The GA Guinn Trips

So far, this year we've had some really cool adventures.  One day Frank and I were sitting around and decided to head to Rock City and Ruby Falls.  If you haven't heard, I am extremely afraid of tight enclosed spaces, so going into a cave rates right up there with doing laundry or having bamboo shoved under my nails!  But I love my kiddos so I do crazy things like this for them! 

So we loaded up with Super Nana and headed up!

Looking over the Rock Bridge

Cave Exploring

Family Pic

Nana and the girls!

Crossing the swing bridge

Nana and Alyssa decided to take a nap!

Daddy and the girls!

We had a really great time! 

We have also discovered the Tellus Science Museum!  This is Poppa Wallace mecca!  Seriously, it was built for him and he could probably spend weeks in there going through all the exhibits!  The girls really liked it too.  We even got yearly passes, and have gone twice since then!

Outside of the Planetarium

Poppa teaching Issy about gravity!

Panning for gems!

Working with magnets with daddy!

Matching (Don't you just LOVE her outfit with her Cowboy Boots?)

Future Career?  Who knows?  (But Nasa will have to get back on the missions to space again for it to happen!)

Digging for fossils! 

So far, 2012 is off to a great start!

Divorce Sucks! There's no other way around it! I always struggle with how much to address on this blog since it is public and the world can see, but since this is my version of the girl’s baby book and the divorce is a part of their life, so I feel like I should address it here.

Over a year ago, my world fell apart when Frank and I separated. Feelings were hurt. Hearts were broken. Anger was everywhere. I shut my emotions down and turned off to survive. It was easier than feeling the hurt that was all around me. But still I hurt. I cried more times than I didn't. I yearned constantly for my children to not be separated from me, and I was constantly worried about where they were and what they were being exposed too. I didn't sleep, and eventually I got sick and felt like I was losing my mind at times. We divorced in October and at that point, I reached my lowest and ended up in the hospital. While hospitalized, I found out I had celiac and slowly began to feel better as my diet got better. (Please note that this is only my personal feelings, Frank has his own and he has his own perspective of what happened...)

Frank made some changes in his life around the end of Jan. He began calling more in February; it wasn't something that was planned. It was just a small thing. We talked about small things: the girls, work, his plans for the house, and my growing dislike of my job. After a while, we both realized that we were becoming friends again. Frank asked me one day if I was willing to go back to counselling with him. I am not sure why, but I agreed. And so began the next chapter in our lives.

We did not take this step lightly. We both have issues that we are working on. I am not going into this with blinders on. Trust is something we are hoping to rebuild. We are not sure where this road will lead us. It may be a train wreck. It may be the best thing that ever happened. But where ever we end up, at the end of the day, we can look our children in the eyes and tell them that we didn't just break up their family without trying. We are committed to coming out at the other end of this as FRIENDS. We are working with our counsellor to make sure our girls are okay through all of this. I don't have blinders on, and I am NOT stupid, but are my kids worth me trying one more time? YES! A RESOUNDING YES! Some people have asked why I wasn't willing to try before this and honestly, I was too angry, too hurt, and too shut down to even begin to be open to forgiveness, but between being sick and the changes I have made to make myself feel better, I have realized that I can forgive....

We are not asking for support. We are not asking for our families to accept this. We are not asking for anything other than time. Time to let us work through this. We know that many people don't understand. We understand that many people will think we are crazy. But we are committed to trying this and what happens is being left in GOD'S hands. He knows my heart. He knows Frank's heart. He knows what will happen and for once in my life, I am attempting to NOT lean on my own understanding and allowing him to direct my path!

Christmas was hard and amazing all wrapped up together...Is that fair to say?  One of the worst things about being divorced is having to share my kids...I never had to do that before and honestly, I hate it.  Christmas Eve the girls spent with Frank.   I spent the entire day waiting for them.  I did go to Christmas Eve Service with my mom, dad, Sandra, and Mr. Andrew, but it was so weird NOT having my girls with me.  It was a rough day for me all around.  I cried a lot, because my girls were having to do through this and not understanding why momma and daddy aren't together.  It sucked!  But my mom and sister did spend a TON of time trying to keep me cheered up...They even forced me to cook (and we all know how much I ENJOY cooking)...

But what seemed like an eternity, they arrived home, and we began our celebration. 

I decided to start some new traditions with the girls now that are special just to our family (me and the girls)...First we said goodbye to Red Sock Elf, he had to go back to live with Santa, but before he left us, he brought the girls and myself each a Lenox ornament...and this is a traditon that will continue for us...Makenna recieved a Christmas Treel; Alyssa recieved a star, and Issy recieved a shamrock. 

We also all had matching PJs, which the girls thought was SO FUNNY that mommy had the same pjs as them...

We got our first our family ornament, with a Polar Bear Mommy and her three baby bears. 

Then we set up our Santa Plate...We test tasted our cookies to make sure they were ready and made santa some chocolate milk...

The girls decided that the cookies were great and they could share with Santa!

So we put the cookies and milk our for Santa!

Then we got on the computer to check out where Santa was...he was in Canda, so we had to work quickly...we fed the reindeer and checked out the beginning of our FIRST WHITE CHIRSTMAS...

Poppa Wallace wanted to continue Ma Murray's tradition of getting up at 5am for Christmas, but I and my children like our sleep, so we told Mr. Andrew and Aunt Sandra 7am, which we could have done at 8 am or even 9....

And this was what we woke up too...Yep, that's my Audi, checking out the snow...Frank has decided to give up custody of them and let me have them forever, which is REALLY REALLY GOOD...They love being here and the girls love them...

It was the first white Christmas in Atlanta since 1882, so this was a special moment for our girls. 

Christmas morning...Just waking up!

When the girls came down the stairs, they were so excited because Santa had brought everything they had asked for and SO MUCH MORE!

Makenna's and Issy's stuff from Santa...

Then Alyssa's stuff and all the girls together presents...Alyssa was over the MOON about her Ice Skates...Too bad, she has yet to get on the ice with them and she won't this week either...

The adults and Fur Bunches stockings and the Air Hockey Table.

Opening Presents (Poppa was on Wrapping Paper Patrol)...He kept everyone in check!

More present opening...

One thing when you are the person behind the camera there aren't a ton of pics of me, so here's one of me drinking a diet coke and trying to stay awake...

Teaching the girls to play Air Hockey...

Poppa making sure the train works...

We opened all our presents and then Aunt Sandra and Mr. Andrew had to drive to Mr. Andrew's family for their christmas celebration...They came back around 5 for dinner with us (we did it earlier than planned, because we were worried about the amount of snow coming down...) Dinner was amazing and I was able to eat a bunch of stuff and still keep to my gluten free diet, which helped me feel better..although I really missed eating dressing. 

There was tons of laughter, especially when Makenna developed her own game called "pass the baby" which the adults quickly corrupted by passing the baby by coming up with new ways to get referred to CPS when caring for an infant...especially Mr. Andrew's "Hut, Hut!" Football toss and Aunt Sandra's Opps I Dropped/Slammed the Baby to the floor..

I can say that despite everything, it was an amazing christmas that I will never forget... We were have grown by one and lost one family member this year.  Mr. Andrew is amazing and we are so thankful that he is now apart of our family (Plus he will play balance beam with us and show all the girls up)...

So I can say that honestly I am THANKFUL and AMAZED for a family that supports me through the holidays, loves my girls to the Moon and Back, and makes me laugh.  You guys are the rock that I and my girls stand on and we are thankful for your part in our lives....

Since Granny and Paw Poley bought us the Wii, they girls have been very interested in bowling on it.  So since poppa was home and is a pretty good bowler, we decided to introduce the girls to what real bowling is like. 

When Nana and Poppa told the girls we were going bowling, Alyssa was very excited.  She did her little Wii bowling hand throw and said "weeeeee." 

So we headed up to Stars and Strikes Bowling Alley.  This is a new alley right by our house.  It is REALLY nice.  It has the normal bowling on the left side and glow bowling on the right, a full arcade, air bumper cars, and laser tag.  It also has a resturant where you can get filet migon and any kind of seafood you want. 

When we arrived, the girls were SO excited!  They could barely contain themselves.  Since all the "serious" bowler were on the normal side, we decided to head to glow bowl side...plus its really cool to see all the pretty colors. 

The magangement was amazing.  They got us all setup!  The owner even typed in all our information into the computer for the game to begin.  

And then the fun began...the girls used a bowling ramp to bowl down the alley!  Alyssa LOVED it!  Isabelle was the best bowler and she liked it!  Makenna liked it for about the first 15 minutes and then she was ready for something else!  

We had a great time bowling, but we learned some REALLY important lessons:

1. Everyone bowls with bumpers, so if the girls want to bowl before their time, they can.

2. We must bring something for the girls to do, while the others are bowling, because they get antsy. 

3.  Bring Sippy CUPS!!!!

And the result was that Issy beat everyone with a score of 100.  It is really bad when a 3 year old beats you by almost 40 points! 

So after bowling we headed over to the arcade and the girls discovered the wonders of the arcade world....TICKETS!!!!  They have a family package at the bowling alley that includes an hour of bowling, 6-$5 arcade cards, pizza, shoe rental, a large pizza, and a pitcher of soda for around $40 dollars, so we had $30 worth of arcade tokens, we spent the entire time playing all the ticket games, because the girls LOVED getting the tickets! 

After all the time we spent playing and gathering tickets, we came home with three little foam icecream cone shooters and a bouncey ball a piece...It was completely worth it...So much so that we went back less than a week later and did it all over again!  LOL!

After a month and a half of a continuous ear infections, Alyssa and I spent part of her special day at the ENT....After doing a pressure test and feeling around on her throat, he told us that she has enough fluid behind her ears to float a boat!  So TUBES are going to happen, and then to my surprise, he also said that her adenoids are extra large and he want to remove them.  So we are going to schedule an appointment as soon as humanly possible! 

Today for her special day, we went to Momma's work, so that momma could have a quick meeting and then we went and had Alyssa fingernails done at the nail salon (while momma had her eyebrows waxed!)  It was too funny!  The nail tech when to file her nails and SHE FREAKED!!!! I mean seriously FREAKED!  I did not think she was gonna let her touch her after that, but we finally got her to let her paint her nails a very light pink.  When we got in the car, she sighed and said, "Oh so Pretty!  Paint Lady is SO nice!)

We went to Mellow Mushroom where she ate THREE pieces of pizza.  Then we went to the ENT and finally to Target, where I realized I was raising Frank!  It is no secret that Frank has expensive tastes (and I MEAN expensive!) At anytime, he has a list of three to ten things he wants that cost over $1000 dollars...Right now this list is topped by a Harley Motorcycle, a complete backyard makeover, and a trip to the East Coast of Ireland!  And since Alyssa has more of Frank's blood than the other two (via blood transfusion while in the NICU), she got her daddy's expensive tastes!    When I told her she could pick out her special gift, she went straight to the aisle with Spike the Dinosaur!  She wanted Spike so bad!  I spent 30 minutes trying to convince her that she could not have Spike!  When I would try to suggest another toy, she would tell me "No Momma, I want SPIKE!"  Eventually, I got her away from Spike and she chose another toy: a $60 Pink and White Swan Castle!   Another 15 minutes passed of me trying to talk her into something else!  Finally, she chose a Dora the Explore Talking Backpack!  Now, I knew that allowing her to get this backpack was a VERY BAD IDEA, but I caved and let her and NOW I will pay for it, because Makenna and Isabelle also want this backpack and they want it BAD!   (I also need to take Makenna and get her something else, because her present cost about $10 less than her sisters!  I have to be fair right?) 

Well, we teamed up with Mrs. Jac again over at Jacland photography for the girls pictures.  We got up at 6:30 in the morning to drive across town to this REALLY amazing location that only Ms. Jac has photography rights too (although the crazy old people who live there don't seem to want to understand that!). 

She posted a sneak peak on her blog, so jump over and check them out!  I can't wait to see them all! 

http://jaclanda.blogspot.com/2009/11/three-year-old-triplets.html

And luckily Ms. Jac is great with photoshop and got Issy's injury out of the pic! 

Today my mom called. She has my girls in Louisiana visiting my family and the DH's family.

Apparently last night, two of the girls were in the back room and mom did not know which one was still in the front room. The lights were all off with just a TV on, so mom couldn't see which girl it was.

So she asks, "Who are you?"

The little replies, "I Kenna!"

But Nana knows that voice, so she says again.

"Who are you?"

The little again replies, "I Makenna!" (with a little laugh at the end!)

So Nana askes one more time.

"Who are you?"

The little replies through laughter...."I no Kenna, I ISSY-BELLE!!!!!"

Getting ready to head to see Dr. Beckford!

Lookin for animals in the parking lot!

Taking pics and looking for money!  They are their mother's children!

This was the first time we got to wear gowns!  The girls LOVED them!

The girls and Dr. Beckford!

And the results are:

Isabelle: 32lbs 4oz and 40 1/2 inches tall (50%ile for weight and 97%ile for height!)

Alyssa: 31 lbs and 39 3/4 inches tall (45%ile for weight and 95%ile for height!)

Makenna: 32lbs 2 oz and 40 3/4 inches tall (50%ile for weight and 97%ile for height!)

These girls are so tall!  And now we have to purchase new carseats!  And after debating it back and forth, we went with the Brixtax Frontier in Red!  They should be her sometime next week!

We had the girls birthday party yesterday and it was AMAZING!!!!! 

The girls had a great time playing with the Grow kids, Shay, Abby, her brother Alex, Carson, and Carter! 

We had a buggy themed birthday! 

Issy taking her first big girl bike ride!

Here's Alyssa getting on her bike! 

But wait you ask, where's Makenna?  Well, two seconds after getting on her bike, she had a wreck that left a nasty little skin rash on her chest, so we didn't get a picture, because lovin and ice was needed to fix her boo boo! 

Makenna opeing her presents!

Lots of kiddos opening presents! 

Alyssa opening her present and reading the instructions!

Issy opening her present! 

I did not get a SINGLE picture of  all the kids making their gift from us!  Instead of doing take home candy bags, we let all the kids plant a mum to take home!  It was a HUGE mess, but the kids seemed to like it!  And it was so much fun! 

BIg thanks to everyone who came and brought the girls such wonderful gifts (or sent them via Granny!)  They love everything so much! 

I decided to start the halloween stuff a bit early this year!  I try not begin the halloween before the Oct. 1st, but this was way too cute not to pass it off! 

http://www.monstermashup.com/14a6cb