Change is a comin'!

After months and months of stress and craziness, we have finally sold our house and we found a new house! We'll be moving closer to my parents and my sister! It will be so great to live closer to family. We are super sad to be leaving Folsom, but this will be a good move for us. We have outgrown our current house, so having some additional square footage will be wonderful. We are now in the craziness of trying to pack a house up with 4 little ones running around and getting in to things. I've come to realize that I can only pack during naptime or after the kids go to bed. When I told Jacob we were moving to a new house he said, "is Daddy going to the new house? Are the babies going to the new house?" I said, "yes" and he said "ok!" I thought that was cute! It'll be an adjustment for him as he'll be leaving his preschool, which he loves. But I know that we'll be able to find a new school that will be great for him. Jacob is a lot like me in the fact that he's not big on "change", so I'm trying to show him a little extra grace and love during this hectic time. I just have to remind myself of that about 100 times a day! It's going to be a crazy month for us, but the outcome will be well worth it... I hope!

Here is Ryan getting a little exercise in his crib!

Jacob picking up dog poops in the backyard. Daddy is so happy someone else will help pick it up!

Jacob and his 2 mini-me's!

Jakey-boy


Dylan learning to ride the scooter!

Go, Megan, Go!!

Dylan and Jacob enjoying some tv time... I know, they are too close, but at least they have reclined the chair back a little!

Cutie Dylan reading his favorite Toy Story 2 book!

Megan, Jacob, Ryan and Dylan

Kids are just too darn smart

Tonight at dinner, I glanced over at Dylan and I saw him stuffing his chicken and corn down his shirt to avoid eating it! After I laughed out loud, I thought - "what a little smartie pants!" All he wanted to eat was the grilled pineapple so I guess he decided to "hide" his chicken and corn. It was hilarious! I looked down his shirt and he must have had 10 pieces of chicken down there! So funny and cute!

I've come to the conclusion that life is moving too fast. Today I was holding Megan and rocking her saying "oh, my little baby" in a playful way. But it hit me - they aren't "babies" anymore. Jon said the same thing this morning. I feel weird calling them "the babies" like we have been since the day we found out I was pregnant with triplets. I tend to call them "the little kids", but that even seems weird because it's not like Jacob is a "big kid"... he's only 3! It seems like in this day and age kids are growing up faster and look and do things differently than when I was a kid. (Gosh, that didn't make me sound old or anything!) It's crazy to think that it's been almost 2 years since I went on bedrest. It was March 25, 2007. Jacob was the same age as the babies are now. That is crazy to me. He seemed so much older to me then, than they do now. I remember that first week laying on the couch ALL DAY LONG thinking - there is NO WAY I'm going to make it one week, let alone eleven weeks. But I did. The babies came out so tiny and fragile and now they are strong and healthy and independent. The last 21 months have been the fastest 21 months of my life. It is such a blessing to stay home with them and see them grow and change. It truly is the best gift I've ever been given.

Tricky little devils!

I believe my children have a secret language to tell each other to gang up on me all at the same time. Here are just a few funny stories from the last 2 days ... Ok, they are funny now, but at the time they weren't so funny...

Last night, Megan wanted to poop on the potty. So I take her in the bathroom and I have to lock the door otherwise she has an audience of 3 little boys. She proceeds to take care of business and outside the door I can hear all 3 boys messing around in the laundry room. The laundry basket full of dirty laundry hits the floor. Then I hear Jacob say, "come on Dylan, climb up here" - which means Jacob is on top of the washer. He is spinning the dial around and around. This puts me in an instant outrage because this is a daily event with him and I've told him a thousand times to stop getting on top of the washing machine. But, of course, do 3 1/2 year old boys ever listen? Nope. My voice is still only about 50% so my yell of "JACOB!" comes out in such a high squeal I think only dogs can hear it. And I can't leave Megan alone, because by this point, she's got a potty chair full of poop. Needless to say, whenever I go into the bathroom either alone or with another kid, instant chaos happens in the rest of the household...

The second story just happened about 15 minutes ago. I open the computer, hoping to get at least 5 minutes to check a few emails, but the kids have other plans for me... I'm right in the middle of responding to an email and again, I hear Jacob say "I'm up here Dylan, look at me". Jacob's 2nd favorite climbing spot is the changing table in the kids room. I figure, oh well, it's just Jacob up there, I'll wait it out until I finish my email. Wrong! About 5 seconds goes by and I hear Jacob, Megan and Ryan screaming in delight about something. I go in to the babies room and all 3 of them are on the changing table pulling out about 100 wipes and cleaning the window! I guess I should have been excited that someone was actually cleaning around here! By the time I get the 3 of them down, Megan has bolted into the kitchen and now she's punching away at the keyboard on my laptop that is set up at the kitchen table. Man, how did she get up there so fast??

Oh, the joys of children! I love them dearly, but some days I could very well loose my mind! I know one day I'll look back at all these "funny" stories and laugh ... at least, I hope so!

I selected 3 books from the online library catalog today:

1. Scream-free Parenting
2. How to Keep Your Kids From Driving you Crazy: A proven program in improving your childs behavior and regaining control of your family
3. The Loving Parent's Guide to Discipline

Is is obvious what kind of week I've had? Praise God that Jon is on VACATION all next week!! For 10 whole days!! Woo-Hoo!