You've come a LONG way, babies!!

So, I am sitting here... thinking about the 8 years that we have had triplets... I remember that we were so very worried. 8 years ago tonight was the longest of my life so far. I was up all night, counting the minutes between my contractions, wishing and hoping and praying that the times would lengthen. But they didn't...
I had been given a blessing by Kary, with my Dad, and my brothers Brian and Chris. I had seen my Dr. and he said "Bed rest!! Only get up to go to the bathroom!! You don't have a bedpan, do you? Lay down, feet up, relax!!" But those contractions kept on. All night. Getting closer, stronger. WHY???
I finally woke Kary up and told him at 4 am. Max was with Brian and Kristen camping at the sand dunes in St. Anthony. Lance had to go to school so he was home... We left him there, called Kris to come and stay with him, get him off to school etc. Kary and I headed to the ER. At 4 am, my contractions were not more that 5 min apart, I can't remember now how close they were, maybe 3 min apart, too close for babies to be born at Bingham... They could have been born there if they were 1 week and 2 days further along, but 30 weeks and 5 days of gestation was not enough. So I got a ride to Pocatello in an ambulance with a great nurse (not Kary, but she was great). In Pocatello, the birth was not to be stopped, delayed as much as possible, but not to be stopped. My Mom and Dad came and supported us, we had alot of prayers offered... and believe me I KNOW they were answered, just not how we had hoped, but answered YES!! Late in the afternoon, just before 5 pm the Felt triplets were born by c-section. Ysabel born at 4:57 pm, 3 lbs 3 oz. Rex Thomas born at 4:58 pm, 3 lbs 2 oz. Olivia born at 4:58 pm, 2 lbs 13 oz. All together they weighed 9 lbs 2 oz!!! That is just 5 oz more that Lance weighed when he was born!! I was put on the maternity floor to recover, the 3rd floor, and given polaroids of the kids, they were in the NICU, on the 2nd floor. And that was that, they were here. Now what?!!
We did survive right? I mean here we are 8 years later, that must mean that we made it!! Right? Is that what you call this? Survival?!!
No way!! We did way more that survive, maybe at first that is all that we COULD do, but no, we have done way better than mere survival... They have done PHENOMENAL!!! They are absolutely amazing!! They grew and grew and learned and learned, and no one would ever guess that they were preemies!! My heart is so full of gratitude for the prayers, the love and support, the hours of hands on helping, the meals, the gifts, the CARE that was ours, given so lovingly. I will always first and foremost be thankful for Kary, he is my rock. He supported me, explained medical terminolgy, talked frankly with the kids' caregivers and me. He kept me going, and kept me from going crazy! I will also love and appreciate the NICU nurses, they were and are the best!! They weren't supposed to get attached, but they had their favorites... They are all my favorites!! My life was also changed for the better by Raini... you started coming over to play with babies, and now you are family!! I cannot name all those who came over to help, but a few have meant too much to me, and you helped more than you can know! Laura, Becki, Donna, Ann, JoAnn, Sandee, Lanette, Julie... Bless you all. Look what we did, together! We HAVE come a LONG way!!!

SPRINGTIME in NM

So, yeah, it is SO spring here in New Mexico! It may not STILL be spring though, yesterday was St. Patrick's day and it was 91 degrees! February was just crazy, we got about 4 inches of snow, and all of NM shut down! The kids were out of school for 3 days!! I KNOW!! A month later, and we are opening the windows for most of the days. But now, I am trying to hold off turning on the air conditioning, keeping the windows open all night and shutting them in the mornings, really!
There is just something about the first few days of hot weather that makes me want a T-top sports car and halter tops!! My car used to be old corvettes, but now I am so in love with the new camero!! Open the top, feel the sun on my shoulders... ahhhhhhh summer. Wait, isn't this blog title springtime...? Yeah I am confused too.

*House Pics*

Ta Da! Pictures of our house, that I took back in July!! Yay, I finally posted them!! Here is our house, I was standing right in front of my mailbox,

the front door, I really like how much light it lets in. it is really pretty

East side of the house, the side with the air conditioners!! There is a window unit in the dining room, and then the big unit for the rest of the house. That was a tight fit for the trailer, but we sold it!!!

West side of the house, standing at the back of the house in front of the shop, looking towards the street. The closest window is the girls' room, the middle window is my room, and the last window is Max and Rex's room. Yes, all the windows have decorative BARS on them, I don't want to know why. There aren't screens, just bars...

West side of the house from the front looking back

The west side, the back of the shop

The front of the shop, right behind the house.

Inside of the shop

House, then shop, then shed, then, backyard. The backyard is fenced, so it makes the pool safe... ha ha ha. This picture was taken from the very back of the fence in our back yard. Our block doesn't have an alley, so our lot is that much deeper. Our yard just butts up to the other neighbors yards.

Not much room between the shop and the shed, but enough to walk through easily.

The door of the shed

And now I will work on posting pictures inside the house...

what do you want to be for Halloween?

Sad...

No, really, I had my own little crying jag, and pity party.

I thought that I was doing ok, I called my parents to have Max tell them his news about his science fair project, Mom was busy, getting ready for the family party, so we talked to Dad. Mostly I let Max tell the news, I was getting dinner started. I told Max to tell them to have a great time, I made stuffed peppers...

We had a very nice dinner, everyone ate, no one complained, it really was nice.

Max was invited to a birthday party at 7, the girls were invited to a birthday party for tomorrow and we needed to get a gift. So Max and the girls and I hopped in the car, I took Max to his party. Other parents were dropping off their sons, and they were dressed up for a party... The other parents were invited to a Halloween party... My family is having a Halloween party 1100 miles away...

I took the girls to the devil store, and they proceeded to play with and want to buy EVERY Barbie and Disney Princess item on the entire aisle!! Then we went over to the coloring books, and THAT is what we got. I wandered around the groceries trying to plan ahead... I ended up just being tired of being there! By the time I got out to the car, I so wanted to be somewhere else... a Halloween party? Idaho? I was sad, feeling lonely and left out.

Once at home, I cried over the dinner dishes...

I thought that these were juvenile emotions that you grow out of... NOPE. Just move somewhere and have to make new friends, miss all the friendships that had been building for 12 yrs. Miss family ... Oh, how weird that it all made me cry on the night of a Halloween party that had been a tradition for... for... FOREVER!! I miss you all... so much that it's spooky! tee hee *sniff, sniff*

Love you all, wish I was there!

6th grade science fair

Max had to complete a science fair project for his science class. He did a great job! It was our first experience with a science fair, he grew some beans. Ask him about it, and what he learned... His display looked really nice and he had a good presentation of the 14 days that he kept track of his bean plants. Tonight there was a dinner at the school, they had a science expo, and they announced school winners of the science fair. We left Lance home with the triplets, and Kary and Max and I went to the dinner. We looked at some of the projects on display, there were over 800 of them for the entire school (6th, 7th, and 8th grade). Max wanted to hear the winners, so we mosied through the crowded gym for 45 min. To all of our surprise, Max won a first place in the category of botany!! Wowee!! We are so proud of him, great work, Max!

He got a lovely medal, and he can compete in the region at Portales, NM in Feb. We don't know where Portales is... But hey, what a great experience. Congratulations Max!!

hair cuts!

The girls and I decided that we needed some new hairdos to go with our new address! I got a cut and a perm, the girls got hair cuts. Olivia got about 7 inches cut off, and Ysabel got BANGS!! She is so excited to have bangs. Olivia's hair came in so fast once she turned 2, that if I didn't keep it styled, it was always hanging down in her face. One day I left Kary home with the triplets, and Kary cut some bangs for Olivia, she has had them ever since. It is funny, when she fell and cut open her forehead, her bangs covered the stitches and the scar. BUT Ysabel has an entirely different story: her hair took so long to come in, I think that most of her hair is still baby hair, that I would just trim it even. I never tried to give her bangs, but she would ask at least once a week if she could have bangs like Olivia. Those of us who have bangs, think but why?? Bangs have to be trimmed all the time, why even start them?? THEN they take forever to grow out if you decide to do that. But she asked if she could have bangs, and I said OK, so now we all have bangs!! Funny... Anyways, I took the girls to Fanstastic Sams and they got a shampoo and a blow out with their hair cuts!! woo hoo pretty fancy treatment!!

We closed on our house on Tues. and gave the previous owner 2 days to move out, so we got to move all our stuff into our house this weekend!! We moved stuff Friday night, from about 6pm until 9. Then finished Sat. morning, and started in on unloading before noon!! So exciting!! I have pictures, BUT my camera is at our house, and we don't have internet there yet! So we will get to work on that... BUT we have moved!! YAY!! It has been so great of Kanona and Melissa to host us until we are all settled, it has alleviated so much stress that we could have had! I am so thankful that they are my family, and for all that they have done for us!!

Happy Birthday Lance!!

New rollerblades in size 14!! Holy Cow!! Exactly 16 years ago, at 9:04 am Lance Michael Felt made his appearance here on earth, since then we have enjoyed his happy personality, had fun with his love of sports, been challenged by his aversion to English, been proud of his accomplishments, like achieving the rank of Eagle in scouts, appreciated his growth, and learned valuable lessons about living with and loving the spirits that Heavenly Father blesses us with!! Lance, you are such an important part of our family, and you always will be, what a good example you are to your younger brothers and sisters!! I love you so much, and I am glad for the privilege of being your mother! Have a happy birthday!
Tomorrow I will remember all the frustrations that you cause too, but for today... I just remember my very first sweet baby...
all our pictures are packed up so I will edit this when I can post some.