A Sonshiney Success. :)

(Disclaimer-It's late as I type and I keep having to pry my eyes open. So if there is anything that doesn't make sense it's cuz I fell asleep and will fix it later. :) 

Here's what I know for certain. Preparing for the first day of preschool for triplets brought out my inner 

'Ninja of Organization and Efficiency." (Never mind the part where I inefficiently forgot that though I had every lunchbox and container known to man,   I would actually need to put FOOD in them for my kids to, you know, eat. 

Love me some last minute running around....

So let's begin with all the PRE Pre-school prep. 

 1.The backpacks. Gifted to the kids when they so tiny it seemed they'd never be big enough to actually use them. Um, could they BE any cuter? Brian had all three of the kids doing a fashion show/runway walk 2 nights before. I have truly not seen too many things cuter than three 3 years olds walking the catwalk, swinging their hips  twirling at the top then strutting their way back to the door. I gotta hand it to Brian. The fashion show totally got the kids excited to use their backpacks for school! (Apparently, Ethan thinks he's under arrest.) 

 And then there are the lunchboxes. So cute. 

Picked out by them.

Then there's the whole packing of lunches thing....

(and I have a new appreciation for all you moms who have been successfully packing lunches AND snacks for your kids for years because it takes real thought.) 

So we went with strawberries (grapes for Ethan cuz dude don't eat strawberries) crackers, 2 oreos and yummy Sunflower Seed Butter/Jelly sandwiches. And juice. Yep. You'd have thought the kids had been handed a million dollars. You see, I only let them drink water or milk. But school policy is ONLY juice or milk at lunch- no water. (Well, water is also mandatory, just not at lunch) I'm not so comfortable with milk in a thermos, so I went with juice and made three little people VERY happy! 

 

 And then a snack. Grapes and a cheese stick. 

 Teacher Gifts...which is really just requested items in cute basket.
Thank you Target  dollar spot for making feel like I had some of my crap together :)  

 So the morning began kind of rough. I'm not gonna lie. Without waking them up at the crack of dawn, which I didn't want to do on their first day of school, time was at a minimum. We obviously wanted to get to school on time, but before that could happen, they needed to eat breakfast, get dressed, go pee, brush teeth, take pictures.

Um, yeah. Do these children LOOK like they're ready and excited for me to take their photos?

 This is Ethan refusing to hold my 'I'm a preschooler' sign. 

 {He throws it to the ground) 

 And stomps away. Terrific. 

 Maybe a group shot would be better...

Or, maybe not. 

Colton deciding whether he wants to go to school or not. 

 

And Ethan being a toad.  

Man I love the stubborn streak in this kid. 

 So anyway, we decided to try again a few minutes later...

MUCH BETTER! 

COLTON SAMUEL

HUNTER OLIVIA

And ETHAN BRADLEY

After what felt like an eternity, we piled into the Suburban and enjoyed a quiet ride to school. At this point, I wondered if there was any part of them that was nervous. However, even if they were, none were more nervous than their mama. I started to worry about the kids finding the bathroom or remembering their teachers' names in order to ask for the bathroom. We made small talk as we drove and I reviewed all the important things. 

What color door should mama go to? 

What is your teacher's name?

What do you do if you have to go potty?

Take care of each other, okay? 

Look out for one another.

I love you. 

Are you ready? 

Uh, yep. 

 The lump in my throat was overshadowed only by my pride. I really didn't think I'd get emotional but oh, how wrong I was.   

 So I dragged them all around for photos, 1st. 

 And then we walked. 

 There she goes!! Beyond that gate, she's a preschooler! 

 There goes Ethan....good luck baby boy...

 And number 3. Good luck Col-. Oops. 

Unfortunately, he crashes- trips on the sidewalk and crashes. 

Not a good start, but to his credit, he asked only that I kiss his knees and he was good to go.
So proud of him. 

Hello green door.  :)

 Look closely at my face. I'm pretty sure I was contemplating turning around and taking them back home. Not because they weren't ready, but because I wasn't sure I was. 

 In we go! Putting away our lunchboxes and backpacks! 

 Look at these two. Could they be more different?

 "Look at my cubby, Daddy!" 

And just like that, we signed them in and sent them off to the playground where they were SO happy. Like truly, truly happy. And because they were, so was I.

Look at them. They grew up.

 Still sticking together...it warms my heart and I so love that they have each other. 

 Happy Boy

 As much as I was trying to avoid it, we had to say goodbye and let them be them. 

Kisses from daddy...For Ethan.

 For Colton...

 For Hunter.

 And for mommy.  :) 

"Take care of your brothers okay? Help them with their shorts if they can't put them on, okay?" 

Seriously. It's like she's 5 years older than they are they way she looks out for "her boys." 

 Life was good. They were fine. They were not nervous in the slightest. 

But then, Ethan wanted to take off his shoes and I said, 'no.'

So he cried. 

Okay, he screamed. 

And I just had to walk away. 

 That hurt my mama heart. I wished I'd walked away just one minute sooner. 

 But I left. I took some photos.

 We brought our gifts up (whilst still hearing Ethan cry) 

 And then we left. And I was immediately brought back to the feelings I had when I had to leave the babies in the NICU for the first time, the night I got sent home following their birth.  The lump in my throat was almost suffocating. Leaving my only children with people I barely know and who barely know my children is hard. It really, really is. I resisted the urge to offer useful tips about some of my kids 'quirks' that might help them better understand them, because I knew they'd be fine even if I said nothing. {And I didn't want to be THAT mom, anyway}. 

 Brian and I went to Starbucks and had chai tea and yogurt. And then, I cried. Just a little, cuz I didn't want to be a blubbering idiot in public, but I couldn't help myself. At some point, while listening to Brian talk about the kids, I think he realized I was about to spill over and he quickly inquires, "Oh! Should I stop talking about them? " It was kinda funny. And how ironic that one of their NICU nurses was in that same starbucks on this particular morning.

No surprise to any of you I'm sure, but I couldn't wait for 4 hours to pass so I could go get them! And may I just say that that 4 hours may as well have been a full 8 hour work day. Interestingly, I got a TON of errands done and STILL the time felt like it was just crawling by...

When I picked them up, they were ecstatic! Mrs. Moten said they had a great day and that no one peed in their pants! Woo hoo!! She said Hunter asked to go the bathroom and the others were just reminded to do so. 

 Boy was I happy to see these faces! 

(The feeling was obviously mutual. This was Colton screaming, " MOM! You came back!" 

You bet I did, buddy. 

 And off we go. 

 They graduated from their first day. Their first day was now their last first day.  :(

 Before we made it out, Hunter had to share with me everything she did. Here, she is explaining to me how to wash her hands. "First you use water, and then you put on soap and you make bubbles and your rinse your hands. Then you gotta get a towel....." 

 She also told me the name of her other teacher, Mrs. Castillo? And that she and the boys did not sit by each other for lunch and that they ate sandwiches and crackers and grapes....Man, she can regurgitate even the most insignificant details.

Well, I decided they had earned a baskin Robbins Ice Cream to celebrate their first day of preschool! 

 Happy as little clams.  

Congratulations, babies. Thank you for being so brave. Thank you for looking out for one another (when you're not beating up on one another.) I look forward to all your many adventures. This is the big leagues now, you know.  You make me proud.