Day 31: "I Did It!"

I'm quite proud of myself for having stuck with this daily photo blog for an entire month! I hope I can really do a whole year, that's my goal, but for now, month by month!

First we'll start with these three photos, which were taken while Emmalee was at school, so that's the only reason she wasn't included, normally she's always apart of our photo shoots! This is the snack time (or lunch most days if it isn't messy food) line-up! They see me filling bowls with fruit and goldfish or whathaveyou for the day, and the boys run to their (self)-assigned seats on the couch...Lyla needs a little coaxing most of the time being that she's so easily distracted by Daniel Tiger.

I went up to them held the camera in front of their faces one at a time and smiled at them wordlessly, and got these 3 pictures...says a lot about their personalities!

After picking up Emmalee we gave everyone yogurt, at the table because it's messy and I've finally let them use spoons themselves (who knew they knew how!!!???) and was noticing which hands everyone was feeding themselves with. You seasoned mothers out there, is this any indication of which hand they will write with? Emmalee is absolutely right handed. Lyla is using her right, boys are both using their lefts, and Owen also does when he colors, but Noah uses both when he colors...so we'll have to see!!

Day 30: "My Matching Boys"

I match the boys a lot, it's just easier when I'm getting them dressed to grab the same things out of the dresser and be on the way. When I saw this owl shirt on Woot! we had to have it, and Daddy did too!

Day 29: "To Each Their Own"

We take out the blocks and all do our own thing. One thing about having triplets (or any order of multiples) they truly are their own individuals. Up until very recently they didn't even want to play WITH each other at all. They play quite well independently "near" each other. As you can see here, Noah builds the tallest tower he can, soon to be knocked down by himself. Owen finds all the "buddies" or little lego men and holds onto them. Lyla, well she played with the blocks for a few minutes, then found the tub they are stored in to be a much more exciting thing to play in!

Day 28: "Cheeeeeeeeee!"

This girl cracks me up! She put the little headband tiara on herself. I chased her around the room, she was spinning so princess-like, I wanted to get a snap of that, but this is what I get. She realized I was taking a picture and stops everything to give me her goofy "Cheeeeeeeeeeee!!!" smile! Love it.

Day 27: "Where's Lyla?"

There are many moments during the day that I look around in my immediate surroundings and have to ask, "where's Lyla?" This is usually where she is right after breakfast, buckling the straps on her booster seat!

Day 26: "Andrew Robertson????"

Since when did I marry a reality TV star??? And where's my money?!!??!! I'm ready for spring so I can have my handsome and well-groomed husband back. I'm not really a fan of this Duck Dynasty make-over. Although I think he's got a good Halloween costume for this year!

Day 25: "Assume the Snack Position!"

Whenever I get bowls ready, these three know exactly what to do. They run right to the couch, each in these same spots (almost) every time, ready and waiting for a bowl full of goodies. While they snack, we watch a show, today we watched Charlotte's Web the live-action version, for the first time. They loved it!

Day 24: "How Long Does it Take...?"

I have started measuring the time it takes me to do little things around the house, most specifically using the bathroom (yes TMI, I know), by what my kids could possibly do in that time frame. "I need to go use the bathroom...I think I can be back before Noah starts a dance party on the table." Or in this case..."before Lyla empties an entire Kleenex box all over the floor and starts shredding them to bits."

Day 23: "Throwback Thursday"

Some then and now photos of Emmalee & Lyla together. 

Exactly a year to the day, can you believe how much they've grown?! 

I sure can't!! Love my beautiful girls!

~January 23, 2014~

~January 23, 2013~

~January 23, 2012~

Day 22: "Toy Boxes Aren't for Toys!!!"

Day 21: "Noah Thomas"

Noah Thomas

From the first time I laid eyes on Noah I knew he was going to be my little crazy man! He has so much energy and never.stops.moving!!! But in those rare moments, when he does stop, or slow down, he always has the sweetest kiss ready to dish out, when he's too busy to give kisses, he'll bow his head, so I can give him a kiss on top of it! Noah is also working with a speech therapist and for him, we knew he just needed a little extra one-on-one and he'd find words soon enough, and here his is a little over 3 months into therapy and he's got 2-word phrasing and knows everyone's names! I am truly amazed at how rapidly his speech and communication has blossomed! One of the sweetest things he says is "Are you okay?" When some one falls, or says "ow" or cries, he's the first to go over and pat their head, and ask with real concern in his voice, "Are you okay?" Even more sweet than that, is his love of singing and dancing, he knows theme songs for many of the PBS shows we watch, Thomas is his favorite by far, he'll dance and sing every time the song plays at the end of the show.

All of these children are mine, ALL MINE! Still, 2.5 years later, I'm in awe of how many children we have, I truly never pictured my life as it has become, and I'm so lucky. Sure, I have many days that I'm not sure about where we are, but really, these kids are amazing, true miracles and watching them grow and having such a huge part in how awesome they are, well, that's something I'd never change!

Day 20: "Lyla Rose"

Lyla Rose

Lyla is our little peanut! She's hilarious to watch play, and surprises us with random words and phrases out of the blue! She's got the most stunning blue eyes, when she smiles at you, you can't help but smile back! Lyla's been working with a speech therapist and another teacher since October to help with her speech and language development as well as focus and interaction. She's not one to come up to us and try to get our attention much, but she'll lay in your lap for an hour if you're rubbing her back! She's absolutely benefiting from having these therapies and I am so grateful to have them available to come right to our home! Most days she's off playing on her own or looking through a single book over and over and over on her own, interrupt those moments, and she won't have it. Despite her being a little behind in some things, she's truly a loving and caring little girl. Ask any child that walks into our house, she's the first to greet them with a kiss! And as you leave, she'll give a heartfelt "Bye!!!!!" along with some other mumblings we haven't quite made out yet, but I'm sure they are something along the lines of, "Come again!! See you next time!! I love you!!" I can't wait for the day to have a little better communication with her and get to know what's going on in her head all day!!

Day 19: "Owen Stuart"

Owen Stuart

The 2nd born, and first of the triplets. Owen is a party starter for sure. If you read back to this blog entry you will see why he's been a game changer from the beginning! He's the one that gets the first comments when we're out and about in public, it's the hair, people are drawn to the curls!! He's such a smart and loving boy, he melts my heart on a daily basis! One of his favorite things are his babies, currently he's got about 5 of them he sleeps with, and he always has one, cradled in his arms, who he kisses and cares for throughout the day. He's going to be a rock star of a dad!!

It's been a year since Owen had his reaction to peanut butter, we've spent this year completely eliminating peanuts and tree nuts and anything that might be cross contaminated with them from our lives. Right now it's quite "easy" to keep him safe from anything because he's with me all the time, and we're mostly at home or at some one's house that we know well and has taken the time to put away anything that may be harmful to him. I have a couple more years to keep him this safe...then he'll go to school...and I hope and pray the school and parents of children in his class are willing to help me keep continue to keep him safe. Until he can really understand what his food allergy means and how to advocate and check for things on his own, it's my job, and sharing that responsibility with strangers when he enters school is going to be tough for me. His allergy doesn't define him, it's part of who he is. We do things, go to the zoo, and the park and the mall, just like other kids do. And he WILL go to school one day and hopefully it'll be a safe place as school should be!

Day 18: "Emmalee Sandra"

For the next 4 days I'm going to write a little about each of my children, starting with the oldest.


Emmalee Sandra.

She was born on August 25, 2009, and this summer will be celebrating her 5th birthday! I cannot believe it!!! She was our first miracle baby. If you've read the beginnings of my blog, you know of the struggles it took for Andy and I to have children. There were many days we weren't sure we'd become parents to children of our own blood, but with the modern medicine available today and some amazing doctors and the much needed support of family and friends, we were blessed 4 times over!

Emmalee is just like me. She's the first born, loves to talk and wears her emotions on her sleeves. It's crazy to watch some one so similar to yourself and realize that you have to help shape who they'll become as an adult one day. Starting Pre-K this fall was a new and exciting change in Emmalee's life. She fit right into the school setting, as I knew she would. I always worried about that transition from being home every single day with me all day, to being at school for half the day, but she's never had an issue, and never shed a tear or worried about separation, which made this change easier for me! I can't believe she'll be starting Kindergarten come September! Woah!

Emmalee is a beautiful and loving girl. I'm lucky to be her Mommy.

Day 17: "Trouble [should have been] Our Middle Names"

I leave the room for a moment, to either grab something out of my room, or use the bathroom, or whatever, but I'm never gone more than 5 minutes and it's been a new common occurrence to find these two on the table...usually running back and forth. I heard them so I snagged the camera and snapped this pic quick then took them down. Of course I'm worried they'll fall of, hit their heads or break and arm, short of removing the dining room set from the room altogether, there's not much I can do. They rarely attempt to get up on the table when I'm there or at least they listen to "No don't you even think about it..." and move on to something else...but when Mommy's away, the Little will play!!

Day 16: "A Play Date--2 Mommies, 8 Kiddos"

Since we roll in the triplet circle, I have made some amazing friends with other triplet moms! We get together one night a month for dinner, just us moms, no kids or dads! It's something we all look forward to each month, and for me, sometimes it's the only 3 hours I get away from my house alone by myself for the entire month without some chore or errand to run (and no, grocery shopping at 10pm is not a break thankyouverymuch)! Tonight is that night, and today we had a play date with another family who also has 1 plus triplets, so we have VERY similar lives!! We've only done this once before, it was last April, and her trio weren't mobile yet!! This time everyone was toddling or running around and it was LOUD, but it was fun! We shouted our conversation over the heads of the littles, and tonight we'll get to plan the next time we will attempt this, will it be in a few weeks, a few months or maybe next year??? (I kid...or do I?!)

Day 15: "The Thinker"

Such a random moment, she was actually going to stick the pencil in her nostril, but I caught this thoughtful moment instead! I really wish I knew what was going on in her head all day long!!!

Day 14: "Brotherly Love of Books"

Day 13: "Trains"

Day 12: "Just Bounce"

This was my favorite picture from today, even though it may not be the clearest, Lyla was having so much fun in that bounce house and this shows it!

Day 11: "The Girl Who Doesn't NEED to Nap!"

She's there, buried in the coats, Miss Emmalee. She's 4, active and busy with school, who has time for naps???? Well Mommy lives for nap time, and most days Emmalee will rest in her room, out of her room, back in her room and so on for 2.5-3 hours while the littlest ones nap. Lately it's been more of a fight to just get her to stay in one place and quietly play or read or just sleep. Today of course we are planning to go to Mimi's house and so I put everyone down early, and told her to try to nap, but at the least to stay in her room and play quietly. She doesn't need to nap, she's not tired...well Honey, I beg to differ, as does the chair you're drooling on, now that Mommy is ready to get everyone in the car to go.

Day 10: "The Mole"

This critter was running around my living room today while I was supposed to be eating my lunch and enjoying the peace and quiet of nap time! I spend an hour and a half trying to capture it on my own, finally cornered it and luckily Andy got out VERY early (due to his work holiday party this evening), and together we lost it, and found it again, and he scooped it up in a 5gal bucket and disposed of it! GROSS!

Day 9: "This Girl..."

Day 8: "Boys in Motion Tend to Stay in Motion"

They were, just mere seconds before I grabbed the camera and snapped this gem, playing Ring Around the Rosie. It was unprompted, just the boys on their own, singing themselves words they made up, and "Fall Down!" of course they got right. Then as I grab the camera to capture the cuteness overload, they stopped the hand holding and just full out started running in circles, their own speed-way, until they crashed into each other and onto the floor. Only to rise up and begin again...and again...and again...

Only to rise up and begin again...and again...and again...

Day 7: "I'm playing Daddy's iPad, is that okay?"

Day 6: "Zip it, Emmalee!"

Day 5: "Life"

A normal occurrence lately, I have an open pantry, and though the kids are gated into the living/dining room, they can reach an arm around into the pantry and snatch a box of cereal, such as Noah did here. He was so proud of his catch, and sat and shared it with the masses. Who needs Mommy to get us lunch, we've got Noah!

Day 4: "Noah, You're Too Close!"

Remember when your parents used to tell you that you shouldn't be so close to the television because you'd mess up your eyes? Well, back then televisions were small, and hey, we could barely see them from a few feet away. Now, with these gigantic flat panel televisions it's near impossible to get them far enough away! How does he even see what's going on??? Is he focused on a single pixel??? Crazy kids. We love our TV.

Day 3: Super Owen

Day 2: Lots of Snow

Day 1: The Beard