Jacob's birthday and Graduation Day

Jacob turned eight today. Eight. Eight years. Ocho anos. Where has the time gone? I think its gone pretty fast now that he's in school. I see him stretching out, getting leaner, looking more like his dad every day. Happy Birthday baby. I pray for many things for you. I wish you happiness, such deep happiness that you feel deep in your heart, in your being. I want you to pursue your dreams, but realize that they will not be handed to you and you have to work for them. I want you to pause and enjoy being a kid. You are never to old to play in the sandbox or play with Legos. But most of all. I hope that at every chance you get, you fill your cup with Jesus. "With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

Now on to the trio. They got a diploma and graduated from preschool today. I even checked the authenticity of the papers. They are real. They are going to Kindergarten. God bless Mrs. M with patience, understanding and a good sense of humor because my babies are ready.

They all got their picture taken with their teacher, Mrs. P. All of them gave her hugs. Even though they are looking forward to Kindergarten, I know they will miss her. She was a very gentle and nurturing teacher. Kind of not like me. :)
Then they got their pictures taken with their chapel buddies. These are older kids, usually 7th and 8th graders who sit with the kids during chapel and show them how to act and behave. My kids love their chapel buddies. I hope the friendship continues for years.

In random thought, I realized that what parents do for a living really affects their children.

Do doctors kids have doctor's kits? Do teacher's kids play teacher? Do musician's kids have miniature instruments? Do stripper's kids have play poles? (I had to add that one) Do police officers kids have fake badges and guns?

For instance, with my husband being a police detective, they get to see their share of police cars, badges, policeman, guns, etc... They understand words such as "search warrant", "burglary", "lie-detector", "suspect". I am surprised that there is not more cops and robbers played here. They are more into power rangers and that kind of stuff. We don't have play guns in the house. I don't think thats even a possibility down the road. I realize that they can pretend anything is a gun, but I think its all too real.

Crucial Spongebob life lessons

Its been so long since I last posted that I even forgot my log-in. Wow. Either I'm getting old or I'm really busy. I'll vote for the latter.

Lets see, Jacob finished school last Friday. It was bittersweet as I was happy to not have to get up to bring him to school. His report card came today and he did pass Kindergarten and will be in 1st grade next year. Its shocking to me that I have a 1st grader. Where did all this time go?

A lot of weird things have been happening lately. The kind of weird that you think there are hidden cameras around and Ashton Kutcher will be popping out from behind a tree weird.

A couple of weeks ago I went out for a walk at 10 p.m. A neighbor a couple of houses down was out cutting her lawn. In the dark. At night. When people are sleeping. In the pitch dark. So I shook my head as I was out for my walk thinking how I'd be ticked if I was the next-door neighbor trying to sleep. Last week as I was out with my daycare passel she screeches to a halt in front of my house and she tells me shes beeing stalked. She goes on about how her 25 year marriage went to hell when her husband met someone else out-of-town and then she finally got back in the dating game on Craigslist. This nice fellow she met on Craigslist was abusive and she said she got a restraining order on the guy, but then she said something about him getting a restraining order against her. Babble, babble, babble, head nod, head nod...

And when I could get a word or two in I told her to call the police and have extra patrol in the area. Apparently since she knew Scott was a copper she must have wanted him to sleep on her couch. She should have looked for someone on Craigslist to help her with her stalker.

Craigslist. Com'on!

Speaking of cops. On Scott's birthday we (my dad, Scott's mom, Scott and I) head up to the casino and we're on HWY 29 cruising along in the good ol' mini van. When suddenly lights appear behind us and Scott is being pulled over. Now, he was talking with my father, but he had set the cruise around 72ish and the speed limit was 65. The state trooper came up to the window and yadda, yadda, yadda, said he was giving him a warning. Now, he didn't know Scott was a cop because it wouldn't have come back if he checked the license plate and Scott didn't tell him. The only thing that saved him from a court date in Shawno County was the "Got Triplets" sticker on the back of the van. I could tell he was peering in the back just dying for a look at the freak show. But it was just me and my MIL.

And FYI, this is the second time Scott has been pulled over on his birthday and I've been with him in the car. I have not been pulled over in about 8-9 years (knock on wood). But I did have a pretty good streak going there for a bit.

Lately my kids have been obsessed with Spongebob. I had TIVO'd the SpongeBob movie and actually never really watched the whole thing because I do other things while their eyes are glued to the TV. Why is a TV called a BoobTube? I don't get it? Why do people have bumper stickers that say WALL DRUG? Another mystery. I digress...

So John has been saying, "Stupid Kid!" Its very clear and I'm impressed with his enunciation, but I have been upset at him saying "Stupid" because we don't say stupid in this house. Its not nice and its not kind. So I'll tell him what I just told you and he still says it. Go figure. So as I'm watching the end of SpongeBob, Plankton calls SpongeBob - yep, you guessed it! "Stupid Kid!" A couple of different times. Great.
Then Jacob also says or yells, "I'm SO the boss of you!" To the triplets a lot. Then I saw the episode when SpongeBob wants to bathe Gary, his pet Snail, and I heard that line several times too.

This is why people don't let their kids watch SpongeBob. These same people don't even buy the SpongeBob fruit snacks when they shop.

And maybe tomorrow or the next day I'll tell you about Johns antics and how he's going to get himself put in toddler jail.

Wow! Its been a long time!

Where have you been? Its been a while. Sit down and enjoy these pictures from the last couple of weeks. My baby boy is now six years old. And in some of the pictures you can actually see the new tooth coming in!
Our excursion to the New Zoo in Suamico last sunday. One of the rare times that all the animals are facing the same way and looking at the camera.

What a whopper! I'm not sure when this was taken. Jacob has been fishing a few times with daddy. Hopefully they will get to go this weekend too.

Birthday pictures part deux

I really enjoyed the babies birthday. I love to celebrate birthday and get them all hyped up for it. I want them to have great memories of their birthdays and fun things we do. I'm the type of person, if you ask me how old I am, I'll say 33 1/2. If my husband let me, we would be celebrating 1/2 birthdays for the kids (and me).

It seems just like yesterday that my kids were in the NICU. They were there over Easter. It was very emotional for me because I wanted my family together for these special holidays and yet, Jacob had not even met his siblings yet. He was not allowed into the NICU due to the RSV season.

Matthew, love the lip curl. Such an angel waiting patiently for his birthday song to be over with.

John, on the other hand, had already sampled his cupcake.

Happy Easter everyone. My favorite thing to say on easter, "He is risen, He is risen indeed!"

More Birthday pictures of Brooke

Brooke was absolutely precious during the Happy Birthday song and all-too-eager to blow out her candles. (I'll post the other boys tomorrow)

Birthday hangover

I think I've almost recovered from the birthday party this weekend. Its so much work getting the house clean and making food, yet it was so worth it. The kids, especially Jacob, were excited for the party. I need to make a mental note to have the party for lunch next year instead of dinner/supper time because the day gets pretty long when Jacob asks for the 4oth time "how many hours until the party?" And trying to keep the house clean all day with four kids in it - well, its not happening unless you hogtie them.

I bought a preschool table to go in our dining room for the kids to play on. This table did not hold all the presents. I think they should be occupied for at least a few weeks. The theme was Sponge Bob Square pants. Its a nice neutral theme. Although its kind of creepy falling asleep on the couch and then looking up to see Sponge Bob's face over your head.

Brooke has been an absolute monster. I think its due to them not being in their cribs anymore. They can get in and out of their beds and they are staying up later fooling around and even nap time is really challenging. There is lots of running around and giggling. So I may have to change the wording to "quiet time" because I need a break. I need a break from my children. I need quiet, I need to be alone and not be elbowed, jumped on and licked.

Matthew and John still need to be separated during the day because they tend to play and someone likes to rip down wallpaper in their room. Seriously, I will string John up by his feet and leave him like that if he rips more down. I'd like to wipe that mischievous smirk off his face.

It doesn't sound like I'm really liking my job right now. Well, these times are very frustrating keeping the consistency really is wearing. But on a happier note, when I take all three to the store, it has been much easier. I still can't do more than one store without meltdowns, but how many grown men can you take shopping in multiples stores?

I seriously was really close to grabbing a drink today. And smoking. And it didn't help that we got to the YMCA late today. I took all four down to the dressing room and then sent Jacob out to the pool while I got the triplets to the drop-in day care. Went back downstairs and he wasn't in the pool with the rest of his class.

First thought is that there is only one way out of the YMCA and the people working by the door know Jacob. So I knew he was still in the building somewhere. So I went back into the family locker room and most of the private rooms were being used. So I started calling his name. When I realized that the only other place he was familiar with was Adventure Alley I started heading there only to hear me being paged over the loudspeaker. He was in adventure alley with three directors looking after him. He did really well, he told the lady working he was looking for me, he knew my name and when the director of swimming said she'd take him to swimming lessons, he said that he would stay right there until I got there.

This is going to turn me more grey than I already am. On Saturday, we had the FVMOM spring rummage sale and there are tons of people around. He was going between my booth and my sister Joan's booth. I went over to talk to him and he wasn't there. He wasn't by my sister Julie and he wasn't by another lady Angela that I know he knows. So I thought he went to the bathroom by himself. He's becoming more independent which has its upside and its downside to certain situations like this. He insisted on going into the boys bathroom earlier that day so I knew he would have gone in there. I heard voices when I cracked the door, but I didn't want to go in and scare some poor boys. Another lady I know said she hadn't seen Jacob out there so I sent another boy in to see who was in the bathroom. It wasn't him. So a thousand things are going through my head. There are strangers around, its busy, the doors are open to the outside. So as tears start to cloud my eyes and I feel my heart beating in my throat, he walks in from being outside. His cheeks were flushed from the cold. He had been outside by the truck blowing bubbles. And the truck was parked aways from the door. I hugged him and told him that he cannot leave the building without telling me. Sigh. He just does not realize the dangers around him.

People keep asking me now that the triplets are 3 if things are easier. Is 3 some magic age where they start to do everything by themselves and listen? Three is worse than two. They start to be able to reason with you and they are really stubborn without any substance behind their reasoning. They have quick tempers and short attention spans.

Now sure, I don't have to feed them every three hours and I'm not up all night with them. But when I put them down when they were infants, they stayed where I put them. I could also place them in swings or bouncy seats and go do something. But then again, I had more help when they were infants. So I guess its a toss up. I think I'll feel like things are easier after they are potty-trained.

And speaking of that, Brooke has regressed to wanting to wear diapers. However, she still only has one or two wet diapers a day and holds it very well. She just is learning "the feeling" of when she has to go and has not figured out how to relax and let it all out.

Yes, that was TMI. But its potty-training and its my life. Believe me, I can't wait to go a day without touching poop.

Happy Birthday!

They are 3, its the 3rd. So that makes it their Golden Birthday. (Sigh) (Double Sigh)

I love birthdays. I get them all hyped up by talking about it the month before. We've practiced the singing and blowing out of candles. I love to plan a fun day on their birthday. So they know every year they have something special to look forward too.

But I'm sad. Its a happy sad. Reliving this day three years ago, going through the discomfort of contractions all night and then delivering them via C-section at 5:01, 5:02 and 5:03. Matthew was first, 4 lbs 6 oz and 18 inches, Brooke was 4 lbs 7 oz and 17 inches and little Johnny was 4 lbs 3 oz and 17 1/4 inches. It was such a surreal time, being in the delivery room, having them being delivered so quickly, the bright lights, all the people in the room. The babies were taken away to the NICU probably 5-10 minutes after their birth. I don't really remember the details of the post-surgical stuff or even the trip back to my room. But I remember sitting there with Scott, waiting to hear from the doctor about the health of the babies. Dr Meyers came in around 8 a.m. and told us they were doing as well as they could be. I remember calling Pastor Ash and he came up and he and Scott went to get the kids baptized at 10:00 a.m. That was the first time that Scott saw the kids after delivery and I do not remember if I got to see the kids that afternoon or that night. I was pretty doped up with morphine. I remember my mom and dad and Scott's parents bringing Jacob right around lunch to go see the kids. My sisters and brother and spouses came up that night to see the kids.

Its such a different experience than what I had with Jacob. I had gotten to hold Jacob right after birth and he stayed in my room the whole time. I got to see him and nurse him right away.

Crossing the line -the state line

Its been so long since I logged on to this account, I almost forgot my logon. Or it could be that being sick for the last four days has taken its toll.

On Sunday, my friend Shell Dinter, Jacob, Matthew, Brooke and John headed out to Minnesota to see some friends. On the way over, I had some rumblings in my tummy and thought "oh, oh." No way could I get sick! Jacob had gotten over his bug four days before this. Well, after five or six stops (just for me) we arrived at our friends, Bob & Cindy's house. Shell and I used to work with Bob and Cindy for a long, long time. I think I met Cindy in 1995 and from what I remember, our first trade ever was TSA - The Sports Authority. She and Bob got married a few months before Scott and I in 1999 and we even had our children at the same time. Jacob and Luke are a month apart and Erika and the triplets are three weeks apart.

Its nice that we've kept touch even though I'm not working anymore. So, I regress...

We arrive at their house on Sunday afternoon and the kids played so nicely together, the four of us catch up, we have a little birthday party for the kiddos and have a few glasses of wine.
The next morning, Matthew comes up to me and his pants are soaked through. I change him and its diarrheaish. Oh no. So I end up taking him in the shower with me to clean him up. He acts fine and frankly, we had plans to go to the Mall of America and just about nothing was stopping me.
We head to The Mall of America and Shell and I go to Legoland with the kids. She rents a couple of double strollers for the kids so we can get around easier. We spend a gazillion dollars at legoland. Jacob picked out a Coast Guard set that he wanted, I got the little boys a SpongeBob lego set for their birthdays which everyone can share, and a ton on Lego plates so we can build a table for the kids to build their stuff on.

Then we perused Hanna Anderssen, Gymboree, Disney Store and Shell probably got 1.5 seconds in a store of her choice. The kids got sick of sitting in strollers and were tired from not taking naps.

We met up with Bob and Cindy and the kids and ate at Ruby Tuesdays. Well, before that Bob took Luke and Jacob on rides while the girls did a little more shopping. Matthew just cried and fell asleep on Shell.

On the way home, I said I'd drive and follow the trusty Garmin that I borrowed from the in-laws. Cindy also had written out some instructions on how to get from their house to the mall. So really, we just had to reverse the directions and follow the Garmin and we should be able to get home.

(Just to caution the readers, I may not still have my road names right in this story and it may contain graphic language and descriptions that may be unsuitable for small children or delicate palates.)

I got onto 494 and then as I knew, I KNEW, that I should stay on this road until 35E North. But I was looking at the Garmin and I thought it showed me on the screen to take a right. Shell's yelling, "No! No! don't get off the highway!" This was my first of many mistakes with the Garmin.

So, we are in a big city with four precious children and I put my faith in the Garmin to get me back on track. So after a 1/2 hour of trying to get back to 494 or maybe it was 694, we finally got back to where we needed to be. During this time, Matthew had messed his pants, and it wasn't the ordinary messy diaper. It was the diarrhea diaper. Once you smell that kind of diaper, it will be engrained in your brain for the rest of your life. So we have our windows open a smidge and its pouring rain. Just as I'm merging onto one freeway to another, Michelle says, or screams, "Matthews throwing up!" And she dove into the backseat and tried to catch the vomit to lessen the mess. Shes a superhero.

As you know, you can't just pull over on a freeway, so I just open my window a little bit more and she cleans him up with whatever wipes we have and cleans up her hands. I don't think she realized it but she just held her hands up from her lap for quite awhile. Then we just started laughing hysterically. I mean, it really couldn't get much worse.

The Garmin gets us back to the house an hour after we left from the mall, while it only should have taken about 30 minutes.

I am going to write a strongly worded letter to the Garmin people. The thing would tell us to get off the freeway to drive on city streets and then have us get right back on that same highway. I'm not sure it tells us the shortest miles or what the logic is. The other problem is that if there is construction and the on ramps are closed, it doesn't recognize detours. So it will keep rerouting you to that same ramp that is closed. That's great in a big city you don't know.

On a positive note, it does tell you where the nearest McDonalds is.

So we enter the house, Shell puts the kids to bed, I give Matthew a bath, strip down the carseats and wash a bunch of stuff. O.K. how crappy is it to bring a sick child into another house?

So I get more sick overnight and we pack up to leave to drive home. Shell drives the whole way home. We stop to see her parents in Stanley, Wisconsin and had a really nice lunch. Jacob met the oldest person he know knows, Shell's Grandma. She's 93. The oldest person before that was Grandma Callaway's dad, Grandpa Ken. John wanted to be picked up by Shell's dad Dave and he wanted him to carry him around everywhere. John is such a stinker.

We arrive home and I get even more sick. Today I just laid on the couch and slept. With children running around. Go ahead, call social services. I need a break.

Things I learned on this trip.

Shell will probably never take a road trip with us again.
Shell didn't deserve to be puked on and I owe her a bazillion favors.
Bob and Cindy probably won't ask us to come back for a really really long time.
Jacob has now found someone else that he wants to marry, his new friend Erika.
Carry your own tissue because the toilet paper in gas stations or restaurants is really rough.

Outback saga

I got a phone call from Outback Steakhouse. The manager called about my complaint that I e-mailed to headquarters.

In the end, I'm getting a "tuck-a-way" gift card to buy some hamburgers. Not sure how much it will be for but at least they responded.

Also, today Luann came over and brought me a couple of lottery tickets for my birthday. I scratched them and swore, SWORE!, I won twenty-five dollars. So, I took it to the store my niece works at and she scanned it and she said it wasn't a winner. My jaw dropped and I probably drooled a little. Huh. The lottery ticket said to scratch the four corners and if there were three alike amounts you'd win the prize. So I scratch the MAIN part of the lottery ticket and three out of four corners were the same. Well, I didn't realize that it meant, the very corners were there were $$$ signs. And even the codes in the main area were a T F V or something like that which made me think it stood for twenty-five.

That's just another moment in the life of Jean.

Also, its my birthday today! Thank you for all the nice cards, messages and phone calls. Makes me feel special. How did I celebrate my birthday? I had carpal tunnel therapy, I had blueberry pancakes, a girl scout mint cookie blizzard (small), tomato basil bisque soup and tonight I'm having stromboli with the kids. It may not be the best for my WW diet. But I turned 29 only five times in my life so far!

cheese fries

You want to know what one of my pet peeves is?

When someone just uses you for the position you are in or who you are. And then never gives you the time of day other when they really need something.

Scott was outside today and a neighbor came over. A neighbor in the 22 months we have lived here that has never made an effort to talk to us. We hardly get a wave out of him. He told Scott about an angry driver who has twice bothered him and his daughter as they ride their bikes. "What can he do about it? Who should he talk to? Can Scott do something about it?" Well, he had no pertinent info on the car, license plate or where this guy lives, so Scott can't really do anything about it. Scott told him if it happens again to get the license plate and he could call the guy.

Its the police's job to stop this angry driver from almost hitting cyclists and saying crude things out his window, but if you don't have any information about the guy... well, this isn't Medium.

It just bothers me that sometimes people won't give others the time of day until they need something. I try to take that into consideration with my friends and family and not just call when I need a babysitter, but that's usually my main need now. :)

On a happier note, Scott, Scott's parents, Jacob and I went to Outback steakhouse for my birthday dinner tonight. It stunk. First of all our waitress informed us that they were out of hamburgers. How, how!, can you be out of hamburgers! You're Outback Steakhouse! Then as Kathy was ordering her soup, the waitress said that they were out of the cream of potato. I think I or someone else asked how they could be out of the regular soup and she said it had to do with the floods around here and the prices of potato. Spin me another yarn girlie.
Needless to say, I will be sending Outback Steakhouse a letter about my unenjoyable experience.

The Hangover

After the big day, I'd say we all had a sugar hangover. The babies were super whiny today when I was around. But when I was gone, they were fine. Its nice to know I'm needed. But I wish they'd learn to verbalize their feelings more.

Matthew is learning his numbers. Well, they all are, but he counts the most. He's so darn cute when he does it too. He looks at his fingers and counts twoooo, foooor, fieee, ninnnneee. Luann and Mark have been teaching them to count. He or John will count their cars too. Its just another sign that they are growing up. The really funny thing is that at that age Jacob was much more interested in counting than the alphabet. Looks like Matthew will be the same way.

I'll be calling the doctor tomorrow to get in for Jacob's thumb. When I looked at it tonight, it may be infected where the nail came off. Its so hard for him to keep it out of water and probably keep it clean. Its wrapped up good, but I could tell it had gotten wet and was all wrinkly and gross. I'm not going to even tell him until we get to the dr's office. He will freak out. He does not want to look at his thumb, much less have it touched.

Sam was helping Matthew find Easter eggs.

Two of the sweetest children on earth. Matthew and my niece Katie.

Look at our vacuum cleaner. It looks like we never empty it, but it gets empty almost every time I use it. Notice I say, "I" not we. Lots of dust and cat hair. And cheerios. And raisins. And cracker crumbs.

The BIG day!

We sang Happy Birthday to each child (separately).


So far, after two weeks of trying, this is the best group picture I have.


Happy Birthday Matthew, Brooke and John! They turned 2 just four short days ago, but after their naps today, I think they knew something was special about this day.





When everyone showed up we opened presents, well, Brooke opened presents. Matthew whined and sat on my lap and John was either on Grandma Plamann's lap or his cousin Michelle's lap. Jacob played with the trains HE got for a present. He wasn't interested in opening presents. So basically I and my niece Katie opened presents. That will change next year.


The babies got enough clothes, sand toys and bubbles to last them until next birthday. It was a haul.


I'll post more pictures on flickr tomorrow (I promise). But here's a few of today. These are their unofficial Two year shots. I'd like a few more options to put on the wall and Scott has some touching up to do...





Oh, and after most people left, I found Matthew in the brownie pan. He's got a certain fondness for frosting and chocolate. Hmmm, I wonder who he takes after. All three got baths after digging into their cupcakes.
We did the annual "hide the Easter eggs" outside this year since the snow was melted - mostly.

And my friend and Brooke's Godmother Shell Dinter gave the babies this book called, You're all my favorites, which fit them to a T. Its about three little bears and their parents love them equally. Its awesome! I think Kohls either had it or has it now. If you have more than one child, this is a really nice book.