In a Nutshell

So I haven't blogged in a week.  Wondering why?  Did my computer die?  Have I suddenly not needed the stress release?  Have things become...dare I say...NORMAL?  Noooooooooooooooooooo...

In a nutshell: I've been sick!

Actually, I was sick all day Sunday.  That's right...four days ago!  Feel free to skip the rest of this paragraph to avoid "TMI"...but I have never, ever, in my entire life (and I've been on Magnesium Sulfate twice) felt that horrific!  I'm pretty sure I threw-up meals I haven't even eaten yet!

By Monday, I was fine.  My body felt like I'd been hit by a bus and my head throbbed with every heartbeat, but I was fine.  Shane, however, was not fine.  It was his turn to be in bed all day.  And for some reason, Eli decided to experience a complete personality shift and was the crabbiest he'd been...EVER

I was finally able to get him to the doctor yesterday: bi-lateral ear infections.  That would explain his lack of sleep and fever, too! (I'm blaming my exhaustion from the sickness on how I missed the tell-tale signs.)

All this to say, I never realized how long it takes to make-up for one day of housework not getting done.  (Sidenote: Shane is a great husband...he did what he could...and he did a lot...but he couldn't do it all AND take care of me...but he sure did try.  Thanks Shane!)  Granted, on top of the regular laundry, there was some "sick laundry" added in...okay...A LOT of "sick laundry".  Right now, on my bed, there are 4 loads of clean laundry to be folded and put away.  There are also 5 loads of laundry sorted into piles, ready to be washed, on the floor of my room (the laundry baskets are full of the clean stuff).  And that's after me working on it Monday, Tuesday and today!

Today was going to be my catch-up day.  Wednesdays are perfect.  Not only is Zoe at school all day, but Ty's got school in the morning.  Sure, there are still 18-month old triplets needing my attention, but I can sneak upstairs to switch, fold, and put away a load of laundry here and there.  And the triplets don't mind if I unload the dishwasher and they LIKE to watch me vacuum.  NOT TODAY!  Nope!  Snow.  A snow day.  A snow day that I couldn't even send the big kids outside to play in because it was raining by the time they were interested in playing outside!  Ugh.

I'm not complaining, really.  It may sound like it.  But really, I'm chuckling on the inside.  I mean, how many more hurdles do I need to clear before I can wear a sweatshirt again?  Right now, I'm sitting on the couch catching up on 24 with my husband's wind-breaker on because I don't even have a clean long sleeve t-shirt to wear!

How on Earth?

This morning, "Raging Bull" woke us up at the ridiculous time of 5:50a. And when I walked into the room to calm him down, the stench of urine was ABSURD! (Sorry, T.M.I.?) Not to fret...I'd invested in Huggies' Overnights.



Let's focus in on a few key facts of that package:

1) The size - 5...for over 27 lbs. That should cover Cole, easily, and I could make them work for Eli...even though he's barely 27 lbs, right?

2) They've highlighted the "Extra Absorbency". Sweet! That's what I need. I'm tired of changing soaked boys every morning. The more absorbent, the better, in my mind.

Sorry...back to this morning...I reached for Cole...soaked! And not just a little. A lot. REALLY? So, rather than just picking up Cole and cuddling with him in my bed until 6:30, I had to change his ENTIRE outfit and diaper...losing ALL possibility of getting him back to sleep. Ugh!

Around 7:15a, I went upstairs to bring down Ava and Eli for breakfast (I could hear them playing in their cribs...so cute!) Brought Ava down...no problem. Went back up for Eli and could tell right away that he was soaked through. How is that possible? Frustrated, I grabbed an outfit for him and layed him on the changing pad. That's when I realized I should have read the fine print...

Okay, now seriously. How on earth does a boy who has an 8 ounce bottle of milk before bed EXPLODE an OVERNIGHT DIAPER? There were "innerds" of the diaper all up his onesie! I have NEVER had that happen to one of my children. Not even on a super long car ride with a regular diaper. The only time I've seen it was when a friend forgot to put a swim diaper on her daughter before she played in the kiddie pool. I wanted to do a little experiment and try to recreate the explosion while measuring how much liquid it'd take, but Shane wouldn't let me. He said I was a tad out of control.  Still...I might try it tomorrow.

It's about time!

Never had this issue with Zoe...or Ty...and definitely not Cole.  Even Eli was 20 pounds by his 1 year checkup.  But not little Ava.

Even at her 15 month checkup, she was only 17 pounds.  And now...sitting backward in the car(seat) is starting to effect her playtime!

You'll be happy to know that right before Christmas, I weighed "Little Miss" and according to our scale here at home, she's reached the 20 pound threshold.  So...she's officially facing forward.  And on her first car ride, she giggled non-stop.  Seriously, everytime I looked back at her, she let out a belly laugh.  Hopefully, now that she's facing forward in the car, she'll start facing forward on her toys, too!

Oh Boy(s)!

I knew this day would come.  I just didn't think it would be at 17 1/2 months.

Let me set the scene: Typical Wednesday.  I'm upstairs switching the laundry.  Eli and Ava are still napping.  Cole's happily playing in the "gated community"...and the phone starts ringing.  Only...it's not ringing upstairs.  It's only ringing downstairs.  So I go down to investigate the situation.

That's what happens when you push the little tikes basketball hoop up against the gate and use it as a step stool.  Yes, Cole is climbing.  He made it over the gate and up onto the server.  Somehow, he managed to not break anything while still clearing a spot for himself up there.  He was sitting on the phone...and adjusting the volume of the ringer.  Oh Boy!

And then there's Eli.

He's chosen a new "favorite" seat to hang out in.

He climbs up and sits BEHIND the couch on the window sill.  Cole's tried to copy him, but he tends to get stuck.  Oh Boy!

An Award?

* I should preface this post: I know there have been previous awards, but I didn't know how to "get & give" them...until now!  Sorry if you feel they weren't appreciated...they were!

Blogging has really because a release for me.  Not only do I love reading other blogs, but I like putting fingers to the keys and getting some of the day-to-day of my life down "on paper".  Sort of a journal, I suppose.  What makes it even more rewarding is that there are people out there (i.e. YOU) that actually read what I write and leave encouraging and funny comments.

Nicole over at What a trip! went a step further.  She gave me an award!  How awesome is that?  And so rewarding (sorry...couldn't think of a better word).  This particular award is because I (or more accurately, my words) have made some kind of impact or offered some kind of comfort to her.  That warms my heart.  If the craziness of my world can encourage someone else...bring on the crazy!  Thanks, Nicole!  You're doing an AWESOME job...not just with your triplets, but with your "big kids", too!  Thanks for the award.

And now I get to spread the love.  I can't even begin to list all the people that have impacted me with their blog posts (and some in real life, too), but here are a few...

• Tracy Catherine @ Just Another Ordinary  Miracle Today (your very smile brightens my day)
• Jen @ Amazing Trips (my husband thanks you for the encouragement to keep working out!)
• Alex & Alexa @ The Soto Update - Familia Soto (you two are a great example of love & teamwork)
• Pam @ Pyjammy's Blog (you never cease to make me giggle)
• Helen @ Three Times the Giggles (you're such an encouragement on "dealing" with 3 at once)

So  go check out their sites...see why I love them.  You'll fall in love too!

I Think it was a Hit!

Picking out Christmas gifts for Ty was not very easy for me, this year.  I knew he needed wanted a new DS.  And I thought he'd like the Hess truck (based on his reaction last year) but coming up with a third gift was a little more difficult.  He's going through a pretty cool "make believe" phase and he likes to build stuff with blocks.  He also mentions space and the moon and the stars and such...but actually pin-pointing some of that into a third gift really was tough!  Sort of on a whim, I bought Ty a "Chest of Action Costumes".

Honestly, I was a little nervous about it, but figured it wouldn't hurt to have boy-ish dress-up clothes around the house.  The cute little "chest" had four outfits: a Policeman, a Fireman, a Race Car Driver/Pit Crew Boss, and...an Astronaut (that might have been the selling point).  The costumes themselves are a bit cheesy, but they came with helmets, handcuffs, gloves, fire extinguisher, etc.  With all that extra stuff, a boy's BOUND to love it, right?

Absolutely!

(And for all of my friends that say I'm "Super Mom" because my house is always clean...take a look in the background of this picture...my kitchen's A MESS, y'all!)

And I was right about "the extra's" being a hit, too!

I didn't, however, foresee the added advantage of them including the triplets in their play.

(Eli did NOT want to take this off...)

She's a Published Author

Before Christmas break, Zoe came home from school with a library "book" written by her very distant cousin really good friend, Maeve.  Apparently, Maeve wrote a story with pictures and brought it into the librarian media center specialist.  Zoe thought it was VERY cool.  And, since Zoe has a love of making books (hence her love of staplers), she decided she needed to write a book, herself.

Sure enough, Mrs. Van (who's name isn't really Mrs. Van, it's Mrs. Van-something-too-long-for-the-kids-to-pronounce) took Zoe's book (The Rose Grows) and slapped a barcode on it.  You'll never guess who was the first to check out this lovely story (about a seed that's planted, watered and eventually grows into a rose...)

I'm just glad Zoe decided to write a NEW book, and not bring in one that she'd already written.  The last time I read one of her books, it was while I was waiting to see her teacher for Parent/Teacher Conferences.  The kids had all written stories and they were hanging on the wall in the hallway.  After reading Zoe's, I really, really, really, really wanted to add an appendix that read, "My mom is not a psych patient that was in a little room with padded white walls after being carted off by men in cute little white coats."

 

 

When I asked Zoe about this fictional interesting story, she clarified that she was writing about when I gave birth to the triplets.  So technically, I was in the hospital for five nights, but that's not the "sticky point" for me.  She doesn't write anything about the babies!  Where's the cute picture of three little babies in cribs?  I guess in Zoe's eyes, the babies weren't part of my hospital stay.  Afterall, she and Ty didn't see Cole, Eli &/or Ava until long after I was home.  I'd never really considered what Zoe & Ty must've thought (or even still think) about the fact that they didn't actually SEE babies when I came home. It wasn't until 10, 20 & 25 days later that they saw Cole, Eli & Ava for the first times.  I wonder what affect that'll have on their view of childbirth as they get older.

* Interesting little side note...Do you notice that The Rose Grows is stapled on the wrong side?  Oh, the challenges of being left-handed.

I Love You...You Love Me...not so much

Shane left on a business trip this morning.  A half hour before he left, the phone rang...no school today!  Something about ice...bad roads...blah blah blah.  So...five kids...stuck in the house all day with Mom.  A mom that can't go running at the Y with 5 kids.  Not a great combination.  Before I attempt to tackle the day, I NEED my morning coffee.  Ummmmmmm...the canister's empty.  YIKES!  Time for Plan B:

Noggin!

All that to say, I made a discovery today.  Cole & Ava LOVE Barney.

Eli...

...not so much

If you can't find me

If, per chance, you see my kids wearing dirty clothes...or my husband looking extremely hungry...or you can smell the triplets' daipers from miles away...it's because I'm distracted.

Hello...my name is Amy...and I'm a scrap-aholic.

In the past, this hasn't been too big of a problem.  My scrapbooking stuff was in a few bags stashed under my desk in the office.  If I had a few hours, (ummm...before triplets maybe?) I'd pull out my stuff and work on whatever was next in my "layout box".  Once or twice a month, my Creative Memories consultant has a "Crop Night" at her house, and I'd do everything I could to get there.  I went 2 weeks before the triplets were born.  I was back to Crop Night 2 months after they were born.

With an approach like that, my scrapbooks were a tad behind....mid-2006.

That's all changed now.

I have a Scrapbooking table right at the bottom of the stairs in my basement.

Shane re-arranged the basement and cleared a spot for me.  I snagged a table from a friend (Thanks, Cool Shannon) a week before Christmas and Tuesday, Shane helped me set it up.  For five days, I spent naptime working on scrapbooks and organizing my stuff.  Then yesterday, my whole scrapbooking world opened up and I may never come upstairs again:

That's right!  Shane added a gate on the downstairs playroom.  HOLY COW!  I can bring the gang downstairs with me.  And I can gate them in.

Do you know what this means?  I'm never doing housework again!

What a Start to 2009

This hasn't exactly been the start to the new year that I'd been hoping for.  Not that I've actually been HOPING for a certain start to the year.  But had I been, it wouldn't include the last 96 hours.  To be honest, the entire 96 hours haven't been bad.  It's basically just been the hours between...oh...11pm and 6am that have been rough.

It started Monday night.  Shane and I were sitting in the Family Room, as per usual, watching something on TV when Shane jumped up from the couch and ran upstairs to Ty's room.  I followed...because I had no idea what was going on.  Turns out Ty was throwing up.  And eagle-eared Shane heard it.  For the next 3 hours, the poor kid wretched every 20-30 minutes.  No fever.  No aches.  No other symptoms.  Just the throwing up.  By morning, Ty was perfectly fine.  We figured he must've eaten something his stomach didn't agree with.

Tuesday night, when Shane and I were headed to bed, we did our usual kid-tucking-in: I took the baby's room while Shane tucked in the big kids.  The MINUTE I opened the door to the triplet's room, I knew someone had thrown up.  I almost did, myself, when the smell hit me.  But I didn't see anything...anywhere...in any crib.  And everyone was sleeping.  No one had cried.  I didn't know where to start the search.  Except for the fact that Eli's crib WREAKED of vomit.  Sure enough, Eli had thrown up in the corner of his crib, thrown all his blankets on top of it, and fallen asleep in the opposite corner.  Not a peep.  Must not have been something Ty ate.  In the morning...Eli was fine!

Wednesday night.  We were prepared.  But nothing.  No one threw up.  All was quiet.

Thursday night...all seemed quiet...we tucked in the kids and went to bed.  A half hour later, Shane was calling for me from the triplet's room.  Victim #3: Ava.  We cleaned her up, stripped her crib, and put her to sleep in the Pack & Play. We had the routine down from Eli's night of sickness.

Before the morning came, there was another little girl in our bed.  Zoe was complaining that her belly ached, too.  Uh oh.  We were about to have our first double duty.  But Zoe didn't throw up...she just fell asleep in our bed for a few hours.

And then Raging Bull woke up.  At 4:30am.  That's Shane's new name for Cole.  He wakes up roaring and thrashing, thus the new nickname.  If you get to him quick enough (i.e. before he stands up in his crib) there's a 50% chance that you can pat him back to sleep.  But not this morning.  At 4:30am, I think Cole stood up before he started roaring.  So I brought him downstairs to see if he'd cuddle back to sleep with me on the couch.  Afterall, our bed was getting a bit crowded.  I thought for sure, he was going to be the next to fall prey to the virus.  Shane came down to handle Raging Bull, since Zoe as about to throw up and wanted Mommy.  Within 15 minutes, Cole was asleep on the floor and Shane was asleep on the couch.  No vomit.

That left me upstairs with the two sick princesses.  Thankfully, Zoe only threw up while Ava was sleeping.  And Ava returned the favor...waiting until Zoe was asleep before she threw up again.

By 6:30am, Ava was awake and cuddling with Shane on one couch.  Zoe was asleep in my bed.  Cole was on the floor, snoozing.  Eli was cuddling with me on the other couch.  Ty was laying next to Cole...not asleep...but still.  No one was where they'd gone to bed the night before.

I'm hoping Cole holds out and doesn't succomb to the vomit.  I can't handle any more.  But I'm pretty sure I'll lose my mind if the final three Higby's come down with "The 2009 New Year Bug".

Season's Greetings

Happy New Year! 

One of my personal goals for 2009 is to not get quite as far behind on my "To Do" list as I did in 2008.  So, I took a new approach to Christmas Cards.  Since it'll clearly be February before I get all the cards signed, envelopes addressed, and stamps purchased, I took the easy way out.  I emailed them.

Actually, I am sending out a handful of cards to some family.  By "handful" I mean UNDER 50.  Considering how much family we have, that's really minimal.  I just addressed those envelopes today.  So...maybe tomorrow I can stuff the card in the envelope.  And maybe Saturday I'll make it to the post office for stamps.  So...maybe...just maybe...our family will have picture Christmas Cards by the end of next week.  But if you're family and reading this blog, please don't hold me to that!

I figure there are a few people who will get "lost in the transition" and there are definitely people here in blog-land that I would've liked to send cards to, so I'm posting our Christmas Card here, too.  Late.  Just like in real life.

Shout out to Aura for the awesome photography for our card.  She snapped away one Sunday after church so we could get a decent Family shot.  She even came equipped with snacks for Eli to keep his thumb out of his mouth!  Thanks again, Aura!  You're hired!