Terrible 2s. times 3.

Yep, that's right. The boys are entering that lovely stage we know as the Terrible Twos!
I literally can not get any chores done during the day unless Ben is home. The *second* I turn my back, they are tackling each other, into everything, trying to climb out windows, climbing up on the dinner table, shredding tissues or wipes or coloring books, pulling off all their clothes, etc. Also, the sound I listen to 90% of the day is an orchestra of whining and fussing. It's quite impressive really.
BUT, for all the chaos they create, there are still glimmering moments where they are angels. And sometimes, they're destroying things, but they really believe they are helping out, that I just can't be mad at them. Today for instance, I was doing dishes, or trying to and keep them off the table, and out of the windows, etc. I go back into the front room to peak on them, and they are pulling all the wipes out of the wipe pack, I'm getting ready to tell them how much trouble they are in, and stop when I notice the reason they are pulling ALL the wipes out. They were cleaning the floor! LOL! So yeah, now I have about a million wipes to pick up, that are basically unusable now, so I have to throw them out, but my floor is kind of clean.

I also am being very careful how I deal with their terrorism of our house. They have started being copy cats. They tell each other no, and sometimes will spank each other, because yes, when their behavior warrants it, Ben and I do spank our children. And I tell them they are grounded sometimes out of frustration, which means nothing since they aren't quite 2 yet. But I had to laugh, they know what being grounded means. I was getting them ready for bath time last night and Marcus looks up at me, points his little finger, and says in a stern toddler voice, "No! Gound! No fair!" (I guess he must have learned about the fair on some kid show, or maybe he was telling me I wasn't being fair?) Anyway, I decide to play along, and by the end of the conversation, not only could I not go to the fair, I wasn't even allowed to go to the store, not even if DADDY said it was ok! lol.

As nuts as they make me, and as much as they wear me out, I sure love those little critters!

Vows to my kids

Ethan, Owen and Marcus...
I, your mommy, vow to love you unconditionally. I vow to encourage you and build you up, and to never tear you down or make you doubt yourselves, or the love your father and I have for you. I vow to wipe your noses, give you medicine, snuggle and cuddle you in sickness, and until I have absorbed all of your sickness. I vow to always try to provide an environment that is conducive to your creativity and imagination, and to nurture your little minds. I vow to tough, not because I want to be, but because I want you to understand that there are always consequences. I vow to always love you for who you are. I vow to always encourage open and honest communication, although I know there will be times (especially the teen years) when you won't want to tell me anything. I vow to always try to set a good example.

I love you boys. You are my world.
Mommy

talk, talk,talk

That's right folks, we've got talkers! Jabber-jaws, chatter boxes, etc. And oh, I love how my boys sweet talk me!
Ethan is very good at always saying "Thank you" and "Love you, Mama." Owen thinks it's funny to look up at me and say, "What's up?!" And today I was on the phone and had it on speaker phone so the boys could say hi to out of town relatives, someone on the other end said "Hi babies!" And Owen said, Hi bay bees!" And Marcus just talks. Sometimes we can understand what he's saying, sometimes not. He's pretty good at saying things like "thank you" "milk" "juice" and various other things. The one thing I have so much trouble getting them to even try to say is "please." I try and I try. I try to make them say please before giving them snacks they're begging for, and they just won't say it. After trying so hard the other night, I was surprised the next morning when Ethan was playing with his toy helicopter, he showed me what he was playing with and said, plain as day, "Helicopter." He's a smart kid, they all are. I KNOW they can say please, they just won't.

I play a lot of music around here, and let them watch shows with a lot of music, so I shouldn't be surprised that they are trying to sing now too! Today I had my Pandora playing and the song "Single Ladies" came on, and then after listening to that we switched to the Disney station, and after a lot of dancing and grooving, it was nap time. A few minutes after I put them down to nap, I hear the "oh, oh, oh" part of the Beyonce song coming from their room in the sweetest little toddler boy voices! Such funny guys!

Every day I look at my kids, who are nearing the 2 year mark, and I am amazed at how big they are, how funny they are, how much personality they have, and how clever they are. But these are my BABIES! They shouldn't be so big yet, I mean, it was just a couple weeks ago I was bringing them home from the hospital, right?

Last week we had two freak out moments... on the same day! Within 3 hours of each other! The first was that Owen was running and trying to drink from his sippy at the same time... he fell, of course. With the sippy in his mouth. He wouldn't open his mouth to let me see the damage, and there a lot of blood seeping out of his tightly pursed lips, so I'm thinking that he's toothless again, I'm thinking, "Am I going to have to take him to the ER? Why is the bleeding not stopping." But the bleeding did stop, Ben got home from work and we discovered that after all of that, it was a very minor little cut. Then bed time rolls around, and of course Marcus and Owen want to keep playing. So once we get them tucked in and Ben and I turn the light out and leave the room, they get up to play. Well, Owen gets up to play, Marcus gets up, trips and falls face first into the wall/corner of Owen's bed. I hear the "I'm going to die" scream, so I run in the room and Marcus ALREADY has a black eye! That poor boy, his face got all swollen around the eye, and it is still pretty black almost a week later. But it's healing up. We were going to take the boys to a pumpkin patch this weekend, but Ben was afraid people would report us to CPS if they saw Marky's eye, so we're planning on going this coming weekend instead.

That's all the fun stuff I can think of for now.

"What the heck am I doing?!"

As parents, do you ever ask yourself what the heck you are doing? I seem to have a lot of those moments lately. Then I feel some added stress because I don't have a "test" baby. It's not like if I screw up, I'm just screwing up one kid, I'm dealing with 3 at once!

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS TALK OF POTTY TRAINING AND KIND OF YUCKY STUFF!!

The boys are in big boy beds, the cribs are gone, so no going back to that. I wonder if it was wrong to move them to beds so soon. I actually just got an email from baby center or one of those websites saying that most children aren't ready for beds until they are around 3. In this regard, I really feel like we did the right thing in moving them to the beds, because they were getting out of their cribs, and that was dangerous. But now they don't ever want to stay in their beds to nap, they like to get up and run around after we tuck them in and night. I have to wonder if by really not being able to enforce when it is bed time by having them confined to their cribs, am I undermining myself as far as bed time goes? Will I be fighting this issue for years to come now? ugh! I just don't know.

I've read and heard differing things about when is a good time to potty train. Some "experts" say it's easier for kids to learn really young, between 1 and 2 years, and others say that parents should wait to start until after the child is 2. Most parents I know say to wait until they show signs of readiness. Well, the boys like to take off their pants and diapers and run around naked, and I'm really so sick of diapers, that I want to get the potty training done and over with. I've attempted once with Marcus, and then everyone got sick. He had been doing ok with it, but we didn't even get much of a basis set. I decided I'd start up again with potty training today. The method I think I like best is the let your child go diaperless and when you notice them show signs or start to potty, get them on the toilet or potty chair. Well, when I tried before, I decided to train one boy at a time, which was Marcus, and then I had to deal with jealousy from Ethan and Owen. Plus I was cleaning a lot of puddles up from the floor. Well, today I decided since right now we're having such wonderful fall weather, to let them be little nudists in the backyard. I had a potty area set up with their potty chair, and they were having a great time (this time around I decided to try and train all three at once). Well, Owen was showing signs that he was going to poo, so I put him on the potty, and I smelled a foul smell and assumed he did what he was suppose to do. Needless to say, I was a surprised to not see anything when he got off the potty. I look over and see something on Ethan's bum, and then I notice his feet are covered in poo. He went poo, and then walked through his pile. EW! I really didn't want to give up trying for the day, but I'm in the backyard with three naked little boys, trying to keep them away from their brother's poop, which is very interesting to them, and get Ethan cleaned up. So yeah, I quit for the day. I guess him pooping in the backyard is better than him doing it in the front room. Diapers are so expensive, and they are so gross, I'm really ready to be done with this stage, and the boys are getting rashy a lot more, they don't seem to like to keep their diapers on, but they don't seem interested in learning to use the potty either. Am I getting discouraged too soon? Am I approaching this the wrong way? DOES ANYBODY KNOW HOW TO POTTY TRAIN 3 BOYS AT ONCE??? Am I doing damage to my kids by, let's face it, not knowing what the heck I am doing half the time?

The joys of traveling with kids.

Every "vacation" from the kids comes with a price. Yesterday was Ben and I's second anniversary, so the boys went to Guernsey to stay with G-ma and Boppy for the weekend. From what I hear, the boys had a grand time. While the boys were playing outside, roughing up the dogs and watching football, Ben and I managed to get some relaxing in between catching up on dishes, grocery shopping, and other chores. We went out to dinner, and today Ben went back to work, and I went to pick up the boys. The drive up was nice. I got to listen to any music I wanted, as loud as I wanted. I visited with my parents for awhile, the boys and I had lunch up there, and then I headed back. I knew I probably could make it home without stopping for gas, and wasn't too worried... until I was about halfway home, then decided I needed to stop and put a bit of gas in the car, just to be on the safe side. So I stop, get gas, no problem. We get back on the road, turn the AC on, getting closer to home, and I hear "Bleh!" I look back just in time to see Owen vomit purple puke all over himself (the boys were drinking grape juice). I'm starting to think that maybe Owen suffers from car sickness. So in the next town, I stop at a gas station and am digging clean clothes out of the trunk and get Owen cleaned up. I'm one of those people who don't do well when others are sick, so I pretty much held my breath the rest of the way home to avoid smelling anything unpleasant. I would take breaths when I needed them, and we got home. I hoped the boys would nap so I could get Owen's car seat out of the car and unload the rest of their stuff. No such luck. Although, they did manage to completely disassemble their dresser.
The two night break from the kiddos was great, and it's nice to have the boys back, although, I sometimes with our car rides weren't so eventful.

Movin' on up!

We picked up the boys' beds Friday, had a busy Labor Day weekend, and got the cribs down and the beds up Monday!

The first night the boys had big boy beds only Owen and Marcus slept in their beds all night, but I figured, "Hey! Two out of three's not bad... not bad at all!" Ethan chose to sleep in the satellite chair in their room that is typically used to hold all their stuffed animals. It was cute!

It's not the third night they've had their beds, last night and tonight, Ethan has been sleeping in his bed. They really don't nap during the day now, but that's ok, because by bed time, they are ready to crash! Once their room is dark, they fall asleep pretty instantly. And what's more... with three identical beds, we just ended up putting them in beds the first night in their birth order, and they sleep in the same bed every night! I think that's pretty interesting!

"How'd I get in here...?"

I think it's time for toddler beds. A couple weeks ago, Ben and I were sitting on the couch watching tv while the boys were napping. It was about time for them to get up, and we hear a loud thud, we both go running to the boys room to see Owen crawling around on the floor... clearly not in his crib...
To help protect him if he decided to do that again, our quick solution was to pile pillows around the outside of his crib so that if he did it again, at least he'd have a softer landing. He hasn't done it since, but....

Yesterday I hear the boys in their cribs laughing and laughing and having a great time, then *thud.* followed by screaming and crying. I go in expecting to see Owen on the floor and was surprised to find that Marcus had flipped out of his crib. And right into Owen's crib!!! I felt bad for both Owen and Marcus, they were looking at each other like, "What just happened?" but I couldn't help laughing. So I get Marcus and Owen calmed down, and put Marcus back in his crib. Then from the kitchen I hear Marcus crying, he didn't want to nap, then I hear a thud and then all the boys laughing. Sure enough, Marcus had done it again!

I told Natalie about all the crib excitement, and she and Isaac were so kind as to buy the boys toddler beds! I'm looking forward to getting them up in the room. At least with beds they can go visit each other by walking instead of flipping/jumping around their room!

A much needed break!

Recently the boys have been acting very jealous of each other. The fights are really getting unnerving. From a young age we've been teaching them about sharing and taking turns, but they want what they want when they want it. Whether they want a toy a brother has or want attention. And in true toddler fashion, they don't know they want something until a brother has it!

However, last week Ben and I got a break from the bickering! My sister Natalie got married to a great guy, Isaac! My grandparents offered to take the boys so Ben and I could go to Oregon for a few days for the wedding! It was AMAZING! We got in late Thursday night, my sister, Isaac and his sister Madeline picked us up from the airport and we went straight to the hotel. The next morning Ben and I got up, caught up with other family at breakfast, then went for a walk and picked wild blackberries! Then we went to the farm where Isaac's family lives and where the wedding was. We got a tour of the farm which was beautiful! Ben and I then went with my dad to pick up a family friend from the airport and then had lunch at Edgefield... which I believe is a micro-brewery. Yummy! From there we went back to the farm and helped in getting things ready for the big day. I met so many more members of Isaac's family. They were all such warm, welcoming people! Then we had the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. You haven't eaten until you've tried Karl Schaefer's food. I know he was a highly acclaimed chef. We ate the best steaks I've ever eaten, even the salad seemed like it had to be the best salad on earth! Ben and I sat with the lovely Sarah Tunstall, the wedding photographer and a fellow NCCS graduate, and her fiancé Travis! It was good times catching up with her, and Ben and Travis had so much to talk about! It was great! After the dinner, we eventually found ourselves back at the hotel. The next morning we woke up at 5AM!! We wanted to make the two hour trip to the coast! It was so worth the early rising and two hour drive! And it was worth missing manicures with Natalie (Sorry, Nats!. Ben had never seen the ocean before, so it was pretty special. We went to Cannon Beach, which I later found out was where they filmed The Goonies! How freakin' cool! It was cold, but it was beautiful. We even got fresh seafood! At 9:30 in the morning... yeah.. I know, weird! But it was the only time we had on our trip to get fresh seafood right by the beach. After the beach, I met up with Natalie, Alica and Madeline to get the hair and make-up going. And then, it was time for my sister to get tie the knot! It was a beautiful ceremony, and every emotional, of course Natalie and Isaac's dog, Dax, provided the comic relief! Then, I thought the food for the rehearsal dinner was good.... the smoked salmon, wild rice, salad and ratatoullie was so great. I don't know how many times I proclaimed my love for food. And the wine at the reception was made only two miles from the farm! So Good! The reception was great, the toasts were emotional, but lovely, and while I missed my babies the whole time, I'd call and they were having fun on their own vacation. And the break from my little guys was much needed. We came home the morning after the wedding, and I couldn't wait to get lots of kisses from my guys. We've been enjoying being back home, but we miss Oregon, and definitely want to get back there, hopefully next time, with the boys! I know the boys would love it! The weather there is so wonderfully mild! I don't think I was really pestered by any bugs! But nothing beats being Mommy again.

The first two days back, the boys were just as sweet and wonderful as can be, and today the jealously has been back in full swing!

Did a tornado just go through my house...

Nope! Just my kids playing!

Keeping a tidy house is a losing battle. If I'm not catching up on getting dishes done, I'm trying to catch up on laundry or trying to keep the floors clean. The boys seem to love throwing food on the floor, trying to spill any type of liquid on the floor so they can play in the puddle, or they are spitting food and drink all over the place. If they aren't feeding the ants, they like to "help" me. When they think it's time for everyone to get clean diapers, they go to the box of diapers, bring me three and go back to the box and pull out three more and continue this pattern until the box is empty. They also like to play with wipes. They wipe the floor, table, chairs, and each other. It's cute, but then I'm left picking up a trail of wipes. But at least the intention is good.

Now that they can climb just about anything, its getting so much harder to keep things out of reach. The things that interest them the most are the things we try to keep out of their reach.. they like phones, iPods, coffee cups, my purse, soda cans, etc. However, the one thing that can keep their attention for hours is if I let them play with crayons and coloring books. Not that they color in the coloring books, but it keeps them out of everything else. They do like to chew on crayons, and they like to color, they like to color speakers, the coffee table, blankets, the couch, and basically anything that isn't paper. Which is why I'm glad we don't have any "nice" furniture. Our things are nice enough, but not so nice that it's a big deal when the boys try to destroy them. Not to say I let my kids "get away" with coloring the house, however, I know they are just starting to explore crayons and I'm working with them on keeping colors on the paper.

We're also working with letters. I write out their names for them and tell them the names of their letters and explain that the letters in a certain order make their names. Although I'm pretty sure they don't get the concept of spelling or reading, they are beginning to recognize their written names.

Ethan is my dare-devil. Lately his most favorite thing ever is to stand at one end of the couch and let himself fall back on the couch. I wish there was a way to discourage him from doing that, but nothing seems to discourage him from wanting to make his tummy tickle. I have a feeling that when he's older he'll be the one to try to fly after watching something like Peter Pan.

Owen is such a little climber, he climbs on tables, chairs, tries to climb the gate to the kitchen, he stacks boxes and toys so he can climb them, and he even tries to climb the walls.

Marcus is a little cuddle bug, he loves to just snuggle up with mommy and daddy on the couch. And when he's not cuddling, he's seeking out small objects to put in his mouth. Whether that be things that are tracked in on shoes, crumbs that got missed in cleaning up after meals. Actually, big or small, he almost always is chewing or sucking on something. My favorite fact about Marcus is that he is terrified of house flies. It's just so silly. A fly found it's way into our house, flew by Marcus and he jumped, his sippy went flying through the air and he was off, trying to get as far away from the fly as he could. He would not calm down until I finally got the little bug with the fly swatter. Now he's fascinated with the fly swatter.

I'm sooo tired.

Well, we survived the week with Ben working out of town. We didn't even run off to Grandma and Boppy's for the days he was gone. The three days he was gone, I'm guessing I got all of 12 hours of sleep. The boys were wonderful... up until half way through the second day of Daddy being gone. With their new freedom of not having to play in a play pen, they have really been testing their limits with Mommy.
For instance... Owen. He climbs up on EVERYTHING. He likes to climb up on the couch where he can reach the phone/remote table (which I also have a docking station for my iPod so we can listen to music) and then he throws everything to the floor. He makes me nervous because while on the couch, he likes to get rough and tumble and won't just sit there, I'm afraid he's going to throw himself over the side or something.
Then there is Ethan... He likes to climb too. While his daddy was away, while the boys were sitting nicely eating lunch, I went to get them juice, in the two seconds my back was turned, Ethan had climbed up, crawled across the top of their table and pushed Marcus out of his chair.
And then Marcus. My biter. I have to say this for Marcus... at least he doesn't bite his brothers... he saves all his dirty little bites for Mommy. And he bites HARD. He bit me tonight when I was getting him ready for bed and he actually left a mark in my arm.
Speaking of nasty habits of the mouth... Owen spits. I don't mean he drools a lot or anything that is cutesy or baby-ish. His two favorite past times are spitting his milk/juice/water all over the floor and letting lots of spit gather in his mouth while cuddling and being sweet to mommy and then turning and spitting all over me. I have no idea where this spitting thing came from, but I am trying so hard to break the habit. Actually, I've been trying hard to break all of their naughty little habits. I'll tell you, it wears a mother out!

I'm sure after reading all I've just written, you'll have trouble believing me when I say that they really are, overall, good boys. I really do believe that they are testing their limits, and trying to see just how much they can get away with. And they are learning, they can't get away with much. I know they do listen because the things I repeat day in and day out they are starting to mimic. They shush each other, finger over mouth and all, they wag their pointer fingers at one another saying "No, no, no." It's already to the point where I can just say a name and give a look and the perp knows to stop what their doing and correct their misbehaviors. Such smart little monkeys.

Speaking of smart, they NEVER act badly when I take them anywhere. They never have. I hope and pray that that will be a lasting trend. I think they are afraid that if they act badly when I take them somewhere, they will be grounded to the house for the rest of their lives. Even when we go to the park or the zoo, they sit quietly in their stroller or wagon, at the park they play quietly in the grass, and explore a bit, but are sure to never stray too far. And just in case that should ever change, my wonderful sister bought them each Monkey Buddy baby harnesses. Yes, I am officially the mom who keeps her kids on leashes. Do I feel bad about it? Nope! It keeps the three of them where I know where they are, what they are doing, and what's going on around them. It is just something to help me keep my kids safe. I won't have to worry about my kids running off getting lost or wandering into harm's way... at least for now.

Seriously though. This whole testing limits thing has gotten old really fast. Anyone want to arrange a vacation for me (all expense paid preferably), babysitting, and my own personal bartender for a weekend? I could really use the break... When I haven't been busy with them, I've been way too tired to care anything about myself. Want to know something I'm actually a little embarrassed about??.... I don't even remember the last time I brushed my hair. That being said, I'm going to get the dishes done, take a nice hot shower, brush my hair, and get some sleep.

I had a witty title, but...

I actually had a fun title for this blog when I was thinking about the many things I was going to write about last night, but I believe the title is lost, floating around somewhere in Dream Land...

We survived our second blast of tornadoes this season, and having Ben here to help wrangle the babies to the basement made it so much easier and less stressful! Talk about crazy. The sky was sea foam green, the clouds were swirling, and I have to say, it was beautiful. After we got hit with the high winds and sideways rain, I went outside, just to see, and the air smelled like lemons and sugar. I think it's a shame that things are only so beautiful like that when Mother Nature is being so destructive. Three tornadoes touched down in Scottsbluff (we live in Gering, but it's really close to Scottsbluff)and we could hear the tornadoes roaring on the ground. Of course, we were in the basement. We had the boys in a pack-n-play in the basement closet. Owen kept throwing basketballs, and footballs for me to chase and throw back to him, and Marcus and Ethan were pretending the pack-n-play was a car and they were going on a trip. I love that they stay so calm and well behaved during such scary times. The flickering of the power didn't bother them a bit. I'm so proud of them.

In other news, Sunday we took down the baby "cage" or the play pen. I re-arranged and got everything done while they were napping, when they got up from their nap, they were running around the whole front room, screaming with glee. I think having the play pen up for so long has trained them that that is where their toys go. I have to say, I'm surprised at how clean the front room is staying with them being able to go everywhere. They seem to know to keep the toys in the area the toy box is. Again, I am so proud of them. They are so smart and learn so fast.

For the rest of the week, or at least until Thursday night, it's just me and the boys. So we're already missing Daddy. He's working out of town, and I'm trying to be positive about it, but I already feel overwhelmed knowing that even in the evenings, I'm the only one here with the boys. I'm also very paranoid. I am convinced that every person who walks by our house on a daily basis is casing the place and watching for when Ben's car isn't around and I'm totally expecting someone to try barging in tonight, probably pretty late. There is just something unsettling about knowing that if something were to happen, it's all up to me to protect those three little boys. Of course the voice of reason is in my mind somewhere, struggling to be heard, saying "Everything will be fine, nothing is going to happen." I know I have the option of packing up the boys and heading up to my parents' for the duration of Ben's out-of-town-ness, but I'm trying to face my fear of being home alone at night with the boys head-on. I can do this. I'm strong. If anyone would try to intrude into my home and put my little men in any harm, they'd be sorry. I can be Hell on Earth if needed. Right?
I also keep telling myself not to be such a baby. There are women who are raising kids without a man around and doing just fine and they're houses aren't constantly being broken into. There are women whose husbands are deployed, or who are working much further away. I'm lucky that he's only gone for three days and two nights.

I resolve to not be a baby. Maybe I'll use this opportunity to let my three little dumplings sleep all snuggled up with Mommy... Then again, they are a lot like me, they move around A LOT in their sleep...don't want anyone falling off the bed.

ABRUPT SUBJECT CHANGE::
We have a little patch of yard we turned into a garden this year. Sadly, two out of three tomato plants were killed in the first tornados of the season, but the rest of our garden is thriving. Onions, radishes, corn, peppers, watermelon, and up the side of the garage we have grapes, plus thyme, oregano, lavender, cilantro. I'm the most excited for the radishes to be ready for picking. I adore radishes. I also love our garden because it draws the prettiest birds into our yard. Yesterday after a visit to my grandparents, the boys and I came home to the biggest, most beautiful blue jay in the backyard. Ben said it was back again this morning when he was leaving for work. We also get a lot of robins. I like robins, I feel like I can relate to them. They're out hunting for worms to feed their hungry little babies back at the nest. Their maternal instincts make them brave. They don't shy away from people if there are worms to be found. They are fearless in order to put food in their babies' bellies. What good momma birds.

I'm getting good at this...

I'm getting pretty good at getting the boys out and doing things with them all by myself! First was our trip to the zoo. Yesterday I took them to see their Gramma (Ben's mom) at her office. Unfortunately, Marcus was being a bit grumpy and was scaring most of her co-workers away. But they had fun using the remote to control the fan in the office, and Marcus fell in love with the copy machine. 16 months and he's already pushing paper!
Today I took the boys to the Family Fun Day at the small little airport here. Ben hurt his leg at work yesterday, so he didn't feel up to going, and my sister in law was going to go with us, but ended up having stuff she needed to get done. So we got up this morning, I fed the boys and put them all in matching outfits (white tees with overalls). Daddy helped my load the boys in the car and off we went.
I guess we got there a little late because we missed the big jet flying in, but that was alright. It was such a fun day. The boys got to see a lot of different planes and airport equipment. I think we'll have to go every year. Especially when the boys get older. I discovered that in the little planes, they give kids ages 8-17 free rides.
The boys got to see helicopters, and the nice remote control airplanes.
Little girls would just come up to the wagon and start talking to the boys and flirting with them, which I thought was adorable, and then I thought, "Where are these girls' parents?!"
So many people were curious about the boys and there were a few people who thought they were little girls. My response to that was, "No, they're just really pretty boys."
I love that I'm taking the opportunities to show the boys this big world we live in, even if I am doing it by myself. It's a bit of work, and by the time we get home I could use an ice pack on my arms, because they all want their turns of mommy carrying them. I love that they love being held still, I just wish they weren't getting so heavy. I'm sure I looked like quite the pack mule today, at any given time I had one diaper bad slung over my shoulder, a child on my hip, pulling a wagon with two more children in it, and another diaper bag in the compartment on the back of the wagon.
I think the boys were disappointed that the airport didn't sell snow cones like the zoo does, but they soaked up the scenery.
The Air Force had a recruitment booth up, and they were already trying to recruit my little men. They were trying to entice them by giving them toys.
I also found out that our small town is expecting it's 4th set of triplets! My boys were the first! 4 sets of triplets in just over a year and a half! And all in a tiny little midwestern town!! CRAZY!!!

That's what I have for today! Thanks for reading!

Fun times

Well, Marcus is pretty much walking now. It's funny though, because instead of taking actual steps, he shifts all his weight to one leg and then swings his other hip forward. Think of any John Wayne movie. I swear, he looks like he is trying to walk like an old west gun-slinger. It is the cutest thing!

Let's see... the boys love going to the zoo. We went last Wednesday, and their favorite part was the snow cone we all shared.

We've also set up a little kiddie pool in the back yard. The boys think that it's a pretty fun thing, but they only have fun in it if I get in with them. If I'm not in with them, they pretend to hate it. Once I am in the pool, I become Owen's favorite pool toy. He grabs my feet under the water, bends my toes, makes me fold my legs then extend them again. He also takes my hands and makes me splash. Marcus thinks he's a pretty big man because he's figured out how to blow bubbles in the water. I think I may have a swimmer on my hands! He's such a goof!

The boys have always played and interacted with each other, but I've really noticed them trying to socialize with each other, and with Ben and I. Their vocabularies are expanding everyday, and they have already started putting some words together. I am a very proud mommy! They've been saying simple words like "yeah" and "hi" for awhile. Ethan's favorite thing to say lately is "tickle tickle!" It's so cute. I was getting them out of their cribs the other morning and Ethan looked right at me and said, "Tickle me!" He's recently also uttered to me "I busy" "BAMBI" and "Lo you" which I take to mean "love you."
They are all also making acknowledgements to when I hand them something or help them with things. They mumble sounds that somewhat resemble "thank you."

They LOVE music and to shake their groove thangs! haha. But seriously, they should teach dance lessons! It's so fun to watch them react to different kinds of music.

Also, Owen has learned that if he wants a toy someone else has, he has to wait for it. The other night Ethan had a toy, and Owen wanted it, so Owen laid on his tummy next to Ethan (much like a teenage girl will lay on the floor while talking on the phone) and he just watched. As soon as Ethan got bored and moved away from the toy in question, Owen popped up and grabbed the toy! It was pretty funny!
They also seem to have figured out the game "Monkey in the middle" to an extent. Ethan and Marcus will run/crawl around Owen in circles chasing each other and laughing, and Owen just sits there and acts totally oblivious to his brothers. So, it's not really anything like "monkey in the middle" but it's still fun to watch.

Tonight Owen and Marcus were having the best time. Marcus would sit in front of Owen, and Owen would stand facing him, and bend down over him trying to touch his head to Marcus's head, and Marcus would laugh and laugh, and then he's stand up and grab Owen's shoulders, and they would touch foreheads and laugh, then Owen would gently push Marcus and Marcus would fall down, and then Owen would pat Marcus on the head. They did that for almost half an hour.

I wish I had more video and pictures or them doing these things, but every time I pull out the camera or camcorder, they start posing.

Anyway, that's what I've got for now. They do about a billion adorable things everyday, and if I wrote them all in this one blog post, it would get a little too lengthy!

They do grow up so fast...

Haven't updated in months, as in my typical fashion...

So the boys will be 16 months on the 20th. It's amazing how much they are learning and absorbing. Owen has decided to be the big brother of the pack, he's so funny. He struts around the house and you can just see on his face that he thinks he's mister big guy. He acts tough and won't be caught dead wanting Mommy... unless his brothers are playing with Mommy... or if he's tired.... or if he doesn't feel good, or someone stole his toy... or if his cousin is around...

Ethan is a complete and total Momma's boy. If he's contently playing and having a good time and I walk by without picking him up... OH BOY! When I'm not holding him he is trying to crawl up my legs, or yelling for me to come get him. Even if he's being held by someone else, if I'm near by he's throwing himself out of whoever's arms in my direction. It's so nice to be needed and so loved, but goodness...can't I have a minute to myself?!

Marcus. Our little butterball. Marcus is content and happy about 97.8% of the time. There are times though when he acts as though he is so starved of attention. Mainly, he only complains that his food's not on the table in front of him fast enough. Of course, once his food is in front of him, he insists on inspecting, feeling, and playing with it before he really eats any.

All three of them are growing and thriving. They have their own little table they sit and eat at. They eat all "human" food now. No more bottles, formula, mush or baby food. They love hot dogs. They also love chicken, noodles, turkey, bread, green beans, bananas, strawberries, cherrios, cupcakes, applesauce, sorbet, macaroni, spaghetti, yogurt, and pretty much anything else that's set in front of them. They were a little freaked out by eggs at first, and then Ben put ketchup in their eggs (a completely horrid and disgusting idea to me) and they loved it. Thank goodness for Ben having differing tastes than me when it comes to eggs, because it got the boys to eat their eggs!

Let's see...Two boys are walking now! Owen and Ethan. Owen's been walking for a long time now, and Ethan likes to follow Owen around the house holding onto his hips now. Cutest thing. Of course, whenever they do something so unbelievably adorable, as soon and I grab the camera or video camera, they stop. Marcus is working on walking, but hasn't quite figured out how to move and balance himself upright yet. He'll stand up and start to lose balance so he spreads his legs further apart. He seems to think the further his legs are from each other, the more sturdy he'll be. Such a cutie.

They LOVE playing outside, which I love, because feeling cooped up inside all day everyday is depressing. We like to go on walks to the park, but that kind of stopped when we were there and a dog-napping took place. If someone will steal a dog from someone's yard in the middle of the day... yeah... Maybe we'll start going on longer walks to nicer parks.

A BIG THANKS to Jeff (sorry, I do not know his last name). Jeff, a co-worker of my father-in-law, gave us an old car. We're a two car family!! That means Ben can go to work, and I'll have a car with the car seats here. I don't have to feel "stuck" anymore! Plus, it's a huge relief to know I'll have a car at all times in case of an emergency!