3rd birthday recap

The boys third birthday party was kept short and sweet and stress free (is that even possible?) The boys got some great toys and we made some great memories!


Papa Ted making the kids laugh

















The birthday cake

















Lauren and Ms. Robin

















Papa Ted, Aunt Brenda, Nana and Travis

















Our nanny and friend, Emily with Lauren

















Getting ready to blow out the candles
(notice the individual cakes)

















The chaos that comes with opening gifts

















hanging out with the new pool

















What a great birthday the boys had!! I think the next birthday will be held at a venue vs our house! (grin)

Aunt Brenda's summer 2011 visit

Aunt Brenda was in town for the boys birthday and we kept her busy ;-) One day we took the boys to Pump It Up during their preschool free play - it was just long enough to tire out the adults.

Although it was H O T (triple digits) we attempted to go to the zoo. With the boys napping right at 12:00 it's hard to go on some outing and make it worthwhile. We headed out and arrived at the zoo around 9:45 and stayed only a couple of hours before it was so hot that we couldn't stand it any longer!


































































The following day we went to the Rodeo. Since it was two days before the boys birthday I had asked to have their birthdays announced at the arena. I got confirmation that they received my request, but we weren't able to stay for the entire rodeo to hear the announcement ;-( The rodeo started at 7:30 and the boys bed time is around 8 p.m. and "we" had finally had enough of trying to wrangle the boys to watch the festivities at around 8:45. But dang those boys were cute in their boots and jeans. When we walked in, the arena was giving out free cowboy hats..Mr. Logan wore his almost the entire time!





Lauren and Travis















Ian













Logan (he wore the hat that way all night)





















































My new favorite pic of Brenda














That, my friends and neighbors, is a thirsty cowboy!



























Next blog entry....The boys 3rd birthday party....stay tuned!

Happy Birthday Boys - you are 3

The boys are 3 today. We've had a fun few days with Aunt Brenda visiting; we've been busy as we've gone to the zoo, the rodeo and had a great birthday party with family.

This is the latest pic of the boys from one of our favorite photographers, Jackie Reitz.


















I'll do a more thorough post of their birthday party but wanted to give the boys a shout out on their day!

We love you bunches boys!

Middle school bound

As I put on my facebook page yesterday, it was official Wednesday night at the awards ceremony but I am just now acknowledging that I have a middle schooler. Where did the time go? I remember dropping her off at kindergarten and I couldn't stay for the Boo Hoo / Hooray coffee time for parents because I was just too distraught; instead I went home and cried most of the day.

A lot of my friends have been emotional this week and especially at graduation a few nights ago...not me. Maybe I was too busy with the daily happenings here and the boys MDO this week, all the errands, oh yeah..and the DMV to get a license renewal, and scheduling babysitters for all the end of year deals.

Then it hit me.....as I was walking into the school to witness the 5th graders do their final walk through the school. All the other grades come out of their classes and give the 5th graders a high five as they walk by. I held it together until Lauren and I walked back to the car. I can't believe that she is done with Elementary school. I will miss all the teachers and staff there, but will see them as I take two of the three boys to speech next fall, for a few months anyway. A lot of the staff are facebook friends and that's pretty much how I stay updated on the happenings. And then there is the unfamiliar middle school....do you realize how much I hate unfamiliar things? Luckily Lauren's aunt is one of the counselors at that school so I have someone that will lookout for Lauren so to speak. Oh and yes, the obvious I'm sad that she is growing up (there I said it)

Lauren in kindergarten with Mrs. Klimek











After school let out on the last day of school Lauren spent the afternoon with her friends, which has been a tradition since the first grade. Usually they hang out at a pool and spend the night, but this year the Cordry family had a select few out on their boat and then the overnight festivities began (at the Cordry's house that means sleep).

I even have proof that Lauren was being pulled
behind the boat in a tube!! Way to go girlie!








And now......my 6th grader.......



A/B honor roll

Even Emily, our nanny, came to watch the graduation ceremonies.





















Summer is here and we have lots of fun activities planned for Lauren and the boys. Aunt Brenda will be here in about two weeks and then the boys birthday party. June is always quite busy for me, and then July and August is where planning is key to keep Lauren and the boys entertained for the summer!

Before I know it, it will be time for school to start up in the fall!

It's been awhile....

Wow has it really been almost 4 weeks since I updated? I had a couple drafts in the que but nothing published.

Let's see what has happened since the last post on 23 April?

a. Easter Sunday - crazy hunt at the house and then crazy lunch and confetti eggs at Nana's and Papa's.

b. took all three boys to the dentist for the first time (that is a post in itself)

c. Lauren had an orthopedic evaluation due to pains in her ankles/Achilles tendon but the diagnosis was good. All that is wrong is that her growth plates in heel is not completely closed so she is having to stretch twice a day and wear some orthotics for the next few months.

d. Lauren has played in two soccer tournaments in the last two weeks.

e. Lauren is signed up for middle school and is signed up for band and will be playing the clarinet!

f. Ian had a small cavity filled at the dentist.

g. Is that it? seems like so much more! I'm constantly feeling like my calendar is way out of control.

Oh I'm sure the list continues and I've forgotten something.

On a positive note, Ian is wearing underwear willingly and is making numerous trips to the potty. When I say numerous...I mean it. Every 10 minutes! I'm ok with all the trips to the potty but my water bill is going to be outrageous because he has to flush every time! But again...I'm happy...we are making progress. He even is taking a nap right now in a pull up (bedtime special underwear). Notice I didn't talk about accidents ;-)

Logan and Travis are talking more and more. If you have followed the blog or are family, then you know that they were a little speech delayed. We have a speech therapist that comes out to the house once a week to work with the boys and will continue until they turn 3 next month. She even says that they have greatly improved and jokes that they don't need her anymore, but she still helps me with new ideas to get these boys to talk and we even tried to play Candyland with all three....big fail...but it's something we can work on again.

Now for some pics....

Easter:




















































A couple of Fridays ago Lauren has a lock in at her school and it was a Luau theme.
I thought she picked out some cute Hawaiian items. Mike thought it might be over the top had I ordered her a real lei from Hawaii (but ohhh I was so tempted).













and while sissy was at her school function, the boys ate outside!


















and this one? well just because Travis looks sooo comfy.

The week leading up to Easter

It's been crazy busy around here. I've been trying to get the boys out of the house once a day during the week and it has seemed to have worked and my afternoons are getting a bit better, but I don't have any extra time for blogging.

Mike traveled this week and when he came home on Thursday it was time for the city's Easter Egg hunt. Last year the boys didn't pick up one egg. This year wasn't much better. Ian ran off with Lauren and came back with a bucket full. Logan and I took off and he ran past a few eggs with a certain colored egg in his view. He grabbed only two eggs. Mike had Travis and he was more than happy with just his ONE egg. Mike was a little disappointed, but hell if the kids are happy then it's all good! Less candy I have to deal with!

































Mr. Ian charms everyone. I didn't see anyone else being hoisted on the ponys.

















Today, I attempted a craft with the boys. Lauren was home from school so I had an extra set of hands "just in case". I sneak back and watch the boys when they are in their Mommys Day Out program and they seem to do their painting and such pretty well so I figured I'd try it at home! They did an awesome job. Of course I handled the glue but they did a great job decorating their Bunny hats. Even Lauren made herself a hat (I won't post a picture as I'm sure I'd get kicked if she found out..but that's not to say that I won't use it on her slideshow at graduation).


















































And this was my new project for today. They turned out pretty well I might add!

















Happy Easter!!

Does it get easier?

Today at Multiples and More the question of the week is what a lot of people ask me these days...Does it get easier (as they get older)?



Looking back to when the boys were born, it was a lot of work with little sleep. Feeding, changing, burping the boys every 3 hours. It would take another hour to clean up and get ready for the next feeding..so I only had two hours to sleep/pump/shower/spend time with Lauren, etc. and that lasted for about 3 months.















(the date of this pic is wrong BTW)



Once the boys got mobile it got a bit easier as I gave them access to the house, with numerous gates throughout the house. The feeding/eating every three hours didn't change and I felt (and still do) that I spend all my day in the kitchen.

















As the boys are toddlers and moving towards preschoolers it's becoming harder. If one wants to do something it's inevitable that the other two want to do something different and I'm stretched in two or three different directions trying to make everyone happy; adding on any help with homework that Lauren may have after school.

Right now we are in a phase that I can't get a hold of. Usually we are all out of whack for about a week before I realize that their needs are changing and I can adapt. I'm still trying to figure out what is going on so that I can keep these boys happy and from screaming out of frustration!

So, does it get easier? Yes and No. It has gotten easier in the fact that I get more sleep and no more bottles to make and clean. They are all talking enough so that I can tell what they want most of the time. But as they are getting closer to 3 yrs old I'm struggling with three different personalities that don't always get along, share, etc. Not to mention that I have potty training and moving them to toddler beds hanging over my head!

I'm sure I'll look back on these last two years and realize that this was easier than teenagers x 3. I do the best that I can do. This is my life and I wouldn't change it for the world!!