5 months

5 months!  The kiddos are growing and getting stronger everyday!  Some things that they have started- eating rice cereal (at almost 6 months), really interacting with one another (they love to entertain each other, especially our resident HAM- Lilly), getting out of the stage of wanting to be swaddled, LOTS of tummy time (they are deciding if they like this or not, but it's good for them!), sitting up with support (they love the bumbo but are still too small so we just put blankets to support them), Lilly holds her own bottle, love their swings (basically spending most nights in there), and they LOVE to snuggle with us and each other. 

 
 

 Jaxon

 Miles

 Lilly

Halloween 2013

Babies first Halloween!  One of Phillip's favorite holidays, so needless to say we dressed up!  The kids were going to be Batman, Robin, and Batgirl; but the costumes didn't end up fitting, so we went with plan B.  Which was naturally characters from one of our favorite tv series: The Big Bang Theory.  Phillip went as Sheldon Cooper, I was Amy Farrah Fowler, and the babies were 3 Bazinga babies!  The kids and I joined Phillip at his office for a party, then we came home and enjoyed the rest of the festivities! 
   

  

  

4 months, sleep schedule, and nursing

We are so excited that they have reached their 4 month milestone!  Some of the things that they love to do lately: SMILE, coo and talk to us and each other, getting their heads rubbed, tummy time (don't love this, but getting stronger), they LOVE music, nursing, interacting with family and friends, look at lights/fans, go on walks, hear stories, they love to be tickled, riding in the car, going on adventures (stores/family events), they are just very social! 
Along with news about their 4 month, I wanted to tell a little about their sleep schedules and nursing.  When Phillip and I found out about triplets we relied so heavily on blogs from other triplet parents, so we want to try and give some helpful information too.  The babies up until about 4 months (when we had them at home) were eating about 2 or more times during the middle of the night.  At about 4 months we were able to start letting them go longer.  We go in during the night and help adjust them if they are fussing, but unless they are inconsolable and we can tell that they are really hungry, they have been able to sleep a lot longer in the night.  We have really good nights when we are only up 2 or 3 times a night, and other not so great nights when they are up a lot.  This is the beginning of our sleep training I guess you could call it, and I've been very proud of how well the kiddos have done. 
Another point I wanted to touch for the mamas of multiples is the feeding.  One thing that I was glad that we did in the hospital was the non-nutritive feeding, this really helped to establish their latch.  So many people were skeptical about feeding these babies including myself.  We started out by pumping, then we began to nurse with nipple shields, then we were able to wean off of the nipple shields.  Something that I was not told was that each time we changed a mode of feeding, it was like starting all over.  Each time we started something new there were new pains associated, I guess having 3 kiddos meant starting over 3 times with the pains of nursing.  When the kids left the NICU they were nursing 2 times a day, they are now nursing each feeding.  We found that as we were only nursing several times a day and then pumping the rest, my milk supply was not keeping up.  The kids were picking up on the quantity that they were eating, and I just couldn't keep up.  Now that I am nursing I can keep up, as I take care of my body.  I drink about 3-4 liters of water a day, eat lots of snacks, and get rest when I can.  For now this works for us, and we will continue to see how things progress.  :)
It is such a blessing to take care of these babies!   

Baby blessing and family pictures

With my little brother just returning from his mission and my older brother and his wife in town, we thought that it might be nice to bless the babies.  My brother had already planned on speaking this day, so we asked if it would be alright if we made a whole day of it and also blessed the babies.  It was so wonderful to hear each blessing and know that my sweet angels are now named through the gospel and have a blessed life that awaits them. The same weekend we decided to do a quick family photo, as everyone was together.  It was a wonderful weekend, and we were so grateful to be with the whole family, which we haven't been able to do for a couple of years! 

 Miles

 Jaxon

 Lilly

Babies first race

What a wonderful weekend!  My little brother had just returned the Wednesday prior, my older brother and his wife flew in from Vegas, we were together as an entire family for the first time in a long time!  When I was younger, my family started doing the Classic race together, and it became our tradition.  We've had a lot of years lately where only some of us could do the race.  This year, we were ALL able to run it together once more.  Phillip and I even ran/walked it with the babies in tow.  They absolutely love going on walks, so this was a delight for them!  It was so amazing to get together with my family again and do this with my own little growing family.  Who knows maybe they will even do the kids K portion someday! :)

Uncle Schuyler comes home and 3 months old!

A very exciting day!  My little brother Schuyler had been gone for two years serving a religious mission for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  He left with no nieces and nephews and came home to two nieces and two nephews!  We all are so proud of him, and it is pretty amazing to see the changes in him.  We met him at the airport and it was so wonderful to see him!!!  The same day that my brother came home, the babies also turned 3 months.  Both such wonderful milestones, what a great day!!!

Baby pictures

We had been looking forward to this for a long time!  We were so excited to do their baby pictures.  My friend had offered to do them for us, and she did such a phenomenal job!  We had seen work of hers before, but were so delighted with what she did!  She was a true saint though!  After 11 hours of shooting, and additional time editing, we were able to see the final product.  Thank you so much Aimee for your hard work for our precious kiddos!!  You are amazing!

 Miles

 Lilly

 Jaxon

 Lilly

 Miles

 Jaxon