Aria Louise

**** FOUR posts in three days... so keep reading down!****


Finally! It's my turn to introduce myself. I am Aria Louise. I was patient and waited my turn to blog, even when my mommy was too busy feeding us to help me by typing for a long time. Thanks everybody, for being patient with us Nebelsicks. I am not able to help my mommy with the boys yet... but someday. I can't even control my own arms and hands yet, so we have a ways to go.

First of all... I can't tell you how many times I have heard my name butchered. The nurse at the doctor's office was the most interesting: "R"-EEE-ah (emphasis on the EEE). Other people call me Area... like, you know... Area 51 or something. Don't ask me how a two month old knows about Area 51. But anyway, it's not Area, or Ariel (you know... the little mermaid... haven't seen that one yet either.) My name is pronounced "R"-"E"-ah(kind of emphasize the first syllable). It means "song", melodic solo. It's perfect for me.

Well, now that we've cleared up my name pronuciation, let me tell you all my other nicknames. The most common is Ari Lou. My mommy calls me that all the time. I am also known as Baby Dolly or Precious. Any of those are great to me. I will most likely answer to anything as long as my mommy says it. I always look to see where she is when I hear her voice.

When you come to see me, you can pick me out by my long dark hair. The pink blanket can be deceiving cause I've seen both boys stealing my blankets. They look ridiculous (hee hee) but I guess they can't be swaddled with small blankies. All three of us LOVEto be swaddled and we feel secure when we wrap up tight. We have lots of pink blankets and only 4 blue ones. My mommy says it's Walmart's fault for always get rid of good stuff when she finds it.

I have big blue eyes that I love to make really wide when I see someone or something I like. I love to sleep. I think I love sleeping more than eating. A few days ago, I did NOT want to wake up for my supper. My mommy tried but I didn't give in. She changed my diaper. I didn't stir. Then she got mean - she gave me a bath! I still managed to stay asleep except that first moment I got dipped in the water. She STILL insisted I eat my bottle, but I didn't open my eyes! Guess I showed her!

Guess what? I know a magic trick! It takes no effort at all but defies all laws of physics - or whatever that is... I take a man who is 6 foot, nine inches tall and wrap him right around one of the most tiny fingers in the world! It's pretty cool. I can do it by batting my long eyelashes, or cuddling up on his shoulder. I love my Daddy.

Everyone around here keeps calling me petite. I love that. I am glad I am not a big chunk like my brothers. You can tell I am lighter when you pick me up. Everyone says I just look and feel like a girl. Well, I sure hope so! Cause I am a girl! I can't wait for the days of shopping and shoes and hair-dos. I am working really hard on having something to curl on top of my head. My daddy loves to try and make a curl on top of my head, but mommy doesn't let him anymore. She calls it a mohawk, and that's not allowed.

I try and be such an easy baby for my poor parents. They seem to have their hands full with us kids and they are trying so hard to be good parents. When I am hungry and cry to tell them, sometimes they are already feeding someone else! I am always happy to wait, as long as I get to sit in Mommy's lap in the boppy pillow. That is - as long as I have my pacifier. I LOVE my pacifier. I have also learned that when they start changing my diaper, I can stop crying and just wait. The bottle comes soon after we are done. Why waste all that energy? I don't understand why Levi yells at everyone the whole time, but I haven't convinced him to pipe down yet. Oh well. Brothers.

I HAVE to tell you, I am pretty mortified. I heard everyone has seen the video of me pulling my hair. Now... I can NOT help that! It just happens. I wish someone would tell me how to control these hands of mine. I don't even know it's me when I'm doing it so I yell at everyone else. Mommy has started making me wear mittens whenever we are playing cause my hands get in my hair, my lips and ears. I don't mind the mittens... there is no pain when I wear them.

Okay. Gotta go. There is eating and sleep scheduled for the rest of the evening. Mommy and I picked out some pictures for you. Here you go!

I love you,
Aria

Sleeping in the boppy pillow on Mommy's lap

Here's my nose... it's a button! (No, Mommy said it's CUTE as a button! Oops!)

Me and Mommy dressed up for my two month birthday.


I was having a hard time with my dress.

This is as good as it gets for our 2 Month pictures. A half a second later, we went back to screaming again. It was not really a good day for anyone. Oh well.

My first big smile for Mommy... caught on tape!

Our Little Wiggle Worms

The Nebelsick Three at the doctor's office on July 23rd. They are wiggle worms! We had our hands full indeed!

P.S.-Below are other recent posts.

Calling all Gillette-ites!

Hey-if you are in the Gillette area and want to meet the Nebelsick triplets, then get ready! We will be in Gillette from the evening of August 3rd to August 16th. By the way, I (Elizabeth) will be on my own with them during the day and would LOVE to have help with feeding and holding babies. If there is a time you would want to come over, let me or my mom know. It's hard to do it all alone, so don't be bashful! Thanks!

Levi Timothy

*****VIDEO ADDED 7/31/08 - Finaly got it to work!*****

Hey there everybody! I’m Little Levi Timothy! You can call me Mister Levi, or Bustaroo, like my Daddy does. I hear Aria was working on her blog to you all, and I had to jump in here. I HATE being last. If someone gets ahead of me on the eating schedule, I make sure to wake up soon enough everytime to work my way to the front again. Someday, they will quit calling me “little”... I hope. (But I still like the name Peanut, just so you know.)

You will know me when you come to my house, unfortunately, because I’m kind of the bald one. But hey, bald is beautiful, right? I have eyes that used to be blue but are getting darker all the time. I hope they look just like my Daddy’s when I grow up. I have been trying soooo hard to grow bigger and stronger, and it is working! I am now bigger than Ari-Lou (that's my sister)! Yay!! I’m still working on catching Mister David, but I’ve got a little ways to go. Here is what we all weighed at the doctors office on the 23rd of July.

Levi (That’s me!) – 10 lbs. 5 oz.
David – 10 lbs. 12 oz.
Aria – 9 lbs. 13 oz.

So... a little bit about me: I LOVE my Mommy’s kisses. She gives lots of them when she is burping me and I stick my cheek right there so I can get lots of them. I can hold my head up really strong to look around. Don’t try and make me put my head on your shoulder! My favorite times are when I get to eat and sometimes when they play with me on the floor. I spent time with Mommy on the floor yesterday and I found a new favorite book: A, B, C by Dr. Seuss. The rhyming sounds so interesting to me! Eating time is the most important time of the day! If you ask me, they never get me my food fast enough. I yell and cry every time (why change what's working for me?), and they finally get it to me. Good thing I keep everyone on their toes!

I figured out something new that is fun. When I smile, everyone smiles back at me and acts so excited. I am going to practice doing that more. I think the part of me that is so loud when I cry can make other good sounds too, so I’m practicing that. I love bathtime. Baths are fun as long as Mommy has the water warm enough. My favorite part is being free from my belt and my tail. The big people call it a monitor but it’s just always in my way. The doctor says I have to keep wearing it for a while. He wants to see how I do either when I’m sick or after I get my shots. Whatever those are sounds scary since I have to wear this thing to go through them! It is not fair that the other babies get to be carried around the house more and I’m attached to the wall in my room. I'll survive though, cause I'm a tough little guy.

Here is my favorite song. My Mommy sings it to me all the time. I think she made it up, because it's all about me!

Little Levi, I love you.
Little Levi, yes I do.
Little Levi, can it be
Little Levi, you belong to me?

When you see me, I will probably be looking all around the room. Everything is just looking more and more interesting all the time. I love seeing new things and concentrating on them so I can learn about them. I hope I am as smart as my Daddy someday. I have got to learn all I can! I can’t wait until I can start asking questions about everything I see!

Well, I better pick out some pictures for Mommy to show you of me. I was TWO months old yesterday! I have to hurry cause Mommy has lots to do to get ready for a big trip! We are going to go on a vacation to Grandma and Grandpa Nebelsick’s for the weekend and then on to Grandma and Grandpa Rigsby's in Gillette for two weeks! We will get to meet lots of new people and we are excited!

I love you,
Little Levi Timothy

Here I am with my Daddy on the day I am two months old. We were at the doctor's office in this picture. Daddy was holding both David and me. David had his foot on my head! We had to get down to the diapers for the doctor! Brrr!

David Andrew

Hello everyone! I am the little guy they call David Andrew. I think my full name is David Andrew I love you. Or they sometimes call me Mister David. Every once in a while it’s just David, so I think that’s my nickname.

I’m new to this world, so I thought I’d tell you all about me! There is an awful lot of talk about how many people get on Mommy’s blog to learn about us so it’s my turn to talk. Of course, my mommy is interpreting my grunts here for you… hopefully she gets everything right.

If you came to visit us, you would know it’s me because I have long sandy blond hair and will probably be wrapped in blue. I had to have the pink blanket once… what were they thinking? I have the bluest eyes of all the babies at our house. I love to be wide awake a lot of the day unless someone snuggles me in close… then I most likely fall asleep. I love it when people talk to me and I’m starting to figure out how to talk back. When I make the right sounds everybody in the room starts laughing and cooing at me, so I try to do that as much as possible. I really pay attention when I can see and hear my mommy and daddy.

I love to hang out in my swing. I don’t care as much for the bouncy seat like Little Levi does (sometimes his nickname is just Levi). That’s a good thing because then I hardly have to share my swing with him. Mommy sings lots of songs to us and I let her know I like it by staring at her eyes. My favorite songs are “Jesus Loves Me” and “The Little Green Frog.” My favorite way to sleep is with my arms above my head.

Eating is one of my favorite times of the day. I always try to eat my full 4 oz. to grow big and strong like my daddy. The bummer is when I get a ton of air stuck in my belly and I can’t get it out. I do that every time! I grunt and grunt and try to help as much as I can to burp, but sometimes it’s just so hard! I make them burp me at least 3 times, and sometimes I still have to let everyone know I’m still uncomfortable after they lay me down. The one thing I don’t like about eating is when they switch out the tasty milk for the nasty formula! It’s fine if they start me out on it, but don’t try and pull a fast one on me in the middle of a meal! I’ll gag and spit it right back out at you.

Friday was so much fun! Daddy came home from work for lunch and was holding me. I coughed to get everyone’s attention and then I puked all over him!! It was awesome! He was holding me all the way back on his lap and I still made puddles in the folds of his shirt. Woo hoo! Everyone was impressed but Daddy.

Today, Mommy was hanging out with us by herself. Little Levi filled his diaper and I could even smell it across the room. Shoo-ee! I was jealous cause I’ve been trying to do that for days! Anyway, Mommy sat me in the bouncy seat and picked up Levi. I didn’t want her to forget about me so I giggled and cooed like everyone likes and she came running back!! I think she took a video for you to see. I’m so cute!

Mommy and Daddy are taking us to see the doctor on Wednesday. Then Mommy will be able to tell you how big of a boy I am! But, even big boys need their sleep so I am going to go now!

I love you,
David Andrew

P.S. - Aria's Blog and Levi's Blog coming soon!

If you're happy and you know it, smile really big! Daddy helping me with my gas and contributing his gassy facial expression. I was still sooo asleep. Ahhh, thanks for holding me Great Grandpa. I was so relaxed. Kind of a tough burp to come by... huh Uncle Doug?

Even more pictures!

Jessica has more pictures and a video on her blog! www.jamesandjessfischer.blogspot.com

Hello again!

Ok, I'm sure some of you faithful readers feel neglected this week. Sorry, but there just hasn't seemed to be time to post on here. We've had a great week and I'll try to remember as much as possible. I think I'll try to tell you the Readers Digest version... not the novel.

My parents and sister were here from Sunday to Friday. I hope they enjoyed their week of utter exhaustion! I think Jessica is convinced that triplets may not be the way to go once she and James have children. :) They were a TON of help. I can't believe how fast the week went. My dad washed and stained our deck. My mom helped do a lot of cleaning and organizing again. I was able to leave Wednesday morning and go to my 6 week check-up without worrying about the babies. That went well and I can't believe how well I've healed from the c-section. I can hardly find my scar! On Thursday, my parents sent Dan and I out on a date for our anniversary and watched the kiddos again! Our FIVE year anniversary was on Saturday, July 12th. More about that later.

On Tuesday (7/8/08), we had the babies weighed again. I was shocked at how big they are! Here are the stats:

David - 9 lbs. 6 oz., 22 and 3/4 inches
Aria - 8 lbs. 14.5 oz., 21 and 3/4 inches
Levi - 9 lbs. 4.5 oz., 21 and 3/4 inches

They are close to the size Dan was when he was born. They were six weeks old on Wednesday. Grandma Rigsby got a special gift from David. She was talking to him and he was studying her face and all of a sudden he cooed at her. This is the first "talking" anyone has gotten from any of the kids, so that was fun. I can't wait until they start interacting like that more.

Everyone left on Friday around noon. Dan had been home for lunch and then he left to go back to work too, so I was on my own for the first time. I was nervous but I knew it would be fine. The boys were down for a nap and I was nursing Aria. As soon as Dan shut the door to leave, Levi started fussing. I changed him only to have him squirt everywhere and need changed. That only made him more mad that he wasn't eating that instant. I knew I had to finish Aria's meal with a bottle so I started warming up two. Well, somehow I didn't get the water we set the bottles in warm enough in the microwave, so after a couple minutes of two crying babies, I still had cold bottles! I wasn't alone a half an hour and I had to break a mothering rule. I microwaved the bottles for a few seconds! So then, I had a crying Levi in a bouncy seat and Aria in a boppy pillow and could give them both a bottle at the same time. Aria eventually finished in time for David to start yelling for dinner. When I changed him, he blessed me with a shower and enough leftover for a puddle too. Yay. I had to laugh. David eventually ended up in the other bouncy seat too. They had Momma surrounded! I think they know when I'm all alone, or when my head hits the pillow. They know. They unite. ;)

Saturday was our actual anniversary. We got to spend the day just the five of us. It is so much work but it was really lovely spending time as just us for the first time. We got brave and decided to go out to dinner at Pizza Ranch - just the five of us. Dan and I were ready and when they had all eaten, we put them in the magic seats (aka - carseats) and drove over to dinner. They were perfect angels and slept the whole time. We truly enjoyed ourselves and admired our children along with many others in the restaurant. Obviously, we don't go any where without being noticed anymore but that's okay.

Saturday night, Dan's parents came for a visit. We got some much needed relief from the feeding cycle around here. It is always special when we get to spend time with family. I had high hopes of getting to church in the morning, but the night was too long. I was up with everyone until about 4:30am. Then Grandma Nebelsick came and gave me a little relief, and we tackled the kiddos together. But, I was still wiped out. I am so thankful everyone let me sleep from about 8am to 1pm. I needed that.

I think for the first time in my life, I sort of understand what it is to pray without ceasing (1 Thes. 5:17). I never imagined I'd be praying for a baby to keep sleeping while the other is eating, or for a baby to poop (we've had some constipation issues), or many other daily moments. I have so many moments to give thanks for also... moments I've waited for my whole life. This is quite the wild ride.

Well, I'll quit babbling now and get some pictures loaded on here. I'm sure you're thinking "blah, blah, blah... let's see some pictures already!"

Aunt Jessica! Look at David's hand on Aria's head. They just laid like that for a while.

My set up when I was home alone on Friday. Notice they all have pacifiers nearby and there is a spot for me in the middle.

I, obviously, was unaware this picture was taken until just a little bit ago. Levi wouldn't let me sleep unless he was snuggled in close. Fine by me! I love my little snugglers. I sleep a little lighter but it's better than nothing!

David, hanging out in the swing. So comfy and content.

Aria, stretching out and showing off on the changing table.

Levi... and Daddy set him up to look like he just enjoyed a Sunday afternoon football game and a nap.

Aria and her aunt Kristi in matching shirts.


Grandma and Grandpa Nebelsick with their grandbabies! Finally... after all these years of asking for them we've delivered! ;) We just had to have enough so that there was no fighting over who gets to hold them.

Not much time, and not my computer

I haven't had my computer all week and we've kept busy, so no posts. But, Jessica (my sister) has been adding pictures and videos to her blog. You can see them at www.jamesandjessfischer.blogspot.com. They are pretty cute.

Fourth of July weekend

Holy cow... we are exhausted! I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend. We packed up and went to Dan's parents house this weekend. I had no idea what traveling would really take until we tried it. I felt like I was a co-manager of a major production. It takes an army to get this show on the road! And the timing has to be impeccable. We have to make sure the babies are all fed around the same time and have everything loaded and ready to go. Feeding usually takes 30 minutes as long as there are 3 adults to help. We didn't ever do it with less than 5 adults. As soon as they are all done, they are strapped in the carseats and away we go. When we get to our destination, they are usually ready to eat and be changed again. We time it like this to discourage fussing in the car. It was worked so far! So basically, there is no more planning when to leave... the triplets let us know when they are ready and we respond. Life sure has changed. I am a goer. I love to get in the car and go for road trips. I have frequently made an 8 hour trip to Gillette just for weekends for the fun of it. It's going to be a while before that ever happens again. But, I can't tell you how worth it it is to see family.

Timing isn't the only interesting part of our production. We also took our entire routine with us. We basically packed up our kitchen and livingroom(actually, now it's our nursery... we are definitely not carrying them upstairs to sleep yet) and put it in our van. It feels like the only thing we left was the furniture. I was looking forward to figuring out this weekend what we DIDN'T really need to take along when we go. I don't remember being able to go without any of the items we took. There is no scaling down this production into a road show.

On the 4th, we made it to Grandma and Grandpa's house and unpacked. Then we loaded everyone up and went to a family friends' house for dinner. We took some family "Fourth of July" pictures in their cute outfits aunt Donna gave us. Dan happened to coordinate with us too... my red shirt was on purpose. If Dan meant to coordinate, he didn't admit it. :)

We have other pictures!! We are able to view the proofs of our photography session online. They can be found at www.meliawinterphotography.smugmug.com. There are some very cute pictures and we can wait to get some printed out for our home.

On our way home today, we stopped at Dan's grandparents house. David, Aria and Levi got to spend a little time with their Great-Grandpa and Grandma Nebelsick. We took some neat pictures there with them. They served us lunch and we got to visit a little bit. Dan's grandpa sure looked happy holding little David for a long time. It was really neat when he held all three for the pictures. We won't be able to do that much longer with the way these guys are growing!

We were welcomed home by my parents and my sister Jessica. They sure were excited to see the kids. They said hi eventually to Dan and me also. :P I'm glad Jessica gets to spend time with them while they are still little.

One more exciting event happened this evening. Dan and I wanted to celebrate a successful weekend of travel, so we all went to Pizza Ranch for supper. "All" meaning the Nebelsick Five, Mom, Dad, and Jessica. I figured we almost had them double teamed so it couldn't go too terribly wrong. We timed it again so the kiddos had eaten, and they slept all the way through our dinner in their carseats. Carseats are magical, I think. I'm glad we picked a Sunday evening to go because there weren't many people there. There were some curious peeking visitors to our table, but no one tried to touch the babies. We have wonderful stop signs hanging on their seats that read, "Please wash your hands before touching mine." We love them. The hospital sent us home with those. For other new parents... you can also find them at "mytinyhands.com" They work like a charm.

Well, that's all the time I have for now. I heard a baby squawk and I'm running out of time to sleep before my shift starts. Enjoy the pictures!

My milky white leg compared to Kara, who has spent time at the pool. I'm lucky if I open an outside door during the day! I rarely know the temperature outside.


David found his thumb the other day.


Ready everyone?

Smile!


Great Grandparents Nebelsick


Dan and his Grandpa Nebelsick holding all three babies - Levi, Aria, and David


Nap time during Mommy and Daddy's lunch.



Grandpa David napping with baby David. We were hoping to get more pictures with Grandpa and Grandma Nebelsick this weekend but time flew by and we didn't get it done. Hopefully we will soon!

A Very Merry Un-Birthday!

Well, today is the official due date for the triplets! I can no longer say that "they're not even supposed to be born yet!" They are so big and awake now. They look around and respond to Dan and I talking. I can make them sit and stare at me by singing. Sometimes their eyes get sooo wide, it is so cute. David and Levi have had the most awake time. Aria has her moments but she is a very good eater and sleeper. She doesn't fuss a ton. Levi is the most demanding and has been fussy lately. I think it is a yucky tummy. David is determined to stay awake right now and has aunt Donna wondering what he wants. He still is a noisy sleeper and grunts a lot. He is also famous for his little animal sounds he makes. Sometimes it sounds like a lamb, or a horse, or a giggle. We laugh.

I have a few samples of the photos that were taken last Friday. Melia Winter is letting me copy them off of her blog to post on here... thanks Melia. I'll let everyone know when there are more to see!

P.S.- Can you tell who is who?? They aren't in the same order every time.

Busy week!

It has been a big week at the Nebelsick household! Sorry I don’t get a ton of time to post, but hopefully you understand why I stay plenty busy! 

Let’s see… the triplets are a month old now! As of Saturday, the 28th we have not-so-newborns. They are growing so fast and change all the time. It is so fun to watch them and we find ourselves just staring and admiring them sometimes.

On Thursday, the nurse from Healthy Families came to our house and we were able to weigh and measure them all. We kept their diapers and onesies on, so this may be exaggerated from the weights at the doctors’ office by an ounce or so. But, we did the same with all of them and we will weigh them like this each time, so this is a base weight for their growth from now on. Here are the stats:

David – 7 lbs. 11.5 oz., 21 inches long
Aria – 7 lbs. 13 oz., 21.5 inches long
Levi – 7 lbs. 9 oz., 21.5 inches long

Aria is our biggest baby right now, but just by a little. I’m surprised at how close my babies are in size. It seems lot of the other triplets I’ve read about differ in size so I didn’t expect this.

Friday was an eventful morning for everyone. Melia Winter, a photographer, came to our house and took some photos of the kids. I think they are going to turn out cool and I can’t wait to see them. We’ll get to view them on a website so I’ll post when we see those so you can too! The session for the pictures was a gift from our friends Justin, Sara, and Leo Groen.

Saturday, we took our first outing to Sioux Falls. Dan wanted to take me out on “Date Night.” Aunt Marie and Aunt Donna volunteered to watch the kiddos at Donna’s house while we were out. Dan and I went to dinner and a movie. It was the first time I was able to go to a theater in a looong time. I didn’t have to worry about putting my feet up or running to the bathroom! We are so blessed to have our family taking such good care of us.

Sunday, we took our family to church for the first time. They were little angels. The only peep we heard out of them was when Levi let one rip… right in the middle of a pause in the sermon. I, unfortunately, got the giggles. It was quite embarrassing, but at least aunt MiMi was holding him!

We took some pictures of the kiddos lately. Some are in identical outfits from aunt MiMi. Others are in the outfits that the babies wore in the NICU for their cradle roll pictures. I can’t believe how much they’ve grown. The teddy bears that looked so huge next to them are really quite small. You can tell the size a little better now that the babies are all 7 and ½ pounds.

I can’t believe it is already Tuesday, July 1st. I’ve been working on this post for a week! Time flies when we’re having fun! I better get pictures loaded up and post this. Have a great week!