12/16/06 Today marks the two year anniversary of the day we lost our Emma. Will and I(and the kids) did our annual dinner at Chick Fil A yesterday (that's where we went the night before Emma died, and we sat in the parking lot and decided that we were going to give her every last opportunity to survive, unless she was in pain). We're blessed to have the two we have, and that they are doing so well, but it doesn't make the loss any easier. We still miss her and think about her daily. She was, is and always will be loved.
Today, we spent most of the day dealing with 3 sick children. We started antibiotics for all three, and are both sick ourselves too. We're laying low tonight and hoping that tomorrow brings a healthier and happier morning.
12/15/06 We've had a crazy week! Since I last updated, the kids had their birthdays, including presents, cake and the works. We moved! We're finally officially in our new house, although we are living out of boxes. We just got the internet/phone/ cable hooked up yesterday, so we're finally back in touch with the world. This house is significantly bigger,so the kids have just started to venture out on their own to explore (previously they followed me around like little ducklings). I taught them Marco Polo today, so now when they are in the bedrooms and I am in the kitchen (down the long hall apart), I can yell Marco and be able to find them easily as they yell back some version of Polo (most often Popo!)
Lucas and Soph are sick... again. So far, Lucas only has a runny nose, but Soph was up last night with 103 fever, so we're watching it. Hopefully it will all be gone by next Friday when we make the trek to Indiana. This week, we saw Santa at the mall. That was a true adventure that went a little something like this...
Mama packs up all three kids and the triplet stroller and heads toward the mall. We get there thinking, hey, it's Wednesday morning at 10am, no one will be there to see Santa. Not so much. We got there just in time to be next in line after about 6 classes (yes, I said classes) of headstart kids. There were probably 80-100 kids in front of us. I decided that, since they were going as classes and not individually, it would be better to wait than to go home and then have to get the kids dressed and back to the mall another time. So after about an hour of waiting, we finally made it to the front of the line. Now let me preface this with, Lucas and Soph, for the two days prior to going, talked about NOTHING but HoHoHo. We talked about going to see him and what they were going to ask for for Christmas, and that this Santa is a real person and not just a blow up like in all the front yards. I thought we were ready, but when we crossed that threshold to see Santa, Both kids FROZE. They just stood there staring at Santa like he was some alien from another planet. They refused to talk to him, or even say Ho ho ho. He was really sweet to them and waited for them to get a little more comfortable, but you can see the fear in both kids faces in the picture (check it out in the December folder!). Bella slept through the entire line, right up until we were next, and then woke up just long enough to have her picture taken! Go team!
Overall, we're doing pretty well. The Physical Therapist did their evaluation yesterday and said that they won't qualify for services anymore, so as sad as we will be to let hom go (we've gotten really attached over the last 2 years), we are so proud and happy at how well they are doing!
Bella is growing like a weed. She had a cardiology appt. yesterday because the pediatrician was worried that she heard a murmur, but after an ultrasound, the cardiologist said she is perfect and discharged her. She weighs 10 lbs 15 oz. now. She is an evening baby, which is difficult for us since the kids go down at about 7:30pm for bed. Bella likes to stay up until about 11 or 12, and then we're up again at 6:30am with the other two. We're working on that.. Overall, we're doing pretty well.
Things I have learned this week.... :)
1. Glitter floats, even in toilets (toothbrushes do NOT- even if you flush)
2. Cable men can't open baby gates, and often trip over them when trying to step over them
3. Dishwashers can be restarted over 20 times in a row and still not get the dishes clean if they never make it to the soap cycle (the kids have access to the dishwasher in this house)
4. Santa knows what a Baba ball is (he knew immediately it was a basketball!)
5. Trains can be made of two toddlers, moroccas, and a purple boa
6. Whoever thought up orange pedialyte should be shot. Anyone who thinks it's ok to make a product designed for vomiting children and puts a staining dye in it doesn't deserve to live (and should pay to have my carpets cleaned)
That's all for now, I'm sure I've learned many other lessons, but it's naptime and I have two screaming children (soon to be three if they wake the little one up!)
12/8/06 Lucas and Sophia are 2!!! It's hard to believe it's been two years since they were born. As I watched them today, walking, talking, running, pretending, dancing to the Wiggles, spoon feeding themselves, telling me what they want and need, telling me when they have poopy diapers :), and yes, even being openly defiant, I realized that they really aren't my little babies anymore. And they aren't those tiny newborns that we watched with petrified anticipation, wondering whether or not they would survive each minute. Those days in the NICU seem like a lifetime ago, but it's amazing how it can also seem so recent. Two years ago, I was crying scared/worried/sad but hopeful tears, knowing that our tiny babies would never have the normal infant experience, but still hopeful that they might someday be like other kids. As I watched them throw food at eachother and laugh, and then climb up on the back of the sofa and laugh at me two seconds after I told them to get down, I realized that we have two "for real" two year olds. We are so blessed to have such healthy children, considering all they have been through these past two years. They have been through more than many will go through in a lifetime, and they have bounced back remarkably well.
So after way too many presents (they are spoiled rotten!) and their favorite dinner of pizza, followed by cake, I feel amazingly blessed to kiss each little two year old goodnight, and to know that they have such bright futures ahead of them. The dreams we had for them(and that we worried could never come true when they were born so early and tiny) are coming to fruition right before our eyes, in the form of a beautiful little girl and a handsome little boy. Happy Birthday Lucas and Sophia!
12/7/06 We had Lucas and Sophia's 2 year doctor's appointment and Bella's 2 month (well, she's really 6 weeks) appointment yesterday. Lucas weighed in at 32 lbs. and is 35 1/2 inches tall. Sophia is 27 lbs. and is 34 inches tall. Bella weighs 10 lbs. 10 oz. and is 21 1/2 inches long/tall. They are all growing like weeds! Everyone is relatively healthy (we're still getting over the stomach flu, which the doctor diagnosed as roto virus). It was quite an adventure for me to take them all to the doctor by myself though! Imagine me, with the double stroller (with almost 60 lbs of kids in it) and Bella in the front pack, plus the boppy in the bottom of the stroller and the giant backpack/diaper bag on my back. I told the receptionist that I think I probably have reached my maximum capacity for travel :)
Our funny for the day.... Lucas and Sophia were playing in the playhouse this morning, kind of just hanging out in there. Soph struck her "I'm about to make a dirty diaper pose." About two seconds later, Lucas stopped everything he was doing, pinched his nose with his fingers, ran out of the house and started yelling "dirty! dirty! dirty" and pointing at Sophia. She just stood there like, "What? What did I do?" They are so silly!
It's hard for me to believe that they are just about two years old. They have developed such funny little personalities and they really do keep us laughing most of the time (when we aren't ready to kill them for being so mischievious and defiant!).
12/4/06 The stomach flu has hit our house!!! :( Two toddlers and a mama with the flu is not a pretty sight. I'm pretty sure Bella has it too, although she's not vomiting as much as the rest of us. We've had a rough last couple of days... but hopefully we are on the mend now.
As for the kids, lunch today was an adventure. I had the kids in their high chairs and I was feeding them the lunches I had made to send with them to Mother's Day out, which of course they didn't go to, and Sophia insisted on feeding the majority of hers to Sadie and then making the sign for dog.... Lucas kept making a fist and bonking himself on top of the head in a gesture similar to the sign for apple. Then he would point over the rack where we keep the kitchen utensils. After about 5 minutes of the game, "is this what you want? yes or no", I finally gave up and carried him over. He picked up a whisk and started rubing his head with it like a hairbrush. Um, ok. If that isn't strange enough, two minutes later, I find both Lucas and Soph (she had to have one too, of course) stirring the diaper pail lid (it has a round hole in the top) with the whisks and making smacking noises like they were cooking. So strange... sometimes it's hard to imagine what's going on in their little heads.
They both have also become obsessed with Ho ho ho. Everywhere we go, they see him and when we are home, they beg to go outside to see him. Christmas should be interesting this year.
Bella is getting so strong! Her neck is getting so much stronger and she is trying so hard to roll over. I keep telling her that she is a baby and that she should stay that way for a while, but she doesn't seem to be listening. She's such a good baby too. She spends so much time just staring at things and watching how the world works.
We're looking forward to Friday, which is Lucas and Soph's 2nd birthday. It's hard to believe they are 2 already. On one hand, they've been through so much in the last 2 years, on the other hand, where has the time gone? Check for new pictures in the December album!
Posted by our3babies
at 10:24 PM CST
