Wordless Wednesday

One-Third

I've been thinking alot more lately about Grace and Olivia and what they would be like. It's getting easier for me to do this without just bursting into tears every single time I think of them and try to imagine their sweet little faces. It sucks so bad to have a child and never, ever know what they would have looked like or what they would sound like or what kind of adults they would grow up to be. Now that Betsy is getting older and developing her own independence it's really fun to imagine what our life would really be like right now.

Betsy is a complete handful. And those of you who know her well know that this girl keeps us on our toes as though we had all three girls. My dad told me shortly after we brought Betsy home that he bet she would make us not miss the girls so much...that she would have enough energy for all three. Boy, he couldn't have been more on spot with that statement. This girl is a ball of energy. She DOES NOT sit still for a second. She is constantly in motion and we can't help but wonder...how in the world would this have worked with Grace, Betsy AND Olivia??

Not long after we found out we were having triplets we started adjusting everything we did to fit how our lives would be with three babies. We would count high chairs everywhere we went. We had the layout of their bedroom and where three cribs would go. We imagined how we would position ourselves at church. We thought about how tough it would be to go grocery shopping and where would we set all three girls. We imagined taking them to the movies and having all three lined up, Tony and I at each end. We laughed thinking about how we would need a mini-van and how in the world we would ever squeeze in three car seats.

We still do this.

I still turn around to look at Betsy in the backseat of the car and wished with all my heart I was seeing three babies back there. I wish it wasn't so easy to fit all Betsy's clothes in her closet. I wish I had so many different outfits, blankets and shoes that we would have to use the hall closet for some clothes...just like we imagined. Everything we do now should be harder. At least 2/3 harder. Going to church shouldn't be as easy as taking Betsy by the hand and leading her to the car. We should be chasing three running, screaming girls all around the house trying to get them lined up to go out the door. Our tiny bathroom, the one that we had to squeeze Betsy's potty chair in, should be even more crowded with two more potty chairs. And three high chairs? Where in the world would we set three high chairs!?!

Things just should be different.

Sometimes Betsy gives me the biggest headache...sometimes she is just such a little pistol with all her energy and I get so frustrated. I have to stop and think that this is just one-third of what my life should be like. I am so incredibly lucky to have Betsy in my life. She is a blessing far beyond anything I ever imagined.

We were completely right when we said our lives would be forever changed the day we found out we were expecting triplets. We were right. Just not in the way that we expected. We will forever be two-thirds empty.

She's Two!

Okay, I am a little behind in posting this blog. Last Saturday, Aug 28, Betsy turned 2 years old! It's so cliche to say, "I can't believe it" and "time flies" but it's so very true. There are days it seems like I was JUST at the hospital, still pregnant with triplets, and then there are days where it seems an eternity ago. So Betsy's birthday is tricky for us. We want to go all out for her birthday because we want to celebrate this day with a bang. She is so lucky to have survived at all and the fact that she just continues to grow and thrive proves to us every day that she is a true miracle. We really like to do her birthday in a big way to celebrate this little life that we are so fortunate to have. The reason I say her birthday is tricky is because while we celebrate Betsy and her turning another year older, we don't know how to acknowledge that this is also Olivia's birthday, and even though Grace was born one day earlier, we would have celebrated all three girl's birthday on the same day, as one celebration. I often thought, what can I do to remember Grace and Olivia on "their" day? What can I do? The answer is just that. I spend the entire day thinking of them. We don't have to "do" anything. They are constantly in our thoughts and constantly on our minds and as long as I know in my heart that this is their special day as well then I feel okay in knowing I did them justice. We do have a balloon release at Betsy's party and that is our way of letting them know we will never forget them.

The day of Betsy's party was such a busy day. We were invited to go to another child's birthday party just hours before Betsy's party and although we were hesitant to do this and afraid we would run behind, we went anyway because we really don't want Betsy to miss out on things she has been invited to. We knew we would just have to leave the party a little early to come prepare for Betsy's. So that morning we went to my mom's house to inflate all our helium balloons. I researched just how long helium balloons lasted and the consensus was 18-24 hours so we felt comfortable airing them up early in the day and getting that chore out of the way. So we went about our day, had lunch with my grandma, aunt and cousins who came up and then went to our friend's little girl's party. We left a little later than intended and rushed to my mom's house to drop Betsy off and get the balloons and decorations. We were so disappointed to find that every single one of our pink balloons that we had aired up for the balloon release had lost all helium and were laying on the floor. So sad. I almost got sick to my stomach over it. All her other balloons were still up but not near as full as they were earlier.

We headed on to the park to start decorating and decided we would just release the different colored balloons for the girls since we didn't have any pink ones. Betsy loves the show "Yo Gabba Gabba" and that was her theme for the party. The balloons were the colors from the show so we felt comfortable sending those balloons up since we KNOW Betsy would have wanted them to have "Gabba" balloons! We frantically started decorating and was having the most difficult time with everything as the wind was blowing like crazy and nothing would stay put...not the tablecloths, not the centerpiece, not the balloons, nothing. We taped things down as best we could and started setting up everything. We had ordered Yo Gabba Gabba decorations and table settings for all the children at the party but had bought just generic colors for adults. Well, we forgot to grab those bags. I guess they got lost amongst all the other things we were trying not to forget along with Betsy's birthday presents. So now we were short 40 cups, plates, napkins, forks and two extra tablecloths. Just my luck. Thankfully my dad and step-mom were on their way with the drinks and were kind enough to stop and pick up those things for us. All the guests were arriving by the time we were so close to finishing decorating. I felt like I didn't really get to enjoy the party that much. I was busy trying to do so much and get everyone set up along with taking pictures that I couldn't even tell if my head was on straight. Not to mention the flys were horrible and there were even bees nearby. My cousin actually got stung. Lesson learned. Next year we are having a smaller party and we are having someone cater it for us or we are just having a play group in our backyard. Also I will be sure someone will take pictures for me because I felt as though I didn't get any good pictures or pictures that I really wanted to get. I was overall disappointed in the entire event and I didn't get to talk to any of my friends that came. I know Betsy had a good time so that is all that really matters. She had fun so I'm happy with that. I still stand by the fact that we really want to do big for Betsy's birthday. We still want to do that. Just a few changes that are duly noted.

Here are a few pictures of the party.

This is at lunch earlier in the day. This is my Ma with Betsy and Betsy's cousins Allie and River.


Betsy's Birthday cake.


Decorations at kid's table.


Presents.


Betsy shortly after arriving to her party!


Singing Happy Birthday.


Getting ready for balloon release.


We love and miss you Grace and Olivia. Happy 2nd Birthday.


Balloons for my girls.


Betsy opening her presents...with mommy's help of course.


So here is what's going on with Betsy at 2 years old.
She is a total mommy's girl. She knows approximately 31 signs. She is starting to talk alot although majority of the time it all comes out the same in the form of "ga-ga", "ba-ba" or "ma-ma". She says Gabba, more, yes, no, mama, dada, na-na, abi or allie, ball, jump, hop, book, thanks, bubble, June, wa-wa (Lovey), Dora, backpack. She loves to watch TV. she is obsessed with coloring. Her favorite food is hot dogs or chicken nuggets. She has a HUGE sweet tooth but won't eat ice cream. She loves giving hugs and passing out kisses. She is a sweetheart. She sleeps 12 hours at night and takes a 2-1/2 hour nap. She never cries. She is developmentally caught up to her age with the exception of her speech. She's amazing.

Here is what I know about Grace and Olivia.
Olivia would be the sweetest little girl. She would be very caring and loving and would never get in the way of her sisters. She would have dark blonde hair and blue eyes, same eyes as Betsy. She wouldn't be as tall as Betsy and she would be a little bit chunkier. I think she would love cuddling.

Grace would be the protector. She would not play rough like Betsy does sometimes but she would always make sure everyone was okay. She would have dark, dark hair and it would be long by now...probably long enough for pigtails. She would have green eyes because that is what I would have wanted her to look like. I think she would love her sisters like crazy and always make sure they did right.

Happy Birthday to my three beautiful daughters!

Wordless Wednesday

Today

Two years ago today my world was turned upside down. This was the day that our angel Grace was born. Today I will give Betsy a million extra kisses because I'm not able to kiss Grace on her special day. Our hearts ache all over again today as we relive the moments of Grace's birth. Please take a moment to remember my family, along with Grace as she would have been two years old today.



Call Heaven there's an Angel
That's coming home today.
Our hearts are sad and broken
Because she couldn't stay.
Fluff up the clouds and lay her
Gently in Your care.
Place the tiny halo
Softly in her hair.
Our arms will never hold her.
Our lips will never kiss
The velvet of her cheeks.
We were not prepared for this.
In our hearts will be a tiny hole
Where always you will be.
Because we wanted you so much
Our hearts will always grieve.
How sad we had to lose you
We hope that this was best.
Sleep softly precious Angel
In God's eternal rest

~ Author Unknown ~

Taking Pictures

I really hope that when Betsy gets older she asks, "Why don't you have any pictures of me?" Well-good ones that is.

I'm not sure if she is doing this to make mommy mad (surely not, right!?) or if she is just testing the waters and being a pistol. I CANNOT get this girl to take a picture for anything! Now action shots are perfect--she just goes about her business and never has to stop and look at me. And if she is in the picture with someone else then she *ahem* sometimes does okay. But if we want her to pose by herself, forget it. She has recently discovered how much mommy LOVES taking pictures and she thinks it is great to get me frustrated and not look at the camera. Nice, huh?

FOR EXAMPLE:

This is Betsy on 4th of July. She was rocking so cute in her chair. Until mommy said, "Look at mommy!!" (with the camera)


Playing in her ballpit. She kept putting her headband on. Until I came with the camera...


This was our latest photo session:


And if you look closely at her cheeks you can tell she is certainly smiling...




Finally she ran off and put her head down on the floor. I thought this was a nice touch.



Even at church on Sunday her Sunday school teacher told me every time she tried to take Betsy's picture she turned her head around. Uh-Huh.
I have officially turned into my mother because at the closing of this day I told Betsy, "I hope your daughter is JUST like you!"

Wordless Wednesday