Happy First Birthday Girls!

The girls are one years old now and this has been a WILD year! Their birthday party was very fun and we had Kindermusik come out and entertain all the babies. Their cake had three lollipops on the top with their first initial. Emery seemed to dig into her cake the most and won the messy award. Addison was her delicate self and took her time, but seemed to enjoy eating cake for the first time. Harper acted like she ate cake everyday and ate it just as she would eat Cheerios.

Addison- 18 pounds and is in the 10% for weight, 27 1/2 inches tall, not officially saying any words yet but makes the m sound like ma ma, loves to shake her head no, she plays peek a boo with her blanket, she crawls up stairs and pulls up on tables, waves bye bye, has two bottom teeth, and loves bath time especially with Caden.

Emery - 19 pounds and is in the 10-25% for weight, 26 1/2 inches tall, head is 17 inches around,

says da da, ma ma, uh uh when something drops on the floor (instead of uh oh), She took her time liking whole milk in a sippie cup, but after two weeks has no problem at all. She loves cheese, can walk easily around the coffee table holding the table and has stood by herself for 20 seconds but isn't ready to walk yet. She loves to be chased, crawls very fast and can crawl up stairs, steals Harper's pacifier for fun but doesn't really suck on it, smiles easily with her two bottom teeth.

Harper - 21 pounds and is in 50% for weight, 28 1/2 inches tall, head is 16 3/4 inches around, says ma ma, bye bye, duck, da da, dog/doggie, waves bye bye, likes to use her new walker and is confident walking around holding the table or sofa, still the only one of our girls who takes a pacifier (at bedtime), crawls up stairs, always the first one to dance to music when it come on.

I am so proud of all three of my girls and how far they have come in one year. We are so blessed with three beautiful daughters and amazing son Caden!

We Love Birthdays

I had just put the girls down for a nap and was trying to keep Caden busy since it was so rainy outside. Play-doh is a great indoor activity and wonderful for developing his creative side. I have Caden use educational plastic placemats for craft time so it doesn't get on the table or carpet. He happened to get the placemat with the world map today. I was in the other room and I heard Caden singing the happy birthday song. I didn't think much of it because the triplets birthday is tomorrow and we had been singing that song all week. Then I heard him sing, "Happy birthday dear India, cha cha cha, happy birthday to you... cha cha cha". Yes... the country India on the map! He had made a birthday cake out of Play-doh and was using a toothpick for the candle. We love to celebrate holidays and birthdays in our family, so I guess I need to add the country India to our list.

Got Milk? A lot of milk?

Now that the girls are on whole milk, my grocery cart has been full of six gallons of milk per week just for the kids! Caden LOVES MILK and so I buy him two gallons a week and buy the girls four gallons a milk a week.

On Sunday we had the girls' baby dedication at church. My parent's and Greg's parents and Nana attended to make the event extra special. We were surprised with the huge cake at the reception in the atrium. We were so busy holding babies, I think Caden was the only one in our family that ate any cake. While we were on stage none of the girls wanted to keep their bow headbands on and kept pulling them off. I was so glad I brought a burb cloth with me because Addison spit up on the stage floor right during the presentation. Greg held Addison and Emery while I held Harper. We went out to a nice brunch after church and the girls were so happy to sit in their high chairs at the big table.

Wednesday night was our Survivor Life Group Party for the girls. We celebrated that we survived the triplets first year. Everyone brought something to share to eat and we had a double layer cookie cake that was yummy. The girls didn't get to enjoy the party for long, because they needed to get baths and get to bed by 8pm. They didn't eat any cookie cake because they are waiting for their birthday party on Saturday.

Last week, Caden started a tumbles class and really enjoyed getting out some extra energy. This class is different than when he did it before because now that he is older, the parent's can sit and watch the class or they can leave them and come back to pick up after class. I had so much fun watching Caden and they played so many fun games. He listened very well to the teacher for being his first class. There was another little girl that was distracted and she tried to influence Caden into running off during the class time, and I could see the little angel and devil on his shoulders. Do I obey the teacher and do the activity with the other kids, or do I run off and play with this little girl? He listened to the angel. Good for him!

Having Four Kids is a Snap

On Monday, the girls had their RSV synagis/shots. Greg's mom and his great aunt Dorothy were about to go to Orlando, but they were so kind to help me at the dr. office before going to the airport. I had all four kids with me to get to the dr. dressed and ready to go before 8:30am, so this was a big help once I got there. Greg helped feed them breakfast and dressed before he went to work. To comfort one baby after shots is difficult enough, so three babies crying after shots is impossible by myself.

I decided on the "cold turkey" method of transitioning formula to milk after talking to the nurse at the pediatrician office. I also decided to do it all at once and get it over with as far as going from formula in bottles to whole milk in sippie cups. Emery is still deciding if it is worth the effort of holding her own sippie cup and isn't thrilled with the taste of whole milk. Harper was kicking her feet with joy, she was so happy to have a new sippie cup with new milk. Addison loves the new change. The girls aren't finishing their milk in sippie cups like they usually did with formula, but it takes awhile to adjust their tummies.

Valentine's Day was greeted with Addison having a low grade fever (maybe due to teething) not wanting to sleep in her bed from 12 am. Greg and I took turns with her, so we could hardly function yesterday, but we pushed through our Valentine's Day and met eachother for relaxing lunch at Olive Garden with no kids. Greg brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and that was a nice surprise. He had given me a scarf and although it was 71 degrees, I wore the scarf around my neck and felt the extra warmth because it was something he had picked out for me.

After lunch and running errands, I picked up Caden at ABC-123 Club, and he was so excited because he learned to snap with his fingers. He wanted to call Daddy to tell him and he held my cell phone up to his fingers so he could snap. We were all very excited since it is just one of those things that once you learn how to do, you can do it forever.

For Valentine's evening, I had booked us a couple's massage and had our nanny Beatriz watch the kids. I had given Caden a bath and put him in pajamas at 5:30. He was really wondering why he had to wear pj's since it wasn't dark yet. He didn't take a nap yesterday, so I knew he would be tired and didn't want to worry about him falliing asleep in his play cothes. All the kids were still awake when we got home, so we enjoyed playing with the girls and Caden. I was holding up a duck to Harper and was reminising and telling Beatriz that Caden's first word after mama and dada was duck. Right then, Harper said "duck" as plain as ever. I could hardly believe it and asked her to say it again, and she did so I told Greg to come upstairs and he got the camera and got it on video. It is interesting because we have noticed that Harper and Caden seem to have this special connection and now it is extra special since they share the same first word!

I suspect Addison might be getting an ear infection because she didn't sleep Wed. night and this morning she has been very fussy if I set her on the floor to play. She only wants to be held, but won't let me hold her sitting on the floor. She wants me to stand up all day with her in my arms. At least she is the lightest in weight, but it is still hard to get all I need to get done. I just made her a dr. appointment because I want the dr. to check her ears for infection before the weekend.

Too early for popsicles?

One of our favorite movies is Groundhog Day. There is a part where they are driving crazy late at night in a car (living like it is their last day) and Bill Murry's character gets pulled over by the police. He pretends the cop is taking their order and asks "too early for flapjacks?" Caden had asked for a popsicle for a snack this morning and I was wondering if it was too early in the season for popsicles. I guess I always thought it was especially reserved for summer until I came to Houston. It is a warm day, so Caden is eating a popsicle right now and it is February. So, I determined it is never too early for popsicles.

I love our unpredictable weather and this season of Houston winter. Do I need a winter coat, umbrella, shorts? When I was dating Greg in the summer, his family has asked if I wanted any hot chocolate. I had never heard of drinking hot chocolate in the summer, but why not, especially if it is a reason to eat mini marshmallows? Yesterday we had 70 degree weather and then we had a huge thunder and lightning storm with hail. It doesn't hail that often at our house, so Caden was very excited and loved the lightning and was running all around the house to look out the different windows to get the best view.

Yard Makeover

We decided it was time to get our yard cleaned up after not raking leaves all fall. Our yard people come and just blow the leaves in the flowerbeds and don't take them away, so it was really overdue. We had a lot of dead bushes and overgrown limbs and plants that just needed taken out and replaced with new plants. We are going to add more grass in our backyard in March.

After the mulch was put in the flowerbeds, Caden walked in the door after being outside and said, "woo-wee, that is stinky dirt." I guess we all forget how stinky that is at first. He loved the yard makeover and thought the flowers were so pretty. I told him the dirt was called mulch and he said, "flowers just LOVE that stinky stuff." I said, "Oh, really... how did you know that?" and Caden said, "Daddy told me."