Anniversary

This picture was taken on June 1st 2009. What if we could go back and talk to these two? What would happen if we could somehow communicate what was going to be happening exactly one year later? What would they say? Would Carrie have run away? Would I have passed out?

There are a few moments in everyone's life that define how your life is going to go. I can remember several of mine. They are also the best days of my life. On this, the occasion of our ONE year wedding anniversary, I would like to recap them.

July 1st 2007 - This could also be June 30th 2007. The night ran into the next day. I actually didn't meet Carrie until after midnight so it was July 1st. Back Porch Mary was playing in Riverton, Illinois at the Old 36 Inn. We had played there one or two other times, and we had a small loyal following in the area. The show was always fun and that night was no different. In the crowd that night was one Carrie Creasey. She got dragged to the show by some friends. She did not want to go. Who was Back Porch Mary? Why was it $10.00 to get in? She was only going to stay for 2 songs and then she was out of there. She had left a perfectly good party to come to Riverton of all places. To this day, she can't tell you why she went. A few songs went by and she got closer to the stage. She wanted to stay. The lead singer had caught her eye. During the show, she tried to buy me a drink. She came to the stage with it, and Joe (our bass player) took it from her and gave it to me. She had guessed that I was a Jack and Diet Coke guy. I was. How did she know that? I was oblivious to all of this during the show. At the end of the night she stayed around and waited to meet me. I was off talking to people when a guy came up and grabbed my arm.

Guy: There is a girl that wants to meet you.

Me: Okay. Cool. Where is she?

Guy: She says she is going to marry you. Don't tell her I said that. She won't leave until she meets you.

Me: Alright, where is she?

He turned around and I followed him to a table and all of a sudden there she was. I looked at her and I instantly believed her. I was absolutely floored when I saw her. The feeling was very strange. I sat down at the table and we started talking. I couldn't hear or see anything but her. We talked for a while and she got up and was talking to the rest of the band. We went outside and I asked her if she wanted to try and gig some frogs in the pond behind the bar. She said sure. Cool. We walked down by the pond and soon we were deep in conversation about everything. I mean everything. I told her I had to go tear down my stuff. She said she would wait. I could tell that talking to a guy in a band was making her very nervous. What kind of guy was I anyway?

I went back inside and found Ryan, our drummer.

Me: Did you meet that Carrie girl?

Ryan: Dude! She is awesome!

Me: Damn it! I knew it. She is really cool.

Ryan: She has perfect legs.

Me: She's something alright.

Carrie had stayed so long her friends left. She had to come with the band. She had a few ground rules for me.

Carrie: NOTHING is happening tonight. I'm not some groupie. If you want to hang out and talk that's fine, but don't get any ideas.

Mike: Okay.

Carrie: I'm serious! I'm not like that.

I was oddly perfectly okay with that. We rode back into Springfield with the band and stayed up all night talking. I felt like I had known this girl forever. I left Springfield the next morning and soon we were on the phone. We talked constantly. I had to drive back to Texas and I spent the entire 15 hour drive on the phone with her. She wouldn't call me. I always had to call her. She told me she wouldn't call me. I told her I could make her call me. She said no. So, I sent her a dozen roses to her work.

She called me.

I had tricked her.

She said I hadn't tricked her. She just called to thank me.

Now, all of this had happened between July 1st and July 3rd. I bet we were on the phone for a total of 50 hours in those three days. My band laughed at me. I could not stop thinking about her. As anyone knows, guys don't say "I Love You" very fast or very easy. It's an unwritten rule that you don't tell a girl that you love her. Maybe not even for a year or two.

I made it until July 4th. Four days. That's right. FOUR days. I had to play an acoustic show on the 4th of July. I called her right before I went onstage. It went to voice mail. I checked my phone after the show, which was over two hours later. No missed calls. No texts messages. I called her again. No answer.

Panic set in.

What was going on with her? Where was she? I was worried that something had happened to her. I was very concerned with her well being. I was hoping she was okay. What if she got sick of me? What if I never talked to her again? Finally, my phone rang.

Me: Hello!

Carrie: Hi! How's it going? How was your show?

Me: It was fine. I was worried I hadn't heard from you.

Carrie: My phone was in my purse. We were shooting fireworks.

Me: Oh...Okay...I just got worried...you know...about you.

Carrie: I'm fine.

Me: I know. I just....well...I got scared when you didn't call back.....I know it's ridiculous.

Carrie: No it's not. I think it's sweet.

Me: Well...you know......it's cause....I love you.

Carrie: I love you too.

Me: What are we doing?! We have known each other for four days. This is entirely too quick.

Carrie: I know...but it feels right.

It did feel right. So it began. That was July 4th. Carrie moved to Austin around September 16th which was just over two months after we met. She got an apartment and we spent every moment we could together. Let's put together a quick time line of how things transpired.

July 1st 2007 - We meet

September 16th 2007 - Carrie moves to Austin

January 1st 2008 - Carrie moves in to house with me.

March 7th 2008 - We are engaged.

June 1st 2009 - We are married.

January 22nd 2010 - We find out about the triplets.

June 1st 2010 - On bed rest waiting for triplets.

We didn't really waste any time. We didn't tap the brakes. We didn't even try to slow down. The entire time it just seemed like it was meant to be. I'm not saying it has been easy. Relationships and marriage are very hard things. You have to work at it all the time. You also have to be willing to concede a few things. Carrie and I both struggle with conceding anything. We are both very strong willed people who are not afraid of confrontation. Neither one of us is very good at backing down. However, I think that we are learning. I think Carrie's mother said it best:

"You don't have to like each other all of the time, but you do have to love each other all of the time."

So, those are the three best days of my life. The day I met Carrie, the day we got married, and the day we found out about the triplets. Carrie and I are both ready to add a fourth day to that list. It's coming. 29 weeks and counting.

I wonder what would happen if we could travel back in time 1 year and show Carrie this picture. This is Carrie at 29 weeks. The boys weigh about 3 and half pounds each. That's ten and a half pounds of baby.



Happy Anniversary Carrie. I love you very much. Thank you for doing all of this for us. Someday the boys will thank you too.

It Pours

On Tuesday we hit the 28 week mark, which is a huge milestone in our march towards having our three boys. Dr. Handcock was very excited and very pleased. I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but each day that they remain inside their mother is three days that they won't have to spend in the NICU. NICU stands for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. In other words, each day that we make it is a huge victory.

For Carrie each day is a battle in what seems to be an endless war. Sleep has become almost impossible. She chokes and coughs in her sleep. The acid reflux is very bad, and nothing seems to help. Medicines are useless. Tums are eaten like candy and have little to no effect. Carrie only has acid reflux when she is sitting, standing, or lying down. Lying down is the worst. Her belly grows larger everyday. When we go to the Doctor's office, people look at us and wonder if she is just going to lay down on the ground and go into labor. I wonder myself. I can't believe how tough she is. Besides being extremely agitated she rarely complains. It's all part of the deal. Dr. Handcock thinks that the boys each weigh around three and a half pounds. That means that Carrie is carrying around over ten pounds of baby.

The other night Carrie was coughing and choking. I woke up and then fell back asleep and had a dream that she was coughing and choking. I woke up and started freaking out and asking her if she was okay. She was awake and it scared her to death. It scared the dog too.

Last night we watched a TV show about a couple that had triplets. Theirs were born and they didn't weigh three pounds. Ours are already bigger than that, so it made us feel better. On Tuesday June 1st, we go see the high risk Doctor to have him do exact measurements of the boys and tell us exactly how big they are.

On Tuesday June 1st Carrie and I will have been married for one year.

What a difference a year makes.

In other news, things seem to fall apart all at once. We have a 2002 Mitsubishi Diamante that Carrie hates with every fabric of her being. In my opinion the car is a pretty good vehicle. It still does 32 MPG on the highway, uses no oil, and the AC blows cold. The problem is that the rear windows leak air very badly. When you are driving down the highway it sounds like you are in the middle of a tornado or some extreme wind tunnel. This is a design flaw that I'm sure they have corrected. However, on our car it just sucks. As I have mentioned before, this car will not hold three car seats. So, we have been trying to sell it. The other day when we were coming home from the Doctor's office, the "check engine" light came on.

At that moment I knew two things.

1. It wasn't a big deal. The car was running fine, and I figured it was an emissions thing like an Oxygen Sensor. In the end it would just be a pain.

2. Someone would call and want to look at the vehicle right away.

After I took Carrie home, I took the car to Slim and he put his diagnostics machine on it. The error code said Oxygen Sensor. I knew it! Simple fix. I planned to stop by Auto Zone on my way home and get the part. That's when it happened.

Phone Message: Hey, I was wondering if you still have your car for sale. I saw it on Craig's List. My husband and I would like to come look at it right away.

I call back and of course they were in a hurry and wanted to come over immediately.

I rushed to Auto Zone. I told the Manager what error code I was getting. I figured I could get the part, fix the car, and sell it to this person who was very excited about the Diamante.

Auto Zone Guy: There are four oxygen sensors on that. I have it narrowed down to two. I can't tell which one it is. We have a glitch in our system and it's very confusing.

Mike: What are my options?

Auto Zone Guy: Well, this one here by the radiator is $213.00. This one over here is $57.00. I can't tell you which one it is. We can't be sure. Are you in a hurry?

Am I in a hurry?

Mike: Oh, I think I know which one it is. If you had lived my life, you would know too. I can almost guarantee you that it's the $213.00 part.

Auto Zone Guy: Do you want it?

At this point, my phone rings. It's Carrie.

Carrie: I don't think the AC is working here at the house.

Of course it's not working. That makes total sense. That's really what we need right now at this moment. We need to pay for a bunch of costly repairs or put in a whole new unit. I hope we get to spend around $9,000. That's a good round number that will probably cause a fatal heart attack.

Carrie: It's been stuck on 81 for quite a while.

Mike: It's probably just the filter. I'll get some and come home.

See, I live in fantasy land. A simple ten dollar filter will fix the AC at the house. I knew better.

Hold on. I'm still standing at Auto Zone.

Auto Zone Guy: You could just replace the $57.00 part and it could be fine.

Mike: Yes, and Ed McMahon might come back to life and come walking through that door with a giant check with my name on it. I'm going to go online and figure out which one it is and I'll be back.

I call the potential buyer of the car and tell them that tonight is just no good for me. I won't be able to show them the car until tomorrow.

I then drive to the hot house to survey the damage there.

Believe it or not, the new filter did not fix the problem. It's getting hot. Fortunately, we have the extra AC unit that I put in the back bedroom. I make some calls and get an AC guy to agree to come out the following morning. Carrie is a real storm trooper through all of this. We made it through the night and the next morning a very nice guy came and fixed the AC.

Cost: $355.06

We got off VERY easy on that one. I was amazed. I was expecting to be told that we needed a brand new unit that would cost so much we would have to put one of the boys up on EBAY to pay for it.

The car story is even better. I figured out that it was the Oxygen Sensor nearest the radiator which you guessed it, cost $213.00. I knew it! I popped the hood and wiggled the wires connecting the oxygen sensor, just to make sure I could recognize it at Auto Zone. I then went to start up the car, and NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT.

The car had fixed itself. Well, maybe not quite. I think there was a short in the wire on the oxygen sensor, and when I messed with it, it came back online. I figured I would call the buyer and have them come look at it. If the check engine light came on after they bought it, I would just buy them the part. It turns out that they REALLY wanted to buy a car the night before and did so. No big deal. Someone will buy it. The car would be great for someone's teenager who needs to drive to and from school. No big deal.

Our luck continues to hold. The babies remain inside their mother with no real sign of coming anytime soon. The AC is fixed. The car is cleaned up and running good. I wish I could do something, anything to make Carrie more comfortable. At this moment she is in bed after sleeping very little last night. Hopefully we have eight more weeks before they are born. It seems like a long time on one hand and a very short time on the other. It seems like a long time for her to be so miserable. What makes it seem like a very short time is because I STILL need a job. A job with benefits. I don't care what it is.

Stay Tuned.

On a very happy note: We would also like to congratulate our friends Robin and Joel on the birth of their daughter.

More From Above

God's Assistant: Um..hey...God.

God: Come on in. Just watching T.V.

God's Assistant: You are always watching those two.

God: Yep. I also have it on DVR. J.C. likes to watch it on Sunday nights. Besides we are putting together a highlight reel that I can play for the guys.

God's Assistant: What's he doing right now?

God: He's looking for his tape measure.

God's Assistant: It's right there on the work bench. He keeps walking past it.

God: I know. He knows what he is looking for, and then one second later he forgets and walks right by it.

God's Assistant: What's she doing?

God: Trying hard to sit on the couch and not get up and beat something or someone to death with a baseball bat. Mainly him.

God's Assistant: Wow.

God: Did you see the tape from last week?

God's Assistant: No..I'm afraid I'm out of the loop a bit.

God: Check this out.

Rewinds tape to last week on the HCS (Heaven Cable System) DVR.

God: Watch right here.

God's Assistant: Wow! Did she just throw that?

God: Yep. Hit him right there.

God's Assistant: That's going to leave a mark! Look how scared the dog is.

God: I've watched this part a thousand times. It's still funny.

God's Assistant: How long are you going to let this go on?

God: She's at 28 weeks tomorrow. I don't know. It' s pretty fun for us. They aren't having any fun, but hey it's temporary. Let's go back to watching it live.

God's Assistant: Is he crying?

God:Yes. He sits down and sobs regularly. He cries more than she does.

God's Assistant: I don't mean to be out of line here, but don't you have better things to do?

God: We've been over this. I'm doing them. You are only one of an infinite number of assistants that I'm talking to at this moment. You just have that small little section of North Austin to worry about. I'm omnipresent and whatnot. You only see part of me. It would blow your mind if you saw all of me at once.

God's Assistant: My mind is blown by that T-Shirt. That's a brand new Joan Jett T-Shirt from 1983.

God: True and these Bermuda shorts are a one of kind too. Don't let the outfit fool you. I'm serious.

God's Assistant: I still can't believe you picked these two to be triplet parents. It doesn't seem like you were being entirely serious with that decision.

God: They are perfect. Especially for those three.

God's Assistant: I just ran into them in the waiting room. Wow.

God: Nice right? I did a bit of extra work on them. What were they doing?

God's Assistant: Well, they were shooting craps up against the waiting room wall. One of them hit me in the head with a magazine. Then the other two got in a fist fight over money and they were rolling around on the floor.

God: Yep. Just like their parents.

God's Assistant: It would seem so. This birth can't happen too soon. Those two are about out of their minds, and Mary Magdalene says the staff has had enough of the triplets.

God: Everyone needs to calm down. They aren't that bad. You're just mad they hit you with a magazine.

God's Assistant: Maybe. By the way, I saw you made the cover of your own magazine again.

God: Yep. This month was me test driving the new Escalade.

God's Assistant: You make every cover.

God: No. We put Oprah on the cover in June of '09.

God's Assistant: I remember.

God: I figured she might put me or J.C. on the cover of her magazine. No such luck. All Oprah. All the time.

God's Assistant: No one is even sure what you really look like.

God: There are drawings.

God's Assistant: So what do I tell everyone? A few more weeks?

God: Yep. Tell everyone to hold tight. Normally we run these things to around 36 weeks.

God's Assistant: Eight more weeks of bed rest? Are you sure? Look at her. Most women only have one week of being at 40 weeks. She will be there for eight more. Someone is going to get hurt and I think we all know it's going to be him.

God: He'll be fine. He's got a hard head. Besides if he can't handle her he's in for real trouble with those three boys.

God's Assistant: Okay. Moses and Noah are waiting in the bar.

God: Okay. Where are my Oakleys?

God's Assistant: On the table by your car keys.

God: I think watching him is rubbing off on me.


DISCLAIMER: The above is pure fiction. Nothing has been thrown and we are not sure what God really wears.

Grind

.....and so it continues. Carrie is still on bed rest. Tomorrow we hit the 27 week mark. Next Tuesday at 28 weeks we hit a real milestone. Apparently, after 28 weeks, the chance of survival for these babies hits 100%. That is if they are born at that point and have no other problems of course. If you remember, Carrie started bed rest after our hospital scare at 24 weeks. That means we could have another 6 to 8 weeks of bed rest.

As of this moment, I have no idea how we will make it.

Carrie is a very active person. She is also very independent. These two things have been taken from her, and understandably this has forced her into a state of agitation. She is agitated with a number of things.

1. There is a Southwest commercial that plays during Red Sox games that talks about how often Southwest flies from Boston to Chicago. Carrie hates this commercial with a burning passion. It makes that chime sound every time they put a new flight up on the screen. I try and hit "mute" when it comes on.

2. Our neighbor's have a black lab that barks all day long. Our neighbor's are really cool people don't get me wrong. The dog they have is a nice dog. The thing is, they leave for work in the morning and leave the dog outside where it barks constantly. I have literally gone to the fence and begged the dog to shut up.

3. We are bored with food. Nothing is exciting. On Sundays we have been ordering some type of Asian food which is great. However, we have been unable to find a place that does Chicken Pad Thai the way Carrie likes it. Our favorite food to eat is Sushi and Carrie will not eat anything that will potentially harm our little band she is growing. We miss Sushi and I'm sure that will be the first thing we do when she feels up to it after the boys get here.

4. Carrie is extremely uncomfortable. I mean extremely. No matter how she sits or lays she can't find a place that feels good. Her entire body is sore. This is a constant source of annoyance and I have no idea how to help. She doesn't complain too much, but I can tell by the look on her face that things aren't good. Her belly is now at the point that I would refer to it as "EPIC".

5. Me. She won't say so, but I'm pretty sure that I rank up there pretty high on the list of things that annoy Carrie pretty bad. I kind of get in my own world and just go about life like a bull in a china shop. Beer bottles crashing into the recycling at all hours. Guitars laying around. Shoes or anything else I touch laying around in random places. Music blaring. Baseball on T.V. Power tools running. Yelling on the phone. Leaving to go play with my friends.

This pregnancy and bed rest thing is something that neither one of us have ever had to deal with. There is no manual for it. They can't just give her drugs to knock her out for the next 8 weeks so she doesn't have to deal with it. I myself am going to work on several things to make her life a little better while this is going on. Here is my list:

1. Shut up
2. Pick up my things that I leave laying around
3. Try to be better about sitting still and just hanging out with Carrie (I have ADD so bad I should be part of a study)
4. Watch less baseball (this is going to hurt, but the Red Sox suck this year)
5. Shut up

I put "shut up" twice because I'm bad at that.

The good thing is, the baby room is almost done. Eric (BPM Tour Manager) installed the floor last night and is finishing up the trim today. This made Carrie very happy which in turn made me happy. The room looks pretty sweet. I will post some photos of it as soon as we get the whole thing done.

Last night, I was watching the movie 61. This is about Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle when they were both trying to break Babe Ruth's home run record. During that season, Roger's wife had a baby boy. He missed the birth because he was on the road playing ball. When he went home, he walked into the nursery to meet his son Randy. So I'm watching the movie and at the point in the movie where Roger (played beautifully by Barry Pepper) walks into the room and looks down at his baby boy, I gasped out loud. I'm not sure why.

The reality of three little bodies laying in cribs totally helpless hit me. Our flesh and blood totally dependent on us. I have thought about all this before of course. However, I don't think I will be able to fully grasp the situation or how it's going to be until I'm right there in it. It reminds me of when my brother's son Charlie was born. Charlie had jaundice and had to be wrapped in one of those light blankets for a while after he first came home. Jason would call me in the middle of the night. I of course had NO IDEA what he was going through, but I tried to be there for him.

Jason: Hey. What's up?

Me: Nothing. How are things there?

Jason: He's wrapped in that blanket. I'm just sitting here watching him breathe. I can't take my eyes off of him.

Me: Man, I don't know what to say. I'm sure it's tough.

Jason: I just watch his chest rise and fall. It's like if I leave or go to sleep it might stop.

Me: Wow. I have no idea what to say.

Jason: Nothing you can say. It will happen to you too if you're lucky.

I know I will be the same way. I will go from baby to baby, placing my hand on their little bodies and feeling to make sure that their hearts and lungs are working. I'll go outside and walk around the house to make sure nothing out there can hurt them. I will lock all the doors and then I will go check again. I can see myself standing in the doorway of their room surveying this amazing scene. I'm hoping their mother will be sleeping. The dog will be with me of course. She is already good at guarding her brothers.

On a side note, we were sad that we had to cancel our couples baby shower. Ryan and Haley were awesome for putting that on for us. Thank you two very much. I'll try and keep the boys away from your daughter. Some folks have been asking, so I would like to tell you that we are still registered at Babies R Us, Target, and Diapers.com. We hope that you like the way the blog looks at this point. Thanks to Carrie's friend Jennifer for having it re-designed for us. If you have a twitter account, please follow us. The link is at the top of the page. If you don't have a twitter account, get one. When this whole thing goes down, I plan on twittering the entire event as it happens. Stay tuned.

The Nursery

We went to the Doctor yesterday. We are at 26 weeks. The countdown clock at the top of the page is set for 40 weeks. It will run out on August 16th. By that day, there is little doubt that we will be going out of our minds with three infant boys.

Back to the Doctor. Everything looks good. Nothing has changed. Carrie is to remain on bed rest until further notice.

This is extremely hard for her to do.

She can't ride in cars unless we are going to and from the Doctor's office.

She can't get in the swimming pool.

She can't bend over and pick things up.

She can't dust.

She can't ride with me to pick up the Thai food we ordered on Sunday.

She can't help fix up the nursery.

She is frustrated.

However, I can't believe how well she is handling all of this. She doesn't really complain. I would be whining and moaning like you wouldn't believe. She just handles it. Sometimes we have to remind her to sit down and let us (her mother and I) take care of things. I am going to make a video very soon for our boys to watch someday. I want them to see exactly what their wonderful mother had to do to get them safely into this world.

Carrie and I had a slight altercation while waiting in the Doctor's office. See, all I wanted to do was run the sonogram machine. They rolled the thing in the room and left us alone to wait for the Doctor. The machine was on and everything.

Mike: Hey! I will do an ultrasound or whatever on you before he gets in here.

Carrie: NO! Don't touch it.

Mike: Why not? You just put the jelly on your belly and rub the thing around and look at the babies. What's the big deal?

Carrie: You'll break it!

Mike: No I won't. It's easy.

I walk over and start to mess with the deal that they use to rub on her belly.

Carrie: Stop it! I don't want these people to get mad at us.

Mike: You USED to be fun.

Apparently, this was the wrong thing to say.

Carrie: Just sit down and wait for him. I'm serious.

I sit down and after a minute Dr. Handcock comes in.

Dr. Handcock: How are we doing?

Mike: I wanted to run the machine, but Carrie wouldn't let me.

Carrie gets embarrassed.

Dr. Handcock: It's cool if you mess with it.

Mike: See! He doesn't care.

Dr. Handcock: However, they may look cheap, but they are really expensive. You've seen it done enough. It would probably be fine.

Mike: I'm an expert at this point.

We go on and Dr. Handcock gets to run the machine. I just get to stand there like an idiot who doesn't get to perform the exam. Carrie feels better that I am not involved in handling the medical equipment. I'm biding my time and before this is over I AM going to run the machine. Next week maybe.

In other news, we came up with a theme for the nursery and I think it's awesome. Carrie came up with it and I am very proud of her. We are doing the boys' room all in Boston Red Sox stuff. It's pretty sweet. We painted the walls gray like the Red Sox away uniforms. We have all kinds of stuff to hang up and we have the bedding ordered for the cribs and it all works. All Red Sox all the time. I have spent the last couple of weeks building the closet. I pretty much got it finished yesterday. I will post some pictures when it's all done, and prepare to have your mind blown.

Here's why:

Carrie wanted two clothes rods and lots of shelf space. I divided the closet into two sections. One is five shelves for stacking all types of baby stuff. The other section is two clothes rods for hanging clothes. I built the stuff in the closet to withstand a pretty hefty blast in case a bomb goes off in the nursery. The first thing I did was use two inch angle iron to bolt a 2x10 to the wall. I used three eights inch lag bolts for this. I wanted the board to be able to support my weight and it does that and more. The shelves are all bolted down and the clothes rods are made out of inch and half steel pipes. They are held up with 2x4s and 2x10s. I used carriage bolts to bolt it all together. You can do chin ups on either pipe. I think they will be able to hold up the clothes of three infants. The pipes are painted red and the shelves are white. I have to admit, it looks pretty sweet. Carrie's Dad owns a construction company in Illinois. I was explaining to him what I was doing.

Carrie's Dad: Mike, they have kits and stuff you can buy to make shelves.

Mike: I know, but this will be stronger.

Carrie's Dad: Yes, they can do chin ups on the bars if they want. It seems excessive.

Mike: Oh...it's excessive.

This excessive over building tendency that I have comes from two places. The first is my father. He always went WAY overboard in doing anything. When we were kids our swing set was made out of steel oilfield pipe and it took a huge truck to bring it to the house. He was always using steel and huge bolts to hold things together. The other reason I did this is because I remember being a little boy. As a little boy I wanted to do two things:

1. Climb Things

2. Break stuff

They can climb these shelves. I don't care. I got them screwed to the wall with three inch screws. They can TRY and get that pipe pulled out of the closet. It won't happen. They can all three pull on it all day long. They will just get tired. Go get a hammer and beat on it. It doesn't matter.

Carrie just looks at me and shakes her head.

She doesn't know what she is in for. I do. See, I was a Krug boy. My brother and I were terrors. I have talked about it on this blog. We kicked holes in doors and knocked holes in the walls. We tore closet doors off the hinges. We broke every window in the house. At one point Dad just put plexi glass in the door that leads into the garage because he got tired of fixing the glass. We would dig holes, hit things with hammers, and just go around beating on things with tree limbs.

We have THREE of these things on the way. They are already beating on the inside of their mother. They hit hard and they aren't even three pounds each yet.

My father used to say something to me and I can't wait to say it to my boys.

Dad: Listen Son, there is nothing you can do that I haven't already done or thought about doing.

I can't wait to run around and yell at the top of my lungs and beat on stuff with them.

Stay Tuned.

On a separate note, Carrie and I would like to Congratulate our friends Jeremy and Melissa on the birth of their baby boy.

Good People

In the 24 hour news cycle we live in, you mainly hear bad news. We get to constantly watch as some horrible detrimental thing happens on Wall Street. We learn about how celebrities cheat on each other and change marriages and relationships like most people change tires. We watch as our politicians fight amongst themselves while things stay pretty much the same for the rest of us. After the news is reported we hear from analysts and talking heads. They explain to us what we have just heard and tell us how bad it's going to get. All this bad news keeps us stirred up all the time. Don't eat this food, seven people dropped dead when they ate it in Idaho. Don't take this pill because it made this woman in Florida grow a second head. Take this pill or your legs will stop working. If your child plays with this toy, he or she will immediately burst into flames. If you drive such and such car the accelerator will stick and you will drive it into a movie theater full of disadvantaged teenagers and kill them all including yourself. Don't wear these clothes because they were made by four year old Guatemalan kids who are forced to work 18 hour days without food or water.

You get the idea.

Here are some things you don't hear about on the news. They restore faith in the fact that the world is full of good people. Most people just work hard and raise their families. They are good to others and help their neighbors and friends whenever they can. They probably won't be on the news anytime soon.

Carrie's friend Jennifer took her lunch break to go buy a ton of BBQ and bring it to the house so we wouldn't have to cook that night. She spent way more than she should have, but it sure was nice to just have dinner ready after I had been going full bore since six o'clock that morning. She brought Carrie all kinds of stuff. She may be one of the nicest people we have ever met.

The next night my friend Joe and his wife Brenda brought us Lasagna and French Bread. Two nights in a row we didn't have to cook. Dinner was just there. They called me up and said they were on their way with some food. It was a very welcome surprise.

After Carrie went on bed rest, another triplet Mom named Lisa from Illinois sent a $50 gift certificate to us. I can tell you $50 is a lot of money when you are just expecting triplets. Lisa already has her triplets. Here is the kicker. We have never met Lisa. Carrie has just gotten to know her through e-mail since we found out about the boys.

There is a guy I met a few weeks ago named Jim. He does construction and painting around Austin. He recently beat cancer. He gave me wood and some iron for the boys' room. He told me he would be happy to come by and help me finish it up. He knows I need the help. I offered to pay and he said just give him a beer or two and it would be fun to just hang out with me and work on it.

There's Ryan and Nicola, the other spontaneous triplet parents from Austin. The first time we met them, they gave us swings for the boys. They also have tons of clothes ready for us that I need to go pick up. They even gave us their triplet stroller that our car seats fit onto. They have three six month old babies at home and a daughter. They have offered all kinds of help, support, advice, and above all friendship. This comes right when we really need it.

We also have our sister-in-law Jennifer who coined the term "Team Krug". She sent a care package to the hospital as soon as she could. She is a champion. She will make an excellent mother someday and she is one of the first people to read this blog as soon as it goes up. At this moment, I bet she is very excited to be reading this.

My brother calls me everyday and offers morale support along with a few off color comments.

We have to mention our mothers.

Carrie's mother MOVED here. I don't know what we would have done without her, and they haven't even been born yet. She comes over everyday and cooks, cleans, goes to the store, and does whatever we need. Today she is going to paint for us.

My mother has sent four or five separate packages with items that are far too numerous to mention. I can't believe the things she has made, purchased, and sent to Austin, Texas via all modes of transportation. If I told her I needed her in Austin she would WALK here if that's what it took.

Then there's my Dad.

Let's just say that I don't have the words to thank our parents for what they have done for us.

There is also the baby stuff from everyone. If you are having a baby or thinking about having a baby, don't worry. The stuff will come. People have given us everything we need. From car seats to bottles to clothes. We appreciate all of it and there is literally no way that we would be able to do this without the help we have received from friends, family, and strangers.

This past weekend the band played an event near my hometown. I can't believe how many people know about the boys, read the blog, and came up to offer their support and ask about Carrie. People I hadn't seen in years offered to help in any way they could.

This whole experience has renewed my faith in the goodness of humanity. I guess there is no room in the news for people that get up everyday, work hard, raise their families, and quietly help others in any way that they can.

Bed Rest

Carrie came home from the hospital on Friday. Nothing had really changed, so the Doctors decided to let her go. They kept putting her on the contraction monitor to see if she was having contractions. She never had any and this concerned everyone. They wanted to make sure she understood what a contraction was. They made it very clear that she had to be super hyper aware of what was going on with her body. This way, if she did go into labor she would know what it was.

Apparently, labor and contractions are not quite like the movies. You know the scene. The pregnant girl announces that she is going into labor and it's the real deal. Somebody has to boil water while others get towels and sheets together. Then the car won't start and they have to deliver the baby on their own. After just a few short minutes the baby is born and it looks like it's about a year old. A lot of times in the movie the baby is born outside in the rain. Sometimes the couple has to get married really fast before the baby is born. If they do make it to the hospital, their normal Doctor is not available and Robin Williams has to deliver the child. This is not how it happens in real life. Sometimes you don't know. Labor can take hours. Contractions can go on and on and on.

After laying in the hospital bed for a few days Carrie was more than ready to go home. There were several reasons for this. First of all, let me say that the hospital and the hospital staff were amazing and completely top notch. The three Doctors that were helping Carrie were very caring, patient, and helpful. She was in great hands.

There were problems. Problem one was that the cable television left a lot to be desired. They didn't get very many channels and the volume only comes out of that little speaker unit over by the patients bed, What about visitors? What about husbands that are half deaf from playing guitar and simply want to hear the game?

Problem two was the lack of internet. Now, the hospital was equipped with wireless internet. However, whomever installed it didn't tell anyone the password, so that entire wing of the hospital had no idea how to log on. Internet is essential. It's how things work. No internet is like no oxygen and no food.

Speaking of food, on the first night they didn't bring Carrie any dinner. I went to the nurse's desk and inquired about food for Carrie. They informed me that they must have forgotten. They were very sorry, which was cool. A really nice nurse brought her a sandwich to eat while she waited on her dinner. Carrie is not a cold sandwich type of girl. It sat on her tray until they brought her an identical cold sandwich about an hour later. I went and got her a pizza.

Finally the complete lack of beer for visitors is real issue for me. We were watching the Texas Rangers game because that's the only one we could get. I wasn't drinking beer during the game and I had a really hard time trying to figure out what to do with my hands. More than once I thought that I would just run to the bar and get one. I was thwarted by the fact that there are no bars in hospitals. Not in this one anyway.

In review I believe that better cable, internet access, better food, and a bar/lounge area would make any hospital stay better. I only say this because staying in a hospital is expensive, and the least they can do is have these things in place.

Meanwhile back to present day. Carrie has been ordered on strict bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy. Tomorrow marks 25 weeks. That means we have 7 weeks to go to get to 32 which is where they really want to see her get. Anything after that is just gravy. That's where we are right now. I have moved the Craftmatic Adjustable bed to the living room so she can be in there. She has the regular bed in the bedroom. That's about it. They told her the most she can do is get up and get a drink of water in the kitchen. Other than that forget about it. The appointments with Dr. Handcock have been ramped up to once a week. We have one on Thursday at 8:30 a.m.

So far things have gone well. Carrie doesn't complain and maintains a very positive attitude. I try and be as helpful as I can. Carrie likes to do thing and get things done. This is going to be hard for her. I may end up with a head wound no doubt bearing the brunt of her frustration simply because I'm close. She is still working from her bed and that is admirable.

Tonight Carrie asked me when we should announce the names of the boys. That's right, we finally have the names in concrete. It's pretty fun to refer to them by their names. We know pretty much where each one is, so she can tell which one is kicking. We played them some tunes yesterday and they were kicking. I'm just glad they are still in there.

Thank you for all of your concern and support. We really appreciate it. Unfortunately due to the bed rest, there will be no Austin baby shower. This sucks because Ryan (BPM Drummer) and I were going to get a keg of really good beer since it was to be a couples shower. We still may get the keg. I'm sure Carrie would love it if I brought all of my friends over to hang out and drink it.

Finally, it is time to guess the date that the boys will be born. Please post your guess in the comments section. I will go first, and please remember that I was right about them being three boys.

The triplets will be born on the 4th of July. Robin Williams won't be anywhere near the place.