I cannot believe that 8 months have gone by since my darling girls have been born. I already wish I could start over and do it all again, just to have more time with them. I wanted to post some pictures of them at 8 months:

All three sisters together.

And this is Ellyanna. Our first born daughter by only seconds! She was born the smallest at 3.14 lbs but has surpassed both of her sisters at last weigh in at a whopping 18 pounds! I chose this picture of her because for the last several days every time you look at her she gets this cheesy smile that completely melts my heart. Ellyanna is going to be our girly princess, I think. I believe that Ellyanna will be a leader. She takes life seriously and wants to do it right. If any one of the girls struggle with perfectionism, it will be her.

And here’s Adelynn. Adelynn’s biggest thing to overcome in her personality is the tendency to be shy. I think she is going to be sensitive and caring about others. But she is also going to be stubborn and passionate as well. She really seems to be able to see into people’s hearts even at this young age and I think she will have this ability as she grows as well. I think she will be a defender of the defenseless and helper of the helpless. I also think that once she starts talking, we will never be able to get her to stop.

And then there is Kynden. Kynden was appropriately given the middle name Joy at birth. She is full of so much Joy all the time. I believe she is going to have a happy-go-lucky outlook on life. I think she will play sports, games and will give her brothers a run for their money. She will be fun-spirited, but competitive. She will be quick to love and slow to judge. She will be outgoing and probably have a lot of friends.

So here is all my girls. How I adore them and have been so blessed! Thank you, God for the awesome responsibility and opportunity to raise 3 of your children. Please help me raise them up in grace, faith and joy (their middle names), help them grow in beauty as much on the inside as the outside, and to be faithful lovers of You.

I probably already got some of your attention with the title, am I correct?

I have been having some floating thoughts about worship lately and I wanted to try to sort of “reign them in” so to speak and put them out there for other people to comment on as well.

I believe that worship is one of the most important, but also the most controversial topic in churches these days..ask any worship pastor in any church in any area of the country and they will probably agree. I feel like I have a bit of a “backstage pass” if you will when it comes to church worship. I have a brother-in-law who is a worship leader, a sister-in-law who sings on the worship team in her church, a father-in-law who is a volunteer musician for several different churches, not to mention I have more friends than I want to count right now that sing on worship teams. Plus our years of traveling with Rescue and going to countless churches across the country have to count for something, right? I am going to try very hard to write this post without naming names or churches, because that’s not really what it’s about…it’s really about my own feelings and observations about the subject.

First of all, I love to sing. I sang in choir when I was in high school. I sing songs constantly to the girls as well as to the boys all day long, every day. My dad is a fantastic singer and all my siblings are not necessarily “gifted” when it comes to being able to sing, but we all can carry a tune and are not terrible to listen to. One of my dreams it to be able to take voice lessons to improve my voice so I will be able to sing more and better and maybe even in front of people some day. Josh and I have been “church hopping” a bit since the time the girls have been born. Well, maybe a bit more in the recent months. The idea of changing churches is floating around our house, but it’s an extremely difficult one because there is absolutely nothing that we don’t like about our church. It’s just more from a convenience standpoint as well as fitting our needs as a family right now. All this to say, I think I have learned somethings about myself and how I view worship from our journey.

In my opinion there are three main areas that make worship good or bad. The first and most important, I feel is emotion..or the heart of the worship leaders and the congregation. The church that we are thinking about changing to has so much emotion during their worship. I am so glad that I’m not a worship pastor, because I have no idea how you put that in. It has a lot to do with the way the people respond to the music. This particular church that we’ve visited is more on the charismatic side and watching the people respond to the music and the words is half the fun. You feel freer to express yourself and worship the way you want to. It also feels very vulnerable to me..like you are seeing people’s true hearts..at the core of who they are. I’ve also found that in this type of church where the worship is like this..this is how the people are. More real, more genuine. Honest and open and not afraid to share when times are hard. This is so refreshing to me! I need to be careful here, because I understand that it is not the job of the worship leaders to make me feel something. Let me repeat that…”it is not the job of the worship leader to make me feel close to God.” It is solely my responsibility and I know that. It has a lot to do with my attitude, the circumstances I’m facing at that moment and my perspective. However, I think there is something to be said for a worship experience that is so full of raw emotion and the longing for God that it is able to envelop me and sweep me into it. But I still have to be willing to be swept.

The second thing that I believe is essential is quality. Quality meaning the musicians, the singers, the sound system, the way the worship set flows and is put together. This I believe is what our current church is lacking in. We don’t have a consistant worship pastor so we have different people who rotate every week so while they do a great job, it isn’t like having a full time worship pastor. So I’m not blaming anyone, nobody is bad…it just is what it is and they do the best they can. The majority of time, the worship is fine. But on occassion there is an “off week” where things don’t flow well or don’t sound as good as they could and that makes it hard to get into it. I think it also has to do with the horrible sound system they are trying to work with. However with that being said, our church does have heart and emotion and I would choose that over quality if I had to choose one. The church we were at today was professionally put together, sounded great..great singers, great musicians, great sound system..everything was perfect, but to me it “felt” dead and lifeless and bland. Again, just my opinion.

The third thing I hesitate to even mention, but I will…song choice. I know there is a lot of selfish people out there who think that they need to complain every time that not every song that was sung at church that day was their favorite. That’s right..selfish. I understand that other people have different tastes and that not every song can be one of my personal favorites and that’s fine. The world doesn’t revolve around me! I used to hate to sing hymns because they were old and boring. But now, they are, I think some of the most meaningful of all the songs. So that is why I hesitate to even bring up song selection. However, I have to say it because at the church we were at today, the one that was dead but beautifully put together, they did sing a song that is very meaningful to me and I was able to “feel” something just based on the fact that it was so pretty.

So there you go. My personal view of worship. Another thing I’ve noticed is that the worship kind of reflects the people in the church. As I mentioned earlier, the church that has the more open and honest type of reaction to the worship, I’ve also found that the people are also more open and honest with other people. And the opposite is true as well. The more closed and stiff people are in their worship, the more often that’s how they seem to relate to other people as well. Just an interesting observation. I know it’s generalizing a bit probably, but it’s worth noting, I think.

Well, I don’t have any conclusion really. Just some opinions I’ve formed over the years and some observations I’ve made. I would love to hear other people’s take and opinions about the subject!

*See? I’ve gotten myself in trouble. Anyone who talks about worship gets in trouble. I am editing this later to point out that I know that there are a lot of people who love God and are open and honest and friendly and don’t move while they sing. And I’m sure there are a lot of people who sing and dance and do cartwheels in the aisles who are mean and don’t have an authentic relationship with God. I know there are probably a lot of exceptions to my rules…But my observations are just that..general observations in my limited experience of different churches. I don’t think anyone is a lesser person because they don’t put their hands up during worship.

I just finished reading this book to Jayden before he went down for his nap. I bought this book for the boys for Christmas, but until now, had never read it. I highly recommend it! I was anxious to see what happened! The premise of the story is about 2 pigs who are very different. Norman is perfect- he has a perfect house and is always on time and his tie is always straight. He knows that God loves him because he is such a good pig. Sidney is the opposite of Norman. He is always late and getting into trouble. His house is never clean and his tie is never straight no matter how hard he tries. He knows that if God really knew him, he would be frustrated by him, just like everyone else. One day they get a letter in the mail from God. He says He has something to tell each of them. Norman is excited because He assumes he is going to get a reward of some kind because he is such a good pig. Sidney is scared because he feels like he did when he had to go to the principals office. When Norman enters the office of God, God tells him that he loves him, but not because he is a good pig. He says that he is full of pride and it is not okay to look down at other people that God loves just as much as him. Norman is shocked, but after leaving realizes that his pride was his sin. When Sidney goes in, he is scared. Much to Sidney’s surprise God says, “First of all, I love you…Secondly, I love you. Thirdly- I love you.”

I literally choked up reading that. The weird thing is that I am both of these pigs. One moment, I am thinking that I am so great. I am a great mom. I make homemade bread. Whatever! But the next moment I feel so inadequate, like there is no way that I can ever get it right. My house is not clean, my kids aren’t even clean half the time!

It is astounding to me that God loves me. He loves me when I’m Sidney and He loves me when I’m Norman. He loves me. He made me exactly the way I am. Astounding.

In the last episode of SuperMom, we left her to make peace with 3 screaming infants, 2 fighting boys and taxes left undone. In this week’s episode we find her in the Exact Same Place.

To add to the adventure of SuperMom she had aggreed to take on one more child for the majority of the week. One more child to care for, feed and entertain. Can SuperMom do it? Will SuperMom be able to get everything else done? Will the taxes be filed on time? We will soon find out.

Today’s episode starts at 7 am when the 6th child is brought to her house. The Eldest Son of SuperMom, has been given the choice to stay home for a special day of playing with his soon-to-be cousin DeMeaus. He has decided to stay, adding to the work load of SuperMom. The day starts out normally for SuperMom. The children play some video games while the three babies are getting fed and SuperMom takes a shower.

The shower finished, it is now the babies turn for their baths. One by one, SuperMom finishes them off. POW! BAM! BAM! Once the babies are down for their morning nap, SuperMom returns to the computer to finish the dreaded and forgotten-about Oregon Tax Form. By now the Older Children are happily playing outside. Or are they? The fighting has begun. SuperMom springs in to action and puts up the whining shield. THWACK! And again! THWACK! She had ducked, rolled and averted the whining…this time. That crisis averted, she continues with the dreaded Tax Form. As the Tax Form comes to an end she hears the sound of: “Mommy, I need help.” Her ears perk. The sound is so faint. She knows it is Eldest Son, but where could he be? As she moves closer to the sound, she discovers that it is coming from none other than (insert scary movie music here) The DREADED BATHROOM. One thing SuperMom knows for sure- when a 6 year old calls for help from the DREADED BATHROOM it is never good. The sight that meets SuperMom’s eyes as she opens the door is not for the faint of heart. Diarrhea has exploded from her beloved Eldest Son and is residing all over the floor, the wall, the side of the toilet, and the scale. Not to mention SuperMom’s own running shoes. What is SuperMom to do? Meanwhile, out in the living room, the three infants are beginning to get hungry and are tired of being on the floor. They are calling for help in their crying sort of way. But SuperMom has no time for that right now, so the babies cry on. She jumps into action and heads for the garage to get a large stock of wipes to help out Eldest Son. She attacks the scale first and gets it sparkling clean with the Disinfecting Wipes. While working on the rest of the mess, the phone rings, adding noise to the screaming babies. “They need to leave a message!” declares SuperMom. “I have work to do!” She makes quick work of the remainder of the cleaning. Diarrhea is no match for SuperMom. After finishing off the bathroom and starting another load of laundry, SuperMom washes her hands with soap and leaps into the kitchen to make 3 bottles for the Hungry Screaming Infants. She bounds into the living room to feed the Hungry Screaming Infants. That crisis averted it is now time to make lunch for the rest of the family.

Hungry Screaming Infants fed, Oregon Taxes done, Diarrhea cleaned and Older Children fed. Just another day in the life of SuperMom.

I crack myself up.

So, I am not the photographer that my husband is, but I had to document this moment. Ellyanna’s first ponytail. I can’t even describe the kind of joy this brings me…and I know it’s the first of hundreds..no, thousands that I will do over the course of their lifetime. But this is the first. Isn’t she just delicious? I just want to nibble a little…

Okay, I was reading on the triplet connection website where people posted their responses to this question that we hear all the time. Based on my previous post, I thought it was relevant and wanted to share. Here are some of my favorites..

Q: Are they natural?

A: No, we saw one in Wal-mart and decided he/she was sooo cute we just had to have these cloned from him/her.

A:No, definitely supernatural.

A: Good God no, I had a c-section

A: No, I just bought one of those kits

The last one is my favorite.. I like the first one too, but I would probably change it to “no, we just saw one in Wal-Mart and decided to stock up.” or something like that. What’s your favorite?

Happy Easter everyone!

Yesterday was about a perfect of a day that it could have been…except for the rain. Dang the rain. We hosted Easter for the McKenney’s at our house this year. I love hosting things..I think it might be (at least in part) a control issue, but that’s a blog for another day. I had about 10 days to prepare for it, and I loved every minute of it. Josh was lucky enough to have Good Friday off and he was home all weekend to help me clean and do weird jobs around the house that I had been meaning to get to, but hadn’t. How blessed I am with a husband who will do whatever I tell him! Just kidding. I could have never done it without all his help getting the house ready.

At 11:15am we went to church at East Hill with my mom. The girls were still getting over their colds, so we could not put them in the nursery. So throughout the service the girls were held alternating between me, Josh, my mom and my two sisters. In reality, there were not enough babies to go around! But they really did well, they did not cry..the worst they did was just talk during the service. I kept telling Kynden that there’s no talking in church, but she didn’t seem to want to obey…oh well. After church, we did an impromptu lunch with my family and they brought Chinese food over to our house so the girls could go down for their naps. Then the rest of the afternoon was dedicated to getting the house ready. Somewhere in there we tried to get a pic of all the kids together. Here’s one of our tries.

As you can see, it is very hard to get a good picture of two wiggly boys and 3 babies. Even under the best of circumstances. A little later I will post some more of the girls individually so you can see their dresses better.

Dinner went flawlessly if I do say so myself. (I did not prepare everything) My ham turned out great, which I was the most concerned about because I had never made a ham before and it was our main dish. The kids ended up doing their egg hunt in the pouring rain..

Amy cracked me up…you can’t really see it in this picture, but she had on this beautiful long pink dress and she ended up covering it outside with Bryce’s black jacket and wearing his basketball shoes! Too funny!

After dinner, Jay and Josh came up with the idea that they wanted to go see Blades of Glory. My gracious mother-in-law said that she could watch the kids so I could go too. It was the (*ahem*cough*choke*) perfect end to a perfect day. So we all (Jay, Josh, me and Shelley) piled in our minivan and headed to the Division St. theater. I realized that I have not seen a movie in the theater since before the girls were born. 8+ months! The movie was actually really funny. Half the fun was seeing Josh double over in laughter. But I laughed in spite of myself. It was one of those movies that I kept laughing even though I didn’t want to. By the time we got home, Donna had the house spotless, dishwasher and dryer running, and kids in bed. What a blessing! Thanks Donna! All in all, a perfect day!

I’ve got nothing to write about. So why am I writing? I have no idea. Josh took the boys to the park tonight and the girls are taking a nap. I’ve been sitting out here reading other people’s blogs and thinking that I should write another one…but I have nothing to say. So we’ll just see what comes out. I’m getting the ball rolling.

This afternoon my mom stopped by for no particular reason other than she was off work. She seems to take off work a lot these days..it makes me laugh. She doesn’t enjoy her job. Anyway, I got the “brilliant” idea that we should all pile in the car and go to the mall. After all, I don’t get out of the house much during the weekday and my mom was there to help without any other commitments. Perfect! So after the girls finished eating we all got in the car and I attempted to load the triple jogger stroller in the back of the van. Has anyone ever attempted such a feat? It literally takes up the entire back of our extended minivan from the floor to the ceiling and blocks the entire window. And it weighs like 30-40 pounds. It b a r l e y fits. Anyway, we all drive to the mall and everything is fine. I bribe the boys with a promise of candy if they stayed close and did not touch things.

Some day every one is going to have to experience what it is like to go out in public with 2 boys and triplet girls. Everyone has an opinion and something to say about our family. We are nothing less than a circus act. It was fun at first, to be the center of attention. But now it is bordering on annoying. People say the funniest things. The most common things are: “Wow! You certainly have your hands full!” or “God bless you!” or “Triplets? Are you kidding?” or “Oh look honey, (to their child) three babies all at the same time.” or “I can’t imagine all that work” or my current favorite “Oh my goodness! Look at the babies! (insert shout across the store) Betty, you’ve got to come see the babies!” And then of course there is always the regular comments and questions such as “what are their names” and “how old are they”. Today the girls were in matching one piece outfits that were pink from head to toe with flowers and lace and wearing pink headbands and a lady asked if they were girls or boys…come on! I still have not figured out yet how to respond to the question of “are they natural”. Today a lady asked my mom that and my mom went in to great detail about the fact that we were having trouble getting pregnant and so I was using a drug. Later I told her that she didn’t need to tell people about my menstrual cycle in order to answer the questions. I think I decided to start answering the “are they natural” question with a “well, they’re certainly not synthetic!” response. What do you think?

Another funny thing about the trip and really going out in public in general is that Jayden often feels that it is his responsibility to make sure that everyone knows what the babies names are..even if they don’t ask. Also it is apparently important that everyone know which one is currently the biggest. And today he even felt it necessary to tell someone (who was commenting on the big brothers) that he would ‘never hit the babies very, very hard’. I had to laugh at this.

All in all, the mall trip was actually a success. The girls did pretty well even with missing their afternoon nap, the boys did good and earned their promised candy, and I found 3 very cute Easter dresses for the girls. My first Easter picking out dresses for my daughters! The next thing I am anxious to do is pick out swim suits. Do 8 month olds need swim suits? What am I saying? Who cares?