::imperfect perfection x3::

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.....