Introducing...Bob???

Noah says "dada, daddy, dad, dadadada" constantly. So I have been working with him on "mom." When he says anything with "dad" in it, I say "I'm Mommmm, Mmmmommmy, Mmmmommma," you get the idea. Since this happens on a pretty constant basis, we do this little exchange a LOT lately. Today he looked right at me and say, clear as day "Bob." Well, apparently, I am "Bob" because now he says quite often to me "bob." I guess that's better than dad.

[Yes, I am aware they are just babbling and none of it means anything yet anyway, but it doesn't hurt try!]

Signed,
Bob (aka Mom, aka Trista)

Reflecting

"To whom much is given, from him much will be required." -Luke 12:48 NKJV

Last night, Ethan woke up around 10:30, which seems to be his new "normal." As I was rocking him, I looked at him and thought of how far we have come. I am in awe of all that has happened in such a relatively short period of time. We are so very blessed and I am forever grateful for all that has been given to us.


I was thinking back to just finding out we were pregnant and how excited I was! I couldn't believe it finally happened. And then to see three tiny heartbeats on that screen...wow! I will never forget praying in the restroom right before my ultrasound that there be a heartbeat and the "baby" be OK, and oh, yeah, God, as a sideline, please let there be at least two babies and preferably three. I was utterly flabbergasted when I found out there were three babies. Steve has since told me to be a little less specific next time...I'm thinking maybe more specific would be helpful (please let there be another baby, and oh, yeah, only one next time Lord!!). Being told to abort "at least one, and preferably two" makes me think who wouldn't be here? If I had put all my trust in a human, instead of the Almighty, who would I have killed?

Remembering the entire pregnancy and worrying throughout all that maybe something would happen and they wouldn't all be OK. Wondering how early they'd be, how long they'd be in NICU, would they all come home?
Then thinking back to the birth and all that happened before and during. Hearing their first cries...how thankful I was and how amazed that they were all fine! Bringing them all home, with us, on that cold, cold day in February and being in awe of them when they got home. Watching Austin and Aidan interact and bond with them in the hospital and again, at home.
Those first couple of months went by in a blur. The nighttime feedings and how miserable Noah was. I prayed that something would be figured out and it was.


Now, at only seven months old, it seems like so much has happened in the last year since finding out. Staring down at Ethan, when I laid him down in that big ol' crib by himself, was just amazing. He is still so tiny, and yet, so healthy. They are all so happy and peaceful. They have come such a long way and we were spared all the heartache that could have been, and much of which is a reality for parents of multiples.

I have been told more times than I can count that God doesn't give us more than we can handle and God must have known what he was doing when he gave us triplets. I don't believe at all that God doesn't give us more than we can handle. Of course He gives us more, otherwise why would we ever lean on His strength and not our own understanding? But has he chosen us as parents of triplets? I believe so. And I take great comfort in knowing that God believes we can handle all of our children and has blessed us with each and every one of them and I lean on that daily.


We have come such a long way and we have all blended into this wonderful family. Yes, things are difficult some days. No, we are not perfect parents by any means and we make mistakes. Our lives are hectic and busy and full of activity, but would we ever change any of it? No way!


We are so very blessed and so very thankful. And I am reminded once again of "...to whom much is given, from him much will be required."

Up All Night

Ethan seems to have discovered after the weekend that if he gets up in the middle of the night, it's party time alone with Mommy and Daddy. We stayed at my sister's on Sunday night and Ethan and Nathanial had a hard time getting to sleep. More because they didn't feel good than anything else, I think. Ethan was starting to settle down, but decided it was much more fun to just stay awake, so he took forever to get down. Every single night since then, he has decided that he needs to wake up any time between 10 - 12 and he tries to stay up! Monday night, Nathanial had a very rough night because he couldn't breath through his nose and the only way he could figure out how to breath through his mouth was to cry. So he ended up sleeping with me all night, while Steve slept on the couch. He would exhaust himself from crying, sleep for an hour, then be back up. It was a very long night, especially since I was also sick. Steve was up with Ethan from 12 -2, but not because he wasn't feeling well, just because he wanted to party. He finally just put him down in his crib and Ethan went to sleep. Imagine that! Tuesday night, he got up around 9:00, so I stupidly took him downstairs since it was still "early." Big mistake, he was back up at 12:30, so Steve got up with him, he was up 30 minutes, then he put him down and out he went. Last night, he woke up at 10:30 and I took him into our room for a little while (Fred Thompson was on Leno, I didn't want to miss it!) then took him back to his room. He got upset very quickly when I laid him down, so I went back in after about 30 seconds and rocked him for a little bit. He tried smiling at me, talking to me, touching my face, anything to get my attention. It was very difficult to not interact with him, but I knew I couldn't. We rocked for about five minutes, then I laid him down and he went back to sleep. Now I know, we shouldn't even give in to these little midnight visits, but it is very difficult not to and I cannot listen to my kids cry...it breaks my heart. So I guess if he wants to be up for a few minutes, I'll keep letting him. At least now I know to limit our visit to the rocking chair and try to ignore him!

Growing up way too fast!

This week has been FULL of new discoveries for Nathanial, Ethan, and Noah. They have decided that they would perfect the crawl-rock and even rock hard enough to scoot forward some. But even better than that, they discovered that if you rock in such a manor and swing your body upwards, you can sit up all by yourself with no help from anyone. Imagine my surprise when I left the room to three babies on their tummies and walked back in to two of them sitting up!! I thought Austin was playing a joke on me, until they fell over and got themselves BACK UP!!!! Their babyhood is going by way too fast for me!

Sick, Sick, Sick

We are all sick with something nasty this week. It started with Aidan last week with a mild cold. Then we headed to my sister's for her childrens' birthday and the babies came down with it. Monday we went to Steve's sisters and I started feeling really icky with a burning throat and throbbing ear. Today I couldn't even get out of bed. Thank goodness for Steve. He stayed home from work and took care of the babies, Aidan, and me. That was a relief! I am starting to s-l-o-w-l-y feel a tiny bit better but it just keeps hanging on. Steve and Austin also have terrible colds now. Ugh!!