We just like hanging out with each other...

Michelle and I don't get sick of each other very often.  In Seattle we worked at the same therapy clinic, and for a long time even shared an L-shape desk. (which meant bumping into each other all the time!)  People said, "I don't know how you guys can work together like that and be together all the time."  But honestly, that's the way we like it. We just really like hanging out with each other. We traveled around the world together for two months and I don't think we got sick of each other once. Sure, we got frustrated or sick of traveling a couple times, but I don't remember ever feeling like I needed space or a break from Michelle. 

Our trip around the world was probably good preparation for raising triplets. It involved not only a lot of intense time together, but together time with added stressors like a lack of sleep, lots of planning, navigating foreign languages, etc.  Sounds pretty similar to our life now doesn't it?! Sleep deprivation, activities driven by a schedule, & dealing with people (i.e. babies) who don't understand us & who we don't always understand!

We've loved all the time we've gotten to spend together over the past few months and aren't loving the changes that are coming with me working more and Michelle being back in classes.  We're also realizing that having triplets means not being able to do some things together that we're used to doing together. We've always been good workout buddies, able to take turns being the motivator or pushing the other person to be faster, stronger, etc. There are a lot of reasons that it is hard for us to work out right now, but not being able to be each other's workout buddy is certainly not helping. I'm not really trying to make excuses for not working out. I know that if we really set that as a priority we could make it happen more often, but it isn't easy like it used to be.

Shopping is also something that's more fun together, but not easy to do with triplets. We used to enjoy meandering through Trader Joes or Target together sometimes, just taking our time. That is something that hasn't happened since the babies arrived. Instead it's usually a quick stop on my way home from work, or one of us runs in while the other drives in circles around the parking lot, usually on the way home from a pediatrician visit.

Some of these changes may be permanent, but as the babies get older we get braver and are willing to try more things with the babies. A couple weeks ago we decided to do an outing to the mall to return a shirt to Gap and just get out of the house. It was a gray day and too yucky to be outside so we thought the mall was a good option for a walk. We'd bought a double snap-n-go stroller that we can put the car seats on from another MoM (mother of multiples) the week before so we thought we'd try it out.  The stroller was just fine once we got the seats situated correctly, but the outing was less satisfying than we'd hoped. First, the Gap in the mall is closed, so no luck on the return, and secondly, the stroller has a terrible turning radius making it quite difficult and sometimes impossible to navigate through narrow store aisles. And then, of course, the girls weren't napping like they were supposed to, so stopping the stroller to browse the stores was also not an option. Oh yeah, then we went to leave and realized it was pouring rain! That was fun trying to get all the babies and stroller loaded into the Rav! Oh well! We tried and that alone is an accomplishment!  We've also gone to Trader Joes & Wegman's once each with the babies, but that was kind of cheating because we had a third adult for each of those trips!

Michelle pushing the new stroller