More October Moments...

October was filled with new rooms, visitors and Halloween to remember. As I look back over the pictures from the month, there were a few that did not make a post but we could not close out the month without sharing them.

The glass end tables continue to cause us the most trouble with the boys. Clearly they do not understand "stay on the couch." They go through phases. Sometimes they listen and sometimes the tables are just too tempting. Wes and Andrew share a moment...
Andrew wearing Daddy's shoes...

The boys spent a lot of the month crawling and laying all over each other. Brotherly love...

The boys spent a lot of time underneath the rocking love seat. Most of the time they like to pull out the stuffing...

Murray tries to steal a quiet moment to relax...

Daddy's hand a couple days after his surgery. Mike had an appointment with a dermatologist during the month to check out a spot on his shoulder. The following Monday, he received a call that a spot on his hand was basil cell carcinoma (skin cancer) and he needed to have the spot removed the next morning. The started cutting out a small spot and returned to cut again, then again and again until they got it all. He was left with stitches across his hand and without the benefit of mobility in his right hand for over a week! UGH... he is essential to this family and he needs both of his hands to take care of us! I was able to work from home during this time and was able to "cook" by ordering Pizza and other forms of take-out. Don't worry we survived and Daddy is all healed. Grandma Sally even came up near the end of the time and provided some help. I am glad that this spot was caught and it is all gone. I don't like using the word "cancer" related to anyone close to me.

October was a great month! The boys officially turned 18 months = a year and a half. We are over the hump and now on our way to hitting the 2 year old mark. It has been an amazing ride so far!

Bring on November!

Take care,

Halloween 2009

It's Halloween time again! As with Halloween 2008, I have been looking forward to this day for a while. Last year, we dressed the boys up as the Three Blind Mice. We were able to get one decent picture but the costumes were bulky and hot. When planning for this year's costume, I knew I needed something that the boys would wear, something that allowed them to move around easily, something that did not cost a fortune but something that was adorable (of course!). I also realized that this may be one of the last years I have complete control of the costume. There were not many costumes that fit all of these requirements. What was the final costume decision? Here is the bottom half... any guesses?

I have also mentioned in prior posts that we were growing out our hair to support our costume. This is Andrew getting his hair done for the evening.... have you figured out what we are yet?

The boys finish up their milk before heading out for our big night. If you look closely as Wes shirt, you may be able to see what we are for the evening....

Ms. Hilary was with us for Halloween last year and had so much fun that she returned to help join in on the festivities. She was also ready to join the Grease theme of the evening. That's right, the boys dressed up as the "T-birds" for Halloween! Ms. Hilary is dressed as the Good Sandy and I am a Pink Lady or the Bad Sandy....

Once we were dressed, we headed over to Ms. Maria's to visit (aka. Show off our costumes)...

I tried my hardest to get Jared's hair to slick back like a greaser but it is way too curly to calm down.

There is a funny story about the shirts. We purchased plain white undershirts for the costume. My original thought was to get iron on transfer paper to iron on the "T-birds" design. Mike suggested that we just use a sharpie and draw it on the shirt. Draw it on??? No way, I wanted something that looked perfect and professional. So, my wonderful husband spent the entire morning on Halloween driving around town trying to find transfer paper and then find someone willing to print it as this paper can not be used with a laser printer. After several hours of hunting, he returned home and again suggested that we use a sharpie and just draw on the design. With much reluctance, we had no other choice at this point.... fine, go ahead and draw it on. Was Halloween going to be ruined????

No way!!! Ms. Hilary proceeded to trace the design onto the shirts and to my surprise... they looked GREAT!!! They actually looked authentic because I bet Danny Zuko and crew didn't use transfer paper. Thank you Mike for the wonderful idea.... you should have mentioned it sooner ... ha!

Wes' hair was just crazy! It also would not slick back so we went more for a Stray Cats kind of look...

Nicholas is Ms. Maria's son. He has helped babysit the boys in the past and is just wonderful to them. While we were at their house, he actually dug into his personal stash of stuffed "action figures" (aka. stuffed animals) and gave one to each of the boys. Thank you Nicholas...

It was virtually impossible to get the boys together for a group photo. This picture is one of pictures of all the boys in the same frame...

Wes is so cool! I have a feeling I may see this look in a few years....

Hey, here is a group shot! Turn around boys...

My tough greaser with his new stuffed "action figure"....

Another attempt at a group shot...

Ms. Hilary and Andrew....

Before leaving Ms. Maria's house, we visited a few of her neighbors for the boys' first Trick or Treating experience. I knew that Wes and Jared would be fine but to my pleasant surprise, Andrew also walked right up to the homes to get his candy without hesitation. Wes even tried to help himself to Halloween decorations in front of the doors. Here is our full group:

Daddy did not dress but put some effort into getting into the Halloween spirit by putting on his skull shirt.

We left Ms. Maria's house and headed back home to man the door for all of the neighborhood trick or treaters. Before we returned to our home, we stopped by our immediate neighbors on either side. They had not previously met the boys so this was our chance to meet them. The picture below is at Ms. Susie's house. When she realized it was "the triplets" she ran to the door screaming and ran out to hug the boys and introduce herself as their neighbor. She was so excited to meet them.

Daddy and the boys. Daddy's hand is wrapped up because he recently had surgery to remove some cancerous cells.

Once we made it back to the house, the boys ate a quick dinner and then it was time to start reverse trick or treating. We decided to put the baby gate up at the door and let the boys experience Halloween by greeting everyone that came to the door.

Ms. Hilary loves to great the trick or treaters and she shared her joy with the boys! Look how happy "Sandy and Danny" are tonight...

I was already having a great time but what happened next made this Halloween so incredibly memorable. I thought the boys might enjoy seeing the people come to the door but I was also worried they be a little startled at times. Well, the boys not only enjoyed the visitors, the became the primary candy hander-outers. Here is Andrew waiting for his next trick-or-treater...

Wes jumped right in as well! They would hang their little hands over the gate just waiting for the next children to arrive...

Jared realizes the shiny packets contained yummy chocolate. Even once the boys realized it was candy and ate some chocolate, they were still eager to give it away...

Our little pumpkins....

Hey Jared...

Andrew in the act of giving....

Wes' turn...

Andrew is doing his scary face... look at those tats...

After doing the scary face, Danny plants a big smooch on Sandy... Some groups would arrive and see one of the boys, then the second would walk up and they would say "oh twins." Then, the third would arrive and then we would hear 'oh my triplets." It was a lot of fun....

The boys worked late into the evening handing out their candy. When people were walking away they would wave 'good-bye' and the boys would wish them well...

The box on the stool held our candy for the evening. This box is not just any box. This box is the box that delivered our first shipment of fertility meds. I never could have imagined on the day that box arrived, the joy that it would bring into my life. What an amazing box...

We could not stop the boys! Even once they were in their jammies, they were still eager to give out candy. The trick or treaters kept coming until 9:30pm. At that time, we decided to close up shop, close the door, turn off the light and put our distribution team to bed. Even after this point, they kept knocking.

We had such an amazing Halloween! We all had a relaxing and enjoyable evening safe in our own home. Thank you to Ms. Hilary for visiting us again for Halloween. I hope we have solidified this tradition and we will see you again next year. Now that Halloween is over, I can't wait to get fresh hair cuts!

To summarize our Halloween costumes:

Payless Shoes - $30.00

"T-birds" T-shirts - $5.00

Hair gel - $3.00

Temporary Tattoos - $1.00

Costumes worn all night without complaint - PRICELESS!!!

Time to start thinking about costumes for next year!

Take care,

Family and a Friend Visit

We just had a wonderful weekend with family and very dear and close family friend. This weekend was the So You Think You Can Dance tour here in Tallahassee. This mid-point location was a great opportunity for Aunt Connie and Aunt Sue to travel over from Louisiana and Grandma Sally to travel up from Tampa for the show. We were also joined by a Tracy, our very dear and close friend! We had a wonderful time catching up, sharing stories, playing with the boys and of course... laughing... a lot!

Everyone arrived on Friday evening and we spent Saturday playing and going to the show. On Sunday, we enjoyed a superb breakfast cooked by my wonderful husband, relaxed and watched some football.

Uncle Tracy loves the boys and the boys love him. During breakfast on Sunday, Tracy opted to help Mike take care of the boys while the ladies enjoyed breakfast in the dining room. He was hopeful that we would approve of his caretaker skills so much that we would hire him to become our personal "Manny." Look at how well he does with the boys....
While we were having breakfast, we let each of the boys take turns joining us at the dining room table. They each did very well. Jared...
Andrew's turn...
Last but not least, Wesley. Wait, what is wrong with your lip Wes? There is a scratch mark and some blood?!?
Mom says - "Mike & Tracy, What happened to Wesley?"
Mike & Tracy say- "Huh?"
Mom says- "What happened to Wes' lip? It is bleeding?"
Mike & Tracy say- "Oh, Chewie must have got him."
Mom - "Chewie did what? How did that happen?"
The story goes something like this: Tracy was holding Wesley and Chewie approached. Even though warnings were provided that Chewie did not care for the boys, Chewie was still able to get close enough to Wes under Tracy's supervision (or lack thereof) to snap at him and actually caught his lip. This event went unreported to me and they (yes, Daddy was aware of the event) failed to notice that Wes was so significantly hurt that blood was drawn!!! Needless to say, Tracy is NOT getting hired as our "Manny." Even though he allowed my child to be harmed, he did a great job providing comfort...
Poor Wes....

While this story is true, the injury to Wes was pretty minor and I hold no ill will towards Tracy. I just enjoy joking with him about allowing harm to come to my baby of babies. Really, Chewie is the one at fault! And, we should not have let Chewie in the area with the boys. They are just not good together... oil and water It is best for everyone if they stay in their separate spaces. Anway, back to the fun of the visit.

Aunt Sue made fast friends with Murray, our boxer. Murray loved having someone that wanted to spend a lot of time in the backyard with him. They sure did spend a lot of time together over the weekend. I am a little worried because Murray developed a mysterious cough and kept asking for a light after Aunt Sue left. We are going to get him a patch to recover from his new 'habit.' Jared also enjoyed playing peekaboo with Aunt Sue when she was outside...

Uncle Tracy borrowed a Tampa Bay Buccaneers shirt to join in on the game day fun...

At the end of the day, the boys were pampered and spoiled. Grandma was dishing out back rubs and the boys were loving it...

Aunt Sue gets into the back rub game. Don't forget Murray....

Look at these curls fresh out of the bath!! We are letting the boys grow out their hair as part of our Halloween costume. If Jared's curls remained this beautiful the day after a bath, I would leave it this long. However, his hair just looks big and messy a day after his bath. I look forward to haircuts after Halloween. Until then, I love these curls...

After his back rub, Andrew gets a little attention from Grandma playing Paddy Cake...

Seriously ladies, the pampering is getting a little out of hand! While Andrew is playing Paddy Cake, Wes is having his arm rubbed by Aunt Sue while Aunt Connie is rubbing his foot. You ladies are clearly setting a standard that Mike and I will struggle to maintain....

Upon their arrival, Aunt Connie and Aunt Sue gave the boys a Halloween bag with their name embroidered on it. Inside the bag was three Chevron cars for each of the boys (total of 9). These are the best little cars and the boys just love them! These cars were played with by many of our cousins in Louisiana and now it is our turn to take care of these cars. Here is Aunt Connie and Andrew playing with one of the Chevron cars....

We love these cars!! Aunt Connie and Aunt Sue - we thank you so very much for coming to visit and for bringing us such wonderful gifts! We love the cars and can not wait to use the bags for Halloween. Andrew gave Aunt Connie a big kiss of thanks for all of the wonderful gifts and a great visit....

We are so happy that Aunt Connie, Aunt Sue, Tracy and Grandma were able to visit us this weekend. Thank you to So You Think You Can Dance for coming to Tallahassee and giving us all a reason to make a point of getting together. We had a great weekend and I hope it will not take too long for us to get together again.

Take care,

PS. I should also point out that Aunt Sue did NOT spend the entire trip in her robe even though the pictures may tell a different story. She was fully dressed during the day but Jared had some popcorn that did not agree with him and he happened to be sitting with Aunt Sue when he decided to clear his tummy. She had to get back into her robe so we could wash her clothes. :-)