Driven to Squeal!

I just can't take it. My kids are toooo cute! I can't give them enough kisses. My lips are literally chapped at the end of the day. I can't hug them enough. I want to squeeze them tight and love them up. But, they are fragile and get annoyed. So, after the playing with the third cutie pie in a row on the changing table, I just had to squeal at them out of pure love and joy for these children! They loved it and kicked and laughed. We yelled and danced and smiled for all the love in this precious family of mine. I just can't even take it! They are beyond cute!

We had a well baby check up today for 9 months. Here are the stats:

David: 22 lbs., 29.5 inches (80%)
Aria: 18 lbs. 11 oz., 29.5 inches (95%)
Levi: 20 lbs. 11 oz., 29.5 inches (80%)

Yes, my kids are tall. They probably always will be. It was a sad, sad day for them. They were made to give up their treasured carseats. You should have heard the protests we got all the way to Sioux Falls today. I felt terrible because it was nap time and no one could get to sleep in their new carseats. The new ones sit more upright and must not be as comfy. We were well aware of their feelings. Without decent naps, they were crabby babies this afternoon. Not good. It helped with an earlier bedtime though!

Dan and I did not have to worry about bedtime tonight. The babies are with aunt Donna and aunt Kristi. They gave us a glorious night off!! We came home alone after dinner at Olive Garden. Yummy! It was very strange driving up to the house with no one to unload and put in bed or the babies not there in bed already. Much to my dismay, Dan settled in to a relaxing night of.... basketball? Ewww. I am not so much interested in the NCAA tournament so lucky for you, I am blogging! Yay! The real bummer is the basketball game is still buzzing away and my hubby is sleeping. I know if I went and got the controller he would instantly wake up, so I'll just keep chatting with you, bloggy readers.

New happenings in the life of our triplets:

David likes to hang out with his right hand fingers crossed, like he's telling a fib or hoping for good luck. It's pretty cute.

Aria has become VERY giggly lately! She laughs and giggles at everything. So cute!

Levi is rocking up on his hands and knees. He is progressing nicely in the crawling game. But, I am busy enough keeping an eye on David that Levi doesn't have to rush anything.

We are starting the paci transition with Aria. I am going to start giving it only at nap and night times. I don't want to have a painful seperation a ways down the road. Oh, the trials of her young life.

David is finally letting us feed him food with some texture. When we started bigger "chewing" chucks he would gag, spit it out, and blow raspberries if you looked like you were bringing the spoon back to his face. This wasn't fun when he already had a facefull he was trying to get rid of. Just today he gobbled up whatever we gave him, so now we just have to work on crackers and cheerios. I give Aria a cracker and it is GONE. I hand one to Levi and he will work on it. David picks up his, holds his hand over the floor and lets go. Stinker.

Their favorite song right now is the "Itsy Bitsy Spider." I don't do the traditional actions with them... the spider crawls up their tummy and tickles them. They LOVE it.

Last weekend we went to Gillette! Are you shocked? You are probably surprised I hadn't reported a trip in the recent weeks with how regularly we've been traveling. Dan took a quick snowmobiling trip to the Black Hills with his dad and my brother, Doug. I wasn't going to let everyone head that way without me... especially on my best friend's daughter's first birthday!! Happy Birthday, Rylan!




Here is Levi after he fell asleep on my parents floor. He was one tired boy. He couldn't finish his bottle.


David loved throwing the laundry ball in the laundry basket and then fishing it back out. He did it a few times! Do we have a future basketball player on our hands? He's practicing already!


Levi modeling his sunglasses as we were getting ready for a walk with Doug, Kara and Daddy the other day!



We loaded up and went to the park for the FIRST time! Everyone got a turn on the swings. I have a feeling we will be spending hours at the park very soon! I have gotten the scoop from another triplet mom which park has three "baby" seat-swings in a row. Good thing to know for next time!





Daddy taking David down his first slide!


Levi got really comfy on the way home.

I could just get lost in those brown eyes.


All three play together so well when they want.


David is in desperate need of a haircut. This was my attempt at a mohawk after baths on Wednesday night. It just curled right over. Unfortunately, Dan thought it was funny to put one in Aria's hair and never combed it down! It needed major help before we could go to MOPS on Thursday morning. I got her out of bed and carried her straight to Dan and said, "What have you done to our daughter!?" Too bad I didn't get a picture first.


Aww, our beloved carseats. They love them. Here are my big ol' babies growing out of their infant carseats. They are just too big!

David in June, and now.



Aria:


(This is also an unashamed plug for the signs we have hanging on the carseats. They really did the trick at keeping curious strangers from handling our babies in public. You can buy them here at www.mytinyhands.com)


Levi:



All three in June, leaving the NICU and now.


It's fun to see how far we've come!


On Thursday, David was sporting a new style - backwards pants. I don't think we're supposed to be sagging our backwards pants, David! This was the way I found them after MOPS. I also found the diaper on backwards!! I am thinking they tried to change my boy on the floor and he wrestled them enough that they gave up and got the clothes back on any way they could. I speak from experience. He only behaves well on the changing table!


Our flying Precious Princess Poopsie, waiting for a diaper change from Daddy!



Finally, we have pictures from today in some of our favorite toys for the boys. I wanted to show David's tired eyes since he got me up at 5am this morning. Ugh.


I had to take a picture of Aria on the changing table because she stretches out so nicely to show how long ALL of my babies are on this table! I am afraid we are going to outgrow this too!


Lastly, I have a few videos I'd love to share, if I can get them to upload. So, hopefully they will be coming soon!

Love, Elizabeth

Three New Heartbeats

One year and 4 months ago:


Today:


Look closely. Do you see those THREE precious babies in that ultrasound taken today? They are my............... nephews and/or nieces!! My SISTER is having TRIPLETS!! What kind of chance is there that two sisters would both have triplets 15 months apart?!? The first thing I thought was, "Did they not learn anything?" Ha. No one could have seen this coming but the Almighty Giver of Blessings.

The kicker is that two of them are identical! She had one egg split. There is no fertility treatment on earth that can make an egg split. That is God's blessing of life. All I can say now is, "WOO HOO and here we go!"

What a delight to know that everything we have been given as far as supplies gets to be passed on and used again. How wonderful that I could experience this overwhelming life-change in time to help my little sister along in the journey. Oh my land, what if we'd done it together? My parents would have probably keeled over! This might add a few gray hairs... sorry Mom and Dad. But, what better family for these babies to join? Now I am just wishing that James' job could bring them closer. It is all in God's hands and I know the new family of five will be cared for.

If you would like to follow Jessica and James' journey into triplet parenthood, you can link to her blog here.

Now, on to the mound of stories about the Nebelsick triplets:

Last week, Levi started clapping! I can't catch it on video because it is random. I usually notice it right as I am strapping up a new diaper as he is laying on the changing table. I don't know if he is applauding the lowliest of Mommying jobs and grateful for the dry butt or not, but it sure does make it worth while. He's a smart cookie, that Levi.

David. David. David. What are we going to do with a little boy who just climbed an entire flight of stairs last night? No kidding. From bottom to top. Granted, there were three observers with Mommy behind him and Daddy encouraging him from the top. Aria was the third one on my hip. I want her to see how fun the mobile side of life is. We have the side of the house with stairs entirely gated off but it was an adventure to let him have a go at the stairs as a treat. I feel bad with them couped up in half of the main floor while it's so yucky outside. I can't wait until we can get out more this spring.

This is David trying to make a break for freedom. Instead of messing with a baby gate 1000 times a day, for now we step over this little chair. It does the job, for now.






Speaking of getting out, we have been on a few walks in the warm, I mean not cold, weather. We bundled them up and took 'em for a ride in the stroller as it was meant to be, with out carseats. The big kid seats made their appearance and everyone seemed to like them. Here are some pictures:




The second day, our walk was a little later and Aria fell asleep on the way home. Notice the cute little buntings to put their legs in? They seemed so warm and cozy. Obviously, Aria had no problem getting comfortable. She zonked out. First she leaned over to sleep. Then, Dan brought the whole seat in the house so she didn't have to wake up. It reclines (can I say enough about how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Peg Perego stroller?) so she laid there while we got everyone unloaded and groceries put away. How precious is this?




Last week, Dan was gone for a couple nights for work. No one from the office sent over a replacement (ha) so I packed up the kiddos and headed to Grandpa and Grandma Nebelsick's house. After going solo all day, I just do not want to attempt a couple solo nights in a row if I don't have to. And I didn't. Thanks Dave and Deb!

While we were there, Little David started waving. He had waved his hand up in the air a little bit before, but he waved "bye bye" in response to Grandpa for the first time last week. It was adorable. Then, the man who was there taping/texturing their sheetrock also got a wave from David. Sure was funny to see a rough old guy melt at David's cuteness like that. Ah, my babies. Stealing hearts all over the place!

Both of Dan's grandmas, the baby's great-grandmas, were able to come visit when we were visiting Mount Vernon. Here is a picture of them helping me feed lunch. What a blessing that extra hands can be! Great Grandma Nebelsick is feeding Levi and Great Grandma Titze is feeding David.


On the way home, I was driving the kids by myself for the two hour trip. We drove through Sioux Falls and I was wishing I had someone along to help me so I could shop for a few necessities. Figuring I could get what I needed at Sam's Club, I bravely decided to try a stop there. The only reason I even considered it (since I didn't have a stroller) was because Sams has room for two kids in the cart seat. I was able to put Levi's carseat in the basket and seat Aria and David in the actual cart. I have to say, they were awesome! I knew they would behave. What a blessing to have such well-behaved babies! They enjoyed looking at all the new sights.

I think it is so funny when strangers spot us out in public and I notice them counting. There seems to be a shock when they mentally hit the number three. I am surprise at how often the word spurts out of their mouth when it hits their brains. "Three?" they say with a stunned look of: oh, did I say that out loud? I wonder why God left the brain-to-mouth filter out of some people?

I got asked four times how old the kids were. I think that was the "safe" way for people to ask if they were all the same age... triplets. The Sam's run was a very successful outting. Those experiences are so empowering and freeing for me. Somehow I feel normal. Although, I hardly ever feel abnormal. Having three babies is just normal life to me now and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Miss Ari-Loo is finally getting the rolling thing down. She is starting to roll back and forth and scoot until she gets where she wants to go. There are plenty of times she'll just sit and yell until I get her too, but we are making progress. I think I have made it a little too easy on her to not be mobile yet. We are getting there. She is awesome at picking anything up or reaching anything she wants. She can drop things out of sight and remembers exactly where they are. This is a skill perfected by many pacifers being spit out and found again. She eats crackers, bananas and cheerios off of her highchair really well. This is a blessing since this will now hold her off from needing to be spoon-fed while I am feeding the boys. Levi is pretty good at that too. David is not a big fan off textured food yet. He has to be in the right mood.

Speaking of David and his textures... last night Dan and I sat down to feed the kids their supper. We were trying a "3rd Foods" chunky baby food, Chicken Vegetable, for the first time. I noticed Dan had not grabbed bibs for us and for some reason that woke the sass-a-fras (a.k.a. obstinant Elizabeth) in me. So, I treked back to the livingroom (why in the world we don't keep them in the kitchen, I'll never know. Gotta move those things!) and grabbed two PINK bibs and one blue one. This meant that one of Dan's sons was going to be in a PINK bib. Not that David noticed, right? How in the world would David know that pink is a "girl" color, right? I turned around after being satisfied from the grimace on Dan's face and went to feeding Levi. No sooner had I sat down then we got our first experience with our children, how shall I say... up-chucking? David puked all over the pink bib. Dan practically cheered, until we got a wiff of what it smelled like! There is a definite difference from spit-up, that's for sure. Needless to say, it was probably that David did NOT care for the texture of the lumpy chicken vegetable meal, but Dan will never admit it wasn't the pink bib.

Here are some pictures of the siblings. I am so glad my kids have each other:



Finally, we are still working on this bottle holding concept. David has preferred his tummy so long that he can hardly stand to lay down to eat his bottle. We have yet to get the concept of gravity across:


Aria knows that when she shakes the bottle upside down, pretty white dots spatter everywhere! Fun for her. Not productive in the way of eating:

Little Levi, our expert:



I look back over this post and realize that I say the word "blessing" so many times! It is writing taboo to overuse any word, and I usually edit them out. But, not "blessing". I am amazed at the constant extension of God's grace and mercy to me and my family and I won't edit it out. Count your many blessings! Name them one by one! Thankfully for you, I have to go to bed now or you'd be here all day reading!

All of a Sudden, Life is Much Easier!

As of Thursday, Levi is holding his own bottle!! He actually is a better eater when he is doing it on his own. He will actually finish a bottle again!!

Aria and David are practicing more with holding their bottles and David did a great job today. He is officially holding his own bottle too now. Aria could do it if she wanted to. But, I feel bad not holding someone to feed them! It is so WONDERFUL to be able to hand the bottle to the hungry baby instead of having them cry as I finish up with someone else. Oh, sweet relief.







Levi and Kara taking a short snooze. So sweet.


This reminded me of a bottle calf! David will pull himself up and want a drink!


Aria was content just to lay there and relax with her tired Momma. Fine with me!


Thank you Donna, Kristi, and Kara for all your help with the babies this weekend!! Dan and I had an overnight stay at a hotel in Sioux Falls and had a much needed break. It was wonderful knowing that the kids were safe and sound. We did not worry at all. We have the BEST family in the world!