How we're napping today

To my right...

To my left...

To my front...

My sweet little guys! Should they be napping in their cribs? Probably. But with my maternity leave winding down I don't want to miss a chance to cuddle with them while I can!!!

Lazy Sunday

A cloudy fall Sunday afternoon calls for football and apparently naps for all four of my boys. 

3 Months Old!!

3 months. 1/4 of a year already. Where does the time go?! We have 3 happy, healthy 3 month olds on our hands!

Will is such a happy little baby. He smiles all the time with big, full faced grins and loves to coo and talk to us a lot. He definitely has his moments when he's a screamer, but he's very predictable- he'll cry if he's hungry, has gas, or has a full diaper. Other than that, he's pretty content. He seems to enjoy new environments- he's the baby that is most often awake when we're out and about. It's a toss up for him when it comes to his pacifier- some days he's all about it, and other days he is happy to suck his thumb or his hand. He's moved into 3 month clothing and fills them out pretty nicely- no more newborn outfits for this kid. He takes 5 1/2 ounces per feed, and would definitely take more if we let him! He has taken a liking to his mobile in his crib and will chat up his woodland fairy friends as they turn. Will loves to give sloppy kisses right on the end of my nose. It grosses people out, but I love them!

Griffin continues to be our laid back little guy, until he's mad about something. Then, watch out! Kid has a temper, especially when he's hungry. Or when that darn pacifier doesn't stay in. His pacifier is seriously a blessing and a curse at the same time. He loves it, but he also loves to spit it out and then cry about it. One of his favorite games is "Let's make Mom keep putting my pacifier in my mouth"- he wins the game. Often. Smiles are harder to get out of Griffin, but when he does smile, oh my. His little nose crinkles up and it's adorably heart melting. He's also taking 5 1/2 ounces per feed now and is fully wearing 3 month clothing. He's starting to intersperse some baby coos into his normal grunting noises. I think Griffin is going to be the first baby to roll from his back to his stomach- he's soooo close to doing it.  He'll be glad when he can roll over so he can sleep on his belly- still his favorite way to catch some zzzz's. He's also a little smoocher and will give Mama nose kisses, too.

Cooper has started giving out happy smiles more and more often. His grin is so big and adorable. I just love it. He's also started talking to us more and more. He's just as into his pacifier as Griffin is, and has started taking a Nuk regularly in addition to the pacifier that the hospital sent us home with. Cooper is wearing some 0-3 months clothing, and some newborn items, but for the most part is also in 3 month sizes. He's taking 4 1/2 ounces per feed...when he decides to eat. In the past couple weeks he's developed a rather frustrating habit of "pretend" eating his bottle. He will act hungry, but when it comes time to eat he will use the bottle nipple as a pacifier instead of actually eating. For awhile we thought maybe he couldn't get the milk out of the nipple hole because of the rice cereal, but more and more we're convinced that he's just deciding to not eat. It's possible he's just protesting the rice cereal in his bottle because he will nurse with no problems. Whatever the situation, it's been a test of our patience, especially because he's our little guy and needs to eat! 

All three boys seem to recognize Will and me as Mom and Dad- they are spending more time locking eyes and staring at us when we talk to them. They don't seem to have any stranger danger queues yet- they're happy to be held by anyone who wants to hold them- they continue to be great snugglers and love, love, love to be held. Everyone is great in the car and will fall asleep within minutes of getting on the road. We're looking forward to when they interact with each other more. Right now the only thing they'll try to do when they're side by side is chew on random body parts of their brother. 

We have started using the Baby Bjorn and a Boba Wrap to carry the boys around the house. All three babies seem to enjoy being carried around, but Griffin seems especially fond of it. In other firsts: we have started tandem feeding the boys! I have tandem nursed on several occasions which works out well now that the boys have better control of their heads. Admittedly I'm not nursing as often as I'd like to. I still aim to nurse each boy once a day, but lately one thing or another has happened so we've skipped nursing sessions. Usually time is the culprit. On days when we have places to be it's harder to take the time to nurse and then still pump. We have also recently introduced tandem bottle feeds to the boys. Will or I will feed Will and Griffin at the same time. It's been working out well that Will feeds Will and Griffin together while I pump and feed Cooper at the same time. Talk about a game changer! Our hour and a half long feed schedule is cut down dramatically when I can feed Cooper while pumping and Will can feed Will and Griffin together. It feels like things go exceptionally faster when we can multitask like that! 

Their newborn clothes are pretty much all cleared out minus a few items that Cooper can still fit into. It has been tough for me to let go of their clothes. I am SO SAD that they are not that little any longer! I love watching them grow- one of my favorite activities while I'm pumping is looking at pictures and videos from the first couple weeks we had them home and see how much they've changed. But I already miss the newborn stage when they were teeny tiny. It's tough giving up the baby clothes, especially when we are going cold turkey. We'll never have teeny infant newborns in the house again. Most people with multiple children get the excitement of busting out their favorite newborn clothes again when the next baby comes along. I'm packing them all away to donate. (Side note- if anyone knows of someone expecting a baby boy anytime soon we have a LOT of newborn clothes up for grabs!) It's bittersweet, for sure.

At three months we are:

• Eating 5 times a day, going anywhere from 4 to 7 hours between bottles
• Pumping on average 5 times a day
• Nursing as often as I can, but usually only once a day for each baby
• Probably closer to 35 diapers/day as the boys seem to require changing more often now
• Using our voices more and more and hearing baby coos more frequently
• Flashing big grins and smiles\
• Getting stronger at tummy time by using our arms more to lift our heads higher off the ground
• Pretty much the cutest things ever

First Road Trip

In anticipation of our upcoming drive to Hilton Head we decided to take the boys on a practice mini road trip to see how they handled being in the car for an extended period of time. And to be perfectly honest, Will and I also wanted a test run to see exactly how much stuff we needed to pack for these babies and how much we could fit in the car. We chose a little town in northeast Georgia called Helen, which is a replica Bavarian town in the mountains. Each year they host an Oktoberfest and our trip coincided with the opening weekend.

Helping mom fold laundry before we left 

It takes quite a bit longer to pack up a car for a road trip with babies than we anticipated. Will had a target departure time of 11:00 AM. We were pulling out of our driveway at 12:40. Not ideal for a five hour drive into the eastern time zone. We should have had things more organized the night before, but a lot of the items we were packing had to be used in the morning to feed the boys before we left. 

Another rookie mistake we won't be making again- feeding the boys too early. We fed them at their regular time instead of waiting until just before we left to get them fed. They ate before we started packing up the car, so when the packing took us longer than anticipated it meant the boys went quite a bit longer than we intended between feeds. Thankfully all three are good car riders and were total troopers. They slept the majority of the drive which meant we never had to stop and feed them- Something we were hoping to avoid since it would be quite a long pit stop to feed 3 babies. We were willing to if necessary, but lucked out and didn't need to. They started squawking about 45 minutes before we got to Helen so we just pushed through and were able to feed them as soon as we got to our cabin. 

We didn't have the fall weather we were hoping to catch. 80 degree temps meant these adorable vests were just photo props.

We didn't have a big agenda planned for our quick trip. We took the boys out to their first restaurant for lunch one day. We picked a place that had a very large covered outdoor patio and were lucky that it was relatively quiet. We got a few stares wheeling in with two strollers full of babies but they boys were perfect the whole time. Griffin and Cooper slept through the entire lunch and Will got to come out and hang with Mom and Dad while we ate and enjoyed a beer. It was so nice to sit down at a restaurant and enjoy a leisurely lunch!

Wills lunching

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Helen. Several people asked about the boys but for the most  part we went under the radar. One thing that's different when traveling with triplets- you can't just "pop" into a store together for a quick peek at things. Will and I would take turns- one of us would go inside to look at something while the other waited outside with the strollers and then we'd switch and let the other one go in. 

Waiting for Dad outside of a shop

Helen

Helen

All the streets have Bavarian names

The closest we got to the bier hall. They allowed smoking so we kept the boys away from the actual Oktoberfest festivities.

I'm so glad we took a couple days and got out of town. It's funny how the boys' schedule didn't change much- our day still very much revolved around their needs and we had to do the same "chores" at the cabin that we do at home (dishes, pumping, feeding, changing, etc...) But it felt more relaxed to be on vacation with them. The dishes seemed easier, the changes and feedings felt faster and we were able to snuggle with them a bit longer. I'll take it!

Griffin is a great cuddler

I think the trip was a huge success and we're better prepared for what to expect when we leave for the beach in a couple weeks! 

Night Out!

Papa and Grandma are in the house! My parents came to town this weekend to keep the boys for us while Will and I attended our friends' wedding last night. It works out that they'll be able to extend their trip by a few days and stick around to help me with the babies when Will heads out of town for a couple nights this week.

It was lovely to have an excuse to get gussied up. Quinn and Jeff chose venues that Will and I had considered for our own wedding- both the church (Assumption) and the reception (Union Station)- so it was fun for us to see a wedding in action at both spots. It was a beautiful wedding and we enjoyed catching up with friends. We even stayed until the end of the reception, though I admit I was probably the only 30-something hitting up the coffee station over the bar. I was t-i-r-e-d but so glad we got to celebrate with the happy couple.  I had my first public pumping experience, which went pretty smoothly, so all in all- a successful night out!

Loved their wedding favors- Loveless Cafe jams and Goo Goo Clusters

Proof that we still own clothes that aren't pajamas or yoga pants!

The boys spent their evening with Papa and Grandma and I think everyone had a good time. My parents did their best to not let anyone go too long without being held and spoiled, even if it meant pulling triple-duty. 

Papa had his hands- and lap- full

My mom sent me lots of pictures and texts with play-by-play action of what was happening and I only called once to check in- Not bad for 8 hours away from my guys! We came home to 3 happy, sleepy babies and smiling grandparents so looks like their evening was a success, too!

So happy

Comfy

Little sweetie

Selfie with Papa and Grandma!

Busy Bodies

At their appointment last week our pediatrician gave us the all clear to start taking the babies out in public. Her only instructions were to continue to avoid toddlers and elderly women (both demographics who are well-intentioned but can't keep their hands to themselves)  and to limit the amount of people who hold them.

We wasted no time getting them out and about! Saturday we had to run down to REI to pick up our new roof rack to accommodate all the stuff we will need to pack for our upcoming trips. It would have been easier for Will to go down to the store by himself, but it was a beautiful day here in Nashville so we took advantage of the weather and packed the whole crew up. We just have to get used to the fact that things aren't going to be easy for us for awhile when it comes to going anywhere, and we can NOT stay home all the time. It's not good for anyone- parents or babies. So the trip to REI was good practice for the whole party of five. The boys were perfect- not a peep from any of them the whole time we were in the store, so really we had nothing to worry about!

After the REI trip we stopped at Centennial Park for a bit to go to a little festival and of course get a picture of the boys in front of the Parthenon.  

Not very impressed with the Parthenon yet...

On Sunday we went to another park to watch cousin Avery at her soccer games. The boys were finally able to meet their remaining cousins Luke and Olivia on Will's side of the family. We thought it was going to be chilly for them so we layered them up- you can see in the pictures that as the day progressed their layers were shed. It was another picture perfect day and the sun shelter tent we got did a great job of keeping the babies protected all afternoon, though the tent did keep things toasty when the sun come in. We successfully fed them their first bottles while we were at the park.  Up until yesterday we've timed any outings so that we could feed them at home. It's still preferable to feed all 3 at home, but it's good to know we can handle feeds on the go if we need to! Another good practice round for us. 

Cheering on Avery

Will meets Luke

Griffin and his new buddy Olivia

Avery and her favorite little guy Cooper

3 cousins holding 3 cousins

Today we left the house two different times! First we took the boys into my office to say hi to all my coworkers. And again, the boys were on their best behavior! Griffin and Cooper slept almost the entire two hours we were there while Will was awake the majority of the time. It seems we have a little flirt on our hands, too! Will was flashing lots of smiles and coos at all the ladies in the office. 

Party of Five- first pic of all of us since the day Griffin came home!

My teammate Ali with Will

Putting Will to work right away. He borrowed my colleague Allison's desk while she was gone.

Cooper's already sleeping through meetings

After a quick stop back at home to feed them we ventured back out to Babies R Us and Old Navy for some fall clothes shopping. We are going to go broke buying three outfits at a time, but it is pretty fun to dress them alike right now!!!

We are so fortunate to have laid back little dudes who, so far, are very tolerant of their car seats and new environments!

Appropriate Attire

We thought these shirts would be fitting to wear today. The babies had their 2 month check up at the doctor and each got 3 shots, which meant we had to endure 3 screaming babies. Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I had imagined it would be. They each let out a stunned/angry scream and cried for a minute but they calmed down pretty quickly, thank goodness! 

We got measurements today, too. Happy to report that they are all growing quite nicely! Cooper is now 10 lbs, 4 oz (3rd percentile), Griffin is 10 lbs, 13 oz (4th percentile), and Will is 11 lbs, 2 oz (6th percentile). They seem so, so much bigger to us but thy are still tiny peanuts compared to other babies their age!  

They all slept the whole way home and now everyone is dosed up on baby Tylenol and resting in their cribs (though I am taking turns holding each of them).  They are all maybe just a touch fussier than normal, but not bad! I see lot of extra snuggles tonight for my brave little boys. 

Sweetness

Some Tuesday afternoon cuteness. I just love how they all, Will especially, are starting to interact and smile all the time!

Time

Time is such a funny thing. Everything about caring for babies warps your sense of time which is a trip for your whole body.

For one thing, we are up at all hours of the day, which makes it hard to remember what day of the week it is. For instance, I was surprised to see so many garbage cans on the curbs the other night when we went out for a walk. I couldn't believe that it was already Wednesday and trash pickup was the next morning. It felt like we had just gotten over the weekend when in fact the week was half over already. Will and I have genuine "what day of the week is it?" conversations with no hint of sarcasm at all. Especially on weeks when we have no appointments or reasons to leave the house it's hard to keep track of the days.

We no longer have designated meal times and instead eat at strange hours. And I feel like I'm hungry around the clock now! My body isn't getting the full night's sleep that tells my brain to not want to eat, so it's not unusual for me to feel starved at 4:00 AM and look for a quick bite to eat after we feed the boys. The fact that I'm pumping/nursing plays into this too, I'm sure. But Will and I have both noticed that sleep deprivation reeks havoc on your digestive system.

It's also a strange feeling to not have daytime vs. nighttime hours mean anything. I took a nap the other day while Will stayed up with the boys. When I woke up, it took me several minutes to determine if it was 7:30 am or pm. 

The boys seem to have impeccable sense of timing themselves. You could set a watch by how punctual they are. They eat about every four hours, which means they start to stir about every 3 1/2 hours, ready to get the show started. Some days we get lucky and they last an extra hour beyond their typical wake up period, but for the most part we can rely on them stirring without our rousing them awake. Griffin is the one exception to that rule- that boy can sleep! Sometimes he's one of the boys stirring/fussing that he's hungry, but usually we're waking him up to change him when it's his turn to eat. No matter how we slice it, it takes an hour and a half to get through their care time, which should leave us with about 2 - 2 1/2 free hours before we start the process over again. But it's amazing how quickly that window of time passes when you are trying to cram in feeding yourself, showering, doing dishes, running errands, paying bills, doing laundry, and in some cases try to get a nap in. 

It's hard to believe my maternity leave is already halfway over.  It makes me so, so sad to think about returning to work in a couple months. The time is going by way too quickly! I know I'll be glad to be back in the office and to see all my coworkers once I'm there, but man- I'm not ready yet!  

We plan to make the most of my final weeks of maternity leave- the boys will be making their first of many, many trips to Hilton Head Island next month. Will's family has been vacationing there for over 30 years and we're excited to start a new tradition of bringing our boys there for years to come. We started planning their island wear today- we'll see if they can still wear these outfits next month!