March 2011/ 21.5 Months

Here's a little update on what's been going on in our world:

The girls are all well and doing new things every day. They love to be read to, love to play with their kitchen/play pretend and love to play dress up and put on hats, shirts, shoes, etc and walk around. They've started watching Sesame Street and are all obsessed with Elmo or "Melmo" as they call him. Izzy is especially fond of him and has to sleep with him as well as "Wigga Wigga" the chicken. Ally is still very attached to "bunny" and her "Paci" when going to sleep and promptly requests them if she knows it's time for "night night". Abby has even started verbalizing her requests for Srog the Frog or "Sraw" as she calls him. They're talking so much and I'm very proud of all they're doing and how they're developing. The lady from Parents as Teachers still comes once a month and she's always so impressed with how well they talk and follow directions. She always brings them new books or puzzles and plays with them while she's here. She affirms me and the job I'm doing as a mommy, which is very nice to hear too.

Last time I updated, I mentioned that Izzy and Ally had climbed out of their cribs a few times, but THANKFULLY this has stopped! We took the bumpers out of the cribs (where they were getting a few extra inches leverage), so we still have a few more months before looking to move to toddler beds. I mentioned getting those crib tent things, but they make me a little nervous... afraid a baby could get caught up in it and suffocate or something. They ARE NOT READY for toddler beds! I don't care what other people have done in the past... these girls will not stay in a bed... they would roam all over the place and get into all kinds of trouble in a toddler bed. So... we're sticking with cribs as long as we possibly can.

The weather has been getting nicer and nicer, so I took the girls out in the backyard to play last week and took a few pics, while chasing them down!



Ally riding her 4-wheeler



Izzy



Abby (with her lil pony tail)



Ally about to slide, Abby swinging, Izzy waiting her turn



Ally's very good at sliding...


Here are a few pics of the girls playing in their jammies one day:


Ally pushing her bus all over the house



Sweet lil doe with srog



Izzy hoarding all the Elmo dolls

 Two weeks ago, I was cleaning house and I took the trash outside. While out there, the girls figured out how to lock the front door!!! I had NO IDEA they could do that! Luckily, since I was cleaning, I had a Baby Einstein video going and everything was baby proofed in the area they could roam. I ran next door, used the neighbor's phone and called Matt's mom, since she has a key. I played with the girls through the front windows while she booked it over here. It probably took about 7 minutes from the time I figured out I was locked out, but it felt like an ETERNITY!!!  I stayed calm, except for one moment at the neighbor's house when I almost started crying! It's funny when it's all over and everyone is safe, but I felt SO helpless, knowing they were in here and I couldn't get to them (without breaking a window, anyway, which did cross my mind)!

On Saturday, we took the babies to the Baby and Family Fest at the Expo Building in Tulsa. They advertised a petting zoo (which was not there by the way), but we had fun anyway. They had a group leading some dancing and fun activities for little kids. The girls ran around to music, played with balloons, and made a few new friends (especially Izzy). Here are some pics from our fun time:



Izzy playing with balloon



Izzy and Ally playing with their balloons. (The blue harness is for keeping them on little leashes. Some people may think it's inhumane.... I think it's the only way to go when you have 3 toddlers!)



Izzy, Abby, Ally and Andi Mae (in plaid shirt and jeans) playing with balloons. Our friends, Andrew and Courtney came with us.



Here's the J2 Crew leading the dance... Izzy was mezmerized. The other kids are in line following orders. Izzy is standing in the middle of the dance floor! So cute!

Izzy in middle of floor... Ally and Abby off to the left.

My girls holding hands and dancing

The J2 Crew wanted their pics taken with the "cute triplets"

Izzy made a little friend. She just walked right up and took this little girl's hand!

Andi Mae and Abby

Izzy and her friend

Abby kept guard over the strollers.

There was a Cute Baby Contest at the Baby Fest thing, and I said, "ok, I'll enter them if all you have to do is show them a baby and that's it". Well, the contest was exactly that! So... we showed them our babies and just knew we had the competition clinched! Ok, I just knew we had it clinched... Matt didn't care. Would you BELIEVE they DID NOT pick these babies as the cutest?! I think the whole thing had to be a rigged or something ;)

The girls are getting pretty good about holding hands with each other and walking places, which is SO NICE! Yesterday, after church, the 5 of us walked out holding hands: baby-mommy-baby-daddy-baby. This is a lot less work than carrying all of them everywhere we go! Also, we went to eat at Goldie's and, as we were leaving, we told the girls to hold hands. The 3 of them held hands with each other and nicely walked to the door! I was BEAMING as everyone looked at my lil cuties!!!

We have had some recent activity on the house lately. We lowered the price, added a bonus for the realtor that brings the buyer, and added a one-year warranty to the buyer, hoping this would boost interest. Well, it seemed to work, because we have a couple that looked last week and decided they want the house. Unfortunately, they can’t make an offer for 30 days… we’re thinking it has something to do with the financing (has to be at his job a certain amount of time, something to do with credit, etc). As Matt says though, we can’t be sure until the money’s in the bank, so it’s still quite “iffy”. Although we were planning on building when we sell this one, we did find a nice home that has 4 bedrooms, 3 baths and 2500 square feet within our budget, here in Pryor. We really liked it, though it needs a lot of updates. (It’s very hard to find a 4 bedroom, 2000 sq ft plus house within our budget, which is why we were opting to build). This house has been repossessed by the finance company, so we were hoping to get a good deal on it. Unfortunately, they won’t take a contract with a contingency of selling your own house… so, now we’re stuck waiting to sell ours and really hoping this one doesn’t sell to someone else in the meantime. Please pray everything works out for us… I have been extremely patient about selling ours, up until now. Now it’s consuming my mind and stressing me out! We know God has worked in amazing ways before, so please keep this situation in your prayers.

Snow Play, Valentine's Pics and Dancing Videos

The girls got to play in snow for the first time last week! Ally loved it, Izzy liked it, Abby tolerated it. Izzy and Abby pretty much stayed in this spot the whole time, but Ally trekked through the snow and had a great time!

These are some pics from about a month ago, I forgot to post - the girls were playing in Lala's hat and scarf.

Izzy

Abby

Ally giving me a "bite" while trying to take her pic

Valentine's Day - Meemaw and Papaw got the girls their first Build-A-Bears 

The girls cuddled their meemaw after playing with their bears...

Here are a few videos from last night of the girls dancing and hugging



What we've been up to...

I haven't updated in a while... mainly because I've been lazy. Also, Matt got me an Ipad for my birthday, so I guess I've been getting my computer "fix" with that, and haven't wanted to get on the laptop and update.

Speaking of my 32nd birthday, I had a great one! Matt took the day off and his mom watched the girls. I went and got a facial and massage in the morning, then Matt and I went to Tulsa in the afternoon. We saw a movie, shopped a little, and went to eat. It was very nice! I love love love my babies, but it's so nice to get some time away just with Matt. I about fell out of my chair when I opened the Ipad, but I LOVE IT and use it all the time!

The babies and I were sick with colds a week or so ago, but THANKFULLY, everyone seems to be well now. I figured out: I can handle triplets... I can even handle sick triplets... but I cannot handle sick triplets when I'm sick too. THAT IS MY BREAKING POINT!

We've also had a TON of snow this past week! It came in last Monday night and snowed all day on Tuesday. So much so, that Matt was unable to go to work on Tuesday or Wednesday. Our car doesn't do so well when there's 14 inches of snow on the roadways and he has a 45 minute drive to work. Since it's the first of the month and month-end close, he HAD to be there by Thursday, so his mom and dad took him in their 4wd truck. He took an air mattress and some food and just spent the night in his office, so he could get caught up. Poor guy hardly slept a wink, but his parents went back and got him Friday night and brought him back home. He says our next vehicle will be a 4wd, no matter what it costs. Here are some pics from the blizzard...

The girls' swingset...

Matt trekking out to the shed

Our shoveled walkway and cars

Check out the bushes and bench... that's a lot of snow!

Our little house...

Mom was snowed in too. When she knew the snow was coming, she packed her bag and stayed with Mamaw and Papaw, but came over to stay with me when Matt was gone. So...because of the snow, between my mom and Matt, I pretty much had constant companionship and help with the babies for a week straight! It was really nice. Today, it's back to reality, as everyone's back at work. Though... we're supposed to get more snow tomorrow night... ugh!

We had quite a surprise the other morning with Ally. We heard crying outside our room, and came out to find Ally! She climbed out of her crib and had pretty much ransacked the whole house before we knew she had "escaped"! Her path was obvious: She pulled clothes out of her nursery drawers and even shared the wealth by giving her sisters some clothes through the bars in their cribs. (I can just imagine Abby and Izzy watching her run free from their little jail cells). She must've become bored of the nursery, because she ventured to the bathroom, where she played in the toilet for awhile (evident by her wet arms, all the way up to her shoulders). After that, she appeared to raid the kitchen, placing the Windex bottle on the table and bringing the laptop into the living room. She pretty much played everywhere she's usually not able to go by herself! You're probably wondering why we didn't hear this... well, I was bad and turned the monitors down when they woke up earlier than normal that morning. The ONE morning I did that, of course, she figures out how to climb out! We also saw Izzy starting to try it too, so I don't know what we're going to do! I may look into getting crib tents, that prevent them from crawling out. Some people might say it's time to switch them to toddler beds, but I say "NOOOO way!" Mine will probably be in cribs until they're at least 3! And the only people I'll allow to judge are ones that have had 20 month old triplets! :)

I am seriously unhappy to report the following: Unfortunately, I'm noticing the girls are starting to wake up earlier. I knew this day would come, and the 9:00 am wake up was way too good to be true, but the past few days, 7:30 is the new wake up time. I know, I know, this is stilll good... most people think no sleep is synonymous with having triplets, but I've been SOOO happy with the 9 am time!

As far as what they're currently doing: they're saying more and more words and even singing! It is very cute! Their favorites are: "This Little Light of Mine", "Baa Baa Black Sheep", and "Itsy Bitsy Spider". They like to do the motions and sometimes try to sing along.

My favorite is when I tell them I love them and they just say it back: "I uh you". Sometimes it surprises me because I'm not used to getting a response, and not saying it because I want one.

On a not so cute note, Izzy has started telling me "no". I'll ask her to do something and she'll say "no". Then I'll say, "you do not tell your mommy 'no'", and she'll say, "no, no, no, no." She gets spanked or put in time out, but man does it burn me!!!

That's all I can think of to update for now, as Abigail would say, "see ya"!

20 Month update

The girls turned 20 months old yesterday, so I wanted to give a quick update on how they're doing.

They're currently saying so many words, I can't keep track anymore. They even say short sentences, like: bye bye daddy, I love you, I sorry, up please, cookie please, etc.

(The pics in this post were from my phone... so they're not the greatest quality.)

Izzy

Izzy is currently obsessed with Elmo. She has discovered he's on the front of her diaper, and is always wanting to take her diaper off to see Elmo (this is very frustrating since she's not potty trained yet)! Her hair is really growing and is growing straight up and out, so it is wild all the time! I managed to get it in little pig tails the other day, but she wouldn't leave them in (see above pic). We had a very embarassing moment with Izzy at Wal-mart last week. It's too embarassing for me to put on the blog, but let's just say she saw a baby that she thought looked like an animal from one of her books. It was very bad. Matt just looked at me and said, "did she just say what I think she said?" We fled the scene very quickly.

Abby (playing dress up in her boots and scarf)

Abby's hair is getting so long, she really needs to get a hair cut soon. She's very good about identifying animal sounds and also loves to be read to a lot. Abby and Ally have both started coming to me after they go #2 in their diapers and saying "poo poo". I know this is a step towards potty training, but I'm not rushing them... I've been given advice to wait until they're at least two and have heards it's easier in the summer when they're not wearing as many clothes. I've noticed lately that Izzy and Ally seem to just love Abby. They're always loving on her and babying her. I'm not sure it's because they see me doing it, or because they see her as the little timid, sensitive one too. Don't get me wrong, they fight over toys with her, etc, but for the most part, it appears as though Izzy and Ally both really like Abby a lot. This may change in the near future... but I've noticed it lately.

Ally

Ally is finally getting some hair! It's about an inch long on top of her head now. Ally is VERY good at puzzles and pointing things out in a book. She also pretends to read to herself, and mumbles as she "reads" thru the pages. She's still my little cuddle bug, but does the funniest thing when she's cuddling - she always moves her little bottom in and out, almost like she's wanting me to rock her. It's really sweet. We've started praying with the girls after they brush their teeth at night, but Ally is so funny when she prays. She folds her little hands, closes her eyes, and shakes her head (like saying no) the whole time she prays... like she really means it! Then at the end, she says, "Aymien" in the most hick voice ever! Seriously cute... I'm gonna post a video of it soon.

We recently moved Ally's crib back into Izzy and Abby's room. I would hear Izzy and Abby giggling before or after nap, and I just felt sorry for Ally being all alone in her side of the nursery. We originally moved her because she would wake up a lot in the middle of the night and wake up her sisters, but she rarely does that anymore. The night we moved her crib in their room, the girls didn't fall asleep for an hour...they were in there giggling until 10:00! I figure, that's part of the fun of being triplets though! Also, we were struggling to keep Ally's side of the room warm, since it's all the way at the end of the house, so now she's warm and toasty like the other two.

The girls are still loving their new play room. When someone comes over, a lot of times, they'll grab their finger and take them back to show them their new room. It's so cute. I love to hear them in there playing with each other. We also have a little tv set up that I leave on the Disney channel, so they have quite the little set-up.

I've been working on the blog book in my spare time, but it's a lot more work than I thought it would be... I downloaded the software, but pretty much have to copy and paste all of the posts and pictures and lay them out in the book the way I want them. It's definitely going to take a lot more time than I originally figured. I've already worked on it for probably 12 hours total, and am just now throught the pregnancy part, to the day of their birth! It'll all be worth it in the end though.

The girls are frustrating me with their eating lately... it's hard to find something that all three of them like, and I'm finding the easy "go-to" things like peanut butter and grilled cheese aren't even liked by all. Ugh! One common factor: they all love cookies and "nandy" (aka candy) and would eat that 24/7 if I'd let them! Abigail is my little eater (even though she's the smallest) and will eat pretty much anything I put in front of her! Izzy and Ally are very picky. Though, Ally is my little chug-a-lugger and will drink and drink and drink!

As for selling the house, we've still got nothing... I'm going to have to call my realtor soon, because I seriously haven't even HEARD from her since September or so. That doesn't seem right... I see people drive slowly by the house often, but it hasn't been shown since the Fall. Very frustrating.

On a bright note: Matt has been promoted to a Senior Accounting Manager at work and got a nice raise... Praise God! He's definitely taken care of us in more ways than we can count.

Some Videos from the Holidays

Singing Jingle Bells - Izzy is the one shaking 2 bells, Ally's the one that won't stop messing with her hat, Abby has the dark hair

Riding their new cars at the church gym

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.