Grandma's photo shoot..

Did your mom ever make you pose for pictures in the flowers?! Our mom did...all of the time! She's already started with the kids too!! She got ahold of Addie while I was napping on Sunday and took some cute pictures! Enjoy!

Addison Ann

Hmmm..these match my outfit!

CHEESE!

Can I eat these?

SUCH a happy girl!!

Grandma's new best friend :)

I didn't do it mom...I PROMISE!

And an update on teeth......Addie's first one came thru today! The boys each have their bottom 2!

Triple Stroller.....

For those of you that know my mom, she loves to be outside. Walking, running, riding her bike, swimming...anything outside! She mentioned she wanted a triple stroller of some sort so she could take the kids for walks everyday. The kids are so content when they are outside...seriously...they don't make a peep for hours!

The original plan was to buy umbrella strollers and link them together. BUT, dad and I thought mom would need something a little fancier...so dad got her a triple jogger (thanks dad!)!! My friend is an assistant manager at Scheels and got him a deal on the BabyJogger Summit XC. LOVE IT!!!  It's pretty wide so it will mainly be used for walk/jogs. It fit through the Scheels doors just fine and we figured we could take it to the mall and Ryan could just walk the halls while I shopped!

Strolling on a Friday night!

Nothing Exciting Going On..........

Haven't blogged lately. Not a lot going on really. I'm back to work and it hasn't been too bad. Definitely a lot easier knowing that the kids are in good hands :) Mom loves her role as babysitter and I'm enjoying my kids in my classroom!

We're getting teeth at our house...definitely not as pleasant as I had hoped. Colin finally got his first one a few days ago after a long week of crabbiness. Addie's first should be breaking through any day now. Runny nose, nasty diapers and lots of drool. Brady still has the 2 bottom teeth but I believe he's working on a few more. We've had some sleepless nights. Ryan and I are TIRED but trying to make the best of it. I try to stay positive and tell myself it could be a lot worse. Right?! We've been lucky with them sleeping through the night for several months....we can handle a few sleepless nights....

 Here is a cute pic of the kids playing by their favorite toy!

Back to work....

Can't believe it's been 8 months.....I know I shouldn't complain because most people don't get 8 months off to raise their children, but I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO WORK!!!!!!!!!!! I really do like my job...but I like my kids more!

Inservice starts tomorrow and kids officially come on the 25th. My classroom is ready to go and I'll admit, I kind of enjoy the start of the year. The kids aren't too sassy yet and are a little excited about starting the year too. I am teaching 5th grade this year which will be a little different for me. The last 2 years I was in 4th grade. I know all the kids that are in my class this year because I taught most of them last year-definitely makes things easier because they already know what to expect from me and know my rules!

Most of you know this, but my mom will be coming to the house to watch the kids. She worked as a secretary/library aid at my high school in Marcus for the past several years and pretty much quit when the babies were born. She always told me that once I had kids that she would quit her job to babysit them. Doesn't get much better than that.

I wonder if I'll cry tomorrow morning as I pull out of the driveway...I'm sure I will as I'm crying now as I type this. Definitely has been the best 8 months of my life......

3 little monkeys..

3 little monkeys jumping on the bed!!

 My favorite part of the day...

Finally Brady!!!!!!

A month or so ago, I said Brady would be the first to crawl. Well I was wrong--he was the last! As of Thursday, he is everywhere! All 3 of them are EVERYWHERE. It's fun...but a lot of work! The boys have figured out how to pull themselves up on things too!

I leave the room for 2 minutes and come back to find that Addie and Brady have pulled out 23 wipes, 10 diapers, and half of the toy box is empty. They love to dig around in the baskets and pull everything out! I can't even imagine life with 3 walking toddlers! YIKES!

The Marcus Fair

We packed the kiddos up and headed to Marcus for the fair on Thursday! My hometown has a fair every August....rides, mud vball, kids games, funnel cakes, good food and lots of entertainment! Lots of people come back for the weekend and it's always nice to see old friends! The kiddos took place in 2 things this year: Babies on Parade and the Kiddie Parade.

Thursday night was Babies on Parade. If you live in Marcus or lived there at one time, you can show off your baby (or babies!) during Babies on Parade. We dressed our kids in their 'Sunday Best' outfits. Basically

you walk up on stage and everyone oohs and ahhs over your baby! The other categories were 'Bathing Beauties', 'What I want to be when I grow up' and 'Athlete of the Year'!!  We also got to meet another set of triplets! Jamie Green had her triplet girls there--she is from Marcus but lives in Texas. Abi, Breana and Callie were adorable!
                                             2 sets of Triplets

Our "Sunday Best" outfits!

Friday night was the Kiddie Parade. My mom has been looking forward to this all summer :) There are a few categories to choose from and my kids were in the "Storybook" catergory. Remember the nursery rhyme, "There was an old women who lived in a shoe...she had so many kids she didn't know what to do?"  Well, mom made a shoe out of a box and put it over top a wagon. It was pretty impressive. The kids sat in the "shoe" and my cousin Molly was the "Old Lady". As she pulled them across the stage, the announcer read this aloud... "There was an old women who lived in a shoe....she had so many kids she didn't know what to do. Where could she go for some help with their care? I KNOW...the fine folks at the Marcus Fair!!!"   IT WAS SO CUTE!!!!!!! We also won 1st place in our catergory!

The kids in the shoe getting ready!

Little Old Lady and her kids!

On Saturday, a few of us ran in a 5k. Not the best idea I've ever had...but I finished and am glad I did it!! My sister, brother, his gf and my mom all ran! My brother even got 2nd place OVERALL! Woot! (And yes, my mom beat me by like 10 minutes!)

Part of the Fam (sister Samantha was still in bed!!)

We had so much fun seeing lots of people and I was so impressed with the kids. Mixed up schedules and short naps......but the kids did great! They didn't fuss much at all and everyone loved meeting them! Already looking forward to the fair next year!!

2 on the Move!

We have another crawler.....and NOPE, it's not Brady! It's COLIN!! Yep, 2 days ago he was hardly scooting across the floor and now he crawls anywhere and everywhere! Way to go Colin--I knew you could do it!!

And speaking of kids going everywhere....the other night Addie was playing at my feet and Ryan was in the kitchen about 7 ft away. I didn't have the gate up because I was sitting right there. A few minutes went by and I could hear Addie...but couldn't see her. Neither could Ryan....I panicked and looked under the couch and then looked up the stairs. The little shit had made it all the way to the top and was heading to her room. Can't take my eye off her for 2 minutes........

Weekend with No Kids.....

I LOVE my kids very much, but I can't lie.......I was VERY excited for this weekend!! We had our first weekend with no kids! (This was the first time ever I'd been away from the kids for more than 5-6 hours.)  Ryan and I didn't do much for our anniversary on July 28th so we decided we'd take a little trip to Omaha for some shopping and to eat at our favorite restaurant-Chipotle! YUM!

I met mom in LeMars Friday afternoon, switched cars with her and kissed the kiddos goodbye! I was so excited to get back to the house and CLEAN it from top to bottom. Sounds fun, huh? Well, I hate a dirty house so I was excited to do a bunch of things I'd been neglecting! Since it was so nice out, I made a pit-stop at a friend's pool for an hour to get some sun first! So relaxing! Ryan and I had a dinner date Friday night too!

Our Omaha trip on Saturday was fun and we probably spent a little too much money! We got the kids new carseats and also got a bunch of stuff to baby proof the house! We needed a gate and a net that goes on the banister so they don't fall through and land in the basement on their heads! I also got them some clothes of course :) Addie got more than the boys but I found some cute dresses! Ryan and I ate at our favorite restuarant--Chipotle! We ended the night with some friends downtown Sioux City!!

Such a fun weekend but I did miss the kids. It was a lot harder than I thought it'd be! Thanks mom, dad and Samantha for watching the kids!!

Brady Ryan...

I thought I'd better get a video of the boys soon since all 3 videos are of Addie! This video is of Brady showing off his newest trick...sitting up! He seems so content now...I think he was frustrated the last week or so trying to do this. He will crawl/scoot to a toy, pick it up, sit up and play with it! It's funny to walk into his room in the morning and see him sitting up in his crib playing with his blanket and looking around. He looks so grown up! You will notice Addie trying to escape the living room. Most of my day is spent trying to get her from climbing on the gate. Apparently the living room is not interesting enough for her. She wants to explore the rest of the house.      I'll get a video of Colin doing something fabulous soon.... :)

Weights- 7 1/2 months

Took the kids to weigh clinic today to see how much they weighed. Everyone always asks me how much they weigh and I usually just guess. Here are their weights at 7 1/2 months:

ADDIE: 16 lbs. 5 oz

BRADY: 17 lbs. 3 oz.

COLIN: 19 lbs. 10 oz

Show Off......

Addie is the most determined child I've ever seen. The last few days she has been trying to stand up in her crib. There isn't much for her to hold onto so I didn't think she'd do it......but then I walked into her room on Saturday and saw her standing up! STINKER!! We had just lowered the cribs a month ago...looks like we'll have to lower them all the way!

And then she decided she'd really show off.....this is only the 2nd half of the video. She did make it up the whole way...with no help. She seems too tiny to be doing this! She'll be walking before I know it!

Lots of Visitors!

Such a busy and fun weekend! On Thursday, my friend Kate brought her baby girl over for a visit. Adalyn was born in April. I can't wait for our kids to be old enough to play! I hope our girls are best of friends! This picture looks like I had quads! YIKES!!

 On Friday, our favorite NICU nurse, Amber, came to visit. She hadn't seen the kids in over a month and couldn't believe how much they'd grown. She took such good care of my kids when they were born....we love her! Thanks for visiting Amber! (We'll get a picture next time you come!!)


On Saturday, Ryan's aunt Mary Jo and cousin Nathan came from Wisconsin for a visit...and they brought 2 surprises with them!! They made a pit-stop in Eastern Iowa to pick up Grandma Betsy and Ryan's aunt Diane!!! So nice to see them! We don't make it over to Eastern Iowa where Ryan's family is from so we love when they come to visit us! Thanks for coming to visit us and for tiring out our kids!! We love you guys!

Sunday was another perfect day. My great aunts and uncles were here from Nebraska and Kansas.  Ginner, Richard, Suzie and Bob had never met the kiddos either! I love weekends like this...lots to do and lots of extra helpers for the kids! :) Looking forward to the next few weekends too! Lots of exciting things planned!