Pictures (for updates, see prior post)

Time Change

Well, I don't have pics to post tonight, but promise to get back here with some quickly. I realized that I haven't posted in a while and just wanted to give a quick update.
We managed to get everyone to bed by 8:40p tonight, despite the time change, which isn't too bad. The day was really nice as the temps were warm here and we spent lots of time outdoors. The babies had a play area on the back porch for a while early this afternoon. They really enjoy being outside and it was really cute to see the wind blowing their hair around. Outdoor noises are really fascinating to them as are the leaves blowing across the porch and the dogs barking next door. We also got to take them for a nice, long walk before naptime.
Kendall is getting a little more daring at letting go of things and standing on her own. She LOVES the new play kitchen that is set up in the "baby super zone". Unfortunately, she has been the victim of the oven door shutting on her fingers (more than once), but she seems to keep going back to it everyday. She loves to open and shut the door. The problem is when brother, Clark, steps in to play also and leans on the door. Ouch! Kendall is still pretty talkative, but I think the only new word she has spoken is "Nana". And I think she says something like "all done" (when she's done eating or drinking). She had been our best eater, but has hit a little bump in the road where she seems to be more interested in the sweet stuff. We have tried really hard to keep them away from most sweets, but fruit is their "dessert" and she is a big fan of the fruit....blueberries, pears, peaches. It's all yummy. And she still loves puffs and Rice Chex.
Emma appears to be the one who might walk first, but we won't know until it happens. She is really standing on her own, bouncing and dancing (without holding onto anything) and even bending to pick something up and standing back up without assistance. She seems to be aware that she is doing something new and enjoys it. Music still brings out the best in her. She perks up, hums and chirps, bounces and dances and bobs her head when she hears music - whether it's a video, a CD or a toy that makes music. She is very vocal and talkative, though we are only really getting mama and dada (or "DA!!!" - when she yells for him in the morning while she waits for him to come and get her).
Clark is also pretty confident about standing and moving around from place to place and letting go to stand on his own at times. He loves the ball pit and the Little People toys and also still seems to love his time in the jumpy seat that hangs in the doorway. He is also more vocal these days, though still no specific words as of yet. He seems to enjoy interacting more with the girls these days and even getting on Emma's nerves when he tries to hold onto her arm during mealtime. She really starts to holler, though that doesn't seem to have any impact on his desire to make contact. :) And he has also started to steal food from her tray. Kind of funny since he was the one being stolen from in the past. He also got a "taste of his own medicine" this afternoon when Kendall bit his finger. He has been the biter of the group, so it was sad to see him hurting, but I was hoping that maybe he learned a lesson (but I sort of doubt it since I saw him put his finger back in her mouth about 10 minutes later).
All three kids have become quite proficient at using their sippy cups. They are still drinking about 2-3 bottles per day (of 100% whole - organic - milk!!! No more formula!!!), but they get some water and leftover milk in their sippy cups and a little juice with the water at times.
I'm in the process of clearing out bottles and all of the other unnecessary stuff that they no longer need. It is quite "freeing", but a big process too. We try to keep extras of some items for car trips or overnight trips with friends/family, but then again, I don't want to keep EVERYTHING. Ugh. There is just SO much stuff. :)
I really need to get to bed, but again, I promise to post pics in the next few days.
HAPPY WARM WEATHER!!! Spring is on the way!!!

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!

The Birthday and The First Year in Pictures

Our very good friend and "Aunt Tam" put together a wonderful "montage" of the first year in pictures. It actually includes more than the first year since there is a little of our wedding and some belly/ultrasound shots. After MUCH effort, she wasn't able to find a way to get it posted on our blog, but added her own blog. See the link below to watch it. Bring your Kleenex as she did a really great job. We can't possibly thank her enough.

You can copy and paste this link to your browser (or check out my "links" list to the right and click on it to take you there):

http://giveusthisdayourdailyblog.blogspot.com/

The birthday party was a smashing success. We held an "open house" and invited family and people who have helped us throughout the year to join us in celebrating their special day. We wanted to take the opportunity to thank these amazing and generous people.

The babies did really well handling all of the attention and commotion and managed to stay in the game until about 3:30p when they just HAD to go down for naps. We had "cupcakes" for them. Each baby got their own. Ems LOVED hers and ate quite a bit. Kendall was interested, but didn't eat too much. Not sure what was going on with Clark, but he kept dumping his on the floor, so we gave up. He seemed to watch Ems with hers and had a look that said, "Why are you eating THAT?!?!?"

I hope to get pictures from the party posted soon, but I've been sick with a stomach virus and just haven't had a chance. I thought I'd get the link to the video/montage up so that you can enjoy it.

We'll be in touch soon. Thanks for stopping in to check on us!

Just Pictures

I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long. I promise to post more once we get through their birthday next weekend.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the pictures. Please note there is a towel in the bottom of the tub so they wouldn't slip, but it looks a little weird.
Hugs to all of our friends and family.

Happy 2009! Our first dinner at Cracker Barrel and baby updates

Please click on the link "Save Second-Hand Kids Clothes and Toys" to read about possible changes in what we can buy and sell....

Please check out the link. I'm still in the process of trying to find out whether this legislation is actually going to happen in early February, but if it does, there is a chance that it could prevent people from buying/selling kids' clothes and toys unless they have a special tag on them that tracks lead, etc. As the article mentions, this could have a profound impact on families who depend on buying used items to clothe their children, etc. Many people also count on the money from consignment sales and GARAGE SALES to help them pay for the next season's clothing. I agree that it is important to keep our kids safe, but it seems that this could be a little extreme. Again, I haven't done my research yet (and who knows when I will have time), but I'm pretty concerned about this and hope that it isn't quite as bad as it sounds. EDIT: Upon further review of the information, it looks like it might NOT actually impact private sellers, but could effect second-hand stores, thrift stores and those that receive donated items (Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc). But I'll have to keep looking into the whole thing.

Anyway, that's enough of my ranting. Sorry I haven't posted lately, but things have still been crazy. I've been under the weather and, as I've mentioned to some friends, the babies don't offer sick days. :) Thankfully, family and friends helped out to give me a few little breaks to rest. I know that some of you are waiting patiently for me to post the next update and round of pics because you have enjoyed keeping up with their growth and progress. Let's see what I can do in a short amount of time:

We had our first meal out at the Cracker Barrel with all three babies. Grandpa and Uncle Stevie and Uncle Albert met us there also. The babies did a great job eating a lot of finger food (pretty new thing to them), including biscuits (which they loved). They seemed to take in all of the sights and sounds and actually slept pretty good last night despite the carb-ariffic meal. :) You have to understand that Troy and I really hesitate to take them out in public for various reasons. 1.) Flu/RSV season is upon us and and also there is a stomach bug running around our area. Kendall and I (and other family members) have suffered with the stomach bug already and we don't want to see that again. 2.) There is a lot of stuff to be used when feeding the babies and it's a logistical issue trying to get it all together and out the door. 3.) The stares and questions from people out and about can get a little old. We don't mind it at times, but sometimes we just want to move around and not have comments like "poor you" thrown at us. Those sorts of statements can get on your nerves after a while. Other times it is nice to hear people say nice things and remind us that we ARE blessed with these three beauties!
Anyway, we braved it and survived. Oh, a little funny: When they called us (that the table was ready), they said that the table for eight including the triplets was ready. Nothing like getting an introduction! :)

Here are the updates on the kids:

Kendall is learning fast. She loves her new Sing-a-long Stage and also the new toy that Uncle Stevie gave them for Christmas. Both toys allow her to stand up and wiggle around more and they have lots of lights and noise to keep her happy. She has learned to clap to "If You're Happy and You Know It". She does a great job with finger food and the sippy cup. I figure she will be eating my crock pot meals any day now!

Emma is still a riot. She still seems to have a love of music and I'm waiting for more dancing. She bounces around a lot in an effort to dance (or so it appears), so I think she'll be our little ballerina or tap dancer. She was really the first to discover the clapping to the music and it's so much fun to watch her light up when the song comes on! I'm also thinking she could be the first to walk, but that title is still up for grabs. Ems is also doing a really good job with finger food. In fact, she seems to shovel it in a little too fast and we have to slow her down a bit. She DEFINITELY loved the Cracker Barrel biscuits last night!

Clark is not as thrilled about finger food (think - he'd rather be served than make the effort to do it himself....bless him). He has been a little more willing to try the pasta and cheese, so that's a good sign. Now sippy cups are a different story. He would rather throw it on the floor and hear the loud crash than actually drink from it. He's definitely moving around now and pulling himself up on the large toys and the side of the Super Yard. I've caught him giggling while watching the puppets and kids on the Baby Einstein movies, so I know he will love having friends once he gets around other kids. He is just such a sweetie.

That's all for now.