2011 is almost gone....

Wow, Merry Christmas I haven't posted since then. The kids got a lot of toys, all of which they have really enjoyed. We got them a Step2 playhouse. They like going in and out, and putting their heads out the windows. My family Christmas was December 17th, and then Todd's parents come over on Christmas Eve and stay the night, and we do Christmas morning then. We didn't even finish wrapping everything this year. The kids didn't know the difference. They did enjoy unwrapping presents, however crawling on the boxes was the most fun this year. It was an excellent Christmas. Couldn't have asked for anything better with either family. We had a good time with everyone!

We can officially say that we have 3 walkers before ringing in 2012!!!!!! I cannot tell you how happy this makes me! Grey is walking about 60% of the time, and Lilly about 90% of the time. Most importantly they are walking. Lilly rarely falls. That was her plan all along. Grey face plants, and then just gets up in the middle of the floor to try again. Of course we praise them so much when they are walking, and Owen is left standing in the middle of the room... looking at me like... "Seriously, I have done this since July!". I then praise him, and he runs away giggling.

I cannot express how happy I am with these kids. I look at them each day and after I am done running in circles, I thank GOD that I have them, and thank GOD I have my husband. I don't tell him enough, but every day life is nearly impossible without him here. For the first time in my life, I can look at my surroundings, and although it may be chaotic, I love my life. I really do. I have everything I ever wanted. I have a wonderful family both immediate, and extended. I have a great job, great people surrounding us day in and day out. I will also have to remind myself of this and reread this frequently! LOL!This is Todd and Owen napping together, something that RARELY happens.

New Years will bring a healthier me. I am sticking to my diet for sure, and Todd said he would help with that as well. Todd and I plan on going away some time likely for our 10th anniversary alone. Todd wants to go to Turks and Caicos... but I am just not sure that I want to go that far. I want to start exercising again, hoping my mesh abdomen has the same aspirations.

One of the triplet moms in our group (that has quads) has an excellent blog. She recently wrote a post that struck me, and I know a lot of my friends feel the same way. I struggle with guilt, working, having others take care of them during the days, worrying too much about how they are coming along developmentally, how we compare to what we should be doing at this age etc. I worry about wishing their lives away, as it has gotten much easier as the months tick by. I don't miss the baby stage, it was too chaotic... but I do have those guilty feelings that creep in. This is an excellent post. If you get a chance, read it. Here's the link. I also want to work on this too.

We have no plans on New Years Eve. A quiet night hopefully here. I noticed tonight that Grey had some purulent drainage coming out of his left ear, which makes sense as he has been very grumpy at night. He has no fever, and no cold symptoms... so saying little prayers that the other two remain healthy! We'll start ear drops tonight, hopefully it will nip it!

I think that's it...Happy New Year everyone!

Cheers to 2012!

O' Christmas Tree

I didn't have an opportunity to do a post last year of our Christmas decorations... but here it is this year. This is a very typical picture of around our house. The tree shaking in it's stand because there is a toddler pointing at it! Funny Grey's physical therapist came in the door the week we put it up and asked what the tree did to be caged in as such.... It's a beautiful, fake, 10ft tree. I love to see it all lit up, but this year as Todd put it, "That thing can't come down fast enough". We are very thankful it hasn't been toppled over yet!

This was an ornament my mom got me in 2002 right after we got married. This we bought in Hawaii on our honeymooon.

This is an ornament that a pharmacist from the NICU gave to us last year before Grey was discharged from the hospital. It is very dear to us.

This is from Jamie, a very close friend to Todd's late brother Travis, and still to the Maurer family! Jamie went to Notre Dame, and still lives near by. She and her mother prayed there frequently for Grey when he was sick. It's a priceless piece.

This I believe Todd got in 2006 when we bought this house. This likely signifies the chaos I put him through by having the whole house painted on the inside twice because I didn't like the first color. He has such patience with me!

This I bought I believe at Potterybarn in 2008, acorns signify fertility... this was just as we were beginning to dealve into it all!

This was a 2009 ornament along with the bird below. We took one last trip to Gatlinburg, TN before we did our final IVF in December 2009. We went home from that trip with peace that whatever this IVF would bring was what it was meant to be.... JACKPOT!

These are our animal ornaments... Hendrix

Jasmine

RIP Happy kitty. This is Owen's first ornament. Very fitting that it's somethign similar to a sock!

This is Lillian's.

This is Grey's first Christmas ornament.

These I thought were so fitting. I found them at Target last year.

This is outside our house. It was too cold to go out and get a shot from the front. Funny there is 3 penguins pulling the sleigh. I love the big polar bear too. That is my favorite animal. This is our foyer. We added a foyer pre-lit tree this year. It makes our house look a little more festive, since lights outside haven't been a huge priority the past few years!

There are so many more ornaments that mean a lot to us both. I'll maybe be able to do this again next year! lol

Where to begin??

Seriously, I always think that each month has a lot of milestones, but this last month has been spectacular.

Where to start?

Well, we have the some great updates for the kids.

Grey has NO FEEDING TUBE. He pulled out his feeding tube on Dec 20th (this Tuesday) and it is no where to be found. I don't know if he hid it, a dog ate it, it's in the tree... we have yet to find it. He is on an antibiotic, the site looked infected at first, but has since closed up, and looks absolutely wonderful. He is taking his antibiotic much better than I expected, as it normally would go down his tube just to make life easier. It has been about a month since we had used the feeding tube anyway, Dr. Maisel told me to tell him congrats, and keep eating! He loves to eat, and will try almost anything. Currently his favorite things are: Greek God's Yogurt (strawberry honey), mac n cheese, whole milk with whipped cream, grandma's ranch oyster crackers, grape-mango- peach Welch's juice, pop-tarts of any kind, gerber ravioli, gerber mystery meat (it's what I call it, if you have seen the jars, you know what I mean) he loves salmon, pudding, oatmeal, scrambled eggs made in the microwave, grilled cheese... the list goes on and on and on. The kid loves to eat. The last time the dietitian was here she said he has lost some weight despite taking in sufficient amount of calories. Since he has a shorter small intestine than he should have, absorption of nutrients remains a little less than it should be. Therefore, I talked to the doctor she thought we should increase his calories by about 100-200. We have tried that. I think his weight has remained the same. We will find out on the 27th. Grey is almost walking. He very routinely takes 5-10 steps and he is determined to walk. It could be even by the beginning of the year. He will be proficient soon. He is currently 21lbs and 30.5 inches. He is wearing mostly 18 month clothes, but 12 month pants still (his waist and legs are small). The doctor and dietitian said that his growth was super, and nothing to worry about.

Grey likes to play by himself a lot. You can find him off playing with his ball popper that he got for his first birthday, or trying to walk, or climbing on the furniture. Grey is what I would call the most mischievous one of the 3. He is the one that figures out how to open the gates etc. He just recently figured out how to get into the gated tree area, and lifted the gate so that Lilly and Owen could also breech the perimeter. He is a stinker. Grey is getting his molars now, so a bit grumpy the past few days. I could not be more happy with Grey and his progress. One year ago, I would have never thought this little man would be where he is. The kid is a true miracle.

Owen is changing daily. He is the true definition of toddler. He does not want to be fed, and will refuse to eat if you think you are going to literally feed him. He wants to feed himself, and is picky at times. The old stand-by meal is grilled cheese. He likes to snack, but if you put it on a spoon in hopes to feed him... FORGET IT! We have had some sleeping issues with him in the past few months, perhaps it's because he has a full set of teeth now. His room was a bit chilly, but we just got new windows in the majority of the house... this has helped. It has also helped the noise in his room... that might have been a reason for his sleeplessness too. He is running all over. He LOVES to clean. If there is anything that resembles a rag, or washcloth, he is running it across any surface that he has seen cleaned. He likes to run his toy vacuum. Owen loves his shoes and socks, or anyone's shoes and socks for that matter. He is still pointed and making noises when you ask him where objects are, not really talking yet. He absolutely LOVES his father. When Todd walks into the room, he lights up. He has gotten a few toys this Christmas so far, and he loves to push around his toy truck and car he got. Owen can be heard growling alot..... hopefully that will subside when he decides to talk!

Lillian, oh, my Lillian. Lilly is WALKING! Yes, walking. I have had her looked at by every therapist that has come into our house. They all say she is just "cautious, and has the skills to walk if she wants to". URGH! She prefers to bear crawl, or walk on her knees, but just these past 2 weeks or so she is walking a lot more. She has been walking through rooms, and back and forth, rather than on her knees. She is the screamer. If she doesn't like what is going on, she will shriek like no other. She currently is wanting to be rocked to sleep at night... and we are trying to break that habit. She is a stubborn little sister... but, she is a true momma's girl. She is trying to talk, and if you sound out things for her, she will repeat it... like T-T-T tree... she will do the T-T-T. She is doing much better with the shape sorters, and is the first to point to everyone's belly button whether it is solicited or not. She was the first to realize that Grey's feeding tube was not there... wondering if he had help with that... hmmmmm

We got family pictures taken, and Lillian was the ham. Owen wanted to run around and chew on sticks, and Grey was teething... he cried the whole time.

They also went to see santa, and I'll see if I can scan that picture... it's hilarious. Grey is screaming, and Lilly and Owen look scared out of their mind!

We have changed around the house a bit. We have new gates up, and Owen is the first to test them to see if they truly closed. If not, he escapes very quickly with 2 others following right behind.

I am really looking forward to this Christmas, it's so much different than last. I will try to post a little more, as I got a new lap-top from Todd for Xmas!

http://www.jamiesangarblog.com/index.cfm?postID=927 Here is the post to Jamie Sangar's blog that has our pics and a slide show is you want to visit it.

This picture is priceless.... All 3 in the tub, obviously before Grey pulled his feeding tube button out!