Girls' weekend

30 Nails painted (twice), pumpkin-chocolate chip cupcakes baked and eaten, spoons licked, movies watched, photo-shoot in grown-up clothes complete, birthday party attended, Target trip, 30+ stickers handed out for peein' in the potty, and nap-time skipped... twice.

What does this mean for this mama - exhaustion. Utter exhaustion. I love my girls, they're hilarious and smart and nuts and I love them. But boy can they wear me out! That whole single-parent thing? How do you do it?! Thankfully neither of us have to very often... and I think both Travis and I are better parents for it!

Some weekend hits, in no particular order:

"Tomorrow, tomorrow, I WUV YA, tomorrow..." (with each verse getting louder). Solos and in unison by each of the girls. Followed by: "Mom, mom, I sing like Annie." (Have I mentioned that they LOVE that movie?)

Both Tomorrow and Jesus Loves Me renditions were sung during our Target trip - I'm sure my fellow consumers appreciated the atmosphere the girls created (insert blush here).

Ryann: "That's a BIG ball". 
Mom: "No, that's a pumpkin" (passed by a Halloween store with a huge pumpkin on the roof).
Girls: "Thas a BIG punkin". (we continue to have a conversation about Halloween - in it we discuss what the girls are going to be for Halloween... princess fairies).
Hadley: "I gonna be a princess"
Ryann: "No I gonna be a princess" (apparently only one can be a princess?)
Brynley: "I be a dinosaur" (WHAT THE...?!) "A pink dinosaur"... I give up.

On nails. "My paint come off, Mommy paint it"... on repeat. The stupid paint I bought freaking PEELS off like nobody's business... that's not annoying. I 'got' to paint Brynley's nails twice in about an hour time span. Fun time.

Nap time (you know, the ones that DIDN'T happen). Ryann launched everything out of her crip - almost got it into her sisters' cribs across the room. "Mommy no talk on the 'peaker" (read: speaker). Nope - I talked on it a bunch, not that it mattered, little stinkers wouldn't settle down and GO TO SLEEP! Stupid constipation-issues...

On pottying. They run and fight over potties... if Brynley says she wants to use the blue one, Hadley or Ryann will SPRINT over and sit on the blue potty. Similarly, if Hadley says she wants to sit on the 'big' red potty (we also have a smaller red potty), Brynley and/or Ryann will SPRINT over to sit on that one. Ryann has gotten smart, she doesn't tell anyone which one she's going to sit on. Sure does make potty-training that much more fun. Oh, and don't get me started on flushing... "I fush my pee?" followed by crying because Hadley flushed Brynley's pee or vice versa. I can't wait to get our water bill.

On sticker-charts. They're full. Super full. So we've started new ones. However, I never thought I'd have to be on sticker-patrol! They STEAL each others stickers.

Favorite comments. "Choices?" to each other and to their baby dolls (I guess we use this term a little too often). "Eat time, wash hands?" (again to each other and to their baby dolls). "Knock it off!" (whoops - that would be my bad... the dogs wouldn't stop barking and did I mention no naps?). "I sit in middle?" (always a debate). "No, I poopin in my panties" (always delightful to hear).

I wish I could remember everything they say... I know this age is fleeting and I'm amazed by the conversations they're able to have with me and with each other. After looking at the pictures I took the other day - I'm terrified at how quickly they're growing up!

Brynley & Ryann - Ryann really isn't THAT much taller... angle and hill.

That hat... and boots. My cuties.

Hads wasn't really in the mood. Dogs barking = entertainment.

The "Twins" - Brynley & Hadley

Brynley loves having her picture taken these days...

My Ryann - such an independent and sweet little girl.

Yep, about right.

A version of peek-a-boo... entertained me for awhile as well!

RYANN - SO TALL as she informed me!

Brynley told Ryann it was "Eat time" and then pretended to buckle her in. They were serving flowers they'd sneakily picked...

Hadley... her tummy hurt, but she still managed to look so sweet here.

Ryann wanted her hat. Those boots - I want a pair!

And Hadley's hat...

Back inside they wanted their pretty skirts on. I LOVE this picture for some reason. Bryn & Hadley

ETEWT: Estimated Time of Exhaustion with Triplets... 45 minutes.

Why having an odd number is a good thing you ask? No ties... However, in our household, it also means that Ryann typically (as in almost always) gets the deciding vote.

Tuesday and Thursday mornings are my mornings with the girls - well, for an hour or so anyway! Mollie comes in after breakfast on those two days, so I usually try to do something kind of fun for breakfast (also for leftovers the other days of the week). Anyway, mornings have become especially tiresome since commencing potty training... Between pottying and getting breakfast on the table - these girls don't eat until 9 or so! Anyway, this morning I asked them what they wanted for breakfast... what follows is fairly typical of how most conversations go in our house:
Bryn: "Pancakes"
Hadley: "No, Eggs"
Bryn: "No, I no want eggs. Pancakes"
Hadley: "No. Eggs. I wan eggs."
Bryn: (beginning to cry - typical) "NO! I no want eggs"
Hadley: "Both? Eggs and pancakes"
Bryn: (crying), "NO! I no want eggs",
Me: "Let's see what Ryann wants. Ryann, what do you want? Ryann? Ryann?" (she was watching TV and despite sitting RIGHT NEXT TO ME, continued to tune me out).
Meanwhile, Brynley is chanting "I no want eggs, I no want eggs"
Finally... Ryann: "Eggs." at which point Brynley started bawling.

I'm a sucker - I've been gone the last two nights, and won't be home again tonight, so I made both - whatever. As I made the eggs, Brynley reminded me several more times that she didn't want eggs (I promised her she didn't have to have any), while Hadley told me she wanted "bof".

While making breakfast, we had three successful potty trips - they refuse to wear pants as soon as they have undies on in the morning, so they can actually go by themselves (we have the potties sitting in the hall outside our bathroom... don't judge us). However, I am pretty sure our water bill will be going UP instead of DOWN - despite not laundering our cloth diapers nearly as often any more. They all like to flush the dang toilet and I cannot convince them that we don't have to flush every time (seriously people - I swear Hadley and Ryann will squeeze out three drops of pee to get a sticker... or marshmallow).

Back to breakfast. Finally ready at about 8:45 (pretty good considering they got up a little after 8). True to her word, Hadley did eat both, two scrambled eggs and two pancakes. Also, to Bryn's creidt, she didn't eat any eggs - only pancakes... as for Ryann, little stinker didn't eat any eggs, just pancakes... go figure.

I was exhausted within 45 minutes of them waking up! However, I can't complain one iota - after looking at the potty chart from yesterday that Mollie keeps... Hadley and Ryann had each peed 11 (ELEVEN) times BEFORE their nap... no wonder I feel like I live in the bathroom when I'm at home these days, I might need to start keeping tabs too... at least I'd be able to explain my time!

Ryann - training pants!

Hadley - training pants (too big, but whatever)

Bryn - such a poser... training pants (3T - too big)

Goofs.