Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

We're Home

This is probably the longest I've gone without a post. To keep it short and simple, this is what has gone on in the last two weeks...
We packed and moved all the belongings in our house, flew to Milwaukee, dropped the kids off with my family, flew back to Dallas the next day, picked up the pugs from doggie daycare, packed up the two cars, drove the 16 hours back to Milwaukee, our furniture arrived a few days later, rented a storage unit for the stuff that doesn't fit into our rental townhouse, closed on our house in Texas, got sick and then better and have been unpacking boxes since then. All with 3 15-month olds and 2 dogs. Phew.
Here's the long version with pictures and music.


Pretty sappy huh. I think all the vapors from the cardboard boxes are getting to me. Gotta get back to unpacking.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

First VIDEO Post

I have never mastered getting video off the recorder onto the computer and onto this post so the first video is off my iphone.
The kids were eating dinner and then they started talking and yelling. Watch Beckett lean over and drop a piece of food to the pugs.



That is also what it sounds like on the monitor when they talk to each other in their cribs in the morning and before bed.

Urban Hipsters

Okay so maybe we are not really hip but in our new city of Milwaukee we will be living in the heart of the urban area. This article about urban renewal was in the September 13th edition of the NY Post and the first city featured was Milwaukee. Coolest thing ever is that we are withing WALKING distance of most if not all of the venues featured. http://www.nypost.com/p/lifestyle/travel/urban_renewal_oNyGUwEH1IbwqsXK9sfZ3J/0

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

37 Shirts, Not 27 Dresses

If anyone reading this blog thinks that I'm a controlling tyrant. You are probably right but Rich is not so innocent either and here is a perfect example of how we work so well together.
So I'm going around the house room by room trying to get stuff ready to move and one of the last things I want to tackle is Rich's dresser. Why would that be my responsibility you ask? Because I've been trying to get him to clean it out for years to no avail and I refuse to pay for movers to move a bunch of junk. We both have decided that his dresser is not going to make the move with us because it is so STINKY and we don't know why.

So while he was gone this week I took it upon myself to dump every dresser drawer into one big pile in middle of the room then I called him and told him what I had done and informed him I was going to throw out a bunch of his clothes.
All he said was, "Be careful, there are some credit cards and important papers in there."

I think he didn't get mad that I was throwing away his stuff because:
1. It saves him from doing it.
2. He trusts me enough that he knows I'm not going to throw away anything good.
3. It saves him from doing it.

It's pretty incredible what was in that dresser. All that was in there was tee shirts, socks, underwear and athletic gear such as leg warmers (not the Flashdance kind but the kind to keep your legs warm while riding a bike in the winter, actually same thing), bike shoe covers, GU, golf tees and the like. Then I sorted all of the tee shirts and realized that all my husband wears are tee shirts from the various races he has done. Specifically he has 37 tee shirts and wicking shirts from various marathons and triathlons. And those are just ones that I haven't thrown away, YET. I think those are the culprit of the stinky dresser and the culprit of of my husbands suspicious fashion sense. Honey, I love you but we have to get you some new clothes or I'm going to call Queer Eye for the Straight Guy to whip you into shape.

Oh yeah, and when I told him that he had 37 race shirts he said, "You have a problem if you are counting them. Do you have too much time on your hands?"
He is such a silly joker.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Use 'em or lose 'em

With the impending move to colder weather it just occurred to me that the girls will no longer be able to wear their summer dresses (65 degrees in Milwaukee today) and I want to get good use out of them. It just so happened that we had some good opportunities to get dressed up over the last couple of days.
Our nanny, Maria, has 3 daughters. I've mentioned Jenny before but one of her other daughters, Sabrina, is also a nanny. On Friday she brought over the the 2 girls that she takes care of, Matilda and BB for pictures and a little play date. They were just so sweet and adorable and my kids really love to watch and imitate older kids.
Maria and the crew.

Addy thinks she is a big girl and even stole a bracelet from one of the girls. Here are the big girls- BB, Matilda and Addy.

Addy was so serious so we were all hopping around yelling, "Smile!" Matilda was kind enough to try and help Addy to smile.

Eloise taking full advantage of having free range of the downstairs. This girl will walk for hours.


Maria and the babies. It is going to be sad to say goodbye to Maria because she, along with her daughters, have been so wonderful to our babies. We are going to miss you!


Okay, back to the title of the post...
Today we got dressed up again for our friend Rylan's 1st birthday party.


He got the best birthday present- a slide. Sorry sweet boy that my little critters took over.




LOVE this picture of Addy.

And the most fascinating big kids so far...This is Ella, Rylan's big sister. She is a total hoot. Your hair would be stuck to you too if you spent the last 30 minutes in a bounce house in 90 degree weather!

Eloise loved to watch Addy go down the slide. She would scream with laughter.

Hey brother, what is that? That looks like fun.

Rylan is sooo lucky. He has a slide AND a big sister AND balloons.



Happy Birthday Rylan! And thank you for giving us these beautiful clothes on our birthday!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

15 Month Check Up and Developmental Update

Sorry, no pictures. Just the facts ma'am.
Last Friday we took the kids to their developmental specialist for their "12 Month" check up. I've mentioned this before but right now they measure their development based on their adjusted age, meaning when they SHOULD have been born, rather than when they were actually born or actual age. It is expected that by the age of 2 they will have caught up.
On Friday their actual age was 14 months and 24 days but their adjusted age was 12 months and 16 days. Do the days really matter? You will see in a minute.

Eloise
Gross Motor: 12.25 months
Fine Motor: 13.2 months
Receptive Language: 12 months
Expressive Language: 12 months
Weight: 19 lbs 0.4 ounces (Just above the 10% for adjusted age, and just below the 5% for actual age)
Length: 28 inches (Just above the 10% for adjusted age, and just below the 5% for actual age)
OFC: 18.66 inches (at the 95% for adjusted age, and just at the 90% for actual age)
Weight for length: Just below the 50%
So basically she a perfectly proportioned tiny little thing with a very large head (OFC is fancy for head size) and is right around her adjusted age with the rest of development.

Addy
Gross Motor: 14 months
Fine Motor: 13.2 months
Receptive Language: 12 months
Expressive Language: 12 months
Weight: 20 pounds 1 ounce (Just above the 25% for adjusted age and just above the 10% for actual age)
Length: 29.3 inches (at the 50% for adjusted age, and 25% for actual age)
OFC: 18.1 inches (at the 75% for adjusted age, and at the 50% for actual age)
Weight for length: Just above the 25%
Addy is our biggest but as you can see for her actual age, just above the 10th percentile. That is probably because she is so very active. She not only walks but runs, and also runs in circles to make herself dizzy.

Beckett
Gross Motor: 11.75-12 months
Fine Motor: 13.2 months
Receptive Language: 10 months
Expressive Language: 11 months
Weight: 19 pounds 11.6 ounces (10% for adjusted age and right at the 3rd % for actual age)
Length: 29.4 inches (Just above 25% for adjusted age, and at the 10% for actual age)
OFC: 19.2 inches (Just above the 90% for adjusted age, and between the 75-90% for actual age)
Weight for length: Is close to the 25%.
Beckett is officially long and lean with a perfectly round large head. He actually has made some progress on his weight curve which was very encouraging given how much I struggle trying to get him to eat. He language skills and the fact that he is not walking put him behind but remember this was LAST week.

I would say that if they went through the same tests today, the numbers might be very different. In just a week, they change so much. Eloise is now walking normal and not like Frankenstein as she was last week and even picks up things and carries them around. Also, I was testing Beckett this week with his receptive language and I think he understands much more than he got credit for. I can tell him to bring me a a diaper or take his passy out of his mouth or give a lovie to his sister and he follows directions. As far as his expressive language, that is probably right. I would give him credit for the curse words that it sounds like he says but apparently that doesn't count in these tests. I guess it is very common for language to be the last thing to catch up in preemies and particularly with multiples. I'm pretty sure they have their own language and are able to communicate with one another. You should see and hear the scene in the morning when I open the door to the nursery. They are all standing in their cribs facing one another chatting away. I'm still trying to get them to sign but Beckett wants nothing to do with it.

If they tested Beckett's gross motor this week, he would get some extra points because he is starting to walk! Well, walk might be a bit of an exaggeration. He can take a few steps before flinging himself forward into your arms. He looks like the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz on those skinny wobbly legs. Then I remembered that they thought he had some low tone in his legs so that might be why he has to build up a little more strength before he is more stable.

Then on Tuesday we went to our 15 month check-up and it was a great visit. Our pediatrician was so pleased with their progress and feels that they are slowly catching up. She could not believe how healthy they have been over the last year and was blown away by the results of their complete blood counts that were done last month. At this age with the transition from formula to milk and finger food there is always a concern that they will develop what is known as milk anemia from drinking too much milk therefore not consuming a balanced diet with a full complement of vitamins and minerals, hence not enough iron. Looking at the labs our pediatrician said, "What are you feeding them? Lentils or something?" Lentils are high in iron and their hemoglobin levels were surprisingly high (but still in normal range) especially given this milk transition time and their primarily vegetarian diet. Yes, I DO feed them lentils- with coconut curry.

We have to work on language development with all 3 and work a little more with Beckett to walk but we also got some really good tips on how we can help with their development at home. Like start with CRAYONS. That was part of the tests and I found out they can draw! They prefer to eat the crayons over drawing but that is going to be a fun new project this winter. So overall, we need to keep doing what we have been doing and really focus on keeping them healthy again through this last crucial RSV season.

Oh yeah, we finally found a place to live in Milwaukee. Nothing like cutting it close. We are leasing a townhouse for the winter and will be urban hipsters for the next 8 or 9 months. Well hipsters might be stretching it but urban living is not. We, or actually Bambi found us an amazing townhouse in downtown Milwaukee across the street from a dog park (for the pugs of course) and walking distance to restaurants, shopping, Lake Michigan, museums, coffee shops and pretty much everything else. The best part for Rich is that he even has his own rec room, or man-cave, so he can continue to train and bike throughout the winter. We are super excited to be in such a great location and think this will be such a fantastic start to living in our new city.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

It's like we are on vacation

It is so strange living in a city knowing that you are moving shortly. We are trying to cram a bunch of very "Texas/Dallas" activities into our lives in a short period of time, like we are tourists or on vacation.
Remember back in March we went to the Dallas Arboretum? Today we went back. It looked a little different because all of the tulips were gone but still pretty impressive given the month of triple digit temperatures.
The gardens are beautiful but mostly in the sun and since it was low 90's today we had to sit in the shade. Also, my kids are incredibly pale.
So we sat on this big hill under a tree overlooking the lake with sailboats going by. Oh, what a life.

The girls would just kind of wander around our blanket and occasionally come back to bring us a stick or get water.

Addy is much more of a wanderer.

We'd go get her if too far or was a little too curious about someone else's blanket.

I'm pretty sure each time she was headed down the hill. This time I got in front of her.

No fear. She was trying to run down the hill.

Whenever she fell down she would just pick herself up and keep going.

Eloise would only go 15 or so yards from the blanket and the only time she went further was when Rich walked down the hill with Addy, she got very concerned and followed him yelling, "Da, Da, Da"

Beckett had no interest whatsoever to crawl off the blanket. All he wanted to do was drink water. This was the first time they used these so it wasn't so much drinking as getting squirted in the face and soaking his clothes.


He still has a fear of the grass. After about 90 minutes, this was the best I could get and that was after luring him off the blanket with Veggie Stix.
Of course, Addy is right there picking them up.

I even tried to put him in different places where he didn't have to be on the grass. All it did was make him mad. He's not in time out, I promise. He is just pouting like he is.

Hmm, maybe I should have tried a group picture before everyone was hot, tired, and bored.

Time to go.
- actually I just posted this picture because it looks like Rich is carrying a purse.

Next on the list- BBQ, Tex-Mex food, and South Fork Ranch!

Boys in the Hood

We had a pleasant surprise the other day when we went to the park and found Jackson and Max (6 and 4 years old). They don't live in our 'hood but their Nana does and the boys have been curiously watching the triplets and the triplets have been curiously watching the big boys since last fall.
Jackson in particular has been very interested in them, more specifically Addy. I think it is because he asked who was the "bravest" and maybe I said Addy or he figured it was Addy because of the bump on her head. He's fascinated with her hemangioma.

He was so cute chasing her all around the park and herding her back when she would run and try to get the garbage can. He was glued to her side.
Kids to the funniest things. He was making his Nana's dog Rupert wag his tail for Addy's amusement.
What a sweet role model for his little brother Max. Max didn't want to be left out so he took a shining to Eloise. Actually I think it was the other way around. Eloise walked over to Max and grabbed on and then they were walking holding hands.

Seriously, is he the cutest or what?

When they weren't holding hands, this is how Max would walk to protect her from falling. It doesn't get much sweeter.


Where was Mr. Beckett you ask?
Don't worry about him. He was very busy inspecting our ride making sure it was in working order.

And I'm guessing up to no good here. Probably booby-trapping their seats.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Noodles Noodles Everywhere

Our little bruiser. Not exactly sure how this happened to his eye. All I know is that he didn't really cry. He doesn't want Addy to be the only one who is known as a tough little thing.


The kids love long noodles. They've had different kinds of long noodles like rice noodles in pad thai or lo mein but spaghetti is a favorite. Today it was spaghetti with almond crusted tilapia.




All done! (modified baby sign language)

Oh what cute pictures...But this is where it gets good. Shame on us, about this time at meals we have been giving the babies things to play with while at the table because then we can usually get them to eat a few more bites. Today they got container lids.



Little Eloise looking through her lid.

Beckett- it is a Tupperware lid, not an Olympic gold medal.


These pictures capture Addy perfectly. I'll let them speak for themselves.





Think she's going to be our wild child?