Your Questions Answered

Before we get to the questions and answers, I wanted to share with you all a little tidbit from my day yesterday. My friends on FB found it hilarious, and I'm pretty sure you'll think it's funny too.

Yesterday, while the boys were finishing lunch outside, the mailman went by and the boys stood up and started yelling "Bye, Daddy!" at the mailman. Talk about awkward! Thankfully I don't think the man could hear the boys. Oh, and to be clear the mailman looks nothing like Nick.

I'll scatter some random pictures from the park throughout this post today, because I've been lax in posting pics this week. (I've also been lax in keeping my 365 Blog caught up, so I'll be trying to do that later today too.)

What are some of the boys' favorite meals? This is a tough question to answer, because the boys will eat pretty much anything. I guess there are some foods they clear off their plates in record time though... For now I'll say favorite meals include the following: pancakes and fruit, eggs, pizza, macaroni and cheese, and last night's was a pretty big hit - grilled chicken, rice and cut up cucumbers and red pepper strips.

Do you have any tips for planning menus in advance? I'm probably not a good one to ask about this! Back before we had the boys I was great at planning out our meals every week. Now? Not so much. In fact, usually what happens is at about 4pm I think "hmmm... wonder what I should make for dinner". Here's the thing though, because I follow the stock-piling method of grocery shopping I almost always have a wide assortment of stuff in my house. I've become quite good at throwing meals together and kind of making it up as I go along (I think I must have inherited that from my mom). When I was meal planning (in the pre-kids days) I would go through the weekly sales fliers, look at what was already in my cupboard and plan based on those two things. My goal always was to buy as few "extras" (i.e. things not on sale) as I could each week.

Do you plan to have more children? This is a topic Nick and I have been debating for a while now. I'm firmly planted in the "yes, one more" camp and he is firmly planted in the "nope, we're done" camp. Only time will tell I guess!

Do you think you will ever go back to work? I think I probably will at some point. I miss working now! I miss the adult interaction and the gratification of finishing a task and being praised for it. (I don't get any work reviews on my cooking or care-taking skills!) What I'll go back to and when is the real question though. I'd love to go back to radio if I could but then I've also toyed with (ever since the boys were in the NICU) of going to nursing school and becoming a NICU nurse. We'll see I guess!

Do you plan to have the boys attend public school? If yes, what age? Kindergarten? Nick and I haven't spent a whole lot of time talking about this yet. We do know there are a ton of Christian school options around here. We also know it may not be something we can afford (unless I go back to work sooner), so when we bought our house we made sure it was in an adequate school district. It's not the best district in our area, but it's also not the worst. It would be nice if we could find something private we could afford, but we've still got 3 years to figure that out before the boys would go to Kindergarten (they miss the school cut off here so won't get to start until they're 6).

If you could take the boys anywhere in the world for a vacation for free, where would you go and why? Oh this is a no-brainer for me! Disney World! I have such fun memories of Disney World as a kid and I know the boys would find it so magical right now!

How would you react to finding out you were having triplets again? Honestly? I don't think it would phase me that much with the exception of two things - our home and car wouldn't be big enough and we can't really afford bigger of either! Multiples don't scare me now because I've been there, done that. I know how to schedule, I know how to handle three screaming kids, I know how to change diapers at the speed of lightning, etc. If I was having triplets again I think a call to Extreme Makeover Home Edition would be in order, don't you?

How many children did you imagine having when you were younger? Two, I think... I always wanted twins! Ha! When Nick and I got married we agreed we both wanted one or two of our own and then adopt another (so 2 or 3 total). Turns out having 3 at once changed my perspective because now I want 4 and I'm still open to adoption down the road.

Do you cook every meal for the boys? (You guys don't eat out much, right?) Correct, we hardly eat out. I would say we eat out on our own (just our family) 4 or 5 times a year. When family is here visiting we usually eat out a couple of times too. Now as far as cooking goes, yes I cook most of the meals. Sometimes I get lazy and pop a frozen pizza in the oven or something convenient like that. That's really for my own sanity though! And I'm not sure you could call pouring cereal or making a PB&J "cooking", but yes I make all the meals.

How do you keep up on the housework with 3 boys? I struggle with just 1! Nick is a HUGE piece of that puzzle. Without him I suspect this house would go downhill in a hurry. Every night before bed we make the boys pick up their toys. We've done that since they were about 15 or 16 months (it's just throwing things in baskets really). There are nights I don't feel like picking up the rest of the stuff (stray toys, vacuuming, dishes, etc), but Nick will remind me it'll only take a few minutes (20 or so) and if we don't do it the house will get worse and worse. He's right. Sometimes he's nice and lets me just sit on the couch while he does all the picking up. Yup, I married a keeper :)

How do you manage your stress level? I don't really feel like I have much stress. I think part of it must be because I'm a glass half full kind of person. When I sit and think about the future, I'm thinking about all the good stuff that could happen not the bad. The boys don't really stress me out. They make me mad sometimes and when that happens it's usually either just before nap time or just before Nick gets home, so it works out for me to get some space. Honestly, I think a lot of our lack of stress comes from a solid marriage and a solid handle on our finances. When we lived in Michigan we were paycheck to paycheck and I can remember being constantly stressed about money. I broke down a cried one day in a parking lot when we found out we needed $700 work done on one of our cars. Nick says we live on a tight budget now so that those breakdowns don't have to happen. And you know what? Between November and April of this year we had $6,000 in medical and major car repairs and I didn't have one breakdown. Not one.

Do you have any parenting books you recommend? This question stemmed largely from my story about taking the boys to the Post Office and how well behaved they were (until Chase's tantrum when we left). As far as discipline goes, we use the methods from 1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12
The book says you can start at the age of 2, but I'll confess we actually started with the basics at more like 20 months. I was tired of the biting going on then and needed something to help curb it.

That being said, I think a lot of the success we've had with the boys comes from consistency, following through on threats all the time, and giving the boys some freedom in areas of their life. My theory is kids just want to do things by themselves. They want that feeling of satisfaction for completing something themselves. I let the boys pick their own clothes (most of the time), I let them pick what they want for breakfast and lunch, we let them walk on the sidewalk without holding our hands (but the moment they bolt for the street they have to hold our hand for the remainder of the time which was not popular), etc. The boys know there are certain things they have to do in public and they know I have expectations for them and we started with all of that very early on.

Don't question yourself too much and just find something that works with your kids! Your mom instinct usually won't fail you.

Burning Questions?

I seem to be in the midst of a dry spell creativity wise right now. I think the craziness of last week and this week are catching up with me. I promise to come up with something good for tomorrow, but for now how about we play another round of Burning Questions.

What do you want to know about us? The only questions off limits are what the boys' middle names are and what city we live in. Leave your questions on this post and I'll answer them later this week!

Your Burning Questions Answered

You all asked some fun and creative questions this time around!

Charlotte asked the following:
When, if ever, do you think you will stop blogging about the boys? Do you think they'll ever want you to stop? (I hope the answer is no!) Hmmm.... That's something I haven't thought about! I imagine when they get into school my blogging will slow (but not stop). I mean, right now I have a little show happening in my living room every day and if that show is in school for the bulk of the day there goes the bulk of my "material". I bet if I was still posting pictures of feces and them wearing my sports bra when they're in middle school they would ask me to stop blogging, so I'll just have to censor myself a bit ;)

How do you imagine the boys to be in 15 years or so? Honestly, I imagine them to be a lot like their Uncle Isaac is right now. He's 18 (almost 19) and is one of the most respectful, funny and helpful young men out there. He's like a mini-Nick. I hope that because the boys have such an awesome example in Nick that they'll follow in his footsteps. I think the boys will be huge into sports, the only question is which one (and I know Nick is hoping for basketball). 

What is your earliest childhood memory? I have fleeting little memories from the first house I lived in. We only lived in that house until I was 3 and a half or so, so they're fairly early memories. I remember things like my mom putting peanut butter in my hair to try to get gum out of it, I remember playing Red Light Green Light in our living room at my birthday party, I remember the house behind ours had a fire in it and watching them throw stuff out the upstairs window during the clean up after the fire and I remember it hailing once and my dad running outside to scoop some up to put in our cups of soda at dinner (it was pizza night)! 

Mackenzine asked the following:
What (if any) were going to be their names if they were girls? We never actually thought of girl names! We knew from that very first ultrasound (12 weeks) that there was a good chance they were all boys and then at 17 or 18 weeks that was confirmed.
If no names what girl names do you like? You know, I've never actually thought about it! I'd have to say I'd probably want to lean towards more "classic" names. Even though I have a lot of friends with these names, I love names like Rachel, Sarah, Katie, Jennifer, etc. Who knows what Nick would pick though - he had some interesting ideas for the boys! LOL!

 kdliberty asked the following:
Do you think you will ever have any more children? Ahh, the loaded question! I hope that we will. Whether it's through another pregnancy or through adoption (something we've always talked about wanting to do), I hope that we add a 4th member to our family.

 Brenda asked the following:
If you could sit down and "interview" anyone famous (living or dead) who would it be? I would love the chance to interview Paul, from the Bible. His New Testament writings have always interested me. I loved his style and would love the chance to talk to him!

How's the Esty shop going? Fantastic! I get a nice mix of orders from people I know (family, friends and people I know from the internet) and orders from people I don't know. I actually just posted some fun new treats for Valentine's Day!

How far in advance do you write your blogs? Usually I write them the same morning they post. Every once in a while I'll write them the night before and schedule them to post the next day.

Do you think you'll continue blogging 6 days a week "forever"? I doubt it! As you can see from the first question today, I'm betting that when the boys get into school I'll back off a bit because I'll be lacking in material.

What countries (other than Mexico/Canada) do your readers come from? In the last month I've had hits from 36 countries. My top 10 countries (in order of readers) are: 
US
Germany (114)
Canada (93)
UK (73)
Netherlands (27)
Puerto Rico (20)
France (13)
Australia (10)
Norway (6) and a slew of others tied at 3 visits each. Kinda cool! I have no idea why I have so many German readers. I do have some cousins in the UK right now, so that explains some of that one.

Are you thinking of sending the boys to preschool at some point? We definitely will, but it likely won't be until the 2011 school year. The boys won't get to start kindergarten until 2013, so we don't want them to do 3 years of pre-school which is why we aren't going to send them this year.

What has been the most surprising thing about being the Mother of 2 year old identical triplets? The pleasant surprise of how great they entertain each other! I love watching them play together and they've been like that since they were about a year old.

When will we see pictures of the boys playing in the snow in their new boots. When we get more snow! The boots arrived just as all the snow was (finally) melting away. At this rate, I think you may get to see the boys playing in the mud in their new boots first.

Anonymous asked:
What is a typical day like? The boys usually wake up at 7 or 7:15am and Nick is already up and ready to get the day going for them. I theoretically am allowed to "sleep" until 8:15, but the boys have been quite noisy lately so I often am up shortly after they are. Nick feeds the boys breakfast and usually gets them dressed before he heads out for work. I like to try to find somewhere for us to go in the morning, whether it's a playdate, story time or a trip to the park (when it's nice) I feel like it helps the boys nap better and makes the day go by faster.

The boys usually sleep 2-3 hours in the afternoon and that's when I take the chance to catch up with friends online, do some reading, baking or cleaning (but I don't clean often). Around 4 or 4:30 I'll let the boys watch a video (usually Signing Time or Little Einsteins) while I get dinner started. Nick gets home by 5:30 and that's when chaos sets in. After a wild dinner and some more wild playtime we start our bedtime routine. We make the boys clean up all their toys, then go potty, get into PJs and brush their teeth. If they've all done a good job with that we watch 8-10 minutes of a video (either on YouTube or on a DVD). For this part they want all the lights in the house off. I don't know where they came up with this idea, but it started back in the fall and they love it. Plus it's kinda fun to all be cuddled up on the couch together. :)

After the boys go down around 7:30pm Nick and I get to work cleaning the kitchen up, vacuuming, starting laundry, etc. By about 8:30 we both collapse on the couch. 

 Brossettelewis asked:
You scrapbook, right? Let's see some pages. I do! I haven't done much lately, which bums me out. Next month though I have an all day (9am-10pm) crop to go to though, so that will help! Here are a few recent pages I don't think you all have seen.... (I am a more "simple" scrapbooker. Time is not on my side and I am trying to do 3 books at once!)

 

 

 

 

Q & A Time!

As I lay in bed this morning, not really wanting to move, I started thinking about what I should blog about today. Not a ton of exciting things happened over the weekend, although on Friday Tyler did get his first ever x-ray (which he did an awesome job sitting completely still for!). He has bronchialitis and is already getting back to his old self thanks to some antibiotics and an inhaler. Saturday night Jackson and I stayed home from church as he had a low fever that afternoon. Exciting stuff huh?

Obviously I don't have much to share today and quite frankly, I'm tired. So a Q&A session is my cop out for the day! Here are the rules:

Any question is fair game, except the following: What city we live in (Kansas City is good enough), middle names or last names. Just ask your question by commenting on this post.

Here are the links to answers from my two previous Q&As! Q&A #1, Q&A #1 pt 2, Q&A #2

Before I leave you to your questions, here are two of my favorite pictures from the weekend!

Nick and Tyler yesterday afternoon.

Jackson and me cuddling on the couch Saturday night. The picture was taken using the self-timer on my camera and I held the camera with my feet!

(Both of those pictures along with 15 others can be seen on our 365 Blog!)

Q & A - The Answers

Thanks for participating in my second Q & A Session! I didn't get nearly as many questions this time, which means I can answer them all in one (looong) shot! We'll do it again this fall, now on to the answers.

1. You mentioned a while back that you are on WW. I am also on WW and was wondering if you had any great recipes. I also have a couple chicken recipes that I think Nick and the boys might like. - Kathie

• I really enjoy cooking and baking, so don't tend to make the same things over and over. My two favorite cook books have nutrition information in them, so I can easily figure the points from that. The times when I'm either making up my own recipe or I have one without the NI I'll use the free recipe builder on Sparkrecipes.com to figure it out. I always welcome new recipes - if you want to send me one send it to discjockeyhelen (at) yahoo (dot) com.

2. How is the potty training going? - Sarah

• It's going fairly well considering how laid back we've been about it. Chase has peed in the toilet several times in the last couple of weeks. The other two have yet to do that, but they have improved by showing genuine interest in what they're supposed to be doing on there and with telling us they have to go. Actually, all three will occasionally tell us when they have to go but we've yet to get them there quickly enough. After all of our visitors are gone at the middle of the month we're going to kick things into high gear with Chase first. I'm sure that will generate lots of entertaining blogs ;)

3. Hi Helen, I saw below you talked about "stacking coupons." Are you talking about taking one of the coupons you get at the checkout and then using a circular coupon on top of that? I didn't think you could do that, but if I'm wrong, that is great to know! - Erin

• Many stores (Target, CVS, Walgreens, etc) will put out "store coupons" meaning those coupons can only be used in their store. Walgreen's weekly flier for example always has some coupons in the flier. Those coupons can be combined with a manufacturer coupon on the very same item. For example, I received some Target coupons in the mail last week (I'm on their mailing list). One of those coupons was for .50 off Reynold's Foil. I also have a $1 off Reynold's foil coupon from one of my recent Sunday papers. I can use both of those coupons on ONE box of foil next time I'm in Target, therefore saving $1.50! It's a sweet deal when you can stack coupons. Now you mentioned coupons that print at the checkout - you'll need to read those carefully. In many grocery stores I believe those coupons will say "manufacturer coupon" but other times (like at CVS) they will be a store coupon, in which case you can stack it.

4. Do you like having the ads on your blog? Do you actually generate money from them? I was thinking about placing some on my blog, but wasn't sure if it was worth it. Thanks!!! - Erin

• I don't like having the ads on my blog, but I do appreciate the little bits of money I earn. I'm trying a new company right now (Commission Junction) but I'm not thrilled so far. I was earning more using Google Adsense. The bad thing is you don't get a check until you've earned $100 and that will take me a looong time at this rate.

5. You may have answered this before, forgive me... what did you do before you were a stay at home mom? - Ethan, Zach and Emma's Mom

• Before I had the boys I was working for a large Christian talk radio network (Bott Radio Network) writing ad copy (commercials), assisting the local sales team and approving the "commercials" on the non-commercial stations in the network. I've always loved radio and hope to someday return to it! My real love has always been on-air (voicing commercials, DJing, etc).

6. What do you wish you could have or do on a regular basis that would help prevent "mommy burnout"? - Brenda

• I think that probably getting out on a regular basis just to hang out with friends or with Nick would do wonders for that "mommy burnout". I get out of the house plenty right now but it's for grocery shopping, running errands or attending meetings. I crave more casual "hang out" time!
  

7. When do you think you'll all go on your next family vacation? - Brenda

• I suspect we'll talk about attempting one next year. We'd like to try to get back to New England every couple of years. A lot will depend on how many frequent flier miles we have racked up, as next time we fly we'll have to buy 5 seats. Ugh!!

8. Do you and Nick do "date nights" around the house if you can't get out alone? If so what do you do and how often? - Brenda

• I definitely wouldn't call what we do around the house a date night. While we probably should make more of an effort to do that, we don't. Sometimes I have plans to do something like sitting on the deck together or making us a nice dinner or desert to eat after bedtime but then we get caught up in the cleaning and doing things around the house and it never happens. Instead we end up on the couch watching a movie or TV together.
  

9. Other than when the boys were in the NICU have you ever spent a night away from them? - Brenda

• Nick and I have each spent a night (or two or three) away from the boys, but never at the same time.

10. Do you ever ask others to watch the boys so you & Nick can get a night (or day) out, or do you feel awkward asking? - Brenda

• We've felt free to ask the people who have made several offers to come watch the boys. I hate telling some of the high school girls that we can't afford to pay them, but they never seem to mind so I don't know why I let it bother me. I think our problem with getting out is lack of planning far enough in advance to make it work with our sitters' schedules.

11. Do you think you will sign the boys up for any sort of activities and when do you think you will start? - Krista

• I would love to sign the boys up for swimming lessons this winter! The community center near by offers swimming lessons in classes of 3 starting at age 2.5 and the parent doesn't need to be in the water. Sounds like the perfect way to spend the winter!
  

12. If someone offered you a free tummy tuck a la Kate would you do it? - Krista

• In a heartbeat! That pregnancy did a number on my belly... the loose skin is tough to hide sometimes.

13. When during the day do you workout and what sorts of workouts do you do? Do you always do the same thing? - Krista

• I always workout in the mornings now. Several times I've "intended" to workout during nap time or in the evening when Nick gets home and it just never happens. I'm either tired or find other "more important" things to do. I generally use various work out DVDs (Pilates, Yoga, Walk Away the Pounds, 30 Day Shred). I also have Yourself Fitness on my PS2, which has now been released for Wii under the name My Fitness Coach. For the last week though I've been enjoying early morning walks! I've been taking them by myself and leaving my i-pod at home. Something about the silence and open dialog I get to have with God for those 30 minutes has been so refreshing and such a great start to my day.

14. Where in Maine are you from? My family is from DownEast Maine. - Momma Z

• I grew up in Mid-Coast Maine, about 2 miles from Pemaquid Point (half way between Boothbay and Camden). The lighthouse that is on the state Quarter for Maine is Pemaquid Point Light! Always makes me miss home when I see those quarters...
  

Q & A Time!

It's been over 4 months since our last Question and Answer time, so I thought I'd open up the floor for questions again!

For those of you that weren't here for the last Q & A, here's how it works - you ask the questions by commenting on this blog post and later this week I'll answer them all in a new blog post! There are only a couple of things that are off limits: middle and last names and where exactly we live (Kansas City area is all you need to know). Don't be shy, and ask away!

If you're curious what was asked last time and what the answers were (all 40 questions!) you can click here (pt 1) and here (pt 2).

Q and A - The Answers (Part 2)!

This is the second (and final) day of answers to last week's Q&A post. I'll be back to regular posting tomorrow! This Q&A was fun, and I'll definitely do it again in the future.

22. If you were to have another child what would you want the gender to be?

• Obviously gender isn't something that is in my control, but I would love to have a girl. I hate walking by all the cute dresses at stores and not being able to buy them!

23. How do you feel about the products that are made in China (regarding the current dispute over products made there and the lead content)?

• In an ideal world I would buy products made in the USA. Not only do they seem to be safer but it supports US jobs. However, that being said I can't afford most US made items on this budget. Hopefully in the future I can do that more often. For now I try to not worry about it unless I see a recall for a specific item.

24. What are your feelings of Wal-Mart and Nike (with the child labor laws and cruel sweat shops)?

• I'm not entirely sure what you're referring too except that stories frequent the Internet about such things going on (sometimes I'm not entirely sure the "story" is true though). Either way my response would be the same as the previous question.

25. Do you manage to eat healthy with your budget?

• Considering I've lost 30+ pounds on Weight Watchers in the last year I would say "yes" I eat healthy food! Because I don't have money to spend on ice cream, cookies, candy, etc I send more time focused on lean meats, veggies, rice and pasta. I also make a lot of soups and the majority of those are quite healthy. I've never understood the argument that it's too expensive to eat healthily.
  

26. Will you ever move back to Michigan?

• Again, I'm not one to predict where we'll move to next but I'll go out on a limb on this one and say I doubt it.

27. Do you think you will have more children and when do you anticipate having said children?

• At this point I would love to have more children. In an ideal world we would have another baby and then adopt one more. I never saw myself as having a "large" family (I had planned on 2 or 3 kids), but I just don't feel done. As for the when, Nick and I had agreed when the boys were very young that we wouldn't even discuss it until the boys turn 2, so I guess we'll find out this coming fall how Nick feels and if I feel the same way still.

28. What has been your greatest joy since having the boys?

• That is so hard to nail down! The very act of just watching them grow and learn is amazing. Sometimes I find myself just sitting at the kitchen table and watching the boys play together or plot together on how to tip over the slide. It's just amazing to watch!

29. How far along were you when you found out you were having triplets?

• I was 12 weeks along. My doctor had offered to order an early ultrasound for us because she knew were excited to be having our first. There was zero thought that there could be more than one baby in there!

30. What was your first reaction to the news and what was your family's?

• Disbelief I think! We had thought it was just twins for about 90 seconds before the ultrasound tech found baby number 3. At that point I started to cry (tears of joy and fear) and Nick started to laugh. I was in shock for about a week after that and then the shock would just come in waves. Our parents didn't believe us at first. It didn't help that we told my parents 2 days before April Fools Day (the day of the ultrasound) and Nick's parents on April Fools Day!

31. If you left for a few days, would you be able to tell the boys apart on sight alone if you walked into the house and they were all sitting on the floor watching TV?

• Yes, I believe I could.
  

32. How many people can tell the boys apart by sight alone?

• Five for sure, but probably more. Nick, my sister, my parents and myself all can do it pretty quickly. I suspect my inlaws would be able to as well, but they don't get out here very often so I can't "test" them! Others are pretty good at picking Tyler out or picking Jackson out. The people who have the easiest time are the people who either spend a lot of time here (Nick, my sister and I) or people who spend a lot of time studying the blog (grandparents).

33. Did you and/or do you still receive any "freebies" from companies that help with the cost of raising three identical triplets?

• This is a common misconception that there are companies out there just dying to help out a family with higher order multiples! There are a few companies out there that offer "freebies" if you send them copies of birth certificates. For example I sent copies of the birth certificates to Huggies and received some coupons to be used towards diapers. They weren't for free packages but they were decent coupons that helped defray the cost of some of the diapers we bought for a couple of months. Pampers does the same. Enfamil (the formula we used) sent us several cases of liquid concentrate formula - that lasted us all of a month. It was helpful but certainly wasn't what many people think we receive!

34. Are you more or less organized in life after having triplets?

• More, for sure. I was semi-organized before but I feel like having triplets forced me to take it to another level. If we don't pick up the house every night things would spin out of control very rapidly. If we don't stay on top of the laundry it would become a mountain. If I wasn't organized in the kitchen our budget would never work.

35. How many loads of laundry do you do in a week?

• I'd say we average 5 loads a week for the entire family. It's not as terrible as most people think.

36. If you got pregnant with multiples again would you panic?

• I think there would be moments of panic. Like, how do we sell our house in this market in order to move to a bigger one? How do we afford to buy a van now? The panic would only be fleeting though. I had the same panicky thoughts when I was pregnant with the boys and yet things continue to work out.

37. Does the fact that you don't have a regular "date night" with Nick put a strain on your relationship?

• I wouldn't call it a strain, but it does stink! We definitely miss having that time alone together and wish we could get out more. At the same time we know the boys will only be this little once and before we know it we'll be free to go out a lot more often.

38. What is the most annoying question asked by strangers when you're out with the boys?

• I don't get annoyed by the questions. I feel like I'm in the minority with that... I read a lot of whiny posts on the mom's of multiples message boards I frequent. It seems like most MOMs are annoyed by comments and questions. I honestly don't care. I will tell you this that it amuses me to no end when someone asks me if the boys are close in age! I actually had a bagger at the grocery store ask me that a few weeks ago... It was hard to not laugh right there.
  

39. Do you like the attention the boys get when you take them all out?

• Yep! I love showing my boys off and feel like I don't get to do that very often, so when someone wants to ooh and ahh over my boys, I let 'em.

40. If TLC asked you to do a TV show about you (like Jon and Kate or the Duggar Family) would you allow them into your home?

• That's a tough one. I think a lot would depend on what they were looking for exactly... a one time show special or a series? How much time is actually spent filming in the house? How easily could we get out if we wanted to? Are we in desperate need of financial assistance and would this provide that? There are a lot of things that would need to be discussed and considered. Regardless, unless I have multiples again (see question 36) that's not likely to happen!
  

Q and A - The Answers! (Part 1)

Wow! You guys had a lot of questions on your mind! So many questions in fact that I've decided to do this in two segments... On Monday I'll answer the second half of the questions.

Here are the answers to the questions in order received. We'll do this again in the future, so don't worry if you didn't get to ask your question(s).


1. Have you ever mixed the boys up for longer than a couple of minutes?

• I think the longest I've ever had them mixed up was for about 5 minutes. Tyler wasn't even home from the NICU yet when Nick came out to the living room early one morning to find me crying. I was pretty sure I had mixed Jackson and Chase up! Nick smartly remembered that only one of them had lost the plastibell (sp?) from their circumcision, so we just checked for that. Turned out I hadn't mixed them up after all!

2. How do you tell them apart if they are not dressed differently?

• For the first 5 months or so we used a Sharpie to put dots on the bottom of their feet. Jackson got one dot, Tyler got 2 and Chase got 3. At each bath time we'd renew the dots. At about 5 months old Chase developed a small birth mark and Jackson had a herniated belly button so we stopped doing the dots as we had other ways to tell if necessary. Now I'm not entirely sure how I tell them apart - I just do! Sometimes I slip and call one the wrong name, but what mom doesn't do that? I notice different facial expressions, different laughs, different cries, etc.

3. When thinking about the future, which emotion do you feel more often, fear or excitement?

• Excitement for sure! Why bother being fearful? It's not like I can stop the future from coming...

4. How often do you get time to yourself and what do you do during that time?

• I almost always get to go grocery shopping by myself once a week. I also get out every Monday night for the high school girls small group I co-lead. I try to attend the monthly triplet mom dinner in town and also lead the monthly scrapbooking night at church! Nick is very good about pushing me out of the house when opportunities come up. During nap time I will occasionally drag my scrapbooking stuff out too, which is nice "me time".

5. Do you miss working at all and do you think you will go back at any point?

• I occasionally miss the work I did, but not enough to go back right now. Ideally I'd love to freelance, but that requires a lot of promoting I don't have time for right now. I am currently looking into substitute teaching once a week though in order to get out and supplement our income a bit (I would sub on Nick's day off).

6. Do you think things are easier now or when the boys were newborns?

• Now, hands down!

7. Do you plan to have more children? When?

• That's not something Nick and I are talking about for a little bit still. If you asked just me, I would say "yes" but it's not a decision to be made by just me! If I had my way though we would start trying for a 4th by this coming fall. And it better be a girl!

8. Did the pregnancy mess up your stomach and would you consider plastic surgery?

• Yes and yes! Anyone want to donate a tummy tuck?

9. Do you think you'll stay in KC forever?

• I've learned to not try to "predict" God's plan. I never thought we'd live further away from "home" than Michigan.

10. Will you get a Costco membership when the boys are older?

• We currently have a Sam's Club membership, so I doubt we'll switch to Costco.

11. Will your grocery budget be larger when the boys are older and eat more?

• I have no idea! My goal will always be to keep it as low as possible. I feel like even in the last 6 months I've become a lot more savvy with my grocery budget and like to think I'll only continue to improve.

12. Did you like the hospital where you gave birth?

• Absolutely! It hadn't been my first choice initially, but when I found out I'd need a Level 3 NICU it was a no-brainer to switch.

13. How do you keep your food budget so low?

• The Grocery Game is a huge help in keeping my grocery budget so low, as is the chain store Aldi. I also keep my eyes open online for coupon and sample offers.

14. Do you ever go out to eat and do you cook every meal for your family?

• We've been out to eat once as a family. We virtually never order take out either (although I'd sure love to once in a while!). So yes, I do cook every meal for the family. I also bake a good deal of the "snacks" consumed here (cookies, bagels, bread, english muffins, etc).

15. What's your favorite recipe?

• I'm a fan of anything that involves my crock pot. The ability to just throw stuff together in the morning (or even the night before and stick the crock in the fridge) and then not worry again until dinner is the best! I make chicken a variety of ways in my crock pot.
  

16. Do you ever have a minute to yourself?

• Yep! I get a couple of hours of blissful silence in the afternoons while the boys nap, I get to go grocery shopping and a variety of other "activities" that were covered in Question 4.

17. As a MOM what's your opinion on the Octuplets family situation?

• As more and more of the story comes out I find my opinion on the situation changing. At this point I feel terribly for the children, especially the older 6 who now have to watch all of this unfold. Even though I did not undergo IVF, I have heard from many friends that the doctor who implanted 6 embryos was crazy and doing something that is not at all close to the norm. I feel that's terrible. I feel terribly that her parents feel they have to continue to care for all of these children and based on the interviews I've read, I think the grandma is pretty bitter about the situation. It's just sad. I pray those babies do well and am beyond impressed that the mom carried them as long as she did.

18. Do you think you could have "survived" the early weeks/months without the volunteers?

• Absolutely. It would have been rough not having those meals for the first few weeks the boys were home, but we would have survived. It also was nice those first 4 months to have a couple of afternoons a week to grab a quick nap, but again I would have survived without it.

19. How long does it take you to plan your grocery shopping trips?

• I'd say about 30 minutes or so if I'm really focused - the includes scanning fliers, making my lists and pulling coupons.

20. If money/time were no object - what is the one thing you would do for yourself?

• I would love to go someplace warm and tropical with Nick, for just a couple of days. While away I would want to spend a day at the spa!

21. So when can I expect a home sewn costume for myself? (asked by my husband Nick)

• Well Nick, seeing as you keep bugging me about this I think you will be delighted to hear I am going to plan a fantastic costume for you for Halloween and you will be forced to wear it while you take the boys around the neighborhood next year.

On that note, I'll end for now! Check back Monday for the rest of the answers and of course tomorrow for Saturday Savings!

Q and A

A week or so ago (it's hard to tell for sure because I seem to have no concept of time anymore) I saw a fellow blogger (Rachael at Little Bites of Heaven) do a Q & A session on her blog. I thought that seemed like fun and a good idea, especially considering some of my newer followers probably don't know a lot of our background story, pregnancy stuff, details of the boys' early months, etc.

So here's how it works - you ask the questions by commenting on this blog post and later this week I'll answer them all in a new blog post! There are only a couple of things that are off limits: middle and last names and where exactly we live (Kansas City area is all you need to know). Don't be shy, and ask away!

You'll also be happy to know that I got some excellent video footage this weekend so we'll have a fun "Video Clip of the Week" on Wednesday!