HAPPY THANKSGIVING

We have so many things to be thankful for this year; the most important are our three precious children. We waited three years for Karly, Nathan, and Anna and boy, was it worth it! I am also so very thankful for my husband, Travis; without him all of this would be impossible. I hope everyone has something to be thankful for this year, I know we're thankful for each and every one of you. Have a Merry Christmas and a safe, Happy New Year!

I've added some pictures from the last month. Anna is almost crawling, she gets into position and then nose dives, but it gets her to where she wants to go. Karly is doing push ups, she hasn't quite figured out how to bend her knees. Nathan just hangs out and watches the girls, he's content with lying on the ground. I added the picture of him "praying". We say he's pleading for help to deal with the girls! All three love Apollo and our cat, Adrian. Apollo is very tolerant of the tail and hair pulling, Adrian runs away whenever she can.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

The Three Little Tigers, that's what they were. They looked so cute and so grown up (how many times are we going to say that?)! The 'Boo!' outfits were given to them by their new friend Grant (who we're seeing this weekend, pictures to come) and the Tiger outfits they wore to Aunt Tracey's, Grandma's, and Aunt Kathy's house. No candy, just baby food and money!

6 MONTH CHECK-UP

As usual, the babies are getting big, big, and bigger! Karly weighed in at 14 pounds 14 ounces with a height of 25 inches; Nathan weighed in at a whopping 18 pounds 7.5 ounces with a height of 27 1/4 inches; and Anna weighed in at 14 pounds 4 ounces with a heigt of 25 1/4 inches. It's amazing how much they've changed in the past 6 months. I'll post again after photos on Saturday, keep your fingers crossed that everyone is in a good mood! :) Here are some more pics from the past month.

HAPPY 6TH MONTHS BABIES!

I cannot believe our babies are 6 months old already. Seems like forever ago that I had them but yet it seems like yesterday we brought them home. Every day I feel so grateful to have such wonderful children. They are all healthy, happy, and love to eat! (wonder who they got that from) The babies are eating all fruits, veggies, and meat (baby food, of course). The laundry has doubled now with all the wash cloths and bibs. Recently, we added a third crib to their room, which is so nice, now the girls aren't waking each other up from all the rolling and scooting they do.

Since my last blog we had a new addition to our family. Travis' sister, Tracey, had a baby girl, Mary. She looks like Karly, let's hope she doesn't have her attitude! The babies also met their new friend, Aidan, my godson. He currently lives in Washington state, hopefully one day he'll be closer.

We moved to Quincy the end of August. Moving here has been such a good decision for us, although it was a very tough one. We have so much help; from family to friends, everyone is willing and able to help. I am working 3-4 days a week and I never have to worry about Travis being home alone to take care of the kids; it's wonderful! Once a week Trav and I are able to get out of the house together, thanks to his brother Mike and Mike's girlfriend, Shannon. We usually go for a bike ride, play catch with the softball, or go to Wal-mart to run errands, fun, I know! :)

My parents visited this month so Travis and I were able to go out for the night which was very nice. The kids miss their grandparents from Iowa, hopefully soon they'll be able to visit more often, right mom?

This Thursday the kids have their 6 month check-up and Saturday is family photos. If I'm able to I'll post pictures from those when we receive them.

Today we FINALLY got out the video camera and taped some footage of the kids. We are hoping to really take off with this video recording. I can't wait to play back some videos for their graduation!!! Can we say blackmail? :)

I must tend to babies, here are some of my favorite photos from the past month. Apparently this website is having troubles posting pictures, so I will add more later.

We're 5 months old

I can't believe it's already been a month since my last post. I am so sorry for the delay. We have since moved to Quincy, IL to be closer to Travis' family and our friends. We are enjoying the much needed help and visits from family and friends.

The babies are doing so well and getting very big. I think the biggest change is Karly. She's finally putting on some weight and is passing Anna in weight and height. This past weekend we were in Iowa and we weighed the kids on grandma and grandpa's scale and the following are the results: Nathan 18 pounds, Karly 16 pounds, and Anna 14 pounds. Nathan definitely looks like he's a few months older than the other two.

Karly has rolled from her back to her belly. It's quite a feat but she has succeeded and is very proud of herself. All three love to stand and be talked to. We're still waiting for the giggles to come, but we sure do enjoy the smiles!

Their 6 month visit is in a few weeks, I'll update at that point, I promise! In the mean time, here are some photos for you to enjoy.

We're 4 months old!

Well, I haven't done a great job of keeping this post updated, but as always I'll try better this next month. The babies just had their 4 month check up and Nathan was 14 pounds 15 oz, Anna was 11 pounds 15 oz, and Karly was 11 pounds 12 oz. They are all very healthy and doing well developmentally; up with other 4 month olds, but technically they're only 2 months on the development charts so we say they're ahead for their age!

We tried cereal this morning but the kids didn't take to it that well...we'll try again tomorrow. Once they get that down, we can go to fruits and veggies.

All three are sleeping anywhere from 8 to 11 hours at night, we are very lucky, as sleep deprivation is no longer a problem!

In the past month the babies have been quite the travelers. We visited our friends Sue and Jim in Peoria, Travis' family in Quincy, the State Fair (and took 4th in the least look alike contest), my family in northeast Iowa, and Aunt Deb's house to see family from out of town. We had our first picnic at Big Creek with family. In the past month, the babies have been full of smiles and laughs, which lights up our hearts every time. Just the past few days all three took to rolling from tummy to back, which they are very proud of. Now we can't keep them on their bellies as they're always rolling over!

I'm attaching some photos from the past month, I hope you enjoy them. If you are checking this blog and aren't on the list to be automatically notified of updates, email me and I'll add your email address to the list. I hope you had a great summer, now it's sit and wait time until winter!

We're 3 months old!

It's amazing how time flies, we can't believe the babies are already 3 months old. Last week we had our last visit with the home health nurse and the kids weights were: Nathan 11.9, Anna 10, and Karly 9.5 pounds. They're getting so big. Karly and Anna are starting to smile, other than when they're passing gas or dreaming. Nathan smiled some this morning so I'm hoping he'll come around this week. Every day is an adventure, one we could not do with out each other. I count my lucky stars to have Travis by my side...we really are a great team!

A friend of mine just had triplet boys. Each one of her boys was over 5 pounds....wow!!!! Congrats to Julie! They'll have their website up soon and I'll put a link to it on my home page.

Here are some photos, I'm calling them their 3 month old photos, just a few days early. The first one is of Karly, doesn't she look like Travis? The next one is of Nathan, what a boy! And the 3rd is of Anna, who looks like her mamma! Three good babies, what a joy!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

Happy first 4th of July babies! Wow how they're changing. Nathan, Anna, and Karly are now sleeping through the night, anywhere from 6-8 hours. It makes a big difference for Travis and me. Not sure on the current weights but as of June 13th they weighed: Nathan 9.3, Anna 8.7, and Karly 7.7. We go back to the doctor the end of August, I'll keep you posted!

We made our first trip to Quincy and it went very well. The babies slept all the way there and all the way back. Travis' parents had a BBQ for the babies and they slept the whole time while being passed around between nearly 40 people.

For the 4th we took them to fireworks and to the parade in Slater. I've attached a few photos from the parade.

I started working at Mary Greeley in the ER and Travis quit Coca-Cola to concentrate on his schooling. He will be working part time for USF Holland, driving a few days a week for them. It's nice to get out of the apartment every once in awhile and converse with other adults! We have a lot help from my mom and dad and my Aunt Deb, we couldn't do this without them.

I think that's all for now, I'll try to post more often to keep you updated on our babies' lives.

A Year From Now

Last week I visited my friend Kristi who has 1 year old triplets, 2 girls and a boy. I caught myself wanting my babies to be a year old...wanting them to crawl, walk, smile, giggle, etc... Then I came home and as I woke them to feed they were so cuddly and then I came back to reality and savored the moment of them being tiny and loveable in my arms. Not to say they won't be loveable at a year old but who knows...

As I call Krisit my friend I realize I have only known here for 6 months and met with her for the first time Friday. But, when we have multiples it's almost an instant friendship. No matter where you came from before 3 babies we are all humbled and have so much in common after triplets. After chatting with Kristi for a couple hours we realized we have more in common than just 3 babies. She is moving to Cedar Rapids and will be missed here in Des Moines, hopefully one day we'll reunite. The link to her blog is on my home page, check it out, her children are adorable!!

Attached are some recent pictures. After bathes we like to take photos. Our last visitors, for awhile, were here last weekend, my cousin Cara and her very nice boyfriend, Chad. This weekend we are traveling to Quincy, so we'll see how our first get away goes. The babies love being in their car seats so hopefully the 4 1/2 drive will go smoothly.

We're Term

On June 9th, Karly, Nathan, and Anna were term. By this I mean, June 9th was my original due date. They are now sleeping 5-5 1/2 hour stretches of time at night, which is so nice. Our day schedule is still every 4 hours. We've had a lot of visitors in the last month, here are some of our favorite photos.