Monday, December 14, 2015

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

  • 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)






  • 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. 

  • lots of other trips to the park, pool time in our back yard, and playtime outside!




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!

  • A fun trip to the Minnesota Zoo

  • lots of development with talking, and learning


  • 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)

  • 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.


  • Over the summer the boys attended music class in Edina a few Fridays here and there! They LOVE IT!

  • 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!?!?!?)

    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?? 



    • We had some cute pictures done through a fundraiser with my Moms of Multiples club. We LOVED how they turned out!



    • I was installed as pastor (church term) at my new church! 

    • The boys came down with some ear infections but bounced back quickly!

    • 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! 

    Friday, June 12, 2015

    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!




    Friday, June 5, 2015

    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