Christmas 2010

We had so much fun this Christmas... I have so many pics, I don't know where to start! Matt was off work from Dec. 23rd until Jan 3rd, so we had a ton of fun and got a lot done around the house.

Here's some pics of the girls trying on Daddy's clothes a few days before Christmas... they love to walk around in his shoes, socks and shirts!

Izzy

Daddy helping Ally put his socks on....

 Abby in daddy's socks

 I took this pic from the dining room one day... I looked over and all 3 girls were lined up watching their "show" (as they call it).

Abigail eating a peanut butter sandwich, she loved it!

Ally liked hers too... pay no attention to the mark under her eye. As I was climbing over the fence in the living room, my toe hit her in the face... poor little Ally.

On Dec. 23rd, we went with our friends, Andrew, Courtney and their daughter, Andi Mae, to Muskogee to see the Christmas blow-ups at the Castle of Muskogee. It's a drive-thru exhibit and we wanted to all ride together, so we took the church van! How funny is that?! Two years ago, we'd load up in the car and go wherever we wanted on a whim. Now, it takes careful planning and a 15-passenger church van to go anywhere together! We ate at Red Lobster in Muskogee before driving thru the exhibit.
Ally was in the back left (you can just see her hat), Izzy in Back right, I'm riding next to Abby, and Andi Mae and Courtney were in the front row of seats.

You can see Ally in this pic...

Matt and Andrew in the front.

The windows were really big, so the girls could see the lights really well. Here's a pic of Ally looking at the blow-ups.

There were a TON of blow ups there!

On Christmas Eve, I invited my grandparents and mom over for dinner. I was really looking forward to it, but my grandparents both got really sick with the flu and couldn't come over. We had a ton of food for just the 3 of us (my mom, Matt and I), so we invited Matt's parents and grandma over for dinner. It was really nice to be all together on Christmas Eve. After dinner, we put the girls in their Christmas jammies. Here's a cute pic with their daddy, though Izzy wouldn't sit still long enough to take the pic.

After Meemaw, Papaw and Great Grandma left, Izzy watched them out the door...

We let the girls open a few presents on Christmas Eve... they opened one of the gifts from my mom (a dog that barks and moves - all were very afraid of it at first, but now only Abby is still afraid). They also got pillow pets from mommy and daddy... here they are opening them.

On Christmas morning, the girls woke up to find a new play kitchen!

They got busy making breakfast right away!

Izzy and Abby playing kitchen.

They also got a new Dance Star Mickey!

They tried to feed him food from their kitchen! 

Around 1:00 on Christmas Day, we went to Matt's parents' house. The girls took a nap while the family opened gifts, which was really nice. When they woke up, we ate dinner, then they got to open A TON of gifts! These girls will not have to go without in this family! They got lots of toys and new clothes and I think this may have just been the best day of their lives!

Here's a pic of Ally opening a little doll house....

Abigial with a new puzzle... they got lots of neat new puzzles!

Abby opening a new Noah's Ark toy

Ally with a new shape toy (a cookie jar). I'm pretty sure this was her favorite gift so far... she's very good at shape toys and puzzles!

And... now for the big gifts! All 3 of the girls got new riding toys for outside! Here's a pic of Izzy trying it out inside first. It goes when you push the button and stops when you let off the button.

Although it was FREEZING outside, we decided to bundle the girls up and take the new cars out for a spin on Meemaw and Papaw's lawn... it was quite a sight, but a very fun memory! I'm surprised the girls could make the cars go so well, but they figured it out pretty quick!

Believe it or not, Abby was the one that rode the longest and seemed to enjoy it the most. It shocked us all! Here's the 3 lil bears riding around the lawn. So cute!

It was a very good Christmas. On the 26th, some of my dad's family came to visit us too. My dad and his wife live in Wisconsin, so they couldn't make it, but it was very nice to see that side of the family during the Holidays. We ordered pizza and had fun watching the babies play with their new toys.

A few days later, we took the girls to visit a lady from our church (Nell Faricloth) who is in the Claremore Veteran's Center. She is almost 90 years old and has asked a lot about the babies, so we decided to come visit her.

Nell showed us around the Center, and I as I was pushing Izzy next to her, Izzy kept turning and looking at Nell and speaking her cute jibberish. It was so cute... as if she were commenting on the place. Nell just kept agreeing with Izzy and appeared to be really enjoying her company.

Nell's daughter, Mary, was there too and she took a pic of all of us together.

Later that week, we took the girls up to the gym at the church to ride their new cars! The slippery floor made it hard to get traction, but the girls still had a great time!

Izzy riding...

Abby's a pro at it!

Ally riding. They haven't quite mastered the stearing or stopping, but can really go go go!

A HUGE Project Matt and I worked on while he was off... the girls now have a playroom! My mom bought them this GREAT toy box for Christmas. It matches their sweet little table and we painted the room a great green color to tie it all in. The room was a very dark color before, so it took 2 coats of primer, then 2 coats of paint to cover it... a lot of work! (My elliptical machine and Matt's bookshelf are on the other side of the room, behind a gate. The room is mostly a play room, and still a little of a catch-all room. With the new playroom, I can gate off the kitchen and close the other doors, so they can run all over the living room and up the hall to their play room. They seem very happy with the new space. As I type, they're all playing the "bu-bye" game, where they say "bu-bye" to me and leave the room. They love to play this game!

For New Year's Eve, Andrew, Courtney and Andi Mae came over. I made a pot of chili and we just had a low-key evening. They put Andi to bed in a pack and play when our girls went down, so we had from about 9pm to midnight to play games and watch the ball drop. It was a very nice evening with great friends!

I felt sorry for Matt to have to go back to work today, but am feeling so blessed to be able to stay home with my girls. I remember how hard it was to go back to work after a long break.

I started this blog in January 2009, so I've officially been blogging for two years now... thru the early stages of pregnancy to now, when the girls are almost 20 months old! I plan to continue blogging, but am going to go ahead and have these first two years made into a book for the girls to keep.

These babies have blessed our lives more than we could've ever imagined, and I thank God for them every day!

I'll post a few videos from the Holidays very soon.

Tis the Season!

December is SO busy, it's hard for me to find time to blog! But - I do have all my Christmas presents bought, wrapped and under the tree and the Christmas cards are in the mail, so it should be pretty smooth sailing from here!

Last weekend was Matt's birthday, and we took our 2nd overnight trip since the girls have been born. We planned it for months, but just went to Tulsa and stayed at the Hard Rock Resort & Casino. We're not big on gambling, but wanted to pretend we were on a Cruise, where we could park somewhere and stay all night. We had a blast! We ate at McGill's on the 19th floor, which turned out to be very nice, then just laid back, drank wine, and talked. NO SCHEDULES! NO BABIES! NO INTERRUPTIONS! It was GLORIOUS! My mom watched the girls from 5pm on Fri night to noon on Saturday and Matt's parents watched them from noon to 6pm on Sat, when we got home. After checking out of our Hotel, we met our friends, Andrew and Courtney, for lunch. (Andrew's birthday is a few days from Matt's, so we've traditionally always celebrated their birthdays by going out to dinner). After that, we did some Christmas shopping and came home. These 24 hour get-aways are few and far between, but very nice!

Right now, here are a few things they're in to:

Isabelle Rae (a.k.a Izzer, Wizzer, Monkey girl, Izzerrae, Izzy)

Izzy is still getting into everything she's not supposed to, the moment I leave the room. The others do also, but Izzy is always a given. As a matter of fact, the other day, I had a drink sitting on a side table... they could only reach it by climbing up on the couch and reaching for it from there. I checked on them 60 seconds prior to the "incident", but when I came back in, Izzy was standing on the couch, holding a large Diet Dr. Pepper upside down, letting it spill EVERYWHERE! I'm seriuosly gonna need new furniture and carpet when these girls are older. Izzy likes to say the word "no" too. (I'm sure this has nothing to do with how often it is said to her  ;)  She says it so matter of factly too, with a little "mm" on the end. "Nome, Nome".

Abigail Haley (aka lil doe, Abder, Abby, Abder Raheem, Abberdale)

Abigail spends most of her day trying to get in my lap. She has learned how to say "Up Pease", but over time, this has transitioned into "Uppies". If I'm talking on the phone to someone, you'll hear "uppies, uppies" in the background the entire time. It's also difficult to keep a shirt on her lately... every time I look up, she's taken her shirt off and is running around topless! Let's hope this is just a phase! :)  Not sure I mentioned in my last blog, poor lil doe got her fingers smashed (yes, by me) a few weeks ago in a door jam. It was pretty bad, and I loaded her up to take her to the Emergency room (1st time parent), but then decided to swing by Matt's parents' house to get a "2nd opinion". Thank goodness I did, because the fingers were a tiny bit swollen and pink the next day, but she acted as if nothing ever happened. That mommy/daddy freaking out emergency trip would've cost over $400, so thank goodness for grandparents!

Allison Michelle (a.k.a. Chubda, Ally, Allychelle, sweet cheeks, baldy 2/4/8 teeth - lost count of number on that nickname)

Ally loves this shape finder toy that's shaped like a barn. She loves to stick the shapes in the holes and claps for herself every time she gets one in. She will play by herself, but prefers to stick it up on Mommy or Daddy's lap, so she can have an audience and more applause than just her own. Needless to say, we're very tired of holding the barn all the time. She love love loves books! I'm amazed that she can recognize certain pages as if she's reading them. They all love books, but I'd say Ally loves them the most. She loves the page in the book I mentioned in a previous post when she can yell, "When I shoouuuwwwt!" It's hard to describe how cute it is, so I got a little video of it... Here it is:

She also manipulates the situation so you'll read her a book. The other night, I watched her work her way up onto Matt's lap, then she pushed a book into his hand, and then made him open the book in front of her like you would when reading to her. Little turkey.

Our vacuum recently broke, so I had to borrow Cheryl's Rainbow vacuum to clean my house (LOVED it by the way, but can't afford it).... anyway... I was cleaning the living room with it, vacuuming the curtains, blinds etc and the babies were driving me nuts as I was trying to clean. Here's a good example of their personalities though:  Izzy is smart and ornery - she noticed how I turned the canister on, and kept turning it off everytime I would be right in the middle of cleaning. Abby, aka lil doe, was afraid of the loud noise and kept about a 15 foot distance from the canister at all times. Ally, on the other hand, attempted to ride the vacuum more times than I can count! This, in a nutshell, is their personalities.

The girls are loving to talk on the phone and my grandma even bought them 3 little play cell phones to pretend with. She did this the day after Izzy talked to her on the phone and said, "Hi Mamaw". They keep walking around holding the phones up to their ears, saying "hewow?" (That's hello, by the way). I also gave them the phones to play with at dinner the other day, and as they were tapping away at the keys, I had this vision of 3 teenagers texting at the table years from now... made me giggle and freak at the same time!

Last week, we took the girls to see the Christmas lights at Rhema in Broken Arrow. It was a cold night and they were bundled up so tight, it was hard to tell if they enjoyed it. I was mad that I forgot my camera, because they sure looked cute in their little coats and hats, with blankets on top of that!

Here are some of the pics we had taken for the Christmas cards this year....

I liked this one because Abby is so interested in what's in Izzy's stocking

The official Christmas Card:

Last night, we were on our way to Choir practice at the church, when a friend told us Santa was in the fellowship hall for the Children's Christmas party. She told us we could cut to the front of the line and get the girls' pics taken with "Santa". I knew this would happen, but it's a memory of their first sitting on Santa's lap!

Ally screaming and trying to get away....

Izzy in a panic at this strange man holding her

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Abigail looking at me like "how could you?!' and screaming her head off!

Because of our overnight trip, I typed up a schedule for the grandparents to follow. Here's a current example of our schedule/routine:

Schedule for 12/10 - 12/11

6:00 Dinner
• chicken pot pie
• pears
• pudding
• ice water

8:00 Sippies with milk

8:40 Night Night Routine
Brush teeth - Toothbrushes/paste are in cabinet in a coffee cup. Abigail – purple brush, Izzy –fat green brush, Ally – skinny green brush.
• All girls diapers changed and in jammies and zip-up sleepers, both fans should be on.
• Abigail needs Srog, Izzy needs Wigga Wigga, Ally needs bunny and a paci
• Monitors in bedroom should be on – Abby/Izzy’s room is on Master bedroom window sill, Ally’s is on floor near bathroom.
• They may cry for a little while before going to sleep. If Abby or Ally cry in the middle of the night, it’s usually best to go in, make sure they’re ok and comfort them. If Izzy cries, you’re usually best to give it a few minutes and see if she calms down on her own. If you go in there and leave, she will be mad and will cry for half an hour or more.
• If coughing at night, can give Benadryl – ¾ tsp (use syringe)

8:30/9:00 Breakfast
• Sippies with milk
• 3 pancakes (cut up into pieces), 1 banana (cut-up), Cheerios if still hungry (in Foldgers container)
• Close off living room gates and let babies play

10:30 Juice (1/4 juice, ¾ water)

12:00 Lunch
• grilled cheese
• 2 containers mand. Oranges
• green beans
• ice water
• ½ a Flintstone Vitamin

1:15 – 3:45/4:00 Nap
• All girls diapers changed and in zip-up sleepers, both fans should be on.
• Abigail needs Srog, Izzy needs Wigga Wigga, Ally needs bunny and a paci
• They may cry for a little while before going to sleep. If Ally cries in the middle of the nap, it’s usually best to go in, make sure she’s ok and comfort her. If Izzy or Abby cry at nap, you’re usually best to not go in there!
• If coughing, can give Benadryl – ¾ tsp (use syringe)

4:00 Snack & Juice
• Snack cups with goldfish & juice (1/4 juice, ¾ water)

6:00 Dinner
• Mac & chz
• Chicken & rice
• Fruit/pudding/cereal bars (depending on how full)

Medicine:
• ¾ tsp Benadryl every 6 hours, if needed
• Infant Tylenol – 2 droppers filled to .8, every 4 hours, if needed
Misc:
• Make sure front door is locked – they can reach door knob now.

• I usually set the heat at 71-72 degrees at night. It gets really warm in Izzy & Abby’s room, but really cool in Ally’s room. When you go to bed at night, open Ally’s door, so she gets some better heat in her room. It gets hot in the Master bedroom since the heater is so close, so we usually shut the vents.

Thanksgiving Holiday

We had a great Thanksgiving Holiday and the girls have been very busy! Here's a little of what they're currently doing:

Words they are currently saying: meow, arf, quack quack, hop hop, doggie, daddy, momma, pancake, lala, meemaw, papaw, mamaw, ears, eyes, banana, no more, hi, bye bye, boo, I love daddy, baby, night night, please, up, light, cookie, juice, thank you, uh oh, shout, and LOTS of jibberish - it sounds like they're speaking Chinese most of the time! Also, not all of these words are extremely clear, but they are definitely saying them in association with the object/person.

They love books and love to be read to! There's one book they love in particular called, God Knows All About Me. There's a part in the book that says "When I whisper" (we say with a whisper), "When I SHOUT" (we say with a shout), "When I let me feelings out" (we stick our tongue out and blow). Well, the other day, Izzy was "reading" that book by herself and she started whispering, then yelled "SHOUT!". Then she turned the page and stuck her tongue out and blew! It was so cute! It was like she was really reading her little book!

I decided to go ahead and put the Christmas tree up this year, though I seriously considered not doing it with three 18-month-olds running around everywhere, but I just couldn't go all Christmas with no tree... Here's how you have to set up your Christmas tree in a house with 18 month old triplets - (take note of the fence)

I thought about putting the tree in a pack & play, but I just couldn't bring myself to do that. This way, we can fold up the fence when the babies go to bed, and still enjoy the tree.

Because of the tree in the corner, I’ve opened up the living room more for the babies to play… this means they have access to the front door. They now know how to turn handles and constantly try to open the front door, so I have to leave it dead bolt locked at all times! Also, now that I’ve opened up the living room more, there are a few possible escape routes or trouble areas that the girls have found. I get SO frustrated, because they don’t mess with anything while I’m in the room, but as soon as I leave the room, IZZY gets into whatever she knows she’s not supposed to. The other girls often follow Izzy, even though they don't initiate it. I spank her bottom each time, but she doesn’t care and just does it again as soon as I leave the room. She is one strong-willed little girl.


After Christmas, I have plans to turn our “catch-all/guest room” into an official play room. I need to paint it a kid-friendly color and will put more of the girls’ toys in there and open up the hallway so they can go from the living room to their playroom. I’ll close all other doors. I’m considering trying to baby proof the kitchen to allow them in there too, but I'm not sure yet. They are just in EVERYTHING if I let them! If they’re in the kitchen, they love to push the chairs all over the place… a very loud game! Anyway, I realize I can’t keep them “caged” in the living room forever, so I’m going to have to figure something out. I seriously cannot wait until they play nicely and don’t knock mommy’s iced tea over just because they want to see what happens!

We had LE Portraits take some Christmas pics of the girls again this year for Christmas cards. I’ll be sure to post some of those pics soon. It was probably THE WORST photo shoot we’ve had yet. We went to her home this time, which is in Owasso, though she said she’d be willing to come to me again. She just has to lug so much equipment, I thought it would be easier for Matt and I to come to her, but I was WRONG! Abby freaked out once we were there and would not sit by herself or with her sisters for the first 20 minutes or so. Anyway, the photographer made the most of it, and got a few good shots, so I’ll share them soon. I may wait until most of my cards get out though… don’t want to spoil the fun!
After driving to Owasso for the photo session, we ate at Red Robin with the girls, then drove home so they could take naps. I usually try to keep them up the whole way home, so that when they lay down in their cribs they’ll take a good solid nap. So, there was lots of singing and playing going on as we drove home. I told Matt, I think they should just make the passenger seat in a mini van face the back seat. The person is constantly turned around anyway! After the babies took a good nap, Matt mentioned going back to Tulsa to do some Christmas shopping, and I jumped at the chance! We loaded the babies back in the car and off to Tulsa we went! It was definitely a long, but fun day for everyone.

Cheryl (Matt’s mom) and I took the girls for their 18 month check-up on 11/22 and here were the measurements:
Izzy – Length 31 in (25th percentile), Weight 21 lb. 5 oz (10th percentile)
Abby- Length 32 in (55th percentile), Weight 20 lb. 13 oz (10th percentile)
Ally- 32.5 in (75th percentile), Weight 23 lb. 6 oz (45th percentile)
I think the lengths on Izzy and Abby are wrong though, because Abby is not taller than Izzy, but this is what the papers say. This also shows that, even though Matt still refers to Ally as “chubbda”, she is very average for her age! (On a side note, I really want him to stop calling her that, but he started it when she had those really big chubby cheeks, and he says it’s just her name now and he can’t help it. I just worry that she’ll have a poor self image if she grows up knowing her daddy calls her chubbda!)

One evening, the girls were very cranky, and we decided to get them out of the house and go play in the backyard. It was not too cold out yet. They were acutally in their jammies, but we just slapped tennis shoes and jackets on them, and we were good to go. Since we have tons of HUGE trees in our backyard, that means there are LOADS of leaves. Here are some pics from that night:

Ally & Izzy playing in the leaves

Izzy & Abby playing in the leaves

Abby getting a leaf shower

The VERY NEXT DAY, we looked out the window, only to see a HUGE branch landed on our swing set and broke it! Frustrating, but very glad we weren't playing when the branch fell... sheesh!

 The day before Thanksgiving, we went to Matt's parent's house. The girls always have fun there. Izzy and Abby rode the toy train they have set up,but this time, Ally wanted nothing to do with it.

Izzy and Daddy. Izzy's about to board the train.

Izzy riding train

Abigail rode the train too! (She was afraid last time, but seemed to enjoy it this time).

Ally was a turkey that night and didn't want to ride. Once the train was put away, she played nicely with all the toys.

Izzy likes to run up and down Meemaw and Papaw's hallway

The next day, we went to my mom's house. My brother and his family were home for Thanksgiving, so it was really nice to spend a few days with them. Here's a pic of Chad, Nora and Matt after dinner. The men look pretty full!

My grandparents with Abby and Andie (my niece)

Andie playing ring around the rosie with Ally

The girls enjoying their first real Thanksgiving dinner!

My brother's dog, Rudy, was at the house. They kept her locked up most of the day, but brought her out for a little while. It was so funny to watch the girls' reaction to her. This pic of Ally pretty much captures her face the entire time Rudy was around! She would throw her arms out to the side and wrinkle up her face and back up! They've been around dogs before, but just freaked out about Rudy!

Since Chad, Nora and Andie won't be home for Christmas this year, they brought the girls presents and gave them to them at Thanksgiving. They got a new tea set along with some play plates, bowls, cupcakes, etc. Here's a pic of Andie, Izzy and Abby having a tea party.

The babies have learned how to climb on the furniture all by themselves now. Here's a pic I took of Izzy and Ally watching tv in the recliner together.

And Abby watching tv on the couch with Srog the Frog.

I'd like to end this post with a few things about each baby. I try to be careful about saying  they are a certain way and defining their personalities at such an early age, but this is how I see them right now:

Izzy is very strong willed and a little on the ornery side. Ok, a lot on the ornery side. She is very much a leader. She always has to be first at everything! Matt and I laugh every night when we say "let's go night night", she'll knock her sisters over to make sure she is the first one to reach the nursery. It's so funny to watch her sprint down the hall! She's also does a lot of jibber jabber talking and appears to be very bright.

Abigail is still my sweet lil doe. She's very timid about most things and is very clingy to the people in her close circle (me, Matt, grandparents). She is very dainty and still walks with her little wiggle bottom, swinging her little arm. To be honest, I always wanted to have a personality like Abby... dainty, sweet, timid. I don't know where she got it, but she sure is precious.

Ally has the most infectious giggle. She laughs SO easily and her laugh will make ANYONE smile. Even the other babies can't help but laugh or smile when they hear her giggling. I hope she always has that quality. She is very outgoing and is definitely the best of all the babies about going to someone she is not used to seeing every day. About a week ago, Ally was telling us a story in jibberish and was SO animated while telling it. She was using her hands and using inflection. It was so cute. I think she might have a lisp though... :-)

I thank God every single day for my sweet family.