Our Wicked Weekend!

HIII!  We just had a GRREEAATT weekend!  My sister-in-law Jody and I both got our early birthday presents from our wonderful in-laws and found out that we got to go to Chicago to see the Broadway show Wicked and stay overnight and it included babysitting!  Ahh!!! :)  So....we left early Saturday morning with our hubbies (they got in on the birthday present too but that made it even more fun!)  So we had a GREAT day.  We had lunch at the ESPN zone and met up with one of Ryan and Shane's cousins which was fun.  We played some games there and hung out.  Then we did some shopping on Michigan Ave. which was very fun too even though it was below ZERO and FREEZING outside!  Then we went to our hotel, showered up, and went out to eat at a nice restaurant for some good old fashioned Chicago style pizza. :)  Note to anyone who goes to Chicago on a below freezing day.  Make SURE to get a cab driver that speaks English so that you don't get dropped off at the wrong place and then told to walk the wrong direction to get where you're supposed to go.  I think our faces and ears and everything were completely frozen by the time we got to our restaurant!  But there was lots of laughter... Then it was off to WICKED!!!  We had unbelievable seats and the show was amazing.  I HIGHLY recommend it to ANYONE!  Really - we laughed a lot and had a blast.  They are soo talented!  So then we got to SLEEEEEEP IN!!! (well, i actually woke up right at 7 a.m. but it was nice to just drink coffee in bed and not HAVE to get up - such a treat!)  Then we went swimming, and out for a big breakfast at this cute diner.  I forgot how much I love eating out since we don't really do that much anymore.  Sooo nice! :) Then back home to our babies!  They survived :) and probably had too much fun with Grandpa and Grandma Dooyema. :)  We are very thankful for such a perfect gift with such perfect timing right before Shane's surgery.  THANK YOU so much Mom and Dad Dooyema!!!

Here's a couple pics....

Such talkers

I'm so excited to be able to really communicate with my girls! :)  They are all slowly starting to pick up saying a few words.  Hailey will be the first as she is the most chatty. :)  They all say 'Ba' now for Ball.  They all say "mama" and "dada."  Hailey says "PuhPuh" for "Pepper" (Grandpa and Grandma Dooyema's dog) :)  She also says "Nigh Nigh" for bedtime and "Nigh Nigh" mixed with tears for her nukie. :)  And today, Hailey started saying "aarrr" for "car!"  I'm amazed at how much they understand.  Now it's just waiting for them to start trying to speak all that they can understand!  So exciting! I can't wait! The other day, I heard a lot of commotion in the playroom...so I walk over very quietly...and this is what I see.  ALL of them sitting with their OWN book, reading out loud to each other.  So cute! :)  

The girls are also now fully able to go up and down the stairs which makes for an exciting day. :)  Other than that, we are doing well.  Tomorrow we go into the eye doctor to see how their eyes are progressing after being in the NICU.  

Uncle Shane has scheduled his surgery for Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 7 a.m. to get a mechanical valve put in.  We would all appreciate your prayers for Shane and Jody!  Thanks so much!  

Explorers

Hi there!  Well things are changing around here!  The girls are really getting into exploring now.  I find them up on the chair now or up on the window sill.  Eek!  They don't like to be gated anymore so now we have blockades up all over the house.  Doors are always shut, everything is way up high (they are always taller than you think!) and cabinets are baby proofed.  It's wild!  So, since they are so adventurous, we tend to see a few more tears. :) 

Hailey
Emily
Addy
I couldn't believe when I came in the room and all of the sudden they're on the chair!  They've never done this before so I was shocked! :) 
This is the face Hailey makes when you ask her what a snake says.  "sssss" :) 
Emily
And Addy.  Notice the ponytail?  :)  Her hair is getting so long!  I tried to do it but oh my goodness, I'm realizing that that is going to be a challenge once they all get hair.  First of all she won't sit still for anything and then her hair is so fine that it's hard to hold on to!  We might just go for the "messy but cute" look all the time. :)  Besides being cooped up all week because of the -29 degree weather, we are doing good! In the beginning of the year though, the girls started to not want to take a morning nap.  I'd find them up in their cribs jumping away having a ball.  So, now I started taking away their morning naps but it isn't going as smoothly as I had hoped.  The mornings get very long and they definitely get crabby!  Hopefully they'll eventually start taking LONG afternoon naps.  We'll see!  In the meantime, I'm getting a good work out chasing them around all day! :)   

Uncle Shane

Good morning!  I just wanted to update you all in hopes that you would help us in praying for Ryan's younger brother Shane.  In the past couple of weeks, he has found out that he needs to have open heart surgery to replace his aortic valve.  He is 25 years old!  So, this has been quite a shock and such big decisions for Shane and Jody to make.  He just found out that he has a bicuspid aortic valve (which means he has 2 flaps when most people have 3).  Anyways, one of those flaps is leaking severely so he needs to have heart surgery most likely the first week in February.  The hospital stay is a week long with a 6 week recovery time off of work.  They are trying to decide if he needs a mechanical valve, pig valve, or a ross procedure done.  So many tough decisions to make for the newlyweds! So, if you could please pray for them as they make these decisions and go through this major surgery and recovery, that would be MUCH appreciated.  I know that we couldn't have gotten through our first year without your prayers so please pray for Shane and Jody if you think of it!  THANK YOU!

But I do just have to share how faithful God has been already through this whole process with Shane.  There are numerous ways that we have already seen His faithfulness and grace.  

1 - The fact that we were even able to find out that Shane had something going on with his heart instead of finding out "the hard way." 

2 - The fact that when Shane was little, he always preferred sports like golf instead of cross country. :)  This protected him in the long run!

3 - The fact that Shane married a NURSE who discovered that Shane had a weird heart beat and then made him go to the Dr.!  I know that I would never know if Ryan had an off heart beat so I think that Jody literally saved his life.  And I'm just amazed at how God works! 

4 - The timing of this all.  It is so great that Shane is married now, that he wasn't going through this when I had just brought the triplets home (as that would be a LOT for Mom and Dad Dooyema to handle), and that he'll be recovering during March Madness. :) 

God has been protecting Shane in so many ways and we trust that He will carry him through now these next few months too.  Thanks for listening and thank you in advance for praying for him!   

I caught Hailey giving away all of her cheerios.  No wonder Addy weighs 2 more pounds! 

Dr. Update - 15 months old!

Trying to get a nice photo after church when they were all dressed up but this is the best we got.  :)

Hailey trying very hard not to touch the tree.

Auntie Kara and soon to be Uncle Cory came for a very quick visit on Friday!!!  The girls (and I) were SOOO excited to see them again!  
Emily driving Hailey around on their little car.  :) 

One of my favorite things is when they all crawl all over me and fight to be held.  Sometimes it breaks my heart that I literally can't hold all of them when they want to be held, but then I think about how many hugs I actually get in a day!  A lot! :) 

Time is seriously FLYING.  I  just feel like they are growing up SO fast!  15 months already. That's like almost TWO.  WOW.  

Anyways, Grandma Kathy and I took the girls in for their 15 month check up and they are doing great!  The Dr. visits are getting a little more crazy though, now that they are running around everywhere, opening cabinets, throwing all the gowns out of the drawers, books EVERYWHERE, etc.  Plus now they KNOW what that white paper on the big table means.  Shots.  So it gets a little louder with all of them screaming but we made it through.  :)  We had a chuckle when the Dr. was listening to Emily and then Addison walked right up, took the stethoscope out of the Dr's hands and started listening to Emily's stomach on her own.  So cute that she knew just what to do!  

The best news is that they are all healthy, their ears look great, and they are growing and developing as expected.  Emily and Hailey are in the 50th percentile for weight and height for other 15 month girls and Addy is in the 75th percentile for weight and height.  Addy is an inch and a half taller than Emily and Hailey and weighs 2 pounds more.  She weighs 24 lbs 2 oz. and Emily weighed 22 lbs 9 oz. and Hailey was 22lbs. 9.5 oz! We are thankful! 

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Can't believe another whole year has flown by.  And wow, how SOO much has changed!  We're excited to see what 2009 has in store!  

So, we kicked off the year with a bang last night! :)  We hosted a "Wine and Cheesy Christmas Sweater Party!"  It was a blast!  18 people came over in their best "cheesy" Christmas sweaters and we had wine and appetizers and played an intense game of Bunco.  It was very fun and we had a blast with everyone.  Somehow everything is a bit more fun when you're wearing something goofy.  I couldn't take anyone seriously!  Anyways, here are some pics and hopefully we don't offend any of you who may own a sweater like the ones we are wearing! :)  :) :) :) 

These three brought in the New Year like a charm.  They are the best girls ever.  We put them to sleep before everyone got here and they slept THROUGH IT ALL.  It was unbelievable and amazing.  We were shouting BUNCO at the top of our lungs all night...not to mention the horns and whistles and screams of Happy New Year.  Somehow, I think they are used to sleeping through the noises of EACH OTHER, that all of our commotion was no big deal.  :)  I love my babies!!!!  It felt like we had a night out...even though we didn't! :) 

Below you'll see our lovely "get up."  Ryan sported super tight Christmas plaid pants...along with one of his mom's (or i mean - someone else's) fur poinsettia sweaters....complete with a tight red glittery cami underneath.  GRREEATT. :)  

Some of the guys...and some of the girls....

The biggest partier of us all....little Jer.  
The winners of BUNCO!!!  
Playing Bunco at the Head table...
Happy New Year!!!!
The whole sha-bang!  :)  Don't we look GREAT?! :) Notice the tall blonde guy in the middle back...he couldn't find a Christmas sweater, so he took an old sweater and poked Christmas lights that actually LIT up through the sweater.  Fabbbuulous! :)