Madam Foreperson, the verdict please....

They slept. 

The whole night. 

No one fell out. 

No one woke up.

But not until they had logged a good hour an a half of jumping time first.

And not until they'd each tried out each bed. 

And not until they'd been Super-nannied by Brian and me 8 times each.

And not until they made their final bed selections. 

Let the evidence show that not one Bunchkin slept in his or her own bed. 

(Follow the arrow from each child's intended bed to the bed he or she in fact slept in.) 

Good times. 

However, let's fast forward to nap time today. While I grocery shopped, I received a text from my sister, Mary who was kindly watching the trio. Keep in mind that I had said I'd come home from shopping and put them down for naps so that she wouldn't have to do the "Supernanny" bit on them herself while trying to still pay attention to her 4 week old.  

The text said, "6 eyes closed...Hunter asked to take a nap and they followed. Stayed in for about 10 minutes." 

That meant that she had stayed with them for about 10 minutes, and that was all it took. They stayed in their beds, they snuggled under their comforters and closed their eyes and slept. 

HALLELUJAH! 

**Sidenote: I got three 16x20 poster frames today for a smokin' deal at Michael's. (Pretty sure the lady at the checkout was ready to give them to me for free if I would just take the screaming trio OUT of the store, but that's just our life. Nothing a 39 lollipop can't fix.)  Nevertheless, they (the frames, not the kids) are currently propped on each headboard with each child's photo in them, so I could, you know, get 'the feel' for how they will look above each bed. And yeah, I pretty much LOVE IT! If I know me and my impatience, they'll be hanging on the walls tomorrow. Which leaves mod-podging their names for my next project. I love being on break.  

1,016 days

Yep. It was a mere 1,016 days

or

(2 years, 9 months and 12 days)

or

(24, 384 hours)

or

(1, 463,040 minutes)

ago

that we were he was doing this:

Building 3 cribs while I cooked our 3 babies. I remember this day as well as I did 1,016 days ago. 

My babies lived in these cribs for 888 days. 

They played in these cribs, they slept soundly in these cribs, they cried in these cribs. 

Oh, and they scaled the rails of these cribs, which brings us to today. 

Today, they came down. (I know, I know, they sort of came down once before, but only for a day so it doesn't count.) This time, there's no going back. 

Today was spent undoing. And stifling some "where has the time gone" tears, (mine) and watching my big girl help her daddy carry away her crib-the crib we placed her in when she was a mere 3 lb. 8 oz.

"You see that face, Hunter?" (Referring to mine.) "Remember it. You're gonna see that face many more times in your life." 

So beginning at about 10:00 this morning, Brian began the undoing process. One at a time, he took a crib apart and I carried it down to the garage where I placed them into various give away piles. 

Much the way she does with any of his projects, Hunter stayed close by her daddy in case he needed help. Okay, mostly just to check in and offer a "Hi Daddy" every now and again, and a "What doin, Daddy?" here and there, but she does enjoy helping. 

And his patience has grown tremendously the past 2 and a half years and watching him teach her how to turn the alan wrench just about melts my heart. 

The best part is the good job kiss she gets for helping! 

Alas, the remnants.

And I'll be honest, I wasn't going to post these videos, because I haven't been able to for the past year and a half or so. But purely by accident, I uploaded them using this new Blogger interface and son of a gun, it worked! So enjoy our lame videos! (Now that I know it works, I'll be sure to turn the camera the proper way so you don't have to crank your necks.) 

You didn't think the boys were going to stay away the whole time, did ya? 

They're like zoo animals who just got set free! 

I didn't want to discuss the filth that coated the walls where grubby little feet have kicked the past 888 days, but well, here we are. 

Washing walls. "Coton's feet dirty, mama." Yes, they are little girl. 

At this point, Brian decided to grab a chair so he could see about fixing their fan. In all her mightiness, she grabbed on to that chair and said, "I hold it." Seriously? I love her. 

And just like that, the cribs were gone.

The beds were there. 

And 4 hours later, 3 cribs had been undone and 3 beds had been constructed.

Camp Bunchkin is ready for business. 

If you ask me, the best part of this whole process was watching the mattresses come to life. They come packed like this-all rolled up and vacuumed sealed. 

You simply remove the outer packaging,

Then make a slit so that it can be unrolled, 

Then slit the packaging again,

And watch it fill with air! 

See how much it's plumping up and it's been just a second or two. 

Ta da! And just like that, we have.....

Camp Bunchkin! 

Unfortunately, the space between each bed is even less than I thought it would be...

So our big headed boys cannot even walk between the two beds without their heads getting stuck! (Go ahead. Just try not to laugh!) I suppose it's one way to keep them from getting too unruly up there! 

So...as cute as these little beds are, they pretty much don't care for them yet. 

Nap time was non-existent. 

And even though a tired little Hunter requested that she, "go take a nap" a whole hour and a half before her usual bed time, they are still wide awake up there. 

Losing steam, yes, but still wide awake. 

Taking turns getting stuck in between beds and jumping from bed to bed to bed. 

But that's okay. It's only the first night. Right???  :) 

Right??  :) 

Go ahead, say it.

IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!

Yeah, yeah...Once again, I KNOW! It has taken me an entire quarter of school to realize just how busy I am now that I am a full time mom AND a full time teacher. I've told many people how badly I need just a few more hours in the day. (Which I immediately realize is really rather ridiculous because as it stands, the last few hours of my day are usually spent behind closed eyelids, on the couch, laptop on my lap, neck craned, mouth wide open, snoring anyway.) So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'll figure it out. I'll get my blog groove back. I will.

For you- The readers, the cheerleaders, the friends, the fellow bloggers, the coworkers, the family members, and the moms.

I will figure it out for YOU.

Unfortunately, it's already 11:34 pm so this post is going to be short and sweet.

It's a sneak peak.

A little sign of the metamorphosis happening in this house- The change from babies to toddlers to big kids.

Cuz friends, our beds are here. Beds with no rails. Beds that life size humans could sleep in. Beds that had the word 'teen' in the description but no mention of 'baby.' Sigh..

And so, their room needs to grow with them. Off the walls go the words 'baby boys' and 'little girl'. In come their new names. Out go the cribs and in come the beds. Out goes my sanity and in comes our newest challenge.

Wanna peek at what's in store for the Bunchkins' new room? Allow me.

A 16 x 20 framed poster of each kiddo will go above their beds. New letters for their names.. 

Their new bedspreads, their posters their names.. (I haven't cut Ethan's out yet)

The Boys' Bedding

Hunter's Bedding

These are the actual beds (minus the bedding)

An idea I pinned on Pinterest. Thinking I'll make each child  a pillow for his/her bed. 

So that's that. And don't you worry. I'm back. I have lots of photos I've taken and lots of fun stories to share. (Oh, and did I mention today's the first day of my 3 week fall break??) Cuz that kinda helps.  :)

Miniature Masterminds

Have you ever felt as though you are being ganged up on? As though you are the only one who is not 'in' on the secrets and the plans? Welcome to parenting of toddler triplets. I have given up on the notion that my children are angelic and well behaved. This story is best begun with a phrase Brian and I often reserve for only the most interesting events...It goes like this.

"You see, what had happened was...."

Saturday night Brian had to work which left me home alone with the trio. Like all nights, I put them to bed at 8:30. Three piggy back rides, 3 'snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug's and about 30 kisses later, I turned on their soft music, turned off the lights and left their room. I cozied up on the couch with my glass of wine and watched 'Something Borrowed' on OnDem.and.

Note that I said I 'put them to bed' NOT 'put them to sleep' at 8:30. That was precisely because they rarely go right to bed. It is very normal for them to stay awake for another hour talking, laughing, jumping, etc. This is typically fine with us because once they're up, they're up. Unless there is throw-up or poop, they aint gettin' out and they know that. So what they do up there is fine by us. Eventually, they fall asleep. :)

On this particular night however, despite being totally engrossed in my movie, I noticed that they were particularly rambunctious and not showing signs of slowing down one bit. There was yelling, oh yes, but it was more the kind of yelling you do at a sporting event. You know, like when you're cheering on your team. Something in me said I should probably go check on them.

Making my way up the stairs, I noted that the yelling had turned to great laughter. (Which makes it much more difficult for me to do my 'stern mommy' act. I approached their door and gently pushed it open a few inches, scanning the 3 cribs for immediate signs of danger, entrapped body parts, etc.

What I found, was this.

In case you are not familiar with the layout of their room, let me enlighten you. Ethan's crib is on the left wall, Hunter's is in the middle and Colton's is on the right. So now, if you would be so kind as to look at that photo again, you will notice that Ethan is IN Hunter's crib, and is looking pleased as punch with himself. As soon as I opened that door and noticed 2 shadows in one crib, I immediately had to turn my back and look out into the hallway in hopes that they would not see my uncontrolled laughter. At some point, I walked back down to get my cellphone so I could quickly snap a picture (did you expect anything less?) and then I went in, and despite my better judgement laughed WITH them. They knew good and well that they had done something wrong AND that it was pretty damn funny.

I placed the escapee back into his own baby jail and did the best scolding-through-laughter I could muster. The rest of the night was uneventful. I finished my movie and went to bed at about midnight when Brian got home.

Now, our bedroom door is just a few feet from theirs which makes listening to their conversations pretty easy. The next morning they started to wake up at about 8:00. Like most mornings, we allow them the fun of waking up together and having some time to 'chat' amongst themselves before we go and get them. These moments have gotten funnier and funnier as their language has improved.

So this particular morning, Brian and I are noticing that Hunter is particularly vocal, uttering phrases like, "C'mon Ethan. You can do it." and "Coton, you come in my bed? You come in my bed too?" and "Good job." We immediately realize that they are reenacting the Great Escape from the night before. After listening for about 20 minutes I decide to go in and bust them. What I find, is this.

Again, let me help you with your orientation here. That is Colton's crib on the right, and Hunter's in the middle. Ethan's is not shown in this photo. That is THREE CHILDREN IN ONE CRIB. That means Ethan (aka Houdini) scaled not one, but TWO cribs to get over there. He does this by either pulling himself over the railing on his belly, or by swinging a leg over and straddling two cribs at once. I now realize that Hunter's questioning of "Colton, you come in my bed too?" was simply another case of her misusing her pronouns, much the same way that she says, "Momma, I help you?" when she means, "Momma, can you help me?"

I believe my words when I swung that door open went something like, "ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!$"

Anyhoo, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, well, shame on me. Fool me 3 times? Don't even think about it. Before bed that night, Brian and I wised up and turned Hunter's crib so that all three were now parallel with one another, increasing the space between their cribs just enough that no one is able to crib-hop any more.

When I say that they were mad, understand that what I mean is, they were FURIOUS. Hunter pleaded, "I seep in Coton's bed' no less than 26 times and was more and more mad each time I refused her pleas.

As usual, they eventually fell asleep. The next morning, this is what I found.

A freakin revolt. The prisoners tossed every pillow, blanket, stuffed animal, toy car, you name it out of their cribs and onto the floor. "Pretty sure they were saying, "FINE! Take that!"

Are you kidding me, people?

Rest assured, their twin beds are on order and will be arriving in approximately one week. Good times ahead.

On a much more innocent note, I am an AUNTIE! My sweet niece Brinley was born on August 26 at 5:02 pm. She was 8 lbs 4 oz and 19 inches long. She is about as sweet a baby as they come. I simply adore her.

I got to be in the O.R. with my sister for her C-Section and let me tell you what a moment that was. For one thing, it was a surreal flashback to my own children's birth, minus about 24 people in the room and two, to see another human being be pulled into this world is about the coolest thing ever. Both Mary and I were overcome with happy tears as I proclaimed how absolutely perfect she is. And yes, I will forever remember that I got to hold her first. :) What a proud moment...I have a niece.

No doubt she will be a very common thread in this blog from this day forth. Welcome to the world Brinley!

(And a belated 'Welcome to the world to the DeBauche Triplets, Sophia, Madelyn and Isabelle! We've all been waiting for you and are pulling for speedy trips out of the NICU!)