Easter and Turning 3

Ethan

Everything green belongs to him.

He can out eat any grown up.

His bedtime story is the book "The other side of Heaven"

(we mostly just look at the pictures of the boats)

He loves his Dad.

Jackson

Everything blue is his.

He can out eat Ethan.

He has already kissed a girl.

He likes to talk to Grandpa on his phone.

He loves to dance.

Brinley

Everything belongs to her.

She loves chocolate, maple syrup and green salad.

She changes her shoes at least 10 times a day.

She is a princess.

I love love love Jackson's really long drool in this one! We had a picnic on the green after church on Easter Sunday. Snapped a few gems of these amazing kids we have. I couldn't post just one. It's fun to see them love each other.

Happy Birthday!!!

We were so lucky to have "gamma" Jensen come and spoil us for their 3rd birthday. 3rd birthday people, we made it to 3!!! I couldn't ask for 3 more crazy awesome miracles.

My Heartbreak

I don't normally check my profile in the mirror (it hasn't been awesome since carrying triplets) but for some reason a week ago I did. There it was. It wasn't the end of the day pudge, it was a baby bump. Plain as day. Brought a smile to my face.

Two days ago, early Friday morning, I lost my bump. My tiny baby boy was called back home and we are truly heartbroken. The news that he was coming was a welcome surprise for our family. The time of his passing has been painful.

"During our schooling in submissiveness we will see the visible crosses some carry, but other crosses will go unseen... Indeed if our souls had rings, as do trees, to measure the years of greatest personal growth, the wide rings would likely reflect the years of greatest moisture - but from tears, not rainfall."
                         Elder Neil A. Maxwell

Camping. Without Dad.

So, to make a long story short I'm going to tell you about the long nights involved when camping without your spouse with your 1 year old triplets. How to begin, oh yes, 

Once upon a time.....

There was a man who fell in love with a hot mama and they had the world's most beautiful children, 7 of them to be exact. Time past and those children in turn had even more beautiful children and it was decided that there would be a reunion. It would be a coming together of family. 

Yeah, ok. So we started the Andrew Jensen Family reunion this year and held it at the family property on Panguitch Lake. Almost everyone was able to make it. One of the ones that didn't was Derek, had to work, but I was going to go no matter what! I borrowed my nephew Kyler (it happened to be his birthday that day) to be in the van with me on the way up. 

Side story: My sister and I stopped at Costco in St. George, UT and after shopping fed all the kids lunch, after all costco hot dogs.. no need to say more. We took turns getting food, one watching the others kids, there were 7 between the 2 of us. We had a lot of eyes on us and one kind couple came up to me while I was on watch and said and I quote," Please tell me those are not all your children"... I kindly laughed and explained who belonged to who and they were delighted with how well behaved our children all were. Of course there were also the remarks that since I had 3 at one time, and lucked out getting both genders that I'm done.... :) 

We made it to camp in good time and enjoyed the rest of the day. I guess I didn't realize, how should I put this, that I was a bit stressed out until bedtime came. Ethan went to sleep and I laid him down in the tent. I went to lay Brinley down with her bottle because I thought she would just dose off like home. Nope, there was screaming involved so I hurried to get her out of the tent before Ethan woke up. On the way out my foot caught the bottom of the tent door and I went down, on top of Brinley... gave her a bloody nose, Ethan is screaming...Sister comes and gets Brinley and I sit in the tent not doing any kind of good at holding back my emotions. All I could think was "why am I here". My oldest sister was able to bring me back to earth and the night ended or rather began with two of my sisters taking two of my kids.

Kelle had Brinley and told me the next morning that Brinley had woken up once, didn't want her bottle and started crying. Her youngest Emmy was next to her and also woke up but as soon as she saw "biney" she popped her own binkey into Brinley's mouth and they both went back to sleep :)

Jackson had a really rough night. Ethan did the same thing and all night I was praying for the sun to come up. Jackson woke up first, bright and early so we got to hang out and explore.

 

Christopher and Conner 

Ethan was the only one that would get on the 4 wheeler and after his first ride he scooted forward and grabbed the handle bars just like Grandpa!

Shay Bug, Avery, Emmy and Ethan

Emmy and Brinley

Tired Jackson, didn't move from this position for an hour after I put him down

Super tired Brinley and Ethan

Our second night wasn't much better than the first. Brinley's binky, a night time necessity was nowhere to be found. She was going with Grandma that night so I sent her with a bottle and a prayer. I was able to find a binky around 2 in the morning when I was trying to entertain my boys with a flashlight. 

That's the gist of the nighttime events for us, but the daytime was awesome. It was such a blessing to be able to meet as a family and start a new tradition. I am blessed with amazing brother's and sister's, awesome parents and my own small family. Love me some family!

May 24, 2011

Last year on that day life threw us a curve ball. The day started out as all of them had since we had all three babies home with us. It had been just over a week since we were all home, no hospital, no nurses, no sleep :) We did a little photo shoot before Derek had to leave for work and then it was back to diapers, bottles and naps. 

     I had left Brinley bundled on my bed and it was about time to start another round of feedings so I went in to check on her. Brinley was a mover, she would grunt and squeeze her way out of the best swaddling job. When I looked at her she hadn't moved the entire time that she had been asleep. I picked her up immediately and she was limp, a quiet whimper was all she let out. She was also really warm. I took her temperature and it was 102.4 my stomach dropped. We met our pediatrician at the ER where they took blood for tests and did a spinal tap on my four week old baby girl. That was hard. She ended up being transported by ambulance to Summerlin Hospital in Vegas. That's where they were born and we felt more comfortable with them handling whatever this was.

     In the morning, the nurse practitioner came in and told us that they had some of the tests back, she had a bacterial infection in her blood and needed to be started on antibiotics. It would be a round of 10 days worth so we would be here for a while. We decided Derek would go home and pack what I would need for that time. Before he left, we got a call from my mom, Ethan had a temperature. My parents ended up coming down to Vegas with Derek and both of my boys that night. They were both admitted just to be safe, the same blood work had to be done. What an emotional mess.

     I shared a room with the boys, Derek and Brinley were down the hall. Jackson was diagnosed with the same infection as Brinley and Ethan never ended up needing treatment. He was discharged about a week later. I had to send my baby home with Derek knowing I wouldn't see him for at least a week.  It was Jackson, Brinley and Mom. At the end of her treatment Brinley got to go home with Grandma, again, really hard to send her home. Jackson and I got almost a week together before he was discharged. He had it rough, his iv ports kept going bad, veins were getting harder and harder to find. The Dr. there at Summerlin asked me to leave the room when they did his spinal. I walked away bawling because I knew what they were doing to him and I couldn't be there. I could hear him screaming and I had to keep walking away from that. After that I only put him in his crib when I had to leave the room, I always slept in the chair holding him.

     I spent around 16 days in the hospital between all three babies. It was an experience I will not soon forget. Our small family had amazing angels watching over us. My mom came down several times to be with us and as the babies were sent home helped care for them there. My sister Kelle left her 4 small children to spend a couple of hours before she had to turn back and go home. My good friend Jo did my laundry so I could have clean clothes to wear. Friends brought me food and good conversation. My mother in law came and stayed with Derek to help at home.

    I will forever be indebted to my Father in Heaven who saw fit to make my babies whole. Who comforted an emotional mom who had to see her babies go through so much. For a husband and father who gave priesthood blessings. Who blessed the nurses and Dr.'s with the wisdom to treat my babies. For my mom. For my friends and my family.

   

     Taken just before Ethan (left) went home with dad.

The Good. The Bad. And the Yucky.

So there is a lot of good to talk about. Way more good than bad or yucky.  I'm not much of a "writer" of my thoughts but change is good, just this one time. probably. 

These Kodak moments all took place within the last two-ish weeks. 2 Sundays ago Ethan discovered how to use the lotion bottle upside down... as a rocket launcher. Jackson can get one leg into the toy box just fine, but then he gets stuck and cries until you help him in. I think he just wanted his own private fort because he played in there for a good ten minutes, and then Brinley wanted in :) Brinley wore this super cute dress for the first 1/3 of church, then she had a wardrobe change because the dress was really really wet. 

For a few days Ethan decided that he wasn't going to take naps when Jackson and Brinley took naps, after all he IS the oldest. So lunchtime rolls around and he can barely keep his... yep he fell asleep like this many times before he figured out that he can still be cool if he naps with the little kids. I added the picture of Derek because I think he and Ethan have the same problem :)

Jackson is such a stud. He was the only one awake and while I was in the kitchen doing my chores he propped himself up on a pillow and found himself a foot rest. 

Derek is usually behind the camera so we don't have any pictures of him and the kids, so we got a couple of snapshots with him and his favo... I mean him and Brinley. I don't think it's a secret that Derek loves her. Yes he loves his boys, but Brinley has been promised a pony as soon as she can ask!

Ethan getting thrown in the air. probably one of the last times because that kid weighs a ton! One year ago they weighed:

Ethan 5lb 11oz

Jackson 5 lb 4 oz

Brinley 4 lb 8 oz

Total:  15 1/2 pounds

One year later:

Ethan 23 lb 11 oz

Jackson 24 lb 14 oz

Brinley 21 lb 4 oz

Total: 70 lbs 

70 pounds of baby. yep. 

So. Big Day. My 3 awesome kids turned 1. Where has the time gone? Didn't go to sleeping, relaxing, shopping, showering. I'm pretty sure none of those things got the time they deserved. My super awesome sister Jo (all of my sisters are awesome) made some fun sweets for the big day. My boys love basketball hence the basketballs. 

Jackson ended up making the biggest mess, Ethan didn't really care, I think because he tried once and it didn't bounce like it should. Brinley was very dainty about putting her fingers in the frosting. Her cousin Em decided she needed help, so her fingers are the pink polished ones feeding Brinley her cake. 

Bath time!!!

Bedtime!!!

Jackson knew what was coming so he wasn't too excited about crawling to the top of the stairs. 

What a year this has been. I couldn't have made it without amazing friends and family.  I love love love these babies. 

So that was the Good. Lots of Good going on at our house. Now for the Bad and the Yucky. Not a lot of it. But here it is. 

The Bad. 

Ethan woke up yesterday with pink eye. I woke up today with pink eye. I'm really hoping that if Jackson and Brinley decide to join us that it happens tomorrow for both of them. So that we don't play "round robin" with pink eye!

The Yucky.

Normally I bath the kids in the sink after dinner because I'm alone and three messy babies going up the stairs would be yuck on the carpet. Tonight was feeling generous. I hauled them up and let them use the tub. They were all having so much fun and then someone decided they were relaxed enough to go #2. I will spare you the details but with 3 babies in the same tub, things get pretty messy really quickly. 

Sweet Ending.

Tonight. Jackson said mom mom. You could argue that he didn't know what he was saying, but I'm pretty sure that was the first time he's ever said mom mom :)