3 Little Monkeys

Every time I walk into the kids bedroom after they've been sleeping, I am always greeted with the biggest smiles ever. Ever since we first brought them home, they have always woken up super smiley and happy. It's actually one of my favorite times of the day, because they are always so excited to see me. Recently, every time I walk in their room they seem to have mastered something new. First they learned to roll over and would be on their tummies. Next, they would be on their knees and now they are all standing, jumping up and down like little monkeys. They all have their own crib now, but it's fun to put them all in the same crib and to watch them interact. Alana & Alexa have learned how to exchange pacifiers through their cribs. And Josiah was sitting with his legs sticking though the crib bars recently (3rd picture). They definitely keep me entertained!

My Aunt Jamie came over this past week and brought the kids some gifts for their birthday, which is this coming week. They had so much fun ripping off the paper and playing with the boxes (they really didn't care what was inside).

That's Alexa lounging in the chair with her feet up while drinking her bottle. She looks so grown! We don't actually let her sit in the chair by herself yet, since the concept of gravity hasn't quite sunk in yet...

Josiah fell asleep on Eric's chest earlier this week after he had woke up quite distraught. Dad did a great job of getting Josiah to fall back asleep and managed to put himself to sleep, as well (last picture). :)

Sit N Spin

At the last SF parents of multiples consignment sale in April, Eric decided to buy a "sit n spin". It wasn't quite "age appropriate" for our little ones yet, but he bought it hoping to have the kids play on it soon. Well, he decided to put it in a corner to store it and low and behold...they found it! It's quite a unique one in that it plays rather loud rock n roll music when you push the buttons on the top. Well, one day a few weeks ago, Josiah was roaming about in the dining room when we started to hear some loud rock n roll music. It was pretty funny and since then it has been a big hit. They can't sit n spin by themselves, but with our help we can twirl them around and have alot lot fun. At first, we thought that if we took the part that sticks up off they could still play with the spinner part without getting hurt. Well, our little fearless mighty Mo (aka Alana) decided she could take a spin all by herself and ended up with a rather large bump on her forehead (see previous posts). Anyway, the sit n spin has been "retired" until they are a bit older and able to play with it without any major casualties. Until then, we did get some cute pictures of them playing on it before it was officially confiscated...

Happy Father's Day!

Today was Father's Day and we went to my sister Janet's house to celebrate all the father's in our family. We got a picture of all the grandkids on my dad's side. My brother, Bill and I are sitting on the blanket with all the kids, along with cousin, Maddie. It was a great day and lots of fun celebrating all the dad's!

The kids are all big enough now that we are able to use our "triple" stroller. Our friends, Bob & Beverly got us the triple stroller as an amazingly generous gift earlier this year. The kids had to all be able to sit up well on their own before we could use it. So, it was fun to be able to take our first stroll with all 3 kids in the the same stroller. They loved it! They really enjoyed all being so close together (Josiah kept grabbing Alexa's hat). However, the triple stroller sure does attract a lot of attention! People are fascinated with triplets!

We also invested in something called a "playzone", or as Eric refers to it, the "corrall". It gives us a place to put the kids to play and to be "contained". It's fabulous! I don't have to worry about them getting into anything they shouldn't be. I took a great picture of Eric with the kids in the "corrall" earlier this week.

Bumps, bruises and Rasberries

We have a house full of kids that are completely mobile. Josiah has been pulling himself up on anything he can find, including inside his crib. The first picture was taken about a week ago and it was great to have everyone looking at the camera. What the picture doesn't show is that moments after I snapped a few pics, Josiah lost his grip from the walker and tipped over with a marginal floor impact. He was recovering on his own pretty well until Alexa decided she wanted to get a move on. She made several attempts to push Joe out of her way, using the walker as a bit of a snowplow and then it turned ugly. Alana rolled and bounced her head on the floor and then Alexa decided to join in realizing that if everyone else was in tears she should too.

Last night, I had some trauma of my own. Alana had just finished practicing standing by the coffee table and I sat her down in what I thought was a safe place. Sure enough, as Rebecca and I both watched, each with a baby in our arms, she rolled with increasing accelleration to make full impact with her forehead on the bottom shelf of the coffee table. Of course, the The tears flowed immediately and did not stop for at least 15 minutes.

I watched the rasberry get bigger and bigger during this entire time and my own fear started as I realized that each of them will get hurt at some point. In this entire process of being a parent, I have moments where reality of three kids hits. That heavy reality of providing(food to college), protection (bruises to bullies) and permanent chaos. It is only momentary but it is a reminder that I am in way over my head. Thankfully, these are just moments and don't last long at all and are quickly replaced with the smiles that soon follow.

The Window

We have 2 large windows in our living room that the kids love to look out of. We've pretty much always had barriers in front of the windows, such as the jumperoo and exersaucer. However, since the kids are all mobile now they've found ways to get around them. The windows have locks on them and they can only be opened a few inches. So, I am not worried about them being dangerous, but I am still attempting to keep them away from them as much as possible. Well, the other day, Josiah climbed through the bottom of the exersaucer and looked out the window. Eric climbed out onto the balcony and got some good shots of him from the outside. He has also started pulling up on things and standing. Alana & Alexa have also started pulling up onto things to their knees and feet. It seems like just a month ago they were just starting to learn how to roll over. I think they're on the accelerated plan since they were 3 months premature. They sure are making up for lost time! :)

Retreat

Every year our church goes on a weekend retreat. This year, Eric says, "We are going on the retreat, right?" I said, "Are you crazy? I am not taking 3 babies on a retreat!" After several discussions and strategizing, we decided to give it a try. We invited my friend, Kelly, to come along to help with the kids. We got a great shot of her in action (second picture). She was an amazing help and the weekend was super fun. We had our own cabin that we set up with our 3 pack n plays and mats. The cabin had 4 bunk beds and a big open space in the middle. There is an amazing amount of gear that you need to bring when you have 3 babies...crazy! But, we ended up having a lot of fun and the kids did super! They are such troopers and I think we could take them anywhere and they'd have fun and make every one else around them smile...

Are we cool or what?

My mom bought the kids some sunglasses awhile back. From the first day, Joe loved his! We could put them on him and we would wear them all day. As you can see from the pictures...he thinks he is too cool! The girls wouldn't keep them on for very long, but we got some cute shots. My favorite is the one of Alexa (first picture) who looks like she is pondering life or maybe just finished reading a good book...

New High Chairs

After searching for the perfect high chair, we finally settled on ones that are more compact and can fit in our "breakfast nook". You wouldn't believe how huge most full size high chairs are and how much space they take up. They seem to really like the new chairs and enjoy the new scenery.

We say that Josiah is like a little lion in his cage when he is in his crib. He "roams" from corner to corner and sucks on every square inch of the bumper and he likes to reach over the top of the bumper outside of the crib like a little lion cub.

We also found Josiah "sneaking" into his closet the other day (bottom picture).

That's Alexa waving from the basket (second to last picture).

Fun with Papa

Josiah and my dad, aka "Papa" had lots of fun at my niece Jordan's 1st birthday party a couple of weeks ago. It just happened to be the hottest day in Napa in a very long time (almost 100 degrees). The kids were troopers, though. Eric laughed and said our kids our kids are "City kids" because Alexa rolled off the blanket onto the grass and started crying. "What's poking me?" We had a good laugh, but the truth is that we actually have grass in our front and back yard. Although non of them had crawled on the grass before then. :)

Playtime Fun

These are just some fun pictures of the last week or two. Josiah is pulling up on things, now. The other day he pulled himself up on the side of the exersauser while Alana was in it. We also had fun putting the two of them in the exersaucer at the same time.

Eric & I like to try to hold all 3 of them at the same time. But, it is getting harder and harder because they are quite heavy and also quite squirmy! The 3 of them together still don't weigh as much as I gained while I was pregnant, but they are getting close. Can you imagine carrying all 3 of them everywhere you go? And then trying to sleep with all 3 of them lying on your belly? Oh, the joys of pregnancy! I sure am glad to have them on this side of my belly! :)

By the way, both Josiah and Alexa are crawling now. Alana can scoot and twist around to just about anywhere she wants to go, though. But, I am sure she will be crawling soon. Alana now has two teeth, Alexa has one and Josiah is still waiting patiently!

Weekend Getaway

This weekend Eric & I went to St. Helena for a weekend of festivities. My good friend, Elisa, from dental school got married. Since I was the "matron of honor", I was able to go to all the fun pre-wedding events. We decided to leave the kids with my parents for the weekend. If was fun to get away, but we sure do miss the kids when we are gone. This morning, we left pretty early after breakfast to get on the road and get to my parents house to pick up the kids. We were like horses heading for the stable, we were in such a hurry to get back and see our little ones. What's interesting is that I was really looking forward to "sleeping in". However, I ended up not even sleeping that well (I love my own bed) and realizing that I sleep better at home even with 3 babies sleeping in the next room. Oh well! It was a really fun weekend and I enjoyed seeing a bunch of my classmates from dental school. My parents enjoyed hanging with the kids and my dad says, "Wow! I am exhausted! It's a never ending job!" It definitely is never ending, but I wouldn't trade it for the world! I am glad to be back home and to have my 3 little chicks back in their cribs sleeping soundly...