Mornings

If you want pictures you are SOL but you can go over to AR's blog to see pics from our fun weekend.

You know how when you wake up in the middle of the night and you think it is morning then you see your clock and it is only 3 am and you say to yourself "YESSSSSSS (with fist pull) I get 3 more hours of sleep!!!!".  Yeah well I don't.  Never have.  I say to myself, "oh crap it is 3 am and I'm awake and I'll never get back to sleep and my babies are actually sleeping why can't I take advantage of this I'm going to feel like crap tomorrow blah blah blah blah blah blah blah". 

Nevertheless, I love mornings.  I thought they would be the hardest part of my day, but I absolutely love them.  Typical morning:  get up at 5:30 and warm bottles, feed dogs, eat something.  Feed babies from 5:45 to 6:45.  This is my favorite time with them.  I wake them up to feed them and then put them back down, but we each cuddle and talk for a bit.  They are usually in great moods and eat well.  I love the look on their faces when I get them out of the bed and the big stretch when they are released from their straight jackets swaddles.  Then I sit outside on my front porch swing for 15 minutes, drink coffee, watch the sun rise and look at the blooming dogwoods and azaleas.  Catch the first part of the Today Show for all pressing news matters then shower and get ready for work.

I thought I should capture this rare moment of serenity because I'm not sure how long it will last....

Almost 5 months

The girls are almost 5 months old.  They had their checkup and shots today.  Mom came with me and it was comically hectic at times...like after the shots when three babies were screaming bloody murder.

Irene weighs 14 lbs 6 oz (50%), Brooks 13 lbs 6 oz (18%), Anna 10 lbs 13 oz (-1%).

Irene, Brooks, Anna 

Irene, Brooks

Irene, Anna

Irene, Brooks, Anna

Meme, Anna Ruth, and Frances are visiting so it will be a fun weekend!

Weekends

I'm working on a thrilling post about my obsession with the topic of swaddling.  In the meantime here are some pics from the weekend.  I thought I used to love weekends.  Now that I am back to work I seriously love the weekends and try to enjoy every minute.

Getting ready to go on a walk.  Brooks, Anna, Irene.

Irene and Anna

Brooks and Anna

Brooks and Irene

Anna and Irene

Anna left, Brooks middle, Irene right.

 For every decent picture there are about 50 takes.  For instance....

Take 1

Take 2

Take 1

Take 2

Irene, as calm as she normally is, hates photo sessions.

Heavy Weights

At 16 weeks the girls have all either tripled or almost tripled their birth weights.

Anna is a little over 9 pounds (born at 2 lbs 15 oz).  She makes this face pretty much every time you talk to her (followed by a dramatic pout when you walk away).

Irene is a little over 12 pounds (born at 4 lbs).  Still the sweet laid back baby of the crew.   

Brooks is a little over 11 pounds (born at 4 lbs 3 oz).  She rapidly alternates between this face and excited smiles as she investigates everything around her all the time.  She is so curious and entertained by everything.

I'm also starting to be pretty sure I know where Irene and Anna get some of their features (like the tongue out smile and hair color (which you can't see on them in pics)).....

Thanks Grump for the awesome haircut

The Great Debate

Last year for Christmas Jack surprised me with a new car.  A GMC Acadia.  I LOVE it.  Perfect size for what we assumed would be our growing family over the years (note:  car was conveniently borrowed by Jack when I was on bedrest and has not been returned).  Unfortunately it is not the perfect size for newborn triplets.  It works, but it is not optimal.  Since our other car has over 250K miles it is about time for a new car anyway.

You know what's coming.

Is it time for a mini?  Can I do it with an SUV?  If I go SUV, I'm going all out with a tank for the extra room like the Yukon XL.  Sorry but I'll save the environment in other ways.  We have one mid-size SUV already and its just not enough room for getting around with three the same age or for travel.  With all our family out of town and a desire to still go on trips, we hope to be able to travel with some ease (ha).    SO, being the analyst that I am I did some additional research and interviewed each vehicle.

 

Still confused.  Which one?

Odyssey.....

Yukon....

The Safety Pins

This is what my den looks like on a good day.

In all of this mess, the one thing I pointed out tonight is that the safety pins (which I put on the top of the curtains when we moved in) are showing and look bad.  I'm sure that is the first thing people see.

Last weekend was relaxing and fun.  Jack and I were both home and just stayed around the house with the girls.  We read some books and put them in the bumbos.  And we are working on cutting out the 2 am feeding.  Tonight is night 6 of the effort - we feed them at 10 pm and try to get them to go all the way to 6 or 6:30 am.  We are making progress and last night all three made it.  Hopefully we will get there soon - it will make a huge difference in life around here.

They are really starting to pay attention to pictures and colors.

Brooks....still quite spunky.  Sits with ease in the bumbo, flips over stomach to back, and just wants to be in the middle of everything.  She is a determined little thing and is so funny to watch try to get something or do something she wants.

Anna...might be the drama queen.   She is the big smiler these days - HUGE responsive smiles, but in the blink of an eye she will poke her bottom lip out.  I like to think she takes after aunt Anna Ruth ("daaaaaaddddd my legs huuuuurt."  Sorry ARM - when Carolyn was visiting we said that every time Anna fussed).

Irene...would rather be sleeping.  Sweet, sweet, laid back girl.  She is our saving grace sometimes.  But she does have a great set of lungs when she's mad.

3 babies, 3 months

The girls are three months old today.  All three are doing great.  Growing, starting to smile, and finding their voices.  We still feed them every four hours but nights are starting to get much better.  For the most part they are sleeping in their cribs pretty well between the feedings.  We have at least one or two issues a night but that is WAY better than where we were a month or even two weeks ago.

People ask me a lot what a normal day is like.  First of all, there is no normal.  Every day brings a few surprises.

In a perfect world 24 hours would look like this:
(and when I say bottles I also mean everyone eats in 20 mins, burps immediately, no spit up, and happily waits their turn)

6 am - wake up and have bottles
7 am - sit in bouncy chairs and happily stare at the toys for a while
8-10 am - nap
10 am - bottles
11 am - play on mat
12 - 2 pm - nap
2 pm - bottles
3 pm - a little more chair playtime, possibly a walk
4-5 pm - nap
5 pm - a little awake time, maybe a bath
6 pm - bottles
7 -10 pm - sleep in cribs
10 pm - bottles
11- 2 am - sleep in cribs
2 am - bottles
3 - 6 am - sleep in cribs

In the real world, 24 hours looks more like this:
(and when I say bottles I also mean somebody won't eat, somebody poops in the middle of their's, lots of spit up, and somebody has to wait and is MAD)

6 am - wake up and have bottles
7 am - sit in bouncy chairs....2 out of 3 do not think this is a good plan
8-10 am - nap...maybe
10 am - bottles.  At least one would rather sleep through bottle because of refusal to nap previously.
11 am - play on mat/cry on mat
12 - 2 pm - nap....maybe...at least one usually agrees to this
2 pm - bottles
3 pm - 6 pm - At this point all bets are off.  Everyone may be happy, everyone may fuss, or a mixture of both.   I will stop at nothing to entertain them during this time.
6 pm - bottles
7 -10 pm - sleep in cribs...maybe
10 pm - bottles
11- 2 am - sleep in cribs....maybe
2 am - bottles
3 - 6 am - sleep in cribs....maybe

So that is what I do all day!  It is a little hectic but I'm getting the hang of it.  There are times where I am in tears and times when I think everything could not be better.  I don't do it alone when Jack is not here.  During the month of January either my mom, Jack's mom, or my sister has been here to help. Starting tomorrow we have a wonderful lady that will be helping us every week day.  Soon I will start back to work at the office...will be a big adjustment!


Here are some recent pics

New favorite activity in the afternoon. The mild weather lately has been great.  

Anna and Irene.  Fascinated with the ball.

Playtime

Magic swings.  This is where the fussy babies get to hang out.  Anna left and Brooks right.

Jack's mom, Honey.  Brooks left, Anna middle, Irene right

My mom, Meme.  Brooks left, Irene middle, Anna right

My dad, Grump, feeding Irene

Fun Saturday visit from some of the Wadlingtons.  Anna with Ford, Carrie with Anna, Jack with Irene and Brooks

Ford meeting Brooks

Ford and the girls having playtime

Irene and Brooks

Anna and Irene

Irene and Anna

Brooks

Anna

Brooks

Irene