Meat, Cheerios, and Sippy Cups

It's always fun to try new things with the babies. Several weeks ago we gave them not only Cheerios but also water from a sippy cup. It was funny to watch how hard they had to concentrate in order to get one Cheerio in their mouths. Right now, they are pros at eating Cheerios. However, they are still working on mastering the sippy cup. They can't quite figure out that when they're sitting in a high chair, they need to raise the sippy cup to get the water or juice down.
Last Friday the babies had meat for the first time:) We started out with chicken. They didn't go crazy over the chicken, but at least they ate it. In a few days, we will introduce beef. Hopefully, it will go well.

Solids have been a great adventure:) It's so funny to watch their facial expressions with the first taste of a fruit or veggie. Arianna is our picky eater. She is usually the one with the funniest facial expression.

So far the babies have tried the following fruits, veggies and cereals (I categorized them from the most favorite to the least favorite):

Absolute favorite:
-Cheerios

Love it:
-Bananas
-Papaya
-Avocado
-Butternut squash
-Pear
-Apple sauce
-Sweet potato

Don't mind it:
-All cereals (rice cereal, mix grains, oatmeal)
-Carrots
-Broccoli
-Chicken

Not a big fan:
-Peas

Absolutely hate:
-Cauliflower


Of course, I couldn't leave this post without pictures: Armando loving his sippy cup.

Alea's sippy cup matches her top, but that wasn't plan. I don't have that kind of time;)

Arianna sucking and sucking, but nothings comes out!

Armando enjoying his Cheerios

Alea telling Arianna: "I got one in my mouth and I'm holding another one. How about you?"

Arianna's response to Alea: "I got one too! Can you see it? Right in my mouth:) I ruled"

On another note, Armando has been saying ma-ma-ma ma-ma-ma none stop! He started this today. He continues to creep and tries to move forward, but he only manages to swing forward. Now he can get into sitting position on his own. He doesn't master this skill, but he tries everyday:) When we less expected, he is going to take off;) Hopefully, the girls will have the desire to start moving soon!

Now we have a total of 10 teeth! Wow! Armando 4, Alea 4 (one is not completely through, but very close), and Arianna 2 (it won't be long and she will have 3).

Thanks everybody for participating in the poll:) Just a few more days to go:)

More teeth!

We have more teeth! Armando has the top 2 coming in. I can feel his right one, but the left one isn't completely through. Alea has her top right tooth though and her left one won't be far behind:) Miss Arianna doesn't have any signs of top teeth yet (probably in a few weeks). My goodness, they are going to have a mouth full of teeth:) They are going to look SO different with top teeth:)

Oh, I keep forgetting to share their weights. They had their RSV shots (yes, shots because they each get 2! Poor babies) last Feb. 12th. Weights as of 02/12/09:

Arianna 16lbs 8oz
Alea 17lbs
Armando 17lbs 15oz

Sorry no pictures today. It's Mommy's birthday, so I won't spend too much time on the computer:) Today I'm off duty;)

Quick note

A quick note to let you know that the vote poll is up and running:) Please cast your vote:) Those of you that know who our wild goose is, please don't vote. It will through off the actual results. Boy, I'm getting very chatty tonight. Happy voting:) Thanks for playing:)

First bath in the big tub!

Bathing the babies in the little pink tub was getting very difficult. I had to change my soaked clothes at the end of the baths! So, last weekend I decided to try the big tub. The babies loved it and so did we:) From now on, we only do baths in the big tub. They have so much fun splashing around and playing with their little rubber ducks. I have to say that it is a two person job because we have a wild goose in the bunch. This wild goose goes nuts splashing and moving around in a slippery tub. We put in rubber mats in the tub to keep those little butts from sliding, but sometimes, not even that stops our wild goose from going all over the place. Did you notice that I'm not telling who's the wild goose? Well, let's play a guessing game! Can you guess who's the wild goose? I'll try to put a voting poll on the side bar of the blog. But if I'm not successful, you can either tell me how to add it or vote on the comments section. It will be fun:) I'm attaching some pictures of the babies first bath in the big tub:)
From left to right Armando, Alea and Arianna.

This is the momma duck that we put on the faucet to protect them from hitting their heads on it. isn't it cute? We love the duck and so do the babies:) (Thanks Katrina)

Different view of the babies and Momma duck:)

Feliz dia del amor y la amistad:)

Happy belated Valentin's day:) We didn't do anything special, other than have fun with our babies:) I did get a very special present:) Daddy new hobby is woodworking. Lucky for me, I get to enjoy the end product. He built this beautiful bookshelf for his honey:) I love it! It turned out very nice:)
Side view
Front view

The girls' hair is getting sooooooooo long that I put it up on a little pig tail:) Armando's hair is even longer than the girl's. He might need a hair cut soon, but Mommy might not be ready for that.

Of course, I'm attaching some pictures of the cute pig tails:) Enjoy it! Arianna and Alea having fun laughing at each other. Armando, on the other hand, just playing with the carpet or whatever he is finding on the floor, hahahahaha When the girls are wearing pig tails, I have to keep a close watch on Armando. He likes to take out the bows and eat them, that little stinker.

Arianna is smiling to the camera, Alea is wondering around and Armando looking dead serious (as usual).

Alea's crazy hair after playing on the couch.The babies and me cuddling on the couch:) From left to right: me, Armando, Arianna and Alea. The girls are ready for bed with their sacks on:) Armando on the other hand, has been a night owl lately.

Hope everybody had a wonderful Valentin's day:)

Sick of winter!

I'm sooooooooo sick of winter!!! I'm so ready for spring that yesterday I dressed the babies with spring cloths:) I guess I'm also worry that they will grow out of their cute little dress and shorts before it gets warm. It's so hard to figure out what they will be wearing when. So I have a few outfits that I absolutely love, but I think they will be too small when warm weather comes around:( I thought, hey why wait to put them one?! Sooooo I dressed them and snapped a few pictures:) Here is Arianna you can't really see her dress on this one, but a while ago I promised a picture of her showing her teeth. So here it is:) She has been wrinkling her nose when she smiles. Doesn't she look funny and cute?

In this picture you can see the girls' cute little dresses and Armando's cute shorts and shirt:) Arianna is wearing the orange dress and Alea the blue:)

Holding flowers and hoping for spring to come soon!

Armando showing off his legs:) hehehehehe

Arianna brightening the whole room with her beautiful smile:)

Alea looking like a little angel.

A few days ago I was a little bored so I started snapping pictures in the babies' room. A bored mommy + three babies + one camera = CrAzY pictures

From left to right Arianna, Alea, and Armando.

Mommy being silly:0 ) I was trying to take a picture of me + babies, It didn't work the best, especially when a baby is trying to suck on your hands.

Here it's another picture of crazy mommy + babies.

On another note, Armando is getting a little more mobile and active. He rolls around the family room. I took a few pictures, check him out:

Armando trying to grab the farthest toy in the toy box.

He is also starting to get his knees under his belly which makes think that he might start crawling in a few weeks. I guess I don't know how long this process takes, but it looks like his little brain is starting to put that together.

Arianna is the pickiest eater in this house! She always makes this face with the first spoon and it takes a few spoons before we have an approval or disapproval. I tell ya, if she doesn't like it, she isn't gonna eat it! that little stinker! This is her facial expression after she tried avocado. She ended up liking it:)

Alea fell asleep after her bottle; she was soooooo tired that I couldn't even burp her.

We are so grateful that the babies are doing so well. Our goal is to keep them healthy through out the RSV / FLUE season. So far so good:) and we pray God that things continue to go this well:) We are half ways there:)

I've been having some fun prettying up the blog and adding new features:) If you find the music annoying, you can scroll all the way down and pause or mute the music (sorry if does the case). Also, I have a new header:) Thanks to my good friend Nik:) I couldn't have done it with out your help:)

Well, I better go put some babies to bed, it's 8:10pm :)

One year ago today

One year ago today, I was admitted to the hospital with pre-term labor. I was only 19 weeks pregnant with the triplets. It was a very scary time for us. It was a Saturday and we had friends, who were also pregnant, spending the weekend with us. I wasn't feeling well since Thursday, but I kept thinking that "it was normal." That day we went out to eat with our friends, visited several places in town, picked out a movie from the library and came home to rest. I had a hard time moving around and I took a nap during the afternoon. Later that day, Matt and I cooked our famous dish "Chicken Shrimp Sundry tomatoes Pasta" for supper. It was during supper time that I told myself "you better call the clinic and just talk to the doctor and see what he has to say." I thought, I rather be safe than sorry. I called and Dr. VanErden was on called that night. He told me to come in to get check. I was disappointed because I was hoping he would say "don't worry about it, it's normal." But nope, that wasn't the answer I got from him. Anyway, we drove to Sioux Falls; and when we got to Sanfornd they measured my cervix and it was VERY short. Also contractions were 5 minutes apart. The nurse told us that for sure I was going to be spending the night, yikes! So Matt drove our friends back to our house and told them to make themselves at home; then he drove back to the hospital and spent the night with me (poor guy). Our friends went back to Kansas the next morning, hoping and praying for us and our babies. Needless to say that I spent the next 10 weeks at the hospital until the babies came into this world.
The first few weeks were the hardest because my babies weren't "viable" yet. But once I hit 24 weeks, I started feeling more hopeful about the future of my babies. You probably wonder what did I do at the hospital for 10 weeks?! Well, I worry, worry, worry, cry, cry, cry, pray, pray and pray some more the entire time I was there. I was a complete different person while I was on bed rest. I was quiet, unhappy, scared, frustrated and disappointed about the whole situation. But now, I'm VERY happy and excited about the future! The big lesson I learned during that time was to trust God no matter how awful things look and not to fear the future because He will ALWAYS be with me and my family no matter what happens.
So as you all know, our babies are doing very well:) They did come very early into this world, but thanks to God and technology these days, our babies are healthy and happy little ones playing at home:)
Here are a few picture of our NICU days.

Armando doing Kangaroo time with mommy

Arianna hanging out with a Root Beer to give you an idea of her size.

Alea doing Kangaroo time with mommy:)

Alea's little hand holding mommy's finger.

Ok. I promise next time I'll post more updated pictures, but it's interesting to go back and see how much they have grown:)