Sticks & Stones.....& favorite toys!

Before Cast

Well, here we are for the second time in less than 4 months. Nothing like 2 broken bones before you baby turns 2 to make you feel like a good mommy! This one...right distal radius fracture! The triplets were gifted a cool slide for Christmas (age appropriate for those wondering). The first week or so we only allowed them to play with it when Mommy or Daddy played too, but as time has passed, Mia seemed to be able to play on it pretty well by herself. She would run laps around the boys. In the time it would take Deuce to climb the step side she would climb and slide down 3 times. She would slide feet first on her belly, head first on her belly, on her lil' butt. Whatever she wanted. She would get to the bottom, belly laugh and "run" around to the steps and do it all over again. Okay...no problem! She has it down!!! Well....not so much. Took a small tumble off the step side, and the highest part is about a foot and a half from the ground...ugh.

So, Mia was at it the very next day...splinted and all...here Mia goes...climbing the steps with her good hand and an elbow...really!!?! So needless to say...the favorite toy in the house has been turned upside down until she is/was casted. I am trying to come to the reality that I can't save her all the time. She is such an adrenaline junky already! Swinging from the table, climbing on kitchen chairs, climbing high chairs and hanging off upside down, stunt driving her tot bike and riding toys... Lord, what to do with her!!! She's only 16 months old (almost) for God's sake!

So off to Dr. Humeniuk, AGAIN! Mia received her second cast in less than 4 months. We could have left her in the splint, but decided to cast her since she is officially a danger to herself. Dr. Humeniuk mentioned a bone disease called osteogenisis imprefecta. It is a genetic disease that effects the proteins in the body. The true tail sign is a bluish color in the whites of the eye. He briefly checked Mia's eyes and said they appear to be white, but it is possible there are no apparent signs. If she does experience another fracture in the "near" future, it is something we should possibly check her for. We should pay attention to her teeth as well. Cavities/discoloring showing early in age (near future) could be a sign. Dr. Humeniuk did review the x-ray and said that he doesn't see any abnormalities in her bones that would suggest any bone disorders, but just to pay close attention going forward. Sometimes there are no symptoms with osteogenisis imperfecta (brittle bone disease). At this point we are not so concerned...just attentive. I did question if prematurity could have something to do with it. He advised us, "Not at this stage." Ha! He also said that sometimes E.R.'s overlook this disorder and will get CPS (child protective services) involved after repeated visits...let's not go there please, Please. PLEASE!!! We are very loving and attentive parents and are thankful every single day for our little blessings!!!!! Never Ever EVer, EVER!!! would either of us go there, nor would we allow anyone else to go there. I may have previously mentioned shaking a baby, but really!?!??? NEVER EVER EVER! Seriously, I, myself, could never live without any of them. I can't even recall my life prior to triplets. I panic when they over-sleep 20-30 minutes. I hurt when they hurt. I am sad when they are sad... as does any other mommy, and I would never want it any other way!

Guess 1 year pics will be on hold for another 3 weeks....Geez!

2011...going in with a bang!!!!

Deuce Man on our pretend New Years Day....never would keep it on on the real day

Jevin-so pleased with his New Years gear

Mia- On the real day...she wasn't sure about her tiara....the pretend New Years...loved it!

Well, it's a new year ya'll...turning out to feel like we are still in 2010! As my month of blogging progresses, you will be able to match some of my lovely experiences with those of last year...ha! We can start with me being a lazy blogger this last month or so, but as you also know, I fixed that so...patience people, patience.

As with any other little holiday, I did some themed pics of the triplets. Again, never getting a perfect pic that was just what I wanted for my blog, so then we faked New Years a few days later...still never got a perfect pic. The boys for some reason refuse to wear the little hat. Mia, on the other hand, likes it and wore hers around the house for a bit. The boys, however, also refuse to allow Mia to wear anything on HER head, so I had to rescue the paper tiaras before they were ruined, just in case I felt the urge to fake New Years day again. Then, I got to thinking, maybe the boys have a problem wearing a "tiara"....shoulda bought the hats!!! Oh well.

Let me get one in, in December

Whew!  My sincere apologizes!!! I have not been with it since our trip to California.  I get stuck on what I want my next post to be about, and I have been struggling to catch the videos of each of them that I wanted to post.  Then, I started on what I wanted my approach to the Holidays blog to show.  Didn't get the pics I wanted from that.  Then, I have been lazy.  The days I keep them home have been spent in PJ's nearly every day, and then I couldn't post pics of them in PJ's...(might think I was a bad mommy).  Lets face it, most of my days are spent in PJ's... thought it only fair the kids wore theirs all day too.

So lets see...the month of December has been trying but good.  Returned from Cali, and the kids have perfected their walking skills.  Jevin walks like a little old man. He shuffles.  Deuce is the high stepper with the belly stuck out, looks like the Jim Carey Grinch to me.  Mia of course has to be the perfectionist so I can't compare her to anything.

Christmas was good. The triplets breakfast consisted of gummy worms and cotton candy! YUMMY! So goodbye puffs! You cry...a gummy worm will fix it! Marcus and I didn't get too out of control since they still don't really know what is going on.  They would start to open a gift and became more interested in the wrapping paper, rather than the cool new toy that was inside.  Then once they did notice the new toy, they could care less about opening the rest of the gifts.  They got some pretty cool stuff though! Next Christmas, if you see our living room furniture on the front lawn, it is because we had not choice...the play room is stuffed!!!! Then I find it hard to dispose or hand me down too much stuff that they already had....what if they want to play with it again?

I did put up a tree.  Originally I had decided I wouldn't go there.  Since they have started walking, I find I have to keep them out of stuff way more then when they were crawling.  I thought the tree would be one more thing I would have to fuss at them about.  Surprisingly enough, they didn't mess with it all that much.  They didn't start messing with the gifts until the gifts started to multiply, then they just couldn't help themselves. The pile of bows on the floor beside the gifts got larger and larger as the day approached.  I will say, they already have learned to shake a gift...are they trying to figure out what's in it?

Stay tuned for new "professional" pictures.  Our intentions have been to have them done weeks ago, then we got black eyes, scratches on the face, lazy parents, Holidays, traveling, ugh!! So, coming soon!  Maybe....

Lets see...We have been trying to teach table manners so we can go out in public with the triplets without calling so much attention to our table (My inner-self is so conscious of judgement with them).  We have a family sit down dinner every evening.  So much fun!  And one of them seems to always do something that makes you laugh your face off. (Look at us creating memories!) Our last Dr. Appointment, doc asked if they were eating with utensils, so it has become my first priority to teach them how to eat with a spoon by their 18mo check up!!! (Well, right after learning to ask for something...instead of screaming or whining, because all of the sudden they have started asking for stuff, fish crackers, paci's, etc.  Mia even goes to the pantry door to whine for snacks. Who taught them that stuff? I am still working on phonics! One day they will communicate with me in a way that makes life easier!)

Well enjoy...hope to be back sooner then later! Happy New Year!

Our First Plane Ride

Packed and Ready To Go!

Sorry it has been so long!  We have been fairly busy.  We packed up and flew 1700 miles across country to NOT SO SUNNY California.  Yes, I said we FLEW, with three 14 month old children on a three and half hour plane ride to San Jose, CA.  I spent a week making lists of all the things to bring, 3 days setting out 12 days worth of clothes for 3 kids, matching bows for Mia, shoes, socks, toys, snacks, jackets, car seats, strollers, baby bath essentials, thermometer, butt cream, tooth brushes, DVD player, blankies, paci's, PJ's, just to name a few.... and amazingly enough, been here for 5 days, and it doesn't seem we forgot a thing!!!! Yeah!

We headed out Thursday morning and I will admit, I was terrified.  3 1/2 hours in a stuffy airplane with three 1 year olds...I just knew they would cry at least 2 1/2 of the 3 1/2 hours.  Nope! We were blessed to have had three super happy babies for the whole plane ride.  Mia did fuss for about the last 20 minutes, but I will pass it off on her ears popping.  Mine were killing me on the decent so I can only imagine how she must have felt and didn't really know how to relieve them.  Luckily we had the first flight out of Dallas and the plane was pretty empty so each adult got a whole row just to ourselves with one baby.  First, we would not have been able to sit together anyway, they would have staggered us due to lapping the baby and not having all three in one row, I am assuming due to the oxygen masks in the event of an emergency, but the airline was completely accommodating to us.

We did get the excessive stares at the airport, and here and there on the plane as we were loading, (I think I hit nearly every isle passenger in first class with my over-sized diaper bag), but I am happy to report it was nothing like the freak shows I have experienced at Walmart and such.  Not quite sure why, but I still feel so "judged" when I am in public with the three of them.  Although, that is getting better too.

Triplets at play with Trevor, the Ross' little boy

Mia hogging toys at Nana's

Anyways, thus far, it has been a good trip.  The babies have been able to meet their aunt and uncles and some dear friends.  We took them to our friends house we haven't seen in over 11 years, and the kids had the time of their life. Plus, we were greatly blessed to be able to take our 5th generation picture on Saturday.

(L-R) Marcus & Deuce, Great Great Gma Georgia, Nana Julie & Jevin, Great Granny Ginger & Mia

So lets talk about the time change....time is two hours behind our Texas time. The first day the kids were ready to go to bed at 5:30 California time, so you know what that means....yep! Up at 4:00 AM.  Lucky us!  Over the last few days they have adjusted to real time, but that means when we get back to Texas, they most likely won't want to go to bed until 9:30PM for a few days....first daylight savings time, then Mountain Time all in the same month....Lord help me! And the kids have been co-bedding.  They do really well! Every now and then we have been woken by Mia pounding on the bedroom door to get out, or Deuce (somehow) getting himself under the bed.  We have a twin air mattress that fits pretty snug between the bed and wall, but he still managed to get himself between it and the bed frame...who knows....

Holy Hair!!!!!!!!!!

So I admitted a few weeks ago that I rarely brush the triplets hair, matter of fact, they had most likely not had their hair brushed in a year of their life.  I give them a bath, wash it, and when they get out I put a little baby oil in it and kinda fluff it with my fingers.  After this tiny comment, I decided I would start brushing the hair, but let me explain...this is an example of why I haven't...

So I have business in the front...and party in the back....I have no idea what to do with her hair.  I do two pony tails...not cute...one ponytail on top, nope, not cute!!  Baby oil and little bit of messy fingers on top...that works, but still so dry and frizzy in the back...ugh!

The boys on the other hand have such thin hair, so it's more like middle aged balding in front and a small get together in the back....mmmmhh!

The picture on the right depicts what brushing does to "I wanna be straight, but I am curly too" hair.

Now What????

Triplet trivia...more like twin trivia

Can you tell me who is who?  I will post the answer next Thursday....have fun!

 We'll go with
Blue:
Red:

Sorry..no prize for winning...just for fun for my loyal blog readers...

Good Bye Pink Cast!!!

Mia got her cast off today.  Dr. Barry asks, "Is Mia afraid of the vacuum at home?"  Well she is but, after 2 weeks of the blow dryer every other day, she shouldn't be, but she was given her own little head muff thingy's to muffle the sound of the saw a bit...she did very well.  She fussed for just a moment and then seemed more interested in what was going on then the sound of the saw.  Yeah!!! No more cast.  Most things in multiple life seem to become a beating every now and again...then add 10 minutes of blow drying a cast to bath time...thank goodness she got it removed today!!  Dr. Barry said she has healed very well.  She actually had broken her Tibia and her Fibula but both fractures were right above her growth plate in her leg so she should have no long term effects.  She will walk slightly funny for a few weeks, just favoring that leg for a bit, but after about 3 weeks she should be back to normal...or what we would think is normal...Mia did fracture the same leg we have been concerned with previously...we will see how it all progresses, but as of now, Dr. Barry will not need to see Mia again, although we are welcome to take her back if we have concerns in the near future.  She's doing very well. Almost as if she never had the cast on in the first place!

Surprisingly enough, the cast was in pretty good shape, slightly dingy, but no scary stuff on the inside, like crushed fish crackers or rotten bananas!!

Lil' Bo Peep has Found Her Sheep!

Saturday we loaded up the truck and headed out to the pumpkin patch.  We spent a little time feeding the animals.  It was cute, but the kids would rather have ate the feed so they needed a bit of assistance.  Shoot, the pumpkin patch should have paid us...seems we were a bit more of an attraction then the goats and painted hay bales. Many oooo's and aaahh's and questions, and whispering...I am getting better with it though. We got a few good pictures here and there, but turns out the older they get the harder it is to get any good pictures of the three of them all together.  

Trick or Treating went well.  We stopped at our first house and each of the babies got a sucker and we really didn't need to go anywhere else, but we tugged on. They took to trying to eat the sucker, paper and all, and they could care less about anything that happened after that.  By the time we had made it around the block they had eaten the whole sucker, and every piece of candy in their buckets was sticky, as were they. It was a good time and created good memories. They were so cute!

ChooOOOooo ChooOOoooOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay...so the choo choo post...I have seen the Cox Quads walking the boys and girls several times in their choo choo, and I finally decided that I had to have one.  I went to Step2.com  and low and behold...the beloved choo choo had been discontinued!  They had the trailer....a lot of good that would do me with out the engine!!! Okay, Now What!??! Next best thing...EBay!  I check EBay and they were selling them for over $100 a car.  So fine, maybe I don't need it that bad. Thankfully, Step 2 was busy working on a new version to come out in fall...so I patiently waited.  Finally, courtesy of Nana! We got our choo choo.  I tracked that package like there was a million dollars in it. I checked the front door no less than 4 times the day it was to arrive.  FedEx delivered it at about 5:30, and of course I had to open it immediately and put it together (Never mind my husband had just arrived home after a week long business trip).  Then...I even let the triplets stay up late (7:30pm) for their very first ride. After all is said and done, I absolutely love the Choo Choo more than they do.  Don't get me wrong, they LOVE it too, but it is absolutely Mommy's favorite thing since the Pampered Chef pitcher. It is much easier to maneuver than the triplet stroller.  It turns corners like a race car.  The seat belts are great, and it has under-seat storage in the front car.  Love Love Love it!  Each time I take them for a walk I say "Choo Choo" and they know we are getting ready to leave.  They even try to say "Choo Choo" too, but it could be mistaken as "Cookie" if you don't know the difference in their phonics.

So, I set up my own "Pimp my Ride" shop and pimped out each baby's car.

Cousin Hayden and the boys

Well, coming up, we are hitting the pumpkin patch this Saturday....then Halloween # 2...I haven't been this excited since I was 7, Can't wait till Sunday... the triplets were only a month old last Halloween & we were so blessed to have them home with us already!!!! We will see how it goes this weekend...costumes are so cute!  

Sticks & Stones....and big people beds...

Well, this is definitely not a post I was hoping to have to make anytime soon.  Well, probably ever, but it will be part of our life for the next two weeks so I might as well share.  I was hoping this would be a happy blog!  I have been hoarding "choo choo" pictures for four days, then Mia has to go and break her leg!!!!

I think I mentioned in my last post, or two, that we had a visit to the ER while we were on our trip to Kansas. I was told she had a bruise.  If she wasn't putting weight on her leg in 7-10 days to take her back to the doctor for new x-rays. She started bearing weight on it after about 4 days, but she was walking on her tippy toe.  We watched for a few days hoping she would start putting her heel down.  Well, the day I went to make an appointment I look over and she is walking (cruising) heel down.  Whew!! No worries.  She went about 4 days, getting around like normal.  Monday, I notice she is fussing and when I picked her up she wasn't wanting to straighten her leg.  As I also mentioned in a previous post, Mia had diaper rash from the 8 poopy diapers a day (I might be exaggerating), so I thought, "Hmm, it must irritate the diaper rash when she moves her leg."  Went to change her diaper and the diaper rash is nearly gone.  So I grab her leg to put the new diaper on and she cries.  I move her leg around, she cries.  I move her foot around, she cries.  First thing Tuesday, we went to see Dr. Reyes.  Doc sent us for x-rays.  I get a call at about 2:30 saying it is fractured and I need to take her to a specialist.

After calling the specialist, making Mia and appointment through my sobbing, I rushed to pick up her x-rays for our 8:15am appointment this morning.  Yep, buckle fracture in her lower right tibia.  So, we headed out early, dropped the boys off at the Granny's, and off to Dr. Barry's

So there we sit.  Dr. Barry asking what had happened.
 I explained what a great mommy I had been 2 weeks prior, the ER visit, the diagnosis, and then the accident on Monday; thought maybe big boy Jev had fell on sissy's leg, but through a few conversations, it seems she may have fallen off of the bed again.  He explained the fracture was new.  If she had broken it 2 weeks prior they would be able to see the healing in the fracture, and the x-rays showed a new fracture. This was a bit of relief as I had sat and pondered all day yesterday about how I felt like such a bad mommy for possibly letting my lil' Mia run around with a broken leg for two weeks. I just felt so bad for her having to have that pain and not being able to fix it. So I doped her up with Ibuprofen and carried her around for 5 hours.  Needless to say, her night was pretty sleepless (as was mine).  She woke ever 45 minutes or so from about 2:30 am on.  Poor baby!

Mia was casted.  She did so well.  Dr. Barry says she will wear it for 2 weeks.  The break was high enough it will not affect her growth and she should be just fine.  She shouldn't have any long term effects. And the best part!!!!  I can bathe her in it!!! Thank goodness!  I was picturing sponge baths for 2 weeks...or what kind of tape should I buy/use....or grocery bag or trash bag... You just have to blow-dry it afterwards.

I suppose everyone should stay tuned for a happy choo choo post soon...

A few more pics

Just a few more pictures, because I can't help but share them...I love them

Jevin

Mia

Deuce

While I'm here...I thought I would add, I have came to the conclusion my finger just might smell like Desitin until the triplets grow ALL of their teeth.  Hand soap is no help. Even scented (expensive/Bath&Body) hand soap does not get rid of the antiseptic smell.  I am half way to soaking my fingertips in bleach water!  Might need to start buying diaper rash cream by the case! Mia and Jevin have had horrible diapers for two days...poor little butts!  Did I mention I am tired of poop?  I am not positive of the cause...could be teeth, could be milk, but they were pretty constipated when they started whole milk, so I am guessing it is teething.  Their diet has not really changed.  It's weird too... it hardly smells...I have to discern poop from the legs or back of the diaper. So sad...my little baby butts...

Mia's foot/leg seems to be improving.  I caught her many times today putting her heel down.  She has mostly been walking on her tippy toe with a slight limp (well "cruising", none of them "walk" unattended yet).  What a relief!  How could I live with being the cause of her pain....momma's little Mia....I beat myself up enough about that...add Deuce's little accident to that, which we won't talk about...we'll just say I must be the mom of the week...yeah right!!!!! I told everyone, being a mom of multiples, I am obviously dangerous to my own children.  All their ouchies so far have been inflicted by my obvious lack of attention or foresight to the inevitable. Lessons learned...I can say that!  Trust your stupid intuition!!! Should have known better, and my gut told me otherwise each time.  No matter the inconvenience or the extra work...it is usually worth it! Needless to say, you won't see any pictures (new pictures) of Deuce man until the scab on his forehead goes away.  I definitely don't need to be reminded of that! 

Well, I have spent way more time writing then I intended.  Enjoy the pics.  Write you soon...