First trip to the zoo...more pics for Daddy

OK, so first of all, I have to say "Happy Special Day" to Troy. He's been such a good guy today - sending me a message on Facebook, texting me and having his dad deliver a beautiful hydrangea to me. Very sweet. Thanks and I love you lots!

On to the update and the pictures. I should make sure to explain that the stuff in Clark's nose in the mealtime pictures is food and not boogers. I don't want anyone to freak out.

We have a picture of everyone with Erica who went along with us to the zoo today. Emma and Kendall were pointing at the zebras (our friend's son, B, called them "horses in striped pajamas"). Then we have Clark at dinner being funny and getting food up his nose, stealing food from sissy's tray (his new favorite pasttime seems to be stealing and annoying his sisters - good times). Ems at dinner giving me her cheesiest smile and Clark giving more smiles before the end of dinner. Ems (and Clark) outside enjoying the weather after dinner and she gave me a little smile behind the paci. Then it's on to bathtime and more of Emma's goofy grins and also showing off the three bath rings (just found two at a consignment sale over the weekend and they are WONDERFUL and make bathtime much safer with three little ones!). Kendall was being funny and starting to play peek-a-boo in the tub and then gave us the funny "oops" look with her hand over her face. A flirty Clark (at dinner - sorry out of order). Kendall's cheesiest grin at dinner (again out of order, oops). Kendall and our buddy, Mr. Mike. Ems reading after bathtime. Kendall being silly with our friend, Miss Lisa. Clark trying to escape the "fun" crib (we put them there as a holding pen before and after baths until we can get them all (un)dressed, etc.).

Who's doing what, you ask????
Well, Kendall learned to climb up on the changing table that is in the play zone. Daddy was very efficient and has it braced to the wall, but now she has learned to climb. I'd say it will be coming out of there tomorrow or Thursday. :) We had to remove their cool kiddie slide on Sunday because she learned to climb up the slide onto the platform and fell through the (stupid) hole in the back (why in the heck there is a big hole at the back of the platform???). Mommy saw it happen and it wasn't pretty. So, the slide is now in the garage and will be a supervised outdoor toy. Kendall is still doing her "oooooo" when she sees something that catches her "fancy". It is TOO funny to hear her do that!
Ems...she is still in the process of trying to walk. I think Mike and Lisa would agree that she did take 2 steps tonight to get to Mommy, but I don't have video to prove it. We won't count it as "walking" yet until Daddy gets home. :) She is pointing at everything - books, animals, people, etc. She waves bye-bye to the walkers, bike-riders and cars going past the front window. She's learned a new "cheesy grin" that we all love. And she also does peek-a-boo with her hands over her face (before it was just with a cloth over her face). She is also very good at "reading" books to anyone who will listen.
Clark has learned a few new tricks lately. He loves to pull Emma's hair when he is next to her at mealtime. He also steals food from anyone's tray who might be close enough to reach. Yesterday, Kendall started screaming and I found him hitting her in the head with the plastic cutting board that goes with their kiddie kitchen. She pushed him until he quit, so I was happy to let her work it out. He also has this devilish little grin when I catch him doing these things and tell him "no". Ugh. What a BOY!!!! It's funny, but I can see this becoming a really bad habit - torturing his sisters. He was VERY chatty this evening (no specific words) and was encouraged to squeal like his sisters when they were outside and his voice would echo. This continued into bathtime. Funny stuff.
Gotta get to bed as tomorrow is another day.

Pictures for Daddy

Daddy is traveling for work this week and asked that I post pictures for him to keep up. In an effort to be a good wife and mommy, I am going to try to fulfill his request.
Sorry that the pics are so dark and blurry, but I'm trying to "hit a moving target" so-to-speak and they are hard to photograph once they have seen the camera (and Mommy).
Clark REALLY wants to get the camera lens cap, etc. Kendall too. Emma couldn't have cared less.
I had to post the two pics of Ems riding on her Bounce and Spin Zebra. She has now learned to climb on and off without assistance, though she isn't very steady, so falls are probable. She had her cute little devilish look and then her goofy grin.
Kendall and Clark were on the move to get to Mommy on the other side of the room.
And then They reached my "post" at the other gate and wanted to grin for the camera. It was a little close, but I thought it was cute anyway.
Update for Daddy: No one is walking yet. Everyone misses Daddy. End of the update.

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!