I blinked, literally...

And somehow totally missed celebrating 5 months...

Group pictures are just not so easy anymore! 

Our Cheer Squad.. Gracie is so annoyed with Harpers feet 

We can't quite remember exact weights from your 5th month birthday...but here is an estimate (weights taken at home...first month with no Dr Appt!)

Smiling GQ- 19ish and STILL growing...(You may know this line..On Monday he ate "5 bottles", but he was still hungry"...it is a favorite book of his)

Sweet as pie Gracie - 17ish 

Silly monkey Harps - 14ish

   In a nutshell, I must have been busy! The babies "wake up" a little more each day to their personality.. which means you better be ready w/ energy for the day. Since we turn 6 months next week, I thought before we actually hit that milestone... I will recap 4 months in pictures - better than words anyways!

Dear Quinn, Harper and Gracie,

We love you ... and here are some pictures of memory making around here during your 4th month :) (yes, another obnoxious amount..it's almost like I have 3 times the pictures :)  )

Love the hand holding..it never stops

This month was hands on EVERYTHING and learning how to get those everythings in our mouths

Holding hand..again. Sorry, Quinn - you are in pink,again (Although, despite the Quinn as a girl naming rage I will argue all the way that Quinn is a boys name. Hello, Quinn the Eskimo was NOT a girl) 

Harper just wants what she wants 

Pooped from deep sea fishing in the ocean 

I love my hands

Pretty in pink

Royal Wedding appropriate

Chubby hands rubbing tired eyes, one of my favorites 

A normal day of lining up to be fed 

Hands in mouth, full time 

What?

Weeeee!

Harper ready to go 

Harpers sweet smiles in her little pink outfit :)

Gracie can sleep and eat all at once

Not only do we drool and spit up on ourselves, often on our siblings too

Girls 

My favorite matching outfits 

Gracie relaxing 

Harper is smaller but will challenge to take any of the others down 

Sleepy baby Q

Between bites

After bites (didnt understand a spoon doesn't keep coming like a bottle does at first)

Sleeping in Grandma's arms w/ our new raspberry teether..working on a tooth

Boys only, mom

Gracie.. you used to have hair to shampoo...

Snuggles

This is SUCH a Harper face.. 

Little Harper Jo

Grandpa feeding Q

Grandma feeding Gracie 

Don't mess with my brother and sister 

Harper can't believe she has to share a room, what a headache

Q & G cuddling

Stinky feet!

GracieGirl loves the bright windows  

We know our shapes and colors, so smart

Can I fit too?? 

Not really anymore...

Let's go for a walk!

After our 2 hour walks in the morning.. babies nap, mom works on baby weight.. deal.

5 month weigh ins ..when we came home, we weren't much bigger than that banana 

I laugh everyday at these babies, I found Quinn, crying in his bed - just like this

Dad, you really are funny

Gracie gets to know one of her favorite toys, her feet

Mom started taking ALL 3 to Target alone... double stroller ...

And one in the Bjorn...you can imagine the comments. 

Tornado warnings in the basement - big slumber parties! 

Quinn loves to stare at his sisters 

One of my favorite captured moments ever - Harper smiling at the ponies in her peaceful 4 month old self sleep...

Stop Thinking

This has been a difficult month for me for so many reasons..(hence they are almost 6 months and I have not posted anything on their 4th month!).

It's certainly a challenge to mother three babies ... emotionally, physically and mentally (I mean, I try to throw 20 pounds of Quinn around like he's still 5 pounds - not good). I know I am my biggest critic and sometimes at the end of the day I am so tired from the treadmill of mother brain that never ends - "develop them, make noises that make them want to imitate, be funny, feed them, change them, love them, hold them, try to feed yourself, work on that post baby body, remember your husband, stop carrying more than one baby down the stairs at at time, show them you love them, dangle something development-ish in front of them, work on sitting up and on and on..."

So tonight was a much needed great moment of "no thinking" that I want to record and remember.

Instead of trying to be supermom by making Gracie "cry it out" (which we never really did or do anyways) I picked her up and let her just drape on my chest and fall asleep. The other two were so peaceful.. I watched Harp's heavy eyes drift off and Quinn dig his face into the mattress with his butt up in the air like all is right in dreamland tonight.

And I let Gracie need me to fall asleep. But I probably needed her more than she needed me. I let us both "just be" for the moment.

I didn't care if she rolled over enough, babbled enough or tried to sit up on her own. And I didn't judge my mothering ability. Instead of thinking, I soaked up her.. her rolls in her neck, her soft snore, her perfect chubby and rosy cheeks, her breath and her cuddly body that I miss in my belly sometimes! No judging or pushing - just mama and baby.

When the babies are 17 and think they know more than stupid old mom - I hope I can come back and read this and remember sometimes as a mom you have to just stop...

And be. Soak up the present, whatever the present brings. The other stuff will work out.

Thank you Gracie, for truly knowing more than your mom tonight...

"Actually, we've got a nice little Saturday planned...

... maybe we'll hit Bed Bath and Beyond. I don't know! I don't know if we'll have enough time! " 


Life is wonderfully dorky and full once you have your own family to share it with. 


Well, it was a pretty nice little Saturday/weekend for the Hackman 5.


In pictures -

One of those, "I've always pictured this trip as a family " moments -- Our 1st official trip to the Farmers Market! Apples for baby applesauce & Coffee for Mom & Dad

Daddy & Gracie at brunch @ Good Morning Mamas

Quinner & Mama

Harper couldn't contain her excitement 

A hot SWEET potato out of the oven... my 1st prep job for real baby food! How did we get here?!

The finished project 

Harper and her arch nemesis, food

Gracie girl 

Quinn Mmm smells good 

Success! These sweet things are good!

We aren't shocked at the licked bowl 

Too tired to be bothered...

1st Farmers Market Salad of the season..this kitchen thing is like riding a bike, it's been awhile, but.. 

Fresh mushrooms and fresh spinach pasta from farmers market and vino for mom & dad 

Our new pj's!! That little 5 lbs when born baby Quinn is in 12 month clothing @ 5 months..way to "grow" Q

This isn't that cool to most - but when I found Quinn in a turned over position in bed for the 1st time, I had tears.. he just looked less newborn like - bittersweet :) Good for the flat head!

Coming soon..our 4 month update! (hopefully before they are a year and 4 months...)

Winnie the Pooh & Triplets too

I think that when your newborn baby smiles at you those first times, its like the world freezes and you got your 1st paycheck for all the hard work you have put in. Payback for pregnancy nausea, the delivery, the sleepless nights, the fear of the unknown and the tornado on your body. At that moment, it's all worth it.

Today I read a quote from Winnie the Pooh:

"Pooh," Piglet whispered to Pooh.

"Yes, Piglet?"

"Nothing, said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw, " I just wanted to be sure of you."



Watching Quinn, Harper & Gracie "just be sure of each other" has been more than just a physical return of payback from my babies. It has been a reminder to me that this is right. This is why they all came at once. And it's bigger than Scott & I. They are our gifts, but oh what gifts they are to each other.

They will all be on the playmat (what we refer to as the ocean) and look straight up at hanging toys and then will reach over and just place a hand on one another. Or will immediately take hands when put by each other. Or will be on their tummy, look up, see each other and just smile a big happy grin, "like, oh good, you're here!" Or maybe my favorite, just turning their head and staring at each other - like no one else is in the room.  A special, God chosen bond. Something they can always "be sure of..." 

Five hundred twenty-five thousand Six hundred minutes

My 1st Mothers Day with my three sweet peas :)

As the song goes,

"How do you measure, measure a year?"

For me, it's simple and not so simple.

A year ago, Mother's Day, I was in Nashville,TN .. training for my dream job. A hard day as an employee at lululemon sometimes meant a 6 am cycle class, a full day working with customers, a "fun run" 6 miler followed by an hour and half hot,hot yoga class. And I was doing it all.

I just wasn't doing it alone last year. Little did I know that when I would fly home the day after Mother's Day that I would be getting my blood drawn to show levels of 2500. (If you have ever had your HCG levels checked...for reference, 20ish is pregnant..yes, I was 2500 and oh so naive). I should have known that if I ALMOST DIED in the hottest, longest and most grueling yoga class I've ever taken while in Nashville and these three little fighters stuck it out that I was in for the ride of my life. (I of course was totally clueless I was pregnant..as this 1st round of shots was to test my ovaries...no we didn't do IVF like most people think..just the smallest dose possible of those innocent shots to "boost" your ovaries...)

It certainly is different for everyone, but for me, it happened when I took my eyes of the goal. It's as annoying as high school sweethearts - but it's true. When I totally started to live my life, enjoy being me and enjoy my marriage with our without children, that is when it happened. God repaid us for the almost two years of heartbreak, struggle and absence. And as a testimony that God does provide in abundance and more than you can imagine in your wildest dreams... we were paid in triplicate. And those gifts came in the form of Harper Jo, Gracie Jean and Quinn Scott.

For a true reflection of the journey..here is a post from Mother's Day of 2009 (actually my first ever blog post) - Mothers Day 2009.

Isn't it ironic??

As we celebrate Mother's Day 2011...the answer to the question..how do you measure a year?

"You know that love is a gift from up above
Share love, give love spread love
Measure measure your life in love"
 
(lyrics to Seasons of Love from RENT)

I feel "____" (pick emotion) today 

The handsomest little man in my world 

50 year old self

So, Laura, this is a shout out to you, friend, for teaching me about the concept of "What would my 50 year old self think/say/do???"

Today was one of those 13 hour days that felt really...triplet like.

Triple the crying. Triple the POOP. Triple the drool and trying to pull back lips to look at gums to see if it's teething or the wheels have just fallen off. Triple the cries in the monitor when you just want your morning coffee ... at noon. Triple the car seats to take out when you have to go on a walk for a showing. Triple the butts to wash in the bath when you are alone and your husband is working (why bath when alone you ask?? see POOP above). Triple the washcloths, towels and bottles and burp rags to scrap up at the end of they day. Etc. etc...

But as I was doing my nightly stare at every single little body as they sleep and pray over them ritual...I remembered...What would my 50 year old self remember about this day? About this time? About this small but mighty chunk in our lives?

Awe...I would hope I remember the sleepy smile I got from Harper in her little pink outfit that doesn't quite fit her yet..but we wore it anyways because it matched G & Q. The way Gracie giggles from somewhere deep inside her big Buddha belly when you jiggle her a little bit. I hope I can recall the walk we went on as a family with Scott in his dress shoes and me in my scrubs just to get out for a showing and use it as an opportunity to catch up on our dreams. And the way Quinn really digs eating rice cereal and how he cries when the spoon leaves his mouth! And the serious koala bear hug naked Harper gave me today around my neck. Those babbles and goos and blaahs filling up our once empty house. And those unique smiles from each of them..And oh Gracie singing to herself while the other two battled who could cry harder waiting on bedtime bottles. And to top it off..pretty much everybody falling to sleep before not only a bedtime story..but before even getting pj's on... and they didn't even judge me :)

It's perfect. All of it.

I don't think I've posted this song yet... But how appropriate to share it now - because it's true!!!!!!!!

You're Gonna Miss This -- by Trace Adkins