the best village

Posted on May 31, 2015 by ClineFamily

It’s been another busy week! I headed to Dallas for business but, never fear, Grandma Sunshine was here!!

On my trip to Dallas, I was able to visit with fellow Jan ’14 triplet mom, Carrie and two of her trio, Thomas and Elizabeth. Carrie is also mom to sweet Grace who I mentioned last week. After all these months of watching Carrie’s kids grow up, it was a bit like meeting celebrities! Love you, Carrie!

Megan was away at the end of this week so our new backup sitter, Lauren, spent Friday with Steven, Sammy and Amaya. It was also Steven’s last physical therapy session before summer break. Honestly, I don’t understand “summer break” for early intervention services but Steven is doing great and I think he may not even need PT when it starts back up in the fall. If he’s not thinking about it, he can stand independently quite well and his physical therapist, Jeanette, showed me how to guide him walking holding onto one of my fingers instead of both hands. We have some tips and tricks for the summer and I think he’ll be walking in no time!

Steven and Jeannette

Yesterday, my dear friend, Mary Morrow, came to visit with her daughter. Mary and I met through the work on the Detroit rape kits. She was the assistant prosecuting attorney at the time and is one of the best people I know. Steven, Sammy and Amaya clearly think so, too. They kept climbing into her arms.

Today is cold and rainy so we went to the mall where we had our first food court experience. Whoo hoo!

Can’t beat bourbon chicken at the mall.

Steven liked it so much that we were all packed up and ready to go while he was still eating. That Bobo.

for grace

Posted on May 25, 2015 by ClineFamily

Meet Grace. Grace and her triplet brother & sister, Thomas and Elizabeth, were born the same month as Steven, Sammy and Amaya. Over the past 18 months, I’ve grow close with Grace’s mom, Carrie, and have watched Carrie’s kids grow alongside my own. On Friday, sweet Grace was diagnosed with leukemia. I can’t imagine being in their shoes and am amazed (but not surprised) at the family’s spirit and strength. As much as I can, I’ll be by Grace’s side through her journey and ask that you all keep Grace in your hearts and your thoughts.

Here at the home front, it was a quiet week but not short on adventure. We’ve started using the new water table that Nana and I put together last week. It’s a hit!

We’re also trying out our new (and first ever!) swimsuits.

Sammy was so excited about my sunglasses that I grabbed his for him and he was happy, happy, happy!

Steven

Amaya

Three babies who aren’t quite asleep yet.

Mommy snuggles!

Daddy snuggles!

For a host of reasons, we’ve moved on from plastic straw cups and are excited about our new Pura stainless steel cups!

From the week…

Steven standing! He’s getting better and better at it!

Sammy wants to be sure you see him, too.

Sammy says “Cheese”!

I think he looks like he’s FOUR in this photo.

And Amaya!

Finally! I was in Charleston (Folly Beach) this weekend for Bitcherie Weekend 8.0. Not pictured is Erin, who took the photo, and Deena who couldn’t make it this year. Three days of relaxation with some of the best women I know. LNVE to you all, my dear friends! And thank you to Jason and Grandma Sunshine to who held down the fort so I could get away.

beam me up

Posted on May 17, 2015 by ClineFamily

We had a BIG week!

Miss Amaya is now a WALKER! She took off!! It was only a matter of time and it finally clicked this week. My sweet, sweet girl.

And, Sammy stood by himself right in the center of the room. He got up off the floor himself with his wide legged stance and stood! He doesn’t want to be upstaged by his sister!

The tail end of a standing Sammy with cameos from his sister and brother.

Sammy even took his first few steps!

And! With new, better fitting shoes, Steven is starting to stand unsupported, as well!

This weekend, Steven, Sammy and Amaya went to their first con! My kids! At a con! It’s amazing. I went to my first Star Trek con in high school and it’s crazy to think that this is still something I’m interested in and that I get to share it with my family.

It’s super convenient because Motor City Comic Con is less than 2 miles from our house.

There was so much to see!

Enthralled by a Storm Trooper!

We met Terry Farrel from Star Trek: Deep Space 9. She was wonderful and so excited to get down on the ground and spend time with Steven, Sammy and Amaya. There was a game of peek-a-boo and high fives all around!

Sammy was totally smitten. When we left her area, he just kept signing, “more, more.” So cute!!

And here’s Amaya being cute with her sippy cup.

Amaya and I waited on line together for Gates McFadden (Star Trek: TNG). (And, sorry, Jason. In my blog, it’s on line!) Amaya was saying hi to everyone and just generally excited to meet Dr. Crusher.

Fortunately, she was just as excited to meet us!!

What a thrill. Seriously. A THRILL.

Today, I had a play date with another triplet mom. Her boys are 7 months old and we’ve been trying to plan this for a while. It was a lot of fun but also difficult because of the age difference. Steven, Sammy and Amaya are way too young to know how to be gentle with babies or not to throw things at them. We’ll definitely do it again, though! There’s nothing like another triplet mom. We are one. 🙂

Steven played in the mix for a bit but he’s so independent that he was also happy playing on his own.

This past week we showed some Cavs pride as they make their way through the NBA playoffs! So stinking cute.

If you’re cleaning in the kitchen and need to keep 3 toddlers occupied, paper towels do the trick quite nicely.

Amaya loooooves Steven. She loves to hug him and roll on him and it’s adorable. Sammy loves ME!

And we all love selfies! (Though Sammy loves them best!)

Nana is visiting this weekend which means lots of fun and lots of hugs. We played with new toys, explored our bean bags and put together our new water table! Thanks for the help, Nana!

Steven!

His sneakers were too big so we gave him the size 6 sneakers that we just bought for Sammy. (Poor Sammy! He loves shoes but still doesn’t have a pair of his own. His are on the way so hopefully this will be remedied soon.) Steven’s much more stable in these smaller shoes.

This kid!

He’s doing great with his Y bike.

Sammy!

Turns out, Sammy loves shoes and Sammy loves the Swiffer. I mean, looooooooves it. He sat and played with it for a long, long time and actually understands the concept of how it’s used.

Sammy in the shoes we gave to Steven. Sorry Sammy!

Happy as can be in Daddy’s shoes.

Amaya!

Earlier in the week I was home before a meeting and Amaya kindly helped me with the bills. She’s so curious and sassy and smiley.

Amaya has the brightest smile but she is very sad when she doesn’t get what she wants.

I can’t end the blog on Sad Amaya so I’ll end with cheez-its! Flour, cheese, butter. Super easy. But don’t cook them for too long or they’ll get a little over crispy. Yum! Yum! Yum!

my heart is full

Posted on May 10, 2015 by ClineFamily

It’s my second Mother’s Day and it’s still hard to believe that I’m part of this celebration of moms. Being Steven, Sammy and Amaya’s mom is such a gift.

It was a wonderful day. I slept in and came down to my family and a display that showcased evidence of my labor and love over the past year. It was so sweet.

I also got some extra special help with the morning dishes.

The weather wasn’t great in the morning but we decided to go to the zoo anyway. It was perfect. Cool enough in the early part of the day and the sun came out just before lunch.

We’re really getting the routine down. Steven, Sammy and Amaya (though pictured as Sammy, Steven and Amaya) were able to enjoy some raspberries and sweet potato cookies before we got on our way.

We saw fish and seals and camels and ducks!

We also stopped to have a caricature drawn of the kids. He did a great job capturing their personalities. Amaya was a total ham the whole time.

And our Phil & Ted lobster chairs work perfectly for lunch out. Pizza & french fries! We looooooove french fries.

After lunch, we had a few more adventures with babies who were growing sleepier and sleepier.

Sleepy from our adventures!

Our final work of art!

My Mother’s Day recap wouldn’t be complete without my amazing new bag that Steven, Sammy and Amaya worked on with Megan. I take a tote bag to work every day so it will get a ton of use. Hopefully you can see how much I love it from the smile on my face. <3 <3 <3

Yesterday I had to spend most of the day at a commercial shoot so Anna came to spend the day with Steven, Sammy and Amaya. They had a blast!

I did have a chance for some play time before I left.

These next three pictures came with a text that said, “They all woke up in magnificent moods!”

I also received some videos on the Y Bike. Don’t miss Amaya’s cameo at the end of Sammy’s video.

Plus Steven, on Friday.

You hear about simple things that make kids happy. Right now, it’s a shoe box. As head gear. Because why wouldn’t a shoe box be headgear?

A few of Steven this week.

Sammy

He loves wearing shoes. He’s going to be so happy when his arrive!

But more than shoes, Sammy loves a selfie!

Amaya

And, when you don’t have 3 boxes to play with, sweet potatoes will do!

And a final video.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms!

what happens in the land of cheltenham…

Posted on May 5, 2015 by ClineFamily

What a week!! Jason and I planned our first vacation away together since Steven, Sammy and Amaya were born. The plan was to leave Wednesday night and fly home on a Sunday night red eye. Unfortunately, a work meeting delayed me by a day so Jason headed on without me and I rescheduled for the next night.

Though, if I can’t be vacationing with Jason, it’s hard to beat spending time with these kiddos.

Sammy explored the fridge.

Fun with good old fashioned pots and spoons!

But I made it to Vegas! And, at this point, I should stop to introduce Ichabod, our good lizard friend who lives at McCarran Airport in Vegas and greets us whenever we arrive.

Also!! My secret sister in my triplet group is amazing and had this waiting for us in our room when we got to Vegas!! I love my fellow triplet mommas. I don’t talk about them in the blog but they are an amazing source of support and have become, I hope, lifelong friends. There’s no one else who can relate to this journey I’m on the way they can. <3

And here we are!! Jason got in a ton of gambling time, I read 3 books and got two massages and we ate some fantastic food. It was a such a welcome, needed break.

Back in the Land of Cheltenham, Steven, Sammy, Amaya and Megan had a pizza party!! They loved it!

Steven’s orthotics finally arrived. They’re smaller than I thought they’d be and they don’t seem to bother him at all so hopefully they’ll give him the stability he needs and he’ll be off and running! All he needed now were shoes that fit with his orthotics. (In general, his physical therapist said it’s preferred that young kids don’t wear shoes unless they need to but Steven will have to wear shoes all the time.)

We’re so grateful to Nana and Grandma Sunshine for coming to stay with Steven, Sammy and Amaya for the weekend! Everyone was ready for fun and adventure!

And there was lot of adventure, starting with a trip to the grocery store!

And, on Sunday, there were two trips to shoe stores to get some new kicks for Steven. He’s an extra wide with his orthotics and they’re hard to come by. I’m so appreciative that my mom and Sherry were willing to run around town to be sure Steven is ready to run.