Weekend Getaway

Scott and I were blessed to be able to go to Hilton Head this past weekend for a Strong Bonds marriage conference sponsored by the ARMY Reserves. It was great to get away with just him.

The 5 hour drive there and back was wonderful because we were able to chat and listen to the radio and just drive without having to stop every hour for someone to use the potty. We also reveled in the fact that we didn't have Dora singing away in the background!

We learned quite a bit in the sessions, but best of all was the free time we had. We enjoyed 2 wonderful date nights including seafood, Japanese food, and a long browse in a bookstore. I even got to do my running out on the beach Saturday afternoon!

Overall we had a fabulous time, and I think we'll try to make a habit of attending some kind of marriage retreat every couple of years. It is always a good idea to invest in the things that are most important!!

We came home Sunday evening to four silly, silly girls who might have missed us... just a little bit. Thanks Kay, Mimi, Donna, and Kelli for taking great care of them.

Our being away meant that instead of getting 12 hours of sleep at night, the girls only got 9 or 10 hours. So it took a couple of days after we returned to get them all caught back up. Monday they were in bed by 6:30 and didn't get up until close to 8am on Tuesday! To say they were worn out by their weekend of fun was an understatement, but things are about "normal" again here.... if you can call this normal!

My New Club Membership

Well, it only took me 4 years, but I've finally joined one of those elite clubs for mothers.

What club is that, you may ask?!?

..... the "Meanest Mom in the World" club.

Ella spent the night with Kari over at Mimi's last night. She went to bed late and then got up early and had a very full morning.

By the time she got home, she was exhausted. Maggie is sick and was getting extra attention of which Ella thought she herself was the only rightful owner. So I made Ella go to her room for a rest where she spent a solid 15 minutes crying, screaming, and declaring the injustice of the situation... which ended in her declaring my membership in no uncertain terms, "You are the meanest mom in the whole wide wurld" and then promptly falling asleep for a much needed nap.

Later this afternoon when my mom came over I told her all about it.

She stuck up her hand for a high 5! I'm so excited about this new era...... just waiting for the day there are 3 more drama queens and some hormones involved! Woohoo!

A Little Funny

The girls have been listening to the sweetest little Praise Baby, Praises and Smiles Collection CD for the last couple of days. They have also been making up their very own songs and performing them. Maggie, for instance, came up to me yesterday afternoon and stood by my leg with her hands in the air. Then to the tune of "Holy, Holy, Holy" she sang, "Hold me, Hold me, Hold me"! If not for the no napping, whining, crying, and someone constantly vying for that same position already, I might have giggled at her singer/songwriter talents..... (okay, maybe I giggled a little bit through the chaos)

No Naps for Us

I know my posts have been sporadic for the last week or so, but I am battling once again with girls who just won't nap during the day. This makes for hectic, frazzled days and short nights. Elizabeth Pantley graciously offered me a copy of her book No Cry Nap Solution last month to review, so I'm going to retire early tonight and see if I can't get some ideas that will help out around here.

Ella had given up naps almost completely by this age, but I know Maggie, Kate, and Sarah aren't ready. I know it with some certainty because yesterday two of them were asleep in my arms by 5:30pm and they were all in bed by 5:40pm... for the night! And they slept until just before 7am this morning. I guess if I have to we can learn to live this way, but they are so grumpy and grouchy in the afternoons that I don't know what to do with them.

Here's hoping the No Cry Nap Solution Book will provide some new insights to this really tired mom!! I'm looking forward to having this all figured out so that I can catch the blog up with all the wonderful and funny things that are going on around here in the mornings while they are somewhat rested.

Wordless Wednesday- Visions of Sugarplums

.... while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads,

I really don't know how she sleeps on that mountain of books?!? You can find more Wordless Wednesday posts at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Under the Weather

We have all had head and chest colds for a couple of weeks..... probably since this picture was taken at the first of December when we had our first little snow.

However, we've had an extra helping of sickness for the past week. Ella was not feeling great and didn't go to school on Monday. Tuesday she had a fever, but by Wednesday she was feeling well enough to go to school for the Happy Birthday Jesus party. We all went.

On Thursday Maggie started running a fever. It has been in the 103, 104 range pretty consistently since then, so I took both her and Kate, who woke up with a fever, to the doctor yesterday morning. Their chests and ears were fine. Neither of them has strep or the flu. So it must be just a terrible virus. This afternoon Maggie's fever reached 104.7, and that was with an ear thermometer and just in time for her next dose of alternated Tylenol or Motrin.

They feel terrible and are not sleeping great, to put it mildly. I told folks today that I think I've been sleeping in 20 minute increments all over the house at night whenever I can grab a little shut eye for the last 2 nights. Thankfully Mimi and Donna took the girls this morning after I dosed them up with their fever reducers so that I was able to sleep for 2 continuous hours.

The worst part about it all is that I remember being sick as a child. All I wanted was my mommy. I am sure that is what the girls want too, but they are having to share. Nobody wants to have "just a leg", they want "the whole lap". And Ella and Sarah, the two most demanding of attention, are really suffering because of the lack thereof they are receiving since they are not feverish. They have been aggressive, pouty, and just plain grouchy.... much like their mother, I suppose.


Here's hoping this will pass soon as I'm not sure how long one can survive on caffeine and the kindness of others!!

On the bright side there's a little giveaway over on our review site for $10 Bear Bucks card to the Build-A-Bear Workshop. Check it out!

Wordless Wednesday- Comfy?

Yesterday after I realized that all the little girls were actually taking an afternoon nap (an unusual occurrence here of late), I looked in on them to find Sarah fast asleep in the glider. Ella thought it was hilarious and made me take a picture... now I'm glad I did.

Side note: I've finally started posting over on our review site. It is listed in the sidebar on the left if you want to link there and check it out.

Sorry, guess this wasn't wordless at all... I'll do better next time! For now, you can find lots of other Wordless Wednesday posts over at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Sound Sleepers

I have been reminded lately of times when the girls were much younger and people would be here for an occasional afternoon and inevitably ask, "Don't you need to go get the one who is crying so she won't wake up the others?" Ha, ha!

We have had all our trio sleeping in the same room together since the day we brought them home from the hospital, 4 days after they were born, and they were together there and in much closer quarters before then. Since those early days, they have simply gotten used to the sounds that their sisters make and can sleep through some of the loudest, most obnoxious screaming you have ever heard.

On Sunday afternoon, after Maggie and Kate fell asleep for their naps, Sarah decided she needed to go to the potty. I collected her over the gate and took her to the bathroom. When she was through, I politely placed her back inside the gate to their room and instructed her to get back to bed. She appeared to comply, and I started to walk off when out of the corner of my eye I looked in to see her standing at the head of Maggie's bed, reaching over her sweet, soundly sleeping sister, and grabbing the plastic headed baby doll and her precious pink lovey that she had no doubt tossed onto Maggie's head when the urge to go first hit her moments earlier.

So, yeah, they can sleep through almost anything.... including the cries of the others.

Naptime Pandemonium

Two times this week I have left the girls home with my Nanny C. during their afternoon nap, and both times I have come home to complete pandemonium. Now I'm not blaming Nanny here. They are tricky little munchkins.... they know the exact things to say and do to be freed from their nap time captivity.

On Tuesday they had at least slept for an hour or so before I left to go have my tire checked out. I found out rather quickly that I had a nail and once it was fixed I returned home to lots of noise. Today, however, I had to run out the door almost immediately after putting them to bed. I went for my flu shot, came home, and found them like this.


Everyone was wearing something different, all were listening intently to Nanny C., and nobody had slept a wink! They know all the tricks to use for sure. As soon as they saw my taillights in the driveway Sarah started saying, "I gotta go tinkle". When Nanny investigated she found that one of the other two had a dirty diaper, and by the time she took Sarah to the bathroom and changed Kate's diaper all hope of a nap was lost.
I certainly don't mind. I love the fact that they've gotten to spend some extra time with Nanny C. this week. I just wish they weren't doing that in lieu of their naps.

And just when I was wondering if perhaps they didn't need that afternoon nap anymore, after trying it out today on accident I can be certain that they do, in fact, very much still need it.... as do I.

They played at Mimi's for a couple of hours this afternoon so that I could straighten up the house for my women's Bible study group that meets here tonight and make dinner. At 5pm we struggled through supper time and then did baths. By 6pm everyone was basically ready to crash out, but I know they sleep 12 hours or less each night so I selfishly kept them up until 6:30pm.

I think Kate and Maggie fell asleep while rolling out of my arms into their pillows. They were so tired! Sarah, on the other hand, began screaming, crying, kicking at the gate, and thrashing on the floor. She kept it up until I had read an entire book to Ella and said prayers. I went back in and rocked her for a few minutes so that she could settle down, and she fell right to sleep in my arms. Poor little things. I won't be leaving them at nap time tomorrow.... they still desperately need their daytime beauty rest! We'll just have to go visit with Nanny and Pop C. more often while they are awake.

Convicted

Anytime my posting here on the blog becomes sporadic or non-existent, you can bet that I am either not here, sick, or stressed out. Over the last week or so these four precious children,

big sis,

and her little cohorts,

have been making me crazy almost non-stop. I have been so stressed out over their behavior, sleeping habits or lack thereof, and the terrible way that they eat that at times I find it incredibly difficult to take a deep breath.... Can you say stressed out?!?

I have also been coming to grips with the fact that my only connection to Scott is through the internet... oh, AT&T you have me so spoiled. I am used to being able to "reach out and touch someone." That someone being Scott. Now, I have to send an email and wait for him to respond or call. This little frustration is worthy of a blog post unto itself, but it is definitely adding to the stress levels around here. Maybe another day....

Anyway, last night, after a particularly trying evening with Ella and then an unusually difficult time getting Maggie, Kate, and Sarah to sleep, I finally ended up falling asleep sitting in the rocking chair in their room at about 10:15pm. After a couple minutes I woke with a start and looked up to find all three pairs of little eyes staring right at me. In that moment I was convicted.

Convicted because I realized that if they are eating terribly, I am the only one to blame. Convicted because if they are sleeping poorly, it is most likely a result of a mommy inflicted crazy schedule. Convicted because if their behavior is not the kind that makes me proud, I am the one responsible for "training them up in the way that they should go." They look to me to guide and direct them; they feed off of my stress and my fears.

Clearly, the problem is not theirs. They are good, no, great kids! Don't worry, I won't take this pity party any farther. I realize that I'm a good mother. I know that I am incredibly blessed to have four healthy, happy, adorable little girls. I just can't for the life of me figure out why I can't make myself get enough sleep to be able to deal with these turkeys effectively during their many waking hours.

Just like them, I fight sleep even when I know I'm tired. I wonder if I stay up because I require an inordinately great amount of "me" time and don't get much of that during the day? I wonder if I stay up because Scott isn't here to snuggle up to, or alert me to the fact that it is getting late and time to go to bed? Surely these things are minor issues that I could work out on my own, right? Wrong!

I have a couple of different outings coming up that are just for me. I'll be getting out with old friends for dinner soon and have a weekend away with some other triplet moms that I'm looking forward to early next month. I'm also hoping that some exercise will help with both the stress and the sleeping issues. I'm going to sign up at the YMCA next week. But beyond that I don't really know what else to try.

So, I'm asking for your suggestions, not for my adorable girls who sometimes eat, sleep, or behave poorly, but for their mother who needs to relax a little bit and get some sleep herself. How do you other mothers deal with the teeny, tiny amount of time that you have to yourselves to unwind at the end of every day?

Duct Tape....A Triplet Parent's Best Friend

Over a month ago now Scott and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary while Ella and I were visiting him in Hawaii. Nine years, really?!? Just a few weeks prior to that we finished off our first roll of duct tape. By now you are certainly wondering where this is going....? It just seemed very surreal to me that we made it through an entire roll of duct tape in our lifetime. I mean, I suspect that if we had not become the parents of triplets, that one single roll of duct tape would have quite possibly lasted for our entire married lives.

Having triplets certainly brings out the "resourcefulness" in a person. We started working our way through our rather fat, severely underutilized, probably-part-of-a-wedding-gift, roll of duct tape at the beginning of the summer when our three little stinkers wouldn't stop taking off their diapers at naps and bedtime every single day. I had read on the message boards about other triplet parents having to tape their kids diapers on and thought it just sounded awful, but after a day or two of cleaning sheets, beds, and children covered in pee and/or poop, we made the plunge.

All summer long at bedtime you could hear the girls saying, "No dup tape, no dup tape, pease." But it had to be done in order to keep those little tushies covered. Until I was forced to try it for myself, I couldn't even imagine how duct taping a child's diaper would actually work to keep it on... or how you'd keep from hurting their skin with it, for that matter. We ended up tearing the tape into strips and simply covering the tabs of the diapers. That was all it took, and they were unable to, or more likely uninterested in, removing their diapers.

Somehow, since the time that Scott left, they have become big girls. They may still be wearing diapers while sleeping, but they are so much more aware of what is going on with their little bodies that they wouldn't think of removing a diaper with poop in it. "Poop's yucky and smells yucky!", they now say. I don't know exactly when I stopped taping their diapers on them.... I just suddenly realized a few days ago that I hadn't taped anybody for quite a while.

I realized the change had been made when duct tape once again seemed a logical solution to a small problem here in our household... and I couldn't locate it anywhere near it's usual spot by the changing table.

Now that they are in big girl beds Sarah has realized that she can stretch up and turn on the lights whenever she wants. After Kate woke up screaming a few mornings ago because Sarah threw on the light bright and early when she awoke before the others, and I had to go in a couple of times to turn off the light and stop a party in the evenings after I'd sent them to bed, I decided something had to be done.

: Cue the handy-dandy duct tape:

Now at night instead of taping their diapers on, I'm taping the light switch plate. So far Sarah hasn't been able to remove the tape, and there's been no more blinding, screaming awakenings for Kate and Maggie.

Perhaps duct tape could be used to keep clothes on as well?!?
*I'm going to include this post over at Rock's In My Dryer's Works for Me Wednesday... as it may be useful for someone else with diaper removing, light blaring, bandits in the house.

Divas

I had the great pleasure of taking out two very special ladies for dinner in celebration of very "big" birthdays tonight. Gamma is visiting for the weekend and just celebrated hers, and Kay's isn't until early next month, but Mimi offered to keep the girls so that the three of us could go out.

We had a great time. Dinner was excellent, and the company was even better.

Then when I got home Mimi gave me a good report on all the little cutie pies, and I went in to check on them before heading to bed myself. This is how I found Maggie and Sarah-
... they are all diva'd up in their silky night gowns and "clipity clop" or "clip clopity" shoes, depending on which child you ask, fast asleep in the floor. Sweet little momma Kate had all the stuffed animals removed from the shelf and in her bed. She was propped up and fast asleep on top of them all.

So after a wonderful evening, I removed the slippers from my little Cinderellas' feet and placed them gently in their beds.

Opposite of Genius

What's the opposite of genius?!? My brilliant move from cribs to toddler beds on the very night that Scott left for Iraq...

The first night the girls were excited to be in their big girl beds and it took a while for them to get to sleep. By the second night they were tired so they fell asleep pretty quickly. However, that night Kate woke at midnight, got her sisters up, and then they didn't go back to sleep until 3:30am or so. I know because I was right there with them.

For the last two nights they've gotten to bed late and played even later, so at this point I think they are just way beyond tired. I put them in bed at 7pm, but it is pushing 9pm and they are still in there playing, running around, generally just fighting to stay awake.

Here's hoping they will go to sleep eventually... without breaking anything.

While the situation is tough on a mommy, I'm not soliciting suggestions just yet because there are a number of extraneous circumstances that could possibly be keeping my normally good sleepers from their task. First, the move to the big beds requires an adjustment. Add to that the fact that I did it at a time when household stress was running a little high; Scott left the morning of the same day that we made the change. Duh! Secondly, they have taken turns running fevers, at times quite high ones, with absolutely no other symptoms besides grouchy... which can be accounted for by the lack of sleep or the random virus that must have it's grip on our household. Finally, and this is a biggie, I feel parts of 2 year molars breaking through in each of their little mouths. Additionally, Sarah has her incisors coming in now too!

So, I guess I can "half full" this thing by assuming I've saved myself a few sleepless nights in the future by throwing all this yuck together.

They've got to sleep eventually, right?!?