Budding Personalities

Here's an update on each one of the baby's personality development. It's so fun to watch them grown and change and think back to how their little personalities are similar to how they acted in utero. Crazy stuff.

ABBY

Well, she's not "Crabby Abby" anymore. Now, I call her "Abber Dabber" or just "Dabber." I don't know why, but I do.

She's the most cuddly and needy. She loves to be held and always craves attention. She's gotten to be super smiley, and I think she has learned to do this because the more she smiles, the more attention she gets.

She's super active, like I mentioned in a previous post about her rolling around. She was always the most active in my belly, too.

She has big eyes, and she always looking around at everything and everyone around her.

Her sleep schedule is a bit grueling. She barely naps during the day, and when she does, it's never at the same time as the other two. Will and Marie's napping has gotten to be a little more coordinated lately, but Abby is always awake when they are sleeping and usually falls asleep after they wake up. Therefore, there are not many times when everyone sleeps at once, which leaves me with very little free time.

At night, it's even worse for Abby. She usually goes to sleep alright, but she will only stay asleep for about 3 hours at a time. Then, she wakes up and wants to eat and snuggle. If I put her down in her crib when she falls back to sleep, she wakes up and looks up at me with a big smile-WIDE AWAKE! The smile is super cute, but at 3:30 a.m., it loses it's charm. If I don't pick her up, she'll cry and scream within a few minutes, and if that continues for too long, I have 3 crying babies at 3:45 a.m. NOT GOOD.

We have had a few nights where this cycle of cry, pick up, feed, fall asleep, put in crib, wake up, smile, cry, scream, pick up, feed more, fall asleep again, etc, etc. has gone on for 2 hours. It happened to me a couple of nights ago from 3:30-5:30 a.m. Just when I got back to bed and fell asleep, Will woke at 6 a.m. At that point, I made Billy go deal with it.

If we could just get the sleeping thing under control for her, she would be perfect.

MARIE

I call her "little bear" because she likes to hibernate like a bear. She sleeps so much! She used to be "growlie" because before she would cry, she would growl. I alternate between "little bear" and "gummy bear" because when she smiles, she flashes all her gums on the top.

She's probably the most lazy of the trio, and she was the least active in my belly. She doesn't like to eat solids from a spoon because she has to exert too much energy. She much prefers to lazily suck on a bottle or a boobie, and she will suck down 8 ounces. The others typically take about 6 ounces.

She also doesn't try very hard to roll. She watches Abby do it and Will try, but I think she's thinking to herself, "Don't waste your time with that silly rolling crap. If you need to go somewhere, just cry until mommy picks you up and moves you."

She's still a crazy thumb sucker, but sometimes she's even lazy about that. When she is tired, she needs that thumb to go to sleep. Without it, she's a crying mess. However, she'll get very tired and start crying but will make no effort to find her thumb. She'll just stare at me and cry her eyes out. If I try to help get her thumb in her mouth, she freaks out even more. I just have to wait until she musters up the energy to move her finger to her face and then, she's out like a light. At night, she's been known to sleep 11 or 12 hours! That's what I'm talkin' about!

WILL

We call him "Willers," "Mr. Willers," and "Willy." He has found his voice recently. He makes all kinds of sounds, but his favorite is a loud, high-pitched scream. His eyes get huge and he screams, and he freezes his arms and hands all stiff and sticking out. It's really funny. He'll pause when he talks, and I'll urge him to continue by saying something like, "Tell me more," or "oh really?" He will look at me and smile and continue to chat away.

He really likes to sleep with a binky of some sort. He's partial to soft blankets. When he gets tired, he'll start off by chewing on the blanket and then rubs the side of his face against it until he falls asleep.

Will is also the most curious about his sisters. Sometimes we put them down side by side on a blanket on their backs, and he'll look at the girls, reach for them, smile at them, etc. The girls could care less about him. The are snotty little witches already. Poor Willers!

He also has this little shy smile thing he does. If someone looks at him and smiles, he'll smile back and then shield his face by burying into the shoulder or chest of whoever is holding him.

He's such a flirt! Alice took him out to dinner earlier this week, and she said that he was smiling at the waitress and flashing his big brown eyes at her. The little lady's man strikes again. He just can't help what a good looking little dude he is.

Milestones

Our babies aren't just little smiley blobs anymore-they are starting to do real "stuff." When we went for their 4 month check up, the doctor asked if they were putting their fingers in their mouths and accidentally gagging themselves, and I said that I had indeed noticed that. Apparently, that's a milestone. I just thought they were stupid. Since then, we've had a lot more milestones that are even better.

At 4 1/2 months, Marie had 2 little teeth start to pop up through her gums on the bottom. They are now half way out. Michele just noticed that Will has a little bit of whiteness under his bottom gums. His little nub will sprout soon. Abby is drooling and chewing on hands and toys like crazy, but there are no signs of any teeth. She cracks me up with the way she'll just start off holding my fingers like she's being sweet, and then she pulls them towards her face while shaking her head from side to side and gets a crazed expression in her eyes. Once she gets the fingers in her mouth she gnaws at them with happy satisfaction. She started chewing on her own foot the other day. I have a picture I need to post.

Abby has her own tricks, too. She can now roll over from her tummy to her back and her back to her tummy. At first, she would get one of her arms stuck underneath her and couldn't figure out what to do, but now she knows how to move it and rolls around freely. The others watch her with envy and awe in their eyes. Okay, maybe I'm imagining the envy and awe, but I bet they wish they could do it. (Will has almost made it once, but he keeps getting that arm stuck, and he gives up and rolls back.)

Abby is still doing PT weekly for her torticollis, and I think all that extra exercise, plus the work we do with her at home is helping her not only strengthen her neck more, but also just develop more quickly in general. She spends a lot of time on her tummy for exercise, and I think we need to give the others more tummy time to help them get stronger.

They have all been eating cereal for the past month. At first, I would mix 3 bowls of it in the mornings and feed them each with their own spoons. This got to be too much so I now just mix up one big bowl of it, and feed them assembly-line fashion with one spoon. It's hilarious to see them open their mouths as the spoon approaches.

Abby is doing the best. She loves it and is getting the swallowing part down. Marie, however, still doesn't know quite what to do with it. The first time I gave Marie a spoon of it, she looked at me in horror and started to cry immediately. Now, she usually just sticks out her tongue after every bite and pushes it all out. Will did this at first, but he's getting better. So far, they have had rice and oatmeal cereal.

Last night, I tried out green beans at dinner time. They found this to be highly offensive. The faces they made were priceless. I'm sure the poopies that will follow will be highly offensive to me. That green bean baby food looked and smelled bad going in...I can't imagine what it's going to be like on the other end. YUCK!

Winnie & Us

We went to see the movie Marley and Me last night. It was so wonderful, but incredibly sad! I read most of the book when I was pregnant, but I couldn't bring myself to finish the last 20 pages. We all know how a book about a dog will end.

The day I was reading to the point where I couldn't go on, Billy came home, and I was sitting on the couch crying my eyes out. I looked at him and said, "I hate you." He had been the one who urged me to read it. The combination of the sadness of the book and my pregnancy hormones was bad news.

I just couldn't believe how much Marley was like Winnie. There's a scene where Jennifer Aniston has just put her kids to sleep and the garbage truck pulls up and Marley goes berserk. I can't even tell you how many times something like that happens with Winnie everyday. I'll get Abby to FINALLY go to sleep and all the sudden, Winnie spots a squirrel outside and the barking frenzy begins. Abby's eyes then pop right open, and I know she will not fall asleep again.

After seeing the movie, I am looking forward to seeing the kids grow up around Winnie. I'm sure that there will be times that she'll frustrate the hell out of me...knocking kids over, whipping them with her massive tail, eating their food, etc. However, I know she's going to be a good protector and love them to death. If the amount she licks them now is at all related to the amount of love she feels for them, she is going to kill them with love.

Recently, the kids have started to track her and smile when she comes near them. Will reaches out to grab her when she comes by, and he ends up with his hands and face covered in Winnie saliva since she thinks his reaching out is an open invitation to lick him from head to toe.

I have convinced myself that Winnie is immortal. She will never die so I don't have to worry about all that Marley sadness. Not only do I not want to experience how hard that will be, but I hate the thought of the kids having to deal with it. I'm tearing up just thinking about it. Why is it that I can see a movie or read about a person dying, and it doesn't phase me, but an animal, and I'm a mess?! Do I have no sympathy for my fellow humans? Oh well.

Winnie is Amazing

This story is way too funny not to post. It's a classic Cooper tale!

Liane was going to use a new babysitter last week. It's a high school girl that lives around the corner from them. She was telling Cooper that she would be going out with Jason, but that Whitney was going to come and take care of him and Carley. Liane said that Cooper looked amazed at this news. He said, "I haven't seen her in a long time." Well, Liane was just thinking that was his way of relaying that he had never met the girl before. Then, he started asking questions.

First, he asked, "Will she feed us dinner at night?" Liane told him that yes, she would be arriving during dinnertime and would just finish up feeding them. Cooper responded, "WOW!" Next he asked, "Will she be able to tuck us in when it's time to go to bed?" Again, Liane told him that yes, she would do all that for him and Carley. Cooper had the same response, "WOW!" Liane thought it was a little weird that he was asking all those questions, but nothing is weird when it comes to Cooper.

Then, Cooper turned to Carley and said, "Baby Carley, Winnie is going to come take care of us when mom and dad go out." The whole time he was thinking that our dog, Winnie, was going to be their babysitter! Poor kid. Can you imagine what must have been going through his head? The mental images of Winnie feeding him dinner, reading him books, tucking him in, etc. Hilarious!

Liane said that when Whitney did show up, Cooper and Carley called her Winnie the whole time. Well, at least they got to see that she was a human and not a canine.

Business Trip

I'm writing this update all the way from DC! I've been here on business since yesterday, and I go back tomorrow. It's really crazy to be away from the babies.

I left my house at 5 a.m. yesterday. My dad spent the night with us, and he insisted on driving me to the airport. I think Billy was a little scared of being left alone with all 3 babies at 5 a.m. for an hour and a half, but lucky for him, everyone stayed asleep. He said he didn't even realize my dad had taken me (even though I came in the room and told him before I left).

I didn't realize how inconvenient pumping would be when I traveled. I had to plan ahead and take a collapsible cooler in my bag, along with a million bottles to transport milk back. I had to check with airport security about being able to travel with it and with the airline to see if I should check it or carry on. Then, the actually pumping has sucked (ha, get it?).

I had to pump in a bathroom at the Atlanta Airport before I got on a plane. There was really no good place to sit so I just had to stand in front of the mirror with my pump hooked up as women came and washed their hands all around me. Then, I had to do the same in Washington when I landed. They had a little bench in that bathroom, which was better. While I was pumping, I sent Billy a text that said, "Landed. N shitter @ airport pumping. Good times." That summed it all up.

I went into our home office, and when I met one of my co-workers with whom I had only corresponded via phone and e-mail, she said, "You're Leslie? But you're so skinny." That made me feel better about my tummy pooch. I guess she was expecting some fat chick.

It's been nice to finally meet some of these people and interact with my colleagues. We had good meetings all day yesterday and today, and we have an all staff retreat (everyone in the company) tomorrow. I'm flying out right after that, and I'll be ready to go! I have to admit, though, it's been nice to get some rest and a little downtime. This business trip has been like a mini-vacation for me.

I've noticed that I can't shake a few of the new "mommy" habits I've developed. For example, whenever I eat, I devour my food instantly. I'm used to doing this at home because my time is so limited to eat. I have plenty of time here so I should take it easy. My co-workers must think I'm an eating machine. I'm done in 5 minutes, and they are still taking their first bite at most meals. Also having to do with food, I usually eat A LOT when I have a chance because I never know when I'll get my next meal. I ate 2 entrees at lunch today, and I went back for 2nds on the mashed potatoes.

All this food talk is making me hungry. I'm going to go to dinner all alone!

Thanksgiving

We had our first Thanksgiving with the babies last week. We ran around to big feasts with both my family and Billy’s. The babies were exhausted after we finished up at my dad’s house, and they only had experienced ½ the day.

The day gave us a chance to think about everything and everyone for which we are most thankful.

I would say that this is a family picture, but we have an important family member missing-Winnie! We are thankful for the craziness she brings into our home every day.

Here is Papa with his babies. Maureen said she wanted a picture of him with them, and she suggested that Billy and I sit on either side of him with a baby, and he hold one in the middle. My dad, however, said, "I want one with just the babies. Give me one in the middle and one on either side. I can hold them ALL." He did just that!

We are incredibly thankful for Papa and the Tuesday and Thursday nights he spends with us, as well as the times a baby stays with him. He knows how to handle the babies and is an amazing grandpa. We'd be lost without him!

We are also thankful for Billy’s parents, who help us out immensely. Bill spends a couple of nights a week with us, and Mems usually takes a baby or two on the weekends. The trips are their only grandchildren so they are having fun spoiling them.

Sometimes I sit the girls in their bouncy seats and have them watch me cook. I explain everything that I'm doing like it's a cooking show. Yes, it's a little weird, but they seem to enjoy out. Maybe one of them will turn out to be a chef because of it. This particular night, Will wanted to be held, and I needed my hands for food prep. Now that I look at this picture, I realize that DFACS may be contacted since I have a HUGE knife in my hands with Will in the baby carrier. Whoops! I gotta do what I gotta do to get dinner on the table. Momma's got eat!

This is Abby's "big smile" picture. It was taken at Vivian's house a couple of weeks ago. Vivian said that it was taken around 6:15 and at 6:30, Abby turned into a crying machine. It's funny how they can just flip the switch like that. However, I have to say that I think Crabbers is no more. She has stopped having her 2 hours of non-stop crying in the evenings. I think it must just have been colic because that usually clears up around 4 months. Now, she's "Happy Abby," which is so much better.

Her other nickname is Koala baby because she likes to wrap herself around anyone that holds her. She and Teri were Koala sisters when Teri was in town for Thanksgiving.

We are thankful for all of the babies’ wonderful Aunts. My sisters all help us out in different ways. Vivian spends Sunday nights and/or takes a baby on the weekends. Alice also takes a baby on the weekends, but she spoils them rotten. We were kidding the other day that when the babies get old enough to talk, they will all fight about who gets to go to Aunt Alice’s for the weekend. She lets them eat whenever they cry, and once they move to solids, she’ll feed them a bunch of junk. She lets them stay up as late as they want, and she doesn’t even try to put them in the pack ‘n play. They go straight to her bed to snuggle all night. Liane has too much going on with her own crazy trio to be babysitting for me, but she gave us the gift of the babies, and I am so thankful for that.

Teri loves the babies like crazy. She is even willing to suffer through her terrible allergy to Winnie to be with them whenever she comes to town. We wish Teri would come back to us in Atlanta full-time (hint, hint, Teri!).

We have lots of additional family and friends that we are thankful for, but it’s too hard to name them all. Just know that we appreciate everything you all do, and we wouldn’t be able to do this without you.

We took Will to get some chest x-rays last week to rule out pneumonia, and a lady in the waiting room was asking about the babies (we had them all there). She asked if we had help, and I told her that I didn’t know what we would do without the help we had. She said, “You would be fine. God only gives you what you can handle, right?” I just smiled, but I was thinking, “We have WAY more than we can handle. If we didn’t have our family and friends, we would not be handling this situation well at all.” God gave us the trips because he knew that with our support system, we could handle it.

Update on the babies’ sickness: Marie and Abby seem to no longer have the congestion in their chests so we can wean them off the nebulizers. Will, however, still has some gunk in his chest, but his pneumonia test was negative. He has to have the nebulizer twice a day with a steroid added to it. He’s getting all ripped now. We are hoping he doesn’t develop a nasty case of ‘roid rage!

Marie is now officially teething! She has two little nubs coming through on the bottom. They are sharp, like Winnie’s little puppy teeth were. I have been afraid to nurse her since we noticed the teeth because Liane said that Carley once bit her boobie so hard it drew blood when she was first teething. Anyway, it’s going to be hilarious to see this tiny, little baby with teeth.

I’m way behind with my posts so I need to work on a few more. Thanks to Erin H. for e-mailing me suggestions for what to write about. Sometimes I run out of ideas so it’s good to hear some from the readers.

Our first night at CHOA

If you live in Atlanta you know that CHOA isn't some fancy getaway. It stands for Children's Health Care of Atlanta. We had a sick baby on our hands and had to head over there on Monday night. Here are how things transpired:

The babies all spent the night out on Saturday night because Billy and I went to a wedding. We were all excited about getting out, but in the few nights before the wedding, the kids had been fussy at night, and therefore, our sleep had been pretty limited. As the wedding got closer, we kept planning to leave earlier and earlier. At first, it was by midnight, then by 11, and finally we decided to get out by 10. If we would have kept talking about it, we might have skipped it entirely!

Back to the babies...when we heard back from our Saturday sitters (Mems, Alice, and Papa), we got some good and some bad reports. Mems had Abby, and she had done fine. Alice had Marie, and she had woken up several times at night unable to catch her breath. She was very congested, and since she's a thumb sucker, she has major problems if she can't breathe through her nose. Alice said she got so scared at one point that she almost called "9-freaking-1-1" (as she put it). She ended up putting saline in her nose and suctioning out the boogers throughout the night. She slept with Marie on her chest so that she could make sure she was breathing. The next morning, Marie barfed her guts out, and it had a ton of mucus in it. Yummy.

Papa also reported heavy congestion with Will. He also barfed. He had to sleep in a little baby papasan chair all night to keep the congestion out of his head. He was super pitiful because he kept trying to give little smiles, even though he felt terrible.

On Monday, their condition kept worsening, but Abby just seemed tired all day. She slept most of the time and ate very little. We thought she might just be starting to come down with something. We talked to the doctor, and they told us to bring in the sickest ones so we took off with Will and Marie.

Will and Marie were diagnosed with bronchiolitis. This is a respiratory illness that makes the bronchioles (tiny airways leading to the lungs) swell up. The inflammation and mucus make it hard for the babies to breathe. We were told to continue to suction out their noses well, give them plenty of fluids, and we had to start breathing treatments using a nebulizer. The nebulizer basically shots off a mist of medicine they have to inhale to help open up their airways. Needless to say, they despise this treatment.

The doctor told us that if any of them are panting, get listless, and/or run fevers, they need to get to the e.r. immediately. When we got back home from the doctor, Abby was even more pitiful. She couldn't even cry; she just kept moaning. I started crying just looking at her. I called the doctor's office, and they said to try a nebulizer treatment with her, and if she didn't perk up, we should go to the e.r. The treatment didn’t work so off we were. My dad stayed behind with the other two and his reinforcements: Maureen and Alice.

CHOA was very efficient, and we saw lots of other kids there with much more major problems. One child had a huge gash on his face that was bleeding profusely. Another little kid had a broken leg. There were all kinds of problems, and to top it off, most of the patients and parents there were Spanish speakers, and they only had 1 translator. I almost had to jump in one time to help out.

The admin guy who took our insurance info pulled up his screen with who was being admitted, and Billy was looking over his shoulder. There was a 14-year-old gunshot victim, and a girl with a "foreign object" in her lady business. Yowsa!

Anyway, Abby had to have her nose suctioned out, and it was very sad to witness. Now we have to do the same thing with all 3 daily. If you’ve ever seen the neti pot on Oprah, you’ll understand the nasal irrigation procedures. We have to shoot saline up into their right nostril until it shoots out their left nostril. Then, we suction out the left side. After that, we have to repeat with the saline in the left nostril until it shoots out the right. It really helps clear them out, but it doesn’t make them happy. It's like they are choking every time we do it. Between this and the nebulizer, we have very unhappy babies most days. They already resent us.

My snot-nosed kids

Tis the season for colds, flus, etc. All of my nieces and nephews walk around from now until next Spring with nasty runny noses constantly. I guess my kids are not going to be any different because it has already begun. My poor little babies all have colds. Will is worst off-he is just miserable, and it makes me so sad.

Two night ago, he was so congested that I had to steam up the bathroom and sit in there with him for 30 minutes to help clear him up. Then, he couldn't even sleep in his crib because of the post nasal drip. He had to sleep in his little papasan seat all night, and he looked so uncomfortable. Even through all this misery, he would still give me big smiles whenever I would talk to him. He was being such a brave little soldier!

Abby and Marie also have a cough and some congestion, but nothing nearly as bad as him. I don't know why he seems to get things worse than them. It's very strange. We were told during the pregnancy that white males had the worst outcomes in preemie births, and the doctor referred to it as "wimpy white male syndrome," but I didn't think it carried over into their lives beyond the preemie period. Well, I guess males are pretty wimpy when they are sick no matter how old they are....even some 32 year olds I know, but I'm not mentioning any names.

We took the kids to the md on Friday because they were due for shots, and they told us just to come in even if they were sick because they would check them out either way. They ended up not being too sick for shots, but I bet they wish they had been because they screamed bloody murder when they got them. I felt terrible.

One of the hardest parts about having triplets is that when it's just you and your husband, you can only comfort 2 babies at a time. Abby and Will had their shots first, so Billy grabbed one, and I grabbed the other immediately after their shots and held them and loved them. However, when Marie got hers, our hands were full, and the nurse had to pick her up and comfort her. I hated that I couldn't soothe her, but she did fine. We'll have to switch around the order next time so that she gets loved by one of us after shots next time.

They all were weighed are doing great. We have a new winner in the heavyweight division...Mr. Willers! He's up to 12 lbs 14 ounces. Abby is behind him at 12 lbs 9 ounces, and little Marie is 12 lbs 6 ounces. What's funny about Marie is that she looks super chunky, but it's because she's shorter than the other two. Abby's length continues to be amazing. She was in the 95th percentile for height for her age. That basically means that she is longer than 95% of other 4 month olds, which is totally amazing for a preemie. She's gonna be a tall girl.

Couldn't resist

Since you can't get enough of the Zeigler trips, here are a few more photos:


Will likes to stare at himself in the mirror. Why wouldn't he? He's so handsome!

Marie has trouble distinguishing between smiling and just opening up her mouth. This is a mix of the two.

Abby appears to be trying to do the "Macarena" in this shot.

Abby is drooling like a crazy beast these days. I have to keep a bib on her most of the time so that I can avoid changing her outfits several times.

Marie was very tired after Papa's house on Sunday. She needed a nap...poor little Sleeping Beauty...she always needs a nap.

Will was all dressed up like a big man on Sunday. He wanted to show everyone his more mature side.

Picture Update

Does Will look comfortable?

This is what we call the "daddy sleeping machine." At night, Billy holds each one of the babies and puts them to sleep. Abby loves it the most, but it works for the others also.

Winnie loves baby snuggles. Her head is the size of Marie's entire body. I had to closely monitor this situation because Winnie kept trying to put her head on Marie's chest, but that would crush her! She had to settle for resting her big noggin on Marie's legs.

Here is everyone on a chair at Papa's house a couple of weekends ago.

Relaxation

Becky asked if I ever just sit and relax when I'm at home with the babies. The answer is a big, fat "no!" However, that's not anything new for me. Even before the babies arrived, I lived by the motto, "relaxing is for losers." I was constantly on the move. When Billy would force me to sit and relax, I would multi-task. I may have been sitting on the couch, but I was also reading a book, or making my grocery list, or checking e-mail on the laptop.

When I got pregnant, I tried to relax more, and by the end of the pregnancy, I didn't do much besides sit around and watch tv. After a few weeks of that, I decided I had enough relaxing for a lifetime.

Now, I rarely even sit down at home, much less relax. If I'm sitting, it's because I'm pumping breast milk, and I usually have a baby next to me propped up on a boppy that I'm feeding at the same time or trying to entertain with toys. Sometimes, I pump and hold a baby, and he/she kicks the breast shields off my boobies.

Speaking of my boobies (my fave subject), Abby bit me last night while feeding. I guess it's not really "biting" if there are no teeth, but she definitely "gummed" me, and it did not feel good. Mental note, wean before they get teeth. YIKES!

Back to the relaxing thing. It's not even worth it for me to take it easy because if I do, it just means that I have double the work to do when I get up. There are always bottles to make and wash, laundry to wash, dry, fold, and put away, babies to comfort, boxes to unpack (still!), etc. Even if I'm sitting, my mind is racing, and I can never truly relax.

I'll relax again when I'm dead, I guess.

My eating habits

So, Holly posted the first question and asked about my eating habits since I'm the queen of the breast pump. Well, I am ravenous all the time. I would like to eat constantly, but I don't have time. The days that I work, I take tons of food and eat all day. There is a little kitchen on my floor, and I swear I walk down the hall to that kitchen 5 times a day. The people with offices along that hall must think I'm a pig. I should just keep a little cooler in my office, but I don't care. I'll walk up and down the hall as much as I want. They can suck it.


Seriously, I eat 2 bowls of cereal in the morning, juice and coffee. Then, by mid morning, I have a banana and a granola bar. By noon, I'm ready for lunch. I usually have a sandwich or a frozen meal and a yogurt with pretzels. Lately, we have had candy in the house and at work because of Halloween, and I'm constantly munching on it. That is definitely not going to help with my belly pooch.


I usually snack on hummus and pita chips in the afternoon, and I eat whatever is around until dinner. I then eat about 2 servings of dinner, dessert, and a bowl of cereal before I go to bed at night.

I'm also crazy thirsty. I could drink gallons of water a day, but when I'm with the kids, I don't have time. Therefore, once they go to sleep at night, I chug juice, water, gatorade, whatever we have around. I'm so incredibly dehydrated that I don't even have to get up to pee at night!

I read somewhere that a breastfeeding mom of a singleton needs an additional 500 calories a day. So, do I need 1500 for my three babies? I feel like I'm eating like I used to when I trained for marathons. I can't stop! I want to eat all the time. I'm off to get a snack....

FAQ

I know I have lots of readers out there that follow the blog, and although I write about a lot of random stuff, I may not write about things YOU want to know. So blog followers, here's your big chance to ask your questions. If you have a burning question, please post it in the comments, and I'll try my best to answer it.


Lately, the most frequently asked question is, "Are you STILL breastfeeding those children?" The answer to that is yes. I currently pump milk about every 3-4 hours, and every day I produced approximately 60-70 ounces of milk. In between pumping sessions, I also nurse the kids from time to time, and they love them some boobie! Pumping is just more efficient and easy for me.


The next question is about the sleeping situation. Marie and Will are usually good for about 6-8 hours on any given night. Abby is a whole 'nother story. That child wants to eat every 3 hours. Vivian has been pushing us to start cereal in the bottle for weeks. I think I'm giving in tomorrow night. On my weekly trip to the grocery store tomorrow, I'm getting the cereal. I've got to at least give it a shot.

Another thing people wonder about is the amount of help we still have. I have to say, it is still tremendous. My dad is still with us every Tuesday and Thursday night, Billy's dad comes on Wednesday nights and sometimes a weekend night, and Vivian is usually with us on Sundays. Without all of this help, Billy and I would probably be filing for divorce (with neither one of us wanting custody of the children) by now because we would be the 2 most sleep deprived, cranky people in the world. I also probably would have been fired from my job because we need the help in the mornings so that I can get ready for work. Our nanny doesn't arrive until 8 a.m., but I leave around 7:15. If it our overnight helper wasn't here in the mornings, I would probably cruise into the office around 10 every morning, which wouldn't fly, especially since I usually leave around 4:30.

Most people want to know how we take them anywhere, and to tell you the truth, it's not easy. Most of the time, if someone wants to see us or the babies, they have to come to us. It takes us forever to get out the door with the babies and their related paraphernalia. We are always late. Tardiness is not anything new for Billy, but for me, it's very out of character, and I hate it. However, as the mother of triplets, I've had to learn to let go of little things like that.

Okay, now it's your turn. Post your questions in the comments. I'm ready to give you some answers!

Costumes

The girls were peas in pod last night, and Will was our little farmer man!

Can you see a theme developing with Abby...she does NOT like to have her picture taken. I feel like she's always crying in group shots.

Billy slaved over our jack-o-lanterns. He made a set of little ones with each of the baby's first name initial on them (A, M, and W).

He also made two for us...his is the Georgia (G) one and mine is the one with the scary face. Does that mean he thinks I look scary?

The number of trick-or-treaters was crazy last night. This neighborhood has a million kids in it. The triplets are going to have so much fun next year when they are a little more aware of what is going on.

Go Dawgs!

Here are a few of the UGA fans in our house! This is to get everyone excited about the big game tomorrow! I'll download the Halloween pics later.

Happy Halloween!

We'll be dressing up the kids tonight, and I'll definitely post some pictures after that, but first, I have a funny Halloween story to share.

A couple of night ago, Billy and I were feeding the kids around 8:30 when we heard the doorbell and a knock at the door. As those of you who have ever been to our house know, Winnie freaks when she hears the slightest noise at the door. The sound of the doorbell and knocking put her into an absolute frenzy. So after the knock and bell, she goes charging towards the door. It takes Billy and me a few seconds to decide who will walk over to the door and deal with our "visitor." Well, what we didn't realize was that the door must have been slightly ajar when the person came by, and when he/she knocked, it opened the door. This allowed Winnie an escape opportunity. She had already run outside by the time Billy got to the front door.

When he got to the door, he saw a Halloween bag there. Apparently, we had been "booed," which I thought was some weird thing they only did in our crazy neighborhood, but Liane said they do it in hers too, and I've heard it's pretty common. Man, the suburbs just keep getting weirder. Anyway, for those of you who don't know, when you are "booed" someone just drops off a "treat" at your door. Our treat bag had candy and 2 bottles of wine in it. There was a note attached indicating that we had to do the same for 2 neighbors, and we had to post an enclosed picture of a ghost on our door so that it wouldn't happen to us again. We had seen the ghost pictures on many neighbors' front doors, and Billy kept wondering what it was all about. Now we know.

Anyway, the person who "booed" us must have crapped his/her pants when Winnie ran out after him/her. She was already out in the street by the time we went to get her, but we didn't see anyone around.

Last night, Billy went out to boo a couple of neighbors. It cracked me up to see him get all ready to go out. He packed up his treat bag, scoped out which houses he would hit, and got warmed up so he wouldn't pull anything running away from houses after he knocked. He did the first house (next door) and ran back to our house. Then, he went further down the street, and he was huffing and puffing when he came home. One day, it will be the kids out there booing our neighbors. Too funny!

Floppy Neck Syndrome

Abby went to the doctor last week to have her neck looked at because we just felt she wasn't gaining head control very well. A couple of people also mentioned "torticollis" to us, which is a condition when a child (or I guess a person) favors holding his/her head in one direction, and the muscles become weak and/or stiff. Then, the child can't turn his/her head the other way. It turns out, Abby has a mild case. Therefore, we have to do exercises with her daily, and she starts physical therapy this week. Billy is taking her on Wednesday morning so I guess we'll have a better idea of what to expect after that.

We also talked to our nurse about Abby's night-time crabiness, which continues. We decided we would try some different formulas to see if there is a lactose issue...like mother, like daughter. I had to cut dairy out of my diet, which was no big deal because I don't regularly have much dairy. Typically, I have milk in my cereal and maybe some cheese on a sandwich here or there and a yogurt everyday. Anyway, she tried one formula for about 5 days, and it didn't do much. That one is a reduced lactose formula. Now, she is on a soy-based formula for the next 5-7 days. If that one improves her night spells, we'll stick with it. If not, there is one more kind to try.

The only part that sucks is that it blows to have them on different formulas. When I make their night bottles (that's the only time they get formula-9 pm to 6 am), I have to label all of Abby's and make up 2 different batches. As if my life isn't complicated enough, I have to add one more thing to it.

Baby leftovers

I'm going to go postal on the next person who asks me when my baby is due! Yes, people still ask this. I have a belly, but what do you expect? I was huge, and it took me 8 months to get that way. I can't exactly shed the belly in 3 months. I have what I refer to as "baby leftovers."

I was at the microwave at my office last week, and a guy walked in and asked me how long I had left. I thought the he was referring to the French bread pizza I was cooking up in the microwave, so I responded, "about a minute." He gave me a funny look, and then changed this question. He asked, "No, when are you expecting?" I told him I had triplets 3 months ago and still had some lbs to lose. He felt like a total jerk-off. Why do people even bring it up? If you aren't sure, don't say anything at all!

To make myself feel better about my weight, I decided to scroll through some old pregnancy pictures of myself. They made me laugh. In a few of them, my belly is so huge that it looks fake. I have some posted below for your viewing pleasure!

Sleeping

The babies are finally getting the hang of the night-time routine! Unfortunately, they take after their dad-go to bed late, wake up late-but I'll take it. They like to fall asleep around 11 or 11:30, even though we start trying to get them to sleep around 9 or 9:30 (mommy's preferred bedtime). Then, they have been skipping a feeding and waking up around 4:3o or 5 a.m. Yes, all of them! Okay, so we have the occasional baby (i.e., Crabby Abby) who wakes up sooner, but for the most part, they are all sleeping a good stretch. That means mommy, daddy, and whoever the night-time helper is get some good rest. I don't know what to do with myself.

Abby is still fond of the night-time freak out. She cries from about 7 p.m. until she falls asleep. It breaks our hearts, but there is nothing we can do. Sometimes she calms down when Billy takes her and lays her down on his lap, holds her hands, and talks softly to her.

Michele had never experienced one of Abby's "episodes" because Abby is wonderful during the day. However, the other morning, Abby did have a big crying episode and Michele said she almost called me at work to say that we needed to do something, but my dad was still here, and he told her it was pretty normal. She finally calmed down, and she was fine and smiley the rest of the day. It's so weird.

My dad likes to put the kids in his bed when they get fussy at night. He wedges them in between pillows. They have pillows on either side of them and on top. Billy started referring to this as the "grandpa wedge," but I call it the "SIDS wedge." I'm afraid they are going to be smothered, but it works...they go right to sleep that way and stay asleep. I don't know what to do.

Marie is crazy for her thumb. She sucks that thing all night. I can hear her sucking in the monitor at night. As if on cue, she just put her thumb in her mouth right now. It's so cute. She still has blue eyes. I hope they stay that way.

Will continues to be a wonderful baby. He cries when he's hungry, sleeps well, and smiles his big, gummy, handsome smile all the time. He is too adorable. His eyes are dark brown...I mean almost black, and they are huge. Liane's eyes are really dark brown too.

Since I'm giving the eyes update, Abby's are hazel. I don't know if they are changing to brown, or if they will stay this way. It's funny to have them all with different eye colors. I guess they are all different in every other way so why not eyes?

Fam Photos

We had a few taken of ALL of us together. Of course, no photo shoot would be complete without at least some pictures that included Winnie! She brought over her stick and sat down right in front of us in the yard.

So Happy Together

We were actually able to get quite a few good ones of all the babies together.

Abby, Super Slouchy!

Abby couldn't sit up as well as the others for the sitting pics...she's too slouchy. Then, when we tried to put her down flat for some pictures, she freaked out. Therefore, we don't really have many of just her alone. The one of her with Will is cute, though.

Will, not a Fan of Pictures

Will did not exactly love the photo shoot. He was either crying his eyes out or dead asleep in all pictures. We definitely preferred the sleeping look. We were so upset that he didn't smile since he's such a big, goofy smiler. Oh well! We even tried ladybug, but he just got pissed off at it and cried harder. He just wasn't feelin' it that day.

Marie, America's Next Top Model!

Okay, so Marie is short and chubby, which is not exactly "top model" material, but she loves to work the camera. We had professional pictures of the babies taken last week, and a few of our favorite ones of Marie are above. I'll do separate entries for each baby.

Alice said she has a certain midget quality to her. Alice is afraid of midgets so she hopes that Marie will grow out of that and not turn out to be a "little person."

Picture Updates

I guess I was tired after my first week at work. I passed out with Abby on Thursday night in Billy's leather recliner. We were very comfortable together there.
Marie and Abby have both discovered their thumbs. Marie now constantly sucks hers. I like it better than having to shove the pacifier in her mouth a million times, but it's going to be a hard habit for her to break in the long-run, since she'll always have access to her thumb.
Michele took this picture of Marie smiling on her swing.
Yes, I know this picture of Will is upside down, but I couldn't figure out how to flip it on the blog. Sorry, but you get the idea. He's cute, even upside down.
Here's a better one of Will...he's riding a pony! We went to Lily's pony party yesterday, and he got on. Marie also got on, but because Abby lacks neck control, she couldn't ride.

Pics from Marmie

Whenever the kids visit Marmie, she does a little photo shoot with them. Here are some pictures from her house:
Here is Abby all cozy in bed. She looks so big. She didn't actually sleep in Marmie's bed, but she spent her morning there lounging while Marmie got ready for her day. Abby is a perfect angel one-on-one. I think she secretly wishes she was an only child. Poor baby!
Here is Abby in her crib at Marmie's with her rabbit. Marmie has a nursery set up for the trips at her house.
This is a bad angle for my chunky-monkey. Marie is solid, as you can see. She doesn't miss a meal, and she seems to stockpile a lot of what she takes down in her cheeks. I just want to squeeze them all the time.
Marie is sitting up on the couch. She has the best head control out of all the babies. She'll probably be the first to sit up by herself, but her fat cheeks may pull her over. Will is smiling at his ladybug. That thing never gets old!