The Thornhill's Triple A Team!

Sesame Place Vacation 2011

2011-07-03T15:29:00.100-04:00

We decided to take the girls to Sesame Place again this year for our family vacation and I'm really glad we did...it was even better than last year!

We drove to Wilkes-Barre first to visit Aunt Kiki and Uncle Joe who were expecting the arrival of their daughter, Erin at any moment. We weren't sure we would get to visit with them or not, but Erin waited until we had left to make her debut on July 1st! Congrats Kristen & Joe!

So the girls got some pool time at their house on Friday and Saturday and loved every minute of it. Cavanaugh hospitality was at it's best and we ate great and spent some nice relaxing time with great friends. Complete with a visit to a local farm for homemade ice cream...YUM! Can't wait to get back to meet little Erin!

Ava

Alexis

Anna

L-R Alexis, Joe, Anna, Kiki, Ava

After we left Kristen's, we headed South to the Crayola Crayon Factory in Easton, PA. The girls seemed to enjoy it, but I was hoping for a bit more of a real factory like tour or something. Instead, I felt the prices were too high for adults who aren't doing anything except walking their kids around and the only thing we really did was play with the model magic stuff and watch a short demo on how crayons were made. I'll skip this next time.

L-R Alexis- Anna- Ava

The girls had more fun in the Crayola gift shop trying to imitate the mannequins' poses...and that was free...and luckily we made it out of there without spending a dime.

Ava- Anna-Alexis

Anna- Ava-Alexis

After we left Crayola, we drove another hour south to Langhorne to our final destination....SESAME PLACE! We got settled in to the Residence Inn and found out there was a FREE shuttle to Sesame every 30 mins or so....SCORE! I had reserved tickets for a special visit from Max & Ruby (TV cartoon for those who don't know) who were going to be performing at SP on Sunday night. Over the next couple days (Sunday-Thursday night) we were able to explore, play and have a great time at Sesame Place. Here are (a TON of) pictures of the girls loving every minute!

Anna- Ava-Alexis in front of flowers at entrance to Sesame!

Anna loved to ride the blue horses with green saddles!

Ava of course picked the horses with PINK hair!

Lucky Alexis got a purple horse every time!

Sometimes, we were lucky and found all of their favorites in the SAME ROW!

Anna especially loves Grover! See that coaster in the background? The girls rode it and loved it!

This was the first set of characters they met this trip so I was worried since they were a bit frightened of Count that I would have to join the pics again this year....but nope...they warmed right up and went to all of the characters alone! It was awesome!

Abby Cadabby...a fav for all 3! Love that I caught Alexis hugging her.

Ava just kept asking...when can we hug Elmo? :)

During our breakfast with Elmo...we got the opportunity to meet a LOT of characters...BIG BIRD!

ZOE! ....Ava just kept telling her that she loved her pretty PINK princess outfit! :)

BURT came and sat at our table and kept stealing Anna's yogurt...she thought it was HYSTERICAL!

The girls seem to love Ernie...he's always really playful and they love to bop him on the nose!

Another hug from Elmo!

Riding the Teacups....Jeff doesn't do spinning rides (which means pretty much ALL.OF.THE.RIDES) so I got to ride everything....multiple times and sometimes 3 times in a row if they were too short to ride alone and had to have an adult.

When ZOE came and sat at our table for breakfast, Ava, just crawled right up into her lap. :)

So of course, Anna had to do the same.

And so did Alexis!

Elmo again? yup...never enough hugs from Elmo!

Hanging out in the cabana we rented which was right beside the Splash Castle. It was nice to have a quiet shaded spot to rest, but I think they are overpriced.

They even have a lockable drawer and mini fridge and 6 free towels!

The girls have their "goggles" on waiting for the characters to come to our special meet & greet we got special since we rented the cabana this day.

Prairie Dawn!

Murray? I think.

Love how Cookie just devoured them in his arms. they just giggled!

We love COOKIE MONSTER!

SUPER GROVER!...see how close Anna is...she loves him. And Ava loves to bop their noses!

And here Grover is getting Alexis' nose! :)

ZOE!

Telly...Anna thought it was so funny that he patted her head!

ELMO! AGAIN!

Abby Cadabby...getting the backward hug from Ava!

Furry, Lovable Grover! awwww!

Alexis snuggling!

yes, more bopping of noses! I wonder if the characters get tired of that? I'm sure!

One family shot with Ernie and Bert!

A picture of Count's Splash Castle...as the bucket dumps!

Once we left Sesame Place, we drove a couple hours west and stopped in for the free Chocolate Tour at Hershey, PA!

A lady offered to take a pic of all of us, but clearly she missed the point of getting the HERSHEY'S sign above us IN the picture. oh well. :)

Jeff and his girls!

At least the nice lady that took this, understood to get the Chocolate World IN the picture. :)

Overall, we had a great, exciting, exhausting trip. Stay tuned for my recap of newly learned tips, park secrets and advice for visiting Sesame Place!

Kristen's (Aunt Kiki) Baby Shower!

2011-04-30T16:22:00.000-04:00

I was so honored to throw Kristen, my BFF and honestly, my little sister, a baby shower. April helped me with the planning and made these to-die-for cupcakes! My sister, Tammy made the cutest invitations and party favor elephants and the party came out really nice.

Kristen is such a cute pregnant gal...just love her!

April also made this cute as can be diaper cake!

Kristen showing off one of the adorable irish outfits! Joe will be so happy! :)

Another gal I love...Miss Amy...just always making us laugh!

Congratulations Kristen and Joe! We love you guys!

April 2011

2011-04-29T16:11:00.000-04:00

Cool dude Anna Bear!

Look at that dirty face...and lovin every minute of it!

Ring around the Rosy!

Looks like it's time for some haircuts!

Sisters!

After hair cuts!

Coloring Easter Eggs at Grandma's house with Thomas.

Happy Easter Alexis!

Happy Easter Anna!

Happy Easter Ava!

March 2011--THREEx3!

2011-03-29T15:29:00.000-04:00

So March is BIRTHDAY MONTH!

The girls turned 3 on March 3rd!

Happy Birthday Anna!

Happy Birthday Ava!

Happy Birthday Alexis!

We celebrated their birthday with 5 other 3 year olds by going to a paint-your-own-pottery place.

The girls loved painting their own piggy banks and I think their guests did too!

L-R Ava, Bennett, Kendyll, Anna, Alexis, Maddy, Louden, Keegan

What better way to celebrate birthday month than by visiting the dentist for the first time! :)
Alexis went first and loved it, Anna went 2nd and did great too. Ava was pretty apprehensive and ended up sitting on my lap for her check up..but she did great too!

Here's a random one...one day when going in to get Alexis from her nap....uh, yea...she was busy during her nap....laying out as many books as she could fit on top of her bed! LOL

Mommy's work also celebrated a birthday this month. Happy Birthday to the new Ohio Union!

February 2011

2011-02-26T15:02:00.000-05:00

In honor of Valentine's Day, the girls made each of their cousins a special card. Here are a few of them:

The girls got a special package in the mail today from Uncle Todd, Aunt Michele and Hunter....must be an early birthday present. Instead of making them wait, we let them tear into it. I am including this first picture since it shows how excited they are for packages....they won't stay still! LOL!

Finally Daddy has to get out the big boy toys to help get it opened.

And what was in that special package? A whole TRUNK FILLED WITH PRINCESS CLOTHES AND ACCESSORIES! The girls love it so much. Thank you Todd, Michele and Hunter!

Misc. Christmas Pictures

2010-12-27T22:04:00.001-05:00

Grandma and Papa with all of their grandchildren...except they'll have to update next year since Todd and Michele are expecting a daughter in April!

Me and my Girls in our Christmas dresses and cardigans!

The loot!

Christmas Morning...looking at the Loot!

Lazy Christmas vacation!

love being sisters!

December treats!

2010-12-23T14:52:00.001-05:00

December is filled with lots of treats, but none more important than spending time with family and carrying out traditions.

The week before Christmas we enjoyed celebrating the Thornhill Christmas. We missed Darrell and his family, but loved having Scott and Rhonda and their families join us! We enjoyed a wonderful meal and then a gift exchange. Then later that night we all headed to the Columbus Zoo to check out the pretty Christmas lights! What a great day!

L-R Payton-Quinn&Anna-Ethan&Alexis-Sofia &Ava

Zoo Lights all bundled up!

So pretty but so cold!

I took the girls for their first REAL manicure! I've painted their nails at home before, but I thought it would be a really special treat to go to the nail salon with mommy and get their nails done. They loved it! This may be a new annual Christmas tradition to get our nails done before Christmas Eve service!

Waiting patiently for their turn!

Letting their nails dry!

Showing off their pretty red nails!

SANTA Rocks!

After the nail salon we headed over to Grandma's house to bake and decorate cookies. It's always been one of my favorite memories and activities to do with my mom over the years and now I'm happy to see that my girls enjoy it just as much. Oh, and let's just say...I'm so happy she's the one with all the counter space...so it just makes sense to make the (mess) cookies at her house! :) ha!

Baking Cookies at Grandma's house!

So glad we do this AT Grandma's house! :)

Merry Christmas 2010!

2010-12-20T14:33:00.001-05:00

Triplet Hand-me-downs are pretty non-existent, but when I do get them...they are wonderful. These dresses were given to me by another triplet mom and they just worked perfect for our girls!

Merry Christmas!

Alexis

Ava

Anna

HO-HO-HO!

2010-12-10T14:10:00.006-05:00

So a friend of mine who has twins is super talented and makes cute shirts (and onesies) for twins & Triplets! You can find KLZ Art here or on etsy. She made these adorable HO-HO-HO shirts for the girls....too bad its so hard to get the girls to all sit in one frame for a cute shot....because these aren't really the best shirts that you wear solo if you get my drift. :) But you can see a few of the shots I got them to all sit nicely and at least look in somewhat of the same direction.

Ava

Alexis

Anna

Sesame Street LIVE!

2010-11-21T14:53:00.001-05:00

Last Friday we took the girls to their first big arena show, Sesame Street LIVE! We were very fortunate because we were given the tickets AND parking pass for FREE...oh and did I mention....our seats were in one of the suites?! So yea, it was great! We took our entire family of 5 and didn't spend a dime. Yup...I managed to walk out of there without buying a single item of food or drink (had dinner before we went) and and even bigger feat....we didn't purchase ANY fuzzy Elmo's, Grover's or Cookie Monster's! YAY! IT was great! The girls really enjoyed the show and had a good time dancing along to the music.

I didn't get any pictures during the show. Since we were in the suites, we were a bit further away and it's so dark in the arena, that I just didn't fuss with it. Here's a (bad quality, but prooves were were there) picture of the girls before the show started.

I love the holiday season!

2010-11-14T21:46:00.001-05:00

Yup, I'm one of THOSE people. You know, the kind that starts listening to Christmas music non-stop as soon as it is available. Yup...I just LOVE the holiday season. And nothing against Thanksgiving....I do have a lot to be grateful for....I just can't get enough Christmas! I'm always bummed when the Christmas music is gone. :(

So of course I have already started looking for our new Christmas Card design for this year and since I had such a great experience with Shutterfly last year, they will be my go-to stop again this year. The site is SO easy to upload photos and to customize cards. Plus I love that I can select different paper types! (yes, I get excited about paper!) And besides the huge selection being affordable, I love that it has something for everyone! I've also used Shutterfly to make super cute photo books. The quality is awesome and the books were so easy to make.

So here are some of my favorite Christmas Cards right now.

The HO HO HO card is super cute and obviously gives me room for 3 adorable individual shots of the girls.

I also LOVE the Red Revamped card. The style is just simple and so me. I just have to decide on which would be the ONE photo if I chose this card...although I already have one in mind. yay!

And another favorite: the Peppermint Bliss! It's just so cute and fun....and looky, looky...3 separate spots! yay!! :)

You'll have to wait to see my final choice...I'm still not sure yet! I go back and forth on whether I want a separate photo of each girl or if I want to do one group shot. Decisions, decisions! :)

My final choice will be made when I get the chance to play around with the actual photos and the cards themselves. It's so easy since Shutterfly lets me preview what the card will look like before I purchase, so I always feel good about the end product. Hopefully you all will enjoy seeing the card arrive in your mailbox next month! :) Happy Card Hunting!

Future Buckeyes. Class of 2030.

2010-11-07T16:57:00.003-05:00

So we told the girls that we wanted to take a few pics in their jerseys. They LOVE their jerseys! And immediately they started cheering....

"Let's Go BUCKS! Let's Go BUCKS! Let's Go BUCKS!"

Alexis-Ava-Anna

Acting like TOUGH football players!

Show me those muscles!

I think they are showing more muscles...I think. :)

Watch out! This O-Line could take you DOWN!

2010-10-31T15:56:00.002-04:00

This year the girls were the Three little pigs for halloween. I had more grandiose ideas for costumes, but when it came right down to it....I went with the less expensive (as in $0) route!

Everything I used for their costumes, we already had or was given to us. We had the hats, pillows (to fatten up my lil piggies!) and my mom had the fabric/pipe cleaners for their tails. I was fortunate enough to receive the jean overalls, pink shirts and pink vests from a triplet mom as hand-me-downs! total cost: $0! woohoo!

Cute lil' piggy tails!

Anna (aka the piggy that built her house out of straw)

Ava (aka the piggy that built her house from sticks!)

Alexis (aka the piggy that built her house out of bricks!)

Getting ready to go!

Shaking those piggy tails on more time!

The girls really did a great job of going up to houses and saying "trick or treat" and please and thank you. I was so happy that they had fun and didn't show any signs of being scared like last year! They kept trying to negotiate how many more houses we could stop at before going home! HA!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2010-10-27T15:44:00.002-04:00

We celebrated Jeff's birthday on Tuesday and I think the girls were more excited for his birthday than he was. They love singing happy birthday to people, each other, their animals and pretty much anything that they think has a birthday. Since I knew they would like it more than he would care, I ordered a cake (from my favorite bakery, Mrs. Goodmans' in Worthington) and had them put a frog, turtle and gator on it for the girls since those are still their favorite lovey's. Here are the girls showing off "their" favorite picture on the cake!

Anna with the TURTLE!

Ava with the FROG!

Alexis with the GATOR!

Ohio State Homecoming 2010

2010-10-25T15:25:00.000-04:00

We took the girls down to campus on Friday night for the Homecoming parade and ran into some friendly faces!

Buckeye Santa!

President Gee with the Class of 2030!

We love Brutus!

The next day was of course the game and we were happy to have our friends Sara, Tim, Bennett and Kendyll stop by the tailgate!

Ava and Kendyll pulling the wagon with Alexis, Bennett, and Anna.

Yes, that's FIVE 2.5 yr olds!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

2010-10-24T21:48:00.001-04:00

On the way home from Sofia's birthday party at the Cleveland zoo, we decided to stop by Freeman's Farm near Sunbury and let the girls explore the pumpkin patch. Check out this post for the 2008 & 2009 comparison! What a difference a year...or two...makes!

Ava - pouting Alexis - Anna

Anna

Ava

Alexis--yea, she just wasn't in the mood for pictures!

My pretty little girls.

Daddy's little Kitty Cat Anna

Peek a boo Kitty, Ava!

Finally smiling Kitty Cat Alexis!

Who pinched them and made them so sad?

Anna-Ava-Alexis

Riding the cow with Daddy!

Sisterly love!

Yup...Alexis is still not wanting to participate. 2 out of 3 is good right?

Happy Birthday Sofia!

2010-10-20T21:19:00.001-04:00

It was a super busy week/weekend getting ready for the CMOTC sale and selling and working the sale. Then after a SUPER disappointing OSU loss to WI, we got up bright and early...no different from any other day around here, and headed north to Cleveland for our niece, Sofia's birthday party. It was held at the Cleveland Zoo and this was my first visit. It is a really nice zoo and I can't wait until they finish their elephant exhibit, but I have to say...I'm still partial to our Columbus Zoo. The Cleveland zoo just seems REALLY spread out without much to look at animal wise in between. It would be intimidating to take the girls there by myself like I do at Columbus. However, the exhibits are REALLY great! fences and windows are low and not in your way and the girls were able to see a ton!

The girls really enjoyed spending time with Sofia (Ava wanted to hold her hand the entire day!) and I'm glad we were able to see Scott, Julia, Quinn and Sofia since we don't see them often enough. Sofia had a super nice birthday party and she was such a nice little hostess!

Thanks for having us and HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOFIA!!!!

I wish the Columbus Zoo had Giraffes.

Anna-Sofia-Ava-Alexis-Quinn

I told you Ava loved Sofia!

So excited for CAKE!

Uncle Scott reading one of Sofia's cards to the girls.

Sweet baby Koala with his momma.

My little Artists!

2010-10-18T20:57:00.007-04:00

I finally joined the Columbus Mothers of Twins Club (CMOTC). Yes, I know, I have triplets not twins...but there are a ton of benefits to being a member and it's actually for mom's of multiples, not just twins. (maybe they should change their name...ha, not likely.)

Anyway...my friends, Sara and Jenn have always told me great things about being a member as have some of my triplet mom friends, so I decided to join and I did it just in time to be able to sell at their HUGE fall sale! Did I mention, it's HUGE? I wasn't quite sure what to expect as a first time seller since I've never been all that successful as a shopper at the sale since I'm picky about the girls in coordinating clothes. But I thought I would give it a shot and WOW....it was SO WORTH IT! Thanks Sara and Jenn for encouraging me to join and also to sell!

Here's what I bought:

3 OSU Jerseys

3 pairs of corduroy pants from Children's Place

3 Fancy Christmas Dresses for next year (3T)

3 sets of brand new with tags Christmas PJ's

3 Santa plates

6 Paint with water books, brand new!

1 white wooden step stool for girls' bathroom

12 books

4 pairs of princess dress up shoes

1 dress up tutu

2 board games

1 pop up nylon playhouse for inside

and more that I know I'm forgetting!

Here's what I paid: $102.50! Can you believe it?

I was so happy. Honestly the OSU jerseys alone would have cost $120 brand new...trust me, I wanted them earlier this year and now I'm so glad I didn't spend the money!

And let's just say, I sold a ton of my own stuff and far surpassed what I spent, so that's always a good side to be on! I can't wait until the Spring Sale!

Here are the girls painting with their new paint with water books!

Ava

Anna and Alexis

Alexis

Do you think they liked it? :)

Just us.

2010-10-10T15:01:00.020-04:00

For the first time since before the girls were born, Jeff and I were able to get away. Just us. It was so wonderful and relaxing and fun!

We had a really great excuse, my best friend Kristen got married...in BOSTON! woohoo! I didn't want to miss Kristen's wedding for anything, so as soon as the date was set, I started prepping my mom and dad by saying that I was really hoping we would be able to go and oh, by the way...I wasn't planning to take the girls. :) They were really supportive and happy to watch the girls while we were away! Thank you so much Mom and Dad! It was seriously one of the best gifts you could have ever given us...time away for just us!

We arrived in Boston early morning on Saturday so we decided to explore Bean town before getting ready for Kristen and Joe's wedding. Jeff is a HUGH history buff, so for him to be in one of the most historic cities in the U.S., he was really excited. I, on the other hand, don't really care too much about history other than to memorize what I needed, ace the test, and let that information slowly wander right out of my brain! :) Regardless, I really enjoyed the sites too since it was a gorgeous day and Jeff was loving it so much! We packed as much as we could in: location of the original Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre site, Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church (pictured below) and a ton of other sites that played an important part in our history. It was pretty amazing to stand in those spots and realize what had occurred so many years ago....too bad much of our country has now forgotten what it was that our founders fought so hard for.

Old North Church, Boston, MA

After site seeing, we headed to our hotel and got ready for the wedding! yay!

Kristen & Joe's wedding was at the beautiful Boston Harbor Hotel right on the water in this gorgeous pavilion!

Me and the Gorgeous Bride! I love this girl!

Unfortunately, I don't have many other pictures of the wedding and didn't take a single one of Jeff and I at the wedding...oh well. After leaving the Boston Harbor we headed to the Liberty Hotel for their reception. The Liberty was a functioning prison until 1990 and is now this super cool renovated hotel. I wish I would have taken pictures, but seriously, google it or something...it was such a unique and fun space for a reception! Congratulations to Kristen and Joe! We love you and are so glad we were able to share in your special day! xoxoxoxo

Early Sunday morning, we drove up the coast to one of our favorite places ever...MAINE! It's one of those places that we used to come to repeatedly and just love the people, scenery and charm. Our all time favorite place to stay is in Kennebunkport, ME.

We have stayed at several of the bed& breakfast houses in Kennebunkport, but this time decided to try the Nonantum Resort.

A view of the Nonatum Resort as I'm standing on the dock in the bay.

We spent time at some of our favorite shops and trading posts for Jeff and antique stores for me. Sunday night we went to one of our favorite local restaurants for dinner and actually got to talk without being distracted by 3 lovely little ladies. :) It was so nice.

The beautiful Maine sunset on our first night there.
Also happens to be my favorite photo of us during the trip!

On Monday, we headed up to Freeport and spent the day shopping and of course, walking through L.L.Bean! We had gorgeous weather the entire trip! Our visits to Kennebunkport would not be complete without a short drive out to Walker's Point. (the Bush Family's property.)

Notice the Texas flag is flying....that usually means that someone from the family is currently visiting! Jeff was so excited that we were there at the same time! :)

This helps show that Walker's Point is really a small peninsula surrounded by rocks. The Secret service guard house is all the way to the left closer to the road.

Yes, we took a bunch of pictures at Walker's Point. :)

The last time we were in Kennebunkport, we noticed that this old church that sits right on the coast had scaffolding surrounding it. We were excited to know that someone was going to refurbish it and this time it was exciting to see it had reopened.

All of the rocks were taken out of the ocean to build this beautiful church.

Here's another shot of us right beside the church.

We drove back to Boston on Tuesday so we could fly home. The short trip was so nice and refreshing. The girls were excited to see us when we got home...and they loved the stuffed moose animals we brought home with us. Thanks again Mom and Dad for taking great care of the girls! It was so nice to know they were in great hands so we didn't worry once!

Little ladies!

2010-09-15T14:54:00.001-04:00

Little Austin, my sister's youngest son, was baptized on Sunday and the girls got to try out some triplet hand-me-downs! One of my friends in my triplet group has older triplet girls and she has passed along some of their clothes. Stay tuned for this year's Christmas dress...it's also from them! YAY!

The girls did pretty good in church. I bring coloring books and snacks, but they are wiggle worms the whole time and float between me, and Jeff and Grandma and Papa and back to me and Jeff and Papa and Grandma and me, and Grandma and me and Papa and Jeff and me and somehow all on me at some points and then all scattered and then back to where they started. It's exhausting, but everyone at church gets a kick our of them holding hands as they walk up for their blessing during communion. they do have their moments. :)

Alexis-Anna-Ava

2010-09-02T15:44:00.002-04:00

Our first Buckeye pictures of the season! Jeff won't let me buy the girls jerseys...I wonder why....maybe since they are $40 EACH! YIKES! Yea, so I had to get creative and since the girls don't have a single piece of OSU clothing besides sweatshirts, we decided to use our accessories from last season!

Buckeye Hats, blankets and Brutus purses! GO BUCKS!

Anna....taking this very seriously!

Ava....loving her Brutus purse!

Alexis....don't you just want to squeeze those little cheeks!?!

What exactly is IN a Brutus purse?

The Girls' prediction for the Bucks this season!

O-HI-O!

What happened to Lexie's hat?

It's okay, Ava...I dropped it but I won't let go of my "O"!

Anna...getting a bit bored with my attempts at O-HI-O!

The Great Darke County Fair 2010!

2010-08-30T15:05:00.000-04:00

Summer wouldn't be the same without an annual visit to Jeff's home county and a couple days at the Great Darke County Fair! The girls really enjoyed it this year. They got to ride the ponies THREE TIMES! And they loved every minute of it.

Anna

Ava

Alexis

Jeff and the girls watching the grooming process!

Alexis and Anna with Cousin Payton feeding deer.

Anna getting brave and petting an alpaca!

Ava seeing eye to eye with a baby alpaca!

What happens when we stay for the entire day!

The picture we try to get every year! Hard to read the sign, but it's the 154th celebration of the fair!

Thanks to Rhonda, Cliff, Payton and Ethan for letting us stay at their house and to the boys for sharing a room so the girls could take over Ethan's room! It's always nice to spend time with you guys!

Anna's Surgery

2010-08-10T16:10:00.000-04:00

Anna has had a small bump on her neck for the past 9-12 months or so. I would sometimes notice it and then other times it didn't stick out as far so I forgot about it. Finally at the girls 2 year checkup I decided to mention to our Dr. She thought we should get it checked and an ultrasound indicated it was a small cyst near her Thyroid gland. After further review, it showed it was fortunately not entertwined or interfering with her Thyroid, but should still be removed. They thought it was a Thyroglossal Duct Cyst. So we scheduled surgery at Nationwide Children's Hospital.

Right after bath and before bedtime the night before surgery.

Showing us her "bump"

Almost looked like a mini Adam's Apple.

Anna did great in the hospital. I think she liked all of the attention from both mommy and daddy! Thanks to my parents for watching Ava and Alexis for the day!

Anna waiting to go back to surgery with Mikey and her new hospital doll.

Anna and Daddy with Mikey the Monkey & Tank the Turtle reading books prior to surgery.

I did pretty good too. :) I was actually really calm about the whole thing since it seemed so simple of a surgery. I was just more nervous about keeping Anna comfortable and whether or not she would mess with the incision afterwards. I did tear up as the nurse wheeled her into the OR and Anna cried out for me...but I knew she was in good hands and all would be fine.

Well, the surgery went SUPER well and fast. The Dr. said it ended up being a Dermoid cyst (which was even less involved than the Thyroglossal Duct Cyst). So the surgery only lasted less than 30 mins and we were home before naptime! Anna didn't even seem to notice or care about her incision and played like normal the very next day!

Pictures!

2010-08-07T14:01:00.000-04:00

We finally got the girls pictures taken by a professional photographer again. It's been about a year and a half since their last pics, besides the ones I snap here and there....so it was time.

We learned about Britt Lakin Photography from my friend Sara, and we loved the pictures she had taken of Bennett and Kendyll, so we decided to try out one of Britt's portrait party mini-sessions. It was great! With no $ upfront, and we only had to pay if we decided to buy anything, it was great! No session fees, woohoo! Of course, we LOVED all of the photos, so we bought the CD of all images and also got some prints for frames. Can you believe she got all of these great shots in only 30 mins?! Since that's about the attention span we're dealing with these days, it was perfect!

Enjoy!

Ava-Anna-Alexis

My silly Girls!
Alexis-Ava-Anna

Anna posing!

Giggling Ava!

Spunky Alexis!

RING

AROUND

THE ROSY!

My beautiful girls!
Anna-Alexis-Ava

CHEESE!
Anna-Ava-Alexis

Lift 'em up high!
Anna-Alexis-Ava

Love this one!
Anna-Alexis-Ava

Tricycles!

2010-08-03T15:46:00.001-04:00

I belong to a network of local Triplet mom's that get together every month for dinner and also share resources etc. While we were on vacation, I saw an email that got sent out to the group from a mom that had 3 Eddie Bauer carseats and 3 tricycles for sale! I bought ALL of it! I gave the carseats to my parents so now they are able to leave with the girls if they want on the 2 days they watch them while I go to work. And here are the tricycles! They look practically brand new and I love them since they are the retro version which means they look almost identical to the one I rode when I was a kid! Cool!

The girls love them, but Jeff is working on cutting some wood blocks to go on the pedals since the girls aren't quite tall enough to reach the pedals fully.

Alexis showing neighbor Teagan her new ride!

Anna

Daddy helping Ava

Rollin' - Rollin' - Rollin'!

The MANY faces of Summer!

2010-07-31T14:47:00.002-04:00

One of our many times in the pool this summer.

ANNA!

AVA!

ALEXIS!

Notice her scrape on her nose...see NYC post for details!

Family Vacation 2010: Part III (NYC)

2010-07-27T20:30:00.000-04:00

After we spent our 3rd morning at Sesame Place, we drove to NYC during nap time! I know it sounds bit crazy to think about taking 3 two year olds to NYC...but Jeff and I love the city and to be honest, this was the part of the trip that helped make us feel like it was a vacation and not just a trip. A little something for us too! :)

We swam in the hotel pool and the girls just loved it! Then the next morning we had a town car pick us up and take us to Times Square. Now, I'm going to go out on a limb here...but wouldn't you assume that every cabbie in NYC should know how to get to Times Square? I mean, it has to be one of the most requested stops for tourists....right? Well, our guy had trouble getting to the GIANT Toy's R' Us that is smack dab in the middle of Times Square. So much so that I started getting irratated and thinking he was just trying to run up the bill, so I pulled out my GPS and told him where to turn and and FINALLY made it.

The girls showing Jeff all of the "pretty colors and lights" in Times Square!

Aw...our first family pic in NYC! too bad Anna is showing off her circus trick of no-hands-cup-drinking!

As you might be wondering...yes, I dressed the girls identically (and in bright colors) on purpose. I do this when I anticipate we will be in large crowds. NYC qualifies...lots of people, and obviously we held their hands the entire time, but it's just helpful when we need to see them or spot them quickly.

We met up with our friend Julee (who went to OSU, worked with Jeff at the Newport back in the day, but is originally from Long Island, and ALSO has 6 year old Triplets! I know....how cool is that!?). So we met Julee and Steven, Jack and Jordan at the Toy's R' Us and walked around together.

The girls got a kick out of seeing the gigantic tyranasauraus Rex that moves and roars. It just has to be out of Jurassic Park...it looks that real! Alexis liked it most and would get close, but Anna and Ava just liked Rex from a distance! They also loved going into the two story Pink Barbie House and I can't believe we made it out of there without buying a thing.....well, okay, Julee bought them their first NYC shirts, but I didn't spend a dime! woohoo!

Two sets of TRIPLETS!
L-R back Jack, Steven, Jordan
L-R front: Anna, Ava, Alexis
It's hard to get 6 kids to look at the same time!

So we left TRUs and took a cab back to the hotel to get our truck and then drove out to the island to meet up with Julee and family at her house.

This was the only picture I took of the city...just didn't get the chance, except while we were driving out to Long Island. But here's my proof we were actually there....if the Times Sq. pics didn't convince you. :)

Julee took us to a cool beach club where she has a private little cabana. The kids all played in the sand and we could all just sit and have some cold drinks while they enjoyed themselves. Plus there is a kiddie pool close by, so we also spent some time there and then came back for some snacks and a quick shower before leaving to go to dinner. It was such a great day! It was so nice to have a place where you can leave all of the sand and toys and also have a fridge and shower...all to ourselves. So NICE!

So then we left there and met up with Julie's husband Mark at a fantastic little restaurant called Grimaldi's. Definitely a place you need to check out the next time you visit NYC! YUM!
We sat outside and had a wonderful, delicious meal with great friends. The only little mishap came when the girls were all running and playing with Mark (he's SO much fun and gets tons of giggles from the girls) and Alexis got too excited and took a nose dive skid on the sidewalk. She scraped up her nose pretty good, but luckily no serious injuries.

We headed back to our hotel that night after saying our goodbyes to Julee and family and headed home the next morning. I thought we would just drive half way home or maybe 3/4ths the way, but Jeff was determined to make it the ENTIRE way! What should have been about a 9-10 hour drive quickly became a 12 hour+ drive and needless to say....all 4 of us girls were beyond ready to be out of the truck.
Although, I do have to admit....it was so nice to have both Saturday and Sunday to unpack and clean out the truck prior to going back to work on Monday. Good call, Jeff. :)

TIPS for visiting Sesame Place!

2010-07-22T15:36:00.007-04:00

MY TIPS!

I can only speak from experience of our one visit, but I still feel like I learned some valuable lessons that may help others have a fun-filled experience!

1. Purchase your tickets/passes online in advance of arriving. Waiting in long lines with small children, didn't sound fun to me, so I doubt it does to you either!

2. Upgrade one of your passes to a season pass. (I was SUPER fortunate to find a special deal back in May that allowed me to purchase all of our tickets for the regular 1-day price, but as a bonus, it upgraded all of us to season pass members FOR FREE!)

As a season pass member, we got the following:

--Enter the park through a MUCH shorter line.

--Receive 30% discount on ALL of your food and merchandise you purchase at the gift shops! (This was HUGE!...we saved so much money that it is worth the price of upgrading to season pass members...as you can imagine...food, beverages, 3 Elmos, 1 Telly, 1 Grover and 1 Big Bird are not cheap!)

--Allowed us to visit 2.5 days without buying a 3rd day's admission for everyone. (They usually offer buy 1 day, your second day is free, but if you plan on going any more than 2 days, the season pass is the way to go. Heck, even if you are just going 2 days....it was worth the savings!)

3. Pay the extra $3 ($18) and park in the Premiere/Preferred parking instead of general parking for $15. It gets you much closer to the gate. VIP parking is $25 and is even closer, but I don't think it is that much closer for the price.

4. Eat at 11am....the food areas are not busy at all and the girls were MUCH less distracted and ate better during this time than when we hit one of the areas right at Noon one day.

5. Arrive to shows a tad early so you get the best seats. For Elmo's world live...try to sit on the isle by the stairs....Elmo uses the stairs at the beginning and end of every show so you get to see him and give high fives!

6. If you plan on spending most of your time in the wet-attraction areas, I would suggest renting one of the Count's Cabanas for the day. A private, shaded cabana that you can come and go from all day. But be sure to make reservations before you arrive...they book up quick. We didn't do it in advance, and they were sold out when we arrived.

7. The girls were a little over 2 when we went, and while I think they had fun and there were things for them to do...I am guessing the prime age is 4-7yrs old. Of course I don't know this yet for sure, but based on the rides I saw and water attractions...I think that is probably pretty ideal. With that said...I can see us making another trip next year when the girls are 3....so it's still worth it with little ones!

8. Stay at a hotel that is SUPER close! There were a few right across the street that you might even be able to walk over from. Our hotel was 11 miles away (and while this doesn't sound like far....I didn't think we were in a very nice part of town, the girls would fall asleep on the way back (for only 15 mins) instead of taking good naps at the hotel, and our hotel was yucky...oh and it didn't have an elevator...and when you are lugging in 3 kids and all of the crap that comes with them....you need an elevator. (I'm not going to include the hotel name here since I have stayed at other properties under this hotel chain and they were nice, but if you want to know which one it was, just email me.....it was listed under preferred hotels on SPlace's website too, so that sucks. Yes, I'm letting them know I don't think it should qualify as one of their preferred hotels so they are aware of the conditions from a customer's perspective.)

Hope these TIPS were helpful. I know some of you have asked me how it went and if I would recommend Sesame Place. I definitely would. Their staff is welcoming and helpful and friendly. The park is clean and I think it is easy to get to. Overall, it was a great experience and I know we'll go again!

Family Vacation 2010: Part II (Sesame Place)

2010-07-21T21:33:00.001-04:00

After leaving Aunt Kiki and Joe's house, we drove down to Sesame Place near Philly. It is a waterpark/amusement park, obviously, for kids. :) The girls have just started watching Sesame Street at home and they have always loved ELMO since someone gave them a stuffed Elmo doll when they were little. So I wasn't sure how they would be with the characters, but considering they love Brutus from a distance, but not up close, I wasn't too optimistic.

Day ONE:

The girls at the entrance!
Alexis is pointing to a giant shrub in the shape
of a birthday cake since Sesame is celebrating 30 years!

Notice....The girls don't want to get too close to Oscar
which means, Jeff and I are in ALL of the pictures!

I just thought this was a cute pic of B&E.
The girls were standing by me waving, but refusing to get any closer!

Are you getting the idea here?
This is the distance that the girls think is safe,
but close enough to wave and shout and yell "ZOE"!

Again...safe distance from the Count.
Anna and Alexis are still watching to make sure Zoe doesn't get too close!

Grover...from a distance...with people that are not us. :)

Day TWO:

We started off with a special "Dine with Me" breakfast, where we got to eat yummy food while several of the characters walked through the room and others posed and allowed you to come take pictures. The girls loved being "IN" the room with all of the characters, but they just didn't want them to come "close" to them! :)

Speaking of Alexis...here she is alerting us to incoming characters that are getting too close to our table.
I think Bert was the intruder this time.

Here we ALL are with Zoe.
Notice Anna trying to escape and Ava not getting any closer than she has to.

Anna and Ava with Daddy and Ernie. Just not sure about high fives with giant orange hands!
Alexis wouldn't get closer enough for me to get her in the frame.

Alexis tracking the intruder.

By the time we left the breakfast it was POURING down rain. We figured we would make the best of it so we ran to the gift shop and purchased 5 yellow ponchos! It was definitely a site to see me pulling a choo-choo wagon with 3 little ducks wrapped up in their ponchos! (I thought I had pictures of it, but I can't find them. boo!) So instead of waiting out the rain, we headed over for our second visit to the Elmo's World Live show. The girls loved seeing Elmo in action and thought Mr. Noodle was hilarious....especially since he wore turtle swimmies on his arms for part of the show. That was all they talked about for the rest of the day....how Anna loved Mr. Noodle because he had Turtle swimmies! Funny girls!

After we left the show, we headed over to the carousel since it was under cover. It was a HUGE hit with the girls. And now that I look at the pictures, I realize this may be the reason they are associating horses with Aunt Kiki's house. (see Vacation, Part I) They DID ride horses on this trip...just not at her house. Geesh, they are smarter than even I realize

sometimes!

Anna giving the cheesy smile upon her chosen GREEN horse! :)


Ava showing us her horse has PINK hair!

Alexis also giving the full cheese upon her selected PURPLE horse!

Look at how wet her hair is!

While there were a few meltdowns and difficult moments, I would still highly suggest planning a visit to Sesame Place. Look for my next post for TIPS to keep in mind.

Family Vacation 2010: Part I

2010-07-20T18:35:00.013-04:00

We decided to take our first real family vacation this year. (ok, so I decided and Jeff said no to my idea of driving all the way to Myrtle Beach.) So our first stop was visiting Aunt Kiki (my dear friend Kristen) and her fiance Joe in Eastern Pennsylvania. The girls did AWESOME on the 7.5 hour drive to her house and then they were so excited to finally get to see Aunt Kiki, but to top it all they found out that she had a pool! OOOOOOOHHHHHHH!

L-R Anna, Alexis, Ava

L-R Ava, Alexis, Anna

Aunt Kiki helping me keep the girls inside of the raft!

Sorry, the video is kind of long...

I forgot to take any pictures of Kristen and Joe with the girls, but let's just say, the girls are still talking about Aunt Kiki and Uncle Joe's house....and the POOL....and now they have somehow come up with the idea that they have horses too, because now they want to go back and ride horses! HAHA! Kristen and Joe...can you work on that please? :)

We stayed overnight and had a scrumptious breakfast and lunch before heading to our next destination: Sesame Place near Philly.

4th of July!

2010-07-06T21:49:00.005-04:00

I'd like to first thank all of the service men and women who are protecting the freedoms we all enjoy as Americans. I can't ever thank you enough, but I will continue to try.

Our local parade was cancelled this year due to road construction. So we joined the Ullum family for a good ole' Upper Arlington Independence Day Celebration....on the 3rd. :) UA has the longest running non-commercial parade in the country...or so they claim. Neighborhoods and streets get together and make floats, the local sports teams are well represented and every dancer and old car in the area seems to be in that parade, but it is So.much.FUN! Thanks Beth and Doug for having us over and letting us be a part of your community celebration!

The girls loved the parade and watched the whole thing!

The horses are always big pleasers and got the girls on their feet!

We took the girls to another parade up in Sunbury on the 5th. They loved this one too, but I didn't realize how much candywas thrown out at this parade. Since the girls don't even know what they are missing, I convinced them to help pick up all of the candy thrown at us and give it to the Boy Scout Troop leader that was standing next to us. He had a big bag and was joining the troop towards the end of the parade and he was going to throw it back into the crowd, so how's that for quick recycling....and it saved the girls from a major sugar rush!

Then we walked into the town square and saw the little flea market/festival. It was such a HOT day that the girls weren't really up for the flea market and we headed home. That evening we celebrated cousin Austin's FIRST birthday! Happy Birthday buddy!

Beco!

2010-06-25T21:31:00.000-04:00

The girls LOVE to go to the zoo and I have been taking them almost weekly this spring. Aunt Kiki and Uncle Joe got our family a zoo membership again this year for the girls' birthday and it is something we use over and over and over all year long! Thanks Kristen and Joe!

The most requested stop when we go to the zoo is to visit Beco, the baby elephant. He is one year old and is so fun to watch with his mommy Phoebe. The girls have little elephants at home that they sleep with so they talk about Beco quite often. It's funny because the word "elephant" is pretty hard for a 2 year to say clearly, so anytime they see an elephant in a book or sticker or even mentioned, they just say Beco instead. They love Beco!

First trip to the beach...well almost.

2010-06-20T21:07:00.004-04:00

On Father's Day we took the girls to Alum Creek State Park's Beach area. It was the girls first time at any type of beach or even lake for that matter. They were actually afraid of the waves at first and didn't even want to walk in the water. It could have been the lady that was mysteriously floating by us and staring at the girls that made them a bit apprehensive. She literally just kept floating closer and closer until she popped out of the water and Avascreamed. Then the lady asked for a picture with her and the girls. Well, let me tell you, the girls wanted nothing to do with it, but I tried to get them close to let her husband snap a quick shot. The whole thing was just weird.

You can see the lady in the water in this pic. As the girls stare right back at her!

Then a local college student came up to me and asked if she could take some pics of the girls for a school project and I let her. I guess, if people ask then I feel bad telling them no if they seem to be normal and nice. However, I have been known to jump in front of the girls (mainly at the zoo and fair) and block photos from people that are just randomly taking the girls' photos. I hate that. No wonder Ava doesn't ever want me to take her picture. She is tired of random weirdos popping in her face.

ah, I digress.....

We had a nice time at the beach after the girls started to realize they could splash and play in the water and sand.

I will have to say...the "local crowd" was very interesting. Kind of scary. Not sure I will be taking the girls there alone. I'll stick to the pool.

Kay!

2010-05-14T20:59:00.001-04:00

It's always great to see Kay. She is so great with the girls and I miss her dearly.

I was too busy laughing that I didn't get too many great pics of the girls with her, but they did enjoy showing off their fab tutus made by my friend Sara! (aren't they too cute?)

Thanks for coming to see us Kay! xoxoxo

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-10T20:47:00.000-04:00

We were fortunate enough to spend Mother's Day with my mom and after church had a nice family meal at my parent's house.
Thanks for all you do, Mom!

The girls showing Grandma her card that sings!

Ducks!

2010-05-08T15:59:00.000-04:00

One evening we were playing in our yard and Jeff heard little chirps. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw this tiny little duckling running across the street toward our house.

After getting him set up in a nice warm box, we went back outside to play and we heard more chirping. Sure enough, another little duckling was running in the street. So Jeff caught it and put it in with it's assumed sibling. We think their mommy must have gotten hit by a car or worse...eaten by an animal.

So the next day the girls and I took the box of ducklings up to my parents neighborhood where there are several ponds with duck families.

The girls have taken several trips with Grandma and Papa (in the golf cart, their favorite thing to do these days!) over to the pond to check on the little ducks and it appears that they have been adopted by a nice mommy duck. The mommy only had 8 little ducks before we placed ours in her pond and ever since, my parents have counted 10 little ducks with her! YAY!

The girls really enjoy seeing the ducks and love that we "found" our little ducks' Mommy and Daddy! :)

Spritz!

2010-05-05T15:50:00.001-04:00

Squirt bottles are fun Mom!

Anna

Alexis

Ava, Anna, Alexis

Swing Set!

2010-04-18T15:36:00.001-04:00

We decided this would be the perfect year to get the girls a swing set! (it is the girls' Birthday gift from us and Grandma & Papa) I found one I really, really, really liked back in January at Costco, but decided to wait until this spring to actually purchase it. Oops...learned my lesson on that one. They were all sold out when Jeff went to get it. I guess some guy came and bought 6 and wiped them out. Who does that?

Anyway...I had to settle for my second choice, but it's still a really nice swing set. My dad and Jeff did all of the heavy work and I was their "parts girl" and pulled all of the necessary parts ahead of time for each step. My mom was nice enough to watch the girls while we all were outside building. However, there were times that the girls wanted to add their elbow grease and help too!

Watch out Alexis...Anna is coming through!

After all of that heavy lifting, it's time for a break!

Here are the parts Papa!

I think it's this one Grandma!

Hmm, this works out as a nice seat too!

The finished product! YAY!

We replaced the middle trapeez bar with a 3rd swing about a week after having it built because when one swings, they must ALL swing! :) Thanks for all of your help Grandma and Papa!

Frogs & Bubbles

2010-04-11T18:35:00.000-04:00

Ava L.O.V.E.S frogs. She loves frog pictures, frog stickers, frog stuffed animals, frogs on tv, frogs at the zoo, frogs on plates and cups and any other kind of decoration. So when Jeff caught a toad and then later a little tree frog in the same day....She was SO excited. Anna and Alexis thought it was pretty cool too.

The 2nd part of the video shows the girls blowing bubbles! Enjoy!

Easter 2010

2010-04-05T06:00:00.005-04:00

Easter morning we got up and the girls got to see what the Easter Bunny had brought them in their baskets.

Anna

Ava

Alexis

Then we went to church with the family. Before leaving though, we saw our neighbors Bryce and Teagan searching for eggs, so they came over for a quick photo.

After church, the girls were all excited to show Grandma and Papa what the Easter Bunny had brought them. Here are a few pics I snapped when we got to their house.

Birthday Party!

2010-03-09T06:00:00.001-05:00

My mom always made our birthday cakes so I would like to do the same for the girls. This year, I made them each a little bunny cake! I think they came out pretty cute!

Then for our family, I ordered from one of my favorite local bakeries!

The girls had a really nice low-key birthday. We celebrated with family at a local pizza shop and then came home to open presents and have cake and ice cream.

Anna

Ava

Alexis

The girls got a lot of great gifts, but some of their favorites were these doll strollers!

The girls taking their babies for their first "real" walk around the block!

T-W-O!

2010-03-03T06:00:00.002-05:00

In honor of the girls turning T-W-O, I wanted to share some of the words they are FINALLY saying and sharing with us on a regular basis. They are really starting to repeat EVERYTHING, (Just ask Daddy to share his experience while watching the USA vs Canada Olympic hockey game!), but these are the ones they use pretty much every day.

Hi
ByeBye
No,no,no (complete with shaking their finger back and forth)
New--how they say No. It has the funniest little high tone...well, sometimes funny.
Mama
Dada
Papa
Nana
tak-ooo--Thank you
peaz--Please
ho me peaz---hold me please
mo--more
eeee--eat
uh-oh
Nanya -- how they say Anna
A-ya -- how they say Ava
La La --what they call Alexis
ya-ish --how they say Alexis
bay-bee--Baby
Mow (rymes with cow...how they say cat)
woowoowoo--how they say dog
op op op (what they say for bunny rabbit)
Kiki--when they are talking about Aunt Kiki (Kristen) or when they are looking for the kitty
Moosh--Moose
Blue
Poopurl--Purple
Ping--Pink
geen--Green
ye-woah--Yellow
duc duc--Duck (they hold their hands by their mouth and make quacking motions)
ooh-ooh-ooh---monkey
moooo--cow
tur-tull--Turtle (this is one of Anna's fav animals)
Tang--Tank the turtle (Anna's FAVORITE)
Me (alexis uses this to say Mine)
eye-ie--eyes
noooo--nose
bebe--belly button
eer--ear
melmo--Elmo
(s)noooooooooow--Snow, but the "s" is silent
shir--shirt
pan--pants
shus--shoes
sox--socks
mi-key-- name of Anna's favorite monkey
Ro-ro--how Ava says Frog (her FAVORITE!)
boo-po-- Blue Hippo (one of Alexis' fav animals)
Gay-ter (how they all refer to Alexis' FAVORITE Gator animal)

I know I'm forgetting some, and didn't include all of the animal sounds, but this gives you an idea.

About the girls...at TWO:

They like to rock their babies and take care of their animals and change diapers. They love their play kitchen and food and really enjoy books and puzzles. I think they would let me read to them all day long if possible. They enjoy books so much. They don't know any characters other than Elmo and Mickey Mouse. (we have an elmo doll that someone gave us and I have a MM blanket.) they will hold hands and play ring-around-the-rosy. They rock their babies to Rockabye baby and will even let their babies fall gently to the floor and blow the wind during the right parts. So funny! They literally crack me up every day!

Anna is caring and nice and loves to be tickled and turned upside down. She likes to tip her head down and look at you over the top of her nose. she sometimes hits whatever is close when she is frustrated...sometimes that happens to be a sister. She LOVES her turtles and pink bunny. She has the sweetest giggle and gives the best, tightest hugs. She likes to get her face close to yours and then says "Hiiiiiiii" and just giggles! We still call her "Bear" and it just fits. She's my little bear, all snuggly warm, soft and cute. :) Happy Birthday Anna, we love you!

Ava is so observant. She watches everyone so closely and can imitate pretty much anything. She gives thumbs up to daddy and pinky swears with mama. She gets pretty worked up if there is something she wants, but she can usually be persuaded into offering a trade if sisters don't want to give it up. She uses the most words. She likes to pretend she is sleeping and can be so darn sweet. She LOVES her Ro-ro's and has been through a few different frogs already as her favority lovey. She likes to help me and show me new things. She is really eager to please and likes to have mama all to her self. I call her Ava Jane quite a bit as it just rolls off the tongue so easily. She's totally Ava Jane! Happy Birthday Ava, We love you!

Alexis is so funny! She also likes to tease and sometimes steals toys from her sisters and runs away. She loves to jump and play. She is also so helpful and the best little helper in cleaning and picking up toys. She is usally the first to come over and console her sisters if one of them is crying or upset. She likes to usher (ie: push or direct) sisters toward something and she will go get them and hold their hand and pull them to you. She is Papa and Nana's little girl (not that the other two aren't, but she is just so attached to them). She has a pretty big temper at times, but mostly is just giggly, funny and adventurous! Jeff only calls her Alexis, but I call her Alexis, Lexie, Lexis-wexis, LaLa, and Lex. Happy Birthday Alexis, We love you!

First Haircut!

2010-02-21T22:30:00.010-05:00

You read that right...the girls got their first haircut today....about 1.5 weeks shy of turning TWO! I didn't mean to hold out so long, but honestly, Anna and Ava's hair grew out so nice I kept thinking Alexis' would catch up. It didn't prove to be so much the case. Alexis' hair instead grew in the back, but not the sides so it ended up being a slight mullet. Oops! Sorry Alexis!

Here are a few Before and After pictures....although, I need to take more pics this week so you can see they actually did get it cut!

Anna before:

Pretty long and the curliest of the 3 girls.

Anna During:

Still long, still bouncy curls, but she didn't enjoy the hair cutting experience....AT ALL!

I don't have after pics since she was still crying and I held her the entire time Alexis was getting hers cut. Anna's honestly looks the least different to me. The stylist just evened it up and gave it a nice trim all over. I thought she would be the calmest, so I had her go first. That plan didn't work out so well. Poor Anna! She did let the stylist put in a pony tail though, so her hair is pulled back in the second pic.

Ava Before:

The longest and straightest of the 3. Down almost to the middle of her back!

Ava During:

She only cried once and was pretty happy as long as she could hold a PINK comb and have a PINK apron on. the girl is obsessed with pink and I've found how to use it to my advantage. :) She's holding on to the pink comb underneath there instead of holding onto the pony. :)

Ava After:

The stylist was even able to put 2 braids in her hair...another first!

She took about 4+ inches off the length and evened it up all around. It doesn't look that much shorter here, but it definitely is nicer and more healthy...believe me!

Alexis Before:

The shortest and most fine hair of the 3. In need of a trim!

Alexis during:

She didn't cry once and actually asked to go next (after Anna was done). She smiled nearly the entire time and let the stylist do what she needed to do. Thank goodness too, since she is the one that really NEEDED this haircut! She got cute little girl bangs and a fun little "bob cut" to fit her spunky personality! She was a Champ!

Alexis After:

This is the best I have of after the cut of Alexis so far. The girls were so busy playing on the slide at the salon and their hair got all static-y and she was practically sweating she was having such a great time. But look at those sweet little bangs! :)

Even though Jeff was leery of getting the girls' hair cut and he didn't want me to go super short with their cuts, he was pleasantly surprised with how good they all looked and he especially liked Alexis' new style!

Balance

2010-02-05T14:32:00.003-05:00

It's all about finding balance these days.

I find myself balancing all 3 girls when they want me to hold them to read a book....and I don't dare make the mistake of not putting my arms around the 2 girls sitting on the outside legs instead of middle....oh no...arms must reach all the way around to be sure everyone is included. This is getting tougher as they get bigger! :)

I've increased my hours at work. Now I work 65% full time (which means I work 2 days in the office and an additional 10 hours from home each week.) It is certainly something we are all trying to get used to. My parents are still watching the girls while I work, but now instead of coming to our house, I take the girls to their house on those 2 days. It's good for my parents so they can still get a few things done around their house and don't feel "stuck" at mine, and it's also good for the girls to get out and be away from home more often. I love my job, and as you may know, we are opening a new HUGE Ohio Union (student center) on OSU's campus at the end of March. translation: I'm VERY BUSY at work and find myself squeezing work projects into every nap time and many evenings after the girls go to bed.

I've started a jogging program that is training me to run a 5K without walking. I know I could complete a 5K today if I wanted, but I'm pretty sure I'd have to walk part of it. So my goal is to complete one this spring without walking. After I accomplish this, I want to train for a half marathon. (Yup, I just put that in writing....13.1 miles!) So far, I'm on week 5 of my training, and tomorrow I'll be doing a 20 min run, without walking...wish me luck! Oh and did I mention, I HATE RUNNING!?

I'm also trying to plan the girls' 2nd birthday party...I know I want it zoo animal theme, but honestly, I don't have anything else planned. Stay tuned.

I miss chatting with my MoMfia....other Mom's of Multiples...but I know once my job settles down a bit after we open the new building, I'll be able to reconnect with those ladies.

So there you have it....lots going on here. I am planning to do a new post about the girls and all of the words they are saying (or trying to say) now and all of their fun (and sometimes crazy) antics! hopefully coming soon....

So while I'm not sure if I have found the perfect balance for me yet, I'm trying.

I'm trying to be the best mom I can be and be grateful for the opportunity of staying at home and raising my girls.

I'm trying to do the best job I possibly can so I can continue to work on projects I love and keep the great job I have!

I'm trying to find a healthier place for myself and getting and staying active again.

How is your life balanced?

New Playroom!

2010-01-14T06:00:00.003-05:00

Ok, so the title is a bit misleading. It's the same room, just different layout. It is still the great room off of the kitchen, but I've reorganized the room to better contain some of the toys and give the girls easier access to things....with the hopes that one day they will help me pick it up too! I can dream! :)

Instead of placing all of their toys in large baskets which is how we've done it for the past 22 months, I bought a cubby shelf and placed it under the kitchen bar. Alexis is by far the best at helping to put things back where they belong. They are ALL great at taking things out and dumping them too! :)

Even though the girls new kitchen fit well in front of the fireplace (as shown in a few posts ago with Christmas), we needed to move the love seat back in front of the fireplace so we could go out the back door and it can't go along the gate or else we would be experiencing sirens every afternoon as the girls escaped their gated community by repelling down the back! joking, the gate is not alarmed, although I'm sure my dad could rig something up!

So the Kitchen is to the right of kitchen bar and along the gate/hallway.

Here's the "aerial" view. As you can see, they now have their snack table with window seating so they can wave to the mail truck, delivery trucks, garbage trucks, neighbors, dog walkers and pretty much anyone else that looks our way as they pass by the house! :)

Oh and just one more of the wall by the back door, where the aqua doodle is on the wall and where the girls watch "Big Red" as Daddy calls him. The GIANT red squirrel, who just a couple of days ago actually put an entire corn cob in his mouth and climbed a tall tree and tried to eat it all by himself...He almost fell, so he abandoned the mission and the cob is still sitting about 50 feet above the ground. I should take a picture for those that may not believe the story.

And just because I think it's a fun pic of the girls coloring.

First time playing in the snow!

2010-01-12T06:00:00.001-05:00

So we had a really wet snow during the last part of December and the girls finally got to wear their new snow pants and boots! Anna and Alexis seemed to like the snow and were fascinated by the sound their boots made by "crunching" the snow every time they took a step. Ava on the other hand had an instant fit and didn't even want the snow to touch her....which makes walking in it to get to the back yard, quite a chore. We had to carry her....geesh!

I can't believe I have a kid that doesn't like snow. I really can't believe it is the daughter who carries my mom's name as her middle name since my Mom LOVES snow! Regardless, mom and I are hoping we can teach her to love it as much as we do. I started by teaching the first step in enjoying snow...eating it of course! :)

We (translation: I, Marie) built a snowman. Ava insisted on being held while we were out there until I finally showed her that she was just standing on grass left by the path of the snow rolling for the snowman. She tolerated this, but I didn't dare go further than 5 feet from her "safety" zone of grass or she had a melt down. Jeff and Anna and Alexis found the perfect stick arms and a corn cob leftover from the squirrels.

All three seemed to like eating their popsicles and we got a cute pic of Jeff and the girls. Of course when we go to take a pic of me with the girls (which rarely, if ever happens) the neighbors down the way had already made their way towards us and ended up distracting the girls so none of them ended up looking at the camera. Yea, that made me *real* happy. :)

Here's Jeff and the girls and the neighbors before the girls saw them.

Anna and her just-too-cute blond curls!

Ava surprisingly not crying, but instead distracted by a snow popsicle.

And cute Miss Alexis with her wispy hair.

Christmas Break 2009

2010-01-11T15:42:00.008-05:00

A few more random pictures taken over the Christmas Break while Jeff was taking vacation days.

We took a last minute trip to Toledo/Maumee to visit my Grandpa the day after Christmas. (translation: decided to tell my parents we were going to join them about an hour before they left!) It was nice to see him and I think he enjoyed seeing the girls. They loved watching the birds outside his window on the feeder my Uncle Jim built for him.

Here is Anna sitting with Grandpa. So sweet the way they are looking at each other! :)

And one with me and my dad with Grandpa and the girls. The girls were not too cooperative, so none of us look too thrilled, but I had to go with the picture where you can at least see all of us! The rest of the pics, the girls are climbing all over my dad and me and you can't see much of anyone. Little stinkers!

The girls L.O.V.E these HUGE dogs that my parents got for them for Christmas! They take naps with them every day and also have to sleep with them at night. They now like to ride them like horses!

The girls also love their new aqua doodle that I hung on the wall by the back door. Between these and the magna doodles they got from Grandma and Grandpa, they love to draw all day long! Take a closer look....we're predicting a "lefty" out of one of the girls...can you tell who it is?

Christmas 2009 Pictures!

2010-01-08T10:49:00.012-05:00

Since I have neglected the blog for nearly a month, I thought you all deserved to see a little of what we have been up to. Enjoy!

I was sitting on the couch while the girls were busy playing when all of a sudden, Ava *popped* out of the tree giggling. I had her recreate it so I could show daddy.

Here's another shot without flash.

A fun one with all of them being silly by the tree! Don't mind Anna's "comb-over"...for some reason, she always brushes her hair out of her face, but starts at her ear instead of forehead! :)

Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Anna playing with Grandpa. What's funny is I think I remember a picture of my dad holding me the exact same way. The girls love it when he does this!

Alexis being silly in one of their old Bumbos. Now it is Counsin Austin's, but the girls like to sit in it every chance they get. Silly girls!

The girls opening their Christmas PJ's!

I'm sad though. This is one of the few pictures I have of the girls in their dresses. It was just too busy after we got home from church to take any pics and the girls just wanted to tear into their packages. Oh well. They were pretty, you'll just have to believe me.

Christmas morning before coming all the way downstairs. Alexis wasn't happy I made her wait and wanted to take her picture. Clearly, Anna is already checking out the goods! :)

The girls got a play kitchen and TONS of play food from Santa.

They also got some cool puzzles and baby bottles for their babies, although it looks like Anna is trying it out first on daddy here.

Just for Kay!

2009-12-11T18:16:00.004-05:00

As I was trying to talk on the phone tonight to my good friend Kay, the girls decided to not only get things out of the china buffet in the dining room, but they decided to crawl under it!

Doesn't always make it the easiest to talk on the phone while they are all getting into (or under) stuff, but as Kay reminded me...someday I will look back at these days and have to laugh.

So Kay, here's a few pics that I took while we were talking!

Silly, giggling, little girls!

It's been a crazy past month. Ever since we changed the girls's cribs into toddler beds, the nap situation has been interesting and that makes most days pretty interesting too. Not much extra time for blogging. :(

Big Girl Beds!

2009-11-12T22:22:00.005-05:00

With the girls climbing out of their cribs for the past week, we had two choices: buy crib tents at $80 each (yea, x 3= over $240) and get maybe 6 months or so use out of them, or go ahead and transition the girls' cribs into their toddler beds. We chose to switch the cribs into beds!

Since Jeff was off of work yesterday, him and my dad took apart the cribs and made them into toddler beds. So cute! And then they also did a bit of baby proofing to their room...like drawer latches and attaching the dressers to the walls so they can't tip.

I figure sooner or later we would have to deal with the craziness of all 3 running around in their room, so why not save some cash and use what we already have. *We purchased the toddler conversion sets when we bought the cribs and dressers back when I was pregnant so we were all ready for this. We actually even have the next conversion kits for when the girls are ready for full size beds instead of toddler beds. But for now, we'll just focus on the toddler size!*

The girls LOVE their big girl beds! They've been jumping around and running from bed to bed to bed. It's so fun! They love their big girl quilts that Grandma made for them way back before they were even born. It's so nice to finally see them on their beds. I need to take pics and share, I know.

Nap time has been a bit of an adventure....translation: running around, hiding in the curtains, jumping on beds for nearly an hour until finally they listen when I come tell them (sometimes for the 5th time) that they really need to lay in their beds and close their eyes. But they are just having too much fun to slow down. And then Alexis seems to be the one to wake up first and she immediately goes and wakes someone else up and then the 2 of them go and wake the 3rd sister. It's quite cute...except for the lack of sleep they are experiencing. But maybe that is why bedtime has gone so smooth the past two nights. They lay down without a peep and stayed in their bed the entire night last night and I'm hoping the same for tonight. Oh and in case you forgot...the reason I know what happens in their room in so much detail.....Triplet TV (infrared) of course! :) Thanks Dad!!!

So here we are moving on to the next phase....and I love it! Some moms are probably a bit sad when their babies are done with their cribs...but not me. I am really enjoying my daughters becoming little girls instead of babies! Now if we could just finish the diaper thing too....all in time....I'm not quite ready for that challenge yet and don't want to start too early. Maybe this Spring.

Have you voted yet?

2009-11-12T06:00:00.002-05:00

So if you haven't done so already, please go vote for the girls in the Multiples and More Halloween Contest! The girls are #38....and since I'm a slacker and didn't realize they were even finalists until yesterday, we are WAY behind in votes, so we need every single one! You need to go to the right side of the page and select #38, then go to the bottom of the list and click submit! Go vote for #38 HERE!

And I just learned yesterday that one of the girls' best friends Kendyll is a finalist in another contest...so go HERE and vote for KENDYLL! She's #12 I think, the one with her feet sticking out of the pumpkin....so darn cute!

GO VOTE FOR THE GIRLS!

2009-11-10T23:37:00.004-05:00

So I entered the girls into a Halloween costume contest over at the Multiples blog and honestly forgot I did so until I was reading one of my friend's blog and noticed she was a finalist. As I was going through the list of adorable twins, triplets and more....I saw that our girls' picture was a finalist too!!!! AHHHHH!!! So here we go...I need you to vote...and I'm so late and behind...but come on...just click right here and go vote for Anna, Ava and Alexis....we're #38! You have to vote on the right side of the blog...VOTE FOR #38! There are some REALLY cool prizes, so come one...go vote! The girls were the 3 Little Kittens who lost their Mittens....their mittens were pinned on their backs....I know...clever huh?!

So go vote! You can vote up until Thursday the 12th and then it will be narrowed down, so make sure to check back and see if we need to keep voting! ok, now go!

And if you need more convincing...you should really just go to see all of the ADORABLE pictures of multiples in their halloween costumes! It's crazy that I know so many of the MoM's just by their kids' pictures!

Escape from Alcatraz: Round 2!

2009-11-06T07:59:00.005-05:00

So this morning, I got up at the very first peep/rustle that I heard out of the girls room. I ran downstairs so I could watch them on Triplet TV. It took a few minutes of jumping and playing in their cribs, but then it happened.

Alexis put one foot up on the rail (in the corner of her crib so the side was closer) and then just sat on top like she was riding a horse. Then she got back down into her crib. She did this a few times and then Anna did it too. Once she saw Anna up there, Alexis decided that she had to be first out, so she immediately threw a leg over, balanced, then threw the other leg over and gently let herself down. Seriously...no big drop, thud or crash. It was like she was a pro already.

She immediately went over and started taunting Anna, so Anna complied and started to climb over the rails.

Now Anna doesn't seem to have the same crazy strong upper body strength that Alexis does, so I was a bit worried with how this would happen, but she did it the same way and let her self down with ease. She landed a bit harder, but nothing more than like a small jump...and she landed on her feet.

Ava was still trying to do both legs at once, so she clearly didn't watch the other two close enough to realize that she needed to do one leg at a time. She stayed in her crib. I decided I had seen enough so I ran upstairs to get them before they started destroying the room with clothes like yesterday.

I opened the door and there they stood, Anna and Alexis on the floor with the biggest grins and Ava standing in her crib shaking her finger saying "no, no, no." Gotta love that kid. Tattling on her sisters already. Although she doesn't realize that I know if she could have gotten out too, she would have.

Now logic tells me to go buy crib tents TODAY....but a small part of me thinks they did it so easy and smooth, that maybe I should just let it go until they start doing it ALL.THE.TIME. Right now it's just in the morning, so is it causing that much harm?

However, the possibility of them getting hurt scares me so I guess logic takes over right? I'll let you know.

Stay Puff

2009-11-06T06:00:00.002-05:00

The girls tried on their new winter coats and snow pants today! I couldn't resist taking a few pics as they giggled, wobbled around and played ring.around.the.rosy. They didn't even want to take them off. My mom found them on a fantastic sale at JCPenney and we were able to get the coats and pants for much less than we were able to find just coats anywhere else! Thanks Mom!

Grandma and Grandpa were here and got to witness the dress rehearsal. They girls loved walking around and listening to the sounds their pants made. It was a riot. I couldn't help but think of the Stay Puff Marshmellow Man from the Ghostbusters movie back in the 80's! It was so fun and these pictures don't do it justice...but thought you might like a peek into what our winter will bring! :) I loved playing out side as a kid and can't wait for my girls to make those memories too!

Anna

Ava

Alexis

The girls!

Now we just need to find some boots? Any recommendations for inexpensive winter snow boots?

Uh-Oh...they escaped!

2009-11-05T16:48:00.006-05:00

I heard the girls laughing and giggling this morning through the monitor so like every other morning, I went upstairs to get them up for the day.

Well, wasn't I surprised when I walked in to see the floor covered in clothes, dresser drawers open, Ava jumping around in her crib while Anna and Alexis run frantically around the room looking for hiding spots! That's right, they were on the floor running around giggling, which means Anna and Alexis CLIMBED.OUT.OF.THEIR.CRIBS!!! :) I think I startled them and they thought it was funny so they started showing me all of the stuff they had taken out and given to Ava....she had a pile of PJ's in her crib!

I'm not sure why Ava hadn't joined them. Maybe they weren't out for that long. (although by the look of the mess...they at least had a minute or two...they do a lot of damage in short spurts so it's hard to tell.) Or maybe she just hadn't quite figured out how to get over. Either way, I'm so grateful that noone was injured. I've talked to many of my MoM friends today and while it's a much easier (read: not easy, just a tad easier) decision for parents of one child to simply transition to toddler beds when this happens, it's not that cut and dry for Mom's of Multiples. With the girls all sharing a room, when we move them to toddler beds, that means they will have full reign over their room...ALL.TOGETHER.

It means, that instead of napping or going to sleep at night, they will want to run and chase each other. They may take all clothes out of drawers daily...until I remove the dressers. They may even come down stairs, since they are *this close* to opening doors by themselves. Trust me...they come up with a lot more ideas together than when they are by themselves. (like pushing their picnic table in the living room towards the back door and standing on top to flip the outside light on and off. yea...noone can move the table alone....it usually takes teamwork of at least 2....and if all three get behind the idea (literally and figuratively)...it's so easy! ha!

I can almost guarantee that Alexis was the first out today. She is usually first up and then she stands at one end of her crib and does "shout outs" til the other two wake up. (I know, because I watch her do this on our Triplet TV cameras.) Oh and she has crazy upper body arm strength too, so I'm pretty sure she was first out...and I'm assuming she went over and got Anna. Ava wasn't probably too far behind, but I came in and foiled their plot. :)

So for now, the best suggestions I'm receiving from MoM's is to purchase crib tents. They are exactly how they sound. A mesh, see through, dome shaped tent that attaches to the crib and opens with a zipper from the outside. It's not really my first choice, but seeing as I'm not ready to make the switch to toddler beds and I certainly don't want anyone injured....it looks like they are in our near future.

I'm going to watch tonight on the cameras to see if they attempt another escape and if so, I'll be ordering the tents tonight (or searching for them tomorrow.) If they stay put, I'll see what tomorrow brings and pray this morning was just a fluke. but I think I know better.

wish us luck! :)

ps...My dad installed another camera in the girls' room that is actually infrared so it works in the pitch dark. The other color cameras work great during the day and are aimed over each of their individual beds. This one is black and white, but is AMAZING at night and shows all 3 cribs on one screen...so I'll be watching for the escape plan to unfold tonight. :) We're so lucky to have a tech-y grandpa that likes to test out new products on us! :) Thanks Dad!

Pumpkin Patch!

2009-11-03T06:00:00.000-05:00

We took the girls to a local pumpkin farm (two weekends in a row). The first visit was just okay. Anna and Ava liked looking at the pumpkins, but Alexis wanted nothing to do with them. We also made the mistake of taking the girls in their choo choo wagon and it drew WAY too much attention. People were asking where we got it, if they could haul their pumpkins in it, some let their kids climb all over it while we were looking at pumpkins...ugh! It just drew too much attention to the fact that the girls are triplets that it was hard to get them to stay put long enough to get any photos in between answering strangers' questions. Oh well, it was a beautiful day and the girls enjoyed seeing the animals (calves, sheep, pigmy goats, and a minature pony).

The 2nd visit was much, much better. Alexis had a better time, which means we all had a better time. And we were smarter....we didn't take their wagon and just held their hands. I still heard rumblings and got the normal questions...but at least we weren't the spectacle like the week prior. They girls really enjoyed seeing the animals again.

They also had fun with the painted pictures where they could stick their heads out.

I loved seeing them look through the kitty face...

Anna taking a look from both sides! :)

Ava

Alexis

The cutest Scarecrows!

Anna

Ava

Alexis

They loved sitting on this painted cow.

And it's always nice to put into perspective how much the girls have grown/changed since last year....

2008 vs 2009

It just so happens that I dressed the girls in the exact same outfits both weekends. The first visit they are wearing their GAP sweatshirts and the next weekend was even nicer and they didn't need them. So no, that wasn't on purpose, it just happened that way.

And a few more random pics!

Anna

Ava

Alexis

Segway rides!

2009-11-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

So I've been pulling the girls in their choo choo wagon with my dad's segway during tailgates this season. They love it! The buckeye fans love it....heck, even opposing teams love it! So a couple weekends ago, my dad decided that he would let them try it by themselves.....oh my gosh...THEY LOVE IT!

It's hard to get them off of the things. Of course my dad and I are always walking/running right beside the girls to make sure they don't lean too far forward to make it go too fast, but they really do quite well and honestly it shows just how easy the Segways are to ride.

Alexis rode the black one the most.

Anna and Ava rode tandem on the red one.

And then they also like to ride all together.

Are they spoiled or what? All I ever wanted when I was young was a golf cart. And now the girls are growing up with a access to Grandpa's golf cart AND Segways! I sure hope they will realize one day just how fortunate they are. :)

And just because it's funny when they all stand up on the dash of Grandma and Grandpa's RV and watch all of the fans walk by...

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T16:11:00.009-05:00

The girls were a lot of fun this year for halloween. We spent Thursday night in our neighborhood going around to our neighbors and actually trick or treating. I was surprised. I thought the girls wouldn't want to go up to anyone but they did great. They took their pumpkin bags (their purses!) and held them open for neighbors to drop in goodies. They even said Thank You to pretty much everyone. They were a bit frightened by a transformer, spiderman and a few skeletons, but overall, they had a lot of fun!

Saturday (after a long day tailgating) we went to my parent's neighborhood and dressed the girls up again. We went to about 3 houses, but we also drove the golf cart to the other side of the subdivision and saw the Keller's who were visiting family over there. Maddy was the cutest little "Madeline" I've ever seen. It was perfect. But for pictures, you'll have to go to April's blog because we weren't able to get any good ones on our camera.

Can you guess what the girls' costumes were? (no cheating, if I've already told you.)

Be sure to look at all of the pictures to get a full perspective. :)

This pic makes me think of Charlie's Angels for some reason. I guess that can be another choice for Halloween some year! :)

I love how intent Anna is on this sucker she just got.

Anna still holding onto that sucker at the end of the night.

Ava showing her surprised face! :)

Alexis just being cute!

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween too! oh and it helped that the Bucks beat NMS 45-0!!!!

You wanna know?

2009-10-29T16:07:00.001-04:00

Do you really want to know what we do on a daily basis?

Let me just show you how my time is spent. Instead of me working on the blog and keeping all of you updated.....this is what keeps me busy....and I love it! :)

The reason I was out of the room is because the girls were playing nicely and I was trying to upload photos for the blog and also chatting with MoM friends online. Guess the girls decided to redefine "busy work"....cause they sure do keep me busy!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2009-10-26T10:06:00.003-04:00

The girls wanted to share their artwork with the best daddy in the world today.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Thanks for being such a wonderful father and husband!

We love you, Marie, Anna, Ava & Alexis

Visiting the NICU.

2009-09-24T12:34:00.005-04:00

Yes, it has been 18 months ago and yes, the girls were only there for 8 and 11 days...but it is still so, so, so important to me to go back and visit the OSU NICU to thank our nurses and let them see the girls. I know I've said it before, but they took care of my babies when I couldn't...and I'm forever grateful. The least I can do is stop in for visits and say thank you.

I also had another reason for wanting to go. After this past Spring's garage sale, I had a few preemie sleepers left and I thought instead of donating them to Goodwill like I did with the rest of the clothes, I would give them to the NICU to use on sweet little babies. I know I was so excited the first time I walked in to the NICU and our girls were wearing one of the sleepers that we had left for them. It just made it so nice that they were all snuggled and comfy.

The nurses were very grateful and I'm glad those tiny little sleepers will be keeping other little babies snug and warm too. We had a nice visit with some of our favorite nurses (sorry we missed you Katie and Joy!) and we hope to stop by again closer to the girls' 2nd birthday!

Nice Wheels!

2009-09-14T06:00:00.002-04:00

My Uncle Dean and Aunt Paula were in town visiting friends for their college reunion weekend and we got the chance to spend Sunday evening with them along with my cousin Mark his wife Leeanne and their son Oakley. My sister, Thomas, and Austin were also there for dinner and we had a nice time chatting and playing outside with everyone.

My dad happened to have the Vet parked outside so I thought it would be fun to get a pic of the girls sitting on top. (you know...they need to start practicing their princess waves for when they ride in parades! :)

Mark and Leeanne drove their awesome motorcycle and scooter over so of course the girls had to check them out too!

Anna checking out Mark's beautiful ride....one that made daddy very jealous...in a good way! :)

The girls wanted to "ride" LeeAnn's cool scooter.

Anna and Daddy both trying to say something. :)

Daddy showing Ava how to make it go!

(A visit to Grandma and Grandma's house wouldn't be complete without rides in the golf cart, so Alexis was off getting a private ride with Aunt Paula and Thomas so I didn't get her picture on the scooter.)

It was so nice to see everyone and we had a great time playing outside! Hope the next visit can be sooner rather than later.

Happy Grandparent's Day!

2009-09-13T10:21:00.002-04:00

What would we do without Grandparents? I don't know about your family, but I can say that Grandma and Grandpa are ESSENTIAL to making ours work! Thank God my parents live close and get to enjoy seeing the girls a couple times a week or at least once a week when I trot off to work for a day. And like my dad mentioned recently: "It's so nice to live close and see each other for short visits more often than have to squeeze all visits into extended visits that happen less frequently. He's so right. Like just this past week I took the girls up one afternoon to see Grandpa and he immediately took us all out on the golf cart and we drove around looking for ducks to feed. Then we came back and played in the yard and waited for Grandma to get home from work.

The girls adore my mom and dad and we're so fortunate they live close. And because I'm such a great daughter.... (HAHA)....I decided what better way for mom and dad to wake up on Grandparents day than to wake up with 3 little girls in their house! Ha! That's right. The girls had their very first sleep over at Grandma and Grandpa's house last night (while Jeff and I went to the OSU v. USC game....let's not talk about that). Everyone survived! I wasn't worried about the girls...I never do when they are with them. I was just hoping that they would be good for G&G and from what they tell me, all went great! They didn't nap in the afternoon, but they did sleep last night and were happy to see G&G bright and early this morning. "Next time" I think we should try it on a Friday night....that way, we can sleep in and not worry about getting them before church. :) But for now, I'll take the small victories (too bad I can't say the same about the Buckeyes), and be happy that the girls did fine and my parents seem willing to try it all over again sometime. Thanks Mom and Dad! We couldn't ask for better parents or grandparents! Love you!

I remember...

2009-09-11T06:00:00.002-04:00

Today is September 11th. It's just another date in September, but obviously not just another day.

For so many this date will forever be remembered by:

those that lost loved ones,

those that live or work in NY, D.C., and PA.

those that were brave and

those that helped others climb down stairs.

those that helped save others by saying "let's roll"

those that were scared but answered the call.

those that helped in any way they could

those that were "there"

and those that were scared.

and while many will remember September 11, 2001, I'm afraid that many others have simply forgotten what it felt like on that Tuesday morning.

I haven't forgotten:

I was scared.

I was sad.

I was emotional.

I was mad.

I was confused.

I was uncertain.

But in the days, weeks, months and now years since then....I am even more proud to be an American and remember at what cost my freedom comes. I would consider both Jeff and I to be very proud and patriotic Americans. I hope we pass along the same feeling of respect, honor and privilege of being Americans to our girls. One day we will share with them all of the heroic stories that occurred on September 11, 2001 so they too can appreciate all of the brave men and women that serve our country and keep us safe. Thank you to all of our fine soldiers, police forces and fire departments and GOD BLESS AMERICA!

First tailgate of the season!

2009-09-05T20:09:00.013-04:00

Today was the first home OSU football game which means the first tailgate of the season! The girls had a lot of fun running around with the football, being pulled in their choo choo wagon by Segway and even special rides on the Segway with Grandpa! Jeff and I had a nice time at the game and experienced a great day in Ohio Stadium. We played Navy today and through all of the nice tributes to our armed forces from the band and special videos from soldiers currently on tour, it was just an overall great feeling of pride and sportsmanship. What a great day to be a Buckeye and even better...a proud American. Thanks to all of our service men and women for making it possible for us to live in this great country!

Now on to the pictures!

April and Matt stopped by to hang out and Alexis took the opportunity to be held. That girl loves anyone who will hold her.

She doesn't look happy here, but I swear she was smiling the split second before I snapped the pic. I can never get it on camera!

April and Alexis.

Posing with Brutus in front of the RV!

Getting fun wagon rides from Grandpa on his Segway. (Super fun for both the girls and Segway rider!)

Then they got interested in the Segway.

Alexis and Anna

Anna

Today was the first time they ever saw it. Usually when we go over to my parents' house, they want to ride the golf cart or John Deere, but now I am afraid they will want to ride the Segway too. Look what Grandpa started.... :)

Anna

Ava

Alexis

And it wouldn't be tailgating without football right?

Anna

Ava

Alexis

(I didn't end up getting a pic of her with the football. She was more interested in seeing all of the nearby Brutus' and Anna and Ava kept "intercepting" the ball!)

Anna

Ava (look how long her hair is getting!)

Ball hog-Ava

Ava loving playing football with Daddy!

And to sum up our day...

Ava loves football.

Alexis loves Brutus (at least the inflatable kind....that's who she is pointing to in this picture.)

and

Anna loves Segways.

And we want to thank Grandma and Grandpa for watching the girls so we could go to the game!

GO BUCKS!

Happy 18 months!

2009-09-03T17:19:00.006-04:00

I'm more excited about the girls being 18 months old today than I usually am for their "monthly milestones!" Maybe because from now until closer to them turning 2 I'm just going to say they are 1 and half when people constantly ask how old. I don't have to say some crazy calculation of months and confuse all of those without young kids.

Another reason is it seems from my reading that a language explosion starts to happen between now and when they turn two and honestly, nothing would make me happier right now than hearing my girls try to repeat words and tell me stories. Of course they do alright with some words and I think they are repeating what I say (like counting), but honestly, I thought I would be hearing much more than animal sounds and "thank you" by now. They say a few words, but only things that I know what they are saying. If you came to my house today, you would have no idea that they just pointed to the dog walking by and said "dog, woof woof," but I do. The girls understand EVERYTHING or so it seems everything, I say, but they just don't tell us. I've also heard that kids who use sign language use that instead of using words, but I have to say, I don't think that is it either. They all will "say" thank you at the same time they do the sign for thank you. So really, I just want them to talk.

My mom tells me there is an old saying that "you wait 18 months for them to talk and 18 years for them to stop" so I suppose at some point, I will wish for the days without endless questions and "mommmmm!" but right now, I'm wishing for words.

Hoping to get some cute pics over the weekend. First OSU tailgate of the season on Sat. Should be a good time! Happy Labor Day everyone!

Snacks!

2009-09-01T06:00:00.001-04:00

I recently brought the girls' picnic table (one of their birthday gifts from April and Amanda!) into the house for the girls to have color time and snack time. They love climbing all over it and under and take toys under it like it's their own little club house. Well, last week, here is one of their snack times. I just love the way it unfolds....

All have snacks and Ava thinks this is fun!

Ava is looking outside, Anna is just staring and Alexis is gobbling up her fish crackers!

Alexis has finished and Anna is thinking Ava's crackers look tastier.

Yup, I think I'll try some of hers. In the meantime, Alexis is taking the last two from Anna!

Ava, still happy and giggling. Anna eating her newly acquired crackers and Alexis making a run for it...."Did anyone see me take the extras?" :)

Fair time!

2009-08-31T11:22:00.007-04:00

Two weekends ago we drove over to Darke County, Ohio where Jeff grew up, to spend some time enjoying the fresh air! We stayed with Jeff's sister Rhonda's family and really had a great time hanging out with Rhonda, Cliff and Payton and Ethan. The boys were really great when playing with the girls and showing them everything fun to do in the "country." The fresh air, and relaxing breezes were almost too much and we didn't want to come home.

We also went to The Great Darke County Fair on Friday and Saturday and the girls thoroughly enjoyed it. They liked seeing all of the animals, but I think they like the cows the best! They liked the pigs, but only when they were sleeping. The minute one would snort in their direction, they would start getting anxious and Ava started flapping her arms like a little bird. :) We let them try their first 2 fair games...and wouldn't you know, they WON! ha!

Here they are playing the duck pond game with me and Rhonda and they all won new little rubber duckies.

Next they tried their hand at fishing! They could barely see over the barrel of water so we had to hold them on the edge. Notice Alexis patiently waiting her turn!

Alexis' turn!

Of course the girls love to see real live ducks even more, so we were lucky to find these cute little ducks going through a mini obstacle course. The little ducks would climb up the black ramp and then try to eat a bit of food that was just on the edge and then slide back down into the water. The ducks just did it over and over and the girls just giggled and loved them!

We also got to see Jeff's brother Darrell and his family for a short time while at the fair. Hopefully next time we can spend more time with them. Of course, I loved touring all of the camper trailers. Some of my all-time favorite memories as a kid are from camping with my parents and brother and sister. I'm so fortunate to have seen practically this entire country (with the small exception of about 3-4 states) all through family vacations. I hope Jeff and I can share those experiences with our girls and allow them to see all that this great country has to offer. One day we will have a camper too so we can make that happen. I know it sounds nuts, but I look forward to the fair each each just for looking at new campers...oh and cotton candy of course too! Of which I bought a total of 4 monster bags. One was finished before I left the fair on Friday, and the other 3 (bought Sat.) lasted until this past weekend (so about 9 days!). I do love it and I think I have 3 little ladies that love it just as much. :)

Thanks to Rhonda, Cliff and the boys for letting us come stay!

Pool Time!

2009-08-19T10:00:00.001-04:00

It really hasn't been all that hot out this summer, so I always forget to get the pool out for the girls. Well, last Saturday is was supposed to reach 90+ so that morning as I headed off with a friend to a baby shower for my dear friend Amy, I asked Jeff if he could get out their pool and fill with water so later that afternoon, it would be all nice and warm...like our own heated pool! It was perfect. When the girls woke from their afternoon nap, we changed them into their suits (the cutest little things ever...Thanks Aunt Jodi!!) and headed out to the pool.

They didn't hesitate at all to get right in. In fact, they started a little "follow the leader" game and would walk in and out of the pool (carrying lovely grass all over) and jumping and leaping in the pool. They all did their own versions of "cannonballs." They loved it. But when dad ran inside to call in some pasta from a pizza place, they all wanted to see what he was doing....

1.5 (aka 17 months!)

2009-08-12T11:54:00.008-04:00

Happy 17 months girlies! (even if I am a tad late)

They are keeping us busy and running/climbing/jumping/exploring EVERYWHERE! There is so much energy in our house (well maybe with the exception of me at the end of the day) and my new favorite thing they all do is to show us how excited they are! If you ask them if they are excited, then they will smile real BIG (almost like an open mouth gritting of the teeth) and shake their heads. It's kind of hard to explain, so I need to get it on video.

They are also big kissers and huggers right now. And just this past week, they started to try and hold each other's hands. They will hold our hands when walking somewhere, but usually didn't want anyone else to touch them. Now, they are giving in a bit and will hold hands for a few moments. So sweet.

No great pics lately, except we went with Grandpa on his golf cart (one of the girls' favorite things to do) and drove to one of the ponds in their neighborhood to feed the ducks. Well the ducks swam away, but the geese were more than willing to eat a bit of bread. Here's a quick pic before we left of the girls sitting on a bench near the pond. Instead of looking at the camera, they all were still checking out the geese!

We've been REALLY busy since I last posted. (2 birthday parties, 10 days of dreaded sickness only Anna and Jeff escaped the wrath, a trip to the State Fair, a couple trips to the zoo, I attended a baby shower last weekend and have another one this Sat., and lots and lots of wagon rides around the block!) Hopefully I will get back in the swing of things and start posting more regularly again. Hope your summer is going well!

Chasing Shadows!

2009-07-15T06:00:00.001-04:00

I caught Alexis and Anna giggling while staring at the wall one morning and then realized they were chasing their shadows! Of course as soon as I saw it, so did Ava and she joined in!

They touched, gave kisses, waved hi and bye and even did touchdown for their shadows. So fun!

1.4+5 (aka 16 month + 5 days)

2009-07-14T06:00:00.001-04:00

Yea, I know I'm late in my monthly pictures, but as the saying goes. Better late than never!

After the girls finished playing piano last week, I took a few shots of them in the dining room chairs. Quite entertaining, and nearly all of the pictures have blurring parts since the girls literally never stop moving....

Anna giving kisses!

Anna giggling because I'm about to tickle her.

Ava's pretty princess smile!

Ava on the move...about to stand up or get down.

Alexis serious, but so darn cute! (Look how blonde her hair has gotten this summer!)

Alexis signing "all done"...time to get down!

Playing Piano

2009-07-13T10:20:00.004-04:00

One of the girls' favorite activities right now is to run to the dining room and ask to play the piano. I think Alexis likes to play the most. Anna is always trying to either get on or off of the bench. Ava likes to play if everyone else is playing...such the little copy cat. :)

4th Festivities!

2009-07-08T06:00:00.002-04:00

Happy Belated 4th of July! It's better late than never right?

On Friday we had a quick, throw-it-together BBQ with our friends, Keller's, Barwick's, Harris', and Quisenberry's. The chicken was great and the weather was so nice. The kids had a great time playing together and giving and taking rides on the neighbor Bryce's JD tractor/trailer and then our "new" JD Gator. Yes, the girls are too small for a Gator, but the deal was too good to pass up. My dad's neighbor was throwing it out because it was broken. Being the fix-it man he is, my dad had it fixed and ready to go in 10 minutes and brought it over as a surprise! Since the girls are too young to drive themselves, they enjoyed riding in the tailgate as Levi or Bryce drove them around. So fun! As soon as Anna saw it for the first time, she started crying. I thought it was because she was afraid or something. Come to find out, I think she though it was Grandpa's golf cart (which the girls love to go for rides in) and she wanted a ride. She was so happy to ride in the back of the tailgate or in the trailer of Bryce's tractor. Thanks for the rides boys! Brooklyn, Maddy and our girls loved being driven around in style! Oh and check out the girls cute little Flag in the shape of USA shirts from Grandma! Thanks Mom!

Here Levi is driving Brooklyn, Maddy and Anna & Tank the Turtle of course! :)

Bryce pulling Anna in his trailer. (the trailer accidentally tipped once and Anna fell out. We thought she was crying because she was hurt, but she was crying because we took her out of the trailer. As soon as we put her back in, she stopped crying. Silly Bear.)

Alexis and Maddy enjoying "tailgating" while Levi drives and Brooklyn navigates!

Bryce was happy to drive anyone willing to ride. Here is Ava in the trailer.

Saturday morning we went to our local parade and the girls enjoyed watching big trucks, bands and dogs go by. Everything else, wasn't as interesting to them. I bet once they discover candy, the parade idea will be much more interesting!

Then Saturday afternoon/evening we went to our friends Sara and Tim's big 4th of July party and the girls got to play with Bennett and Kendyll and several other sets of twins. At one point, there were 4 sets of twins, our girls, and one other girl in the playroom. Quite funny when you look around and see all of these multiples! The food was great and we had a nice time hanging out!
The girls have been a bit crabby, but it could just be all of the extra festivities and bumps in their schedules, but overall it was a great weekend. Of course it was topped on Sunday when we learned of the newest addition to the family!

Hope you all enjoyed the holiday weekend. God Bless America!

Summer+ 3= BUSY!

2009-07-07T06:00:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy couple weeks lately and that means that the blog gets pushed to the side. Sorry for the lack of updates (and pics!)
Let me try to do a quick recap of one of our recent weekends:

My cousin got married in MI so we decided to make a long weekend out of it since we have friends in Toledo area. We stayed at an indoor waterpark, thinking the girls might like to splash around in the kiddie area. Yea, not so much. Anna LOVED the water and the little fountains, Ava thought it was ok, but only if she was being held, and Alexis didn't even want to get in the water and spent nearly the whole time sitting on Jeff lap while he sat in 3 inches of water. Fun times! :) Anna let me lay her on her back and even tried to float. She may just like swimming more or is the most relaxed right now. Ava barely let me try this and I didn't even attempt with Alexis. We also took a lazy river ride and all 3 liked that.

We spent a few hours playing at my friend Beth's house with her children Averie and Baylor. They were fun play-hosts and were so nice to the girls. They have a fun trampoline in their living room and the girls loved to bounce in their with Averie. It was great to see them and I was so happy to see Beth's mom, Pam, who hadn't met the girls yet, so it was extra special that she was there too! Can't wait to see you all again real soon!
This is a picture of Alexis, Anna and Averie:

We also got to spend a short time with our friends Eric, Stacy and their girls Grace and Faith. We got to see Eric's mom and Grandma who are like a second family to us as well as Brooke and Steve! So nice to see them and we just wish we all lived closer to see them more often! Unfortunately, we had to leave because the girls were exhausted (= CRABBY) and we headed back to the hotel.

Then we headed up to MI for the wedding which was held in my Aunt and Uncle's beautiful backyard. The wedding was very nice, Carrie and her dress were beautiful and it was just an overall great time. We got to spend some time with my Grandfather who is nearing 94 and is just so fun to be around. Ava was his buddy and kept wanting to sit on his lap. So sweet!

The girls love "smelling" flowers, however their version of smelling is blowing kisses onto the flowers. They haven't quite figured out the smell part, but it's cute. Here Ava is headed towards the flowers...

On our way home the next day, we stopped at the Cabela's store. For those of you unfamiliar, it is a HUGE outdoors store (like LL Bean, but think more hunting fishing type.) anyway, they have tons of real animals (well, they are stuff now, but they still look real) and the girls LOVED them. Especially Alexis. She was pointing and ooohhing and ahhing all over! It was so funny! They got to see bears, deer, bison, mountain goats, moose, elephants, lions, and geesh, so many I can't even remember. Definitely a good place to stop. The girls did great in the car and slept all the way home! Ahhhh..I even took a quick cat nap!
Check out Alexis and how excited she is when looking at the big animals! :)

The packing, preparing and unpacking for the trip seemed to take nearly as long as the trip, but it was all worth it. Although we were happy to be home. After the trip, Jeff took Monday off of work too, and we ended up going to the zoo. It was a beautiful day, nice breeze and we got to see the new baby elephant named Beco (Bee-co). Thomas went with us and he is always such a great help with the girls. Constantly entertaining or offering to help. We love having him with us.
Here's a cool pic of the leopard. I love the Columbus Zoo and how close you can get to the animals...safely, of course.

Needless to say, Jeff was pretty tired getting ready for work the next day after the long weekend!

Welcome Austin!

2009-07-06T09:43:00.002-04:00

I am very excited to announce a new addition to our family! My sister's baby was born yesterday!

Welcome Austin John!
He weighed in at 8lbs 5oz and was 20" long!
He is healthy, super cute and has a head full of dark blonde hair!

Jeff and I took the girls to the hospital yesterday evening so they could meet their new cousin. They were so excited and all wanted to give him "love pats", which were luckily soft. Ava kissed his head a couple times and then would smile really big and I think Alexis said Baby a couple times because she wanted to be closer. It sounded more like Bay-Bay...but it was pretty good! Anna gave him love pats too, but she wasn't as interested as the other two.

My sister is doing great and her and Bill are just so happy. Big Brother Thomas couldn't be more proud and he is so sweet when he is holding little Austin.

It was kind of surreal as I can barely remember when the girls were so little. (Alexis (4lb 2.5oz) was half the weight of Austin when she was born!) The time really does fly by and while it was nice to hold a little one in my arms again, I am just so happy to be just where we are! The girls are so much fun right now, and let's be honest....I don't miss the bottles and feedings every 3 hours x 3! :) It's great to have a new baby in the family to cuddle and love.

Congratulations Tammy, Bill and Thomas!
Welcome Austin, we love you already!

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T06:00:00.001-04:00

Happy Father's Day Jeff! The girls are so lucky to have you for their dad and I'm grateful to have such a wonderful husband to hold my hand down this crazy path called parenthood!
Love you!
Marie, Anna, Ava & Alexis

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Also special Father's Day wishes go out to my Dad (The Super Dad and Grandpa that he is!), my brother Todd, Jeff's brothers Scott and Darrell and our brother-in-laws, Bill and Cliff. Hope you all have a wonderful day, you deserve it!

Pay Forward.

2009-06-06T21:57:00.006-04:00

**This post is long but worth it!**

Today I had quite a few plans for things to do and places to go, however I never ever could have imagined what actually happened today.

We started the day by going to my friend's, April, Amanda and Sarah's garage sale and gobbling up some BOY clothes for my sister who is expecting a son in less than a month!

Then we drove across town to the Eddie Bauer warehouse and found a few deals like new flip flops and a cool crank up LED lantern for when the power goes out. (We can even plug in our cell phones...too cool...and cheap!)

On our way across town, Jeff and I were having a conversation about Faith. I am a person of Faith. I truly believe all things will work out the way they are supposed to and naive or not, I believe good will always win. I like to think the best of people. Jeff on the other hand, tends to be more of a realist and certainly has doubts about things and sometimes people. It's not that he is pessimistic, but he needs a little more "see it, to believe it" kind of action. I on the other hand, just believe. Not that either way is better, but we do look at things through slightly different lenses sometimes. *I know this part doesn't seem like it matters to this story, but keep reading....

Even though we knew we were pushing it since the girls hadn't had their morning nap, we decided we needed to eat and would try a sit down restaurant. It's been awhile since we have taken the girls out to eat with just us. Usually, or lately I guess, if we do go out, it is with my parents or sister and family which is always nice to have extra people to hold, help and entertain the girls. But we thought we would give it a whirl today. The girls were fantastic. Only a few shout outs (read: 1 meltdown by Ava and 1 by Alexis) during our meal. And those were short lived as Jeff and I kept our cool and patience and just stayed calm.

Our waitress was super speedy, efficient, and friendly. She had the girls' meals out SUPER.FAST! Once we had all of our food, I asked her to bring the check and explained, I never know when we may have to BOLT for the door, so I like to be prepared. So shortly she brought our bill and laid it on the table. Next thing we know she comes back and said she thinks she gave us the wrong bill and picks it up. We think nothing of it and just continue with our meal. As we are finishing up, I notice she still hasn't brought back our correct check, so I asked her for it again and she says "Oh, it was already taken care of." Huh? Jeff and I both reply, "What? What do you mean taken care of?"

I start thinking it is because I didn't finish hardly any of my chicken on my plate and she had asked me if it was ok and I said I just wasn't as hungry as I thought. So I start thinking that is why our meal was taken care of...maybe a manager wanted us to be happy with the meal or something. Which we already were, I really just wasn't as hungry and got occupied with the girls. I digress....

She replied that someone had pulled her off to the side and had wanted to pay for our meal. "What?!" Jeff and I both ask "Who?" so we could thank them for their kind, thoughtful generosity and of course to protest their action, but she replied that she wouldn't tell us and it didn't matter anyway, because they had already left. *I'm not sure if that part was true, but I think she was obviously abiding by the generous person's wishes, not to tell us who had been so kind.*

We were flabbergasted, to say the least. I seriously almost cried (as I am now re-telling the story). It was such a kind, thoughtful, selfless action that I just don't see as much in today's world....and it renewed my FAITH and I think it helped Jeff's too. As we were walking to our truck and loading the girls, I looked at Jeff and asked "Does that help renew your FAITH that there are good people left in this world?" To which he replied, "Absolutely!"

We've decided since we weren't able to thank the actual person, we will PAY FORWARD their actions. There's something to be said for performing such a thoughtful deed for someone else without recognition. We intend to find a special person or family and let our actions speak louder than our words. Hopefully it will touch them as much as it has our family and maybe even renew their FAITH too.

Maybe it has never happened to you (this is our first time), but it can start with YOU. I challenge each of you to pay forward a random act of kindness and start renewing FAITH wherever you go. I know for a fact this has started a ball rolling for our family. It was such an overwhelming feeling of support, happiness, validation, love and kindness that we felt today and I hope we can share that with someone else very soon!

1.3 (aka 15 months!)

2009-06-03T08:52:00.006-04:00

The girls are 15 months old today! They are so active and so much fun to be around.

Since we are 3 months past one year, I thought I would list 3 of my favorite things about each of them.

Anna

1. Anna gives the best hugs! She lays her head down and nestles right in. Sometimes she will even pat your back! :)

2. Anna's Dancing...it's kind of a sway side to side while lifting her feet, and then she tilts her head too...quite entertaining!

3. Anna's giggle is so infectious! She cracks up at her sisters and once they make her laugh, it continues for a while. It's such a funny giggle and you can't help but laugh with her!

Ava

1. BLINK! If you ask her to blink, she will blink her eyes ever so softly and girly. And she just gives you this sweet little innocent look, like "I know I'm cute, you can say it."

2. Ava is a total copy cat. If she sees someone else getting a fun reaction, then she will immediately go and try to reinact. She learns new actions VERY quickly!

3. Ava is the best kisser! She loves to pucker up and especially before bedtime, she will stand in her crib all puckered up and insist on giving more kisses to both Jeff and I even though we've kissed her 5 times already!

Alexis

1. Our little Wiggler! If you just say wiggle, she will move her shoulders back and forth and up and down and does the cutest little wiggle. It started with her and Jeff and now she does it back to me. So funny to see her do it.

2. Our little high stepper! She just learned to do this funny little dance where she throws one leg really high up and steps around the room while also flailing her arms around high. It's hard to explain, but imagine her walking normal with her left leg, but every time she steps with her right it's really high and straight out in front of her, so she ends up off balance and having fun!

3. She loves to be chased! And the look she gives you over her shoulder as she looks back is priceless. So fun and excited and oh the giggles!

I hope to have pictures up later this week. Let's just say they weren't quite in the mood for pictures today, if you know what I mean.

Popsicles part deux!

2009-06-02T06:00:00.004-04:00

Friends, Pig tails and tank tops!

2009-06-01T11:11:00.007-04:00

Nothing quite says SUMMER like...

Visits from Friends!

My friend Kay, who used to work at OSU with me, came into town for a visit. She always is so kind and makes time to come up to see the girls and me too of course anytime she is in town! :) Too bad she deleted ALL of my pics from her visit except these two below....she didn't like how the others looked or if any of the girls were crying, she didn't want them posted because she didn't want anyone to know that they cried when she was here. Silly Kay! So this is all I have from her visit (she came to my parent's house while I got ready for the garage sale.) We had a nice time catching up and when she went to leave, Alexis didn't want to let her go. She kept holding her arms up and wanting Kay to pick her up. So sweet. Althought I don't think it made it easy on Kay leaving...she really does love these girls. We were so glad to see her, but sad that it may be another year before she gets back into town. Good thing we have Skype to stay in touch! We miss you Kay!

Pig Tails & Tank Tops!

I made a 2nd attempt to put pig tails in Ava's hair yesterday. It went better than the first time and I think it came out really cute. Too bad the back started to fall out after her nap, they were ridiculous, but cute nonetheless. And these cute little tank tops were from Aunt Rhonda and Aunt Emily! Gotta love the comforts of Summer! Thanks Rhonda and Emily!

I thought I had an individual pic of Alexis too, but it seems all of them are a bit blurred. :(