Picture Perfect!

How did we get them to hold still to get 2 cute poses?  They brought in extra remotes for the camera.  They were all fascinated by pushing the red button and seeing the big flash so we'd give them each a turn and then run out of the picture.  I even had them Photoshop the big scab off of McKay's forehead from falling on the cement the night before.  They're such a handful, but I'm so glad I tough it out and go get the pictures done.  In a few years I'll still have them and won't have to remember all the disasters.  Actually I won't mind remembering them as long as I'm not still cleaning them up!  I watched some videos of toddler triplets and felt so much better that the backgrounds of all the videos were a complete mess too!  And they were hitting each other and screaming!  It's the only way to do three at a time.

Yet Another Disaster

The kids have all been sick.  Nicole got an awful flu for a week and passed it to all the babies who passed it to Jason and now me.  Nicole is doing better, but the rest of us feel awful.  Last week I ran up to give Nicole her medicine as she laid in my bed and came downstairs to the babies filling pans with their own bottle of dish soap.  Yes, the cupboards have locks, but if they don't get shut tight, they can open them and the garbage can is usually the one I leave loose so I can get to it 50 times a day.  Once we put the locks up, they stopped trying to open them because they knew they were locked, but this time they lucked out.  Thank goodness for the dishwasher.

 

Today was even worse.  We were all upstairs getting dressed this morning when Caleb and Brooke followed Nicole through the gate downstairs while I was still dressing McKay.  Who knows what she was doing, but she came up to tell me the babies made a mess in the pantry.  The doors are all supposed to be closed!  I was hoping they had made a tower of cans as usual, but no, they dumped out and spread around a bucket of wheat flour, a bag of goldfish, and a box of raisins.  Needless to say after their 2 minutes of fun, they all had a 45 minute time out in their cribs while I cleaned it up.  Anyone know of an all day preschool for toddlers?

Christmas

These geniuses created their own ladder for decorating the tree.  I knew it wasn't going to look nice this year, so I didn't even try.  I let Nicole decorate it and just told her no candy canes or breaky ornaments.  After a day, there wasn't a single ornament on the bottom half of the tree anyway.  We put a gate around it and then they didn't seem to care too much about it.

Nicole made the babies Build a Bear's for Christmas and was glad she had three babies!

We eventually made it to Riverwoods for a single shot at Christmas lights, Santa, and a horse drawn carriage. 

I knew this was our year for this, but I made them do it anyway.

This year for Christmas the babies caught on to opening their presents.  We spent Christmas Eve evening at the Clements' and then came home and had Christmas morning at home.  We got home late so the babies slept until 9:30.  Nicole was very patient and got to do her stocking and open some presents before they woke up.  We didn't get pictures of unwrapping presents because it was kind of crazy, but they all get plenty of new toys.  They all especially like the little tramp, especially for Brooke, our queen jumper who we're sure is going to jump out of her crib sometime soon.  She hangs on the edge and jumps so high her feet are almost above the rail.  She also got a little playhouse with a wooden washing machine that she hides everything inside.   Caleb got a Thomas train set, and the little builder, McKay, got his first set of Duplo Legos.  Nicole got her requested Play Do and big box of new crayons as well as remote control Strawberry Shortcake car, lots of art supplies, and easy reader books.

Christmas afternoon we headed up to Grandma and Grandpa Hurst's for more fun and gift giving.  We stayed a few days, but the babies were my never ending nightmare and then we came home to the whole family having colds.

Caleb of course helping himself to any leftovers.  He loves sitting at the table and using a fork, neither of which I allow.

Brooke loves her little baby doll, almost as much as Caleb.

Our Simple Halloween

We went to the Pumpkin Patch and the kids loved the animals.

The corn box was a hit as well.

 Caleb hand selected his pumpkin which was used as a basketball throughout the month and never got carved.  I found it in the closet cracked, but it lasted through Halloween suprisingly.

We all loaded up for Nicole's Halloween parade at school.

It rained a lot so the babies made it to 4 houses and Nicole a few more.  But I'm not complaining.  It's only the 2nd week of November and the candy is gone!

Remembering Nicole starting Kindergarten!

Nicole graduated from preschool and started Kindergarten this year.

She resisted going out to take her picture before school but after the first one she wouldn't stop posing!

I think the bus is her favorite part.  I've been to the school a few times for their field trip and class party and she always wants to ride the bus home even when I'm already there!  Other than that, I'm the Clorox Wipe mom this year.  I don't have a weekly volunteer time, but rather send Clorox wipes and tissues every couple weeks. The bus takes awhile which helps stretch out the short Kindergarten day and she gets to sit with her friends and color.  The Kindergarten bus driver is awesome.  She lets Nicole finish her lunch on the bus when we're running late and waits for us as we're running down the street.  We're usually on time, but we get the babies down for their nap and then get her ready and fed.

She's doing great and we already are through the 1st quarter and had our first Parent Teacher Conference.  I sat down and her teacher said, "We both already know she has straight A's"  Her only problem is she's bossy.  What do you expect from a 5 year old who thinks she's an "inadult"?  She always says there's 3 big people and 3 babies.  And when we make it to church, she's responsible for one of them!

My Quickest Post Ever!

The kids are all off to grandma's and I'm unloading the pictures off the camera to take to Hawaii in the morning. The girls with Grandma Hurst and the boys to Grandma Cindy. We'll see if Brooke loves it or misses her two little friends. They've neer been separated and none of them have ever been away from us overnight. We're going to miss them, but hopefully come back rejuvinated for another exhausing year.

McKay took off his messy diaper during his nap and threw it out all over the carpet. Little stink.

McKay's the climber and Caleb is the button pusher. He loves anything with buttons and will just sit and push them over and over again.

There's gotta be a way to get on top of everything. He used the table to start his way up the bookshelf the other day.

Caleb is still the only one walking. He runs around all day carrying things over his head and then collapses for a quick breather.

They all three had Roseola this week. (a virus with a high fever followed by a rash) It's impossible for them to not all 3 catch everything. They share bottles and cups and put the same toys in their mouth even when I try to keep them separated.

McKay can easily go up and down the stairs now. The other two can go and can go down if you coach them but pretty much stay up once they're there. McKay goes up and down, up and down.

I'm in love with this kids' super long, very blonde eyelashes. I need a professional closeup.

The first family swim. The babies did awesome and they absolutely loved it. We sat in the shallow and they splashed and crawled away.

My very big helpers.

Little (or big) cousin Gracie. We had Andrea's birthday at the park before she left.

Brooke chillin with dad.

The boys enjoying their musical talents. Gotta love the digital-it doesn't hurt your ears. They actually play a song.