1st Birthday and a Busy 1st Year

So many friends and family have told us that we are in dire need to update the blog.  Yes, it's been a long time and there is a lot to share.  A very much fast forward to where we're at at the first birthday and our busy month of October.  On October 8th we celebrated the big ONE!  It's hard to believe that it's already been a year.  We remember a lot but at the same time a lot of the past year is a blur.  We have our journal notes and pictures organized in a Shutterfly book but without these quick drafts we would have lost a lot of memories.  Time goes by very quickly for us and we defenatly feel like survivors of the biggest year of our lives. 
Evelynn is almost to the point of walking.  She is very determined and is crawling all over the place.  She pulls her self up to anything that will support her and she walks around everything.  Cora got a push and walk dino for her birthday from Marjean and Ken (family friends) and Evelynn has claimed this as her own.  Evelynn was the most into opening gifts and looking at the cards.  She loves books and flips page after page while telling a story in baby talk.  She has taken a large interest in the dog, Caina.  She crawls all over the house to keep track of where the dog is.  She can say "Momma"  "Dadda" "dog" "doggie"  "baby"

Cora is very observant.  She can scoot along on her butt and loves to have someone hold her hands so she can walk around.  We think she is going to skip the crawling and go straight into walking.  Cora's always been one to take time to observe, wait, and then skip all of the progress steps to just accomplishing the task at hand.  She has a lot of personality and loves to pick on her brother.  He can get the best of her too.  Cora is still our smallest but she has been growing quickly.  We call her "itty bitty."  Cora may be small but she has the most teeth and can some days almost eat more than Noah.  She cut six teeth at once and now has eight teeth.  She's the leader with this milestone.  She can say "Momma" "Dadda" "dog" "uh oh" "touch" (Noah has learned touchdown) and we have thought that she's said "thank you" a few times but this might be a stretch.

Noah has been nicknamed "Noah Bear."  He's always willing to flash a smile and reaches up to anyone who wants to hold him.  He loves to cuddle and will let you know when he's upset.  Cora and Noah have a love/hate relationship.  They can be playing well together one moment and then trying to steal toys from each other the next.  Noah loves to please.  During the Iowa vs. Iowa State game this September Noah learned to say "touchdown" while holding his hands up in the touchdown motion.  (Go Cyclones)  Noah has been frustrated with the motion to crawl for quite some time now.  Tonight, October 30th, Noah took his first five "steps" in the forward crawling position.  He loves to laugh and if he does something that makes you laugh he will do it again and again.  He says "Momma" "Dadda" "touchdown."

It was great to have so many friends and family join us for the first birthday!  We hope to keep up with at least posting pictures to the blog.  Our pictures with pumpkins this fall are much different from our pumpkin pictures last year.  This year each baby was at least bigger than the pumpkin. 

6 1/2 Months

By revisiting our blog we realized that it's been a long time since our last update!  Time goes by so quickly and we shock ourselves by looking back at pictures that are only a few months old.  Two weeks ago at the babies' 6 month check Noah weighed 16 pounds 12 oz, Evelynn weighed 15 pounds 8 oz, and Cora weighed 14 pounds even. 

We got a triplet jogging stroller a month or so ago and have used it on any warm day we've gotten so far.  Noah, Eveylnn, and Cora enjoy the stroller rides and after awhile they usually fall asleep.  We're preparing for Tulip Time in Pella for the baby parade in little Dutch outfits.  The weekend after that we will have the ChildServe Run/ Walk for the kids on May 14th.  Noah and Evelynn are very social.  Cora loves to look around and smile at everyone, as long as Mom or Dad are holding her or are very close by. 

Cora had her surgery two weeks ago on Wednesday, April 13th.  She was a tough little girl and after an hour and a half she was back with Mom and Dad and ready to go home.  The surgery went well and her chin is healing very nicely.  We felt bad because the next day Cora's two bottom teeth surfaced.  So much in two days.  She's our first to cut teeth and it didn't seem to set her back any.  She loves to chew on link toys and she's so focused on playing with toys and putting them in her mouth.

Cora has been blowing raspberries for a few weeks now.  Two days ago we had them in their highchairs eating sweet potatoes and all three of them began blowing raspberries with a mouthful of food.  They thought it was very funny.  We couldn't help but laugh because they all have great personalities, big smiles, and look so cute when they do it. 

We know we need to post pictures.  It's way past our bedtime now but if we have a baby-free moment tomorrow we will upload picture updates.

19 weeks

Evelynn, Noah, and Cora are 19 weeks old already!  We've got an efficient routine down now, for the most part.  We defiantly stay busy!  We had their 4 month check last week and they are all in the 25% for a 4 month old.  Evelynn weighed 12 lb 7 oz, Noah weighed 13 lb 7 oz, and Cora weighed 12 lb 2 oz. 

Noah and Evelynn have needed nebulizer treatments the past week but they are getting better.  They developed bronchiolitis but we were fortunately able to keep everyone home and on a way to feeling better.  Cora has had a bit of an upset tummy but she still smiles at almost everything.

Cora's our most easy going baby.  She loves to babble and smile from ear to ear.  Noah is most comforted by Mom. He loves to be talked to and look at himself in the mirror.  Evelynn loves to belly laugh. She is very tickelish on her tummy and aroud her neck. They all love to be read to, Cora especially.

We're getting ready for their next activity level of interest.  We just put a play mat area in the family room.  They're not rolling over yet but they like to stretch out and we wanted to have a baby safe area for them to explore tummy time and upcoming skills.  They're growing like crazy and we can't believe that they are so close to being 5 months old already. 

We might try making our own baby food today.  Evelynn and Noah tried some Gerber Organic sweet potatoes with rice cereal yesterday, only about 1 tablespoon.  They thought it was ok.  Evelynn gobbles up rice cereal but Noah gives us a look like we're crazy for tying to feed him something other than his bottle.  His new trick is to spit it back at us and smile.  He's got some distance already.  We're going to wait to try sweet potatoes with Cora until her tummy is 100%. 

We'll try to keep updates coming but this is the first time the computer has even been turned on in a while.  The babies keep us busy.  It's fun but everything happens so fast that if it wasn't for keeping notes or a blog we would forget so much.  Parents of multiples have said that the first year your life is in fast forward.  At this point we don't know if the fast forward button will ever let up so we are just trying to soak up as many experiences as we can.   

Our Baptism

We introduced the New Year with their baptism at Sacred Heart on January 2nd.  The babies were really good.  Noah slept during Mass, Evelynn was awake but stayed content with Mom, and Cora wanted to start singing but Grandma Winslow was able to calm her.  When one cries, they all want to join in.  The weather was great and we had a fun afternoon with family.

On Monday Evelynn and Noah started daycare.  Cora spent the week with Grandma Van Langen and enjoyed her time being the only baby needing attention.  Next week Evelynn will get some one-on-one time with Grandma and Cora will meet everyone at daycare.  We're still really nervous about the babies getting sick but so far we have been lucky.  They're 13 weeks already and get bigger everyday.  A few days ago we tried Bumbo chairs but Noah was the only one that thought it was fun to sit up. 

Merry Christmas!

Our first Christmas has been busy but the babies are doing well.  Christmas Eve morning we started the day off with a bath for each baby, getting each one dressed in cute little outfits and of course a bottle before heading to Grandma and Grandpa Winslow's.  Yes, this took us all morning to prepare for a later afternoon and evening family Christmas. 

Today we are spending our Christmas morning preparing for another full afternoon and evening.  This morning Cora enjoyed some time in her bouncy seat looking at the Christmas tree.  Noah has been taking a nap out in the family room and Evelynn is wide-eyed again and is waiting patiently in the swing.  The dog is resting on the couch to prepare for an afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa Van Langen's.  Yes, the dog is coming too. 

This is the first Christmas Jeff and I haven't made it to Mass but we couldn't chance an outing with a lot of people during this flu season.  Next week is their baptism and we'll be nervous enough taking the babies out for that.  They are all doing so well.

On Monday the nurse came to give another round of Synagis shots to help the babies with antibodies to help build up a defense against lung infections like RSV.  During her visit she weighed each baby and they are gaining weight quickly.  This time Evelynn was 9 pounds 14oz, Noah was .4oz shy of a full 11 pounds, and Cora was 9 pound 0.8oz.  We're trying to keep up with utilizing all of their cute clothes but at their rate of gain, each outfit only gets a few wears. 

There are more pictures to come but it's time to get back to getting ready for our Christmas.  Merry Christmas!

10 Weeks Old

It's hard to believe that Evelynn, Noah, and Cora are now ten weeks old, as of yesterday.  At our last doctor's appointment on December 8th all of the babies had large weight gains.  Evelynn was 8 pounds 11oz, Noah was 10 pounds 1 oz, and Cora was 8 pounds 1oz.  They're still on special formula but the concentrations can be mixed to the normal amounts now versus a higher calorie recipe. 

Amanda started back to work this week on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Grandma and Grandpa Winslow watch the babies then and on the other days Grandma Van Langen comes over to help.  The babies love a lot of attention but this is good because they don't mind having their picture taken.  It's 3:30 in the morning now and Evelynn and Mom are updating the blog because she has decided that it's a perfect time to show off her bright eyes.  Sleeping during the night is getting better but we still have our moments.  Typically they sleep between their every four to five hour feedings but sometimes, like now, when they're up for a feeding it's on their time when they are sleepy again. 

Enjoy the photos and thank you for following our story!  This holiday season we are truly blessed and have a lot to be thankful for.

Past Our Due Date!

We wanted to make an update on their actual due date but time goes by so quickly!  Their original due date was this past Friday on November 19th.  Things are going well and they are all growing so quickly.  On Saturday Mercy Home Care came to our home to give the babies their first round of Synagis.  They are getting antibodies to help prevent the development of lung infections, such as RSV, with the upcoming cold and flu season.  They will get doses of Synagis for three months; Noah will get it for five months because he met one more level of eligibility, due to needing some oxygen after birth.   This does not mean that they will be 100% protected from illness and we will still be very cautious to keep them healthy.  Our two big goals are still to stay healthy and to keep gaining weight.

On their due date we took pictures of each baby with their quilt they got in the NICU.  We wanted to be able to compare their birth photos with their size gains in the six weeks following to their original due date.  They've all double their size!  On Saturday the nurse weighed them and Noah now weighs 8pounds 7.3oz, Evelynn weighs 7pounds 6.3oz, and Cora weighs 6pounds 7.4oz.  Noah is growing out of his newborn clothing, Evelynn's almost too big for her newborn clothes, and Cora has grown out of the preemie clothes and is comfortable in the newborn sizes.

We will post their pictures with their quilts soon.  For now we must give the babies a bath, bottle, and get ready for a few hours of sleep.  Right now they eat every four hours at 8, 12, and 4 but each feeding takes an hour before everyone is done.