Camping and a Surprise Visitor!

Two weekends ago we attempted our first camping trip with Alexis, Jack, and Faith. Our friends organized a group trip so we decided it would be a good time to try it out with our babes. Although most of the families stayed for two nights, we stayed only Saturday night so that we would have plenty of time to pack and be able to keep our babes on their normal schedule. We left Saturday morning at 9:45, which is about the time that our babes normally take their morning nap, and drove two hours to Fenton Lake in NM. The babes all napped for a portion of the ride. When we got to the campground we found a nice, shady spot for our tent and then fed the babes lunch. After playing for awhile (and doing our best to keep our babes from eating too much dirt), we put them down for their afternoon nap. Although it took a little time for them to fall asleep since they were in a tent and it was light outside, eventually they all fell asleep and slept for over two hours. After their nap we fed them dinner, played for a bit, and then put them down for the night. Again, it took a little time for all to fall asleep, but besides some nighttime waking due to being cold (it was hard to know how to dress everyone for sleeping), the night went smoothly. We left after breakfast on Sunday around 9:45 and drove the two hours home during their morning nap. Although it felt like a lot of effort (and laundry!) for a 26 hour trip, it was fun to spend time with friends and camp, and we feel confident that we could do it in the future as Alexis, Jack, and Faith did great!

We borrowed Micah's parent's tent and we set it up in our house the night before we left to make sure that all three pack n plays would fit okay. This tent is huge and we had plenty of space for the pack n plays, our sleeping pads, and extra room!

Top to Bottom: A, F, J exploring the tent in our house

F, A, J eating dinner outside while camping. We had to put their booster seats close together with stuff on either side to keep them from eating dirt and rocks instead of their meal.

Faith walking around the campsite with Daddy

Alexis playing a bean bag game

A and F playing in the morning after sleeping in the tent

Jack slept great in the tent even after the girls were awake and playing! This was the first time we put actual blankets on them and not just sleep sacks as they needed the extra warmth.

The girls pack n plays in the tent

Jack's pack n play on the other side of the tent. We slept in the middle.

Micah had a trip planned to Jamaica for a friend's wedding so this past weekend was going to be the first time I was alone more than one night with Alexis, Jack, and Faith. Although I knew I could do it, I wasn't really looking forward to four days and three nights alone with them since taking care of them is a very demanding job and I usually get a little break in the evenings and on the weekends since Micah is around to help. Sadly, all of my friends and family were unable to help (or so I thought) so I didn't have any option but to do it alone. To my surprise, when Micah came home from work on Wednesday he said there was someone outside that was here to see me. I had no idea what he was talking about and when he opened the door my friend Megan who lives in Utah was standing there! I have never been truly surprised like that in my life! Megan had been talking about coming for a visit and I had mentioned this weekend to her since I knew I'd be alone, but she told me she already had plans. Little did I know that she had already bought a plane ticket to fly out when I had asked her to come as Micah contacted her first knowing that I wouldn't want to be alone this whole time!

Megan and I met 10 years ago when we worked at a bank together in Boulder. Since then a lot has happened in both of our lives and we live in different states, but whenever we see each other it's as if no time has passed. Although Megan was only able to be here from Wednesday evening through early Saturday morning, we packed a lot of fun into the the time we had. We went to a birthday party, we went swimming, we went out to breakfast, we went to the aquarium, we went out for gelato, and we saw a few "Breaking Bad" landmarks that are close to our house. Megan was a great help with taking care of the babes and doing dishes, and we spent a lot of time catching up as we hadn't seen each other in almost two years.

Megan jumped right in with the babes! L to R: A, J, F

Alexis, Jack, and Faith's first kid birthday party for their friend Eland who turned 4 (okay, really we got in invited because Eland's mom and I are friends but we can pretend the babes have friends now too :) ). The party started at 8:30 which was perfect as it was pretty much done in time for their morning nap at 10:00!

Megan is a 2nd grade teacher and the babes loved to have her read to them since she really is a pro!

Swimming at the Y! Even though we haven't made it to the pool as consistently as we hoped so far this summer, the babes still love the pool every time we go! Jack is truly a fish and he loves to put his face in the water!

Breakfast at Flying Star. Always delicious and this time the babes enjoyed a scone (we fed them their real breakfast before we left).

Aquarium! We hadn't been since the babes were a few months old and this time Faith and Jack were really into it! L to R: J, A, F

Jack trying on the lobster hat in the aquarium gift shop

Here are some other pics from the last couple of weeks....

A, F, J holding hands during lunch. They think this is so funny!

A, J, F playing by the window in the family room

J, A, F with the exact same foot pose. It's crazy how often this kind of thing happens!

F, A, J waiting at the gate while I bring in the groceries

F and A playing at the toy kitchen. If only they could prepare their own meals!

Mommy the jungle gym. This happens every time I sit on the floor with them which is fun and dangerous as they don't understand that some things hurt and they bang into each other.

A, J, F brushing their teeth. We are trying to get into this habit but it's hard to remember!

Sometimes I don't feel like being crawled on (and scratched, etc) so I sit on the couch and they all come play. J, F, A

It All Starts With B!

Has anyone else ever thought about the fact that so many baby related things start with the letter "B?" I think about it so often that it's starting to drive me crazy (or maybe that's the lack of adult interaction in my days), and I need to write about it just so I can stop thinking about it.

I'm sure there are more things out there, but here is the list I have come up with:

1. Birth
2. Baby
3. Boob
4. Bottle
5. Basinette
6. Blanket
7. Binky
8. Bath
9. Booties
10. Boppy
11. Bumbo
12. Bouncy seat
13. Bib
14. Backpack (our diaper bag)
15. Butt paste
16. Basket (we use these for everything)
17. Booster seat
18. Bowl
19. Book
20. Ball

And so many things could be added to the list just for starting with "baby" such as: baby gate, baby wipes, baby carrier, babysitter....

I've been wondering why so many things start with the letter "B." Obviously some things are not just baby related (blanket, bath, ball, etc) but some are made up words for baby items (Bumbo, Boppy) so they were named with a "B" on purpose! Is this because we think of the letter "B" when we think of baby stuff? Or because "ba" is one of the first sounds a baby makes (along with "ma" and "da")? Or did this just happen and now people like me think about this kind of thing during our days?!?

Okay, hopefully I can now think about more intelligent things for the rest of my day. Let me know if I missed anything though!

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:

Hiking!

Hiking

Ready for our hike into a climbing area

Climbing day!

Faith and Jack hanging out in the shade while Daddy climbed

4th of July smiles

4th of July walk

Watching Daddy work

Faith likes to carry things in her mouth

Lexi

Jack found it fun to stand up using the outlet cover