Abby's 1st Day of Preschool

Abby's first day of preschool! Wow... where did the time fly off to? It was quite the morning getting her up and dressed and ready to go. A wonderful nurse friend of mine covered clinic for me so that I could run her to preschool on her first day. And I am so glad she did!

Abby wasn't quite sure WHY I wanted or needed a first day of school photo... I'm not sure she understood what exactly school was and why we were going in the first day. But this is the photo I got.

We got there early hoping that I could visit with her teacher or the director of the preschool a bit before class and I had to go back to work. No luck. We did a lot of wandering around and such but the teachers have devotions before school starts so I wasn't really able to visit with them. Abby jumped right in though and I couldn't help but laugh a little that I was the one ready to cry leaving her there...

I told her goodbye and she said "Ok Mommy, see you later."   There are 8 other students in her class and it looks like she had a good time. There was a little discussion about how she needed to pick up even though she didn't want to... (imagine that) but otherwise things went well.

She even brought home extra coloring sheets because she knew her sisters would want to color too. (I thought that was pretty sweet) Preschool is every Tuesday and Thursday morning. It will mean a busier schedule for Tom until I'm on maternity leave but it will be good for everyone to get out of the house too. So on to another busy chapter in our lives!

New Year... New things

Well... we had a wonderful time at Tom's parent's for Christmas. The girls weren't feeling 100% which didn't help. They were quite cranky when opening presents! Hoping that this bug doesn't hit everyone that was there this weekend. The girls are happy to be home and in their own beds tonight I think... I know I will be! It is wonderful to be away but oh so nice to be home.

The tree came down and Abby was at first a little sad... but now she is excited for her birthday (which of course is very soon... like in May...) We still actually have one Christmas celebration left, and still no snow on the horizon. In fact Thursday is supposed to be 68! How odd....

Abby has her first day of preschool tomorrow, I had a wonderful friend agree to watch calls for me for an hour so that I can take her on her first day... I would have been so sad to miss that. So for now I had better get things ready for tomorrow and crawl into bed myself. Pics from this weekend tomorrow ;)

Happy New Year everyone!

Mid-Week Musings...

For all intents and purposes, I did intend to post last night... I just happened to fall asleep on the floor of Kiley and Kara's room while I waited for them to fall asleep. I think I was in there for 1hr 45 minutes before I lost count. Tom finally came in to wake me up so that I could go down to bed. Needless to say I didn't accomplish much.

Does that mean baby was growing more last night? I'm not sure... but I sure was tired!

Tom has Kiley and Kara tonight while I have Abby. Of course she needs to do a little more playing before bed. 2 more minutes! Tom took the girls outside a bit this afternoon to the park. The weather here has been just gorgeous! I guess we shouldn't complain but it would be nice to have a little variety once in awhile. I wonder if winter will ever come?

We are discussing the possibility of taking down the Christmas decorations tonight, the spread of love and ornaments everywhere is just getting to be too much for us. I think the tree at least will go along with the lights on our window... if not tonight. Tomorrow.

My room is being taken over by laundry... eeks! But on the plus side Abby hasn't wet the bed in...5 nights? I really don't understand how we can go for almost 2 weeks wetting the bed. every. night. Sometimes twice a night. (not to mention multiple daytime accidents) ... and then suddenly we are back to an accident once in awhile. I don't mind the non-accident phase though!

(Kiley)

In a few days we head down for another family Christmas... can't wait! The girls are so excited already to play with their cousins. It sounds like it will be unseasonably warm too. :o)

I think this means it's time for Abby to go to bed....

Christmas Eve

The night before Christmas... and all through the house, not a creature was stirring... not even a... wait... yep, Abby is still awake. She has had a harder day today with several significant meltdowns. I hope that she isn't coming down with something. It sure made the Christmas Eve service interesting... Tom sang in a quartet during the service and it was wonderful... I loved the bell choir too.

And one strange thing I discovered today, Kara is incredibly good at the matching game on our phones. In a last ditch effort to preserve our family-ness at the service we pulled out our phones to let Kiley and Kara play. Kiley doesn't really get it yet and just taps the phone. Kara however actually plays! She went through round after round after round of matching. She was quite upset when my phone died and she lost her game. She didn't want Tom's phone because it wasn't her game.

I managed to get the house back in a little order again, well a few rooms. It's a work in progress. I think it will take awhile. But it's a start. We also opened a few presents and made Christmas cookies for "Santa".

All I want for Christmas ... is for my husband to have a job he loves... and for me to cut back the time I'm working.

I miss being M.O.M.        it just isn't the same when you work full time. Sleep well everyone!

Through the Years...

Merry Christmas everyone! Hard to believe how much they have grown... 

Ponds & Puddles? "Ribbet!"

Tonight after work I picked up a little something at Target.... it went over so well that I am almost regretting the purchase and at the same time wondering if I should have another. Can you guess what that is?

I bet your first guess wasn't a froggy potty chair.... who knew?

 No work for me tomorrow. I can't wait to have a few days home with the girls. My house is so due for a massive cleaning!

Dancing Lights

My girls love the beautiful Christmas lights. They get a kick out of the racing colors and combine that with a little music and you get three very excited girls. Kara I have to say was the most thrilled with the display of lights we went to tonight. I think hormones got the best of me... I was nearly tearing up with Kiley snuggling on my lap, Abby snuggling up close at my side and Kara dancing around to the music. It was pretty special.

Abby had her therapy appointment, we went out for a little pizza and then Christmas lights... Tom had a church choir practice so I took the three home and bribed them to pick up the living room. (fruit snacks are wonderful things)... actually, I think they were more excited about playing play dough (which I let them do if they picked up)

Needless to say it isn't perfect and there is still plenty of crayon all over my walls, boxes and dvd cases strewn all over my living room. But it was nice to have a few small hands put away their toys. (goodness I need to sort through their toys before Christmas!)

I just realized tonight that I have taken 0...Zero... photos of myself pregnant with baby boy. I think things have just been too stressful and wild and crazy that I haven't had a chance. Perhaps over Christmas weekend I can get a few in if it is semi-nice. I was hoping to have some snow to do a few pictures in! So far no luck. It will probably be a brown Christmas this year.

I cannot wait to have 4 days home with the girls! I think they are as ready as I am. My sister is coming to stay with us awhile this weekend to help me out a little (yay sister!!). I just didn't know where to start on my home... so many projects and I'm just so tired
after working all day!

Abby is still up... hopefully she decides to go to bed soon... for my sake!

We must eat! (But do we have to go to the grocery store?)

I think I need to bring my camera with me everywhere.. seriously. I mean... how can it get better than driving three kids through HyVee in a giant.bright.pink (and yellow) shopping cart shaped like a race car. Did I forget to mention that my children are in no means shy.

Kara's favorite thing to do is say hello, and get people to say hello back. So if you are a secret spy trying to blend in, stay far far away. This girl loves to get people's attention. Cranky old man? Busy business man? Fancy pants woman on her cell phone? You can't resist the power of "Hi!" from Kara.

Kiley also enjoys shopping. Her list consists of whatever she can grab faster than I can move away from. Powdered sugar, glass jars of pickles, taco seasoning mix.... watch your things when you are checking out. You never know what you might make it home with! It doesn't help that Kara opens the doors of all the freezers as you walk by thereby distracting me enough for Kiley to grab things.

Abby has become my little shopping buddy, I love going with her most of the time. She likes to look at things, really look at things now and finds the time alone with Mommy wonderful. It's fun to have a 'buddy' to shop with once in awhile. She is learning how things aren't free, that we need to pay for things, and that money takes work to get. I really want her to appreciate what she has and what it takes to get things. I would love to try and avoid my girls thinking they will get everything they see. So far so good!

And if you think of a way to get Kiley to stop throwing trash and other things down my stairs... I would appreciate it. Eventually no one will be able to get in the front door!

Back to Planet Earth...

Ok... I admit it. I miss blogging.

So... first things first. Why the updated name change. Well... as fantastic as Irish Triplets are... we are on to baby number 4 and I doubt he will be as thrilled to be left out of the equation. Yes that's right, baby boy coming this way (really). ((Just in case you didn't already know)

And let's face it... 4 kids under well... 4... can make for a lot, of sleepless nights. Speaking of which, I've been up since 4am this morning, worked all day, had 2 doctor's appointments and then cleaned our basement. I'm tired. This is just an intro post anyways... who actually reads those?

So if you have been missing the blog updates, silly stories, craziness around our increasingly smaller home (and larger family) I will be back. After all, who doesn't get a little enjoyment out of people's faces when they ask if this is your first baby... and you reply, "Nope, Fourth!"

Buzzz

I am the most dedicated blogger in the entire world, I spend countless hours thinking up grand stories and colorful details that will both tickle the senses and shock your weary fingers to life.

I just neglect to sit down and write them most of the time.

Mid July... can you believe it. We have suffered through the torrential rains, smothering heat and already it is mid-summer. I am enjoying a lot of time home with the girls, though I am not the best 'stay at home' mom. I like to GO places and DO things. The girls and I tend to visit the zoo at least once a week and parks almost every day. We go to the mall, to various other events around town. The days we are stuck home, all day... are hard.

Thus we are on the go.

Tom has started getting off earlier which has helped a great deal. Amazing how that hour can make my day so much easier. Our newest family activity is biking. So in addition to walks we now take all of the girls and go for bike rides almost every night. I love it.

Potty training? Abby is pretty much... done with it. We have the occasional accident but it's usually when we are too excited to think about going. Kiley & Kara have also been showing a little interest in it too (Which would be awesome!!!)

We have a new puppy that isn't doing so well being potty trained... I keep reminding myself that it takes time but it can be frustrating. Feebee wasn't so difficult!

Well the flies are driving me crazy, and since I have been up since 530 I am ready to lay down for a bit. Then it's getting ready for camping this weekend!