Getting caught up...October through December

Okay, so I don't really need an excuse as to why I haven't written an update since September especially since I have a busy 5 year old and soon to be 3 year olds (who by the way have been potty training) but I still feel bad. Honestly, I have sat down at the computer over a dozen times to try and get something posted but can't seem to find the words.

We started this blog as a way to keep friends and family up to date with our lives when Chase was born and it has become something so much bigger. It has become my own book of memories. The problem is I am having so much fun living the memories that I can't seem to get them written down. When I do try, I am overwhelmed with the day to day memories that they seem to drown out the big occasions. With that being said, I present to you a general recap of our lives over the last 3 months. I will try to highlight the month with a little description and then let the pictures do the story telling. After all, they tell it better than I can.

So, without further ado....

October -
We started October with a trip to Charleston for Jason's cousin's wedding and stayed for an extended vacation in Kiawah with his Dad, Sallye, Lindsey and Nate (their girls Olivia, Addison and Allye) and Marc and Sabrina (Milo). We rented a house that had a pool and it was our lifesaver! We had a great week and made some amazing memories with family and cousins who don't get to see each other nearly often enough in their opinion (mine too!) Then we had overall general fall events, limited to but not forgetting our annual family pictures and concluding with Halloween.

Coldest day of the week and still in the pool (thank you heated pools). They were freezing when we tried to get this shot but we needed one with ALL the cousins together with Mr. Frog.

Cousins waiting to go see Alligator Pond in Kiawah. There were literally dozens of HUGE alligators behind this clubhouse and the kids were stunned into silence by their size and the sheer number of them.

Spider-Chase

Construction worker Graham

Police Officer Anthony

Fireman Jack

Anthony, Chase, Graham and Jack

Cousins

This one captures the individual personalities of the boys and reminds people just how challenging it is the get everyone to not only look at the camera at the same time but to then smile on cue!

Family portrait - October 2013

November -

This saw all the boys going to their first UNC football game. The weather was perfect for November and the team had a huge win with lots of touchdowns (they literally outscored the basketball team that day!).  Of course, can't forget Thanksgiving and all our time with family. In the midst of that, we started potty training. The first day the boys went through 21 pairs of underwear! Yes, you read that right, 21 pairs. The good news? Jack got it in about 2 days, Anthony took a few days longer and well Graham, is Graham. He has decided he likes diapers and to this day still wears them. However, he is finally starting to show signs of being ready. Actually, he has been ready for a while now, the problem is his interest level. Amid that chaos and the fun of November, we also started to prepare for Christmas.

Taking advantage of a beautiful fall day to ride bikes in the street

Our first Tarheel football game. Standing in front of Ramses statue

In awe of the Thomas Kincade tree from Grandpa

Picking out our Christmas tree (this is the one that is decorated with all the boys ornaments they have both made and that have been given to them)

December -

For the first time since my Dad died, I was excited about Christmas. I have mentioned before that this was his FAVORITE holiday and every year, he and I would spend time together in a way that can't be put into words. So this time of year is always the hardest for me in terms of dealing with his absence. Without Chase, I don't think I would have even bothered to celebrate the first few years. But this year was different because as soon as I pulled out the Thomas Kincade tree my Dad gave me (one of his last gifts to me) I knew this year was going to be special. All 4 boys were enthralled with the lights, the moving train and the songs that it played. From that moment on, my view on Christmas changed from one of sadness to one of joy - why? Because I could see my Dad's joy and passion for Christmas in my children for the first time. They way they would stop and focus on a new decoration. They way they asked questions about everything. The way they would get excited and have to tell a brother about what they found or saw or heard. Children really do remind us of the innocence of the holiday and for me the reason - family and love and remembering. We had holiday programs for not only Chase, but the triplets had their first one too! Reindeer Run at the YMCA with the cousins, seeing Santa on multiple outings and of course, family.

Santa, cousins at the YMCA Reindeer Run

In front of our 'fancy tree'

Nana and the boys at brunch with Santa

Getting ready to go to the triplets Christmas program at school

Christmas morning 2013 (forgot to get my picture on Christmas Eve)

Mom-mom and Pop-pop with their greats

With that being said, I feel like we had an amazing few months and in 1 week, the triplets turn 3. I can't believe how fast the time has passed. This month has been filled with milestones and special moments. Chase is officially registered for Kindergarten. Jack, Graham and Anthony are signed up for Rookie soccer starting this spring and we have been on lots of play dates and adventures around town. As the boys continue to get older, I seem to get braver in my willingness to go places with them by myself. We have been to the mall, the museum, the park and restaurants. They are so good that it makes me more willing to be a little brave and try new experiences. I can only imagine what the summer will hold for us. Hopefully, I will be better about keeping the blog current in the upcoming months.

Chase - a Wolfpack fan? (Dad is not pleased with this turn of events!)

If you have read previous entries you know that we have a babysitter who we adore named Whitney. She happens to be a student at NC State (we try not to hold it against her). She also happens to be dating a wide receiver for the football team (#80 Mr. Bryan - as Chase refers to him). Last year, Whitney and Bryan were gracious enough to allow Chase and I to come to a game and sit in the family and friends section. We literally sat first row behind the visiting team and Chase was mesmerized - especially when Bryan came to give him a high five before the game started. Over the course of the year, Whitney and Bryan have become members of our family. We have them over for dinner around the holidays, we celebrate accomplishments and special occasions together and we remind our kids how lucky they are to have such special people in their lives.

Fast forward one year and Chase was going to the home opener with Whitney, her mom and Bryan's family. Of course, he didn't know this. Why? Because you don't tell a child anything you don't want to hear about incessantly until it is time for them to actually attend the event. Whitney showed up Saturday morning to take Chase and it was on! I got a phone call from a very excited little boy on his way to watch the Walk of Champions and see Bryan before the game started. He sat through the entire game and even some of the post-game activities while waiting for Bryan to finish for the day. It was a 12:30 kickoff and he left the house at 9:00 AM. They sat in the blazing sun (it was mid-90s during the game) and munched on hot dogs, snacks and juice while the Wolfpack put one in the win column.

After the game, Chase was lucky enough to go to dinner with Bryan and the gang. He then came home in a trance and showered and was put to bed. He slept like a log but when I came home, I heard every detail. Here are some of the pictures that I got from Whitney throughout the day.

Walk of Champions - first time Chase will get to see Bryan

Pre-game warm ups

Game time

He has the Wolfpack sign down to a science - again, Dad and I aren't too sure about this move!

Bright sun and he wouldn't wear his hat because the only one that fits is a Carolina hat and the light blue was not approved in that stadium

Chase with a friend watching the game

Walking hand in hand with Mr. Bryan after the game on the way to dinner

This boy completely adores not only Whitney but Bryan as well. They are showering him with love and allowing him to be a part of a world that most kids only dream exists. My problem, trying to explain to him that Mommy doesn't have good seats when she goes to games!

Whitney and Bryan, I know that we have said it before but I honestly don't think that words will ever be able to express just how special you are to us. You have welcomed us into your lives and blessed us with your kindness and generosity. You are amazing role models for my kids and it makes me proud and honored to say that I know you on a such a personal level. You are both to be commended for the outstanding impact you have on not just the lives of my boys, but the lives of every child you come in contact with. Don't ever forget what a blessing you are to us and remember that you will always be thought of as family.

South Bend here we come!

So it is no secret that I am a die hard Notre Dame fan. I try to see one game in person every football season. It has been three seasons since I went to South Bend for a game. The last couple of years we have seen them at Wake Forest and against Maryland in RFK Stadium outside of D.C. When the time came to plan for this year's trip, I asked Jason if we could make the sojourn to South Bend. My brother and his wife were going to join us and it was their first game in 4 years so it could turn into a family occasion. We booked the room, made the decision to fly directly into South Bend instead of Chicago and got got our game tickets. The biggest potential obstacle - the kids. No way was I taking the boys on THIS trip. While I am excited to bring them to South Bend and expose them to the "Irish way", they aren't quite old enough to really understand and my trip would change dramatically.

With that in mind, we started with Nana (Jason's mom). We try very hard to not ask grandparents to watch the kids because we want them to enjoy being grandparents and not be 'in charge' and have to 'enforce the rules'. But this was a special circumstance - right? I then set out to find her 'support network'. You see, the boys are good, but they are exhausting - even for me who does it all the time. For someone who isn't conditioned it takes training, both physical and mental, to be ready to deal with them 24 hours a day. Enter - the patchwork babysitters. We all agreed that having an extra set of hands for the afternoon crankiness, dinner preparation and baths would benefit everyone. Then that sitter would stay the night so Nana could get a full night of sleep uninterrupted. Here it what it looked like:

We left on Thursday around lunch and Chase was in school. We had a classmates' Mom bring him home so Nana didn't have to deal with the triplets for pick-up. Then Teresa came over around 3:30 or so to start her shift. When Teresa left at 6:30 on Friday morning, Nana got Chase ready for school and the little boys ready to go to the YMCA. Chase's friend picked him up for school and Nana and the younger boys went for some time at the YMCA. Mom-mom and Pop-pop (my grandparents) arrived a little before 11:00 to help with lunch and watch the triplets while Nana went to get Chase from school (early release day). They stayed until Sarah got there a little after 5:00 to start her shift until 8:00 or so the next morning. Chase got picked up by Whitney as a surprise to attend the NC State home opener football game (that will be an entry by itself!). Teresa came over around 4:00 and Chase got home around 7:30 to join them. Teresa left the next morning around 8:00 and Mom-mom and Pop-pop came over around 11:00 for lunch and more play time. We got home around 4:30 and the boys were more than excited to see us.

They had a great time with Nana and all her helpers but they missed us just a bit.

As for Jason and I? We had a great time. Other than some flight issues on the way to South Bend, we finally arrived and met our friends for dinner Thursday night. Then went back to the hotel to hang out and visit. Friday was spent wandering around campus and seeing how much it has changed in the last 3 years as well as having lunch with my Aunt and Uncle (my Dad's sister and her husband from California). We picked out the tree that is going to be dedicated in my Dad's memory and spent the day taking in more of the sights. We ended the afternoon listening to the band trumpets in the administration building (the home of the famous golden Dome) and watching the band kick off the stairs of the Admin building on their way to practice in the stadium parking lot. We went back to the hotel to have a few drinks, play some bags and just visit. After all, there were 21 of us not including the law school friends who joined the son of a couple we were there with. Saturday tailgating started around 8:30 for the game. We headed to the stadium around 1:45 and were there in plenty of time to watch the teams warm up, enter the field and have the band play the fight song. The Irish won and a good time was had by all. We went back to the hotel to try and finish all the tailgating food we had (not successful) and visit a little more. We headed home on Sunday to try to return to life as we know it.

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

The tractor trailer that moves the team equipment for road games

National Championship trophy and 7 Heisman trophies on display at the Gug

Joe with his 'drinking hand' behind the hotel where we tailgated

View from our seats during the game - thanks Uncle Rick and Aunt Pat! The students are on the middle and right side in all green shirts. Pretty awesome sight to see in person.

After an Irish win listening to the band

Mom, Matt and I - first trip all together without my Dad - still hard

So the teaser in this entry was about Chase and his football game. As you will soon see, he had almost as much fun as his parents did! Read the next entry to hear all about it...

The next big things....

Once the beach trips and other family events died down, we looked forward to Daddy's birthday. Chase was really excited about it because it marked the start of soccer season and it meant school and football were right around the corner!

We had an adult-only trip to watch the Durham Bulls the week of Jason's birthday. We decided to attend that game because the Bulls' were retiring the jersey of former Atlanta Braves' star, Chipper Jones. Since we lived in Atlanta and Jason grew up a Braves' fan, this was a special treat for us all.

The fancy car that rode Chipper around the stadium prior to the ceremony behind the pitcher's mound

After coaching last spring, Jason decided it was better than he thought and offered to do it again this fall. We moved Chase up into the Kindergarten league even though he is still in Pre-K. We figured he was ready to up his game and face some different competition. We now have 1 hour practices on Friday nights and 1 hour games on Saturday mornings. We have some friends whose boys played with Chase in the past along with some new teammates and Jason's first impression is that we are going to be a tough team again. I sure hope so because Chase has NEVER lost a soccer game (even though we don't keep score at the Y) in the 4 seasons he has played and he doesn't intend to lose any this season either.



Jason's mom came to town for a few days the week of his birthday as a preview of her duties Labor Day weekend (more to come on that). She watched the boys while I took Chase to his 5 year doctor appointment and then she and Jason had lunch all by themselves on his actual birthday. The boys and I decided that pizza was a good plan for his birthday dinner and we ordered a special chocolate cookie pizza for dessert and sang to him. All the while, we are still in the midst of the remodel downstairs remember! (Hence the pizza for dinner).

The following Monday Chase started transitional Kindergarten at St. Francis of Assisi Preschool (the Catholic church where we are parishoners). Even though he made the cut for Kindergarten by 6 weeks, Jason and I made the decision (after months of conversation) to keep him out for one more year. While academically we are sure he would be okay, it was the sitting still in a desk all day that had us worried. We, no it was really I, was a little hesitant the first day of school but Chase rocked! He walked into the classroom like he owned the place and got right to business. When I picked him up that afternoon, I asked him a couple questions. The first was what his favorite thing was and his answer: the playground and centers in the room. The worst thing answer was: the yucky PB&J that I made him like the day the men were working. You see, it is a tree nut and peanut free school so I thought it would be smart to have a few trial runs. The result was 50/50. The first day I made it with sunflower butter he saw me making them and declared that it was awful and he couldn't eat it. It happened to be one of the few times that we were home for lunch during the remodel. The next attempt, I made several of them without him watching. Some with real peanut butter, some with sunflower butter and took them to the pool. All of them were eaten and no one complained so I thought I would give it shot on the first day of school. Oh well, the best laid plans. Lunch for him no longer has a sandwich but crackers and cheese. There is no rule that says it has to be a sandwich, right? I took pictures but can't find them. Will have to make a note to upload them soon.

After Chase's first day of school, we had some downtime and then headed to his final ice skating lesson. He had gotten them from Meme and Popi for his birthday and as Jason and I both admit, a natural he is not. He may be athletically gifted in all other areas of sport, but ice skating is not it. We will keep at it if he wants but I don't think hockey will be in his future.

Working on swerving his feet in and out

Push, push, glide

He did it!

We survived the first day and then the stress really kicked in. Why? Because Jason and I were leaving for a long Labor Day trip to South Bend to watch Notre Dame's season opener against Temple. More on that shortly!

Remodeling and another beach trip

Jason and I have spent the last 6 years in our house patiently updating and remodeling it as time (and finances) allow. In some cases, work was done much sooner than planned (finishing the walk up attic when I got pregnant with the triplets) and in other cases, it was done due to the growing size of our family – NO, I am not pregnant again – but the boys are getting bigger and space is of the essence.  This time, we made the decision to take down some walls downstairs in order to maximize usable room near the kitchen.  This is where we started and what the space looked like originally.

View from the kitchen toward the family room

View just inside the door to the family room

Wall and door to the living room

From the doorway near the front door looking into the living room

We got the demo underway and the boys and I tried to spend as much time out of the house as possible. This led to numerous visits to the pool, Marbles Kids Museum (which we have now joined as a result) and play dates to the park. 

We made the decision to update the kitchen floor while we were updating the house so the time frame for the project went from about  10 days to about 12-14 days. For those who know me, I needed to know the plan so that I could in turn make my plans. Within a week of the demo, we took another trip to the beach with my Mom, Meme and Popi. It was nice to get away from the 'chaos' of the remodel but the weather was crummy so we came home a night early. Doesn't mean we didn't have fun and wear them out though!

From the kitchen without the wall behind the table

No bookcases, dark paneling or wall to the left

View from near the front door - open space

Exhausted after trip #2 to the beach, but wouldn't let go of the IPad!

Poor Jack couldn't even finish his dinner after his fun at the beach

We loved our trip but it was nice to get home, although the project was still ongoing. The details of the wall removal in the new space went along with no problems but the flooring is another story. As of today, which is officially 30 days after the start of the project, we still have details that need to be finished. There were some delays due to the flooring being on backorder but the rest of the issues make my blood boil so I'll just post pictures of the progress and finished (mainly) project before I explode.

Old kitchen floor on left, new on the right

With decorations and pictures on the wall

From the new space looking toward the front of the house

From the front door looking back. The carpet behind the couch is a play space for the boys and I have moved some toys downstairs for them to play with and they have LOVED it. We don't spend much time upstairs during the day right now which is nice for all of us.

While there are still minor details on the flooring that need to be finished, I have gone ahead and hung pictures and put furniture in place. As I write this, the boys are enjoying their new 'downstairs play space' as dinner is on the stove so I can cook and mediate at the same time. We are so excited to have the space more family oriented and I love that the boys can play inside or outside while I fix meals for us. We have already enjoyed some great times in this new space and it is brand new. I can't wait to see what memories it will hold for us over time.