Scenes from a Hammock

As a mom of five little boys, I've learned to embrace bugs, dirt, and the fact that boys will tackle each other for no apparent reason.


I've also learned, that little boys are so sweet to their Mama.

Side note: Carter, who can't sleep is laying on the couch next to me and saw me finishing this post. In truth, I wrote it last week but forgot to post it! Kind of a theme with me. Anyway, he saw the pictures and said, "That's me! And you! In the hammock!" And then he gave me a kiss. Yup, love my little men. (also, he's likely buttering me up to let him stay downstairs even later....I'm on to him)

Carter-Man

Tonight before bed, you were a complete mess. I think that you tripped on the rug between the bath and your room and it was over from there. You just couldn't get it together. Overtired + one boo boo too many= game over.

So I rocked you in the big green chair while nursing Owen. At first you were complaining that Owen was kicking you and bugging you and you still couldn't seem to settle yourself. Finally I asked if you had any ideas about how I could help you feel better and quietly, between sobs, you said, "Let's sing the Christmas tree song."

And so we did. On a hot, humid June night we rocked and sang, "Oh Christmas Tree". Owen, wide eyed in the dark room, just listened and kept drinking himself to sleep. He doesn't care what we sing so long as he's got the boobs.

Carter, you love singing 'Oh Christmas Tree' with me. Something about that song, maybe the rhythm of it? or perhaps a sweet memory of us singing it together? resonated with you and in turn the request for a rendition of 'Oh Christmas Tree' comes up from time to time.

It calmed you right away and soon you were asleep. So was Owen. I placed Owen in his crib and then  carried you carefully to your bed in your green zip up pjs and tucked you in. Just so you know, I'd sing 'Oh Christmas Tree' to you every night.

Last Friday it was your turn for "special time" with Mommy and Daddy. We took you out to breakfast and you chose the jelly filled donut and pancakes. We loved getting that time with you and love watching you grow!

Fire Truck Birthday Party!

The triplets wanted a fire truck birthday and so we did the best we could to give them one! 

Everett was too excited to nap before the party so here he is practicing holding up three fingers, while we finished decorating.

When Finn and Carter got up from their nap, it was time to start the party! (although Carter looks like he's still waking up! :)

One of my favorite moments of the day was Carter's reaction when he opened up a big wheel bike. You can kind of see his face in the picture below. Colin has a big wheel and Carter drools over it, always asking for a turn with it. When he realized what he was opening he kept saying, "ME VERY OWN! ME VERY OWN!" He was one happy clam. Even Colin knows it's a big deal, just look at those hands on his head.

This year I decided to try and bake their birthday cakes myself because I assumed three fire engine cakes would be pricey. I am NOT a baker or artistic at all so this felt very daunting to me! Luckily I found a fire engine cake pan on Amazon and from there I just did the best I could. In hindsight I should have bought three cake pans. It would have saved some time! Just when I was feeling pretty bad about my ability and how the cakes were turning out, Colin walked in and said, "Mom that is the coolest cake ever!" which made me laugh and remember all that matters is what they think. They seemed to love the cakes and weren't complaining when they were chowing down on them!

Happy Birthday, Carter!

Carter, you are such a sweet boy. At three, you tell us "me shy" but what I want you to know is that you're also such a leader and I see how the others follow you. You have a quiet power to you and you use it thoughtfully. (and sometimes you are not so quiet! haha. In our home, "me shy" goes out the window!). 

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Happy Birthday, Everett!

Colin once said that your super power would be that you make friends easily. You do. Also, you are brave. You dare to be fully yourself and wear your heart on your sleeve.

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Happy Birthday, Finn!

Finny, you crack me up so hard with your antics. At three, you love to tell secrets, only you think that the protocol for telling a secret is to press your ear against my ear and then start talking. One day I'll teach you the correct way but not anytime soon because it makes me smile so hard every time you come over and tell me a secret.

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Everett wasted no time on the cake and dug right into the wheel!

Finley and Carter opted for pieces of the ladder.

Wanna know why Chris and I are smiling in this next picture?

A) because we have three awesome three year olds- and two other cool dudes running around

B) because we are deliriously sleep deprived from last minute planning and staying up until 2 a.m. baking cakes

C) because the March madness birthday month has successfully come to an end!!!

D) all of the above

Brother's just know

Before I get to the triplet's birthday party details I want to share something I thought was so sweet and so telling about the bond of siblings. Before the trip's birthday, I took Colin to Target and told him that he could pick out gifts for Finn, Carter and Everett. I thought it would take forever for a five year old to pick out gifts. I thought maybe it would be hard for him to focus on others and not get ideas for himself. I thought he'd need help and guidance to find appropriate gifts for each of them.

However, Colin knew exactly what he wanted for each brother and they weren't things I'd have necessarily chosen. He was adamant about a jack hammer for Carter. "Are you sure he wants one of these?"

 "Mom, he really wants one of these!"

He chose a Disney puzzle assortment for Finn. "Are you sure?" I'd asked. 

"Yup! I'm sure."

Finally, he picked out a pretend birthday cake for Everett. "I saw him playing with this toy at Edie's house and he really liked it."

His presents were the first ones that his brothers got to open as soon as they woke up on their birthday morning. They LOVED what he'd chosen for each of them and Colin stood there with his arms crossed, proud as could be.

Happy 3rd Birthday Carter, Everett and Finley!!!

Let me introduce you to THREE big time THREE year olds:

Everett, Carter and Finley

YES!

Yesterday was their actual birthday and we had the best time celebrating them! It was such a fun day!

I'll post pictures in the next few days but for now we're too busy playing with new toys and watching them all ride their new big wheel bikes around the neighborhood (Colin got one too). If you see a gang of boys riding big wheels by your house, don't be afraid, it's likely us.

After the party last night, Chris and I stayed up late with my parents reminiscing about the day they were born and what an amazing journey it's been so far. 

12 month photo project: March

Have you heard of The 52 Project? I feel inspired by other parents who are taking a photo of their children every week. I think it's really neat. I'd love to do this but I'm not sure I'd be able to keep up weekly photos, so I've decided to try for once a month! 

My goal is to take a picture once a month, of each of my boys. Hopefully the photos will capture something unique and special about them. 

But here's the deal, I'm not going to do much, if any, editing to the photos because I just feel like I don't have time for anything these days. My initial goal is just to get out my camera once a month, move around the house with it, and capture my boys. I'm excited to look back on these over the next year and see how the boys change! So here we go, March:

Colin, LOVES his new shop vac. He begs me for stuff to vacuum with it. Even vacuuming out our disgusting mini van didn't deter him. I can't wait to remind him of this when he's a teenager and this vacuum is but a distant memory to him.

Carter, with those blue eyes. Carter asks "Why?" or often it sounds more like, "Whyyyyyyyyyy?" after almost anything someone says. It cracks us up and sometimes by the end of the day, drives us nuts. He really does want to know the why behind everything though! Hmmm, maybe a budding scientist like his grandpa? Although Carter himself says, "Me shy", he has made huge strides, attending swim lessons without any tears and also going to the kids area of the gym so I can exercise. 

Finn. This is such a Finn face right now. Mid laugh, and/or about to say something hilarious. The other night in the bathtub, he was staring off and so I asked him what he was thinking about. "Bout how Jesus loves me since I was born." Oh, okay, typical bath time thoughts. Yesterday, I asked the boys what meal we should make Daddy for his birthday. When I got blank stares, I followed up by asking them to think about what food Daddy really likes. Suddenly a light bulb seemed to go off in Finn's head. "I know! Let's make him salt!"

Everett, has been very attached to his bag lately. In it, he carries the things that are important to him, like play-doh, a notepad, a pencil, his luvies and occasionally he'll sneak in a snack too. Last night, after it was lights out and time for sleep, I thought I saw motion by Everett's bed. Upon closer inspection, there he was sitting up, peeling and eating an orange that he'd stored in his bag. You never know when you'll get hungry I suppose.

Owen, is motoring around and pulling to stand every chance he gets. He's one of the guys and he knows it! Always wanting to be where the action is at, this one.

The Christmas Card That Never Was

This will be the last post about Christmas 2013, promise!

I had every intention and hope of sending out a Christmas card this year! But....it didn't happen :(

Did I ever tell you how last May I found a pile of stamped, sealed, addressed and ready to go Christmas cards that I never mailed? I felt terrible! I vowed to do better this year and even took some pictures of the boys to use on the Christmas card before Thanksgiving.

But then December just went and FLEW by on me. I blame December. It got to the point where I realized that I could either be stressed about getting this done and spend a good chunk of time addressing cards or I could let it go.

I chose to let it go.....and vowed that next year I will start in September getting pictures taken and getting the cards ordered! (If that really happens people, it will be a Christmas miracle!)

It was the right decision this year. Once I decided not to worry about sending cards, I instantly felt lighter and space for other things opened up. Like playing in the snow with my kids, helping the boys make wrapping paper and sending my 93 year old grandmother hand made ornaments and drawings from the boys. I can honestly say that we really enjoyed the holidays this year in part because I let much of my "to do" list  fall away. 

For a minute, can we just pretend this is our Christmas card? Can you pretend that the mail man just arrived and you are opening our card? And could you maybe pretend that it's not January 13th??

From youngest to oldest, here's the crew!

Owen

Finn

Everett

Carter

Colin

Wishing you a blessed 2014!!!

The Trips Turn Two- Part Two! Party Time!

The trips turned two on March 29th which I wrote about here. We had a low key day because we planned to really celebrate on Saturday. 

Chris and I decorated the living room the night before. Colin and I went out and picked up a bunch of balloons for each of them and tied them on their chairs. We also picked up Winnie the Pooh decorations. Carter, Finn and Everett love the Winnie the Pooh movie- pretty much demand that it's turned on whenever we're in the car! But when I looked for Winnie the Pooh birthday decorations, I had no luck. Well, I did have some luck because low and behold, there were Winnie the Pooh baby shower decorations and we made it work! 

Everett made quite a birthday entrance Saturday morning by falling all the way down the stairs. It was 6:30 a.m. and it scared the crap out of us. It scared him too but surprisingly, he was unhurt. Kids are so resilient! The balloons waiting on his chair also helped dry the tears pretty quick.

Later that day, Aunt Katie arrived with even more balloons! 

Colin wanted to get the boys their own power tools (also kind of a gift to himself since he picked ones that coincidentally he also "needed"). He's no fool. Each of the boys now has their own tool box with a few power tools inside. Colin was SO excited for them to open his presents and the boys loved them. As a side note, I should have gifted myself some ear plugs for when they are all turned on at the same time :)

We got the boys a baby doll. I wasn't sure how they'd respond to it or if they'd be into pretend play with a baby but given that we're having a baby (in only about two months!), I thought having a pretend baby around might be a good idea. They've really surprised me by how interested they are in playing with the baby. Especially Finn. He was so cute on the day of the party. He kept carrying the baby around and even took him outside where he pushed him all over the yard, stopping to feed him a bottle every now and again. They'll be such good big brothers!

As a side note, I could write a whole blog post on how frustrating it is to shop for a boy baby or any pretend baby supplies. Every store I went into sold 99 percent girl dolls (it took me three stores to find a boy doll). I had the same experience years ago when shopping for a baby boy for Colin. I wanted a boy doll since we're having a baby boy. Also, almost all the accessories are pink. Nothing against pink but seriously does it ALL have to be pink?? It's all so catered to little girls. However, I think it's also important for boys to have opportunities to play house and care for a baby. Anyhoo....

Aunt Katie was generous enough to bring our favorite cupcakes (again!) from Chicago. YUMMMM!!! 

 Happy Birthday Carter!

Happy Birthday Everett!

 Happy Birthday Finn!

Happy Big Brother Day Colin!

It was such a special day! 

Not all of our family could be there as everyone lives out of town, but our parents, Chris's sister Katie and my brother Gavin were able to make the trip and it meant so much to us. We couldn't have made it through these first two years of raising triplets without their support, so celebrating with each of them only seemed fitting!

The trips turn two!!!

We've just come off of a whirlwind weekend celebrating the triplets birthday (which is Colin's big brother day) and Easter. I've been so exhausted today recovering from it all, which is why I haven't had a chance to upload any photos!

The triplets officially turned two years old on Friday. Friday morning I took a few pictures of them to commemorate the day, and the rest of the day we just spent time with them doing the things they love. The weather was beautiful and sunny (just like the day they were born) and so we played outside, went on a walk and took them to the playground.

Chris and I found ourselves feeling so sentimental remembering the day they were born, the weeks leading up to their birth and the gratitude we felt on their birth day that they'd arrived safely and were healthy. We felt so blessed not only that they held on until 34 weeks, but that their birth was such a beautiful experience and that I was able to have a natural delivery. 

Still, they were so tiny and fragile and seeing them hooked up to machines and monitors made it easy to worry about their future development.

How far they've come! Today they are active little guys who never seem to slow down! They are talking more and more everyday. Some of their favorite words to yell are, "Mommy!!!!!" (over and over) or "NO, MINE!" when a brother tries to grab a toy. They are loving, feisty, curious and hilarious. They are each so different in look and personality and yet they have an undeniable deep connection to each other. 

Finley, you are so sweet, observant, sensitive and talkative. The words you say out of the blue crack us up daily. Last night you called for me from your crib and I said, "I'll be there in a minute." To which you said, "Alright Mommy!" I didn't know you knew the word, "Alright". You are such a caring boy. If you see that someone is sad, you really notice and try and help by bringing a pacifier or luvie to them. You love to cuddle and I love to cuddle with you! I could snuggle on the couch with you all day Finn! You look exactly like my baby pictures. 

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Carter, you are an animal lover and love to sit with me at the window and watch the birds and squirrels eat from our feeder. You love to chase Olive and pet her. You are so funny and love making us laugh. You don't back down from a fight. If someone tries to take your toy, watch out! You like to sleep right next me whenever you get the chance (I love that too). You and Colin have a very special bond and you guys are thick as thieves lately, always together playing, chatting, laughing and causing trouble! 

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Everett, your hugs are to die for. You give them so freely and without warning. You wrap your arms around whoever you're hugging and squeeze so tight. You're never in a rush to let go. And your laugh..... It's outrageous and contagious! You are a brilliant combination of being easy going and yet super determined. If you want something (or don't want to do something) there's no convincing you otherwise. You'll eat whatever I cook up! Most people say that you look like your Pop-Pop or your big brother Colin.

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And just by the way Colin, you are an AMAZING big brother and we couldn't be prouder of you! It's hard to believe that the triplets are the age you were when you became their big brother. 

Ready to add 10 more little toes to this picture. :-)

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***** On Saturday we had a lovely birthday party with our families who made the day so special. I'll post pictures from the party tomorrow :-)