Weird Virus

Yesterday, we had ECFE class and when I went to get the kids out of the gym after Parent Education time, KJ was laying on the mat. He came over to me holding his head and told me that he was not feeling very good. He said that he wanted to go home "RIGHT NOW"! He did not even want to walk out to the car so I carried him half way until my arms got tired.
Once we got home, he curled up on the couch and he was moaning that he did not feel good. I took his temp and he had a low grade fever so I gave him some Motrin and he went fast asleep. He woke up about an hour later and he seemed to be a little better but not quite 100%. Then he went down hill again. This time I gave him some more medicine and that did not seem to help at all. It was very alarming how sick he appeared so I called the doctor. They wanted us to come in so off we went to the doctor.
Once we got to the doctor KJ took a turn for the worst and both the doctor and myself were equally concerned about him. He just laid in my arms and he was lethargic. We did all sorts of tests on him but everything came back normal. As his mother, I was very concerned as I had never seen him so sick.
While I was at the doctor my mom called to tell me that Ella had spiked a fever so we headed home to take care of her too. I braced myself for a long night of sick kids. Ella was up most of the night and Kendrick did okay but he was up a few times too. The amazing thing about all of this is that when both of them got up this morning, it was like nothing had ever happened. They were both back to normal, hungry, and happy! What a weird virus that was!
So I am sorry to the Stac(e)y's that I was supposed to meet out. I was so sad that it did not work out as I was so looking forward to catching up! So far Aime seems fine so we are all happy about that. Sick kids is always hard and never any fun!

Living Room Camping

One of the many things I love about Jon being a daddy is his talent of dreaming up fun ideas to do with the kids. When I got home from work on Thursday, I was informed that there was going to be a camping trip right in our living room. I suggested that with all we have going on over the weekend that it might not be a great idea. Jon said that the kids had been talking about it all day. How could I say no to that.
After dinner, I started the baths and Jon got the tent all ready to set up in the living room. Then once we had all the kids bathed and dressed it was time to set up the tent. They loved it.
Once the tent was all ready to go we piled the kids in with the air mattress, blankets, and pillows. They also wanted to bring all of their stuffed animals with them too but we told them two each was all they were allowed in the tent due to the lack of room!Ella soon realized that her hair would stand straight up from rubbing it on the tent sides so they had a good time doing that for awhile. Poor KJ wanted his hair to stand up too. We pretended that it did.
We then turned the lights off and Daddy told some friendly "Ghost" stories to the kids. It was such a fun night. They really enjoyed the living room camp out so I am sure we will be doing that again. The best part about it was that there was not enough room in the tent for all of us so I got to go up to a nice and cozy bed! That was daddy's idea and it might have been the best one yet!

The Lucky Number 3

I heard this term today from a book on tape I am listening to and it struck a cord. For us, 3 is a lucky number. It seems that lately, I have been noticing a lot of reaction about having triplets.
I guess it does seem a big deal to people that don't live it everyday so I try and be polite to people and there reactions. However, sometimes it just strikes a cord with me on how clueless or insensitive people can be about the things they say or even just their reactions.
For example, we have our kids in swimming lessons and my three are the only kids in the class. Their teacher Ms. M is wonderful and it really appears that she enjoys having them in class. The very first day of class she told me that none of the other teachers wanted to take the triplets so she volunteered. I really did not want to hear that no one wanted to teach our kids but I just blew it off. My kids are good kids. They behave and they listen to the teacher. I do not believe that they would be hard to have in class and from what I see they always have good sessions and they are making great progress. However, after class is over Mrs. M always makes a comment to me why her and her husband stopped at two (kids) and she acts like they are so much work.
This really bugs me for more than one reason but the biggest reason is that it is not that Jon and I had a choice about how we were given our kids. I believe that we have what we have because that is what God thought would be best for us. With that being said, if I could do it all over again and I had a choice, I would not change a thing! I can't imagine my life any other way.When we first found out we were expecting triplets, I remember that we were excited, nervous, scared out of our minds, and anxious about the future. At that time I think I just stuck my head in the sand and said a lot of prayers. However, I do remember peoples reactions to our news of having triplets. It was mostly positive but also some negative.
We have some friends in particular that I just could not be around anymore. All they would talk about was how we were going to afford this and do that. It was very frustrating and it made me very anxious. I have learned since then that no matter what everything just always works itself out. We did afford the diapers and formula, we are making it all work out from activities to preschool bills. I also learned that instead of worrying about all of them turning 16 and getting their drivers licenses on the same day, I just need to worry about what we are going to have for dinner tomorrow night. It is worthless to worry about stuff that is so far into the future and I simply have no control over.
Tonight we went to a local private school to visit the preschool there to see if we have any interest for next year. I was once again shocked at how much attention was given to us. A lot of stares and comments. Being in a situation like that always makes me feel like we are from outer space. Even the principal of the school came up to me to ask me "how do you do it everyday?" in which I smiled and said "it is such a blessing"! I fear that as my kids get older they will start to notice the stares and the comments. I dread the day that being a triplet makes them feel different or weird.Now I am the first to admit that having triplets and bring three very small and very needed babies home from the hospital was not a walk in the park. Truly, I do not remember a lot of the baby stage. Those many nights of getting up at midnight and again at 4 AM for the feedings were hard. I look back on those days and I think that Jon and I really bonded during that time. We were such a great team but it was hard...it was really really hard.
I do remember always being so envious of all my girlfriends that were having one baby at a time and all the love and attention they could give that baby. I am still envious of that and I think that is what drives me to want another baby. I would love to have the one on one experience. Lately though all of those girlfriends are on to their second and third babies and they are now struggling with how to manage more than one kid. This is where life is easier for us. When we are done with a stage we are done and then we move on. Not to mention that our kids always have someone to play with and experience life with.
I wish I was a triplet! I would have loved to have two other siblings the same age going through the same stuff. Jon and I have discussed at length the dynamics of being a triplet. We both agree that there will be times in their lives that they hate being a triplet but there will also be times that they love it. We believe that they will look back on their lives and in the end they will appreciate the bond they have with each other.
I don't want to just focus on the negative though, as there have been a lot of sweet and encouraging comments from people. One day a lady at the grocery store came up and asked me if they were all my babies. When I explained that they were triplets she smiled and said "God must really trust you to give you a blessing like that"!
I also find that a lot of older men are fascinated by the triplets and I love when they smile and reply with comments like "awesome" or "adorable" or "You are so lucky"!I have to say that I could not agree more. Three is a very lucky number. Jon and I still scratch our heads in disbelief on how we ever got so lucky to have three healthy, amazing, and wonderful kids. We often joke that we won the "baby" lottery. God is good, really, really, really good!

Lil' Chefs

There has been a lot of interest around here lately with cooking and baking. These kids ask on a daily basis if they can help me cook or bake something. Even though this can make life a lot harder for me with developing the patience and the extra clean up, I know that it is good for the kids to help with the cooking. I secretly hope that this will also aid in getting them to eat a little better. I figure if they give a hand in preparing the food then hopefully, they will be more likely to try the food. I am not a great cook. My mother is an excellent cook but when I was growing up, I never took an interest in it and now if just feels like I don't have a lot of time for it. However, this is on my list of things that I am working on. I want to get more comfortable in the kitchen so when my children are grown and bring their families home, I can make some awesome meals for all of them. One of the favorite games to play right now is restaurant. They love to take your order and then go and make the food. The funny thing is that they will ask you what you would like and then when you tell them, they will usually say "We don't have that"! It is fun to watch them get all excited about making the pretend food and then serving it up to you.
Grandpa Al was sure proud of his three little chefs. The kids spent the majority of the evening running back and forth to get all the pretend food everyone was ordering. We all took turns going to their restaurant and ordering up food. They even got our friend Jane down on the floor to eat at their restaurant.

My Grandparents built a restaurant back when my mother was a baby. They ran that business for many years and the restaurant still stands and runs today with the same name. I am sure they are up in heaven smiling down on these kids playing restaurant! Who knows, maybe they will be chefs one day and then they can prepare and serve the family meals!

Make Up & Earrings

We have had a make up and earring explosion around here. We have two full blown princesses in this house. Luckily for Christmas, Grandma Mary gave the girls each their own cosmetic bag with brushes, lip gloss, mirrors, q-tips, lotion, etc.. The girls just LOVE these bags. Of course the rules are that they have to be siting at the table when use this stuff otherwise it would be all over the house. Jon caught Aimee the other day with all her make up set up on the foot stool. She was happily applying her "make up" for the day!
When we were at the mall last week we walked by a Claire's store so I decided to take the girls in to let them look around. We found some great sticker earrings that we got and we also bought some clip ons. What I quickly discovered was that the Clip On Earrings "clipped" a little to tight so the girls ears would hurt when we would take them off. I took the clip on earrings back but the girls like the stickers just as much.
I am such a girly girl myself that I think it is a lot of fun to take the girls "shopping" for girly things. Jon took KJ to another store that was more "boy" stuff. However, I do feel bad for KJ because he is surrounded by all of us girly girls all the time. He just told me the other day "Mommy, when I turn into a girl, I wanna wear hair bows, nail polish, earrings, and lip gloss"! All I can say to that is...he is gonna be one heck of a catch for some lucky lady someday. He will be all trained in with this "girly" stuff.

Valium is my friend

I have accomplished another year of the MRI! I panic the most the first 5 minutes so when I was stuck in the machine, I just thought about my 4 favorite people and kept telling myself over and over what my kids said about being good and I made it through it.
I was very relaxed from the meds though so that helps too. I won't have results for another month until my appointment but as far as I am concerned the hard part is over.
I also envisioned so many people praying for me and that was of great comfort too. So for all of you who said a prayer, THANK YOU!

Tomorrow is D-Day

Okay so maybe I should have wrote that tomorrow is M-Day. What I mean is it is the hardest day of the year for me. I have my annual MRI! It is such a hard process that takes a lot out of me. The good news is that by this time tomorrow, it will all be over.
I went to the pharmacy the other day to get my prescription of Valium so I am all ready to go tomorrow. I laughed when the lady told me that the total for my prescription was $1.71! I exclaimed that at that price I should get myself one of these prescriptions more often! Everyone had a good laugh including the Pharmacist.
In all seriousness the MRI tomorrow is hard for a number of reasons. I am very claustrophobic so getting put inside a tunnel is hard in and of itself, however, I have to have scans of my brain and my spine which each area takes about 45 Minutes so the whole process take about 1.5 hours. Furthermore, once they have me laying on the table to do the scans, they place a cage like mechanism over my head. This is what I have the hardest time with. Even with medication to help me relax, it is very hard for me to relax through this process. I bring someone along with me to not only drive me but also to sit at my feet and rub my leg.
This means I need to have back up at home to not only watch the kids while I am gone but also to watch them once I get home as I am usually out of it for the rest of the day.
I probably sound like a big wimp because I know I feel like one. I am generally a very strong person. However, this is just one of a few things that scares the wits out of me. So I have been trying not to think about this all that much this week. Every time I do my stomach hurts and I have some anxiety. However, tomorrow it will be done with and then I can stop thinking about this again for another year.
I know life could be so much worse. We could be in a situation like this, where I am sure they wish the least of their worries were getting through an MRI session. This family is dealing with a lot so please pray for baby Gwenth that she continues to be strong and grow into a healthy baby girl. Please pray for the mom that she can get the transplant she needs so she can continue to be the wonderful mother to Gwenth that she is. Please pray for the dad that he continues to have the strength he needs to support his family.
Please pray for me for strength and courage tomorrow and I face one of my biggest fears. Tonight as we were tucking the kids into bed, they told me that I need to be brave for the doctor tomorrow. They said that it doesn't hurt and that maybe I will get a treat if I don't cry. So sweet and innocent. I love them and my husband too for all the support they give me. I can guarantee that tomorrow when they put me in that machine my thoughts will be of those 4 amazing people. God is good even if he tests my strength!
Wish me luck!

Excuse this house

I am feeling so much better today. I still have a sore throat but life is good. I wish Jon could say the same. He is now not feeling all that great! This is not good news for him because I am working the next few days so he is going to be solo with the kids. I sure hope he feels better tomorrow. I can't wait for this nasty bug to get out of our lives!!!

*************

Today I was tasked with one of my least favorite things to do - the Dentist. I was going to cancel my appointment because of my illness but when I woke up feeling so much better I decided I better go as Jon was around to watch the kids and I had already cancelled once.

It was a successful visit as I do not have any cavities and I do not need any work done in my mouth at this point in time. It was also a successful visit as the Dental Hygienist and I had a great conversation about kids and life. All of her kids are now in their 20's so she is a veteran to this parenting stuff. She shared with me some great perspective today. She said "when the kids get older, they are not going to remember a dirty laundry room or dishes in the sink, they are going to remember all the memories they make with you and your time"! Now, I know that this is a no brainer but it was a great reminder to me to not worry so much about "picking up" but to slow down and cherish the time I have left with my awesome awesome children! This is definitely an area that I can improve on and one that I plan to focus on to devote some more quality time with my amazing children!
This also reminded me of a poem that I got from a friend of mine from MOPS:

Excuse This House
Some houses try to hide the fact that children shelter there;
Ours boasts of it quite openly, the signs are everywhere.
From smears on the windows, little smudges on the door;
I should apologize I guess, for the toys strewn on the floor.
But I sat down with the children, and we played and laughed and read;
And if the door bell doesn't shine, their eyes will shine instead.
For when at times I'm forced to choose the one job or the other;
I want to be a housewife.....but first I'll be a mother.

By Cindy Jacobs - Limited 1990

Thank you Cindy!

My Little Gemini's

Okay so I know I do not have "babies" anymore but I thought this was interesting. Here is my kids horoscope..It looks like being a "go-go" mom was/is the right thing to do with these kids. We are always on the go. They also LOVE to read!

Gemini: May 21-June 21

The Twins

Your babies are blessed with quick, engaged minds and they need constant stimulation. Read to them several times a day, and make sure you have lots of little objects (rattles, squishy toys) for them to play with. Satisfy their natural curiosity -- and fend off restlessness -- with pop-up toys, puppet shows, storytime at the library, and frequent field trips (such as to the supermarket or a fish store). A true chatterbox, your little ones may be the first in their baby groups to speak. Even if it sounds like gibberish, pay attention: In their minds, they always has something crucial to say.

Good News, Bad News

The good news is that I am now on my way to recovery as I went to the doctor today and found out I have Bronchitis and an eye infection. Three prescriptions and $60 later I am now at home with my kids asleep for nap time.
The bad news is that my mom, who took care of all of us this weekend is now in bed sick! Nothing can make a person feel worse than getting their own mother sick! I just hope she has a quick recovery.
The good news now is that Jon will be back home soon and as far as I know he is feeling GREAT!

Feeling Down Low

We have had virus run through our house the past couple of weeks and I have been lucky enough to catch the tail end of it. I feel really icky. Thank God for Grandma as she is doing most of the work today with these kids. Currently, KJ and I are watching Elmo and the girls and Grandma ran to the store to get stuff for dinner. (The above picture shows KJ with ink all over his face and me lounging in the chair trying to gain enough energy to get up and wash it off his face!)
We have been very lucky with illness this past year so I cannot complain but it is still hard to be sick. I hope to feel better tomorrow.
I need to be better by Friday as I have another MRI episode coming up. From my talks about it last year, it is no secret that the whole process is very hard on me. I cannot imagine going through it not feeling all that well. YIKES!
On a happier note, we are back into our routine. The kids have started all their activities again and it feels great to get back to some normalcy. I have started to call around to some Preschools in the area for next year and I have to say that we have some sticker shock on the prices. Some are as expensive at $1200 a month for all three kids and that is just for three mornings a week. YIKES! Anyway, my desire is to get them into a Christian based program so we will see what happens. I plan to do some more calling around on Monday.
Oh and by the way...all you lurkers out there, Leave me a comment so I know who my audience is!!!!

Snowmen Family

The kids were invited over to Sue's house last Sunday. Sue let them go out in her front yard and make some snowmen (people?). They loved it so much that after we left Grandma and Grandpa's house that night they wanted to drive by the snow family to say hi.
There is nothing like Team work to get those snowmen made!
We really have been enjoying our time outside this winter season. It is so much fun to watch these kids get all excited about the snow and being outside.

Wow...we are so blessed.

Two S's and a P

On Saturday, we could not decide if we wanted to take the kids Skating or Sliding so we decided to do both since the park we went to has both a skating rink and a sliding hill. We started off with Skating. This is something new to the kids. I was really happy that I had my mom and my brother there for support. The girls did great with the skating and Kendrick did okay but he really could not stand up on his own. I think the disadvantage that he had was that his skaters were true Hockey Skates and the girls had some skates that had longer blades and they are considered more of a beginner skate. Both Ella and Aimee were able to skate by themselves with out holding on to anything just for a short distance but it was still very impressive.Kendrick had a heck of a time standing on his own and our backs were killing us so we decided to move on to sledding! Next time we take them skating we are going to bring some foot stools along for them to hang on too so it won't hurt our backs so much.

We had a blast sledding. However, the kids get so tired out walking up the hill that we always end up pulling them up. I know I am a sucker but I also like the work out of it so I don't mind so much. Uncle T and I raced with the kids. It was fun. It was also great to see my mom is her 70's gold snowsuit sledding down the hill with the kids. We all really enjoyed it.
When we were done sledding then the kids wanted to play on the play equipment at the park so we spent some time doing that.Overall it was a lot of fun and when we got home the kids ate a huge lunch as I am sure they were hungry from all the energy they spent at the park.

Blast From The Past

I am making a photo book for KJ right of when he was one year old. As I was going through some old disks with pictures on them I found this short movie. I had to share. First of all this is really before he was talking good so it is neat to see him again at this age and second, he is a complete mess and I can honestly say that not much has changed on that front.

Enjoy!

Perspecitve from the Backseats

Last night as I was driving the kids home from an afternoon of fun at Sue's House, they started to talk to me about what Red, Yellow, and Green mean.
It all started when Ella asked me what Yellow meant. It took me awhile to catch on but then I realized what she was talking about. I then explained that Yellow meant proceed with caution (okay in reality most of the time it means speed up to get through the light). Then KJ piped up that Green means GO and Red means stop. For the rest of the drive home I had all three kids yelling at my from the backseat what I should be doing. This was funny for about 2 minutes until Ella started to get upset that I was not following her rules (telling me to stop at Green and Go at Red) it turned ugly quick.
Ella proceeded to argue with me about what color the lights were and what I should be doing. Considering it was bed time and I was exhausted not to mention that the kids were exhausted too this was not fun. Anyway, the crying and fussing by Ella was going on for a few minutes and then KJ piped up from his car seat and said "Ella, PLEASE" This is exactly what I would say to her when I want her to stop fussing, crying, or throwing a temper tantrum. I laughed so hard when I heard him say this that I pulled the car into the garage and sat for a minute to compose myself. It was really funny!
The things these kids pick up, it is seriously like looking right into a mirror!

God Is Great, He Brought Us 2008!

Happy New Year from the Erickson 5! We had such a fun evening ringing in the New Year. Jon and I started an annual New Years Eve Party many years ago and we have kept that tradition alive. This year Jon was not able to attend but we still had the party and EVERYONE had a great time. The kids were so funny because they kept asking who's Birthday it was. Also, I had bought a box of noise makers and hats for all the kids (and adults) to have. It was the best $10 I spent as the kids are still playing with all that stuff.I have good vibes for this year, when I woke up this morning I had "God Is Great, He Brought 2008" ringing in my head! Then I had the realization that in exactly 6 months my children will be turning 4 Years Old and that is so hard to believe.

Last night one of my very best and dearest friends gave me a magnet that said:
"If I am not happy is this time, in this place...I'm not paying attention"I love that...My motto for 2008! This year is going to be great. So many memories to make and fun to be had. Life is good....really really good!
Happy New Year!