2011 in review

~ hunt2005 ~ 2 Comments

What a year it has been.

2011 started with believing we were moving overseas to Japan in a matter of months. Aiden attended his first Gators football game (not counting the game he went to in-utero back in 2007). January 7th was a day that we will never forget as we found out we were not just pregnant, but pregnant with triplets. Madness ensued trying to get a call to a submarine somewhere in the water, not knowing when or how my husband would hear the news (or if he would believe it once he did!). So many people were involved in the process of getting the call to the hubby – Ombudsman, CO’s wife, CO, XO, Weps… friends that I will never forget, and were involved in a day I will forever remember. Even foreign friends whom I’ve never met, but yet are always involved in the telling of the story as they were there when phone calls were placed to family.

From there, we went through chaos as we didn’t know what would happen with orders. It could have been to any place in the US. With the hubby under water and only having intermittent communication, we were left not really sure what would happen, and it was hard to coordinate between a detailer, a wife, and a submariner. Finally, we were put in orders heaven, with orders to NPS in Monterey, CA. For those unfamiliar with Navy life, NPS means that my husbands’ sole job would be attending school and getting his masters degree. No duty. No late night work hours. No weekends. Just some studying after hours and maybe working on his thesis later on. But for now? He’s home by 5 and we’re currently in the middle of a 3 week winter break.

Come mid-May, we were asked to leave early. Talked to the doctor, everything was okayed as I had a perfect pregnancy up till then (that was at 28 weeks), and we were looking to move within a week or two. God decided that wasn’t a good plan and I went into preterm labor May 22nd. Quickly talked to the detailer, AGAIN, and we were staying until August.

Then came 4 weeks of hospital bedrest and family flying in to take care of the big brother while hubby finished up work on the sub and I was in the hospital. One fateful day in June the babies decided it was time, and they were finally born! June 20th, at 918am and 919am we were blessed with three perfectly healthy preemies. Then came 4 weeks of NICU time with staying in the Fisher House (I will never be able to repay them for the care and support they provided!) and travelling back and forth, including me staying 2 last nights at Madigan to get Valerie finally home.

Then we were off to California! 1000 miles, 18 hours, and we arrived with three 6-week-olds in tow. A week in the Navy lodge, moving into our new house, and we finally got unpacked.

Now, in December, after rearranging some furniture we are “settled” in, as childproofed as can be, and preparing for 2012.

To all those who have been here for us through this year, thank you. And to those we’ve only recently met, we are excited to share this next part of our journey with you!

This year was crazy. Busy. Stressful. Chaotic. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. If 2012 could only be half as crazy, though, I’d appreciate it!

Merry Christmas!

~ hunt2005 ~ 2 Comments

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas. This year was amazing in more ways than three. But the highlight definitely has been a Christmas with the husband, a good big brother helping his littles’ open their presents, and drinking while trying to master the Kinect!

We had two babies sleep through Christmas festivities (Jacen and Valerie), one who woke up at 6AM ready to go for the day (Jaina), and a 4 year old who we had to convince it snowed overnight but already melted in order to get him to put on his penguin pajamas and believe that Santa really did come. Because, if it doesn’t snow, it’s not Christmas. Clearly.

So with that, I’ll leave you with some pictures and a toast to a happy, healthy, wonderful New Year, and many to come…

Squirrel!

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So you know in Disney’s Pixar film “Up!” how the dog would be having a conversation and then get distracted by the squirrel?

Yeah. That’s Jaina. Only replace “squirrel” for Daddy, bottle, TV, Aiden, Mommy, bottle, TV, toy, etc, and that is now how feeding times go.

Our baby has BADD. Baby ADD. Or at least that’s our self-diagnosis of her lack of attention span while eating. Maybe THAT explains why she’s the tiniest of the three!

FEET

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Well, Valerie found her feet tonight. It’s hillarious. She’s sitting in the swing just rubbing them together and kicking with this look on her face that says, “What can I DO with these?!”

Absolutely fascinated.

In other news, Jaina has decided that drinking a bottle is boring and everything else around her is MUCH more interesting, leading me to feeding her in the bedroom with the light off and door closed tonight to get her to finally finish it in time for bed.

It’s always something!

What is this really for?

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I remember a few years ago when blogs became the “cool” thing to do, I always swore I would never be one of *those* people. I mean, really, who is self-centered enough to believe that a world of strangers with better things to be doing with their lives would want to sit down and read their daily ramblings and see photos of their families. And really, isn’t it a bit odd to be sharing some of the most intimate moments of your life with complete strangers, especially when you barely share those feelings with those you are friends or acquaintances with?

And then I started reading blogs. One at first. Then two. Now there are a couple that I know their website by heart in case I’m on a computer without my favorites list so I can check in and see if the writer has any new words of wisdom. Most of them, I’ll admit, are mommy blogs, or multiples blogs, or a combination of both. There are a few where I think at random times of the week, “Is it Sunday yet? I really want to read her newest update in “Our Story!” It’s not?? DARN!” And then I count down until she posts again. I’ll be honest – it’s a bit of an addiction. I don’t think my husband understands often (if at all). I guess it’s one of those moments of connection with others, though. In a world where everything has become so impersonalized and technology-driven, these online blogs and connections are the one place that a mother of infant triplets can log in at 2 am and get a little bit of “me” time while maintaining a relationship with someone other than her immediate family.

It’s a place that I can escape. It’s a place that I can realize, I’m not the only one. That moment where you ask yourself, “Am I the only one this happens to?!” This world is where I realize that while I am complaining that my children won’t be quiet for 5 minutes so that I can read a blog, it is in that blog where a mother has lost a child that I realize I should never complain about that. I’d prefer to have a loud, messy, crazy house, than for one day go through what she has gone through.

And then I wonder – for everything that these other moms/women/people go through and post on their blog, what are they not posting? I mean, do they self-moderate and only post what they can handle to? Or do they post everything, lay it completely bare, and hope that those closest to them understand that they aren’t seeking help or advice, but rather they just need to get it out there in hopes that someone going through the same thing knows they aren’t alone?

So I guess the whole point is that I’m still figuring these things out as well. Originally this was intended to keep family and friends up to date on the craziness that is our life, from the boring day-to-day happenings to the exciting moments and firsts that, when you have 4 children, you just simply cannot call or email about everytime it happens. Now? I’m not so sure. The more I read these other sites, the more I realize that for all they give me, I hope to provide some semblance of inspiration or hope to others. But I also don’t want to sugar coat it. Life with triplets and an older child is not always puppies and sunshine. In fact, it rarely is. But those moments of pure delight and love and hope are what get you through till the next one. And some day we’ll be lounging back in Yellowstone, working for the season as old retired people while our children are off in college, or married, or with kids of their own, and we’ll look back and try to remember these moments. And I hope that I will have remembered to print some posts out, and log them for prosperities sake. So that I can remember both the good and the bad times and just how worthwhile it all was.

Happy Holidays!

~ hunt2005 ~ 2 Comments

Maybe next year when he’s 4 he will finally not be afraid of Santa anymore. You know, for a kid that is as excited as anything about a strange man coming into his house at night and leaving presents while he’s sleeping, you’d think he’d be less afraid of him in person! This was as close as we could get him to Santa no matter what we did. Doesn’t help we were holding babies as well, or I might have made him sit on Santa’s lap while crying anyway (like last year… and the one before that)!

5 months and counting

~ hunt2005 ~ 4 Comments

Wow, so 5 months have gone by (plus a couple of days). Can you believe it??

I was looking through the old pics of them in the NICU the other day and it’s hard to think that these big, chubby, babies are the same ones who only a few months ago were in isolettes not able to regulate their temperature on their own. Now they know EXACTLY what they want (namely bottles), and EXACTLY how to get it (namely, screaming).

They are amazing at baby pushups, they laugh at all of my bad jokes. They even smile and talk to each other now. Or plot against us. We’re not sure which, but we’re pretty sure they sit there deciding who is going to wake up at 4 am the next night. They’re all on the growth charts for a kid their actual age, which is just amazing considering they were 7 weeks early. Our latest stats:

Jacen: 13 pounds, 13 ounces.
Valerie: 12 pounds, 12 ounces.
Jaina: 11 pounds……. 13 ounces. She didn’t want to play the fun game of keeping the numbers sequential.

We’ve decided that Jaina is going to be a gymnast, so she has to stay petite. She arches her back and throws her arms over her head after eating (think of a gymnast finishing a routine and sticking the landing). Valerie is going to be our social butterfly. And Jacen will be a linebacker. Or maybe a wrestler. Something where body weight comes in handy 😉

The big boy is doing well, too. He’s starting to enjoy school. And some of his concepts are hillarious. Such as last night – we learned that all cars with red lights are “bad” cars, and all cars with white lights are “happy” cars (not good/bad, but happy/bad). So when we’re driving down the road, there are a lot of happy and bad cars. And red is the differential between the two types. Unless it’s Lightning McQueen. or Chick Hicks. In which case there are exceptions. Each day, though, reminds me of This link. Namely, reason number 1:

1) Three is two with intent.

Oh boy is it. He knows which buttons to push, in which order, to get the most response out of us. This response may be negative or positive depending on what he wants at the time. But he knows EXACTLY what to do to get the response he wants. Sometimes he gets an unintended response, in which case you see the lightbulb go on above his head showing he’s locking that trick away for future use.

And now I’ll leave you with a pic, because we all know that’s why you’re really here:

Outfits courtesy of the most amazing secret santa ever 🙂