Summer Has Begun

I can hardly believe it is the end of June! Our summer is slipping away and will be gone before I know it and I will be sending Caden to kindergarten and the girls to preschool two days a week.

Since my last post, Caden has had a whole season of t-ball. He did so great and we were all so proud to watch him experience baseball for the first time. He wanted to run after EVERY hit ball, and had 100 times the running power of any kid on the team! That was a bit of a problem when he was playing pitcher and would run out to the outfield to go get the ball and would get to it before the outfielders would. We were very proud of his gung ho spirit! I would much rather have a kid that ran after every ball then stood there and did nothing like most kids did. He was very alert and in ready position.

Right now we are just trying to keep as cool as we can because it is over 100 degrees this week! Caden has been at Science Camp every day this week and it has been an awesome experience and we look forward to next summer!

For Father's Day, Caden, Greg and I went to the waterpark in Galveston- Schlitterbaun and were there about 5 hours and had a BLAST! We can't wait for the girls to get a bit older and we can take them too. Caden could ride almost all of the water slide rides since he was 42 inches. One of the highlights was body surfing! All three of us took our turns and did pretty well for our first time. Earlier this week I was out in the sun too long and got sun poisoning... not fun.
The girls are learning to say more words and we can have actual conversations with them. Harper is the most understandable and she reminds me of Caden how she speaks so well. Addison understands what you are saying, but sometimes it is hard to understand what she is saying. Emery as usual is right in the middle.

We entered the milestone of potty training about a month ago. They wear panties when they are home, but I still put them in pull-ups when we go out in public because I don't want to worry about accidents yet. I feel like I spend half of my day in the bathroom with the girls and will be happy when I am out of this phase of time.
Well, that is the June update. In July we are going to Steamboat, Colorado to escape the Houston heat for a week. In August we are going to the Bahamas to build sandcastles with the kids and try to relax. We cannot wait for our summer vacations!

T-ball and Painting Pics- June 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Date Night Drama

Just got home from date night with Greg and went to see the movie Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. We both liked it and then we went to Target and looked at the Wii fit and all the Wii games they had. I was happy because I also got the other two swimsuits that will match the one that I had found there 2 weeks ago. This is a perect example of typical clothing shopping for triplet girls because it is so hard to find three outfits in the same size. It can be so frustrating. The cute boutique stores only get two outfits in each size. Girl twin moms have no idea how lucky they are because most outfits in coordinating colors will have two color choices- example one pink and one purple in same design. I get so excited when I find the same shirt in three different colors (especially when the colors are pink, green and purple). I literally have had to tell the cashier why I am smiling and so proud of my exciting find.

Back to date night story.....
The night started out shaky because of a misunderstanding. Greg had asked me if I had the shoes. I assumed he meant for the girls and I said yes. Caden always puts his shoes on in the house, so I didn't think of him. We always put the girls in the car barefoot and put their shoes on in the car when we arrive at our destination, because they take them off in the car. In fact, when the car stops and before we unbuckle their seatbelts they say "shoes, bows". I also bring their hair bows and comb and pony tail holders and wait until we arrive at the destination so I don't have to do it twice and search for missing bows on the floorboard if they pull them out. It's just the little tricks that makes life a bit easier and more organized for us as parent's. If anyone ever has tips to share to make life easier- I am all ears!

Caden didn't have his shoes on when he got in the car as we discovered in McDonald's drive thru. I jumped out of the car and went to CVS next door to see if they might have kids shoes by chance. As I ran across the grassy area in between, my feet sunk deep in the mud! My pretty jewel high heel sandles and feet were covered in mud!!! I just kept on walking in my muddy feet and wiped my feet off on the CVS door mat and went to the bathroom to clean up my feet. I was at CVS for Caden's shoes, but my feet and shoes were priority. Yuck! After that, I found some Spiderman flip flops for $4.99. I had a Visa gift card and so I actually only had to pay 17 cents for the shoes. Yeah- we wouldn't have to go home. When we picked up Caden his teacher said he was complaining of blisters on the bottom of his feet. We looked at his feet and they were red between his toes because of the cheap flip flops.
Because of the shoe delay, we missed our 6:05 movie and had to get the 7:00. We had a gourmet dinner of movie popcorn, Milk Duds, Junior Mints, and Sour Patch Kids.
The kids went to Parent's Night Out at the big Methodist church and were all happy when we picked them up after our date movie and were running into our arms all smiles. Then Caden bumped Emery and Harper's heads together... why do boys do that? Is it a cartoon thing or just a big brother being annoying to his little sisters? I don't get it, but I could immediately see a quarter size red circle on Harper's forehead and two girls are crying. ugggg....

On the way home, Harper got into the diaper bag and into the crafts they made at Parent's Night Out. She had glitter all over her mouth, arms, legs and gave Caden all the shredded paper. Addison was wanting her milk and I told her I couldn't get it right now (because she is in the third row and she'll have to wait until we get home). Next thing I see when I turn around is Harper holding Addison's pink cup that Harper got out of the diaper bag and was holding it above her head trying to give it to Addison!!! Greg and I couldn't believe it! What a sweet little sister Harper is and mommy's little helper. If only Harper could reach from 2nd row to 3rd row. Oh- that would be so helpful. Since we were at a stoplight, at this point I felt that I need to unbuckle my seatbelt, put the seat back, climb halfway back and hand all the milk cups out to all four kids. Afer turning around to sit back in the passenger seat, I bumped the back of my head on the DVD player and at the same time hit my bottom lip on the seat rest. My lip started to swell up on the way home. Greg and Caden were both laughing. Thanks guys, I guess it was just the ending to a crazy night.

At least the movie was pretty good!

Girls before ballet class and Caden saying Psalm 23

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Cutest Triplet Troublemakers

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Easter Weekend- trip to Harding University

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

First Egg Hunt of the Season!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Make a Smilebox postcard

Bluebonnets 2009

Make a Smilebox photobook

Emmy Grace

I thought I would write about our "middle child" Emery Grace today and some quirks that make her different than her sisters. She doesn't really have qualities of a middle child, and is a leader in many ways. I tend to call her Emmy Grace sometimes...not sure why, but it just fits her. Her color for sippie cups is green and she knows her color (as do Addison and Harper). She has a cute little smile that she shifts her bottom jaw to the side so it looks like a crooked smile and shows all her teeth. When I am sitting she loves to stand on my legs. When I try to have her sit in my lap, she won't let me and wants to stand up so she is higher than my head. She thinks it is funny if I am wearing a hair clip to take it out and mess up my hair. She looks on the top of my head to see if I am wearing one. She calls Addison "Addis" and has been saying Harper very well for a few months now. She was the first and only (so far) to climb out of her crib. When she wakes up in the morning of after her nap she calls for her sisters and wants to see them right away. If something isn't going her way she usually pushes or sometimes bites and leaves the other sister crying. She doesn't bite that often anymore. She loves for me to carry her down the stairs in the morning even though she can go down faster (on her belly)than me walking. She loves to sit by her brother in the car, but all the girls do so we are on a rotation chart system created by Caden. She knows that her names starts with "E". I was making the car seat chart and talking aloud I said, "A for Addison, H for Harper and then Emery piped up and said "E". It was amazing! Greg and I just looked at each other and couldn't believe it. I asked her if she knew Emery stared with an E and she nodded and said "E". Addison and Harper cannot say Emery but they point to her and know her name, so it must be harder to say. Maybe they'll end up calling her E. Most people, including some of our family and best friends cannot tell Addison and Emery apart. I still wonder if they are identical because they have the same blood type. Greg and I still get them mixed up occasionally when we aren't paying attention. This has happened a few times- example- Greg might be changing Addison's diaper and will be talking to calling her "Emery" and I am changing Emery's diaper and I know it is Emery and so we have to convience each other who we have. Most of the time it is by looking at the other girl then we say- oh yeah, you aren't "Emery" or "Addison" you are the other one. It is still funny that we do this even when we are the parent's and should know better. Some days they look very much alike and some days they look totally different. Emery is so special and unique and I love her very much. I think she has a future in interior design. For weeks now, she has insisted that the kids table benches be moved to the heads of the rectangle table. The two benches are made to of course fit on the long sides of the table, but she keeps moving them to the short ends. It has been frustrating me every day because I have to move them back. I have been thinking about this and wondering if she is doing this because she wants to sit at the head of the table and be in control somehow. Two days ago, I let her move the benches like she wanted but I fliped table one turn and so the benches look right with the table, and she hasn't moved them since. We'll see how long it stays that way and if that is all she wanted. Our girls have been all enjoying sitting at the big table and not using their high chairs that much anymore. Emery likes to carry her bowl around, so we are working on keeping food and plates and bowls on the table and not on the floor. Oakley likes the food on the floor and hangs out with the kids ready for the drop. Sometimes if they leave their food at the table and walk off, their food disappears and they stand there crying because Oakley ate their lunch. I stand there crying because I have to make another lunch and don't have time to eat.

They grow up so fast

I wish I was one of those moms who posted photos online for the world to see everyday, but I am just not. I am just now downloading photos off my camera from Christmas. Hopefully this year I will do better. I am so proud of Caden I am about to burst with pride! He is really learning to read and it is so exciting to watch. He can easily read the "at" words posted on our fridge- pat, mat, sat, rat, bat. In January his preschool started reading groups and his teachers have told me how bright he is and they think he should skip elementary and go straight to high school. Just kidding. He is not skipping elementary school because it is just too much fun. We've decided to put Caden in private school and will be attending the same school Greg attended preschool through high school. It is just so special that the legacy continues and of course we have a very tender place in our hearts for Northland Christian School. Greg joined the board of NCS this year and the youngest by far, so I think we'll be need to spray paint his hair gray so he will fit in better. Anyway- back to bragging about Caden. He is so into science projects! I made him a science kit with food coloring, baking soda, and little cups and spoons. He picked out a volcano project about two weeks ago and this morning shot a rocket in the backyard before school started. He is my little rocket scientist! (with Daddy's supervision)

One little monkey jumping out of bed

Our little Emery decided she didn't want to be a baby anymore and wants to be a little monkey climbing out of her crib. I got a crib tent from a twin mom and two days later after trying to put it together, figured out it was missing two poles, so she gave me a different one that works great. Horray for the Crib Tent II. I just lay her in her bed and zip her inside her crib so she can't escape. Now she can't take all the folded pajamas out of the dresser drawer and baby wipes out of the container during naptime. Is she excited about the crib tent, no, but she only cries about 2 minutes then is quite so I don't feel too bad. She is much safer this way.

Addison and Emery must have had a meeting to decide what would drive mommy crazy. The final vote came to taking off all their clothes off (including their diaper/pull-up) even during nap time. Harper wants to sleep during naptime, so she leaves her clothes on and only takes them off if she sees Addison or Emery take their clothes off during playtime. This little phase has been going on for about a month. WHEN IS IT GOING TO END? We've tried time out and spankings, but it doesn't seem to help. During naptime today, I put all three girls in footie pajamas with zippers and backwards so they can't unzip it themselves. The footie part wasn't right of course, but they aren't going to be sleep walking so it should be okay.
It is a bit exhausting fighting with them to keep their clothes on. Why do they do this when it is winter and freezing outside? One thing that has helped if I say, "If you want your snack (or play outside), then you have to wear clothes first". They actually seem to understand and most of the time agree to get dressed again.
I don't want to safty pin their shirt to their pants because I'm afraid they would figure out how to work the pin in their frustration and get hurt.
I know this stage will pass, but I'd like to see in the future and see how much longer this is going to go on so I can deal with it.... two weeks, six months? If we only knew.

Prayers of a Five-Year-Old

I went to pick up Caden today and his teacher, Mrs. Armstrong, greets me as usual then says, "I just love having Caden in my class because he makes me laugh."
My first reaction, "Uh oh...what happened today?"
Well, Caden happily volunteered to say the prayer today before eating lunch and it went something like...

Dear God, thank you for this day, thank you for our school, thank you for our lunch, and please help us all to grow up nice so that we don't go to jail. Amen.

I told Mrs. Armstrong that was probably every preschool teacher's dream that her kids in her class don't ever go to jail.

Here is another prayer Caden had two nights ago before going to bed.

Dear God, please help Oakley (our dog) not to frown anymore. Amen.