Busy day!

This morning I had another appointment with my OB. My blood pressure was much better this time (116/74) and the heartbeat on the baby was great (164)! I did lose one pound, but I am still very sick and still getting sick at least 5 days a week. Hopefully that will start to slow down very quickly. It's quite an adjustment to go from a pregnancy with an ultrasound every two weeks to five minute appointments that only involve being weighed, pee check, b/p check, and listen to the heartbeat. It is such a relief to hear the heartbeat and know that everything is still great with the little bean!

My next appointment is in four weeks and is also just a quick check. The "big one" is the month after that. I'm not sure I can wait that long to find out it's another boy!

This afternoon, some of the ladies in my bible study and I went to volunteer with the Friendraiser at our local radio station (http://knws.nwc.edu/page.php). I had never done it before and had always wanted to. We had so much fun! We spent two hours taking calls from people wishing to make donations to the station.

After Friendraiser, we went to Olive Garden and enjoyed dinner. It was a great afternoon and night and I had a lot of fun!

It was a wonderful day off by myself, but man did I miss my boys! Steve took the day off so I was able to go to the doctor alone, but I did get to see Aidan and the triplets for about twenty minutes before I left. By the time I got back from the doctor, the babies were down for their nap and then I also took a little nap. I left before they got up from their nap and didn't get home until everyone was in bed. I didn't see Austin at all yesterday. I know I could never work full time and see my kids such limited amounts of time, but it is very nice to get a "refresher" day once in a while and spend time in the company of friends.

Confirmation

Tonight, Austin and I went to the final test for the confirmants at our church this year. I am a mentor to one young man and Austin is in next year's class. It was really neat to go and see what they had learned this year.

Austin and I had a long talk afterwards about what confirmation means to our family and if he was really ready to take that next step. He accepted Christ as his Savior in second grade and I wanted to make sure he was still committed to that. He said that he was and he was ready to take the next step. To Steve and I, confirmation is our children confirming their own faith in Jesus Christ and making a commitment to serve Him and our church with their talents and gifts. I think all too often it is just something that is done because you are in seventh grade and not because of any personal decision or conviction and I believe that is wrong. Austin is ready to go forward and confirm his personal belief. If he wasn't, I would want him to wait a year or however long it takes to make the decision with his heart.

Easter

Christ Is Risen!! What a wonderful reason to celebrate! Easter is my absolute favorite holiday. It is one that doesn't rest solely on commercialism (if you don't let it!) and you can actually just get together with family and enjoy the day!

We arose early this morning for Sunrise Service and breakfast at church. I always enjoy that service, our youth do the entire thing and it is always beautiful. Then they serve a fabulous breakfast afterwards. Yummy! What better way to start the day than celebrating our risen Savior and all that He has done for us!! The sacrifices, reflection, and sadness of Friday then ending in the wonderful celebration of Jesus' resurrection is so Awesome!

We then had Sunday School and today I actually got a chance to teach kindergarten and first grade. I'm a little rusty...I haven't taught in almost two years and I have really missed it! The kids all looked beautiful in their Easter finery and they were festive and happy. I had a great group of kids and one special little visitor who contributed quite a bit for being there only for the day.

Then we came home and found eggs (we ran out of time before church this morning) and the boys got to look at what EB left them. They each received a movie and they got sidewalk chalk and paint to share.

Both Steve's family and mine then came for lunch and a relaxing afternoon enjoying everyone's company. The triplets were all a little nervous at first (they woke up from their nap to a houseful of people). Nathanial was the slowest to warm up to everyone, but they did eventually relax a bit and have fun.

Steve's mom is still in the hospital...she was greatly missed. She should be out soon hopefully! All in all, it was a great day!

Good Friday Gourmet, anyone?

Aidan decided that while I was busy and not supervising him, he would make himself a "gourmet" Good Friday lunch. Here is a picture of him hard at work, discovering he was caught (mind you, he got the dishes all out himself, along with all ingredients):

This is what the bowl looked liked when he was done mixing:
Daddy cooked it and this is the finished product: Steve has a gut of steel, I am convinced. He actually ate this lovely creation. Aidan cracked several eggs (with some shell mixed in for extra vitamins), then added grapes, strawberries, baby carrots, celery, and almonds. Steve said it actually wasn't too bad. Not one to waste anything, I think even if it was awful, he would have eaten it. The only problem was, Aidan hates eggs, so wouldn't even try his own creation!

Waterpark, here we come!

A friend of mine goes to the waterpark every year and has invited me along before. She always goes during spring break, so last year I (obviously) didn't go with newborn triplets. This year, though, we were looking forward to it.

Yesterday, her younger daughter got very sick with the stomach flu, so they were unable to go with us. I did take her other daughter with us, though. She is seven and had a great time with Austin. Yes, crazy me, decided to take six kids to a waterpark two hours away for the day...with only one helper!

Austin and J were OK playing by themselves, thankfully, so I only had to check in with them every ten minutes or so. They pretty much stuck together and only occasionally went off in separate directions. Aidan doesn't like the "big" waterslides, so thankfully, he was more than happy to stay in the "baby" pool with a little slide. He just kept going down that slide and had a blast on it. He made friends with a little girl who was there and they went down together. The babies stayed on the other end of that same pool.

Now, I thought, the triplets would enjoy the water, but would be cautious. I really did. I was so wrong! Noah and Ethan were little daredevils! They would go right into the water. If it came up over their heads (they couldn't get the grasp of walking in the water, so they crawled), then they just sputtered to the top and went back down. Sprinklers, anyone?? They loved them! Nathanial was more cautious, though, and he took a long time to get comfortable enough to go anywhere outside the two inch water. But three babies going in three different directions, with only two people to chase after them....well, that's exhausting!

All in all, it was a fantastic day. I am completely bushed, but everyone had so much fun and it was so worth it! The pool this year??? May not happen....

Bananas, Anyone???

Just exactly how many bananas can one family go through??? I keep wondering, but I don't think I even want to know. The babies favorite food is bananas and we go through so many, it's unbelievable! Thank goodness for KwikStar....Steve routinely gets our milk and bananas there because they are cheaper. The poor kid at the check out the other day did look at Steve a little odd with his four gallons of milk (three for the babies and one for us) and seven, yes seven, pounds of bananas! And it doesn't last long! That lasts them, on average, about three days. And even then we are usually out, but we wait until we need more milk to get more bananas. They eat them with breakfast, they eat them for snacks, they eat them when waiting for meals. If they happen to see the bananas, a whine lets out and they don't stop until they get them. And they don't just share one banana. No, they each have to have their own. If you try to get them to share a banana, they will end up sharing at least three, if not four, at each sitting. I am forever amazed by this. They do love other fruits, as well. They love apples, pears, peaches, grapes (skinned and cut into 1/4ths), almost anything we have given them. None with a vigor that matches bananas, though.

They go through a little over 1/2 gallon of milk every day, also. That just seems insane to me! They don't get juice, though (I have philosophical differences with juice), and they don't drink much water. All they drink is pretty much milk.

The other food they absolutely love is scrambled eggs. They cannot get enough! They usually get them for breakfast because they are fast and easy to make. Combined they eat six eggs at each meal. Which means that I go through a dozen eggs every two days! And eggs are no longer a "cheap" food.

Bananas, eggs, and milk...I swear they would be happy as little clams if I let them live on these three foods alone!

I am not sure I want to know what will happen to my grocery bill when these guys hit their teenage years!

Been a Long Time

It's been a long time since Daddy held all three babies at once. This week, they decided that if one was being held, the other two had to, also.
April 4, 2007
March 15, 2008

Why that name??

A blog that I read all the time (http://www.murraycrew.blogspot.com/) has been discussing how she named her children and I thought it was an interesting subject. Names are such an important part of a person...they are your identity. It's nice to know the story behind the name, too. So, here's how we named our boys.

Austin James: Austin's first name was a name that I loved for many years before having children. I really liked Tristan, also (for obvious reasons), but was talked out of it because it would be "too confusing." I sometimes am sad that I didn't still name him that, but he is totally an Austin. Austin means "great," which suits him also. James is after my Godfather and I wanted an "AJ." In case Austin suddenly became popular (which it did!), he could be an AJ. Incidentally, he hates being called AJ. James is in the Bible and means "supplanter."

Aidan Charles: Surprisingly, Aidan was easy to name. It was a name both Steve and I really liked. It is Irish for "Steven," so he could be a junior, without really being a junior. It is also in the Bible, but spelled differently. We should have looked a little more closely at the meaning ("little fire"), because he certainly lives up to it! Charles is after my grandpa.

The triplets were a little more difficult. Every name I loved, Steve hated and every name Steve loved, I didn't care much for. We went through lists upon lists. It was important that their names be biblical. I also didn't want them to rhyme or be super-similar sounding. They are individual little men and I want their names to reflect that. When we finally decided on names and had 2 N's and one E, my other stipulation became that the two identical babies could not both have N names. Middle names were picked based on what sounded best with what first name.

Nathanial Steven: Steve wanted Nathan and I just really don't like Nathan. I do like Nathanial, though, so we compromised. We are both aware that he will more than likely become "Nate" as he gets older and I don't mind that. I don't mind Nate, but for some reason Nathan just grates on me. I hate it when people call Nathanial Nathan...it's not his name. If we had wanted to name him that, we would have. We did want the spelling a little different, so changed the "e" to an "a." Nathanial was one of the twelve disciples and his name means "gift of God," which he truly is! Steven was after Steve.

Ethan Jacob: Ethan was a name that Steve had originally had on his list for Aidan and it came up again with the triplets, so I figured he really liked it. Ethan is also in the bible. He was a very wise man and authored the 89th psalm and is mentioned in 1 Kings. Ethan means "strong," which suits him also. Jacob is after noone. I really wanted one of the boys to be a Jacob, but one of Steve's cousins goes by Jake (not his real name), so that was out as a first name. Jacob means "supplanter." Ethan is the only one who is not named after anyone.

Noah Robert: Noah was the easiest of the three to name. His name had been on our list for three years and we knew our next boy would be Noah. His name means "rest, peace" which Noah certainly needs! (And, obviously, Noah is the dude with the Ark and all the animals in the bible.) Robert is after Steve's brother who passed away and it was important to honor him through one of our children.

As to how we named them. I have heard a lot of people who name multiples in the womb. Baby A is such and such, B is so and so, C is....it goes on. Well, our baby A, B, and C kept changing positions, so who was A one week may not necessarily be A next week. We had a difficult time keeping track of them and they were all over the place while I was pregnant. Nathanial would go from being breech to transverse to vertex, much like his big brother Aidan. He finally settled into transverse around week 30 and stayed there, holding up Ethan and Noah. Ethan and Noah were also breech much of the time, but occasionally, they would go vertex. Because I couldn't tell who was where and who was who, we did not name them in utero. We had their names picked out, but we had no idea who would be who.

When they were finally born, Ethan came in with me right away and Nathanial and Noah went to NICU for a few hours. I was holding Ethan and he just seemed like an Ethan to me. I was debating this with myself when Austin and Aidan arrived to get their first look at their new brothers. Austin looked at me and said, "Did you name him yet, because he looks like Ethan." So, with two of us in agreement, we decided he was Ethan. Ethan was one of the identical babies, also, so that made it easier (and harder) to name the next two. I finally got to see and hold Noah and Nathanial after my mag (oh, glory days) at 3 am. I was holding Noah and he looked peaceful and like a Noah, so he was named. Nathanial got Nathanial by default, I guess you could say, but not really. I truly believe that God ordains our names long before our birth anyway, so that helped me to feel a little less anxious that I was naming them correctly! Because Nathanial and Noah were not named for over a day, Nathanial's nurse insisted on calling him "Baby A" his short stay in the NICU. I kept reminding her he had a name, but she wouldn't listen. Noah's nurse, on the other hand, was thrilled to know that he had a name and quickly crossed out "Baby C" and put in Noah in big letters. For some reason, Ethan also remained "Baby B" for much of his stay, with "Ethan" written in above it. We were only their for six days, though, so it probably doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things!

If this baby is a girl, she has had a name for over seven years and she will be simple to name. If this baby is a boy, we have a battle on our hands. We truly have run out of boy names. Every name I love Steve truly hates. He may have to compromise this time. Either way, we are keeping this baby's name a secret until he/she arrives. (But if it is a girl and you have paid any tiny bit of attention to our names, you will know her name!) And, of course, the name will be biblical.

Piano Time!

Nathanial, Ethan, and Noah love the piano lately. They climb over to it and then play. It started because we had a package of diapers on the side, so they could climb on top of that to play, or continue to climb and get on the bench. So we have now kept a package of diapers by it so they can continue. I got Ethan and Noah on video the other day.

Austin's Solo

Austin had his Variety Show on Monday night. He had one solo and parts in two skits, a ticket line and a "Fear Factor" skit. He did a great job! The video is a little shaky...I was holding Noah and Ethan was also trying to grab the camera. It's also a little loud with Ethan and Noah. (Nathanial was being very good!) Austin is the second part. It was part of a reprise of 90's songs and his song was "After All." It's also on the dropshots page (in the links on the right under "family photos").

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

New Blog

I have started a new blog, just for Austin and parenting a child with Asperger Syndrome. I try to keep this blog focused on the upbeat and positive things and I want to remain that way, but many times there are a lot of other things going on with Austin that don't get mentioned or get swept under the rug. It is www.allforaustin.blogspot.com if you wish to visit it. It is very honest and raw and will not always be pleasant, but if you would like to peek into that side of our lives, that's the place to find it.

So Cute!

Today, as I was getting Ethan dressed, I tickled him. I do this a lot because I love their laughs and it is a gauranteed way to get a deep belly laugh. Noah was sitting right next to me, his common perch whenever anyone is getting a diaper change or dressed. He leaned over and tried to "tickle" Ethan, too! It was adorable. Of course, it turned into just a pinch, so Ethan hated it and Noah was confused, but it was adorable. Noah kept trying and he'd giggle while he tried, only to be slightly dismayed when Ethan glared at him.

It is so much fun to watch them grow and see how much they interact with each other. They try to copy each other and everyone else all the time now and they have so much fun together!

Just to Clarify...

Thought I'd better clarify. We do not know the sex of this baby. Aidan's quote is what it is because he is sooo excited for a sister and is convinced that this baby is a girl. I've tried telling him this baby could be another brother, but he has told me it cannot be. His exact words were "I have too many brothers, Mommy, for it to be another boy!" He is very funny and very convinced, but none of us have any idea what this baby is yet.

I didn't realize it was confusing, until after looking at it again, but we don't know yet. We will certainly find out though!!!

Our Surprise!

To My Husband

I am feeling a little gushy today and I just want the world to know how much I truly love my husband and appreciate all that he does for me and for our family.

He is an amazing man, husband, and father. I am truly in awe of my husband many days. He handles things with so much more grace and patience than I could ever wish to have. He loves to play with our boys and gladly takes care of them and their needs whenever he can. He takes off time without any complaints for various illnesses (theirs and mine), school activities, meetings with teachers, extracurricular activities. He takes off almost an entire week in August just to be sure that he is there for Austin during fair, to help him however he can and to watch Austin at any of the things he participates in. Our boys will always know that our family comes first, before anything else, work included. I feel so blessed to have a husband who knows and understands the value of family.

He is deeply rooted in Christ. His faith was a catalyst to my acceptance of Christ. We have always had amazing discussions. If I don't understand something, I can ask him. If I just want his opinion on something, I can go to him and sometimes it's exactly what I think and other times, he puts a whole new spin on something that makes it that much easier for me to understand. I am so thankful that my husband is a man of God and is saved and is helping me to raise our boys with that same faith. I am indebted to his parents for bringing him up in a home where Christ was important and instilling that faith in him.

Steve and I have so much fun together. We just laugh together, often, and that is critical to a good relationship.

I love raising my children and I am thoroughly enjoying the years that I have them under my care, but I am also greatly looking forward to our retirement and to the time when we do not have children in our home. I am excited to look to the future and see what we may do together and spending our days together. I love every second of the NOW, while still looking forward to the LATER. I enjoy every minute I spend with Steve and I know that I always will.

I hope that my children can find a spouse like I have found in their father; can have healthy relationships and happy families. I hope that we are raising them to understand that God comes first, then your spouse, then your children. If you have God first, spouse second, everything else will fall into place. We know together Who to turn to when we don't have the answers and are struggling to understand why we are going through something.

I am incredibly blessed to have my husband in my life as my best friend, my lover, and my co-parent.

I love you, Steve!!

12 Month Appointment; Part 2

The triplets had their follow up weight check appointment today and immunizations. Their weight had dropped off at their 12 month appointment and they had ear infections, so we decided to hold their shots and the doctor wanted to re-check their weights today. Well, the little chunky-monkeys gained weight. We are pretty sure they were not eating as much as they appeared to be when they were sick.



On February 4, their weights were:

Nathanial - 18 lbs, 6 oz
Ethan - 18 lbs, 8 oz
Noah - 19 lbs even

Today, they were:

Nathanial - 19 lbs, 6 oz
Ethan - 20 lbs, 2 oz
Noah - 20 lbs, 2 oz

Wow! Big guys!! We were happy to see the weights go up. All their ears were clear, so they received their varicella and pneumococcal vaccines. Nathanial cried a few seconds, Ethan a bit longer, and Noah screamed for a good few minutes. He was not happy about it at all.

Ethan and Noah's lead levels came back at a normal level, but Nathanial's was super high (15), so his has to be repeated next month. Hopefully, it was a lab error and all will be fine with the next draw. If the next one is off, then he will have to have a "real" draw because they are more accurate. If that's still high, then we start inspecting what he is getting into that the other two are not. I'm just praying that it will come back normal with the next one.

Ethan and Nathanial's iron levels were both low, so they are now both on iron drops three times a day. These things smell disgusting, but they love them! I am shocked with the excitement they show every time it is time for medicine! Makes it much easier to give than to worry about if they hate it.

All in all, everything with the triplets is great!