This Week

It seems like I have not blogged in a while, so I thought I would let you know what we have been up to.

We joined the YMCA last week and so the "safari" and I have been enjoying that experience. The triplets and Hannah get to play together with other children and then Elijah gets to play on this 2-3 story indoor playscape. Mommy has enjoyed the STEP classes that are offered, but have not enjoyed the pain the next morning. Also I am in a Bible study at Grace and the "safari" gets to play with more children.

Hannah got sick this week. So we went to see our favorite pediatrician, DR. Rane Nishi. Hannah has strep throat and another UTI. I am telling you we cannot get to February 15th fast enough. They had to put a catheter in her and she fought hard for that not to happen. Then they had to swab her mouth so she was not a happy camper at all.

Noel again traveled this week. I say that like it was just a once in a while thing, but it is not. He travels a lot more in the next couple of months. It is nice to see him and the "safari" have really missed him this year more than last year. Jacob is having the hardest time. The other night he woke up screaming for daddy. I tried to comfort him but he did not want anything to do with me; he wanted daddy. So daddy is on call when he travels for a phone call in the middle of the night to talk to Jacob. Please pray that Jacob can process travel season better.

Well I think that is all that happened this week. I will try to blog more, but of course who knows what next week will bring. I am also going to try to get the "safari" to sing their ABC's on the video camera. It is too cute.

Poor Hannah

I took Hannah to the doctor's a couple months ago because she had a fever and was not feeling well. Our pediatrician told us that she had a UTI (urinary tract infection). Well if a small child gets a UTI they usually want to get them checked out to make sure that the urine is moving in the right direction and not refluxing.

Yesterday Noel and I took Hannah to Dell's Children Hospital to see the Children Imaging center for the ARA (Austin Radiological Association). Hannah had an ultrasound of her kidneys. The people at the imagine center were fantastic. They had fish circling the room. Hannah just laid there and let them do their thing. Well that was the easy test of the day. After that she had to get a VCUG. That is where they put a catheter in and shut dye into her bladder, take pictures and then get her to release that dye. They strapped her to a table, rotated her and took some pictures with a massive machine. Hannah was not thrilled to be restrained. Then they wanted her to pee, well being my daughter, she decided that she was not going to pee for them. They poured about 4-5 cups of warm water on her before she could not resist anymore.

We got the test results back and Hannah has stage III Vesicoureteral reflux. Let me explain: After your kidneys process your fluids they go down into your bladder, well that fluid is sterile when it goes down. When your bladder is full then you pee, while your body waits to pee that sterile fluid becomes contaminated. When you pee you are suppose to release that pee in one direction. Well with Vesicoureteral reflux some of that contaminated pee goes the wrong direction, back to the kidneys. The stage that you are given is determinant on how far the fluid goes up to the kidneys. Hannah has a stage III which means that the fluid goes all the way to the kidneys. This is not good.

We are seeing a pediatric urologist on the 15th of February to talk about our options. Now there is a chance that with medication that Hannah will grow out of this but there is also a chance that she will have to have surgery to fix the problem. For right now Hannah is on a low-dose antibiotic and will be on it until we see the urologist.

Please pray that Hannah will stay healthy and not have anymore UTI's and that she will be healed by either time or a skilled surgeon. The ultrasound showed that there has not been any significant damage to the kidneys. I will provide you some information through links so that you can learn more. Please keep her in your prayers.

Here is a great webpage that explains Hannah's condition.

Video Material:

Mother's and Daughter's

Over the last several months my mother has been on my mind and in my prayers more frequently. The other day I was thinking about all the things that I do with my "safari" that my mother did with us when we were kids.

**Being a stay at home mother
**Cooking and baking with the "safari"
**Teaching them to be polite and compassionate
**Teaching them that we are a family and everyone needs to help
**Discipline

Well the list could go on forever. One of the traits that I have taken from my mother is the need for my surroundings to be clean and orderly. I personally cannot live in an environment for too long that is in disarray. My mind starts to tell me that I need to clean and where to start and I can tell about how much time it will take me to do so. Now I have a cleaning schedule and for the most part that schedule is followed, but there are times when I cannot clean because I need a day of me time when the "safari" is sleeping and when Noel is out of town for several days in a row.

On Saturday I went to my mother's house to do a daughter thing. My mother has been sick for the last several weeks. She started out having bronchitis and then moved to phenomena and then something else. Well all this to let you know that my mother should not be doing anything but sitting and making sure that her oxygen level is good. So I went to clean my mother's house; I did not call ahead of time I just showed up because if I had called she would have stated "no, my house is clean." You see my mother and I have the same thing in common we do not ask for help easily. The entire time that I was there my mother was trying to help me clean her house.

I have thought about that the last couple of days and realize that I would do the same thing. I want to be the Proverbs 31 women and do not want anyone to help me, but sometimes you do need help and you should let people help you if they offer or show up at your door step.

Thank you mother for teaching me to be that Proverbs 31 women and hopefully we can learn together that it is okay to ask for help when we are in need of it. I hope that you are feeling better we love you and cannot thank you enough for all the help that you have given us. You are a lifesaver when Noel is out of town. We love you and the "safari" cannot get enough of you.

Peep Show

In the last couple of weeks we have let Elijah have the opportunity to pee in the upstairs toilet at nap time. The other day I was downstairs doing chores and heard the toilet upstairs flush. I smiled because I was so proud that Elijah was using the toilet.

About 30 minutes later I heard a knock at the door. I was curious because I was not expecting packages or company. It was one of our neighbors. She had a smile on her face like she had been laughing. I asked if I could help her and she went on to tell me that Elijah was in the window with nothing from the waist down. As I tried not to laugh she stated that we must be potty training. I thanked her and went upstairs.

Elijah was standing in the window watching the cars go by naked from the waist down. Noel bought some window tint about a month ago. We are going to have to put that up so if it happens again the outside world will not know that Elijah is naked because they will not be able to see in through the window.

What is your most embarassing moment that your child had done to you?

Two Squares

Esther is really getting the hang of potty training. She tells me when she needs to go and very seldom has an accident. I bought her panties today; she is totally excited that Monday she gets to wear her panties.

With potty training it seems that my "safari" likes to pee when I am in the middle of something. They other day I was in the middle of something and Esther needed some toilet paper. She cannot reach it because her arms are not long enough. The first thing in my mind was to send Elijah in the bathroom to help her. The first time he gave her one piece of toilet paper. So the next time I made the comment "Elijah give Esther two squares."

Later that day Esther stated that she needed to go to the bathroom and as she was in the bathroom the boys come to me and say "Esther needs two squares." I know it is my fault, but I laugh every time that Esther has to go to the bathroom because the boys state that she needs two squares.

Trash Day

Tuesday morning is trash day in our house. Which means that the "safari" helps with the trash. Throughout the week we put the empty boxes, milk containers and other bulky trash items on the dryer so that it does not make the trash can fill faster.



The "safari" gets to take these items to the big blue trash container outside. They think this is fantastic and every Tuesday morning they are jumping off the walls. Well as you might know it has been really cold outside in the mornings and so I had to dress them a little more than just Crocs and PJ's.



I think that it is great that we are teaching them early that this is a family house and that everyone has to help keep the house clean.



Soon they will be unloading the dishwasher and doing laundry. Right now we pick up our toys, which is a post for tomorrow, put our dishes in the sink, put our clothes in the laundry basket, pick up our rooms, and take out the trash. They also like to push the buttons on the dishwasher, washer and dryer to start their cycles.

Happy Birthday Sean

Today is Sean's, Noel's brother, birthday. The "safari" love saying "happy birthday" any chance they get. You see they have a rabbit in the playroom that if you press the belly it says, "happy birthday." So they have been saying happy birthday to everyone and everything.

Sean we hope that you have a wonderful birthday and I thought that I would send you a video of our "safari" saying happy birthday. Just think one day you will hopefully have your own children so they can say happy birthday to you, until then you have our "safari." We love you.

Kriss Kross in a new generation!

If you know who Kriss Kross is then you will understand this post. If you do not know who Kriss Kross is please let me explain. Kriss Kross was a group in the 1990's that were two boys who were rappers and put their clothes on backwards. So as soon as I saw this picture that is what came to mind.



The "safari" can now dress themselves, which is fantastic. Each morning after breakfast the "safari" gets to take their PJ's off and then gets to put clothes on. Now I try to make the clothes easy to put on, no buttons or zippers on pants. With each new day someone puts something on backwards, but I cannot fix it because the "safari" is so excited that they did it themselves. I am proud that they can dress themselves and I do not have to do it. Now if only I can teach them to use the washing machine.

Two Peas in a Pod

Two peas in a pod. That is all I can say about this picture:



This is what Noel and I saw the other morning when we went to let them out of their room. Esther likes to crawl into the crib with Hannah. You have to love sister love. I just hope that this is a beginning of a great relationship. You have to love each of these moments when all you can do is show your spouse and laugh.

What It means to have multiples in public!

Ever since Noel and I found out that we were having triplets we have been asked several questions and more than half more personal than would be asked to a family pregnant with just a singleton. To give you some of the questions that we have been asked:

1. Were you on fertility treatments?
2. Wow your hands are full!
3. Oh, wow, bet you're done now, right!
4. Whoa, and I thought one was bad!
5. Are your (boy/boy/girl) triplets identical?
6. My cousin's friend's sister's neighbor who lives over in Winchesterfieldsville had triplets etc.
7. Have you seen that show.. Jon + Kate?" or worse "Wow a couple more and you could be Octomom
8. Can I take a picture of your babies/kids?
9. I bet it gets annoying when people ask you all kinds of questions when you're trying to get stuff done, huh?
10. You know how this happens right?

To name a few. Since our "safari" walks where we go we get lots of stares. What it feels like we are in a parade and we are the only entry in the parade. Now the "safari" is too young to know that it is not normal to be stared at wherever we go. It happens everywhere we go church, store, parks, etc. Since my "safari" are so close in age they are all put into the same situation.

Most of the time Noel and I try to be as polite as possible and if the person that is making the comment seems to be just curious and not trying to pry we let them talk to the "safari" and we answer some of their questions. We like grandma's who like to say hello. But that is not what happened the other day at Wal-Mart.

After Sunday church I took the "safari" to Wal-Mart without Noel because he was working hard on the play set. I went to Wal-Mart to do my shopping to get the "safari" out of the house. Hannah was in the basket and the other four where walking on their animal rope. We were doing great until we where in the chip/soda aisle.

We were walking down the aisle and I noticed that the weight distribution in the line changed suddenly. I turned to find a male trying to pick up two of my children from the line. Now let me tell you that this man did not try to start a conversation with my "safari" or with me first. So the momma bear came out of me, but the filter was turned on because my "safari" was standing there. I told this man in the loudest voice that I could make, "At what point did you see the 'free petting zoo' sign above my children?" He continued to stand there. I made several comments until the store manager made it to the aisle and I let him know that I was not pleased that I could not shop in store without being assaulted. The man never apologized for trying to pick up my "safari." We did not finish our shopping but bought lunch for the guys and left.

After several days and several thoughts that went through my mind was that this would never happen if I had singletons, or my "safari" was not so close in age. I felt sorry for my "safari" that they cannot be left alone when we go somewhere. Are we suppose to stay inside so my "safari" is not stared at, pictures are not taken, people do not ask stupid questions? NO, we not going to stay inside but we are going to live our lives and our "safari" will continue to walk with each other on their animal line and not be shoved into strollers or shopping baskets to make it easier on me, because they are people too no matter what other people think.

I struggle with my comments that I want to make to people when they ask me stupid questions, or when they try to touch, hold, pick up my "safari." I have to ask God to help me with my tongue when we leave the house and to make me humble and compassionate with people even though they do not have filters. Noel and I pray that our "safari" will understand that they will be looked at through out their childhood and that they are unique but still normal.

For all you that like to stare and ask stupid questions, please put on some kind of filter until you get to know us. Just because we have multiples and children close in age does not mean that all questions are good and no question is off limits. We are human and have personal lives just like you do. Ask A question and move on.

Car Seat Cover

Christmas Eve we took the "safari" to Nanna and Papa's house. When the "safari" got into the van they tracked the mud that was in the driveway into the van and into their seats. So of course we had to take the seats out and wash the covers.

Elijah's car seat cover has seen better days. So when we took the covers off I knew that his cover would not make it through another wash cycle. I looked on the web to see if I could find a replacement for his car seat. The ones that were made for his car seat ranged from 65.00 to 179.00. That is right, why not just buy another car seat from Wal-Mart. Of course I looked at the car seat cover and realized that I could make him a new one.

I went to Hobby Lobby and found the material that I wanted and went home. After taking the old car seat cover apart, I went to work. It took me about a day and a half of work, me working when the "safari" was asleep to finish the car seat cover. I found that I could just buy a universal car seat cover for about $30 after I was done with mine. I only spent about $25 on mine and I think that I did pretty well since all I had was the old car seat cover.

After finishing my car seat cover I was sad that I did not take a picture of the old car seat cover so that you could see the difference in the two pictures. So all you get is one picture the after picture of what the car seat looks likes now. I have to say that I am pretty proud of myself and I hope that Elijah likes his new cover and that it lasts for a while.

Christmas Card Love

I love Christmas for several reasons, but one of them is for the Christmas cards that we receive. Each year we go to the mail box hoping to receive a Christmas card that we can read and hang on the cabinets. This year we were excited because we received several Christmas cards/letters. I love the letters that tell you what has happened in that family for that year and what everyone is doing.

My favorite this year was from the Tanner's. You see their Christmas card was an OOPS Christmas card because Jamie misspelled Christmas. She spelled it Chrirtmas. In her letter she explained that the mistake was because she was trying to do the Christmas Cards with all three boys.

Our family sent out 100 Christmas cards this year. The great thing is that we only paid for postage due to a website having two different promo codes going on at the same time. We got 100 cards sent to our house for $0.00. Those are the best Christmas cards ever.

I took a picture of the LOVE that we received this year from friends and family. How many will we get next year?

ACLU, Merry Christmas

About a month ago I received an email that the ACLU was trying to get "Merry Christmas" removed because it was against some religious beliefs and that "Happy Holidays" was more politically correct and religious sensitive.

A couple days later I read an advertisement that the ACLU was trying to get "Merry Christmas" removed and that if you believed in Christmas and the true meaning that you should send the ACLU in your area a "Merry Christmas" card to remind them what the true meaning of Christmas is.

I decided that was a great idea and so I sent one of our Christmas cards to the local office in Austin. Well apparently they received hundreds if not thousands of Christmas cards because I received a response from the ACLU. They gave me a letter that was more than 4 pages long on how they have protected the religious freedoms their entire existence and that they just want all religions to feel free in this country and that is why it would be better to say "happy holidays" but at the end of the letter they wanted me to feel special and they wished me a Merry Christmas.

I found it heart breaking that we are a country that has become so politically correct that we are willing to give up our freedom to say "merry Christmas" because we might hurt someones feelings. In this family we will ALWAYS say MERRY CHRISTMAS no matter what any political organization might want. When we take Christ out of Christmas or replace him with Holidays then we are selling our beliefs short and we need to stand for what we believe even if it is not the Politically Correct thing to do. I would rather share my faith with someone then sit silently because I might offend someone. When I stand before God and he asks me why I did not witness to someone I do not think "I was trying to be Politically Correct and I did not want to hurt some one's feelings" is going to make God happy.

MERRY CHRISTMAS.