15/16 Months and Halloween Happenings

As usual, I haven't updated in quite some time.

We had our 15 month check up and the boys are growing like crazy!  Daniel was 23.5lbs, Ryder 21lbs and Garrett was 22.5lbs.  They are all 30" or taller as well, but I don't remember the specifics because it was in September!

The boys have been healthy, though Ryder had to deal with an ear infection that took two rounds of antibiotics to really kick.  Thankfully it was only one or two sleepless nights in there as he is so happy typically!

The boys are really starting to talk more and are repeating sounds much more frequently.  Every now and then we get random words that seem to come out of nowhere!  

The boys love to play with puzzles, little people, cars and books.  They love reading books and will sit intently listening to their bedtime story!

They are always on the move, climbing on everything and using each other to reach things.  Ryder isn't yet walking as well as his brothers, but he is taking more and more steps each day.  I've learned that with Ryder I need to just be patient, he does things on his terms.  The newest skill in the household is that Daniel can reach the pull down door handles and provide "freedom" to his brothers... Like when they showed up on the deck while we were letting the dog out!  The deadbolt is locked all the time now!

October has been a busy month!  We started the month going to the Halloween Parade and the kids loved it!  We definitely had an advantage and got tons of candy!  Maddy was pretty happy to be a big sister to triplets that night!  The boys were even photographed for the local newspaper. :)

On a rare morning off I was able to go with the nanny to take the boys to a local farm for their fall harvest days.  The boys had a blast playing all morning!

Mid-month we participated in our town's Streets of Treats.  Maddy loved playing all of the games and again getting a bunch of candy!  She also made sure to always get something for her brothers.  She is a great big sister!

Just this week we had lots of activity!  Monday was Alumni Trick-or-Treat at my college and the kids again had a blast! Lots of activities and lots of candy!

And then on Halloween we had Maddy's parade at her school and of course trick or treat night!  

Maddy's best friends joined us for trick-or-treating, rounding out our Despicable Me theme by adding Margo, Edith and of course a tiny minion!  Even though we had a few tears over line leader responsibilities, the kids had a blast and the boys even walked for a little bit to get a few pieces of candy for themselves! :)

All in all it has been a busy month, but man have we had fun!

Oh and just because...

Did you know?

Tonight I am taking a break from my typical posts about my adorable triplets, because, well this topic deserves it...

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

In my relatively short career I have had the incredible opportunity to work at our local children's hospital on our Pediatric Oncology Unit.  I have also had the opportunity to be a part of a research team to make changes to positively affect the current treatment that those children receive during their active medical treatment to maybe, just maybe, lessen the physical effects that the current treatments have on their little bodies.  Through this I have met many amazing little ones who were the most courageous people I have ever known, all fighting for their lives.  Many of those children are still fighting with everything they have, some are currently in remission, and unfortunately more than is acceptable have lost their fight.  It is incredibly difficult to treat a child, one last time, simply for pain management, knowing that the next day that child may no longer be there because their body just couldn't take it any longer.  But I'm "just" the therapist.  I am not the parent.  As a parent, I cannot imagine the pain, the heart ache, the absolute despair that would be watching your child leave you.  As a parent, I don't want any other parent to ever have to suffer through that loss.  Which is why I support Childhood Cancer Awareness...

Did you know...
~13,500 children are diagnosed with cancer EVERY YEAR in the United States.

~1 in 5 will DIE.

~46 school children will be diagnosed with cancer EVERY DAY.

~Pediatric cancer is the leading cause of death by disease among US children under 14.

~Only 4% of the National Cancer Institute's budget goes to pediatric funding.

~The average age of death from pediatric cancer is 8.

~Childhood cancer kills more children than AIDS, asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis and congenital anomalies combined.

~3 out of 5 children who survive suffer devastating late effects such as secondary cancers, muscular difficulties and infertility.

~The causes of childhood cancers are largely unknown, and for the most part they cannot be prevented and are not a result of lifestyle choices.


These children need a VOICE.  Childhood cancer needs more funding for research.  Research to improve treatments and give these kids HOPE for a true CURE.  Better, less toxic treatments for today's childhood cancer patients will lead to fewer late effects for tomorrow's survivors.  I have seen the results of treatment that have caused children to need to relearn how to walk, sit, play.  I have seen teenagers lose their chance at college athletics because of the side effects of their treatment, treatment necessary to save their lives.

It's easy to turn the other way and pretend it doesn't exist... but it does and it is life changing for the child, their siblings and their parents.

Check out www.curesearch.org or www.stjude.org or www.alexslemonade.org to find out how to be a part of the cause to raise awareness and support our children, because they are our future.

Go Gold for Childhood Cancer Awareness!

It's been awhile...

I just realized that I have not posted in 2 months!  It is crazy how quickly time just seems to pass by when raising 4 crazy kiddos.  We have had a really fun summer and have one more trip planned at the end of the month!

This summer has contained pool days, a splash pad, HersheyPark, a trip to the Erie Zoo with another triplet family, the boys first and second hair cuts, and many more adventures!

They are 14.5 months and are always on the move.  Always!  Garrett was the first to learn to walk and now he is walking pretty much everywhere.  Daniel was a week or so behind him, but is also primarily walking everywhere.  They did this crazy knee walking for about a month before they actually walked... Well Ryder is doing the knee walk now, so I don't think it will be much longer before he is walking well.  He can take 3-4 steps now, but is just as content to crawl or climb on anything!  

They are starting to repeat words, but I'm a terrible mom and I'm not really sure who can say what because they all have random words at random times.  Ryder is definitely the most consistent with his signs, but he also whines when he wants something just like the other two.

They love to read and point at pictures, they love to build with their mega bloks and they love to attempt puzzles.  Their newest trend has also been baby dolls.  We had a solid week of having to carry a specific doll up and down stairs because Garrett had to have it at all times.  Fortunately Madelynn has a set of triplet baby dolls and she graciously let her brothers have them (for now at least).  We were also given a swing set by a very sweet family in our church and that is definitely one of our big favorites right now.

That pretty much sums up the summer as it stands at this point (I am sure I'm missing many things!).  I'll add some pictures and hopefully I do a better job of staying on top of updating the blog!

She's a Hershey kiss!

Riding the train... Choo choo!

Loving that they can now climb onto furniture!

First hair cuts.

Playing in the spring

Erie Zoo Adventure!  4 adults and 10 kids! (Ok it was actually 7 adults and 11 kids, but just our two families comprised the first statistic!)

13 month pictures

Splash pad fun!

New swing set!

Garrett's baby. :)

Swinging...

Swimming

Morning snuggles

Buzz cuts!

Brothers!

Family photo time, just last night!

Yep, that's about it for now! 

Climbing!

These boys have become quite the climbers!  They have figured out how to use their ride on toys as step stools. They  also utilize each other if necessary! This also means that the boys have learned a new word, "stuck".  They are constantly getting up on things and then cannot figure out how to get down!  I hear "stuck" and "uh oh" a lot these days!

One Year Old!

I know I'm a week late in posting this... Part of that is denial, the other part is that I wanted to wait for their well visit so that I had their current stats to share.

It honestly feels like a dream, I am in sheer and utter disbelief that the boys are one.  How can my babies no longer in fact be babies?  Now when someone says, "hold old are they?" I can respond with "they are 1 year old." not a random amount of months, but I can respond with a year. YEAR.  This just blows my mind.  Didn't I just deliver these babies?

The boys have had a fun birthday week.  They had a visit from both grandma and grammy on their birthday. Big sister Madelynn got them piggy banks and "cool outside chairs that are their colors, we have to get them"!  They really are cool chairs, I had to agree with her there. They were able to enjoy yummy cupcakes that were also "their colors".

Daniel in blue, Ryder in Red and Garrett in Green
Photo shoots are always an adventure!

Saturday was their birthday party... It was a 3 ring circus ;). We are so incredibly blessed to have such amazing friends and family.  The boys were totally spoiled! (No idea what to do with all of their new toys.). They loved their smash cakes and ate pretty much every last bite, so of course they required a sink bath to get somewhat clean!  I'm so happy with how the party turned out, so thanks so our awesome nanny, Abbey, and some friends Tonya, Briana and Sherisa for helping to make the day spectacular!  Both of our mom's were major players in making this birthday party happen!  Thanks to all of the other people who helped as well!  The cakes and cake pops were so yummy and surprisingly we didn't have a ton left over!  Briana made spectacular cookies that were shaped as lions, elephants, and giraffes... too bad I was only able to try one of those!

Sunday we were able to sleep in and play with some new toys (not daddy, he was a good boy and went to church to lead worship)!  After a really long nap we were able to go to my brother's house to have a picnic and spend time with family that we haven't seen in a few years!  It was so much fun and between their children, my brother's kids and my kids we had 10 kids 8 and under!  They had a blast playing in the water and just having fun!

The boys had their one year well visit today.  They are getting so big!  Ryder is trying so hard to catch up in the weight department and has jumped growth chart lines!  The "big" boys have slowed down in the weight department, but have taken off in the height department, so the doctor is in no way concerned!

Daniel:
My long haired boy!  He has the longest and curliest hair of the three and has become quite the flirt.  If I ask him if he is handsome he will shrug his shoulders and blink at me.  I think he is winking and it is the cutest thing!  He is able to stand without holding onto anything and he can sign "more" and "all done" when he wants to.  He says momma and dadda and is my only boy who uses and abuses a pacifier.  At the doctor he weighed in at 22 lbs 8 oz (43rd percentile) and was 30.5 inches (70th percentile) tall.  I am not quite sure how these preemies are in the 70th percentile for anything, but I'll take it!

Daniel Jeffrey
Photo Credit:  Jay Stover Photography

Ryder:
He remains the little guy, but man is he feisty!  He is my comedian.  He will laugh at us and will often laugh when his brothers or sister are getting into trouble.  He is my monkey and will attempt to climb just about anything, which often results in bruises!  He also has the worst stranger anxiety, which is funny because he will wave to just about anyone.  He can sign "more" and will often sign "all done" prior to eating more.  His final cue that he is really all done is placing his foot on the table and laughing.  I need to correct this behavior somehow, but it is awfully cute!  He says momma and dadda and abba (giving his abbey some love!).  Today he weighed in at 19 lbs 14 oz (9th percentile) and yes 2 oz shy of 20 lbs. and was 29 inches tall (23rd percentile).  His love for milk was shown by his low normal hemoglobin.  I had to tell the doctor that not only does he drink his cup of milk, but he typically steals his brothers.  He is determined to catch up as he eats more than the other two and steals cups at every turn!

Ryder James
Photo Credit:  Jay Stover Photography

Garrett:
He is my daring boy!  He will climb onto anything and has already figured out to push smaller objects next to taller ones so he can climb onto the first to eventually get onto the tall item.  He is standing without holding onto things and will take 4-5 steps before sitting down.  He will walk up tall on his knees all over the place, just to drive me crazy!  He says mamma, dadda, uh-oh and will occasionally say done.  He is always on the go!  He is my medium sized boy at 21 lbs 11 oz (31st percentile) and is the exact same height as Daniel at 30.5 inches (70th percentile).

Garrett Campbell
Photo Credit:  Jay Stover Photography

These boys are growing up way too fast!  They eat only table food and because they have no longer been interested in bottles we tried bedtime snack instead.  They loved it and did not even care that they didn't get a bottle.  Big boys!  It is pretty cute to see them crawl up the stairs and go straight to the bathroom to have their teeth brushed before bed though.

This past year has been amazing, exhausting, and one of the best things I have ever experienced in my lifetime.  I count it a true blessing to be their mom and I love every moment I get to spend with them!  I'm looking forward to many more years of excitement ahead!

Madelynn and her littles
Photo Credit:  Jay Stover Photography

We have lots of fun coming up this summer.  Madelynn has her first ever dance recital on Saturday.  I'm so excited!  We also have our annual trip to Dan's grandparents this weekend to celebrate Father's Day!  I think it may be the first pool adventure for the boys!

I know a lot of mom's have managed to do a 360 day photo post, and while I would love to attempt that, let's face it, I struggle with once a month, but my goal over this next year is to do 1 photo/post a week.  So here's hoping it happens!

How are they 11 months already?

I cannot believe that my little babies are very quickly turning into little boys. I also cannot believe that in just one month they will be ONE! How in the world did that happen so fast? I am in no way ready to have 3 one year olds!! This time last year we were up to our heads in boxes preparing to move and I had just started my medical leave as we were hopeful to make it through settlement on the house before the boys arrived and only through the grace of God did that happen!

The boys are so much fun and have developed such unique little personalities. Daniel is our social butterfly, Ryder is our cautious "thinker", and Garrett is our daredevil!

I have no idea how much they weigh currently, I just know that they are heavy! They are all in their rear facing convertible car seats now because I could no longer manage 20 pound babies in an infant carrier! They love their seats and Maddy likes that she can pick which boy sits in the back with her. Ryder is finally tolerating the car, he just can't be in the middle seat; only took us 10+ months to figure it out!

We have our first word - "Uh Oh". Garrett loves saying it, but only when daddy isn't listening. Otherwise they all babble constantly and there are lots of mamas and dadas, but not typically directed at either of us yet.

Garrett is also the only one standing by himself, but he refuses to take any steps. Daniel and Ryder are starting to test the waters and let go every now and then, but they are still very cautious. I know that they will get it eventually, and actually I'm kind of ok because I'm not ready to be running it different directions! They are so quick when crawling and they work together!

The boys have been loving the nice weather we have had and they are outside much of the day with big sis. They are all so tired by the end of the day that they don't even make a peep when lying them down for bed!

We have a busy month coming up with lots of activity! We have the boys one year pictures (a little early); Dan is running a 1/2 marathon and I hope to be doing a 5K; Aunt Katherine is graduating from college; cousins Addison and Aiden turn 5!; and who knows what else will pop up!

Also, thanks to God having a perfect plan for our family... I was able to leave my outpatient job and switch solely to early intervention. I am so happy to be able to continue to work as a pediatric PT, but have more time at home for my kiddos!

Please pray for us to get through this next month without too many hurdles as I transition jobs and we look forward to the boys first birthday party!

10 Months!

I cannot believe that my babies are 10 months old.  The time has flown by and I am definitely not ready for them to be one!!!  Birthday Party plans have commenced, and I have a feeling it could easily get out of hand being a first birthday party for triplets!  The theme is a secret for now, but I am sure there will be plenty of pictures and who knows if I can keep it a secret for long!

The boys had their 9 month well visit last week, and yes, I know it was almost a month late.  The doctor is very happy with how well they are growing and developing.  She said that developmentally Garrett is ahead and Ryder is right on.  I always worry about my little guy because he always seems to be a few weeks behind his brothers and sometimes it is hard to not compare them!  They are huge and somehow two of the boys are in the 63rd percentile for height and the 50(ish) percentile for weight.

The boys are all crawling, pulling standing and basically getting into everything.  They are eating pretty much everything we are with the occasional baby food here and there.  This morning for breakfast they ate 10 pancakes and 6 sausage links split between them and topped it off with morning bottles.  For dinner they ate more than Madelynn.  I am not sure how we are going to afford to feed them during their teenage years!

The boys are so much fun and have such great personalities.  It has been amazing to watch them grow and change.  They are learning so quickly.  There are so many days that I look at them and think, wow I have been blessed with amazing little boys.  I never would have thought that Dan and I would be raising triplets!

We have been blown away by the continued outpouring of love from friends and family.  Formula, food, coupons, diapers, wipes, clothes, etc.  At least once a week I hear the words "I have something for you guys."  It is such an incredible blessing.  We will never be able to express our gratitude to the extent that it is felt.  We do greatly appreciate everything and we are definitely trying to pay it forward by giving to other families with triplets (or anyone for that matter)!

We love these boys! (and of course Maddy too!)

Happy First Easter!

The boys had a fun, but busy Easter weekend.  Saturday started with a photo shoot at our church for an upcoming article about the boys and what it's like to raise triplets.  We are pretty excited to see the finished product when it comes out next month!  The boys were so well behaved, and Maddy was too!  As soon as the portraits were finished, the photographer was able to take some candid photos during the Easter egg hunt.  The boys enjoyed holding them and trying to chew on them!  Madelynn, on the other hand, was hilarious.  She told me that she only wanted pink and purple eggs.  I tried to encourage her to just get whatever she could.  I'm not joking when I say thousands of people come to this event at our church, so being selective is not necessarily the best choice.  Well she proved me wrong, of her 19 eggs she only had 5 that were not pink or purple.  Way to go little lady.

From there we went to a friend's daughter's 3rd birthday at a playground.  It was so nice to spend the whole day outside.  The boys were definitely a focal point, which I kind of felt badly about, but the birthday girl got lots of love too!  The boys enjoyed bubbles and stealing cake from one another.  Daniel decided he didn't want to share with his brothers and crawled over and grabbed Maddy's whole piece off of the plate.  I guess he showed us!  Don't worry, she got another piece.

On Sunday, Dan had to be at church early for worship team practice as there were 3 services instead of the typical 2, meaning he missed the kids getting their baskets.  I tried to take lots of pictures though!  The boys immediately went for Maddy's basket, fortunately she was still in bed, so she didn't even realize it.  They had fun pulling their things out of the baskets.  It was funny to watch how each one had a different technique.  Daniel was content to just pull one thing out of his basket and had to have his attention drawn to the next thing before he moved on.  Ryder would look at what Daniel had, get his own out and then try to take Daniel's item.  Garrett very methodically took each item out, looked at it and then moved onto the next.  At one point Ryder had both his basket and Daniel's.  What a sneaky thief!  Maddy had fun getting all of her things out as well and was most excited about her new books and her chapstick!

Here are a few Easter pictures...

My crazy kiddos!  Apparently Ryder was nervous!

Look, he is an absolute thief!

9 Months!

I cannot believe that in a mere 3 months my babies will be one year old.   How did this happen so quickly?!?  It is truly amazing to look back and think about how little they were just 9 months ago.  Daniel and Garrett both at 5.5 pounds and Ryder just a bit behind at 4.5 pounds.  Knowing now how much they weigh, well and eat for that matter, I can't even remember them being tiny.

The boys are growing like crazy and seem to be learning new things every day.  Garrett still seems to be the most "mature" and has reached all of his gross motor milestones first.  I can still remember our pediatrician saying "Garrett must have been the original baby." the very first day we were in the hospital because he was oh so grown up compared to his brothers!  It has held true in that he has seemed to be about a week ahead of Daniel and 2 weeks ahead of Ryder when it comes to moving!

Daniel is still my sweet cuddly guy who wants to snuggle all the time.  He is quite capable of holding his bottle to eat, but would much rather someone hold him and his bottle instead.  He has the best laugh and babbles constantly.  He was also the first to learn how to clap and will wave his fingers at you mimicking the person he is watching.   He is crawling on his hands and knees occasionally, but when he wants to move quickly he's on his belly.  He is pulling up to stand, and falling pretty frequently, so we cheer and he smiles!

Ryder has become my smiley boy over the past few days.  He is always smiling in response to people talking to him.  He is also clapping and loves to bang toys together to make music.  He is still my best "people" food eater, and when he sees the "real" food, don't bother with the baby food because he will clamp his mouth shut until you give him the big boy stuff!  He always out eats his brothers with his real food.  He may be small, but he gives them a run for their money!  He is now crawling on his belly well, and is fast.  He can catch the other boys and will now climb onto and over them, which I cheer for because of the few weeks of them using him as a climbing block.  He is starting to pull up onto his knees to play at items, and is desperately trying to pull into standing, so I think that will be any day.  He is also finally sitting as well as his brothers.  I am pretty sure he is my mini - he is very STUBBORN!  Oh and another thing Ry will yell, not cry, but yell if you walk out of his direct line of sight and he wasn't done playing with you.  He also has a very funny laugh and it sounds almost like a nervous giggle.

Garrett is my dare devil.  He currently has a large brush burn on his forehead from trying to climb into a laundry basket while climbing over a "cruising" toy.  This boy has had more bruises and marks on him than Madelynn ever did!  He just doesn't seem to be afraid of anything, and it shows!  He is my first one to "escape" if the gate is left open and if you ask him what he is doing he just goes faster.  He wants to explore.  He has been crawling on hands and knees for quite some time and is climbing on and over anything and everything.  He is not only pulling up to standing, but cruising and is starting to switch between objects that are close to one another.  I am terrified to think of what is going to happen when he starts to walk!  I'm hoping that waits a few more months!  He also enjoys chatting, and he is a momma's boy!  If I put him down and walk away, look out, he will be standing at the gate crying in less than a minute.  I'm still not sure how these boys got to be so spoiled!  There are three of them, don't they know that?!?  Garrett has also started to wave at you if you wave at him first, which is adorable.

The boys have really enjoyed the nicer weather lately and have been getting to go on walks in the choo choo wagon.  They are so cute looking around and reaching for bushes.  It's quite amusing.  They are also champs at eating at restaurants.  They seem to really enjoy all the people and really don't often get fussy, unless they are without food for long periods of time.  I told you, these boys can eat!  We are finally down to just under 24 oz of formula a day.  And they each eat 1 container of baby food plus real food at each meal.  Today for lunch they had baby food "beef vegetable", cooked carrots, noodles, pork, and applesauce.  Dinner was baby food squash, peas and corn, chicken and oranges.  What can I say, they love food.  Our 9 month doctor appointment isn't until the end of the month, so I will try to update then with their actual weights - I estimated from their recent doctor visits from a week of ear infections!

On the move!

Wow, these boys are everywhere! Garrett has started pulling up to standing pretty much anywhere he can. He has also decided that the coffee table is a great place to hide as he climbs into it. He also took his firsts steps cruising today! Yikes, I'm a bit terrified of the thought of three toddlers!

Daniel has figured out how to open the gate as well as Garrett, so now if it isn't locked they are gone! He has also learned the coffee table trick. Apparently boys like forts from a very early age!

Ryder's surgery went really well (thanks for the prayers!) and ever since he has been up on his hands and knees when crawling and just crawling more often. He seems to be about two weeks behind Garrett with his gross motor skills, so at least I have some time to prepare once Garrett learns a new "trick" as Maddy calls it!

Hope you all had a happy valentine's day!

Enjoy the last few weeks of winter!

35 weeks on the outside!

Today the boys are 8 months old! I cannot believe it has been 8 months since having them. I also cannot believe that as of tomorrow they will have been "out" longer than in. I feel like the pregnancy was an eternity because of the sheer magnitude and worry involved with a triplet pregnancy, but man, I feel like these last 35 weeks went by in the blink of an eye!

Recently I was asked if things were easier now that the boys are a bit older. My answer, not easier, but different. Things like not having to get up in the middle of the night (typically), or not needing to hold bottles are easier, but now we have mobile babies who move in opposite directions, get into everything, and cry when something is taken away from them. So different just about sums it up.

We unofficially weighed the boys tonight on the bathroom scale... Daniel was 21lbs, Ryder was 18 and Garrett was 19.5. Holy moly! I'm pretty sure that these boys are not aware that they are supposed to be tiny! No wonder they eat so much! I cannot believe that even Ryder now weighs more than Madelynn did at this age. It is hard to believe they started at 5.5, 4.5 and 5.5 lbs!

Now, I think more than before it is getting harder to not compare the boys. They have always done things within a few days of each other, but now I feel like the motor gap is widening. Garrett seems to be the front runner on moving and even pulled to standing at the bathtub tonight! Ryder continues to be the best at eating especially his finger foods. He also seems to manipulate items with his hands a bit better than the other two. Daniel is my talker, he babbles all the time and has recently been saying "dada" a lot. I have been a bit worried about Ryder's motor skills because he was not sitting and usually rolls places vs crawling; however, he apparently just wanted to stress me out as this week he has learned how to sit for longer than 10 seconds and will on occasion do a commando type crawl. He is still not as efficient as his brothers, which brings me full circle... It is really hard not to compare them.

We are still so amazed at the outpouring of love from others. Many times we will arrive at church to a package of wipes or a bag of baby food. A friend will call and stop by with containers of formula or we will receive a gift card out of the blue for diapers. God's provision is just amazing. We purchased our first boxes of diapers last week since having the boys. That means that from others generosity we were able to go 8 months without having that expense! And with the left overs from outgrown sizes we have been able to bless other families with donations. We are just so incredibly thankful for it all!

In other news, please keep Ryder in your thoughts and prayers on Valentine's Day as he will be going under general anesthesia for a small procedure. Naturally, I am a worried mess, so if you could keep me in your prayers I would appreciate it!

Pictures from this evening... Please note the ridiculousness of it all!