What a Week!

Well, we have been having some crazy times around the Z-Ranch lately! It all started with "Typhoid Luke", as I now refer to him sometimes (not usually out loud!) Last week he started showing cold symptoms and quickly developed pink eye. John soon followed, and they both caught a pretty big cold. I was maintaining quite well, along with Eli and Zach, until bam! It hit me over the weekend, and really hasn't let up since. Zach and Eli are still fighting the good fight, so hopefully they won't succumb too. It's almost amazing that they aren't sick, with all of the transfer of germs that has to take place around here!

But in the midst of all this, which truly hasn't been easy, we have had some really awesome things happening with the boys. First, and most exciting, Eli has taken his very first steps! On Wednesday, we caught him moving between two bog toys that he holds on to walk around, and so I put him about a foot away and said, "Come see Mama!" and he took two little steps! It was so exciting! We were all there to see it too - how cool!

The other guys haven't taken any steps yet, but they're moving around pretty well when they have something to hold onto. The cool thing that Zach and Luke have been up to is they started chasing each other! Crawling, of course, one will go about 10 feet, look back, see the other guy coming, then they both laugh and laugh! They take turns as chaser and chasee - laughing the whole time. This is the first interaction between the boys that seems meaningful. They have always liked to touch each other, and for the last couple of months they take toys from each other, but this is really playing together. It's cool because this is the benefit of being a multiple, and we're starting to see it.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, but I really don't have the energy to do much more today, and I really wanted to tell everyone about Eli's steps! More to come soon!

So Much Fun!

Eli, Luke and Zach with Great-Grandma Jean

Eli, Luke and Zach cracking up!

It's football season! Zach, Eli and Luke

The Amigos have been having some fun lately! We have been so busy - still I'm sorry that I haven't blogged in a while! I'll be better once everything settles down (I know - that will be in about 25 years, right?) I have tried to make up for it by putting in lots of pictures!

We had an awesome visit from my sister, Nadine, her daughter Katie, and my Gram, Jean. They stayed for a whole week and it was just so cool to get to share the boys with them. This is something that has been a little tough since the boys have been here - being so far from so many special people. But we always have lots of visitors, which is fun! John's Mom and Step dad also came to visit. We're so lucky!

Nadine swimming with Zach and Eli

Katie with Luke and Zach before bath time

They boys were just laughing!

Our friend Staci also came to visit - we know her Mom will love this shot!

The boys also had their first political experience. They went to the Primary election for Arizona on August 22. I didn't influence them at all - they are free-minded little citizens! But since they didn't earn the vote yet, I just voted for all of us!

John and I finally got the front room baby proofed, now that the boys are motoring around like crazy! We have that room in such good shape, the boys only almost kill themselves about once a day. No, they're getting very steady on their feet, but we have at least one bonked head a day usually - thank goodness for helmets!

The boys are helping Daddy baby proof

Eli is quality-checking Daddy's work

Luke wakes up smiling every time- I wish!

Eli and Zach just hangin' at the cribs

(If you look closely, you can see Eli's first act of vandalism -

he started to pull the border down from the wall!)

I have about 100 stories to share so I will be blogging more soon! Have a great day!

What are "Things that are already gone?"

The Jeopardy answer to the following list of things that I was just thinking about. As I watch the three amigos crawling around (they're all crawling like crazy - so cute!) I started to think about the things they're already done with.

The real reason this came up is because Sunday the boys had their first real graduation! They graduated from the Infants room at church to the Crawlers room. (I used to count graduating to a new size diapers, but that doesn't take much skill). So because they can all motor around - and possibly hurt other not-so-mobile babies - they move up to the Crawler room. They're going to be the little fishes in the bigger pond!

So here are a few things that they are forever done with (hopefully!):

1. Binkies - these were gone way earlier than I thought they would be. Probably around 4-5 months, the boys started losing interest one by one, pretty closely together though. There was a brief period of intense thumb sucking, but that seems to be slowing down as well. Tough little cookies!

Luke, Eli and Zach - four weeks old

2. Swaddling - This too was done around month 4, but we were sad to see it go. Swaddling was so comforting for the babies, and John was really good at it so that was his thing. We had to stop because the boys - first Zach - were busting out on their own at night. We could have got bigger blankets but then thought - where do you stop? Do you buy quilts to swaddle your 7 year old? So we let it go. Weren't they cute though?

Luke, Eli and Zach - 1 week old

3. Late night feedings - Done for months now - probably at 6 months the boys were sleeping through most of the night - we might have been doing 5:30 am feedings then. Now the boys sleep from 7:30 pm to 7 am with relatively few issues. I say relatively, because with three of them, it can seem like a lot. Probably 2-3 nights a week we have issues in the evening, but rarely late at night. It's not bad though - one-on-one cuddle time!

Luke, Zach and Eli holding their own bottles

4. Me saying "Help! They don't do anything" - I'm sure I drove a few people over the edge with my incessant worry about the kids when they were first born. Looking back, I realize how crazy that was, and I've been trying to make up for it by being fairly normal on the worry scale. Especially now when I can see them moving around and doing all kinds of cool things, I can sit back a little and say, "See? They're each so awesome in entirely different ways! Where did all that worry get me?" I need to have faith in God that although the way this life leads may not always be smooth, He will get us over any terrain. We're so blessed!



Eli and Luke romping around


Zach and Eli in their "Thing" shirts

So, I have to get my emotions under control because the boys are only 9 months old, and if I can't handle their first graduation with poise, how will we all survive the next 25 years?! I'm proud to say I didn't even sniffle at church when the lady said they were graduating - until she gave me the little card to put in their baby books. That almost brought on the flood! Hope you enjoy the new (and old) pictures!

9 months - wow!

We love to "Stand up tall"! Eli, Zach and Luke

I have been thinking of things to put in the blog now for a couple of weeks, but I never seem to get around to it! So here it is, might not be great but there's so much going on that I really want to share. I really appreciate this blog, because it gives me a place to tell you all what's happening with the boys, in a much different way than just chatting on the phone - which I do quite a bit of. It's also special to think that when someone on the other side of the country sees a cute picture of the boys and smiles, they get to see a little bit of the special world that is going on around here!

The boys just turned 9 months old on Friday, and they're so much different than they were! They are so much more independent from me and different from each other, it's just really cute to watch. Here's what's going on with each guy...

Luke

Luke is such a special little baby. He is as he has been since he was born, quietly observant. He's a sweet happy boy, but not exuberantly. He started crawling this weekend! It was such a cute process to watch him figure it out - what an amazing blessing that John and I were both there and watched him first begin to be mobile! Even when he's crawling, he has a patience about him as he goes from toy to toy. He should be done with his helmet in a couple of weeks. Then I hope he'll quickly learn (not too painfully) that it feels different to ram into something when you're not wearing your gear! He's done so well, and his head looks great!

Luke just starting to crawl

Eli

Well, Eli is a little crazy child! He's so fiery! He's not crawling yet, but he's climbing! He lunges at something (me, lots of times) and then just climbs and squirms up whatever it is he's climbing. He pulls himself up on almost anything. He's having trouble conquering the couch - no hand-holds. Other than that, he has 6 big teeth - four across the top and two on bottom. He looks like he has a headful of choppers, but not quite! Teething fun is nowhere near over, I'm afraid.

He just got his helmet a little over a week ago. He has always liked to sleep on his back and the result was a big flat back of the head. The helmet will help his skull to grow out, and he'll probably have to wear it about 5 months. I totally underestimated him though! What a lesson! I thought he would have a really hard time adjusting, because it takes him some time to get used to new things. Not so with the helmet! He has had no problems at all with it - you never can tell!

One of our favorite toys! The wipe box!

Zach

Zach is a little lover baby. He loves hugs and gives big, wet, open-mouthed kisses that would make Scarlet O'Hara blush! At first I thought he was trying to bite my face, since he approached without any malice, the way he approaches everything that he wants to chew on. But one time he got close and didn't bite - it was so sweet! He's a chubby little dude and when you tickle him he rolls up into a little ball of baby. He's very content, so I have to be careful not to let him just while the day away, although that's not always a bad idea! He's making some crawling motions, but not a lot yet. Again, he's pretty much content where he is, playing with whatever he has. He also just stares at people - people at Wal-Mart just love that. (I'll have to write a whole blog later about our Wal-Mart experiences). He has two upper teeth two lower teeth. I think there's a distinct space between his top teeth, which is super-cute! Hopefully I'll be able to get some smiley-teeth pictures - very elusive!

Zach and Mama

I could write forever, but time is short and I want to give a shout out to my big man, John. I spend a lot of time talking about the little ones, but today is a special day for us - our eighth anniversary! It's amazing how fast those years have gone by, but it's still so exciting to see what each new year will bring. This one obviously has been a year of change, but like most other things we've gone through as a couple, we have become stronger through the first 9 months of our boys' lives. I'm blessed over and over again, but especially with John.

Here are some action photos - more to come soon!

Zach and Eli learning to play ball with Dad

Zach had been trying to eat Luke's foot - so laid-back!

Luke and Eli checkin' out each others' head gear!

Road Trip!

It's almost like home, but something's different...

Well, the Amigos went on their first road trip! John was on vacation last week, so we decided to "stop guessin' and start messin'" and get on the road. John and I have always liked road trips, but we've been nervous about taking the boys. There are so many reasons, but then we decided we could do it and we did! John's Grandma Britt lives in Tucson, and we haven't seen her for a few months. Also, he has a great friend Kevin who we haven't seen in a while either, so we called them up and they were all willing to have us invade for an afternoon.

We (mostly I, because I'm a nut) spent the day before making lists and determining the best way to pack everything so that it would be easy to get to everything we needed. Nine bottles, a gallon of purified water, a container of formula, 15 diapers, 3 extra outfits, 9 billion toys... you get the picture. So we started off right before the babies' first nap time, around 8:30. The trip down was great - they slept for part of the time, then I gave them bottles while the van was zipping down the road. Amazingly, that wasn't too bad! Eli is holding his bottle almost all on his own, so I wedged myself between the other two in the back - presto!

We got to Britt's place and spent about 2 hours there. The boys did great - at first! They played around, didn't throw up on anything, generally behaved themselves. But then they got tired, and they only nap at home in their cribs. We put them in their seats, but only Eli would sleep. So we took off, thinking they would sleep on the way to Kevin's. Not so much...

John, Britt, Zach, Eli and Luke in the lobby

When we got to Kevin's though, it was fine. The boys ate again, and played with Kevin and Sondra's three amazing kids. Some of Sondra's family was visiting too, and they just loved the boys as well. They boys did really great and we were able to have a super nice visit. We left at nap time again, thinking (again) that the boys would be soooo tired they'd probably sleep the 2-1/2 hours back to Phoenix. Again, not so much. They slept a little, then got cranky and really were not happy for about the last 1-1/2 hours. I sat back in the back with them and played, sang and read to them til I was almost hoarse, and we finally made it home.

Zach may very well have his first crush!

All in all, it was great! We had such a nice time visiting, and now we know that, although it wasn't "easy squeezy" (as I like to hope) we know we can do it now! And it only gets easier, right? (I can almost hear the people with 2 year-olds laughing out loud!) Here are some more pics from our first adventure...

The adults were eating lunch, and I glanced over to find this!

Zach, what's so interesting under there?

Eli can't decide which beautiful lady should get to hold him!

Luke was showing off his teeth!

Photo Shoot

We had a wonderful photo shoot with our friend Don and a professional photographer, Joanna Polling, this weekend. The boys were so good - over an hour of taking their photos and they were such troopers - I really can't even believe it! Anyway, there are a few pictures on her blog that I thought you all might like to check out. I'll probably post some on here once we get them, but I'm just so excited to share! Here is her website: http://www.joannapolling.com/blog/. They're under "Triplets". Enjoy!

Eight Months - Lots of Changes!

Zach, Luke and Eli - just playing around!

Well, now I know why I should blog more often... there's so much to tell you all about! First, let me start with what each of the boys have been up to lately (literally and figuratively).

Zach

Zachy is up to 21 lbs. 6.5 oz. now. I know it feels like he weighs that much every morning when I first pick him up, but I just can't believe he's more than tripled his weight! It really makes you think about how far they've come. Zach can sit up really well on his own now, and he's such a good eater that we've been able to reuse his bib a couple of times. This might not seem like a big deal, but when you go through 9 bibs a day, every little bit helps! He's totally sweet and always content, and he just loves to be around his brothers. He has two teeth and says dada (all day, every day!). I took him all by himself to Wal-Mart yesterday, and although we love the attention we get with all boys, it was fun to just walk around all by ourselves with no one stopping to chat. I hope that doesn't sound resentful - we really love talking to everyone when we go out. But it was nice for us to have some alone time!

Eli

Eli is now weighing in at 20 lbs. 12.5 oz. Some of this can be accounted for by his abundance of teeth! You can see plainly above his two little bottom ones, but what you can't see yet are the two coming in on top - not the middle teeth, but the ones to the outside of those. I can't wait to get a picture of the little vampire baby! He is still the wildest child that we have, but he is so sweet and smiley - usually. He sits up great on his own; he can even sit up from a reclining position. He's working on crawling, and he's getting close. He also can almost hold his own bottle - so cool! He needs a little help here and there, and sometimes he just doesn't feel like it, but it will be a great help when they can hold their own bottles! Eli and Luke had a tiny little cold last week, but they were great and really didn't need anything as far as medicine - just a little extra lovin'. Eli loooves to hug!

Luke

Luke is now 18 lbs. 6 oz. He's still smaller than the other boys, but still by about the same margin, so he's growing great! He can say dada and (drum roll please...) mama!! He said it on Saturday, June 26 and I was soo proud! I love to hear him say it, even if it is just a random syllable to him. He sits up great on his own and still has only the two teeth. The coolest thing about him, and I've noticed this for a while, is he gets so happy when anyone else is happy. For example, Eli will love to be tickled, but when you move on to someone else, he gets quiet. Luke just giggles and laughs when anyone is having fun, and I think that says a lot about him. He's such a little sweetie. Also, his head shape is improving dramatically. The last time we went to the doctor he was at 9 mm out of symmetry (started at 19 mm) and 5 mm is considered normal. If you really start to look around, you realize not too many people have "normal" shaped heads! Anyway, he doesn't have another appointment for 2 more weeks, and I'm hoping the helmet will come off soon after that. He's so good with it - it really has been no trouble at all, except you can't kiss his little head as much as you (or I) might like.

Well, this blog has grown to novel-length (as usual) so I'll sign off more and try to write again soon. I'll leave off with an action shot of boys playing with their "piano" - a super cool toy that makes lots of different musical sounds. What fun stuff they have to play with!