IKEA

We enjoyed lunch, shopping, and hours of entertainment for $10 this afternoon. My favorite thing about IKEA is that we have the same high chairs at home so everything feels familiar.

Jackson wanted to sit in the kids area so he could immediately play after he ate. We sat across from him.

The kid's showrooms provide plenty of fun for all four kids. There are tents, tunnels, inflatable toys, stuffed animals, puppets, tiny furniture, and more. Everything is perfectly designed for their size.

This area was a popular spot today among exhausted, pregnant mothers of toddlers. I had no clue which child belonged to which mom since no adult seemed to be supervising any child, but at least mine were easily manageable today.

Our exciting purchase was new tupperware. We have a bad habit of giving ours away (or others have a bad habit of not returning it). Either way, I love the IKEA containers. They are cheap but the lid seals nicely. They don't stain when you heat up sauce or other colorful foods. They stack neatly in the cabinets.

IKEA never disappoints!

IKEA Highchairs

I spent a good bit of my pregnancy researching triplet feeding tables. I knew I just had to have one. At one of my baby showers I asked for money and received enough funds to buy a table. I decided to wait until the babies could sit up. By that time, we realized our home was already taken over by exersaucers, swings, pack-n-plays, etc. The last thing we needed was a giant table where our kids would eat separately from us. I looked into making our own, but that seemed like a lot of money to spend on something that could only be used for another year (two at most).

IKEA saved the day, yet again. We had purchased a high chair for Jackson when he was about 8 months old. That meant we only needed two more. At $25 a piece, that was much more doable than $300+ on a feeding table. We ended up receiving the other two highchairs as Christmas presents. Score!

Just in the past three days I have been especially happy we decided on these highchairs. We had a potluck breakfast at church on Sunday. While I love our church, it's no secret that it's not the most baby-friendly place. Since there aren't enough highchairs available, we brought our own. They fit easily in the back of our van, along with the strollers.

Since the chairs are incredibly light weight and they stack on top of one another, I was able to carry all three in by myself. No assembly or difficulty at all. (Now we just need the church to buy a few.)

With the weather being so nice, we've enjoyed a few meals outside on our deck. Once again, I can't imagine trying to drag a bulky table outside or having to get up to feed my children. I love having James, Amelia, and Maddie so close to Jesse and I no matter where we eat.

The best part is that the chairs don't take up our whole dining room. When we want more space we just stack them and go. 

They're also easy to clean with a damp cloth. There's no fabric so we don't need to worry about mold or taking pieces off for extra laundry. The final advantage is that when James steals the girls' food, I just separate him by moving his chair out. I wouldn't be able to prevent that with a feeding table.

I love when things work out better than I planned.

Mrs. Independent

I pride myself on being independent. I worked hard in high school with very little support from parents and earned a full scholarship. I completed undergrad and graduate school with no debt. I paid off my car by myself.  I've never felt comfortable asking for or receiving help. I like to challenge myself to do everything by myself. Sometimes it's admirable; sometimes it's a fault.  Either way, I promised myself when I was pregnant that I would not become a hermit once the triplets were born. There's a lot that goes into getting three babies and a toddler ready, but it has become second nature. Still, I managed to do two new things this week by myself with the kids.

The first challenge was going grocery shopping with all four kids. It was so much easier than I anticipated thanks to the kids' cart. Since everyone sits unassisted, I just put the girls in the front of the cart and the boys sat in the back. Jackson was in charge of the grocery list.

Maddie's legs are so skinny she fit securely between the metal. Amelia was strapped in the buckle. I could have (and perhaps should have) worn Maddie in the Ergo, but she was in a playful mood so I wanted her to sit with everyone else.

The second new adventure we had was eating at IKEA. I regularly feed the babies their bottles while we are out, but now that I committed to giving them three solid meals a day, I wanted to still be able to go out and about during the afternoon.  I picked Jackson up from preschool and headed off to our favorite Swedish store. We took advantage of one of many family restrooms for a not-so-quick potty/diaper change break.

Jackson was genuinely helpful by pushing the cart with our tray of food while I pushed the stroller. He found it hilarious that Clifford was able to go for a ride.

Since we have IKEA high chairs at home, I knew the babies could sit well and eat from the table. They split a plate of Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes.

Jackson ate the same. I love IKEA food because it is cheap ($2.99 per kid's plate), tasty, and there is a variety of organic and vegetarian options. Jackson ate in the kid's area while I set up highchairs at a table across from him.

I lost count, but our IKEA trip was surely a record-breaker for the number of people who stopped and commented. After lunch we strolled around the kid's playrooms. I let all four kids play in the tents, tunnels, tiny chairs, mats, etc. At one point there was literally a dozen people crowded around saying, "Wait! Those are real babies." "Oh my God, there are three of them!" "Would you look at those doll babies! How much do they cost?" and on and on. It was the first time we had a true audience.

I was so proud of Jackson. Despite needing to be redirected several times, he listened and followed my directions.

I had some apprehensions about the logistics of taking all four kids grocery shopping and out to eat. Now that we've had successful experiences, there's no stopping us!

Our Week in Collages

I try to keep blog posts topical in theme rather than random lists from our day.  By the end of this week I ended up with 100+ pictures of things I meant to share but never did because they didn't fit with the rest of my posts.  Each collage deserves its own post, but I don't have time for that.  It's been a busy week with lots of activities.  Here are some of the highlights of our adventures.

Field Trip to the Aquarium

An aquarium recently opened just a few minutes from our house.  I'd been wanting to take Jackson, but not for $21 per ticket! Jackson's preschool scheduled a field trip with discounted rates.  It ended up being $10 for the whole family, and we got to invite friends!  The aquarium was interesting and a nice change of scenery from our usual outings.  There was an impressive touch tank, variety of sea life, and intricate displays. With that said, I walked away feeling perfectly content to never go back again.  The crowds, narrow walkways, and lighting proved to be over stimulating for Jackson.  He sat in the stroller the latter half of the trip and even closed his eyes and covered his ears at the very end. The babies were bright eyed initially, but fell asleep after an hour.

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Food Exploration

• I tried three new recipes this week.  The Irish soda bread was really flavorful and moist but very crumbly and hard to slice. The Guinness stew had a thick broth and rich, hearty flavor.  I won't be repeating it often though since it takes so long to make and requires us to buy Guinness. The winning recipe of the week ended up being completely improvised. I have all my shredded chicken to use and wanted to try enchiladas for the first time.  I combined an 8 oz package of cream cheese, 3 cups of shredded chicken, and half a can of rotel mix for the filling.  I filled 10 tortillas, rolled them up, and placed them in a casserole dish.  Then I mixed the remainder of the rotel with an enchilada seasoning packet and smothered the tortillas with it.  I sprinkled cheddar cheese on top of the boys' enchiladas and baked on 350 for 20 minutes.  SO good!
• Jackson surprised me one morning this week by climbing the pantry and refrigerator and pouring his own cereal and milk for breakfast.  He didn't make the slightest mess.  However, Jesse asked me the next day what was in the milk carton.  Jackson said, "I drop my spoon in there.  It not come out." Ha!
• The babies have been devouring everything they can get their hands on.  This week they have eaten all the usual purees along with scrambled eggs, waffles, enchiladas, and strawberry yogurt.  Graham crackers still prove to be the biggest hit.
• A friend of a family member is an overproducer and donated over 300 oz of breastmilk for the triplets.  I'm happy to have been able to both donate and now receive milk.  It makes me feel connected as women/mothers in such a powerful way. 

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IKEA

Jackson and I used to go to IKEA every single Monday. We stopped going once they stopped offering free breakfast.  After the fiasco with the van on Wednesday, I was determined to go somewhere.  I found myself at IKEA, which was completely for me rather than the kids. I love walking through the showrooms and fantasizing about having a library one day, bunk beds for the boys, perfectly organized walk-in closets, and so on.  We browsed through the children's area, played in the tents, binged on 75¢ hot dogs, and purchased a play mat for Jackson's cars and trains. 

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"Castle Park"

When I was in labor with Jackson, I drove a half hour to visit my sisters.  I was having regular contractions and knew that walking was the best thing I could do, so I drove to our childhood park and walked.  I walked for miles.  Jackson was born twelve hours later.

Even though I visit my sisters weekly, I've only been back to that park once since Jackson was born.  I thought it would be fun and nostalgic to spend the afternoon there.  I brought the wagon, but the damn wheel fell off again as I was unloading it in the parking lot.  I was totally ill prepared to care for four children, but was determined to enjoy ourselves since we were already there.  I wore Maddie in the Ergo, put Amelia in a random umbrella stroller, carried James, and ran after Jackson.  My arms felt like butter.  Thankfully, my sister and niece came to the rescue to provide relief and entertainment.  Alas, we had a great afternoon after all.