Random Videos from Lunch today

VIDEO #1: Kisses. Bryce and sometimes Cayley make kisses, or at least that's what I pretend they are doing. Not sure how we started this. Bryce is pretty good at it and Cayley sometimes does it, but not as well as Bryce.

VIDEO #2: Girls and wrinkling their noses. Aleah started wrinkling her nose within the last couple of months. Cayley was soon to learn how to do it also. If we do it to them, they mimic us and do it back. What's really funny is when they do it to each other. Here's a little clip of them trying to do it.

VIDEO #3: Temper Tantrums. Aleah has started to throw little temper tantrums lately. She gets all tense and kicks her legs around. I think she is going to be a little high maintenance girl.

New foods!

Yea!!!!! We're finally moving onto what I like to call "people food". So far the babies have had spaghetti with meat sauce, hot roast beef sandwiches with mashed potatoes and gravy (they loved this meal!) and chicken and rice casserole. A veggie that we have often is green beans (not mashed up anymore!)

Today's lunch consisted of our first chicken nuggets, baked potato and corn. They goobled it all up! I just thought I should take a picture of our first chicken nuggets. Trust me, it looked alot more appetizing in person than it does in the picture.

And here's our table set up. I sit in the empty chair so that I can reach all three babies. Aleah is on the far right of the picture (with an orange spoon hanging out of her mouth), then Cayley is in the middle and Bryce is on the far left. Cayden usually sits next to Bryce, but he was at the lake today during lunch time. I am also quite proud of our new table cloth! It is one of those fancy vinyl and flannel ones :) I was always so worried about somehow damaging our kitchen table (we just got it last December to fit our bigger family). Found this tablecloth and thought we would try it out. It's taped underneath so the babies can't pull it off too easily.

More new tricks

Aleah has also learned to stand in her crib. I was in the babies room working on something, I turn around and Aleah and Bryce are both standing in their cribs. This was a first for Aleah! (Bryce has done it before). Cayley is still working on the standing. She has a few tricks up her sleeve that I have yet to catch on the camera!



Funny thing is, now that they can stand, they don't know how to get down. During naptime this afternoon I had to go in and lay them both down. About 5-10 minutes later, I heard Bryce just crying and crying. I went into their room and he was standing in the corner. He must have been stuck (again) because as soon as I got in there and laid him down, he went right to sleep!

ND State Fair Parade

We (myself, Grandpa Johnson and Grandma Johnson) took all of the kids to the parade on Saturday. It was a perfect day out for a parade, the sun was shining, the temperature was just right and just enough breeze to be comfortable.

Here are the kids before the parade. Have I mentioned how hard it is to get everyone looking at the camera? (Left to right: Aleah, Bryce, Cayley and Cayden)




At the beginning of the parade the flags are presented. I showed Cayden how to stand and hold his hat over his heart. It only took my telling him about this once, and he did it every time he saw a flag. This particular picture was taken towards the end of the parade.


Here is Cayden out trying to get some candy. He came up with a bag full! Some kides were standing half-way out into the street waiting for candy and others walked right up to the floats like they were trick-or-treating. Poor Cayden has a bad mean mommy that made him stay close until the candy was thrown. Then he could go out and get the candy (as long as he kept an eye on upcoming floats). He is in the red hat.


Figure Skating Float: To those who read this and don't know, I am coaching figure skating lessons and am involved with our skating club. So the only float that I took pictures of was the skating float. I was so busy taking pictures I almost forgot to actually look at it. They did a very nice job with it! (Cayden helped with the decorating by stuffing some tissue paper into the skate)

Trip to Montana

Last weekend we made a trip to Montana for a cousin's wedding reception. My uncle had a couple of 4-wheelers that he let the kids drive around (he lives out in the country). Cayden didn't want to ride on one when all of the kids were around, but he waited until they started leaving. Luckily my cousin was willing to give him a ride before we left. Not only did Cayden get to ride the in the 4-wheeler, but my cousin let him drive it! Cayden had a blast and I have to say that he did a pretty good job of driving it.

Other Pictures: Cayden riding and driving with my cousin.


I asked Cayden to stand by the horses so I could take a picture.

Story behind the next photos: So another one of my cousins was so kind and took Cayden under his wing during this weekend. Cayden loved it because he had a male's attention (missing since his dad is deployed). My cousin came walking by and told me that Cayden was up on the scissor lift. I thought okay (not knowing what a scissor lift was). Another cousin then said, "Oh, yeah, I can see him over the top of the barn" WHAT!?!? He's where? So I quickly discovered what a scissor lift was! He was on the way down by the time I got to where he was to snap a couple of pictures. The pictures didn't turn out so well as the sun was setting and I couldn't figure out how to change the mode on my camera. He had a blast! Unfortunately I didn't take pictures to get the whole feeling of how high up he was.

When we're supposed to be sleeping...

Apparently the babies weren't quite ready for bed tonight. Bryce and Cayley were up playing. Aleah was being the good child tonight and drinking her bottle. Don't let her fool you though, she isn't always so innocent.

Cayden's new trick

Cayden called me out this morning to show me what he can do on the swing set/fort we have. Not sure where he learned this, but he was pretty proud of himself. (Sorry about my finger on the left side of the video. I'm blaming it on the new camera and not being familiar with it)


And some still shots of him hanging upside down.

Rub-a-dub-dub, Three babies in a tub

Enough said in the title of the blog post
(Left to right: Aleah, Bryce and Cayley)

New Tricks

Bryce has learned a few new tricks in the last couple of days. The pictures aren't as clear as normal. Scott took our old digital camera (even though it wasn't that old) with him on his deployment. So I got a new camera! Happy anniversary to me! Too bad I haven't opened it and figured out how to use it. I haven't decided if it is a good camera or not yet, so I thought I would just let it sit on the kitchen table. Maybe somehow I will magically figure it out with it sitting there. I don't know what I'm thinking.

Anyway... Back to Brycie's new tricks. I went in the babies' room yesterday, and here is Bryce sitting looking at me. This was the first time that I had seen it. I should make a note: Today he has been sitting up all over the place, acting like he has always been able to do it.

Then this morning I go to get the babies, and Bryce is STANDING holding onto the crib side. This is the first time that anyone has pulled themselves to a standing position. I should mention that Bryce is the first to crawl and really gets around now. The girls aren't letting him be much of a leader as they are quickly learning to get mobile as well.

Numbers

So as I was unloading the dishwasher this evening, I was thinking about how many of everything we go through in a day. Here's what I came up with so far (I'm sure I will have to edit this as I think about it more).

18 diapers (at least)
60 ounces of formula (rough estimate)
12 spoons
12 bowls (breakfast, lunch, supper and evening snack)
1 banana (at least, more if we have a banana for a snack)
1 can of fruit (sometimes less if we have fresh fruit)
18 ice cubes of baby food (I am proud to say that I have made all of the baby food for the triplets except for the cereal. I should give Grandma Connie credit as she contributes to the homemade baby food supply).

Other numbers:

We can go through 1 container of formula in about 2 days. (can't wait for regular milk)
1 package of frozen squash is enough to use as veggies for two meals for the triplets.
1 pound of green beans makes about 18 cubes of food (we serves 2 cubes of veggies at a meal with 1 cube of meat).
1 cup of cheerios is a snack for the triplets (sometimes more cheerios are needed).

And FINALLY, we are getting a schedule worked out.

Wake: between 7 am and 8 am. Lately it is between 7:30 am and 8 am.
Bottles: as soon as we change diapers!
Playtime: on floor until breakfast.
Breakfast: Usually around 8:15 am. We all sit at the table (including Cayden) for all of our meals. It's so nice to eat together!
Playtime: usually in the bouncy/jumpy seats and exersaucer
Naptime: 9:30 am regardless of what time they got up.
Wake: Anytime between 11 am and 12pm . And they all get up together. So if one wakes early, he/she usually lays or plays in crib until they are all ready to get up.
Bottles: sometimes after nap, sometimes before next nap.
Playtime: on floor until lunch
Lunch: around 12 pm or as close to 12 pm as I can make it.
Playtime: bouncy seats again
Nap: 1:00 pm sharp! (including Cayden-although we sometimes call his nap time, "rest" time)
Wake: lately around 3:00 pm
Bottles: when we wake. Usually followed by a snack (cheerios, crackers)
Supper: 5:00 pm or right around there. They usually don't want to wait much past 5:00 pm
Playtime: floor or jumpy seats. Anywhere they are happy.
Bottles/Snack: This doesn't always have a set time. Depends on babies moods.
Bedtime: 7:00 pm.

So that is our schedule, in a nut shell. I guess I did leave out all of the diaper changes, but we can plan on changing each baby around 6 times a day. It's a busy day.

One last number I should add:

Smiles: too many to count!!! Having the triplets sure do make our days busy and chaotic, but their smiles make everything worth it!

Babies and Doctors

Last week I "got" to take the babies in to see the doctor for possible ear infections. First was Bryce's turn. He had a fever of 104, but no other symptoms-no signs of an ear infections. After talking with our doctor on the phone, he said if the fever stayed he needed to be seen. So I took him and and sure enough, he has an ear infection.

The next day Cayley and Aleah were both acting like they are suffering from an ear infection: pulling on ears, holding ears, and just down-right crabby. Take them in to see a different doctor. I will not state my true feelings about this doctor, but I have never seen these girls cry as long and as hard as they did when the doctor was examining them. And no ear infections, just crabby babies with colds.

And now is a perfect time to provide an update on their weights.
Bryce is our "Bruiser" as some relatives have referred to him. He weighed in at 25 pounds! That is two pounds heavier than Cayden was at this age!
Cayley , who was the peanut of the bunch at birth (by one ounce) weighed in at 19 pounds 8 ounces.
Aleah , who is now the peanut weighed in at 19 pounds .

The pictures are from the day after the girls' appointments. I gave all three a bath (at once!) and got them ready for bed-even though we still had to eat supper. I didn't know what to do with them as I was lotioning and dressing each baby so they all took turn hanging out in Brycie's crib. Here's some pics of all three (Cayley is on the left, Bryce in the middle, and Aleah is on the right).

These are for you Daddy!

Well, it official, Scott left Sunday on the 11 am flight. It's just me and the 4 kiddos. We are adjusting. It has only been one and a half days, and I don't think it has really set in for us here. I know reality will hit Scott alot sooner than us. Life goes on here, but he is in for a whole new adventure.

Anyway... Here's to Daddy. Pictures of him with precious little ones.

4th of July Celebrations

We celebrated the 4th of July at the lake with family and friends. We had a blast! My sister and her family came for the weekend. Cayden had a blast playing with his cousins, Addy and Ash. We, or should I say Scott, won the award for best costume in our annual boat parade! Woo hoo, Scott!

Crackers

Crackers are definitely not a snack to be eaten in the living room. I thought I would try it anyway, as I feel that we spend so much time in the kitchen (it seems like we are always feeding babies around here!). I have a blanket laid out on the floor in the living room to protect the rug from the babies (although we will be getting a new rug after these three are a little older. They have been really tough on the rug). Anyway... So I had all three babies sit on the blanket for a snack. Similar to picnic time, clean-up is a breeze, shake the blanket outside and throw in the wash.

I discovered that we will never have crackers again in the living room. Cheerios they do much better with. But here is the mess after the crackers.
Aleah is in orange and Cayley is in blue.

This is Bryce after having crawled military style through the crackers.

And here is big brother Cayden, just watching them all.

Pacifier Swap

One day I leave the babies in the living room while I get something out of the kitchen. I return and see a problem. Two of the babies decided to switch pacifiers! Luckily one of the babies was Bryce, so I still knew who was who. Each baby has an assigned color. Not only is this to help keep the germ swapping limited (yea, right, like that is going to happen when they all chew and suck on the same toys), but they also have their assigned pacifiers so we know who is who. Aleah and Cayley frequently take each other's pacifiers, making it a game. Apparently this time around, Aleah took Bryce's pacifier and she thought it was hilarious. Bryce, however, was not one bit happy about this. I still am not sure how he ended up with Aleah's. She didn't even have it in her mouth when I left them in the living room.

Cayden's 4th birthday, take #3

If you read some of the posts in June, you know what I'm talking about. If not, here's the quick story: Cayden's birthday was June 2nd. His Uncle Matt and Aunt Anna threw him a birhtday party (take #1). This was 2 days before Cayden's real birthday. Then on his real birthday, he told me he needed a cake. So of course Cayden got what he wanted (take #2). Both of these happened while we were on our vacation in SC. When we got back, we had another cake/party for Cayden with our ND friends (take #3). What a lucky child, three birthday cakes for turning 4. I hope he doesn't expect the same when he turns 5! (In case you can't tell on the pictures, he has a Dale Earnhardt Junior cake).

Our first picnic with all four kids!

(This was last month). I decided it would be fun for myself and the four kids to have a picnic. It took some time getting everyone outside and situated, but it was well worth it! It was fun! The babies enjoyed being outside and looking around. Cayden enjoyed having his lunch outside. The best part... Cleanup! Just shake off the blanket and throw it in the wash.

I can never get everyone to look at me at once!

Kasey Kahne!!!

Kasey Kahne was in town (last month. Once again I'm catching up on some blogging). He autographed a toy race car, #9 of course, and a toy gas can for Cayden. Then he was kind enough to allow us to take a picture of him with Cayden.