Threes Company: January 2013

Yesterday afternoon while at work.. dreaded call from Mimi and Deda at the house that Maggie has a temp of 102.. which means Maggie with fever for 2 days then Larkin for 2 days and finally Kade for 2 days... And all of them including the parents cranky for 10 days.
So I prepare for the worst (severe sleep deprivation and 3 babies fighting over your attention because they don't feel good) and hope for the best
So far.. last night wasn't too bad.. All of them slept for about 11 hours can't complain there
I wake up at 5:15 to not a sick baby but a sick dog!.. yes bile like vomit all over the carpet in multiple spots and multiple rooms. I spend the next 45 minutes trying to clean the carpet, which does not come out.. by the way
6:00 am I here Maggie jumping up and down in her crib with a temp of 103.5 - I give her advil and cuddle for a bit, 15 min later Kade crying.. Maggie and I have to go get him because she will scream if i leave her alone, 2 babies in my arms and back to the playroom, 15 min later Larkin is up.
Breakfast..on the go.. which means 3 kids with sippy cups of milk and a 1/2 a banana in their hand walking around in the playroom..
Bored with the playroom and want the rest of breakfast so we head down stairs, where super dad has made pancakes..and we actually have them eat at their table
Here is where it gets really busy.. in a nutshell.. all the cars are taken out of the basket (thats like 40 of them, no lie.. Thanks Auntie Kristin), bats, balls, plastic fruit, a baby doll, etc, etc, all out in the living room. Kade goes into kitchen, pulls out chair, gets on table, Maggie in living room, climbs on chair and standing on train table to get to book shelves, Larkin running around kitchen table, hits his head, cries. I get Kade off table, I get Maggie off train table all while holding Larkin. This goes on for an hour or so. Some may be wondering about gates to contain them but we have a VERY open floor plan.. not possible to gate it. I put on a wiggles for 20 min relief. I try to clean up breakfast, but you can't open dishwasher or you will have 3 helpers.
Back upstairs because I am tired of chasing climbing babies. It is easier to contain them up there.
play.. Kade pulls Larkin off slide because he is taking too long. I go to help.. notice spilled milk and a lot of it in the plastic ball pit we have. I clean it with 3 helpers. Back downstairs for lunch
Take all the cars and other toys out again. I give Maggie Advil but cant find the top, I turn around and Maggie has spilled sticky grape flavored advil all over her including her face. I pick her up and she 1/2 growls and 1/2 laughs at me. I go to get a rag to clean her and the floor.. Kade grabs advil bottle. I yell "NO!" He stops.
Larkin looks at me hold up his index finger and tells me "No!". To which I responded..it is time for "nite, nite".. all repeat "nite, nite" and we go upstairs for a nap.. It is now only noon!!!!
Sick or not that is a typical day when you don't leave the house

I have to say that I am thankful that we do not go through illness that often.. because those are the times when you want to answer the frequent question of.. "how do you do it?" with "I have no (maybe insert a blank here) idea!" :)
Actually I do .. you just count down til the next bit of free time which for us is either a 2-3 hour nap or bed time. And know that you will NOT stop moving until you reach one of those 2 times.
The best way I can describe it is in sports terms.. on the good days its like playing a soccer game on a nice crisp fall night and winning easily.. its hard work but so enjoyable. , on the bad days..its like playing a 90 minute soccer game in the middle of August when its 90 and humid.. then having to go into 2 - 15 min overtime halves. You look at the clock on the score board and know that there is an end in sight but it ain't going to be pretty or feel good getting to the sound of that buzzer at the end of the second 15 minutes..
Right now we are in a "tough game" but we know there will be the "easy games" with the feel good wins ahead.
Larkin, Maggie, Kade .. we love you all to pieces. Your dad and I couldn't want anything more than to play this "game of life" with you

Definition of Whirlwind: A Tumultuous, confused rush.

That best describes Christmas 2012. Its Jan 20th and I just now have time to sit back and think about the Holiday that was. As a child time seems to pass like molasses through a screen door. Important events in your life, like Christmas or Birthday's or Trips seem to take forever to get there. As you get older time definitely does speed up. Hours and days and months pass more like water through said screen door. Insert 3 babies into the equation and time now feels like air through the screen door. That is exactly how our lives have been for the past 18 months. Its like our life is in a constant state of fast forward and all these incredible moments speed by in the blink of an eye. We took the kids to the grocery store today and on the way Katie and I took a minute to look back at how fast things have changed. It seems like just yesterday we were getting the news that we were going to have triplets. I'm even more amazed that we have been able to hold on during the ups and downs and sharp turns we've been on so far during this blessed journey. Lord knows its been a team effort and there is no way the I could be even remotely sane if it wasn't for the most amazing woman in the world. Katie amazes me each and every day with her energy, humor, knowledge and love for our family. She is the stitch in the fabric of our lives for sure. We love you Fluffy!!! Anyway, back to the point of this blog. Christmas! This past Christmas was AWESOME! Was it crazy? Yes... Was if fun? Yes... Was it intense? Yes... it was all of these things rolled up into this great big Whirlwind week. We are so blessed to have a very big family. There are more people that love us and these kids than we deserve for sure. With 8 grandparents, 9 brothers and sisters and countless other family members it takes us quite a bit of planning to make sure we see everyone and still keep our sanity. First up this year was Da, B, Aunt Abbey, Uncle Alex, Uncle Russ and Leslie. Christmas this year was on a Tuesday so we started on Sunday. We drove up to Gallatin and had lunch with the crew at Fairview Plantation. Lunch was a brunch buffet with both breakfast and lunch offerings. The kids were quite the hit with the other diners. As you can imagine people were really surprised to find out that the kids where triplets. After lunch we went back to Da and B's house and opened our first presents of the year. The kids got lots and lots of fun stuff but the definite hit toy of the year was the School Bus with Slide. The kids play on it each and every day. Da and B had a fun toy for the grown up kids as well. It was a version of the TV show Lets Make a Deal. We could take what was in the box and take our chances or take a guaranteed $20. All the kids choose the box. (Some to their chagrin) The box contained a game with a ball and an maze. If you figured out how to get the ball from the starting point to the finish line a latch would open and you would win $50 dollars. The maze was tough but in the end everyone was able to get the ball to the finish and win their money. it was a lot of fun and a great original idea for a Christmas present.

Maggie LOVED all the Stuffed animals and dolls

Larkin opening his Trunk of Toys!

Kade man and Uncle Alex

Christmas is Fun!

Merry Christmas Da and B

Maggie loves her Aunt Abbey

Kade and Alex watching the Wiggles

On Monday DeDa and Mimi came over bright and early for their Christmas celebration. We made a big breakfast with Sausage Casserole, Cheese Grits, Biscuits and Jelly. At breakfast we gave the boys chocolate milk for the first time. Kade was sitting in Deda's lap and once he got a taste of the delicious chocolaty goodness there was no holding back. He didn't breath. He didn't move. He wouldn't take the glass away from his mouth. All he wanted was MORE CHOCOLATE MILK! Deda laughed so hard at his unwavering desire for the drink that he actually cried. It was a great start to a great day. After
breakfast we let the kids open presents. This kids loved all their gifts and had a lot of fun tearing into them. After breakfast and presents Deda and Mimi went back home for the day. The kids took naps and we got everything ready to take them over to Deda and Mimi's house for dinner. That night we went to their house for dinner and enjoyed a great meal with Deda, Mimi as well as Aunt Kristin, Uncle Graham, Cousin Mackenzie and Cousin Ben. After baths all the grand kids put on matching pajama's and we tried our hardest to get a group pic with everyone. However, Kade was more interested in acting like a navy seal and trying to climb over the top of the couch. It was still a lot of fun to try.

Christmas Eve Breakfast with Deda and Mimi

CHOCOLATE MILK

Daddy and Larkeypoo

Mimi and Maggie

Hey, I want some of that Chocolate milk too Daddy

We love Christmas

Thanks for helping me Deda

This is Fun

Is this for me?

Sorry Ben

Merry Christmas

Man Overboard

As good as it got!

So, finally the big day is here. Christmas morning the kids got up like normal and Katie and I brought them down to see what Santa brought them. Of course, they are a little to young to understand the concept of Christmas but the loved tearing into the paper and playing with their new toys.

Christmas Babies

Breakfast

I love tearing this paper

Thanks Santa

Now its Daddy's time to do some work

I love my Bulldozer

Might as well be a chair...

Step away from the Stripes!!

Whats this mommy?

This is cool Mommy

After our family Christmas Bitzy, Doc, Aunt MB, Uncle Dave and Uncle Russ came over for a few hours. Bitzy makes the best Christmas breakfast ever. Her sausage casserole, cheese grits and tea biscuits make Christmas morning awesome. (in case you are wondering, yes i stole her Christmas breakfast tradition and made it the day before) Unfortunately, my brain was not working and I did not take any pictures of their visit. I hope you guys can forgive me :(
Anyway, we had a great morning and got lots and lots of great presents.

After a busy Christmas morning the kids needed a nap. So, we put them down, cleaned up the house and got ready for Christmas number 4 that night and JP and Todd's house.

Christmas night was great. JP and Todd, Uncle Scott, Aunt Liz, Aunt Monroe, GiGi and Aunt Kristin's family were all there. Dinner was wonderful as always and the night was a lot of fun. The kids had fun playing the piano, climbing stairs and even getting into the Madi Gras beads. In fact, Maggie loved the beads so much that she would grab handfuls and just carry them around. The weather was nice enough that we even got to go outside with GiGi and JP and run around outside. The kids definitely are the best at running down the hill in the front yard but they sure do love doing it. Well, that is except for Larkin. He would rather lay down on his belly and slide down the hill like he was sliding down the stairs. We also learned that we love refrigerator magnets. Maggie and Larkin had a blast putting the magnets on and taking them off over and over and over again. After dinner it was back to the casa and to bed for some much needed rest.