Long overdue...

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

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.