More fun

Just wanted to let you all know in case you hadn't heard yet...that the girls are going to have another COUSIN!! My brother Craig and sister in law Laura are expecting again! We are soooo excited!!! I LOVE that the girls will have cousins close in age to them! Now all we need is them to move closer to us so we can see them more!! :) Congratulations Craig, Laura, and Kamryn!!!!!

Today we went to a park to meet another triplet mom who I used to work with who's triplets are 4 months older than Addy, Emily, and Hailey. Too bad we went to opposite parks but we ended up meeting up anyways for lunch. Above (AEH)
Addy
Hailey
Check out that hair! :)
AHE
Triplets times 2!
And yes, we have leashes now. :) They are a LIFESAVER let me tell you! I got them from another triplet mom in my multiples group and the girls LOVE them! It is so nice to be able to take them out of their stroller and know that they all won't run in different directions. I feel so much safer! But, I also feel like I have my own litter. :) We went for a walk tonight and the girls had so much fun.

23 month pics...

Emily and her patch!

And below...is what I like to call "Potty Parties." :) We're not in full out training yet...and I think we'll wait a while....unless the girls do it themselves. :) But, they do love sitting on the potty and chatting together. So every now and then, when I feel like taking 3 diapers off and when I feel like having all the toilet paper being rolled out...and have them sit there for a couple minutes, then we do that. :) But otherwise, we're just waiting for when the girls are READY (and when Mom is ready too!) The girls do tell me when they go #2 in their diapers...so we are getting somewhere! I just can't believe potty training time is just around the corner though. Are they really THAT old?! Ahh!
My babies and I at the zoo, petting the goats....or running from them. :)
Their first train ride at the zoo! Since Daddy could come to the zoo with us this time, we ventured out and rode the train. They loved it! (AEH)
Uncle Jeff and Uncle Duane came last week because the Giants were in town. The girls aren't so sure what they think of them as the uncles are always messing with their heads. :) But they brought donuts...so that helped. :)
Uncle Duane and Emily making faces. :) Emily was copying him....ohhhh boy. :)

When Ry gets home from work, we're usually outside playing...the girls run to his car and always want to hop in with him. They love their Daddy!! :)

Reflecting...

I will never know why God gave us triplets. But every now and then, I see things that He teaches us through them...and I see how He leads others to us..and how He has taught us SO much simply because we have triplets. Today was one of those days that I just felt like I needed to sit back and reflect on this journey that God has brought us on.

This morning I brought Emily to the eye doctor for a follow up appt. She now has to wear a patch on her left eye for four months for 2 hours a day because her right eye wanders a bit. So hopefully, the patch will correct it. If it doesn't, she will need surgery to correct it. That surprised me as I thought she would just need glasses...but actually, surgery is what is needed so hopefully the patch will help! Anyways, while we were in the waiting room, I looked over and noticed a teeny baby being fed a bottle. Then I looked at the mom and realized I knew her! She is a triplet mom who came over to my house when she was 20 weeks pregnant to just chat about everything. Anyways, she ended up having her triplets very early so the one in her arms was now 4 lbs. (she was born 1 lb 5 oz!) Just seeing a 4 lb. baby again made me all teary eyed. Nearly two years ago, my girls were about that size. It is truly REMARKABLE how far they have come. I feel like that was SO long ago. 4 lbs. is SOOO small!! It's amazing how quickly we forget..and how fast they grow up. God was just reminding me through my visit, that He has been with us these entire 2 years...even when we fail to see His hand at work. To sit and look at that precious 4 lb. baby...and then look at Emily who was taking her shoes off and on saying "buckle" in between saying "baby baby" non stop...makes me speechless and all choked up. Growth of anything, even a flower, or a tree, or anything...is always amazing...but seeing the growth of your own child...even starting in the womb...is something else that I can't even describe. And to think they are only TWO!!! Wow.

Also, if you remember...our original due date with the girls was December 4. Well one of Ryan's clients at work got pregnant with triplets ......due december 4 of this year....3 girls....2 identical. CRAZY!!!!! So, Ryan's been talking with him a lot....They have had quite the rough road in that one of their identical girls wasn't getting enough food (twin to twin transfusion syndrome) because she was sharing a placenta with her sister....and so one of the girls passed away last week. Please pray with us for this family, for the other 2 sisters, and for Ryan's client and his wife as they grieve and get through the rest of the pregnancy. Their story is incredible, and their faith and trust in God is contagious and inspiring to us. Sometimes I think that God puts people into our lives so that we can support and encourage them....but in reality, these people have been a support and encouragement to us. We are thankful for our triplet connection...and look forward to having a little triplet play date some day.... in heaven. :) Please pray with us for their family. Thank you!!!!!!

Life Lately

Well hi there!  I know I know...I've been slacking at blogging lately.  I guess I've been super busy during naptimes!  Lots is on my mind with the Fall gearing up and now I'm starting to feel like we can start to get more involved with stuff at church again so I've been getting organized with leading a small group, co coordinating MOPS, planning a Women's Retreat, cleaning house, painting the girls' new "big girl" bedroom cuz we found, through the multiples club, a triplet mom who's girls just graduated college and she's selling 4 twin beds (that bunk and loft), a trundle, 3 desks, etc.  So...we're getting that this week...but we won't move the girls over yet...just getting ready for when the time is right. :)  Plus, my parents are coming in a month and I want to have the room ready to show them! :)  Um, what else, just been busy I guess!  

This morning Auntie Jody came over and watched Addison and Hailey while I took Emily on a date!  I went with Addison a while ago and took her swimming by herself and then to a park.  Emily and I went to this place called Stonefire Pizza cuz they have a Mommy and Me area that was so cute!  She loved it!  It was so fun to have her all to myself!  I do have to admit though, and I know I shouldn't even say this...but...it really is so much easier having one!  I can't even tell you!  I didn't have to take a stroller anywhere we went, we could hop in and out of the car - no problem, I could actually hold her hand and WALK in somewhere, when we ate at McDonalds, I didn't have to HURRY along with them and there was virtually no mess!  Plus, no one stopped me to talk about triplets!  :) And, I didn't have to break my heart and tell her "sorry, I can't hold you right now. I'm holding your sister..."  It was just such a treat!  Thanks so much Jody!!!  I really cherish my one on one time with the girls...we're trying to do it more and more...just take one of them on an errand with us and stuff like that but it's so funny, the girls TOTALLY miss each other!  The whole way to the pizza place, Emily kept saying "Hayyydee???"  "Aaaaddyy?"  So funny.  I guess Hailey and Addison were doing the same thing for Jody.  It's so sweet that they look out for each other.  It is so hard though, making time to do one on one things with the girls.  Because when I get a sitter, it could be SOOO much easier to just quick go do everything I need to do....or to just take ALL of them out cuz I would have loved for ALL of them to experience that place.  But...I know it's important too.  Oh man.... this parenting thing is sure a challenge!  Somedays I truly think this stage is way harder than when they were newborns.  Every day is teaching them to SHARE, not to fight, time outs all the time, no biting, teaching them HOW to play things...etc.  I can definitely tell that the terrible two's are RIGHT around the corner.  Ahh!  But, at the same time, they're pretty hilarious right now too and so much fun.  I love how they are saying so many words now... For instance, Ryan and I got a wknd away to Michigan last wknd (THANKS SOOOOOOO MUCH Mom & Dad D.!!)  And when we came back, I noticed a new spot on our carpet. So I pointed to it and asked the girls what it was.  I was shocked that Hailey started saying "Poooook!"  "Poook!"  I was like "Puke?"  Since when did you learn that word?  Then I said "Puke?  Who puked?"  And she said "Peppaaaa"  Pepper is Kim and Kathy's little dog.  So I called Kathy and sure enough, that's what happened!  I love how they keep surprising me every day with how smart they are. :)  

ANYWAYS, i've been trying for days to upload some more videos on here...as the girls have been super into racing and coming up with their own games lately but for some reason, it's not working.  So...you'll just have to keep waiting for those.  Well, I hear them jumping in their cribs so time to go!

Emily & Addy in their racing positions...
Emily had a riot on her Mommy Date! :)  I loved it too! :) 

There's a place where kids can paint their faces and it supposedly comes off easily.  We'll see! :)
One of our favorite things to do...make shakes with Daddy

Ready to race!!  (Hailey, Emily, Addy)
They are starting to LOVE their babies and they're so nurturing already!  Crazy thing is I did NOT prop them for this pic!  They grab their babies and get into position on the couch.  So cute! :) 
Our wknd away in Michigan with some great friends.  The weather was no good....but the WAVES on Lake Michigan were like 15 feet!  We felt like we were in 4th grade swimming in the waves...it was such a blast and so refreshing!

Playin' Outside

Addy
Em
Hailey and Emily
Hailey
Hailey face 
Blue eyed Addy 

My Poor Baby Addy!!

This morning we went to our friend Braden's 4th birthday party...the girls were having a blast.  They were all eating cupcakes outside...so I took a picture of Addison...

then took a picture of Hailey....and then walked around the table to get a picture of Emily...
but before I could get a picture of  Emily, poor Addy started screaming like crazy and I saw a BEE on her face and then stuck on her arm!!!  Poor girl!  At first I thought her arm got stung...but after 5 minutes of holding her...we noticed her LIP!!
My sweet baby got STUNG!  The first bee sting.  I don't know if the stinger is on the inside or the outside of her lip as she won't let me near it...but she did down 3 popsicles...and she actually took some Benedryl so that's good....but she won't put ice on it or anything. 
Emily and Hailey and the other kids were so concerned.  Some were even rubbing her back.  So sweet.  
Now she's sound asleep in bed.  I just hope she's not allergic!  It's a good thing it didn't happen to Emily since she's allergic to everything!  I just feel so bad for her!  I hate that I can't DO anything for her and it's in the worst place!!  I love you Addison!!!  Thanks to all the moms for helping me with the other girls!  

Kara & Cory's Wedding Week!!

What a GREAT week!!!  Where do I begin?  Well, first of all, we drove down to Chicago to fly to Denver for my sister's wedding.  We met her fiance Cory at a parking place down there and then he flew with us so we could each have a girl on our lap!  It was FABULOUS to have his help but also quite comical because even WITH his help, we still looked pretty crazy trying to drag all of our luggage, kick 3 car seats around, pull 2 strollers, 3 babies, 3 backpacks, etc.  It was nuts!  But we made it!!  The girls did pretty well on the plane!  No melt downs or anything...Addy and Emily were very hyper and restless but at least that is doable. :)  Ryan got lucky cuz Hailey was on his lap and she slept for a little while!  Overall though, the trip there was great!  Then it was so fun to just hang out with my whole family and help get ready for the wedding. Thursday night was the Bachelorette party which was SO fun!  We went to one of our favorite places called the Grizzly Rose - a country line dancing place.  It was SO fun!! Then Friday was the Rehearsal....and this was another story. :)  The girls were NOT interested in going down the aisle.  Instead, they were having a blast taking every single pencil and welcome card out of every pew in the church. :)  They were running around like CRAZY and the only way they would go down the aisle is if someone held their hand or if we would chase them and pick them up.  We thought bribing them with cookies in Cory's pocket would work but for some reason, they could care less about cookies that night.  So Ryan gave it a 1% chance that they would go down the aisle...let alone hold their flower ball without whipping it at each other AND keep their headbands on (which they NEVER keep on for longer than 3 seconds).... After the rehearsal, we had the rehearsal dinner...but the girls were awful!  They were the worst they have ever been at a restaurant.  All of them were screaming, temper tantrums, throwing food, putting their face in a bowl of ketchup, not wanting to sit for anything, etc.  They were overly hungry and overly tired!! We finally took the girls outside and Ryan said "We are NOT having any more kids!" Haha!  Thankfully, Grandpa and Grandma Dooyema came to our rescue and came and picked the girls up and put them to bed so we could enjoy the rehearsal dinner and actually talk to people and eat in peace! :)  We were TIRED after that...and we just started praying the wedding day would go better!  

So, the day of the wedding, I was gone all day...getting my hair done with the other bridesmaids, helping Kara, taking pictures, etc.  Ryan and Kim and Kathy were with the girls and they were in charge of waking them up from their naps and bringing them to the wedding all dressed up.  :)  I was so surprised when the girls got there, because they all had their headbands on - and seriously, they NEVER keep those things on!  So I couldn't believe that.  Anyways, so the wedding begins...and all the bridesmaids and groomsmen start walking down the aisle.  I was the last one to walk since I was the Matron of Honor.  Usually, when you're in weddings, you stand in the back in  a nice line and you wait quietly before it's your turn to walk down the aisle.  You should have seen what it was like in the back.  Me and 3 other "helpers" (thank you!) were chasing the girls around the back of the church while the wedding was beginning.  We were trying to keep them quiet.  I probably gave them each like 15 peppermints just to keep them happy.  I was sweating.  :)  So I'm running around like crazy after the girls and then all of the sudden I realize I'm next so then I run over to the aisle and start walking slowly down the aisle acting like I was all put together.  Ha!  :)  So I get to the bottom of the aisle and I hand Cory some peppermints for the girls and then I take the twizzlers that I had hidden in my bouquet out and I turn around and start begging the girls to come down the aisle.  I was totally caught off guard by what I saw.  My beautiful baby girls were walking down the aisle WITH their headbands on WITH their flower balls and they were just looking so beautiful and doing SO WELL!!  I started bawling and my lip started quivering.  I expected to cry when my sister walked down the aisle but I had no clue I was going to cry like crazy when my girls walked down the aisle!  I guess I didn't even think they would DO it!  So anyway, the girls did a FABULOUS job and we were so proud of them!  I'll try to post the video that Ryan was trying to film of the girls coming down.  As you can see by the lovely :) quality of the video, Ryan was also VERY nervous with his shaky hands. :) Oh man... :) :) 

Anyway, the wedding was absolutely perfect.  And my sister was honestly the most beautiful and most happy bride I've ever seen.  I love you so much Sis and Congratulations to you and Cory!!!  

 Craig, Laura, Kamryn, Cory, Kara, Mom, Dad. Emily, Hailey, me, Ryan, Addy, Heather, and Kyle
The Bachelorette party on Thursday night
The Newlyweds!!!
Love you Sister!!

Absolutely gorgeous!!
Addy, Kamryn, Emily, Hailey

Trying to get a Grandchildren photo... :) 

Trying to get the girls to come down the aisle!!
Here they come!!!  

My dad and Kara surprised everyone with a choreographed dance to "My Girl."  It was SOOO cute and my dad has moves! :) 
Dancing with my girlies..

Cory and Hailey 

Ryan was the M.C. and one of the things he said was "Kara is a twin, she has nieces that are triplets.  The next number in that sequence is FOUR.  Cory, how does wedding night QUADS sound to you?"  By his look in this picture...I'm pretty sure I know how he feels about that. :) 
My amazing youth pastor and prayer partner Dave!  

So anyway, then we were supposed to fly home on Monday with Ryan's parents and leave Denver at 2:50p.m. We were just about out the door when we got a call that our flight was CANCELLED!  I couldn't believe it!  The only flight that we could take now...left at 9:50 p.m.  Which would put us in Chicago at 1:30....which would get us home after 3 A.M.  with 3 babies.  Yikes.  Then THAT plane got delayed....til 10:17 p.m.  Then we get on that plane and we sit on the runway til 11:10p.m.  We land in Chicago and get to the parking place...only to find that our battery was dead.  We got home and crawled into bed at 4:47 A.M. this morning. WHAT a long day.  The ONLY ONLY good thing about all of that was that I got to see a good high school friend at the airport...and the girls did sleep for the most part on the plane...even though they didn't go to bed til like 11:30 which is really 12:30 a.m. their time.  We all slept in til 10 a.m. today which was soooooo nice.  The girls were definitely worn out after our crazy busy week but overall, I know we all had a blast.  Always an adventure around here! :)