20 Weeks old and already in a wedding!

We were in a wedding! Hooray! Only 20 weeks and 5 days old and already in their first wedding! My best friend from college and our sorority, Jen, got married this past weekend and we got to be in the wedding! It was a wonderful time! (I figured this picture could also temporarily serve as my 20 week belly picture...cuz, WOW! That's a belly!) Thank God Motherhood Maternity made a half-way cute "holiday dress" that I could wear! (Though I had to buy an extremely unattractive belly "girdle" to wear underneath so that my bellybutton would in fact, NOT be the main attraction at the wedding! :) And no worries my friends...those sassy red heels you see me wearing? I only wore them at the ceremony part of the wedding...after that, Jen let me change into my comfy clothes and flat black shoes! :)

We were in the sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta at Arizona State University and one of our symbols was the Kite....Soo...this is probably our one-millionth picture posing with our trademark "kite".

Ami and Jen! (And the babies!)

This is the best man and I walking back down the aisle...(I am trying very hard not to trip)

And this is the new Bride and Groom, Jen and Nathan! What a cute couple!

A Tour of the Nursery!

This video is really not anything exciting! Frankly, I realized that I had never attempted to upload videos before...only photos. Sooo....I took a quick video around the nursery in attempts to see if I am doing it correctly! Now just imagine that it's clean....everything is put away...there's a glider chair in place of our dining room chair....etc. :)

Three Cribs and a Changing Table!!

Piper is showing you how much room is still left in the nursery even with 3 cribs and the changing table! Brian and I fully believe that once we lay a rug down there, Piper will start to sleep right there in the middle of the 3 babies! She's a very good watch dog!

This is obviously a view of one crib next to the changing table...which we inherited from my mom and dad! It's actually a buffet table they got at Target, but let me tell ya, it's perfect for this purpose as well!

Here's another view of the three cribs...I'm still undecided about whether our little girl will go in the middle crib or in the crib beside the changing table....if we put her there, then we will likely put the words "LITTLE GIRL" on her wall! We'll see!

This is the beginning stages of my baby organization! With some guidance from my baby mama friend Anabelle, she was helping me figure out what I would want most readily right there in the changing table! So for now, the left side is for boys...socks, onesies and sleepers....same on the right side, but for girls. Burp Cloths, Hats and Receiving Blankets in the middle....for now! I have no doubt it will change by the time the munchkins arrive!
And what to do with all the bath stuff?? Well, I cleaned out under one of the sinks in the guest bathroom upstairs and it is now BABY TOWN! We've got hooded towels, washcloths, and shampoo and baby wash galore! The baby tub is currently being "housed" in the big people bathtub!

Making Way For Baby Girl Hunter! (and her brothers...)

So I thought I'd just keep you all posted with what I do with my time nowadays...especially now that we have a little girl coming to join the fun....

Yesterday I bought 3 white boards that we will hang somewhere in their nursery (likely on the back of the door) where we can keep track of important information regarding each baby. (You know, so that when my LOVELY friends and family who have offered to come over and hold/feed a baby (and I remember who each and every one of you are!!) there will be a place to jot down feeding/diapering/napping info...I of course couldn't stand the ugly silver metal edges of the white boards, so they have been transformed into personalized boards with brown/blue or brown/pink. :)

These of course, are the newest set of letters, (Pre Modge-Podge and pretty pink and brown paper, of course). The exact placement of these letters in the nursery is yet to be determined...and I have to say, it wasn't until this exact moment that I sit typing this, that I am realizing that the 'i' in 'little' is actually a 'j'.....Oops. I guess I'll be going to JoAnn Fabrics today!

Ok turn your head to the right and you'll see that these wood letters spell out "CUB DEN". Brian has long referred to his babies as his little "bear cubs." So he requested that I do something creative to these letters so that he can put them on the OUTSIDE of the nursery door so that everyone will know where his "cubs" sleep. I am personally hoping they learn to hibernate....

I just thought this was worthy of being captured on film...When you give Brian a job, (Ex."Honey, would you please put away the diapers for me?)...This is what he comes up with! The top of the nursery closet is literally stacked from shelf to ceiling, based on the size of the diapers! Gotta love it!

And for those who believe in fate or perhaps some other greater power...tell me THIS was not a sign of things to come...Months ago, as most of you recall, we were being faced with the decision to reduce our pregnancy to twins or keep the triplets. After what seemed like an eternity, we decided for whatever reason, that we had been blessed with three babies and that is what we were going to move forward with.

Well, not long after that decision had been made, my dad called to tell me this great story. His law firm had recently taken on a new accounting/bookkeeping company. (Something like that...) So a representative from that new company stopped by the law firm one day with "gifts." Some took books and things to keep in the conference room/library, but when asked if anyone wanted a piggy bank, my dad said, "Well, sure. As a matter of fact, my daughter is having triplets, so we could use a piggy bank!" Well, as it turns out, the guy says, "I happen to have THREE piggy banks!" And so, with a shiver and smile, my dad proudly accepted not one, not two, but three piggy banks. He recently gifted them to us to keep in our babies' nursery. At the time, we all joked about whether or not I should paint the pink one brown or green or some other more "boyish" color...THANK GOODNESS I DIDN'T! Baby girl Hunter must've known she was about to make her debut!

BRAVERY in a BIKINI :)

19 Weeks 5 Days

Sorry...I was lagging again in my "Weekly Belly Picture" series! So here is last week's picture. This was 19 Weeks 5Days. Someday I will no doubt regret that I have posted my picture in a BIKINI at 19 weeks pregnant, ON THE INTERNET!! But oh well...my motto through this entire quest to get pregnant has been , "It is what it is." Why stop now? Why hide the big 'ol belly? At least (and I think I have the Italian Russo genes to thank for this) there are STILL no stretch marks! Yippee! So anyway, why am I wearing a bikini in December? Well, I was again encouraged to get in a pool and float to take the weight off my back. Keep in mind, I am currently carrying 2 pounds of baby when I should be carrying 10 oz....Well, I realized that it IS December and the pool IS quite cold, so instead, my wonderful mom and dad heated their jacuzzi to warm pool temperature for me and the babies! I have to say, it was NICE!

We're getting BIGGER! :) 19 weeks 4 days old...

Sorry, these have to be my worst "pictures of pictures" ever....I'll try to redo them and make them more "visually appealing!" But for now, here are the Bunch Babies' most recent mug shots! They are 19 weeks and 4 days old in these pictures! Oh and good news everyone! The 3rd crib is in transit and should be here no later than Wed. December 23rd! Hooray!

COLTON SAMUEL, 10 oz.

This is my hand! "Give me five!"

This is Colton's profile..hard to make out, I know....his head is at the bottom right!

ETHAN BRADLEY, 11 oz.
He's the one on the right...That's someone else's head on the left...and someone else's something above! I'm telling you, it's a mixed bag of baby parts in there! Hard to tell what belongs to whom sometimes!

HUNTER OLIVIA, 11 oz.
I love this picture! She's on her back with her feet in the air, pointing with both hands down towards her....well, you know. Almost as if to say, "LOOK! I'm a GIRL!"

Alanis Morrisette said it best....

Hello friends and family! (our fans, as Brian likes to think). It's Saturday, December 20 and wow, what a day it has turned out to be! This blog turned out to be much longer than I had anticipated, but PLEASE READ TO THE END! IT WILL BE WORTH IT, I PROMISE!!!

So I am officially a "stay-at-home mom" now. And frankly, I don't know if I like it! Teaching is all I have known for the past 8 years...I do kindergarten! That's what I do! Now what?? Clean? Bake? (Yeah right...) Ah yes, find a job I can do from home and work on hatching my three little babies! Thursday was my last day of school with my funny little kindergarten friends and when they left, I felt somewhat lost...but also relieved that I would finally have the opportunity to stay home and be off my feet all day, because let me tell ya, this belly isn't gettin' any smaller! To say my back has been aching at the end of the day would be a vast understatement. I felt better about the decision when I went to visit my favorite funny man doctor at UMC later that day and he confirmed the absolute need for me to have ceased working for a while...so for now, I will live out my kindergarten life vicariously through Mary, Michele and Anabelle...I even promised to all their busy work from my couch!

But ahh, I digress. Remember the title of this blog? About Alanis Morissette? And how she said it best? Yes, well, let's get to that. I'm thinking specifically of one song, that I don't hear as often any more, but often enough that it immediately came to mind at about 2:00 in the afternoon yesterday....let's all sing along.

The title is "Ironic"...here are the lyrics...

An old man turned ninety-eight, He won the lottery and died the next day
Its a black fly in your chardonnay
Its a death row pardon two minutes too late
Isnt it ironic... dont you think?
Chorus:
Its like rain on your wedding day
Its a free ride when you've already paid
Its the good advice that you just didnt take
Who wouldve thought... it figures
Mr. play it safe was afraid to fly.
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye.
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
Well isnt this nice...And isnt it ironic... dont you think?
Repeat chorus
Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everythings okay and everythings going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everythings gone wrong and everything blows upIn your face
A traffic jam when youre already late
A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
Its like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
Its meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife
And isnt it ironic... dont you think? A little too ironic... and yeah I really do think...
Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you

So I'm sure you're now asking, "Ok Ami, how exactly does this song apply to you?" Ahh, let me tell you. And if you happen to be standing up right now, please, I'll give you a minute to go ahead and find your seat.....Ok, good. Let's continue. This Wednesday, at school I was absolutely blessed by my 2 kindergarten classes and the Cottonwood Staff with three separate BABY SHOWERS! So adorably decorated with BLUE, BLUE and more BLUE! We received over 2,700 diapers to get Brian and I started on our stinky journey with the 3 Bunch Boys. The generosity people showed was just overwhelming! People making handmade, personalized gifts for little Colton, Ethan and Hunter.... blankets, t-shirts, picture frames, necklaces, etc.) I was just so moved....(The 4th picture down shows the personalized gifts....)

And then we went to another formal ultrasound yesterday at 1:30...(formal meaning they measure every body part, find the weight, etc.) And my goodness, those are 3 very busy boys I've got in there! Let's just say they lost their hard earned title as being "very cooperative little boys!" When you want to see a face, they show you a butt, when you need an arm bone, they give you a leg! Ahh, boys.

And then we received some momentarily scary news...you know that feeling when the sonographer leaves the room abruptly and comes back with the doctor and they both peer at the screen? Yes, that's what happened. My heart immediately sank...what was wrong? What are we looking at? Turns out, Baby A (Colton) likely has a bilateral cleft lip and palate. (Bilateral meaning both sides of the nose...Whew! Ok, that I can handle! Apparently all babies start out with cleft palates and lips and they eventually fuse, but in Colton's case, they have not yet. But that is a problem that is easily fixed with surgery and one which can be done early on. It will no doubt make my heart skip a beat when we see it for the first time, but that's ok. He's our baby boy and we love him more than we knew we could already. So please include Colton specifically in your prayers. Thankfully, other than that, everything looks just fine with all three babies!

They weigh 10 oz., 11 oz., and 11oz. ("Big heads and big bellies", she said!) Hmm....my finger is pointing at Brian right now! (I took the credit for the ears we saw on one of the babies...he owned up to the big head and belly part.)

So anyway, we thought we were wrapping things up at our ultrasound, when the sonographer asked us, "So do you have names picked out yet?" "Of course we do!" I say..."Colton, Ethan and Hunter!" She liked our choices! And then, she made another quick look at each baby and as she got to Baby C, and did that same kind of "paused.." look at the screen, my heart started beating quickly again. "Oh God...more bad news." I thought.

And then she says calmly, I think Baby C is a Girl."........

WHAT?? WHAT DO YOU MEAN C IS A GIRL?? He can't be a girl! I just had 3 baby showers 2 days ago and got so much stuff for three BOYS!!" (Now do you see where Alanis Morrisette's 'Ironic' comes in???) Just for confirmation, we called Dr. Funny Man back in and yes, all 4 of agreed that C's parts do NOT look like A and B's parts. As Dr. M. put it, "Well, either she's a girl, or a very disappointing boy." hee hee...Now I'm gonna be honest, this WAS the original "Perfect Scenario" for us....2 boys and a girl. But when you get your heart set on 3 boys and you plan everything for 3 boys, (and you HOT GLUE letters to your babies' nursery saying "BABY BOYS") , it takes a moment to re-adjust. I looked at Brian, and said "Am I happy about this?" And the obvious answer from him was "YOU BET!" OMG! A girl!!

To everyone who gave us baby boy stuff, I want you to know that not one bit of it will go to waste! We'll obviously be making some "readjustments" to the nursery, etc. and the name thing is a topic that keeps coming up....Originally, we were going to call a baby girl Berklea or Olivia...but we have so many cute things already made for Hunter....(and it would feel kind of strange to have Hunter sort of disappear....SOOoo...

Though I cannot confirm with 100% certainty just yet, (and I would not recommend having anything embroidered just yet) I believe, we will call our new Baby Girl

Hunter Olivia Bunch

We realize it's more of a boy name, but in the time span of 1 day, we have recalled the famous supermodel Hunter Tylo, as well as about 6 separate friends who each have female friends named Hunter. Hmm? It is kind of cute, we think. And frankly, as she grows up, if she decides she hates being called Hunter, she can go by Olivia instead :) But for now, I think we've just introduced the world to our baby girl Hunter. :) (Much like Baby Girl Chandler for all my F*R*I*E*N*D*S watching friends!)

So go ahead, take a day to absorb that, and tomorrow I'll put up some ultrasound photos! Take care!

We're getting CLOSER! Just need another crib and 3 babies!

So again, I have this habit of posting out of order....I should have posted this entry AFTER the one below it. (Maybe you scroll down real quick and read the entry below this one, and THEN come back up and read this one!) :) So of course, IF you read the one below first, then you already know the crisis of the missing crib. So use your imagination and try to picture the 3rd crib between the two outer ones...

Thanks to Kristen and the Thanksgiving weekend crafts, I have been itching to mod-podge something else! So on a recent trip to JoAnn fabrics, I found myself purchasing some paper-mache like letters spelling out "BABY BOYS." Then I found 4 different pieces of scrapbooking paper to cover the letters with and away I went! I mod-podged my heart out! Though Brian, god love him, has decided that my new craft is actually called "Podge-Podging." hee hee...So after we (ok, he) put together the 2 cribs, we hung the BABY BOY letters and then hung the three name plaques that will adorn the wall above each crib identifying which baby lives where! I love it! THe next step will be a long shelf above the window which will serve as a landing place for the gazillion shades of brown teddy bears I have been collecting throughout my life! Yay! It's looking so cute! I find myself just sitting in there, usually with Piper, just looking at the room. I can't wait for it to be finished!

Good-Bye blue tape...Hello Cribs!

So this weekend was MOST exciting for me! (And a little bit frustrating..but we'll get to that!) So first of all, in our failed attempt to trade in Brian's truck for a more, shall we say, "Triplet-Friendly" vehicle, we found ourselves literally a stone's throw from the big Babies R' Us! Well, you know I couldn't pass that up! Plus, I needed to take a second, less-exhausted look at our registry to make sure I hadn't registered for anything pink or anything I really don't need. So...I decided for the first time in my life, that finally, I had earned the right to park in the "Expectant Mother" parking! Yay! (Mom, I know you would have been as excited as I was!) I'm so dorky, that I even made Brian take a picture of me outside the truck, standing next to the sign! Yes, there were others standing nearby, or watching from their vehicles, but whatever! Almost 4 years, 5 In Vitros and a set of triplets later, I DESERVE TO TAKE MY PICTURE BY THAT SIGN! :) So after my moment of satisfaction with my new sign had passed, we marched INTO the world of babies! Now, I have to give him a lot of credit, because as a husband, in a giant baby store, Brian was genuinely interested in what kinds of things we could possibly need for 3 babies! (However, my fail-proof method of MAINTAINING his interest was to give him the "magic scanner wand" and let him be the "beeper man." Worked like a charm! )

When we finished with that big excursion, back we went to our house to build cribs! Yay! (Ok, well only one of us was building the cribs, the other of us was watching and being moral support.)Guess which one I was?? So as you peruse the pictures, you'll likely find yourself trying to do some very simple math....hmm. 3 babies, 2 cribs...strange! Aahh yes, remember above, the part where I talked about the frustration of the weekend? Ok. Back at Thanksgiving, we were so excited when mom and dad Bunch bought us three cribs! We thought we were being so efficient, saving $153 dollars in shipping by using WalMart's "Site to Store" shipping...(they ship from their warehouse to whatever WalMart we choose, and then we pick them up there!) Pretty convenient right?

Ok, so I got an email saying 2 cribs had arrived, and one had been shipped and was in transit. Super! Well, by the time we got to WalMart, there were only 2 cribs. :( Turns out, they either lost the 3rd crib or it became damaged in transit, so they simply cancelled the 3rd crib. Yes, cancelled. Not called us to see if we'd like a different one, not notified us that one was going to take a little longer. Nope. Simply cancelled the 3rd crib. Well one of us is pretty patient, (ME) and the other of us is less so. (HIM). After waiting what seemed like long enough for the babies to actually be born, Brian heatedly exclaimed, "Look, we didn't order 3 cribs because it seemed like a fun number, we actually NEED 3 CRIBS." So how are we going to fix this??" Well, the short of it is, they had NO CLUE how to fix the problem, how to get us our crib back. So we simply have to reorder it again. Sheesh...Is this why I have avoided Walmart for so many years? Oh well...At least they sell Preemie Clothes!

So below are some pictures of Brian building the 2 cribs....bless him for trudging through it with a splitting headache. At one point, Piper thought we should take his temperature to make sure he wasn't getting the flu. (He wasn't) and then she rolled over so dad could make sure she wasn't getting the flu either! :) (She wasn't). I however, am trying miserably to get over a cold. YUCK!! It's very difficult to be pregnant and be limited as to what you can take to get over a cold! By this point, normally I'd be so drugged up on Theraflu life would seem good regardless! But not this time! Oh well...I still love being pregnant! :)

5 weeks worth of Belly Growth!

I more did this so that I could quickly see how much my belly has grown over time...Had I more patience, I would have started from week 8...oh well, another day! What prompted this was that yesterday, in my complete and total exhaustion, I went to Babies R'Us to at least START a registry and there I saw a woman who went to the same fertility doctor that we did, and she is also 18 weeks pregnant, (with ONE baby), and she actually said, "I'm so glad to hear you're having triplets because I was starting to worry that I wasn't showing and growing as much as you and we're the same number of weeks along!" Gotta love having three babies in there! Again, please note the fact that somehow my butt made it back into the 18 week picture...I was certain that would never happen again! :) Oh well...at least THAT has gotten big yet! :)

18 WEEKS

16 WEEKS
15 WEEKS

14 WEEKS

13 WEEKS

You see where my nickname "Belly" came from??

Ok, here are my most recent pictures! I am including one of my "clothed" belly too, so you can see what I look like with clothes on too! :) I do wear them from time to time...hee hee...This is the 18 Week, 2 day picture!

Hunter with an 'r'! Thanks, Jaymee!

I just wanted you all to rest easy, now that poor little baby Hunter now has a complete name like his brothers! Jaymee Fisher saved the day! She went to the "ghetto Michaels" for me and found the much needed 'r'! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Now I need to paint it and add the ribbon and hang them up! Cribs should be here this week so I'm VERY excited about that! You know I'll post the pictures when they're all set up!

We meet again! (It's been so long!) :)

Well, finally it seems I have a minute to do a quick update at the very least! Sorry to have neglected my blogging duties! I've missed you all! So here's what's new in the Bunch Household:

1. I am 18 weeks pregnant! Hooray!
2. I am getting fat! (No stretch marks yet....keep those fingers crossed!) I'm pretty sure I have Curel's Life Stages Pregnancy cream with Collagen, Elastin, Vitamin E, etc. in in to thank for that! Maybe if I plug them, they'll see this and give me a lifetime supply! Hmm...one can hope!
3. My husband's new nickname for me is "Belly." At least it's not "Booty" or "Fatty"! He likes my belly and loves to talk to his three boys!
4. I have gained 22.8 pounds to date! Woo hoo! (Again, see #2 above.) I'm trying to get to a gain of 35 in the next two weeks...anyone care to join me for an ice cream or four?
5. I cannot paint my toenails anymore unless I manage some serious acrobatic moves which I'm pretty sure cannot be good for the babies!
6. I'm pretty sure my sons may be taking after my acrobatic moves because all day long I feel them doing cartwheels in there! :)
7. At their last check-up, the doctor said they were very "well behaved and cooperative little boys!" They did everything the doctor wanted them to in order for him to get good looks at their little hearts!
8. I am starting to freak out about not teaching kindergarten anymore after this semester ends on December 18. :( No kinder funnies, no paycheck, no life??)
9. I love being pregnant! I often pinch myself to be sure I will not wake up to a different life. :)
10. I love my friends who have loaned me maternity clothes! Anabelle and Leigh, you rock! You are saving me BOAT-LOADS of money! I love you!!
11. Registering for baby stuff was quite taxing! But SO Fun!! (Fun, but hard not knowing what to really expect with three tiny babies!) **See the pictures of my Target Registering experience below....I have not actually made it to Babies R' Us yet, but I will...
12. I have the best friends and family around...Thank you all for making this pregnancy so fun and for all the wonderful gifts and for making sure I eat all day long (Charlotte) and drink enough water (Mom). I honestly doubt I could do this without all of you!

I'll add another belly pic tomorrow, but for now, here's my Target experience with my sister and my mom!

Mary, Mom and Me

Literally, it takes only minutes before Mary, (aka. "My Boss" takes over...Do you see how she just took that scanner gun right outa my hand??) :) Actually it was Ok. I was still reeling from my newly acquired math information....1 box of 104 diapers will last me at best, 4 days!!!! OMG!

Nope, not just looking at items on the bottom shelf...seriously exhausted and legitimately sitting on a disgusting public floor!

There's mom to pull me back up in a minute!

Aaahh! Now that's what I'm talking about! Thank goodness for this marketing strategy! Put the glider, fully assembled, out on display and all the pregnant girls will try it and buy it! (Or at least take a 10 minute cat-nap on it!)

Ok, that's all for now! I'll add more pics tomorrow!