Sunday, April 26, 2015

The Party

The. Party. Was. Perfect! We had so many people show up and celebrate with us!

I did a gentleman theme (kinda). Mustaches and bowties and some argyle of course. Everything else I just stuck with the ONE theme and the colors to match the birthday outfits (I ordered those first!)

I think the boys had fun. Well, Logan and James had fun. Mason woke up from his nap (right before the party started) in a horrible mood, not like himself at all! Poor guy just didn't feel very good! He also threw up in my hair right before the party started. Oh well! It definitely wasn't the first time and I'm sure it won't be the last! Hopefully no one noticed!

We did cupcakes this time instead of whole cakes. I ordered them from Dempsey Bakery again so they matched the smash cakes actually! Love them! The boys . . . they could have gone without and been just fine.
They still didn't like cake! Mason definitely was not in the mood for cake!
Logan and James didn't appreciate the cake too much either. They enjoyed smearing icing all over the place. But they did NOT actually eat the cake (again). They did, however, wear the hats this time. Yay!
Logan
James
Here's some pictures of the birthday boys in their awesome bday outfits!
And a few more pictures from the party!
Mason and Gigi
James and Teresa
Mason with Nancy
James and Pop
James with Pop, Nana, and Grandad
Logan with Lou Lou
Mid-party nap!
James and Grandma
Logan after cake
Oh and right  before the party started the mail man showed up with a surprise package from my triplet mom friends! Thank you so much Ali, Lindsay, and Shondra! The boys LOVE their ball pit! Logan checked it out first. Naked with sunglasses. Because how else would you play in your ball pit?
And of course the girls had fun too! This is just the ones left when I finally picked up my camera again at the end!
Here's a few pictures of my decorations! I of course went overboard. But they only turn ONE once right!? I made everything myself (with a little help from my friends over on Etsy!) Links to Etsy shops I used are under the pictures!

Birthday Outfits are from Sew Sew Collectibles on Etsy! I sent her a picture of my leg warmers (from Baby Leggings) and she made the outfits to match! I started with the birthday outfits then built everything else around those! I just love love love their birthday outfits!
Chalkboard posters are from Triplets Treasures! I ordered these from another triplet mom and she is AMAZING! She made my invitations too! She made me the digital files (with lots and lots of input from me) and I printed them myself! Here's a better picture of the posters!
Tassel Banner is from Pomtree.  I actually ordered all the parts then I put it together myself! I LOVE IT! We used the banner for pictures the other day too! I'm trying to figure out what I can use this for again!

Wreath. I made this all by myself! I'm pretty proud of it. I just went to Hobby Lobby and looked around until I found something I liked. Now I just need to figure out what to do with it . . . .

Hats. I made these myself too! I found a tutorial with a  template for the cutout here. And I looked up how to make the pom poms because I couldn't find any I liked in the store! I found a tutorial here. The rest I made up on my own! They're mostly just scrapbook paper though.

A big huge thank you to everyone who came! And to Marcia and Lynnette for the food! I tried to claim it as my own but I came clean.

ONLY 3 MORE DAYS UNTIL THE ACTUAL BIRTHDAY!!! I guess it's happening whether I like it or not!

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

I'm Not Ready

ONE WEEK!! The boys turn 1 in ONE WEEK! I'm not ready. The first year was hard. I'm not gonna lie about that. We spent almost half of it in the NICU. I feel like we kinda missed part of the first year. It's been a wonderful, scary, long ride to say the least. But I'm not ready for the first year to be over. So basically it's not happening in my mind. They can stay babies forever right? I want them to stay little! I've noticed that people refer to their babies as toddlers once they turn 1. I won't be doing that. My babies will still be babies.

I'm in denial. And I'm kinda freaking out a little. Ok actually I'm freaking out a lot. The other night I had some bad anxiety over this! Like heart racing, chest tightening, couldn't sleep anxiety. Maybe I need to start drinking more . . . . I don't know what's happening to me! Brian doesn't get it. Last night I asked him "can you believe they're turning 1 next week?" His response . . . "Yes. It's been 12 months. They're turning 1." So rational. So missing the point. They're still babies. They can't turn 1!

I guess it's happening whether I like it or not though. Yesterday we had our 1 year photo session. I can't wait to see the pictures! I was so busy wrangling 3 babies that I didn't get ANY pictures!  Our photographer took 1 picture with her phone of the cakes without babies. Here's a teaser! 
Oh and Brian took a 9 second video of the beginning of the cake smash. And I screen shotted this from the video!
So, as you can see, the boys had their first cakes yesterday. I'm pretty sure they aren't related to me though because they didn't like it! Seriously! CAKE! They were the cutest little cakes though! I special ordered dairy free, egg free cakes from Dempsey Bakery just for these little guys (because James has a milk protein intolerance and we haven't introduced eggs yet)! Actually they were vegan chocolate cakes. CHOCOLATE!!! And they didn't like it! My other child is clearly mine. She took a fork, dug a hole in the middle of a cake to get around the frosting (which was a little weird because it had no dairy), and ate the whole thing minus the frosting when we got home. 

On the plus side, I did get to get a little crafty. You know, because I have lots of free time on my hands. I made first birthday party hats (which we almost forgot to put on them for pictures!) And I kinda made the banner. I ordered the paper and then I put it together. So I basically made it. Too bad Mason and Logan HATE the hats! They're wearing them again for their party though. They'll just have to deal with it.
Oh and I also escaped the other night and went to Target. And got coffee. And took a selfie. So it's like a triple win! And I only spent $6.50 so it's like Brian won too. And I'm sharing the selfie here so it's really like everyone wins. You're welcome.

No my non 1 year olds seriously are getting so big! We now have 2 mobile babies (Mason and James learned how to army crawl this week!) and 3 teeth (all Mason and all not next to each other). And we can go to restaurants and use high chairs! Mason seems to like sitting at the table like a big boy!
In other news, today was picture day for Addison at dance. And I was the dance super mom tonight. I took 3 girls to dance, with 3 boys in the Mann Van, and I played makeup artist for 3 10 year olds. No small feat. The goal is to do a smoky eye, but not make the 10 year olds look like prostitutes. I think I did a pretty good job!
So sassy
And I found this gem on my phone too:
And finally, it's NBA Playoff time and the boys are supporting their team! Go Grizzlies! 
If you need me next Wednesday, I'll be hiding out pretending it's Tuesday, April 28 and that my babies are not 1. (Or maybe I'll be at work. Jack if you actually read this, I'll be at work so no need to worry!) Maybe I'll admit that they're 1 in July, when they should turn 1. Or never. 

Saturday, April 18, 2015

2 NICU Reunions


The past 2 weekends we've gone to 2 NICU Reunions! If you remember, we started at UAMS and ended up at Arkansas Children's Hospital. So 2 NICUs. Luckily same drs at both though! Yay! We were only at UAMS for 2.5 weeks (Mason and Logan transferred to Children's right at 2 weeks for their surgeries, then James came a few days later). Then we spent almost 5 months at Children's! Wow! But 2 NICUs means 2 NICU reunions!

Just for fun, here's a pic of our first ambulance ride! Mason and Logan are in those travel isolettes!

UAMS NICU REUNION

The UAMS Reunion was first. We had lots of fun! We saw a few of the doctors who helped save our babies and who kept them alive during the first few weeks. And we met up with 3 other triplet families! 3 sets of triplets all born within a few months! I had met 1 mom before and another mom I already knew through Facebook but had never met in person. And the third set of triplets are older! We saw one more set of triplets there but I only said hi to them and didn't get to meet them really.

We got a great picture of the 3 sets of baby triplets and moms!

And we got a great family photo too! Everyone but Logan looking at the camera! I LOVE IT! Of course Logan is making his signature look - the mean face (that's right he has a signature look because he's awesome like that). In case you missed it, Logan is PASSED OUT in the group photo above. Ha!


Here are a few more pictures from the UAMS Reunion:
3 sets of baby triplets and 2 of 3 big triplets!
Logan hanging out with the big kids (they're only a few months older!)
Mason with Kloey - another triplet big sister

ACH NICU REUNION

We went to the Arkansas Children's Hospital NICU Reunion this weekend. So fun! We saw several of our NICU friends, 2 of our primary nurses, our favorite Specialty Nurse, and some other friends too! James was a little cranky so he has his giraffe in most of the pictures! Mason was a little flirt! He smiled pretty much the whole time. And Logan . . . well he was Logan. He talked a lot, made mean faces, and smiled a little. And I took lots of pictures!
Audra and Lori were 2 of our primaries and we LOVE them!
We got to see our NICU buddy Cole! We saw a few other friends too but I didn't get pictures! You can see Riley trying to get in on this one though!
Oh and they had a photo booth:
I think Addison's are better!
And a few more random pictures!
I also made a storyboard poster of our NICU stay! This was soooo hard! I loved going through all the old pictures but it brought back lots of memories (some scary ones!) and it was hard to choose too! And I'm a little OCD so it had to be perfect (it's not I know). I think it turned out pretty good though! Now it's going in my mom box where I'll keep it forever!
The group shot above was so hard to get! We had pretty much the entire room behind us trying to get the boys to look! Here's a few outtakes!
James was not happy. And Mason really liked that sheep!
And here's my favorite picture of the day! Mason rode his first tractor! Here's how it went down - I saw the tractor and said "I'm putting a baby on that" and Brian said "no." So I did it anyway. And Mason loved it. So I made the right choice obviously.


Sunday, April 12, 2015

Confessions of a Triplet Mom

Almost once a day someone asks me how we do it. "It" being raising triplets. The short answer is "we just do it." The long answer includes lots of mistakes and mishaps. And lots of coffee. 

So here's how we do it. Full disclosure. If you know me in person you probably won't be surprised by most of these because, well, I'm kinda a mess.

I still do all the things I've always done, like trip over my own feet, run into walls, etc. I just do those things more often now.

I live on coffee. 

Sometimes I forget that I live on coffee so I forget to drink my coffee and it gets cold. Then I microwave my coffee (I know kinda gross). Then I forget that I microwaved my coffee so an hour later I microwave it again (I know even grosser). 

Speaking of forgetting things, one day I forgot to put on my bra. And I had court that day. I was able to keep my jacket on all day and my secret was safe (except I told everyone because . . . full disclosure and it was too funny not to share). But I was able to hide the fact that I FORGOT TO WEAR A BRA and no one actually saw the evidence! Who does this? I've been wearing a bra since I was 11! (And no I definitely did not need one then)!

I probably take way too many pictures of babies. And I probably overshare. But I don't care. Here's one of my favorites from today.

I have spit up, drool, baby food, or something of that nature in my hair pretty much every day. I just brush it out, sometimes I restraighten my hair if it's bad, and I go about my day. If it's throw up in there I will put it back in a ponytail at some point because I have to draw the line somewhere. I love my kids but throw up is throw up and it smells gross, especially when it's in your face.

I've had throw up into mouth that wasn't mine. True story. Gross. Thanks James! Good thing he's cute.

We use bottle props to feed the babies. Except . . . I learned on Friday that Mason and James can hold their own bottles! They've been holding out on us! Check this guy out!
Logan does not hold his own bottle. He prefers to play with it, even with the prop.
Swings. This is the only reason we get out the door at a reasonable time in the morning. James's swing doesn't even swing anymore but he still just hangs out in it. (I need to call Fisher Price and get this fixed!) 

I make food for the babies but not the big people in my house. Good thing Brian can cook. We also eat a lot of Campbell's soup.

I also wash clothes for the babies way more than I wash clothes for the big people. It's a problem. One week I think I washed 10 loads of baby clothes and 0 loads of big people clothes. 

The babies have to be in ABC order. All the time. (Except their swings, which are in the order they came home). Brian puts them in the van in the wrong order and claims that he doesn't know the right order. He totally knows. I'm smarter than that.

Brian is in charge of making lunches. Sometimes he makes me a lunch. My favorite part is that he draws pictures on the napkin and sometimes on the bag. And more often than not he draws or writes something wildly inappropriate. This makes my day. It's the little things. This is why we married each other right?

We sing really inappropriate songs to the babies. And they love it. Kinda like that episode of Friends where Ross sings Baby Got Back. But worse. 

Sometimes I hide in the bathroom and just play on my phone. 

I fall asleep breastfeeding at least once a week. More when they boys were younger! Sometimes I'm just holding a sleeping baby and playing on my phone.

Speaking of breastfeeding, I'm still at it and Mason and Logan aren't fans. I hear all these moms who say their babies won't wean and they're soooo attached. This is NOT my kids. They think it's play time. It's for me really at this point I think. Only a few more weeks until their first bday though so I can't stop now!

Most of my undershirts have holes cut out from when I was pumping because who has time to stop everything and hold the pump? Not me. Hands free all they way. I even pumped while driving. Unfortunately now I'm left with holey undershirts. I was wearing one of said undershirts on the day I forgot my bra. Yep. Just when you thought the forgotten bra story couldn't get better, it totally gets better.

The boys have a set of baby keys that look like penises. So we don't let them play with those. 

I still check to make sure the babies are alive every night before I go to bed. Even Logan, who is still hooked up to the pulse ox monitor so he's obviously still alive. Brian also does this. Sometimes right before me. But I still have to check for myself. 

I sort of like the pulse ox monitor. Crazy I know! But see the point above. It helps me know he's alive.

We use our vacuum cleaner more to suck boogers than to clean floors. I'm not kidding. The tool part of our vacuum broke and Brian lasted about 1.5 days before he bought a new one. (See below for evidence). The actual floor vacuum part of the old one still works.

I secretly like my van. I don't feel particularly cool driving it, but it's pretty awesome. And it's the Mann Van so that's pretty cool.

Sometimes I only take a shower every other day. And shaving? Ha! Summer is coming though so this will change! I did cut AND paint my toenails the other day though. #winning? I think so.

I don't brush Mason's hair sometimes just so it will stick straight up. Brian pretty much refuses to brush it at all times. 

I call James Jamesipoo. Brian calls him Lebron. It's a fun game we play. No one else is allowed to give my kids nicknames. 

Logan has bitchy resting face. It's hilarious. He probably got that from me. He's really sweet I promise! (I'm a lost cause though). He's also a pro at duck lips. Also hilarious.

I also have bitchy resting face. But I'm really kinda mean. Just not always when my face says so. I'm the nicest of my siblings but that means nothing.

I eat a disgusting amount of candy. My faves - lemonheads, lindor truffles (chocolate balls), and well anything chocolate. To help with this problem I gave up candy for Lent. Huge fail. I replaced candy with Oreos. Delicious Oreos. Now I eat both candy AND Oreos in excess. Oreos always in sets of 4 (I wasn't kidding when I said I'm a mess). I have clearly failed at my New Years resolution to not be fat on the inside. (I've failed at all of my other resolutions too). 

Brian might be a better triplet mom than me. 

Sometimes I just want to go to Target. Target makes me happy. And Target has coffee.

I compare myself to others moms. Moms of triplets, twins and singletons (just 1 baby). I know everyone says don't do this, but I do anyway. And it usually makes me feel better about myself! You should try it sometime. Start off with a low bar if you're scared.

And last but definitely not least . . . I take lots of selfies for my own enjoyment. And I'm not kidding when I say a lot. Probably enough to put any preteen to shame. But unlike preteens I don't post them on Facebook or Instagram (usually). I just send them to Brian and a few select friends. But today I'll make an exception. Here are a few for your enjoyment.
Yay! Selfie time!
Duck lips selfie - Logan's duck lips are better!
Yikes selfie!
Mason likes selfies too
James refused to look for this one
Of course this one LOVES selfies
And the best selfie ever:
Brian for real sent me this new vacuum cleaner selfie
So now you know how we do it. We make mistakes, we forget basic things, and we just do it. And laugh at ourselves. That's the only way I think.