Every night our bedtime routine is bath, "nite nite" books, then bed. Here is just a short clip from our nite nite book routine:
Cody has been late in meeting his milestones, but he is doing great (although is sick right now with a high fever, so pray he is well soon).
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Cody's One Year Well Child
Cody went for his 1 year well child visit this morning. He is 31 1/2 inches long (89th %) and 22 lbs 1 oz (35th %) so he is once again long and lean, but this time even leaner. He may end up a basketball star rather than a football star. He is healthy and doing well, however his tear ducts are still clogged so he will have to undergo another procedure at the end of August. I'll be glad to have his little eyes fixed. Here are all the baby stats (click to enlarge).
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Cody turns ONE!!!!!
Despite a very hectic week with potty training, ear infections, eye infections, bloody noses, nightmares, and too much time spent at home, I did manage to get gifts bought and wrapped, birthday decor purchased and put in place, and a cake baked and decorated. I also made Cody a birthday onesie since I had done this for the triplets (didn't want them to spooge good clothes with cake). Whew... I'm worn out!!!! But the party was a success!!! We went with a Mickey Mouse theme and I made a "Toodles" cake... gotta watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for "Toodles and the Mouseketools." We started up around 10:00 am, had Popeyes chicken for lunch, opened gifts, ate cake, then put everyone (including myself) down for naps. The triplets loved the party. We put temporary Mickey Mouse "tatoos" on everyone cheeks and the triplets opened all the presents for Cody then walked them over to show him what he got. I can't believe my little man is ONE... Although sad, we are looking forward to what the future years have in store for us. We are looking forward to vacations and getting out more now that they are getting older. Blessings to all.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Potty training update
Well, this morning Jadon decided he wanted to try the potty again and lo' and behold if he didn't do it. So, now all three are once again wearing underwear. We had two accidents, a few spills on the floor, and no less that 15 trips to successfully flush tee-tee between 8:00 this morning and nap time at 1:00 this afternoon. It felt like all Mom and I did was flush toilets all day long... it's good they are going, but boy they are keeping us busy.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Let the potty begin...
Yes, this week I started potty training. I have put it off as long as possible because I know life will get harder once they are potty trained. Sounds funny and most people are shocked to hear me say that, but right now I never have to make trips to a filthy public restroom because someone has to potty. I don't have to worry about Jadon laying on the restroom floor while I hold Kaylee over the toilet trying to keep her from touching anything. I don't have to yell at Addison to leave Cody's stroller alone and stop playing with the toilet paper.
I don't have to stop in the middle of cooking eggs, feeding Cody, or calling the bank to go assistance in pulling down and pulling up pants.... hopefully you see where I'm going with this. I can change a diaper in record time and not miss a beat, but now I have to deal with potties. But my goal has always been to have them trained by 3 so it is now time to start.
Right now, it's been 2 good days of training and the girls seem to understand what is expected of them and are doing ok. We have had a few accidents, but they understand the goal. Jadon, poor guy, just doesn't get it yet. Therefore, the plan now is to focus on the girls and once they are trained I'll start working on Jadon.
The 1st day was comical. I put them all in underwear and poured liquids into all of them. After a couple accidents the light bulb clicked on with the girls and I spent the rest of the morning pouring tee tee into the toilet and doing the tee tee dance. I'm not kidding... they would tee tee, flush it, then go back and tee tee more. I couldn't believe they could keep squeezing it out!!!! Jadon, just had accidents in his pants. By that afternoon the novelty had worn off and it was one accident after another including going the dreaded #2 in the pants. I was frustrated... the next day we got back to business and it's been going pretty well since. Everyone say a prayer this is all over with soon... it's a LOT OF WORK!!!!
P.S. The plan is to get a travel potty for the car in order to avoid public restrooms.
I don't have to stop in the middle of cooking eggs, feeding Cody, or calling the bank to go assistance in pulling down and pulling up pants.... hopefully you see where I'm going with this. I can change a diaper in record time and not miss a beat, but now I have to deal with potties. But my goal has always been to have them trained by 3 so it is now time to start.
Right now, it's been 2 good days of training and the girls seem to understand what is expected of them and are doing ok. We have had a few accidents, but they understand the goal. Jadon, poor guy, just doesn't get it yet. Therefore, the plan now is to focus on the girls and once they are trained I'll start working on Jadon.
The 1st day was comical. I put them all in underwear and poured liquids into all of them. After a couple accidents the light bulb clicked on with the girls and I spent the rest of the morning pouring tee tee into the toilet and doing the tee tee dance. I'm not kidding... they would tee tee, flush it, then go back and tee tee more. I couldn't believe they could keep squeezing it out!!!! Jadon, just had accidents in his pants. By that afternoon the novelty had worn off and it was one accident after another including going the dreaded #2 in the pants. I was frustrated... the next day we got back to business and it's been going pretty well since. Everyone say a prayer this is all over with soon... it's a LOT OF WORK!!!!
P.S. The plan is to get a travel potty for the car in order to avoid public restrooms.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
One of the most frequently asked questions:
We are always asked if we get any sleep in our house. That question is quickly followed up with how did you sleep train your kids.
Jerry and I have been very fortunate and only have our sanity in that our kids are all good sleepers/nappers. The kids go down around 8:30 and I wake them at 7:00 and they all nap from 1:00 to 3:00 or later daily (required nap is 1 to 3) and the triplets never protest when it's time to lay down. Whether luck or training we can never know for sure, but we get LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of questions as to how we handled sleep problems. It's probably one of the most asked questions by other parents. My question to other parents is how do you get picky eaters to EAT???
At our 1st pediatric appt after the kids left the NICU, the NICU pediatrician told us to no longer wake the babies to eat and gave us the following instructions:
1. They only get up to eat if they are crying (not whining or moaning). Never get up for whining or moaning, in fact move the baby monitor far enough away that you don't hear whining and moaning.
2. No cuddling, cooing, playing during the night... it's all business with dim lights then straight back to bed.
3. Establish a bedtime routine; Bath, bottle, bed was our routine.
4. Let them cry 5 minutes, then go calm them a minute to refocus them. Try not to pick them up. (If I had to pick them up, I held them next to the crib without eye contact or talking and laid them down after they calmed a bit at which time they went bonkers again). Then leave. Don't spend more than a minute or two if possible.
5. Let them cry 10 minutes then repeat calming, then 15 minutes, etc. (we didn't do this by the clock, but got a feel for when they needed to be calmed and when they needed to cry.) After calming them and leaving the room, the crying is worse for a few minutes, but eventually the length of crying shortens and they calm down faster as they learn it doesn't get them what they want. The calming is really just to refocus them since they sometimes get so worked up they need help shutting it down.
6. We also have a naptime routine which has changed as they got older, but we always used the same cry method.
It is painful to listen to your little one cry, but with triplets we had no choice and we were tough with Cody because we had seen it work with the triplets and he is now also a great sleeper. Cody still screams when we lay him down in bed, but stops almost immediately when the door closes. He has learned his protests are futile.
It also only takes breaking this routine once to screw things up again. One night when Kaylee was just over one, I think, her diaper leaked during the night. We got her up, took her downstairs, changed her, let her lay in our bed a few minutes until she calmed down, etc. She woke every night for about 4 days crying until I managed to get her retrained. Jadon used to nap about 45 minutes then wake crying. I'd go get him and rock him back down until I finally decided this was ridiculous and decided to make naps a two hour minimum. The 1st day when he woke 45 minutes into the nap he cried until the two hours were up. The 2nd day he cried maybe 5 minutes and hasn't cried since.
I don't think we could have done this had it not been a necessity with triplets, but we have found it worked for us. We were never sleep deprived parents and the kids have learned we set the bedtime and wake time. We may be lucky that we just have good sleepers while other parents have good eaters, but since we get asked so often I thought I'd share our strategy.
Jerry and I have been very fortunate and only have our sanity in that our kids are all good sleepers/nappers. The kids go down around 8:30 and I wake them at 7:00 and they all nap from 1:00 to 3:00 or later daily (required nap is 1 to 3) and the triplets never protest when it's time to lay down. Whether luck or training we can never know for sure, but we get LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of questions as to how we handled sleep problems. It's probably one of the most asked questions by other parents. My question to other parents is how do you get picky eaters to EAT???
At our 1st pediatric appt after the kids left the NICU, the NICU pediatrician told us to no longer wake the babies to eat and gave us the following instructions:
1. They only get up to eat if they are crying (not whining or moaning). Never get up for whining or moaning, in fact move the baby monitor far enough away that you don't hear whining and moaning.
2. No cuddling, cooing, playing during the night... it's all business with dim lights then straight back to bed.
3. Establish a bedtime routine; Bath, bottle, bed was our routine.
4. Let them cry 5 minutes, then go calm them a minute to refocus them. Try not to pick them up. (If I had to pick them up, I held them next to the crib without eye contact or talking and laid them down after they calmed a bit at which time they went bonkers again). Then leave. Don't spend more than a minute or two if possible.
5. Let them cry 10 minutes then repeat calming, then 15 minutes, etc. (we didn't do this by the clock, but got a feel for when they needed to be calmed and when they needed to cry.) After calming them and leaving the room, the crying is worse for a few minutes, but eventually the length of crying shortens and they calm down faster as they learn it doesn't get them what they want. The calming is really just to refocus them since they sometimes get so worked up they need help shutting it down.
6. We also have a naptime routine which has changed as they got older, but we always used the same cry method.
It is painful to listen to your little one cry, but with triplets we had no choice and we were tough with Cody because we had seen it work with the triplets and he is now also a great sleeper. Cody still screams when we lay him down in bed, but stops almost immediately when the door closes. He has learned his protests are futile.
It also only takes breaking this routine once to screw things up again. One night when Kaylee was just over one, I think, her diaper leaked during the night. We got her up, took her downstairs, changed her, let her lay in our bed a few minutes until she calmed down, etc. She woke every night for about 4 days crying until I managed to get her retrained. Jadon used to nap about 45 minutes then wake crying. I'd go get him and rock him back down until I finally decided this was ridiculous and decided to make naps a two hour minimum. The 1st day when he woke 45 minutes into the nap he cried until the two hours were up. The 2nd day he cried maybe 5 minutes and hasn't cried since.
I don't think we could have done this had it not been a necessity with triplets, but we have found it worked for us. We were never sleep deprived parents and the kids have learned we set the bedtime and wake time. We may be lucky that we just have good sleepers while other parents have good eaters, but since we get asked so often I thought I'd share our strategy.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Clean Mouths and happy hearts
I brush 5 sets a teeth twice a day (mine and 4 kids, yes even Cody gets his 4 teeth brushed). So I figure I brush teeth....
10 times per day
70 times per week
300 times per 30 day month
3,650 times per year....
Not one of my favorite chores although the kids love the 'brusha brusha brusha' song I sing.
10 times per day
70 times per week
300 times per 30 day month
3,650 times per year....
Not one of my favorite chores although the kids love the 'brusha brusha brusha' song I sing.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
4th of July
This morning we enjoyed participating in the annual neighborhood 4th of July Parade. It was fun but HOT!!!!! 
We loaded up and ate lunch at Chuy's then came home to nap the babies. When they got up we went over to the grandparents house and swam for a while then came home and let the kids play in the sprinklers while we grilled burgers and dogs. When it got dark we put Cody to bed and let the triplets watch the neighbors shoot off fireworks. Jadon's new favorite word is AWESOME!!!
Friday, July 3, 2009
In the press again
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Welcome Home Baby Lane
Looks like baby Lane and Kerri will be going home tomorrow!!!!!! We are all thrilled here in Houston!!!! Welcome home little man!!
Aunt Tracy
I am thrilled to let you know that I am an Aunt. On June 29th, my brother David and his wife Kerri gave birth to a little boy Robert Lane. He is doing great but did have to spend a little time in the NICU as he was a born a couple weeks early. I told my brother welcome to the joys and pains of parenthood because it truly is both.
Jerry and I spent a lot of time in the NICU with our babies praying daily for them. I remember how sick our little Cody was and signing a consent form for a "double volume exchange."
It was performed during the night and I was up all night waiting for news he came through it ok. I remember them having to constantly move his IV because his veins kept collapsing... he was a bruised pin cushion.
I remember the triplets and their pick lines, they didn't have IVs because they were there so long so we approved an IV line that went to their hearts to avoid collapsed veins.
Parenthood is painful and scary, but then there is the joy. There is truly no comparison to the joy children bring and each day I love watching them grow and develop new skills. I love talking to them and am amazed at the vivid imaginations. David and Kerri have just started this adventure. The rollercoaster has just started down the tracks... I pray the highs are really high and long and the lows are brief and just make their love stronger.
Once again, my favorite quote:
"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." ~ Elizabeth Stone
He is BEAUTIFUL!!!! Welcome baby Lane!!!!
"Double Volume Exchange - Removal of twice the blood volume from the affected infant and replacing with fresh blood from the blood bank (exchange transfusion). Exchange transfusion has been shown to reduce brain damage in severely jaundiced babies; however, exchange transfusion is associated with serious adverse events including death."
Jerry and I spent a lot of time in the NICU with our babies praying daily for them. I remember how sick our little Cody was and signing a consent form for a "double volume exchange."
It was performed during the night and I was up all night waiting for news he came through it ok. I remember them having to constantly move his IV because his veins kept collapsing... he was a bruised pin cushion.
I remember the triplets and their pick lines, they didn't have IVs because they were there so long so we approved an IV line that went to their hearts to avoid collapsed veins.
Parenthood is painful and scary, but then there is the joy. There is truly no comparison to the joy children bring and each day I love watching them grow and develop new skills. I love talking to them and am amazed at the vivid imaginations. David and Kerri have just started this adventure. The rollercoaster has just started down the tracks... I pray the highs are really high and long and the lows are brief and just make their love stronger.
Once again, my favorite quote:
"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." ~ Elizabeth Stone
He is BEAUTIFUL!!!! Welcome baby Lane!!!!
"Double Volume Exchange - Removal of twice the blood volume from the affected infant and replacing with fresh blood from the blood bank (exchange transfusion). Exchange transfusion has been shown to reduce brain damage in severely jaundiced babies; however, exchange transfusion is associated with serious adverse events including death."
Jon and Kate
I don't know how many of you watch Jon & Kate plus 8, a family with twins and sextuplets. I haven't watched much since our babies were born, but I was addicted when on bedrest with the triplets. Well, they are filing for divorce after 10 years. Kate stated that the divorce rate among couples with multiples is 3x higher than typical families. I don't know if that is true or not, but I know raising 4 kids under the age of 3 is all about work and sacrifice (more than anyone can imagine) and I count my blessings daily that I have a husband who is loving, supportive, and digs in on an ongoing basis with a smile on his face. We work hard but we love our work.
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