I've Got No Strings......

I've got no strings

To hold me down

To make me fret, or make me frown

I had strings

But now I'm free

There are no strings on me....

Yes, that's right... Wesley is standing without holding onto anything.

Over the past couple weeks, he has started to let go for short seconds and now it is getting longer and longer. The two pictures above were taken during the same standing episode that lasted about 30 seconds. He will correct his balance without grabbing anything and it is so cute to watch him!

The baby of babies may be the first one to take our first steps!

Wes - there is no need to grow up so fast!

Binkie Thievery....

Andrew is our one and only binkie baby. He currently needs his binkie to fall asleep. He previously used it only to fall asleep and then it would fall out of his mouth. He would not cry for it during the night, which I really appreciated. For the past few months, he has been able to grab his binkie and put it in his own mouth. In the morning, he will hunt down his binkie and when I get him up he is still sucking on his binkie. We leave his binkie in the nursery for use only in the crib. We do let him have his binkie if we are on an outing during nap time but the general rule is binkie only in the crib.

Jared and Wesley are not binkie boys. If they grab a binkie, they chew on them like I would chew on a pen cap. On Monday morning, I could hear the boys having a jolly good time in their nursery. When I went into get the boys up for the day, the picture above is what I found. Andrew must have had the binkie in his mouth when he stood up. Jared must have then reached over and said... "I'll take that." Andrew was apparently amused by this binkie thievery as he was laughing up a storm.

It's so nice to see the boys sharing!

Take care,

Gasparilla Extravaganza!!

The boys and I had a wonderful adventure this past weekend. On Friday evening, we loaded up into the truck and headed down to Grandma Sally's house for the weekend. The purpose of our trip was to visit Grandma and Grandpa but also to attend the Gasparilla Extravaganza!

Gasparilla is a Tampa tradition that has in place since 1904. To read about the history of Gasparilla, click here. We decided to take the boys to the Children's Parade. I was really surprised at the size of the parade. The parade started at 3:30pm and included over 100 units. It was a BIG and LONG parade!!

We arrived around 2:00 and made our way to the viewing area. The boys were in their stroller and while they were riding to our spot, Wesley played the part of "Joe Cool" and proceeded to prop not one but both of his feet up on the bar.... too funny! The boys (of course) drew a lot of attention as we walked through the crowds. When we finally found a spot, the boys had their late afternoon bottle .

He had one little incident during the parade that I must share. When the parade started, I would take turns holding each of the boys so they could see the parade. One of the exciting parts of the parade is catching the beads, dablooms and other items tossed from the floats. As soon as the bead throwing started, my "Mommy instinct" took over and I proceeded to focus on defending my babes. As one set of beads came close to us, I quickly threw my hand out in front of Andrew to protect him from harm. Well...... in my moment of reflex, I forgot that the camera was hanging off my wrist. Instead of protecting my first born son, I caused him harm! The camera slammed into his head and he began to scream. I was holding Wesley at the time so I quickly put Wesley down and scooped up Andrew. He calmed down pretty quick and giving him his binkie also helped. In this picture you can see the little bump on his head. I am so sorry little fella.....

The boys' afternoon nap is typically from 3:00pm - 5:00pm. Well, the parade took place right during nap time. I thought the boys may fall asleep but they were awake the full time. We decided to leave around 5:00pm because the boys looked very tired. On our way back to the car, the boys were already starting to fall asleep and the slept the full ride home.

We had a really great time and hope this is the start of our own little family tradition. Grandma and I were already talking about having 21 month olds next year. Maybe we will even dress them up like little pirates. Just the idea of three little pirates running around saying "arrrrrrggg" is something to look forward to! Check out my aggressive little pirates trying to steal Grandma's beads....

Don't worry, Grandma was catching beads for the boys. We even had people standing around us giving the boys beads. The boys loved (to eat) their beads. This is a picture of the boys on the way to the car wearing all of their "loot."
The entire week leading up to the parade, I was not sure I was going to make the trip because work has been very busy and I knew I would be traveling the day after returning home. On Friday morning, I woke up and made the decision to go. After the weekend was over, I was really glad we made the trip.

Aunt Connie and Aunt Sue....... BRING ON MARDI GRAS!!!

Take care,

Link for 9 Month Photos!

I received the link to view the pictures that we have selected from the boys' 9 month photo session. To view the pictures, they are available at the following link until Feb 26, 2009.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW PHOTOS

ENJOY!!!

Take care,

A Day of Required 9 Month Activities

Today was a very busy day for Team Darnell!! Our first required 9 month activity of the day was our 9 month check-up. Since we live in Florida, I was really hoping to make it through the winter without having to purchase winter "stuff" like coats, hats and mittens for the boys. I mean, we never really go anywhere so I figured if it was cold, we would just stay inside where it is warm. Our appointment was a 9:30am and it was going to be cold. Yes, cold! Like... really cold!!! Below 30 degrees with ice on the car and everything!!

Because if this, I had to break down and go shopping for some hats and mittens. I went to a few stores in the mall and was pointed to the clearance bins to look for hats and mittens. After 30 minutes of sifting through the clearance bins at Gymboree I was finally able to put together three pairs of hats with matching mittens. These would NOT have been the hats I would have selected with more time and a larger selection; but, I was shopping for function over fashion. They were all very "cutesie" but they kept our little heads and hands warm.

This morning, we got the boys all dressed in their multi-layers of clothing and then dawned our hats and new mittens. I did not get a picture of Wesley in his sporty hat but Jared seemed to like his and Andrew... poor Andrew. He had to wear the worst hat of the bunch. Oh, the puppy dog ears... sorry lil' buddy! This hat was sized 6-12 months and was the smallest of the three hats we purchased. As he has the smallest head, he drew the lucky straw to wear the hat with the long ears.

At their 9 month appointment, the boys were wonderful!!! They had their toes pricked to check their iron levels and none of them cried during this activity. They were all weighed and examined by the doc. No tears and everyone cooperated! The challenge was keeping all three active boys contained on the one exam table in the room. Daddy was in charge of keeping them confined and he was great at the job! After each exam with the doc, the boys were given their very own tongue depressor! What a joy these were!

We have three very healthy boys who are on target (and even a little ahead) developmentally. We left with a prescription for hydrocortizone cream to help us fight Andrew's highly resistant diaper rash. We have been battling this for a few months. We also still only have 5 of 6 testicles. We should expect a call from the pediatric urologist within a few weeks and may have a little surgery in our future to hunt down the "pesky testie." I still thank my lucky stars that with triplets, the missing testicle is the worst medical issue we are having to deal with.
After the exams were complete, the boys were given their second flu vaccine. Wesley first... no tears!! Then Jared.... no tears!! Last but not least.... Andrew.... to our surprise... NO TEARS!!! He only let out a small whimper and then stopped. Yippee!!

Now for the stats....

Andrew -
Height - 28.5" - 55th Percentile
Weight - 21 lbs - 55th Percentile
Head Circumference - 44.2 cm - 20th Percentile

Jared -
Height - 29.5" - 85th Percentile
Weight - 21lb 9oz - 70th Percentile
Head Circumference - 46.5 cm - 85th Percentile

Wesley -
Height - 29.5" - 85th Percentile
Weight - 20lb 1oz - 40th Percentile
Head Circumference - 44.4 cm - 25th Percentile

These percentiles are based on actual age not adjusted age. Let's not forget they were born a month early! They continue their steady climb up the growth chart (see bottom of blog for their progress since birth). As with the 6 month appointment, they had to check Jared's head circumference twice. They do it once when doing all of his stats and then once they are adding it to the growth chart just to make sure. We were given a "Normal Development - 9 Months Old" handout to tell us what we should be looking for developmentally over the next three months. The boys are already doing everything on the paper.... I am so proud!

On the way home from the pediatrician, the boys fell asleep. When we arrived home we moved them from car seat to crib with clothes and shoes on. They slept just fine!

When they woke up, they had a bottle and we were back on the road to our next required 9 month activity, the photographers. We took their 9 month photos and then headed home again. Our day was finally over. It was exhausting but we were able to find out the boys were all healthy and get some great photos of the boys. I will post the link to the boys' pictures when we get them.

Take care,

Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Mama..... MamAAAAA!

Music to my ears.....

I know that he does not realize that he is saying "Mama" but oh it sure does sound beautiful! I love the insistence when repeating what he said. It's almost like he is responding with frustration to me asking him to, "say it again."

I love you Drew!

Love,

Mama

Wesley has gone MAD!!

What is up with the TONGUE?????

Wesley spent the morning with his tongue hanging out like a mad man!! He was doing it for a little while and then I figured he would not keep doing it once I got the camera but I was wrong. He reminded me of one of those dogs from the "Ugliest Dog" contests. Here is a pic of what I am talking about....

Don't worry, Wesley has not gone batty. This funny tongue action was his way of welcoming his first TOOTH!!! That's right, we have finally broken through our tooth plateau. Prior to today, Jared had two teeth and has had them since Thanksgiving. Well, Wesley is finally joining the tooth club with his bottom right tooth. He has not been fussy or irritable so if a hanging tongue is the worst that happens while he is teething, I will take it.

Now we just need to brace ourselves for the day that Andrew starts cutting his first tooth....

Take care,

The Boys are 9 Months Old & We Have Another Blog!

Happy Nine Months Darnell Boys!!! Has it really been 9 months? Are we really only 3 months away from our first birthday? Shocking! I keep joking that we no longer have babies but little boys. It is not much of a joke anymore.

The picture above is from today and represents what we see when we are in the kitchen. This is the view from the outside of the play area. Jared and Wesley stand at the ottoman and Andrew is now kneeling at the ottoman. They stand their watching us in the kitchen. Our tooth count is steady at 2 bottom teeth for Jared but could they be any more drooly?????

The personalities of the boys are starting to shine and the joy right now is sitting back and watching the boys "play" with each other and "talk" to each other. Andrew loves to conversation "scream" with anyone. If he squeals/screams and you reply with a squeal/scream he will respond. This will continue until you give up... he will never quit! I love your spirit kidd-o!! This has now become a standard at meal time. The "conversation" will occur between Wesley and Andrew and in true man form they have fully embraced the conversation style of "oneupmanship." What starts as a squeak will turn into a full throttle scream resulting in red faces and neighbors cringing. The best part of watching this exchange is Jared sitting in between the two giggling. He is very amused by his brothers. This is just one example of where the boys are interacting and enjoying each other!

Jared and Wesley are pulling up on anything and everything with great ease. They are both starting to cruise around and are able to ease themselves down from the standing position but would rather fall down because it is faster. Andrew is now getting up on his knees so he is not too far off from standing up as well. He is a little more cautious than his brothers so it is not surprising that he is a little behind in this category but he is catching up quickly! All three boys are crawling with ease. Today I looked up from the play area and found an escapee from our area. The ottoman was moved out a little and the baby count was two. I found Jared near the feeding table and he had the sweetest look on his face almost like he knew he was in uncharted territory and was caught with his hand in the cookie jar!!

Ove the past month, we had started to struggle at nap time and it was taking the boys a long time to fall asleep. With these signs, we decided to modify our schedule a little bit and we have finally settled into our new schedule. We still have two naps but they are each a little later and shorter. I hope to continue moving the morning nap later over the next couple months, shortening the afternoon nap and ease into our first birthday with a one nap schedule. Here is our schedule.....

7:30am - Get-up & 8oz bottle (the boys wake-up before this time but they hang out until we "get-up")

9:00am - Breakfast - Cereal/Fruit

10:30am - Nap (1.5 hr)

12:30pm - Lunch - Cereal/Protein/Veggie/Fruit

2:30pm - 8oz bottle

3:00pm - Nap (1.5hr)

5:30pm - Dinner - Cereal/Protein/Veggie/Fruit

7:00pm - Bedtime Routine - 8oz bottle

7:30pm - Lights out

We are happy to be down to 3 bottles per boy a day. It's nice to only make 9 (+2 for cereal) bottles a day. This is a big change from the 24 bottles we were making in the early days. We have tried sippy cups on a few occasions and we give up easily because they are such pros at holding their bottles. I know we need to keep working on it but I am of the opinion... if it ain't broke, why fix it? I know, they can't start school still using bottles!

The boys are wearing 12-18 month clothing. I am shocked by the sizes they are wearing but I hear that other babies their age are also in larger sizes. We have our 9 month check-up next week and I look forward to getting our updated stats. The boys are wearing size 4 diapers but we have ordered size 5 to start using once the size 4 diapers are gone.

With the boys moving onto the larger sizes, it is time to start purging the smaller size clothes. It is hard to give these items up but I know they are too nice to just sit in a box in our garage. I have started a new blog where we will sell our "Memorabilia." I hope to sell a lot of items to other Boy, Boy, Boy (BBB) triplet families but I will also sell the pieces individually. We hope to raise enough money through these sales to purchase the boys a really great Swing Set! So, if you know someone with BBB triplets, twins or even one baby, please share this site with them so they can "shop" for some of our available items. The site is http://www.teamdarnellmemorabilia.blogspot.com/. It can also be accessed through this main site by clicking on the clothing picture on the top of the right column.

I have much more Memorabilia to post but there is enough there to get started!

Happy 9 months boys we love you dearly!

Take care,

I miss the boys...

I tried to think of some clever title for this post but there is no cute way to say it..... I miss the boys. On Monday night, after putting the boys to bed and once Mike arrived home, I loaded my bag into a rental car and started my drive to Orlando. I arrived in Orlando a little after midnight. After a "nap" and a shower, I was back up to finish my trek down to Miami for a 9:30am meeting.

I spent the morning in meetings and once concluded, our next stop was Port St. Lucie. We arrived and I was able to get some work done in the hotel before actually getting some sleep. Then today, I spent the day in some more meetings and once concluded, we were on our way to Sarasota. I am now in a hotel room in Sarasota. I have again completed some work and I am getting ready to turn in for the night. Tomorrow, I have a full day and once complete, my "rock star" tour of Florida will be completed and I will be traveling HOME to Tally.

I really enjoy getting out into the field and meeting with the clients with whom we work. These visits are the best part of my job and I am happiest when I am in the field offices working with the "community." However, it is not as much fun when I check into the hotel and realize that the boys (Daddy included) are at home and have grown a whole day (or two, or three) older and I have not seen them, hugged them or kissed them good night. Being away from home is getting harder as they are getting older.

Tonight, we arrived at a resturaunt here in Sarasota and while we were waiting for a table, I look down to my phone to see this.....

The message sent with the pic was "We love you mama!" I sure do love these boys AND their Daddy for taking a quick second to send me this pic. I was very tired at the end of the day and this truly put a smile on my face (even if Jared looks like a character from Stephen King's Sleepwalkers).

As we sat through dinner I was thinking of what the boys were doing and I knew they were probably in their jammies and were on their boppys having their bed time bottles. I did not see my phone but when we were walking to the car, I see this message on my phone....

The message with this pic was "Wesley wants a cell phone!" This one made me laugh out loud. I would like to think he was just trying to call Mommy. He saw Daddy talking to me this way and he tried to do the same. He is so gifted :-)

Thank you Daddy for sending these pics because it really made me smile at the end of a long day. I am getting ready to shut down this computer and go to sleep in order to prepare for tomorrow and I can't stop looking at these pics.

I miss you boys and I will be home tomorrow night!

Love,

We Love New York!

Aunt Laurie sent us these great onesies for Christmas and we wore our new outfits for the first time today. The onesies say "I love New York" in Chinese characters. They were purchased in New York City. The shorts have little American flags on them which I thought was very appropriate for these tops. I continue to be amazed at how fast the boys are growing. When we opened the onesies at Christmas, I thought it would take us a little while to grow into them since they are 24 months. We washed them and what do ya know... they fit! The shorts the boys are wearing are also 18 month shorts.... ugh!

Since the gift was addressed to "My Boyfriend and His Brothers," I thought I would toss in an individual photo of the "Boyfriend." He is so happy in his new attire!

Maybe one day the boys will be able to experience New York! Mike and I are planning a trip driving to Texas in the next couple months so once we gain the confidence to do this, we can go anywhere!

Thank you Aunt Laurie!

Take care,

It's going to be a little harder to work from home in 2009....

Are there words????

Where will I find the energy to keep up?

2009 is starting off with a bang, a thud, a thump and an occasional cry! These are the sounds that I hear constantly throughout the day! The boys are certainly on the move. I am starting to wonder how I will ever keep up with them through this year.

Wesley is incredibly fearless! He is pulling up on anything and everything. I had previously heard that when babies first learn to stand, it may take a while for them to learn to get down. Not our Wesley! He just dives, falls, plummets to the floor without hesitation. He is also bumping his head on toys, the door, couches, whatever and 99% of the time it does not even slow him down. Oh my, I am envisioning many trips to the ER in my future. He has so much energy in that little body!

We spent Christmas at Grandma's house and as previously posted, the space for the boys to roam was limited compared to what we have at home. When we set the boys down in their play area at home, Wesley lit up and started sprint crawling circles around the room. He was doing this for about 5 minutes before I broke out the camera. The following video is another 2 minutes of his "home again, home again, jiggety jig, dance".....

Jared is also pulling up on anything and everything but is a little more cautious. He will call out for a little help when he wants to get down but will eventually take the plunge to the floor. When his cushioned bottom hits the floor, it startles him and he cries for a couple seconds and then realized he is ok and keeps going. His cautious nature is actually causing him to learn to ease down faster than Wesley. He is now reaching to the floor and bending his knees. He will try to ease down but ends up falling anyway.

In utero, Jared and Wesley were side by side. Now that they are moving around, they are starting to "play" together more and more. They will follow each other around the room, literally crawling over Andrew. The other day, Wesley crawled across the room to the door and Jared followed right behind him. Wesley grabbed a toy and started banging it on the glass. I looked over and Jared grabbed a toy and started banging as well. He was copying Wesley! The boys also have their cribs overlapping in the nursery and they are starting to stand and "chat" before laying down for their naps. By the time I got the camera for this picture, Jared had already sat down but they were both standing. We have since lowered the cribs to their lowest setting. Here are a few pictures of the dynamic duo....



I can already sense that Grandma Sally is saying.... "awww, poor Andrew." Don't worry Grandma, Andrew will not be left out for long. He has been a little slower to get moving and that is ok. I am sure he will be making up for lost time very soon. Yesterday, he finally earned the official "check mark" in the crawling column!!!! Here is a few seconds of his new found mobility......

They will be the "Darnell Triple Threat" or the "Terrible Trio" very soon!! Again, where am I going to find the energy..........

2009 is going be a wild ride!!!

Take care,

2008 - A Year in Review

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

I borrowed this idea from another blogger because I thought it was a wonderful way to look back over the past 12 months. It is just a quick recap of all that 2008 brought to our family; because of course, there was so much more...

There is way too much to contain in one post, so I created links to the archives. Just click on the months listed above if you would like to peruse our past and see what joy 2008 brought to our family.

This year was so wonderful; can it get any better? I started this year with three little people growing inside of me and tonight they are sleeping soundly in their beautiful nursery. There have been great times during the year but there were some really challenging times as well. I have enjoyed keeping family and friends up to date through this blog. I only hope you have enjoyed sharing in our adventures of becoming a family.

We are ready and excited for the new stories and experiences that 2009 will bring!

Happy New Year!

Take care,