Tripletville Adventures : Through the eyes of a mother...

I don't know if you've read the book "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green but if you haven't, you should. It was one of our book club picks that I read while I was pregnant and at the time I read it, I was still reading it as though I was the one suffering. I don't want to ruin it all for you but the book is basically about two teenagers who fall in love but are both afflicted with (stupid ass) cancer. This week during one of my babies free afternoons, I went to see the movie based on the book with my friend Crystal. Let me tell you that I lived that movie very differently than when I read the book. It was such an odd sort of feeling that it is still affecting me today... I watched the movie and felt the emotions not through the eyes of the teenagers but through the eyes of the mother and it broke me... The whole time, I couldn't get the boys out of my head and how I would deal if one of the boys got sick... I think it was the first time in my life that I lived a fictional situation happening to someone else and it was scary how much love and pain I felt at the same time. I cried like a baby the whole movie (Crystal can attest to that) and I cried in my car after for a good 10 minutes. I know it's all fictional and hopefully it will never be a reality in my life but that "mother" feeling hit me like a tonne of bricks and it really scared the shit out of me. It's a reality check that I now, for the most part, see the world through a new set of eyes. I look at the world and imagine what my children will grow up with. There will always be hate and anger and bullies... I just recently found out that someone I deeply care for is being bullied and it angers me so much that these kids feel so inferior in some aspects of their lives that they need to bully in order to feel superior in areas where they can have some control... I'll always believe that 90% of bullies are bullied at home and that makes me sad... I try to think of how I can protect my children from the evilness of life but I know that I can't and they'll have to live though it all as I have. My parents did the best they could but they couldn't protect me from everything. I know that learning to fight your own battles is part of life and it helps you build strength but I so wish I could protect my babies from all hurts in the world, whether it be illness, bullies, heartbreaks and just pain in general. I know I've mentioned this before and I'm recycling my thought but I keep thinking, what if one of my boys turns out to be gay? Will he have to live through the oppression many others have? He will be fully loved, supported and accepted in our family but the world still contains assholes who can/will make his life difficult. We will, as our parents have, do the best we can with the knowledge we have and what aspect of their lives our boys let us in on.

Jacob is feeling all better, thankfully, but now the other two boys have caught what he had and Zachary is miserable. He's got a man cold and he's 7 1/2 months old! What am I going to do when he's a teenager?? haha... 4 man colds? I'm going to have to move out when it happens... Honestly though it's so sad and as they're so young, there isn't much I can do to help them. I was rocking Zach tonight and I could feel the cold in his little lungs and he was breathing so fast... I just didn't want to put him in his crib, I just wanted to hold him all night but my boy loves his bed (that's a good thing!) so I put him down and he's been sleeping like an angel. He had a rough night last night but I gave him some Tylenol tonight and I'm hoping he has a better night tonight. Samuel also has a runny nose and a small cough but he's living it much better than my man Zach... who knows, it might get worse tomorrow... I just hate seeing my boys sick and knowing there's nothing I can do about it. I'm glad I wasn't alone this weekend because all Zach wanted to do was be on someone. I'm also glad my mom is coming to help tomorrow because I don't think he'll be any better tomorrow poor little dude...

We celebrated Canada Day this year as we've done for the past 4 years, we spent some time at one of the events downtown (this year we went to Riverview) and then we went to Shediac to my friend Josée's parents beachfront property. Sadly, we weren't able to stay for the fireworks this year as we didn't want to mess with the boys' schedule. Maybe next year we'll be able to stay a little later and later and later as the years go on until one year, the boys will be ready to stay up late enough to see the fireworks with us! We could have gone back after we put the boys to bed but we were so tired ourselves that we were in bed before the fireworks even went off... We still had a really good time; we got to show off the boys (who were in my belly at last year's event) and introduce them to the beach and water. Samuel wasn't loving it; he started crying every time his feet hit the water. Zachary wasn't really showing any emotions, could've done with or without but Jacob... Jacob LOVED it... Had I brought swimming diapers, he may have been swimming by the time we left...haha! He's like his mom. I always loved the water and almost taught myself how to swim at a very early age. I really want my boys to swim and we're hoping to be able to put them into some kind of swimming lesson but right now it's difficult because we need one adult per child and that's not always easy... if only we were polygamists! (HA!) Gab's best friend Nesha (who lives in Saskatchewan) was helping us all day Canada Day and also yesterday and I think Gab could see some benefits to having two wives... and honestly, I wouldn't mind a sister wife at times!! We were walking in Riverview with Nesha pushing Jacob and Sam in our double stroller and I had Zachary in our single stroller and people kept pointing to Nesha and saying "Oh! Look, Twins!!" haha... I actually felt bad for Zachary that he was being left out of the trio! I wanted to say "NO, TRIPLETS!!"! Nesha also got to experience our mini celebrity status while we were walking at the mall yesterday with our cadillac stroller. I had gone into a shop and Gabe and Nesha kept walking with the boys (she was pushing the stroller) and someone grabbed her arms to stop her so they could look at the boys! She stepped back and said "Oh, I'm not the mother!" haha... She was amazed at all the comments that were thrown our way, some we don't even hear anymore... We had a really good time with her (WE LOVE YOU NESHA) and can't wait to see her again!

I also got to go to a mommy group play date this week. I was super glad that we were invited because it's hard for us to go anywhere or do anything with most mommy groups. It was with a bunch of my teacher friends (and others) and I was pleased to see that some of the babies there were the same age as the boys. I was scared we were going to be the only non-mobile babies there. There was even a one week old! Granted, all the other babies were at least crawling but the boys still got to play. I didn't know if I was going to go as it cut right into their morning nap but they slept in the van on the way there and weren't too bad the rest of the day. This week was a test and I think I will continue to go! It was good for my mental health as well to go and chat with other mommies.

Alright, time for pictures!!

Sam may not have liked the ocean, but he did like lounging out on this cute chair!

Zachary wanted in on the chair action... was he drinking a beer? Well... if you're canadian on Canada Day do as canadians do I guess!

Jacob really just wanted to get IN the water...

Hanging out in Riverview

Zachary and Jacob hanging out with Papa and Nesha. Samuel is sleeping in the stroller you can see in the background.

I think Jacob is the only one not scared of my step-dad Winston so he takes full advantage!

They are really starting to love Sophie!

It was sooooo hot this week that the boys spent much time in their diapers and slept like this too.

We got to go spend an hour at ribfest while my mom "watched" the boys (they were sleeping...lol)

They were yummy!

Tuesday marked 31 weeks and 5 days for my boys... the same amount of time they were in my belly!!

Samuel made a friend in Eden at the mommy group playdate

How gorgeous is she?

Jacob really wanted to flip on his belly...

They are now all grabbing at their feet

When Zachary was feeling like himself earlier this week

Uncle Joel playing with the boys

He was just too cute

Teaching the boys to read early but as you can see they were more interested in eating the books... Except for Samuel, he actually looks like he's reading but trust me, he's just looking to find the best spot to chew on!