Defining moments as a mom

There are many moments that define us moms as moms. For each mom it's different.  It could be little things like stepping on a toy in the middle of the night or hearing your little one call you "mama" for the first time or other things like dropping your kid off for his/her first day at school or attending their first sporting event, etc. Of course, there are many steps along the way and many points at which may make you feel like a mom and it is all of these moments that add up to a lifetime full of memories that complete the journey of being a mom.

This past weekend had 3 elements that made me feel like I really am a mom.  Obviously, I've felt like a mom for the past 32 months as I've changed endless amounts of diapers, pumped for 13.5 months to feed them, made their meals, folded mountains of laundry, etc.  However I've also received millions of smiles, giggles, hugs and kisses, etc on a daily basis that makes my "job" as a mom so rewarding and it’s what keeps me going each day.  But the moments I'm talking about today are the moments I dreamed of when I was growing up of how I pictured what it would be like to be a mom. (Clearly, I never imagined having triplets… that has just been an added bonus!)

I love parties!  Who doesn't?  This was our 2nd weekend in a row that we had a birthday party on a Saturday. It's also tax season which meant I would be flying solo with all 3 kids to the party. Luckily, they are great listeners (most of the time) and the other moms of the kids in their class are always willing to help out.  Something about taking kids to birthday parties makes me feel like a mom. I remember always being invited to friends' kids parties before we had kids and I always enjoyed going, but I never understood how different it would be once I had children who would enjoy it. The excitement on their face when they bring their friend the gifts, watching them play with all of their friends while I chat with the other moms, the delight in their voice as they help sing happy birthday and the joy on their face as they get to enjoy the birthday cake makes my heart melt.  Bringing the kids to birthday parties and talking with the other moms truly makes me feel like mom.

This weekend’s birthday party was also filled with another defining mom moment: dealing with a bloody injury! Anyone who knows me, knows I hate blood. The mere fact alone that I managed to do IVF and survive a triplet pregnancy is a miracle in and of itself.  However, this is when you know you're a mom. These things don't/can't bother you any more or at least not when they involve your own child. Jake took a bad fall off one of the bounce houses and split his lip. A common injury in kids, but it was our first one and it produced a lot of blood!  Luckily it stopped bleeding on its own because I really didn't have time to go to the ER that afternoon!  Jake is a tough little guy and he was better quickly and ready to party on!

The final defining mom moment of the weekend was the ECEC fundraising luncheon that I was proud to co chair. Dylan, Jake and Emma started preschool back in September (3 days a week for 3 hours) and part of sending them to school meant I wanted to get involved.  I became the room mom and I was also asked to be on the luncheon committee. Little did I know just how much work I was getting myself involved in. It was so much fun and worth every hour I spent stuffing envelopes, wrapping baskets, organizing donations, etc.  I always wanted to be that mom that was involved in her child(ren)'s classroom/school and now I'm living that dream.  The event was very successful and I was proud to have been able to be a part of it.
This weekend reminded me that I am a mom.  Each day I wake up to 3 little kids who remind me of this, but there are always some major moments along the way that stop me in my tracks and make me realize that my lifelong dreams of what I hoped being a mom would be are finally coming true.

Rainbow Noodle Sensory Activity

Rainbow Noodle Sensory Activity

So I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought what would be more fun for the kids than turning one of their favorite foods different colors and then being told they can play with it?  Well Dylan, Jake and Emma agreed!  This activity was one of our favorites.  Jake is currently obsessed with two things, pasta and monkeys, so I knew he would be into this.  

The setup:

During nap time I got to work!  I boiled a whole package of spaghetti noodles according to the directions on the package.  (You could probably use half a package of pasta for just one or 2 kids.. this made plenty)  Don't over cook them and DON'T add any oil or the food coloring won't absorb into the noodles.  Next drain the water and let the noodles cool for about 30 minutes. I used this time wisely by folding laundry and catching up on my important TV shows like Real Housewives of Beverly of Hills and The Bachelor.  

(Don't be jealous of my laundry pile)

Anyways... after the noodles are cool and the laundry is folded, separate the noodles into different piles.  You can do as few or as many colors as you'd like but I went with 4 colors this time.  I used red, blue, green and yellow.  It works out well that each of the kids have a different favorite color. This prevents fighting.  Emma is yellow, Jake is red, and Dylan is blue. 

I used large paper bowls to mix it since is a bit messy and I didn't feel like doing any extra dishes.  If you don't want to use paper, it's just food coloring so it will clean up easily.  The trick to coating the noodles is to keep turning them. I used 2 plastic forks. This way I could use the forks to also help separate the noodles.  I would add a few drops at a time until all the noodles were coated.  This process took about 20 minutes or so, but they looked beautiful and I was anxious for the kids to wake up from their naps so they could enjoy this new colorful noodle fun.  However, you need to let the noodles soak up the food coloring and dry, so I let them sleep and went back to enjoying the peace and quiet in the house.

The activity:

For most of these types of activities I always have them buckled into their boosters, I do this for many purposes, but mostly so that I can contain the mess to the kitchen area only. I'm completely OCD when it comes to messiness so this helps me keep my sanity.  Once they were ready I introduced the activity explaining to them how exciting it was that the noodles changed colors, but that this also meant we couldn't eat the noodles.  We talked about all the colors and if they were bright colors or dark colors and then I asked them which colors they would like in their bowl.  They all chose all four colors. I gave them forks so they could twirl the noodles and plastic knives so they could cut them.  Then I let them explore and have fun.  Next time I'll include tongs and safety scissors to extend our noodle fun! 

After they had time to explore on their own I would ask questions.  I would ask Emma to find me a yellow noodle, then I would ask Dylan to find me a green noodle, etc.  I also wanted to talk about long and short so I held up 2 noodles of different sizes and colors and asked them to tell me which noodle was the long noodle. I would repeat it over and over.  Emma and Jake got it right away and by the end Dylan had caught on.  They were having so much fun and I always love to see their imaginations and creativity shine through when we do these types of things.  Emma was making snakes and Jake was making bananas for his monkey that day.

Extension:

Since they were having so much fun I decided to take the activity one step further.  We've been working on letter recognition and they've become very good at spelling their names so I thought it would be fun to make letters on paper using the noodles. I got regular computer paper out and the noodles stuck perfectly to the papers. I helped them use the noodles to spell their names.  They handed me the noodle and told me what letter I needed to make. The best part, that I hadn't intentionally planned, was that the food coloring rubbed off onto the paper enough that it left the letter marks there. Once they realized this they wanted to continue designing the paper, thus a further activity was created.

They ask to do this activity all the time.  It is a bit messy, but the food coloring comes off their hands easily.  I stored the noodles in ziplock bags in the fridge. I tossed them after a week; I wasn't willing to test how much longer they would have gone.  

 I hope this motivates you to try it with your little one(s). Keep checking back for more activities to come this week!

Xo 

How do you do it?!

Since the day Dylan, Jake and Emma were born I get stopped whenever I'm out with them, especially with the triple stroller, from random people who want to ask me a million questions. Usually they are out of curiosity and fascination, but every now and then you get a rude and obnoxious comment.  I could probably write a whole blog just about the comments I've gotten... I'll save that for another day!  However the most common question is "How do you do it?!" 

I never know how to respond to this. I always say "I just do it". And that is essentially what I do. Of course it's not this easy, it never is when your have 3 kids at the same time, but that's exactly what I do because I don't know how to do it any differently, nor would I want to!

One of the methods to my madness is creating lots of structured activities.  Most of my friends joke that they would like to send their kids to me for preschool because they know I love to do fun, engaging and even messy activities on a daily basis.  What they don't realize is that if I don't do structured activities D, J & E will fight all morning long, most likely over the same toy that we happen to have 3 of, which clearly does not matter to them in that moment...  So this way they are engaged and happy and I can keep my sanity and enjoy a cup of coffee!

I may have the background of being an elementary school teacher, but I'm so grateful for Pinterest for helping me find so many great new ideas! 

Over the next few days I'll show you some of our favorite activities we do to keep us busy over here!  

Here are some pictures of Dylan, Jake and Emma in action during some of these activities. Keep looking for details of these to come soon!

Rainbow Sensory Noodles

Painting Bread with Milk "paint"

Cheerio Stacking

Cloud Dough

DIY Felt Boards and Activities

Oobleck 

Xo

And we're here... All 5 of us!

Where do I begin?!?  It's been almost 3 years since I last posted. And I'm proud to report that I have 3 happy, healthy, loving and crazy 2 and a half year olds. I stopped posting when my pregnancy got so difficult that I feared I was going to lose the babies. Thankfully that never happened and they were born by scheduled csection on July 2, 2010 at 31 weeks. Dylan Bronx, baby A, was born at 12:29pm and weighed 3lbs 8 oz.  Jake Alexander, Baby B, was born at 12:30 and weighed 1lb 12.5oz. (He stopped growing due to IUGR and after 3 weeks it was decided they were safer out than in so we delivered). And lastly, Baby C, Emma Avery was born at 12:31 weighing 3lb 7oz. All were healthy and had a relatively uneventful NICU stay mainly to feed and grow. Emma came home first after 4.5 weeks, Dylan was next after 6.5 weeks and Jake came home when he reached 4lbs at 8 weeks!  Dylan came home on oxygen for about 2.5 months, but thankfully that was our only health issue related to being born so prematurely. 
We survived the infant year with flying colors. I loved that time. Most people think I'm crazy but I had a great schedule, I had great sleepers and I had some pretty great babies!  I also pumped for 13.5 months. They never had formula which was a pretty impressive feat. At my peak I could pump 100 ounces a day.  I miss those days, but I'm loving our new phase of toddlerhood! 
Now the fun really begins!  Dylan is currently 31 lbs and 3ft tall, Emma is 28lbs and 3 ft tall and Jake is 21 lbs and 31.5" tall. Jake will be starting Human Growth Hormone Therapy in the next month or so due to his inability to grow from IUGR. There will be more details to come in the following weeks about that.  They go to preschool 3 days a week and when they aren't in school I'm always doing activities with them, having play dates with our other friends or going to classes! I'm in awe of how smart, caring, loving and beautiful they are. It's an amazing thing to see them growing up and remembering back to when they were all in my belly at the SAME time!  
So that's our very quick update and I hope to keep everyone up to date on the craziness of having THREE 2 year olds!  
Here's a look at our first Valentine's Day and our most recent one :)
Xoxo 

22 weeks

22 weeks and growing!
Our little princess

Well time is flying by even though I'm on bed rest. After a mellow few weeks, I was back in the hospital again last week. I was admitted Thursday night for contractions and was able to come back home on Monday once they got everything under control. Needless to say I am happy to be home.

Yesterday we went in for our ultrasound and things look good. The stitch is holding my cervix in place so that is good. The babies are doing well. Baby B is still small, but he continues to grow. Baby A is 1 lb 1 oz, Baby B is 11 oz, and Baby C (our girl) is 1 lb 2 oz. They are moving and kicking a lot these days.

I have adjusted to bedrest. While I was in the hospital Scott was so sweet and hunted down an iPad for me. That has been keeping me entertained. During the days when Scott is at work my Mom comes over and helps me out. We have been watching all the seasons of 24 from the beginning. We are currently half way through season 2.

I look forward to posting again after our next doctor appointment.

It's been an eventful few weeks...

The bump grows exponentially!
The front view

Our baby girl giving us the thumbs up letting us know she is doing well!

One of the boys (baby b) He was sitting on his brother's face so we couldn't get a picture of baby A.

2 weeks ago I sat on the couch enjoying the first few days of retirement trying to see if I could feel the babies kick when I noticed that my stomach was sort tightening and then releasing. Concerned that these may be contractions I called my high risk dr after hours (5:30). They called back and said they were still there and to come in right away. I called Scott and told him I'm sure it's nothing so he didn't go with me. Well... I went in to check my cervix and it had shortened from 3.7 to 1.7 in a week and was funneling. In other words... not good. They told me they would be doing the second trimester anatomy scan to make sure all the babies are ok and then I would go across the street to be admitted to labor and delivery. All the babies looked good, now it was a matter of keeping them in.

At the hospital they put me on this horrible medicine called magnesium sulfate to stop the contractions. It basically relaxes all of the muscles in your body so I could barely function. I was admitted Tuesday night and on Thursday, April Fool's day, they did a procedure to put a stitch in my cervix to hold it closed. I was given a spinal and after some tears, I sucked it up and it wasn't as bad as I had expected. I spent another few days in the hospital where they ran various tests and on Saturday afternoon I was finally discharged. That was big news since I had convinced myself I would be spending the rest of the pregnancy there.

At home I have been on strict bed rest. I lay flat all day on my side... even to eat! I'm only allowed up to go to the bathroom and shower every other day. My mom has been great. She comes over every day during the week while Scott is at work to help me out. Scott has been so wonderful especially considering this is his busiest time of the year. Luckily tax season is over this week so Scott will be able to spend more time with me at home.

Yesterday, we had our 19 week check up and everything was really good. My cervix was closed past the stitch at 3.07, which is great. So now I'm allowed to sit up to eat! I still am on bed rest, but he would like me to swim a little every day. So that was exciting. The babies all look great. Our one boy (baby b) is smaller than the other two so we need to keep our fingers crossed that he keeps on growing to catch up to his brother and sister! We go back again next week to check everything, but after an emotional few weeks things definitely look better. We're just taking it day by day and week by week.

16 weeks and 3 days... but who's counting!

My bump as of today :)

Our little girl (the boys weren't very cooperative for their pictures this week)

Today was our doctor's appointment with our high risk doctor, Dr. Mansano. He was pleased to see how well the babies are doing and how well I am doing too. When we go back in 2 weeks we have another big ultrasound that is called the 2nd trimester anatomy scan, where they look at everything in extreme detail again. We look forward to getting another positive report at that appointment.

I am feeling good. I'm starting to seem more like myself, albeit a larger version now. ;) My last day of work is on Friday and I can't wait. Now I can get stuff done before I get put on my unavoidable bed rest. My belly is growing by the day and I still love it! Scott and I are so excited for these babies and we can't wait to meet them!