Hannah's Cribtent

Hannah began climbing out of her crib probably a month or so ago and I hesitated to buy her a cribtent because I knew they were expensive and that she would be in her big girl bed soon and therefore, the cribtent wouldn't get much use. She has proven to not be mature enough and not trustworthy enough to have full privileges to roam in her room. I didn't do much about her behavior until she continuously climbed out of bed one day, in an angry fit. She also kept ripping her clothes off, including her pullup. Key word here is 'pullup'. She is not fully potty trained and often has both #1 and #2 accidents and I could just see what was coming. So, I bought a used cribtent from one of my MOM friends. Cribtents are a commonly purchased item when it comes to MOM's.

"Let me out!!!"

"PLEASE!!!"
"This isn't so bad."

Hannah's First Haircut

Hannah has a habit of twirling her hair for comfort - both day and night which creates knots in her hair. Because of this, I have had to cut the knots out of her hair several times leaving the ends of her hair rather jagged and out of shape. Today, she had another one of those untangle-able (is that even a word? Ha!) knots so after I cut another hunk of hair off, I decided to give Hannah a little trim. I never thought I would be one of those moms that cuts their kid's hair just because I was too afraid I would mess it up.

These two pics were reenacted pics because when I actually cut her hair, I was home alone so we recreated the scene after he got home from work. :)
Couldn't get the little monkey to sit still for a pic of her and her hunk of cut hair but that is what I am holding in my hand.

She didn't sit very still so I am sure there are parts of it that are very uneven. Thankfully though she has curly hair so the curls hide any of that. It definitely looks better than it did. She didn't even realize I was cutting it - she just thought I was fixing her hair. Works for me!

Mealtime & Potty Training

Meal time can be a very exhausting and stressful event in our house with three two-year-olds potty training. Some meals go smoother than others but generally I am running them to the restroom to do their business while trying to get the meal made. The meal is usually interrupted by multiple trips to the potty while we are eating; followed up by multiple trips to the potty while trying to clean up the other kids after meal time is over.

My experience today was a new one... I started making lunch and made several trips to the potty to assist in between. After all the pottying was done, I put them in their chairs and they all ate their meal with no mention of needing to potty. (I have refrained from reminding them constantly because it usually turns into an automatic "I need to potty" and then not pottying.) I did my usual of assisting them with getting certain foods on their spoon when they asked for help. I fetched more food when they requested more. Tyler finished first. I cleaned him up and got him down. Cleaned up some of the dishes, cups and bibs. Put him on the potty. Got him off the potty. Cleaned his area of the table. Got Hannah down from the table. Noticed she had an accident in her panties while sitting at the table (like she did yesterday). Took her to the potty. Changed her panties. Tyler is asking for his treat for going potty but has to wait. Cleaned up the booster seat. Got Hannah off the potty (no time to just sit in there and wait for her to finish). Cleaned up the chair where the pee had leaked thru the booster to the chair. Decided to check the other chairs too just to be safe. No pee but quite a bit of food that had collected (yuck). Cleaned under Tyler's chair. Disciplined Whitney for throwing food all over the floor. Cleaned up Hannah's area at the table. Cleaned some more of the dishes, cups & bibs. Put food away. Tyler had to go again except this one required more cleaning. Put Hannah on and took off the potty countless times during this cleaning-up event. Tyler is asking for his sticker and treat for going poop but he has to wait. Cleaned up Whitney's mess on the floor. Finally clean up Whitney. Get her down from her chair. Get her on and off the potty. Clean up Whitney's dishes, cup, bib. Oh and Tyler finally got his sticker and treat for going potty and poop.

Whew.... Tired yet? I am! :)

I have found myself starting to prepare meals (specifically dinner) throughout the day to avoid such a stressful evening trying to make dinner while tending to the potty training trio. It is such a difficult task to do by myself, as Craig is rarely home while I am cooking. Things are getting easier though - the potty novelty is wearing off, they are going less frequently and having less accidents.

Never a dull moment in this house. Maybe I will soon share my first outing with them by myself... a trip to the grocery store.

Two Year Stats **Updated**

**Update**
**I got the results from Tyler's blood work this morning and it all came back normal. She referred me to a dermatologist next so we will see what they say. **


We had the triplets two year well visit appointment scheduled a couple of weeks ago but due to a confusion between me and the office as to when the appointment time actually was, we had to reschedule. Their appointment was rescheduled for today and unfortunately Craig couldn't get off work today and I was a little anxious about taking this on by myself. The nurses move very quickly asking questions to one person on development etc. while the other person is busy removing clothes and helping the nurse take measurements, weights, temperatures etc. to get them ready to see the doctor. To add to that, vaccines are to be given which means three upset babies needing to be consoled. Even when Craig is with me, it still feels like we are one parent short. Last minute yesterday I mentioned the situation to my MIL, Jami and thankfully she was able to meet me there. I am so glad she was able to meet me because we had some unexpected things happen which would have been so difficult for me to do on my own. She is a lifesaver, that woman, in so many ways!!

Tyler's stats:
30.2 pounds (73%)
36 1/2" long (91%)
19. 1/4" head (53%)

My concern with Tyler involved his hair. Tyler's hair is very brittle, like an animal's hair. It hasn't always been that way, but I just thought he would grow out of it or maybe his hair would just be that way...either way, I wasn't very concerned at first. Seems like a silly thing to ask your doctor about and I honestly wasn't too concerned with it until the person who cut his hair said he had never seen a baby with hair as coarse and brittle as Tyler's. My doctor said these symptoms can be associated with anemia or a thyroid problem. So, after the appointment, we had to go across the hall to the lab to have his blood drawn. I was so dreading this as we sat there in the waiting room. I was so upset just thinking about what was to come. When it came time to take his blood, I started to cry - the lab techs knew but Tyler didn't. I just tried to comfort him until it was over. I told them I didn't know who this was harder for, him or me. Then I thanked her for getting his vein successfully the first time. I have had them miss my veins before and had to be re-stuck and I know how painful and frustrating I was. I hoped that didn't happen to my baby. When we left, and headed out to meet my MIL, Whitney and Hannah, I immediately started crying....hard! It is so hard to see our babies in pain. We have been so blessed our kids have always been so healthy and this was the first time I have had to take them for blood work outside of the NICU days when they were born. Please pray for my little guy that there will be no medical issues and that his hair is just naturally coarse.
Hannah's stats:
23.4 pounds (8%) her highest percentile yet
35" long (75%)
19" head (68%)

Hannah has had recurring yeast infections so I mentioned that to my doctor and she thought it was just because of the diaper and when she gets potty trained, this will stop happening. She wanted to do a finger prick anyway just to make sure she wasn't diabetic. So we did that and Hannah didn't even cry. She cried more when she could suck her fingers because there was a bandaid covering one of them. We got those results right away and she isn't diabetic so that was a huge blessing!

P.S. This is a pic of Hannah actually riding the new battery-powered four wheeler yesterday when we went outside to play. She was the first one brave enough to ride it.

Whitney's stats:

25 pounds (24%)

35 1/2" long (85%)

18 1/2" head (33%)

There were really no concerns with Whitney so she endured the least amount of pain this go around.

Whitney is the only child of mine that will wear sunglasses. She sure loves her car - she is so sensitive and scared of every little noise outside, she feels safer in something, a car, stroller, lap etc. :)

Just a couple of group pics of them enjoying a snack at their new table.

Enjoying a choo choo train set-up with their new lounge chairs.

Hannah's big fall

We went for another bike ride this evening and when we got home I took Hannah out of the trailer and she tripped over the metal pole to the trailer that attaches the trailer to the bike. She fell right on her face and her nose even bled a little. It started darkening or turning redish and by the time baths were over, it had gotten a little darker. It is a little hard to tell in this picture but you can still see it. I'll update you on how it progresses. She doesn't seem to be bothered by it anymore. She was happy running around playing and laughing before bed. I even gently pushed on it to see if it would bother her because I was afraid it might be broken but she didn't seem bothered at all. Of course if it was broken, I am sure she would have been crying and screaming non-stop but she really didn't cry long at all.

Hannah's first pig-tails

Yep, I'm playing "dress-up" again. I decided Hannah's hair was probably long enough for two pony tails. She is just adorable if I do say so myself. They're not perfect - I just threw them together so pay not attention to their unevenness. :)

Every kid eats..................

...................... POOP every once in a while right???? LOL!!!! You heard correctly, Hannah had her first encounter with poop. UGH!! So, Friday during the kid's nap, I went outside and scooped all the poop up out of the yard because the weather is getting nice and it is time to get outside. We have this backyard for more than a potty for our dog right?!? After they woke up, I took them all outside on a blanket and had a nice time having snacks outside. This day was uneventful...

It wasn't until Saturday that all the fun stuff started. Craig's first Saturday off in a month and the last weekend before his surgery so we wanted to live it up - to a degree - this weekend. So we decided to have a cookout Saturday night followed by dessert fondue. Craig and I had chicken shish kabobs and the kids had hotdogs and such. We moved their chairs outside and we all ate outside followed by some playtime on the blanket. Craig and I were still eating but the kids had already eaten so we put them down on the blanket to play. A huge bonus - the blanket is an awesome babysitter for the time being. The babies will not venture off of it and onto the grass because they aren't used to it. well... Hannah will a little bit but not much. Whitney will sit on it if you put her on it but won't crawl onto it on her own. Tyler wants nothing to do with it. He holds his legs up as much as possible to avoid touching the grass. So anyway... they were playing, we were eating and just as Craig looked up, he saw Hannah putting something into her mouth and he said "what did she just put in her mouth?" I said "I don't know... I didn't see." So, I ran over and she had already spit it out. She immediately spit it out, made an awful face and started to cry. Poor baby got a hold of my dog's poop!!! UGH!!!! It was an old dried up piece that blended in to the grass and I didn't see it. It was right on the edge of the blanket so she didn't have to venture off to find it! Anyway... I picked her up right away and took her inside to scrub her hands, and brush her teeth and mouth all over. I wanted to scrub her mouth inside and out with soap but I figured that probably wouldn't be good. Hopefully human's mouths are self-cleaning! :)

Hannah's first step(s)

I have been working with all the kids more and more to encourage them to walk. They always want to crawl to get to me because they 'know' they can do that. Well, today while I was working with Hannah, I did something different. I stood her up in front of the couch facing me. She was leaning against the couch at first, then I encouraged her to walk to me and finally took a step. She only took one step but I am so proud of her! Her second step was more of a falling lunge toward me. She definitely has that first step down though. I worked with her over and over again because she was very interested in walking. She took one step at a time multiple times and Mommy is very excited for Hannah!

She almost looks like she is mid-step here but she isn't, that is just the way she is standing.

This is after the first step - post second lunging step. This is a pic I was able to capture (in the midst of our practice walking) of her standing on her own without holding on to anything. She and Tyler can do it but just for a few seconds, so it is difficult to catch on my camera.

1 year already?!?!?!

On January 31st Tyler, Whitney and Hannah turned one year old. I cannot believe it has been a year. Of course, I have to continue my recent strolls down memory lane. I remember their birth so clearly - it was a Thursday, my weekly doctor appointment day with the babies. I had just hit an amazing 34 weeks milestone. I was still doing fairly well - still contracting quite a bit but nothing out of control that my procardia and a little turb couldn't fix and my cervix was still long as ever (I had the cervix of steal according to my nurses), but boy was I one uncomfortable Mama!

This was taken the morning of their birth before I found out we would be delivering that day otherwise I don't think I would have looked so calm.

We went to see Dr. Koster and have a sono done. Everybody was looking good as far as growth and development and everybody's placenta still looked great with the exception of Tyler. His placenta was deteriorating and wasn't getting the amount of nutrients he needed so my doctor ordered for delivery that day! I was so glad we were able to schedule the delivery which would give us time to pack up my room and head over to L&D. The day flew by - it seemed like no time had passed and I was in the operating room waiting for my babies' grand entrance.

See this is what I looked like after I found out I was delivering that day - the look of shear terror!


At 3:23 pm Tyler was born, at 3:24 Whitney was born and at 3:26 Hannah was born. And for those of you new to my blog, and who may have not gone back and read, Whitney was in position the entire pregnancy to be born last (baby C was how she was referred to), but during delivery, she decided she was not being born last and forced her way out second. Hannah was breached which is why it took my doctors a couple extra minutes to get her out. They assessed the babies, cleaned them up a bit and brought them to me for a quick moment before sending them to the NICU.

Meeting Hannah for the first time. Even though she was born last, I met her first.


Meeting Tyler next...

Meeting Whitney last...


The doctors finished up with me and sent me back to L&D to begin my recovery. Later that night, around midnight, I was wheeled down to the NICU (in my bed) to see my babies again before heading to my recovery room.

Seeing the babies again for the first time since birth.


I remember laying there literally almost all night, thinking about everything and soaking it all in. My mind would not stop racing so I couldn't sleep. I think I finally fell asleep around 6am. The next 4 or 5 days were spent recovering, building up a milk supply through the pump and visiting my babies in the NICU. The couple of months prior to their birth (in the hospital), their birth, my hospital departure after nine weeks (without my babies), my homecoming (Feb. 5th - almost a year ago to the day) and the first couple of months after they were brought home were SO incredibly difficult, but I would not change it for anything! I know it sounds so cliche' but I honestly couldn't imagine my life without them and I thank God for them.

Tyler Craig -
Then... Tyler was born weighing 4 pounds 6 ounces and was 18 inches long. He had always been my biggest baby in utero but because of his deteriorating placenta, he was born weighing less than his sisters. My little man was our lazy eater. He had what the NICU calls "wimpy white boy" syndrome. For some reason little white boys usually don't grasp the concepts they need to to come home as quickly as little girls. Mr. Tyler didn't want to eat from his bottle - he had a gavage (feeding tube) for that so he didn't see the need to try :) or maybe he just didn't have the strength. He also had a recessed chin which the doctors thought could pose a potential problem and may be part of the problem with his eating; today he has outgrown that and no longer has a recessed chin. Tyler was a sensitive boy and hated being messed with - temperature, diaper changes, clothing changes and he cried pretty easily. Tyler spent almost 4 weeks in the NICU coming home in late February (the 26th or 27th?).

Tyler in NICU


Tyler on the day we brought him home.


Now... My sweet BIG boy loves to eat! He is my best eater by far. He knows how to drink from a sippy cup and loves to eat more than drink. Tyler currently has 6 teeth. Tyler now weighs 22 pounds 5 ounces and is 29.5 inches long. Tyler loves to push his walker, dance to the music of his toys and is starting to attempt to climb.


Tyler is also obsessed with his tooth brush. Tyler is loving his new seating arrangement in the car - forward facing! Tyler got his first hair cut this month and looks so much more grown up now. He did pretty well in the beginning but after a while, he started getting fussy and cried until Al, Craig's barber gave Tyler a candy cane to suck on.


Tyler cruises around some on the furniture and is beginning to stand for a short time period without holding on to anything, which really surprises him that he can do it but makes him so proud of himself. However, his favorite mode of transportation is crawling because he is so good at it. He is also very very ticklish and will laugh and laugh until I am afraid he can't breathe. Tyler is all boy - he likes to hit or pat everything and even though he doesn't do it intentionally (yet) his hits/pats hurt. Tyler is our little explorer by far - he loves to get into everything imaginable. Today, Tyler is not so sensitive - he is a tough little boy and doesn't get so upset over things although he still is not a real big fan of diaper changes and clothing changes, but then again, what toddler is?

Not sure what was going on here - showing how BOY he is with the hat or trying to be an exhibitionist.


My little chunky boy!


Whitney Nicole -
Then... Whitney was born weighing the most of the three at 4 pounds 13 ounces and 17 1/2 inches long. Whitney was our most eager eater in NICU which ultimately is what brought her home first on February 15th after spending 2 weeks and 1 day in NICU. Whitney was labeled our "best" eater although the nurses didn't know how she was getting milk by the way she sucked the bottle. Whitney was always my little "problem child" in utero - giving the nurses a hard time when they tried to monitor her. She was a very active baby in utero. She was definitely our most feisty baby. Whitney was a very alert baby with very big, round eyes. She was taking it all in! Whitney loved to be next to her brother and sister in NICU and we even captured a series of pictures of her trying to hold their hands. It was so precious!

This is the picture of Whitney holding Tyler and Hannah's hands. Whitney is in the middle.


Whitney's homecoming!


Now... Whitney weighs 17 pounds 15 ounces and is 29.25 inches long. She likes her sippy cup and likes to eat real food and currently has 6 teeth. We are transitioning Whitney as well as the other two to whole milk and phasing out bottles - only taking 1 bottle before bed time.


Whitney crawls around every where but is usually not too far from my side - she is also my cuddler and loves to be held. She is my safe, cautious child which is why I believe she still doesn't like to pull up even though she can do it! She is very gentle and even pulls my hair gently. She likes to play and dance but usually likes to play alone probably to avoid the dreaded toy stealing of her siblings. Even still, her most favorite toys are socks, bibs, diapers or other small toys she can carry around easily.


She also likes to mimic everybody with noises and physical gestures. Whitney is by far my most sensitive child - a far cry from what she was at birth - and cries very easily. When her siblings steal a toy, she just cries and cries instead of stealing it back like the other two do. I rarely ever have to discipline Whitney because she doesn't usually get into anything she isn't supposed to.

Whitney was still not used to their cowboy/cowgirl hats I bought them for their birthday party - my sensitive girl. You may not be able to tell but she was crying here. :(


Whitney is still rear-facing because of her weight but is enjoying having Tyler facing her (since he is forward facing) so they can play and talk. Speaking of talking, Whitney as well as the other two are talking up a storm (baby language, that is) - it is never quiet in this house. No other words yet for any of them besides Mama and Dada oh and Nana for Tyler even though we don't call either grandmother Nana.



Hannah Michelle -
Then... Hannah was born weighing 4 pounds 9 ounces and was 17 1/2 inches long. Hannah was my most laid back baby in utero - cooperating with the nurses by letting them monitor her and being still. She was usually my most still baby in utero and proved to still be very laid back and easy going after she was born. Hannah quickly learned how to eat and surprised us all when she caught up to Whitney so fast and came home just one day after her on February 16th (two weeks and two days after birth). Hannah just went with the flow of most everything except reflux. She was also my best sleeper and was my biggest stretcher - I'll never forget how much she loved to stretch ALL the time.

Hannah in NICU starting up with her stretching obsession. This was just a mild stretch though. She was all swaddled up like a burrito and it was hard for her to get her arms out.


Hannah's homecoming!


Now... Hannah weighs 17 pounds 3 ounces and is 28.75 inches long. Hannah is still struggling with learning to drink from her sippy cup but we are working with her and she is improving. It took her a little while long to master eating finger foods, but now she has got it down and eats wonderfully and currently has 5 teeth.


Like Tyler, Hannah likes to try to stand holding onto nothing. She doesn't have quite the balance as Tyler, but she does stand for about half a second. She likes to chew on everything - furniture, toys, her bed, her siblings...everything. She plays a lot with Tyler and continues to be my prime toy stealer.


Much to my surprise, Hannah is my bully of the group - she is also going to be my biter. She will bite playfully sometimes and other times, I know she is biting maliciously. Hannah is quite the adventurer like Tyler but doesn't seem to get into quite as much mischief as he does. Hannah likes to push her walker and LOVES elmo! She is also really getting into patty cake.


Hannah is still a laid back baby but is definitely beginning to voice her likes and dislikes. She cries a lot when told "no" and isn't quite ready to mind when being disciplined. She loves to steal everybody's toothbrushes which seems to turn into a fit-throwing scene on a nightly basis. She is very ticklish and seems to loves to be tickled. She is a very happy baby most of the time.


I'll be doing a separate post soon on their birthday party and events so check back soon!

Hannah is clapping

Just a quick blog to document that Hannah is the first to clap. I thought I noticed her doing it earlier today... or was it yesterday?? Anyway, I just saw her doing it over and over and it was so DANG cute! She loves to balance on one knee with the other leg extended out to the side and clap.

Also their 10 month weights are:

Tyler is at a whopping 20 lbs. 6 oz.
Hannah & Whitney at 16 lbs. 4 oz. (they went from 1% back to 4%, which is good)

1st Thanksgiving and 10 Months

Thanksgiving

With the holidays approaching, I have really been getting in to the spirit and the true meaning behind the holidays. My life has changed so much in the past year - for the better of course! At this time last year, I was about 25 weeks pregnant and spent the weekend directly after Thanksgiving, in the hospital. I remember it all so vividly... We had my family over at our house and everybody pitched in to help bring it all together as I sat on the couch trying to stay off my feet. We had a good day eating way too much, watching football and visiting with my family. Then, on Friday night or Saturday night, I wasn't feeling very well so I called my doctor and she told me to go to the hospital and get everything checked out. Off we went, around midnight, to the hospital. I was having contractions every couple of minutes so they gave me some medicine to stop the contractions and they gave me the steroid shots to help the babies lungs develop more quickly. I stayed in the hospital until Monday and was sent home on strict bedrest, which lasted 1 week before going back on hospital bedrest for the duration of my pregnancy. I'll stop my story there and pick back up in the next couple of weeks as I post more about the holidays (last year and this year) and reflect on all the things I am thankful for.

I also wanted to name a few things I am thankful for:

*The #1 thing I am thankful for are my 3 beautiful, healthy babies, Tyler, Whitney and Hannah!
*I am thankful for my husband Craig and all he does to support and provide for our family which allows me to stay home and raise our babies.
*I am thankful for my wonderful family - the babies have such awesome Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and cousins to grow up with and get to know.
*I am thankful that we have a warm house to live in and call home.
*I am thankful for our church and all the friends we have.
*I am thankful for God - I am thankful to know Him.
* I am thankful for our country and all the brave men and women fighting for our freedom.

There are countless other things I am thankful for but I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on a few.


Now, I'll get to this year's Thanksgiving... We had big plans for Thanksgiving, although all didn't work out quite as planned. Wednesday, we had planned to visit with some of Craig's families long time friends that were in town from out of state. Unfortunately, that did not happen because the babies all started getting sick. It started with Tyler on Sunday. He started sneezing and having a runny nose and struggling to breathe through his nose. Then by Tuesday, Whitney and Hannah had it as well. I was pretty bummed because I was so looking forward to celebrating the holidays with all the family, especially with it being the babies first Thanksgiving, and now we didn't know for sure if we were going to be able to go. Tuesday night was awful! Hannah kept us up most the night crying inconsolably. Then, Wednesday, she refused both naps and was worn out as was I. We decided to take her to an after hours pediatric office in hopes of finding out what was wrong with her. The diagnosis was a minor ear infection in the left ear. You would have thought the world was coming to an end with as much crying she was doing! Geez! Come time for bed time, she would do nothing but cry...even when we held her. Usually she did all her crying when we would try to lay her down, but I guess since she hadn't slept all day and half the night before, the sleep deprivation was really kicking in. Then I had an idea...drive around with her and see if she would calm down and go to sleep. Craig took her for a hour and a half "joy ride" and she did fall asleep, but as soon as he got home, it was back to crying hysterically. I made some phone calls in hopes of getting some expert Mommy advice and then sent Craig back out with Hannah to go get some other medication that would hopefully help with her ear pain. He was out until after midnight...poor Craig and poor Hannah. Although, she got more sleep being drug around in the car than she would have if she were home. Plus, I was trying to sleep since we figured we would have to "take shifts" for the night. Anyway, he got home, put her to bed and she slept the rest of the night just fine.

Thursday, Thanksgiving day, we still didn't know if we were going to be able to go anywhere. We first wanted to see how they did with their morning nap. All went well as far as naps, (except for Whitney but that is normal for her) so we decided to pack up and head over to Craig's cousin's house. We had a great Thanksgiving lunch, ate too much and watched the Cowboys game and headed home.

Then Friday, we went over to my Mom's house for my family Thanksgiving. My sister and her family came in to town from out of state. We had a non-traditional Thanksgiving lunch with a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but it was all good. No stressing over food! We had a good time playing with the kiddos, visiting with each other and having food fights! Yes food fights!

Saturday and Sunday were spent at home getting caught up on some much needed house cleaning and organizing. Sure feels good to get something accomplished. The kids are still sick but slowly getting better. Hannah is probably struggling the most with her frequent diarrhea and diaper rash from the antibiotic, but the yogurt is helping with the diarrhea - and she is still fighting the naps!


Oh... one other update off topic... Craig is postponing his shoulder surgery that he was going to have next week, for later next year. He will do some more therapy etc. in the mean time. Part of me is glad because I really wanted him to be feeling well for the babies first Christmas and first birthday, but part of me wishes he would go ahead and do it so we could get on the road to recovery and start healing and hopefully feeling better permanently!


A few random shots and video (this was before Thanksgiving. This post is out of order.)

First big bathtub bath

Video of the babies first bath in the big bath tub. Tyler cried at first, not sure why... he loves baths now. I guess the larger body of water scared him.

Hannah after her bath.

Whitney enjoying play time in the bath tub. Whitney, Tyler and Hannah having fun. Thank goodness nobody pee pee'd or pooped in the water!

10 Months

Hannah, my sweet, sickly baby. We are still working on self-feeding. Hannah's desire to feed herself is lacking but it is improving. :) She still tries to stand up on her feet and tries to balance sitting up on her knees or one knee and one foot without using her hands. She is becoming an expert crawler - getting pretty fast. Still has no teeth. As I mentioned earlier, doesn't like napping right now, although I think this will change once she starts feeling better again. Hannah and Whitney give kisses (or something of the sort); they put their mouth on my cheek and rub it back and forth, side to side. Craig said they will not do it for him so maybe its just a Mommy thing. They call him by name (or something of the sort) saying dadadada but they give me kisses. :)

My little rosy cheeked girl. She looks like a clown. She's had the rosy red cheeks ever since she got sick. Whitney is the most improved as far as eating goes. She is getting so much better at self-feeding. She still has only one tooth. Whitney likes to follow me around and often cries if I leave the room... Separation anxiety here we come! Also, we like to play follow the leader around the ottoman. I get down on my hands and knees and we go in circles around the ottoman chasing each other. It is so cute! Whitney loves to dance (ie. bounce on her bottom) again, so cute! She also loves to be held and seems to be the most calm and content when being held.

Tyler my little mo-hawk man/spiky haired dude. Still has only 2 bottom teeth but the two front teeth are SO close to popping through. He may just get his two front teeth for Christmas! Tyler is by far my best self-feeder; he does pretty well with almost anything I give him. Tyler is a sprinter crawler! He is SO fast! And yesterday he pulled up on his feet for the first time. I was sitting right beside him playing on the floor and he held on to the couch and pulled up and fell to his bottom literally a second later. I think he kinda surprised himself that he did that. He is also starting to try to balance on his knees without holding on to anything with his hands. Or he will try to do like Hannah and put one foot down and the other on his knee. Tyler is in the habit of screaming in a high-pitched voice. Kinda reminds me of an opera singer that constantly screams and never changes the pitch or tone in their voice. He continues to do it until you give him what he wants. It is SO annoying cute! He is also our little adventurer... he gets in to EVERYTHING, pulls up on EVERYTHING, crawls EVERYWHERE. The girls stay put a lot more than him. They pull up, just not on as much. I am about to have to baby proof for the next stage!

This was the first and last group picture we attempted this month. Nobody is looking, Hannah is sliding down and my camera is off center as are several of the other individual shots above. They are just too busy and I was tired of fighting them to stay still. It was bed time last night when I realized it was their 10 month birthday and since we had professional photos taken a week or so ago, I decided not to mess with trying to dress them cute and get super cute, at-home, monthly shots. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and updates. Oh and aren't those blankets cute??? A friend of ours crocheted them for us.