::imperfect perfection x3::

We've had a whirlwind few days---and I have a feeling it's only going to get crazier as the girls get older....oy! Who's idea was it to have triplets two days after Christmas??? Oh yeah...AVERY! Little stink. ;) I had a day break between our insane Christmas Day and the girl's birthdays to prepare. I asked them several weeks ago what kind of cake they wanted and they said, "Ummmmm......SNOWFLAKE!" (Yeah, I don't know what that means either.) So a snowflake cake it was! It took a lot of thinking and researching as there were several different ways to go about it, but I decided that I wanted to do a genoise cake and roll it (basically a jelly roll---minus the jelly) with white frosting and 3D snowflakes all around. Then a couple of days before the big day, I asked the girls if they wanted the cake to be chocolate or white (I thought that chocolate cake and white frosting would be a pretty contrast, but I wanted them to be involved a little more. I regret ...

I hope everyone had a wonderful, joyful and marvelous Christmas. I hope we all remember "the reason for the Season", the birth of our Savior. I hope we all got more than we wanted or deserved! I know I did! We had a great day, albeit a little over-stimulating for the girls---mostly Avery. We started out the Holiday and Nana and Papas on Christmas Eve where we opened one gift each and ate dinner. We delivered some treats to people and looked at some pretty Christmas lights on our way home. I wanted to start the tradition of going on an actual walk to see the lights, but Tony is sick (great timing, right?) and by the time we headed home it was pretty late and time for me--I mean, the girls, to go to bed. I stayed up until around 3AM getting things ready for breakfast in the morning and trying to set up presents and all that jazz. The girls woke up at 7:15 (a mite earlier than usual, of course) and I kept them out of the family room until 9:15-ish with the help of Micky's C...

We took the girls on our first, and *hopefully* annual, ride on "The Polar Express" train earlier this month. It was so awesome to see the excitement and wonder on their faces. I know that sounds cliche', but it's SO TRUE! This Christmas truly seems magical. You know the song "Christmas Through Your Eyes"? That's how I feel! I'm looking at Christmas through my children's eyes for the first time! And it's so exciting to me! This is the first year that the girls are actually starting to 'get' Christmas. We've started to introduce Santa, and they are excited to see him! I wanted to get a Santa picture this year, but we decided not to push our luck. They still like him at this point and I want to keep it that way! :) We put up the Nativity and I explained to them what each piece was and that Christmas is when we celebrate the baby Jesus' birthday. Then I said that we give presents to each other instead of to Jesus, because that ma...

I'm a little behind in my posts (yeah, I know. what's new, eh?) My parents came to visit the first week of November and we had such a fabulous time with them. The girls had been preparing for weeks for their visit. We would count down the days by asking them, "Guess who's coming in (x amount) days?" and they would say "ummmmm.....PawPaw and MawMaw!!!!!!!" (Or as Jordy says, "Sampa and Sammaw" She's getting better...) We did this for probably two weeks until they FINALLY got here! :) We had LOTS of projects to work on, like making the girls dresses for a friend's cowboy themed birthday party, building our pantry and just making sure we spent tons of time together having fun. On Thursday we went up to Apple Hill for the second time. We went with them two years ago for the first time and just loved it. I hope we can make it a yearly tradition!! We are so happy whenever our PawPaw and MawMaw get to visit. We hope to see you guys again, soo...

This blog post is dedicated to my girls, all the doctors and nurses who helped them arrive in this world safely and continue to thrive and to all the other little babies who have been born too soon. I've already mentioned that today is the "National Prematurity Awareness Day" and the March of Dimes "Fight for Preemies" blog post day in this post . Here are several photos of my babies when they were in the hospital. I couldn't help but cry as I looked through these photos. Such a happy, sad and scary time. And we were some of the 'lucky' ones.... D-DAY 34 weeks and 2 days (I've had several people ask, so here it is) Together for the first time since the womb. Avery and Jordyn came home that day, but Ashleigh took a turn for the worse and was in critical condition for two more weeks. Such a bittersweet day. We are doing well now and have "caught up" in virtually every area. We are so blessed to have been given the best medical care that ...

Yes, we were kittens this year. Mostly because I had been stewing over costumes for months without any inspiration. My mother in law bought the girls these cute halloween stripey pants and shirts with two black kitty cats on them and I decided to take the easy way out and paint some whiskers on the girls and call them "kittens". I made some dorky ears out of paper and stuck them to some headbands (of which only one broke that night, surprizingly. And AFTER trick or treating! miracles!) I pinned some black knee-highs (that I bought when the girls were tiny to make headbands---and never did) on their bums for tails. This is what I consider their first "real" Halloween because before, they were totally oblivious to the costume and didn't really get the whole Halloween thing. This year, they were excited to be kitty cats and say 'trick or treat' and hold out the bags for candy. They get the concept---even if they do call their costumes their "Halloweens...

We, like many of you, are big advocates for the March of Dimes and prevention of premature births. Before it actually happened to us, I thought that being born a few weeks (or more) early was "no big deal. That's what the NICU and doctors are for, right?" But until you actually experience the NICU and crying over the scariness of having a baby who's lungs don't function (amongst other things) or seeing the other babies who have it much worse than yours, you can never understand. It's true that medical advancements have increased the chances of saving the lives of many preemies, like our girls (Ashleigh in particular), but prematurity isn't something that should be taken lightly. Even though, on the surface, things my seem OK, you just never know what impairments each premature child might face in the future. That is why I am posting the following article for you all to read so we can all be cognisant and aware of this prevalent #1 killer of newborns in ...

After an hour of naps today (and JUST as I was laying down to close my eyes) I heard someone crying "Mommy, Mommy!" This is not unusual since we've moved. The girls have become ultra dependent upon me, especially when it comes to nap and night times. I have to sit on the floor in their room, usually holding someone's hand (Avery) or holding a body ( Jordyn , grr ) and retrieve falling paci's ( ashleigh and avery ---another bad habit), until everyone is asleep. I throw in an extra 5 minutes after the last twitch of movement just for good measure. Learned that the hard way. So, there I was, laying on the couch about to take a snooze, which I knew would be short because by the time I finished the dishes and eating my lunch, they had already been sleeping for an hour. Here's my confession. When I heard the "mommy- ing " I ducked down behind the couch cushions so whomever it was (Avery) wouldn't see me. Horrible, I know. But you can't run to th...

There are some pics of the new house on the other blog. Check 'em out if you'd like!

So, yesterday ended rather well. There was only one accident the ENTIRE day, and of course it was a messy #2. I can't blame her...those sneak up on adults too. Sorry, TMI . I'm trying to be as clinical as possible all while documenting this for posterity. :) HOWEVER.... We all woke up wet this morning. Oh well. I guess I need to reward them for waking up dry. Hopefully that will work.

Well, I see marked improvement!! Yesterday (day two!) all of the girls woke up dry both in the morning and after naps. I had to do a song and dance (figuratively...AND literally, unfortunately) to get them to sit on their potties after waking, since I KNEW they hadn't gone since before falling asleep. It took a bit, but finally they ALL sat down at different points and went! Success!! Ashleigh is pretty much trained at this point. She got it the first day and doesn't even need reminders to go. She even went #2 without me asking. Jordy also did a #2 yesterday. Apparently Avery needs more fiber in her diet... She is the hardest of all of them to get to sit at all. But, she figured it out yesterday and kept her big girl undies dry from nap-time until this morning. Yay! Day three. Ashleigh and Avery woke up dry. Jordyn did not. Not sure what happened, because she's usually pretty good. She must have been awake and silent in her room for a while and just forgot about the pott...

OH Joy. Can you hear the excitement in my tone? We are going with the cold turkey method. No diapers or pull-ups in the house. Just the 33 pairs of big girl underwear I purchased and 3 little IKEA potties. We won't be leaving the house for 3 days. Hopefully 3 will be the magic number!!! We have a "Potty Time" dry erase board with each of their names written across the top. Everytime the go Number One they get ONE star and TWO chocolate chips. If they go Number Two, they get TWO stars and FOUR chocolate chips. It's cheap and I had it all on hand. We've reached the close of our first day and each girl has five "#1" stars, we've gone through about 10 pairs of underwear and only about 5 accidents (with three kids, I expected tons more). We shall see what the night brings....I think I may need to buy some more sheets.....

It's always been my favorite time of year. Every year, I look for new Fall photo opportunities. Everything is so full of vivid color. I love seeing the leaves on the ground and crushing them with my feet when I walk. I love the hint of crispness in the air and the smell reminds me a bit of home---you know, the smell of burning fields? haha ! But it's totally true! I just feel so happy and alive! Which is slightly ironic because, in essence, everything is in preparation for winter hibernation. Go figure. The girls and I went for our first neighborhood walk yesterday. It was in the upper 70's and there was a cool breeze. Perfect for walking! We rolled over some crunchy leaves and it just felt so fall- ish . I love our new neighborhood. Everywhere you look there are tall, mature trees. It just 'feels' nice. Don't get me wrong, our old neighborhood was fantastic and totally quiet! But there weren't many trees and there weren't any parks within walking dist...

No, I'm not talking about my lack of blogging....wait....maybe I am.....yeah, I guess technically I am... I have failed to mention that Tony and I celebrated our 6 th Wedding Anniversary on the 12 th this month and our 5 th Eternal Anniversary on the 11 th . We weren't able to go out (YET! Unless you count going to the grocery store with the girls...which sadly, is a fun 'outing' for us) but Tony did bring home some lovely things for me and our new house (and most were on clearance! I LOVE that he saved some money, too!!!!) -a clothes steamer with attachments for cleaning! Awesome! -a toaster -a couple silicone trivets and kitchen towels by MARTHA -a couple sauce pans -'The Princess Bride' movie on BluRay -which he hates but knows I love. ("Anybody wanna peanut??") -some gorgeous red roses -And a TO DIE FOR chocolate cake---I think it was called "Chocolate Kiss". It had layers of chocolate cake filled with strawberry glaze, strawberry cr...

I honestly do not believe that it's been an entire month since we've moved in. Yet, it feels like a millennia (mostly at night). I don't want to jinx it, but just in the last week, the girls have been sleeping through the night, even with colds! They REALLY have had a hard time adjusting to their new house and beds and room. I'm sure it's so scary to have nearly everything you find familiar taken from you. Poor babies. But I figured the '21 day habit' rule would apply, and it's pretty much held true! It's been so nice to get a solid 7 hours of sleep each night. Although, I've been sick too so I have been waking up stuffy and coughing a little, but I'll take it over lying on the hard floor in their room just praying that their eyes will close and they won't pop their little heads up to make sure I haven't left the room!!! :/ But the girls have been overjoyed to have their own space to stretch out in and explore. I can already see grow...

But there are a couple of updated house pics on the other blog. I am hoping that maybe I won't need to link to it in the future...I hate to do these silly posts...as if anyone is really interested, hahaaa!

Check out the 'other' blog for the latest set of photos! Thanks everyone!

((Apparently you have to click on 'view full screen' to see the Father's Day thing I did for Tony. Sorry. Don't know what happened.)) I also wanted to pay tribute to my own father. He and my mom were recently here for three weeks or so to help us on the house. Words can't express my gratitude to both of them for their manual labor (yes, watching the girls is manual labor, too...trust me...) We were able to do SOOO much thanks to my parents. We would have been lost had they not come to help us get the house ready and watch the kids. Every time I go to the "new house" to work, they say "help sampa (grandpa) clean?"---they still think Grandpa is over there, haha. too cute. I just say yes, because they don't get that 'Idaho' is a LOT further away...oh well. When we take them over there for the first time, we might have some explaining to do....lol. We love you guys and can't wait for you to come back soon! Here is a really cute vid...

Seriously?? Seriously. Why do my children have to be SO NAUGHTY ??? Is it because there are three of them vying for the same attention? Do they feel that have to out-naughty the other two sisters?? I'm completely convinced that multiples get into more mischief than singletons. Maybe this is an exaggeration, but seriously, people with multiples, is this what you have found too??? Everyday, they are getting into something they shouldn't. I mean, they ARE two years old, and we always hear about "the terrible two's"...but really?? It's not just messing up things---which they do plenty of---it's destroying things. Or getting into things that could literally kill them. The other day, Ashleigh had climbed up the cabinets, got a butcher knife out of the open drawer and had it in her hand when I walked in the room! The latch went on the next day. We can't have nice books with any sort of pop up or texture or even paper pages---they are gone in two seconds. Th...

"Why, yes! Yes, that IS paint!" (A gallon of paint, to be exact. And, yes, that is my car. The driver's seat, actually.) That was my response to the nosey man, with a 6 year old child in tow, who was in line ahead of me at the car detailer. It's as if NO ONE has ever seen a little paint spilled before.... It's just paint people, keep walkin'! :) As you can imagine, I drew a crowd. It all started when I was on my way back to Lowe's (with offending paint can on the floor behind my seat) to buy a few more supplies, including a small tube of blue paint to be used to tint the paint that was currently still in it's can . I only had an hour until the girls got up from their naps and had to relieve my mother-in-law from her kid-watching-post, so I knew I had to be super duper fast. I was just about to the off-ramp when four cars in front of me all slammed on their breaks, of course causing me to slam on my brakes. It was enough to lay some rubber down, I can...

See a couple post-demolition shots here!

Just wanted to let you all know that I've posted "The Before's" on the other blog . Enjoy!

WOW! Thanks everyone for all the visits! I feel sad I missed my actual 10,000th visit, but blogger was being dumb...again.... Thanks again, one and all!!!

I've decided that there are two kinds of stress in life: 1. The "WORRY" stress. This is the 'life and death' kind of stress. The kind that truly scares you. My pregnancy/kids' births/infancy(toddlerhood, etc etc etc) falls under this category. I can say that that was the most stressful "worry-stress" moment of my life; and I have a feeling that will never go away. AND THEN: 2. The "PRESSURE" stress. This is the stress you feel when needing to complete a certain task or accomplish any kind of goal or something like that. This is the kind of stress I'm going through now. I have never had more "pressure-stress" than I have right at this moment. I came upon this theory in the shower today (I so needed a moment to take a break from everything. The girls were finally asleep. I took about a 20 minute nap and then a long 40 minute, much needed, shower.) I thought for a moment "This is the most stressful moment of my life." T...

Sometimes I hate blogger---- it randomly doesn't let me sign in!! I've been trying for over a week to do a post, and it wouldn't let me! It would just process and process then say "this page cannot be displayed..blah blah". Grr! But it's working today, finally! I am working on a few posts so check back on both blogs soon for updates with the girls and on the house. Thanks for everyone who voted in the poll! I think I will post both since that's what the majority suggested. So, thanks again! Have a great Monday!!

I have had a lot of requests for pictures of our renovation, but I don't know if y'all want me to post "BEFORE'S" and "AFTER'S" when it's all completed, or if you want "real time" progress shots??? Let me know so I can get them posted. They will be on the OTHER BLOG instead of here, just so you are aware! so, VOTE! thanks!! :)

Redundant? Perhaps.... I have been on a blog strike. I haven't even signed into Google in days. Don't be offended that I haven't been reading your blog posts. I care about you, but.... I think I am in denial....Actually, I know I'm in denial. My life is in the middle of turning upside down. It will be fine when it actually reaches the "upside down" point, but right now, it's like I'm stuck sideways and all of my "stuff" is just flying around. The worst part is, I don't know when it will normalize again . The past two (I guess, three) years have been a perpetual state of limbo. I never knew what to expect on any given day---from finding out we were having triplets , to fears of losing them during a rough pregnancy, to fears of losing them after their premature births, to not knowing how I was going to make it through any given day , and, although a lot has changed and my previous fears have subsided, new ones have developed. It's a ...

I forget that we have the same birthday, my little blog! I am sorry I neglect you...often....but I will try to be better! I promise! We've shared laughter, tears and we've even had a fight or two. But, I LOVE YA, BLOG! Even if I don't always show it....

WE'RE MOVING!!!!!!!! Woohoooo! It's been something we've been working on for six months now, but we are now getting to the point where it's a reality and we can share our secret with everyone! It's been killing me to keep quiet until we were really sure it was happening. :) We are remodeling a three bedroom house in the same area we are currently living. Actually, it is Tony's childhood home. It will be fun to breath new life into this home and make it 'ours'. Tony will have his own enclosed office, the girls will have a large playroom, I will have my own small craft/sewing area, lots of little perks like a walk-in pantry and most importantly---a backyard for the girls!!! I've been dreaming of decorating or building a house since I was a little girl. I will say that it is a lot more stressful than I ever expected it to be. I don't want that to sound ungrateful or snotty, because I am so so soooo appreciative for this opportunity. But there is so ...

I'm having a rough one today. My throat hurts from screaming at my children. Yes, screaming. Judge away, if you must. I don't care. I'm sure most of you have more control than I do, but I've reached my breaking point. I repeatedly told my children to stay away from the blinds and the curtains but they just won't listen. Apparently while I was out of the room trying to get something accomplished, they found a marker under the couch and proceded to draw on the blinds, window, couch, lamp shade, pillows, couch again, their outfits, hands and finally their faces. I was too enraged to take pictures, and I'm sure I'll regret that. So much to do and I can't do anything. I'm so frustrated and sick of all of it. I love my children, but I'm going insane. An honest post from me.

I've been unable to be on the blog for almost two months and I feel so disconnected from everyone and the world around me! Sadly, this is how I communicate with a lot of people and it's killing me! Not to mention it's probably going to take hours to back-read everyone's blogs! (IF YOU ARE NOT ON MY BLOGROLL TO THE RIGHT---PLEEEEEEAAAAAASE GIVE ME YOUR BLOG ADDRESS!! I AM MISSING A LOT OF BLOGS AND I MISS YOU!!) Life has been unbelievably crazy and it is only the beginning of the craziness. You probably won't hear from me again for a while, but I'm going to try and post some pics of our recent trip to Utah. (We just got back last night, so give me some time to get reorganized and my pics downloaded) :) It was so great to see family and friends. Thanks to everyone for helping out and spending time with us. We loved every minute!! Later!

So, maybe Avery has a very common look---or I don't know what. But I, and a lot of other people, tend to find or see kids that remind them of her. Here are two of the best examples. 1. There is a painting called "Snow Angels" by Robert Duncan and the little girl in the painting looks a lot like Avery. My sister and dad told me about it. See for yourself: 2. There was a web video circulating about 18 months ago, which was then turned into a commercial, that so many people have said reminded them of Avery (besides the fact that the child is a boy, but Avery had boy hair for a long time when she was a tiny baby). The laugh and everything was dead on. Eerily so. I'm sure you've seen it, but it's really cute, so watch it again. I DARE YOU to try not to laugh. I remember the first time seeing it (pretty sure on Ellen?) and thinking "wow--that is AVERY!" But it wasn't...obviously... :) www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXXm696UbKY (I tried to post the video here,...

This was a fun weekend, aside from the colds we all have. Avery and Jordyn and Tony seem to be on the mend. Poor Ashleigh, who always gets the worst of it, and myself seem to be in the thick of the sickness. Yippie . Saturday Tony had a black tie awards banquet for his work that we attended. It was fun to get all dolled up. Stressful to find appropriate clothing and such, but still very fun. I look forward to several of these types of events in the coming years. You can read more about my adventures in clothing and accessories for the night here . Then Sunday was the Super Bowl. Tony is a huge fan of the Steelers . His dad was born and raised in the Pittsburgh area, so it's in the blood I think. We went over to the LaPlaca's house in the afternoon for food and the game. The girls were a bit mellower than usual because they were sick, and that was fine with me (and everyone else!) It was a fun time. We are glad that the Steelers are the champs again! Here are some pics of the...