Daddy's Big Birthday

Yesterday Joe turned 40 years old!  We weren't able to do anything too exciting, but Anne & Sean had volunteered to babysit the kiddos, so we did get to have an evening out by ourselves.  (Which actually to us is pretty exciting in and of itself!) We went to Piatti, one of our favorite Italian restaurants and then over to the mall.  Food, wine & shopping made for a pretty fun evening.  The best thing was that the kids barely knew we left.  They love playing with their Aunt, Uncle and cousin George.  JP told me today that Anne & Sean know how to do lots of fun things!  Thanks guys soooo much!!

Today we had a family party for Joe.  It was a lunch celebration as Joe was off to play hockey tonight.  We got him hockey camp for his big gift, but JP & I had a couple fun ones for him to open today.  Joe loves pistachios.  The last time JP and I were at Costco, we saw this huge container and immediately JP said we should buy those for Dad's birthday.  We also got him a funny t-shirt that we knew the triplets would love: a Cookie Monster t-shirt.  Who knows if he'll ever wear it again, but it was fun seeing the little ones say "Cookie", "Cookie", "Cookie" when he put it on!

What's better than 4 lbs of pistachios?!




Party guests: Caitlin


Ryan:


Madison:




Yummy cake!

The Day the Camera Died

Yesterday afternoon, I turned around to see that Caitlin had not only climbed up on the changing table, but she had starting smearing triple paste diaper cream all over her face. I calmly asked Joe to go grab the camera so I could take a picture before I took her off.  I then set the camera down.....

A little while later, Ryan was sitting in a booster seat eating a snack.  I was out of the room for a minute when a heard a crash.  He had evidentally crawled up on the kitchen table where I had set the camera and grabbed it.  He was able to take 2 pictures and make 4 videos before it crashed to the ground.  I can tell he broke my lens mechanism and who knows what else.  Today, I took it to the camera store to see if they can repair it.  They think it will be about $150-$200.  I am so sad.  The camera itself is about $400 new, so it may still be worth is to have it fixed, we'll see when the estimate comes in this week.  Luckily, I still have my old camera, but I feel like I have lost a good friend.

The culprit:


The last video Ryan made:

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And here's *sigh* one of the last videos I made:
**those would be chocolate Cheerios on Caitlin's face :)

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Now We're Up to Speed

Sorry it has taken me so long.  Time has just not been my friend lately!  I really have been taking pictures of the kids and have had lots to write about, but I find myself lucky if I can get my orders done at the end of the night let alone update the blog.  Everyone is doing great.  We all had colds in the past couple of weeks, but (knock on wood) everyone seems to be healthy right now.  I'm counting the days until spring & the end of RSV season, so we can get out and about more!

Below this post are a few others of some recent happenings around here.  We've been really trying to keep the little ones out of public to avoid germs lately, so life has not been all that exciting.  Lucky for them, my parents came out for 10 days, so that was such a great break in the norm for everyone.  We were able to see Sean, Anne & George a few times too which we all love.  Its fun to watch the little ones interact more with their cousin & I think some days  JP loves George more than his siblings!

I decided to make an effort to take some cute pictures of the kids today.  Miraculously, the girls hair had remained somewhat straight and orderly after their baths.  It is definitely not like this 99% of the time!  I was impressed that Joe actually got them somewhat color coordinated today.  Many people would be impressed to know that Joe gets them dressed 90% of the time.  If I don't set out the outfits the night before he usually grabs from the closet himself.  I know he did not plan it at all, but it made for some cute pics!

Joe calls them "avid readers".  We spend a lot of time reading books around here. over & over & over ;)


20 months old! Ryan


Caitlin


Madison


Girls at Play


Caitlin always ready to give a hug:


We call her the little Mommy:


Getting a snack from Dad:


I hadn't put on the Elmo video for a couple of months. Oh my, its like they're addicted to it now!!

The Tooth Fairy Finally Came!

Yesterday at school, JP bit down on a snack and lost his first tooth. Last month the orthodontist had told us that his top 2 middle & his bottom 2 middle ones were getting pretty loose. We've been waiting for the first one to come out.

I guess when it happened, they sent him to the office. They gave him a cute platic tooth shaped necklace that holds the tooth. He was pretty proud when he got off the bus.

Last night, I pulled out my old pillowcase from when I was a little girl & we wrote his name on it. Its pretty yellowed, but it worked like a charm. It was cute, JP made a point to cover up his heat register vent with a book last night because he was afraid his tooth would roll out of the little pocket on the pillowcase and go down the vent. He didn't want the tooth fairy to miss him.

When I came in this morning, you could tell he was excited, but then told me he "only" got $1.50. I said I thought that was a lot as I only used to get coins from the tooth fairy. He then told me his friend Jaks told him that the tooth fairy gives $5.00 for the 1st tooth. Oh, the pressure!! I explained that maybe the tooth fairy had a lot of teeth right now and maybe didn't need as many, so they weren't worth as much. Then JP said that maybe she was just short on money right now. :) After he came home from school he said that everyone asked him how much he got. He then told me the $1.50 seemed right in line with everyone else. Whew!

I think we're going to be seeing her a bit more in the next couple of months. I can't wait to see his toothless grin. I also can't imagine how busy the tooth fairy is going to be when there are 3 losing their teeth at once!

The pillowcase, an oldie but goodie.  There's not much room for additional names.  We may have to upgrade soon!


I had to add this picture in because it makes me laugh. Little sister Caitlin bugging her big brother while he's trying to play his video game!

A Trip to Build-A-Bear

For Christmas, Nana and Pa had gotten JP a gift card for Build-a-Bear Workshop. We had never taken him over the years and he was so excited to go. Nana and I took him out for a "special day" while she was here.

JP checked out all the bears and then decided to pick one of the least expensive ones so he wouldn't spend all his money at once (made his mother proud!) He was so excited as he went through the building & adopting process. He named him Belldy. Since he got him as a Christmas present, I think he was thinking Christmas bells and came up with Belldy. At the end, he was able to pick out 3 outfits. He choose a Knight in Shining Armor, a Football and a Karate outfit. After the store we headed over to The Cherry Cricket, a fun place to get a burger. While we were waiting outside to be called, JP started playing on some icy snow. The bear stayed clean for about 30 minutes and of course he was wearing his white Karate uniform. Oh well, such is a 6-yr-old boy. Welcome to the family Belldy!

Looking for just the right one:


Giving his bear a heart:


Trying to think of just the right name:


Filling out the birth certificate:


Nana & JP with Belldy


Moments before Belldy was "broken in"

A Visit with Nana & Pa

I took far too few pictures when my parents came out on the 23rd for 10 days. As usual, we had a fun time with good eats & lots going on. They spent the first few days at Sean and Anne's and then came to our house. The kids loved having them here. The trio will still break out and say "Nana" or "Pa" throughout the day as if they are wishing them to appear. When they arrived home in South Carolina, my Mom called to say they made it home safely. I let each of the trio say hi to her on the phone. Now whenever the phone rings they all say "Nana, Nana", so cute.

We also got to spend time with Sean, Anne and George too. Below are a few pictures I did manage to sneak throughout their stay.

Pa juggling the trio:


Nana & George:


Reading books:


The O'Reilly boys:


Maddi looking like such a big girl!

Thud

Our kids have lots of nicknames around here.  JP will answer to Joseph, Joe or just about any other name you throw at him.  The trio has plenty too.  Madison is mostly called Maddi or Pepper (because she is so fiery) and Caitlin will go by Caiti, Caits or even Taters.  Months ago JP called Ryan "Thud" one day & it stuck.  He has certainly lived up to his name.

A couple of weeks ago he fell off of a highchair and landed with his top 2 teeth making an imprint under his lower lip.  Luckily it did not bleed for very long and no stitches were required.  The very next day he managed to escape from his crib for the 1st time.  I heard the "thud" and came running.  He somehow got a gash on the bridge of his nose, but it too stopped bleeding quickly.  He hasn't attempted to escape his crib since, but I know he will try again soon.  I keep saying a trip to the emergency room is probably in our near future, I just don't know when!

The kids eat their snacks at the table now sitting in chairs.  They're getting so big.  JP made the THUD sign just for Ryan.

Mom's Birthday

On January 13th, we celebrated my 38th birthday. Wow, that 40 number is creeping up! JP and I had church class that night, so we just had a quick birthday dinner with the 6 of us. Joe and JP went out and bought me some balloons and found a Sesame Street banner for $2.39 on sale they couldn't pass up. Of course it was a big hit amoung the trio. They couldn't believe they were seeing Elmo and Big Bird so big!

The boys made me a delicious cake and I got to open some fun gifts before JP and I headed out the door. Joe also made good on his promise to take me out to celebrate when my parents were in town. We had a great time and I always look forward to "date night!"

Ryan checking out the balloons:


Caitlin supervising the hanging of the banner.


Enjoying the festivites:


I asked them "Where's Elmo?"


I think they found me the perfect birthday card.  I love how they labeled all the kids.  On the inside it said "Don't Forget the Wine!" and they bought me a bottle of wine to go with it!