Thanksgiving round 1

First things first...

"Yes! I finally got the keyboard!"

"Now, what do I write?"

Now for Thanksgiving...
We were very Thankful this year for the health of our family and our boys. We can still remember last year with all of the uncertainty and worry and we are so thrilled and thankful to have our boys here and healthy and growing up so fast! We had an eventful and wonderful Thanksgiving at Grandma Debbie's and Grandpa Tom's. We arrived on Wednesday and Grandma had dinner ready for us which was a treat! We unpacked all of our stuff, picture a baby explosion and that is an underestimation of the amount of baby things we brought with us. 3 walkers, 2 pack and plays, toys, clothes, diapers, and of course babies. We prepared various side dishes in the evening, spent the night Wednesday and Thursday morning Mike put the Turkey in. We had french toast, sausage and coffee for breakfast and then we spent the rest of the morning making other dishes and baby wrangling. The boys love their "Uncle" Magic, Grandpa and Grandma's doggy and Zachary laughs really hard every time the dog barks. Mikey, Zachary and Konrad followed him around in their walkers trying to get him all day long, poor Uncle Magic. The boys were everywhere - crawling and in their walkers, on the floor with toys and in everyone's arms...they were in triplet heaven, they had four people staring at them for days! In the afternoon, Great Uncle James arrived and then it was time to eat! After dinner, we packed up the boys and went to Great Aunt Bonnie's house. We saw Grandma Kelly and Grandpa John, Great Grandpa Huber, all of the Great Aunts and Uncles and cousins and little Isabella as well. It was exciting to see all of the babies playing together and at pretty much the same stages. Bella is cute as a button and thriving just like the boys! She and the boys were rolling and practicing their crawling and fighting over toys for everyone to see. Konrad had some crowd issues and some separation anxiety so he was not exactly on his best behavior, but he spent lots of time on Great Grandpa Huber's lap and the rest of the time clinging to mommy and daddy. Mike and Zachary did not have the same issues, they were everywhere....2 out of 3 isn't bad I guess. We pushed bed time to the limit and at 8pm we knew that it was time to go. All of the boys had red-rimmed blood shot eyes and they were getting cranky! So we packed them up once again and drove back to Grandma Debbie's. We spent the night once again and Friday morning mommy got to go see Angie and Aaron's new baby girl, she was beautiful and so tiny. Then I went to lunch all by myself (with my mom and sisters, Aunts, and cousins). It was delightful to be baby free for the day and to have some adult conversation. In the afternoon, I went back to Grandma Debbie's and Grandpa Tom's and then daddy got to go out to the dinner and bar with his friends. All in all a very equitable day, lol. Hopefully we didn't burn out Grandma and Grandpa who were very generous to let us stay for a few days...one night became two nights and then three nights...but it gave mommy and daddy a break and the the boys enjoyed the few days of extra attention and they adjusted well to their pack and plays instead of their cribs so it was pretty easy to just stay put. It was a very enjoyable holiday....and on Sunday we get to do it again with the Richardson family!

"Do I have to get up now? Is it Thanksgiving yet?"

Daddy and Grandma Debbie with the Turkey

Daddy preparing the Turkey (is this a chef secret?)

"Mmmmm Turkey!"

Baby Maybe!

Our dear, dear friends Angie & Aaron are waiting parents for an adoptive baby girl. They been very good friends to us through our attempts to get pregnant, during my pregnancy and since the birth of our boys. Everyone who knows them knows that they will make amazing parents...Mike, my husband, has requested more than once that they adopt him, lol. We have spent the past months hoping and praying that they would get the honor of becoming parents and we are praying even harder for them today. I am about as happy and excited by the potential for them to have a baby as I was the day I found out I was pregnant...maybe more since I also found out I was having triplets, lol. Please pray for them. We need prayers for the baby girl, prayers for the birth mom and dad that they make the best decision for their family both now and in a few weeks, and especially prayers for Angie and Aaron that what is meant to be will be (although I say screw "what's meant to be" and give these people a baby already)!

Their new baby girl was born yesterday and her name is Holly Joy. I hope that as I am writing this Angie and Aaron are packing up their new baby girl and taking the new parent class and getting ready to go home and be a mommy and daddy. They deserve it and they will be good at it. I pray that they do get to take her home and I hope to God she will stay there with them for life!

Send them baby vibes, people, baby vibes...pink ones with ruffles on the butt and bows in the hair (I specify only because I forgot to request this when I was asking for prayers for myself and I got lots of blue and no ruffles, lol).

Aaron and Angie

Angie with Zachary

Aaron with Mikey

Update: Their baby is home and doing well and they are tired and happy just like any new mommy and daddy should be. Holly is adorable and is definitely their baby, cute as a button, well behaved, and on a schedule, lol. Please keep them all in your prayers as they adjust to new parenthood and as the details become final. Thanks!

just for Grandma!

Babies at play!

Zachary this morning - "Hi Grandma!"

Konrad this morning - "Hi Grandma!"

Mikey this morning - "Hi Grandma!"

Konrad is learning to type you secret messages

Mikey is waiting for WOW to load

rosiola and heebie jeebies...ugh

So the boys somehow got rosiola....we are thinking either the doctors office or the picture studio...gross...but thats the only places that I have taken them in the past two weeks so it has to be it. It started with fevers and weird inconsolable crankiness for a couple days and now it has progressed to a full head to toe body rash. The pediatrician says it will go away in a few days...I hope so. Konrad got it first and his pale skin is pinker than if I sprayed him with paint, then Zachary followed 12 hour later and now Mikey. They are not pleased. I think it itches or at the very least their skin seems more sensitive because they are definitely not themselves. I seriously feel like I am surrounded by a bunch of sick and whiney, grumpy men...did I mention that Mike is sick too. He is a veritable germ factory or his work is anyway. I don't know what they do at his work, but it seems like every other week they have some sort of yucky virus going around and almost everyone catches it...including Mike. I mean, wipe some counters and doorknobs down folks...gross. And of course he still goes to work...si dies everyone else obviously and so that it why everyone is getting sick...but what do I know, I am just a nurse, hehe. If they stayed home when they were sick then they wouldn't get other people sick...hmmm a concept...Seriously, this is the third or fourth icky that Mike has brought home from work in the past 2 months or so and of course it goes through the boys. I did not get the last one, it was a respiratory virus, but the babies did and this one is a achy, chills and sweats, nauseas and sick virus...and I don't want it. Mike says that his whole body hurts and he is being quite dramatic about it all as only a man can be...although I am sure that it hurts and he is obviously having temperature issues since he is wearing sweatpants and sweat shirt one second and then underwear the next, laugh. I just hope that me and the boy don't get it since they are already sick and I don't need them getting even more sick...this is enough. Okay so I am done with that little rant, but jeese oh, I hate the winter/cold and flu season. As a mom it is just nerve racking.

On a side note, this is my 125th post...pretty impressive if I may say so myself. The next mission in my life is to get all of the boys sleeping in their own cribs and room together all of the time. No more swing, no more Mommy and Daddy's bed. They are just going to have to learn to deal...now the actual implementation of this is going to be painful...hopefully not impossible in Konrad's case...but painful. Konrad rolled out of my bed yesterday...it is a big drop. He is getting so squirmy and mobile. I don't even think that he was awake until he hit the floor, poor baby. All I heard was a big thud and then he started screaming, of course I ran in and snuggled him for the next hour or so and he was perfectly fine laughing and smiling only minutes later, but it makes me so sad and I don't think that repeat performances can be very good for the poor little guy...jeese...I surrounded the kid with pillows, I do everytime, but somehow he squirmed his way down to the foot of the bed and off onto the floor. So for his own safety and my peace of mind, the child needs to be in his own bed...how I am going to make that happen, well that is another story...I don't know yet...good plan, laugh. I am taking the mobile off his crib so he has nothing over his head and I am giving him a blanket that was in my bed for a few days...but I can't do anything about the noise of his brothers other than wait until they fall asleep and risk Konrad waking them up...so that is my plan of attack so far...we will see.

all is well...almost

So, they survived their immunizations with no issues this round, thank God.  A bit of whining and fevers, but no major side effects...so we will continue with round two in a few weeks...or maybe in January after the holidays just to get us through the craziness of late November and December.  We got their 9 month photos back and they were adorable. They did really well at the photo place again, those Kiddie Candid people at BabiesRus are a life saver. Anyone who can get triplets in and out with smiles in the pictures in 45 minutes is my hero.  Mikey did not feel very cooperative but in the end we got a pretty good photo or two of him. He doesn't do well with loud squeaks or hooting and of course the photo lady was squeaking toys and making loud noises to get them to look. He had his sad little lip out and he was not pleased. Eventually we just took him out of the room, got photos of Zach and Konrad and then brought Mikey back in and used different sounds for him. This seemed to work. I don't know why he gets so spooked by some noises, but he does. Organ music, squeaking, and loud high pitched sounds he just cannot tolerate, he cries immediately and looks at you so accusingly like you did it just to traumatize him...poor baby.  We just have to work around it, the world is full of noises....but of course we don't get out much so maybe that's why.  

I feel quite accomplished, we got the Christmas cards ordered and I have briefly started Christmas shopping. I don't really know how much we are going to buy them...they need new carseats, boring but true...and after that expense there really isn't much left for fun stuff. Plus, let's be honest, they are going to be 10 months old and their birthdays are a month away from Christmas...how much stuff do they really need....I am cheap these days...or poor these days...we are definitely having a low budget holiday...but really our house is already exploding baby stuff and I know that other people will buy them some of the older baby toys and fun things that they need in the next stages and so I don't want to over do it.  I do want them to have things like blocks and push walkers and stand tables and all of those types of things, but if we don't get them then I will buy them later.   I am thinking of getting them some baby sign language videos or some other baby einstein videos...we have a few but they are getting a little tired of them I think. I usually put them on once a day in desperation for 15 minutes of self time and it has always worked in the past but lately they are getting distracted more quickly.  I think they just want to crawl...in some ways I wish they would but in others...well its okay that they are immobilized still.  

They are getting so very observant of each other and of the adults around them. They are very, very aware of any disparities in attention. This morning, Mike and Zach started fake crying and whining when Konrad whined and successfully got picked up...I looked over at them and smiled and talked to them and they immediately started hooted and laughing like they knew that they had gotten my attention and they knew that their plan worked. I am definitely out numbered and I feel it more and more these days but in new ways. When they all see a bowl of food or a bottle come out, they know that someone is getting it and they all start jumping or crying or yelling to be the one, even if they were perfectly content before they saw the food. If I walk in a room full of perfectly happy babies and pay more attention to one then the others, like get down on the floor to play with whoever is there, then the other two go berserk and start crying and yelling and whining until I turn and pay attention to them too. It is most obvious when Mike gets home. He walks in the door and they all smile and jump up and down and run over to him in their walkers, but when he walks by to put his coat down or leaves the room without picking them up, then they all cry and act so insulted, Zach especially, he is definitely Daddy's boy. 

I don't know. I guess in some ways it is good because they can't really get spoiled, but in other ways it makes me sad because they have to share everything, including their parents and they have to vie for attention all the time...it is definitely the squeaky wheel dynamic in our house. I try to be fair and pay attention to who is getting what and when so that things are equitable but sometimes it just isn't possible. If one is crying, he gets fed first or picked up faster, that's just life here. 

Michael- 9 months!

Konrad- 9 months!

Zachary- 9 months!

so I buckled...

and now I have three cranky babies...crankier than a felled nest of hornets...but more on this later...The boys had their 9 month well visit today. Michael was around the 25th percentile for everything and weighed 20lb 4oz and was the tallest at 28.5 inches. Konrad was in the 15th percentile for height but only the 3rd percentile for weight, he weighed 16lb 13oz and was 27.5 inches tall. Zachary was in the 35th percentile for weight and the 20th percentile for height, he weighed 21lb 4oz and he was 28 inches tall. They all were healthy and checked out great for the most part. The pediatrician said that they are right where they need to be developmentally and that she is pleased with their progress. We have to start supplementing Konrad's formula again so that he gains some more weight. The pediatrician isn't worried quite yet that he isn't gaining weight, but if he doesn't gain better next time then we will have to look into other things...whatever that means.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we weren't going to do anymore immunizations because konrad had issues...well I buckled. After thinking on the subject, our pediatrician was not completely convinced that Konrad's reaction was really a reaction that warrented stopping all immunizations. So she gave me her reasons for continueing and presented a new schedule of only one shot per every month or six weeks. Also, the immunizations that they used today were preservative free supposedly...so I reluctantly let them give my boys, even Konrad, another immunization. At some point I have to trust these people, I know that they are trying to do their best by my boys. I can only hope that we don't have any other reactions and that my boys are healthy and happy and that nothing I do to them, like getting them immunized, causes them to have permanent issues such as autism...parenting is so hard...so many decisions and these little guys are in my hands to do the right thing...I love them and I definitely don't want to screw them up...but I don't really want them to get pertussis or polio or some such thing either...anyway, I buckled and now my boys are fiesty and cranky but not having any extreme reactions...so far...please God no reactions...

Now for a helmet update...or lack of helmet update...Our helmet orthotics guy had an accident a while back and he hasn't been at work. As a result, we haven't been able to get our helmets updated so the boys haven't been wearing them because they are not fitting anymore and we will need all new helmets....so I have a decision to make...to helmet or not to helmet...their heads have made great progress and they look pretty normal now, especially now that they have lots of hair. But I have to think of their future when they are bald men and I don't want them to curse me for not giving the helmets their due consideration...this is a world of perfections after all...all of the helemt appointments really were a genuine pain in my behind though and I haven't missed them...but because I am a responsible parent, or atleast trying to be, I have made a follow up helmet appointment with the neurosurgeon on this Friday and he will tell me whether I have to re-helmet or whether they can really be finished with their helmets (please, please, please). I will do the right thing by them and do what he suggests...I just fantasize about throwing caution to the wind...but that isn't really who I am...so let's just hope he says no more helmets...

Little Mike finally got his bottom teeth. I don't know that I mentioned it anywhere else, he got them on November first. They just popped through...he was pissed but I think he is happier now that they are through. So now all of my little guys have toothy grins, it is quite adorable!

Why did you immunize me mommy, why?

Why have you forsaken me, mommy?

Happier times...

Mike and Zach at the park, they are so very layed back

Konrad at the park...did I mention that he is a DareDevil?

is whining a milestone?

My boys think that it is...normally I give you the happy updates with no harsh realities...I am breaking that rule for this post...The boys are driving me a touch crazy lately...they are teething constantly and complaining about it constantly or so it seems and Konrad is no longer even coming remotely close to sleeping through the night. Zachary has been waking up once or twice as well. This has been happening for weeks now and I am nearing my wits end or atleast I feel like it sometimes. I know that there is no luxury of actually reaching my wits end...its not like I can just stop parenting when I get fried now is it...I am just so very tired, so tired because I am not sleeping more than one or two hours at a time between Konrad and Zachary. Also, Konrad is having separation anxiety and jealousy issues. So he cries and cries and cries until I stop caring for the other babies and pick him up. Not all of the time, but enough that it is getting old. Once I do pick him up he is all smiles until I try to put him down again and then he acts like I stuck him with a hot poker and starts screaming again...really, I mean really...plus he won't sleep in his crib. This means he sleeps with me...which means even less sleep. We really have tried everything from tylenol and benedryl to massage and baths to crying it out. Nothing works, he will not sleep alone. He is absolutely terrified of his crib or of being in a pack and play alone. I can barely put him in there for a minute while I change his diaper. He gets hysterical until I pick him up and then he clings to me like a desperate little monkey for quite a while afterwards. Even in my bed I have to lay there until he falls asleep and he reaches over and checks to see if I have left him three or four times before he actually falls asleep. Then when he wakes up and realizes I have left him he panics...but its not like I can stay there while he sleeps during his naps, there are three of them and most of the time they don's sleep at the same time during the day and I have housework. So I am just frustrated. I am not sure how I can love something so much and be so thankful that I have them but still want to leave them just for a good nights sleep. I think I need to get out more. I take the boys ou for walks and sometimes I take them to the store, but it is really hard to do these things on my own. In addition to teething I think they are just bored. They want to walk, they want to crawl but they are trapped because they can't. So they want me to pick them up, but there are three of them and one of me. So when I have one the other two often notice and throw a bit of a fit, Konrad is the worst but the other two have their moments of jealousy. I don't know. I have never felt more inadequate...I know I am doing the best that I can for them and I know that I am trying very hard to meet their needs...I am trying really hard not to go crazy from the social isolation and sleep depravation...but despite the fact that nearly all of my energy is thrown at raising these three boys, I am still falling short, I still am not meeting their needs...otherwise they wouldn't be whining all of the time...it is a very frustrating time to be a triplet mom. I just wish I could figure out what they need and then give it to them, Konrad especially...I think he needs what he can't have, I think they all do. They need the undivided attention of a parent. They need someone to hold them and snuggle them and love them when they want it so that they can trust that their needs will be met, but I can't give them that all of the time, I am holdoing someone else when they cry or feeding someone else when they are hungry so they have to wait...and in Konrad's case that has made him scared and possessive because he thinks that I am going to leave him and go caref or someone else...which I am...because there are three of them...its kind of sad really. It makes me sad and it makes me feel inadequate. Supermom I am not...now if I had a clone or two that would be super...

Halloween

We had a wonderful Halloween with the boys. First we went to meet all of Grandma Debbie's co-workers at the court. The boys were a big hit! Grandma Debbie was dressed up as the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz and at first they didn't recognize her but once they heard her voice they new it was her and Konrad instantly wanted to be held by her. He has a thing for his Grandma! Then we went to Grandma Debbie's and Grandpa Tom's and Jason and Christina joined us there as well. Grandpa Tom has been busy decking out the house and garage for a couple of weeks and the results were spectacular. He had spiders and black lights and lava lamps and projectors and backdrops with designs and music. It was really great this year and the boys were very intrigued by it all. We dressed up the babies a second time and took them around to the neighbors so that Grandpa could show off his grandbabies and of course they were so excited that they promptly fell asleep in the stroller. It was such a beautiful evening out and we just walked and checked out the neighborhood for a bit, we didn't really trick or treat because the boys can't exactly eat it. The boys were adorable in their monkey suits and they definitely humored me in making them get dressed up more than once for the day. They got covered in fine little brown furs from the suit because of course they were determined to eat their tails and feet. We had to wipe them down and change their clothes afterwards, but it was worth it. I am excited for next year when they can really sit up in a wagon or walk and then we can really take them around. It felt nice to have baies on Halloween. I have always liked the holiday, but this year it was more exciting for me. Here are some pictures...although most of them had to be taken the day AFTER Halloween because of course my camera battery died after only one picture at Grandma Debbie's and Grandma Tom's...figures. I stayed calm and just "recreated the moment" the next day, laugh.

Ready for Trick or Treating!

(the only picture we have from Grandma's on Halloween)

Mike and Zach with Grandma Carol and Aunt Georgia

Konrad "enjoying" the leaf pile

Three little monkies

Putting our heads together!