Teaching Compassion

Before becoming a mother, I devoted a large amount of time and energy to helping the elderly, homeless, and inner-city youth.  I volunteered weekly, attended multiple mission trips, and taught 5th grade to high-risk children.  Over the past three years, my time was instead spent completing grad school requirements, at home with family, and working.  Now that I stay home, I feel like my world is drastically smaller.  I miss being involved in the community, but I find it difficult to do so while toting around 4 kids age 2 and under.  I've made a conscious effort to include Jackson in conversations and activities that help him to empathize with his neighbors. 

My sister had the thoughtful idea to create cards and positive messages for our dear aunt.  She was recently diagnosed with cancer and will begin chemotherapy next week.  Though Jackson was more excited about using glue, colorful paper, and stickers, the activity provided an opportunity to have a conversation about caring for those who are sick.  I found it especially endearing that Jackson wanted me to give our aunt his Clifford and candy to make her feel better.  If only it were that simple.

One of the organizations I used to participate in during winter months was Room In the Inn.  Local area churches take a dozen or more homeless men and women to their church (assuming they have a gymnasium, kitchen, and showers).  A home cooked dinner, hot shower, air mattress, blankets, warm breakfast, and a bagged lunch are provided for each guest. While I am no longer able to complete many of the tasks, I was able to make goodie bags for each person one week.  I explained what we were doing and took Jackson to the Dollar Tree to pick out items for our bags.  He helped me assemble them once we got home.  I know Jackson does not understand that some people don't live in a house and eat whenever they want.  Again, I appreciate being able to have a conversation and teach him to love and care for those who may be struggling.

I pray that each of the kids will have a servant's heart and be able to positively impact their neighbors.

Make me a servant
Humble and meek
Lord let me lift up those who are weak
And may the prayers of my heart always be
Make me a servant
Make me a servant
Make me a servant today.

Introducing Solids

Since the babies received lots of food for Christmas, I decided to try rice cereal for the first time tonight.  We introduced solids for Jackson when he turned 4 months old.  Knowing that James, Amelia, and Maddie are my last babies, I've been in no rush this time around.  Still, all three have shown signs of readiness and they are a mere two weeks away from 6 months old.

I refuse to discard any breastmilk if it wasn't consumed, so I mixed the rice cereal with formula.  The babies were in good moods and it was in between feedings, which made me think we would have a successful first attempt at solids. I lined our new high chairs up in a row.

James proved to tire very quickly.  He wanted nothing to do with sitting in the high chair or eating.  He just cried and let the cereal dribble down out of his mouth.

Amelia loved every part of feeding.  She wanted to grab the spoon and feed herself.  She opened her mouth each time and happily consumed everything she was given.

Maddie wasn't the most comfortable in the stiff high chair, but she enjoyed her meal in the comfort of her daddy's lap.

I don't know how I'm supposed to balance feeding all three at the same time!  We've all mastered bottle propping so all three are fed in under 15 minutes.  Our first attempt with rice cereal involved lots of fussy, attention-seeking babies, and that was with two adults.  I'm certain it will get easier when they are able to feed themselves finger foods, but until then, this is just another challenge I'll have to figure out. 

Update: Just since posting this, I've received advice from fellow triplet moms.  It was suggested to use one bowl/one spoon and go down the line.  Babies can sit in bumbos, bouncers, high chairs, etc, as long as they are upright enough to eat and comfortable.  If one baby takes too long, skip him/her and keep going to the next baby.  Keep alternating until the bowl is empty.

An Abundant Life

I don't know how Jesse and I are so fortunate, but once again we have received so many things for the trio.  (We spent $30 on their shared Christmas present, which was the first time we've spent our own money on the babies...CRAZY!)  The babies were gifted clothes, high chairs, baby food, toys, adorable cloth diapers, and wipes.  We haven't had to buy a single toy, crib, high chair, diaper, burp cloth, can of formula, article of clothing, bottle, double stroller, etc.  They only purchase we've made is the quad stroller, and we used baby shower money for that.  It's truly amazing how generous family, friends, and friends of friends have been to our family!

Here's the mammoth pile of opened gifts:

I mentioned in the previous post that I switched the storage bins for the toy chest.  It was the same height and still fit perfectly under the lettering.

The chest works well to conceal the mess of toys.

My coworkers joked that our house looks like an in-home daycare with the high-chairs stacked in the corner and toys everywhere. 

In addition to the gifts from family members, we also received our second shipment from Enfamil.  We now have 34 unopened cans of formula stacked up to the ceiling of our laundry room.  If I supplement with 1 can per week, this will last well beyond their first year of life.  (Now let's just hope my supply keeps up and I don't have to supplement more.)

God is good!  Not just for providing financially, but blessing us with beautiful children, good heath, education, stability, and generous loved ones.  We are fulfilled in every sense of the word.

Out With the Old, In With the New

Jackson was blessed to receive all of this for Christmas:

Of course, the challenge was where to put everything.  It took two entire days for Jesse and I to take down Christmas decorations, sort through old toys for Goodwill, clear space, and make room for new things.  I tried to take a panoramic view of Jackson's room.  Obviously the bed doesn't normally look like that, but it was impossible to get the corners of the room in the picture. 

We tidied up Jackson's closet and made room for his dresser to go under the closet shelves.  (It has been against the wall since before he was born.) 

After realizing how many little toys and sets Jack has, I decided to move Jack's toy box into the babies room and bring in their storage baskets.  We took down his tent to make room for this piece of organizational heaven.  I sorted everything into bins: train sets, board books, matchbox cars, super hero figurines, Little People, musical instruments, etc.  I'll most likely go back and add picture labels to help Jackson know where to return the toys, but he's really great at cleaning up and organizing his toys downstairs.

The book shelves haven't changed.  We've just rotated/added more books.

Jackson has Batman sheets and blankets on his big boy bed.  Now if we could just get him to sleep there all night.  Sigh...

He still has play areas downstairs.  It only took minor rearranging to provide adequate floor space and play areas for both Jack and the trio.  His toy kitchen has been moved to the dining room.

And his easel/crafts are in an open nook of the living room.

Thanks to the small storage bins, Jackson can bring a bin downstairs, dump it all on the floor or table, then quickly clean up.  We are all so much happier when we can keep things clean and tidy and everything is easily accessible.

Joy To the World: Christmas Collage



Christmas morning was everything it should be for a kid: sense of wonder, anticipation, and appreciation.  On December 23, Jesse assembled bicycles and the babies' toy while I wrapped all the gifts.  We knew Christmas Eve would be a busy evening spent with family and stuffing our faces.  We got home after 9 PM, put the kids to bed, then displayed all the presents.

Jesse used a free Kringl app that overlay Santa on a recording of our living room.  We showed it to Jackson as soon as he awoke on Christmas morning.  I would have LOVED this as a kid!

We chose to let the babies continue sleeping and give Jackson our undivided attention while he opened his presents.  Jackson didn't quite know what to do with himself once downstairs.  He immediately looked at the gifts, walked to the pantry, and requested something to eat.  After a few minutes he began digging into his gifts. 

He loved his new drill,

as well as his stocking stuffers.

The babies started fussing shortly after Jackson had finished opening his gifts.  They were much more interested in eating than opening their present.  (FYI, the ball toy was recommended by fellow triplet moms because it has enough space for each baby and accommodates babies that can sit, crawl, pull up, and walk.  The best part was that we purchased it for 66% off.)

Jesse's parents, aka the world's best MiMi and PaPa, came over with breakfast. Before we knew it, it was already time to load everyone up and head to my sister's house.  I am so proud of how mature my nieces and nephews are becoming.  This was the first year we drew names for the kids.  Even though my siblings and I agreed not to do it again, the kids had lots of fun.  My heart was nearly bursting witnessing some of their reactions.  There was such a genuine appreciation and contentment, which is something I rarely exhibited as a child. 

After lunch and presents with my side of the family, we drove an hour to spend Christmas evening with Jesse's family.  This was the first year (at least since I've been around) that Jesse's aunt and uncle also celebrated with us.  The more the merrier!   Our kids are so blessed to have so many people that love them.  There is never a dull moment with a big family.

Resourceful Baking Fun

Jesse brought this home from Aldi. 

Jackson was very eager to make the rice krispy treat house.  We followed the directions on the box but could NOT get the cooled rice krisy out of the mold.  I ended up scraping it out with my hands and shaping it into a large gingerbread man. 

Jackson did a great job and was proud of his work.

Our next resourceful dining was to use up the loaf of white bread from lunch on Sunday.  Our family never eats white anything (rice, pasta, bread, etc) but we didn't want to waste the loaf.  French toast it was.

Yum!

Finally, our last three bananas had nearly liquefied.  Rather than toss them, I found a recipe for lactation banana bread.

I added in a generous handful of chocolate chips to try and counteract the bitterness of brewer's yeast, flax, and fenugreek.  It's not the best tasting banana bread in the world, but certainly edible.

In addition to the above, we also made a pound cake and sausage balls for Christmas.  Jackson was the resident sous-chef.  It's been a busy 24 hours of baking!

To Pump or Not To Pump, That Is the Question

I am three weeks away from reaching my long-term pumping goal of six months.  I was able to offer exclusive breastmilk for the first 4.5 months.  Currently, the babies take four 5-oz bottles of breastmilk and two 5-oz bottles of breastmilk/formula.  Of the 30 oz each baby consumes per day, about 4-5 oz is formula, which means I'm able to provide roughly 85% of their food.  (We have not introduced any solids.)  I originally planned to stop pumping at 6 months, but I am considering extending it.  Here are my pros and cons:

Reasons Why I Want to Wean

1. I want my body back.  For nearly four years, I have either been trying to conceive, pregnant, breastfeeding, or pumping.  Since I anticipate the triplets being our last children, I look forward to regaining control of my body once and for all.  No more mastitis, clogged ducts, or engorgement. I want to be able to diet and exercise without it taking a toll on my milk supply.

2. I want to have more choice in how I spend my time.  I spend 3 hours per day hooked up to a pump (6 pumping sessions x 30 minutes).  That's three hours a day I could spend playing with Jackson, holding babies, cooking dinner, mopping, etc. 

3. I want a more flexible schedule.  My life is on repeat every 3-4 hours.  My schedule is dictated by the pump.  I take it in the car.  I've left parties early and excused myself from guests in my own home to go pump. 

4. I want to sleep through the night.  It's absurd waking up in the middle of the night to pump when my husband and children are sleeping peacefully.  I have to continue to pump because I get twice as much milk at 3 a.m. and my supply tanked when I skipped the middle of the night pump.

5. I consider six months to be a very respectable amount of time to provide breastmilk.  That's why I made that my long-term goal.  I devoted the same amount of time and provided the same amount of milk to Jackson.   

6. I want more choice in clothing.  Most dresses and shirts must be completely removed in order to pump.  I'm tired of wearing the same loose-fitting clothes every day.  I'm also eager to begin weight loss and get back into my wardrobe staples. 

Reasons Why I Want to Continue Pumping

1. It's FREE!  In over 5 months, we haven't spent a dime on feeding three babies.  We have used 2 cans of formula given to us by our pediatrician and 1 of 18 cans sent from Enfamil.  I use two Medela Pump in Style Advanced pumps that were given to me.  We use the same bottles we used with Jackson, which we received as baby shower gifts.  I asked dozens of other triplet moms how much formula they used and the average was one small can a day or a large can every other day.  Buying formula would be a $200+ monthly payment. 

2. It's the best nutrition available.  Even the formula companies print this on every can and pamphlet.  In the midst of flu/RSV season, it would be ideal to continue to offer the antibodies provided in breastmilk.  Of course I can't guarantee it's because my children were breastfed, but none of my four children have every had any ear infections or illnesses beyond a common cold.

3. It's selfish to stop pumping.  The only reason I quit breastfeeding Jackson by 6 months old was because I had completely dried up.  The demands and stress of going back to work caused my milk supply to diminish.  I have no excuse this time.  I stay home.  It is literally my "job" to take care of my children.  That includes feeding them.  If I'm able to make the milk, I should!  There are many moms (especially mothers of multiples) who have struggled far more than I have to provide breastmilk for their kid(s).  I would feel incredible guilt for quitting strictly because of convenience. 


Decisions, decisions...