Tag Archives: Kids

Routines in the White House :: The Toilet Training Terror

The first thing that raced across my mind at our first ultrasound with the triplets was “We have to potty train THREE at once!?” We had yet to start potty training Avelyn, but I was dreading it…three at once was terrifying! And yet, here we are, three years later, attempting to potty train three at once.

I’d love to tell you that it’s gone amazingly and that everyone is completely out of diapers, but…. that would be a lie: A big ol’ fat, stinky, wet lie. And yes, it’s turning out to be as bad as I expected it to be.toilet training[3]

They’re all interested in the potty. They will all sit and do something in the potty {1 or 2}. None of them do any of it with any kind of consistency that makes me willing to forgo the diapers.

James is the closest. I think if we were to work with him for a week he’d be done. For the most part he is dry in the morning, dry after naps, and pees quarts at a time, but then there’s that #2 thing. That’s not working out so well. He either doesn’t go at all, or then goes in his underwear. The biggest battle with him is that he’d rather go #1 and 2 in a diaper than in the potty; so we have to be on him about going.

Henry is the least interested, but wants the undies the most. We’ve told him, no undies until he’s dry for 3 days…hasn’t happened yet. He wakes up absolutely soaked in the morning, demands water all night long {I get up with him more now than I ever did when he was a baby—and he gets water all day}, and doesn’t care if he’s wet or poopie.

Ellie is interested, but again not motivated to be consistent.

For all of them the toilet is great fun! They love using it! They love flushing it! They love it! The biggest problem we face is Mommy Burnout, because taking one to the potty consistently is hard enough….THREE is an absolute joke. You would think I’ve never done this before because I feel like I’m at a complete loss.

The hardest thing is when one wants to go the all want to go, but then they’re all in the bathroom and playing around and making messes and causing chaos and I want to curl up on the couch in a ball. It’s quite literally insanity. But this too shall pass.

I’m hoping this winter, with Matt home a bit more regularly that we can tag-team and get this whole potty training thing done and over before the Spring.

Routines in the White House :: Transportation

One of the first things we knew we needed to address after finding out we were having triplets was the car. Can’t bring the kids home from the hospital if we don’t have a big enough car! Our Honda CRV was just NOT going to cut it, which seriously broke my heart {I LOVED that car}.

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We waited until the end of the Summer, figuring that we’d pick up on some great deals. Fortunately, our bank was doing a promo-financing thing with a car dealership we’ve used before.

I had a very specific list of requirements in our van: It had to be beige/gold/tan {whatever that color is called}, it had to have an aux input {for my ipod}, remote doors, and a roof rack….very specific right? I figured I’d have to compromise on something.

Let me tell you a little secret: I didn’t, not even one thing, AND I got heated seats and remote start!

Our car was only the beginning of how we were seeing God’s blessings in providing for these babies. We ended up getting a fantastic car, the price we wanted for our Honda CRV, and awesome financing!

Of course the car is only half the battle. The other half was figuring out how to fit 4 car seats in a 5 person {notice the word PERSON} back-seat-section. Matt, bless his heart, had never installed a car seat up until this point, I had always done all of Ave’s car seats. He took on the responsibility of installing the infant car seats.

We had hoped upon hope that we could fit all 3 infant car seats along the back row {I never managed to remember to take a picture of this}. We did. Unbeknownst to us, because our van is the Touring edition of the Chry.sler T&C, it has wider hip room in the 3rd row, allowing 3 car seats to fit, unlike almost every vehicle out there, even suburbans. We had no idea of this when we actually bought the car {another way God was blessing us}.

Because all the seats were in the 3rd row, we could put down the one captains chair, making it infinitely easier for us to load the 3 {increasingly heavy} infant car seats, without killing ourselves.

A couple of months ago, both boys outgrew the infant car seat {height-wise}. Another quandary, I knew that there was no way we would be able to fit 3 convertible car seats across the back row. We wouldn’t even be able to get the kids IN, even if we could fit them…we’d have a wall of car seat backs, all the way to the ceiling.

Once again, after numerous web searches, because I guess this isn’t a problem for most families {needing to have 4 convertible car seats at once in a vehicle}, I found out about a car seat that was the slimmest on the market, with the added benefit that it accommodated over 100lbs, meaning we won’t need to buy booster seats in a few years, the Diono Radian RXT. We ordered 2, thankfully not having to break the bank with buying 3 at once {2 was bad enough}.

Then came the fun part: How to install 3 convertible car seats and an infant car seat, while {hopefully} keeping a captains seat down.

It took me 2 days, I kid you not, TWO DAYS to figure out how to configure the seats.

Finally, I had it! And here it is for all you other lucky parents of a singleton and then triplets {the whole 4 or 5 of us that there seems to be}.

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Third row: Diono Radian {forward facing – for Ave}, Chicco Keyfit 30 {Ellie},

Diono Radian {rear facing – for James}

Second row (captains seat): Britax Marathon {rear facing – for Henry}

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For now, we fit: Once Ellie has outgrown the infant car seat, I’m not sure what will happen, but you can be sure I’ll write about it. And if we’re blessed with even 1 or 2 more children, I’m not sure what car is next in our future. I do know that God will provide for them, because He always has and always will.