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Hi everyone. Sorry I don't have more pictures to post. However, they did get their 18 month pictures professionally taken last Wednesday. When those are posted online and ready to view, I'll let you know. I think they are going to turn out fabulously! We had a lot of "Kodak" moments this last week, but my camera was never handy. On Saturday, Brian, Dale, Ellen and I took them to Woods Pool to the "sprayground". It's a concrete place with all sorts of spraying things and a small wading pool. They loved it! We were there for a couple of hours, and if the weather had been warmer, we would have stayed longer. Grace went to her first baby shower with me on Sunday. It was for Aunt Lisa, who is due in about a month. It was a nice time.

They did well this week, no illness or other problems. They're still learning new words. Grace and Xander will try to say almost any word you ask them to. The one syllable words like "ice" and "cake" are easiest. Grace likes to say "ice" because she likes it in her sippy cup. Will will talk sometimes, but other times, he can't be bothered. Although, he has figured out that signing "please" almost all the time gets him what he wants. He signs please everytime he walks up to me and half the time I don't know what he's looking for. I did get them all to sign "water, please" yesterday when they wanted more water in their cup. I'm going to have to keep going with that one, I don't think they have it quite learned yet. And, I'm trying to teach them "help", because I'm tired of them crying/whining when they need help doing something or they get stuck somewhere. They are very good at pointing people out if you ask. Grace can show you all the members of our family and grandparents. They are also good with the body parts, they all know: head, hair, eyes, ears, nose, chin, cheeks, teeth, tongue, hand, tummy, belly button, knee, foot, and toes. Grace knows elbow, but I don't think the boys do. Their receptive language is great. I think they understand almost everything I say. I also think their babbling means something to them, I just don't know what it means. I'll post more next week, hopefully with more pictures.

Road Trip!

We took the triplets on their first road trip since Thanksgiving this last weekend. My great and uncle were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary with a big party, so we went to Superior for that. We decided to stay the night so we could have more time to visit and boy was it a production! We had to take 3 pack and plays, 3 high chairs, clothes, blankets, toys, sippy cups, and all the other things that triplets need on a day to day basis. We stayed with my grandparents and invaded their basement. The kids did great on the car ride. They slept for a while, then looked at books, watched passing trucks and listened to some Cd's on the radio. They were very good. We had fun playing with cousins, especially our 10 month old cousin Jak who lives in Wichita. We don't see him very often. We saw lots of extended family at the party that we haven't seen in years, so it was nice to visit. Some of them had never met the triplets before, so it was nice to introduce them around. Even though it was a lot of work, it was a fun weekend. I also think it's good for the triplets to experience new places and things like that.

I didn't get any pictures while we were gone, so these are pictures my parents took while the kids were staying with them last weekend. Apparently, there was some water play, then fudgesicles. They don't get fudgesicles at home, no wonder they love their grandparents so much!

18 months old!

Well, the triplets are now a year and a half old, and we can hardly believe it! They had their

18 month check up at the doctor yesterday. He is very pleased with their development and everything. Will weighed 26 lbs 7 oz (60th percentile) and was 32 " long (50th). Xander was 24 lbs 8 oz (45th) and 32 1/4 long (50th). Grace was a small 21 lbs 3 oz (10th) and 31 1/2 (50th). (She actually had lost a half an ounce from their 15 month checkup until now.) They all had big heads, 75th percentile or larger. He told us Grace needs to drink more milk and eat more high fat foods. For those of you who have seen Grace eat, you know that she eats a TON and it's not possible for her to eat more. She could probably stand to drink more milk, but those of you who know Grace know that she's not going to do anything she doesn't want to do, and we're already doing a lot to get her to drink what she does. So, we'll see about that. We're sticking with the inhaled steroids for Will, as it is helping his coughing and wheezing. He had a touch of a cold this last weekend, and it's helped us through. There is not much else to report from that visit, pretty easy. They did get 2 shots, which they were not happy about. They all cried all the way out the doctor's office while we were leaving.

By all reports they had a good weekend with the grandparents. Lots of water playing, junk food and general fun. Mom and dad had a good weekend in Kansas City, but missed the kids. While we were gone, the grandparents tried to transition them from 2 naps to 1 nap a day. But, it did not work and boy did we suffer the consequences. They were averaging only about one 2 hour nap, which just wasn't enough. Even though we put them to bed early, they still were extremely exhaused and very grumpy about it. So, we're back to two naps for a couple weeks, then we'll try it again. It might make a difference when they can take their one nap in their own beds instead of at grandma and grandpa's house.

Here are a couple pictures from playing the other day. The last 3 days we've just stayed inside since it's been so hot. The top one is them playing a piano "trio". Next is Grace with her cell phone around her wrist and was pushing her shopping cart around, what a diva! The other pictures are Xander and Will also playing with cell phones, I think we have 3 or 4 in the house.

4th of July

Our 4th of July was pretty good this year, considering it was very HOT! We spent the morning at home, like usual. For lunch we went to Gerhard and Gisela's house then played a little on their back patio. The triplets got their first taste of fireworks. We let them throw those little popper things. When they weren't throwing hard enough, we stepped on them. That was pretty fun. After an afternoon nap, we went to Aunt Kara and Uncle Wes' house for dinner. There were a lot of people and two big dogs. Will loved the dogs, Xander minded a little and Grace hated them. They also didn't like the bottle rockets people were setting off. So, they came home with Pam and Mike and we stayed for a while. They slept through all the neighborhood fireworks being shot off, and that was nice. But, they were up early the next morning when Brian and I really wanted to sleep in! Brian took off Thursday and Friday, so he was home for a 5 day weekend. We took the kids to an indoor playground on Friday, that was pretty fun. Saturday we had dinner at the Niebuhs and played with our two sets of twin cousins whose grandparents live next door to Dale and Ellen. So, we kept busy and it was a fun departure from the normal days and weeks. This will be another busy week, with get togethers and outings. Friday, Brian and I leave for Kansas City and the kids are splitting the time with both sets of grandparents. We will only be gone until Sunday, though. No big week long trips like last summer.

Stomach Flu and Learning to Climb

Well, the title pretty much says it all. Those two things have been our big developments this week. I have decided we're not going to play in the thing at the mall anymore. We went there about a month ago, two days later, we all had colds and Will got his breathing problems back. We went there on Thursday, and Friday, Grace got the stomach flu. She spent all night Friday throwing up and we got no sleep. She was better Saturday during the day, but got sick again Sat night and Sun morning. The boys both got sick Sunday night and we got no sleep again that night. Xander was still getting sick as of this morning, and we've had several phone calls to the dr's office about dehydration. Glad to report Will and Grace are better today and eating/drinking normal. As you can see from the bottom picture, Grace was enjoying a peach. Xander still does not feel well today, he hasn't been eating or drinking and he's pretty lethargic. I hope they're better for the big holiday tomorrow!

The other development is that they are figuring out how to climb onto things. As you can see from the top picture, they have learned how to throw the cushions off the chair and climb onto it. That was Will's big discovery and the others copied. Today, Will figured out that if he pushes something in front of the couch and stands on it, it gives him enough of a boost that he can get onto the couch. He was so happy! He loves standing on tall things. I dread the day they can climb onto the kitchen chairs and table and climb out of their crib. What chaos our house will become then. The middle picture is Xander stuck in the lego bucket. I had to take a picture before I got him out and boy was he mad!! We don't have huge plans for the 4th, but we hope you all have a good holiday. I'll post more next week with pictures from our celebration. Stay cool!