Monday’s always feel like a lifetime ago when writing about them on a Sunday. It feels especially so when it was a Monday where Nana and Savta were still here.

With a 1:1 ratio, it was a perfect day to take Steven, Sammy and Amaya to the hands-on museum. (On the way in, Steven saw a jeep with a colorful tire cover and said to Megan, “Look at that fancy jeep!”)

Sammy said his favorite part of the museum day were the screws.

Steven and Sammy playing with an air blower. Love these!

The kids had fun with big bubbles.

On Monday afternoon, Baby Taco came by with Mike to see my mom and grandmother. Steven read her a book. Amaya told Megan, “Her does love me.” <3

We had a sleepy evening together before I headed to the airport for a late night flight to Oklahoma City. Quick trip, but it’s always hard to leave!  Steven had a fever, too, which made it a bit more difficult that usual. Poor Bobo.

Tuesday morning were school photos and Steven was able to join Sammy & Amaya for pictures but, afterward, he had to leave with Megan because of his fever the night before. Steven was very excited to tell me that he helped take Nana and Savta to the airport. Afterward, he had his first trip to heaven. I’m pretty sure Steven was in heaven.

“We’re eating pizza like the one I saw them make with May May!”

I was back bright and early on Wednesday with presents in hand. An airplane that makes noises for Steven. A captain’s hat for Sammy. A purse with a cat for Amaya. It’s getting a little harder to buy gifts because 3 of the same thing generally doesn’t make sense but 3 different things often creates jealousy and grabby hands. I’m a work-in-progress Mommy gift giver. (Also, I need to take a trip to Five Below and stock up on some inexpensive travel gifts. Those airport gift shops will drain the wallet fast!)

Grandma Sunshine came for a visit on Wednesday and SSA couldn’t wait for her to arrive!

She’s here!!

Such love on that face. <3

On Thursday everyone was fussy so Megan got the kids focused on cookie baking. Peanut butter cookies! I did a double take when I first saw this picture. I don’t think that looks like Amaya at all but I definitely see a strong, strong resemblance to her big cousin Nancy.

I was excited to have a chance to come home for lunch on Thursday. Steven, Sammy and Amaya said it was okay as long as I ate what they ate so it was chicken nuggets all around.

While the SSA were in school on Friday, Megan went to Baby Taco’s 4 month well-check. Afterward, she bought Taco to pick up the kids and spend the afternoon at our house.

In case anyone’s been wondering, this is what my van would look like if Jason and I had another baby. (We’re not. We’re not. I’m just saying this is what it would look like.)

These kids are SO gentle and tender with Taco. My heart is near to bursting every time I look at these photos. It’s so special that the have a little baby to love.

We had a quiet weekend at home. There were lots and lots of messy, messy crafts. So messy.

I slept in this morning after going to see RENT last night and Steven, Sammy and Amaya were excited to wake me up! It was nice for me, too. Both the sleeping in and these little people coming to bring me downstairs.

Steven this week!

Goofball. 🙂

My poor cat! Sally was hiding under the bed the entire time the kids were up there today. Steven and I caught her peeking out to check if the coast was clear.

“I have to make a diamond with my fingers.”

All Steven wanted for dinner were peas and carrots. That’s what he got, doused in olive oil.

Sammy this week!

He was excited to find an onion peel in that box.

Drawing a circle and lines.

Little stinker taunting me with feet on the table.

Amaya this week!

Amaya still has some accidents during nap time. On Saturday she helped me with her laundry.

Messy, messy, messy art!

Reading a book to Baby Jenna while Baby Jenna napped.

And that’s it for the week. Have a good one!

Last week I shared this photo of Steven, taken Sunday evening. It was at the end of a long weekend of potty training and he hadn’t eaten much all day. He just wasn’t himself. True to form, when he woke up on Monday morning he was super lethargic. That seems to happen whenever Steven goes to bed without a full stomach. At least I’ve learned a big cup of milk will get him over the hump.

Just after he woke up. My little, limp Bobo.

Lying on the floor outside my bathroom while I showered. Megan was downstairs getting his milk ready. Poor thing really does take a hit when his blood sugar is low.

Had some milk! All better!

Later that morning, Megan texted me this photo and said that Steven was having some of the same issues I saw over the weekend. He spent a lot of time on the couch & wasn’t using the potty even though, every 5 minutes, he said he had to pee. Megan, Jason and I made the decision that he probably isn’t ready for potty training yet. I called him and ask if he’d like to wear diapers again which got me an immediate “yes”. Once he was back in diapers, we had our happy Steven back again.

(As a side note, later that day Steven told Megan that “Daddy wanted me to be nakey.” Sweet boy. I never considered that the kids were old enough to not only internalize what we say but hold onto it that way. Obviously we assured him that Daddy just wants him to do what’s best for him and that diapers are great if that’s what’s best for him.)

Later in the day, brothers walking around the house holding hands. <3

Amaya has started completely dressing herself in the morning. She’s so focused and determined when it comes to doing things independently. Amaya knows that the characters should be on the front of her underwear and the tag on her pants is on her back. I’m proud of my girl.

This is my view when I’m I’m trying to get ready for work in the morning with 3 “helpers”.

The usual 6:30pm view. Kids and mommy on the couch watching Wonder Pets or Daniel Tiger.

Looking at their baby book. LOVE.

We had snow on Monday and the kids were so excited to watch daddy go outside to snow blow.

Steven and Amaya, busy readying.

Early in the week I told SSA that Nana and Savta were coming to visit on Friday. That set off days and days of questions about exactly when Nana and Savta would get there. On Thursday, we helped bridge the gap with FaceTime.

And then Nana and Savta were here!

Nana got this photo of the kids watching me get the mail when I got home from work on Friday evening.

On Saturday morning, Steven, Sammy and Amaya got lots of cuddle time with Nana including FaceTime time with Charlie.

I had plans to go out shopping with everyone on Saturday morning but never bothered to check the weather forecast so I was totally surprised to see it snowing! I was totally caught off guard but we made the most of it and, for the first time this year, all bundled up to go and play in our snow. It was perfect snow weather. I’m so glad to see I have three kiddos who love playing in the snow. (Though I hate being out in the cold so maybe they won’t like it too much.)

Snow angels!

Off she goes! We really need to get a sled of some sort for the backyard. Without one, Amaya just did barrel rolls down the hill. 🙂

Last weekend my triplet moms taught me that you can eat the skin of kiwis (and it’s full of fiber and vitamin c)! Decided to give it a try this week. Serving kiwis like apples is definitely easier than all of that peeling and slicing.

After naptime, the ladies and the kids we out to look at paint options for Amaya’s room and to Home Goods & Michael’s. We definitely kept them in carts in Home Goods. There’s waaaaaaay too much stuff at eye level for grabby toddler hands.

Amaya got this pillow and she’s obsessed.

The checkout at Michael’s is a parent’s nightmare. Which I’m sure they know and is exactly what they’re going for.

After shopping we went to Red Lobster for dinner. Steven, Sammy and Amaya did really well through a 45 minute wait.

Steven, giving hugs to Nana and Savta. It was so sweet.

Lobsters in the tank helped pass the time. Steven was the most adventurous. Amaya kept telling me she didn’t want to look at them. I think they were a little concerned that the lobsters would escape the tank.

Sammy eating a lime.

Steven showing off his salad.

Amaya and Steven ordered mac & cheese and chicken fingers, respectively, but Sammy insisted on ordering lobster. Our Bubba.

Today was a lazy day at home so we made our own adventures.

A parade with Savta!

Coloring Flat Stanley with Nana

Sand!

Glitter markers. (Glitter eeeeeverywhere.)

While Jason was out watching the Sparty’s, the rest of us enjoyed corned beef and cabbage. So yummy!

Amaya was sorry the Sparty’s lost.

Half of the weekend was spent walking around with these amazing, furry Wookie bags from our Aunt Edith. Loooooove them!

Steven this week!

He made a point to put his feet on me so he’d be touching all of us.

Sammy this week!

Selfies. 🙂

Puppy had some holes from all of the Sammy loving. I thought maybe an option would be offering him the back-up puppy I’ve been holding on to for a while now but it was a no-go. In the end, Puppy needed surgery.

Amaya this week!

New Star Wars dress! <3

And that’s it! Have a great week!

Monday started as you do. With underwear on our heads. Such wacky kids. They are everything you expect of three year olds.

As soon as Steven is in underwear I’m sure he’ll want them on his head, too.

Steven got the idea that they should “go to the place where we had our party”. Megan was on board so everyone headed over to Tiny Town after breakfast. It cracks me up that the kids are old enough to really set their own agendas like that.

Tuesday was a BIG day for the Sam Man – his first day of swim class! Go Sammy!!

School kicked off with Sammy and Amaya ready with their new backpacks.

Since it was his first week, Megan joined them at swim like Rosie did with Amaya. Megan reported back that Sammy was a little nervous for the first 2 minutes and then warmed right up. He had a great first day!! I’m such a proud mama.

Amaya, on the other hand, was refusing to go in the water. I suggested Megan leave the lesson and sure enough, once she left, Amaya was happy to get in the water and even go to the deep end with the instructor. That’s so Amaya.

I’m so excited that Sammy gets to join Amaya for swim and I will do a huge cheer when Steven is ready, too. <3

The JCC sent home a 3 ingredient cookie recipe (oats, bananas, raisins) so Megan and SSA made the cookies on Wednesday.

On Wednesday I had a long day of work meetings followed by a dinner and, unfortunately, Rosie texted around 9:30 am to say she was sick. Megan graciously said she could stay until Jason got home from work and Mike would pick Taco up from her mom’s house. Well you know how things go with perfectly laid back up plans. You end up needing back up back up plans. The weather was a mess and Mike’s hotel lost power  which meant he couldn’t leave on time. Megan’s mom kindly brought Taco to our instead, which turned out to be a ton of fun for Steven, Sammy and Amaya. They love time with Baby Taco!

I’ve watched this video at least 30 times. Turn the volume up. Steven is the sweetest, sweetest Bobesies. So gentle and tender with Taco.

On Thursday, Megan took the kids to the play space at the mall and then Chinese food in the food court. (Cute little story. At bedtime the boys always try to stall with questions for us. “Wait! Wait! I have a question for you.” On Thursday night Steven’s question was an inquiry into what I wanted to eat. I said “chinese food” because Jason and I were having some for dinner. Steven said, “You can’t have Chinese food. I didn’t bring any home from the mall for you.”)

Friday was very special. The JCC had a Purim party for the kids and family members were invited to attend. I am so lucky that I have the opportunity to duck out of work for events like this. When I arrived, the kids were all entering the JCC lobby area. Steven was already seated and Sammy and Amaya were still walking up to their seats. They knew I was coming to their school that day but the looks on their faces when they saw me were priceless. The program consisted of about 30 minutes of Shabbat and Purim songs, a parade through the JCC where the kids collected tchotchke toys and then we went back to their classroom for hamentashen. (Side story – that morning Jason asked SSA if they were going to have hamentashen at school and they said no, they already made hamentashen with nana. 🙂 ) Lots of kids were dressed up, which I hadn’t thought to do! Next year for sure! Though Megan told me the teachers offered to let the kids wear dress-up costumes from the classroom and they declined.

It was such a nice event and I loved getting to share it with my little loves.

Steven kept looking at me with this little light in his eyes.

Sammy was camped on Miss Lena’s lap. He adores her and it’s precious.

When I first arrived Amaya was so happy to see me but it was as if, all of a sudden, she realized that she was too cool to be there with her mom and spent 1/2 the program pretending I wasn’t there, lol. Until I offered up my lap. My feet fell asleep with the weight of all three kids on my legs but there was no way I was going to change a thing.

That said, Amaya didn’t want to sit by me in the classroom while the boys had me sit right between them.

Steven saw that my hamentashen wasn’t on the pink table cloth and that just wouldn’t do.

Lucky, lucky mom. <3

Apparently the Purim party wore these kids out! Steven, Sammy and Amaya were not at all interested in waking up from their naps on Friday afternoon.

Saturdays are wonderful. The start of a family weekend at home and it begins with Playroom Pancakes. This week it also began with mustache whistles, compliments of the Purim party parade.

Jason had to run to the post office and the boys wanted to go so off they all went!

This morning, I woke (early!) to 3 happy kids who were totally unfazed by daylight savings time. We’ve come a long way from the days we moved their schedule in 15 minute increments over the course of a week.

Steven is working so hard to go potty. Jason convinced him to spend the weekend without pants & underwear (but in Jason’s big shirt). On Saturday afternoon he had one success and one accident. Poor guy was totally freaked out in the moment. Today he had two success and no accidents. He was a bit of a mess all day, though. He went long periods at a time when he’d say he had to go potty every 5 minutes but the minute he sat down, he’d say he couldn’t go. It was rough. I’m hoping every day gets a little easier for him.

Someone stole Sammy’s shoes.

Sammy figured out how to play piano when there was no immediate seat waiting for him.

Everyone else followed suit.

Super Sammy!!

This is what morning looks like when the kids wake up to new ball cards from Daddy.

This girl still loves her play doh.

It’s Grandpa Homey’s birthday and Jason made sure everyone had a chance to send our love and birthday wishes via FaceTime!

It was a peaceful weekend, but I hope this guy is in better shape soon. He’s getting it. He’s ready. We all just need to work the process with him.

Steven this week!

So proud of peeing on the potty. I sent him a video back in return. He told Megan, “That was great!” My Bobes.

Brothers!

Sammy this week!

This kid.

Jason left some ball cards out at night. When Jason came down to go to work Sammy couldn’t wait to run to Jason and find out who it was on the card. Sweetest.

He loves taking selfies.

He also loves taking pictures of me. I have 5 or 6 more from this week. “Mommy! I want to take a picture of you!”

Smiling selfie! (I took this one.)

You can tell I took that one ^^ because most of Sammy’s look like this. “I was looking down.”

Amaya this week!

Little fashionista.

Finally, happy morning kiddos.s

Have a great week!

Welcome back, May May! Steven, Sammy and Amaya were very excited to welcome Megan back from maternity leave. Sammy was practically jumping out of his skin. It was really cute. And, so quickly, they’ve adapted and understand that Megan comes in the morning and Rosie comes in the afternoon.

Megan dove right in. SSA spent time tracing their names, playing alphabet bingo and working on correlating numbers and quantities. I love it!

Happy kids!

Monday was Steven’s first day using the potty at least twice/day and he had success! He finished and ran to Sammy and Amaya to tell them that he peed on the potty! He could hear the pee go in the toilet! 🙂 So stinking cute. We’re so proud of him.

(I can’t believe how much Steven looks like Sammy in this picture. I think it’s because of the angle of his face. It looks more narrow than usual. But every time I see this photo I do a quick double take.)

Back in January, we told the kids we’d get them a globe for their birthday. It never happened but Steven saw the image of the globe in his dollhouse and said, “We were going to get one of these for our party!” It just so happened someone at work was getting rid of a globe and gave it to me. What a hit! The kids love seeing where they live and looking for where Nana and Papa live. (All over the world, is their answer.) Sammy is insistent he wants to live in China “next time”.

As you can see, it’s still business as usual with Rosie and three 3 year olds!

Rosie also taught the kids an amazing new trick this week. The preschool flip!

SSA are getting more and more interested in helping and in doing things themselves. This week on the list was buttering the bread for their grilled cheese sandwiches. I’m also working on letting them get themselves dressed. That one is hard for me if they’re not pushing for it because it takes so much loooooonger. But I know it’s worth it in the long run.

On Thursday, Megan took Steven, Sammy and Amaya to “Cookies with a Cop” at the Novi library. The police officer read a story book and then the got to eat cookies and meet him in person. So much fun! Another friend was there with her 3 year old triplets and mentioned to me how well behaved SSA were. That was really nice to hear!

Sammy cried when it came time to meet the police officer but Steven and Amaya jumped in for their photo op.

Everyone got new backpacks for school because, starting Tuesday, Sammy is joining Amaya at SWIM LESSONS and it will make it easier to take towels and bathing suits with them. Everyone got to pick out their own.

Sammy specifically requested a cow backpack. He’s a happy Bubba.

He also asked for a cow towel but they were all for infants so he went for his 2nd choice – Mickey Mouse – and it’s adorable.

Saturday afternoon, Jason’s friend came over with his 2 year old daughter for a play date. Such a nice afternoon!

Saturday night, around 3am, I woke up to Steven in hysterics. He thought his crib was covered in “mocos” (snot) but it was blood from a bloody nose. It was all over his stuff and he was inconsolable so I took him to bed with me. It’s so, so rare that we sleep with the kids. I can count on one hand the # of times it’s happened and it’s always been when there was a stomach bug. Steven was so sweet cuddled up with me in bed. He held my hand and played with my fingers and we cuddled all night. It was worth every lost minute of sleep. <3 <3 <3

In the morning I realized I probably should have cleaned his face a little better before bed.

Today Sammy and I went to the JCC’s Mom2Mom sale together. 2nd year running and a lot easier this year! We saw the school director there and he burst into tears when he saw her. 🙁 He was totally caught off guard and afraid I was leaving him. Poor Bubba. He rebounded quickly, though!

New hat for summer!

Showing his apple.

Making faces. 🙂

Potty selfie! He went in the car before we left and, sure enough, on the ride home he said he had to go again. He’s so new at all of this that I pulled over in a parking lot for another potty break. Diapers were so much easier.

Brothers! These two. The other night Steven was upset at bedtime and Sammy said, “Don’t worry, Steven. I’m here.”

They’re also getting physical! Tonight was wresting and laughing and wresting and laughing (until Sammy his head on the crib and then it was all over). Brothers. <3

Steven this week!

He’s an astronaut!

Still an astronaut!

Still an astronaut!

Be prepared for a lot of Steven potty selfies. I really can’t help myself.  He’s trying so hard, sitting on the potty every day, and still working on making the magic happen regularly.

Sammy this week!

“Daddy! I’m stuck!”

Amaya this week!

A french braid. Love.

Bed head.

Surly astronaut.

Amaya was so excited to be an astronaut-ballerina-dinosaur. You can tell, since she smiled for photos.

I want what I can’t have and I’m miserable about it!

I’ll end this week with mommy cuddles. I love cuddles.

Have a great week!