Let the toddlerhood begin!

A year ago today was the Superbowl....I was upstairs watching lifetime I'm sure eating who knows what...Keith had a friend over downstairs watching the Superbowl....both of us wondering when these babies would come.  I was big, uncomfortable, and tired of peeing in big orange containers and taking them to the cpl lab everyday.

Now I have 3 big babies....well not so much babies anymore as one of my moms of multiples friend pointed out.  We have toddlers!  We have one walker (Presley).  One sorta walker (Ashton) and one cruised (Keegan).

We have toys being grabbed from each other.  Crying and falling to the floor head down like the world is ending (Presley).  We have tempers who kick, scream, and stomp (Ashton).  And we still have if you touch be I will cry (Keegan).  We have pushing, pulling smacking, tackling, and screaming.

But..

We also have cuddling, climbing into your lap, patting each other, tickling, laughing, playing together, sharing, following some direction, feeding themselves, no more bottles, babbling back and forth, walking, pretend play, independence, silliness, and toothy smiles.

It has been really fun to watch them grow and learn knew things which seem so out of the blue.  While we have had to take a huge monetary cutback it has been so worth it to get to see each of my babies develop and grow into the one year old's they will be on Wednesday!

A photographic look into my day

Surviving the cold

Me and Keith were getting ready for bed and watching Parenthood (amazing show!) and I was kinda cold. I noticed that cool air was being blown into our room.  I stuck my hand up and verified that this was reality and not my imagination.  "Keith....I think the heater is broken...it is blowing cold air" And so it began.  During commercial breaks (because we weren't going to miss any Parenthood(you really should watch it)) we looked at the heater pretending there was something we could do to fix it.  I hit it once hoping that might jargon something. Played with the thermostat...on ...off ...cool...heat....off....on... when that didn't work we (and by we I mean Keith) crawled through and jumper over boxes, clothes, and baskets to get to the electrical box thing.  Flipped on and off and few breakers..and nothing.  No heat.

We knew we could tough it out.  We had blankets and some body fat to keep us warm but the babies.  What would happen to the babies!?!?  I was ready to cover them in blankets and let them fend for themselves.  But Keith, the nice one, said "They can't sleep w/ blankets they may suffocate.  There are two windows in their room it will be freezing in there!"  My guilt set in for being selfish and not wanting to share my sleep and bed with them.   So one at a time we brought them in our bed.  Presley didn't wake up right away, Keegan started screaming like someone was pinching him with tweezers, and Ashton got excited and wanted to sit up and look around and bounce.

Some how we got them laid down and covered up.  Presley started crawling around and found my elbow pit.  Nestled her head in it and went to sleep.  Keegan was nestled with daddies and Ashton was laying down nicely next to me....until he wasn't.  He started moving toward Keith and crawling over Keegan and onto Keith moving, patting, nudging.  "I can handle Presley and Keegan if you can take Ashton."  Good trade I thought.  We traded and I got Ashton settled.  

2 toss and turning hours later Ashton is sitting up bouncing up and down.  Saying "ga!" over and over again.  For an hour I tried my best to settle him down and the other babies were starting to wake.

"You wanna just go put them in their bed??"  Keith mumbled.  "UH YES!" We quickly placed them in their bed and covered them up with blankets.  They slept fine.  We slept great.

The heater didn't get fixed the next day so Keith went out and bought  a space heater home.  Space heaters always worry me because you hear of so many fires that start from them.  But we survived another night with out a heater.

(I do understand that those of yall who live up north where it gets below 0 are possibly laughing at our Texas 22 degree lows and our fear of our babies turning to ice figurines)

Today at 10:30 AM our heater is fixed.  Thank you Kevin our landlord and the nice guy who fixed it and explained to me what went wrong.

11 months

(This is their 11 month photo. They all started in a sitting position but within seconds found a new pose they liked better)

Well I am a little late and posting but better late than never right? This last month has been alot of fun and very busy with the holidays.

The babies are doing wonderful! Presley is getting ready to walk, she is taking 3 -5 steps at a time very slowly and carefully. Ashton is starting to take 1 - 3 steps very quickly and rambunctious like. Keegan is pulling up and standing while holding on. He hasn't adventured into letting go yet but I bet he will soon.

The babies personalities are starting to show more and more everyday! Keegan is the flirt, jokester, and still kind of a cry baby. He loves to make people laugh and likes attention.

Ashton doesn't sit still and laughs at everything, especially Keegan. He is also pretty mischievous and likes to quietly sneak away and head into where he is not supposed to be as quick as he can.

Presley is pretty sweet. She is observant and careful yet adventurous. Presley is starting to climb when she can..she of course is starting small. She gets her feelings hurt when her brothers take away her toys but she is pretty tough. She has probably had the most bumps and bruises and doesn't cry about it.

The babies love to play together and are starting to more and more crawl into the playroom and just play with each other. This is very nice for me!

The babies have been to many basketball games to cheer for the Lady Eagles! They even made the news! They are at the beginning on the fan cam. The moms at the games are so nice and love to hold the babies. So if I can manage to get in there then I kinda get a break for a bit! The babies always do pretty well at the games even though it is usually past their bedtime.

They went to visit Santa! (I think all 4 were a bit nervous) Notice Presley's pouty lip. She went through a phase of stranger danger but she is starting to come out of it I think.

Christmas was a week long adventure. We first had Christmas at our house, then my parents, then Keith's parents. The babies were really good at taking the bows off the presents. They didn't really get opening gifts but they liked playing with their toys!

Christmas at our house.

Christmas at my parents

Christmas at Keith's parents. This is all the grandkids.

We also had a great time ringing in 2012

We have also visited the park a lot! Swinging is one of their favorite things to do!

They love to ride in their choo choo wagon!

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They have also started eating a lot of table food. I have discovered after watching Keith and our families feed them that I feed the messy way. I just plop food down on their tray and let them go to town. I enjoy doing it this way because they get to practice feeding themselves and I get to have a break, and they are content and not screaming at me to stick a spoon in their mouth. I have also noticed that they each have their own way of feeding themselves. Ashton grabs his food gets it on his palm and the puts his palm to his mouth. Keegan does the same thing but 2 or more fingers end up in his mouth as well. Presley uses her pincher grasp and elegantly puts her food in her mouth like a normal person.

Ashton

Keegan

Presley

I have tried to capture a little more video so...

Here is a link to see Ashton and Keegan playing...keep an eye out for Presley.

This is one of Ashton playing with a car seat box and being excited.

10 months! What?

Holy cow these babies are 10 months! I can't believe it. I know I probably say it every month but only 2 more months and they are going to be 1 !!! A lot of days I am too busy to think about anything but sometimes I stop and think...I have 3 babies! Crazy!

The babies have started to eat table food here and there. Ashton doesn't know what a pincher grasp is...but he does know what a fist grasp is. Grabs a fist full and shoves it all in his mouth. Keegan tried to get the food in but usually it ends up everywhere else. Presley is pretty good about eating. (This is Keegan in the picture eating peas and carrots)

This is the babies w/ their favorite TV show character DJ Lance (the white version.) They don't look super happy at the moment and Ashton looks plain scared BUT they are smiling on the inside. (Presley, Ashton, Keegan, and Keith's dad)

They are starting to realized what a camera is and most of the time will look and smile...well some of the time. (This is Keegan)

Cheesing it up is Ashton.

Presley smiling pretty. And this is her head back, nose scrunched smile.

The babies are crawling every where and pretty much go all over the house. Keegan is now army crawling and can keep up w/ his brother and sister.

This is Ashton and Presley in their room playing. Keegan is coming down the hall.

There is Keegan! Mercy is herding him in the room.

Now here they are in the entry way having a discussion about Yo Gabba Gabba.

The babies won Nuby sippie cups! Here they are playing with them.

Ashton is getting pretty excited about Christmas!

So excited that he chews on his crib!

Trying to get a picture for the Christmas card. Why can't they all look at the camera and at the same time?

Did I mention Presley can stand up? It's usually only for a minute or so but she loves it! I am sure walking will follow soon.

We have been crafting and this is our family ornament. The "lights" are made by everyones fingerprints. The other ornaments (there are 3 the red one is kinda hiding) are the babies hand prints that are embossed on a clear ornament.

We hope you have a merry Christmas!!!!

It is starting to feel like Christmas!

I have always wanted to send out family photo Christmas cards...however I am pretty sure I have never sent cards out period. Shame on me I know! This year since we have the babies Keith and I decided that we had to send out a Christmas card with the babies picture on it.

In my spare time (haha) I have searched the sites for good deals for Christmas cards. There are a lot of great places out there! However I was introduced to Tiny Prints a few months ago when living in Austin by Saving With Shellie. Tiny prints has really cute cards that you can have personalized and they can even send them out for you!

Well they also have some pretty cool Christmas cards. You can check them out here --> Christmas Cards I am thinking I love all of them! It will depend what kind of picture we can get out of the triplets before choosing but these two I really like...

One is an ornament too! Then the other is just fun. Oh decisions.

Another cool thing is you can get 50 free holiday cards! Just fill out this form and they will send you an email with instructions about blogging about their awesome company!

9 months

I can not believe our babies are 9 months old!!!! They had a doctor's visit Monday which went well.

Presley was almost 18 lbs which was in the 10th percentile and her height was in the 50th percentile. She is tall and skinny but full of spunk! She also now has two bottom teeth and one tooth coming in at the top.

Presley has perfected the crawl and has gotten pretty quick. She also LOVES to pull up. We have three jumperoos grouped together. She loves to pull up and swing from pole to pole. Presley loves to smile. We she does she crinkles up her nose, shows her bottom teeth and puts her head back like she is looking at the ceiling. It's pretty cute. She also likes to follow Ashton around and do what he does.

Keegan the chunk is also doing very well. His red spot on his forehead is slowly disappearing. He weighed about 21 lbs (I think he might have weighed a lb or so more before the stomach flu hit) and his weight and height are in the 50th percentile range. He has two bottom teeth and his two top teeth or in too. He has something (I don't remember what they called it) but its like a little tiny tooth nub coming in between his two front teeth. The doctor didn't seem too concerned but did point it put out and say the dentist will figure that out.

Keegan has finally gotten a little more mobile. Recently he has started the army crawl. He can now tag around w/ his brother and sister. He is a very sweet boy with a bashful smile. He also love animals. When Mercy or Grace come around he gets the biggest smile on his face. He also loves to make sound w/ his mouth. He will get his cheeks full of air, purse his lips together and blow air threw. Last weekend he decided he hates veggies. He will spit them out, turn his face, hit the spoon. This battle is not over.

Ashton is also a chunk. He weighed almost 21 lbs and his height and weight were in the 50th percentile. He has his two bottom teeth, two incisors, and one front tooth in.

Ashton is a laugher. He laughs at everything. It is great!!! Keegan tends to cry a little more and Ashton tries to cheer him up by smiling at him, slapping him in the face, putting his head on his belly. Usually he makes it worse but its pretty cute to see Ashton try to make him happy. Ashton has conquereed crawling...you can always here him coming because he hits the ground so hard with his hands. He can also pull up and cruise around holding onto furniture. Ashton also loves to cuddle but not for long....he has to be on the move.

I have enjoyed their mobility...I was nervous at first. But we shut all the doors, block the kitchen off and let them go. They have the living room, play room, entry way, and hall way. Sometimes I get lucky and they just go off and play and don't need me there. I can get a little bit done that way.

Forgive me for my negativism in my last entry. My point was to get across the difficulties of triplets that some may not realize. This month has been much more positive.

I have had a wonderful lady from the church offer to come help once a week by coming over to watch the babies for an hour or so...so I can make it to the store or do what I need to do! Also I have made it a priority to get out more. It is hard, it does take a while, and I do always work up a sweet loading and unloading. But I get out and its nice. I am even enjoying talking to everyone. Today I went to walmart and the cashier came up to me and talked to me for a bit. She offered to find someone to push a cart around with me. I only needed a few things so I declined. So she said if I fill up my basket then I can drop it off with her and get a new one. It was kind of her to think about that.