Too Tired for Words....

Just Pictures.....

 

Two beauties....Emily and Caitlyn

Grandpa Bill finally getting to hold Heather!

Play hard...sleep well! Caitlyn, Heather...

...and Emily!

There's mischief in those eyes...Heather and Caitlyn

Mutual admiration club...Jennifer & Caitlyn: founding members,

Heather signing up

Can you see the resemblence yet? Caitlyn and Jennifer

Emily, Caitlyn and Jennifer - lovin' out

Big eyes for Grandpa Bill...Heather!

 

Look what I can do...all by myself!

Jennifer and Grandpa having a horrible time together!

Grandma Pat helping Emily...

 

...and having fun with Jennifer!

Heather: Whew...that was exhausting Emily I've  got to go to sleep now....

New weights this week:

Caitlyn - 12lbs 10oz 

Emily - 12lbs 12oz

Heather - 12lbs 11.5oz

It's a lot of work packing on that weight (for all of us)....so we're going to sleep now...goodnight all wherever you are. 

Jan

Puddle jumping and Potty Training!!

Our week has been filled with some of the ordinary and not so ordinary. The not so ordinary consisted mainly of Jennifer waking up at 3:30am one morning last week and not going back to sleep. After 2 hours of intermittent crying, I made the unfortunate decision to bring her into bed with me. This was unfortunate because Jennifer treated this as "party time." It's amazing what adrenaline can do in a 2 year old. At 6:30 she announced that she needed to use the potty and so, of course, I got up to take her. Once there, she firmly declared that, "now that I'm up, I'm not tired any more" and decided for both of us that we needn't go back to bed or sleep. Given that I am writing this now, I am happy to say that we all survived the day despite our collective exhaustion.

 

We had a lovely visit with Grandma Margaret last week. She was delighted to revisit all four girls and, as usual, was a great playmate for Jennifer who was constantly at her to "come play in my room, 'kay?" This, of course, came over more as a directive rather than as a question but Grandma Marg, for the most part, was very willing to oblige. We said our goodbyes to Grandma Marg and returned our minds to the everyday.

 

The everyday right now consists of trying to entice/lure/coax/interest/mentor/model Jennifer into using the potty. Those of you who know her well know that she is very bright, with a mind of her own. Many days, she is having none of our invitations, knowing full well that she can choose her own time when she is good and ready to take to this significant milestone. Interestingly, she asks to sit on the potty frequently but has what I have learned to call many  "dry runs." For my (and Jeremy's) part of this exercise, I have been challenged in every way to conjure up patience and calm when all out chaos and very late bedtimes surround us. I'm sure you can picture it: just as Jeremy and I are fully engaged in baby feeding, happens to be the exact time that nature calls upon Jennifer, at which point she calls upon us (very appropriately I might add) to help her to the potty, only to announce after a period of sitting for a time that in fact "no, I don't have to go. I'll just go in my pull-up later"...AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH! This is repeated several times a day. We had a great success last night though; after all books were read and she had finally climbed her way into the crib, bribed her Mama for a book or two for her crib, she announced that she needed to use the potty. Of course, there was a moment of hesitation in my mind...do I go with this and extend her bedtime again or make a call and have her stay in bed...Well, I made the right call as she had a major success!! She was so excited and we were so excited that we almost had a party! I think we were all relieved! As this is a significant occasion, we marked it by going to the store today and buying some "big girl underwear." What a thrill for her and all the marketers who knowingly plaster "DORA the Explorer" all over so the 2 year olds will eye it right away and demand that those are the underwear they absolutely need....GRRRRR. 

Delighted Jennifer with her "big girl" purchase!

It's been quite rainy here, however, given our early rise the other morning, it's been my goal to get Jennifer outside each day. One day, we donned our raingear and headed outside for a great "puddle hunt and jump." We found some great puddles that we both jumped into with glee over and over again. The rain came down around us and we were just as happy for it!

Caitlyn has been a delight to us all. She rarely cries except to call for some social attention. I think she not only looks like Jennifer but also that she will likely be of a similar temperament as well. She has a wonderful smile that captures your heart along with an enticing giggle which I believe is her way of talking to us. She is getting much stronger and is able to hold her head up during tummy-time for quite a while.

Cailtyn during mat time

Emily continues to show us her fiery spirit juxtaposed against a lovely gentle and comical side. She is the chatterbox of the three babies and can go toe-to-toe with Papa in any conversation. She has a great smile which lights up whenever she sees our faces. She leads her cohorts in the feeding department, although this week all the girls have been "off" their game somewhat. Her neck has been kinked over to one side (although not as badly as might appear to be the case in the photo below, in which she just happened to loll over to one side), and we are working to gently stretch it to the other side several times a day.

 Emily doing a "lean over"

Heather...sweet Heather. She is the cuddle queen. Always willing to give and receive cuddles. Heather has the most beautiful eyes which are constantly searching you out and once locked on, can draw you in with her gigantic smile. She too likes to talk, more in coo-like sounds. She likes to challenge us though and chooses her feeding times to do this by consistently not taking her share of the milk. Ahh but her sweet nature makes us forget this quickly.

 Heather having tummy time

What joy. What delight. I only wish there was more time in every day and more of me (and Jeremy) so that we could spend more time with each of our girls. The days go quickly and I often close the day feeling that I wish I had been able to play/cuddle/snuggle/read etc. a little more today. I take heart in knowing that tomorrow is another day and another opportunity to spend time together...

Heather and Caitlyn....."hmmm, strange... They are still there looking at us"

Sisters forever....Jennifer with Emily

The playful side of Emily

Heather and Caitlyn

Caitlyn, Emily and Heather

Emily

Jennifer sharing her love of reading

Jennifer, Emily, Heather and Caitlyn enjoying story time

Enjoying the last of summer for picnic in the park

Grandma reading time

Emily, Caitlyn and Heather

Emily and Caitlyn

That's all for now...we're looking forward to seeing Grandpa Bill and Grandma Pat this week...

Take care, 

Jan

It's Reading Time!

Apologies to those of you who may be having difficulties watching the video in the above box... You should be able to view the video by clicking here.

All in the Family...

When we were in the hospital with all of the girls, people would often comment on how much all the girls looked like Jer. It's true there is definitely some resemblance there, and it lends no doubt to their paternity. 

When Grandpa Bill was visiting a couple of months ago, however, it struck me that he and Emily had very similar faces, and I commented that I thought at least one of my four daughters might look something like me (well, my Dad anyway).

I didn't think too much more about it. Grandpa Bill returned home, and once again the comments were plentiful as to how much the girls look like Jeremy. One person even had the audacity to ask if they were mine at all!!! How rude ;-) !!

Anyway, Grandpa Bill recently sent a photo which confirmed my theory of Emily and his connection.

Here it is....

Baby William (Bill) Carr

 Baby Emily Edith Carr Fraser

 Baby Emily -- tee hee I look like Grandpa Bill!

Well, I'll leave further judgement to the eyes of the beholder -- you, our kind reader/follower -- but as far as my eyes go, these two were cut from the same cloth....with a bit of Jeremy in there too I'm sure!! 

Cheers,

Jan

Refreshed...Somewhat

As the week comes to a close, Jer and I have been reflecting on how much the babies have changed over these few short months. They are bigger, stronger, healthier and getting more and more fun every day. We have also been reflecting on our own stamina...or lack thereof.

After the last blog posting, we received a lot of feedback about how busy we are/were. It's true, on paper our routine looks daunting and relentless. I can say truthfully that it has been busy but we've been doing really well and keeping ourselves as rested as possible with naps and outings away from Babydom; that said, we have been ready to change it up for a while and have been waiting for the right time to make the shift into a more sanity-preserving routine. Last night was that time. Yesterday morning, Jer and I packed up all of the girls, big and small, and headed off to the doctor's to weigh the babies. I'm happy to report that all are gaining very well and have maintained their required gains between 20-30 grams per day. 

Caitlyn -- 11 lbs 14.5 ounces

Emily -- 11 lbs 15 ounces

Heather -- 11 lbs 12 ounces

As all of their weights were good, we took the leap and allowed them to sleep as long as they desired last night. I'm sure that some of you are wondering what took us so long to go this route -- well, really it was a matter of coordination and deciding how best to approach feeding three babies on a "demand" kind of schedule. We consulted some "in-the-know" Moms of triplets who have been through this and gleaned some great advice. With this information in hand, we combined these Moms' tried and true knowledge with some ideas of our own and forged ahead. So...the night went well. The girls slept from 11:30 pm until 4 am, almost 5 hours. After that they slept another 4 hours before asking for some breakfast. Both Jer and I were pleased with the first night trial and are eager to venture in again tonight. Of course, our sleeps were affected as well - hypothetically, we should be getting more sleep. I think I was sleeping with one eye open all night in case I missed their cries of hunger -- okay, not really, but I was aware of their small coos, inevitably waiting for the wail of hunger. Interestingly, this never came.

Another small but very significant change has been that, whenever possible, we are now feeding all of the girls at the same time rather than on the staggered schedule we were doing. This saves us at least one hour every feed. With all this extra time, we're kind of feeling like we've forgotten something, we've got too much spare time....! This too will pass and we'll get used to our new routine. 

So, now we wait until our next check-up on September 7th. Hopefully, the girls' weights will reflect that they are continuing to get enough sustenance despite the new feeding routine. 

This week, we had the pleasure of seeing (Great) Aunt Betty and (Great) Uncle Gord for a few days. We had a lovely catch-up and they were able to meet Jennifer for the second time, and the babies for the first time. It was great to have them; both were instrumental in helping us with some key appointments. The babies all had their 2-month immunisations last week and Betty was able to accompany Jan to this. Both Betty and Gord helped us out during the recent weigh-in. In addition to that, they were wonderful baby-cuddlers and entertainers for Jennifer. All the girls enjoyed spending time with them, and they will be missed.

Baby-boot camp is never without visitors though and we're now awaiting the arrival of Grandma Marg for a week-long visit.

I've rambled enough now and I'm sure you'd like to see some pictures...one last word though -- thank you all for your ongoing interest and long-distance support of our little family. We are able to keep going much because of all of the wonderful support that keeps holding us up...

Enjoy -

Emily, Caitlyn and Heather

Heather finding Cailtyn's tummy-time very entertaining

Emily and Caitlyn..snoozing in the afternoon.

Uncle Gord - day one of Baby-boot camp with Caitlyn

Uncle Gord, Day 2 of Boot-camp - status: Baby-whisperer (with Emily)

Aunty Betty - final day of Baby-boot camp - status: Wonder-woman

Caitlyn (green), Heather (white), Emily (pink)

Proud Papa with Caitlyn and Heather

Mat time - Emily, Caitlyn, Heather

Reading time - it's never too early! Caitlyn and Emily (far)

Jennifer coaching her sisters

 

cuddle-time with Heather

cuddle-time with Mama

Soother tug-o-war (one soother, two mouths)

tummy-time -- Emily, Caitlyn, Heather

Nap time? Right... Heather, Caitlyn and Emily

Why are all these people looking at us? (Heather and Emily)

Ice-cream fun with Jennifer and good friend Austin

Until next time...good night, sleep well.

Jan, Jer, Jennifer, Caitlyn, Emily and Heather.