Hotlanta!

In the words of Britney Spears, "oops, we did it again." Or I guess to put more accurately, we are going to do it again... Again, meaning MOVE! I know, we are completely nuts... This we already know :-) Regardless, Andy and I have decided to move our family to the Atlanta, Georgia area.

Let me rewind a bit... A few months ago I got a call from a former boss that I've known for several years and have a tremendous amount of respect for. Lucky for me, he doesn't take "no" for an answer and he kept calling me :-) Deciding to leave where I'm currently at and accepting this new offer was a very difficult decision for us for several reasons (1) I really like my current job and company (2) I work with awesome people (3) my current company has seen and supported us through the girls birth and everything that came along with it and (4) we like this area and as the kids get older it's a great place to live with so much to do.

So that brings me to why we decided to take this opportunity and why Andy is all in. Well, Andy was on board as soon as we started researching the area and discovered the cost of living is like moving to a third world country compared to here.  What sealed the deal was when we discovered that most school districts in that area have full day kindergarten :-) But in all seriousness, it's an amazing opportunity for me professionally and I get to work with a few people that I know and respect. We have 4 kids, 4 potential colleges, 4 money-sucking little creatures that we have many more years to support... Each opportunity allows this to get just a little bit easier :-) I'm just fortunate to have an amazing husband who loves me, supports me in my career and takes on the more difficult day job of taking care of our kids.

I think I've heard it all regarding this move... Anything from a friend asking if our kids needed to get special vaccines to move to Georgia (that was a good one), to several comments about the new accent our kids will have. What I can tell you is that almost everyone that I've talked to either has lived there or knows someone that does and has nothing but positive things to say about the area. I can't say we heard anything positive when we moved to New Jersey :-) I'm certain Andy will fit right in with his niceness and van waving skills. And I'm certain the south will reject me as I'm much better suited to the bitchy east coast...

Our number one concern is find the kids good doctors and the girls good specialists so they can continue to get the support they need. But I've already tapped into some of my fellow triplet mommies in the Atlanta area and have contacted a few of the schools PTA leaders. Moving this time is certainly different than the past, since we've doubled our family size...

You may be wondering about Aunt Em... Her plan is to hopefully find a job in the Atlanta area and make the move with us. She's all for warmer weather and she certainly can't leave princess Stevie :-) She's got a great job now, so hopefully she will be able to find something this summer so she can make the move too!

Bragging Rights...

This week we had to get the girls blood work done - well technically we were suppose to get it months ago but the last time we went we of course forgot to take the scripts with us, so we had to turn around and go home and the thought of packing up all the kids again had us delay the trip a few weeks... We take them to the hospital to get their blood work done because quite frankly we know where the good pokers are and they are not at normal clinics... The girls have both tough veins from being overly poked as babies and small veins and it's not easy. It takes some special people to find them... Well, let me just tell you - the kids were angels....  It took forever to check them in (which still boggles my mind because we've been there before and because I don't understand why people just don't hurry up a little when they see 4 little kids that are waiting to cry. Regardless, they did awesome. They sat their patiently, they walked around, they read stories, they watched Declan's iPad movies, they were just awesome. I think I noticed it so much because there was a screaming boy there that was likely a little younger than the girls. I wanted to laugh a little, but then quickly remembered that I've been there when we just had one child... And then once everyone else had gone and we were finishing up the last child to give blood, they all had a melt down. But because no one saw and the other crying child was gone, I declared VICTORY!

On a side note, Declan locked Stevie in the bathroom the other night. It was bath night and per usual the kids were running around while we were trying to get them in the bath. Declan has this terrible habit lately of locking doors from the inside and then closing them. Well this time he did it with his sister inside - luckily it was our bathroom, so there was no running water or anything. It probably took Andy just a few minutes to get it unlocked, but it could have been bad. Stevie didn't know any better and she was content to just look through all the cabinets and drawers that she doesn't typically have access too. I thought it was pretty funny and am still laughing about it today. Andy, not so much :-)

Here are some pictures of our kids being angels... L to R: Declan, Stevie, "Favorite" (Declan's love and what he gave Stevie to be brave), Bria and Aven.

Declan and Stevie...

Declan and Stevie again... No prompting by me!

Dress Up

I haven't been as active as normal on the blog and unfortunately this post is going to be pretty short... We've been busy (more on that later) and amongst everything, I've been training for a half marathon that I'm running with Em and some friends in a month. Because New Jersey weather isn't cooperating I had to do 7 miles on the treadmill this morning and I an honestly say that I am in both physical and mental pain after it... I've never been a big treadmill fan, let alone doing over an hour of running on one. Not my idea of fun. Nevertheless, the show must go on and we must take care of the kiddos in the house!

Andy and Declan had a Daddy & Declan day yesterday where they went to skating, got a haircut, got lunch and went to a movie. They had a great time and the girls enjoyed playing dress up. Stevie is currently OBSESSED with putting on shoes, boots or whatever on her feet. She literally only spends a few hours a day without anything on her feet. I'm thinking she might be the one into shoes when she is older. I also think she's trying to tell us she wants out of the house - but we aren't giving in just yet :) Aven isn't as much into dress up as she is OBSESSED with her Yo Gabba Gabba dolls (still!). Bria likes dress up too and likes to wear a variety of things on her feet. Declan wants a baby brother. Yes, you read that right... He's informed Andy and I that he wants a little brother. So, we've convinced him that his Yoda stuffed animal is his son and he's his daddy. It's Yoda's 2nd Birthday today, so we will be celebrating later...

Here's some pictures for yesterday... Aven the diva!

L to R: Stevie (in her coat and boots), Bria and Aven...

L to R: Aven, Bria & Stevie...

27 Months!

The girls turned 27 months yesterday and I honestly didn't remember until today. Andy was back in Wisconsin visiting his Aunt who is ill, so I had the kiddos solo this weekend. Although I will say I had a lot of help from Auntie Em and Mr. Justin, it's not even 10 pm on Sunday night and I am EXHAUSTED. They gave me a run for my money today and I am spent! Thank goodness the girls sleep good, because it certainly gives time for the mind and soul to refresh. Now if only Declan would go to sleep. Like now.

Here's what the girls are up too...

Aven:

• Nicknames: Avie, Ave
• Favorite thing to do: Hoarding all the toys
• Favorite food: My lasagna, any type of breakfast food (i.e. waffles, hash browns) and yogurt
• Favorite toy: Stuffed animals and currently her favorite are the Yo Gabba Gabba stuffed toys I get them (she hoards all 5 of them)
• Favorite TV show: Yo Gabba Gabba (obsessed) and the Fresh Beat Band (she likes TV the most)
• What she doesn't like: She doesn't like when people tell her no and her diaper changed
• Morning or Night: Night - she's usually the last one to go to bed and her and Stevie often mess around for a good 30-60 minutes while in their cribs. She's always been the most restless of the girls and not much has changed.
• Things she likes to say: She's been saying more and more each week. She says hi, bye, more, and eyes (and points to the rest of her body parts). I think she says some other things too, but I just can't think tonight.
• Funniest thing she does: I find nothing she does funny anymore. Just kidding... She is the one that enjoys babies, stuffed animals, and little girl things the most. She likes washing her babies, putting them to bed and pushing them around in her stroller. She's just our little Type A momma bear... 
• Therapies: Aven is still getting DI (development intervention) once a week.

Bria:

• Nicknames: Bri-Bri, B-B, Bri
• Favorite thing to do: Everything - she is just happy to do everything (most of the time)
• Favorite food: My lasagna, watermelon and yogurt
• Favorite toy: Blocks (the big lego blocks) - she loves building things
• Favorite TV show: Yo Gabba Gabba and the Fresh Beat Band (she likes TV the least)
• What she doesn't like: Her diaper changed
• Morning or Night: Neither - she continues to be our best sleeper. First to bed and last to wake up. 
• Things she likes to say: Mama, Dada, Declan (new), Papa, more, done, up, bye, hi, thank you ("tay ooh") (new), no (new), nose (new), mouth (new), eye (new) - she says these when she points to them :-) and several other things that make sense to her and her sisters but we don't understand. 
• Funniest thing she does: When he gives you random hugs - maybe not funny, but oh so sweet...
• Therapies: She's still getting DI with Aven once a week.

Stevie:

• Nicknames: Sweet Pea (that's what Andy calls her a lot)
• Favorite thing to do: Dancing
• Favorite food: My lasagna, bananas and yogurt
• Favorite toy: Magnadoodle and the Yo Gabba Gabba stuffed animals (which has caused a lot of issues the last few days).
• Favorite TV show: Yo Gabba Gabba
• What she doesn't like: Getting her diaper changed
• Morning or Night: Both, but is happy in the morning (mostly) - she will trade off with Aven on who wakes up first. 
• Things she likes to say: Hi and eyes (new) but talks the most (you just can't understand what she's saying)
• Funniest thing she does: She gets this cute little sweet smirk when she's shy. 
• Therapies: Stevie gets PT twice a month and Speech Therapy twice a month.

Here are some pictures from the weekend... Aven giving her gabba babies a bath with a wipe... 

Aven and Bria building together... This didn't last long...

The only picture I could get with all the girls... Thanks to my sister for being my assistant :-)

Mr. Justin and the girls having their after nap snack :)

Stevie stretching out looking at her phone...

This was the end of our night tonight... Declan was covered in a Danimal, which I told him to not soil 1.3 seconds before this happened... I had a beer after this incident.

These pictures aren't in order, but Saturday morning Justin and I ran a 5K - his first race ever and the first of a few more to come! It was freezing!

Stevie being quite and reading to herself...

Aven hiding her gabba babies...

Stevie with that cute little look that I referenced above...

Aven an Bria building together again... Again this didn't last long.

Aven trying out her new baby crib...

Family Time...

We've been lucky enough to have 3 weeks of visitors... Which came in handy because I was in Germany all this week... First Grandma Judy came (we didn't get any photos of her and the kiddos - it just went too fast!). Then Aunt Amy came up for a few days while Aunt Judy was still here. Em, Amy and I got to have a girls night and we went to Philly and drank too much, stayed up late and gave Justin an over-dose on the Barth/Dosher siblings... We did get a few pictures of Amy and the kiddos :-)

 Sisters!

Can't help but love this kid!

And our attempt to get Auntie Amy with all the kids... Aven on the ground with Declan hugging her, Bria on the left and Stevie on the right...

This past week Grandma Sally and Grandpa Don came for the week... They helped Andy while I'm in Germany and the kids seemed to enjoy it!

Grandma and Aven...

Grandma, Aven and Stevie... Bria wasn't cooperating with us today...

Sisters and more sisters! My mom and Aunt Connie with the girls (L to R: Bria, Stevie and Aven)

Daddy and Bria... I love this picture and I'm so glad that Andy has his girl... One that loves him more then the rest of us... Aven is my girl (and most often this isn't a good thing), Stevie is Em's girl and now Bria is Andy's)

My week in Germany was good, but every time I am in Europe it reminds me that I'm glad I don't live there... Europeans just don't understand or value the concept of working mothers. And when they find out that I'm a working mother of 4, including triplets they generally look at me with shock or disgust. I know it's a cultural thing, but sometimes it really irritates me... Regardless, we had a great meeting and the location was beautiful!