"Hoarders" Here I Come

First let me say that I truly, truly appreciate all of the people who think of us when they have kids' clothes and toys that they are ready to pass along.

However, thanks to others' spring cleaning and generosity, my living room is ready to be featured on an episode of Hoarders. Seriously. My odds of getting crushed to death or losing small child in the clothes in my house have tripled in the past week.

I would show you pictures, but I'm too embarrassed. Or I can't find my camera. Your choice. This blog is a democracy after all.

(OK, it's not. A benevolent dictatorship, perhaps. Though if you all want to vote for something or prod me to do a particular post, feel free. I might just be feeling benevolent. *grin*)

Anyway, in between episodes of sick children I have been sorting through clothes and trying to organize them. I have given up on sorting by season AND size and just gone straight to size. When my guys outgrow what fits now I'll dig out the next size up and go from there. It's the fastest way to get a handle on this pile.

I could put the next size up in our closets, but after I recently sold clothes at the multiples sale, I used all of our extra closet space to hold all of the clothes I'll be selling in the fall and next spring. It all has to be on hangers, so I'm trying to save myself some time and effort down the road.

So, I've stored everything in my new favorite item: the Space Bag! Well, bags, in my case. But they take up way less room than storage totes and fit under beds, under the futon in the basement, on high closet shelves. Why they even make a nifty coffee table! (Kidding about that last one, but I've been tempted.)

I can stack several bags in the space one storage tote would take up. Plus, I can open them, empty them, fill them up with different sizes and use them over and over. Definitely worth the money.

I'm hoping that the fact that I own the Space Bags offsets the potential to be viewed as a hoarder. It does, right? Right?

If you don't hear from me for a couple of days, send help. Just tell them to look under the piles of clothes in my living room.

© Trippin' Mama 2010

The Early Bird Gets The Bargains

Wow, 5:30 a.m. is early! I sometimes am awake at that hour because Sam likes the early morning hours, but these days I usually don't get out of my bed until 6:30.

But this cold, dark morning I was on the road at 5:30 a.m., headed to pick up my friend Sarah before the big multiples consignment sale. The bargains we got made it worth the early wakeup. And now I'm beat!

I got plenty of clothes for spring and summer for the boys. I even managed to get a couple matching sets. We don't often dress the boys all alike, but it is nice for public outings, so we only have to remember one outfit! I also got some summer things for Amelia and some new toys.

My big purchase was a Step 2 picnic table. The boys and Amelia already checked it out, and it's going to be great for picnics, messy projects and more. Of course, it's one more thing I have to try to keep the boys from climbing, but it's close to the ground so how badly can they get hurt, right?

I was a seller at this sale for the first time today. It's great because you tag your items and drop them off, so you don't have to run your own booth or handle any cash yourself. About two-thirds of what I took sold. It will be a few weeks before I get my check from the group that runs the sale, but I think I will make more than I spent. That would be a bonus on top of the bargains.

Sorry for such a short post with no photos and no chuckles. Up early, you know. {yawn!} Tomorrow we will return to our regularly scheduled programming here, but for tonight you'll have to forgive me. I'm off to fold a little laundry and then I'm going to bed early!

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Just Call Me "Clearance"

It's Friday and I'll be heading out at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow to go to a huge multiples group sale, where I hope to find some great bargains on clothes for the kids. Otherwise there will be a lot of running around naked going on here this summer.

Oh, who am I kidding? Since Alex has learned how to take off his diaper and happily helps his brothers with theirs, there's already lots of running around naked going on here. It's just not intentional...at least not MY intention.

I'm not thrilled about getting up so early, but I do love a bargain. And when you're dressing four kids who are shooting up at an astronomical rate, bargains are a necessity.

Last year I got a baby swing for our swingset (You can watch Sam enjoying it immensely), two push toys (Remember the video of the boys running down the driveway with those?) and a summer's worth of clothes for the boys for about $80. I'm hoping to make out as well again this year. I'm also selling some of the clothes we've outgrown, so hopefully I can make more than I spend.

That would make my hubby a very happy guy.

Good night all!

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Time Flies

It's late and I'm tired.

I've been sorting through mountains of clothes and getting things ready to sell at a local multiples sale. I'm glad to be getting things cleaned out, but there are some things I'm just not ready to part with yet.

I think I'm worse about Amelia's clothes than the boys'! Possibly because I got more sleep with just one and can actually remember her wearing certain things.

I find that it's the littlest things that are the hardest to give up. Even though my boys outgrew preemie clothes when they were one month old, I just can't bear to part with any of the tiniest things just yet. It's so hard to believe that they are almost 18 months old already.

How in the world did we go from this:

To this:

 so fast?

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Onesies by the Dozens

We are quickly approaching the second anniversary of the day the nurse in my doctor's office told me that I was probably pregnant with multiples.

And then we found out it was triplets. Gulp!

Somewhere in those early "Holy crap, triplets!" days I became obsessed with having enough onesies for three babies.

I suppose it was because that was something tangible I could get my arms around. It was also something I could control in a world that suddenly felt completely out of control.

In fact, the only thing Jeff and I bought at the first multiples sale we went to was onesies. We were only about two months pregnant, and everything else was just too overwhelming.

As a result of this obsession, when I recently went through clothes to sell, I discovered that I have more than 30 onesies. That is excessive even for triplets because in those early days we did laundry constantly anyway.

But the real story of those 30+ onesies is that they are a testament to how little I knew about being a mom of multiples.

I loved onesies for Amelia. I thought they helped keep her warm, and they were so simple. She wore a onesie all the time until she was about two.

My triplets wore onesies for one day.

Well actually, only two of my triplets wore onesies for one day. It was the first day Sam and Isaac were home from the hospital. The ninth or tenth time that I pulled a poopy onesie carefully over a little head, I realized that was just too much work when multiplied by two, let alone three. By the time Alex came home two days later, the onesies were all relegated to a great big stack in the closet. They never wore them again.

Even now I shy away from onesies of any kind -- plain, cute, long sleeved -- I hate 'em all. And you would, too, if you had to snap and unsnap them in triplicate for diaper changes all day long. Especially on squirmy little boys!

So now I'm getting rid of all those onesies, and as I do I have to laugh at how little we knew then and how different it is to have three to care for at a time instead of one. I just thought it was worth documenting my innocence (or ignorance!) going into this multiples gig.

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Amelia's Big Day

Today Amelia went to the zoo with Mom & Dad while Grandpa D. watched the boys. It was a little chilly out, but we had a great time. I think the last time we went was last summer when I was about 30 weeks pregnant with the boys. It was much easier to get around this time!

Amelia & Daddy together at the zoo.

The dolphin show is always a favorite, as are the penguins. Today we also saw the lions pretty close, and a rooster that was crowing. Amelia did NOT like the rooster. She was scared and wanted to leave as fast as possible. As we went from one exhibit to the next, Amelia kept saying, "I want to see more animals." I think we saw almost all of them!

After her nap, Amelia got to color with her new markers. She colored the Christmas ornament that Grandma Alice and Grandpa Ernie gave her. I'm sure it isn't intentional that it looks like this little house is on fire.

Amelia's Christmas ornament, March 2009. Almost 3 years old.

Then we all got ready to go to church. Amelia looked so cute in her dress that Grandma D. and Aunt Allie picked out. She refused to wear the little sweater that came with it, but I did talk her into tights. When Jeff saw this picture all he could say was, "I'm in so much trouble." Yes, he is. And so am I!

Amelia strikes a pose in her new dress. Thanks, Grandma D. & Aunt Allie!

This was the first time we took the boys to church other than for their baptismal ceremony. They were so good! Isaac fussed a little on his way to sleep, and Sam fussed a little before church started, but all three slept almost the entire time. I think they were trying to lull us into a false sense of security. I still haven't figured out how we can take all four kids without a third set of hands, but it was nice to all go to church as a family.

Sam, Isaac, Alex and Amelia.

Grandpa D., Alex, Jeff, Isaac, Amelia and Sam.

When Grandpa D. was on the phone with Grandma D. tonight talking about his flight home tomorrow, I was in the background shouting, "You can't have him back!" It's always so nice to have family visit, and the boys are growing so fast that they are like whole new kids if you haven't seen them in a couple of months.

We'll have more family visiting soon. We're looking forward to seeing Allie at the end of the month and Susie in May. They'll be amazed at how things have changed around here!

Bargain Hunt

Today I went to a local children's resale store for their "bag sale." Everything you could stuff in one bag for $15. I bought two bags, which included three nice lightweight spring jackets. I really tried to get it all in one bag, but with the jackets, there was just too much.

The day's haul.

I saved $143, so it was still a great bargain. My total cost was about $1 per item. That made the 20 minutes I stood in line in the freezing cold waiting for the store to open totally worth it.

My success was due, in part, to the fact that I went to the store just before closing last night and scoped out the sale racks. I may have even put a few things together on the racks to make it easier to get what I wanted. Survival of the fittest, baby...

The bargains continued when I bought three brand new winter jackets for next year on clearance. I got three on sale for less than the regular price of one. And one even came with snow pants.

I've always loved to get something on sale. Now it's just more necessary!

The Cavalry Has Arrived

My mom and dad arrived last evening, and we wasted no time today in starting to get things in order around here. Although I watched my mom go through everything in the kitchen and reorganize so we'll have room for 40 baby bottles, formula and other assorted baby items.

Dad and Jeff started to build the cabinets in the playroom so we can create some storage, a place for my sewing machine (wishful thinking, but a girl can dream), and some cupboards for the toys that are undoubtedly going to take over our world!

Closets are getting cleaned, baby clothes and crib sheets are getting washed and put away, and things are generally starting to come together. It's starting to feel like this place might be ready for babies sometime soon!