The Holmstroms: Importing the Last 4 Months

First and foremost we are ALL still alive!!!!!!! It has been quite a while since I have felt like posting anything, or had the time to post anything.

Today my phone said I was officially out of space. My husband looked at it and was shocked by my 1,322 photos that were currently on it. He asked how it was even possible for me to have taken that many photos and my response was that I want to remember as much of these days as I can. Needless to say it was time to do some importing of these photos to my computer to free up some room on the phone.

As I sat here watching the last 4 months worth of photos transfer to my computer it was like watching a flip book of my current life. Really I am still in awe of the good, bad, and the ugly that I have been blessed with. Lately I have been telling some friends that I really feel that sometimes I am suffering from a little bit of some form of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, (OK maybe it's just extreme sleep deprivation) but non the less I feel like my mind is too tired to remember pivotal points of the journey. Such as the girls birth, their whole NICU experience, the transition to bringing the girls home, the fact that they have been here for 4 months etc.... but as I watched the 1,300 pictures quickly flash before my eyes as they imported into my photo library I couldn't help but be moved to tears at what the last VERY FULL 4 months of sharing this life with these 4 little people looks like. Its starts off at 6:30 am, still with a 3am wake up and goes a little something like this....

3:00am- Girls eat 6:30-Get up and get dressed
7:00- Girls up and eat
8:00- Gray up and eat
9-10:00- Wash bottles from the night/morning feed- laundry from night feeds/make bottles for the day
11:00- Girls eat
12:00- Gray eats
12:30-Gray down for nap
12:30-2:30- Dinner prep/laundry/tummy time with girls
3:00- Girls eat
4:00- Wash daytime bottles/ make nighttime bottles/finish making dinner
5:00- Dinner for Gray and us
6:00-Baths for kiddos
7:00-Girls eat; Bed
7:30- Gray Bed
8:00-Noone talk to me ;)
And in the mix of all that is changing spit ups/diapers, and pumping.

My mom recently sent me a picture that said "There are only 940 Saturday's between your child's birth and them leaving for college." After looking at these pictures and seeing how the time has flown by and reflecting on that statistic of Saturdays my hope and prayer is that in those 940 Saturdays and all the days in between I can slow down to teach and show my babies the love of Christ, through how I love them, and their need for Christ in all circumstances through how I respond in my circumstances (yes that means choosing patience when sometimes I just want to rip my hair out, and scream back at them). I am thankful that on those days when I have the thought of "I am WAY too tired to be a good mom right now, or put forth the effort that is required of me" I can share with them my need for Christ in my life as well.

As with any momma I think we could all vouch for one another and say this role is the most difficult thing we will ever do, but also the most rewarding! That saying has never rang more true than for me now, as the girls are 4 months old and suffering from some pretty intense reflux. Each feed they will all spit up 4 to 6 times each...meaning I have to change bib after bib, after burp cloth, after outfit... just a ton of laundry and very fussy, needy babies. We have tried a number of things to rule out a diary intolerance and I think it's safe to say it is classic reflux that spikes at 4 months. I can't WAIT till we are past this part and I get some happier less messy babies. They are however smiling, laughing, and cooing especially at big brother! Grayson is absolutely the BEST big brother and loves his sisters so very much. Everyday he wakes up and immediately asks "where's sissies" then runs out of this room to tell each of them "good morning" and he "loves her." Watching the dynamic between the 4 of them is enough for me, even at times when all 4 of them are screaming at once.

I won't bore you with all 1,300 photos to tell the story of our last 4 months, but I will share some of my favorites that help capture this life in the fast lane with triplets and a toddler....

Mr. Potato Head....