Love is in the air

Today we decorated for Valentine's Day.

While the boys worked, I asked Colin if he knew what Valentine's Day is about. I explained that it's a day about love and he immediately interrupted and said, "Oh like, so... no hitting or biting on that day?"

I'll go with that.

(biting by the way, comes up in conversation a lot in our house lately because one of the triplets- who shall remain nameless- will occasionally use biting as his go to weapon of choice if he wants a toy, is mad, or feels threatened in any way. It hurts!!!! So we're working on it and in turn, talk a lot about using our words and not biting, hitting or hurting each other). 

But back to our lovely Valentine's Day art projects....

Finn- did the most coloring of the trips. He was really into it!

Everett- did the least drawing of the trips. He was not into it.

Carter, at the head of the table, supervising.

Apples and painting

Working hard

Here's some of our finished decorations. I wrote the children's names on each of the hearts that they colored. I'm so proud of their work. It will be fun to get to look out this cheerful window each day when we eat our meals at the table.

Then it was back to playing,

and I even caught evidence of their brotherly love when they didn't know I was watching.

 It's always there. 

These boys teach me so much about forgiveness and moving on. They'll intensely fight over a toy or cry because someone hurt them in the heat of the moment (and possibly left a bite mark!). They may be furious and yell, scream or demand the person gets a time out or something.... but then it's over. And when the fight is over, it's really over. 

They never look back, never hold a grudge.

And the hugs, camaraderie and laughter always quickly return.

Stay that way with each other boys.

Oh what a weekend!

My sister in law Katie got married this past weekend. It was so lovely! We were honored to be a part of their wedding and thrilled to spend time with extended family, who we don't often get to see.

This was the first big event we've travelled to and participated in as a family and let's just say.... 

Managing these monkeys away from our "normal" routine was not so easy! (When I say "these monkeys" I mean the kids, not Chris haha) 

 Luckily, my dear friend Laurie was brave enough to spend the weekend with us and watch the boys whenever we had other duties. My boys just love her and I'm so thankful to have a friend willing to help us out like that!

Carter, Colin

Chris and Finley

Chris, Colin and I were all in the wedding. Colin and his cousin Gabe were ring bearers and looked just handsome as can be. 

Grrrrr.... caught someone else's flash.... but still love this one :-)

Before the ceremony, Colin grabbed hold of the ring bearer's pillow and positioned it right under his arm, like a football! He took my hand and down the aisle to meet Chris we walked. I couldn't help but think back just over five years ago and how I took that same walk, down the same isle in the same church, to meet my groom.... and now we have four little boys. Five years, four boys. CRAZY! 

Crazy wonderful. 

...............

Everett, making rounds

I wish I had some pictures of the bride and groom to share. Katie looked just gorgeous and soooo happy. But at the reception, my arms were either filled with babies, or I was chasing crawling babies around the ballroom so the camera bag ended up staying in the stroller. But trust me, it was a beautiful day! 

All the laundry is neatly folded and piled in the basket....

Until I turn my head for TWO SECONDS!

Oh Everett, you get me every time! My little curious George....

Luckily Finn trapped you before you could get into any more laundry trouble!

 (Actually you were not very happy about this but it was so cute I had to take a pic before letting you free)

The first pic would've happened whether or not I have multiples... I just shouldn't have turned my head in that moment. But the second picture speaks to life with multiples. You just never know what they'll do next and how there ideas will impact each other. 

They never cease to surprise me or make me laugh!

(*** in full disclosure, I was not the one to fold the laundry. Our wonderful nanny Amelie did that. If it were me, the clean clothes would be haphazardly thrown in the laundry basket where they'd probably stay until needed! Hey, we all have our strengths. Folding laundry... not one of mine.)

This is how we roll

On Saturday, we took the boys to the Purple Monkey Playroom, a new local play area. 

For the first time, we took what Colin has dubbed "the train". 

Eeekkk, I couldn't stand the cuteness! (and therefore took a million pictures as you can see!)

I got such a kick out of watching this train navigate the Chicago city streets.

"Everett, will you push me?" 

"Sure"

We had fun playing but the real excitement seemed to be the transportation there and back!

Nobody was more thrilled that we were finally using the train than Colin. He was all smiles and kept yelling things like, "All aboard the choo choo train!" 

With every positive experience we have going out and about, it gives me hope for future excursions. I look so forward to this spring and summer, taking the train around town!

Something to celebrate

I'm leaving the dishes in the sink, the laundry in the basket and the toys scattered around me while I prop up my feet and write down my joy for however long the boys let me. They're all napping right now. I could have 10 more minutes, or, dare I hope for longer!

The boys attended their first music class together today. I was both nervous and excited! Mostly excited though because we were getting out of the house to do something that hopefully the boys would enjoy. This might not sound like any ole' big deal but it's a big step for us. No matter how it went, it was sure to be more exciting then another morning spent in our basement.

I personally find that one of the hardest aspects of parenting four kids under three, especially in the winter, is that it's hard to find a place that can accommodate all of us, is age appropriate for 10 month olds and an almost three year old and can safely contain them. 

Bucktown Music is a wonderful place in our neighborhood that offers Kindermusic classes (amongst other things). Colin first started taking class there when he was only 6 months old. Through everything that's happened since then, Kindermusic has remained the one consistent class for him. It's his turf and I wasn't sure how he'd feel about the babies encroaching on this space. Thankfully, he was excited. He was ON FIRE the whole class! Dancing and singing louder than ever and showing the babies how to do everything. In fact, he sang the whole stroller ride there too. He said he was "practicing". Ahhh, I love this age.

Colin, Carter, Finley, Everett when we first arrived. The bubble above their heads would probably read, "Wait a minute, this isn't our basement?! Where are we?"

I loved and I mean LOVED, seeing the boys do something together. 

Each of the babies acted EXACTLY how I thought they would. 

Everett was instantly trying to break into the cabinet and other mom's purses. 

Carter sat attentively. Listening, watching, and you could just tell, trying to learn it all.

Finn could be seen cuddling up to a random mother who was wearing a cozy sweater.(As a side note Finn, it sort of breaks my heart to think you will cuddle with almost anyone... I thought WE had at thing going?!?!)

 Afterward, not even the impressive tantrum from a certain someone riding on the back of the stroller, because Mommy forgot his drink, could diminish my joy.  

We all got out of the house and nobody screamed, pooped, tantrumed or got injured during class. 

THAT feels like something to celebrate today.

Have a great weekend!

9 months, what's working?

***Once again, I'm late publishing this as the boys are actually 10 months now :) I wrote it a while back, just forgot to put it on the blog. How does this happen every month?!

Finn

Everett. I wish I'd gotten his whole head in this picture as I think it's so sweet of him. He's riding on a giraffe rocker that the boys just LOVE.

Carter

I won't make this post as long as the '8 months, How are things going?' post ended up being! Some of how it's going is the same. The babies still go to bed at 6 p.m., take a bottle at 10 p.m. and wake up around 6-6:30. We still keep a swing outside their bedroom door and whoever is having a hard time ends up there. Lately they seem to be looking much bigger in the swing.... I hope they don't outgrow it soon though, it's gold to us for those middle of the night- I need him to settle and not wake up everybody else- moments!

They eat baby food twice a day and also LOVE, and I mean LOVE puffs and cheerios. This is my go to activity if they are having a hard time, or if I need to do something for myself like maybe eat my lunch. I lay out a baby blanket, sprinkle a bunch of puffs on there and they come crawling over happy as can be. The OT in me loves that it's working on their fine motor skills too :)

They are playing with each other more and more with each passing month. They're not yet engaged in high level play of course, but peek a boo, looking at each other and laughing, and just sharing attention with each other is a daily occurrence. I especially love watching this aspect of their development unfold.

Lastly, this tunnel has provided hours upon hours of fun for them. I think its a great thing to get for any kiddos around this age. They crawl through it, play peek a boo, and just have such a ball. I like it because when your child is crawling through and you peek in, it provides such an opportunity for rich engagement/ eye contact. Again, we don't get out all that much, especially now in the winter, so we need  simple activities to keep things novel and exciting!

Hey there Finn!
This tunnel by the way is from IKEA, same as this one just different color

I also started keeping the toys in a laundry basket. Does anyone else do this?? It's not very aesthetic but we are beyond worrying about what matches our home decor these days! It's just easy- for them to see and choose what they want, and for us to clean up toys at the end of the day.

"Hmm, what can we get into??"

Everett sees something he likes. He's going' for it!

Brotherly love

The babies get up much earlier than Colin so my days usually start off with the babies and I hanging out downstairs together. I sip my coffee, watch Good Morning America and slowly become more engaging as the coffee does it's job.

Then around 8:00, Colin makes his way downstairs. 

On this morning, he marched in, took one look at Carter who was holding a drill (technically belonging to Colin I suppose), and before I could even say good morning, he grabbed it out of his hand and pushed  him hard to the ground.

Carter was NOT happy.

Neither was I.

Fast forward not three hours and I took Colin to his kindermusic class. For the first time ever, I brought one of the babies and it happened to be Carter because he was dressed and ready. 

Well, Colin was just the most attentive big brother you have ever seen. He INSISTED that Carter sit in his lap the whole time, was showing him how to do all the dances and songs, and would even lean over to check in on him and whisper in his ear,

"You okay Carter?" 

Demonstrating how to make rain with your fingers, for Carter

Oh my gosh, it was the cutest thing ever! But I also had to laugh because like I said, not three hours earlier, he was being anything but loving toward him.

Ahhh, the ebb and flow of brotherhood.....

9 month check-up

The boys had their 9 month check-up on Friday. 

Whenever I have to get all the kids out of the house to be somewhere at a certain time, it really magnifies the fact that I'm not a plan ahead kind of girl. In turn, I'm often running late.

Our appointment was at 9:30 a.m. and at 8:30 I was just getting the boys into the bath. I was still in my p.j.s and Colin was still asleep. The diaper bag was not at all packed and it was snowing outside.

 Worse, it didn't occur to me that we were running late.

So enough it did occur to me that we needed to get a move on it! And then I was a frantic mess.

What a zoo it was getting out of the house. I was a hurricane of disorganization, throwing diapers and pacifiers in a bag, filling to-go bottles, dressing babies, stuffing them in snowsuits, dressing Colin while handing him a granola bar, running babies out to the car etc etc.... It was 10 degrees outside and I was literally sweating trying to get us all out of the house. 

But we got there. 

The boys check-up went well. They are doing great and once again I feel SO thankful for their healthy development. 

The first thing our doctor asked was, "So how are things going?!"


I had to laugh.

"Well doc.... if you had seen us trying to get out of the house this morning you'd think we're a complete disaster, but really overall, I think we're doing great."

He just laughed, but it's the truth. Sometimes it seems like we're running around like fools putting out one fire after the other. Sometimes my lack of organization and planning gets the best of me.... but overall, we are doing great. 

And oh so unbelievably blessed.

Finley and Everett waiting with Amelie

Carter getting weighed while Colin supervises

Pure magic on the Huckleberry Railroad

This could become a very long story so I'll try and keep it short. The shorter, bulleted version:

• We decided to take all the babies to Crossroads village (about a half hours drive) to ride the Huckleberry Christmas train which travels through the woods passing by Christmas light displays. Never been before but it sounded really nice.

• Did we not learn anything from Zoo Lights?

• We got there, unloaded the kids and all their gear- two were in a double stroller, one was in the moby wrap against me, one in the ergo against Chris. We ran to the ticket booth and got there just in time (we thought) to catch the 5:50 train. 

• The 5:50 train and the 7:30 train were sold out. Only the 8:30 train, the last of the night, was available. Side note: WHY DIDN'T WE CALL AHEAD OR ORDER TICKETS ONLINE?! 

• By this point Colin was beyond excited about this train so I personally was NOT going home without riding the train.

• I suggested that we just "hang out" with all four kids, while we wait (almost 2 1/2 hours). 

• Chris suggested I was crazy. He was right. It was cold, starting to drizzle (why does it always rain whenever we attempt to take the babies out lately?) and our double stroller wasn't fitting through the door frames in the late 19th century quaint village.

• Chris drove the babies home (just to re-cap, so they basically got ready, were driven 30 minutes, were unloaded from the mini-van, were carried/ pushed around briefly in the cold and rain for a few minutes, and were then loaded backup and driven home!) The babies were actually great sports about it. They are such good babies. Life with these boys keeps reminding me to go with the flow. You gotta be able to adapt a plan that isn't working on the fly and not harbor any disappointment.

• Colin, my mom and I stayed and passed the time by walking around the small town in the cold rain and riding the merry go round (the fastest I've EVER seen, seriously) 

The fastest merry go round EVER

Watching and waiting for our turn

Gramma and Colin, passing the time

• When Chris got home, he stayed with the babies and my Dad drove back to join us for the train ride and drive us home after.

•  As we stood on the platform and waited for the train to approach, under my breath I said, "This better be good."

• IT WAS!!!!!!!!!

On the train, waiting to go

• Colin LOVED it! I've never seen him let loose like this. Singing along to the carols, dancing, hugging, smiling, telling us "Merry Christmas", and pointing out the window to the lights. It brought us such joy to watch him.

• My personal favorite memory is when he slung his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into a back and forth sway to the music. Then he turned my face to his and gave me a big kiss. I mean seriously, does it get any better?

• For me, one of the best things about being a parent is getting to experience these sorts of things all over again, through the eyes of your child. Pure magic.

We survived!

Photo courtesy of Colin

For the past two days, our sweet Amelie, who helps me care for the boys each day from 8:30-1:30 (and often later if I ask!) has been out sick. So Thursday and Friday it was me and my boys alone together all day.

Here's the obvious statement of the week: Raising these four boys is WAY easier with help.

I've gotten quite used to Amelie's smiling face at the door each morning, always looking refreshed, rested and ready to jump into the chaos of our lives for the next five hours. She's calm, fun and can handle anything that comes her way. We are so blessed by her and with her by our side, our mornings run pretty darn smoothly.

So Wednesday night when she called to say that she was really sick, I felt trepidation for what the next days would bring. It'd been a while since I'd had all four boys alone all day.... could I handle it without loosing my mind? The other piece that worried me was simply that the babies aren't sleeping well and therefore I'm not getting a whole lot of sleep lately, and I find when I don't get sleep, parenting feels soooo much more overwhelming.

But we made it and in the process made some memories too.

As it's been said, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times".

Some highlights and low points:

• Colin pushing Finn after Finn tried to grab his toy, and who fell into Carter- low point

• Coming back into the room after taking Everett and Carter up for nap to find Colin on the floor, on his belly, at eye level with Finn whispering sweet brotherly things and making Finn laugh so hard- high point

• Story time, take one, initiated by me who thought, "Won't this be nice, we'll pick out books and I'll read to the boys and they'll all sit and listen and learn lots". Colossal failure! Everybody was grabbing books from each other, and the boys quickly ended up in tears. - need I spell it out: this was a low point

• Impromptu story time, which happened when Colin noticed Carter looking at a Winnie the pooh book? High point! Colin started to lovingly "read" to Carter and the other boys were also drawn into the experience. Sure it only lasted for a few brief minutes, but it was something.

• The moments when I felt like a complete failure because it seemed no matter what, I couldn't keep up with meeting everybody's needs- low point.

• The moments when I felt like a mom warrior cranking through the day, determined to stay patient and loving and moving forward despite the limitations of one person- high point. 

• Everett getting into everything everywhere- lowish point

• Finding an enormous baby gate in the garage and realizing I could carry it in the house myself, and that it would fit perfectly in the basement- high point! Score! Everett is now contained!

• The times when all the babies were hungry and crying (or screaming) and Colin was frustrated- low point.... those times usually only last a few minutes but when they come on, they feel like an eternity

• Catching a moment of sweet silence, cuddled up on the couch with Colin in my arms while the babies slept, watching the Lion King.... HIGH POINT. There's nothing like snuggling with your kids to remind you of how worth the effort it all is.

Around 4 p.m. Friday, Chris texted me and asked, "How are things going??"

So I texted him back: "Super! The babies are quietly and independently coloring and Colin is organizing his toy room. I have a pot roast in the oven for dinner."

Typical man, he replies: "Wow, really? That's great! See you soon!"

My response: "No, not really. Really, I'm standing in the middle of baby chaos, in my pjs, my hair is a rats nest and the house is a pit. I have no idea what we'll do about dinner."

:-)

Can you just stay little forever?

The other night we were driving home to Chicago, after attending the funeral of an amazing woman and mother in Michigan.

It was close to midnight and we'd been driving for a while. The kids were all sound asleep in the back and Chris and I found ourselves contemplating all sorts of aspects of life.

I was telling him about how torn I feel about going back to work, even if for only a few hours a week. I feel torn about whether to try and finish my PhD, which I started back in 2007 in the hopes of teaching someday. Last winter, I took a leave of absence from the program.

The real truth is that I actually don't feel torn about what I want to do. I want to be home with my boys right now. And yes, I realize how blessed I am to even have that option! But I worry about what could happen if I completely step away from my field for too long.... will I have a passion and a vocation to return to someday?

The conversation culminated with following exchange:

Me: I'm just worried that if I don't finish this degree or keep my toes in the water at work, if I give everything I have and all that I am to these boys, that I'll feel lost when they all go to college (which will pretty much be all at the same time!).

Chris: That's far in the future. You have time to figure it out.

Me: Yeah, but I already think about it. It's weird because it's a little like falling in love even though you know the person is going to break your heart in the end. (Yes, I realize I was being WAY dramatic. Just having gone to a loved one's funeral + weeks upon weeks of no sleep + driving late at night = a few dramatic statements. )

Chris: What do you mean?

Me: I mean, I feel I could easily give up my career and just give them all of me year after year after year..... and then one day they're going to grow up and walk out the front door and not need me anymore.

There's a long pause as we stare at the head lights from the cars coming and going in the road.

Chris: That is the goal.

Ahhh, one of the great irony's of parenthood. You have these children that you love beyond belief and want to always be near, and yet the goal is to raise them to be able to someday live without you.

Still, I think there's a right time for everything. I won't give up my passion for the work I've done outside the home, or my quest to finish my degree but now is not the time for me to focus on those endeavors. My heart just isn't in it. It's home with these boys and I have to follow my heart on this one.