Howard Trio Plus One: Busyness and Sickness

The last two weeks have been particularly busy for our family, partly due to events, travel, and visitors, and partly due to two sicknesses each for Alexis, Jack, and Faith.

On July 1st we hosted a Going Away Party for our friends Sarah and Davis. Davis is in the Air Force and he is now stationed in Las Vegas. They were great friends, and Sarah especially enjoyed helping out with the babies, so we spent a lot of time together over the last year and we already miss them a ton! Over 40 people were at our house for their going away party, including 12 kids and 4 babies. This was the first party we have hosted in our new home and we felt like it worked really well. I can't say I did the whole party alone as my friend Val helped me with my Costco trip and many people brought food and drinks for the party, but I still felt like it was an accomplishment to host a party with triplets as I never would have imagined this to be possible a year ago. Unfortunately, the day of the party all three babes were fighting their third cold in two months, but they were troopers and did great with all of the commotion.

Davis and Jack, Micah and Lexi, and Sarah and Faith after dinner in our backyard a few weeks ago

House full of people!

The big kids love to help with the babes

This is not from our party, but I also said goodbye to another Sarah (photo right) as her husband is also in the Air Force and they moved to Virginia. Daniela, Sarah, and I met up one last time at Flying Star before Sarah left. We miss Sarah and Blair too!

On July 3rd we hired two babysitters so we could attend Davis' graduation from the Air Force Pararescue program. We decided to get two sitters since there would be a couple of hours between when we left and when the babes went to bed, and bedtime can be a bit trying as most nights at least one babe isn't in the mood for their bottle and they can be hard to corral since they are fast crawlers. Unfortunately, the day ended up being a bit more stressful than I anticipated as I decided to make Jack a last minute doctor appointment since I was concerned about his cough (although all three had colds, only Jack was coughing). The Nurse Practitioner that we saw diagnosed him with croup (again), so she had him do a Nebulizer breathing treatment in the office and then she gave him a steroid shot. Unfortunately, I had to administer the Nebulizer to Jack myself, and he was very mad about it, while entertaining the girls at the same time. Our visit to the doctor ended up being extra long as Jack had a blotchy skin reaction on his face after the Nebulizer, possibly due to epinephrin, and the Nurse Practitioner wanted to keep an eye on him for an extra 15-20 minutes. Despite a stressful afternoon, everything went smoothly with the babysitters at night and we were able to enjoy our evening.

With Davis and Sarah after the graduation ceremony and dinner

On July 5 I left for Seattle! Months ago Micah and I decided to buy a plane ticket so I could visit my friend Katie, and although I was nervous about leaving the babes, I had a great three day / three night trip! Micah took care of Alexis, Jack, and Faith by himself, for the most part, and everyone seemed to have a great three days without me. Katie and I went out to brunch, walked along the beach, went on a fun hike with some of her friends, went stand up paddle boarding, went wine tasting, and even spent one morning just sitting on the couch and talking. I made sure to think about the fact that I was not changing any diapers, feeding any bottles, making any formula, doing any laundry, or trying to stay on a schedule so that everyone was happy. It was great just to sit and realize that I could do whatever I wanted to do! I am very thankful for my trip and my friendship with Katie as it was the perfect getaway for me. And at the end of my trip I was very excited to get home and see my three beautiful babies, and they all seemed quite excited to see me as well.

First stop after I got off the plane: brunch and mimosas

They had an all-you-can-eat fruit and whipped topping buffet that was free with an order of french toast!

Walking the beach

Lake Serene: the destination of our hike

Pre- stand up paddleboarding

Chateau St Michelle Winery

Waiting for our tour to begin (so we could get the free tasting!)

While I was in Seattle, Micah's parents came to town as his dad had some meetings in ABQ. They arrived Monday and left on Sunday. It is always nice to have family around to help, and this trip was especially good timing as all three babes ended up getting sick at the end of the week. On Thursday Jack came down with a 102 degree fever that lasted about 12 hours. On Friday night Faith had a fever of about 101 (although she didn't seem as bothered by it as Jack). And then on Saturday Alexis came down with a 101 degree fever which lasted through Sunday night. Although we were dealing with sick babes Thursday through Sunday, on Wednesday Karen and I took the babies to the pool and on Thursday morning we went to the zoo (before Jack got sick). After the babes got sick we spent a lot of time holding and comforting the sick babe, which Grammy especially enjoyed as our babes don't usually want to sit and cuddle!

Grammy swimming with the babes (and a random friend we made in the pool)

Zoo!

The girls watching the mountain lion

Everyone crashed on the way home from the zoo

One thing Micah and I have been dreaming about doing is going on a climbing day trip without the babes. We haven't done this in almost two years due to pregnancy and babies, and so far our climbing day trips with the babes have not been very successful as far as climbing goes. Micah's parents agreed to watch the babes on Saturday while we went to El Rito, and we had a great time! We are so thankful for this day away!

It feels like summer is almost over as we are leaving for our second Michigan trip in just over three weeks, but I'm sure we'll find a way to cram a lot of activity in over the next few weeks.

Here are some other cute pics from the last couple of weeks: