6 Month Check-Up

Our six month check up went very well.  I love to hear our doctor say how well they are all doing.  He also calmed my concerns that Ryan and Tyler are not yet rolling over from back to front nor are any of them sitting up unsupported.  Before I told him any of my concerns, he went through a list of milestones he expected them to be doing and not doing.  He said he did not expect any of them to be rolling over back to front or sitting unsupported.  He said Chase acts and looks like a full term 6.5 month old.  He has been rolling over for months now and even sat unsupported for a few seconds for the doctor.  I was worried because I thought the other two were behind, but Chase is just ahead.  As a mom, I find myself taking it personally if they get behind because I feel I'm not doing enough or the right things to help them develop.  I left the office feeling reassured by our doctor that they are all on track and not to worry.

We also found out that Ryan had an ear infection.  We were surprised to hear this since he had not acted  like he felt bad at all.  Ryan is sooo easy going he didn't even fuss about it.  We were so happy we had a check up when we did so it could be treated, plus we didn't have to pay for a sick visit!  When you're on a high deductible plan that is a big deal. Our next check up with be at 9 months and there are no scheduled shots!!! Watching the nurse give each baby 3 shots plus an oral vaccine is not fun at all, so I am so glad we don't have to go through that next time.

6 month check up stats:
Chase continues to be average weight and above average length when compared to a full term baby.

Chase: 17 lbs. 9 oz (50%)    27.3 inches long  (75%)
Ryan: 15 lbs. 14 oz (20%)   26.8 inches long (50%)
Tyler: 16 lbs. 7 oz  (25%)   26.8 inches long (50%)

The boys love to lay on the doctor's table in their diapers and play.

Play Time

The boys love to play in their big boy apparatuses and they love playing with their big brother.  Ben loves to play with them just as much.  It is a joy to watch them interact as Ben takes turns playing with each brother and sometimes even dressing them up.  They light up when he gives them attention and I can't help but smile too.

Ryan playing with big brother Ben

Chase loves to laugh at Ben

Tyler in a pirate hat compliments of Ben

Chase jumping away in the jump-a-roo

Chase posing for a picture

Ryan thinks Ben is hilarious

Ryan enjoying the jump-a-roo

Tyler

Tyler

Chase

Ryan

One Year Ago

One year ago we received the biggest surprise of our lives.  We were at the doctor's office expecting to see one healthy, little baby on the ultrasound screen.  We were totally taken by surprise to see not 1, not 2, but 3 healthy little babies on the screen.  We stared in amazement, not knowing what to say or even think and trying to make sense of it all.  Last year it was hard to imagine what our lives would be like with triplets.  This year we can't imagine our family without Chase, Ryan, & Tyler.  We are so blessed!

This picture still brings tears to my eyes.

Every good and perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, 

who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17

6 Months

Happy Half Birthday to my three little guys who are not so little anymore!  It's hard to believe in 6 more months we will be having their first birthday party.  I am so proud of how they are developing and growing.  They are already in 6-9 month clothing!

We are now back on a schedule.  The holidays were rough on us and had everything messed up.  For about a week, they were waking up in the middle of the night and then they started waking up at 5:00 am. I worked hard to get everyone back on schedule.  We are back to waking up between 6:00-6:30 am, which is early, but it's better than 5:00 am.  They take 3 naps a day that last 1.5-2 hours and they sleep around 11 hours a night.  At night, they all sleep in their own crib in the same room. During the day, I split them up in different rooms because they are all the sudden very aware of sounds and easily wake each other up.

They are eating every 3.5 to 4 hours during the day for a total of 5 bottle feedings.  They all eat around 6-7 ounces at every feeding.  Three of those feedings are accompanied with solids.  They all love sweet potatoes and apples.  They are learning to like avocados and green beans.  Watching their faces as they eat green beans has been quite entertaining.  I am really enjoying making their baby food.  It is so easy!  I got an immersion blender and silicone ice cube trays for Christmas.  I simply bake or steam the fruit or veggies (except the avocados- no cooking required), puree them with the blender, fill the ice cube trays and let them freeze.  Then I pop them out of the trays into zip-lock bags and store in the freezer.  All I have to do is get what I need for the day out of the freezer.  It definitely beats paying for jars and jars of baby food.  Thanks to Kari for the baby food making tips!

The boys love to play! They all love the new apparatuses we have added.  I think the jump-a-roo is everyone's favorite, but they love the exersaucers, too!  They also love to play with toys on the floor.  We are making good use of the new foam tiles as a play mat.  Chase is now officially rolling over from back to front and is very good at it now.  The other two are trying to roll over, too.

Ryan, Chase, Tyler

Chase
17 lbs. 3 oz

Ryan 
15 lbs. 11 oz

Tyler
16 lbs

Christmas Eve

We were so excited about our first Christmas as a new family.  Ben could not hardly wait until Christmas day.  Christmas Eve is almost as good as Christmas day in our family.  We were excited to have the Daniel side of the family to our house for a big family meal and festivities.

Ben's new Spider Man!

Cousin Natalie (Nat-Nat) and Ben

Tyler is so excited about his first present

Daddy with Ryan and Chase

The cute wagons Papa and G-mama gave the boys
with a little monogramming help from Mommy.

After our big, delicious meal, opening presents and spending time with our family, we went to the Christmas Eve service at our church.  It was a wonderful service.  My only regret is not taking a picture of Ben and the babies in their matching Christmas outfits.  We rushed out the door to make it to church on time and one of the babies had a blow out while at church.  Oh well can't get them all!

My four Christmas babies in their jammies

After the church service, we headed back home to have Christmas with Derek's parents and sister.  Ben had already had a full Christmas by this point and Santa hadn't even come yet! We started a tradition last year to open one present on Christmas Eve.  Their Christmas jammies!

Our first family Christmas picture

Cookies for Santa

Ben had a blast making cookies for Santa.
We put them on his special plate and sat them by the tree for Santa. What a wonderful day it was! I look forward to many more with my family.

Can't forget the milk!

Ready for Santa!

Ben's Special Outing

Derek and I took Ben to Santa's Village and the Galaxy of Lights.  It was a special outing.  The babies stayed at home with some of our family who was in town for Christmas.  We try to find opportunities to take Ben on special outings such as this so we can give him special one-on-one attention.  It's hard to go from an only child to suddenly sharing attention with 3 other siblings who can be very demanding of our time.  He has been such a trooper sharing his parents with the babies.

In Santa's Sleigh

Ben loves Christmas time and Santa.  We have watched the Polar Express for months now.  We surprised him by taking him to Santa's Village first.  There he was able to visit Santa's workshop, sit in Santa's sleigh, see real reindeer, write a letter to Santa, make an ornament and visit Santa and Mrs. Claus.  He gave Mrs. Claus a hug and she pulled out a book to give him.  She said, she only does that for the ones that give her a hug.

Thinking about sitting with Mrs. Claus...

Hugging Mrs. Claus

Giving Frosty a high five

We stood in line for almost an hour to see Santa for the second time this Christmas.  The day before, Ben decided he no longer wanted a blue bike for Christmas, but a blue race car instead.  I was sure he was going to tell Santa this when he saw him.  Fortunately, when he got in Santa's lap he confirmed that he still wanted a blue bike. Whew! That was a close one.  The last thing I wanted was a disappointed little boy on Christmas morning.

Writing a letter to Santa

He had an amazing time at Santa's Village.  He can't wait to go again next year and take his brothers with him.  Next, we were off to the Galaxy of Lights.  It is a huge Christmas light display that you drive through.  It had 180 light displays.  Ben loved seeing all the different animals and characters.  It was a wonderful night full of great memories.

5 Months

Wow!  I know I say this a lot, but time is flying by so fast.  How can my little babies be 5 months old? They are not little newborns anymore. This month has been a little challenging as we are transitioning into a new phase.  Beginning solids has made feeding time a little more complicated, now that we have to do bottles and then go to the highchairs to eat solids.  I tried to prop bottles in the highchairs, but it doesn't work very well.  The highchairs recline, but not enough to easily prop a bottle.

Our living room looks like a daycare.  It is baby central filled with pack-n-plays, swings, bouncy seats, exersaucers, jump-a-roo, bumbos, play gym, highchairs, etc.  We will eventually gate this area off to create a baby safe zone when they become mobile.  The babies also got foam tiles to create a large, soft, play space on the floor.  It won't be long and they will all be mobile.

We are now on the go quite a lot.  Thanksgiving was our first trip to Chattanooga.  We have taken 3 trips to Chattanooga in the last 4 weeks and two times we stayed over night.  The babies did wonderfully.  Ben got sick with a fever and cold on our first over night trip to Chattanooga.  This made things a little more difficult, but we worked through it.  The next week the babies all caught Ben's cold, too.  It was inevitable.  It made me very nervous, especially since Derek was also out of town and I was on my own with 4 sick children.  I set the babies bouncy seats in the bathroom for nap and then I would turn on the shower and steam it up.  They took all their naps in there for the entire week.  It might sound crazy, but it really helped their cough and congestion.  I was glad to get them back healthy again especially with Christmas around the corner.  We are so excited about our first Christmas with all four boys, but Ben is the most excited of all.

Chase

Chase is our thinker and observer.  He also keeps everyone on schedule.  He lets me know when it's nap time and time to eat.  He loves to grin and laugh.  He is not a big 'talker', but when he does he is very soft spoken.  He is trying so hard to roll over from back to front.  He just can't get his arm out from underneath himself.  He gets very frustrated that he can't do it.  I love his chubby checks!

weight: 15 lbs. 6 oz

Ryan

Ryan was our feisty one, but he is now the most laid back of the three.  He is usually happy and the most patient.  When he is ready to go to sleep it does not matter where he is.  He will just quietly drift off to sleep.  I often find him asleep in the bouncy seat or swing. Don't let this little bit fool you though! He may be the smallest, but he loves to squeal loudly when he is happy.  He also loves to suck his thumb.

weight: 14 lbs. 2 oz

Tyler

Tyler is the sensitive one.  He cries the most out of all three.  He loves to eat and is usually the first one awake to eat.  He is also the talker.  He is almost always talking. He loves to lay beside his brothers and play with them.  He loves to rub their heads and feel their hair or hold their hand.  It's adorable to watch.

weight: 14 lbs. 4 oz

Ben

Ben is a great big brother.  He loves playing with and entertaining the his brothers.  He has just recently been able to identify each baby and is almost always right.  Sometimes he is still not sure between Ryan and Tyler, just like us all, and ask us for confirmation throughout the day.  He loves to talk about what they will be able to do with him when they get bigger.  He loves to play patty-cake with his brothers.