Lilypie Kids Birthday tickers
Lilypie Kids Birthday tickers

Monday, November 29, 2010

Two Peas in a Pod

Chris and Sydney looking cute with their bandages. Chris's was also a cyst but just a quick procedure at the Dermatologist office.

Sydney's was a little more in depth because of her age. She developed a cyst on her forehead when she was about six months old. It looked like a bite of some sort at first, then it turned darker and looked like a little bruise in the middle of her forehead.

The scientific name for it is Pilomatricoma. Dr. Lyon, the Pediatric Dermatology Surgeon, said it would never go away on its own but that it could grow in size. The sooner we could have it removed the better for scarring purposes. We wanted to wait until she was one year because of the risks of going under anesthesia go down dramatically. It is kind of crazy that she had to be put under for this, however because of her age, and the fact that it is on a very delicate part of her body, it was the only option.

Syd was a complete sweetie all morning! Her procedure was delayed about two hours and considering she had nothing but a bit if apple juice for 18 hours prior, she did amazing.

She was getting pretty sleepy while we were waiting so she zonked out for a good hour and when she woke up she looked so adorable, hair all messed up and rosy little cheeks! Then the nurse came in to give her a little sedative to get ready to take her in and get her prepped for the procedure. It was so funny, because after a few minutes with the sedative in her system she started babbling and chatting really loud. The Anesthesiologist came in to talk to us and then the surgical nurses and she was babbling non stop, they all got a real kick out of her!

Coming out of the anesthesia was a little tough on her, she seemed a little disoriented, but she downed two large bottles of apple juice and seemed a lot better. I think she was a bit sore from the tube being down her throat, but she handled it all like a champ!!!

This is how it looks now, not bad, I think the scar should be quite small and blend well. Fingers crossed!

Brooke and Wrigley's Bed

Brooke really got a kick out of rolling around on Wrigley's bed, I know it's kind of gross, but she was giggling and having a blast!





She is hilarious!

Giving Thanks for our Blessings on Thanksgiving

Taylor
Sydney
Brooke


We had a houseful on Thanksgiving and it was wonderful. We are so thankful for so many things this year! It is unbelievable to see how far Brooke, Taylor and Sydney have come in the last year. They are three healthy beautiful happy little girls. We had almost the entire family together for the holiday. Chris's parents and my parents, Aunt Beth and Justo, Auntie Ang and my Aunt Sissy from PA. Unfortunately Uncle Eric was unable to make it due to health concerns with his Mother. We are praying for her! There was a lot of activity around here with having a ball with the girls! Once again we split up the cooking which I am so very thankful for. Everything was absolutely delicious, a HUGE thank you to everyone, those cooking made delicious food and those who did not cook kept the girls very busy which I really love to see. In fact the food was so yummy, when I asked Chris what he wanted to do for Christmas, he said anything as long as we can replicate the Thanksgiving meal somehow. He LOVED it!!!!

Now that the girls have been eating adult food for awhile now, I was looking forward to seeing how they would enjoy the traditional Thanksgiving fare. (God knows I do not cook like that daily or really ever these days!) All three girls seemed to love everything from the broccoli cheese casserole to the stuffing (my fav) and even ate a bunch of turkey. I just love my little eaters! There was also a lot of steps being taken over the course of the weekend. No one is officially walking yet, but 4-5 steps on their own is getting close!

Here are a bunch of snapshots from the weekend:

My Family
Chris's Family
Great Aunt Sissy with Taylor, Auntie Beth with Syd, Auntie Ang with Brooke
Auntie Ang with her nieces
Auntie Beth and Justo with the crew
Great Aunt Sissy making faces with Syd
Story time with Auntie Ang
Auntie Beth managing the train
Mom's necklace was a hit
Syd admiring Dad's wedding ring

The Day Before Thanksgiving

This is a day that we will never forget! One year ago, the day before Thanksgiving, we brought our beautiful little girls to their home to begin our life together as a family. What a wild day that was, first time parents, having our babies in the hospital for 53 days and then bringing all three of our tiny daughters home for Thanksgiving was incredibly special for us! This day before Thanksgiving was so very different than last. The sounds of happy squeals, chatter and giggles was what we heard this year and it was amazing!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

All the Funny Things...and a Few Steps

Everyday it seems there is something funny and new that makes us laugh with these kiddos. There is so much activity around here, NEVER a dull moment. Much of our day is spent in the play room, it is so awesome to have this space. I think it is one major reason I am still of sound mind (most of the time). The thought of watching three kids going three separate ways exploring everything in the house makes my blood pressure rise. I often wish I could let them explore the house like most kids do, but that would be simply dangerous with three. Especially since our main floor is very open so there are few walls to gate off areas.

Busy girls:
Having fun in their new kitchen:
Anyway, I am very thankful for the safety of our playroom! There is little in that room that would allow for major injury. Unless, your name is Brooke and you take every toy in the room and find the most dangerous way to use it, then injury is always a possibility. Lately she likes to stand up and climb on everything. Take her shopping cart for example, she likes to stand on and try to balance on the wheels. Dad was showing here this weekend how to put food and toys into the cart instead of herself!!! The same with her little scooter, she likes to stand on the seat instead of sit. Again, not safe since it is on wheels. Brooke has started taking a few steps on her own, I think three is her best so far. She has also gotten more aggressive with her toy stealing! She is not sly at all, and if you take her toy you will be sorry! This child is crazy, she has NO fear, so nothing has really changed!

Brooke acting dangerously:
Taylor has been really verbal lately. She will stand completely balanced for a long period of time and chatter to her "imaginary friends". She is very serious about it and uses a lot of had gestures. It is very sweet to watch. Taylor seems to have the best balance so far and has taken the most steps consistently. She has taken 4-5 steps a number of times, I think she will be our first walker. She also is a little snuggle bug. Usually in the afternoon she likes to come sit or lay be me and put her head on my shoulder and just hang out. I love this! She has been the most chill lately too, very little fussing or crying. She is the first to hand over her toys. She rarely gets upset if someone comes and swipes her toy, unlike her sisters who throw a fit!!! That is not to say she doesn't swipe her fair share of toys.

Taylor standing, chatting using her famous hand gestures:
Sydney is loving life on the move! She is such a happy little girl now that she can get where ever she wants to. She is all over the place! Busia has made everyone in the family a cozy fleece blanket with fringes all around it and suddenly, Sydney loves them all and will crawl up to one lay her head down and snuggle in. It is really cute! She is also talking a lot more and making more and more sounds that sound like words. She definitely says Mama and Dada appropriately. Over the weekend Chris went in to get the girls in the morning and I was still downstairs and when he opened the door I heard a very excited "DADA", my heart melted. She does the same with Mama and I just love it, no longer is Mama reserved for when she is unhappy and screaming!!! She is doing so much better with the crying, she is not screaming every time I leave the room and has much fewer fits at the dinner table! Whew! She still gets a little frustrated quickly, but she is really so much happier now! Syd really gets worked up when her sister takes her toy, but has no problem grabbing theirs. She loves her sisters and I often see her looking at them and smiling or all out giggling! She is super ticklish, especially around her neck, I love to get her going, she has the best giggles! Oh, and she has now suddenly figured out how to suck rather than blow with the straw and is loving it!

Syd crawling around being silly:
Loving sucking through straws!!!


We still have the bedtime bottle which the girls absolutely love! I am not taking that away just yet. But, as far as the sippy cups, they really seem to prefer the cups with the straws. They are doing incredibly well with them and I am thrilled. Overall everyone has been very healthy so far. I hesitate to say this, but the runny noses that we couldn't seem to get rid of a few months ago have been non existent and no other illnesses to speak of. I pray this trend will continue. I will say we have had a few bad days of teething lately. Butts have been more red, drooling has increased, fingers in the mouth are more common and rashes on the face are back. It is a tough time for the little ones, and I feel bad for them. I can always tell with Brooke especially, she bites things more. Today she was snuggling with me an bit my stomach, boy did that hurt, mostly because it was unexpected. She then was trying like crazy to take my fingers and put my fingers in her mouth and bite them. That was not going to happen, so she settled for a teething ring, which I was happy about. A few months back I remember her coming up behind me and biting my back, I hope this is not a sign that she will be "the biter". Ugh. I really think it is linked to teething, at least so far, fingers crossed!

Mealtime has changed a lot too, they now are and have been for awhile now on all food food. We now put a plate in front of them and they completely self-feed. What a great thing this is. The spoon thing in not yet on the radar, but we will get there. They pretty much love every food I put in front of them, thankfully! Some things they eat regularly: bagels, scrambled eggs, pancakes, waffles, bananas, pears, peaches, yogurt, applesauce, ravioli, pbj sandwiches, avocados, kiwi, grapes, salmon, tilapia, veggies, potatoes, chicken nuggets, turkey meatballs, blueberries. I am blessed with good little eaters, so far!

Story Time with Grandma and Grandpa

What better way to end a day than to have story time with Grandma and Grandpa? I can never get them all to pay that kind of attention to me when I read to them!!??!!


Grandma with Brooke

Grandpa with Taylor and Sydney

Everyone is tuned in, well almost everyone...Brooke is enjoying the photo opp

Saturday, November 27, 2010

A Little Exercise and A New Play Room Makes for an Exciting Day

We decided to invest in a treadmill for the basement so that we have an exercise option at home. There are many days that I wish I could get in a little cardio during nap time. Yes, I am aware there are other cardio options other than a treadmill, however I am not ashamed to admit I lose motivation quickly when some chick or dude on a video is calling moves at me. I can always find something else I should be doing. Sooooooo, we brought a sweet treadmill so I can walk and maybe even one day get back into running. Chris is not a big fan of running on a treadmill, but with big bad man winter on his way it is a great option without having to go to the club.

The coolest part about having this set up in the basement is the little play area we created. Typically the afternoons from 3:00 until Chris gets home at 6:00 can be a little cumbersome and now we have an option for a change of scenery and Mama gets to burn some calories and get those endorphins flowin'!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

I Just Had to Share This...

As hard as it may be to believe, this is actually not far from the conversations I have every time I take all three girls out and about. Not making eye contact is the key to avoiding this kind of interrogation! The thing I really do not understand is when all three girls are dressed in pink and the same, why people ask which one is the boy, or they say Boys? I mean really. I know they don't have much hair, well Brooke and Taylor at least, so there are no piggy tails to make it obvious, but come on people...

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Sydney is CRAWLING!!!



Sydney has come incredibly far in the last month and a half! We could not be more proud of her, way to work Sydney!!! She has been working very hard at PT and OT and is now officially done with OT! She is such a happier little girl with her increased independence and getting around on her own. She is keeping right up with her sisters. Suddenly she is obsessed with climbing the stairs which is so cute to watch. Now we put all the girls on the stairs on the way to bed and away they go. It is so fun to watch because when they get to the top they take off like they are racing!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Daddy's Music Always Works...


This went for close to an hour, the girls are mesmerized by the music Daddy plays. They also like to touch everything, so that makes it a little challenging.


When things get tough around here Chris usually turns to his music to relax the pack! It always works! Thank God for his talent!

Brooke was really fussy this afternoon so Dad took her away and worked his magic through music! She looks pretty happy now!!!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Mini Mouse is in the House...

Grandma and Grandpa were on vacation in Orlando and look what they brought back....
Brooke
Sydney
Taylor




Thanks so much, everything you brought back is adorable!!!

Gone are the Infant Seats....Oh My


We have moved on to the convertible car seats, whoo hoo! The girls were getting super heavy in the infant seats, it is hard to believe the days where we would carry two at a time no problem. It got to a point it took to hands for me to carry one!!! I must admit I will miss the snap and go stroller, it was a breeze! Now lugging the triple stroller around is going to take a bit of getting used to for me!
Taylor seems happy and pretty indifferent!!!

Sydney looks a bit freaked out about facing forward!!!
Brooke is having a ball (she was laughing just before the camera clicked!!!