The Tyler Azalea Trails

I just wanted to share some pics I got when the women-folk went into Tyler to check out the Azaleas. They guys couldn't be pried away from fishing to join us, of course. I've been trying for several months to get the babies to sit together to take a group shot, to no avail. You do remember the Christmas pics, right???

Well, they actually cooperated! Aren't they beautiful?

Our Weekend In East Texas.

Thanks to both of our families for such a wonderful time this past weekend. Thanks to my parents for being such great hosts, and thanks to the Rogers for making the long trip to Lake Palestine.

The babies (really toddlers now) are so lucky to be surrounded by so many people that love them. Their lives are filled with a great amount of laughter, happiness, and fun! I know how much joy they have brought Brian and I, and can only imagine how our extended family feel. It was often brought up in conversation this weekend how blessed we really are. It is so amazing to be a part of a family that is so incredibly supportive of every aspect of their growth and development. I am so thankful for all of the love they receive and know that every second of it is enriching their lives and giving them every opportunity to become the best people they can become. To be surrounded by such good people can only lead to having a wonderful life.

I am learning quickly, however, that vacation with three kids is a lot different than my previous vacations. It takes quite a bit to pack, drive, organize, and keep the right balance between "fun" and "too much fun." Before the difference between fun and too much fun was a hefty hangover the next day....Not so much anymore. Late nights have been traded for early mornings. I'm pretty sure I got up a few times at the same time I used to come home... But it's all worth it and I can say everyone (especially these babies) had a fantastic time.

After breakfast each day we took their new safety harnesses for test runs. They work pretty well. I'm looking forward to the day when I can handle all three myself instead of using the stroller to get them in/out of places. Three kids and two arms doesn't work so well, ya know? They love being set free to roam the great outdoors. We picked a lot of wood and pine cones out of Jack's mouth, however. That boy will eat anything. Bennie's the best right now, Jack likes to stop and look at every tine speck of dirt, and Lily kind of looks like she's had a few cocktails. It's funny how their personalities are. Bennie will just follow you and go anywhere you go. Lily wants to go where SHE wants to go and you better follow or you get yelled at! I have no idea where she got that from.

Here's the little Bennie Bear checking out the great big trees with PawPaw.

Here's PawPaw in front of the Dogwood trees with the boys. Lily was a getting a little worn out and caught a ride on Dad's shoulders back to the house.

Here's Jack on MawMaw and PawPaw's new giant dock getting ready for his very first BOAT RIDE on Poppie's boat! Notice the regulation life jacket and sun hat. Thanks Mom and Dad for gating in a large play area for the babies. It was great hanging out in the shade on the water and I can just picture all the fun times ahead.

Here's MawMaw and Nonnie with their grandbabies. You have no idea how difficult it is to get them to all look the same direction at the same time.

Jack and Lily loved being out on the water right off the bat. Bennie, not so much. He pretty much spent the whole first half in my lap in the back seat. Here he is, right after we took off, realizing that he's not in Kansas anymore....

Now it could have been the allergy meds I had given him, but after we stopped the boat and let him walk around a bit, he seemed to be fixed. He his my cautious boy, so it's hard to tell which was the case.

Jack was all over the boat and having a fantastic time. Here he is up front with Brian and the super bubbles!

And Lily.... This picture says it all. She had so much fun she didn't want it to stop. In fact, she was convinced she would have even more fun if we would let her check out the water, which we didn't, and she was not a happy camper about it. She spent the last few minutes in a full-scale melt-down.

Here's Jack reassuring Bennie that this is SO MUCH FUN!!!

And, we all got a good laugh at PawPaw when we were getting them ready for bed. Do you see something wrong with this picture? (Come on Dad, you knew I couldn't let this one go!)

All-in-all it was a great trip. We filled each day with lots of eating, visiting, and fishing for the guys. I even managed to fit in a nap or two. Maybe next time I'll sleep in?

By the way, this is what TOO MUCH FUN looks like... While I was hoping the car ride home would be relaxing because they would be tired that didn't seem to be the case. The good news is that all of us were so happy to be out of the car by the time we got there that bedtime went well. We all went to bed early to recover from our trip.

We did manage to catch some sort of little bug this past week so keep us in our thoughts and prayers. We've got a lot of snot, coughing, and wheezing happening around here that I hope ends soon. We took a trip to the pediatrician today and it's nothing serious just a little virus. Let's hope we shake it soon.

Lunch With The Girls.

So, I must admit, while I have taken RSV and Flu season VERY seriously, we have been on several public excursions over the months. There simply is a balance between obsessively worrying about them coming into contact with germ-filled people and setting them loose to lick public toilets. I, of course, have not let them do the latter.

We go walking A LOT, but have always done that. I've recently set them free at a few local playgrounds, early in the morning before any kids can get there to snot all over anything. Oh yeah, Clorox wipes are my best friend. The are portable and kill everything. So, I keep a super-sized pack in the stroller. They are all pretty mobile and love to climb so I usually get my daily workout as well trying to keep them from scaling rock walls and running into moving swings. Bennie's poor head has been the only casualty so far when he attempted to head butt said rock wall. His head lost. Ouch.

I've tried to pick places where they don't have any contact with people. So, pretty much they just ride around in their stroller, people watch, and enjoy a big old cup of juice. They're happy and I'm happy. So far it's been fantastic. I get out of the house, sometimes meet my friends, and I am able to do a little shopping. The good thing for my husband is that I can only hold so much when pushing around a 100+ lb stroller. But hey, I get my fix so it's enough for me.

We've gone to GardenRidge, Kohl's, several local Malls, JoAnn's, the Fort Worth Zoo, Sam's, and the Grapevine Antique Mall. For parents of multiples I do not recommend going to antique malls. I never realized how quiet they were. I also never realized how loud my children were. Pretty sure everyone could hear Lily screeching at the top of her lungs. Oh yeah, and they like to stick both hands out the sides of the stroller and GRAB anything at their level. Not good to be around breakable stuff when that happens. Probably won't be going back there anytime soon.

My basic rule is that no one touches them and if I touch ANYTHING I use the hand sanitizer I keep in the stroller. So far so good. While I do attract attention I haven't had anyone try to touch them. Mainly because I don't slow down long enough for them to catch up to us. The only problem areas are usually check-out lines. It seems like most people have been pretty respectful and I can't say that I've had any big problems. I can usually combat most of the attention by either not making eye contact and going on my merry way or by smiling and walking as if I am in a hurry. Now I really don't want to seem rude, but if I stopped at every person that made a comment or wanted to talk I would never get anything done. I'm also not one to make a lot of conversation with strangers, it just makes me nervous, can't help it. Plus, I just don't feel it's all that normal for people to stop and gawk at my kids, for them or me.

As they've gotten older I've got a bit braver. We've actually taken them to a few restaurants lately. I was SO nervous to do that. Mainly because I was increasing the chance that they could come into contact with stuff I don't want them to. But hey, every time they go to the stinkin pediatrician's office for a shot they end up getting sick. I was also nervous, however, because I could see all of the things that could go wrong. Food flying, kids crying, things being thrown, and trapped by people wanting to talk to us.

I am happy to say it has not been at all like that. Well, except for the food flying. We do leave an exceptional mess everywhere we have eaten so far. But I don't worry about that too much. The most important part is that they really seem to have fun. So far it's been great. I'm sure I do look like a freak because I wipe the table, the highchair, and everything within reaching distance down twice with Clorox wipes.

First we went out with a big group of family, next we went with Brian's Dad so there was one adult to each baby, then Brian and I attempted it by ourselves a couple of weeks ago. Besides the clean-up guy at Market Street that cornered us and would not quit talking, it has been great.

So, all of this has been leading up to this....

Today, I did it by myself! Yep, I took them to Grapevine Mills where I met with some of my girlfriends and had lunch. Go Me!!! I was so nervous but it worked out perfectly. Normally we walk around and I have to rush back home to get lunch in the babies because they are cranky and tired. Today we shopped, had lunch, shopped a bit more, got in the car, and I put them straight down for their nap when we got home.

Our only big adventure was that the highchairs had no seat belts which just made no sense whatsoever, right? I mean isn't it instinctive for toddlers to stand up in chairs? Maybe that's just my kids. As long as I kept a steady stream of food coming their way they pretty much kept their bums in the seats. Thank goodness Shelley had a few toys for her daughter Ryland that she let me borrow because I forgot the restaurant toy bag! I just can't seem to remember it all. Notice Ben chewing on plastic bag from my purse. Hey, he didn't know it wasn't a toy!

Yep, Lily has my keys...

So, good for me, bad for Brian because I love to eat out and I'm definitely doing it more. Ha Ha. It's so funny that prior to having triplets I would have never thought that eating out would elicit any sort of stress. I'm sure it's like that for anyone who has more than one child. It's scary to be outnumbered by wild unpredictable beasts. (Don't they look scary!)

Hope all of you have a great weekend, we're heading to my parent's house at the lake. Brian's family is going as well so I'm guessing we will get to sleep in!!! Hopefully I will return well-rested and ready for another fun-filled exciting next week. Love ya'll!

The boys have gotten a bit shaggy since their last haircut so Brian got out the clippers again. This time we REALLY cut the top of Bennie's hair because it looked like this when he woke up that morning....

His hair is very difficult to tame and likes to stand straight up, especially in the back where his cow-lick is. This time there was no crying, but he obviously wanted a part in deciding how much Dad took off.


Yeah, he said two inches and he lost about 4 on top. Quite a shocker for the young man.

BUT, Mommy loves his new haircut b/c she can spike up his hair! Yeah! Doesn't he look like his name should be Butch?

A month in review

Top 10 reasons I have been MIA the last month (give or take a few weeks):

10. It takes some time to pry Lily's bottom out of the small spaces she tries to stick it in....





9. I've been teaching all of the important body parts...

Ear:



Mouth:


and.....Nose!




8. I've been busy giving funny hairdo's to grumpy kids....Sometimes you have to be creative to entertain yourself...







7. We've been enjoying the great outdoors. Especially Dad....






6. I've been frantically trying to keep them from scaling my furniture (with little success).




5. I've been busy drugging them with ibuprofen and acetaminophen for the....10 molars that have wreaked havoc on my sweet babies. Yeah, that's right, you should feel sorry for ME.


4. It's taken some time to straighten out Jack's funny leg....


3. And even more time to straighten out Ben's funny hair....

2. Have you ever tried to scrub blueberry off this guy's face?


And the number one reason I have completely neglected the blog....is....We've just been having too much fun......

So, I will sincerely try to do better, if anyone even reads this anymore. Life has been crazy, but isn't it always? At least I'm guessing it's probably not going to slow down any time soon. So many funny things happen every day and I want so much to share them with you all. It's amazing to see these babies (actually toddlers!) grow and develop into little people. I am reminded daily how great this whole experience is. It is, in fact, fantastic. I feel so lucky to watch their quirky little gestures, listen to their chatter that is quickly turning into words, and know that I'm helping them to become little people.

Hey, listen, it's not all rainbows and puppy dogs...There are challenges, but there has never been a day that I went to bed at night and wished that I were anyone else.