22 Months Old

It's all happening too fast!!!

I know this statement isn't new from me, but it really seems like I was just planning the boys first birthday party a couple of months ago & here it is, time to start planning their second party, YIKES!!!

The boys are really starting to show specific interests. Things that actually hold their attention for more than 10 minutes...

Kellan, Garren & Caden

All 3 of the boys LOVE cars, specifically Wheelies, the ones in the Disney Cars theme. They have a bunch of the cars & a garage & ramp. They will literally play with them for hours :)
They also like dump trucks & the little people vehicles. The slide makes a good ramp for these things.

Garren

Garren has a lot of specific interests & things that will hold his attention for a long time. He loves ball, any kind of ball, football, baseball, basketball. He loves to throw, dunk & kick the balls & has even started swinging at a plastic baseball on a t ball thingy :) He also likes stacking things, mega bloks, wooden blocks, random toys & even BALLS. He stacks them as high as he can & laughs hysterically when they all come down. He also loves to MOVE! Dancing, jumping flipping, spinning & popping out from behind a corner & yelling BOOO!!!....

Caden

Caden & Kellan love books & figuring out how things work. They spend a lot of time inspecting toys, flipping them over looking inside, even holding them up to one eye to see if they can figure out how it works. They also love mega bloks & stack them as high as they can, Caden has even been caught standing on the coffee table just to reach the top :) Kellan thinks everything is a phone these days. He holds random objects up to his ear & says "ellow!" These 2 are our tv watchers, the good thing about that is they mimic everything the characters are doing, from hopping to marching to singing & dancing. They laugh & cheer & even try to give the character on the screen items that they are holding. They are not quite as obsessed with balls as Garren is but they love to watch football & they do throw the basket ball through the hoop & kick the soccer ball. I hope these 2 don't think they will be basket ball players though because they are too big to get both feet off the floor, lol...

Kellan

All 3 boys love to run around shirtless, sometimes even diaper-less. They get super giddy & run all over squealing & laughing.

Kellan, this is how he jumps, one arm & one leg up :)

They are all really starting to talk now, saying things like grandma & grandpa & telling us more about what they want to do.

Kellan likes to dress himself, the only problem is he tucks everything under his chin & thinks that it's on, lol...

Garren will bring us his shoes & lift his foot up in the air for us to put them on. He thinks if he gets them on then we are going somewhere.

Caden has suddenly started signing a lot! He's always been the more quiet of the 3 & I knew that he knew most of the signs his brothers do, he just didn't use them or say much. He's really got a lot to say now!!!

 Kellan, Garren & Caden, even though Garren is 6lbs smaller than his brothers, he is the roughest & toughest of the 3.

I think Kellan was calling 911 :o)

All 3 of the boys are still growing like crazy, at last check they were all up another 3 pounds from their 18 month check-up weights. They are wearing really random sizes. Garren is in 18 or 24 month shirts, he is slim enough for 12 month pants but too tall so we've had to find 18 month with adjustables waists so they dont fall off. Caden & Kellan are wearing 2T & 3T shirts, they are not quite tall enough for 24 month/2T pants but it won't be long!!!

Just As We're Getting Started...

For about a month now, the boys & I have been going to the gym about 3 mornings a week.

They have "child watch" there which has been great for the boys! They get to socialize & play with other kids of all different ages & it gets them out of the house & to a place they can be let loose (not strapped into a cart or wagon) to burn some energy.

I have also enjoyed a little me time & meeting other stay at home moms in the area. I feel loads better since I've started working out & have even lost a few of the PPD pounds I've gained.

Our time will be cut short though, I found out on Monday that they will be eliminating child watch :(

I've talked to some of the other moms & no one knows what they are going to do aside from cancel their memberships.
There is a YMCA here, they wouldn't let Donna & I join as a family with the boys because our marriage isn't legal here but since talking with some of the other moms, it turns out it isn't a great place for the kids anyways.

I'm hoping the gym changes their mind as they lose memberships or that maybe another gym in the area will pick up child watch to gain new members but in the meantime we will continue to go, meet new friends & hopefully find some other activites at least for the kids.

What are some things that you do with your little ones? What resources have you used to find local activities geared towards younger kids? We are still pretty new to this area & don't know all the in & outs yet :)

Cheeseburgers, Blueberries & A Bittersweet Moment

Well it finally happened, we passed our really awesome Peg Perego Triplet stroller on to another triplet family. We really haven't been using it recently, with the weights of the boys & their shifting & moving it had gotten really hard to maneuver around in stores & at doctors appointments. So I put my mommy/baby emotions aside & listed it. I do love that we are able to pass along many of our triplet items along to other triplet families!

We could never THANK YOU enough Aunt Pat & Aunt Rosemary for the amazing gift of our stroller!!! I don't know how we would have survived the boys' infant-hood without it, especially me, on my own. It was the only way I was ever able to leave the house on my own with 3 babies. I was very emotionally attached to it, remembering Donna assembling it while I was still pregnant with the boys & bringing the boys home from the NICU in it. That stroller has seen a lot of miles between FL & NC. I hope the new family cherishes it as much as we did!!!

I think she had much less grey hair here, lol

 My teeny tiny boys

The new family lives a few hours away so we traveled to meet them & make the exchange. In all the hustle & bustle of getting ready & out the door I forgot To pack a lunch for the boys. There was nothing around where we were on the highway except McDonalds. The boys have never eaten anything from there before so I wasn't sure what they would eat, I hoped they would eat a cheeseburger opposed to chicken nuggets but I got both just in case...
They LOVED the cheeseburgers & actually ate it as a sandwich instead of all broke up into small pieces. (Caden doesn't like to take bites of full sized food) they were super easy & mostly mess free to eat on the go. I won't be rushing out to buy them more cheeseburgers anytime soon but I was pretty excited that they ate something new & different & EASY!!!

The boys also retried whole blueberries this morning & low & behold Garren couldn't get enough!!! This is the kid who spit out the mashed up blueberries in his yogurt :-/ Haddie also enjoys blueberries & Garren was sure to share a few with her :)

Valentines Day 2013

We aren't big Valentines Day celebraters but the boys & I decided it would be nice to take take Donna to dinner, So

we called her at work & made sure she would be home early. We didn't want to be waiting in line for a table so we decided to go early & avoid the rush. We went to our favorite place on the island & had an awesome dinner!!! The boys did really well as usual, you never know these days how loud their conversations are going to be, lol...

 

Garren (top left) Caden (bottom left) Kellan (right)

 

 2 roses for 2 mamas

(really they were just given to us at the restaurant)

 

When we got home we gave the boys a couple of gifts. They have been following Donna around stealing her hammer & screw driver as she works on projects so we decided to get them their own. They are still a little young for them, so we just let them have a couple of the safer, larger tools & only let them play with them while we are close by.

 

Valentine treats for the boys :)

Nana & Papa gave these little cutie alligators to the boys along with some shirts when we saw them a couple weeks ago. The boys have been carrying the gators around with them as they play. It's so cute to watch them develop attachments to certain things & to see what they do with them, these little guys sit close by as they play cars or build with blocks.

Some Valentine love from Nana & Papa :o)

Hope you all had a great Valentines Day too!!!

Good Times In Florida

Donna had a meeting at her district office this past week & it really works out for us because her company's district office is in Orlando, our old stomping grounds & very very close to 2 sets of our parents :)

While we were really only there for 3 days, we tried to get in a few visits with good friends. It doesn't always work out for us & we usually end up canceling at least 1 if not more of the visits we intend to make :(

Well this trip, while Donna was at her meeting, our good friend Sandy stopped by for a visit. Lucky for Donna, her meeting ended early & she got to visit for a little while too :)

Sandy & Garren

My bonus sister & her family also came down to our parents the same weekend so the boys got some play time in with their cousins, Clark & Tucker, not to mention Grandma & Grandpa, & their Aunt & Uncle.

 Splashing in the bird bath...

 

Completely soaked!!!

I didn't get photos for some reason but I did get these videos & they are hysterical!!!

Look at us jump Grandpa



Scaring Grandpa!!!

We had to cancel on our good friends & old neighbors for Friday night cocktails :( It's always hit or miss if the boys are going to go down good or not when we are traveling & this trip, they were just having too much fun with their cousins to go to bed on time.

Kellan's first time eating pizza, I think he liked it :)

Saturday morning we headed out to Donna's parents for the weekend & had a good visit with them.

 Grandma & Grandpa Tilyou got the boys some fun ride on toys

Caden, Garren & Kellan

 

Garren & Caden, Caden prefers riding it backwards :)

Sunday we FINALLY made it down to our triplets friends house for a super fun visit with them. We've only been trying to get there since last May!!! It is so hard to line up 7 healthy kids & 4 healthy adults for a visit when traveling!!! We made it happen though finally & hopefully we will be able to make it happen a little more often as the kids all get a little bigger & more resilient.
My parents also came over on Sunday for a little belated birthday dinner for Donna's dad.

 Jack, Caden (hiding) & Kellan

 

 Jack trying to help Caden back the car out of a hole, Marissa & Garren come to help too :)

 

 Garren, Caden, Kellan, Marley & Jack

 

 The boys loved this little "coupe"

 

 Marley, Mike, Marissa, Caden, & Makayla

 

Count them, six 21 month olds & one 4 year old!!!

(oh & Mike, lol)

That was it, a super quick & short visit but filled to the max with fun, friends & loved ones :)

Play Time with Nana & Papa

I'm wwwaaayyy behind on posts!!!

A couple weeks ago now, we received good news...

Let me back up a bit...
Back in August my bonus dad was diagnosed with throat cancer :'(
He was optimistic, thought he'd just go for treatments & keep on working, wouldn't let it get him down & just keep on truckin'. If only we could live the life we imagine in our minds.
He was signed up for radiation 5 days a week & 3 rounds of chemo spaced 3 weeks apart. It wreaked havoc on him!!! Knocked him completely out of commission. He was unable to speak or eat, he had to have a feeding tube placed which luckily they put in before they started treatments. He was SICK!!! And it took all he had just to get in the car to ride 2 hours to get his daily radiation.
After completing 7 weeks of treatment he was given time for his throat to heal. He had to wait until all the burns were healed before they could see if the cancer was gone.
Well a few weeks ago he had some scans done & it revealed that the cancer was GONE!!!

We only live about an hour away from them now but through his treatments & most of cold & flu season we stayed away. The boys had had a couple viruses & a sinus infection & we did not want to take anything to him while he was already so sick or while he was building his strength back up.
He still has a little ways to go in the strength department but he was able to get his feeding tube removed earlier this week & I was itching to get the boys out to see him & their Nana too.

Children are amazing. Somehow it seems as if they know more than what we think they do. They boys are all very loving & seem to be gentle with their Papa. They really love to play with him though!

On this visit Caden though Papa should chase him through the kitchen & into the ball pit. Kellan though Papa needed a few Cheerios & Garren just though he needed a hand to hold while he walked.

I've said it before but one of my favorite things is watching the boys interact with their grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins!!!

Amber...

I get asked quite frequently about the necklaces the boys wear.
They are amber necklaces & they are for teething relief.

With 3 boys all teething at the same time I felt like I was spending a small fortune on medications, homeopathic & not. So we decided to give these a try, for $5 each we really couldn't go wrong.

They actually work quite well. They do not solve the more severe teething pain but they keep the fussy, irritable & restlessness at bay. Like I mentioned in a previous post, the boys did cut their first set of molars & we didn't even realize it. That has not been the case with eye teeth though. 

For the times the amber isn't quite enough I usually turn to Camilia, a homeopathic remedy that has never failed us.
We used teething tabs when the boys were still tiny but they quit being effective for us sometime between 9 months & a year old.
Acetaminophen has never been effective for the boys for pain, just fevers.
For instances like their eye teeth we have given ibeprofin for swelling & pain & it does the trick. 
Overall though, we give much less medication :o)

If you've got little ones that are teething I highly recommend hitting up eBay for an amber necklace!!!