All I want to do is...

Cry!
I can't even get a single tear to drop! How miserable does that sound? I know my life is no where near as crazy or hard as many others, but right now I'm having a meltdown.
I hate complaining to others, but writing it helps me to unload.

At work: March happens to be the busiest month of them all. With only 5 days off for the restaurant, it just frightens me. I won't have to work all of them, but the other managers may have to! I can't imagine it and neither should they! My big boss has asked me to work at least 2 more days a month, which to some may not sound like a lot, but to me it is. I don't see my husband as it is! Thank God I work at night so I can at least see my kids. But we do what we have to in order to have a nice life. Did I mention any kind of raise? Probably not because I wasn't offered one. Nor was I told how good of a job I do or any kind of bonus in which most restaurants offer. Don't get me wrong, this job is probably one of the easiest I've ever had and the people I work with make it the main reason I can't leave.

At home: My marriage is rocky. Like I said before, my husband and I see eachother as he comes home for me to go to work. How healthy of a relationship is that? I know that once the busy season is over we'll have more time together. It's just frustrating and he's got to feel the same way. I just received a letter in the mail saying my license has been suspended! Apparently for a ticket almost 2 years ago! I have no idea and it's just adding to my frustration!
Our 2nd dog is now having to be put down. We had to put our first dog down last year because she did not like the kids and we just couldn't trust her. Well Burton seems to be having some real arthritis issues to where he can barely move at times. He doesn't eat much and is skin and bones. My husband just took him to the vet to relieve his pain and because we live in a "hippy" county, the vet told us she would rather us give him pain meds for the rest of his life and wouldn't put him down!! Or she offered to send him to a rescue! We're not looking to get "rid" of him, we're trying to ease his pain and suffering. I'm blown away! So, as I sit here right now, he is outside with diahrea for whatever reasons and really can't move. His stomach is growling so loud I can hear it inside but yet he won't touch his food. Tell me that's not animal abuse!
The kids are doing great. Stephen is doing wonderful in school, a few missing assignments but he's doing extra credit to bring those grades up. His first year of wrestling has ended and he did great! Nice to see him doing really well at things he likes.
Dane finally has cut his top teeth making him a bit happier these days. Although he has become more of a bully. I don't know what to do when he pushes or pulls someone off of a toy, but the other 2 can't fight him back, he's too mean. And he does it all with a blank look on his face!
Drake has turned into a momma's boy! He has to be with me every minute he is awake. Pulling on me, climbing on me and crying whenever I leave the room! Cute at first, not anymore!!
Ava, well not sure what is new with her. She's still the Princess and loves to give her brothers kisses and hugs. She's the smartest of the 3. She knows what I'm saying and does it with me or does what I ask her to do. Very cute!
Still no words yet from anyone. Few signing too. But I'm not going to push them unless the doc says something is wrong.
I must go get ready for another long day of work.

Back on track

Daddy went home to Iowa for his grandfathers funeral last week and things were just out of sorts all weekend. Mommy was not able to get time off and we were not wanting to take the trio out there driving, the weather was horrible!
It was a nice "break" but it was just so weird not having him here. He left on wednesday and was only supposed to be there until Sunday, but due to extreme weather, his flights were rescheduled for Monday morning. Thankfully he had scheduled that day off. I still had to go to work last Thursday and Friday, so that was tough having to find someone to watch these monkeys. Not to mention I was in charge of 4 kids! Strange feeling, I don't think I could master being a single mother.
But we kept ourselves busy. Stephen pretty much spent the weekend with his friends, which was good. Thursday the weather was beautiful here and we made a trip to the park. They loved being able to run free outside. Thank goodness Mommy is fit to run and chase them though!
Friday we met cousin Emma, and Auntie and Uncle at Sweet Tomatoes for lunch. That was fun except they really didn't eat much. Too many distractions and people to look at. Saturday we went to a playdate/lunch at another triplets house. They enjoyed themselves so much. New toys and new kids to play with, although the other trio was a year older. And then on Sunday, we went to brunch with Grammy and Papa. It's so funny the looks on their faces as SO many people came up to us. They've gone places with me before, but when we're eating, we're pretty much sitting ducks or a zoo attraction. They enjoy it though.
A fun eventful weekend, just too bad Daddy wasn't here to enjoy it with us. But thankfully he's back and things can settle down a bit. Back to our usual routine, rarely seeing Daddy!

Rough day...

I'm frustrated right now trying to figure out whether Dane is having teething issues or if he's got some other ailment. He's got 4 teeth coming in on top, 2 of which are ready to come out. He's got a history of ear infections, but he's not pulling on his ears. But he's also screaming bloody murder during naps and waking in the nights. I would hate to take him in to the doctors and have them tell me its just teething, but then again would hate myself if I did take him in and he really does have an ear infection. UGH!
Oh and the kids think its funny (hilarious) to wipe their trays completely clean of their food. UGH!!
Drake also thinks its great to stick his finger down his throat and make himself gag.
Oh and I've already changed 6 poopy diapers!! Come on, why today? Is it bad to say that I'll be glad to be going to work later?

Catching on quickly...

I've noticed that in just the past week or so these guys really starting to catch on. They're starting to pay attention to their surroundings more and wanting to learn more.
Here's what they know:
Dane: he doesn't sign anything although he has full potential to. I've seen him do it before, but I think he's just lazy or knows that after awhile if he still doesn't sign "please" or "milk" we'll eventually give it to him.
Hehe, this might sound crazy and sorry to interrupt myself, but one of the kids' toys just made a noise and scared the crap out of me! Phew, I'm better now. I'll get back to what I was doing. Really, I'm not crazy.
Drake: he can sign "milk", "please", and "thank you" which also could be him blowing kisses. He seems eager to learn new things. And he picked up on these fairly quickly.
Ava: she is signing "milk" and "please". She too picked up on these quickly. It's pretty cute too when I sign a new word to them, she looks at each of them to see if they are signing it. Not sure if that means she can do it and won't unless they do it, or she's just making sure they are watching.
The signs we are trying to learn now are:
-Mommy
-Daddy
-more
-thank you
-all done

I have also been trying to teach them of their different body parts, eyes, ears, nose, mouth & belly. So far we all know where our bellies are and where their ears are. They love Mommy's nose. They give eachother hugs and kisses, but don't usually give us kisses when asked.
I've also started having them put their toys in their toy box and within one day, they started doing it. I was so shocked. And it's so cute watching them go around and pick up toys and put them in the box. They tend to put anything that's on the floor in there though. But they love it!
I'm having a great time with them and I just can't wait to see what they'll do next. They amaze me each and every day!

Sibling rivalry...

Is it too early for them to be having sibling rivalry?
Maybe it was just today, but Dane and Ava were at eachothers throats. If it wasn't Ava stealing Dane's toy, it was Dane pushing her off of another toy. They just could not share. Is this just the beginning? The 2 that look the most alike and they are going to fight constantly. AAAHHHH!!! Drake just kind of lets Dane do his thing. Every once in awhile he'll fight back. Drake and Ava don't seem to mind one another. I wonder if it's because they seem to be the most independant. Oh who knows. I just don't want to have to keep breaking up fights. I'll tell you though, I have sat here and watched a few, Ava is one tough girl. She holds her ground, but then again, so does Dane! I haven't witnessed any biting, which because I said that, they'll start, and I haven't really seen any hitting. It's all been mostly pushing or putting their heads on the other and pushing.
Still, life with triplets...Priceless!!

Naps...

So I figured out how to get them to take 2 naps still. Apparently I was letting them sleep too long for their morning nap, so they were just not tired enough to take another nap later in the day. But way too tired to not go to bed until 7pm. The trick is to wake them up during their nap. I only had to do it once so far, the rest of the days they've been waking up on their own. I just can't believe that they need that much sleep, but hey I am not complaining. I love having my time to myself. And make that 2 times a day.
We'll now just see how long their morning nap continues. I don't see it going away any time soon. They are cranky after only being up for a short period. I don't see why, I mean, good grief you just woke up from sleeping for almost 11 hours!!!