Things That Make Life Easier

-Babies that can hold their own bottle.   

I've looked forward to this milestone for months.  All three have consistently been holding their bottles for a few weeks now. 

-1:1 adult-child ratio 

I look forward to weekend visits with the in-laws because I know each child will receive individual attention.  It's the only time in the week when children don't outnumber adults.

-Convertible car seats

We switched all three babies to convertible carseats when they turned 8 months old. It made no difference for Maddie because she sits in the middle.  However, it's much easier to get James and Amelia in and out of the van since we go through the hatchback. No more bulky infant carriers and worrying about hitting their heads.

 -

Double Umbrella Stroller

While there is a time and place to use the quad stroller, I'm so much happier using this double umbrella stroller and Ergo.  I found this stroller on Craigslist for $40 about 15 minutes away.  It was an easy transaction and I've lost 85 pounds of stress trying to maneuver the beast that is the quad stroller. 

The double umbrella stroller is so light, easily fits through the doorways, and hardly takes up any space in the back of the van.  I rotate who gets to sit in the stroller rather than always wearing Maddie in the Ergo.

The Benefits of Taking the Kids Out

It's no secret I like to go out and stay busy. One of the most frequent comments I receive from triplet mom friends, strangers in public, and family is centered around how much we go out.  Sometimes the comments are really positive like, "Good for you.  I can't believe you're out with all of them." Some comments are rude, such as, "You need to keep those babies home.  They're going to get sick." Either way, we go on our merry little way, exploring the world around us.

Last week I was complaining about the quad stroller and what a pain in the ass it is to load and unload the kids into.  Jesse said, "You know you don't have to take them everywhere. What's the point? Do you remember anything from when you were two?"

His comment made me angry and caused me to second-guess my motives behind our outings. I vented with other moms and brainstormed reasons why it's so important to me that I take the kids out.  Here's what we came up with:

Benefits for Children

• stimulates their minds
• provides different sensory experiences
• creates interest in things outside the home
• develops curiosity
• strengthens their immune systems
• shapes their behavior in public places
• builds an understanding of their community
• builds their vocabulary and language development
• keeps them physically active
• reduces social anxiety (hopefully)
• creates opportunities for social interaction
• expends energy

Benefits for Mothers

• increases independence
• provides variation/prevents monotony
• creates valuable memories with children
• creates opportunities to take pictures that can be shared with children later
• increases confidence level
• provides opportunities for social interaction

So...while my children may not have any recollection of what they are doing right now, I think it's important to expose them to books, music, people, exercise, different languages, etc. as early as possible. Going to the park, museum, library, rec center, aquarium, and so on, fills our days with a sense of adventure and makes our time together so much more enjoyable than if we stayed home and watched TV. 

I'll conclude with pictures of us out and about at the museum today.

Life is so much easier with self-feeders and a double umbrella stroller!

Jack and Maddie taking turns driving the tractor.



Maddie, James, and Amelia admiring themselves,

before it turned into a wrestling match.

Exploring colors, shapes, and textures

Jackson discovering his new car seat has a cup holder.

“Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious...and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
― Walt Disney

St. Patty's Day: A Lesson in Preparedness

Today was one of those days that had potential to be great but everything just turned out half-assed.

Our morning began with the usual changings and feedings, followed by a photo shoot.  All my triplet mom friends were posting pictures of their babies wearing matching outfits with sayings like "Kiss Me I'm Irish" and "Mommy's Lucky Charm" or green bows and tutus.  All I wanted was a simple picture with all four kids wearing green.  I laid out a green leprechaun shirt for Jackson but he refused to wear it.  Go figure.

I spent too much time trying to coax Jackson to wear a green shirt and the babies quickly tired from sitting on the couch.  This was the best of the bunch.

It was a freezing, rainy Monday so we headed to the rec center for open gym.  The doors to the gym are not quad stroller friendly and it was so cold I opted to wear Maddie and use the double stroller.  I pulled the stroller down from a top shelf in the garage and made sure I had the seats.  (The seats pop off in order to fold the stroller.)  Again, my preparations weren't quite thorough enough as I later realized I was missing an essential piece.   I'll let you figure it out.

After watching an Irish inspired episode of America's Test Kitchen, I altered our dinner plans to include Guinness beef stew with Irish soda bread for dinner this evening.  I glanced at the ingredients list, but not the directions.  I asked Jesse to pick up a Guinness on the way home from work.  He came home at 5 and I started cutting vegetables and browning the meat.  I pulled up the recipe and realized at that point that it took 2.5 hours to cook!  Oops.  I threw everything in the fridge for tomorrow and cooked spaghetti instead.

At least the bread was a success.

Did I mention we're not even Irish?  Oy!