Young Jedi

During our wonderful weekend, Father decided to have some Jedi Master time with his new brood.  Now, I am not quite sure how this discussion went BUT I am convinced that Dad began to think that the triplets were REALLY paying attention to his teachings.  Almost like they were using the force to speak back to him through telekinesis.  OY VEY!   What a good show team :)

In the mean time - we were being serenaded by our talented Maya Papaya who not only knows how to play crazy piano - she can dress the part of a '70's disco girl :)

(how many little girls do you know who do not enjoy an afternoon in high heel platform shoes???)  Sorry the quality is so fuzzy - I was chuckling when she was modeling!!!!   Here - this will make up for it:

If you will have noticed in the one of the above photos - Sammy has been "let out" of his walker - only to be found under my feet trying his hardest to get whatever is in the middle of the table.  (food - of course)

I don't know how I forgot the insanity of a ten month old boy - but this one has got to be the cream of the crop!  I mean - he is everywhere and into everything!   The girls play pretty nice -Mary is so independent and Pia is okay unless she is upset - but this Sammy dude is just a menace!   Whew!   However, he did settle down long enough to play us his version of the song Maya had played for us earlier :)  

We are now all suffering from runny noses.  I think Mary and Sammy are finally cutting the top teeth and I think Pia is just playing along.  She seems to have picked up the cold from Maya (school germs) - and we are now purchasing stock at kleenex  (i am so tired of snot right about now).  Each sneeze is like a loaded cannon.  And you can tell they are all miserable.  So, while they commiserate together - Maya is trying to be helpful and play along :)

(you can see the height difference L to R Mary Pia Sammy)  

Oh?  And what about Paige?   She did not eat one meal at home this weekend - too many things going on with school and youth programming.   Like Bigfoot - we know she exists - we just don't see her!   KIDDING!!!!   :) She is doing well - trying to finish this quarter and get her final Junior Year quarter out of the way.  Come on Summer Vacation!!!!   Whoop Whoop. 

In closing - I am just going to say that weekends really tire me!  The weather has made it so that we have not walked for over a week!   I am sad because we were getting in 2-2.5 miles a day with the warmer weather and I think the babies need the fresh air just as much as I do.  Come on Spring!!!  Hubbie did get more of those damn spikey  balls to the curb for recycling - but we are doomed forever in spikey ball hell!   I will sweep and sweep and sweep!!!   No slip and slide for our kids - ouch!  The thought just hurts  me!

Love to all!

Zoltan OUT.

Snoop

Yep - It's official.  Snoop Doggie Dog lives in our home:

He just does not care.  I think this is one of the obvious differences between boys and girls.  Or at least the difference between our kids...

Girls are more sophisticated, I think?  Or at least have better fashion sense?   I know I can't say they are calmer - because we all know that is totally false!!!   HA.

We are now struggling with a gate that is tough enough to survive the triplets PLUS Maya.  You see we had a gate that handled Maya very well - but I think it might be at the end of its capacity limit:

After this picture was taken - I noticed the gate coming away from the wall.  Crap - we may need to find another means of keeping the children locked in their room.   I mean - I don't want it to sound like we are locking them up (or are we?)   - but I worry because they scatter!  You take the gate down and they scatter!   Kind of cool, actually.  Worries me for when we start going out in public.   Must purchase child size bungee cords :)   Or just NOT go out in public.  

HA!  Have a super weekend - we are bracing for snow - Love to all!
Zoltan OUT!

Locked OUT!

After the babies are fed in the morning - I eat a bowl of cereal.  As you may think "too much information" - yesterday it was the most interesting bowl of cereal EVER!  I put the babies in their room - setup the gate and went to make my bowl of cereal.  In route back to their room, I noticed the door was closed?? WTH?  

Okay?  So, here I am.  Cereal bowl in one hand - cup of coffee in the other.  I cautiously approach this closed door - wondering what type of carnage I will find?!  Slowly I nudge the door with my shoulder and it creeps open only slightly.  Sammy is sitting in the open wedge and I see fingers under the door!  Oh crap.  Close the door again to release the squished fingers!  Nudge again - fingers are gone - door opens a little farther.  Mary and Pia are wedged behind the door - Sammy is trying to help me to open the door (the dude knows I have cereal and that he will get some)...  Took me about 5 tries - but I was able to coax them enough to finally get in the room.  A little scary!  

As the day continues - we know this will be the last nice day before the week of cold temperatures and more freakin' snow!   So - we are off to the bus stop to get Maya and fearlessly trek out on one more fresh air walk! 

Upon return from our walk - Maya had promised me that she would clean her room.  Well she enlisted some help and I think it became more of a playtime environment instead of cleaning!!!

However - the dude understood that cleaning was not any fun and began wandering off to find more trouble!!!  Sorry Paige - he just went there!

And where is Mary?  Of course she is hanging out with me and being the happy child!

The room was cleaned - I was happy and the family is now harmonious again!  Whoot Whoot!  I wanted to close with a few final Purim Pictures.   Maya had her face painted from the carnival and it looked great!  Plus - Sully was spotted in Bexley!!!

Zoltan OUT!

Purim...

Dad has been fired.  One time of lake Aframian - you get away with it.  But two times?  As we were cleaning up the coffee dad says:  "I just can't believe how fast he is!"  LOL    The dude is like lightening!  And he knows when he is going after something he is not suppose to have!   Fired... Yep.   Dad has been Fired.

Friday at school there was a Purim carnival.  Maya went as Spiderman - sorry no pictures because she got dressed at school.  However, I am a bit peeved at the teachers because they sent home these:

 Any parent in their right mind knows that these go directly into the trash!  

Maya's are in the trash :)

Sunday is the big event!  Here we are ready for the Purim Parade :)  Maya was Sully from Monsters, Inc.  (she totally rocked it) 

 

and the triplets were Monkey, Ladybug and Bee!  Too cute!

As we walked to the parade, many cars beeped and waved to our Sully!!!   We had fun and Maya and the triplets made it through the parade to be treated to Ice Cream at the end!  The babies love chocolate ice cream!  (with sprinkles)  Tante A came to help (our third hand) and at the last minute - our lawn man decided to bail on us.  So, the decicsion was made to leave Maya at the carnival & get home!  This was a great idea because if we would have stayed - it would have been a disaster!  Tante A and I are pretty awesome together - but we were out numbered and I just was not willing to lose any children.  (and I am certain we would have lost someone)...  The babies did great - but were becoming a bit restless and wanted OUT!

(Maya changed for the Carnival) - Jasmine.

We have this amazing amount of old costumes (thanks Tante Vik) and Maya just thinks it is the greatest thing to wear a bunch of different outfits!   I think we have a POP star in the making!

It was nice again outside to sit and snack:  Thanks Tante A for the snacks. 

Yard man needed a break and it was great to just sit outside and have a snack.

In closing I wanted to share my excitement because I found a place that serves my favorite pizza:

Yea - Just Kidding - but needed to share!

Love to all!

Zoltan OUT.

Gonzo and the great outdoors

We finally had nice enough weather to take the triplets outside on Friday.  It was almost 70.  Anyway - I am now wondering how the hell am I going to do this - because outside requires???  Anybody???  Yea - you guessed it - Shoes!   This is something we have never done before - worn shoes!!!  Well, fortunately for the team we have a bucket of many shoes.  And I have to chuckle because I actually found a pair to fit everyone.  But - not sure how this is going to go down.  It is like putting shoes on cats!   Crap.  And to do it by myself?  I should have just checked into the psychiatric  ward down town!  Much easier!  

30 minutes later - we all have shoes on - and away we go. 

Crap - no one can walk yet - and I am not putting them down to crawl!   Hand slap to forehead.  Duh!  What Would Any Other Mother Do?  Their walkers, of course!!!   Some days my brain cells are just out of control!  (for the life of me, I can totally figure why).

So - insert each child in walker, line them up at the back door and begin.  Mary first.  Pia second.  Samuel third.  (this is just how they lined up).  Mary began to scream - Pia joined in and Samuel decided that leaves were cool.  I am not talking about a little bit of crying.   Pia and Mary are screaming so loud that I am sure to have violated the city ordinance code for volume control.  So now I am frantically looking around the back yard in hopes that no neighbors are out for fear that the screaming is so volatile that they call child services and WHAM - the authorities visit!!!!  I calmly (ha! calmly) pull everyone out of the leaves and begin the Banana ritual.  And we all know how much they love this ritual.  Well whoopdiddlydo -  they all calm down.  Phew.  (again child services has been averted).  (kidding!)

After the banana is over - the girls are not moving - they are totally freaked out by being outside.  Glued to the spot in which they were settled.  But have no fear - Samuel is here!   The dude about wore me out.  In the grass - down the walk  - in the rocks - in the leaves - back in the grass - holy shit catch him he is running into the driveway - Damnit - okay - time to go in.  (cough - cough - DAD - gate project status?)

So, now we are all back inside and I begin to laugh uncontrollably.  Do you all know Gonzo from the Muppet show?  (insert picture)..... 

 

And now, for your viewing pleasure - I introduce to you Mary "Gonzo" Aframian:

(along with her siblings, of course)  Enjoy!!

 

Now I know you must be thinking that maybe I have totally flipped my lid?  But DANG - poor thing.  The strangeness of the shoes, the drama from the leaves and being outside!   I just could not pass it up.  I never thought Gonzo the Great would wave his magic on our house!  It is so nice that she loves me unconditionally :)

Off to enjoy Purim!  More later!

Lots of Love.

Zoltan OUT!

Banana

Ye Olde Dad has done it yet again.  Yesterday he came home from work early because of a dental appointment.  This was great because he was instantly volunteered to distribute the afternoon snack.  The babies love bananas and cheerios.  I have found an easy way to feed banana that does not in any way, shape, or form result in me touching the banana.  (nasty).  I cut the banana in half and use a spoon to scoop out the bite size portions.  And between the three of them, they can polish off an entire banana.  Dad was unaware of this volume fact.  (please keep this handy fact for future reference).  Mary and Pia and Sam just scoot around the living room in their little walkers and take turns getting bites of the banana.  You scoop it out - baby eats it and takes off chewing.  You scoops it out - baby eats it and takes off chewing.  You get the concept?

As Dad got to the end of the first half of banana, he decided to peel back the skin and pop the small bite of remaining banana, into his mouth. Not really paying much attention to the fact that the next baby to receive that said bite of banana was none other than Samuel.  Well, Dad,

THAT...WAS...NOT...THE...RIGHT...THING...TO...DO

As parents of these triplets, we are experiencing times that you just wish you could rewind 5 seconds and have a do-over.   This was one of those times....

Samuel Elias was stuck in a moment of pure "holy shit brother WTF" shock.  It is as if everything began moving in slow motion.  He could not believe his eyes.  "My father just took the last possible bite of the banana and ate it for himself?"  Then he looks over at me.  Gives me the "Mommy?! I am not sure of what just happened but I am so devastated right now" look and his bottom lip began to tremble.  Tears began building up in his eyes.  Well at this point I am just speechless.  I could not believe DAD ate that bite either!   So - I calmly explain to father that he best start scooping banana out of the new half and he best be a-scooping fast!   It was at this moment, that I realized I did not have any camera close to capture the moment of the melt down.  It was fabulous. 

Our Cutie Pies :)

Zoltan OUT!

Finally - nice weather!!!

It has been a very long and cold winter here in Ohio!  And with that information - comes the need to get out of the caged in environment:  (I have always said when the children are chewing their way out, its time for a new venue, right?) 

As this gate does keep them in their room - it does prevent them from getting outside, too.  And the decision was made - We are going for a walk today!   Now, normally you would just pick up your child - and put them in the stroller and go, right?   WELL, we do this routine times three!!!    Three coats, three hats, three seat belts, three bottles (just in case)..... It takes us about 15 minutes to get this way:

 And here we are ready to go on our walk.  (Mary is the monkey in the middle - and I am sure you can figure out the placement of the other two babies - as you notice - Sammy is wearing blue, yeah Sammy).  Now how cute are they????   So we walked and walked.  As long as they were happy - I was walking!    We were gone for almost two hours.   We did not see anyone we knew on our walk - but did see many people finally getting outside and more dogs than I really wanted to see.   Tante A did a drive by on her way home and she walk/drove with us for a few blocks.   We are kind of in love with this stroller because you can "hide" the babies in side & put the bug netting down as to not feel like such a freak show when you go out!   Only draw back is that I can not get into buildings unless they have the bigger doors!  (no cup of Joe for me - Rats).

So - today I only post with yummy pictures for you all to grin and giggle -

NAKED BABY ALERT:

So - have a super day filled with lots of Poop and Drool (just kidding that would be what kind of day I am going to have!)    Much love to all!  
Zoltan OUT.

Burrowing

I have decided that the boy child is going to be the one with the forever bell attached to his neck.  He will always be in trouble and cause the most problems.  Today - we're minding our own business - just playing nicely and I hear this             Boom...   pause   Boom....   pause     Boom...  Pause.   
I look over to my left and what do I see?

 Sammy banging his head up against the wall.  Now naturally I know he does not get this from MY side of the family - so I am assuming this is a new free form of expression.  Or maybe he has just had it and need to get the hell out??  

At the same time I hear this weird scratching sound - like a wire brush? 
I look to my left and what do I see???

Maya has left a brush behind from the night before and Mary has decided it tastes pretty yucky.   This is the same table that was most recently used as Lake Aframian.

Now I have to look forward and show you the perfect angel of a child -

You see - Pia.  Mild mannered child by day.  Hateful screamer by night. 

As I have titled this post "burrowing" - I have to explain that within the five minutes of bliss - Sammy has made his way into territories that are off limits!  DANG BOY!  You see, we have put the stationary walker up to stop traffic toward the trash can and this is also the place I put the heater for safe keeping.  NOT ANY FREAKIN' MORE!!  LF has figured out how to burrow under the stationary walker and get his way to the BAD STUFF!  AUGH... And to make matters even worse - he has also figured out how to get under the crib.  He can now access the trash from both sides.

To put the cherry on top of this triple scooped sundae,  I think Mary is cheering him on!!!   I did tell you  you have to be on  your "A" game, remember?

But, at the end of the day - you totally forget how crazy they were because this is what we see at the end of the night before they go to bed ..   AWWWWWWW

I mean - how cute can they be????

 Much Love to all...
Zoltan OUT!

Dirt

Over the winter, we have aquired some garden plants indoors, so that they would survive the curel Ohio winter and move out doors again in the spring.  This  being said, we started with about 20 plants and I have sucessfully killed 10 - (less to bring back in next winter)  Yeah me!   (I love it when an evil plan comes together).   One of these plants has been with us since the birth of Maya - 5  years with me and no death - pretty impressive!  However, this poor plant has been the recipient of many jokes concerning Maya and how her curiosity will get the best of her and that the plant will be a goner!   Maya never never never bothered this plant. 

Cough.... 

Oh hell.

My beautiful mother laughed uncontrollably when she was here in December.  She saw the plant - remembered the Maya story and asked if we were seriously smoking crack?   No - don't worry mom - Maya never bothered the plant - we will be fine!!!!

Enter Sammy....

So, a few weeks ago - we are getting ready for dinner and I notice the girls playing nicely and Samuel (LF) has decided to play very quiet.  In my delerium of happiness because noone is crying, I decided to just go with it - thinking, hey - I will find him later....   Yes - brilliant idea!!!!    Later comes and guess where Sammy has been?   Yep  -  not only playing with the dirt from the plant pot - but eating it too.....

You can see the dirt crumbs on his tray?  Luckily no major damage was done because the walker prohibited the ability to really get in there and dig.  However - HAVE NO FEAR...

Enter Mary...

Yesterday, I have to think I may have seriously been smoking crack.  I let them crawl around on the floor while getting lunch together.  Harmonious little trio of kids.  Then they scatter.  Almost as if they met in the middle - had a small huddle - put all hands in and BREAK!   Lo and behold, with her creative use of elbows to ensure proper balance, the lovely Mary has decided it was her turn to enter the world of planting....  This is how I found her:   (notice the dirt on her chin?)

This is how she ended up :

Can  you see the small log in her mouth?  Yes - she was chewing on a large tootsie roll sized piece of bark that had been resting so nicely in the pot.   I wonder how many nutrients are in this dirt? 

I am patiently waiting for it to be Pia's turn, but as she is the oldest, she may be the wisest?  I have no freakin' idea - but I will definitly keep you posted. 

Enjoy.
Much Love,
Zoltan OUT!

A Vodka Kind of Week

I have known my husband for 13 years.  In all of these 13 years - we have plenty of fond memories and a lot of funny things have happened.   However, I can never recall a Friday night when he came home from work and brought me one of these:

Feast your eyes on a half gallon of Vodka - Yeah - Pretty bad when your husband does NOT bring you flowers anymore - just Gallons of booooze!    Well - we put a little dent in it and the children have not suffered too badly??? 

SO - we have to mention that being a parent to multiple children -  you really have to always be on your "A" game - or you could quite possibly create a new language in conjunction with lake construction.   Let me explain.  You see - we spend a lot of time in the babies room because it is full of toys and the carpet cushions the falls when the babies topple over.   This room also has a small couch, a TV and a plastic storage bin that is used as a "side table".    DAD, or the man formerly known as "off his "A" game", decided that he would hang with the babies while drinking his morning coffee.  He knew I had a few things I wanted to do - so he wanted to be comfortable all the while hanging with the brood -  and we sort of traded off.  You know something???  I really don't know why I am so disillusioned with the fact that this is such a great idea!    It was 22 seconds.  I seriously counted.  And did you know what I heard?  I heard a grown man try to manufacture a new language all the while holding back the crawlers of doom.   I think he combined the effective use of profanity along with each child's name and at the same time screaming for me to hurry back!!!  OY VEY.  SAMMY, or the child referred to as "little trucker", had snuck around his father - grabbed the coffee cup - and proceeded to pour it out over the "side table".  This in fact created Lake Aframian (no bass fishing allowed).  You know, they told us that these children would work together to cause havoc - but we really did not believe them...   We have now learned from experience and will not allow this to happen again...  (HAHAHHHA HAHHHAHHA  HAHAHHAA) (yea - well we can HOPE it does not happen again).  BTW - the accident happened so fast - and clean up went so smoothly - it totally slipped my mind to take a photo.   (must have been all the vodka).

I wanted to share a cute video with you to see how grown up this trio of terror are - and see the new trick they have learned to perform at breakfast....

They perform this trick every morning around 9:00 EST - Tickets are cheap :)

Love to all!

Zoltan Out.

Keep away from Dad...

I can always find humor in Dad:

Let me paint a picture for you:  It is a calm evening.  Everyone has been fed and changed and burped.  We are all in the babies room sitting on the floor playing.  Since everyone is in harmony, Dad decides to play a game on his cell phone at the same time snacking on a bag of peanuts.   I can already hear the triplets gears turning in their heads "easy prey".....   All of a sudden, the channel changes - Sammy has claimed the remote control for the cable box.   "no Sammy"....    (Remove remote from mouth and place in higher location).  As this is happening, the TV begins to get louder and louder.  Mary has claimed the remote control for the television.......   "no Mary"  (Remove remote control from the nimble fingers of Mary and place in a higher location). 

  Pause for effect..... 

Crumble Crumble Crumble ...."NO Sammy" - (guess who found the peanuts????).....      "NO Pia!!!!" - I think she was dialing international long distance on Dad's cell phone - which he momentarily placed down on the floor to allow both hands access to rearrange the other unruly babies.    And, the best part is - It all happened at about the speed in which you read this.   I think Dad even broke a sweat!  I do recall a silent use of profanity commenting on the amazing speed of the trio of terror!!!  Way to go TEAM!

And then - they all stopped and stared.  They seemed a little freaked out...  For the alien Maya walked in the room sporting something very strange on her head......  I don't know where she finds some of these things - but it amused the babies for half an hour.  They were mesmerized.   Excellent work Maya Papaya.

It's all in a days work :)  I LOVE MY JOB!

Stoopid Empty Box.

Yes, we all know how interesting a new toy might be and the joy it brings a child.  But it totally fascinates us all to see how much more fun they seem to have with the empty box.  Yesterday I was feeling a bit guilty about the PINK episode, so I decided to open the next size box of clothing (Yes, Sammy can finally fit in 12 month size - its a little big, but it fits)...  Anyway - I was immediately bombed with three tiny creatures who were in full love of - wait for it.........     the boxes:

I think there was a fight - and Sammy lost - so he decided it might be better to stick with hangers???

This moment brought me 20 minutes of peace.  Enough time to register as a seller on Ebay so that I may create a posting for the selling of Pia.  Oh my goodness.   She has been having a terrible time with her teeth - and therefore interrupting any possible sleep I may get during the night (for the last week).  I have figure out how to package her properly, though, and she has already been mailed to the highest bidder and in route to Maui.  ;)   - Warning:  Package may be soggy upon arrival!!!!

I wanted to share something with all of you, because having multiple babies is not something that happens to people every day and to see the amount of "stuff" we use during a normal day - is really not "normal". 

It never occurred to me that having three babies would result in the constant running of my dishwasher - but thank goodness I finally have a dishwasher to clean all these dishes (thanks Hubbie)

Each day we use 100 oz. of formula - or 18 bottles:

Each day we have three meals - or 9 bowls and spoons:

Each day we change 21 diapers - plus wipes:

Oh - and there are plenty of stories, songs, hugs, kisses and giggles, too!!!!

Even though this has been the hardest thing I have ever done - it has been the most rewarding job ever.  Some days are good days - some days are awful, but they always smile when I see them and that erases all the misery of teething and colic and diaper rash.  It is actually getting a little easier - but in a different type of way - and I am sure the new challenges we face will become just as enormous as when we were up every three hours for feedings.... 

 (IPOD spelled backwards is DOPI - thanks Pupps!).

Love you all,

Zoltan OUT!

PS:  Thank goodness for these beautiful kids - they are the reason we had more babies - they are all amazing kids - and growing into amazing people - love you guys.....  ILYMPIPO and FILYAB