we love the sunshine!

Finally some nice weather for us to get out and enjoy!! It all started last Sunday with our March of Dimes walk! It was a rainy, gross weekend...but God gave us the 5 hours of sunshine that we needed to get through the walk (but don't worry...i had trashbags and duct tape ready in the diaper bag if needed...we WERE going to walk!)

This is us and our walking buddies Jenny, Brad and their triplets Maddie, Carter and Lila who are 5 months old!!

I had the stroller decked out.......but what that resulted in was LOTS of people stopping to stare...and ask questions....and make dumb comments...pretty much the norm when we go out, so i shouldn't have been suprised!

The best comment of the day though, happened right as we were on our way out. A man stopped and read the side of the stroller cover, and said "This is what the March of Dimes is all about". Another reminder of how blessed we are to have 3 healthy one year olds....that when you look at them, would never have guessed they were only 3 pounds when they were born. Which reminds me of the dumbest comment of the day. After reading this side of the stroller.....a lady asked me if those were their birth weights. "Yes, i carried 60 pounds of baby...and yet still delivered at 32 weeks....boy do i know how to grow 'em!"

Regardless of the dummies, we had a great walk, for a great cause, and are already excited to do it again next year!!

This is our typical snack location...i call it the "feeding trough" and just dump the snacks into the tray, and they all crowd around and chow down!!

Trying on daddy's hats!!

This week we got to enjoy the beautiful weather!! We got to take lots of walks and even went back down to the river (the same place the march of dimes was) to walk around some more!! We played out on the deck somemore....which has become our afternoon snack location (much easier cleanup!!)

Colby learned how to throw a ball this week!!! So fun!

But the best part was playing outside....with our new water table!!! Since it was our first time playing in it, I wasn't sure how it would go, but since they love their baths (which i must give myself props for....3 baths in under 30 minutes tonight!! Just as a frame of reference, Avery's first bath i gave her in the NICU took 30 minutes...and she was only 3 pounds!!! I got all 20 pounds of her washed, dried and dressed in a third of that time....man am i getting good!!) i figured they would enjoy this too...and they did! Zach especially got into it and after he was done splashing his little heart out, he started using the tarp as a slip and slide, then crawled around under the table lapping up the water off the ground!! (They watch Cooper way too closely!) And might i just add...they looked SUPER cute in their swimsuits!!!

big boy splashes

little princess splashes =)

all 3!!

squinty eyes!

Colby's quick thinking on how to get to the other side of the table!

Zach checking to see if there's anything cool under the table!

WE LOVE SNUGGLES!!!!!

And last but not least....if you need a good smile....watch this OVER and OVER again!!

adjusting to one year olds

My kitchen is getting a makeover....the crock pot that used to keep water warm all day to quickly warm bottles for 3 anxiously waiting babies is clean and put away OFF my counter....the bottles that my babies used to drink from (12 a day to be exact) are all washed and put away OFF my counter in the cabinet (we now only use 3 a day...which is only ONE bottle feeding before bed!)....the blender that we used (to make formula) and washed daily (which i hated to do!) is now getting a rest....the pitcher that used to keep a days worth of formula is put away....the left side of the sink is nearly empty, not full of bottles waiting to be washed....while we still don't have much counter space....we are regaining just a little bit of it!

The mini van looks a little different too! All 3 babies are now in their forward facing car seats!! They even got to watch their first movie in the car last night!! At all times, we keep the pack and play and a double and single stroller in the car....and when we go out solo...the runabout fits in right next to colby!!
...yep...this big ole thing fits in the van too!!


And although we LOVED using the boppy pillows...

i thought it was time to move on to more of a "big kid" type of pillow (not that i'm admitting they are big kids at all....). So mamaw got them bean bags!! This was our first time trying them out!! They are so cute and look so comfy sitting in them!!


The babies have been SOOO funny lately too! Here are a few pics and stories to go with them!
Avery.......while she looks like she's just cracking up....this is the face she makes during her "fake laugh". She and josh were going back and forth the other day, and the one eye gets squinty and she makes a laughy like sound come out...but totally fake!
We all know Avery is the thinker of the group. She's coming out of her shell...but still in new places or with new people, she needs a little time to take everything in and decide whether it is ok or not. Well we were having dinner on the deck...and i decided to let them "use" a spoon. But they also and been eating pretzel sticks, and since she had something in each hand she couldn't figure out how to eat her food! She was trying to pick up a bite while still holding the spoon, just trying to reach around it ,but it was failing miserably. But watch out if i tried to take one of the two out of her hands!!


This is what my little cutie looked like before nap time...when i went in to get her...there was a pile on the floor next to her crib...the bow, the rubber band and both socks. Guess she wasn't feeling like accessorizing that day!!

Colby....First off...COLBY IS WALKING!!! Not 100% of the time yet, but as long as there aren't any obstacles in his way (which is rarely), he can make it all the way across the room!!!

Here's what happens if his pants aren't tied tight enough!! oops!



I couldn't find a picture of it, so this was close enough...but when colby holds his own bottle, he pulls it in and out of his mouth, just playing with it. But when he puts it in his mouth and starts to suck...he says "wiggle wiggle wiggle" and it's so funny.
Colby also has a fake laugh. Most days after breakfast, when i am still cleaning up their table and the floor, Colby gets a burst of energy. I think it's partly because the room is still pretty clean, but he "run crawls" after zach and fake laughs the whole way. then if it's a good play session, zach will look at him, and they'll both take off to the other side of the room. it's soooo cute to see them interact! i have been trying to catch it on video on my cell phone so i can put it on here....but haven't had luck yet.....i won't give up though!

This was probably one of the cutest moments of my life. One night before bed, avery and colby had both pulled up to standing holding on to me. I gave them both kisses back and forth a few times and they were giggling....then i said "give sissy kisses"....and he leaned right in. They did it over and over and just giggled and giggled. ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!


We all know the big boy likes to eat....but this just got a little silly! you can see the outline of his fingers on his forehead! He's so goofy! and he LOVES to sing "Five little monkeys"....which might be why his hand was hitting his head!!

Zach...Poor guy was the first (and hopefully last) of the 3 to get roseola....a high fever followed by a rash. Well the high fever coincidentally started the same day he got his 12 month shots....so I wrote it off as a bad reaction....but turns out they were unrelated and when we went back to the dr (after 2 nights of very little sleep) he had a rash...so that explained the fever and bad nights! I had to take all 3 kids to the dr. by myself...and Zach was the only 'free' one, as avery and colby sat in the double stroller....he loved the extra attention!!

Zach also likes to find new places to go. This is the second time he's ended up in this position...both times when mamaw was at our house playing with them!

He's also discovered that the cabinets under the TV open (i tried to avoid showing them that they open!)....and that he fits right in!

He's the only one in the group that doesn't do "so big", but when you help him do it....he thinks it is so fun!

Here they all are playing with their favorite toys....remotes and cell phones. (these are sesame street ones....not quite as cool as the real thing...but it works)

And I thought it was amazing that they were all sitting together! They sometimes glance at the tv...so i make sure it has fun shows for them to watch! Usually they are too busy to even notice it's on though!

Here they all are on the porch trying to figure out how to use their spoons!! So much fun!!

We are going to (hopefully) be walking in the March for Babies this Sunday! The event is rain or shine...but i can't imagine being there with all 3 babies and being miserable in the rain....so pray for nice weather! Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us! and it's not too late if you haven't yet!! www.marchforbabies.org/kara55522

birthday weekend!

We had a fabulous first birthday weekend with the babies. Despite their mom's stress level being at *high* for most of the week getting every last detail wrapped up for the party, we had a fun week with lots of visitors leading up to thier big day!

On Saturday morning, the babies had a special treat for breakfast....sprinkle donuts from daddy! They were very much big fans of donuts but they all had very different approaches to eating thier donut. Avery very carefully picked each sprinkle off one by one, Colby devoured it and smashed it and tried to cram the whole thing in his mouth, and Zach sucked the chocolate off the top...and didn't care too much for the cakey part.

We hung out for the morning, and i just stared in disbelief that a whole year has gone by, and i tried to remember all the details of what went on a year ago, and couldn't even remember what my life was like before the babies. It was such a long, heart-breaking, discouraging journey to even get pregnant....and that's all a distant memory too (except i'm glad that one is, and sad that i can't remember every second of my babies first year). We took our regularly scheduled naps, and then I made a favorite for lunch...pizza! They ate, then got to open presents from mommy and daddy, played some more then we got in wedding mode!

New teeter totter whale...fit for 3!

The babies were real troopers for the rest of the day (they must have known they were a year old and that's how big kids act!) We completely threw their schedule out the window..but they went with it! We fed them a snack of applesauce and corn before going into the church.....then no dinner until 8....but it worked and they went with it, so no complaints! They were the cutest things i have ever seen in their tuxes and beautiful hand made dress (by my mom!). They rode down the aisle in the wagon, just like we wanted, and even cooperated for pictures after the ceremony! We got to the reception and ate dinner....and that was about all the excitement they could handle...but just when we thought the excitement was over, we were suprised with birthday cakes and the happy birthday song in the middle of the reception!!! It was so sweet! Unfortunately, we had to tell colby about it the next day because he slept through it, but Zach was very into it and plopped his hand right in the middle of the cake, and then right in the middle of Josh's shirt! It was hilarous. They crashed hard in the car on the way home (so did mommy for a few minutes too!)....only to wake up the next day to lots of hustle and bustle getting ready for their big birthday bash!!!

Their party went off without a hitch! It was everything i had laid awake at night thinking about and was a perfect celebration of 1.their first year 2.our closest friends and family that have helped us more than they know and 3. for josh and i making it through!! They had lots of fun playing, eating their cake and opening gifts...and more gifts....and more gifts!! They sure are 3 spoiled babies!! For their next birthday we will be asking for a new, bigger house so we have room to put all their new things!!=)

Opening gifts...

Triplet friends!

Ready for cake!!!

The smurf...

Shrek...

The princess (her pink icing looked like dainty lipstick)

My now and then table...

the aftermath on the way home...

Thanks again to everyone who helped before/during/and after the party. My friends and family are the best!!

And Happy Happy Happy Birthday to my sweet babies! I can't believe you are one! I've loved every second of having you in my life and can't wait to see all the fun things you will be doing this year!! Love, Mommy