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Well, we just learned that not only are we expecting, but that we’re expecting triplets. All due within a few weeks. I’m so proud of our little robin and all the hard work she’s doing to make and deliver those eggs and keep them warm and safe. I’m totally stressing out about her and those little babies. I was even up at 5:00 this morning and just had to get out the flashlight and make sure all the eggs were accounted for. Even the boys are getting attatched and I just heard Noah, as he was looking out the window at the robin say, “Are you just sitting there watching the whole world go by?” I wish I had a kid in school right now–talk about an awesome report. Apparently robins lay 2-3 clutches of eggs per season. So, maybe we’ll get to watch this all over again, in a few weeks. It is so awesome.

We spent the morning running errands. The house is slowly falling apart and getting kind of messy. But, it’s been one of those weeks and I always say, “The way the house looks is just a reflection of how I’m feeling on the inside.” I feel like my head is always spinning with three children wanting attention and all of the housework and Mark’s needs, as well as my own. And then, I had this major realization that my life is pretty boring compared to someone like Kathy and I have this aching desire to fix it, but without time to even read a book. . .it looks like it’s going to have to stay that way for awhile. And as a result, I just haven’t been functioning very well and I’m afraid, there are a lot of little people that suffer. But not to worry. . .we’re going to go wash the car (which the boys are dying to do) in our lovely 70 degree weather and tonight we’re headed for the GarlicFest, to stink up our breath and have a little fun. Nevermind the mess and lack of clean underwear that’s getting left behind.

Why is it that kids only have to go to the bathroom after you’ve just returned from taking someone else to the bathroom?

Why is it that the trash truck only comes early when you’ve forgotten to take out the trash?

Why is it that furnaces only fail during blizzards or arctic chills?

Why is it that kids only poop after you’ve just changed their diapers?

Why is it that the toilet only clogs when you are at somebody else’s house?

Why is it that the food only burns when you are expecting company?

Why is it that the one day you decide to open your window and let in a little fresh air, a skunk walks by?

Why is it that the car only dies when you are on vacation?

Why is it that the grocery store is always out of the last thing on your shopping list?

Why is it that the neighbors only visit when you are in your pajamas?

Why is it that the phone only rings when you are in the shower?

Why is it that the bills are always due on the weeks you don’t get paid?

Why is it that the pot won’t boil when you are standing over it?

Why is it that it always rains on the days when you’re in desperate need of some sunshine?

Why is it that the one day you lose control of yourself and yell at your kids, the windows are wide open?

Why it it that the one day you keep the kids up from nap so they will go down early, your husband calls and says he’ll be a little late?

Why is it that you only go into labor when your house is in complete chaos?

Why is it that when you take extra time to plan a fun project for your kids, they want to do something else?

Why is it that the teachers assign the most homework on the weekends?

Why is it that the tests you study for–you flunk and the tests you don’t study for–you pass?

Why is it that the one day you decide to be carefree and go without shoes at the park, you step on a bee?

Why is it that as soon as you put your socks on for the day, you step in a puddle?

Why is it that when you’re really hungry, you can’t find anything that sounds good to eat?

Why is it that the after the carpet cleaners come, your kid barfs all over the floor?

Why is it that that someone always spills on your freshly mopped floor?

Why is it that your pants only rip when you are in public?

Everyone says life is unpredictable and that is what makes life exciting, but I disagree. There are a lot of things I can predict and most of them aren’t very exciting. Not to say that life isn’t exciting but it’s funny how many things are predictable. I have to go mop my floor right now and I just know, as soon as I do, someone will spill on it. And it makes me wonder, should I even bother? And Denver’s pee bomb–if I change it, I just know he’ll poop–so should I change it, or should I wait? I guess it’s those predictable things that make the unpredictable things even more exciting. Like the arrival of the bird’s nest in our tree and her little blue egg. Maybe I know the kids will only run into the street when Child Protective Services is driving by, but I never know when our little friend will return to her little blue egg in our little tree outside our little window. It is so thrilling. I suppose it makes me grateful for the predictable and the unpredictable in life. We have some things we can rely on–like the sun rising every morning and the kids throwing up at their best friend’s birthday party. And some things we never expect, to help us break away from the mundane and sometimes dull grind of every day life, like finding out we’re pregnant or the arrival of a baby bird in a nest. Thank heaven for the lack of excitement that results from everyday life and for the thrills we get from the unexpected moments that occasionally come our way.

You know, we really weren’t planning on having another baby for at least another couple of years. Three kids keeps me busy enough. But, with Denise expecting any day now and Suzie expecting baby number three, I sort of figured we’d better hurry up, especially if I don’t want to lose the lead. I’ve been waiting to tell you all until we were sure and today. . . we’re sure. It’s official–we’re expecting. . .expecting the hatch of a beautiful baby bird in about two weeks! Hurray! I’m sooooooo excited.

Today when we got home from preschool Hunter apologized for stepping on a robin egg last night. “What!!!!!????? Show me!” was my response. We climbed out of the car and sure enough, he took me straight to a smashed robin’s egg. My heart broke into more pieces than that little egg was in. My robin’s eggs. Hunter directed me to a second egg, smooshed into pieces. He lifted up his foot and asked if their was any smooshed on his shoe. Why? What happened? I gathered up the pieces and carried them into the house.

Devanie arrived a few minutes later with the girls and joined us for lunch. The kids ran off playing and I showed Devanie the bird’s nest and we sat on the couch watching. It’s addicting. How often do you get to watch nature so closely. . .and comfortably? Then the bird returned to her nest, which I didn’t expect. We hadn’t seen her for several days. Devanie sat watching her and then said she was doing a weird dance in her nest. We chuckled and laughed, making silly jokes about trying to take pictures and birds being in labor. Then, Sierra asked if we could go outside and swing. Sure!

So, we gathered up the kids and went outside to swing and blow bubbles and eat chocolate oreos. I ran inside to get more bubbles and decided to check on our little friend. And what to my wondering eyes should appear? A beautiful little blue egg, right there in the nest! I ran outside, my heart racing with excitement and shouted the news to Devanie, who I just had to hug. We’re both so excited.

Anyway. . . I’ll keep you posted. I don’t know where the other broken eggs came from. Now I’m worried about squirrels and other little creatures that like to eat eggs. I’m not exactly sure how to protect a robin’s nest and their eggs. But, I know how to pray and I pray Heavenly Father will keep our little friend and her little blue baby egg safe, for a month or two would be nice.

Friday we were invited to eat lunch with Mark down in Stamford. We accepted the invitation with great excitement and enjoyed Sbarro and Mrs. Fields cookies for lunch. On our way home we stopped by Stepping Stones Children’s Museum, once again, for a little fun. We have a memsbership, so it’s always free. Thursday we discovered a nest in our bush, just outside of our side window. So Friday we spent a large amount of time watching the robin sitting in the nest and wondering if she’ll lay eggs. I hope so. It’s almost like being pregnant again, but without having to do any of the work. The excitement and anticipation is all there, but the vomiting and aches and pain aren’t. Wonderful!

Saturday, we lazed around for the morning. Worked a lot in the yard and garage. The weather was beautiful and the boys enjoyed several hours out in the sun. We invited everyone over for dinner. Mark made homemade pizza dough and Chris and I made up some pepperoni, ham and pineapple and cheese pizzas for everyone. Chris discovered some delicious pizza while she was in Denver and was craving pepperoni pizza on a wheat crust with honey drizzled over the top. So, we all tried honey on our pepperoni pizza and I must admit, it was delicious! The kids all played really well together and everyone had a good time.

Sundays we don’t have church until 1:30pm. So, we had another lazy morning and enjoyed a walk before we had to get ready for church. Hunter gave a talk in Primary and did an awesome job. He spoke on Penelope Stout and almost told the whole story by himself. After church, we hurried home and grilled some steaks and threw together some salads for dinner. I invited one of our neighbors to eat with us. She lives all alone, never married, has no children and on Thursday burst into tears over all of her health problems. I feel so sad for her and couldn’t resist inviting her for dinner. I also keep hoping maybe she’ll become interested in the church. She stayed until 9:00pm just chatting with me and Mark. She’s totally into geneology–see, I knew it. Now I’ve gotta get her to our geneology library or the Manhattan temple open house. Anyway, I’m glad we had her and hope she won’t be so sad and lonely.

Today is grey and gloomy. Not feeling very inspired in the mothering department. Hung some curtains in the boys’ room (finally) so our neighbors don’t have to see us naked anymore. I’m also working on a little science experiment that requires 4 hours of boiling. If it works, you’ll all be getting some for Christmas. Cross your fingers! Now I’ve gotta go fold some laundry, do some dishes and hit Wal-mart for some diapers and envelopes–anyone want to come with?

You know why they call it the “great outdoors?” Because it is so great. Sunshine, fresh air, blossoms, birds singing, raindrops and puddles, dandelions, dirt and sandboxes, swings and slides, the ocean, the mountains, sledding, snowmen, snowball fights, fall foliage, picking apples and strawberries and pumpkins, swinging in the hammock, camping, roasting marshmallows, riding bicycles. . .you name it, if you can do it outside, it always makes you feel better. And that’s what makes the outdoors so great. Today started off sort of bad. I didn’t feel much like playing with the kids or doing anything “super momish.” I was pretty much ignoring them all. Of course, when I do that, it just makes me feel worse–you know, for neglecting them. Anyway, during lunch Noah decided to check the weather and stuck his head outside the back door. He came back with a “Oh yup. . . we can go for a walk!” That convinced Hunter to check the weather and he returned with the same excitement. Denver didn’t need to check the weather. He just climbed out of his high chair and went and put on Noah’s shoes (cause he can put them on himself) and headed for the door. I didn’t want to go outside because it was naptime and when my boys go outside it turns into a big, messy, looooonnnnggggg excursion. But, I had six beautiful little eyes, full of excitement, gazing up at me and I couldn’t resist.

Well, to make a long story short, it worked. I feel better. It was a big and messy and looonnnggg excursion but it was also wonderful. I’m so glad they checked the weather. We blew bubbles and squirted everything in sight with spray bottles. We swung on the swingset and the hammock. We dug in the sandbox and watched the bugs. We played baseball and chased each other a lot. We ate popsicles and snugged in the hammock and watched the clouds roll by. Denver snuggled up to me in the hammock and we sang “I am a Child of God” until he fell asleep. It was heaven–snuggled up in that hammock with that little tiny boy, rocking back and forth, the breeze blowing over our faces. I even got around to cleaning out the garage which takes me one step closer to that garage sale I’m hoping to have in a few weeks.

We’ve spent so much time outside in the past few weeks. It has been so wonderful. I hope it stays for a little while. Life is so much sweeter with a little fresh air and sunshine and of course, with three little boys to enjoy it with.

Sunday afternoon we had a delicious dinner consisting of BBQ Beef (done in the crock pot) and toss salad and a berry-licious salad. I made it by tossing together a carton each of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries (cut up, of course.) It was so beautiful. Then, I sweetened it with Splenda– my new favorite sweetener for fruit (instead of sugar.) I served it with cool whip and Hunter went crazy over it. He liked it so much he asked for it again last night. It’s easy enough to make, so I granted his wish and made it again. We had some left over so this morning Hunter made a fruit and yogurt parfait, alternating yogurt and the leftover fruit. It was even better than the salad itself. Anyway, if you are looking for a yummy salad or a quick, healthy breakfast, or a great snack–try it out sometime. I guarantee you’ll love it.

We spent a good part of the afternoon today at the park. We have to eat up every minute of this sunshine we’re getting. Who knows how long it will last. While we were there Hunter met a bunch of boys his age and was in heaven, running around with them playing soccer and freeze tag and throwing rocks in the water. One of the boys will be in Kindergarten with him this fall. That will be fun for Hunter–to know somebody already. I met one of the boys’ mothers, whose daughter was just diagnosed with diabetes a year ago. We chatted for a long time and will hopefully get together again soon. She knows about some fun camps and groups for diabetics and wants her daughter to meet Hunter, because she’s going on a pump sometime soon. She also knows of a tee-ball group for Hunter’s age and he is totally into baseball right now. So. . .it was a great outing for all of us.

Tonight is girls’ night out and I’m looking forward to getting away and scrapbooking for a little while. For now, Hunter’s asleep and I’m not sure if it’s low blood sugar or exhaustion and Denver’s awake and waiting to be rescued from the crib. So. . . I need to run. Adios!

I love my boys. I love their innocence and their curiosity ,and their playfulness. . .I love everything about them. Today, we were at the park (in our lovely 75 degree weather) and the boys were digging around in the dirt while Hunter and I sat on the bleachers and watched the seven year olds practice baseball. Then, Denver decided to come sit beside me. So, he climbed up on the bleacher and made himself comfortable. He dumped his handful of dirt and rocks between his legs and started sorting the dirt from the rocks. It was like he wanted to sit close to me, but couldn’t stop playing in the dirt so he had to bring some with him. It was so cute.

After dinner tonight, I took his plate away so he wouldn’t dump it on the floor. Hunter, who was also finished, started digging through the fruit salad for more raspberries. I noticed that Denver hadn’t touched his fruit salad so I told Hunter to eat the raspberries on Denver’s plate. As soon as Hunter started eating Denver’s berries, Denver screamed and smacked Hunter upside the head. Now, I felt sorry for Hunter but couldn’t help laughing at Denver’s reaction. It was a “what the heck are you doing to my berries, you pervert” kind of attack. It’s just so funny because Denver’s only one and a half, he’s not supposed to react so strongly.

On Sunday, Mike Peluso said Hunter is a future prophet. Mike Peluso was doing sharing time for the Jr. Primary and asked the kids what a “superhero” is. Someone said “superman” and then Hunter said, “Jesus.” Later, Mike asked what tithing is and Hunter immediately raised his hand and started the “oh, oh, pick me” stuff. So, Mike asked Hunter and he said, “It’s giving money to the Bishop and building temples.” I keep telling him that Heavenly Father gave him a weak body because He knew he had such a strong spirit, it wouldn’t slow him down a bit. He really does have a strong spirit. We try to do prayer and scriptures and FHE on a regular basis, but we’re normal and we struggle with it on a regular basis. But despite our shortcomings, somehow, Hunter still knows all the answers and has such a strong desire to know more about the gospel. He was BEGGING me tonight to read in the scriptures where Nephi builds a boat. When I told him we were gonna watch a movie and Mark suggested a Book of Mormon video, Hunter immediately started requesting the “Tree of Life” video and jumping up and down in excitement. He’s amazing.

Saturday we were at a birthday party and they had just put the candles on the cake. From where Hunter was sitting, it looked like there were only 3 candles. As soon as Hunter noticed the candles, he shouted across the table, “Hey! There are only 3 candles in the cake. Camrynn’s not 3. She’s 4 !” There was no way he was going to let Camrynn get shortchanged–no way.

Noah is a rascall, through and through. Last night we were also at the park and Noah became Veruca Salts, from Willy Wonka. Over and over again he would slip down the slide (which was the garbage chute, for the bad eggs), laughing hysterically as I shouted, “Veruca, sweetheart, Daddy’s coming” and slid down behind him. He loves to pretend he’s Veruca. And tonight, he was Superman, the great bee-whipper! Noah has a vengence for bees and tonight, with his bike helmet and a stick, was whipping any bug or bee that flew near any of us. The funny thing about Noah is the way, when he’s bursting at the seams with happiness, that he tries to hide it. And he fights that smile with all his might. I love it!

Like I said, I love everything about them. Just thought you’d like to know!

Yesterday we didn’t do anything too exciting. The kids all woke up pretty grumpy and I thought for sure we were doomed. But, there’s nothing a bowl of oatmeal can’t fix and by the time we left for playgroup, they were acting much more normal. We spent about an hour and a half at playgroup and then, after lunch we stopped by Wal-mart. I decided I wanted to get the kids some goldfish and Hunter and Noah were very excited. Noah wanted to know all about the fish and pooping and spent a good part of yesterday watching them and waiting for them to poop. Hunter was mostly excited about setting up the tank and really wanted something in there for the fish to hide in. He settled on a “no sharks” sign, with the promise that if he took good care of the fish, we would get a bigger tank and something for the fish to hide in later.

We hurried home, so as not to suffocate the fish (which only had “an hour of air” in their bag) and promptly set up their fish bowl. They seem happy and so far, neither have died. We named them Star and Stripe. One of them has a stripe across it’s nose and Hunter insisted we call him Stripe. So, I asked what goes with Stripe and we settled on Star. Noah thinks both are pregnant and is waiting for the babies to come out right away. Noah is going to be disappointed. I spent the rest of the afternoon sorting Fall clothes and Spring clothes and trying to determine what sizes the boys will wear this summer and what they’ve outgrown and what outfits had too many stains and should be thrown away. We have four huge rubbermaid boxes of boys’ clothing and it was a very big job to sort them all. We’re hoping to have a garage sale in the next few weeks and I wanted to make sure we weren’t keeping any clothes we don’t use. The boys, for the most part, were content to play with each other and stayed out of my way, mostly. They saw their short pj’s and all three insisted they wear them to bed, despite the fact that it was only going to be 30 degrees overnight. For dinner, they had a sad version of Dad’s banana yogurt concoction (that he introduced to us in France) with peanut butter toast and hot chocolate and pizza and cereal. Go Mom! Way to feed the kids nutritious, well balanced meals. Go carbs! They all went to bed pretty easily and I spent the rest of the evening, folding laundry and making green and pink money for Hunter and Noah, who have been extremely patient waiting for me to make it. Today I’m paying bills and cleaning bathrooms and doing laundry–those are my chores. And for fun, we’re going to the Children’s Museum and to Friendly’s for dinner, to celebrate that Daddy is coming home tonight and we survived! Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!

We had an uneventful day which I’m very grateful for. We started the day out early. . .well, early for us. The kids usually sleep till 7:30-8:00 am. Today, they were wide awake at 6:00am. Of course it was a rough night, taking care of the kids solo and all I wanted to do was sleep in. But, Hunter’s appointment was at 8:45am and that means no dragging my feet. So, I hopped in the shower and we were out the door by 8:10am. I dropped the two little boys off at Devanie’s house and then Hunter and I ran like mad up to Yale. My report card is the same. His A1C was 7.8–.1 less than last time. So what does that mean? Basically, I got a “C.” Yale wants his A1C at about 6.0 which is normal for someone who doesn’t even have diabetes. But, when he was diagnosed his A1C was around a 14 I think. So, you know, 7.8 isn’t so bad but it’s not great either.

Afterwards, Hunter and I picked up some rain boots and umbrellas at the Christmas Tree Shops for real cheap and some donuts at Krispy Kreme. We returned to Devanie’s where the kids inhaled almost a dozen donuts in less than 10 minutes and played for another hour or so. We left around noon because all of the kids were having melt down and both Devanie and I were exhausted from early mornings (Devanie was up at 3:45am.) The two little boys had naps while I did dishes, folded some laundry and watched “Princess Bride” with Hunter while we colored a matching game his Diabetes nurse, Katie, gave him for Easter.

When the boys woke up the kids pulled on their new boots and raincoats and umbrellas and we went puddle jumping. We got almost 4 inches of rain in Fairfield yesterday, so as you can imagine, there were a lot of puddles. They played in the sump pump for awhile and then hit the back corner of our yard, which is still pretty flooded. It reminded me of the end of the Raggedy Ann and Andy movie when the little boy/girl goes out in the rain and finds all of his toys in the puddles. It was pretty fun and if I were a kid, I would have been in puddle heaven. Hunter really wanted it to rain so he could use his new umbrella. So, he sat down by a tree and said, “I’m just gonna sit here till it rains,” kind of like he was on strike or something. He eventually gave up and we wandered out to find a storm drain. The kids found a bunch of wiggly worms to toss down into the water until I told them to knock it off because the poor worms couldn’t swim and I didn’t like watching them get drowned. We discovered a river I never knew was so close to our home and climbed down to the riverbank where we found a bazillion rocks for the boys to toss into the water. With their rubber boots on, the boys could march right out into the middle of the river and throw all the rocks they wanted. By the end of our puddle jumping adventure, the boys were drenched from head to foot which made me wonder why I even bought those boots, since they didn’t keep their feet dry at all. But then I remembered, it kept their tennis shoes dry at home and was glad for the investment. A very fun adventure. (See imagestation for lots of pics!)

I made Chicken Torellini soup for dinner (a staple at our home) and the boys had snowman soup to go with it. Weird combo, I know but, I bet it warmed them up on the inside. Now they’re all in bed and I’m totally pooped. Playgroup tomorrow and probably a trip to Walmart, since we’ll be so close. Maybe Melanie will come play too. Two days down, two to go. Goodnight!

I knew it was a bad sign when I walked into the house after dropping him off and the light bulb in the kitchen exploded. He hadn’t even been gone 10 minutes and I was already changing lightbulbs. That is a bad sign. I fed the kids breakfast and then put them all in the bath. I sat down to “go potty” and Denver stood up for me to get him out of the bath and he slipped. But, he didn’t fall back onto his bottom, he crashed really hard on his face. From the look of it, I thought for sure he had broken his nose. I grabbed him out of the tub (as best I could in the middle of a potty break) and assessed the damage. No broken nose. A little bloody lip. Oh. . .oops. . .and a big chip out of his front tooth. So I called the dentist and they said to come in right then. Only problem was, I still had two kids in the bath and the third was only in a towel. So, I dressed them all and we ran to the dentist. Turns out he didn’t expose the root and the tooth wasn’t loose. Two good things. She said she wanted to seal the tooth, to prevent infection in the root, and after 5 minutes of trying to find someone close by to watch the other two kids, we just did it. I held Denver very tight for about 10 minutes, they gave him some novicane (sp?), the dentist worked very quickly and he’s all better. Shroo!

The rest of the day has been pretty uneventful. We had our first thunder and lightening storm of the season and some pretty serious downpours. A little water in the basement but I’m hoping the sump pump will hold up and our house won’t float away tonight. It’s sort of strange driving around the neighborhood–everything is flooded. The little river that floats along by our house is flooding over everyone’s yards and some of the streets. A third of our backyard is flooded–so much for Mark’s fertilizer he applied Saturday. Even Hunter’s concerned about the rain and in his prayer tonight he prayed that Heavenly Father would “slow down the rain.”

Chris came over tonight for our “girls night in” and we had pizza and DQ and watched “Something’s Gotta Give.” She’s gone home now and the house is too quiet. I miss Mark. I hate being alone. Every little noise gets my heart racing. I’d better just go to bed–then I won’t hear them. Tomorrow we have to be up early. Hunter has diabetes clinic. That means another report card for me–not my favorite thing to do. But, it has to be done and for Hunter I’ll do it. Until tomorrow. . . .goodnight.