And we’re all still here and alive. Possibly even thriving depending on the day of the week!

I’ll have updates on their weights and all tomorrow after their appointments, but let’s just say they’re getting HUGE! Or at least they are to me. To anyone else, they seem so tiny for 4 month olds (especially when you consider some babies are born at 10 pounds), but they’re almost 3 times their birth weight which is crazy in my mind.

They’ve sure come a long way. They smile, coo, and even laugh sometimes now. They used to roll over but I think they’ve gotten too fat and can’t figure out how to maneuver the new body weight. 🙂 They’ve even started sleeping better. We put them to bed around 11 last night, and the first to wake was Jacen at 7 am. It would have been a great nights sleep if Aiden hadn’t come in with a nightmare!

We’re starting to get excited for all the holidays coming up. Aiden doesn’t understand why we can’t carve pumpkins and go trick or treating on a daily basis. He doesn’t understand why if there’s Christmas stuff at the store that Santa’s not here yet. Daily he reminds me that “Santa’s coming soon!” and that it’s “Almost Halloween!” in the same sentence.

We’re all settling in well here, though. School’s going well for all of us, and we’re really enjoying the area. I’ll try to post some more pics soon!

So I often hear the words “Supermom” or something similar from people who think that I’ve got it all figured out. It’s far from it. We take each day as it comes, and while there are ups, there are also downs. An idea of the day in the life of a mom with triplets and a 4 year old:

6am: Babies want to eat. Apparently they think we are starving them by letting them sleep for 5-6 hours straight at night. How horrible of us!
7am: They finally are done and back asleep. Right as my head hits the pillow, the 3.5 year old comes running out of his room, “MOOOOMMEEEE!! PEEEEE PEEEEEE!!!!” Yes. It is apparently something that we have to run out of our room crying about, we can’t just go to the potty calmly by ourselves. I *must* get up and help him. Thus, his day starts, as does mine. Then for the battle over cookies, chocolate milk, chocolate, and anything else. Thank God for Mickey Mouse House – it saves the morning!
8-9am: Babies want to eat again.
9am: Walk the big boy to preschool. Talk about the rocks and trees and grass on the way, while babies inevitably spit up and cry. They’re not big fans of the sunshine, as was their brother before them.
10am: Finally home and settled in, get a few things done around the house.
11am: Babies want to eat again.
12pm: Pick Aiden up from preschool.
12-1pm: Try to feed the big boy while maintaining non-screaming babies, and keeping the house look somewhat in order.
1pm: fight over whether it’s called nap time or quiet time.
2 pm: Feed babies, finaly get them down for another nap. Attempt to get some work done in the house.
…. And so on and so forth.

In the event that we venture out into public, we’re stopped by Every. Single. Person. in the store. Yes, I know they are babies. Yes, I know they are adorable. Yes, I know that I am insane for attempting a shopping trip to Costco during the day by myself with the kids. But when you see a mom, pushing a cart with 2 babies in it, pulling a cart with a baby in it, and a 3.5 year old hanging off the side, Please. For heavens’ sake. DO. NOT. STOP. THEM. Yes, I know you want to see the circus act that is us, but seriously. If the babies aren’t crying, then please let me accomplish my errands without having to soothe babies at the same time. If they ARE crying (which likely at least one is), take pity on me and leave me alone. Do not be the lady at Costco yesterday who followed me through the ENTIRE store asking a myriad of questions which all had no purpose while I’m trying to corral everyone. Seriously. Groceries must be purchased, and trust me – a venture out for milk is MUCH easier than the melt down that would ensue should I not have said milk available post-nap!

No, I do not have it all together. Someone probably has spit-up on their face. Someone probably needs a clean diaper. And the 4 year old is probably eating candy he found on the ground. All the more reason to NOT stop me. I appreciate the comments, the praise, and I definately appreciate your well-meaning thoughts. But please. You may think I’m exaggerating. I literally had a lady stand IN FRONT of the shopping cart yesterday in an attempt to talk to me. Yes. Seriously.

And for those of you who are dragging out one screaming child and feel overwhelmed, I hope that I give you a glimmer of hope that you can accomplish your trip. And if your child has a melt down, well let me remind you it’s easier to finish with a crying child than to leave the cart there and have to start all over again on another day. You may get stares from people, but at least they aren’t following you through the store asking questions.

And please think before you speak. If you’re going to ask about the babies, then ask. But think about how you phase your questions. “What are they?” gets old VERY fast 😉 If you see a woman with 3 matching carseats and another toddler, the question “Are they all yours?” is a bit silly to start with. If you are going to interrupt her, please at least pay attention to the big brother as well – yes, we all know babies are cute, but the older child starts to feel left out when people “Ooh” and “Aah” over the multiples and ignore him. I will have to deal with the ramifications of said inattention the rest of the day. And when the person you are asking questions of starts walking away, do not follow. It’s her polite attempt to end the conversation.

Upon request, here are the latest pics of the triplets! They’re 3 months old now, hard to believe. While they’ve started smiling and even cooing sometimes, they are not big fans of the camera and immediately stop the minute that horrible device shows up in mommy’s hands. I’m not a big fan of tutu’s and frilly things, but even I have to admit that on rare occasion the girls are absolutely adorable in them! Jaina LOVES being a pretty princess, and immediately stops her fussing, whereas Val looks at me like I’m crazy and just puts up with it long enough to make daddy happy and then is happy once it comes off.

The big boy is LOVING preschool. No pics of him at school, unfortunately, because if he sees me come in he immediately stops doing what he’s supposed to so he can run and say hi, but he seems to be taking well to it. The craziness of bundling the babies up in the stroller and then making the 10 minute walk is getting more routine the more often we do it, but I definately am not looking forward to the first time I have to take the four of them out in the car by myself. It’s just impossible to actually carry three carseats at once! Thank goodness for cart stalls in parking lots so I can park right next to it and load the carseats into carts that way as you can’t leave a kid in the car while you go get the cart!

If any of the nurses from NICU or 3 South are reading this – can you send me the address I can mail birth announcements/pics/letters to? 🙂 I appreciate it! hunt@alumni.ufl.edu

So Jaina was the first to smile back at us (about two weeks ago – right before turning 8 weeks), and Valerie followed soon after. Jacen just started last week.

Jaina proceeded to be the first to roll over today completely unassisted! Twice! Went from tummy time to being on her back! So proud of my baby girl! She can go both directions too! Pics are finally uploaded and will be added soon!

On top of that, Aiden decided to decorate the bedrooms yesterday. He found the baby powder (while we were still asleep), and used it to sprinkle around the room to get rid of the “germies.” I guess since it goes on a baby’s butt after changing the diaper, it helps to keep germies away. Here are some pics of his efforts: