follow through and stick it out next time.  And I will definitely NOT be doing away with discipline during the process.  That was a mistake.  Just have to find out what works for her.

What a little bugger.

Does anyone out there have a child like Leah and used a potty training method that worked?  

Hate To Say It But..Going Private!

This is all I've got....

I plugged in my camera and this is all I have to show for the last month and a half. Not my best documentation effort. However, I'm in survival mode and blogging is not a survival skill of mine. Getting in my pajamas, curling up on the couch, and watching my favorite movie is. This time of year is rough because Clark's schedule is at it's highest demand. I'm having to get babysitters to go grocery shopping which is the worst. Luckily we are close to the end of these horrible hours and life will be back to normal soon.

The triplets wear me out. Their favorite phrase nowadays is "I need...." Fulfilling their every need, every minute can sometimes be overwhelming and there's really no prioritizing because each of their needs are SUPER important to them at that moment. I've seen more temper tantrums these past couple months than ever before and I never quite know how to deal.  I've tried to keep them busy and be creative but each child is so different that some activities are fun for one and not for the other two. They haven't really hit their coloring groove yet so we don't do much of that, sticker books are too old and they get frustrated not being able to get the stickers up and there's no way I'm letting them paint or use glitter/glue so our crafting/indoor activities are limited. Obviously we made some glasses out of the pipe cleaners and we do enjoy foam stickers so we've done a few things in that arena. Regardless, we do manage to find something to do. Play doctor, go for nature walks, have indoor picnics, eat popcorn, go to the aquarium, attend storytime, etc...

I've been tackling some big projects on my nagging to-do list such as a family blog book and family DVD's. A ton of progress has been made so I feel good about that which is another reason my blogging has been pushed aside. I recently read a book "The Happiness Project" which had made me rethink what and how I want to do this blog. The author talks about doing things that you actually like as opposed to things that you want to like or things you do because of others' expectations. I don't want to feel guilty if I don't update, I don't want to feel overwhelmed if I get behind, and I don't want to be worried if I forgot my camera and can't document something. I just want it to be natural, simple, and something we'll want to look back on and remember.

So I'll be updating once a month.....might be long, might be short. I'll just do what feels good at the time and what my time allows. Maybe when the kids are off at school I'll revamp my plans again but for now.....I'm going private. Here's a few reasons:  I won't be updating as often; it will be purely for family journaling; I'm getting site hits from very strange searches...most of which have nothing to do with triplets (one person googled "April Fools Day Triplet Sonogram" and was led to my sonogram photo which they clicked on...they probably printed and used it which is totally weird); Clark's co-workers/managers have googled and read our blog which was a surprise to him and made for an awkward work situation.  I just don't want to worry about that stuff anymore. This used to be a great public forum that helped other multiples moms while I was a member of our local support group but I'm done with that now too so I don't see any reason to keep it public!

My blog will probably become the most boring ever so I will have no hard feelings if you're not interested in an invite but leave your email if you want to check in from time to time!

***I've moderated the comments and won't publish them so you can leave your email freely without others seeing it beside me.

Jump for Joy!

So I try to be on the cutting edge of new and exciting toddler activities in the area. Once a location or activity becomes popular and overrun, I lose interest.   Mainly because of the correlation between the amount of kids and the amount of germs.  Also because it's harder to keep track of three toddlers amidst chaos.  I just want to go somewhere awesome that all the other kids in the city don't know about.  Wishful thinking.  There are five public libraries around us and I'm currently on the search for the PERFECT undiscovered toddler story time.  You know, the one that has an awesome reader, is super engaging, and there are only a few kids there.  Haven't found it.  I'm still hopeful.

There was a new indoor trampoline park that opened up near us a few months ago.  It came on my radar through another multiple mom and I immediately knew I wanted the kids to try it out.  It was New Years Eve Day so Clark was home from work which was perfect.  We took the kids and they loooooooooooooooooooooved it.  Caleb could've stayed another hour.  He loved being in his imaginary world, running around, no limitations.  There were three long, connected trampolines and three HUGE bounce houses.  I mean, this place was our dream come true.  Three toddlers running wild and free, burning tons of energy, and we're just watching.  :)

There was a moment when all three kids were bouncing on the tramps and laughing so hard.  I couldn't help but smile the whole time while watching and I'll admit I got a little teary-eyed because they were so happy.  They were experiencing pure joy with something so simple and didn't have a care in the world.  Just total joy.  Of course Clark and I were super jealous because we wanted to jump so badly.  The adult trampolines looked awesome but we hadn't paid to jump on them and had to stay with the kids anyway.  We talked about how crazy we both used to be on the tramp and how it'd be fun to do some of our old tricks again.  So that following weekend, I got a babysitter and told Clark we were going jumping!

We paid for an hour of jumping and tried to hurry so as not to waste any time!  That was all in vain though because after 15 minutes, we needed a serious break.  We were totally out of energy.  Ha!  We were laughing at how pathetic we were and how old we felt.  It was very apparent that we were not limber teenagers anymore and those tricks that seemed so simple before were almost scary now!  It felt so great though to get out of our element and at least try to pretend we're still young.  I'm pretty sure we were the oldest people there.  I wore my Justin Bieber shirt just so the other high schoolers would know we were hip and legit.  :)  The next day we dealt with major soreness and a minor shoulder injury but all in all, it was a good time.  And also a good measure of our current abilities and inabilities.  We promised to go when we were 40 to assess our pathetic-ness once again.

A White Texas Christmas...

Christmas in our house started all the way back in November. The first weekend to be exact. We do this every year and every year Clark questions whether it's too early. However, once we get everything up, get the Christmas music going, and watch a Christmas movie, he always starts to feel the excitement again. Our 2012 Christmas season was so enjoyable and lots of fun to spend with three two-year-olds. Unfortunately, our three two-year-olds ruined/broke/jumped on two ornaments and a small standing snowman. I resorted to telling myself that 'one day we will have nice decorations.' That seemed to help me cope with our losses.

I guess I'll start with some unfortunate Christmas events to go along with our decoration losses. Because we start Christmas celebrations so early, we have ample time to watch as many Christmas movies as possible. Last year we watched 15.  We wanted to step it up this year and add some new movies to our repertoire but after all was said and done, we randomly ended up watching 15 again! We would've surpassed our previous number but Polar Express was in our lineup and the kids were TOTALLY freaked out when we started watching it so halfway through we turned it off. It's a pretty dark movie for a two-year-old apparently.  Definitely not Thomas the Train. Ever since then the kids keep talking about how 'scary' trains are. So sad. We took them to a train exhibit downtown a couple days ago which was happy and bright so hopefully their minds are changed now.  Point is, we missed setting a new record. There's always next year!

Our second unfortunate event of the season was that the kids HATED Santa Claus. Let's just say it was the biggest failure ever. We had talked about Santa only a little prior to going and meeting him at a church function assuming the kids would be apprehensive but excited. Um no. We did not plan, prepare, or expect their reactions. Total triple meltdown. I can count on one hand the times we've had those. Caleb was screaming so frantically that his eyes had glossed over, lips were blue, and no one could bring him back from his deep place of fear. Mrs. Claus was even there but that didn't help at all. Unfortunately in all the commotion we didn't get a picture of everyone crying. We finally got them calmed down after what seemed like 20 minutes but was only a couple, and they sat with us for a picture. I was in a full out sweat by that point but we came away with a decent picture.

Now on to the good stuff. My first good news is all the Christmas crafting I did. I craft in spurts and everything has to be bought immediately and put together in less than an hour. Anything more doesn't interest me. However, an advent Calendar I made with my mom back in September was a much bigger project and I only attempted it because my master seamstress mother was around. I'll be sure to take a picture next year (forgot to take one and it's packed away now) but I'm pretty proud of it. I also put together a couple wreaths and some foam-board, engineer prints of our family.

 

We did lots of crafting/cooking with the kids as well.  We made tree garland with yarn and cheerios (which was completely eaten by the next morning), made foam sticker ornaments, and of course cooked some yummy treats.  I'll have to give Clark all the credit for the treats though.  He made peanut butter balls AND rice krispie treats with the kids one day.  What a guy.  I made a pumpkin roll but didn't let the kids anywhere near it because my last one I made for Thanksgiving was a total failure.  I'm happy to say that my Christmas roll was near perfect! 

Clark and I ordered pizza on Christmas Eve which was delicious and perfect to go with our watching of Miracle on 34th Street (my first time seeing that movie).  The night was so relaxing and led right into an awesome Christmas morning.  We woke the kids up, put them in the car, and headed over to our good friends house.  It was pouring rain outside but we were greeted with a DELICIOUS pancake/eggs/waffle/bacon/fruit breakfast and a cozy fire.  The kids were SO well behaved and SO happy the whole morning.  Mostly due to the fact that our friends have a dog and the trio chased her around the whole time.  We exchanged gifts later in the morning, played with toys, and sadly had to go home so the kids could have a nap. Once we got home though, our own family presents under the tree were too tempting so we let the kids stay up and open the rest. 

We got the kids these cool pillow racers and were so excited to have them cruise around on those for the day.  However, their legs kept hitting the wheels and they couldn't go very fast or far.  It's almost as if the kids were just too big for the racers.  Sadly, we returned them the next day but purchased a doctor kit which has been a HUGE hit.  While we were trying out the racers on Christmas, Clark also held an impromptu jumping session with the kids.  He taught them the basics of the double-foot jump, showed them proper arm movements, and even did some demonstrations.  Pretty impressive!

To top off our awesome day, the rain turned to snow and just kept on falling!  Nothing like a little bit of white falling from the sky to make Christmas feel authentic and homey.  We received about five inches (at least in our backyard) and it stuck around for a couple days.  Of course as excited as we are to see it fall, we are equally excited to see it melt.

The kids all got new pajamas from our friends and gave me some good smiles before going to bed after a fun Christmas day. 

The kids loved all the lights this year and seeing Santa all around town on people's lawns (not up close of course).  Their most talked about Christmas decoration was a blow-up Santa taking off in a hot air balloon.  They just thought that was the best and we visited that house several times during December.  We also had a Secret Santa who dropped off a surprise for the first twelve nights of December.  It was pieces to a Little People nativity set so we talked each night about each figure and how it was involved in the birth of Jesus.  We also taught that we give gifts to the ones we love because the three wise-men brought special gifts to Jesus.  Hopefully they understood some of the real meaning although I'm not quite figured out how Santa fit in to all of it. 

A few of our favorite memories from this year included listening to Leah sing at the top of her lungs 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' and 'Jingle Bell Rock.' All the kids were totally obsessed with dancing and singing 'Jingle Bell Rock.' Another fun memory was using our popcorn machine for the first time. We set it on the floor so the kids could watch the magic happen and they TOTALLY freaked with excitement and elation. Then we stayed on the floor and shared a huge bowl of popcorn. Lastly, there were a few beautiful days leading up to Christmas and we went to a park that is tucked away in a little neighborhood. Clark and I sat on the bench soaking in the sun rays while the trio threw leaves in the air, gathered acorns, ran up and down, jumped, climbed, and slid. Those are the moments that we say maybe this triplet thing isn't so hard. :) 

Christmas 2012 was a good one. No doubt about it.

Pacifier Bear...

It's not unusual for Leah to wake up in the middle of the night and cry out. Eventually she finds her pacifier and she's quiet again but then I'm totally awake and my heart is pumping because I was startled. I'd say five out of seven nights this happens. We never go in there because we know it's short-lived but that darn pacifier has been ruining my sleep for months. Not only that, Leah has a terrible rash/eczema break out all around her lips, chin, and nose which I assume is from the dry weather and her pacifier being moist all night.

So one day I just decided we were going to get rid of it. I started talking to Leah about how she was a big girl and we were going to give her pacifier away to a new animal friend. She seemed excited and on board with the idea so we made a plan and put it into action.

Years ago I heard about how families take their kids to Build-a-Bear to get rid of the pacifier. I thought that was fun and knew when the time came that I would do it that way. So we headed to the Bear workshop and Leah got to choose her very own animal to give her pacifiers to. She chose a pink bear formerly named "Hearts." We then took Hearts to the stuffing area to 'come alive.' The bear was stuffed and then Leah got to stick a tiny fabric heart inside too. Prior to all this I had called Clark's sister because she had done this very same thing with her daughter a couple months earlier. I needed some advice and support because I was starting to feel nervous that I was making the wrong decision and that this method wouldn't be successful. However, after our conversation I knew that I just needed to follow through and stay consistent and that Leah would adjust just fine! Afterwards I was totally motivated and ready to go. I was glad for the advice because the moment of truth came when Leah needed to hand over her pacifiers to Hearts and I got super nervous again. Leah was totally frozen and did NOT want to hand them over. It was heartbreaking. All her worst fears, although easy to talk about, were not so easy to overcome. She was brave though and found the courage to stuff them in the bear and say goodbye. We then picked out a shirt for Hearts and went on our way.

That night she got really panicked when there were no pacifiers in her crib and was realizing they were gone. She kept saying, "get them out! get them out!" because she knew they were inside the bear. But again, she was brave and adjusted quickly and we haven't had an issue since! We just would say that big girls don't have pacifiers and when she was sad she just needed to give her bear a big hug. The night wakings have decreased although Leah did seem a bit on edge for about a week afterward. Really sensitive and moody. Not sure if it was related. I tried to capture the event but was busy corralling Caleb, encouraging Leah, and talking with the worker. I'd say that the whole thing was a success and perfect for Leah's personality. She LOVES her bear and has since named it Teddy.

Family Photos 2012

Thanksgiving through Caleb's Eyes...

Hi. My name is Caleb but my brother and sister call me Cabee.  Mama asked if I would write on her blog today to tell all about the fun we had over our Thanksgiving holiday.  So here it goes...

Hello??  Anybody in there?  Papa keeps telling me there is an elephant in this big round black thing he's been pointing at me.  I don't see any animals though.  Just my reflection, which is equally as interesting.

Gram and Papa came to visit us in Texas for Thanksgiving.  They flew on an airplane while I was sleeping so when I woke up, I had been moved into my parents closet.  That always means we have visitors.  I was so excited that Gram and Papa were here.  Gram showed us this really cool bag that had three stuffed animals in it.  One for me, one for Zachary, and one for Leah.  Then we read books about the animals.  My favorite was Fly Guy.  I got to hold him for a long time which was special because usually anything I have in my hands is stolen by Zachary or Leah.  Daddy and Papa had to go to work for a couple more days before they could play so Mama and Gram did some fun things with us.  We went to story time at the library, went for walks to our favorite swings, and played play-doh.  We made birds and pretended they had eggs.  That was fun.  The most fun I've had with play-doh ever.

The first morning Daddy finally didn't have to work, we all got in the car really early and went somewhere to stand outside in the freezing cold.  I don't like the cold AT ALL.   Papa pointed that big round black thing at us again and kept telling me to say 'cheeeeeese.'  Mmmmm I like cheese.  My nose was bright red and I whined a little but then we got back in the car and I ate my cheerios which made me happy.

Finally we got to do some fun things.  Like playing in the leaves out front.  This was the first time I've ever jumped into a pile of leaves.  I liked the crunching sound and laughed a lot.  We also got to celebrate my Daddy's birthday.  I even got to help him blow out his candles.  I don't like cake very much but I like singing the birthday song.  

One of my favorite activities that we did was go to the beach.  I've never played at a beach.  I have a sandbox in my backyard but it's not by water.  I heard some loud boats and saw a sail boat.  I built sand castles with Papa which was so fun and also got to dig with a shovel my Dad used when he was my age!  I liked throwing rocks in the water.  I did that for a long time.

I really like my soccer ball.  We took it to the park one day and I showed everyone how to kick.  Gram let me drink out of her special grown-up water bottle and sometimes I would drink the whole thing! Sometimes I shared with my brother and sister but I wouldn't let them hold the bottle.

Sometimes I can get really clingy when Dad is at home and all I want to do is give him hugs and hang on his legs.  I don't want anyone else to hold my hand, just him.  I love my Dad. 

Daddy and Papa spent time out in the garage coloring on some wood.  My mama kept saying the words 'staining the bedside tables' and talking about how she was so excited to finally have some.  While they were busy with that, the rest of us made really special ornaments for the Christmas tree.  We got to decorate snowmen and write our names on them.  I even got to stick the snowman's buttons wherever I wanted.  Daddy helped us to hang them on the tree.

Last but not least, we got to eat at the BIG table for our Thanksgiving dinner.  I sat by mama.  All the food on the table looked yummy.  I ate some of my turkey and we sure had a lot!  I also ate some corn.  But my favorite was the rolls.  I call them turkey rolls.  I even had pumpkin pie for the first time!  Zachary cried in the back room for most of dinner which was sad.  I hate when he cries but sometimes he doesn't like to eat and won't let anyone help him.  Then he starts to cry which is why he had to leave.  Luckily he came back and ate some of my favorite rolls.

I had such a fun week with my Gram and Papa.  I got a cool haircut, went shopping for dinosaurs, got  up early in the morning with Gram, and read lots of books with her and Papa while they were here.  I even got to share a peppermint ice cream shake with Papa.  It was the best.  I love my family so much!