Monday, August 24, 2009

Vacation!

Emerson in the pool
Max chomping on fresh veggies from mommy's garden.
Alex just being a cutie
Maxim and Emerson playing in the fort.
Max, making my heart leap! Daredevil!
So big. Maxim climbing the rock wall with no shoes on!
Griffin swimming
looking like his daddy!
David and Alex.
Aunt Ella and Griffin
Austin eating his ice cream at the zoo...it was 90 degrees!
My boys at the zoo. David on vacation...on the phone with his employees!
Alex enjoyed his ice cream while Griffin drank some water.
Emerson obviously doesn't understand the concept of the ice cream cone. Neither did Max since he had just bit the bottom of the cone off and watched the melting ice cream drip onto his lap.

Vacation!

I finally convinced my husband after 2 years to take a vacation. Most people don't realize that when you own a business a vacation is never really that. There are always calls to make, employee issues and 1 or 2 meetings that will interfere with your so called "vacation". Since the children are still very young, we decided to stay home. This may not sound like an awesome vacation to some, heck it doesn't sound that great to me but I will take what I can get.

We decided to stay home to get things done around the house, go to the zoo, enjoy the yard, swim and spend some time at America's Fair. Well, the week started out great. The weather was, well...HOT! On the triplets actual birthday(Monday) we went to the zoo. It would have been a great day but the heat rose to an awful 90 degrees and with the humidity peaking at 90% it was unbearable. We left after a couple of hours and headed home for a swim. The boys LOVE the pool. It takes some coaxing but eventually Max and Emerson joined Griffin, Austin and Alexander in the pool with David, myself, Adrianne, Jose and Christian. We spent the day swimming and playing in the pool. Than with my mom and her husband joining us we had an impromptu birthday party, complete with cake and other desserts. I think the boys loved it!

Most of the days where spent in the pool or yard. We did some shopping which the boys hate but tolerate. I always bring plenty of snacks and toys to keep them occupied. On Wednesday we headed to America's Fair. Well, the weather was again just sweltering. There is a reason we live in Buffalo...we don't like the heat. The boys lasted about 4 hours before just freaking out. They where tired, hot and sticky. We looked at very few things and realized the boys are just way to young to truly enjoy that kind of outing. The rest of the week we hung out at home. The weather had turned rainy so in between rain drops we would play outside. We enjoyed movies and family time. We even went out to lunch. It wasn't uneventful but the boys ate well and seemed to like it. David and I even got a date night thanks to our Nanny Deb! Real adult time away from the house. We shopped for ourselves and had a lovely dinner, and NO chicken nuggets where involved.

All in all we had some good bonding moments on our vacation. Nothing too eventful, just some good quality time. Now if I can only convince him to take another one before the snow flies!

The Littlest Love of My Life

Cutie Boy!
Sitting up all by myself.
He loves to party.
Relaxin'
I love the eyes!


The Littlest Love of My Life

When I found out I was pregnant with Griffin, I was shocked. I couldn't believe after struggling with fertility issues, adopting and multiples(through fertility drugs not IVF), that I was pregnant and on my own. The triplets where only 7 months old. I was just getting into a routine and than I was pregnant. I had no idea how I was going to do it. I know I have David and he has always been a huge support for me. But let's face it our family support is limited on many levels. We where going to have to do it on our own! I have never in my life had to face such a challenge but I knew in my heart that God would never have blessed us with this baby if we couldn't handle it.

When Griffin was born with a Pnumothorax(collapsed lung)I was devestated and confused. How could a full term 8.5lb baby boy be born sick? Several times in the first few days of his life we almost lost my little baby. I was told upon checkout that it was "touch and go a few times."...WHAT??????? I was never told that when I was in the hospital with him. Within 2 weeks he completely healed and we where home. His brothers showed no interest in our new addition. Austin wanted to hold him a bit but the than 17 month old triplets barely knew he was there. Aside from me nursing and him being on my lap they showed no concern with what he was doing here.

Fast forward 7 months. My little baby boy is now huge. 19lbs. 3 teeth. Sitting. Standing(with help). Trying desperately to crawl, but efficiently rolling to the toys he wants. Saying "mamamaamamamamama". Saying "dadadadadadadaddadada". A full head of spikey blond hair and curiously exploring the world around him. He loves to go on adventures. He will shop all day, he loves the zoo and is starting to play actively with his big brothers. The triplets now love him. They give him toys and food...even when they shouldn't. I find myself saying "don't feed the baby peanut butter and jelly sandwiches", "who gave the baby pie?", "how did Griffin get a pop tart?". This can be a little nerve wrecking but I have learned to watch them like a hawk! It's a little tough because Griffin is in his walker and can seriously cruise in that thing. He can run from me when I am trying to get something away from him. I think the other kids actually block for him. It's like a football game in my home and the offense is unbelievable.

I never thought of myself as lucky. That was until recently. I looked at my 5 children playing on the floor, together. I realized at that moment that they where all meant to be our children. I can't imagine my life without any one of them. There in the middle was my littlest love. He was rolling around grabbing toys and laughing at his brothers. The baby days are almost behind us. We have a first grader, 3 toddlers and 1 up and coming. It's going so fast. I've said before, I 'm afraid to blink. I don't want to miss a moment.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Happy 2nd Birthday Boys!

The amazing Sesame Street Birthday CakeEmerson...
Maxim...
Alexander
Us and the birthday boys...ok they where unwilling to sit!
Austin...hanging out!
A boy and his Nanny! Poor Max had a belly ache and Deb was the only one who could help! We LOVE her!
Emerson and his Uncle Mike
Tio Jose aka Elmo and Alexander
The #2 birthday cookies I made that disappeared so fast!
Papa and Griffin
Best Friends Austin and Zach!
I just loved this picture of Max.
Elmo and the boys...ok it got better
Owen, Griffin, Austin and Poocho with Elmo

Happy 2nd Birthday Boys!
I know it's been a while since I blogged but it has been a busy few weeks. Preparing for the triplets birthday was actually not bad this year. We owned all party accessories...tables, chairs, tents etc..So that was a no brainer. We had the meat(fried chicken and pizza's) catered, everyone brought salads and other goodies. I made homemade zucchini bread, cutout cookies and I ordered an amazing cake! The decorations where a mix of everything Sesame Street I could find and left over decorations from Austin's 2nd birthday. He thought it was so cool that I still had everything from his second birthday and I again saved it so I will have it for Griffin's! We purchased the commercial bounce house and man was that a God send! We hired a photographer and that was a huge load off my mind. So like I said it was pretty easy to execute. The day before my brother-in-law Jose and my sister Adrianne helped us set up tables and chairs. That morning I had my sister Gabrielle show up early and help me set up the rest and decorate. It was not stressful at all! I wish all my parties could go that smoothly.

The triplets woke up from their nap about an hour before everyone was supposed to show up. It was actually perfect timing since I was completely done setting up. I got them dressed in their new Sesame Street shirts. Emerson was Elmo, Alexander was Cookie Monster and Maxim was Oscar the Grouch. Now if you know my kids these three characters are perfectly suitable for my boys. I took them outside to show them their decorations and they where just blown away! They where so excited! They ran from one end of the yard to the other looking at all the cool Elmo and other Sesame character stuff. Alexander(the talker) ran around saying "Elmo... look Mommy ...Elmo, Cookie, Bee Bird...see it???????". Emerson climbed up onto a row of tables and ran back and forth grabbing the centerpieces, hats and noise makers. He had such a big smile on his face. Maxim was in shock. I don't think he knew what to think since his yard was transformed into Sesame Street. He just kept running to the next decoration and pointing.

It started out such a bad day for me. Like I said in my previous post my Grandmother passed away early in the morning the day of the party. To loose her that morning was almost surreal. The night before the party I was at the hospital with her and she said "the party will great, don't be sad for me". I knew she wanted the party to go on and for the boys to be happy. She didn't want us to be sad or to cry for her. It was hard but we did as she wanted. She was on our minds the whole day though.
David is a kid at heart!
Pinata fun!

What a blessing to have so many people in our lives that love our children. We had almost 90 people show up throughout the day. It's hard to even comprehend. All these people came to celebrate with us. The day was misty. It threatened to rain continuously but amazingly enough the heavy rain held off until only a few guests remained. Elmo showed up and made several appearances. The boys at first where leery but within minutes they where chasing Elmo all over the yard. Once Elmo went into the house , Maxim chased him screaming and crying while banging on the door. He wanted Elmo back so of course he did. The cake was beautiful. We ordered from a local bakery since our dear friend Jenn(who usually makes our cakes) had just had a baby. It was a wonderful cake with Elmo, Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch along with the boys names in the Sesame Street, street signs. We had a pinata and all the kids ran and played and ate. Aside from a small belly ache that sidelined Maxim for a while the day went off perfectly. Not even the rain could stop us. They all seemed to love the attention they went from person to person, eating, talking and playing. It seems as if they smiled all day long. Every time I looked around to do a head count they where with someone else. Everyone with big smiles. We ate our meal, than brought out the cake. The rain kicked up for a minute but it almost didn't matter. Everyone was content. No one went running or left. They all came to celebrate, so they did. We sang to the boys ate cake and partied some more. The kids did the pinata in an orderly fashion and everyone got candy and toys. We took a group photo with most of the people from the party. I could have never done that had I been taking the pictures. Some people had already left and others came after but we got most of the crew in the picture. I know we will look back at this party and see all the faces of those we love and that love us. Everyone that was important to us was there. However we did miss my Dad and Sue and Grandpa. We know it was a hard day for them so I just wanted to tell them that they where missed dearly.

Michael, Lisa, Dee and Steve
Willie and Barrond, we love them!
My cousin Molly and her girls Julie and Katie
Best friends, Aunt Kathy and Lena
My Godmother Pam, Aunt Debby and Mom
When the party was coming to a close, I looked around for the first time. I saw the remnants of a great party. Cups and plates with small bits of food leftover. Balloons still flying high in the air. Those few family members still hanging behind to clean up( Thank you so much Mom, Willie, Barrond, Renee and Grandma Linda). I realized for the first time that my life was complete. We have 5 of the most amazing children anyone could ever ask for, our family and friends are without a doubt the best on every level and God continues to bless us every single day. What more could any person want? We surely are a blessed family.

Most of the birthday Party! Thank you EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Granny

Granny and Grandpa when the triplets came home.
Granny

Granny

I know I have been slacking when it comes to the blog lately. In my defence the birthday party took a lot of my time and I was trying to spend as much time outside enjoying the weather with the boys. Now that all is said and done I promise I will get back to updating the world about the goings on with the Stinner Clan!

On a much sadder note, on Saturday August 8th, 2009 my beautiful Grandmother Donna Deitzman died. She was 83 years old and was sick over the past year. On Friday the 7th my dear Granny spent the day surrounded by all of grandchildren(myself included) as well as my Dad, Grandfather and several extended family. She was completely lucid. She talked , joked, smiled and remembered. She knew she would soon be leaving us and we where so completely blessed to have that last day of our incredible Granny. With heavy hearts, we buried her on Tuesday morning. It's such a surreal feeling when a loved one passes. We know they are in a better place, a place with no pain and no heartache. However, the pain the ones left behind is almost unbearable. My Grandfather said goodbye to the love of his life, they where together 63 years. So if all of you reading this could say a prayer for my Grandpa, that he find peace and that his heart heals. We will never forget our beloved Granny. It's so hard to imagine a life without her.


I wrote my Granny a short letter today and since I can't mail it, I will post it.


Dear Granny,


I don't think I ever thanked you for all you did for me. All the knees you bandaged, all the boo boos you kissed. I'm not sure I thanked you for singing softly in my ear while rocking me in your chair. I'm not sure thanked you for combing my wild hair or whipping up a batch of cookies. I'm not sure if I thanked you for every kind word, for every loving touch, for every soft smile. I'm not sure I thanked you for loving me when I know I made it hard to. So now my dearest Granny, I just want to say THANK YOU! I love you a bushel and a peck, and a hug around the neck. I will miss you, Heaven just got another angel.


I love you ALWAYS,


DawnMarie

Monday, August 3, 2009

Summer Time?

Rainy day cookie making
Austin did great.
Look who's swimming!
Griffin's a fish.
Em and Max playing on the water mat.
Alex is my fearless swimmer!

Summer Time?

Well, I'm not exactly sure where Summer is but we are are waiting patiently. We have been taking advantage of every single moment of sunshine we can. We finally spent some time in the pool. That's not bad, the 1st week of August and we are just now getting in use of our pool. Alex is a fish, this kid loves the pool. His lips are blue, his fingers are prunes but he's swimming away. HE loves his arm swimmies and with a tube floaty he is on his own swimming around the pool. He literally has no fear! Austin is still using his arm floaties because the pool is just way to deep. I refuse to let him take off any floatation devices until he can touch the bottom. Call me crazy, call me insecure but that's how I feel! Emerson and Max down right refuse to go in the water. They love the water table, the water mat and the hose but I think the pool is just too cold for them. Now Griffin has no fear either. He got right in with David and began to kick his feet and move his hands. He loved it. He was happy, splashing and laughing. I think we have another water baby on our hands...YAY!

I have some exiting news about little Mr. Griffin, he said his first word! While jumping in his bouncer he looked at me and with a huge smile and said "mamamamamamamamama". I'm overjoyed that his 1st word was mama. He uses it quite often to get my attention if I walk away from him. He even says it after the boys say it. He is just an amazing little man who thrills me everyday! After I began typing this blog I had Griffin on my lap and he latched on to my finger with his mouth and much to my surprise there was a TOOTH!!!! My baby has his first tooth and has said his first word. I'm so excited, but on the other hand it's a little sad. My baby is growing up! Pretty soon he will be a big boy, independent and strong like his big brothers. Where does the time go?