Meet Max!

Well, we took the plunge and got another dog. We feel a little bit nuts for adding another creature to our household (this brings the count up to 5, not including us), but the house just didn't feel right without a dog. We adopted Max from Save A Lab, a labrador retriever rescue organization along the east coast http://www.savealabnc.com/index.html. We wanted to adopt from a rescue in order to give a deserving dog a second chance. We liked SAL because their dogs stay with foster families until they're adopted, so you really know how the dogs do in a home with kids or cats or whatever your situation is. They are always in need of funding, so please check out their website if you're thinking of adopting a dog or just want to donate to a good cause.

Ok, enough of that. Here's Max! He is around 18 months old and seems like a pretty good, sweet dog so far. He'll need some basic training reminders and need to learn our house rules, but he's great with the babies and the cat and he loves belly rubs.


Zoey making the sign for dog (tapping thigh and panting) - they do it whenever they see Max. And whenever we're reading a book with dogs in it. And whenever they see a dog on TV or in real life.


Hugs


Kisses (she even made the "mwah" kissing sound)






Max has claimed the floor cushions for himself. Hopefully this will keep him off the real couch when it arrives!



And now just some general cuteness pictures:

Abby loves her BabyLegs leg warmers (we got them for her due to her knee walking while wearing dresses)


Handsome boy


Playful girl

16 Months

They would only sit still for the camera if dad was holding them. Lucas squirmed back down to the floor a second later.


Our latest milestone - biting. These bite marks on Lucas's arm were courtesy of Zoey.


Strike a pose


Abby's version of smiling for the camera


Taking a break from playing hard


Here's a quick rundown of our lives these days:
Nighttime sleep: eh. sometimes great, sometimes not. Lately, Abby has been falling asleep late and waking up late. But Zoey still loves to get up at 6, so it really doesn't matter if Abby sleeps past 7.

Naps: usually 2 a day (8am and 1pm), but someone often boycotts one of them. Today I had precisely 10 minutes of quiet when all 3 were sleeping at the same time.

Talking: Zoey and Abby each say a few words (animal sounds are popular) and use lots of sign language. Lucas says a couple of words, especially quack, and uses a little sign language. They all love watching the sign language DVDs and reading the books. It is so great to be able to communicate with them and to have a way to understand their needs!

Being toddlers: They all let us know when they are unhappy with something! They each have their own tantrum style - Lucas rolls around on the floor and often scoots backwards under furniture. Zoey stomps her feet. Abby does a little of both.

Reading: they want us to read approximately a million books a day to them. They love seeing pictures of dogs in books and always make the sign for dog when they see them.

Food: they are getting to be a bit pickier, love throwing food off their trays, and are starting to insist on using their own bowls and spoons. Things are getting really messy.

Drink: they are still drinking milk out of bottles but will drink water out of sippy cups all day long. We are so ready to be done with bottles!

I'm sure there's more, but I'm tired and this is the first time I've sat down all day, so I'll add more later when I think of it!

Saturday

Zoey's funny face


Love these smiles!






Giving Zoey a ride

Here sis, have a cheerio.

Bunnies!

Do we look relaxed enough?

Zoey picked out her shoes and socks herself.

Lucas can reach a little higher every day.

Cuteness

Fun developments - pigtails!

I think Zoey is crying because I put her down to take the picture, not because I did her hair.


Couldn't get a good picture of both of Abby's pigtails.


Unfortunately, the pigtails only lasted a few minutes...they're too tempting to grab


No pigtails for Lucas, but I did get this very cute dad-son reading moment.

More walking

Not sure if we ever posted a video of Lucas walking, so...




and this is the kind of fun we like to have while in our high chairs...

Look who's walking!

The day has come - we have a third walker! In typical Abby fashion, she just took off without too many practice steps - the last few days it was maybe 5-10 steps on her own, and then tonight...this...

Raincoats

Last month GrandMary picked up some cute raincoats for the babies to wear next year. They're size 2T, but they loved trying them on anyway. (well, Lucas was sleeping so he didn't get to try his on)







Now all we need to find is rain boots. :)

Happy birthday, GrandMary!

Yesterday was my mom's birthday, and she and my dad popped over for a few minutes before they went out to dinner. They're only holding 2 babies in this picture b/c Zoey was clinging to me like a little monkey and wouldn't let go.

Home Decor: Nursery

We finally got the nursery decor pretty much done! A big thank you goes out to GrandMary for finding and purchasing the curtains, floor cushions and owl picture, and to both GM and Grandpa Gene for coming over to watch the babies while we installed the curtains and hung pictures. It's next to impossible to do projects like that if we don't have at least one extra adult in the house.

But first, the old bedroom decor - the former owners used it as the master since it's so big, but it doesn't have an attached bath or screen porch like our bedroom does.

View from doorway toward windows. Yes, that is grasscloth wallpaper and thick musty carpet.


View from bed toward closet. Jason spent 12 hours ripping up the carpet in this room and the hallway. It was worth it to find hardwood floors underneath!


And now the new room! View from doorway, focused more on right half of room. It's so wonderful to have so much room for them to play! We painted it a green that was very similar to their old nursery, so that it would match the items we already had. The dresser is my (and my mom's) old dresser from childhood, which Grandpa Steele stripped of white paint and re-stained. My mom painted the knobs. The monkey paintings were done by Jason's Aunt Crystal. The little green toy box is from Target. The foam squares can be gotten just about anywhere - I got mine on Craigslist. The curtains are JCPenney - they're Eclipse blackout curtains, and they make the room nice and dark! The roller shades are cheapo ones from Lowe's - they already have rips in them and we're going to need to replace them with something sturdier.


Lucas in the cuddle corner. The giant animals and the lime green floor pillow were from Homegoods. The Ugly Dolls were from Uncle Dane. The babies love flopping on the pillows. We do a lot of bedtime reading there in the evenings.


The crib end of the room. The cribs are from IKEA and will convert into toddler beds when we're ready for that. The flowers on either side of the owl print are also from IKEA and are actually lights - we just removed the light portions b/c it wasn't safe to leave the long cords plugged in.


Close-up of the purple rug in front of the changing table. I got the pink and purple rugs from Homegoods - they are actually bath mats, which is great b/c they have the non-slip backing and they're washable.


View from crib side of room to the door. I'm realizing these walls are kind of plain. But it's not really safe to hang anything above the changing table because of the way the babies grab things. I do have a few more monkey-themed prints and little mirrors from IKEA that I could hang above the bookshelf. The changing table was a gift from our friends Audrey & Andrew, and the bookshelf and chair were mine from childhood.


View of closed closet doors. I've been thinking about painting the bookshelf in my spare time (ha!) but can't decide what to do with it. Maybe stripes or a stencil? Maybe I could repaint the chair too. Hmm...


Straight-on view of closet. Eventually I want to install a 2nd hanging bar below the first, and get more bins to keep stuff in. But right now all they'd do is pull everything apart anyway so it's all up out of reach.


View while standing inside closet, at far end. (Entrance to attic is above my head. This is not convenient when we have workmen who need access and babies who need naps.)


So that's the nursery. We're hoping/planning to keep them in the same room as long as possible so that we can keep the other 2 bedrooms free for guest room and office.

15 month pediatrician visit

We had a great 15 month well visit with the pediatrician, except for the 3 shots. Ouch. The doctor is pleased with their development and told us to just keep up the good work. I love our doctor because he is so laid back. I tend to compare myself to other parents and compare my babies to other babies, and our doctor always helps me to chill out. When I asked about their reluctance to drink milk out of sippy cups, he just said "don't fight that battle yet." Same with pacifiers. Whew. On the downside, he said that separation anxiety peaks at 18 months so it's likely to get worse than it is now. That does not make it easy to leave them with a babysitter.

All the babies have been learning sign language and it's been a great way to communicate with them. They know at least 10 signs, mostly related to eating, drinking, and various animals. And now they're starting to say some words too.


ABIGAIL

3/25/10 Birth - 5 pounds 3 ounces; 18.5" long; 13" head circumference
2 weeks old - 5 pounds 4 ounces
4/29/10 One month old - 6 pounds 13 ounces; 18.5" long; 13.5" head
6/3/10 Two months old - 9 pounds 8 ounces; 21.5" long; 14.5 head
8/12/10 Four months old - 12 pounds 6 ounces; 24" long; 15.75" head
10/4/10 Six months old - 13 pounds 12 ounces; 25" tall; 16.25" head
12/28/10 Nine months old - 15 pounds 12 ounces; 27" tall; 17.25" head
3/29/11 Twelve months old - 17 pounds 4 ounces; 28.75" tall; 17.5" head
7/7/11 Fifteen months old - 19 pounds 8 ounces; 30.75" tall; 18" head

That's 5th percentile for weight, and 50th for height and head. She is still tall and thin.

Abby has 2 top and 2 bottom teeth, with 2 more about to come in on top. She is still walking on her knees but is getting braver about trying to walk on her feet. Her poor little knees are calloused but she doesn't seem to mind.

Abby trying on some stylish sunglasses.



LUCAS

3/25/10 Birth - 4 pounds 12 ounces; 18.25" long; 12.5" head circumference
2 weeks old - 5 pounds even
4/29/10 One month old - 6 pounds 14 ounces; 19.5" long; 13.5" head
6/3/10 Two months old - 10 pounds even; 20.75" long; 15" head
8/12/10 Four months old - 14 pounds 6 ounces; 24.5" long; 16.75" head
10/4/10 Six months old - 16 pounds 11 ounces; 26.25" tall; 17.25" head
12/28/10 Nine months old - 19 pounds even; 28.25" tall; 18" head
3/29/11 Twelve months old - 20 pounds 13 ounces; 30.5" tall; ?? head (things were getting a bit nutty in the exam room and I didn't write down that measurement)
7/7/11 Fifteen months old - 23 pounds 8 ounces; 31" tall; 18.5 head

That's 50th percentile all around!

Lucas has 8 teeth (4 top and 4 bottom) and is starting to get molars, which is making him quite fussy. He is a strong walker now and is also kind of a bulldozer when it comes to taking toys from his sisters.

This was the closest I could get to a picture of Lucas "wearing" his hat. By the time I got it on his head and got the camera in position, he had taken it off again.


ZOEY

3/25/10 Birth - 3 pounds 15 ounces; 16" long; 11.75" head circumference
2 weeks old - 4 pounds 2 ounces
4/29/10 One month old - 5 pounds 9 ounces; 17.75" long; 13.25" head
6/3/10 Two months old - 7 pounds 13 ounces; 20" long; 14.25" head
8/12/10 Four months old - 10 pounds 12 ounces; 22.25" long; 15.75" head
10/4/10 Six months old - 12 pounds 10 ounces; 24.50" tall; 16.25" head
12/28/10 Nine months old - 14 pounds 11 ounces; 27.50" tall; 17.25" head
3/29/11 Twelve months old - 16 pounds 10 ounces; 28.75" tall; 17.75" head
7/7/11 Fifteen months old - 18 pounds 10 ounces; 30.5" tall; 18" head

That's just below the 5th percentile for weight (she's holding strong on her own personal curve) and 50th for height and head. Zoey also has 8 teeth.

Zoey loves hats these days. She does the sign for hat all the time and loves trying to see how many she can wear at once.

4th of July Fun

We had a great 4th of July weekend at Jason's aunt & uncle's lake house. There were 6 kids under the age of 4 (5 of them were under 2), and half of them were ours. It was crazy but fun. The babies did not love the 3.5 hour drive, but they did great once we arrived. Here's a little summary of what we did...

FUN ON DRY LAND
Wait, what's that? Mom "relaxing" and drinking coffee while the kids play??


Toys


Jason refereeing the girls


The grown-ups had fun too - a rousing game of Minute to Win It


Lucas loves driving


Zoey loves chairs


So does Abby


Busy babies on the deck


Cousins! (as soon as Zoey stopped screaming, Abby started)


WATER FUN

Lucas felt extra-secure in the float with the extra water wings


Hanging out on the Relaxation Station (yes, that's what it's really called)


Lucas loved cuddling on the Relaxation Station


Lucas was unsure about the life jacket


Lucas hanging out with Brad on the (docked) boat


Funny face


Jason and the trio in the baby pool


FOOD
The triplets enjoying breakfast with Hailey


Lucas lunching with Blake


Abby enjoying a peach.



Abby and Riley enjoying some TV


See ya later...time to try to climb off the couch!