To all our March for Babies supporters...

Take a seat. Get comfortable. We’ll be here a while.

Our journey has included lots of tears. So. Many. Tears.

Infertility tears...tears from the sight of yet another negative pregnancy test. Tears fought back while faking a smile at a baby shower. Tears of pain brought on by yet another IVF injection.

Pregnancy tears...not just because of hormones but due to the constant reminder that I very likely might not end up with three babies in my arms. So many fear-filled tears.

NICU tears. Tears brought on by the longing to hold your baby when you can’t. Tears brought on by infections and apnea episodes and bradycardia spells. And so many tears of guilt.

Homecoming tears. Tears of joy when the long-awaited day finally came to bring each of our sweet boys home. Tears triggered by the song “Home” coming on the radio as you’re sitting in the backseat with your sweet boy about to pull into your driveway with him for the first time.

Tears of sleep deprivation. Hooked-up-to-a-pump-in-the-middle-of-the-night tears. 6-month vaccination tears. The tears that came with the first birthday and every birthday since. The tears that recently seem to break through anytime someone says the word “kindergarten”.

It’s been quite the journey and we are so grateful, so blessed to have shared it with all of you. Thank you for your support. For the visits in the hospital during a long time of bed rest. Thank you for helping to make sure each of these boys got plenty of snuggles as babies. Thank you for the meals, diapers, gift cards, the Starbucks drinks left on doorsteps. Thank you for checking in when you knew things were kind of rough.

And thank you so much for supporting this great cause. For loving and caring about our babies enough to want to make a difference for so many others out there. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We love you all!

Kindergarten Readiness

https://herviewfromhome.com/do-i-send-my-child-to-kindergarten-or-wait-one-more-year/

This was written by a mama in my 2013 Mothers of Triplets Facebook group. It addresses the issue of whether or not you should wait to send your child(ren) to kindergarten when they have summer birthdays and are barely five. As a former primary teacher, I saw so many benefits to waiting. And I always thought that’d be the route we’d go with our boys, especially with the issues we had early on with their speech/language, behavior, and emotional/social delays.

But now, after almost 2 years of preschool, they have grown so much! And they ROCK at school. They listen and follow directions, they interact and play with their classmates appropriately. Academically, they’re brilliant. Each of them has been reading to varying degrees for over a year now. They know their numbers. They can write. They know their address and phone number. Hell, they can name all the planets in our solar system (even the dwarf planets).

I recently picked up a brochure at their school...”Is your child ready for kindergarten?” They met all the criteria in the brochure. Their teachers continually remind me that they’re ready and that they’ll thrive in kindergarten.

Yet, I continue to second guess myself. I have several other friends with children who have summer birthdays and I feel like they’re all waiting. We seem to be in the minority by sending them. Are we making the right decision? Is there something I’m not thinking about here that I should?

I don’t know why this is eating at me so much. Part of me thinks I’m just not ready to send my babies off to school all day. But then another part of me just keeps questioning...are we going to regret sending them so early?

"Mommy, today was pajama day...and you didn't put me in pajamas!"

Getting off the bus today: "Mommy, today was pajama day...and you didn't put me in my pajamas!  My friends were all in their pajamas...and you forgot!"

Cue the tears...for both of us.  Despite it being on my calendar in big bold letters and me even having a reminder set on my phone, I did the unthinkable.  I forgot.  And while I don't think this moment will traumatize my son for life, today my mistake made his day worse.  He probably felt left out.  He probably felt embarrassed that he was the only one not in his pajamas.  And I made him feel that way.

This mommin' gig ain't easy, folks.  Some days, you feel like you're doing okay, other days you feel like a total failure.  And today was definitely one of those days.

I just wish there was more of me to go around.  A me to keep up on the laundry, housecleaning, and cooking.  A me that is great at my job and helps provide for my family.  A me whose sole job is to take care of the children.  A me to be the wife my husband deserves.  A me that could focus on her personal health and well-being.  I wish I never had to choose between snuggling my children and making plans for work.  I wish I didn't always feel like spending quality time with my husband was this urban myth that only happens in the fairy tales.  I wish I didn't have to choose between my house being clean and getting in a workout.  But the reality is, there is only one me.  And I DO have to choose what gets done...because I simply can't do it all.

I can do the best I can at balancing each facet of my life, but at the end of the day, if I'm doing something really well...then everything else is going to shit.  Or if I'm truly trying to do it all, then it's all only getting done half-assed.

There's just not enough of Mommy.  And I can't imagine I'll ever feel like there is.  So for now, I just hope I can get by...and hopefully not miss the next pajama day.

Midland Holiday Pines 2017

Saturday afternoon, we carried on our yearly holiday tradition of going to Midland Holiday Pines to pick out a Christmas tree.  My sister Nicole came with us and took a few pictures.  This is the 12th year we've gotten our tree from them.  Such a fun tradition!

Quiz your Preschooler (not quite 4 years old)

What's your name?

My name is Ollie.

How old are you?

I'm three!

When is your birthday? 

Um...July 5th!

How old is daddy?

Um...34.

How old is mommy?

33

What's your favorite color? 

My favorite color is green...and yellow.

What's your favorite food? 

My food is meat (not true).

Who's your best friend? 

Um...you! (mommy)

What's your favorite show?

My show is YouTube (which he can navigate way too well).

What's your favorite movie?

My movie is called Brave.

What's your favorite song? 

My song is called Hair Up.

What's your favorite animal? 

My animal is a snail.

What are you scared of? 

I'm scared of lions.

What makes you happy? 

It makes me happy to eat.  That's what makes me happy.

What's your name?

Um, Nolan!

How old are you?

Three

When is your birthday? 

Um...four.  No! July 5th!

How old is daddy?

Um....34

How old is mommy?

Um...5?  You 5? I don't know your birthday.  I think you're thirty-five.  No, what's your number?

What's your favorite color? 

It's red and orange.

What's your favorite food? 

Um...radishes.

Who's your best friend? 

Um...Tallulah.  Tallulah is a girl.

What's your favorite show?

It's the colors show.

What's your favorite movie?

It's the mouse movie from the library.  The one we got at home. (Tale of Despereaux)

What's your favorite song? 

Can't Stop the Feeling....all the songs on my video (slideshow from school).

What's your favorite animal? 

It's a troll!

What are you scared of? 

Lions and tigers....and bulldozers.

What makes you happy? 

Mommy

What's your name?

Lucas

How old are you?

Um...three

When is your birthday? 

I don't know...I think it's hard.

How old is daddy?

I don't know!

How old is mommy?

It's hard.

What's your favorite color? 

Blue and purple

What's your favorite food? 

Cookies

Who's your best friend? 

I don't know...it's just hard.

What's your favorite show?

Ready, Jet, Go

What's your favorite movie?

It's hard!

What's your favorite song? 

Firework

What's your favorite animal? 

I don't know!

What are you scared of? 

Um, I don't know.

What makes you happy? 

I don't know...it's hard!

So Smart!

When James and I found out we were going to have preemies, I worried about what the future might look like for our boys.  Would they have severe cognitive delays?  Vision or hearing impairments? Cerebral palsy?

When we made it to 33 weeks, some of those fears diminished a bit.  But I would be lying if I said I didn't still sometimes worry about them being delayed.  Not that there'd be anything wrong with having a child who was a slower learner, but let's be honest...no parent wants their child to struggle or every feel inadequate.

Our boys all had language delays.  It was a pretty big source of frustration for all of us (mostly them) during the toddler years.  While they still have somewhat of a delay, their speech has dramatically taken off over the past year.  Not only do they ramble on and on, but people can now understand most of what they say.  And I absolutely love watching the conversations that take place between them.

With this language boom has come a realization that our kids are really darn smart!  I know every parent probably thinks this about their kid, but I have to say, I'm just blown away by some of the things they know.

At not quite four years old, we can:

• Read several hundred sight words and lots of primary books.  Ollie and Lucas are reading at a first to second grade reading level.
• Can spell CVC phonetic words (ex: rat, pop, etc).
• Differentiate between consonants and vowels.
• All count to 100.  Ollie knows his numbers up to 1,000 though we always make him stop before he can get there.  He also knows that 1,000,000 is made up of a one and then six zeroes.
• Count by tens.
• Recognize several shapes including: circle, oval, square, rectangle, rhombus, trapezoid, hexagon, octagon.
• Name 10+ colors.
• Differentiate between fruits and vegetables.
• Recite the seven days of the week and the twelve months of the year.
• Identify Kansas, Texas, and California on a map (don't ask).
• Tell when our birthday is.
• Recite our phone number.
• Tell how old we are, and how old Mommy and Daddy are (not sure that's a good thing).

A lot of these things, they've known for quite a while.  It just fascinates me how they soak everything up so easily.

So why am I blogging about this?  Just to brag to everyone about my genius children?  Not really...though I am really darn proud of them!  It's more to be able to look back in a year and see what they can do then.  We definitely have things to work on.  Less academic, more fine and gross motor related (such as dressing themselves, pedaling a tricycle, cutting paper, and holding a crayon properly).  I have no doubt they'll get there.  In the meantime, I'm just enjoying watching them learn something new everyday.

Mispronounced Asherisms

The boys' speech has really improved over this past year.  It's so great that they're able to communicate so much better than before.  Although their words are getting clearer by the day, there are still some things that they don't say quite right.  I find it adorable and I will be sad when the day comes that they don't mispronounce certain words anymore.

Here are some of their cute mispronunciations:

Guacamole: Wok-uh-mol-ee
Green Baby (Ollie's lovey): Grand baby
Yogurt: Whoa-gurt

Dessert: Gizzert
Vanilla: Nanilla
Caterpillar: Calapitter