Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

This weekend we had a lot to celebrate. Sunday was the big day: Keith's birthday, Father's Day and the first day of summer (yee-haw!).

Since I wanted to treat Keith to a movie and dinner, I decided to make Saturday his birthday and Sunday more about Father's Day. I mean, it just didn't feel right taking Keith away from the kids on Father's Day. So on Saturday, I cooked a big breakfast that we all ate outside on the patio. Then we were off to the park to meet other families in our multiples group for some playtime followed by some true entertainment at my 4-year-old niece's t-ball game (too cute!). Just after the babies went down for their afternoon nap, I had a sitter show up at the house, unbeknownst to Keith, so I could take him to a matinee. A good movie, sitting still for several hours uninterrupted, popcorn and a large DP... it felt strangely familiar, like something we used to enjoy years ago. Then after some playtime with the babies, we put them to bed and went to a fondue restaurant for dinner. Happy birthday, babe!

Eating breakfast on the patio as a family.

After breakfast the babies watched daddy mow the back lawn. They loved it and surprisingly weren't the least bit scared.

Rolling up to our local Moms of Multiples group playdate at the park the right way.

Tummy-swinging is all the rage for 18-month-olds.

Payson and Madison give it a go.

This is only a handful of the dads and kids at our multiples event. Imagine the onslaught we had on the playground. One man with his young child came up to Keith and asked, "Triplets? I just saw a set of twins... well, two sets actually." Pause. "You guys must have some kind of event going on!" We do seem to takeover places when we have group events.

Madison with Nunie at cousin Avery's t-ball game.

Sunday was more relaxed with more home cooked meals, church and a dip at our neighborhood pool which, by the way, the babies are loving more and more. The only way I was able to bake a cake (which was amazing, might I add) and cook so much this weekend was because I had prepared the dry ingredients for five recipes on Friday afternoon while the babies napped. Good idea? Yes. The way I want to spend every Friday afternoon? No. But, hey, it worked well for Keith's special weekend.

Keith opening one of his Father's Day presents...

...bronzed baby shoes! I had the babies' very first pair of shoes bronzed. Now they sit on the babies' little shelves in their nursery next to their tooshie castings that I gave Keith last year. The babies also colored their first homemade cards for daddy for Father's Day and gave him a book about how happy he makes them.

Playing in the kiddie pool.

Mommy, Hayden and Madison in coordinating swimsuit cover ups. So posh.

Hayden drinking water from their spray mat we broke out on Friday.

Payson gives it a taste too.

In typical fashion, Hayden loved the spray mat, Payson liked it okay and Madison wanted nothing to do with it. In fact, she wanted it completely off even if she wasn't near it. When she wants something, or doesn't want something, she shoos her hand at it and fusses "ma, ma, ma, ma, ma...".

Monkey-see, monkey-do. Hayden was leaning and banging against the fence and Madison and Payson quickly followed suit making for a darn cute picture!

Happy Father's Day, babe! Payson will sure have some big shoes to fill one day! This picture shows that he's got a loooong way to G(r)O(w)!

The Silence of Sleep

For several months now I have had to wake the babies up from their morning nap after no longer than 75-90 minutes to "preserve" their second nap as discussed in the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." Slowly I have had to push their afternoon nap later and later or else they aren't tired enough to take it. Eventually it got to the point where Madison wouldn't take a second nap, and Hayden would only take it half of the time. So, with one and a half babies ready to drop a nap and the afternoon nap being pushed too close to bedtime, we decided it was time to change to one early afternoon nap.

After a week of short naps (1.5 hours instead of the usual 3-4) the babies finally all got the one nap thing down today. As I type they have been asleep 2 hours and 45 minutes... ahh, the silence that comes with sleeping babies. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my time with them during the day but a little "break" is always welcomed. But, no idiot here, I do realize that this is today's treat and tomorrow may bring another short nap, but hey, you take what you can get.

The babies (I'm not sure how much longer I can call them that) had their 18 month doctor appointment last week, and their weights were right on track with what they have been for a while now:
Hayden: 23 lb, 14 oz.
Payson: 23 lb, 12 oz.
Madison: 21 lb, 6 oz.

Hayden is still in the 75th percentile for height while Payson and Madison are 50th. Developmentally they are all doing great! Their vocabulary is really expanding quickly as they can each say dozens of words without prompting and repeat several dozen more. Hayden's favorite words right now are "dir dir" (dirty) and "shhoos" (shoes), Madison loves to say "cracker", "car" and "cheese" when you ask her to smile, and Payson loves "b" words such as "bubble", "bird" and "ball." "Uh-oh" continues to be a favorite word for all three and now "weeee" and "whoa" are used often when on wagon rides or going down the slide. Hayden likes to sing "E-I-E-I-O" from "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" and Madison loves to sing "Rock-A-Bye Baby." So cute. And if you new moms are considering doing baby sign language, I highly recommend it. It helps so much to have them sign words such as milk, more, eat, help, please, etc. and it's really cute when they sign words such as thank you and sorry too.

A week after returning home from our big trip to Denver and Phoenix, we hit the road to visit Grammy and GP in Oklahoma. Aunt Chelsey and crew joined us for the weekend and the cousins all had a great time playing and swimming together. Halfway through our 4-hour road trip we stopped to let the babies run around on a nice plot of land... but, apparently the grass was greener on the other side.

We were thrilled to be in town for Harrison's first birthday party thrown by parents Joey and Cristin.


Madison gives Keith a little nuzzle.


Our niece, Emma, is just a few months older than the triplets and they had fun sharing toys, food and high chairs.


The four of them were a perfect fit on Grammy and GP's little bench.


The little kids had lots of fun swimming in their new kiddie pool with cousin Chloe and playing with cousin Mikayla during the weekend.

Hayden peeking up after blowing bubbles.

Precious little Madison taking a swimming break.

Payson inspecting the water hose.


Mommy playing with Hayden.

Our little ballerinas playing on the chairs...

And our little diver in his Speedo.

Back at home it's monkey-see, monkey-do, and it's a good thing we have three bar stools so the babies can each have their own to climb under.

At our neighborhood festival the babies had their first face (i.e. hand) painting. Payson wasn't a big fan but look how delicately Madison is holding her hand out so that she doesn't mess up her pretty butterfly.

I heard someone playing with the blinds while I was preparing dinner one day and found Payson and Hayden standing together on the Incrediblock. Silly kids.

Our playgroup had a picnic at our neighborhood park and Madison loved going for a spin in one of the older boys' Jeep ride on. At one point she even leaned over and helped steer the wheel.

We took the babies to feed ducks for the first time, but I'm pretty sure the babies ended up with more bread in their bellies than the ducks did.

Since the babies love water it was hard keeping them away from the edge of the lake so the bridge made a better hangout spot.

Madison's hair is long enough for full pigtails now. They're just so adorable on her!

And here's the cute back view.

Hayden was thrilled to wear mommy's hat around the house.

Hayden loves her little Pony and nearly flipped it with her crazy riding skills (play video below). She likes to rock to the music, and she gives him hugs and kisses throughout the day.

And now play the video below to enjoy a little "dance, dance time" with Brobee:

Lions and Tigers and... Gorillas

Keith had some more time off after our trip so we took a day trip to the zoo for the babies' first time. They did great with no tantrums or breakdowns despite their stretched schedule. It was a little difficult to point out some of the smaller or more hidden animals but they loved seeing the animals and making the sounds that accompany them ("ooh, ohh, ahh, ahh" for monkeys, of course, and so on). The glass case displays were great because the babies could get up close unlike some of the fenced off exhibits.

When we arrived at the penguin exhibit, the penguins enjoyed swimming in front of the babies, seemingly trying to get a glimpse of "triplets." There were a number of times that Keith and I felt like our family was one of the zoo's attractions with the looks and comments we received and overheard, but, as always, we understand and weren't bothered by it.

The babies had quite the view of the swimming penguins. After a few minutes the penguins all jumped out onto the land to dry off for some sunbathing, so we were glad to have arrived just in time to see their water escapades.

Hayden loved the 300-lb gorilla. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised given her love for animals but this thing was big and a bit scary looking. As usual, Payson stayed a few feet back and Madison was a few more feet behind him. Hayden hung out with the gorilla for about 10 minutes and even blew her a kiss before we left. A zookeeper was there checking on the gorilla at the same time, and the gorilla gave a shout out to her zookeeper friend with a little knock on the glass - it was pretty cool.

My mom had a spring party at her nursing home and the babies had a wonderful time running around with their cousins, Avery and Addison. Like everywhere else we go, the wagon was a hit and various kids were taking rides around the courtyard. The wagon has cup holders which we use as bowls to hold food when eating outside in these kinds of situations, and it works perfectly. Keith and I would be happy to feed them on our laps if only we had a third lap to share.

Payson managed to get his hands on his cousins hot dog after dinner...

... and then he ate their watermelon. Keith loves these photos because he always teases me about how many pictures I have of me stuffing my face with "fair food" as a toddler.

Dads know just how to stress us moms out, don't they?

The babies are easily entertained by new things as seen here with Keith pushing the kids around on the cart they discovered in the hallway outside of a wedding reception.

Daddy holds his baby girl while she holds her baby doll. So cute.

Our neighborhood has dozens of cool playgrounds, and Keith got quite the workout winding the bar that pulls the little bridge back and forth between the landings. The babies loved riding on the bridge and watching daddy do all of the hard work.

Hayden, Payson and Madison are coloring now that they can finally resist, at least half the time, from putting the crayons in their mouths. They have created their official "first" drawings and starting to get the hang of scribbling.

The babies don't watch TV yet for a variety of reasons *except* for every few weeks when I file their nails and desperately need the distraction. Daddy laid the girls down on pillows for a few minutes to watch Sesame Street alongside Payson while I did his nails. Lucky them! I just love how Hayden is resting her arm over her head while Madison plays with her feet.

I love this picture of Keith holding the girls at the pool because they look like mirror images of each other the way they are holding onto him with their arms and legs.

Backyard Fun

We have been getting out a lot lately, and we try to include some outdoor playtime as much as possible while still being careful about the sun. I have met some wonderful moms of multiples through my local multiples group who have become some of my closest friends. Before we left for our trip, I hosted a playdate with two of my friends, Candace and Amy, who have 2 1/2-year-old and 15-month-old triplets, respectively. The kids had a blast playing in the water and on the outdoor toys. Having nine kids together sure kept us three moms busy!

We busted out the Whip Cream for the kids to play with, and my trio was the most interested in the yummy mess. Not sure what that means!

We played outside again the next day and Madison got the chance to perfect blowing bubbles in the water. Notice her little foot propped up on the side - it always seems to be on top of, looped around, or resting on something.

It took several attempts but we finally captured Hayden, Madison and Payson looking at the camera while playing on their alligator seesaw. The seesaw only works well if Madison is in the middle because she likes to climb on and off, over and over, while the other two like to sit and stay awhile. If she is on the end then the sibling opposite of her has a wild ride down every time she climbs off.

The babies enjoy dinner outside on the picnic table after an afternoon in the backyard - what could be better?

Madison started feeding Payson and he returned the favor.

Our friends Robin and Andy visited with their daughter, Charlotte (1 1/2 months older than our triplets), and we had our first official "kids table" while the adults ate together at the kitchen table. It was so cute to see them eating together, stealing bites of the good stuff off each other's plates, etc.

Charlotte and Hayden give each other a goodbye kiss.
On Mother's Day we took the babies to the bookstore for a bit. I just love this picture of them reading with daddy!

Payson is terrified, and I mean terrified, of, what else but flies. Yes, flies. And why wouldn't he be - he'd never seen one before and all of a sudden one was flying around his face. At first, when the fly just flew around and later landed on Payson's chair, he was wary but okay with it. But when it landed on his arm he lost it and had tears pouring down his little face. Now we talk about insects and flies regularly to help him understand what the ugly things known as "bugs" are so he will be less caught off guard by them. He used to be scared of water and dogs and got over those fears so I am confident he can get over this one too.

And for those of you looking for closure on the baby bird story, I was fortunate enough to watch them take their very first flight out of the flower pot and into their vast newly expanded world. I really enjoyed it as I was a bit in awe of getting to watch the whole process on a daily basis. But then after they were gone I got to work scrubbing the poo off my patio. Lucky me.