the rogans

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

2011-10-31T20:00:00.002-07:00

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain....

That's right folks... We're off the see the wizard!

Come meet the cast of characters...

The wizard of Oz aka CooperDorothy aka Audrey

She loves her "Dorfy" costume and especially her SHOES. She cries when we take them off.

The Scarecrow aka Tucker

I had intended for this to be Sean's costume, but as soon as Tuck saw the green shirt, he had to have it.

I think its pretty perfect on him.

The Tin Man aka Sean

Sean was the first one to get in his costume and he was so excited about it. Halloween with kids is so fun!

The Cowardly Lion aka Mike

He may look cute and cuddly, but he's a ferocious lion. Not Winnie the Pooh. He has a lion's mane. Gosh.

Lots of kids have been confused. To their peril.

The Wicked Witch aka Sarah

I'll get you my pretties...and your little dog too!

Toto aka Emily

Happy Halloween from the Rogan family!

Sweet Emily

2011-10-28T16:35:00.001-07:00

Our precious baby is one month old today. She is just a gem, and we all adore her. She is the sweetest little baby. I don't think she has a sassy bone in her body. She is patient and mild-mannered. We love all of her little coos and sighs. She is truly a joy and a wonderful addition to the family.

Here are her newborn photos compliments of our friend Leigh over at L. Root Photography.

If you can't tell from the pictures, her older siblings can't get enough of her.

There's a lot of love at our house!

28! and update

2011-10-15T20:09:00.003-07:00

28th anniversary, congratulations Grammy and Grandpa!

We are doing good. Just getting through that sleepless newborn phase. Emily is a gem, though, and we sure love her.

Other kids are doing good, too. Silly as ever.

'Til next time!

Trips' first visit

2011-09-29T07:46:00.002-07:00

The thing about two-year-olds is that they find hospital rooms... boring. What would we have done without Auntie there to entertain them?

They did all enjoy holding baby Emily, of course -- while rockin' their "Big Bro" and "Big Sis" shirts.

Audrey

Sean

Tucker

Emily Quinn

2011-09-28T12:45:00.004-07:00

The new baby is here. She's here!!

Emily Quinn Rogan was born at 9:18 am on 9/28/2011. She weighed in at 7 lb., 10 oz. Mom and baby both are doing wonderfully. We are so happy to have her!

Catch up...Story of my life...

2011-09-14T10:52:00.003-07:00

I have been trying to get this post up all week, but I'm having technical difficulties with uploading my comparison pics for some reason. I'll post them when I can, but for now, here's my last four weeks of pictures!

34 Weeks

Feeling good! The baby is breech though. :(

35 Weeks

Still feeling good, but if this baby doesn't flip by next week, we'll have to schedule a c-section (which I REALLY don't want!)

36 Weeks

Breech STILL! C-section scheduled for September 28th.

37 Weeks

Starting to feel a little more uncomfortable. The baby is still breech, and I am not progressing at all. People are constantly commenting that I look like I'm about to pop, but the doctor and I are pretty confident that nothing will be happening until we go in and get her! I suppose there is still a chance that she could flip, but as I write this, she is still breech. This baby has just been encouraging us to be flexible from the very beginning. I can't wait to really start getting to know her :) We'll see her soon!

This video is one I took at about 36 weeks. I don't remember my tummy moving quite so much with the triplets. There was definitely a lot of activity going on with them, but they just didn't have as much room to maneuver!

Three for one - weeks 31, 32, and 33

2011-08-16T20:33:00.008-07:00

31 weeks along and going strong!

32 weeks-only 8 more to go...Are we really ready for this? I've started having doctor appointments twice a week to check up on the baby and everything is looking great! Baby girl is measuring about 4.5lbs already which is as much as Audrey at birth!

33 weeks. The differences are obvious now. Everything is still going well with the pregnancy, but I'm a little dehydrated, so now I'm going to have to really work on remembering to keep drinking my water.

I am getting so excited to see this precious baby girl! Its hard to believe that we only have 2 more weeks of triplet comparison pictures which means we are getting really close. I still feel like we have a TON to do to get ready, but somehow, I hope it will all just come together. In other news, Mike is now working in an office away from home in order to prepare to take some time off when the baby comes. Neither of us are too excited about it, but both feel it will be an asset in the long run. Today was a trying and hectic day as both Tucker and Audrey spent the whole morning (starting at 6am!) throwing up. :( I had two sick clingy kids and one rambunctious, bored, trouble-making boy. They really did pretty well and were a big help to me and each other. We mostly got everything caught in a bowl or the sink too, so clean up was minimal. I stayed in good spirits most of the day as well which always makes things go more smoothly. They all took a huge nap this afternoon while I went to a doctor appointment (Mike came home) and then Sean threw up his dinner... So far, they are all snug in their beds, so hopefully, we will not have a repeat performance tomorrow! Wish us luck as we try to get a handle on all of the new adventures that are knocking on our door!

day three

2011-07-30T07:40:00.003-07:00

Dear Grandma,

Everything went great the whole time you were gone. The doggies did great. Although I think they were ready for you to come home.

OOPS

Not sure who did this. It was probably Jake. Or Elvis. Or Tom. (Speaking of Tom, he didn't pick up any dog poop. I picked up all of it.) There are a bunch of little tooth marks on the Sensodyne tube now. Oh well.

Love you,
Mike

day two

2011-07-28T21:52:00.006-07:00

Dear Grandma,

Not much to report here. Tortoise is back in her pen, and the doggies are great. The boys roughhoused a little in the morning but mostly everyone just chilled out all day.

"Hey ... is that a basketball in there?!?! Can we go in??" -Betty
"No, dogs."

"Pleeeeeeease?" - Elvis
"I don't think so."

"Cool with me." - Lucy

The babies are looking forward to everyone coming home, especially Uncle Chris. We went to Scouts tonight and everyone got suckers. They had to sit on the tile to finish them at home because they were sticky messes.

Everyone is doing a great job of learning to say "please." "Thank you" is already mastered. Tucker poopied on the potty again tonight. He also bonked his head falling off of Mom and Dad's bed, on which he may or may not have been jumping. At the table we were talking about who is a boy and who is a girl - one of our favorite things to talk about - and I asked Audrey, "Audrey's a..." and she finished with "PRINCESS!" All through Scouts Sean kept coming back from playing (there were many little kids) every few minutes to ask Mom, "Treats? Treats? Sean want treats." He knew that Mommy had gone to the store to get treats for afterward.

Sorry you have strep throat. :( Hope you're taking good care of that boy of ours. We're all so proud that he was the DISTINGUISHED SOLDIER for his whole platoon.

We spotted you and Dad, too!

Love you,
Mikey Mook

day one

2011-07-27T16:21:00.003-07:00

Dear Grandma,

We had a great day on Wednesday. Dogs all slept the whole time I was over there. Except for when my boss stopped by to drop off some files. The dogs let her know what a bad idea it was to ring the doorbell. While I dealt with her, SOMEBODY snuck into the kitchen and got my pizza. Hmm... who was it. Let's find the guilty party.

WAS IT YOU??
OK, not you...

WAS IT YOU??
OK, not you either...

WAS IT YOU??
No, definitely not you...

WAS IT YOU?
No, you don't eat pizza...

WAS IT-- wait. What? WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT??
Oh I see you dug yourself a hole.

Didn't get very far. Only wanted some of the nearest shade, I guess. OK, moving on.

WAS IT YOU??
Yep it was you.

THEY ARE GOOD DOGS

Weeks 29 and 30! Woo hoo!

2011-07-26T20:50:00.005-07:00

I had a doctor's appointment today everything is looking great! I'll be going to the doctor a little more frequently from here on out, and it really makes me realize how soon this little one will be here. I'm getting very excited, but I have a TON to do before she arrives. Wish us luck!

P.S. The biggest difference I see between these pictures is not so much the size of the tummy, but more how long my tummy is with the triplets. It doesn't go out much further, but I'm round from my chest to my thighs. What do you think?

28 weeks

2011-07-15T21:18:00.004-07:00

Left: current 28 weeks shot (sort of... better late than never!)

Right: 28 weeks with the trips

Everything is going well! I have been very preoccupied with life this week and seem to have a hard time keeping thoughts in my head (like taking my picture...) My sister accused me of not valuing this pregnancy as much as the one with the triplets, but that is simply just not true! The last time around, all I had to do was sit around and grow babies, and this time, I've got a lot more going on. I tire easily and feel very sore in my tummy area because of all of the abuse its undergoing between the 4 kids, but usually, I feel pretty good. I'm getting very excited for this little girl to come, but I'm glad I have a few more months to prepare!

RANDOM

2011-07-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

Just some random photographic evidence of how awesome our kids are.

Swordfighting at Target in jammies.

Making sure Mr. Penguin gets a seat at the table. Complete with dishes, silverware, and food.

PUTTING OUR POOPIES IN THE POTTY! YAY TUCKER! (We're working on it!)

Running through the misters outside of RigaTony's for the amusement of restaurant patrons.

"Helping" Mommy on the computer.

We're having a good summer, even though it's so HOT!

july 4

2011-07-06T22:11:00.000-07:00

Just about to sit down to dinner on July 2 and notice an article on azcentral about Mesa's Freedom Festival that night. Many, many activites, including ... Barney sing-a-long.

This changed our plans. The kids are REALLY into Barney right now, and ask to watch Barney ALL. THE. TIME. This sing-a-long was free, whereas the actual Barney stage show coming in August was like $20 bucks a ticket. So we scarfed our dinner, got dressed in our patriotic clothes, and headed off.

Red, white and blue hooligans

We buzzed off to downtown Mesa, found parking, and walked into the Mesa Arts Center at 7:29. Right on time! We were ushered into the theater, sat down, and before you know it...

There he was. The Big Purple Dinosaur himself, singing and dancing for about 20 minutes. Our kids were ENTHRALLED.

Little girl gettin' into the show

It was well worth going to, even though that day's high temperature was 118! Since we were down there we decided to check out the Festival. The kids played in a bounce house (well, the boys played. Audrey said, "No, Dad. I'm too scared.") and we wandered around seeing all the booths, exhibits, and people. Sorry for all the blurry low-quality cell phone pics.

We ran into Cinderella! (Thanks Susan for taking this pic!!)

Had to stop at one point for some delicious frozen lemonade.

We stuck it out until 9:30 - for fireworks!

No tears! No fear! Just enjoyment! (The big bag of kettle corn I bought 'em probably helped.) We had great seats! What a way to celebrate the Fourth!

27 weeks!

2011-07-06T08:21:00.006-07:00

Left: taken Monday night

Right: 27 weeks with the triplets

You can really see the difference in these pics. Its interesting to me to see how I carry the babies in the same way even though there's a discrepancy in the number of babies. I still look like me :)

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and everything is looking good! I was surprised when the nurse wanted to listen for the baby's heartbeat. When I was pregnant with the triplets, we had to have ultrasounds every appointment to get the heartbeats, so it just took me by surprise. Another new experience was having the doctor use a tape measure to measure how far along I am. They just plain didn't do that last time around. No point. The appointment was pretty straight forward. Just making sure the baby is moving well and I'm progressing well. She actually moves pretty regularly and has some strong movements. It feels very different from the triplets. When the trio would move, I could feel more concentrated movements where I knew the babes were hanging out, but when she moves, I feel her all over the place! Guess she just has a little more room to stretch her wings :)

I'm feeling good aside from just getting worn out by my little toddlers. I have to, at least, lay down and rest while they nap in order to make it through the day. Luckily, they're great kids and I love them a whole lot! We, also, have been swimming as much as we can. The kids love it, and it gives us something to do to entertain them, but it feels great for me! I don't remember getting as much relief from it the first time around, but I've just been so hot, and its much easier to hold the kiddos in the water than normal. I can only go with help, though, so I have to wait until Mike can go with me in the evenings.

Mike and I have given a lot of thought to how we want to have this baby (c-section vs VBAC) and we've decided that this is our only chance to try for a "normal" experience, so we're going to give the VBAC a shot. I'm really excited and nervous. Last time, I didn't have a choice, so it made the whole thing a lot easier in some ways. I just really want everything to go well. Now, I have to focus on mentally preparing for a more traditional experience which is a little overwhelming, but already makes me feel more like normal. Any tips on how to get through labor/delivery would be greatly appreciated! :S

some bday pics

2011-07-03T07:11:00.013-07:00

Still can't believe our little scamps are two. Here's some more pics from their birthday celebration at Grammy's!

Tucker and Mommy

Just playin'

Dad a little worn out

Opening presents from Auntie

SHOES!

Look, Mom!

Look!

LOOK!

Then we all gotta do it.

The best part of presents is the BAG.

Love our Auntie.

WATER TABLE!

Fun fun fun!

Big Sean

Aud

Lucky

On their actual birthday (a Wednesday), we took them out for frozen yogurt!

All 2.5 of our ladies!

Mama!

Tuck!

Laney!

Seany!

Love these kids!

Surprise!

2011-06-28T22:05:00.009-07:00

The picture on the left is me now at 26 weeks.

The picture on the right is me at 26 weeks with the trips.

So, for those of you who may be curious or who have not heard the whole story yet, here it is... I am pregnant with number four, but I completely and honestly did not have the slightest notion that I was pregnant until May 26 at which point I would have been about 21 weeks along. I don't get sick with my pregnancies (even the trips) and I was a little tired, but I do have three toddlers running around to wear me out afterall. None of the "symptoms" I was having were enough to make me think that I might be pregnant.

Until....

I felt the baby kicking...

For THREE WEEKS!

On Thursday, May 26, Mike and I were sitting at the kids' last swimming lesson when I started feeling what felt exactly like a baby kick. I'd been having this sensation for three weeks at this point (but I "knew" I wasn't pregnant), so I was starting to get pretty concerned. I was thinking that there must be something really wrong with me and that I should probably go see a doctor.

Anyway.

Mike caught me rubbing my tummy and asked what was up. I told him (for the first time) what I'd been feeling and expressed my concerns. He suggested that maybe I should take a pregnancy test just to be sure, and even though I was "sure," I figured that after three weeks who can be sure of anything. As soon as we got home, Mike ran to get a test even though I tried to convince him that I wasn't pregnant, so he should just wait until after we'd fed the kids and put them down for their nap. He was just too excited and couldn't wait.

The whole time he was gone, I was playing the what if game. What if I am pregnant? How far along does that mean I am? If I've been feeling the baby kick for three weeks already and from what I know about how my tummy feels, I would have to be somewhere around halfway... How can I be pregnant and not know it? How does that even happen? I can't be pregnant. But what if I am???

I took the test. It was not unclear.

HOW COULD I NOT HAVE KNOWN?! AND WHEN IS THIS BABY COMING?!

I was so overwhelmed and shocked and excited and grateful and absolutely freaking out! I couldn't hold back the tears. Neither could Mike. We hurried to put the kids down for their nap and then made an appointment to see the doctor that day just to confirm all of our suspicions. Did I mention that we were packing to leave the next morning for our big trip to Utah? Yeah, the timing could have been a little better.

I went the doctor by myself for the first time (Mike went to every single appointment with the triplets) still dazed and in shock. The nurse confirmed that I was indeed pregnant and tried to listen for a heartbeat. Only one. (Still. I wasn't going to bet on that til I saw it on the big screen.) She told me that hearing a heartbeat means that I'm at least 10 weeks. Ok. 10 weeks isn't so bad. That gives me some time. Then the doctor came in and felt my tummy and said she estimated I was roughly about 20 weeks. 20 WEEKS?! That means this baby is coming sometime in the fall. It also means I've been pregnant since, like, JANUARY! WHAT?!

well... i guess that explains some things....

So, we went on our vacation. It was a good thing I had found out I was pregnant because my tummy all of a sudden popped out. People were noticing. Strangers were making sweet comments (that wouldn't have been as sweet had I not known.) Also, my clothes all of a sudden didn't fit. Oops. I didn't pack any maternity clothes. I wasn't pregnant when I was packing.

When we got home, we finally had the ultrasound to answer all of my questions. Yes, there is only ONE baby in there. She's a girl. She's measuring at about 24 weeks (at the time.) She'll be here sometime in early October.

Ah..... It feels so good to have all of those questions answered.

Now that I know how far along I am, we can start taking pictures every week and blogging about the week like we did before. I also like the idea of the comparison shots between pregnancies just to see how this one differs. So, that's the story. I feel pretty silly not knowing for so long, but mostly I'm just grateful to get to do this all again. I'm so excited to have another baby around the house and watch my little trio as they learn to adapt to the new baby.

I LOVE SURPRISES :D

Let me introduce you to the love of my life...

2011-06-19T08:31:00.006-07:00

This is my best friend. One day we fell in love and decided that we couldn't live without each other,

so we got married.

Now, when I married this man, I knew he was good at lots of things. I knew he could make me laugh harder than anyone I'd ever met before. I knew that I never tired of being with him. I knew he had more talent in his pinkie finger than I did in my whole body. I knew he was the smartest person I'd ever met. I knew he was casually cool and almost everyone loved him as much as I did. I knew that I was so proud to be associated with him and be introduced as the one who held his heart. I knew he would accomplish great things in his life and would be a loving husband and father.

As time went by, I learned how good he was with kids. He LOVES kids! Sometimes, kids are a little nervous by his size at first, but I've never met a kid that he can't win over fully and completely.

Well, then this happened....

Good thing I had my man to stand by me during this crazy ride. I am so lucky to have such a hands-on Daddy on my team as we struggle to learn how to raise these three silly kids. He doesn't shy away from diapers and he even finds time to take care of the garbage and dishes, so I don't have to worry about that part. From the moment we found out we were expecting the triplets, he has been the most excited person around. When I start to get overwhelmed by life, he is always the one to remain strong, positive, and grateful for all we have been given.

I LOVE our family! Babe, we would be nothing without you! You are still all of those things that I knew of you before and oh, so much more! I am so glad we get to add another little girl to our family in a few months because I love watching you fall in love with our children. You are an amazing father and my rock. Thank you for all you do and all you are. I love you more today than I ever thought was possible, and you're still my very best friend.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Birthday!

2011-06-15T18:14:00.006-07:00

Happy Birthday to my three sweet two year olds!

I can't believe we've made it this far together already :D

2 weeks old

3 months old

6 months old

9 months old

1 year old

18 months old

Birthday Boy Sean!

Sweet, Loving, Emotionally-charged, Goofy, loves "Foo Nacks" (fruit snacks), coming along quite well with his verbal skills, loves to jump into the pool, can climb out of his crib, good eater, has an insatiable thirst for juice, loves to rough house with Daddy

2 years old!

Birthday Boy Tucker!

Focused, Clever, Busy, Rough and Tough, Tease, Sensitive, Athletic, loves Barney and Opper Pops, has quite the arm, climbs up the pantry shelves, loves to sing, swims with his face in the water and kicks under water

2 years old!

Birthday Girl Audrey!

Fiery, Mother Hen, Precocious, Dramatic, Cuddly, loves to sing, sang the abc song today and can recognize all 26 capital letters and the numbers to 9, can count to 10

2 years old!

I love these three so much! I can't believe that in a few short months we get to add one more to our family. Oh, and guess what? Its a......

GIRL!!!!!!!

2011-05-28T08:29:00.007-07:00

For their upcoming second birthday, the kids received an early gift from Grammy - a two-week intensive swimming course. They L-O-V-E-D every second of it. Well, not every second - Audrey and Tucker cried at first, but grew accustomed to the fun very quickly.

Here they are with their "Super Swimmer" ribbons after the last lesson!

(and a blue sucker for Tuck)

Posing before lessons in swimsuits

Some action shots from swimming lessons

Here's a pretty lengthy video (that may only be entertaining to Sarah and I)

If you made it through all the pictures and the video, you've earned the right to our announcement:

We're pregnant!

Sarah has been feeling kicking sensations for a few weeks, but was sure she wasn't pregnant. She was wrong! The doctor said that she's probably already about 20 weeks along, so we should have a new baby come October! We're so excited!

summer has arrived

2011-05-16T22:47:00.007-07:00

It's HOT here, folks. Here's some of the things we're doing to keep busy and cool.

***Being silly eating nachos and playing on the patio***

***Going to a Cinco de Mayo party with lots of other kids***

***Cooling off on the tile***

***Snoozing in-between activities***

***Going to the splash pad and being too nervous to really play***

***Helping Mommy pick outfits***

Next stop: swimming lessons! Their first one was today and they did great! We'll try and get some good pictures!

happy easter!

2011-04-24T08:03:00.007-07:00

Checking out our Easter baskets

An entire Peep stuffed in Tucker's mouth - with more to follow.

PEEPS!

Sean: "Check this out, Daddy!"

"Hmm... this tastes..."

"GOOD. OM NOM NOM NOM NOM"

Audrey: "Look Daddy! Bunny!"

"Mmmm!"

Tucker: "What does this toy for the doggy do?"

::squeeze:: SQUEAK SQUEAK

Cooper: "Hmmmm! Whatcha got?!"

Feedin' the doggy his Easter treats

HE'S A GOOD BOY.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

For the Grandmas :)

2011-04-18T22:34:00.005-07:00

We have been just awful bloggers lately. I know no one wants to hear any excuses, but seriously, I have been so overwhelmed with life lately that I haven't even thought twice about this here blog. The last month or so has been incredibly difficult as the kids are becoming more aware of their own abilities and desires. I used to feel like I was doing pretty well as their mother, but they have turned a corner and now I am completely floundering! I just can't seem to keep up with them in any way, shape, or form. I am trying, though, and I hope that Heavenly Father will fill in the gaps. Here are a few pictures and videos to keep the people we love most happy until we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming :)

Audrey thinks she wants earrings these days because Mommy wears them. These ones I was able to drape over her ears and she was in heaven! I'm not ready to get hers pierced yet, but one day we will :)

This is a daily activity. They use the cow to climb onto the piano bench and sit and sing and play together. Its adorable :) So far, I've been unable to get a decent video of it, but I'll keep trying!

This is a crazy story. So, we had some friends over who have a pair of boys around the same age as ours. In the midst of the chaos, we hear a crash and turn to see that Tucker had somehow climbed into his booster chair and had sailed it into the window. Incredibly, he didn't have a scratch on him, and no one was hurt. We happen to live next door to a window repairman with True View who came over the next day and fixed it. What a blessing!

This melts my heart. Tucker was so tired before lunch that he climbed into his daddy's lap and fell asleep before Mike even knew what was happening. What can I say? The kid was well-named!

The weather is so nice that we spend a lot of time outside. The kids love these cars that Grammy got for them :)

Cute Sean wearing a cowboy hat I considered getting them for a scout activity I was in charge of. I decided that they probably wouldn't keep them on anyway, but it was worth a picture!

The kids have recently discovered "Opper pops" as they like to call them. They LOVE them! Today, we had one, and I was trying to see what else, if anything, I could get for the kids. They turned down all of their normal favorites, but insisted that they weren't done. Then Tucker looks at me with this sweet face and said, "More opper pops?" I caved. :)

2011-03-14T21:25:00.006-07:00

So, it's been two months between blogs. How 'bout we make it up to you by flooding you with pictures and videos? Forgive us? :-)

Our kids are enjoying the grassy backyard and the new swingset!

(this is the park, of course - but they love being outside! Sean climbed all the way up this while Mom's back was turned!)

(this is our back patio!)

(hanging out under the outside table! Audrey picked this outfit herself.)

She picked this outfit, too - dressed herself and wore it for half the day.

The boys wanted to be photographed, too, in their "Proud Army Nephew" shirts.

Sean the stud!

Mom and the kids just got back from a week visiting her sister in St. George. What an exciting trip it was!

Traveling! The kids love to take their shoes off and play "Hickey-Pee!" (kind of like "This Little Pig")

This doesn't look comfy! Car rides are exhausting!

Finding some daffodils!

Tucker and Audrey found a "chair!"

More chairs!

Running up and down the outside steps!

family photos!

2011-01-07T16:30:00.006-07:00

Since Sarah's family was in town for Christmas, we decided to take advantage of the rare opportunity and have family pictures taken. Thanks to Leigh for a great set of pictures!

Christmas

2010-12-27T19:26:00.016-07:00

Caitlin, Teresa and Nick (Sarah's sisters and Teresa's husband) have spent the week with us for Christmas. Here's a sampling of the activities we've enjoyed:

Christmas morning!

Potties!

Checking out Aunt Caitlin's Harry Potter owl

Shake-Weight!
Cooper planted himself in the middle of the activities
Singing around the piano (on the new, handcrafted piano bench - thanks Nick!)

Coming for the gifts!

Dominoes and Wassail!

Fondue party!

Helping Mom cook!

Roughhousing with Dad!

First haircuts!

Happy Holidays!

1.5

2010-12-19T20:46:00.004-07:00

Sorry we're bad little bloggers. It's been over a month!

Our kids are 18 months old. This means they get to go to the nursery during church. Today, at the end of the meetings, the nursery leaders gave the kids a chocolate cupcake. In their church clothes.

Chocolate got everywhere. All over their hands and faces. All over the walls. All over the tables. All over their beautiful outfits. All over Mom and Dad. But oh, how they loved their cupcakes. I suppose it's a wash.

The kids are so much fun these days. Talking about everything, doing animal sounds, playing and singing and laughing and being silly.

This boy Tucker may look innocent but he is MISCHIEVOUS. He loves to be naughty and do things he's not supposed to, and when you catch him and holler at him he laughs and does it in a frenzied manner so he can get as much naughtiness in as possible before you stop him. All the kids love it, but he is especially fond of "Bitsy? Bitsy? Itsybitsy?" (the itsy-bitsy spider). He's still our good sleeper and if the nap gets too late he'll fall asleep at the table or on the floor.

Little Audrey still loves to read and be giggly. She loves to tell her brothers what to do. In the morning she likes to hurry out and grab all the three bottles so she can hand out the boys' to them. She is so good at stringing words together. One funny story we like: we were all in the bedroom and she was with me. Sarah said, "Come on Audrey, let's go!" and she grabbed my legs tightly and said, "No. I want Daddy!." "No" is one of her favorite words. She also likes to hurl herself on the ground and cry if something doesn't go her way, but she's easily cheered back up!

The consensus on Sean is that his lion sound is unbearably cute. "RAWRR!" He remains a very opinionated, strong-willed child. He has truly found his voice and often blabbers away even though we don't understand what he's saying! He really loves to be silly and throw things around and run about screaming. He especially loves his mommy and daddy and likes to point them out to everyone (which makes them feel very good, I might add). Although he LOVES Elmo just like his siblings, he's the least likely to be 100% attached to the TV while he's on. He likes to be involved in whatever his parents are doing.

Things are going good!

27!

2010-11-17T20:08:00.006-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the world's greatest wife, mother, and all-around wonderful person!

With love,
The Crew

BONUS!
Squeaky shoes video!

redwood creek challenge trail

2010-11-09T19:59:00.007-07:00

When the kids weren't sleeping they were busy enjoying Disneyland. One of their favorite places was the "Redwood Creek Challenge Trail" at California Adventure. Here are some pictures!

Sleeping at Disneyland

2010-11-08T20:02:00.009-07:00

That's right! We took the triplets to Disneyland. I think we were crazy, but it ended up being an amazingly memorable trip! In an effort to capture as many moments as possible and break up the load, we are going to blog in pieces. This first collection of photos is of the many times we caught the kids sleeping. Disneyland can be an exhausting place and a hard place to get a good nap, but these kids sure did their best!

Daddy was so excited to have all three kids asleep at the same time! This was probably the best nap they all took. This was Day 2 after a morning of fun in Bug's Land and they were pooped!

Audrey, Day 1. Notice the "My First Visit" button :) So cute!

Nothing like a good smashed cheek snooze. Tucker, Day 1, with Aunt Teresa

This series of Sean, Day 2, is so cute. He fell asleep while waiting for Mom and Dad to get done riding the Tower of Terror (eek!) and the sun was bright, so Uncle Nick put the hat over his face. What a perfect way to enjoy a nice nap!

Mom enjoying a delicious caramel apple (and not having to share a single bite!) while the little ones napped. Bliss!

Day 2, Audrey was so cute falling asleep like this. She was fighting it hard, but a rolling stroller is just so comfy! Everyone was giggling at our sweet little princess all stretched out. Notice her little lip got caught on the side. Who can handle that pucker?! This was one of my favorite moments!

Proof that Tucker can fall asleep anywhere! His name definitely suits him! His chair is straight up and down. Don't worry, we reclined it after snapping a quick pic :)

Audrey curled up with Aunt Teresa and Uncle Nick while we waited for the "World of Color" show to start. It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. bytheway. We had awesome seats too!

Tucker is such a sweet cuddly boy! He looks so sweet all snuggled up to his Aunt Caitlin. Look at his darling face! I am just so in love with my sweet kids. This was taken while we waited in line to ride the new Toy Story ride which is awesome, but always has a super long line, so we only rode once :( This was probably the longest wait we had the whole time we were there.

I'm so glad we had the opportunity to take this trip, and I'm especially glad that we were able to meet my family there! We had such a memorable trip, and I promise there is much more to come! I'm going to try to blog everyday until we're done, but I make no promises. Just keep checking back, and we'll keep the good stuff coming. There's LOTS of it! :D

pumpkin patched

2010-10-15T20:30:00.005-07:00

Tucker, Joel, Audrey, Sean and Lucas hayriding

It's so exciting that our kids are finally old enough to enjoy little outings, and it's not such a hassle. We took them (along with our friends and their two boys, Joel and Lucas - Leigh took all these fantastic pictures while our camera sat, forgotten, in the car) to a pumpkin patch. The kids (and US) had so much fun! (Who are the real kids here?) Activities included:

pumpkin-picking...

wagon-pulling...

bird-watching...

...and house-bouncing. This was probably the highlight for the kids. Audrey didn't last long, but enjoyed exploring, while the boys rough-and-tumbled their little hearts out.

(Tucker's, Audrey's, Sean's)

Each kid got to pick and bring home their own little pumpkin.

Mom and Dad each picked one, too, and the broom - complete with sign reading "The Witch Is In" makes for a festive front door. We haven't found the time/energy/money to deck the house out with too much doom and gloom for the season, much to Sarah's chagrin. She did, however, have a chance to get out of the house for a night and go to a craft night hosted by our friend, Kristyn of Lil' Luna. She brought home this great sign...

...and it's recyclable! (flip it over...)

Next stop: costumes!

Count your blessings

2010-09-29T21:12:00.003-07:00

I had a STRESSFUL evening tonight!! I was trying to prepare for cub scouts, (I'm a wolf den leader) and I was NOT finding what I needed. The kids were CrAzY, and I had to miss dinner. It didn't help that the kids screamed and wailed when I left and Sean grabbed at my legs begging me not to go. Luckily, I have the best husband around. I came home to this...

This was the second attempt. The first attempt was on a lower shelf. The babies destroyed it and the dog ate it. Isn't he thoughtful?

As if that wasn't enough, I found some adorably goofy pictures of my sweet ones!
I love his silly smiles :D

Oh, that look! She has so much attitude for being so little. She must be MY daughter :)

I love that fluffy little head! And those jammies!

P.S. I promise I DO clean my house. I am still learning how to keep up with these three. Maybe someday I'll have a cleaner house, right????

CFB

2010-09-28T09:04:00.003-07:00

I have not blogged about college football in ages, and it's time to remedy that.

Alabama deserves to be ranked #1 after their come-from-behind win vs. Arkansas. They're a mature, strong team, but beatable. I see them getting past Florida without any problems. The only problem game I see on the schedule is an away game vs. LSU on Nov. 6. I would be surprised, though, if they didn't make it to the national championship game. Unfortunate, because I'd love to see an Ohio State-Boise State title match.

I expect the Buckeyes to win out and make it to the NC game, where I hope they don't embarrass themselves as they've done all too frequently in recent years. Assuming Michigan's stud quarterback, Denard Robinson, stays healthy, I expect that game to be a major challenge. The Big Ten looks very tough this year but I expect solid wins at Wisconsin, at Iowa and vs. Penn State. I think there's a fair chance that Michigan could go unbeaten until The Game, too, which would make them all the more dangerous.

There are so few routs for Boise State to obtain the national championship game. I think you'd need a 'Bama loss (or two!), Ohio State to fall to a non-unbeaten, and Nevada to be dominant until they play Boise, which must then win by like 50 points. I think an unbeaten Michigan vaults Boise State with a win at Ohio State, for example. It's the nature of the BCS.

The Pac-10 looks strong, too, with no clear favorite since Oregon looked so beatable at ASU. I'm thinking Stanford will give them a serious run for their money, and Arizona looks good, too. I'll pick Stanford just to be contrarian, but it would be a surprise if Oregon didn't win out the Pac-10, and not a shock if they vaulted Boise State in the rankings while so doing.

I expect Nebraska to be very strong. I also think Oklahoma is incredibly overrated, turning in poor performance after poor performance and still ranked in the top ten.

We no longer have television service, so I have missed out on watching a great deal of football, but it's been worth it. We've saved so much wasted time. Still miss turning on games all day Saturday, though.

Sunday Best

2010-09-26T21:25:00.006-07:00

I just love getting my kids all dressed up for church. How can you resist them?!

Sean looks rather dapper in a white shirt and tie

Handsome Tuck wouldn't hold still for a picture, but he sure is cute!

Pretty Audrey with a book like usual

Even Cooper looks handsome today!

Isn't he the greatest Daddy around? I LOVE this picture! And this MAN!!!

I tried to take a picture of Sean and I, but I aimed wrong. I thought *I* looked pretty though, so I kept it :)

Today was the birthday of the son of a lady in our neighborhood, so I made him some cupcakes! They turned out so cute. I got the circles from HowDoesShe? I love that site. There are so many awesome ideas. Someday when I have a little more time, I'll have to try some of them. In the meantime, I just print and go!

Printables courtesy of ChickABug

P.S. I love spice cake :D

P.P.S. My sister made this A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E. wreath for her front door. She is SO talented!!!

nie

2010-09-26T07:08:00.005-07:00

We are somewhat distantly acquainted with the lady who is the subject of this video - her sister-in-law is one of Sarah's good friends from junior high and high school. This is an incredibly inspirational story and it's worth the 8 1/2 minutes!

Our First Hospital Stay

2010-09-24T21:53:00.006-07:00

Audrey just before going to the hospital Thursday morning

Audrey and I are now home from the hospital! We were well-cared for, but we are both more comfortable at home. Neither of us had ever been in an ambulance before. It was a fun ride, but not something I hope to do again any time soon. We didn't have Audrey's carseat, so they had me lay on the bed and hold Audrey and they strapped us in together. She was so comfortable, she napped the whole way to the hospital. Once there, she couldn't do too much because of her IV and oxygen monitor. The novelty of the hospital adventure wore off quickly for her. When Aunt Amy came for a visit, Audrey wanted to go home with her! :( Poor girl!

By bedtime, she was SO TIRED from lack of naps and the excitement of the day, but she did NOT like the little crib they had for her. She would fall completely asleep in my arms, but wake up as soon as I put her down. The nurse was kind enough to switch the crib out for a regular bed so that I could lay down with her. She slept on my chest all night long.

She spent today on my lap either napping or playing. Her hives look MUCH better, but she is so swollen! Walking is hard on her puffy feet, so she spent most of the day being held. The doctor said that she is through the worst of it, and we'll just have to wait for the swelling to dissipate. As hard as a night in the hospital can be, I am grateful for the one on one time I had with my sweet baby girl. It is so hard to care for a sick child with two others the same age still needing my attention too. It was nice to be able to focus just on Audrey in her time of need.

I sure missed those boys though! They had a lot of fun with Daddy while us girls were away. Daddy said they seemed to play a little more roughly.

Tucker was so proud of himself for climbing into the pantry all by himself!

I am so lucky to have such a great man in my life to work together with me as we face these challenges. I am SO glad to be laying next to him tonight with our three little ones right where they belong. Good night!

a-pox-icillin

2010-09-23T23:18:00.003-07:00

Audrey, we have discovered, is allergic to amoxicillin. Like her dad and many of her mom's extended family.

Only more so.

Timeline

Friday: Audrey begins taking amoxicillin for an ear infection

Saturday - Monday: Audrey feels better.

Tuesday: Audrey wakes up and develops a nasty case of hives. Twice we call the doctor's office and are reassured that, although hives can look terrible and stick around, she's probably fine, unless some swelling develops. If she swells, she needs to go to the hospital. The only real concern with hives, I'm told, is swelling which can lead to constricted airway. None of this happened on Tuesday, and she was a pretty happy girl all day, so we gave her Benadryl all day and waited for it to go away.

Wednesday: Audrey wakes up looking like she's been dropped in a vat of acid. She has bruising all over her torso and upper legs from - you guessed it - swelling. To the ER I rush with her while Mom stays home with the boys. The doc immediately confirms it's a reaction to the amoxicillin and they pump her full of IV fluids and steroids and more Benadryl. A pediatrician decides that she doesn't like the look of the swelling and wants to admit her overnight and make sure it goes down. The medicines seem to help on and off all day. Mom and Dad switch places and Mom rides with her in an ambulance over to a new hospital. Right now they are, I hope, sleeping peacefully. Audrey remained pretty happy throughout the day but Sarah tells me she's not enjoying sleeping in her crib.

We hope the girls can come home tomorrow!

One year ago

2010-09-22T22:00:00.002-07:00

I have been thinking a lot lately about how quickly this past year has gone. Before I had kids, I felt like I was trapped in a time warp. Everyday was exactly like the last. Go to work, come home. It was sunny every day of the week. Mike and I stayed the same. There was no way to measure time.

Then, I got pregnant.

Ever since then, I feel like my world is CONSTANTLY changing right along with my children. We went from time warp to sonic speed overnight. I can't convince time to slow down quite enough for my liking. I am trying to savor every moment and remember everything that happens, but I have already forgotten so much! Its not fair!!

I stumbled upon this video this week, and it was taken almost exactly a year ago. Look how different our life was!

I LOVE these babies. I LOVE my life. I am SO LUCKY!

random notes

2010-09-22T06:35:00.011-07:00

Sarah was gone last night from about 6:00 pm on and from the minute she left, the babies fussed and whined and cried and generally boo-hoo'd for the remainder of the evening. The only solution was to give them their bottles and put on a movie.

They very rarely watch TV (we have no cable - not even a converter box to get the networks) but we'll use it in an emergency. Note a few things about this picture:

They've pulled apart and strewn about an entire pack of diapers.
They've pulled out and strewn about about a dozen VHS tapes (durable things, those).
Audrey and Tucker are in my lap; Sean has just dismounted. I tried to take a few pictures with all three up there but they were disastrous. Audrey is a clingy little Klingon in general, but when she's fussy, there's absolutely no putting her down. Sean has a bit of diaper rash which makes him an unhappy little boy (who could blame him?), and Tucker, usually our happy-go-luckiest child, was also feeling the need to be held.
The movie was "Enchanted". Chosen solely for the kids' enjoyment. I swear.

I put them down around 8:00, which is a pretty normal time for them, and - for the second night in a row - Sean screamed his little head off. They're generally really excellent about sleeping, but for some reason, this kid did NOT want to be in his bed, even though he was exhausted. It's always something when you're corralling three.
___

We had an exciting moment the other day.

Cooper is generally leery of the kids and keeps a healthy distance, but as they've grown, their interactions have improved (thanks in large part to the kids running around with snacks that they are more than willing to share). Finally, the other day, the babies figured out how to play with him. Finally!
___

After 6 1/2 years of marriage we were finally able to secure a disc of all our wedding and engagement pictures. Weren't we young?

And look at all that hair!
___

We have been trying to lose weight and experiencing some success. I'm down 34 lbs in 9 weeks and a total of 59 from my highest-ever weight. Sarah's lost 18 lbs in the same timeframe. We have not eaten out ONCE in the 9 weeks, certainly a record for us in our marriage. We've been using E-mealz, a great site that, for $5 a month, gives you a weekly menu with recipes and a grocery list based on what's on sale at your local grocery store that week. The meals are usually quite good, and we've really enjoyed eating all our meals together as a family.
___

We'll end things with a video dump.

The kids love to play the piano lately, to the point where neither of us can just sit down and play without everyone clamoring to get in our laps.

Audrey is silly. Some of the things she likes to do include riding the cow, folding her arms to pray, and play peekaboo behind nothing.

There is no toy more popular at our house than the "ba! ba! ba! ba!"

Remember when I said that feeding the dog was endearing the babies to him? Behold: videographic evidence.

Tucker likes to roughhouse. He doesn't care if you're on top of him or vice versa. And he likes to make this funny noise that you hear in this video.

That's all for now!

My husband is a total dork or watch out for the mathemagician

2010-09-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

World Science Festival 2009: Mathemagician, Part 4 of 4 from World Science Festival on Vimeo.

P.S. I really love you and I wouldn't want you any other way :)

plum tuckered out

2010-08-21T11:26:00.003-07:00

After I published the huge blog below, this happened and I thought I'd better hop back on here and post it right away. We are experimenting with new nap schedules and Tucker makes his feelings known. Shakiness of video due to extreme parental giggling. Fortunately the laptop was right there so we could pull up the music.

the rogans

2010-08-21T09:06:00.009-07:00

Our (not-so-) little ones are 14 months old now! When they turned one, we asked Leigh to take some photos to mark the occasion. A number of them now adorn the blog background, but here's a bunch more along with updates on the scampers.

Sean Kenyon

(aka Shoosh, Shooshy Belushi, Shoosh m'Gooch, Goocher, Seany von Pantsicle, Pants)

Sean likes to CLIMB. We have found him on the kitchen table (ack!) , end tables, every chair in the house, the sofa, etc., or will stand on toys and things that are not designed to be stood He actually has very good balance and hasn't taken too many climbing-related falls. He is a passionate kid who throws TANTRUMS whenever he doesn't get his way but also exults with screams and pumping fists whenever he climbs atop an exciting perch. He's goofy and likes to be silly and get noticed in his silliness. He loves food and has mastered signs such as "more" and "please" (he has no interest in "all done" because, well, he never wants to stop eating). He says the following words: mama, dada, ball, bottle (ba-ba), dog, baby, hi, bye-bye, and uh-oh, which he says by punctuating the oh in such a way that it sounds like "uh-EHHOOOOUUUUWWW". Very cute. He also likes to help you put his clothes on and actually stays put when you're changing his diaper (even though he's often stricken with diaper rash).

John Tucker

(aka Lucky, Handsome Tuck, Tuckleton, Tuckleton-Woo, Rooster)

Tucker is very independent; a recent 5-day bout of sickness induced more snuggliness from him than the entire year of his life. Words that Tucker says include mama, dada, baby (pronounced bee-bee), Elmo, BALL! BALL! BALL!, bonk, hot (usually whispered), bounce, down, up (but he uses down? down? to mean that he either wants up or down), and more. He is going to be our wrestler; he takes so much joy in hugging, rolling on, bonking, and otherwise roughhousing with his siblings (his sister does not usually appreciate it). Throwing the ball around is probably his favorite activity, and he loves to lay on anything soft and cushy. He enjoys his sleep time, and loves to give hugs. He likes to be tossed around and if you work hard enough, you'll get him to release his belly laugh. It's worth the effort.

Audrey Lane

(aka Laneybug, Lanes, Sugar Bear, Audy-Pop, Audy von Popplestein, Steeny)

Audrey is so talkative. Mama, dada, baby (pronounced BAYYY-bee!), doggy, Elmo, amen (always added at the end of our mealtime prayers), ball, no-no-no-no, read-a-book?, hi, bye-bye, bird, duck, spoon, nose, eye. We have a rocking cow and she's so proud of herself when she rides it, making her scrunchy-nose smile face. She loves to giggle and she LOVES to be chased around. She'll often get the boys to join her as they run around chasing each other and screaming. She loves spoons, and has a hard time tolerating anyone else having one even if she has one or more for herself. She likes to be held and probably spends the most time in the parental grip, preferably with a blanket or stuffed bunny. She loves to sit and read books with her bottle hanging out of her mouth no-hands style, as if it were a pacifier.

In general, the babies are doing wonderfully. Here are some more of the pictures.

Things are going good!

next stop: gambier

2010-07-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

My dad built this crib for me lo, these many years ago, and here are my children sitting in it in the basement of their great-grandparents' home!

We spent the last half of our trip visiting Rogans in Gambier.

Meg found herself more than up to the task of filling Cooper's shoes as Official Baby Spill Clean-Up Dog.

The kids (one!) joined their great-grandpa (eighty!) in celebrating a milestone birthday at a wonderful party.

Cousin Jane and Sean

The Birthday Boy

Auntie and Audrey

Cousin Jenny and Tucker

Great-Uncle John encourages Sean to celebrate

John's son, Jack - the apple don't fall far.

The party was, of course, highlighted by the kids' celebrating like only one-year-olds can.

Audrey doesn't like being messy, nor does she like extended periods of time in high chairs!

(nearly) the entire Rogan clan!

The kids enjoyed some birthday gifts.

And tub time, of course.

Grandpa getting ready to ship his bike back while Great-Grandpa looks on in disbelief. He shipped the bike to Columbus so he could ride it the 60-ish miles to Gambier. The man loves his bike!

Meeting dear family friend Linda Metzler

Although I have outgrown my childhood crib, the kids fit just fine.

Grandma has the only thing Uncle Chris would have us bring him - a bag of BBQ Fritos. Not available for sale in Arizona. He was lucky they made it home.

So that was our whirlwind trip!

P.S. - I'll let Sarah tell the story of her canoe ride later. It's a doozy.

the long-awaited ohio pics

2010-07-24T08:12:00.007-07:00

Sarah and the babies are in St. George visiting her sisters for a week, so I'm batchin' it and have no excuse not to post these! (right, Mom?)

Our first stop in Ohio was Columbus, where we stayed with my gracious cousin Andrea and her family, who pulled out all the stops for us. Their house was babyproofed, full of toys and helpers, and so comfortable. One of the things we did there was have a big pool party at my Uncle Mike's house, where we got to see lots of my mom's side of the family.

(Note - My brother Tom took all or most of these pictures, and he was instructed that we've had a tough time getting good pictures of Sean, so these may be a bit Sean-centric.)

We all just had a really good time in Columbus.

Audrey loved the swing!

Tucker... not so much.

Sean is king of his castle.

Andrea's husband, Dave, is a firefighter, and his son Jacob is obsessed. He let Sean try on his firefighting gear.

Next stop: Gambier, OH!

romping on the couch

2010-07-11T16:36:00.005-07:00

(next post is Ohio pics, I promise!)

the flight

2010-07-02T07:23:00.007-07:00

We flew to Ohio; the kids did great! Couldn't have done it without all the helpers (Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Amy, Uncle Tom). The flight was scheduled to leave at 9:00 am, but was delayed to 10:00. We arrived at the airport to see a MONSTROUS line before us, and as we stood there, waiting, our flight was moved BACK UP to 9:30, and we missed getting our bags checked for the flight by 3 minutes.

Audrey chillin' at the airport.

Sean is never content to hang out; he needs to be running around, even at the airport.

Tucker is often content to hang out.

Who doesn't love the airport? (thumbs down)

Once we made it onto the flight we had to organize ourselves carefully. Each row only has four oxygen masks, so only one lap baby per row is permitted. Sarah and I held Sean in our row, Grammy had Tucker and Grandpa had Audrey. For the most part, they slept and were great. People (who were probably horrified to see so many babies on one flight) came up to us afterward and commented about how well-behaved they were.

Steens and Grandpa (don't ask about the nickname, long story)

Mom and Mr. Doesn't-Nap-The-Greatest

Her feet don't quite touch the ground.

I love this pic of Tucker and Uncle Tom!

Daddy is very happy when the flight is over.

Next post: Ohio!

P.S. We owe a big THANK YOU to an anonymous reader in Queen Creek who kindly sent the kids some birthday gifts! Thanks! The jackets will fit perfectly in the colder months and the toys were a big hit!

The Big Birthday Bash!

2010-06-29T21:38:00.005-07:00

One year ago these precious babies came into our lives and it's been a rollercoaster ever since! I can't believe we've already survived the first year!
Our sweet little babies turned one this month! We had a birthday party for them and for their great-grandparents, who turned 80, in Ohio a few weeks ago. We can't believe how fast this year has gone. The past few weeks have been especially emotional for me as I relive "this time last year" moments. I am so grateful for all we have been blessed with. I love being the mother of these three wonderful children! Without further ado, what everyone really cares about - the pictures!

Audrey was a little hesitant to try her cake, but she soon got the hang of things. She especially enjoyed the icing! Unfortunately, she decided that her hat didn't match her outfit, and refused to wear it... diva.

My sweet little Tucker was a little distracted by all of the spectators, but he relished each morsel and savored each second of his birthday treat like usual. No one can rush this kid!

Sean had a grand ol' time with his birthday cake and did not hesitate to dig right in. As you can see, he thoroughly enjoyed himself and gave the audience a good show!

Cleaning up this mess was quite the ordeal, but well worth it! These kids bring so much joy to our lives. We look forward to the many years to come!

P.S. We know we've been slacking here in the blog world lately, but we've been away from the computer world as we've been vacationing. We will try as hard as we can to blog tidbits every couple of days to share our recent vacations with you. Please be patient with us as we try to catch up! :)

A Day at the Park, or How To Make Blackberry Paint

2010-05-28T06:57:00.003-07:00

Here in Arizona it gets a little warmer than in some parts of the world, so we have to find creative ways to keep cool. One of the nice things that we have are these public "splash pads" at some of the parks. I took the kids there along with a friend of mine and her daughter. They weren't real sure at first, but soon got the hang of it. Sorry it's been so long between blogs, the laptop is "in the shop", but we're here now!

Sean scouting out the area

Headed right for the water!

Thoroughly soaked and loving it :)

Playing in the water

Doesn't she look like a little lady in that floppy hat?

Tucker deciding to be brave

Sean and Audrey think this is pretty fun

Three heads are better than one!

Tucker loses interest after discovering the stairs

The kid can climb!

Adventurous brothers

The shirt says it all (little love bug)

What a fun day at the park!

Here's a quick update on what the kids are up to these days, accompanied by pictures of a recent episode of blackberry madness (thank goodness for giant vinyl bibs!).

Sean is a full-on walker. He hardly crawls anywhere anymore. He toddles around with reckless abandon, climbs on anything he can find and constantly gets into everything. He is two pounds bigger than his siblings because he eats as if he's never been fed at every meal. He cries every time a door closes, regardless of how close he is to it or if he had any intentions of going through the door. He has started pointing at objects and saying, "Da? Da?" He has *SIX* teeth! He's a big old goofball and very silly.

Weight: 21.8 pounds
Clothing size: 6-9 months, pushing into 9-12
Shoe size: 4 1/2
Head size: Enormous.

Tucker is walking, too - not as well as Sean, but he has the advantage of having figured out how to stand up unassisted, so when he falls, he can start back up, whereas Sean has to find something to pull up on. Tucker continues to be our problem-solver. He loves to roll and catch the ball! He's a particular eater, and is definitely the one who requires convincing, although there's nothing he really won't eat - eventually. He's all boy and loves to roughhouse, though it seems like he just wants to hug a little harder than most. Tucker still only has *TWO* teeth, but lots of top swelling. He's a sweetheart!

Weight: 19.6 pounds
Clothing size: 6-9 months
Shoe size: 4
Cheeks size: Not as fat as when he was a baby, but still a bit chipmunk-y

Audrey continues to reign as the Drama Princess in our home. She spends 75% of her time as a giggling ball of silly and 25% of her time as a fire-breathing, shrieking banshee. This girl has PERSONALITY - and we love all of it. She's still content to crawl everywhere, because she thinks walking is too funny, and laughs and falls every time we encourage her efforts. The only thing that will keep her from being social is books - she'll sit and look at them for quite a while. Ever since she was sick, she's been extremely partial to Mommy. She has the most hair with a little developing curl in the back. She also has the hardest time sleeping through the night, but we're making improvements since her teeth have come in (*FIVE*!). We love our little girl!

Weight: 19.6 pounds
Clothing size: 6-9 months, barely
Shoe size: 3
Ears size: Still as tiny as ever

We sure love our kiddos! They are so fun to watch as they are starting to interact with each other more. We are excited to take them to Ohio to meet all their family in a week! And after we get back, we're off to Idaho for a family reunion! Though we're not particularly looking forward to the travel aspect, we'll certainly enjoy seeing everybody!

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T07:30:00.003-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to the woman who does it all for this family!

We love you!
-Your Family

Being sick is NO FUN!

2010-04-30T21:32:00.005-07:00

Our sweet baby girl is sick, sick, sick! This is the first time we've had a more serious illness since the trio was born. Sure, we've had a few colds and this weird 24 hour flu that somehow skipped Tucker, but this is serious! Our little bug can't keep anything down. It is so sad to see her so lethargic and know she just doesn't feel good. It is also an interesting experience having three babies while she's sick because she, of course, does NOT want to be put down much. That wouldn't be a problem if she were the only baby in the house, but she does have two brothers scampering around getting into trouble. And boy do they get into trouble! They like to get into all of the kitchen cabinets, the garbage can, the pantry, run over each other with their push toys, hit, bite, and fight over toys... They are SO MUCH FUN!!! All three babies have started taking steps and Sean, the last baby to crawl, was the first to plow into walking. He is getting pretty good at it! Audrey and Tucker have just mustered the courage to step out on their own, so they are still pretty wobbly. It reminds me of Bambi :) All in all, they keep us on our toes! They are such a joy. We sure love our life with our three little scampers!

californ-eye-ay

2010-04-11T21:00:00.009-07:00

Sarah and I took a sanity-restoring vacation. We stayed three nights in the fantastic, quaint Blue Lantern Inn in Dana Point, California.

(we didn't take this picture)

The choir we sing in at home was founded by the directors of a similar choir in Orange County. When they found out we were going to be attending their concert, they asked if we'd like to sing - an opportunity we jumped on. Unfortunately, a few weeks before the concert, they decided they were far enough along in the music to sing it memorized (contrary to what we'd been told), so Sarah decided she didn't have time to commit all the music to memory. She enjoyed watching the concert while I sang. A beautiful concert hall, a fantastic choir, and an amazing experience!

(didn't take this one either)

The free time we did have over the few days was mostly spent in relaxation - sleeping through the night! napping! reading! - but we did take the opportunity to go out on the ocean on a whale-watching tour. We saw lots of dolphins, who followed us in the boat, some sea lions, and, yes, three grey whales whom we followed for an hour.

Sea lions! (we took these ones)

The dolphins following right along the boat!

The best jumpy dolphin pic we got

On the ocean!

Ahoy, mateys.

It was exactly what we needed.

The babies stayed with Grandma and Grandpa!

They had a great time, slept pretty well, and, although all of them got sick (!) and remained so the week after we got back, everyone thrived.

Here are some recent pics of the kiddos who are nearly TEN months old!

All babies have two bottom teeth - Sean has two TOP teeth! Standing for increasingly long intervals before plopping down is the order of the day for everyone (Tucker's probably best at it, with Audrey right behind, and Sean always too otherwise occupied). Pushing push toys around the house is happening all the time. We are more and more realizing that learning to share is going to be a big challenge in our home, because toy stealing and the resultant screaming is becoming a little bit of a problem (mostly Sean's doing).

Random Audrey fact: Always wants Mommy lately. Anytime she walks by, she wants to be picked up. She loves to be put up on the couch and allowed to crawl away from you, only to be snatched back. Such a giggler.

Random Tucker fact: the babies eat breakfast right before their morning nap, and he often falls asleep in his booster seat. It's very cute.

Random Sean fact: he HATES when any door gets closed. From across the room, if he hears a door shut down the hallway, he'll cross the room, go to the closed door, and cry. He hates being left behind!

sim. ply. couldn't be happier.

2010-03-22T21:39:00.006-07:00

Sean, Tucker and Audrey are nine months old! We once again called upon Jaclyn Francois Olmstead to take pictures for our family.

We had to pull a sleeping Sean out of the van and into the bright sun for these pictures, and many of them reflect his opinion about the decision to do so.

The last nine months have been good to Sean. He is our biggest baby at 19 lb., 12 oz. - a long way from 4-13! While his weight clocks in at the 50th percentile, his head circumference is 90th! Takes after his father - the better to hold all the brains, my dear. Also like his dad in his love for the piano.

He is our little daredevil, pressing forward fearlessly and, as a result, falls the most. As a further result, he's learned to get over it much more quickly than his brother and sister. And, of course, he's our star eater who has no trouble with anything we throw at 'im. And we are throwing quite the litany of foods these days - most any soft table foods.

Our happy-go-lucky Tucky is usually the quickest to smile. He's generally a happy, curious boy with incredible problem-solving skills. Tucker will often find ways to get at things where his siblings cannot.

He tends to be a sensitive boy; though he's perhaps least needy for his mom, when he needs her, he needs her now. He weighs 18 lb., 8 oz.

Tucker doesn't like his baby foods with lumps (like green beans and rice), but he's been the most interested in moving to table foods and has no problem with chewables. For some reason, the texture of mushy and lumpy together really bothers him.

Weighing in at 18 pounds even, little Audrey Lane adds so much to our family. Feisty. Passionate. Giggly. Sweet. Strong. Can scream like a banshee. That's our girl.

So dainty with her bites of food - unless she doesn't want it or is feeling silly, and she spits it across the room. Loves to be tossed around and have all the attention. When we put her in dresses, which we often do, she crawls on her hands and feet to get around her skirt.

Lately she has been a major Mommy's girl, never wanting to be put down. She loves cell phones (already?) and Mommy's glasses and her doggy and drinking out of big kid cups.

All dads should be so lucky.

Just think - a year ago all those kids were inside that tummy. And doesn't she look great now!

Daddy still picks them all three up and walks with 'em on occasion, but those days are probably drawing to a close.

We love our family! We couldn't be happier!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2010-03-18T03:34:00.001-07:00

only one way to contain them.

2010-03-10T23:27:00.001-07:00

Photo by Tom Rogan

8.5 months

2010-03-02T22:00:00.003-07:00

"Naps" like this one are why so much time passes between our blogs.

So much happens every day with these kiddos. Here's an update on the happenings of the last month or so:

CRAWLING: Everyone's mastered the skill. Tucker first, around early January; then Audrey, by the end of January; Sean, around mid-February. By now, they're all pros. Tucker remains the speediest and most adventurous of the bunch, but you can't turn your head away from anybody for a second. He loves to chase Mommy into the kitchen, or stand at the kitchen fence and holler at her. Sean is still usually content to hang out where he is, but once he gets his mind set by a location/object, there's no distracting him until he obtains his goal (watch out, Cooper). He's most often found looking out the back door - he's always seemed to gravitate toward windows. Audrey likes people - including her brothers. She's always crawling toward the nearest person, and does NOT appreciate being left behind at any point in time. She has a tough time crawling in all the pretty dresses we make her wear, and doesn't seem to care for tile flooring (the boys love slapping the tile and hearing the noise it makes).

PULLING TO STAND: No problem for anyone. They stand at the couch and scoot along it - they pull to stand on everything. It's only recently, however, that everyone figured out how to get back DOWN. This made for some naptime adventures, where we'd find exhausted kids screaming because they'd stood up in their crib and gotten stuck.

Yes, sometimes we pose them.

TEETH: Tucker and Audrey both have two on the bottom! Sean remains 100% gummy. Those little stinkers hurt!

HAIR: All growing in. We are thinking that the boys have some curliness going on. Audrey's appears to be straight.

My name is Sean and although you can't tell here, my hair's a bit curly. Also: camera flashes make me look sleepy.

SLEEP: Tucker has supplanted Audrey as our best through-the-night sleeper. Both Tucker and Audrey have mastered the skill of putting themselves back to sleep, so they do pretty well most nights. Sean... not so much. He's a big ol' snuggler, and if it's all the same he'll head to Mommy and Daddy's bed around 2:00 am every single night, thank you very much. We are working on it.

RUNNING MOMMY RAGGED: Allllll day.

My name is Tucker and I'm happy when I'm climbin'!

SICKNESS: Audrey! She woke up one evening with a nasty wheeze. We took her to urgent care where they offered few answers. Medicine seemed to help, and the regular doc said to bring her in in a few days if symptoms persisted. They did, we brought her in, they took a look at her and sent us right to the ER! They figured she had RSV. Six hours later, we found out she didn't! Some other viral infection, most likely, and it seems to have mostly cleared itself up. The boys never showed any signs (knock on wood).

PARTIALITY: Tucker is a MOMMA'S BOY through and through; Sean, too, though to a lesser extent, and the little girl loves her daddy.

At least, her daddy likes to think so.

FOOD: Most popular foods include: apple-blueberry, regular applesauce, sweet potatoes. Meats are universally loathed, as are peas. Sean will eat pretty much anything; Tucker does well, too; Audrey's picky and is great at spitting things out she doesn't care for, or gagging. Tucker shows the most interest in real food (read: any time someone's got some); Audrey loves to drink out of cups. Sean just loves to eat. I don't think we've ever seen the kid be "done". And, oh, he loves him some juice. DRAINS his cups. They're still drinking quite a bit of milk which, we are now SO PROUD to say, is SOLELY produced by Mom. No more are we supplementing with formula. She's awesome!

That's about where we are and what we're doing. Cell phone quality videos below! ('cause who has time to whip out a real camera?)

This is how we feed the babies. Three booster seats on top of covered chairs. The dog hovers at mealtime, because he usually scores about 20% of the babies' food.

You never know what silly things are going to crack a kid up. And it's always funny when one kid finds whatever you're doing to be a SCREAM, and the others could care less. Here I'm trying to entertain the kids during mealtime, when they get fussy because I'm too slow getting back around to them in the bite line, and Tucker thought the "GOOSE!" part of "Duck, duck, goose!" was about the funniest thing he'd ever seen.

This was the day that Sean politely informed us that it was time to move the baby monitor off of his crib, thank you very much.

Eight months old and look at our skills! This video shows off Audrey's hoarse little laugh that she does all the time, as well as captures rare smiles from the kids on-camera. Usually when I'm that close, all they want to do is grab it.

Lastly we have piano. The kids are finally more interested in the keys than the music sitting above them (and so starts the years of three kids banging on the piano). Sean is truly enamored of it, and any percussive sounds. He just loves to bang on stuff. In trying to rein in the madness, Sarah reintroduced the previously-uninteresting piano, and in doing so accidentally increased the craziness level. Such is life!

'Til next time!

Slackers

2010-02-17T16:02:00.006-07:00

I know, I know... We're letting you all down here. I promise that we have been meaning to blog for a while now, but most of our pics and videos have been taken on our phones recently, and its just not as convenient to get at them. To satisfy your baby cravings for the day, feel free to stop by our friends' blog. We had dinner with Robert and Leigh Root on Monday night, and she got some real winners of the kiddos. Hopefully that will sate you until we can get our act together over here ;) Love to you all!!

A few more from the park

2010-02-08T18:00:00.001-07:00

Who doesn't like a day at the park?

::The cast of characters::

Two happy, proud parents

One sweet, curious baby boy named Sean

One crawling man on a mission named Tucker

One smiley princess named Audrey

We're all set and ready to discover the world together!

We sure love being a family!

day at the park

2010-02-03T19:40:00.002-07:00

The weather has been great lately!

state of the zoo-nion

2010-01-27T20:18:00.003-07:00

Mom and snuggly Tucker

We are well. Sorry for the slow rate of blog production! Here are pictures and videos as penance.

On my birthday we spontaneously decided to take the kids to Red Lobster. A very memorable experience. It seemed like we were stared at and/or talked to by everyone in the building - every random question you can imagine was asked at some point. I remember a couple of particular funny incidents. I was lifting Audrey from her high chair to her car seat and she stuck her hand straight down in my baked potato, at which point all four patrons at a table down the hall burst out laughing. We smiled at them and someone hollered, "How old are they?" Sarah said, "You can tell he's still learning." As we were hurrying to the car in the pouring rain, an elderly man hollered from across the parking lot, "Are they triplets?" "They sure are!" "Are they eating well?"

Audrey is desperate to crawl. Tucker crawls everywhere. Sean is mostly content to roll around, although he's on his hands and knees rocking. Everyone is great at sitting, although Audrey remains the only one who can seat herself. We have lately discovered that Sean finds Audrey to be hilarious.

(Sorry for the cellphone quality and my oft-maligned habit of breathing into the phone while recording).

We are struggling on the sleep front. Over the last couple of days the following disastrous routine has developed: first, the babies all fall asleep by 8:00. This is good. Then, Audrey and Sean wake up 3 or 4 times between 8:00 and 11:00. This is no good. Then, Sean wakes up around 2:30 screaming for a bottle. This is very bad. Then, Audrey wakes up at 4:30 ready to start the day. This is horrendous.

Other than that, all's well! We'll try to post more frequent updates!

who likes carrots?

2010-01-11T19:29:00.003-07:00

WE DO.

As our little scamps approach seven months of age, we have many victories to report. We have one crawler (Tucker), one on the verge (Audrey) and one who prefers to cover distance by rolling around (Sean). As you can see, they've taken very well to baby food. Applesauce is the most popular, with sweet potatoes and carrots close behind. Tucker and Sean are ravenous for it all the time, while Audrey usually requires some convincing. They also seem to be interacting with each other a lot more, which is fun to watch, as long as they're not making each other cry (usually inadvertent, though the occasional stolen toy serves as culprit). We overcame our first bout of sickness, a nasty cold which started with Audrey and spread to the boys and Dad. Grammy, Grandpa and the uncles and aunt continue to be an invaluable resource to two rather overworked but contented parents. Overnight sleep has been achieved, usually from around 8:00 to 6:30, although 1-2 kids end up in our bed for the last hour or so of that just about every night.

Challenges which remain to be overcome are: keeping the house clean, balancing Daddy's work with helping around the house, getting to places even remotely on time, improving our diet and exercise (back on The Daily Plate for one week now and it's going well!), training the dog.

Sean is usually found on his back making noise with a rattle. He is also our lightest sleeper and has the toughest time getting back to sleep if he wakes up in the middle of the night. He loves to hear his own voice and screams with joy all day. He is the most independent baby and is frequently found entertaining himself. His open-mouthed toothless grins always warm our hearts.

Tucker is always putting his newfound mobility to good use, especially when there's a pacifier across the room. He's the one who most enjoys the pacifier and prefers to play while sucking on it. Although he puts on a show of being a hyperactive boy, he's probably our biggest snuggler and will usually go to sleep in about 0.1 seconds when the time arrives.

We call Audrey our "fighter pilot" because of how much she fights sleep - it seems like the more tired she is, the more she fusses and fights it! Yet once she's down, she's usually down for the night - our best sleeper by far. She's our little giggler and loves to interact with her brothers. She loves to laugh but she insists you change up the entertainment frequently, as she quickly grows bored with whatever you're doing to entertain her.

All eyes are blue. Hair is slowly filling in (Audrey, then Sean, then Tucker's the baldest). All babies maintain a happy disposition! Favorite song for everyone: Old McDonald.

Mom and Dad are enjoying every day with these kiddos!

six months old!

2009-12-30T10:31:00.002-07:00

Well, they're now six-and-a-HALF months old, but on their six-month birthday, we started feeding them different foods. Check out their reactions to rice cereal below. For the record: bananas are a HUGE hit with Tucker, sweet potatoes are a HUGE hit with Sean, and Audrey doesn't seem to care about most foods (picky like her Aunt Amy?).

Tucker

Audrey

Sean

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T06:55:00.000-07:00

so much

2009-12-12T07:07:00.002-07:00

Tucker and Sean

So much, so much, so much has been going on in our lives as we watch these triplets grow all too quickly. Sometimes it seems like the days live forever and the months fly by.

We are nearly six months into this adventure and still hangin' in there!

The hospital sends a developmental specialist by our house once in a while to check in and tell us how our babies are doing. We learned yesterday that Sean is our mental learner. He is very deliberate in his actions and likes to think things through. Tucker is our physical learner. He will probably be crawling first. Like maybe this week. He's just recently worked out how to get on his hands and knees, so I think we're in for it very shortly. Audrey is our social learner. She loves to interact with adults and with her brothers. It is so fun to see them learning all the time.

Sarah and I had a concert Thursday for the choir we've been singing in - EVMCO. We were gone from 2:30-11:00 AND my mom had a medical procedure that day, so Grandpa, Aunt Amy, Uncle Tom and Uncle Chris had to balance staying with mom at the hospital and watching our kids. Every Wednesday night they've taken the kids so we could go to choir rehearsal, and it has been our sanity saver. I don't know how we ever could have done this whole thing without such a supportive family nearby. It's really great to see how much my siblings enjoy the babies, too.

Chris changes his first poopy diaper. He is prepared.

Amy and her LOOK-ALIKE. I swear baby pictures of Amy could be Audrey.

Uncle Tom is a natural (now that they're a little bigger and a little less breakable).

Today is going to be a milestone because we are going to my work Christmas party and it will be the first time we leave them with a non-family babysitter. I think we're both a little nervous even though we have complete confidence in Jamie. They are, to say the least, a lot to handle - though it could be so much worse. We get told all the time what happy babies we have - people can't believe how chill they are. We take them places and they hang out in their carseats and don't cry.

Understand me when I say this - they do cry. Quite a bit. But they sleep well and eat well and they just do everything well. We are so blessed.

Let me leave you with a video of our physical learner, who has figured out how to make his bouncy chair bounce.

Thanksgiving makes us tired...

2009-11-29T19:05:00.004-07:00

It was SO GREAT to have my sisters in town for the holiday! We have missed them so much over the past few months. Nothing makes the holidays better than having your family around.

Here's Aunt Caitlin seeing the babies for the first time since they were 7 weeks old. They've grown a bit!When we weren't cooking and eating, we played games. A LOT of games! Poker, Blackjack, Euchre, Blokus, Spy Alley... Tons of fun!

It wasn't enough that I had to cook for the whole family. I had to make food for the babies too! Here I am sitting out for a pump break. Aren't I glamorous? :)

Nick, the newest member of the family, getting introduced to a favorite game - Euchre! He's 'in the barn!'

After all of the festivities, food, family and friends, the kids got a little worn out. Daddy was watching the babies while I pumped and before I was finished, they had all crashed out. I think he deserves the dad of the year award.

Isn't this precious?!

Oh, Sean! You are so perfect!

Tucker and Audrey sure love each other!

Sweet sleepy Audrey

They are so beautiful. Nothing sweeter than sleeping babies :)

I absolutely LOVE my family. I'm grateful that my sisters made the effort to be here to celebrate with us, and I'm grateful for a wonderful husband and brother-in-law who helped so much with the babies while my sisters and I cooked. We so wish everyone lived closer! We love you!

I can't wait until Christmas!!

the big game

2009-11-22T15:41:00.003-07:00

Every year Ohio State's last regular season game of the year is against our dreaded rival, the University of Michigan. We are trying to raise our kids right.

All three little Buckeyes on Game Day (Audrey - Sean - Tucker)

Dad and the Bug

Dad and Shoeshine

Dad and Lucker

The whole OSU-lovin' fam

tub tub tub

2009-11-10T20:42:00.001-07:00

Do we love bath time?

Yes we do!

And we love you!