New Piggy Banks!

We received brand new piggy banks from Aunt Jeanene!!! Grams took them all to be engraved, and the final products were delivered this weekend.  I was hesitant to let our gang touch them... nothing quite like the look of brand new, polished, shiny silver piggy banks!  We unpacked them from their protective, padded boxes and let the babies see them.  All of the banks started on the table (made by Pops), but quickly became toys that rolled on the ground.  James was busy rolling his car back & forth, back & forth, back & forth.  I was hoping this would tired him out for nap time, because I was exhausted just watching him!  Madison enjoyed pulling her duck, too, but was just as smitten with brother's race car (see classic photo of her "look" above:).  She would roll her duck on the floor, try to grab brother's car as it zoomed by, then return to her duck.  Morgan was busy checking out the details of her new pig.  She wasn't as enthusiastic about rolling it --- she just wanted to check out the details!  The girls' banks each had an engraved "necklace", and Morgan was FASCINATED by it.  She would play with the necklace, want to take it off, then try to put it on again (without much luck).

Thanks, Aunt Jeanene, for our new banks! 

Triple the Triplets!

Earlier this week we enjoyed our first play date with triplets! Not just one set, but two! Anna, mother of BBG triplets, was gracious enough to have the babies play at her house, so we were on our way! Lynn joined us with her GGB triplets, too! That's right --- 9 babies below the age of 2 years!

Talk about a baby-proof home!  Gates everywhere, drawers locked shut, and chairs/furniture very well padded!  Anna even had some of our very favorite toys!

Morgan and Skylar enjoyed playing peek-a-boo in empty diaper boxes!

Both James and Madison enjoyed playing with the family dogs!  (although I'm not sure if the dogs have quite recovered)

I love classic look on the dog's face as James tries to crawl over him -- look at the eyes and feet!  Anna, I hope your sweet dogs got extra treats for tolerating the Stone clan!

One of my dear friends asked me if we got a photo of all the babies together.  I chuckled to myself --- most of them were headed in different directions, so I was lucky when I captured 7 in just one picture!

Skylar, Tobin, & Hudson --- thank you for letting us play with you!  We will miss you, but hope we can get together again before you start your grand adventure in Saudi Arabia!

New set of wheels :)

Check out our new set of wheels!!  We finally retired our old stroller.  Long walks felt like we were pushing around TONS of bricks when we only had about 65 pounds of babies.  We invested into our new Runabout and felt like we were making another major car purchase!  This is a much smoother ride, and the buggy can be pushed with very little effort!  It even has a sunshade!!!!

How do we decide who sits in the front?

They take turns!

We actually have them sit in ABC order, then rotate.  In our family, ABC order doesn't necessarily mean alphabetically... it refers to birth order!  So Madison started in the front, James in the middle, and Morgan in the back.  On the next trip, the front rider moved to the back seat while everyone else moved up a chair! 

We recently had to put the blue head covers on the seats --- everyone figured out that they could poke the person in front of them when the covers are left off!  The back riders (mostly the girls) have also figured out that if they hang over the side of the back seat, they can touch the tires as we roll along.

Favorite sites as we roll along... squirrels, Millie the pug, Ashley (a little neighbor), squirrels, friends in cars who talk to us out of their windows, bikes, and squirrels!

See you on the road!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Here's hoping you all had a marvelous Mother's Day!  We started our day with a church service.  Grams stayed with the babies in the nursery while James and I attended the service.  They're now big enough to crawl to the snack table and join the others for an animal cracker buffet!  Last time they had snack, James quietly munched on his, ready for seconds. Madison munched on hers, and munched on the little girl who was sitting beside her.  Then she waved around her napkin in triumph!  This was Morgan's first time for snack in the nursery - she quietly ate her goodies, smiling the entire time.  After church service, we dropped Grams off at her house, drove the neighborhood while the babies napped, then arrived home ready for play.

My sweet hubby grilled all day - and what a feast we had!  Ribs, Pork loin, bacon-wrapped steak - amazing, once again!  Grams, Pops, Uncle Jon, Cousin Zach, Maw-maw and Paw-paw all joined us for the feast!  The babies were asleep for most of the meal, but awoke just in time for a ginger snap snack!

As much as we wanted to go swimming to celebrate our day, the overcast skies and chilly air wouldn't allow us... I was too afraid of the sniffles that may follow.

Our outfits are b-day gifts from JoAnn and Nelson, and the bathing suits are from Aunt Noel.

Dog Days of Summer...

Poor Shelby --- for YEARS, she has always had a safe spot - her hiding place - her very own nest.  This place was once known as MY chair - the one next to my husband's recliner.  The one where I once would relax (relax - word seems pretty foreign now).  Well, as the babies have grown, so has their territory.  They are no longer happy in the confines of just one room.  They prefer to be where the action is! If we are in the kitchen, they like to be under our feet!  If there is laundry to be done, they can be found staring at the washing machine OR out the back window.

 Which leads me to Shelby.  It was bill-paying time, and the computer is in the same room as "Shelby's chair". She was quietly tucked away, enjoying a good nap, when she was discovered by the 3 Musketeers!  I'm not sure who noticed her first, but it wasn't long before everyone was squealing! Morgan spent her time gingerly poking at her face (an oxy-moron at best).  James was fascinated with her paws and her mouth, so Shelby was eager to share some licking. Madison first grabbed a handful of hair.  She soon lost interest when Shelby showed no reaction.  Madison later would visit, bringing whatever toy she was playing with, then go her merry own way.  Shelby patiently waited for everyone to take turns before she decided to flee the scene.  After a few minutes of being very tolerant, Shelby decided to get into the middle of the playgroup. This is when I put down my Nikon and grabbed the video camera.  For the next 5 minutes, Shelby was in the kitchen playing chase with her 3 new friends. I think she may even be relieved that the babies can actually "play" with her now :)  I'm relieved that the sweet, tolerant dog can actually enjoy the little ones as much as we do!

What a ZOO!!!

... and no, I don't mean our house :)
Thanks for the generosity of Butch & Linda, our family received a year membership to the Houston zoo!!My brave hubby prepared (mentally) for last weekend's trip... we planned carefully to arrive between naps, have plenty of milk and Goldfish, and prepare for rain :)

Since our first birthday, we're excited to be able to turn our seats around!  Now all of the adults can sit in the front or middle seats!  Our babies have even enjoyed watching Baby Einstein - we love to hear them giggle and squawk when they see the puppets!

After finding the perfect parking space, we unloaded the troops.  Great parking is available when you arrive before 10:00!  We had to take our first group photo by the zoo banner --- mom had a little problem with the pocket camera -- I was afraid to bring the big Nikon with the possible rain headed our way.  We knew time was limited, so we made our way directly to the petting zoo in the back.  Our plan was to only stay for about an hour today, then hit other parts of the zoo on return visits!  Once in the back, I was able to take Morgan to the Petting Zoo while Dad watched the stroller, bags, and other babies! (maybe next trip we'll have an extra set of hands and they can ALL go inside :).  Morgan was very gentle, and was fascinated with the goat's ears.  We did a good hand-scrubbing when she finished.

We loaded up the wagon, spent some time watching the prairie dogs, and even were able to take our snack while watching the ducks on the pond!

On our way out, we were able to see the orangutan, just waking up from a nap. This time, Madison and James were able to get out of their strollers for a closer look. I think if Madison had her way, she would have jumped inside the cage and played for a while. James was fascinated, but happy watching from the other side of the glass.We're looking forward to our next trip! It's a sweet reminder that we're not the only place with silly monkeys playing inside!

A cake party - update!

We recently had our first b-day party with family and "little" friends! 

After digging into our birthday cakes at the same time, my sister photographed the empty triplet table.  She said she could tell EXACTLY who was sitting where by the mess (or lack of a mess) left behind - we all agreed with her!  I'll leave you with the photo for a few days before we follow up...

Guess who was sitting where!

You probably guess by now...

Madison - far left - ate with both hands.   She ate as much as she could before we finally took the cake away from her! We weren't looking forward to a tummy-ache!

James - middle - well, the picture says it all!  He enjoyed the icing off the cake, but never touched the cake itself! After this photo, he ate with both hands, icing all the way!

Morgan - far right - sweet pea. She wasn't excited the first time she saw cake, and her feelings definitely did not change on this day! She wasn't sure why she had to do cake... again!

Hoppy Easter!

What a Blessed day!  ... and what a difference one year makes!  Last year, the triplets spent their first Easter in the NICU (check out our post for April 2009).  This year was VERY different!
We began our day with Church in the morning.  The nursery was busy, but Madison and James seemed to enjoy the extra babies! Morgan stayed with Grams in the service --- and enjoyed the worship!
After church, we went to the Stone's house for Easter Lunch outside on the patio.  What BEAUTIFUL weather we enjoyed, too!  I think the koi were happy to have the extra attention!  After our meal, the kiddos played with toys on the patio with Pops and Uncle Jon, too!
After lunch, it was back home for Easter Baskets.  Last year, the Easter Bunny brought pacifiers and blankets to the NICU --- this year we found Cheerios and Animal Cookies!  We even received a Peep in honor of Great-Grandma Magnell. What a MESS we had on the floor --- but a good time was had by all :)

Instant Play Group!!!

Don't get me wrong --- we LOVE visitors! We love seeing other babies! We LOVE play days! BUT... in the off-chance that no one else is around, we certainly do like each other's company!

I was in the kitchen, trying to recuperate from our lunch, and what should I hear in the living room -- laughter, giggles, and squeals! I rounded the corner, grabbed a camera, and everyone was SILENT. I knew it wouldn't take long for things to change!

I remember about a year ago, when I was still pregnant, Linnea, a VERY dear friend came over for a visit. She brought her adorable son, Tyler - about a year old - to visit and play with our toys. I remember watching Tyler in the Exersaucer and thought to myself, "How in the WORLD could one little body contain so much energy? I bet our kids will never be this loud!"
*Then I remembered that I should NEVER say "our children will never..." because they always do!
Well, Linnea, I think Tyler's noise level has officially been broken! Bring him over anytime - he will end up being the quietest one in the house!!!

Happy 1st b-day, babies!!!

Happy Birthday to US!

We all survived year one!  What a sweet, amazing, mind-blowing year. Never in our wildest dreams could we have imagined the journey our lives would take!  We brought home 3 little helpless bundles, relying on us for their every need! Today we gaze at 3 little people... determined, funny, thoughtful, silly... true little PEOPLE.  What an incredible gift the Lord gave us!

Last week, I was afraid that they wouldn't get enough special, individual attention when it came to their first birthday cake!  So we rounded up babies, grandparents, and b-day cakes and headed to the local park.  There were no surprises with the cakes - everyone experienced them just as we thought they would!

Morgan

Morgan really wasn't sure what all the fuss was about!  We sat her down first by her cake.  She stared... and stared... and stared. After some encouraging, she put her fingers in the cake.  She still wasn't very knocked out about the experience.  We put a small amount of frosting on her tongue.  After putting it in her mouth, she decided that it wasn't her style!  She started fussing and really wanted to do something else!  We saved her cake (the only one salvageable) and ate it later in the day :)

Madison

Our Drama queen had a very different experience with her first cake!  She eagerly grabbed 2 handfulls of cake, but then wasn't sure about the texture.  She proceeded to wipe it on her legs, clothes, face, and her hair!  After a few big bites of cake & icing, she was off to find bigger and better things to do! 

James

Our sweet boy ate his cake with as much enthusiasm as any meal! He had huge chunks in each hand at all times!  It was fun to watch him munch out of one fist, reload while munching out of the other fist, and so on!  We actually had to take the cake away from him - we weren't looking forward to a young tummy filled with blue icing on a long drive home.

Since yesterday was their actual birthday, we decided to give them each a slice, but all served at the same time.  The outcome was surprisingly similar to the first cake: Morgan wasn't interested at all and seemed frustrated that we put frosting on her fingers;  Madison wore more on her face and in her hair than she was able to devour;  James, our double-fisted eater, managed to polish off the entire piece and squeal for more :)  What a hoot!