Three years later....

So I when I got up this morning and looked at my Facebook, my memories told me that it had been three whole years since I started writing this weekly blog... That's a long freaking time!  I was reading my first post and I wrote that I was sorry that my blog post was so long and that I promised I'd keep it short from then on... haha... well that's not something I kept up!  My blog posts are sometimes so long that I get tired from writing them I can just imagine how you feel when you read them lol!! Skim reading for the win!  

Honestly, when I wrote that first post three years ago, NO WAY did I ever think that I would still be writing WEEKLY blog posts three years later!  I don't even think I'd be able to keep it up for a year but here we are, adventures never stopping!  I know that one day this will dwindle, when activities times three take over our lives and sitting down is just in my dreams, Facebook will have to do!   I'm just glad I'm able to keep it up for now because I really hope that some of my posts help people get through their day to day knowing they're not alone when they want to hit their heads against the wall while repeatedly asking themselves why they ever thought having children was a good idea.   I also hope that one day my boys read this blog and know how much I loved them, even through all the heartache and pain, they are my everything.  They are the reason I keep going and don't run for the hills.  The love outweighs the anger and frustration every damn time!

One of the quotes the resonated the most with me from my first blog post was this:

              "for the first time, we really started feeling scared and nervous about going through with this                    pregnancy. After we left and talked in the car in front of our house like teenagers at the end of                a date for like an hour, we were confident that we had made the right decision. If nature                         decides to take one or more of our babies, then it'll be nature's call and not ours. We want to                 give all three of these little ones a chance at life."  

This conversation came after the fertility doctor told us how difficult my pregnancy was going to be if we chose to keep all three instead of electing to surgically remove one of the fetuses.  I'm so glad we made the decision we did because then what? Would we have lost all three trying this very risky procedure?  Would I not have my amazing boys?  Every time I even start thinking about this, I get so emotional that I can't even so I will stop ever writing about it because then I'll make so many mistakes as I try to finish this through my tears...

Three years seems to have gone by in a flash... So much life has happened in those three years that I'm glad I have the blogs so that I can look back and go see all that I forget.  Even just the pictures bring me back!  We went up to Campbellton just Gabe and I on Saturday for my grandmother's 85th birthday party and my aunts had dug out old picture albums from when my parents were in their late teens early twenties.  My sister and I weren't even in the picture yet.  Going through those albums reminded me that I have to go back and continue actually printing pictures because I find that we never really look back at all the electronic ones we take but picture albums are always so much fun to go through through the years!   I'll be able to pull them out when the boys are teenagers and show them off to their girlfriends!   So that's my plan for the summer since I have enough Pampers Diaper points to get me some free stuff.  I'll finish their first year baby books and print some pics!

We had a good week all in all with the boys.  The bed time is still difficult but I don't think it's going to get any better than it is so we've just accepted that this is our life now.  What HAS changed for the better is our use of the Gro-Clock (What is this?)  Jacob used to get up, on average, at 4:45AM.  We set the Gro-Clock's alarm at 5:45 and started to teach him that he's only allowed to get up when the suns gets up on the clock.  It took a few days but now, they don't get up until that sun is there!  It's now been about 5 days in a row (yes, even Saturday morning) and we're hoping that this continues.  If it does, we're also hoping to be able to change the alarm to at least 6:30AM on the weekends and maybe one day push it to 7AM!! What?!?

While Gab and I went on our road trip, we spread out our children amongst our family members again.  Jacob and Zachary went with Mémère and Pépère and Samuel went with my mother.  They even had a sleepover!  They all had such a good time!  Jacob and Zachary went to get some haircuts, played in a sandbox and sprinklers and Samuel went to the pool.  By going to the pool I mean he went in the water for three minutes, got scared of everyone in there and sat on the side people watching for the rest of time.  We went back again this morning though and there were less people and he went in after he saw how much fun his brothers were having.  Zachary and Jacob couldn't wait to jump in!  There so much glee in their faces!  Jacob even jumped in head straight under water a few times until he got scared and made sure I was close enough to catch him before he went under.  Zachary was just full of smiles for the whole time we were there.  He was soooooo happy just to be in the water.  Their little bodies got cold quite quickly though so we didn't stay too long.  We wrapped them up nicely in towels and brought them back to the trailer where they had a nice pasta lunch and had a great long nap.  Had a nice ice cream later, came back home and stayed in where it was nice and cool once Gabe and Claude installed our living room air conditioner!  The boys had had enough sunshine for two days!  I love TV free weekends for the boys! It always makes me feel as though I succeeded as a parent lol!

This was such a long week for me at school!  Between Prom and Safe Grad and Graduation, I hardly had time to breathe at night but it's almost over for me!  I have 1.5 days left of work and then I'm on a mini vacation for 2.5 days.  Then I start teaching at the University the next Monday for 4 weeks!  What did I get myself into??  Well, if you know me, you know I get bored when I'm not doing anything and since I am basically forced to keep the boys in daycare all summer (else we lose our spot in September), I couldn't sit home for two months and not find something to occupy my time so I might as well earn some cashola!  No worries, I have all of August to get all my projects done!

Alright, this has gone on long enough... here are some pics:

We went to Dairy Queen on Wednesday night and I noticed this girl looking at us quite differently than most people do.  She then informed me that she is a triplet!!! She has two triplet sisters who all live in Moncton and all work at the Dollarama!  I can't wait to go meet all of them! 

Zachary was so cute! He went over to say hello to the little girl.

The boys' favorite pass time... helping Papa in the backyard!

Zachary was trying to lift that big piece of wood all by himself!

Jacob being a monkey and Zachary trying really really hard

Hi Sam!

Jacob and Zachary spend so much time chasing each other around while Sam watches them and laughs.

Samuel all ready to go for his sleepover at my mom's place!

When in Rome... (or Québec...)

A small part of my amazingly huge family!

Watch out in a few weeks time when we go back for our annual (but my first) family reunion!  This place is going to rock!

The boys patiently waiting for their ice cream 

Look at Jacob's haircut!  Much better than last week's lol!  

Sam is loving it!

He clearly didn't get his haircut but I still love it!  He looks like a boy in a boyband!

Yummy!  I know I know... two of them are dressed identical while Samuel is the odd man out... Those were the only clean and dry clothes we had available at my mother's place.  It did get people confused though!

I don't think the boys could have gotten any closer to the TV unless they got on top of the furniture.  This kind of throws off the whole TV free thing I was bragging about but this is their short video before they go to bed... ROUTINE!

Zachary was happy enough to just sit on the couch.

My amazing wonderful crazy 85 years young Mémère.  She is my father's mom and is 100% one of my heroes!  Not many people can raise 12 kids and survive to 85! 

She even let me Snap Chat with her!!! What a trooper!

That's is that's all folks!  Here starts my summer! I hope yours is full of wonderful sunshine, laughter and adventures!