SIX MONTHS OLD!!!

Pics: Baby helper, Brandi, on her "last day" (we know we will have her back often if possible) with all three. Daddy making bottles (though not a complete day's worth)late at night so we don't have to scramble in the morning. Kendall and Clark having a first try in the booster high chairs. Emma in her chair. Super-helper, Erica, with Clark.

We couldn't imagine what our lives would be like at this time last year. We knew the babies were on their way, though we had just found out that there were three. I think we were probably still in shock right about now. This week, I took the babies (along with Brandi, the helper) to see Dr. Harris (our fertility specialist). We lucked out that she was in between patients, so she was able to come to the lobby and chat a few minutes. She remembers that the last time she saw us our eyes were as big as saucers and we were completely shocked.
Yes, I think that describes it. Shocked. Excited too, but shocked was definitely the primary emotion as we instantly realized that we would need a new vehicle in order to transport this many people at one time. Three cribs. Three car seats. Lots more diapers and bottles. What had we done?!?!?!
And here we are. Our little miracle munchkins are 6 months old. We managed to get to 34 weeks before they arrived and with no serious complications (except "stupid gestational diabetes"). The 3 weeks in the NICU seemed like an eternity, but in actuality, it wasn't too bad compared to what others had experienced. The babies were small, but still bigger than we had anticipated (certainly bigger than I thought I could hold in there). And today, they are growing like weeds.
We had two more vaccines last week and the unofficial weights were:
Kendall 14.6 lbs
Emma 13.2 lbs
Clark 14.4 lbs
Not bad at all. They are still gaining about 1.5 lbs each month and that is good. They are eating well, though we are still just doing formula. We are venturing back into "rice cereal land" this weekend. Hopefully it will go well and they will just love eating off of a spoon (the real purpose to feeding them food at this point is to get used to texture, taste, eating from a spoon, etc...not really for any nutritional benefit just yet). They have new booster/high chairs to adapt to as well. It won't be as cuddly as being fed by all of the sweet people who come and help feed them, but it's all a part of growing up. Once we can master rice cereal for a few days, we will move on to the real stuff and I will try my hand at making baby food.
Kendall is talking a little more each day. She has come up with a few noises that are really funny (and one not-so-funny whiny noise). She is so strong and really loves to roll around and look at things. We are trying to figure out a new seat for her as it looks like she's decided to try to escape from the bouncy seat. She remains a power-napper with very short naps throughout the day, rather than a nice long one. But she is sleeping well at night now that we have started swaddling her again.
Emma is rolly-polly (spelling?). She makes it very difficult to change her outfits or diapers because she wants to roll all over the changing table. She is MUCH better at hanging out on her own in an exersaucer (preferred location in front of the door so she can look outside) or a bouncy seat. She is a CRAZY kicker. It is a riot. She gets so worked up during a Baby Einstein video and almost kicks right out of her seat. She squeals and chatters quite a bit and loves to give you a big smile.
Clark finally found his feet this week also. He is a talker now and just loves to bounce in his jumpy seat. We are able to get him giggling quite easily and he always shares his big huge smile with everyone. He seems to be getting longer these days, as he keeps outgrowing his footie pajamas. He is still a big kicker also and loves to laugh at the babies in the Einstein videos.

We are so thankful to all of you who have helped us reach this important milestone in their lives. We are halfway through one of the toughest, but most amazing, years of our lives. We know that there are many more fun things and big changes, as well as challenging times to come in the next six months, but we look forward to celebrating their first birthday in January . We thank you for continuing to be so supportive through your love and prayers and help.