Momma Makeover

The boys are practicing their teenage heart throb poses







Bible Cat: all he needs to lay his head down is a shot of whiskey and some scripture


A friend of mine convinced me to apply for a local mommy makeover contest. If you win you get a bunch of stuff like spa treatments, a hotel room for a night, dinner, and some other stuff I can't remember. I doubt I'll win it since I never win anything, of course besides hitting the fertility jackpot. But what the heck, maybe?

Now I'm not trying to throw myself a pitty party but I do have to sound convincing so here are my answers to their questions:

What is/are the most rewarding aspect(s) of being a mother?

Seeing all the little accomplishments your baby makes. It's so exciting to see your baby smile or coo or laugh for the first time. Before I was a mother others would tell me about their babies and I honestly just didn't get how exciting it was. I would just think, "aren't babies supposed to smile at that age?" (OK so I had to come up with something to say. While what I wrote is true, I can't really pinpoint this one)


What is/are the most challenging aspect(s) of being a mother?

Knowing your decisions are what's best for your baby. To vaccinate or not to vaccinate. Cloth diapers or disposable diapers. To let them cry it out or not. When I only had myself to worry about, decisions were easily made without much hesitation and they were usually good ones.


How do you currently manage stress and parenting?

Manage? The question should be how I survive. Caring for triplets is a full time job for three adults, not one. I survive because my husband comes home and gives me a few minutes to shower or eat or do laundry. I survive because awesome friends come by and clean my house for free. I survive because friends cook dinners for me several times a week. I don't know if we can "manage" anything anytime soon but we ARE surviving! I honestly don't have time for stress, in some ways that's a good thing but sometimes I forget to pay bills and take care of things that have to be done.


If you have a spouse/partner, how does that person support you in parenting?

Most dads are often overshadowed by over bearing mothers that don't trust their husbands to do things right. Ok maybe I probably would have been one of those had I only had one baby at a time. But after having triplets and seeing how industrious and capable my husband is, it reassures me that if I was not around my husband would be fully capable of caring for our children.


Describe your personality... & how would your friends describe you?

This is the hardest one to answer. It's often hard to understand others' decisions and sometimes you just have to think "they must be crazy." I hope my friends would say that I'm a reasonable person with lots of common sense and my life reflects that.


Who are you besides a mom? Tell us a little about yourself, your interests & hobbies.

I love to travel! Try new flavors of beer, enjoy friends, read books, cook, and grow my own vegetables. As I planned on having one baby I thought we could still afford and manage to travel, go to restaurants, and hang out with friends. After all I'd seen others do it. With three infants to care for, all of that is on hold for quite some time.


When was the last time you did something just for yourself and what was it?

About a year and a half ago, right before I became pregnant, my husband and I took a short vacation to the Oregon coast. Since we knew it might be our last trip together before kids we splurged on dinners, desert, wine, and shopped for antiques. We weren't bogged down by ruins to visit, museums to explore and new people to meet. We just enjoyed each others company.


If you had an extra two hours in a day, what would you do with that time?

My unselfish answer is catch up on household things that have been neglected. My selfish answer is to spend one hour reading in peace and quiet. The second hour would be spent over dinner and an enjoyable conversation with my husband.


What would you like to change and/or improve about yourself?

I need a new wardrobe! No I don't need mom jeans but I need clothes that now suite my, to put it nicely, more motherly figure.


1000 characters or less, tell us why you should be chosen as our 2011 Mama Makeover winner.

I'll keep that one to myself : )


Eli blowing raspberries


T man giggles


Eli is too interested in the camera to laugh