Mother's Day

I know you all think you have the best mom's but the truth is that I do :) She is an awesome mom, a wonderful rock. She is there when I need her. She is my best friend. We were the only girls in the family with my dad and two brothers but that's okay my mom is now like my sister who tells me what to do from time to time. All moms have to do that! I couldn't understand her work and sacrifice until my kids came around. Now I know how much she loves me, how hard she worked and what she gave up for me. I appreciate her even more now and I am so grateful that she is still here for me with my new brood. I love you mom!

Most of you know Kirk's mom has been with the Lord for going on 5 years. It still pains me so deeply that she is not here to see these precious girls. She knew about Caleb but never had a chance to meet him but she died knowing that Kirk had a son and that meant so much to all of us. I only wish that she could have been here to see Julianna, Rachel and Alyssa. I know she would've loved them so much and been so excited to be a part of their lives. She will always be missed...

As for me, I am so grateful to be a mom. To spend years wondering if I would ever have children at all and then to have Kaitlyn. I can't even put into words what she means to me and how grateful I am to the Lord for entrusting her into my care. She is an awesome daughter and great big sister. She loves her siblings and is always eager to help with her sisters and most of the time her brother :)



And then when I thought it would never happen again and she would be an only child, along came Caleb, the best little boy that any mom could want. He is sweet, kind and loving. He loves to help me and be my side. He also loves to play his sister's Nintendo DS.



And when I wanted just one more, the Lord gave me three more. Three girls. Who knew?

Julianna Mabel is every bit the biggest and strongest of the three. She is the life of the party and has this crazy grin on her almost all the time. She is a daddy's girl through and through. He is the best thing ever to her.



Rachel Gabrielle is such a unique baby. She is smart and totally into electronics and soda cans (she and Julianna fight over this all the time). She's a little and fleixible thing - I'm thinking gymnastics. Surprisingly now, Rachel could take mommy or daddy equally and she's beginning to cry less. She is the best eater still (Julianna is the best drinker).



Alyssa Elaine is the sweet one, or at least she makes people think she is but let me tell you she has no problem standing up for herself! She is more of a mommy's girl. She's a little more independent then the other two who do tend to play together more.

Twelve Years

As Jenna Bush said her "I do's" Kirk and I were celebrating twelve years. I cannot believe that we have been married twelve years. Okay, that I can believe but just not what's occurred in the past twelve years. Like the fact that we have five children that include 1 year old triplet girls. Yea, I didn't see that coming. But I have to say there's nobody that I'd rather spend these last twelve years with then the man I married. Even though I was quite young (just 19) I think I made a rather good choice :)

Kirk has been my rock and my strength. Stood by me through the crazy roller coaster of infertility followed by the new journey of parenthood. He said yes to a second child and then okay to a third. Despite his apprehension about multiples he dove right into the idea and began researching triplet snuglis within a week of our finding out that we were having three. He took the kids and kept up with the house while I was on bed rest. He's cared for me through three pregnancies and a few surgeries. I couldn't imagine my life without him. Not these last twelve years, not the next twelve or the twelve after that. I can only pray that God will grant me many more years to come by his side and that I will be as good to him as he has been to me. Happy 12th anniversary, babe, I love you tons!!

Wondering what we did on our anniversary? Well, it has been 12 years and tomorrow is Mother's Day so we spent the day celebrating our kids. Sort of. Today was GIVF's annual baby party. I got a chance to once again see some of the people I used to work with. It's really great and the kids love it!

A few pictures from our day:

With Dr. Lincoln - and I quote, "Dorinda, you're due for multiples. You've dodged a bullet the last two times..." I can't say he didn't warn me! But he did say I could come back for more any time I wanted.



With Dr. K - the sweetest, nicest RE around!! Julianna was not into the being held thing at the moment - can you tell?



The kids LOVE their arm painting. Kaitlyn has a cat with pawprints and a watermelon. Caleb has fire, air and water. I have no idea where he came up with that! Too bad it was bath night.



This is the lady I need to take home with me. GIVF always has lots of clowns and things for the kids but this was taken at the end of the party after the girls were well beyond the breaking down point (no nap and it's 2:00 PM) and they just sat there and watched her. All of them watched her spin that ball and then fling it off as they tried to catch it. Think it would be weird to have a clown living with you?



And here we all are with one of my favorite nurses, Marsha. She's just great. I didn't get a picture with a few other of our favorite nurses (sorry!) but we do like them a lot even though they gave us triplets... Ha ha!



We had a great time at the party even though we spent most of our time corraling three running toddlers and counting kids 1-2-3-4-5. Thank God I don't have 18 (did you hear Michele Duggar is pregnant again?!)

What did we do after the party? We visited my old home: Fairfax Hospital. Fortunately it wasn't to stay it was just to see our new friend Amanda who is currently 27 weeks along with triplet boys. What's with all the triplet boys anyway? She is doing well and we are praying that these boys hang on for a few more weeks! Every day is a big deal.

After that we came home and had left overs. We did get a chance to go to dinner and a movie this past Thursday thanks to our pastor's wife, April so it wasn't all about the kids :) Happy 12 years to me...

My Cleaning Crew

I know that I had mentioned that I had my house cleaned recently by the Cleaning Authority. I failed to share video of them hard at work:



In case you're wondering Alyssa is giving me her favorite book "Construction Time". Yes, you read right. I swear the other day I was trying to read her a princess book (a great one from Usbourne Books with touchy feely dresses - trust me, it's adorable) and instead of wanting to read this with me she sorted through the other books and came up with "Construction Time". And yes, it's exactly like it sounds except that it includes all the characters from Toy Story. Right now this is THE book. When Alyssa finds it she must bring it to me to look at. Julianna likes it too but only if Kaitlyn reads it to her. How cute is that??!!

Grocery Game Tracker Week 4

Sorry for the delay in posting I have been working hard on my novel. If you haven't checked it out please do! I'd love opinions now that I'm 170 pages in: www.dorindawrites.blogspot.com

Week 4 is a little different because we did our BJ's run and we buy a lot of staples while we're there like milk that only last us the week but we also buy all the snacks and some meats. Stuff like that.

But using the grocery game I spent $68.67 at Giant to round out my meals for the week but I did have to buy a few high ticket items not on the sale list. Since sausage was on sale at BJ's we are using that this week and our menu is:

Monday: Chicken, rice and broccoli - fortunately for us this was leftovers from care group the night before - the chicken that I got really cheap at HT and we didn't use last time was delicious on Monday!
(what the triplets ate: rice)

Tuesday: Sausage hoagies - soooo good
(what the triplets ate: lots of macaroni and cheese - LOTS - enough to last them for a week I think)

Wednesday: Tacos and 7-layer dip
(what the triplets ate: peaches, couple chips)

Thursday: Sausage pasta
(triplets should eat this...)

And the girls don't eat lunch so I'm really not sure how they're still alive and functioning. They say your kids won't starve themselves but seriously can they survive on a large helping of mac and cheese a week? They do like bananas. I think we have to start growing those. Did I mention how much I hate feeding kids??!!

Caleb's Turn

Tonight Caleb's class gave a small end-of-the-year performance. They were all adorable. Yes, it's a very small class - just 5 but Caleb has really learned a lot this year. Lots of one-on-one attention and that's great!

Hopefully you can hear this - it's Caleb's class reciting some of the Bible verses they learned this year. More like his teacher but you know how it is!



And here is Caleb's class singing complete with some minor baby interuptions... That wouldn't be our fault now would it?!



Here's Caleb pointing to the southern states. They had a state song that was very cute and it's fun to hear a 4-year old recite the states :) I did get video of this too but the kids weren't singing much and I didn't figure anyone would want to listen to the tape!




And I couldn't resist:

One More Cheer

Last night Kaitlyn's school had their Sports Awards Banquet and Kaitlyn got to wear her cheerleading uniform one more time and get her own award. One for participating since cheerleaders don't really win anything... But, who cares, they looked cute!

Wondering about the pose? Yea, she did that just for me. She's a riot!

If The Past Two Months Are Any Indication...

Then I will:

Call 9-1-1: at least once
Pick up a fallen baby: 127 times
Put on shoes: 213 times
Push on swing: 24 hours
Fill sippy cups: 279 times
Make: 45 meals
Dread feeding triplets: 93 times
Clean the table: 60 times
Sweep the floor: 60 times
Change: 465 diapers
Wipe Noses: 372 times
Listen to crying: 90 hours
Blog: 18 times
Submit: 2 writing lessons
Put babies in bed: 93 times
Do: 14 loads of laundry
Write: 5 chapters in my novel (more if I can find the time)
Drive back and forth to school: 32 times
Listen to: 248 hours of babbling
Listen to: 124 hours of kids talking

And to add to that for the month of May:

Drive: 17 hours to Florida with five kids
Go in the pool: 14 times for a total of 28 hours
Watch Kaitlyn finish 2nd grade

Yes, these figures are accurate. Scientific multiplication and careful counting brought me to these numbers :) Give or take...

P.S. The laundry count is completely accurate - I have a very large washer and dryer and it holds 3 baskets of laundry at a time. Every other Monday I wash 7 loads of laundry. Every other Tuesday I fold 7 loads and put them all away. It's a very easy system for me. Every one has their own laundry basket so the dirty laundry is always contained. Laundry is one thing I have under control. One down, ten thousand more to go!

Just Too Funny...

Today I received the new moms of twins and higher order multiples magazine: Notebook. In it are a few things I just had to share:

I have decided to change my vocabulary a bit:

- my life isn't hectic with three times the feedings, diaperings and clothes changes it's dynamic and brisk

- my house isn't messy with toys and clothes scattered about, laundry piled up and dust bunnies running amok; no, it's an interactive laboratory that is set up for the exploration of the social and kinetic dimensions of the multiple relationship (got that?)

- my children aren't fighting each other or trying to take things from each other (or hitting each other in the face) - on the contrary, they are practicing crucial negotiation skills for their future, powerful, high-paying jobs across the spectrum of business, medicine, technology and/or government.

And then the author added a quote from Mark Twain which I feel is just priceless:

"Sufficient unto the day is one baby. As long as you are in your right mind, don't you ever pray for twins. Twins amount to a permanent riot. And there aren't any real difference between triplets and an insurrection."

Here's to the end of April! Wait, what? How did that happen?

Grocery Game Tracker Week 3

Okay, few things this week. I didn't do the shopping last night, Kirk did. He does a great job but didn't know everything that I needed so I have to go back for a few more items. He also bought two at Harris Teeter's "buy one get one free" where I only buy one because you get the item at 50%. So, I do have to go back and buy some meat and a few other things but this is what Kirk spent:

Giant: $63.46
Harris Teeter: $65.69

He saved $30 at HT and $25 at Giant and followed my Grocery Tracker list. I printed it off for him and starred everything I really needed. He did pretty good!

And our meals for this week:

Monday: Club quesadillas (these are awesome - the recipe can be found at www.kraftkitchens.com - if you don't already belong I highly recommend joining and getting their free magazine - tons of GREAT recipes)
Tuesday: Enchiladas
Wednesday: Mini-Meat Loaves with mashed potatoes and veggies (usually green beans but broccoli was on sale)
Thursday: Moms of multiples club meeting at Olive Garden
Friday: Spaghetti dinner at school
Saturday or Sunday: Easy Pasta Bake

If you ever want a recipe just let me know! I love to find varieties of recipes and try not to have the same thing twice in a month if not more.

New Families

This week has been a week for new families. A new friend gave birth to triplets this past Tuesday (4/22). Hayden, Morgan and Landon are at Fairfax Hospital and doing well but born at 30.2 weeks they will be in the NICU for a few more weeks:

The Growing Cunninghams: Our Journey to Parenthood...with TRIPLETS!!

And an old friend's triplet celebrated their first birthday today! Congratulations Jeannie and her boys: Mason, Tyler and Ryan on your first year. May God bless you with many more to come:

THREE For the Price of One!!

Kaitlyn's 1st grade teacher adopted two daughters this week! Yea for the G's! We are sooo happy for you!! And we can't wait to meet your new girls :) (they also have a foriegn exchange student - thus the blog title)

Our American Life Through Korean Eyes

Last but not least this week marks just under a month before we head the troops to Florida to help prepare for my brother's wedding (6/7/08). I am really nervous about the whole trip - traveling with 5 kids does NOT sound like a picnic. But Kaitlyn will be the flower girl and Caleb the ring bearer and I'll have my parents help for a few weeks so it should be a decent break :)

Way to go little brother. Welcome to the family - my first sister!!

Cherry Blossoms

We have this beautiful tree in our front yard that blooms for a short period of time every year. Beautiful pink cherry blossoms - I love it! Of course, they make the perfect backdrop for great spring pictures...







Stop them before they get away!



It's snowing flower petals...

How To End A Playdate At The Nelson's

By calling 9-1-1 :) At least no one was injured - my friend Kathy somehow managed to lock herself out of her running van with her boys inside. Fortunately, the firemen came quickly and got her out. I'm just wondering when they'll recognize our address...





Before the craziness we had some good times - like letting the girls feed themselves yogurt for the first time - they did pretty good. At least they had fun...









The boys: Liam and Caleb (it was really a play date for them)



Sweet Jesse - he's 2 in a few days - I think he likes the girls...

Grocery Game Tracker Week 2

Today I went shopping again with the Grocery Game. Didn't get there yesterday because of care group. Usually Sunday's are very, very busy so I have to wait till Monday. I think shopping Sunday's is probably better as Harris Teeter was out of a few of their specials including the ground chuck on sale. Figures. Not the ask the butcher for more kind. The weird kind in a roll but hey, it was on major sale :) Apparantly other people got over the strange packaging as well and bough HT out of their current supply. Thus by weekly meals consist basically of chicken. Such is life. My family will survive just fine.

My grand total for today - groceries for the coming week - was $89!! Wow! So cheap. I saved $29. Pretty good. My total does include 5 gallons of milk and bananas which must be purchased regardless of sales.

And my menu for this week:

Monday: Baked chicken, rice and green beans
Tuesday: Baked Ziti
Wednesday: Chicken n Dumplings
Thursday: Easy Cheesey Chicken Chili

Weekends off/leftovers/going out. Sometimes we have spaghetti :) The last two recipes are thanks to my friend Cherie. Thanks girl!

And I want to say a very special thank you to my friend, Janette who watched the girls today while my house was thoroughly cleaned by The Cleaning Authority. They did an awesome job and I love, love that my house is officially deep cleaned. I'm most happy about the bathrooms because who likes that job anyway? It's as close to pampering as a stay-at-home mom gets!!

17 Months

I was all set to take a picture of the girls at 17 months but I just didn't get around to it. These things happen I guess. I considered skipping this month but decided that it was important enough to record their milestones to this point. I can't say too much has changed since last month. They are communicating more and more all the time though it does seem that Julianna is at least a few months ahead of the other two. They kind of just follow her.

They have become obsessed with shoes and bring me shoes constantly. Then they lift up their feet so I can put them on. They don't care at all what size shoes they are - mine, theirs, brothers, big sisters. It's cute until they throw a temper tantrum about it.

They are also interested in eating with forks, spoons and bowls. Julianna is doing pretty well with putting something on her fork and getting it into her mouth. The other girls are trying but they seem to like the bowls better. I'll try to get this on video soon. It's very cute!

So, I have survived another month. The crying is still pretty consistent. Honestly I think it's because Alyssa and Rachel can't verbalize as well as Julianna so they break down easier whereas Julianna can tell me more of what she wants so she seems to cry less. One month left to a year and a half. Is their second year almost half over? How does it happen this fast?

Brighten Your Tax Day

Because this can be a difficult day for some I thought I'd share a few things to hopefully make your day a little happier:





No idea what that is?? Oh come on! How can you not recognize the amazing photography of a 4-year-old? Yep, it's Caleb's handiwork from today. Be thankful I took out the other 7 pictures of his favorite blanket along with the one of the cats butt and the toys on the floor. Oh, yea, my feet aren't in here either...

And for another reminder from last year (since it still applies!):

Grocery Game Tracker Week 1

When I posted about using the grocery game a few weeks ago I got a lot of questions as to whether or not it works so I decided to share my results over the coming weeks and you all can decide for yourself :) So far though I have been very happy with my progress. I'm also going to share my weekly meal plan so that you can see that I'm not eating spaghetti every day or cheese and crackers. Please share your stories and feel free to ask questions.

Yesterday I took my grocery game list to Harris Teeter - I have a subscription to both Giant and Harris Teeter and I find HT to be better on all deals - I get 5 pages of items there instead of just 2 at Giant - big difference.

I spent $123 yesterday. Sounds like a lot but I saved $85!! Plus, I have to buy 4 to 5 gallons of milk a week regardless of price since the girls still need whole milk so for the rest of the world you can subtract $20 on my cost.

Couple other things:
- while chicken was on sale at Giant at a stock-up price I already has chicken from BJ's and a lot of it
- however, last week I used the grocery game and was able to pick up some bone-in chicken from HT for just $.29 a pound!! So, for $3.50 our entire care group will be having BBQ'd chicken this coming Sunday. Add $1 for BBQ sauce this week at HT and that's a meal for like 15 people for less than $5.

My meal plan for this week:
Tonight: pork chops (special frozen lemonade marinade recipe) with scalloped potatoes, broccoli, applesauce and biscuits (these I had)
Tomorrow: white bean chicken chili with mexican salad - all fixtures for both were on sale
Wednesday: chicken pot pie
Thursday: raviolis (on sale buy one get one free)
For the weekend: we usually go out or eat leftover since after all I will have plenty after all this cooking!

Check back next week to see where we are then...

Swingin' Fun

After some amazing backyard swinging fun:



Kirk took Kaitlyn and Caleb to some swinging fun of a different kind: their very first minor league baseball game. They had quite the evening. The game was enjoyable but apparantly a stray ball hit a small boy smack in his side and he had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital. What do you think the kids remember when they got home?

It's All About the Shoes

The girls have been obsessed with shoes lately. Their shoes, other shoes - whatever they can get on their tiny feet. So, it's only natural that when they get new adorable shoes and we have a gorgeous day that we must get them dressed, take them outside and takes lots of pictures.

And the best thing about this being the girl's second summer/year is that every picture I take I can compare back to last year and see how far they've come.

Julianna has really grown to LOVE the swing.

Rachel enjoys it too.

Alyssa fills out the swing much better now







And more pictures from today. They all just love the swing and running in the grass. And aren't those new shoes adorable? Yea, they love them too :) Mommy loves the clothes though. Man, girls are so fun to dress!

I HATE Mornings!!!

Anyone who knows me knows I HATE mornings. I'd rather stay up all night and sleep all day. I hate getting out of bed. Once I'm going I have trouble stopping thus the night person thing. I'm a firm believer that a body in rest stays at rest and a body in motion stays in motion. Makes complete sense to me!!

I have found a new reason to absolutely hate mornings. The girls could not be crankier if they tried. Okay, maybe they could. But every morning they just scream and scream. Not that they don't cry at other times but this is when everybody is at their worst.

Just be thankful I don't have sound for these:



Alyssa has given up...



Why we watch Elmo every morning for an hour!!



Julianna did not share in the misery this morning so instead of a picture from today I thought I'd share a cuter one from yesterday that shows Julianna's new loves: Drawing and Elmo:

Three Silly Sisters

For at least twenty minutes yesterday the girls happily played in Rachel's crib together. No one wanted out - it was very cute. The one thing I did miss on camera was Rachel laying down like she was going to go to sleep - she was half covered with the blanket and Julianna was patting her back :) Finally a sign of sisterly love.



I couldn't decide between the two which one was better so I decided to put them both up. Watch if you have time. I just love to catch them playing and talking! It's great.

The Story of Kirk and Dorinda

No, it's not our anniversary but 14 years ago today I asked Kirk to my senior prom. He had already graduated so it was my prom and not his. So, in front of my physics class (where we met - he was the teacher's assistant) I asked if he would go to prom with me. Fortunately, I had it on good authority that he would say yes.

And he did!

He gave me his phone number. I called him that night and we talked for a while on the phone. I even remember my brother banging on the window (he was 12 at the time - I was 17) asking me if I was talking to my boyfriend. I yelled at him that I hardly knew him!!

Instead of sticking to "just prom", Kirk asked me out on a date. And the guy who I thought would be a good prom date did become my boyfriend. In fact, on our first date one of my brother's friends asked me if I was going to marry this guy. What did these kids know that I didn't?

Despite my resistance to getting into a relationship (I had just come out of one), Kirk broke down all my barriers. After a year of dating he asked me to marry him and of course, I said yes.

He asked me at what I thought was a surprise graduation party for him. Instead, with cameras rolling he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife :) So sweet. One year later we got married.



Look how young we were! Just 19 and 20. We had NO idea what we were in for. Sure, I already knew then that I'd have trouble getting pregnant. Had even told Kirk that he could leave me if he wanted. I knew, I just knew that I wouldn't be able to have kids. Ha! Instead I now have more than twice the national average.

At one point I had wished that God could let me look ten years in to the future just to see. If I didn't have children then that would be okay, at least I would know and I would keep trying. Or if I saw that I did have children then I would be more patient and wait until it happened.

But we all know the rest of that story! I'm thankful now that I didn't see ahead. Who would be prepared for triplets?? Who would want to know that in advance? No, I'm grateful that the Lord never let me look ahead. It makes each day that much sweeter. Now I have five kids worth every second of the wait and they make me all the more grateful for what I've been given!

ACSI Science Fair

Today was the ACSI Science Fair (Association of Christian Schools International) and Kaitlyn did very well. Since she's only in 2nd grade and was supposed to be in 3rd for the fair I think she did fine and I'm very proud of her. Her school allowed 2nd graders to do a report and so much a project so her project didn't follow all the rules.

I am glad she got to have the experience anyway :) She got to meet a weather man, an astronaut who has been in space at least twice (sorry, I don't know their names)and may be on TV next Tuesday AM. She also got to see a bunch of other neat science projects which will give us plenty to work on next year!

Here's some pictures from today:

With the judges...



The astronaut:



They made a sign for ABC 7:



Listening to the weatherman:

I Wish...

I wish I had a camera following me all day. Before you think me crazy let me finish. Not like a camera crew to put me on a TV show or something but just someone there to capture the great and not-so-great moments that occur during my day.

Like:

- 3 girls running around the island and giggling as if it's the most fun thing in the world.
- finding 3 girls with me no matter where I happen to go - they are like ducklings - if I play in the living room they are there, if I head to the family room same thing - upstairs, downstairs, doesn't matter - I would love to share this migration with everyone so I'd at least have a record of triplets NOT going in 3 different directions like is always imagined
- the fights that ensue over an empty coke or pepsi can (yes, I watch them carefully) - there's something they love about holding that thing and if someone has it and it's not Julianna well, the world has ended in her book
- capturing Alyssa and I "talking" - she yells, she talks, she dances, she rocks and I can't get any of this on camera - the moment I turn it on, she's shy and doesn't want to say anything.
- the constant screaming so everyone can share how loud and crazy my world has become.
- the record I would have of all the things Kaitlyn and Caleb say because I can't remember them as I sit down to write even when I repeated them to myself in order to share the jokes with everyone.
- being able to share the video of the sheer amount of diaper changes I do every day - that and you'd laugh at me a lot for all the butts I sniff because I just know someone has pooped again in their clean diaper!
- capturing how my house can be clean and orderly and within seconds everything I've done becomes undone because the girls would rather have every toy in the middle of the floor and every piece spread out and every ball out of the ball pit (why is it that the only thing that ever stays immaculately clean are the shelves that are supposed to hold all the stuff?)
- the babbling between sisters because someday they'll wonder what it sounded like and what it was like when they were little and all I could say is I didn't get it on film.

I'm sure my wishlist could go on forever. As I read the blog of a friend who lost one of her babies recently I was reminded at how precious our time is and how we have no idea when someone we love could be gone. So, I wish that I had a way of capturing every moment so that I would never forget how they sounded, felt, looked. So, thank you for letting me share their moments with you on this blog because for now this is the best record I'm going to get...

Update on Rachel

Rachel got her first alone time out with Daddy today to see the neurologist. It certainly felt odd going somewhere with just one baby. I can't believe I used to complain about how much work that was. What a breeze! Didn't even need to use a stroller, just grab and go. Wow!

Anyway, the neurologist didn’t find any abnormalities or anything to worry about. There were no other symptoms of having a seizure or other neurological disorder. The fact that she wasn’t excessively lethargic or running a fever after the incident rules out any seizures. He said the description of the incident was in line with several cases of breath holding he’s seen before. So really nothing to worry about, he advised increasing her iron and trying to shock her out of the breath holding when she does it (blow in her face, splash water on her, etc.) but since it doesn’t appear to be a regular pattern there’s no need to medicate her. If it happens again or if there’s other neurological symptoms we’ll bring her in for an EEG and he wants to see her again in about 3 months to make sure her development is on track.

So really no worries. All is fine.

How To Feed Your Sister...

I used my camera so there's no sound - sorry! - but imagine them giggling at each other because they were. They think it is sooo funny. Rachel and Julianna seem to get along the best right now and constantly think it is funny to put their fingers in each others mouths. Alyssa finds it more fun to tackle and/or hit her sister.

And if you look close you can see our "new" table. We found a cheap table at a random furniture store and it works really well. I can finally take down the high chairs and we are DONE with the trays.



Current girl favorites:
Julianna: crayons (and she's getting it too!), pointing at EVERYTHING and she KNOWS what she wants, running in circles around the island - I guess they all like this though

Rachel: pencils, spoons and the cat - oh, and climbing on everything - Kirk found her standing on the desk, walking on the keyboard. Turn my back for a second!

Alyssa: cars (she finds Caleb's matchbox cars and carries them everywhere) and watching TV - doesn't really matter what's on though all the girls do like Elmo a lot right now