Field Trip to Patterson Farms

Jackson had his school field trip to a farm about forty minutes away. Our preschool was one of a dozen or more other schools visiting the farm yesterday. Despite a field full of school buses, the employees kept things running smoothly and managed the large crowds of children.

Jackson loves his teacher and class. Six out of eight students in his current class were in the same class last year, so they are especially close. (So close that they all shared ice cream cones and the stomach virus last month!)

On the ride to the farm, Jackson was so excited that the babies I would be with him the whole time. However, when we arrived at the farm and he saw his friends and teachers, he barely even acknowledged me as his mother. He stayed hand in hand with his current and former teachers.

Please note the director in the background. She is not great at hiding her feelings towards me.

Feeding the animals was a bit lame. You couldn't touch the animals or even allow them to eat out of the cups. They had to pour their food down PVC pipes.

After feeding the animals, our preschool was sent to "make scarecrows". I assumed it was going to be some construction paper craft. Instead, each class was able to actually make a real scarecrow by stuffing hay in adult sized clothing. It was pretty unique and fun.

The trio took an opportunity to play in the hay themselves. I kept them in the wagon most of the the field trip.

The one time the triplets were allowed out of the wagon was during the hayride. 

I was unsure how I would manage the hayride with everyone, but Jackson's former teacher held him. His current teacher held Amelia. An assistant held Maddie, and I kept James. Maddie was especially happy.

Next was the actual pumpkin patch. Even though Patterson Farms is a 100+ acre farm, the best pumpkins were strewn about an open field for the young children to select.

The girls waddled around a bit, but were overrun by preschoolers and kindergartners.

This is the third pumpkin patch we've been to, and the first time James has been completely happy. He was in one of the best moods I've seen recently.

Subway boxed lunches were available to purchase, but we are too cheap for that. PB&J, veggie straws, and peaches sufficed for us.

My little introvert asked to sit at our own table several feet away from his class. I was fine with that because his class sat in a picnic shelter. It was chilly and I wanted to keep the babies in the sun.

After lunch the kids played on various play equipment (recycled tires, pipes, etc). It was very overwhelming and chaotic with so many school groups there. I chatted with a few other moms, but was happy to have an excuse to leave when the girls became restless. 

It was a beautiful, busy day at Patterson Farms. The kids enjoyed themselves before crashing in the van on the way home. I can officially say I am all pumpkined out this year!

Maddie Update: Shoe Inserts and Neorologist

Maddie's physical therapist has been wavering back and forth between shoe inserts and SMO's (braces that go up to the ankle). She is still standing with her left foot rolled out. The pediatric orthopedic came to the house for a consult yesterday. Together, the PT and ortho decided shoe inserts would be preferable. Based on her rapid progress, they felt that by the time the SMO molds were ready (4-6 weeks) she would be ready for inserts. The ortho made molds of Maddie's feet.

He took the time to explain her arch and how the inserts would provide support to keep her from rolling her feet or curling her toes.  He told me Maddie's inserts will be the smallest size he's made. Hooray for early intervention and size 2 shoes.

Maddie was cooperative with the first foot, but tempers flared during the imprinting of the second foot. This girl hates being restrained.

The ortho will return with the inserts in a few weeks, so I'll update then.

Maddie surprised us all all by walking across the entire living room by herself. It was so unexpected. Then Amelia joined in and both girls were walking back and forth between the PT and me. This walking business is escalating quickly!

Today was Maddie's follow up appointment with the neurologist.She saw the pediatric neurologist at 9, 12, and now 15 months.The doctor was very pleased with Maddie's progress and growth chart. She seemed pleased that our PT had us practice exercises where we isolate the muscles Maddie uses (i.e. hold her right leg down while crawling up the stairs so she is forced to use her left side). I updated her on the orthopedic inserts as well.

She examined Maddie's head circumference, reflexes, crawling, walking, tracking things with her eyes, etc. She told me that based on Maddie's low tone and developmental delays, she could order an MRI upon my request. I reaffirmed that it was not our desire to put Maddie under anesthesia unless it was absolutely necessary. Of course she supported that decision and agreed that the MRI results would unlikely change anything we do.

After thorough discussion, I was relieved when the neurologist ended by saying she was not going to schedule a follow up. She assured me that her door was always open and she urged us to come in if Maddie started to regress or plateau. We all started clapping (including Maddie) and I even asked to take a picture since this is hopefully the last time we'll see our lovely neurologist.

Seven months ago, I was prepared for a very different outcome. Words cannot express how relieved and happy I am about all that Maddie has accomplished and continues to do.

Every Kids' Favorite Museum

Going to Discovery Place Kids has been a regular part of our weekly routine for months. I stopped blogging about our trips to the museum because they became as mundane as preschool, PT, church, etc. The only new thing is I have taken the trio a few times without Jackson over the past month. I always feel guilty because I know how much he loves going and I don't want him to be upset that he missed it. Every single day when I ask Jackson what he wants to do, he automatically says, "Go to the museum." 

We only go to a few areas each visit and we spend a considerable amount of time in each area.  It is a lot more fun now that the triplets notice the details in things and are a lot more interactive. Jackson still considers the museum to be his special place and he gets almost territorial about it. He prefers for the trio to play in the gated infant/toddler area, whereas I like for them to explore the whole museum. We've gone through yet another learning curve of how to let his siblings lead the way sometimes, because they get to make choices, too.

Here are some photos from our visit today:  

Climbing the fire engine

Fire Chief Jack

Note to self: Don't let trio in a real veterinarian office.

And the week before:

Building "Daddy's work" (For the record, Jesse's school is not a skyscraper.)

Playing with kinetic sand in the craft room

Construction worker

People frequently ask if I let the babies play. Well, duh! It's a children's museum, specifically designed for birth to primary school. I'm pretty lenient on letting the babies roam. They tend to stay together. When one veers off, I can coral the other two fairly easily. However, I follow "3 strikes, you're out" rule. The third time I have to chase after James someone, (s)he goes in the stroller. I even let them go upstairs to the annex, then carry all three back down. Here are some pictures from the trio's solo trip last week:

Getting a workout

Exploring the upstairs annex for the first time

No sit-ins at this lunch counter

Bumper carts 

Maddie misusing the racecar ramp

I paid $80 for an annual family membership. Now that the trio are 1, it would cost us $50 per visit ($10 per person). I think the $80 was the single best purchase I've ever made for our family!

Double Stroller + Ergo

Over the past 3.5 years, I have literally worn a baby in the Ergo hundreds of times. I almost never used a stroller with Jackson because I wore him all the time. He was a fairly needy baby the first few months so I wore him around the house while baking and cleaning. Fast forward to the triplets' birth. I was overwhelmed at the idea of taking newborn triplets and a two year old out by myself. A mom of twin toddlers gave me her double snap-n-go and another double stroller to borrow. The double stroller and Ergo gave me freedom to go anywhere and everywhere.

The first several weeks I cuddled two babies together in one car seat. Of course I couldn't properly buckle the car seat, but I could buckle the snap-n-go belt. They weren't old enough to roll around  or lift their heads, and they spent most of their day sleeping.

Since Maddie was the smallest, I always paired Maddie with either James or Amelia. They slept so well together.

When they were too big to double up in a car seat, I used the double stroller my friend let me borrow.

Again, they were most peaceful when they had a sibling to snuggle with.

By 3 months old, they were finally big enough to each require their own space. This is when I returned to exclusively using the double snap-n-go, along with the Ergo.

Maddie only weighed 9 lbs at four months old, so I still used the infant insert in the Ergo.

I'm not sure what my expression was about, but I'm guessing it was a stressful mid-day text to Jesse.

I continued to use the double snap-n-go daily until the trio were eight months old.

Gross fact that I didn't remember until going through old pictures: I learned to put a burp cloth under Maddie anytime I wore her because her reflux was so bad she regularly vomited down my shirt.

The double snap-n-go no longer worked once we transitioned the babies to convertible carseats. 

At that time we found a Jeep Double Umbrella stroller for $40 off of Craigslist.

At 15 months old, the double umbrella/Ergo combination is the fastest, least conspicuous way to get around with triplets. Sometimes I wear James or Amelia on my back (turn the Ergo around), but I favor Maddie cuddles on my chest.

I prefer to use the wagon when I plan to keep the trio outside or I want them to be able to see. I use the wagon for walks, zoo trips, trips to the mall, etc. If I'm going somewhere such as the museum or park, where I plan on letting the trio out to play the entire time, I prefer the double and Ergo.

The advantages to using the double umbrella are:

• I can fold/unfold it with one foot and one hand.
• It's so light that I can easily push doors open and/or reverse through doorways by myself.
• I can hang a diaper bag and my purse off of the middle handle without it dragging on the ground.
• It doesn't draw as much attention as the wagon or quad stroller.
• The stroller is cheap and it's easy to find them used.
• There are brakes (unlike the wagon) that I can push down with my foot.
• It is very compact and hardly takes up any space in the van.

Disadvantages to the double umbrella are:

• It doesn't accommodate three kids alone, which means whoever is in the Ergo can't see as well.
• Sometimes the kids lean forward so much I'm afraid they're going to flip the stroller over. I don't know if that's possible or not, but it makes me nervous.
• There are no cup holders and you have to be creative with limited storage.
• The canopies don't provide great shade and the babies are tall enough to be able to pull the canopy down.

Moral of the story: There isn't one perfect stroller, but a double stroller and Ergo (or other carrier of choice) is a very affordable, convenient solution for triplets.

Walking Progress at 15 Months

Disclaimer: No feet were injured while playing barefoot outside. A better mother would have put shoes on her children.

James is the least interested in walking. He can cruise around and stand on his own, but he rarely even attempts to take steps. He will not walk if you hold his hands. He squats and stands all day, but prefers crawling.

Amelia is the most advanced walker. She has reached the point where she walks just as much as she crawls. She is slow and toddles around. She falls after 5-10 steps, then gets up and goes again.

  
Maddie cruises, stands on her own, and occasionally takes a few steps on her own. She is amazing at walking while holding on with one hand. (Jackson took this picture of us. Not too bad, eh?)

Today was the first time I felt like I had toddlers rather than babies. The girls were especially busy tottering around.

Based on today, Jackson seems to be regressing in the walking department. He spent his time laying in the tunnel and sitting in the sand. Silly boy!

Top 5 Must Have Kitchen Gadgets for MoMs

Since introducing table food at nine months old, here are my most frequently used kitchen gadgets:

1. Griddle
I use a griddle almost daily to cook French toast, pancakes, grilled cheese, quesadilla, etc. I don't have the time or patience to flip individual ham and cheese sandwiches on the stove, so the griddle is a huge time saver.

2. Pizza Cutter
A good pizza cutter is so much more efficient at quickly cutting foods into bite size pizzas. (Simple machines lesson: The larger the wheel, the easier it is to push. Don't waste your time on small, cheap pizza cutters.)

3. Cutting Board
We haven't transitioned to plates yet, so I prepare everything on the cutting board, then divide it onto high chair trays. I love the IKEA cutting boards because they are large and flexible.

4. Food Processor
From 6-12 months, I used a food processor at least once a day to puree or mince table food for the trio. If James and Maddie did not have milk allergies, I would use it regularly to make smoothies or shred cheese for them.

5. Mini Muffin Tin
Miniature muffins are the perfect size for the trio to hold and bite. I make double batches of banana or pumpkin muffins so I have can freeze a hundred quick snacks. I haven't been too adventurous yet, but a quick search on Pinterest will direct you to dozens of recipes for mini quiches, corndogs, oatmeal bits, broccoli and cheese bites, etc.

CROP Walk and Other Church Events

I try to downplay the amount of time I spend preparing for youth events, but the truth is it always takes more effort and energy than I anticipate spending. I've had to go in during the week twice now to make bulletin inserts or gather supplies. The good news is that the church nursery is directly beside the youth room, which means the kids can play happily while I work.

Our small but mighty youth group participates in a service project each month. Last month the teens volunteered with the church's school supplies carnival. For October, the youth raised money and awareness about hunger, then participated in the CROP Walk. The youth led a quick skit during announcements, and assembled rice bags with hunger statistics inside.

Yesterday was the actual CROP Walk. We had amazing weather for our walk. 

The youth broke out into part of "Fame" at one point. I love the skyline in the background.

Ironically, after completing the 4 mile walk to raise awareness on hunger, there were several food trucks parked beyond the finish line. Some of the youth bought pizza and t-shirts.

We've continued with weekly devotions in addition to preparing for service projects. It took us the past two months to complete our first study, and we will begin another one this Sunday. 

Apparently, I am getting old. The last time I was a youth director, I was in college. I felt young and knowledgeable with all things relevant to teenagers. Yet I felt I had this great sense of wisdom and accomplishment since I was on the other side of high school. (HA!) Eight years, two degrees, a husband, and four kids later, I am so far removed from teenage lingo and pop culture. I had a crash course yesterday on the latest phrases (i.e. "I ship it" and "OTP").  

I hope God is using me in more ways than sad entertainment for the youth. We've been able to have a few meaningful discussions, but most conversations lack the depth that I anticipate. Either way, we are certainly building community and enjoying one another's company.