Thursday, December 17, 2009

December Update

So....yeah....haven't done this in a while. Things have been a little crazy around here. With the holidays coming up, getting the house decorated, having our basement floor dug up and replacing the sewer (for the second time in two years). You know, the usual craziness. Not to mention the three two year olds running around and getting into everything they can get their hands on!!

So, to get right back into things, here are a couple of holiday videos for your enjoyment.

First is KJ exploring our Christmas tree. He woke up from his nap while we were putting the tree together, so he was the first to get to see it.






Second is Elisha helping to decorate Grandma's tree. Again, she woke up from her nap while we were Gretch and Grandma were decorating. So she got to help out a little.





Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Halloween

So I'm a little behind. Things can get a little crazy when you have triplets. And live in an 80 year old house that's falling apart right under your feet. Literally. But I'll get to that later. For now, here are a couple of pictures of the kids in their Halloween costumes.



I was supposed to dress as the Big Bad Wolf, and Gretch was supposed to be Little Red Riding Hood. Gretch chickened out and never bought her costume. I tried on my mask and the kids freaked the heck out, so I decided it was probably best not to wear it around them. Maybe we'll all be able to dress up next year.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Costume Preview

Since E is on a mini-vacation at Grandma and Grandpa's for a few days, only K and J got to trick-or-treat at G's office today. Don't worry, though, they pulled in enough loot to share with their sister. And we'll have her back tomorrow in time for the neighborhood trick-or-treating, so she'll get plenty of her own!!

Here's a quick snapshot of the two little pigs with G.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Friday, October 23, 2009

Little Moments


This morning as I was playing with E and K (J is on a solo vacation at Grandma and Grandpa's), E got up and went over to the gate at the bottom of the stairs and started saying "kitchen." We have a little play kitchen set up there for them to play with when they need a change of scenery. I opened the gate to let her up the stairs and she started to go, then she stopped and went quickly around the corner and said "(K), play kitchen!" I was amazed. She wanted her brother to come up and play with the kitchen with her, so she stopped and called him. That's the first time I've seen anything like that between the trips. It was a very cute moment.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Warm October Weather

Thanks to the recent increase in temperature in the area, we were able to get out of the house and play in the backyard for the first time in a long while. The kids had a blast, and I got to take some pictures. Note the kids on the see-saw by themselves!















Monday, October 19, 2009

Pumpkins

We had the opportunity this weekend to take the kids to a local fruit farm. Everyone had a great time checking out the pumpkins, corn and all of the other goodies that the farm offered. Here are a few pictures from our little adventure.


E hangin' out with mama
J picking out her pumpkin
K trying to lift his pumpkin
E helping Grandma pick out a pumpkin
K making his way through the pumpkins
Our failed attempt at a group photo.

J found the corn, and licked it.
K wanted to pull the wagon.
J found a flower and a leaf.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Friday, October 9, 2009

Suprise!

Okay, so maybe I jinxed myself with that last post. Maybe I shouldn't have posted that no one had taken their diapers off while in their cribs. E woke up from her nap on Tuesday with her clothes off and her diaper pulled halfway down her butt. Just enough to allow the turds to sneak out onto the sheet. Fantastic. Wednesday and Thursday went by without a major incident. Then this morning I went into the room and K was standing there with absolutely nothing on except his huge grin. And poop on his hands and all over his bed. Fabulous. After I cleaned him up, lecturing him the whole time, he got to stand in the corner until I was done cleaning up the mess. He was not a happy little guy. Then I found that J had somehow gotten her diaper off without taking off her pajamas. It was balled up near her calf, still inside the pajamas. Unfortunately, she had urinated after she removed the diaper. E was the only one to stay completely dressed so far today. They're napping now, so we shall see what happens.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Swaddling, Sacks, and Blankets

Our triplets are finally using blankets. Yaaaaahoooo! Right? Not really.

Let me start at the beginning. Just after the kids were born, normal swaddling blankets worked just fine for us for a few months. As the kids grew stronger, the swaddling worked less. Then Gretchen found these waffle blankets. They were like normal swaddling blankets but they had a waffle pattern to them and they stretched out more than a normal blanket, allowing me to get a tighter swaddle. Those worked for a while, but eventually the kids were getting out of those, as well.

A friend of ours told us about these Swaddle Me blankets that had velcro tabs to keep the kids arms and legs in place. Awesome! We used those things for quite some time - I can't remember exactly when we stopped using them, probably when the kids were too big for them, or, knowing us, a little while after the kids were too big for them. You can find them at any Babies R Us store, and probably at Target or Wal-Mart as well.

After they grew out of the swaddle blankets we moved up to the SleepSack. These things are like a sleeping bag with arm holes. Some call them a wearable blanket. They can also be found at Babies R Us. Most kids have a hard time getting out of them, until they learn how to work a zipper. Even then, you can just put them on backwards. As an added bonus, we found that as long as the kids were in the SleepSacks, they couldn't get out of their cribs. They would try, but they couldn't get their legs high enough because they were restricted by the width of the SleepSack. They also couldn't take their pajamas off while in the SleepSack. Definitely a plus when dealing with toddlers!

Alas, all good things must come to an end. A few weeks ago, after E busted her foot out of the bottom of her SleepSack, we decided it was time to switch to normal blankets. The first few nights were rough. We would put the trips down to bed, have them lie down, cover them with their blankets and sneak out of the room all quiet like. A few minutes later we would hear "banket, banket, BANKET, BANKET!" over the monitor. E would be standing in her crib holding her blanket. We would have her lie down and cover her up, and all was well. Then K would start saying "Fut, Fut, Fut!" His feet were out of the blanket and he wanted them covered up. We did this a few times a night for the first few nights. Since then it's gotten better. We are now trying the cry-it-out method again. It seems to be working.

Unfortunately, all three have taken all of their clothes off either during a nap or in the morning. Luckily they kept their diapers on. Fortunately, no one has tried to get out of their crib just yet. Knock on wood.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Meet Buster

Meet Buster, our new puppy. He is a shih-poo (shitzu/poodle mix). So far we've had to keep him away from the kids most of the time because he likes to nip at them. They are not too fond of that, but they have accepted him as part of the family. As soon as I enter their room in the morning, E calls out "BUSTUR! BUSTUR!" She also likes to try to pet him, mostly when he's sleeping, which he's not too fond of. K loves it when Buster chases him around the house until he gets nipped. J seems to like him, too, she just hasn't shown it as clearly as K or E. She was the most hesitant around dogs, so that makes sense.

Here are a few pics of the little guy.






Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Two Year Birthday Party

Last Saturday we had our family and friends over to celebrate the triplets turning two. We had a great turnout, and the weather was perfect, which was good because we could not have fit that many people in our house. Everyone had a great time, especially the kids.

We started out the day by turning our enclosed front porch with balloons and letting the kids play in them. Gretchen came up with the original idea to make it a ball pit, but since we couldn't find those colorful plastic balls, we chose to use balloons. It made for some hair-raising fun!





Grandma and Grandpa bought the kids some very nice trikes.





Grandma and E discussing the finer points of dinner rolls.


After riding the pink trike, K decided to assert his manliness by playing catch with his cousin. And yes, he did actually catch that ball, and he's so proud!



J really liked the fact that everyone was singing to her!



E also liked when everyone sang to her, and she still had her dinner roll.



K was a little freaked out by the singing, or maybe Grandma was just a little off key. ;-)



J decided that she needed a break from all of the commotion and sat with Great Grandma for a while.



E wanted to see Buster, our new puppy.



J on the big girl swing!! She did very well with a little help from her cousin.




Look at all those presents!! Great Grandma was guarding them.


Gretchen and I would like to thank all who came to the party. We really enjoy it when our family and friends come together to help us celebrate. The kids really enjoy seeing all of you as well. They also LOVE all of their presents. We've been playing with them daily. The old toys haven't really been out much since the party. We are very blessed to have such wonderful and generous family and friends.