photo fiasco

1 month of diapers: $180
1 month of food and formula: $650
1 month of hired help: $800
finally getting some decent 6 month photos taken: priceless


well almost priceless...as you might extrapolate from the cost of diapers and formula, "we po", as in finances are a freakin' joke...but despite this, I was determined to get "real" 6 month photos of the boys. I took the announcement photos and 3 month photos myself at home to save some cash and some hassle, but I really wanted to have some professional photos taken of the boys while they are still babies. After some convincing and creative budgeting, I finally was able to take the boys to get their pictures taken this past Thursday for their 6 month photos....and it was a complete disaster. We went to JCPenney and we walked in and our stroller couldn't fit through the door...I should have turned around and left right then and there but since I am ever the optimist and because I had already packed up and left the house for the day, I picked u p the boys and piled into the studio. Then there was no where to dress the boys so we had to get them dressed on blankets on the floor in a dirty storage room. The studio was 80 degrees according to the thermostat (100 according to my internal thermostat) and the place was so filthy I didn't even want to put my kids on the drop cloth. And yet I tried to persevere...30 minutes after our appointment was supposed to start the lady finally got to us...then she didn't have anything to prop the boys with and didn't know how to photograph babies and she had no tripod...so every time we had a decent pose ready she had to lift the camera up to take the picture and managed to miss every single one...about 20 minutes into this sweaty, scream filled fiasco, the customer before us came back in to talk to the photographer, she had some questions... and the photographer actually walked out and had a conversation with her...5 minutes into that conversation and 3 very, very grumpy babies later, I was done. I stripped my children naked, threw them in their carseat and left without another word.

Fast forward to Saturday, I decided to try again. I really wanted these darn photos and I was ready to work for them. I can't believe I tried again but sometimes I am a glutton for punishment plus this time I had extra reinforcements. I brought Mike and my friend Amber (who has twins of her own and can handle our chaos) to help out. We went to the Babies R us in Roseville near Amber's house and those ladies had it down! They got us in on time, they whipped those babies up onto the stage, they piled them together and they posed the babies with no problem. They got them to smile, which was no small task in lieu of their moods, and we were done taking pictures in 45 minutes. Then Amber walked the boys around while Mike and I made decisions, paid them a small fortune, and then we left in under 1.5 hours total...I barely even broke a sweat...very impressive...we do almost nothing in less than 2 hours. So here they are...

Michael

Konrad

Zachary

Group Photo
"Are we done yet??"

We do have a few more of the boys in their Baptism outfits, which are ADORABLE, but our eager fans will just have to wait for the public debut at the Baptism on September 14th and then I will post the pictures for the rest of the world to see after that (you are holding your breath, I know).

our babies are growing up...

The boys are growing up. They want to stand. The only time they will sit in their bouncy seats is for a feeding or if they are really, really tired and only Zachary will even remotely tolerate the baby swings, the other two won't sit still long enough to play in it. So we have added to our entertainment section with a new exersaucer, thank you Aunt Sarah, and we had to take down two swings to make room. Our living room looks hilarious, like a baby Curves, with all of our entertainment sections...bouncy seat-5 minutes then rotate to exersaucer-15 minutes then rotate to playmat-25 minutes then rotate to mommy-10 minutes then attempt the swing - 30 seconds then...well you get the idea...sometimes there are two on the play mats or two in the exersaucer or two on the mommy but we spend the day doing many rotations of many stations all in the name of entertaining three inquisitive 6 month olds with ever shortening attention spans.

Mikey has decided that he should be able to crawl and stand and sit up...he can't do these things of course, but he tries and tries and tries and when he realizes he can't do these things he squawks until he gets one of us to help him do it. He is scary close to crawling on his own, he pushes himself us on his arms and pulls himself forward and he can bring his legs up under himself but he can't quite figure out how to do them at the same time. As for sitting, he is strong enough but he falls over when he starts trying to reach for things. He is not that good at small motor skills yet, he grabs for things but it takes him a while but you can see his little brain working and willing his hands to grab things. As for personality, he is a bit dramatic these days. He will talk and talk and if he thinks that no one is listening he will throw in a few coughs for attention. He has the most hilarious sneezes, he sneezes three times in a row like his daddy, and he will be talking and then start sneezing so many times and then he coughs a couple times and shakes his little head and then he goes back to talking....too funny. And he is soooo nosey. He wants to see everything and watch everything, he is reserved in his smiles and laughter but when you get him going he is very funny.

Konrad is the least ready to sit, he doesn't have the abdominal muscle control yet, but he does push himself up on his arms and pull his legs under him. He will probably be the next to scoot himself, but it may be a while still. He is so good with grabbing and small motor skills, his little fingers pinch and grasp and he is putting anything he can reach in his mouth. He also loves to stand and sit but he needs a bit more help. He is shy but very cute. He is very self contained and easily entertains himself on the playmat. He has a soft little voice that sounds a bit like snoopy's little howl and he often spends the morning ooohing and oooowing. He is our snuggler and he will lay on your shoulder for hours, not sleeping just laying there happy and content that someone is holding him. Sometimes when I am holding him he will look into my eyes and shyly smile and start talking in his little voice and it is so sweet. He has the most hilarious belly laugh and when you get him going you can't help but laugh right back at him because it makes him laugh even harder.

Zachary, our little cherub, is moving at his own pace. He can sit up if he is propped and he can stand up if he is held. When he is on his belly he does push himself up on his arms a bit, but not quite as well as the other two. He rolls from side to side and he is so close to rolling over. Even though he doesn't roll over yet, he is very strong and he will probably crawl right around the same time as Konrad. He is also a grabber with his busy little hands. He loves putting blankies and cloth diapers in his mouth. He is the best at peek a boo, he waits and watches and laughs when you put the blanket near his face. He is our biggest flirt and he has nothing but smiles for everyone we meet. His little eyes light up when he smiles and when he stretches he looks just like a cherub in a painting. He is definitely the most vocal of the three. He cries the loudest and talks the loudest and pretty much likes to hear his own voice. He is so funny with his little screams and growls and coos and he makes so many sounds. He just talks and talks the whole time he is awake and when he isn't talking he's crying, laugh. The other two have periods of time where they will play quietly, but not Zach, he likes to make himself heard.

The ever expanding entertainment collection

Our Super Nanny!

Daddy and Mikey

Mommy and Zachary

Daddy and Konrad

how we do it...

I was asked this morning "I can't imagine triplets...I have one and that seems like a lot...How do you do it?"...The answer is "Not alone". There are days when Mike and I feel so overwhelmed. We wake up at 5:30am, feed the boys, settle them in and then Mike gets ready for work and my day with the boys begins. I do my work at home, caring for the boys and some attempt at laundry and housework, and he has a full day of work out in the world. When 5:00pm rolls around he makes his way home to dive in and care for his family. It doesn't matter if he is tired or had a bad day, it doesn't matter if everyone at the office went out for a drink without him or his friends got together, it doesn't matter if he is sick or has more work to do- he comes home and walks in the door, gives me a kiss and greets his children and then picks up a baby and starts being a daddy, and a good, helpful one at that. I love him, the boys love him. Although we are alone with the boys much of the time, and thank God we are a good team during those times, I can't say that we do it alone. In addition to having a good husband who is my friend, provider and partner in this wonderful new adventure called parenthood, we also have family. Mike's Mom, Debbie, and Step-dad, Tom, come to the house in the evening at least once a week and they come on weekends as well. They brave the challenge of caring for three lively, needy babies for hours at a time so that Mike and I can have a break and get out into the world and pretend that we are a couple again at dinner on a date. They help Mike and I keep our heads and stay in touch with each other, they bail us out when we have an emergency. When we thought we could not go on another second, they have gotten in the car and come over to lend a hand, spend the night and sometimes even take over completely so that Mike and I can check out and regroup. They have saved us many times. They have mowed our lawn, worked on our projects, done our laundry, cleaned our house, lent us money and most of all they have loved us during this stressful but wonderful time. Maybe we could have done it without them, but the amazing thing is that we have not had to. They have been there for us every step of the way. My parents have also been very helpful to us. My Mom, Carol, comes once or twice a week to be with me and help me take care of the babies during the day. She has spent many nights with us, both by herself, and with my dad, Kurt. They have come to the rescue and stayed with me or the boys during emergencies and sometimes when we are just tired and need some help. When she sees that I look weary, she offers up a dinner or says that she will stay the night even though she has been there all day and she is tired already. She helps keep me sane when I think I am losing it and she reminds me of all that I have when I am losing perspective. My sisters Sarah, Georgia and Hannah have come to help as well. My Aunt Mary and cousin Amanda have come to spend the day and helped when Zachary was in the hospital. We also have friends. Our friend Chris comes two days a week as our nanny to be with me and the boys. She reminds me to eat, she cares for our children, and she keeps me smiling. She endures puke and poop and countless doctor appointments. Our friend Amber came once a week every week to help out at night when the boys were so cranky in the evenings and still comes to help out when she can get time (she has twins of her own). Our friends Aaron and Angie have taken the boys off of our hands for the day and come to spend the night to help. Our friends Scott and Darcie have come to spend the night once as well. Our friends Tim and Miro, Jason and Christina, and Jeff and Christina have come over on numerous occasions with dinner and to keep us company and help us out with the boys and Miro and Christina have helped us during the day. So... when someone says to me "How do you do it?" I tell them that we have done it with a small army of people who love us. I was reminded recently that no matter how many times you think you have said thank you, sometimes people need to hear it in a different way. So, this is a "shout out" for the world to see - To our parents, Tom and Debbie and Kurt and Carol, and to all of the people who have made the past 6 months bearable and easier for Mike and I: Thank you. We love you and we wouldn't have wanted to do this without you.

Funny babies

When they aren't driving me crazy, the boys are down right hilarious. Zach has learned that screaming is fun and so he screams and coos and makes all kinds of racket. Konrad thinks that anyone laughing is very funny and he starts laughing too. Michael had discovered that faking a cough will get a reaction and so after he sneezing or when he's getting a little whiney, he will do this pitiful little cough and then look at you to see if you might react. They are so smart! We got these new bigger bibs and they just hang on Konrad so pitifully that with his helmet on he looks like some sort of scrawny superhero, laugh.

Konrad is here to save the day!

Mikey got his blankey stuck on his helmet velcro last night

Zach is a roley poley!

Checking each other out!

Mama said there'd be days like this

Dear God, they have been crying ALL DAY LONG and I can't keep up...they are teething and they want to be held and they want to sit up and play but you see they can't sit up without help and they get bored so easily all of a sudden with all of the things that used to keep them happy so that I can't feed one without every one else crying because they know that someone else is being fed and they aren't and there is only one of me and there are definitely three of them...this is one of those days...so I stepped away and I am letting them cry and I am crying too...

I love them so much but it is sometimes very hard to be alone with them for 9 hours a day and I feel like I can't meet their needs the way that they need to be met and days like these make me feel so tired and so disappointed and they make me wish I was rich and could have a nanny and they make me wish I was a saint with lots of patience and although it would be inconvenient for many reasons they make me wish I had 6 arms...and I wish they didn't have helmets on and it wasn't 90 out because we'd be walking and I'd have headphones on...please let me make it through another day...let them make it through another day...

Let me entertain you

Things are settling back down now that Zach is back from his hospital adventures. He is doing well and seems to be responding to his medicine a little bit. Mike and Konrad seem to be recovering from the upheaval to their daily schedules and they are getting a bit less clingy as the days go by and I haven't left again. All of the boys are a bit of a hand full lately and it is taking lots of entertainment to keep them occupied. They last about 10 minutes on the play mat and about 10 minutes in the exersaucer then about 10 minutes in the bouncy seat and about 10 minutes in the swing and...well you get the idea...its musical babies around here. They are very interactive when I have time to talk with them and they are talking, talking , talking. Zach had especially taken off in the speech department, he is so smiley and chatty when his belly isn't hurting him, which is most of the time. Konrad is the most behind in his speech and he is a bit more particular about his talk sessions but he will talk to Mikey when they lay  next to each other and he talks to himself and he talks to his mommy and sometimes to others. Little Mike is catching up to Zachary and he is starting to talk much more often and to more people. I need to come up with some more play ideas...the boys need so much interaction and there is only one of me. I think we have to get another exersaucer and maybe a jumperoo and then I don't know. Little Mike is starting to pull his legs under him when he is on his belly and so is Konrad so I think we will be crawling in the next 6 weeks or so. Zachary is still working on rolling over but when he is on his belly he does well. 

Reading with Grandma

Mikey in the Exersaucer

Zachary talking away in the exersaucer-he's so chatty!

Konrad and his crazy hair in the exersaucer

Zachary is home

After 3 days of poking, prodding and testing, Zachary is home. He checked out okay with cardiology and neurology and it was decided that he probably choked on some puke and that is what caused him to turn blue and stop breathing. They changed his medications and added one and sent hime home on an apnea monitor so that we will know if he ever stops breathing again. Thank you so much to Grandmas and Grandpas (our Moms and Dads), Jeff, Christina, Amber, Christina, and Angie for offering to help and for taking time off work and out of your busy lives to give us the help and support that we needed and making this very hard situation manageable. You all took very good care of Konrad and Michael during this crazy couple of days and we are so grateful, we love you and we appreciate your help. Hopefully things can get back to normal now...Mike and Konrad missed their mommy and I am glad to have all three cribs full again.

Zachary is in the hospital

Today we had a scare with Zachary. I came into his room to find him blue in the face and unresponsive, I picked him up and smacked his back and he coughed and started crying and immediately pinked back up. I think that he had thrown up and somehow it made him stop breathing. It was very scary and we took him to the ER right away. He got admitted to Beaumont Pediatrics and he is staying overnight or more for observation and some tests to figure out if he is okay and to try to get his reflux issues under control so that this does not happen again. Please keep him and us in your prayers and hope that we figure this all out soon. He seems okay for now and he looks happy and healthy even though he is in the hospital. we don't know how long he will be in there so if anyone thinks that they want to come over and help out at the house with the other two boys, please give me a call and let me know.