Taking Family Photos is like Child Birth

I’ve decided that family photos can be compared to giving birth to a baby:  you do it because you only see the (hopefully) beautiful ending result. However, the agonizing pain and chaos and exhaustion that it takes to get to that point makes you swear when you are in the middle of it that you’ll never do it again! 

It’s an ugly, gruesome process; but, in the end, the actual event is soon forgotten, and you find yourself wanting to do it again really soon. (Except for us…we are done with wanting to birth more babies…)

 Saturday was our long anticipated family photo day. My friend has a photographer she knows from Washington. He comes down to Portland every year for a weekend and he does a 30 min. session for a very reasonable price. 

Our family photo two years ago (Evie 6 months)

Photo last year (Evie 18 months)

This is his third year doing our family; last year when we saw him, I wasn’t even pregnant yet! So imagine his surprise this year when we show up with four month old triplets! He probably wanted to run for the hills. 

When I thought of taking pictures with a two year old and 4 month old triplets, I envisioned a wonderful family memory-making experience.  

We convinced Amanda that she might like to partake in this experience too, so this was going to be a blast, right?! 

 So, the seven of us roll up in our mini van on this peaceful Saturday afternoon to a community park. A bride adorned a flowing white dress carrying ivory and peach roses  passes in front of us. Her three bridesmaids follow close behind, hair perfectly pinned and heels clicking excitedly. Families picnic on checkered blankets, meats and cheeses and cold bottles of lemonade displayed in a neat row. 

A duck floats in the river. 

The winds tickles the trees playfully. 

Yes, its a picture perfect day.

Our photographer was just finishing up with a cute family of four, two red headed girls in matching plaid blowing playful kisses into the camera. Their parents watched from the side, beaming from ear to ear at their charming daughters. 

Enter our family in an over packed mini van.  

We come to a stop at the curb and out emerge a very agitated toddler, three infants teetering on the edge of losing it and two parents who are already exhausted by the whole events of dressing the clan. And then there is Amanda who steps out from between the car seats, calm and collected and sparkling and ready to be of help any way she can. 

"Ok, let the fun begin"

At first, everything started out  pretty well. The boys were all smiles in their coordinated and clean little polo shirts; Evie strutted around in her new coral dress and hair bow. John and I stood in awe at our precious family.  

Then, just like childbirth, the whole process got worse and more painful and more intense and way too ugly as we got further and further along. 

It was just plain messy at the end, and we were exhausted and ready for it to be over. Evie decided that this was the day she was going to rebel at all authority and displayed this new independence by protesting the pictures; refusing to pose, smile sweetly or wear a hair bow, she openly expressed her disgust in all of this. 

And then there were the boys. They started out all smiley and cute as can be, but soon they grew over stimulated and cranky. By the end they were all crying and spitting up. 

James lost a sock.  

      Evie had a scowl. 

             Caleb wouldn’t stop crying. 

                    Levi had a colossal belch that stained his shirt. 

Additionally, I made a horrible decision on what I should wear.  My cute little strapless dress was the worst choice possible with all the kids and small hands clawing at me. I spent a lot of energy trying to keep my top up and felt very self-conscious the entire time. 

And John, well he thought the chaos just about summed up our life perfectly. 

And Amanda agreed. 

And I just laughed because I didn’t know what else to do. 

 At the end I’m sure the photographer was glad to see us go. We loaded up our van and pulled out of there…leaving behind our triplet stroller standing alone under the shaded tree. We circled back, collected it and waved to the cute, calm little family taking their photographs after us. 

Whew. 

Glad that’s over. 

It was a quiet ride home. The boys passed out in the car; Evie sulked in the back seat because she was getting punished for her behavior. 

Oh the fun never ends in the Patton household. 

Should we do it again next year? 

Absolutely. We have to be sure to remember this period in time… aka. our life. ;) 

Evie at a recent visit to the Children's museum 

A Very Full Life

Life is full everyone! 

Very full. 

And loud. 

And obnoxious. 

And utterly exhausting. 

The past couple of weeks I have been especially low on energy, largely because no one around here sleeps during the day at the same time anymore.

 The boys are getting older. They are four months old now and they are less sleepy. In fact, they are up a lot during the day, and they can't do a lot except kick, look around, coo and cry.  In fact, all four children seem to like to try to out cry each other, all at the same time. 

Evie hasn’t been napping either.  For the past week, she lays in bed during nap time and talks to her stuffed animals.

 For those of you who are parents, you KNOW how sacred nap time is. We’ve implemented “quiet time” but that only lasts for barely an hour. 

The boys still don’t have a very predictable sleeping pattern either. They are awake and asleep at various times throughout the day still, so, someone is always up. So basically, what I’m saying is that there is no rest for the weary in this season of life. 

However, I must count my blessings that all my kids sleep through the night. The boys get up early (5:30 am) but hey, I’ll take it at 4 months old! 

The boys had their four month doctor’s appointment last week. Man, are they adorable! All three of them laid on the doctor’s table in just a diaper displaying their round little bellies, all smiling and cooing. They all got a really good report:

Caleb: 13.5 lbs; 24.25 inches,

Levi: 14.1 lbs; 24.75 inches

James: 12.13 lbs; 24.5 inches

Levi and James

Way to go, boys! Keep on eating! 

The boys have a way about them that makes you feel like a VIP. Whenever I have the three of them on the floor together, they stare right up at me. Three pairs of eyes track my every move, smiling and giggling, making this mama totally smitten. 

And we, the Patton household, are doing as good as we can in this all-consuming, energy depleting season of life. I feel swallowed up a lot.  I am always tired. I crave escape at times. The help from Amanda and John’s parents has been life-saving. Truly, it has allowed me to keep my sanity. There are moments when  I almost feel like I might lose it. There are just too many needy people who all demand a part of me…and I (we) just can’t do it sometimes. With three babies (and a toddler) somebody-EVERYBODY- just wants to be held, and obviously we don’t have enough hands or arms!  

I have to say, John and I are a team. We really are. The stress and fatigue might put us on edge at times, but overall, we work together well and take care of these kids. What a mission we share together, and I'm glad we still like each other! ;) 

This week John and I managed to bake chocolate chip cookies with the goal to walk around to some of our neighbors and introduce our family. We’ve met a couple families over the past 2.5 months being here, but we really want to be intentional with this community of people. 

This community is a very special place. Everyone looks out for each other and each other’s kids.  In the summers, the neighborhood has a fellowship event called “Wine Wednesday."

                                What, wine on a Wednesday?! Sounds good to me!

Although I was a bit intimidated by this whole thing, John encouraged me to go this past Wednesday and meet some people. So, after we put the kids to bed, we walked down the street  (Don't worry...Amanda was home!) and mingled with our neighbors. It turned out to be  great time. We met some great families and couples, and it makes me even more grateful to be a part of a community like this. 

So on Saturday, we were even more enthusiastic about walking around and connecting with even more people. We took everyone with us, the boys in their triplet stroller and Evie with her princess crown. We knocked on several doors and talked to some great people. Evie liked handing out the cookies too. However, we kept getting the same reposnse, “We should be doing this for you.” People really appreciated our effort, and you could tell they regretted not reaching out to us first. 

Lesson learned: Be intentional with people, even if it’s uncomfortable! It’s what makes a place of residence more than a place to park the car. 
And if I need a cup of sugar, I can borrow it without it feeling weird. ;) 

And finally, yesterday was fathers day! I’ve been super blessed with having a great dad AND having a husband who pours his heart and soul into all his children.  Additionally, I have an amazing father in law too who is such an example of unconditional love.  As I get older, I’m realizing that perhaps having a strong father figure  is not the norm for a lot of people. 

So, I truly celebrate Fathers day…and even though we can’t do a special breakfast out of the town, I hope John, and my Dad, and my father in law, know how much they mean to me and our family. 

And, to make the day extra special for us, ALL four kids napped at the same time for about 15 min! So, we ordered out sushi and ate in peace and even laid on the couch for a few moments! 

Yay! A happy day indeed. 

Sunshine, visitors and tears!

Wow, it's June already! May seemed to fly by! We had so much sunshine and visitors that I haven't updated my blog in quite some time!

So...here it is: 

My Aunt Penny came to visit for a week. She blessed us so much by cooking for us, holding babies, organizing clothing, cleaning and enjoying life with us! 

She is someone who always has an enthusiastic attitude about everything in life; she compared her visit to being on a cruise ship vacation for a week! Ha! 

Aunt Penny hanging out with the fellas

Special time with Caleb

Baking up some goodies 

What's the point of baking the batter?!

Smiles when Aunt Penny is around!

Memorial Day weekend, my brother and his girlfriend flew into Portland to visit. It was really neat to see my brother meet my sons for the first time. I think he was smitten. ;) Evie loved Uncle Brad, and Tara has the flowing long hair that reminded her of a princess I think. ;) 

Love from Uncle Brad

Overall, there was a lot of  admiring babies and amusing Evie. It was a week of memories. 

On saturday, John and I went to a benefit dinner put on by one of our dearest friends to support their little boy they adopted from the Congo. It was our first time out before the kids all went to bed. We convinced John’s parents that putting four kids to bed was a magical experience and they were good sports. My only advice to them before departing was this:

1. When you feel like you want to cry, laugh
2. As long as all the kids survive til morning, I really don’t care what they wear to bed or how they get there. 

We had a nice time at the benefit dinner.  It is so wonderful to see my friends on the other side of their long adoption process. It was a journey of ups and downs; but ultimately in the end they have their little boy, who is such a precious addition to their beautiful family. 

However, within a week filled with so much fun and joy, a tragic thing happened  too. A girl  I knew through playgroups and who was active in the community died suddenly  of a head injury due to a strange fall off a long board. She had a one year old daughter and a three year old son. It really shook me to the core. I’ve had a few people die in my life, and whenever it happens it is always a swift wake up call to  not to take one single day for granted. We are not guaranteed  a long happy life and I need to truly hold tight and cherish the people surrounding me each day. 

Sunday was beautiful. In fact, our spring this year was especially sunny and perfect. However, I can get kinda cranky on Sundays. I’m pretty good all week, full of energy and enthusiasm for life,  but for some reason I get tired and crabby on this particular day of the week. I think it’s because it is supposed to be a day of rest but there is no rest…ever. 

Sometimes the thought that I will never catch up on my sleep gets overwhelming, and my emotions and thinking take a nose dive and I can get kind of depressed. 

 This sunday however, we had some close friends over for a BBQ. John smoked salmon in his Traeger and we just talked over a glass of wine. Why is it that friends, wine and a perfect summers night on the porch makes everything better?! 

I truly am grateful for all the relationships in my life. But it’s funny how quickly we start to feel sorry for ourselves or take for granted one moment here on earth!!!'

How very precious life is….what a privilege to be able to spend a full week with my sweet Aunt, or a dinner with my brother or a conversation with friends! How blessed I am to sit outside with my children, and even if there is no rest in sight, how wonderful that I am healthy enough to carry on this job I have been entrusted with! 

I am also learning that being a parent can really bring about some intense emotional extremes, and I have to separate how I feel from reality. For example, on Sunday I was crying tears of exhaustion and frustration, fantasizing about just running away... ;)

but on Monday I experienced tears of gratitude and joy and a powerful sense that "this is all going way too fast!" 

Important lesson: recognize emotions as emotions. I need to learn to separate what I'm feeling from reality and recognize that I am human-not super human- and despite my ups and downs  in my mood, life is precious and oh so fragile. 

Praying for my friend's family today...her widowed husband and two small children and her parents that must face the realization that they out lived their own daughter. 

Embracing those I love, and cherishing the small moments... and all the tears. For tears mean that I am alive one more day.

Already a little teacher 

Always fun with Amanda!

Birthday Party time with her little friends! 

Evie's first finger nail painting experience! Thanks Amanda! 

Hey Good looking'...what's cookin'

Ready for the Ladies, Mr. Caleb

Oh my goodness...What a handsome one you are, James.