Going to the Zoo!

Since the weather was so nice this weekend, we took a trip to the Children's Zoo here in Lincoln. We went because the multiples club was having a family outing there on Saturday at 10 am, but we didn't see any multiples club people there at all. So, we just did our own thing for the morning. We walked around in the stroller for a long time, looking at the animals. We let them get out by the place where you can pet the goats, Xander and Grace HATED the goats! Will tried to touch one, but got a little freaked because they are so aggressive. We did not feed them at all. When they got tired of being in their strollers, we let them run around in a little open area (that's where I took the picture of them on the turtle) and in a play area with a pretend fire station. The bottom picture is of them in the two strollers. We attract a lot of attention with that configuration and it's very hard to maneuver in crowds. The rest of the weekend was spent playing outside or at the park and we went to Gerhard and Gisela's house for dinner on Sunday for Gerhard's birthday. It was a nice weekend.

The triplets just keep getting funnier and funnier. They seem to always think of something new and crazy to do with a toy, with themselves or with each other. It is definitely making for non- boring days. They are especially funny in the car. They copy whatever the others are doing, so they end up yelling, evil genius laughing, blowing raspberries, plugging their noses or doing any number of other silly things. Our car rides are not quiet anymore. They still enjoy climbing on furniture, but we are drawing the line at kitchen chairs. (I cannot handle kids standing on the table or counters all day.) A quick funny story about Xander. I have been letting them play in our bedroom in the mornings, so I can make my bed and do other things. When Xander comes into our room he goes straight for the nightstand and grabs the remote controls (he always has loved those). He started saying this word that kind of sounded like "remote control", but I didn't pay much attention to it. Then I noticed that he only said it when he was playing with a remote control in our room or downstairs. So, we think that it's his word for "remote control". It comes out something like "degoley gal", but it has the right number of syllables and the vowels are similar. He's trying! They really are trying to talk a lot. They can repeat any word you ask them to and it comes out pretty close. The latest successful ones are "Carter" for their new cousin, and "Kara" for aunt Kara. That's all for this week. Take care everyone!

Just hanging out!

Not much to report this last week. We are just hanging out at home a lot, staying out of the heat. They spent part from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa Niebuhr's, giving mom and dad some much needed time off. They had fun, but came home tired! Grandma and grandpa are always so much fun it wears them out! Starting this week, they are only going to take one nap a day. They are quite ready, I think. And, when activities start back up after Labor Day, there are going to be many mornings a week where we will be out and about. So, we'll spend this week and next getting used to the new schedule. I think I will have to get used to it as much as they will. I won't have the hour and a half in the morning to get any work done like I used to. To be honest, I really look forward to naptimes. :-)

They are talking lots. They are all trying to say things like "Elmo, Cookie Monster, Oscar, Big Bird" and while it doesn't always come out right, we know what they're trying to say. Grace loves to say "Xander". She walks around all day and points out things that are his or telling him to do things. None of them say "Will" or "Grace", too hard yet, maybe. Xander's latest word is "chicken". It comes "kicky". But, he loves to say it, especially when he's eating it! And speaking of eating, they are in a very picky phase right now. Things they've always eaten before, they won't touch now. Like fish sticks, mashed potatoes and spaghetti. What kids doesn't eat those things?!?!? I'm not entirely sure they're very hungry lately. They go in phases of extreme hunger, and not so much, probably corresponding with growth spurts. Of course, no matter how full they are, they will always eat a blueberry if you put it in front of them.

The pictures are:

Top: Having a drink of juice on the couch. You will notice I finally got them to only sit on the couch. They hardly ever stand anymore. That is only after about a week of constant time-outs and reminders, though.

Bottom: Stretching with daddy before his Saturday morning run.

19 months!

The triplets turned 19 months on Wednesday. We didn't do much last week, because of the intense heat. (I can't wait for fall and cooler weather!) One thing we did do to beat the heat was to go to Woods Pool and Sprayground on Friday with grandma Pam and Aunt Kara. That is the second time they've been there and they had a blast. It has all sorts of different spraying things, you can walk under, over, in and out of things. It's a lot of fun. You can see from the pictures how they liked to let the water just run on them (especially Will). Grace's bikini is new, from aunt Kara. She got it last weekend shopping in Omaha. Grace wasn't used to the two piece idea, and after I put the suit on her, she kept feeling the top part and saying "uh-oh", like it was broken. I told her it wasn't broken, it was supposed to be that way. She seemed to accept that and I didn't hear anymore about the broken swim suit.

Will has added a few new words to his vocabulary this week. He has started sayin "uh-oh" and "nana" (banana) which he never did before. He also has started saying cat, horse and dog sounds. I am glad to report they all can sign "help" and "water" appropriately. Although, now they sign "help" even when we're not quite sure what they want. Sometimes, we have to remind them to say "help" if they need help doing something, other times, they do it spontaneously. Will has mixed up "help" and "water" a couple times, too. But, at least he's trying to talk!

Grandma Ellen brought some puzzles over last week and they have been having fun playing with those. Will has gotten quite good at them. There is a shape one that he can get all the shapes in the right place. Grace doesn't always seem to have the patience. If she gets the right shape near the right hole, but not all the way in, that's good enough and she leaves it. They are still enjoying climbing on furniture, but it's gotten so bad with the climbing around/falling off that we've had to instate a "no standing" rule on all furniture. I'm going out of my mind trying to enforce that one with all three. Grace is pretty good, but Xander is the worst. He is so ornery!!!!!!

Just a quick update on our nephew, Carter. He is home from the hospital. He came home on Saturday. He is off his lights for jaundice and by all reports, he's doing well. I think mom and dad are a little tired, but handling it OK. If you want updates on them you can go to

www.thefamilyscribner.blogspot.com. I think they are going to try to keep that updated.

Professional Pictures

Our 18 month professional pictures are done and online for anyone to view. Go to www.kabloomstudios.com and enter Niebuhr under "Client Name". It's a nice little slideshow of the pictures set to music. Just so you know, we were going for a "Day in the Life". She came to our house and took pictures of them doing things they do everyday. Playing around the house and outside, in their jammies and cribs. I do think they turned out well. We're excited to order prints. Have fun viewing them!

Carter Scribner has arrived!

Well, Brian and I are now officially aunt Erin and Uncle Brian and the triplets have a cousin! Carter Brian Scribner was born to Chad and Lisa (Brian's sister and her husband) at 11:15 on August 6th. I was lucky enough to be in the delivery room when he entered the world, and he did it very quickly and loudly. He was 6 lbs 14 oz, born at 34 weeks. He's staying for a few days in the NICU to get some IV antibiotics and because it's hospital policy for 34 weekers to stay for at least 24 hrs. He is healthy, however, and they don't anticipate he'll stay there for longer than that. Lisa did brilliantly, delivering him naturally with NO epidural. Wow! She and Chad are a little overwhelmed, as they did not expect him to arrive today, but have taken it all in stride. They'll be great parents. I'll post later this week with more news about Carter and the triplets' latest.