Year in Review - By the Numbers

One year ago I was spending my nights in the hospital on the very roomy, smaller than a single bed, pull-out in Rian's room. It is amazing to see how far both Rian, the Critters, and I have come in that year. While it has been the toughest thing that both of us have done, bar exam included, it has also been the most rewarding experience either of us will ever have. It is truly a treat every time we walk into their room on the morning only to be treated to three beaming faces.

Well here we go, here is a rundown of year one in numbers:

1. 5 star NICU stay - $512,500 (Thanks United.)

2. Diapers - 8,280 (I averaged it out, error range +/- 30.)

3. Formula - $3,039 (Luckily we were able to get some from the pediatrician.)

4. Bottles - 1,680 (That is a lot of shaking, except for the few ready made formula jugs we got.)

5. Baths - 1,020 (We are probably the cause of the AL/GA/FL water dispute.)

6. Naps - In excess of 1,000 nap, duration of the naps definitely ran the gamut.

7. Sleepless Nights - 46 (Give or take 10.)

8. Teeth - 7.5 (Brother is still working on one, so I gave him .5.)

9. Number of Square feet of our House lost to Baby Stuff - 150 sq. ft. (I guess that's not too bad for triplets.)

10. Smiles - too many to count (Cheesy I know, but it really is the best thing ever.)

Here's to a great year and many more to come. Thanks again to everyone who is following the blog.

Chris

Wordless Wednesday

Chris

Note: All pics were taken by Elaine, mom of Addison and a new Nashvillian.

Things I have Learned (First Year Wrap-up)(Redux)

Man, one should really step back and read a post before you just throw it our there. After speaking with Rian and really re-reading my post I have made some serious edits. I had intended my post to come across in a certain way and after re-reading it I definitely struck-out. Sorry if I offended anyone on the first go around.

I really can't fathom that it has been a year since the Critters were born, man time moves fast. I figured that I would do another list of more things that I have learned about raising children.

1. There is no such thing as a moment of silence. It has ceased to exist. This is a truly amazing thing, I can be sitting in complete silence and I will hear a baby crying or the music of their mobiles. That is one tune that I would kill to get out of my head. While I love to hear the Critters when I am around them, it is funny to me that I can still hear their noises and mobile songs when I am away.

2. Milestones are a great way to check the progress of your children's mental and physical growth, but they are in no way set in stone. I have completely chucked the milestones out the window. If there is truly one thing that I have learned about the Critters is that they will do what they want when they want, and that includes talking, crawling and walking. I am perfectly happy with how the Critters are progressing. We knew that Reese being a so-called "wimpy white boy" that he would need a little more of a push but he is doing great. CarCar and Hadster can barely sit still and I think that CarCar will be walking unassisted within the next two months.

3. I have learned that there is no shame (it is also a pretty funny sight) in using a shopping cart as a stroller in a pinch. Nothing says klassy like toting a mess of Critters around in one. Rian and I had the pleasure of doing this at a shopping center in Killearn the other day. We got a few queer looks but we just kept on chuggin' through to the toy store. It was quite handy in a way and it didn't have a rental charge. Look for us at the mall with the Sears shopping cart next.

4. Babies are resilient little things. A fall that you are convinced needs immediate medical attention they just shrug off after a quick cry. I can't tell you how many times that they have fallen over and I am convinced that we need to jump in the car and head to TMH. The worst is the silent cry, you all know what I am talking about, you hear a few noises and then it goes silent. Their mouths are open and tears are streaming down, and then it happens, after a quick breath the scream comes out, boy does it come out. I have been working on not freaking out when they hit their head or fall over, but it is still a little scary. Note: The falls that I am talking about are minor, please don't make a report to Child Services.

5. Babies can reach octaves that defi conventional wisdom. CarCar and Hadley can belt out a register like no other, I really think that I have a baby Maria Carey and Whitney Houston, minus the whole crack thing. It is truly amazing when they get going or you don't feed them quick enough how loud and how high the pitch gets. Luckily no broken glass yet, but I now understand why Abbey runs for the door each time they start up. I am in no way saying it is a bad thing, I know that they are just expressing themselves, but man can they hit a note.

6. I can't believe that cleaning up poop and other bodily excretions has become common place to me. I don't even blink anymore, even when said poop gets on me, which has happened quite a few times. Its amazing that a person can get numb to being thrown-up on, pooped on, and peed on by their children.

7. There are a lot of freaking baby products out there. Any situation that you can possibly conjure up there is a product that will help you solve that issue. Here is a short list of things that we have for meal time: baby food, baby yogurt, formula, bottles, yogurt puffs, regular fruit puffs, high chairs, kiddy place mats, formula bibs, baby food bibs (plastic), wipes, sippy cups, juice and water for said sippy cups, reflux medicine, and gas drops. That's just for meal time. It is out of control how much stuff we are convinced we need to raise children.

8. Did you know that laundry can be a full time job? Oh yea, we virtually run a laundry mat at our house. Luckily we decided to save the earth and go green with an energy star washer and dryer. What I don't think that we realized is that we cancel the energy efficiency out with doing as many loads as we do. Those babies are cranking all weekend. Oh well I guess we are doing our part, right? If not I will just call ole Al Gore and by a few carbon credits.

9. Babies will eat anything, and I mean anything. Carson so far has eaten a leaf, some sort of string (we found that out at the other end), pieces of a dog cookie (don't get all up in arms, it was organic), and dust. Although the leaf resulting in a vomiting spell and a call to poison control, the Critters are pretty resilient creatures. It is funny (as long as nothing seriously bad happens) that a babies first instinct when they come across something new is to put in in their mouth.

10. Here is the big one - PATIENCE. I have said it before and I will say it again and again and again, kids teach you the patience of a saint. I am one that gets frustrated at the drop of a hat, but the Critters have begun to break me of that. Who can get frustrated a them when they flash you one of their little smiles. That is really all that needs to be said about that.

It has truly been a wonderful first year, don't get me wrong, I have wanted to pull my hair out many times but we are amazingly blessed to have our three little Critters.

In the words of the great Joe Dirt, we will just "Keep on Keepin' on."

Chris

p.s. the pictures are from a book by David and Kelly Sopp.

http://www.amazon.com/Safe-Baby-Handling-Tips-David/dp/0762424915/?tag=c00lstuff-20

Big Girl Jammies

Hadley has hit another milestone, she is now gets to wear her "big girl jammies"

It's always nice to walk into this first thing in the morning.

Chris

Child of the 80s, Amongst Other Things

I was scrolling through the interweb the other day and came upon a picture that took me back to my childhood:

The good ole Gummy Bears who bounced here and there and everywhere. Man have cartoons gone downhill. With today's Japanese Anime you have to worry about a seizure with all of the flashing lights going on. The only thing that you had to worry about with the Gummy Bears is whether or not Evil Duke Igthorn would learn the secret recipe of gummi berry juice so he can take over the kingdom. Life seemed so much simpler back then. I can remember the excitement of getting up Saturday mornings at 7:00 to start watching cartoons. Rian and I had the TV on last Saturday morning and the cartoons these days look like some sort of twisted nightmare.

I really hope that the Critters enjoy and appreciate the cartoons that their parents watched. The definitely had an innocence about them. The most violent thing that you got was GI JOE, which would be approved for infants these days. There were so many great cartoons when I was growing up I wanted to list a few for the Critters:

I wish that The Critters could enjoy the simpler times like I got to back then. It just seems that everything is such a hustle and bustle these days. I am really trying to slow it down and enjoy every moment that I have with them. It is still hard for me to comprehend that they are almost a year old. It is amazing and yet sad at the same time how quickly things move. I had gotten myself in a pretty good rut a few months back and really had a hard time enjoying much of everything. It wasn't fair to Rian, The Critters, and especially me. I was missing too much of what the Critters were offering me. I want to be able to give The Critters the same enjoyment that I had in my younger years. Thankfully I am crawling out of the rut and am really concentrating on the blessings that I have in my life. While I don't want time to move quickly at all I am super excited about watching "old school" cartoons with them and doing "guys' breakfast out with Reese" on Saturdays. Sorry for the rambling but I just wanted to let the Critters know that I truly am thankful for them and I think that Dad is finally getting back to being just that, a Dad.

Chris

Easter 2010 (In Pictures)

The Fam, Easter 2010.

The Grandmas and The Critters.

The Critters Easter Haul.

Hadley inspecting her loot.

CarCar getting her drink on. I guess it is five o' clock somewhere.

Brother looking at a Reese's Peanut Butter Egg.

CarCar actually trying to eat a Peanut Butter Egg. Apparently she didn't get the memo that Dad gets all of their candy.

Chris

Happy Birthday Momma!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA!

Eat lots of cake today!

Feel free to slip us some too!

Love,

The Critters

Not Your Father's Wagon

Not this type of wagon.

I consider myself a little old school when it comes to certain toys for the Critters. One of those toys being a wagon. I remember the days of the good ole metal Radio Flyer. These are probably considered a safety hazard these days due to kids hitting their heads on it or knocking out teeth.

The old metal Radio Flyers have been replaced with plastic and wood but I guess that their spirit lives on. I have also noticed that these new wagons have this revolutionary safety device in them, seat belts. Back on up, say what? I know, seat belts. School buses still don't have them but a wagon with a top speed of three miles an hour does.

Grandma Barbara approached me about getting the Critters a wagon to cruise the neighborhood with and asked me which kind I liked. She had bought a "new" Radio Flyer, but I told her that I liked the Step2 wagons. The wagon that I really like is called the Choo Choo Wagon but that is been discontinued until this Fall when Step2 plans to reintroduce it. Grandma Barbara ended up getting the Step2 Wagon for Two and the optional Tag-Along. Let me tell you this thing is great. It is pretty funny though that the Tag-Along says in multiple places that it is not meant to carry a child. Don't worry I did the research and many parents of multiples do this. Once again I find this rather humorous because the reason that it is not meant to be used by a child is that it doesn't have a seat belt. Really?

Here are a few pics of the troops:

Oh and here is a picture of the wagon that Reese wanted that was vetoed, apparently Jesse James is in the business of kids wagons also.

Chris

Through the Eyes of a Child

I can't think of many things better than seeing that look of excitement and amazement in your child's eye. These were taken when we were at Disney and I truely wish I knew what was going through their little heads.

Chris

Hadley in Action

This is Hadster enjoying herself at the beach. She has just informed us that she has us booked for a trip to St. George on the 17th of April. Try to concentrate on Hadley in the videos and not the svelt gentleman.

Chris

Beach Blanket Bingo

We loaded the Critters up and headed to the beach on Saturday, what I failed to take into consideration is that the rest of Florida had the same idea.

We pulled into New Smyrna Beach around 11 am and found a parking spot right on the beach. After getting the Critters in their swim diapers and swimsuits we were off to find a spot on the beach.

The Grandma's found a spot that was partially shaded by another couples canopy. Grandma Barbara bought a couple of beach tents for the Critters to give them a break from the sun. I also didn't factor in that the water temperature would be on the colder side. Let's just put it this way CarCar (or CocheCoche, espanol for carcar) did not like the colder water. It was as if Rian just put her toe in a vat of acid. After a second attempt we realized that CarCar would be a land shark for the rest of the day. Reese apparently also prefers the water on the warmer side because he too just wanted to sit on the beach and play with the sand. Hadley on the other hand took to the water right away. I did not take Hadley for our child that would have no fear, but she proved me wrong. She.Absolutely.Loved.the.Beach. As soon as I took her into the water she started beaming and she didn't want to get out. We had to have a few mandatory sun breaks but she would always let you know when she wanted to go back in. We stayed at the beach for about and hour and a half and then headed back to Orlando. On the way back we stopped at this BBQ joint in Winter Park called 4Rivers. Hands down some of the best BBQ that I have every had. Definitely stop by if you are in the area.

Reese taking break from the sun.

Sand: It's whats for lunch.

CocheCoche taking it all in.

Hadley unwillingly taking a break from the water.

Chris