Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween from our three little pigs!
















Happy Halloween to all our friends! We really only trick or treated at one house but they loved standing at the door waiting for the trick-or-treaters to come to us! We also had a cupcake with a candle and sang "Happy Birthday" for the second time in their lives. Today was their actual due date and so they are one year adjusted today. We are weaning off the formula and moving to the sippy cups with milk. We have toddlers now officially, three mini walkers who are into EVERYTHING! Now off to eat their candy....

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Photo of the Day


Here is Poppy's head. It it covered in Griffin's spit up. The poor guy was playing with the boys on the floor and Griffin, in his excitement, lost his supper. And, yes, I did make my father-- who selflessly helps me and Bill every single day without ever complaining-- wait until I took a picture before I gave him a towel to clean it up. I'm sorry for that but I had to keep the evidence on film.


As breaking news, all three are taking steps. I won't call them walkers yet but they're very close. Braddock seems the most ready to walk but it's still just a few steps and a fall. That he's ready is such a triumph since he wore casts for seven weeks and had his Achilles' tendons cut on both feet. Julia likes to take one step and then dive at whoever is in front of her. She's just fearless. Griffin's steps are more cautious. It's so cute to watch how thrilled they are as they figure it out.


Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Baby Steps

I have no picture of this, but it's important to note that Julia has taken a few steps. This leads to a quick fall, but they are baby steps nonetheless! Both Griffin and Braddock find themselves standing unassisted, and once they do, there's a drop to the floor. But every time they stand, it's for a longer period of time. So really we're not far from three walkers in this house. Oh, Dear God, that is going to be something.

Photos to come!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Pumpkin Picking

Sean, Sammy and (L to R Braddock, Julia and Griffin)



Sean and Sammy on the spinning strawberry ride with Poppy

Latest family picture!

We had a visit from Uncle Brian, Aunt Colleen and cousins Sean and Samantha. Everyone had a great day at the pumpkin patch. Our kids aren't big enough for the rides but they loved watching their cousins! The weather was really nice and they loved the hay ride to the patch. The only problem we encountered was that we couldn't bring the strollers on the hay ride and after a few minutes in the patch, they became very heavy! Sean and Sam were here all weekend and so they got to play with their cousins. My favorite line was from Sean. He said, "Look, Aunt Nic, the triplet is eating the chair. That is NOT good." Braddock was chewing on the edge of the rocking chair and Sean was right, not good. Sam and Sean were entertaining my three with songs and toys. They love watching the big kids, completely amazed by all the things they can do.
They still chew on every little thing they can, including leaves on the grass, lint on the floor, a four-day-old cheerio stuck to the high chair... Not only do I need more arms, I need more eyes, too. The play yard we have to contain them is working out nicely for their safety. This way I don't find one headed into the bathroom, one to the fireplace and the third towards the door. They really have outgrown their exersaucers and jumperoo. I knew the jumperoo needed to become part of the baby things of the past taking residence (and slowly taking over) in our garage when I saw Julia almost tip it over. The exersaucers are still out in case I need to stash one quickly to get to another. Soon they be garage residents, too.
We're in full birthday mode today. It started Sunday night with our first ice cream cake so the kids could sing Happy Birthday to Uncle Bill. They even helped blow out the candles. Today is Bill's actual birthday -- and a big one at that. (Hint: His age rhymes with Morty) So Julia got up a little early this morning to come in and give her Daddy some snuggles and giggles. All three helped me sign their special cards for their Dad. They will help me today get everything ready for the big celebratory birthday dinner, too. And by helping I mean hopefully they take a nap long enough to let me get to work. I'll let you know how that works out. Happy Birthday, Husband/Daddy. You are very loved.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

long time comin'










So this is my update. Long overdue, admittedly, but here nonetheless. There are many things I'm missing but the pics are new. Julia and I went to our neighbor Audrey's first birthday party and this is her in her brand new shoes. She loves shoes -- like her mother -- so we better start saving. Braddock is in blue and Griffin in green in the above photos . And the one of all three in the new play yard. We waited before getting one but it's really the safest way to keep them playing without climbing under the tv or the couch or opening the stove, etc. With three crawlers and standers and wall walkers, it's controlled chaos. And if I'm being honest, it's not always that controlled.



I promise not to only post when the kids are sick, it just seems to be happening this way. Well, they've got the second cold of their lives. And this one was a doozy! Poor Griffin ended up in the E.R. on Sunday morning. His breathing was quite labored at about 4:00 a.m. even after his nebulizer so we took him back to Morristown. The saddest part of the story is that Sunday was the NICU alumni picnic and we couldn't wait to go. It's a big event for the NICU and we are so proud to be alumni... I swear we waited all year for it and .... we missed it. Amazing that we ended up back at the hospital for the first time on the day of the picnic. I'm happy to report that all three are doing remarkably better. It's a scary, scary thing when your children can't breathe.


Now for a brief update of what our life is like. Things since their first birthday have changed so dramatically, I swear I'm amazed every day. All three are speed demons with the crawling but they prefer to pull themselves up and walk using whatever they are holding onto. We call Braddock Spiderman because he scales the walls. They are playing with each other quite a bit. Chase is their favorite game. Julia is usually the leader (and let's face it, we're not talking just about this game...she's in charge of pretty much everything) and she starts crawling as fast as she can, squealing all the way and looking back until one or both of the boys notices. So when she gets their attention, she motors until she thinks they are playing along. Then she stops, sits up, and looks back waiting for them to catch up. As they get closer, she speeds away. They are laughing, she's laughing and on and on they go. Watching this brings this incredible joy, the likes of which I'm not sure I'd ever known before.
I do have a confession to make: My kids are biters. All three. And it really hurts. I'm sure this indicates some failures on my part but I can't worry about that just yet. I need to stop the problem. Julia will come over and act like she's going hug me and then I feel these little choppers sinking into my shoulder. She's got a lot of teeth and she's like a pitbull as far as jaw strength goes. Braddock enjoys biting when they are in the bathtub. Julia or Griff will crawl by trying to reach a tub toy and he sees the flesh and plots his attack on one of their backs or bums. I assume this is part of teething and I've read that we're not to react so as to not encourage it. So I simply say, "No biting. Biting no." Every once in a while, I can't help but raise my voice due to the pain the fangs they've got. There hasn't really been any broken skin so perhaps I'm exaggerating the pain some.

Griffin and Braddock and recently Julia are really into dancing. They hear music and immediately dance no matter what they are doing. This is something the boys seem more into. In the hospital on Sunday, the beeping of monitor was enough for Griffin to move to the beat. It's hysterical to watch!
I have to say what pleases me the most is their little personalities are all really funny. They are so full of joy. They are constantly learning and it's hysterical to see them master a new trick. Julia loves to say, "Yay," and start clapping. If one of even says the word clap, she'll use her skills and clap those hands. Braddock is just catching on and kind of just shakes his hands. Griffin has really taken a liking to blowing raspberries and he thinks this is a riot. It's not so funny when there's food in his mouth but it's hard not to laugh as he does it.

(I started this a couple days ago so I'm just going to post it now even though it's unfinished. If I wait to catch up on everything, I'll never get anywhere)

We're gearing up for Halloween. This year we're going to be the three little pigs and I can't even tell you how cute the costumes are!

Everybody is starting to feel better today, but now the runny noses are out of control and we literally have snot everywhere! The clean up is a constant thing and the laundry is always running. Keeping up with making sure the germs are excised from this house is really a full-time job on top of the full-time job of caring for three sick kids. All I can say is thank God for my Mom and Dad! I don't think I say that enough.
I'll have more one day soon.