March 15, 2012

Life in the Morris household seems to get busier every day!  As the kids have gotten older and the weather has been wonderful outside, I have tried to get them out of the house a little more for some much needed fresh air and social interaction. 
Last weekend we took our first trip to Memphis to visit Ashley (well, technically 2nd trip since the last time I went, I was pregnant).  Travis had extra work to do at the Pallet Co, so mom went with me and the babies to Memphis.  We had a great time and I really enjoyed getting to catch up with Ashley and mom.  We took the kids to the park on Friday and went to the zoo on Saturday.  I loved playing with the kids at the park, watching them play on the slide and climbing up and down on the jungle gym (with me and mom close by!).  Brooks and Kate loved the swings, but Braden was terrified!.  He was so funny, with a look of pure horror in his sweet little face as he was holding on to the swing with a death grip.  The kids are still a little young to really know what was going on at the zoo, but they had fun just getting out and strolling around.  Although it was a lot of work to take the weekend trip, it was well worth it! 
Yesterday, I decided to take the kids to visit Papa at Adams Place.  He has been a little more lonely lately and I knew he would love the company.  He was eagerly waiting for us when we got there and immediately began showing the kiddos off.  We never actually made it to his room, but strolled the halls a bit and visited some of his friends while we were there.  It has become a little easier managing all 3 of them, now that they all can walk (Forgot to mention--Brooks is Walking!--He really began walking more a couple weeks ago and is walking more than he crawls now!)---that is until they decide to run away from me!
Kate has just discovered how funny it is to run away from momma--She wanted to walk the halls yesterday at the Adams Place and pranced around like she owned the place:) and the minute I would tell her to come to me--she would look at me, laugh, and go faster in the other direction....Kate has also become more independent with eating and often gets mad if I try to help her with her food.  I have recently said "when she is sweet, she is the sweetest baby you have ever seen; when she is mad--watch out".  We will have to get this temper in check soon! As far as development, Kate is doing great.  Her language skills are taking off and she is now saying a couple 2 word sentences (Byebye Dada, Night night dada).  Kate's other common words right now are ball, bath, Ma (Max), Papa, Momma, Dada, cracker, Hi, Byebye and teddy.  She loves books, bathtime, her teddy bear, and sucking her thumb.
Brooks has really made some progress in the past couple of weeks as well.  He is walking most places now and only sometimes crawls when he is tired.  His vocabulary is not quite as large as Kate's, but he is babbling A LOT more these days.  He says ball, Ma (Max),dada, momma, hi and bye bye.  He really seems to like getting into things these days (toy box, dresser drawers, kitchen cabinets,etc.) and loves riding his pony! He still prefers to have someone feed him and is not quite proficient yet with a fork/spoon. He also has begun showing us his temper with dramatic tantrums when he does not get his way.  He has always been a little on the dramatic side, so I fear what kind of embarassing public temper tantrums are in our future. 
Braden has made the most progress in recent days with his speech, primarily animal sounds:)  My favorite thing to do right now is ask him what a sheep says.  When you ask him, he replies with the most intense BAAA sound you have ever heard--it is great.  He can also make pig, duck, cow and dog sounds on request ---if he wants to.  He really likes playing in, around, under, over... our tall kitchen chairs.  He uses them as his own personal jungle gym, climbing all over/around them.
We will have our annual review with TEIS next week to assess goals and write new ones.  I am confident we have achieved all goals thus far and am unsure how much longer we will be able to receive the services.  I do not necessarily feel the kids need the intervention services at this time, however, am grateful the services are available.

Fifteen month update

This week, my not so tiny babies turned 15 mo old.  They are so much fun right now--most of the time:)--and seem to learn something new almost every day.  Brooks has decided to attempt walking, but still prefers crawling for now.  He has taken about 4 steps on his own so far,but then decides crawling is much easier and he is back on all 4's.  Braden has become much more proficient with walking and walks more than he crawls now.  His language has also taken off in the past couple of weeks.  Not so much saying words that we can understand, but a whole new babble that has definite meaning to him!  Kate has mastered walking and rarely crawls these days.  Her 2 top molars came in over the past couple weeks which has led to some extra (understandable) fussiness.  We had our well check this week which meant the highly anticipated "weigh in" as well as the dreaded shots.  Braden is still my biggest weighing 22.4lbs, Kate right behind at 21.4 and Brooks bringing up the rear at 19.4lbs.  MD said there is no concern with any of the weights at this time.  He said that Brooks weight has been consistent and since his height is on the chart, there is no reason for concern.  In my opinion, Brooks is not gaining weight as quickly bc he rarely naps and NEVER sits still.  The child is constantly on the move.  They are all 3 great eaters, so thankfully this is not an issue.  Overall, check up went great!
The unusually warm weather this week has given me a bad case of spring fever--really looking forward to getting these babies out and letting them play in the sunshine!

January 2012

Wow!  Cant believe it has been a month since my last post--and I cant believe January is about to come to an end- Already!  Everyone says "the older you get, the faster times goes by"--I am only 28!!!  I can not imagine how quickly the days will pass in 10-20 years! 
Well this month has been a pretty good one.  We had another round of cold/fever/cough/runny nose spread between the kids in mid January.  It lasted about a week, but we made it through.  We have had approx 1 week of good health since then, so I figured it was about right when I picked up Brooks earlier today and could immediately tell he had a fever (101.9)  UGHH!!  Here we go again!
Exciting news....Braden is walking!  Braden decided to take his first steps Thursday (1/26/12).  He has been very close to taking off for the past few weeks, so I knew he would be on 2 feet teeter-tottering around soon.  Brooks is not quite ready to walk, although he has definitely been showing more interest in trying to walk in the past week.  I feel sure he will be up moving like the other two very soon!  Kate has become even more steady on her feet and walks much more than she crawls these days.  She is still a very sweet baby girl who loves to "give love" by hugging, kissing, blowing kisses.  Her latest trick is being able to identify and name a duck AND say "quack quack" (which actually sounds more like dquack dquack").  
We attempted our first weekend trip with the kids this month.  Last weekend we took a short trip to Gatlinburg with my parents, brother and sister in law.  We had a great time, especially since Gramps and Gigi offerred to keep the kids in their condo, leaving us a room to ourselves and 2 good nights of sleep:) The packing required to take 3 babies on a simple weekend trip is overwhelming.  Our vehicle looked more like we were moving to Gatlinburg, rather than staying only 2 nights.  Despite all the work it took to actually get there, we had a great time.  The kids did pretty well.  Kate definitely knew she was out of her usual setting and off schedule, but overall did good.
2012 off to a good start--cant wait to see what the rest of the year will bring!

Christmas 2011

If I were to use one word to sum up Christmas 2011, I would use "blessed".  If I were to use two words, I would add "Busy"!  Although this was not technically the kids first Christmas, it was the first Christmas we were able to be together as a family.  The crazy holiday weekend started off Friday night at Pops and Losi's house and didnt end until Sunday night.  Between Friday night and Sunday, we attended SIX Christmas's!  I say we are Blessed for so many reasons--but largely because of our wonderful families with which we were able to spend Christmas.  We are so thankful that all of our family lives close, so we get to see everyone on Christmas, however this makes for a chaotic holiday.  Packing a car for a day trip with 13mo old triplets feels like you are packing for a month long vacation--pack n playsx3, bumbo with traysx3, clothesx3, extra clothes x3...you get the idea., BUT it is so worth it! 
Memorable moment from the weekend--as we were traveling from Christmas #5 in Lewisburg to #6 in Chattanooga, we learned that one of our children does not handle curvy roads very well.  I wont go into detail, but lets just say Braden did not tolerate the hilly, curvy roads well.  We had to strip the poor little guy down outside in the cold and clean his car seat with wet wipes after he decided to lose his lunch in the car.  Needless to say, the car had a terrible odor for the remainder of the ride!
All in all, the kids did great with all of the activities.  They were so tired from the extra excitement that they were able to nap and sleep well.  I look forward to Christmas in the future when the children understand Santa and wake up at the break of dawn Christmas morning to see what Santa has brought them.

Stomach bug hits the Morris Home HARD!

Over the past year I have made note of many "ups and downs" in our crazy life.  Thankfully, the "ups" far outweigh the "downs", but we are going to need a lot of positivity in the next few weeks to outweigh this past weekend:) 
The entire Morris household was hit with the stomach bug.  It all began Friday morning when I woke up feeling a little uneasy.  I brushed it off, but knew it was more than "a headache from being tired" when I went to get Brooks up and found he had been sick over the night (poor baby).  I wont give a play by play of the entire weekend; but sick, smelly, cranky, and just plain Gross pretty much sum it up.  Luckily, Travis and I timed our illness perfectly (I was sick on Friday and then Travis got it on Saturday) so someone was able to take care of the kids while the other was laid up in bed.  My wonderful mother was a HUGE help, but unfortunately became ill on Saturday night.  Within 3 days, all 5 of us + my mom and dad got the bug. The women seem to handle the "bug" a little better than our significant others (my mom and I were better 24-36hrs after symptoms began, where as dad and Travis are still not up to par).  The kids have been very cranky (understandable) and dirty (we will just leave it at that:)
I feel like we have used more Lysol this weekend than the past year combined and my hands are literally hurting from washing them so much.  I feel sure that this will not be the only stomach bug that wreaks havoc on our house, but I sure hope that the kids are potty trained by the time we are hit by the next one!
On a positive note, I am thankful that the illness hit us this weekend, rather than next weekend (Christmas)!

December 4, 2011

12 Month Check up last week went well.  They all still weigh 1 lb apart weighing 20lb 10.5oz-Braden, 19lbs 11oz-Kate, and 18lbs 11.5oz-Brooks.  They have been very consistent with their weight gain so far.  Kate hit a big milestone last week when she was the first to take off walking.  She is getting better everyday at tetter-tottering her way around the house.  Braden will attempt 1-2 steps, but then decides crawling is much easier.  Brooks walks all around the house with push toys (or boxes, or whatever he can find), but has not attempted walking independently just yet.  I still cant believe my babies are ONE!  They are doing great with solid foods and are still very good eaters (I am crossing my fingers that they will stay this way!).  The most difficult issue we are facing right now is the constant cough, cold, runny nose,etc.  They just cant seem to get rid of the cough and runny nose--although I am totally over it!  MD said they are not contagious, but Kate still sounds pretty bad when she has a coughing episode.  I am hoping this will pass soon, but fear we may have a few months of the "crud".  I attempted the transition this week from bottle to sippy cup (since we were able to move to whole milk), but...this did not go as well as hoped--actually, it went terrible.  All 3 of them decided to scream until they received their milk in their bottle, so I gave in and went back to bottle.  I have heard that sometimes you have to try different cups to find one they will like, so the search is on for the perfect sippy so we can get rid of all of these bottles!  I have posted their new 12 mo shots--photography by Gambill Photography.

Our Little Pumpkins are ONE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABIES!  It is hard to believe that my little pumpkins are 1!  ONE, not months anymore, but we are now counting by years!  How is it possible that an entire year has passed since the morning I woke to find my water had broke? A year since Travis and I were making our daily trips to the Baptist NICU, a year since I was alternating nights with my mom sleeping on the hardwood floor to listen for babies and keep them on their 3 hour feeding schedule.  A YEAR!  Oh the difference a year can make!
 As I think back over the past year, I am overwhelmed with emotion and the feelings of thankfulness, joy, fatigue, anxiety, sadness and love.  Some of the happiest and hardest moments of my life have occurred over the past year, and I would not change it for anything.  Every scary, anxious, tired, hard moment of the past year has been completely outnumbered by the wonderful, happy, joyous, funny moments.  I would like to say that the past year has been easy...but I won't.  The past year has been hard, sometimes very hard; however, I feel sure that all first time parents experience hard times during the first year.  The hard times that we experience on a weekly/daily/sometimes hourly basis have been made much easier by the help of family, friends and a strong faith in God. I have said many times over the past year that we would not make it without our wonderful family--I am sure I would be a crazy (or crazier) woman without them!
One year ago today, when God blessed Travis and I with the greatest gifts I could imagine, our lives were forever changed.  Goals and priorities shifted, "alone" time became a very rare treat and our grocery bill tripled! BUT  I now understand "a mother's love".  I feel so blessed to be able to experience this kind of love that is like no other.
As time continues to fly by and we begin our second year with these precious babies, I cant help but be a little sad.  Sad that we are done with "the baby phase" (a phase that we will probably never have in our house again).  I am sad to they are outgrowing the sweet baby swings and bouncy seats and moving on to mobile toys, but progress and growth is all part of life.  I am thankful for their lives and the challenges they have brought into my life.  I love you (Braden, Brooks and Kate) more than you will ever know--Happy Birthday!

October 15, 2011--A year of Blessings

One year ago today was one of the scariest days of my life.  October 15, 2010 was the day I went in for my scheduled 26 week check up and was put into the hospital.  Had I known prior to this appt that I was not going to return home until 6 weeks later there are a few things that I would have done (pack, finalize nursery, clean my house).  I remember going in for my US before seeing my MD as usual.  As far as I knew, everything was fine, the actual MD appt went well, BUT there was one more US test that my MD wanted to check before I left.  Travis met me at this appt, but since I thought all was well, I had sent him home before I went in for the 2nd US.  After the US, I was supposed to be sent home, however the US tech told me that my MD would go over the findings with me.  A little confused about why the MD wanted to see me again, but not really worried, I returned to her office.  The next thing I knew, I was hearing her on the phone outside my room admitting me to the hospital.  WHAT?  I must have misunderstood--everything had been fine just a few minutes ago, why did I need to be admitted to hospital?  Dr. Saig came in and calmly explained to me the findings of the US (placenta insufficiency for baby C--Brooks) and said that it was time for me to go on to Baptist.  I lost it immediately.  I still didnt really understand what was going on, I just knew that I was scared.  26 Weeks was way too early for my sweet babies to come into this world (and much sooner than my original [slightly unrealistic] goal of 35 weeks). 
The next five weeks were filled with many ups and downs.  I had incredible nurses and doctors who took wonderful care of my babies and I.  I am still very thankful for all of the prayers that went up for my family.  Unfortunately, it is often in time of need when you (I) really fall to your knees and see how much you need faith in God and the support of a wonderful Christian family.  God is so good and has blessed us with 3 healthy babies. 
Thank You to all of my friends and family who have gotten us through this past year--we are forever grateful for your love and support!