We've Got Some Teeth!

Caitlin sporting her
2 new chompers!















Madison is happy
about her one!

Bummer, I don't

have any yet~ but

they'll be here soon!

Just a little while ago as I was feeding the trio I realized some teeth cut through. Caitlin has 2 and Maddi has one that is just coming out- very exciting! They love to eat their puffs and Cheerios & are getting better at it everyday. Madison is the most skilled at self feeding which makes me so happy because she is behind her brother & sister in the sitting up department. We all have our special talents I guess!

A few random things.... Last week we went in for our 3rd round of RSV shots. Joe was travelling & I took the kids by myself. No sweat with these guys- they all did well. I have updated weights on them now. Madison is 15lbs 11.6oz & catching up with Caitlin at 16lbs 5.6oz. Ryan is a whopping 21lbs 13.8oz.!

Speaking of shots, in one appointment we fulfilled our deductible for the year. Caitlin's shot alone was $2641.00! It's fine though because a) we knew it was coming & b) now I shouldn't have to worry about insurance too much for the rest of the year. (Well except for Ryan's plastic surgery on his skin tag next month- We're hoping to get it covered somehow as medical, so we won't have to pay for a "cosmetic" procedure.)

Thank goodness for good insurance though! Out of curiosity I totalled up our 2008 costs. As a family we spent $528,300 last year. The babies were $356,350! We had to pay less than $5000 of that- whew!

I was looking through some old pics & videos of JP the other day. I didn't take nearly as many videos on my camera when he was little, but do have a few. Here are a couple that just crack me up. He was just over 2 years here & I was egging him on with the nose spray he hated. Look at those curls....

My little Batman!

How did he get
so big?

It Was One for the Books (History that Is)

No matter who you voted for, today was a historic day. My three little munchkins will now know where they were the day the 1st African-American President was sworn into office- hanging out with Mom after a morning bottle. JP was in Kindergarten watching with his classmates on TV.

It's been a warm few days here, so we have tried taking advantage of it, which of course means lots of new pics! I've been having a good time trying to figure out my new camera...

JP drug all the babies while inside their toys out into the entryway to make a train.

I love Maddi's face.

I guess Caitlin didn't feel like talking on the phone!

8 Months Old!

The Kids:

JP, Maddi, Ryan & Caiti

We're 2/3 of the way through the 1st year! Here are few changes over the past month:

- Ryan and Caitlin can sit up on their own for short periods of time, Madison can for about 30 seconds.

- I've began feeding the babies their bottles on the floor a lot of the time because they're getting to big to be unattended on the couch for very long.

- Ryan can hold his bottle. I'll have to take a video, because he gets so excited when he feeds himself its pretty comical.

-They still are having 4 bottles and 2 meals a day, but I think I will increase them to 3 meals this month as they seem to be acting like they could eat a little more. I'm also ready to try and and give them sippy cups to see what happens.

- They sit at the table while we eat dinner and play with cheerios. They're not really getting much in their mouth yet, but good thing JP acts like a dog and eats what falls on the ground. Oh well, I guess its building his immune system right?

- The kids are starting to interact much more. They "talk", laugh, and beat up on each other all the time. It's so fun!

This past weekend we also celebrated my 37th birthday. Joe and I had a fun "double date" with some good friends of ours on Saturday night and on Sunday Anne, Sean & George came over for dinner and birthday cake. Everyone chipped in this year to help me buy a new camera- a Canon PowerShot SX10 IS. I'm so excited as it takes even better videos than my old one and also lets you take consecutive shots in "sports mode". The image stabilization also helps with all my moving objects!

Here are a lot of new pics with my camera!

One thing with triplets-when you fall over, there is usually someone there to catch you!

Cute Maddi

Ryan & Caitlin playing together.

The birthday party

Sean, Anne & George

Sitting at the table like big kids!

Double Trouble!

I Love this shirt!

Sitting up after their bottles.

Sharing a laugh.

Caitlin's Stand & Spin

She was talking to Maddi when I grabbed my camera, but for me, she just showed off her "da" skills and her spins!

Getting Back In the Swing of Things

Madison (L), Caitlin (R)

We've had a great holiday and now its time to get back to "normal" around here. Joe starts back to school Tuesday & Thursday nights for his MBA. Only 6 more classes to go- yeah!! He's planning on taking 2 at a time again and hopefully he'll finish this year. It's been so nice having him around all the time! JP goes back to Kindergarten on Wednesday. It seems like he's been off school for so long. I'm sure he'll love seeing all of his friends again. Other than a couple of play dates, he's been hanging around with me and the babies most of the time, so I'm sure he's ready. Joe will start travelling for work again next week -he'll be gone on my birthday :( , but he told me today that he got a babysitter for Saturday night (very exciting to have a "date") and we'll have a family party on Sunday which I'm sure will be fun.

The babies continue to do new things. Ryan can now sit up for about a minute or so before he tries to grab something or move around too much. Luckily he will usually smile after he's fallen. He's also mastered rolling over and over again. He can make it around a room pretty fast! Caitlin has learned to roll over and over too, but is just starting to get the hang of it. Maddi's favorite thing to do now is roll over, but she doesn't go over again, so when she grows tired of the position she just screams until we get her. All 3 now sleep on their stomach or side. Ryan may move more, but the girls definitely have more hair. I can now start to put bows in it. When I first put them in I was so proud of myself. Joe saw them and said "Oh, here we go, this is just the beginning!" He's right- I am going to have so much fun dressing these two!!

I also want to make special note as today is my Grandmother's 89th birthday (my Mom's mom). How lucky are we to have her! She still lives on her own and has a much more exciting social life than I do. This year when she was visiting my parents in SC from IL, (she still flies on her own too!) my Mom wrote down different stories about her life from meeting my Grandfather, to having kids and buying their first home. My Aunt and Uncle then added pictures to them and made CD copies for all the grandkids for Christmas. What a wonderful present to have!

Ryan sits!

Maddi & Caiti in their overalls

Enjoying Baby Einstein on our new TV.

Joe took JP over to open hockey at the ice rink the other day. He looks like little player!

My Grandmother and Grandfather's wedding photo: August 4, 1940

Ryan on the move.