Big Kids!

I just wanted to give a "shout out" to my BIG KIDS! All three of them (yes, including Clark) slept the whole night without Mommy or Daddy intervention! Woo hoo! We got almost EIGHT HOURS of uninterrupted sleep!

We've been working on Clark this week to get him to stay in his own bed (which is now a pack n play in the guest room). We had developed a bad habit of bringing him to our bed when he woke up (every night) screaming. The concern is that he will wake up Emma who also sleeps in the nursery with him, so we run out with him. And, of course, we are sleep-deprived, so we want to get back to sleep as soon as possible and bringing him in with us was the best way to make that happen. Bad Mommy. Bad Daddy. Then we started this other really cool habit of giving him a bottle in the middle of the night. It calmed him down and he would go right back to sleep. So, this week was "sleep training" (tough love, whatever you want to call it) for Clark (and Mommy & Daddy) where we had to get him to learn to soothe himself. It took four nights (not bad) and last night was wonderful and he is much happier this morning after getting a good night of sleep.

The girls have been doing really well most nights and last night was no exception.

In other news, our bottles are 2/3 WHOLE MILK and 1/3 formula. We are on our LAST CAN of formula that we ever plan to buy! They seem to be doing pretty well with this and also with sippy cups at meal and snack times. Oh, and the picture above is of the three now drinking bottles all on their own in big-kid chairs (thanks to Jeri for those cute chairs). One of our helpers was a little sad that they didn't need her to feed them a bottle. I have to say, at times, it's a little sad, but generally, I've fed them so many bottles that I'm glad to see them gaining some independence and plus they are just so darn cute kicking back and drinking bottles. Next progression is away from bottles and on to sippy cups exclusively. Good times.

I have to get going as we are headed to Sam's this morning for a quick family outing before their morning nap. :) Have a great weekend.

We Are ONE!!!!! Birthday Pics & One Year Checkup Updates

Picture of Kendall in the window was during our big snow last week. We went from that to temps in the 60s this week! Other pictures are from the 1st birthday party and some of our visitors/volunteers/family. Not sure if you can tell, but Emma LOVED her cupcake. Kendall was slightly interested. Clark threw his on the floor three times before Mommy gave up.

Earlier this week, we had our one year checkup. Everyone is doing pretty well. Here are the stats:
Kendall 19lbs (17%) and 29.5 inches (60%)
Emma 17lbs 3oz (3%) and 27.75 inches (10%)
Clark 19lbs 10oz (8%) and 30.5 inches (69%)

We are a little concerned about Emma's weight/growth, but the dr isn't too worried. She seems to feel that Ems is just petite and as long as she is eating well we shouldn't worry. She does eat as much as the other two, so we will just wait to see how things go. Aside from that, she is doing great and loves playing with her new ball and trying to dance. We've also seen her stand without holding onto anything a few times, so we are crossing our fingers that she might be walking soon.

Unfortunately, Clark ran a fever from late Sunday afternoon until sometime Tuesday, but the good news is that the dr didn't see anything wrong with his ears or throat. It looks like it could be teething or something viral, but it's hard to know. He's still feeling somewhat miserable and not really himself, but we are hoping that he will be better soon. In terms of his achievements, he is crawling and pulling up on things like crazy and has also been spotted standing without support, but still no "first steps" as of yet. He is happy with the new play area and seems to love roaming around and banging on the new gate.

Kendall is doing just fine and being the little comedian. She has learned "uh-oh" in the last few days which is pretty cute. The dr was very happy with her development. She loves to eat and play and dance. She is really excited about the new ball pit area that mommy created a couple of weeks ago. She loves to get in there and fling her arms around and laugh.

Mommy and Daddy had a weekend off this past weekend. Mommy went on a retreat with her MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) girls. It was a fun time and she was happy to get TEN HOURS of sleep on Friday night! Woo hoo. Daddy enjoyed some alone-time at the house and even got in a round of golf and a night out visiting friends. We are VERY thankful to Lisa and Mike, Kim and Boyd and Auntie Karen and Uncle Tom for taking a baby into each of their homes for two nights so that we could have some time off. From what we have heard, it sounds like the babies did well with their "families" and so we hope that we will have a chance to get away again (hint-hint). It seems that there are other families who are hoping to get a chance to keep a baby for a day or two, so we might have to start a drawing to see who gets who. :)

The girls are sleeping much better this week. We have moved Kendall to a pack-n-play in a separate room and that seems to make it easier for us to get her learn to "self-soothe". Emma is doing great at sleeping through the night without too many wake-up calls and none that have required intervention in the last few days (knock on wood here). Clark is not doing quite as well, but we are giving him a free pass this week since he is under the weather. Hopefully we can get a better routine for him starting next week and get all of them sleeping through the night and learning to soothe themselves back to sleep when they wake up during the night. At the same time, we are also going to start them on regular (organic) whole milk and getting away from the formula (woo hoo!!!). We are also going to start moving away from bottles and baby food even more than we have. I'd love it if we could be bottle and baby food free by March when Daddy has a business trip, but we'll see how the transition goes. They seem to all love the finger foods, but again, Clark is having a little trouble this week. Poor thing is really out of sorts. :(


We were so fortunate to have warm weather Sunday and even had time to take them for a quick walk in the choo choo wagon. After being away from them for two nights, having time to catch up and get them laughing was really special. Pam (one of the helpers who is now like family) and our new sitter, Barbara, were both able to get the babies out this week in the choo choo wagon as well. Ems is really loving her time outdoors. We even set up a pack-n-play in the garage/driveway so that they could get some time in the sunshine and feel the wind blowing.

All in all, we are keeping busy and trying to stay entertained. They get a little stir crazy being stuck in the house most of the time, so we are REALLY looking forward to springtime and warmer weather.

Hope you enjoy the pics!