Lucky Me :)

If you follow this blog regularly, then you know this blog is usually about the babies, their adventures, their antics, etc. And even I can't keep up with blogging about every event we do, every place we go, every person or group we meet. I would do nothing but sit at the computer all day! I know that I have left people out along the way, and if you are one of those people, I am truly sorry! It's not because I don't love you, it's because life is happening faster than I can even attempt to keep up with. The babies are growing faster than I would like, and all I can do is give it my best try to continue sharing our daily lives with all of you!

So like I said, I know it's usually about the babies, but bear with me a few moments as we take a little detour....

It may be someone different to everyone, but everyone's got one. You know, THAT person.

The one in your life you go to for the most important favors as often as you do for the most insignificant favors. For me, this person is my mom. Though she goes by a new name these days. Even I don't call her "mom" anymore, she's "Grammy" now.

And darn it, she earned that title. She waited for it. She waited patiently for it. She probably wanted to be a Gramma as much as I wanted to be a mom, but NEVER once through all my years of infertility did she ever allow me to feel even one ounce of guilt that I had not given her a grandchild yet. In fact, it was quite the opposite. She was one of my biggest cheerleaders even offering to give me shots though I know she was deathly afraid to. (If you've been reading since the beginning, you may remember her fruit bowl becoming her "practice shot targets". Poor oranges...they never saw it coming.)

I often think about how my life came to be the way it is, and I smile about my three miracles. It's as if God knew how big the hole in my heart was for all those years and so he blessed me with not one, but three beautiful babies. Well, I think it was the same for my mom. She had a lot of gramma love to give...one grandchild probably wouldn't have been enough for her. :)

I am only 5' 2" tall, and when I got pregnant with triplets I weighed 99 pounds. It was highly likely that I was going to deliver very premature babies and it was even more likely that I would spend a considerable amount of time on bedrest. But you know, I made it. I made it 33 weeks (a typical triplet gestation) without one hiccup, one problem, one scare. And NOT ONE day on bedrest. I did that with help from friends and family. Specifically, my mom, who would come over and wash laundry, sort, fold and hang HUNDREDS of pieces of baby clothes so that I would not have to exert as much energy. She was literally about ready to build me a laundry chute so I would not have to carry loads of clothing up and down the stairs HUGELY pregnant and probably would've, had Brian not cared about having a gaping hole in the floor! My point is that her brain never stops working...never stops thinking about ways to help.

My mom has had a hard year. After 39 years of marriage, she and my dad are going separate ways. By no means would I assert that it's been easy for my dad, but I can say firsthand, because I spend more time day to day with my mom, that it has definitely not been easy for her. It has been hard to watch her struggle while trying desperately not to fall apart. But the thing is, despite all of the heartache, she never once missed a beat with her grandchildren or her own children. She has often said that these grand babies kept her whole at a time when she was falling to pieces. But she may not even realize how much she does for them. For me.

It's a phone call. Almost daily. And it goes like this.

"Hello?"

"Hey Mom. Whatcha doin?"

"Oh I'm just cleaning out the refrigerator, building a shelf, tiling the floor, etc."

"Hey, I need to run to the _____ (store, doctor, post office, mall, school, etc.) Can you _____ watch the babies for a little bit, come with me, meet me at my house, etc.)

Whatever the request, the answer is always yes. I'm not kidding. I don't know if she's ever turned me down.

She knows that while I love being a mother of triplets, sometimes I need a little help. {gasp! I admit it!}

She has helped me with the most mundane things and she has helped me with the most important things...

Every so often she keeps the babies overnight, just so we can have a night off...and sleep in. She always finds laundry to do when she comes over to play with the babies. She lets me bring her the healthy child to stay the night when the others are sick. She comes with me to Pediatrician appointments so that there are two of us to cuddle 3 three babies who've been pricked with needles.

On two separate occasions, she took care of Ethan and Hunter while I spent a week in the hospital with Colton. The only thing worse than having a child in the hospital is having to worry that your other children are being taken care of and loved. I know she wanted to be able to visit Colton more freely, but I thank God that she was there for my other babies. Plenty of people offered to watch them, and I know they would've been well cared for with anyone, but with my mom, I didn't even have to give her a single instruction. She just knows them.

She knows how to make them laugh when they're cranky, she's a master at Peek-a-boo, she knows how I like her to cut the mandarin oranges. She knows how to tackle bathtime with more than one baby, she knows the right temperature for their bottles, she knows that sometimes Ethan whimpers briefly at naptime but that he's not really ready to wake up. She knows how I like to fold their clothes, and she knows what their favorite toys are. She knows when Ethan doesn't feel well and she understands why I need them to be on a schedule. She knows what times they eat and when they sleep. You would think having grand-triplets was a piece of cake. She just handles it.

My mom watches the babies, often all by herself, so that I could go back to work. 2 1/2 days a week, she gives up her freedom to make my life easier. I know she enjoys her time with them, but still, she doesn't have to do it, and she does.



For me, the best part of my mom as a gramma is the joy she gets when she is with them. I know she loves them but she's never seen the way she lights up when she sees them. I have. I have always been lucky to have her as my mom, but I am blessed to have her as my babies' grammy.

The pictures from this post are all from our trip to San Diego. My babies' first trip to San Diego. Our first trip without my dad. Do I think it was easy for her? Not a chance... (Frankly, it wasn't easy for any of us, my dad included.) It was extremely hard for me not to have my dad on a trip we've been taking as a family for YEARS, and I know it must've been even harder for her to be making new memories in a place where so many great ones already exist.

But that did not stop her from making it the most enjoyable trip ever for the babies. That's the beauty of my mom. She would do anything for us.


Mom, you inspire me with your creativity, your knowledge and your energy. I often smile when I think that someday I'll teach Hunter how to hang a picture frame using a level and a stud finder and I'll smile knowing that I learned that from my mom and she's learning it from hers. :)



So thank you Mom...for all the big and all the little things you do for me and the babies. You have made raising triplets a joy.

So cheers to life! Cheers to being a mom, a grammy, a friend, and a smokin' hot newly single lady who can still pull off skinny jeans!

I love you, Mom. :)