A few firsts for Reese!!

 Look at me! Two posts in one week!!  I think I may have turned a corner. Well, I didn't want to let a day go by without letting everyone know that Miss Reese just rolled over for the first time!!  She kindly did it twice in a row so Dad could see and then her patience with Tummy Time ended.  Not sure if I'm excited or scared! I think excited.  Her other first is a total giggle fest that totally took Nathan and I by surprise. I almost wet my pants when she started doing this. Check it out...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcDdpzNLdag

Oh, and Reese is successfully doing one more thing.

Reese said she didn't want to hog all the attention and wanted to share this big day with her sisters. :)

4 Months!!!

Ok... I am going to start with some new pictures over the last month or so.  The first ones were taken this morning and then they go back from there.

 Charlie

Reese

 Maizie

The last few months have gone by so unbelievably quickly.  The girls are really starting to come into their own and are sprouting beautiful and fun personalities.  We have entered new stages of development both physically and mentally.  All three girls are doing great in terms of their physical development.  Nobody is rolling over yet, but all three do great with tummy time and head control.  I think rolling is right around the corner, especially for Reese and Maizie.  They are definitely a little stronger, but due to Charlie's small size, they actually think that she will be the first to move around.  She loves to pull her legs up under her belly when down for tummy time and when she kicks them out again, she shimmies forward.   

As for toys, we are now the proud owners(borrowers) of three exersaucers!  Ok, now we have to stuff little blankets around them bc they don't fill up the holes, but they really like to be in them and look at all the toys.  They are all just starting to learn to grab onto toys. Charlie is the best at it. She is our thinker and is the best at using her hand/eye coordination. Reese and Maizie are not far behind.

Bath time has become more fun... well for most of us. Charlie is still not on board with bathing.  She screams when she first goes in the tub, but then slowly gets used to it and calms down.  I started taking her in the bath with me and she quite fancies that, so I think we will do that once a week.  The splashing noises are starting to catch their attention. It will be fun once they can sit up in the tub and play with eachother! Of course, I'm not rushing things. :)

We are in the middle of a sleep schedule transition, but it is heading in the right direction. A few weeks ago they started sleeping through the night a few times a week. Our pediatrician said it was fine to let them go, so we have pretty much stopped the overnight feed. There are still times when they will wake up, but they usually go back down without much of a fight.  We definitely have rough nights occasionally when they take turns waking up at different times, but in general, we are all getting much more sleep.  The girls go down around 7:30-8p and get up around 6:30a, with 2-3 naps throughout the day.  It's pretty great.

The new sleeping schedule makes it so we are only feeding them four times a day. Reese and Maizie are eating 7oz at each feeding and Charlie is eating about 6oz.  Charlie is still having some spit-up issues, but she seems to be keeping enough down to gain an acceptable amount of weight.  On that note, below are their stats for their 4 month wellness appointment.  The % listed is comparing them to babies born full term! So, needless to say, they are doing just fine... even our little Charlie.  For being 7 weeks early, our doc says some premies aren't even on the chart!

Charlie:  23" long, weighing 10.75 lbs. She is 25% for height and 5-10% for weight

Reese: 24.5" long, weighing 14.4 lbs.  She is 75% for height and 75% for weight.

Maizie: 23.5" long, weighing 14.3 lbs. She is 50% for height and 75% for weight.

We have taken some great trips lately. Getting out of the house is always a lot of work, but it has really been enjoyable and we are happy to get the girls out there to experience all that they can.  We have been to Newburyport to visit my family, Winchendon to visit Nathan's family and MDI to visit our buddies.  We have had a wonderful Spring in terms of weather, thus allowing us to get outside a LOT!  With our new triple stroller, we can go anywhere!

Oh, and I guess I shouldn't forget to mention that I am back at work. :(  It's really hard to be away from the girls, but I know it's good for me.  I work three long days a week and every third Saturday. We have a wonderful nanny who comes to the house to watch the girls three days a week, I watch them two days a week, and Nathan gets Daddy-Daughter time with them every evening before I get home and every third Saturday when I work.  So far it has really worked out well. I love my days with them, even if it is more exhausting than going to work. :)  (Did I just say 'work' a million times in that paragraph? oh well, too tired to fix it.)

I am not going to promise that I will be better at blogging because I am tired of breaking that promise.  Know that I will try.  I hope everyone is having a great Spring!!  We sure are!!

Lots of love, Nellie

Three Months!

A little out of order, but I am trying to catch up with posts.  Here are some pics of the girls at three months old!

Charlie
MaizieReese

Easter!

The girls first Easter was a huge success. We had such a nice day. It was a beautiful sunny Spring day in Maine.  We made our first trip to church with everyone in their Easter outfits. I have to say, it was quite a hit. The girls were perfectly behaved... thankfully the service was during nap time!  :)  It was great to get back to church and to see many of the people that have been so helpful to us over the last few months. We couldn't have done it without their help.  FYI... the dresses the girls are wearing were my dresses as a little girl.  I am so glad they got a chance to wear them.

A few Firsts...

Well, Nathan and I have officially crossed the parenthood threshold.  We are now the proud new owners of a MINIVAN!!  We love it! It's a used Toyota Sienna, but it looks practically brand new.  The plan was to head to Ipswitch on Saturday to pick up the new van, however when the big storm hit, our plans changed a bit.  We lost power on Thursday night, which was interesting... dealing with babies in the middle of the night under candlelight.

We had a wonderful day at home with no power all day, sitting in front of the fire, holding babies and chit chatting.  My auntie Ellen was in town from Denver to help out with the kids (Thank you, Ellen!!) and Daphne (Thank you, Daphne!) came to check in on us as well. It was quite a nice relaxing day with no power! By the end of the day and still no power, we decided to head to Newburyport a day early.  A night with no heat, no lights and three babies just did not sound like much fun.  Lucky for us, RiRi and Pop-Pop were thrilled to watch the girls and Nathan and I got to go out to a fabulous dinner in Newburyport.  We got to pick up the van Saturday afternoon and we came home.  We finished the weekend with a long sunday in front of the fire and a nice walk outside with the girls.

Another big first, after our first power outage and first van purchase, was the girls first night in their own room!!  It was kind of sad for me at first, but it turned out to be just fine and they did indeed sleep better... and so did I.  After an earlier bedtime and a good bedtime routine, we all had a pretty good sleep. Not perfect by anyone's standards, but we are getting there. We hope each night will get better and better.

A personal first for Miss Reese.  During Tummy Time yesterday, she rolled over! Such a big girl.  And that's no joke. She weighed in at 10lb 5oz this morning.  Maizie is keeping up at 10lb 4oz and little Miss Charlotte is holding strong at 8lb 10oz!  She is such a little peanut!!!

Well, that's it for now.  The countdown to me going back to work has started. Five weeks from today. BOO!!  I am soaking in every little second I have with them because I know how hard it will be for me to leave them all day.

A quick second to thank the ladies from St. Alban's Church.  They have been providing food every Friday to keep us fed over the weekend and have provided a helper nearly every week day for the afternoon feeding. It has been such a joy to get to know all of you ladies and it will certainly be fun to have you all be part of their lives for years to come.  Thank you doesn't do our gratitude justice.

Ooh! And I forgot to mention our lovely visit with all my Fox aunties and cousin. Thank you Hon, Hopie and Cici for making the trek down to Portland. We had such a great time and I love the pics!

Until next time!!

Quick Update!!

Hello Everyone! I am going to try to be better about posting more regularly. No promises, but I will try.  We had a pretty big break-through this week! We were able to drop one night feeding! So, instead of getting up at 1a and 5a, we feed at 9p and then don't feed again until 3a and then not again until 9a.  We actually can get 4-5 hours of continuous sleep!!  I never knew how excited I would be to say that!

The girls are gaining weight still, but have slowed down a bit.  Maizie is up to 9lb8oz, Reese at 9lb7oz, and Charlie, our little peanut, is at 8lb3oz.  We have a pediatricians appointment today. The girls have to get their first vaccines.  :(   

We are definitely starting to see smiles on all three of the girls.  They are so darn cute!!  I never liked to play with dolls when I was a little girl, but you should see me now!! I get to play dress-up every day! Some of the pictures in this post prove that.  The pics are as follows... the girls napping in bed;  Reese, looking about as happy in a dress as I would be; Maizie and Charlotte sporting their animal slippers with Maizie in a sweater that was knit by my Moonie when I was a tiny little baby; mom with one of the girls out for a walk; the girls dressed up for an outing in their fancy Patagonia vests (don't they look like knomes?)

So, that's it for now. I'll try my best to keep it up!!

Two months old!!

Happy two month birthday, girls!!! I really am sorry that I haven't been posting more, as I know a lot of you count on this for updates, but as you can imagine it's pretty hard to get more than 2 minutes at a time in front of the computer. I should be able to handle once a month though!!

Anyway... enough about me... our girlies are doing so great! I can hardly believe how fast time is going by and how fast they are growing and changing. Everyone always tells you to cherish every day because they will be teenagers before we know it and it really is true!

As you can see from the photos, the girls are growing like weeds. Yesterday they weighed in at 9lb 3oz(Reese), 9lb 1oz(Maizie) and 8lb 3oz(Charlie). Yes, our little Charlie is not quite the grower that her sisters are. She is still growing at an acceptable rate per our pediatrician, she just isn't growing at the ridiculously high rate that her sisters are. This is mostly due to the fact that she has a bit of a spit-up and vomiting issue that causes her to lose some of each meal. We had been using rice cereal in her formula but now are transitioning to a new formula that is specifically made for kids like herself. Joy came up with a new nickname for her, which is Helen... in reference to Mount St. Helen. Nathan has had a few doozies with Charlie's alter ego, Helen. Picture this... middle of the night, Nathan in his pj bottoms but no shirt, Charlie on his shoulder getting burped and then BOOM, he is covered. Entire meal. I almost wet my pants laughing. Luckily Nathan was laughing too. :)

We are still dealing with some constipation issues with Reese and Maizie, but that seems to be much better with prune juice and added water to their bottles. We are also dealing with some sleep issues. There really is no telling these girls when they should sleep and when they should be awake. We are getting used to an after lunch nap, but still haven't mastered sleeping at night. I think they have a little pow-wow before bedtime and decide who is going to be the baby who keeps mom up for hours at night. Sometimes it seems like it might be gas pain, but mostly it just seems that they are awake and making noise. I look forward to the day when they get on a better sleeping schedule. I know we have to consider their adjusted age, which is only two weeks old at this point since my due date was two weeks ago, but I am hoping things will start to happen soon. I am amazed at how little sleep I am able to function on. The body is an amazing thing.

On a brighter note, all three of the girls are starting to sprout their own personalities. Charlie is our quiet little girl(for the most part). She our sensitive little flower. Unlike her sisters, she can lie in bed awake without making a fuss about it. I often find her lying in her crib, eyes wide open, looking around at her surroundings, happy as a clam. If Reese or Maizie are awake, they let you know about it. Don't get me wrong, Charlie does her share of crying, but it seems that she really only does so when she needs something, not just to hear herself cry... like two other girls I know. She is our best sleeper as well. I am amazed at how she can sleep soundly while her two sisters are squawking on either side of her. God bless her. She has found her thumb a few times, but not on a regular basis. She also has the the most gorgeous eye lashes! Watch out boys!

Reese is probably going to be the leader of the pack. Not sure why I say that, it's just a hunch I have. She is the most alert of the three. She makes the funniest, wide-eyed faces and loves to sit on your knee and stare into your eyes. She is our best eater and is the chubbiest kid(only an ounce in front of Maizie). I love those thighs!! She is a pretty good sleeper, although when she does wake up and make noise she almost always sets off Maizie who then can take the baton and stay awake for hours. Reese is probably the closest to cracking a smile. She definitely reacts in a positive way when I snuggle with her and give zurberts on her neck. I can't wait to see that smile in full force!!

Maizie... dear Maizie. She, like her sister, likes to be awake and interact face to face. The down side, is that she likes to be awake IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!! My goodness. Last night I thought we had it in the bag. We went upstairs at about 10p, after a nice quiet feeding, and she and Reese went right to sleep (of course it was the one night that Charlie decided she wasn't ready for bed yet). They slept until the 2a feed, then it was all over. Maizie was wide awake and squawking until nearly 4:30a. Unreal. I sure hope that gets better with time! She is a great little eater and like Reese is really close to cracking a smile. She probably has the best head control of the three and pushes herself right up during tummy time.

As for Nathan and I, we are doing great. Life with three babies is obviously pretty hectic, but I think we are both handling ourselves really well. Every day is a learning process and these girls are just so much fun... even with the sleep deprivation, endless vomit stains, and lack of alone time. Speaking of alone time, Nathan and I actually got to get out of the house together on Valentine's Day, thanks to Joy who watched the girls so we could go out to dinner. We had such a nice time, and even though we had our first moments away from the kids together since their arrival, all we did is talk about them and how happy we are as a new family.

I am realizing that I really have to post more often, because there is just so much that has happened in the last month and I can't even remember most of it! I may just log on and make random little snipits here and there when fun things happen so I don't forget. Let's see... we have taken the girls for walks, both in strollers and in our Moby wraps. We took our first road trip to see Nathan's mom who is temporarily unable to make the drive up here to see the girls. I was a little nervous about the trip, but it went really really well. The girls were perfectly behaved. In fact, they slept better that night than they ever have! We got to stop to see my mom on the way home too, so it was a great weekend all around.

So, that is the update for now. I know there is more I could write, but I have run out of my allotted time frame to do this. I hope you are all well, and I promise to TRY and be better about updating. Lots of love to you all and thanks to all of you whose help we could not do this without. You know who you are.

love, Nellie