Christmas Evening

During the boys' afternoon nap, we were able to have our family Christmas dinner. I missed having them with us but it was also nice and relaxing. When the boys woke up, it was finally time for them to get dressed for the evening. Here are a few photos of our evening....

Andrew....

Andrew and Grandma...

Jared...

Jared and his Great Grandma Pooka (I hope I am able to play on the floor with my Great Grandchildren when I am 89 year old!)...

Wesley and Aunt Jeanie (Aunt Kim's Mom)...

Grandma entertaining Wesley...

The outfits the boys are wearing were purchased through a WONDERFUL Yahoo group of other Mothers of Boy-Boy-Boy (BBB) Triplets who exchange/sell their clothes. I am so happy to have found this BBB Clothing Exchange because I have been able to purchase some really terrific clothing sets for the boys and most items are new with tags! I was looking for dressy outfits for the boys in stores and the price for these type of outfits was at least $50 a piece. I would have splurged for one baby but $150 for outfits they wear for a couple hours (and drool all over - note Jared's pics) was not practical. I was so excited to see these outfits posted and I was able to purchase these three sets for $20 total!! Thank you to the mothers that participate in this group!!

Our first Christmas was very memorable and I thank everyone for the generosity shown to our family!

I hope everyone had as wonderful a Christmas as we did!

Take care,

Christmas Afternoon

The boys woke up from their afternoon nap and there was more excitement waiting for them. The boys spent the afternoon hanging out upstairs playing with their new toys which provided them the opportunity to practice their new pulling up and standing skills. In the picture below, the boys are playing with their learn and play table and you can see Jared standing up. Wesley pulled up for the first time on Sunday evening and by Monday, Jared was pulling up. It's almost like he saw Wesley stand up and said, "oh yeah, I can do that." Now they are both pulling up all over the place! Andrew is working on his own pace but look..... he is standing too......

(Please ignore the support being provided by Daddy.) I had previously mentioned that I thought Andrew was holding off on crawling until he was at Grandma's house. Well, I was partly right. This morning, he sat up on his own for the first time! I found him sitting up in his pack n play! He is also moving around much better. It's not a crawl but more like an "inch worm" kind of move. However, he is getting around much better.

After playing for a little while, family started to show up for the Christmas festivities. Aunt Pam and Zack arrived and we were able to open their gifts. We love our new toy cell phone and clothes! Aunt Pam fired up the Skye and we were able to visit with Uncle Brian in Greece and then Aunt Theresa and Uncle David in Virginia. Aunt Pam kept moving the web cam around the room to show the triplets. Uncle David even questioned whether there really were three because he could only see one at a time. We were finally able to get them all in the same shot so he had his proof of triplets :-)

Aunt Kim and Uncle Lance arrived and then the boys were able to open their gifts. The boys really loved the paper tags that they gave them. They also thought the Curious George stuffed animal attached to the tags were pretty neat as well. Here is Wesley tasting his new gift...

Jared just "kicking" back with Uncle Lance....

Can you spot the baby in this photo??? They both look like cute little monkeys to me.....

We are having such a wonderful day, I am not sure it can get any better. Once the boys played for a little while, they were off to take their afternoon nap.... rest up boys, there is more to come....

Take care,

Christmas Morning

There must be something programmed deep into the minds of children that signals it is Christmas morning. I am convinced the boys are not aware of the concept of Santa Claus or that he would be stopped by during the night to bring them gifts. However, they still woke up about 30 minutes earlier than they wake every other morning for the past five months!

As we woke, Mike and I dawned our Christmas jammies (I sure love this man) and got the boys up and dressed for a morning full of paper ripping, ribbon chewing and oh yes, some new toys. The boys had their morning "coffee"(aka. bottles) while Mommy and Daddy also chugged a mug of Grandma's finest brew. Once we were all awake and ready, we headed downstairs to attack the shiny packages under the tree. Grandma Sally woke up to experience our first Christmas morning.

The boys were able to open their packages from Santa, Grandma & Grandpa and finally open the gift from Aunt Laurie that they used for practice on Christmas eve. The boys were not quite sure what to do with the packages but continued to be impressed by the shiny bows and crinkly paper. Andrew and Wesley can be seen sporting a few of the bows. I love Wesley's "bow-hawk." From Santa, the boys received three Tonka trucks, a package with an FSU football, basketball and soccer ball and their big gift of the morning was a learn and play table.

The boys received Buccaneer sleepers and three very cute hooded towels. Andrew is seen modeling the frog version. We also received a duck and a lion towel. Aunt Laurie's gift was a trio of onesies that say "I Love New York" in Chinese characters. We can not wait to wear these!

Once we had opened all of our gifts, it was time to have breakfast. In order to protect the white tops of our special Christmas jammies, the boys ate breakfast showing off their chests! I don't normally strip the children to feed them but this was a special occasion. Since it was 80 degrees on Christmas here in Florida, this attire was most appropriate.

Once we concluded breakfast, the boys played for a little while before turning in for their morning nap. The boys needed their rest in order to enjoy the remainder of the Christmas day activities!

Take care,

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas From The Darnell Family!!!

We had an overwhelming day with the three most wonderful gifts we could have ever received! I thank Mike everyday from giving me these three precious little gifts and he was even wonderful enough to wear matching jammies on Christmas morning. Let's just say, best Christmas ever!! The day was so overwhelming, I am too pooped to fully blog tonight. I have some wonderful pictures of our Christmas Story so stay tuned. We are traveling home tomorrow so I will try to post tomorrow night.

I hope everyone had a joyous Christmas!

Take care,

'Twas the Night Before Christmas.....

We have concluded our first Christmas Eve with friends and family! The boys are tucked snugly in this "beds" with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads. We are waiting with anticipation for their first Christmas morning.

The night was filled with a lot of excitement as the boys visited with so many people and showed off their new fancy crawling skills. We took down the play yard and everyone took turns monitoring the boys to make sure they did not grab gifts, ornaments or pull the entire tree down. This is not a one man or woman job! As you can see, Aunt Joan was trying to keep this card away from Jared but was having little success. He is quite persuasive (or is it aggressive?).

The shiny gifts under the tree were very interesting and Jared and Wesley continued to crawl straight for anything with a pretty ribbon. Before dinner, I finally grabbed a gift for them from under the tree and told them to "tear it up." This gift was addressed to "My Boyfriend and his Brothers." During a visit earlier this year, Aunt Laurie and Andrew developed a very special relationship which resulted in him getting special mention on the tag.

Jared and Wesley tugged at the ribbon for a while. Jared would loose interest in the gift every few minutes and turn his attention to the camera. It was almost like he was seeing the camera for the first time. Really, Jared.... this is the same camera that flashes at you many times a day. However, he would not leave it alone until I finally let him "taste" the camera. Wesley remained focused on the gift and was finally able to get the ribbon off. He was proud of this accomplishment and continued to play with the ribbon for a long time. He loved the ribbon... thank you Aunt Laurie! Oh wait, that was not the gift... don't tell Wesley!

Andrew was a little tired and was hanging out with Daddy during this event. We let him have his go at the gift and he scratched at the paper but still no ripping. We moved the gift back to the floor and Wesley and Jared continued to rub and scratch the paper. Finally, after about 10 minutes of biting and rubbing the gift, Wesley actually tore into the paper and ripped off the first piece. The audience of family had been watching this for so long that we erupted into cheer when this first piece was pulled off the gift. The cheers scared both Wesley and Jared and they both started to cry. At the end of all of this, we are still in suspense at to what is inside the package. The boys did not fully open the present so it was placed back into the pile with the remainder of the gift to be opened in the morning. We do hope that the gift is not breakable as it was sure beat up tonight!

It was finally time for Christmas Eve dinner! We were eating the traditional Chili and Chicken Wings. Eating location is assigned based on seniority. We have the "Big People" table and the obligatory "Kiddie Table." While it pleases me so that we still have so many mature family members to fill the "Big People" table, I dream of one day graduating from the "Kiddie Table." It's been a long ride here at the "Kiddie Table." However, my brother is three years older than I am so I am not even next in line to move to the dining room. Oh well, at least the topics of conversation at the "Kiddie Table" don't include recent medical procedures like knee replacements and heart valve replacements. We have fun!

As this is the first Christmas for the boys, I was excited about teaching them the ropes of the "Kiddie Table." There was a new twist to the seniority seating that I not previously seen. I fully understood that it was seniority that earned you a place at the "Big People" table but, I did not know that a little person also had to earn their seat at the "Kiddie Table." In these pictures, you can see the "Big People" table in the dining room......

Here is the "Kiddie Table" tucked in the kitchen.........

Here is the shocker..... the boys had to sit out in the hallway..... it was so sad..... I could not believe that Grandma banished the boys to the hallway!

One day boys, dare to dream... you too can eat like real people at the "Kiddie Table" with your mother! Until then, it's the hallway and table scraps for you!

Of course this is all a joke! The boys had previously eaten their dinner (fed by Aunt Kim) and were placed in their high chairs while we were eating. There was little room in the kitchen so the boys were right outside the kitchen where we could see them. Midway through the meal, Grandma was outraged to see them still sitting in the hallway and she moved them into the kitchen to sit near the "Kiddie Table." The boys were given a teething biscuit during our meal and provided quite the entertainment for the rest of the "Kiddies" at the table.

The boys stayed up until about 8:30 and could wait no longer for the start of the gift exchange portion of the evening. The boys said their good nights and headed to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a very exciting day for the boys filled with more family, good food, their rightful place at the "Kiddie Table" and a full day of gift opening.

Hold on... I think I hear Santa leaving their gifts for them right now....

Yep, it was Santa. Here is the display the boys will wake up to in the morning....

I guess I should turn in so I have the energy to keep up with them tomorrow.

Take care,

Kellie

We were framed!

Why are we on lock down?

What did we do?

No, we didn't do it?

We were framed!

Mommy, we will testify... Andrew did it... not us!

Let us out!

Hey, wait... why is Andrew allowed to "walk" the streets?

He's not that innocent!

During this visit to Grandma's house, Jared and Wesley learned that being able to crawl is not all it is cracked up to be. Their new talent mixed with their uninhibited curiosity set in Grandma's non baby proofed home does not make for a pretty scene. To protect all of us from Grandma's wrath, the boys spent some free time in their play yard. As Andrew is not crawling yet, he was still safe to remain "on the lam."

Andrew is pictured below showing off his "free" status in front of his caged brothers!

Don't worry, the boys were still able to have a jolly good time in their tight quarters.

And yes, Andrew joined the crawling duo behind bars.

The boys managed to have a good time but for a while they looked as if they were questioning why they were behind bars. Dear Boys, Let's let this be the only time I have to speak to you through a set of bars!!!

Eating Breakfast with the Family

The last time we visited Grandma's house we used the boy's bouncy seats to eat breakfast and dinner. Now that the boys are eating breakfast, lunch and dinner and are weighing 22lbs, the bouncy seats were not a good option. At this point, Jared could probably roll over and crawl away with the bouncy seat strapped to his back.

I found a really good deal on wooden stackable high chairs that are found in restaurants. This was perfect for Grandma's house. We arrived late last night and Mike's first task was to assemble our new high chairs. His deadline was breakfast!!

He did a great job and the boys were able to join us for breakfast. It was nice to have the boys at the table with us. They were able to join in and have a few bites of the cinnamon roll (stix) that we were eating. They really seemed to like it but I am not really sure how much they actually ate. Their bibs have pockets and we were constantly pulling out pieces they had dropped into their pocket. When the meal was over, we also discovered that what did not land in their pocket probably fell all the way to the floor. What a mess but who could be upset with these faces...

I must also mention a "cute" little game that Grandma taught the boys. I mention this so we can all remember where they learned this when it is not so "cute" when they are about 2 or 3 years old. While the boys were waiting for me to prepare their actual breakfast, Grandma was encouraging each of them to smack the table while chanting... "we want breakfast, we want breakfast." Oh, what fun! So much for teaching proper table manners!

Take care,

Wesley Stands Up..... With Much Complaint!

Last night, Wesley was able to use my leg as his base and he stood up for the first time. Throughout the day yesterday, he stayed very close to me. If I was sitting on the couch, he was right near my legs. If I left the play area, he would crawl to the exit. He even started crying when I would leave the room (cute but a habit we will need to break).

He started to stand up and I got so excited! Once he would do it, I would scoot back so he would have to crawl to me and stand again. By the time I grabbed the camera, he was no longer amused with this little game. As you can see in the video, he is not very happy. However, he got all the way up! I love the look on his face when he falls onto his bottom. I must be cruel for enjoying this look because he looks so upset. I hope you enjoy.....

Way to go Messy Wessy!

Santa came early this year!

The boys' wish list this year included their big boy car seats. We were very hopeful that Santa would bring these for the boys because they have officially outgrown their infant carriers. Last night we weighed the boys. Jared and Andrew weigh 22lbs and Wesley (our peanut) weighs 20.5lbs. **On a side note, we are still baffled at how Andrew caught Jared in weight since Andrew still spits up SOOO much. The doctor has never been concerned about the spit up because he is gaining weight but I sure wish it would stop. ** Back to the story...

We are traveling to Grandma Sally & Grandpa Gary's for Christmas. We leave tomorrow and really needed these new car seats. Overnight, the best thing happened... Santa arrived and delivered their big present early!!! Thank you Santa!!!

I spent the morning checking out the car seat, perusing the 40 page instruction book and sizing the straps for the boys. When I brought the first seat into the boys' play area, Wesley and Jared were very interested in the seat. They were tugging on all of the straps and Wesley climbed into the seat to rub the fabric. Wesley loves checking out new fabrics and feeling different textures... watch out Project Runway! In the pictures, you can see the boys checking out the car seat and modeling it's comfy features. Thank you my Vannas!

Andrew did not care about the seat but was hanging out intently focused on trying to crawl. I am confident that he is saving up his first real crawls for Grandma Sally. The boys seem to do a lot of firsts when they are at Grandma's house. I think Andrew is keeping this skill suppressed so he can impress Grandma.

This picture of Andrew below is actually one of the rare shots that actually captures his very sweet smile. In most pictures, he over smiles or is shocked by the flash and his face is just not as cute in pictures as it is in person (note the group shot above). I think this picture actually captures the charming face I see everyday!

The boys are enjoying their big boy seats and are ready for their trip to Grandma's. Now all I have to do is finish the laundry, wrap the remainder of the presents, pack everything for the boys and pack for myself. Oh my, with all of this left to do, I better run.....

Take care,

Kellie

PS. Santa - We will be at Grandma's so please deliver the other gifts for the Darnell boys at her house. They have been very good this year and brought so much joy to this family. They truly deserve so much. Thank you in advance!

Here are a few more pics in their seats....