3 Bunns in the Oven

Elm Bank

2010-10-25T21:34:00.004-04:00

I'm am horrible about blogging, and truth be told, I don't know how much longer I can do this. Rob "gave me permission" (which is his way of saying, "give yourself permission") to shut this blog down at the end of the year. We'll see. But in the meantime, I will not stress about posting photos from Maine or the end of the summer, or start of the year for that matter.

We have been in the middle of getting into the new school year routine, as well as potty training (this will take a good year or 12 before we're done with it...). So life is a little...hectic. But I did manage to charge up the camera battery (apparently it had been dead of months?) and we headed to Elm Bank, a local garden that is part of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. We loved it so much that we joined for the year. They even have a special children's garden with huge sandbox, castle to climb, and oversized chair.

Here are a few keepers. The photos are pretty great as well...
Charlie and Wes

Win

Wes (think they need a haircut?)

Wes, Win and Charlie

Win, fountain, and Wes

Nanna, Poppa and Thomas

2010-09-09T21:25:00.003-04:00

One of the fun outings we had when Nanna and Poppa came to visit, was a trip to see Thomas the train. We had gone to the Day out with Thomas last year while in Maine, and the boys loved it. So we found a local Thomas event - and it was a perfect day for Nanna, Grammy, the boys and me. (Poppa got to stay home with Rob...more on that...)
Win, Charlie and Wes riding on Thomas the tank engine

You can see the blue Thomas train on the right hand side - can you tell we were sitting in the way back? This photo also shows all the fun rides at the park.

Riding on the caterpillar...the first of many rides. The boys (Wes especially) have inherited my love for amusement rides.

Wes on the merry go round

First merry go round ride! Wes, Grammy, Win, Nanna and Charlie

Charlie

Win and I rode the flying elephants. Charlie and Grammy were in the elephant behind us, while Wes and Nanna went on the ferris wheel.

It was a good thing Nanna and Wes got on the ferris wheel when they did. They were one of the last people off before the ride was shut down due to a malfunction!

And if the day couldn't get any better, we came home to Daddy and Poppa making the boys big boy beds. It was such a gift that Poppa and Rob did this for the boys! More bed photos to come in the next post. Can you believe they made 3 beds in 8 hours?

The only downside to the day was that I ended up getting very sick. I was knocked out for the next two days with what turned out to be a sinus/chest infection. What an added blessing that Nanna and Poppa were here when they were, so I could rest and recover.

Preschool!

2010-09-09T20:56:00.002-04:00

Yet again I am way behind in blogging. A month behind exactly. August brought Maine, Nanna & Poppa, big boy beds, Thomas the train...photos to come, I promise.

But for now I will post what is fresh in my mind and making me giddy. Preschool!!

This week brought the boys first day of preschool...hooray! They only go 2 days a week, for 3 hours each day. But I'll take it! I put them in their birthday t-shirts that have their names on them, to help the teachers out. They were so thankful, they asked me to put them in them again the next day so they could easily tell the boys apart. And the best part is that the boys could care less when I leave - they seem really happy in the classroom.

And tomorrow, soccer starts. They are babies no more!

"Active kids"

2010-08-23T17:55:00.000-04:00

When I tell people that my kids are "active" and "fearless", this is what I mean. This is the game they started playing one night while I was making dinner.

At least they took turns?

Firetruck Birthday Party

2010-08-23T08:37:00.004-04:00

Happy 3rd Birthday Winston, Wesley & Charlie!

Friends and kids filled the backyard

We tossed water balloons

Wes, Win and Charlie awaiting the cake. We ordered these adorable custom firetruck shirts for each of them. I highly recommend the vendor - she was great to work with!

There was even a fire station pinata...

...which didn't want to open, so Rob and Adam had to tear it open...

...and candy went flying everywhere!

Charlie sneaking some more icing

After most left, the boys cooled off in the sprinkler with their friends Piper and Ronnie Bash. Firetruck hats and sugar-high included.

Win, Wes and Charlie turn 3!

2010-08-23T08:26:00.003-04:00

At the end of July, the boys celebrated their 3rd birthday with a firetruck-themed party. The day before, we brought them out to Grammy & Poppy's house and surprised them with bikes!
Finding their surprise outside

Wesley

Charlie

Winston

You'll notice the bikes don't have training wheels or pedals. We chose glide bikes, which are supposed to teach them how to balance on two wheels. They love them!

Oh, the changes...

2010-07-20T21:05:00.004-04:00

They say toddlers don't do well with transition. But let's be honest. *I* don't do well with transition. We've had to live by routine and structure (let's call it "triplet survival"). So when they change (yay milestones!), it takes me awhile to figure out how to parent this new stage.

Yesterday (the 19th), the boys peed on the potty for the first time. It happened a bit suddenly (I was trying to hold off until they were 12 to deal with potty training triplets). I was baking them cookies. (It was the first time we made cookies together. They helped stir and most of all, they licked the bowl clean.) So I was baking cookies and my dear friend Ellie dropped by for a few seconds. In that time, the boys ran into the living room and stripped naked. So I figured I'd ask if they wanted to sit on the potty (figuring they'd say no). But they wanted to. And on the first try, Win and Wes peed!!! Charlie had some success today too.

So it's official. We're starting potty training whether I like it or not. We went to Target to buy some big boy underwear. We've had a few accidents, but I'm so proud of the boys for trying. Well, they know if they sit on the potty they get to play the games on my iPhone and get some M&Ms.

But here's the challenge of having 3. They don't want to use baby potties - they all want to sit on the real potty! But we only have 2 bathrooms, one on the first floor, one on the second. And there's only one of me. So at the very least, I have two on the potty and I'm running up and down the stairs. But tonight, as I was trying to cook dinner and stay on top of the potty training, the boys climbed up a tall bookcase and found the one forbidden box (non-washable markers and glitter glue) and proceeded to draw all over the couch and desk. Non-washable markers and glitter glue. And in this time, the chicken burned and my bag of peas exploded all over the floor. It was that kind of day. I should seriously submit the photo to this site.

Another big change is that nap time is dwindling. They are down to an hour an half nap, but it's a fight to get them to sleep. It is a constant battle of the monkey party. We need to take the toddler beds (cribs in their toddler bed formation) out of the room and put real beds in their rooms. I'm really tired of fighting the monkey party, so in the near future, we'll probably forego naps and just put them to bed at 6:30pm.

Oh, the changes!

July 4th at home

2010-07-20T21:03:00.000-04:00

We arrived home in time to watch the town's July 4th parade. But it was really loud. There were a lot of fire trucks (which they mention every time we pass the small park from where we watched the parade). But they loved it!

The fam

Wes found a tree to climb

July 4th in Ohio!

2010-07-20T21:02:00.000-04:00

My grandma holds a family reunion at her house on the lake every July 4th. We haven't been able to travel for it for awhile, but this year we were so excited to be able to introduce the boys to my dad's childhood home and many family members.

During the 14 hour trip out, Charlie and Win decided to pass the time by drawing all over their arms.

We stayed in a great suite (so we had floorspace for their 3 pack n' plays). You know you're on vacation when you get to eat yogurt in Mommy & Daddy's room while watching doodah (tv)

The boys first boat ride
Winston at the wheel

Wes

But really cousin Shelby and Uncle Mark drove

Feeding the ducks

Uncle Mark and Poppy carved wooden boats for the boys to pull behind the boat. Amazing!

Poppy gave the boys a special vacation treat - orange soda (I mean, "pop" since we were in Ohio). Here's Win's orange pop mustache and big grin.

Charlie fell in the lake chasing the football he threw in

Friday night, Grandma held a Hawaiian Luau themed dinner. The boys dresses appropriately...

The boys loved the 4th of July boat parade!

You know it's time to get rid of the cribs when...

2010-07-07T20:35:00.003-04:00

...they start doing acrobatics. These photos are dark because I tried to sneak taking them with my phone while the boys sang songs. I couldn't get Charlie in the shot, but they were all doing the same thing. First, they all held onto the side railing and walking their legs up the wall (well over their heads). Then, they straddled their feet on either side of the railing, standing straight up. Win mixed it up a little by pulling his crib closer to Wes' and balancing across them on his belly.

And this was all during our "quiet" bedtime routine...

The Beach!

2010-06-22T16:02:00.000-04:00

We joined a local membership pond beach for the summer. The boys LOVE it! There is a small beach with docks (to separate the shallow and deep sections), boats, picnic area, and playground. Today was the first day I brought the boys by myself. I was nervous about keeping track of all 3 of them (especially since they don't know how to swim!), but they did a great job. We have 3 swim vests on order, so that will give some peace of mind. It also helps that I'm the first person (no joke) at the beach, so they can explore before it gets crowded.

After exploring the water and beach, the boys sat together in the water and made a train.
(Charlie, Wes & Winston)

Run to Homebase

2010-06-22T15:14:00.000-04:00

Oh how far behind I am! Rob ran the 1st Red Sox Run to Homebase 9k at the end of May. Nanna and Poppa were visiting from Virginia, so we were able to bring the boys to Fenway to watch Daddy run. It was an inspirational day. The run raised money for the Run to the Homebase program that assists veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or brain injuries, in conjunction with MGH (where the boys were born).
Rob at the starting line. Fenway park in to the left.

There were about 2500 runners!

Grammy and Poppy also came in to watch the race. Poppy is holding Charlie on his back and Wes on his front!

Winston in his Red Sox hat.

In the stands at Fenway, looking for Rob while watching all the runners cross home plate.

Rob crossing home base in Fenway Park! (He's the one in front of the white sign.)

Afterward, we enjoyed some ice cream.

Congrats Rob!

Happy (belated) Birthday Rob!

2010-06-02T20:43:00.000-04:00

Rob's birthday was a few weeks back. Grammy came over to surprise Rob with a balloon and a card. But the real surprise was when he read the card, which said that they were taking the boys overnight!
Rob's reaction

My surprise for Rob was that I had made reservations at our favorite restaurant in Boston. So we quickly got ready, took the train in and had an amazing meal!
On the train

My view

The other view

The yummy soft-shell crab

Mother's Day cake

2010-06-02T14:56:00.004-04:00

Grammy & Poppy came over for dinner on Mother's Day, but the showstopper was the cake the boys made for us.
Daddy gave them each a bowl of batter with the food coloring of their choice. Charlie chose yellow,

Wesley chose blue (though with yellow cake mix it looked green!)

And shocker, Win chose red.

They each poured their batter in the pan,

with only one spilled (that they quickly devoured).

Then they chose colors to mix their own icing,

and told Daddy where to put it!

Thanks boys!

Derby!

2010-05-12T07:23:00.000-04:00

For the second year straight, we held our Kentucky Derby party. And for the second year straight, I neglected to take any photos. Grammy and Poppy took the boys overnight (really all day Saturday and most all of Sunday), so we could cook, clean, entertain. On our way to pick the boys up, we even went out for brunch! I can't remember the last time we did that.

Our 10 year old neighbor sent cupcakes along with her parents. She spent 6 hours making and decorating 2 dozen horse cupcakes. The details are amazing! She needs to start a business, no?

Celebrating my 40th birthday, 5 years early

2010-05-09T07:08:00.007-04:00

The last Saturday in April was my 35th birthday. Rob and I took the train into Boston for a date night on Friday and kept our plans loose for Saturday, just wanting to spend time together as a family. All we knew was that it was going to be a gorgeous day.

Rob and the boys let me sleep in (which apparently I'm not capable of anymore, so I read in bed) while they fixed breakfast. The boys were so proud of their concoction, they quickly gobbled it up after showing it off.

Wes downing my oj - don't worry it's just oj!

Win, Wes and Charlie showing off their birthday cards

We then put the boys in their wagon and took a nice long walk to town to see if the fire trucks were outside the fire station (they were not). And ended up playing in a grassy space in the center of town.
Tossing Charlie

Tossing Wesley

Tossing Winston (and Wes waiting his turn)

Tackling Daddy

During naptime, I got a wonderful pedicure involving hot rocks and a massage!

Good friends on our street invited us over for dinner that night. Rob had hung out with them a few days prior and mentioned Saturday was my birthday. So in we walked and they hand me flowers, there was a banner, the girls mentioned cake. We soon learned that there was a mixup and they thought it was my 40th birthday! We all had a good laugh and joked about it all evening.

Blowing out the candles on my "Happy 40th Birthday" cake

Another funny...Winston had bumped into something and started crying. Instinctively, Kosta handed him the "magic cork" from the bottle of wine to rub on it. The tears disappeared! And Win held onto that "magic cork" all night. I now keep a cork in my purse for injuries. Most moms would have band-aids, creams, ice packs. I have a wine cork.

(When I was born, my parents started the tradition of taking a photo of me with daffodils on my birthday. This was because when they brought me home from the hospital, all of the daffodils had bloomed. So sweet!)

Our new bed

2010-04-20T15:17:00.003-04:00

2010 and my ability to blog have not gone hand in hand. But I'm attempting to get back on track now that it's April? Is it April? Who knows.

Some time back (I could say days, but it probably more like weeks, maybe months), Rob and I gave our bedroom a makeover. We painted walls, trim, and ceiling. I can't even remember where the boys were. I think they stayed overnight with Grammy and Poppy? We bought our first real bed, new rug, nightstands, curtains went up. It is wonderful. So great that all the boys want to do now is wake up at 5:30am and come climb in bed with us. And no, they don't sleep. Or cuddle. Yesterday, Wes started poking at my face (including the requisite "boop" every time he made contact), fighting over which pillow they get, elbowing/kicking/singing. It's all quite sweet. But 5:30am?
Wesley, Winston and Charlie

Family!

2010-04-20T14:56:00.004-04:00

Back in mid-March, my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew came up for a visit. It happened to be during the worst weather we've had in years. (I've heard it referred to as the 100 year storm - a storm so bad you see it only once every 100 years. The rain lasted 3 of the 4 days of their visit and flooded most every road to my parents' house, making it nearly impossible to drive out to them to visit. Oh, and did I mention this is when the boys were all drastically sick, so only Wesley could visit with me at first while Win and Charlie recovered.)

Anyhow, despite all of this, it was a wonderful visit. Here were a few pics from our trip to the playground, once the sun came out.
Christian

Alexandra

Grammy, Wes and Charlie

Robots!

2010-04-18T21:50:00.000-04:00

While out for a girls night, Rob sent these adorable photos to my phone. He made the boys their own "robot" costumes out of paper bags. The boys LOVED it!
Wes & Win

Charlie

Sneaking Bunny!

2010-04-18T12:39:00.000-04:00

Wes' new favorite activity is sneaking into the hall closet (our makeshift pantry) to sneak dry cereal and juice boxes when no one is looking. If he hears my footsteps, he'll even pull the door near closed, with the hopes I won't notice he's in there.

Wes shoveling cereal

Getting caught. The boys have learned to use their adorableness to try to get them out of trouble!

Theta Beta Beta Poll Question

2010-04-17T21:17:00.005-04:00

Dear Friends:

We are asking you to weigh in and vote on the toddler quote of the day:

#1 Wes: "Charlie, you get Mommy and I'll get Daddy." (Notes- Mommy and Daddy were both soon tackled while sitting on the floor of the boys' bedroom. If anyone had doubts that one could conspire before the age of legal majority, this should remove them. )

#2 Charlie: "I love scotch!" (Notes- Mommy has resolved never again to take a nap that close to 5:00 pm and Daddy has officially withdrawn his application for Father of the Year, though he continues to protest that Charlie quite slyly dipped his fingers in Daddy's drink while Daddy was not looking.)

#3 Daddy: "Shut up, Charlie." (Notes - spoken about .5 seconds after #2. While Daddy is technically not a toddler, it somehow seems appropriate to include here.)

Long live democracy! We can't wait to see which wins.

Happy Easter

2010-04-05T14:06:00.004-04:00

We had a glorious Easter weekend! It began with a beautiful Good Friday service. This service was especially poignant due to the death of our neighbor that same day. I had only met this woman once - she had been housebound since the time we moved in. But I would always see her head in the window, so her presence was known every day, and her husband is a remarkable man who has spent years caring for her. This is the same man, who even in his advanced age, shoveled our driveway when we were away in Virginia, just so we would be able to park the car and carry the boys in. But as we were leaving for the Good Friday service, we saw a hearse pull up in front of their house. Shaken by the reality of death, the service was a beautiful reminder of how Jesus' death (and resurrection) was the greatest gift ever given.

Saturday morning, our neighborhood all gathered for an Easter egg hunt for the kids. The boys had such fun finding the eggs and would stop and eat them along them (great sugar high...). We then headed off to my parents' house. Another beautiful service for Easter morning, followed by another Easter egg hunt. I forgot my camera for all these fun events, but was able to capture a few with my phone.

This is Wes smiling with a mouthful of jelly beans

Win stopping to eat his candy

Hooray!

Charlie with a mouthful of candy

The happy parents

And Julep was there too!

"...so that you will not grow weary and lose heart"

2010-03-25T14:34:00.005-04:00

Today I had the joy of attending my weekly Mom to Mom group and hearing Linda Anderson (the founder) speak. Her talk centered around Hebrews 12: 1-3, likening motherhood as a marathon race that God has marked out for us. To get through it and "not grow weary and lose heart", she reminded us to free ourselves from unrealistic fears/worries or fantasies (I will be a joyful mother "as soon as" or "if only"...) and focus our eyes on Jesus. (God uses imperfect people - us - to raise His children).

This talk could not have been more timely. As some of you may know, we transitioned the boys to toddler beds (due to a broken crib tent) in February. These were some of the hardest weeks I've had yet as a parent - this includes when they were newborns and needed to eat every 3 hours!!

Allow me to attempt to describe my misery. I would put the boys down for their nap. Winston (typically the first one out) would hop down, perhaps climb into Wesley's bed, perhaps hide under his crib. Charlie would get down, and sometimes Wesley would as well. They would just play! And sadly, this was often the best playtime of the day. They pulled down the curtains. We literally have a hole in the wall where the curtain rod was once screwed in. I once went in and couldn't find Win and Wes - turned out they were hiding behind the rocking chair. Their favorite things was to all go to Wes' bed and strip off their clothes and wrestle. Wes learned he would get punished if he got out of bed, so he would ask Win and Charlie to come into his bed. Hence, we now call him the Puppet Master.

We tried everything: taking away blankets, giving them books, taking away books, going to bed earlier/later, taking away treats for later (dessert, videos), sitting in the room, moving Win to a pack n play in the guest room (he would just get out and go back to his room)! Nothing could keep them from turning naptime into playtime. The one tactic we settled on is the "silent return" (thank you Supernanny). I would stand outside their room and every time they would get out of bed, I would go in and silently return them to their beds. This would go on constantly for up to 2 hours!! Everyday!! For 3 weeks!! There were days I returned them to bed, I'm not joking, 60 times. Needless to say, I nearly ripped my hair out, discovered I have little patience, pleaded to God for help, called up Rob crying every day. It was awful. No, awful doesn't describe it. I had lost all joy. I was weary and had lost heart.

But right after I had spoken to some friends at church about feeling like I lost all joy, I put the boys down for their nap, preparing for another doozy. And after an hour of the "silent return", I was really losing it again. I was putting Charlie back in his bed and could smell a dirty diaper. As I changed his diaper, he started singing "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart"! We hadn't taught him that song - he must have learned it at church - but instantly my joy returned. God was encouraging me through a 2 and half year old boy!

Then, miraculously, things slowly got better after a few weeks. Sadly, they got better when the boys got sick and had 102 fevers. But I'll take it. Now, we have the occasional horrible nap (often when I put them down too late and they get a second wind.) They tend to stay in their beds until they wake up. And as I type this, I hear little feet shuffling upstairs in the hallway.

But I'll take it...

Ask a stupid question...

2010-03-12T14:26:00.004-05:00

So Rob was giving the boys a bath a few days back, and he engaged in the following conversation with Charlie:

Daddy - Charlie, do you love me?

Charlie - No no. I love dumping water in my bucket.

Nice job, Chuckles. Good luck getting the bucket to put money in your college fund.

Sick, sick and more sick

2010-03-10T13:47:00.003-05:00

It seems I have only been able to post about once a month. Hopefully that might explain how awful the last 2 months have been. 2010 has brought sickness, a great visit from Poppa, sickness, more sickness, transitioning to toddler beds, and now more sickness.

At the start of February, the boys (one by one) came down with a horrible virus. They had fevers of 102-103 for 4-6 days each, along with an awful cough. It started with Charlie, and I made the mistake of calling the doctor early on and getting the advice to come in if it got worse, for an extended time. And as Charlie started to get better, I figured it was just a bad cold. But it took two weeks for all the boys to get better. I am not exaggerating: we were housebound for 13 DAYS! Awful.

Sick activities? We built a fort out of a parachute, built cars out of cardboard boxes, painted, put stickers everywhere, etc.

We had about 2 weeks that the boys were healthy - and now they are sick again!! All the boys were fighting a cold, but Wesley has had a fever again nearing 103 for 4 days and his barking cough was back, so off we went to the doctor. After a nebulizer treatment, we were given an antibiotic to treat an ear infection and possible pneumonia. Pneumonia! Oof. Poor guy.

Sledding

2010-02-23T15:21:00.004-05:00

The boys went sledding for the first time on New Years Day, while we were out at Grammy & Poppy's house for our final Christmas celebration. They loved it!!
Wesley, Charlie and Win all wanted to go down on the sled at the same time.

Winston and Poppy

Charlie having a snowball fight with Poppy

Wesley

Winston

Grammy took a turn on the sled!

Daddy and Win spin out

It's been too long...

2010-02-23T14:45:00.004-05:00

I can't believe it has been well over a month since we've updated the blog. And we still need to catch up on posting Christmas photos! Here are the rest of the photos from our Christmas in Virginia...
Poppa set up the train set that he has had since he was a young child. The boys loved watching the steam come out of the train and listening to the whistle.

They even had signs for all of the grandkids! Charlie Town

Winston Place

And Wesley Circle!

Poppa and Win

First trip to Chick-fil-A! (Well, the boys and my first trip. And I still want to pronounce it Chick-a-fil-a.)

Charlie

Always climbing

Another milestone - yippee!

2010-01-16T13:41:00.003-05:00

This is Rob, and I have high jacked the blog since Ginger very cleverly got me to agree to let her go shopping for the very first attempt at having the boys sleep in toddler beds. Well played, Sweetie. Very well played.

So here is the rundown. Ginger and I took off the crib tents this morning and converted the cribs to toddler beds. The boys also got their first pillows! Right now it is 1:45 and the past hour has gone something like this:

12:45 - Win ends story time in the middle of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish because he stood up in his crib for the 528 time. Daddy's gotta enforce some boundaries, right?

12:53 - Daddy back into the bedroom for the first time. Win has ripped down the paper lantern over his bed and is now playing catch with Wes. Win was perched on the corner of his crib leaning over toward Wes with two outstretched arms. Traumatic head injury narrowly averted. Daddy collects lantern, moves cribs farther apart, and tells the boys to lay down and go to sleep using his serious voice.

1:03 - Ginger calls. Doesn't seem to be gloating, but I think it is a facade. Sounds from the bedroom: THUD.....Waaaaahhhhhh! Charlie takes the first header out of his crib. When Daddy comes through the door both Win and Wes are riding their crib rails like horses. More serious voice. Comfort Charlie. Head wound, yes. Traumatic, no. Boys lay back down

1:06 - 1:38 - Monkey party rages in bedroom. Daddy sticks head in at 1:31 to get Charlie and Wes off of the mini-blinds.

1:39 - Daddy enters to survey situation. All pillows are on the floor. All sleepers on are the floor. By the grace of God, all diapers are on. Daddy smells poop. Changes Winston. More serious voice in a lower octave. Sleepers go on backwards. Corporal punishment is threatened (but in an appropriate manner, consistent with MA DSS guidelines for beating your children).

1:45 - Daddy begins to blog to a steady stream of unhappy editorial from upstairs ("All done big-boy bed....Daaaaadddddy! Blaaaannnkkkeeee!). Editorial comments devolve into indiscriminate crying.

1:55 - Daddy ends blog post to collect blankets and otherwise soothe grumpy tots. Contemplates Tylenol for the boys and Jack Daniels for himself.

I am giving 5:1 to anyone willing to bet that the boys will sleep this afternoon. Somebody wanta piece of that action?

Christmas

2010-01-11T21:23:00.004-05:00

And the long overdue updates continue...

Christmas Day began with a bang. Literally. Rob and Poppa drove to Lori and Granny's street to fire off the annual shotgun at 5am. This tradition has gone on for around 60 years, to signify the start to Christmas.

The view out the window Christmas morning

Presents!

We went over to Traci and Bruce's house to celebrate with everyone. I just realized this photo has all but one (Brett) of the cousins! Of course no one is looking, but there is Ann, Charlie, Wesley, Winston, Liam and Abby!

Lala and Liam

Christmas Day is also our niece Ann's birthday. Her party was the day after - the boys LOVED the cupcakes! The boys will always associate Aunt Traci with cupcakes!

Granny, our newest nephew Brett and Uncle Raymond

Charlie, Winston and Wes

Christmas Eve

2010-01-07T21:49:00.004-05:00

I am quite behind in posting photos and memories of the holidays, but I'm going to start with Christmas Eve and try to catch up over the next few days. We drove to Virginia (thanks again to Uncle Raymond for helping us drive!) to spend Christmas with Rob's family.

It was a wonderful trip, filled with lasting memories: the boys first real Christmas Eve at Granny's (more on that below), Poppa's trains, playing with cousins, feeding/chasing the seagulls at the Lion's Bridge (the sign only specified to not feed the ducks), driving through the Celebration of Lights, visiting the Virginia Living Museum with Nanna & Poppa, massages for Rob & Ginger, first visit to Chick-fil-A (boys' & Ginger's!) and most of all, visiting with family!

Christmas Eve was a blessing. It was such a joy to see the boys take part in the tradition has taken place for the last 50 years. The played with family they hadn't seen in 2 years, listened to the Christmas story (Luke) read by Granny, played Granny's piano, and ate the traditional meal (no, they weren't brave enough to try collards).

Playing Granny's piano (Charlie, Wesley, Winston)

Winston liked to "sing" along with the piano

And Wesley would clap at the end. It was a hysterical sight (and sound)!

While we were singing carols, Win and Wes discovered that Kaci and Phyllis would give them sips of Diet Coke. After which, they would twirl around in the middle of the room and fall to the ground (and then go beg for more).

Winston loving his first sips of soda!

They then helped Granny hand out jingle bells, and the moment Granny got up from the piano bench, Charlie stole her seat and started playing!

Charlie made his move for the empty seat

After singing, Winston giggled hysterically as he played with Kaci. She would hide under the table and jump out - and he LOVED it!

Playing with Uncle Raymond - the same home that he and Poppa grew up in!

Christmas came early

2009-12-19T19:46:00.000-05:00

We wanted to let the boys experience Christmas morning in their own house (and we had a number of gifts that will be too big to bring to Virginia), so we had our own mini-Christmas morning today. You will notice that only the top half of the Christmas tree has ornaments. The tree started out fully decorated...that lasted about an hour...
The boys waiting on the stairs

Opening their stockings before breakfast

Charlie kept holding the wrapped gifts and saying "PRESENTS!!", but didn't want to open them. He quickly got the hang of it.

Win in the foreground, Wesley in the back, checking to see if there was anything more in his stocking.

Their big gift was a new kitchen. We got to experience the joys of parenthood on Christmas Eve - we were up past midnight assembling the kitchen and searching for batteries!

The morning ended with haircuts at our local barbershop (you can see from the photos how much the boys needed it) and a very special treat of McDonalds Happy Meals for lunch.

Finished Basement!

2009-12-19T15:31:00.003-05:00

The basement is done! Well, sort of. We failed the final inspection, not to the fault of the contractor, but a grumpy building inspector, so we have a few outstanding issues (if make-up air is needed and the need to extend the hearth). But we have started to move the boys into their "new playroom" (as they call it) - and they LOVE it! It is a huge space for them to run, jump, flop, tackle, crash, etc.

From this:

To this:

The best part of the new playroom is the opening under the stairs. Rob kept the boys laughing by chasing them around the stairs for a good 20 minutes!

New storage in the laundry room

Mud room area (boiler room to the left, laundry room to the right). We opted to not finish the floor here because this will be how the boys go to and from the backyard to play. We're also hoping to use this space for messy arts and crafts.

Our first (real) snowfall

2009-12-10T13:52:00.004-05:00

Winter is officially here! We had our first substantial snowfall last weekend, so we bundled up the boys and played in the snow. We realized that this was their first time really playing in the snow, so we built a snowman and threw snowballs. And they discovered that they enjoy the taste of snow!

A night out!

2009-12-10T13:35:00.004-05:00

Last week, the company Rob works for had their holiday party at the Boston Seaport Hotel. Grammy & Poppy offered to take care of the boys overnight, so we were able to stay in Boston for the night! It was such fun to get dressed up and have a date. I don't know the last time I wore a dress!

The Basement: A work in progress

2009-12-05T09:10:00.004-05:00

We hired contractors to finish our basement into a playroom for the boys. Previously, it was basically unorganized storage. After we moved everything out, the contractor started working at the end of October. The space was divided in half, though the old wall was just some flimsy plywood. The walls were just the cement foundation, painted this lovely shade of dark gray (always a good choice for a basement).

The fake wall was torn down and a new one was built, and all walls were framed and insulated. The windows and windows were replaced.

This was the backside of the room. We have divided this space into a laundry room (on the left side of the photo), a large mudroom (in the middle), and a boiler room (the right side of the photo).

This photo is the mudroom. So the boiler room is to the left and new laundry storage room is to the right.

The blueboard, plaster and paint are now complete (though I don't have any new photos). The recessed lights are in (the boys would destroy any lamps), a new heating zone is nearly complete, the shelves will be built on Monday and the carpet will be the last step. So it should be complete next week - after 6 weeks! We can't wait to show the boys their new space!

A great Thanksgiving

2009-12-05T08:51:00.004-05:00

We spent two days at my parent's house. It was so much fun for the boys and truly felt like a vacation for us! (Grammy & Poppy let us sleep in on Friday and even served us breakfast in bed! What a treat!) Thanksgiving morning was spent playing outside...
Charlie

Wesley

Charlie and the coupe cars - all lined up and ready to go!

The boys helped Poppy load the kindling

All lined up in their holiday sweaters. (The only way I could take a photo of all of them in one place was to put on Dora...)

Wesley showing off his truck

Charlie playing with his trucks. (This photo speaks volumes about Charlie! Notice how every car is perfectly lined up the exact same way.)

Win and Poppy. Somehow Grammy escaped all photos. It's probably because she doesn't sit still, just like the boys! :)

The happy couple

Sick day

2009-11-19T22:41:00.001-05:00

The week I was sick, I searched for low-energy (for me) activities to do with the boys. One morning, I pulled out the paint and paint brushes. Then, to help wash off the paint, I pulled out toy cups which they like to use to practice pouring and drinking water. The kitchen and boys were a mess so I ended up having to bathe all 3 boys (at the same time) by myself all before nap time.
Winston (painted a lovely shade of orange) smacking his puddles

Charlie carefully pouring water (You can't see it but there is yellow paint all over his face and green paint up and down his arms.)

Win and Wes, enjoying themselves

Wesley offering me water. Such a lovely shade of orange and green...

3 minutes

2009-11-19T20:34:00.002-05:00

It took the boys 3 whole minutes to turn their playroom into a scene out of Hoarders. A step could not be taken without stepping on a toy. They now refer to the couch as their trampoline and they have learned to strategically throw all of the pillows on the floor as jumping targets. This is the same couch we used to sit on to feed them their 30ml bottles. Oh how things have changed!

What a week!

2009-11-09T08:53:00.002-05:00

Monday morning is here and I couldn't be happier to start a new week. Last week was one that shall not be repeated. The boys and I have been fighting a cold for what seems to be weeks now. After Halloween, it turned into hacking coughs for all of us. Then by mid-week, the boys and I had come down with pink eye (apparently common when you're fighting a sickness). So calls to the doctors were made, and we started on eye drops. But when I spoke with my doctor, she heard my cough and lack of voice and asked about my other symptoms, and told me to call back Friday morning if they weren't any better. And after another sleepless night due to coughing, I called back the next day to get an appointment to come in. It turned out that I had bronchitis (after ruling out pneumonia and being tested for H1N1), so off to bed I went with antibiotics and robitussin with codeine (each which had horrible side effects). For three days. Rob was so wonderful to take Friday off to care for the boys and be a single parent for the weekend. Thankfully, the boys' coughs got much better on their own.

So I finally emerged from bed on Sunday, feeling slightly better. I walked downstairs to the living room and immediately stepped on something that cause such severe, lasting pain. I looked down and saw a bee attached to my toe!! This would be no big deal, but I'm allergic to bees. So in went the Benadryl. My foot swelled up to the point I could only limp and it was as painful as when I broke my toe. For the entire day.

Talk about a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day (and week)!

Nanna stickers

2009-11-04T18:16:00.000-05:00

Nanna sent the boys fun Halloween stickers, which they love to play with. I brought them out again yesterday because I'm sick and needed a low-impact activity. I provided paper, crayons and stickers. But the boys had a better idea of what to do with them...
Wesley

Wes & Winston

Charlie

Win

October 31st

2009-11-04T15:04:00.005-05:00

Halloween day was unseasonably warm (especially considering we've already had snow). It was 70 degrees and sunny, so we spent the day playing in the leaves in the backyard. The boys loved it!
Charlie loved it when Poppy threw leaves on him

They also loved it when we raked leaves over them

Winston

Charlie and Wes

Wesley loved raking the yard with the big rake

Winston laying on the picnic table

The 3 train conductors head off for their first trick or treating adventure

The boys also loved playing with all of the pumpkins.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T13:16:00.000-04:00

(click to enlarge)

Halloween

2009-10-29T16:30:00.000-04:00

As you can tell, Thomas the train is HUGE in our house right now. So when I found these train conductor outfits, I thought they'd be perfect for Halloween. And then it occurred to me that they had no idea who train conductors are or what they do. We had a halloween party for playgroup yesterday, so I got the boys dressed up in their costumes before we left. (The wooden slide was brought up from the basement, which we had to clear out because we are finishing it off for the boys. More on that.)
Win

Charlie

Wesley

Winston, Charlie, and Wes

Then as we walked out the door, Charlie decided to strip his costume off and threw a fit when I tried to put it back on. Yay toddlers!
One of these kids is doing his own thing...

Uh...there's a bear in here

The kids (with two in the tent)

The feeding frenzy

Reading to each other

2009-10-29T14:07:00.004-04:00

Grammy brought over 3 Tommy Train books for the boys. Silence is never a good thing in our house. So when I didn't hear a peep from the playroom, I went in to see what trouble the boys were getting into. Instead, I found them reading their new books to each other!
Wesley started out reading to Winston...

Then Charlie joined in for storytime...

Then they all ended up on the couch to watch Thomas

Fun with glowsticks

2009-10-16T13:26:00.003-04:00

Rob impulsively picked up 3 glowsticks for the boys at the checkout of the grocery store last night. And what a wonderful thing it was that he did! He brought them out for the boys after dinner and they played with them non-stop for 30 minutes - in the dark! Any toy that keeps their interest for 30 minutes is a miracle.
Wes & Win

Daddy showing Wes & Win how to swing the glowstick. I love that you can see Charlie's green light movement in the background.

Wes, Charlie & Win

The men of the house

Sibling rivalry or empathy...part 2

2009-09-30T17:18:00.002-04:00

This afternoon, Charlie slipped and fell down a few stairs and (understandably) started wailing. So I scooped him up and started to comfort him. Wesley saw this and ran from the playroom to the stairs, jumped off the bottom step so he would "fall" and started fake crying.

What is wrong with my children? :)

Sibling rivalry or empathy?

2009-09-29T20:31:00.005-04:00

I left the house early on Monday morning to drive 30 mins to pick up a train table and parts that someone was selling on craigslist. (As an aside, the "parts" that they were giving with the table included about 100 Thomas trains and rails, which we are going to squirrel away and give to the boys over time!) So while I was gone, Rob got the boys ready and fed them a very typical breakfast of a bagel and cream cheese.

At the end of the meal, Rob was clearing their plates and started to take the huge bite that Wes had left on his table But before he could clear it, Wes shoved the entire piece in his mouth. And wouldn't you know, it got stuck on the roof of his mouth, which made him gag, which made him vomit. So Rob, the loving father that he is, was helping Wes and cleaning up. But apparently Win saw that Wes was getting a lot of attention and wanted to join in the fun, so he actually made himself gag until he was sick! When Rob told me, I couldn't stop laughing - it's just so wrong! We've already had Win and Wes purposefully hit to be put in timeout with the other - but this is a bit much!

Lobster!

2009-09-19T22:29:00.004-04:00

We were unable to make it to Maine with Nanna and Poppa, so we brought the lobster to them. As a thank you to all of the "Grands" for their love, help and support, we made a lobster and clam chowder feast. We are so thankful our parents truly like each other and enjoy each others' company!
Nanna, Poppa, Rob, Grammy & Poppy

Can you tell I'm excited to eat lobster??

Nanna & Poppa did a great job cracking their own lobsters!

We also got to visit to Belkin Lookout Farm - where Nanna even picked peaches and left us with yummy peach jam and peach ice cream thanks to GG's ice cream ball! Thank you again for the wonderful visit Nanna & Poppa!

Our beautiful boys

2009-09-19T22:27:00.003-04:00

Charlie

Winston

Wesley

Cape with Nanna & Poppa

2009-09-19T22:10:00.005-04:00

Nanna and Poppa were visiting us for 2 weeks from Virginia. We were able to take a vacation down to the cape. Unfortunately, the weather was less than desirable (for a beach). But we were still able to walk the boys to the beach and play in the sand.
Wes, Win and Charlie digging in the sand

Win, Julep, Nanna and Wesley

Nanna and Charlie tossing rocks in the ocean. (And Nanna keeping Charlie from running straight into the ocean, which is what he kept doing when we weren't looking!)

Poppa and Charlie taking a walk

Poppa and Win

Daddy and Wesley

Labor Day fun

2009-09-06T20:51:00.004-04:00

It is only Sunday night and we've already had a packed Labor Day weekend. We brought the boys to Belkin Lookout Farm yesterday to run around the orchards and play in their extensive children's area. The weather was gorgeous. But what really made the day was that you get to ride a train throughout the orchard, to get to the different areas. The boys were convinced they were riding on Thomas the Train (or Tommy Train, as they call him) and LOVED every minute of it. We even met another family with triplets - sitting just 2 rows behind us on the train. We will definitely head back there when Nanna and Poppa visit next week! After (a nice long) nap, we wanted to continue to take advantage of the weather, so we walked the boys to a local park and let them run around and play for nearly 2 hours.

Today we headed to church in the morning. When the boys woke from their nap, we jumped in the car and drove up to hang out with our dear friends Adam, Jen, and their girls Piper and Ronnie Bash. Here are some pics that Adam caught:
I was holding Ronnie Bash in my lap and Win & Wes insisted on joining us.

The kids table

The boys are obsessed with guitars. Thankfully, Adam is a musician and had 3 guitars (2 real and 1 toy) for the boys to play with. Charlie chose to play his on his head. It's amazing how the real guitars were a much bigger hit than the toy - kids are smart! I'm off to search for inexpensive, used guitars for them to beat up on...

A rainy Saturday

2009-09-04T09:24:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday was a washout. It was a downpour all day long - so wet that we didn't even want to run outside to the car, just to take a drive to get out of the house. So we ended up staying in our pjs until lunch, just lounging and playing with the boys. It looked something like this:

And the afternoon was no better, so we decided to try out a movie with the boys. We put in "Cars" with low expectations, but they actually lasted for over half of it! A lazy day is so nice every now and then.

Charlie's first (real) haircut!

2009-09-03T21:10:00.003-04:00

So he made it over 2 years, but as you saw from the Maine photos, Charlie was in desperate need for his first professional haircut. Winston and Wesley also needed another cut. So two weeks ago, Grammy, Rob and I brought all 3 of the boys to a local barbershop for a few trims.
Charlie, a little uncertain

Adorable

As Cha-dah (or Cha Bunn, as Win and Wes refer to him) would say "Ahhhh done!"

Win and Charlie enjoy post-haircut lollipops, while Wesley gets his trim

Our 8 year Engagement Anniversary

2009-08-27T18:09:00.000-04:00

Rob and I were able to celebrate our 8 year anniversary of our engagement (August 11, 2001, exactly one month before 9/11) at the very same spot where Rob proposed.
The happy couple!

Rob and Elephant Rock

What my wonderful brother Jim looks like when he's on vacation...

Mr. Kim and Mi Jung (in her famous "everyday" outfit)

Alexandra showing us all the shells and rocks she collected while at the Point

Mr. Kim and Alexandra

Charlie, Win and Wesley enjoying a snack on the steps

A Day out with Thomas!

2009-08-27T08:34:00.000-04:00

As chance would have it, Thomas the Train was visiting Boothbay Harbor during the last weekend we were in Maine. The boys had just been introduced to trains (thanks Ellie and Lizzie!) and were starting to figure out this whole Thomas thing. But after this Day out with Thomas, they are officially obsessed. Grammy, Poppy and Brayden, whom we like to call the triplet's big brother, joined us for the fun day out. We we thinking this would just be a chance to take a short train ride, but it turned out to be filled with other Thomas activities! This day was truly a special day for little and big kids alike!
The boys' first train ride - on Thomas, no less!

Poppy, Wesley, Rob, Win, Grammy and Charlie

Daddy and Win

Wesley and Poppy on the train ride. Wes has never sat so still. (You can see how a fairground was set up with bounce houses, tents, etc in the background.)

Thomas

Poppy, Wesley, me, Charlie, Rob and Win (one other firsts for this trip was their new obsession with riding on shoulders everywhere they went)

The boys found a firetruck to play on

Boys' first tattoos! Brayden and Wesley

Charlie

Winston showing off his ink

Winston and Brayden going down the bounce house slide (he was the only one brave enough to do so!)

Other than riding on Thomas, the boys favorite thing was the tractor ride. They loved it so much, they rode it twice! Here they are waving to Thomas in the background.

Charlie and Brayden shared a car the first time, but got to ride in their own the next time.

Charlie, Brayden, Wesley and Winston

Wesley driving his car

Such a fun day!

Portland Sea Dogs game

2009-08-24T21:30:00.006-04:00

One of the highlights of our Maine vacation was taking the boys to their first baseball game. (The Portland Sea Dogs are a AA minor league farm team for the Red Sox.) There were so many of us (20) that it made more sense to rent a private skybox - it was amazing! We were able to go on the field before the game, food was delivered to the room, the kids all played and could run around, and we had the best view in the stadium. This will definitely be a yearly tradition!!

Our attempt at a family photo. Welcome to having 2 year old triplets. This sums up everything:

Wesley playing on the field - they gave all the kids baseballs to play with and keep

Charlie

Winston in his "I'm this Many" t-shirt

Mercy the bear (one of the 3 mascots, including an LL Bean bear mascot), Daddy and Wes (mesmerized)

Meeting Mercy, giving high 5's

Our view from the skybox

Mi Jung and Erin

Win enjoyed dipping his hand in Daddy's beer and sucking on his fingers. Father of the Year here didn't stop him...

The Sea Dog mascot visited our box!

Mullets unite! Don't worry, they have all since had haircuts...photos to come!

More Maine

2009-08-24T20:53:00.007-04:00

Other highlights from our Maine vacation: A private skybox for a Portland SeaDogs game, going to the Maine Boat and Home Show in Rockland, lunch at our favorite Pacos Tacos, going to the (incredibly age-inappropriate) playground, lots of lobster, spending the day with Becky and her son Christopher (my best friend from high school, whom I haven't seen in 16 years), Day Out with Thomas the Train, and most of all, just hanging out with family and friends.

The boys got to experience many firsts as well:
- first chocolate milk
- first bike ride
- first train ride (on Thomas, no less!)
- first baseball game
- first real beach
- first ride on our shoulders (they loved this so much they insisted on it all the time)
- first beer (well, for Winston - more on that later...)
- first ice cream cone

Here are some photos from Wesley's and Winston's first bike rides - they loved it!!
Wesley and Aunt JenJen

Brayden, Wes and a beautiful view

Brayden helping Winston with his helmet

Brayden, Winston and Hayleigh

Safety first!

Cousin Alex and Charlie

Cousin Christian and Winston

Tom, Hayleigh, Jennifer and Scott

Brayden would often come over to help us with the boys, so we refer to him as the triplet's big brother. While they were watching Mighty Machines (a favorite), Winston put his arm around Brayden and started patting his back - it was such a sweet moment!

Charlie and Daddy, with Wesley riding a bike with Aunt JenJen in the background

Maine vacation, part 1 of many

2009-08-24T20:22:00.006-04:00

We had an amazing 2 weeks in Maine with Grammy, Poppy, my brother Jim, Mi Jung, Alexandra, Christian, Mi Jung's parents, and next door neighbors, The Brackin/Schneider/Huston Green Pond Gang! We brought the boys to 3 beaches: a big (Pemaquid), a small swimming hole (CCIA with cousin Caroline), and a seaweed and rock covered sandy cove (Smelly Beach - the same one from last year where all they did was eat sand and rocks!).

Pemaquid
Daddy, Wes, Charlie, Win & Grammy

Charlie chasing a seagull

Here are some photos from Smelly Beach:
Charlie and his new bucket (collecting seaweed)

Wesley collecting rocks (thankfully there are plenty)

Winston

What the boys do best

Winston, Wes and Daddy

The boys were a mess after all the sand play, so we set up a big bucket of water for some water play on the deck (as a pre-bath). Grammy found large paint brushes that all the kids loved dipping in the water and using for spraying and painting. The water play was a big hit for the whole vacation.
Cousins Alex and Christian and friends Colby and Brayden came over to play

Charlie couldn't stop beaming and laughing throwing the water around

A very wet Wesley

Trying to get Brayden wet

Alexandra painting the window with water

Christian enjoyed playing in the boys' wagon

Lemonade!

2009-08-18T14:13:00.004-04:00

We just returned from two fantastic weeks in Maine, so many posts and photos are soon to come.

But first, I wanted to share the thoughtfulness of cousins Ann & Abby. They decided to have a lemonade stand - well, lemonade delivery - in Virginia (you can read about it here). They were so considerate to think about Win, Wes and Charlie, that they send a box with all the lemonade supplies all the way to Maine so we could enjoy their lemonade!

Opening the box

Abby's precious note

Making the lemonade with Grammy

Wesley loving his lemonade - he quickly asked for seconds!

Charlie loved that Elmo was on his cup!

Winston enjoying his treat

Then we decided to share the wealth and walked up to see cousins Christian and Alexandra. We explained to them how the lemonade was sent from cousins Ann and Abby - for us all to enjoy!
Alexandra

Christian

Thank you Ann and Abby! We loved our lemonade!!

2 year stats

2009-07-29T14:48:00.003-04:00

Grammy & I brought the boys to their 2 year pediatrician appointment on Monday. As the Dr and I tried to talk, the boys destroyed the office. So I don't really remember much of the conversation, other than we're going to face potty training this year. I am frightened by this prospect, so let's just assume it's going to happen next summer.

Winston
weight: 25lbs 5oz (18th %)
height: 33.5 inches (26th %)
Wesley
weight: 25lbs 13oz (23rd %)
height: 34.5 inches (53rd %)
Charlie
weight: 26lbs (25th %)
height: 35 inches (67th %)

Edited to add that the Dr diagnosed the fever/virus that the boys had over their birthday: Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease. It is very common and very contagious for young children. Thankfully, they are already feeling better and out of our self-imposed quarantine.

First visit to the zoo

2009-07-28T11:00:00.001-04:00

Valerie (our nanny) and I brought the boys to the zoo for the first time. The boys enjoyed seeing the zebras, giraffe, lion and butterflies up close.
Checking out the zebra

Inside the Butterfly tent

But as with most times when we take them out in public, we are often the "show". The following video is NOT our family, but a perfect example of going out with triplets. This family videotaped their visit to a zoo and all of the comments people made at them, not to them. It's so true!
Triplets and Instant Celebrity on YouTube

July 4th photo

2009-07-27T23:00:00.000-04:00

I just received an email from a professional photographer who stopped to take our photo during our town's 4th of July Parade. Here is the photo he just shared with us:
Rob (yes, his shirt says "got triplets"), Winston, Wesley and his flag, me, and Charlie

Precious!

Happy 2nd Birthday! (part 3)

2009-07-27T12:53:00.006-04:00

The Big Party That Never Was
(or really, The Family Party That Was Better Than Planned)
Over 2 dozen balloons were supposed to decorate the backyard for their big birthday party

Decorations were ready to go

And over 70 cupcakes were made

But even with the party canceled, nothing was missed. I delivered the cupcakes to neighbors, and the boys spent the afternoon playing with all of their balloons.
Charlie

Winston

Wesley

We celebrated with a pizza dinner (and look - they held their own pieces - no cutting up needed!)

And then blew out their candles (we sang to each individually)

And they proceeded to finger paint with the icing

It was such a wonderful day! The boys' fevers broke by the end of Sunday, when Grammy & Poppy came over to celebrate with us and the boys. Such a great weekend.

Happy 2nd Birthday! (part 2)

2009-07-25T22:56:00.006-04:00

We are 2! As you know, we used to take monthly photos of Winston, Wesley and Charlie. In honor of that tradition, here are the boys in their "2" t-shirts. (Poor Wes and Charlie had fevers - you can tell them look sick.)
Win, Wes and Charlie (and their new trains)

Winston playing peekaboo around the chair

Wesley and his trains

Charlie

Happy 2nd Birthday! (part 1)

2009-07-25T22:33:00.007-04:00

Happy Birthday Winston!
Happy Birthday Wesley!
Happy Birthday Charlie!

The celebrations began last night, as we brought the boys out to dinner (Wild Willy's, of course). Winston had developed a high fever (102 degrees) last Wednesday afternoon, which lasted about 24 hours. We thought we were in the clear for Wes and Charlie, but as we sat at dinner Friday night, we noticed Charlie was really fussy and refused to eat. We took his temperature when we got home and it too was over 102. I spent Friday baking about 70 cupcakes and preparing for a big birthday party for the boy, so we decided that if one boy was sick, we would still have the party. If two were sick, we would cancel. And this morning, Wesley developed a fever (that just kept getting higher and higher throughout the day - hitting nearly 104!) So we canceled their big birthday party.

But it was a blessing in disguise. Instead of a big party, we got to enjoy time with just the boys and celebrate them. Their fevers left them lethargic, but they still managed to enjoy their birthday treats!

We started the day with a family breakfast (eggs, toast and sausage) and opened gifts from Auntie Ellie, Uncle Kev, Owen and Lucy. The boys didn't stop playing with the trains all day! Aunt Lizzie and her boyfriend Santosh later brought more trains for the boys to play with - they are in train heaven.

Our coffee table made a great train table. Win was so excited to watch the train go down the hill.

Win also is a big fan of cameras.

Snacktime: The boys enjoyed yummy cookies sent from Lala, Bias, cousin Liam, Aunt Traci, Uncle Bruce, cousins Ann, Abby and Brett.
They each chose their own cookie
Charlie

Wesley

Winston

And chowed down!
Charlie

Wesley

Green!

2009-07-21T06:44:00.007-04:00

We've been trying to teach the boys to respond to the question "how old are you?" for their upcoming birthday. We ask the question, then hold up two fingers and say "2"! And then we ask the boys the question and let them answer. Here's how it went:
Us: Winston, how old are you going to be on Saturday?
Win: Green!

It still cracks me up. In other funny expressions, Charlie has come up with a few of his own. Instead of saying "no", he says (every time) "no not". And "more" is "more again". "Yes" is "okay", but only after he suckers you into saying what he wants:
Charlie: (Jumbled toddler words) Gabby big doodah more again (more jumbled toddler words)
Me trying to interpret back to him: You want to watch Yo Gabba Gabba on the big doodah (our big tv)?
Charlie: Okay!

Wesley's favorite expression right now is "MINE!", while pointing at himself. I won't elaborate on how I feel about this...

In other news, one of our amazing neighbors dropped by yesterday with balloons and cookies for the boys' upcoming birthday. These balloons kept them occupied all day!
You will notice that there were 4 balloons: Win claimed the yellow and purple stars, Wes had the cars, and Charlie had the white star

Wesley and Charlie

Winston and Wesley

Charlie (doing his best interpretation of a male model)

Then Win stole Charlie's balloon and ran into the living room

Then Wes joined him and they tried to hide behind the sofa cushions

Wesley

Splish splash

2009-07-16T13:31:00.004-04:00

Grammy, Poppy and I brought the boys to the (toddler) pool today for the first time. The boys LOVED it. They sat on the side kicking, splashed water around and later played with the day care kids who were there as well. We're going to have to do this more often. But we absolutely needed one adult per child because they still like to take off in different directions at the blink of an eye. After the pool, we all went out for pizza. And now the boys are napping - they must be exhausted from their full morning!
(I forgot my camera, so these are all from my phone.)
Poppy, Win, Wes, Charlie and Grammy

They started by sitting at the edge of the pool, and before no time, they were walking around splashing each other...

..and splashing themselves!

All done!

2009-07-16T13:18:00.003-04:00

I can't believe it, but the steps are all done (with the exception of the iron railings). The demolition took a few hours, and the steps and walkway were built in a day and half. And that included hand placing and shaping the stones, removing our frail rhododendron, and frequent waves to the triplets in the window.
Wesley, Charlie and Winston loved the trucks!

All done! I think we'll keep the caution tape up just for fun...

Now all we need is a railing so we can actually use the steps.

Demolition Day

2009-07-13T20:41:00.002-04:00

When we moved into our home a year ago, the steps and walkway appeared to be in fine condition due to their fresh coat of paint. But the harsh winter chipped off the paint and revealed the truth: cracked cement, loose bricks, etc. The previous owners had painted everything to hide the flaws! The conditions became dangerous, so this week, we are undergoing a complete rebuild of our steps and walkway.
Before

The steps to the sidewalk. You can see the chipped paint, as well as a nice chunk of step missing from the top (and nicely placed on the sidewalk in the left corner).

Demolition

Oh fun! Termite damage! There is supposed to be a wood board under the door's threshold. But thanks to termites, it has practically disintegrated. Tomorrow, the carpenter will determine the extend of the damage, replace the wood and spray for termites.

An early birthday gift

2009-07-09T14:39:00.005-04:00

We gave the boys a swingset as an early birthday gift. And we gave ourselves a fenced in yard to help contain them! After about 2 months of rain (and being stuck inside), both were finally installed. So we spent the morning playing outside - in the unseasonable 60 degrees weather in July!
The slide is so fast, you have to hold onto the boys so they don't fly off. But that didn't stop them!

Wes, Win and Charlie making do with the "big kid"swings and trapeze. We have 3 toddler swings that we'll install later today.

Wes loved climbing the rockwall, while Win enjoyed the swings.

Charlie "flying" on the swing.

Wes making dirt piles on the fence. (This is one of my favorite photos of Wesley ever!)

Win and his dirt piles.

All of the boys playing with the dirt and fence.

After about an hour of the swingset, they moved onto to climbing on the stonewall and throwing the rocks from behind the compost bin.

Seven down...

2009-07-07T07:29:00.004-04:00

Last night was our seventh wedding anniversary. So, being the wild and crazy party-animals that we are we got take out after we put the boys down and then looked at our wedding albums. But, I don't think either Ginger or I would have had it any other way.

We have developed some special traditions for our anniversary celebrations. Every year since our wedding, we have gone back to the baker who made our wedding cake and had him redo the cake in a smaller version (key lime and raspberry - yummy!). We also started setting aside special bottles of wine to have with our 6th - 10th anniveraries, and we opened up bottle number two last night. All in all, a great meal and a lot of great memories.

BUT...

The main event was all Ginger! After seven years and triplets, she got back into her wedding dress and zipped it up! If anyone was still looking for evidence that she is superwoman, here it is. Nice job, Babydoll. And you still look great in it (even after a long day with your gang).

The blushing bride

Us and our boys

The anniversary take-out table

Flowers and cake

Answered Prayers

2009-07-01T20:22:00.003-04:00

We haven't mentioned Winston's and Wesley's kidney issues on the blog for a number of reasons. And we hesitated to mention this good news, but decided it was best to rejoice in the answered prayers.

A little background...when I was pregnant (and getting ultrasounds at least every other week), we discovered that Wes had a "full" kidney. Because kidney issues are often common in siblings, all of the boys received kidney ultrasounds when they were about 6 weeks old. Charlie was cleared of issues, but Win and Wes were scheduled for a more invasion procedure, a VCUG (when they were about 6-9 months old). This involved a catheter, contrast dye, xrays, and very unhappy babies. This test revealed that both Win and Wes had Vesicoureteral Reflux. We were told that they would probably outgrow this by the time they go to school, and if they didn't, they would need surgery. They were both placed on daily amoxicillin, for the past year, to prevent urinary tract infections and kidney damage.

So last Friday, Grammy and I brought the boys back to Children's Hospital for their yearly kidney review (this time and ultrasound and RNC for each). We just received the call from the urologist that they are BOTH CLEAR OF ANY KIDNEY REFLUX!! They have been healed! God is so good. We threw out the amoxicillin and are rejoicing. It is truly a miracle and answer to prayers that they were completely healed (especially since they had grade 2-3 on a scale of 1-5). Thanks be to God.

I brought Win and Wesley into the RNC test individually, and they both did great. The doctors were amazed at how they reacted to the test identically to each other. And said both did a phenomenal job getting through the test. As a prize, they each got a pair of sunglasses (which they didn't take off). The doctor even made sure to send home a pair for Charlie too!

The only time Wesley removed his was to watch the TV (doodah) behind me.

As a treat, Grammy & I brought them out for ice cream at JP Licks. They each got their own kiddie sized soft-serve vanilla ice cream - for lunch!
Winston

Wesley

Life under the Big Top

2009-06-22T20:20:00.003-04:00

The crib tents are up! Tonight is the first night under the big top, so we'll see how it goes. But we're not off to the best start. Upon entering his tent, Winston started screaming that we unzip it. He did eventually fall asleep, thankfully.

But we couldn't help to feel sad that they couldn't do all the things that they loved: tossing toys/books/blankets back and forth to each other, throwing their stuffed rabbits and teddy bears to us and having us throw them back, being able to hold hands (Win & Wes because they could reach), and closing the door (Win). I have to keep reminding myself that these tents will keep them safe and we're not ready for a constant Monkey Party (toddler beds).
Charlie, Wesley and Win

Charlie (trying to figure out how to unzip the tent) and Wesley (settled into the side)

Wesley (checking out the back) and Winston (not happy)

The Cove

2009-06-21T18:37:00.005-04:00

We just returned from a quick trip to the Cove (Maine). What was supposed to be a 4 day summer excursion with the boys turned out to be a day and a half (plus 7 hours of driving) in the rain. The boys did great in the car - we planned the trip around their nap, but they only slept for 45 mins each way. The rain really limited our trip, and I won't get into the absolute frustrations of being stuck inside a new space (to the boys). But it was hysterical that when we put them down for the first night, they were so excited to be in pack 'n plays right next to each other, that they jumped around and laughed and played for at least a half hour. We dubbed this playtime "The Monkey Party".

But the boys did get to meet their cousin (well, 2nd cousin once removed) Caroline. This is the longest they have ever sat for a photo. The trick? Snacks.

Win, Wes, and Charlie waving hi to Caroline, as she rests her chin on his shoulder

Win, Caroline, Wesley and Charlie

Winston sharing his snack with Caroline

And we took the boys out to dinner to Shaw's Fish and Lobster Wharf, where they enjoyed an entire meal of french fries. And Wesley discovered a new love for tartar sauce.
Wesley the Lobster

Winston the Lobster

Charlie the Lobster (doing his best Evita "Don't cry for me Argentina" impression)

The best part about our 3 and half hour drive home in the rain was arriving home to Grammy and Poppy, waiting to help take care of the boys! We got to enjoy a family Father's Day dinner together. Happy Father's Day!

Another crib fall!

2009-06-16T13:35:00.002-04:00

I woke up this morning to a very loud thud. Winston escaped from his crib! He and Wes have been taunting us by balancing on their stomachs on the crib railing. And head first over the railing Win went! I had placed pillows by each of their beds - just in case. But he missed the pillow and the rug, and hit the hardwood floor. Thankfully, he settled down and wasn't hurt.

So I have urgently been researching crib tents. I found a website that offered a triplet discount where you buy 2 and get the 3rd free. I tried 3 times to order these online and got an error each time. Then I called and they told me that I had to order online. Well, then. After many calls to other stores in the area, no one carries crib tents in the store - just online! So after more searches, I found the best price at Walmart, and ordered them. Hopefully the boys will all stay in their cribs until they arrive!

All before lunch...

2009-06-15T12:20:00.003-04:00

The last week has been very challenging with the boys - more screaming, hitting, throwing, less sleeping, laughing, eating. I blame the rain. And the fact that we are a month away from 2. They are toddlers. This morning will give you a good taste for the typical:

Goal: Leave the house by 8:15 to get to the gym. At 8:15, Charlie announced he pooped. So upstairs we went to change his diaper. I gave him a pair of socks to hold onto and brought down socks for W&W. Win then hit Wes, so back upstairs for a timeout. Downstairs to put socks on Charlie. But Charlie hid his socks. Put another pair on Wes. Timeout over. Upstairs to get Win, back down to put his socks on. Win finds Charlie's socks. Shoes on all. Jackets on. Walking out the door at 9. Win won't walk down the stairs. Get everyone in the car. Wes climbs into the front seat and pretends to drive. Finally, everyone in. Get to the gym, unbuckle everyone. Get Win and Charlie out and they are both holding my left hand while I try to grab Wes. C&W decide to hug and kiss while Wes climbs into the front seat. Can't open the front door because I already locked it, coax him to come out the open back door. Close door while holding onto all the boys. Wes gets his finger caught in the door!! Crying. Hugging and kissing. All better. Into the gym we go: 9:20. Halfway through my workout, I notice my pants are covered with toddler cream cheese hand prints. And to top it off, the only downpour we had this morning occurred while I walking them back out to the car. Of course.

Whew.

A star is born

2009-06-12T07:10:00.003-04:00

Apparently Charlie's new crib tricks have inspired his loving and creative Tante Lala (Rob's sister Lori) to imagine him as the new star of Fox's show Prison Break.

Nice job Lala. Very funny, but not very believable. Charlie has way more tattoos that your original subject...

A crib jumper!

2009-06-10T22:15:00.002-04:00

Charlie escaped from his crib today. He has been throwing his leg up over the side for a few weeks, taunting us. But during a timeout (in his crib) this evening, he was so upset that he jumped right over the side. We heard a thump and Rob went running in, only to find Charlie walking across the floor saying "All done!" Thankfully, this all happened when Win and Wes were not in the room (imagine the ideas they would get!) and we were actively listening for him due to his short timeout. God is good!

And I'm confident that I was more traumatized by this than Charlie was. Cribs are their (and our) safe haven. When you have three toddlers, all in the same room, containment is key. I often hear of triplet parents who have to put mesh crib tents over the crib, in order to keep the kids in cribs longer. Three toddlers, in one room, in toddler beds? Not an option. Imagine the all night parties they would hold!

And here we are, in a new stage yet again.

Maine!

2009-06-08T14:31:00.002-04:00

Summer is officially here - we went to Maine! My parents (Grammy & Poppy) offered to watch the boys for the weekend so that Rob and I could go to Maine by ourselves. We decided to do all the things that we could never do with the boys. After a nice long walk with the dog, we drove into Damariscotta, ate at our favorite fish tacos at Paco's Tacos, and wandered in and out of art galleries and shops. After a 3 set bocce battle back at the house, we had cocktails with my cousins Kiki and Matt, Aunt Lois, Kiki's husband Josh and their daughter Caroline. Caroline is 8(ish) months old and just as sweet and adorable as can be. It was such a great weekend, though we really missed the boys!

We arrived at my parents' house Sunday, only to find the boys having a great time. They barely noticed we were gone. We went running down the driveway with open arms. The boys waved hi, then sat back on the steps to drink their juice.

I actually remembered to bring the camera, only to discover that the battery was dead. So here is a description of the photos you would have seen: purple lupin in full bloom, the beautiful Caroline, our champagne and lobster dinner, my victory lap after bocce, and our family cookout on Sunday.

Thank you, Grammy & Poppy, for such a special weekend!

Uncle Raymond

2009-06-02T20:01:00.002-04:00

We had a great visit from Uncle Raymond last week! The boys loved their time with "Uncle". We enjoyed our time by going to the park, the local indoor playspace (due to lots of rain), dinner with our friend Carl, a date night for Rob and me, and of course, a visit to The Bakery.

During our time in Brookline, Uncle Raymond developed a deep and lasting friendship with the owners/bakers of New Paris Bakery. (If you live in MA, you will need to get their mini eclairs - they are out of this world!) They correspond and pray for each other, so it is always a treat to go back and visit Jimmy & Roula when Uncle Raymond visits. While we were there, the boys got their first official sugar high: 2 cookies and 1 mini eclair - EACH! I've learned to not question Roula's generosity - the boys loved it. It was also their first time the boys have been able to wander in a store - no strollers or wagons! And they did great (mostly because they always had a yummy treat in their hands).

I can't remember what the boys needed to see out the window, but it was necessary that they all stand on Uncle to see it!

(L-R: Uncle Raymond, Win, Wes, and Charlie)

(Just about) 22 months

2009-05-22T20:38:00.005-04:00

I can't believe the boys will be 2 in 2 months! Where has the time gone. The boys love that the house is free of gates. I still don't think we would have survived had we taken them down any earlier, but it was good timing for their age/needs/development. They have gotten over the initial obsession with the new spaces, thankfully. They love eating with utensils (although they are still mastering this) and we are working on eating more of our meals as a family, with everyone eating the same food. (We're doing great if it happens half the time, but we're getting there!) And today was the first day that I saw the 3 of them make up a game, play together and take turns! They would run from one to the other and end in the play room, diving on the white chair, with their legs flying high behind them. When one boys diving on the chair, the other two would wait for their turn! Win and Wes also played their first game of catch - throwing a bow back and forth to each other. Well, since they weren't really "catching", it was really a game of "throw".

Winston

Winston likes to ride his car around the house. He also likes to hoard toys, often walking around with at least 3 things in his arms. The two activities are often combined, with him piling "stuff" in the seat of his car, so it overflows so much that his seat doesn't sit level. It's an hysterical site! I often put on "doodah" (a dvd) while I cook dinner, but Win is not that interested in watching tv. It is so cute because he'll ride his car into the kitchen to help me or just sit in a chair and hang out with me. Win has gotten so much better about stealing toys or being overly physical with his brothers. He will often bring toys to Wes & Charlie if they are without, and we now focus on hugs and kisses instead of pushing and tackling. I was blown away when I put Win the scale on the bathroom and when it said 26.2, he pointed to the digital numbers and said 2!

Wesley

I'm convinced that everyday is a parade to Wesley. Whether he is in a car seat and sees someone as we drive by, in a restaurant, or in the wagon walking through a store, he always waves and says "hi". And it's a persistent hi - he's not satisfied until the other person says hi back (which is tough when you're driving by). And he'll then introduce his brothers "Cha-da and Win-win". It is so cute! Other adorableness...He always drinks the milk out of cereal bowl before eating. When outside, he always has a rock in his hand (as with Win). Always. He runs everywhere. From a standstill, he will start pumping his fists, high kick his legs and take off, even if its to get to the other side of the room. So the game of chase is big in this household. Wesley also likes to keep the pack together. When one of his brothers is ignoring me and say, not coming down the stairs to the car when asked, I can't use the "okay, we're going to go without you". Because the moment these words leave my lips, Wes reverses course to go get the missing brother.

Charlie

Charlie loves books and "doodah" and would watch dvds all day long if he could. Elmo is huge right now. He is learning and using new words every day. I just hung some family photos in the hallway, and every day will point out and name all of their cousins. Today Charlie saw a card that had a different photo of Christian and Alex (as he ran away from me as I was trying to grab him change his diaper) and he kept saying over and over "Christian Alex, Christian Alex". I couldn't get over that he made that connection! We were also reading a book today and he saw a guitar. He immediately pointed to the kitchen and said "Chick Fry". What he is saying is Chicken Fried, which is their favorite song (by Zac Brown Band). In the video, which they watch on my iPod, they play the guitar. Again, the connections! He also knows most colors and now likes to say "green cup" or "yellow spoon". He has also learned (can identify) the letters C and Q - which he pronounces "clue" and has counted "1, 2, 3, 5, 6". Who needs 4!

One thing that I need to get a video of is their "Brothers" song. Rob made up a song, which we all sing at the table, while holding and swinging hands. It goes like this:

Brothers, brothers, we are brothers
Brothers, brothers, we are friends
Brothers, brothers, we are brothers
Brothers, brothers, to the end.

Nanna & Poppa!

2009-05-22T14:26:00.002-04:00

Rob's parents (Nanna & Poppa) came for a visit last week. We had a great time taking the boys to a few parks and out for walks. The boys got to taste lemonade for the first time, as there were multiple stands open in the neighborhood. We also enjoyed a family dinner out at one of our favorite local restaurants, Wild Willy's. The boys are getting so much easier to take out to dinner - they drink out of straw cups, keep their (paper) plates on the table, scream less, eat more, throw less food on the floor. Nanna & Poppa even watched the boys last Friday so that Rob and I could go out to dinner to celebrate Rob's birthday. It was wonderful!

But wouldn't you know, I failed to take a single photo of their visit!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-11T12:47:00.002-04:00

I am so blessed to be the mother to these three beautiful men!

Rob and the boys got me a hysterical card that had two crying babies on the cover. On the inside it said "Aren't you glad we weren't twins?" Yes! I can't imagine life without any one of these boys. We had a wonderful day together - blueberry pancakes, church, a walk, dinner with Grammy & Poppy. And I didn't change a single diaper!

Attempting to live gate-free!

2009-05-08T13:13:00.003-04:00

After pulling down all the gates for our Derby party, I have been obsessed with the idea of finally opening the entire house to the boys. First, we opened up the dining room. They have loved chasing each other in a circle: through the dining room, down the hall, through the kitchen, back into the dining room, repeat. The gate to the stairs kept falling down, so we moved it a few steps up. The boys spent the morning just sitting on the open stairs. The living room is currently gated off while we build shelves in a hall closet for the books that are in the triplet danger zone.
Wesley, Winston and Charlie (Right before I took the photo, I said "smile" and Win and Charlie actually did! Two out of three isn't bad!)

Cake!

2009-05-07T21:15:00.003-04:00

My parents (Grammy & Poppy) watched the boys last weekend, while we threw a Kentucky Derby party for the neighborhood and enjoyed a visit from one of my dearest friends, Lizzie. It was such fun! If only we caught a photo of Rob in his seersucker suit and bowtie and me in my Derby hat! When we picked up the boys, Grammy had made my favorite birthday cake, which the boys loved.
Wesley

Winston

Charlie

My parents have taken a birthday photo of me with daffodils every single year. The story goes that when my parents left for the hospital (to have me) the daffodils hadn't bloomed yet, but when they returned home with me, the daffodils were in full bloom!

Win chatting on Rob's Blackberry (He quickly figured out how to program speed dial!)

New haircuts and toys!

2009-05-01T09:49:00.000-04:00

I have been searching high and low to find outdoor toys for the boys. With a few days last week in the 90s, we have tasted summer, and the boys are loving playing outside. So after their haircuts, we pulled out their new cars and chalk and playing in the driveway. (Our wonderful neighbors are letting us borrow a huge gate to keep the boys in the driveway - a must!)
Charlie in the "minivan" - complete with faux wood stickers.

Winston showing off his new shorter locks

Making a break for the crackers

Wesley. Put a suit and briefcase on him and he looks like he's driving off to work!

Outside with Grammy & Poppy

First (real) haircuts!

2009-04-30T21:26:00.004-04:00

Winston's and Wesley's hair had become so long, I'm sure it was hard for them to see. I had cut their hair at home on two occasions, but this time we needed to bring in the professionals. It was time. So Poppy came over to help me bring them to our local Supercuts. The boys only cried for the first half (it all started when they sprayed their hair), but once they realized they had lollipops (a first), all was good.
(Wesley on left, Win on right)

Wesley

All was better once he tasted the lollipop! He kept saying "nummy nummy".

Winston

Win overhearing the ladies in the back saying how cute all the boys are! Notice Charlie just hanging out in the background.

Charlie loved this experience. He hung out, watched the haircut show AND got a lollipop.

Stop to smell the roses

2009-04-30T21:10:00.004-04:00

Rob got me a beautiful bouquet of flowers for my birthday. When the boys saw it, they kept saying "flower", so we decided to give them a rose to smell. Win and Wes did a great job taking turns!
Wesley & Win

A great day sandwiched between two very bad days

2009-04-28T14:44:00.002-04:00

I had a wonderful birthday last Friday. I woke up to the smell of my favorite coffee brewing, and got to sit down with my four favorite men for a breakfast of bagels with lox, cream cheese, capers, red onion, and lime. Valerie came for the morning and I left to treat myself to a pedicure and a few (fun) errands - like buying cupcakes! I spent the afternoon at the park, meeting up with a friend with twins and other twin moms. (The boys were hysterical. Wes kept finding and handing rocks to a random grandfather. Charlie wanted to stir his stick in another girl's sand bucket - she was not happy with this. Even when I got him a bucket of his own, he only wanted to play with hers. And Win joined us in the sandbox and proceeded to throw sand on the girl's mom, which she thought was funny.) After the boys went to bed, Rob got take out from our favorite Thai place and we proceeded to play with my gift - a Wii!

So backing up, the day before had been very trying. The boys were just screaming left and right, starting fights, throwing tantrum after tantrum. But the kicker was when (in his crib) Win decided to pull down his diaper and pee everywhere. Covering about a quarter of the room. And all this was before 11am.

But I would have traded everything for that awful Thursday, when on Saturday, I woke up with the stomach flu. Thankfully, it only lasted about 36 hours, but it knocked me out. And thankfully, it was a Saturday, so Rob was home and able to care for the boys without any help from me. But all is better now!

The Sickhouse...again

2009-04-18T09:32:00.003-04:00

The boys have been fighting a cold for the last few weeks. They had runny noses and low-grade fevers that would come and go. So we didn't really worry about it. (I even called the pediatrician when Charlie started complaining about his ears, but they said it was nothing until he had a high fever.) So when Wes and Charlie spiked high fevers on Thursday and Friday, we decided to take them in for the doctor's sick hours. It was going to only be the two of them, until Winston started wheezing and barking (cough). After 2 hours of waiting, we were seen. Turns out that Charlie and Wes just have a cold - thankfully no ear infections. But Win, on the other hand, might have croup. We were given a steroid to reduce the swelling of his airways and sent on our way, reassured that the boys would be okay.

So later that night, we went to a Red Sox game with our dear friends Adam and Jen. It was a gorgeous, warm night, complete with the best seats we've ever sat in at Fenway - 12 rows directly behind home plate!! The only downside to the evening was learning that while we were off enjoying ourselves, Wes' fever had spiked up to 104.7! A record in this house. Valerie (our wonderful nanny) handled everything beautifully. The boys slept on and off through the night, and Rob was up with Wes at 5am. They are still struggling with their fevers, so they have enjoyed a morning in their pajamas, watching doo-dah (videos). Hopefully they will all start to feel better soon!

Easter hats, part 2

2009-04-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

Apparently the boys will wear Easter hats. Just not the ones we bought for them. They have enjoyed wearing their Easter baskets as hats.
Wesley

Winston and Charlie

Boys will be boys

2009-04-15T12:37:00.002-04:00

While we were out at my parents' house, they brought out the Barbie van that I used to play with as a child. The boys found a new way to play with the van - to get in and drive it! I love that these two images of Wes and Win are like mirror images: one hand on the wheel, one arm out of the van.
Win

Wesley

Easter eggs

2009-04-13T14:20:00.003-04:00

While the boys were napping, we hid plastic eggs (filled with goldfish) throughout the house. Once they realized they were filled with food, they opened and consumed the eggs immediately.
Win was a master at finding the hidden eggs

Charlie opening an egg

Wesley about to eat his fish

Easter driving

2009-04-13T13:58:00.002-04:00

We spent Easter weekend with my parents (Grammy & Poppy). This allowed us to go to the baptism of our dear friends' daughter on Saturday night (as well as sneak in a rare dinner out in Harvard Square). Easter was filled with worship, naps, great food, laughs, and outside playtime (despite the 39 degree weather!)

Grammy borrowed these great cars for the boys. The loved driving around (often backwards) and bumping into each other.

Charlie

Wes

Win

Traffic jam

Easter hats

2009-04-13T13:39:00.003-04:00

So last Easter, we caught this adorable photo of the boys in their Easter hats. In an attempt to capture their cuteness this year, we put the boys in their Easter hats and sat them on this same love seat. Who were we kidding! The hats were immediately torn off, and they quickly jumped back down the floor.
Easter 2008

So Plan B: just get ANY photo of them in their hats. We bribed them with an M&M to put their hat on. Here is Winston getting his bribe.

Charlie's best photo

And Wesley, crawling through the table, with the dog's rawhide in hand

It will be years before they all take a photo together. I hope we can take a family photo...someday....

Parents' Revenge

2009-04-01T20:09:00.002-04:00

We put Winston and Wesley to bed tonight with their sleepers on backwards. We're hoping that with the snap and zipper in the back, they won't be able to undress themselves like they did this morning.
Winston

Wes and Win romping in Wesley's crib as Charlie was being changed

Wesley trying to figure out why the feet of his pjs were backwards

One word: YUCK

2009-04-01T13:41:00.005-04:00

Remember when we woke up to this sight?

Well, this morning both Win and Wes had removed their sleepers and thrown them on the floor. But to make matters worse, Win took it one step further and had taken off his dirty diaper and threw it on the floor. We will spare you the details and a photo of the scene because it was a mess.

And sadly this is not an April Fools joke.

Celebrating making it through the day

2009-03-30T21:48:00.004-04:00

The boys are quite...rowdy. Active. Crazy, even. They enjoy body-slamming and pushing each other, putting each other in headlocks, etc. It rained all day, so we were stuck inside (after a fun weekend outside). And that seemed to put the boys in a tizzy. Winston would steal toys and books out of Charlie's hands. Charlie would come crying to me, saying "Take!" (which was him saying that someone took something from him). Then I would chase Win down telling him to return the contraband, but he thought this chase was a fun game. Then Winston would steal from Wesley and Wes would fight back and someone would end up tackled on the ground crying. Then someone else would stand on a chair and start the microwave or shove all of their magnets under the fridge (and out of reach for good) or crawl inside the oven and dishwasher. So it was a fun day.

So after the boys went to bed, we celebrated getting through the day with champagne. And folding four loads of laundry. Welcome to our world:

GeGe and Uncle

2009-03-22T20:15:00.004-04:00

We had the pleasure of a visit from GeGe (Rob's Granny) and Uncle Raymond last week. The boys loved their time with a great grandmother and great uncle! Highlights of their trip (besides playing with the boys!) included a visit to the New Paris Bakery (a favorite from our old neighborhood), a trip to the park (complete with each of us following a toddler boy on his outdoor adventures), playtime on the sun porch (first time this year) and a wonderful meal out!

This meal out was monumental for us! (We have only taken the boys out to eat a handful of times, and it has been months since we have done so.) The boys were so well-behaved! They drank out of straws and they dipped their food in ketchup (Charlie even started "painting" with his ketchup fry)! And to top it off, all thanks to GeGe, the boys held our hands as we walked to the car. This may sound like nothing to most parents, but when you are outnumbered with three the same age, you don't get the chance to just walk down the road holding your child's hand. They were so proud and excited to just hold our hands and walk to the car! So all this is to say, we're hoping to make this a weekly family meal out.
The boys remembered a game with Uncle Raymond from January: they would look in his shirt pocket and pull out (and put back) pieces of paper!

They also loved playing with his hat
Wesley

Winston and Uncle Raymond

Wesley, Daddy, Win, Charlie, Uncle Raymond and the luckiest dog in the world (Julep)

Charlie

Wesley, GeGe, Win and Charlie

Charlie and Wes in the ball pit

Win, Charles Raymond, Uncle Raymond and Wesley

Classic Wes

2009-03-11T21:08:00.004-04:00

All the boys have a wonderful sense of humor, but Wesley has an impish side to him. He is a ham. This photo is classic Wesley. Here he is, chilling on the chair, wearing Daddy's hat, flashing that sweet little pursed-lip smile. He is often the one that is running back and forth, from room to room, clearly cracking himself with whatever he is doing (wearing Daddy's hat that covered his whole face, wearing a bowl on his head, or dancing). And then he looks at you out of the corner of his eye, with a quick little raise of his eyebrow, and upturn of his lips, to let you know that you're in on the joke with him.

In other Wes news, he just started saying "Charlie" today. (Apparently, the name Charlie is easier than the "w" sound of Wesley and Winston.) It sounds a little like "Cha-dah". It's adorable.