Welcome to 2017!!

Firstly happy new year! I seriously don’t know where the last year has gone!? We’ve enjoyed so much together as a family and with our friends through 2016, it has been a good one for sure! We’ve had some great holidays, lovely summer fun, made some great memories with family and friends and we had the triplets christened. Looking back we’ve grown so much as a family of 6. 

Having said that the last few months I’ve also found really difficult and I’ve probably had some of the darkest days since having the girls nearly 2 years ago.We always joked at the beginning ‘the first 6 months will be the hardest’ well, as those months rolled into 9 months, then 12 months we were like, ‘maybe the first year will be the most difficult!’ Don’t get me wrong life now is alot easier than feeding 3 babies every 3 hours, plus not having to sterilise everything in sight, but the age they are at now brings new challenges. They are all walking, running, climbing, chatting and sometimes what I find difficult is they are 3 separate people with different wants and needs! 

So in September Flo started school, she is absolutely loving it and has settled in well which I guess is one less weight off my mind! Starting school though has been a real eye opener for me, if I thought it was tricky some days before, well think again! Getting 4 little people ready and out the door for the school run is a mission in itself some mornings, but then there’s the getting them all there, firstly we walk as it’s only up the road, so into the double buggy go 2 kids and 1 in my rucksack! (The triple doesn’t fit through the classroom gate so this is my only option!!) so by the time we get home from the school run I already feel like I’ve ran a marathon and it’s not even 9.30am!!!! 

Then I try to go to groups or meet up with friends to try and remain ‘normal’ but again it’s little things like lugging 3 toddlers in and out the car, trying to make sure nobody runs off while your getting them out one by one, or refereeing the fight that’s about to start as they all want to walk not go in the buggy!! Then trying to plan so they get a nap in to avoid world war 3, if they fall asleep in the car I then have to do 3 shuttle runs up and down stairs, I’m like some sort of parenting ninja tiptoeing up and down to avoid any wake ups so I get at least one hot cup of tea that I actually drink! In a nutshell it’s exhausting!!!

Needless to say over the last few months there have been quite a few tears from me, feeling like I’m losing the plot, and strangely alone which is ironic as I’m surrounded by so many children. Luckily I have great friends and a husband I can talk to, who all let me know I’m doing a good job (it is hard to believe sometimes when your just shattered) I knew this journey would be challenging, and not for one second did I think it would be easy, but I guess I didn’t realise with the amazing highs there also comes amazing lows. Nobody tells you about them though do they!? Thankfully I have some awesome mum friends that support me more than they know, and make me realise whether you have 1 child or 10 it’s normal to feel kind of crap sometimes and it DOES NOT define you as a person!!!!

So this year my pact to me is to stop being so tough on myself, know that I’m doing the best I can and most importantly be grateful for the 4 beautiful children we made that won’t be little for long, and this time will all be a hazey slightly sleep deprived memory!!

When I look back over the last year (with my logical non tired head on!) I realise just how far the girls have come, the milestones they achieved, their little personalities that are developing and the lovely bond growing between them and their big sister, I feel so very very proud of how we are raising our ‘team’ and if this year is half as good as the last we’ll be in for a good one!! Here’s to being happy and healthy for 2017! 

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