We survived!

Christmas was awesome for us! We had such a great time at all of our holiday functions.

On Christmas Eve we went to Aunt Shaaron & Uncle Jerry's as usual. There was a lot of people there this year, it was great. The kids were very good all evening. They even warmed up to Santa! He earned their trust and after awhile Logan and Nora even sat on his lap! They got a ton of great gifts, the family (and Santa) was so generous!

On Christmas morning Santa had come to visit and there was a wonderful kitchen and grill set waiting for the kids plus a few other gifts. They love the kitchen/grill set and played like crazy. Santa did good!

After that we went to Grandma and Grandpa Sanders house for more presents. This photo says it all.

Then finally we went over to Aunt Megan and Uncle Dave's for Christmas. It was a nice evening with family and playing some games of Left Center Right (not sure if that's exactly the name).

Ready for Christmas!

Well this is a better picture than the one on Santa's lap! Mommy came home from work early today so we hung out before we had to go to our check up at the dr's. Everyone seems to be healthy and "back to normal". We got a vaccination that is supposed to help with ear infections and we will go back next week to get updated on the rest of our vaccinations, yay.

We are ready for Christmas!

We love Santa!

Well we finally went to visit Santa and here's how it turned out! We went to Bass Pro to have it taken. We had to wait for about 30 minutes for Santa to get there which isn't too bad considering they said the weekend before the wait was 4 hours. They were angels the entire wait, not one of them acted up. We were 2nd in line, and the moment we walked up to Santa they started freaking out. I absolutely expected Clara to freak out, but didn't expect that much out of Logan and Nora. We also tried to take a family picture with Rob and I in it to see if they would calm down at all but that didn't really do much. I didn't buy that picture, I'll probably scan it and upload it.

Well, there's always next year I guess!

Ring around the rosie

Watch "Ring around the rosie" on YouTube

Fun at the breakfast table

Sometimes it's the small funny things that make a day start off good. My kids seem to be getting goofier and developing their own sense of humor. Of course, everything is monkey see monkey do!

Here's a funny short video on this subject!

Watch "Another glimpse into raising triplets" on YouTube

Smarter and smarter

Well, they are getting smart. In order to see out of the window Logan stacked the stool on top of the plastic tote. Sigh. Nothing is safe anymore!

Fun in the tub

Logan is having a blast in the tub by himself. The tub just isn't big enough for all 3 without extreme fighting anymore! LOL  I figured it was time to start letting them do a few things here and there on their own anyway, makes it feel a little more special! Plus now they aren't possibly sitting in each other's filth he he he

I got pictures of Logan and Nora but Clara was first so I didn't think about it!

Wow what a weekend!

I can officially say that my holiday season has begun! Friday I took off work to go shopping with the Schreck women and boy can they shop! I can now say that I've been inside a Walmart for 5 hours! :-) BUT, I got the kids Christmas Day and Christmas Eve outfits, some odds and ends Christmas needs AND some of my shopping done. So, it was a fun day!

Yesterday I went shopping again with my wonderful friends from work on Main Street in St Charles. That was a lot of fun as well. Didn't really get much Christmas shopping done, but it's always great to get out with friends and have a sitter at home!

We're starting to teach the kids Christmas words and Nora's got "gobble gobble" down pat pretty good. All three of them are starting to talk a lot more and saying each other's names. We've all got the cold AGAIN. All three are coughing and runny noses. Although they aren't as bad today as they were yesterday morning so hopefully it's on its way out of the house.

I'm starting to get pretty excited about the holidays. Even though they don't quite fully understand what's going on, it's more than they understood last year. I have a feeling it won't take them long to figure out how to open their presents. :-)

They DO love each other!

One of the cutest things I had ever seen was when Nora and Clara started hugging on their own. They stayed that way for awhile too, long enough for me to get my phone and snap a picture! They don't do it often, but when they do it it is awesome! I hope they have many more years of loving each other like this!

Big Boy Bed!

I can't believe it, but at only 19.5 months Logan is officially in a "big boy bed" (toddler bed). As many people know, he was in our bed EVERY night. He would go to sleep in his crib just fine, but a few hours later would wake up and want in our bed. Well, there finally came a time where he would not even be happy in our bed. He would wiggle and ine and keep us up all night. So, we decided to give it a shot, and it worked! I guess maybe he just felt trapped in his crib or something. At first he would wake up and come into our room, Rob would just put him back and and he would cry for a minute or two and then he'd go to sleep. Before when we would do that with his crib he would cry for up to an hour before giving up. Tonight when we laid him down for "night night" he said "bye bye" and "night night" to us before we closed the door. He's getting so big and this definitely makes me feel like they are growing up too fast!

Been too long!

Wow, I realize that I haven't updated the blog in quite awhile. It's been a busy couple of months and it just got away from me. Hard to believe that the kids are 19 months old already! They have been talking up a storm lately, repeating just about everything we say. It's so great to hear them develop a vocabulary.

In August we started taking them to a day care twice a week. I think they are really starting to enjoy it. They get to play with other kids, different toys, and just get to get out of this tiny house! At first Logan and Clara would cry when we dropped them off, but just today Logan didn't cry at all and Clara just whined a little bit when we left. So I think they are getting used to it and making new friends!

The first week of September we went on vacation to Branson with the Moyers and the Baiters. That was a great time! The kids had a lot of fun. it was kind of cool so swimming wasn't exactly the best activity we did, but we attempted it and got one use of their swimming suits! :-) We all stayed in one condo which was pretty nice. The Sanders clan had the whole top floor so that we didn't bother anyone. Although we were usually the first to get up in the morning. I think everyone enjoyed themselves and it was nice to just get away for awhile!

Well, I am sure I am missing a lot that has happened in the last two months but will try to remember and blog about anything big that happened!

Texting during dinner

Yes that's right, we already have to scold our children for texting doing dinner. Next thing you know kids will be coming out of the womb with a smart phone attached!

Bean Bags!

Gigi brought s bean bag chairs today! We love them! Now we have our own place to sit in the living room and they are light enough to where we can pick them up.

Thank you Gigi!

Nora "reading" her first book

Watch "Nora reading" on YouTube

Weird toys

Well you just never know what will keep these kids occupied. I got two extra car seats from a co-worker so that the grandparents can keep them in their cars. They have been playing with them all weekend like it's their own personal seat. Fine with me, safer than the normal walking on the couch!

17 months!

Well I am one day late but my "babies" are 17 months old. Wow!  The time is flying. And among all of the temper tantrums, biting and sleepless nights this has still been the best 17 months of my life. Being a mom to these three is the best job title I will ever have!

All 3 are walking great now and it's actually quite comical when they are all following each other around. They are all starting to repeat words and can obviously understand what we are saying to them now so that is very cool to see. I just love watching them develop. I try to enjoy every moment I can because I know before long they will be starting school and so on. They are developing an interest in books so I am trying to read to them when they will sit still long enough.

Enjoy these pictures I took of them today!

15/16 month check-up

Lots of craziness going on at the Sanders household as always! The kids are getting so big and growing up so fast it's hard to believe where we were a year ago.

I took them to the doctor for their check-up on Friday (mom helped me) and Dr Farberman says they are doing great! Here's their stats:
Logan - 31" long (25-50th percentile) & 21 lbs 13 oz (10th percentile)
Nora - 31 1/4" long (50th percentile) & 19 lbs 7 oz (10th percentile)
Clara - 32" long (75th percentile) & 20 lbs 3 oz (10th percentile)

So, they still need to gain some weight but their heights are all average! The dr was pleased with how well they have come along. They all need to be drinking a little more milk (or just getting more calcium) and he wants us to start giving them a vitamin that "could" help Logan sleep better (not holding my breath). He said that he didn't even really hear Nora's heart murmur so that was encouraging.

All three of them are walking now, how exciting! Clara is just trucking around like she's been walking for months and Nora is slowly but surely starting to walk more frequently.

We're starting to call Nora our parrot, she's getting really good at repeating things that we say. Guess we should watch what comes out of our mouths!

So all-in-all it was a great check-up. We have to take them back in a couple of weeks for some shots and then another check-up in 4 months.

3 babies walking!

Well, I think it's official... all three are walking! The girls are finally coming around. Clara is doing great, she's really booking it the last day or so. Nora walks when she wants to and she's still pretty unstable but she can do it. Watch out, things are about to get really nuts in the Sanders household!

Who needs toys...

When you've got a laundry basket? At least for the moment they have taken a break for hitting and biting each other and they are playing together. It's the smaller things in life.

Summer fun

Watch "Logan swinging" on YouTube

Summer is here!

Well summer is finally here so we got the outside area set up for the kids to play. Just need to get the picnic table and the pool out there and we'll be set!

Bottle time from mommy's point of view

Yes, they stand at the gate and cry, laugh, moan, scream, and carry on all while watching me make bottles.  Then, it's relief time!

Mommy& Daddy need a new TV

Watch "Playing with the TV" on YouTube

Rub-a-dub-dub 3 babies in a tub

Sometimes when it's been a long day and everyone is crabby the best remedy is a bath. They all love the bath so it not only occupies them for a half an hour but it wears them out for bed time. Not sure we will do all 3 in there at once again, it's pretty hard to keep them sitting down. If our bathroom was big enough for two people to kneel it would be better. Regardless, they had fun!

Blue jean diapers

Logan is sporting the new blue jean diapers today!

Logan hitching a ride

Watch "Clara giving Logan a ride" on YouTube

Playing in time out

Watch "Logan and Clara playing" on YouTube

Logan and Clara were supposed to be in trouble but instead they were having fun in time out. Guess it's better than firing and biting!

Real live monkey

Watch "Logan climbing into the bouncy seat" on YouTube

And the biting continues

Well Logan used to be the big biter but these days it's Nora. She has gotten Clara and Logan in the same day and I have the pics to prove it. I guess I will show her when she's older how mean she was LOL

May 21, 2011

Well, I haven't had time to provide a full update on all three of them in awhile. It's a Saturday night at 8:30 and we just put them all to sleep so I think I may actually have a few minutes to myself! Today we had a garage sale at my mom's house. That has been a bitter sweet event. A few weeks ago me, my mom and my sister went through both of the kids rooms and cleared them out. We found some preemie clothes that I couldn't believe how small they were. It just seems like a million years ago that they were that small. So I did a lot of looking back to the last year or so and got a little sentimental about the whole thing. The sweet part was that I made about $93 selling it all. :-)

So Logan is our little mover and CLIMBER. I am told that all boys are climbers. It's getting kind of scary. He can now climb up into the swing that we have and stand up in it. Yikes! So, it's bye-bye swing on Monday. We've gotten great use out of it, thanks to Elisa Pinkley for letting us borrow it. It was a life saver. So, he's walking around like crazy now and doesn't ever crawl anymore. And as stated in the previous post, he just got a full hair cut. he looks like such a little "boy" now instead of a baby. And all of the dark hair is gone now so he's much more blonde now. He's also becoming quite the flirt. He loves to smile really big and flash those pretty eyes at all the girls. I'm afraid that he knows how cute he is, and it's going to be dangerous.

Nora is our little talker. She is getting very good at mimicking what we say and then remembering it. She knows how to call her baby now and she gives her hugs and kisses. She is still not super interested in walking yet. Sometimes she just freaks out when she figures out that she's standing. She sleeps pretty good at night, which we are thankful for, and she waves hello and good-bye to me when I come and go. That's the best!

Clara is still kind of on her own timeline. I think she's going to try and take that first step on her own soon. she's been standing on her own here and there and when she realizes what she's doing she smile really big and then falls on her behind. I did get her to take a couple of steps to me the other day. So she's at least showing interest. Her favorite phrase right now is "uh oh" and she's learned to say it before she actually drops the food on the floor. Thank goodness for the dogs. She seems to have such a great sense of humor, I think she has a million faces too. Right now she's my "mini me".

Well, that's a brief update on the kids. Every day is such an adventure, but it's a great adventure. I wouldn't trade this for anything in the world.

Logan's 1st hair cut

Well I finally did it, I cut his hair. It was getting out of control. I didn't think he could get any cuter but boy was I wrong! He looks like a little boy instead of a baby!

Mother's Day

Happy mom's day to all you great mothers out there. First thing today we went to visit my Grandma Moyer at the nursing home. She loved seeing the kids, she doesn't get to see them very often. After that we went over to Megan and Dave's for lunch. Now we are at Grandma and grandpa Sanders house for dinner. Great weather and a very successful Mother's Day!

I love being a mom!

Our set up in the car

Well, Dr said we can finally face forward so here we are!

Mother's Day Flowers

On Wednesday I got a wonderful surprise from Rob and the kids for Mothers Day. What a wonderful family I have!

Our first road trip!

Well last weekend we took the kids on their first official road trip! We went to the Chicago area to visit my Aunt Jane, Uncle David and cousins Lindsay, Brad and Rylan. It was Lindsay's 30th birthday party. We all stayed at my Aunt Jane's house and it was fun. They had enough room in their house for everyone to stay, and we had the basement which was awesome because it was all just finished. We had our own bathroom & kitchen and enough room for 3 pack n plays! LOL

The kids did surprisingly good in the car. I think the 5 hour car ride was probably the limit, they were getting kind of ancy towards the end of the ride. But I think we left at good times for naps so they all slept off and on throughout the trip.

The mini van was awesome. Rob sat in the back with the kids most of the time and watched movies with them and kept them occupied while I drove. I get car sick in the back easily so I preferred to drive.

So, first trip was a success! Guess that means we'll have more to come!

Happy Easter!

Getting rid of baby stuff :-(

Well, today my mom, my sister and I cleaned out both of the kids rooms and got rid of A LOT of stuff that has accumulated over the last year. It felt good but was also sad at the same time. They just seem to be growing up so fast all of a sudden. They aren't babies anymore they are toddlers! But, I guess they will always be my babies!!!

Logan is walking more and more every day and getting better and better at it. He gets so excited about it and so proud of himself when he does it! the girls aren't going to be much further behind him either. They are watching him and getting excited when they stand and walk with assistance. It is so neat to see them go through this developmental phase.

They all have a great sense of humor too. They make me laugh on a daily basis. Motherhood is so rewarding, and I'm trying to savor every moment of it that I can. Because I know that it will be over so quickly!

Is it spring yet?

Every time the front door is open the triplet go racing for it. You aren't the only one who is waiting for nicer weather to go out and play! We are going kind of stir crazy in this living room, ready to swing and play in the pool. Hopefully soon!

More mobility!

Well, Logan has been walking more and more the last few days. The most he takes is about 6-7 steps but he'll be doing more before long. I keep trying to get it on video but of course you can't make him do it when you want him to :-) I figure by the time I get back from my Switzerland trip he'll be almost fully walking. We'll see!

Clara is starting to pull herself all the way up to a standing position finally! The girl is so limber, I think she has to build her leg muscles up even more than the other two to control her flexibility. But now that she's pulling herself up she will be catching up quickly.

I think once Logan is walking more Nora will be shortly behind him as always. She gets a little freaked out when she's standing up because sometimes she forgets how to get down. But she loves to walk up and down the edge of the couch so I think she'll be taking her first steps soon too. She is also waving bye bye to everyone and she will blow kisses. SO cute!

We're not doing so hot with the table foods thing. they just aren't quite ready to go full table foods yet. In general they just aren't eating very well lately. But I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that they are teething now too. gotta get some weight on these babies!

Diaper rashes have been running rampid in our house lately. The poor babies, I think we are feeding them something that is not agreeing with them! So, I guess we'll have to try and pin point what that is.

Just realized that this weekend marks the year anniversary that we brought Nora home, which was all three of them finally home from the hospital! It was pretty scary bringing Clara and Logan home, but Nora was even scarier. The fact that her oxygen levels were plumitting a week or so before we brought her home we were scared to death. I just kept thinking "they wouldn't send us home if they didn't think it was ok". For God knows how long we would just constantly look at her to make sure she wasn't turning blue. That seems like so long ago, and our lives are so different today. Nora's heart condition is almost non-existant for the moment and if you would have asked us a year or so ago if we thought that would be the case we probably would have said no. God has blessed us in so many ways, and I truly believe in the power of prayer.

Snow

I guess we were crazy for wanting to go to the mall today with the triplets!

Video of Nora blowing kisses

Watch "Nora blowing kisses" on YouTube

Logan pushing Nora on the Elmo plane

Watch "Logan, Nora and the Elmo plane" on YouTube

In the cabinets

Well Logan is opening all doors now! I have a cabinet set up with things that he can play with. He decided to actually crawl into the cabinet!

Clara apparently crawled on her knees for a bit today.  They are getting so big!

Nobody was interested in eating dinner really tonight. Not sure if there is a stomach bug or what. Hopefully they will catch up tomorrow!

Walk walk walk!

Babies are doing great. They are just progressing more and more every day and it's kind of making me sad. I am anxious to see them progress, but I don't like how quickly they are growing up. Logan took two tiny steps yesterday, so he's going to be running the halls any day now. Nora and Clara are not far behind him either. They are getting more and more brave every day!

Took them to Creve Coeur park today for a walk and that was nice. I think they enjoy getting out of the house. We were walking for almost 2 hours though and I think they were starved by the time we got home! So we went to bed a little later than normal tonight. We'll see how that goes tonight!

1 Year Dr Check-Up

Well yesterday we went in for our 1 year check up with the pediatrician and all went well. Here's the stats:

Logan
19 lbs 13 oz - 10%
28.5" long - 25%

Nora
16 lbs 14 oz - 5%
29.5" long - 50%

Clara
18 lbs - 10%
30 1/4" long - 75%

So surprisingly Logan is the shortie! And Clara is tall like her mommy. Just add that to the list of things that make her more like me! Poor Logan, they say that he may be getting ready to go through a growth spurt, I hope so!

We got the go ahead to stop the formula and switch to whole milk. We'll be finishing up the formula we have, doing half and half and slowly transitioning them to 100% milk. So far so good, they seem to be responding quite well to the milk. He also said that he would like for them to be stricly on table food, no baby food, by 15 months. So we better get ourselves in gear!

All in all, he said that we are doing great with them. They are progressing quite well for being born 6 weeks early and he's very happy with how they're doing. Yay!

Nora seems to be teething now, she's quite crabby this weekend! I think I'll go and try to put them down for a nap!

1st birthday

Click here to view this photo book larger

3/6/11

Finally got all of our pics up on the photo site from the triplets 1st birthday party!

https://picasaweb.google.com/ssanders78/Triplets1stBirthday?authkey=Gv1sRgCN6zou--qMTJ-QE#

Had a good weekend. The kiddos stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Sanders last night and I'm sure they had fun. We'll be heading over to pick them up soon!

3/1/11

Well we survived the 1st birthday party! We had such a good turn out too. Thank you to everyone who came to help celebrate. It was a bit chaotic, but we got through it! Logan and Nora decided to sleep for the 1st hour of their party, but that's ok because then they were ready to go for the big cake eating and present opening! Nora did the best with her cake, she even crawled through it at one point! I will post a link to the pictures once I get all of them.

The triplets got lots of great gifts as well. We are all set on summer clothes, swimming suits, etc. thanks to everyone. My kiddos will continue to be as cute as ever in their stylin' new outfits! :-)

Found out that I am going to be traveling overseas for work the first week in April! I will be going to Ibach, Switzerland for a week to meet with the other internet managers for Victorinox Swiss Army. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. Very excited for the opportunity, but I have a feeling I will miss my babies like CRAZY! Thank goodness for video skype. Although I think I'll have to train my mom on using it since I will be 7 hours ahead of everyone here!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

My babies are 1 today! What a long road this last year has been. We had a great party yesterday and got lots of cool gifts! Thank you to everyone who has helped us the past year! We love you all!

2/25/11

Tomorrow is the party! We made a ton of cupcakes today, it should be fun. Can't wait to see everyone, I think we'll have a pretty good turn out!

Help me reach my goal!Sponsor Me at March for Babies!

2/20/11

Well yesterday we did it, we got a minivan! I actually love it, it is very nice to drive and by far the nicest vehicle I have ever owned. Good thing side I have to drive it for the next 10 years LOL I will miss the Tahoe, but this is much more reliable for sure!

1 week from today the triplets turn 1!

2/17/11

Wow the weather is nice! If we didn't need air in one of the tires on the triple stroller I would have taken a walk! Clara is really moving around a lot lately finally! Logan is still taking chances with standing but no steps yet. And Nora is just as cute as ever!

2/13/11

Slept good again last night. I only hope that doesn't mean tonight will be bad! Grandma and grandpa Sanders and aunt Sheri came over today to hang out.

Logan stood up all on his own tonight without any support, just straight up from the floor. It was pretty cool to see. I know he'll be taking his first steps soon.

Nora also started something new, she's trying to pull herself up on stuff. She will be right behind Logan.

Clara is moving around like crazy now too doing the army crawl. So our lives are getting pretty exciting.

We also got the triple stroller put together so can't wait for warmer weather so we can go on walks!

2/12/11

Well we finally got a good night's sleep. Girls went down around 8, Logan shortly after, and Logan didn't wake up til 7:30 and the girls almost 8! That doesn't happen very often.

Gigi and Paw are coming over to babysit tonight so mommy and daddy can have a Valentine's dinner. :-)

2/11/11

Well my subscription to the shutterfly account is about to end so I thought I would just try and use a free blogging site for now on. You can still view the shutterfly account so at least we won't lose any of the posts I have previously done. I thought since they are about a year old this was a good time as any to start the new blog.

ANYWAY, I can't believe that they are going to be a year old. It is so crazy to think that this time last year I was about to go on bed rest. I was having more frequent contractions and ended up going into the hospital the day after Valentine's Day. That was when I started my 2 week journey in the hospital to finally meeting my little miracles! What a year it has been. So many wonderful things in my life now, and I feel like I am a completely different person. I know that a lot of our family members feel the same way. These three kids have brought so much joy into so many lives already, and there is SO much more to come!

Things are really starting to get interesting with the triplets, so I really hope that I can find the time to blog a little bit more than I have been. I'd like to have more details for them to read when they get old about the first years of their lives.

So, subscribe to the blog because there's more to come!