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Our precious miracle triplets just turned ten this spring. I still can't believe it! Our 2 pound babies are no longer babies! Can you believe that my sweet parents took these three to NYC to celebrate their tenth birthday?! What a trip! Thankfully I was able to go along as a chaperone due to the graciousness of my brother and sister in law who kept the little sisters.
When we arrived in New York, we were greeted by a limo. The children squealed and loved drinking a sprite on the way into the city! We had adventure after adventure, and I can't wait to tell you all about it!

7 Years Ago...

Seven years ago today I was the proud mother of two year old triplets who was expecting a very special surprise on August 6th. I had no idea that our baby bunting would decide that she had no intention of waiting that long. On Sunday night, July 27, 2003, I had no idea what glorious gift we would be given the next day.
The night before on Friday the 26th, I had thrown a small birthday gathering for my sweet DH whose birthday is the 29th. I decided to celebrate his birthday early since I was scheduled for a c-section on August 1st. We had our dear MH come to help with the children while I prepared for the party. Somehow we had time to run to Dos Taquitos to eat before our sweet guests arrived. As we left, I felt like perhaps my water had broken right there in the parking lot. I called my doctor who was on call AT THE HOSPITAL. In other words, it would have inconvenienced her in NO WAY had she asked me to come into the hospital to be checked. She did not. She told me that it sounded like I was fine and to not worry about it.
Therefore, I had DH's party and worried all night that something more might happen in front of our guests. It didn't, so the next day I SAT ON THE GROUND and painted chairs. Remember, I have trusted the medical professional and believe that there is no way my water broke.
Sunday morning the 5 of us went to church. While I felt uncomfortable, I sat through the service and came home afterwards. That evening my brother and his new bride brought over some delicious lasagna and we enjoyed a great meal together. I continued to feel ill and started feeling like I had the flu. Then, I began to have contractions.
I called our wise medical professional, who informed me that I was not having strong contractions because I was speaking too well. Never mind that they were less than 5 minutes apart, mind you. At 10pm, I called her back and then told her that I was going to come to the hospital (where she was ON CALL) because I could not scramble for help with 2 year old triplets any later than that. She told me I would most likely be sent home, but DH & I packed our bags anyway and went to the hospital.
The story will be continued tomorrow as we celebrate the birth of our fabulous blessing #4, our dear Bug. We love you, Buggy!

Almost 9 years ago....

This was me almost 9 years ago. Can you believe it? I was just 29 weeks pregnant but I measured 52 weeks (I know that's physically impossible, but it was true, folks). I can't believe it either. Let's just say I know what you mean when you say you are very pregnant and uncomfortable. True, Octomom has 5-upped me, but I do know uncomfortable. And I would do it all again... the relentless sickness, the shots, the bedrest, the medicine, the surgeries, the hospitalizations, and even the NICU. We were so blessed to welcome not one, not two, but 3 beautiful babies. They were born on Maundy Thursday almost 9 years ago (Easter was a little later that year).

This picture was taken on the day I had my haircut. I did not get out of bed often, so my hairdresser, John, came to our house & cut my hair for me! Thank goodness! Those sweet babies were born just a little over a week later.

Now you know why I have stretch marks! :)

Little House on the Prairie

What a treat! Tonight the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center offered a special deal to encourage families to attend "Little House on the Prairie". For every full price ticket bought, you received one free ticket. Our triplets just read "Little House in the Big Woods" in their second grade class. Their test was LAST WEEK. It was just too good to be true!! Sweet hubby encouraged me to take the big 3 tonight to see the play. We rushed home between ballet and choir and they showered and changed clothes. We met DH for dinner and he took our 2 little girls home while I took the triplets to the play. They were mesmerized. The most exciting part was that Melissa Gilbert was in the play. This time she was playing Ma!! It was so exciting to see her. After the show they had a talk back. We had to stay even though it meant the children were up THREE HOURS past their bedtime! Tiny was able to ask Ms. Gilbert a question! She asked if parents travel with the children who are in the show. The answers were different for each child. One child had parents who alternate traveling with her, and another child had her grandfather as her chaperone. It was really neat! The show was fantastic. We loved the music and the fun humor sprinkled throughout the play. If it travels to your town, you must go!

Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and Flicka, Ricka, Dicka

I just love Classic literature for children. I love the way the language is slightly different and more formal than how we speak today, and I also love the precious illustrations. Of course there are very few books written about triplets. Imagine my surprise when I learned that a Swedish woman named Maj Lindman wrote not one, but TWO series about triplets that were first published in 1932! What fabulous news from my sweet Dallas friends, A & Mel. I bought several of the books as Christmas gifts for our children and we have all been delighted to learn of the adventures of the triplet boys Snipp, Snapp, and Snurr and of the triplet girls, Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka. You, too, will delight in these sweet stories to read to your young children or students! They are hard to find in bookstores, but you can find them on Amazon.com! Happy reading!!

Triple Trouble

Our triplets used to love their little garden! You can buy one on ebay by clicking here. It is a toy our children have all loved and cherished, even as 2, 3, and 4 year olds. In fact, just this morning our friend, W, was throwing away her little garden. We had left our garden with a special niece in NC, so I loaded W's garden into my car so that H can play with it in our backyard! She will be so excited! This is a great gift for a young child if you need some ideas!

I sure do miss our little baby triplets! Aren't they the sweetest?!

Little Angels.... triplets

Here are our sweet triplets at about 7 weeks old. Our son had finally joined us at home and I was so excited to try to take a birth announcement picture. All 3 babies are no more than 5 pounds in this picture, which is about double their birth weight! It's hard to believe these beautiful babies are now in 2nd grade and totally healthy!!

Birthday Gift Ideas for Multiples

Being a twin, triplet, or more is fun. However, it also means you share EVERYTHING. Sometimes it is nice for multiples to have a little something that belongs just to them. For those of you who don't know what to give multiples for their birthday or Christmas, I am going to list some of my favorites!

-When the children were born, it was so much fun to open a gift with a set of 3 matching outfits. Do you know how much fun it is to match three sweet peas? We had a ball! I plan to one day shadow box their little preemie outfits that my friend's mother sent to us. J's mother sewed pink bows onto the girls' hats since the outfits were baby blue. They were so tiny that these outfits were their coming home outfits!

-Something for each individual child that costs you very little but is personalized will thrill them to DEATH. Personalized beach buckets, tin buckets for markers or crayons, water bottles, etc. We assigned each triplet a color, so they loved receiving a purple, pink or green gift in their color. Many of these gifts were Dollar Store finds gussied up with a paint pen. Just be creative!

-Multiples are used to sharing. They love sharing new puzzles, art supplies, DVD movies, board games, books, etc. One friend gave each child a Dr. Seuss book. They can be found for about $5 each at Target. A sweet inscription inside reminds us every year of their 2nd birthday. Target also offers $5 movies that make great gifts. Mothers of multiples are WELL AWARE of how EXPENSIVE it is to buy for three. You don't have to spend triple the money for our children's birthday gifts. If you normally spend $10 or $15 on a birthday gift, then divide that amount by 3 and give each of our children a $3-5 gift. They don't know the difference! We (mothers of multiples) are self-conscious when our birthday party costs you more than $10-15 in gifts! However, we SO appreciate the generosity of those that go above & beyond that!

-Gift certificates are always a great gift. You can give each child a $2 ice cream gift certificate or $5 to a movie. We love an activity!

-My friend, K, is a great artist. Check out www.kootiebug.com One year her son gave each of the triplets a great book on art that showed them how to draw a truck or a million designs you can make with your thumbprint. We still enjoy those books!

-N always gives the triplets a gift that beats the year before. She never ceases to amaze me!! When the triplets were 2, she gave them matching MONOGRAMMED chef's hats and aprons, each in a different color. At age 3, N gave each child their own beach chair. Talk about precious!! We still love those chairs 5 years later! At age 4 or 5, N gave the children the cutest bucket with a beaded handle. Inside was a $10 gift card for each child to go to the movies!!! That card took them to the only movie I've ever taken them to that wasn't a dollar movie!! We went to see Curious George as a family. N had even included yummy movie candy too. Precious. This year her family visited during Spring Break and filled our pool with incredible pool toys. N's ideas are endless!!

-As I've said before, we love to share. A gave our children a big game set that is portable for trips. My brother & his wife gave the children a see saw for the pool. We all love it and it is perfect to share!

-J always gives our children matching outfits or fun toys or books!

-One year A gave each triplet a book light which they still love! Little sis got one in her stocking this year!

-Another A friend gave the triplets gift certificates to go bowling and a gift card to have pizza next door at Two Guys!

-Puzzles and books are great!

-Baby doll strollers or playdough are fun for sharing

-We love our bubble machine or individual bottles of bubbles.

-Sidewalk chalk is fun to share

-3 jump ropes are cheap and easy!

-We always need goggles!

-One friend gave each triplet a kite and another gave them skates!

-Disposable cameras (can be $5 or less in a pack of 3) are a GREAT gift for young children

-New paper, markers, pencils, erasers, scissors, stickers, etc are fun

-Stationary (can be the cheap $1 stuff at Target)

Turning a corner

My post from a few days ago may have sounded too sad. I was caught in a range of emotions as things beyond my control changed. I think it's especially difficult when circumstances change and you are not surrounded by the familiarity of home. I do love our new home and precious new friends, our church, and our school. There is no doubt about that. It's just that I miss having the other people I love in the same town. Does that make sense?

So on Thursday afternoon we found out that one of our beloved teachers must make a job change. I cried. I cried because change is hard. I cried because our dear triplets have already had 2 teachers in one year. Now they will have a substitute and then another teacher. As the night turned into a new day, I felt better. God is in control. He keeps reminding me of that. Our teacher WAS fabulous, a true gift. However, there are other great teachers. God knows what our little ones need. He will provide. This all happened in HIS timing and He is not surprised by the circumstances. I just have to keep reminding myself of that! It is true in all areas of our lives.

We shared tearful goodbyes yesterday and I took a carload of shocked and sobbing children to Steak n Shake for their 2-4pm Happy Hour Half Off All Drinks special. Milkshakes and cherry Sprite do wonders to sad little souls. A playdate for 8 doesn't hurt either! Today is a new day, and I will "rejoice and be glad in it!"

Children say the funniest things!

We have always told the children that they will receive 3 Christmas gifts, just like baby Jesus did.  If our Lord and Savior was happy with gold, frankincense, and myrrh, surely they can be happy with three things.  This also does not mean three very expensive gifts, rather, three things you'd really enjoy like some new art supplies, an outfit for your doll, and maybe a doll itself.  With 5 children now, we often have a gift that the children share.  One year Santa left a trail of candy and we found a new children's kitchen in our playroom!

I digress....  so, when the triplets were 4, we were in our favorite local toy store.  I heard A say to D, "You know, D, we only get 3 presents, just like baby Jesus did".  D sweetly replied, "I wish He had had FOUR!!!", with her hand on her hip.  I laughed right out loud!   If only Jesus had had 4 gifts, it wouldn't be quite as difficult to decide!  So cute.

Special Day

Being a triplet (or any multiple) can be a challenge because you share everything, including your birthday!!!  In college, I babysat for a family with three adopted children.  They celebrated the day each one of them joined their family and called it their day (for example, Caroline's Day).  It was their special day.  I remember asking what A's Day was  & I can still hear 4 year old A saying, "I get to pick the breakfast, the lunch, and the dinner" in her sweet little voice.  I loved this idea & now do something similar!

Our triplets came home from the hospital weeks apart from one another. SO.... the day they came home from the hospital is their SPECIAL DAY!!!  We try to do something really special on that day.  Now that they are older, I think we may start having mini-gatherings or mini birthday parties on each of their days.  It is a wonderful tradition & they all love THEIR day!:)

On each child's day, they choose something special for us to do, whether it be a night out or a special dinner.  When one daughter was just 4, she planned a cookout for her special day!  It changes a bit year to year, but the point is that each child feels special!!!

Miracle Babies

Since the world of blogging began long after the birth of our triplets, I thought I should share a picture of our miracle triplets.  I had emergency surgery at week 20 in my pregnancy and was then on strict bedrest for 10 weeks.  Our sweet babies were born 10 weeks early at 30 weeks 3 days gestation.  C came home from the hospital at age 3 1/2 weeks, weighing only 3 1/2 pounds! (C was 2.3 lbs at birth) D came home at 5 weeks old & weighed about 5 pounds; she was 3.2 lbs. at birth. Our baby boy, A, weighed 2.5 lbs at birth & really struggled to learn to breathe on his own. Our sweet boy came home at age 7 weeks and about 5 pounds!  When we took this picture, we both remember thinking these were the most beautiful babies in the whole world!!! We couldn't see the wires and we had no idea how fragile they were!!  What a gift that these babies are now 7 years old! God is good... all the time.

Managing Triplets

I met a mother of triplets yesterday in our downtown!! She has 2 boys and 1 girl, and they are 14 months old! Boy, did it bring me back in time!! Those days of three toddlers seem like they were just yesterday. I tried to encourage her that the physical demands do become easier as they gain independence!!

I thought I'd share some tips for having multiples!

-Assign a color to each baby... use this color on their bottles, beds, pacifiers, etc.  Our colors were green, pink, & lavender.  Our friends have continued to use the colors when wrapping gifts, etc!  At age 7, the triplets like other colors too, but "their" color will always have special meaning.

-If someone offers to help you, LET THEM!! NO ONE truly understands how physically & mentally exhausting your days are, even as the children are growing older.  Try to think of something they can do to help whether it be entertain the children, take out trash, do laundry, bring a meal, etc. It's OKAY to accept help!

-Buy a notebook or journal for each baby.  I use my notebooks (in their colors, of course) to write down cute stories about them so that I can remember! You can use them to write down medical info when they first come home from the hospital, firsts for the baby book, or whatever you choose!

-If you can afford any help from babysitting to a night nurse to a house cleaning service, do it.  We found MH & she would come once a week to keep 2 babies while I took 1 baby to run errands.  As the babies grew older, MH would keep all 3! She is like part of our family!!  We also hired her to keep the trips for a month after K was born since I couldn't lift b/c of the c-section.  You can't care for 3 2-year olds without lifting!  MH was our lifesaver.  I would do anything for a housecleaner & laundress now!!!!

-Take time for date nights with your husband, even if it has to be an "at home" date night.  Try to get OUT of the house & put on something clean & go somewhere you can't go with 3 babies!  

-Take a shower every morning & BRUSH YOUR TEETH!  There is no excuse not to do this & it will make you feel so much better!  I try to wake up, shower, brush teeth, and put on makeup first thing every morning.  It just helps!

-If possible, take a weekend away per year with your husband.  Certainly take more than one, or stay for 4 nights, if you can!  Four nights is the maximum I can comfortably be away from our sweet ones!

-Pray!  God is with you & He blessed you with these babies, and He will help you survive and flourish! What a gift!!!

Welcome!

I love being a wife to D & the mommy to five little wonders!  I used to teach, but now I am happy to teach at home!  We are basically Jon & Kate + 8 minus 3!   We have triplet 7 year olds, a newly turned 5 year old, and a  1 1/2 year old!  I'd love to share my stories.

Throughout our marriage, we have had occasions where a resort didn't have the poolside service they promised, or a friend had a bad stay at a hotel, or an airline didn't compensate a friend for a "flight from hell".  I started "Henley on the Horn" as a way to write letters on behalf of others who don't have the time or energy to write their own.  Through my letters, friends and clients have received free weekends at hotels, refunds of their money, extra frequent flier mileage, and more!  I created this blog to share some of those stories & to tell all about raising 5 under 5, which is where we were when #5 was born!  I hope you enjoy it!