It's a BOY!

Congrats to Abbey and Kirk!!! I am happy to announce that at 2:47 yesterday afternoon (Aug. 29) my sister and her husband, as well as my mom, welcomed a beautiful baby boy into the world! He weighed in at 7 pounds 12 ounces, and was 21 inches long. He is a spitting image of Kirk (sorry Abbey!). Abbey began having contractions around 2:30am on Saturday and he arrived less than 12 hours later - not bad!

And his name is... well, he doesn't have a name yet. When the doctor asked what his name was, Abbey told her that he was "nameless" and the doctor thought she said Neimus. This might haunt him later in life. Kirk and Abbey are still mulling over his real name. Hopefully they will come up with a name by tomorrow's discharge!

Quin and I had the pleasure of meeting her new cousin this morning. My dad, brother Nate and Great Grandpa were also able to meet Kirk 2.0. What a calm and collect baby he is. Hoping for them that he stays that way. I am so very excited for my children - especially Easton - to have a cousin close to the same age (the triplets are exactly 7 months older). Oh, the trouble I see our in our future :)

Proud Moma giving her baby a kiss.

Uncle Nate (uncle x5 in less than three years - pretty impressive!)

Popa is already trying to talk him over to the green side.

Quin was probably afraid that he was coming home with us!

I love any picture of my grandpa with his great grandchildren!

7 Months

It was seven short months ago that our beautiful babies entered the world. Look at how amazing they look! I had so much fun putting together pictures for a collage frame a couple of weeks ago. Because I live it every day, I sometimes forget how little they really were! God is good!
We don't have a scheduled doctor appointment until nine months. I 'm not sure what they weigh, but I do know that I have been surprised at how fast they grow out of clothes :)
(Gianna, Ellery, Easton)
Just to prove that they really do love each other! (Ellery and Easton)
Gianna hanging out in the excersaucer.
My gorgeous girls!!! (Gianna, Ellery, Quin)

A Year Ago

This is the image that glared at us exactly one year ago:

I know, I have written about our initial reaction to finding out we were having triplets (when we bought the mini-van at the end of March). Working in my classroom the last few days and remembering how my mind was swirling with emotions last year at this time has really triggered my memory. I was soooo sick and trying to look/act 'normal'. Beyond my interactions with others, I went into a sort of depression about all of the things in my life that would never be the same and about all of the the risks that were involved. I was also overwhelmed at the thought of caring for three babies, plus Quin. Between the constant vomiting and the dip in my emotions, it was often difficult to get out of bed! I felt guilty for feeling the way I did. Afterall, being pregnant was exactly what we wanted. But, I continued to have a hard time not feeling helpless.

After a lot of soul searching, I quickly realized that self pity wasn't going to get me anywhere. My new motto became "it is what it is, and I can only change how I react to it". I tried to focus my negative energy into finding positives in every situation, along every step of the way. Now that I have lived the last year, I don't know what I was so worried about! I count my blessings each and every day. I am reminded often throughout the day how lucky I am, but one of my favorite times is when I watch all four of my beauties sleep. It is a wonderful sight! We have many daily challenges and life is far from easy, but I love it! Thank you to everyone who has helped to encourage me along this journey!

Our Day With Quin

The woman who is watching all four of our kids when I go back to work, started last week. In order to give her time to get to know the babies, I have been trying to take Quin with me when possible. To help further this, Jason and I spent the entire day with Quin - just the three of us! What a wonderful treat. It was a wonderful opportunity to remind Quin how much we love her, value her and let her know that we haven't forgotten her. I try to spend as much quality time with Quin as possible - and what is better than the zoo and beach?!?!

It was a gorgeous day (which we haven't had too many of this summer). Quin was down right giddy in the car - she was too cute! We started out our morning at the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids. No visit is complete without a picture in front of the statue of John Ball himself. Quin didn't love it, but will hopefully grow to in the next few years.
Quin was a trouper! She walked for a good portion of our time at the zoo. She watched the animals intensely. Quin's favorite animal has always been a duck. In fact, she didn't even want to go into to the zoo because of the ducks near the entrance that were following her around the parking lot. She enjoyed every animal in the zoo, but spied every duck that found a spot in different exhibits. She loved looking at the animals in the petting area, but was very hesitant to touch them. She only did so once the worker held the animal at her level. I was very proud of her. She and Jason rode the camel! Quin loves things from afar (motorcycles, police cars, buses...) but tends to be very squeamish once she gets close. She did so well while riding around the entire two circles of the camel track.

We went to lunch at the local Big Boy. My thought was kid friendly and fast. I didn't think about the mini Big Boy that she was infatuated with. She even gave him a kiss good-bye :) Hey, whatever floats her boat, and keeps her occupied!

We ended our day at Millenium Park, a local man made lake. They also have an area called 'Splash Pad' that has a variety of fountains and kid water toys. Quin wanted nothing to do with the area. She walked cautiously three times around the outside and then demanded to go into the lake. At least she is a girl who knows what she wants :) She had a wonderful time playing in the sand and 'swimming' in the water.

I had a wonderful day and look forward to many more like this! I thought often about having individual special days with each of our children, as well as visiting both the zoo and park with all four children. I am sooo very blessed!

Dogarama

Today was Dogarama Day in Zeeland, so we decided to walk down to see all of the dogs and watch some of the competitions. Quin loves animals and it is only about a five minute walk. I believe the 'celebration' started when the city was trying to bring people into town during the 'dog days of summer'. Well, take a close look at the kids. I had to dig through boxes to find warm hats instead of sun hats. It was a toasty 60 degrees and drizzling. Not so much hot, but it was nice to get out! Quin loved the dogs and we ran into many people.
Gianna is excited to go!

Here are a few other random pictures that I have taken in the last few weeks. I haven't gotten as many great pics with only our point and shoot, but these are cute!

Ellery sleeping - doesn't she look like an angel!

Quin cuddling with Easton - her favorite (shh! Don't tell Ellery or Gianna).

Another cute shot of Quin posing with her sunglasses - destined to be a rock star!

The Latest {and Greatest}

Many people have asked about how the babies' eating and sleeping schedules are coming. They began sleeping through the night pretty consistently around the beginning of July (so they were a little more than 5 months). Now I know, everyone's idea of sleeping through the night is different :) When I say sleeping through the night I am talking from about 8:00pm until 7:00am! Unfortunately, about three weeks ago the girls were a little under the weather. I didn't take them to the doctor or anything, but they were just out of sorts. Cranky, didn't eat or sleep well, wanted to be held all of the time... This put a little kink in their nights. Both Ellery and Gianna began waking up anywhere from 3:00am to 5:00am. This was a killer for both Jason and I, as we had quickly grown accustom to sleeping! Ellery has gone back to a full night sleep. Gianna on the other hand would still like to wake up at 5:30. She usually just lays in bed and squeaks or squeals, and both Ellery and Easton sleep through it (love that!). Gianna usually falls back to sleep until breakfast at 7:00. On occasion she cries enough for me to go and grab her, but by then I just keep her with me as I get ready for the day.

Right about the same time that they began to sleep through the night, we went to a feeding schedule of only four feeds a day. They eat at 7:00am, 11:00am, 3:00pm and 7:00pm. They are getting enough between the four feedings. Both our pediatrician and the pediatric specialist at the Gerber Center recommended that we wait to introduce solids for another a month (as of their appointments). I don't think they are ready quite yet, but will be soon. Probably mid September or so. I do look forward to feeding them!

Adios Camaro

I have mentioned in the past that Jason has somewhat of a car addiction. A few summers ago he bought a 67' Camaro. It is stored mainly at his mom's house (thank you Barb!), but at our house in the summer. As we looked at our calendar, we quickly realized that the end of summer was nearing and our weekends were only getting more full. Jason's hometown was having 'Old Fashioned Days', with a car show. Perfect! He and Quin trailered the car to his mom's house, had fun at the celebrations and spent time with family!

I think the car is nice, but it takes up a lot of space in our already too small garage. Jason had reinforced seatbelts put in the back seat so that we could put Quin's carseat in it. We have had a lot of fun the past few summers going to car shows, driving it on weekend visits or just going to get ice cream. Unfortunately, we didn't get much use out of the car this summer. Just one more reason to look forward to next summer!
Quin and her cousin Allyson at the car show.

Quin has also continued her new found love of water (Alleluia!) Jason's brother has a pool, so they were able to spend some time hanging out over there before heading home.

You can't have too much cushion when you land in the water, right?!?!

On a different note - Thanks to everyone who has asked about our search for a daycare person. We did find a woman who is the perfect fit for our family! I couldn't be more thrilled!

On Target

Today we took the babies for their first developmental check-up at the Gerber Center, which works in conjunction with the DeVos Children’s Hospital. Because the triplets were born two and a half months early, they were automatically enrolled as patients and will have at least two more check-up appointments to make sure they are developing appropriately. They were checked against their adjusted age, or the age they would be if they were born on their due date (which as of today is 4 months and 2 days). They passed all of the ‘tests’ with flying colors and are even meeting some of the early five month developmental milestones. The doctor was very pleased with their progress!

Since their 6 month check up with the pediatrician (13 days ago), Gianna has had quite the growth spurt – she has now taken over the title of ‘biggest baby’ at our house. Easton eats the most of the three, but has pretty much stayed the same. Ellery and Easton were both the same in length, and Gianna grew a half an inch.

Ellery – 13 pounds 9 ounces (2.5 oz gain in almost two weeks)
Gianna -14 pounds 1 ounce (11.5 oz gain)
Easton – 12 pounds 13 ounces (.5 oz gain)

All three babies are super smiley, laugh a ton and interact when you talk to them. Easton is great at rolling both ways (and can wind up a few feet from where he started in a matter of moments). The girls can roll from front to back and are close to back to front. All three are lifting their hips up when they lay on their backs – and are interested in their feet. They will be chewing on their toes in no time. Go babies, go!

***My fabulous (and almost new) camera has been sent away for repair on the flash :{ I am so bummed! Our back up camera, that is nice, is nothing compared to my Nikon! It takes so long to recover after I take a picture, and the orange light that lights up when I push the button to take a picture is very distracting to the babies. I have taken pictures, but they aren’t so great. I hope my camera is returned soon, so I can share more pics!!!

Our First 'Babies'

We have two labs that we lovingly refer to as ‘whacky and whackier’. Within a few months of our marriage Jason and I were so excited to welcome Miya into our home. She was the most adorable chocolate lab puppy I had ever seen! A few months later we also welcomed Jinx, a yellow lab who was about a year old. He had some medical needs and an over abundance of energy, but we quickly grew to love him. They have had many adventures together, most of which have ended in no good! They are always in cahoots together!

Jinx and Miya were our babies for so long. I am one of those annoying people who dress them each year for Halloween (dressing them does end there though!). Miya sleeps at my feet and Jinx on the floor next to our bed, they were featured in our Christmas card pictures each year and were walked in the annual Memorial Day parade.

So… How are they doing with all of the changes???

Depends who you ask :) I personally think they have it better now than ever before. Somebody is home 24 hours a day, so they get free roam of the house, water at their beckoning bark at the sink and many visits to the backyard throughout the day. If you ask them, they would probably tell you that they have been replaced. We try to spend time with them, but I do have to admit they have been moved to the back burner.

They are super great with all of the kids. Both Jinx and Miya watch the kids closely and follow us where ever we go (our bathroom is big, but really they don’t need to follow Quin in each time!). Quin loves them both dearly too! They are very ‘loved’ by her. She treats them like babies by covering them with blankets, uses them as her personal jungle gym and chases them around the house. They are both very patient with her. The babies also get a lot of love from the dogs. Many, many ‘kisses’ throughout the day.

Jinx and Miya drive us nuts most of the time, but in the end I have to say it is probably our own fault for creating high maintenance dogs (not that we tried). If we could eliminate their excitement at visitors and the barking at the people who walk by, they would be perfect. We often are at our wits end when we think about our extra two ‘kids’, but wouldn’t trade them for anything!

Quin and Jinx
Halloween 2007

Just one of the many 'kisses' given each day.

At least they have each other!