Costco trip

The boys and I ventured out to the Costco together yesterday by ourselves.  I'm getting pretty good at taking the boys out by myself.  I work really hard at it- lots of prep work required!  I joke around and say that a trip out of the house for us needs to be planned like a military invasion, but it doesn't feel like that's too far off the mark.



Here's what a typical outing looks like for us...

I keep the diaper bag perpetually packed and ready to go.  This is actually a lesson my sister taught me- such a good idea!  I just refill everything when we get back to the house from our outing when it's fresh in my mind as to what I used while we were out.  But sometimes I decide to throw in some extra toys, activity mat, etc. depending on where we're going.  Are we going to be gone long enough that we might need a bottle?  Gotta grab three!  And are six diapers going to be enough, or should I grab more?

I have to get the infant seats out and lined up with hats, blankets, and toys.  I have to move the car to get it parked in a spot in the driveway that allows me to easily load all three infant seats.  What stroller am I going to use?  Have to make sure it's in the car!  (I have multiple strollers to accommodate our needs, so decisions need to be made)

And then I have to get the boys ready...  I try to feed them and change them right before I leave so they're as content as can be when we leave the house.  And heaven forbid that I leave an errant dirty diaper somewhere where a dog could get at it, so I really have to make sure that I don't leave any of the boys' things anywhere inappropriate, which includes making sure none of their blankets/toys/play mats are on the floor (the dogs are quite wonderful with the boys and their stuff, but I'm not going to tempt fate).

And then I have to get the boys into their infant seats- not an easy task but I'm getting pretty darn good with all the practice I'm getting.  And then carry out the seats one at a time to the car, click them into place, and go back for the others...  Meanwhile I always worry that someone is going to try to steal one of my babies out of the car while I'm inside grabbing another baby to bring out.  Pretty sure that's a unique worry that only moms of multiples get to have as there is no really good way to get them all out at the same time short of having assistance.  And when I'm out at the car strapping the first few babies in, I worry that the house door might have locked behind me, stranding my other children inside...  Neurotic.  I think the word we're all thinking right now is neurotic.

And once we're on the road, that's when the real fun starts.  The boys like riding in the car, so we lucked out in that respect.  Can you imagine how tough it'd be if they didn't?  I am usually singing along to the radio, which they don't seem to mind too much.  But occasionally, one of the boys will decide that he's just not that happy in his seat.  And while I can usually identify who it is right away by listening to their cry, I frequently forget which position they're in in the back seat.  So now I'm doing the good ol' reach back and trying to "feel" who's crying.  Heaven forbid it's the munchkin who's sitting right behind my seat- I'm not sure even Gumby could get to that one safely while driving!

Once we're at our location, I try to park at the end of the parking lot.  One, it allows me to get a little exercise if I have to traipse farther with the boys.  Two, it usually means that there is less traffic going by as I'm trying to wrangle babies out of the vehicle, which is equal to "safer" in my mind.  This is usually the point that I recommend getting a bowl of popcorn, pulling up a chair, and just enjoying the show as I commence the baby rodeo.

We have a triplet stroller, but it doesn't use the infant seats, so I have to take all three peanuts out of them and strap them into the stroller if I use that one (so while we aren't using that one a ton yet, we definitely will be down the road!).  My usual combo for errands right now is this: I take my double stroller that I can put two infant seats in and put the third baby in a carrier on my chest.  Anyway you slice it, it's probably hilarious to watch me get us out of the car and ready to move.  I try to rotate which munchkin goes in the carrier as well- gotta try to be fair!

Once we're in the store, things go pretty normally, at least for us.  I throw my merchandise in the bottom of the stroller or in one of the infant seats.  I don't think I'll be able to do that (setting the merchandise in the boys' laps) for too much longer because I just anticipate that at some point I'll forget that I put it there, check out, go to walk out of the store, and set off alarms.  And you know that I will fully try to place the blame on one of the munchkins because who could ever get mad at them?!?

The thing that I have really learned with these trips is that I need to make sure I plan for extra time to accommodate the curious people out there.  We have yet to make it through a store without being stopped multiple times by people with questions about the babes.  I don't usually mind this too much yet- after all, I love the boys getting any attention that people want to show them.  I prefer that people ask about and fawn over the boys (the stars of the show!) versus complimenting me on how well I appear to be doing with them (I don't take compliments well sometimes).  Most people are good about not trying to touch the boys (It's flu season people!  Keep your cooties to yourselves!), but they don't always extend that courtesy to the boys' blankets/toys/seats, which just ensures that I'm going to be washing stuff when we get home.  It would never occur to me to touch a strangers' kids or their stuff, but I can understand that someone might forget that courtesy when they're faced with something unique like the boys.

And as you can tell by this blog, I LOVE talking about my boys!  I'm tempted sometimes, however, to come up with a polite sign to put on the stroller with the answers to the most common questions we get...

"Yes, they're triplets."
"All boys!"
"Nope, no fertility treatments."
"Yes, we love them!"
"Yep, they keep us busy!"


It still fascinates me that triplets fascinate other people as much as they do.  I wouldn't say that the awe and wonder of triplets has passed me by, but here's what I think-

I've subconsciously moved away from thinking of the munchkins as "the TRIPLETS" in my head/heart.  Instead, I've come to think of them as "my three sons with their individual personalities and spirits".  And since each of my sons is absolutely amazing and incredible, the triplet thing has become less and less important to me...

Tummy time!

(L to R: Sidney, Elliott, Jenson)