Wednesday, October 12, 2011.........................
It's fall time! We are happy to welcome a new season in our new home! We are finally all unpacked and are busy making our house a "home." It's coming along quite well as many of our family pictures and decor are hung on the walls and strategically placed throughout our home. It feels good. I enjoy a very short (2.8 mile) commute to and from work and less than 2 miles from our gym, which we frequently nearly daily. The girls started preschool a week and a half ago and are loving it, as expected! We are thrilled! They take the bus to and from school every day Monday through Thursday. I love how the bus picks them up and drops them off right in front of our home. It's just adorable to see their tiny little bodies riding a big school bus. The girls are in different preschool classrooms for the first time ever. Previously, they had been in the same classroom. J and I were unsure how they'd do being apart, but they are doing extremely well! Their teachers have all commented that one would never know that they are not used to being separated. This makes us feel good that they are making their own friends and are not relying on each other. Their social skills are flourishing!
We are so excited to report that Grandma (from Minnesota!) is coming to visit next week. My mom will be spending a week with us at our new home. We CAN'T wait! It seems like we haven't seen her in a VERY long time, even though it's only been since the beginning of August. Mom will have the opportunity to get the girls ready for school and get them on the bus in the mornings. We have many fun things planned for when Grandma is here visiting. We'll likely hit up the pumpkin patch or another fall festival. We might even make our own caramel apples. I'm sure the girls (and me too!) will eat too much sugar, play until they're exhausted, and fall asleep in Grandma's arms. Tuesday can't come soon enough!
This past week we've been busy adjusting to our new schedule....preschool, PT and OT for Cate, work, unpacking, gym time, etc. We've found a wonderful PT and a fabulous OT for Cate near our home. Cate will receive one hour of each every week! We are glad that she can continue receiving the therapy she needs, although she is doing EXTREMELY well! She is currently working on walking down stairs with more stabiity and control. This is very important as our house is 3 levels with lots of stairs (unlike our previous home that was one level with no stairs at all!). Ali and Brooklyn are thriving as well. They love learning and are really into coloring and drawing lately. Alison is learning to recognize numbers 1-10 and her intelligence impresses us daily. Brooklyn continues to be our resident tomboy and is often found wearing jeans, a tee shirt, and sneakers. She is smart and sassy, just like her mother.
Overall, we can't complain. We are excited for Halloween and happy to have Grandma come visit us soon. We are thankful for our nanny, Felicia, and Grammy and G-Pa who help us out with the girls when our lives get to be too crazy.
Here's to a great rest of the week!
Cheers!
xoxo Nicole & Co.
Thursday, September 29, 2011.........................
Life is GREAT! We moved into our new house on Monday and things have been nutty (in a very good way) ever since trying to get unpacked and situated with three 3 year olds running around. Oh.My.Goodness! Our house is FILLED with boxes...no joke. We have at least 100 boxes. It's crazy how much stuff we have! A TON....literally! We moved from a 3,300 sq. foot house to a 4,200 sq. foot house so it's huge, but is filled with boxes that we are slowly unpacking. I wish the house was already unpacked and decorated, but I need to be patient and take it one day at a time. It's hard to unpack since I don't get home from work (and then the gym after) till around dinner time. I want to spend time with my girls before they go to bed...not unpack. It'll all get done...eventually! My goal is to have the house all unpacked, orgainzed, and decorated by Christmas! Tee he he!
We absolutely LOVE living in Denver!!! We are super close to EVERYTHING! I am the happiest I've been in a long time! Life is GREAT! I am less than 3 miles from work and about a mile from our gym (where I spend a LOT of time!). Jeremy and I are super happy with our decision and are grateful our house finally sold and we were able to move into our beautiful new home! It's perfect! We've had LOTS of neighbors stop over to introduce themselves. We're really lucky to live in such a great community with helpful and friendly neighbors! The girls are enjoying their new digs as well!
Jeremy took the girls to the pediatrician for their 3 year well child check today (yes, we are 5 months late). They all got raving reviews. The girls are all right around 30-31 pounds and Ali is in the 93rd percentile for height. She is nearly 4 inches taller than Cate!!!
Besides the huge move, the girls will start their new preschool on Monday. They are very excited to get back into school after being off for a week. We also hired a new nanny who starts next week. The girls are so excited to meet Felicia this weekend. We are excited to have her join our family unit!
My mom is flying down to visit in the next couple weeks. We can't wait for Grandma to get here and see our new home. The girls are anxious to show her their new rooms and their new "big girl" beds. Yep, we bought the girls each full-size beds which were just delivered on Monday! The girls have adjusted really well to sleeping in such a big bed (and in a new home!). We are very proud of them!
The girls are growing up too quick! They love playing outside in our new yard and riding their hot wheels in our cul-de-sac They are turning into such darling little girls! They are SO MUCH FUN at this age! They make us laugh daily and amaze us with just how smart they are! Catelin will continue both PT and OT with new therpists here in Denver. She has made so much growth since working with a PT and OT that we want to continue. We're looking into finding her a dynamic speech therapist as well. Cate had her OT eval yesterday and did very well. Her PT eval is next week. We're hoping for very smooth transitions. It's will be tough as we had Jeanine, Cate's previous PT who is phenomenal, since Cate was 4 months old and Tonya, Cate's fabulous speech therapist, since Cate was less than a year old, and Cate's amazing OT for quite some time as well. We will embrace the changes and hope that Cate gets to work with dynamic therapists again who will continue to help her grow and meet developmental milestones.
That's all for now! I hope you are well! Big hugs!
Cheers! xoxo Nicole & Co.
Friday, September 16, 2011.............................
Eeek! So much going on I don't even know where to start! This website is definitely falling by the wayside as we prepare to MOVE! Yep, that's right folks, we sold our home (after being on the market for nearly a year!!!) and are moving next weekend! Yikes! We've been CRAZY busy...no rest here! We sold our home and bought a new house in less than a week's time. It's very surreal. So, we are moving up to Denver and I will no longer be 61 miles (each way) from work, but a mere 2.8 miles away! WOO HOO!!! We're both really excited....I think the girls are too. Our house is FILLED with boxes galore. Packing has been fast and furious and the best part....we got smart this time around and hired movers! WOOT! Our new house is perfect for our family! We lucked out!
So, what else has been going on in the past month? Well, Cate is fully potty-trained! (yahoo!), the girls started preschool, (but will be switching once we move next week), the "terrible" three's have reared their ugly head, we sold our home, bought a home, I'm still training for a fitness competition (which is Oct. 22...been training now for 14 weeks and have 5 more till showtime!), hired a new nanny up in Denver who seems fabulous, what else?!?! It's just been absolutely nuts, but we are surviving and are just so excited for all the positive things going on in our lives right now.
The girls are doing really well. They are seriously getting taller by the day! Naps are few and far between these days, but we get lucky on occassion. Having Cate potty-trained (and pretty much accident-free already!) is so nice. The girls only wear diapers now at naptime (if they nap) and at bed time. We just purchased full size beds for each of the girls too. They will be delivered to our new home next week!!! We've talked with the girls often about moving and how they'll be going to a new school, how we have to pack up our stuff, how they'll get their own bedrooms in the new house, etc. I think they truly understand, but right now it seems in disarray as they aren't real happy that the majority of their toys are already boxed up! Maybe that is why they have been a bit more challenging than usual lately. They'll have a new playroom in our new house which makes them happy!
That's about all I can remember right now! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I hope to see "I Don't Know How She Does It" in the theatres and take a break from packing. Wishful thinking.....
Cheers!! xoxo Nicole & Co.
Monday, August 22, 2011..........................................................
The girls officially started preschool today! I took a ton of pictures, but am out of room on this website so I may have to send them out in an email so you can all see them! The school bus was a bit late, but eventually it did show up to pick up the girls and take them to preschool. I got a bit teary-eyed, but none of the girls cried at all, but you could tell that Cate wanted to, but didn't. Since the bus was scheduled to pick them up at 7:08 a.m. (EARLY!!), we woke them up at 6:30 a.m. Jeremy made them homemade banana pancakes while I got the girls dressed, hair combed, etc. The bus was late getting the girls back home, but Jeremy and I waited patiently (for a 1/2 hour!) at the end of the driveway to greet them as they got off the school bus. They looked so cute on the bus...all buckled up in seat belts...being so little and all. The bus driver was super nice and let us take as many pictures as we wanted! The girls were so excited to tell us about their first day! I was glad to see that nobody (particularly Cate) had an accident (they are all in undies!) at school! I was so proud of them for sharing so much about their day and being such big girls to ride the bus by themselves.
They'll be going to preschool down the road at our home elementary school for 3 hours a day, 4 days a week. They are so excited to learn new things and their brains are sponges! They remember everything! I hope that they have as great of a year at preschool as they did last year! I think they will! I do have to admit that I enjoyed taking a day off work to see the girls on their first day of preschool. J will be getting them on and off the bus the rest of the week...lucky! Having a nice 4 hour block of time was nice too, I admit. I was able to go to the gym and workout then lay out in the glorious sunshine for a bit too! Tomorrow I am back to work though..... I have increased my hours this year from 20 to 32 hours so it's been a bit of an adjustment, but thankfully I love my job so I don't mind. I miss the girls though when I am working. We bonded so much over the summer with me having summer's off and all....I got spoiled seeing them so much! I love them so much!
That's all for now! Must take advantage of nap time today since it seems like preschool wore them out and all are sleeping. Peace and quiet.....nice!
Cheers! xoxo Nicole & Co.
Friday, August 5, 2011...................................................................................................
Geesh, it's been a long time since I updated this website...almost a month! July flew by and now we are well into the month of August. We are currently in Minnesota on our annual summer vacation here. We drove, like usual, and got here last Tuesday, July 26th and head home on Sunday night. Sniffle, sniffle. I am so NOT ready to go back to life, back to reality, back to work, etc. quite yet. Our vacation has been amazingly wonderful! We've been so super busy every single day! Our days have been spent at the pool, at the gym (I'm doing a fitness show in October!) , playing with Conner and Caden, visiting great grandpa and grandma, going to the movies for the first time (it didn't go that well....), running around naked outside at grammy and papa's house, eating WAY too many treats, enjoying cotton candy and the rides at the fair, taking a boat ride on Prior Lake with papa, and lots more! Never a dull moment.... I haven't taken a single picture either, but I hope to get some taken before we head back home. I know, I know, it's just that I always forget my camera or don't feel like carrying it around! The first few days of vacation we all stayed with Grammy and Papa and then we stayed at Amber and Shawn's for a good week or so (they only live 20 minutes away from Grammy and Papa's house), and now we are back to staying with Grammy and Papa. Nothing quite like living out of a suitcase for almost 2 weeks! I would love to stay at least another week. Maybe next summer I can convince J to let us stay for a month. That'd be perfect! It's so much more fun now that the girls are so mobile and getting older. They are easier, to a point. We can actually take them to the pool, the mall, movies, water park, county fair, etc. and know that they'll have fun and behave (most of the time!).
I'll update more on our vacation soon! It's going to be a busy few weeks once we get back. I'm back to work on Tuesday and have increased my hours from 20 hours a week to 32 hours a week at work. That's going to be a huge change. A lot of my spare time is spent at the gym getting ready for my competition in October which leaves little time for much else. The girls will start preschool on the 22nd and will be attending 4 mornings a week. They are so excited!
Our house is STILL for sale...it's been a long time. The market just REALLY sucks! Ugh! We'll leave our house on the market through the month of August and then likely take it off until next spring. Lots of lookers and some interested buyers...who have to sell their own home before they can even consider buying ours. HOpefully it'll sell this month. Cross your fingers! And, if not, then we'll be here at least until sometime next spring. We are fortunate to have a gorgeous home and need to count our blessings!
Until next time,
Cheers! xoxo Nicole & Co.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011...................................................................
I've added pictures from our camping adventure this past weekend. The girls did REALLY REALLY good...much better than I had expected actually. Sleeping in the tent was an experience and it took a little while for the girls to become comfortable, but all in all, it turned out just fine. The girls didn't nap either day, but we didn't expect them to with the chitter chatter, roaring dirt bike engines, and the sun shining right in the tent. They roasted their very first marshmallows and were gooey messes by the time they each devoured a few! There were 7 kids and 6 adults which made for a great time. The kids all played so well together. It was really an enjoyable experience and I am looking forward to taking the girls camping again.
I just got word yesterday that Cate's PT, Jeanine, is dropping Cate from 1 session a week or 1 session every 2 weeks since she is doing so well. I was happy to hear such wonderful news! Cate is doing amazingly well. She is mastering steps now and is slowly learning how to use her legs and feet to pedal her Dora the Explorer hot wheels. It's been really nice out so we've been spending as much time as possible outside. I am enjoying another month off before returning back to work around August 10th. Tomorrow we plan to hit the pool...maybe Friday too...then Sunday we'll do something fun with the kids. I love summer time and being able to do whatever we want. I'm making our packing checklist for our annual summer trip to MN...where it's been blazing hot lately, so I hear. Jeremy and I are also planning a quick trip to Breckenridge in mid-August to celebrate our anniversary. August is shaping up to be an extra busy month for us. In addition to our "vacations", the girls will also be starting preschool again sometime in August. As of now, we've got them signed up to attend 4 mornings a week for 3 hours. They LOVED preschool last year so we are almost positive they will enjoy it just as much this year too!
Nothing else to report! Kids are great! J and I are great! Life is good! Enjoy the pictures of our camping trip!
Cheers! xoxo Nicole & Co.
Thursday, July 7, 2011..................................................................................................................
Yikes! I can't believe it's JULY already! I've definitely been slacking on updating the website lately. Guess summer will do that to ya! Just been a busy gal and a busy family lately...well, more than usual, if that's even possible! I finished teaching summer school last Thursday. Man, that was a whirlwind 4 weeks! Time flew by! We are getting ready to go camping for the first time as a family of 5 this weekend. Man, getting ready is a LOT of work and preparation for 2 nights in the wilderness! Bought the giant 8 person tent yesterday and need to hit the store today to buy all of our camping gear and good eats and treats! We're heading to the mountains tomorrow and heading back on Sunday, unless our first camping adventure goes horribly awry and we have to head back early (which we are prepared to do if necessary). We are going camping with 2 other families and are hoping in store for a good time with them and our precious girls. The "to do" list and grocery list keeps getting longer and longer, but thankfully we'll only be about an hour from a major town in case we happen to forget an essential item/s. Oofta! You'd think we were packing for a month at this rate!
How was YOUR 4th of July? Hard to believe it has come and gone already. It officially marks the mid-point of summer. Booo! Jeremy had to work on the 4th AGAIN this year...no surprise there, so Grammy, Papa, the girls, and I spent the day together complete with a fun-filled (and candy-filled parade) in the sweltering hot heat, a yummy BBQ, and the girls playing in the water sprinkler! The girls crashed before the evening fireworks, but that was okay as we watched some on the t.v. before hitting the hay. It was a busy day and everyone, especially me for some reason, was extra tired. Guess the sun wore everyone out!
We are heading home to Minnesota in a couple weeks for a 2 week vacation! I can't wait to make our annual summer trip to Minnie! It's going to be a blast, as usual! We'll drive out there around the girls' bedtime and hopefully get there by noon the following day. Jeremy will spend a few days with us in MN before flying back to Colorado to work a few shifts before flying back to MN to finish up the vacation. It's always a rat race, but it works for us and our family! We'll be staying at Amber and Shawn's house this vacation as they have more toys for the girls to play with and a gorgeous neighborhood pool for the girls to go swimming in! I've got several visits with friends already lined up in addition to making the rounds visiting family member including the girls' great grandparents! It's going to be a busy 2 weeks before heading back to MN on August 6 (J and I's 6 year wedding anniversary!).
I promise to take pictures this weekend as I've been slacking off in the photo-taking department. Crazy thing called life just gets in the way. Wait till you see the girls. They have gotten so big. Cate is almost fully potty-trained....and it's hard to believe that Ali and Brooklyn have been potty-trained for over a year now. Pure bliss! Life is definitely great! Girls are growing, learning, exploring, as well as fighting with each other too! Such is life with 2 other sisters!
I hope you and your family had an enjoyable holiday! Be on the lookout for new pictures to be posted next week from our camping trip!
Cheers! xoxo Nicole & Co.
Monday, June 13, 2011.........................................................
Life's been a bit crazy since I started teaching summer school last Monday. Thankfully it's only 4 weeks long! I am really enjoying teaching 10th grade English to 8 students in my 1st class and 17 in my 2nd class. It's fun to be teaching kids again, which is something I haven't done in several years.
Last weekend we celebrated my birthday by going out to dinner at one of my favorite Italian restaurants, Carabbas! We had a great meal and continued the celebration by indulging ourselves in a huge M-n-M cookie complete with ice cream! I was also able to go to dinner at Champp's and to the movies with one of my good friends and then Sunday J had to work so the girls and I hit the gym for more fun in the sun!
This past weekend was busy too! On Saturday we had our local Parents of Multiples annual garage sale and Sunday I was able to get some time for myself after our family spent the morning at the gym (pool time!). Another friend of mine that has triplet boys who are nine months younger than our girls, Michele, and I lounged by the pool all afternoon and caught up over wine and lunch. It was a gorgeous day and I have some red skin to prove it was quite sunny out!
The girls are sure enjoying splashing around at the pool lately. They all love the water and are becoming more and more comfortable in it. They started swimming lessons again so we're busy with that on Wednesday afternoons. Cate is doing well on the potty training. She's not quite there yet, but we're working on it. She has gone potty several times on the potty chair so that's progress! We are thankful that our nanny, Laura, and Grammy and G-pa help reinforce the potty training when J and I are at work.
It's hard to believe that it is mid-June already. Summer is flying by, as usual. Another busy week for us! Hoping to get some R&R in!
Have a great week and I promise to upload some new pictures soon!
Cheers! xoxo Nicole & Co.
Monday, June 1, 2011....................................
Where have we been?! We've been at the new LIFETIME Fitness nearly every day since they opened at the beginning of May. Yep, that's definitely what we've been up to lately. I finished up the school year on the 20th and have committed to teach summer school during the month of June (only). So, I've been home every day with the girls since school getting out. And, I've been loving it! We are getting into a routine, that'll go by the wayside come Monday when I'm back to work for 4 (short?!) weeks. We all get up right around 8 a.m. and are out the door to the gym by 8:45 so I can attend the 9;30 spinning class. After my workout, I pick the girls up from the daycare and we have lunch at the cafe' in the gym. After lunch, I take the girls swimming...either indoors or outdoors depending on the weather. We play and swim until around 12:45 p.m. and then we head home just in time for nap. It's a rough life! 
Lately though, Miss Brooklyn has been on a "no nap" spree. Today is day 4 of no nap for Boo Bear, although I really can't complain because she is so good even when she doesn't nap (unlike her sister, Ali, who is a complete bear if she doesn't take a nap). Needless to say, naptime is still a sacred time at our house and everyone lays down to "rest" for at least an hour before they are allowed to get up and watch a movie or read quietly.
Life has definitely been a routine lately, but also less structured (ie: less of a rat race) since preschool is over for the school year, school is out, summer is here, and the girls have graduated out of Early Intervention services. Cate still receives Speech and PT weekly, and we're hoping for a new OT too. We're still very anxious to sell our house and thought we almost had it sold last week....before the potential buyers backed out. Thankfully we kept it on the down-low since it didn't pan out anyways. We've lowered the price $60,000 over the past 6 months. OUCH!!! Hopefully it'll sell sooner than later cause we are getting antsy!!!
So, that's what we've been doing lately! Those things, and, of course, potty training Cate which is actually going pretty well. She is super motivated (which she has been for at least 6 months) and now that I'm home a bit more, we're going ahead full speed. Ali and Brooklyn were SUPER easy to PT....I don't think Cate is going to be THAT easy...well, it's not looking that way. Ha!
Hope you are all off to a great summer!
Cheers! xoxo Nicole & Co.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011.....................................................
The girls turned the big 3 years old on Sunday! It was definitely a busy and house-filled with family and friends kind of weekend! Selena, a good friend from college!, flew into town on Wednesday and my parents arrived on Sunday. Selena and I enjoyed lots of quality time together getting massages, working out, and even running a 10k together on Saturday morning. The girls' party was on Sunday, the 15th, the actual day of their birth. There were over 40 people helping them celebrate another year in this marvelous world! It was quite the party filled with pizza, soda, cake, tons of gifts, and loads of fun!
The birthday celebration continued on Monday. Jeremy, mom, dad, and the girls spent the day at the zoo (I was working), then yesterday all of us headed up to the Children's Museum in Denver for a fun-filled morning before dropping Papa off at the airport to head back to Minnie, and racing to swimming lessons. The girls loved the museum and were actually the perfect age to enjoy most of the interactive exhibits. Their favorite was the bubble factory and, of course, the fire station.
Jeremy is back to work today so it's just mom, the girls, and I hanging out. We went to the gym this morning, but have been playing with all their new birthday gifts most of the day (spoiled children! LOL!).
I've downloaded over 100 pictures from the past week, but didn't have the patience to rotate them all to the correct direction. Sorry! You can turn your head (or your computer) sideways for a better view. Ha! We're enjoying having mom in town until Saturday, but miss Papa and Selena, who both flew back to MN and WI, respectively.
My last day of work for the school year is on Monday, but I opted to teach summer school for the month of June for some extra "going-to-be-moving-into-a-new-house soon" fund! It's going to be a busy summer!
The girls are all doing wonderfully and are enjoying all their new birthday goodies! Here's hoping you are having a fantastic week!
Cheers!
xoxo Nicole & Co.
Thursday, May 12, 2011...............................................................
Only a few more days until the big birthday! Selena flew into town last night already and mom and dad are flying in on Saturday. I love having family and friends visiting! We are excited for the girls’ party on Sunday! I think we’ll have quite a few people there. Their party is at an indoor play place somewhat like Chuck-E-Cheese but way bigger. There are lots of rides and activities for the kids.
What's new? Well, the girls started swimming lessons again last week at the rec center. They continue to be fish in the water and are learning new swimming skills. Brooklyn continues to be fearless and Alison and Cate are quite comfortable in the water as well.
We spent this past weekend in Albuquerque for a wedding. It was the first time since the girls were 3 months old that we all slept in the same hotel room. And, that was a nightmare! However, this time, it was quite different. The five of us stayed in a suite and it was wonderful. The girls slept wonderfully on their cots and we all got a full night’s sleep. Now we are feeling confident about traveling more with the girls (when staying at a hotel is a must) because they did so well. The 6.5 hour drive to and from Albuquerque went great too! We weren’t sure how the girls would do sitting in the car that long. We left right when they woke up on Saturday morning and then headed back home after breakfast on Sunday (Mother’s Day). So, yes, my Mother’s Day was spent driving, but since I was with my family, I was happy.
Overall, the girls are all doing remarkably well. Alison and Brooklyn are completely phased out of early intervention services since they are above and beyond where they should be developmentally. Cate has come leaps and bounds! She will continue receiving speech services as well as PT and possibly OT in our home. Next year, the girls will be in an A.M. preschool either 4 or 5 mornings a week. Cate will receive speech services in preschool and will be on consult for PT and OT at preschool.
We’ve got some fun things planned for this summer, which will be here before we know it. First, we hope to be moved sometime during the summer. We are crossing our fingers that our house sells quickly. It’s been on the market for 5 months and we are getting antsy, particularly on days like today when the traffic to work was torture. We’ll be going to Minnesota at the end of July for a couple weeks to enjoy the Minnesota summer! We hope to get away for a few days to go camping or head up to Breckenridge with the girls to enjoy the beautiful outdoors.
I hope you have a great weekend! I know we will!
Cheers! xoxo Nicole & Co.
Monday, May 2, 2011.....................................
HAPPY MAY! This month is such a busy month for birthdays in our family. My sister, Amber, has a birthday on the 11th of May. The girls turn THREE years old on May 15th! Eeek! Our nephew, Caden, celebrates a birthday on the 16th, and my birthday is on the 28th. Oofta! I am so excited that May is here! The weather has been warmer, the sun's been shining (most days), and spring is in the air (again...most days!). Ha! In addition to all the birthdays, we will be having several visitors in town for the girls' birthday! One of my besties, Selena, flies in on the 12th and my parents fly in on the 14th. We're going to have a very busy household for a couple weeks and I can't wait! The more, the merrier....right?!
The girls birthday party venue is booked and invitations have been sent out. We are still debating what to get the girls for their birthday though. They seem to have nearly everything! It is unimaginable to think they're going to be THREE. I am in shock when I think about it. It honestly seems like just yesterday we were bringing them home from the NICU. They are SUCH good kids and for that we count oursevles lucky! Time-outs are fairly rare or non-existent (depending on the day, I guess) and the girls have become such respectful little ladies. These days the girls are into imaginative play, learning to use scissors, firetrucks, riding their bikes outside, and anything artsy/craftsy. We are slowly working on potty training Catelin since she has been showing every sign that she's ready for months now. Ali and Brooklyn PT'd right after they turned 2 years old and bascially PT'd themselves. It was a cinch. I think Cate is going to require some patience on mommy and daddy's part!
How was your Easter? We spent the Friday before Easter playing at the park and celebrating Grammy's birthday. (See pictures). Saturday morning of Easter weekend at the fire department's annual Easter Party. The girls had breakfast with the Easter Bunny and enjoyed a fabulous egg hunt...and ate WAY too much candy! The girls also enjoyed playing and snuggling with Grammy and G-pa who accompanied us since J had to work. On Easter morning, we all went to church and then had a 'lil brunch at our house with Grammy and G-pa. It was a low-key day spent with family.
Over the past few weeks we've had several playdates, ate too much Easter candy, read a zillion books, and loved on the girls more than I can count. It's a great time of year and I love this age (99% of the time). I'm just hoping the girls soon outgrow their size 24 months/2T clothes as I have so many darling 3T outfits I can't wait for them to wear.
Tomorrow the girls start swimming lessons...for the 3rd time since they've been born. They all love the water which makes lessons so much easier. The class is for 8 sessions and will finish up the end of May. They're in the "jelly fish" class!
Still no bites on the house yet, but hopefully soon! We can't wait to move. The girls talk about their "new house in Denver." We hope to be moved sooner than later and spend the summer in our new home. We'll see what happens. Please say a couple extra prayers for us. Thanks!
Have a great week! 13 more days till the big "3"!
Cheers! xoxo Nicole & Co.
Comments
It seems like yesterday that we were on my back porch and you told me that you were going to be a mom. At that point you did not even know that you were going to be a mom of 3. Time sure does fly. You and Jeremy have done a wonderful job of raising those girls. See you soon.
- suz
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Tuesday, April 19, 2011..................................................................
Geez! I have been slacking on updating the website. Life just gets in the way sometimes! The past few weeks have flown by! It seems like just yesterday we were getting home from our glorious 12 day vacation. Speaking of which, I finally downloaded vacation pictures as well as a slew of other pictures. Unfortunately they are not in any specific order (frustrating), but there's finally new pictures to look at, none the less.
The girls finished up dance class in mid-March (see pictures) and I hope to enroll them again soon...probably after we move. Since the weather's been getting nicer and warmer, we've been spending lots of time at various parks throughout the city. (see pictures). The girls LOVE to be outside, especially Brooklyn who often cries when it's time to go in the house. Last Tuesday we had a play date with my friend Kelly and 2/3 of her kiddos. It was a beautiful day! We spent Saturday at the Denver Zoo (see pictures) with some of my co-worker friends and their daughters. What a fun time we had! The girls rode the carousel, which they all love, and saw their favorite animals....They are all fans of the giraffes! Sunday morning was spent at the park and then the girls GOT THEIR HAIR CUT FOR THE FIRST TIME and I didn't shed a tear! (see pictures). They did SO well. I was utterly impressed! They all just got a trim, so nothing major at all except Brooklyn got bangs. She hates having anything in her hair and she is quite the tom boy so bangs suit her quite well. It's hard to even tell that Ali and Cate got theirs cut since I asked the stylists to keep their length and just shape it up a bit.
Life has been crazy lately. We've been having lots of showings on the house so hopefully it will sell soon and we can get all moved up to Denver. We are beyond ready!!! It's a HUGE pain trying to keep the house nearly immaculate with three, almost 3 year olds running around. Lately, well, for the past couple of months already, the girls have been attending Sunday school at church. They enjoy learning about the Lord and hearing various bible verses. They now ask us if they can go to church because they enjoy Sunday school. We are happy they are welcoming God into their lives!
The girls' 3rd birthday is less than a month away! Birthday invites have been mailed out and we are getting ready to celebrate! They are fully aware that their birthday is quickly approaching and they are so excited! Their birthday is going to be quite eventful as my friend Selena is flying down from Wisconsin as well as my parents are flying down from Minnesota to help us celebrate. We will have a full house and I can't wait!!! (Jeremy might have a different opinion..ha ha ha!)
The girls continue to amaze us. They are slowing growing out of their 2T and size 24 month clothes and will be wearing size 3T fairly soon. I think they all weigh about 28 pounds these days, although we'll know for sure at their 3 year check-up next month. The girls are all learning how to write their name, use scissors to cut, and thoroughly enjoy any and all art projects. They are flourishing in preschool, which will be done for the year on May 13th. Cate can now keep up with her sisters quite well and her vocabulary has really taken off. She has made SO much progress that it is truly a miracle at how well she is doing despite her limitations. Next on the agenda for Cate: potty training!!! Ali and Brooklyn are quite advanced for their age and also love learning. Their vocabulary is also quite advanced as is their gross motor skills.
I hope you enjoy looking at the couple hundred pictures I downloaded (which took FOREVER!), but pictures are priceless. Have a great rest of the week and I'll update sooner than later this time!
Cheers! xoxo Nicole & Co.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011...............................................
Happy Hump Day! I posted some pictures that I had taken on my phone (hence the less than stellar quality) about a month ago when we were at a park and when the girls were at dance class.
Jeremy and I had a WONDERFULLY relaxing vacation! It was just what we both needed....lots of R & R!!! We spent 12 glorious days on the island of St. John in the Caribbean. It was paradise! We had been there a few times before since mom and dad own a timeshare there, but there was something different about going this time. Maybe it was because mom, dad, Amber, and her husband Shawn were there with us. Or, I think it's because we were there long enough to actually unwind and rest (even though we missed the girls a ton, 12 days was perfect!). Or, was it the fact that we knew the girls were in such good hands?? Thank you G-pa and Grammy for watching the girls the ENTIRE time. My guess is that it was a combination of everything! In my opinion, it was one of the best vacations I have been on because it truly felt like a vacation (R & R!)!!! Despite how eager we were to see the munchkins, it was really HARD coming back home...back to reality...work, bills, house selling stuff, etc. etc. etc. back to "real" life. I wanted just a couple more days to rest (I know, I know, as if 12 days wasn't enough?!?!).
In love technology! Thankfully we were able to see the girls via Skype while we were gone. They didn't really "get it", but it was still fun to see them over the computer and see that they were doing just fine without us there. I honestly don't think they really even missed us. When J and I went to wake them up on Sunday morning, they weren't overly excited to see us. A minor disappointment....they were definitely happy we were home and gave us bunches of hugs and kisses throughout the day, but let's just say they weren't exactly doing cartwheels or flips when they first saw us. Ha ha ha!
We are finally settling back into our family routine and back to the chaos! This weekend should actually be pretty mellow...well, maybe. If the weather's nice, I'm sure we'll end up at the parks or maybe even venture to the zoo for the day. So far, it's been sunny and warm (in the 60s and 70s). Think SPRING!!!
I hope you all are having a good week!
More pictures to come! Upcoming post: a special visitor
Cheers! xoxo Nicole & Co.
Comments
So glad you got some rest and relaxation! Loved the pics. Any pics of the haircuts?
- Suz
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Wednesday, March 9, 2011...................................
Happy March Everyone! THINK SPRING! We've been lucky with several days in the mid to upper 60's already, but we're definitely not out of the woods yet. We've been able to spend some time outside, but not every day just yet. Brooklyn LOVES to be outside. She'd live outside if she could. Here's hoping that winter is on it's way out!
We hired a new nanny last week. Her name is Laura and she is fabulous! Our previous nanny, who we had for over 1 1/2 years, is going to be taking care of a friend's new baby boy. How sweet! We couldn't give her a consistent schedule or set hours so I think she's happy to have a bit more of a consistent schedule. We'll stay have Emily watch the girls when Laura is unable. Laura has lots of experience working with toddlers and we think she's going to be a great fit. We're already impressed. She's great with the girls and is super flexible with our random, chaotic schedule.
We've had the opportunity last week to have a playdate with another set of triplet girls. We spent the morning playing at Focus on the Family and then hit up Chick-Fil-A for lunch (with mobs of people!). The girls didn't all interact much together quite yet, but hopefully they'll actually start playing together soon. We had an enjoyable morning and all six girls behaved really well inside an overly crowded Chick-Fil-A. They received compliments on their adorableness (can you blame them?) as well as their near perfect manners. We were proud mamas!
Tuesday mornings seem to be our morning to get out of the house since I don't typically work on Tuesdays. Yesterday was no exception. We had a busy morning playing again at Focus on the Family, going to the gym (the girls now enjoy the gym daycare), and then hitting up good ole' Chipotle for lunch. Just when we thought we'd worn them out, Ali and Brooklyn refused to nap (no big surprise there), but they did rest for an hour or so. Speaking of naps, we're trying to figure out how to get Brooklyn and Alison to nap more. Cate pretty much naps every day (when she's at home) and Brooklyn and Alison both take naps about every other day. The ironic things is....when they don't nap, they aren't more or less crabby than they would be had they taken a nap. So, I guess we can't complain. Any advice though? We always allow them to look at books during "rest" time in their own bedrooms, which is often a good hour or so, and many days we let them (the non-nappers) watch a movie in the living room during "rest" time. The problem with this is, we still aren't able to get much done cause they don't often sit or lay on the couch for that long so we can get anything done. Oh well...... We're never caught up anyways. We go 100 mph on the days when all 3 do nap, which are quite frequent anyways.
Another dilemma now that the girls are getting physically bigger is bath time. We bathe all three in the tub at the same time, but they are getting too big to take baths together. So, we need to come up with a different plan for bath time, particularly when only one of us is at home to give baths. Maybe we'll have to reserve bath nights to when both J and I are home so one can play with one kiddos while the other one of us gives the other two kiddos a bath and then switch. We'll figure it out.
The girls have been so much fun lately. The phrases that come out of their mouths just crack me up. They talk more like 6-8 year olds than toddlers who are not even 3 years old yet. Speaking of which, we are trying to decide where we'd like to have their birthday party this year. It's time to start making a plan already. Guess I'll make some phone calls and see what I find out. Are the girls too young for Chuck E. Cheese? Probably. Maybe next year.
We have a busy weekend planned and it's looking like it's going to be really nice out too! J is marching with the fire dept. in the St. Patrick's Day parade here in town. We're excited to take the girls and see how they react when they see their daddy marching in the parade. I'm sure we'll spend time playing at the park and/or out on Grammy and Papa's jungle gym. The girls also have dance on Saturday morning (they are going 2-3 times a week now and LOVING it...too bad their last class is next week!).
Happy Hump Day and have a FABULOUS weekend!
Cheers! Nicole & Co.
Saturday, February 26, 2011..................................................................................................................
I finally got around to posting some new pictures...some from February 8 and some from today! Jeremy's working today so I put on my SUPER MOM cape and did, in my opinion, an amazing job getting the girls up, fed, dressed, and to dance class only 6 minutes late. Mind you, I had to make sure the house was nearly immaculate too (house showings stink!). Girls were up by 8 a.m. and we were out the door by 8:50 a.m. Not too shabby and I think I deserve some big kudos for that feat! After dance, the girls and I went to the gym so I could work out. The girls enjoyed playing in the gym daycare and Cate, who isn't usually fond of me leaving her even though she know's I will be returning, didn't even cry. I think that having her in dance (without parents), church daycare, and occassionally the gym daycare is getting her more and more comfortable being "left" for a short period of time. I am so proud of Cate!!! After the gym, I picked up some lunch for the girls and headed home. They ate and then the four of us relaxed on tehe courch and watched a movie before "rest" time. Ali and Brookllyn were in their rooms for a long time, but never fell asleep. Little stinkers! On the other hand, I had to wake Cate up after 3 hours of napping! Geesh! Cate and Brooklyn are getting over colds so I guess Cate's body needed the extra rest.  They had a great day today and only Cate and Brooklyn got expectorant (medicine) once all day. And, everyone was fever-free! Yahooo! I guess my girls are lucky (see previous post) since many kiddos have gotten the cold/flu BAD this year.
Jeremy and I spent Thursday and Friday snowboarding! We had a BLAST and the best part, we get to go again for the night and go snowboaring next Thursday and Friday! Spoiled?!?! Thank you D and D for watching the girls so we can get a little escape from reality for a day or two! We sure appreciate it!
I'll leave you with a little entertainment from Alison the other evening!
Cheers! xoxo Nicole & Co.
Comments
Cutie pie!!!! Such a smartie, like her mama!
- Gelavij
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Wednesday, February 23, 2011..............................................
Not too much new to report....no news is good news, right? The girls are getting over minor colds, and thankfully they've been VERY healthy and flu-free thus far this yucky cold and flu season. KNOCK ON WOOD! Nearly everyone we know has been hit with a bad cold and/or stomach flu, BUT us...so far! We're counting our blessings and remain hopeful that this cold/flu season will remain virtually illness free!
The girls continue to attend dance classes from 1-3 times a week and beg to go! They just love it and are doing so well! The girls still attend preschool two days a week for 4 hours. This continues until mid-May. They have loved going to pre pre-school so we anticipate they'll love attending next year. We're planning on sending them to a roughly 3 hour morning preschool session 4 or 5 mornings a week. We'll be busy (and so will they) but we've seen the benefits from them attending twice a week now. Plus, the girls love the structure, love the learning, and are excited to go to "school." I hope they always have that love for learning. The amount of therapy has gradually decreased over the past 6-12 months. Alison no longer receives services through Early Intervention (and hasn't in quite some time), and Brooklyn is on consult only now for speech since she tested at a 4 year 11 month old child!!! Smarty pants! Catelin continues to receive PT and OT once a week and speech 1-2 times a week. Cate's a busy gal! Between therapy, preschool, dance classes, play dates, visits with Grammy and Papa, and enjoying some rare time at home!, we are going 110 mph 99.9% of the time....and I don't see our lives slowly down any time soon. We've adapted and those that know me recognize that I am ALWAYS on the go. I've always been that way...quite a social butterfly .
Lately, the girls and I have been enjoying playing with their Zhu-Zhu pets, finger painting, playing outside in the (little amount of) snow, matching games, learning the alphabet (they all almost know it all without any mistakes), counting to 10 (Ali and Brooklyn practically can do this now), and helping mommy in the kitchen (a rare sight, but I do cook on occassion). The girls have been most interested in mixing playdough colors together to make new colors, using Mommy's hair brush to brush the dogs, watching Mommy takes a shower (they haven't taken showers yet...only baths, but are interested in showering with Mommy or Daddy), watching Disney movies over and over again. Their favorites are "Up", "Toy Story", "Monsters, Inc.", and "Shrek." They continue to be SUCH GOOD really really well-behaved kiddos 99.9% of the time. However, last night Alison and Brooklyn were fighting and I witnessed Ali throwing a HUGE full-on 2 year old tantrum. I left her alone as she hid in the bathroom until she calmed herself down and then came out to play. Her fit probably lasted a good 10 minutes, but when she was done, she was done with it.
The girls are going to be spending a couple days with their Grammy and Papa so J and I can head up to Copper to go snowboarding! We leave in the morning and are super excited! Did I mention how much I love working part-time? It suits me, and my social life, quite well! I have asked my boss if I could increase my hours a wee bit for the next school year since the girls will be going to preschool 4-5 mornings a week. I should hear soon about that. Either way, working only 20 hours a week makes me happy and keeps me somewhat balanced.
I hope you are having an enjoyable week~! Will post pictures and/or video soon!
Cheers! xoxo Nicole & Co.
Thursday, February 17, 2011............................
The girls had their first dance class yesterday afternoon! It was such a hoot to watch them! They did so incredibly well that we were all impressed at their ability to follow many directions and their level of participation. I just got a flip camera so I'm still figuring out how to use it, but you can have a little glimpse of their first dance lesson yesterday! I think we have some future ballerinas on our hands. They ALL loved it and are excited to attend class again today! Alison is in the colorful unitard. She has her hair in a pony tail. Brooklyn (left side of video) is in a lavendar leotard and also has her hair in a pony (shocking!). Cate is only in the video for a minute and she has her hair in piggie tails and is wearing a light pink leotard with ruffles!
In other news, the girls had their preschool developmental evaluation at the school district's office last Friday. We are excited to share that Cate DID qualify for services next year! I think she qualified for both speech and physical therapy, but I can't remember. We are happy that she will be continuing to recieve the supports she needs. Ali and Brooklyn did not qualify for services, but we didn't think they would. Brooklyn just tested at a 4.11 (4 years and 11 month old) speech level. AMAZING! The girls are so incredibly smart...and I'm not just saying that cause they're my girls, but they are really truly bright young girls. I wouldn't be surprised if the word "gifted" is used to describe them in the future.
This past weekend I received my CPR and First Aid certification. I took at all day class on Saturday and became certified. I'm happy I did it. Free daycare was provided so I brought the girls with me as J was still quite under the weather after having major surgery (Endoscopic Sinus) on Wednesday. He was bed-ridden for several days and is just now (a week later) starting to feel "o.k." On Sunday, we headed up to Louisville to vist Aunt Patsy, Uncle Dick, and Great Grandma Thompson. It was a nice visit and the girls enjoyed playing with their new toys, building mini snowmen, and stomping around in the little streams. We don't get up to that neck of the woods often enough to visit our wonderful family.
We had fun celebrating Valentine's Day this year! Since I didn't get home till late on Monday, we celebrated as a family on Tuesday. The girls had TONS of gifts to open from both sets of grandparents. It was like Christmas round #2! We played with their new toys, read Valentine's Day books, ate heart-shaped cookies. J and I took the girls to play at Focus on the Family and then we all went out to lunch at Rock Bottom. Since the weather has been GORGEOUS, after naps, the girls played outside for a while. Later that evening, after baths, the girls wanted to watch "Monsters, Inc." They just love that movie and will watch (bits and pieces of) it over and over again. Their attention span definitely isn't long enough to sit through an entire movie yet, but Brooklyn will watch it for a good 20-30 minutes sometimes. All in all, we had a great family day!
This weekend we are heading up to Littleton (near where I work) cause I am running a 10 mile race on Saturday. The weather is still supposed to be nice and sunny so we are taking the girls with us. I'm excited that J and the girls will be able to attend since J doesn't have the "o.k." from his doc to head back to work until Monday (due to his surgery....a nice week and a half off work....well, it wasn't all "nice"...he was in some major discomfort but is doing much better now). We'll be meeting some friends and their kiddos too! So, while I get to run, the girls will be playing with their friends and enjoying the outdoors also. Afterwards, we hope to either BBQ at their house or hit up a good restaurant complete with adult beverages (well-deserved and much needed after a long race)!  Then, it's back home to rest before church.
Sunday....well, I'm hoping that Sunday will be a day of R & R. Days like that are few and far between when raising triplets! Hopefully we'll be able to spend some time outside (I wonder if our snowman will have melted by then?), play with all the girls' new toys (some of which they received for Christmas and haven't opened yet!...SPOILED?!?!), finger paint?, snuggle!, and just spend some quality time as a family which we don't do often enough leading such busy lives!
I hope you have a fabulous weekend!
xoxo Cheers! Nicole & Co.
Comments
love the video. So cute.
- Suz
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Sunday, February 6, 2011......................................
Happy Superbowl Sunday!!! We got about 8 inches of snow in the past 24-48 hours and it is so pretty! Today has been a good day to finger paint and play outside in the fresh, glimmery snow! It's so beautiful! I took a bunch of pictures this morning of the girls working on various masterpieces. I think we have some Picassos in our family! On Friday J and I had the opportunity to spend the morning together while the girls were at preschool. Well, I guess we were kinda together. I went to the gym while he ran errands, but then we met up for lunch at TGI Friday's! G-pa and Grammy took the girls for the night since J and I had planned on heading up to the mountains to go snowboarding EAAARLY Saturday morning. So, J and I went to the movies Friday night. It was a fun 'lil outing! Before, we swung by Target to see if I could find leotards for the girls since they start dance class next week.
Saturday morning started off early with the alarm going off at 5 a.m. We left the house at 6 a.m. with all intention of getting to the ski resort where we snowboard by 8/8:15 a.m. The sun was shining and the temps were manageable. Just west of Denver is when the Saturday morning everyone's heading to the ski resorts traffic began. Ughh! However, traffic is manageable, the weather is another story. Needless to say, it started to snow as we traveled west. We were probably about 30 miles from Copper Mountain when we saw a sign that indicated that it'd take us at least 3 hours (from our current location) to get there. Apparently, the weather was bad. After pondering what to do since we planned on meeting some good friends of ours, we turned around  Boooooo! In hindsight, it was a good thing cause when we got home J looked up the weather camera for Copper online and it was a complete white-out snowstorm just west of where we were when we turned around. Cars were barely moving, the snow was falling quickly, the wind was a howling! Of course, it was hard for us to imagine as the drive home was sunny and snow-free....until mid-afternoon. On the way home, we took our time and drove around a few potential neighborhoods for when we move. It turned out to be an ok day, but my rear was tired from sitting in the car for a total of 6 hours. After spending some time at home, it started snowing and blowing. The weather here is so weird. We picked the girls up from G-pa and Grammy's house and went to church before feeding the girls Chic-fil-a in the car on the way home for dinner. Yep, parents of the year. Ha ha ha!
Today we were supposed to head up to Denver to meet some friends and take the girls swimming. Because our plow didn't come until after noon, we had to cancel. Instead, we had a fun morning doing other things (see pictures). After nap, we headed over to our friend's house to watch the Superbowl with a group of people. It was a really nice day and the girls have just been super good and such darlings!
This week is going to be rather interesting and crazy busy, as usual. J's having surgery on Wednesday morning and will be out of work for 10 days. I'm planning on working 3 days this week, Cate has PT , OT, and Speech tomorrow, Brookie has speech tomorow, Cate has speech again on Tuesday, J's surgery on Wednesday, girls have preschool on Wednesday, no therapists on Thursday, and then the girls have their preschool evaluation on Friday. OOOFTA! Going to be another absoultely nutty week....we only have crazy weeks so I'm not sure how I'd ever handle just a regular (boring???) week. Is that what it's like with only 1 kid? Seriously. If someone ever tried to decipher our family calendar, they'd have a migrane and be utterly confused in a matter of seconds. It is THAT jam packed. Oh well, it's OUR life and it's definitely a CRAZY one at that!
Hope your week goes well! Will update again soon! Off to bed! Alarm will be going off before I know it! Eeek!
Cheers! xoxo Nicole & Co.
I just got off the phone with the dance company. The girls start on Feb. 16th! Yahoo!
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