5 months... A little late (as usual!)

The boys are awesome. They are becoming so animated and quite funny. They are on a great schedule, which helps keep the chaos under control!

Here is a typical day:
7:45am - wake them up and 8 oz bottles
8:30am - get dressed and play
9:30am - fruit with baby oatmeal
10:00am - short nap (40 mins)
10:45am - playtime
11:30am - 8 oz bottles
12:30pm - naptime!
3:30pm - 8 oz bottle
4:30pm - playtime
5:30pm - veggies
6:00pm - cat nap
6:30pm - playtime
7:30pm - 8 oz bottles
8:15pm - bath time then bed!

Obviously this varies from day to day, but this is roughly what goes on each day and the boys seem to do pretty well on this schedule. For nap and bed time all we have to do is lie them in their cribs turn on their music and their twilight turtle and shut the door. Madelynn was NEVER like that! Apparently we are doing something right the second time around! And yes, they eat a TON!

We recently went to the Crayola factory and met up with a triplet family from New York. They also have a 3 year old daughter so she and Maddy had loads of fun together! It was so much fun to hang out with another mom of triplets! It is amazing the friends that I have met because of the common bond of triplets! And I'm excited for a possible outing in December that will include at least 4 families with triplets and it will likely be more! What a spectacle we will be!

I also had the pleasure of having a triplet mom's night out on Friday night with some local triplet mommies. It was so much fun and so nice to get out of the house for a few mins without children!

I will leave you all with some recent pictures! Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

4 months old!

It has become increasingly difficult to keep track of time. On one hand, time has flown. It still feels like the boys are brand new. Then again, I also feel like I've aged quite a lot. Adding to the confusion, just last week I was asked the following questions, "Are the twins here yet," and, "your kids are, what, a year old now?" All of that is to say that we had our 4 month checkup on Friday.

Let's start with some stats. Daniel weighs 15lbs, 9oz, and is 25 inches long. Ryder is 13lbs 2oz, and is 23.75 inches long. Garrett is 15lbs, 11oz, and is 24.5 inches long. For comparison, at 4 months Maddy was 13lbs 12 oz, 24.5 inches long. The boys are huge.

Aside from learning how much weight we're lifting, the 4 month mark is also bringing some developmental milestones. Daniel and Ryder are rolling on to their bellies regularly now. We've stopped swaddling the boys for that reason. They're still sleeping really well, and Daniel and Ryder are usually on their bellies when we wake them in the morning. Garrett gets about 80% of the way over, and then seems content to be on his side. Everyone has been rolling onto their backs for a few weeks now.

We are seeing more personality and smiles every day. Garrett seems to be about as much of a morning person as his daddy, and needs a little more time first thing in the morning before he is ready to eat and get on with his day. Daniel likes to wake up a few minutes before his brothers and is typically smiling and giggling right away.

The boys have started cereal.  They love eating and think it is so much fun to “help”!  (We just started peas the end of the week – it took that long to get the update into the computer!)

The family has been super busy lately. I attempted to plan a birthday get together for Jennifer, but we have no free weekends for the foreseeable future. Maddy has been enjoying a weekly dance class with her friends. Jen is back to work, and I have started to travel a little more. Life has become quite the balancing act... We still try to make time daily to reflect on just how blessed we have been with 4 awesome kids, good health, and a great support system.

On another note, the boys got to experience a great weekend of football, seeing 4th quarter comeback victories by Penn State on Saturday and by the Pittsburgh Steelers (sorry Eagles fans!) on Sunday. (and we don’t want to talk about the loss to the titans on Thursday night)

Daniel

Ryder

Garrett

Labor Day Weekend

I know, I know I'm a few weeks behind... Can I use having triplets as an excuse?

The beach was wonderful!!! We went with good friends and our nanny graciously agreed to give up her long weekend and join us at the beach, which meant we had 7 adults for 7 kids.  6 of the 7 are 2 and under!  We stayed at our friend, Abbey's house, and it was beautiful and laid out perfectly for all the people we have.  She also has a 3 month old little boy, so it was fun to have all the boys together!

It was such a relaxed weekend.  We hung out on the beach during the days and just watched movies/college football in the afternoon and evenings.  We did get the opportunity to go out one evening after the kids were in bed, no we didn't leave them alone!  It had been awhile since Dan and I had grown up time with another couple.  Sad thing is we were all so tired that we were home by 11. Haha!

Maddy loved the ocean and played down by the water the whole time we were at the beach.  She and Joleigh dug a huge hole on the last day, and by huge I mean, I couldn't see her when she was down in it!  I am so happy that she is so comfortable in the ocean, because that's my favorite place to be!  I think I spent a couple hours in the water!

The boys were great and liked being on the beach because I'd let them sleep however they positioned themselves.  Garrett would wiggle to his side and almost to his belly and just pass out.  He loved it.  I think they liked the warmth of the sand.

Hanging out on the beach, no matter how far apart I put them they always wiggled back to one another.

AHHH QUADS!  It was pretty funny watching people count babies.
The "extra" little guy is a few weeks older than the trips.

Soaking wet, sandy, and eating some french fries; can't get much better!

Right hook to the face!  That's not very nice, Garrett!

My "Things" hanging out in the evening.

The whole clan before we left to come home.
The girls loved having real live baby dolls all weekend!

Our return trip home was long, but everyone was really good in the car.  And the best part was everyone was healthy and eating like champs!  I'm so glad we decided to head to the beach even though the kiddos were sick that week.  We needed the break! 

What a week!

12 weeks old and what a week it has been. The week started with me headed back to work and Maddy starting "school". I work 11 hours on Mondays and came home to find out that Daniel and Ryder had diarrhea throughout the day. I figured that it may have been just the stress of being with someone new, at least that's what I was hoping.

That night Maddy started throwing up, so I knew then we were up against a GI bug. By Tuesday afternoon the boys were still pooping a ton and Maddy was barely eating anything, so I left work early (the kids were with our awesome nanny and my mom) and took Ryder to the doctor bc he seemed to be getting the worst of it and he can't afford to lose weight. Well unfortunately he has dropped from the 5th to the 4th percentile, but the doctor said he was well hydrated and that we were doing the right thing. She switched the boys to soy formula mixed with breast milk and had us offer pedialyte in between bottles.

Wednesday Maddy was back to her old self, which meant that by the end of the day she was cranky from being pent up all day. The boys seemed to be feeling better, but then Daniel threw up. Ugh!

Today they have pooped a lot less, but both Daniel and Ryder have thrown up once. They woke up hungry this am and have eaten much better today, but obviously they are still not 100%. It breaks my heart to see them sick and I am praying that Garrett doesn't get it too! I don't think I can take much more.

Please pray for healthy babies, I really cannot stand to see them sick. I'm so worried about Ryder's weight and this is taking its toll on him. Daniel also seems to be losing ground when compared to Garrett, but he has a little better reserve. So again, please keep us in your prayers. And here is hoping for a better week next week!

We are beach bound this weekend so I'm hopeful that the babies feel better so we can all have a relaxing time with some good friends!

And even though he's sick, he's still all smiles - my Daniel man!

Looking back...

I found Ryder's hospital bracelet in the diaper bag tonight. How quickly I have forgotten how tiny they really were. We are truly blessed at how healthy these boys are.

Catching up!

Ok so this is long overdue and actually I started it a week ago...

Life has been busy lately!  Lots of changes are happening soon - I'm back to work at the end of the month and Maddy will be starting preschool!  Not sure how easy the transition back to work will be, but at least I'm only going to be working 3 days a week.

The boys are just awesome!  They are getting so big and even their 0-3m clothes are getting tight!  It will soon be time to switch out clothes again!  Speaking of switching clothes, we had to order new Woombies because Garrett and Daniel no longer fit into theirs.  I highly recommend woombies vs any other swaddle.  We have lots of the Halo sleep sacks, and while they are nice the boys always find a way to get their arms out and they don't sleep nearly as well.  Put them in a woombie and they sleep amazingly well!  Also since woombies are a little on the expensive side I contacted the company asking if they would provide a discount for multiples and within a few hours I had a code to use online for a discount!  I was so happy with that we bought 6 this time!

The boys are on a great schedule right now and I feel like everything is flowing pretty smoothly.  They eat, play, and then nap and that seems to make for happy babies!  This week we tried switching the boys to a formula for fussiness and gas because they are horribly gassy, well it did not agree with Garrett at all, so we are just going to deal with the gas.  I think it bothers me more than it does them anyway.  Ryder is finally rid of thrush so he has been allowed to nurse.  I only let him nurse on one side and then give him a bottle because he is on the higher calorie formula and I don't want him to miss out on too many extra calories.  Daniel and Garrett just have 2 spots on the roof of their mouth, so if I can remember to give them the medicine more frequently then it should be gone soon!

Daniel is our social guy.  He loves to smile and coo at everyone.  He loves to play with his activity gym and look in the mirror.  He is pretty laid back until it is time to eat and then he will let you know.  If we are a minute late he will be relentless until the bottle is in his mouth!  He also has managed to roll from belly to back.  I thought it was a fluke at first, but now he is doing it pretty consistently.  Yay buddy!

Daniel - 2 months old

Ryder is our "singleton" or so he thinks.  He prefers to have attention all the time and would much rather be held than anything else.  He is no longer willing to sleep for any length of time in his bouncy seat (which is where they typically nap) because he wants to be held instead.  Thank goodness he sleeps just fine in his crib, so overnight isn't a problem!  Ryder has rolled from belly to back once or twice and it is usually just when he's mad enough to do so.  Ryder is always giving sly smiles and has the best expressions!

Ryder - 2 months old

Garrett is our sleeper.  He loves to sleep!  He is always the first one to fall asleep and typically is the last one up in the morning.  He usually loves to eat and is often the first one done.  The last couple days hasn't been great because his belly was upset, but otherwise he is an excellent eater.  He has also rolled from belly to back, but is no where close to doing it consistently.  He is also very stingy with his smiles.  He will smile at us, but he makes you work for it!

Garrett - 2 months old

Since this is already a long post, I will try to post again tomorrow with some of the fun things we have done recently to wrap up the summer!  We still have a few fun things planned including a long weekend to the beach with some friends!  7 kids (4 infants, 2 2.5 year olds and a 5 year old!) and 7 adults, I think we are covered!

more cuteness...

Daniel, Ryder, Garrett (seriously boys, hold still!)

Daniel, Ryder, Garrett - 10 weeks

Daniel, Ryder, Garrett - 3 peas in a pod
(someone made these hats for us and they have little pea pods as the tassel!)

8 weeks!

8 weeks!  How can my babies be 2 months old already?  They are getting too big too fast!  I can't believe that in just a few weeks I will be heading back to work.  It is going to be so hard to leave them, but fortunately we were able to keep our nanny who we used with Madelynn.  It will be so nice to have her in our home!  

The boys had their check up and are awesome like always!  The doctor was very pleased with their growth as well as their neck strength/head control. They had some shots, which did not make for happy campers that night.  Nothing a few snuggles couldn't fix though.  All 3 boys now have thrush; thanks for sharing, Ryder.  We were very careful to not have the boys share things, but a few mistakes of switching nuks when it was dark has managed to spread it to the other boys.  That means breast feeding has been put on hold and I'm going to treat myself just to be on the safe side.  Fortunately all the boys should be cleared up by the beginning of next week.  I'm still struggling with my supply, but it's tough with just pumping, and also trying to make sure I'm eating and drinking enough.  At least the boys are getting 10 ounces each every day.  Because of how well they are growing we can put Daniel and Garrett on regular formula, which is 20 calories/ounce.  Ryder is going to stay on the neosure for now, 22 calories/ounce.  He is growing well, but the doctor doesn't want him to fall behind.  Oh and we are going to try to drop the midnight feeding and see what happens.  The boys eat every 4 hours during the day and have been eating at 11:30 pm and then not again until 7:30 am.  For the last week or so they have needed to be awakened at 11:30 and they weren't really eating well, so we are going to try dropping that feeding and just see what happens.

Here are their stats:
Daniel: 10 lbs 15 oz (39th%) 21.75 inches
Ryder:  8 lbs 12 oz (5th% up from < 3rd) 20.75 inches
Garrett: 11 lbs 3 oz (44th%) 21.5 inches

Other changes, the boys are starting to try and roll and often make it from their back to their side.  They have started smiling, not consistently yet, but I don't think it will be much longer.  They are also sleeping in their own cribs.  It broke my heart to separate them because they love to cuddle with each other, but lately they were moving so much they were practically on top of one another in the morning so we decided it was time.  They don't seem to mind and are usually moving all over the place in their crib, but it was still sad for me as it meant they were growing up already.

We have a low key weekend scheduled, so hopefully we can relax and play. :-) 

Daniel, Ryder, Garrett (8.5 weeks)

Maddy wanted a picture with her brothers!

Wiggle Worms!

I laid them down with a good 6 inches between them. This is how I just found them when waking them for their midnight bottle...

Love.

Last night during the midnight feeding Dan got my attention to look at Daniel and Garrett. I looked over and saw the sweetest thing - they were holding hands. Love.

Weekend Craziness!

Well it has taken us until today to recover from our weekend away, but it was so much fun!  We got up early on Saturday morning, fed the boys and packed everyone and everything into our car.  It was a bit of a challenge as we didn't actually have our car, but a loaner as Dan's vehicle was having recall work done on it.  We still don't have it back!  So we went from our typical 8 passenger vehicle, to a 7 passenger vehicle.  It all worked out ok though and we fit just fine.

Madelynn was great in the car as usual and just watched a movie on the ipad with headphones on, which meant that we didn't have to listen to it!  It was wonderful.  The boys were really good travelers as well and didn't start fussing until about 20 minutes from the destination...

We arrived at Dan's Grandparents' church just in time to feed the boys, and fortunately early enough that we were still able to be a part of the surprise!  It was his grandfather's 80th birthday and his grandmother's 78th birthday and we were having a surprise party that actually managed to stay a surprise!  It was so nice to see family and have everyone meet the boys.  We had help to feed boys all day and they were so good being passed around from person to person.

Arriving at church and very surprised!

The whole group, it was impossible to get one of everyone looking at the correct camera!

Ah young love!  Happy 80th Grandpa and Happy 78th Grandma!

  Saturday evening we left his grandparents and headed to the hotel which was most of the way to our destination for the next day.  We were smart enough to book a one bedroom suite, which proved to be a very smart thing to do!  After putting the boys to bed, Maddy took a tubby, then Dan, Maddy and I watched some TV while enjoying a snack.  At about 10:20 Maddy looked at me and said, "Mommy, I need to go to bed."  Ok! (Last time we stayed in a hotel she was running around until after midnight because she was so excited).  I covered her up and turned out the lights and went to the other part of the room.  By the time Dan returned from getting ice, she was sound asleep!  We fed the boys once more and were hopeful for a good night's sleep.  Not so much, the boys were up around 3 am and were up just about every half hour from then on, I think it was a long day for them!  We managed to get a little sleep and then Sunday morning we were on our way to State College for Dan's cousin's baby shower.

The shower was in a gorgeous park that had a creek running through it.  I am so happy that we were able to be a part of the shower, and it was so nice to have yet another day with Dan's grandparents and all of his Aunts, Uncles and Cousins.  It made for a great day.  The boys had another day of being handed off to everyone and just being held all day.  They enjoyed that; however, it made Monday a bit tricky!  All four kids slept the whole way home, and bedtime was a bit of a nightmare.  It was ok though because Madelynn loved it.  She asked us again today if Great Grandma was here.  I know she just loves them so much!

Congrats Meredith and Jason!  I cannot wait until Father's Day next year when our little ones will get to play!

Aunt Cindy made these awesome favors.  Local honey!

All of the grandchildren and great grandchildren!

We decorated onesies for the baby, don't worry Meredith and Jason LOVE fish!

Another one of the cute onesies.  There were a bunch and they were all super cute!

Maddy had some help posing from Aunt Patricia!

How can you not love that face?!

Maddy having fun with Aunt Patty!

Aunt Cindy, Meredith, and Meredith's mom, Darlene.

The kids' favors - balloons.  Maddy ended up "giving hers to another child" i.e. they flew up, up and away!

The weekend was tons of fun and I am so glad we were able to be there.  The boys and Maddy were so good and just rolled with all the changes to the schedule and being in different places.  I'm glad that we were able to have a weekend away and it gave us a good idea of how we can pack efficiently to fit everything we need.  Not sure we will be going away again anytime soon though!

And even though this blog post is extremely long - here are a few pictures of the boys from Friday morning.

Daniel (6.5 weeks)

Ryder (6.5 weeks)

Garrett (6.5 weeks)

 

6 weeks old

6 weeks have gone by so quickly! The boys are so incredibly cute and oh so chubby! We are having so much fun getting to have a little "play time" each day. The boys are becoming so much more interactive and every now and then we get a smile that is not gas related! Madelynn has enjoyed playing with them on their activity mats too! They are also eating a ton! Daniel has graduated to 6 oz bottles, while the other two get 5 oz bottles. They eat every 4 hours throughout the day. We then feed them at midnight and they go anywhere from 5-7 hours after that. We love the 7 hour days!

This past week was a bit crazy. Tuesday during the day I missed a pumping session bc of the boys hip ultrasound. Then, Tuesday evening my pump started acting funny, so I thought that it was the battery dying and that I just needed to charge it. Well I had it plugged in all night and the next morning it was still dead. I was thinking gee great. Even plugged in it wasn't working. I made sure to have the boys nurse at each feeding and I called Medela. The Medela rep thought it was my charger, so even though the pump was out of warranty she sent a new one overnight free of charge! I received the new charger Thursday around 10:15 and immediately attempted to plug in the pump. Well it didn't work. So off we went to babies r us to get a new pump. As a result of the 2.5 days without a pump, my supply took a big hit. Fortunately it seems to be improving, but I'm still not getting what I was. The scary part is that without providing at least some breast milk we will be using a can of formula a day. Yikes. The coolest part of this whole ordeal was that Tuesday morning we received two checks in the mail for supplies for the babies... The total was exactly the amount of the new pump. It is amazing how God provides!

We were also able to have our first date night on Saturday night. We left the boys and Madelynn with someone other than family, which was super stressful for me, but went really well. We were able to enjoy dinner with good friends. It was so nice to have an adult conversation and enjoy a meal without the interruption of a crazy two year old or fussing from a newborn!

We have a weekend trip planned for this upcoming weekend, so we get to figure out how to pack a car for a family of 6 for an overnight stay. We are looking forward to the adventure and I will have to write about it when we get back!

Until then some cuteness...

1. Sleepy Ryder 2. The boys in their big boy crib 3. Drowsy Garrett 4. Happy Daniel

Happy Due Date!!

I cannot believe that today is the boys original due date!  I also can't believe that had I been pregnant with a singleton I could very well still be pregnant! Thanks boys for making it shorter for me!  We have had the boys for 5 weeks and I cannot imagine it any other way.  It's amazing how quickly you discover a new normal.

The boys are getting huge!  Ryder is still our tiny guy, but with the week he's had it really doesn't surprise me.  Shortly after the doctor's appointment last Tuesday we noticed white spots on Ryder's tongue.  And of course Wednesday was July 4th, so we had to wait until Thursday to get medicine for his thrush.  Because he was uncomfortable he wasn't eating as well, but fortunately he was still gaining weight.  We started Nystatin and though it is taking care of his thrush it's making him throw up, so we have yet again increased his calories as he is not getting as much volume.  I'm hopeful that it won't be too much longer and we can be done with it.

We are now feeding them every 3.5 - 4 hours on demand and we are letting them go as long as they want after the midnight feeding.  We did manage to sleep six hours last night!  Pretty sure we won't be that lucky again, but I'll take it!

The boys continue to be more alert and are much more interactive.  They alert to rattles and our voices and we have even received a few smiles!  It has been fun watching them change over the past few days even.


We were daring the other evening and took the family out to eat at Maddy's favorite place, Red Robin.  We survived and they boys did great!  I don't know how frequently we will be going anywhere for meals, but it was nice to get out of the house and enjoy a wrap and fries!

Today we had to take the boys for hip ultrasounds just to make sure that everything developed correctly due to their positioning when they were in my belly.  I'm happy to say that all six hips looked perfect!  The boys were very good for the ultrasounds and actually slept most of the time.  After the ultrasound we went to MFM to visit.  Everyone was thrilled to see the boys and how big they were.  How fitting that we went to see them on the boys due date!

Here are some pictures from last night....

Clockwise from top left - Maddy, Daniel, Ryder, Garrett

Daniel, Ryder, Garrett (5 weeks! Happy Due Date!)

Daniel was talking to Daddy

Ryder yawning

Garrett thinking about giving us a smile

Maddy was picking my flowers!

Maddy enjoys blowing the dandelion seeds!