Tuesday, November 07, 2006

*** Intermission ***

It is only appropriate that I was getting to the "preemie shuffle" of my triplet pregnancy story, when I have to take a big step back in life.

I cannot even begin to put in to words just how hectic our schedules have been ... but if you know us, or especially if you are one of our co-workers ... you might have a pretty good idea. I've eluded to it before ... life is getting increasingly crazy at the homestead.

Currently, we're both working full-time. When we're not working - our minds are consumed with what else we have to do. Because our work hours aren't 9 to 5 ... they usually are squeezed in when the kids are napping, late at night, or on the weekends. This leaves very little time for "other things" - but we're trying to squeeze those "other things" in to our schedule whenever we can. "Other things" that might include hosting a small group, brushing our teeth, attending play dates, going to the bathroom, having dinner with friends, taking a shower, exercise, doing 10 loads of laundry, getting dressed, and cleaning our house once a quarter.

We tried calling for reinforcements, but the woman we had hired to come assist two days a week (for four hours a day) wound up accepting a full-time job and wouldn't be available. This would have been good reason to start drinking heavily, but this happened about the same time we learned I was expecting our fourth child.

Right now it's just me, Charlie and our two-year old triplets that are hell bent on turning their parents prematurely gray. These are a few of the reasons Charlie and I look like we could be card carrying members of the AARP:
  • Toddler knock down drag out fights, daily. Culprit? The pink sippy cup. I am prepared to replace every single non-pink sippy cup in our sippy cup arsenal. Apparently, milk is rancid if it comes out of the blue, green, orange or purple cup. But tomorrow, the magic color might be green. Or blue. Most likely not purple - that was the magic color, yesterday.
  • Poopy diapers. At least three, per child, per day. This is undoubtedly due to their huge appetites since coming out of their vomiting epidemic for the past two weeks. Poopy diapers aren't the main problem. My issue revolves around our adorable children sticking their hands in their poopy diapers and then running their fingers through their HAIR.
  • Going out. Our children have taken to laying down flat on the floor when they don't want to do something. If I'm lucky, only one or two fall down at once, but sometimes, it'll be all three. This usually happens as I am preparing to load them in to the car. But then - once I finally get everyone safely secured in their carseat - and we are already late on our way to something important - that they inform me, "Mommy!! Poopy!!" In the time it takes me to change someone's diaper and get them back in the carseat, another child will have pooped ... or ... they will have started to remove their clothing and shoes. Whereas it use to take me 15 minutes to get the kids out of the house ... it now takes six hours.
  • Election Day. Within the past week, we have received perfectly timed phone calls, moments after our children have fallen asleep, from every single political candidate and overzealous Hollywood actor in California. Maybe they knew that I needed a reminder, because I actually loaded all the kids and took them with me to vote today. My current political awareness is a far cry from what it was 15 years ago when I graduated from college, one class shy of an unintentional minor in Political Science. Today, I barely had an idea what or who I was voting for, but at least I was there and I've got the sticker to prove it.
  • Lack of sleep. Last night, I went to bed at 1:15 AM. Elizabeth was awake at 2 AM. Elizabeth was awake again at 3 AM. Elizabeth screamed in her crib from 3 AM until 3:30 AM because she wanted to come sleep in our bed with her little toes up my nose. Oddly enough, I have a difficult time sleeping this way. Charlie finally caved at 3:35 and slept with her on the couch until 6:15 this morning, when William woke up. By 6:30 AM, all three children were running through the house while their bleary eyed parents tried to prevent each other from jumping off the roof.
  • This weekend. I am suppose to be in Virginia on Monday morning (6 days from now) for a business meeting. Charlie's 40th birthday is on Sunday (5 days from now). As of this writing, I have yet to book my plane tickets nor, make any plans for my husband's birthday. Instead - I'm thinking that it would be a wise idea to fly the entire family back to South Carolina. Here's the logic: I can spend Charlie's birthday with him and take a puddle jumper to Virginia Monday morning. Otherwise, I have to leave Sunday afternoon from California to get to my meeting on time. Charlie will have the support of my mother and family for the week I am in meetings. We will have the opportunity to see family and friends we haven't seen for over a year and celebrate Thanksgiving together. Our flight to SC leaves from Los Angeles on Saturday morning at 6:30 AM. The reason we're flying out of LA and not San Diego, is because I'm so behind the 8-ball booking our tickets that there was no way we could use of frequent flier miles unless we wanted to take a red-eye with a 3 hour layover in Chicago from 4 to 7 AM. (I don't know who would enjoy that experience more ... us, or the other passengers that would be waiting at the gate for three hours with us.) We have to leave our house at 2:30 AM Saturday morning in order to get to the Los Angeles airport on time. Now we just have to figure out what to do with Molly while we're gone for 2.5 weeks and we're golden. Considering my overwhelming fear of flying and the challenges of a cross-country plane trip with three toddlers, this should be quite an adventure.
The reality is - Charlie and I are in dire need of a vacation. I am so overwhelmed at the moment that I am incapable of doing anything. Which is why I'm updating my blog instead of making travel arrangements for my business meeting ... or writing 3 overdue thank you notes for birthday presents, or .... finalizing our Wills.

We are so far behind that if something were to happen today, we wouldn't have time to think about if for four weeks, and then - it would take us a minimum of six hours to do anything about it ... provided we needed to pack the kids up and leave the house. Since we are so far behind "reality" ... I suspect that within the next couple weeks, it will finally register that we have another baby on the way.

Wait a minute. Was that a dream??

We'll be back in about 3 weeks. Maybe sooner, but probably not.

Until then - please take a nap for me. And ... please say a prayer that our plane behaves itself.

22 comments:

  1. Are you SERIOUSLY going to just go fly on a plane with ALL THREE KIDS? You are certifiably crazy! Just like that????? I love it!

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  2. Aww we are going to miss you honey. No Jen fix for 3 WEEKS?!? How will I cope? Hehe. ;) No seriously, have a good time. Try not to stress. We are all looking forward to your return! :)

    -Sarah

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  3. enjoy the trip- I have done a few solo cross country ventures with my two boys- when i think ti will be bad it goes great and when i think no sweat it's terrible!
    toddlerhood autonomy x3 makes my head spin-- it must be all that patience you developed waiting for these cuties that enables you to survive (good evolution adaptation!)

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  4. Yay!
    We will be in Greenville for Thanksgiving...maybe we can get a play date together...maybe not :).
    Don't want to add to the stress!

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  5. Aside from the flying part, taking the whole show on the road sounds like a great idea! I'm with smartmama - just expect the worst and it will be a dream. And pray :)

    And wow - your fourth child! I know you are in the throes of 1st trimester (and trying to catch up with life in general), but I keep getting really happy for you. Take care of you...

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  6. Great you all are coming to Greenville---Cannot wait to see Y'all.

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  7. Are you serious about the puddle jumper??????? Yikes, I sure hope not.

    Have fun!

    Tracy

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  8. Yeahhhh!!!!!! :) Congrats on your pregnancy!

    Happy about the vaca too!----You deserve a break. I would nap for you but, who's going to cook, clean, pick up cheerios out the couch and well,.,,,you see where i'm going with this :) Enjoy your trip!

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  9. I honestly don't know where you find the time to blog. I'm beginning to put my blog on the back burner b/c my work schedule is getting hectic. And of course, the household is always chaotic!

    I'll be saying prayers for you to survive the upcoming weeks and to keep yourself healthy during this pregnancy!!

    Take care.......I can't wait to hear about the flight and the trip in general.

    I didn't comment on your last installment of a waddle in time (which I LOVED reading) because I just am at a loss for words. You went through SOOO much and have SOOO much patience. I'm in awe!

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  10. Congrats on your pregnancy! And congrats on your take on life. You always seem to have a positive attitude. You'll survive the crazy times ahead of you.

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  11. YEAH! So glad your coming out! Hope we get to see you guys! By the way, I found three pack n' plays for the trio. Unfortately, couldn't get the car seats or any boosters for dinner time BUT I'm still working on it! :)
    Love, Marg.

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  12. I just happened upon your blog today! It is fabulous. As the mom to 7 month old triplets, I can't wait for the fun that awaits!!!

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  13. WOW! Have a great time! I will pray that your trip with three toddlers goes well. Just keep a good sense of humor about EVERYTHING!

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  14. Prayer siad.
    You mean I have to wait three whole weeks for you to update!?! AHHHHH!
    Have a fun, safe trip.

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  15. I hope you can get a chance to rest on this trip! Can you find a night or two to escape on a couple retreat? And there MUST be someone else you can hire to come in and help when you get back! All mommy's need breaks, and you deserve 3x as many!

    And congratulations on having your fourth! Its fun to have a "surprise" one, isn't it?

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  16. my lord you just made me laugh my butt off. Your kids sound gorgeous and full of energy too, well done mommy. I have a boy 2 and am due another little one in June 07, but luckily my girls are 11 and 10 and are a great help. Good luck with the flights honey you'll need it ; )

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  17. Going...through...withdrawals!!!
    Need new blog entry!!!

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  18. ^^^AGREED!!!!! JEN COME BACK!!! :) We all miss you! This is my second comment and I reckon I will comment again sometime before your return. I have a tab in bookmarks of blogs I read that I try to check daily, and everyday I check Amazing Trips, knowing you won;t be back yet. ;) Hope your trip is going smoothly, we are anticipating your return! Happy Thanksgiving by the way-can you believe it's almost here?

    ~Sarah

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  19. well, Jen, I think you're here today in my neck of the woods. Hope you're getting some rest and hope Charlie's b-day is great. And btw, congratulations on #4!! :)

    Kim

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  20. Dear Jen
    I hope you, Charlie and the kids are having a wonderful holiday and Thanksgiving. You both deserve a lot of pampering at the moment.
    I have just realised that I am officially addicted to your blog.... Even though you are away I am still checking back daily, just in case you have squeezed in an update!
    Looking forward to your return !

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  21. The 3 week mark is tommorow--hurry back--we all MISS YOU! :-)

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