Party Animals

We have been partying for the past 3 weeks! We have had two one-year-old birthday parties, one 3-year-old party, a baby reunion, a graduation party and finally a church picnic. We are crazy party people!!

Watch the girls break down at CJ's 1st birthday party - it happens so fast... Don't miss Rachel's new skill at the end of the video. She's ditching this party! Seriously, we all had a good time.



Today was the church picnic and the kids had a great time except maybe Alyssa who announced our presence to the world with her cry and showed everyone why we call her "loud". A special thanks to Kristy Shepherd (CJ's mom) for the picnic pictures.

I'm holding Julianna and Sally is holding Alyssa - one of the few people who can keep Alyssa content for any length of time!!



Kirk and Rachel



Caleb "caught" his first fish at the catch-and-release pond. He loves to be down my the water.

Here's Caleb being swung by Mary Alphs and her daughter, Amanda (Caleb loves them - they babysat him for us while I was in the hospital)



And here's Caleb when you actually want to take his picture...



Kaitlyn never left the grass sleds - even after hours and hours she didn't want to go home.




Keeping up with the Nelson's is easier said than done!! Till next time...

6 Month Check-Up

Of course I know the girls are going to grow and I know that they are getting bigger but when I see it on the scale it still blows my mind. Even little Rachel is now almost 10 pounds bigger than her birth weight!! She seems to tiny, I can't believe where she is today. The great news is that all the girls are doing excellent. They are "perfect" for their age. No one is lagging behind in the developmental area and they are all doing everything they should be for their age.

Here are the exact "stats":

Julianna Mabel - 17.5 pounds which puts her at about the 75th percentile for weight. Wow!! As for height she is 26 1/4 inches long in the 75th percentile. Her head is also in the 75th percentile :) She's the same all around!

Alyssa Elaine - 15.12 pounds which puts her at the 50th percentile for weight - an average 6 month old :) She is our tallest baby at 27 inches making her just under the 90th percentile mark. Wow again!! After much debate they determined that her head didn't shrink from last time and she is now in the 75th percentile for head circumference as well.

Rachel Gabrielle - 14.1 pounds which puts her at the 12% for weight - yes, I did write that right - obviously still our peanut! The surprise is that she's actually longer that Julianna at 26 1/2 inches and that puts her above the 75th percentile for height. Go figure. Her head circumference is about the 5th percentile. She is a tiny but long girl!!

Our other news from today is that we all spent the morning with some new friends - 2 year old identical girl triplets and their 4 year old big sister. We got a little glimpse into what we have to look forward to and in so many ways the future is just bright! I can't wait :) Granted, their mom did a lot of chasing and counting but the girls were well behaved and interacted very well. So much to look forward to...

Thirty Fingers and Thirty Toes...

Are 6 months old today!! I can't believe a half a year has gone by since they forcefully removed these 3 little ones from me. I'm still not sure how I'll survive the rest of this first year but having half of it behind me gives me hope.

A few things have changed since the beginning. Instead of 24 bottles a day we are down to 12. Instead of 30 diapers a day we are down to about 15. Some days just 12 diapers! The girls poop on schedule too. We are more "scheduled" these days though the girls don't always like to cooperate. Alyssa has her own ideas. Yes, they sleep through the night but for some reason Alyssa feels like crying at 6 AM is a great thing to do. Her sisters are not impressed.

Some things haven't changed. Julianna is still the most easy-going, slimiest baby I have ever met. She thinks it's very funny to puke on everything all the time. Our house which basically looks like Baby's R Us is also covered with burp cloths.

Rachel is still the peanut, still trying to do crunches 24/7 and still kind of in between personality wise. She's easy to make smile but also a screamer. Her days go either way.

Alyssa has been dubbed our "velcro" baby. She wants to be held all the time and finds it fun to just cling to my shirt. She's my first baby that isn't so into moving that she actually finds time to relax. But she's also my first baby to sleep less. Usually she screams during a nap or two a day, is the hardest to put to sleep (except if she does it herself - rocking her is hard!) and the most likely to wake up at night. Go figure. She is still the loudest baby ever.

We go on Friday for their check-up so I will post what they weigh. Can't wait for that. Right now I'm just enjoying that we've survived 6 months and the ability to make 3 different babies giggle. Still does freak me out a bit when I start talking and 3 pairs of eyes look my way. So intense :)

The girls in their entertainers - we have enough to rotate them around!

Notice the burp cloth in front of Julianna - it's always there... Yea, I don't know about this look either.



Yes, that's Kirk on the phone behind Rachel - things calm down enough sometimes for us to be on the phone. It's rare... just ask my parents - the girls scream every time we talk to them!



Alyssa is as intense as always... Notice the raised eyebrow - I think she's turning into her father. Her name does mean logical should've been our first clue...

Happy Mother's Day!

Today isn't my first Mother's Day but it is my first as a mother of 5! Wow! I never saw that coming. So many years I didn't think I'd have any children and now I have 5. Praise God for His goodness despite our doubting.

I do have to say Happy Mother's Day to my mom who I love and miss very much down there in Florida. She's a great mom! Kirk's mom passed away a few years ago and we still miss her very much. We wish she could be here to see all of new grandaughters.

I did want to say a special Happy Mother's Day to 2 new friends who are celebrating for the 1st time ever - have a great day Cherie and Jeannie!! Congrats on your triplets boys :) (Cherie's are 6 month old today and have been featured on my blog before) - Jeannie is a new friend who had her triplets 2 weeks ago and they have all just recently come home. Yea!

Here's me with all of my "babies" - some aren't babies anymore...

She made me a mother - Me and Kaitlyn



My only boy - Me and Caleb



And of course, the triplets one at a time. Hey, they're individuals too!

Julianna



Rachel



Alyssa

Baby Reunion

Most of you know that I suffer from an ovulatory dysfunction and that my body does not make the hormone necessary to ovulate so for each of my pregnancies I've had to take hormone shots to ovulate. Prior to last year we've only had one baby at a time but then something miraculous happened and the Lord allowed us to conceive our triplet girls. Helping us achieve this success is the place that I used to work: Genetics and IVF institute in Fairfax. Every year on the Saturday before Mother's Day they have a baby reunion and this year was no exception. So, we packed up our family of 5 and headed to the Marriott in Fairfax to show off our larger family and to see so many old friends.

This is us with the first doctor to count the babies, Dr. Lincoln. He just had to check out what he saw "off to the side" - before that we were "just" having twins :)



This is all of us with Dr. K, the second doctor to count the babies and to show Kaitlyn and Caleb the triplets for the first time and to assure us that they were all doing and growing well at just 7 weeks.



This is nurse Maureen holding Rachel...



Nurse Marsha with Alyssa... (both are old co-workers and friends)



And here's us having fun. There was face painting and clowns and balloons and food. We had a great time and we can't wait till next year! Mostly because it means the girls will be that much bigger :) Last year, they were still in me and we didn't even know what they were yet so it was exciting to me to have everyone finally meet them.

Happy 11th Anniversary!!

Okay, so we really tried to have the kids do well with this photo but it was a bit too close to bedtime and the girls were not cooperating! But do they ever? Then we had a new problem - the sign was tasty. Alyssa ruined our first sign. Oh well, couldn't read it as well.

Anyway, today is our 11th anniversary :) Eleven years ago we were not feeding babies! I was walking down the aisle at just 19 years old. Yep, I was young but I think I knew what I was doing.

I am grateful to the Lord for the last 11 years that I have spent with Kirk. He has been a wonderful husband and friend. Never once has he complained about anything and we have been through a lot in these 11 years. He is a wonderful father to all of our children and has more than proved his love to me over the last year especially.

While I was on bed rest he took care of everything and while I was in the hospital he was a essentially a single dad taking on more than I could ever do. He took care of the kids in an excellent way - okay, they weren't always dressed as perfect as I would have but these are minor details :) - and he even took care of me. I think he's still doing that. There's nothing more stressful on a marriage than new babies. Multiply that times 3 and the stress is off the charts. He has been easy going and loving through it all. The Lord really knew what He was doing when he got us together. And thankfully, Kirk said yes when I asked him to prom :)

Here's to so many more years...

When There's No Other Food...

Eat your sister!



Or maybe it's just a friendly kiss :) Because look how sweet they all are playing together on the floor...



Here's a little clip of Julianna's newest skill - the ability to roll from her back to her front. Notice how it's now impossible to keep her on her back!! Rachel and Alyssa just enjoyed hanging out on the floor - they can't do what their sister can yet. But just imagine how crazy it will be when all 3 of them are doing this!!

Don't miss the big grin I get in between rolls (I have to roll her from her stomach to her back - she can do it but for some reason she hasn't figured that out yet on the floor just in her crib).

Swingtime Fun

Rachel and Julianna "just hanging out" - Julianna thought the swing tasted good so she wouldn't look at me. I think Rachel's glaring at me but I'm not sure...



Julianna was the only one who cooperated with the close-up shot. This is most of life - she's the only one who cooperates with anything. Such an easy baby :) She'll get to hang that over her sister's heads someday soon!



Julianna enjoying the swing. Look at her cute little feet :)



Rachel liked the swing better when she fell forward rather then when she was leaning back in it. Kirk thinks she needs a swing that holds her flat on her stomach. The child does crunches all day, every day. It's very weird. Does she not know she can't sit up yet??



Alyssa had the sun in her eyes or she too was annoyed with me to look up because I wasn't holding her every second of her "waketime". Even with my friend Denise here we didn't have enough hands to go around and push Caleb on the swing again and again.



Had to include a picture of Caleb on the swing. He LOVES to swing higher and higher and have mom do an "underdog". Check out the baby in the background - can't tell who it is but they were all drowning in the baby swing. It was very cute. At least it kept them relatively happy for a while. That's my life! Running around like mad for a few hours in between baby sleep times. All I do is watch the clock until it's the next naptime or bedtime :)

Sisters

Everyone who knows me knows that I am addicted to clothes and not really my clothes but my kids. I am a Gymboree addict :) Mostly I shop the sales but the point is cute kids clothes make for even cuter kids. A tad shallow but there's nothing more fun that dressing babies up - isn't that why we have kids? Real live dolls :) Seriously, I wanted to share some pictures of the girls with their big sister. It's even more fun to dress the 4 of them alike. Well, Kaitlyn doesn't always cooperate but here are some pictures from the few times she has...





And a big thank you to everyone who watched the kids today so that Kirk and I could go out and celebrate our 11th anniversary. It was wonderful to get away for an evening. We got to see Spiderman III and go out to dinner.

Zoo Trip

Today I got to go on my first field trip of the year with Kaitlyn. Last year I made it to everyone but this year I have been mostly stuck at home because of the girls. Kirk graciously stayed home all day with them so that I could take Kaitlyn and Caleb to the Reston Zoo. We had a nice time though I really missed Kaitlyn's old teacher and her classmates. It felt weird without them. She was the one who was always with Kaitlyn on all her other field trips and would take pictures of her for me. She was very gracious in those things and I am still sad that she is gone and therefore all the more grateful and happy that I was able to go along with Kaitlyn today.

So, just wanted to share a few pictures of our fun (and hot!) day.

My two cuties: Kaitlyn and Caleb:



Feeding the animals. Mommy would not do this but the kids jumped right in and began feeding the goats and sheep. We even saw baby rabbits that were born this morning.




Pony Rides. The kids had a great little ride although Caleb took a little encouraging to finally get on and take a ride but apparantly he told the girl walking the pony around that he loved it and wanted to ride ponies when he grew up :)




My real-life monkey!



Caleb as a peacock - take notice of his alligator (from the gift shop) to the left of the peacock. He made sure that I got it in the picture - such a boy! (Thankfully)



Okay, so this cow just freaked us all out. She weighed about 900 pounds and had these massive horns. Kaitlyn was a little nervous when she (and all the other cows and even the buffalo) chased the wagon as we drove away.

Routine Changes

Oh good grief, these girls are driving me nuts!! Someday I'll be holding this over their heads :) They need sleep, I know they do but do they want to sleep? No, they don't. Well, the real deal is that they want to sleep but some sister or another wakes up screaming and the other sister must investigate and if that sister is crying well, it must be bad enough for another one to join in. Usually it's because Julianna is having some kind of movement issue and gets stuck somewhere so she starts screaming and Alyssa looks over to say "what's wrong with her?" and Julianna screams more so maybe Alyssa thinks she needs to tell me what's wrong because then they both go off and I have to go check.

Mom's solution: the basement! It's my secret weapon :) Grab the culprit out of her crib, scurry her down 2 flights of stairs, swaddle her again and stick her in the pack n play. Seems to work. The other two can settle back down and the third seems to be happy with her new bed.

Maybe now I can get back to our 4 hour schedule - the past 2 days the girls have been up early and way off schedule. They're making mommy nuts!! Didn't they read the books?? And, no, they are still hating solid food except for Alyssa a little bit.

This is life with triplets - mostly just survival. Everyone who has been here knows the crazy time we have just rotating babies and keeping them from screaming their heads off all the time. That and entertaining a 3 year old little boy :)

At least Kaitlyn goes to school every day and can entertain herself though when she's here she likes to make the girls laugh which is fun. And if you're wondering she's doing pretty well at school. Our zoo trip got rescheduled for next Monday instead of tomorrow due to the weather but I'm looking forward to some fun pictures then (the girls are staying home with dad).

Steps Forward and Setbacks

In an attempt to return my life to normal or at least make me believe it is I'm attempting to get back into one of my old loves - writing. Along with writing fiction comes reading it. Unfortunately I have about no time for either so instead I've signed up for a writing course that can start me over a bit. We'll see how it goes. Maybe someday I'll finally be published :)

Also, Rachel seems to be doing really well on the Podee bottles. We just started the new medicine yesterday so I'm not sure if that has kicked in or not but we've actually stopped fighting her at feedings which has been a huge blessing.

As for other things, naps are going poorly - someone is always screaming and keeping the others awake making the girls miserable later in the evening. I have to figure out what else to do to makes our days easier. I've never had this problem before!

And even worse, yesterday Kaitlyn's teacher was let go because of financial issues at her school. Our family is devestated. We all loved her teacher very much and somehow it feels like someone close to us has died. Two other kids have left her class because of it so now instead of 6 she has just 4 and a volunteer parent who is now teaching. Kaitlyn is doing okay but has asked me a number of times why it had to be her teacher. Breaks my heart...

More Pictures

I've been meaning to put up some more pictures by Sally and Jenna but haven't gotten to it - we've had a few things since last weekend :) Finally, here are some more of the great ones - can't put them all since there are so many, sorry!











As you can see, photographing triplets is a big job. Because of Alyssa's crabiness we got more good pictures of Rachel and Julianna but in trying to be fair I've posted the same amount of pictures per child :)

Golfing

I hate golf. Sorry for all of you who love it - I hate it. Kirk and I don't play it but every year Kaitlyn's school does a big golf fundraiser and being the nice school goers that we are we do our part to contribute and Kaitlyn gets to "golf". Wanted to share some pictures of the next Tiger Woods. Not! And his big sister :) See how little I know about golf? I wouldn't even be able to name one female golfer. So thank you to all of you who sent in donations to Kaitlyn's school - they were greatly appreciated and earned her a gift certificate to Toys R Us which burned a hole in her pocket and required a trip there last night. Of course, the entire way home Alyssa screamed at the top of her lungs all the way home - miserable.

Some pictures of my happy golfers. Maybe it was just the beautiful day that got us all in a good mood and thankful to be out of the house!

Rachel's Treatment Plan

Today was the big day to see the GI. Finally, after a month of waiting and fighting we have a few new options to try and we'll see how things go. She will be taken off of the Zantac and switched to the stronger drug, Prevacid. This should help with hopefully help with the pain she is probably feeling due to a irritated esophagus. It could take 2 weeks to see a difference. I hope not!

We will also be adding rice to her bottle in the hopes of thickening it up and maybe she will take that better. It would be very helpful if she would take solid foods but so far she doesn't seem to like that any better. Have to keep trying...

We take her back in a month to see how things are working. At least the doctor gave me something new and not just "I don't what to do with her". We are also going to try and fight her less - she needs 20 ounces a day to live and she usually gets that but not a whole lot more. Hopefully she will soon. Right now she weighs 12.8 pounds which is a pound weight gain since last month. Not a lot but every little bit helps. I have no idea what Julianna weighs but I'd have to guess somewhere between 15 and 16 pounds - she's a BIG girl!

Today we also went and visited a new friend, Jeannie, in the hospital on bed rest with triplet boys. We saw a lot of my old nurses, sonographers and the doctor that delivered me. It was nice to get back there and hard to believe how long ago that part of my life was. It did feel really good to be able to walk out of the room on my own :) Although they were all a lot quieter in me!!

Thanks for your prayers and please keep thinking and praying for Rachel - we all want this to get better.