It's a zoo!

It is an absolute zoo around here these days!  At least it feels that way.  The boys are really on the move these days and tend to move like a little herd of animals.  It is hilarious.  The only time it's not quite as hilarious is when they gang up and do something like knock a kitchen chair over.  It's a miracle there are no broken bones in our house yet.  They push each other over, crawl over each other and just cause general chaos.  They are also into everything.  In the last few days I've caught myself saying things like "We don't eat magazines!", "Don't eat the bank statement!", "No dog food!".  Reese actually had a few nibbles of dog food after breakfast this morning.  They tear things apart, unfold laundry, make a mess and stand up against the door so that I can't get in.  Ah, yes.  They are boys.  :)

On a completely unrelated note I was interviewed for our town's newsletter yesterday.  I submitted a story about 6 months ago and they had room to put it in the letter for July.  It's a hometown heroes kind of thing.  I felt like the 2 officers who saved Reese deserved more than just a letter in their file and an extra day off.  So, I told the story yet again yesterday.  The reporter loved the idea of honoring them in a more public way.  It will be in the July issue.  Maybe I can get her to send me an electronic copy and I can post it.

Tomorrow is a big day for Noah.  He will hopefully have his first and last appointment with a pediatric cardiologist.  When he was born he had a little opening in his heart.  This is something that normally closes before a baby is born, but since they were premature it didn't have time to close.  Most of the time they close on their own and nothing needs to be done.  Our pediatrician has kept an eye on it and thinks it's closed.  We are praying that is the case.  I think they next step is just medication, so that's not a big deal either.  The worst case scenario is surgery.  I hope and pray we don't ever have to put one of our kids through surgery again any time soon.  So, tomorrow we hope to hear good news and make this the last ever appointment to a cardiologist.  Prayers are appreciated for this (and always..for everything!).

Finally I wanted to share what the boys and I did for Nate for Father's Day.  It turned out too cute not to share.

In case you can't tell, it's says DAD.  :)

Pictures!

I promised some pictures of recent events, so here they are! Here are a few of the first time the boys went swimming (in kiddie pools, in the backyard) 



Next is a nice family picture from the day my cousin got married. We were dressed up, so we figured we should capture the moment that I wasn't covered in food or snot. :) 
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The last picture is of a picnic I went to with the boys today. (A big "thank you!" to our friend, Sue, for going with me) It was a multiples picnic. I went to school with many of these ladies! It was a great time to get together and realize we're not the only ones who lead this crazy life of raising multiples! It was a blast!

Sorry about the pictures that are sideways.  I couldn't figure out how to turn them once they were loaded and I was too tired to reload them.  :)  So, tilt your head and enjoy!

Summer days and a look back

The past week has been busy and fun for us.  We've gone to the park a lot, including the splash pad near us.  We went to a wedding and the boys came to the after party.  We've just been busy.  I'll be sure to post pictures and write more about our events next time.  I also had a big first for myself.  I got all 3 boys in the car and went to the bank and to get air in my tire...BY MYSELF!!  That is a huge accomplishment for me.  You may be thinking that I am crazy.  What's the big deal?  If you have ever had multiples or kids close together you get it.  Packing up and getting everyone in the car is a ridiculous amount of work.  I did it because our week was going to be crazy and I knew those 2 things really just needed to get done.  Was it worth the work?  Yes, it was.  I felt like after 10 months I was a little bit more like a normal new mom.  Mark that down as a milestone for me.  :)

Last week my mom printed out our caringbridge journal for us.  Yesterday we were rereading some of what we had gone through.  We realized that this coming Saturday marks 1 year since I was admitted to the hospital with preterm labor.  Wow.  What a scary time in my pregnancy.  Then we read about the last few days and the day they were born.  I cried.  What an unbelievable day.  We were beyond ecstatic to meet our little boys.  They were so healthy and beautiful.  Then I read about Reese and how overwhelming and difficult the days surrounding his emergency was.  I realized something.  I thanked a lot of people, but never specifically my dad. He was at the hospital with me while I sat and cried in the ER.  He was such a great support for me while I waited for Nate to get there.  I will never forget one conversation we had.  Through my tears I told him it was the worst day of my life.  He looked at me and said, "Or the best".  He was right.  I still had my little Reese with me.  He was going to be okay.  What a great reason to give thanks!  Having my dad there with me was something I'll never forget.  So, thanks Dad!  What a great way to remember how much he's done just before Father's Day.

On a similar note I've been reading a book (very slowly) called The Miracle of Kindness.  It talks about how to look for people with a need and that 90% of the work is just showing up.  It's true.  There have been people who have been here for us all along and most of what is important to us is that they just show up.  There is nothing more difficult than when someone says I'll be there or I'll bring you a meal or I'll do that and then they don't come.  It makes it very difficult to ask for help (which is already difficult).  It encouraged me to really think about what I offer before I offer it.  I'm really looking for people who can use a helping hand and a way that I can feasibly help out.  After all, we've been in a season of need and know how it feels. So, look around.  I'm sure you can find someone in your life or even someone you don't yet know who could use your help.

On the move!

Well, all 3 boys are on the move.  Aiden army crawls like a crazy man all over the house.  He prompted us to put up gates, put in outlet protectors, etc.  He is into everything.  Reese is doing a cross between an army crawl and a regular crawl.  He gets tired of how slow his regular crawl is and goes into the army crawl.  Noah is doing the traditional crawl and it is hilarious!  Every movement is very intentional.  He thinks hard about every time he moves a hand or knee.  It is the cutest thing ever.  I love watching all of them move around.  They have also suddenly figured out how to go from crawling to sitting.  I was convinced they would never figure this out (okay, I knew they would eventually it was just taking a long time in my mind).  It's like they all of the sudden looked at each other and decided it was time to do it.  Aiden still lays on his side more rather than getting to sitting.  He looks like a model laying on his side.  Ha!  He generally pulls himself to his knees by things like the bouncy seat and then sits.

They are also graduating to big boys foods.  Thank goodness!  I was getting pretty tired of grinding everything up, including things like lasagna (it does not look nearly as appetizing when it's pureed).  We've starting cutting things up really small and letting them pick up their food.  Aiden is thrilled.  He wants to do everything himself.  They are also drinking out of sippy cups at meals.  Wahoo!  They still have an afternoon "snack" bottle with their yogurt for snacktime and a bottle before bed.

People ask me if it makes me sad that they're crawling and eating like big boys.  In short, no.  I love watching them learn knew things.  I LOVE that we can do more with them now.  They love going on the swings at the park.  That is so much fun to me.  I love watching them giggle as they swing back and forth.  I love that we can put them in the grass with a ball and they crawl around after it.  I loved when they were little and I could cuddle them whenever I wanted.  They didn't try to get away from me then.  :)  They are just so much more fun now.  I love to watch them play and move all around.  I'm also asked if I look forward to walking the way I looked forward to crawling.  NO!  That will be much more difficult for me to handle.  That's a big step in mobility.  They get into a lot now, imagine what they will get into then.  Oh my.  What 1 won't think of the other 2 will.  I'm asked often if I still have a lot of help.  Yes and no.  It depends.  I have 3 afternoons a week that I generally have help for a couple of hours.  Wednesdays I have my mom and other days there are people that I can call if need be. I am beyond grateful for the people who help me on a regular basis when they could easily do something else with their time.  I love having them here.  Generally speaking though the days are just me.  Is it hard?  Yes.  Do I sometimes wish I had more help so it would be easier to get things done?  Yes.  At the end of the day though I do my best.  If I didn't finish everything on my list for that day, oh well.  If the boys are well taken care of and I've survived the day I consider that a success.

I was thinking this week about how much we like to share our "journey" with other people.  We get a lot of enjoyment out of seeing other people interact with and love our boys.  Watching the boys with their grandparents, aunts and uncles, our friends and even people who are just amazed at the miracle of triplets is so great.  That wasn't as easy at first.  We live in a world where everyone is very private.  I can remember when we went through Reese's "episode" and surgery I had a very hard time understanding how it effected other people.  I just wrap my brain around the fact that it was hard on other people.  That probably sounds selfish, but that's reality.  It took me time to realize how hard that would be if I experienced it from a different perspective..aunt, sister, or otherwise.  So now that I see how much they can bless people around them I work hard to make sure we share what we have been given.

9 month stats and a visit to school

Last week Thursday the boys had their 9 month well-check at the pediatrician.  Wow. That pretty much sums up our visit.  To start here are there "stats":  Aiden is 28 inches tall and weighs 19 lbs. 15 oz.  Noah is 28 1/2 inches tall and weight 21 lbs. 8 oz.  Reese is 27 1/2 inches tall and weighs 18 lbs. 2 oz.  Those are some big numbers! Noah's weight can no longer be charted on a low birth weight scale!!  He was WAY above the 95th percentile for weight.  She was teasing him that he is obese on the preemie scale.  Who would have ever thought?!? My 3 and a half pound baby is off the charts!  Too funny.  She was very impressed with their interactions with her and their ability to verbalize.  She is just overall very impressed with their progress.  We were a little concerned that Reese would need a helmet.  His head is still flat in one spot in the back.  She said there has been enough progress without that she sees no need for one.  Phew!  That's a big expense that we don't have to worry about.  They did have to get 1 shot.  It was the first time Nate was there for a shot.  He was able to hear the sad cries along with me.  It made me feel better that he had to comfort them this time.  Noah barely cries because he has enough meat on his leg.  Reese is especially thin and has very little fat on his legs, so he cries the hardest.  I was also concerned about Noah's ears.  We stopped the medicine from his ear infection almost as soon as we started it because it was hard on his system.  She said both ears are a little pink, but that we should try to let it clear up without antibiotics.  I was happy about that!  At their next visit they will get a referral to have a hearing re-screen (they were screened before they left the hospital and passed).  We will also have vision testing done (for sure on Noah).

I also had to go to school this week and clean out my classroom.  It was so hard!  It was a lot of mixed emotions.  I was happy that I am now able to stay home with my boys.  I was sad because I loved what I did and loved the people I worked with.  I know this is a new stage and my life and I am really enjoying it.  Probably the best part of being a stay at home mom is making my own schedule.  I get up when I want, get dressed when I want, do what I want during the day.  Don't get me wrong, it's a TON of work to stay home with them, but it definitely comes with some pretty great perks (especially that I get to spend all my time with my guys!).  My friend Donna, who was our reading specialist at school and retired last year, came with to help me.  No, I still can't go anywhere alone.  Who knows how long it will be until I can.  I was very grateful she was willing to help!  We had a great time visiting!  Here are a couple of pictures.  The first one is of Aiden sitting in the front seat with me while we ate lunch.  The second one is (left-right) Donna holding Reese, Nancy (my friend who is the speech pathologist at school) holding Noah and me holding Aiden.  Next time I visit they'll be running around like maniacs!  They are all mobile and crawling to some degree now.  Let the madness of movement begin!

Continued...

I was having some issues with my last post, so I'll continue with a whole new post.  Anyways...

We also participated in the March of Dimes March for Babies.  The boys were great and we had a great time!!  We walked in honor of a baby named Camryn who died of a heart defect.  We looked around and saw many "in memory of" shirts and people who had babies born early who live with many disabilities.  We felt the same feelings we felt many times sitting in the NICU.  It's a mix of emotions.  It's joy that we made it through and now have 3 healthy babies, but a sense of guilt that we came away from this with 3 healthy babies and some people lose their 1 baby.  It's a constant reminder of God's faithfulness to us and the reality that things could be so much different for us.  We are blessed!!!  (notice the 3 exclamation points) :)   We also learned that we can keep raising funds for the walk.  So if you would like to support us in memory of Camryn and to celebrate the health of our boys the link is:   http://www.marchforbabies.org/mbrouwer

Yesterday Nate didn't work so we took advantage of the nice weather and had a "family fun day".  We went to the Michigan City Zoo, walked by the beach, had a picnic at a park and went to the outlet mall.   It was a fun day with lots of sunshine!

Last but not least here are some things that the boys have learned recently:  Aiden is army crawling all over the house.  Noah rocks on hands and knees.  Reese drags his legs behind him and pulls himself to where he wants to go.  Reese and Noah are waving "bye bye".  Noah has joined Reese in shaking his head "no"  (it's cute now, but I know it won't be soon).  Aiden says "Mom" a lot!  They all say "Dada".  Reese has learned how to take off his diaper (that child is too smart for his own good!).  We were missing most of our pacifiers.  We found 7, yes 7, in between Reese's bed and the wall.  Oh boy.  We are in trouble when that one grows up.  :)  

Well, that's about all for now.  I'm sure I missed something, but I'm really itching to get outside in this nice weather!  

So much fun in one update!

Again it has been too long since I wrote an update.  Last week was absolutely crazy around here.  I was so busy that I hardly had time to think.  So, this week I'm catching my breath and updating about the fun of the last couple of weeks and posting pictures of some things that have happened recently.

Just before Easter the boys got their very first haircut.  They didn't mind a bit.  My sister-in-law cut their hair (she does hair out of her house-so nice for us!).  She did a fabulous job and they loved it!

Reese before (and half asleep)

Reese after..I told you he loved it!

Noah after

Noah before (and excited

Aiden before

                                    

Aiden after