So proud!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Today our Aunt Melissa graduated with her masters degree from Oakland University. We are so proud of her! She loves us so much. Aunt Melissa loves to spend time with us. She tries her best to see us every weekend and she likes to cuddle with us. She always reads books to us and she teaches us lots of stuff (she is very smart). Aunt Melissa loves to take naps with us. Our Mom tells us she is the best sister and that we are all very lucky to have her in our lives.

We want to bring her some happiness on her special day. We love you Aunt Melissa! Way to go! Congratulations and thanks for loving us the way you do.

Love,
Aidan, Brooklyn and Calahan

Dood Elves

Please scroll down to the bottom of the blog to see our little elves.

It Takes a Lot of Doing

December 9, 2008 - 8 months and 1 day old

Aidan, Brooklyn and Calahan wanted me to let you know they have a new cousin...Ryan Allen. He is precious!

Yesterday the babies went for their second synagis shot...twice. It takes a lot of doing to get three babies ready and out the door. Feeding schedules need to be altered, diapers changed, clothes on, diaper bags packed, winter hats, put babies in their car seats, warm up the car, put strollers in the car, lug babies in car seats out to the car, get to the doctor's office, get strollers out, get babies out, you get the picture... Anyhow at our 11:30 am appointment they told us that the synagis was not there; someone had overlooked ordering it. So we headed back home and repeated the above tasks again at 3:00 pm. I am not complaining because these shots cost $3,12o EACH and I am thankful that we are taking preventative measures to keep these babies healthy. I am merely saying it takes a lot of doing...

A big thanks to Debbie for accompanying us. Shots are NO FUN!

Anyways the babies are doing great! Aidan is leading the pack at 19 pounds, Brooke surpassed Cal again at 18 pounds and Mr. C is a healthy 17 pounds.

The triplets are learning and doing new things every day. Today we tried oatmeal for the first time and everyone loved it. As you can see from the pictures, these babies love anything you put in front of them.

Aidan is so predictable. Everyone morning like clockwork he wakes up at 5:20 am. We snuggle in the rocking chair for awhile and then he is ready to eat. After he eats he plays in his favorite exersaucer. Exactly one hour and 2o minutes from the time he wakes he is ready for a nap. But not before he takes a big huge poop. I love this routine. Aidan is so inquistive and so much fun to be around.

Brooklyn hasn't been as smiley as she once was. I am guessing that it is just getting too difficult to lift up those heavy cheeks. She is still "squealing" quite a bit. She loves to watch Daisy. She likes to try and pet her. Sissy is so in love with her Daddy. She manages to pull those cheeks up whenever he is around. Her favorite pasttime is still sucking on her lower lip.

Calahan is definitely the smilest boy of all. He is so happy and so smart. The other day Brooklyn was fussing in her crib and I asked the boys if I should give Sissy her paci and Calahan responded "Yeah!" right on cue (Debbie is my witness). Then I was playing back a video I had taken of the babies and my voice was saying "Say Hi" and Cal let out a big "Hey!". Brilliant baby, I tell you!

We are having a blast and hope that you are enjoying every day too. Happy Holidays!

RSV Season

Dear Family and Friends,

We’re writing regarding a very important matter: RSV. For those of you who
plan to visit us over the next few months, and even if you are not, please take
a few minutes to read this letter.

We want to start by saying thank you for the outpouring of support we have
received from everyone. So many people have done so much for us, and
every bit of help we have received truly is appreciated. We are experiencing
the biggest challenge of our lives, and we’re lucky to be surrounded by so
many family members and friends who have shown us so much love and support.

We’d also like to share an important topic that we recently discussed with our babies’ pediatrician. If you are not aware of RSV, respiratory syncytial virus, you are among the majority. Most people have not heard of RSV, even though nearly every child has had the virus by age two. For full-term babies, RSV typically is not any worse than a common cold, but for preemies, the virus can be quite different. Babies born earlier than 36 weeks are at the
highest risk for serious complications like pneumonia, bronchiolitis, and other sometimes fatal complications. Our babies were born premature at 29 weeks, are multiples, and had low birth weights; these are among the highest risk factors for contracting RSV and developing serious complications. This website offers a great visual comparison of a preemie’s lungs compared to the lungs of a full-term baby: http://www.preemiecare.org/LungsTrees03-4.pdf

Preventing the spread of RSV is very difficult. Thus, we must be vigilant about keeping our children safe during RSV season (October through April). The virus is spread through physical contact, in the air via a cough or sneeze, or by touching an infected object. The virus can live as long as six hours on hands and up to twelve hours on objects, and it spreads very easily, especially from child to child. Studies have also shown that infants pose an even higher risk of spreading RSV to others.

You may ask, “Can’t they fight it off and build up their immune system? Kids need to get sick, right?” The simple answer is NO. Since our babies were pre-term, they did not acquire the necessary immunities to fight off infection. If they contract RSV, they could be hospitalized and develop serious complications. We’ll be asking our visitors to follow a few guidelines to help prevent the babies from contracting RSV or any other illness.

We ask that all visitors do the following:
1. When you arrive, please wash your hands and use hand-sanitizer as needed before touching the babies.
2. Please, if it is possible, get a flu shot.
3. Please refrain from coming over if you are currently sick and have not been symptom-free for at least 5 days, if you live with someone who is sick, or have been in close contact with someone who is sick.
4. If you smoke, we ask that you change your clothing and refrain from smoking prior to visiting, as a preemie’s lungs are very sensitive to smoke. Most RSV sites recommend against passive smoke exposure.
5. If you are parents to a baby or toddler, please refrain from bringing them to our house during RSV season.

Unfortunately we will not be attending many events during RSV season. Our goal is to make it through this and the next RSV seasons without the babies contracting RSV or any other serious illness. Their lungs are still very fragile until they are 2-years-old.

Please understand that this letter is not meant to offend anyone, just simply to provide an explanation. We hope you understand, and we appreciate your help keeping our babies safe.

We are also providing several resources with additional information about RSV below.
http://www.preemiecare.org/rsv_resourceshtm.htm
http://www.preemiecare.org/rsvfaq.htm
http://www.preemiecare.org/rsv2.htm
http://www.mostonline.org/preemieBB/viewforum.php?f=82

Love and best wishes to all!
Paul and Kristin

Here are a few final words from Brooklyn...

Monster Aidan

Saturday, November 8, 2008

The babies turned 7 months old on Saturday! Their adjusted age is four and half months. We started rice cereal on Thursday. None of the babies were big fans. Calahan is starting to come around and yesterday there was much improvement from all three babies.

Aidan has a few things he would like to say...

Favorites

November 5, 2008

A post of some of our very favorite things...

Favorite November moment so far:

Babies and Mommy- being able to go to the park with no coats (Thank you Grandma! We had a great time with you!)

Favorite Toys:

Calahan-einstein star that lights up and plays music

Brooklyn- spinning wheel on einstein exersaucer

Aidan- blue exersaucer with way too much going on

Favorite Thing to Do:

Calahan-smile and flirt with the ladies

Brooklyn-suck on her bottom lip

Aidan- chew on his fingers

Favorite Features:

Calahan- long beautiful eyelashes and perfectly shaped lips

Brooklyn- chubby cheeks and innocent smile

Aidan- smooth skin and big blue eyes

Who am I kidding? I can't just list one or two things. Everything about each and every one of these babies is my favorite!!

Favorite Smell:

Mommy- Aidan, Brooklyn and Calahan's sweet skin

Favorite Sight:

Babies- bottles

Mommy- BABIES!

Favorite Time of the Day:

Babies-EATING!

Mommy-walking into the nursery after a peaceful night's sleep to smiling babies

Speaking of sleep...

As the book goes (They're All My Favorites)...BUT...at night...there is a clear winner. A numero uno. A child after my heart. This angel sleeps not 10, not 11, but 12-13 hours a night. Straight. Not a peep. THANK YOU CALAHAN! You ARE my favorite at night!!

This week I have been a little bit short on sleep because Aidan and Brooklyn have stuffy noses. I think they may also be teething. We ended up taking Aidan to the doctor yesterday and it turns out he has an ear infection in his right ear. He is on antibiotics and seems to be fine. I think we did pretty well. The babies are just shy of their 7 month birthday and getting their first colds. We also went for our first synagis shot today. Synagis is to help protect the babies from RSV. They will get a shot in each leg for the remainder of the RSV season (ending in March).

A little backpedaling...Halloween was great fun and we were all HAP-PEA! We only went to a couple of houses in our pea pod costumes. Then it was feeding time just as the trick-or-treaters started coming around. The weather was so nice that we fed the babies outside while passing out candy. Thanks to Nana for helping make our first Halloween such fun! We love spending time with our Nana!

We hope all of you are well! Enjoy the pics.

Go Green!

6 Month Check Up

October 21, 2008

Today we had our 6 month check up. The babies are all doing really well. It was a long appointment and we got our first immunization. :(

Aidan is 16 pounds 13 ounces and he is measuring 25 1/2 inches.

Brooklyn is 15 pounds 6.7 ounces and she is measuring 24 3/4 inches.

Calahan is 15 pounds 10.6 ounces and he is measuring 24 inches.

Aidan:

-usually yells for a half hour before he eats

-loves to chew on his hands and fingers

-loves the blue exersaucer

Brooklyn:

-loves the jumperoo

-coos and makes cute little sounds all of the time

-sucks on her lower lip

Calahan:

-is smiling all over the place

-likes the einstein exersaucer

-is also starting to chew on his hands and fingers

That's all for now...

Six Times the Fun!

Pictured above:

1 & 2 - The Bess triplets and the Dood Triplets

3- A babies (Aidan showing a little skin)

4- B babies

5- C babies

October 12, 2008

Hello Everyone!

Yesterday we had our first triplet play date (my sister was here for back up). It was a blast! Our friends Krista and Josh brought their three cuties over to play. I am not sure what I expected with six babies all under six months old, but everything went perfectly! The babies were all very good. We watched the football game, ate snacks and talked baby. We took some pictures...I never thought for one second that all six babies would cooperate. Just goes to show how much I know. After the triplets left we went for a walk. It was the most beautiful day! The babies really enjoyed the walk; they were sitting up and looking around. What a fabulous day!

This past Thursday Aidan decided that he too would like to start rolling over. He did it for Daddy several times. He also is loving his new o-ball (Thanks for the idea, Debbie). Aidan had three or four days of yelling at me constantly. I am pretty sure he was teething. He was drooling an awful lot and chewing on his fingers. He is in a much better mood today (thank goodness), but I don't see any teeth yet.

Brooklyn is a precious little girl! She continues to be very mild mannered and passes out smiles all day long. At night she likes to do a lot of talking, moaning, screeching, etc. But overall, an angel!! An absolute angel!

Calahan is our Guy Smiley! He loves to smile and he is enjoying a lot more time on his back. Wednesday was a big day for my little guy as he moved into the bedroom with his brother and sister. No more sleeping in Mommy and Daddy's room. :(

All three babies are starting to grab things and pull them to their mouths. They are all ticklish under their necks and are starting to laugh just a little. They are growing up so fast! I am ecstatic with their progress, but wish I could freeze my favorite moments and there are many!

We are off to my nephew Jacob's 7th birthday party! Happy Birthday Jacob! Also, congratulations to the Mackenzie's and the Logan's on the birth of their little ones this week. We are praying for all of you. And thanks to Aunt Kathy Weller for spending three wonderful days with us this week; we really enjoyed your visit!

By the way...if any of you bloggers know what I am doing wrong with my spacing, please let me know. In the posting window my spacing and paragraphs look good, but when I go to publish it the spacing is all off. It drives me crazy!

Another Day-Another Patch

Monday, October 6, 2008

On Sunday, Football Sunday, the day that Paul can not be bothered by anything but the t.v. and computer for fantasy football, the babies and I try to find something else to do, somewhere else to go. Somewhere where there is no football, no coaches, no football players, no yelling, etc. So this past Sunday we went to my Grandparents' house. We had a very nice time with Great Grandpa Steve, Great Grandma Wanda, Nana, Papa, Uncle Dave, Aunt Alicia and Madison. We decided to go to Erwin Farms pumpkin patch. It was JAM PACKED with people! The line for donuts and cider was miles long, so we did some of the activities that didn't require a wait time.

On a separate note, Brooklyn has been very busy! Last week she rolled over a couple of times and now she is a seasoned professional. She has also held her own bottle on more than one occasion (I think she just got lucky on the grip).

Aidan loves to yell at his mother; especially when he his hungry. Calahan is doing really well with his reflux. He is super smiley these days! It is wonderful to see!

The babies are currently going to sleep between 6:45-7:30 pm and they sleep until 6:00 am or so. We love sleeping babies, but I sometimes start to miss them after such a long time. I check on them often and then look at pictures. I just can't get enough of them.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record...I LOVE MY LIFE! These babies are AMAZING! I love every single moment with them. I hope you are all enjoying your days as much as I am.

Three Little Pumpkins

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Today we went to the Houpt's Pumpkin Patch in Dundee. Nurse Mindy's family owns the patch and it is fabulous! We had a wonderful time and there was so much to see and do there. We were so excited to see Mindy!! The sun was shining and it was about 60 degrees. The babies were awesome. They each got a free pumpkin and we picked out a bigger one. We had some amazing donuts and cider and bought some carrot cake and apple pie. All of that fresh air wore the babies right out. They slept all the way home. We will have to make this trip a yearly family tradition.

How Cute Are We?

A few more pictures...

1. Aidan, Brooklyn and Calahan in their cool shirts from our good friend, Judy Johnson! Thank you Judy!

2. Cousin Maddie putting in the pacis

3. Aidan watching t.v.

4. Brookie sleeping with her toys

5. Cal hanging in his bumbo with big brother Aidan looking on

Girl's Night Out

September 30, 2008

I know I have said it before...but my husband is the BEST! Last week Paul told me that he was going to take me out to dinner and his parents were going to watch the babies. My sister was also coming to spend the weekend so she would be there to help Pete and Carol with the cherubs. Friday rolled around and I had just finished getting ready. I heard Pete and Carol come in so I came down the stairs and to my surprise there were my girlfriends!!! Ready to take me out for a GIRL'S NIGHT! I was so excited and really caught off guard. Paul had called Ashley and told her to set it up because I hadn't been out. We had a wonderful time at a new Tapas restaurant in Canton and then headed to Comparis in downtown Plymouth to sit outside. What a beautiful night! The party didn't end until the very last minute when we were in my driveway singing some sweet tunes (singing or screaming; I am not sure which). The next day a few of my neighbors had something to say about that. Oops! Thank you to my fabulous husband and to my spectacular girlfriends (they refused to let me pay for anything)! I am so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life!

This past weekend my sister and I ventured out to downtown Plymouth with the babies and the Breast Cancer 3 Day walk was in town. It was awesome to see so much pink and so many people cheering the walkers on. My sister and I have always wanted to do the walk in honor of our Mom and Grandma, but you have to raise quite a bit of money to participate. Some day we will do it. The babies did a great job and got to see their first (and probably only pink fountain).

On to the babies...they are almost 6 months old (October 8) and 14 weeks adjusted. They are fitting into six month clothes and size two diapers. WOW! I just can't believe how quickly they are growing.

Here is our daily schedule...

4:00 am -eat and back to sleep

9:00 am -eat, up for a short while and nap

11:00 am -play time- read books, tummy time, go for a walk, jumperoo, exersaucer, practice rolling over and sitting up

12:00 pm - eat

12:30 pm -play time continues and probably a cat nap

3:00 pm - eat again and play

6:30 pm - eat and bedtime

The babies are eating around 6 ounces at every feeding. I am worried that I am feeding them too much. They are so chubby! My doctor says that if they are eating it, then it isn't too much. Any thoughts? I am so curious to hear about what others are feeding their babies or fed their babies at this age. We go through a large can of formula a day; which is quite expensive.

Aidan, Brooklyn and Calahan are really starting to notice each other and they smile and talk to one another. It is the neatest thing to see. I haven't managed to get it on video yet, but I will. They are also noticing their bottles and get excited when they see those coming. But my favorite part of the day is going into the babies' room to get them in the morning. They get the biggest smiles when they see Paul or myself first thing in the morning. It warms my heart and is just the best feeling in the world.

That is all for now! We hope all of you are doing well!