Scrambled Eggs

Winnie's "Tail"

2011-12-13T17:54:00.004-05:00

Because we don't have enough issues keeping up with our kids, Winnie decided to be problematic this month. She had an injury to the tip of her tail, and she was bleeding. We think she had thorn that nicked her tail in the yard when she was playing near the rose bushes. Well, she sprayed blood all over our walls. It was like somebody was painting with red paint all over the place. Well, it wouldn't heal because every time she wagged her tail, she would whack it on the wall, and she would re-injure it. We ended up having to take her to the vet, and they tried to wrap it, but she ate the wrapping off twice because she figured out how to flip her tail over her cone and chew at it. So, it kept getting injured.

The vet wrapped it in plastic casing, but she ate that off too, along with part of her nasty tail. So, now she had eaten two bandages, a large piece of plastic, some tail, and she STILL had a bloody tail. Then, we started to get worried that we might have to open her up and fish out all the crap she ate. Not to mention, my Mega Den was getting sprayed with blood several times per day.

Well, the vet decided amputation was the next step. They thought maybe just the tip of her tail. Then, it was 1/3, and then, maybe 1/2. Well, I think they probably ended up taking 2/3 of the thing off.

Here she is with her little tail nub, but she's so relieved. She's not trying to chew at it anymore. However, she started throwing up after coming home from surgery. She barfed up the bandages (intact) and the plastic casing. Nice. She had to take heartburn meds to settle down her stomach and a rice and chicken breast dinner. So, now I have to remember to get her an antibiotic, 2 pain killers, and a heartburn med every day. Things aren't crazy enough around my house I guess.

Daddy's Little Helpers

2011-11-15T17:34:00.001-05:00

They had a great time helping Billy clean up the enormous amount of leaves we had in our yard. Billy is very excited for the additional help the future holds. I could see him formulating plans to train them to mow, aerate and overseed, weed, etc. They have a big future ahead in our yard!

Halloween Happenings

2011-10-30T10:25:00.000-04:00

The kids have had lots of opportunities to dress up. I feel better about spending $30 on each costume, instead of my typical $15 Old Navy costumes.

Here they are at their school Halloween Parade.

We were instructed to have them wear regular play clothes under their costumes, but that morning, as we were trying to get out the door, they all had their own ideas about what to wear under their costumes. Abby decided she would wear nothing but underwear under her DJ Lance Rock ensemble. Will wore underwear and a t-shirt, and Marie wore all her clothes (so cooperative). The teachers must have been baffled when they took off their costumes. Oh well.

This is their whole class in costume. It was really cute to see all of the different outfits.

Next, we did the Halloween Hike at the Nature Center. They had people dressed up as different animals/costumes along a trail, and each character told their story. Will, of course, asked the characters a bunch of questions.

This was at the pavilion area after the hike. Abby decided to change into her dad's cap. Someone asked her if she was dressed as a big game hunter. The glasses totally crack me up.

Tomorrow is the big day....stay tuned for some pics from that.

More October Events

2011-10-30T10:16:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy month for us! We've had birthday parties and play dates galore!

Here are the girls riding a pony at a birthday party. Check out the boots!

Here are Will and Marie at a different birthday party. They were really into these wheel barrows. They just pushed them around the whole time at the party. When it was time for cake, they pushed the wheel barrows right next to their seats, sang Happy Birthday, ate cake, and took off again with the wheel barrows.

Will is a super cool dude in his blue jeep. He already is picking up the ladies. This is our neighbor Kendall. She came up to the cul de sac to play with us, and before she got there, Will kept saying, "Kendall is going to sit in my jeep." He would point to the seat next to him. This is their first official date, I guess.

Typical Friday Night

2011-10-29T10:11:00.001-04:00

Billy went to a concert on Friday night, and Mems came by to pick up Willers. I had the girls with me, and we went up to watch television in mommy and daddy's room before bedtime. Well, poor Marie was exhausted.....

She was sacked out about 10 minutes into an episode of Barney en espanol. Winnie seemed to think Marie's tummy was a comfortable pillow.

Abby, on the other hand, wanted to watch 2 episodes of Barney, then read 2 books, then drink some water....Why does she not get tired? I was exhausted!

Finding Mimi

2011-10-25T10:56:00.002-04:00

Mems had an open house because she recently moved. She called the event "Finding Mimi." The kids, of course, were the entertainment for the party. The kids love Gary. Well, they love to jump on the couch, and Gary happened to be sitting on the couch, so he got attacked. They were all over him and another of Mimi's guests that were trying to watch football. Sorry guys.

I'm also sorry to Mems' friend, Nicolette, who had on a low cut top, and was checked out by Will...numerous times. He is totally boobie obsessed. He would start talking to the lady, but his gaze would drop, and he would stop mid-sentence and stare at her chest. Nicolette told Will that next time she saw him, she was going to be wearing a turtle-neck. At least she took it all in stride.

Here's Abby doing her Elf on a Shelf impersonation. I can't believe it's almost time to get that thing out.

They lined up their chairs and said it was a choo-choo train.

Abby stayed at Mimi's after the party. The next day, she wouldn't let go of that baseball glove. She says she's going to play baseball when she's bigger and that Papa Nando is going to show her how. Will says he's going to play golf with daddy. Marie says she's going to play soccer. So funny that they have already decided these things. I think I'm going to be busy running them around to sports!

Mems bought these shadow/memory boxes for each of the kids. She has them pick out their favorite pictures, and she puts them in there with stickers that represent them and sayings. They have turned out really cute. This is Abby working on hers. Mems said that she had definite ideas of what pictures she wanted to use, and she would not be swayed into the ideas Mems had. She's a strong-willed girl! (Okay, stubborn....I can't imagine where she gets that quality.)

Pumpkin Patch Visit

2011-10-17T21:29:00.001-04:00

We made a visit to a Pumpkin Patch this year again. We tried a different one...same crap, different place. They had a pumpkins, a jumpy castle, hayride, farm animals, face painting, etc. It was the perfect amount of entertainment for one morning with 3 preschoolers. Alice, Drew, and Jake joined us, and so did some friends of mine from work. We had a fun time!

After nearly 2 million attempts to get a picture with all 3 of them sitting on pumpkins, looking at the camera and smiling, we gave up. This was the best we could do. Screw it. I had already had a long morning by the time we got there because I have to beg Abby to wear gender appropriate clothing. I was thrilled when after nearly an hour of negotiations, she wore this dress. Never mind that I had a dress like Marie's but in black and white so they would coordinate, but she wouldn't have any part of that. Again, screw it.

They loved riding behind the tractor. Will wanted to drive the tractor, but he settled for taking in the scenery. Then, he proceeded to drown us in his questions the whole time. Who that is driving the tractor? Does a farmer drive a tractor? Can I drive a tractor when I get a little bit bigger? Does this tractor go around the farm? Does this tractor pick up pumpkins?

So Stylish

2011-10-13T19:47:00.004-04:00

Michele styled every one's hair the other day. They never let me do their hair. They typically run off to school with bed head. Abby especially has a tangled rat's nest that sits on her head everyday. She twists her hair at night, and she gets nudos (knots in Spanish). When she has lots of them, she'll say, "I had a rough night." The nudo twisting is her stress relief. Who knew being 3 could be so stressful?

Her hair looks so much better this way. These little braids are adorable!

Marie's hair is long, straight, and thick. Michele got hers into a fancy French braid. She was very proud of it.

Once Will realized the girls were getting braids, he demanded his own. When he was told that his hair wasn't long enough, he requested pony tails. This hair style makes him look like a white rapper. He needs a good nickname. Will-Z, Widdy, Vanilla Pudding...all viable options.

Just had to throw a few random shots in here. Marie is making her, "I'm very good at faking I'm upset face" here.

Here's Abby...shockingly, she's dressed in orange. I like that she has on boots with this ensemble. The girl is not afraid to mix and match.

Will--what a little charmer. Look at this face! I have to squeeze him all the time. In fact, I must go do that right now.

The 3 Amigos

2011-09-20T18:46:00.000-04:00

Things have gotten so much easier since they have gotten a little older and realized that they have playmates that are available 24/7. Well, that sucks a bit at 10 p.m. when they are still chatting up a storm in their rooms because they have each other, but is great for when I need to do something and can tell them to play together.
Here they are making silly faces.

Here they are digging in the dirt--messy but very entertaining. I can give them a bath if it means they will dig for 30 minutes straight.

Walking down our street duckling style.

Getting ready to enjoy a rainy day--they love any excuse to wear their rain boots!

Will's Update

2011-09-20T17:40:00.000-04:00

Don't let his devilishly handsome face fool you.....this kid is a maniac!

Will also loves to ride his bike, but he isn't particularly careful. He's a wild man.

Look at how calm and chill he looks. He's just resting as we drive from one location to the next. As soon as we open the door, he's ready to roll!

Will was not happy that the girls got ballet shoes and leotards. He asked, "Where's mine?" I had to remind him that he would be taking karate, instead of ballet. I observed the first class, and they do the ballet and karate in the same gym. Will hung out in the middle of the gym most of the class and would run back and forth between the classes. Poor boy is so confused!

He's so white and skinny. He's a really good eater, but he has no meat on his bones.

Marie's Update

2011-09-20T17:33:00.000-04:00

Marie has recently gotten over her separation anxiety issues and hasn't wasted a moment. She likes to go out and visit family whenever she gets a chance!

She loves to cruise around on her bike. She requires all her gear--helmet, sunglasses, etc. She's got to look good cruising!

Can you tell that Marie's favorite color is still pink???

Marie is a bit of a sugar addict. This was at Chloe's birthday party. She had a face full of frosting! And, it was pink. It couldn't have gotten any better for her.

Here she is taking a close look at her ballet slippers.

Just her cute, little smile!

Abby's Updates

2011-09-20T17:21:00.000-04:00

I figured it's about time for individual updates. Let's start with Abby

Here she is dressed as a ballerina! She just started taking ballet classes after school on Fridays with Marie. So far, they are enjoying it!

As you'll be able to tell from the rest of the pictures, Abby's favorite color is still orange, as much as her daddy has tried to talk her out of liking this color (especially during football season). Billy tried to explain to her that during football season, only "bad guys" wear orange (e.g., Tennessee, Florida, Auburn, etc.). Abby listened to all of this patiently, nodding her head, and then she stated, "I want to be a bad guy!" Abby is smart and stubborn. It's a lethal combination.

Here she is riding Winnie like a horse. No, Winnie is not dead. She has just given up. If the kids want to torture her, she's absolutely willing to take it. Not to mention that she thinks of our bed as her den so if she got up and left, it would mean turning over her spot to these little people who have taken over every other inch of her territory.

Shocking, she's in another orange shirt! This is Will's shirt, as are the glasses. She doesn't mind if he doesn't mind. She'll go up to him and say, "Hey buddy, can I wear your movie cars camisa (shirt)?" He'll respond, "Okay. Sure." Then, she'll say, "Thanks, buddy."

This is a preview of Abby's Halloween costume. She says she's an "orange policeman lady." If you watch Yo Gabba Gabba, you know who she is.

The Nature Center

2011-09-02T14:06:00.002-04:00

The Chatahochee Nature Center is their favorite place. We have a family membership, and our nanny takes them there all the time. Here are some pictures from their most recent visit.

Cross Dressing Still Happens

2011-09-02T13:36:00.003-04:00

Will loves to wear a nightgown. He also isn't afraid to carry around a purse. A few weeks ago, I took the kids to the park, and Marie kept saying she had to poop. I took her to the public bathroom 3 times, and I had to drag the other 2 with me each time. She would get on the toilet and say she didn't need to go anymore. So, the 4th time she asked to go, I said she could just poop in her pants. She looked at me like I was crazy, gave a big push, and diarrhea'd (excuse the spelling) herself. She called my bluff. Dammit. It was pouring down her legs, mosquitoes and flies were swarming her butt...it was ugly. I didn't let her play on the playground obviously, but Will and Abby were playing. Will was carrying a little pink purse in the shape of a heart. Another little girl at the playground ran up to him and said, "I like your purse." He said, "Thank you." He looked all proud of himself. The girl's dad was with her and looked over at me...all I could do was shake my head in shame. He said, "Maybe it's a man purse." I said, "It's pink and heart-shaped. He has two sisters. Doesn't stand a chance." Oh well.

Abby is now obsessed with Will's clothes. This striped shirt is Will's, but because it has some orange in it, she has claimed it for herself. She insists on wearing this shirt, an orange striped polo shirt, an orange shirt with a picture of a monkey on it, or Will's orange monster truck polo almost everyday. She wore the monster truck shirt and Will's cargo shorts to school today. Again, oh well. She's so cute when she dresses like a girl....

At least Marie remains gender appropriate. She still loves pink, or "rosado" as she calls it! :)

Back To School

2011-09-02T12:58:00.003-04:00

The kids headed back to preschool this week. We had parent orientation, and the Director of the preschool was talking about the carpool line and how no parent should get out of the car when dropping off because the teachers pull everyone out and take them in the building. Then, she stopped and said, "Oh, there is an exception. We have one family with triplets and that mom is allowed to get out of her car, and take one child across the back of the car and to one of the teachers waiting on the other side." We get all the perks!

The kids new teachers are very nice, and they only have one little girl in their class that they had as a classmate last year. The rest of the class is all new to them.

They got to meet everyone at the "meet the teacher" session a couple of days before school started. I was struck by how big so many of the kids were because they were close to turning 4, when my kids had just barely turned 3. What a difference a year makes!

I was a little worried at meet the teacher because Marie cried a lot and was clingy. Abby said, "I'm going to take care of you, Marie," and tried to pull her away from me, but Marie wasn't budging. Will was quickly running around with the boys, playing with matchbox cars and trucks.

On Thursday, when we got in the car to head to school, I asked Marie if she was okay. She said, "I'm going to have fun today. I'm not going to cry for you, mommy." Just like that, she was over it. The teachers said she was fine all day. I asked Abby if she took care of her, and Abby said, "No. She didn't cry, mom." Will promptly reported that he helped his friend Daniel clean up. Marie was excited because they painted school buses. I saw the school buses on the wall when I went to pick them up the next day. They had asked each child what they liked best about school and noted it on the school bus. Abby's said, "that I get to come back here again tomorrow!" Will's said "everything!" Marie's said, "painting!" Another reminder of how different they are. :)

The Scooter Gang

2011-08-02T22:19:00.000-04:00

We bought the kids scooters for their birthdays. I was a little worried that we were going to have lots of falls at first, but I was shocked to see that they immediately knew what to do with them and the scrapes were minimal.

They all have them in their favorite color-orange (Abby), pink (Marie), and green (Will).

We make sure they are in the appropriate safety gear-helmets, elbow and knee pads, and gloves.

Here they are modeling their safety gear.

Abby got on and started riding like she had been on a scooter every day of her life. By day 2, she mastered using the brakes.

Will hunches over on his like a little old man. At first, Marie couldn't figure out how to push with one foot and keep one on, but after a few minutes, she got the hang of it.

July leftover pics

2011-08-01T17:16:00.003-04:00

They love arts and crafts. Michele bought them some Popsicle sticks, glue, and letters, and they created these masterpieces.

Will's project is not pictured above because in typical boy fashion, he just made a mess, ripped up his paper, and ran away laughing. He could have cared less about the finished product. He probably crapped his pants right after just to illustrate what he really thought of the activity.

Abby and Marie got new outfits for gymnastics. They wear them a lot--not just to gymnastics. Will also got a new muscle shirt for gymnastics because his huge guns felt so confined by shirts with sleeves. :)

These are from the farm where we went to pick blueberries. The blueberries had been picked over, and we ended leaving after an hour of hot, sweaty picking with exactly 51 cents worth of blueberries. We ate them in the car on the way home within 5 minutes.

Where to sleep?

2011-08-01T17:12:00.003-04:00

Some nights, the kids will sleep anywhere but in their own beds. I often find Abby in the hallway, her doorway, our bedroom, etc. Here are a few of the ways I've found them in the past couple of months....

This is Abby's frog that she sleeps with. She positioned him in the hall outside of her room, but he has a pillow and a blanket. Hilarious.

The Gymnastics Party

2011-07-22T16:12:00.000-04:00

The kids had a fun-filled birthday party at the place where they take gymnastics last Saturday. We had a huge turnout--20+ kids! They all had fun tumbling or just running or crawling around.
Three birthday cakes, compliments of Mimi. She took each child out to pick out their respective cakes. Abby selected a princess themed cake. Marie went with Minnie Mouse, and Will wanted "movie Cars" cake.

Here are Will and Marie in the midst of the tumbling action. These two are always together. When I ask Marie a question, she wants to know Will's answer. Examples: Me: Marie, would you like to wear shorts or a skirt? Marie: What's Will wearing? Me: What would you like to eat for dinner? Marie: What's Will eating? These two are so funny.

Here's Abby showing off her cuteness. She does her own thing. I think she thinks she's too mature for them. Now, she prefers to sleep in Will's room alone. If the other two try to wander in to play with her, she promptly calls me and asks me to lock them out of her room. She'll say, "Will and Marie are bothering me."

Notice the super cute shirts that match their cakes?! I bought them on Etsy for the occasion. I had everything so well coordinated!

The kids could not keep their mouths and fingers out of the cake. A couple of times, they just bent over the table and chomped on them! I guess they were claiming their own pieces.

We had a great time. I think the kids all went home tired and well fed. I'm glad we only have to do birthday parties once a year. It's a lot of work! How will I top that next year?

Spanish Camp Numero Dos

2011-07-20T17:31:00.000-04:00

They spent another few days learning espanol at Spanish camp. This time around, Marie had developed some separation anxiety so she was not quite as excited about attending camp. She's been clingy with me and has refused to spend the night out for a few weeks. She's missed her rotation at Mimi's house and at Pop-pop Bill's place. I guess it's just a phase, and I'll stick close while it lasts. It has been nice to get some one-on-one time with her when the other two decide to take off for weekend visiting.

Marie looks like she's been crying. Will and Abby are perfectly content.

Marie looks puffy again. Will is thinking, "Seriously? Is she crying again. Geesh."

Will is trying to make eye contact with this young lady. She's getting the stare down. I'm stalking you....

It was "cooking week" at camp so they made different food every day. I think they made Rice Crispy treats this particular day.

Playing with play-dough is always a good past time.

Happy Bday to my Trio!

2011-07-14T21:32:00.000-04:00

My sweet babies are 3! Where does the time go? We had a little family celebration on the 10th at our house, and they have their big party this weekend. They are super confused about what day is their birthday since we've been celebrating for a week.

We had leftover birthday cake, and they have blown out candles and sung every night since Sunday. When the cake is eaten, they are going to be very disappointed!!!

Spanish Camp

2011-06-25T14:04:00.007-04:00

The kids went to Spanish Camp last week. They were scheduled to go 2 mornings, but Will got sick Monday night, and he had to stay home Tuesday. He threw up a couple of times overnight. They have all had some mucousy cough going on, and I think he swallowed phlegm, and ended up puking it out. He was fine otherwise. He woke up threw up, and immediately started talking. He was like, "Oh, Will threw up. Will threw up in mommy and daddy's bed. Is Will sick? Marie threw up downstairs yesterday. Is Will going to school tomorrow? Do mommy and daddy have to clean the sheets now?" OMG! At 2 a.m. I just wasn't ready for the Will interrogation.

We got him calmed down and back to sleep and about an hour later, he vomited again, and the obvious questions and statements resumed. "Did Will throw up again? Is Will sick? Is Will going to feel better soon?"

Back to Spanish Camp. I took Abby and Marie to camp and Will stayed with Michele. I was terrified that drop off was going to be awful since they had not been going to school regularly. I walked them into the school, and when I got to the classroom door to check them in, they ran into the classroom and shouted, "Bye, mama!" That was it. When I picked them up, they were all happy. They came home and told Will all about it, and he vowed he would go to Spanish Camp next time.

BTW-Spanish Camp is an immersion program-the teachers speak all Spanish to the kids and encourage them to respond in Spanish. That's what I want--for them to speak it. They understand it completely, but there are only select words they use regularly in Spanish. The theme of the week was "the beach," and the teachers talked to the kids all about things related to the beach. They played with sand, colored pictures of the beach, made little fish crafts, had sun shines painted on their faces, etc.

On Thursday, they all went to Spanish Camp. When we arrived, Marie turned to Will and said, "Will, I show you where is Spanish Camp" and held his hand to the door. The girls started darting down the hall towards their classroom shouting, "C'mon, Will!" They all marched in, sat down at a table, and started painting. Again, no drama...they barely said good-bye to me. When I picked them up, Will said "I like Spanish Camp. I want to come back here." Good thing because they are signed up for 3 days the next session. :)

Dammit!

2011-06-25T14:00:00.003-04:00

A few days ago, Marie asked me to get her water. It started like this, "Mommy, would you please get me my agua." BIG, cute smile! I was folding laundry on the table in our mega den, and I said, "I'll get it as soon as I'm done folding this." Then, Marie's response was to slap the table where I was folding and say, "Give me my agua, dammit!" I was shocked. She was still smiling sweetly at me through it all.

I resisted the urge to die laughing, and calmly stated, "That's a bad word. We don't say that. Where did you hear that word?" Marie answered, "Oh, Daddy say that. Dammit!" What a relief--it wasn't me.

Abby and Will overheard our conversation and had to join in. After they yelled "dammit" at various objects, Winnie, themselves for about 30 minutes, with me ignoring them the whole time, they stopped. I haven't heard it again. I don't think it's going to be the worst thing I hear out of their mouths.

Stormy Night

2011-06-16T21:32:00.002-04:00

Last night, we had some storms, and poor Will was scared of the thunder. He was crying in bed, and when I went to check on him he said, "Mommy, I don't like the thunder. Would you please turn it off?" How sweet is that....he thought I could turn it off and on.

I explained that I couldn't turn it off, and he said, "just push the button." I guess he figures that's how all his toys work.

When I tried to explain again that I couldn't do that, he asked, "Where is that thunder's mommy? Tell her come get him." So funny. He thinks thunder is a person that needs to be claimed by his mommy. I love it. The things they come up with sometimes are too much.

Beach Trip 2011

2011-06-06T19:28:00.008-04:00

We had a blast in Destin this year again! Every year, it gets a little easier, and the kids have more and more fun! Thanks to everyone who joined us and made it so much fun--Mimi, Bill, my dad, and Maureen. Thank you to Mimi also for being our official photographer!

We stayed in a little house in Crystal Beach this year. The house was about a block away from the water. We had a private pool, which was so much fun. We could play and splash and not worry about disturbing others.

Most days consisted of beach time from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Coming in for lunch and naps and then, either hitting the pool before dinner and eating in or getting ready and heading out for a restaurant. Then, the kids and all adults would pass out around 9 p.m. GLORIOUS!

Here's Marie giving Daddy a kiss. I think she's trying to butter him up so that he'll toss her around the pool. They all would fight over this baby float that they called "tortuga" (turtle in Spanish).

Here's Will flying high on tortuga.

Billy bought them each a kite. That kept them interested for about 5 minutes. I think the adults enjoyed flying them more than the kids.

Will liked to relax on the float. He looks so small on that big float.

The kids were great at motoring around the pool with their little floats on. They learned so much at swim lessons this year.

Will and Abby really liked getting buried in the sand. Abby was especially fond of rubbing sand all over her body. Yuck. Marie was much better in the sand than last year, but she wasn't willing to get buried regularly.

Holding hands, buried.

We visited The Track again this year. The kids enjoyed the rides. Will wanted to ride the go-carts, but he wasn't big enough. The next morning after we went, he woke up and said, "I grew. Can I go ride the cars?" Next year, buddy.

Here they are swinging at The Track.

There was a tree outside the beach house they liked to climb. They called the house, "our little beach house." They would ask when they were coming back to their "Winnie house." I guess they think of our home as a dog house.

Miss Abby in her perfectly coordinated beach attire--she had a Little Mermaid bathing suit, hat, and sunglasses. Mimi outdid herself!

They loved splashing in the surf. It was so cute to watch them run around and giggle and splash. Really great memories.

We stopped at the same gas station on the way there and back. It had big trucks in the parking lot. We just couldn't stay away!

Now, we have the vacation countdown until next year. 365 days is a long time!

April/May Pics

2011-06-04T22:06:00.002-04:00

I had a few pictures leftover from April and May that I forgot to share...here it goes.

They had another round of swim lessons. They really made a lot of progress this time around. The picture above was taken as we were leaving for swim practice. Mems make sure they are super-stylish in cover-ups and water shoes to match their bathing suits! They still like to look out the front window, even though there is now a couch there. Even Winnie joins them to see what's happening in the neighborhood.

Will and Marie are constantly getting on each other's nerves, but they always go back for more. Here they are rolling around in the yard in the Easter outfits. Will was obsessed with the tie he wore. He asked for it today and clipped it onto the t-shirt he had on. Very fancy look.

Abby loves to hug and play with Winnie. She was running by Winnie yesterday, and she dropped something that landed on Winnie's paw. Abby dropped to the ground, grabbed Winnie's paw, kissed it, and said, "Winnie. You okay? I so sorry." She's wearing Will's "movie Cars" pajamas above. Anything that has to do with "Cars," they refer to as "movie Cars."

Here's Aunt Alice, giant Baby Jake, and the trio in the swing in dad's backyard at Easter. Jake now wears 24 months/2T clothing. I told Alice he couldn't have any more of Will's hand-me-downs because Will still wears a 2T! He's being lapped by a child who isn't even 1 year old yet.

Abby Bossypants

2011-06-01T13:17:00.010-04:00

Abby is the Queen Bee around here. She bosses around the others and us and basically, everyone. She tells Will and Marie when it's their turn to do something and let's us know when she's willing to do something. The other day, I asked her to come to the kitchen to get something, and she hollered back to me, "No, mama. I busy." Really? What are exactly are you so busy doing that you can't do what I'm asking you to do? I can't imagine that anything in the life of an almost 3 year old is so urgent that she can't come to the kitchen. Okay, I would have understood if she was on the toilet, but she wasn't.

Abby is incredibly stubborn. She knows what she wants and won't stop until she gets it. Last night, she wanted to sleep in our bed, and she cried for literally 2 hours. When Billy tried to get her to calm down, she said, "I calm down in mommy and daddy's bed." Then, continued screaming. The instant Billy brought her into our room, she was sweet, cuddly, and went right off to sleep. That little bugger!

She also knows how to manipulate people and how to get her way. She likes to spend the night with the grandparents, and she will start talking about how she's going to Papa Nando's to spend the night beginning the day before we are going to see him. Then, as soon as she sees him, she'll tell him she's going to his house, and she's spending the night, and she starts making all these plans..."Then, we go for walk. Then, I sleep in the big bed. Then, we snuggle." After a little while, she has everyone convinced, including Papa Nando, that she's off to his house.

Abby is probably the most mature out of the bunch. She knows how to focus her attention on a project and not get distracted. She's been the one who always pays attention at the shows we've gone to-Barney, the circus, etc.

Abby is so flexible. It's incredible. She contorts her little body in a million different ways, and it doesn't even faze her. She's very strong too. She was the first to be able to really pedal her bike well and can do it uphill. We start gymnastics on Saturday, and I can't wait to see how good she is at it!

Abby is also very clumsy. She tends to fall a lot. She's always got a band-aid or 10 on. We kid that she has a magnet in her head because whenever she falls, it seems to be head-first! However, she does love wearing a helmet so maybe she's aware of this little defect and likes to protect her noggin.

Arie's Multiple Personalities

2011-06-01T12:56:00.006-04:00

When you ask Marie what her name is, she says, "Arie, M-A-R-I-E." She doesn't say the M, but she always spells it. She also knows how to spell Abby and Will. She's a smart little cookie.

Marie can be sweet one minute, and then, something will set her off, and she'll explode into a temper tantrum. You never know when it's coming, but when it comes, hold on to your effing hat, because the girl freaks her shit out. We are talking screaming at the top of her lungs, drooling excessively, throwing herself on the ground, looking at you like you are the biggest bitch in the world, etc. I never know what to do. I try to hold her, and she won't let me. Then, she'll put her arms out to me, but when I get close, she pushes me away. Typically, I just let her get it out of her system. After a few minutes, she'll say, "I all better now."

Marie never walks where she's going. She always has a spring her step. She runs, skips, hops, or scoots around. It's so cute!

We think Marie might have a touch of OCD. She has some strange little things she does. Like if she drips a little water, milk, or juice, she'll ask for a paper towel and wipe it off the table, but it's like excessive. She'll keep wiping, even when there's nothing there.

Marie is also so affectionate. She gives big hugs, and lately, she's been so kissy. When I put her done to sleep at night, she gives me kisses on my face, my hands, my arms. I love it. She's also affectionate and loving with her brother and sister. The other day, Abby woke up from her nap in a very bad mood. I brought her down to the couch and Marie was stroking her back and saying, "Shhh. Calm down. All better now." It was so adorable. Of course, Abby kept shrieking, but Marie did not give up.

Will: King of the Obvious Questions

2011-06-01T12:36:00.003-04:00

I've been blogging about all 3 collectively too much lately and not giving each one their own little posts to update their differences. I'll start with Will.

I'd have to say that contrary to what "they" always say about boys, he's our most vocal child. He NEVER stops talking. I don't think he's capable of silence. I mean he talks to himself until he falls asleep at night and wakes up talking and singing. The other day, he woke up from his nap, threw open the door, and announced, "Will had a good nap. Will feels better. Will is ready to play. Did Abby and Marie sleep? Where are Abby and Marie? Is Will a good boy?" I was exhausted, and he had only been awake for 1 minute.

He is also very inquisitive and is known for asking obvious questions and/or asking the same question is several different ways

Example one: Our neighbor, Howie, was heading out for a run the other day. We were playing in the yard and Will asked me what Mr. Howie was doing. I said, "He's getting ready to run." Will yells to Howie, "Mr. Howie, your getting ready to run now?" Howie tells him yes and starts jogging out of his driveway. Will shouts, "Mr. Howie, are you running now?" Howie says yes. Will then asks, this is the kicker, "Mr. Howie, do you have a penis?" Really? Why does this child insist on embarrassing me like this? Howie just chuckled. He has kids too. He knows what it's like.

Of course, then the girls join in yelling, "Bye-bye Mr. Howie penis!" "Bye-bye, magina." Magina is how they say vagina. The penis and magina talk is never ending. Then, they correct each other and say, "No more penis talk. Mimi doesn't like it."

Example two: We had some friends over last week, and one of the kids (Ben) was sick and couldn't make it. When Ben's dad, John, came in, Will asked, "Where's Ben?" John explained that Ben was sick and resting and couldn't make it. Will then asked, "Is Ben sick?" John told him yes. Will asks, "Is Ben resting?" John told him yes. Will asks, "Does Ben not feel good?" John told him yes. Will asks, "Is he going to feel better soon?" I told John just to walk away. Will was not going to stop interrogating him.

Will has a very short attention span. He will ask to play with something or watch something on television, but he can only handle it for a few minutes. After that, he has to go wrestle with Marie for a while. Marie and Will seem to be the most playful with each other. Abby tends to be the most mature out of the bunch.

Will is an incredible flirt. He's always checking chicks out and making eyes at them. He knows just how to work it with the ladies. How could you not love his enormous brown eyes?

Will is also so snuggly and sweet. He loves to hug and kiss. Sometimes his affections border on violence, but he just can't help it...he gets carried away with his love. :)

April Photo Shoot-Sarah Esther Photography

2011-05-14T23:52:00.006-04:00

Right before Mega Dens took over our lives, we had a professional photo shoot with the kids. Here are some pictures from that. We used a Groupon, and didn't really know what to expect, but we were thrilled with the results--adorable pictures!

Homeowner projects

2011-05-14T23:39:00.003-04:00

So, because the show is on the DIY Network, the homeowners do have to participate in a few projects. Mostly, they give you crap you can't eff up too bad.

The kids did 2 projects. For one, they painted canvasses with red paint. The picture above is all of us with the show hostess.
This is how it turned out. Not bad, right?

The kids also helped install flooring the in sun room. Here they are with the show hostess and the 2 main carpenters. The hostess is Anitra, and the kids called her Miss Anitruck. They loved her and Mr. Joey and Mr. Mikey (the carpenters). Will keeps asking when they are all coming back.

One of my projects was these chairs. They were regular black chairs, and I sanded them all down so that they could put a red finish on them. They also bought plaid shirts at a thrift store and covered all the chairs. Such a good idea!

Billy nailed these slats to the roof in the sun room.

I helped frame the kids' play loft, but I totally sucked at using a nail gun. This thing was huge and powerful, and I nearly shot Mr. Joey's crotch the first time I fired it off. Then, the whole cast and crew thought it was going to be exciting to watch me, so they all stopped what they were doing and gathered around. The camera came in for a close up, and I was sweating bullets. I made it through the bit, but I think Joey was really happy when the camera man yelled cut, and he could take back the nail gun. He kept saying, "I trust you," in a way that sounded like he was only trying to convince himself. Apparently, someone had put a nail through his hand in another episode. At least I didn't do that.

What it takes to make a Mega Den

2011-05-14T23:21:00.004-04:00

Our eat-in area in the kitchen became the headquarters for the production office. Most days, there were 4 or 5 women huddled around this table running logistics.

Our dining room became the site for camera/filming equipment.

The huge trailer was parked in our driveway all week and a tent was quickly put up when we got a rain shower one day.

Additional construction tools and supplies were in our garage, along with their snack table.

When they left, this was all they left behind...a huge pile of trash. Yes, it was all picked up by their trash service Monday, but it was insane how they could transform our rooms from Monday to Friday and this was all that was left of it. Oh yeah, plus about a million toys we didn't bring up from the basement. :)

Our MEGA DEN!

2011-05-14T23:00:00.004-04:00

For those of you who haven't seen the pictures or seen it with your own eyes yet, meet our new Mega Den! It's so totally amazing.
Before, when you walked into our house, the first room you saw was the formal living room, which we were using as the kids' playroom. It was basically a toy dumping ground.
Mega Dens saved us from toy hell, and brought us family room heaven. They installed custom built ins, provided a 60 inch 3D HD television with XBOX 360 and Kinect.

Here is the room from another angle. They ripped out the wall between the living room and what used to be our family room to make it a huge space.
This used to be our family room. I didn't realize it sucked so bad until I got a Mega Den!It's a seating area, but it can be used for the kids to do crafts, as they get older for homework, play board games, etc. We will probably eventually convert this to our dining area, and we'll get rid of our dining room and make it either a home office space or knock out the wall leading to the kitchen and make a Mega Kitchen to match our Mega Den! This was our sunroom, which was yet another dumping ground for toys.

This is our new sun room, which is now the playroom. They installed window seats with storage underneath for toys, a window AC/heating unit so we can use the space year-round, new floors (made from recycled Nikes), painted, put in new light fixtures and window shades. It's so much more functional now.

Look at this adorable play loft they built for the kids. It's chalkboard walls inside and everything. They love it! We love it all! It was an incredible experience.

Big News out of the Zeigler House!

2011-04-20T12:33:00.004-04:00

No, I'm not pregnant! Our exciting news is that we are going to be on TV! Really, we are. I applied to be on a show called Mega Dens on the DIY Network. Billy and I are a little obsessed with DIY Network, HGTV, etc. Well, I noticed on their website that the show Mega Dens was casting in Atlanta so I sent in an e-mail. I thought nothing of it, until one of the producers contacted me. Then, she came to our house, and she brought the show's hostess and carpenters. It was crazy. Then, she asked a bunch of questions about us. She pitched us to the network, and they liked us. Really, what's not to like? So, starting May 2nd, our house will becoming an official construction site. It's insane!

They will only take 1 week to convert half of our lower level (living room/playroom, family room, and sun room) into a Mega Den!!! It's going to be a crazy week, but at least it will be a quick renovation. They said to be prepared to have 15 cars up and down our street, tents set up in the yard, and tons of people working from early in the morning until dinnertime every day.

I'll post pictures throughout the process so you can follow along. Our episode will air in October. We'll be the first show of season 2! Make sure your DVRs are working.

Pigtails

2011-04-11T06:07:00.000-04:00

Having a bad hair day? Can't decide how to tame your mane? Well, pigtails are always an option. Girls always look good in pigtails.

Marie's pigtails remind me of those Papillon dogs with the big ears. Her hair is super thick and straight and long.

Don't worry, even boys can pull off the pigtails look. Will is a classic example of how to look manly with pigtails in your hair.

All 3 together. I can never get a good one, but this is as close as possible. Is Will's finger in his nose? If not, he's about to put it there. For some reason, when I say picture time, he thinks that means, pick your nose time. Nice.

So fresh and so clean clean

2011-04-08T21:20:00.001-04:00

After baths a couple of weeks ago, Billy picked them all up wrapped up in their towels and deposited them in bed. They looked so cute all bundled up and lined up next to each other that I couldn't resist getting a couple of pictures. I wish I could make the pictures scratch and sniff because they smell so good when they are fresh out of the tub. There's nothing like clean baby smell!

March Modeling Looks

2011-03-25T23:28:00.000-04:00

I ordered the kids personalized Easter t-shirts. As soon as they arrived, the kids had to put them on. They are currently obssessed with their names. Everything must have their names on it or at least, their first initial. Of course, since these shirts had their names, they were thrilled! Abby and Marie's have their first inital shaped into a bunny on top and names underneath. Will's shirt has a W in a hatching chicks fabric, and under the W, it read "chick magnet." Perfect for him.

Billy thought the Easter t-shirt was a little gay so you can imagine that he didn't like Will in this dress. Will, however, loved spinning around and watching the skirt twirl. His cross-dressing tendencies have returned.

Above, Abby is illustrating two silly looks.

In this picture, Will is all boy--a vest (with no shirt on), sunglasses, and a remote control. Very manly. Hopefully, this offset some of the girly looks.

Painting and cooking-Messy!

2011-03-19T06:54:00.000-04:00

Being messy is on a whole new level these days. They love to get gross!!!

The 3 pictures are above are after arts and crafts time. We were painting, and they decided that painting their bodies was much better than on the paper. Marie looks like the painting Devil child.

We staged a cooking photo shoot for the pictures above. The kids in their preschool class are giving the teachers a cookbook as an end of year gift. Therefore, we have to submit recipes and pictures of each child for a page in the book. Most people have to take 1 picture and send 1 recipe...not me! Anyway, it just provided another opportunity for the kids to make a mess, and as usual, they took full advantage of the messy circumstances. :)

Triplet Comedy Shows

2011-03-09T16:44:00.001-05:00

Honestly, I don't know how it is possible for 3 little people to have such huge, hilarious personalities! Mems e-mailed me this story about Will from when he spent the night with her: When we were in the car, a truck pulled out on our left and made a u-turn real fast and made a screeching sound. Will asked if the police would come. I said I don't know but you can call them if you want. He immediately put his hand to his ear and said "Police, yes,truck too fast, yes, Dada has penis (boy), Papa Nando has penis (boy),yes police, truck too fast, yes. " Marie was at Mimi's the week before and came home with red toenails. She took off her socks and said, "Will, wook at my nails." Will said, "Oh, Aree, I wuv them." He ran out of the room, and she cracked up laughing. She screamed to him, "Will!! Come wuk at my nails!" He ran back into the room and again said, "Oh, Aree, I wuv them." She laughed again, and off he went. This went on for about 15 minutes, with Marie laughing every time. Abby was in the bathroom with Marie the other day, and Marie went poop in the potty. (HOORAY!) Abby said, "Marie, I so proud of you. You such a good girl. Good job." She then proceeded to pat her on the back, help her off the toilet, and pick out new underwear for her. After that, she picked up the stool, moved it to the sink, and told Marie to wash her hands.

Tea Party

2011-03-09T13:33:00.004-05:00

Michele had a tea party for the crew. She brought tea, scones, petit fours, fruits, and veggies. The kids loved it. They got a tea set from Papa Nando and Maureen at Christmas, but up until now, we had only "pretend" tea parties with the set. This time, they went all out! Thanks, Bobby Michele. (That's what they call her now, or "Ba-shell," which I guess is the combo version of the two names.)

Valentine's Day Party

2011-03-07T06:52:00.000-05:00

I was class mom for the kids' Valentine's Day party last month. It was so fun to be able to go into the classroom and watch them interact with other kids in the class. I loved seeing how they would play together at times, but they would also break apart and play with the other kids in their class.

Each child had to bring 11 Valentines to class to give to all their classmates. However, in my case, it meant I had to send 33 Valentines. I guess I better get used to all of this.

Here's Ms. Donna trying to round up the crew for their end of day stuff.

Abby (picking her nose-how ladylike), along with Will and his favorite jacket, which he just calls "pockets", and their friend, Lauren.

Daddy came and surprised us for the class party! The kids were so excited to see us both there. I didn't even know he was coming...all the sudden, he was just at the door. Will and Marie are showing him their toys at school here.

Here's Abby sitting at a table with some classmates-Natalie, Jose, and Maggie.

Will and Marie were seated at the table behind her with Mary Shea and Isabella. It was amazing to watch them all sit nicely and eat their lunches.

Haircuts

2011-02-28T04:59:00.000-05:00

Mimi and Pop-Pop Bill took the kids to a swanky kids' hair salon to get their dos done! Vivian does a good job at Papa's house, but we were overdue and lunch on Sunday had been canceled. They needed their hair tended to quickly. Also, Mimi wanted to give them a luxurious treat. They loved this place! Miss Marie got her bangs trimmed up and the back of her hair cut. I was going to even it out to an all one-length bob, but her shortest layers were chin length, and Billy didn't want her to go that short. We'll wait until the next cut to even it out.

This is Will's "after" picture. He got a big boy haircut. He's so grown up!

All three post-haircuts. They are happy to be sucking on lollipops...a perfect end to a haircut. My salon should give me a lollipop when I'm all done.

They loved the little cars to sit in for cuts. Abby kept saying she was going to sit in "carro bombero" (fireman's car). Marie said she would be in the "carro policia" (police car). Will didn't indicate a preference...typical. Will just goes with the flow.

Car swap!

New pose.

Will is being such a good boy for his cut. Look at Marie and Pop Pop waiting on the couch in the background.

Here's Miss Abby "crazy hair" Zeigler. They tamed her mane!

Does Marie look excited to be getting a haircut? That's quite a smile!

Here's Will in the police car. Also, very excited.

Dinner at the neighbors' house

2011-02-22T21:51:00.001-05:00

We hung out with some neighbors a couple of weeks ago, and all the kids took over their house! Check out the crazy kids picnic in their family room. We left after all 3 of my kids crapped their pants. We always go out in style!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Painting Pic

2011-02-18T16:44:00.000-05:00

The kids love to paint. Here they are working on their latest materpiece!

Good ideas

2011-02-16T16:04:00.000-05:00

I'm not quite sure where they come up with some of their genius ideas, but they come up with lots of them. Good idea #1: Act totally shocked that there is a big mess in the playroom. Deny any and all involvement in making said mess. His look says, "OMG, check out what Abby did in here!"

Good idea #2: Sleep on the floor next to your bed. It's so much more comfortable than your bed that is literally a few inches away.

Good idea #3: Ride Winnie like a horse. Luckily, Winnie is very tolerant. She's actually licking Marie in this picture. The poor dog takes so much abuse.

Good idea #4: Wear underwear on your head. Oh, while you are at it, cover your eyes. Don't worry, you won't fall and get hurt.

Same good idea here, but the expression on her face looks like she's high. Don't worry, good idea #5 is not get started doing drugs early.

Same good idea, but here is Will modeling the convenience store robber look.

The Aquarium

2011-01-30T23:35:00.000-05:00

The kids had their first trip to the Aquarium, and they loved it.

Marie's favorite animals were the waddle-waddles, aka penguins, aka penguinos. She loved watching them.

Do you see Jaws moving in on Will?

Abby, make yourself comfortable. I'm sure the floor at the Aquarium is super clean.

Look at all the fishies!

This freakin' tunnel was on my nerves. My kids kept going in there and not coming out. Finally, two of their older friends went through and showed them the way, but Marie wouldn't climb through the last tube because it had clear plastic around two sides and only one strip of orange down the middle. I think she thought she'd fall through the clear area. I had to climb in and get her. It reeked of poop in those tunnels. Gross.

They liked getting up close and personal with every tank.

Upon coming home, they decided they were going to put up a fight at nap-time. Abby protested by sleeping half in and half out of her bed. Looks comfy, right?

Will sacked out at the foot of his bed, where they is no rail.

Oh Jesus

2011-01-25T23:18:00.001-05:00

Yes, that's his underwear on his head. He probably put them on after this and then pooped in them. The whole pooping in the toilet thing isn't processing. I'm so tired of scrubbing poop out of underwear. Ugh.

Seriously, they wrestle constantly. It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, which happens about 99% of the time they play like this.

These two are trouble. Here they are with their tea party set.

So, I've really gotta watch what I say around these kids now. Abby has been using the phrase "Oh Jesus" very well lately.

A couple of weeks ago, we were heading upstairs and Will was freaking out because he left some toy downstairs. Abby quickly turned around, ran down the stairs, got the toy and brought it to Will. Will then screamed, "No! Mommy do it!" Abby turned to me, rolled her eyes, and said, "Oh Jesus." She walked the toy to me, handed it over, and then walked right past Will on the stairs.

Last weekend, she walked outside carrying a bunch of her little plastic plates from her kitchen set for a picnic, but as she walked out, she dropped the stack she was carrying. She then proceeded to yell, "Oh Jesus." Will caught on and also started screaming it. I hope our neighbors couldn't understand what they were saying.

I was telling my boss about that, and she said that one of her nephews used the expression, and the parents figured out that they were saying it so they started to add "save us" after every time they used it. Then, when the nephew would say "Oh Jesus," they would hear their daughter add "save us." Maybe that can be our strategy. At least that might keep them from getting expelled from their Catholic preschool. Oh Jesus. Save us.

Mems was also commenting on the funny stuff they say. Marie was at her house last weekend, and she said she asked "what's that?" about the salt shaker like 5 times. Every time Mems told her what it was, she'd say, "Oh. Okay." Then, a few minutes later, she'd ask "What's that?" Mems also said that they would be sitting eating or on the couch and Marie would say, "Hi, Mimi!" out of nowhere like it was the first time she'd seen her in days. Funny child.

I'm taking care of me in 2011

2011-01-21T23:06:00.000-05:00

Sorry for my slack blogging. I have tried to turn a little more attention to taking care of me now that the kids are a little more independent. That has meant less blogging time and more time devoted to other things I enjoy.

I'm cooking pretty regularly again. We just had black beans & roasted pork loin, chicken piccata and roasted potatoes, and maple mustard pork chops and peas and sweet potatoes all in one week. For the past couple of years, I had been throwing together quick stuff at the last minute, which usually consisted of breaded chicken breasts, meatballs, or meatloaf with a side of veggies. It's time to get the variety back.

I also started running again a few months ago, and I've worked my way up to about 15-20 miles/week. I run about 5 miles 3 or 4 days/week. It feels great to be doing it again, and I feel myself wanting to push harder and harder. I didn't know how much I had been missing it until I got back into it.

I've also been sleeping a little more. Hallelujah! The kids give us tons of trouble to go to sleep at night, but once they are down, they sleep much better. Will typically wakes up around 4:30 and says, "Mama, come yay down wit Wheel." I can't resist...it's snuggle time. I'll sneak in his bed and we'll cuddle until I have to get up for work, or if it's the weekend, we might stay in bed until 8 or 8:30. It's glorious. The girls have been great about staying in their room and chatting until I come in if they are up. They are also much nicer to Billy the mornings I'm gone to work.

I've also gotten more into my work and taken on lots of new responsibilities. That also feels great. I felt like during the time I was pregnant and for about the first year and a half after the kids were born, my brain was like mush. Now, I feel like I'm getting myself together and the pieces are falling in place.

Billy and I have also been taking time together. We have a standing lunch date every other Thursday, and we try to get out and socialize more.

Well, enough at me. I'm just giving excuses for my infrequent posts. Next post, it's back to the good stuff--the kids!

Finishing up December and early January

2011-01-14T17:33:00.001-05:00

Okay, so I realized I missed a few things that were Christmas-related in the last post. This post should get you all caught up.

1. We visited the Pink Pig! My dad worked for Rich's for pretty much his entire adult life so the Pink Pig was a huge tradition in our family. We always went to Rich's downtown to ride the rickety pig on the monorail on top of the building. It would go around the Rich's Great Christmas Tree, and they had a little zoo set up underneath. I remember being so excited to get my sticker at the end.

Well, the whole experience at Lenox kinda sucks compared to that, but it is what it is, and as they say in Pinkalicious, "You get what you get, and you don't get upset." By the way, Pinkalicious is Marie's favorite book these days. Thanks, Becky! We have to read it every night, and whenever I ask Marie what color plate or cup or whatever she wants, it's "pink, pink, pink!"

Anyway, back to the Pink Pig. Billy went over to Lenox and bought the tickets the day before we went, and then, we headed over there the Wednesday before Christmas. We waiting in line for about 40 minutes for about 2 minutes of actual pig riding, and it was a really lame ride at that. The kids liked it okay, but it wasn't thrilling or anything. I guess it's just a tradition.

Before riding the Pig, we hit daddy's office, and Abby squeezed in a quick check of her e-mail. She said she really needed to update her Outlook calendar before we got going. She sat there and yelled, "Abby working!" Enjoy it now. It won't be nearly as exciting when she really has to go to an office everyday.

2. I had the picture of them sitting at the little Ikea table in my last post, but I have to tell you that one of Santa's elves, aka Papa Lando, came over to build a bunch of toys on Christmas Eve. There was so much to do, and we simply didn't have enough time, so we had to enroll helpers. Even with assistance, we were up until about 2 a.m. on Christmas. It was a long day! We opened gifts at home first, and then, we were off to Mems' for lunch. They took naps there, and then, we headed off to my dad's for dinner.

My dad has wrapped his carport in heavy duty plastic and put large space heaters in there to give some extra square footage because of all the attendees. We called it his "kill room" because it looked like something Dexter would have set up. You only get that if you watch the Showtime series Dexter. My dad loves it...actually, most of our family is really into the show.

3. Abby and Will started shaving. No, not really, but they wanted to give shaving cream a try one morning when they saw daddy shaving. With my hairy genes, really shaving isn't that far off.

4. I still find Abby in random places at night after locking her and Marie in their room. Yes, I lock them in. Call it bad parenting, but would you rather that they come out of their rooms and fall down the stairs? I don't think so.

Billy found her in the rocking chair one night. A couple of days later, he found her asleep in the office by the printer. Apparently, we had forgotten to lock the door that night. Whoops. See what happens?

Most nights, she's just on the floor in her room, and I have to move her into her bed. Some nights, though, she's on the floor directly behind her door so we have to literally push her back with the door to get to her.

Sometimes Marie does the same, but not as often. During naptime the other day, she snuggled up on the floor behind our rocker when Papa Lando was rocking Abby. She just wanted to be close to everyone. She's learned that behavior from Winnie.

5. We love getting Christmas cards. We put them all up, and the kids ask, "who this? who this?" and point at everyone. Abby committed most names to memory and would explain to the other 2 who everyone was when it went in one ear and out the other with them. :) They were very sad when I took them all down.

6. We took them to the grocery store before our major blizzard! They fought over who sat in which cart. They had to switch multiple times. It was like a Chinese Fire Drill every time we stopped the carts. The fun never ends.

Snow Days

2011-01-13T12:23:00.020-05:00

Atlanta got some CRAZY weather this week. We've been snowed/iced in for days! I'm going CRAZY myself. I am maxed out on time with my children.

Michele, our nanny, was sick last week starting Thursday. I had morning meetings Thursday, and Billy had some in the afternoon. Therefore, I went into the office in the morning, and Billy left when I got home. I was with them from Thursday afternoon pretty much 24/7 until today at 10:30 a.m. when Michele was finally able to get through the ice to us. I ran upstairs to hide in my home office the moment she arrived. I have not walked back downstairs. I don't plan to go back down there until tonight. I might lock Michele in our house and tell her there's no escape because I'm deathly afraid that somehow, she won't make it back tomorrow. I love the kids, but being trapped with them is really hard!

My boss asked me the other day if I would ever want to be a stay at home mom. My response was, "Yes, maybe, when the kids go to school, and I can do my own thing during the day." :) I stand by that answer. Right now, trying to stay sane and manage all 3 of them every day and night is too hard for me, and I must say, I really admire stay at home moms and the patience they must have.

Last Friday, we had quite an adventure. I usually don't venture out with them alone, but they've been skipping naps, and I had to find ways to keep us all entertained all day. Our first stop was my office around 11 a.m. I had to pick up some papers, so I dragged in my crew. Everyone was taking a donut break so they loaded the kids up with sugary treats. One co-worker asked the kids if they shook hands. Abby put her hand out, shook the lady's, and said, "Hi. I Abby. This Marie. This Will," and pointed to her sister and brother, respectively. She was our spokesperson. How cute is that? They then wandered into her office and came out with her giant green exercise ball and proceeded to push it up and down the hall while screaming and giggling. We caused quite a disruption.

Next, we went off to Super Target. At first, I had them all in the cart, but then, there was no room for the stuff I needed to buy, so they all had to follow me around. That was not a very successful strategy. It took forever! We also ended up with lots of stuff I wasn't really planning to buy...a big truck, Dora sippy cups, Cars sippy cups, hair bows, etc. Oh well.

We stopped at the Target Pizza Hut for lunch. High rollers, I know. As we sat there, I wondered how the heck I was going to safely maneuver 3 kids and a shopping cart full of random stuff to the car in the crowded parking lot. I ended up putting the 3 kids in an empty cart and pushing that one, while I pulled the one full of our supplies. I must have looked insane. It worked.

Next stop....Liane's house for a playdate. We went to play with Carley and Chlo-Chlo for a while. Cooper was at school. Will kept saying, "Cooper escuela" when we got home. Anyway, that was fun, and we discovered the kids love cutting with toddler scissors. Seriously, this entertains them for at least 3o minutes at a time. Whenever I need a few minutes, I say, "Tijeras?" (Scissors), and they all scream, "YAY, CUT!" Yes, they are cutters. I just give them each a sheet of paper and safety scissors, and they cut and cut. I love it.

So, on to the weekend. We had a playdate with my friend, Jamie's daughter, Marissa. Marissa is more mature...almost 3, and Abby got along well with her because Abby is the more mature one. Billy and I were kidding about this later that evening when Marie and Will put a little baby doll playpen on their heads and started running around. Abby was looking through a book at that point and did not want to be bothered. Classic illustration of the differences.

Sunday night, Mems came by to pick up Will because she had been out of town over the weekend and missed his turn. Then, later that evening, the snow started and it snowed hard! We woke up Monday to several inches. Will was snowed in at Mimi's house!!! We took the girls out for some sledding craziness. They had a great time. Several neighbors had sleds, and those who didn't improvised with cookie sheets, boogie boards, etc.

We didn't have an snow boots for the girls, so we went totally ghetto. They had on tights, and then, saran wrap around their feet, and socks on that. Then, they had on shoes, and we put Target plastic bags over their feet, and secured the bags with rubber bands around their ankles. I'm telling you, it's going to be all the rage next winter. We got lots of compliments on their feet. It was more like little kids asking, "Why does she have bags on her feet?" Pretty funny stuff.

I think Billy had more fun than the girls. He went out and sledded with other kids when the girls went down for naps. Then, when they woke up, we went back out for more. I made them cocoa when we got in, which they called "cafe" because they see mommy and daddy make their coffee every morning, and I tell them I'm making "cafe." They figured since they were drinking them out of mugs like ours, they were the same thing.

By Tuesday, it was pretty icy out there, but some streets were passable. Bill volunteered to go pick Will up from Mems' house. I wanted him back because I was afraid of everything icing up again and not being able to get to him until Friday. I was missing my little man! Will got home safely, and we played outside for a bit in the afternoon, but it was getting way too icy to be out there.
Billy spent the day hatching and executing a plan to clear our street because it was just a downhill sheet of ice. He recruited guys on our street and on the main road, which is not a hill, to go to Home Depot and get some shovels and salt. Well, when they arrived at Home Depot, they discovered something better...a small snow-plow thingy. All the overgrown boys fell in love and had to have this toy...sounds like my experience with the kids at Target Friday. :) Anyway, Billy shows up with this thing, and all the boys, I mean men, on our street take turns shoveling snow. I have to hand it to them, they cleared it! If they hadn't done that, we would have been stuck the rest of the week.

I told Will that only big boys got to ride the tractor because he kept saying, "Will on tractor?" When Billy got inside after this plowing, Will asked him, "You ride tractor, big boy?" Too funny. Yes, indeed, he was a "big boy."

Okay, I'm exhausted after this monster post, and I'm sure you are tired of reading about us. Let's just hope life gets back to "normal" soon for us. I can't take all this much longer.

Christmas Updates

2011-01-05T15:26:00.013-05:00

The week before Christmas, we enjoyed a celebration at my cousin's house with all of my mom's side of the family. We do this every year. This year, my kids played with the "big kids." I can't believe they aren't by my side all the time anymore. It's nice, but a little sad also. Well, not that sad really. I'm enjoying a lot of their independence now, except for when they insist on doing things they really aren't able to do. Seriously, you want to make your own lunch? I'd like to see that. You want to drive the car? That should be interesting. You want to walk Winnie? Hmmm...how do you feel about being dragged across pavement? It's so hard to explain this to all to them!

This is what they came down to on Christmas morning...a new train table and kitchen set from Santa! They also got magnadoodle boards, jeeps, a slide/climber thing, and lots of arts and crafts supplies. They were really excited to see everything. They still say, "Santa brought that" every morning when they come downstairs and look in the playroom.

Here they are coloring at their new Ikea activity table that we gave them for Christmas. We got rid of the triplet feeding/activity table. This is much smaller, and they can get in and out of it themselves. They are so independent now!

On Christmas Eve, the Zeiglers came over. Unfortunately, Abby did not nap that day and passed out fully clothed at 5:30 p.m. She didn't get to open any of her gifts from them until the next morning. Marie was an expert unwrapper by then. She loved all the clothes she got and would instantly want to put it on. What a little fashionista! Will would just look at the boxes and move on. He didn't know you could actually play with anything until he got the "big truck." It was a big Tonka police rescue truck with a crane, and he screamed, "Open it" when he saw it. He may wear girls' clothes, but he's all boy! Speaking of funny clothes, he's got on his Georgia suspender pajamas in the pic above. Thanks, Aunt Liane! Just to make it a bit redneck, when he spilled water on the shirt, he just wore the suspenders and pants with no shirt the rest of the evening. It was a hot look.

Billy got the kids Toy Story 3 for Christmas, and one night, he set up all their sleeping bags for a viewing party. They didn't last long, but Billy and I finished the movie after they went to sleep. I guess they are a little ways from understanding and following a movie storyline. Oh well, Billy and I enjoyed it! Abby crawled into Billy's sleeping bag with him after she got tired of hers. That's the picture of them 2.

All in all, the kids had a great Christmas! They kind of "got it." We used lots of Santa-related threats...like if you don't do that, Santa won't bring you presents, or Santa only brings choo-choos to good boys and girls. It somewhat altered their behavior from time to time. I think we'll have more success next year. We'll probably invest in an Elf on the Shelf in 2011. What they really get now is the threats now that Santa will come take away toys if they don't behave. I guess now that they've got the stuff, they don't want to give it up. How long will this work?

They are having official withdrawal from the Advent Calendar. Every night they ask, "Abrir la puerta?" (Open the door?). The calendar had little doors they would open to reveal hidden treasures. Well, really it was a bunch of junk or an occasional piece of candy, but they loved it.

Will is officially a hoarder. He has insane amounts of toys in his bed now. He is especially fond of sleeping with all of his tools. Each night, he carries a hammer and a screwdriver, as well as 2 knives from their kitchen set. I guess he's looking to protect us all at night from evil monsters. He refers to all of these pieces as "sharp" and/or "very sharp." He sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night and screams, "Mama, SHARP!" That means, "mom, get the hell in here and find my knife, hammer, and screwdriver in the bed." I have to run in and rummage around to find everything, and he'll go back to sleep gripping them. Should I be worried about this obsession?

Michele finally convinced him to get rid of the 2 shake 'n go firetrucks, the batman car, and 6 matchbox cars that he had in his bed. Now, "all" he has are the knives and tools, a Little People school bus, a big plastic Goofy thingy that spins around and around and lights up, a sunshine that used to be attached to his crib slats that plays music, and stuffed animal. It's a good thing the kid sleeps in a queen bed! Every night before bed, he grabs random things and asks, "Eso en mi cama?" (This in my bed?) The other night, he was grabbing pieces of his train track. Why in the world would he want to sleep with those wooden train tracks?

There are many more Christmas-related updates and pictures, but this is a start.

Crazy Talk

2010-12-29T17:37:00.001-05:00

My children are incredibly into talking about being crazy or loco. My nanny told me that the other day, she was in the bathroom, and the kids busted in on her and kept trying to get in her lap. She explained that the bathroom was private time, and they couldn't just come running in when she was in there. She said Will and Marie just ran off to play, but Abby looked at her, started backing out of the bathroom, and shouted, "Goodbye, CRAZY." I guess she thought it was crazy that anyone would have private time. I always let them in when I'm in the potty so they must figure that's totally cool.

A few weeks ago, I was putting Will to bed, and Abby kept running in his room. Will kept telling her to leave, and she would just come back. Finally, Will turned to me and said, "Abby es loca." I asked it back, "Si? Abby se esta portando como una loca?" (Yes? Abby is acting like a crazy person?), and he said, "Yeah mama, Abby is crazy." I guess he thought I might need a translation since I was repeating it back in question form. Too funny.

The other day, we were in the car, and there was someone out walking, and Marie said, "Hola crazy lady."

What's with the crazies? I must say it and/or Michele (our nanny) must use the phrase because it's definitely a fave around our house these days.

They just have so many funny things they say now. I'm always cracking up. Will is probably the biggest talker. He's constantly saying something. Lately, he's been obsessed with talking about the time that Mimi fell down at our house. We had a broken chair in the dining room, and she was sitting in it while they had dinner. The thing collapsed, and she fell. The kids were amazed by the whole thing. Then, a couple of nights later, it happened to Bill. Needless to say, that chair went out with the trash this week. Will keeps saying, "Mimi fall down. Silla mala (bad chair)" or "Pop pop Beel fall down. Boo-boo head."

It's also funny how they haven't figured out "you" versus "me." Marie will run up to me and say, "Mama carry you please." They all say, "Mama help you please" when they need my assistance. I guess that milestone comes later.

Last night, after I had put Abby in bed, I heard her scream, "Help mama. I stuck." Maybe she's starting to get it. When I got up to her room, I discovered that she had wrapped her hair around her little finger. She twirls her hair to go to sleep at night, but this time, it was too much twirling. I almost had to cut the hair or amputate the finger--big decision to make. I mean, it's hard to recover from a bad haircut when you are a chick. She's got a bunch of other fingers. Luckily, I was able to wiggle it out.

Okay, I owe some Christmas posts. I need to download those photos and get them up here. Stay tuned....

Cookie Decorating

2010-12-27T13:31:00.008-05:00

We went to a cookie decorating party with the kids a couple of weeks before Christmas. It was really funny and a huge mess! These were the final products. They looked pretty good in the end.

Here we are hard at work on the cookies. Marie is reaching in the cup that has M&Ms in it for decorating. However, she just preferred to eat the M&Ms. Abby was being helped by the professional help, and she was totally into it for a while. She was pausing to take a juice break. All that decorating made her thirsty!

After eating M&Ms, Marie proceeded to squirt large amounts of frosting straight into her mouth. Billy said she looked like a Christmas hooker here. All those M&Ms and frosting squirts gave her a serious case of the squirts that night. Lucky for us, she was at Pop-pop's house. Sorry about that, grandpa. :)

Will basically poured sprinkled back and forth out of cups the whole time. That was serious entertainment for him. Then, he started chasing around girls at the party and flirting. He wasn't interested in the cookies.

Here's Abby helping herself to the frosting.

Oh yeah, they wore these aprons to keep them clean. Maybe a face mask and haz-mat suit would have been more appropriate!

Little Mouseketeers

2010-12-21T15:37:00.001-05:00

Dada traveled to Orlando on business and returned with ears for everyone! They loved them. They each also got a baby Minnie or Mickey swaddled in a blanket. They decided to make their shopping carts baby strollers. Young imaginations at work!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Escapee

2010-12-14T13:42:00.001-05:00

A few hours after I tucked Abby into bed and kissed her goodnight, I discovered that she preferred alternate sleeping arrangements.

I found her passed out at the top of the stairs. She made this move silently. I now lock her in her bedroom when I leave.

This always happens in December

2010-12-08T16:25:00.000-05:00

Every year, it seems like my blogging becomes very sporadic by end the end of November. The problem is, I get busy online shopping for Christmas, and I neglect my blogging audience. Sorry folks, but there are lots of gifts to buy and not a lot of computer time for me. I'll have to hit the highlights since the last time I blogged.

1. Thanksgiving happened. We went to my dad's for lunch and then, came home for naps. After that, we headed to the Eklund's for an afternoon snack and goodies. By goodies, I mean wine. Yum. We thought the kids would be exhausted, but as usual, they were jacked up and didn't sleep well. Check out my little turkeys below...

2. We still don't sleep. I'm still tired. All the time. Abby is the worst. Sleep training is in full force (again). When she cries, she gets one warning, and if she doesn't quiet down, she goes into the one crib that we still have set up in the office. After a few nights, she got the point, but it took about 4 trips to the crib. The next night, she threw up in the middle of the night, and I brought her to our bed to keep an eye on her. This set us back, and she started to think she could sleep with us again. After that, she ended up in the crib several times the next couple of nights. Still working on it.

Will, on the other hand, is sleeping like a baby.....

3. Speaking of Will, he fell in love this month. We had friends in town over Thanksgiving, and we visited with the Komorners who have a little girl, Katie. Well, the trio fell in love with her. She read to them, put on their leash backpacks and paraded them through the house, ate with them, etc. They asked about her for days. Look at the way Will is staring at her below. Okay, the outfit is bit crazy, but when you have boots that cool, you don't want to cover them with pants. Pull-ups and boots are a fashion statement. All the cool kids are pulling this off this season.

4. Will fell down one day and got a bloody lip. When the girls saw how you treat a bloody lip, they wanted in on that action.

5. Abby and Marie are deciding on career paths.

Marie may opt to be a scientist...see how she mixes stuff up in bowls and cups...or maybe a chef.

Abby may be going to vet school...at UGA, of course. Check her out as she examines Winnie.

Abby reconsidered and decided to be a swami. I'm not sure what a swami does, but this is the appropriate attire, correct? Ballerina jammies and a scarf wrapped around your head.

So Many Family Photos

2010-12-07T17:07:00.000-05:00

We've been getting our picture taken all over the place in the past couple of months.

First, we did another photo shoot with Billy's friend, T.J. He did an amazing job with everyone, and we were thrilled with the pictures. These were taken in the Roswell Square.

There were lots of great pictures, and some of the best we saved for our Christmas card. You'll see those in a mailbox near you! We didn't want to spoil the surprise here.

We also had breakfast with Santa in the neighborhood. Abby was so excited to see Santa. She kept waving at him, and saying, "Hi, Santa!" Marie, on the other hand, not at all happy to see the big guy. She wanted me to tell him what she wanted, which was, "Um, choo-choo train rosado." (A pink choo-choo train). Interesting. We were able to convince her to get somewhat close, but she doesn't look happy about it.

Look at how Will and Abby are staring at Santa. They are signing "more" with their hands.

All 3 with Santa--it's a Christmas miracle that nobody is crying, and 2 of them are actually looking at the camera. This is FB profile worthy.

I love the little outfits I got them through Etsy! How cute are they?
Here we all are with Santa. All I want for Christmas is a few good nights of sleep. Is that too much to ask?

We also had a family photo shoot this month. Maureen wanted a picture of the entire family for their Christmas card. Holy cow, that was a lot of us. It was my dad, Maureen, the 4 girls in my family, plus their husbands and a total of 9 kids, the 4 girls on Maureen's side, plus their husbands, and a total of 13 kids. Okay, that's 18 adults and 22 children! They are going to need a very big Christmas card!

Mems' company had their annual holiday shindig, and we were invited to that. The kids were quite a hit there. Will got lots of compliments on his vest, tie, and cap. Look how happy Abby is to see Santa again.

School Pictures

2010-11-20T22:11:00.004-05:00

Okay, these were too hilarious not to post. The kids look surprise, frightened, and/or like they might be pooping their pants in their first ever school pictures. The one above was the "best" one of the bunch.

Marie looks very uncomfortable with the poses.
Will, of course, is my little poser.

Marie's face cracks me up in the one above. She's like, "what the eff is going on here?"

Abby is most likely to have had a butt explosion during these pictures. Look at the way she's kind of hunching over. That look of hers says, "I'm pushing one out and not to be bothered." Really, quite a Kodak moment.

Blast of winter

2010-11-10T16:48:00.001-05:00

We got some cold weather which gave us an excuse to bundle up the trio and take cute pictures.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

November Updates

2010-11-05T16:43:00.000-04:00

So, for some reason, the way pictures post is now different on the blog. Weird. Sorry if the caption that goes with the picture doesn't match up. I'll try to get this figured out.

Can you see the knot in Abby's hair? She twists and twists her hair to fall asleep, and the result is usually several knots. I've had to cut them out of her hair a few times. Her crazy hair is just getting crazier. She'll wake up, touch her hair, and say, "Abby nudo." Nudo is knot is Spanish.

Michele takes them out walking on their backpack leashes. It's so funny to watch them. I've tried, but they get all tangled up. It's like a pack of wild dogs. I guess Michele is the baby whisperer who can keep them all from getting mixed up.

Above left is the kids at the table drawing. They really like this, but we must use washable markers. It's quite a disaster! They had so much marker all over them after this activity that when I put them in the bath, the water turned grey from all the colors mixing together. Yuck.

Above right is Will removing his sock with his teeth. Nice. What wonderful manners.

Above left is Marie giving herself a yogurt facial. This is currently the latest trend in our house. Another favorite is the oatmeal facial. These treatments keep their skin young and wrinkle-free. It also keeps their hair dirty and crusty.

Here they are looking out the window at the "munkas," which is what they call chipmunks. Michele also set up a bird feeder off the deck, and they watch the "tweet, tweets" (birds) come and go all day. Lots of entertainment for them!

Look how incredibly helpful they are in the kitchen. They like to dry the tupperware that never gets dry in the dishwasher. This is just the first level of training for the chores they'll have to do in the future. Enjoy it now while it's fun!

Baby Jake

2010-11-05T11:40:00.001-04:00

My kids love baby Jake! They beg to kiss him, hold him, and squeeze him--sometimes a little too hard. Look how excited they look to hold him. Also, notice that he is a giant baby!!! He looks like he's crushing them.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T22:21:00.000-04:00

We had a happy 2010 Halloween! Titi came to town to join us for trick or treating, and Mimi came over to help the kids select the best (i.e., chocolate) candy at each house.

This year, they actually went to doors and said "treeck a tree" and "happy hallowee." Very cute! They were also very nice and thanked everyone who gave them candy. Will would linger at the door at every house as if waiting for an invitation to go inside. Will also would just drop his candy bag all over the place, and Abby was always running around picking it up and bringing it back to him.

If you can't tell from the pictures, Abby was a monkey, Will a dragon (but we told him it was a dinosaur because he doesn't know what a dragon is and it's close enough), and Marie a butterfly, or "futterfly," as she calls it.

The picture where they are all in a truck is at our neighbor's house. He has a pickup truck, and when it goes by every night, the kids say, "big truck." Some evenings, we walk up to the cul-de-sac for them to say goodnight to the "big truck." They love that. They were thrilled when Gene (our neighbor) asked if they wanted to get in his "big truck."

They don't really eat a lot of candy, but I let them each have a little something after we got home. I've never seen 3 kids devour M&Ms the way they did. It was like it was the most amazing thing they had ever tasted. Then, they kept wanting "mas." I had to cut it off. It was bedtime. They didn't go to sleep until nearly 10 p.m. that night. Oh well, it was worth it for all the fun they had!

Big Beds & Threats

2010-10-24T21:32:00.007-04:00

Everything seems to be happening at once. Potty training is going well, and now, we are moving into big beds. What happened to my babies? This is so crazy.

We bought 3 of these Ikea reversible beds that can be a regular bed and then, transformed into a bunk. Perfect for us. If you know Ikea, though, their crap comes in about 2 million pieces and takes FOREVER to assemble. Billy worked on one last week and another one this weekend. We don't have the third put together yet.

Abby got the first one because we were willing to try anything to get that child to sleep. We thought maybe the change of bedtime scenery would do the trick. No such luck.

The first night, she screamed bloody murder as usual for close to an hour. She fell out of the bed around 2 a.m., and I had to go in and put her back in. Then, she slept okay after that. The next night, she screamed bloody murder again, and woke up around 1 a.m. and cried for me until I came. The only good part was that I could sleep next to her, and I didn't have to bring her to my room and have Billy bitch at me because she was in there again, and she's the whole reason he stays in bed until late. Whatever. She's an excuse...not the reason. The third night, she kept getting out of bed. I left the room and shut the door, and she almost kicked it down. Pleasant. You get the picture...not going well.

Billy built the 2nd bed in that room yesterday, and we thought Will would want to sleep in it, but he opted out. Marie was going to take the spot, but after hearing Abby cry for a while, she decided she would rather go back to her queen bed in the guest room. Good choice. That child is a genius.

So, Abby slept in the new bed last night, but fell out in the middle of the night. She was so disoriented at that point that she climbed back into the other bed. Again, she was up around 4 a.m. crying for me, and I joined her in bed. It's pretty comfy.

Today at nap time, Marie took her chances in the room with Abby. We shut the door, and Abby started screaming. We could hear Marie saying, "Abby, please. No cry." Poor little girl just wanted to sleep. When the screaming ended nearly an hour later, I went in the room to find them both in the same bed. Marie woke up a little later, and was not thrilled with where she was, especially since Abby's feet were in her face, and I had to move her back to the guest room.

Tonight, Marie went back in to that room to bunk up with Abby. Abby started her crying, but I decided to try a new technique: threats. I pretended like I was calling her teacher, Ms. Donna, and I said that if she didn't get in bed and go to sleep, she couldn't go to school tomorrow. At the mention of that, Marie shoved her thumb in her mouth and closed her eyes tight. Abby's head hit the pillow hard, and she nodded her head at me. That was it. She's been silent every since. Did that really work? Holy shit. I'm "calling" Ms. Donna whenever I need anything.

Are my children the only weirdos who can't stand the thought of not going to school? This won't work forever. I'm sure.

Breaking Bread

2010-10-13T16:02:00.000-04:00

If you know Billy, you know he loves bread. He's especially fond of a Publix French or Cuban bread loaf. Kroger bakery bread does not cut it for him. However, we have recently discovered that WalMart makes a mean Italian loaf -very soft and doughy on the inside. When we were in college, and he couldn't afford these luxurious loafs of bread, he would buy a loaf of Colonial white bread and smoosh 6 or 7 slices together and eat that as a snack. I'm telling you all this because this bread obsession continues, and he's now passing it down to the next generation.

Last night, the kids were having a lovely dinner of whole wheat pasta with homemade "Sneaky Chef" turkey meat sauce (I snuck in a bunch of extra veggies), sweet peas, and raspberries. Billy and I were having spaghetti squash with the meat sauce and peas, and Billy decided to open up a package of the WalMart Italian loaf. He tore off about 1/3 of the loaf and brought it in the dining room. The kids immediately started screaming, "BITES." This is their subtle hint that they would like whatever you having. Well, their bites were huge, and they kept screaming, "MAS BITES!" Between my 3 children and Billy, they ate 3/4 of the loaf of bread in one sitting! Of course, they were so full of bread dough that they didn't have room for the dinner I slaved over for them. They haven't seen the last of that meat sauce!!!

Cute faces

2010-10-13T15:13:00.002-04:00

There are times when I take a picture and one or two are making such a cute face, I can't stand it. Here are a few recents....

Why is will so handsome? As he says, "Will guapo."

This smirk on Abby's face was cracking me up. The other two are all into the play-dough, but she's just leaning forward giving a half grin.

Marie is the funny one in this picture. She is totally posing for the camera.

OMG, could this hug that Abby is giving Will be any cuter? I love it!

Billy's iPhone Pics

2010-10-06T21:54:00.001-04:00

Billy has a bunch of pictures on his iPhone, and I asked him to download them to the computer so that I could weed through them all and find some that were suitable for posting. They are kind of random, but I'll try to explain them...

Sitting on the chair together watching television. Now, they actually will watch a show for about 10 minutes. That's about it, though. Well, Abby would watch longer because she has a longer attention span, but the other two distract her from her shows.

Abby looks so cute just waiting to have her picture taken.

Now, everybody gathers up, but as usual, we can get all looking at the camera and all to smile. When does that ever happen?

We are potty-training, and they really support each other's pee-pees and poops. Here they are holding hands as Abby braces herself to make ca-cas.

They love to walk up and down our street. I make them hold hands, preferably with a grown-up, but sometimes they just want to hold each other's hands. It's so cute, I don't stop them.

Marie started coughing so Abby offered her some juice and Will is patting her back.

We went to the Sandy Springs festival, and they rode the choo-choo! They absolutely loved it. Don't you like how much they enjoy rocking the shades?

They love to stand up in their carseats and look back at us and we load and unload their belongings.

We went to a "touch a truck" festival in Alpharetta, and Will and I rode the school bus. Is that Will? I don't remember who got in with me. I can't even keep track of my own children.

Here are Will and Marie testing out the dune-buggy!

Marie was sitting in a truck here, but I can't remember what kind. Maybe a fire truck?

They are fighting over who will drive the truck. Abby didn't want to ride anything. Every time I asked, she shook her head and said, "No."

Totally random...here's Winnie wearing 3D glasses in bed. We thought it was kind of funny.

This was Will's 2nd haircut courtesy of Aunt Vivian. Rose was Vivian's assistant for this process.

Marie also needed a little snip-snip on her bangs. The other night I told her that her hair was getting long, and that she needed a haircut. I asked who would cut it, and she said, "Beeyan."

The Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-06T16:47:00.000-04:00

We took the kids to a pumpkin patch this weekend! We had a great time seeing the farm animals, riding the tractor, and looking at the pumpkins (calabazas in Spanish). Abby was thrilled because orange is her favorite color! Abby, just chilling in her sunglasses.

I'm trying to get them to stand or sit together for a picture. Not happening.

Almost there. Will, sit down.

Over here, guys. What are they looking at?

As good as it gets. All looking in same general direction and all sitting. Seriously, it's sad, but this was the best we could do.

We walked across a big pumpkin field, and the kids got to collect little pumpkins and gourds along the way. Will decided he would try to eat one, and Marie joined in. Were they really hungry?

Then, they got tired and decided it was time to rest in the tall grass.

Again, I tried for a picture, but I'm the only one looking at the camera. Classic.

I had to add this one because it was so funny. I needed to get showered and dressed one morning over the weekend, but as soon as the trio sensed mommy was going to abandon them, they started freaking out. Daddy came to my rescue and said, "Who wants to watch Daddy cook?" This is hilarious on a couple of levels. #1: Seriously, Billy is going to cook? That's really funny. #2: How is that at all entertaining to three 2 year olds?

Well, the kids must have all thought this was going to be an amazing display in culinary genius. They raced to the kitchen to watch his cooking prowess. I decided to bring in their chairs so that they could be the studio audience. They all sat and watched daddy make scrambled eggs and pork roll. The Iron Chef was at it again!

I was able to make my escape....

The Trio Loves Rose!

2010-09-29T16:59:00.000-04:00

Rose came over on Sunday morning to play for a while. She was given lots of options for where she could hang out for a while when Vivian was running, and she selected the "triplets' house." Vivian says it's because she feels like she's in charge of them and just bosses them around. She can't do that with the other cousins.

Well, I was helping Abby in the bathroom that morning, and when I came out, I found Marie and Will just staring at Rose. She was oblivious to their stares. She just watched TV like it was perfectly normal to be observed by two toddlers in shirts and underwear.

I also wanted to post an individual shot of each child today. I'm trying not to call them "babies" anymore. They are toddlers now!

Little Marie still loves to suck that thumb!

Here's Will in his Beatles shirt playing with his instruments. It's more like banging the crap out of them, but I'll be generous and say he's making music.

Finally, our little clown, Abby. This child is constantly oozing personality, but it's one extreme or the other. She's either over the top happy and silly, or she's ridiculously upset. You don't want to see her upset.

Three by Three

2010-09-28T17:28:00.000-04:00

It's nearly impossible to get a decent picture of all three kids. They NEVER look in the same direction, smile, are dressed appropriately, etc. We just have to take what we can get.

On a Saturday morning, chilling with dad in the recliner. They are all watching TV. Dad's looking at the camera.

This looks like a police lineup. Two out of three are looking. That's pretty good, but the best part of this whole picture is that they are all dressed in gender-appropriate clothing. That hardly ever happens!

Now, they all like to get in the "big bed" in Marie's room/the guest room at night. Marie has graduated to sleeping in this queen poster bed during naps and at night. She wants nothing to do with her crib anymore. That child is growing up entirely too fast. I can't even believe it.

Here's daddy holding all 3. This is amazing that he could get all three of them in his arms, plus they are all looking. However, Will is in girl pajamas and Marie is in boy jammies. Oh well. You can't have it all!

We had an AT&T guy at the house yesterday morning while the kids were at school. He was checking my internet connection and saw this picture on the screen, and asked, "So you have 3 girls?" I then had to explain that our son is a cross-dresser.

DIY Potty Training

2010-09-20T22:34:00.012-04:00

Marie recently decided she would like to be potty trained, and the others are following her lead. I have done NOTHING to deserve this. Yes, they occasionally go pee-pee on their little potties, and I cheer for them, but I haven't really pushed any more than that. We've had no rewards for going potty, no punishment for accidents, no real potty-training. They were still in diapers...until the rebellion happened.

Last Thursday morning, Marie would not let Michele put a diaper on her in the morning. Billy had bought a pack of pull-ups a couple of weeks ago, as we started thinking we may potty train at some point. Michele tried sitting her on the potty, and she peed. Then, she put one of the pull-ups on her, and Marie was thrilled. She proceeded to pee in the potty all morning long--like 6 times, and have dry pull-up until lunchtime. Crazy! Will and Abby also wanted these big girl/boy pants, and they also peed in the potty all morning. They had a couple of accidents, but hey, I can't complain.

We have kept it up most of the weekend, but it was a little difficult because the kids "traveled." Will spent Saturday night at my dad's. Marie was off to Rose's house, and it was "Abby's turn, Mimi's house," as they like to say. They took their potty seats and pull ups, and tried to keep it up, but with all the distractions at different houses, it was hard for them to concentrate.

Marie and Rose in matching princess dresses. Rose much prefers to have the girls visit and spend the night because they can partake in girly activities. However, Will is also game for all things girly, much to his dad's chagrin.

Abby got her turn at the mall playground this weekend. Mimi took her shopping at the Disney store and to play. She also got this fancy new outfit. So spoiled!

I don't have one of Will to share. Sorry!

The reason for all the baby shuffling was that Billy and I had a date night. We got to enjoy a dinner out and a comedy show at the Tabernacle--not to mention a full night of uninterrupted sleep. Ahhh! Date nights are not overrated.

I think we'll do another week of pull-ups and then transition to underwear. I have no idea how this all works since I hadn't really researched it, and I'm basically just following their lead. How is it possible that three two-year-olds can potty train themselves?

I e-mailed my family and told them about this latest development, and this was Liane's response:

"Hmm, I'm curious if this keeps up or is just a fad for today! If it works though then I'm totally jealous and think it's not at all fair you didn't have to deal with the whole disaster. You suck!"

I wrote her back and informed her that it's not my fault she gave me all the genius eggs she had.

Popsicle Faces

2010-09-20T17:54:00.001-04:00

Since summer is wrapping up, we won't get many more of these photo opps. I figured I should post their popsicle faces while they are still eating them! They like to show off their tongues when they eat them because they think it's funny that their whole mouths turn the color of the popsicle.
Marie bites her popsicles and finishes them quickly. Hers don't even have time to melt.

Will takes his time with his popsicle, and by the time he starts biting it, half of it has melted all over him. After two or three bites, he gives up on it and tries to offer it back to me. Usually, Marie will volunteer to take the leftovers and eat them up!

Abby licks her popsicles until they are pointy at the top. Is she trying to make a shiv? By this time, they have melted all over her. Again, she tries to give away her popsicle at this point, and Marie is a willing taker.

Sweep Marie under the rug

2010-09-16T10:44:00.001-04:00

Marie is definitely our most independent child. She likes to do everything herself, and she's very set in her ways/into routines. Billy says she's her mother's child. I've been known to be a bit inflexible. Okay, stubborn.

Well, part of Marie's independent nature involves being able to keep herself entertained. Many times, she'll play quietly by herself with toys or books.

This past weekend, we had dinner with friends at their house. While their son and Abby played riding around the first floor in race cars at full speed, Marie was quietly hanging out in the play area. I was worried that she was too quiet so I went to check on her.

Apparently, she decided to make herself a little bed out of the no-skid pad under the rug. There were toys all over the room, and this is what she decides to play with. Crazy child!

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

School Mornings

2010-09-13T17:17:00.002-04:00

School mornings are total insanity around our house! Everyone has to get up, fed, dressed, and out the door by 10 til 9 a.m. Okay, so that's the ideal time we should leave, but we never do.

Of course, Abby, our early riser, always decides that school mornings are the best to sleep in. This morning, I had to wake her up around 8:10, which threw everything out of whack! They need to be sitting at the breakfast table at 8 a.m. for the whole operation to run smoothly.

Here's how it goes on a regular morning:
Prep begins the night before. I make all lunches, get their school bags packed, pick out clothes for the next day, etc. This speeds things along the next day.
7:45 a.m.-Make breakfast
8:00 a.m.-Kids sit down to eat (Michele or Pop-Pop (whoever is there to help) has to coerce them to eat and do it quickly. The kids usually don't eat well. We talk about what a great day at school it's going to be.)
8:30 a.m.-Begin getting them dressed. Will runs away without his pants or diaper on, laughing hysterically. Marie insists on a different outfit than the one I selected, and she must put it on herself...usually backwards. Abby typically obliges, but she also likes to dress herself some days. Abby and Marie both like to put on their own shoes, and they have to put them on the wrong feet like 5 times before doing it correctly.
8:50 a.m.-I am freaking out that we aren't in the car. Carpool line starts at 8:55. AHHH!!!
8:55 a.m.-They run to the door, pick up their bags, and Billy helps me load them in the car...still talking up school. Brief arguments erupt over who will sit where. We negotiate. Brief arguments erupt over who will push the garage button. We negotiate.
9:00 a.m.-I pull out of the driveway.
9:05 a.m.-I arrive at school, unbuckle everyone, teachers come and take them away. DONE!

They love their little school bags.
Rushing out the door, grabbing the bags.
Fighting over who will sit where.
Will has to check out the tire before leaving. Hurry up, kid!!!

My Little Cross-Dressers

2010-09-12T21:12:00.000-04:00

It's perfectly normal that they all wear gender inappropriate clothes, right? 9 out of 10 nights, when given the option, Will chooses to wear Dora, Tinkerbell, or Minnie Mouse pajamas. The girls, on the other hand, like his choo-choo, bug, and truck pajamas. Here is Abby modeling his Thomas jammies.

Marie wanted to wear Will's football jersey and workout pants. Billy said that Will, under no circumstances, should be allowed to wear the girls' cheerleading uniforms.

Will is showing off his feminine side in Minnie Mouse pajamas.

The kitchen counter

2010-09-11T13:40:00.000-04:00

They all think they are big kids now and like to sit at the kitchen counter to eat their meals. They are especially fond of cereal and milk in the mornings at the counter. I can see this becoming a weekend tradition. Mommy will make pancakes and eggs on Saturday morning, while all 3 kids sit at the counter.
Daddy likes to sit at the counter with the girls. As you can see, Marie is all about saying "cheese," but Abby is way more into her cereal!

Abby working away at her cereal. By the way, she is currently obsessed with orange. A "naranja" is an orange in Spanish, and the color orange is "anaranjado." Abby will say, "narana" whenever we get out bowls, spoons, cups, etc. She must have orange!!! Billy is upset that this may carry into her clothing choices, which will be terrible during football season. We can't have anyone wearing narana around here on a Saturday in the fall. No way!!

Here is Will at the counter. We only had 2 stools there, but Billy just bought a third this weekend. We quickly realized that the sharing wasn't working out well.
After stool time, they like to relax on the kitchen floor with our 4th child, Winnie.

Exhausting Long Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-08T06:17:00.005-04:00

What ever happened to relaxing long weekends? Sleeping in. Hanging out with friends. Drinking beer. Ah, the good ole days. You know what happened to those days? KIDS! Now we spend our weekends running them around and keeping them entertained. This weekend was exceptionally insane.

On Thursday evening, Titi arrived and we played outside way past bedtime. When we got inside, they were jacked up, and it took a while to get them all to sleep. Once they finally zonked out, we had dinner with Titi and Pop-pop Bill. Will now calls him Pop-pop BEEEL, and my dad is Papa Lando (dad's name is Rolando--doesn't exactly roll off the tongue).

On Friday, I had to work. It was pretty slow, and most folks were going to be out of the office so I worked from home. That gave me the opportunity to sleep an extra few minutes in the morning. Glorious! At lunch, we ran the kids over to the park for a little while, and Titi met us there.

We got up bright and early on Saturday morning to go to Centennial Olympic Park for ESPN’s Game Day. The whole family got all dressed up and headed out to watch Kirk Herbstreit (and those other guys) do their reporting from the scene. Billy will make me add that Erin Andrews was also there. We got a tour of their big bus, and I took a picture of Kirk’s monogrammed shirt. I’m such a dork! Teri also liked Kirk and thought about holding up a sign with her phone number, but I told her I thought he was married. Oh well.

The kids just ran around and acted all cute the whole time. They were more entertaining than the Game Day stuff.

Here we are on the Game Day tour bus! Abby looks really excited to be there, right? The guy taking our picture kept asking if we wanted another because everyone wasn't looking. Seriously dude, we'd be here all day if we were waiting for that! We'll take what we can get.

Here's Kirk's shirt. He's so dreamy! This picture is borderline stalker. He might file a restraining order against me. Then, he would know that I existed. Success!!
Here we are on the stand watching the Game Day set.

Running in circles...their favorite activity.
Abby is doing her push-ups to warm up for all the cheering.

From there, we had lunch at Chick-fil-A, and then headed home for naps. After naps, we went over to Marmie’s for a Zeigler family dinner. The kids ran all around and had lots of fun there. Marie was very concerned when we all went home because she thought it was “Marie’s turn. Mimi’s house.” They talk about who’s turn it is going to be all week. It was her turn this weekend, but not until the following evening.

The family that cheers for the Dawgs together, stays together!!!

Taking turns riding and pushing the bicycle (bikey, as Will calls it).

When it's not Will's turn on the bikey, he isn't exactly thrilled.

When we put them to sleep, Billy went to visit some friends at Lake Lanier and returned very late! The kids were up and running around 6:30 a.m. on Sunday so Billy was not a happy camper. So sorry, Mr. Party Animal.

Sunday, we went to a birthday party at Gymboree from 11-12:30, and then, we went to Alice’s for lunch. From there, we came home for naps. Oh wait, Abby fell asleep after the party and slept at Alice’s house. So, Will and Marie napped at home, but Abby was up. Therefore, she came with me to the grocery store. That was good quality mommy and me time. After naps, Mimi came to get Marie for her “turn.” She was so excited! Then, Mimi held Will, and Marie thought she was going to be skipped and pitched a fit. Poor little girl! Mimi took Marie away with Will crying at the window. Poor little guy! There's always so much drama!

Will didn’t cry for long because we whisked him and Abby away to the lake to visit friends. They were so excited to the “agua” and “barcos” (boats) and “otro barco” (other boat), and “otro barco”….this went on and on every time a boat went by. The house where we were sits up on a hill, and to get to the water, there is a steep decline, and to get back up, it’s a rough climb…lots of stairs. Well, Abby and Will decided they were going to walk all the way back up. With every step she took, Abby would say, “OH, GAAA.” It was hilarious.

They fell asleep on the way back, and we transferred them into their cribs. Will woke up crying around 6, and I put him in our bed. He fell right back to sleep. Abby got up around 7, and since Marie wasn’t home, I took her in Marie’s room, also the guest room, and we got back in bed. She went right back to sleep also. Will ended up sleeping until 8:15 or 8:30 with Billy, and Miss Abby and I did not emerge from our room until 8:45. It was wonderful!!! I haven't slept that late in ages.

So, Monday morning, we headed out to the zoo. It was hot, but they had a good time. We saw two other sets of triplets there and twins galore! Marie missed all of our animal adventures, but she got to have her own fun with Marmie. She doesn't look too sad in these pictures at the mall playground does she?

Now, it’s back to our regular life. Oh, gaaaaa.

Bedtime crazies

2010-08-30T10:51:00.001-04:00

Last night (well, every night), the kids were nutty before bedtime! Billy captured part of the insanity with his phone. Yes, he has the fancy new iPhone. Watch Marie boss around the other two, and tell them, "GO! Back up!" It's so funny. It took a while for them to calm down and go to sleep.

Day 3 at preschool

2010-08-25T09:41:00.001-04:00

This morning only Abby cried. Two out of three were happy to go to school! Yay! Maybe by next week Abby will stop the tears.

Here they are....

Will went on an adventure with Marmie, and he loved it!

This isn't a great picture, but Abby looks so big-like a little girl, not toddler.

Here is Marie playing happily at Marmie's house.

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Preschool: Day 2

2010-08-23T16:57:00.003-04:00

We talked up preschool all weekend long, and the kids seemed to be super excited about going back to "scuela." It's escuela in Spanish, but they call it "scuela" or "cool." We talked about Ms. Donna, aka Madonna to them, and Ms. Jenn a bunch. Marie even tried to grab her school bag when we were going to the dentist last week, but I had to tell her we were not going to school. They found their lunch bags in the pantry on Saturday and started asking, "scuela?" Again, I had to tell them they would have to wait.

Anyway, we pull up in the carpool line this morning, and we are still talking about what a great day it's going to be. When I get to the front of the line for drop-off, I make eye contact with the preschool director, who is helping with the line and hold up 3 fingers to signal I have 3 of them that need help to their classroom. That was enough. The lady yells to the other drop-off volunteers, "It's the triplets," and our car is surrounded by people fighting to get them out. Will screams, "Bye," jumps out of the car, and runs for the door of the preschool. I guess we know how he feels about it. Abby looks around, panicked. She looks at me and screams, "Mama" while she is being yanked from the car. Marie is sitting calmly until Abby's meltdown, and she then realizes she should fight too. She screams. People grab them. Away they go. I drive off. That was it.

At noon, I headed back over to get them, and they were all happy as could be. Abby again broke out in tears when she saw me, but I had seen her just a second before when she was smiling and playing in the classroom. What a faker. Ms. Donna said that was the first tear she had shed all day. We got a great report on them again. Great children. So sweet. Fun day.

I'm thinking that after another couple of weeks, everyone will jump out of the car and yell, "Bye!" without looking back, just like Will.

On a funny note, because I have 3 kids in the class, I have to volunteer for everything 3 times. I have to make play-dough for the class 3 months, I have to help with 3 class parties, I have to bring various supplies 3 different months, etc. This is going to be a busy year!

YouTrips

2010-08-18T17:10:00.005-04:00

It's video time! Here are a few to get you caught up on what they are up to these days....

Ring around the Rosies is tons of fun for all!

The hugging is bordering on being violent here.

The babies enjoy being used as bowling balls!

Here's Abby doing her little dance. Sorry, I can't figure out how to flip the image.

My 3 Preschoolers

2010-08-18T15:32:00.006-04:00

It's official--they are preschoolers! They had their first day today, and it went great. Abby and Will were a bit confused in the carpool line when a couple of teachers came and snatched them out of their seats. They were okay, but Marie had a bit of a meltdown--screaming for me and looking very hurt that we would leave her with complete strangers. I just sucked it up and pressed on.

I didn't want to just leave them, but the preschool prefers parents not walk their kids to the classrooms because of the fits that then occur in the rooms. The crying becomes contagious, and the teacher is left with a room full of hysterical 2 year olds. Not fun. So, the crying happened at the car and that was it. I teared up a bit but was fine.

The school hosted a parent coffee, and Billy and I went to that for a little while after the drop off. We figured we should stay close in case they needed to call us to pick up 1, 2, or 3 kids. But, a miracle happened, and they all decided "cool" was fine and stayed all day.

I picked them up at noon. At pickup, parents do go to the classrooms, and when I got to theirs, I found Will peering out the door up and down the halls. When he saw me, he screamed, "MAMA!" It was really sweet. The teachers said they were all great--well-behaved, polite, calm, etc. Wow...they were talking about my kids??!! Amazing. Abby broke out in tears at the sight of me. I guess she thought she was never going to see me again after the crazy drop off experience. Marie just ran up and hugged my legs. One of the teachers helped me escort my crew out to my car. She said that they would walk up to her and ask for "agua, please" whenever they wanted water, and they really enjoyed having their hands traced at coloring time. Michele does that with them.

We'll see how things go next week. Their class is Monday/Wednesday. I hope they don't forget all about school by then.

These pictures illustrate that they are obviously mature enough for school.....

Outside Fun in the Sun

2010-08-15T14:26:00.006-04:00

Since I had a post about how we keep them occupied inside, I figured I should post a few pictures of our outdoor fun as well. They love playing outside. Usually, we set up in the front yard because it's flatter, but we have swings in the back, and we have a slide we use back there also.
This sink keeps them occupied forever. They fill up their cups, dump the water, and do it over and over and over again. I have no idea why that's fun, but it is.

We took the easel Titi gave them outside and broke out the finger paints. What a messy disaster! Abby loved it and got messy for quite a while. She had paint all over her face by the time we finished. One of our neighbors drove by and commented how much she liked our outdoor studio.

Here's Will at the sink. Filling a cup...how unusual.

Abby...still painting.

Because the sink wasn't enough water, we also pulled out the little baby pool. Again, they just would fill up cups and dump out the water.

That baby pool just didn't provide the right level of excitement so Alice bought them this crazy thing for their birthday. It's a 2 level pool with a slide at the top. They had a blast in it. Here's Abby cruising down the slide.

Marie went up and down a million times and managed to keep on her sunglasses the whole time. She's very into her accessories.

Here they are cheering Marie on as she speeds down the slide!

Here is Abby making her landing. Thanks, Alice! This thing is fun. Baby Jake needs to come down the slide next summer. Get ready!!

2 Year Well-Child Visit

2010-08-12T08:23:00.005-04:00

We had our doctor's office visit this week, and my babies are so grown up! I can't even believe it.

Abby: 28 lbs (70th percentile) and 36 inches (95th percentile)
Will: 26 lbs (20th percentile) and 35 1/2 inches (70th percentile)
Marie: 26 lbs (45th percentile) and 35 inches (50th percentile)

Don't tell them they aren't still babies.

Aunt Titi gave them this easel for their bday. Michele bought some enormous chalk for them to play with!
Abby has enough hair for a pony tail! Can you see it in the picture above? It's so cute!!
They all now eat at the "big table" with their booster seats scooted up to it. They look so big this way! We've also been weaning...finally! We'll be done with sippy cups just in time for preschool. Yes, they are starting school next week! They got a little postcard in the mail from the teachers telling them they'll be eating goldfish, nilla wafers, and pretzels for snacks. Hmm, what else will they be doing? I'm paying a lot of money for a bunch of snacks. We get to meet the teacher next week. I'll let you know how that goes.

We figure after a couple of months in school, we will begin the potty training adventures. That should be fun. Then, we'll almost be ready for big girl and boy beds! Time is going by way too fast.

This one is funny of Will hamming it up for the camera.

Chuck E. Cheese Visit

2010-08-10T16:07:00.003-04:00

We met Liane and her troop of crazy kids at Chuck E. Cheese. Liane takes those children places for like 6 hours at a time. We reached our limit at Chuck E. Cheese in about 45 minutes. Trying to keep up with 3 two-year olds in that place was a nightmare. My dad was there to help me thankfully. They liked dancing up a storm while Chuck E. played his music.

Will only liked this one ride, and as soon as it would stop moving, he would sign more and say "mas." I think I fed that machine 10 tokens in a row.

The girls, on the other hand, were not fond of any of the rides. As soon as any of them would start up, they would say, "no," and put their arms out to be held. Not fans of that stuff just yet. I have lots of leftover tokens. I guess we'll get back there someday and try again. Not looking forward to that....

Crazy Fun at Home

2010-08-10T15:12:00.004-04:00

Just figured you might like to see how we try to keep the kids entertained and how they like to entertain themselves these days....

The bounce house! Yes, we blow it up in the middle of our living room. Why not? It's too hot outside anyway.

Hanging out in our Dora pajamas, which they pronounce, "Doy-ra." The red chairs are new with their names on them. Marie gets pissed if anyone sits in hers, and Will and Abby know this so what do they do? Torture her by constantly sitting in her chair!!!

This is hide 'n seek. Abby actually thinks she's hiding. The other two scream, "Where are you?"

Princess Abby prefers to eat sitting on the big table while the peasants sit at their chairs.

When they have snacks in the family room, they sit in the big chair to avoid Winnie. They have quickly learned that if they walk around with their snacks, Winnie will steal everything. As soon as I give them a snack, they run to the chair and climb up and start yelling, "No, Winnie!"

Abby had a tragic accident which resulted in black eye. She took a head first dive off the chair in the picture above this one and hit a plastic piece of a gate that was there. We swear that she has a magnetic in her head that causes all of the head trauma.

Here they are in the bounce house again...in Doy-ra pajamas again. Different Doy-ra jammies...and we need even more. That's all they want to wear. They would wear them all day if we let them. Okay, some days we do let them.

So, we have like a million toys around this house, but what do they want to play with? The freakin' sippy cup pieces. They sit on the kitchen floor, grab cup pieces off the counter, utensils out of drawers, and tupperware out of the cabinet. The end result is a very messy kitchen...just like the rest of our house. Oh well.

Look at the love here! You wouldn't guess that Marie is the most picked on child in the bunch. She gets so much abuse because all she does is yell and scream. The other two will kick, punch, and bite the hell out of each other so they know not to mess with each other.

Girls' Sunday Morning

2010-08-02T12:19:00.001-04:00

Will spent the night at Papa's house Saturday because Marmie is in Germany on a business trip. She usually takes someone at least one night of the weekend, amd without her around, we looked elsewhere for some relief!! Papa got suckered in.

Sunday morning, Billy worked in the yard a few hours so the girls and I had some quality girl time. First, they mowed the lawn like daddy with their bubble mowers. However, they got hot and decided just to swing instead.

Marie is looking pretty relaxed here. Btw-she insisted on the hat and sunglasses, not my idea!

Here's sweet abby in her swing.

They got to meet their new cousin, Jake, on Saturday, and so they wanted to pretend to be swaddled babies like him.

Abby was too tall for a proper swaddle. I probably needed to use a king sized sheet to get her in there securely. Their old baby blankets weren't cutting it.

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Update on Jake

2010-07-26T22:11:00.004-04:00

He's doing well! He has a new name "Jakob" (with a k not c), which is the German spelling. I changed it in the previous post to reflect this new name, and his middle name has switched to Mitchell. Now, they both get it their way. Alice wanted Jake and Kibby wanted Mitch. Everybody's happy with this new name, and I can stop referring to him as Weenus. Incidentally, I didn't know what Weenus meant, and Billy informed me that Wiener + Penis = Weenus. Good stuff.

Jake is supposed to come home tomorrow. Alice was released but stayed in a "transition" room at the hospital. This is where the place parents that have babies in the NICU the night before releasing the baby.

Alice decided not to have her tubes tied with the c-section. Baby Wager #3 may be just around the corner!! My poor dad already is maxed out with his babysitting responsibilities. How is he going to keep up with this baby boom???

Introducing....

2010-07-23T09:04:00.002-04:00

Jakob "Jake" Mitchell Wagner
6 lbs, 3 ounces
18 inches

Alice's baby decided to make an early appearance. Alice's water broke around 4 a.m. yesterday...just a few short hours after his crib had been assembled. She had a c-section later in the morning.

When I arrived at the hospital, Drew said the baby was going to be named Mitch, but by 3 pm, his name changed to Jake. I think that will stick. If not, we'll refer to him as Weenus Jacob Mitchell. Perfect!!!

The little guy is having some trouble breathing so he'll be in the NICU for a few days. It's either an infection, underdeveloped lungs, or fluid in the lungs. They are all very treatable conditions. He sounded like a little kitten when he cried. So pitiful!!

Congrats to the Wagner family!!!

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Birthday Party and After-Party

2010-07-20T08:59:00.006-04:00

We didn't get many pictures at the birthday party because it was total insanity, but we think some other folks may have, and we hope to get those soon.

Here we are with the cake. Mems had a cake made with all their favorite things on it - Elmo, Dora, and Trucks! Wow. Thanks, Marmie!
Marie and Abby wore the cutest the little dresses. We love Corinna Couture. If you are interested, check out her stuff at:http://www.etsy.com/shop/CorinnaCouture.

Thanks for our dress up clothes, Aunt Liane. This boa was shedding feathers like crazy, but the kids enjoyed wearing it!

Abby couldn't take the heat anymore. She stripped off her party dress outside, sat on the cooler, and picked her nose.

Here is Will amidst 1/10th of the birthday party gifts. Thank you to everyone! They loved everything.

Career Tracks

2010-07-19T22:40:00.001-04:00

What will the kids be when they grow up???

Three little chefs? This was taking at their twin cousins' "make your own pizza" birthday party.

Abby and Marie like to dress up as ballerinas. Maybe that's what they'll do! I always loved ballet.

Wait, perhaps Will wants to be a ballerina. This is a dress up outfit that they received as a gift. Rose wanted to put it on Abby or Marie when she was visiting us last week, but neither one of them wanted to wear it. Will gladly stepped up and offered to play dress up. He said, "aqui, aqui" ("here, here") and pointed to himself when the girls said, "no." Sweet man!

They may be gymnasts! They have this trick where they hang on to the edge of the table and swing back and forth. They are strong...and daring. Very scary combination.

Will is also considering a future in the construction business. I guess he would have to be a ballerina on the weekends if he chooses to do both.

Will-boy model

2010-07-14T12:23:00.000-04:00

We did a photo shoot for work a couple of weeks ago. I was helping direct the "models." Will tagged along with me and made his way into some of the pictures. Check out his handsomeness!

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Titi's Bday Dinner

2010-07-13T13:20:00.005-04:00

On Saturday night, we went out to dinner at Carrabba's to celebrate Aunt Teri's b-day. Tia is aunt is Spanish, and so I call Teri "Tia Teri" to the kids, which they say, "Titi." Now, she's Titi.

So, you may be wondering what the deal is with Marie's shoes, right? Well, she absolutely insisted on wearing these shoes, which are Will's, and she just wouldn't settle for anything else. Therefore, I gave up, and she just wore these shoes with this dress. It's quite a fashion statement don't you think?
Will was completely jacked up at dinner. I have no idea why he was so insane. Every time the waiter came by our table, he would pick up the fork, mumble a bunch of incomprehensible words/phrases, and wave the fork around like he was going to stab him. What did that guy every do to Will? Will screamed, yelled, said every word he knows how to say, and ran around the entire dinner. There was just no containing him. Billy had to take him out of the restaurant 3 times!
Abby wasn't much better. Here she is standing on her high chair and dancing. She prefers only to dance when on an elevated surface. After a diaper change on her changing table, she stands and dances. She'll climb up onto the dining room table to dance sometimes. I'm hoping she's training to be a ballerina, not a stripper. I don't know...she does really like to take her clothes off.

Happy Birthday, Trio!!!

2010-07-13T11:05:00.003-04:00

My "babies" turned 2 on Sunday! I can't believe it. Where have the last two years gone? In some ways, they have flown by, but in other ways, I feel like these children have been a part of our lives forever. What did we do for entertainment before we had them? We must have been so bored.

Anyway, thank you to all of our family and friends who attended our little b-day shindig. It was quite a success. We really appreciate you coping with the heat. We've decided that we are either going to move their birthday to another cooler month, or celebrate with some sort of water related activity from now on. We were just too afraid to do a pool party this year because it's so hard to keep track of 3 little ones in the pool plus host a celebration.

Billy and I were exhausted after their party, but the kids were severely jacked up. They were running around like crazy lunatics until after 9 p.m. OMG...I just wanted to pass out. Then, they didn't even sleep that well. That's nothing new though. Yes, our sleeping issues are never ending.

Sorry to all of the parents who have had to listen to their kids play the kazoo. Those were in the party favor bags. If it makes you feel better, I almost went for whistles, but Billy talked me out of those.

I will have new pictures in my next post!