What Bliss Is...

An evening with the triplets with out too much screaming. There's always some but tonight it was pretty minimal. Yea! I put the older 2 to bed while Kirk bathed the triplets - we began feeding at 9:30 and although Julianna didn't want to eat right away she wasn't screaming about it. The other two finished and then Julianna did too with a little encouragement from dad. All in bed by 10:15!!

Wow, have we turned a corner?... Probably not :)

P.S. For those of you who know Joanna - please check here on Friday for updates on her new baby. Let's pray for a safe and quick delivery. Can't even wait to find out what she's having!

What Frustration Is...

I just have to share the most frustrating thing about my day and that is feeding time. Kirk and I just put the girls did to bed. And, God forbid, we attempted to feed them before putting them there. We are used to their screaming most evenings - that is pretty normal but when you are trying to feed a child who is refusing to eat you can imagine our frustration. Now multiply that times 3 and you have a small taste for how our evenings go. We sat with them for 45 minutes and while Rachel ate pretty well Alyssa and Julianna just screamed at Kirk and refused to take a swallow of their bottles.

What's wrong with them? We have no idea, they are just screaming. Screaming while held, screaming while sitting in their chairs... Doesn't matter, just screaming. Of course, if we quit trying to feed them they calm down. I don't think our babies understand that they are supposed to eat a certain amount of food every day to stay alive. According to the doctor this is their body weight times 2 1/2 so that's about 30 ounces a day for Julianna. I can't even say we get close and after tonight's feeding I know we're not. I have no idea how these kids are growing!!

Thanks for letting me vent. Just a picture into the world of triplets... It's also good birth control :)

Waketime is Learning Time!

A lot of you know that a big portion of my day is trying to keep the girls awake and keep them entertained - okay, that's just to keep them from screaming their heads off! I am not a hugely scheduled oriented person but with triplets you pretty much have to be. If one of them falls asleep in the swings or too early and then doesn't nap with the other 2 it makes for a miserable mom. Babies too :)

So, tonight to keep them entertained we sent them to "school" - the kind that their big brother and big sister teach :) Kaitlyn them taught them how to read and write and Caleb taught them other important things like how to use a lasor (like the one on his Buzz Lightyear) and how to stretch. Both so very cute.

Here are some pictures with the girls and their teachers - sorry about the stuff behind them I have been drowning myself in the last week in a huge clothes project. Yes, I take on entirely too much stuff but hopefully this will lead to better organization in the future.





And then, as Kaitlyn would say, the girls moved on to "Centers" - they each get to do a different learning activity. Can you see their brains working hard?






And, finally, we captured something very elusive from Alyssa - her smile! This was helped along by big sister. They just LOVE to look at their older siblings and that is great. Can't wait till they can all play together (and fight together - I know it's coming but let me enjoy the good things!)



P.S. Even though Rachel is wearing blue she is STILL A GIRL!! Sorry - we get asked this question a lot even when they're all in pink :)

14 Weeks... But Who's Counting?

Ha ha! I count every day I survive :) I can't believe the girls are 14 weeks already. Well, it doesn't feel like time has flown but compared to my days spent in the hospital time really has gone quickly and the girls are growing quickly. Now, if we could just get them to scream a little less...

But, I took Rachel to the doctor today (with a little help from Lisa Zellner - thanks!) just to get her weighed because of our massive feeding difficulties. The nurse practitioner adjusted her dose so hopefully that will help because I have no idea how to motivate an infant to eat!!

Anyway, my "little" girls now weigh:
Julianna: 12 lbs even (still our chunky monkey :) )
Rachel: 10.10 lbs (she does not feel 10 lbs heavy!!)
Alyssa: 11.7 lbs

I honestly think they are growing faster then Kaitlyn did and I think Julianna is in line to compete with Caleb who gained 10 lbs in 4 months. I wonder if she'll weigh 15 pounds on March 16th when they are scheduled to be checked again.

On another note, Alyssa giggled for the first time today! Kaitlyn and I were playing with her and showing her a toy giraffe and she just thought it was funny and began giggling a couple of times. So sweet. Of course, this was a brief moment and it was followed by a lot of screaming. We're still not sure how our girl that screams the most and the loudest (trust me, the loudest out of all 5 kids - not just the triplets - it's ear piercing) is the first one to giggle. Life is funny. And just a few weeks after I presented my concern to the doctor that she wasn't smiling much at all. It seems the formula change and/or the zantac are helping! Yea :)

And here are a few pictures of our nursery now that we finally have a third crib and have moved Rachel out of the bassinet. Alyssa is in the maple crib handed down from Kaitlyn and Caleb. Julianna is in the darker crib handed down from our neighbors (thanks) and Rachel gets the white one. Now everyone can tell them apart. The cribs I mean :) Aaahh...

Blessed By Three and So Many of You!

I can't believe it but we have survived the first 3 months of the girl's lives! And we have survived one month without my mom :( Not sure how either have happened. Well, I do know - the grace of God and a ton of help. First, my mom whose help I could not have recovered without. She babied me and nursed me back to health :) Thanks Mom!

And after she left so many have stepped in to come over and help feed and hold babies as well as bringing us meals - thank you to Joanna Whitaker for coordinating all the efforts and always pitching in herself (she has given me permission to post here pictures of her new baby when he/she arrives so stay tuned for that!). Thank you to Venzy Searcy, Lisa Zellner, Denise Cadle, Hope Prosser, Barb Clock, Mary Abel, Carrie Wronka, April Fultz, Janette Nash, Karen Cornett, Brenda Fortney, Sally and Clif Roth, Kristy and Corey Shepherd, JoRonda Northcutt, Lea Dawson, Carrie Meyer, Krista Estridge, Cecilia Cornell, Terri Dunseath, Christina Nielsen, Leah Plott and Hannah Zellner for helping with meals and the babies. Thank you to Mrs. G, Trish Parks and April Hunt for picking Kaitlyn up from school. Thank you also to everyone at Grace Church of Gainesville, Grace Baptist of North Tampa Bay and to everyone else who has kept us in your prayers throughout the pregnancy and through these last 3 months - we look forward to spending more time with you all in the coming months as well. (Forgive me if I have forgotten someone - if you have been here to help and your name is not listed please let me know ASAP!)

Of course, I must also mention that Kaitlyn and Caleb have been a great help too - they are doing very well in their roll as big sister and big brother. P.S. - Caleb is potty training so give him some encouragement when you see him - he is trying to decide if he wants to be a big boy or a little boy and is feeling very conflicted about it. And, yes, I am crazy for trying to potty train a 3 year old while caring for triplet newborns but what could I do? I was a bit out of commission last year.

For those of you who are counting, yes they were 3 months yesterday but I'm a little late on my post. It gets crazy around here!!

Here's a few photos of our smiling babies - well, 2 of them are smiling - we are convinced that Alyssa is very serious. However, you will easily notice that Rachel is not wearing the same dress as the other girls and that was because she was being quite fussy so I'm sure we'll get Alyssa's smile on camera soon!



Julianna

Rachel

Alyssa

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day. Our day was spent at home (due to the weather) with our 3 beauties, Kaitlyn (also a beauty) and Caleb (well, not a beauty but he is handsome!). We spent this day of love clothing, feeding, bathing and caring for our handful.

Wait, did I say feeding? I meant fighting! We attempt to feed these girls every few hours but someone forgot to tell them that they need to eat to live. We were feeding them every 3 hours or attempting to feed them but mostly we spent our time fighting them to take just a few ounces. Now we are feeding them every 3 1/2 to 4 hours and I'd like to say it's going better but so far not much change. We'll give it some time and hopefully we'll get this figured out! On a good note they have been sleeping from 10 PM to 7 AM most nights - of course tonight will probably be difference since we've changed their schedule today and who knows if they ate enough?!

On a different note, I'd like to wish my parents a very Happy 37th Anniversary! Yes, the lovebirds got married on Valentine's Day. Aaaahhhh...

My Rock Band

Okay, for those of you who don't believe my babies cry I have proof!! Here are my rock stars :) The girls were given onesies that read: "Shining Star", "Pop Star" and "Super Star". I'm still not sure who they are from as there was no card but they came home from school with Kaitlyn and I think they're adorable :)

I only wish they were singing!



And it looks like Rachel is winning...



My Super Star! (Behind her head is a Valentine's card from big brother, Caleb)



My Shining Star!



My Pop Star!

Something To Come Home To...

For most people and usually for me we want to come home to our families. I want to come home most when it's quiet and the girls aren't screaming. Yea, that's never. But, on Monday when I had enough help to go to the grocery store I had a wonderful delivery on my doorstep...



Oh yea, you know it's a sad life when the sight of diapers just makes your day!! A special thanks to John and his family to sending us more diapers. I do have to laugh - as I look at the diaper count I realize that we will go through one box every 10 days. A single baby would go through 4 boxes in approximately 4 months. What a difference!!

The girls seem to be doing pretty well. Alyssa is acting happier lately and is even smiling more so the formula must be helping. Of course, you know it's a great feeding when Alyssa and Julianna down their bottles in just minutes and promptly begin screaming while mom is alone and trying to feed Rachel. After driving me completely crazy I put the two screamers down for a nap, came down to feed Rachel and promptly got vomited on. Oh yea, these are the days...

We're Doing Great!

We had a quick doctor's visit for Alyssa today. She is healthy but she has had some trouble eating - screaming while eating and very shortly after. While this is greatly annoyinng to mom and dad this is a sign that she is in pain and suffering from reflux. So, the doctor has switched her formula to an easier to digest one with less lactose and increased her Zantac dose. Hopefully this will make everyone more comfortable!

Anyway, while I was there I had everyone weighed and they are doing great and growing so big! I'm surprised at how quickly these girls are growing :)

Julianna 10.7 lbs
Rachel 9.2 lbs (still our peanut)
Alyssa 10 lbs even

They are still sleeping well at night though Rachel seems to get hungrier earlier than all the rest so we are often up at 4 AM for a feeding. Oh well, some day we'll get some more sleep!

Some more pictures of our 5 babies :)

Rachel:


Alyssa:


Julianna:


Julianna, Rachel and Alyssa:



And their studious big sister and big brother:

Sleeping Beauties...

Sleeping Beauties...




Bathing Beauties...



Alyssa



Rachel



Julianna

Now we're ready for our date. Play date that is. Today was our first outing and we went to the mall to meet some new friends. They are triplet boys just 3 days older than us and their names are Tommy, Jack and Christian.