2008 Christmas Letter

Ordinarily this is where I rehash the last 12 months...but you could read the entire year's worth of blog entries for that.

I will make just a few comments, however, as I have been reflecting on the past year.

I had always thought in the back of my mind that multiples would be fun. Back in the "fertility" days, I even said cool when the doctors warned that some of their treatments could lead to a multiple pregnancy. Wow...how the Lord meets the desires of our hearts...or plants those desires in our hearts, with triplets in His plan all along. Jeff will tell you I was bouncing of the walls when our attorney's office called us to say they had a birth mom expecting triplets.

I had an inkling that a triplet pregnancy was high risk, but really had no idea what all "could" have gone wrong. As I have "met" other triplet Moms in the virtual world and heard their stories, it has been more and more clear to me that the Lord protected our birth mother, and the babies she was carrying at the time. In spite of everything, our birth mom carried the boys to a very healthy gestation of 32 1/2 weeks.

Beyond that, some 32 week delivered babies have much more in the way of issues after delivery. The nurses joked in the NICU that they never had to give the boys more in the way of drugs than a suppository. They grew and developed quickly to the point of release (though it seemed long at the time), and remained healthy throughout the critical Spring season.

Of course, in regard to the adoption, there are the inherent risks as you wait for the delivery and final decision by the birth mother. I do occasionally hear of other "expectant" adoptive parents whose situations fall through. I can't imagine going through that, and am thankful that He has protected us from that twice.

As I reflect, I am overwhelmed by God's goodness to us over the last year. Little more than a year ago we were waiting/praying for a new baby. Most aptly, I had a good friend write me back early last December in reply to our news. Eph 3:20 "He...is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think..."

This season, especially, we are praising the Lord for our 4 healthy happy children.

"Pre Christmas" Mini-Blog

The boys are all pulling up now, though Chris only does it most regularly. They are eating lots of "mashed" foods, and even some regular table food (bits of chicken, hot dog, and fruit coctail, to name a few). And they are completely underfoot in the kitchen, especially during meal prep.

Unfortunately, with 4 under 4, the colds and other illness are unavoidable. Lets see...by my memory, I believe we're on our 5th illness since August. Yikes. Hoping to be healthy for Christmas. Three colds, strep, and a diahrrea bug. Lovely. At least one benefit of going to the doctor is getting the boys' weights. Nathan weighs 20 lb 9 oz, Daniel weighs 20 lb 5 oz, and Chris is still lagging behind at 19 lb 13 oz.

Mary loves her babies. She's becoming very entertaining to talk to. She loves to color, and draw, including on the walls. :) And her favorite question is "why?" Mary gave us our first call to poison control tonight, too! Quite entertaining. Toward the end of supper, Mary excused herself to go potty. She came back and just a few minutes after started screaming about her eye. Jeff picked her up and tried to calm her enough to find out what was up. But she could not give us any explanation. He did notice an odor about her, however. I shortly identified that as having come from the glade plug in gel. We surmised that since there was a punctured gel refill on the floor and the scent all over Mary...that it must have gotten in her eye. The poison center had us shower her for 15 minutes, blinking under the stream frequently (better than what SC Johnson said to do--hold her eye open and flush it directly for 15 minutes--yuck!) Apparently the stuffs not really that poisonous, but it is quite irritating. I'm still not sure she understood what happened to her eye or how she got the stuff in her eye.

Probably with three boys this is just the first of excitement to come...

Pictures from November are posted here.

It's Official!

Baby Race



Well, Friday we had the boys' finalizing adoption hearing at the Anderson County Courthouse. It went quite smoothly, but took a bit longer than Mary's. We did have the same judge that finalized Mary's adoption for us almost three years ago. I was a bit surprised, however, as we were approaching the door to the courtroom, that the bailiff suddenly told us no children and no guests at this time. We were surprised, since at Mary's hearing, Mary and all our family members/friends were present throughout. So anyway, Jeff and I quickly handed over all three of the boys we were carrying to the Grandparents and entered the courtroom with our attorney, Ray Godwin and the Guardian ad Litem, only. The judge then proceeded to swear us in, review the court filings and paperwork, and take our testimony. About 2/3 of the way through the hearing he called for our guests and children to be permitted in the court room. The whole thing seemed a bit odd, and left me a tad nervous (the Guardian Ad Litem must have noticed because she kept giving me reassuring looks). Then those who were with us were admitted. At that point the Guardian Ad Litem made her statement, and the judge made his comments...and we were official. After some photos and conversation we left the court room. Apparently, according to our attorney, this particular judge had had a hearing go up the the appeals level a year ago or so, and his decision was affirmed...but still picked apart. So, since then he's been a bit more methodical, and preferred not to have the distraction of children and spectators in the court room. Anyway, it's done!!! We are so thankful to God for the three new children He has given us!!!

Last week the boys had their 9 month check up, and they are doing fantastic. They are up to between 19 and 20 pounds now...and between 26 and 26 1/2 inches. If that means nothing to you, they basically are pretty short and pudgy! But so cute, and so healthy. For their weight they are in the 20-35th percentile, but for their height they are in the 0th percentile! But, as the dr. said, height is all in their genes and they are perfectly normal, short little boys.

The boys are all getting around quite well these days, crawling all over the house. We shut the hallway doors so they basically only have access to the hallway itself and the living/dining/kitchen areas. One funny thing happened earlier this week. Mary had come out of her room (she knows to shut her door when she comes out these days) and come out to the living area...past all 3 boys in the hall. I noticed a minute later that her door was wide open and the boys were no longer in the hallway. Since she had not gotten her door quite latched (it sometimes doesn't close real easy...especially for a 3 year old), they shoved it open and all three went in there. So silly me, I picked one up and carried him about half way down the hall and put him back down, turning around to go get another one. Well no sooner did I pick up the second baby and start down the hall, but I passed his brother heading right back toward Mary's door. I could have been doing that all evening and never gotten all three of them out of her room! Needless to say, I carried the second child all the way out to the living area, and successfully retrieved his brothers from Mary's room before he got back to her room again.

The boys are slowly working in the direction of a transition to solids. They gum cheerios (with occasional bites of soft meat or other table food in between) at the dinner table, practicing picking up food from their trays. We also do spoon fed meals a couple times a day in addition (usually a cereal and a fruit or vegetable). We haven't dropped off on the formula consumption too much, but are slowly working in that direction.

We have posted new pictures from October here.

Loving the Fall

Nathan

Daniel

Chris

I always enjoy the fall with the somewhat slower pace, and cooler temperatures. I don't enjoy the beginning of sick season...

Well, sick season has begun around here this week with the diagnosis all 3 boys of Strep. All three spiked a nasty fever, and a good look by our pediatrician determined it. So...how long does it take for two adults to give three babies each two syringes full of medicine (Tylenol and antibiotic)? Try 15 minutes. :) We'll get better at it...and once the infection is under control, they shouldn't need the Tylenol. While we were in, we got new official weights for the boys. Chris weighs just over 18 pounds, Daniel weighs 18 lb 15 oz., and Nathan weighs a whopping 19 lb 10 oz. Is it really possible they were just three pound preemies back in January???

Otherwise, the boys are doing fantastic. Chris is crawling (but that doesn't stop the other two from scooting everywhere!) He's rather methodical about it still, but improving every day. Daniel had his first tooth show up about a week ago. And Nathan...well he's Nathan. He's big. :)

One last note...Mary also got Strep from the boys. She insisted yesterday, that with a temp of 102.6 she was not sick!

Pictures from September are here.
Pictures from our last portrait session with Anita Goodman are here.

Quick Note

We got word today from our attorney that we have a final adoption hearing for the boys on Nov. 14th at 11:00 am!!! We fully expect this to not change and to go smoothly through. Please pray!

Starting to move...

Practicing their skydiving positioning

At the Angels in Adoption Gala at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center

The boys are 8 months old now. They are up to around 18-19 pounds. The boys do not stay in one place anymore, though they are not crawling, or sitting up yet. They have figured out how to get from one end of the room to the other. They purposefully pivot around (as you might see a spinner on a child's game). The also roll around frequently and with ease. They are frequently on their hands and knees now, rocking back and forth though and even scooting around a bit in that position.

For those who haven't heard, we had quite the adventure last week. Back in August, I was around the house, minding my and the boys' business, and the phone rang. I answered it and the person on the other end of the line said he was Jim DeMint (a US Senator from our state of South Carolina). I was quite taken aback, not sure what to think, but he went on to say we were selected as an "Angel in Adoption" for South Carolina. Now I'm thinking, what is this? I was so caught off guard, I was almost suspicious of the call. But after I got off the phone, a friend of ours who knows the Senator called me to explain that he had nominated us and we were selected by the Senator. So what that means is each member of the Senate and House gets to select one couple, person, or organization from his home state or district to recognize in Washington for their unusual, special, or extraordinary work in adoption. I guess we qualify as unusual, at least!

So last week we drove up to DC. On Monday we attended a reception which was to be a White House Lawn Celebration. Unfortunately, the President of Ghana decided to show up the same day for a state visit, so we ended up in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door for a reception instead. Tuesday, we had an award ceremony in the morning. Later, we broke up into groups (ours had 4 couples) and met with three congressional staffers from different states to share our experiences with adoption and what could be different/better in the law. That evening we attended a gala program with a nice dinner. (Jeff thought the food should have been better at $350 a plate. We got in free...) One of Senator DeMint's staffers accompanied us for the evening. Among those present, and speaking, was Senator Clinton. Wednesday morning, for me at least, was the highlight of our trip. We had the opportunity to sit down with Senator DeMint in his office and share more details of our adoption story and situation. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Washington. By the way, no, we did not take the kids with us. Many thanks to the friends and family who took a "shift" of babysitting the kids for us while we were in Washington.

The boys are now eating solids twice a day: cereal with formula at breakfast and veggies at dinner at 4 pm. They steadily got better across the board this week. They ate green beans Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I started on sweet potatoes Thursday and will continue until tomorrow. We have to stick with something new for a few days just to be sure there's no reactions to those foods. The boys absolutely love sweet potatoes, and "advanced" very quickly in their cereal feeding skills when we started on those yesterday. I have learned how easy it is to make my own baby food, with a few pointers from my sister. Thanks Liz! This has been a real budget saver. Can you imagine jars of baby food for three!?! According to Liz, she made her own baby food for a 1/3 of the cost of jars. I would love to teach anyone to do this...it is sooo simple!

One more thing...I communicated with our attorney's office last week and we are nearing the final stages before we can go to court to finalize the adoptions. We have to wait a month after the legal notice finishes in the paper this week. So we are eligible to go to court any time after October 26th!!! It's just a matter of time, waiting to get a hearing with the very busy Anderson county family court!!!

Pictures of the kids from August are here.

Pictures from our trip to Washington are here.

Seven Months...

Noah tries to eat Chris




Can you find Noah amongst all the babies in this picture?


Seven months...yes another month has passed in the two weeks since I last posted. Ha Ha :) The boys are exactly seven months though now. The last few weeks have been a bit nutty, but this week has been somewhat quieter.

After some consultation with my sister Liz, she decided to bring baby Noah down to what was then the sick house (all six of us with colds!). And yes, before the week was out, Noah had a runny nose. From what I hear he took it home to his Daddy too. Sorry, Brett. Liz learned that yes there really are three. It's one thing to see pictures, but its a whole new thing to actually see all three of them together. We took some outings together. Yes, me, Liz, and 5 children, 4 of whom are under the age of 1. It was quite a sight at Chic-Fil-A, Publix, and Lowe's (not all in the same outing). Liz quickly decided that she hated the attention that triplets gather being out in public.

We all enjoyed Noah's company. I think Jeff is looking forward to when the boys are mobile like Noah is now. Mary heard the word share more times last week than she had heard it in her entire short three years of life.

Six Months Old!!!

Before I get to the nitty gritty, I've got to say I'm so thankful for my happy boys. They are such content babies, I don't know what to do when I'm in the nursery with a fussy baby!

Well, yesterday the boys had their six month checkup (about 2 weeks after the date). They're doing fantastic, as usual. Nathan weighs 16 lb 11 oz (2 oz short of his 9 month old cousin Noah!), Chris weighs 15 1b 11 oz and Daniel weighs 16 lb 1 oz. That puts Chris in the 20%, Dan 25%, and Nate 35% But they all are off the charts (0%) in the height percentiles at between 24 and 24 1/2 inches.

The boys all started rolling from back to tummy this week on Sunday. They refuse to sleep on their backs now...I put them down, and by morning all three have migrated to their tummies.

Oh, and Poor Daniel...the pediatrician wants him to be seen about possible inguinal hernias...similar to his brothers'. One good thing this time around is that he's old enough his surgery, if necessary, will be 100% outpatient. We'll see if this happens...

We just barely started cereal in the last few weeks. Chris and Dan are doing the best. Nathan likes to "slobber" it back out. :) Needless to say, I haven't tried it this past week at all since I've been in Greenville every day.

I am glad to have 32 hours of CPE for the year behind me...I just have one more 8 hour course scheduled in November.

We can't wait to see Aunt Liz and Baby Noah this weekend. We can only hope we (all 6 of us!) are healthy and over our colds by the time we are supposed to pick them up this weekend on Sunday.

We have posted new pictures for July here

Miscellaneous

This was so funny, I had to post it. Yesterday (Tuesday) Mary asked about going to church and I said we would go tomorrow (Wednesday). Well this morning, she announced that tomorrow was over, and asked about going to church. She is so smart!!!

Also, unless sister helped, Chris rolled over onto his tummy this morning for the first time, and was the first of the trio to do this. No surprise, he seems the most agile.

Last week (on the 14th) we started feeding the boys cereal. Chris and Daniel are keeping most of it in their mouth. Nathan is slobbering a lot out...

From stepping on the scale, with and without baby, I think the boys weigh about 16 pounds now, each. They are doing fantastic. I'm looking forward to the official numbers at the pediatrician's office, the end of next week. Sometime over the weekend I will be able to pick up my sister and nephew from her in-laws in Greenville, to spend the first week of August before she returns to California. :)

Before that though, I will need to get through 4 days of CPE in Greenville. I've got sitters arranged for each day, all wonderful trustworthy people...but I'm still not anticipating leaving the boys, or sitting in a classroom four days straight. However, it's better than the alternatives of giving up my CPA licence or doing home based study a couple hours every day (while the kids sleep) for several weeks.

Updates and News

"You've got yer hands full!" We hear this everywhere.

Mary reading to the boys

It is not possible to get three boys to smile at the same time!

Helping Daddy assemble a tricycle for big sister

Poor kid! Big sister has been busy.

Happy Birthday!

Life is relatively day to day normal busy these days. Although nothing extremely "exciting" is going on, that is not a bad thing.

We almost had a court date (would have been last week) to finalize the boys' adoption. We were hoping to get in before the end of June, related to the timing of Jeff's employee adoption assistance from Clemson. That became impossible because of the back log of the Anderson County family court. The day after we got our court date scheduled, it became apparent that there was one additional paperwork detail that would prevent that date from being feasible. We have been told we may be able to finalize the adoptions in August...we will see. We anticipate the finalization, however, there is a blessing in not being able to finalize the adoptions yet...

I have had a surprising, but great blessing this month. As my free formula from the manufacturers was running out, we were anticipating the need to start purchasing formula. On a whim, and partly due to the fact the boys are on Medicaid (because of their technical status as foster children), I called up our local WIC office. Sure enough, Medicaid recipients automatically qualify for WIC!! So, until the boys' adoption finalizes in court, we will qualify for WIC. We also anticipate our pediatrician taking the boys off the high calorie (read high dollar) formula at their six month check up the beginning of August. The WIC appointment took about 2 1/2 hours. We met with two different nurses as well as a nutritionist. The boys were weighed and measured (they were up to 13-7, 13-13, and 14-4). I especially thought the discussion with the nutritionist was quite valuable (especially with regard to the timing of starting baby cereal).

We were encouraged at the last visit with the doctor to start cereal soon. But, based on the boys prematurity, and their excellent weight gain, and good sleep, (not to mention the extra effort of spoon feeding)...I have yet to begin that journey. Probably before too long, we'll give it a try, as the boys are almost 6 months old now!

At times, I've noticed Chris especially (and possibly the other two) sucking his thumb. The boys all love to giggle and smile. Just the other day, Mary got into a giggling contest with one of the boys. They have also begun to notice each other and at times, just stare at each other. We recently pulled a Jumperoo down from the attic, and all the boys seem to have figured it out (although Nathan I think has to work a little harder to hold up his head--he being our chunk!) We also have a walker which will be more useful in coming months (their feet don't reach the floor on it yet!). However, Mary has enjoyed pushing her brothers around--yes, already! :)

Finally, even though this is a triplet blog, I need to mention the boys' sister...Mary is a big girl now. She turned 3 on "Juwy ferd"...translated July 3. :) Mary very much enjoyed her "swimming party". She had over 5 boys from the 2-3 Sunday school class at church (she's the only girl), along with her cousin Emily and the kids all enjoyed the octopus sprinkler, slip n slide and wading pool.

We are beginning what appears to be shaping up to be a busy month with friends coming over, a couple trips up to Greenville, and four days of CPE for Rebecca (and babysitters for all four days). At least I can get most of my 40 hours knocked out at one time. The highlight though, will be a visit from Aunt Liz and Cousin Noah at the beginning of August!!!

More pictures and videos from June are posted here.

5%, 12%, 20%

Chris

Daniel

Nathan

Wow Wow Wow! That was everyone's assessment at the pediatrician's check up visit last week. The boys are doing great. They are starting to catch up to their peers at their actual age!!! The above percentiles refer to the boys' ACTUAL percentiles for weight compared to all their peers born on time in January. Chris weighed 12 lb 8 oz, Dan weighed 12 lb 13 oz, and Nate weighed 13 lb 4 oz. They are getting to be such chunks! I started moving up the boys bedtime this week to feeding them at 8pm, then bed. The boys took to it great. That means one less bottle per day (now at 4, where we will remain the rest of the year). Nathan just compensated by requesting 7 1/2 ounces at one time last night! The other two are already starting to pick up some steam as well, eating nearly the same amount of formula per day as before. All three are somewhat consistently eating about 6 ounces at a time. The other feeding excitement to come is spoon feeding. The pediatrician wants us to start on time based on the boys actual age with cereal and a few veggies over the next few months. The boys are now just shy of 5 months old.

The boys have all rolled over at least once now. Recently, we had Chris and Daniel in a seeming roll-a-thon. We would set them on their tummies and they'd both flip, then we'd set them back and the process would continue to repeat. The boys are smiling constantly, and I occasionally hear something that almost sounds like a giggle!

The boys' hernia surgery results look great as well. The fevers left them about the time we went home from the hospital and did not return. The post-op checkup showed the surgery results to be perfect. And, the boys are all off the apnea monitors (we discarded those a few weeks ago). More recently, Mary picked up a cold somewhere a few weeks ago, that just seemed to drag. The night of the boys' check up and immunizations, all were running fevers, but Daniel's was 103...and he had a runny nose. So the next day, Saturday I got him in to the doctor again, and he was diagnosed with an ear infection. Since Mary's symptoms were hanging on, I took her in Monday morning, and she had a sinus infection. At least we know what's up and have everyone on antibiotics now.

Life is starting to settle in and slow down a bit. We have returned to our monthly Rook game tournaments, and are teetering on the edge of starting to build a new home to accommodate our growing family.

We have posted pictures and videos from May here

Home again

Thanks to everyone for praying for our family this week. The boys surgeries both went very smoothly. At 4:00 this morning during the nurse's check on the boys, Chris registered a temperature of 101.1. Tylenol quickly got it under control, and then Nathan did the same thing mid morning. The doctor decided to keep us until noon just to watch and see what would happen. He says there's no infection at this point, and just to monitor the boys at home over the next few days. Otherwise the boys are doing great--eating great and fairly back to their old selves.

A few brief notes...

We have not needed to feed the boys overnight all week! Their schedule has been to eat at 10:00 pm, and sleep after that until 7:00 am. We all will hopefully be a bit more rested now.

Also, Chris and Nathan had a consultation with the pediatric surgeon in Greenville Tuesday. They have been scheduled for hernia surgeries next Thursday morning at Greenville Memorial Hospital. Because of their age and prematurity from birth, they will stay at the hospital overnight. This is a very common issue for preemies, and routine surgery, but please do keep them (and Momma and Daddy!) in your prayers next week.

A Busy Month

Jogging strollers we use to walk for exercise.




Triple stroller for going to the park, mall, etc.




Mary doing "Tummy Time" with the boys


April 15th each year usually brings a change of pace to our household. This year was no exception. In the past, the date marked the end of tax "busy season." This year, however, Mom flew home on April the 14th. Life has gotten busier in some ways, but not insanely so.

Over the last several weeks the boys have begun to sleep at night closer to a 5 hour stretch (and occasionally 6 hours). We put them to bed at night around 11 pm after feeding them at 10:00, and usually hear stirrings somewhere around 4 am. Jeff and I together feed all three boys simultaneously and stumble back to bed after about 40 minutes or so. Then the boys sleep until somewhere around 8 am. So we generally get a reasonable night's sleep, if a bit short. We certainly cannot complain, though we anticipate the day hopefully not too far off when the boys will sleep the full night through.

With Mom gone, so far I've been picking up groceries on Monday nights, and doing laundry later in the week, spread across a few days, with a bit of cleaning and cooking "sprinkled" in where possible. I've started buying more convenience food items to cut cooking time, and a good friend from church has started coming by once a week to help out with laundry, etc.

The last time we had the boys weighed, it was only Chris and Nathan checked, since Daniel wasn't being seen that day. Back on April 21, Chris weighed 9 lb 15 oz, and Nathan weighed 10 lb 7 oz. The boys are continuing to grow like weeds! They are taking their formula 6 times a day now, 5 daytime bottles every 3 and a half hours or so, and the 4-5 am bottle.

Back at the boys' two month check up in March the pediatrician thought that Chris and Nathan might have hernias, so we were referred to a urologist to have them checked. The urologist confirmed his suspicions, but based on the boys' prematurity and age he wanted to refer us to a pediatric surgeon in Greenville who has access to better facilities than Anderson has, in the off chance that there are complications. We will be seeing the surgeon on Tuesday, and will proceed from there. It sounds at this point as though the procedures for the boys will be done in the near future. Please keep this situation in your prayers.

Also, we've had the monitors "read" twice now. With the boys on Prevacid for their reflux, they have all stopped having any monitor alarms. If we make it through another week or so, we should be able to stop using the monitors soon.

With the demise of cold/flu season, we have been able to take the boys out a bit. We've enjoyed taking the boys to church, and "out and about" a little, although its a bit challenging taking three infants and Mary anywhere. We have picked up a triple stroller which we have used several times. We also picked up two double jogging strollers so we can take the whole crew out for walks that we like to take often in the evenings.

I had my first great "solo" adventure with the crew this week. I met a friend at Olive Garden, and yes, packed up everyone to go. I started getting Mary and me ready at 10:30, fed the boys at 11:30, and made it to Olive Garden promptly by 1:02 pm. :) We attracted a good bit of attention from the waitresses, and other patrons at the restaurant, but had a very nice meal together as well. The boys were seated in three slings holding their car seats opposite us, sitting side by side on a bench row. I think the funniest part of the outing was the entourage of me carrying a baby in carseat out of the restaurant afterward, followed by two waitresses each carrying one out since my friend had her hands full with Mary and her take out box.

The most interesting (and most recent) event is that Nathan has started rolling over!!! Saturday morning, Nathan had pushed up very high on his arms, and just pushed himself over. I thought maybe it was a "fluke"--it quite took me off guard. I turned him back on his belly two more times, and he rolled over two more times in a row!

New pictures from April are posted here.

April

We had the above pictures taken several weeks ago and just got the proofs. We would like to thank Anita Goodman for taking these pictures for us. Go take a look at her work here: Goodman Photography

The boys are continuing to grow and develop. They are staying a bit more awake now, and alert. I got my first real, for sure, smile last night, from Nathan. I was feeding Chris, and Nathan and Daniel were on either side of me on the couch. I looked over at Nathan and said something to him (no clue now what I said), and he just looked at me and responded very naturally with a real smile!

Last Friday we took the boys in for their third (and final) monthly Synagis dose. By the time RSV season rolls around in September, their bodies will have significantly matured. A side benefit of going in for the shots, is that we get weights in between regular doctor visits. So, (drumroll please) Chris weighs 8 lb 12 oz, Daniel weighs 9 lb 1 oz, and Nathan weighs 9 lb 2 oz.

We will shortly be "running out" of our free Enfamil from their triplet gift program, so the pediatrician was more than accomodating, by signing us up this week with Similac. He had no problem switching us to the equivalent Preemie formula produced by them. I've been told that this may last us the year! Praise the Lord, what a blessing. We've calculated, that at retail, we could be spending 15 dollars per day on preemie formula (a can a day, now!)

Last Wednesday on ebay we found a slightly used triple stroller on a great buy-it-now deal. So Jeff jumped on it. The boys have their first conveyance of their own. Watch out on the roads now!

Mom has been a great help to us over the last two months, especially in February and early March when the boys were not as great eaters as they are now. Mom is needing to get back home to Dad and her own responsibilities in Texas. Mom flies home on Monday, and then the party will really begin! ;) The boys are starting to sleep a bit longer at night (last two nights they slept from midnight to four am!), and hopefully, especially as it will be just Jeff and me, they will continue to extend that even more so.

We've all got a bit of cabin fever, since we've been keeping the boys (and Mary) away from people mostly through the end of winter/early spring. Being preemies, any illness could be especially serious for these guys. As the weather warms, we are especially looking forward to getting out and about!

New pictures for March are here.