The important things in life.

~ hunt2005 ~ Leave a comment

So we just got back from an amazing trip to Disneyland. It was the second visit for both Aiden as well as the triplets, and boy what a difference a year makes!!

I’ll get a more detailed post (with photos!) up soon, once I go through the 400+ pictures taken, but in the meantime, a few notes that I learned.

    1. A year makes a WORLD of difference. A year ago, we had to drag Aiden onto rides, often kicking and screaming, where he’d then come off the other side happy and glad he did it. But the anticpation was a killer. This year? He dragged us through line after line, often on rides I had no idea he’d like (Splash Mountain again, anyone?). The babies also got to enjoy the wonder of Disney for real. They rode some rides, enjoyed the sights, and loved listening to the crowds and music everywhere in the park.
    2. No matter how many lovies you have, you never have enough. Take Dino for example:

      We brought two of every animal with us (except monkey, because we cannot find the extra monkeys). We weren’t worried about losing Monkey because, well, Valerie will let us know if it ever leaves her grip. Seriously. If you hear screaming and MAMAMAMAMA coming out of her, she dropped it. Probably in the last 5 miliseconds.
      Dino, on the other hand, is not as highly demanded. We lost it. Twice. Lost the first day. Found at lost and found day 2. And lost again day 3. How did that happen? I’m not sure. But we’re ordering a replacement as we speak (and two extra Monkeys. In which case we’ll find the two missing ones in the house).
    3. Nothing can compare to bubbles. No matter how many toys he saw in the park, how many cool Disney exclusive goodies, all he wanted was a silly bubble blower that you can get for $1 at Target. Finally he relented when I promised him that we’d buy him one when we got home.

      Seriously. $2.99 online. $20 at the park. Not happening.
    4. No one ever gets too old for a Disney ride or for a Mickey mouse pretzel. Or for screaming like a little kid going down Splash Mountain. Thankfully he got soaked and I didn’t.
    5. Triplets can, and will, run in three directions. I think it’s a given. The cute hand-holding siblings on TV? It’s staged. They cannot and will not do that voluntarily. It’s like it goes against their very being.
    6. We gave many twin parents a boost during the course of the weekend. More than once we saw a twin parent look at us and get a smile on their face like, “Wow, if they can do it I guess we can suck it up too!” And then there was the twin parent with the twins as children #4 and #5, with a bonus baby #6 who was barely old enough to hold it’s own bottle. Man, if she can hold it together, I think I can for a few more hours! We had a deja vu moment in the restaurant as a family with twins who were 3 months old sat near us, which was just how old ours were last year when we came. It was amazing to think back that far and see how far we’ve come since then (Cue the screaming and fork throwing!)

2012: A year in review

~ hunt2005 ~ Leave a comment

2012 was a pretty darn good year, I’d say.

It featured a lot of stability, which was a blessing and nice surprise in the Navy life. It’s not often that we go an entire calendar year in the same house, with no orders or changes to current orders, with a husband who was home EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. of the year (except for a day or two at the Rose Bowl, but I’ll forgive that!).

The year started with us having a 3 year old and three 6 month olds. Big brother didn’t know his alphabet, couldn’t read numbers (though he could count pretty well), and was a little toddler still in his mama’s eyes. The babies? Well, they still stayed where we put them, and ate pureed food and drank from bottles that we mostly had to hold for them.

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One year later, we have three babies who walk, run, and climb their way around the house. A big brother who counts, sings, runs, plays, and is more of a boy than a baby now. We hear sweet little voices all day long as they talk to each other and us (or yell, or scream, or cry… but that’s a topic for another post). Big brother takes an active role in helping them (sometimes too active). We have children that I can refer to less and less as “babies” and more and more as toddlers and kids. It’s kind of scary!

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Last year I pledged to finally recommit to running in earnest. And I did. Sort of. I definitely accomplished more this year than ever before. My first triathlon. My first road race. My first of many post-babies half marathons. Faster. Stronger. But I was still a bit lackadaisical with it all. Why bother training for a half? I’ve done 6 before! Well, let me tell you, a triplet pregnancy later, and having been up with children in the night before, leads to a half marathon taking more effort than it has in the past. But we made it. Steven and I survived our first half together. And we can only do better next time!

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This year? We’re ready. Bring it on. January is starting out right with a trip to Disney (Remember, kids under 2 are free. When half of your family turns 2 in just a few short months, better go now while it costs half as much!). February brings big boy turning 5. FIVE. HOLY CRAP HE’S TURNING FIVE. That’s like… a whole hand. Seriously. How did that happen?!?! March brings the big 3-0 for a certain daddy in this house. April? Submarine birthday ball. I think I’ve already planned more for it than was done by March last year. Thank God for that! Olympic triathlon in May? Scheduled. June? Three little ones have a sweet little birthday. July? Our last school break before daddy finishes school here and we head on the road to who knows where. August? Kindergarten. Need I say more?? September? Graduation from NPS. Marathon in October? Hopefully, depending on orders and what happens (welcome to the real Navy again!). November? Hopefully we’ll be settled in a house that is bigger than the one we’re in, or at the very least isn’t any smaller. And December? Goodness, another year, another Christmas, another 365 days without deployments.

How can it get any better than that?!

Happy Christmas 2012!

~ hunt2005 ~ 2 Comments

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ~Luke 2:11

A lot has changed over the years, but the theme of Christmas remains the same. Love those around you. Celebrate the birth of our Lord. And rejoice with each other for another year together.

Last year there was love and laughter, and a 3.5 year old who loved to “help” his babies open their presents.

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Christmas sure will be interesting this year. The babies still don’t really “get” the presents and pageantry associated, but they are curious about presents. To which, our first presents under the tree were placed there after bed tonight, and Santa has his own pile in the living room. For some reason shiny paper with bows under a twinkling tree attracts an 18 month old’s attention better than any toy, camera, or shiny object we can find. When you have three 18 month olds, and a 4.5 year old who thinks that it should be Christmas already because it should be (for no better reason than that), the presents remained hidden until the last moment.

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He still insists on “helping” his babies open their presents, but I’m not too sure they’ll actually let him this year! Christmas service was interesting with the babies mobile. Jaina colored on paper, Jacen tried to jump off the chair, and Valerie happily danced to any music that she heard (and got upset when it ended).

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Happy Christmas, and a Merry New Year! I pray for happy adventures, good tidings, and peace to you and those you love.

Cash trumps candy?

~ hunt2005 ~ Leave a comment

In an episode of what NOT to do this holiday season…

Cash trumps candy?

This is what a friend of mine received today in her mailbox after leaving a coffee mug filled with candy and a note for her mailman.

The note the mailman wrote back? Yeah, he wrote that on the back of his holiday note from the family.

Please remember that people give from the heart. So even if it’s something you don’t want or don’t like, please be gracious. Pretend you like it. Smile and nod. And for heaven’s sake, don’t leave it and write a note on the back saying you want cash instead.

If you want to see more triplet awesomeness, click the photo and it’ll take you to pyjammy.com, a great friend with some adorable triplet boys!

Santa

~ hunt2005 ~ 2 Comments

Most every child dreams of Santa. For a four year old boy he ranks up there with cars, trucks, cookies, playgrounds, the Easter Bunny, and, well, anyone else who brings presents and candy. I’m pretty sure the only way Santa would be any more cooler would be if he came more than once per year.

For some reason, though, the concept of Santa is glorious, but the reality is quite shocking.

At two years old, big brother wouldn’t even cross the red velvet roped off line to see Santa. He’d smile and wave from a far, but if we tried to enter that line all sorts of hysterics and dramatics would ensue.

Last year at 3 we were able to sneak a photo in with Santa at the teddy bear tea here on base.

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This year we dragged all the kids out to see Santa at the mall. Aiden brought his letter that he wrote (and Santa was nice enough to read and then give back to mommy for her scrapbooks) and he was perfectly happy. Until we asked him to sit with Santa. Mommy was able to get him into the photo, but he wouldn’t go within arms reach of Santa. At first.

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Now, Santa is used to this. He was very calm and amazing throughout. The benefit to going to see him at 3pm on a Friday is there is no line. So Santa began to chit chat with us while we waited to choose our picture and pay. While doing so, he started juggling. And gave big brother another candy cane. Thus ingratiating himself forever as the coolest person on Earth. Much cooler than mommy who said only one candy cane per day! SO we were able to get Aiden to go near the couch. He still wouldn’t sit with him. Or high-five him. but he went closer.

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Hey, at least he’s smiling! Well, so after that we decided to try one last attempt at getting all four kids in the photo (without mommy preferably!). So we had Santa stand behind the couch. And put the kids on it.

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And there you have it. A snapshot of what three screaming 17 month olds can do when they really want to express their opinion on a subject.

How to photograph triplets+1…

~ hunt2005 ~ 4 Comments

I thought I’d lay out a tutorial of how to photograph triplets. I’m going to complicate matters a bit. I’m going to add in the following requirements (how ridiculously demanding of me!)

  1. Christmas tree.
  2. Clean clothing
  3. Semi-clean hands and faces
  4. All four sets of eyes looking at camera (smiles preferred, but not required)
  5. Assistants hands/arms/legs not shown

Now that we’ve laid out the ground rules, here is how to photograph triplets+1 in a few easy steps.

First, dress the children in matching/coordinating outfits. Should that not work, just try to have clean clothing on them and preferably not the pajamas they’ve worn for the last three days. *Photograph of this craziness not shown.*

Now think that your children are more patient and obedient than they really are and attempt to have them just stand in front of the tree.

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Realize, as they all keep running from the tree towards the camera, that this just isn’t going to work.

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Attempt to hang one by her feet in order to get all four children in the photo at once (daddy’s idea, not mine, but it sure was creative!)

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Give up on having all four kids in the picture, and attempt to just have three in order to get a semblance of smiling, happy faces, looking at the camera.

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Fail miserably at that as well.

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Finally distract them with a variety of toys and think this is the best you will get.

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Decide to just take a picture of one child at a time. And the only one that will cooperate is the big brother.

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Finally decide to pull out the high chairs where you will have three trapped and then just have to corral the big brother into standing still.

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Realize that getting him to stand still in the front is just not going to happen. Decide to trap him in the back with the threat that if he touches the tree he will go to bed. Use bribes incentives of “special treats” and chocolate to get this to be marginally effective.

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Yet again, realize it’s just not working. Take a snack break. Give the children some food, and regroup. Go through photos and try to figure out what worked and what didn’t. Then realize that you didn’t try using a jingly, funny, penguin with a rattle in it as an attention getter. DUH! What WERE you thinking?! Mommy’s monkey sounds and funny raspberry noises just don’t cut it anymore.

And there you have it. Success. Thank goodness Christmas is only once per year!

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Two by two…

~ hunt2005 ~ 3 Comments

So I’ve discovered most good things in the world come in sets of two. Unfortunately, triplets come in threes. It makes for a bit of a connundrum. When buying a toy that comes in a pack of two, do we buy two packs, and have a spare for when one inevitably gets lost? Do we buy three packs and then they each get two toys? But then what about the fights they have when they realize that there’s three of two different items and someone wants the one the other has? And what do you do when there really is no option but to get the set of two and then the third child is left out? Thankfully we have big brother to solve most issues (we buy two sets of two and he gets one too), but sometimes two is just not enough.

Two arms?

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There’s a solution for that:

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Only two sides on the Mega Blocks cart…. No solution found yet!

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Only two seats in a double stroller…

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There’s a solution there though!

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They finally came out with a twins float for the pool. No triplet yet though.

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Two swings at most parks… And they don’t fit like this anymore! Good thing someone typically doesn’t want to swing!

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So yes. The world was designed for things to come in twos. Animals, people, toys, friends. Two hands, two feet, two ears, two eyes. And then there are triplets who decide to turn the world upside down. But only for the better.

I think Mark Twain said it best:

“Sufficient unto the day is one baby. As long as you are in your right mind, don’t you ever pray for twins. Twins amount to a permanent riot. And there aren’t any real differences between triplets and an insurrection.” ~Mark Twain

Christmas cards for soldiers

~ hunt2005 ~ Leave a comment

Many of you have gotten an email or a Facebook post asking you to send a letter to a wounded soldier. It sounds like an amazing charitable thing to do, a way to brighten spirits, and that for the small cost of a stamp you can feel like you’re making a difference, right?

Unfortunately many of these posts are misleading or even wrong.

Snopes.com – Walter Reed Cards

Don’t lose hope, though! There is a way to send cards!

American Red Cross

The American Red Cross is delivering holiday cards to heroes, with some very specific guidelines (from their website):

Every card received will be screened for hazardous materials by Pitney Bowes and then reviewed by Red Cross volunteers working around the country.
Please observe the following guidelines to ensure a quick reviewing process:
  • Ensure that all cards are signed.
  • Use generic salutations such as “Dear Service Member.” Cards addressed to specific individuals can not be delivered through this program.
  • Only cards are being accepted. Do not send or include letters.
  • Do not include email or home addresses on the cards: the program is not meant to foster pen pal relationships.
  • Do not include inserts of any kind, including photos: these items will be removed during the reviewing process.
  • Please refrain from choosing cards with glitter or using loose glitter as it can aggravate health issues of ill and injured warriors.
  • If you are mailing a large quantity of cards, please bundle them and place them in large mailing envelopes or flat rate postal shipping boxes. Each card does not need its own envelope, as envelopes will be removed from all cards before distribution.
All holiday greetings should be addressed and sent to:

Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

 
The deadline for having cards to the P.O. Box is Friday, December 7th.
Holiday cards received after this date cannot be guaranteed delivery.
 
 

Thanksgiving across the years

~ hunt2005 ~ 2 Comments

Rewind to Thanksgiving day 2010…

I woke up early that morning, and decided (though I knew I was a few days early still) to test and see if our plan had worked. If the IUI had worked. If we really were going to get a shot at this whole pregnancy thing again. And much to my dismay, it was positive. Very faintly. So faintly that Steven wasn’t sure it was there at first.

The first concern? A neighborhood Thanksgiving potluck involving wine. Crap. How do I avoid wine in front of ladies that I’ve had plenty of nights enjoying a glass or two with while our husbands were out to sea?! I decided to tell a couple people, mostly because I couldn’t hold it in, but also because I knew someone would catch on!

During the dinner I went back for seconds. Was teased about how I was pregnant after all so that was okay. I started to feel guilty when I went back for thirds, but was gently reminded by my husband that, “You’re eating for three!” (our little joke since there were two follicles that we knew of, and knew the possibility of twins existed!). Little did we know that the next year….

We would have three little munchkins joining us at the table! Sort of. They didn’t really get to partake much (though I might have slipped them a bite of mashed potato!) And certainly were a lot quieter than they were this year.

And then we have 2012:

Chaos, mayhem, and destruction abound with three 17 month old toddlers! Hard to believe they are 17 months now! Fun to think back at all we have to be thankful for on a Thanksgiving holiday, and what the future will hold with four little (and not so little) ones running around.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. To those near and far away, to those home safely and those deployed, to those alone and with family on this wonderful holiday. Here’s to the start of a very merry holiday season!! Cheers!