8 Months Old

Last Wednesday, the babies turned 8 months old. We spent the day getting vaccinations, the last for a while of the alternative schedule we had decided to do. Doug and Kara met me at our pediatricians office to help me out. Thank goodness because it will probably be a while before I try to take all three of them in there by myself. The layout isn't exactly friendly to a triple stroller. Not much is!

Last year, Dan went on a snowmobiling trip with friends to the Black Hills. It is an annual group trip that he got in on and hoped that they would have room for him again. This summer, I told him for his birthday/anniversary gift, I would make sure he could go on the trip again if he was invited. Long story short, Dan is right now in the hills enjoying a relaxing four day excursion!

The easiest thing for me to do was pack everyone up and come to my parents' house. An "easy" 1000 mile round trip, you ask? Certainly! I probably could have survived (somehow) those days on my own, but I want to ENJOY my children. :D Dan was coming this way anyway and could help with the drive. Next week, he has to be gone three days for work too, so I was going to have to do it alone or find help again. I find sharing our lives with those we love is a wonderful alternative to struggling at home, so here we are again. The kids and I will be here for a week and then will spend a few days with Dan's parents in Mount Vernon. It will be a nice visit all around. I cannot say enough about how awesome it is that our family gives us so much help. We love them!

The downside to all this travel is missing our home church! I am completely missing my church family at home. I am really sad about not being in the women's Bible study that started this January. I was able to participate in a few other series of study and treasured the time spent with those ladies. I also miss being deep in the Word and gaining invaluable insights through the Beth Moore Bible studies. Unfortunately, I didn't plan ahead enough and really seek out a way to go twice a month because that would mean finding someone to watch the kids. I was short on ideas and didn't pursue the one I had. Now, I haven't been to MOPS for over a month and I am going to miss this week's meeting. I really love the fellowship with other Christian ladies and have a need for that interaction. Pray for me that I might find a way to reconnect soon.

Before we left the house, I uploaded a ton of pictures I thought I could put on the blog because I knew I would be without my computer. In my haste, it seems I have missed Levi's 8 month pictures from that day, so I will have to save all of those until I get home. Since it's late, I will just throw a bunch of pictures on here and call it good. Hope everyone had a happy Monday!

Visiting Aunt Amber and Uncle Jason's house last Thursday. He would be proud of Aria napping in his Hawkeyes blanket! We got to surprise him at school to say hello!


We explode into a mess wherever we go!


David, cruising out of the living room for the first time... the morning after I had commented to Dan that he never ventures past the furniture to the edge of the carpet. I spoke too soon!


David ~ "Hey! What's that doing there? Why can't I open this anymore!?"


Sleepy David with his Daddy.


Aria is sticking with her need to be straight as much as possible. She refuses to bend any part of her body when being put in the high chair. I let her stick it out until she starts to slip or gets to weak to hold her stance anymore.


Ahh, shucks! Not too happy about sitting and dropping the paci!


Happy Aria now!


Look at all the hair on Levi! He's catching up and isn't our little baldy anymore!


Ah, Brothers. A series of pictures in the life of the Nebelsick brothers.

What? Another post already?

The other day, Levi and Aria both woke up from naps hungry. I carried them both downstairs, changed them and got bottles ready. Aria was propped up in the boppy next to me and Levi was in my arms. Levi was done, but Aria had some left in her bottle and I had to walk over to the kitchen quick. I came back and there was Aria... bottle drained and off to the side and a pacifier in her mouth!! What? Where did the pacifier come from? How did she do that? I believe she had been clinging to one that was in her crib and kept track of it that whole time! Ahh the paci, Aria's first love.

Today, I caught David sitting up from being on his hands and knees! He has done it once before, and Uncle Doug caught it on video on his cell phone. I don't know if I'll ever have access to that, but it was fun to see the video since I wasn't in the room. He's getting so good at the gross motor skills!

We ate pumpkin for the first time today. They woofed it down! Every child would have eaten more if I'd had it thawed. I am so glad we had the insight to make some baby food this fall. We also have been able to puree beans and peas from big bags from Sam's club, so that's saved some money. It really is easy as long as you plan a little bit ahead. So far we've had great success with beans, peas, squash and pumpkin. Avocado, not so much! Maybe I'll try and get the first taste of avocado video on here. It is hilarious to watch them gag. Poor babies. Their parents sit and laugh as they suffer.

Levi has learned to click his tongue by sucking it to the top of his mouth. After he woke up from his nap this morning, I could hear him laying there and doing that for quite a while.

Oh, another first for today... David is hogging the spotlight... he imitated me clapping today. I was trying to teach him. I try with all three but they still want to hold my fingers while I clap. Then all of a sudden he just did it! I praised and praised him and he was so proud of himself he did it a couple times! Yay David! My kids aren't big on tricks yet, mostly cause I don't have a lot of one on one time to devote to training them. It's kind of sad and I hope they aren't missing out on learning cause they are triplets. I try not to compare them to other babies too much. We'll see.

Well, I usually delay posting things because I don't have pictures. Not tonight. No pictures for tonight. Maybe some other night you'll get lucky and only have pictures to look at. For now, thanks for reading! I'm off to bed!

January

You know it's time to clean your carpets when you wipe up a spit-up stain the color of squash and the spot left behind is five shades lighter in your white carpet. Gross. David's squash must not have agreed with him because after lunch I was dealing with little orange spots everywhere. Now, I just have little white spots. Hey Mom, can I borrow the carpet cleaner sometime?

We have a little boy who can get wherever he wants to go pretty quickly now. David is pulling himself by the arms in an army crawl sort of way. I have to make sure no cords are within reach because he will see them and get to them fast. We sit and watch him in amazement. It's so much fun. Dan baby-proofed the cupboards in the livingroom today. David can open and shut them. We were going to remove some of his temptations by replacing the open changing table with a dresser. He likes to tug on the baskets right now and explore their contents. Dan and I carried down the dressers this weekend. As I was beginning to load the drawers with diapers and such, David spotted a new conquest. He prompted scooted over and started opening and shutting drawers! There isn't a convenient way to baby proof those. We thanked David for his valuable, time-saving trick and hauled the dresser away. Plan B. Wonder what that will be?

Levi is the little man with a million faces. My favorite lately is when he sucks in the sides of his upper lip and then smiles at me. Sooo cute! He likes his tummy time more and more. I am hoping this leads to more crawling motions soon. I have to have the other two be able to get away from David when he is not being gentle! Levi is pulling himself forward on his hands and can also move. He is sitting up pretty well now, but I don't leave him there for long. He can topple over easily.

One Wednesday night, we were doing baths. David was just finishing up and was having a ball splashing around in the water. We have just started sitting him up in the bath and he loves it! Dan brought Levi in and sat him in the tub with David. This was our first co-bathing experience. Levi must have been in a great mood because he thought David splashing was the funniest thing he had ever seen. One thing I love about Levi is he laughs very easily! It is fun to entertain him. Anyway, Levi just giggled and giggled at David splashing in the water. Dan and I sat there and laughed too for probably 5 minutes. Poor Aria was missing out! Finally, Dan took David back downstairs and I finished up with Levi. He figured out how to splash and kept up the good times.

Aria is almost sitting up. She will stay there for a about 30 seconds but tips easily. She is strong enough to sit up, definitely. We just have to convince her that that is something she needs to do! She is quite opinionated about everything... as much as an eight month old can be. She is also very smiley and has a huge open mouth-scrunched up nose grin. I love it! I love making her smile because it lights up the room.

Let's see, what have I failed to post here lately? Hmmm... everything! January 9th, we had their well-baby check-up. They were seven months old, and most people do it at 6 months, but we've always been a month behind. Their weights and heights looked great. Here they were as of a few weeks ago:

David: 20 lbs. 7 oz., 28 & 3/4 inches long
Aria: 16 lbs. 11 oz., 28 & 1/2 inches long
Levi: 19 lbs. 5 oz., 29 & 1/4 inches long

The boys are really pulling ahead of Aria. She is bent on staying our little peanut. I try and force food (well, not literally) down her whenever I can but she doesn't tolerate it very well. She has stayed in the 50th percentile for weight, so the doctor said not to think twice about it. She's growing well.

After their appointment, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Nebelsick's for the weekend. Uncle Jonny had a basketball game on Friday night. We went to our first game and I thought they would fuss and be tired. They LOVED it! The loved the band, the game and all the other sights and sounds. It was awesome! They followed the action up and down the court.

Levi with Uncle Ben, Aria with Aunt Amber


Cousin William had a baby shower on Saturday morning and was baptized on Sunday. The shower was very nice and it was social hour for the kids! There were other babies there to play with... not that they get lonely or anything. Aria was a big hit with her Grandma when she kept scrunching her nose in delight at Grandma and others. David liked playing on the one step up from the living room. Levi liked all the attention he got too.

Babies galore!

Aria and Grandma

Cassidy and the boys. I'm not quite sure why David had a pink blanket around him. Oh well. Sometimes, pink happens.

David playing on the step.

Great-Grandma Nebelsick and Levi.

Great-Grandma Titze and the guest of honor, William. They match!


This was Aria later that night. For some reason she clung on to my arm and held it next to her tightly for at least five minutes. Guess she needed some Mommy time. I was glad to oblige!


The weekend was over before we knew it and we settled in at home long enough for me to get another wild hair for travel. My brother, Doug(man it's hard not to say Douglas... I think I get to still say Douglas since they all still call me Beth! Anyhoo...) Douglas and Kara were going to be driving to Gillette on Thursday. They were crazy enough to think that a trip with me and the triplets would be fun. Grandma Rigsby had called and suggested we come along for the ride and initially I thought there was no way. Mostly, I thought this because I knew Dan would consider committing me to the hospital for insanity. I never think any travel is an impossibility. Hmmm, I wonder why I thought having triplets would change me? Sooo, guess what? We ended up going to Gillette for a three day weekend! I have to tell you, the kids are turning into quite the traveling group! (Ha ha, my plan is working!) They do really well for 8 to 10 hours of trucking across South Dakota. When they don't do well, we stick in the Baby Einstein music CD and turn up the speakers and they quiet down every time. Amazing!


Aria enjoying the drivers seat. She was having a ball.

David had some major static going on.

More happiness with uncle Doug.

While in Gillette, we took in our second basketball game. Aunt MiMi made sure we had seats right behind her at the scorers table. The kids behaved beautifully again. We lost a bottle somewhere there. Just disappeared. I am not sure where I set it but the bleachers were hungry and ate it. David, Aria and Levi wore their shirts they got for their shower in August. They all have their names across the back and have a camel on the front. Yes, the camel was my high school mascot, for those who didn't know. You can laugh, Dan will laugh with you, just don't let me know about it!!

Levi's funny face.

Aria intently watching the little girls and their cheerleading routine.

Kara and David.




On Friday, January 23rd, we got some more teeth in the family! Levi got his first tooth on the bottom. David's second tooth FINALLY came through. I've been looking for that one to pop through for a month. Aria, whom the doctor thought was closest to getting teeth in November, has yet to have any teeth show up. But, she still drools along with the best of them. We'll keep you posted.

They are getting soooo fun! Levi regularly laughs at his siblings now. He just watches them and giggles. It's awesome! He also had some GREAT faces today. I don't know if his teeth were bothering him, or his nose itched, or what, but these he made me laugh and laugh!!







I think I may be getting this Mom thing down. It sure has gotten easier as they have grown. Yay! I've recently been telling my family that I have noticed I no longer live for the days I get help. This is a big thing. Throughout the summer, we had constant help in and out of our house. We were constantly in "survival mode." Then, when I started having to do it on my own, I would live for the couple hours a week Anne or Lori from church would come in to help me. I would fiercely crave a nap. I would count down the days until more family would be coming to spend time with us, or when we would go to them. I think I just kept promising my body it would sleep someday again. Then, around November, the kids became really great sleepers. We got them all sleeping through the night. Next came the morning nap. I am terribly protective of my morning nap. When they go down, I sleep too. By the afternoon, their schedules have taken different paces so they are hardly asleep at the same time again. But, that is okay because I get individual time with them in the afternoon. So now, when I go to bed at night, I don't have to worry about the next day. My old mantra used to be, "I did it yesterday, I can do it today." I haven't had to think that in a long time. I have three wonderful babies who, for the most part, are very good to me. I thank God for sleeping babies. He has been good to us!

One of these days, I am going to make sure I break this up into smaller bits of triplet fun, but for now, you have to put up with my mega posts!

Lots of Love,
Elizabeth

Christmas/New Years – Part II

I didn’t take any time to blog this past week. I guess “being on vacation” meant vacationing from the blog too! I have less and less time to be on here as the babies grow and sleep less, so I will have to work on writing short snippets more, instead of the wordy things I usually spew.

I am writing this from the van on the way back to Rock Rapids (January 4). We’ll see how long the carsickness stays away. My dad is driving us back. But, I will go back to the very beginning… a very good place to start! (Always good to throw in some “Sound of Music” lyrics when I can!)

Our trip out to Wyoming for the rest of Christmas started at 3am on December 27th. Dan and I knew the kids would behave the best for the trip if they were sleeping. We didn’t want to leave in the middle of his Grandma’s Christmas party the night before. We were right to travel like we did, because we didn’t hear a peep out of them for 5 hours. We only had to stop once for the wake-up bottle and then it was one more hour until my parents house.

We had a wonderful Christmas gathering later that morning. My parents had a Christmas tree they had gotten from the Black Hills like we used to do when I was little. There were many fun gifts to open for the kids. They got fun toys, lots of clothes, and homemade blankets from aunt Jessica! Yay! Dan and I were also spoiled. I have some pictures of our morning as a family.

David giving Grandma kisses


Opening stockings




Uncle James holding Levi, as we only have two laps between us for our three kids!


David opening lots of clothes

Jessica and Grandma helping Aria open all her cute clothes!

Donna helping David with Levi laying there eating his toes!

Levi, our little gift!

That evening we went to my Dad’s brother’s house. Lots of the Rigsby side of the family was there. My Great-Grandpa and Grandma Rigsby had all seven of their great-grandkids there, so everyone took a picture. I say everyone, because we piled the kids on my grandparents, and then all the adults in the room got behind the three people with cameras and start hooting and hollering. Why do adults turn in to babbling idiots when taking pictures of babies? We all do it. And the pictures are cute. I guess the babies have us trained.

Sunday was a relaxing day with church in the morning and then hanging out with family. David, Aria, and Levi turned 7 months old! Dan took off for Montana that night with Douglas and Kara so they could be there to ski on Monday at Red Lodge. I hear they had a blast. On Tuesday, I had a “day off” and went shopping with my friend Amber all day. It was glorious. New Years Eve Day, Dan was crazy enough to get up at 5am to go snowmobiling in the Black Hills. He went with Douglas, Kara and her dad, Keith. Keith drove all the way from Rock Rapids and I hear they had a great time. I told Dan they had to be back early enough for us to have a nice New Years evening together. Where were to kids, you ask? Aren’t you parents... of three babies? How in the world did you do all this running around? Well.... have I ever told you how WONDERFUL my family is? They helped us out soooo much this week and really gave us a break. My sister Jessica and her husband James spent some quality time with the kids. Of course, the proud (and now exhausted) grandparents took great care of the babies, and us. It may be a 1000 mile round trip for us, but every mile is worth it to get to Gillette.

New Years Eve we had a get-together at my friend, Kenzie’s house. It was a blast and there was lots of good food, fun and laughter. Thanks for hosting us, Kenzie & Shaun! We had been able to get Aria and Levi to bed before we left for the party. David and Grandpa fought it out soon after we left. Grandpa won and David soon went off to bed too. I can’t believe we stayed out till 2am, but seeing friends and hanging out with my siblings was well worth it.

Friday evening, Dan left to come back across South Dakota. He had plans to go pheasant hunting Saturday morning with a friend from high school. It is the last weekend of the season and Dan’s last chance to use the other days from his license. I think it’s also nice to see his friend, Jason. That is why my dad is volunteering to drive us back to Iowa. He will come back on Wednesday in the car my brother drove back. Let’s just say, it’s a good thing gas is $1.23 in Gillette!

Saturday was awesome because the kids had a play date!! Aria had her best friend, Rylan, over. Luckily she brought with her my best friend, her momma Kenzie. Then, another friend from high school, Dani, brought over her son to play too! Scott was born three weeks before David, Aria, and Levi. We had lots of fun visiting while the floor was littered with our babies! We were also glad Dani brought a photographer with her so we could have a group picture. Her husband, Doug, did a wonderful job. We can’t believe how many of our friends had babies this year and wished we all could have been together! Just want to say we missed you to Kim, Tiffany, Stacey and others that I don’t know if they have ever seen my blog.

Aria and Rylan playing:

Rylan and Scott

McKenzie with Levi, Dani holding Rylan with Scott sitting by:

Back Row: Dani, Kenzie, Me
Front Row: Scott, Rylan, Levi, Aria, David


That night, we finally had a taco party!!! Taco parties are a tradition that my children have taken part many times in their lives already. We make up all the fixings for tons of tacos and get together as a family. “Family” means many close friends too that we just call family now. The parties are getting so big, and the triplets take up so much room that we found a new location for the party! There are only so many places to squeeze in card tables at my mom or aunt Marie’s house. Yesterday, we all gathered at the new fire station in Gillette. My uncle Rob is a firefighter and Douglas also volunteers there when he is home. They have a beautiful new facility and there was room for everyone. Good times!

Here is the big TV room with tons of big recliners! Grandpa Rigsby was watching the kiddos play.

Great Grandpa Dickey with Aria and David


I was sure David was going to be crawling by the time we left Gillette, but he’s still working on that skill. Aria is getting much better about sitting up and Levi is almost there. He likes to be on his tummy a lot more lately so I know he won’t be far behind David.

Speaking of David and being ahead… he got his first tooth while we were away! Dan found it the night of the 26th. I came running to look, and you couldn’t see much but you could definitely feel it. Now, it is in full view, especially when he flashes his beautiful smile.

We are having lots of fun with the kids as their personalities shine through more each day. They laugh easily and keep us entertained. I am excited to have their next well-baby check-up this Friday to see how much they weigh and such.

I don't think I am going to be able to type much more because babies who should be sleeping, are not. I think the glow from the computer screen is illuminating my face and it must be more interesting than the backs of their eyelids. Dad and I had stopped in Wall, SD to feed and change them. There wasn't anything too evenful about the stop and it only took us an hour. We even fed them their bedtime cereal, so I am not sure why they are stirring now. Somehow I will have to convince them that even though they are not in their beds, it is not playtime. Mommy wants a nap! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas season and happy New Year from the Nebelsicks!!

Love,
Elizabeth