One Year!!

Our babies are going to be ONE on Thursday! Everyone has been asking me if I can believe a year has passed already. Honestly, sometimes it feels like they were born about three years ago. Other times it seems like they've always been here and I don't remember "before" them. In other ways, this year went entirely too fast.

I am celebrating the success of getting through this year and having it go so much better than I imagined at times. We had SOOO much help and a year ago today, I would not have guessed how MUCH we would have needed the help. I do not think that anyone can imagine what it is like to become a parent. Everyone is probably very lucky to go through an "oh, this is going to be SOOOO wonderful" stage during pregnancy, even if you are expecting triplets! Because their is just no possible way to imagine what three newborn babies, all at once, requires. As a grandma of triplets, I know my mom is quite overwhelmed at the thought of the new triplets on the way this fall. With us, there was cautious optimism about how the schedule would pan out bringing three babies home. Now, we all know better! It's going to be beyond exhausting and harder than my sister and brother-in-law can possibly imagine. But, I am glad they can't picture it exactly yet... because that would just be mean. It is definitely a blessing that we cannot see into our futures and what God has planned. Dan and I would have never signed up for this past year willingly, but we are so glad we went through it. Our three precious miracles are worth every bit of lost sleep and stressful crying jags. We love them to pieces and would not have it any other way. I thank God every day that I get to be a mom, their mom. I just don't think I can add that this has been a picnic or easy. Thank goodness, because I can see how God is shaping me to become a better, stronger, more disciplined person.

Sorry about the long spiel, but I felt a little reflective there for a moment. On to the party!!

Last week, I spent all my free time cleaning and planning and getting ready for Saturday. Dan's mom, Deb, and her friend, Carol, came on Tuesday to help me clean. My mom and I cleaned all day on Friday and had lots of family help that night and the next day. Finally... it all came together. And I don't know why I stressed so much about the house! It was way too full of people to notice whether it was clean or not!

We had 74 people at our house on Saturday for the babies' birthday party! It was so exciting to see the turnout and fun to celebrate with everyone. We wanted to use the occasion to thank all of the wonderful people who helped us throughout the year, so we invited a ton of guests! We also included friends and family, so it turned into a big event of food and fun. I wish I had pictures of all the little kiddos running and playing in our backyard with the bubble wands and the kickball. The yard was also scattered with picnic tables full of people and food. Dan grilled up a storm and I manned the food table inside for a while. I eventually snuck a burger for myself and sat down with some of our guests and Dan eventually joined me. The kids seemed to soak up all the attention, and frankly, I hardly saw them all night! I am sure their feet only touched the ground so we could see their reaction to the grass. Otherwise, they were loved up all night. It was great.

We didn't plan any big events except for eating cake, and that turned out fine. We barely had time to talk to everyone during the party! David, Aria and Levi enjoyed their first birthday cupcakes and we have some pretty great pictures. At first, David didn't quite understand what was going on. He played a little in it. Then I tried to put a small piece of cake in his mouth. It was a new texture, so he promptly wiped it off his tongue with his upper lip. Then, I gave him a taste of frosting. That went over much better! He soon dug in and polished off quite a bit of his cupcake. Levi smashed it and started eating right away. Aria also did pretty well with getting into her cupcake. A cute moment was when we were trying to get their attention for pictures and they all did "so big!" at the same time. I am not sure if we got a good picture of that moment yet. I am sure it's on video.

My sister and brother-in-law got to "skype" in from Colorado for the cake debacle. So, I guess you could say there were 76 people there... or even 79 if you count the three babies she is carrying!! That may be stretching it. Oh, I guess the official count is 75 if you want to count unborn babies that were at our house!

I go off the subject way too easily...

After cake was cleaned up, we sent David, Aria and Levi off to the bathtub with some willing caretakers and we served cake to their guests. The babies got back just in time to help rip open their first cards and present, then they were done with the presents. It was bedtime, and if you know Levi, you know he missed the whole show. If you know Aria, you can guess that she got cuddled and fell asleep with someone holding her. It's her favorite! And of course you know that David was NOT having anything to do with anything resembling sleep as long as there was a party going on at his house! I am pretty sure he got to eat his Grandpa Dave's ice cream, got tossed in the air a few hundred times, rode on the tractor, rode in the truck, played in the grass, played with/by cousin Will, and a list of other fun things. He was partying it up. I guess he is my son! He may look like Dan, but he has my everylasting energy when there are people to see!

We were blessed with so many wonderful gifts at the party! Thanks everybody! We got TONS of cute clothes for the summer. Their wardrobes are fully stocked now. And we got lots of fun outdoor toys so we don't have to be cooped up in the livingroom anymore! We are going to spend time in the water this summer and have all the toys to do it! Yay! Mommy is going to get a tan! No more glare off of Mommy's legs! Ha ha.

Well, it has been a half an hour since Dan disappeared upstairs, so I suppose I should wrap this up for tonight. I will add some pictures and call it good. I am hoping to post again on Thurday - the actual birthday so we'll see how it goes! Thanks everyone who came and celebrated the lives of David, Aria and Levi! They are so special to us and it is heart-warming to see how special they are to all of you too!

The TOTALLY awesome birthday cake! I wish I knew the name of it's maker from Sioux Falls to give her credit. Thanks, Donna, for the cool cake!
























Exhausted Aria... all partied out!