Cursive Catastrophe!

Over the past few years, I have noticed something that I find rather alarming occurring in our local school system.

The problem appears to be more widespread than I had originally thought, too, as I have found reference to it in several other Mommie sites that I frequent.

Parents, look at your children's homework assignments. Have you noticed anything odd about them?

If your child is in the third grade or higher, are they still printing their answers and papers?

I would like for you to take a look at your child's work and really ask yourself something.

Does your child know how to write in cursive? I know it sounds like an odd question, but seriously. Ask them and see what they say.

When my son went to middle school for the first time last year, a rather frightening incident occurred.

Most of the kids could NOT write in cursive. Granted, they knew a little about how to write in cursive, but not enough to get their points accross and get points for their answers.

But I could not believe what I was hearing from my son. Instead of jumping straight into their regular subject matter for that grade, these teachers were having to reteach the children how to write properly.

The children's handwriting just was not legible. The problem, you might ask? There were some letters that these kids just did not know how to form.

Because of this, the children just formed them in whatever way they could imagine, making homework and classwork difficult to read and grade for the teacher.

These English teachers had to actually re-teach their sixth graders how to write properly.

The problem was widespread to the extent where the kids were told eventually to just print so everyone could read their writing and regular classwork could resume.

I know we all worry about our children having sloppy handwriting, but have you ever stopped to wonder if there was a reason for it?

I asked my child to write his alphabet down for me in capital and lower case cursive letters.

Together we went over them and I compared his letters to a standardized chart that I had found on the Internet (as an adult I did not trust that my evolved choice of lettering would suffice under teacher scrutiny as we all adopt different ways of writing eventually.)

So, I am curious. My child went to one of the area schools that is considered to be better than the average norm.

His middle school is most certainly one of the best in the area as well, yet teachers are having to stop regular classwork to teach remedial concepts as simple and mundane as how to write properly.

So, has this happened to your child or have you noticed it happening in your schools?

I know for a fact that my son was taught in elementary school to write in cursive so why was he never made to use this knowledge?

These children were NEVER required to put it into practice, meaning that they were required to PRINT their assignments rather than submit them using a cursive hand.

My concern is that this practice appears to be perpetuating, even in my son's above average middle school.

Should this issue concern us at all or am I being an out-dated parent whose mindset is a sign of her times? What are your thoughts on this issue as a parent?

The Agador Syndrome

Last week, in preparation for our Thanksgiving outing, I had to do a bit of odd shopping.

I had to go on a search for shoes for my baby boys. Since I had been car-less for over a month, I hadn't been able to properly search for shoes for them.

I had received a few pairs as hand-me-downs from a relative, however they were all sandals and each pair a tad bit too small.

At least now, I had some idea of what size to search for, though!

I decided that it would be safest to start out at the mall and work my way from one end to the other.

I hit Sears first, at Mall St. Vincent's. I did manage to find baby shoes, however nothing seemed big enough for my baby boy's feet.

I very bravely ventured out into the mall and decided to take a turn through Pay-less.

I was very pleasantly surprised to find 2 pair of tiny baby boy high-tops there.

To make it even better, these shoes had tiny zippers going up in the inside ankle that would make it easier to get them on (in theory anyways!)

The shoes are so cute. They are black with spider webs and little red spiders on them. I tried to get Bregon a pair too, but they didn't come in a big enough size.

Lucky for me, the shoes were all buy one pair, get one half price! I was in luck that day!

I hurried home with my purchases in tow, trying to make it back before the babies went to sleep for the night.

My husband and I were both so excited as we sat down on the kitchen floor to try the new shoes on the boys.

Vivienne sat there and watched. She was happy as long as we let her have the shoe boxes to use as a hat.

Then, we made a startling discover. We both did manage to actually get the boy's shoes on their feet somehow.

Actually, they went on a lot easier than we had originally thought. But, it would soon become apparent that we had a HUGE problem.

You have to understand that my kids are spring babies. They were born in march, so they have spent a good part of their lives barefoot.

Usually, socks and shoes made them too hot, so I had a habit of taking them off and letting them go without.

That may have been a mistake! Kaiden at least tried to like his new shoes. Actually, both boys found them very nice to play with and to look at.

Unfortunately, Kaiden just isn't very good at wearing shoes. He finally was able to stand up with our assistance.

Then he just stood there, staring at us as if we were nuts. He would take very tiny baby steps, acting as if he was about to fall over the entire time.

Kian just sat with his back against the kitchen cabinets with his lower lip out and tried not to cry.

Every time we tried to stand Kian up and get him to walk, he just sat back down in tears, poor thing!

Meanwhile, Kai was acting as if we were making him try and walk on the moon.

After a few minutes, he was walking about the kitchen. Really, you might call it tripping around the kitchen.

The scene was like something from, "The Birdcage" where Agador, the maid, couldn't wear shoes without falling down or tripping massively.

Kian eventually did stand up. It would be the next day, and out of necessity, he had to try and walk.

He took maybe three steps before falling flat on his face. My poor boys, they all seem to have what I call, "The Agador Syndrome."

Both boys have managed to figure out how to walk with their new shoes on. It's been rough, though.

Neither are taking to wearing shoes very well at all, and each look as if they are walking in sand even though they are on flat flooring.

If it weren't cold out, I would just let them go barefoot again, but I am afraid that they will get sick from it.

Until then, they will just have to trip about like Agador.

The Toddler Trio Tree Adventures

We put the tree out last night. It's not decorated just yet, but it does have its lights on (they are attached.)

I had quite forgotten how much Kai adores that tree. He hasn't even seen it lit up yet, and already he was over giving it a hug.

He spread his little arms out as wide as he could and walked right up to it and gently laid them on the branches and "hugged" his tree.

He even scrunched his little hands up and made biscuits like he does when he gives you extra love in his little hugs (kind of like a cat does its claws when its happy.)

It was soo cute. So, I wonder what happens once I put ornaments on the tree?

I am thinking that I shall have to put the octagon play-yard around it to keep the kids from undecorating it or breaking something & hurting themselves.

I would LIKE to put the tree up a little as we have cathedral ceilings in our living room, but I am afraid it will make the lower branches more accessible to the babies and make it easier for the tree to fall over if i do that.

Even with the gate in front of it, I still have worries. Anybody have any ideas on this one? Any would be appreciated!

Day 4

The tree is up still ,undecorated, and sitting in its corner. It has now survived almost 4 whole days of being up around 3 tiny toddlers who adore it.

Each morning, Kai still goes and gives it a hug. Kian ruffles its branches as if he were petting the dog, and Vivie stands in the middle of the living room & babbles some sort of greeting in triplet-ese to it

Last night, I had husband put it on top of an antique steamer trunk in some attempt to let it be seen over the play yard gate that I have hopes to put around it once it gets decorated.

The decorating is now on hold due to the overwhelmingly HUGE crack in the rotating stand.

A duplicate replacement stand has now been ordered and should be here in a few days!

Look for more updates to come on the life and times of the toddler trio tree!

Thanksgiving Antics

So I did it. I hauled my tiny trio over to my father's for Thanksgiving.

I plotted and planned for optimum baby happiness and warned the Daddy type person that we may be 1 or 130 getting over there for lunch.

He was actually okay with the idea for once. Even my Granddaddy seemed not to mind the notion.

Morning on Thursday came, and the kids were up at the usual time having waffles and wondering WHY they were made to watch the parade instead of cartoons.

Kai cried at first until the NBC version of the coverage began and the Broadway parts came across the screen.

Then, he became transfixed to the television set and refused to budge off of his rocking horse, ignoring his sibling’s attempts to get their turn!

Naptime came early for the triplets, and they went down for their nap about 930.

This at least gave me time to say, "Happy Birthday, Wake up!" to Bregon and start getting dressed.

As we had been Black Friday shopping on Wednesday night to try and avoid the crazy throngs of people, I had to put the new van back in order as well as get decent enough to go in public.

The van went back together surprisingly quick and Bregon and I even were able to re-buckle the car seats in across the backseat without any trouble!

I went up and brought the babies down for their lunch/snack about noon which is really an hour or so earlier than usual.

About the time I was doling out tiny portions of chicken strips and french fries, my phone rang.

It was baby sister, calling to see where we were. Husband let her know that the babies were having first lunch and that we would be there about 1 or 130 as originally planned.

We actually made it over to Daddy's by 1 which really was impressive considering.

Dressing the children was a feat unto itself as both boys had new shoes which they LOVE to play with, but hate to wear.

In fact, hi-tops actually make Kian cry...A LOT!

I managed to master baby booster seat assembly 101 and actually get the little camping style seats open and attached to the dining room chairs somehow.

Daddy was feeling very adventurous and had decided that it would be fun to let the babies sit at the table-literally.

He didn't think about the possibilities of what 1 year olds do to things like table clothes, placemats and plates!

Overall, the babies did wonderfully. Kai only CONSIDERED tossing dressing at my Daddy as I was able to intercept the gooey ball that he was working on amassing before it was able to be put into motion!

He also discovered that his new shoes make the most loveliest sound when kicking the underside of the table.

In fact, he rather found it like drumming, which really was what it sounded like!

Kian discovered that real silverware, particularly spoons, can be fun.

Not only are they pretty and shiny, but they make the most loveliest noise when applied to the likes of wood, ceramic and even glass.

Vivienne just sat at the table like a lady-baby and watched her cousin Zoe like a hawk, as she has become quite fascinated with the idea of being a big girl just like her!

We managed to survive dinner, but there was one tiny person missing, my nephew.

He is 2 and was busy having his second nap of the day while we had been busy eating.

His crib is in what used to be Daddy's living room but has since been converted to a sort of office/bedroom.

At the end of lunch, he sort of rolled over in bed and started talking to Bregon and his sister, Killian.

As my kids had quite finished their lunch and had been better than anyone had imagined, we decided not to tempt fate, and let them down to go and play.

This was a great idea and worked well until it dawned on my nephew that those were HIS toys that my tiny trio happened to be playing with.

As this would never do, he ran in to the den to try and save his toys.

All of the toys seemed in great danger and he was going to be their defender.

Unfortunately, his plan of attack was a little too extreme for my 1 year olds.

This was our signal that the day was basically over, so we said our Goodbye's and headed home.

Once we were home, it was time for Bregon's second birthday cake and a second round of presents.

Husband grabbed the can of icing, popped off the writing tip and went to town decorating the little cake.

Bregon and I put the babies into their little seats and we all had a nice round of birthday cake.

We let him open the rest of his presents (he had the first round for his birthday party the Friday before.)

He spent the entire evening playing with his new remote control helicopter. Those things are SUPER cool!

All in all our day went much better than expected. The babies were all on their best "Baby" behavior and acted as good as can be expected.

Nothing got broken and no shelves or furniture were harmed during the course of the day.

Vivienne was very careful when she decided to carry around Mum's little cranberry glass basket on her arm.

Now, if we can just figure out how to survive Christmas, we will be in business!

It's Hibernation Season...

It's officially RSV season. For the uninitiated, this is the time of year that spans from September all the way through the end of April and every preemie family is familiar with it.

For those of us with preemies, we all dread its coming each year.

It's a time where we, as parents, must literally do our best to keep our kids inside and away from anyone who might be sick or school aged children who might be carrying a myriad of germs from school.

It's really hard on us as parents as we really cannot take our kids anywhere that isn't outside or in the open.

It's very difficult not to become stir-crazy from staying inside for so long!

The most awful part about this, is that unless you have had or have a preemie, you most likely will not understand why we put ourselves and our families through this each year.

It's the most difficult during the holidays, I think. Often times, our families just do not understand the huge risk of bringing our children to family gatherings and feelings often do get hurt.

Well meaning friends and relatives often try and come for a visit, often unannounced and with children in tow.

It's very difficult not to come across as rude about the situation, but we as preemie-Mums really do try to be as gentle and tactful as we can.

In an effort to combat the problem and avoid confrontation, fellow Mum of a preemie put a sign on her front door that reads, "We're sorry, but we cannot have any visitors right now... A very special preemie lives here and it's cold/RSV/flu season... Thank you for taking time to come visit and thank you for your understanding."

I really do not know if this will work or not, but it's not a bad idea at all.

All that we are really looking for is understanding from our well-meaning friends and relatives.

Even if people can't understand our situation, and find that their ways are different from ours, then all we are asking for is acceptance.

If you know any preemie Mums, please try and accept that we really do have it VERY different than full term Mums (of healthy full term baby's).

We had our longed awaited pregnancies cut short. As we lay in our hospital beds, listening to the mothers and babies in the next room bonding. our babies were busy fighting for their very lives that had only just begun.

Most of us would not get to even meet our babies for a day or so. We had only the pictures taken by a thoughtful nurse to stare at and wonder what our children were like after their birth.

We left the hospital empty handed which has got to be one of the the worst feelings in the world.

We sat by isolettes, watching our children with their frail, thin, tiny bodies struggle for breath with their irregular heartbeats,Brady's & apnea's.

We stayed with them through frightening procedures, watching them with their tubes and ventilators, and we had to say goodbye to them everyday.

Even after we leave the NICU our troubles are not yet over. Our lives are never the same again after an experience like this.

We thank our God(s) for the life our child(ren) fought for and won but we have to protect it long after coming home.

Even if others do not think that we HAVE to be so protective, I believe that we have all earned the right to BE as much as we would like to with no questions asked, no strange looks, no bad attitudes or ugly comments, and no ugly glances or negative comments.

Until you have seen the inside of a NICU/PICU then others should quit judging us about how we protect our children.

Once RSV and cold/flu season is over, we will all be happy to have you come for a visit and bring your well kids along too.

Family and Friends should be happy with what dedicated parents these preemies have. It takes a lot of work and it's SO very difficult sometimes.

So anyways, needless to say, we're in hibernation right now...

A Christmas Survey

Christmas Survey

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
depends upon my mood!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree
Santa leaves them under the tree,hidden around the house, or in stockings usually!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
the tree came with white lights which I have learned to love-sometimes I miss my colored
blinkie lights though!(cannot stand chasers though!)

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
When I had it growing in my yard, yes...even gathered it at midnight for Yule to make it
official!
5. When do you put your decorations up?
Usually whenever the mood strikes us-this year they are going up as a party game for
Bregon's birthday!
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
My grandmother's sweet potato recipe followed by Minnie Evelyn's squash recipe

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child:
I have several-that first Christmas memory of sitting in my Daddy's lap Christmas morning while he helped me unwrap my presents-I actually remember the little stuffed star music box and the snoopy stuffed animal that I think Uncle Kenny must have sent...I would find out from looking at baby pictures that I was only about 4 months old at the time when this happened-
then there was the Christmas when I was 2 when I found my By-lo baby in her little wooden canopied cradle under the tree with a wind-up train set ( I had just gotten over the chicken pox)...I also loved the way my Daddee (granddaddy) would insist upon wearing his Xmas ho ho ho hat all season whenever he went ANYWHERE at all-the way we had Christmas eve parties at my grandmother's houses...and later on when Bregon was born how we always made chocolate chip cookies for Santa on Christmas eve - while I was pregnant with the triplets, husband learned how!

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
The truth about Santa...do you mean how he inspires us to be more giving & all? I am an adamant believer in Santa & have ways of turning even the most uptight non-believer around into believing in him!

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
If I have to- I prefer to wait until the next morning-am weird that way!

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
With ornaments from my grandmother and mother's trees over the year as well as with the ones we have collected on our own-we usually buy a few ornaments a year to add to the collection-usually one per child at the least!


11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
I would Love to see some snow on Christmas-it hasn't happened in years though- we have always had it around Christmas...once it snowed the day we got out for break & I was 10-that was neat-it was so much that if we froze our snowmen, we could preserve them through Christmas itself...but it hasn't happened in years sadly...

12. Can you ice skate?
Yes, yes I can-especially well in mini-skirts- it's a sort of insurance that you won't fall down!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
I have many-my engagement ring was one complete with proposal-my mother's wedding ring set was another...I love my By-lo baby from when I was 2...all sorts of memories there!

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
It's a very cheerful and fun part of the year-I adore getting surprises for everyone & getting to see the look on faces when they see them-it's a very interesting part of the year when people either get really nasty out (while shopping) or are nicer than they normally would be which surprises them sometimes..

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
My grandmother's chocolate pie-which I have recently tracked down the recipe & mastered thankfully-its thicker more like soft fudge than on the pudding/cool whip consistency side & I just like it better somehow! I will be baking a few this afternoon, actually!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Christmas Eve with my family and friends-it's gotten smaller over the years as my friends and family had dwindled-but I am hoping to be able to get it back up and going again...we shall see!

17. What tops your tree?
The porcelain Santa that I had given mother years ago & has since passed on to my tree...

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving?
I love to give surprises

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Twisted Sister's O Come All Ye Faithful (its done to We're Not Gonna Take It) and it amuses me to no end- closely followed by I'll be home for Christmas with them & Lita Ford...

20. Candy Canes Yes or no?
Yes most definitely!!!!

21. What do you want for Christmas?
I am already in a bigger house & just got a van that will actually fit my entire family inside safely...so I am good for now!!!!

Survey About Your Children

I thought I would add a little blogginess for you to read, repost & enjoy!

1. Age of your child?
Bregon Byron- 13 as of Thanksgiving Day
Kaiden Ashe- 20 months
Kian Loki- 20 months
Vivienne Emmalene- 20 months

2. Name?
See #1

3. Birthday?
Bregon-November 22nd
Triplets- March 13th (Friday 13th Parties here I come!)

4. Time of birth?
Bregon- 107pm
Kai- 856
Kian 857
Vivie- 901 (when they took her brothers, she turned tail & went up as far as possible into my
tummy!)

5. How long did labor last?
Bregon- started noticeable @ midnight & he was born via c-section @ 107 the next day- so a
little over 12 hours (would have been sooner if they had believed me when I told
them that he wasn't turning from being breech)
The triplets- You don't have labor with them if you are lucky like me!

6. Who was in the room?
Bregon- it was like a cocktail party with ice cream & drinks-then they threw everyone out
for the actual c-section- only husband and about 7 other doctors (it was assembly
-line baby day as all of the ice storm babies were being born-but I like to think of it
as Valentines day babies!)

The triplets- each had their own set of NICU staff for each baby-minimum of 3 each-plus the
2 anesthesiologists, my OB, my specialist, & a myriad of other nurses and help-
alas, my family had to wait in the hallway in front of the or doors because they
meds wouldn't take and they had to knock me out repeatedly...

7. How long did you push?
never pushed with either birth

8. Birth weight?
Bregon- 7lbs exactly
Kaiden
}4 lbs 5 oz each -I kid you not they weighed the exact same-just shaped differently!
Kian
Vivienne- a petite 3 lbs 15oz

9. Length?
Bregon was 22 inches- he unfolded well!
Kaiden was about 18
Kian was almost 19
Vivie was about 17

10. Any hair?
Bregon, Kai & Vivie all had peach fuzz-
Kian had platinum blond hair that came down below his ears but it wasn't bushy!

11. Who does baby look like?
At the time, Bregon looked rather like Elmer Fudd-but is a nice blend of husband and I.
Kai looks EXACTLY & acts EXACTLY like my Granddaddy (Daddee)
Kian looks like husband and Bregon
Vivienne looks exactly like my Mum and mine's baby pictures

12. Be honest…how much weight did you gain during pregnancy?
Bregon- 26 lbs- The triplets were a much different story....
I was supposed to gain at least 100lbs, but in spite of eating Taco Bell and going to Superior
every Saturday without fail, I only gained a whopping 23 lbs the entire time.

13. Was baby early or late?
Bregon was a week late from his due date
The triplets were due April 27th if they had been a singleton, but since they were triplets I
was allowed to only carry them til 34 weeks.

14. Who drove you home from hospital?
Bregon- my husband
Triplets- husband drove me the first time, but when I brought everyone home, I drove
them and husband followed in the truck because we all didn't fit into the car at the same
time!

15. How many baby showers did you have?
Bregon had one baby shower.
The triplets didn't have any baby shower at all.

16. When did baby start sleeping through the night?
Bregon- at about 4 weeks started sleeping through the night
The triplets- were about 4 or 5 months because their tummies were tinier & you cannot
let them go further than their 4 hour increments due to preemieness!

17. Did you breastfeed?
Not with either birth-would never have been able to do anything but breastfeed with triplets
and that was a frightening thought with an older child too!

18. If not, what kind of formula?
Bregon- enfamil
The triplets started out on enfacare & rice & progressed to similac advance with iron & rice
as they all had reflux and had to have cocktails!

19. Who keeps your baby the most?
Bregon- mostly me with a smidgen of a friend's Mum who kept him for a couple of hours
while I had class.
The triplets- my sister in law & niece have kept them a few times, but that's about it

20. When do you wanna have another?
I'm not going to have any more-took care of that while they were in there getting the triplets
out!

21. How did you pick the name?
Bregon- found it in the back of a Celtic dictionary at Books a Million 2 weeks prior to birth-
Byron is after Lord Byron (husband wanted to name him George but we named the
cat that!)
Kaiden Ashe- Kai is King Arthur's brother in most legends & means keeper of the kingdom
and Ashe is Ashley from Evil Dead-I refused to name that baby Ashley so it
became Ashe.
Kian Loki- Kian means ancient one and is one of the sons of Lugh in Irish folklore-Loki is the
God of mischief & Kian is the instigator of all mischief even in the womb!
Vivienne Emmalene- My grandmother was named Vivian & called Baby Vivian by her friends
even as an adult (til the day she died really) and I wanted another
Baby Vivian-Vivienne is also the Lady of the Lake's name & I prefer the
french spelling as it matches my first name-Emmalene is my Mother's
Great Aunt's name.

22. How did you know when it was time to go to hospital?
With Bregon, I had taken 8 flights of stairs up to my apartment while carrying groceries and
the contractions were too close for safety so I grabbed my Sandy Lady & Husband and we
headed up there-

With the triplets, my specialist wrote my OB a letter stating to "Please insure that
triplets are delivered on the day that Mimi hits 34 weeks gestation...Not a moment before,
not a moment later!" We had a good giggle over that one, and I was able to pick their
birthday that way, even though nobody expected me to make it to that date because of
how much the babies weighed.

23. What was your pain management?
With Bregon, I had an epidural that came just before he was to be born by about 30
minutes.
The triplets were difficult as they were late starting & they let me sit cross legged on the OR
table for about an hour til they were ready-then they tried 3 spinals,none of which took, &
many needles later decided to knock me out totally-which lasted til the first incision when
they had to wake me up after I projectile vomited into some poor assistant's eye & shot that
tube across the room...They had to restrain me, talk to me,bag me repeatedly, and then I
remember the discussion to give me local and then re-try entubating me down my nose-I
even remember the size of the tube that they used, and them removing it...scary yet true!

24. Did u go home or somewhere else when you left the hospital?
Bregon-went home
The triplets- stopped by my Daddy's to tell my niece, "Happy Birthday!"

25. Anyone spend the night with you first night home?
No one but husband each birth! I am one of those who likes to fly solo with their kids I
suppose! Then again, I don't know any better!


All proud mommies fill this out..

Everybody Is Diaper Dancing

Diaper changing time at my house used to go so easily. Everyone took turns and it was nice and safe and predictable.

As I sit here writing, I am trying to figure out exactly what happened and where it all went wrong.

I know before, in the old house, the babies were all pretty much contained in their little play-yard like the Rugrats have on the cartoon.

Maybe that's why I never really had any trouble with it, they couldn't get out to get into anything, I suppose!

Now, though, it's a three ringed circus. I would call it the "Diaper Tango" but it's more like the "Diaper Menage a Trois" or something!

Imagine, if you will, three walking, talking tiny one year olds frolicking about in their very huge living room.

When Mum walks in, all eyes automatically lock on to her as some sort of target, and everything STOPS in the room as if someone has pushed a "Pause" button on the remote control.

After the pregnant pause is over, all three babies make their move for Mum at the same time, each with their own motive and idea of what they would like her to do with them, each thinking that the one is more important than the other two.

Mum can smell the need for a diaper change from the front hallway. The stench is wafting through-out the house, and she is heading for the diapers and wipes kept next to the television on the shelf out of harm's way.

Somewhere along the way, I get mobbed just trying to get my babies their diapers and wipes.

Then, I have to wade through the often crying, sometimes chattering babies to the sofa somehow without tripping or falling over anyone.

I don't have to stop and pick anyone up because they are literally already attaching themselves to me in various ways.

One will usually try and go for my shirt hem. Another baby prefers to try and grab my pants leg.

Usually, one of them will figure out where I am headed and why and head me off by running to the sofa and attempting an often unsuccessful vault up onto it.

By the time I am able to get everything over there, and try and sit down to assume the diaper changing position, babies are climbing up all over me or scaling the couch hand over hand using the slipcover as some sort of rope.

Meanwhile, sometimes Kai will run around to the back of the sofa with the idea that he can snatch the diapers and wipes over the back side of it while I am fielding the bodies of his siblings clamoring over each other to get to me.

Then I am faced with a moment of truth. Which baby do I change first? Should I tackle the one in my lap, or the one trying to sit on him for being there in the first place?

It's almost a game, trying to figure out which one is the ickiest and if that baby can wait til last to be changed because another sibling is far more overzealous in their struggle for attention.

I like to try and at least have the wipes out of the bag/container and separated and laid out alongside an OPEN diaper before diving in to the ick. Alas, that is not always the case.

Notice that I said that I PREFER this method...it's not often that I actually get to USE this method in application, though!

Once I lay one baby down and the other two realize that they aren't getting changed, one will try and climb up in my lap, usually.

Another will walk down the length of the sofa in an attempt to get to the much coveted container of wipes.

Did I mention that my babies have a very unnatural affinity for baby wipe packages?

Don't even get me started on the baby-crack affect that Huggies Natural cucumber & sweet pea scented wipes have on my children-Leo Bloom & his blankie come to mind from "The Producers."

They all want one and if they can snatch the coveted wipe, they will run away to a far corner of the living room to sniff it and rub their face with it shamelessly.

So, it's a fight to get to keep possession of the very supplies that one needs to actually successfully perform a diaper change at my house during changing time.

Then there is the personal space violation. Triplets are very good at invading each other's personal space, even from the beginning.

Remember the baby who likes to walk down the length of the couch to try and snag the diapers and the wipes off the back of it?

Let's remember that a sibling is already down on the couch waiting to be changed and is often in various stages of BEING changed and is undressed, often exposed to the world, when said sibling decides to WALK right over him/her with little regard for hair or head or even tummy.

It's quite common for them to step on each other when the one of them is down for the count.

It's not that Vivie won't feel sorry for you and try and comfort you after she steps all over you to steal your diaper that should have been placed on your nether regions.

Oh, no, after she makes a hat out of your diaper, she will come right back over and smooth your hair after her tiny toes have pulled it from being entangled in it while she walked all over you to procure her precious hat.

And she will even give you kisses even though her brother is quite sure that she is going to BITE him again after she did just that to try and get past him and in the race to the couch!

The sad thing is, they all do this to each other. Nobody is exempt from this behavior and I am all but helpless to prevent much of it.

I mean, I do try and keep the tiny mouths from actually latching on to skin, but I have two hands to their six. I am hopelessly outnumbered much of the time!

I even will catch the babies as they try and walk all over everyone and redirect them to the floor, much to their chagrin.

It's a continuous cycle of redirecting baby bodies to the floor and intercepting tiny mouths and hands as I try and actually change their siblings diapers.

Remember that I must also somehow get their pajamas or their clothes off to get to the dirty diaper.

Then, somehow, I must find a way to get that diaper open (and keep tiny hands out of it and from pinching, grabbing, or groping parts that really don't need to be.)

And then, I must try and get the dirty parts cleaned up all the while juggling siblings and trying to keep my supplies handy and not ingested!

It's a small wonder that anyone ever gets changed or cleaned up around my house!

Luckily, there haven't been any diaper dancing injuries to date, yet!

Mini-Van 101...Installing 3 Toddler Seats

It has finally happened. No longer shall I have to drive around town feeling like a circus clown driving one of those tiny clown cars where the clowns keep pouring out of it even though it seems quite impossible for that many people to have ever fit inside in the first place.

Gone are the days of being forced to drive with the trunk bungeed shut to accommodate the super-huge, extra-long, limo-sized stroller.

I will just have to find a way to break myself of worry about someone rear-ending us and totally the stroller (a bigger worry than totally the car, actually, as they aren't easily obtainable and replaceable!)

I have entered into the realm of the "Mini-van Mum." Yep, you guessed it, on Friday, I became the proud owner of a Mini-van.

You are probably groaning at the way I am embracing my fate, but seriously, when one has triplets and a 12 year old (I know he is almost 13,) a car becomes far too small for comfort.

People were forever staring at me funny whenever I unloaded my tiny trio from their car seats so artfully squeezed across the backseat of our average-sized car.

My days of having to artfully pack as much stuff and kids into a tiny car are over!

Now, if I can just figure out how the stroller wants to ride inside the van, I will be in business!

I spent a good hour or two Saturday night playing puzzle with the three toddler-sized car seats and the backseat of the van.

Yes, I had even done my homework to see how the seats might fit into the new van only to find something awful.

According to the triplet connection website, three toddler-sized car seats just will not fit across the backseat of a Honda Odyssey.

Well, after about two hours, and many scraped fingers later, I am proud to say that I have proved them all WRONG WRONG WRONG!

I, Mimi Webb, have conquered the car seat battle and now am the proud driver of a Honda Odyssey which sports three toddler-sized FORWARD facing car seats across its back seat!

Yes, the last of the triplets has finally managed to hit the 20 pound marker at 20 months and I can now turn their car seats around.

After reading how a fellow Mum had problems with her new car and her baby's car seat, I was determined to make sure that not only did they fit three across the backseat, but that they fit SAFELY!!

Let me tell you, they do not budget an inch. For some reason or another, this particular van does not have the LATCH system in place in that back bench seat, but luckily I am a whiz with a locking clip or three.

I was so afraid that I wasn't going to be able to get them all in and buckled. It is a tight fit, but those seats aren't going ANYWHERE (unless of course I want them to!)

I managed to get everything in its place, only to get inside and find an email from my Daddy asking me to use my fine new van and come and get some of Mum's furniture in it.

EEK! All that time spent puzzling the car seats into place and figuring out how to tether them to themselves for good measure and I was to take them out again?

I was a good girl, and set about breaking down the back part of the van. With Bregon's help, I removed the car seats.

Somehow, I managed to get the back bench seat to fold into the floor like it's supposed to.

I even found the release that sets the middle seats free. All in all, they were heavy as can be (heavier than Bregon or so they seemed,) but very simple to take out.

I had the van converted for cargo in something like fifteen or twenty minutes flat. For the first time, that's not too shabby.

I even managed to "Train" the built-in garage door opener to open my garage door before heading off to Daddy's.

Sadly, when I called to let him know that I was on my way over, he decided that I didn't need to come over this soon after all.

I went to all that trouble, too. Bregon and I set about putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.

I ran into a teensy weensy little problem this time, though. We had thought it smart to put everything on the front porch as it looked as if it might rain a bit.

This meant that I needed to carry the super heavy captain's chairs down the front porch stairs which were slightly sweaty and getting slippery from the humidity.

I must have felt safe, because the first one went so well. Unfortunately, I was too comfortable with it, and managed to slide down the two bottom steps and fall forward, pulled by the weight of that super heavy chair.

I heard a resounding CRACK as the chair hit the concrete. The chair was fine, but it sounded like the crack came from me.

Luckily, nothing seems broken. Everything burns a lot, but nothing looks out of whack. It only took me a minute to get my composure back and finish hauling everything back out to the van.

It's a lot easier putting in car seats when you have someone to help you buckle them. I would put my knee into them and Bregon would use his tiny arms to slip in between the seats and get the buckles fastened.

Somehow, we managed to get everything back together and in one piece again.

After that, I decided to lay off of the van 101 for the evening!

Surviving the Birthday Party

Friday was a big day for us. First off, it was the BIG day, the day of my eldest son's 13Th Birthday party.

We have never really been able to have his party at home before because it has always been much to small to accommodate that many children all at once.

Since our move to the new house, however, we hoped to be able to arrange a sleep-over for his party.

I very cautiously made out his invitations on the computer a week ahead of time and gave them to him to hand out to his friends at school the next day.

By the next Monday, RSVP calls starting rolling in. I was so excited that someone would actually be able to come to the party for once!

Because Bregon's birthday falls during the week of Thanksgiving each year, people are usually out of pocket and have a difficult time finding time to come to his parties.

This year, I planned a little ahead, and asked my fellow Red River Mom's what type of party and time-frame would be best for my son's age-group.

I was able to get all sorts of helpful advice and ideas on everything that really helped me to plan everything out!

I would like to thank all of the ladies on the RedRiverMoms.com for all of their advice on putting this together!

All in all, we only had one friend not be able to make it and that was because he was having to fly out to his Dad's for Thanksgiving.

All the of the little boys were excited about getting to come over and they planned and plotted all week which games they would bring and trade at the party.

On the very same Friday, I ended up buying a mini-van from a friend of the family who was getting a new car.

It ended up that we met at my house right before the party started to get everything signed and the deal sealed.

I had a pretty new minivan sitting in front of my house, and all of Bregon's friends (save 1) coming over within an hour!

Bregon very diligently stayed with the babies while I signed paperwork.

He caught the flying food from the babies dinner and somehow managed to keep the living room picked up & devoid of the babies' toys.

I was very distracted with the idea that I had this new toy parked in front of my house and couldn't even begin to check it out.

I don't know how I was able to think enough to get ready for the part, but somehow I managed to get the cake topper out of it's package and on to the top of the cake without any problem, and even remembered that I needed to set out the food.

In a rush, I managed to get all of the hot dogs and buns and chips set out just in time. I even remembered plates and napkins!

Over all, the party was a smash. Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time trading and playing video games in our living room and playing with the bopper swords in the backyard.

We brought down all of the televisions in the house and set them up in the living room so that they could all play games at the same time on different systems if they wished.

Nobody dropped any flaming hot dogs or marshmallow goo on the floor at all. The rug is safe for another party!

Bregon's best friend managed to somehow stay up ALL NIGHT LONG only to fall dead asleep about the same time as the babies were waking up.

It was funny because the babies had gone to sleep before the boys had arrived for the party so they didn't even notice that anything was going on differently until that morning when they all came down for breakfast.

Kian so wanted to be a big kid that he attempted to slide under the baby gate and follow the big boys upstairs.

We had a few tears, but I knew that cake and ice cream would make everything better.

Yes, I actually gave the babies cake and ice cream. It was early in the morning and I figured that one little tiny sugar rush wouldn't hurt anything!

Somehow, we all survived the slumber party. Bregon and his friends are already planning the next get-together!

A Different Sort of Day

Yesterday was a different sort of day for my tiny trio. The eldest of the three had a solo doctor's appointment to have his reflux monitored, leaving the other two at home together.

This sort of thing does not happen often. In fact, it's only ever happened once before that one of them had an appointment where the others didn't have to be there.

In this particular case, though, I had a sort of dilemma. I have been without a car for almost a month now due to the untimely death of husband's work truck, so transportation was quite the issue.

I managed to finagle a ride for Kai from my Daddy who has a very tiny Honda. He very bravely agreed to take Kai to his appointment for me.

Kai takes these solo appointments VERY seriously. He appears to feel quite grown up and takes care to be extra sweet and extra good for everyone.

At home, Vivienne and Kian revert back to their NICU days when they insisted upon acting as if they were twins.

They suddenly began to share their toys, and everyone got along for once. There wasn't any biting or hair pulling or hitting...for a time.

Kian got to play with the xylophone all by himself for once without fear of being conked over the head for touching it.

Vivienne was able to finally play with her new dollie furniture. In fact, she decided to play house.

Where she got the idea to do this, I'll never know! She took the baby bed and dragged it over in front of the big window overlooking the patio and placed the headboard along the wall.

Then, she pulled the Tigger armchair over to the bed and positioned it at the opposite end.

To make a third wall, she rolled the giant cloth ball over to the side of the armchair and left herself a tiny baby-girl sized opening for a door.

She then found her nighty-night Dora baby and bib and baby bottle and sat down in her little chair to feed Dora.

Vivie is such a good Mumsy, she even remembered to burp her Dora baby before putting her to sleep in her beddie-bye on her tummy.

Every so often, Kian would call out for Kaiden saying, "Hey Doodles?" He didn't seem to understand that Kai had to go on an errand and he missed his brother.

It got to be nap time and Kai still wasn't back yet from his appointment, so we put on our "Upstairs feet" and "Fairy wings" and twinkled up the stairs with our upstairs feet to the nursery.

Kian still called for his "Doodlie" as he looked wistfully over at his brother's empty bed. It was very bittersweet and a bit sad, really.

I barely had gotten back downstairs before Daddy and Kai were pulling into the driveway.

Kai was very, very tired from his grown up outing and was very glad to see his little bed and his brother and sister.

It's funny how they act when split up for a bit!

Are Our Kids Really Safe?

Several incidences over the past few weeks have come about that really have made me start to question a few things that we as a society once took for granted.

Mainly, these incidences involve the safety of our children. Used to, a parent could feel secure sending their kids to school because if nothing else, it was a safe haven for a child filled with people who care and have their best interests in mind.

It is the mindset of many people in this day and age that it also takes a village to raise a child, assuming that the people within that village would also serve as an entity similar to the "Safe" school model.

So, my question to you is are your children really safe? Can we trust our neighbors to keep a well-meaning eye on our kids while they walk to school each day and report trouble if they see it start to happen?

Can we trust the schools to keep our child's best interest in mind over the interest of the school and its reputation?

Lately, there have been several incidences that lead me to seriously worry about the disintegration of our society and school system as a hole.

Our children are being assaulted in school and there are cases that suggest that the schools are reacting by attempting to suppress the incident rather than resolve the issue and discipline those involved for their actions.

In some areas, a child can get detention for hugging her friends hello and goodbye while in others children are getting put in jail for slapping a classmate on the rear end and risk getting on the registered sex offender list because of it.

You can read the rest of that story HERE.

Locally, one mother has come forward and reported allegations of her six year old child being sexually assaulted in the bathroom at school after being beaten and bullied by his classmates.

This assault also allegedly occurred during the child's lunch-break. Now, the facts aren't all in on that particular case and the actual events are still fuzzy and unclear.

However, warning bells should be going off all around town over something of this nature happening in an elementary school of all places and in the bathroom on a six year old's lunch hour.

First off, think back to when you were in school. What was your lunch break like? I remember mine being very short and very rushed.

I also specifically remember not being allowed to go the restroom without the rest of the class and a teacher present.

Let me clarify that. We went to the cafeteria as a class, stood in line as a class, had lunch as a class, and then went to the restroom as a class, all of which occurred with a teacher as an escort.

It was a very rare occurrence that any of us ever were allowed out of the lunchroom or classroom by ourselves to visit the bathroom.

Students just were not allowed out by themselves and left to roam a given area to their own devices.

So, I ask you. How did such an event occur at, of all places, an elementary school? Where were the teachers and aides whose job it is to monitor the activities of our children?

How is that that children so young even would have the notion or the inclination to harm someone, anyone in such a fashion?

In a case like that, there are more to blame than just the children here. If you would like to read more on that case, you can do so HERE .

There is another case where an eleven year old child was allegedly gang-raped by a group of approximately twenty boys ranging in age from 13-16, or so the story reads.

This little girl was supposedly on her way home from school when she was surrounded by the other children, hit in the head with a stick, and threatened.

The early reports of the incident state that apparently the school attempted to report the incident, and that the local police and hospital discouraged both the school's attempt and the mother's attempt at pursuing the issues further.

You can read the entire story HERE for more information on that case.

These are separate incidences, each horrific in their own way, providing they prove to be accurate.

The picture that these reports paint is not one of safety for our children. What is a parent to do in this day and age if we cannot trust that the systems will work for us?

How do we protect our children from such ordeals when we as parents must place our trust in others that our children will be safe in their schools and in our community?

I understand that the world can be an awful place. Children are abducted by people that they know and sometimes (more often than not) even trust.

Now reports are showing that we as parents may not even be able to trust in the one thing we always relied on in the past to be a safe haven for our kids, our schools.

We as parents cannot trust anyone with our children, or so these reports would have us believe.

It's up to us to try and educate our children not only about stranger danger and the bad things people may try and do to them, but now we must also teach them that they cannot always trust their peers.

How can we be expected to explain to our children that they may not even be able to trust even their teachers and in some cases, the police? Has our society really come to this?

What, as parents, can we to protect our children from the ever-increasingly dangerous world out there?

SICK Season

It has arrived. I really thought that my Daddy might be right, and that we may have outgrown it.

It is beginning to seem that this might become something as dependable as Christmas and Thanksgiving.

We are officially SICK.

Last year, it came that very first week of November. We had ventured out to the Madame Alexander Doll Show in hopes of finding Vivie something wonderful for Christmas.

Afterwards, we stopped by Daddy's on the way home to say, "Hi" and show him how cute we were all dressed up in our going out clothes and all.

I am not sure if we picked it up at Toy Fair, or if we managed to catch something from being at Daddy's house (he has three small children too,however they weren't even home at the time!)

But the symptoms were there, and we were undeniably SICK. It was my first run-in with exactly what low-tolerance immune systems really are all about.

The kids came down with the sniffles that first weekend of November, and it managed to last all winter long, not really going away until well into spring-time.

My Doctor would just smile at us, shake her head, and say, "At least they don't have RSV!"

We didn't get RSV because after that initial outing, I kept them home nearly all season long and we had monthly visits at home from our dear friend the Nurse, who would administer our RSV shots for us.

That is the main reason I was so excited to see summer this past year. It meant that we could again venture out into the real world and begin doing things again like real little kids.

I had almost come to believe my father's optimistic viewpoint that the babies were older now and would be just fine.

The memories of sniffles and earaches and the myriad of doctor's appointments had all faded, blocked out by sunny days and warm weather and walks in the park.

I really thought we had it beat, too. It fooled me, sad to say. Sick didn't put in an appearance that first weekend of November like it had before.

It was sneaky, and paid us a visit the second weekend instead!

At first, my husband was overly optimistic and tried to write off Kaiden's runny nose to his having been crying over gas or accidentally losing his leg in the other leg of his pajamas making him a sort of mermaid baby.

I tried to be chipper and think happy thoughts and believe the best, but it was here. The undeniable proof was consistent and very blatant by Sunday.

Kai's nose was running, he cried over the confusion of having inch long bogeys erupting out of his nose unannounced when he least expected, and he had a fever.

Sunday night, I headed to Brookshires with a huge list of staples to try and head off the SICK monster before it got much worse.

I came home with a super-huge bottle of Motrin, some generic Claritin, and a tube of Vicks Vapor Rub cream (the rub in sort, not the gooey nasty other stuff!)

Thankfully, the folks at Brookshires are all well aware of my tiny toddling trio's existence and didn't try and turn me in for buying unusually large quantities of cold medicines and such!

I made it home just in time for Kai to wake up very upset because of his stuffy state. We were able to get him medicated and calmed down enough to go back to sleep.

Vivienne of course was up along with him, as she doesn't like missing out on much. Her turn is coming, it's inevitable.

Of course, Monday rolled around, and Kai was doing much better. That day, Kian cried a lot, making it difficult to tell if his nose was runny from getting sick or from just sheer tear factor.

Of course, by tea-time, I could tell it was from being sick. I didn't want to have the kids on separate medication schedules, so I waited until bedtime to medicate him along with Kaiden.

To date, Vivie has yet to get the tell-tale signs of the runny nose, but I can feel it coming.

With triplets, it's inevitable that all three will get sick. It's really quite unavoidable. I do try and keep their cups separate, and not feed them out of the same spoon or anything.

The problem is, that they actually do share. They trade cups when I am not looking, and chew on the same toys behind my back.

Sick season means that each night, after the babies are in bed, Bregon and I must go around before we pick up all the toys in the living room, and spritz everything with Clorox spray to try and quell the germ population.

We are trying to be as vigilant as we can be, however I am afraid that it is here to stay. Our very long Winter interment has begun.

Redefining The Daddy-Daughter Relationship

Whenever I watch my husband play with our daughter, I always think back to my vague memories of what I must have been like at that age.

Did I adore my Daddy as much as Vivie adores my husband? It's an odd thing to think of, really. After all, I love my Daddy.

I have really given this idea a lot of thought recently. I can remember sitting in my Daddy's lap on the sofa, watching television with him.

I must have been very small because some of the time I remember being able to sit with my back against his knees with my legs crossed in front of his chest.

There are a lot of memories like that. I remember him taking me along to get Donuts for breakfast from Southern Maid on Sunday mornings, and us going in search of a present for my Mum at Christmas.

Fast-forward many years, and here we are. I am much older now, and so much has happened over the years.

To make a long story short, Mum died 13 years ago (literally just before Bregon was born) and my baby sister has married, divorced and remarried.

Daddy and I have been through quite a bit together as a family, some good, some not so good, which brings us to where we are today.

I suppose the latest twist in our relationship started the day that my nieces and nephew went to live with my Daddy.

Daddy brought my nephew, who was only about a month old at the time, over to my house for a visit.

As it turns out, he was feeling a bit rusty in the infant department, and had needed me to show him how to give him a bath, which I was very happy to help out with.

Over the next few weeks, I would stop by Daddy's after work to check on he and the kids and try and help with the transition.

Somewhere in all of that, I found out that I was pregnant (which I wasn't too sure that I would stay that way so I really didn't tell anyone.)

It slipped out one day while I was dropping off some blankets that my Grandmother had made for Sister when she was a baby.

I was trying to explain how to get stains out in case they happen, and that I would be needing the blankets back when he was through with them when the news accidentally slipped out.

A few weeks later, I would get to tell my Daddy that he needed to be shopping for something a bit larger than the SUV's that he had been looking at buying.

In fact, I suggested that he might look at something more along the lines of a church bus, because I was carrying triplets.

At first he didn't believe me, but my latest family portrait (ultrasound pictures) proved my point.

We would be raising children that would be about 8 months apart in age as my nephew was a little over month and a half at this point!

It was really neat getting to help my Daddy in the early stages of re-learning what to do with a baby for my nephew's sake.

He would call me and ask me for advice on what to do in certain cases as the usual growing baby problems came about.

It was weird, really. It wasn't that he wasn't around when I was a baby (I specifically have many memories of him playing with me, rocking me back to sleep, even giving me a late-night bottle.)

I think it was more that my Mum and Grandmum always were doing things for me so he basically didn't get the why of much of what to do with a baby!

Anyways, it's funny how things change. The next thing I knew, I had delivered my triplets safely and all in one piece, and began asking my Daddy for advice since he had just gone through baby-hood with my nephew!

Now, when I am not sure about something, like when Kai fell and cracked his little boy head on the coffee table while trying to walk before he could really stand, I just call my Daddy and ask him what he did when my nephew did the same thing!

I got that blanket that Grandmother had made for Baby Sister back from Daddy, too (the one that had caused me to leak the news that I was pregnant in the first place!)

I also get hand-me downs from my Daddy from my nieces and nephews. In fact, I just finished sorting out 2T's and 3T's into boxes and labeling them before I put them away for when Vivienne finally gets big enough for them.

It's funny how things work out. To most girls, Daddy is a sort of Knight in shining armor, someone who a girl loves, but will rarely have heart to heart talks with.

My Daddy has evolved into someone that I can not only look up to, but someone that I can call in the middle of the night if my kids run a fever.

Daddy and I don't talk about baseball, or football. We trade advice on the best sippy cups, which diapers and wipes to use, and even sometimes will trade recipe's.

Don't get me wrong, I miss my Mum every day and wish she could be here to see all of her grandchildren grow up. But, I wouldn't trade my Daddy for the world.

And Baby Makes 6....

Well, you really never know if you are carrying one baby, or three when you find out that you are pregnant with triplets!

At any point, a Mum runs the risk of losing one, two or even all three of the babies.

Carrying triplets is probably the scariest endeavor I have ever endured.

In the beginning, of course you find out that you are pregnant and you haven’t any clue that there is more than one tiny person growing inside.

Because of my prior health problems, my doctor decided to do an ultrasound at 9 weeks out.

Because of a previous miscarriage, I was worried about the doctor not finding any heart beat.

Little did I know, that lab tech would find not one, but THREE tiny heartbeats! What a shocker!

No, I didn’t faint or pass out, although it did help that I was already lying down.

But then again, that lab tech was too surprised to say anything more than, “ How many baby’s would you like?”

All I could say was, “How many baby’s are you seeing?” Of course we now know the answer was “THREE!”

So there I was, not expecting one viable heartbeat, only to find that I was supporting THREE!

The doctor & the lab tech (after much oh my goodness-ing) printed out many pictures of my tiny trio so that I would have the undeniable proof of existence when breaking the news to my family.

After all, who would believe I was carrying triplets?

Funnier still, I had to have the office worker write me a letter saying that I was carrying them so that work would believe me!

Next, it was on to the specialist’s office for my 12 week introductory visit.

They don’t want to see you before 12 weeks because anything less than that may not be a viable multiple pregnancy.

That was frightening. I had gained 4 pounds by this point and was starting to feel my jeans tighten at the waist.

The specialist turned out to be very nice, however you get to have this consultation in his office where he gets to tell me that I am much to short to be carrying triplets and that my chances for successfully carrying them are very slim.

I looked him straight in the eye and told him, “We’ll just see about that!”

This is the point where selective reduction is implied/offered, which in my case just wasn’t an option.

So I left my first big appointment with my specialist armed with a list of stipulations: mandatory full bed rest at 5 months, a list of foods that you should and shouldn’t eat, explicit instruction to find, identify and eliminate all sources of stress from my life, and a term date of 34 weeks.

The 34 week goal is the scary part, even though the stress elimination was a close second.
I decided to approach this rather like a game.

I had a starting point which I had already managed to get past (conception-passed that test with flying colors!)

And now, I had a set end point to strive for. After having been told that most triplet pregnancy’s never make the 34 week mark, I decided that we would hit it right on target.

The doctor just smiled. Little did he know that he would find himself writing my OBGYN a letter stating, “Please deliver these triplets the moment Mimi is officially considered 34 weeks. Not a day before, or a day later.”

Much to my doctor’s surprise, after a pregnancy of no complications, I would walk to labor and delivery from the Schumpert parking garage and check myself in for my very planned c-section after the most frightening 34 weeks I have ever sustained!

Becoming a Teen-The Party, The Presents, The Attitude!

What's a Mum to do? My eldest will become a teenager in no less than 14 days. I have so much to do, so much to learn, so much to put up with!

The first big issue is one that we have every few years or so, depending on when Leap Year falls.

Bregon's birthday actually has the audacity to fall on Thanksgiving this year. This is NOT something that he looks forward to.

In fact, he actually dreads having his birthday celebration lumped in with the Thanksgiving turkey.

He has very stoically agreed to attend Thanksgiving with the family, but ONLY if and ONLY if, they agree NOT to stick a candle in the darn turkey. His words, not mine!

The first time this happened, we just cancelled Thanksgiving altogether as my family had other plans anyways that year, and we had a good friend in Houston who had wanted for us to have a sort of dysfunctional family Thanksgiving down there at her lake-house.

We ended up with a full-blown bon-fire party complete with hot dogs and s'mores and Harry Potter cake. Bregon was blissful, but then again he was also turning 7.

This year, he turns 13 and begins life as a proper teenager. He will no longer be a little kid anymore.

That, coupled with the whole Thanksgiving birthday issue, is enough to worry any Mum.

So, the issue now is, what to do about a birthday party. We have always had trouble with parties for Bregon being that his birthday ALWAYS falls the week of Thanksgiving and most folks are busy with family get-together's and traveling.

The years when we worked out at the Texas Renaissance Festival, it was easy. I just bought all sorts of period cookies, cakes and refreshments, invited the entire cast and our vendor friends and their kids, and had his party during the faire day as part of the show, patrons included.

This year, we have been lucky in that we finally have a house large enough to let him have his party at home.

I have been kicking around the idea of letting him invite all of his friends over (most will have family conflicts & probably won't be able to make it) and have a real, proper sleepover.

They could rent movies or a video game, bring their favorites maybe, and possibly roast hot dogs and marshmallows in our fireplace.

It sounds good in theory to me, because when I turned 13 it would have been a great party. But, this is the here and now, and I know things have changed.

Are my ideas age appropriate or are they much to juvenile? Would the boys think I was treating them like a little kid? I worry.

Then there is the matter of what exactly, to get a 13 year old for his birthday. Is that long awaited video game a good present or is it too much like something he would have received when he was 8?

I do not want him to feel like I am treating him like a baby. After all, he is turning 13 and that is an important milestone for any child.

I may sound weird, but in a home where Bregon has to live with 3 one year old's day in and day out, a mum can often be stuck in baby-land which is a hard mindset to come out of!

I just hope that some of his friends can make his party. His best friend isn't from here, and it's getting increasingly difficult to accurately and subtly check the whole friend availability for a party!

I am thinking that this shindig should occur the weekend BEFORE Thanksgiving to maximize attendance likelihood, but I just am not sure if this is a good idea. I mean, we are available, but will anyone else be?

If I were another Mum (whose child's birthday did NOT fall on a major holiday week each year,) I think I would certainly enjoy having my child invited out for the weekend.

I think it would give the family time to prepare for the holiday itself and give them some child-free time!

Especially given the idea that most kids (especially teens) get antsy and even cranky when the family is focused on cooking for holiday get-togethers and such!

Then there is Bregon himself. When I ask him to check with his friends about the possibility of party dates and activities, he is all blase about it.

He did mention that he was quite positive that one friend would be able to make it as they were not planning on going out of town, however another one was up in the air.

He isn't even helping with present ideas. It's as if he doesn't really mind getting one thing or another, or even anything at all.

Oh no, I think I see that whole teen-aged attitude creeping in! I don't know if I am quite yet prepared for this roller coaster, but HERE I COME!!!!

So I remain very confused. I suppose I shall do invitations of some sort tonight so that he can hand them out tomorrow at school.

I shall just have to hold my breath and wait and see what happens. If anyone has any idea how to survive this, any ideas would be appreciated!

How To Handle The Holidays?

Lately, I have been dreading the coming of the Holidays. It's not that I don't love them, I really do. It's just that I am not too certain how I should handle the holidays with my over-abundance of toddlers.

Last year was really quite simple. Thanksgiving was easy because the babies were not quite as mobile as they are now, and they really just spent most of lunch in their carriers, content to watch the folly of the adults which apparently made for interesting amusement.

Christmas Eve at my Grandfather's went well because the babies again were regulated to their carriers and were fine with sitting in a semi-circle chattering amongst themselves about the goings on with the adults.

Christmas was cancelled for the most part at the last minute due to my nieces and nephew all being sick. We just stayed at home and did our own thing there and it was all good.

In fact, it worked out well because it took the babies a couple of days to unwrap all of their presents because they had to test everything out before going on to the next one!

This year, though, we are mobile. Not only can we all walk, but they can climb and have the coordination to not only open cabinets and drawers, but can also move furniture if they are so inclined (which actually has happened a few times believe it or not!)

So, here is my folly. Do people normally take their multiples to their relatives houses for the holidays, or have do they just move everything to their house to make things easier on everyone?

Mine are going to be 21 months when Christmas rolls around this year and I am not too sure it's a very good idea to unleash them on the houses of others during the holidays, given their newly acquired skills!

At least at my house, I have a way to feed them (containment in the feeding chairs) and their toys to keep them out of trouble...somewhat!

My fears are that they will find the houses of others more fun than new toys & treat it like a jungle gym or worse!

It's not easy keeping one toddler under control during the holidays as a guest at other peoples houses (especially main gatherings.)

But being able to successfully keep three toddlers under control & out of trouble is a quite a whole different ballgame altogether!

When one toddler gets into trouble or hurt, the other two usually end up taking advantage of the focused parent and use the opportunity to try and get into some sort of trouble themselves!

I have already hurt some feelings when I had to try and explain to a few family members why it was that we couldn't come for a visit.

I was only thinking of their breakables that they so lovingly cherish and really do not want to put up out of reach of tiny hands. Then again, when it comes to Kai, climbing is his forte' and "Up" may not be high or safe enough!

I shudder to think of the possibilities of disaster. Think of Thanksgiving. This is a time when we normally haul out the pretty table linens and fine china and the crystal. My kids just love breaky noises.

Would the temptation of a table cloth prove too much for the ever-conniving mind of a toddler? What about three little minds that work in tandem?

Then there is the matter of the Christmas tree. I have a sort of idea or game plan on how to actually get to have mine and it survive the year.

But the tree at other unsuspecting family members may not be so protected. Just think of it. A Christmas tree to a child is all sparkly, lit up, and hung with all sorts of little toy type objects just waiting to be played with.

How am I to keep my tiny trio from playing with something so inviting? Then there is the matter of other people's presents.

This year, the babies should be able to figure out and master the art of unwrapping a present.

They aren't all that adept at the communication skills with folks other than each other (that multiple thing) so trying to tell them "No" might just entice them to pump up the effort a bit and go a little further.

So, I am torn. I want them to have family time and celebrate with others. But, at the same time, I am worried about the rest of the family getting stressed over the idea that my tiny trio would basically be overrunning their homes!

So, does anyone have any ideas on how to handle the situation? Should I be daring & venture over to the unsuspecting relatives homes for Thanksgiving & Christmas?

Or, should I try and convince them that it's a better idea to come to my house and celebrate?

Baby Girls Are Different!

I had always heard how much different little girls are compared to baby boys. It's only been recently that the big differences are starting to show themselves, though!

First off, I have been Mum to a little boy for the past almost thirteen years. Then, about 19 months ago, I delivered two more baby boys and a baby girl.

Now, I knew something was up from watching my daughter's behavior on the many ultrasounds that I had during my pregnancy.

While the boys were very open and excited (for the most part unless your name was Kai and you pouted because you were not looked at first,) to get poked and prodded by the ultrasound wand, Vivie was very elusive.

She would literally run from that wand, and in order to verify that she was, in fact, going to be a beautiful baby girl, it took no less than three people to find out.

One poor soul had to maneuver the ultrasound wand. Another tech attempted to block off her escape route on one side of my tummy.

Then there was my doctor who, finally, after much amusement and watching her antics on that monitor, literally pounced on my stomach with his other hand to stop her from moving around so much.

That was how we discovered that Vivienne was in fact going to be a girl. The doctor just shook his head, and said, "Women!"

This behavior would continue all through out my pregnancy, and even into the delivery room.

While Kian and Kai had this weird rivalry to see who was going to be the eldest of the triplets, Vivie just wasn't feeling it that day.

In fact, when her brothers left the womb, she turned tail and literally scrunched as far up into my tummy as she could possibly muster, literally attempting to hide from my doctors.

My OB was so glad that she had chosen to wear the super long gloves that day 'cause she certainly needed them!

From then on, the vast differences became clear. The boys both continued their little rivalry and fight to be the first to do everything and experience EVERYTHING, good, bad and the downright icky.

Meanwhile, Vivienne managed to wrap her nurses and doctors around her tiny baby girl finger, convincing them that she was some sort of delicate and fragile flower that might break if the wind blew the wrong way.

She received much personal attention and all of her nurses would come and check in on her even if they were tending to another baby for that shift.

Then, we got to take her home. She actually picked out her going-home outfit. She had a choice between a little blue and pink sailor outfit or a dress with smocked daisy's on it.

Vivienne has always preferred daisy's, so she went with the yellow daisy dress. In fact, the nurse started trying to put on her blue sailor dress and she was met with a very high-pitched wail.

After three months of being home, safely co-bedded with her brothers, Vivie decided it was time that she moved out and into her own bed (which we had been using as a changing table until this point!)

After getting a pair of fresh panties one evening, she just rolled her little girl self over onto her tummy, grabbed her Elsa-bear (that she had named herself somehow) and commenced to snoring quite loudly.

To date, the boys bears do not have names, but Vivie's bear certainly does. She has an Elsa-bear, Kitty Kat (the white Valentine's Day bear that is the same color as her cat) and Baby who is her Christmas Madame Alexander doll from last year.

As of late, Vivie has taken to doing what I classify as classic little girl behavior. It's soo sweet and adorable, too.

Whenever one of the boys is hurt or sad and crying, she will toddle over to them, and try to soothe them.

Of course, it rarely works well, because they all think that she is coming over to pull their hair or bite them so they normally recoil in horror when she does this.

She tries patting and smoothing their hair, rubbing their backs, and even giving them little kissies.

All of this is usually accompanied by a flurry of, "Ooooh's" to try and make them feel a bit better.

Then there is the baby of the hour. I would say day, but it changes as quickly as you can turn around.

Vivienne will pick up either a stuffed animal or one of her dolls and hug it to her close, usually up by her neck, and haul it around the house with her.

Her baby of the hour will get to have a drink of milk, sit in her chair to hold Vivie's place in case her brothers should decide to try and sit in it when she isn't looking and even have dinner with her.

She is a very diligent Mum and will even make certain that she remembers to take whichever baby she is giving attention to at the moment upstairs for a nap or bedtime with her.

One day, she even managed to take a baby to the grocery store with her for a solo, special Mum trip with me.

Never once did she drop that baby, and never once did it leave her side. Baby road in Kian's car seat to the store, sat in the buggy seat buckled next to her Mum, and made it all the way back home safely.

Today, I found Vivie's cross-eyed cow stuffed animal sitting in the blue fuzzy Tigger armchair, watching TV.

Rock star Elmo kept vigil in her feeding chair so that Kian wouldn't decide to sit there.

It's odd, really. Both my baby boys can stuff their mouths full of teddy grahams in under a minute, if I am not careful, putting those crackers in by the fistful, literally.

Vivienne can do the exact same thing in record time, too. However, when she does it, she grasps each bite with her thumb and forefinger, keeping her other fingers curled with her pinkie up as if she is taking tea with the Queen.

In a fight with her brothers, they will pull hair and bite like a bunch of puppies. Vivienne will join in, just more daintily and with definite form to her attacks.

Stranger still, of the triplets, she is the one who listens best. Kian is almost to the point of minding, but he still will test you.

Vivienne will look at you when he does this, shake her tiny baby girl head, and say, "No,no,no,no,no!" She is always trying to help me when her brothers are naughty!

I never imagined that my daughter would turn out so very differently from her brothers. It's really neat, though, to get to watch them all together and see how different she really is!

Daylight Savings Time Change...The Aftermath!

Well, it happened. I know, it happens every year, bi-annually, and NOTHING can stop it. Sunday morning, early, we all changed our clocks back an hour, like it or not.

As some of you already know, I have been prepping my tiny trio for the past week in anticipation of the time changing by keeping them up longer than usual and altering their schedules in 30 minute increments.

The question is, did my efforts pay off. I still just do not have an answer for you on that one.

What I do know, however, is that that schedule is undaunting and as unchanging as ever. To combat the babies internal clock problem I have had to make a few tiny adjustments.

I haven't changed anything major, really. They still woke up about the same time in the morning. I even had them downstairs and having their blueberry waffles and fruit-loops by 8 a.m. in time to catch "The Backyardigans."

By 9 a.m., though, their internal alarm clocks were going off, signalling that it was time for their 10 o'clock nap.

I couldn't put them down that early and throw off the entire day, so I decided to compromise, put up with a bad case of the fussies for about thirty minutes, and put them down for naps at 9:30.

It wasn't soo late that they were overly irritable and past being able to fall asleep, yet it was early enough to still bank on them being back up in time for regular lunch time (well regular once their internal clocks caught up with the one on the cable box that is!)

Lunch time rolled around and they were up as usual and ready for lunch. Kaiden was the only one not fooled by my tinkering with their schedule. He uses his tummy to tell time, anyways, and he KNEW something was afoot!

I think the worst part of the day came when three o'clock rolled around. You see, we had long since cut afternoon naps at my house so that sleeping through the night would not become a problem.

This meant that each day about 4 p.m. the babies get a tiny bit cranky. For the next several days, 3 p.m. shall be 4 p.m to them and much crankiness shall ensue!

I shall have two full hours of crankiness before I can feed them, signaling to them that bedtime is immanent. Poor little dears!

Right now, we are in that whole 2 hour twilight zone of crankiness. Poor Bregon has felt the weight of cranky edging into his routine, too.

Vivie decided to insist upon helping him practice his piano by forcing him to let her sit in his lap while he plays lest she unleash her banshee wail upon him!

Kaiden showed his cranky side by insisting on becoming a part of the jam session and loudly banging on the xylephone, alternating between the instrument and Kian's head. We can all guess Kian's response to this!

I know, it only will last for a few days if I am lucky. But it seems that these are the longest days of the year for us at my house!

How To Quell an Explosive Diaper

This morning, sometime after breakfast, and sometime prior to nap-time, a diaper exploded.

Now, I am not even certain as to exactly who it belonged to, or rather, even which diaper actually even exploded, but the evidence remains proof positive, that it did.

I innocently went to the baby gate and said my usual, "Who's ready for a nap?" I was greeted with a very sad very wet Baby Vivienne.

Somewhere along the way, she actually managed to LOSE her diaper. How, I shall never know, but it happened.

She still had her pajama's on, is the odd part. I still do not know if she somehow shimmied it off, or if she had some brotherly help.

I did find it neatly placed on the shelf, though, neatly folded as if to send me the message that the previous owner would like it returned at some point, and preferably soon!

I managed to get Vivienne cleaned up, changed into her brother's Lightening McQueen's, and twinkled upstairs for her nap.

Then I went back for her brothers. Kian was easy to spot as he was rather wet and waiting in position on the couch for his breeches to be changed.

I took care of him, noting that his diaper was in tact and in place as I went about my changing duty (no pun intended there!)

I hauled him upstairs using our upstairs feet and got him squared away in his bed, teddy, blanket and all.

Then I went back for Kai. Poor Kai, who had managed somehow to get himself stuck inside one of the feeding chairs AGAIN.

Now, he could easily be the source of the exploding diaper, as I noticed little white, wet and sticky balls all around the feeding chairs and even on top of one of the trays.

I had tried to block out the fact that the tell-tale same icky goey balls were all over my rug as well as one end of my sofa.

I freed Kai, changed his seemingly suspiciously intact diaper and we put our upstairs feet on and made the journey to the nursery and got him squared away and happy with his teddy and blanket as well.

I gave everyone their nap-time kissies and headed back downstairs to try and plot out my plan of attack.

Every Mum dreads finding the tell-tale signs of an exploded diaper all over her floors and furniture.

If you have a baby, you will probably experience it at least once if you are lucky, more if you are less fortunate!

Used to, when this happened, I ended up cleaning up little diaper innards for days after the actual incident because the insides turn to basically gelatinous balls of goo that stick to EVERYTHING and anything.

But this time, I had the luxury of the babies all being in bed, so I could actually think about a plan of attack.

I decided to try and sweep the parts on the linoleum up into the dust pan, and try for vacuuming the rest off of my rug.

I was going off of the idea that none of the diapers that had just been changed had been all that wet.

In fact, I still had yet to find any holes in any of the diapers that had been in circulation at the time!

Surprisingly enough, though, it vacuumed right up with little or no problem. I was even able to sweep up the mess that trailed all throughout the dining room fairly easily.

I had the whole thing, couch included, clean within about fifteen minutes. I could not believe my luck!

So for future reference, if by some chance your baby's diaper explodes and the insides get all over your house, USE THE VACUUM!!!! I am not sure how, but it worked in this case!