4 Years Old...

It's almost impossible for me to think about the girls being 4 and if I hadn't lived and been exhausted during all of the past 4 years, I'd have thought it wasn't true.  The girls birthdays are always a difficult time for me. And honestly, unless you have a preemie (or 3 of them), it's really hard to understand for people. So I try to stop explaining it and hope that one of these years I won't have anxiety, sadness and an overall dread for this time of the year. Once the birthday passes, I'm back to normal, but the time leading up to it and the day of is very painful for me. It's sad that such a happy time for the girls is a difficult one for me. But I try and focus on them, how amazing they are, how far they have come and how happy they are and know that each year that passes will get better... Enough about that, let's talk about the girls...

First of all, this past year I've really seen them grow into sisters. The bond between them is immeasurable and also hard to explain. Although they have completely different personalities, I see them defending each other, getting in trouble together, laughing together, learning together, worrying about each other when they are not near each other, and just being sisters... I love it and although they don't always get along, I'm confident their bond will only get stronger. At least until they are 16 and one of them dates a guy another one likes :-)

Aven:

Aven was Baby A in my belly... Her water broke at 26 weeks and 4 days which ultimately put me into labor (even though we thought we could stop it for a few weeks). She weighed 1 pound 9 ounces when she was born. She's had a mind of her own, even before she was born :-)

Aven is a bit of the alpha of the triplets. She's very confident, a bit bossy, knows what she wants and will let you know when she doesn't get it. She also tends to be a bit of the mother within the group. She's generally considerate of her sisters and is the best sharer by far. She wants everyone to be involved in something and will get upset when her sisters don't want to do something that she does. She will give you the shirt off her back if she knows it will make you happy. Now this doesn't happen all the time, but if she's happy, she wants everyone else happy around her and will do anything to make sure that happens - even if it means sharing...

Aven currently loves school, stickers, playing dress up, wearing shoes with no socks (ever), riding her bike, reading books, all superheros, playing with all the "boys" (aka Declan's friends), playing legos in her brother's room and doing a wardrobe change every nap time, which usually leads to some crazy things she wears... And, she definitely does not want to grow up. She is not very happy about turning 4 and will make sure she tells you how unhappy she is about it whenever you ask...

I truly love Aven's spirit. She beats to her own drum and is self confident in what and how she does things. She's usually the one that is wearing something nuts and is also the most stubborn.  She tends to be a bit of a tomboy and rarely likes her hair brushed, put in a pony tail or anything done with it. Although she likes dress up and wearing princess dresses, she also likes pairing it with sneakers and a baseball hat. We constantly compare Aven to Declan because at this age (and younger) those 2 are identical.  Same spirit, similar personality and same independence.

Bria

Bria was Baby B in my belly and we used to say how she always had all sorts of room to jump around. It's still like that now, she likes to tell her sisters "go away" if they get to close to her stuff :-) She was our biggest and weighed 1 pound 11 ounces when she was born.

Bria is our love child... She's all about peace, love and happiness - and art! She's our feeler and needs the physical stimulation of hugs and kisses. She's very compassionate and is almost always the one that gets one of her sisters out of time out, or out of their room or out of anything that they are getting in trouble for. She's got extreme care and concern for her sisters when they are crying and often cries when they cry. Because she's our "feeler," she also is the one that is most dramatic about things, but it's usually nothing a little hug and some snuggling can't cure.

Bria currently loves school, drawing, coloring, stickers, riding her bike, ballet class, jumping on the trampoline, reading, reading and more reading. She likes her black hightop tennis shoes and purple is her favorite color.  She's an excellent artist. She'd sit around all day and night just drawing, She doesn't get wrapped up in what her sisters are doing, she just enjoys doing things like art and reading and often does this by herself. I'm hoping that she follows in the footsteps of some of my artist family members :-)

My heart regularly melts when Bria speaks. Often you will hear her saying "I love you Mommy" or "I love you Daddy." And she always says "I love you so much" and "you are so beautiful." She's a kind, gentle soul and lights up our lives...

Stevie

Stevie was Baby C in my belly and was always the smallest - so much so that we didn't even know she existed until after 11 weeks of me being pregnant. She's always been our biggest fighter... She weighed just 1 pound 3 ounces when she was born...

Stevie is our silly girl... She's got an infectious laugh and always wants to mess around with her sisters. She's usually Declan's partner in crime and is up for anything her big brother wants to do.  She's ALWAYS concerned about where her sisters are. If she doesn't see one of them, she'll yell for them or ask us where her "sissy" is... She wants to be sure that no one is left out and that everyone is in on the fun. She'll likely be the one that gets in trouble in school for talking too much because she's always had a lot to say (even when you couldn't understand what she was saying). She's sweet when she needs to be and sneaky when she wants to be - we guarantee you that Stevie will be the one trying to get her sisters to sneak out of the house when they are teenagers, and then tell on them later to get them in trouble. She's very sneaky...

Stevie currently loves school, stickers, playing with her brother, playing in her brother's room with anything that she isn't supposed to have, running (everywhere), riding her bike, going to the park, jumping on the trampoline, dressing up, parties and her friend Maycie.

Stevie is a trip. She's sweet, honest, funny, silly and she's the kind of person that people love the minute they meet her.  They like her name, they like how small she is, but most importantly, they love her soul. Life wouldn't be the same without her and we are truly blessed to have her in our lives...

There is a quote I love by Albert Einstein, "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." The girls are my reminder of miracles every day and the world is a better place because of them.

Typical kids picture with Declan's sour face :-)