I've fallen and I can't get up!!!

My poor little Jacob has been sick pretty much all week... he's stuffed up and that causes him to have trouble sleeping, drinking and just being our regular little Jacob (although he's been in surprisingly good spirits for a sick baby).  This has been the first of many, I'm sure, sick little boy episodes.  He has also been so sickly that I've had to get him to fall asleep on me for a few nights now and our little guy is now used to this so tonight we're letting him cry as he's finally feeling a little better.  He's not liking it very much so far... (UPDATE: HE DIDN'T LIKE IT AT ALL... Daddy had to go pick him up but he's currently sleeping... cross your fingers and toes for me!!)   It's always hard letting the boys cry when we have visitors, especially my in laws as I know they hate hearing the boys cry.  I don't like it either, but I know that it works and as much as it pains me to let them cry it out, I suck it up and stay strong.  Zachary also had a few fussy days but we were pleased to discover that his reason for crying was his TWO GROWING TEETH!!  My little man has not only been growing ONE tooth but TWO!!  Poor little guy, no wonder he was a little fussy!!  It's so freaking cute!  I tried to take pics but the teeth are just showing their tips and the pictures are so blurry that unless you know where to look, you wouldn't be able to tell... maybe next week!  The boys have been discovering their voices more and more this week.  I've uploaded two videos to our YouTube channel (Tripletville Adventure Videos).  One is of Jacob having a screaming match with my mom and then Samuel tonight just trying to tell us something... I don't know what.  We've had a pretty good weekend... We went to my sister's camper yesterday afternoon with the boys to visit for the first time and we went to a birthday party for our friend Louise's little 3 year old Kaleb.  The boys were really good!  We left earlier than we wanted to on both occasions but I believe that when you have babies, multiples especially, making sure you follow your routine is super important and we've worked so hard at establishing this routine that I really didn't want to mess it up, especially when you have a sick little guy.  The week was pretty low key, nothing too exciting to note...  We had a nice visit from my friend Josée and of course we spent loads of time with my mother making various outings to exciting Wal-Mart and Superstore... as sad as it makes my life sound, I was actually sad that we didn't go to Costco this week! haha...

My in-laws are off for the next few weeks so that means I'll be getting some extra day help every once in a while so that's nice!  They've already committed to giving me all of Friday afternoon off to do with what I please so that's pretty exciting!!  I think I'm actually going to try and go get my wedding ring sized so that I can wear it for the first time EVER!!  I was already so swollen by the time we got married (I was 18 weeks pregnant and couldn't even wear my pretty wedding shoes let alone my wedding ring) that I had to buy a fake one at Aldo haha!  That one didn't last too long as it turned my finger green in no time!  Anyways, so that should be fun... I'll fill you in on all the fun stuff I did (right...)

I did an interview for Radio-Canada on Monday to talk about our local Moms of Multiples chapter (Moncton Multiples) and how it has supported me since I've found out about them (they've supported me A LOT btw).  One of the first questions the interviewer asked me, of course, is how the triplets came to be.  I decided to tell her my whole story but to make sure to say that even though we went through a fertility clinic, the odds of having multiples, let alone triplets, are very rare... (Gab found it to be about 0.014% or something).  I often hesitate to talk about our decision to use a fertility clinic because the moment you say "fertility clinic" people go: "Ah!!!" "Yeah that's what happens" (which was what my grandmother said when she heard) or "Oh, well I guess you asked for it eh?"... It's so annoying because loads of people go to fertility clinics and yes, multiples do happen, but there are many more singletons to come out of that but we don't hear about those because people with one baby normally don't get asked such personal questions!  Anyways... all that to say that when the interview aired, what part didn't get mentioned you think?  THE PART WHERE I EXPLAINED THE RARITY OF IT ALL!!!!  Everything else I said was in the interview BUT that part... I was so angry because yet again, people who are ignorant about fertility will say: "Ah... yep, that's what happens! That's why she had triplets".  Anyways, you may not understand why it makes me mad or why I'm annoyed and sometimes I ask MYSELF why... I guess it doesn't really matter what people think or if they know how rare it is or not but if I'm to be honest, to me it matters.  Rant over!  (I have a lot of rants don't I?)

So... please don't send child protection services after me but my little Samuel fell off the couch this week... FAIL AS A MOTHER MUCH?!?  He was eating with his feeding prop on his boppy pillow which he has been doing since we've brought him home from the hospital and I was changing Jacob on the changing table.  All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I see is a little boy flopping overboard, face down on the floor crying... I'm just about to go rush over when I realize that if I leave Jacob on the changing table alone, HE will flop down on the floor so of course, before I can go tend to Sam (who is still face down crying) I have to quickly do up Jacob's diaper up (less he pees all over the floor) and find a place on the floor for him so he's safe and rush over to Samuel... Poor little guy just fell the right way as he wasn't hurt at all... I think his feeding prop (that was still attached around his neck) saved him from banging his face on the floor!  Was I terrified or what?!?  I knew he wasn't hurt because the moment I put him on back on his boppy pillow to finish his bottle, he had stopped crying and was drinking away as though nothing had happened.  Do you think I watched him like a hawk from that point on??  I was sooooo scared something was wrong with him that I stared at him all day while telling myself that I was a bad mom... I know it happens to many moms and I know that we all hate ourselves for it and I never judged any moms who've told me THEIR child fell off something but yet, I still felt as though I failed!! (CUE ALL YOUR HORROR STORIES!!! haha)  We now have to find new and creative ways to feed Sam because he no longer likes the old way!  I can't wait for the day they can finally hold their own bottle for their whole feed!!  Sam will do it for about 1/2 his feed and then give up, Zachary will do it if he feels like it (which isn't often) and Jacob is almost there but hasn't figured out that he needs to open his fists so he tries to hold the bottle with his little fists closed... They're so cute while they're trying!!

I hope you're all enjoying this beautiful weather we've been having!!  I also hope you enjoy these pics :)

My poor little sick Jacob... You can't tell from the picture but his right eye is all bloodshot...  I think he sneezed so much that he popped a vein.  It's my only explanation as it hasn't been leaking or caking up...  He looks SOOOO much like my baby pics in this picture!!  

Snuggling with mom and watching Bubble Guppies

Hanging out with Mémère & Pépère Arsenault

First time eating blueberries! 

Doesn't he look like a suave man with some type of facial hair? 

Yeah... he just looks messy... 

So cute with his faux-hawk!! Even through the cold, he still ate well all week! 

More wrestling.... Once Zachary learns to roll over, it might be payback time... 

My trial for a new feeding method... on the floor with him feeding himself!  SUCCESS!!!! 

Or not... he thought he could still drink this way and cried when he realized it wasn't happening.. 

We tested out their new little pool in the living room

You can see Samuel already analyzing where he could go and I think Jacob is wondering why there isn't any water in the pool... 

I think you can see his bloodshot eye in this shot... but still friggen cute!

Samuel "fell"... I think it was just part of his escape plan

And he he goes... He ended up all the way out and underneath Zachary's bouncy chair

Enjoying the nice air

Zachary looking on... 

Such pretty colours! 

 

Oh yeah! Mom and I planted some flowers :) 

We've started calling Samuel "Bamm Bamm" (like from the Flinstones) as he now likes to BAM BAM everything he has in his hands... 

Sam Bamm Bamm

Our first visit to my sister's camper in Shediac

Zachary taking a snooze on the deck

Hanging with some friends

At the birthday party today! 

With Matante Mel (who thankfully cut my hair as Gabe said I was starting to look like I had a mullet!!  Well at least he's honest!!) 

The awesome play structure we got from my sister and brother in law!  They got around to putting it up!  We got the boys in the swings and the loved it but never got a picture yet.  They'll have fun climbing all over that in a few years!!!

Happy Summer Y'all!! Oh and HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why we said yes to daycare...

So this should be short and sweet as it's late and I'm tired... I guess I've said this before though and my post always ends up being super long but I'm going to try really hard because I'm sure you've been sitting by your phone/tablet/laptop anxiously waiting for this post to go up..HA!

The reason I'm so late is this:

Cute isn't she?  Josée, one of my BFFs just gave birth to her like 24.5 hours before this picture was taken.  Her name is Dia and she is one of my new favorite people.  We cuddled for a whole hour while she was waiting for her next feed.  It has been a while since I've held a small baby like that on me.  It's funny but she was over 7 lbs when she was born so she was twice the size of any one of my babies and I found her soooo light!  I guess I forget how tiny my babies were... I can't imagine them being HALF the weight of that tiny little beautiful girl I had in my arms... CRAZY!!   

So about a month ago Gabe and I started talking about the possibility of childcare for our boys.  We both agreed that for his mental health, the sake of our marriage and for the boys' social life, it was probably best that we try to get them into a daycare.  Now, we knew that daycare would probably eat up all of Gabe's income but again, for his mental health, we decided that we needed to try to figure it out.  We sat down and looked at our budget and even though it will be tight, we think we will be able to manage.  I started calling around the bilingual daycares in the area and sure enough, none of them could accommodate THREE babies and most didn't even take children under two.  Since the boys are only going to be 14 months when I go back to school, all those daycares were out of the question.  A friend of mine had mentioned the Moncton Boys and Girls Club, we weren't too sure because it was a completely Anglophone program and that scared me as the boys would be just learning their language at the time they would begin.  Then at the Moncton Multiple Sale, we got a flyer from that exact daycare (Little Treasures) on our windshield.  I decided to call the director since they took children starting at the age of 15 months and see if they at least had bilingual staff.  We talked for a while and I decided to go for a visit.  During our conversation, I told her of my reservations about my children being in an all English program.  Now, you have to understand that I WANT my children to be bilingual, I just want their mother tongue to be French and living in Moncton, they are SURROUNDED by everything English so it's always hard to learn French once all you live is English... Anyways, the director then told me that her child went to the daycare (already an indication that the daycare must be running well if the director's son is there!) and she said that at home, they speak ONLY French and he's thriving.  Now I know that kids are sponges and I shouldn't worry to much because we will be only French at home too so hopefully they will be able to absorb both languages and not get too confused!  Anyways, after much discussion, we decided to enroll them (we can always change our minds) and if we think it's not working out, wait until they're two and find a bilingual daycare who will take them (or try to anyway).  I know I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill but my kids being French (and then English) is primordial to Gabe and I so I think I have every right to have some reservations.  I think what scares me the most is that I've seen some parents who have a French parent and an English parent and for some reason, they don't know French!  That makes me so sad... Although I have to say that my friends Sarah and Chris are raising their child to be bilingual and I think they're doing a really good job so I think we can do it.  Our current daycare is going to cost us about 2100$ (which, believe it or not, isn't bad...haha).   I had called a daycare in Dieppe and the owner told me that (even with a discount), it would end up costing us about 2500$/month to have our three boys go there.  He did send me a link to try to see if we could get subsidized (help from the government to help pay for daycare).  I will call, but I can almost guarantee that we won't qualify.  Here's how I'm pretty sure... WE ARE A MIDDLE CLASS FAMILY!!  It's annoying because the "high" class families can afford daycare so they don't need help, the "low income" families get subsidized (thankfully) but the middle class get nothing and in the end pretty much end up becoming a low income family.  The only reason we are able to afford daycare is because we rent out our basement.  If we didn't have that income, I don't even know how we would manage... My student loan alone is over 500$/month!  Anyways, I don't want to bore you all with my pitiful current hate of our government.  Can you believe that ALL Quebec families only have to pay 7$/day per child for daycare?!?  Anyways, rant over... 

My boys are such good boys... 7 months yesterday already!! It's so crazy!  They're loving everything I'm giving to them as far as solids go.  Zachary is not my best eater but he's getting better.  Jacob has followed Zachary in the art of mastering the sucking of the straw while Samuel lags behind in third with no victory in sight... he just seems to want to chew on it... While Zachary is a good straw sucker, he's falling behind in the rolling around department.  Jacob is rolling all over the place (I actually have to baby proof their play space this week as he gets into everything), Samuel is rolling from back to tummy but still hasn't figured out how to get back to his back (remember it was the opposite with Jacob?  So weird). So now he sleeps on his tummy and can't turn back and Zachary only rolls from his tummy to his back (only when I physically put him on his tummy myself...).  Jacob has finally started sleeping through the night again (YEAH!!! DID I JUST JINX IT?!?) and has passed the baton to Samuel who now wakes up at 5 am blah blah blahing... This morning I decided to let him talk to see if he would fall back asleep and the little bugger talked for 40 MINUTES!!!  I got up with him and finally got him to sleep on me (he won, he was happy) but I didn't sleep!  Yet another reason for why I needed this post to be short... so I'm going to end it here and the picture should tell you a bit more...

Doesn't it look like Jacob is taking a selfie of him and Zach? 

So I got this teething necklace in the mail from Etsy and it's great as the boys were always clutching at my chain.  Now they are not only able to hold on to my necklace but they can also use it as a teething toy.  Jacob loves it. 

Baby wrestling!! 

Notice how Gabe is just sitting there not doing anything and I'm obviously taking the picture so I'm not doing anything... Are we re-enforcing this behaviour or what? haha

I went out on Thursday night at "Le Bayou" in Shediac to see some friends (one of them was down on a holiday from out west) and to listen to Steve sing :)  Good times

This was taken at my friend Louise's bachelorette on Saturday (this is not Louise, this is another MC (Marie-Christine who is Zachary's godmother)...why didn't I take a pic with the Bride to be?!?)
See, moms of triplets go out too!!  Granted I only stayed until about 9 o'clock at both events but I still got out!!  

This is where the boys end up most often in the mornings... we like to hang out before we go for our bottle in the living room.  I had to stop getting them too early though because wake up time was getting earlier and earlier... 

Cute moment with Gabe and Zachary

He heard my camera click... I ruined their moment! 

Jacob loving his thumb

Sam and Mommy cuddle time

All set to go visit our future daycare!! 

Samuel decided it would be fun to roll himself in his playmat. 

Peek-A-Boo

Hey brother! 

More brotherly love

I like the look on Zachary's face right here... WHY IS HE EATING MY LEG MOM??

Still at it this week... You can clearly see his tongue working it... haha

You'd think I'd know where his mouth was... 

A few pics from our DIY 7 month photo shoot:

As always my friends... xox