Northern Bay

HI!  I LOVE vacations!  :)  We just got back from a FABULOUS time at Northern Bay  - an awesome resort 45 minutes west of the Dells.  We vacationed with the Otten family - who Ryan grew up vacationing with..and who are our great friends!  We had a blast relaxing by the pool, trying to make it across the "log" on the lake, golfing, walking, playing tennis, games at night, eating together, renting a pontoon boat, etc. It was such a treat! 

Here we are on our wild adventure on the pontoon boat.  Notice how we are all very dry and relaxed looking...  Well, a few minutes after this pic was taken, our boat SERIOUSLY started to go under, front first.  We were SO scared!  We probably had too many people on the boat....and then we slowed down really quickly...and the boat tipped forward - a lot.  I have never seen so many people RUN so quickly to the back of the boat.  I honestly thought we were going down and I think I squeezed the life out of Hailey I was holding on to her so tightly.  We managed to survive....but then, since we didn't know the lake well, we hit THREE tree stumps that weren't marked!  I thought we were for sure never going to make it back to land.  Needless to say, our relaxing boat ride wasn't so relaxing.... but now we have MANY laughs about how scared we all were.  
Here we are, later in the day, on the boat again after we learned we weren't supposed to go on the right side of the lake.  :)  Much more enjoyable.... :) 
Our family pic by the island hole. 
The Grandma's!!!
Emily loved splashing in the "sink" bathtub. :) 
All the kiddos - from left to right Emily, Addy, Braden, Hailey, Tyler
Sitting by the baby pool.  The kids loved this!  I'd say Addison is definitely our little fish though.  She loved the water!  
The whole gang.  

They HATED their life jackets. :)  I think I would too. :) But it's a good thing they had them on.... :)

 

I just had to put this video on here.  :)  We had MANY laughs when we challenged Kathy and Dawn to see if they could make it across the "log."  Here is Kathy's attempt.  What do you think? :) 

2 Dooylets are on the LOOSE!

Emily - boyfriend Tyler - girlfriend Anna - so fun that they will all be in the same class! :) 
For those of you who can't tell Emily and Hailey apart, I thought I'd help you out by painting HAILEY's toes pink.  Now all you have to remember is that HAILEY is the one with PINK TOES. :)  At least it will help until winter. :) 

AND...
It's official.  Hailey and Emily are CRAWLING!  Here's a video to prove it. :) 

Swimming

Emily 
The girls love the water but here they are having a timeout together. :) (Emily - Addy - Hailey)
Hailey - Emily - Addison

This is GOOD LIVIN'

This weekend we headed up north to Hayward, WI for a long weekend getaway with my family's best friends.  Kara and I feel like we "grew up" in Hayward because so many of our GREAT childhood memories are there.  It was so fun to go back again!  We only had half of our families there...but it was still so fun!  A few days before we got there, they had spotted a mama black bear and a baby bear on their property!  We thought we had seen the bear a couple times but we ended up just freaking ourselves out for nothing. :)  Hayward is one of the hardest places to leave though...it is just so relaxing and so fun up there.  

Lifelong friends Kaitlin, me, Kim, and Kara :) 
Hailey had her hands folded so cute for the longest time.  
This IS Good livin'!!!!!!
I never would have thought they would have potbellies! :) 
They loved the sand! :)  
Have I told you how PUMPED I am that my sister is living with us this summer?  We are having so much fun and she is a huge help! 
This is the standard place to take family pictures every time we visit Hayward.  My how my family has changed.... :) 

Life is never dull around here....

So.....Emily has had an ear infection for a couple days and was on medicine for it.  But, I started noticing she had a rash the other day and then today it really started to look worse.  So I called the Dr. and went in with all 3 girls.  Turns out she now has an ear infection in BOTH ears...AND...she is allergic to penicillin drugs!  AHH!  (which now means Hailey is allergic to them too!) Then, I asked the Dr. to check Hailey's ears (even though they were just checked last week and she was fine) because she has been fussy too.  Turns out, she now has a FLAMING ear infection in her right ear.  Crazy.  Poor girls.  No WONDER they had been so fussy the past couple of days.  I was HOPING teething wasn't going to be THAT bad every time a tooth came in since that's what I thought the problem was at first.  I'm so glad I went in...and hopefully they'll all start feeling better soon.  Again, so thankful that at least ADDY is healthy and happy and big headed. :)  

My Baby Girl is PERFECTTTT!!!!

God is so so good.  Our little Addy just happens to have a big head.  The Dr. just called and said that she is totally fine, couldn't be more perfect, everything in her head looks outstanding.  I am SOOO thankful and again, feel SO blessed that my three baby girls are so healthy and so beautiful.  I continue to be reminded of what a GIFT they are and I'm so thankful for the joy they bring to my life.  They have come so far! 

Addison did so great yesterday at the catscan too.  She didn't even need a neck brace OR have to be sedated because she laid so still.  She is a champ and I am so proud of her!  

Sometimes I still wonder why in the world God chose to give me triplets.  But then I think of how my life has changed since having them and I get a better idea.  For instance, I used to just walk through Target minding my own business and just doing what I have to do.  But now, I walk through the store and end up talking to a million people.  I've been able to get in some pretty neat conversations in just a few minutes of talking to people.  Plus, I see how just seeing the girls bring smiles to people's faces who were frowning the second before.  God's miracles never cease to amaze us I guess. 

I just feel like jumping up and down with excitement and praise to God for His goodness in our lives right now.  Eek! :)  

Anyways - thanks to all of you for keeping Addy in your prayers.  It means the world to us! 

Milwaukee Brewers vs. Colorado Rockies

Who's gonna win???!!!  Well, I hate to say it but the girls happen to be sporting Brewers outfits today for the big game even though they secretly love the Rockies. :)  We'll see who wins! :) 

P.S.  Addison has her catscan of her head tomorrow morning so please pray that everything is okay in there!  She can't eat for 6 hours before that so hopefully she won't be TOO starving.  Poor girl.  Emily and Hailey have been miserable the past couple days too.  They hadn't been eating anything...been extremely fussy, had fevers, and were just not acting like themselves one bit. Thankfully they are feeling better now (and Ryan and I are sleeping again!) :)  

Our 20 mile bike trip!

The girls were EXHAUSTED after our big trip.  :)  I can't believe they could sleep in that trailer! :) 
After our bike trip, we went back to Grandpa and Grandma Dooyema's house for some 'Pudgy Pies' on the fire...and then we watched 5 or 6 cities fireworks from their deck!  
Sisters sitting by the fire. :) 
Emily waving hi to the camera as we all get ready for our big bike trip. :)  The girls did very well but had to get the hang of it at first. :)  
Addison and Emily having fun in the bike trailer.  :) 
Stopping for much needed ice cream and bottles. :)  (from left to right - Addy, Shelly, Kara, Kathy, Hailey, Kim, Shane, Jody, Emily) :)  (ha - i just realized that Ryan is totally cut out of this picture - oops!)
Emily ALMOST looks like J-Lo. :)  
  The girls were NOT fond of their bike helmet...but Addy looks pretty okay with it here. :)  

Happy 4TH of July!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!!!!  This is our very first 4th of July. :)  And we are so excited because we're going to go on our first Dooyema family bike ride with Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle Shane and Auntie Jody and Auntie Kara and mom and dad!  2 of us are going to ride behind dad in a trailer thingy and one of us will be in a bike seat behind mom.  Should be fun!  :) 
Addy - "Guess how much I weigh now?!  I'm a whoppin' 19lbs. 8 oz. and my development assessment was GREAT!  All of us are doing better (in development, weight and height!)than most preemies that were born at our size. I'm 9 months old now but developing right in line with a 7 monther."
Em - "So I was the littlest when I was born...and I still am!  I weigh 17 lbs 15.5 oz. and I'm also doing great!  I'm ALMOST acting like an 8 month old baby but not quite.  :)  I'm so close to crawling! :)"
Hailey - "Hey there - so I'm so antsy to crawl all over the place.  You should see the way I get places now. :)  But I'm doing great too and developing almost like an 8 monther as well.  I weigh 18 lbs. 5 oz!" 

Dr. visits

This morning was CRAZY trying to get the girls ready for the Dr.  Anything before 9:30 is usually a little tricky and our appt was at 9!  I got the girls all fed and dressed and then they were supposed to quick go down for a morning nap so I could get ready and be out the door by 8:45 but yea....Emily spit green vegetables all over her white shirt after I had all the girls dressed so then, because they were wearing matching clothes, I had to change ALL of them! :)  Then they didn't want to take a nap...and yea..it was just a busy morning!  Thankfully Jody came with me to help at the Dr. appt.  The girls are doing great!  They are doing VERY well for being preemies and had great weight gain and everything.  It's so nice that they are now being measured on a "normal" 9 month chart.  Emily and Hailey are 25% for weight and height and head size is 50% .  Then Addison is 50% for weight and height but her head is actually off the charts in size!  Lots of brains for that girl. :)  But actually, since she was a preemie, the Dr. recommended that Addison gets a catscan on her brain because she could have extra fluid or something so we just have to be sure.  The Dr's gut is that she is fine since she seems to be doing well developmentally but because preemies can often have brain "issues," the right thing to do is get it checked out.  So....please pray that it's nothing and that she just happens to have all the smarts in the family. :)  We found out that Emily actually had an ear infection too.  Poor girl.  She has been acting a little more fussy but I thought that was just because she was teething.  She's been doing pretty well considering ....but I decided to let her skip out on her shots today so she'll get them in 2 weeks when she feels better and has to go back for a check up anyways.  Other than that, the girls are doing well and seem to be right on track for being 7 monthers. (even though they are 9 months).  Tomorrow we will find out more when we get their development assessment done at the NICU.  I was bummed to find out that the girls still have to be on the expensive preemie formula (Neosure).  I thought they could get off of that when they turned 9 months old...but I guess it's 9 months CORRECTED age....hopefully they'll start eating more baby food and less bottles in the next couple weeks.  

Anyways - that's the basic update from today.   Now they are all EXHAUSTED and taking a nice long nap. :)  

Yesterday we took the girls in to see Ryan at work.  They had a great time and thought downtown Milwaukee was great! :) So much to see! 

I LOVE Summer!!!! :)

Wow.  We have been so busy lately with such fun stuff! :)  I love summer!  This past Saturday, Ryan and I celebrated our FIVE year anniversary!  I cannot believe how fast the time has gone and all that has happened in our marriage in 5 years.  I never would have guessed we would have 3 beautiful babies by now but God really does like to throw surprises. :)  Ryan and I drove up north Wisconsin for the night.  It was our first night away from the girls together!  Kara and 2 of her friends and Grandpa and Grandma Dooyema all took turns watching the girls. We had so much fun just hanging out with "us" for a change.  We went biking all around Potowatomi State Park and toured a winery, ate at a fancy restaurant, etc.  It was so fun! We came back Sunday, sore from biking, but refreshed from our little break from the girls.  THEN, last night we went to the Rascalflatts and Taylor Swift concert with some of our good friends!  We had a BLASTTTTT!!!  :)  And now in a little bit, I'm going to feed the girls and then bring them downtown to visit Ry at work. :)  Then tomorrow the girls have their 9 month Dr.'s appointment - and then their primary nurse from the NICU (Renae) is going to come over to see the girls and let me get a little break!  She is so sweet and I'm so excited to see her again.  I love that we have kept in touch.  Then Thursday the girls go back to the NICU for follow up to see how they are developing as preemies.  I'm anxious to see their results.  And then it's the 4th of July!  Whew!  Lots going on but we're having a blast being able to get out.  Here are some pics!

Us with our friends at the Rascalflatt's concert.  Yay!
Heather, me, Christina :) I LOVE these girls!!!
Ryan wasn't so sure about my cowboy hat. :)