Tripletville Adventures

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

So we spent some time with Arthur today (my little nephew) and it made me realize how quickly time passes. He'll be one month on Friday already! Not only that, but he's only 6 months younger than my boys. Right now, in the baby phase, 6 months seems like a lot because the differences between Arthur and the boys is impressive. He's still just a wee little thing who still mostly sleeps between all his feeds. The boys are already moving around, grabbing at object knowing exactly what they want to grab. When they get older, their 6 months difference will have little meaning as they'll run around my parents' yard and you wouldn't even know there was any age difference between them. I now have a hard time remembering the time when they were a month old (they were just leaving the NICU and still so little) so when I picked up Arthur today, so many memories came flooding back... I remember them snuggling on me all tucked in and sleeping there for hours, now I'm lucky if they cuddle for an hour tops. I miss my long cuddles... Jacob slept on me today for about an hour and then snuggled for about another 1/2 hour, it was great. I guess I will always miss every phase. When they start crawling around, I'll probably miss this phase, the phase where I don't have to worry about them getting into places they shouldn't be getting into, like getting stuck in the legs of the chair under the table (I can imagine Jacob doing just that!). They are already figuring out how to move around (except for my chill guy Zachary). Jacob can get from one play mat to another with some imaginative wiggling to get to the toys he really wants. Samuel is "crawling" on his back... He pushes his tummy out and pushes himself backwards. They're getting so smart! Soon, they'll be running all over the house! I won't need a diet plan, just running after them all day will be enough exercise!! All that to say that time goes by sooooooo quickly I find when they're babies, and maybe it always goes that fast... The boys will be 7 months next Saturday... that's just crazy! One year ago, I was just finding out that I had three babies in my belly...

Since today is Father's Day, I have to give a shout out to my husband. In the last year, he's often been my rock. If you followed my pregnancy, you know how difficult of a journey that was, and Gabe had to pick up the slack as I couldn't do much of anything. So by taking care of me, he was already being a great daddy to the boys. When they were in the NICU at the beginning, often times, I wasn't strong enough alone and again, he had to (sometimes literally) hold me up. Many of you have called me super momma, but the boys truly have a super dad. He gets home from work, drops everything and right away his focus is 100% on the babies until they go to bed. Their faces light up when he walks in the door (including mine but for different reasons... I'm just exhausted and thankful that help is here!) and he always knows how to make them laugh. The best is seeing them interact with one another as his face lights up as he sees them as well. He'll be a great role model and their first hero. I'm glad I chose him as a husband because it means that my children get to have him as a dad. Love you babe... (and so do our boys... even if they can't tell you yet!)

I also have to remember my dad and how much he would have loved his boys... Miss you Papa...

And lastly, I have to give a shout out to my step-dad who has shown me the real meaning of work ethic. That man is truly relentless. He has always loved us as much as if we were his own (to him, we are) and he's always good for a laugh. He's been a real role model for me and I know that he will be a great Papi to my boys. He loves them so much already. Love you Wink!

I'm sure you all saw the wonderful rainbows that were out this week the day after the funeral for the fallen. I wanted to take a moment to celebrate the amazing things that happened this week because no matter how black a time can be, a rainbow will always find a way to shine through, if you look for it hard enough. I know for the friends and families of the fallen, it'll be a long time before they can see beyond the hurt but I hope that one day they'll be able to see the good in the world again. Our city has proven how strong it can be after a fall... There was a saying we used when I was in cadets: "Divided we fall, together we stand" that really resonated with me this week. Just today, there was about a 7 000 people turn out for a 3km run for the three fallen officers. This city continues to amaze me!

I'd like to share a few rainbows of my week...

I got to go for a wonderful walk with my amazing friend Véronique and her 11 month old son Sébastien. We gave each other a very long hug as the events of last week were still fresh and you never know when you may not see the people you love again. I also got to see another one of my very best friends who I got to congratulate on getting HER PH.D IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY!!!!!!!!!!! Ainslie has worked so hard for so long to get to where she's at and I gotta say, she's a rock star! She killed her defense (as we all knew she would) and she can now officially call herself a doctor!!!! I'm so effing proud of you Ains!! xox My longtime best friend Lizette and her wife welcomed their second child on Friday (a boy this time) and I can't wait to be able to see him. Of course, having three babies myself, it's always hard to get to places... so hopefully I'll see him before he's all grown up! We went to see my nieces in a movie they made with their daycare, they were freaking adorable. My mom very narrowly missed being smashed into by a distracted driver who cut her off going 110 km/h (phew!). Gabe, the boys and I spent about 45 minutes rocking on my new swing just chilling. The boys just love it; Samuel even fell asleep while Jacob was laying on him. We put the swing on our front porch so when it's nice out before their supper time (their fussiest time), we bring them outside and it seems to instantly calm them (it always calmed me, maybe they take that from me...). We may have found a daycare that we can afford!! We are going to visit on Tuesday so I hope it'll work out. And of course, I got to spend loads of time with my family and even got to hold little Arthur. It's always easy to focus on the negative but it's so much better to try to find the positive in your life. I hope you can find your own rainbows this week...

The boys got their 6 month shots this week and Jacob took it like a pro! He only cried when she stuck the third needle in. It was like he was saying: "Ok lady, you stuck me once ok, you stuck me twice ok but a THIRD TIME?? WTF?!? ". Samuel and Zachary weren't as tough as Jacob but once they were soothed that was it. I'm glad that they haven't felt any side effects from any of their shots yet (fingers crossed). They are still enjoying all the solids I've given them (even yucky peas!). I started giving them bananas with their cereal this morning and it was the first time they finished the whole bowl. YEAH FRUITS!! My sister helped me prepare apples and bananas on Saturday when she came to help take care of the babies (not that she minds, my sister is head over heels in love... who wouldn't be really?). Gabe had a bachelor party (I get to go to the bachelorette next Saturday!!) and I refuse to be alone during the weekends (it's my break) but thankfully my family (or Gabe's) is always ready and willing to help out. The boys are taking their turns having a hard time with sleep recently. Tonight, I had to take a break from writing this to soothe Zachary who had been screeching (that's his new thing) in his crib. It took me quite a long time.. I hope there's nothing wrong. Maybe he's not taking well to the new veggie (parsnip) I gave him for supper... Most nights Jacob wakes up between 3 and 4:30 and won't self soothe so I have to get up and soothe him. It normally doesn't take me more than 10 minutes but it also means that I'm fully awake by that point and I can't fall back asleep right away. Samuel also had a few nights where he woke up needing me to soothe him. The nurse told me this would happen... She said they'd start waking up in the middle of the night looking for me. I mean, I love that they love me enough to wake up screaming for me, but I hope they get over it soon. I mean, they get to be with me all day everyday, we don't need to be together all night too boys!! haha... I hope they give me a good night's sleep tonight as tomorrow is Monday and I'm very often alone on Mondays and to get through a day with 7 month old triplet boys, I need all the sleep I can get which is why I'm saying good night to y'all with PICS!!!

The swing they love so much!

Jacob really likes to sleep on his tummy so he tried really hard to flip on his tummy in the swing... poor little soul fell asleep like this; it can't be good for his neck!!

Baby wrestling on the couch! Zachary is about to put his leg around Samuel's neck... it got crazy from there! Maybe the couch isn't the most appropriate place... let's move this to the floor boys!