Merry Christmas 2007

Well, it's been a pretty amazing Christmas week for the the girls and ourselves. We spent Christmas Eve at Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jim's. Last year, we had the girls cordoned off in the room with the Christmas tree to keep the girls separated from their little cousins. This year, we could have used to have the girls cordoned off from the tree because they loved taking ornaments off and putting them back on. Overall, they did very well and managed to stay awake until 8 PM. Here they are at the kids' table.


On Christmas morning, once we convinced the girls to leave their new Fridge Phonics magnets in the kitchen, they came in to the TV room where all their gifts from Santa were waiting for them. Olivia was the first one in and the first one to go through their new Playhut tunnel. They all took a pass or two through the tunnel before moving on to opening their wrapped gifts. They got lots of Little People but Singing Pizza Elmo was the biggest hit.
Lila looking out the Playhit sunroof

Livi playing with Ava inside the Playhut.

Liv and Dad popping their heads out the top.



We ate dinner at Grandmom and Pop-pop Joe's. The girls once again did real well and opened even more presents from Uncle Mike & Aunt Jen, Uncle Billy & Aunt Suzy, and Great Pop & Cammi. They got a bunch of great gifts and were very good during dinner. They once again stayed up until we left at 8. All three were sound asleep when we got home and slept until 7 AM.

It was quite a different holiday this year as opposed to last year. We were still running 24 hours a day at the time and one of us had to be up Christmas Eve night. This year has turned out to be much easier, even if the girls have started to develop little attitudes!!


Merry Christmas!

'Tis the Season

Here are some pics of the girls getting into the holiday spirit. Olivia is wearing santa ear muffs. Lila and Ava each took turns being a set of christmas lights. Also, there is a picture of the gingerbread house Mike and I built while the girls took a nap one day (trust me it is easier that way!) Christmas morning should be more fun this year than last!! We were pretty sleep deprived last year. We are looking forward to seeing the girls reaction to what Santa leaves for them! I guess you will have to check back to see what it is!!




From all of us in this crazy house - we want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday!!! Thanks for another year of love and support. We really appreciate it! Hope Santa brings you everything on your list!!!

Lots of Love,
Mike, Lisa, Lila, Olivia and Ava

A Few Firsts Today

Today we took the girls with us food shopping and then, on the way home, stopped by the Kids Kuts to get Olivia a haircut for Christmas. Rudolph was on the TV in the shop, so Livi was happy...until we put her on the seat. She screamed for the few minutes it took to trim up her lovely locks.
We also stopped on the way home to get the girls plates with suction cups so that they can stop eating right off the table. We tried them at dinner and the picture just about describes how well that went. Lila figured out that if she slid it to the end of the table, the suction would break and she could then dump all the contents. The three little blue things in the picture are where the plates ended up after all was said and done.

Finally, after the dinner mess, the girls got a bath. During their bath, Lisa brushed their teeth for the first time. They opened right up and seemed to enjoy it. They only really cried when Lease had to take them away after the bath was over.

It was a good day of firsts!

A fun weekend!

We had a really fun weekend with our well behaved triplets! OK, now I am just bragging but for all we put them through they are troopers. Last Friday we drove to Smithville on our way to Sea Isle. Had lunch at the Inn there, where they were so good, and walked all around. Mostly they chased the chickens and roosters that they had there. Saturday we went to the Cape May christmas parade. I thought the parade started at 4 but it was 5. We got into town, had a late lunch/early dinner at Congress Hall and walked around town for a bit. Then we drove to the start of the parade so we would atleast see some of it before the girls gave up for the night. Again, they were so good in Congress Hall. It is amazing. I think people see us coming and they panic. Like "oh no, these people with all these babies are sitting right next to us!!" Then the girls just eat and make us laugh the whole time. We lasted until 6:15 at the parade which I thought was pretty good. Sunday was a lazy rainy day and then we came home. It was just a really nice fun weekend.

Happy First Birthday to Shamus and Tobin!!! We went to their birthday playdate yesterday and the girls had a blast!! Between 5 women we had 11 babies under 15 months and two older siblings!! We got some video of it all and I think we should post it on Youtube!! People won't believe that we are still sane (I guess that is debatable for some of us)!!!

Not the sharpest tool in the shed!!! It's Ava!
The girls in the first snow of the season. Ava, Lila and Olivia. This was cut short because Lila wouldn't leave her boots on!!!

My girls can talk!!

Well, at least sign. After watching sign language dvds and practicing with them since they were 4 months, Olivia is signing her heart out!!! She does eat, more, stars, bath, sleepy. Ava and Lila do it but with more coaxing. The other day we were watching our dvd and Ava was trying to do the signs along with the movie. I'm so proud of them! It is crazy to see them learning so much all the sudden. They know where their shoes go, who their sisters are, and can point out dog, cat, banana in their books. We spent so much time worried about them that every new "trick" is amazing!!

From the "strange foods that my kids like" file. At lunch, I had sliced apples and a bowl of cauliflower on the table. Ava is pointing so I think she wants the apples; what kid asks for cauliflower? Nope, she wanted the veggie!! Crazy kids!!

Thanksgving weekend update

We had quite a busy weekend but haven't gotten a chance to update the blog. So, I'll start with the Thanksgiving holiday. We took the girls to the Philly Thanksgiving Day Parade where we met with their Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jim as well as their cousins Ryan, Bobby and Eddie. The girls warmed up the parade after a while and started pointing at the balloons as they went by. Olivia bonded with Ryan and wouldn't let anyone else take her from him. All in all, they were very good the whole time.





For dinner, we went to Burlington and ate with Grandmom and Pop-pop Joe, Aunt Jen & Uncle Mike, Aunt Suzy & Uncle Billy, Aunt Paula & Uncle Ray and Aunt Gretty & Uncle Tim. We ate in shifts as there was not quite enough room for all of the adults to eat at the same time as the babies. But we did get a good, full meal (except Lisa missed out on pie because Lila decided it was time for us to go home). We got one of our first good comparison shots between last year and this year...













Friday morning, Lisa went Black Friday shopping with Jen and I held down the fort with the little monsters. We had a perfectly fine, incident free morning. I did, of course, put them in their rock shirts (Lila wore Tool, Livi wore Johnny Cash, and Ava wore the Ramones).

Saturday we took the girls to get their Christmas portraits taken with Marrero Photography. For those who don't know, the Marreros were our wedding photographers way back when. They warmed up pretty quickly and made themselves at home. Ava especially liked one of their lighting props. We should be getting a disc int he mail soon.

Finally, Sunday was my birthday. So to celebrate that great day in history, we took the girls into Philadelphia to see the light show at the Wannamaker building which is now Macy's. We also learned that the old Dickens Village animatronic display from Strawbridge's is now at Macy's as well. We got to the store just as the light show started and the girls were looking up and pointing at everything. They were unaffected by the Dickens Village. After mom and dad went outside to get some Dunkin Donuts libations, we caught the whole light show from start to finish. The girls seemed to enjoy and even started crying a bit when it was over.



























All in all, it was a hell of a weekend.

"Give Love"

That is what we tell the girls to get them to hug their dolls. It is so cute!! Now they are hugging each other!! Olivia goes after her sisters with a big open mouth and tries to kiss them. Of course the whole thing usually ends with a pile up. We have moved the girls into restaurant style high chairs and we all sit at the kitchen table and eat now. One big happy family dinner!! These girls are crazy with food. New favorites include pomegranite seeds, cranberry sauce, veggie burgers, broccoli is an old favorite, but they don't like mac and cheese!!

Looks like Lila will be getting shoes soon!! She is walking really well. A handful of steps and then a fall. We went to Ocean and Motion with Poppop Joe yesterday. It is an indoor play place with all ocean and fish themed toys. The floor is padded so the kids just go and play. They have a little trampoline there. Lila climbed up onto it, stood up, held onto the handle and started bouncing up and down. I just sat and watched and couldn't believe it!!! She was so proud of herself with that grin on her face!! They played hard for 2 1/2 hours and crashed for bed at 7!!

Mommy ran away!!

Well, it was just one night! I went to the NJ Association of Twins' Mothers Clubs Convention with SJ Moms of Multiples this weekend. There was 8 of us in two rooms!! We had so much fun. Laughing and drinking and carrying on, crazy moms of multiples!! I think we were just happy not to be changing diapers! It was a fun weekend and I am glad I went. I feel recharged and ready to tackle my two walkers now! That's right, Olivia is our second walker. She kinda does a frankenstein walk but she is doing it! Ava and Olivia both got their first pair of shoes. Lila is trying to walk and she will be there soon. She is our talker. I just can't believe how much they do everyday. It is really amazing.

Happy Birthday Aunt Jenny!

LET'S GO FLYERS!

I got them Flyers jerseys as any good father should.

Our First Halloween

Got the pictures added!

It was quite a success!!! The girls were a circus train. They rode in the choo choo wagon, Ava was the lion, Lila the clown and Olivia the zebra. We even had some balloons flying off the back of the wagon. It was really cute. Aunt Jen and Uncle Mike came over with Jake and we took the girls trick or treating. It was looking debatable whether they would make it but once the wagon got rolling, they were great. We just went around the big block in our neighborhood, but we got to stop at a bunch of houses and see the people we normally see on our walks. They held their candy buckets for the most part, Ava kept chucking candy overboard. As soon as someone put candy in Lila's bucket, she took it out and put it in the bottom of her wagon car. When we got home, you couldn't see her feet because of the candy!!! Olivia is very smart ( I hate to brag but what the heck) - this child has never seen a lollipop in her short life, however she managed to figure out what to do with it!! It went right in her mouth wrapper and all. So we took the wrapper off and she had her first and last (for a while) lollipop!!! Of course then the other two had to have one so all three ended up with a lollipop. This was after Olivia bite through the wrapper of a kit kat bar and was eating about 1/4 of it!!! She did spit the wrapper out for me!! So they had a good time, laughing and talking the whole time!
Tuesday was the official one year that Ava and Lila have been home with us. Today is Olivia's anniversary. I have to admit I was a little weepy over it. That is why we are calling this year the girls' first halloween. I guess it is their first halloween together!!!

Walking Tall

Ava is officially our first walker!!! I know she has been taking steps here and there but now she is a full fledged toddler!!! She does more walking than crawling now. It is so funny to see her though because she is small for her age and looks funny walking around. Then she stops and gives you that classic Ava look, squinty eyes and silly grin.

Last weekend we took the girls to Washington Crossing state park for the afternoon. We had a picnic lunch and then let them loose in the grass with their push carts. Here are some good shots of the girls in their fall jackets.



Here is a shot of one of the girls' favorite things...looking out the front door. In this shot they are wearing their onesies we got them from M&M's World in NYC.

Pumpkin Pickin'

Today we took the girls to Indian Acres farm to go pumpkin picking with their Aunt Jen. They played around in the fake tractor for a little while then we took the ride back to the pumpkin patch. Ava had a bit of temper tantrum on the cart on the way to the patch, but she settled once we were off and walking around. Aside from that, we had a great time.

Livi and Lila on the tractor
Lila in the faux wagon
Ava being admired by an older gentleman
Ava picking up her pumpkin
Livi likes that one

Lila sitting in the pumpkin patch.

Back on the wagon! We had a hard time getting Livi to not eat her pumpkin.

In other news, we have switched the girls over to all milk now as we have used up the last of our Similac powder. They don't seem to notice at all. They drink mostly out of the sippy cups and get one bottle per day before they go to bed. Ava decided to scream from 3:30 to 4:30 last night and when she got up for the dat at 6, she ate everything Lisa gave her. So now, in addition to a bottle of milk before bed, they are haveing a cereal bar to try to fill them up.

One Year Checkup

We had the girls' checkup today and they passed with flying colors. The doctor saw no issues with their development. She actually said she has seen non-preemie 1-year olds that do less than our girls.

It's been a while since the last height-weight update, so here it is:
Lila is 21# 11oz., 30 1/4" tall
Olivia is 23# 1 oz., 30" tall
Ava is 20# 4 oz., 30" tall

So Ava and Livi are the same exact height, only three pounds difference in weight, but Olivia needs her seat belt loosened in the stroller. We think it's because Ava is non-stop all day long. Whatever she eats, she burns off.

As a prize for getting four shots each, we took the girls to the zoo. This was probably the first trip where they really saw most of the animals that we pointed out, especially the smaller, very active monkeys. We got a few comments about the girls, but they were all positive. We actually had an older gentlemen tell me "You're the richest man in the world." That was probably one of the nicest comments we've ever gotten while out in the general public

Here is a picture of the girls enthralled with the gorilla statue. We were trying to take a shot of them, but they wouldn't look away from the statue. (Lila is pointing to the statue in case you can't see it.)

WE MADE IT

Sunday was the girls' first birthday. As everyone who's been reading this knows, we've had quite a ride.

Friday we got the girls' 1st birthday portraits. The fact that we were able to get some pictures taken made us happy enough.

Saturday we had the big party. Lila slept for the first few hours, but once she woke up, she seemed to enjoy herself along with her sisters. They got a ton of great gifts from all their friends and family and we thank everyone who was able to make it. To no one's great surprise, Olivia was the one who absolutely loved the cake. Lila was happy with it, but Ava wanted no part of it.

Sunday we had our parents over for dinner and some more cake. We got our free 1st birthday cakes from Acme and the girls had at it again with similar results. Livi was digging in two-fisted, Lila dug a hole int he top of hers and Ava cried. They all got a good bath after that!

Overall, it's been an amazingly long and short year all at the same time. We really can't believe that they are 1, but there's no denying it now that they are scooting around with their walkers and playing with each other.