The Endless Party

Annual Christmas Blog/Letter

2010-12-23T09:05:00.001-05:00

I debated whether to write a letter this year, or even send out cards. Not sure if I'll continue past this year. Note the lateness this time around...guess it's been busy!

Mary is in kindergarten now at Oakwood, and loving it. I'm repeatedly surprised by the words she picks out written on random advertising, etc. I've enjoyed accompanying her on a few field trips/events and watching her perform in the Christmas program. If the pace of the first semester of kindergarten is any indication, I'm going to blink, and she'll be out of high school. She still has her red hair, and I'm crossing my fingers that it will stay.

The boys are almost to their third birthday. They have just "exploded" in their talking and interaction over the past year. The boys are in the process of potty training...and what a process it is! I was warned by many wiser and more experienced friends to hold the boys off for a while...but did I listen...nooo. :) Oh well. We will either get "over the hump" in the next couple weeks, or they will go back into pullups for awhile, until tax season is over.

Yes, I will be working part time from mid January to mid April. I have some wonderful friends and babysitters who are going to "cover" for me two days per week, just as I did last spring. It will be a nice change of pace and help me catch up my skills a bit.

Jeff has been hard at work on the outside of our home over the last year. We finally have a nice stand of fescue grass, as well as some basic landscaping set up. The kids have a playground out back now, and we have some outdoor furnishings on the porch and back deck. We are still slowly organizing and unpacking some of our "storage" and office. It takes a while when you have 3 two year olds. Oh, and don't even ask about the basement. :)

All things considered, we thank God for His goodness to us. Merry Christmas!

November 2010 Pictures
October 2010 Pictures

Merry Christmas

2009-12-19T20:45:00.000-05:00

Fall Festival

Packing to Move

Donut Time!

(Mommy was standing close by ready to catch any falling boys...)

Playing with Christmas Lights

Playing "Ashes"

Hi All...

Welcome to my "Christmas letter" blog. I had written last in August with firm resolve to blog more often this fall, and then we moved. :) Oh, well. I am certainly not without excuse for not updating more frequently.

We started packing with gusto in mid to late September. I walked into the kitchen one day from a shopping outing to find that Jeff had emptied out my pantry, and all the voluminous free/10cent ketchup and salad dressing bottles (from couponing/sales) were piled 10 deep on my countertop. The fun begins. For the next month, everything that wasn't nailed down (or living and breathing) went in a box. The week leading up to Halloween we spent starting to bring things in, and moving day, Oct 31, went fairly smoothly. Once everything was in, we spent the following two weeks plus cleaning up/cleaning out the old house, painting, and having tile put in. Now we wait (patiently) for God's timing to sell the old house. (Anyone looking for a house in Anderson???) Little by little we are settling in here, and are so excited about our new home, and all the opportunities the new space allows. We are overwhelmed by God's blessing in this regard.

The kids are doing well. Mary (hard to believe) is 4 1/2 now, and will be starting kindergarten next fall (kinda scary!). She's enjoying playing outside, with a bit more freedom where we live now than before. And, she loves to color and do any kind of crafty projects. The boys are nearly two, and it's amazing to think where we were with regard to them this time two years ago. They are starting to imitate words more and more, and their speech is slowly growing. Chris has a new game he likes to play. Ask him a question, any question...say, "Do you want some candy?" The answer invariably is "No!" The boys have also gotten into playing ring around the rosies...on their own. The call it playing "Ashes." One will say "Ashes!" and they all three jump up and join hands and going around in a circle "Ashes, ashes, ashes, ashes!" So cute!

We are overwhelmed by God's many wonderful gifts to us this year. Merry Christmas!!!

No rest for the weary Mommy...

2009-08-22T21:24:00.005-04:00

The boys went for a checkup this past week...all is well! They are moving along on their own slow growth curve. Their weight is slowing finally...due to incredible busyness!! The boys are becoming very busy. The are climbing everything now. As short as they are, they have quickly learned that ride on toys make wonderful stepping stones for getting on furniture. From there, they can get past the gate to the disallowed side of the gate in the living room where there's all kind of cool things like computer wires. They like to pull dish cloths and towels out and strew them around the living room. They like to open the a/c return vent (thankfully no one tried to dive down it). Since that incident, it has been taped shut. The dining room table is a wonderful thing to climb onto, especially during meal preparations, when there are clean dishes and utensils just waiting for some toddler to play with. All this adds up to a very tired Mommy. But, the toddler phase is so fun, too...and over far too quickly.

We were just looking at a video of Mary from two years ago...the changes are phenomenal. Mary is growing up into quite a big girl. Mary goes outside with us while we do yard work in the evening, and she enjoys her bike and can be trusted to stay nearby on the driveway/sidewalk (while the boys may go to bed a few minutes earlier). Mary loves to help with meal preparations. Mary is starting to learn to write...Mary writes her own name! Mary decided she wanted her new room to be pink and purple...so it is! Pink walls and purple carpet!

Speaking of...things are coming along nicely. The painters are hard at work, and probably have a few more weeks. (I still need to decide about the master bedroom/bath!) Then I suppose the remainder would be things like tile and carpet to be put in, wood floor to be sanded/stained, and miscellaneous finishes. We should be fairly close...hoping to be in before the end of September.

Pictures of the kids from June/July are here:

June

July

New pictures from the house are here:

New House

Summertime procrastinations...

2009-08-04T08:58:00.006-04:00

I've been thinking of posting a new blog entry for some time. I could say I don't have time and have been busy, but I'm always busy, and I need to make time. All that aside, here's what's going on in our household.

The boys are walking quite well...and climbing. Most people keep their piano benches up by their pianos. Not us. If we kept it there, I'd have boys walking down the keyboard "plink-plink". The boys do climb on anything and everything. The week it started, I came home from being out for a few hours to find the babysitter had put all the ride on toys behind a latched door. They were using them to climb everything in the living area. One evening after supper, I found that Chris had shoved the learning chair up against the recliner and had used it climb up. So I removed him from the recliner, and put the learning chair back against the wall. 5 minutes later everything was returned to the previous state (the learning chair to the recliner, and Chris to the recliner chair). I returned everything again...and quickly learned how intelligent my first born triplet is. He was very methodical about retrieving his tool of choice (the learning chair), positioning it appropriately, and climbing into the recliner. We've since given up the fight to keep them off the furniture...we only require that they sit (which is not easy) of course to prevent falls.

Oh, and at the end of that week, I came home and another sitter told me that one of the boys had climbed on top of the high chair tray. (why does everything happen while I'm out?)

It's been a couple months since the boys have been to the doctor. We go back in a few weeks, and I'll try to update you then. Anyway, as of May, the boys weighed about 23 pounds each and were around 28 inches tall. Essentially, they're substantial, stocky, healthy but short little boys. Mary recently had her 4 year check up and shots. She's doing great...25% for weight & height (means her weight is perfect for her genetic height). Her shots did not go so well. I'm not looking forward to that for the boys 4 year checkup. Baby shots are one thing...they don't know it's coming. Four year old shots...that's something entirely different.

The boys are starting to talk a little more, though not quite taking off yet. Their vocabulary includes words such as:

ma ma
da da
me me (Mary)
Kede (just heard that from Chris this morning, in reference to Nimrod the cat)
Hi
Bye
Ni-niye
ball

They are also understanding (and sometimes following) "no no", "close it", "clean up", sit and come.

We've been teaching the boys to point to themselves when I say "Where's Chris" (or Nathan, or Daniel). Unfortunately, they still sometimes point to themselves in reference to another baby. Chris has learned to point to his nose if you ask him, too. So communication is coming. It will become very interesting, I'm sure.

Mary's enjoying her brothers (likes to feed them or "mother" them when she gets a chance). Mary has some interesting things to say sometimes...

"He falled me down!"
"kristies" --Rice Crispies
"Mommy ate too many M&M's and got a boo boo in her tummy" --in reference to my minor surgery last spring.
"Dear Jesus, thank you for my..dinner from last night. In Jesus name, Amen" (occasionally upon not eating much for supper, the veggie or whatever "revisits" Mary for breakfast).

Mary very much enjoys her play dough, her Leap Pad, books, coloring...

We have all enjoyed going swimming this summer at a friend's pool, as an occasional respite from the busyness of the summer. We're not taking any vacations this summer (can you imagine 3 18 month olds and a 4 year old at the beach???) I'd need a vacation afterward! Instead, we're busy on the finishes to our new home. It is projected to be done sometime in September. I recently finalized my selections for tile, and lighting fixtures. As I am not an interior designer, I've needed some help and still struggled through some of my choices.

Here's pictures of the house:

House Pictures 1

House Pictures 2

Here's the latest pictures I have posted of the kids:

Pictures from May - More to come soon!

Enjoy!!

New Happenings (written 5/15/09)

2009-05-16T20:13:00.014-04:00

I know this is a triplets blog, but other things are happening too...

First the boys...all three are standing up alone with regularity, and Chris and Nathan are really starting to walk. Nathan took 10 steps alone on the 9th, and Chris just took off repeatedly taking lots of steps on the 13th (the boys 16 month birthday). Meanwhile, Daniel is getting better at standing. His greater talents lie elsewhere. Daniel is starting to say ni-niy from his crib when Mommy says good night to the boys. He also is starting to imitate "bah-bye" when people wave and say good bye and leave. Chris and Daniel in particular say ma-ma-mah frequently, but it still seems somewhat indiscriminate.

Today we attended the NightLight Christian Adoptions (FKA Carolina Hope Christian Adoption Agency) 1st Annual 5K for Adoption Awareness. It went pretty well. Jeff & his Dad pushed the kids in double strollers, since I'm not allowed to do much right now due to a recent minor surgery. His Dad came in first in his age category!

At the boys' recent check up Chris (still the lightest) weighed 21 lb 9 oz, Daniel weighed 22 lb 2 oz, and Nathan weighed 22 lb 9 oz. This puts the boys between the 10th and 25th percentile for weight, and between the 0th and 10th for height. We still have little bitty boys! The dr was quite pleased with the boys' development.

Recently, I've started reading blogs about how to save money on groceries and household consumables. My most recent find has been on diapers. Here's a tip. Periodically Walgreens puts their pack of diapers on sale, 2 pkg for $9. They also have a coupon out for $2 off a package of diapers. That works out to $2.50/pack, or $.08/ diaper! That's about half of what I had been paying for diapers! Yay!!! So, we stocked...and we stocked! 5 months worth. Over 2000 diapers...LOL.

And some of those diapers will have to be moved to the new house. The house is really starting to take shape. Monday we met with the cabinet maker, and looked at cabinet wood finishes and countertops for the kitchen and baths. Plumbing and electrical are going in right now. Lots of decisions yet to be made...we hope to be in before the summer is out.

So, if you can't tell, a lot is going on at the Bate household...what else is new? :)

Long overdue...

2009-02-25T21:42:00.000-05:00

I know its been a long time since I've updated how the boys (and us) are doing. I will try to not leave out too many details, but try to condense somewhat the last two months.

The holidays were a whirlwind. For several days, we enjoyed the company (and craziness) of 11 people in the house. I think we will appreciate the new house that much more. My parents flew in Christmas Eve. We spent Christmas Day with Jeff's family, in Greenville. Then, just before New Years' Day, Liz, Brett & Noah joined us in Anderson. We celebrated our own Christmas that week. We also celebrated the boys' first birthday that weekend. Poor Nathan inexplicably decided he wasn't too interested in his smash cake! That's highly unlike Nathan, and we soon determined that he started some kind of fever virus, at his birthday party, of all places. Sunday (despite Nathan's illness) we were able to have a baby dedication at church for the boys, while all the family was in town. As a little outing, earlier in the week, we went over to the mall and introduced the boys to the meaning of "ice cream cone". Noah and Mary were old pros of course, and showed the boys how to do it. Nathan wasn't too sure about the idea at first, but from the pictures you will be able to see that he came around fairly well. Chris and Daniel never did decide they really wanted something quite so cold...even if it was fairly sweet and creamy.

The boys are continuing to grow, though more slowly. They are all 20 lb and some ounces, and about 27 1/2 inches each, approximately. This leaves them in the 20th percentile for weight, and 0th for height! Yep, 99% of children their age are taller than them! :) The babbling is increasing. We hear ma-ma, kuh-kuh, ga-ga, and buh-buh with regularity. And all three are cruising these days, and just since around the beginning of February, Chris will stand for about 3-4 seconds at a time (sometimes).

Even up until mid December, we relied fairly heavily on formula for the boys' diet. Especially when Noah visited, we continually experimented more and more with table food. By early January the purees were gone, and the next transition was from bottles to sippies. I delayed that until late January. One weekend I decided that was it. Chris and Daniel didn't seem to care too much how they got their formula. Nathan however had other ideas. With the backing of medical advice, Nathan held out and had no milk to drink for over 2 days, until his hunger (and we) won out, and Nathan surprisingly has no problems taking a sippy cup now. The switch from formula to milk went much more smoothly. These days at the grocery store, I pick up 6-7 gallons of milk per week!

Our new home is in the process of being framed up at this point. We've probably lost 3-4 weeks due to weather (either freezing temps or rain). The first floor is about framed up. We hope to be moving in some time this summer (July-August?) We're looking forward to the expanded space.

We've finally posted all the pictures from December and January.

2008 Christmas Letter

2008-12-16T19:05:00.010-05:00

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

2008-12-15T21:20:00.001-05:00

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!

2008-11-16T22:21:00.006-05:00

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

2008-10-19T21:07:00.000-04:00

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

2008-10-03T23:06:00.001-04:00

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...

2008-09-26T21:11:00.000-04:00

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...

2008-08-13T21:39:00.010-04:00

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!!!

2008-08-02T14:26:00.001-04:00

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

2008-07-23T09:38:00.004-04:00

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

2008-07-14T22:30:00.003-04:00

"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%

2008-06-05T20:00:00.000-04:00

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

2008-05-16T18:18:00.002-04:00

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...

2008-05-09T10:08:00.004-04:00

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

2008-05-04T21:09:00.009-04:00

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

2008-04-09T23:22:00.000-04:00

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.

Our "Claim to Fame"

2008-03-29T22:59:00.003-04:00

We made the front page! Here's our article:
Anderson Independent Mail

Latest Developments and the Anderson Newspaper!

2008-03-26T21:08:00.008-04:00

Last week on Monday we went to the pediatrician for the boys' two month checks. At that time, Chris weighed 7 lb 2 oz, Daniel 7 lb 9 oz, and Nathan 7 lb 10 oz. The doctor decided to get read outs of the boys monitors, so Wednesday the monitor company came by and swapped our machines out. Meanwhile as the week progressed, Nathan seemed to be developing a worsening spit up, even to the extent of losing half his meal 20 minutes later a few times. Also, several times on Tuesday (of course, after the check up) Nathan set off his apnea monitor, which was highly unusual for him. We called the pediatrician about that, and they said that they would look into it on the monitor reports. We concluded that since there were no obvious signs of problems, it was not necessary to bring Nathan in immediately to be seen. Well, after doing some research online, Jeff began to wonder if Nathan had reflux. We began to treat it as such, holding him fairly still after feeding and not laying him down immediately. His symptoms did improve somewhat. Monday morning we got our call back from the pediatrician. He said all three boys showed signs of reflux, and are going on Prevacid. We will see how that goes. If this works, it may help to eliminate the still occasional bradycardia, and hopefully Nathan's recent start up of occasional apnea alarms as well. That will be a huge step toward going off the monitors. We are incredibly glad to have the monitors, as the apnea/bradycardia spells have not completely stopped on their own, and they have helped the pediatrician to identify the reflux.

Also, at the doctor's appointment we got the go ahead to start playing with the boys' schedule, and try to let them sleep longer at night. I'm a great fan of BabyWise (although like anything, you have to be flexible with it). For anyone who's not familiar with the book, the idea is you compress more feeding times into the day in an effort to let the baby sleep longer at night. Last week we did our own "disaster" cross between that and a four hour round the clock schedule. After a week, we started a new daytime 3 to 3 1/2 hour schedule, and we feed the boys as they demand at night (which is generally one time between 11 pm and 7 am.

Saturday, we had a visit from Uncle Lance and Aunt Julie, along with Grandpa and Grandma. This was Lance and Julie's first opportunity to see the boys. We all had a great time visiting together. Julie was in town for her (and my) 10 year reunion from BJU. On that note, we had our first real babysitter on Friday night. Carrie Smetana, a friend of mine from church agreed (I think rather enthusiastically) to help Mom watch Mary and the boys for the evening. Jeff and I enjoyed a supper out at Olive Garden, and a visit over to BJU for a Bible Conference service, as well as my college reunion. I had a great time seeing people again that I had not seen in ten years, and going out on a date with Jeff (which doesn't happen too often right now!)

One final note, the Anderson newspaper, the Independent Mail called yesterday, and wanted to interview Jeff and I for a feature article. We had a reporter come to the house for an interview today. For anyone who is interested, we are scheduled to have an article run in the Sunday paper!

Adventures in Triplets

2008-03-12T21:52:00.000-04:00

Time is moving too quickly in some ways. The boys have outgrown their preemie clothes already. I can just feel them getting bigger every time I pick one of them up. So, today we went to a photographer's in-home studio and had pictures taken for the first time. It was a pretty intensive 3 hours...so we should have lots of good pictures. We even got Mary to cooperate holding the boys, although she seemed a bit tired and hungry. Though we very rarely would use such a tactic, a mention of McNuggets and fries afterward was just the incentive Mary needed. The pictures were taken compliments of Anita Goodman of Goodman Photography and Video, and she is giving us the CD. The boys were her first multiples.

After leaving the photographer's studio, we stopped past our adoption attorney, Ray Godwin's office. Ray and his staff worked tirelessly to assist us with the progress of this placement, which has been challenging at times. We are so indebted and thankful for their work. The staff had not had the opportunity to see the boys yet, so we stopped by for a brief "peek" at the boys (since cold/flu season is still alive here in SC).

Daylight savings time, as you can imagine, had an interesting effect on the boys' schedule. Because Jeff and I had plans to attend a wedding Saturday at 11:00, we decided to go ahead and move the boys meal time from 11:00 to 10:00 am, so that Mom could babysit without having to feed all the boys while we were gone. The second benefit would have been to have them on the new daylight savings time 3-7-11 meal schedule, once the time changed. We only encountered a few unanticipated challenges.
Challenge #1 Pop quiz. If you feed a baby used to a four hour schedule a whole hour earlier than usual, what will happen? Well, the boys did not want to wake up and eat, and they did not eat well at all. Mom continued feeding for awhile after we left for the wedding. So, by what should have been the 2 o'clock meal time for the boys, they were not in the least interested. So, we waited until 3 o'clock Saturday to feed them. We were still not ready for daylight savings time.
Challenge #2 We decided to slowly adjust the boys over the next four meal times, by 15 minute increments each time in order to arrive at the new schedule. It would seem relatively simple, especially since we are shortening the time between feedings, rather than lengthening. So we went through the process Saturday evening and night. 3pm. 6:45pm. 10:30pm. 3:15am (daylight savings time). 8:00am (daylight savings time). Oops. Now, the 3:15 is correct, since you spring forward, on standard time the 3:15 is really 2:15, and means that the time until that feeding is only 3:45 minutes. But when someone forgets to set an alarm clock, or it gets turned off (no one is sure what happened), nearly five hours will elapse between between 3:15 and 8:00. And that puts you right back on the old schedule.
Not to belabor this discussion more than is necessary, throughout Sunday we re-adjusted back 15 minutes each meal time for the boys, and by 3:00 PM daylight savings time, we were on the new time. By the way, we could have just carried forward through the time change without changing the boys feeding times, but that would have been rather inconvenient for lunch (12:00) and for supper preparations (4:00).

One other miscellaneous bit of trivia. I decided to start mixing up formula in larger quantities this week, rather than to mix each bottle individually. The manufacturer says its okay to prepare up to 24 hours at a time. So, I do that. I mix 58 ounces of water with 2 1/2 cups powder formula each day to make a half gallon of formula for each day. That's 3 1/2 ounces for each bottle for Nathan, Chris, and Daniel, six times a day.

Also, in an effort to make feeding time a bit more efficient, we have begun co-feeding, predominantly at night. As you can see in the pictures, one of the two "feeders" sits on the floor in between two bouncy seats, and holds a bottle in each hand, and feeds two boys at one time. We haven't felt comfortable trying this up until recently due to the boys' need for one on one attention because of feeding slowness, and related preemie feeding issues.

All Those Little Noises or Why They Don't Sleep in Our Bedroom

2008-03-05T23:50:00.003-05:00

The nursery is never quiet with these three. Somebody is almost always making some noise. They all make funny little grunting, congested type sounds which are typical of preemies. More often than not, one of them will have the hiccups.

A Day in the Life of Triplets

2008-03-03T19:40:00.003-05:00

All the gifts from the baby shower at church.

One days worth of bottles

The more diapers, the better!

Changing table for short people, and changing table for tall people

The nursery is mostly done

We've been home now for about two and a half weeks. We are slowly...very slowly...trying to catch up on life, sleep, etc. In between 3 am, 7 am, 11 am, 3 pm, 7 pm, and 11 pm. It takes two people usually around an hour to feed three babies 2 1/2 ounces each of formula. Each feeds a baby, and whoever finishes first feeds poor Nathan who actually feeds a half hour or so behind his brothers. So Mom and I rendezvous at 3 am (Jeff sleeps through from midnight to 7 am), and I sleep in until about 10 am while Jeff and Mom gather for the 7 am feeding. Meanwhile, Jeff and I feed the kids at 11 pm. That lets Mom go to bed early (with Mary at 8 pm) and sleep through until 3 am. If that was confusing, the basic idea is each of us gets a 6-7 hour stretch to sleep each night, as well as in some cases an additional nap of about 2-3 hours. Each meal is preceded by a diaper change.

So, for those of you slow on math, we go through 18 bottles a day (which takes about 40 minutes to assemble each day). We also go through approximately the same number of diapers each day, unless we need extra changes (which as you can imagine occasionally does happen). We are thankful the boys have moved on from Pampers preemie diapers at about 27 cents each to generic (at least they work at this size--I have friends who have told me that generics don't work for boys-at least in bigger sizes) newborn size diapers at 14 cents each. We are also very thankful for the 220 newborn size diapers I received last week at my UBC shower. I haven't "inventoried" the larger sizes yet!

One additional incredible blessing has been our sizeable gift of free preemie formula from Enfamil. Our pediatrician says we can switch to free preemie Similac if the free Enfamil runs out. The boys will stay on preemie formula for a good while even once they reach full term age/size, due to differences remaining because of prematurity. A can of preemie Enfamil would retail around $15/can, and lasts us not quite two days. We have not had to pay for formula (except a few cans at deep discount) yet!

The boys are growing well...perhaps too well. It's with a bit of sadness that the boys are starting to outgrow their preemie clothes already. The nursery, bit by bit is starting to come together. Saturday afternoon Mom and I picked out fabric (yes, you guessed it, between 3 and 7 pm) for curtains that she's agreed to make for me while she's here.

One additional note. We had been going back and forth between insurance and a clinic our pediatrician referred us to about getting the boys' Synagis shot. It's an immune booster (not a vaccine) that helps protect them from RSV, a common upper respiratory virus that can be very serious in premature infants. It's administered every 28-30 days, and the boys were coming up on their shot since leaving the hospital. The complication is the fact that the shot costs over a thousand dollars per child, so the clinic was concerned that insurance would cover it. Anyway, we got past that on Friday, and today received a call from the clinic about scheduling the boys' shot. They called me around 2:15, and said they only could do it on certain days. They had an opening this afternoon at 3:45, otherwise we would have to wait until next Monday. Well, we didn't want to do that, so I said we'd be there...at their Greenville clinic! So, I got off the phone, called Jeff to come home, and Mom and I started feeding the boys (Chris and Dan) about 40 minutes early. Jeff got home around 2:30 and spent about 15 minutes getting car seat bases reinstalled (he had taken them out to take the seats out the back of the van the previous week). Jeff then fed Nathan while Mom and I got the other two ready to go to Greenville, and packed a diaper bag, and got Mary ready to go to Greenville as well. We all got packed up and left the house by 3:10. We pulled into the parking lot at the clinic at 3:50, only 5 minutes late...and I feel pretty good about that!

Also as an additional aside, the boys were weighed today in order to calculate the exact Synagis dosage. Chris is still slightly behind his brothers, weighing in at 6 lb 3 oz, and Dan and Nate both weigh 6 lb 6 oz.

We posted another 124 pictures here

Doctor visit

2008-02-22T12:57:00.002-05:00

Chris had a weight check visit this morning, since the previous seven day period had only shown a 3 ounce weight gain. The most recent seven days, since the boys initial doctor visit last Friday showed a gain of 15 ounces for Chris...to 5 pounds 7 ounces. Wow! The doctor was so impressed, we checked him a second time to be sure. Now I'm wondering if possibly last week's weight was off...? Regardless, the boys are gaining like crazy. Praise the Lord!

New Pictures!

2008-02-19T16:23:00.002-05:00

For those who want to see more pictures, we have posted 221 here. Enjoy!

Slowly Digging Out

2008-02-19T09:00:00.001-05:00

At the airport in LA

Finished with our security check!

Rebecca on the airplane with Daniel

Grandma and Nathan happy to be done with the first long flight

Mary likes the babies

Mary helping to feed baby Chris

I must apologize for the delay in updating the Boys' Fan Club about our trip home and weekend after. Wait--no apologies necessary. I'm lucky to be conscious right now!

Anyway, we left our new friends in Riverside at 5:00pm PST with tearful goodbye's. They truly became like family to us. By 7 pm, we were at LAX with rental car turned in. We (Jeff, Rebecca, and his Mom) walked with trepidation up to the check in desk with our four checked bags, three carry on bags, three baby monitors, and three preemies in car seats. Jeff and his Mother checked in at the computer kiosk easily, but I got some strange message requiring a ticket agent's assistance. Finally after waiting several minutes and being shuttled to different agents, a grandfatherly gentleman working the ticketing desk became aware of our circumstances, and decided we needed a free upgrade to Economy Plus seating. He moved our tickets about 30 rows forward, and put us in rows with a little extra leg room (which also helped ensure the car seats would fit). He also assigned us seats with little likelihood of seat mates (so that we could use the car seats in the empty seats nearby). Finally, he escorted us to the security check, and cut us in line to near the front. What a blessing!

We reached the front of the line, and the security personnel instructed us to put our carry ons onto the x-ray conveyor belt. Then they could not decide what to do with us, our kids in car seats, and our baby monitors. Finally, a supervisor decided we should be pulled aside for special screening, despite Jeff's objections over walking around a corner out of sight of our belongings including two notebook computers. Finally when we arrived at the special screening area, one of the security personnel consented to Jeff's claiming our items before being patted down and wanded. Praise the Lord, nothing was missing, and we were quickly screened (they hardly looked at the boys in their seats and the monitors!) and permitted to move on.

By this time, it was 8:00 pm PST. It was time to feed the boys, and we wanted to boost the batteries on the monitors before leaving LAX. But of course, every power outlet we saw in the terminal was in use. Finally, Jeff inquired of an airline agent about an outlet, and he said we could use the outlet behind his desk, on the floor (in an area not generally permitted for general passengers). So we settled on the floor, somewhat apart from the crowds of travelers, plugged in the monitors, and fed the boys. Afterward we enjoyed some sandwiches prepared by Suzanna before our departure to the airport. Our flight was nearing boarding by this time, so we re-assembled ourselves, and were preparing to head closer to our gate, when we attracted the attention of some flight attendants, and travelers as well (whom we encouraged to keep their distance!) After some ooohing and aaahing, we moved toward our gate and boarded shortly after.

We boarded our flight and Jeff's Mom quickly found that the seat next to hers was occupied. But, another passenger on another row with an empty seat next to hers, volunteered to swap with her, allowing Mom to use that seat for her traveling companion, Nathan. We were all seated and the flight went rather uneventfully. The boys were all great travelers--they slept way more than we did! Chris was Jeff's "partner", and Daniel was mine. The flight left close to on time (scheduled for 10:20 pm PST), and arrived at Washington DC about 6:20 am EST, Thursday. We exited the plane and had to change terminals in order to catch a flight at 7:00 am to Charlotte. We made it, but had to get the kids out of the car seats and check the seats since the flight was full. So, it was quite a sight, us all in the cold jet way, unbuckling and swaddling three preemies. But, we made it, got ourselves gathered and were the last to board. The flight was quick, and we arrived in Charlotte shortly after 8:00 am...without our luggage. We were told it did not make the connection and would be delivered to our home the next day. But considering the fact that everything I had for the boys, other than about a 12 hour supply, was in luggage, we decided to wait for the next flight coming in about 10:20 am. Our luggage arrived around 10:30 am and we left the airport shortly after. By now it was time for the boys to eat again, so after they ate, we needed lunch, so we did not arrive home in Anderson (exhausted!) until about 2:00 pm.

Once we unloaded the van, it was time to feed the boys again, and we all six of us went to bed. Somewhere about 6:00 pm, Mary decided her nap was over, and she woke me from a sound nap with a greeting. We ate again, fed the boys again, did our nighttime feeding schedule, and got up Friday morning at 5:45 am (keeping in mind our bodies are still on PST--so really 2:45 am), to prepare for and arrive at the pediatrician's office for an 8:00 am appointment--and we made it!

We were very happy with our new pediatrician. He said the boys were all doing great. Only Chris needs to gain weight a little better, so we are "spiking" his formula with a little extra calories provided by baby cereal. That has been a little challenging, finding a nipple that does not clog with the cereal (we think that's resolved now). Over the weekend we slowly caught up our laundry, unpacked, and caught up on sleep (somewhat), and started organizing things at home (a little). We still have a ways to go.

I am anticipating the arrival of my parents (specifically my mother who has volunteered to spend a couple months with us, helping with these early challenging days of the boys).

Home At Last

2008-02-14T19:10:00.002-05:00

Everyone is home safe. While the trip was long (we were up most of 30 hours) and we are very tired, everything went very smoothly. Thank you for your prayers. It was very clear in many of the little details that God's hand was on our journey. More later...

Leaving Tonight...

2008-02-13T16:51:00.016-05:00

Dueling Diapers

First Bath

Our Chef, Suzanna holding the boys

It's been nearly six weeks since I traveled out to CA on my own. Now all six of us are anticipating heading to the airport in a few hours to return home. Enjoy the pictures from the last several days we have spent with the Pattens, getting comfortable with the boys. Please pray for a safe and healthy trip, and an uneventful process as possible at the airport.

Next Best Thing to Home

2008-02-09T22:30:00.000-05:00

We arrived at the hospital this morning, unsure whether the boys would come home today or tomorrow. The doctor had discussed the situation with us Friday, especially with regard to Jeff and his mother's comfort level with working with Christopher, Nathan, and Daniel. I learned quickly Friday how much I have learned over the past several weeks, as Jeff and his Mom struggled somewhat with preemie care issues. We brought up the subject with the nurse practitioner, and the decision was made for us. She said the boys are in great shape, and Rebecca can help show Jeff and Grandma everything she knows. (By the end of the day, both Jeff and Grandma Bate were feeling more confident handling the boys.)

So, after two more opportunities to feed the boys at noon and 4, we started getting ready to go. We dressed the boys, detached the hospital monitors, set up the take home apnea monitors, and got them into their car seats. That whole process (and indeed, it WAS a process!) took about an hour and a half, including the 4 o'clock feeding time. We finally pulled out of the hospital and headed for Pattens' house at about 5:30.

I think it kind of hit me in a new way that this was real, and that they are ours about the time we started down the hall out of the NICU toward the elevators. Wow! What an incredible blessing from God.

News Flash

2008-02-07T10:51:00.001-05:00

The neonatologist is anticipating releasing the boys this weekend. On that basis, Jeff and his mother have booked tickets to fly into LAX on Friday around noon. We will all return home (Lord willing) together on Wednesday night/Thursday morning--next week.

Nearing the End...

2008-02-06T11:38:00.000-05:00

Chris, Dan, and Nate

Chris and Dan

I have thoroughly enjoyed having "Grandma" Patten join me in the NICU on some evenings. The boys are all progressing very well. All three boys are out of their isolettes now (and in fact are transferred to a larger shared crib), and their umbilical cord stumps have all fallen off. The boys all weigh over four pounds each now, and are all feeding by bottle all their meals on a flexible schedule (3-4 hours, depending on how much they eat each time). We are nearing the end of our NICU stay, but the boys are still having brady’s (including some spontaneous ones-not related to feeding). The doctor says once they get past that, they will be just about ready to go home.

Please continue to pray, especially, that the boys will mature quickly and grow out of the apnea/brady (breathing/heart rate dip) symptoms that are so common in preemies. It's not a huge problem in the hospital, but for obvious reasons we can't go home until they are pretty much past that.

A Good Doctor's Report...

2008-02-02T20:57:00.000-05:00

Rebecca holding Chris and Dan, "Grandma" Patten holding Nathan

Dan

Nate

Chris

Yesterday I spoke with one of the neonatologists who does rounds at the hospital. He says in a word the boys are doing "Great!" We are looking at one to two more weeks in the hospital. Chris is "nippling" the best of the three (though he is the smallest at just a smidgen short of 4 pounds). They may remove his feeding tube today. He's supposed to be nippling all his meals now. Daniel is at 2 out of 3 meals by bottle (and weighs 4 lb 2 oz), and Nathan is at 1 out of 2 (weighing 4 lb even). All 3 boys are out of their isolettes now, and in open cribs.

18 Days Old Now...

2008-01-31T11:24:00.000-05:00

The boys are continuing to grow and develop well. Daniel, the biggest and middle child of the three weighs 4 lb and 1 oz now. He was supposed to graduate from his isolette last night to an open crib. He's taking two out of every three feedings from a bottle now. Nathan, the youngest, is not far behind, weighing 4 lb 0 oz now. He's actually taking every third feeding by bottle. Christopher the first born is lagging a little behind his younger brothers at 3 lb 13 oz. He's supposed to be taking every other meal by bottle. (And yes, it does seem a bit out of order to me that Chris is getting more bottles than Nate, but that WAS yesterday's order from the doc's.) Regardless, the boys are all doing great. We are still looking at another week and a half to two weeks probably before they will be released.

I also received a special blessing yesterday. Generally the NICU rules permit only grandparents and parents in to see the kids, unless you are a single parent and then they allow you to designate a consistent "support person". Given that situation, and the fact that I have zero family in the area and I'm not single, over the last week and a half, I have been the only one going in to see the kids, alone. Yesterday I received approval to have a support person of my choosing added to the kids' charts as allowed to go in with me any time to see the kids. So, now, the wife of the family I'm staying with while out here, is my "support person". "Grandma" Patten had a wonderful time with me and the boys last night, and we look forward to spending much more time together in the NICU over the coming weeks.

Thanks so much for everyone's continued prayers. I plan to post some new pictures in the next few days...

Progress...

2008-01-25T20:47:00.000-05:00

Daniel weighing in

Chris getting his bottle

Nate going to town

The boys are now 12 days old...and 12 days into their NICU hospital stay. But, they are making progress. Last night at the weigh-in, Chris weighed 3 lb, 7 oz, (gaining 2 oz), and Nate and Dan each weighed 3 lb 10 oz (gaining 1 oz). Watch out you 2...the little (older) brother is catching up.

Also, all three boys took part of a meal by bottle today, and (mostly) did much better than last week's attempt. Dan only took 6 CC's (about 1 tsp), and the nurse decided to try a different nipple with the other two. Chris and Nathan each took about 14 CC's by bottle over about 25 minutes (that's about half an ounce each). The boys all finished their meals by tube feeding. Based on that good work the decision was made to continue bottle feedings once a shift (once each 12 hours), and go from there. A "meal" right now is 30 CC's of formula for Chris, and 33 CC's for Nathan and Daniel.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers. The boys are all doing great...it's only Mom that's a bit homesick right now. It won't be too many more weeks though, hopefully.

Into The Routine

2008-01-23T13:45:00.000-05:00

Jeff doing the obligatory photo-op with Dan, Chris, and Nate before he had to leave

We had a great time Saturday afternoon rocking all three

All is tranquil in Daniel's isolette

Tranquility is shattered as the nurse takes Daniel for his bath. He was not a happy camper!

Over the course of the last week, I have slowly fallen into a routine (though I look forward to the routine at home!) I usually spend several hours in the NICU each day, and generally hold them during feeding times (and sometimes beyond). They are still feeding through a tube. Hopefully in another week or so we will be able to try bottle feeding again. Our new friends out her in CA who I am staying with have been up to the window a couple times, but only parents and grandparents are allowed inside the NICU.

Saturday afternoon, Jeff said his goodbye's to the boys, and had to return home Saturday night. Over the weekend the boys got back up to their birth weight. The boys were remeasured recently and their lengths were apparently off a bit at birth. Dan is 14 1/2", Chris is 14" and Nate is 14 1/2". To the best of our knowledge, the boys are all three identical, since some of the medical reports are saying their was only one placenta for all three!!! Wow! I've been trying to look for differences over the last day or so...I need to keep looking!

I miss everyone at home very much, most of all Jeff and Mary. I can't wait to get back, but I know I'm right where I'm needed right now. I talked to the Neonatalogist this morning and he thinks the babies will need another three weeks before they can go home.

It's Official!!!!!

2008-01-18T00:44:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to let everyone know...our birth mother signed off her parental rights today. We are now legal guardians to Chris, Dan and Nate. Praise the Lord!!!!

Update

2008-01-17T10:22:00.000-05:00

Chris, Dan, Nate. Nate is getting fed his formula through a tube

Chris, Dan, Nate

Nate opening his eyes

I'm writing this post somewhat as an update to fill in some details from the past week. Monday morning I received a call from some new Christians friends we have met locally who have offered me a place to stay (about 15 minutes from the hospital) for the next 3-4 weeks until the boys are released from the hospital. What a blessing!

The paperwork for getting "banded" for NICU access was finally prepared by Monday afternoon, and signed by our birthmother early evening. We were called and told we could come after 8 pm to get banded that evening. We arrived at the hospital at 8:30 approximately in the evening, and no sooner had we stepped off the elevator on the 2nd floor, but a fire alarm went off and a nurse instructed us to go sit in the waiting room. So we waited about half an hour, actually smelled some odors and saw fire department personnel come through (there was a small fire!), and finally all was clear. In the interim a nurse occasionally came through offering any visitors who wanted to, to take the staircase out the building, but we thought that since our boys were there, we weren't going anywhere! Then we were told we would need the birthmother to escort us down to the NICU and identify us personally for banding. As tired and not well as she was feeling, she absolutely insisted on doing that for us that evening. So we got banded for Chris, and went to see him, and were just moving on to Dan when there was a minor emergency in the NICU, and all visitors had to leave for 45 minutes. By then it was 10:30 pm (1:30 am in Jeff's mind), so we decided to wait until morning to finish the process.

It did not take long to learn NICU regulations...washing from fingertip to elbows for three minutes when coming in, don't answer your cell phone unless you want to wash all over again, and use an alcohol sanitizer in between babies. So if I don't answer your phone call, it may mean I'm in the NICU.

By Wednesday, all the boys were off antibiotics and IV's. They are now getting all their nutrition as formula through a feeding tube. It will likely be another week before they attempt bottle feeding (preemies don't learn to suck/swallow/breathe until about 34 weeks). We have been able to do some diaper changes, and yesterday we "fed" them, by holding them and the syringe that releases the formula slowly into their feeding tube. Jeff learned not to try to adjust baby Dan's hat while holding the syringe. He tipped it and gave his gown and pants a nice meal of formula (baby Dan escaped unscathed!) As of yesterday Chris was taking 21 CC's of formula at a time, and Nate and Dan were getting 25 CC's at a time. (A teaspoon is about 5 CC's.) Generally, we only hold them once a day right now, since they all three have jaundice issues, and need to stay under the UV lights to help with that, as much as possible.

When we arrived up at the NICU yesterday, they had been moved over to the somewhat more mature side of the NICU, not that they are that mature, but that the NICU has a lot of very immature babies right now (sometimes it goes the other way). Also, it is beginning to sound like all three may be identical, the rarest form of triplets, since, according to one of the nurses, they were sharing one placenta, with three cords coming out of it.

Please continue to pray for the health of the babies, and for a smooth process of paperwork that will make us legal guardians over the next day or two.

Birth Announcement

2008-01-15T17:35:00.000-05:00

Christopher "Chris" Michael, born 1/13 8:14am

3 lb 0 oz, 16 1/4" long

Daniel "Dan" Isaac, born 8/13 8:15am

3 lb 7 oz, 16" long

Nathan "Nate" Andrew born 1/13 8:16am

3 lb 5 oz, 15" long

Rebecca with Nate

Jeff with Chris, and Rebecca with Dan

Dan and Chris

The babies were born Sunday morning at 32 weeks gestation (8 weeks early). All three babies are doing great for their age and their prognosis is very positive. They will probably stay in the NICU for 3-4 weeks. Rebecca was able to go into the NICU and meet the babies on Monday morning. Jeff arrived Monday afternoon and we were finally "banded" late Monday night so that we could get unrestricted access to the NICU. Tuesday, we spent a good part of the morning holding the babies and talking to the nurses.

The boys are here!

2008-01-13T20:07:00.000-05:00

I can't post a lot of details because I don't have a lot. But the boys are here. They were born about 9 am (PST), weighing 3 pounds approximately each. Everyone is doing fine. I have not seen them yet due to hospital regulations, and paperwork they have to get in order about the adoption, but hopefully that will change tomorrow and I will have pictures. More details to follow...

Interesting Week

2008-01-11T23:58:00.000-05:00

This week has been a roller coaster in many ways, but God's peace has been amazing. I learned some new information, got some paperwork related to the adoption taken care of, and just came to understand the whole situation a little bit better in general.

I have had the opportunity to do some sightseeing. Tuesday I drove up the freeway just past Los Angeles and down Sunset Boulevard, through Hollywood, and partway into Beverly Hills (before a call from our birthmother called me back to Orange). Thursday, I toured the Crystal Cathedral. The church has a beautiful sanctuary building made of glass walls. Friday, I walked through Downtown Disney. Downtown Disney is free (including free parking). It's basically an open area of shops and restaurants set up as part of the Disneyland Resort. The Disney Store, believe it or not, has no Hewey, Dewey, and Louie merchandise (ugh!).

I was also introduced to a new single girl friend local to the area (a friend of a friend) who I was able to go out to dinner with Wednesday and Friday...thanks to some networking by Jeff's Mom.

In California

2008-01-06T20:02:00.000-05:00

After I left for California, Jeff was left behind with paint selections, nursery decor, and a nursery to put together with instructions. Just a hint, we are featuring three ducks...Huey, Dewey, and Louie. I have to give credit to my very creative sister who came for a visit last week, and helped figure out what all needed to be done by Jeff in the meantime to make the guest room a nursery (especially since duck merchandise is not easy to come by).

So, Thursday evening I somewhat nervously arrived in a new part of a large city I had never been in before, and made it out to the area where the birth mother lives. The trip was fine, other than a car seat that got lost by the airlines. However, that is minor considering it could have been my whole suitcase full of clothes.

Friday afternoon I met our Birth Mother for the first time in person. She was tired and uncomfortable, as you might expect if you were 31 weeks pregnant with triplets. I was even able to feel the babies moving through her belly. That was pretty cool. Over the weekend we have spent more time visiting together off and on, and getting to know each other better, as well as getting some "administrative" questions of hers and mine answered at a lunch with her attorney that is here locally.

Sunday I had the opportunity to attend a local Independent Baptist Church referred to me by my sister and brother in law's senior pastor (they live in CA). I met some wonderful new people and it was a refreshing time to spend with other Christian people.

Throughout December...

2008-01-04T14:20:00.000-05:00

We had been waiting for the call from the adoption attorney's office for several months, so you can imagine I was bouncing off the walls when they said triplets..and Jeff was banging his head against the wall, "She's crazy!" After we conveyed our interest and were confirmed on the match (while in Texas for Thanksgiving), we hit the ground running with plans for the nursery, and how in the world we are going to handle three preemie newborns.

As the month progressed and the holidays drew to a close, various circumstances led us to believe that it was God's timing for Rebecca to head out to California. By the end of December, our Birth Mother was about 31 weeks pregnant (and who knows how much longer until the triplets would be born). So Rebecca flew out on the third of January.

Expecting Triplets

2007-11-28T10:08:00.000-05:00

Yes, we are expecting, but not in the usual way. No, we have to go all the way to California where a set of three boys is scheduled to be delivered sometime in January, eight or so weeks early. The babies will likely be in the Neonatal ICU for several weeks.

Our daughter Mary was adopted 2.5 years ago and we have been pursuing adding a baby boy to our family. We never dreamed that "he" would be "three". We are very excited about this opportunity and looking forward to the challenge.

Please pray for us as we prepare for our new additions. Please also pray for the birth mother and the babies' safe delivery.