22 Weeks In; IT'S FINISHED!!!

The last few details have been remedied & the house is officially finished!!!

We are now just waiting on the loan process to be completed. Everything is approved but apparently processing is going a bit slower than usual. It's looking like we'll close the first week in November, so just ONE more week...

The gap above the cabinets has been eliminated :)

Cracked window replaced

Damaged door replaced

Leaning water heater not leaning anymore :)

Sliding door reversed for better traffic flow

It's hard to see the true color of the shutters & door from the street so I included this photo because we love the color so much, it's appropriately called raisin :)

Flash Back Friday

42/52; As Close To Quiet Time As We Get

Project 52; Giggles under a blanket together while watching a movie is the closest we get to quiet time around here {G,K,C} :)

Wonderful Wednesday; Randoms

Wonderful Wednesday Series

We NEED more positive in this world. It does not have to be elaborate, though that is always welcome, and can be a simple picture or a short few sentences of something, someone, anything, that you think is wonderful. If you feel inclined to do the same, be sure to leave a link to your Wonderful Wednesday in the comment section so others may enjoy it as well!

Visits from Grandma are always WONDERFUL!

Garren may graduate from speech therapy in 2 weeks = WONDERFUL!

Autumn arts & crafts are my favorite & Fall weather is perfect for afternoons (witching hours) at the playground.

Simple pumpkin projects since art supplies are packed up

Shopping for furniture, art work & house accessories is WONDERFUL & fun :)

I'm so in love with this back splash tile!

I hope you're having a WONDERFUL Wednesday too!

41/52; Together!

I couldn't decide which photo I liked better so here are both.

Crossing the "shake shake bridge, TOGETHER!"

The weather here has been pretty nice for the past week, maybe even 2 weeks. We have been venturing back to the playground more since we are no longer being scortched with 95+ degree weather. The boys love being outside even if they are pretend cooking instead of running & climbing :)

"Cooking pizza, TOGETHER!"

I seriously can't wait until we close on our house & get moved in so the boys can spend all day outside if they want!

On this particular day at the park the boys were doing everything "together!" as they would yell as they all came down the slide all at once, or crossed what they deemed the "shake shake bridge" thank you Thomas, lol. It was very cute & I especially enjoy their extra triplet-ish days :)

21 Weeks In; New Color

There's not much to report this week except that the house has been repainted & we LOVE the new color!!! 

We have our final walk through this coming Wednesday. There are just a couple things from our first walk through left to be done so I think it will all be good by Wednesday. 

We were scheduled to close this coming week but the lender is behind so it may be next week before we close. All parties are hoping the closing happens before the end of the month so keep your fingers crossed the lender gets it together by then.

Love love LOVE the new paint color!!!

Wonderful Wednesday; A Day To Bring Awareness

Wonderful Wednesday Series

We NEED more positive in this world. It does not have to be elaborate, though that is always welcome, and can be a simple picture or a short few sentences of something, someone, anything, that you think is wonderful. If you feel inclined to do the same, be sure to leave a link to your Wonderful Wednesday in the comment section so others may enjoy it as well!

This month is Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month. At our first ultrasound appointment just a week after our first round of IVF the ultrasound reveled we were expecting twins, but just a few days later I started to having some bleeding. I went back in for another ultrasound & one of the babies did not have a heartbeat. The other baby was fine & we were told my body would sort it out. Fast forward 2 weeks to our 8 week ultrasound & everything with baby A was fine. 

On August 1st, 2010 we headed in for our 12 week ultrasound, it was just before lunchtime so we planned to go out for a nice lunch afterwards to celebrate our 12 milestone & then to BRU to start our baby registry. Our plans & happiness were short lived though when the ultrasound showed our baby no longer had a heartbeat. We left in silence & in tears, we drove an hour home & Donna headed to work (her way of coping) she also made the difficult phone calls to all our parents. I spoke to no one.

I had to decide if I wanted to wait & let my body miscarry naturally, if I wanted to have a d&c, or if I wanted to induce the miscarriage with medication. I chose to let my body figure it out on its own. I thought that posed the least amount of risk on my already fertility challenged body & also would be the best way to process the grief. 

I felt very very alone that afternoon. Many people knew of our fertility challenges & that we had proceeded with IVF, our friends & family & coworkers anxiously awaited the good news that we were finally pregnant & celebrated our victory after 2 years of trying to conceive. What did we say to everyone now?

The rest of this story is long & full of details no one really wants to read about on a 'Wonderful Wednesday' post. We made it through the longest, hardest month of our lives (at the time) & went on to conceive 3 of the most perfect miracles on earth. 

What is Wonderful is what happened after we did tell all of our friends & family what had happened. Family members, friends, coworkers, clients, acquaintances all reached out & shared their stories of loss & their stories of going on & having healthy babies. They mourned with us & encouraged us to keep trying. It was these women who gave me the confidence that I would have a healthy baby next time. 

At the time I did not know there was a Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month or even a Day of Remembrance. I think it is important though, important for women & their spouses to know they aren't alone, it's not their fault & that many of us share their grief.

This is for all the babies that have gone too soon from miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death.

Our love & prayers are with you & your families.

They're Back!!!

Donna's parents travel to NY every summer to escape the FL heat & spend time with family in their hometowns. We typically go for a visit halfway through the summer but didn't this year since we were in the midst of having a house build.

Her parents got back (to FL) a couple of weeks ago & we had planned to go see them for the weekend but I had a stomach bug, Caden had a mysterious high fever & Garren & Kellan came down with colds after having over active allergies for a week. So we thought it was best for all of us possibly contagious family members to stay home & Donna just went for a quick overnight visit.

This weekend we finally all made it down to see Grandma & Grandpa & we had a blast! It was another quick overnight visit due to our 'pre-homeowner walk through' at the house but it was perfect really. We weren't there long enough for the boys to get bored nor were we there long enough for the boys to start getting on anyone's nerves :) 

We drove down Saturday morning & arrived about lunchtime. The boys had catnapped during the ride so we didn't have to worry about naps. They were super excited to see grandma & grandpa & their pups. We visited for a while & ate an early supper before the boys were ready to go OUTSIDE. 

Caden came flying out of the back door like he had been fired out of a cannon & ran non stop all over the yard, around & around the house...

First up was 'tractor rides' on the riding mower around the yard. As much as all 3 of the boys wanted o ride together MomMoms lap just isn't big enough anymore so they each had to take turns. Caden was still running circles so he just followed behind the mower as his brother had their turns riding.

After riding on the mower Kellan & Caden found a good supply of dirt to play in, while they entertained themselves with that MomMom hooked up a cart to the back f the mower & pulled Garren around in that for a while. 

Once the boys were good & covered in dirt we hooked up a sprinkler & stripped the boys down, well those who weren't already stripped down to their underwear & they played in the water for a good long time. Caden continued to run & run & run, lol...

Once it got close to the boys regular dinner time we took them in for a bath & made them some dinner. They devoured their dinners & played a little more before it was bedtime. For the first time ever at grandma & grandpas house all 3 of the boys went to bed without any fuss. 

Sunday morning we visited some more, the boys played in the house & on the porch with grandma & grandpa before we had lunch & had to get back on the road to head home. The good news is, they will only be about 3 hours away from our new house when we get moved :)

20 Weeks In; Pre-Homeowner Walk Through

So it's really hard to tell what was accomplished this week but there were a few things done starting with the rain gutters. There were also some closet doors replaced because the originals came in busted & the attic access was trimmed up & finished off nicely. 

Friday afternoon we had our 'pre-homeowner walk through' there weren't any major concerns, well one I guess. One of the windows had a small crack in it, it will be replaced. The rest was just little stuff, marks in the walls, smudges on a door & miscellaneous stuff. So there is a small list of things to be taken care of in addition to the front of the house being repainted. We finally decided to go with the color that coordinated with the siding, we wanted to keep out door & shutter color though so our request had to be approved. It was now they just have to get the painters back over there :)

Gutter installers in action...

House with gutters... I know, you can't tell, lol

Donna & I have been shopping around & looking for furniture for the new house, we finally made all our final selections & got our orders placed. It looks like everything should be arriving within a week of us moving in. Good timing I think :)

We were scheduled to close by the builder on Oct 15th, our lender had us down for the 25th, that's a Saturday & the lender won't be doing that so now they have us down to close on the 22nd. Hopefully they stick to that & we have no other delays because we had to give a 60 day notice to the apartment complex & we are suppose to be out by the 31st! 

We are super excited to move into the house but not so excited to pack with 3, 3 year olds running around :-/ my sister is going p keep the boys while we are moving though so that should be much easier :) If you're free the afternoon of October 25th & in the area, PLEASE feel free to come by & help!!! We'll supply the beer & pizza :)

40/52

When did our babies turn into little boys?!?

{C, K, G}

Wonderful Wednesday; Same Sex Marriage

Wonderful Wednesday Series

We NEED more positive in this world. It does not have to be elaborate, though that is always welcome, and can be a simple picture or a short few sentences of something, someone, anything, that you think is wonderful. If you feel inclined to do the same, be sure to leave a link to your Wonderful Wednesday in the comment section so others may enjoy it as well!

Although it hasn't passed in Georgia yet & it's pending appeal in Florida, the progress that has been made so far in our nation is WONDERFUL!!! 

Check out these graphics from Freedom To Marry that show the progress that has been made just this week :)

Monday 

Tuesday

And it's only Wednesday!!!

39/52; Late Night Rondevu

We had a little shopping to do after we drove down to see the house Friday afternoon. It resulted in getting home past bedtime but the boys little body clocks weren't straying from their normal routine & they each fell asleep within minutes of 8pm.

Kellan

Garren

Caden

19 Weeks In; What's Left?

Going through the house this week, it was hard to tell what was left to do, it looks done! There are a few things left to do though before our final walk through this week.

We now have a grass lawn, painted shutters & front door & a locking door handle :)

(That's my van in the garage, eek!)

We also have a refridgerator, dishwasher, microwave, double oven & glass top range :)

'Just how many cookies can I bake at once???'

View from our front porch, lots of construction but it's the last of it for the neighborhood :)

Another view from the front porch, gotta love a FL afternoon thunderstorm :)

Part of the back yard

And the garage door has been painted too but don't get too use to this color because the house is going to be repainted the color that goes with the siding. I mentioned last week that we thought something was off, it wasn't the paint but ended up being the wrong color siding. It also turned out that somehow we ended up with the same color scheme as our existing next door neighbors which is not suppose to happen & the color ended up being lighter than we had anticipated so we opted to change the paint instead of the siding which ends up being easier & quicker to do anyways. We don't hate this color but our siding doesn't match & it's the same color as the neighbors house so it's out. :)

Wonderful Wednesday; RAK, Bedtime, & Diaper Free

Wonderful Wednesday Series

We NEED more positive in this world. It does not have to be elaborate, though that is always welcome, and can be a simple picture or a short few sentences of something, someone, anything, that you think is wonderful. If you feel inclined to do the same, be sure to leave a link to your Wonderful Wednesday in the comment section so others may enjoy it as well!

Wonderful #1; Random Acts of Kindness

Monday after Speech Therapy, I needed to grab a few groceries. The boys have not been the best behaved while shopping recently so I gave them a pep talk before heading into target. I let them know we were there for groceries only & we would not be looking at or going anywhere near the toys, or book, or bedding (they are obsessed with blankets but will only sleep with the quilts they've had since infancy)

So everyone promised no crying or screaming & we headed straight towards the grocery dept. I grabbed what we needed as quick as I could & headed to checkout. While I manage to fit everything on the rack under the shopping cart while shopping it never seems to fit under there once bagged. Since my cart was full of boys I grabbed another cart to put the now bagged groceries in & dragged it behind me with one hand while I pushed the boys in front of me. Just as we reached Starbucks near the exit a woman coming in asked if she could push my cart out for me. YES, PLEASE!!! :)

When the boys were babies & I was pushing the limo of all strollers I used to get offered help by store employees all the time, It made getting groceries so easy & honestly was nice to have an adult (usually) to talk to for a half hour or so. That hasn't happened for a while now so it was a really, REALLY nice gesture for this random woman to push my cart for me & obviously also very helpful :)

Wonderful #2; Bedtime

Yesterday we woke up to gloomy skies once again. We've had more rainy days than not over the past couple of weeks & they are usually several consecutive days of rain. The boys had been cooped up in the apartment  & were probably going to explode if they didn't get to run of some energy soon. So I double checked that they were indeed open first & then announced we were going to the bounce house place. The boys were super excited & a bit confused. They call the place we went while visiting grandma "the BIG bounce house" & their cousin Chandler has a bounce house at home, so they thought we were going to see grandma or chandler at first. We haven't been to the one here often because it is only open two days a week for 3 hours first thing in the morning.

Garren jumping through an obstacle

Kellan climbing over & Caden coming through another obstacle

Garren going the wrong way

Kellan & Caden getting ready to slide down

Kellan swinging on a kid sized swing

Caden having a blast!!!

Caden & Garren getting in a little Air Hockey action

The boys had an awesome time, running & jumping & diving through the obstacle courses & sliding down the slides. They bounced non stop for 2 hours before deciding they were "done." They proclaimed their hunger so I called Donna to see if she wanted some lunch & we picked up some food & headed to her station to eat with her. The boys love 'working' at her station, I'm sure they just mix things up but they move boxed from cart to cart & push them around the office. 

When we left Donna's station the boys asked to go to the playground. I thought they had to be tired but they apparently still had energy to burn so I obliged & we headed to the nearest playground. They ran & climbed & slid some more before we finally headed home, 5 hours after we left that morning. When Donna got home after work she mentioned wanting to shower before the boys went to bed & I told her she should go ahead & go then because I didn't think they would make it until 8. While she was showing one by one, they put themselves to bed, lol... Donna came out & asked where everyone was, in bed & passed out by 7:30. What could be more WONDERFUL?!? 

Wonderful #3; Diaper Free at Last

We are officially diaper free!!! We ran out of diapers last week & despite 2 boys who still only wanted to poop in a diaper I decided we weren't buying anymore & hoped that they would go on the potty & not constipated themselves. Well, it worked! When they asked for a diaper I told them we were all out. They asked to go to the store to get more & I said we couldn't, I told them they were big boys & could sit on the potty. I offered the reward of a sucker when they went which I had been doing for Caden since he had been going, hoping the other 2 would want in on the action. 

Running out also meant no more night time diapers. I was fairly certain that G was just being lazy by peeing in his nighttime diaper & was fairly confident that without the convenience of a diaper he would be able to go all night. C & K had been waking dry since they originally potty trained so I didn't foresee any issues there. I was right about G, no nighttime accidents. None for C either. Surprisingly K has had a few so we are going to work on liming drinks even earlier (I already stop drinks 2 hours prior to bed) or limiting the amount he gets at dinner.

WOOHOO!!! No more diapers!!!

If you are participating in the Wonderful Wednesday series, don't forget to leave a link to your post in the comments :)