Thankful Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving I am reminded of what I am truly thankful for. My family. This time last year we almost lost our Little Isaac The Great. It was the most difficult hurdle I have encountered as a new parent - knowing something is wrong with my child and not being able to do anything about it. I took Isaac to see a doctor 4 times during this week last year and each doctor (yes, 4 different doctors) said that there was nothing wrong with him, well, other than maybe some acid reflux. On the night of the 29th Casey and I determined that something definitely was not right and took Isaac to the ER. Just as we made it down the hallway to a nurse Isaac stopped breathing. We had arrived just in time for doctors and nurses to revive Isaac and save his life. Amazingly, on a night when something was so wrong, many things went right. We went to the right hospital at the right time. Isaac is a perfectly healthy, strong little boy today and I can't imagine life without him. Although we celebrate Isaac and our luck, the fragility and preciousness of life is not lost on me. I am still overcome with emotion when I have a quiet moment to myself and cherish the one on one time I have with Evan, Isaac, and Drew, especially in the middle of the night. I am so thankful for a family that is supportive and loving. I am thankful for friends who call even when they don't know what to say. I am thankful for doctors and nurses who treat children as if they were their own. And I am thankful for every minute I have with my family. I am especially thankful that my dad told me to take Isaac to Everett that night instead of Arlington and also for Casey who drove us fast enough!

Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting

These babies are fast as lightening!
It has started. The boys have began fighting. They have been grabbing toys from one another for a while now but it has escalated into wrestling, smacking and biting. Yes, biting. They really enjoy stealing binkies from out of someone else's mouth even if they already have a binky and they like to smack each other with crazy arms. Evan especially likes to do this. This kid has little fists of fury that move so fast. It can get ugly when they use their sippy cups when hitting. It is really hard to mediate because half the time they are all laughing and having a good time. The biting is the worst and what is most disturbing about it is that they are trying to bite each other in the back of the head! They will all have big wet slobbery spots in the back of their hair by the end of play time! How am I supposed to stop this? I have this awful vision of my boys being the freaky kids on the playground who only speak in their own language and growl and bite at the other kids! How could my little angels be biters? It is just a phase right?

Just look at this chaos! I have to pick up their play room several times a day so they can tear it apart all over again.
Does this look like a biter?

Does this look like a fighter?

Does this look like a destructive spider monkey?

No. Not these angels!!!

The Force Is Strong In These Ones

One of the benefits of having multiples is dressing up for Halloween as a group. This year we decided to dress up in Star Wars gear. The boys were Ewoks, Casey was Obi Wan Kenobi, Brewster was Yoda, and I was Princess Leia.

On Friday we went to Granite and did some trick or treating in the office. They boys were distracted enough by all of the people and other kids that they stopped trying to tear their hoods off. Drew was let loose to walk and managed to find a Papa-ish looking old guy and went straight to him and asked to be picked up. He did this 3 times!!! I had to tell him it wasn't Papa and quickly get out of there:)

On Halloween we stopped by to see Uncle Eric, Grace, and Ella before heading over to Grandma and Papa's house. It is hard to believe that on Halloween a year ago Casey and I were bringing Drew and Isaac home from the hospital. Look how far we have come!!! We had a great time this year and are already thinking of ideas for next year!

Casey has some sweet light saber fighting moves!

Mommy and Evan.

Daddy and Drew.

Drew. I think he really likes being dressed up:)

Isaac. He is probably looking for fallen candy to eat.

Evan. He is a wild Ewok.

And you can't forget the Jedi Master, Brewster.

Look Who Is 1!

Casey and I are the proud parents of toddlers!! The boys turned 1 on October 18th and thoroughly enjoyed the festivities in their honor, although they may have just thought it was any other day with some cake.
I am so late in posting the pictures and updating about their birthday because, honestly, I am speechless. I don't know what to say about it. I just can't believe an entire year has gone by. An entire year that I have been responsible for keeping 3 tiny babies alive. It has been the hardest, most challenging, and most rewarding year of my existance and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Evan

Isaac

Drew

Notice that Isaac is all done with his cake before Evan and Drew are even half way done. Also notice that Brewster has found a new spot at mealtime.

Drew

Isaac

Evan

Isaac shoveling cake into his tiny mouth!

Drew savoring every bite.

Evan building momentum for a sugar rush.

Party at Grandma and Papa's!

I'm such a lame mom. I bought their cake from Costco.

Weekend Get-Away!

Casey surprised me with a weekend getaway in Seattle to have an early celebration of my birthday, our anniversary and Casey's maniversary (the day after our anniversary reserved for manly non-romantic stuff). Grandma and Papa Grose (and Aunt Haley) watched the boys for us so we could have a worry free weekend - and boy was it great!!!

We started the night with dinner at Ruth's Chris where we surprised our server by how long we had been married and that we had triplets. Apparently he thought we looked like teenagers! While dining we were able to spot a couple of the Chicago Bears players coming in to pick up their dinner to go. Judging by the outcome of the football game the next day, the Bears players must have all grabbed dinner and went back to their rooms to watch film and prepare:) After dinner we went to see the play "Wicked" at the Paramount Theater. It was the first time I had been to the theater and was a little surprised by the random clapping but REALLY enjoyed the play and would like to go again. After the play we took the scariest cab ride back to our hotel. I mean scary! The driver would get up to 60mph between each block and was...um...an aggressive driver!

The next day Casey and I were off to watch the Seahawks play. I was very excited because I have only been to one Seahawk game and it was when they were playing at Husky Stadium while the King Dome was being repaired...does that tell you how long it has been? We drove down by the stadium by 10am to find good parking only to find everything packed and tailgating parties in full swing! So we ditched the good parking and went to Pike Place market for breakfast and sightseeing. I love going to the market so I was happy for this little turn of events:) We eventually made it to the game after another interesting cab ride and entered the hawk zone! You always hear on tv about how loud Quest Field is but it is actually deafening in person. Amazing! Lot's of great fans and a not so great showing by the home team but we still had a great time.

It was so nice to get out and do something by ourselves without people staring at us or taking 15 minutes to get in and out of the car. We had a really nice time. Thank you Mom, Dad, and Haley!!!

I told Casey I had a bad feeling about buying this jersey 3 weeks ago. I wanted to see if I could find something else but now I know why he encouraged me to buy it:) Why didn't I hold out for the Largent jersey?!?!

Casey doing his best Seahawk!!

The original Starbucks. You know I likes me lattes:)

I'm such a tourist.

See the blurry thing in the middle of the picture? Flying fish!!

I love all of the flowers!!!!

There were a ton of all of these beautiful peppers.

Casey at the exhibition center before the game.

Go Seahawks!

We were booing our own kicker about one hour after this picture was taken.

Cotton Headed Ninny Muggins

These cotton headed ninny muggins are 11 months old! I can't believe it - and yes, I say this every month. It is hard to believe that this time last year I was on bed rest at Hotel Providence eagerly anticipating the boys arrival and hoping that my next meal did not have gravy on it! Contrary to the Urban Dictionary, these cotton headed ninny muggins are not useless elves, although Evan does have some elf like qualities and is definitely a member of the Egger Elf Clan. They are 3 very active little boys who are growing and learning something new every day.

Drew has been able to stand on his own for several weeks now but very hesitant to take a step without holding on to something. He is so proud of himself when he stands up that he makes this manly grunting sound to get your attention and then laughs. He pushes my hands away when I try to help him take a step, giving me fair warning that he is the "I can do it myself" kid. Evan and Isaac stand up on everything but have yet to stand without holding on to something. Why would they want to practice walking when they crawl at light speed. I'm not kidding. If there were baby races these two would be thoroughbreds! If I could just get them to stop using their heads to let them know when they get where they were going we would have a lot less bumps and cries:)

The boys have been stretching their vocal cords and I have to say that Drew might be in the running for the loudest baby ever! Not crying, not complaining, just talking and listening to himself make noise. Unfortunately Drew also likes to make these glass shattering noises when we are shopping so we have to bring lots of treats with us! Casey has no one to blame but himself because Drew most definitely gets it from him! Drew has also taught his brothers an interesting skill. I call it an Appalachian banjo. They put the back of their hands up to their mouths and start making all kinds of noise while flapping their hand. I guess you just have to see it. Too bad they really like to do this while eating....things get messy!

Speaking of eating, we have been trying lots of new foods. They like peaches, pears, bananas, peas, green beans, and even some casserole! They also love watermelon which is not surprising as they may actually be part watermelon since I ate so much of it while I was pregnant. Oh, they also eat pancakes for breakfast - yummy! This is a big deal for me, it is hard to let my little preemies try new things. I would like to keep them in bubble wrap until they are 5:)

Now that it is football season the boys can put their touchdowns (arms up in the air) to good use. Casey gave up on the Mariners a couple months ago and has been practicing touchdown with the boys ever since. Brewster gets very excited during these practice sessions because this was originally his trick so he thinks we are cheering for him.

So here are some pictures of the boys doing what they do.

Baby traffic jam.

They play with everything upside down!

They have to share everything!

They laugh.

They eat grass...oops!

They climb on everything!!

Touchdown!!!

Go Seahawks! Too bad the boys have to learn the disappointment of rooting for Seattle teams at such a young age. At least they have been spared the heartbreak of the Super Sonics!!

I Never Thought I'd...

Having children has left me feeling, thinking, and doing things I never thought I'd feel, think, or do. Today when I got some baby poop on my hand and I didn't freak out I thought "who am I" and it got me thinking about other things I never thought I'd do. Such as...I never thought I'd...

• catch vomit with my bare hands
• shake a nugget out of my baby's diaper upside down in a park
• continue wearing clothing that I know full well has spit-up or pee on it
• get peed on...a lot
• get so bent out of shape about stupid comments strangers make
• want to fight above mentioned strangers
• take long drives covering most of north Snohomish County
• drive from Starbucks to McDonald's (not my best day)
• get warm and fuzzy after receiving a wet, slimy, open-mouthed kiss from one of the boys (not including Brewster)
• taste beef baby food
• get used to the smell of formula
• get used to the smell of formula spit-up
• miss wires attached to my babies to make sure they are breathing (I had a lot of weird dreams about this)
• smell butts to check for stinky diapers
• be judgemental of people with one baby who can't get anywhere on time...please people
• sweat so much trying to get 3 babies out of the house
• tailgate by feeding 3 babies out of the back of our car in a parking lot
• let my kids watch TV (I know this takes me out of the running for Mother of the Year)
  

Even after all of this, I never thought I could love three little guys so much!!!

9 Months Old!

The boys are now 9 months old and changing SO fast I can hardly keep up! They surprise me everyday with new tricks, new babble, and new bruises. People always ask me how I get anything done and my secret is the baby gated room. The boys all play together and also take time to play by themselves and stay entertained for quite some time. I can get plenty done downstairs...upstairs is a different story. Unfortunately this leaves me doing dishes and laundry a lot! Even at 9 months old I know to check on them when it gets too quiet. I have found them all gathered around the swing with the cord pulled down and chewing on it. I have found Drew trying to pull himself up on the pack'n'play knocking down diaper cream or anything else he can get his hands on. The funny thing is that he likes knocking it down and Isaac and Evan like to chew on whatever falls. They have also recently discovered how to flip the activity mats over and play peek-a-boo with each other. I try to leave them alone when they are playing so well together but I can't help it when they are all cracking up at each other. My favorite sound in the world is all 3 boys belly laughing! The boys are all wonderful eaters and haven't met a jar of food they didn't like. Too bad they all hate having their mouths and hands wiped off at the end of the meal. It has become nearly impossible to change their diapers. They are such wiggle worms and are VERY strong now. I have had to begin using the word "NO". Now I need to work on establishing dominance:)

Evan

Evan has become a bulldozer. He sees what he wants and he moves for it in a straight line regardless of who or what is in front of him. Sometimes what he wants is what Isaac or Drew have so he just grabs it. This makes Isaac and Drew mad because he is always taking their binkys and he doesn't even like them while he is playing. Evan is a biter. He just lunges at his brothers and me and digs in. Isaac and Drew always have big wet spots on their backs from their dear brother Evan. Evan is very interested in what is going on around him and loves to check out his surroundings. So much so that I'm surprised he hasn't gotten whiplash from looking around so quickly. Evan is my space cadet and nutty professor.

Isaac

Mr. Ya Ya. Isaac is talking and says ya ya a lot and quite emphatically. He hates wearing bibs at meal time and is constantly trying to (and sometimes successfully) rip it off like a little hulkamaniac (which is cute considering I myself am a former hulkamaniac). Isaac is still a ladies man and loves smiling for strangers who smile at him. Isaac likes to smack his left hand on everything. The floor, the table, me, toys. I have recently put his hand smacking to good use and let him pick out a watermelon at the grocery store. He did a great job! Isaac is a little more reserved at play time than his brothers and will spend more time with each toy. If he loses interests in his toys, Isaac loves to stand at the gate and smile at you. He must know how irresistible he is because the little smile works on me almost every time.

Drew

What do they call them...spirited? Drew Bear has developed an attitude. He knows what he wants and tries to let you know about it. He is stubborn. For example until recently he wouldn't let us move his arms for him to clap or do patty-cake! He is starting to come around finally. Drew is independent and likes spending time digging through his toy box touching every toy. He has also started trying to stand by himself and even take a step or two. Drew is very strong but incredibly delicate when touching things. He loves feeling textures and softly runs his hands over them and also gently reaches for Brewster and Monchi which is quite different from his brothers. Drew is an equal opportunity hair puller. I take the brunt of his hair pulling but daddy's bucket always makes Drew laugh. Needless to say, I am desperately growing out my bangs that just happen to hang in his face when I am changing diapers.