It Was All Worthwhile...
I was under the impression that since Thanksgiving had just passed, and the Christmas break is coming up in a few weeks, the parks would be a less crowded since school is in session. Not so. It was a crazy, chaotic traffic jam of an evening, in which I plied my kids with lollipops and chocolate bars to keep them appeased until we could get them home.
The good thing is, it was worth it.
It was worth the 45 minute wait in line to get hot dogs for dinner, (just to have a certain blond haired, blue eyed triplet throw them on the floor), to get to hear their cousin KK point out the characters to them as they floated down Main Street USA.
It was worth pushing a giant stroller with three flat tires (because mommy forgot to check the tires before throwing the scarcely used-double stroller in the back of the van last night), to hear Cameron saying "Bye!Bye!" to each parade float as it passed us.
It was worth standing in a huge crowd of people and having the man in front of me repeatedly sitting down, and standing up again, and sitting down, and standing up again, thus rubbing his butt up against me every time... no wait, that part I am not sure if it was worth.
It was worth waiting for and missing 3 different monorails to the park because people jumped in front of us (because a stroller with three flat tires doesn't move very quickly, you see), to see the look on Ben's face when he saw (and heard) the "Choo-Choo!" in the front of the Magic Kingdom.
It was worth standing in body-to-body human traffic for 20 minutes on Main St. USA, to retrieve some treats from the candy store to keep 3 two year olds who were up WAY past their bedtime from melting down. (OK, this one is was borderline, worth it).
It was worth loading up three kids, strollers, diaper bags, cups and snacks by myself in order to have Todd meet us (last minute) at the park. (Which happened to be the first time we have all done something together as a family in a couple months, at least).
It was worth listening to Lily scream her head off on the boat ride back to the resort, to see the smiles and squeals from Ben, who loved the boat. And to feel Cameron snuggle up against me to keep warm. (Hey, sometimes you have to settle for 2 out of 3).
It was worth all the sticky hands, wriggling bodies, thrown hot dogs, pushing strangers, and waits in line, to be able to spend this time with our family. So worth it, in fact.. that we are going back again tonight:)
An Update, in Pictures
I've been terrible about updating my blog lately- sorry! Hopefully a flurry of adorable pictures will make it up to you:
I never tire of seeing my kids hold hands..
How neat is this: these toy trucks belonged to daddy when he was growing up!
..wearing our new tiedyes from our friends, the Newell boys..
I think Ben makes a good hippie kid, doesn't he? (And yes, he's sporting his first black eye here. Courtesy of Cameron, and a new truck)
They love to pile on top of each other..
We were getting rid of Todd's old work shirts one night and the kids decided to try them on..
I am pretty sure there's another child underneath Ben..
Can't pass up a photo of all three! Even if one is top.less.
Doesn't Cameron look like such a big boy in this photo?
Lily shows off her (lack of) sharing skills here with her friend, Caiden.
The boys swinging with their buddy, Caiden!
C and J, admiring Lily's trucks.
Really not much going on here to report.. We are getting ready for our au pair's arrival, and for me to go fulltime at at work. The kids have their cousins in town now, but today is a rotten, rainy day so we haven't had a chance to go out and meet them at Disney. Hopefully soon it will clear up and we can head out. For now, it makes for some great napping weather (for the kids, anyway). I am off to do laundry!
The Stars Aligned...
..the other day and we were actually able to get a photo with our friends, the Adams boys! I am completely amazed that we were able to get this picture. I am lucky if I can get a picture of my three sitting next to each other, much less SIX kids! Apparently Lily preferred to put a little distance between herself and her brothers, but that's ok. How cute is this bunch??
We are trying to decide what to do for our Christmas tree... I want a nice fake, prelit tree, and Todd wants a real one. I like the way they smell.. but I really don't like cleaning up the needles. And watering them. I am also a little paranoid about bugs and I always wonder if a giant spider might have crawled up our tree and laid eggs right before we brought it home.. (Can you tell I don't like spiders?) But I checked them out at Target today and those things are expensive! I definitely don't want to spend 200 bucks on a tree... so the question is...real or fake- what should I do?
Cans For Comments Blogathon
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!
We are doing a fun event at Multiples and More to help raise money/food for less fortunate families; for each comment I receive on this blog between now and Dec 2nd, I will donate 25 cents towards meals for those in need. I am doing the meal option since I don't have a local canned drive that I know of, but at my local grocery store I can purchase prepackaged meals for donation. If you would like to participate, you can join by heading over to Multiples and More, signing in to the Mr. linky, and pledging to donate either a can of food for each comment received between today and Dec 2nd, or a dollar/cents amount per comment. When you have tallied up all your donations, email multiplesandmoreblog@yahoo.com, and let them know what you raised so that we can announce the total on our blog on Dec 3rd!
Feel free to join in- it's a great way to get some nice comments on your blog, while doing something for your community!
Perspective + Thankfulness = 1 Lucky Mom
It's Thanksgiving, and the kids are napping. We have most of the cooking done for dinner, the house is cleaned up, and as I'm going through some emails, I have on the "World's Strictest Parents". It's a reality show where 2 unruly teens from different families spend a week with a 'strict' family, in the hopes that they can make the kids see the errors of their ways and learn to be more respectful and responsible. (I am taking notes, but hoping I never have to take these measures!)One of the teens in the last episode made a comment about how he wasn't sure he was going to finish high school , because it was 'really hard.' My first reaction was to laugh.. ("yeah, kid, I'll show you what's hard"), but then I realized, I used to think so too when I was in it. High school was hard, then college was hard, then living on my own and paying my own bills was hard. Then marriage... oh yeah, that's hard too. And now, not only being a mom, but being a mom to TWO YEAR OLD triplets.. "hard" doesn't even cover it.
I'm starting to see that every stage of life seems to be getting harder than the last. But along with the "hard", comes great rewards. The reward for doing endless loads of laundry, dishes, cleaning is children that are clean, fed, and clothed. The reward for dealing with the whining and crying, is listening to my kids giggle at each other, and run around the house holding hands and laughing. The reward for the lack of sleep, is that when I finally go to bed at the end of the night, I know that I have been lucky to have had another day with three of the most amazing little people on the planet. And for that, I am thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families.
The Official Two-Year Update
So, now that I have a moment for a thorough update... my babies are two years old!! How can this be? Was it not just the other day that I was mixing bottles and folding tiny little onesies? I think it was.
The changes in the kids lately are SO dramatic- their little personalities are really coming through as they become more verbal. Just as they always have been, they are all so unique, and so darn lovable. Um.. when they aren't throwing their cups, running away from me, or smacking each other, that is.
Lily... the girl who knows what she wants, and likes to let you know, too. She can pretty much say ANYTHING these days. All she has to do is repeat something once, and she knows it. She came up to me tonight and handed me a bit of paper and said "Garbage!". I don't even remember telling her that one! She loves her jeans that have butterflies on them, she calls them 'Bye-byes'. She puts two words together (not a ton, but she is starting.) And boy, is she particular about her clothes. Sometimes I'll let her pick out her clothes, and then she'll put them on, and decide she doesn't like them anymore and pitch a fit until I find something else acceptable.
*This morning I picked out a dress she hadn't worn in a while and she freaked out at just the sight of it. Ben liked it though, grabbed it and chased her around with it, saying "pi-tee, pi-tee!" (pretty) She was having none of it.
She is the heaviest of the three, at just over 25 pounds. She is generally a great eater, and her favorite foods are chicken, grapes, burgers, melon (men-in), and now, (thanks to Gram!), mini marshmallows. She likes most of what is put in front of her.
She is really gettting into books these days, and will frequently bring a book over and plop herself in my lap, saying "Read!" She's a bossy little thing, but very sweet at the same time. She LOVES giving kisses and hugs, or "huggies!" as the kids call them. She puts on a very serious face when strangers (our friends) approach her, but within a few minutes she is usually sitting in their laps.
Something that drives me crazy... when I give the kids their cups or plates for a meal, it doesn't matter which one I give her, she pushes it away and says "trade! trade!", wanting one of the other cups or plates. The kids use both the words "Share" and "trade" on a regular basis, both meaning the same thing (to them): "gimme"
She's figured out that "please" (pees!) will get her what she wants a lot faster, so she is saying it more and more, which is nice to hear.
She has been able to say "Ben" for a while now, but her new favorite word is "Cam-min!" Cameron will frequently go off and play by himself while Lily and Ben are all over the place in the house, and she will periodically stop what she is doing and say "Cam-min!" It is completely heart-melting. It's like she doesn't want him to miss out on anything.
Benjamin... the boy cracks me up on a daily basis. Completely obsesses with shoes. He asks for his shoes usually first thing in the morning, and will grab his clothes and throw himself in your lap saying "Socks! Shoes!!" It's a little nuts. He is picking up tons of words too, but not really putting 2 words together yet. His face is just so expressive, he often gives me the raised-eyebrows-while-nodding-look, saying "sheeeeoooooos" or "choo-choo!". He loves riding trains, and he loves the new train table that they got for their birthday this year. He loves all vehicles, really; cars, trucks, trains, tractors, boats. He loves the giant train set at EPCOT center in Germany, as as he showed me today, can sit there watching then for 20 minutes with no problem.
Ben gets really excited when he sees water (waaaada), and signs it while saying it. It's pretty cute. He loves going out, every morning after breakfast, he goes to the door and says "Byebye! Walk!"
Benjamin does NOT like to be dirty.. if anything gets on his hands, he will hold them out to you and say "doo-ty doo-ty" until you come over and wipe them. More often than not, he keeps himself pretty neat (at least compared to his siblings). But if he thinks he is dirty- you best get a wipe and take care of business.
He's a totally picky eater, and eats very, very, very slowly. He can have a plate full, but will still ask for more, (Mo', Mo' Mo') At this last appointment, he actually wieghed less than Cameron, which is a first- Cameonr has always been the lightest. But Ben has started eating less as he becomes pickier, and taking longer to eat. He does love ice cream, though:) He's starting to learn 'please' also. He also says "Cameron", but it sounds more like "Mamma". I think he tries to say "Lily".. but it sounds more like "beebee".
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Ben is in love with his Curious George monkey that he got for Christmas last year. He sleeps with it every night, and some days carries him around all day. As in ALL DAY. He calls it his "aa-aa" (monkey noise) I am trying to figure out a way to wash George without causing a meltdown... he needs it, bad.
Benny loves his daddy like no other.. you have to hear him say "Dad-deeeeeeeee!" when he sees Todd walk through the door at night.
He is a super cuddler! He loves laying his head down on your shoulder, or cuddling in your lap before bed. God I love that little nugget.
And last but not least, my little Cameron. He's such a sweetheart. He gets so excited about things sometimes, he just squeals and scrunches up his face and hands, and has a little fit for a few seconds, smiling the whole time. He is picking up words left and right too, though not as quickly as L and B. But, I am officially done worrying about his development, because he has made so much progress lately. When I walk in their room in the morning, is is standing up saying "MOM-meeeeeee!!" But then, he's a little turd and will lay flat and roll all over his crib to avoid being picked up. He's a stinker, this one. Hates to have his clothes or diaper changed, so he will run all over to get away from me.
He is definitely the most independent child, and can play on his own for longer periods. But he loves to have you watch him go down the slide, or throw a ball back and forth- the kid loves to throw things. He has quite an arm for a two year-old actually.
Like his sister, he loves to give kisses. He loves to laugh and run naked through the house (don't we all? kidding), and loves for you to chase him and tickle him. He still has a love for all things with wheels, and can often be found laying flat on the ground with his face inches away from his his trucks, inspecting them ever-so-closely..
Cameron LOVES the bathtub, especially dumping water over the side. He always the last to get out, and will lay flat on his stomach and do the crocodile death roll when you try to pull him out. Like I said, he's a little stinker. But a sweet one.
Happy birthday, my little munchkins. We love you so much!!!
Life After Binkies
So, in case you were wondering, life after binkie removal.. is not too bad. I had decided to try the cold-turkey thing- seemed simple enough. The first time, the kids cried for about ten minutes, then went right to sleep, and the same that night. I will say that we have lost about an hour of sleep (about 30-45 mins off of naptime, and the same with overnight sleep. I think this is because they used to wake up, grab the binkie again, and then go back to sleep for a while.. but that doesn't happen anymore. They still cry a little, and ask for their binkies before bedtime and naptime, but it is less and less everyday. After the first nap was successful, I threw caution to the wind and tossed out all the binks. Which is good, because if they were still around i most definitely would have given them back- I miss that hour. But, I am glad we have moved on nonetheless. It's time.I have a silly birthday video for you. Please don't watch it unless you want to hear some silly "Happy Birthday" singing. And yes, we only sung one song for all three kids. Next year, they all get their own song:) And in the second half, you can see how me and Todd were wayyy more excited about the kids' train table at first, than they were. Kind of funny actually. When we first assembled the table, we did not think to glue the tracks down. We were under the impression that the table could be used for other things once the kids lost interest in the trains, and maybe they would NOT destroy the whole thing in a matter of minutes. Silly rookie parents, we are. We glued it all down that evening. (Hot glue- works great! Only one second degree burn)
Binkie Judgements
I think the time has come...
to say goodbye..
I have been putting off giving up the binks (or "oshi"s as Cameron calls it) for the past six months. The kids only use them for naps and at bedtime, but I really didn't want them to use them after at all after around 18 months. But the thing is.. they just sleep so well, and I am so afraid to mess with good sleep. And, I have no idea how to go about it. Do I just take it away cold turkey? (The kids will not understand if I tell them the Binky Fairy is coming to take it to another little baby who needs it..) What if they decide to punish me by cutting their naptimes in half? I guess there is only one way to find out.
I'm curious to see what other people think about this. By what age do you think a child should give up the paci? Do you see kids in public with a paci and think "That kid is way too old to have that!" ?
What are your tips for giving up the paci?
