Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Merry Christmas!

Hi there! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We had a great holiday here with the babies. Seth had a 4 day weekend so we were able to spend a lot of quality time together as a family. On Saturday we went to a Christmas cookie exchange with the local twins club. We brought our wagon for the kids to play with and everyone had a great time. Finally, we received the 3rd trailer for the triplet wagon so Mischa can have her own seat now. The funny thing is she still prefers to sit on the floor of the wagon rather than in the seat. I guess she got used to being down there from having to share a trailer with Madeline. After the cookie exchange, we went to the mall and did some last minute Christmas shopping. The babies had a great time riding in the wagon at the mall. Boy, did we get some funny glances from people! :) For Christmas day, we had an evening brunch with our dear friends, Rachael and Culley, and their 11 month old cutie, Mackenzie. Overall, it was a fantastic holiday weekend! Oh, and last Friday I returned to work for the first time after 15 months off. Wow, it was great seeing my old coworkers and even some of my old patients. I missed the babies the whole time I was gone, but I got home on time to put their pajamas on and spend some time playing with them before it was bedtime. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Me saying goodbye to the babies before I headed off to work for my first day back...as you can see, they hardly noticed!
 
Us at the twins club christmas party
 
Seth, Madeline and Caleb (that's Mischa's head in the very front...guess I was too slow at snapping this picture)
 
Madeline and Mischa riding in the wagon with their friends
 
Caleb
 
Madeline
 
Mischa
 
Caleb eating at the mall
 
Madeline
 
Mischa enjoying chow mein noodles for the first time
 
Christmas eve bath (1st time giving all 3 a bath at the same time!)
 
Mischa and Caleb
 
Caleb and Madeline
 
Bedtime bottles
 
Christmas morning...Elmo on the ipad
 
Say cheese!
 
New walker from Santa so the babies don't have to fight over the same one anymore

 
Christmas dinner (ham, french toast & hashbrowns...doesn't get any better than that!)
 
Seth and the babies last Christmas (Caleb, Mischa, Madeline - less than one month old)
 
...And Seth and the babies one year later - AMAZING! We are so blessed!
 
 
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Thanks for stopping by!


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

1 year check up

Happy Holidays everyone! It really seems official that the babies have reached the 1 year milestone and are growing up so fast now! Seth and I were still in disbelief that 12 months have passed by when we celebrated the babies' birthday on December 4th, but now that it has been a  couple of weeks, the idea of them actually turning one isn't quite so bittersweet. We want them to grow big and strong, but we don't want them growing too fast because all the sweet moments like cuddling them in our arms seems to go away so fast. We were just saying to each other that very soon they'll no longer be crawling, and then it's as if they'll be official toddlers and no longer babies anymore. Yikes, where does time go?

Well the babies had their 12 month check up last week and it went great. Madeline remains the biggest weighing 20 lbs 12 oz and is 30.5 inches long. She is in the 25th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height. Caleb weighs 19 lbs 4 oz and is 29 inches long. He is in the 10th percentile for weight and 25th percentile for height. And last but not least is Mischa who weighs 18 lbs even and is 27 inches long. She is in the 3rd percentile for weight and 10th percentile for height...still our sweet little peanut. Everyone went down on their weight percentiles but the doctor said that between 12 to 18 months most babies slim down due to their increased activity levels, so she wasn't overly concerned. Fortunately, everyone is on track developmentally which is the most important thing. The pediatrician gave us the okay to transition the babies off of formula to whole milk. We've been offering the babies whole milk in sippy cups in an effort to eventually wean them off bottles in the near future. Madeline doesn't mind whole milk and seems to like the taste of it, but the other two only take a few sips and then aren't interested anymore. We only have a few more cases of formula left, so hopefully Caleb and Mischa grow to love whole milk soon! ;) It's great that the babies don't have any food restrictions now that they are a year old so we can introduce anything to them...honey, peanut butter, strawberries, etc. So far we haven't come across anything they are allergic to and they don't seem to dislike anything yet, so we're doing well in the eating department.

If you remember from a few posts back, Seth and I had bets on who would walk first. His original choice was Madeline since she was standing first. I voted for Mischa since she was the first to crawl and always seems to have an advantage since she's the smallest. Well, we both lost that bet! Caleb started walking this past Sunday after weeks of standing unassisted and cruising between different pieces of furniture. We have a musical walker that he loves and uses to walk across the kitchen and living room numerous times each day. Perhaps the practice paid off because he is now taking 2-3 steps unassisted! It's so cute to see him get the courage to take those first few steps. Of course he ends up sitting down or falling down after a few steps, but as far as Seth and I are concerned, he is the first to walk! I have been unsuccessful in my attempts to get footage of him walking, but hopefully I can snap a picture soon!

Here are some recent pictures. We are still waiting for the photographer to finish editing the birthday party photos, but here are some other pictures from the past couple of weeks.

Madeline
 
Caleb
 
Mischa - notice anything different about her?
She got a haircut from Grandma Sue who failed to ask, notify or inform me that she was cutting her hair! Fortunately, Mischa is still 100% adorable :)
 
Madeline getting measured at the doctor's office...poor thing was scared!
 
Madeline didn't mind getting weighed
 
Caleb didn't mind the doctor's office experience...well, until it was time for shots!
 
Our curious boy getting weighed
 
Mischa was so terrified from the moment we took her out of the stroller. I wasn't able to get a picture of her getting weighed because the medical assistance couldn't get her to sit still on the scale, so we weighed her in my arms...aww, poor little Mischa!
 
There's our HAPPY girls!
 
Caleb enjoying his baby smoothie
 
Getting pulled in the wagon by Dad and drinking smoothies...seriously, can life get any better?
 
Mischa and Caleb being silly
 
Caleb
 
Mischa playing with the Flip camera
 
Us at our friend's 1st birthday party
 
I'll be sure to post pictures from the babies' birthday party and their holiday pictures in the next post. Here's a sneak peek...
 
 



 
 
 



Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Happy Birthday, babies!

Wow, the babies turn one years old today! We can't believe it's been a year since our precious babies were born! Seth and I still can't believe that we have 3 healthy and happy babies, let alone one year olds! Although it's been a very busy year, it has also been an enjoyable and exciting one. Watching our little sweethearts turn from tiny 3 and 4 pound newborns to vibrant, exuberant one year old babies has been an absolutely amazing journey and is more than we could ever ask for. We feel so fortunate and blessed!

When I started this blog earlier this year, my intention was to share the journey of raising our triplets with our friends and family, near and far. Since a lot of our friends and family live in different states, I thought it would be neat to start a blog so that everyone could sneak a peek as our little munchkins grow and develop into the adorable little kids they are today. However, Seth and I also talked about how one day we will share this blog with our children so that they can see pictures and videos of themselves from the moment they were born until as long as we can keep this blog going. We always thought of this blog as our online baby book. I know that one day we will have so much joy in sharing all of these memories with our children and it is a day that we look forward to so much. So, with that said, here is a little note that I'm writing to Madeline, Caleb and Mischa, so that one day they can read it:

Dear Madeline, Caleb and Mischa,

Mom and Dad are beyond the moon with happiness that the three of you came into our lives. From the moment the doctor told us we were expecting the three of you, we could not have been happier. Each of you has enriched our lives more than words can describe and we feel so blessed that we get to experience all the joy that you bring us. You are each so special and unique in your own ways and you bring so much laughter and happiness to our lives. For the longest time, I (mom) used to feel like my life was not quite complete - always something else to obtain or achieve, but now I know that I have everything and more than I could ever ask for. Thank you for making us the happiest parents on the planet. We love you more than words can describe. Happy Birthday to our sweet little babies! We look forward to celebrating many more birthdays together!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Here are pictures from today where we had a small little birthday celebration at home.

Caleb, Mischa, Madeline - 1 years old today!
Caleb
Madeline
Mischa
Mischa, Caleb, Madeline
Vanilla bean cupcakes (I didn't have the nerve to light the candles)
Madeline
Caleb
Mischa
Happy 1st Birthday little ones!


Last Saturday was the babies' birthday celebration blow out which was so much fun! We had a wonderful time celebrating the babies turning one with some of our special family and friends. The birthday party turned out great and it was so neat to see the babies eat their (giant) smash cupcakes. We are waiting for the digital images from our photographer, but here are a couple of videos from the party just as the babies were eating their cakes. Thanks to everyone who could share in this special day with us. Having you there meant the world to me and Seth!




Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful day! Gosh, Seth and I have SO, SO, SO much to be thankful for. We truly are blessed beyond words. We are so grateful for our kids, our health, our family and our friends! We feel so very fortunate to have such wonderful people surrounding us. I am especially grateful for my sweet grandma, Nancy, who passed away this week. She loved looking at this blog and seeing pictures of the babies. Grandma, I love you so much and will miss you dearly!

With the holidays being here, I can't help but think about last Thanksgiving when I was pregnant and on bed rest at the hospital. At this point I had been on bed rest for about 14 weeks, 6 weeks of which were in the hospital. I was so lucky to have had my family and friends bring me delicious Thanksgiving food and to cheer me us with their daily visits. Unfortunately, I had started to feel pretty big and wasn't able to eat a lot since my stomach was being compressed by my little munchkins. Looking back, every bit of bed rest was so worth it and seeing my beautiful babies reminds me just how lucky I am.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving today with the babies. I prepared all of our favorite holiday dishes from pumpkin bread, cranberry chutney, my dad's famous sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans, to pumpkin pie. Whoa, making all this food AND having 3 babies crawling around the house made it a bit of a challenge, but luckily I was able to get a lot done the night before after the babies went to bed. When it came time to eat our Thanksgiving dinner, I decided to let the babies go all out and try everything I had prepared. I usually feed them a main course of a puree of some form, but lately, they want to feed themselves and actually are starting to refuse the spoon! All three prefer finger foods and want to feed themselves without any help. So I let them go wild tonight and let me just say, I spent about 1 hour cleaning up the high chairs, bibs, and floor, but it sure was worth it to see their happy, smiling faces! Here are some pictures from the day.

Madeline
 
Caleb & Mischa
 
Madeline
 
Caleb eating his high chair seatbelt
 
Mischa, our little monkey
 
Turkey dinner x 3...let the mess begin!
 
This photo was taken before the plates ended up on the floor
 
The plates were now on the floor
 
Madeline
 
Caleb
 
Mischa
 
 
 
Here's a video we took today of the babies in their new birthday wagon (2 out of 3 trailers arrived in the mail so far).
 
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!