Their first Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! As you can tell by the photos, the triplets had a great christmas and were very spoiled. We spent Christmas Eve day with the Niebuhrs, eating, opening presents then going to church. The triplets got some fun toys, including a walking/riding car, lego table and "cell phones". On Christmas morning, we opened presents as a family. The triplets got some bath boys in their stockings and other small things, and some more legos. Mom gave them boring clothes, too. Christmas evening we went to the Hoefs house. They got spoiled with a wagon from Uncle Wes and Aunt Kara, a toy piano which they love and a baby video game system. They were quite tired after those two big days, and no sooner did they get recovered on Tuesday then we messed them up again on Wednesday and took them over to Grandma and Grandpa Niebuhrs for the day, while daddy and grandpa put up some storage shelves in the basement. We need them with all the baby stuff we have to store now. The project got finished up on Thursday and mommy is glad to have the basement all picked up and organized. The triplets got to spend all day Friday and Friday night with the Niebuhrs to give mom and dad some time off. They are spending New Year's eve celebrating with grandma and grandpa Hoefs so mom and dad can celebrate with their friends.

In other news, Will and Grace have had a little cold. Grace ran over a 100 degree fever for three days, so we took a trip to the doctor on Tuesday. Will never had a fever, but has a cough. Xander (knock on wood) hasn't gotten anything yet. Of course, they gave the cold to both Brian and I. I am on my fourth day of not feeling well. Aunt Kara got it, too. The triplets enjoyed christmas dinners, eating almost the same things we did. They are eating almost exclusively finger food now, we're just using up the baby food that is left. Their newest treat is burritos, a flour tortilla with baby food pinto beans and cheese. They are quite bland as far as burritos go, but they like them. Xander has even started doing the sign language sign for "more". It looks like he is clapping, but he is starting to understand that when he does it, he gets more food. He also has started doing "so big" on his own. We ask him how big he is and he raises his arms up, it's pretty cute. The funniest thing though is to make him yawn. If you look at him and open your mouth really wide, he yawns. He does it every time, even when he's not tired. It's cute. Grace has figured out how to walk behind the pushing toy they got for Christmas. She gets really excited when she is doing it. The boys, however, are content to ride on it and push the buttons.

The next thing we are looking forward to is their first birthday, in a week and one day. We are celebrating twice, so I will be sure to post pictures and stories from that.

The pictures:

Grace with great-grandpa Bill.

Grace wearing a duck towel she got from Brian's godparents, Mike and Cathy Gorka.
Will with a jingle bell crammed very far into his mouth.
The triplets in the John Deere wagon wearing John Deere t-shirts from Uncle Wes and Aunt Kara.
The boys playing with the lego/activity table from Aunt Lisa and Uncle Chad.
The boys with great grandparents Gerhard and Gisela Niebuhr
Xander on christmas evening.

Christmas card pictures

Here are some christmas pictures that are cute but didn't get used for our Christmas card. I don't have many other pictures from this week, so I thought I would share these.

Things have been going very well around here, they turned 11 months on December 8th. We can hardly believe that we have to start planning their first birthday party! The biggest development around here is that they are starting to imitate things. They will imitate sounds the others make. Grace does this tongue thing that sounds like "dither" and Xander will imitate her. Will has a little cough from a small cold he had. When he coughs, no matter where else they are in the house, Grace and Xander will fake cough. Will likes to "dance" and he will imitate others dancing. Grace, Xander and mommy also like to "sing". It's pretty funny how they will try to imitate the singing. Grace has also started waving "bye-bye". Although she does it at random times, not when someone is leaving.

They are also interacting with each other some. Sometimes it's naughty interacting (taking each other's toys, pulling hair, taking pacificers away). They are very sensitive about someone taking their toys away. However, we've caught them making sounds back and forth to each other, like a conversation. I saw the boys standing in their cribs touching hands over the railing the other day. It's fun to watch them become more aware of what's around them. Grace is sure aware of what food she likes and what she doesn't. The boys eat anything and everything you put in front of them. Xander even makes "yummy noises" while he eats. As for Grace, she really likes the Gerber fruit puffs, and is only so-so on Cheerios. If there is a mix of cheerios and puffs on her tray, she will pick out the puffs and leave the cheerios. Sometimes the only way I can get her to eat cheerios with her banana is to put the banana on top of the pile of cheerios and she accidentally gets a cheerio or two with her piece of banana. What a stinker!

We are looking forward to their first Christmas. We aren't going out of town this time, but we are spending all day Christmas Eve with the Niebuhrs and christmas day with the Hoefs. I know we'll have lots to post about all the toys and such they will get, so I will wait until after Monday next week to post. Merry Christmas, everyone!

First Christmas Party!

On Sunday, we took the kids, drove across town and went to the Lincoln Area Families with Multiples club's christmas party. It is really geared for a little older kids, they had games, face painting, food and snacks and toys. We really just wanted to go to meet some other multiple parents and see Santa, which we did both of. We didn't stay long, maybe 45 minutes, but we met some people with twins a little younger than us, and another set of triplets, 4 years old. Most of the members, around 75% I think, have twins, so that was mostly who was there. They each sat on Santa's lap, and didn't cry! Grace got her hand stuck in his beard, and got a little annoyed, but no crying. I'm glad we went, I'm hoping we can do more with that club now that the kids are getting older and more independent.

In other news, they turned 11 months on Friday. Still crawling everywhere, and crawling very fast! Grace has also started taking a couple steps one way or the other while holding on to a table or chair/couch. They love to walk when we are holding them up. They are eating a ton, and we've started trying lots more solid foods. They feed themselves for most every meal, which is nice. I've been able to stop making baby food! They are very curious and have really started examining things and figuring things out. It's very exciting to watch! We'll post again soon!

Lots of discoveries!

I have lots of pictures this week of them discovering different things. They enjoy standing everywhere now. The favorites, the piano and the gate at the top of the stairs and their cribs. They are starting to discover other things, too. Xander and Grace have started imitating some sounds. They also like to click their tongues and make funny noises with them. They will imitate those, too. Aunt Kara called Grace a lizard, she has her tongue flicking in and out and going all the time! They have discovered the other rooms of the house they don't get to go into very often. We are starting to keep the office and master bedroom doors shut, because the pull to crawl into those is just too big! They have also figured out that crying/whining will get them something. They have started crying next to our chairs at the kitchen table while we are eating, so they get food, too. They pretty much whine everytime they are somewhere they don't want to be. Another favorite discovery, the lid drawer. It's the only drawer in the kitchen I'll let them play in. I find lids all over the place. Exciting!

They have been eating very well the past few weeks. I think they're in a growth spurt. I've introduced lots of new finger foods lately. They have been eating deli meats (ham, turkey, chicken) cheese, fresh fruits, bread, plus all the usuals. It seems sometimes they can't get enough to eat. I wonder what it's going to be like when they're bigger...... We've been on some outings lately, to church again to play in the walkers. The triplets accompanied me christmas shopping on Friday. We ate lunch at the food court before we shopped. They made a huge mess, but enjoy eating and sitting in the high chairs there. They spent Sunday at the Niebuhr grandparents' house so mom and dad could finish their christmas shopping, and finish they did!

That's all for now. If all goes well, we are going to the multiples club christmas party on Sunday afternoon. Santa will be there, so if they're not too freaked out by him, I'll take pictures and post them on Monday.

Thanksgiving Pictures!

Here are the shots from Thanksgiving day. Thanks to Aunt Lisa and Grandma Ellen for these.

1. Will and cousin Lacy
2. Brian and Xander
3. Grace and I
4. Xander and Uncle Chad
5. Grace and Brian
6. Will and cousin Katharine

I'll update again next week with some stories and "blooper" pictures of our attempts at getting a family picture for christmas cards.

Lots to report!

Well, it has been quite an eventful two weeks. In that short time, they have all started pulling up to standing on just about everything they can find (as you can tell from the pictures), including the piano, that's a favorite. They have also started standing in their cribs instead of sleeping. We had to install self-adhesive crib rail covers, since they were chewing on their cribs and destroying them. We have also had our first experience with the stomach flu. On Sunday, Grace threw up several times, and just wasn't her normal self. She had a lot of diarrhea on Monday and wasn't good. Monday night, I got very sick and Brian offered to stay home on Tuesday to take care of the kids since I was so sick. Well, the boys got sick on Tuesday morning, with the vomiting and diarrhea too. So, poor Brian was left to take care of all four of us on Tuesday. We called in reinforcements on Tuesday night (my parents). On Wednesday we were all better, but still not ourselves. Unfortunately, grandma and grandpa Hoefs were not so lucky. They both got sick on Thursday, no doubt from us.

We however, had a fine Thanksgiving. We went to Shenandoah, IA to Brian's aunt and uncle's house. This was the Fiedler side of the family (Ellen's family), which is huge. There were around 50 people there, and lots of kids. The triplets enjoyed playing with the older cousins, and were pretty good the whole day. They got their first taste of pumpkin pie and loved it! I will post pictures of Thanksgiving when I can get them from Ellen. She was the one who walked around with the camera all day.

10 months old!

The triplets are 10 months old now, and doing something new everyday! They are all crawling very well, going from place to place, exploring and getting into everything. They are all even pulling up into their knees, Grace can pull up to standing. As you can see from the bottom picture, mom and dad have turned into jungle gyms and comedians, especially daddy. It seems that every noise that daddy makes is hugely funny! They are holding their own bottles all the time (see top picture) and are starting to drink out of tippy cups. They are eating all sorts of finger food and enjoying it all. They've settled into our new schedule and two naps a day, and are continuing to sleep well at night. Will continues to be the most laid back baby. He entertains himself with just about anything, loves to babble and explores everything. Grace likes to be wherever mommy and daddy are. She has started a screaming phase. She screams all the time, happy or sad. It's hurting our eardrums. See the next post for an update on Xander.

We've gotten brave the in the past few weeks and have taken them out to lunch and dinner at sit down restaurants, something we haven't done previously. They have been pretty good. We entertain them with cheerios and toys and hope that we get to finish eating before we lose control. We get a lot of look and questions from the other diners, but we are used to that. I'll update next week after Thanksgiving. We are seeing both sides of the family, so we'll have lots of pictures and stories to share.

A Series of Ornery Events

Well, since our Xander has found mobility, his true personality has started to come through. He is a VERY curious baby. We have been finding him in all sorts places doing all sorts of things, trying to satisfy that curiosity. Within a short time of crawling, he started pulling up onto his knees. And, that is how we have been finding him lately, pulled up on anything he can find. He is also a terror in his walker, going everywhere, ramming into things and grabbing anything he can find. You can tell by the pictures that he has fun with what he is doing, I just hope he learns soon that things don't always stay put when you are leaning on them!

Fall in Nebraska

During the nice weather two weeks ago, we took a walk. About a mile from our house on the trail is a lake/pond with ducks and lots of trees. We put them in the grass with the leaves and took lots of pictures. Here are my favorite. Xander is funny. He was eating leaves, and he didn't like the taste, that's when I snapped the picture of him making a funny face.

They spent the night with grandma and grandpa Niebuhr again last weekend on Saturday. This time, mom and dad had more than 24 hours off! (kind of a happy birthday present to mom!) They had fun, I think. They got their first taste of a swing at Holmes Lake Park. Will was a fan, I hear. Their crawling is coming along. Will does some sort of scoot thing with both his knees at once, and it gets him where he wants to go. Grace has also started crawling, but usually ends up going backwards more often than forwards. She has to really concentrate to get anywhere going forward. It usually ends up working when there is something out in front of her that she really wants! Everything else is going very well. They are growing like weeds! We will take advantage of these next few nice days and get outside some more. More pictures next week!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! The triplets (and parents) survived their first Halloween. As you can see, they dressed up as Darth Vader, Chewbacca and Princess Leia. I was able to buy all the costumes on ebay, I did not make them. They turned out pretty cute. We made an appearance at a Halloween party hosted by Brian's cousins Jeff and Amy Wiese who also have triplets who are 4 and a 8 year old daughter (see top picture). Then, we trick or treated at all the grandparents' houses. Aunt Lisa and Uncle Chad brought their two pugs who also dressed in our Star Wars theme, they were Yoda and Darth Vader. We had a hard time getting a picture of all them together, someone was always moving, but we did our best.

In other news, the triplets are up to three meals a day and down to two naps a day. We changed the schedule last weekend, and it was a little rough going in the first few days. And, daylight savings time didn't help. They are waking up quite early with the sun, but they are napping well during the days. Each nap is around 2 hours. They are enjoying their three meals a day, too. Lots of finger foods. We've been trying fresh fruits, apples, bananas and pears. So far, so good. Instead of candy when we went trick or treating, we were given Gerber baby crackers and cookies, so we will try those, too.

Pictures are:

The two sets of triplets, and the Wiese triplets' older sister Riley.
Triplets with Yoda (Nase the pug) and young Darth Vader (Tatze the pug).
Triplets at Grandma and Grandpa Niebuhr's house, our final trick or treating stop.
Xander as Chewbacca
Will as Darth Vader
Grace as Princess Leia.

Funny!

Another week has passed and we're still getting by. We've haven't been too busy, except the regular weekly outings and activities. The weekends are our most active times. We watched the Huskers almost beat Texas on Saturday at Aunt Lisa and Uncle Chad's house. The triplets had fun watching their two pugs run around and they didn't mind getting licked. We drew quite a crowd at church on Sunday. We were there for most of the morning. We're glad so many people are interested in how they are doing, though. We appreciate all our church family and friends!

The boys are still doing funny things and going places around the house. Will got stuck under a living room chair and was not happy (top picture). Xander has learned how to make their dinosaur toy make music. He has been having fun with that (middle picture). He also is scooting all over the house. Yesterday, he discovered the little silver door stops on the baseboards that make noise when you bend them. He had great fun playing with that, until he got mad that he couldn't put it in his mouth. Grace has been taking better naps. Bottom picture is of her after what must have been a wild nap! I will wait to post pictures until after Halloween night next Tuesday. If you don't already know, they are going to dress up as characters from Star Wars. It will be fun!