Toddler Beds

We moved them to toddler beds today, or I should say Mark moved them to toddler beds because he did all of the work. Here are some pictures of them before bedtime tonight

THE most amazing grandparents in the world

Today my mom and dad spent hours at my house with the people setting up the kids new swingset, which they purchased for the kids for their birthday. To kill some time, my mom cleaned the house and folded all the laundry (like 4 baskets worth!) and vacuumed, and my dad weeded our backyard. They always do so much for us and GIVE so much to us- I am so lucky to have them!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are some pictures of the kids on their new swingset, they love it and weren't at all interested in coming inside...I wonder why.

First Mariners game

Cassie went to her first Mariners game on Saturday night with daddy. She had a blast, and came home with a new tee shirt and a pink Mariner's monkey, whom she drags all over the house with her, he even went to daycare today.






As you can see in this video, she was getting her grove on at the game!

She knows her name

The kids got bored playing outside this afternoon and wanted to color. I decided to help Cassie write out her name and she really loved doing it (she's not into herself at all, LOL!). Mark got this video of us, I love how she sounds so proud of saying her own name

We had a lot of outside play time this weekend in the nice HOT weather. They really like sitting on the porch in the chairs, I don't know what it is about them but they ask all the time to go out there.

And then Cassie was sunbathing outside, no joke! The boys were running around, jumping in and out of the pool, but all she wanted to do was lay down on the (very hot I might add) cement and just relax there. She is absolutely my daughter!!!!!

Half way to 50

Another celebration this weekend was my 25th birthday, or as my mother keeps reminding me... I'm now half way to 50 years old, LOL. I suppose that's one way to look at it.

Thanks to my mom watching the kiddos this weekend, Mark was able to take me out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. It was actually my first time at this location, we went to Daniels Broiler on the Seattle waterfront. We had a wonderful dinner and some "quite" time to talk without the pitter patter of little feet and the screeches that come from three two year olds.

Then we spent Sunday afternoon at my Mom and Dad's house, letting the kiddos play outside in the pool (cassie was seriously DIVING into the water-that crazy girl) and celebrating our anniversary and my birthday. My mom even made me a delicious cake with LOTS of sprinkles!!!! I also got the gift I've been wanting for SOOOO long- Thank you mom and dad!

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend!

6 years ago today

I can't believe it's been 6 years since we said our vows on the beautiful Lopez Island in front of our family and friends. In those 6 years I've joined the Navy, we've moved to California and back to Washington, Mark graduated from Washington State University and we have 3 of the most beautiful children I've ever seen. It has been an amazing 6 years and we have been SO blessed!

No Regrets

Mark was working late the other night and I was laying in bed with Tristan next to me all snuggled up in my arm with his head resting on my chest and I remember thinking, "Gosh he fits so perfectly in my arms" (and I'm going to get all mushy on you now.... )"I am the luckiest woman alive to have these 3 beautiful perfect little children to tuck into bed every night. How amazing my life is now and my God how it has changed in the last 3 years" and I was crying as I laid there thinking about it all.

I know what some of you are thinking, "you take the kids to bed with you?!?!?!?!?!" and the answer to this is NO, we don't "take" the kids to bed with us. However, every once in a while I like to sneak into the kids room after they are asleep and pick one of them up to take and cuddle with me. Sometimes it's after I've had a rough day at work, or if I am feeling lonely because I'm home alone but mostly it's because I want NO REGRETS with my children. And I'm not striving for perfection here, but rather that when I lay my head down each night, I don't want to think back on the day and realize there are things I didn't do that I wanted to (involving my children).

I have my husband to thank for the encouragement to do this, to just go grab a baby and bring them back to bed for some snuggles. I was talking about it one night with him and told him that sometimes I just want to do that, but don't want to get in a bad habbit of having them in our bed. His anwer was perfect and was just what I was thinking, "you might as well do it, you don't want to regret not doing it when they are older". So that's just what I've been doing.

No regrets kiddos, no regrets...

Spaghetti Factory

Tonight Nana and Grandaddy invited us to dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory... it's fast becoming a tradition (which we really enjoy!!!!). Auntie Rachael and Uncle T were over visiting for the afternoon and mom and dad invited them but T had previous activities arranged. So Rach came to dinner with us and T went to play football. The kids did REALLY good at dinner, our server wasn't exactly...um, timely. He left us hanging a few too many times and the kiddos got bored and impatient, but despite that fact, they did really good for such a long dinner. Here are a few candid shots from the night.

and yes, they are in their pajamas. It was a really lazy Sunday and the dinner invite came late in the day. So we just took them in their PJ's. Hey, at least they were comfortable.

and here is granddaddy's newest invention:

Maybe safer trips to and from the car? They still don't have it down but it's a work in progress.

Attack of the cat

Every once in a while, Zain our white fluffy cat will play with the kids. If he's not busy being chased by them, or attacked by them, or having one of the kids fall on top of him (with their WHOLE body), you might find him in a position where he is slightly able to defend himself against our little busy bodies. Here's a video Mark caught the other night....sorry for the movement, he found the whole scene hillarious and had a hard time controlling his laughter.

Spanking anyone?

So our really sweet neighbor Jeanne brought this toy over the other day for the kiddos. They really like it, but when Tristan first saw it, he decided to start punishing it. They don't get spakings that often, they are pretty darn good kids. But he must get enough of them because this is what I caught on video:

In case you can't understand what he is saying, he is telling the toy "no" and then asking it if it wants a "spanking" (pankin), then he says "Not Nice", some more "pankins" and then he says something I can't understand, like "shishishi shesh" then a few more "no's" and some more "pankin" threats.

I LOVE his laugh

I caught daddy and Ry having a fun time the other day

Family pictures

We went and had some family pictures taken to day. For the life of the photographer, she could NOT get Tristan to smile. He was so serious! He wouldn't even smile for Mark or I. Silly guy, but Ryland and Cassie both did more than enough smiling. Here are the pictures:

Girls night out

This past Saturday night, I got together with some of my girlfriends from Junior High (yep, you read that right, 7th and 8th grade!!!!!) and we went to Valhalla's in Kirkland. Lauren brought along a friend Jessica, Katie's friend Rachel met up with us and Rachel who went to High School with Katie and Lauren came as well.
Most of us are mom's now, Lauren has an adorable daughter Brianna who is 5 months, Rachel has a 5 year old daughter and a 2 month old son, and Jessica has an adopted daughter. Lauren's boyfriend Tommy was sweet enough to offer to pick us up and let us crash at their place, so we didn't have to worry at all about a DD.

When we finally got it figured out as to where we were going and what we were doing, oh, and who was coming along, (LOL) we ate quickly at TGI Friday's and then up the hill to Valhalla's we went. When we first go there, it was pretty empty and we sat down in the red room. I wasn't too excited, figured it would be a boring night. Man was I wrong!
I kind of turned my nose up at Katie when she said it was 80's night and she was going to drag my butt out on the floor. A few drinks later and a full dance floor, and there I was shaking my booty right next to her, Lauren, Rachel, Rachel and Jessica. I had a blast and can't wait to do it again!

Here are some pictures from the night

A child's safety is EVERYBODY's business

I was at a friends apartment a few weeks back and noticed a mother placing a newborn sized infant, in an infant carseat like this one:

Then I noticed the mother placing the baby in the car facing forward. I turned to Mark and said something about it and he told me it wasn't really any of my business. Maybe he was right, she was a perfect stranger and who am I to give her carseat advice. Plus, I know I roll my eyes at a lot of "well intended advice" that people throw my way about my children. Maybe she wouldn't care, maybe I would annoy her.... and so I kept on walking.

I wish I would have said something, and from now on I will. Afterall, a child's safety is EVERYBODY's business.

Fast forward a few weeks and I am getting out of my car at work. One of my friends is with me and says something about the car parked next to us. It belongs to one of our other co-workers who has a daughter around 3 years old. In the back there is an infant seat for the baby they just had a few months ago, and a booster seat for his oldest daughter. According to the standards for the state of Washington, he is "correct" in having her in a booster seat with a seatbelt securing her. However, after all the horriffic stories I've heard lately about children being moved to boosters too soon, I felt the need to say something to him.

So I forwarded him a link to the Kyle David Miller video on You tube and told him that I didn't want to step on his toes, but I wanted to give him some information that he might not know. He later told me he watched the video, but that the decision to move their daughter to a booster was beetween him and his wife and she's staying in the booster. I was surprised, and he is right, it is their choice.

I wish there were stronger laws about this, more specific criteria about height and weight minimums before you move your children to a booster with just a seatbelt securing them.

There are now carseats available to 5 point harness your children to 80 lbs, you better believe we will have our children in one of those. The newest one on the market is the Britax Frontier, it holds a child in a 5 point harness to 80 lbs, and then you can use it as a booster up to 100 lbs.

2006 Honda Oddysey and Peg Perego Triplette SW

For a fellow triplet mom.... hope this helps you figure out your car situation :)



To see the captions that explain the pictures a bit better please put your mouse in the lower left corner and click on the title of the slideshow. This will take you to our Picasa albums, where you can enlarge the pictures as well.

It takes me about 2 minutes to pop both wheels off, put the stroller in the trunk and close it.
We put the seats to the stroller in the area of the 2nd row where we removed the "captains chair" behind the driver.

Almost 2

Many thanks to a fellow triplet mom, Amanda for designing this card for us www.preppyandpinkdesigns.com

In just a little over a month, we will be celebrating the kiddo's 2nd birthday. I can't believe it, they are going to be 2. These past two years have flown by so fast and I can't believe how big they are.

Who are you?

Daycare has taught Tristan a neat way of identifying himself. Check it out in this video:

Earning their keep

That's right, to live here you've got to earn your keep! They start washing their clothes by hand early in our house, not even two and already doing their own laundry.

RUN RYLAND RUN, YOUR SHADOWS GONNA GET YOU

I tried to catch a video of this but was only successful in getting a picture. It was hillarious to watch Ryland see his shadow to the side of him and try to run away from it, stop to see if it was still there, see it again and go running faster, stop and still see it right there next to him. and then the funniest part of all... he face plants in the pool because he's still running as his head is turned and watching the shadow behind him. Gosh I love these kids, at minimum once a day they've got me laughing so hard I cry

They are at such a fun age, they love asking for hugs, it seems to be their new favorite thing to do and how they say it is so cute "ug" "ug pease" "pease". We are still working hard on our manners, but they seem to be catching on well. We only have to prompt sometimes for please and thank you's and Ryland's even taken to saying "awcome" (you're welcome). They are trying so hard with all of their words.

Cassie continues to go potty each and every night, and Ryland is back to telling us when he has poop. Tristan told us a few times this weekend too. Not every time, but the recognition seems to be there. One step closer to that big huge potty training fiasco, I can't wait.

Happy 4th of July!!!

We had a great 4th this year! Katy, Ricky and Kaleb came over with two of Ricky's friends. We had a BBQ in the front yard and played all afternoon until it started getting dark. Kaleb didn't really like the fireworks so he went to bed after a few. They had a lot of fun playing all afternoon though.

Katy and I were in charge of the kids and the guys were in charge of the fireworks and not lighting us all on fire (which Ricky and Jeff nearly failed at a few times!!!). The kids did really well with the fireworks and seemed to enjoy them. Everytime cassie saw one she'd say, "oohhh, pretty", it was so funny. Here are some pictures from the day.
If you want to see the captions for the photos, you have to actually click on the slideshow name at the end or beginning of the end.

Crazy weekend!

We had a great and fun weekend in all this nice sun we've been having lately. On Saturday we went with our friend Katy and her son kaleb to the Waterplayground in Everett. The kids had a blast and I got some videos this time.....

Yes, moms CAN have fun

On Saturday night, Stephanie, Katy, Heather and I got together for a fun girls night out. We went to Chopstix in Everett to just have a good time. Katy was on duty this weekend, so she so kindly volunteered to be our DD. Thank goodness we had her because we all had more than our share of good drinks. For the first time in my life I had a "chocolate cake" which I wasn't really a fan of, and then 3 shots of Buttery nipples. They were SOOOO good that I had to buy more!!!

We were out until about 1am and then Katy dropped Heather and Stephanie off at home, and I went back to her house and slept in the guest room. Ricky, Katy's husband had offered to babysit my 3 in addition to his own little man. Apparently they went down pretty well, they fell asleep on the floor in Kaleb's room after about an hour or so of playing in there by themselves. Katy and Ricky were both kind enough to let me sleep in until about 0830 the next morning, and they got up with the kids at 0600-0700. It's good to have good friends!

Here are some pictures from the night, we need to do it again soon!

Ballerina girl

Cassie was going through her dresser tonight (as usual, LOL) and pulled out this ADORABLE tutu that Hannah made for her a long time ago. She asked for help to put it on and then I got some really cute pictures of her. She took it off all on her own (progress towards undressing ourselves-yahhhh!) and then played peek-a-boo with it. Here's a little video

First water playground adventure

Being that it was SOOOOOOOO nice outside on Friday, after work Katy and I decided to take the kids to the park. When we were picking the kids up at daycare, we ran into Melissa and she was going to have a BBQ and invited us. We told her about our park plans and she decided to relocate the BBQ to the park!!! So we went to Forest Park in Everett and the kids played on the playground. We gave them dinnear and then changed them into their swim diapers and off we went to the water playground The kids played for a good hour in that water. Kaleb wasn't too sure about the water, he much prefered to run around and have daddy chase after him, and Tommy made it clear that he HATED the water, he would scream if Melissa went near it while carrying him. But my 3.... no fear there, they were all about the freezing water (it was so cold I wasn't even willing to get wet).

I'm glad Katy had her camera with her so we could capture all of this.....




Thanks Katy and Melissa (and your family Melissa!!!!) for a really FUN weekend!!!

Busy Weekend!!!!

On Friday after work I went with a group of girls from work and took our kids to the local park that has a "waterpark" aspect to it. It was myself and the kids, Katy and Ricky and their son Kaleb and Melissa and Tommy. The kids had so much fun and we had a good time watching them play and playing with them. Katy took pictures and she'll bring them to work tomorrow so I should be able to load them tomorrow night.

Then on Saturday I took the kids to the Strawberry Festival Parade in downtown Marysville, they had a blast! Only bad thing about the night was that Mark didn't get to come with us because he had to work. Here are some pictures from the event, they did really well. We headed down there at about 6pm and didn't get home until after 10:30

Like Mother Like daughter

I was going through some old emails tonight and stumbled upon one from my mom. I think it's crazy how much she looks like me when I was that age!!!

Happy Fathers Day

A year ago

I can't believe how fast his past year has gone by. Here are some pictures from last summer for comparison

Ears are doing well

We are now 2 weeks out from Rylands tube placement and he is doing really well. This is the first time since last October that he has been ear infection free for 2 weeks. We are very happy for him that he is no longer suffering.

We've been really busy around the house lately, Mark's helping his dad out at the store about 4 days a week, and I just finished my final in A & P last night. Finally found a class offered in Summer quarter that I can actually use, so I registered for that today.

Here are some pictures of playtime with daddy.

Ryland's surgery

Talk about the worlds shortert surgery! Mark got there at about 6:30 this morning to check in. I had to take the other 2 to daycare and turn over my duty from yesterday, so I met them up there, and walked in about 2 minutes after they took Ry back. Not even 10 minutes later they were already bringing them back into us.

Good thing I had a friend warn me about the "coming out of anesthesia" because it was AWFUL. He cried, screamed and thrashed himself about for a good 30 minutes. I held him for the first 20 or so and then Mark held him because my arms were getting tired from trying to contain him.

we got to leave after about 30 minutes and he fell asleep on the way home. He was all about eating a "nana" (banana) when we got home and then some oatmeal and a cracker and milk. Then we went and took a nap together about 9:30. He's still asleep but I'm going to go get him in a little bit so he doesn't get too much sleep and not sleep tonight.

Thanks to all our friends for the phone calls and posts on the blog and email to check up on him!!!!!


On a different note, HAPPY ANGELVERSARY JAXON THOMAS!!!!


For those of you who don't know about Jaxon, courtney and Colin but are curious, you can learn more about them here www.tripletbutterflywings.com

Going under the knife

Ryland goes in for his surgery for tubes tomorrow. I'm nervous for him, but feeling a bit relieved because this poor boy has had over 10 infections in the last 7 months. That's just too many, plus the ENT said he has some hearing loss in his right ear. Only time will tell if it is permanent or due to all the fluid that is just sitting there in his ear. So if you could keep ry-bug in your thoughts tomorrow (thursday 29th) we would all really appreciate it! Thank you,

I meant to post these pictures last week but never got around to it. It was SOOO hot a few saturdays back (right before the CF walk) and we all cooled down by getting sprayed with some water.

If you're happy and you know it

They absolutely love this song. I'm glad I finally caught it on video, it makes me laugh so much!!!

Here are some updates....
-Ry's regressed a little bit, he isn't telling us when he has poop anymore :(, we are trying to encourage it but he's not interested right now.
-Cassie asked me 3 times yesterday to go potty, and she WENT!!! I'm so proud of her. I asked them to please keep an eye on her at school and ask her and encourage her to go. I'll get an update tomorrow from the AM staff about how today went.
-Rylands facial wounds are finally healing. Tristan bit him on the face 3 times on friday morning and we were out of the room. I tell you those kids act fast.
-They have more and more words everyday! Cassie's back at it again with her favorite game "what's that", she'll as as much as she possibly can. Right now we are working on "thank you" and "I'm sorry" and they are doing really well. They are putting more and more words together, I'm so proud of them!

They are growing up so fast, it's crazy. I can't believe they will be 2 in just a few months.

Look Nana and granddaddy.....bunk beds

We were playing with the kiddos this afternoon and the kids decided to pull all the blankets off the lowest and middle shelf. Mark was laying on the floor of the playroom looking towards the window (and away from Tristan) and I turned around to get some diapers ready for changes. I turned back around to see Tristan LAYING on the second shelf. He got himself up onto that shelf all by himself. His action was soon followed by the other two. Thus began the up and down, on and off game that continued for the next 20 minutes or so. Here are a few pictures from the fun event, LOL. At the very least we figure that we're set for bunk beds for the kids...didn't you see the top shelf?

First Santa letter

I know what the kids want and what they are asking santa for this year, a TRAMPOLINE!!!!! They had such a blast over at Annie's house with Conor jumping inside the SAFE trampoline. I think we've added that to our list of things to put in the backyard after we get the deck built this summer. They spent hours jumping, hours. Even I had fun and got a workout from it!

Cystic Fibrosis walk 2008

This was our 3rd walk in Seattle and we had a BLAST!!! We had so many family and friends show up to support us and walk with us. It was an amazingly beautiful day, much different than the rain-drenched walk we had last year. Thank you to everyone for walking with us, you don't know how much it means to both of us!!! WE LOVE YOU! Here are some pictures from the event:

Woohoo They have rythm!!!

I had to take over someone's duty at work this afternoon so Mark came and got the kiddos. He was playing with them and they started dancing to the music of a toy. He grabbed the camera and got this video. I'm SO excited they have some rythm, because I have none!

Lots of catching up to do!

I've wanted to blog so many times this week, but it's been such a crazy week. This is the first time I've had a chance. So exciting things to share...

-Cassie has been using the potty before bathtime for 9 days straight now. And on Friday when we got home from daycare she said, "pee pee" so I took her upstairs and she WENT!!!!

-Ryland used the potty on Tuesday. He ended up peeing all over me (LOL) but he was sitting on the potty, so he got an M&M. Boy did that make him happy!

-Last week Ry started telling us when he had poo poo in his diaper and this week, he started telling us he needed to go poo poo. We have yet to have success with poo on the potty, but he has recognition so that's a step in the right direction. There are some funny pictures from this weekend in this next slide show, I hope you enjoy!!!

A Fun day with Nana and Granddaddy

We went over to Nana and Granddaddy's for some fun outside play today and then went to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. Here are some pictures from today

FIRST Haircuts!!!

The boys FINALLY got their first haircuts this weekend. Here are a few pictures from the event.

Poor Ryland and a lengthy update

I am so frustrated for Ryland. He just got off antibiotics for his ear infection 48 hours ago, and saw the doctor because his wheeze is acting up. She said one ear looked great, the other looked like it was healing, but we won't know for a few weeks. He was given chewable Singular to see if that helps clear up the little bit of "gunk" he's got in his lungs. She says the majority of the wheezing sound is actually coming from his throat, which could be caused by an immature and therefore floppy airway. She isn't too concerned and thinks he will grow out of it, but wants us to give this a try since we are a tad concerned about it.

I was surprised when I showed up to get the kiddos from daycare and he was running a 101 temperature and not wanting to play, just wanting to be held. Our pediatrician had already left for the day, but seeing that she just set eyes on him that morning, I called her at home (thank God I work with her!!!!) and told her what was going on. She was so kind and understanding and immediately called in a prescription to Rite Aid. The base doesn't carry this med so we have to pay for it out in town. It's the only thing that's ever completely cleared up an ear infection for Ryland.

We go from Ammoxicillin, to Augmentin to Zithromax, then the Ceftin is the only thing that works and keeps him ear infection free for at least a few weeks. So she called in the Ceftin for him. This will be his second time on this antibiotic and I hope it gives him at least a few weeks of relief.

He has an appt. with the ENT on the 14th of this month to discuss the possibility of tubes. I'm very very insistant upon them. Mark needed them when he was a baby, and poor Ry has had about 9 infections (or 3 continuous lasting for 2-3 months) in the last 10 months. I'm fed up for him...so he and daddy are going to go see the ENT.

Other than that, things are wonderful. All 3 kids are starting to combine 1-3 words, like bye daddy, hi puppy, or no mommy (No= Cassie's favorite word) and Cassie is very much into disciplining the boys. They take it well though. She is definately the leader of the pack, whatever she is doing or playing, they start to copy her. She has a wild imagination already and is very into "make believe" play. I can't believe how fast they are growing up...we are already starting to talk about plans for their 2nd birthday-YIKES!!!!

Mark is working part time as a bouncer in the evenings, and actively looking for a job that would allow me to get out of the military. This is just a really bad time economically to be looking for a job. Our tentative plan is for me to extend for one year (both my enlistment, and my duty at this current command) while I work on completing more of my pre-requisites for nursing school, and while Mark looks for a job that will support all 5 of us. I'm taking 2 classes this quarter (Anatomy and physiology and nutrition) and hope to continue to take 2, maybe even 3 classes per quarter over the next 12 months. The business (http://www.ehpsupplements.com/) finally MADE some money in March, but then again in April we slipped into the red. Mark has two opportunities this summer to do some business promoting, so we are planning that right now.

Up and coming, I have been invited as a guest speaker August 1-3, 2008 at the CFRI 21st Annual Education Conference "Living a Medical Miracle: CF Today and Tomorrow" at the Sofitel San Francisco Bay, Redwood City, California. I am honored and have quite a bit of stuff to do to get ready!
We are planning on having our first family camping trip the weekend of August 29th, so we'll see how that goes. My command is doing a BBQ that day at Jim Creek Campground in Northern Washington, and we have reserved the group site for the command for the weekend.

Hope everyone is doing well!!