Well we made it through another summer. It seems like not a lot has happened since the last post but when I think about it I realize how much we actually did over the past few months. Summer started as an adjustment, especially for Julie because this was the first year that she experienced the end of a school year and the shift back to taking care of three kids all day, every day. While we signed the kids up for a few activities and we still had our helper a couple days a week, it was definitely a change from the prior months.
While we don't take a bunch of vacations like we did before we had kids, we did get away from home about once a month over the summer with visits to my mom's house in MD. My family was even so generous as to take care of the triplets so that Julie and I could enjoy a couple days away for our anniversary in Ocean City, MD during one of the visits. We ended up staying at the same condo where we go with Julie's family every summer which was nice but also very strange since it was the first time we've been there without anyone else. We spent some time on the beach, relaxed, and ate out at a bunch of restaurants that we have wanted to try but have been unable to for obvious reasons. We also braced ourselves for the craziness that would be our annual OC trip with Julie's sister and family that we just experienced (and will be recapped in a future post).
"You mean they put ice cream into sandwiches?! What is all that PB&J crap you've been giving us?"
"So I'm a messy eater....whatcha gonna do about it?"
The kids have really enjoyed the trips to Grandma's and have spent many
hours in the pool this year. The boys have generally overcome their
fear of the vents in the pool and by the last trip the boys were
fearlessly jumping from the side of the pool. Meanwhile Nadia has
turned into a certified fish and basically put the boys to shame with
her swimming abilities.
"If you didn't want us climbing on rocks Grandma then why did you buy a house with an awesome rock waterfall at the end of the pool that screams PLEASE CLIMB ON ME! ?"
Ryan does his best Criss Angel impression
"Gotta keep my feet up so they don't touch the vents!"
We're fairly certain that Nadia would stay in the pool the entire day if we let her
The only thing Nadia likes more than the pool is the pool with Daddy in it!
Hmmm...3 toddlers in the pool and their father seems to be the least mature of the bunch....
"I'm telling you Grandpa, you should have seen me, I was amazing!"
During another trip to MD we were able to take a day and visit Julie's aunt, uncle, grandmother, and cousins. It was only the second time that the kids had gotten to meet their great-grandmother and we were very thankful for the opportunity.
Although we attempted to get pictures of all 3 kids with great-grandma Katie, only Nadia cooperated (as usual)
Some of the other activities that the kids did this summer included gymnastics (all 3), vacation Bible school (Ryan), mom's morning out (Nadia & Andrew), summer reading program at the library (all 3), and Tiny Tots summer camp (Nadia). Some of the activities were only a week and others were all summer long. The reading program was pretty fun because the kids had to go each week to the library and tell one of the volunteers about a book they had read that week. Andrew was always very excited to tell the volunteer the entire story which was hilarious. The Tiny Tots camp that Nadia went to was through the county and they had an aide assigned to her throughout the whole week. The program was not specifically geared towards kids with special needs but the county will provide an aide to any child that needs help so it was great to take advantage of such an awesome resource.
"I'm pretty sure Mommy just signed me up for gymnastics so that she could put me in a leotard..."
"Pollock you say? Never heard of him."
Nadia has a broad definition of "canvas"
Not sure who's idea it was to have them finger-paint in white shirts....
"Come on little butterfly, first hit is free! Everybody's doing it!"
So he's terrified of pool vents but completely fine with a large butterfly licking sugar from a Q-tip in his hand...I just don't understand kids sometimes
Anyone who read the last post will remember that we attempted potty training with Andrew earlier in the year and quickly aborted after a few days when he showed absolutely no progress. Well we mustered the courage to try round 2 this summer with the outlook that we weren't going to try to force it in a couple days. Andrew started out pretty slow but over time he became very good at letting us know when he had to pee and then using the toilet. Although we didn't really focus on Ryan he started to pick it up as well after watching Andrew (and seeing all the treats that Andrew was getting). Eventually Ryan surpassed Andrew as he was also letting us know when he had to go #2 while Andrew has continued to struggle with that step. We had a couple of days where Andrew was doing really well with it and then he regressed so that is our last major hurdle before we can declare the boys completely potty trained. The goal is to get Nadia done by the end of the year so keep your fingers crossed!
"Ummmm....daddy did it?"
Nadia has really made a lot of progress this summer with her talking and is now using 2-3 word phrases on a regular basis. She current favorite phrase is "I want....", usually involving food of some sort. She has also memorized a bunch of the videos that she watches with the boys and starts repeating sections of the videos at random times which starts a fun game of "what video is that from?" Another exciting thing that just happened was Nadia was chosen to participate in a fashion show at the local fundraiser/event day for Downs Syndrome that is taking place in October. She and I will be dressed by Gap and walk a little runway. We are just hoping that we get "cooperative Nadia" that day and not "stubborn Nadia".
"Do I really have to wear a dress mommy?"
Nadia channels her inner Dora the Explorer
Finally, as we come to the end of the summer, we are preparing for a huge change in our lives that is coming after we get back from our vacation....all 3 kids are going to school this year! Nadia is continuing in the same specialized class that she was in last year with the same teacher but she will be put into a regular classroom for 1 hour a day. The boys will be joining Nadia this year in regular preschool classes which are part of the same Bright Beginnings program that Nadia is in. This means that all 3 kids will be riding the bus together and that they will be in school for the first half of the day every day of the week. As part of the process to enroll them in the program, both of the boys underwent some testing to determine if they qualified for any additional services through the school. Somewhat surprisingly they came to the conclusion that Andrew was not showing any signs of issues that would qualify him for services. Ryan on the other hand scored on the Autism spectrum which means that he will get some additional services during the year likespeech therapy and early childhood social therapy. While we were a little concerned about Ryan getting an autism label so early in his school progression we decided that it was worthwhile for him to get the extra services. The label will also not follow him through school unless he takes it into Kindergarten which won't be for a couple years so hopefully by then it won't be an issue any more.
As a final note it occurred to me this past week that we have now been in Virginia longer then we were in Boston which seems really crazy to me for some reason. Maybe it was because of all the stuff we did during the 6 1/2 years in Boston but in my mind it feels like we were there for a lot longer then we've been here. I guess time has truly wiped away some of my bad feelings towards Boston and helped me appreciate all the good things that we experienced there. Ah...nostalgia!
Well I apologize for the long post but that is what happens when I only post every few months. I hope you enjoy the pictures and I apologize that they aren't any videos as I am having problems with the program that I use to convert them to a usable format. Also, I promise to get another post up before the holidays!
There's always gotta be one...to be fair, he is looking at the camera
"Seriously boys, stop screwing around! I want the fruit snacks Mommy promised us!"
I guess that will have to do since the 22 other pictures taken during that 5 minute photo shoot weren't any better
The kids less than enthusiastically say goodbye to our spring helper Meghan
They did slightly better when saying goodbye to our summer helper Jennie
Ryan is already learning how to be a man
Ok...this might be taking the numbers thing a little too far...
We're not sure what possessed them to suddenly want to dress up in costumes that they grew out of last year but if it keeps them busy for a little bit then its best not to overthink it
Hello faithful Instantly Outnumbered readers! I think that sufficient time has passed since the last entry to warrant an update don't you? Well not much has happened here over the past 6 months other than the triplets birthday, three major holidays, visits from all sides of both families, a baby shower (no not for us...we're not insane), several snowstorms, the first attempt at potty training and the completion of a few child development milestones. For this post I decided to switch things up a bit and intersperse (how do you like that SAT word) some of the pictures throughout the post so that they are in a little bit more context.
In November we celebrated the triplets 3rd birthday with a party at our house with my family and some friends. Given that the party was the week before Thanksgiving it basically felt like an early celebration of the holiday. We even got a little creative this year with the cake:
Not bad for an amateur but maybe next year we'll let the local bakery handle the cake...
The true meaning of a birthday is still lost on our kids but they do understand that birthday parties mean cake and presents. They have definitely turned the corner this year on the whole present unwrapping thing which made their birthday a foreshadowing of Christmas to come. The week after their party we had Julie's family up for Thanksgiving which made this the first year that we've been able to truly host Thanksgiving (yeah new house!) with us even roasting the turkey. Jul's family also gave us the awesome housewarming gift of a leaf blower which I desperately needed and quickly put to good use. Who would have thought that living in the woods would be so so much work?
Answer: This much Question: How much cake can Andrew stuff in his face at once?
If only we had the picture from the camera that we were all actually looking at...
Let's hope Ryan didn't get those beads in the traditional way...
Birthday party in the living room, karate in the kitchen...seems logical
Grandma Smith assures us that she will pay for the therapy after dressing Ryan like Tinkerbell
You see three kids staring at the camera, I see three kids staring at the fruit snacks that Mommy is holding next to the camera
We continued our annual tradition of cutting down our own Christmas tree but this year we took the kids out to the Christmas tree farm on the Saturday after Halloween to pick out the tree. This was the first year since moving to Williamsburg that we could actually get a normal sized tree and it looked great in our new living room. While the kids enjoyed the tree, the big hit this year was an advent calendar. My mom found the advent calendar that we had used as kids and brought it down for our kids to use and man was it a hit. Both Ryan and Andrew could tell you each day whose turn it was to do the calendar and when it would be their turn next. Needless to say the hopeless nostalgic in me was overjoyed at this new development. Unfortunately our whole family got very sick the week before Christmas so we missed a few holiday events, including our Christmas Eve service. It was very strange not going to church on Christmas Eve but we enjoyed a quiet evening at home with our own recreation of the Nativity story.
Our local adopted grandma "Gigi" came over for Christmas morning and got to enjoy seeing the kids truly have fun opening presents. Andrew got a little too into it and kept asking for more presents long after everything was opened and scattered around the downstairs rooms. It was a great inaugural Christmas at our new house and we look forward to many more to come. The day after Christmas we headed up to my folks for yet even more presents and a great time hanging out with everyone for a few days.
Finally! We don't have to settle for "vertically challenged" Christmas trees anymore!!!
There is something special about your kids using the same advent calendar that you did when you were their age
Shirts? We don't need no stinkin' shirts!
Andrew tries out his new look. He calls it "introspection".
Foam letters and numbers...what else could a little boy want? Apparently nothing because those are all that Andrew wanted to play with even though we already had two full sets at home.
Ahhh...the beauty of a toddler Christmas
WARNING! CLICHE IN PROGRESS!!
The kids have been continuing to grow and amaze us with the things that they absorb and learn. Ryan has started reading and sometimes sits at the base of Nadia's crib and reads to her at night. The boys (and Nadia to some degree) have become obsessed with a few new TV shows including Dora the Explorer, Team Umizoomi and Blues Clues. They still don't have much interest in things like Veggie Tales or Disney movies but at least we skipped over Barney. They are starting to use their imaginations more too and can regularly be heard discussing how they are going to assist the Team Umizoomi characters with some crazy plan. The boys have yet to develop their "inside voices" so it feels like they are yelling at us and each other all the time but I know that some day when the house is quiet we will miss their unfiltered volume.
Nadia has started pronouncing a lot more words and can often be heard talking in a sort of "stream of consciousness" way that indicates that she has A LOT to say but she is saying it in her own language. Nadia has continued to excel at preschool and we are concerned that she is going to be bored over the summer. Hopefully being around her brothers will continue to help her improve her language and social skills. One cool development concerns Nadia's learning plan for next year...after meeting with her "team" at school they have agreed to have her spend one hour a day in a regular classroom starting in November. We are very excited to see how she does in that environment since it will somewhat determine how much regular class time she gets in the future.
Currently Nadia's favorite activity is singing and she has memorized a lot of songs, including some of the more complicated worship songs that I play. For a couple of weeks whenever I came home, Nadia greeted me by singing the first lines from the chorus of one of her favorite worship songs that I had been practicing.
We attempted to potty train Andrew back in January but it was a colossal failure. After about the 20th time of him lying to us when asked if his pants were still dry we decided to let it go and fight another day. Since that time Andrew has become much more aware of his ability to go potty so we will be starting up round 2 shortly.
Unfortunately we recently broke our "number of days without an emergency room visit" streak when I had to take Andrew in for severe stomach pains and dehydration as a result of a stomach virus that we all had. Thankfully Andrew's main recollection of the evening was the orange popsicle that he got right before we left the hospital which contrasts greatly with my main recollection of three nurses holding down a screaming toddler while another nurse attempted to put an IV in his arm.
Is this sad? or adorable? Either way I think maybe he is getting an early start on Marine Recon training.
Andrew potty training attempt #1. Progress: program terminated. Next attempt: 5 years.
The electronic device addiction is strong in these three...
Ryan takes a break from the terrible three's to be cute for five seconds (seriously that is how long it lasted)
Mmmmmm....the breakfast of champions
We had a couple of good snowstorms this year but we were wholly unprepared for taking the kids out to play. First they were not feeling the best both times that we had big snows and second they were kind of still afraid of the snow. Eventually we got them outside and "we" even built a snowman. I imagine that next year it will be hard to keep them inside if we get a big snowstorm.
As you can imagine our lives have stayed pretty busy and there is always something to do, a child to comfort/praise/discipline, or sleep to catch up on. We are extremely thankful for all of the help that we get from our family and friends and we are glad that our kids are being raised by more than just the two of us.
Ju...st...o...ne...mo....re....
The boys prepare to go on stage and not sing the song that they had been practicing all week and which they sang NUMEROUS times at the dinner table every night
I guess we need to start saving if he is going to go to UVA
Well, at least they both have their eyes open
"I'm cute...give me candy...ooohhh...or a cookie!"
"I say dear Watson, that was quite a yummy snack!"
One of the activities that Julie does is a weekly Bible Study. While Julie is in the meeting the boys go to a kids program which includes learning songs which they then "sing" for the whole Bible Study every couple of weeks. I got to go one week and watch...
Most of you know how obsessed our children are with letters and numbers but this is a bit ridiculous...
As mentioned, Nadia LOVES to sing...here are a few of her favorites...
Nadia learned this at school and we think it is extremely adorable!
