Please Give Me Your Thoughts..Bottles and Pacifiers

Asking all of those mom's out there.  Do you think there is a coorelation between kids who use pacifiers and kids who have a hard time giving up their bottles?  Here is my situation. 

My 7 year old twin boys both used pacifiers and I don't remember it being a big deal getting rid of bottles and changing over to sip cups.  My daughter was also a pacifier kid and she made the transition very easy as well.  I attempt to break the bottle as close to 1 year old as I can.  I get rid of the mid day bottle first, then after a couple weeks I get rid of the morning bottle and then we take away the night bottle.  I am not opposed to even giving a sip cup of water in bed to ease the transition.  My triplets are 15 months and we are still having 2 bottles a day and I have to say we are having a terrible time trying to get rid of more bottles.   I tried to make the triplets want a pacifier but I only got 1 out of the 3 to take one.  Declan loves his pacifier and he is also the one who could care less about a bottle.  He only gets his pacifier in bed but when I offer up a bottle the other 2 go crazy and Declan might take a sip or 2 and then he drops it and goes on about his business.  Colin  and Finn will walk around moaning and crying and as soon as you give them a bottle they quiet right down and they find a blanket and they drink it up.  When they are done with the bottle than everything is great. 

So back to the question at hand.  Out of my 6 kids...the 2 non pacifier kids are the ones that seem to have the hardest time giving up the bottle.  I would love to hear your thougths on this topic........

I Might Have Set My Husband Up?????

This is what every mom out there complains about so I had to post.  Here we are on a Saturday afternoon I am in the kitchen cooking up something and as I walk into the family room ....this is what I see.  Husband with remote in hand..mouth open wide...1 child standing on coffee table, 1 child making a mess and oh hummm we are missing one.  What is it about a man and his remote control?  I did have to laugh though because I did walk in and witness this but I did go grab my camera and told David to hold the remote and open his mouth..........This my all time favorite!!!

It has been a couple of days since I have written and I have to tell you all that it has been a busy week.  Sick kids can really take a toll on your sanity, free time and your ability to keep up with laundry.  Everyone in the house has gotten sick and I think we are all on the mend.  I completed my load of yuck laundry.  I washed all of the blankets and all of the comforters.  The house is smellin a bit of spring. 

To ventured out quite a bit yesterday.  I took the babies to Sam's Club in the morning followed by a quick stop at the grocery store.  The triplets did great.  Sam's Club is great because it has the large carts that will sit 2 kids on top and then I set the third down in the basket.  They had a good time people watching.  The grocery store was a bit tougher since the carts are smaller but I sat 2 down in the cart and 1 on top.  They held on tight and I squeezed in 4 gallons of milk in between their little legs.  We got lots and lots of looks and lots of comments.  Later on in the day we headed to a huge mall close to our home (great lakes crossing).  Heidi was there with the older 3 kids taking them to the movies. I showed up with the triplets in the stroller and we had a good time walking the mall and noticing all of the stares.  Not as many comments at the mall but lots of stares.  I am really really looking forward to the weather changing as I am ready to get out. 

Heidi spent the later part of Saturday doing what she does best....She decorated Easter Eggs with the kids.  She is such the teacher.  She had everything set up and ready before she called the troops in.  She showed them all how to do it, gave them each the same amount of eggs....Aunt Heidi is really the best.

I Don't Do PUKE!

Friday was one of those fun days where you are getting the house clean and getting ready for an evening of fun with some neighbors.  We were invited over to our friends house for dinner and drinks and all the kids were invited too.  It was supposed to be just one of those fun nights with little complications. 

Heidi wanted to take Mairin with her for the weekend to go see grandma (nanny).  She just got back from Florida and was getting unpacked and readjusted.  Heidi is really really good at this stuff.  She always visits those who need visiting and she spends time on the phone helping with cell phone and television issues.  Anyway...at 3pm I took Mairin to Heidi's school so they could leave to head up north.  I did the drop off and I had asked my niece to stay at the house while I did the driving so the babies could nap.  My niece calls me and says, "You need to go to the school because Liam puked in his classroom and they wont let him ride the bus home"....I head over to school and Liam and Eamon meet me at the front door. Liam is saying "Mom lets hurry up and go home..I still dont feel well".  We get out to the parking lot and he explodes.  I had to do a dance step in order to get my feet out of the way of the open faucet like puke that is coming out of his mouth.  The splatter of vomit that could possibly get on my shoes and pant legs is enough to make me join him and start puking next to him.  I say to him, "Liam are you ok"? In between his pukes he says to me in a serious voice "mom, it must be the chicken rings we had for lunch"...I can't help but laugh at this point...The kid is telling me what is making him sick...got to love it.   I see the assistant principal and she proceeds to call the janitor over her walkie talkie .."Custodian we need a clean up in the front parking lot".....

We all make it home and Liam goes downstairs with a bucket and then I have to leave to get Eamon to Hockey practice across town. ( this is the last practice before the championship game)  Eamon is fired up and ready to go.  On my drive back home I am thinking of what I should do and what I want to do.  I SHOULD skip dinner with the neighbors and be home with my sick kid...I WANT to get a sitter and still go.  I ended up getting my older niece to come and watch over the sick kid while I took the other 4 kids with me to dinner.  Liam was just going to sleep anyway right??? 

We arrive for dinner and get the kids unloaded and get some drinks and conversation going.  The kids start eating and I see Eamon at the table and he is acting quiet.  My friend Christy says, "ahh Heather I think Eamon is not doing well".  Eamon is not eating much and he is "getting hot" he says.  The first sign of puking is getting hot.  "David David..take Eamon home now"  They take off and I sit back and take a breath.  We all have dinner and by 9:30pm the babies have had enough so we load up the babies and I am going to drop them off at home and return again.  I pull up and start unloading the babies and my sitter is coming downstairs with a smile on her face. She had just finished emptying a puke bucket for Eamon.  It was a ton of puke she said but he got it all in the bucket.  Ahhh thank god for that.  We get the babies into bed and I leave again to head back to the party.  Now I am at the neighbors with no kids..hummm start with 4 and end with zero.

On Saturday I wake up and get the kids all downstairs.  Everyone is moving slow and I have a headache that I just can't kick.  My hubby wakes up at 10am and I meet him on the stairs and say, "ok now that you are up..I am outta here..not feeling good..see you in a couple hours".  I woke up 2 hours later and feel worse.  Needless to say I stayed in bed all day and my husband took care of everything and told me to relax. I slept more on Saturday than I have in years.  Sunday morning I woke up like a new person. Wonder was that was from?  We all went Saturday and Sunday with no puke and everyone was feeling better. 

Eamon and Liam had their championship hockey game at 4pm and they won.  We all had pizza and awards after.  We got everyone home and in bed by 9pm and thought that was it until Monday morning.....not!!!!

My husband came to bed at 11pm very upset by the passing of the healthcare reform so I knew he wasnt going to sleep well at all.  11:50pm I awoke to that sound of the half cry...broken in half by silence.  It is a dead ringer that it is a puker.  I open up the babies room and had to cover my nose because of the smell that was confined until the door was opened and then the gush of puke smell seems to hit you like a brick.  I pick up Colin and he is dry heaving.  David got clean up duty while I took Colin downstairs for clean up.  He started to puke down the back of my neck..uggghhhh.  I had to do some self coaching in order to make sure I made it thru it.  Got him all cleaned up and David came down and he had cleaned up the crib...or as much as he could in the dark.  It is tough trying to clean up without waking up 2 other babies.  We ended up having to change Colin twice as he kept throwing up.  Finally he was done and he started laughing and wanted to walk around...Time to go back to your crib then.  12:45am we both jump back into bed for the rest of our night.   

Today ..so far so good .  No more puke yet......

I Am SO Excited! I Have Solved My Triplet Summer Chaos..Kind Of

I am so happy.  You may laugh but let me tell you that if you look back to a week ago you will see that I posted a very helpless and defeated post.  I was afraid of being inside all summer and having fears of losing my kids.  I decided enough is enough so I headed out to Home Depot yesterday and bought myself a fence for the summer.  It is a durable plastic and actually it looks like a tennis net in my backyard.  It took me a couple hours to put it up while the babies were sleeping and when they awoke they experienced outdoor freedom.  I put the fence around the play structure so they now have a slide, sandbox, pebbles, swings, grass and all of the toys in their play area.  They had a ball in their little freedom area.  The older kids were jumping on the trampoline just outside of the gated area and the babies were just laughing at them.  Ahhhh I just feel back to my old self and although I know this will be a tough summer I also know that it will take planning, patience and we will make it happen.

Yesterday we did a long walk in the stroller and trying to do that again today.  I am loving this 60 degree weather.  I am noticing a possible shift in their sleeping habits.  Currently they take a long morning nap and an afternoon nap.  I think I am going to start getting rid of the morning nap in another month or so.  Currently we can't really venture out too far because of naptime (but where would we go anyway right)I want to make the afternoon nap a long one so we will need to do this transition soon.  Happy St. Patricks Day!!!

Fencing For Triplets...Fears...Triplets In The Snow

I never thought that posting my fears would gather so many suggestions.  Thank you so much fellow mom's of multiples for all of your comments and suggestions that you all posted on my previous post.  It was so refreshing to hear how many of you have all been there and understand exactly what my frustration was.  Thank you all so much.

I think we have decided what we are going to do.  David and I talked it over and I think we are going to get a snow fence.  These fences are plastic and have smaller holes in them and they are 4ft tall.  I also like that they come in 50ft rolls, they are cheap and they are PORTABLE.  You are probably thinking, "why would you want an orange snow fence in your backyard"....guess what ..these fences come in green and black.  The stakes are portable but sturdy and I believe that this will be our best savior.  I am actually very excited to get out and purchase it.  I had to set the babies out in the snowbank before it melted so that they could experience this before it all melted.  They are in their PJ's sitting in the snow.  Hah..how fun is this.  It was like 50 degrees outside that day so it was really confusing as to what to wear, do etc..

I got the kids off the school bus and before they could go about their business I made them all grab a baby so I could get a good photo.  It is really tough to get a photo of all of them.  Here we are in the family room.  All of my precious miracles in one spot.  By the way..Each of the older ones are holding "their baby".  We assigned a baby to each of the older ones when they were born and that is their "special brother" for life.  They really take this seriously and in the mornings the older ones say, "Mom ..I want my baby".  This was my husband's idea and a brilliant one.

Declan is on the left and he is being held by Liam....

Mairin is holding Finn.....

Eamon is holding Colin....

One of My Biggest Fears About Triplets

Last week I was finishing up some things in the kitchen, it was around 4:10pm.  The babies were up and walking around, the older boys had just gotten home from school, Mairin woke up from her nap and all was good.  The older boys wanted to go outside and play and of course Mairin followed.  I helped get them all ready to go out and then I returned to the kitchen.  It was a sunny day with a temp of close to 50 degrees outside.  It was about 10 minutes later when Mairin came bursting in through the garage door crying. "Mom mom I tripped and fell and look at my hands".  She was covered in mud so I began to clean her up in the kitchen.  As I was putting a bandaid on her hand Heidi walks in from work and says, "Heather, why is Declan out in the driveway"?  (This is a very very hard story to tell because it really does show just fast these babies can get away from me.)  As I went out to get him, Eamon was carrying him in.  Declan is our crawler still so luckily he didnt go too far too fast.  The worst part for me though was that I didn't even realize I was missing a baby.  Many scary thoughts of course are racing thru my head.  "How am I going to manage this summer"? "Wow this is going to be harder than I ever thought it would be"? 

On Monday I decided that I needed to take the babies outside and see how it would go.  Mairin was riding her bike so I knew I had backup but I didn't anticipate what I was in for.  Colin immediately took off with a huge smile on his face, Finn was right behind him with a smile.  Declan isn't completly walking on his own so I was holding his hand.  It wasn't but a minute that Colin had made it to the end of the driveway.  I put Declan by the step and then headed off with a slow trott that turned into a run to grab him before he was in the road.  While I am running I am saying, "Colin no Colin no"  Not working.  I finally get Colin and bring him back to the house and while this was happening Finn is heading to the other end of the driveway.  I ran to get him and then Colin had taken off again.  I told Mairin to get Colin and between the 2 of us we got them into the garage long enough to shut the door.  Mairin was crying because she was tired of holding Finn.  I just sat down on a chair in a daze and thought to myself about what was going to come.  I am literally scared to death of summer coming.  What am I going to do?  I can't live inside..... 
We came in for lunch and I insisted that Mairin take a nap so I told her I would lay with her for a minute.  I ended up falling asleep and awoke ...startled because I had a nightmare.  Mairin and I were walking in a parking lot and she had roller skates on.  She was a couple cars in front of me and all of a sudden someone grabbed her.  I was reaching in the car to pull her back but I couldn't save her.  It was probably one of the worst dreams I have had in a long time. 

I am struggling with the thought of losing my kids and I need to really get a handle on what is going to happen this summer.  I talked with David and I think we have agreed on a fence in the backyard so that I can at least know where they are.  I need to work with the older 3 to pay more attention to keeping the doors closed and quite frankly I probably need to stop multi tasking as much and keep a closer eye on my escape artists.

I have experienced twins and a single but I will tell everyone out there that this is beyond what I had expected and I am afraid it is only getting worse for at least the next couple of years.  Triplets are something completely different and although I am excited for them to walk I think I am going to regret that wish.

Today Is My 10 Year Wedding Anniversary

How many people do you know who have accomplished all this in 10 short years???? Hah hah hah. 

I look back and cannot believe that just 10 short years ago I signed on to be a married woman.  I thought I would have 2, maybe 3 kids and that I would be that corporate woman, climbing that corporate ladder.  Wow how things change.

10 years ago today we left for a 3 week honeymoon to Tailand and returned to a "la teeee da" lifestyle of work and  ..."what are we gonna do now" .  I barely remember those days when I had so much time on my hands and how we would get bored on the weekends.  We welcomed twin boys (with a little help from clomid) in 2002 and I went back to work parttime when they were 3 months old.  We were transferred to Mexico for a year for my husband's job so we packed up our life and our 20 month old twins and moved to Irapuato, Guanajuato Mexico.  Life was nice but not as good as it was in the States.  We got word we were coming back to Michigan and it was just in time to have our daughter, Mairin..  I did not work while in Mexico but after having Mairin and moving back to Michigan I decided to go back again so I did.  We all adjusted back to life in the states and decided that we should maybe try for just 1 more baby.  I gave it a 6 month window and again with the help of clomid we were surprised that not only were we expecting our 4th child but we were going to welcome 4, 5 and 6.  That was a huge shock and quite frankly that was the life changer.  I had to make a decision and the decision was to give up the mortgage and real estate business and be the best stay at home mom I could be.  Here we are and I have been home since October of 2008 and so far so good. 

I am blessed to have married the love of my life and to have 6 great kids.  This is not what I thought my life would be ....but it is a great life anyway.  I am crazy in love with my husband and I must say that my life is fun.  The other day Eamon and Liam came home from school and told David that they told their teacher that their dad grabs their mom and says, "Gimme a smooch baby"  David does do this and then he tells the kids not to look but part of the fun of the game is that they look and laugh.  Some day Eamon and Liam will get it but I am glad that they still think girls are gross. 

We are heading out to a hotel for an evening of quiet time.  Actually we are enjoying 24 hours of peace.  Thanks Heidi for babysitting.......

Party In The Garage....Cabin Fever

I finally decided to clean out the garage the other day so as the babies were napping I was able to get out there and really clean up.  I have been on this organizing and cleaning kick lately and let me tell you ...it is making lots of people ask if I am "nesting"...Nesting maybe...pregnant...NOT NOT NOT.  I have been able to go thru every closet and drawer in the big kids room, organize every toy in the basement, went thru all of the baby toys and the baby clothes.  I am ready for a salvation army trip.  I also went thru all 3 of our junk drawers.  I feel so darn cleansed..ahhhhhh...  Mairin has really been busy with additonal activities in the afternoons so she is not here much.  The babies are napping well so I have some time to dive into some fun projects.  Actually don't get too bent out of shape.  This is my world now so rather than just go day by day I am just getting ready for spring when we are outside.  I am anticipating a spring and summer full of "not being able to take my eyes off" the trips. 

Yesterday the older kids needed to get ready for hockey practice so they went out to the garage (the clean garage) and put their gear on.  We put all of their hockey equipment in the garage so that the babies don't chew on their skate blades, drool all over their jock straps or take their cups and leave them in places we will only find them when guests are over.  I then noticed the noise coming from the garage and went out and they each had a bike or a scooter and they were just going in circles and having a ball.  The babies were all cranky and were following me so as I peered out the door ..so did they and they couldn't get out there fast enough.  At first I thought.."humm it is cold out here and the trips have no socks on" then I said to myself, "oh relax..it may kill a half hour"  It killed more than that.  I have just discovered a new room to play in.  The older kids woke up this morning and asked if they could play in the garage.  "not now but when you get home from school..of course you can". 

Living in Michigan has taken a toll on the Mott Family this winter and we need to get out.  Snow melt away, Declan figure out how to walk and lets get outside to play.

Triplets and Sushi

Hah...So did you decide to read this because I might be that bad mom who is serving my 1 year old babies "raw fish"?   No I am not but I wanted to leave the title so that maybe it would draw your interest.  I also thought it might be funny to see what kind people would visit if they were searching for sushi and finding triplets. 

I love sushi so last week I decided to do some research and figure out if I could actually make my own.  I went out on Saturday to an Asian Market and picked up all of the ingredients.  I had to head to a fish market to get the sushi grade tuna and some smoked salmon.  On Sunday I took the plunge and began my creation.  The sticky rice is supposed to be the hardest so I was a bit nervous and I followed the recipe to a tee.   I am so excited and proud to show a picture of what my plate of sushi looked like.  It turned out so great and it was soo good.  I had enough to take over to our neighbors and they liked it as well.  I am looking forward to creating many more different kinds of sushi rolls. I need more to do right???  Actually it was fun and I actually consider it to soothing.  If you haven't tried it ..you really need to.  Very tasty.

I am so glad that the Olympics were on because David was in charge of the babies in the family room while they were all watching the US versus Canada in hockey.