A serious catch up....

Oh I am just so embarrassed by the lack of posts.... I have not posted since last June!!! Oh my goodness.. I am so ashamed! Well let's just chalk it up as "a lot has been going on in our world with our triplets, new job, etc... "
Oh who am I kidding, everyone has a lot going on, its no excuse... especially since I am using this blog as a way to document our life moments... so here we go.. I am going to give a month by month update... as best I can... so we can get all caught up, just in time for the holiday season! Deal?
Hang with me through this long but hopefully entertaining post...

Ok, here we go....

July 2015

• We had a great time at my sister's cabin in Annandale for the 4th of July! They have a great parade down main street, and we got to spend some time on their pontoon... boys first boat ride.
• I went with my church to the National Youth Gathering in Detroit Michigan
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• My youngest sister Casey got married!!! The whole family was in the wedding... Our little three guys were the cutest ring bearers! (Nolan also got a black eye right before hand from falling on a toy.. so he had a nice shiner for wedding pictures)
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• I ended my 4 years as Pastor for Children, Youth, and Family at Zion Lutheran on July 26th- it was a tough departure because I LOVED this congregation deeply. 
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• lots of other trips to the park, pool time in our back yard, and playtime outside!
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August 2015

• I started my new call as associate pastor at St. Philips Lutheran church in Fridley, MN
• I got glasses for the first time in my life!
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• A fun trip to the Minnesota Zoo
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• lots of development with talking, and learning
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• we transitioned to toddler beds- it took us a a bit with sitting on the floor in their room to get the staying in bed concept... but bribing them with M&M's the next morning seemed to do the trick!

September 2015

• Dave and I got to go to the state fair! (it will be another year or 2 until the boys.. or more so the parents are ready for them to join us)
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• Henry sadly got bit by a dog... nothing major, Since we knew the owner and the dog we were not too concerned...but since it was near his eye, we went to get it checked out and  cleaned out... but no scar, and it didn't seem to scare him away from dogs permanently.
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• Over the summer the boys attended music class in Edina a few Fridays here and there! They LOVE IT!
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• We also started our first ECFE (Early childhood Family Education)class... Twins and Triplets in Anoka. We are the only set of triplets in there... all the rest are twins, but it is so great to be with other moms that speak "multiples". The teachers are fabulous, the boys love the classroom and all the fun stuff to play with, and its good practice for when they start preschool next fall (WHAT!?!?!?)
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October 2015

• We went to the apple orchard with our friends who have triplet girls just a couple months younger then ours. We really have loved going to through the motions of parenting... although now we are seeing some differences based on boys verses girls... but we hope that the relationships will continue to grow with our 6... maybe even arranged marriages?? 
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• We had some cute pictures done through a fundraiser with my Moms of Multiples club. We LOVED how they turned out!
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• I was installed as pastor (church term) at my new church! 
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• The boys came down with some ear infections but bounced back quickly!
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• We traveled to Rochester, MN for my internship site for their 150 anniversary. 
• everyone LOVED meeting the boys and it was fun to see dear friends from this congregation. 

• Halloween... I know this should be a post of its own, but I will just post all the cute pictures

We went trick or treating at my sisters neighborhood! 

Trick or treating in downtown elk river! 

November 2015

• The boys are at such a fun age... 
• telling me what they like and don't like
• singing along to songs
• seeing them care for each other
• reading books
• watching their favorite movies- Frozen, Nemo, Cars, (Polar Express now)

• We celebrated our nephew Tyler's first birthday!

• Thanksgiving was at the Dvorak farm this year.

• The boys met our friend's Sarah and Drew's new baby... it was so sweet to see the boys so curious and so gentle with a little baby girl. 

If your still reading this SUPER long post...way to go!!!! stay tune for a December update, as we get back on track! 

Nolan's Tubes

Well it was bound to happen.... due to my history with ear infections and tubes... we assumed it could happen to one of ours...and it did...Nolan.

Since it was off season for ear infections and Nolan got 2 with in 3 weeks in May, our pediatrician said to head to the Ear, Nose, and Throat doc to recommend tubes.

All three of the boys were at the ENT a couple months prior to rule out anything... they all had hearing tests and passed. Nolan was the only one that had some fluid on his ears but nothing the ENT thought was an issue (unless infections continued)

So back we went on a Monday June 8th and she said tubes it is! We would get a call from scheduling in the next day to schedule it. She warned us summer is a busy time since there is no school so we may have to wait a while to get in.
I got a call the next day (Tuesday) and they said they had an opening for THURSDAY! (as in 2 days away). I was shocked, but thought, better seize the moment.
We had to make sure to get a pre-op appt. in on Wednesday with our Ped to give us the go-ahead!

Thursday I was up with Nolan at 5:15am. I got him up and out the door without waking his brothers!
We got to Children's in MPLS with time to spare... Nolan wasted no times running the halls and discovering all there was to offer.
We got all checked in and the waiting room was stocked with cars and toys. We got called back to our room, and Nolan could take his cozy coupe with! They were so accommodating! 

Our Nurse Pam was wonderful, and our room had a train set on the bed all ready to play with.
My mom eventually arrived to be moral support for me.

We had visits from the our ENT, the nurse, and the anesthesiologist Frank, who is a neighbor of my parents and great family friend! (I was so grateful to have a familiar face in all this!- I cant sing his praises enough!)

They brought in someone to have nolan get familiar with the breathing mask.... 

Around 7:20am they had me walk back with them to the operating room. (I had the option to just have them take Nolan, but I felt more comfortable being there with him- at the expense of watching him "fall asleep" on the table.)
The process was quick... we sat on the table and sang a lot of his favorite songs(twinkle twinkle), while they had laughing gas by his little face.... as he got sleepy, they laid him down, allowed me to give one more kiss, and then I was whisked away.
One if the hardest parts was walking back to the room without him, only holding his blankie and paci.... I got teary, but made it through.
We were warned to stay in the room because they would be back with Nolan soon.
It wasnt even 10 minutes, and they were wheeling him in....
He woke up as they came in the room.
The other hard part was seeing Nolan come out of anesthesia. For an adult, we are sleepy and slowly wake up... but little kiddos dont know what is going on, and are confused and so out of it.
I held him while he cried, flopping around in my arms trying to come to.
I kept trying to comfort him, but until he could recognize my voice we just had to bear through it.

It was pretty clear when he could start hearing my voice and knowing he was safe in my arms that he finally calmed down... he had some apple juice and nutri-grain bar in between more sobs.

We got our instructions for recovery and out the door by 8:30am!
We got home and his brothers rushed to the door. They missed their brother.
They patted his back as he sat with me.
I was surprised he stayed up and did well until nap time... where ALL THREE of them slept for 4 hours!! I couldn't believe it. I also got a needed nap in!

He has had a beautiful recovery so far, and we will go back for a follow up appointment in a few weeks. Here is to no more (or fewer) ear infections in our future!

2nd Birthday Party

We had the boys second birthday on Sunday May 31st, the day before their actual birthday. We decided to do it later in the day (post nap).
We thought we would keep the party smaller this year (last year we had about 70 people over (first birthdays are a big deal).... but as we started making the guest list, it kept growing.... such a great problem to have (cant really even call it a problem)... to have so many people that love and support our boys and our such a great part of their lives!
The theme was Sesame street themed... because of their love for Elmo... but as their party grew closer, they fell more in love with the Movie Cars, BUT invites were sent out, and lets face it, they are 2, so no real adjustments were made, and they still loved all the Sesame street stuff!

FOOD:
Dave's parents came over and smoked hotdogs, brats, and pulled pork
I made fruit platters of Sesame Street character faces

 My dad brought his amazing chicken pasta salad

My sister and I decorated cupcakes of Elmo and Cookie Monster

Our dear friend Pam made a chocolate cake shaped like Elmo

HIghlights:
We had great weather for the day
At one point there were 3 sets of triplets in the backyard playing
The boys loved being sung to and blowing out their candles
We didnt run out of food!
No one was injured!
It was so fun to have great family and friends all together!

The boys got some great gifts! To name just a few:
balance bikes
bubble lawn mowers- a big hit and needing three of them
Minnesota Zoo membership

we have three 2 year olds!

How old?  Two, Dos, 24 Months

Our weights?

 H: 25lb 7oz N: 22 lbs 2oz 

G:23 lb 11oz

Heights - H: 32 1/4in N: 32in 

G:31 1/2 in
They are wearing 24 months and 2t.  Nolan and Graham can wear a few 18 month stuff, but we are quickly outgrowing it all.

Our sleeping patterns?  Napping still at 1:30/2:00 PM for about 2 hours. Nolan is first to wake up typically... and Henry is last.

Sleeping at night is still going strong... every now and again they will wake up in the middle of the night, and very rarely does one wake up the other two, but those 3am moments where everyone is crying... but everyone usually puts themselves back to sleep. 

 Our eating schedule?  The boys have breakfast at 9 AM, Lunch at 12:30, snack when they wake up from their nap (between 3-4), and dinner at 6.  Milk at every meal, and water/juice combo throughout the day.

 Our favorite foods?  H: fruit, ham, pizza, anything off his brothers plates
N: nutri-grain bars (breakfast cookies), noodles (nunus), chicken nuggets
G: noodles, toast, bacon, pizza

Our likes?The movies- Cars ("Mader & keen" (McQueen) and Finding Nemo "fishes, sharks, Dori", playing with match box cars, playing outside "shoes on-outside", going on walks, swinging, reading books (llama llama red pajama), going "bye bye in the car-car",

 Our dislikes?  When brother steals a toy, when they are hungry and want to eat NOW,  coming in from outside, getting out of the car to come home.

Our favorite games/toys?Mocking words or noises from mom and dad, dancing, singing songs (twinkle twinkle, happy birthday, abc's,) their cozy coupe cars, puzzles, building towers with blocks.

 

Our milestones? Lots of talking!
H: Counting, Starting to sing ABCs, dancing, jumping, coloring
N: counting to 10 in Spanish and English, 3-4 word sentences, expressing opinions
G: counting, jumping, colors, awesome fine motor skills, coloring


Things we do to make Mom and Dad smile?  Play well together, amazing new developments each day, cheese for the camera, giving lots of lovies (kisses and hugs)

Memorial Day

We were bummed that Memorial Day had some rough rainy weather but Dave and I were determined to do some fun family adventures.....and boy did we!

We thought it would be really fun to take the boys to Sea Life aquariam at Mall of America! This seemed to be everyone else's idea too. 

We got the boys up and out the door and made it there by 9:50...(doors opened at 10)

It should be said too that our van needed new break pads so we were able to get all three car seats In the back of the Nissan Sentra as well as get our choo choo wagon in the trunk (props to daddy for his packing skills)

Anyway, because we bought our tickets online we got to pick them up and not wait in line to buy tickets... Then they showed us the elevator since we had the wagon..... We got to by pass almost everyone.... Pretty cool.

The first exhibit was to pet the sting rays.... They boys are still a little young for this so we by passed all those people..... We then were at the front with no people before us and no line behind us yet... Place to ourselves for the most part!

We walked through the jellyfish room.... Pretty cool, the boys were a little overwhelmed at the dark and light up tanks...but still were in awe.

Next were the tunnels of aquariums.... Tons of sharks, fish, turtles, OH MY! 

The boys loved looking all around. Lots to see.... 

We kept a good pace but slowing down some to take it all in not anticipating the possible length of this tour. We then walked through the rain forest and saw crocodiles, piranhas, and frogs. Little tough for the boys to see but they loved the atmosphere. 

Before we new it we turned a corner and it was over.... Bam we were in the gift shop.... We were a little shocked how fast we must have gone through it.... So we got stamped so we could re enter... But on our way out we noticed the crazy long line so we decided maybe we would come back later. 

We headed toward Nickelodeon universe and took in all the sights... We debated getting tickets to go on a ride but decided against it due to lines and potential terror.... And they seemed to be happy as clams to just watch it all too.

We wanted to be able to take them to a place to get out and run around but there is no spot for that.... We did some Lego playing at Lego land, but it was short lived. 

We headed back to Sea Life in hopes lines would have died down... But no.... They were longer then ever..... So we decided to take the boys to Southdale play place in Edina.

We were not there long before we had a couple mini melt downs so we thought maybe lunch at BWW could be fun.... 

Once we loaded them in the car we thought going to BWW closer to home would be better..... 

As we were driving we changed our minds again and ended up getting the boys a happy meal in the car so they could eat sooner rather than later. I ran into the near by subway to get OUR lunch while Dave fed the boys. 

We got home and let the boys burn off some final energy before naps. 

We were exhausted at this point.... But we forgot we decided to host a couple friends and their kiddos for dinner. 

Within a few hours from getting home, our friends Carley and J came over with their new baby girl Elise! We finally got to meet her and get some baby snuggles in before the boys woke up. 

Our other friends, the Edlunds (with the triplet girls) came over too. 

We just ordered some pizza for dinner and watched the kids play.

The sun came out for a little while so we ended the evening playing outside (the boys favorite) 

All in all it was busy but successful day! I am grateful for these memories as a family, along with great times spent with dear friends! 

Mother's Day 2015

Another Mother's Day in the books. 

I started the day by going to work (church)

Well actually the day started at 3am... (Just like last years Mothers day.... The boys had a rough night sleep-2 years in a row now)

Nolan woke up screaming, Dave went in there to check in on him and discovered Nolan had taken his pants AND diaper off- Lord only knows when. Dave snuck him out to get him dressed again and sadly the other two woke up.... Dave put Nolan back to bed - making sure the bed was not soaked of course- and N and G continued to chit chat till 5am when they finally fell back asleep.

I was up and put the door by 8:15- with everyone still sleeping.

I had a great morning at church wishing Moms a happy Mother's Day, and receiving the same great greeting!

I made it home in time to have lunch the the family and open the gifts the boys got me (Mom necklace and beautiful picture frame)

I then had to leave at 1:30 to go see some of my church youth in the Andover spring musical, adventures of frog And toad- very cute! 

I texted Dave on my way home so he could start the process of waking the boys up and getting the, ready to go to my parents for dinner. 

We made it to my parents about 5:15 and had fun seeing close family and friends. 

Then boys grazed on food (too much going on) and enjoyed seeing their nana, papa, aunties, and cousins Ally and Tyler. 

My sister Steph, husband Aaron, and ally and Tyler 

I got a plate of food in me (thanks Dave) before heading upstairs to do bath time (we usually always do baths at nana and papas) 

Nolan I don't think napped for long enough today because he screamed the entire bath (beyond exhausted much?) but finally was happy in papa Tim's arms.

 

We got them all in their Jammie's and downstairs to do one more round of social time before backing up and heading home.

Sisters!! 

Some of my favorite moments of the day:

Hearing Graham say on repeat " it's rainin - wet- cold-brrrr"

Snuggling with Nolan- oh so tired 

Hearing my boys say "happy mamas day"

Time with family

Seeing my moms reaction to her gift of a charm bracelet with all her grandkids faces on it

Sitting here in the quiet, reflecting back on the day and Despite all the chaos, I have a heart full of gratitude because of three little monkeys I love more than anything.... It's because of them I get the honor and privilege to be called mom! 

Boys will be boys....

We are full blown in toddler mode at our house these days... Lots of bumps and bruises have accumulated over the last few weeks.... Especially now that we are playing outside more.  

As a mom you don't want anything bad to happen to your child, but you also know little bumps, scrapes, and owies help them to learn too, and with triplets, you can't be everywhere all the time to protect them. 

This last Wednesday was one of those moments that could not have been prevented. 

I was at church, for final final church night for the year, and Dave and my dad were doing dudes night, Like they always do on Wednesdays with the boys. 

I got a text from Dave around 7:15

"Hey baby, can you call me when you get this? Henry fell behind the couch. He is fine, just a bit of a cut under his lip, might need to go to urgent care. And he bit his lip pretty good."

Of course I start to panic and leave the youth room and FaceTime Dave to see what's going on at home (thank goodness for technology)

H was not crying but from what I could see it definitely needed to be looked at.

Since it was on the face and he is under 4 we had to go to children's.... Which was fine with me because they are wonderful!

I said bye to my youth and put the great adults in charge and I headed home to get Henry. (I had the van which has the car seats). I picked up H and we were off to children's. (The other two were really sad they couldn't go I'm the car car too)

We arrived at children's and they assessed him as best they could (he is my stranger danger kid-mamas boy) and assumed stitches were in our future. 

My mom joined us and hung out which brought some comic relief. Once we got into a room they were innovative to get the numbing gel on his chin for 45 minutes(clever sticky tape thing)... We watched some cartoons and right before they came in to clean it they gave him some phentynol up his nose to make him more calm for the cleaning. 

Although he was not "calm",  he didn't fight as hard or cry as long.... 

They got a better look at his chin and bite marks on the inside of his lower lip, and said since the cut was so straight and not as deep as expected, stitches were not needed!!!! Great news! 

So we got the clear to go home and just monitor and keep it clean for the next few days! 

It is currently healing perfectly and all is well again at our house.

I know this is just the beginning of moments like this.... But no matter how much it happens, seeing your babies hurt never gets easier.... But I am grateful for Children's amazing staff!!