Various vacation pics...

Ryan and favorite cousin Z

Dominic

Ryan wondering where his dinner is...

Dominic trying to figure out how to jump in the BayDrew telling Ryan not to show Dominic how to jump into the Bay

Aspen Goofy girl!
Aspen loving the fact she can sit in highchairs again

Dominic

Aspen

Aspen loves grass!

Damn skeeters!...

I have 14! mosquito bites. 14! Little biting b-tards! Drew has zero, zilch, nada.

My mom lives 10 minutes from Ikea- so Drew, the trio and I went so I could have my swedish "no directions included" furniture fix. I also sent him to Best Buy tonight for a disk reader so I could get all the pics off my digital camera.

Every cookout needs a pea pod cake

Ryan and his favorite cousin Z with the cool pink hair

"What the heck is this green stuff??? GET ME OFF OF IT!!!"

"Someone just fed me cake"

Daddy's girl

We're here!!!

We made it to Baltimore! Aside from the farting Rabbi next to me, and the drunk couple with a tiny bladder next to Drew, the flight went well. The kids slept the whole time, and I didn't even have to give them Benadryl.

Now, crazy rental car bus driver is another story. He apparently was not pleased with his career choice that morning and decided to drive the giant Enterprise bus around the airport like he was training for a new career in Nascar.

So we pick up the rental car (minivan-gasp!) and pile on in. I turn on the radio on to my all time favorite station and something does not sound right- it's all Spanish.

For all my MD/DC/VA readers- what the HELL happened to WHFS 99.1???

So now I am running around trying to find a car connector for my iPod.

Drew and I have already consumed enough crab items to last the next four years, and enough Dunkin Donuts to probably turn us both into instant diabetics. Next on the list- butterscotch krimpets!

MEME - thanks Dena!

I got tagged. So I have to do this thing called MEME
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/stories about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog

Ok...here it goes....

1. When I was eight I got bit by a horse. "Pepe" the horse across the street to be exact. No one told me the "palm down" feeding method.
2. I can't whistle, and couldn't figure out how to blow a bubble until into my teens. I would fake it by sticking my tongue into the gum to make a bubble.
3. I can't swim.
4. I never flew on a plane until my honeymoon.
5. I have been stung by a jellyfish and didn't realize it until hours later. And trust me- I do not have a high pain threshold, so how I missed that- I have no idea.
6. I found out I was originally a twin, when I was 20 years old.
7. I took Spanish. Latin and German concurrently my freshman year of high school, and can't remember a lick of any of it.
8. I broke 2 of my firm dating rules when I met my husband- never date anyone you work with or meet in a bar. I met my husband when we worked together..in a bar.

Ok- so...my tagging victims shall be....hmm....Susan M. and Lesley. I will rebel by not picking 8-'cause that's how I am :)

Manners 101 by Ryan

Every parent that I know has every intention of having mannerly children. I am no different. So I was extremely overjoyed to hear that Liz taught them proper responses to the greeting "How do you do?" When you say that to them, they stick their right hand out to shake.

HOWEVER, my euphoria was fleeting when I later learned that RYAN shoved a french toast stick in Dominic's ear. Not very mannerly if you ask me.

So Ryan may need a refresher course in what food items are unacceptable to cram in ear canals.

Do you know what time it is???

It's GYMBUCKS time!!! Whoopee!!! Yep, that's right- you only need to take one guess where I was today!

And the procrastinator in me still has not packed, or begun to pack, for our vacation. But I did take the plastic off my new luggage. So I guess I did get something constructive done:)

oh- and tried unsuccessfully for a new group shot.

Sniff Sniff.....

I sold my Triple Decker :(

I loved that stroller. It was so easy just to pop the car seats right on it without removing the trio from the infant carriers. It went to a lovely couple who seem like the kind of folks that will treat it well, take it on walks to the park, keep it tidy and clean, and hopefully love it as much as I did.

So, I let the TD have one last hurrah in the garage with the other strollers. They had their own little stroller party. Little does the Inglesina know that it's on its way out - looks great- but damn is that thing a monster. Oh, and my Combi single stroller was unable to attend since it was in the back of Drew's truck.

I think I need Strollers Anonymous.

Not a happy camper...

This week has been rough. Aspen is just plain miserable. Her leg is swollen from being smooshed in the cast, and her hips are tight so she cries when you move her. The Ortho told us to be very aggressive with her PT, and she has no restrictions. I have been doing PT daily and based on her reactions, I definitely think I got kicked off her Christmas card list. I gave her a really good workout in the pool yesterday, to which she repayed me by crying every 2 hours throughout the night.

Buh Bye Cast!

No more smelly cast! Wow, I can't believe it has been 12 weeks already. Of course, when they cracked that funky thing open, you would have thought she had it on for 12 months. She had FOOD stored in it. How she got food down this thing is beyond me. Thankfully I had my smart hat on yesterday and grabbed a washcloth before we left the house so I was able to de-funk her a tad in the office.

She screamed the whole time they cut it off. Hell- I would have too. I must have had a look of sheer fear on my face when the nurse aka "Jason" fired that saw up. She must have realized I had no color on my face so she showed me how it doesn't cut skin. Well, her exact words were "It's not supposed to cut skin". Yeah- still doesn't make me feel better -but thanks.

Anyway, Aspen's term in smelly cast is done. Now she gets a hip abduction cast to sleep in at night only. But she is really stiff right now, so we are working on some PT exercises with her to loosen her up. Pretty soon she will be giving Dominic and Ryan some fierce playroom competition :)

Before

After (doesn't she looked thrilled?)

Walking at Nana's...

Ryan fell in love with one of those can cooler kooshie thingies...

Fun at Nana's house...

"I'm being a good girl"

"I can make LOTS of fingerprints on this!"

"Nooo, we are NOT raiding the fridge. Ryan is just practicing his chin-ups and I'm spotting."

"Dominic, let me show you how to bang this on the slate table."

Smelly cast, smelly cast....

7 more days until Aspen's cast comes off!

You thought the hole in the ozone layer was big now- just wait until we crack this bad boy off of her. Thank goodness it is only a few more days because she is starting to have a "scent". Interesting facts about casts during the last 11 weeks that I have learned...

1] Gore-tex lining does not mean she can get wet- nope- the doctor looked at me like I lost my mind when I asked her if she could go swimming. HELLOOO- isn't that why I paid for the Gore-tex "upgrade"?

2] Casts will generate poop blow-outs. Never ever ever had she blown dynamite out her Pampers. Until the cast.

3] Cotton quickly absorbes poop.

4] It is very hard to cut poopy cotton off a cast.

Somewhere over the rainbow...

Ryan likes crayons. Actually, to be more specific, Ryan like marigold and blue crayons. Oh, and some special glitter crayon (I don't remember glitter crayons- we got jipped).

More specifically, Ryan likes to eat crayons. Because at speech therapy today, instead of sorting the crayons and fake oreo cookies, Ryan missed the memo and chewed the crayons. So after the therapist chased him down, I got to fish Crayola particles out of his mouth.

Oh, what a colorful diaper awaits me.

Martha who???...

Sometimes I amaze myself with the things I can do with a staple gun and some hot glue. World issues could probably be solved with just a couple of staples and 900 degree glue.

My newest creation...

It's a board for all of Aspen's bows! All 1 million of them! I have reached new levels of organization!

Now once you snap back to reality from my sheer brilliance and handiwork :) go over and meet my friend Dena. We were due 2 days apart and she kept me sane by putting up with all my neurotic symptom over analyzing and addiction to pregnancy tests. She warned me about not so great maternity wear choices (if only I had listened) and always reminded me to drink more water :). Now she has entered blogland and there is no turning back. muhahaha :)

My newest obsession...

It's all about the bling.

Since I have made sure that Aspen has bows to match all her outfits, I decided that she needed bracelets. And because I can NEVER do anything low key- I have already made 20. I now own enough beads to create a snazzy 90's retro prom dress.

"Mommy made me a bracelet- let me get a look at this thing."

"WHAT! No diamonds???"

Go Eat Honey!!!

I have all three kids in speech therapy on Fridays. Even though they are only 14 months, I'd rather be ahead of the game then have to play catch up. They had their eval last week and they all scored right where they need to be for the most part. However, since it is private therapy, and Aspen already gets PT and OT there---well, they accepted them.




Apparently I did not talk until I was 3- my mother said I haven't shut up since.


Anyway...

While I am there, the therapist asked me how they were doing on sippy cups. Oh, you mean the formula filled missiles they like to throw? So she goes and grabs the "I wish I had thought of that" sippy cup. The Honey Bear Cup

It is an empty honey bear with tubing for the straw. My first thought was "No way in hell could this possibly work." Wrong. Ryan, the main culprit behind sippy cups tossing LOVED it. He started using the straw right away. Yippee!

So I can either order them already made, or I can start eating alot of honey and send Drew to Home Depot for the tubing. However, since I hate honey, and Drew would come back with not only the tubing, but solar screens (our energy solution), a new drill, and other man stuff- it might be cheaper just to order them.

Bad ideas when trying to conserve electricity...

Some attempted energy conserving ideas that just didn't pan out...

1] Shaving your legs in the dark- just don't do it unless you or your spouse are trained in applying tourniquets or stitches in a jiffy.

2] Scrounging for a snack in your pantry - especially if there is the possibility that the bagel you are trying to make can be mistaken for blueberry, when in fact, those "blueberries" are actually mold spores.

3] Bubble baths in the dark - unless you want to miss the tub and slip, thus causing very sharp tile edge to bang into shin, causing a very unsightly 5 inch long bruise.

But- the good news is that it did rain- complete with thunder and LIGHTENING. So we used the lightening as natural light :) Seriously- we have turned all the lights off in the house- it looks like a bomb shelter. Even though we did change all the bulbs to those funny looking energy conserving ones last year. I think I may move into my car since with my newly tinted windows and high powered A.C- I should be set.


Now I understand why my father would always yell at me to turn off lights when I was a kid and shut the door when the air was on. Apparently I really AM trying to cool the neighborhood now.

Cotton- the next food group...

"Hey Mommy- can you feed this kid so he stops eating my shirt?"

I would also like to send a bit of gratitude to the nice folks at Nevada Power for making me realize that I am an energy hog. Shame on me- that's right- punish me by whipping me back into energy conservation with a bill that included numbers such a 6,3,8- in that precise order. Who are we kidding? Why call it a bill? WHY NOT CALL IT A FINE!!! So I have ran around the house unplugging anything that could be using 1 teeny ounce of electricity, jacking up the thermostat, and even unplugged the charger to Drew's toothbrush. He will just have to use a manual one and suffer. Now I must go eat everything in my fridge 'cause I'm turning it off and surviving on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to conserve energy until September.

Acrobats, ketchup and utensils...

In the last 3 days...

1] When the boys wake up in the morning, I put them together in 1 crib so they can play for a bit. As I am standing in the doorway, Dominic climbed ON TOP of Ryan, leaned over and FLIPS feet over head out of the crib. And it is already lowered. Now I understand why triplet moms are big fans of crib tents. (note to self- find crib tents)

2] Ryan stole silverware from Red Robin yesterday. We found them underneath his seat in the stroller. I made Drew go in and return them. I refuse to encourage his little crime spree.

3] I learned the meaning of Murphy's Law. I wore a white shirt to work today, only to splat ketchup on it- more specifically - RIGHT ON MY BOOB. It looked like a nipple massacre with a spork.

Happy Birthday DaDa!

Saturday was Drew's birthday so we gathered up the trio, Liz and our adopted family member Richard (Drew's buddy from college) and went to Maggiano's at the Fashion Show. The kids were very well behaved and took quite a liking to avocado (blech).

coming soon... banned from Red Robin, biting, and pole vaulting crib disasters...

Seeking a new pediatrician...

Because the one I go / went to has an office staff that SUCKS. I have never dealt with a bigger group of bozos in my entire life. Stupid, idiotic, half brained dumb-asses.

It all started when my OT suggested to have the trio come in for speech evals. Well, in order to do so, they told me that I needed to get a referral. Which, I have never had to do since I have a PPO, but whatever. Every time I am at the Peds, they give me referrals for unknown reasons like the have a quota to meet. A few examples of the new level of stupidity they have reached:

1] I called to make the 12 month check up appointment a month in advance. The bozo on the phone asks if it will be a sick visit. WTF??? I told her that if anything changed in the next 4 weeks I would let her know.

2] Sends over a fax to Aspen's neurologist requesting that they schedule an appointment for an eval. They listed me as the patient. When the neuro called- it was quite an interesting conversation.

3] Tried to tell me that Synagis shots received in February would last until the end of April. It's a 30 day shot. Counting is not one of the job requirements apparently.

So I called yesterday to get this referral at 8:30 am. Dumbass #1 says no problem- she will have the Dr fax it over. Ok -fine. When I called at 5:12pm to follow up, Dumbass #2 tells me the Dr. doesn't do them, some other dipsh!t in their office does, but that I don't need one because I have a PPO. After I explain to her that it is a requirement from the therapy center, she says the doctor will fax it over that night. What happened to dipsh!t referral moron she just referred to?

So I call the therapy center today and they don't have it. I called back to the Peds office, got a different jackass on the phone who said maybe they can do it today. Oh no, it was that precise moment that I decided to ruin someone's day. Give the office manager now!

So the head dumbass gets on the phone and says that I don't need one blah blah blah. After I explain again that they are requiring one, she proceeds to tell me that they can take up to a week. This is the moment that I decided to enlighten her in a not so nice way about her inadequacies in educating her office staff since obviously they did not know this little rule. She then proceeded to apologize to me, and I let her know her apology was worthless, much like her and her staff.
Thankfully for her, I hung up on her before I could recommend where she could stick her apology and give her a referral for a proctologist.

It's official...

The triplets will be invading Baltimore! Yep, I did it. I booked flights for Drew, Liz and myself for the 1st week of September, with kiddies on our laps. Please let them sleep thru the flight!

In other news...

The 2007 Peg Perego Triplette stroller, complete with steering wheel, will be joining our family!!!

I'm so excited! I think I just might love it as much as Drama loves her Stella :)

6 went out, 5 came back...

It is hot in Vegas. Hot as hell. Only, I think hell might just be a tad cooler right now.

Anyway- because the 60% Gymboree sale ends Saturday, and I had to go over to Henderson anyway, why not stop at the Galleria and enjoy the fruits of all the hardworking sale creators at Gymboree and partake in their lovely Gymbucks promotion?

We left the house with 6 shoes. We returned with 5. Now there is a good chance perhaps one of them melted off between the car and the front door of the mall. And considering that when the 2nd shoe was returned by the lovely lady in Gymboree, and Dominic somehow had gotten ahold of a pair of shocking pink flip flops, I think it was all part of his master plan.

Happy 4th of July!

Boogers

An entire post about boogers.

My kids create the LARGEST boogers I have ever seen in an infant's nose. Giant hard crusted particles of snot. They are not stuffy, so I have no idea where the ingredients for these alien balls of slime come from. Solid chunks of snot that would take you eye out if hit by one in a snot shot battle.

I went to grade school with a grungy little boy who would always pick his nose and try to rub it on the girls. And we always picked on him (no pun intended).

PLEASE DON'T LET THIS BE KARMA!

Boys will be boys...

Brotherly love... how sweet

Lasted an entire 2 minutes...

The Exorcist and Coconut Bra girl...

Drew and I decided to take the trio to the Miracle Mile shops at the Planet Hollywood casino. 1] they have a Baby Gap, 2] We wanted to try an overpriced not so tasty cheeseburger at Cheeseburger Las Vegas. So we feed them a gourmet lunch of split pea and ham soup, and carrots. All was flying along smoothly until Dominic projectile vomited.

At the precise moment that poor unaware Baci was standing. right..under..the..highchair table.


Pea soup covered chihuahua, 2 triplets in hysterics, 1 triplet covered in pea soup.


So after power washing the dog and Dominic, we got them dressed and headed out. We reached the restaurant and sat down to enjoy a nice family lunch. Then over came Coconut Bra girl. Well, let's just say that Dominic stared. And I mean stared like he knew what he was looking at. Right at the plastic coconut covered twins. She was selling leis for the Susan G. Komen organization. She asked us if we wanted to get lei'd, and then my otherwise non-comedic husband decided to tell her that was how we ended up with triplets. Har Har Har snicker snicker. Then whipped the wallet out so fast I thought he might have broke his wrist.


So, I REALLY need him to help me work in the other garage. Anyone have a plastic coconut bra I can borrow?

"Daddy- are those real coconuts?"

Totally unimpressed with the indoor thunderstorm show.

GIANT lizards and other things...

I do not like crawly things. They scare me. The other day, I went outside to walk to the mailbox. As I walked towards the gate, a GIANT 6 inch lizard ran across the path towards the front door. Then the GIANT thing jumped up on the door like it was going to ring the door bell. I am frozen with fear at this point. How do I get back in the house? Am I going to have to wrestle this thing to the ground? Finally, he scurried away.

I ran in the house, thankful that I did not get attacked by this thing. All of a sudden, a freakin' dust tornado comes thru (if you live in the desert, you know what I am talking about). This thing FLIPPED over my patio table, tossed chairs into the pool, and flung my umbrella into the neighbor's house across the street. My thought? HA HA- GIANT lizard is probably somewhere in Massachusetts by now. Whew!

Nope

GIANT lizard came back, and brought a friend. So now I have GIANT lizard and his buddy chilling out in my sideyard like some weird reptilian vacation.

I need a Flowbee...

Ryan and Dominic have started to resemble Chia pets. So, after stuffing them full of fruit on hopes of giving the full tummy sedation, I broke out the scissors. Not professional haricutting shears. Nope, the smallest pair I had were safety scissors from Target. Cross your fingers.

I think it went well... In 2 weeks, the bald spots will hardly be noticeable.

Before...

After...

"Don't even think about getting those scissors near me Mommy!"

All about me 101

ok- so apparently after you hit 100 posts in "blogland", you are supposed to write 100 things about yourself. That's it? Only 100? I could go on for daaays. But *sigh* I will keep it to 100- starting in increments of 10. Just 'cause 100 things is alot to type at 1 time. Plus I can organize them into nice neat sections :)

1-10 (all my pet peeves)

1. Shoulder bumps from hangers in the shoulders of shirts.
2. When people wear various shades of black and think it's ok. NO! There is blue black, brown black, gray black etc. UGH
3. People that order waaay too much food thru the drive thru window. More than 2 people- GO INSIDE!!!
4. People that leave their blinkers on for miles. To avoid this- I just don't use one at all.
5. People that mispronounce "Illinois". I don't live there, but I'm taking up for the whole state.
6. When menus say "World Famous" when in reality, it's not.
7. Emails that make me feel guilty because I am not passing it on to 100 people.
8. When my husband chugs milk and makes that gulpy sound
9. Hearing the phrase "You must have your hands full"
10. Toilet paper on the roll with the sheet going under instead of over.

There- that's a good start. Next 10 will be all about my favorite things. Now rest up and pay attention- there will be a quiz at the end :)

Happy Father's Day!

or, otherwise known as, "Another Holiday to try and stick large objects on top of Dominic". First was Mother's Day, now Father's Day.

Doesn't Ryan look innocent? So after I pulled Dominic out from under the walker, they all got dressed for pics with Daddy.

And contrary to popular belief, I have not fallen off the face of the earth :) I have been VERY busy with research. Important stuff like finding coordinating Gymboree clothes. Geesh- do you have ANY idea how hard it is to find the matching socks to some of their lines? I have ordered so much Gymboree stuff (it's almost as bad as my Pier 1 addiction) that the mail dude doesn't even put it in the box anymore. I get service to the door! I'm making that extra 2 cents per stamp pay off in my favor! Take that USPS!!!

Gonna have to move to a farm...

Blech- the kids LOVE eggs. Yuck. I, however, am not a big fan of eggs. In fact, I don't even drink milk. The whole concept of chugging back a glass of milk makes me vomit in my mouth. I was the wierd kid who ate dry cereal. Anyway...

We took Dominic to the grocery store Tuesday. He has never been in a grocey store and he was in awe- like he found the motherload of food. So in an attempt to plump up him and Aspen, I have started bulking up the calories. Carnation instant breakfast in the bottles, and a high fat content. Ryan is not included- he is on the chart. So I read about eggs and how they can help pack on the pounds in babies. Where, I have no idea- between my unstoppable addiction to buying Gymboree and selling my old maternity clothes on ebay- it all has become a blur.

So, what used to be just a bottle and oatmeal for breakfast has now turned into bottle, eggs, oatmeal, and yogurt.

There is someone in this house packing on the pounds- I have the fattest chihuahua in the Las Vegas area. 10 pounds! He was supposed to be a "miniature". As my father would say, I may have "gotten a took" on that deal.

Are YOU smarter than your iPod?

Dear loving husband bought me a new ipod for Christmas. Some 800 gazillion bit thing that could possibly organize my life. IF, I knew how to work it. I had just mastered the old one when he throws me in a shambles with the new one.

Then, just to go step further- he buys the alarm clock/docking station/bread maker/ ATM thing so I can wake to the blissful tunes of the iPod, ocean sounds / waterfall/ nature sounds or buzzer. I chose the buzzer. I imagine that if I had ever been in a boot camp environment, that the horn in the morning would be similar to the sleep wrenching "noise" that woke me up at 5:35 am this morning. One of those sitstraightupinbed kind of noises. Oh, and it projects the time ON THE CEILING so the whole room has a lovely alien blue glow that makes me feel like I am napping on the side of the freeway. Loving husband could fall asleep, upright, in the middle of a football stadium during a game. Me- if it is not pitch black, I may as well not bother attempting sleep.

So tonight, I am suffocating the alarm clock with a towel. May the strongest person win.

So long Ralph...

Please bow your heads in a moment of silence for Ralph.

Ralph suffered from COPD (Critical Operational Pressure Deflation). He lived a good life, swaying in the breeze, just hanging out by the front gate, waving to all the neighbors as they passed by. Until yesterday when it all came to an end...

Ralph popped.

So we took the trio to the Rainforest Cafe today, in memory of their inflatable friend. I had forgotten I hate the food there~ blech. But, the kids had a good time, and as I looked up, I saw all Ralph's monkey friends, and I knew he was o.k.

Rumble in the playroom...

"I want the bunny!"

"I got the bunny!"

"Back off Ryan!"

"HA! I stole the bunny! na na na na na"
"Ok, truce- I'll show you how to rip up the playmat"