Summer 2013

 It's been a while but here is our latest update to the blog with videos from the summer.

What a great summer with these wonderful babies. I cant believe its already October. Time truly does fly. This summer we spent a lot of time swimming at Sequoia and Bitzy's pool. Mom took us to the playground at least 4 times a week and we had a great big birthday party. Kade learned to use the IPAD and LLLLOOOVVVEESSS music videos. His two favorite songs are Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker and All I Want To Do by Sugarland. He also likes Justin Timberlake's Suit and Tie and Anna Kendrick's Cups. Maggie loves her Princess Dresses and her Blankies. She also loves to tackle her brothers. Larkin Loves Little Einsteins, Flooding the house and counting to 20. All three pretty much know the alphabet and can tell you what letter it is if you point to one and ask them what it is. Kade loves to jump off the bed and just about anything else he can climb on. Maggie is an escape artist and can get out of locked rooms without a problem. Larkin loves it when Mama or Daddy "Get You" and loves to wrestle. Maggie and Larkin are in their toddler beds and Kade could be if he just wanted to get out of the crib but he seems to be content just hanging out till someone comes to get him. Usually someone is up by 5:30 (And by someone I mean Larkin... However, its been Maggie a few time of late) They love to eat black beans and rice, pancakes, grilled cheese, pb&j, cupcakes, "beans" (Which we call jelly beans, skittles, m&m's, smarties and pretty much any other small candy), Hot dogs, scrambled eggs (Kade's Favorite) strawberries, watermelon, raspberries, grapes, cantaloupe, honeydew, crackers, chips, cheese, mac and cheese, noodles, apple juice, orange juice, chocolate milk, and pretty much anything any normal child likes. Kade is the pickiest eater but he's not bad or fussy if he doesn't get what he wants to eat. So far Maggie seems to have the most "tude". She doesn't take anything from anyone. If you combine that with her quickness and balance and I think she and her mama may in fact be twins born 32yrs apart. Larkin is the hugger. He loves to run up and hug a leg or anything on us he can get a hold of. He also loves for us to read books to him before bed time and for "dada lay down" before he will go to sleep. Basically I will lay with my head on his mattress (b/c that the only thing that can fit on it) and he proceeds to kick, jab, stomp, pull, push, tug, scratch, bite anything on me that he can as he fumbles around in bed to find the perfect position to fall asleep in. Kade too likes books but he gets really excited about cars, trucks, tractors and motorcycles. Basically anything that has an engine and moves. If a neighbor is mowing their grass and he hears it he wants you to take him outside so he can watch. Maggie is all girl. She loves mama's makeup, jewelry and dresses. If she had her way she would walk around all day with makeup on wearing a princess dress with her heals. She loves Cinderella, tinker bell and princess Sofia. She also loves her brothers. This is evident by how many times the tackles them while attempting a bear hug.

This has truly been a wonderful summer. Every day they learn something new and its an honor to be their parents. Katie and I just laugh and laugh at all the funny things they do on a daily basis. We are excited about the fall, have our Halloween outfits picked out and are already starting our Christmas shopping. Everyday we feel so lucky to be the parents of three wonderful little giggle boxes.

                                                       Learning to Use the IPAD

                                                                Birthday Breakfast

                                                                  Birthday Presents

                                                                Full Speed Ahead

                                                                 First Rain Boots

                                                                        Playground

                                                                 Sunday Morning

                                                                   Diaper Change

                                              She still hasnt found what she's looking for

                                                                        Bath Time

                                                              Sponges and Trouble

                                                           Swimming at BB and Ray's

                                                                   Typical Morning

Beach Trip 2013

I'll start by saying that this years beach trip was a MUCH MUCH Better trip than last year. In case any one forgot, last year was the first time any of the babies had slept out of their cribs and in pack and plays for an extended period of time. We were still doing bottles every four hours and they were doing two naps a day. Basically, it felt like someone was up and needed something all 24 hours of the day. Katie and I actually came back more exhausted then when we began the trip. That was not the case this year. While we did have a few bumps along the way the kids adjusted very nicely to their new surroundings and by night 3 were pretty much back into their usual routine. While there wasn't as much getting up in the middle of the night this trip there was still a lot of waking up to one of them crying but they could usually get themselves back to sleep within a few minutes. I would say that we probably averaged 3-4 hours of sleep a night last year and that number was closer to 5-6hrs this year. It may not sound like much but it really made a HUGE difference. Here's to hoping for 7-8hrs next year :)

The big trick this year, we thought, was going to be finding a way to keep Kade in the pack and play. the problem is that he can climb out of it and would continually do so over and over again if we did not find a solution. The good news is that we found a way to keep him corralled (We got a crib tent - basically its a mesh tent that goes on top of the tent so babies can't continually crawl out of their cribs) So, here we are about 3 day before we are set to take off for our trip and what happens? Well, Kade's brother Larkin decides that its now time for him to learn to climb out of his crib! You betcha. Instead of having to worry about one little monkey crawling out of the crib now we have to worry about two. The bad news is that crib tents have to be ordered and there is no way to get a new one in time before we leave. Soooo, that means we will have to decide which little monkey gets locked up and which one do we leave to climb out whenever he feels the need. I thought it was going to be an easy decision. Kade would get the tent. He's been climbing out more frequently, has more confidence in his ability to climb and usually sleeps the least out of the three. Whoa was I in for a surprise though. After about 48 hours of wild non sleep action thanks to our little teddy bear Larkin we were forced to make a change. Our strategy needed to be rethought and a new game plan settled on. You see, what we did not take into consideration was the fact that little man Larkin was our tried and true Army brat who lived and died by the routine. If the routine was broken he would fight and fight until the new routine was settled on. And fight he did. He just refused to sleep the first few days and since he was able to escape his temporary sleeping apparatus that was holding him during nap and night times he would simply lift a little chubby foot over the side of the pack and play, apply downward pressure and pull his golden curled head and body over the side to freedom. He did this over and over and over again. Just ask Grace and Katie. They were more a witness to it than I was :) So, after putting our heads together and deciding that we must, at once, switch the tent to Larkin all was settled. Basically, from that point on sleep was not to big an issue.

As for the trip itself. We had a wonderful time with the kids at the pool  and beach. Every morning after breakfast and the sun had a  little time to warm up we would take the kids either to the beach or the pool. It was usually around 9:30 or so. They would play for an hour to an hour and a half and we would pack them up and head back to the condo. We would then feed them lunch and put them down for a nap. (usually around 12) The great thing about having Grace with us on this trip was that now Katie and I had the next 2-3 hours to go to the pool or beach and just RELAX!!! We  didn't have to worry about them during that few hours. We could just take a nap in a chair or sit by the beach with Rusty, Leslie, Bitzy or Aunt MB and Uncle Dave or we could take the Kayak out into the ocean in search of marinelife. It was great! We would head back up between 2:30-3 as the kids were getting up from their naps. From their we would get them ready again and either take them to the beach or one of the smaller pools that was a little closer to us. Again, they would usually play for about an hour or so and then we would pack them up and head back to the condo for dinner and baths. Once those were done and we had put at least two of the three to bed Katie and I would get ready and head out for dinner. Again, this is a huge benefit of having Grace with us. It allowed us to enjoy our nights without having to worry about the kids. We did the following for dinners:
1. Café Tango
2. Shrimp Boil at Bitzy's
3. BBQ Chicken at the condo with Family
4. Bud and Alley's
5. Bently's Steak House
6. Old Florida Fish house
7. Pizza at Seaside

Like last year one morning we got up, put the kids in the car and headed to breakfast at Another Broken Egg at Baytown wharf in SanDestin. We recreated the picture of the trio on the big chair (at least attempted to)  and had a great morning.

There were some funny events for sure

1. Kade crawling out of the crib with a poopie butt and no diaper (Don't ask - but is was funny)
2. Learning how to say "Aw Man" or "Moon" with a Christopher Walken accent so that we sound like Larkin
3. My great fish tale with Rusty on the Kayak - "Battling 7ft swells with nothing but a paddle to stay on top of a school of Jack Crevil's"
4. Katie telling me I was the worst person in the world to go out on a kayak with (B/c I told her stories about sharks biting people in the gulf the whole time :)
5. Mother's Day Dinner where I shared a little to much info about what Mom and I have in common

All  in all this was my favorite week with Katie and the kids. I had a blast and can't wait for next year.

Oh, and i'm getting a golf cart b/c the boys LOVED riding in it with us

Check out the pics and video's below :)

At the park in Watersound

View from the Condo

Another view from the Condo

Watersound Beach Club Pool 

Yep, thats pretty much all of us

Maggie and Leslie by the Turtle

Maggie and Larkin Having fun in the pool

Uncle Dave playing with Maggie in the pool

Dinner time at the condo

Watch out Seaside! Here come the Fordham's!

What, you don't like pizza?

"For the love of all thats good and holy Bitzy, please put me back so i can finish my dang pizza!!!"

I get chu!

Well, at least we tried :)

We love Another Broken Egg

Maggie and Grace

Mamma and her babes

Beach Ball!!

Too Cute

Can i help you Mr.?

Momma and BB

Almost got them all looking for you Grace

Say Cheese

BeachTime

Lets dig a big hole so we can fill it with sand!

Here I come Mommy

Da Plane! Da Plane!

I'm going back to the sand toys

Better!!

Someone please bury me in the sand!

This is Fun!

Larkin! Larkin! Larkin! ... Oh well, just take the picture :)

Our beautiful Babies

Our Beautiful Family

Daddy, let me put the sand in your hands

Sweet Maggie

Again, Again, Again

Catch me mama

Mamma and her boys

Daddy and his girl

Headed back from the pictures

Watersound Boardwalk

Easter Time

Happy Easter!!!

Their First Easter Eggs

Mimi and Deda Came to Visit

Easter at Doc and Bitzy's

Jan-March 2013

Our life has been crazy the past few months. The kids are learning to talk and sign as well as  how to resist. It would be doing them a disservice to say the are wild. They are CRAZY wild!!! Maggie dances, Kade clings and Larkin explores and questions (Dat?Dat?Dat?) It would be an incredibily accurate statement to say that they require 100% attention at all times. If you turn your back even for a few seconds one may disappear into another room begin the micheviousness that is being a toddler. Whether its dumping out a bag of chocolate chips on the floor, climbing into a sink and turning the water on while they are in it or unrolling the toilet paper you can bet one of the trio is into something. I would have to say that so far Larkin has been the most mischevious of the bunch. He will do something he knows he's not supposed to (Climb on the TV Stand and put his little hands on the screen for example) just to be told not to. Once you tell him no he either stops for a few seconds before doing it again or he just looks directly back at you, points his index finger in your direction and then proceeds to tell you NO! Its like he's telling you that you cant tell him what to do. There are times that it is actually very endearing but it unfortunately I believe it is a foreshadowing of what is to come. They have also learned some basic words and have a general understanding of what we are asking of them. For example, if i say "lets go upstairs" they all run to the stairs and head up. If i tell them "Lets eat" then run to their table and get ready to eat. The same can be said for bath time, nap time, night night time, taking them outside, going to the playroom, go for a ride in the car ect... However, there are also some words that they seem to think has the opposite meaning of what you are asking. For example, do not ever ask Maggie or Larkin if they would like their diaper changed. They will stop what they are doing immediately, stand up  and take off running. Have you ever had to chase down and wrangle a 20 month old? Its a lot harder than you would think.  I have no idea if they hate getting their diaper changed or if they just think of it as a start to a fun game of catch me if you can. Based on the giggles that you get while chasing them i tend to lean to the latter. The same thing can be said of putting clothes on them. It never fails that all three begin to think they are track stars whenever they see the clothes come out of the closet :)

Anyway, here are some videos from the past few months

Kids First Time in the Snow

Kade's Trick

Playing outside

Bite my Fingers

Cowgirl Maggie

Real Life... at 18 months

Yesterday afternoon while at work.. dreaded call from Mimi and Deda at the house that Maggie has a temp of 102.. which means Maggie with fever for 2 days then Larkin for 2 days and finally Kade for 2 days... And all of them including the parents cranky for 10 days.
So I prepare for the worst (severe sleep deprivation and 3 babies fighting over your attention because they don't feel good) and hope for the best
So far.. last night wasn't too bad.. All of them slept for about 11 hours can't complain there
I wake up at 5:15 to not a sick baby but a sick dog!.. yes bile like vomit all over the carpet in multiple spots and multiple rooms. I spend the next 45 minutes trying to clean the carpet, which does not come out.. by the way
 6:00 am I here Maggie jumping up and down in her crib with a temp of 103.5 - I give her advil and cuddle for a bit, 15 min later Kade crying.. Maggie and I have to go get him because she will scream if i leave her alone, 2 babies in my arms and back to the playroom, 15 min later Larkin is up.
Breakfast..on the go.. which means 3 kids with sippy cups of milk and a 1/2 a banana in their hand walking around in the playroom..
Bored with the playroom and want the rest of breakfast so we head down stairs, where super dad has made pancakes..and we actually have them eat at their table
Here is where it gets really busy.. in a nutshell.. all the cars are taken out of the basket (thats like 40 of them, no lie.. Thanks Auntie Kristin), bats, balls, plastic fruit, a baby doll, etc, etc, all out in the living room. Kade goes into kitchen, pulls out chair, gets on table, Maggie in living room, climbs on chair and standing on train table to get to book shelves, Larkin running around kitchen table, hits his head, cries. I get Kade off table, I get Maggie off train table all while holding Larkin. This goes on for an hour or so. Some may be wondering about gates to contain them but we have a VERY open floor plan.. not possible to gate it. I put on a wiggles for 20 min relief. I try to clean up breakfast, but you can't open dishwasher or you will have 3 helpers.
Back upstairs because I am tired of chasing climbing babies. It is easier to contain them up there.
play.. Kade pulls Larkin off slide because he is taking too long. I go to help.. notice spilled milk and a lot of it in the plastic ball pit we have. I clean it with 3 helpers. Back downstairs for lunch
Take all the cars and other toys out again. I give Maggie Advil but cant find the top, I turn around and Maggie has spilled sticky grape flavored advil all over her including her face. I pick her up and she 1/2 growls and 1/2 laughs at me. I go to get a rag to clean her and the floor.. Kade grabs advil bottle. I yell "NO!" He stops.
Larkin looks at me hold up his index finger and tells me "No!". To which I responded..it is time for "nite, nite".. all repeat "nite, nite" and we go upstairs for a nap.. It is now only noon!!!!
Sick or not that is a typical day when you don't leave the house

I have to say that I am thankful that we do not go through illness that often.. because those are the times when you want to answer the frequent question of.. "how do you do it?" with "I have no (maybe insert a blank here) idea!" :)
Actually I do .. you just count down til the next bit of free time which for us is either a 2-3 hour nap or bed time. And know that you will NOT stop moving until you reach one of those 2 times.
The best way I can describe it is in sports terms.. on the good days its like playing a soccer game on a nice crisp fall night and winning easily.. its hard work but so enjoyable. , on the bad days..its like playing a 90 minute soccer game in the middle of August when its 90 and humid.. then having to go into 2 - 15 min overtime halves. You look at the clock on the score board and know that there is an end in sight but it ain't going to be pretty or feel good getting to the sound of that buzzer at the end of the second 15 minutes..
Right now we are in a "tough game" but we know there will be the "easy games" with the feel good wins ahead.
Larkin, Maggie, Kade .. we love you all to pieces. Your dad and I couldn't want anything more than to play this "game of life" with you

Christmas 2012

Definition of Whirlwind: A Tumultuous, confused rush.

That best describes Christmas 2012. Its Jan 20th and I just now have time to sit back and think about the Holiday that was. As a child time seems to pass like molasses through a screen door. Important events in your life, like Christmas or Birthday's or Trips seem to take forever to get there. As you get older time definitely does speed up. Hours and days and months pass more like water through said screen door. Insert 3 babies into the equation and time now feels like air through the screen door. That is exactly how our lives have been for the past 18 months. Its like our life is in a constant state of fast forward and all these incredible moments speed by in the blink of an eye. We took the kids to the grocery store today and on the way Katie and I took a minute to look back at how fast things have changed. It seems like just yesterday we were getting the news that we were going to have triplets. I'm even more amazed that we have been able to hold on during the ups and downs and sharp turns we've been on so far during this blessed journey. Lord knows its been a team effort and there is no way the I could be even remotely sane if it wasn't for the most amazing woman in the world. Katie amazes me each and every day with her energy, humor, knowledge and love for our family. She is the stitch in the fabric of our lives for sure. We love you Fluffy!!! Anyway, back to the point of this blog. Christmas! This past Christmas was AWESOME! Was it crazy? Yes... Was if fun? Yes... Was it intense? Yes... it was all of these things rolled up into this great big Whirlwind week. We are so blessed to have a very big family. There are more people that love us and these kids than we deserve for sure. With 8 grandparents, 9 brothers and sisters and countless other family members it takes us quite a bit of planning to make sure we see everyone and still keep our sanity. First up this year was Da, B, Aunt Abbey, Uncle Alex, Uncle Russ and Leslie. Christmas this year was on a Tuesday so we started on Sunday. We drove up to Gallatin and had lunch with the crew at Fairview Plantation. Lunch was a brunch buffet with both breakfast and lunch offerings. The kids were quite the hit with the other diners. As you can imagine people were really surprised to find out that the kids where triplets. After lunch we went back to Da and B's house and opened our first presents of the year. The kids got lots and lots of fun stuff but the definite hit toy of the year was the School Bus with Slide. The kids play on it each and every day. Da and B had a fun toy for the grown up kids as well. It was a version of the TV show Lets Make a Deal. We could take what was in the box and take our chances or take a guaranteed $20. All the kids choose the box. (Some to their chagrin) The box contained a game with a ball and an maze. If you figured out how to get the ball from the starting point to the finish line a latch would open and you would win $50 dollars. The maze was tough but in the end everyone was able to get the ball to the finish and win their money. it was a lot of fun and a great original idea for a Christmas present.

Maggie LOVED all the Stuffed animals and dolls

Larkin opening his Trunk of Toys!

Kade man and Uncle Alex

Christmas is Fun!

Merry Christmas Da and B

Maggie loves her Aunt Abbey

Kade and Alex watching the Wiggles

On Monday DeDa and Mimi came over bright and early for their Christmas celebration. We made a big breakfast with Sausage Casserole, Cheese Grits, Biscuits and Jelly. At breakfast we gave the boys chocolate milk for the first time. Kade was sitting in Deda's lap and once he got a taste of the delicious chocolaty goodness there was no holding back. He didn't breath. He didn't move. He wouldn't take the glass away from his mouth. All he wanted was MORE CHOCOLATE MILK! Deda laughed so hard at his unwavering desire for the drink that he actually cried. It was a great start to a great day. After
breakfast we let the kids open presents. This kids loved all their gifts and had a lot of fun tearing into them. After breakfast and presents Deda and Mimi went back home for the day. The kids took naps and we got everything ready to take them over to Deda and Mimi's house for dinner. That night we went to their house for dinner and enjoyed a great meal with Deda, Mimi as well as Aunt Kristin, Uncle Graham, Cousin Mackenzie and Cousin Ben. After baths all the grand kids put on matching pajama's and we tried our hardest to get a group pic with everyone. However, Kade was more interested in acting like a navy seal and trying to climb over the top of the couch. It was still a lot of fun to try.

Christmas Eve Breakfast with Deda and Mimi

CHOCOLATE MILK

Daddy and Larkeypoo

Mimi and Maggie

Hey, I want some of that Chocolate milk too Daddy

We love Christmas

Thanks for helping me Deda

This is Fun

Is this for me?

Sorry Ben

Merry Christmas

Man Overboard

As good as it got!

So, finally the big day is here. Christmas morning the kids got up like normal and Katie and I brought them down to see what Santa brought them. Of course, they are a little to young to understand the concept of Christmas but the loved tearing into the paper and playing with their new toys.

Christmas Babies

Breakfast

I love tearing this paper

Thanks Santa

Now its Daddy's time to do some work

I love my Bulldozer

Might as well be a chair...

Step away from the Stripes!!

Whats this mommy?

This is cool Mommy

After our family Christmas Bitzy, Doc, Aunt MB, Uncle Dave and Uncle Russ came over for a few hours. Bitzy makes the best Christmas breakfast ever. Her sausage casserole, cheese grits and tea biscuits make Christmas morning awesome. (in case you are wondering, yes i stole her Christmas breakfast tradition and made it the day before) Unfortunately, my brain was not working and I did not take any pictures of their visit. I hope you guys can forgive me :(
Anyway, we had a great morning and got lots and lots of great presents.

After a busy Christmas morning the kids needed a nap. So, we put them down, cleaned up the house and got ready for Christmas number 4 that night and JP and Todd's house.

Christmas night was great. JP and Todd, Uncle Scott, Aunt Liz, Aunt Monroe, GiGi and Aunt Kristin's family were all there. Dinner was wonderful as always and the night was a lot of fun. The kids had fun playing the piano, climbing stairs and even getting into the Madi Gras beads. In fact, Maggie loved the beads so much that she would grab handfuls and just carry them around. The weather was nice enough that we even got to go outside with GiGi and JP and run around outside. The kids definitely are the best at running down the hill in the front yard but they sure do love doing it. Well, that is except for Larkin. He would rather lay down on his belly and slide down the hill like he was sliding down the stairs. We also learned that we love refrigerator magnets. Maggie and Larkin had a blast putting the magnets on and taking them off over and over and over again. After dinner it was back to the casa and to bed for some much needed rest.

Whoa! Is that a dog?

JP, can i please have some more fruit?

Merry Christmas Liz, Todd and GiGi

OMG! I'm in Tupperware Heaven!

Christmas at JP and Todd's was soo much Fun

As I said earlier, Christmas was definitely a whirlwind but it was soo soo much fun. We can't wait to do it all again next year