6 Months!!!

WOW!!! That is all I can really say about the past 6 months of our lives :) These little boys are absolutely amazing. They are growing & learning so fast. It seems they discover something new everyday & they truly keep me on my toes with their never ending change. It is true what they say... Just when you think you've got it figured out, they change again!!!

So what are the little guys up to?

Lets start with Caden...

Caden is all smiles, giggles, & screams, yes screams!!! He has found this lovely noise he can make now & he enjoys just letting out a joyful scream when playing on the floor or hanging out in his swing or bouncer. It is pretty funny. All of the boys have decided that tummy time is not their thing, they would prefer to do their rolling from their backs. Caden rolls from his back to his side & as of the past couple days he rolls all the way to his tummy. He gets mad after a few minutes on his tummy if he can't get back to his side or back. This rolling along with his wiggling has made him slightly mobile. I will put him (& his brothers) in the middle of a blanket on the floor & next thing I know they are all off the blanket or laying across one another. He is also grabbing his feet & has started reaching for us. He likes to splash in the bath tub, he raises his legs up as far as he can & then just plops them down in the water. I think I am going to have to start laying them in the tub, not in the little chair thing, to bathe them. They all wiggle so much & jerk around I'm constantly trying to hang onto them so they don't fall out of the seat. Caden grabs his hanging toys now and wants to put everything in his mouth. He is still drooling like crazy & chomping on his bottle but, I haven't felt any teeth yet.

Next up is Kellan...

Kellan is also full of smiles and giggles, he has recently started laughing at certain words like poopy & stinky. He is also rolling from his back to his tummy. He sleeps on his side but has been working towards sleeping on his stomach, which makes me a little nervous since you're told from day one "backs for sleeping, tummies for playing." Kellan was the baby that got the first "injury," he managed to turn in a complete circle on his activity mat & ended up up against a book shelf, he got his leg caught on the edge & scratched up his leg. He cried & cried about it but was of course completely fine & now the mats are out in the middle of the floor away from everything. Kellan likes to watch his feet as he wiggles them around & he also grabs ahold of them & pulls them towards his mouth. He is the only baby so far that picks up toys on his own. He is still drooling but not really chomping on stuff like his brothers, I don't know how long they drool before they actually cut any teeth? He's crazy in the bath tub too just like he is on the floor! I swear I can't figure out how they get in some of the positions they get into, or how they get to the places they do. All I can say is look out puppies these boys are going to be chasing them soon!!!

Last but not least, Garren

Little Garren (I'm sure he'll love that when he gets older) Our patient & quite little guy, well he isn't so quiet anymore, he rambles on & on in several different voices & he loves to laugh. He has the funniest laugh, it's not an out loud giggle like the other boys. His is kind of a deep hehehe, it makes me laugh & he in turn laughs more which makes me laugh more... I love seeing their little personalities coming out!!! Garren doesn't roll as much as his brothers, he is content just playing with the toys hanging above him or laying right around him. He also grabs ahold of toys. He is a mad man in the bath tub too, he won't even sit up, he wants to stand when I wash his back. I would say he has been doing the most "teething," he wants to bite everything which has made feeding him his bottle a bit of a pain. He bites at the bottle instead of sucking it & them he puts his thumb in next to the nipple when he does decide to suck. 

All the boys love to play in their "bounce a bout." They really like being upright now. During playtime I let them each stand holding onto my hands as long as they want/will & then they usually sit for a while holding onto me. They have really taken notice of each other again too. Caden especially likes to just stare at his brothers and if he can reach them he likes to pet their faces or hold their hands and they all babble to each other. They are all sleeping through the night still, they have the occasional cry out & sometimes one of them will have a hard time with gas or something but with 3 babies I really cannot complain. They sleep until 8 or 8:30 in the morning. We do need to work on a more consistent nap & bedtime routine, but for the most part they are doing good with both & adapt very easily to change.

NICU Reunion

Every year Forsyth Medical Center has a reunion for families that had a baby or babies in their NICU. I had been looking forward to it every since the boys were released form the hospital. Well the reunion was this past Saturday & I was pretty excited to see some of the nurses that had cared for our boys during their 6 week stay in the NICU.
I have to admit, I was a little disappointed that there were not more nurses at the reunion. We did see a couple of their nurses & the PA that cared for Caden's foot when he had the IV infiltration, she also happens to be the head of the entire Women's Center at Forsyth.
We did see quite a few families that had babies in the NICU the same time the boys were there & it was nice to see their babies happy & healthy & thriving. There were also a couple of families we had met through Mothers of Multiples. We met another set of triplets too. They were 13 months old & not much bigger than the boys as far as weight goes.
Overall it was a nice day & we had a good time visiting, I just wish we could have seen more of the nurses, especially the ones that took care of them the most.

A Sneak Peek...

Well I was waiting for maybe a couple more photos but, I'm not really all that patient when it comes to sharing photos, lol...
We had Autumn / 6 Month pictures done of the boys (& us) this past Friday, here is a peek at a couple the photographer has posted on facebook...

I love them both & they make me realize just how much the boys have grown & just how stinkin' cute they are!!! :)
I will share the rest either when the photographer posts them or when I get the disc...

The Boys First Pumpkin Patch

We didn't quite find what we were looking for... I had the farm (Hunsader Farm) I grew up going to for pumpkins & fall festivities in mind & Donna had some sort of farm pictured in her mind too.
We stopped at a small roadside pumpkin patch first, it actually was too small for us to even get our stroller through :(
I remembered a corn maze I found online, they had a pumpkin patch listed too, it was a little ways away but we thought we'd give it a try anyhow :)
They place was great!!! They had a lot going on, a HUGE corn maze, zip lines going every which way, food & drinks, cow train rides (will be great for the boys next year!) fossil & gem digs, a pumpkin patch & I even think they have a haunted attraction after dark. Their pumpkin patch still wasn't what we had envisioned but it did the trick. They boys won't remember much about it but it was important to me to start seasonal/holiday traditions now, plus it gives us an idea of what to expect next year when all 3 boys will be running around.

Kellan (poor baby with eczema), Caden, & Garren in their
Halloween outfits from Aunt Autumn

The Cow Train
I think this will be fun for the boys next year :)

9 years ago...

Nine years ago (on Oct 16th) Donna & I exchanged vows two and a half years after we met. I didn't know the travels or journey that was in store eleven and a half years ago & I surely never imagined the family we would create!!!
It has been a challenging and adventurous ride. We have endured our fair share of heartache; moving, illness, loss of loved ones, infertility, loss of pregnancy, & more moving. But we've always come out on top. I have to say that as hard as it has been being away from family & friends this past year, it has to rate as the best year we have had to date. We have met some amazing people on our journey to parenthood & of course nothing can top welcoming our 3 beautiful boys into the world.
Happy Anniversary Donna, heres to many many more...

This photo is from our trip home for my dads
surgery, the boys were 3 months old

Having A Hard Time Letting Go...

It's a strange thing, I have looked forward to the time I would quit pumping & feeding the boys breast milk pretty much since I started. It's a lot of work & very time consuming. As the boys get older & become more aware of the world around them & sleep less, it has become almost impossible to have the time to sit down & pump for 30-45 minutes every 3 hours. Well now that the time has come & I have made the decision to stop I am having a hard time completely giving it up. I have started transitioning the boys to more/all formula & have only been pumping in the morning & at night. I don't really know what the next step in cutting back is & I'm kind of nervous about not making milk at all anymore. But on the other hand, I'm looking forward to spending more hands on time with the babies & not having so many bottles & parts to wash :) A time saver all the way around, plus with formula I can make all their bottles for the day ahead of time & not spend my life in the kitchen, which is where I feel like I'm at all the time!!!

Kellan, Garren, & Caden all smiling!!!

On another note, the boys are doing great with their helmets. They are suppose to wear them day & night, only taking them off for baths & pictures but, the helmets get really stinky & need washed at least once a week (really more) They take overnight to dry so the boys end up not wearing them for 1 night about once a week. They could stand to be washed more but I don't want the boys out of them too much so we just wash them once a week right now. I'm hoping at their 8 week check up they will be able to cut down to just wearing them at night. I hate not being able to kiss their little foreheads & they get frustrated when they try to nuzzle their heads in our necks, the helmets hurt us & the boys aren't getting the contact that they want. Over all they are tolerating them well & don't even seem to know they have them on.

After bath before bed nap, lol

After our last bottle getting relaxing before bed

We Got Them!!!

Tuesday we went back to see "The Helmet Man" actually we saw the fitting lady.

After obnoxiously promoting my sale on Just Hookin' for 2 weeks, and soliciting on several Mothers of Multiples sites, along with calling and emailing every organization I could think of or that was suggested to me, we finally made enough money to put a substantial down payment on the boys helmets.

Caden, Kellan, & Garren

We have amazing friends and have met more amazing people through this process that we are very grateful for. It's amazing in todays environment how generous & willing people are to help out 3 little boys they don't even know. It truly warms my heart.

To show my appreciation I have extended the sale of my crocheted items through the end of the year & to include all items in stock & custom made. Please if you have not, check out my
Just Hookin' page on facebook or my shop on Etsy. I'm trying to get everything updated on Etsy, but it is a slow process & I'm focusing more on getting all the orders I have, filled... in between taking care of the boys of course.

Thank you again to all those who have made a purchase, a donation, or passed our info along!!!

5 Months Old

Our home is filled with baby babble, squeals & smiles. Although it has been 5 months I still sometimes have a hard believing we are moms. Sometimes Donna looks at them & then looks at me and says "Spring, we have 3 babies!" It sounds silly, but there was a little bit of time there when we didn't think it was possible. I'm also in denial about the boys being 5 months old.

Kellan, Garren, Caden

Caden, Kellan, Garren

This last month has been really been fun!!! The boys are all smiles all the time... They wake up grinning in the morning & open their mouths wide as if they want to say something. They coo & babble all day long. I love how when we walk by they give us a bashful smile & how they light up when we leave the room and then come back again.

Garren 

Caden

Kellan

We are still working on getting the boys their plagio. helmets but, we are making great progress & I think we'll be able to talk the doctor into giving us the helmets with half the money down next week :) I am busier than ever crocheting! I love to crochet anyways & I'm happy I'm able to raise money doing it. How do I have time? I just have to do it while the babies nap or after they go to bed... the floors don't get vacuumed quite as often & our laundry is a little further behind, but it's all worth it to get the boys what they need. I could only pray to stay this busy selling my stuff, but I know, as it already has a bit, business will slow down again. If you haven't yet, check out my shop Just Hookin' on facebook or on Etsy :)

Well the boys are growing like weeds! They haven't had a check up this month so I don't know what their current weights or lengths are, but I went in to get Caden up one morning & I swear he looked like he had grown 3 inches overnight! Garren changes by the minute, every time we look at him he looks different. I don't know if it's their new facial expressions or if their faces are filling out. Whatever it is, they get cuter & cuter by the day!
These boys can't sit still anymore! Their arms and legs and heads are just going everywhere all the time. Sometimes I can't get their legs in their sleepers and just let them hang out until bedtime. They are all consistently holding their heads & chests up when laying on their tummies and they are inconsistently rolling over. Kellan rolled once from his tummy to his back & hasn't figured it out again since :( Caden recently rolled twice, they do try pretty hard to do it again, but they get sooo mad when they can't. Garren has rolled from his back to his side but has not rolled from his tummy yet. They also use their legs a lot when they're on their tummies, they turn themselves in circles, I figure it's just a matter of time before one of them goes forward.
The boys carry on a lot of baby babble conversations, even quiet little Garren has found his voice & likes to use it! Kellan squeals at his hands when they do quite what he wants & he squeals at the TV (I only let them watch it while they are waiting their turn to eat) and Caden has taken notice of hanging toys and talks & giggles at them, when he doesn't have them in his mouth :)

Well we've got a busy month ahead of us, so stay tuned for lots of new blog posts!!!

Happy October , I hope you are all having a beautiful Autumn!!!

Garren, Donna, Caden