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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Cuteness & Smiles...

The past couple of weeks the boys have been hard at work on something new...
They are finally giving big smiles and holding them long enough to get a picture of. They are also making all kinds of noises & sounds, and Kellan has been laughing here & there.

Kellan laughing
sorry these are so blury, my phone was the closest camera when he started laughing





Caden, sleeping on Mama snuggling with his monkey
Eason snuggling too
Donna with Garren sporting a John Deere hat
Garren deep in though (sleep)
Caden
Caden
Garren
Caden & Eason

Monday, August 29, 2011

Visitors from New York...

Aunt Sis with Garren & Janet with Caden & Kellan 
Last week Donna's cousin Janet & her Aunt Sis came for a visit. They came from New York & stayed for the week. They were super helpful with the boys & spoiled them rotten!!!
I probably should have taken advantage of having help & got caught up around the house, but I chose to take advantage of the opportunity to visit, we don't get to see family from NY as often as we would like.

On Tuesday my "bonus" sister, Mindy was in town, she & her husband & baby stopped by for a little visit. (that was the day of the earthquake) We had a nice visit with them as well & are looking forward to their permanent return to NC.

We went out with Aunt Sis & Janet on a couple of days to do a little sight seeing. Wednesday we went to the Reynolda House & Museum and we walked around Reynolda Village a little bit. On Friday we went to Old Salem.
I'm never really sure where to take people or what to do here with people who visit, we are still pretty new to Winston-Salem ourselves. Any suggestions from our local friends are welcome :)
Other than that we hung out around the house playing with babies, talking, & enjoying the company.

Aunt Sis with Garren & Eason
Janet & Caden
Caden showing off his dimples
Aunt Sis & Caden
Aunt Sis taking our picture
Covered bridge in Old Salem
Janet, Aunt Sis, Donna, & the boys

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Earthquake...

I just figured it was a matter of time before our boys experienced their first hurricane, I knew at some point we would be home during the summer and there would be one. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would, let alone our boys would experience an earthquake. Well yesterday we all did!!!

This week Donna's Aunt Sis and cousin Janet are in town for a visit (I'll blog later about that) & yesterday my "bonus" sister, Mindy & her husband, Chris & baby, Aliyah stopped by for a visit. So we were all sitting around the living room holding babies and chatting when all of a sudden the building started to shake... One of them thought one of the dogs had leaned up against the couch and was scratching causing the couch to shake, then someone asked if we were close to the road, maybe there was a big truck going by. It was neither of those things and as we were discussing it, the building was still shaking... I said do we have earthquakes here?!?! I tried calling Donna at work but kept getting other people that were trying to call their own families, the lines were all crossed. We turned on the local news channel but all they were talking about was hurricane Irene. Finally we switched it to the weather channel & there it was, reports of an earthquake spanning from as far as Ohio to South Carolina & all the way to Boston. How crazy is that?!

There is no damage here and we all survived just fine, I don't even think anyone was scared, just curious. It was strong enough to make the pictures on the wall rattle and the babies bouncy seats were bouncing, luckily the babies weren't in them. But that was it, nothing fell and we went on to eat lunch unaffected :)

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Tribute To A Hero

Normally this blog is all about our adorable babies, but today as my family lays my cousin to rest,
I want to pay tribute to am American Hero. 

Army Specialist Patrick L. Lay II, 21 gave his life last Thursday, August 11th, fighting for our country. 

I will let the photos, articles, & videos do the talking...

Thursday, August 18, 2011

16 Weeks & My First Time Out Alone With The Babies

Garren & Caden
Today the boys are 16 weeks old. We celebrated by adventuring out to run errands by ourselves. No place exciting just errands I have been relying on Donna to do since I physically cannot get out of the apartment with 3 babies on my own. (we currently live on the 3rd floor)
So our adventure started with Donna coming home to help me get the boys downstairs & into the car... um van, then we drove Donna back to work. We took the boys into Donnas station for some of her employees to see. Then the boys & I were off, first to an appt that took forever. While we were waiting the boys started to get a little restless, It wasn't time to eat but it was going to be by the time we were done with our appt so I went ahead & started giving them their bottles... We finally got called back & as soon as we did I smelled somebody... One of the boys had a poopy diaper. I asked where their changing table was located & she pointed me to the restroom... I head down the hall and wheel the boys in their stroller into the restroom... The stroller doesn't fit all the way in the restroom... luckily the door wasn't hinged to close automatically so I just changed them with the door open. We finished our appt before the boys had finished their bottles so we hung out in the lobby & finished feeding before heading to our next stop. There are always a lot of gasps  & comments wherever we go & of course a few people that just can't help themselves and have to come look. I don't mind the lookers... I don't like strangers touching my kids though & I definitely don't like strange kids breathing on them. Luckily today the two kids that did run over to see them got snatched up by their mothers real quick, gotta love good parents.
My biggest fear with taking the boys out alone is having one or two in the stroller & having to turn my back to load or unload the others to the car. I worked it out so that the middle guy (middle in the car) gets loaded real quick & first & the other two are closest to me in the stroller. I load two from one side of the van then wheel around to the other side and load the last little guy. Then of course fold up the stroller and load it in the back. I think I've got a good system & I'm sure with practice it will get better.
Our second stop was a compound pharmacy to pick up the boys reflux medicine. I called ahead so the prescription was ready when I got there & they actually brought it out to me so I didn't have to unload the boys. It's great that they are so friendly because they have super crappy hours. Next we were going to go to Target, but I had to pee really bad & remembered to restroom problem from earlier. Then I thought about trying to wheel a 6 foot stroller through a hinged door (pushing/pulling stroller while holding door open...) So I called Donna to see if she was available to help us get back upstairs & she was, so I picked her up & we came home.
Not bad for our first trip out I think. I'm working up to playgroups & farmers markets. I'm not one for a lot of attention (remembering Becky calling me out in front of everyone when we were in skin school, lol) but we get a lot of attention everywhere we go, so I have to get use to it. The attention is more controlled in doctors offices and other professional settings. Donna & I did take the boys shopping at the mall this past weekend. We got a lot of comments but people didn't approach us unless we were stopped in a store, so maybe next week we will venture to Target or the farmers market all by ourselves :)

Well onto the babies... The boys are fantastic!!! They are growing so much so fast, I can hardly believe they are 16 weeks old. I remember how excited we were when I made it to 16 weeks pregnant.

Eason & Kellan
This week the boys had their dose of reflux medicine increased. They were still fussing quite a bit and just really uncomfortable. It seems to be helping so far, fingers crossed. Remember how bad my heartburn was when I was pregnant & I had to keep changing medications and finally got a prescription... little devils... :)

They are very curious now, they just look all around when we're holding them and they don't like to be in any one place for too long now. So we move from their bouncers after they eat to the activity mat, then to their swings, then to the pack n play for some tummy time. One or more of them usually passes out on the activity mat and if not there then definitely in the pack n play during tummy time. None of them can stay awake when on their tummies, I don't know how they're ever going to learn to crawl?

Caden sleeping on the activity mat
Caden & Eason
In the past couple weeks these are some of the things the boys have started doing:

They are all sleeping in their own cribs as of this week & sleeping until 5am

Caden kicks in the bath tub

Kellen & Caden both have laughed out loud while snoozing in my lap

Garren pinches my arm with his toes when he's eating

All the boys are smiling more

Garren pushes his chest up off the floor when on his tummy

Garren & Caden have started reaching for their toys more, Garren will bat at them over & over, Caden is not as persistent yet, & Kellan might hit one but then he just watches it swing back & forth.

Caden
Garren
Kellan
Now that they seem to be getting some relief from their reflux, I hope they will feel like playing more & maybe learn to stay awake during tummy time and possibly roll over...

I worry all the time if I'm doing enough for them, if they are developing the way they should be, I worry because they were so premature and could be that delayed in their development, but another triplet mom & mom to a toddler gave me some great words of wisdom, So I'm going to try not to worry (or compare them to other babies their age) and just enjoy the stage they are in. Like I was told... They will learn & develop on their own time :)

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Our First Trip Home (to FL) With The Babies

Our first trip home went great!!!

Our plan was to load what we could the night before, wake up for the boys 2am feed and get on the road by 4am. Well of all nights... the boys decided to sleep all night and not wake until 5:30am, not to mention Donna didn't get home from work until 9pm the night before. So needless to say we got a late start, lol...

Once we got going everyone was good. The boys slept until they were ready to eat, the dogs hung out on the floor in the back seat, Donna drove & I navigated. Our first stop to feed the boys was good. We found a Starbucks with a patio, I took the boys inside & fed them while Donna walked the dogs & then hung out on the patio with them. The boys were very patient (quiet) and ate quickly (all 3 in 1 hour.) The next stop didn't go quite so well. The boys were a bit demanding that time & didn't want to wait for an exit, we got off where there was only a Wendy's, but all 3 boys were crying so there was no way I was taking them inside. Donna let the pups potty real quick & we fed & changed the boys in the van. Our last stop wasn't really a feeding time stop, but we were only 2 hours from my dad's and the boys were going to want to eat in an hour, so while Donna fueled up & walked the dogs I gave the babies enough to hold them over, but not too much that they would spit up the rest of the way. It worked out perfect & the boys held off until we arrived. Not bad right :) The boys did great, but I will admit, it is hard traveling with 3 infants... making bottles, finding a place to heat them, changing diapers (not all places have changing tables) & keeping them cool, but not too cool in those hot car seats. Not to mention walking the dogs. Overall we cannot complain & our trip only took 2 1/2 hours longer than usual.

Our visit, although for not a great reason, was a lot of fun. It was the first time all 4 of us girls were home  at the same time (My sister, myself, & my 2 bonus sisters. We refer to step family as bonus family) And we all had our children in tow. It was great seeing my dad & Marie with ALL their grandkids and it was nice to be able to spend time with everyone. We took advantage of the opportunity & had pictures done.

Meggan, Autumn, Mindy, Me, Marie & Dad 
front row: Meggan & Clark, Marie & Aliyah, Dad & Garren, & Mindy
back row: Aaron & Tucker, Donna & Caden, Me & Kellan, Autumn & Chandler
back: Clark, Tucker & Chandler
middle: Kellan, Garren & Caden
front: Aliyah
Dad, Marie & all the grandkids
It was also fun to see all the kids interact. The oldest is 2 1/2 years, the youngest is 1 month old. Clark, Chandler & especially Tucker were all interested in the babies.


Clark meeting Kellan for the first time 
Tucker loved to kiss the babies
Tucker giving Garren a kiss
Chandler & Clark playing
Clark holding Caden
Tucker offering Chandler his drool back, lol...
Meggan & Tucker holding Caden
Chandler checking out Caden, he can say baby
Chandler not sure about his mom holding baby Aliyah
The whole crew went to the hospital the day of my dads surgery. My Uncle Richard also flew in for it. We took over a section of the family waiting area, blocking it off with strollers to keep the mobile kids contained and creating a play area with a blanket & plenty of toys. Meg & Aaron also brought a cooler stocked with drinks and snacks. We were well prepared!!! Some of the photos above are from the hospital, here are a few more...

Chandler & his Great Uncle Richard 
Meggan keeping the kids from escaping through the opening between strollers
Clark & Chandler trying to escape
Donna & Marie
Me & the boys
Meg & Clark & Mindy & Aliyah
Dads surgery went well. They did have to open him up all the way. They were going to try to do it through 2 small incisions, but his liver was in the way. They took out the upper lobe of his right lung and a couple lymph-nodes. The pathology report came back the next day and showed that they got it all and the cancer had not spread anywhere else. Which means NO CHEMO or RADIATION :o)

We did get to visit with a few friends while we were in town. I wish we would have had more time to see everyone, but our visit was short and semi-unplanned. We stopped by to see Camie, our nurse practitioner that made these beautiful boys possible, and introduce her to them. Cheryl stopped by late Friday evening to meet the boys and spend some time with Donna. And my childhood friends/family came up from Bradenton to meet the boys and spend some time with us. I cannot believe Sydney is starting High School this year. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that we were all hanging out in Amanda's hospital room waiting for her to arrive. Man I feel old, lol...

Cheryl & Kellan 
Caden, Sue, Amanda, Sydney & Garren
Sue & Caden
Sydney & Garren
It really was a great trip and it was wonderful to see and spend time with those we did. We are hoping to make it back down around Christmas or New Years, but we will have to see how quick we are to load up three 8 month olds and make the trip again.

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