So many pictures...

I'm putting together a 'Shutterfly' book of the babies from the past year.  I figure it's a nice gift to the grandparents for either Christmas or a whenever gift and also one for myself.  I got the idea because I received a code for a free book from Pampers for their birthday.  Then I got another code after entering in some My Coke Rewards!  After that one, I made Tony sign up and enter in some codes to get another one.  I knew there was a reason I save all these things - pampers points, coke points etc.!  I've also given some coke points to a co-worker on medical leave with not much to do and my sister who I know loves shutterfly.  I feel I should also add here that I save the old losing scratch off lottery tickets and have them saved for me so I can enter them online and hopefully someday win a million bucks in the 2nd chance drawing!  I think this is why I'm so tired - I somehow find the time to do all these things, but then don't get to bed at a reasonable hour and why some of these posts likely don't make sense or change subject within the same sentence...
So about the book - I have 20 pages to fill and I was originally going to pick one picture from each month plus a few others - 8 to be exact  - but it's so hard to choose!  There are so many cute pictures of them from each month that I've basically got 2 pages per month, but obviously that math doesn't add up.  I'm not done, but I try to work on it each day/night so I can finish before the end of the month - when the Pampers code expires!  I better hurry.  The last time I did this, I tried ordering just before midnight when the code was to expire and it said it was already too late.  I contacted them and they gave me a new one thankfully, but don't want to cut it that close again. 

One last thing before I retire for the night - the babies and I did our first art project.  I did have some help from Melanie and Beth though.  I was feeling crafty the other day and thought of making our thank you cards from the babies birthday.  Yes, that is correct, I still have not gotten around to doing thank you cards from their birthday a few weeks ago.  Hey, I have an excuse, right?  I have triplets!  So I found some ideas online about making handprint animals.  So I got some washable paint and stamped each baby's hand and pressed it to some paper.  I was originally going to make each one individually, but realized quickly that that idea was way too ambitious.  I got Olivia's hand print on the 2nd attempt and hers definitely looks the best.  Amelia's was next and hers came out pretty good on the first try.  Little Tony had about 6-7 attempts and I think I have something I can use.  He had a difficult time keeping his fingers separated so it just ended up looking like a blob of paint on the paper.  So now I have each of their hands, but now need to create the rest of the animal.  Hopefully within a day or two I'll have the finished product to share.  After that I was going to have Tony scan the original artwork and make copies for the Thank you notes. 

I think I can, I think I can....

What's happenin'...

I haven't posted in a while because I've been pretty tired lately and you'd think that I was getting to bed early cause I'm tired, but the reality is that I've been going to bed later and later - there's always something to do.  Lately, my day starts around 7am - taking a shower and getting ready for work while I change diapers.  I wake T up and he gets bottles ready.  For a while now, Olivia has been drinking whole milk - no formula and will only drink from a sippy cup.  Little T has been getting more and more whole milk mixed with his formula.  He's currently drinking 4oz of milk with 2oz of formula.  Amelia is currently drinking about half and half.  Olivia doesn't like to be held while she's drinking, so we usually take her downstairs and she sits/stands in the exersaucer and drinks her bottle.  Oh and did I mention that she gets either strawberry or chocolate milk?  Yeah, this was the pediatrician's idea to get her to drink it.  At one point, she wouldn't drink the formula or the milk so that's how we've gotten her to drink the milk.  We could probably wean her off the flavored stuff, but we find that she won't drink the vitamins that we used to mix in with the formula - so we keep mixing a little in.  Amelia and little T still like to be held while they drink and truthfully, I'm happy to do it.  I don't get to hold them that much. 
Around 8:15, I'm trying to get out the door, but it's more like 8:30am and I'm usually about 10 minutes late for work.  I'm so lucky to work for a great company and have a great supervisor.  I know she doesn't know what it's like to have triplets - not alot of people do but she completely understands what it's like to have family commitments and I'm grateful.  I usually end up staying a few minutes later to make up the time.  I leave work around 5:45pm and get home around 6:30.  I'll usually pack up the trio in our new choo choo wagon and take them for a walk.  They really seem to like it and there's even a space for their sippy cups!  They usually eat dinner around 7:30pm and usually get to bed around 8:30pm, unless it's bath night.  We do baths every other night, but sometimes they could really use a nightly bath, but it would just take too long.  After that, we usually sit down to eat something and then starts the cleaning up and finishing up anything else like laundry, dishes, etc. 

Now for a little more about Amelia.  She's usually a happy little baby, but she lets you know if she doesn't want to be left alone.  She's just started walking within the past week :)  She can take 6-7 steps before falling down, and sometimes she seems so determined to keep up with her sister.  She's been doing really well with the regular milk and even eating yogurt without any negative effects.  We were pretty worried to make the change because her 'allergy', but so far so good.  She's been a really good eater lately too.  She seems to really like kielbasa - she couldn't get enough the other night!  She's gotten her 5th tooth (on top), loves all dogs she sees and sucks her thumb to lull herself to sleep.  She continues to be a great sleeper at night and at nap time.

Little Tony seems to be doing well with regular milk as well, but doesn't seem to eat as much as his sisters.  I'm not sure if he gets tired of feeding himself or chewing, he's seems the most content to be spoon fed, and at this point is the slowest eater.  Maybe he's just savoring every bite!  He is a pretty fast crawler and has even attempted climbing the stairs a few times.  He too has gotten his 5th tooth on the top and is the most laid back baby.  He's adorable to watch in the choo choo wagon.  He just leans back with his sippy cup of water is chills.  He's still my most cuddly baby, but lately, when he buries his head into my shoulder, he'll bite me and believe me - it hurts.  Hard to believe that it could hurt that badly with only 5 teeth, but it does!  Little man is probably our worst sleeper.  He usually is the last one to fall asleep and is the one that wakes up in the middle of the night.  He's spent many a night in our bed in between T & I.  We thought for a while that he just wasn't eating enough at dinner so he needed something more because we'd offer him a bottle and he'd chug it down, but the pedi said not to give him formula/milk in the night - only water.  He still takes a pacifier at night and nap time.

Olivia, who was my smallest baby at birth is now my biggest!  At their 12 month pedi appointment, she weighed in at (22lbs) - almost a whole pound more than Tony and almost 4 lbs more than Amelia.  She's obviously a good eater, (with the exception of the past few days - they're all a little congested - either from just being at the doctor's office or because of the vaccines they got.)  She's my most independent baby and walks really well now and climbs the stairs routinely.  I've seen her step up the stairs - not just crawl up them!  No new teeth for miss O, but she continues to drool like a faucet.  She constantly needs a bib, but doesn't like to have them on and will pull them off - especially to say she's done eating.  Olivia also takes a pacifier at night and nap time - she's a pretty good sleeper - and not always the first one up in the mornings like she used to be.

We've had a few successful outings - the other day to the Skylark Diner in Edison.  It was a very successful breakfast and we're finally breaking in the inglesina seats that we bought even before the babies were born.
Here are a few pictures...

The weekend before, one of Tony's old work friends came over with her family and had dinner with us.  We had a nice time and I loved seeing her older kids and her baby interact with my three.  So cute.  We almost had a sleepover - because her older three kids wanted to sleep with the babies in their cribs!  They were so entertaining.  Each had their own favorite baby! 

Happy Birthday!!!

I started this post on their actual birthday of August 7, but wasn't able to post it before the clock struck twelve.  Oh well, it's the story of my life this past year.  I just can't seem to get my act together.  So for now, I'd just like to post a few pictures of their party that we had the previous weekend.  A good time was had by all (as far as I know).

The Cake!

Melanie with little T after lunch right before the party!

Olivia trying on her headband.

Amelia eating lunch with her cute purple bow!

Cousins Molly & Savannah playing with the bubbles

Aunt Lori and cousin Thomas

The drinks table - please note the sippy cup!

All the presents!

High chairs ready and waiting!

The Doros Family

Uncle Kevin with his friend Vito & Kim

Cousin Zach & Chad

Grandma Cz with The Thomas's and Schmidt's

The pool - where are the kids?

Grandpa Cz with T's aunts & uncles & cousin

Cousins Savannah & Peter with some HUGE balloons!

The Caldwell sisters :) (I really need to start tanning and doing my hair)

The Finan family

Olivia with daddy!

Little Tony eating his cupcake

Olivia & Amelia enjoying their cake!

A choo choo full of presents!

Why is it so much harder to push?

Melanie and I were our for a quick walk this afternoon after I got home from work and before the rain started.  By the way, Melanie is our babysitter/helper that we have come over a few times a week.  She is great with the babies and genuinely loves being around them despite the challenge of there being three of them and the frustration it can bring.  I was pushing our Triple Decker stroller down the street and I remarked to her how much harder it was to push than I remember from even a few days ago.  I know the babies are getting bigger every day, but this was ridiculous.  Throughout the walk we started to notice that the back left wheel was rubbing against the metal frame of the stroller and wearing away the rubber of the tire.  I figured something was loose making the tire tip in at an angle.  I told Tony once we got back home - right before the sky opened up pouring rain and he noticed that one of the welds holding the tire to the frame is broken :(  This thing is less than a year old and from what I understand these things are generally bought new and then sold and sold and sold again... Why isn't mine lasting???  I've already sent an email off to the "Triple Decker" people, and anxiously awaiting their reply.  I took a few pictures of the broken weld, but it's not real obvious - difficult to see.  I don't have a picture of them in the stroller today, but here's the most recent one that we have...

Here are a few other pictures from the past few days... new jammies compliments of Grandma Cz

Here's the video that should have been in the previous post of Olivia walking.  I've been having difficulty posting videos lately...but better late than never!

These shoes were made...

We went out today to pick up some clothes for T's friend's baby who's first birthday party is tomorrow.  We decided to go to the outlet mall - in Jackson NJ because they have a Carter's, Osh Kosh and many other stores to choose baby/kids clothes.  We started out the day a bit late - well the babies let us sleep in early - until 8am, but the night was not without it's interruptions.  Little T woke up around 1:30am and drank 5 oz. and then woke up again a few hours later.  He shared our bed for sometime and then retired again to his crib.  I know T's mom goes there all the time - and would likely have a coupon so we stopped at her house to pick one up before we started our trek.  There was one comment she made to Tony on phone when he asked her if she had any coupons - she said "Jennifer shops at Carter's?" (not sure why she would say this, but I was told to 'let it go'.  Ok, whatever.  gone.  We left the house around 10am, went to Gus's Diner for breakfast and ran into a fellow Siemens employee at the next table over.  We got all of the the usual questions, stares and comments and each of the babies got to eat a second breakfast of hash brown potatoes, strawberries, bananas and french toast.  They all loved the food, but they were eating right through their nap!  We got to the outlets after breakfast and went into Osh Kosh and then to Carter's.  I asked a salesperson if they had any multiples program because I thought they did - I was rudely told no by Marisa and that if they did, it would be discrimination.  She then proceeded to recite her lines about the sale they were having and moved along.  While finalizing our purchase, she asked me if I received their coupons in the mail and I said I did not, but I had a 20% off from my MIL.  She then said, well I'll let you use it - this time. She then took down my information and indicated that I'd start receiving them.  I asked her what she meant by 'letting me use the coupon' and she told me that normally coupons can only be used by their 'preferred customers' and since I just got signed up... blah blah blah.  I had all I could do, to not say to her, well I don't think that I want to be a customer if this is the way you treat them!
We ended up going to Skechers to see if I could find anything - and we ended up buying the babies their first shoes.  They have hand-me-downs, but they've actually never worn shoes.  Is that strange?  They're almost a year old and never worn them.  They've rarely even had socks on.  Here are the shoes we got - so cute!

 We've been told that it's better for babies to stay barefoot when learning to walk, but figured they'll have to get used to something on their feet at some point.  Speaking of walking, Miss Olivia took her first few steps the other day, but I still have not captured it in video.  She usually takes only 3-4 small steps unassisted.  We did put together a hand-me-down walker and took this video today.

On a side note, we had our first act of baby violence the other day.  Aunt Beth and I were feeding the trio their dinner and noticed something on Amelia's arm.  It was teeth marks!!!  There were clearly teeth impressions - top and bottom on her forearm.  At first we thought maybe she did it herself but then quickly noticed that there were 4 marks on the top and 4 on the bottom and we only have one baby that matches those dental profile.  Olivia.  I didn't think to take a picture of Amelia's arm until the next morning, but by then, it was nearly gone.  I guess I'm not that dedicated of a blogger yet.  Tony said that the bite mark should be something I take a picture of - like I shouldn't want to remember this, but everything is a memory to have and share!

I lost it, but hopefully found it again.

Most people look forward to the weekend and I do too, but lately my Saturdays have been memorable, but not in a good way.  It started out like most days - wake up, change diapers, feed babies, play with them for a while, start some laundry, empty the dishwasher and then put the trio up for their naps.  After lunch we decided to run some errands around town so we walked.  One of our stops was to the local consignment shop "Little Rascals Consignment Shop".  I was looking to get a particular toy, but Tony said no - it was rather large, and I'm still trying to talk him into getting a single stroller and then a double - used of course - for when we go out together.  The triple stroller is great, but not the easiest to maneuver.  I think I still have some convincing to do.  Afterwards, we stopped for lunch at our favorite local place Cafe Napoli's.  The babies got to sample some of the vanilla frozen yogurt and some unseasoned garlic knots.  Olivia is the only one that likes the cold ice cream.  Both Amelia and Tony will only eat it if it's basically liquid and room temperature.  We also had our first incident with the stroller tipping over.  Olivia was in the first seat, Amelia in the middle and Tony in the back.  Olivia was getting annoyed so I took her out and within a few moments, little Tony was on the floor.  Still in his seat and fine, but a little surprised by the ride!  We then went to the bank and CVS and then finally home.  Along the way, we of course got some comments from others walking/driving by.  One woman came up, looked at each of the babies and then said - "oh well, they're not all the same age".  I said, "yes, they are".  She then said "well, how did you do that?"  I wasn't quite sure how to answer that, but I wanted to say, "we did it three times in a row!"  We got a peace sign out a car window and another woman asked Tony if they were all ours. 
Once we arrived home, we gave them their bottles, Olivia was still boycotting her bottle.  The really bad part of the afternoon/evening didn't start until later, when the official 'unhappy hour' began.  Amelia was screaming at the top of her lungs activating my acoustic reflex muscle - that one's for all my audiologist friends, Olivia was crying constantly and little Tony - well, to tell you the truth, I can't recall, but do know that there was alot of noise.  At one point I just couldn't take it anymore, threw the bottle (that Olivia was refusing to eat), put her down, and went outside and just screamed!  Of course the neighbors and a bunch of his friends were outside and witnessed my breakdown, but they didn't say much.   I recall mumbling something about the babies and how they wouldn't stop screaming.  We finally finished their dinner, gave them baths and got them to bed.  I ended up going outside again later and the neighbor asked me if the babies were in bed and if everything was ok... I responded with a tired yes and started to think about people with one baby and how they couldn't possibly understand what this is like.  Tony says that I don't even really know what it's like, because I'm not with them all day long - which is partially true, but I'd like to think that I've spent with them to 'understand' what he goes through.  I usually take them on a walk when I get home from work - to get them through the 'unhappy hour' and that seems to help. 
So I think that I've re-gained my sanity, but I feel it's always on the edge.
In other news, Olivia took her first un-assisted steps over the weekend - it was only about 2-3 small steps, but I'm sure in no time, she'll be running around.
Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

This picture is actually from the previous week, but it may be one of the last time she's actually drank her bottle!

Me and Olivia - my drool queen!

My girls can clap :)

This was at the end of the very bad night - fell asleep eating his dinner.

Amelia fell asleep pretty quickly too. 

Olivia taking her bath.

Tony playing with a little bit of water in the bowl.  I'm thinking he'll be a chef like his daddy!

Pool time fun - The girls are watching the dog.  Amelia looks really mad, but that's actually a really excited face that I captured.

Everyone getting along in the pool.

Amelia looking cute in her 4th of July outfit - yes only 10 days late!