I couldn't ask for better in-laws. They typically come to our house one night each week and sleep over and then watch the girls the next day while I am at work. They ALWAYS bring dinner and lots of extra necessities that are just thoughtful (diapers, paper towels, toilet paper). Lolo and Lola have more energy than many people half their age and have quite the busy social calendar. My mother-in-law STILL works full time as a postpartum nurse, and spends one of her days off each week with us.

And lucky for us, we get to enjoy lots of good Filipino cooking....adobo, lumpia and pancit (noodles) are some of the girls favorite foods.

Dear Chevrolet bigwigs,

I am writing you this letter to inform you of a major flaw in your 2005 Tahoe model. Up to this point, my family has been happily accessing the back of our vehicle with the remote keyless entry feature that came with the car. Looks like this is the ONLY way to get into the back of the car and we learned this the hard way. And inconveniently, I might add.

This past Saturday, my husband and I packed up our 2 year old triplets and headed to the mall to have lunch and take advantage of the indoor play structure that would surely tire them out so they would come home and pass out for at least a 2 hour nap. We had such a great time while we were there, that my husband and I decided to push the limits and take our well-behaved children to the *GAP. Heck, they were having a great sale and we could use some new summer clothes. Sure, it was getting close to their naptime, but we would be in and out quickly. Their stomachs were filled with *McDonald’s fries and chicken nuggets and they were happily scarfing down fruit snacks while we browsed the clothing racks.

So 180 dollars and an hour later, we were hightailing it out of the mall as quickly as possible while trying to keep our now screaming children quiet by shoving *Mrs. Field’s cookie nibblers into their mouths. We quickly got to our car and I began to unload our children from their strollers. Hubby notices a HUGE problem. The back liftgate won’t open. To put it nicely, we asked ourselves WTF?? We pushed the unlock button and yanked on the handle at least 20 times. I managed to hoist myself over the carseats that fill the 2nd row seating and realized there is no handle or way to open the liftgate from the inside. Again, we find ourselves asking WTF?? My husband quickly problem solves and tells me that I will have to sit in the 3rd row seat so that he can sit our double stroller in the passenger seat for the ride home. The rest of our shopping bags, diaper bag, lunch bag, single stroller and various kid items are thrown to me over the 2nd row seat so that my husband can get our screaming children into the car.

THANKFULLY, we did not have our triple stroller with us on this trip or else there would have been NO way to get it into the car. It is simply TOO big to throw over the 2nd row seat and it would not have fit nicely as a passenger in the front row next to hubby.

So now I have to put my weekly *Costco trip on hold until we take the car in to get the liftgate fixed. Totally inconvenient. And since this is the only car that we use to travel anywhere with our 2 year old triplets, I will just have to make sure that we don’t go anywhere that requires a stroller. Hmmm, that should leave us at home until we get this fixed.

Sincerely,
Not so satisfied Tahoe owner

*Gratuitous product endorsement

2...the number of poops for the entire day that just so happened to occur somewhere other than the potty

14...the number of dirty big girl undies we had at the end of the day

24....the total number of successful pee-pees on the potty for the day

30....the number of big girl undies we bought at Target yesterday

100....the number of times I was tempted to put diapers back on the behinds of my potty trainees

250....the number of calories that are waiting for me in the form of mint chip ice cream to help me unwind from the day

400....the approximate number of dolla bills I will have to pay to get our carpet and couch cleaned by the time we are through with this adventure.

800....the number of milligrams of Motrin I just took for my aching back and feet

1 too many....the number of times I believed my toddler when she said she didn't have to go potty

countless....the number of whoops and hollers, hugs and kisses, and happy dances that I did everytime we had a successful visit to the potty.

Now color in all those numbers and you have 1 tired mama!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I am bumping up an older post of mine this week, because I think it is perfect for photo story friday. I am too tired to think up some new material tonight! I originally posted this on 9/6/07 after Miss Makena got into a fight with our tile floor in the kitchen and lost. This picture was taken when she had only one of her front teeth chipped. She took another fall around Christmas time and chipped the other side, so she now has two little half moon shaped front teeth.

**Insert mommy's sob here**

(From left to right)

Lissy is all smiles thinking that potty training will be SO much fun.

Riley thinks it's hilarious that I expect her to poop in the potty.

Makena is just plain in shock.

We can now sit and eat lunch like big girls on our weekly outing to "Skosco."

We've learned that these golf club thingies you like so much make a nice accessory to our fancy pink shoes.

But you should probably start putting some extra money away in that shoe and purse fund now. You know a girl can never have too many purses or shoes.

And Makena learned how to get every last crumb out of the cracker box.

Riley learned how to shimmy underneath the baby gate 'cause she isn't a baby anymore.

We've learned that dirt doesn't taste so good

But cupcakes aren't so bad

We've learned how to help you clean up the yard

But we already knew how to make a big mess in the house

We're so thankful you are our daddy

So we hope you enjoy this cookie we made especially for you

We licked it decorated it ourselves

So here's to another year daddy.

WE LOVE YOU!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

My picture for Photo Story Friday is one I took of Riley when she was 13 months old. I couldn't resist dressing her up in one of her infant hats that still happened to fit her head, although it was a tad on the snug side. This picture always made me laugh because I think it looks like she could be hanging with either a) her homies or b) Papa Smurf.