Threes Company: OMG!

I admit it. I've been a slacker when it comes to updating the blog. Point the finger no where else but in my direction. I know I need to do better. I know I need to block off more time and that this is a very important time in the kids lives. I know... I know... I know... I also realize that the usual times that I update the blog are on Sat and Sunday's and that Football season has been consuming most of my precious little available time. The good news is that both my teams, for lack of a better word, suck this year and i really don't care what happens to them from here on out. So, that will give me back some time to update everything that has happened and is happening the foreseeable future. As far as what has happened the past couple months it is astonishing how different our lives our now versus this summer. Not only are the kids walking but they are now talking, climbing, pushing, dancing, singing, screaming, falling, destroying, exploring, eating, drinking, rolling, playing and wondering on a whole new level. The fact is that they are sooooo freakin busy that there is literally no down time except when they nap. And when they nap we spend that time picking up after the little tornado's and getting ready for when they are awake again. For example, it is now 12:15pm. We got up with the kids around 5:30 (Katie did actually. i got up at 6) From 5:30 till 11am they kids were all over the place. They have learned how to open doors so even if we try to confine them downstairs it does not work. Why just this morning after breakfast I went to the sink to clean up some dishes and took my eyes of them for about 2 minutes. By the time I turned around Larkin had locked himself in the laundry room with no lights on and was screaming, Kade had opened a dresser drawer and pulled each and every bib out of the drawer and thrown them all over the place and Maggie had opened the bathroom door and literally had her head in the toilet by the time I got to her. No only can they open doors but they can now climb. And by climb I'm not just talking about the stairs. They can pull themselves up on the couch, coffee table and the racks in the pantry. Larkin pulled himself up on the pantry shelf the other day and grabbed an open bag of reeces pieces candy. All I heard was a splatter of hundreds of bite sized candies on the floor followed by a familiar "Uh Oh" uttered by the culprit and then the tiny feet of his brother and sister running to see what the fuss was about. By the time I got to the kitchen all three kids were shoveling the tiny orange and black candies into their mouths as fast as humanly possible. I honestly think Larkin had 15 of them in his mouth at one time. Needless to say I began scooping up the spill as fast as possible all the while watching the bliss on the kids faces as they realized that these little bite size goodies were in fact super delicious. We don't give the kids candy yet so you can imagine the joy they must have been experiencing as they gobbled them down. The downside to this is that this little serendipitous event lead to an idea. One could watch their faces and see the realization that Katie and I keep the candy or "good stuff" on the third shelf of the pantry. About an hour after the spill I truly think I saw the three of them huddle together and began to strategize on how to get to that third or even the fourth shelf again without us knowing. Seriously, I think they were planning a way to cause a distraction elsewhere in the house while the best climber, Kade, made a run for the pantry, scurried up to the third shelf and grabbed everything in site. I know this because about 10 mins after that meeting Larkin and Maggie made a run at the bedroom downstairs and were able to get the door open and get into the bedroom and adjacent bathroom. By the time I got in there, rounded the two of them up and got them out of the restricted area Kade had pulled down about half of the third shelf. So, of course I went over to the pantry, pulled Kade down and began putting all items that had been pulled down (syrup, popcorn butter, pasta roni ect...) back in there rightful place only to be blindsided by Maggie carrying over the IPAD and uttering "EwEwEw"(which is what she says when she wants to hear her favorite song Sugarland's "All I Want to Do") in an attempt to distract me from my set plan of cleaning up and putting back the mess Kade had created and instead take her and the IPad over to the coffee table, setting it up on the stand and playing said song while the boys get a few more precious seconds to explore the bounty pulled down from the third shelf. I'm no fool so I easily knew what they were up to and instead of giving in to the power of a sweet baby girl uttering "EwEwEw" I was able to finish the task at hand and usher the kiddos up stairs where their temptations are far fewer.
The point is that the kids are into EVERYTHING and it NEVER Stops!!! Ever! By the time the day is done and the kids are put down for bed Katie and I look at each other and sigh. We usually don't say a word because both of us are on the same page. Having 3 15month old children at the same time ain't easy. Is it fun. You bet. Is it funny. Absolutely. Any parent will tell you that at this age you can literally watch them learn. It an amazing thing to behold. They will also tell you that at this age they can learn new words or actions on a daily basis. This is what makes this time in your children's life so precious. It is these wonderful moments that make all the work worthwhile. We often ask ourselves "what if we just had one?" More often than not the answer is that life would be pretty easy. We could go out more. We could have travel more. There are so many thinks that would be easier but it also wouldn't be as rewarding. The truth is that we are limited in what we can do. Thats just a fact. Its also a fact that because of this we will spend more time together in our house as a family. We will reep the rewards of this down the road and I can't wait. I love my Fordham 5 so much that its almost unbelievable. From Larkin saying "UhOh" everytime he drops something to Maggie sitting on my lap when she watches the Wiggles to Kade's high pitched "Hi" or "DaDa" in the morning when we get him out of his crib. All of it is just wonderful and I am so so blessed.

Here are some pics from the past few months.