Fun Play Date & TMNO

Since I'm trying to be better at adding info quicker so my posts aren't so long, I thought I would quickly add this post and pics. I'm so grateful everyday to be a "triplet mommy." Well, a mom at all for that matter - it really is a blessing that any of us get to bring these children into the world because anyone with infertility issues knows - it takes a miracle that's for sure.

Anyway, because of my little three, I get to part of this great group of mommies that I've mentioned before and here are a few pics of my sweet and always helpful friends.

Love you crazy mommies :)

We know have 59 members of our group - triplets are the "new" twins and yet people are always so shocked to see us out and about. And the number just keeps growing and growing and growing... HOW FUN!

My triplet mama friend Roxy and I got together again for another play date last week and we all had such a great time. Her kids are amazing and so sweet! Can't wait to do it again!

PS - does anyone else think Jax is beginning to look the same in every pic? Ha-ha :)

He really is such a funny and happy kid but in most pictures, he is Mr. Serious - what a silly billy! Love you cutie pie! Oh! and just in case anyone was concerned about his recent 'bath hating episode' - well.... We're Back in Business...

Mother's Day 2011

I love Mother's Day! I think even going through the "infertility years" I still liked it minus maybe one or two years where I pretended it didn't exist (you know what I'm talking about Ranie - thanks again). It really is such a great day to remember all the fabulous women in my life. I have the best mom & sister, mother-in-law and sisters-in-law and the best girl-friends ever!

However, around here Sundays are NOT the funnest day since our naps are cut in half and we end up staying up later sometimes too... poor little things. So... that evening we went over to Spence's mom's house after visiting with my mom (love you mom). We hung out with his fam for a bit too long and therefore these pics came a little too late in the day :)

HA-HA - not the happiest "we love you mommy" pic but I couldn't expect more on a long Sunday. I love you Jax, Austin and Rio. I'm the luckiest mommy ever :)

April Update 2011

Well, once again, I've let an entire month go by and not posted. I have got to get better!!! I hate posting long posts since it takes too long to read and so I apologize!
Anyway, here we go...

We were able to do so many fun things with our friends and family. I didn't get pics of all of them but I have a few. We had our first triplet play date with our friends Reese, Avery and Lucas, my friend Roxy's kids. They had so much fun and so did I :) Thanks Roxy!

We finally got to see our new little friend Evan as well - my friend Ranie's new little baby and his adorable brother McKay. We already love Evan so much!

We also were able to play with Melissa and Alicia's kids at the Aquarium. What a cute place! My kids are probably a little young still to grasp the idea of it but they loved the penguins - it was really cute to watch them stare at them. We got a big group pic below - so cute! Thanks you two - we love you and your cute kids!

My kids are totally into "playing cozy" lately too. I just say, "let's get cozy" and they'll grab a pillow and lay down and roll around - it's so cute how they understand so much at such a young age. So the other pics are them "getting cozy" with their cousins, Ella and Brinlee and grandma & daddy.

I have more fun "play pics" below but my favorite "event" of the month has got to be the pics below! I was at a fun triplet mom night out and so Spence was with the kids. He gave them baths and got them in their pj's and then was cleaning up the bathroom while the kids played in their room. Well, little did he know what they were ReAlLy doing...

Oh yah, that's Desitin alright! Caked on Desitin! But seriously, how cute are they? Jax looks so adorable with his beard and Rio with her hands completely covered. And of course, my sweet and more reserved Austin just has a little on him. However, they did cover my hardwood floors just outside their room and the rails of their cribs as well. I can say how cute they are because I wasn't here but Spence wasn't quite as happy as I was looking at the pics when I got home. He thinks it's hilarious now however :) Oh, the joys of simply turning your head for just one brief moment. (By they way, it was my fault that the Desitin lid wasn't all the way on :) Oops! )

EASTER:

We had such a great time doing "fun" Easter things this month. We had an awesome egg hunt at a park by our house. The kids didn't quite do the hunt on their own however but it was really fun. We ran into some friends there too that we hadn't seen in awhile which was so fun and saw a bunch of our great neighbors too. We also did a fun egg hunt which the kids actually did do at Grandma & Grandpa Morris' house. The kids loved it! Thanks so much for such a fun hunt! We love you :)

Another favorite thing we were able to do this month was go with Melissa and her boys to an adorable farm place where they had the cutest petting zoo I've ever seen! My kids had a blast!! They couldn't get enough - we really could have stayed there all day! The petting zoo had a baby cow, goats; including a baby one, sheep; including a baby one, pigs, chickens, rabbits, and a donkey. It was so fun for my kids - they sat down with them and would go up to each animal and pet them with no hesitation. I cannot wait to go back again. Thanks Melissa for thinking of it and letting us go with you :)
I wanted to put these other fun pics below because I thought they were so cute! I know everyone thinks that their kids are so funny but mine are no different! I laugh everyday so many times a day that I couldn't count. Bathtimes are a riot! Jax especially - as you can see below. He is so dang cute - he is sitting in his Bumbo chair because he LOVES to kick and splash and he can't if he doesn't sit in one so he gets a Bumbo while the other two just sit or stand. He is so happy and cute. (However, in the last week or so, he has started to be afraid of the water and acts really nervous now - he won't even sit down :( It makes me so sad because honestly two weeks ago, he laughed and smiled the whole time - WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?!) Any thoughts???

Anyway, these last two pics are my other two sillies. Rio loves necklaces and bracelets already! Kids come with certain likes and interests don't they? If she can't find one of mine, she'll find something to become a necklace. I have one pic where she has about 5 shell necklaces around her neck and this lovely pair of goggles as well. She found them in one of our gym bags one day and hasn't stopped wanting to play with them ever since. She uses it as a necklace or giant bracelet but she also figured out, (with my help of course) that they can go on her eyes too! Austin joined in the fun as well and laughs so hard when he wears the goggles. He will walk around for 15 minutes at a time with them on just laughing with Rio. Silly kids!

How lucky am I right? I love you three!

March in Review

I've been a horrible blogger lately and I've got to be better because this is my "journal" - sort of :) and we have been doing tons of fun things. Our great friends, the Maughans went through a whirlwind of a journey this last year and we have been privileged to be a small part of their experience. They had a fabulous "Run for Love" for their sweet baby Evan who was welcomed to their family this month (after a long and crazy few weeks I might add ) and we all strolled along in the walk/run with our family. Spence's family was so great to support them too and they all came out to enjoy the great day with us. What a great day it was and we love them so much and are so grateful for their new addition to their family!

For those of you that live around here, you know the weather has been hit and miss with it being wonderful and sunny and then a few days later it is cold and snowy again. BUT... we have gotten out of every single good day and enjoyed the sun and playing with our friends. Our sweet neighbors, the Jenkins gave this "chopper" blow up to kids and they absolutely love it. I think one big thing I'm learning as a mom is that kids will enjoy anything with balls, sound and somewhere to dive into. Rio now jumps through the windows of this helicopter and thinks she is the coolest thing ever :) What a cutie! This day we got to enjoy it with our next door neighbor friends, Adyson, Isaac and Liza.

We also got a great birthday present that has been hidden away for a rainy/snowy day and our my sweet dad came over to visit one day and we set up their way cool tent and tube. Here's Jax playing peek-a-boo and Austin and Rio cruisin' through the tube. So much fun for them.

Another fun rainy/snowy day activity we attempted was playing with our Elmo chair and a box Austin found. Grandma & Uncle Marc taught the kids how to put Elmo in the box and get pushed around - it's so cute but on this attempt, they ALL wanted in the box - didn't quite pan out as you can see from Austin's face :)

Another day when it was warm and sunny, we went out in our backyard and went up and down and up and down the stairs of our deck until we had mastered steps and then my sweet Rio sat on the grass and just picked through it for seriously 20 minutes. And the whole time she had her little feet crossed like this. She is seriously so dang cute! I generally hate feet but I can't get enough of hers.

Another great thing that happened this month is that Spence started a new job. It's been very different for all of us with this change but one of the best things about it for me is getting to see the kids faces as he walks through the door when he gets home. They literally RUN for the door and all want to be picked up! And being the great dad that he is, he does! Can't get any better than this can it?

*And speaking of fun changes... we changed our infant car seats into "big kid" seats this month - they absolutely LoVe them! So cute and fun to be able to turn around and see their cute faces in the car. I'm so lucky!

Triple the Fun at the ZOO!

Triplet Zoo Day 4/1/11

At our last TMNO, we all decided we wanted to get together with our kids. One of my triplet mom friends, Diana (who I also got this cute choo-choo wagon and umbrellas from - thanks Diana), well her husband works with KSL and when he found out we were all headed up to the zoo, he wanted to do a story about it. It was featured on the news last night and I thought the story was so cute that I had to post it here too. I had a work thing right at the same time that KSL was meeting us up there so I asked my sweet dad to help me out and take them up for me and I'd meet him there later. He, of course, being a fabulously loving father and grandpa, said he would. So you'll see him pulling my 3 on the news feature. So cute! We got so many great pics but I'll just post a few here. What a fun day and honestly couldn't have blindly picked a better weather day - 70 degrees :)

Cute baby elephant - my kids were more interested in their wagon and fruit snacks at the time

Here's the news link with video:

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ksl.com%2F%3Fnid%3D148%26sid%3D14975355&h=ec554

The Sick Days of Winter

Will this ever end? This is the question that has been burned into my brain these last few months. And don't say it... I know there are a few more months to go before we stay warm and sunny :)

Since the babies birthday, they have either had an ear infection or a cold or a cold and cough or in all honesty, I don't think that their initial ear infection ever went away and this is why we have been struggling so badly these last 6 weeks.

Anyway, so long story short because I'm sure most of you don't really care about their sick stories but... Long story short, after taking antibiotics the second time around, both Austin and Rio broke out in this massive rash. (Which now we are pretty positive was the cause of Austin's rash at the beginning of January and not the MMR but who really knows that answer!!) ...Massive rash and so they had to go off the medicine and then were of course in pain and sleeping horrible and were sad and ornery most days. I seriously was beginning to think I just was doing something wrong because they were kinda grumpy most days. However, our little Atlas man (Jax) has been such a trooper and doing so well. He got over the ear infection and whether he has a cold or not, he's fine and happy. What a strong little boy!

However... Austin broke out first and we ended up taking him back in and the doctor said, "oh yeah, that is definitely a reaction to the medicine. He's allergic to penicillin." You think??? Crazy!!! Both my dad and my grandpa are as well so I guess if allergies can be genetic, then there you go but it is just so scary to see your little child totally red and covered in little hivey welts all over. But, as per Austin, he acted just fine and happy other than when I'm sure his ear was hurting. We took him off, they gave him something else and we waited to give it to him so his body could relax a bit first. Then... we ended up a few days later getting the antibiotic shot for he and Rio because things just were not changing for either of them. Hopefully, we are on the tail end of all this yucky stuff! This pic below is Day 3 of his reaction. He ended up kind of looking like a little map. Outlined red spots all over. But.. still smiling :)

Rio on the other hand, just kept getting worse. She woke up with the goopiest eyes I've ever seen! This pic was taken with Spence's phone so it isn't the best but if it gets close up, you'd see her gooped eyes, snot and anything and everything running out of her body. She'll hate me for this pic later but it just shows how bad she felt and looked. Poor little girl!

This pic below is Rio's rash - she was not nearly as bad as Austin but she acted like it bothered her a lot! She would rub her legs and feet together so hard that she broke blood vessels. While she "tried" to sleep, she rubbed her ears so badly, they were bruised the next morning! I felt so horrible! So obviously there is a little reaction for her as well. So, so sad. Her rash went away quickly and she stopped itching and now after her antibiotic shot, she is SO HAPPY! It's like she finally feels better. I am so glad for her.

But honestly, the best little kids in the world! They have hung in there for weeks now. We love you! Thanks to those that have still been willing to be around us even though we are honestly, the germiest family ever right now :)

PS. I posted their new 1 year old pics - so cute if I do say so myself :)

Triplet Mom's Night Out!

A few weekends ago, I was able to go to another TMNO with my new friends. I'm so grateful for such great friends. I've gotten to know these women over the last few months and it's amazing to me how incredible they are. There are some moms that have only the trips like me and there are some that have other singleton kids as well and then there are two that have trips and twins and other singletons! The amazing thing is that out of our group of 40 (so far) at least 5 that I know of were spontaneous (meaning no fertility meds)!!! And the other majority are from doing an IUI (artificial). That is so crazy to me!

Anyway, I'm so very blessed to have my little 3 in my life and I'm so grateful to have friends that share this one small piece of "this kind of parenting" with me. I have so many friends that are such great examples of moms and women to me and I'm so grateful for you!