38 Years

Today is my parent's 38th wedding anniversary. They were married in 1970. They have stayed together this long with two kids and they said they never imagined they would have eight grandkids. Life is just full of surprises. It is especially interesting that they met in the student center at Oklahoma Christian College (now University) while they were playing pool. My dad said he was eating black cherry ice cream (I think that is right). Greg and I also met in the student center at Harding University at the bowling alley (it was a summer registration scheduled event.... we aren't really that into bowling).

We are approaching our ten year anniversary this summer. I thought ten sounded like a lot until I talked to my mom about their 38th anniversary... now that is a lot of miles of traveling life together!!! Greg and I dated three years before we were married so that counts for something too... so we've been together almost 13 years! We have always said we would go to Europe for our tenth, but at this time in our babies lives, we will probably have to put that dream on hold. Some dreams are worth putting on hold!

Ready or Not, Here I Come!

Caden's favorite game is hide and seek! We've been playing this for about a year now and it just keeps getting better. He is so good about being still and quiet in his hiding place. We even had to make up a new rule that if we can't find eachother after a couple of minutes then we will ask if the hider can "beep" to help the seeker.

When I dropped off Caden at preschool yesterday, the teacher told Caden the class was going to play the game duck, duck, goose. Caden immediately asked if they could play hide and seek. The teacher sweetly said she was sorry because hide and seek wouldn't really work well in their small classroom.

One time we were playing hide and seek and Greg was hiding and Caden was seeking. Our dog Oakley was walking by and and Caden went up to Oakley and asked her (in a very high pitch voice) "Oakley, did you eat Daddy?" It was so funny the game was over!

I Believe I Can Fly

Ahhhh... the thoughts of a four-year-old. Caden asked me to help him over the baby gate. After he was on the other side he said, "I wish I had wings so that I could just fly over the gate. And then you would say "I can't believe you are flying."

Addison and Harper both love to fly in the air. They really laugh when Greg tosses them high in the air and catches them. We learned Emery is not the dare-devil and does not love being tossed in the air.

I asked Caden some favorite questions today. Here is what he said.
Favorite color - green
Favorite food - watermelon
Favorite drink - milk and Gatorade too
Favorite tv show - Little Einsteins
Favorite movie- Shark Boy and Lava Girl

Ma Ma

Addison is still waiting to talk. She loves to nod her head "no".... and will mimic us when we nod our head no too. We have fun asking her questions for her to say no to. "Addison, are you going to ever break your cerfew? Addison, are you going to smoke, drink, do drugs or date bad boys?" It is pretty funny!

I walked in the kitchen and Harper looked at me and waved and said for the first time "ma ma".... and right then my heart melted! I couldn't wait to hear it again, so I picked her up and kissed her and said "ma ma" and waited.... then she said "ma ma, ma ma" so I knew it was really her saying it.
After Emery has been saying da da for weeks now, it was music to my ears to hear one of our girls say, mama for the first time

Last week, Emery stood without holding anything on her cute two feet for 10 seconds. She loves to hold on to our round coffee table and this morning she went all the way around. We have to be careful about leaving our drinks on the table or anything else. One of Greg's co-workers said they trained their baby to walk by putting Cheerios all around the edge of their circle coffee table then would put a Cheerio on the sofa so they would learn to go from the table to the sofa. It kinda reminds me a ET with the Reeces Pieces!

I am laughing because at this moment, Caden is yelling "Mommy is prettier than mermaids." Well... I will take any compliment from my kids with pure happiness!

Caden Had A Lightbulb Moment

Greg keeps funny voice messages with Caden singing or saying the pledge etc. on his cell phone and this morning we were listening to an old voice message I left for him around Christmas and I had to remember to blog it before I forgot.

Caden was walking in my bathroom and fell on the tile floor. Of course I was worried and I said "Caden, are you okay? You slipped."
Caden said, "Hey, Jesus slipped in a manger."
Trying not to laugh, I said, "Oh- actually Jesus SLEPT in a manger. He went to sleep in the manger. He didn't slip."
Caden had a HUGE smile on his face, and I could actually see the lightbulb go off in his head, he said, "OOOOOOHHHHH."

Getting Involved

When Caden was a baby, I was in a MOPS group (Mothers of Preschoolers) and it was really fun to get out of the house for adult conversation and meet with other moms and get good advice and share stories about our kids. I stopped going when we temporarily moved to Steamboat, Colorado for a couple of months. One of the moms in my WMOM group is president of a MOPS group and I heard they had an opening to join. I just signed up for the spring session of MOPS am excited about getting involved again.

I have been attending the WMOM (Woodlands Mothers of Multiples) group meetings for a little over a year now. I am on the egroup for Space City Triplets, but only have been to one meeting since they meet deep in the heart of Houston at Womens Hospital. These groups have given invaluavable advice to get us through the triplets pregnancy and first year. One of the girls in the group even mailed me boxes of girl clothes since she had three girls too.

Our church is having a Womens Ministry Dinner tonight so you have the opportunity to decide what ministries you would like to be involved in for the year. I am trying not to overcommit myself, but at the same time contribute to what I feel God is calling me to do. Right now I am not really in charge of anything since our lives are a bit full with the babies.

Hot Diggity Dog!

I love my dog. I hate the dog hair in my house. The shedding hair from our black lab Oakley has been driving me pretty much insane keeping it off of everything. It is impossible to keep it from getting all over the girls clothes since they are crawling all over the tile and Oakley is an inside dog.
Our friend's Rick and Tanya have an cute yellow lab Maggie and got her shaved to lessen the dog hair in their house. I finally decided enough was enough and on Monday I took Oakley to the groomer for her $70 haircut. I think I pay around $40 for my haircut, so I was a bit shocked when they told me the price. I have to say it was well worth the price! Our house has so much less dog hair this week. Oakley is a hot dog with her new hair-do!

Speaking of hot dogs... I have only offered Caden a hot dog on a few occassions (like birthday parties, picnics, etc.) and he has turned his nose up to them and wanted a different choice like a hamburger. Today we went to Pump it Up (inflatable play place) with my friend Amy and her daughter Abby then after went to James Coney Island because it was across the street. I wasn't really sure if Caden would eat a hot dog, but I wanted to give it a try. Amy was saying that Abby REALLY LOVES hot dogs and she would probably eat one every day if she let her. Well, we get up to the counter to order and Caden says to the lady "I'd like a hot dog and my friend Abby would like a hot dog too". It was very sweet. Caden ate half his hot dog and he and Abby ran around and chased and bonked eachother on the head with these blow up tubes with hands on the end- one of the strangest kid's meal prizes I've seen.

Babble, Babble, Babble.... Party Girls on the Go!

This morning Harper woke up saying "ba, ba, ba".... Her first official babbles. Every time I would try to get Harper to say "mama" she would open her mouth and pop her lips together but no sound would come out. It was SO CUTE! Now she is so happy to say "ba, ba, ba..." over and over. Emery has been babbling saying "da, da, da" for weeks now, but Addison is waiting to do her own sound apparently. She makes the "mmmmm" sound, but I can't really say that is saying mama. Addison LOVES to wave, so she is super friendly.

With three girls, our lives will be FULL of chatter, giggling and pink glitter sooner than we can imagine. I went into a new store in Market Street that was full of pink everything, glitter and feathers. It is a spa for little girls called Sweet and Sassy. They even have a pink limo that says "Party Girls on the Go" that will pick you and your friends up and take you to the spa. I suppose I should get that printed on the side of our Lincoln Navigator... not sure how Caden would feel about that!

The Lake House

The weather was so warm for January and Greg was getting anxious to get out on the boat so we just decided to go to the lake house before we got too busy. I spread a blanket out in the back yard and enjoyed watching the girls climb all over Greg while he was trying to relax. Harper seemed the most interested in the grass and leaves. Emery is becoming a really fast crawler. She was crawling toward the bathroom and she saw me coming and laughed and started crawling really fast like I was chasing her. Harper and Addison tag teamed Caden and trapped him in a corner as he was riding his big wheel. Caden was laughing so hard!

The girls are getting so big and it is amazing to watch Caden really playing with his sisters. I often imagine what it will be like when they are a little older and hope that they will learn kindness and respect eachother.

What's for Lunch?

Caden is coming up with some creative meals. For lunch today Caden asked if he could have a goldfish cracker sandwich. I said yes, but he had to have ham or peanut butter in the sandwich too. So, for the first time I made a peanut butter and goldfisth cracker sandwich on white-wheat bread. A few months ago, Caden had decided he didn't want jelly on his PB&J sandwich anymore so I have been making just peanut butter sandwiches. (I really didn't want to give in on that one, but I just wanted to make sure he would eat his lunch at school). At least he is changing it up a bit! Like father like son.... Greg likes crunched up potato chips on his sauce only pizza.

For a snack he wanted a carrot and a pop tart. He is probably the only kid in America who doesn't eat the middle part of the pop tart (with the icing and sprinkles) and only eats the breaded edges.

Once the girls hit 9 months, a whole new world of eating opened up. They started eating Cheerio's and can eat biter bisquits and meats. Since they don't really have teeth to chew, they can't eat as much as most 10 month olds I imagine. As far as the girls eating habits go, the only food none of them like the chicken lasagne or the oatmeal with cinnamon and apples. I figured it must be the cinnamon they didn't like since they eat oatmeal and applesauce without any problems. Harper and Addison will pretty much eat anything. Emery is the most cautious eater and has to think about a new food before taking another bite. Emery always tries to grab the bowl while you are feeding her and if you leave the bowl for a second on her tray, it ends up spilling everywhere. This has happend at least twice with me feeding her and I had to change her outfit. She is so fast! They love holding the spoon and would try to feed themeselves and make a huge mess if I let them.

What are the girls getting into now?

Here is an update on the girls and some things I wanted to record.

Crawling (belly off the floor)- Emery was the first to crawl down the hallway on Dec. 5. Harper followed exactly one week later on Dec. 12. Addison decided she liked rolling across the room since it took her longer to figure that out, but she figured out the joys of crawling Dec. 28 (on my dad's birthday). They don't like their exersaucers as much any more since it restricts their freedom to crawl around the house. It was strange when I was in the kitchen today and I assumed Oakley (our dog) was next to me and it was Harper coming to say hello.

Teeth - Difficult to record exact date since they slowly arrive. As of today Jan. 4, Harper is showing her bottom two teeth and Emery is showing one right bottom tooth. I remember Caden getting his first two teeth at the same time just like Harper. Addison isn't showing any teeth yet.

Babyproofing - We had to order a special baby gate for the bottom of our stairs and it hasn't gotten here yet. This week, all three girls learned to climb the first couple of stairs. I spent a couple of hours going through all of Caden's toys ard re-organizing the playroom to get all the tiny pieces moved out of the room. I am constantly watching the floors and coffee table to make sure the babies won't put little things in their mouths. They like to try to re-program the remote control for the tv.

RSV Synagis - Once a month the girls get RSV synagis (shots). They retail in price for around $2400 for each girl, each month... whew! Their first synagis was in September, so they had their fourth one Jan. 2. It is recommended that preemie babies get this to protect them from getting RSV. On Wedensday they got weighed before their shots since the amount of medicine is based on weight. Addison weighed 17lbs. 5 oz. Emery weighed 18 lbs. 9 oz., and Harper weighed 20 lbs. 12 oz.

How do you get to Heaven?

Since we are busy getting the babies fed and to bed, Greg and I take turns putting Caden to bed and last night was Greg's turn. This is the story Greg told me this morning. As they were getting ready to say prayers, this is how the conversation went:

Caden: How do you get to heaven?
Greg: After you die, then you can go to heaven.
....long pause....
Caden: If you die then you can't drive, and if you can't drive to heaven, how do you get there?
Greg: God picks you up and carries you.
Caden: God can bring people back from the dead because He can do everything.
Greg: Yes that is right, God can do everything.
Caden: I can't do everything, but I did bring that dragonfly back from the dead.

Caden had saved a dragonfly out of the pool and he flew away. Caden thought he had brought it back from the dead. Greg had to explain how the dragonfly really wasn't dead, but it was almost dead and only God could bring it back to life. Caden still thinks he was dead and that he saved him. I suppose God uses doctors everyday to save people and I guess yesterday He used Caden to save a dragonfly.