Valentine's Day

Time for an update!

I recently had a birthday and Matt and I were able to go on a double date with our friends, Andrew and Courtney, for the first time since the babies have been born. Don't get me wrong... Matt and I have been out... just haven't gone with these friends that we used to spend every weekend with! It was SO nice, and believe it or not, I actually went minutes at a time without thinking about the girls! It was very good for me and made for a great birthday. Matt's gift to me was 5 hours at the spa on my birthday, so I had already "celebrated" somewhat! It was definitely a nice day! I got to go eat dinner with my mom that night too... It's easy to get caught up in the mundane and forget how nice it is to get out of the house now and again.

Someone asked me the other day if Izzy is my favorite, because I always write about her first and write the most. First of all, I don't have a favorite... they all have such unique characteristics, and there is something special about each of them. I just write in birth order... I pretty much always start with Izzy, then Abby, then Ally. I'm almost always consistent with this. Also, up to this point, Izzy has just been doing more in her physical development, so there's a lot to write about. I'm sure each baby will get their time in the spotlight!

Here's the latest on what the girlies are doing:

Izzy is pulling up on anything and everything! When I walk with her, her little legs just naturally take steps, and sometimes even RUN! She is CONSTANTLY getting hurt, because she falls from her constant pulling up! She's still very busy and seems to plow over her sisters when playing with them. Just a minute ago, I had to separate her and Abby because she had a hold of Abby's hair and was yanking. Matt and I have also started saying "no" and giving little spats on the hand... not sure they understand yet, but we're trying. Izzy loves to play with her sisters, but it's hard to leave her alone with them for long! All of the girls love me to sing silly songs to them, and yesterday, Izzy seemed to sing a long. It was her usual, "ahhhhhhhh" sound, but it seemed to be going with my singing. She's very sweet.

Abby is finally sitting up! I was afraid it was NEVER going to happen!!! She babbles more than the other two, and sounds a lot like she's talking. I also have a feeling, she might be the onrnery one of the bunch. Everybody always thinks it'll be Izzy, but I have noticed Abby always takes the others' toys and then kind of waves them in their faces to show off. It's pretty funny to watch. She also sometimes appears to ignore her sisters when they're in her face, and I get the feeling she might be the one that says, "you're not my friend today"! Don't worry... mommy won't let her act that way for too long! Abby also appears to be doing some signs along with me when I'm singing... for example, she puts her little hands together and wiggles her fingers when I sing "Itsy bitsy spider". She's not quite "crawling", but gets where she needs to go by rolling or using her elbows and pushing with her feet. The other night Izzy and Abby were like Lewis and Clark, exploring the house for the first time. Matt and I watched as they crawled into the master bedroom, turning around to see if we were going to come get them. Izzy would crawl ahead and laugh as she waited on Abby and watched her inch her way towards her. It was SO darn cute to watch them go exploring together. Poor Ally was left out of the adventure and played by herself, sucking on her passy (pacifier). Abby appears to really understand the word "no". We mainly have to say it when she tries to get to the stuff on the bottom shelf of the end tables... she learns pretty quickly and cries when we say "no" because it either hurts her feelings or frustrates her... I'm not sure which. It's pretty cute though!

Ally is VERY close to crawling and pulling up! She's been getting on her tummy a lot and gets up on her knees and kind of swims around the house. She's still very into doing her tummy "crunches", and we think she must have abs of steel! She's pulling up in a very strange and difficult way. She sits on her bottom and tries to pull herself up from that angle... not an easy task, but she usually gets to a crouched position. I've also noticed her waving a lot, though it's never to say bye-bye or Hi... it's just random waving, but very cute. Ally doesn't seem to interact with her sisters as much, and when she does, she's almost always the victim. They steal her passy, take her toys, etc. She just looks up at me and cries to come save her. Poor little thing. If she put her mind to it, she could kick their diaper booties... she's got over 2 pounds on them! Ally is still my little cuddle bug and I love to bring her to bed with me in the mornings before the other two wake up... she almost always falls back asleep and she's so snuggly!!

Our daily schedule is currently:

7:30 wake up and eat breakfast - oatmeal with fruit
8:00-10:00 play and listen to music
10:30-11:30 nap (mommy tries to exercise, shower and eat breakfast)
12:00 lunch (green veggie with fruit)
12:30-3:00 play (Most of the time I get in their pen with them and keep them happy for the last hour... I like to call it my office. I have a drink, diapers/wipes, the remote control and my cell phone all right there to use as needed).
2:30 bottle
3:00-4:30/5:00 nap (I read, do my Bible study, clean, get on the computer, prep for dinner, etc.)
5:00 dinner - orange veggies, fruit
6:00-8:00 play while Matt and I scarf our dinner
8:30 bottle and bed

The babies get a bath every other day and I usually try to squeeze it in in the morning to get it over with... bathtime wears me out! I still put them in different rooms at nap time, so if someone wakes up prematurely, the others don't all wake up. If nap time is not over, I let them cry it out until they go back to sleep. Some people may think that's harsh, but it's the only way I've found they get the structured sleep they need and it makes my life MUCH easier.

I love them SOOOO much! If I get a chance to get out of the house, I can't wait to get back and get my hands on them, though I very much enjoy and need to get out now and then.

I recently saw where you can pay a fee and have your blogs bound into hard cover books! I'm so excited to be able to share these entries with the girls someday...

That's all for now... Happy Valentine's Day!

Girls playing house

8 months old!

The girls are napping, so I thought I would update the blog on the latest...

They turned 8 months old this week! We went to the Dr. on Tuesday, and all girls are still doing great. Ally is in the 50th percentile for weight and 70th for height! Izzy and Abby are more around the 10th percentile for height/weight. Izzy has actually passed Abby in weight now, so the size order from biggest to smallest is: Ally, Izzy, Abby. Abby was the biggest at birth (5 lb. 5 oz), but is not a very big eater. Ally doesn't eat more than Izzy, but is a lot less active.

Here's the rundown on what they're doing:

Izzy is crawling and pulling up! I'll post some pics of this, so you can see how cute she is! She's such a little go-getter! She bonks her head a lot, but just keeps going. Sometimes she cries for a few seconds, but she's a tough little booger! She doesn't know her own strength yet, and I can't leave her alone with the other two or she'll pin them to the ground or poke their eyes out! If she sees something she wants, she just goes full force until she gets it. She's such a wiggle worm and hardly EVER sits still... except for the night feeding. At that point, she's worn out! Matt and I fight over who gets Izzy because it's so sweet to have her be so cuddly for a change! She still just has 2 bottom teeth and is a very happy baby.

Abby is still not sitting up well. She just doesn't put forth a lot of effort to do it, which doesn't really surprise me based on how she's been up to this point. We used to struggle with feeding her a bottle, because she wouldn't suck hard enough! She is going through a stage where she hates it when the adult leaves the room, which makes it very hard to get anything done. She's still very good with her hands and manipulating her toys, finger foods, etc... better than the other two babies. Matt calls her "lil doe" because she frightens easily and has big round eyes. I think we're going to have to stop calling her that because the other day, I called her name twice and when she ignored me, I said "lil doe" and she turned! She's going to think that's her name if we're not careful!

Ally still wants to be held all the time and still loves her pacifier. She's sitting up well and is still a very giggly, smiley baby. She now has two bottom teeth like her sisters. Matt lovingly calls her chubbers, which he won't be able to do too much longer. To be honest, she's a very normal-sized baby, but her sisters are so little, she looks chubby compared to them. She's started this terrible scream-cry when she doesn't get what she wants and is really testing my patience lately. When I'm able to, I let her scream it out so she doesn't keep this up, thinking she'll get what she wants everytime she does it. Don't get me wrong... her needs are met... just trying to avoid creating a beast!

I just started them on some finger foods this week with some cereal puffs that melt in the mouth easily. So far, most of the puffs end up on the floor, but it's fun to watch the girls use their little fingers and try to get them in their mouths! I'm not sure if I'm late starting finger foods, but I'm so scared of them choking and they're getting the nutrition they need, so I've put it off until now.

As for me, not too long ago, a friend offered me a job where I could work from home 10 hours a week and make a little extra money. The idea of it excited me, but after much thought and talking it over with Matt, I realized I didn't have the extra time to devote to a part-time job. Matt was like, "Do you have 10 extra hours a week?!" After almost taking the job, I realized, if I was going to make time for a job, I should be able to make some time for myself! It was like this whole new awakening for me! After this, I bought an elliptical machine and have started to take time to work out each day during the girls' morning nap. Granted, so far it's only been 2 days, but I'm pretty dedicated now that I spent the money! Anyway, I've also been trying to keep up with email and my blog better too. Anytime I try to use the girls as an excuse, I think... this is your job now... take better care of yourself!

Here are some recent pics of the girls:

Ally sitting in front of the house they got for Christmas.


Izzy pulling up on walker. Abby sitting in walker.



Ally in swing, Abby in walker, Izzy crawling on floor.


Matt and Izzy - isn't that cute! Abby playing on floor to the right.


Izzy, Abby and Ally- just back from Dr and getting pretty hungry!

First Post in 2010

We definitely had an eventful Christmas! It's very difficult to lug three babies and all their stuff anywhere, not to mention multiple places in a snow storm! We started to my mom's house Christmas Eve and said we weren't going to stay the night unless the apocalypse came, but I prepared the babies' stuff, just in case. I've learned better safe than sorry with babies! My grandparents set out around 8:00 that evening for home and ended up in a ditch with a 4 wheel-drive truck, so we decided our mini van was definitely not going to make the 20 mile trek from Inola to Pryor in "blizzard-like" conditions. So, mom graciously gave us her room, we set up 3 pack-n-plays and all 5 of us slept in the same room that night! I have to admit, it was kind of cozy, though the girls woke up extra early and a few times during the night too. It was kind of nice waking up with my mom and brother on Christmas morning, like the old days. Matt and my brother, Chad, dug us out of mom's long driveway Christmas day, which took about 2 hours... but we made it over to Matt's family's house by about 4:00. By the end of that 2 days, we were BEAT!!! Caring for triplets, while living out of a suitcase and not in your own home can be very frustrating! We're very big on routine and so used to being in our own controlled environment, it definitely took it's toll on us and the babies! Next year should be easier, right?!

The girls got a ton of clothes and toys, and are keeping busy these days! Here's a breakdown on what they're doing this month:

Izzy is crawling, slowly. She just figured it out within the last week. She can sit up on her own and if she starts to fall, can catch her balance by placing her hand on the ground. She never sits long though... she's all over the place all the time! She rarely sits in a bouncy seat or swing and spends most of her time on the floor playing with toys. She's finally getting more hair, and is about as cute as a baby can get! She still has a little gleam of ornery in her and today, as I was feeding her cereal, she reached for the bowl and knocked it off the table. First of all, I thought it was way out of her reach, and second, she thought it was really funny! Needless to say, I didn't! I told her "no", but she thought that was funny too. Izzy had a cold about 2 weeks ago and still has a runny nose... not sure if she got it again or if it's still hanging on. Last night, Matt lowered Izzy's crib matress because we think she might be pulling up soon. She can climb onto certain things, so we figure it's better safe than sorry. I call her my little monkey, because she's always going! Izzy still just has 2 bottom teeth.

Abby caught this same cold from Izzy, but hers turned into an upper respiratory infection and she has had to be on antibiotics to clear it up. She was the sickest I've seen any of my babies so far. I've had a lot of sleepless nights these past 2 weeks with these sick babies... ugh!!! Abby is still not sitting up or crawling, and doesn't show signs of wanting to do either. She's pretty aggressive with her toys and if her sister has a toy, she wants it. Another thing: Ally takes a pacifier, Abby and Izzy don't. When Abby sees Ally's pacifier, she suddenly wants it. With ease, she pulls it right out of Ally's mouth and puts it into her own, all the while Ally is crying like a victim and does nothing about it. We got this on video, but it's too long to post to the blog. Abby is also starting to mimic. Mom and I were singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to the babies last weekend, and Abby started doing her fingers kind of like ours. She also likes to mimic coughing. This cracked me up... a few nights ago, I had Abby in the guest room, as she had been up. Next think I know, Izzy gets up with her snotty nose, unable to breathe. I bring Izzy into the living room and as she's coughing for real, I hear Abby mimicking her in the guest room! With every little Izzy cough, Abby had a cough to follow! Pretty cute, huh? You know it's cute when I laugh about it at 4:00 in the morning! Abby has 2 bottom teeth.

Ally is sitting up really well on her own, but doesn't stray from sitting. For example, if a toy escapes her reach, it's gone for good... she's not going after it. She doesn't know how to move from the sitting position yet. Ally has also been a VERY pleasant baby since my last post. I think she wanted me to feel guilty for saying she was a brat! She has been as sweet as can be... very patient and playing by herself for long periods of time. She's still very smiley and giggly. She has a bit of an infection in her eyes - The Dr. says it's from her sister's colds - one of them touched her in the eyes with their germ-infested hands. I've been giving her eye drops, and it's clearing up just fine. No matter how much I try to keep their stuff separate when their sick, they still manage to pass it along to each other. Ally has one bottom tooth.

I've been trying to make the girls' food with a new baby food maker I got for Christmas, but have been having a few problems. I've tried fresh, frozen and canned vegetables, but for some reason, the girls don't like it and prefer the Gerber food. I don't really have time for them to be picky, so I end up giving them what they want, so meal time doesn't last 2 hours!!! Anyway, I'm going to try a few different vegetables and fruits and see if I can't get them to eat them. I think it's the texture, but I'm not sure. The Gerber food is very silky smooth and the homemade has some grit, no matter how long I grind it or add more water. Anyway... I'm going to keep trying, because this will save us a lot of money in the long run.

That's all I have time to write about now, here are a few recent pics of the girls and their cousins:

Madison, Damon, Abby, Izzy and Ally - (Madison and Damon are Matt's sister's kids)

Ally sitting up



Busy Izzy playing/crawling


More of Ally sitting up


Abby and Izzy playing on the floor


Abby just woke up from nap- ready to eat dinner. Nice hair, huh?!


I took this video today of Izzy and Ally fighting over the pacifier...