Solid Food. It's not for sissies.

Here I am! Day 3 of Nablopomo..and you thought I was going to forget didn't you? Well I didn't forget, I just got busy! And I had to do some thinking. What to blog about. Hmm...I polled all my Facebook friends and got several GREAT ideas which you'll be seeing sometime in November. But for this post, I decided to focus on something which has recently given me great enjoyment and entertainment....Eating Solid Food. Aah yes. What fun! We've only been eating it for about a month (maybe) and already we've made some big gains as far as learning how to eat from a spoon! So far our food repertoire consists of Rice Cereal, Oatmeal, Sweet Potato, Bananas and Butternut Squash. (All of which my mom makes homemade for us!) Which we appreciate because the babies tried commercially prepared food and really didn't care for taste nearly as much as they did the "REAL" thing. I can't blame them really.

So anyway, at 5:30 each night, the helmets come off, the babies get stripped down to diapers and into their side-by-side-by-side highchairs they go! Just like reading a book, we feed from left to right. This actually works out really well because by the time we get through a spoonful for each baby and come back to the beginning child, they've finally swallowed it and are actually ready for another bite! And if you're sitting there wondering if I'm a bad mother, the answer is yes. I use the same spoon for all three babies. One bowl. One spoon. Oh well. They've been sharing pacifiers since they were a month old! Just think of the immunity they'll have built up. (Now please, rest assured that if someone is sick, that child WILL get his own spoon.) It takes approximately 30 minutes to finish eating and by then the babies are literally coated from head to bellybutton with whatever we ate! Now, whatever adult is NOT doing the feeding has to wash, dry and powder all three helmets since we only have one hour that they get to be off their heads!

Luckily, from here, all three babies get moved into the Bumbo Seats which we line up in the bathroom and we begin the assembly line of bath time. One of us bathes them then passes them to the other of us who dries, lotions, diapers and jammies them! This takes another 30 minutes and then we're done! Helmets back on, time to eat our final bottle of the night at 7:00 and then to bed! Anyway, this entry is dedicated to the messy little faces I love so much...I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Early on, Aunt Mary the Kindergarten Teacher, was teaching them "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" outside on my patio.

It was going so well, and we were all outside, so I decided it would be a good time to TRY eating some rice cereal. Notice I had not smartened up yet. No bibs. Clothes still on. Helmets still on. Oops.
Didn't take long before we all looked like this.....
COLTON
Loves butternut squash the most. Desperately wants to hold the spoon himself. Immediately puts his hands in his mouth the second food goes in. Can be guaranteed to sneeze food out his nose because of his cleft palate...cute as EVER! Here, the many faces of Colton...

ETHAN

Loves oatmeal with bananas, hates to wait his turn, looks like Al Bundy when he eats (slouches in his chair and scratches his belly), likes when you play the "airplane" game with the spoon, likes to get a reaction when he spits is back out...Here, the many faces of Ethan...

HUNTER

Still kinda learning, loves butternut squash, gets SO excited when it's her turn. (She pulls herself up close to the tray and her feet dangle like crazy, still spits out quite a lot but is getting better, loves the "airplane" game with the spoon, opens her mouth long before the spoon is headed her way! Here, the many faces of Hunter....

MOMMY (Ami)

Here are a few pictures my mom gave me of me when I was their age. Sorry about the quality...she literally played a video on the TV and took still photos OF the TV. Someday I'll actually just scan some good photos and put them on here. But for now, these ought to do...See any resemblances?

That's all! I did it! 3 days down, 27 to go!

Things I've learned about Motherhood from A to Z

A- "All I can say is I feel sorry for you" is about the rudest thing I've ever heard from someone who sees me with out with my triplets. The irony is that I feel sorry for them for not having the experience of having 3 babies to love at the same time. Plus, comments like that typically come from people who are stressed out because they don't have the know-how or patience to raise their ONE child. :)

B- "Boo" is the funniest game ever to my 3 babies.

C- Calm...calm...calm...So important to stay calm. :) Stressed mommy=stressed babies. Calm mommy=calm babies. I choose choice B.

D- Diapers are not created equal...

E- Extinct when you need one. Plentiful when you don't. This is the way of pacifiers.

F- Friends with kids are great! They give you hand-me downs, bring you treats, tell you where to find teething tablets, teach you how to make rice cereal, etc.

G- Going anywhere with 3 babies is a feat!

H- Humor is a necessity. Sometimes you really do have to just laugh when all three babies are eating bright orange sweet potatoes, with more of it on their faces than in their mouths, and one is screaming because he hates it and his head itches from wearing his helmet all day, the other one just sneezed sweet potato out of his nose and onto everything in the area, so while you go get a wet paper towel to clean him (and everything else) up, the phone rings, which you distractedly answer, now coating IT with sweet potato, and come back only to find that baby #3 took the liberty of taking matters into her own hands and is now holding the bowl all by herself and is finger painting with her dinner. How can you not laugh?

J- Just when you buy your babies those cute new onesies from Target in size 3-6 months, they will suddenly only fit in 6-9 month clothes.

K- Karma waits for people to become parents and then whatever went around really comes back around! I know this because my little tiny daughter can scream at the top of her lungs just to get a reaction, much the way I'm pretty sure I did to my mom....sorry mom. :)

L- Laughing babies is the best thing in the world!

M- Multitasking takes on a whole new meaning once you have kids. I had this thought the other day as I sat in my glider chair feeding a baby with one hand, holding the cell phone to my ear with that same shoulder, clipping baby nails with the other hand and changing the channel on the remote with my TOE!

N- No one knows my kids as well as I do, or loves them as much! ( I know many of you love them ALMOST as much as I do and I love that!) :)

O-Orajel. Buy it. Use. Love it. Consider stock in it.

P-Picking a good Pediatrician's office could be the best move you ever make. Catalina Pediatrics has been so good to our family....we appreciate everyone there!

Q- Questions about raising babies should be directed to the 'BABY 411' book. It's awesome!

R- Road trips are better reserved for older kids or minivans.

S- Snot Suckers (I believe grown up people call them bulb syringes) were invented by a genius. I treat like I treat American Express...don't leave home without it.

T- Tailgate of a Dodge Durango doubles as a changing table when you're out and about.

U- Under the couch is where you will find the missing Snot Sucker (see 'S' above), 2 pacifiers, the left foot sock, a teether, your flip flops and the dog's chew toy. All covered with fur and dust.

V- Very, very, very carefully is how you put three babies to sleep in the same room. If you're not careful, you WILL trip over the humidifier on the floor, causing you to bump into a sleeping child's crib. Who, by the way, will no longer be sleeping.

W- When in doubt, just use diaper rash creme.

X- Exersaucers are like center time for kindergartners. I know. There are 3 of them in my living room. Rotate every 20 minutes or until someone starts screaming. (And yes, I realize that I am using some Alphabetical Liberties here with the X thing...)

Y-"You really have your hands full" is such a ridiculous comment. Really? You think? My response- I'd rather they be full than empty." And I would.

Z- Zoo is what our house sounds like from time to time when three babies make three very distinct "sounds". All of which are very funny!

Whew! I did it! 2 days of "National Blog Posting Month" down...28 to go!

A blog a day in November...One down, 29 to go!

Uh oh...I'm already questioning what I got myself into becoming a part of "National Blog Posting Month" where the goal is a blog a day for 30 days...It's only day 1 and I'm feeling overextended already. Oh well. I'm still going for it! So for day 1, I thought we'd go with a bunch of miscellaneous photos that have no rhyme or reason to them!

So...The next few pictures are of my "office" when I was a kindergarten teacher during my LBT life. (Life Before Triplets). Kids lived in my office...LOTS of them! I loved it! I love the colors, the artwork, the smells (most of them anyway) and i love the atmosphere of learning....

Now, some of you may know that in order to help offset the cost of having triplets, I have gone back to work part time. I work from 7-3 on Wed. and Thur. and half day on Fridays. However, I have a new title, AND a new office. I am now the Enrichment Teacher at my same school, and this is my new office. As you might have guessed, kids do not live in my "new" office. Nope, just 3 hardworking 'big kids!" I am still adjusting to my new role and trying desperately not to miss my old job too much. It feels strange to do a job where I interact more with the teachers in the school than the kids!

So this is my office in my LAT job. (Life after triplets)

These are my tough guys...wearing footie pajamas with monkeys on their feet!

And their sister....whom I'd like you all to notice, is NOT in the middle!

This is big boy Colton wishing desperately that his brother or sister would learn how to sit up and keep him company! :)

Wagon Time! Probably their favorite part of the day!

At my friend Nicole's daughter Delaney's 2nd birthday party! I believe this was Delaney saying "Hi baby. Hi baby. Hi baby."

Colton sitting like a big boy at the kiddie table and chairs. Ok he's actually tasting the table and chairs.

Colton and Hunter

Hunter

Colton

This is Colton and his Uncle Emilio. We thought it was too cute that they were both wearing black Hurley T-Shirts!

One HOT morning, we took the babies to watch our friend Paige's daughters' soccer games! On the left is Lacey and on the right is Jillian! The babies LOVED watching them play!

Paige, Aunt Mary and Ethan

Little Lady Hunter

And after a moment of insanity, my mom, my sister and I decided it would be fun to take the babies to Applebees for their first time. I'll say this. THANK GOODNESS for the BIG corner booth. We would not have fit anywhere else!

A random picture I love...Messy Colton

Ethan at the doctor's office

Pretty little Hunter wearing A pink tutu, pink tennis shoes a few sizes too big, and her pink helmet. How I love this little girl!

Ok, I did it! Day 1 down! Hope you enjoyed the randomness of the blog!