2 1/2 years old
I can't believe my babies.... toddlers are 2 1/2!! Oh, the time is really flying by and I just wanted to take some time and write down a few things that go on in a day in the life with my three 2.5 year olds.
Here is our schedule and no, it's not followed daily, but we try. It is getting harder with everyone wanting to "do it by themself"!! Everything is taking a LOT longer, but they are doing great ;)
The kiddos usually wake up around 7:30/8:00ish and stay in their beds & chatter until 8:00am. Then I go in & get them (one of my favorite parts of the day!) I love their greetings... "I awake" "Good morning Momma" "I ready to get up" and all other sorts of things... you never know what Brooklen is going to say, she has all sorts of off the wall sayings. I get their diapers changed & it's off for breakfast at the table in booster seats. Everyone has to climb up themselves & snap their straps- yes, themself! Their favorite breakfast is pancakes & they can usually eat almost 6 pancakes between the 3 of them. They also have a can of fruit (pears, peaches or oranges).
After breakfast we brush teeth and comb hair. I try to get their hair combed while they practice brushing their teeth & getting a drink of water, by themself. Then I try to pick out some clothes & we head downstairs to get dressed & play. Right now we either watch a little Sesame Street, but they are starting to lose interest. They are preferring Mickey Mouse & Handy Manny, so we try to watch a little something while we try to get dressed. Caitlen is doing the best at getting dressed by herself (she's had more practice w/ the stripping at nap & bedtimes) but they are all trying.
After everyone is dressed we have a little craft time. We usually color with crayons. We may be trying markers after Christmas... washable markers! It's pretty funny watching them choose what color of crayon they want: Austen always wants blue and just blue, Caitlen wants purple and sometimes green and Brooklen likes pink, orange or red. We have also played with playdoh and I'm trying to come up with other fun crafts to do. We play with cars, our baby dolls or blocks.
Lunchtime is between 11:30 / noon. So, we head up stairs for usually a sandwich or noodles and a veggie. Then fresh fruit and maybe yogurt covered raisins, a few M&M's or something for dessert.
After lunch & clean up we've been watching a show, either Mickey Mouse, Handy Manny or Backyardigans. Then it's time to change diapers and read a few books before nap time usually between 1:30 & 2:00pm. **Caitlen still needs a reminder to keep her clothes ON! She goes for a few weeks w/o taking them off & then out of the blue I'll find her stripped down, little stinker.
They usually nap for a couple of hours. Caitlen is the biggest stinker when it comes to napping, some days she skips nap & we enjoy some one on one time. But I'd prefer she still nap a couple hours, I'm not ready to give up "my" time for me in the afternoon, that is usually when I try to walk some on the treadmill, catch up on a soap, read or just listen to the quiet! The girls have each crawled out of the cribs, but really only a couple of times. I'm sure big kid beds are in our near future.
After nap we either play upstairs while I fix dinner or head back downstairs (where most of the toys are) to play until daddy gets home or it's time for dinner.
Dinner is around 5:30pm which is again a sandwich, noodles, nuggets or something me & DJ are eating and a veggie. Then fresh fruit as a “closer”.
Then is their time to play with daddy since he's been gone all day. We run around playing hide & seek, run & have daddy throw them up in the air & horsey rides.
Then around 7:00pm it's time to brush teeth, change diapers, get on p.j.'s & read a few books before bedtime between 7:30-8:00pm.
We still have the gates at the top & the bottom of the stairs, but they are all doing great on the stairs. We'll probably keep the one at the top of the stairs on for a while just so no one falls down and gets hurt.
Their little arms are just getting longer each day & we have to keep moving stuff higher & higher & watching where we leave our beverages or they get split with little adventurers trying to get them!

Austen: Almost always goes to sleep without any problems. Just hug & kiss, lay in bed, cover up, sometimes sing the ABC’s, Rock a Bye or Lullaby w/ him and he is good to go, great sleeper! He can walk up the stairs alternating feet. He likes to play with his cars, blocks & read books. Loves the books where he has to find the item in the picture.
Caitlen: Is our ornery sleeper. She just isn't as tired as the other 2, but I still make her lay down at nap & bedtime at the same time (for now) If she is awake during naptime for too long I'll give her a book to read & after about an hour of quiet time, if she is still awake I'll get her up. Caitlen doesn’t like to go to sleep mad, if she is crying give her an extra hug & kiss, cover her up & she'll be good. Caitlen likes to sing Lullaby and Twinkle Twinkle before she goes to bed. Caitlen wants to do EVERYTHING by herself "I do it" is her most frequent saying. She is getting really good at getting dressed and getting most of the stuff she needs (wants)
Brooklen: Usually goes to sleep pretty good, but is the one that wakes up in the night the most. Not sure if she has nightmares, vivid dreams or what, but she doesn't like it when something wakes her up & she sometimes struggles to fall back asleep. We just go & rub her back for a bit and that usually helps.
They all love to tell knock knock jokes & I think they know 4 or 5 jokes. I love it when they tell them to each other, it's just too cute. Here are their 3 favorite knock, knock jokes to tell:
Knock, Knock Who's there? Justin Justin who? Justin the neighborhood
Knock, Knock Who's there? Banana Banana who? Knock, Knock Who's there? Banana Banana who? Knock, Knock Who's there? Orange Orange who? Orange you glad I didn't say banana.
Knock, Knock.. Who's there? Tank.... Tank who?... You're Welcome
They also all love to read, which I just love because I'm not a big reader, but I wish I was & want my kids to like to read. They love the look & find books and there are a few books that they can read to us!
Most of the time they play great together and try really hard to take turns with each other. I love to watch them with each other. Taking each other their toys, making them pretend pancakes, helping them up when they fall.
One of my hopes for them is that they stay the best of friends and always help each when needed, especially when they fall. I think being a triplet is such an awesome gift they were given . They get to enjoy everything with each other. Yes, I do think they miss out on some one on one with mommy & daddy and other things, but having each other, always having each other, is such a great gift!
Oh, sniff... sniff... my babies are growing so fast. It's hard to believe they are 2. It's hard to believe just how much they have learned and how much they have grown. I do try to sit back each day and enjoy them for who they are & how great they are doing. Yes, they do stress me out and send me close to the edge, but everyday they always make me smile. Happy 2 1/2 birthday my babies!

Christmas P.J.'s













Here are the kiddos all snuggled up together in their Christmas p.j's, chillin in the recliner, watching "The Polar Express"- our new favorite Christmas movie. I don't know how many times we have watched it (a lot)!! Don't they just look too adorable all snuggled up together? Oh, they can barley fit in the recliner together...... remembering the days when me or DJ could sit in the chair & have all 3 laying on our lap. They are just growing too fast, my babies.

Let it Snow.... Let it Snow... Let it Snow!
I love to watch it snow, it's so pretty. Layering the ground with a beautiful blanket of white snow. I know, I hate to drive in it, but today I'm inside, enjoying a Chai Tea while watching "The Polar Express" with the kiddos, all cozy and warm.

As for my lack of blogging lately... SORRY!! I honestly don't know where the last 1/2 of October & all of November went! I know we (me & all 3 kiddos!) were horribly sick the week before Thanksgiving, so I didn't get much done besides wiping noses! I will be trying to do some back posts over the next few days with some fall & Halloween pics of the kiddos & then we did some family pics on Thanksgiving. So, keep checking back =)

Hi~
Happy December 1st. Today is the anniversary of mine & DJ's first date. It was 14 years ago today! Wow!! Our first date consisted of DJ coming over to my mom's house, I made him lasagna & we watched the Vikings beat the Bears. I know, big first date, but we both worked retail and it was in the holiday season, so days off together were few & far between. That is the memorable first date. Guess what's for dinner tonight- yep, lasagna. I love you sweetie!!

Have you voted yet? What are you waiting for.... Get out there & VOTE!

Trick or TreatWhat a great night to trick or treat, it was so nice out.... almost too warm (is that possible, knowing winter is right around the corner). The kiddos had a great time and did such a good job! They went as Winnie the Pooh in a Pumpkin, Lumpy the Heffalump & Piglet. They had lots of fun getting candy and walking from house to house. They even said "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you" a few times. They also enjoyed their goodies when they got home, forget dinner when there are goodies. The first thing they all wanted to eat was their Goldfish and then a few M&M's.

"Decorating our Pumpkins"

Well, we finally got around to "decorating" our pumpkins. We decided to do the "decorating" idea again this year, maybe next year we'll try to actually carve one or two. We were planning on it, but ran out of time! I didn't have any luck getting pics of the kiddos actually decorating their pumpkins, but got the before & after. (the pumpkins in order on the bench: Austen's, Caitlen's & Brooklen's)

Halloween Party
This year DJ & I were invited to the Wolrab’s annual Halloween party. I guess this is the 3rd year for the Wolrab’s Halloween party, but it’s the first year we have been able to go. We were not sure what to go as so, we went out on a limb & went as Bikers. It’s been so long since we’ve been out on the bike, that it IS a costume, plus I added the wig & DJ added some tattoos. We had a LOT of fun and they had the best decorations! Here are some photos from home before we headed out & some from the party. Thanks Stacy & Vince, we can’t wait for next year!

While we were getting ready the kiddos wanted to put on du-rags also. They look so cute! Here is a nice family photo.

Bloomsbury Farm~ it's a Pumpkin Patch & More!

Last Saturday we took the kiddos the Bloomsbury Farm. It's a farm about 45 minutes away that has so much for the kids to do. We decided to go after nap, which only gave us a couple of hours to spend at the farm (at 7:00pm it become the Haunted Corn Maze) we definitely could have spent more time there. On the way we picked up both Grandma's to join in the FUN!

When you walk in they have a sign: How tall this Fall

I thought it'd be great to get a picture of the kids & we could compare each year- they weren't cooperating. (They also have a sign when you leave: "Please leave with the same number of children as you came with" I should have taken a picture of that- I thought it was funny!)

Those funny cut-outs for the whole family. I think Nanna got a pic with everyone looking, but I don't have it on the computer.

There were Barnyard buddies: goats, donkeys, chickens, cows, pigs and more for the kiddos to see. Fun trikes and tractor toys to ride around on. Austen giving Brooklen a ride, too cute! First, he checks to make sure she is on & then off they went.

There was the great Bloomsbury Barrel Train Express that the kids LOVED!! We had a tough time getting Austen off! A corn maze. I couldn't believe how tall the corn was, I'd bet 11 feet high- no kidding! Then we ate dinner at the Pumpkin Grill cafe, picked out our pumpkins (sorry, I didn't get any pictures of that, the kiddos were kind of ready to head home & all going in different directions). It was a lot of fun & we can't wait to go back next year!