Visiting Washington, D.C.

Dave and I on the steps of the U.S. Captiol building and in front of the Reflection Pool leading to the Washington Monument. (That's my belly at 20 weeks pregnant with triplets)

Here we are attending a Washington Nationals baseball game, and another shot of me in front of the National Christmas Tree and the lawn in front of the White House with the Washington Monument in the background. (The White House is behind Dave, who is taking the picture.)

Dave and I got to go to Washington D.C. a couple of weeks ago and we enjoyed it so much! A few years ago I was born there while my dad was stationed at Walter Reed Army Hospital but we moved when I was 6 weeks old and I've never been back, so I was so happy that my pregnancy cooperated and allowed me to go. (I know some of you who I don't see very often have been wondering how huge my belly is getting, so hopefully you'll appreciate these pictures for that reason also!) Anyhow, I was limited in how much walking I could do, but we tried to see as much as we could using bus tours, etc. and we enjoyed our trip so much. Being aware that this might be our "last hurrah" vacation together for quite some time, we really tried to make the most of it!

Some highlights were touring the U.S. Capitol building (Dave pushed me in a wheelchair--hehe), visiting the Lincoln Memorial (I absolutely loved it--you can't even imagine it's impact until you visit), and a bus tour of the city on a double decker bus with no roof on top so you could really see the sights. Our hotel was amazing (The Willard) and there were some dignitaries from Pakistan and Sudan staying there while we were there so the entire block was roadblocked by police cars the first 3 days, so that was interesting. Oh yeah, and we got to go see the Washington Nationals play a Major League baseball game.

Thank goodness my doctor let me go! He didnt' exactly give me his blessing, but I guess he realized that I was pretty set on going, and I was able to convince him that being there in a posh hotel without kids would be more relaxing that being at home...

We are Swimmers

Here is Haylee diving and with some of her teammates!



Haylee and Tyson... Yeah! Ben got his first medal!

Ben's first dive!
Look out, Michael Phelps...



We just finished another wonderful season of swim team with the Treehouse Athletic Club! It was such a fun season--we love swimming so much! This year Ben, age 4, begged and pleaded to "do the swim races," so I finally allowed him and he was awesome! He swam and swam and never gave up and finished his races and at the League Championship he earned a medal for his 25 freestyle after dropping a whopping 48 seconds from his time!

Haylee and Tyson also had terrific season, setting personal best times in all their events and placing in the top 16 in their events at the Championships. Tyson even earned a silver medal for his 25 freestyle and a bronze in his 25 breast stroke. Haylee and Ty both came in 6th place in their butterfly swims--go butterfliers! Tyson set some new team records for the 8 & Under boys and most importantly, we had fun and loved it! Swimming makes us happy!

Countdown to bedrest

My doctor informed me that at 24 weeks he's putting me on bedrest, which doesn't really mean I can't leave my bed, but rather that my activity is restricted to a minimum--no shopping, no walking around, no partying all hours of the night. This is really going to cramp my style! I only have 2 weeks left to live it up.

Needless to say, I'm feeling a little pressure to get things in order. I have selected the nursery colors and am so excited about them! They are not traditional by any stretch, but they will be bright and cheery. Dark pink, lime green, royal blue, turquoise, and orange! My friend Janna Hassell has plegded to help me make the quilts and bedskirts from duvet covers I found, and I know this might seem ambitious to you non-sewers, but it really won't be too tough.

We've picked out some names and since everyone is asking anyway, I'll let you in on them:

Hannah, Eden, Bella, Emmie, Gracie, Summer, Emma, and right now I'm having a mind-block but we have a list of 10 favorites and then we'll mix and match when the babies are born.

We're so excited!

I am so Blessed

I have to take a minute to let you in on this experience. This is probably the single most challenging physical experience I have ever had. I endured two months of absolute sickness that if you have not experienced there is not way I could ever do justice by explaining. I'll spare you the gory details, but suffice it to say that there were times that I didn't even go to the bathroom without a bucket in my hand and for about a month I couldn't even walk in my kitchen. In fact, I couldn't even look in that direction. People would ask me if it was so difficult to cook and prepare food for my family, and I think I probably just looked at them with a look of stupor on my face. Difficult to cook? It was more like difficult to get up, period. On days I wasn't a slave to my bucket I was so wiped out and emaciated from the illness that all I could do was stare at the TV or at my ceiling fan.

So I'm finally feeling the beginnings of the nausea subsiding just in time for my belly to get huge. I think I knew I would grow quickly, but this is just ridiculous! I measure 7 months along and I'm only 4 1/2 months. I have already reached the stage of discomfort in the belly that accompanies the last few weeks of pregnancy. I was so hopeful to have at least 3-4 weeks when I wouldn't feel so sick and I wasn't completely huge yet, but I am coming to accept the fact that I probably won't have that. I have been mourning the loss of my summer as well. A "good day" for me means that I have enough energy to spend about an hour running one errand before I run out of energy and begin to feel faint. I have made some purchases for the babies, but not nearly enough, but I just don't have the energy to do more. And my standing stamina is about 5 minutes. That's another reason I can't run errands--my legs begin to throb from varicosities and my ligaments that support my belly begin to get sharp pains running through them.

So I'm doing my best to keep my chin up, but at times I do get discouraged. It is so difficult for someone like me to be so limited in my activity! I'm usually going and doing and I love to have fun and be active, but this season I am so limited. While I am doing my best to surrender to that, it's not always easy.

And yet, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. It overwhelms me that the Lord believes that I am fit to be a mom to three babies and seven children total. I never would have had that much faith in myself. I am so looking forward to meeting these little babies and watching them grow. So many people make comments to us to the effect that they are overwhelmed for us or that if they were in our shoes they would do any number of things, such as jumping off cliffs, or just dying from shock, or freaking out, and yet I feel no tendencies toward any of those things! I simply feel overwhelmed at the abundance of our life and the trust the Lord is putting in us by sending us these babies. I feel so incredibly blessed to have this most unanticipated opportunity.

One of my favorite songs is by Martina McBride entitled, "Blessed." The lyrics are so beautiful. She sings,
"I have been blessed
With so much more than I deserve
To be here with the ones that love me
To love them so much it hurts
I have been blessed"

So if you are happy that our experience is not yours, don't feel bad for us, we are happy for you that it isn't yours also! And we are thrilled that it is ours! Even though this is so challenging, and will continue to be for a VERY long time (and expensive, Dave might add), we welcome it with humility and joy in our hearts. This fall we will become the parents of seven children. This is definite confirmation for us that "our plan" for our lives is not always "the plan" for us, and we humbly surrender to what must most certainly be "THE PLAN" for the Tate family!

Three Girls

Three baby girls on their way! The scales are tipping at our house--after years of boy everything, we are heading in the "pink" direction! We couldn't be more thrilled!