4,687

Before I go on about the weekend I want to take a moment and tell you all how much I appreciated your votes on the Circle of Moms Top 25 Parents of Multiples contest. We flippin WON! We'd never entered any contests before, and frankly, we entered this one on a whim, a suggestion by my cousin Jenna. We had no idea how much fun it would become. Because so many of you kept voting, it kept us motivated to keep on promoting it. I've now seen firsthand the power of networking via Facebook and Twitter as well as the good ol' telephone, as so many of you were so gracious to post the link on your pages which YOUR friends then posted on their pages, and so on and so forth. We knew all along there wasn't a grand prize at the end but it totally didn't matter! It was something to do for a month, something to anticipate every few hours, and something to unite us! I absolutely loved the camaraderie it created! I don't know who you all are who voted, but 4,687? You're amazing! We are humbled.

The best part is the competition (though it hardly seems fair to consider fellow mothers of multiples competition, cuz really, aren't we kind of all on the same team??) But hey, that's what makes any race worth running right? A competitor so good they keep you on your toes and make you want to do better! The Great Umbrella Heist was one of the first blogs I ever started following and I love her girls to pieces. The McLeary Quads I didn't find until the contest, but now I'm hooked! And there were SO many new blogs I found and have become rapidly addicted to as well! So hey, another reason it was all worth it! So there. That's my politically correct "acceptance speech." Now let me tell you the more humorous side of things.

Let me not sugar coat this. The last 5 hours of the contest were flippin hilarious! You would've thought there was a million dollar prize waiting for us at the end the way my friends and family campaigned for votes. No joke. My dad texted me no less than 20 times that last day with updates as to how many votes we were ahead or behind. But in his spare moments he made it a point to call all of his clients and suggest they read our blog and vote for it! For him, it was a way to make positive contacts with people he hadn't talked to in a while. He could seriously be a great campaign manager to someone. My mom had done the same thing weeks earlier with all her friends! And then there were my beloved friends and family who were repeatedly posting the link on their FB pages reminding their friends to vote if they hadn't yet that day. The pace the whole day was frantic because those McLeary quads were keeping up an equally feverish pace! It was awesome! As excited as I was at 5:00 when we ended the contest in 1st by 36 votes, I was immediately sad that it was over! Hmmm...perhaps we'll find another contest somewhere!

Anyhoo, thanks again for all the love and thank you specifically to the McCleary Quads and The Great Umbrella Heist for such a fun month! As they would say at the Oscar's..."I share this honor with you!" hee hee..."I am humbled to be in your company!" (Well it's true.)

Now moving on to my weekend. My best friend Jen's daughter Ava turned 1 this weekend! We went to Phoenix to celebrate! I know I told you yesterday about the margarita/daiquiri machines, the keg the food,etc. but now I'll leave you with some photos of the kids...

L to R: Colton, Ethan, Hunter, Ava (yes, she's so smart, she's playing the Wii)

Child proofing. Gotta love it. Ava is none too pleased that her mommy is locking her out of all her fun places!

Who doesn't love a good watermelon?

No joke. Best toy in the house. 4 watermelons.

Sweet Ava! I miss you already!

My big kids eating at the table with no booster seats. :(

Ethan was hard at work. I think he had a conference call or something.

Best part though is the screensaver...go ahead and look at the screen. There were bubbles floating all over! He was IN HEAVEN! You could hear him from the other room yelling "Bubboos!"

In case you had ever wondered how a mother of triplet could possibly have lost so much weight so quickly, here is part of your answer. Leg lifts with a child on top. Up, down, up, down, up down. (And then don't forget that what one child does, the other two want to do too!)

So we may or may not have forgotten to actually put the 1st birthday crown on Ava during her party, but have no fear, Colton the poser put it on! He's ready to celebrate!

And now, let's talk about my frat boys. I was in a sorority. I KNOW what goes on frat houses. I regret to inform you that my boys fit the mold...

Here is Colton learning to play Beer Pong with some random guys.

And here is Ethan tapping the keg.

So proud...so proud..

We had a great weekend and a super fun party!

And then there's my Hunter anecdote for the day. She already knows how to spell her first name, so I thought I'd introduce her to our last name. I wrote it with sidewalk chalk and she spelled it aloud. I said, "Your name is Hunter Bunch." To which she spent the rest of the day repeating, "I Hunter Buch." Shortly after, she began to name the rest of the family, "Coco Buch, Etan Buch, Daddy Buch, Mommy Buch, Pipa Buch, Manny Buch." Hold up.

Manny Buch? Who the heck is Manny?

Oh, right. And there you have it. Manny Bunch. :)

And if you're counting like me, we're T minus 2 days until we depart for Kansas City for the adventure of our lives. Tonight, we tested out the 'Traveling Toddler' straps as we rolled the kids around the house. All I can say is it worked like a charm!! Look out airport, the Bunches are rolling in!

And now, I'm going to relax. No more contests, no more Blog-a-days, just...nothing. It's been fun! I thank you again for joining us this month! I'm already looking forward to the next Blog-a-day challenge!

Save the Bunchkins! :)

Well folks, out of nowhere, we enter into a contest. Somehow, I became mildly and lightheartedly obsessed. More than anything, it was just fun to watch our friends and family rally THEIR friends and family for a common purpose! It has been entertaining watching the numbers rise and fall. A huge shout-out to our closest competitors!

I can't wait to tell the kids about this someday! That conversation will likely begin like this...."Kids, mommy had an obsession..." But what a great story it will be! So if you've been voting, THANK YOU! And if you're feeling the love today and want to give us ONE FINAL VOTE before the contest ends tonight at 5 PST, I would be okay with that. :) Thanks for the love!

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE THREE!

Love

I will apologize for the lack of photos. Again. We're currently up in Phoenix at our friends' house and try as they might, they can't remember the password to their wireless internet. Which means I can still write a post from their desktop computer, but I can't do it from my laptop...where all my pictures are.

So one more day and then we'll be back in action! Today we celebrated our friends Jen and Nate's daughter Ava's 1st birthday. Let me tell ya, this was no small party! There was a margarita machine, a daiquiri machine, a keg and food to feed a small army. (Okay there was also cake and bubbles and lots of stuff for kids.) It was a great party.

The kids were surprisingly well behaved for most of the day.

Most.

But unfortunately Ethan bit another little boy leaving a nice set of teeth marks. Colton was pulling hair and Hunter was freaking out that her brothers were taking her toys. What can I say? They're not perfect. But they're mine. And I love em.

And tonight as Brian and I put them to bed in an unfamiliar house, with their pack and plays arranged in the same position as their cribs (to make them feel like they're at home) we tucked them all in, kissed them goodnight and then started to walk out. As I flipped out the light,
Hunter stood up in her crib and said, "I lob oo mommy."

[Please note that this is the FIRST time she's said it to me, unprompted. Or prompted really. She said it for the first time to my dad the other night and I've pretty much spent the days that followed wondering why not me? I spend more time with her than anyone! When's she gonna say it to me??]

And tonight, she did. All her buh-self. Oh my gosh...I couldn't love her more.

At least I thought I couldn't until she then turned to Colton and said, "I lob oo Coco." and then Ethan, "I lob oo Etan."

Okay, for real this time. I couldn't love her more.

400 Baby!

Had I blinked, I might have actually missed it. The notification that said I have 399 posts...So you know what that means right? This one here is 400 baby!! Yahooo! I'm hoping that when I hit "Publish" balloons and confetti will start falling and filling the room around me!

400 huh? I find it fascinating how this blog has evolved since post #1.

It all began in October 2008. I'll be honest and say I hardly understood what blogging even was. But my friends were doing it, so I wanted to do it. What better time to begin than the moment you've learned you're having triplets, right? And so, blog #1 was born....The First Photos of the Three Black Blob Babies. I actually remember writing that post. I feel like I was unsure how to approach 'blogging." Should it be a "Dear Blog" format? Should it be in first person or 3rd? And really, who is even going to read it?

I had decided that it would be our family who would be reading it. I figured it would be my way of keeping them involved in the pregnancy.

It was a form of a baby book, written with my kids in mind....something they could have years from now to remember our lives by.

Little did I know then what this blog would become.

Here we are, 399 posts later, trying to win contests for our blog (and are currently happy to be in 2nd place after warming up the #1 spot for a while.

We have followers. 127 of you, to be exact. I don't even think I noticed when that happened. but I thank you and am glad you're here!

We have readers all over the world. Literally.

We've become a jumping off point for other moms and dads who are having kids with cleft lips and'/or palates. I think that's my favorite new twist...

The same goes for parents expecting triplets and even the cranial band helmets. We're actually doing some good for others. Makes me feel like blogging is all worth it.

And lately, in the past 6 months or so, I feel a self-imposed obligation to not only inform, but entertain. I feel guilty when I do a quick fluffy blog just to post something because I feel like you'll be disappointed when you arrive. I actually care that you took the time to care enough about our crazy lives to stop by and read.

This blog has gotten us on the front page of the newspaper, and in our very own television news story.It's even partly responsible for our recent involvement in Hanger O.rthotics' new book and ad campaign. Pretty cool stuff.

The blog is responsible for the random people I've met all over the place who know us and know our story.

Look at you go, little blog!

So friends, on this 400th post, may I just say thank you for making it worthwhile to keep on writing. I appreciate all your loving comments and support! Happy 400!

Hodge Podge

We'll begin tonight's hodge podge with a photo from last night's dinner at Chili's. I must say this is probably one of VERY FEW PHOTOS where they are all smiling. I love these cuties...

Second of all, see what happens when Gramma is in charge? :) She watched them all crawl under their '3 way easel' and stand trapped (but not really trapped). But with their friends. I'd like to know who started that one....

Tonight we celebrated the life of our friend Bob Williams who passed away this past Monday. He would've been honored to see how many people came to celebrate his life. The best part is that through heartache came a reunion.

We saw the Williams' kids (adults) for the first time, all together, in foooorevvveeeeeer). After we took a photo this evening, I had to dig up another photo from about 27 years ago. That's how great it was to me. Check us out back about 25 - 27 years ago.

L to R: David, Me. Theresa, Mary

Today

L to R:

Mary, David, Theresa & Me

And this.....this is the other reason I can't bring myself to do a big blog tonight...

I had to move my classroom today and I am SO exhausted. Sooooo sooo exhausted. Thank you to all the people who helped me today. I'd still be there, shuffling stuff back and forth if it weren't for you all...

But here's my mess

(Maybe if I just close my eyes, it'll disappear..)

Good night folks! Off to Phoenix in the morning! ;)

Busy

Every time I say goodbye to another kindergarten class I feel, well, old. And now that I'm a mother, every time I say goodbye to another class, I get that little pain in my heart when I realize that that means my own kids are getting closer and closer to starting kindergarten. (Cry me a river, right? It's still 3 years away!) But do you even KNOW how fast a year goes by??

Anyhoo, it's like she knew I was feeling nostalgic. The moment we got home from dinner with my dad and Genise, we hit the trampoline. But instead of bouncing like a crazy girl, Hunter made her way into my lap and rested her little head on my chest, where she stayed for the next 45 minutes. I love snuggly babies. I dread the day they no longer want to do that...and as if my impromptu 'little girl cuddle' wasn't blissful enough, it was made better watching my 3 boys wrestle and train for the PBR. (Professional Bull Riding, for you non-cowboys.) Life sure is good.

So school's out, we're headed to Phoenix for my friend Jen's daughter Ava's 1st birthday party, unfortunately missing my friend Sarah's son Henry's 1st birthday party, and then we are off to Kansas City folks. Fully aware of the weather, yes. I figure the airlines won't let us fly if it's that bad still, right? Right?? ;) Then again, you know me. I have no fear and I LOVE to fly. (And remember, I love turbulence even more.)

Furthermore, let's talk briefly about this trip, Between Hanger Orthotics and Omega World Travel, we are in the best hands you could imagine. They are taking such good care of us, ensuring that they do every little thing possible to make our first travels with 3 toddlers as relaxing and easy as possible. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It's has made us look even more forward to the trip.

So I'm kinda bummed cuz I have some pretty cute pictures of the kids at Chili's tonight, but my phone battery died so I can't email them to myself just yet.

Which means that's it. It's all I got for tonight. :) Good night friends, good night babies. Tomorrow, vacation begins. :)

(Okay fine, I can't not leave you with at least ONE picture. Here are couple I found from way back in December! My mom and Al took the boys to their first movie IN an actual theater. I can't even remember what they saw, but don't they look like they're enjoying it? Man, Ethan sure knows how to chill...

Snorekins

Even my hairdresser Gina pointed out how extremely exhausted I looked today. (She was right.) I yawned no less than 20 times today during kindergarten. What can I say? End of the year catches up with ya. So tonight's blog is going to be short and sweet.

Nevertheless, no amount of exhaustion can keep me from playtime with my Bunchkins. This new game was seriously cracking me up.

It began with my sneaky tactics to get jammies on all my babies. (Because it's SOOoo funny for them to run away from me if they can). So to be sneaky, I'd lay my head on the couch and make snoring noises with my eyes squinted (almost) shut..knowing they'd be too curious to stay away for long.

Sure enough, they'd walk over, bend down to see my face and just when they'd get close...I'd jump out and yell "ROAR!" as loud as I could and then grab them and put jammies on em. They'd all turn to giggles and immediately Hunter would say, "Mama night night" and motion for me to do it again. I did this for oh, I don't know 23 times or so. And then I looked at Hunter and said, "Now you do it. Hunter goes night night." And she'd do exactly what I had been doing.

HILARIOUS.

Then she's look at me and say, "Ethan night night?" And so Ethan played the role, and then of course, Colton. :)

Before long, the three of them were 'pretending' to fall asleep on the couch while I made the snoring noises for them. As soon as I'd stop they'd all turn around in perfect sync and ROAR at me! I was cracking up. One of the best things about having multiples is when they do just about anything together, peacefully.

"Pretending" to sleep...

Still pretending...

And then, ROAR!!

Thanks for the laughs, Bunchkins.

It's all so clear now.

Kindergarten Teacher by day, Mommy by night. That's my gig. Last night at about 4:30, I headed out from my house to get back to school for Kindergarten Graduation. I took the same route I take every morning, and I drove the same car I always drive-my Suburban.

And yet, something just didn't seem quite right. As I pulled up to the traffic light I could feel the guy next to me checking me out. (Or so I thought). And yet, the look on his face did not exactly say "How YOU doin?" So I proceeded to drive. Sunglasses on, hair a' blowin, taking swigs of my drink. Looking forward to seeing my kindergartners graduate.

And then I noticed a similar scenario on the next stretch of road. Hmph. Interesting..."I must be looking pretty hot tonight." I thought to myself.

Graduation went off without a hitch and I went off to watch the Bachelorette, like usual. And frankly, it was a whole day later that I had an epiphany.

I KNOW why people were looking at me funny now. Tonight, Brian and I did a little recreation for you so you too could see why the funny looks.

So let's begin by imagining you're driving down the road and you see my sweet-a$$ suburban. Then you notice my awesome license plate and you spend the next 13 minutes trying to figure out what 'Tripmom' means. "Is she a flight attendant? She takes lots of trips? Is she a clumsy mom? Is she a taxi mom running her kids everywhere?"

And then you notice my magnet and realize you know the answer. "Aah, she's a mother of triplets....TRIP MOM!" I get it now. And suddenly you're feeling so proud of your detective skills.
Until you pull up beside me and see this.
And now I know why you gave me the look you gave me. Cuz I know that you were thinking, "OMG! That mother of triplets is drinking beer while she's driving! What is she thinking? Should I call 911?" (Turns out, you weren't checking me out cuz you thought I was hot.)

It's all so crystal clear now.

But here's the thing. Funny story, actually...one of my triplet mom friends Stacey, of 'The Alexander's Hattrick', entered a contest in which she won a free case of ROOT BEER. Unfortunately they would not ship it to where she lives and so, she asked if I would like it shipped to my house instead.

Um, yes please.

THIS is what I was drinking. ROOT beer. NOT beer beer.

See?

So thank you Stacey for the yummy Root Beer and thank you to the driving public for your vigilance. But no, I promise I was not drinking and driving. :) (Well I guess I WAS drinking and driving, but I was certainly not drinking Beer and driving.)

* On a totally separate note, this blog is about memories. Memories for my kids and I to cherish until we're old and gray. So I want to take a moment to remember someone very prominent in my memory who passed away suddenly last night. We grew up one house away from 'The Williams' Family. And I'm talking like 30 years ago. :)Bob & Rosey and their kids Bill, Angela, Lisa, Pam, Theresa and David. The older kids babysat us, and taught us how to love Motley Crue, the younger kids were our best playmates. Our parents were best friends. We spent hours together...cookouts, Christmas Eves, you name it. You can't even imagine the fun our families had together. Bob passed away last night and I did not want this loss to go unnoticed. He will be missed dearly at all our celebrations...my kids' birthday parties, March Madness basketball barbeques, birthday parties, you name it.

You will be missed by so many Bob. We will remember you always and I want you to know that I for one, intend to have a beer in your honor at each gathering you will miss. And don't worry, we'll take good care of Rosey for you. :)

Bob, Rosey and Ethan at their first birthday party.

Dear Kids,

You're 2 years old now...which means you're old enough to know the truth. The truth about your mother. My name is 'Mommy' and I am addicted to the Bachelor and Bachelorette. Yes kids. It has been this way for the past 5 years.

This is why your bed time is 8:00 prompt on Monday nights. It's not because I don't love you. It's because Mommy needs her reality TV time. (And let's be honest, so does your dad, your Aunt Mary, and really most of the rest of your family now.) This is also why this will be a short blog tonight.

Doesn't matter that only 13% of the couples are still successfully matched. Nope. It's all about the drama. Someday, I anticipate that you'll be watching it with me. I'll have to teach you the words 'amazing' and 'journey' before then though or the show won't make sense.

I love you to the moon and back babies. I miss you today. More than you could ever know. I hope you sleep tight and mommy will check on you when you're sound asleep and dreaming of everything wonderful. I love you. And I love the Bachelorette..

Love,

Mommy

P.S. Go on and give us a love vote. :) We're nearing the end...it's do or die time!

Where did the weekend go?

Aren't weekends supposed to be relaxing? Cuz my achin' feet aren't tellin that story. :) The good news is that the puking seems to have passed, finally. The diarrhea, not so much. (And frankly, I'm not sure which one is worse.) Opening the door to their room after night time or nap time is kind of an 'enter at your own risk' type scenario because that smell could seriously kill you. Seriously.

But enough about poop. For a moment, anyway. :)

As is usually the case, this weekend left me smiling for so many reasons. Let's discuss.

1. The Circle of Moms Top 25 Parents of Multiples contest. Why? Well for one, it seems everyone around us is as obsessed as we are. And not because you win a million dollars or anything, but because people simply love a good, close contest. What's more, we've (and by we, I mean Brian, my dad and I) decided that the 'Bunch's and the McCleary's' sounds as official as the Hatfields and the McCoys, (but without any actual feuding.) So that's kind of fun. And I like the McCleary's, and we've never even met them. I'm okay that we keep trading off 1st and 2nd place because I like the anticipation of checking numbers throughout the day!

2. Trash pickin. This one is a shout out to my friends/coworkers Ellen and Shelly. Good friends do surprisingly nice things. You see, what had happened was...at school we had an Eegees Party. (If you live in a non-Eegee part of the country, Eegees are a slushie drink.) So we're talking hundreds of kids eating eegees and throwing them away in a big trash can. Now picture me, with my big sparkly Melrose ring reaching into the trash can to throw away some trash and *blip*.... into the trash went my ring. I felt it slip off, so I immediately started looking for it.( In front of far too many kids.) I can hear it now. "Mrs. Bunch was digging in the trash can." Awesome. But wouldn't you know it? I couldn't find it. At all. It was no where in the top layer of trash. Enter Ellen and Shelly. They started digging through the nasty trash with me. And this is not an exaggeration. Shelly picked every. single. piece. of. trash. out of that can. And wouldn't you know it? That ring was just heavy enough that it had made its way to THE BOTTOM. Anyhoo, just wanted to say thanks. You never know when you might make someone's day by digging through the trash with them. :)

3. Free Starbucks. My dad visits on Sundays and always brings me a Starbucks No-Water-With-Whip-Chai and Brian a coffee. Today, when he arrived, he mentioned how the person in front of him at the drive thru Starbucks had paid for our drinks. Just because. What a random act of kindness..I think I shall pay it forward. Thank you generous stranger. Your kindness was appreciated.

4. Sharting. I may have mentioned this before, but Hunter always announces when she toots. Always. And she always seems genuinely surprised by herself which I find hysterical. So tonight, when she tooted and announced it, what with the dozen diarrhea diapers she had today, I said to her, Hunter, did you toot or did you 'shart'? (If you're not familiar with the term, google it and no, the word is not a frequently used word with my children.) :) Well, being the repeater that she is, she promptly says to Brian and me, "I shit?" (I nearly spit my drink out.) She thought she was saying 'shart' but her pronunciation is just a tad off. Holy funniness batman. Needless to say, we did not encourage that one.... furthermore, she's now learning that when she says, "I toot?" that she is to follow it with, "Excuse me." And she's doing a great job. See, now don't you feel better about our parenting?

5. Brad Paisl.ey concert. Brian and I got to go to one today. In our living room. It was presented by our own kids doing their own personal Brad Paisley renditions atop Diaper Boxes, jammin out. Gotta love it. Who would've thought to use a diaper box as a stage? Brilliant, I say. :)

6. Time out times 2. I shouldn't laugh, I know I shouldn't. And I really shouldn't take pictures cuz I'm pretty sure that is not part of Supernanny's protocol. But they were just so funny. Two kids in time out together. So, so sad. But Jo Frost would be so proud of us.

Happy Sunday all. Hope the week brings you lots of smiles!