Get a Load of These Guys...

So the big activity since the trios birthday has been daily bike rides. They often don't last long due to the heat, someone falling, or fatigue. It's been one month since they received their bikes and it's amazing how much stronger their legs are and how they can last a little longer each day. Zachary can push his bike like nobody's business...always demanding to be 'in the middle' meaning he wants to be in front but hasn't mastered that concept yet. Caleb can lift his legs up now and just glide around, acting like it's no big deal. He's great at steering and has great control. However, when he get's an itch of hunger or his body temp rises less than a tenth of a degree...he's done. Out of his comfort zone and needs to be restored immediately. Leah has been the slowest of the three to catch on to the balancing, pushing, and steering. She'd always say 'I don't want to go fast' so she scoot along slower than a snail and wouldn't let me push her. Now she loves to be pushed to keep up with everyone and although is still slower, has made great strides in her pushing and steering. The problem is when they all see something like a plane or a bug then all the sudden one of them goes down quick...usually followed by bleeding and Bandaids.

We head to the church parking lot for practice since there is a slight decline they can cruise on.

 

If you thought that was cool, check them out in their helmets! Doesn't get much better than this! Thanks to Gram Rox for making their bike ensemble complete. Now we're thinking we might actually need wrist guards though. :( 

Besides biking, since that takes up a very small portion of our day, the trio has been LOVING their new dress up clothes.  They are constantly changing in and out of things and getting into the characters. Leah is going to make a pretty good Jessie for Halloween....looks like her waistline isn't quite at small though which we totally laugh about all the time.  The boys have chosen NOT to be Buzz Lightyear for Halloween since there are more important superheroes to worry about but they do like to try Buzz on and jump off the couch saying, "to inscedity and deyond!"  We've taught them the right words, which they know how to say, but they like to laugh hysterically when they say it wrong.  Weirdos.

So when all the princess/Jessie Leah has been saved from all the bad guys, they all fall out of character and move on.  We've kept ourselves busy with other things such as fun activity/craft days with our friends Addison and Hazel!  I read some books about numbers then showed a couple animated books about Pete the Cat.  We then colored his groovy buttons, made new cool shoes, and handed out Pete masks. It was a hit.  But Pete is pretty awesome so what toddler wouldn't love him? The kids had a great time and there was no screaming, fighting, stealing, or physical harm.  I'll take it!

Another big hit of the house as of late has been Leah's tea set! I have learned through two broken pieces that the boys are NOT allowed to play with her, even if she invites them, unless I'm in the room. They are just not quite as delicate and tender with fragile things. But when we all get together for our party, the hostess pours everyone a cup of water, pretends to melt some marshmallows in, sprinkles some sugar and we all partake! Then of course we all hug and say thank you to our gracious host for such a wonderful time. Leah LOOOOOOVES it. It's hilarious. She can never get enough attention and control like that.

 

I've started 'school days' when we head to the library and sit down at a table to practice our letters and answer important questions about life like why water falls from clouds and what color oranges are. It's pretty fun. The kids enjoy it and I like the structure since they aren't in preschool and need some activities outside of our living room.  One day walking out of the library I grabbed The Sneetches book by Dr. Suess and also the video so of course they were all belly bumping each other the rest of the day pretending to be star-belly sneetches.  They don't really get the point of the story other than some have stars and some don't.  Oh well.  So we colored and made some stars of our own.

 

We're pretty structured Monday-Thursday but come Friday I'm ready to not get them out of pajamas, watch a whole movie by 8am, and take them somewhere they can get ALLLL their energy out. This past Friday it was the Heard Natural Science Museum with the LIVE Dinosaurs. It's an outdoor sanctuary that has walking paths, a butterfly garden (which they said, 'it's like magic!', a log cabin town, and animals to see. We did this last year and they were totally freaked by the dinosaur trail but this year they blazed on through waving hi to the dinosaurs as we went by. They burned so much energy walking the trails they could hardly make it to the car. It was painful...every last step until they made it. Let's just say it was a gooooood nap that day for everyone.

There are some days when I have moments where I really really really enjoy this stage for the kids.  I love their imaginations, their hugs, their honesty, and their excitement about the little things.  I try so hard to hang onto those moments because before I know it, a hard moment comes where I'm tested in my patience, soft-spokeness, and gentleness.  Usually I feel like I fail horribly and have to start over every day.  I even started a number on my whiteboard that kept a tally of how many days I could go without yelling.  I needed some accountability because when I'm home alone all day, no one sees my behavior or judges me on my mothering, but I like to be consistent and feel good when I put the kids down to bed.  My number hasn't reached very high but I'm trying.  I'm constantly telling Clark he needs to yell at the kids more so I can be the more 'calm and comforting one.'  Someone has to play each of the roles.  Seriously.  He hasn't taken me up on my offer yet.  :)

This is the first year I'm even remotely excited for Halloween.  We have a TON of Halloween books checked out at the library and I'm educating the trio about all the aspects of the upcoming holiday.  It's a weird one to explain and I don't want them to be scared so we're just focusing on the candy right now.  The other day during nap time I heard a door open and a plastic pumpkin being chucked into the hallway...then the door slamming.  Of course I was upset because now all the kids were awake but Zachary claimed his plastic pumpkin was scaring him and he wanted it out of his room right away.  Poor guy.  He's definitely the more 'scared of monsters and things in my closet' sort of dude.  Anyway, this will be our first, legit Halloween with the kids so we're looking forward to it!  As long as I don't have to dress up...I'm all for it!

Oh the Fun We Have...

One of the funnest things I like to do with the kids is read new library books with them.  I love seeing them get into the new story then pretend to be the character.  I love how the books teach little lessons, or introduce really funny words, or make the kids think about new concepts.  So chances are at any given time I have 45-50 books checked out. The max is 50 so I usually hover right up there. I've paid my fair share of fines trying to keep up with all the due dates but I figure 8-10 dollars every few months is the least I can contribute to the library for providing our kids with so many awesome books. If I can get to the library kid-free and have a good hour to look through the books, I can find some really fun ones. This past month there was actually a city library book sale and all we had to pay was $10 for any books we could fit into the bag they provided us. I always get stressed out in those chaotic environments but Clark found a ton of books he liked while I looked through dozens of kids books. One gem we came home with is called "Sammy and the Robots." It's about a boy who makes robots to help blast his Grandma's cough away. It's really cute and the kids love it so I decided to make robots with them. I needed the cardboard from toilet paper rolls so Clark was curious why our toilet paper had been unraveled and then wrapped back around the holder thing. Ha. Anyway, when my visiting teachers came to visit I actually enrolled them to help each child make their robot. The robots have since been destroyed and thrown away but the kids had fun with them while they lasted...

In other fun news, my parents came to visit!  My mom came for two weeks and my Dad came for one week.  It has been and still is dreadfully hot so we did a lot of indoor activities while it was just my mom here.  That included the trio's first time using finger paints.  They had a great time and surprisingly did not get too crazy with it (my biggest fear with paint).  Then the kids got to hang their masterpieces on their doors. 

The trio did really good with their grandparents compared to last year at this time.  They were more open, loving, and willing to accept help although always wanting to "do it by myself" most of the time.  They, of course, had their moments of weirdness and Leah refused to hug my Dad goodbye on their last night here.  She kept saying she wanted to hug his leg but wouldn't even do that.  Then her next suggestion was that she'd hide under her blanket in her bed and he could hug her that way.  Whatever.

Other activities with Grandma 'Melsom' included lots of book reading, making cookies, doing chores, library story time, sewing rice bags, and playing at the splash park.  It was really funny because the kids were totally enamored with the sewing machine, making it very apparent that I've never sewn in front of them.  They were making me look really bad.  :)  Of course all my sewing is done while they're sleeping so hopefully Grandma believed me.  With it being so hot, we put the rice bags in the freezer all day and the kids get them when they go to bed and they LOVE them.  They each got to pick out their favorite (leftover) fabric so the bags are especially special.  But after another hot Texas day, they are certainly nice and cold and fun to play with.  Those bags have cut down on a lot of pre-bed drama for me because the kids are happy to jump up in their beds in order to get the bags.  

Then Gramps came.  The first thing the trio wanted to do with Gramps was have him bury them in blocks.  So he accepted the challenge and did pretty good. With Gramps around we went on morning walks, played in the rain, jumped on the tramps at JumpStreet, and swam in the pool.  He even had time to build me a curtain rod shelf to go over our french doors.  I have yet to fill the shelf but I love love love the new look and how it adds so much to our family room.

My parents had quite the Texas experience this time around.  Knowing they were coming I turned our AC down to 78 so it would be nice and cool for them.  The house felt great the whole week my mom was here and a couple days into my Dad's' visit.  Then one afternoon the house was just soooo hot.  There was barely any air blowing through the ducts and the AC had been running for hours and hours.  So I went outside and one of the hoses was completely frozen along with the inside of the unit.  Yikes!  We turned off the unit, sprayed it down with the hose, turned up the house temp, and waited a couple hours.  That seemed to do the trick!  Our 30+ year old AC just doesn't operate efficiently at anything below 80 degrees inside.  So we went back to the normal 81 setting and everything was just fine.  For us at least but I think Mom and Dad were hotter than normal.  Then to top it off, power to the neighborhood went off one afternoon for about 4 1/2 hours!  It was a toasty 100 degree day too.  Horrible.  We ended up at the mall for dinner (no power to cook and didn't want to open fridge) and luckily when we got back the AC was back up and running again.  Needless to say, I think Grandma and Gramps were happy to go home to some cooler weather in Idaho.  :)  We did beat the heat that week by swimming at the friend's pool and everyone had a GREAT time.  The trio even topped off their pool party with a little underwear party in the hammock.  The nice thing about swimming in a friends pool is that we don't have to obey social standards of dress for the kids after getting out.  Underwear only! 

The fun just keeps on coming!  I signed the trio up for a few recreation center classes.  A sequencing/patterning class, an art class, and a tumbling class.  Because their birthday falls at the first of September, they will be the oldest in their class when they eventually start Kindergarten in 2016.  That feels forever away!  I hate that they won't have anything structured until that point so this fall I wanted to start with something simple but hope to do some more academic based classes in the future through the rec center.  For now I think it's just good for them to learn to listen to a teacher, follow instruction, take turns, sit quietly, etc...  So we took a picture on the step of their first day of pre-pre-preschool.

The class was not what I expected and was pretty much a glorified play date but the trio had fun so I guess that's all that matters.  I'll ask more questions next week.  I just kept thinking the teacher was actually going to start doing things related to the theme of the class but it never happened.  Oh well.

All the while my parents were here, Clark was actually out of the country.  So although it was a bummer they couldn't spend more time with him, I was so happy to have help and company while he was away.  It could not have worked out more perfectly.  We sure were happy for him to come back though and with his return flight being delayed two hours, we were all getting anxious.  So Grandma and Gramps kept the trio busy by burying them under all the pillows in the house. 

Then finally Clark arrived and got to settle down back on his own couch and snuggle up with the kids.  The trio was so giddy we decided to take some pics because they were actually all smiling on cue.  My parents were flying out that next morning (the kids' birthday) so we planned to celebrate with dinner, rice krispies, and presents that night.

In true Rudd fashion, each child had their own letter-shaped krispie and this year we sang to each child individually.  They loved that and we could tell they felt so special.  However, I'm so disappointed because all the pictures are HORRIBLY lit. 

Gramps bought some ice cream for the celebration and Zachary was over the moon about it.  Loved it.  Ate it right up.  The others enjoyed it too but Zachary was just too funny.  Then it was time for gifts and of course the trio disappeared to go play after that.  It was a really fun evening which was topped off by a special framed Jesus collage that each child received once they were in bed.  Zachary and Leah sleep with the frames under their pillows while Caleb's is on his book shelf.  They love their pictures and talk about them several times a day.  One day during nap Leah started screaming/crying so I ran in there and she had taken apart the whole back of the frame.  She thought it was broken and was in tears.  It was sweet.  We fixed Jesus right up!

We started out the trio's actual birthday by sadly saying goodbye to Grandma and Gramps.  I thoroughly enjoyed having them and appreciated all their help and company.  We had a great time and I was just so glad to not be all by myself for two weeks.  We were sad to see them go and reluctantly waved goodbye and blew kisses from the sidewalk.   

Once they were out of sight, Clark busted out the trio's big birthday surprise.  No bounce house this year (although I sold that to pay for this year's gift).  BALANCE BIKES!  Oh ya!  What's not normal about coming around the corner with three identical bikes in your hands?

Let's just say the first ride was pretty painful, both for my back and also my sanity.  It took an eternity to get to the end of the street and the kids were whining on the way back that they were tired.  Apparently there is a steep learning curve with these bikes and if we stick with it daily, we'll start to see results about day 14.  Improvements in balance, forward motion, and movement of the bike.  We're on day six right now and although Leah seems to be making the slowest improvements, we have definitely seen changes and all the kids are way more confident than the first day.  Confidence by itself helps the whole process.  So we're excited to keep going with the bikes and the kids love going out each day. 

The next fun outing for their birthday was a trip to Once Upon a Child for the Halloween sale.  These are all used costumes I got for $4-$8 each and we came home with about six.  I scored and found a Jessie outfit which looks hilarious on Leah because of her big belly.  She LOOOOOOOVES it and wants to wear it all day even though it's made out of horribly hot fabric.  The boys attached themselves to a spiderman, Captain America, and a Transformers costume.  I did find a Buzz costume but surprisingly that has not been a hit.  Not sure why.  Leah also received a beautiful Princess dress from her cousin Ani.  She walks around so carefully in it and talks about how Ani gave it to her.  The boys like to dress up in their costumes and save Princess Leah from the fire-breathing dragons!  The best is when Leah puts on the Princess shoes and the Jessie outfit.  Can't beat it. 

 

And just to really milk all the birthday fun we could, we skyped with Gram and Papa in California and opened up a gift (THANK YOU SO MUCH!) that arrived on the doorstep a couple hours earlier (perfect timing), opened up more cousin gifts from North Carolina (THANKS CALHOUNS), and had one last pizza party at a ward friend's house that night, Michael and Marisol Ellett.  Pizza, silly string, balloons, etc...  It was an awesome day.  I hope the trio remembers some of this and remember how much they are loved by family and friends.

And closing up our conversation about fun, we've had LOTS of potty training fun around here (sarcastic tone).  Grandma Nelson was probably glad not to talk about poop or have to look at poop again when she left.  We had several poop celebrations while she and my Dad were here along with many accidents.  The two boys are completely trained day and night.  Caleb's learning was super slow but he transitioned to full-time underwear while Grandma was here.  I think he liked the extra praise and wanted to show off.  Leah.....I'm still working with her.  She really really really struggles with the poop stuff.  Holds it for days at a time, refuses to walk to the potty, screams when I try to make her, and cries that she's scared/nervous when it actually happens.  Believe me.  I've tried everything.  I even recorded her right after she went poop one day to capture how excited she was.  She said she felt so good and was so happy she did it (tears running down her cheeks at the same time).  Watching that video hasn't even helped.  Books, miralax, suppositories, bribery, taking away toys, etc...  I figure it'll just snap one day and not be an issue but right now it is a HUGE issue.  One that causes me a great deal of stress.  I try not to get caught up in it and just let her do her thing but it's so hard.  I get anxious and frustrated and feel like I have to watch her all the time.  I'm going through 10+ pairs of underwear some days.  Like I said, lots of fun.  Having triplets in general has aged me but all this potty training stuff has definitely added some wrinkles and gray hairs.

Other than that, we are looking forward to year four and have lots of fun things planned.  The kids are so much more mobile now and we can implement chores, discipline techniques, and new learning approaches.  Clark LOVES this age with the kids so I'll try to soak up as much of the joy as I can without letting the other stressful stuff get in the way. Here's a little information about the kids right now so I can remember this time in our lives. 

THREE YEAR OLD INTERVIEWS

Favorite Toy

Caleb:  Planes

Zachary:  Planes

(Caleb and Zachary were playing with planes prior so this might be a little biased)

Leah:  Mom...she is special

Favorite Song

Caleb:  Nephi's Courage

Zachary:  Child of God, Come Little Leaf

Leah:  My Heavenly Father Loves Me

Favorite Color

Caleb:  Green

Zachary:  Red

Leah:  Pink

Favorite Thing About Mom

Caleb:  She plays toys in my room with me

Zachary:  When she doesn't yell and when she wrestles me

Leah:  She watches movies with me

Favorite Thing About Dad

Caleb: Plays trucks with me

Zachary:  Wrestles

Leah:  Wrestles me

Why You Are Excited to be Three     

Caleb:  To play with my dump trucks more

Zachary:  Getting marshmallows

Leah:  Get to eat birthday treats

Favorite Place to Go

Caleb:  Store

Zachary:  Airport

Leah:  JumpStreet

Favorite Movie

Caleb:  Toy Story

Zachary:  Nemo

Leah:  Nemo

I started praying for myself in front of the kids that I wouldn't get angry or yell at them and that the Spirit would be in our home.  Then they started saying it in their prayers and now it's apparently one of Zachary's favorite things about me....when I don't yell.  In Leah's prayer she says, "please bless mom not to yell or scream or get mad...."  Then I add, "please bless Caleb, Zachary, and Leah to obey."  :)  Pretty comical.  For Clark they just pray he will wrestle them and drive home safe.  Our favorite family story time books right now are Franklin the turtle books, Dr. Suess, Bearenstein Bears, and any books with lessons on how to treat other people kindly (dealing with lots of fighting/hitting/stealing as siblings and being scared of socializing with new people).  The kids especially like to watch their favorite books animated on Netflix or DVD.  I'm surprised none of them said Bolt was their favorite movie because they have incorporated Bolt, Penny, and Dr. Calico into their very beings.  Some days Caleb will not allow us to call him Caleb....only Penny.  Whenever someone is in trouble or hurt, calling them by their movie names always makes them feel better.  When they play pretend, they immediately fall into those characters.  It really is the cutest movie but surprisingly enough, they don't like to sit and watch it. They just like the characters.  Anyway, enough about that.  They've just discovered they love eating corn from the cob and have a ball when I serve it for dinner.  One day I walked out of the kitchen to clean up because they were all eating so quietly, the next thing I know cobs are being chucked all over the kitchen, kids are laughing hysterically, and there is slimy wet corn EVERYWHERE.  Doors, walls, the fridge, chairs, the ceiling even.  I was only gone a couple minutes.  Needless to say, they all had to sit against the wall and watch me clean it up which took FOREVER.   Whenever I cough, yawn, or sneeze, Caleb is the first to respond making sure I'm ok and not feeling sick or tired.  Leah HATES to play alone which is why she mentioned me as her favorite toy.  Having quiet time in her room is the worst thing EVER in her life.  Zachary loves to make everything a game whether its trying to punch numbers on my phone while I'm texting, or poking my cheeks while we pray at night, or repeating everything I say while I'm giving directions.  It usually makes me frustrated but can turn into a good laugh if I let it.  This time in our lives is pretty chaotic and crazy.  I do want to remember that part.  But mainly when I look back at this time after the kids are grown, I just want to remember that it was FUN.