::imperfect perfection x3::

We made it! What a crazy couple of days it has been. And we are just beginning. The next few years (and for eternity!) are only going to be worse---but they will be even more fun, too! The girls first Christmas was a success! They really enjoyed their gifts...er...actually the tissue paper, but that was expected. They didn't quite understand the "rip the paper to get the present" part. :) I'm sure they thought they'd get in trouble because I take away their books or magazines when they tear the pages. They are so smart! Tony's parents came over and we had dinner and opened presents. The girls had a great day. Happy First Christmas girls! The next day my mom and oldest sister, Shaunie, flew into town. They had an interesting trip, to say the least. Their (20 minute delayed) flight left a snowy Idaho around 1:30PM, arrived with 10 minutes to spare before their already boarding connector in Utah. But when they got to the gate (5 minutes early) the flight attendan...

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Life has been crazy...as usual. That, and I didn't know what to post. :S I swear I was gone just about every night for the past two weeks with church meetings, events, planning for the events, Christmas parties...etc. etc. But now we have a *slight* breather until Christmas---then it's the girls' first birthday! ('slight' meaning I am only busy half the week---on top of cleaning and decorating the house.) :) I said I wasn't going to do a tree for our home this year after spending hundreds of hours on the Festival tree (which by the way went for approx. $450 to a local music big whig), but I couldn't NOT have a tree for the girls' first Christmas. SO---with our tight funds I bought a 4.5 ft. silver tinsel tree for around $20. I already had a bunch of decorations, so I didn't have to spend any extra money to decorate it, luckily! I finished that up today. I put it on the dining room table and wrapped the big tree...

So this isn't triplet related, but I wanted to post some pictures of what I've been involved with for the past couple months. I was in charge of decorating a tree donated by my church for the Festival of Trees. If you don't know what that is, let me explain. Individuals, organizations, groups, businesses donated fully decorated trees to be auctioned off for charity. The charity this year is for helping homeless people get off the streets and get jobs and begin anew. So it's a really great cause. Anyway, I received donations for the ornaments and I bought them and put the tree together. I've pretty muched worked on it any free minute for the past two months and nobody is happier that I'm done than my husband. He's been extremely supportive and I couldn't have done it without him--but I know he's glad to have me back. :) I couldn't have completed this project without the help of some more wonderful people, either! Thank you to the Suggs ladies, Hel...

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! We did! We are beyond grateful for our millions (and counting!) of blessings. Jordyn and Avery had their first thanksgiving feast! They had turkey, sweet potatoes and apple sauce! I pureed the turkey myself! :) I was going to do the potatoes too, but I never got a chance to go to the store to get them. Oh well, it still worked. Jordyn LOVED it, which is good, because she is the pickier eater of the two. She loves veggies but doesn't really eat more than 2 bites of the fruits. Avery liked the taste of it, but she didn't like the texture and gagged a little on it. She kept wanting more, but once she had a bite she would make this horrible face. It was so funny. We are still working on getting Ashleigh to not gag and throw up when she eats pureed veggies or cereal. We are making some progress, though. However, yesterday, Ashleigh said "mama"! To me! On command! It was so great. She is the first to say it on command, referring to me spec...

....and FIVE for Jordyn!!! She took five steps all on her own this evening! That is the most EVER! Yay for Jordy! She is so walking within a month. She waves like a pro too. Now if we could only get her (and the other girls) to understand the word NO. Then we'd be set. Poor Ashy. She is having a rough night. She has a bad cough, runny nose and I think her teeth are bothering her. She's been crying all night. It is now 1:30 AM and she's just fallen asleep **i hope**. The big problem is that Jordyn has been awake the entire time too. And now that we are so far past bedtime, there is no tiredness in sight. For her anyway. Fun night and tomorrow for the mommy and daddy. Tony has to take his parents to the airport early tomorrow---of course, right? At least Avery went to bed at 8 and has stayed asleep--so far. So yeah. No sleep. Again. I am seriously tired.

Jordyn has one bottom tooth and one more coming. Avery has two bottom and a top one poking through. Ashleigh's first tooth popped through yesterday and her top two eye teeth are coming in. Weird. Ash's cough has gotten worse so I took her to the doctor today. He listened to her breathe and she was wheezing and having a "reactive airway" as he put it. So, long and the short of it, asthma. He didn't say if it was permanent or something she'll outgrow. We have to get a little breathing apparatus for her. Shouldn't be too bad. I hope anyway. The girls turned 9 months adjusted on the 5 th which was Monday. I am so happy that they all crawled by then and all pull themselves up. That was kind of a little "marker" I set for the girls. I wanted them to be able to do certain things by then, and by golly! They did! They are so smart and beautiful and getting so big. I just marvel at them and the fact that I was chosen to be their mommy. Even though it se...

Here are a couple pictures of our first Halloween! Trick-or-Treat! THREE PEAS IN A POD (and their gypsy mama) HALLOWEEN DINNER! Our Punkin'butt Ashleigh Jordyn loves her MUMMY :) Avery is our Lil' Devil --or is it vampire?? (notice the two tiny teeth) Happy Birthday Grandpa Kenny!! We love you!

Wow. They're already 10 months old TODAY. It has gone so fast and yet been so long at the same time. We went to the doctor for a check-up and all is well! Jordyn is 21lbs.10oz. and 28 1/4 inches, Ashleigh is 19lbs.2oz. and 26 1/2 inches, and Avery is bringing up the rear at 17lbs.5oz. and 26 3/4 inches long. They got their flue shots and did very well with that. Jordyn and Avery are starting to test their limits--in every way imaginable!! Jordyn is starting to understand the word 'no' and Avery just smiles at you while doing exactly what she's not supposed to. They are both trying to stand and take steps on their own which is so fun and scary at the same time. Ashleigh has taken her first crawling steps and we are so proud of her advancements. My parents came into town last wednesday and we went to a little place called Apple Hill. It's a bunch of apple orchards all in one big area. There were little craft booths, a pumpkin patch, an animal farm and every apple food...

Oh Boy. They've taken over. I knew it would happen...eventually... Avery and Jordyn , who are expert crawlers now, have discovered there is more to the house than the living room. There's a kitchen, a bathroom, mommy and daddy's room and MANY MANY other bad things to play with. And they couldn't be happier about it. So now, we have a myriad of obstacles blocking off the living room from, well, the rest of the house (two full suitcases, a laundry basket, a big couch cushion, another basket and the single stroller to hold a couple of them in place.) Although, yesterday Avery and Jordyn pulled up on the laundry basket and after drumming on it for a while, worked together to push it, making enough space to escape. Luckily I got that on video. :) So. We ordered a large "play yard" as they call them these days (play pen, previously) and it will be here by the end of next week or earlier. It will be nice to be able to leave them for a moment to, oh, I dunno, go to t...

Two days ago, JORDYN CRAWLED!!!! And there's no stopping her. We got it on video and once I figure out how to get it on my computer (without it crashing) I will post! :) She also found out she can pull herself up...on the couch, on my leg, the pillow...just about everything! And that's ALL she wants to do. It's so fun! Then, yesterday, Avery was fussing in the crib after her nap and when I walked in the room, she was STANDING and holding on to the rail. 'Oh crap' I said. Then I ran and grabbed my camera. :) She got on her tummy, reached over to the bumper pad, pulled herself to her knees, reached up to the railing on the crib with one hand, then with the other, and POP! She is up. We are going to need a tent over the top or Avery will go 'splat'. We don't want that. So, the cribs we ordered back in August won't be here until the end of October!! The END of OCTOBER????!!!! Jeepers. I needed at least one more crib, like, yesterday! I called a few weeks...

It's almost half over for cryin ' out loud!! Holy molys . The babies will be 9 months old in 2 weeks. I actually have to start thinking about their first birthdays. So crazy. We celebrated our 4 th anniversary yesterday and it feels like longer--But in a good way :) We are going to dinner and a show "jersey boys" next week and Tony is surprising me with some trip or something in the coming months, but he won't tell me when or where. Should be fun...I'm hard to surprise and so far, he has done a good job! Avery is rocking on all fours so she should be full on crawling any moment. She does this thing where she sneaks over to the wicker garbage can, tips it over and crawls in, and proceeds to empty the entire contents onto the floor. Then she pulls up onto the bottom of the side table where Tony leaves the paper he's already read before putting it in the recycle bin and she pulls the papers off. We say her name several times for her to stop and she ignores...

Just when things were going so smoothly, we get another set-back. The girls are sick...again. Do all kids get sick this often, or is it just mine?? I took Ash to the doc yesterday and he said she just has a cold. Ave is starting to sneeze and get a runny nose and she had a low grade fever yesterday. Jordy is teething --making her just grumpy and restless all the time so if she gets it, it's not going to be fun. We invited two couples over to watch a game today and both of them have babies (one of them is just under two months old) so I had to call them a let them know that the girls were sick. I would only want someone to do the same for us. Their husbands may still come, but they may not. bummer. It's in their best interest, though--we've gone to see people with sick children (but were unaware until too late) and regretted not leaving because we were selfish or didn't want to offend people by saying "bye bye". Then the girls got sick and things are never good...

This one's for Shannon and Shaunie. Love you!

No, not the delicious edible kind, i LOVE those--perhaps too much....I'm talking about the stupid "virtual" kind. I am having cookie issues that prevent me from logging in here to post...it's driving me nuts. Actually, it's probably my computer. Nothing I can do about it. But I am working on pictures slowly but surely. A few noteworthy events: Ashleigh can now roll from her back to her tummy. I forced her to do it a few times through the crying on thursday the 23rd and later that day---she became a rolling machine and loves being on her tummy! Go figure. Avery loves the crib. She has taken all of her naps in the crib and has slept every night in it too. She logs an average of 11+ hours a night----STRAIGHT!!! {{{doing the dance of joy}}} Ashleigh has started sleeping for about 7hours and then back to sleep for about 2 or 3 more. Jordyn decided it would be fun to go after Avery and grabbed her by the diaper, pulling for all she's worth, until she was fully expos...

We are all doing so great here. Hope you are well! Ashleigh slept ALL NIGHT last night!! Yippee !! She went to bed at 11PM and woke up for a bottle at 8:50AM. I am so proud of her! She is so addicted to her bottle I never thought she would make it an entire night without one--but she did it! I hope this is a start of a new trend! We have been training Avery to sleep in the crib and she is doing amazingly well! We can put her in there once we notice her starting to get tired, and she falls asleep on her own. I give her a pacifier and a book or some toy and stand there for a bit then I sneak away once she starts being unable to keep her head up. It's great! We did, however, have to buy one of those little sensor mats for the crib because she likes to sleep on her face...and I mean FLAT on her face. Tony and I couldn't sleep at night with the fear that she wouldn't be able to breathe...so for our peace of mind the mat will sound an alarm if it doesn't detect the slightest ...

Things went great yesterday at the hospital. They all passed! woooohoooo! I will fill you in on more of the details when I get the whole report next week sometime, but I think overall, they all scored within the normal range for their gestational age AND their chronological age! YAY! Big relief. Ashleigh will need a little physical therapy for her low muscle tone, but that wasn't unexpected. Of course they were chatty kathy's ALL morning until we got to the hospital. They were nearly silent (except for crying spells from Jordy and Ash---I had to nurse Jordyn 2ce in the four hours we were there to calm her down). Go figure. We even talked to them all week about saving up for the appointment. I guess they've already started to ignore us. :) Oh well. I couldn't be happier right now.

I don't want to make excuses, but yeah. I guess I'm gonna. Let me explain. I have a "hand-me-down" laptop that I "re-built" with XP pro. I also installed some additional memory and everything was great. Then one day I woke up and when I went to turn it on, I noticed the power cord looked severed. Great. How the crap did that happen...and I didn't notice it until then?... hmmm . So I ordered a new cord from ebay (probably my first mistake--or maybe second behind even attempting to do any of it myself) and it was working fine until a few days later the cord kept coming unplugged whenever it was moved or bumped...which was fine, I would just work off battery then plug it in when I was done to recharge. Well NOW the battery won't hold a charge and every time the plug comes out, my computer shuts off, usually in mid-sentence. So I haven't been able to reply to emails or update my blog or work on pictures because every time I try to type or move (wit...

Sorry I'm behind. Story of our lives :) For some reason my computer is wiggin' and on top of that I couldn't sign in to the blogger and the girls didn't allow me extra time to figure it out. I think I've got it working for the time being... Okay, so: Last week on the 17th the girls had their 6 month check-ups and shots. Woo hoo. I LOVE when they get their shots. Soooo NOT. We get there, have to wait forever to get into the exam room and then the doc sends in two med students to do the entire exam (one taking notes) and then, an hour and a half later, the doc comes in and does HIS exam and THEN they finally got their shots. I'm sure you can imagine how happy they were at that point. (not to mention how happy I was). We got home from our 10AM appointment after noon and, of course, it takes days for them to recover from the shot's after-effects. Fevers, gas, canky's and all sorts of not fun stuff. Just two days ago Jordyn started feeling better. She's s...

Today has been really good and not so good. Avery is rolling all over the place. Instead of crawling, rolling is her main form of transportation. It's so funny. I love to see it. She also just wants to stand instead of sit. They can all roll from tummy to back and have for a while now. Ashleigh can get up on her knees really well and can almost roll over---- but only when no one's watching. The minute we look at her she stops and has this 'guilty' look on her face, like, 'uh oh--they saw me!'. She is the 'undercover developer' (as we call her). One day she will just do something out of the blue. We fully expect to one day say something to her and she will spout out full sentences or something. haha. Jordyn just wants to lay, but she is the longest sitter. She has no interest in walking yet. She is only just 'thinking' about crawling right now. That was the good part of the day. So, I have wanted to cook this specific meal since I saw it on Rachel...

The girls are starting to feel better...thank heavens!!! They are still cranky and have low grade fevers, but miles better than it was. However, Tony caught some sort of bug---flu or some strain of the 'HFM' thing. He has had a high fever and chills and has just felt crummy for days. Poor guy. It's no fun having FOUR sick babies to take care of :) ...but it's got to be worse for them, so, I guess for that, I am grateful. I am still working on getting 'the 4th' pictures ready. I will post them when I get a second :) Thanks for all of the positive thoughts and messages! We are getting through it! Have a great day!

Why did I have to say it?? We spent 4 hours last night in the ER with Avery----the only one I said HADN'T made a trip back to the hospital since the girls were born. Well, now all three have done it. I guess she felt left out or something....you know, 'the other two had mommy and daddy time'---so why shouldn't she? sheesh . She started having this weird crying/grunting/breathing thing, a fever and had a whole bunch of mucous in her nose, mouth and she threw up a huge amount. There was so much that she wouldn't eat or anything. She was doing this inconsolably for about 45 minutes. Sunday she was ok , just a fever (along with the other two). Then, yesterday she had two big spells so we called the doctor to see what we should do. By the time we heard back, it was after office hours. He scheduled an appointment for this morning, but said that if she did it again to take her to the ER. Well, she did and we went. They took x-rays and they were clear, but she had rapid br...

I am sitting here in absolute amazement. Where did the time go? Seriously....WHERE DID IT GO??? I really can't believe that it's been a half a year already. So much has happened and yet it feels like time stood still. Will the next six months go just as fast? Man...it's crazy but wonderful. I just look at my girls and wonder...where did my tiny babies go? We were so focused on them just gaining weight that I almost couldn't enjoy the miracle of their "little-ness". I was pulled in so many directions from getting them home from the hospital to providing food for them to keeping up with everything else that goes along with being a first time mother (or just a mother in general) that I couldn't enjoy the "now". I missed out on a lot of things--- a lot of "could-a', would-a', should-a's". I had so much help, but there are just some things you can't have help with. But, I did what I could and what was best for my girls at the...

....have made trips back to the hospital...this month!! We came back from our Utah trip (sick, if you recall,) and we took Ashleigh for a doc's check-up the next day. She wasn't gaining weight so we had to start giving her a high calorie formula to supplement the breastmilk. Anyway, she had gained a pound in two weeks so that was good. Well, the next day we had to take Jordy in because she had been having a fever off and on for several days and just didn't seem like herself. The doc looked at her and said she had a double ear infection and possible strep throat. Poor baby. He gave us some antibiotic and we went home. Later that night Jordyn started wheezing, turning pale and getting sort of lethargic. It really scared me so we called the on call doc and he said to take her to the ER. So we hurried over. She had a really high fever but her breathing had returned to normal (of course). Don't get me wrong, that's a good thing. But it's like when your car makes a fu...

Seriously, my life for the past 5 and a half months (5 1/2???? I can't believe it!) has been lived with some sort of dexterous limitation. I type with one hand, I eat with one hand, I feed babies with one hand (usually two at the same time if giving bottles) I even use the restroom while holding, and usually nursing a baby! I'm sorry, but neither the baby nor my bladder can wait. Most of the time, since I'm right handed, I am using my left hand. Have you ever tried eating with your opposite hand? It's difficult...especially salad...but I'm actually getting relatively good at it. I can't even think of all the things I've done, but every time I am forced to do something I'm not used to, I think how amazing it is. But you just do it...you have to! I would never get anything done if I waited for the "easy way". For example, right now I am nursing a baby, eating a sandwich AND typing. There are even times when both hands are occupied and I have t...

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted. We went out of town for 10 days and I haven't been able to get back into the swing of things--we are still pretty much packed...and it's been a week since we got home. Horrible--I know! But there just hasn't been enough time to get it all done and ALL 5 of us picked up colds---so that didn't help. There was even a pile of laundry on the bed in the babies' room to be put away when we left---so I started out in the hole. Ick. I hate unpacking and I hate putting away laundry. I'm a little obsessive about it too, unfortunately. So it takes me even longer to do it...and I procrastinate even more. See, I like everything to be separated by size. Not weird at all, right? Well, then I like them in order of the rainbow, starting with white, then white with patterns then into pink then red and so on---ROY G. BIV. It's crazy, I understand that. (I even do it in my own closet---except instead of order in size, it's lon...

I can't tell you how wonderful it was to experience my first mother's day. It's been something I've looked forward to for years and always felt some degree of sadness over in the past, not having children yet. But finally, this year I am a mother. I have children!! Plural!! THREE babies! I still can't believe it and yet, it seems like it's been this way forever. It's crazy to think that it's nearly been a year since we found out we were expecting---and thinking how blessed we were to finally be pregnant (with, presumably, only ONE baby. LOL!) And now here we are at 5:3o AM. I just finished feeding Avery and Jordyn and am about to feed Ashleigh as soon as she wakes up. Avery now has the hiccups and both she and Jordyn have spit up all over themselves... and the couch.... and me. Of course, I was unprepared and without a burp cloth (I am typing this with one hand and one eye open, I'm sure you can understand) so I've been dabbing at both of their m...

Two days ago, when I was changing her, Jordyn finally let out a real giggle! They've all had moments where you go, "I think that was a laugh!", but they are so brief that you have to kind of convince yourself that's what it was. For example, when we were giving Ashleigh a bath the other day, she made a sound like a nervous laugh, but she wasn't really smiling. It was really cute, though. Anyways, I went to pull the shirt over Jordyn's head and she just let out this giggle with a big gummy grin! I called Tony in to hear and I pretended to pull the shirt over her head again and she did it again! Yay! A new trick! We did this repeatedly until she no longer did it. :) It was so cute and so exciting to get real laughs, finally! Up until this point they all have been trying so hard to get their laughs out that they get hiccups EVERY time! I feel so bad for them. They are in cute moods and are so close to laughing then they get hiccups and get all mad. So now we wil...

At the same time!! Just wanted to note this. Now I'm going to lay down too. :} It's been a long couple of days---wooo.

We had a good time at the 'ol target. We loaded up the car with our three car seats and threw the stroller in the back. It barely fits. Here's a pic of the girls in it on our first walk. Just imagine circus music playing in the background---doot doot do-di-do-do doot doot doo dum---- 'cause that's what we are: a sideshow. Everyone feels the need to gawk and stoop down and touch. Ick. I just want to yell 'don't touch!!' but I restrain myself. I will never get why complete strangers think it's ok to touch you or your babies. It's the same when you are pregnant. People you don't even know come up to you and touch your stomach like it's public property. I feel like reaching over and slapping their hand away! But again, I don't. However, I do feel I have every right to. :) So, as you can see, we found really cute pink and black car seats. I just love them! Anyways, the sideshow rolled on through Target, of course having to stop every two secon...

Ashleigh Noelle Jordyn Alessa Avery Bella And it's a good thing they are, especially on days like these.... I feel like I've been feeding them all day long! Avery refuses to sleep and just cries because she's so tired. We finally get her to shut her eyes- and then 15 minutes later, she's wide awake. But you look at her and she will smile---then it's back to crying this pathetic, pitiful and adorable cry. Grrr. The other two have been pretty good, but when one acts up, it feels like they are all rebelling. I planned to shower and take a nap today, but once again, that didn't happen. Actually, I did get an hour nap while I was feeding Jordyn earlier this evening, so that helped a little bit. Why is it always night time they pick to be stinkers? Hopefully we will all be able to sleep tonight, even if it has to be in the same bed! :)

Background: December 27th, 2006 I gave birth to triplet girls---Ashleigh Noelle-4lbs1oz, Jordyn Alessa-4lbs13oz and Avery Bella-3lbs5oz. Someday I will post a "catch-up" blog on how my pregnancy, the delivery and the first few months went, but for now I will just mention a little something wonderful that happened yesterday. Up until yesterday, the girls have refused to acknowledge each other face to face. Of course, they hear each other, so once one cries, the others join in--but that's it as far as knowing the others even exist-if you can call it that. So yesterday after feeding the babies, Jordyn was propped up on the couch and Ashleigh was on my lap---both being very smiley and cute. I decided to turn Ash towards Jordyn just to see what would happen. I said to Jordyn, "This is your sister, Ashleigh." Jordyn looked at her and Ashleigh just stared back. Then Jordy busted out this huge smile and Ashleigh half grinned back! I was so excited! I called over to my ...