Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving! Ryan actually had 4 days off. Spent Thursday in Marcus at my parent's house. Lots of good food. The kids loved the sweet potatoes and green bean casserole and of course, snicker salad!

The kids got their 1 year pictures taken on Friday. Not impressed. It's getting harder and harder to get them all to look. They were too busy running off and getting into things. Addie's tooth popped through on Saturday so Friday pictures weren't so great for her especially. They looked so cute in their outfits too...we'll see how they turn out I guess.

Got to finish my Christmas shopping on Saturday. Couldn't believe how pleasant the mall was. No lines and it wasn't packed at all. Everyone must have been out and about on Friday.

Didn't take any pictures the whole weekend. What kind of mother am I!?

11 months!

We are 11 months old! 1 month until the BIG FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY! We've decided to have their party on their actual birthday---Tuesday, December 21st. Hope the weather is much nicer than the day they were born! If you don't remember, they were born in an awful snowstorm. It snowed and was nasty from the 21st until the 26th. I can't remember how much snow we got but it was a TON.

Nothing exciting going on really....Colin is walking everywhere finally! They are starting to fight with each other. They chase after each other if someone takes a toy that they want to play with. The boys like to pull hair and Brady bites. HARD. Not when he's mad or anything..just all of the time! We started adding Vitamin D milk in with their formula...Can't wait to be done buying formula! Only a few more weeks left of that I hope!!!! Goodbye $24 cans of formula.......hello $3 gallons of milk!!!!

 I put up the Christmas tree and am anxious to see how it goes! They spend a lot of time staring at it. Colin touches the lights and gets mad when we say NO. I wrapped a bunch of presents (almost done Christmas shopping!!) and will put them underneath it soon. We'll see how that goes too!!!!!!!

I haven't been taking a lot of pictures lately...here are a few new ones. We got new hats and they aren't fond of wearing them.

Brady and his new hat!

Presents from Cousin Krista!

Colin-11 months

Addie--11 months

I could hear Addie cryin...and this is where I found her...

Silly Addie

Brady--11 months

GO COLIN GO!

He's getting it figured out finally! We're up to about 15 steps or so. I think we'll have 3 walkers by Thanksgiving?!? When the other 2 kids were learning to walk...we'd say  (and clap) "GO BRADY GO or GO ADDIE GO" and they would often clap while they were walking. I've caught (and so has my mom) Addie clapping for Colin lately when we say "GO COLIN GO!" She's very encouraging!

Our Family is Growing!!

Our family will be growing by one in September!!!!!!

HA...you didn't really think I was pregnant, did you?!?!

What I mean is...my brother got engaged this week to Sarah!!! The wedding will be in Spencer (1 hr from my hometown) sometime in September most likely!! We are VERY excited!!!!!



My mom is famous for her snowmen...She had them made before Sarah and Jake got here this weekend!




The happy couple!!!



Congratulations Jake and Sarah!! We can't wait for the big day!!!

Shots & Weight Checks..

The kiddos had their 2nd round of flu shots today. I can't believe how well they do with shots. Seriously, Ryan fusses more about getting a flu shot for himself than the kids fuss when they get one. Brady cried for about 4 seconds, Colin for about 2 seconds and Addie just whimpered once! Rockstars! I'm always curious about their weights...I feel like Colin is huge so my guess was that he was pushing like 25 pounds!! HA! I was also curious to see how much the other 2 gained. They walk so much that I assumed they hadn't put on much weight since their 9 month appt.  At 10.5 months, they weighed:

Addison: 19 lbs 13 oz
Brady:  20 lbs. 12 oz
Colin: 22 lbs. 7 oz

And just some pics from grannie's camera!


Check out her pants...these were her Aunt Samantha's from 1990!




This is what gram lets us do when you're at work, mom!!!



Colin is trying to weasel his way onto the chair. Addie's face says it all..."OH NO YOU DON'T COLIN!"



The kiddos with their favorite lady!



I CAN DO IT TOO!!

We have another walker! Addie is walking everywhere! Just in the last day, she has really taken off. I've been home from work for about 4 hours and I haven't even seen her crawl more than a few times!  GO ADDISON!

I'd say Brady walks 80% of the time and crawls 20%. It's so cute to watch him go! I think they both learned to walk so early because they want to get away from Colin. He is such a BULLY! But the second someone does something to him, he cries like a girl!!!!!!

And Colin...well, still not much progress! He'll get it soon! Someone has to be last!

hApPy HaLlOwEeN!!!

Aren't my little monkey, giraffe and lion adorable?!?!



Addie the monkey

                                      

Brady the giraffe

Colin the lion

We started the day by going to Marcus for church and lunch. Made stops at both of my grandparent's houses as well as the Dammann's house to show off our costumes! The kids were so good and everyone thought they were the cutest little animals!

The fam



Trying for a picture of all 3 at great-gma's house

The monkey taking a break...

 We ended the day by trick or treating in Hinton. I was hoping Brady could walk up to a door or 2, but his huge costume wouldn't allow it! We strolled through Hinton and stopped at 5 or 6 houses. It was fun to see the whole town out and about. We of course got stopped a lot because everyone wanted to see the kids! Got a little chilly at the end but the kids were pretty good. The giraffe had to be carried a few blocks but that was the worst of it! Can 't wait for next year when the kids can actually walk and eat the candy!




Ready to go!



The lion pouncing on the giraffe.....

Looking for the monkey...

We caged the animals!!!!

1st Annual Girls Trip...and some other stuff

First--some of the other stuff...
I got home on Friday after work to find Brady walking even more than the night before! I couldn't believe it! Usually he walks about 10-15 steps and then will fall . I went upstairs to get my bags packs and could hear Ryan and my mom getting excited in the living room/kitchen. I went downstairs and watched Brady walk quite a ays! At the ripe old age of 10 months and 1 day...my little pumpkin is toddling all over! Addie is up to about 10 steps as of last night and Colin...well..he isn't too sure about the whole walking idea! Not too many steps for him but I'm sure it won't be long!

The Girls trip part...
After lots of hugs and kisses, Gma and I took off to visit Auntie Samantha. I was a little nervous/very sad to be gone for 2 nights. I've only ever been away for 1 night at a time. Ryan's family came to help Ryan with the kids. Definitley made it a lot easier to get away! I don't think I'll be going anywhere again until our ski trip in March--2 days away is too much!
We spent Friday evening-Sunday morning in Ames and Des Moines. We shopped all day Saturday and met my aunt, uncle and 2 cousins at The Cheesecake Factory!

The shopping was GREAT....and I found my weakness. BABY GAP. My goal was to find them winter coats and hats and outfits for their 1 year pictures. I found all of this at GAP.......and to my surprise...they were having the best sale they've ever had. 45% off of EVERYTHING!!!!! Holy crap! So basically I got about $500 worth of stuff for $250! (I did get myself a few things at GAP too for work!) Doesn't get much better than that! It was so nice to see my sister and her very nice apartment! Such a nice little get-a-way! We've decided that we are going to make it a tradition from now on. October 5th is Samantha's half birthday and the 23rd is my half birthday so we thought that would be a good excuse for a weekend away! Addie will get to join next year!!

NICU Reunion
On Sunday, we took the kids to the NICU reunion. This was for kids that had "graduated" from the NICU. It was so fun to see some of the nurses and a doctor that the kids had! The kids had to wear a nametag that said that number of days spent in the NICU. Our number was very low compared to some others! One boy's number said 99 days........Colin was in for 28 days and Brady and Addie were in for 35 days. Here are a few pictures from our days in the NICU--Look how small they were!!


Addie




Colin




Brady



Little peanuts!

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Happy 10 months!

10 months old today! 2 months until the big birthday! Plans are in the making already! I tried to take some pictures tonight of them......didn't go so well! They are too busy to stop and smile for me! Here are a few pictures and a video of Brady taking a few steps!

Addie and Brady

Love them!!!!!!!!!!!

10 months--for some reason they love playing in the pack and play together!

CHEESE!

Happy Girl (in her brother's jammies!)

Brady Ryan

Refused to look at me....

Cutie Pies

A few pics from the past few weeks....Enjoy Jake and Sarah :)


He fell asleep this way...



Good Morning Mom!



Hmmm..not sure what that face is all about



Addie Girl lovin life

Look mom--NO HANDS! (the diaper is clean)

Savin that for later, Colin???

Waiting for breakfast. So happy when I sleep for 10 straight hours!!

Life is good.....

The kids are still separated...and sleeping so much better. They are now sleeping anywhere from 10-12 hours at night!! Seems like there are always 2 kids that cry out in the night. But only for about 1-2 minutes. Life is good!!! I should have done this crying it out thing a month ago....

Crying it out...Night #2

I'm trying not to get too excited yet....

Brady was in bed first at 8:15pm. He woke up ONCE at 2:00 and cried for maybe 2 minutes. Fell back asleep until 6:30am!! (Ryan and I get up at 6:30 to get ready for work so this isn't really too early for us.) He was obviously still a little tired because he went right back to sleep after his bottle and got up at 7:30am.

Colin went to bed at 9:00pm. He still wasn't up when I left for work at 7:45am! (Yes, he was breathing! I checked on him before I left!) No peeps from him all night!!!! I went to bed at 9:00 after putting Colin down! Love 9:00 bedtime!

Addison went to bed at 10:00pm. As Brady was crying at 2:00am, I went downstairs to turn up the heat. Just as I hit the bottom step, Addie started whining. I stuck her binky in quick and went back to bed. Not sure if she could hear Brady or what? She slept until 6:45am!

I woke up a HAPPY camper this morning. Pretty much got 9 hours of sleep last night. Not getting too excited yet. We're going to continue to separate for several more days.

I do think our next plan to do get the spare bedroom ready for Addie. The plan was to move her in there eventually anyway. Didn't think it would be this early though. Better get your paintbrush ready, Ryan!

Just do it already!!

Brady is so close to taking off on his 2 little feet...He is so confident and I'm just dying to watch him toddle behind me! He has taken 4-5 steps at a time on his own and then falls down. He took 5 good steps yesterday while my friend Amber was here.   A few more weeks and he'll be ready I hope?! It's so fun to watch him go from one piece of furniture to another without hanging on to anything. We did get 2 toys from a few friends that help the kids learn to walk. Colin is not in to it like the other 2 are. Brady and Addie love walking behind the toys. Addie has come a long way in a few short days too. They all will now stand in the middle of the room for at least 10-15 seconds without holding on to anything. Anxious to see if Brady really does walk first...and within a few weeks?!The image of 3 toddlers walking behind me excites me!

I can never get Brady on camera but here is a little video of Addie! I'll get a video of Brady this week!

Cryin it out....night #1

Some may read this and think I'm the meanest mommy in the world....well, if you had 3 babies getting up all night long, you'd do it too!!

Let me explain....

From 3 months until 7 months old, all 3 babies slept through the night 90% of the time. Well that all changed as of about August 21st. Not sure if it had anything to do with my going back to work? It's not like their schedule really changed......and it's not like they don't know their daycare lady, Grandma!

Anyway...nights have been pure hell at my house the last few months. The kids have been getting up several times in the middle of the night. I think Ryan and I hit rock bottom on Monday night. I swear I was up every 10 minutes with someone. Ryan swears he was too. After talking to a few friends yesterday, I decided that the kids would just have to CRY IT OUT last night.......... Ryan was a little nervous about the whole ideea. I felt guilty going to bed last night knowing I would be listening to them cry in just a few hours. UGH! Brady was definitley the worst...just like I knew he'd be. BUT..we survived. We'll do it again tonight, too.

I'm thinking it's time to move Addie to her own room. I wish we had a 4th bedroom because I want to separate the boys, too. Maybe we'll start looking for a bigger house.....ha, in my dreams!

Here's how it all went down last night...

Colin was in bed 1st at about 9:15. He slept in the spare bedroom in the pack-and-play. He got up once at about 10:30 and only cried/whined for about 5 minutes. I didn't even go in there. He fell back asleep and slept until 7:30! YES!

Brady was in bed 2nd at about 9:30. He slept in his crib in his room..with the door shut tight. I knew he'd cry the loudest. He woke up at about 2:30am...and sobbed. :( I about started to cry myself. I went in after 5 minutes and tried to lay him down and pat his back. No talking. He cried a little harder and I left. I waited another 5 minutes and tried it again. Still mad at me. Finally after another 5 minutes...silence. He slept until 6:30am. Another success!


Addie was in bed last at 9:45. She slept in the pack-and-play in the living room. She woke up at 10:30 and cried for about 5 minutes. Hearing that little munchkin cry about killed me. I went downstairs, rubbed her back for 5 secounds and stuck her binky in her mouth. I didn't pick her up or talk to her. She slept until 4:30am and cried for about 1 minute and feel back asleep on her own. She didn't get up until 7:30 am!! YES! I will count that as a huge success. A lot better than getting up 5 times with her like the previous night!

Doesn't sound too horrible, right? Anyone reading this ever had to do this with their kids? How many days did it take?  We'll see how night #2 goes tonight.......say a little prayer for us!

First Haircuts!

My shaggy little puppies...I mean.. my darling little boys have had their first haircut already! I had a hair appointment on Saturday and thought I'd let the boys get a quick trim, too! Their hair was growing over their ears and they were looking a little shaggy! They sat on my lap and did just fine! Most people probably can't even tell they got their haircut but I sure can! They look so much older!! Here are a few pics. (Please pay no attention to me. My cut and color was AFTER their appointment!)

Brady getting trimmed!

Colin