Military life and friends

August 26, 2013 ~ hunt2005 ~ 2 Comments

Sometimes it astounds me the close relationships and friendships that resound in the military community. We arrive in an area, make lifetime friends within weeks (who we hang out with as if we’d known them forever), and a couple of short years later we move on. Sometimes we keep in touch daily (THANKS Facebook!), sometimes weekly, sometimes it’s months on end before we talk. But when we do, it is immediately like they still live or work right next door, and we haven’t spent a day away.

We just were blessed with such a reunion last week with a dear friend from Washington. The funny thing is, we knew him for less than 4 weeks up there. Had never actually met his family (though had heard of them and read their blog so I felt like we “knew” them a little bit). He was one of our NICU nurses. I remember bonding over quoting Princess Bride at, I believe, 3 am (or so) one day. I remember his personality and gentleness with the babies. And his true love for his job and the little tiny infants in his care.

The last time he saw the babies!

We kept in touch. An email here. A Christmas card there. A phone call to the NICU around significant dates in their lives and/or holidays. And then they decided to go on a family vacation. And it conveniently was to the area where we live. I was ecstatic. Jumped for joy. Literally. Pretty sure I scared my husband when I shrieked after hearing they were coming here. And got excited. And then waited. And waited.

Well, they visited last week. It was absolutely a joy to meet them. Part of the fun is that the babies are 2 now. He got to see them with personalities (temper tantrums and melt downs included). And since they have 6 kids of their own (only 2 came), I didn’t feel as stressed about the chaos that is our lives with them witnessing! We did amazing things. The aquarium, and with the extra help (his children are a delight) the babies got to REALLY experience it. They walked. They explored. They touched the animals in the touch pools. There was a 1:1 ratio (or more) at all times. How cool is that?! Aiden got to hang out with an awesome teenage big brother, and you could see it in his temperment and personality that he was enjoying having an older kid to look up to. Their youngest was so gentle and sweet with all of the kids, and they absolutely loved having a big sister to play with.

It was funny, having visitors means you go and do things you haven’t yet. Even though you’ve been somewhere for 2 years. We found the Carmel Mission (very not-stroller-friendly) and were able to really enjoy it with the extra hands. I had a “proud parent” moment when we walked into the mission (granted, only the gift shop so far) and Aiden looked at me and asked, “Mommy, is this God’s place?” Why yes, my dear child. Yes it is.

Fr. Serra’s tomb at the Carmel Mission

We laughed. We toured. I’m pretty sure there was crying and screaming (normally due to the lack of a toy, or a stolen toy, or a mean parent who forced them to put clean clothes on…), but his whole family took it in stride. It was such a blessing. And if we can keep in touch and stay friends a thousand miles and two years later, what’s a silly little move to the Northeast? It’s just a few more miles the emails/texts/phone calls have to travel!

You just gotta adapt

August 11, 2013August 15, 2013 ~ hunt2005 ~ Leave a comment

People ask me all.the.friggin.time…. “How do you do it?!”

It’s simple. We adapt. Constantly. I remember with older brother that we’d finally get in a groove, feel like we understood our roles and how to keep him alive through the day, and then he’d learn something new. First it was rolling. Then crawling. Then walking. You get the picture.

Now multiply that. Times three.

And now imagine them learning cooperation. I’m all for good play skills and life lessons and teaching them how to be team players. And our kids get to learn that early (how many 2 year olds do you know spend 24 hours a day with two other 2 year olds, and a big brother who can teach them all sorts of naughty things??). But they take it to a far greater level. They sit there and work together to climb tables, empty the pantry, open juice boxes… you name it, they can probably work together and figure it out.

So as such, we have to be innovative. And adaptive. And sometimes just down right tricky to keep them alive.

If you ask anyone who comes to my house at least once a month, our furniture moves around. A lot. If you ask my husband, it moves around too much.

First we had cribs. And they were awesome cribs. And then Jaina started learning how to hang from the rail and walk her feet up them. And the others started learning how to do jumping jacks. And pull things off dressers.

So we took off the sides. I’d prefer them playing to learning how to climb out and kill themselves or each other.

And that worked. For a while at least. No more lifting children in and out of bed. They didn’t scream incessantly when they thought it was time to get up (Even if it was 4 am), they just played. It was great.

Until they learned they could do this.

So now, we have game plan #47. Jace has the second half of Aiden’s bunk beds (which was always the plan). We had hoped to tide the girls over with the toddler style beds until we moved, and then get them their new gear on the other side of the country. So we put the cribs up for sale, thinking it’d take a while. They were sold in 24 hours. Drat, there goes that plan.

So we put the mattresses on the floor. Surely that will work!

And we learned, again, that triplets when put together are smarter than a grown adult.

So beds are ordered. Mattresses were bought (Sure, I forget to take a picture of that one, two mattresses on top of a minivan). Quilts that were planned for them just to have will double as blankets on their beds (No, Aiden isn’t left out, his is still in progress). At least it spurred me to finish them sooner than later!

And the moral of this whole story?

I hope our next house is bigger.

EDIT: We finally got the big kid beds in! The girls seem absolutely thrilled. And thank you, Circo, for selling coordinating bedding in Pink/Purple, that wasn’t “too” little girl so they can grow and keep it for a while! (too bad you can’t really see it in the picture because of their Star Wars quilts!)

Quick update

August 9, 2013 ~ hunt2005 ~ Leave a comment

As summer is wrapping up, a few pictures for you!

Sorry it’s taking me so long to update lately, only one or maybe four reasons why it is taking so long 🙂 I promise to update more soon!

Halfway there…

July 20, 2013 ~ hunt2005 ~ Leave a comment

Hard to believe that when we started planning this crazy Marine Corps Marathon/PCS/cross country driving insanity, it was over 3 months ago. And now we have just over 3 months to go before the MCM.

Can you believe it?!

We’ve officially crossed the halfway point of the training plan, with this weekend calling for 14 miles. A bit of a milestone, since the last time I ran that far was marathon training in 2010. Do the math. That was BEFORE the triplets. 3 years ago.

Can you believe it?!

Training is going pretty well. We are enjoying the Galloway plan – low stress, low key, and allows for a life during the week (as well as kickboxing, my new obsession). We also get to do some of those 30 minute runs together. You don’t realize how easy 30 minutes of running is until you try to do the same route with 75 pounds of child and stroller (90 if you’re pushing the boys).

Sometimes it’s nice to get out there with just some music, the miles, and the ocean going by. You know, in the beautiful sunny warm Monterey weather (not… see the giant cloud blocking the ocean below?!)

Others? It’s nice to have company. Every now and then we’re blessed with a house guest who, as a perk of staying here (or punishment.. not sure which!) they get to watch the ~~little terrorists~~ wonderful angels and we can run together on a long run.

Not all runs are great (like today), and honestly some of them suck (like today) but we’re getting there. And it’s definitely better than it was 3 years ago. And we’re raising money for Fisher House, which makes it all worth it.

Speaking of, if you haven’t yet had a chance and are so inclined, don’t forget to donate to our team! Every dollar helps another military family (just like yours truly) have somewhere to stay during a military hospital stay for their family member(s).

Things you’d think I would know by now

July 17, 2013 ~ hunt2005 ~ Leave a comment

After 2 years of having multiples + an older brother, there are some things you’d think I’d know by now. Apparently not.

1) Always check the coffee cup before you refill it. Otherwise you’ll have beautiful glorious coffee with cereal floating in it. Then you have to make the choice of which is more important : the time it would take to brew more, or the possibility of your cereal tasting like peanut butter Puffins.

2) When you find a giant ball of yarn with a 1/10th finished blanket still on the needles, tying it off and giving the 1 foot wide blanket strip to your middle triplet is not smart. She will love it. And the other two will wonder where theirs is. Leading to you now knitting a second blanket (and more than likely a third so they all look the same).

3) It’s not worth the fight with boy triplet over whether or not boys wear bows in their hair. Inside the house, whatever it takes to keep the screaming to a minimum works. We’ll deal with the rest when we try to leave.

…. to be continued….

Playing Catchup

July 16, 2013 ~ hunt2005 ~ Leave a comment

Sorry it’s been so long. Sometimes life gets in the way of what we want to do, but it’s normally good that it does. It’s refreshing to sit down and just play/watch/share and not photograph/write/document (though I do still try to sneak that in as possible).

First a catch up from their birthday party. Can you believe it was almost a month ago?!

The kids had a blast. We had a “Three Ring Circus” theme for the party (ha. ha. ha.) complete with Cracker Jacks, cupcakes, sandwiches, chips, and beer (for the adults, I promise).

We had some amazing friends come, the babies’ had an absolute blast. Aiden enjoyed hanging out with the older siblings, and it was overall amazing.

A few notes:
*The “frosting creations” white icing at the store that you can get flavor packets to color/flavor it? Don’t waste your money. First, it’s more like a royal icing, it’s very thin consistency. Second, it doesn’t come out near the colors you think it will. But at noon when the party is at 2? It works. And the kids didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

*Get the group picture BEFORE letting them run around the playground. Not after. Because once they know they are allowed free roam? They disagree with the idea of being put on the stepping stones for pictures.

Cheers! to 6 months before the next birthday party has to be executed!

Not babies, but… children??

June 25, 2013 ~ hunt2005 ~ Leave a comment

Wow. So we just had the 2 year well-check for the three little penguins. First off, I forgot that after turning two the kids no longer have to be weighed on the infant table, stripped down to diapers, and measured using pencil and measuring tape on the table. Holy crap. I’ve spent two years now dressing them in outfits easy to get on/off, limiting how many socks we have on so that I don’t have to deal with that, and dreading trying to keep them contained while I dress/undress the others. It was HEAVEN.

So we’re all there, I’m bribing the children with yogurt raisins (which I felt compelled to tell the nurse about lest she think I’m feeding them chocolate or something to keep them quiet), and Aiden is flitting between playing on the phone, taking pictures with the phone, and begging for more treats himself. Apparently I starve these kids.

The results, however, are in….. drumroll please…. (click on the links to view full growth charts)

Jacen: 34″, 26.8lb

Jaina: 32.75″, 25.4lb

Val: 34″, 23.3lb

The heights probably aren’t quite as accurate as I’d like, but mostly because what 2 year old can stand against a measuring tape, heels to the wall, and look straight ahead?? I mean, the 5 year old is still not 100% reliable at it.

I’d call it a successful two years, though. They’re happily on their curve (or exceeding it), and only time will tell where they end up. It’s said your height at 2 years old doubled is roughly what you’ll be when you grow up, but I’m not sure how to adjust for their 33 week preemie birth. Everything else we now throw the “adjustments” out the window and compare them to others their age (GASP! No more excuses if they get behind!), but for this one thing I might remeasure again in August just to see how it pans out 18 years from now 😉 I mean, really, can you imagine any daughter of ours growing to only be 5’6″?

The days are long, but the years are short

June 17, 2013 ~ hunt2005 ~ Leave a comment

People always say that. And I never believed it. Even with Aiden I didn’t really believe it. Partially because we were on sea duty with the Navy at the time, and between deployments and 18 hour work days, the years were long as well.

But with triplets+1 on shore duty? Each day lasts forever. I love my children, but I want even just half of their energy. I don’t know how they do it! But all of a sudden, I stand back, and I have three littles who aren’t even babies anymore. Technically, I guess as of Thursday, they’re “toddlers.” I don’t quite understand that term as they don’t toddle any where – they run full speed and jump off it – but none the less, they cannot any longer be called babies (at least not by anyone else. They’ll ALWAYS be my babies).

How in the world did we get here? People always say it must have been so hard as infants. They are wrong. Sure, we were tired. But we still are! And sure, we had no time to ourselves. But we still don’t! Now? They don’t stay where they’re put, they yell and complain about everything, and they already think they know the best way to do something (even though it likely will take twice as long).

Last night Jaina wanted in the high chair at dinner. So she climbed up and in. And then got frustrated it wasn’t where she wanted it. I swear she would have climbed out, fixed it, and climbed back in had we let her.

And Valerie chooses her own shoes now. There is no amount of persuasion capable of convincing her that one pair is better suited for a situation.

And Jacen? He finished his dinner. Went to his sister’s chair (the pink one), finished hers. Went to his other sister’s chair (the purple one), finished that. Went to his brother’s chair, finished that. And asked for more. What word is most important to a 2 year old boy? MORE.

Aiden? He’s realized his babies can play with him now. And he gets them to do everything he’s not supposed to, joins in, and then argues “But the babies are doing it!” Well played.

Now? We’ve got 3 (almost) 2-yr-olds, a 5 year old, and craziness ahead with heading back to the “real” world of Navy submarine life. I’m sure the stories will get more interesting, and the adventures more exciting. This will be an exciting next year! But I may pretend, at least for today, that Thursday isn’t approaching as fast as it is!

So this is what happens…

June 14, 2013 ~ hunt2005 ~ Leave a comment

when you take three small children who haven’t had naps, who are screaming their heads off, and see what happens with the gloriousness of cartoons.

side tangent: WHAT did parents do back in the day of tantrums and fussiness without a little TV?!

Anyways…

Step 1: Place smallish children on daddy’s lap.

2) Leave the house to run a few errands. Come back to find this.

3) Remove the two non-sleeping children from the equation by taking them outside. Resulting in this.

Lessons learned:

Apparently, though Mommy’s lap isn’t good enough for them to sleep anymore, daddy’s still is.
They only care if someone is touching them when it’s mommy in charge. They don’t mind all cuddling with daddy at the same time.
The pink princess rejects the concept of sleep. That said, she was probably the only one to actually have fallen asleep during nap earlier that day (prior to one of the others climbing in her bed to jump on her or lay on her or do any number of things to wake her up.
All small boys like to sleep rump in the air, apparently.

So while they have not fallen asleep on me in at least 18 months, they finally fell asleep. On daddy. Thank you Disney Junior.

Wait, where’d May go??

June 1, 2013 ~ hunt2005 ~ Leave a comment

So someone told me today that it’s June 1st.

Hold the presses. Are you kidding me? How did that happen?! That means in less than 19 days, the three little penguins will be TWO. 2. How did that happen??

May was a busy month, and I know I haven’t kept you up to date much, so here’s a few photos to recap!

To start the month off, Steven went to Massachusetts for his sister’s graduation from LAW school. Well, since we had to drive him to San Fran anyways, we figured we’d hit up the amazing Arts and Science Exploration museum, and meet an amazing twin mom (mom of FIVE girls, plus one more baby on the way!). It was incredible to meet her – we have been friends for almost two years online and just now met up. It was awesome in every way possible, and her girls are so sweet and well behaved it gives me hope for the future! Two moms with 9 children definitely causes a bit of a commotion though!

We had a lot of fun in the sun now that it’s actually pretending to be summer more often than it’s pretending to be winter. And by summer, I mean it’s finally in the 60s on a regular basis with sunlight! When it hits 80 there’s even a heat advisory!

As I’ve thought often before, I don’t know why I buy the children any toys. All you need is a box and it keeps them happy for hours. I mean, why get toys to put in the toy bins when you can play with the bin itself??

We’ve mastered the art of tantrum throwing (these are both Jaina).

And a certain big brother “graduate” Pre-K. They still have one more week of school, but it’s all fun and games (you know, more so than normal), and then it’s off to summer! Most people are sad when their kids don’t have school. Me? I’m glad I don’t have to drive twice a day every day anymore!!

And that about recaps it! Here’s to the start of another busy month!