Trick or Treat

A light meal before we go out.

Ready to go! (They are supposed to be the Three Blind Mice. Batman is hiding)
Everyone together - the neighbor was mowing the lawn, so Nathanial was checking that out, Noah was checking on Hannah. At least Ethan, Aidan, and Austin looked at me. 50/50, not bad.

Halloween in Iowa is unpredictable at best. Every other year, it is freezing cold and we need winter coats. This year, I bought Aidan's costume large enough to put several layers under. The triplets got long johns and thick costumes. Then this happens:

We finish at the hospital and nursing home and we have three sweaty, hot babies:

(Nathanial is not happy - and I did buckle them the rest of the way, in case you were wondering)
Aidan is so hot:So we went home and stripped down to nothing for a few hours...and ate tons of sugar. Then we headed back out. The boys had so much fun. They got a little confused at first. At the hospital, you go through inside the building. At the nursing home, you even get to go into some of the residents rooms. So, of course, you are supposed to go into everyone's homes, right? After the first several houses, they finally got the hang of it. Around the third block, the sugar high turned into a sugar coma and they were good to go. Austin was very helpful to me the entire night - he got as much of a workout as I did. People felt sorry for him, so he got quite a haul of candy, too. We got home at 6:45 and the triplets were not hungry, just exhausted, so straight to bed they went. Thank goodness I gave them a light supper before we left!

[I must thank Austin for the use of his camera while we are still awaiting the arrival of my new one!]

Pumpkin Fun

Austin and Aidan got to carve pumpkins, while Nathanial, Ethan, and Noah got to paint theirs. We wanted them to be a part of the activities in some way and this seemed like a good idea - until Noah began painting himself more than his pumpkin! Oh, well. Fun was had by all.
We can't wait to start! (Noah, Nathanial, Ethan)Daddy's in the thick of things (Nathanial, Ethan, Noah)Austin's working on getting all his seeds outAidan's waiting to get startedWorking hard on the seedsNathanial can't wait to start with his pumpkinNathanial gets only a little messyEthan is so excitedWorking hard (Ethan)Ethan got a little messy, tooNoah has BIG plansWorking hard on his creationWonder what he worked harder to paint - his pumpkin or himself?Hannah is a little boredFinished pumpkins! (Aidan, Nathanial, Ethan, Austin, Noah, and Hannah's pumpkin)

So Excited!

Motherwear has posted a guest post by me. I am so excited! You can check it out by clicking the link (motherwear) or by clicking on the Motherwear box on the sidebar.

Ahhhh - Sleep!

Hannah has had her days and nights mixed up since long before she was born. As with all of my children, when I was pregnant, her party time started at 11 pm. Contrary to the rest of the family, it still is. All the boys very quickly settled into a correct day/night routine. The triplets we even had to wake up, because they were so tiny, to make sure they ate every 1.5 hours, 24 hours a day, for the first while. As soon as we were given the go ahead to let them sleep, they did. And at night. Aidan was up every 3 hours at night by the time he was about a month old. Prior to that, he was up every hour and a half 24 hours a day. Austin was a fantastic sleeper, all the time. I had to wake him up and by a month old, he was sleeping through the night.

Hannah has decided to be difficult. She does not like to be awake so much during the day. She does like to be awake in the morning for a little while. She wakes up at 1:00 to be up for a few hours (conveniently when her brothers are napping and at school). She then sleeps until right about 6:15 - perfect for when we're trying to eat supper. Then she's up. She catnaps, but generally she's awake. Until at least 12:30 am. Ahh!! Then she sleeps for about an hour and a half and is ready to go again. That's right - around 2 am. She will then go back to sleep right around 6:30 am. Just in time for everyone else to be up.

She has gradually gotten a tiny bit better, but not a lot. She's started to stretch her 12:30 time to about 3:30. It felt like hours of sleep. Plus, by about 4, Steve is pretty much OK with getting up with her and taking her downstairs. He's not thrilled, but he does it. He's so loving and knows how much I value my sleep.

Then, last night, she did it. She slept!!! Sweet, blissful sleep. She slept from 11 p.m. until 4:30 this morning!!!! It was awesome. And then, she went back to sleep! And slept from 5:30 until 8:30! And the triplets slept until 9!! Everyone slept!!! It was so wonderful. Granted, the triplets are pretty sick (nasty noses/some coughing), so that is why they slept, but at least they slept.

Now I can just pray she does it again...and soon!

New Wheels

We finally got our "new wheels" - that is, our new quad stroller. I was so excited. Mama now has her freedom back! Aidan claimed the umbrella stroller we were using for Noah while waiting for the quad to arrive. He now puts in three stuffed animals and takes them everywhere we go. We have a little trouble navigating it through our grocery stores door, so I park it outside and take everyone in. We've done it twice and so far, everyone has been very well behaved. This is saying something because it's the first time the triplets have ever been allowed to not be in a cart/stroller in a store. Big milestone for them!

Nathanial (left) and Ethan (R)


Hannah and Noah
Everyone is ready to go!
Aidan with his stroller of babies
Aidan's "babies"

One Month

I cannot believe it...Miss Hannah Grace is one month old! It seems like it has been mere days. And I know one month isn't a lot, but she just doesn't seem to have been here that long already. It is going so fast. She appeared to have smiled at me last weekend when my sister handed her back to me. Gas, I was sure. She smiles a lot...she doesn't really mean it. Or does she?? Suddenly in the last week, she has smiled at me a few times. Sometimes, she suddenly just breaks into a grin when I am smiling at her. She'll usually give me a big grin two or three times, then she's done again for several hours. Enough to let me know it's intentional, I think.

She is also cooing a tiny bit. She will "say" something, just once, then be done again for a while. I'm pretty sure she's learning how to do it and testing it out.

I am amazed by how fast everything is going. If only she could learn to sleep a little bit better at night - we'd have it made!

Fun at the Park

We have learned that our evenings go a lot smoother if the boys get out for a walk and usually some time to play at the park.

Ethan loves the merry-go-round:

So does Nathanial:
Noah isn't so sure about the baby slide (but Ethan can't wait for his turn!):
Ethan on the bouncy elephant:
Noah on the bouncy lion:
Ethan likes the swings:
Noah loves the swings:Nathanial enjoys some relaxation on the swings: Hannah sleeps through it all - all bundled up!

Ethan waiting to go down the slide:
Aidan going down the big slide:
Nathanial is going to take himself down the big slide (Megan came quickly to the rescue!):
Ethan going down the baby slide:

Kindness of Strangers

Austin had an appointment with his doctor this morning, and then we had some errands to run. We were in the costume department in Target and this lady came up and was gushing over Hannah, while I was talking to Steve about costumes. Austin was looking at costumes and came back in the middle of this lady and he informed her that we also have triplets and a five year old at home. She was in even more awe and then asked questions about them, to which Austin (and I) answered. She was a very nice lady.

Austin wants a costume, but he isn't going trick-or-treating and let's face it, buying four costumes breaks the bank enough (do the math - four costumes at roughly $25 a piece - it's insane for two hours of fun). We decided that Hannah doesn't need to go as anything and Austin didn't need to. There is a 4H Fun and Frolic for middle-schoolers, though, so he really wants to go and go dressed up.

Grandma was generous and gave each of the kids some money, so Steve said he could use that money and get his own costume. I told Austin OK and kept talking to Steve. Austin came back with a costume that is 1 1/2 times the agreed-upon price and wants it. He puts it in the cart. I see that and tell him, no he cannot get that particular costume. He forlornly goes to put it back. Hello? Where did he think the money was coming from?

Suddenly he is back with the same costume and a $20 bill. I looked at him and he quickly said that the lady gave him $20 for his costume. What?? She then comes around the corner and said, she told him to enjoy that costume. Same lady who was gushing over Hannah. I could tell by her posture and tone that she was not going to take the $20 back. Seriously...I can't accept help from people I know well and love, how am I to just graciously accept a $20 bill from someone I don't even know??? I knew I had to find a way.

The only thing that I can think of is that this lady understands how exhorbant prices of costumes are (she was in the costume aisle, after all) and understood my quandary with six little people at home. She probably didn't understand that he isn't going trick-or-treating anyway, but that's OK. I am just amazed that some woman would just hand my child $20 for a costume and so humbled that there are still people out there like that. Yes, Austin was dismayed, but he (for the first time ever) wasn't pitching a fit about it and was actually very gracious about putting the costume back. So it isn't like she was horrified by how he was acting.

There are still people who care about others and who want to spread some kindness. I wish that I could send this woman a thank-you, but I can't. That is why I chose to share my story here. If you have ever helped a person out in any way and have not been thanked, know that they greatly appreciated it. I was humbled that she was helping us out and did it through Austin. I knew she didn't want to embarrass me and I greatly appreciated it, even though it was difficult for me. I also remembered something that we had talked about in Bible Study a while back. When you don't allow people to help you, then you are not allowing them to bless you. And maybe in the process of blessing me, she was blessing herself. I certainly hope so!

Doctor Visits

Miss Hannah had her two week/four week appointment today. Dr. B was out of the office for her two week check, so we made it four.

She is up to 7 lbs, 14 oz and she was 21 inches long. She's growing! She is still so tiny. I am in awe of how tiny she is and how big the triplets look now. And they're still babies themselves!

Her watery/gunky eye is a clogged tear duct. To me, it already looks like it is clearing up and was near perfect when I asked about it (he probably thought I was insane). Her occasional projectile-vomiting is more than likely due to her eating too fast...which is what I thought. I do not think my body has correctly adjusted to nursing just one baby this time and it still thinks it's producing for three. I am still constantly springing leaks and it seems to be very forceful at let down. When Hannah decides to wait four hours to nurse, instead of her usual three, that's when she tends to spew across the room. OK, not quite that far, but it does make a nice "splat" on the floor behind us when she does it. She doesn't appear uncomfortable, though, as long as she is held upright for about 1/2 hour afterwards. It isn't near to the level Noah was...thankfully!

We are considered a "high risk" family for the flu and since Hannah is less than six months old, everyone else gets to get the flu shot. Yippee! Not. Austin will be getting the mist...no matter what. It will actually be the first time we've done it in a l-o-n-g time.

Caught Being Good

The boys were awfully quiet a few minutes ago...usually it means they are getting into something. I went to check on them, and what do you know? They were being good. All four were sitting down, politely watching Cat in the Hat, which Aidan requested. How nice to get them to all be good for a little bit!

Graduation Photos

Every once in a while I see a photo oppurtunity for graduation parties, future girlfriends/wives, bribery, any number of things. I know I'm starting young, but some things are just hard to ignore.

That would be Nathanial, in Aidan's unders, with shoes on, enjoying a fresh garden tomato with his ever-present silly grin.

Austin's Birthday Party

We finally had Austin's birthday party. He knew it would be delayed, so thankfully he was OK with it. Opening gifts for a 13 year old isn't as fun as opening gifts in the earlier years. He only wanted money, so he could get a Nintendo DS. You can't take numerous pictures of card opening, but I did get a couple. And, yes, he got enough for his Nintendo DS and it is on it's way. [We haven't given in totally - he still has to get OKs for every game. So far, he only got Brain Age 2. Seems pretty harmless...I hope!]

Austin with one card: Austin and his cake - Star Wars, of course:
Austin (and Aidan) waiting for everyone to sing:

He blew them all out in one blow!

Haircuts!

Finally, Ethan and Nathanial's hair grew out enough to go visit Barber John from the horrific cut they recieved this summer. They've actually needed cuts for a while, but today worked perfectly. They look like such big boys now!!

Ethan after:

Nathanial after (his face is filthy from his m&m's - Barber John's bribe):

Newborn Pictures

Today I was scanning some pictures for my post about Austin's birthday (on Austin's blog) and I found his newborn picture. When I opened the frame, I found my newborn picture behind his. I have always thought that our kids look so much like Steve, but when I looked at my newborn picture I was shocked by how similar Ethan looks to me. And not necessarily when Ethan was a newborn, but more Ethan now. So, since I am in the spirit of pictures, I thought I would post all our pictures on here and now pictures of the kids. Oh, and the triplets never got their pictures taken in the hospital (I still don't know why??), so their pictures are ones I made Steve take so I could see them while they were in NICU and I was hooked up to mag. Ethan's is one I did take, though (he never went). I do not have Steve's newborn picture, but I do have his baptism picture, and he is, according to the side date on the photo, approximately four months old, I think. To think, it all started with us!

Steve (black and white)

Trista (color - hospital)

Austin (1995/2007):

Aidan (2003/2008)

Nathanial (2/3/07 & 9/08)

Ethan (2/4/07 & 9/2008)

Noah (2/3/07 & 9/08)

Hannah 9/17/08 and a week ago