Baby Names

When we were pregnant with the triplets, I did a lot of Internet browsing (from the comfort of my couch)... one forum focused on naming triplets... do you give them rhyming names? names that mean the same? start with the same letter? etc, etc. We had already picked our names, but I was curious to see what other people thought. One mans comments in particular stood out to me. He and his wife decided that instead of the names they gave their children, they should have called them This One, That One, and The Other One because it is what they inevitably referred to their children as. J and I have laughingly named our children this way, rotating who gets which term based on the situation.

So, in keeping with this theme, here are a few pictures!

P.S. Mom, we removed the offensive objects right after taking the pictures and bleached out all mouths, just in case (just kidding, about the bleach anyway)!

This One eats sticks!


That One eats ducks!


The Other One eats sand!

Knight-to-be-Nephew II

My brother and sister in law are expecting a baby boy in August! And, of course, they needed a baby quilt to commemorate the occasion. I headed to my quilt shop and found the greatest owl fabric. I had a slight obsession with owls as a child, and it has carried over into adulthood (to some extent). I copied Miss Willa's quilt that she sent for Blythe and Miriam (because I liked the pattern so much), and came up with this little blanket... I am soooooo tempted to keep it for myself!!!

A Day in the Life

Several people have asked me what I do all day, or how I do it... in reference to staying at home and dealing with triplets. So, I have decided to chronicle, as best I can, today's activities (at least up until this point, who know's if I will remember to update this later today)...

Let's just start at midnight...

1:15ish
Ephraim is crying, why? After a while, I get up to check on him, pat his back and groggily head back to bed... he wimpers a while and goes back to sleep.

2:00ish
Is he crying again? Sheesh, I just got back to sleep. Wait, that sounds like Blythe. Is it? Yes. Oh, I hope she didn't throw up again. I walk into the room, sniffing for vomit. Nope, but I smell poop. Blythe? Yes. I take her downstairs and change the diaper... stinky! Back to bed.

5:45
Why I am awake?

5:50
Why is Jeremy getting up? Oh yeah, basketball. Back to "sleep"

6:02ish
"Mama, is it okay if I lay in here?" "yesh". Hit in the face with a dinosaur.

6:15
Get up. Go potty (I have a 4 year old)
Get Ephraim (who woke up and screamed)as soon as my big toe hit the floor.
Uh Oh, Miriam's up too... please don't cry when I leave, please don't cry when I... ugh, please don't wake up Blythe, please don't wake up Blythe. Phew.
Prepare hot cocoa, eat some crackers, feed Ephraim, read my Bible, change E's diaper (p.u.), get Miriam, get caffeine, get more crackers, feed Miriam, check e-mail, listen to the news, change Miriam's diaper (p.u.), get Blythe up, collect clothes for the kids, feed Blythe, change Blythe's diaper (p.u.).

7:15
Give E his medicine, pick up toys, put darks in the washer, put laundry in dryer, put diapers away, take full laundry basket upstairs, put away clothes. Change babies clothes, search for ball.

7:49
Start breakfast, Jeremy is home now. Oatmeal... sorry I forgot to start the tater tots earlier. Prepare food, babies to highchairs, food to the table.

8:05
Eat breakfast, play backgammon (I win!), clear table, babies to naps, family Bible study, read Morgan a story, play with the Geoboard with Morgan, put away felt board pieces from yesterday, tape box for felt board.

9:15
Jeremy leaves for work for a "half hour", sort out budget cash, clean bathroom (good cleaning, the toilet is super stinky), dust master bedroom, sweep master bedroom.

9:50
Get in shower, ignore E's screams to get up

9:57
Get E and Miriam up, prepare milk for Miriam, unearth computer, start feeding babies, blog...

10:20
Take laundry basket upstairs, fill with whites, carry Blythe and cleaning tub down (had to wake the poor girl up, she's fighting something). Start feeding Blythe, check Facebook.

8:15 pm
Well, my intent was good... but we ended up leaving the house around noon and not getting back until 6:30. We headed to DM to Unca Matthews to work on his cabinets... poor guy claims to be able to sleep through anything... apparently 3 babies and a 4 year old are beyond "anything"... I'll try again some day :)

Mother's Day

This year, I got a new outside, 3-seater swing (with a canopy) for Mother's Day. We drove all the way to Altoona to pick up the swing because our Lowe's was all out :( As a result, I did not expect to get my normal "Willow Tree" figurine... which was fine because, though I love the idea of nick-knacks, I do not like to dust them and I do not like to find nice little nooks and cranny's for them to live in. However, after church (while hurriedly putting away groceries so I could feed babies and myself), Morgan brought in a Willow Tree box and card, and Jeremy carried in another box and card. J said that I could not have my first Mother's Day with triplets without figurines to commemorate it with! The little people brought tears to my eyes, I can't believe I have four kids... and then I read J's card and the tears dried up... that man cracks me up!!!

Oh My Stars (and Garters)

Who said that? Grammy, Grandpa Mac, Pretty Mama? I don't know, some relative, but my dad still says it, with this really goofy, not-so-southern accent... anyway.

So, yesterday, I pulled out my Honey Graham Cracker recipe, which I have not made since Morgan was learning to eat three years ago. I know, I know, you are not supposed to feed kids under 1 honey, but I did, and they love it. Morgan really loves the crackers. Why call them crackers anyway? They're really more cookie-ish. Well, I tried one, and you know what, I don't like honey; and I like sweet stuff, but honey is just not my favorite.

So, since I want to please all the pediatricians in the US, and I want to be able to sneak a "cracker" here and there and like it, I need to modify this recipe. I'm thinking of 1) eliminating the honey 2) adding some oats to the concoction, or whole wheat, or both, we'll see and 3) replacing some of the butter with applesauce. Until I try these changes, I have about 6 dozen little star "crackers" to get rid of... I wonder if my preschoolers will be able to polish them off in the next few Sundays!

Knight-to-be-Nephew

I have finished the little quilt for my new knight-to-be nephew!!! He is not due until September, but I will be heading to Topeka to see Mom and Sonja at the end of May, and figure I'll save some postage and deliver the quilt then. Tate, before he was Tate, had a "jungle" theme (which changed to a helicopter theme after I had purchased all the fabric) and I have decided to stick with that idea for this baby too. Sonja assures me that Tate is now interested in the jungle animals; so I don't feel it will be a waste of adorable lions, hippos, monkeys, giraffes, alligators, and leopards.

So, when I found out about her new baby, I started my hunt for the perfect jungle fabric. Wouldn't you know it, my local quilt shop had just the ticket... jungle animals on a black background (Sonja's favorite color at some point, I'm not a good sister, I have no idea what her favorite color is now, but I might guess green). Because I loved this fabric so much they were, of course, all out, and I just happened to have fallen head over heels with the fabric from a pillowcase kit. Argh.



There is a happy ending though... and don't you just love the Internet? Being on unofficial "couch rest" with the triplets, and then sequestered to a small home during a cold winter, I have learned to search for everything on-line, and it does get my checkbook into trouble at times. After a few days of hunting here and there, I found the same fabric and ordered a yard, and some of the fabrics in the same line. Long story short, I have remembered to take a picture and here is the finished product... lifesaver squares, lots of color, and jungle animals!

Morgan is 4

Four years ago today, Jeremy and I were hanging out at Chesapeake General Hospital with our fresh-out-of-the-box baby boy! It seemed to take forever to have that kid, and there was a lot of heart ache along the way... but God provided and though he (Morgan) drives us to distraction most days, it's a distraction I can, and love, to live with.

So, in honor of the big 0-4, I have concocted a cake... not just any cake, but a strawberry hill cake. A strawberry hill cake with white dot icing. A strawberry hill cake with white dot icing, and green sugar sprinkles. Why the green? Because it's grass, and grass grows along train tracks, and perched upon our train tracks is "Diesel" (Morgan informed me that we needed a Diesel because he's the "mean train" and we didn't have one yet). We also have a George on the cake. This will be George's third birthday (well, actually, this is only this particular George's 2nd birthday because Bing and Zoro ate the first George (dogs)). I could not, in good conscious, leave the monkey out, and I suppose, Morgan will be celebrating his big 4-0 with George also.

Sigh... in the words of Jeremy, "I love that kid".