Charlie's Big Day

No, Charlie hasn't rolled over yet, but she did have her own first!  When the girls started sleeping through the night and they dropped that overnight feed, Charlie kind of stopped growing.  Finally, after nearly three weeks of no weight gain, the pediatrician had us start rice cereal.  She was the first to try rice cereal from a spoon! Well, it was pretty darn funny. At first it was as if I had just put rotten formula in her mouth, but then she would laugh and kind of squoosh it around in her mouth. Not sure she got so much.  After thinking more about it, we ended up just adding the rice cereal to her bottle. It gets her the extra calories, as well as thickening the formula so that she spits up less now.  Three days after starting the cereal, she was up 5 oz! I foolishly didn't get any still photos, but just a video. It's too long to post here, but it's classic.

A Post for Miss Maizie

Well, apparently Maizie was feeling a little left out of the lime light and so she decided that it was time for her to roll over! Sadly, Nathan and I missed it, but Jenn told us she was quite proud of herself.  Charlie is getting better and better every day, but it will still be a little while before she masters the turn over.

The girls also spent their first night in separate cribs last night.  Reese lately has been busting out of her swaddle and by morning, she is practically on top of Charlie and punching her in the face. So, we decided it was time. They seem to have done ok. I think it was harder for me than it was for them.  They don't look any
worse for the wear.  Below is a pic of them with their new sweaters on. Thank you Jan!! (Joy's Mom)
                                     


Nathan took the girls on a marathon walk in the stroller today while I was at work. They hit multiple yard sales and got the attention of every person walking by.  They looked pretty cute!!  We are looking forward to another fabulous day tomorrow. I hope get some gardening done. The girls like to hang out in the stroller and watch me get dirty!  Hope you all are enjoying the Spring!!

love, Nellie

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!!