Day 96

We bring in the new year with a snow storm! Welcome 2010!!!! Happy New Year to all!!!!

The girls are sleeping over Pete's parents tonight and Pete and I will be unavailable to the world as we'll be driving to an undisclosed location for the evening and having some much needed fun!!

Have a Happy and Safe New Year!

Day 95

Hannah & Hailey woke up around 2:00 this morning. Hannah pooped and needed to be changed so since they were both up - we just changed them both and put them back to bed. They went right back to sleep so it wasn't bad at all.

Uncle Joey watched them for a little while today and then Pete's mom came for the afternoon. They were fresh today - Hannah & Hailey started a food fight at breakfast time. As 'cute' as this sounds...it's not even close to being acceptable. They were both put in time outs and then had to clean up their mess (which they enjoyed doing of course...lol). Have I ever mentioned that my girls LOVE to clean? They ask for wipes so they can go clean things in the house. And if they see something that's dirty - they'll 'uh oh' it to death and find a way to clean it up. Not their toys though. Those can be all over the place. I guess toys don't count as being 'messy' when you're 2.

We fed the girls dinner then it was time for baths, brush teeth, read books (Uncle Joey read to them tonight) and in bed. They're sleeping and we will be too soon.

I can't believe tomorrow is the very last day of 2009. It was a great year. I hope next year is just as good as this year has been. ;-)

Day 94

Girls slept all night. They went to grandma's house and played. They came home and we all ate dinner, played for a bit and now they are sleeping. Now we will go to bed too.

Day 93

Girls slept all night again. Rejoice! We worked - the girls played all day. Donna and Pete's mom came this morning. The girls had a good day - and tomorrow is a new day! ;-)

Day 92

The girls slept 14.5 hours last night. Although when they went to bed Hannah put up a huge fuss (which she's been doing lately). What we didn't realize is that she threw up all over the place again. We didn't realize until they woke up this morning :-( Usually when she does this we can hear her over the monitor and she says 'uh oh' over and over again. But not this time. She did the same thing tonight - except this time we had the monitor right on her so we saw it (as well as heard it...ew!). We cleaned her up while Hailey got to get up and 'help' (Emily slept through it all). Then they both went right to sleep.

We got up this morning and had some breakfast and then headed to the grocery store. Went shopping, came home to have lunch and change and then off to another family xmas party. It was a blast and the girls had a really good time. They were extremely good considering they only slept for a little bit on the way there and considering the # of people that were there. It was a good day all around!

Monday tomorrow...but it's a short week - I only have 1/2 day on New Years Eve and then we're off on Friday! Yippie!

Day 91

The girls slept all night again last night. Today was a good day. We went and looked at more houses - 4 more actually. One of them was one we've already looked at but this time we went with our realtor. Little Brother came with us and the girls came along as well.

When we got home my friend Jenn (Emily's Godmother) came over with Carl (my Godson) and we hung out for a bit. Then it was time to eat dinner, take a bath and hit the cribs for an early bedtime since the girls only slept for 1/2 hour in the car today. I can't wait until they don't need naps anymore!!!! It will free up so much time in our day to do stuff together. Right now we have to make sure we plan for them to get a few hours of sleep in the middle of the day and if that doesn't happen they can get really cranky. Although even though they only slept for 1/2 hour today - they were amazingly good (until about an hour before we put them to bed...but that's the 'witching hour' anyway).

Pete and I had/have a lot to do in the house. These past few days have been hectic and now we're paying for it. I'm on my 4th...or 5th - can't remember - load of laundry tonight and the kitchen was a disaster so Pete took care of that. He also took down the xmas decorations including the tree. We need the space for more toys! LOL

Hopefully the dryer will be done soon so I can fold the clothes and go to bed. We're sleepy!

Day 90 - Christmas Day

The girls all slept through the night again. Michelle and I got the house in order and then went to sleep. In the morning the girls got up and hurried down the stairs to see what Santa left them. They were so excited to see all the gifts under the tree. Emily kept saying "wow". SO funny. The morning was super fun with Uncle Joey, Uncle Pete, Gammie, Papi, and Kristin. They all came over to open gifts and Grammie made fried dough. The girls loved the fried dough, who doesn't. The girls got so many cool toys. Did I mention I got an iPhone? Love it! We put the girls down for a nap at 11am so they could recharge before round two. When the girls woke up we feed them and put their pretty x-mas dresses on to go to my parents house. Oh the day wasn't all peaches 'n cream. While the girls were napping we cleaned up. I brought some boxes out to the dumpster. That is where I ran into one of our neighbors (we live in a condo complex) he started giving me shit for putting boxes in the dumpster, saying I need to recycle them. That they don't belong in the dumpster. He was very mean about it so I told him to go f* himself and to go tell on me. People put all kind of weird things in the dumpster that they shouldn't and he is going to give me a hard time over a couple boxes. I was so pissed. Anyway, we headed over to my parents house for x-mas #2. The girls were really good and we all had a great time. The girls ate so much while we were there. They opened the first couple gifts and then I think they were on x-mas over load. They all got a toy phone and after they opened them all they wanted to do is play with them and not open anymore gifts. Well I should say Hannah and Hailey lost interest. Emily was still into all the gifts. We were able to get the girls home and in bed by 7:30pm. Now its 10pm and time for Me to sleep.

Day 89 - Christmas Eve

Dear Santa,
Thank you SO much for bringing a gift early. The girls slept ALL NIGHT last night - and so did we. Maybe your little elves can find it in their little hearts to bring the gift of sleep again tonight?
Love,
Mommy & Daddy

Day 88

Hannah was up - and ended up in our bed...as well as Emily for a while. We. Need. Sleep. Pete brought the girls back to the doctor today for a recheck of their ears. Hannah & Hailey still have ear infections and Emily has a yeast infection from all the antibiotics. So the other two are on round 4 of medication and we now have cream for Emily (and refills in case the other two develop the same thing). I called and made an appt with an ENT doctor - the earliest they could get us in was Feb 3rd.

I worked today - Pete had the day off. He wishes he worked today though. The girls were in horrible moods and pretty much fought all day. But so goes life. I think we're both looking at things differently and more critically since we've had no sleep in almost 2 months now. Ok - more like 6 weeks...but who's counting right?

We both agreed that if Hannah wakes up tonight - she's going right in our bed so we can sleep. Right now sleep deprivation is taking over our life. It's not good. We have a lot going on in the next few days and if that means we sleep with a toddler between us - then so be it. At least we'll be sleeping.

Day 87

Well Hannah woke up last night at 10pm. She did not want to sleep in here crib at all. I went and got her, changed her diaper, and as soon as I got upstairs and in the hallway she said "no, no, no" and pointed to our bedroom. I told her that she needed to sleep in her crib and in her room with her sisters. Every time I motioned to her room she would say "no". I finally just put her back in her crib. She cried, well screamed for like 20 minutes. She is so head strong, doesn't back down for nothing. I had to go get her and let her sleep in our bed. At around 4am I was able to put her back in her crib. We were going to get up in a couple hours but I wanted her to wake up in her crib so she knows that is where she belongs. Not a peep from Hailey and Emily they slept all night.

This morning was good the girls woke up in great moods. We had to get them dressed and ready to go to grandma's house today. They played with Titi and had a great time over there. We let the girls open a present that my boss got them when they got home. They each got a puppet and they loved them. It was so funny to watch them use them. They knew to put their hand in them and everything.

We did the normal bed time routine but for some reason Hannah started crying as soon as we put her in bed. They all usually go right to sleep, only waking up around 10pm if at all. We let her go giving her time to settle down but then she through up. We turned the lights on, got the girls out of their cribs and cleaned up the mess. Then we calmed them down and put them back in their cribs. All of them fell asleep this time. Now I go clean up the kitchen and living room while Michelle hits the stores for some last minute x-mas shopping. It's now 9pm. I hope they all sleep tonight because we are so tired.

Day 86

The girls slept through the night last night. Finally! Although I'm not having high hopes for tonight - Emily is still coughing pretty bad. They all have an appt to see the doctor again on Wednesday morning for a recheck of their ears. These ear infections better be gone!

Donna came this morning - not only do the girls love seeing her but so do I! She's been coming since the girls were only a few months old. She even brought a 'trick' with her today in order to keep the girls still when she's changing them. She brought lotion! Haha...the girls love to put lotion on and rub it in. It's the simple things sometimes.

Pete and I looked at more houses online today...it's never ending. But we'll find one and we'll make it our home!

Going to sleep - still tired from not getting much sleep in the past few weeks.

Day 85

Road trip! We had FUN and it was much better than I anticipated. We decided to take the trip a day early so we didn't have to travel in the snow. The girls and I got up to MA around 3:00. The trip up wasn't too bad. The girls slept for some of the ride and when we got off the highway we ventured a ways to see if we could find a grocery store...lol. We were in the middle of nowhere and ended up at a hole in the wall place where we just bought some snacks. We really needed potato's and butter but oh well - Goldfish and Graham crackers work too.

Sleeping went ok. We had 3 pack n plays (since the trip to NJ went over so well we figured the pack n plays would be fine again), and the girls went down but not without a fuss. They finally fell asleep but woke up around 11 and all 3 ended up in bed with me. Thankfully it was a King size bed! But come 1:00 I still hadn't slept (have you tried to sleep with 3 toddlers at the same time????) so I put Hailey in her bed since she was sound asleep. Once I put her down - Hannah woke up and said 'Mine!' to which I replied 'You want to go in your crib?' (I mean...come on now - I know I'm sleep deprived but this was something I surely must be dreaming). She said 'Yeah' and I couldn't get her in that bed fast enough. She went right in and fell right to sleep! Then I put Emily back in hers. She fussed for a few minutes but not too long. We ALL slept until 7:00. But I tell ya - it was restless for me because Hannah talks, whines, plays, cries and giggles in her sleep. Now I remember why we don't sleep in the same room with them anymore! Haha.

Once we got up we just chilled in our jammies until after naptime (which Hannah skipped today -she helped out with making a big turkey dinner though). Pete came in around noon and he took over with the girls while I showered and dressed. The rest of the family showed up shortly after and we had a big fat xmas party! It was a blast.

My cousins were great - Daniel (who's 11) kept the girls busy playing with them and Christopher was so nice to share all of his 3 million toys without putting up a fuss. We can't wait to go back.

One thing this has made me realize though is that I can't help out when I go somewhere alone with the girls. They really still require 100% of my time to keep them going and the day moving smoothly. We'll get there though. They were so good with all of the people - I couldn't have asked for a better weekend with them. No melt downs, only one bloody lip (please see above when I say they need 100% of my attention...because this happened about 5 minutes after we walked through the door and I turned my back) and they didn't even mind the 30lb rabbit (don't think I'm joking...this thing is HUGE). ;-)

We'll be making more road trips - that much is for sure. Oh and Pete didn't sleep well last night. I guess being in a big empty house with no wife and babies isn't all it's cracked up to be. Poor guy...lol.

The trip home was fine too. The girls slept the whole way and once we got here they ate a little something and then went right down to bed. They're all sleeping - but I know better than to think they'll stay that way.

After the girls went to sleep - Pete unloaded the car, then we baked 9 dozen cookies (thank you very much Baby for signing up for a cookie swap at work), and then Pete put the girls Little People garage/playhouse thingie together so they can play with it in the morning.

Ugh...I'm not ready for Monday but here it comes.

Day 84

Let it snow, let it snow. Big storm coming in tonight.

Last night was good. Hannah and Hailey only woke up once and we only spent 30 minutes getting them back to sleep. This morning was a little busy because we got up at 6:45 and had to get the girls ready for MyGym at 9am. But we got it done and made it to MyGym on time. Grammie came with us to MyGym, the girls love playing with her. After the gym we kicked it into high gear to get everything packed so Michelle and the girls can head up to Auntie Jenn's before the snow starts. I will head up tomorrow weather permitting. Michelle recruited Lucy and Alex to come over and help us. While Michelle got packed up at home I hit the store for some necessities for this impromptu trip. After we all ate lunch and packed the van I kissed the girls and told them I'll see them tomorrow. Michelle and the girls got to Auntie Jenn's house safely and are having a good time. I have been cleaning, doing laundry and even went grocery shopping. Don't worry soon I'll be sitting on the couch chillin'. Did I mention I am home alone, can you say sleep at last.

Day 83

The girls were up from 12:30 - 2:30...all 3 of them. We're all tired. Hailey has croup now too. She's been sick - they've all been sick. But today her cough is worse than it has been the past couple of days. Ugh...we're sick of being sick. And it's really taking a toll on us. But we just keep moving.

Night is the worst. Pete and I can't just sleep during the day - and we can't go to bed when the girls go to bed. So by the time we get everything done and get to bed - it's usually around 10:00. Fall asleep maybe 1/2 hour later - and then the girls wake up shortly after that. For example: last night we went to sleep at 10:00. The girls woke up at 12:30 and didn't go back to sleep until 2:30 (after so much aggravation, changing of diapers, giving them juice.....) but we didn't get back to sleep until about 3:00. Then we have to get up at 6:00. That's 5 and 1/2 hours of interrupted sleep. This has been going on for weeks now. We thought we were done with this stage of parenthood...waking up every couple of hours is killing us. Nothing like some good sleep deprivation to break a family down piece by piece.

Today was Fun Friday with Uncle Joey. He took them out for a little bit because someone had come to look at the condo (it's for sale remember). Pete got home early because today was his xmas party. By the time I got home - he had cooked dinner and the girls were eating...they were hungry little babies tonight.

Then it was bath time (with new bath color tablets thanks to Uncle Joey...which the girls LOVED). Pj's, read books and in bed. They've already woken up once - Pete brought Hannah & Hailey down as I was writing this blog. He changed them and put them back to bed...they're sleeping again.

After they went to bed - the 1st time - we cleaned up and starting baking sugar cookies. Lovely mess we made ;-) But we got 3 dozen out of the 9 that needs to be made. Ok - maybe a little more but we might have eaten a few...lol.

I also had to rearrange some plans for tomorrow. Originally - we were planning on going to MyGym, then the girls to Pete's parents house for naps while Pete and I went to look at 4 more houses with the realtor. However; we're suppose to be getting hammered with a big snow storm tomorrow night into Sunday. That puts a damper on our Sunday plans of going up to MA to a family xmas party. So - we make changes. Being flexible is part of being parents. I cancelled the house hunting, called my cousin and left a message saying the girls and I were coming tomorrow night to sleep over, Pete will come on Sunday and Pete called his mom to say the girls wouldn't be over there tomorrow. This way we get to the xmas party (it's not even going to snow up there!), we get extra time with family and Pete gets a good nights sleep (at least if he's smart he will).

Going to bed now. It's 9:24 - I wanted to be in bed by 9:00...being flexible though right?

Day 82

The girls didn't sleep last night. Neither did we. We looked at more houses today - no go. Good night.

Day 81

Will the sickness ever end. We started November 11th with ear infections and head colds and we still are dealing with them. Hannah and Emily have croup. Still taking antibiotics for ear infections. We haven't had a good nights sleep in over a month. Last night was bad. Hannah kept waking up coughing, she ended up waking Hailey. Hailey ended up in our bed and Hannah ended up sleeping with Uncle Joey in the livingroom. I think I put Hailey back in her crib around 4am. We all woke up late this morning although it feels like we never slept. We had to hurry to get the girls fed, dressed, and out the door. The girls had a good day except for Emily biting Hannah. I don't know what I am going to do with her. Its like she gets frustrated and bites. Emily bit her in the leg and then in the arm. When they got home we fed them dinner and gave them a bath. Then it was time to brush teeth, read books, and bed time. After they went to bed we cleaned up... Hannah woke up coughing not 30 minutes later. Michelle took her out on the porch to let the cold air help her. Then we put her back in her crib. I then got online to pay some bills and Michelle wrapped some x-mas gifts. There isn't enough time in the day. Then, Emily woke up coughing, her cough then woke up Hannah and Hailey. We went in and held them for a few minutes and once they settled down we put them in their cribs. Now all 3 are sleeping and I hope they stay that way. So tired I can't have them wake up anymore tonight.

Day 80

Ugh - last night was long. Hannah was coughing soooo much. She ended up in our bed and she just couldn't get comfortable. At about 3:00 I took her out on the porch hoping that the cold air would help her to stop coughing and make her more comfortable. It worked and she finally went to sleep but none of us really got a good nights sleep last night. We'll try again tonight.

The girls had fun at Pete's moms today. Titi Rosemary was there so they got to spend time with her too.

Oh yeah...Pete got to come home from work early today because his office building caught fire! It's one of those things we all hope for but it never happens...but it did to Pete! LOL He got to work and apparently there was an electrical fire early in the morning and they needed to work on the building so they sent everyone home. Yay! He got to come home and clean! Haha. Lucky him. ;-)

Off to bed. We're tired and we need sleep.

Day 79

Hannah has croup - another doctor's visit. Seems like we were just there - oh wait - we were just there...on Friday. Pete took her to the doctor while I went to school to take a final exam. On his way home - she threw up in the car. I met him at home after my exam and we fed the girls, gave them a bath and did the usual night time thing. We were in a hurry because I had to go back to school to take another exam. Once the girls got in their cribs Hannah threw up again. So I cleaned her while Pete cleaned her crib and changed her sheet. The other two screamed wanting to be running around 1/2 naked like Hannah was for the moment. Eventually we got them back to bed and sleeping. I went back to school and took my exam. Now we need to get the house in order - the realtor is coming over this week to take pictures. I hope whoever walks through this place understands what it's like to have 3 toddlers...cuz it sure isn't sparkling clean. I think Pete and I are both done with the whole sick thing going on in this house. 3 colds, 11 ear infections, one bout of croup, one bout of 'unknown' cough that needed 'special' meds. Done done done. The stress level in this house is at maximum right now.

Day 78

We got up. We napped. We looked at and fell in love with a house. We ate. And now we're parting ways...Pete and I one way (out), Little Brother and the girls the other way (in). Good night. ;-)

Day 77

Hannah slept in our bed until 4:30. I'm not even going there right now.

Girls woke up and we had to be at Pete's work to have breakfast with Santa at 9:00. Little Brother came with us and we had a good time. I remember from last year that 'breakfast' meant lots of cookies and cupcakes...so Pete actually made the girls pancakes before we left and we took them with us so they could eat while were there. We still let them have a cookie...just not for breakfast. When Santa came in all 3 of them were a bit hesitant. Hailey sat unwillingly on Santa's lap but didn't really cry - Hannah & Emily just got their gift from a distance...lol.
As we were leaving they gave the each of the girls a goodie bag to take home. I just went through them and luckily I didn't let them go through them. There's so much candy in the bags that it looks like they went trick-or-treating! LOL

After breakfast we headed home and Little Brother put the girls down for a nap while Pete and I met the realtor to go look at a few houses. We also signed the paperwork to put the condo on the market so it's officially 'for sale' now. We walked through 2 of the houses and the last house wasn't even worth looking at. It didn't offer the yard that we thought it had and it just wasn't in a good location. So begins the house hunting. I was much more excited the 1st time we purchased...I think I'm not so excited now because it's going to be a lot of work. But we've outgrown this place and it's time to move on.

The girls are feeling better today so it seems. But that doesn't stop people from telling us that we shouldn't have them out. Of course - everyone else knows best - we're just the parents of the girls. We must not know anything. I'm not going to go off on a rant about it. I'm just sick of people. It's not even advice that is being offered which pisses me off even more. It's simply 'you're doing it wrong'. Yeah - we've considered moving to Kansas - because we don't know a single soul there!!!!!!!!!! Grrrrrrrrrr.

Pete had a xmas party to go to tonight at a friends house so he left when we got back from house hunting. Little Brother left shortly after. So the girls and I had some much needed 'girl' time. We hung out and played with stickers, we danced (please don't ask for a demonstration), we all went up to their room and put away ALL of their laundry (ok...I put it away while they read me books, handed me hangers and fought over the empty baskets) and we also spent a majority of the time 1/2 naked! Lol..ok - they did. We worked on potty training and they did great. Hailey pooped in the potty again. She actually said 'poo poo', sat on the potty and pooped! It was right before bedtime so I didn't really want to give her a pop pop so we just did lots and lots of verbal positive reinforcing. ;-)

Then it was upstairs to brush teeth, read books and fall sound asleep. I'm not sure Hannah will stay that way since she slept in our bed last night. But we can hope.

Day 76

Girls slept last night. Hannah woke up for about 10 minutes. I went in and held her for a few minutes but put her back in her crib. It didn't take too long for her to fall back to sleep. We got up and did the usual morning thing. It was Fun Friday with Uncle Joey today. Go here
http://luccogirls.blogspot.com/ to fill in the day.

Day 75

Hailey pooped in the potty!!!!!!!!!! Yeah that's right. The girls were at my moms today and Hailey said "poop", my mom checked her diaper but is was clean. So she brought her to the potty and she pooped in the potty. SO exciting! The girls all had a good day today. They were making x-mas ornaments with Rosemary. Tracing their hands on green paper and then coloring them. They love doing activities like this. I got a pizza for dinner and we all played a little after dinner instead of taking a bath. Tomorrow can be bath night, tonight we play. Uncle Joey was here and the girls were in really good moods. After we played it was time for pj's, brush teeth, read books, and bed time.

One down two to go. Michelle has been working really hard with this potty training. She bought 3 potty seats and 2 potty seats that go on the regular toilet. Its not easy potty training 3 at the same time. I give her alot of credit 'cause I just sit back and wait for it to happen.

Tomorrow is fun Friday!

Day 74

Big snow storm today (well - a few inches of snow during the morning commute anyway). The girls slept all night. Hannah woke up for a brief period of time but no interference was needed. She put herself back to sleep and finished sleeping the night away.

When we got up I decided it was too messy to tackle the commute with the trio so I called in late and waited until it warmed up and every other person got off the road. Pete went in on time. The girls and I played with their flashcards and then their fishing game and then we headed downstairs to wake up Uncle Joey to say we wanted him to make us a Fun Friday breakfast. Yes - it's only Wednesday - but we're rule breakers here. So we had a Fun Friday breakfast and then got dressed and I brought them to Pete's moms house.

Getting them to the car was a challenge today. But we did it. I carried them and off we went. Then I went to work.

Pete and I talked a lot over email today. We finally got the information back that we've been waiting on to buy a house. So added to our daily agenda will be house searches. We're going to look at some this weekend - and putting the condo on the market. Sell sell sell! And then buy buy buy!! Lol. No rush though - we looked at over 100 (yes we physically walked through more than 100) houses before finding our condo. So I'm sure this will be an even longer process.

After work I picked up the girls and brought them home. Little Brother was here to help out. Pete was not - he is at a focus group making more $ for a house! ;-)

The girls went down with no problem tonight. We played hard and long before bedtime - and they didn't get to bed until 7:00...so they were sleepy. Let's hope it stays that way.

Now - I'm off to house hunt online. Let the search begin........

Day 73

I'm sleepy so this will be short. Hannah woke up at 10pm last night and cryed for an hour. Michelle rubbed here back and as soon as she stopped Hannah would start crying. She wants to be in our bed. Not going to happend. Michelle brought Hannah into our room and we both calmed her down and kept telling her she needs to sleep in her crib like her sissters. Michelle put her back in her crib and after a few minutes she was asleep. This morning we got up late and we were bringing the girls to my mom's house so we had to hurry. I got the girls dressed while Michelle showered. Together we got out of the house and to work on time. Team work. The girls had a great time at my mom's playing, they got to see my sister, they like going over there. When they got home Uncle Joey was there so they were all happy and ran over to him. They played with him while we got dinner on the table. After dinner it was bath, brush teeth, read books, and to bed. They went to sleep at 7pm it is now 9:30pm and they are still sleeping. Lets hope they stay sleeping.

Day 72

Hannah slept through the night. So so did we. Today is Monday, back to work for us. My mom came to our house to watch the girls today. They had a good day playing with their dolls and putting puzzles together. I was very busy at work today, not going in on Friday really put me behind. Not much else to say it was a pretty uneventful day.

Day 71

Hannah was up from 11:00 - 1:00...screaming. I brought her downstairs once and so did Pete. She eventually fell asleep in her crib though. We're tired to say the least.

But the days must go on of course. And in the morning they are fine. We all got up at 7:00 this morning. After some milk and playing we decided to go out to eat at Denny's. The girls were fantastic as usual. We played with crayons and colored, stuck some stickers and said 'hello' to a few nice people. The girls ate and ate and ate...they eat so much it's unbelievable how tiny they are. The waitress was super as well. She kept commenting on how well behaved the girls were and how much patience we have. Lol...well she hasn't seen us in the middle of a nightly melt down but that's ok. When breakfast was over we were waiting for the check and it was taking longer than usual. We decided we'd put our jackets on and maybe that would get things moving. Then...

The manager comes out to say 'You're probably wondering where your check is. But I'm here to tell you that the couple sitting behind you took care of it before they left. Your meal was paid in full and we hope you enjoyed it.' OMG are you kidding me? That's amazing! If this couple only knew how much this meant to us. We've been in such a slump this past week and just not getting along and it really made our day to know that there really are nice people in the world. I did ask the waitress if she knew who the couple was but she said "No. They come in once a week and they pay for their own meal - and then they chose to pay for someone else's meal as well. Today they chose your family.' Well that's PERFECT! I said I would mail her a thank you card and she assured me it would get into the right hands. I still can't believe it.

After breakfast we headed over to Kohl's for some xmas shopping. I'm a good shopper and find some decent deals. But today was this years 'deal of the year'. I can't say what I bought - they were xmas presents and of course the people receiving these gifts read the blog. But I can tell you this...the total spent was $197. The total saved was $475. That's right...$475!!!! Xmas shopping was fun today ;-) The girls were great in the store (not something they are known for at Kohl's for some reason).

Then we headed home to take naps later than usual. I had a presentation to work on and Pete did some stuff around the house. When the girls all woke up we had lunch and just hung out at home for the rest of the day. It was a nice relaxing afternoon actually.

Then it was time for dinner, baths, pj's, read books (with Uncle Joey too tonight!) and in bed. They were a bit restless before going to sleep but at the moment - they are ALL sleeping. I don't even have hopes they'll stay that way because I know better. But I also know that I'm going to bed early to prepare myself for a long night before a Monday morning.

Today was a great day! (I'm excluding last night as part of 'today'). The girls were in amazing moods, we found out there really are nice people in the world still, we got a superb deal on some xmas gifts and the girls made me laugh so much today. I love that. I love them.

Day 70

Last night was far beyond bad. I jinxed it by saying that these nights haven't been the 'worst'. Thank you dear Lord for proving me wrong once again. Hannah screamed ie: screamed at the top of her lungs while throwing herself against her crib - that kind of scream...from 10:30 until 1:00 this morning. That's not a typo. That's 3 & 1/2 hours of listening to her scream. I went in several times, Pete went in several times. Each time she would calm down and want to be picked up. At one point I brought her downstairs and I layed on the couch while she screamed in the living room throwing her fit on the floor. The other two slept through it all luckily. I brought her back upstairs and she was nice and calm...until I put her back in her crib. The once again - the screaming began. At 1:00 I went and brought her back downstairs...and pretty much flipped out. How can ONE child scream FOR SO LONG? Reason was beyond me. Wouldn't she just get so tired she would fall asleep? You would think so - but nope. Won't she lose her voice from this? Apparently not. I had to make Pete come downstairs and deal with her. I was DONE. She got on my last nerve and I couldn't take it anymore. He slept on the couch with her until the other 2 woke up at 6:30.

So that's a whole 5 hours of sleep we got last night - again. We went to MyGym and came home. Once home it was time for naps. Yeah right. You guessed it - she screamed and screamed and screamed. I ended up going to get all 3 of them because she was keeping them all up. We get downstairs and Hannah's still screaming and crying. Done! I left and went to help my aunt move. She was moving to a new place and there was no way I was staying her for one more minute with this screaming kid.

I came back a few hours later and they were fine. Until bedtime. Once again - she's screaming and screaming and screaming. 1/2 hour it took her to fall asleep. And tonight - she can wake up the Pope for all I care. I'm not even going in her room. Oh - she also likes to smash her forehead against her crib in a fit of rage so she has a nice bruise dead center of her head now. I am considering sleeping the car tonight. But that's probably not legal to leave your kids in the house while you're in your car. Wish I had a garage...that would be legal I think.

I get so angry. I know that when she's having a meltdown I can easily redirect her to something else (during the day - not while she's suppose to be sleeping). But in order to take control of her I need to take control of my anger 1st. Because when I'm angry I don't care to redirect her. I just want her to find a way to console herself and get over her diva attitude. I know this post is harsh and I'm sure I'll delete it before they're old enough to read. I probably wouldn't want to read something like this from my past. But this is true life. This is what we go through and this what we're dealing with right now. Not the lollipops and giggles of toddler hood. And I'm sure like clockwork she's going to wake up between 10:00 and 10:30 tonight and we'll have yet another sleepless night. A night of yelling and screaming and blaming each other for who's fault it is that she's crying. Wondering if the neighbors have had enough (one mentioned to me yesterday that she can hear Hannah crying at night). One has already banged on the walls - I guess just to let us know she can hear us? Because she has to be smart enough to know that banging on the wall isn't going to calm the situation.

This phase needs to pass quickly.

Day 69

The night was long last night. Hannah spent about the whole night in our bed. It's hard not to just go in and get her and just let her sleep in our bed when that's all it takes to keep her from screaming. We're tired. Exhausted is more like it. I get it now - I understand why people let kids sleep in their beds. But I'm not caving that easily. Pete and I agreed after talking today - she'll cry all night long if that's what it takes tonight. I just don't want them getting use to sleeping our bed. We both stayed home today - and we both slept when they slept today. It will probably be a long night but she's staying in her own crib. As are the other two.

The medication that Emily started today didn't have the horrible side effects they warned us about. But it also didn't work to clear up her cough either. Ugh.

I have these moment during the day and I'm having them more and more often lately. I stop and look around as if I'm having an out of body experience. I wonder how we got here and I wonder how our parents did it. I wonder how any parents do it. Are we doing this right? Because this is it - one shot deal. No more tries after these 3 so if we mess up we don't get a 2nd chance at this. But then again - does anyone? Today - we were out and on the way home I must have heard a commercial about how heart disease is the #1 silent killer of women. No kidding! That's because we're mothers! And our kids give us so much to worry about! LOL

Today was ok. The girls all had some moments that drove Pete and I crazy but we agreed that it gets to us more because it's constant. When Emily was laughing and giggling - Hailey was crying and whining. When Hailey was finally laughing and giggling - Hannah was crying and whining. Some days it's non stop. We have 3 - so pretty much on the off days - there's always someone crying. And this is what gets to us. There's no break. No break from the whining, crying, screaming.......and it's hard to focus on the giggling and laughing when you've been worn down for so long. And we know these days also aren't going to last forever (please don't tell me not to wish away their lives because these are the 'best' times). All 3 are going through the same stages at the same time. That means we're having a hard time communicating with not one, not two - but three toddlers right now. They don't know how to tell us what they want, need or what's wrong. We don't know how to interpret their needs and desires as they become more complex. When we get one of them content - another one needs something. And so on.

I'm not complaining - just putting it out there that this isn't the easiest time of parenthood that we've had so far. It's also not the worst (go back to the girls blog and read the earlier days when I was breastfeeding...those days still take the cake!).

Day 68

The massage last night was wonderful. And that's where the wonderful night ended. The girls were up - Pete and I got about a total of 4 hours of sleep (and that wasn't all at once). I'm done. Done with the screaming, sick, inconsolable babies. We didn't sign up for this. Sleepless nights one after the other are not good for the mind/body/soul of parenthood. Hannah's persistence is something I'll admire one day - just not today.

Emily has to take a new medication for her cough. She's had a dry, nonproductive cough for a couple of weeks now. The doctor said if the antibiotic (that she's taking for her ear infections) didn't do anything for the cough then she would give her something else. So this new med will more likely than not: make her throw up, give her the jitters, shakes and make her restless. Sounds like fun huh? Because that's exactly what I was looking for after a week of no sleep. Funny - I don't see any regular criticisers here helping out. Oh that's right...they're all home snug in their beds. Hmmmm.

It's 10:20 and I'm not even upstairs getting ready for bed. Why? Because Hannah is up. Pete finally went up there to get her and I'm refusing to go up there and be in the same room with her. Yup. That's right - I put it in black and white. Call child services...go ahead. I dare you. Because I'll chew them up and spit them out faster than they can say 'You're doing a great job!'

I'll be home with the girls again tomorrow. The days seem to be better than the nights so I'm sure it won't be so bad in the morning. But getting from point A of the night to point B of the morning is going to be rough.

Day 67

Well all 3 have ear infections. Last night Hannah was up all night she just couldn't get comfortable. Michelle took all 3 to the doctor while I had to go to work. She brought Emily to ask about her persistent cough she has. The doctor says the antibiotic will get ride of it. Once we finish giving them the antibiotic we are bringing them back to the doctor to make sure the ear infections are gone. Even though the girls were not feeling good they had a good day. Michelle played with them, read them books and they had fun in CVS with all the x-mas stuff while waiting for the Rx. Hannah didn't take a nap today only slept in the car for like 15 minutes so she was a bit cranky at dinner time. She put up a fight not wanting to sit in her chair and eat. It took some coxing but we got her to eat. Then it was jammies, brush teeth, read books and bed time. Hope they sleep tonight I am so tired. Michelle had an opportunity to go get a free massage tonight from a massage school. A well deserved break. She does so much for all of us. She is the one that keeps this household together and she doesn't get a chance to take a break and do something for just herself so I'm sure she is loving the break tonight.

Day 66

Emily has an ear infection in both ears. She was up all night. Poor baby was burning up and couldn't get comfortable. I brought her to the doctor and they prescribed an antibiotic. Michelle brought Hailey and Hannah to my mom's and I stayed home with Emily. Emily was so whiny she didn't want to eat or anything. I got her to sleep for 2 hours after we got back from the doctors. From the doctors I went straight to CVS to get her Rx. They are doing constructor next to CVS and when I pulled in Emily started pointing and saying "big truck". There was a cement truck, she loves trucks. Michelle got home with Hailey and Hannah at 5:30, they were so happy to see Emily. We all ate dinner and then we gave the girls a bath. Emily didn't want anything to do with a bath tonight so Michelle washed her up quick and got her out of there while I washed Hannah and Hailey. Emily went right to sleep but Hailey and Hannah cried for an hour before falling asleep.

Day 65

I'm totally annoyed tonight. Just got home from school - and still have a ton to do. Welcome to the 'real' life part of this blog. It doesn't stop with the kids - there's laundry, cleaning, food, clothes, decorating, homework, 'picking up' and so on. Just no end to it all. And when one thing doesn't get done - it's just a downward spiral from there. Phone calls to the doctors office for the H1N1 - still on a waiting list. Phone call to MyGym for permission to bring a friend this week. Phone call to my eye doc to cancel and appt (it's not like I have time for me). My mother is back in the hospital - again - for the hundredth time this year. Phone call to her making sure she's 'fine'. Literally looking at 4 loads of laundry in baskets in front of me and knowing that there are literally 4 more upstairs - all need to be folded and put away. Not tonight. Just done.

And you know what kills me? That a million and 10 people think they can do this shit better than we can. Yeah - where the hell are they right now? I don't see a damn person folding my laundry. I certainly don't see anyone doing my homework or dishes. Doesn't look like anyone got the girls clothes ready for tomorrow or made a list of 20 more people they have to call when the business day opens. Nope - they're all home snuggled in their beds sleeping peacefully - probably dreaming up more ways to annoy the hell out of me by telling me what I'm doing wrong next. I'm just going to end it here. This is going nowhere good. Tomorrow is a new day.

Day 64

The girls slept from 5:30 last night until 7:00 this morning. Yippie! We dragged our feet for the morning. Got up, had a lazy breakfast and just hung out and played with toys all morning. Uncle Pete (one of my other brothers) came to visit us today so he was here hanging out and playing toys too.

I went shopping last night after the girls went to bed - and I shopped until 10:00! I ended up buying the girls a fishing game where you hold a fishing pole and try to catch fish when they open their mouth (ummm...duh right? Lol). I thought it might help with their hand/eye coordination. Hailey has it down pat but Emily and Hannah need to work on it some more. The 3 of them (and us) love the game though so it's a big hit. We spent a lot of time playing that today.

When the girls went down for their naps Pete went to a few stores to get a few things he needed to some 'Mr. Fix it' stuff in the house. My brother was here most of the morning and into the afternoon until he had to go to work so we just hung out and chatted.

The girls woke up and we FINALLY got out of our pj's and put some real clothes on. Then we decided to go to the mall and visit Uncle Joey at work. We walked the girls in (less attraction without the wagon) but we ended up carrying them most of the time. I'll bring the wagon from now on - they're heavy! Lol! My arms were soooo tired by the end of the mall trip that we skipped our planned stop at Babies R Us and headed right to the grocery store.

We shopped. And shopped. And shopped. How on earth do people feed families with more than 3 children?!?! Ugh! The girls did really great at the store. No complaining (thank-you-very-much Fruit Loops). My new found love in life is Fruit Loops. They are colorful and yummy! And most of all - the girls love them! Yup...full of sugar I know. But we limit their sugar intake already so what we do give them is just fine.

Then it was home to unload groceries and play some more. Oh - Pete bought a new storage bin for the girls toys so I spent some time rearranging their toys in the living room. I can't seem to part with any of them right now - so basically we just added one more big thing in the living room instead of downsizing and giving ourselves more space. Oh well. I'll work on that.

We had dinner, changed into pj's, brushed teeth, read books and in the cribs they went. Pete and I cleaned up a bit - he did some Mr. Fix it things and now we're both on the couch lounging. I need to make some peanut butter fudge for him to bring to an office party tomorrow. I should be working out. My energy level isn't up to par though. I'm sleeeeeeeeeeepy after this weekend. I still have laundry to do and packing up the girls clothes for a few days because I have school tomorrow night.

Only 3 more nights of class till the semester is over! I took 2 classes next semester too but one of them is online. But the other class is twice a week for 2 hours. I like having to go only once a week but I'm at the point where I have to take what's offered because the classes I need are for my major so there's not as many classes offered. We'll manage though - we always do.

Tidbit: I bring snacks and juice to the grocery store so the girls have something to munch on while we're shopping. I get hungry looking at all that food - so I can imagine they do too.

Day 63

We made it. Nuff said. Ok - I'll elaborate. We made it - in one piece, all of us, no traffic, only a few tears, lots of french fries (but only one pit stop), donuts, juice, songs, napping and climbing from front to back (just mommy on that last one). Home and sleeping now.

There's no place like home.

Day 62

The girls woke up around 6:30 this morning. Last night was great - they only fussed a few times but nothing that needed our intervention. Pete and I slept on the pull out sofa bed in the livingroom so the girls wouldn't wake up, see us and then want to climb in bed with us.

Once they got up we went down to the lobby and had breakfast. And coffee of course. Then we came back up to the room, changed into our swim suits and went swimming! The girls loved it. The water was kind of cool so we didn't stay too long. But they had a great time splashing and playing in the water.

After that we decided to get dressed for the day and then we put the girls down for a nap around 9:30 (a little earlier than usual but this way we wouldn't have to leave and then come back for naps). They slept until noon and then it was up and out we went!

We headed to Pete's cousins and spent the rest of the day with family. We all took a drive to a place...ummmmm...let's just call it a rock forest? I have no idea what the place was called - but you walked a little bit and then in an open field there were just hundreds/thousands of rocks. Big and small! People brought hammers to chip off pieces and bring them home. I guess if you walked a bit further there was a waterfall as well but it was too cold for the girls so we headed back pretty quickly.

Sooooo we (Pete, me and Pete's sister Rosemary) decided a D&D run was in order to fend off the chill. We tried to search for a D&D in the GPS but the nearest one was 37 miles away (does that tell you how far out in the woods we were?!?!) so we tried Starbucks instead. The GPS said it was 8 miles away. The GPS lied. Miserably. It took us an hour to not get coffee but instead to finally hit the drive thru at Burger King for soda's and french fries. And a few dirt roads later - we were back on track. The girls were pretty good during the ride so it wasn't so bad. But don't ask Pete about it....he gets heated when it comes to dirt roads and driving. LOL

There were 2 rounds of dinner planned. One for the kids and one for the adults. I ate with the kids because I was bringing the girls back to the hotel so they could get some sleep and Pete was staying behind to visit with his family. The great thing about this was that I got to eat an entire meal...ONE WHOLE MEAL - without tending to my children!!!!!!!!! Amazing. I know! Since the other adults were eating later - they all took care of the girls and fed them while I ate, and ate, and ate some more (and would have continued to eat had it not been a time issue). It was great.

The girls and I get back to the hotel and head up to the room - at the very end of the hall. The key doesn't work. Shoot. So we take of our coats and leave our stuff on the floor in front of the door and head back down to the front desk. They heard us coming and had an idea that we had a problem with the key. She gave us another key and off we went. Well wouldn't you know that this key wasn't working either? Lol - this time she came upstairs and used a 3rd key - and luckily this one worked.

In we go. I get the girls in their pj's, give them a bit of milk, brush teeth, read books and in the pack-n-plays they went. They cried for all of about 30 seconds before zonking out. Now I'm trying my hardest to set up a breakfast with my cousin Kelsey. She isn't too far from us and I'm hoping we can meet in the morning - I haven't seen her in so long and it would just make my day to be able to have breakfast with her! We'll see.

I'll probably be sleeping when Pete gets back...I'm so tired! We leave to come back home tomorrow and I'm a little nervous about the drive. The drive down here was so uneventful I'm sort of worried it was the calm before the storm! But again...we shall see.

Day 61

We made it! And with no problems!!!! We were up at 6:30 this morning and just had a casual morning of waking up and getting ready. Pretty much everything was packed last night so there were a few minor things to finish packing this morning.

Uncle Joey cooked us a BIG breakfast before we left and we were out the door and on the road by 9:30 as planned. The GPS said we would be at our destination (The Courtyard Marriott) by 1:30. Hmmm...we thought it was only 3.5 hours but looks like a little bit longer. That's ok - we'll get there. So we drive and drive and drive and the girls are amazing. They're just talking, singing and playing.

At 11:00 we made our 1st pit stop. We wanted to change the girls before they fell asleep. So we stopped at a convenience store off the highway right when we got into NY. We had a snack, some juice, changed diapers and then back in the van to get back on the road. We were only stopped for 20 minutes. The girls fell asleep shortly after that - maybe around 12:00.

We're driving and driving and driving and all of a sudden Pete says 'Huh. The GPS says we only have 9 miles left.' Well that can't be right...it's only 1:00 and we stopped on the way. But ok. That's cool! We decide to pull off to a McDonald's and pick up lunch to bring back to the hotel. But ummmm...it's Thanksgiving and they're closed! Oh no! Haha...looks like we can snack on some Fruit Loops until we come up with a better plan.

We get to the hotel and Pete checks in while I stay in the car with the girls. And I'm learning how much fun Fruit Loops can be! Not only are they yummy - but they're colorful and can serve a great deal of education when telling the girls what color to eat next! Pete comes out and says 'we're checked in and they upgraded us to a Suite because they felt so bad about the crib vs pack-n-play situation.' OMG are you kidding me?!?! That's FANTASTIC!

So in we go and sure enough - the room is HUGE. There is a separate bedroom, living room, bathroom and mini kitchen! This is great! PERFECT for what we need (minus the cribs...lol). Pete's parents and sister were right behind us checking in so they all pretty much took care of the girls while Pete and I unloaded the van and got everything unpacked. Oh - we found some milk and a microwavable mac-n-cheese at the store in the hotel.

After we were all unpacked and changed into our Thanksgiving outfits we headed out the door to drive the 20 minutes to dinner. The girls were good...until dinner time. By that point they were starting to show their lack of a decent nap and didn't exactly want to sit down at the table. Pete and I are pretty strict about the rules though - when it's time to eat, we all sit down - no excuses. So the girls were at the table and were being good for a little bit (although they weren't eating). But eventually Hannah had it and just melted down. Pete waited a few minutes before taking her to another room and then we decided it was time to go. It was 6:00 by this point and we knew we still had an hour or so before the girls got to bed.

So we said our goodbyes and off we went. Came back to the hotel where the girls gobbled down a couple waffles (why they don't eat when it's dinner time is beyond me but they were pretty hungry when we got back here). Then it was time for pj's, brushing teeth, reading books and in the........pack-n-plays! Oh yeah. We were prepping them all day as much as we could. We put their bunnies/bears in there and we kept showing them 'this is where you're sleeping tonight'.

They were crying and crying and crying for about 4 minutes before falling asleep. Wow. I'm not sure we escaped unscathed on this one though...we'll see how the rest of the night pans out but the outlook is good!

It was great to see family and get to mingle a bit. I know we had to eat and run but it won't be forever. One day the girls will go to bed later than 6 or 7! (But not too soon I hope). LOL

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!!!!!

Day 60

Our feet hit the floor at 6:00. The girls were going to Pete's parents house today so Pete got them dressed and fed while I got myself ready. Then the 4 of us headed out and left Pete behind to a nice quiet house where he was able to get ready in some peace!

I dropped the girls off and headed to work.

Worked.

Pete got out at 3:00 today so he was able to come home and get a jump start on everything that we needed to do in order to be ready for our trip tomorrow. I'm still frustrated over this whole pack-n-play vs crib situation. We're still going...and we're going to do our best to have the girls sleep in the pack n plays but I don't have high hopes that they are going to sleep well.

I got out of work and went to pick up the girls. Emily was kind of whiny when I got there. Pete's dad was home and Titi Rosemary only worked 1/2 day so the girls had plenty of people to play with today. I think Emily was just in need of some 'Emmie' time. She tends to get overstimulated very easily and when she's overwhelmed her behavior shows it. She whines, pushes, bites, gets into things she normally wouldn't get into and so on. Sometimes all she needs is 5 or 10 minutes all to herself. I think that's where she was tonight when I got there. I just held her for a few minutes and let her chill out for a bit. I also think she was very tired because she went right down to bed tonight and didn't even want to eat dinner.

Anyhow - we tried to feed the girls dinner. Pete made home made pizza - yummy! Hannah & Hailey ate but Emily just wanted to go to bed. So we finished up dinner, took baths, got in pj's, read books and off to sleep.

Then it was time to pack. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. We kept it to a minimum. We're only gone for 3 days and 2 nights. So hopefully we have what we need and don't forget anything important!

Not sure if we'll be able to post until we get back but we'll try. ;-)

Have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Day 59

We got up 6:00am. We had to move it today I had a 7:30am appointment for an oil change on the van. Need to get it ready for our trip to NJ. The girls did well today, drawing pictures and playing with puzzles. Michelle called the hotel we are staying at to find out what brand of cribs they have, lots of them recalled. Well it turns out they don't even have cribs they have pack n plays. They use the word crib but mean pack n play. What?! There is a big difference the girls need cribs not pack n plays. There are no matrices in pack n plays. They are to big for pack n plays. Michelle spends the rest of the afternoon taking with hotel managers and corporate people to see if they can provide what they clearly describe on their website as cribs for us. Long story short do not stay at a Courtyard Marriott hotel if you want a crib. They may advertise that they have cribs but they use that word "interchangeably" with pack n play. I have Googled staying in a hotel with kids to see what other people have done in this situation. It is amazing the things I found. From letting the child sleep with them to letting them sleep in the car seat carrier. Yeah, I don't think so. Maybe if we only had one baby this wouldn't be an issue but we have three. If one wakes up they all wake up and we don't sleep, and there physically is no room for all 5 of us in a bed. Trust me I tried. I don't know what we are going to do about this, still brainstorming. The girls have been sleeping since 7pm and it is now 10:45pm. I need sleep. Cousin Kate came to visit tonight so we are going to bed a little later than usual. Nothing is ready for tomorrow, nothing is packed for our trip. Tomorrow should be a fun day. Good night.

Day 58

Haha...I just put 'Day 58' in the log in box! Nothing like logging in before posting. Our feet hit the floor at 6:00. We call came downstairs and Pete fed the girls while I got ready for work. We didn't dress the girls because Donna was coming and so was my mom. So the two of them handled it. Then Pete's mom came and took over for the rest of the day.

Pete and I went to work. Then I went to school and he came home. He should be writing tonight's post - I have no idea what went on here today!

I came home from school early...don't tell anyone but I skipped my 2nd class (shhhhhhh) - I have a lot of packing to do for our trip!!!!!!!!!

Now we're looking at pics on the computer trying to pick out ones for this years xmas cards. That's not packing. But it's something productive!

Day 57

We thought the girls would sleep late today since they didn't get to bed until almost 8:00 last night. Lol...I should know better though. Nope...they were up at 6:00 like clockwork. And to top that off...they only took a 1 hour nap today. I'm not upset about it...I just know how tired they can get. But they did fine today.

We went to MyGym to make up for a class that we missed when they were sick. After the gym we came home and while the girls slept - Pete and I went grocery shopping. Little Brother was here to watch them. They were up by the time we got home from shopping so they ate lunch while we put away groceries.

After lunch we (me, Pete, Little Brother and all of the girls) decided to jump in the car and drive to Brianna's basketball game. It was about 25 minutes to get there and we got there late...but we saw her play most of the game and even though they lost - it was a good game! The girls were amazed by the players running up and down the court. It was fun to watch them watching! Haha. After the game we stopped at some of the shops they have in Simsbury and walked around. We got ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery, went to Borders and then Walgreens for some Neosporin for Hannah's face. Hopefully there won't be a scar but if there is - I think it will be small.

We thought about getting dinner someplace but decided it was getting late and the girls needed to get home for a bit of down time and then dinner and a bath. So home we went. While Pete was making dinner I was watching the girls play. I acted like I was doing laundry so they didn't notice me and I realized that all 3 of them were playing 'make believe' with their babies. Emily was feeding her horse. Hannah was feeding her bear. And Hailey was pushing her baby in the stroller but stopped to give her a kiss...on the foot. So cute! Oh - and Emily has to have a coffee mug every time we leave the house now. I pretty much don't leave home without my coffee so now that's 'her thing' too. Except today she didn't put it down for anything! I'm surprised she didn't put up a fuss about taking it to bed.

The girls went down no problem tonight after their bath. Hannah is doing fine - she didn't even complain today at all. She did see herself in the mirror when we got in the car (we have mirrors on the headrests of the seats so we can see them in our rear view mirror). When she saw herself she pointed to her forehead and said 'uh oh...boo boo'. But that was it. We did give her Tylenol and Motrin all day. I would have a huge headache if I got knocked in the face with a laptop so my guess was that she wouldn't be feeling 100% today.

Tomorrow starts another week. We're going to NJ for Thanksgiving and we're staying in a hotel for the 1st time. The hotel does have 3 cribs (and only 3 cribs so we made sure they were ours to use). I'm nervous...very very very nervous about this trip. More so the drive than anything else. The girls don't do very well in the car (hence the lack of 'vacations' we've taken). The drive is about 3 hours without traffic. Without is the key word. We are leaving Thanksgiving morning - so if you could all be at your desired destinations by then and free up the road for us - that would be much appreciated. Thanks. ;-)

Tidbit: I hate hate hate non slip tub mat thingies. Hate them! When I had my cleaning business I saw how nasty dirty moldy they got and I just can't stand them. But we need one. The girls little behinds go slipping and sliding all over the place if we don't have one in the tub when they take a bath. So to avoid the 'mess' - I put a towel on the bathroom floor (thankfully our bathroom is big enough to do this) and I take the mat out after their bath. We've had it since last xmas (of course I never would have though to buy one myself - so my mom was kind enough to buy it for the girls) and it still looks like new. I give it scrub down every time I clean the bathroom but it really - it's been clean and mold free since day one. I don't particularly love the mat on the towel on the floor deal - but we pick our battles. I'd rather battle the mat/towel/floor obstacle than the moldy nasty dirty grime every time I take a shower.

Day 56

Here's a true day in our shoes. We had a great day. We got up, went to MyGym, came home - the girls all took a 3 hour nap. I cleaned my car while Pete did some stuff inside. When the girls woke up we all ate lunch and then I decided to take them for a long walk. Pete wasn't feeling so great today so he stayed behind. We walked and walked and walked some more. (I walked - they rode in the wagon...lol). We found our way to Dairy Queen (ours is year round because it's a DQ Grill & Chill). The girls enjoyed some ice cream while sitting in the booth like big girls. Then we made our way home.

We're home and hanging out and having some fun. But it's time to make dinner. So I (being such a nice mommy) thought it would be ok for the girls to watch one of their favorite Kid Songs video's on youtube. We set up the laptop like we always do - on the TV tray table stand thing. Then the girls sit on the floor and they can see the laptop. But that's not good enough sometimes - they need to get up and touch the computer and play with it and get all excited about the animals they see and touch the screen...and so on.

I'm in the kitchen and Pete is in the living room. I hear 'Oh No!' and turn my head. Just in time to see the entire table and both laptops come crashing down. What I didn't see was Hannah under it all. Then I hear Pete say 'I need you NOW!' so I'm there in a millisecond. I see Hannah and pull her out from the mess, look at her and say 'Pete - ice - now'. He's getting something cold while I'm trying to find out where all the freakin' blood is coming from. Blood - everywhere. I didn't see where she got hit so I don't know where to look. Pete is telling me 'the computers smashed her right in the face!' I think she broke her nose. That can only explain all the blood. But I'm wiping her face and it just keeps bleeding. I'm now sitting on the kitchen floor putting ice on her mouth. She busted both her upper and lower lips wide open...and that's where the blood was coming from. As we sit there - I give her a popsicle and Pete puts Emily & Hailey in their highchairs with a pop as well. They're safe & happy and now we can focus on Hannah. We're still sitting on the floor and she has a big gash on her forehead...in addition to a cut on the side of her head, a scrape down her cheek, two bloody lips and we're thinking (at the time) a missing tooth. She's a mess. I'm watching her head swell. I look at Pete and I honestly don't know what to do. "Pete. What do I do?" He doesn't know either. How can he know? Even I don't know.

Ok - we decide that yes she needs to go to the hospital. Now how do we get her there? We need 2 people in the car - one to drive and one to keep her away. I call Little Brother but he's too far away. I call my other brother while Pete calls his sister...we both get voice mail. Ok. We have 2 choices: We can call 911 or we can take all 3 kids to the ER. We choose #2 and we're out the door in less than 5 minutes. Literally - we had all 3 kids in the car, buckled and driving within 5 minutes. This is one time I can thank myself for obsessive compulsive behaviors such as making sure we have a bag packed at all times for situations just like this one.

On our way to the hospital I call my friend Lucy and tell her what's going on. She said she'll meet me at the ER. Little Brother will meet us there as well.

We get there and I take Hannah inside while Pete stays in the car with the other two. We need to know how long we'll be here before making a decision on whether or not he should take them right home. The ER is jam packed. But they take Hannah in right away (apparently she looked bad enough for them to see her immediately). Everything was happening so quickly and there were 3 different medical personnel that came to see her within 5 minutes. During that time one of them said that she may have to be sedated and she can't eat for 6 hours before that happens (so I'll have to take away the crackers that she's holding on to...not even eating). Great. 6 hours.

Pete calls and says Lucy is there. I call him and ask if Lucy can take the girls home, have little brother meet her at home instead of coming to the hospital and then Pete can stay with me and Hannah. Plan works out well. Lucy takes the van with Emily & Hailey. Pete puts Hannah's car seat in Lucy's Mercedes (sweet Jesus she let us take the Benz!).

Hannah gets the A Ok that she won't need sedation and now we're waiting for the ER doc to come look her over. Still not sure if she'll need stitches in her head but all is looking up. Her mouth is HUGE. The nurse comes and gives her another popsicle to keep the swelling down. And her forehead is starting to look horrible. (and I'm starting to feel guilty for letting them watch a show on the stupid computer!).

Pete comes in the room. Then the doc comes in the room. He was amazing - explained so much to us that we didn't know and he was super nice. I thought 'Oh Lord they're going to DCF and take my kids away' but he said 'I see at least 3 kids a day that have something drop on their head from home and this here (he points to Hannah) is exactly the BEST situation you can have in a situation like this one.' She'll be fine. No stitches needed because they might actually cause more of a scar than she will have without them. Her lips will heal and she didn't lose a tooth(poor kid looks like a platypus) and......she'll probably never touch the damn computer again.

THIS is the exact kind of situation where it's different to have one vs 3. These are the days when it's plain hard. We can't just drop 2 of them off somewhere. And we can't have just anyone come take care of them for a few hours. With one...we both would have just gotten in the car and gone. But we had to make so many more decisions in such a short period of time. These are the days that are going to make our hair grey.

All in all - the day ended with us getting home and being able to put all 3 of them to bed (a couple hours late). And thank God Hannah is ok. Because the weight of 2 laptops on her poor little face is impossible for even me to imagine and I'm here to live it. That poor girl. She'll be getting lots of pops in the next couple of days.

Tidbit: I keep a backpack ready to go at all times. ;-)

Day 55

Our feet hit the floor at 5:45. It's almost nice to get up an extra 15 minutes early because really...we've been on time for the past couple of days. Pete got the girls ready while I got myself ready. Then we were off to Pete's parents. Usually Little Brother watches them on Fun Friday's but he couldn't today so Pete's mom watched them.

I went to work and took 1/2 day. Met up with Pete for lunch to realize he took 1/2 day as well (love it!). So we dropped one car off at home and headed to get the girls. We picked them up and took them to Babies R Us so we could get them a potty seat. We bought one that goes on the toilet a while ago but we realize that they each need their own potty. Of course they do. Lol. But we only bought one today so we could try it out and make sure it would fit our needs. And of course they all fought over it. So it looks like we'll be heading back sometime this weekend to buy more.

We headed home and made breakfast for dinner. Eggs, pancakes, tator tots...yummy! Oh - we also bought the girls 'big girl' cups today. We're slowly getting rid of the sippy cups. So I guess we're 'growing up'. I don't want it to happen...but it will. Then we did our usual night time routine.

After the girls went down, I worked out and Pete cleaned up the kitchen (he's still sore from yesterdays workout...hehe). Now we're watching a movie.

I don't see the potty training happening anytime soon - but we're going to start because Hannah and Hailey tell us when they've gone and want to be changed. I'm thinking that's a good sign to get a head start on ditching diapers. I can't imagine what will happen when we don't have to buy diapers anymore. Wow. Just the thought is amazing. I suspect I'll always want to have some wipes around - they've become part of our daily lives...don't know how we lived without them before!

Tidbit: We carry wipes...and lots of them - everywhere we go.

Day 54

Our feet hit the floor at 6:00 this morning. The girls slept all night again last night...which means we did too!

We all got up and ready and were out the door by 7:00...a minor miracle. Girls were in great moods today ;-)

Pete and I worked...........

I picked up the girls after work and Pete had chicken and rice ready for dinner when we got home. Yummy! We all ate dinner then it was time for the usual night time routine. Bath tonight, pj's, brush teeth, read books and in their cribs.

I had to call the doctor on call tonight because the girls ran out of medication sooner than they should have. Basically the doctor said that they all got the amount of medication they were suppose to get - they just got it in fewer days. Lol..ok - if you say so! I'm not too worried about it since this is the 1st round of antibiotics for all 3 of them. They're feeling much better and of course they're acting much better. What happened to the days when the pharmacy would send home a huge bottle of 'pink' medicine and there would be a ton left over? Not anymore! Now they send home 'just' enough (and not even that sometimes from what we just learned). I blame this on the pharmaceutical companies not wanting to lose a single penny over any wasted medication. Oh well - lesson learned. Next time I'll make sure we have enough for the full 10 days.

Pete and I worked out tonight - one of my brother's does CrossFit and showed us a few things to do in order to step it up a notch. I've been doing it for a week now but tonight was Pete's 1st night and he's sore already! Poor guy probably won't be able to walk tomorrow...lol.

Now it's time to get some sleep ourselves. In just one week we'll be gobbling turkey and lots of other yummy food in NJ with some of Pete's family!

Day 53

Emily and Hannah woke up cranky this morning. They were fussy, nothing was making them happy. Hailey however was in a great mood. I got them dressed, feed, and gave them their medicine. Off to grandma's house they go. The girls had a fun time at grandma's even being as cranky as they were. They ate everything in sight today. Potatoes, green beans, apple, meatballs, pasta ... Tonight I bought a pizza for dinner. Oh, the first thing I did when I got home was to change and put a load of laundry in a laundry basket to bring down to the washer. I put my iTouch on top of the laundry in the basket and carry it downstairs to the laundry room. I then put all of the laundry in the washer from the basket and start the washer, then go upstairs to call to order the pizza. The girls come home and we feed them, change them, play, brush teeth, read books, and to bed they go. I then go downstairs to put the laundry in the dryer. Guess what I pulled out of the washer, yup my iTouch. I am so mad! How can I be so brain dead that I forgot about my iTouch in the basket. I'm so mad!

Day 52

After hitting the snooze button a few times we got out of bed at 6:30. We got the girls up and I got them dressed while Michelle got ready for work. We had the girls in the car and off to Grandma's house by 7:15. Then I got ready for work and headed out. Made it to work on time even with a D&D stop. The girls had a fun day playing with their new seesaw that looks like an alligator and running around outside. After work Michelle picked them up and I had dinner ready for when they got home. We ate then gave the girls a bath. Tonight we cut their nails not so fun. After it was time to read books and go to bed. Michelle and I spend a good part of the evening looking through pictures to find the perfect head shots of the girls for x-mas cards. I would say we looked at pictures for about 2 hours and have decided we need to take new ones. Now I need sleep. We both need sleep.

Day 51

Today is Monday. We all got up at 6:15am. That is at least 15 minutes too late. However, with great planning the night before we got the girls dressed, feed, and we accually got to work on time. The girls had a great day today. Had snack outside in the warm sun and took nice long naps. I, daddy, had to stop at CVS on the way home from work so I didn;t get home until 5pm. Michelle has school tonight so I had to make dinner, give the girls their medicine and get the ready for bed. It was smooth sailing tonight, "I got this". Now I am waiting for Michelle to get home so we can get some quality time in.

Day 50

Quiet day at home with the girls today. They were a bit cranky...maybe molars? Who knows...maybe just a full moon or something. Oh well - tomorrow is another day.

Day 49

Today is Saturday and the girls are feeling better. We all get up at 6:30 and get ready to go to MyGym. We picked up Grammie on our way and we had a great time playing at the gym today. We get home and put the girls down for a nap. While they sleep we tackle the house, its a mess from a week off no sleep. After the girls get up from their nap we have lunch and then daddy watches the girls while mommy goes upstairs to clean some more. All in all it was a good day.

Day 48

Feet hit the floor at some point. In a zombie like state we managed to all get dressed and leave - I brought the girls to Pete's moms house and we both went to work. We worked. I remembered to pick up the girls. Got home and did the usual night time routine.

Neeeeeeeed sleeeeeeeeeep...........

Day 47

OMG - rewind, replay and repeat the past 2 days but now insert "Emily" for the child of the conversation. Are you kidding me? For real?!?! This is unreal. Unfreakin'believable!!!

Emily whined and whined until 4:00 this morning - at which point I got up (again...Pete and I had been getting up all night to this point to make sure they were all ok) and got her up out of her crib. Then Hannah woke up so I picked her up so that Hailey didn't wake up. I was a walking zombie by this point. 4:00am and I hadn't slept yet. So I have the two in my arms and before I could make up my mind what I was going to do with them - Emily started throwing up all over me. I run to the bathroom and call for Pete. He takes Emily and holds her over the sink. I take Hannah to our bedroom so I can change. Then we switched. Emily was done throwing up and I took her downstairs to sleep on the couch with me while Pete kept Hannah in bed with him.

Emily slept on top of me on the couch from 4 - 7. Pete had to go to work today - so I stayed home. I got the girls ready and brought Hannah & Hailey to Pete's moms house so that I didn't have to take all 3 to the doctor. Got home with Emily after dropping the other 2 off and she threw up all over me again. And herself. Poor kid. Little Brother had just walked upstairs so he took Emily after I stripped her down and then I went upstairs to change - again.

She slept on the couch some more while I sat next to her. Doctors office called back - appt at 1:00. I know she has an ear infection but I need to bring her just to be sure. Yup - ear infection. Get an Rx. I go to the SAME pharmacy that I got Hailey's Rx (we didn't fill Hannah's as we can just use the bottle of antibiotic that we have for the two of them). But now that 3 of them are taking it...I need another bottle. So I ask the pharmacist to double check the dose/directions of Hailey's with Emily's to make sure it's the same thing because I plan on giving all 3 of them the medicine from the same bottle. Yup - she assures me it's the SAME EXACT Rx. Great. We go to D&D to wait for them to mix the meds. I get a bagel - she gets a donut. I eat my bagel - she doesn't eat her donut.

I get the Rx and in my haste to pick up the other 2 and get all 3 of them home - I don't check the bottle. You would think I should know better. But I give Emily dose #1 in the car wanting to get it into her as soon as possible. Pick up the other 2, get home and get them all inside. Finally go to put Emily's Rx in the fridge when I realize the bottle is different from Hailey's. Why? That doesn't make sense. I asked the pharmacist to check the dose - she said they were the same. I went to the same pharmacy...so both bottle should look exactly alike right? Exactly. But they filled the wrong dose of meds for Emily. Are you fkn kidding me?!?!

I call the pharmacy and get 'oh yeah - ooops. Sorry. Come on down - I'll have another one ready for you when you get here'. Yeah - I live 1/2 hour away from this pharmacy. It was on the way home and it's not like I'm packing up 3 sick kids to come there and get it. But it has to be the same pharmacy so that I don't have to pay for it. WTF I'm pissed. So I say I'll be back later after the kids go to bed.

Pete gets home and we all (Little Brother and Kristin are here) eat dinner, then the usual nighttime routine. After the girls are in bed - Little Brother, Kristin and I leave while Pete stays behind. He cleaned up the mess today ;-) The rest of us went to Brianna's 1st basketball game! (It was good and Bri Bri started!!!).

Then we head to the pharmacy to pick up the Rx. Eh...let's just say that was less than fun because the tech didn't know what was going on. Whatever - I got the right Rx this time.

Now we're all home and I'm going to bed. I hope the girls sleep tonight because we all need it.

Day 46

Rewind. Replay. Repeat yesterday. Insert "Hannah" for "Hailey" and you'll have 'today'. Ear infections AREN'T contagious. But they both have one? Can I see for myself? (well no - I didn't really ask because Pete was the one that brought her to the doctor today while I stayed home with the other two). But I might just have asked if I were there.

Thankfully Pete asked the doctor 'huh?' because what are the chances that 2 of them get ear infections when they've NEVER had one before. Their doctor seems to think that because they've been so congested for the past few weeks that their ear canals are not draining as well and with some mucus build up - it caused an ear infection. There you have it. If they would just let me give them some decongestant like I wanted!!!!!!!! But no...no no no - not until they're older. Blah. I'll abide by the rules - but I don't have to like them. When I'm sick - I head right to the medicine cabinet for something to help. When they're sick - they're expected to suck it up and just deal. Not fair.

Pete and I did take a nap with the girls today because the past 2 nights have just been miserable. We ALL slept 2.5 hours.

And we played with playdough, listened to music, played with baby dolls, went to the store and bought everything to make a pizza, made a pizza, ate the pizza and then took baths, pj's, brush teeth, read books and in the cribs. Sleep my babies! Sleep.

Tidbit: We have a notebook for each of the girls that has all info from every doctors appt they go to. This way we know how much they weighed at their last visit, when their last visit was and so on. Any time one of them goes - their notebook goes with them. We've had them since they came home from the hospital. The 1st few pages are every feeding, diaper change, spit up...you name it and it's there. But eventually we didn't need to write all of that down so now it's just for appts. It's been helpful more than once.

Day 45

Where do I begin. Last night when I wrote this blog I was so preoccupied with how Stellan was doing that I didn't even bother to mention how Hailey was sleeping in my own arms while writing last nights post. So I guess I'll start (over) from when I got home from school last night.

I walked in the door and heard one of the girls screaming upstairs. Little Brother and Pete both said it was Hannah. I didn't think anything of it because when Hannah gets her mind set on someone coming to get her...it takes her a long time to give up. So I did a few things and then checked the monitor. I saw Hailey in her crib crying. I thought this was unusual because Hailey doesn't get up unless one of the other's have woken her. But the other two were sleeping - soundly. So I went up there to pick her up and calm her down. She didn't calm down right away like she usually does. So I took her out of the room and into our room where Pete was doing some work and that's when I realized that it was actually Hailey that was fussing all night - not Hannah. Now my mind is spinning. Hailey does not get up and cry like this.

I brought her downstairs. She's not warm, no fever. She's not even wet so she doesn't need a diaper change. I try to give her something to drink but she didn't want it. Something to eat - didn't want that either. Hmmmm. So I sit on the couch with her and she puts her head on my shoulder and falls asleep. Now I'm thinking maybe she just needed some mommy time and she'll stay asleep. But she wakes up, fusses, goes back to sleep. Same cycle a few times. I say to Little Brother 'I think she has a tummy ache or something because something isn't right with her'. Pete comes downstairs and is sitting next to me. We're trying to figure out what's up. Maybe growing pains? Teeth? But she hasn't been chewing on things. She was fine all day. She ate well, slept well, played well. Nothing at all out of the ordinary.

Then...she threw up all over Pete. OH! So THAT'S what's wrong!!! I started to bring her to the kitchen when I thought she was done but she started to throw up again. And don't ask me what I was thinking other than 'confine the mess' because I immediately aimed her toward Pete to let her finish throwing up. And call it a Daddy's love for his baby girl because he sat there and tried to catch it (you all like that mental image?). She finally finished and between Little Brother, Pete and myself we get everything cleaned up (including Hailey) and make the decision to let her sleep in our bed.

Sleep. Didn't. Come. She was up fussing and whining all night long. She didn't throw up again but every single time we would lay down she started crying. She fell asleep if we were holding her sitting up. (Does any mom know where I'm going with this? Because I was clueless...CLUELESS!). Morning comes and Pete and I call out of work. Hailey has a fever now.

She's sick - that much we know. We're tired. Pete brings Hannah and Emily (who are fine) to his moms house and I stay here with Hailey. She took a nap for an hour and 1/2 on me while I was on the couch.

Pete comes home and at 9:15 I call the doctor (that's when they open). At this point I've decided that Hailey has the flu. Downscaled because she got the flu vaccine...but the flu none the less. I mean let's think about the symptoms: Vomiting - check, cough - check, fever - check, loss of appetite - check, fussiness - check. What else could it be?

Call to the doctors office: Me: I'd like to make an appt for my daughter Hailey to be seen. I think she has the flu. Receptionist: Would you like a call from our advice nurse on what to do? Me: (thinking...I'm pretty sure I just said I want an appt) No - I'd like an appt. She was born 2 months premature and if she has any respiratory problem she'll need to be checked out. Receptionist books an appt for 11:15.

Get to the doctor. Hailey has a fever of 99.0 with Tylenol and she's lost weight since her last appt. This is a HUGE disappointment for me. I try so hard to get her to gain weight and for her to go backwards just kills me inside. The doctor comes in and gets all the info from us and agrees that yes - she does indeed sound like she's got the flu. She'll do a swab to check and be sure. But 1st - let's check her out.

Lungs sound good (especially when Hailey is crying and say 'no no no' while the doctor tries to listen with her stethoscope...lol). Eyes are good. Throat looks fine. Ears - OMG she has a really bad ear infection! What?!?! An ear infection???? She's never had one of those before! None of them had! Wait - can that make her throw up? Yup. She was in so much pain that she vomited the poor thing! And that explains the fact that she would sleep sitting up but not when we would lay down. Hmm...now I get it.

So - we went to get her very 1st antibiotic filled at the pharmacy and while we waited went next door and had lunch at Boston Market. Hailey ate sweet potatoes and mac-n-cheese. Then we came home and she played upstairs in our bedroom while I did some cleaning in there. While we were doing that - Pete and Little Brother put up the Christmas tree! Yippie!

Then Pete went and picked up Hannah and Emily. He took Hailey with him so she could sleep in the car (which worked like a charm). Once they got home I had dinner made, we ate, took baths, pj's, brushed teeth, read books and went to sleep - they were sleeping by 5:45 tonight. I hope they stay that way - all night long!

Pete and I cleaned the kitchen and then I worked out. Now we're both sitting on the couch falling asleep. I think it'll be an early night for the both of us. Pete is off tomorrow and I'm working. (well - I'll be working if we get some sleep tonight).

Days like today are the days when Pete and I need to work as a team. It gets very frustrating when you have a child that is sick and there's nothing you can do. Add to that the fact that neither of us slept, she was whining ALL day long and we STILL had to be parents. Thankfully his mom took the other 2 girls for us today.

Day 44

Our feet hit the floor at 6:15. The girls slept all night and woke up in great moods.

We brought the girls downstairs and I got them dressed while Pete warmed up their milk. Donna showed up at 6:30...the girls love when she comes. I could barely finish getting Emily dressed because she was so excited. I got ready for work and then Pete and I switched. My mom showed up at 7:40 and I was walking out the door (late). I kissed her on my way by!

Worked.

I left work at 3:30 for class. Pete was the one that had to come home and take care of the girls tonight (I think he should write the blog on Monday nights!).

Most of our emails during the day today were about Stellan (link is on another post). He was going in for a surgery that wasn't suppose to happen until later this week but he ended up needing today. By the miracle of God - he made it through his surgery and it looks like it was a success!!!!

Now I'm home and exhausted......

Day 43

Our feet didn't hit the floor until 7:00 this morning! Wow! The girls slept another 13 hours last night. Hannah woke up at some point and I guess she was really crying but Pete ended up getting up with her for a few minutes before putting her back to bed. She's actually been having night terrors lately. We know because we can hear her on the monitor before we go bed. She cries/whines and says 'no no no' in her sleep.

Pete didn't get home until late (early?) lol - so we all came downstairs quietly to let him sleep but...he forgot to buy milk on his way home! Oh no! We've never run out of milk before! So he got up and came downstairs and it turns out we had just enough milk for the 3 of them so he didn't have to go right out.

By 8:00 we had all decided to go to Denny's for breakfast. We LOVE eating breakfast out on the weekends. Sure - it costs $ but it also teaches the girls how to act appropriately in public and they get full doing it! Little Brother came with us (not Kristin...she had to work - but we missed her). After breakfast we came home so the girls could nap.

While the girls were 'napping' Pete and I put more stuff in storage and went to the grocery store. But before we even checked out Little Brother had texted me and said that all the girls were up. I guess sleeping 13 hours at night means they don't need 3 hour naps during the day.

Pete and I came home, unloaded groceries and then we all got back in the car to head over to my friend Lucy's house. She had a play kitchen set up when we got there and the girls went crazy for it. They love to play with anything kitchen related (even the garbage!). So this was a big hit for the girls. And it was so nice that we spent a lot of time outside as well. We stayed for a few hours before heading home. We made a pitstop at Sam's club for diapers (and a few other things before we got to the checkout). Once home we had dinner, pj's, brushed teeth, read books and in the cribs by 5:30 (their lack of a long nap was showing).

Then Lucy and Bryon came back over with Alex and Brianna to have some coffee and hang out some more. Once they left I worked out (and did some laundry at the same time), Pete worked on the computer and Little Brother left to bring Kristin back to school.

Now it's time to shower (we haven't done that yet today haha!). And then we'll probably go to bed ourselves. Pete had a late night and I could use some extra sleep.

Tidbit: We put the girls in their cribs from day one home from the hospital. And Pete and I slept in their room (we moved our bed into their room) for the 1st 3 months. That way they didn't have to transition to a new room when the time came for them to sleep 'alone'. By putting them in their cribs and keeping them in their room - we never had to fight with them at bedtime/naptime. It's always been easy to put them in their cribs and walk away. They don't know anything different other than that their cribs in their room are for sleeping so once they're in them - that's what they do. And we are OH SO THANKFUL for this now.

Day 42

Our feet hit the floor at 6:30 (well mine did with the girls...we let Pete 'sleep' in a little bit today). We cancelled the gym so we weren't in any hurry to get going this morning. AND the girls slept from 5:30 last night until 6:30 this morning! Yippie!

The girls and I had milk and cheerios before playing with flash cards and working on using our words. When Pete woke up he made us breakfast and then we got the girls dressed. They were going to his parents house today so we could get some shopping done. We would normally bring them with us but with them not feeling 100% still we figured it was best to keep them out of the stores. (plus it's 'lock down' time for them until April. That means our 'outings' will be limited to not so public places). So Pete brought them to his parents house while I stayed behind to get some cleaning done before we went out.

He got back, we went shopping and then went and picked up the girls at 3:00. We went to Babies R Us real quick and bought POTTY SEATS!!!! Ugh...I'm not looking forward to potty training - but we have to start sometime. We only bought the seats that go on the toilet itself. We just want to introduce them to it so it's not completely foreign when it comes time to start using it.

We came home and played with play dough (I really think I like playing with it more than they do). Then Little Brother came home and cooked us all dinner before we headed into our nighttime routine of bath, pj's, brushing teeth, reading books and in the cribs. They've been sleeping since 6:00 and I'm hoping they sleep all night.

Pete went is out with some friends and Little Brother & Kristin went to a movie. I worked out, did some work on the computer, did some laundry and now I'm headed to bed.

It was a really good day again with the girls. I love the weekends.

Tidbit: We took a seat out of the minivan when we 1st got it. It's so much easier to put 2 of them in the 3rd row with all the extra space of not having one of the seats in the 2nd row. Plus - it gives me a place to change them when we are on the go.

Day 41

Our feet hit the floor at 6:00. The girls slept all night but they're still sick. Hannah and Hailey have croup and Emily is still down and out with a bad cold. But they've been sleeping which is good.

Yesterday was just not a good day for me. The morning started off really bad - I was having a pity party for myself...all day. Lol - but I got over it and lucky for me I have a husband that's very understanding.

Today - we had to be out of the house by 8:00 so we could bring the girls to the doctor by 9:00. We were out by 8:15 (we always give ourselves some extra time) so we got there just before 9:00. We took all 3 of them even though only 2 had appts.

The appt went really well. They both do in fact need surgery but not immediately. We have a follow up in one year for both of them to see how they're progressing - and we'll make a decision at that point when to schedule the surgeries. What we have thought was a skin tag on Hailey's neck is actually a piece of cartilage that has been growing. They'll remove that along with the nevus sebaceous on the back of her head at the same time. The down fall to waiting is that the bigger they get - the bigger the insicion has to be. But Pete and I both feel that waiting is the best thing for them.

After the appt we went to the cafeteria and the girls chowed down on some french toast sticks and juice before we headed home for naps. Nap time was not a total bust but Hailey couldn't really breath that well so she only slept for about an hour. The other two slept for about 2 hours. Pete went out to get some things done while the girls were sleeping and I did some laundry(which is still not done...but I know that it never will be!).

Once the girls woke up we just hung out for a while and then Little Brother (aka: Uncle Joey) and I took the girls to the park so Pete could redo the closet in our room. He was adding shelving and making it pretty! The park was cold so we headed to Walmart (lol...yeah we did) and let the girls watch all the fish in the tanks, play with some toys, walk around and get some energy out and then we bought some napkins and batteries.

Got home in time to play some more before eating dinner, pj's, brushing teeth, read books and in bed. They're sleeping although Hailey has been coughing so much in her sleep. I so wish we could give them something! I have a feeling it's going to be a long night.

We already cancelled their session at MyGym tomorrow...the other parents wouldn't appreciate it if we brought them with croup I'm sure.

Today was actually a really good day for all of us. There were no major meltdowns, the doctors appt went really well, the girls were in great moods (and full of kisses) all day. I love days like today. As hard as it is to be a parent and especially a 1st time parent to 3 of them...these are the days that make it all worth it.

Tidbit: we keep stickers, crayons and paper in the backpack(our version of a diaper bag). This way no matter where we are...I have something to keep the girls busy. Today the stickers were perfect while we waited for the doctor to come into the exam room. They had a blast covering Pete in all their heart, butterfly and happy face stickers!