Go West, Young Man (Part I)

When I originally pictured how I would blog about our trip to Colorado last summer, I envisioned capturing the play by play action and  every detail in a multi-part post (especially for the kids’ sake). Well, 7 months after we have arrived home, I have finally conceded that’s not going to happen! It's been an overwhelming task to do justice to such an eventful week, and I just don’t have the time to write about it the way I would like to. So I’ll just have to settle for the highlights.

A little background, first. We headed out west to visit Dave's brother, Mike, his wife Laurie, and their kids Will and Paige. (They are otherwise known as Uncle Mike, Aunt Laurie, Cousin Will and Cousin Paige.) Grandma and Papo drove out there as well, and we met them about 5 hours into our trip. They were great to caravan with and helped us out in so many ways. We also stayed together in a hotel one night each way to break up the drive (and the kids loved the pool).

The kids were so excited and couldn’t wait to see all their family. In fact, when we dropped the van off for a tune up before our trip, Jack cried on the way home, because he thought that we were leaving then and there.

Round trip, we drove over 2500 miles in one week. To be honest, the kids did much better than we expected. Sure, they had their squirmy moments and near fights with kids at  a McDonald’s Playland, but really they did well considering all that we threw at them.

When we arrived, it was so great for all of us to be together and the drive out was immediately worth it. We hate that we live so far away and don’t get to spend more time together. I think the best part for me was getting to do those little every day things together. The kids were so cute eating together (the youngest 4 at a picnic table and Alyssa and Will in the big kid stools at the bar). It was fun to watch the girls play dress up and the boys wrestle. Alyssa and Will danced and held hands. Paige gave Papo a Curious George band aid for his boo boo. We got to see where Will goes to school and his favorite restaurant. And I got to hold my adorable niece, which she may be too big for the next time I see her!

Of course, we went to Rocky Mountain National Park, and it was so fun to see the wide eyes on our kids as they saw mountains for the first time (too bad they fell asleep for the most beautiful part). We saw elk, prairie dogs and played in the snow in June. We enjoyed Pearl Street and the toy store in Boulder. The guys golfed and the wives & kids went to Bounce Town. We got to see Laurie’s parents and introduce our 3 little guys to them. We played outside a lot and rode bikes, met the neighbors and even went to a cookout with them. To top it all off, we had perfect, gorgeous weather.

When it was time to go, the kids gave each other the most adorable hugs. We missed them so much, we seriously talked about driving out again at Christmas Break (didn’t work out, though). We really had a great time, and I made a slideshow a while back that I would like to share with you. Enjoy.

(Click here if you can’t see the video.)

Stay tuned for Part II, including our favorite quotes, what we learned, and some movie clips!

God bless,

Amanda

Aloha!

In honor of my little sister's birthday yesterday, I thought I would share with you about my trip recently to see her in Hawaii. One thing I love about Hawaii is that it lives up to the hype. If you haven't been yet, you have to go. It's so beautiful!

After the tumultuous last 3 year years, it was exactly what my soul needed. I can't say enough about my amazing husband who trash-talked me into making the plane reservations and offered to take care of the kids for a week. Thanks to all the grandparents who helped him out, too! I can't tell how much clearer my head is, how improved my attitude is and how much more appreciate my husband and kiddos, since taking this trip.

Jill and Mo took good care of me, along with their dogs Brian and Marshall. They fed me well, let me take the truck wherever I wanted, and I got to sleep next to the view of the mountains. They took me on a personal tour of Ford Island and to practically private beaches. It was fun to see where they live, work and play. I relaxed alone (did you hear me, ALONE!) while they were at work, and then we hung out on the weekends and evenings.

It was so hard leaving my little sis. We had a fantastic time watching Grease and jamming on our guitars (or at least attempting). I got to go to the beach almost every day and saw some amazing WWII historical sites. We shopped together and we watched a documentary of Typhoid Mary one night (great vacation material, huh?). She let me borrow her deluxe hair straightener (microprocessor technology, baby), and we watched funny clips on You Tube.

Jill also led us on a hike to see a beautiful waterfall and a cool bamboo forest that whistled in the wind. She even put up with my whining when I complained that it wasn't the 1 mile hike that I was promised in the brochure. (That's what I get for hiking with a marathon runner!)

The only thing I like about her living in Hawaii is when I get to visit her. Otherwise, it stinks being so far away, but I'm glad to see that she's so happy. We made lots of fun memories together that week, and I hope that I get to do it again soon!

Of course, coming home is wonderful, too. My Dad, Dave and the kids met me at airport. The triplets seemed to care less that I was there, as they were well occupied with their Happy Meals. But Alyssa seemed excited to see me. She was holding this poster and gave me lots of hugs.

Aww, home sweet home.

I still miss Hawaii, though!

God bless,

Amanda

Aunt Jill & Uncle Mo Visit

Those of you who have been following me on Twitter, know that Aunt Jill and Uncle Mo came for a visit a few weeks ago. We haven't seen them since Christmas of 2007! We had a great visit, and I have been trying to figure out how I want to capture it on the blog. I thought to myself, would it be mean to post pictures of people who had just been flying for over half a day or had just run 13 miles? I hope not. I think they look great, anyway. Hopefully, everyone will be ok with the slideshow I put together, as this is pretty much the pictures I have. Most of the visit, I took some time to relax and enjoy myself instead of being the photographer.

We had a busy long weekend together, which started off with the kids making signs for greeting our guests at the airport. They really enjoyed it, and it was great to kill an hour or so, while we anxiously awaited their arrival. After our happy reunion, we had a great dinner at a family favorite Italian restaurant (thanks, Dad!). We had the sunroom on the side all to ourselves, which worked out perfectly. The kids seem to really enjoy their spaghetti (messy but kept them busy), and the adults got to catch up.

The next day was pretty relaxed. Lots of errands were run, and we stayed inside a lot as it was a drizzly day. Alyssa was excited to skip her nap and get to run errands with Aunt Jill, though. She loved her neon orange nail polish that she got as a treat for being so good during the outing, too.

That brought us to Saturday, when we all got up bright and early for the big races. Dave did the 5K and Jill and Mo completed the half marathon. Since I missed Dave finishing his last 5K by about 2 minutes, I was bound and determined not to miss this one. The kids and I were out the door by 7:30am - a new family record! The choo choo was invaluable to get the kids there and occupied while we waited to see Dave finish his race first. It was also a very odd feeling as several total strangers took pictures of the kids in the choo choo. We actually did get to see Dave as he finished, although the picture isn't so great (look for the guy in the red shirt on the right side of the street). Then met up with Dave and our friend Scott, who also finished the race. It was so nice to have help, too! We had a little bit of lag time to kill, but ended up seeing Aunt Jill finish, too. (We feel badly that we missed Uncle Mo in the crowd.) Here are my spectacular pictures of her finishing. (She is the one with the black shorts and the green shirt.)

Yep, that's what happens when you have a new camera and don't know how to take pictures with it. I think you can see about 1/5 of her body behind the guy in the brown shirt.

After some rest and relaxation, we went out to dinner that night for my Mom's birthday. I don't know how long it's been since she has gotten to celebrate with both of her kids. We had a nice time, especially with the added entertainment of the high school kids there for Prom. Alyssa picked out her favorite dress, and the boys thought one girl with most of her back exposed was "naked baby." (That's what we say when we strip the kids down for bath time.)

Sunday night, my mom hosted an awesome Open House for Jill and Mo. She went all out on the Hawaiian theme, and everyone had a great time. I thought I would take tons of pictures there, but instead I enjoyed getting caught up with old friends. After the party was over, though, we took some good family shots and some goofy ones as well. I think those pictures turned out to be the last ones of Huxley, too.

So here's the slideshow that I put together to commemorate the event. Even though the pictures are of more than just my sister, I just had to use this song. Jill sent it to me out of the blue one day, and it made me cry my eyes out. It's ironic that it is sung by Reba McEntire, too. One summer during college, my sister and I both worked at Bob Evans. Every Thursday, a group of guys would come in and say, "Hey Reba, how are you doing?" because they swore I looked just like her. I don't see it, though. One other thing before I stop babbling about the slideshow - keep your eyes open for the modern day American Gothic snapshots and enjoy the vintage ones of my and my sister at the end. Enjoy!

God bless,

Amanda

Picnic Anyone?

Way back in August (I know, talk about a blogging backlog!), we were able to attend the end-of-the summer NICU picnic for the hospital where Lauren, Drew and Jack were born. This is an annual event that our family looks forward to attending - they go all out with lots to do! My mom came with us, and we didn't have far to travel to the car, so we braved it without the stroller or the diaper bag. That was such a huge milestone for us to travel so lightly! Once again, the kids amazed us and did just fine.

It was especially fun this year, as we met up with many of our new friends that also have multiples. (We travel in different circles these days!) We were able to meet up with our good friends, Jen and Brad, and take a picture of all 8 of our kids. They have absolutely adorable quadruplet boys. We took a similar picture last year as well.

One other highlight of this year's picnic was that we got to meet up with Megan, the main day nurse for our babies while they were in the NICU. We've already introduced you to Laura, one of the two main night nurses we had. Now meet Megan, the other godsend that gave us peace while we had to leave our babies at the hospital. Megan did such a great job of taking care of them when we couldn't be there. She was such a joy for us to be around and so fun and compassionate with our kids. It put my mind at ease to know she was there caring for them in our place.  What a blessing to have someone so special look after your kids who truly cares for them, too! I can't believe it had been over 2 years since we last saw her. It was so great to hang out with her, meet her new husband, and catch up. Needless to say, the kids had changed a lot since she had seen them last.

After that, we headed off to the different attractions at the picnic. Fearless little Lauren really got into the petting zoo.

Then we headed off to the miniature train. Don't they look cute as they were waiting for the train to take off? By the time they got back, however,  the boys were crying and screaming their lungs out. Oh well, it was still cute and the girls seemed to enjoy themselves.

After that, we enjoyed all the bounce houses, slides, swings, teeter totters and the food! It was a hot day, but we had such a great time. It's always good to stop and celebrate how far you have come. Anything could have happened with our pregnancy. Having our kids only born 6 weeks early with as few problems as they have had is an absolute miracle!

At the picnic, there is also an Angel Tree, where they hang ornaments with the names of children that have passed away. This was a touching way for us to honor our two babies that we lost through miscarriage. So we picked up our ornaments for Baby Sam and Baby Riley. Sam was conceived before we had Alyssa, and Riley was one of our quadruplets. We will save their ornaments to put on our Christmas tree. It's a nice way to honor their memory and feel like we have them as a part of our holiday memories.

What a fun and emotional experience the picnic was, but one we look forward to every year. Thank you for letting us share it with you (albeit quite a bit after the fact).

I'll leave you with a few more pictures from the playground, and I think (as far as my creaky old brain can remember) our kids' first time on the teeter totter.

God bless,

Amanda

http://four-and-no-more.blogspot.com/

A Blast From the Past

One of the best parts of having kids is that you get to relive parts of your childhood. Alyssa has many of the toys that I wanted growing up but never got like a Sit 'n Spin and a Care Bear (don't worry I had plenty of toys, though!). Recently, I went to the library with Alyssa and there was a book that my sister and I used to read all the time. It was so fun to take it home and read the same stories to Alyssa that I had read as a child.

Over Labor Day weekend, we got to experience another blast from the past. Our friend Lucy invited us over for a cookout and to celebrate the revival of my Grandma Ruth's old patio chairs. She went to all kinds of trouble and had them sandblasted to remove 7 coats of paint, repainted them and had all new cushions made for them. They looked brand new, and it was fun to remember the many hours I had spent on Grandma's porch in them, just sitting and talking to her (or listening to the drive in movie across the street). Don't they look great now?

We also got to catch up with our dear friend, Estelle, who is Lucy's neighbor. She came over once a week for over a year to hold our babies. I always looked forward to their visits.There were some days that I forgot what blessings my kiddos were, and they always helped me to get my perspective back into the right place. Now matter how bad of a week I was having, I was always in a good mood after Lucy and Estelle came over, just by them being there and being themselves.

 

Lucy made us a great feast to eat, and I still can't believe she was brave enough to have us all over. Not many people are up for having our crazy clan at their house. The little kids loved that they got to try a juice box for the first time, too. We had a wonderful visit. Here's a few more pictures from our day. I regret that I didn't get a better picture of our hostess, though! She was very gracious when the kids started picking her flowers and bringing them to her, too, as you can see.

Thanks so much, Lucy! We had a great time!

God bless,

Amanda

http://four-and-no-more.blogspot.com/

Chillin' with the Chicas

For those of you who read my last post, you can probably tell that I had a pretty tough week last week. Thanks to those of you who offered your sympathies and support! I have always been a big fan of journaling. I guess now that I have shifted to doing it online. That makes it even more fun, because I get so much encouragement back!

Speaking of journaling, I mentioned a while back that I was asked to speak at a women's retreat. It was this past weekend. Thanks for those of you who prayed for me! I think it went pretty well. At least that's what I was told. I was asked to speak for about 20 minutes about some of the things that I have learned the last few years. Where do I begin???! So I was looking back at my journal and found some pretty amusing and amazing things. I thought I would share a highly edited version of them with you. These were written when Alyssa was about 1 1/2 and we were deciding if we wanted to put ourselves through fertility treatments again or not. Then there are more thoughts as we went through the process. Someday I'll have to write out the whole story. Boy, did God answer my prayers and take care of my fears that I went to Him with!

March 30, 2005

"What if I get pregnant with twins? What will I do?"

May 23, 2005

"Lord, I so hate to be on that roller coaster again. So much work & pain -  no guarantees. Extra stress. Feeling terrible. Heartaches. Maybe ending up with twins.... You won't ever give me more than I can handle, right?"

July 19, 2005

"I'm kind of scared of having twins, too. I don't know how I would do it! But You are in control. You have it all mapped out. Things will get done somehow."

July 25, 2005

"Oh Lord, I am scared that I may end up with twins and that I will really have my hands full. But I trust You not to give me more than I can handle."

August 13, 2005

"Maybe you do want us to have twins and it would be easier to be on bed rest and all that with Schlep off for the summer...."

August 30, 2005

"...I am a little worried it's going to work too well. God, I am really scared of multiples and bed rest and getting a van and all that entails. But I know that You will never give me more than I can handle. I know that, no matter what, I'll get excited with what You give to me."

September 16, 2005

"What am I doing, God, and what have You got in store for me? Oh Lord, I guess I just have to sit back and see."

October 17, 2005

"If you want me to have triplets, then You will provide a way for it to work."

October 28, 2005

"If you want me to have triplets, so be it...I know that if you call me to something of that magnitude that You will provide. The bed rest will be taken care of. The cars will fall into place. And you will help me to get over my selfishness and to enjoy the blessings that come from it. It's Your call now, Lord."

Isn't that funny? If I hadn't seen that in my own handwriting, I wouldn't have believed some of it! I was especially amused that I went from being worried about twins to talking about triplets! Some people think that journaling is boring, but going back and reading stuff like that is half the fun! And in case you can't remember how the story turned out, I got pregnant in December and had the triplets in July 2006. So it was good that Dave was off to take care of Alyssa while I was on bedrest. God's perfect timing!

OK, well that was a major side trip, and I didn't even know that I was going to include that when I started writing this. But, what I did mean to say is that one of the good parts of last week was that I got to hang with some girlfriends, too. On Monday, 5 of us who used to hang out together in high school got together. One came all the way from Panama! We had a great time catching up. I still can't believe that amongst the 5 of us, we have 17 children! How did that happen? It's so awesome to have friends like that where you can just pick up with them even though you haven't seen each other in years.

I also got to have a playdate with my friend Linda. I think I have mentioned her before. She is a fellow triplet mom, and her kids are just a few months ahead of mine. She always has genius ideas and suggestions, as well as just plain being fun to hang out with. Since both of our husbands were working that night, we packed some dinners and headed to the park. We got a little drizzled on, but that meant that we had the park to ourselves. This is a good thing, when you could easily pass your kids off as sextuplets. And, we had my triple stroller and her choo choo wagon to draw that much more attention to us. But the comments weren't too bad, considering. There was a guy who was out in his yard with his two dogs who surprised me by saying, "And I thought I had my hands full." For some reason, the guy comments always amuse me more. I didn't even know this guy was watching us, as we were walking in a remote part of the park. But anyway, (boy am I distracted tonight), there is nothing in this world like another mom to relate to what you are going through. Something about watching our triplets together and how they all fight and throw tantrums the same way just gave us a sense of normalcy (OK, mine were the ones fighting and hers were good, but I hear they do fight). Being normal is something our family doesn't experience very often, so it's nice when we finally get that. It makes me look forward to our upcoming picnic, where all the triplets and more families will show up and hang out. I think it will be organized chaos.

And then, of course, I mentioned that I got to go to the women's retreat this weekend for our church. Dave turned down my offers to schedule help and watched the kids by himself (I was gone for about 24 hours.) He did great and even cleaned the bathroom while I was gone. What a man! (Yikes, yet another rabbit trail.)

But the retreat was great. Our church has such a fun, encouraging group of ladies that I loved being with. I had a great time just sitting and socializing. I don't get to do either as much as I would like. The camp we were at was just beautiful, too. Of course, the food was great, because I didn't have to decide what we were eating or fix it or do any dishes. I also loved getting to eat it start to finish without getting up once! Then after I ate, I could just sit there and chat. It was awesome! We also had fun going out to their Alpine Tower. It is 54 feet high, and most of the ladies climbed it, including our 76 year old member! I wasn't strong enough to try it, but I did do the swing. I bet I was about 35 or 40 feet up. The problem was, when you let go of the rope, you are supposed to let the people on the other end of it know. Oops. I didn't, so I ended up knocking the people who were pulling me up onto their bums. Sorry girls! Made for a good laugh, though.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures of all of this for you. I haven't been taking my camera with me lately. I think I am getting burned out on it, since I am so behind on many of the other things I want to capture on this blog. I'm sure I will return to my picture happy ways soon.

But needless to say, I had a great time hanging out with the girls this week!

God bless,

Amanda

Reunions

We've been blessed lately with getting to have reunions with friends and family we haven't seen in a while.

The first one was with "Uncle Tom" who has been a friend of the family for years. He lives far away, so we don't get to see him often. I have lots of memories of Tom from my childhood. He used to come over on Christmas Eve and help my parents assemble toys and wrap them for us, after my sister and I went to bed. Among other things, I will also never forget at the rehearsal for our wedding, Tom presented me with a bouquet of beautiful flowers to carry (and he didn't even know I forgot to bring the ribbon and bows bouquet from the bridal shower). Tom is a fun guy to hang around with and he is one of the most generous people that I know. Here's some pictures of him in our backyard (with Alyssa and then my Mom).

Then we also got to meet up with Carla. I met her in my first job right out of college. She and my boss were two women that I really looked up to as a young woman trying to start my career. They were great role models to me that you can have a successful career in science and still be be yourself. (I think I had it in my head that you had to be really aggressive to make it in such a male-dominated field.) I always enjoy being with Carla, she is a fun combination of spunky and sweet. She has been such an encouragement to me over the years in many areas of my life. She was also a real trooper about meeting us at the park for lunch while it was total chaos! (You can read more about that on the Quotable Day entry.)

Thanks, too, for the gifts for the kids. We have gotten a lot of use out of them already. Thank you for your thoughtfulness! Here's a picture of the trio enjoying their new phones. Check out the hair!

Then we also got to catch up with Laura, who was the main NICU nurse for Lauren, Drew, and Jack at night. I cannot describe to you the gutwrenching feeling as we left the hospital with Drew and Jack and left little Lauren behind, all by herself. But knowing that Laura was working that night made it so much easier! She is one of the most thoughtful, sweet people I have ever met. Not only did she take great care of the babies, but of the parents, too! Check out this picture she and her partner, Megan, worked very hard to take when Jack, Lauren and Drew were only 1 week old (still 5 weeks before their due date). It just melted my heart the first time I saw this scrapbooked page they put together for us. As a mom, it meant so much to me, especially since I missed so much of the first 2 weeks of their life. That was the first day since their birth that they were unhooked from their monitors and put together again.

Laura, it was great seeing you again, and the kids had a great time entertaining you at lunch. Check out our attempts to try to get a good picture of Laura with the kids now. Well, we tried!

And last, but not least, we were able to attend part of the family reunion for my Dad's side of the family. We had to leave early for a wedding, so we didn't get to visit as much as we would have liked (or take pictures for that matter). Maybe someone will send me pictures that I can add to this later (hint hint)?

Here's a couple of pictures we did snap really quickly of our family.

Well, I hope that this look at some of our reunions inspires you to have one of your own. Is there anyone in your life you haven't seen in a while? Pick up the phone or email them and put something on the calendar today. Life is too short not to!

God bless,

Amanda