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.