Monday, March 31, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OPA!

Surprise Opa...Tears of JOY!Pretty Cake
Opa & Henry...so Happy

Aunt Lisel, Aunt Kathy Stickel & Aunt Kathy Stinner Feeding Babies

Happy Birthday
He doesn't look 70!
Oma & Thomas
Aunt Kathy and Alex
Brothers! Heli & Opa!
Aunt Lisel reflecting!
Baby James...YUM!

Happy 70th Birthday Opa!


Today is Davids fathers 70th Birthday. Yesterday we (David, Ted, Rich & myself)threw him a surprise party here at our house. It was wonderful. We had Stinners as far as the eye could see. His children, brother and sister, his grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends all came. We tried to keep it as much as a surprise as we could. He seemed to enjoy himself a lot. Walking in he seemed to be a little overwhelmed. He shed tears of joy. It was such a wonderful site to see. We just wanted him to know that he is truly loved by all that know him. He spent hours getting caught up with all. There is nothing like seeing the joy in someones face when surrounded by loved ones.

The kids all had a wonderful time playing with each other. They are all getting so big. Austin ran from upstairs to downstairs playing with his cousins. The babies where all very well taken care of by Oma and all the Aunts,Uncles and cousins. I very rarely had a baby in hand. We are so thankful that everyone came and shared the special day with Opa!
We love you Opa.....and we wish you many, many more Happy Birthdays!

Week 32

Emerson...My Gerber Baby
Austin...I got your nose big bro
Alex playing
Bumper Babies
Max Playing
{{{{{{{SMOOOOOOOCH}}}}}}} Alex & Em...Brotherly love


Week 32

This was a wonderful week. The boys are beginning to turn into little mobile terrors. Both Max and Alex have begun to crawl. They can scoot themselves all around to get where they need to go or to grab a toy they want. Of course they all want the same toy and have actually begun to fight over the one toy the other one has. Most things we have three of, but they still fight over one. I'm sure this is just a vision of what is to come. Emerson is not crawling yet but we are sure he will be soon. I'm happy they didn't all start at once...can you imagine all of them going in different directions? They are all pretty mobile in their walkers. We put them in the hallway between the living room and dining room. There are hardwood floors in there and we have a rousing game of "bumper babies". I think they like being upright. The world must look so different from a "stand-up" position. They seem to interact more that way. They talk, coo and wave at each other. The other day we had a "Hiya" war. All three where screaming "Hiya, hiya, hiya" at each other. It was quite the site. All their little arms waving at each other. They still don't seem to like each other much. I'm sure it will come in time. I hope it will come in time. They are really into their toys now. They can press buttons and are learning "cause & effect". I'm really proud because this is an age appropriate action.

Austin is doing well. He is going through at "test" faze now. He tests everything we say and is constantly being told "no". I know all 5 year olds go through this so we are trying not to be too hard on him. He is doing much better in school though with his listening. And we are very happy about that. I try to keep him as occupied as possible at home but it's been a loooooooong winter and we are all a little sick of being in the house. I can't wait until Spring. We are looking into getting one of the mondo-super swing sets. You know the ones I mean. Those big wood three tier super sets with forts and rock walls and 4 swings. Oh my goodness they are expensive.

However if it will occupy my boys it's worth every penny.

SPRING HERE WE COME!




Sunday, March 23, 2008

Week 31 Happy 1st Easter Babies!

Happy Easter All!
Alex with the Easter animals
Emerson
Max
My Big boy got himself dressed...I'm so proud...and concerned!

Aunt Ella with Max


Week 31


Happy 1st Easter Babies!


It all happened so fast. It seems like yesterday that our babies where celebrating their first Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, Valentines, St. Patricks and now Easter. Like I said, it all happened so fast. We've had a crazy week of ups and downs. Everyone seems to be feeling OK however, teething is now becoming an issue. The boys are chewing on everything and their gums are all swollen and red. They are crying a lot more and their sleep schedules are all screwed up. My poor husband has been up and down for several nights now with Max and Alex. Emerson is my trooper. He sleeps between 10 and 12 hours nightly.

We took the boys out again on Friday. We are trying to do 1 outing a week to get the boys used to their car seats and the public in general. This time was a little different. I first took the boys to US itek(Davids business). They loved it. They where carried around by their cousins Renee and Amanda. All the employees paid attention to them and Uncle Ted even came over to say hi! We than abducted Daddy and went to Sam's Club. All was fine until it was time to check out. The boys where tired and hungry and started to fuss. People didn't seem to pay much attention to us there. Probably because I had two babies in one cart and David had 1 and Austin. Only a few people noticed we had three of them. Mostly the employees noticed. I think because everyone was Easter shopping and preoccupied. It was kind of nice to be almost invisible again.


Saturday afternoon I took Alex shopping. That was a trip in itself. We went to Burlington Coat Factory(quite shocked at their kids selection). We needed another walker and they had the style we where looking for. I do not recommend taking a baby with a car seat in the store since they probably only have around 20 carts and all seemed to be taken and the isles are not wide enough for their carts anyway or a stroller. Than we went to Target. That was a crazy experience. Their were people everywhere. We ran into a woman who was struggling with twins. I of course stopped and talked to her since I myself have had the experience with the huge car seats trying to fit them in the cart. We talked about all our kids for over 30 minutes. It was nice. Very few people can relate to my situation. Only other mothers of multiples can truly understand. It was a nice time out for me and Alex. We ended the day with a trip to IHOP for diner, where he was an angel!


In other Alex news...He has begun to flip himself over and scoot around. We are very proud of are little one since he was the one that was delayed in his movements more so than the other two. Now he seems to be overcoming his issues and it looks like he'll be crawling any minute. Now if Emerson would just follow his brothers. He is definitely more of a sitter than a crawler. Which actually may be better for all of us since now 2 are mobile!


Easter morning started with Austin jumping into bed with us at 7:00am wanting to find his Easter basket and the eggs that the Easter bunny hid throughout the house. He was so excited. He ran from room to room gathering all the eggs (hopefully next year will be nice enough outside to hide them). He found all 27 eggs that where filled with Peeps, Jelly Beans and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. He found his basket and the toys and books for the babies right away. We had planned to spend the day at my In-laws house and have dinner with them. We got all ready than Max fell asleep! Since he hadn't been sleeping I decided to stay back with the triplets until he was awake. Than Emerson fell asleep, than Alex. In the mean time Max wakes up and pukes all over himself. Than Emerson wakes up and finally Alex.....just in time...for Max to fall back to sleep. Needless to say, I never made it out of the house. Oh well, this is my life! I ate Easter dinner cold standing at my counter, holding a baby covered in puke. Happy Easter Everyone!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Week 30- Happy 7 Month Birthday Babies!

My babies 7 months ago!
Alex, my intellectual
Emerson, my carnivore

Max crawling to his toy
Austin and Alex- What a proud big Bro!

Week 30

Happy Birthday Babies!

7 months and counting. The time has flown by for me. The babies are doing so amazingly. I can't believe they are rolling, sitting up(with assistance), talking (mama...whoo hoo) and now crawling. OK only Max is crawling but put all the babies in their walkers and back up. They cruise in those things. They have just come so far since being in those little incubators with all the tubes and wires. I look back at the pictures and feel such depression that my babies had to go through all that. As their mother I will always feel responsible for not keeping them in longer. If only I where several inches taller maybe I could have but frankly, I ran out of room! I know I shouldn't feel guilty, but I always will. It's like guilt accompanies motherhood no matter what.

OK, so we ventured out this weekend with the triplets(Austin was with Grandma). WOW! What a circus. I actually heard that circus music in the background as we walked through the mall! Yup, we went to the mall. Why we went to the mall is beyond me, but we did. Within moments of exiting the minivan, people began the "Oh my goodness...three"! Than, after securing them in the triplet stroller or as I like to call it "The TRAIN", we entered the mall. Only to have people STOP....let me reiterate....STOP directly in front of us and say...."Are they triplets?". NO....we've abducted 3 different peoples children and decided to parade them around The Boulevard Mall! Than starts the inevitable whispers, "Wow, three babies", "Triplets?", "OMG three", "Twins...No Triplets!". Like we don't know there are three of them. We had people make the comments "You are so blessed", "What a blessing", "You must have a lot of patients" and "Good luck!". Those aren't so bad. The ones i can't stand are the people who stop directly in front of you(blocking us from walking any further) and wanna tell us "how much work it's gotta be", "how tired I am", or that look of utter disgust, you know the "better you than me look"! We had people ask these questions..."Are they all yours?", who else's would they be. To David, "How many jobs do you have", "do you have super sperm" (yup someone actually said that). "Are they identical?", look at them, NO! "You had a c-section, right?", "Are those three twins?", WOW! And my favorite..."Do they have the same birthday?". Are people in general just completely stunned by the fact that their are three of them and it turns their brains to mush? I'm just curios. I got to the point when we walked by people that I would say..."yes, they are triplets, yes their are three of them, yes they are all boys and yes we know it's gonna be rough." I felt such a feeling of anxiety for my children. They are going to have to live their lives like a carnival side show. They don't deserve that. People will always stop and stare at them. I know most people don't mean them harm but, come on people...they are human beings not circus freaks. I don't think we will be venturing out to the mall again anytime soon. However, I do plan on getting T-shirts made....Yes we are triplets, Yes we are boys, Yes we are cute, now back off before we throw poop on you! Think that will get the message across? Poor Austin, he's gonna have to be such a protective big brother in the future! I can already see the "what are you looking at?" look in his face!

On a much lighter note, Max got his first war wound. While struggling with a toy, Max knocked it loose and straight into his eye! Now, my poor lil man has a small bruise under his left eye. First of many I'm sure but just thought I would share that. Also, I heard the most beautiful thing a mother could hear. Emerson started saying "Mama". It started out a small "mmmmmmmm" sound, went into a "mmmmmaaaaaaaaa" and ended up the most amazing sound "mmmmaaaammmmaaa". I haven't been this happy since Austin muttered "mama" for the first time almost 4 years ago. I am one proud mama right now! It was worth the wait!





Thursday, March 13, 2008

It's Official

It's Official!

At 9:50 this morning Maxim Charles Stinner crawled! It wasn't his normal "scoot & pull" it was an authentic crawl. He wanted desperately to get to Emerson so he could bite his toes. He got up on all 4's and crawled. I am so proud!!!!!!! He looked at me so happy, like "did you see me mom?". What a milestone for my big boy. I just wanted to have everyone share in my joy!!!!!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Week 29

Sidney & Austin in the Yard Playing in the snow!Man it's CCCOOOOLLLLDDDD!
Max hated the orange stuff
Alex enjoyed itEmerson thought it was just ok
Alexander reading to the other children
Emerson sitting by himself for the 1st time

Emerson says, What are you looking at?
Alex, the double fisted teether



Max is gonna kick your butt!
Playtime
Alex...too cute
Max....my sweet baby




Week 29

Well the boys are finally feeling better. That was the longest couple of weeks of my life. The boys weren't sleeping well, I wasn't sleeping well and life was chaotic. I hate that! God forbid life stray from my well manicured existence. It really gets me frustrated when we vary from our routine...damn OCD! Actually everything hasn't completely returned to normal. The boys are still having sleeping issues but I think that may be more teething than whatever got them sick. Max has been getting up within an hour or two of going to sleep and staying up. Usually he's screaming at the top of his lungs the whole time. That's what makes me think it's his teeth more than anything. No teeth have broken through yet on any of them. That's got to be so painful for my lil babies. I feel so bad for them when they have my whole hand in their mouths and they're going to town like little pitbulls. The second they get teeth, there will be NO CHEWING ON THE MAMA!
So Alex is talking up a storm. This week he started saying "poop, bubba & baba". Still no Mama or Dada. I'm sure they will come in time. The other babies do a lot of babbling. They both say "Hiya" and other baby coos but nothing truly substantial yet.
Austin is getting ready for Kindergarten. He is starting to read more and talks like an adult. He is looking so forward to going on the school bus, he wants to know all about it and asks all the "Kid appropriate" questions like, "where will it pick me up? Will I have friends on the bus? Does the bus use Eco friendly fuels?...." Just kidding on the last one but those of you who know him, know it's just a matter of time before he does say something like that.
I am so getting cabin fever lately. Did you all see that snow fall over the weekend....Holy crap! I am DONE with the snow. The boys and I have been in the house all winter long. I am starting to seriously want to scream. I can't wait to got out side and play with the boys in the yard or go for a walk...yes we have a triplet stroller...thanks Daddy! Fresh air is a luxury I have not had the privilege of experiencing in many moons! Who talks like that...see what I mean about the cabin fever...it's affecting my brain!Anyway, Austin went out and played in the snow with his dad. He loved it. He ws sledding and laughing and the dog was trying desperately to pull him, it was a blast to watch....from inside my house...somebody let me out!!!!!
The boys are trying new things everyday. Max is the only one mobile though...thank God! Emerson sat all by himself today with no assistance! That is a huge accomplishment. He was upright for about a minute before he realized what he was doing. It was amazing. Alex is my rocker. He will rock from side to side to get what he wants.But he shows no signs of crawling or scooting anytime soon. They are also trying new foods. Today we had green mush that the boys spit back at me so I tried orange slop which they loved and then followed up with some pinkish brown stuff that they loved! Gotta love Gerber, some of the fruits aren't half bad...y'know you've tried it!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Update

My sick babies this morning
Look at that red nose & sad eyes

Does this baby look sick to u?The only HAPPY Baby!

Update




As you all have read the boys have been sick. I thought things where getting better, but I was wrong! Yesterday we had a little set back. David is out of time (just for 2 days, 1 night), and the boys where in rare form. They where very fussy yesterday during the day. Not wanting to be put down I was in between a rock and a hard place! My Aunt Terri came around 4pm to help me out...but again...they cried and cried and cried. This continued until around 8pm. After my Aunt and Thomas left I put all three babies to sleep. After 15 minutes or so Max cried. I went up stairs tapped his bottom(it soothes them) and he fell back to sleep. 15 minutes later, he cried again...I repeated the motion...tap, tap, tap...sleep. Meanwhile I was cleaning up, spraying Lysol on everything, getting the water boiled for the next day, running the dishwasher, doing the laundry and getting the garbage out. Amongst other things that I do every night. Most people know this by now but I have terrible OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), my house is always spotless, everything in it's place. Although since the babies where born it has subsided a little bit, but not much! So anyway, this crying, tapping, sleeping thing went on for about 2 hours. After finally hearing from David, I finally decided to go to bed around 12 am. No sooner did I lay my head on the pillow did Max start to scream again. I knew he wasn't feeling well...the crust around his eyes and nose was forming, his eyes where watering and he was congested. I put him in bed with me, thinking this might help him relax.....it didn't. We went from upstairs to downstairs from the swing to the crib to my bed. Nothing was helping. He was screaming! I tried Tylenol, a warm wash cloth rub down and rocking...for hours...nothing! Finally, 3am my darling Max falls asleep. I just rest my head down on the pillow and ...................................WAAAAAAAAAAA! Alex starts screaming! I give him a baba, hoping he is just a little hungry. Should I be so lucky? Nope...Alex wants to talk, he coos, caas, Opas and refuses to go to sleep. I put him in the crib, he screams, in my bed...he pinches and then screams. We go down stairs...he screams. Again, I try Tylenol, a warm wash cloth rub down and rocking...for hours....nothing! Finally, he falls asleep in the swing. In the meantime, I am freaking out because Max is on my bed. Just then......................WAAAAAAAAAAAA! Max is awake!


I call David who is Washington D.C. for a conference. I'm not sure if I needed moral support or if I wanted to wake his butt up...I mean the nerve of him getting sleep! hahahahaaha, just kidding. I needed support. For the first time since they have been born, I felt myself loosing control. I can't believe i was feeling that way. It wasn't like I was going to do something stupid, it was more like I felt myself wanting to cry...so I did. I cried, I prayed and I let my children cry for a few minutes until I regained my composure. I than put them in their swings and let them cry themselves to sleep. It only took a few moments but it seemed like a lifetime.


I sat up in the then quiet living room and looked at the clock, it was 6:47am. The sun had risen and I could hear the traffic picking up outside. I thought, "If I lay my head down, i can get 1 hour of sleep before Austin has to get up for school". Just than, I hear "Mommy, are you down there?". He was up! And so was Emerson, My two boys who seemed virtually unfazed by last nights events where awake. Happy, smiling, little angels, so bright eyed and happy to see Mommy! Like every morning, wanting breakfast. I stood up, rubbed my eyes and tended to my children....doing what I do best...being a Mom, no matter what time of the day or night.


Last nights events where my first true test as a mother. I think I passed with flying colors. Everyone survived the night, including me, tattered, torn and exhausted. Right now, I can be found lying on the floor with my sleeping babies, typing this blog rather than sleeping because I know if I close my eyes...it will begin again! I wouldn't change it for the world! Oh crap....THEY'RE UP! Here we go again!

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Week 28

Emerson, I love that face.
Alex.
What are you lookin' at?

1..2...3..Max pins Austin for the win!
Daddy & Alex
Max is mobile
Don't make me tell u again!
Austin cracks himself up
Emerson cutie boy

Week 28

DEAR GOD HELP US, MAX IS MOBILE! My darling little peanut, Max "The Crazy Man" Stinner has begun to crawl. Now what do I do? Within the last couple of days, Max realized he can stick his butt in the air while on his belly and lunge forward creating movement. Today, I went to take a shower, all three babies on the living room floor sleeping peacefully in their boppy's. I had the baby monitor in the bathroom with me when I heard Alex start to stir. I than heard Max ans subsequently Emerson. I got dressed and came downstairs within 3 or 4 minutes of hearing the first baby make a sound. I find Alex and Emerson in the same positions I left them in but Mr. Max was half way across the living room on his belly underneath his swing. He looks at me with this huge smile like"Ah ha! I did it". Like I said God help us....it's just a matter of time before they are all mobile!

So, last week the triplets had what I perceived to be "flu like" symptoms. Cranky, lethargic, oozing stuff, pukey and feverish. Now my poor children have developed ear infections! I'm new at this because Austin has been a relatively healthy child. Aside from the flu twice and the occasional head cold, he is healthy. Now I have these three non-verbal children crying uncontrollable, not sleeping, oozing the nastiest stuff I've ever seen pulling at their ears and SCREAMING. I feel helpless. I know every mother goes through this feeling of complete helplessness. But today I am feeling more helpless than usual. Poor Alex slept with me for 3 nights. He was so congested. He was choking on his own snot and I couldn't help him. He is coming out of it slowly after taking him to the pediatrician and getting antibiotics. However, within the last 24 hours both Max & Emerson have become symptomatic. I have started them on the meds and hopefully in a week everyone will be better. I guess I should feel lucky. Three babies born 8 weeks premature and they only have had 1 major cold.

The boys have continued their physical therapy for the past few months now. They are doing amazingly. They are all sitting up(w/little assistance). They roll and now Max is starting to crawl. This is actually right where they should be. It's amazing that they are not delayed. They are almost completely age appropriate. In fact, Alex's verbal skills are unbelievable. He already is saying "Hiya, ooooooh, ahhhhh, ut oh" and most recently "Opa". That's right....not mama, not dada....OPA. We are not sure if he is referring to Davids dad which the kids refer to as "Opa", Grandpa in German, or if he thinks Austin is Opa. Every time he sees Austin he says Opa, Opa, Opa. So he may be confused or maybe he's just playing mind games. We'll see.