Master Shopper

That's the new nickname I've decided to give myself. It's already common knowledge that I am a master grocery shopper, but in the last week I've taken my shopping skills to a new level!

Beginning last weekend I started buying Christmas gifts that I spotted in pre-Thanksgiving Day sales. Then all week long I kept my eyes on the Black Friday ads as they were posted online. This morning I hit the stores at 5:05am. Last year was the first time I've ever shopped on Black Friday, but I was too bleary eyed to join the masses in the morning (I had 3 month old triplets at home after all) so I instead shopped at night. Joining all the crazies (and I use that as a term of endearment) well before dawn was a first.

I started my journey at Best Buy. They opened their doors at 5am and I walked in shortly after that. Apparently a lot of people camped out overnight because there were blankets, sleeping bags, lawn chairs and empty coffee cups along the outside of the store. I visited several other stores where the crowds were large and frantic; Walmart was the worst - packed and the check-out lines were poorly organized. Some people waited over an hour just to pay, while others waited only about 10 minutes!

Between 5am and 8am I hit 7 stores (Best Buy, Walmart, Old Navy, Target, Gordmans, World Market and Walgreen's), managed to finish almost all of my Christmas shopping AND am currently $40 under budget (and I had already budgeted for getting great deals). I'm now counting on the Diet Coke I downed at 7am to keep me awake until the boys go down for their nap this afternoon. Now during December I'll be able to relax and enjoy the sites and sounds of Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I like to think that Jackson, Tyler and Chase would say they are thankful for the following. That is, if they knew more signs or knew more words than mama, dada, duck, ball and that cows go moo.

Things we're thankful for, as babbled to Mommy.

• Mommy and Daddy
• Days that Daddy can stay home and play with us
• That we got to see both sets of grandparents this fall
• That Aunt Laura lives close enough to come play with us once a week
• Snack traps full of goldfish
• Baking Day (Tuesdays!) - we always get a cookie
• All the awesome toys we have
• Fun times in the church nursery - we're going to miss those good times during RSV season
• Baby Signing Time DVDs - Chase especially loves them
• Our Choo Choo Wagon - now we ride in style
• That Mommy and Daddy taught us signs - now we tell them when we're hungry or thirsty

Those are just a few of the many things Jackson, Tyler and Chase are thankful for!

I know I'm thankful for my amazing and helpful husband Nick and for all the incredible ways God continues to provide for this family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The People Have Spoken

Sure, there is still time to vote but I think it's safe to call this race over... 100% of the 24 votes said "yes!" to having a video clip of the week!

A couple of days ago Tyler was in an exceptionally silly mood at nap time. Before I got the camera out he was just standing in his crib laughing hysterically. As you'll see though, even after the camera came out the antics continued.

No Tylers were injured in the making of this video.

Check out these giveaways!

Attention moms! Head over to BabyLuxe to enter to win some awesome prizes!

http://babyluxedaily.com/2008/11/25/holiday-giveaway/

Laundry

Look at my cute laundry!

It started out with just one load of laundry. Namely, Chase and Jackson fighting over one basket. Jackson was pretty much sitting on top of Chase (who was in the fetal position at the bottom of the basket) and Chase was not happy about it. As soon as I took Jackson out of the basket, Tyler tried to climb in. Again, Chase was not happy about it which he communicated to me through a series of pathetic sounding whines.

I quickly took action by running down to the basement to fetch 2 more laundry baskets. Everyone was happy with the set up for about 20 minutes, but now, even as I type this, Chase and Jackson are both trying to sit in the same one. The grass is always greener on the other side!

And now, some cute pictures I took of the boys at lunch yesterday!

Jackson

Tyler

Chase

The Camera is Back!

On Friday afternoon Fed Ex delivered my camera, all repaired and ready to go! WOOHOO! I'm impressed with how quickly Canon repaired the camera and got it back to me. I mailed the camera to them last Saturday and received it exactly one week later. Wow!

I was so excited to have the camera back I started snapping pictures right away - including this one of my cutie Chase. About an hour later I left to go grocery shopping and I told Nick that the camera was back and to take pictures (in my mind, we have a week worth of pictures to make up for). Know what he did? He took pictures of things around the house... the stove, the fridge, a magnet on the fridge, the floor, his foot, etc. Guess I need to be more specific next time!

People seemed to really enjoy last week's blogs with all the video clips. To be honest, I enjoyed putting it together! Anyway, please vote in the poll to the right and maybe we'll begin featuring a new video every week.

Boys in a Box

Many people ask us if the boys play well together. Absolutely do our boys play well together! That doesn't mean there aren't moments of pulling a biter off another one, or toy stealing or pushing. In general though, the boys play very well together.... even when one is encroaching on an other's personal space and play area!

In the video, Jackson is sitting on top of Tyler.

Rub-a-dub-dub

Rub-a-dub-dub, three little cuties in the tub!

The other night Nick and I got bold and decided to attempt bathing the cuties together. We'd tried it once before 5 or 6 months ago and it didn't go well. The boys were wiggly and slippery. Not a good combo when it's 2 against 3! This time, things went pretty well although I don't think Chase appreciated Tyler grabbing him.... Nick and I cracked up after I turned the camera off.

Showing Off

In today's video Chase and Tyler are showing off their relatively new found signing skills. This is just a sampling of some of the signs they know. If my camera takes long enough at "the shop" then maybe I'll do a part 2 so you can see more!

Those of you that know ASL (American Sign Language) will notice they don't do these signs perfectly but they're close enough that Nick and I know what they're asking for.

In the video, Chase is the one lounging on the bean bag and Tyler is the one pacing around him.

Introducing the Best Week Ever!

In honor of my camera being at the Canon repair shop, I've decided to have some picture less fun... Welcome to what could be the most entertaining week of blogging! While my camera is away, I will feature a new video in each of my blog posts. They'll be short little clips and they're all recent. I've already got the first 3 lined up and I have ideas for the next 3. I expect to receive my camera by Thanksgiving, so for the next week or so be prepared to watch my monkeys in action!

First up - Jackson demonstrating what a cow says (mmmmm) and saying his first word - ball (although it sounds more like bomb or baa). Thanks to Papa for teaching him what cows say and to Stephanie for teaching him how to say ball! It takes a village, people.

And on a totally unrelated note... I saw something fun on The Wright Trips blog this morning! You can find out the reading level required for people to read your blog... Know what mine is? College!

Free Food?

This post could also easily be titled "Signs the economy has gone down the tubes".


This weekend I had the rare opportunity to go out to dinner with my sister Laura. From the moment Laura walked into Chicago UNO she noticed the insane number of apples being used to decorate the restaurant. There were giant bowls of them everywhere (along with giant bowls of coffee, and candy containers) and we thought it was appropriate fall decor.


Shortly after we ordered I saw a hand from the booth directly behind Laura slyly reach up and snag an apple from the bin on the shelf next to them. I started cracking up and whispered to Laura that the lady behind her had just taken an apple and stuffed it in her purse. We both were giggling quietly when the woman's husband did the same thing!


About an hour later we had finished eating and Laura was in the middle of a story when I apparently had a very funny look come over my face... she stopped talking and I burst out laughing. An old man had just come from the another part of the restaurant, leaned into the now empty booth behind Laura, reached up, grabbed two apples and then booked it out of there. We couldn't stop laughing!


People, if you're so strapped for cash that you can't afford to go to the store and buy your own apples than maybe you shouldn't be spending money by going out to eat!


We were laughing hysterically the whole way out of the restaurant and I wasn't watching where I was going and walked into a post. I'm sure people thought we'd been hitting the cocktails a little hard.


As a side note, we found our favorite new desert.... It's a giant peanut butter cup that's warmed up slightly, drizzled with chocolate and peanut butter sauce and served with ice cream. Wow. Being the good peanut butter cup lovers that we are, the two of us finished that bad boy off in about 3 minutes.

A Priceless Moment Missed

My camera is broken. No wait, it's possessed. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. (It tells me there's no memory card installed, when in fact there is and the memory card does work.) I've missed some cute moments in the last 2 weeks as a result of the possessed nature of the camera, but the other night I missed a truly priceless moment.

Jackson and Tyler both had their shirts lifted up and were looking at each other's belly buttons. Jackson was about to reach out and touch Tyler's when Chase walked into the room. He thought what the other two were doing looked like fun so he lifted his shirt too! All three of them were standing there, shirts lifted looking at each other's belly buttons (Jackson's is the weirdest for the record... that umbilical hernia did a number on it). I grabbed my camera thinking "sweet! This is going to be an awesome picture!" only to turn it on and have it tell me there was no memory card. LIAR! There was a perfectly good card in the camera but the camera decided this would be a good time to not work. I was so mad! What do you suppose the odds are the boys will ever do that again for me? I'm thinking slim to none.

Unfortunately, until the camera issue is resolved expect a reduction in the number of new pictures I have to post.

Prematurity Awareness Day

November is Prematurity Awareness month and today is Prematurity Awareness Day. Considering my own babies were preemies and I have friends who had preemies, I find this day and month very interesting (and important!).

Did you know that 1 out of 8 babies is born prematurely (born before 37 weeks)? 1 out of 8! I had no idea the number was so high. Today March of Dimes released a prematurity report card for the nation and individual states. The "grade" is based on how many of the births in each state and the nation as a whole are premature. The nation received a D. Kansas (where the boys were born) also received a D.

Sure, there has been an increase in preemie births along with the increase in multiple births but multiple births certainly aren't the only reason for a premature delivery. Sometimes there are circumstances that mom and doctors just can't do much about and that's where the research of March of Dimes comes in. Other times though the mother's lifestyle and habits could lead to a premature birth and that's where the education of March of Dimes comes in.

Last spring I walked with the boys in the March for Babies. We raised over $600 for prematurity research and education. If you're in the Kansas City area (or would like to come here to join us), we invite you to mark May 3rd on your calendar and consider joining us on the walk! Together we can work to give every preemie baby a fighting chance and reduce the number of preemie births to begin with.

Spoiled

The boys have been spoiled for the last five days. For that matter, I've been a bit spoiled too! Nick's parents, brother and sister came from Vermont to visit us for a few days. It took a few hours for the boys to warm up to all the new people at our house (they've only seen them a couple of times, the last time was in July), but once they warmed up they had a ball!

Mommy alone is not nearly as entertaining as the combo of Papa, Meme, Uncle Ike and Aunt Moriah. There's been a lot of giggling and running throughout the house, as evident by the nice long naps the boys have been taking. This morning they keep looking around the house, wondering where everyone is (they flew back this morning). Poor spoiled boys will have to do with Mommy's brand of entertainment!

A few highlights from the week:

• Papa taught the boys what a cow says. It is hilarious to hear! Ask Jackson "what does a cow say?" and he says "mmmmmmmmm". I really need to try to catch it on video.


• We had a "Mini-Thanksgiving" together! Boy did the boys love the amount of food on the table! Oh, and they love cranberry sauce.


• Nick's 17 year old brother is super helpful! Yesterday he helped me clean the boys up from lunch, picked up the floor, cleaned the living room up and even got the dust buster out... without being asked!


• Nick and I got to go on an unexpected date Sunday night.

Pictures from the weekend have been uploaded to the photo gallery!

The Simple Things

Did you know that last week there was a new addition to the Toy Hall of Fame? Care to guess what it is? Here's a hint - there are probably tons of them in your back yard.... sticks. Yep, the stick entered The Toy Hall of Fame. Such a simple thing has brought so much fun to children everywhere!


Jackson, Tyler and Chase seem to enjoy the simple things in life as well. We aren't letting them play with sticks yet, as it's likely an eye would be poked out, however there are other household objects they enjoy. Cups, food storage containers, newspapers, etc. all are suitable forms of entertainment. The other day we needed to use all the chairs in our kitchen, so we took the Grow With Me Boosters off the chairs and set them on the floor. Immediately the boys were intrigued!

Jackson and Tyler (pictured above) spent probably 20 minutes playing in their chairs. They were so thrilled to have a little seat of their own! The next day we needed to put one of the boosters on the floor again and Jackson claimed it as his little spot, which made Chase jealous so Nick had to put another one of the floor. They spent hours coming and going from their booster seats.

I told Nick that it's good to know the boys can be entertained by such simple things because that means I can just whip something simple out this winter when the boys are going stir crazy here at the house. He wisely told me that that ploy likely wouldn't work when I wanted it to. Thanks for the support!

Speed Linking

Many in the blogging world take part in the act of "Speed Linking". Today I've decided to jump on board! Here's what I've been reading online lately...

Cake Wrecks: Where Professional Cakes Go Horribly and Hilariously Wrong - Earlier in the week there were a slew of Election inspired cakes posted. This one made me laugh and groan. http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2008/11/and-remember.html I could seriously spend hours on this blog.

The Meanest Mom - Jana cracks me up on a daily basis. I wish I was neighbors with this woman! Her post a couple of days ago about one of her husband's work parties had me cracking up and the picture even made Nick laugh... (he usually rolls his eyes when I ask him to look at a blog I'm reading) http://themeanestmom.blogspot.com/2008/11/portrait-of-artist.html

Baby Cheapskate - I check this blog almost daily to find out where the best deals are for anything I might need for the boys. Today's post is about a good deal on coats, etc at Old Navy http://babycheapskate.blogspot.com/2008/11/up-to-50-off-all-outerwear-at-old-navy.html

Church of the Resurrection - So this isn't a blog (but my pastor has one!) but I wanted to let you know that our church is now broadcasting live (video!) on the Internet two of their weekend worship services. The 10:45 am traditional service and the 5pm contemporary service - both on Sundays and times are Central Time. I know family and friends from back home have been curious how we worship at such a big church (15,000 members or something like that) - well here's your chance to see! Right now the sermon series is on Resetting the way we look at finances. http://www.cor.org/worship-sermons/resurrection-live/

Hope you all enjoy the links!

Helen Reviews a Product

I've decided to take a page from Nick's blog and review a product. The product? Baby Signing Time DVDs.

I'd heard parents mention the Baby Signing Time series but I had never seen it before and was content with my Baby Einstein My First Signs DVD. The boys love anything and everything Baby Einstein so this signing video was a hit with them. With the boys finally starting to sign though (see "Finally a Sign") I thought a couple more DVDs, featuring more signs for them might be good. After a quick search of my public library's catalog I found a plethora of Baby Signing Time DVDs. I put in a hold request for the first two and about a week later picked the DVDs up.


From the very first time we popped the first DVD in (6 days ago) the boys were hooked. The songs are catchy (I think Nick and I even know the words!) and the graphics are fun. I think the boys like seeing other "babies" and toddlers doing the signs too.


In the 6 days since we started watching the DVDs I've seen an increase in the number of signs the boys can and will do. Just yesterday Chase came up to me while I was eating an apple and signed "eat". I told him to say "please" and did the sign for him. He said "please" back and I gave him a bite! If I sign "Baby Signing Time" to the boys Jackson tries to do it back and they all run for the TV. I'll definitely be checking out more of these DVDs!


And to those of you with "older" babies or toddlers that haven't tried teaching sign, I'd encourage you to pick up one or two of these DVDs at your library and just see what happens when you show them. It's probably not too late to start!

Plotting An Escape

I knew this day would come. The day when Jackson, Tyler and Chase would no longer be content with waiting for me to open up The Pit of Despair so that they could roam free in the house. Today they decided to take matters into their own hands by dumping all the balls out of the basket, flipping it over and climbing up on top...

Doesn't Jackson look so proud of himself? I think he enjoyed the view from way up there. Thankfully none of them have been "brave" enough to take a nose dive over the Pit.

We Voted!

So I tried to have this really cute picture taken of me voting, with the boys behind me in the Choo Choo... apparently the lady I asked to take said picture knew nothing about how to push a camera button because there's no picture on my camera! Bummer!

Anyway, I loaded the boys in the Choo Choo, threw some snacks, books and sippy cups in a backpack and we walked the 7 or 8 blocks to our polling location. We waited about 45 minutes in line and the boys were so well behaved!

If this mom of 3 toddlers can get out and vote today than surely you can too!

Messed Up!

It's official. The time change over the weekend messed us up. Big time! Last spring wasn't a big deal and last fall wasn't a big deal. We were able to just keep them right on schedule. I think in the spring we had to modify slightly the day after the switch but that was it. This year is a different story...

Yesterday the boys woke up at 6am. 6am! I finally got up with them at about 6:45am because it was clear they weren't going back to sleep. Because of the early wake up, breakfast was done early. They proceeded to then need snack early, lunch early and their nap early. They were so cranky! They took a great nap (almost 3 hours) but because they went down so early they were ready for bed much sooner. I held out as long as I could to get them close to their regular bed time (7:30) in hopes that they would be back on schedule today. No such luck.

Here's how my day has gone so far... Boys up sometime between 6 and 6:30. I'm not sure of the actual time as I was too groggy to look at the clock. Nick got the boys up early and played with them for a bit in hopes of giving them breakfast at the usual time. He said they got close. By 9:30 this morning the monkeys were getting tired. I knew this because of the increased whining, biting and crying. I did my best to entertain and distract them but almost always someone (usually Tyler) was upset.

At 11 I decided I would make them lunch early and put them to bed early. I peeked into the living room before I got started and found Chase on the floor, head on a pillow and sound asleep. Awwww! Jackson looked like he was about to crash too but he was holding out to see what neat thing Barney was up to today. Tyler was just pacing the house crying. It was then that I made an executive decision. Everyone was going to bed immediately and we would do lunch after their nap.

I sure hope they're better tomorrow! If not I may have to consider moving to a state that doesn't recognize Daylight Saving Time.

Fall Fun!

It has been an absolutely gorgeous couple of days here - low 70's and sunny. Gorgeous! Especially considering November just started. Nick and I decided to take advantage of this beautiful weather and let the boys play in the leaves in the front yard. They had a great time, and boy does it wear them out!

For reference Jackson is in the orange and yellow stripes, Tyler is in the solid red and Chase is in the maroon stripes.