Wonderful yet different Christmas

There were a lot of different emotions this year for Christmas. It was not quite the Christmas that I always had in my mind, but we made the most of it and had a great time anyway. It was just a little strange with all the packing we had to do and the few decorations they were actually put up this year. Of course the Trioux really had no idea what was going on, but they seemed to enjoy the time as well.

I was off work Thursday and my mom came into town that night. I decided to go ahead and take the Trioux to daycare on Thursday so that we could run a bunch of errands and get everything ready for Christmas for the Trioux. We got all our errands done, including grocery shopping, and we even had sushi for lunch! What a great Christmas Eve Eve!

Friday was a pretty crazy day! Last year we started a tradition that we wanted to stick to this year, because we are not sure if we will be able to do it again! We got the Trioux up and I fixed a big breakfast for everyone. After we ate, we got the Trioux down for a quick nap and got ready for the day. After their nap, we got them dressed and headed out to go get their picture taken with Santa. Christmas Eve pictures with Santa are so much easier than other times of the season. We always get there early, when he first gets there, and we can get in and out in no time! After Santa pictures, we took them for their first Mexican lunch. We had a blast and made a huge mess! I don’t know about some of you other triplet parents with toddlers, but I seem to tip so much better when we take the Trioux out to eat only because we feel so guilty about the HUGE mess we leave!!!! Later that afternoon, after a long nap, we took the Trioux to their Paw-Paw’s apartment to open presents with him. This was the first time they have been to his place and they had a blast! The rest of the evening, after they went to bed, was spent with me running back and forth from the grocery store, and the pizza place in two separate trips!!!

Early on we decided to keep everything very low-key and not spend a whole bunch of money on Christmas because of the impending move and all, but try telling that to grandparents. They didn’t go overboard, but it was fun to see all the things they got them. Paw-Paw got them a weeble toy, a race track toy and best of all a Buzz Lightyear ride on toy! All three can make it go forward, but it is going to take a little while to learn to steer it (video to follow later). Nana got them some baby dolls, a stroller for their dolls, some purses for the girls and a Chrismoose for Jack. They also got some more books and an art easel for later, and a toy laptop and CD player.

Minus all of the stress of trying to pack up a house and move with three toddlers, this was a very enjoyable Christmas. I wish that Papa Keith and Grammy could have been there, but we will all be together this weekend moving! Truck will be here Tuesday and we will be moving in on Wednesday.

On a side note, as of this afternoon, I will officially be unemployed! I will be a part of the “no longer economically viable” category of society. Next stop, Stay At Home Dad! At least for the short term.

Without further delay, here are some random pictures from the holiday weekend. I am still waiting for the Santa picture to be emailed to me. I must take a lot of time to get back to the north pole and send a simple e-mail!

"Why aren't we going anywhere"

"what did I do?"

Jack and Kate checking out the Tree

Kate and Daddy

The Gang

Addi "little bit"

My little Man

Jack Jack

Addi not quite sure she wants to be up there.

Sweet Kate

Kate being silly

This was the best picture I had of this. Jack with his new winter hat on!

The Big Green Egg Christmas Bird

The Christmas Set-up

"Thhh-aaa-nt-aaa!!!"

Even though we are in the process of getting everything packed up for our big move, we still put up a few decorations in the house and are trying to teach the Trioux who Santa is and what a Christmas Tree is. Kate and Addi have started to point at things and are learning what different things are, Jack, not so much. Somethings you can ask them where something is and they will point to it. It started with the Tree. We would ask Kate, "Where's the tree?" and she would point at it. Sometimes she would try to say it and she has gotten pretty good at it. We have also been working on Santa. Last night during dinner Kate became fascinated with Santa. It went a little something like this...

"Kate, where's Santa?" - Daddy (Yes, that is Hogan in the background cleaning Addi's chair for her.)

"No silly, that's Daddy! Where's Santa?" - Daddy

"THHH-AAA-NT-AAA!!!! THHH-AAA-NT-AAA!!!" (at least that's what it sounds like) - Kate

"Yes, that's Santa" - Daddy


May I present: Thh-aaa-nt-aaa

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Crazy twists and turns that life takes you

Six years ago if you would have asked me if I would ever leave Birmingham to go back to south Alabama, I would have told you that you would have to drag me kicking and screaming to go back there!!! Well, Crystal’s work brought us back down here six years ago and surprisingly enough I was not kicking and screaming. Four years ago if you would have asked me if I would ever think of leaving the golf business, I would have told you not a chance! Too much free golf and too much fun times! Low and behold, the all mighty dollar and the quality of life got the best of me and I got into industrial sales. If you would have asked me three years ago if I thought I would have triplets, I would have probably told you to jump off a bridge somewhere! As you all know, these three little people are the highlight of my life and do now know what I would do without them! Lastly, if you would have asked me a year ago that we would be selling our first home and moving to a place where the county population is smaller than the population of the city that we live it, I would have told you not in a MILLION years! Well, that is happening RIGHT now! That is one of the reasons for the lack of updates over the last few weeks.

Crystal has been offered a wonderful opportunity that would really do a lot to help further her career and also allow her more time to spend with the Trioux and myself. In two weeks we will be moving the small but lovely town of Oneonta Alabama. It is about thirty minutes northeast of Birmingham, nestled right between two small mountains. It is a beautiful little place and we are looking forward to raising the Trioux in a smaller, slower paced community. We have found a great house to rent for the time being with plenty of space and a lot of acreage. I think our closest neighbor is a mile away. It is going to be lots of peace and quiet. We will be close enough to Birmingham that we won’t really miss that much.

Scariest thing is that as of right now, I don’t have anything firm as far as a job goes. It is rather stressful, but I am sure that something will come up. I have a few leads and should be able to find something after the first of the year, but until then, it looks like I might be a stay at home dad for a little bit. We will figure it out!

Can I just tell you how much I am NOT looking forward to moving with three toddlers!!!!!!! Hopefully if all goes as planned the movers will pack their truck one day and be able to deliver it the next so that we only have to spend one day in a hotel/motel (more emphasis on motel).

I think the worst part about this whole move and relocation is the effect it has had on our Christmas celebration. Part of me is very happy that the kids are so young and don’t quite fully understand everything about Christmas yet, but the other wishes we could have a more traditional Christmas celebration. I used to be like Clark W. Griswald and decorated EVERYTHING!!!! This year however, all we put up are the wreaths on the outside and a small tree, not much bigger than the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. We decided as a family, both sides, that instead of getting presents and spending a bunch of money on present, we would concentrate on the move and helping out with that. Our parents have come through so much for us and have helped us pay for this move so we can concentrate on getting settled in. We will forever be grateful to them!

One thing this scaled down Christmas has made me realize is just how important the small things are in life. It has really made me cherish all of the time that we get to spend with our family and made me understand the importance of family! This move is going to put us within two and a half hours of Crystal’s parents house (used to be five plus). My mom, as soon as she can find a job close to Oneonta, is going to more there too and my dad, whenever his lease runs up at his apartment, is going to move there as well! All of the Trioux’s grandparents will be VERY close to them while they are growing up! I could not ask for anything better.

I can’t say when my next update will be, but please bear with us and say a little prayer for us over the next few weeks that everything goes smooth. I will try and at the very least get some pictures loaded during this time. Until then, have a wonderful and safe Christmas and New Year! Remember the reason for the season! God Bless!

Our 2010 Christmas Tree

They are getting SO BIG!

Jack loves daddy's hat

Sweet Little Addi

Jack Man

Addi loves to play with her tongue now

Climber Kate

Kate is Queen of the Castle

Thanksgiving 2010

This year for Thanksgiving, we decided to load up the kids and head to Senoia to spend the weekend. We were actually able to get the entire family together for this one and overall I think everyone had a great time and the kids had a blast! I wish I could say they entire trip was a huge success, but I would be lying thru my teeth!!!

The original plan was to leave after I got off of work and after we fed the kids dinner so they would sleep most of the way. My mom was originally going to come into town early that afternoon so she could ride with us. Well, as most plans go with triplets, they got modified. My mom actually was able to come down Tuesday during the day and I was able to take off from work at noon, so we decided to try and leave as early as possible and stop for dinner. I think we finally got on the road around 3:30 so it we did get a pretty good head start.

The first half of the trip was pretty uneventful. Jack slept the whole time and Addi and Kate watched Cars most of the time. We decided to stop at Cracker Barrel for dinner on the way. Seemed logical at the time because it has ANYTHING you could possibly feed three toddlers and best of all, it is a loud environment so we don’t have to worry if someone gets upset. I actually called from the road to make sure they had enough high chairs for us. Luckily we got there before the rush, but that also meant that we got the most dreaded (at least if you have multiples) table of all, front and center. Any of you out there that have ever been to a Cracker Barrel know exactly which table I am talking about. Right behind the hostess station, almost staged to be the main attraction, there is a big round table. Yea, that’s the one we were at. As most of you out there with multiples know, we were the center of all the attention of the entire restaurant. Coming and going, everyone could see us. It was rather comical. They sure do attract the elderly. They really seem to love them. We did hear all the usual comments but just shrugged them off and tried to get in and out as quick as we could. We still had three and a half hours left and it was already 7:00.

We got back on the road and that’s where the fun (insert sarcasm) began. The Trioux drifted off to sleep for ohhh I don’t know, maybe 15 minutes and that was about all the silence we got for the rest of the trip!!! Jack passed out and we hardly heard a peep out of him for the rest of the trip. Kate would go in and out, but she was having these wicked coughing spells. Addi on the other hand, was not a happy camper and wanted everyone to know it!!!! She started yelling and screaming about twenty or thirty miles after we left Cracker Barrel and didn’t stop until we got to Senoia, three hours later!!! She would cry and fuss, and then drift off to sleep for about five minutes and then start again. About mid way thru the trip we decided to stop and turn her car seat back around because we thought the lights might be bothering her, but that didn’t work! When we stopped in Auburn (my favorite little place on the plains), and got her out of her seat, she was just as happy as can be. Playing and talking and having a great time, so I knew it was the fact that she just didn’t want to be in that seat. Needless to say, as soon as we got back on the road, she went back to screaming and yelling! That was the longest three hours of my life. Funny part is, when we pulled into Senoia and we were about five miles from the house, she fell asleep and didn’t wake up until we pulled her out of the seat!!! Other than that, the rest of the weekend was fabulous!!!

We got up Thursday morning and made all the preparations for a great big Thanksgiving feast. This was an extra special Thanksgiving because it was the Trioux’s first that they could actually enjoy the feast themselves. I really enjoyed it because I was able to spend some great male bonding time outside frying a turkey, smoking cigars, and having a few cold beers at 11:00 in the morning! It was great. I really think the kids enjoyed their lunch. They sure took a mighty long nap after that meal! We all settled in and watched football the rest of the day and spent a nice relaxing day enjoying the great weather!

Friday was Iron Bowl day, not Black Friday, not day after Thanksgiving, and for the first time in a long time, I was actually able to sit down and watch the ENTIRE game without interruption and all I can say is WOW CAM WOW!!!

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful except for the Trioux’s first formal sit down dinner at a fine restaurant. I will have a separate post about that one later. I hope that everyone had a great holiday and was able to enjoy it with their friends and family. I sure do cherish mine more and more these days. My family is so important to me and it really meant so much that we were able to all be together this year. Enjoy the pics and see you next time!!! Excuse the quality of some of these. Some were taken with a great camera, some were taken with a cell phone and none have been edited. Maybe one day I will learn how to use Photoshop.

Our lovely bird covered in peanut butter (don't ask me, it turned out GREAT!)

Before

During

After

What fun!

Before the mayhem

Can you tell Addi enjoyed hers?

Kate not too sure about it all

No comment needed

The whole family (minus mom taking the photo)

Jack and I enjoying the best part, ROLLS!!

Kate up to no good as usual

Addi and her Elf shoes

Kate and her lovie

Kate just took off on her own up the stairs! FEARLESS!

Jack learning to climb stairs like Kate

Something spooked poor Addi

Addi on Grammy hip (common sight)

Kate on her new bench