Hot, Hot, Hotter

Well finally found a minute to update everyone on how things are going here in Texas. Hot doesn't even began to describe the temperature here lately. We were spoiled rotten for two years in LA by almost year round perfect weather and we miss it! We miss our "Happy Hour" as it was loving coined by our friend Karlton. We spent most afternoons outside running around in the front yard and hanging out with our great neighbors. Now most afternoons are spent lounging around inside where there is airconditioning. The kids are going stir crazy and so is there momma! Fall can't come soon enough!

The count down to school is on. Miss S will be going 5 half days a week and she is "sort of" excited she tells me. She still asks about all her old friends at LCUMCC. We are hoping she will make some new friends soon. Lots of kids her age in the neighborhood all too waiting for cooler weather finally get to come out and play. The triplets too are looking forward to school. We have talked about it a lot and now each day G asks Shool today?? Too cute. They are talking more and more and it is so exciting, of course some days the non stop talking is overwhelming :)

We are all doing well. Walter is finally getting settled in at work and we are getting settled in here at home. We are getting the chance to catch up with family and old school friends and that has been great. Now if we can only cool off the weather :)

Here are a few pictures to share....
The kids at an indoor park

Out on the boat



More of the kids...




Joy gets a girls weekend away with some old friends

All Moved In, Sort of

Hi to everyone from Texas! We are finally moved in (if you don't count the several boxes hiding in the garage). We are also finally back on the internet. It took forever for us to get connected here so hence the month long delay in updating.

The kids are going great. Our flight from LA was uneventful which is an amazing thing to say with triplets +one. Our only snag was in security when G decided that he was not really into taking his shoes off before going through the security line. I think he thought they were going to take his shoes forever or something, but other than that not much to report.

The rain clouds have finally lifted. It rained every single day for the first two weeks we were here. The kids loved it the first couple days since rain is not something you see everyday in Los Angeles. In fact in the two years we lived there we really only saw it rain a handful of times, but that fascination quickly wore off since they realized they couldn't go out in the rain all the time. The plus side is I have never seen Dallas this green at the end of July. Usually by now everything is dried up and brown and there have been several days of 100+ temps. Now admittedly we are wimps after spending time in California because low 90's is hot, but the kids don't seem to notice.

The kids also love the "new house" which is what they are still calling it. Having stairs to run up and down has been super exciting for them and a little room to spread out has been nice. The backyard though leaves much to be desired. It is really small compared to our yard in California, but we are adjusting.

S is finally starting to take a liking to Texas although that was debatable up until recently. For days she cried that she hated it here and wanted her old house and her old friends. She is like her momma...she hates change! She misses playing outside and looking for critters. Unfortunately she is learning lots of Texas critters bite. She still loves bugs but now asks me if they will bite or sting her before she tries to capture one. She is ready to go back to school since the kids don't start until late August again here, but she is still saying she doesn't want to go to a new school. So we will see how that one goes.

We have really enjoyed having the grandparents close by and the kids are being spoiled rotten, but we miss California too. Hopefully later in the week I can update with some pictures of some of new adventures in the big state of Texas!

Crazy Busy

Things have been crazy busy around here. We are winding down our "extended vacation" here in Los Angeles and we are starting to say our goodbyes. We are having lots of "lasts" lately. Last play dates, last therapy sessions, last family gatherings with the extended family (for a while at least) and reality is starting to set in and it's hard! LA is the only home the triplets have ever really known and all their "firsts" happened here which makes it all the harder to leave. We have been really blessed to make lots of great friends in our time here and of course that always makes it really hard too.



On the flip side though we are so blessed that we are getting the opportunity to move back home to where we grew up. Our kids will grow up knowing their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and that's something we are so excited about (even though we could do without the heat and mosquitoes!:)

I am guessing with the move happening this week and being out of pocket for a the next few weeks it will be a while before we will be able to update so signing off for now. Hoping to update everyone on our moving adventure soon. To our Texas friends and family we are anxious to come home and we will see y'all soon and to our LA friends and family we are already planning on how we will get back for a visit :)

More Babies!

We are now the proud parents of another set of triplets (2 boys and a girl). How might you ask? Well it all started when Shrek had triplets and in return our triplets needed some triplets. Confusing hun? Well here is a picture of our two sets of triplets :)

Our triplets with their Shrek triplets.

G's New Highlights

Not that things haven't been exciting around here. The problem is it's been way too exciting. Never a minute to even sit down and post. Think of what a tornado would do if it whipped around your house and that's what we have going on times 4. The kids are off to school and I am off to work picking up the pieces of what's left of our house after the kids go spinning through it. A new, bigger house can't come soon enough. It's going to have a playroom for sure so I can shut the door on clutter. Right now my living room looks like a scene from a toy store.

Before I go one quick picture of why life in our house is never dull.

So what do you all think of G's new look. Should we keep the highlights C so lovingly painted on her brothers head? I'll try to post a few more pictures of the little tornadoes if I get everything done today.

Oh the sickness

I am so behind on all the happenings in our little corner of the universe. Can you hear me knocking on wood before what I am about to say?? I think we are all well. It has been two miserable weeks of sickness in some form or the other in our house. We've had sleepless nights, ear infections, sinus infections, coughing, sneezing, vomiting, and breathing treatments. No one was spared although Walter, S and I faired much better than the triplets. We are still not sure what everyone had but so glad whatever IT was is gone. At least for the time being. Let me tell you that chasing around 3 two year olds with a crazy fish looking mask and telling them to breath in the "smoke" is no easy chore. Especially when G is screaming NO FISHY! I now have a few more honorable gray hairs to add to the ever brooding patch of them on my head. Who knows before too long I might get tempted to cover up these crazy hairs and end up a blond or redhead. Of course that would require time to myself to get that done and time seems to be in short supply lately.

On another note we are now in the process of getting estimates for the big move come June. Southwestern wants it all done now even though it still seems so far away. I am praying that somehow we will be able to swing having the moving company pack us, because as it is now I can't even fathom it. I honestly can't clean up this 1000 sq ft. house so not sure how I could possible pack it. Oh well guess we will see. Although on another note we did celebrate the less than 100 day mark two days ago. Today we are down to 98 if anyone is keeping count. Not that we are or anything.

Well must hush. Waiting for the plumber. That in and of itself is a whole other story. Let's just say a house with 6 people needs more than ONE bathroom.

A Day at the Beach

I'm so not good at updating our blog. Oh well such is the life of one with 4 children 4 and under. All 4 little lovelies are off to preschool today so I have a few minutes to spare for a change (actually there's laundry to be done, dishes to be washed, rooms to be cleaned, etc...but I am ignoring that inner urge to go clean up for the time being).

Well we have been couped up in this tiny house for weeks with unseasonably cold weather for So. Cal and unseasonably snotty, sick and down right mean kids. Not to mention a momma who hasn't gotten enough "beauty sleep" as darling little S calls it. So by this weekend I had had enough. No more inside and we were off for some fresh air! Well luckily the weather cooperated and so did the kids. We spent Sunday at a beach near Malibu called Zuma beach and had a fabulous time. There were tears when G decided that sand was to throw in A, C & S's eyes, A hated the feeling of the freezing cold water on her toes, C decided naked was more fun than being clothed (she spilled her drink down her clothes and got to wander around in her bloomers) and S couldn't fine one single sand crab while we were there. But on a high note they spent a good part of the day terrorizing poor seagulls, chasing each other in circles and down right wearing themselves out. Once again we got a taste of the beautiful California coast and gorgeous weather. Things we are going to miss when we decend on Dallas in the 100 degree temps come July, but the thing we will have come July is family closer by to share these wonderful kids with. In fact Walt and I are planning on sharing them so much with the grandparents we may sneak back to California for a weekend to enjoy it with just the two of us.

On a sidebar we met a couple this weekend at the beach who we got the chance to chat with. We are always hesitant when approached because we generally get the OH MY GOSH ARE THEY TRIPLETS? and How on Earth did that happen questions (usually followed by other strange, weird and downright crazy comments), but we got the Is this all you are going to have question? I am so tired of hearing that one, but the dad jumped in to explain that they had 7 kids and their youngest was a junior in college. Both he and his wife went on to say what a blessing each of their children were to them and that we were so lucky to have these kids. The dad even said the saddest day of his life was when their last one went off to college. Walter and I walked away once again reminded of the enormous blessing God gave us when intrusting us with these children. There were many days that I prayed on hands and knees to be blessed with a child. Little did I know what God had in store for us and with each day regardless of our struggles we are reminded how truly blessed we are. On a sidenote we both commented on how young they looked to have 7 kids. So we decided having lots of kids must keep you young. We are hoping our 4 will do the trick :)

Happy Birthday Dad!

Well I still don't know what gave me the bright idea to do a birthday gift for Walter from the kids. My heart was in the right place but the practicality of organizing 4 toddlers and paint was not well thought out. Problem 1 is I decided to do this gift the day of Walter's birthday. Problem 2 I decided to do this 30 minutes before we were to have company and last but not least Problem 3 I decided I could handle all four painting at the same time. I was so not prepared! What transpired is to distressing to go into detail but A will be pooing pink paint for a while, my camera will never look the same (mulicolored hues now decorate it's exterior), and to top it off who knew Lakeshore made paint that wasn't washable! Needless to say the "art" turned out cute, but the kids well that's another story and as for me I need a drink!

Happy Birthday Honey!

Silence is Deafening not Golden

I knew the day would come when I would be all alone in the house. I just can't believe it has already happened. The kids started preschool 2 days a week on Tuesday and I honestly don't know what to do with myself! Scary I know. I find myself wondering around with nothing to do. Okay I really have plenty to do...just not the motivation to do it. The silence in here is almost too much. I guess after 2 solid years with very little time away from the kids your ears get accustomed to always hearing someone talking, crying, screaming or laughing, but for now all I hear is Gretta snoring. Didn't even know until today the dog snored. Pretty sad! Well I have promised myself to attempt to get something done today so the computer is going off and I am going to do something. That being said I may stare at the walls, but it's something :)

"A" needs glasses

Well it all started a few weeks ago when we noticed A was starting to cross one of her eyes out of the blue. After a week of worry and trying to get into see a pediatric ophthalmologist we are now wearing a patch for 6 hours a day and glasses full time. Apparently A's vision is terrible and she began crossing her right eye (the one with the worst vision) in an attempt to focus. This crossing if not treated could have caused her to completely lose vision in that eye. Scary stuff. We are now patching the "lazy" eye in a attempt to keep it from crossing on a more permanent basis. She has been a real trooper and never once complained about the patch or the glasses for that matter. We had no idea that things were as bad as they were and she is truly now seeing the world for the first time. The "lazy" or crazy eye as we call it is getting better each day and she is loving her glasses. I on the other hand don't really like seeing my sweet little girl wearing glasses, but know that is what's best for her. I think in part is they make her look so grown up and I am not ready to part with my "baby". I keep getting visions of her shipping off to Harvard at any moment :)

She has made the change with amazing grace and takes each day completely in stride. I wish I could say the same for me. I think I am coming around though as to see her without glasses only after 3 days she looks strange to me without them. They day she got them was like she was really seeing me for the first time. As I strapped her into her car seat she sat and stroked my face and tugged at my hair. She has done this a million times before, but this time it was different. We got home and she sat outside just staring at the trees and grass like she had never seen them before. The real biggy for me was that she began to pick up pebbles and sticks to put in her little car. Something we had seen G and C do a million times, but this was a first for A. Makes me wonder if this is the first time she had seen them. It was a bittersweet moment for me.

Each day continues to bring new challenges and joys. We will have both C and G screened in the next month since the poor vision A has can be hereditary and due to prematurity. So it makes the other two more at risk. We are hoping they will be free of any big vision issues. We know that G has astigmatism (where the eye isn't perfectly round) and he is more at risk for glasses later on. So guess we will find out soon. What is so strange to both Walter and I is that we literally had no idea about her vision. Kids have such an amazing ability to compensate in areas where they are lacking and we are so thankful we finally caught it when we did.

Happy Birthday Babies!

Where did this year go? Where did those 3 lb babies I gave birth to go? They have been replaced by running, laughing, crazy 25 pound plus toddlers. I am sad they are growing up, but at the same time in constant awe of just how far we have come! It honestly seems like yesterday (and in the same breath I can say it feels like a million years ago) that I was staring at babies so tiny in their litte incubators at the hospital wondering how on earth they would ever be big enough or healthy enough to come home and now I am staring down the noses of healthy, happy little kids who don't look like they ever spent a single day in the hospital. We are so Blessed! It is with great joy that we celebrated their 2nd birthday (January 30th). Each year we wonder how on earth we could love these little guys anymore, yet each year we do. We look forward to watching them grow and become the little people God has made them to be. Can't get anymore exciting than that.

Hand in Hand

These are the days I know that I am undoubtably blessed!

Laundry, Laundry, Laundry

Honestly does the laundry ever end? I thought it was bad in the baby days of spit up, but it seems to be getting more and more ridiculous! I guess the kids clothes are getting bigger (unfortunately mine too) and taking up more room in the washer. It also doesn't help that S changes her clothes about 4 times a day. If this is what I have to look forward to with A and C I am done for! Is there such a thing as a professional laundry maid? If so where do I find her and how much does she charge cause I want one! Oh well off to do another load.

G's Hat Fetish!

Okay I have decided the kid has truly lost it (and so have I for that matter). I spent most of the summer plopping hats on the kids heads to protect their little faces from the sun only to so lovingly in return have the hat thrown back at me with yelling and whining that no one was going to wear the darn things! So when we got several different hats this Christmas from my mom I honestly thought to myself what a waste that would be even though I hoped it wouldn't be so. No one was going to wear them for sure (except maybe S if it happened to match her outfit, little diva!). Well G now has this fetish with hats. Doesn't matter what kind but the kid is constantly wearing one now. I think he might even sleep in them if I let him.
Today I wish I would have snapped a picture because he looked like a little garden nome. You know the one from the Travelocity commercials? He had a stocking cap on pulled up at the top and this impish little grin so proud he can put them on all by himself! I did however snap a picture of him in his big sisters hat. He does not discriminate when it comes to hats. Any apparently will do.
Now what's the likely hood I can get him to wear them this summer? I am guessing the novelty and fetish may wear off by then, but a girl can dream right?

San Diego

How crazy are we? We finally decided to do a little more California exploring this weekend and ended up in San Diego for the weekend. What an absolutely beautiful city. Honestly if Walter's fellowship had landed us there we may never be leaving California. The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful time. We took the kids to the San Diego zoo and they had a blast running all over the place and checking out the animals (monkeys being the crowd favorite). S even got the chance to feed a giraffe. Of course she would tell you the highlight of our trip was staying in the hotel, silly girl! (even the triplets seemed to really enjoy this temporary home away from home).We are trying to cram in all things California between now and July but I think for sure it will be impossible. One thing we learned on this trip is that I will be flying back to Dallas with the kids come July and not making the long drive with Walter! They were great for the 1st hour in the car (a two hour trip to San Diego), but come the second hour they were bored to death and so the whining started. Other than the car drive though it was a great time.

The Rose Parade

Okay so there are some definite advantages to living in California that we will truly miss. For one the amazing weather. The last few days the highs have been in the low 70's. Pretty close to perfect. The other is being so close to the world famous Rose Bowl and all that goes along with it. Yesterday we got to get up close to all the amazing floats that were in the Rose Bowl Parade. Each year after the parade they park the floats on Sierra Madre Blvd (the end of the parade route) and open it up to people to come and see them (2 miles of road lined with floats). Words cannot describe the amount of work that goes in to these floats. The detail and enormous amount of natural material is truly something everyone should get the chance to see at least once.
What made yesterday more special is that I got to meet up with some other triplet mom's from around the LA area. We were a sight to see for sure. People weren't quite sure what to think of us. Were we a daycare? Oh my gosh sextuplets (mind you my friend Steff and I have very different looking kids who are a year older!) and lots of other interesting comments and questions, but the kids were oblivious to all the onlookers and enjoyed the day.
Days like this are when we realize we have really grown to love California and although we can't wait to be back "home" in Texas we are really going to miss it here.