Blue October

We've been having so much fun with the Royals this fall...first their amazing post-season play and now the World Series!  The last time the Royals were in the World Series back in 1985, I was the same age as the boys are now.  Pretty cool.

Aside from dressing in our blue nearly everyday, we've also been doing ball park theme dinners (hot dogs, chili dogs, nachos, pretzels, buffalo wings, etc.)  Certainly not healthy, but fun.

Our boys have looked pretty handsome sporting their blue!  Go Royals!

And a video of Lucas cheering:

Toddler Eating Tricks

Getting toddlers to eat healthy foods is not always easy.  Fortunately I was blessed with three decently good eaters.  However, they are inconsistent with their eating.  They'll love something one day and hate it the next.  And there are some foods they just aren't interested.

Here are some of the tricks I've tried to get them to eat less desirable foods.

FLOURLESS BANANA PANCAKES: My boys won't eat eggs, but this is one that they love and they don't realize there are eggs in it. It's really easy. You just take a mashed banana, two eggs, and 1/8 tsp of baking powder and mix it together. I also sprinkle in a little bit of cinnamon. Then cook on a griddle or skillet, like you would a pancake. Our boys love them with a little bit of butter (we're trying to fatten them up) and apple butter. You could also put peanut butter and/or syrup on them. This recipe makes 3 decent sized pancakes. We usually double it.

GREEN SMOOTHIES: Two of my boys don't really like fruit that much, but they love smoothies. I make them with Greek yogurt, bananas, whatever other fruit I happen to have (berries, peaches, etc), and a handful of spinach or kale. I thin it out with milk, juice, or water depending on what all they've eaten that day. I blend it on high then serve it in their straw sippy cups. This is a great way to get their veggies in!

SPINACH GRILLED CHEESE: This is nothing special. Basically your typical grilled cheese sandwich but I always chop up some fresh spinach to put in it.

VEGGIE PASTA SAUCE: I'm sure many of you do this, but whenever I make pasta, I always add finely chopped veggies to my sauce. I often use zucchini in my red sauce. I'll use kale or spinach in my alfredo sauce. This is a great way to trick your kids (and husband) into eating vegetables.

SUGAR-FREE OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES: Mix ingredients and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/3 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup raisins 

• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

And when all else fails, just put ketchup or honey mustard on it...and they WILL eat it!

It's Not Always Sunshine & Roses...

If you know me at all, you know that I could not be more proud to be the mother of my amazing triplet boys.  This is certainly not the life I ever imagined for myself, but my heart overfills on a daily basis.

With that being said, it's not always sunshine and roses.  There are many challenges that come with having triplets.  In the beginning, the biggest challenge was keeping up with all the feedings, pumping sessions, diaper changes, bottles, and laundry.  It literally consumed my every waking moment (which was a lot of moments since I never slept more than an hour and a half in a row those first few months). The hardest part about this time was that I felt like I didn't get to ever just enjoy my babies like a parent of a singleton could.  As soon as I finished giving a bottle, I still had two more to give and then I would have to pump.  There wasn't any time to just sit in the rocking chair in the dark and snuggle my sweet little one.  While having triplets gives me a number of experiences that most people don't ever get to have, there are definitely things I feel like I've missed out on by having three babies.

Today was one of those days when I just wished things could be different.  I don't ever wish that I had just one baby.  My life would not be complete without all three of these boys.  But I do wish I had more of me to go around.

Since we dropped our morning nap about a month ago, I try to get out of the house if possible in the mornings.  It just helps with everyone getting along and whatnot.  Since the weather (for the most part) has still been pretty nice, we have been going on lots of walks.  And since we recently all learned to walked, I thought the park would be a fun place to go.  We have four playgrounds within walking distance of our house.  The problem here is that I have three toddlers. And my number one priority with these boys is to keep them safe.  It's my job.  But I got to tell you, it's a really hard job when they're mobile.  We usually get around in our Radio Flyer Triple Play Wagon.  I love this wagon and the boys do too.  Once we get where we need to be (the park in this instance), I unbuckle each of them and let them out.  Fortunately we don't have "runners" (yet) and my boys are big Mama's Boys so they like to be in close proximity to me.  The problem I run into is that they want (more than anything) to just climb up on the playground.  A person with one child can do this and just follow her child around to make sure he doesn't fall.  This doesn't really work when you have three. There just isn't a way to do it safely when you're by yourself.  So I usually try to keep them on level ground and just let them run around.  Or I'll let them play at the bottom of the slide.  They can't yet climb up it and if there aren't other kids around that want to go down, it's relatively safe.

Today though, there was no distracting Ollie.  He wanted SO BAD just to crawl up on that playground equipment.  At one point, I let him and just followed him up since the other two boys were "distracted" on the ground at that point.  But soon they saw how much fun he was having and they wanted in on it too.  I got Ollie down just as the other two were coming up.  So then I played a nice exhausting game of pulling one kid off the steps and putting him down only to have two more on their way up when I got done.  Fortunately, I had a mom there who offered to help me.  After I grabbed Ollie, she blocked off the playground, so the other two couldn't go up.  Of course, at this point all three boys are pissed.  So I put them in the wagon (kicking and screaming) and we quickly left.  I then proceeded to cry on my walk home.  It wasn't so much that I was embarrassed (though I was).  It was more the fact that reality was setting in for me.  When they were babies, there were moments I missed out on.  Now that they're getting older, there are things they are going to miss out on.  And I kind of hate that.  I hate that they can't all just play (safely) on the playground like a singleton their age.

I'm sure this isn't the last time I'm going to feel this way.  The day will come when I have to explain to my children why they're the only ones in their class who have never been to Disney World or why they don't get invited on as many sleepovers as their friends (not a lot of people want to have THREE crazy boys over to their house).  And at the end of the day, I know that these things that my boys will miss out on, are nothing compared to the special bond they will have for their entire lives.  Someone will always have their back no matter what.  And that's pretty cool.

But it doesn't change the fact that days like today still suck.

15 Months

This is a couple weeks late, but I figured I should probably update you all on all the cool things our boys are doing these days!  I'm a part of a Mother of Triplets Born in 2013 group on Facebook and follow many of those ladies' blogs.  I decided to "steal" this format from one of them.

height & weight:

Oliver - 31.5 inches, 23 lbs 9.5 oz (60th percentile)
Nolan - 30 inches, 20 lbs 4.5 oz (15th percentile)
Lucas - 30 inches, 19 lbs 6.5 oz (7th percentile)

sizes: 

Oliver - 12-18 month clothes, size 4.5W shoes
Nolan - 6-12 month clothes, size 4 or 4.5 shoes
Lucas - 6-12 month clothes, size 4 shoes

teeth: 

Oliver - 13 (bottom eye teeth and top right molar haven't yet popped through)
Nolan - 16
Lucas - 16

eating habits: 

For the most part, we have good little eaters.  They eat a pretty large variety of foods and don't seem to mind their vegetables.  We recently started using plates instead of eating straight off their high chair trays.  This has gone pretty well, though we have to watch them because when they're done, the plate often goes flying.

A couple other clues the boys give us to tell them they're done eating are:

• When they start throwing their food to the dog on the floor.
• When they put their hands up and do the sign for "all done".  Nolan and Lucas will often also say "done" when they do this.
• Nolan and Lucas will shove their hands down their throats and make themselves gag.  It's disgusting.  I think they just do it when they get bored.

Our feeding schedule is as follows:

8:30 - Breakfast (toast, pancakes, fruit, yogurt, etc.) with a sippy cup of milk
12:00 - Lunch (quesadillas, grilled cheese, pasta, etc) always served with a fruit and veggie & milk
3:30 - Snack (dry cereal, crackers, fruit, cheese sticks, etc)
6:00 - Dinner (usually whatever we're having)
7:15 - Sippy cup of milk before bed (no more bottles!!!)

sleeping habits: 

We had a nice long (several months) stretch of all 3 boys sleeping through the night in their cribs from about about 7:30 pm to 7:30 pm.  Sometimes they'd sleep in until 8:00.  It was glorious.  Sadly starting a few weeks ago, Nolan has had some significant sleep regression.  About an hour after going to bed, he'll wake up screaming.  Nothing we do seems to calm him down (snuggling, rubbing his back, leaving him alone, Tylenol).  He's also started waking up around 6:00.  We're hoping this is a short-lived phase because sleep deprivation is no fun.

All three boys transitioned to one nap a day a couple weeks before turning 15 months old.  The transition went surprisingly well and (in the beginning) they were all making it through the morning just fine without a nap.  I've been putting them to bed right after lunch around 12:30.  They WERE sleeping for 2-3 hours everyday without a fuss.  However, since this new sleep regression, I'm lucky to get Nolan (and Lucas since he wakes him up) to sleep an hour and a half.  It makes it very difficult to get anything done.

gross motor:

Oliver - can now walk across the room (but is still pretty wobbly), climbs up stairs
Nolan - is walking great now, can get up into standing position without pulling up on anything, climbs up stairs, can safely get himself down single steps by sitting and scooting
Lucas - is also walking really well, climbs up stairs (rather fast), can safely get himself down single steps by sitting and scooting

fine motor: 

We've all gotten good at the shape sorter and recently we've figured out our puzzles.  We love to put objects into a container.  Ollie is very interested in coloring pictures with crayons (and is rather good at it).

language/communication:

Oliver - waves, claps, gives kisses, points to his head when asked, signs all done & milk, says mama, dada, hi, uh-oh
Nolan - waves, claps, gives/blows kisses, signs all done, milk, ball, says mama, dada, ball, done
Lucas - waves, claps, gives/blows kisses, signs all done, milk, more, done, says mama, dada, done

special outings: 

• numerous morning trips to the park
• first hair cuts (for Nolan & Lucas)
• Parents as Teachers play group
• pumpkin patch/cider mill

pictures:

15 Month Appointment

We had our 15 month appointment this morning. My babies are growing up!  Ollie's stats: 31.5 inches tall (60%) and 23 lbs 9.5 oz (60%). Nolan's stats: 30 inches tall (10-25%) and 20 lbs 4.5 oz (15%). Lucas' stats: 30 inches tall (10-25%) and 19 lbs 6.5 oz (7%). All those percentiles are on the regular (not the preemie) growth charts. Doc said everyone looks good!  I'm so proud of these boys!

Sweet Moments

Oh my goodness...I have the sweetest boys ever. Ollie woke up from his nap feeling a little sad. He was crying and Nolan came up to him and offered him his cup of milk.  When that didn't seem to make him feel better, he blew him a kiss. So sweet!

There are no words...

My husband is unbelievable.  Like seriously...this guy is amazing.  He is a wonderful attentive husband and a phenomenal dad.  Several weeks I posted about my grandma passing away.  In that post, I mentioned how much I loved her sour cream cookies.  So one night he texted me at work and said he had a surprise waiting for me at home.  When I got home, he had found the recipe for sour cream cookies and baked a large batch of them for me.  It was so thoughtful and brought tears to my eyes.  This is the kind of thing he does.

So yesterday, he texted me and told me had just unlocked several private posts from his blog and that I should go check it out.  I went and took a look.  I was speechless at what I saw.  Starting the day we did our IVF transfer, he had written little notes to our future "baby".  He wrote one everyday for 23 consecutive days.  They're beautiful.  I had no idea he had done this and reading them just made me fall in love with him all over again.

Here's an excerpt:

You can go to www.mrasher.com to read them all.  Be sure to start with Day 1.  And grab some tissues.

First Haircuts (for Nolan & Lucas)

We took Nolan and Lucas to get their first haircuts this morning.  Ollie the Baldy got to stay home and have some one-on-one time with Auntie Lisa.  I'm sure he had more fun than the other two boys.

Haircuts can be expensive and no doubt after you multiply the cost by three, we will soon be broke! James and I discussed it, and decided we'd take them to Shear Madness for their first haircut.  Then after that, we'd look into getting a good set of clippers and learning to do it ourselves.  I know a lot of people who do this and their kids' hair looks fine.

So today, off to Shear Madness we went with our two little boys.  I have to say, having only two in tow seemed...well, easy.  I mean absolutely no offense to all my twin mama friends out there, but when you have someone with you, one adult per baby is a pretty good ratio.  The whole thing went rather well.  They both cried a little bit and Nolan was not a fan of being in the little car during his haircut.  In the end, it wasn't too painful.  And mama got through it all without crying!  I wasn't sure if I was going to.  I think it helped that they both just got a little taken off the back and didn't really look all much different.  You hear of babies going to get a haircut and coming back little boys.  I definitely wasn't ready for that to happen. But it was all good.  I think they look a little more alike now that their hair is the same.

Things I learned from having multiples...

• You expect to go through a ton of diapers and laundry detergent, but no one says anything about the ungodly amounts of hand soap and dish detergent that you will use.  Thank God for Costco!
• Your dishwasher will run 2-3 times a day.
• It is possible to produce enough milk for three babies.  I only did it for 10 weeks (and then I found out that Nolan and Lucas had a dairy allergy) but until that point, I was able to provide enough for all three of them without having to supplement with formula.  It's amazing what the human body can do.
• You can survive off hour and a half increments of sleep for 3 months straight.
• It is almost guaranteed that any time you go out in public, someone will ask you how your children were conceived.
• There are times when all three of your children might need you and you can't give them all what they need when they need it.  Your heart will break a little bit every time this happens and you will feel like a failure as a mom.
• Your heart will grow three sizes and you will never be the same.  I wouldn't change any of it for the world!

Go, Ollie, Go!!!

Well folks, we have our third walker!  Ollie wasn't about to be left behind.  I got this sweet video of him this evening.  My voice is about 2 full octaves higher than normal.  Can you tell I was excited?!? I wish I would have kept the video going because afterwards both Nolan and Lucas started clapping for Ollie.  It was the cutest thing ever...and of course, I cried.

My babies are growing up!

Things to say (or not say) to a mother of triplets...

As a mother of triplets, my children and I cannot leave the house without drawing a ridiculous amount of attention from everyone around.  I've gotten lots of questions and comments.  Often times, the things that come out of strangers mouths are incredibly inappropriate.  I don't think these people mean to be rude, but rather just don't think before they open your mouth.

So I'm going to do you all a favor and inform you what types of things are okay to say to a mother of triplets and what things should be kept to yourself.

Things that are Okay to Say to a Mother of Triplets:

• "Your children are ___________" (insert positive adjective, ex: adorable, beautiful, so cute).
• "What a blessing!"
• "You're doing a great job!" - Truly one of the best compliments you can give to a mom of multiples

Things that are NOT Okay to Say to a Mother of Triplets: 

• "Boy, you sure have your hands full!" - This is not original and also not even correct.  I have two hands and three babies.  So my hands are more than full.
• "Are they natural?" - This is people's way of wanting to know if you did fertility treatment.  Some people phrase this as "Do triplets run in your family" or just straight up ask "Did you do fertility treatment?"  Regardless of how it's phrased, it's a very personal question.  Why do people insist on knowing whether or not I had sex with my husband to conceive my children?
• "You're so lucky...your whole family complete with just one pregnancy!" - This is annoying for a number of reasons.  First of all, I don't need complete strangers deciding that I'm done having kids.  My husband and I are actually very open to having another.  Second of all, the thought of only getting to experience pregnancy once makes me really sad.  There were a lot of things I missed out on since I had such a high-risk/scary pregnancy.
• "Better you than me!" - I agree, but seriously...how rude!

So folks, keep these in mind next time you see a mama out at the store with three littles.  Poor lady probably just wants to get a couple gallons of milk.