36 Weeks

I had every intention of writing a 34 week and then a 35 week post, but they never happened. It’s been crazy around here between a week at the beach, getting things prepped and done around the house for the baby and just life in general. Of course I’ve had streams of words running around in my head constantly, but both the time and the energy to sit at a computer and put them out there has alluded me.

I am going to share some pictures though, because to me the craziest thing is that I’ve made it TWO WEEKS past the triplets gestation! I’ve made it home from vacation without an emergency hospital delivery 5 states away! Thank you LORD! Now, I can really settle in and enjoy the last few weeks of possible my last pregnancy.

I’ve mentioned before how I’ve stressed and been so anxious this pregnancy…that I’d go early or not make it home from vacation. I actually had a hysterical moment last Thursday, that my mom, my sister, and Matt were witness too. I started laughing about something and couldn’t stop, then the tears started and I was hysterical laughing and sobbing and just a complete wreck that they were all just looking at, because it was pretty funny. It felt so good to get that out, to just laugh and cry and feel the stress of the past 9+ months {going through treatment again was stressful too} just melt away.

34 weeks/35 weeks

And these are terrible horrible pictures; with the triplets it was the middle of the night, I was kind of freaked out that my water had broken, and I was so not ready for what lay ahead {thus the deer in the headlights glare}…the other picture I got one of the kids to take. This poor child certainly isn’t going to have the wonderful photos that the others had.

36 weeks

I’m definitely carrying this kid completely different than I did Ave. I’m very high up, with very little below…probably the reason why I’ve been able to get away with wearing my regular shorts and capris {I just wear them a bit lower}. If you are on Instagram, you did get to see me in my bathing suit at the beach. I was so thankful that the suit I bought 6 years ago, was still wearable {I was worried the elastic had dried out}.

With 4 weeks left we decided that we needed to get serious about projects and narrowing down names. Yesterday we narrowed down both lists, and then asked the kids their opinions…it was pretty funny, but at least we don’t have a huge list anymore.

As for me, I’m hanging in there. My hips are bothering me by the end of the day and during the night. I stole one of Ave’s pillows last night and had that between my knees and that helped immensely, I woke up this morning and was able to actually stand up straight when I got out of bed.

This being pregnant in warmer temperatures is definitely different. I don’t feel badly, but my hands and feet never like the heat to begin with, so I’ve had a bit of swelling in my feet, nothing out of the ordinary, just the usual it’s-hot-and-my-hands-and-feet-don’t-like-it.

We have another visit with my midwife this week, and then starts the wait and see. I’m so ready to meet this little one, but at the same time, so not ready to have another kid, especially a baby, or for this pregnancy to be over. I still want to get a video of my stomach moving.

The Fun Part

Since there are only a few weeks left what are your guesses on Gender and Birthdate? Leave’em in the comments!

Soul Friends {a Review}

I really wanted to love this book. Friendship is such an important thing to me, and something I struggle deeply with…the desire for truly meaningful relationships with other women. I was really hoping this book was going to give some insight into faith-friends and developing those kinds of relationships, but it really just left me bored and disinterested {probably why after a month I still haven’t hit page 100}.

The chapters were really short and easy to get through, but I felt like the book was not cohesive and really had a hard time staying on track. It was a wonderful concept, but failed to meet with the title or description of the book. More of a self-help for developing your own spiritual relationship, but really no mention of friends. If I had no preconceived notions of what the book was or about, I think I would’ve enjoyed it much more, as the stories, anecdotes, and application were all very good.

I am hoping to actually finish the book, I hate not finishing a book,  and will come back to amend my current review, but I’m not hopeful that it will get much better.

*I received this book for free from BookLookBloggers: The opinions and thoughts expressed here are my own. You can read my Disclosure Policy here.

My Life is Chaos…and that’s ok.

You can find this post on my new blog JessicaMWhite.com; I'd love for you to join me over there.

My Tiny Dancer

This weekend was Ave’s first ballet recital! The cuteness was almost more than I could stand! The whole year has been an absolute battle with her…she loves dancing, loves ballet, but every week of going was a fight…tears and all. Matt and I felt like the worst parents literally forcing her to go every week, but I knew she loved it!

Does this look like a child who is enjoying herself? I think she put this performance on only for me every week. Because then suddenly there would be this grown up, smiling ballerina in front of me!

And yes, my kid dances to her own music.

Then like that…it was over.

I tried uploading the video of her dancing, but it keeps giving me an error. You can find it here.

34 Weeks

It’s official: This is the longest I’ve been pregnant since Avelyn! The triplets were born at 33 weeks 6 days, and throughout the whole of this pregnancy I’ve held 34 weeks as the goal to achieve. I’ve written several times about my anxiety this pregnancy, my worries about whether or not I’ll be able to make it to full term.

This other triplet mom, has done up a spot-on list of the differences and similarities between a triplet pregnancy followed by a singleton. It’s completely different….obviously. For me, feeling how I do right now, at 34 weeks and running around with 4 kids, I’m exhausted. I’m stretched and sore and completely in awe that my body is doing this once again. The biggest thing that runs through my mind is how on  did I do this with THREE babies in my tummy?! It’s crazy, what our bodies are capable of doing.

We had another appointment with my midwife a week earlier, at 33 weeks. Everything looked and sounded good. I was measuring around 34/35 weeks and she guesstimated that the baby weighs around 5lbs, which would be pretty much in line with the boys’ weights at birth. I figure we’re looking at at least a 9lb baby {Avie was 8lbs 5 ounces}. I always said if they boys had been singletons at full term, they would’ve been big boys.

I’ve still no guesses on gender. My initial thoughts, when we thought it might be twins, was that the one that was obvious was a boy, the other a girl. For quite some time now I’ve thought it’s a boy, but then I started sorting through all the baby clothes and I go back and forth about it.

Check out my post for 36 Weeks for pictures.

What’s for breakfast?

The other day I shared a picture on Instagram about what our breakfast was: Eggs, toast, and some leftover sausage from the night before.  One follower from New Zealand commented:

”I never knew so many Americans cook their breakfasts. I feel a bit guilty that we all just have cereal and toast here.”

Which got me thinking what do most people have for breakfast in the US or elsewhere?

I’ve never been a big breakfast food person: Pancakes made me sick. I hated eggs, bacon, or sausage. Oatmeal was out, unless it was instant Maple Sugar. My parents couldn’t afford to keep us in cereal constantly. I honestly don’t remember much of what I had when I was a kid, at least on a regular basis. I remember my parents making pancakes, eggs, French toast, waffles, or crepes, but they weren’t an every day occurrence.

Even once I had married and moved out breakfast was most likely cinnamon raisin toast with peanut butter. It really wasn’t until Ave was actually eating that I ventured into breakfast food, particularly eggs. I had no idea even how to cook them for her, but I learned pretty quickly. We graduated from soft boiled eggs, which I could tolerate with toast, to over easy and scrambled.

5 years later I actually like breakfast foods, enough to have them for dinner…yea.

Pancakes don’t make me sick if they’re gluten free {we love these!} I can eat over-easy eggs if they’re served with a veggie stir-fry or sausage {to mask the whites}. I can eat scrambled if they’re served over avocado, with pepper jack on toast. I’ll eat sausage gravy or eggs benedict {here’s my recipe} for breakfast! I even look forward to the weekends when Matt is home, when we make a big breakfast with eggs, toast, sausage and veggies!

There’s a very simple reason why we cook breakfast every day…whether it’s baked oatmeal muffins, yogurt, eggs or pancakes: CEREAL IS EXPENSIVE! A box of cereal {the kind I’ll actually buy and eat…yes, I’m picky about that too} is $4.50 a box or more. The kids will eat an entire box in about 10 minutes, and be looking for more. We just can’t afford that. Of course, there are all those other reasons about breakfast being the most important meal of the day and such, but for us…it’s money.

What do you eat for breakfast, whether every day or only on the weekends?

How I Manage to Find Time for Fun

You can find this post on my new blog, JessicaMWhite.com, by clicking HERE.

You are not alone…

This week marks National Infertility Awareness Week, and this years theme is ‘You Are Not Alone’; which is one of the hardest things to remember when you’re dealing with infertility. When it seems like the world is filled with carefree bumps, there are tears and fears that you will never be one of them.

Seven years ago.....

You can find the rest of this post on my new blog...JessicaMWhite.com

Washing the White House Duds

Laundry is kind of a never-ending thing around here….particularly when certain individuals decide they need a new outfit every time they roll out of bed. I’ve tried several systems: I’ve tried the wash and fold a load every day, which left me feeling like I was NEVER DONE! I’ve tried the do it all in one day, which left me searching for clothes for people to wear. I’ve tried the don’t ever do it, which, for obvious reasons, never worked.

I still don’t have a system. If you’re looking for a post that’s going to share a tried and true, perfect for everyone method…you will never find one, because there isn’t. Everyone has to figure out what works best for them, right now, in this season. This is mine…

None of our kids are really old enough to take on the responsibility of “doing” laundry. Yes, they’ll help with little things, when it’s exciting, but for the most part laundry falls to me and Matt {yes, he helps}, and that’s ok. Because in about 3 years I figure I won’t have to do anything {nice fantasy right?!}.

So, what do we do?

We do laundry as it comes in, when we have time, and when the mood strikes.
Wow! That seems rather “whatever” doesn’t it?!  Yup. And it works for us.

There are days {and I mean the time frame of clothing lying in the same spot for over 24 hours} when clothes lay strewn about the house before I manage to wrangle them all together and in a pile somewhere near the bathroom or laundry room. Right now…not gonna lie. There’s stuff tossed about the kitchen, the mudroom, the living room, the bathroom, and the bedrooms. Probably a good 5 or 6 loads of laundry. Does it drive me nuts? Yup. But I’ve had to learn how to let it go.

Sometimes clothes are neatly in hampers or piles ready to be carried to the laundry room and washed. This usually only happens immediately following ALL the laundry being washed, and lasts until the first shower.

What usually happens is that we have a mix of these 2 things occurring. Some clothes are neatly piled, ready to go, and some clothes are strewn about. It just takes Matt or I actually getting them into the machine, out of the machine {before they need to be washed again}, and into the dryer.

Once things are dry, they kind of sit in those big blue Ikea bags until the mood strikes to fold them. Usually once or twice a week. Matt and I will put a movie on and sit for the duration folding all those bags of laundry and sorting them into piles of what goes in which draw in whose room {this makes it a lot easier to put away…one pile for each draw…I can put all the clothes away for everyone in less than 10 minutes}. Then put all of the girls’ clothes in one bag, all of the boys’ in another, then put those bags in their rooms to go in the draws.

Somehow it always amazes me how much clothing there is. The boys only have 3 pairs of pants each, 3 sweatshirts and a handful of tees. The girls are another story. I’m constantly weeding through to pare down what they have, so I’m not washing the same things that don’t fit over and over again.

Here are my 3 basic tips to help tame the laundry leviathan…

 

Laundry Tips

You can only wash as many clothes as you have. What do I mean….if you have 30 shirts, you’ll wash 30 shirts, but if you only have 3, you can only wash 3. It is for this reason that our kids don’t have a ton of clothes, that I don’t have a ton of clothes, and Matt has more clothes than all of us combined {I keep working on him}.

Don’t be disheartened when your “system” stops working. That’s life. Nothing works forever. What works this week, isn’t going to work next week. Do what you need to right now to have clean clothes and not lose your mind. Maybe that’s a wash basket per room, and people live out of the clean laundry in that basket. Maybe things are color coded and perfectly folded in drawers. Maybe it’s walking around in your undies, waiting for clean clothes to dry.

Find a baseline and hold that as your standard, not Pinterest. Whatever it is, figure out what your minimum effort for sanity is and hold that as your bar. Anything above is fantastic! At this you’ll at least be able to focus on doing what you have to do, rather than being overwhelmed with what you think you should have done.

*Bonus: Get rid of your bulky wash baskets! We used to have them all over the house. I invested in about 10 big blue Ikea bags {a whopping $6.00} and it’s great! They’re huge, they crumple up really small, and they’re indestructible.

You can check out what my laundry room looks like HERE!

30 Weeks

I think I had planned on posting at 25 weeks, but I guess that didn’t happen. There wasn’t much different to report; I have been taking pictures when I remember and can manage to not being wearing grunge clothes. If you’re on instagram, some of them are on there. Thirty weeks…only 10 weeks {give or take} left. Hard to believe that we’re nearing the end so quickly. I know I’m not ready yet.

I go from being completely excited and looking forward to this, to freaking out and thinking that there is no way I am going to survive this newborn thing again, especially during the summer, when Matt is almost never home {except to sleep}, and especially with 4 other kids!

You moms who have several kids, all singletons, I honestly don’t know how you do the pregnant with littles thing over and over again. You are my heroes! My only other experience was pregnancy with an 18-24 month old and that was a cake-walk!

Here we are 30 week stats:
I’m back at my pre-pregnancy weight. My health has been crappy, as I can’t seem to kick the new cough, then cold, that I’ve developed. At least I don’t feel as drained as I did before which is a good thing, but I am over the coughing until my ribs hurt and I feel like baby is going to pop out. Everyone keeps assuring me that won’t happen, but I’m not so sure.

My midwife is happy with how things are going. Baby is growing right on track, is currently head down {and hopefully stays there}, and heart rate continues to be good. My blood pressure etc has been consistent and steady, no swelling or any other issues.

Of course, my mind is entirely another thing. Now that we hit 30 weeks, I keep telling myself only 4 more weeks until I feel “safe” in this pregnancy. I’m still concerned that my body is going to stop doing this whole being pregnant thing and decide to spontaneously go into labor before the middle of June, which would just not be cool…at all.

I’m so glad that I have the pictures to go back and look at. While I was pregnant with the triplets only 3 years ago, it was an entirely different experience, and Avelyn was 6 years ago…so I really don’t remember details. If you are pregnant…TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES and DOCUMENT! It’s such a special thing to have, not just for your little ones, but for yourself too.

You can find my posts from previous pregnancies at 30 weeks here:
30 weeks with triplets
30 weeks with Avelyn

The Mudroom & Laundry Room Reveal

Can’t believe that it took me 5 months to reveal another room in the house, since the kitchen. I’m going to blame it on Thanksgiving, Christmas, sickness, kids, and pregnancy…sounds good, right? Our old mudroom functioned for both mud and laundry, but barely. There was not much room for storage or anything else, and coats always seemed to be piled up on the floor or washing machine.

It was a general mess that always entailed quite a bit of time hanging things on hangers. The one nice thing about the old mudroom was it was very bright! Between a window and a door, there was always light in this room.

While we had really wanted to make the room bigger, there was only so much that we could do with the space we had allotted the room. We spent a lot of time figuring out the best layouts, whether there should be a window, and a lot of other things.  Originally, I had wanted an actual closet with a mud bench, the washer and dryer and sink behind the door, a big window, and a lot more things that just didn’t fit in the reality.

I did really want a bench with hooks and a shelf, and that is part of why this post took so long to get up. Matt and I spent a considerable amount of time looking on pinterest trying to figure out just what we wanted it to look like and how we could fit it in the space that we had. Then Matt spent a considerable amount of time building the thing in place, and I spent a considerable amount of time sanding, caulking, and painting the thing {and the trim and door}. Also, a trip to Ikea was necessary to get the hooks that I wanted, as well as some baskets.

Here it is:

The door is Behr’s Scotland Isle {same as the kitchen} and the walls are Behr’s Midnight Dream, the bench is Behr’s Ultra Pure White.

From the outside doorway.

A close up of the bench {I’m still waiting on one more basket in green to show up}. We had approximately 66” of space to work with, in order for the door to still open and have room for the vacuums and mops. After scouring the internet we determined the appropriate space between each hook and how many hooks we could fit. Conveniently, we could fit 7, which just happens to be the number of people in this house {or will be}. The baskets hold the dress up clothes, the hats, scarves, and mittens, and stuff I haven’t decided on yet.

And lest you think my mudroom is empty all the time {haha…just to take the picture a ton of things were thrown in the kitchen temporarily}, here it is with everything back in:

We use a big rubbermaid bucket for shoes. I find it to be the easiest way to keep track of the kids stuff. I try and keep it limited to shoes they need now and only a few pairs. The fact that it’s a bucket makes it very easy to just spray out with the house when it gets nasty. Matt’s shoes go on one side and mine on the other.

The cleaning tools all have their own place, tucked nicely behind the door, and the we have additional hooks on the back of the door, which allows a lot of the bags and heavier things to be out of the way too. I find that heavy bags on hooks doesn’t usually work too well; hooks seem to break or get ripped out of the wall.

The curtains opposite of the bench cover up the pantry and the washer/dryer/sink/shelves. I intentionally did not want people to walk in here and feel like they were walking through the laundry room and pantry. Most of the time they’re open, but it’s nice to have the convenient option to just shut it.

And for all the instagram’ers I did hang up the mirror, just not where I was asking about. It’s there for those that need to primp a bit before walking out, but it isn’t a distraction. I wasn’t too worried about the room appearing bigger or smaller and we didn’t need a place to hang keys or anything, since that happens in the kitchen hallway.

So, there it is. What do you think?

Sugar Snow

It’s the first day of Spring: YAY! Although it’s not looking ANY different to me out there. There was a bit of melting, then 4” of snow in the night the other day and another dusting today, but the temperatures rising! Instead of a high in the low teens most days, we’re sometimes seeing low 30s {really low 30s}.

The kids are just chompin’ at the bit to get outside! Normally I would just bundle them up and throw them off the back deck, but with the yard not really fenced in all the way and the mountain of snow in the front yard…I’m not trusting them to stay in the back yard where it’s safe. Which means mommy has to go outside too, all the time, and frankly all the ice makes me nervous. I do not want to fall.

One of the sweet perks of the warmer weather means that the sap is starting to flow! We have several maple trees on our little strip of land, but have never had the time to invest in tapping them. This year a neighbor asked if he could…By all means! Go for it! Of course, we did demand some small reparations for the use of our trees.

This is an entirely new experience for me. I hated maple syrup growing up; the smell reminded me of sticky, dirty kids. No idea why. It’s another food that I’ve acquired a taste for only in the past few years, and now I love it {particularly rich, thick, grade B}. Of course the first thing I did once the buckets were up was check them out. On the first sunny afternoon I ran out to see if the sap was flowing. It was, although it was more of a slow drip.

Now, I’ve accidentally licked pitch or sap off my hand before while out in the woods, thinking it would taste sweet and it tasted horrible. I tentatively reached under that little tin roof and caught a drip on my finger: Lightly sweetened sugar water. That’s what it tastes like. Nothing like maple syrup and nothing like what I thought.

The buckets have been out a few weeks, getting dumped and boiled as they start to fill. Then one sunny, if cold, morning, someone was traipsing around the front yard and banged on the front door. A glass bottle brimming with golden liquid in hand. Our rewards for having maple trees on our property: Maple Syrup. The kids and I each anxiously dipped our fingers in the narrow bottleneck, excited to taste OUR maple syrup. It did not disappoint.

**If you want to check out a fun book about a sugar snow, this one is Avie and
my favorite {My First Little House Book “Sugar Snow”}!

A Weekend Away

This past weekend Matt and I headed out of town, for the first time since October 2007…and it was without the kids! Everyone survived; even the kids. Of course by about Saturday afternoon Matt and I were starting to get homesick and missing the kids. It’s a good thing we’d booked the room for 3 nights, other wise we’d have been driving home the next day.

I really wanted to get away for a few days before Thing #5 arrives, and it’s also 15 years of being together next week. We’re also throwing in our 10 year anniversary in November, because I doubt we’ll be going anywhere. It was good to get away.

So, where did we go? The only place to go this time of year…south. I would love to say that we headed to the Caribbean for a long weekend or some other equally sunny and exotic locale, but we didn’t. We headed to Williamsburg, VA. I’ve wanted to go for a long time, particularly without kids {there are a lot of places I want to go as a family, but want to visit without kids first}.

We left first thing on Friday morning and drove to Fairfax, Virginia, where we met a loooong time friend of mine {whom I’ve never met before} at an Uncle Julio’s {never heard of it before, but it was really good!}. Katie and I were trying to figure out just how long we’ve “known” each other and we think at the very least 6 years, but now I’m thinking it’s more like 7 or 8 years.

We had to take the obligatory I-met-an-internet-friend-in-real-life-and-didn’t-die picture.

Back in the car it was to drive the last 3 hours to Williamsburg, which really took another 5 hours, because we hit traffic. We arrived, checked in to our hotel, and headed back out to find food. Fortunately, Cracker Barrel was still open for a bit longer.

The next morning we woke up to a lovely mizzle {Scotch for a misting-drizzle}, just enough to be miserable. Fortunately one of the things I really wanted to do at Colonial Williamsburg was visit the art museum’s quilts and dollhouses exhibits. There was a 1 hour talk about quilts in the 1700s which was very neat {they’re not quite the same as what you think of as a quilt today}.

The precipitation let up a bit after that and we walked along the main street of Colonial Williamsburg, heading to the King’s Arms for lunch. Matt had a roast beef au jus sandwich, I had a turkey sandwich and a slice of pecan pie for lunch….it was good. Not as “oh my goodness” good as  I expected, but we didn’t want to pay the $33/plate for dinner {we’re cheap}.

Afterwards we decided to walk around a bit more, head back to the room to rest, and go out to a movie that evening.

We visited a Movie Tavern, which was a new experience. It’s a regular movie theater, but you can order full out meals at the concession stand along with a bar. You sit down in the theater and they bring you your food: I had a pecan raspberry salad and Matt had a chicken sandwich of some sort. It was a neat experience, but I much prefer not eating my food in a darkened room. I said to Matt “So much for first dates of dinner and a movie, being a way to get to know someone…you can’t talk while you eat”.

We saw The Kingsman, which was good. It could’ve been better if they did away with some of the graphic violence and crude sex. {I will warn you, a couple of scenes were worse than zombie movies.}

Sunday was beautiful; weather 68*, sunny, but a bit breezy. We had a leisurely morning, then headed back to Colonial Williamsburg, to walk around and see the things we missed due to weather the day before. It was quite empty and very pleasant to just meander around and enjoy the sunshine.

Afterward we chilled out for a bit and then headed to Food for Thought for dinner…which was VERY good, definitely recommend it to anyone. I had the Farmer’s Harvest salad and the Eggplant Marinara, Matt had the Crababella {stuffed portabella mushroom}, we took dessert to go. We watched the last episode of Outlander, before it was bed and hitting the road home early.

It was a good time away, albeit too short {reality} and too long {kids}.

Super Moms Don’t Exist

You can find this post on my new blog at JessicaMWhite.com; I hope you join me over there!

Thoughts for you…

Mamas....some days {or weeks or months} are just hard. When there's a green food coloring "science experiment" that explodes all over good clothes; smoothies water falling over the counter's edge; and poopie diapers that you JUST don't want to deal with.

This motherhood thing is downright hazardous....

The frustration and anger boils up in me like Spring sap, threatening to go over and burn everything it touches, when I know that 5 minutes of quiet isn't just about "me time", but about time needed to keep me becoming the momster.

Moms, you're not alone. Whether you have 1 or 20 kids...it's hard. I'm praying for you.

Decisions on Schooling

One of the biggest things that has been on the discussion table for the past few weeks years is schooling for Avelyn. In NY schooling is not mandatory until the child is 6 years of age before December 1st. Last month we received the letters from our local school regarding Kindergarten enrollment and knew it was time to make a decision.

It was not an easy decision, as neither answer {homeschooling or public school} is without pros and cons. Matt and I literally sat down one Saturday afternoon and weighed every option and discussed the entire thing for 2 hours…I’m not kidding.

We talked about the logistics of schooling with a newborn and the triplets, from having the time to homeschooling, to getting Avelyn there and back every day for public schooling. We talked about what is best for her and her personality, what is best for me and my personality, and our personalities together. We talked about the monetary cost of homeschooling and the other costs of public schooling. It was not a decision that was reached lightly.

The biggest fact that made the decision somewhat easier to make, is that whatever we decided doesn’t have to be permanent. We’re not committing to anything for the next 12 years. We’re making a decision for this year, for one child. That’s it. Talk about taking a weight off your shoulders.

So what did we actually decide?

For this year, we’ll be homeschooling 1st grade.

This past school year we did a lot with ABCMouse.com and working on our own learning and LOTS of reading. I’ve compared what Avelyn is able to do with what is the requirements for Kindergarten in our area, and for the most part she’s spot on, and we still have 3 months of this “school year” to accomplish things.

The other part of the discussion was since we have decided to homeschool what are we teaching, what curriculum will we be using. My sister was homeschooled {I was not}, so I’m a bit more aware of the whole thing than most beginners {but not by much}. My mom always pulled together her own curriculums, but always enjoyed Sonlight for their reading and book lists. Last year I had purchased a bunch of the recommended readings for Avelyn for Preschool/Kindergarten and we’ve loved them all.

Matt and I checked out Sonlight’s catalog and were beyond impressed with the whole curriculum for 6 year olds {which Avelyn will be}. We also felt that this being our first year, with a newborn, and triplets, that having a whole curriculum and lessons planned out for us was our best bet. I just don’t know how much time I would have to figure out what we need to learn and a schedule; this will free me up to focus on what needs to be accomplished and give me a format to do it in.

Of course, I still have another 5 months to sit here and deliberate and hem-and-haw about the decision and whether we’re doing the right thing, but that’s just me. Deep down, I know, and Matt and I agree this is the best decision for us, for now. For right now, this is where we’re feeling our family to be led and knowing that God has it all in His hands, regardless of where our children are schooled.

Here’s to starting homeschooling in September!

W.I.P. Wednesday

It’s done! Finished the baby quilt that I’ve been working on for the past few weeks! Yay! Of course I ran out of all my label making supplies; so, I gave the quilt, then asked for it back so that I could finish the label…classy.

We even had a sunny day so that I could take it outside to get some pictures! I did decide that sitting on the floor pinning quilts isn’t going to be happening much longer, so I need to get a move on and get these other 2 baby quilts finished so that I don’t have to.

Always doing some stretching while working on a quilt…

I always love a quilt that comes entirely out of my stash of fabric, which this one did. I had it all sitting there, just waiting to be pulled together, and it pulled together quite nicely. I’m loving the shots of orange!

Since this quilt is done, I started working on my next quilt or at least buying the fabric for it.

I was perusing FatQuarterShop.com the one day an found the absolutely most perfect line of fabric Folklore by Heather Rosas for Camelot Cotton. It was so perfect that I just HAD to get it; Matt agreed. I love it so much, that I may just have to buy a few yards of the red, so that I can make the girls some skirts or dresses from it.

I’m actually planning on repeating a quilt I’ve made before, the first quilt I made. I think the pattern is going to be perfect for it. When I made it the first time, it was a bit of a struggle, so I’m curious to see if my skills have advanced over the past 5 years. I am going with the original pattern, so it won’t have the extra borders on it.

I haven’t had much time to actually sew lately: I’ve been working on a project in the mudroom {more on that soon….I’m hoping to finish the project this weekend} and suddenly a couple of little boys don’t always want to take a nap.

How’s your Wednesday going?

**Linking up with FreshlyPieced.com

A Few Words on What’s Been Going On

There’s this little detail about having things to share with you…it means I actually have to do things. For the past few weeks, I’ve been working on a baby quilt, but honestly I’ve just been exhausted. Fortunately, we figured out one of the reasons why I’m exhausted. Besides growing a person, I’m severely Vitamin D deficient. Normal is between 30-100, I’m a 17. Yea. Not good. I was trying to figure out how the heck I could be Vitamin D deficient, when I realized that for almost 2 years I haven’t been out of my house.

Now, before you think I’m some weirdo that never goes outside….We went from last winter, which was long and cold, to living in my in-laws basement, to moving back into our home {and working on projects INSIDE}, to this winter, which is long and cold. The last time I was outside with any regularity was the summer of 2013. Pathetic. Fortunately, my mom also has issues with her Vitamin D, so she gave me what I need to take.

Interestingly enough, one of the side effects of Vitamin D deficient, besides tiredness, is that your body pretty much needs it to do anything. Great! So the cold I wasn’t able to really kick for almost 2 months {a slightly scratchy throat lingered}, is now finally gone. I’m getting things done around the house: Trying to completely some of the bigger to-dos on our list, before baby arrives.

I did finish that baby quilt, the first one I’ve stitched in over a year, we’ve been working on our mudroom and master bathroom, and I’ve got the fabric lined up for another baby quilt. I feel productive. Now, mind you, I’m still rather tired, but I at least feel like starting projects…which is a good thing. I actually had the motivation to reorganize our pantry!

I have to say though…I love winter. I love snow. I love the cold….it’s the only time of the year that I can literally breath freely {heat and humidity do not agree with me} and I feel like there’s a good reason to be curled up with a book. After this whole Vitamin D thing, I’m honestly ready to have some sunshine on a regular basis!

Despite the “norm” of life for us, we also have several other projects in the works, that are taking up some of my brain power. I’m hoping I’ll be able to share more on them in the next month or so. Right now, we’re just trying to get through most days without the kids going completely batty, which I think may be a lost cause at this point.

How have you been managing this winter?
FYI: If you feel a lack of energy and like you’re unable to get/stay healthy, give your doctor a call about having your Vitamin D levels checked.

Surviving the First Year: Helpful Tips from a Mama of Triplets plus One{4 kids 2 and under}

I’ve never given much thought to what things helped us get through having a {newly} 2 year old and triplets {besides God}, but there was a lot of things that made that first year more bearable. I pestered Matt to help me think of the things that we did to help us survive. Most of them were pretty straight forward and easy to implement {we didn’t have a lot of excess income and lofty ambitions during that time…and still don’t}.

1. Ditch the Diaper Bag

Even before the triplets were born, I knew that my super-cute Vera Bradley diaper bag, was just not going to cut it. We had 4 kids in diapers…cloth diapers. The space alone was lacking, never mind having no free hands. I pulled out the LL Bean Deluxe backpack that I purchased before heading off to college and started using that….oh my goodness! So much easier! It was so great, that we bought a second one, to keep stocked in case we had appointments or what-have-you with only a couple of the kids.

2. Put the seat down

I am still {almost 4 years later} mourning the loss of my beloved Honda CRV, but logistically it had to go: There was no choice but to get a minivan. Through a series of divine events we found our van and it was perfect. The big thing that I wanted was to fit all the car seats {for the triplets} in the back row, so that we could keep 1 captain’s chair down…we did. Keeping that seat down has been an incredible life {and back} saver. We didn’t have to hump around the inside of a car with kids in infant car seats. {I’m honestly not looking forward to putting up that seat in order to fit Number 5, this summer, but until we get another vehicle we’ll manage}.

3. Evening showers

I know a lot of people can’t wake up until they shower in the morning. I’d love to say I get that, but I don’t drink coffee either. In college I had started showering in the evenings to kill time, before Matt and I could chat on AOL Instant Messenger {does anyone else miss AIM?!} The easiest thing for us, was evening showers.

We could either peacefully shower once the kids were in bed, or we could do family showers, when one of us would get in and pass a baby back and forth for their bath time. Oh the pictures I wish I had! We’d line all the babies up on the floor of the bathroom and spend 30 minutes getting everyone clean. It’s still my favorite way to bath babies.

4. TV

I hate to say it, but between Avelyn and me…TV was a life saver. To the point that Avelyn was speaking with a British accent from watching Kipper. That’s just what happens when you have 3 babies born in the winter and a little that’s still too little to go outside {or anywhere} alone.
For me…I spent a lot of time sitting on the couch doing feedings. The TV kept me company. Matt was working full time on the route and needed to sleep. I would stay up until 1am or so for the last feeding then go to bed. I wish I had a picture of that too…me sitting on the couch feeding all 3 babies at once.

5. Easy meals

I did not have lofty meal ambitions that year. I honestly couldn’t tell you what we ate, because it was non-remarkable. We had 2 or 3 meals delivered by people, and my parents sent leftovers and meals when they could. We did what we had to.  I don’t remember us starving and we didn’t prep months of freezer meals in advance {and there is no take-out where we live}. We had good food in the house and ate what we had on hand.

6. Minimal outings

When I say we didn’t go anywhere that first year…I mean we didn’t go ANYWHERE! Between my mom and Matt’s mom I was able to go grocery shopping, while leaving everyone home. Our biggest outing during that year was going to Hershey Park to see Matt’s family {the triplets were 8 months old} and it went better than I thought it would. Other than that we didn’t go out. {The other thing was that it was exhausting to try going out, between the looks, comments, and questions}.
7. Quad stroller

The one thing we did do, was go for walks…once we had a quad stroller. Another triplet-mama from our area gave us a quad stroller they had picked up years before at a yard sale and we made it work until the seats literally broke. The only way we got out of the house was with the quad stroller, whether it was for a walk around the corner or out in the yard. The stroller at least gave me a way, by myself, to move all of the kids around outside at once.

8. Baby wearing

When the triplets were very little one of them would always be awake and wanting to be held. The easiest way to handle that was to put them in my Moby wrap and go. There were even times when Avelyn needed a little cuddle and she would go in there so that I could get things done around the house.

9. Easy access

Once the babies were home our house was taken over by the things we had for them. Our living room became baby central: We had a pack n’ play {changing table attached} with a shelf above it for clothes, diapers and other necessities, three swings and three bouncies. We removed all unnecessary furniture {coffee tables, end tables, etc} and did everything possible to keep things on hand and enough space for Avelyn too. Now, before you think we have a huge living room…the whole room is 12x13, if that. Not very big at all, but it worked!

10. Low key wardrobes

I was looking back at pictures a few weeks ago, from 2012-2013, and it struck me that almost all the pictures of the kids had them in PJs. At first I thought “wow, way to go mom”…boy I was lazy. Then I thought about it. It was winter, it was cold, we didn’t go anywhere, it was that much less laundry to do and it made the day a lot easier. Avelyn was always dressed to the Nines, when you have one baby that’s ok to do; when you have 3 babies and a 2 year old and you don’t honestly care, it’s OK.
Which brings me to the next thing.

11. A LOT OF GRACE

There was a lot of grace during that time. It was hard…I think I forget just how hard it was, because you just did what you had to. There were 4 kids clamoring for your attention and requiring it for their survival; there never was a choice to just not do it. There were temper tantrums and melt downs {by mommy}, but we got through them. Most everything on this list, was our way of showing grace to ourselves, by not putting lofty expectations over our heads and only doing what we needed to care for these little blessings.