3x the Cake, Chaos & Celebration

What a week! The beginning of March, for the past six years, has been all about birthday festivities: planning our biggest party of the year, coming up with spring break activities, creating customized cakes in triplicate plus school cupcakes, and squeezing in the much-anticipated daddy-daughter dance. And just to keep things interesting, this year we also added a surgery, a few dental fillings and tooth extraction, a weekend trip, and you know, that four letter word called work- right in the thick of legislative session. I think it’s safe to say the parents (and probably Grandma Sue too!) have officially earned their own spring break; when exactly does that happen and who wants to watch the kids?!

Much discussion occurred in January and February about this year’s birthday theme—because obviously, picking the right one is serious business. I figured My Little Pony would be the winner this year but the girls had other plans. In a unanimous vote (rare!), they landed on a zoo theme featuring three completely unrelated animals: Harper chose a arctic seal, Emerie a turtle, and Reagan her beloved panda. Naturally, the party colors remained the standard pink, purple, and teal theme of our lives, because I didn’t actually give them an option otherwise (Reagan asked for red pandas and that was vetoed- I don’t have red stuff!).

After tossing around ideas with Sue (aka my creative partner-in-cake…so funny!), we came up with a plan for each kiddo’s cake. Then came the chocolate molds—50+ of them over the course of a few evenings. They are time intensive but actually pretty fun to change up each year, and the girls love seeing the results. The arctic seals nearly did me in- I kept accidentally decapitating them with the one 3D mold ordered from Etsy. But after a few trial runs; I think they turned out passable. The turtles were a breeze and popped right out with cute shell patterns, and the mini pandas were fun to crank out in teal. I even brought my “a” game and managed to make a few in black and white, making Reagan so excited and adding more flare.

Our toothless Harper smiling with her “harper seals” in pink and white, sun bathing on a bed of sparkling water (because edible glitter is awesome), surrounded by rocks, green brush, and snow covered ground. In food terms, it’s like melted blue Jolly Ranchers turned into a sticky candy, water body, topped with a mix of white and rock-looking sprinkles, and some plastic bushes to boost up the three dimensional look. I think it came out pretty well!

Emerie’s face in that picture says it all. She wanted her cake a bit busier, more like an undersea party than a quiet reef. So, along with the handmade chocolate turtles were sprinkles of mermaid treasure to share the glory. In addition to colorful shells, more turtle friends, and an abundance of foliage, her cake included a mermaid backdrop to set the scene, complete with light green icing for the ocean floor and dreamy lakes in blended shades of blue and green.

Reagan’s panda habitat ended up looking the most like a real zoo out of the three cakes. It featured a chocolate bamboo enclosure, framed with plastic bamboo leaves, and a whole bunch of rambunctious pandas- some edible, some just along for the ride- all relaxing on a mountain of light green icing, with little leaves popping up from the “ground.” And don’t forget, lots of edible glitter to make the whole thing sparkle.

Aside from the cakes was a lot of other cooking and crafting creativity for the actual party that weekend. The good ‘ole internet allowed me to find really cute seal balloons, and the pandas/turtles were easier to find after that. Same for the party bags, which were fun to figure out distributing equal goodies for each kiddo, and having a harder time finding seal themed anything. ChatGPT and I also got in some quality bonding time, helping me design custom stickers in each girl’s favorite color and animal, and photoshopping seven candles because the program would NOT do it. That turned into a surprisingly fun exercise in trial-and-error (loooooots of it!) until I finally landed on just the right look. It was totally worth the effort. I think they turned out super cute and the girls were so excited for extras, and to help decorate the party plates with them.

As far as the party goes, we invited a lot of people to celebrate, but weren’t sure who would show up, and ended up with WAY more than expected. The party was in a big, indoor space, which was filled with about 40 kids in total. If you didn’t know, that is a lot of kids…

Each animal was well represented at the party, and Sue and I spent plenty of time crafting customized creations—like kiwi and grape turtles (complete with tiny eyeballs!) and Rice Krispy shaped of all three, each with little noses and smiles. As usual, Sue’s veggie pizza was a hit, as were Craig’s fancy cupcakes, all frosted with a triple swirl of pink, purple and teal and topped with matching chocolate animals. It really is a team effort to put these events on, and breaks my heart to think we only have a few more until the girls will be grown and probably less excited for all the extravagance.

The party itself was packed with animal-themed activities. We had props for silly iPad photos (and yes, there were many to go through after), temporary tattoos (seal tattoos are surprisingly hard to find, by the way, but do exist!), scratch art animal face masks, and even a zoo-themed game inspired by Craig. But the real hit? The open space and soft mats for climbing, where the kids ran wild and just had a blast being kids.

But you know what I found most impressive about the afternoon? The pro level of effort put into the gifts. Not only did almost everything have custom, hand drawn cards for each kid individually (handwritten kid cards are simply the greatest at this age, giving and receiving!), they were also incredibly thoughtful and catered to the likes of each kiddo. Wrapping paper and gift bags were a total explosion of pink, purple, and teal, so on-brand for our continued life trend. It was such a joy to watch the girls’ excitement. This was also the first year everything didn’t come in threes, which feels like a big milestone to me and a sign they’re growing up and moving out of the little kid phase (sob!!). We also have a very generous group of friends!

Favorite gifts for this year? I always like to write this down because I instantly can’t remember for all three. The girls unanimously loved the glittery gold H, E, and R letters, the star dresses in their colors from Aunt Jenny, and surprise dolls. One friend grabbed everyone another stuffy in their animal of choice; i.e. a stuffed grey seal that was open with squeals by Harper, another small panda who now has Reagan insisting she is a mother of a set of quadruplets (I love that she even knows what that means), and tiny turtles that now snuggle in bed with Emerie. This is also the last year for some of the dress up dresses, which they will size out of after size 8 (sob!!) so we splurged and bought them one last fancy outfit from the local toy store. We also upgraded their bedroom comforters and replaced the matching princess ones originally purchased when we installed the triplet bunk bed, which feels like ages ago. The theme for those? Well you guessed it, pink and white seals for Harper, I couldn’t find any purple turtle comforters so a purple Elsa set for Emerie, and a teal panda family for Reagan. I love the new look in their room!

Amidst all the excitement of the week was also the very anticipated Daddy-Daughter Dance, now a staple tradition in our household. The girls ask about it all year long. We went all out: nails done, hair curled with the curling iron for the first time, and eye shadow and liner picked by each of them. Then came the strappy, white heels, tights, and lacy dresses in their colors. The event anticipation was full of excitement, and while Craig reported they were a bit chaotic and wild at the actual event (less magical for him, maybe), they absolutely loved their special night with Dad. It’s one of those sweet memories they can look back on as they get older—and the photos are just plain adorable and no snow and sunshine was a nice, unusual touch for this time of year. Sue and I also snuck away from all the party planning for a kid-free sushi date, which was pretty fantastic, too.

Surviving a week(s) as a party planner for the triplets feels like juggling three dozen cupcakes while riding on a roller coaster coated in a thick layer of glitter, with miscellaneous events in between the stops for preparations, real work hours, and everyday chores. By the end, one needs a serious break from the never ending glitter and abundant child inspired noise, and need some very strong caffeine or a long nap… but hey, the stress is worth the effort to deliver a fun month that the girls will remember happily as they get older. But thank heavens it’s done for another year and my tiny babies are now seven!

❤

Dec 24

Mom Days: Surviving & Thriving

This past week, only a week before Christmas, Craig trekked across the country for a three night stay at a conference in Texas and we had a four day “girls day.” For the record, this is a terrible time to host a conference for anyone with kids, getting all the things ready before not only the Christmas holiday, but also for two weeks home over Christmas break, but what can you do! My anxiety was running high leading up to his trip, which started at a balmy 4 AM, which the girls took quite personally that he didn’t wake them up and say bye with a hug. Once we overcame that morning drama, I stepped up my mom game and had a few things planned to keep everyone busy and tired out until his return.

After a busy workday wrapping up tasks before two weeks off, I told the girls if they played nicely while I made dinner they could watch one of the beloved DVDs from the 90s from Grandma Anne, specifically The Swan Princess (which I do not actually remember watching!). In some ultimate universe everyone built cities with Lincoln logs and Emerie did a frozen puzzle, and no one fought for over a full hour!! In that time I successfully made zucchini cookies, grilled veggies, and made Mac and cheese and chicken for the girls. In addition to the movie, everyone enjoyed apple-cranberry sparkle juice in fancy glasses and a gingerbread cookie. Day one of survival, achieved, and everyone went to bed for the last day of school in 2024, which is somehow already here!

I should also mention the girls all excitedly agreed I should do a three night stay at Shiloh’s house so they can have dad time and I can have a break. There was much discussion on this topic after bedtime; I could hear them continue to discuss it once I left the room. Shiloh’s house specifically because he and Craig do guys nights together and so he is associated with kid free time (which is funny since he has 6 kids!). By the end of Craig’s trip their advice morphed into staying at Auntie Janelle’s house instead, a little more realistic 🙂

At bedtime that night everyone wanted to fill in the vacancy on Craig’s side of the bed, which I didn’t cave into. Emerie definitely won that argument, wandering in at some ungodly hour of night, climbing across my sleeping figure, and stretching across more than half the king sized bed. Later that morning she rolled out of MY bed while I’m brushing my teeth, looks at me with a deep brow and says, Mom, before you and dad die you need to teach us how to make breakfast. I’m sorry to say this- I mean I’m really sorry- but we need to know before you die or we will be really hungry. Wow kid. What kind of dream was she having??

Day two involved heavy complaints from all three for staying in school Child Watch for too long- you know after begging to participate- and we had a quiet evening doing crafts and playing with…wait for it, scented slime. Yes, it is no surprise I dislike slime, and neither does my couch or carpet!! My rational here was purchasing something abnormal and beneffitting from that entertainment for a bit, which worked like a charm. While it’s mostly confined to the kitchen table (Harper’s definitely wanders even after constant reminders), it led to a couple hours of creativity and excitement. Harper made soup with sprinkles and a cherry, Reagan made cute little slime people, and Emerie made every contraption imaginable in a lot of happy squeals and Mom, look at me! comments.

We spent the morning of day three sans Dad just hanging at home and starting the day- and Christmas break- slow and chill. Harper climbed into my bed early that morning, but I managed to soothe her back to sleep until around 8:30; I was definitely not ready to start another solo parent day at 5:00 AM.

Christmas activities were on my mind; first cookie decorating at the mall with other home school kids and later a hot cocoa and gingerbread village stop at Captain Cook Hotel with Aunt Janelle and Paris, and a good photo op! Cookie decorating ended up being a kidless hour for the moms, with adults not required to participate, so we had a nice little mom date in the middle of our Friday. After stopping downtown to check out the tiny gingerbread village and sip a yummy drink, we played at home the rest of the afternoon and exchanged gifts with Aunt Janelle and Paris. The girls are beyond thrilled at their new stuffed animals; a pink seal for Harper, a purple, big eyed turtle for Emerie, and a panda dressed as a green dinosaur for Reagan. All three have carted their new babies around the past few days.

The day ended with a fun trip to the girls’ dance school for an evening of fall session routines. Twenty performances in ninety minutes—whew! The girls did fantastic, performing two routines: one jazz and one ballet. With only one other kid from their class there, all three got adorably distracted at different moments, watching their teachers closely whenever nerves made them forget the steps. But they all finished with proud smiles and bows, which was the best part! I wasn’t sure how they’d handle the evening crowd, but they sat mesmerized, cheering everyone on and loving every second, especially when their teachers took the stage for a few dances. I love how relaxed and supportive this dance school is—it’s all about fostering a love for dance, fun, and staying active. The girls are already impatient with excitement for the spring recital in May on the big stage!

Before one more dance display the following morning with more classmates, we ended the late night with a living room sleepover by the Christmas tree. This is one of my favorite memories as a 90s kid, sleeping out by the twinkling Christmas tree and basking in the excitement of the holiday season. Since Alaska is so dark by solstice, with Anchorage only a little over five hours of daylight a day (and some of that is dusky), holiday lights really make the house feel cozier and less cold and wintry. I pulled out the couch and everyone climbed into their sleeping bags, with a LOT of stuffed animals friends brought down to keep them company- you know- in the midst of the siblings sharing the same pull out couch. It won’t be many more Christmases before all three won’t fit across, but for now it worked perfectly. I settled into the nearby armchair with my iPad, enjoying a quiet movie while the hustle and bustle of the day faded. The girls eventually drifted off to sleep after minimal arguing on their close proximity. And honestly, is there anything better than that moment of calm at the end of a busy day? It was always my favorite part of the day when the girls’ were busy toddlers, and even better with some holiday spirit in the mix. Sitting in a peaceful living room, the glow of the Christmas tree, listening to the gentle rhythm of sleepy breaths. It’s the kind of moment that makes your heart feel full, knowing everyone is safe, content, and dreaming. Not much in life can top that kind of magic. And while Emerie ended up in my bed again at some point, stating she wasn’t comfortable (and therefore wanted to make me less comfortable in my bed from her marathon sleeping!), it remained a quiet night for all.

After dance round two the next morning, with a lot of more classmates participating and only two dances, the girls received their ribbons and the dance session concluded. We cleaned up the house a bit and played, and just like that, Craig returned and we made it! It was few months since I’d had a few solo days with the kids, and realistically, it turned out much easier than the irrational worries my mind led me to dwell on. Sure, all three have their own ways of showing they miss the parent who is away—some pouty moments here, a bit of extra clinginess there—but it didn’t derail the days. They’ve grown and learned to roll with it, and I’m working on accepting the idea everything doesn’t have to go completely smoothly. A couple of FaceTime calls and a steady stream of random photos goes a long way in keeping everyone connected and comforted. Staying busy was the real lifesaver, with fun distractions, little crafts or projects, and keeping our routine. It was a good reminder that sometimes, the worry is worse than the reality, and I need to remember that!

As we start Christmas break and finish the rest of the holiday related activities, I look forward to making more memories and pushing through this dark season and toward 2025.

Merry Christmas! ❤

Mar 10

Finally a New Bedtime Routine!

Another small life shift for our everyday household, that really only impacts me and Craig at this point, is the new and improved bedtime routine. Since the girls were getting out of cribs and into toddler beds, for more than three years, every single night either Craig or I have sat in the comfy sofa chair in their bedroom after lights out and until everyone fell asleep. We both had different music playlists and rotated through song requests until the snoozing began; sometimes when they were smaller it involved quiet singing as well. For at least two of those years, every time I sat we listened to Let It Go (Frozen) for Emerie, Cover Me in Sunshine (Pink) for Reagan, Toward the Sun (Rihanna) for Harper and other random movie soundtracks as we watched them (Aladdin, Little Mermaid, Spirit, Trolls, My Little Pony, Tangled Adventures, Frozen, Sing, etc.). As they grew this involved arguments on whose song should play first and whose played last resulting in it being the worst thing in the world in that moment. Another hit was Craig playing Katie Perry’s Daisies.

This bedtime routine started when Reagan discovered how to climb out of her crib, even with the mattress dropped to the floor, and lasted through the transition to toddler beds and into big girl bunk beds around a year ago. While I will say this definitely impacted our ability to decompress together in the evenings, it did provide quiet time once all three fell asleep and became a routine that I really enjoyed. It also gave Craig and I a little space to ourselves at the end of every busy day; something that rarely happens during the day with young kids. It created an hour or two of calm at night, but also closeness to the girls and that was my favorite part. We sat and watch a show on an iPad, listening to music through headphones or I would write a blog about the day, enjoying the stillness and peace, since it’s a pretty rare thing. I even came to enjoy this part of my day and feeling close to everyone without the anxiety and loudness and chaos that is the life of a triplet parent, while knowing they were safe and happy and not a care in the world while cuddled into their beds with their stuffies. It’s hard to explain but I actually miss it a bit!

Of course, we started sitting this habit to keep everyone in bed and from running about and refusing to settle (which occurred frequently similarly to all kids at night!) and making nighttime routine take forever,. The bigger issue after its establishment was we couldn’t figure out how to stop doing it. The girls freaked out without our presence and that turned into tired meltdowns, so we’d cave and come back in, continuing the habit well after age five and unsuccessful on how to remove ourselves from the equation. I will also note that most of my fellow parent friends do many household chores and things after the kids go to bed; this is not how we’ve handled it the past few years, from the time of sleepless nights and getting up more than a handful of times per night, for months on end. In fact, I can easily say Craig and I are a well oiled machine when it comes to cooking, cleaning, laundry, tidying up, and maintaining order in our house, and do the majority of these things while everyone is up and active. The biggest difference now compared to years past is it is easier now that the girls are bigger. Busy chore time during the day also equals quiet post bedtime hours in the evening to mentally and physically recoup from everything, and not needing to squeeze in more chores after going strong for 14+ hours. I continue to enjoy this routine now!

And now -drum roll please- we are no longer confined to the kid room at night! By about Christmas time we managed to convince everyone that Mom and Dad are just in the next bedroom, with some strong convincing and argumentative five-year-olds on the subject, and that sisters are close by so no one is really alone. Clearly having their own rooms would be too much of an issues, since their complaints are often that they don’t want to be alone…you know…with 2 sisters still in the room. The combination of the amazing Tonie music and stories player, a white noise machine for after the music stops, and a multi-colored star projector do the trick. I should also mention we are on our THIRD star projector…because it’s used every day, travels around the house, and does not like to be drowned in water (shocking really :)). Unless everyone ran really hard that day and burned the energy, then the new routine takes longer to hear three resting kiddos, but it’s drastically improved over the past two months and the longing faces and tired eyes don’t demand our presence as often now. Everyone does not immediately calm down and often fight or argue with each other (amidst stuffed animals throwing, stealing, and unplanned music changes) about something from that day, or someone has to use the bathroom or get out of bed a million times to try to play. But all things that all parents deal with now; I can’t imagine trying to manage that when they were two or three. So we are making good progress and we are almost there, thankfully!!

I should also add the parents are getting MUCH more sleep than in the past five years, with more nights sans kiddo between us than nights with someone there. Everyone rotates through different reasons for standing at my bedside until my subconscious jolts awake, whether it’s a bad dream, not feeling well, or went to the bathroom and won’t go back to their bed. Reagan most consistently comes to our bed from a bad dream -or she just wants to snuggle- while Emerie will get up and go back to her bed nine times out of ten, and anytime Harper wanders over to my bedside, I almost think it’s Reagan until the next morning. Emerie insists that Craig’s snore mask (CPAP) is loud and I think that is part of her reasoning to always climb back to her bed; she also likes to be cuddled in her blanks with all her things. And even with kiddos coming and going, it is still huge-huge-huge progress on the sleep front for us. And ridiculously, after years of wanting to get a solid night of uninterrupted sleep or not wanting to sit while they were not ready to go to sleep yet, my mom brain actually misses the need for snuggles and butt patting to go back to sleep. It nearly misses the need to lay on the floor and pat one kid’s butt while rubbing the back of the one next to them, which is not the easiest. Mom brain is ridiculous, I tell you.

And now we are right around the corner to age six!!

Dec 19

Christmas Kittens, Anyone?

The past few weeks have been all about the massive amount of snow hitting our city in the past week, in record levels. 41 inches in total officially, but we probably saw a bit more than that at our house! Something that should definitely excite my children, and yet they hardly even batted an eye at each growing foot! When it gets too deep to play or sled in, I guess it becomes a little less fun. From the adult perspective, driving (and shoveling) is terrible but the atmosphere is absolutely stunning. The last few days turned cold and sunny, creative a beautiful frozen tundra look across the city, with frost capped brush. The frost fairies have been busy!

Breaking city snow records is not our news for the month. So if you need to hear about something other than snow and the fact we are in the very middle of the dark, cold, never-ending winter, then here you go!

The Douglas house now has its SECOND set of triplets! Now you all take a deep breath, because it’s not inspired by me (thank heavens!), but our littlest kitten Molly, who managed to get herself knocked up earlier this fall. She’s still a kitten herself, probably around six months or so, and this past Monday she delivered three tiny kittens. A fitting number for us, don’t you think?

This set is definitely fraternal, with one fully black and two tabby orange striped. None of them look like their mother, who is white/grey with some brown. Mother and babies are doing well and they are already growing like weeds. When she’s not tending to her litter, she adamantly demands affection and snuggling naps, which I’m sure I wanted when the girls were newborns.

It is a funny comparison to watch, remembering the tougher, newborn days years back. She will wander off for hours, snuggling on our bed overnight or sitting on the couch with the girls; but immediately treks back to them at a single kitten shriek. You can’t pet anywhere near her stomach or a vicious attack results, because those nipples are raw. I remember that for sure, even just from pumping. She is constantly whining for more food, pointing out when the food bowl is lower than to her satisfaction. Teen moms, I tell you! 🙂

The girls are excited to share them with visitors, but overall we’ve kept them at a distance until they get a bit older and less fragile! Eyes will open sometime over the next week and then they will become more like triplet toddlers- you know, moving around constantly, wreaking havoc and getting into absolutely everything. After that we will let the girls play more a little more.

Harper is telling people we’ve named them Harper, Emerie and Reagan, and the black one is Harper! She of course claims that one since her favorite color is black and pink. From what we can tell the two tabby’s are boys and the fully black one appears to be a girl. Who knows what names they will end up, but it won’t be duplicates of the first triplets of the house!

Reagan also keeps asking how the babies “got out” of her belly. THAT, is a lesson for another day!!

You better believe there will be some up and coming videos and photos of the girls playing with the furry, newborn triplets, once they are more mobile and wild(er). And for now, we will try to keep our household capped at one set of identical triplets and one set of feline triplets and NO sets of future ones…

❤

Jun 17

Tiny Vampire Club

The girls continue to live in an “attitude funk” the past week or two and it is incredibly exhausting for mom and dad. It feels like the parenting full moon cycle is stuck and never ending (you all know what I mean by that!), with tired, grumpy girls every night that constantly bicker, refuse to listen, continue to name call and sass you, and have a hard time settling down. While boundary pushing is nothing new in any house with kiddos and has occurred for a while now, the attitude shift and blatant disobedience is very wearing and frustrating.

The girls’ funk is occurring at home and at school, with evenings a special treat and you can’t anticipate if everyone will be pleasant or over-tired rage monsters. This week Emerie missed out on the entire bike day activity at preschool. Her teacher noted that not only did she express her inner vampire and take a chunk out of Reagan, but she refused to listen or obey any instructions given, so missing out on the fun and spending time in the office was her repercussion. After reading the daily report about it and forcibly extricating everyone from the playground and into the car that night (not fun for me!); everyone had quite the screaming meltdown, most of all Emerie. Needless to say, my blood pressure skyrocketed before I even made it home for the night.

Once the screaming and crying decreased, we had quite a group discussion on the drive home about what happens when you are naughty and when you are nice, when you listen and when you don’t. Emerie owned up to her office visit and Reagan and Harper were happy to point out that she was in trouble and they were still able to ride their bikes. They also pitched in some opinions, noting that the office isn’t any fun and you just have to sit there. Emerie did point out she was well behaved and did indeed sit there; just not in time to participate in the activity.

I am personally glad she missed out on the activity and seemed to learn that her bad behavior was the main contributor. I can’t say this revelation improved her attitude the following nights or at pickup other days this week- at one point I had to chase her across the parking lot and manually load her into the car seat, kicking, screaming, and trying to bite me. This was after I wrangled the other two in, with a semi-cooperative Harper and somewhat resistant Reagan. It’s a lovely thought at the spectacle we become on nights like this and I try to block that thought out or it induces more mom stress. These moments also remind me that in so many ways the girls being older is a thousand times easier, and in other ways it’s just the same as the age-two-and-run-three-directions stage.

For the most part we skipped the Tiny Vampire Club when the girls were younger, with some occasional biting during toddler disagreements, but nothing that we “couldn’t nip in the bud” (pun intended!). It seems that we haven’t escaped it altogether in the preschool age and are currently smack in the middle of the attitude, with Emerie as club leader and entrepreneur. To give her some credit, it can’t be easy to bite your flailing four-year-old sister on the rib cage, through her t-shirt, and leave a full outline (top and bottom teeth!), without some real effort, dedication and gusto! Reagan certainly did not appreciate this at all and is still sporting quite the bruise from it, several days later.

So yes, the Tiny Vampires Club is brought to you by #realmomtalk. Who knows what next week’s club will be?!

The Douglets

Triplets in Alaska

adulting