Easter Festivities 2014

Not a lot to write about...just wanted to post some pictures from this year's Easter celebrations and fun with family and friends.

 

My Aunt Kim found these blue bunny ears for the boys. I was obsessed with them. M is a pretty cute li'l bunny, too!!!

 

Of course there was egg decorating!

 

M dyed and painted eggs with her Great Aunts (my Mom's sisters) Kim and Debby.

 

 

 

She went to an egg hunt hosted by Mckayla (her new friend from Pre-School).

 

 

Of course the Easter Bunny left her a few goodies.

 

And of course her family spoiled her, too!

 

Aunt Kim surprised Madison with an Easter basket full of goodies (and gave Josh and I with a 2.5 lbs. chocolate bunny - see it in the background... - M loved it, too!).

 

Grandpa gave her lots of clothes and brought her special Easter cupcakes.

 

Grandma Tracy made jello-jigglers with her, and give her an awesome book and sticker book!

 

And...we all made it to the mall for a special photo with the Easter Bunny!

 

Our cute li'l bunnies - Tucker, Cooper, & Carter - were also spoiled by Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Kim. We are SO thankful our children are SO loved. :)

 

Hope y'all had a nice Easter, too!

Triplets - Three Months Old

The boys are three months old! THREE MONTHS! (We've survived!!!)

 

One of my most recent favorite pictures of the boys.

(Tucker, Carter, & Cooper)

 

 

This past month has been pretty exciting as they all started smiling, cooing, making great eye contact and interacting with us when they are awake. Their little personalities are really starting to develop.

 

Cooper has become more of the 'whiner' of the group - but the best sleeper. I still call him our "little guy" but he's about the same size as his brothers now. Tucker remains the 'angel' baby - he cries the least and is most content most of the time - therefore he is probably held the least :-( I always feel kind of bad for him because of that. Carter is our emotional guy - either really happy or really sad/angry. It seems like the twins cry together sometimes, or feed off of each other...their crying doesn't seem to affect Tucker.

 

They were all looking at the same thing...just not the camera.

 

I tried to move to get them to look at me, and they all turned their eyes to something else. Already avoiding the Mama-razzi.

Carter was the first to roll belly to back.

Tucker was the first to laugh. We think he is a bit ticklish under this chin and around his neck. His laugh is the BEST.

 

Carter will stick his tongue out at you if you do it first.

 

Cooper will almost always laugh at and attempt to blow raspberries if you do it.

Tucker smiles during his feedings. Sometimes I have to divert eye contact and not give him any attention so he will stay on task and just eat. He's been a lazy eater lately...and we have really had to work to make sure he eats. Maybe he just enjoys the attention during the feedings...who knows.

Cooper sucks on his hand/fingers the loudest. Both Cooper and Carter like sucking on their hands. This picture of Cooper and Carter both sucking on their hand cracks me up. I always think, they look like twins - oh yeah, they are! lol!

Carter and Cooper both rolled over (belly to back) on 4/9/2014. Tucker still seems to have no interest in rolling, although he can lift his head and chest fairly well.

 

Tucker has discovered his hand. He stares at it a lot now.

 

They are all still in 3 month clothing, although, they will soon be in the next size. Same with diapers...still in size 1, but I think we'll be in 2s soon!

 

Just this week I decided to go cold turkey and get rid of the Rock N Plays for Carter and Tucker. They were doing almost all their sleeping in those, and I knew I should be transitioning them soon. So far night sleeping in the cribs in going well...naps on the other hand...ugh.

 

Their weights are a rough estimate - they are all around 14-15 lbs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They are still eating every 4 hours (5-6 oz.) during the day. They have their last bottle around 8:45pm, and then can make it until 3:30/4am or so. Usually one wakes around 2 am and needs to be consoled. They have even made it to 5am a few times!

 

I am still pumping...I have a love/hate relationship with pumping right now. I love supplying them with breast milk and saving money. I hate the time it takes and my constant worry about the supply. My supply has dipped a bit with their longer nighttime sleeping...I'm trying to build it back up, but we shall see how things go.

 

We had our first trip to the mall. Lotsa looks and a few questions...it was during the day on a week day so the mall wasn't overly crowded. I don't think I could handle a weekend crowd. They do not like their car seats UNLESS they are moving. They fuss until the car or stroller is moving...but are pretty good once they are on the move!

 

Madison continues to be the most patient and loving big sister. She loves to hold them and will still fetch diapers for me or take their empty bottles to the sink. She still requests for them to go everywhere with her (I have to tell her no a lot!) Her brothers love her and enjoy watching her and talking to her. If they are fussing she can almost always go and talk to one and he will quite for a few moments for her.

 

We are still having (and appreciating) help from about 5-9 in the evenings. I can handle them on my own still during the day. I'm slowly moving their last feeding up earlier as they sleep longer since they are pretty fussy in the evenings. Their 'witching hour' is crazy sometimes...but we are surviving, and I always tell myself - this too shall pass. :)

 

Happy Three Months to the Smyser Trio!

(This picture cracks me up!)

 

 

Foto Friday - Easter Bunny!

The boys met the Easter Bunny for their first Easter last week! Madison was very happy to have to sit NEXT to the Easter Bunny.

Happy Friday!

Foto Friday - Orange...

Orange you glad it's Friday?!

(That's Carter with the big smile and hand on Tucker's head!)

Josh Was Right

I'll admit it. I'll also say that I hate when that happens. :-)

So, I couldn't decide if I should order birth announcements for the boys or not. Partly because of the cost of how many I thought I needed (75ish), partly because of the time it'd take to create and address them all, and partly because of FB - everyone has seen pictures. Oh, and partly because they suffer from 2nd, 3rd, 4th child syndrome where I just don't care as much about some things as I did with the first born. (Hey, it's the truth!!!)

So, I finally decided I needed to order some. I chose a budget, and decided to order as many as I could get within that budget. That way I'd save some money, and I'd also still have something some day if they asked - which I doubt they will. But, anyways. I felt bad having one on file for M, and nothing for them! So, I created some on Shutterfly and ordered them a few weeks ago.

Josh told me that was a silly idea. That I'd get them ordered, then not have a enough for everyone I'd like to send them to. That they'd sit on my table while I tried to create a master list. That I wouldn't know who to choose and where to cut it off. I told him that no, I'd be fine. I had a plan. Everything would be ok.

Well...he was right. :-(

They arrived a few weeks ago. Here they sit. I'm making myself address them today.

Ughhh....I feel really badly that I don't have enough to send to everyone that I'd like to. But...I don't want the ones I have to just sit on my table.

So, if you get one in the mail. Either don't tell anyone, or you better frame it and keep it FOREVER. Seriously. Ok. I'm kidding. (Sort of.)

Foto Friday - Madison

Her favorite spot in her room!

She loves getting all "comfy and snuggly" with her stuffed animals.

 

And, she requested I take this picture. I love this silly girl!

Smile!

The boys are really smiling a lot! Here's a few pictures...but they actually smile much bigger and more often than when these were taken (last week). It's still a challenge to catch them on camera yet!

 

Carter

 

Cooper

 

Tucker

 

Hope you have a good day! :)

Foto Friday - Me

Sometimes they all just want (to be near) Mama.
(I was pumping with the two on the couch, and when I was done, I held Carter for a while.)

:) Exhausting...but worth every second. I love these boys.

Triplets - Two Months Old

The triplets are TWO months old (already)!!!
(Ok...technically they are about 10 weeks old by the time I'm posting this. Oh well. I'm not sure if I'll ever post their monthly updates on time...)

The photo shoot didn't go so well. They were tired, and they don't really follow directions or have body control yet, so....yeah. Their outfits were a bit too big...but were picked out by Josh! :)

They all are starting to smile more (especially for Josh and M) and making the sweetest cooing, baby sounds. It melts my heart every. single. time. Josh gets the best smiles from them! I'm working on getting pictures of their smiles to post.

They are (were) all eating 4 oz. seven times during a 24 hr. time period. They are still getting 4 breast milk bottles and 3 formula bottles. In the next few weeks, I'm hoping to transition to a 4 hour feeding schedule.

**Actually, just this week I started a 4 hour schedule with more ounces per bottle during the day. (Next on the list is to cut the 3am feeding. Then, I'll transition Tucker and Carter to their cribs (they are in Rock-n-Plays). Oh, sleeping woes of parenting...always something.) They seem to be doing ok. There's been a couple rough half hour time increments when I have to hold them off. But, overall, we're surviving. And, I'm glad to have one less feeding during the day.

They really sleep fairly well I think. They have a bottle around 10pm, and then usually around 3am and then 6:30am. They usually go down fairly easily between those bottles, so I do get a couple good chunks of sleep each night.

On Monday (the 24th of March) they all had their 2 month check up. They are all healthy and doing well! We are SO so SO thankful. They also had to have 3 shots and an oral vaccine. :(  Poor babies. Surprisingly, they did pretty well! They cried at the office, but were done crying by the time we were in the car, and they seemed to have no other side effects once home.

Cooper and Carter have flat spots on the back of their heads, and will be re-checked at their next appointment in 2 months. But for now, I try and keep them off their backs as much as possible when they are awake, and I try and let Cooper have one nap on his belly in the living room (where I can watch him). Poor guys! The doctor didn't see any thing of medical/health concern with their heads, just more cosmetic. I'm hoping it will work itself out.

They are all around 22 inches long. I forgot to record their actual lengths from the nurse. Oh well - second, third, fourth - triplet child syndrome. :-) I would have had M's length memorized down to an eighth of an inch probably. I still don't have the boys' birth weights memorized.

Amyways, Cooper is the lightest, and he is somewhere around the 30% for weight on the full-term growth charts, so we are doing well!!!

They are all in size 1 diapers and 0-3 month clothes. They all seem to enjoy bath time. They all enjoy being awake between the hours of 7:30pm and 9:30pm for their 'witching hour.'

 

 COOPER
11 lbs. (Yep...he sure loves having his picture taken.)

He is still our peanut...but is catching up to his brothers.
He occasionally finds his hands during tummy time and sucks on his fingers the loudest!
He seems to be the one most against swaddling. I find him most often with one arm free.
I think he and his twin like crying together. *sigh* He has the saddest frown face.
His is obsessed with our living room light. Seriously...he is ALWAYS looking at it when he can.

TUCKER
12 lbs. 4 oz. (We love our meatball!)

He is our 'easy' baby. Usually the most content. Usually sleeps the longest.
Slowest at drinking his bottle, but spits up the least, too.
Does not really take a pacifier.
Does not care for the swing.
Still has the loudest cry...but the most expressive eye brows. :)

CARTER
11 lbs. 13 oz. (Like his twin...he loves picture time, too!)

He is still our fussy baby...although his twin is working towards taking his title I think.
He drinks the fastest...and is most likely to spit up a bit.
He seems to be the strongest with his head control, and we think he'll be the first mover of the bunch.
He likes the swing. Until he doesn't like it. Then, he cries...really loud.
He likes a pacifier the most. Easiest way to sooth him back to sleep at night.


We've had a couple outings to playdates and to the park. I wish the weather would warm up already so I can start walking more outside!

Their first trip to a park!

And their second trip.

Random thought - I regularly refer to the boys as Coop-ee, Cart-ee, and Tuck-ee with Josh. However, with Madison I never call her Mad-ee. That's weird, right?!

And, a final fun picture of Cooper crying, Tucker bein annoyegd, and Carter pretending to sleep (he cried right after this shot).