The Martin Girls

Oh my goodness! I haven't blogged in FOREVER!!! I am so behind, I don't know where to even start. Here are some of the things I need to write about, and add pics of...

Halloween 2012

We got a new car!

Thanksgiving 2012

Christmas 2012

New Years 2012

My job

Matt's job

Matt's surprise birthday party

The girls' school

Cute things the girls are doing/saying

Halloween 2012 - The girls dressed as cute little fairies. My mom bought the fairy dresses for the girls, Matt's parents bought them their wands, and we kind of pieced the rest of their costumes together. They're really into Tinkerbell right now, so they loved being little fairies. When Ally tried her costume on for the first time, she literally thought she was going to be able to fly. She kept jumping off the ground, and getting very discouraged when she wasn't going anywhere... it was funny, but a little sad to see her learn that she couldn't fly.

Here are some pics of us playing at the pumpkin patch a few days before Halloween:

Abby, Ally and Izzy huddled up

Ally sliding down the new Noah's ark toy out at the church property/pumpkin patch

The girls rode a camel!!! This is pretty cool, considering they're scared to death of most animals. Seriously... I took them to feed the ducks at the park yesterday, and they all FREAKED OUT.... so frustrating!

close up of the camel ride - Ally in front, Izzy in middle, Abby in back

The Noah's ark toy has a tire swing... perfect for 3 little monkeys!

Around Halloween, we finally were in a position to buy a new vehicle, and sell the van! That van was truly the gift that kept on giving. Matt’s parents gave it to us when the triplets were born. We expected it to last a year at best, but it was exactly what we needed those first 3 years! When we sold it, we even had a little extra cash in our pocket to make ends meet. The new vehicle is a 2012 Black, Mazda CX-9. I LOVE it!! It’s a cross-over vehicle with 3 rows, and it drives so smooth… looks pretty too!

At Thanksgiving, we didn’t have any concrete plans with family, and had a fun new car to break in, so we decided to take off as a family of 5, and go to the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City. It was so much fun! We stayed in a suite with 2 Queen beds. The lodge is completely geared towards kids… there’s a huge indoor waterpark, story time, a cub club (arts & crafts), an arcade, and it even has theme characters that walk around at certain times of the day. The girls had the time of their lives, and Matt and I were very... tired! Since we went on Thanksgiving, they even had a nice buffet set up with all the Thanksgiving works, and then some. It was pretty expensive for the adults, but kids 3 and under were free…. Score!!! It was delicious, and so nice to not have to cook or clean!!! Here are a few pictures from that adventure:

The Cub Club was really neat... there were puzzles, books, toys and crafts to do.

Cub Club Craft

This seat was in the lobby of the lodge

Story time... see my little rug rats in the middle?

When story time started, this center clock thing came to life with all kinds of talking characters.

Ally LOVED when the characters would come around... this was Oliver. All of the girls also got to build a Wolf at the lodge to bring home.

Abby was brave enough to meet Oliver... Izzy, believe it or not, freaked out! You can see her watching from a safe distance, in purple.

Fun in the kiddie pool!

The waterpark was fun. There were multiple slides the kids could go down, and an entire area just for their age. We also let the giant bucket dump tons of water on us every once in a while, swam in the big pool, floated in the lazy river, and Ally and Izzy went down a big intertube ride with daddy!

Thanksgiving dinner.... it was really very good!

The girls at Thankgiving dinner

The girls after Thanksgiving dinner!!!

Matt turned 40 in December, so I decided to do something extra big for his birthday. I’m really proud… because I was able to plan a surprise birthday party at our house, and he HAD NO IDEA! I decided since he likes football so much, the Dallas Cowboys in particular, that it would be a Dallas Cowboys theme – the cake was the back of a jersey and said, “Martin” with “40” as the number. We played a custom-made football themed game that was all about Matt, and had a great time. I had a lot of help… Matt’s parents helped keep him away from the house the day of the party, and also helped by bringing food, and scanning in a lot of old pictures for me. Our friends, Andrew and Courtney contributed a ton, by helping me make the game, helping with the food, some of the décor, and the video with pics of his 40 years of life. My mom watched the girls after Matt left the house on the day of the party, so I could run like crazy to get the place set up. A few other friends and family brought an appetizer as well… I could not have pulled it off without all of this help. Matt appeared to have a wonderful time, and was very surprised. I know he didn’t know anything was up, because before leaving to go “help” his parents (and get out of the house), I could NOT get him to take a shower! He came in the house all dingy and dirty, dressed in paint-splattered pants. It was AWESOME! (We did give him 5 minutes to shower, after he had the surprise of his life though….well….. maybe not the surprise of his life…. Finding out we were pregnant with triplets was most likely at the top of that list. Here are a few pics from the fun night:

Here he is walking in from the garage.... he was so startled, he had to lean against the wall for a minute. (Notice the paint shorts... lol)

Some of his good friends came from college and High school. Also, our whole Sunday School class, and lots of family.

This game was hilarious! Andrew dressed up like a referee as he asked 3 different groups random questions about Matt.

Here is the game "board" behind Courtney.... each group was assinged a "matt"... we had the young Matt team, the current Matt team, and the old Matt team.

I think Matt had a fun time....

Lots of people came...

The bobble head Matts.... we used an aging App to get the old Matt pic!

A blurry pic... but I like it.... everyone's into the game.

A pic of the cake and table

I love seeing my grandma so into the game in this pic!

Our Sunday School class gave us a wonderful surprise gift of a night away at the Hard Rock Hotel in Tulsa, and dinner at McGill’s on 19 for Matt’s birthday too. We got to go do that the very next weekend.

Christmas was extra fun this year. The girls are at an age now where they believe in Santa, so we had lots of fun with the advent calendar, leaving carrots in the yard for the reindeer, cookies for Santa, etc. We also read the true Christmas story to the girls multiple times. Matt’s parents took us to the Christmas train at Dry Gulch this year too. It was a lot of fun! The girls rode the carousel a few times, we took a wagon ride with real horses, rode the train… it was a really nice time. As usual, we celebrated at my mom’s house, Matt’s parents’ house, and our house on different days. The girls wanted bikes this year, so that was a fun gift. They haven’t had the chance to ride them much, but what little we have ridden, Ally did really well. The other two, pretty much just sat there with us pumping their legs. That lasted about 5 minutes. Another present they asked for: Izzy said she wanted a boy doll, Abby wanted a Daisy Duck doll, and Ally wanted a Dora doll. It was fun to see their little wishes come true on Christmas morning. They got about a million other things from us, uncles, aunts, and grandparents, so these kids had a pretty amazing Christmas. The girls each got their very own Leap Pad this year from Matt’s Parents, which is SO nice! They’re color coded, so they know which one belongs to who, and they are really learning how to use those things! I took them with us to the Dr’s office the other day, and the girls sat there like little angels! I was like, “Leap Pads are WONDERFUL!!!” Here's the pic from the Dr's office:

We had a very nice time opening presents and spending time with family too… here are a few pics.

Christmas Eve... Santa came!!! (Notice the requests for specific dolls and bikes were filled).

Playing Hungry Hungry Hippos with daddy...

We pulled the cars out of the garage, so the girls could ride their new bikes on Christmas morning.

There were lots of presents and fun at Meemaw and Papaw's house! The girls waited very patiently for their turn to open presents.

Opening tinkerbell fairy dolls while wearing the new light up Cinderella dresses

Waiting to open presents at Lala's house

Izzy and Andie smiling and happy

At one point, we had a "snowball fight" break out... the girls and Andie ran through the living room, as everyone pelted them with little balls from one of their games. It sounds rough, but it was hilarious. Everyone was into it and having fun. At one point, Abigail (aka little Doe) stopped in the middle of the war zone, balls flying at her. She just got this determined look on her face, and started throwing the balls back at my brother and Matt. I was laughing so hard to see her so mad. I would have bet money that Ally or Izzy would've done that before her!

For New Year's, our friends, Andrew and Courtney, were given a free 3-bedroom lodge to stay at in Branson (Preacher Perk). They invited us to come along, and we took off with all 5 kids in tow. We had a great time! We ate, we shopped, we hot tubbed after the kids went to bed. It was a nice way to ring in the new year!

As you can probably tell from my lack of blogging, I have been keeping very busy! I’m still working for a company that is a consultant to hundreds of floral shops across the country. I have been given many projects here and there, and am really enjoying getting my hands back in something outside of being a mommy. It’s perfect for me, because I can work from home, and I don’t work more than 20 hours a week. From October to December, I was also keeping a 6 month old baby all day, as well as picking up my girls + 2 other three-year-olds from school at noon, and keeping them until 4:00ish. Yes… I was watching 6 kids! Don’t ask me what came over me… I had a little taste of freedom when the girls went to school for a half day, and I suddenly filled my days with more than I could handle. It was really nice to have all the extra income, but at this point, I’m only watching 1 other toddler in the afternoons (Andi Mae), and she is really no trouble at all… she just goes right along with my girls’ schedule.

Matt has worked for Dollar Thrifty’s Headquarters for about 6.5 years now, and recently they were sold to Hertz, which is headquartered in New Jersey. Although, nothing has currently changed at his job, this has us a little concerned about what the future holds, and how stable his job is… so please say a pray for us that everything works out well. We try not to stress too much, as we know God has provided more than we ever dreamed at this point.

The girls are so busy growing, playing and learning… it’s amazing to see how much they’ve learned at school. They’re learning all the letters… and are currently on “N”. With each letter, they learn a little song, helping remind them of the sound it makes. They also know a few Bible verses, TONS of songs, poems, pledges, etc. I feel very good about their teacher and the school they attend. We plan on sending them to the same school/church program next year for their four-year-old program. It is a slightly difficult decision, because it costs money and is a 4 day a week/half day program vs. the public school, four-year-old program that is 5 days a week, all day, and… free. We just see the fruits from them attending this school, and feel they’ll have the rest of their lives to attend a public/all day school. This is the only time they’ll have this other option, and it’s a very important time in their development.

They are definitely at the age where they’re taking notice of the differences between boys and girls. They talk about “stinky” boys, and how they chase them, and get in trouble at school. I also hear them referring to other girls as their “best” friends, and I even see them leaving out their sisters at times, and cliquing together. (This really burns me up by the way, and I will not have it!) I’m trying very hard to instill that sisters are their family, and will always be their best friends. I just want them to be kind to each other so badly… it doesn’t hurt to try, right?! They’re even starting to notice the physical differences between boys and girls, and they think boys pee out of a “tail”. I have no idea what to say to this, and when the appropriate time is to discuss this.

They’re getting lots better at coloring, and are starting to notice they’re supposed to stay in the lines, and color it a solid color. They’re also beginning to trace letters and objects. They can recognize their written names at this point, and can verbally spell them. Abby even found the A-B-B and Y out of the magnetic letters we have, and put them on the refrigerator in the right order! Abby is probably doing the best with coloring, and following directions on her papers (from what I can see). Ally seems to do the best at remembering the chants, prayers, and memorized pieces. Izzy really seems to excel when it comes to learning songs, and movement. They’re all still very different, and very special in their own ways. If I give praise to one of them though, the others are listening very carefully, and sometimes cry if I don’t give it to them too. I’m not quite sure what to do about that. When they barely scratch their paper with a crayon, but their sister obviously spent 30 minutes on the same paper… they don’t deserve the same attention! I don’t want them to constantly compare themselves to each other, so I just try to find strengths in each of them, and focus on that. It’s definitely a balancing act.

They’re learning all kinds of Bible stories at church, between their Sunday School class, Kid’s church, and Wednesday night class. When I ask them what they learned in class, they can usually tell me a little about the story they were taught. They’re finally getting to the age where they like to sit and watch a full movie too!!! For example, they love Tinkerbell, Snow White and Cinderella. I love to be able to put a movie on, and have a little peace and quiet! We even bought them a small flat screen tv for Christmas to keep back in Ally’s room to play movies now and again. We’re all pretty happy with that purchase!

They love to spot ‘’America Flags” as we drive around… I never noticed how many there were! When we drive past the dealership, they’ll say, “Mommy! There’s a HOOOOOOGE ‘Merica Flag”. I love how they say Hooooge…. They don’t say the “u” part right, it’s like ooooo, not Yuu. Anyway, it’s really cute, and I’m pretty sure, Matt and I are going to be pointing out “Hooooge” things even when the girls have kids of their own.

One funny thing – I think it’s how much we’ve been on the go…. But PEOPLE AND THEIR COMMENTS ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!! I really don’t mind when they ask if they’re triplets… I don’t mind when they ask how old they are… I don’t mind when they ask their names. I DO mind when they ask the following: “Was it natural?” “Did you have Insurance?” “How do you tell them apart?” Or when they make comments like, “I feel so sorry for you” or “I’m glad it’s you and not me” or “Oh bless your heart”. I just cringe. I’ve been nice for 3.5 years, and I’m just about to lose it!!!! The other day, I took all three sick kids with me to Wal Mart to pick up their prescription. As I was waiting for it to be filled, I picked up a few things at the store. As I went to check out, I was bombarded with questions from TWO cashiers at the same time. Do you know how difficult it is to pay for groceries, smile, answer 8 million questions, AND watch 3 toddlers?! People seriously are intrusive and rude! I was so distracted, I walked off without one of my bags! The other day, when a gas station attendant asked me if “it was natural”, I said, “well, we had sex if that’s what you’re asking!” It was rude… I know… but THAT IS WHAT SHE IS ASKING!!! I just think it’s none of her business, and what difference does it make. I told Matt, imagine how someone who had to go through rounds of infertility treatments must feel answering that question. I have actually taught the girls to speak for themselves at this point. If someone says, “Are they triplets?” They say, “yes, We’re Twiplets”. Q: “How old are they?” They say, “Free and a half”. If they ask “Was it natural?”, the girls will say, “That’s Wude!” (None of them can say their “Rs” if you haven’t noticed)!

This Fall and Winter, we have been the sickest people! We have literally had 4-5 colds, the full blown flu (even though we all had our shots), Strep throat, and pink eye! We have been sick MORE than we have been well. It is RIDICULOUS!!! A few people (including our Dr.) have told me it’s because it’s the girls’ first year in any kind of school program, and they’re just catching everything, and hopefully building up their immunities. It’s getting to the point, where, unless we’re absolutely bed-ridden, we still try to go to church or school, because we would have to become recluses otherwise. Pray this is over… please! Tomorrow is Lysol, clean and sanitize the heck out of everything in the house day!!!!

For anyone that loves us enough to have read this entire blog post, here's a sweet little pic of the girls posing in their new little Minnie shirts their grandparents got for them.