Halloween 2011

Caden- "Jesus"

Caden was convinced the goat was eatting "chocolate".

PUNK KINS

Mitch the Witch, Caden as Itsy Bitsy, Austin as the Web, & Riley Boy as James the Train

Riley Boy and SoSo

The Spider Witch

TWO x 3

Welcome to the insane asylum. It is absolute bedlam here. The triplets have officially turned TWO. We celebrated in style at Goofy's Kitchen where Mitch and Caden danced the "twist" with Pluto, while Riley and Austin practically hid under the table with the limited character visits that we did have. Dinner that night consisted of a small pizza party with a yummy Mickey and Minnie Mouse chocolate cake from the Torrance Bakery for dessert! Small and relatively "low key"- relatively speaking :).
I can hardly believe how fast the time goes, as Halloween has come and gone we are eagerly looking forward to and worrying about Christmas. For example, where to put the tree that will get tipped over at least once. "Why does everyone seem to get sicker at Christmas?- Riley". "Does Santa fly, mom?" "No Riley, Santa cannot fly but his sleigh does." "How?" "The reindeer." "The reindeer fly? That's just crazy!" Yep we are 5 going on 50 here. Trying to incorporate the importance of Jesus' birthday is also a bit of a concern as Caden was convinced that the pumpkin patch scarecrow was Jesus. I can hardly keep up.
Take today for example:
Multiple children up during the night (3 of 4). Two asking for bottles (yea, I know) and one with a stomachache. Long night, long morning. I am alone now with all four kids- wiping butts and doling out cereal, etc.  Caden reaching out to pull Micheala's hair gets reprimanded, "Caden, we do not pull hair in this house." Caden says "timeout" and walks into Austin's room and closes the door. Awesome :) self disciplining children.  Fast forward a few minutes later and Caden is handing out Frosted Mini Wheats- not exactly the best choice and here is why: Austin has a very sensitive gag reflex. Before I know it I am trying to fish out pieces of chewed up cereal in order to prevent the inevitable- he pukes. Austin throws up everywhere. A tiny bit hits Michaela's foot and she too leans over to throw up. Riley runs heaving out of the room while Caden just stands there munching from the box of his Frosted Mini Wheats. Oh, man! It just went down hill from there. The bus didn't come to pick Riley up for class. Caden fell asleep in the van and had to be woken up to walk Riley to class. Austin kept up with the verbal reminders not to barf in the van. Even going so far as to say "No barfin, yet!" Gee, the "yet" part makes me feel so confident . . . Michaela is is well, Mitch.
The day before last she instructed the pediatrician- "Dr. Wilkinson. Dr. Wilkinson. Nurse. Shot. Caden." Yep. Caden needed a shot of decadron for our second round of croup in 2.5 weeks. Mitch and Austin had their shots the day before and Caden, sounding not to worse for the wear stayed home. Until of course the next morning where it was clear that he needed to be seen. Upon leaving the office, Michaela spots a gentleman leaving Starbucks where she says, "Man. How ya doin, man?" He keeps walking past so she repeats herself a little more loudly, "Man. How ya doin, man?" He glances up and apologizes for "being rude," tells her he is "doing well thanks," gets into his SUV and proceeds to back into another truck. Crap. I passed my van and kept walking. Um, distraction much? Oh, man. My Michaela is just too much. A couple days after Caden knocked out his front tooth (the day before his birthday-long story), Michaela climbed onto the top of Papa's BIG red truck- on the HOOD. "Mitch, what are you doing up there?! Get down!" Hands above her head she starts singing, "Up above the world so high . . ." Right. So now you get a little gist of where I am coming from . . . and all we can do to keep from crying is to LAUGH.

September 2011

Wow. The world seems to be flying by. Each day is filled with classes, appointments, work (aka. vacation), etc. Playing and snacking too of course. At the beginning of the month, we took the kiddos to Disneyland. It took a village, Mommy, Daddy, Grammie, Papa, Erin- but the kids had a blast and the adults didn't fair too bad either. Michaela is still talking about it and begging to go back to ride the "jungle cruise" and "rockets, ride it pulleasee?". She even went so far as to tell Mickey (on TV) "later Mickey, 5 minutes!" I am a bit nervous about taking them to Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel on their birthday for fear she will loose it when we leave without "jungle cruise and rockets, ride it pulleasee?!" We just might have to invest in passes this year . . . at least while the trio is still free :)!
I have survived Riley's 1st day back at school. It is his last year at Crown Valley Elementary where he has been going the past 2 years. We are working on transitioning to general preschool and hopefully into a regular Kindergarten class next fall. Testing has demonstrated that he has "above average" intelligence- now to figure out how to use it for good and not evil . . . He is though, in all honesty, a very sweet and loving little boy and wonderful big brother- most of the time!
I have survived a few rounds of "Mommy & Me x3" preschool with the triplets. I can't even begin to describe the chaos and the fun of going to school with 3 little ankle biters! From free play to circle time, snack time to art, and finally PE, Austin, Mitch, & Caden are growing up right before our eyes. My all time favorite though was walking in the first day of class to find that the class aid was our old neighbor- "Albert's wife" the same lady that pretty much forced our hand in giving up our dog Cassidy. I had a good laugh- God's sense of humor at its finest! I really cannot complain though, she has been a great help in class with the kids when I am forced to fly solo :). On the good days, Grammie gets to come too and experience "Mommy, Grammie, & Me x3"- much more enjoyable with 2 extra hands for sure!
I am working on "surviving" Casey's 1st business trip abroad. He has been in Singapore this past week. It also happens to be the week that Papa is on business in Washington and Grammie is busy moving Great Grandma and Grandpa Farley to "Leisure World". Grandma Shay is here helping with laundry and dishes :). Thank God for Erin, Trisha , and Mary or I would have lost it way before today. Working tomorrow- yea! Casey so owes me big time. I don't even know where to begin . . .
I think last night was actually the first night they all slept through the night. Praying hard for a repeat tonight.
So . . . sorry for the delay in updates- super crazy but as always feeling blessed.  Oh, and in case you are wondering, we are still the proud owners of the mouse- still living in our house. He is helping dismantle the kitchen, one cabinet at a time. Mitch found the traps and is still trying to find the mouse that the "man" is trying to help us "catch and let him (the mouse-not the man) go in the dump where he can eat all the food he wants . . ." Liar, liar, liar.
Piley- our caterpillar, now a cocoon minus the caterpillar head is quite possibly no longer "with us" and for this I blame Mary. Sorry Mary, but it was your idea to "catch" the caterpillar in a jar and watch him turn into a butterfly. Now we need to catch and release a butterfly to cover my hinney. I so do not want to have to deal with a caterpillar death . . . it's going to be hard enough to explain the mouse. Lord have mercy!

And now a few words from the kids:
Riley- "Wow mom. She is a great 'all-aboarder'!"- in regards to the Disneyland train conductor.
Austin- "No. No. No."- will you smile for mommy in the picture, "Mommy's pretty . . ." in reference to my "pretty" purse. Yep. Austy is a big fan of both purses and shoes.
Mitch- "OMG" "Shake your booty" "Choo choo scared me. Scaredy. Cry." "Mom, Caden barfin. Awww Crap!" "Man. Hi man."  Oh, and my fave- "Hi Trash Guy. Love you." - really? really? First of all it is the mail man, second of all she has never told me she loved me. I am so screwed  . . .
Caden- to grammie upon waking up first thing in the morning, "Chocolate, Lollipop, Chips- OK!"

Mouse in the House- among other things

So this month has pretty much flown by. Riley turned 5, his current favorite number, August 6th. We celebrated at Goat Hill Junction in Costa Mesa a few weeks before the "real birthday". His "fake" birthday was scheduled in advance to spare any conflict with the wedding plans taking place the following week. The party was all about trains, of course. Riley wanted a "Thomas the Tank" party but Mommy convinced him to have a Geotrax Train theme instead. I don't know- something about we had a Thomas party for year two and again for year three, and four . . . It was a blast. We had only a handful of kiddos (most of which belonged to me . . . ) and enough adults to keep things under control. All in all it was quite fabulous and Riley too seemed pleased. He was in all honesty worried that his "fake" birthday wouldn't have all the fun of a "real" birthday. His words by the way :)!
Then came and went the wedding. Out of now where August 13th appeared and my youngest brother Neil was happily married to "Aunt" Miri. Of course my children were the chosen ones and were honored to be the ring bearers and flower girl. The PRACTICE session was spot on . . . the wedding, well its safe to say, all hell broke loose. Nanny Tricia was out sick. Erin and Great Uncle George filled in. Mommy was already at the alter with all of the other bridesmaids when it was the childrens' turn to process down the aisle. So . . .  down RUNS Mitch (without her flowers), followed by Riley (who is so far cooperating- bribed with a train he was), Caden holding onto Uncle Georgie's hand for dear life and the hand of the wedding coordinator, and Austin throwing himself backwards on the floor demanding that Erin "hold ya". Thus, Mitch decides the need to intervene, grabs Mommy's flowers, RUNS back down the aisle, throws the flowers aside and attempts to figure out what the hell is wrong with Austin. At this point, Riley gets down on all fours and attempts to crawl the last two pews. Good Lord! This all took place in the span of 40 secs. I have it on tape. It would be absolutely hilarious if they weren't mine! After the aisle "walk", the children are taken to the cry room to have snack time, play on the i-pad, etc. Would have been nice to know that the cry room is not exactly sound proof. Caden banging on the windows, Riley shunting freight cars, Austin demanding more snacks, & Mitch stripping down to her pull-up (pretty good considering her pension for running around completely naked). When I mentioned this to the priest all he could say is "Yeah. I noticed. It doesn't exactly keep out the sound of children pounding on the windows!" Yeah, well now we know why priests don't have kids either so there! (Actually, the priest was very nice about it and had a few laughs at our expense. He was the same priest that baptizeded the babies at day 2 of life when we weren't certain if they were all going to make it out of the NICU alive.)
That was the wedding. The reception, well we are out a nanny and we are not about to take all 4 children on a yacht regardless of whether it is staying in the harbor or not. The back up plan was to have Casey stay home with the triplets and Riley and I to go to the reception. This plan did not suit the groom and thus began the phone tree (the morning of the wedding). Jacqueline (one of our CHOC docs) and her daughter Megan, bailed us out. They watched the younger boys and Casey and I took Riley and Mitch. It was a lot of fun, but there was no way we would have been able to keep all 4 safe on that boat. Jacqueline and Megan were absolute lifesavers! Not to mention Erin and Great Uncle George!
And now at the end of this craziness enters the mouse. No, it is not a pet. It is wild (fits in with the children, I know), but I would like it out. I realize that we have enough crumbs to go around and that they multiply many times over throughout the day but still. Gross. At this point, this little guy is the icing on the cake.

Kiddo Update:

Riley: Now 5! Returns to school (oh, yea) next week. He will be in preschool with Miss. Jenny one more year before transitioning into general education Kindergarten (at least this is our hope). He still loves trains and will talk your ear off about "Thomas this and Thomas that". Papa is his best friend. And Ryan. And Rex. And Justin. He is a love. He is also full of it.

Austin: Lover of food and snacking. He has an uncanny resemblance to Neil Michael, blond hair, curls, personality, and all. He loves carrying his purse and pushing the doll stroller around the house. His favorite toy is still the whoopee cushion. If he isn't eating or sleeping, he likes to snuggle. He has a major crush on Tricia.

Mitch: Beyond crazy. She climbs everything. Swings on everything. She is bossy. Likes to be naked. Thinks she is potty trained. "Kayla do it", "Mommy, clothes off", "Bossy", "Riley's crabby", Caden's "silly", "Austy B did it. Mess." The other night at dinner she told me "No. Don't like it"!" I hadn't even served anything yet. That being said, I probably so had that one coming as a pay back for dinner time growing up. She is exhausting. She is "ADHD" (according to Daddy), she is "Action, . . . and she cracks me up" (according to Riley). "Mommy tired"- Mitch

Caden: What a love. He is still learning to walk in his AFO braces- little blue, baby Forrest Gump braces. He loves singing and dancing to "itsy bitsy spiddy", "twinkle twinkle", "I'm a gummy bear", "all you single ladies", and then some. He can sing the ABCS. He has an infectious laugh that echos throughout the house. He finds words to be so funny- taco, pizza, dirty, stinky poopy . . . giggles, gut busting, pee in your pants- giggles. What a miracle! They all are really . . . and even though this "Mommy tired", this Mommy also realizes how very blessed we are!
Pictures to follow . . .

The Triplets and Riley Take on Vegas

Oh, boy did we have fun! Vegas road trip with Grammie, Papa, Mommy, Ally, and kids. Daddy stayed home with the work excuse! The reason for the trip was to visit family friends- Grandma and Grandpa Seely. Grandpa has been sick and we wanted to have an opportunity for him to see Riley again and meet the triplets. VEGAS ROAD TRIP! Not over planned, not too over packed, but we had a blast! Rooms were booked at the Excalibur for 2 whole nights on the Vegas strip! Crazy? Oh, you bet!
Our last minute addition to the van was Ally. Our Tuesday night hospital volunteer was green to go when she found out our plans for the next morning- "You're taking the triplets and Riley to Vegas?  . . . I am so there!" Thus, the 8th van seat was added. The 8th, non-folding, climb over the seat- try not to bump your head/flash anyone in the front seat, seat.
We left early the next morning and stopped for breakfast at the Barstow Train McDonald's- Riley's little piece of heaven- McDonald's and trains all in one building/train car! It was probably the first time he relaxed after we told him about the trip. Our little guy was extremely concerned with the following- 1) "Will people snore in the hotel?" (Only papa.) 2) "Do they speak our language in Nevada or do they speak English?" (Well honey, WE speak English and so do the people in Las Vegas.) 3) "What will we do there?" (Pool. Food. Visit. Play. Oh, and shop for souvenirs!) By the time we finished breakfast, Riley was sold on vacation.
After checking into the hotel and going for a round of swimming, Riley was taught the fine art of winning tickets by Ally. Riley and Ally had quite the system going- approx. 30 minutes later and $20 lighter, Riley had won 3 small stuffed animals, 2 hot wheel cars, and a little red plastic car. Yep, he was a winner. What Riley really wanted to know though was when we could "gamble" for money to buy trains. "Well buddy we can't. Only adults can gamble." "Your an adult mommy. You could do it!" Fast forward 3 hours and Riley witnesses a gentleman in the mists of playing the slots- "Ha. Ha. Mom, I saw that guy. He just put in a coin, pulled the lever, and pushed the button. I could do that. Ha. I know how to gamble!" I never said there was a secret to gambling, I just simply said no. In the mean time, Caden is shouting "Gamble, Gamble." WT baby!
Our visit with Grandma Sylvia and Grandpa Warren brought back a lot of great memories for me. I don't feel so bad about letting the kids drink my sweet tea knowing that that is exactly what Grandma and Grandpa Seely raised us on. The kids were a little uncertain about waking up from their naps in a strange house- Mitch to Austin- "Austy, wake up. Wake up, Austin." Just slightly panicked, but no worse for the wear. We got to meet up later with Grandma and Grandpa's daughter Tina and granddaughter Katherine at M&M World! So fun and of course, delicious too!
The rest of the time we spent at the pool, McDonald's, and relaxing triplet style- running up and down the halls at full speed with a couple beach balls, etc. On the way home, we stopped off at the Barstow train museum (yawn). Two small rooms of all things train. Mitch kissed the mannequin, which I suppose was better than the Thunder Down Under Guys performing at the hotel! We made it home, virtually unscathed. Austin puked while we were on the El Cajon pass- no rest stops, no pull offs, no nada. Grammie stood him on the side of the road to clean him off, while I frantically cleaned out his carseat with baby wipes! Papa and Riley kept chanting to themselves that they would not barf, they would not, they would not! And, most thankfully- they did not!
What a great time! I will be sure to add pictures to the post when my new computer arrives as the old one has eaten pretty much everything and will not share :)!

Happy 4th of July- A WEEK+ LATE

What can I say? We have been busy. Very busy. Too busy. Casey and I barely make it to bed by midnight each night and are usually joined in bed by at least one child. I dread the day we move the triplets out of cribs . . . do they make "room beds"?  You know, like a bed that spans the whole room? I suppose that would then be considered a "padded" room and well, I could very well be on may way to one of those soon. Of course, Casey would beat me there! :) This house is insane . . . or at least the children are.

We spent the 4th at Mother's Beach in Dana Point, thanks to my dad for saving us parking spaces. The kids spent time in the sand, in the water, and on the grass. We all had a blast, minus a few meltdowns (Riley, Daddy, Papa) and made it home for a BBQ in the backyard and fireworks. Riley got to do his first sparkler ever- and loved it. Austin and Mitch managed to stay up for the show ("Oh, Wow!"- Austin. "Boom!" -Michaela, "ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz"- Caden). Can't really say that I remember too much else (1/4 of a wine cooler- I know, dream big- right?).

Throughout the week we have spent a lot of time scrubbing of crayon graffiti (thank you to Austin and his followers); picking up ground in cereal and goldfish from the floor, car, etc.; wiping up barf (thank you Austin); and doing copious amounts of laundry. Casey was ever so grateful to be going back to work today- gee I wonder why? Could it be that work is easier than being home? Just a thought.

Today, we braved the park with Riley and the trips. Tricia and I almost died when we found Mitch with a piece of fur/bone in her mouth (seriously). I had to call the MD office and leave a message with the advice nurse and of course while I waited I phoned the hospital to speak with one of our docs. Thank you, Lana! No I didn't have to worry about rabies unless she was bitten and call if she develops fever or begins vomiting. (This kid is going to be the death of me!!!) My car was fed an entire box of Fruit Loops this morning with an 8 oz glass of water, you know, just in case the car was thirsty. She "dressed" herself this morning, selecting one of Riley's monster truck t-shirts and a pair of James (train) underwear, which she wore over her diaper. Yesterday, she told me I was a mean mommy. . .  I am in over my head. Thank God, they were not all girls!

Before I add pictures, a few quotes from the kids this week:

RILEY:
"That's not cool man!"- after watching Austin squeeze 2 snails to death (mommy too slow to stop him)
"She's Action"- in reference to Michaela after Daddy said she had ADD or something!
"Sorry Austy. Sometimes my brain doesn't work right."- Ry's apology for splashing Austin in the face (and a total understatement if I ever heard one!)

AUSTIN:
"Hold ya" and "Toot" (Austin's new favorite toy is the whoopee cushion!)

MITCH:
"Riley naughty"
"Mommy mean"
"Kayla crazy"
"Happened? Happened, Mary. Happened, Mary hand? Sorry Mary. Kiss."- after breaking the hand off of the statue of the Virgin Mary. Catholic guilt anyone?

CADEN:
"Itsy bitty"- itsy bitsy spider (he can sing most of the song)
"ABC"- again can sing most of the song
"Chips? OK!"
"Taco!"
"Pizza!"
Caden just got his AFO leg braces and is learning to walk, bending his knees! He is so funny- and he knows it too!

Waving the White Flag

Lord, have mercy. It has been a day. Started with crackers dumped on the floor, pee on the floor, kids on the floor . . . ended with lotion dumped on the floor, more pee on the floor and lots of kids on the floor. What happened in the middle is still making my head spin. Thanks to Erin for helping make it a little more bearable!

OT/PT for Austin and Caden. Mommy to Target, rudely bumped by a cart, kicked a cart, re-injured toe. Quick lunch with my very pregnant BFF (who had to push my cart through Target- as I swore up and down the aisles trying to catch my breath). Pick up the boys, drive to the orthopedist to pick up Caden's new Forrest Gump braces (no, they are not metal sorry to disappoint you Riley Patrick, they are hard plastic and blue). We spent over an hour in the "room" with no toys (except a pink beanbag doll and one hotwheel). Survived by feeding the boys Fruit Loops (sorry to the dietitian and others who claim sugary cereal is not the best- it was and is a lifesaver!), coloring receipts with a lone pen, and flying paper airplanes with those same receipts. The boys were troopers and we were able to scoot across the hall to the Orthopedic MD to get my toe re-examined after spending the better part of the afternoon contained in a small room with 2 chairs. "Probably fragmented the newly forming 'fragile' bone," "set back". Gosh darn it . . . MF!!!! I've been looking forward to getting back to my vacation days at WORK! Home is killing me! I long for my half hour lunch and "unsupervised" potty breaks by 3 feet tall individuals scouring the bathroom cabinets and drawers for nothing short of trouble.

Back home, Riley and Mitch waiting oh, so patiently for Mommy. Backyard play for an hour and half before dinner, more meltdowns, baths, home wrecking, and the general night time melee- that led to a 45 minute car drive to get 3 of the 4 children to sleep. Home in time to read books with Riley. Quick bowl of cereal (9:30 pm), a little blogging (b*tching), and 4+ loads of laundry to fold . . . and tomorrow is another day!  Cheers to my fearless helpers tomorrow (crazy people) Grammie Girl and MB! Go Team!

On a lighter note- the kids are doing exceptionally well. Riley is in summer school at Crown Valley from 8-10 am. Mommy and the trips drive him there because the bus wanted to pick him up at 6:54 to take him to school (12 minutes away mind you) and since Riley isn't even awake at this time of morning, the bus was out of the question. He asks when his "long summer holiday" will begin and I haven't had the heart to explain that it will be only half of the "normal" summer break. He is such a smart, sweet, and loving little boy. Riley has been enjoying many "playdates" with close friends, Great Uncle George, and cousins. He loves water fights and of course his beloved trains. He is an AWESOME big brother!

The triplets are hilarious. Each different in his/her own way. Austin is 28 lbs (5 more than the other 2). He loves to snuggle and eat. His favorite "toys" are Erin's IPAD and a whoopee cushion. Austin also has a pension for lotion and will gravitate to any bottle he can find and request a toe massage :)! Mitch is 23.5 lbs and loves to rule the roost in the buff. She thinks she is potty trained and can go without diapers. If I had to give a number, I'd say she makes it to the potty 25% of the time . . . the other 75% is keeping the Resolve Carpet Cleaner in business and the grass outside slightly damper than it might otherwise be. She continues to climb everything- regardless of how high or "danger" she is being. Mitch will stand just about anywhere with her toes to the very edge, arms up above her head and request to "fly". God help her if nobody is there to catch her. Her guardian angel works overtime . . . Sweet Caden, is a funny little guy (23 lbs) who constantly gets the giggles when the others misbehave, are corrected, or anybody says the word "dirty". Riley just has to look at him and Caden is bowled over with laughter. He loves to sing the ABCs and can pick up just about anywhere in the alphabet. He is also a huge fan of "itsy spidy" (the itsy bitsy spider) and twinkle, twinkle little star. Caden loves to "scribble" and constantly requests us to draw his beloved Mickey Mouse. He can now WALK!

We are beyond blessed . . . Thank you to everyone for all their love, support, and PRAYERS!

Great Uncle Georgie and Riley following a squirt gun fight in the house . . . Mommy took the rap (Daddy was not happy)!

Riley and So-So

Austy Bear

MES! Michaela Elizabeth Shay

Every day, every meal  . . . "all done .  . . fly"

Caden Christopher

And tomorrow is another day . . .

Well-Checks, SHOTS, & broken toe . . . oh, my!

So, all things considered we are doing well in the Shay household. Despite the little boys having runny noses, we were able to get our 16/18/&20 month well-checks completed all at once :). We had not had the opportunity to stay on the "recommended" well-check schedule, because, quite frankly we were anything but well- so there. Today, Austin weighed in at a whopping 28 1bs, pretty much 5 lbs heavier than Mick and Caden who weighed in at 23.5 lbs, and 23 lbs respectively. He is also 3 inches taller! They are growing leaps and bounds and much to our delight are speaking less in foreign tongues and more in English. Riley gets a kick out of asking them to repeat words and delights in the new things they figure out, particularly when it involves getting into trouble. The boys are now able to climb up on chairs and get back down, while Mitch has learned to scale the swing set, cozy coup, and playhouse roof (this with assistance). She is fearless, which scares the heck out of me and Casey. "Flying! FUN!"- direct quote!

Today we caught up on a few immunizations with a new latest and greatest technique- deception (okay- who am I kidding? Is there really any other way?). We took the babies in one at a time to get their shot. Caden was first, barely a whimper and then smiling. Austin was a bit more dramatic, but calmed easily. Mitch? Well lets just say she had an annoyed face, said "ow" and demanded a band aid. God, I love this girl!

Riley spent the afternoon with Erin, one of our favorite babysitter/helpers. She picked him up from school, took him to run errands, to lunch, and then the park. He had a blast playing with her cat (I am so off the hook of ever owning one as he quickly broke out in hives . . . :)) and later with her IPAD. He is so smart. With school nearly over, Riley is looking forward to swim lessons and long days at the beach. He turns 5 this August and wants a gold fish and trains of course! This little/big boy is such a love despite his little mood swings and difficulties with transitioning. He wanted to know "so how is your toe coming along, mom" after I broke it by accidently kicking the door jam last night. "I will massage it for you mom, would you like that?" I managed to let out a yelp, just as he reached my foot and instead he offered me a kiss to make it better.

Life here is just as crazy as ever with PT/OT still 2-3 days a week for the boys. Caden is getting taller "Forrest Gump" like plastic braces to help support him when he walks, but he is WALKING :). School is in session for another month and then we will be on to other activities. I vacation 2 days a week at CHOC at Mission, and throughly enjoy my respite and uninterrupted potty breaks. Life is beautiful . . .

Happy Mother's Day- a bit late :)

Happy Mother's Day Week! Better, ya? Ok. So technically everyday is Mother's Day in my house- "Mom, I need your help!" "Mom, can I please have some juice?" "Momma (crying)" "Mommy (crying)" "Mimi (crying)" I am needed and wanted for the most part (except when they are crying Mimi- cause that is Austy's version of Grammie Girl.

This Mother's Day weekend we spent in Fashion Island doing the March of Dimes- Walk for Babies. It was a 5K walk to raise money to help prevent prematurity- we were fashionably late (30 mins) and strategized by walking the route backwards to "run into" our group! My mom and I and the trips had a blast! Following the walk, there was a little NICU reunion for CHOC and CHOC Mission NICU grads. I cannot tell you how grateful I was to be able to celebrate the lives of my sweet and precious 3 x-preemies. A fellow mommy that I had met prior, was walking with her twin daughter, her twin son died a few hours after birth. I am so blessed.

The next morning, Casey and I took the fam out to breakfast- the local donut shop. We happily munched our way through a dozen donuts with Papa's help. So fun to watch my kids' faces light up over sprinkles :)

Of course if you thought about how messy 4 children and donuts could be- you would be right. However, check out all the fun we had in the backyard with shaving cream . . . messy just doesn't even describe it!

Celebrating our babies . . .
Grammie Girl & Caden

Triplet A- Austin Michael
Lover of food and snuggling.

Triplet B- Michaela Elizabeth

Lover of chocolate bunnies and being "naked".

Triplet C- Caden Christopher
Lover of LIFE and Mickey Mouse.

A SINCERE THANKS









Loving Mommyhood- most of the time :)

GOOD CLEAN FUN

Happy Easter 2011

Hope you all had a relaxing and peacful Easter! We were blessed to be able celebrate among our children and close family- all happy and healthy for the most part. So blessed . . . Please pray for our friends, the Blackwelder's, whos daughter/sister was killed in a car accident on her way home from Utah the day before. Brianna was a childhood friend of mine who was a practicing nurse mid-wife. She was only 28 years old. Her brother Ian was hospitalized in critical, but stable condition.

Our motley crew

Riley- last year without too much competition

Caden- I got them

Austin- who cares about the eggs!

Michaela- 2 new words- CHOCOLATE, CANDY

Eggstravaganza At Irvine Railroad Park

My little chicks . . .

The Gang

Mitch- She is fearless!

Caden- kisses and loves, my pony boy

My Riley Boy- its a "Walk- A- Thon"

Just wanted to post a few pics from our EGGSTRA- Special outing with Trisha and Auntie Audra. We had a blast riding the train (twice) and watching the kiddos ride ponies (Dolly and Stripes). Mitch and Caden rode Dolly for 3 laps around, Austin balked at getting near the saddle, and Riley wanted to attempt riding the "Jog-A-Thon" horses- aka trotting  (he made it half a lap before complaining it hurt his bottom and wanted Stripes to walk). Absolutely priceless . . .

Painting + 4 KIDS= MESSY

Haven't had a chance to post this- too busy cleaning up the "paint". We had a blast, not to mention quite a few laughs when the triplets unleashed their inner artists. Riley, Mary, & I watched as Austin shook out the paint, sending it splattering in all directions; Mitch painted her hair; and Caden quietly smeared the paint splatters all over the floor. Riley later found that the mess was "slippery" and enjoyed sliding accross the floor, compliments of all the red paint (his favorite color- go figure). Anywho, Mary left with paint spotted shoes and jeans, I peed in my pants and well- enjoy the pictures, 'cause it will be a long while before I pull out the paints again in front of these three . . . PS. "washable paints" doesn't necessarily mean it comes out of clothing, carpet, etc. - it's merly a "suggestion" of what should happen when you purchase "washable paints"- ie wishful thinking.

In the beginning- it looks innocent enough  . . .

Austin- Our Fashionista

Michaela Elizabeth Shay= MES

Not a lead based paint- Thank God

I

Look mom, it's slippy over here!

not so "washable", on a happy note though- NOT BLOOD