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!

Dedication Sunday

Today we dedicated the boys at church.  It was so nice because their grandparents were all there as well as one of Dan's sisters, my brother and some of our good friends.  Dan also lead worship today, which made it all a little more special.  We had a nice lunch afterward with Dan's family and even had a few minutes to relax as all of the boys took a really good nap!  All in all it was a nice Sunday. I haven't had the opportunity to look through the pictures from today, but I will hopefully post some soon!

I managed to get a few pics of the boys between church and lunch...

Ryder was not in the mood to sit up this am or smile for that matter!

Catch up and a promise to do better!

Wow! It's been forever since I have updated this blog. I'm going to blame it on life with Triplets! The same reason that my Christmas cards are only half addressed! They will probably be sent in March at this point!

Maddy is now 3 years old! We had a Lorax party that was so much fun. Maddy really enjoyed it. Thank you to all who attended, your thank you cards are hanging out with the Christmas cards!

The boys are getting so big and are little busy bodies! They were 7 months on the fifth! They now eat 3 meals a day along with 4 bottles. They get mostly baby food, but they love "people" food and have tried lots of things. Grilled cheese and carrots are some of their favorites! It is amazing to see how much 3 babies ingest in one day! Really cannot imagine the teenage years!

Daniel is my super sweet little man. He is typically my social butterfly and loves to talk and smile at people. He also loves to lick his brothers. It is quite comical! He is usually very content unless he is tired. He loves to sleep! He is now sitting, mostly propping with his hands, but he is starting to pick his hands up. He is also semi-commando crawling. Ugly form, but gets him where he wants to go! At the 6 month check up he regained the title of heaviest baby at 18 lbs 7oz and 26.5 inches!

Ryder is my jokester! He laughs at his brothers, mickey mouse, his toys, Maddy and his daddy all the time! He typically has a smile on his face, but man he has a temper! He is able to hold his bottle all by himself (so can Daniel, but Ry is the best!) and will hold it the whole time, unless he's falling asleep! He is also the best at finger foods. He isn't great at sitting, but can sit when he props himself up with his hands. He also sort of commando crawls and is getting really fast! At 6 months he weighed in at 16 lbs 2 oz and was 26.25 inches tall! Madelynn weighed 15 lbs 12 oz at 6 months! Ryder is trying to tell everyone that he really isn't THAT little!

Garrett is my curious boy who gets into EVERYTHING!! He is sitting well enough to play with toys with both hands, and he is a master at moving! He is doing a half bunny hop half crawl on his hands and knees. He is fast! So fast that we have installed new gates to keep him contained! He wants to know what's going on and is notorious for stealing things from Daniel's tray at meals! He is my cuddle bug and would much rather me snuggle with him than going to bed himself. He is also able to hold his bottle, but recently he would much prefer me to hold him and his bottle! At 6 months he was 18 lbs 2 oz and was the tallest at 27.25 inches!

We are loving or crazy, blessed life right now! I am a little terrified as to what is going to happen when all 3 move as quickly as Garrett!

My goal for this year is to update at least 2x a month! Hopefully that happens! I will also try to do some "back" dated logs for Christmas and some other fun happenings!

I'll add try to add more pics soon! We hope that you all had a great holiday season!

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