Sickness, birthday party and pumpkin patch

Click here to see our pictures from the pumpkin patch.

Click here to see our pictures from the birthday party.

So, it has been a crazy week. I'll start at the beginning, and bear with me, Will's illness takes up a good chunk of the story.

Thursday morning, Will got the stomach flu. He spent most of the day throwing up. By Thursday evening, he started coughing. Friday morning, he was still throwing up and coughing a lot. I started him on albuterol and upped his dose of the steroids. Friday evening he was better, so the kids went ahead and went with my parents to a farm for my mom's school party. They got home late that night and started coughing so hard he threw up. Saturday morning, same thing, coughing so hard he was throwing up. So, to the doctor we went. She (the PA) decided that he was recovering from the stomach flu, but that his coughing was so violent that he was making himself throw up. So, onto oral steroids he went to help reduce the tightness in his lungs. It didn't really start helping until Monday (he threw up once on Sunday). We got hime up twice on Sunday night for albuterol treatments, he was coughing a lot! (I had decided to take him to the asthma doctor Monday morning, but when he woke up, he was doing better so I didn't.) Until Sunday, we had cancelled everything we were supposed to do on Thursday and Friday. But, since he was on the mend, we went ahead and went to church and to Hannah and Haylea's birthday party at the zoo.

We had to wake the kids up early from nap (not a good idea when they were behind on sleep already), but we got to the zoo at 3 for the party. The kids had a good time. They ate ice cream and cupcakes and watched the girls open their presents. Their mom, Emalea, bought train rides for everyone. I think that makes her Xander's favorite person on earth. He loves the train! We looked at animals a little bit after that, then came hom (with one exhaused Mommy. I was starting to get sick at that point.) We stuck close to home on Monday, but Tuesday we had a big outing to Roca Berry Farm with Hannah and Haylea, their mom, and little sister Lauren. We had a nice time, despite the cool temperatures and muddy conditions. The kids ran around pretty much anywhere they wanted to go, there weren't many other people there. We ate kettle corn and hot dogs for lunch (very healthy, I know!) They had a great nap Tues afternoon, and we went to family story night at the library after dinner. Brian had never been to story time with us before, so that was a nice treat. This morning, we stuck close to home, I am still recovering from being sick and because it was such a crazy week, I had a million things to get done!

So, that was our week. If this round of illness is any indication of how the whole cold and flu season is going to be, I am going to crawl under a rock and not come out until May. I had actually had some optimism about this cold and flu season being a little better since they are washing their hands so much after pottying. I guess time will tell. They are getting flu shots on Friday. And speaking of pottying, Will's sickness has set us back some. He's had a lot of accidents in the last 5 days, but we are getting back on track today, so I'm not worried. He feels a lot better today, and now that he's off the oral steroids he'll feel great in a day or two more. I'll try to get a good update of all the funny things they've been doing and saying next week. They've been quite imaginative lately!

Playgroup

Here are some pictures of the kids and their little friends we played with this morning. Their names are Hannah and Haylea, their mom and I have gotten to be good friends through the multiples club. They are only a couple months older than the triplets, they turn 3 in 2 weeks. But, they're the same size and blond, too. So, when we get together it's a mass of blond hair and toddler talk. We're invited to their birthday party at the zoo on Sunday, so I'll have some fun pictures of that next week. They're identical twins by the way, Hannah is in the green outfit, Haylea in the pink. I have a very hard time telling them apart unless they're wearing different clothes.

We've had a good week, I am happy to say. The weather has been positively gorgeous, so we've been outside everyday, playing or even just eating at the picnic table. They've eaten about half of their meals lately outside. We've gone to almost every park on the south side of town. We've also frequented the park bathrooms (they're not as terrible as you might think an outside bathroom might be), and fortunately the kids have gone potty fast and gone back to playing. No accidents at the park. Since I brought the conversation around to potty training, I will give you a quick update.

Grace is completely potty trained. She's hasn't had an accident in almost a month. She will go potty on her own but will also go if you send her. The only thing she needs help with is washing her hands, because she can't reach the faucet to turn it on!

Will is doing so much better! He still has the occasional wet accident, but can go longer stretches without having to go potty. But, the real progress has been in pooping. He will now say "Mommy, I'm pooping." and I'll run him into the bathroom. Sometimes he will not yet have gone, and then he'll do it in the potty. And sometimes, there will just be a little bit in his pants, then he'll finish in the potty. I'll take it either way! We've started rewarding him with gummy worms for pooping (which he loves!) and it seems to be doing the trick. I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!!!!!!

Xander is still the boy who cried pee, but now he's been telling me that he's pooped or peed in his underwear. Most of the time when I go to change him, he hasn't done either one. Occasionally he's right, and he is wet. I'm having a hard time deciding what to do about this. Compounding the problem, he has been refusing to potty anywhere but at home. He started this a couple of weeks ago at the museum and church. But, he has an unusual ability to hold it in for a VERY long time (sometimes 3 to 4 hours). So, he very rarely has accidents when we're out. I send him potty everywhere we go, though, so he knows that he still need to try. I sometimes get lucky and he goes when we're out, but not often and he's very afraid of toilets that flush themselves. I try to avoid those just to avoid the problems.

They are playing better together lately. There are still the fights, and hitting/biting/pushing here and there, but thankfully, less than before. They are still playing choo choo train, a lot!! Their newest spot for the train is under the piano. They get in, put seatbelts on, put the door down and off they go. They travel everywhere, church, grandma's house, park...etc. They are also pretending that they are animals and other things. Their imaginations are definitely growing! You saw them spell their names on the video, but now they are spelling words they see. They don't always go left to right, though. We were at Target the other day, and I heard Xander say "G, E, T, A, T, R." (which unscrambled spells Target) I looked at him and he was pointing to the letters on the side of the building. So, I need to work a little more on left to right things, but I think they're on their way with that skill. We've also been practicing counting objects. At the library, the girl does a lot of finger plays where you count your fingers. They're getting better at it, but their mouths move faster than their finger point, so they end up counting more than are actually there. It'll come, though.

OK, sorry that got a little long. I guess since I didn't write anything last week, I had to make up for lost time. Have a good week everyone. Thanks for looking!

Spelling

Here is some video of the kids spelling their names. They are pretty good at it, only needing a few reminders. I tried to get Xander to say the little rhyme "Eenie, Meenie, Minie, Moe" in the middle of the video. It's really cute how he says it and skips some parts, but he was acting silly that day and just fell on the floor for laughs. Sorry for that. Hope you enjoy, anyway! I'll try to get a detailed post up sometime in the next few days.

Grace's room

This is Gracie's new bedroom. We took a risk with the dark brown wall color, but I love how it has turned out. It really isn't that dark, either (which is what we were worried about). It has a lot of natural light and the light furniture and decor really breaks up the brown. Her furniture is Young America made by Stanley, it's good quality. She shelves are what were in the nursery before. Everything else pretty much came from Target. I think her bedroom could be a commercial for Target. Some of the decorations on the dresser I got at Hobby Lobby, but that's all. Gotta love Target! It is so easy to find girls room decorations, I've had to control myself about what I buy. Her room has a lot of floor space, so they tend to play in her room a lot. She doesn't really mind, although she is a little possessive about them sitting on her bed. A lot of people have been asking me how she is doing sleeping by herself in a separate room, and the answer is, no problems at all. She just crawls in to bed and falls alseep almost immediately (no one is around to keep her awake!) and she doesn't cry or get scared at all. Miss independent!

Will and Xander's bedroom

So here is the boys' room. I think it has turned out pretty cute, so far. It is still a work in progress. The walls are, I admit, a little bare still. Unless you like sports or machinery, the decor for a boys' room is limited. I'll just take my time until I find the best things. Their furniture is all from Young America made by Stanley, it really is nice quality. I hope it will last a while. They are bunk beds, we just will not bunk them for some time. Will's bed (on the right) is the top bunk, so we used the rails that came with it. Xander's bed has double rails we bought at Target. They are working quite well, he's not that crazy of a sleeper. One side does fold down, but I leave it up so it doesn't scratch the bed. The guidelines say you shouldn't bunk kids until they're six, so it will be a while until we put them that way. The quilts and shams came from Pottery Barn Kids (a splurge, I know!) but they are also great quality and can stick around a while. Ellen made the curtains for me, which I appreciate.

You can see that we have the changing table thing on their dresser. We still use it every once in a while for that really gross accidents and nighttime diapers, etc. So, that will stay temporarily. You can also see we've moved some toys into their room. A lot of toys have made it out of the living room (moved into bedrooms or basement toy room.) I am reclaiming my living room! The newly cleaned (and I must say, fantastic looking) carpet has inspired me. I've started putting some decorations (only some) and lamps back. Even my fancy side table made a return from storage. The living room hasn't looked this clean (and good) in a long time, so I've decided it's no longer a playroom but my pretty living room. They have been playing in their rooms more and they can go downstairs for short amounts of time without me. Toys seem to creep around the basement, though. And I caught them playing with the computer today and fighting over the spinning office chair. So, short periods of time in the basement unsupervised is all they can handle, yet.

Another Happy update!

Pictures:

Top: What I found in the living room one afternoon. Like father like son.

Middle right: Xander enjoying a book in his new bed.

Middle left: Everyone enjoying Grace's new bed the first time they saw it.
Bottom: Grace reading on her bed later that day.

So, they're bedrooms and done and put together, as you can see. They have been in them for about two weeks for the boys and since Friday for Grace. I'll post about that later, along with more detailed pictures if their rooms for you to see.

The happy update part is about potty training and how we're moving right along! After a VERY rough start, something just clicked for Xander on Thursday last week and now he is doing brilliantly. He stays dry most days, with only an occasional wet accident. He is still pooping in various places (the floor yesterday and his underwear this morning), but I think he'll figure it out soon. He tells me a lot he has to go to the bathroom (i've been calling him the boy who cried "pee!") but only goes about half those times. I think he does it because he likes the M&M's. And, he's figured out if he goes to the bathroom anywhere else but in our hall bathroom in his little potty he won't get M&M's. So, he's started refusing to go potty anywhere else. I did get him to potty at the zoo yesterday, but I told him he's get candy when we got home (which I forgot and so did he). He won't even go in the basement bathroom, we have to trek upstairs. One smart (and maniuplative) cookie!

Grace is still great. No problems, and only one accident in the last week. Hurray! She looks so skinny now that she doesn't have a bulky diaper or cover on under her pants. Even some of her pants have been falling off. She walks around holding them up announcing "my pants are falling off, Help me!" Will is still holding steady, still absolutely the same as last week. I think at times he's going longer without pottying, so he may be developing better muscle control. I sure hope so. It gets tiring having to always remember to send him so he doesn't have an accident.

Because they're doing so well, we've started to get out a little bit. We went to the zoo yesterday, with lots more planned this week. It's nice to be able to get out some and not constantly worry about changing accidents in public. That's about all for today. Have a great week everyone!

Last But Not Least!

(Like the pink purse?)

So, here we are. #3 finally gets his underwear. It's is daunting to have to think of going through the beginning stages of potty training for a THIRD time, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am pushing forward, hoping the day we are accident free is close! So far, Xander has only had a little success, and that success has ended up on my bathroom floor a couple of times. However, I am not dismayed. The other two were like this also, and now they are doing fine. So, we'll stay the course, as we have before, and I think he'll catch on in no time.

A quick update on the other two. I think Grace is pretty much trained. She has gone several days with no accidents at all. We haven't been putting her in a plastic cover and we haven't regretted that! I haven't even really been sending her to the potty, she'll just tell me she has to go, and then does. The best part is that she tells me when she has to poop, and then does it. That is great! She is waking up dry after naps, and sometimes dry in the mornings. A bladder of steel, I think!

Will is doing better. He has FINALLY started pooping in the potty, but only if I catch him about to do it in his underwear. Only once on Tuesday did he sit on his potty for a while and try (and he was successful, it just took a long time). So, we're on the right track. He still won't tell us he has to pee, but he'll go everytime we ask him to. So, we'll just keep sending him and hope that he eventually follows in Grace's footsteps.

Busy, busy, busy

Sorry for a later post this week. We are knee deep in Phase 3 these two weeks. Grace's room is painted, the boys' furniture is assembled and currently being used. The final step is tomorrow, where we are getting the carpet in the living room and Grace's room cleaned. (This is the part I'm most excited about. The kids have trashed our carpets.) Once her carpet is cleaned, we can assemble her furniture and move her into her room. I'll post pictures of the rooms once they are finished with decorations and everything is moved in.

As the title states, we have been busy this week. In addition to the project, we've been all around town doing various things: watching the football game, having birthday dinner for Kara and Wes, running errands, having the van fixed, play dates, and lots of other things. The last night of my class was last night, so I had several assignments due as finals and to top it all off, we started Xander in underwear on Monday. So, this week, we are trying to stick close to home for his learning. (More on his progress coming in a later post.)

Some funny things they've been saying/doing lately.....

Xander has decided that some inatimate objects are hiding from him. If he can't find something, he'll look at me and say "It's probably hiding". He said this morning that his pee hiding from him, too. Grace has started making every command she gives me into a question. "I'll flush the potty, OK?" "I want to do it, OK?" "Get up, OK?" This is a little much, but funny to hear in her little voice. Will has been enjoying dancing lately. Every time there's music on, he'll dance.

The pictures are of the kids watercoloring one day last week. It was a day when it was raining, we were without transportation, and the kids had a cold. We stayed home all day that day! It was a long day! That's about all for now. I'll post about potty training a little later and stay tuned for pictures of their rooms.

A trip

http://picasaweb.google.com/bniebuhr2/TripToNebraskaCity#

Click on this link to see the pictures from our trip to Nebraska City.

So, we took our first trip to a hotel on Saturday. The Fiedler's (Ellen's family) gathered at the Lied Lodge in Nebraska City for a night. Brian and I decided to take the kids early in the day and do something with them before the family gathering. So, we got to NE City around 10 on Saturday morning. We went to the Arbor Day Farm Tree Adventure. It was neat, there was a nature trail to walk with activities along the way. An outdoor classroom, 50 ft high treehouse, and other things. We took lots of pictures, as you can see. After lunch, we went to an apple orchard and picked a couple of bags of apples. The kids had fun doing that. We checked into the hotel around 1:30 and gave them a nap. Brian and I took naps too, that was nice! If any of you are wondering, they slept on air mattresses on the hotel room floor. Will found it the most uncomfortable, tossing and turning most of the night. We were in a room with two queen beds, so I ended up putting him in the other bed surrounded by things so he didn't roll out. They're not great at staying in beds and those beds were really high up.

So, after nap, the family met at a park for some playing and pizza. It was nice to see everyone we don't see very often. After dinner, we went swimming at the hotel pool, the kids had a ball. We got them into bed around 8:30, and it wasn't a moment too soon. They were really tired! Will didn't sleep well, as I mentioned earlier. It didn't help that he was getting a small cold and coughing a lot (I didn't have any medicine with us!) and it was raining and thundering. So, because Will didn't sleep well, none of the rest of us did, either. We had brunch on Sunday morning, then headed straight for home. Xander and Grace fell asleep on the ride home, then they took a huge nap on Sunday. This morning, Will has a super stuffy nose, which means he's drooling like a fountain since he has to breathe through his mouth. Xander is also getting a runny nose, which means we're passing germs around.

They did well with their potty training all weekend. We stuck close to a bathroom, and didn't go longer than an hour without a trip to the bathroom. Grace has pretty much mastered staying dry all day, with only the occasional accident. She is even pooping pretty regularly in the potty, which we're very happy about. Will is still about the same as last week. It will be Xander's turn here, soon!

That's about all for now. Here's hoping the colds are mild and don't last long! Cheers!

A weekend of fun and firsts!

We had a great labor day weekend. I hope you enjoy the slide show of pictures.

We drove to Superior on Saturday morning. The kids rode with my mom and dad and watched DVD's all the way there. They did stop once to potty and luckily Will and Grace both made it to Superior with NO accidents. They both did great pottying for the rest of the weekend, only one accident for Grace the whole time we were there. We played a little at my grandma and grandpa's house after lunch, then the kids took a nap. They slept on their air mattresses/sleeping bag combo on the floor in the basement. It was a little tempting to play, but they eventually fell asleep. The wedding we went to started at 6, and the kids stayed behind with grandpa and great-grandpa and ate dinner, then we picked them up for the reception. They sat at the table and nibbled on our dinner while we ate, then they ate a piece of cake (they would tell you it was the best part of the "party"). Then the music started. I thought they might be a little freaked out, but they went out and played with the other kids that were there. They also did a lot of dancing with us. Brian and Grace danced a lot and every time Brian would stop she would say "Don't stop, I want more dancing, Daddy!" We finally left about 9:45. It was dark, of course, when we left and it occurred to me that the kids aren't out in the dark very often, they're usually in bed. The whole time home they talked about the dark and stars and moon they saw. They were still talking about it today. We came home Sunday morning after breakfast. They made it home with no potty accidents, too!

Funny story. They were asleep on their air mattresses and in the middle of the night we heard "Daddy! Daddy!" Brian went over (we were sleeping on the pull out couch across the room) and knelt by Will's bed. Will said "Daddy where's my bed?" But, his voice wasn't coming from his bed, it was coming from behind the bed a few feet away. Brian picked him and started to put him back into his bed, but there was something in there. It turned out to be Xander. We think Xander fell out of bed in the middle of the night and crawled back into a bed, but it was Will's bed. We don't know if Xander crawling in made Will fall out, or if he had already fallen out. So, Brian put Xander back in the right bed and put Will back to bed. Then all was well.

We spent the rest of the weekend working! We have completed phase 2 of the project. Phase 2, if you remember, was putting the office in the basement, which we have done. It's a little weird having the computer in the basement, but I think we'll get used to it. Monday began phase 3. We got the boys' new bedroom (the old office) painted. As soon as we get the garage sale over with this week, it will be cleaned out and ready for furniture. We will paint Grace's room sometime in the next week. All their new furniture comes the 11th, so we will be ready! I will be glad to get all these projects over with!!!

Just a quick update on Grace's potty training, to add to what I wrote before. She is much different than Will to potty train. She's been having moments of sheer brilliance (like in Superior) and moments of complete rebellion and frustration (like Monday when she had 5 accidents in 3 hours). So, it's very hot and cold with her. Today has been good, though. So, hopefully she can continue that and keep going up. That's all for now. Another weekend of firsts coming up (their first stay in a hotel room) so I'm sure I'll be full of stories and pictures next week.

Next?

This is how everyone looks in our house these days, running around in underwear and shirts with no shorts. If we go somewhere, I have been putting plastic covers on them just to minimize the mess and then making sure we are near bathrooms. Will is doing a nice job of going potty anywhere I ask him to.

OK - so now it's Grace's turn! She had been saying to me for about a week "Take me to Target to get my underwear, mommy." So, we did. Sunday, we went to Target. (And just an aside about that trip, the girl never stopped talking the whole time. She pointed to everything asking "What's those, mommy?" and constantly talked about what she was seeing, hearing, doing, holding, everything. Boy does she talk a lot when there's no one else to steal the attention.) So, we got her underwear and started first thing Monday morning. I knew Grace would be easy to potty train physically, it would just be the attitude we would have to overcome, and I was entirely right. The girl won't cooperate. She cries or yells "mommy, mommy, mommy" for the entire time she has to potty. She gets REALLY excited when she does go potty and I make a huge deal about it, but the feeling doesn't seem to last or carry over to next time. A little part of me thought she might be easy to potty train, she is quick to please me, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I'll give it a little longer to see if her behavior improves, because I know she can control her pottying. She only potties 4 or 5 times a day, sometimes going 3 hours between. So, it's not a matter of control, just cooperation. She is entirely different to try to potty train than Will, who is by the way still plugging along. He FINALLY did say today "Mommy I have to go potty" and I promptly sent him in there, but most of the time, if I forget to send him, he'll have an accident. He also still hasn't pooped in the potty, save for just a little bit one time which was probably an accident. It'll just take time for him, I think. Xander has also been asking to sit on his potty, so I think he'll be cooperative when his time comes in a few weeks.

We haven't done much that is news or picture worthy lately. Just sticking close to home for easier pottying. The boys did get their haircut this morning, just in time for family gatherings in the next two weeks. I thought it might be nice if they didn't look like wild children when we see people we haven't seen in a while. We have had a trip to the library and museum, and indoor playground tomorrow. But, I've been going those places with a second adult so I can take Will to the potty without the other two playing around in the dirty bathroom.

New things they're saying :

"Oh my gosh!"

"I forgot" (I haven't heard them use this one in context, I think they're just copying someone that said it.)

They have started asking "What's that?" while I'm driving and I can't see what they're pointing at. So, I'll say "Where?" and usually they'll tell me where they're looking "on that truck, mommy" or "on that house, mommy". They can also answer "when" questions. Lately, they've been pretty quick to tell us if they like or don't like something, especially food. Since Xander eats pretty much everything you put in front of him, it's rare to hear "I don't like that, mommy." But it has been showing up lately. He said that about hard-boiled eggs and tartar sauce (separately) today. We're going to Superior this weekend to see family and go to a wedding, and Opa's (Gerhard) 85th birthday party is this weekend, too. So, hopefully we'll have lots of family pictures and stories to tell next week. Have a good long weekend everyone!

A happy update

Hi all! I have a great update for you this week, it mostly has to do with Will's potty training (as you may have guessed, it's occupying most of my thoughts). He's doing fantastically! After a rough start on Monday and Tuesday last week, he started to get into the groove on Wednesday. By the weekend, he was having no accidents (except pooping ones) and was staying dry thru nap and even waking up in the morning dry! The start of this week has been just as good. He's staying dry for 1 to 1/2 hour stretches, and he goes everytime we send him into the bathroom. Now, let me say, he still is not able to tell me when he has to go to the bathroom. In fact, I got distracted by something on Monday morning and forgot to send him and he had an accident. And he is still not pooping in the potty. But, other than that, I think he's doing as well as we can expect for only having been at it for a week and a day. Grace has been asking for her big girl underwear, so she may be next. I don't know if she'll cooperate or not, but we can hope, right!

Since potty training is taking up most of my energy, we haven't gone anywhere or done much lately. They did spend Saturday with grandma and grandpa Niebuhr while Brian and I went to Omaha and purchased bedroom furniture. It's getting delivered Sept 11, so shortly after then, the boys will have their own room and Grace will have a redecorated nursery. We are nearing completion on the painting phase of the basement project, now all that's left is to move the office down there. I believe that will happen sometime this weekend.

One new funny thing they are saying is "I really doubt it." (Will has even used this one in context. I said to him "I saw that." and he said "I really doubt it.") Grace announced to us "I don't like corn mommy, but I like ketchup though." Thanks Grace. Xander still loves trains and has been playing "train" all the time lately.

That's about all for now. I'll try to get some pictures up next week. Have a good week, all!

Children's Zoo and Train ride

Here are a few pictures of the zoo trip on Friday. It was a day with special deals for families with multiples. We got 3 train rides for the price of one. (Otherwise, we would never take them on the train.) They loved it! Xander spent the whole ride with a huge smile on his face. They have talked about it everyday since. We ran through the zoo kind of fast that day, though. We had to get the kids to my parents and get home because Brian and I, along with Mike and Hilary Wiese and Aunt Lisa and Uncle Chad went to Wichita on Friday afternoon. Our friend Jason got married there. We had a fun road trip, and got to go out on Friday night. The wedding was nice. Then, we came home Saturday afterwards. It was nice to have a little time away. Sunday we went to the Scribners for Carter's first birthday. We also found out that day that Brian and I are going to have another niece or nephew. Lisa is pregnant with #2. Congrats Lisa and Chad! The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and resting, everyone was tired from the trip or stay at grandparents. We have stuck close to home Monday and Tuesday to keep close to a potty chair for Will (see next post). Hopefully we can start getting out again next week, if he is catching on more. We would like to go swimming a couple of more times before the pools close next week.

Another exciting development over the past few weeks is that they've finally learned to pedal their tricycles. It has been slowly coming, they were getting better and now they can mostly do it. Going up the driveway is still a little hard, because it's uphill and they're not quite strong enough. They need a little momentum from downhill to get them started. But, at least they're going a little way before they get stuck. We'll take it. Funny new phrases they use are "umm...." (Xander does this a lot when making a decision. He is so slow!) "What's that, mommy?" (I hear that one a lot!) I've heard will exclaim "OH!" a couple of times lately when he's figured something out. And the funniest one was today when I was trying to get Grace to sit on her potty (of course she didn't). So, I relented. Then, as she was sitting on my lap and I was combing her hair. It had a lot of knots and my brushing must have hurt because she looked at me and said "I'd rather sit on the potty, mommy". I just about died laughing. I asked her "what did you say?" and she repeated it. I didn't hear wrong. She never did sit on the potty, though.

Also, say a quick congrats to Brian if you talk to him. He got a promotion at work this week, along with a raise. His official title is now Principal Design Engineer. Pretty exciting! That's about all. Thanks for checking up.

Will's potty training

Here's a good shot of him in the Elmo underwear he picked out at Target on Sunday.

Well, we finally took the next step with Will and he is now wearing underwear. It is going OK. I wouldn't say it's going bad or poorly, because he does potty in the potty chair. He just doesn't do it as much as he needs to. He pottied twice today in the potty, but had 7 accidents, two of the hard to clean up variety. It's a little frustrating, because we're not entirely sure he understands when he's wet. I've asked him numerous times if his underwear was dry and he would answer yes, when it wasn't. And twice tonight, Brian asked him to go to the bathroom and sometime between that question and going into into the bathroom, he peed. He's completely cooperative and very proud of himself when he does use the potty, we're just going to need to keep working until he starts to understand the action. So, we'll stay the course, I guess. I'll keep you updated!

Toe nail polish gone wrong

This morning, Grace was pretending to paint her toenails "pink, like mommy's" , so I asked her if she wanted me to paint her toenails for real. Usually she says no to this, but today she said yes. So, I did. The boys didn't really care that she was getting painted toes and they weren't, and they just went on playing and remarking on Grace's "purple toes". So, after I was done painting, I put the nail polish on the top shelf and we went into the kitchen to take a picture. When we came back, this is what I found. Xander painting the white shelf with the pink nail polish saying "pretty!". I was more horrified that he was using my brand new, expensive bottle of nail polish to play with, than I was about the shelf. It's just a cheap thing we painted, that can be easily covered up. He did get one little spot on the carpet, but miraculously nothing else was damaged. I can't believe he crawled up the shelves to obtain that polish. I remember very clearly, it was on the top shelf!!!!! Crazy boy! (Also, I'm pretty sure Will had nothing to do with it. He was across the room the whole time.)

Other than this incident this morning, things have been fairly normal around here. We have been staying home or indoor away from the heat. We did go swimming on Saturday, late afternoon at a public pool. The kids had a good time. We also hit the museum on Friday morning.

We have been having a tough time with Grace. She has been very obstinate, to a fault, lately. She wants to do everything herself and will even go so far as to undo what you did for her that she wanted to do for herself. For example, this morning, I asked her to pick up her pajamas and put them in the dirty clothes pile. Will did it for her. She freaked out, took them out of the pile, threw them across the room all while yelling "No, my do it!! No, my do it by myself!" Then proceeded to go pick them up and put them in the pile. This happens daily. If I help her put her shirt on, she'll take the shirt off and try to put it on again, by herself. Very rarely will she calmly ask for help if she needs it. Most of the time she'll scream. And, she threw a good hour and a half tantrum last night because she didn't get to close the gate at the top of the stairs by herself. Xander had on hand on it, so she freaked out about that, so I went and closed it. It was a long night.

Nothing is new with the boys, they are still doing all the same things. Xander is eating a lot and squeezing people all the time. Will is happy and content and always plays nicely. Nothing new with potty training, we need to take the next step, but I am again procrastinating. It's so daunting to think about trying to do this with three, that I just shut down and can't think about it. Hope you are all staying cool. More next week.

What's been going on

Just a quick update to let you know what has been happening around here. First of all, a big thank you to our parents, Kara, and Lisa for helping out with the kids while I went to class last week and Monday night. It was a long week for all of us and I think the kids have appreciated being back in their regular routine this week. I am not done with the class, yet. We have six more evening sessions from now until mid-September in Omaha, but at least no more long, full days. It is a good class, I'm enjoying it, I'm just not used to the work!

Between the class and the extreme heat outside, we haven't done a whole lot lately. So, my update can be mostly about what the kids are or are not doing lately.

I'll start with Will. He's still laid back, happy and cooperative as usual. He's the first to pick up toys when you ask and it usually does whatever else you ask of him. He's been the most successful on the potty, which may mean he's the first to underwear. We'll see. He also still says the funniest things. Ellen painted one of her rooms blue, he walked in and looked at it, held his hands up and said "I love it Grandma, it's pretty!" Priceless.

Grace has become so independent lately! She is my daughter! Everything is "I do it by self, mommy." This includes, but is not limited to, getting dressed/undressed, putting shoes on, or trying to pick up 8 things in her arms at once. She has been refusing to sit on the potty lately, and we haven't been pushing her. I don't know if it's a power thing or what, but when she's ready, she'll do it. She's getting much taller, but still very skinny. Her feet are huge, long and skinny. She's definitely built like a Niebuhr. And she's become very particular about how things are, even how her blanket is covering her up. I put the soft side on her today with the silky side up, and she looked at me and said "no mommy, put it the other way. Other side." Crazy girl.

Xander is still kind of in his ornery phase. He pinches, squeezes and pulls hair when he thinks Brian and I aren't watching. We blame Brian for the squeezing. He pretends he's squeezing them hard and makes a funny face and noises, even though he's not squeezing at all. Xander doesn't really understand that, so he actually squeezes. He can still pack away the food. You should see him eat! He is ALWAYS the last one finished at every meal. He'll eat three or four bowls of cereal in the morning along with a banana and a half (like he did today). He'll devour 3 pieces of Val's pizza and not even bat an eye, and there's always room for fruit. He has been loving strawberries and peaches lately. He ate two peaches by himself the other day. If you try to take his food away before he's done he'll yell "I still eating, mommy!"

As a whole, they are very into singing, as you can see from the videos. Their current favorites are all the Raffi "Songs to Read" books: Baby Beluga, Spider on the Floor, 5 Little Ducks, Wheels on the Bus, plus other folk songs books. We seem to sing a lot, and they are getting pretty good at it. It's funny to hear all three singing with us. They are playing quite nice by themselves for long stretches. There is occasional fighting, mostly when one takes something away or drives over body parts with cars, but nothing huge. They have been spending quality time in their toy room and enjoy it. Lots of other people have enjoyed it too, I think it will get a lot of use in the coming years. That's about all. Stay cool in this heat, everyone!

The boys singing Twinkle together

Here is another video of the boys singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" together, or sort of together. I thought it was pretty funny, so I included it. :-) Sorry about the little clip of one of my piano students at the end. I guess I used the same tape to film them practicing their recital songs last spring.

Xander and Will singing

Here is a clip of the boys singing. I you love how they chant their ABC's instead of singing. Enjoy!

Grace singing

Here is a short video of Grace singing her ABC's, although she got a little shy and it's hard to hear. The boys are also playing in the background. Enjoy!

A quick update

I'm afraid my post will be short and sweet with no pictures or video to accompany it this week. I'm am in the middle of taking a graduate class at UNL this week, and things are a bit hectic. The kids stayed with my mom Mon and Tues, and with Ellen Wed and Thurs and back with mom on Friday. So, they're off the regular routine, plus they have a little bit of a virus, which is causing some unpleasant diapers. That's not helping matters. They fell asleep instantly tonight and are sleeping like logs right now. Hopefully they will be better after a good night's sleep tonight.

A quick potty update. They have all gone potty at least once, which is excellent. We're not doing too much with it this week, only what the grandmas are willing to do. We'll start back up again in earnest next week when I'm back home. We're also considering trying just one of them (probably Grace) in underwear. We wonder if maybe concentrating on just one at a time is a better idea than we originally thought. We'll have to see. We're traveling some in August, so that could be a challenge.

Grace was able to pedal her tricycle on her own this week, which is great. She's finally has enough leg strength to do it. Will continues to amaze us with his great memory. It seems like we tell him something once and he will talk about it later. For example, my mom must have told him Grandpa was at work, looking at people's teeth. This morning, Brian told Will he was going to grandma's house, but grandpa would be at work. Will said "work on people's teeth?" Xander is coming out of his stubborn phase (a little). He's been better lately and not quite so much to deal with. We've been ignoring it at much as possible, and giving him some choices has seemed to help. We (or at least I) have been trying to give him a little more attention to see if that helps improve his behavior. He has a tendancy to play by himself or wander away, so I have been wondering if he gets less attention than the others because of that.

That's about all. I'll get some video over the weekend and some pictures and give a better update next week. Thanks for being understanding, it's a busy week for me. Take care!

Yes folks, it's true. It has begun!

The thing I have been most dreading since I found out I was pregnant with triplets has begun. POTTY TRAINING! I have absolutely no clue how I am going to do this. I have read a book on potty training multiples, and it's only marginaly helped me. Brian and I both have different ideas on how we should go about this, but one thing we do agree on is that they're pretty much ready and we don't think doing one kid at a time will work. These kids do pretty much everything together at the same time, and we don't think that the other two will tolerate not getting to do what one is doing. So, we're all in!

Over the weekend, we got the potty chairs out. Three completely separate ones. They all know which one belongs to them, so there's no fighting about that. We are opting for the slow and steady approach. No drastic moves (like straight to underwear) yet. We are just sitting on the potty at different times during the day, hoping to catch them accidentally using it, to get the idea of what to do. Then we may try short periods of time in underwear, like an evening or afternoon. Then we'll see how that goes before we make any other decisions about where to go from there. In our experience, most everything we do is vastly different from the way parents of a singleton would do it (like our kids are 2 and 1/2 and still in cribs), so I think the conventional potty training wisdom may not help much. If anyone out there knows how other multiple families did it, please let us know!

swimming

Unfortunately, the pictures of swimming lessons with the underwater camera didn't turn out. There was not enough light in the indoor swimming pool and there was no flash on the camera. But, I did get a couple of pictures of them swimming at Star City Shores last month. So, enjoy those. We went swimming at Madonna Life Point's outdoor pool today. The kids had fun just playing in the water and, luckily, it wasn't cold! We played for a little over an hour and they were ravenously hungry when we got home. Thanks Jessi for getting us in!

2 1/2 birthday party

2nd half birthday party

I know I have mentioned it a million times, we have decided to celebrate the kids' half birthday every year. So, we had a party with family on Sunday night at our house. Everyone came over and ate way too much food, then we opened presents, sang happy birthday and ate cake and ice cream. This is the first time that they've really understood what was happening. For several days before, we talked to them about having a birthday party with cake and how all their family was coming over. We would hear Will talking about birthdays during the day. He would even tell people and objects "Happy birthday." Cute. They really got into the present thing this time. They loved ripping the paper and wanted to open and play with the toy right away. It was hard to keep them moving from present to present. And they had a ton of presents. What spoiled kids! They did get lots of fun things including a basketball hoop (which Will LOVES, it's all he wants to do.) Dick Vitale, from ESPN, talks when you make a basket. One of his lines is "Swish-a-roo, baby." Will walks around the house saying that now. They got lots of dress up clothes, more Little People sets, Legos, bubbles and sidewalk chalk and a huge swimming pool. I've invited a multiples club family over on Thursday and we're going to get the pool out and let all the kids play outside all morning (the goal is to tire them out for a good afternoon nap!) Thank you to everyone who came and made it a great party.

Trip to the lake

4th of July weekend - trip to lake

The kids had their first taste of being on a lake and at a beach on Saturday night, when we went to Middle Island, which is by South Bend. Some friends of the Niebuhrs, Randy and Judy Bailey, have a great house there. Their backyard is a beach! We went up after nap and the kids had a ball playing in the sand and swimming. As you can see from the pictures, they floated on a raft, but their favorite was a little floaty ring thing that you can sit inside. They liked floating around in the water, but with no fear of falling. After dinner, we got on the pontoon for their first boat ride. they really enjoyed it and didn't mind wearing life jackets that were too big! We road the boat to a house down the way and played a little duck game where they got a prize and then rode home. We left shortly after, because it had been a long day and they needed a good night's sleep for their big party the next day.

4th of July

4th of July 2008

(Click on the picture to see the entire group of pictures.)

Hi everyone! Just wanted to share with you the pictures from our 4th of July. It was a nice day, with gorgeous weather. In the morning, the kids were in the annual Firethorn parade with my parents. You can see them decked out standing next to the golf cart. We ate lunch at mom and dad's, home for nap, then we had a BBQ at our house with all of our friends. After dinner, the kids got to shoot off their "fireworks", some poppers. Brian shot off a couple of little things for the kids to see, some parachutes, a roman candle and a little fountain. They liked them! Then, it was off for a bath and bed. Luckily, they slept through our extremely noisy neighborhood fireworks display that night.