Baby Dedication

This Sunday, we dedicated the babies at our church. I want to apologize to anyone who would've liked to have come and didn't know about it. I definitely dropped the ball in getting the word out, and the day approached must faster than I anticipated! So sorry! Anyway, it ended up being a really nice dedication. Basically, a dedication is a sort of "giving back" to God what He has given us. Eric & I have committed to raise our kids up in a Christian home and to teach them to love and serve God. We hope that they will come to know Jesus at a very young age and that their lives would be used to glorify Him and to bless others. The dedication was a time of thankful celebration of the precious gifts God has given us! I wrote a "letter" to the babies that I read during the dedication and I will post it below for those of you who weren't able to be there.

Eric & I just want to thank everyone who has already helped us in so many ways, whether it be providing meals, diapers, help during feedings, etc. We, definitely, couldn't have made it this far without you! We greatly appreciate all of the continuous love and support from all of you!

To Our 3 Precious Miracles:

The news that we were expecting 3 little ones was met with fear, panic and disbelief. However, to our surprise each one of you has brought us more love, joy, awe and wonder than we ever imagined.

"JOSIAH" your name means "GOD SAVES". The sparkle in your eyes and huge smile that you so freely give can brighten any room and bring a smile to anyone's face. I Timothy 6:11-12 says, " But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called."

"ALANA" your name means "LITTLE ROCK". You are by far the most feistiest and spunkiest of the bunch. You are our little social butterfly who never wants to miss a beat. Your high-pitched squeal of joy always makes us smile. Ephesians 1:16-19 says, "That's why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn't stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!"

"ALEXA" your name means "DEFENDER OF MEN". You are our sweet little cuddle bug. We can't help but smile and laugh at your infectious giggle. Colossians 1:9-10 says, "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God."

Each one of you is so precious and so unique in your own special way. We love you so much more than we ever thought possible and we can't imagine our lives without you. God has been so good to us and the blessing of you in our lives has shown us the meaning of Grace. We now understand "undeserved favor". Today, we thank God for giving you to us and as we dedicate you back to Him, we promise to love you unconditionally and to do our best to show you His love. We pray that you would come to know Jesus and His love for you at a very young age and that you would grow up to love Him and serve Him with all of your heart, mind and soul.

We love you so much, Josiah, Alana and Alexa!

Dinner Out

We have lots of family & friends in town this weekend for the babies dedication tomorrow. So, Eric & I made plans to go out to dinner with some friends while his parents watched the babies at home. However, at the last minute we decided to bring everyone along for a family "dinner out" for the first time with all 3 babies. A bit scary, I must say! We ended up going to the restaurant that Eric & I had our rehearsal dinner at for our wedding. So, it was fun to bring the babies. To our surprise, the babies did exceptionally well! I don't think we'll be bringing the babies out to dinner on a regular basis, bit it's fun to know that it's possible!

Wrestling Match

So, Alana has become quite the little wrestler (she is wearing the purple polka dots). She is still the smallest, weighing in at 11 lbs 8 oz, but is quite the fiesty one! With a little help from daddy in placement, of course, she enjoys being the "queen of the mountain". As you can see, Alexa isn't half bad, as well (she is wearing the multi-colored polka dots). Alexa now weighs 12 lbs 7 oz, and Josiah is a whopping 15 lbs 15 oz! Yikes! We had a NICU follow-up appt this week and the doctors were all very excited and encouraged that all the babies have come so far. They are all right on track for where they should be developmentally, for their adjusted age (based on when their due-date was compared to their actual birth date). Yeah, guys! My little over-achievers! :)

First Solid Food

Alexa taking in the new texture of rice cereal.

Alana

Alana

Josiah says, "Yuck, Mom...what are you thinking?"

Josiah smiling just before actually tasting the rice cereal.

At their last doctor's appointment, their doctor said we can start trying solid foods whenever we felt ready. Well, that was about a month ago and I wasn't quite ready to make the leap yet. However, a couple of days ago I decided to give it a try with some rice cereal. All 3 of the kids weren't too excited about this new texture in their mouths. None of them liked the taste and we got some funny faces, in the process. Each day it gets a little better and I am sure soon enough they'll be enjoying a nice steak dinner!

Virtual Babysiting and Ski Championships

Yesterday, we dialed up my parents on Skype and the kids gave them about an hour of entertainment. We just pointed the webcam at the Jumperoo, Exersaucer and rolling chair and they got to see real time the kids in action and talk to them the entire time. Each of the kids has really taken to their Jumperoo toy. We have a pair of shoes to provide added traction and to prevent blisters. Alana had some serious blisters a few weeks back and the shoes have avoided that trauma. On Friday night Joe was in the jumper and every time I came in the room, he would start jumping like crazy. Alana does a little Jig dancing from one foot to the other in pretty good rhythm.

Josiah has started to recover from his cold. We took him to the doc last Monday because he was congested. He has not lost any joy all week but has been stuffed up and coughing on occasion. I got a little of his bug last week too and am recovering as well just in case you were concerned. Alana was able to pin him today in a little wrestling match (see photo below).



Finally, we've really tried to keep the kids from watching any TV. But, every once in awhile we turn it on and they become completely enamored (hence, why we try to avoid having the TV on when they are in the room). Last weekend was the World Alpine Ski Championships and Alexa was completely excited to watch! She was in her roller chair and pushed it right to the angle of optimum viewing. I can't imagine what it will be like to be chasing her down the hill saying, wait for me!!!

Supermom

Yesterday, Rebecca got her first try at managing the babies solo for more than a couple hours. My mom left yesterday to go back to Vegas and Rebecca's mom is sick. I worked from home so I was available in an emergency but intentionally let Rebecca do her thing. As it turned out, she didn't need help. I was a mere observer for most of the day and was exhausted just watching. Rebecca has been referred by her friends as Supermom. I could not agree more. She is able to move from Alana to Alexa to Joe spending special time with each one while managing to keep them all happy. Supermom indeed to handle three kids with such joy. We won't be giving up our parental support anytime soon but what a joy to watch Supermom in action.

A year ago we told our small group how we were so afraid of having three crying babies and the challenge of figuring out what to do. Molly, our friend told Rebecca to envision three happy babies and how special that would be. Thankfully, our fears did not come to pass and we get the joy of three happy babies, most of the time at least.

Future Plumber

Great Great Grampa Jardine was a plumber, Great Grampa Jardine was a plumber and Grampa Jardine thinks he is a plumber. Looks like the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree:-)

If we only know...

One year ago today, Eric & I went to our very first ultrasound appointment to see our precious baby. We were super excited to meet the little "peanut" that had been created inside of me. The doctor doing the ultrasound looked at the screen and said, "Oh...there's two!" I immediately said, "What? What?" and looked away from the screen in fear. Eric says, "Oh my gosh...twins?" with a little excitement in his voice. Seconds later, the doctor says, "Oh...there's another one!" with fear in her voice! I immediately began to sob and said, "No, no, no! This cannot be happening!" I had just come to accept the idea of having one child...not three! Eric's excitement turned to panic as we stared at each other in disbelief. How could this be happening? This was not part of the plan! We left the doctor's office with feelings of fear, terror, panic and disbelief. How could we possibly take care of 3 babies? Well, after several weeks of serious prayer and seeking of God, we came to realize that God does not give us more than we can handle, and if for some crazy reason He had decided to give us 3 babies all at the same time...He would give us everything we needed! It wasn't easy and took some time, but, at some point we turned the corner from being terrified to being ecstatic about what God had in store for us. We were still scared of the thought of 3 babies, but we knew that this was the plan that God had for our lives, so we might as well embrace it!
A year later, the babies are 7 months old and we couldn't be more thankful for the amazing gifts of these 3 precious lives. Its been a rough year since we first found out that we were expecting triplets, but we wouldn't trade it for the world. We are triply blessed and can't imagine our lives without them! We love you Josiah, Alana, and Alexa! :)

Happy Babies

Sorry its been so long since I posted, but it has been a busy week. Eric was able to get away for a short ski trip/Super Bowl Guy weekend in Colorado. So, the babes and I packed up and headed to Vallejo to spend the weekend with my parents. We had tons of visitors and lots of help! Anyway, I just wanted to post some random pictures. The first one is of Alana in their Jumparoo (notice the sneakers for extra jumping ability!) Alexa is the one smiling really big on the green changing table. Josiah is smiling with his tongue hanging out (his newest favorite thing)! The last picture is of the bath assembly lane. Its quite a feat to get 3 babies bathed and ready for bed...but, lots of fun!

Granny the Great in SF!

Eric's Granny and cousin Katie from Colorado came to visit and to meet the babies this weekend. We've had a lot of fun and Granny even convinced us to take the babies on a walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. We were a little hesitant since it had been a pretty dreary and rainy day. However, once we decided to give it a try the weather cleared up and it ended up being quite beautiful. The babies could care less about the amazing views from the bridge, but instead were fascinated by the speeding cars driving by! Anyway, it was great to have Eric's Granny come visit and to realize that the babies have 3 Great Grandma's! What a blessing!

Beach Day

The weather in San Francisco has been smashing, at least until the rain arrived yesterday. We took advantage of the beautiful day this past weekend. We took the babies on a stroll from our house to the beach and once we go there we decided to "pull" the strollers on to the sand so we could see the waves. It was quite a workout, but the babies seemed to enjoy the scenery, as well. We also took some cute pictures of Josiah and Alexa sitting together on the couch, as well as Alana and Alexa.

Tummy Time

Every morning after their breakfast bottle, we take the babies to the "gym". They get to lay on their backs and grab at the dangling toys and it truly is one of their funnest times of the day. They are always super smiley and full of squeals! We also try to give them some "tummy time" so they can strengthen their neck and back. They've recently gotten stronger and don't seem to mind it so much. We got some cute pictures of them enjoying their tummies...

We also now have 3 cribs. We woke up one night this past weekend to Alexa's head all crooked and every time Alana would move she'd kick Alexa and wake her up. So, we decided it was time to let them have their own space and crib (sniffle sniffle). They are getting so big...

Auntie Sheri in town

Sheri who is my little sister was in town from Colorado this last weekend. She started out a little timid but ended up being a baby pro. We are especially thankful for Jose, her husband loaning her to us for so many days. Below is a picture of Sheri with all three of the kids. Alexa is on her right and Alana on the left.



Last night the kids slept from 8pm to 5am without even a peep! We were all so proud of their sleeping skill. I am quite thankful for the recent advancements in diaper technology that allows for so much pee to be held away from the skin that they can sleep that long. It is very impressive that they can sleep for such a long period. Now all we need is for them to be good at church... Maybe the kids are more pentecostal because it seems like every time we set foot in church they can't be quiet. Maybe the sqeals and sqawks are Amen's and speaking in tongues but it is proving challenging as parents as they each take turns causing a ruckus. We get there an immediately hand off one of the babies and still feel outnumbered. I can only imagine the challenge when they are running around the place in a few years. Thankfully, there is so much help offered when we get there that we often get a brief respite from the chaos.

Cowboy Joe

We had to share this picture of Joe yesterday. As you can see his Cowboy onesie is getting a bit snug (of course we are trying to squeeze him into a 3 month onsie when he is 6 months old). His belly looks like that of an Arizona sheriff that has had a few too many donuts...

What are the odds?

I am a numbers guy so I thought I would share with you all the odds. One would think we are lucky but luck simply cannot explain it all.

Naturally conceiving triplets 1 in 10k
Triplets with one identical twins 1 in 25k
Carrying three babies to delivery? Less than 1 in 10k
The odds of survival at 28 weeks is about 85%. The odds of three babies surviving at 28 weeks would then be about 61%.
The odds of 28 week babies with no health complications?
What are the odds that we only have had three times where all three were crying at the same time?
What are the odds that three babies are sleeping at the same time? I figure that a baby is awake about 1/3 of the day. Therefore, the odds that three babies are asleep at the same time is a about a 29%

One would say that we are lucky. Luck simply does not explain this! This kind of health, joy and peace for both kids and family can only come from God. Seriously, our luck stopped the day that we found out that there was three. That can barely be explained with probability. The compounded odds are so insurmountable that we can only thank God for his Hand.

Like father like son

A few weeks ago I got a voicemail at 9:00pm from Scott. He said that he was sure that I was either busy or drifting off to sleep on the couch. I must confess it was the latter. After a long day, I was incredibly sleepy and drifting off on the couch.

Tonight Josiah had a similar moment. He was sitting in his bouncy chair talking up a storm and squealing with delight after dinner. Then started to get quiet. He then assumed his nightime sleeping position with his hands behind his head and squinted his eyes half shut just like the picture above. I picked him up and wrapped him in his swaddle and he gave me a big smile. The whole time he did not move his hands out of his ready to sleep position. He didn't have to say, "I'm ready for bed. Dad." He just had to get into his sleeping pose and was immediately taken to where he wanted to be.

We think Alexa is starting to teeth. She has been a bit fussy for the last couple days. We could have some real interesting nights ahead:-)

We've Moved!!!

Well, we did it! We have successfully moved with 3 babies! Quite a feat, I must say! We definitely couldn't have done it without the tremendous amount of help from both of our parents and numerous friends from our church. Word got out that we were moving and people just started showing up at our door! What a blessing!

Well, we definitely have lots more space now! We moved from a 2 bedroom/1 bath flat to a 4 bedroom/3 bath single family home. We are still in the City, but now we have our own back yard, garage, and washer and dryer! Yippee! Plus, we have plenty of space for all the "helpers" that are here on a regular basis (Grandma/Grandpa, Nani/Papa). We are truly blessed! Thank you so much for all of you that went out of your way to help! We couldn't have done it without you!

Our Little Prayer Warrior

Recently, the girls have learned how to interlace their fingers together and they seem to love sitting with their hands together. It's very sweet! This picture is of Alana sleeping in her swing saying her prayers! She's had so many prayers lifted up for her and her brother and sister, I am sure she is going to be quite the prayer warrior, once she realizes what a miracle she is and how truly blessed she is!