August 28

August 28.

The triplets' due date.  Not sure I'll ever forget that date.  I think most preemie mamas can relate.

In a perfect world, that's when (or around this date) they should have been born.  But instead, they arrived 3 1/2 months early.  In my eyes, they are finally and officially two years old! They've come so far!  

They are walking, running, talking, eating, growing and keeping this mama extremely busy.

Happy Homecoming day Marcos, Sofia, (August 23, 2011) and Carlos (August 27, 2011)!! But most importantly...

Happy Due Date birthday!!!!

I often wonder if these dates will always be a part of me, I'm sure others do too.
 You look at my kiddos, and unless you know what we have been through, you would never know.  They are thriving and look perfectly healthy and normal (for lack of a better word).  And then, I come across articles like this ONE and I'm reminded that they truly are miracles and our lives could have been completely different.  So I'll say it again...

Happy Homecoming days!! Happy Due Date Birthday!!

One day you will understand why these dates are so important to us!

Picture Time...

Marcos

Sofia

The trio...Carlitos in the middle.

Sofia, always so serious, just like Isabella at this age.  She really is having fun! 

Brothers!! Sitting is a challenge for these two, they prefer standing and climbing on chairs. 

We celebrated with some frozen yogurt yesterday after picking up Big Sis from school, 2nd grade! Can't hardly believe it...and so happy the school routine has quickly fallen into place!

The trio is napping, and I'm enjoying the silence, plus trying to make dinner, fold laundry and working on invites for  Isabella's birthday party that is quickly approaching.

Hope to post again soon!

Our summer

Hello little blog, it's been a long time. I have a pending post that I started writing the day before the trio's 2nd birthday.  Their birthday was on May 17.  Now the 4th of July is around the corner.  It's almost ready...and hope to post some day.
I think of blogging often, but reality and truth is that I have no time or energy.  So much has happened in our lives, that it's almost impossible to play catch up and document.  So maybe I won't and I'll start at where we are today.

Right now, the trio is asleep. We just spent 2 hours at their Toddler and Two's group and my brain feels like it hurts.  I am on every single second, way more than when we are home.  It's vigilant watching.  Being aware of where 3 little bodies are at all times is exhausting.  It's singing and talking and reading and lots and lots of teaching....
"we go up the slide, down the slide, your turn, his turn, her turn, wash hands, sit please, plates are not for banging, your mouth is too full, get another one, say sorry, good job, please and thank you..." 
...and non stop x three for two hours.  Then there is the 25 minute ride home...and sometimes there is silence.  I've gotten quite good at tuning out the toddler songs, and that's when I remembered our blog today.

A little bit about their group.  It is run by the Deaf and Hard of Hearing program.  It's a step before preschool.  They play, sit in circle and have snack with other children, with mommy there.  Marcos continues to have mild hearing loss, and the coordinator is nice enough to let me bring the whole gang.  There are some sounds Marcos does not hear, and since this can significantly affect his development, he is being closely watched.  Thankfully, his expressive speech has made significant progress (putting 2 words together) but Marcos continues to be tested often.  Testing a toddler is quite difficult so we have to be patient and keep waiting for the official diagnosis...(meaning it may never improve).  Most likely he has an abnormality in the middle ear or a tiny bone never fully developed.  Mild hearing loss is easily fixed with a hearing aid.

Our summer schedule has us at story time on Tuesdays, Toddlers and Two's on Wednesday, Early Intervention on Thursdays, and Physical Therapy on Fridays.  That's just the trio.  Isabella has swimming on Tuesdays and Thursdays and dance on Wednesdays.  She is at farm camp this week.  Yes, farm camp...only in Petaluma, and if the trio only knew where big sis is at, they would be so mad they don't get to see animals everyday! Then there's the park, the grocery store, and errands plus the cooking and the feeding, the never ending laundry and so much more...

Back to today.  Here are  pictures of Sofia...painting an ice cream out of pink shaving cream during group.  A first for her...oh, how her sister loved doing this.  At their age, my Bella was a pro at art projects.  The boys lasted only a few seconds before they were off to cause trouble.

Oh little blog...hope I visit you again soon, and friends...if you are reading, I miss you all and hope to catch up soon.

Easter~Part 2...The baskets

Our Easter 2013 morning!

Bella woke up and came downstairs to find 2 big Easter baskets. Since the trio was still in their room, we brought them upstairs along with the kiddos' morning sippies of milk.

 Watching Big Sis open her stuff...

 Then it was their turn.  Things got a little crazy but included lots of movement, laughter and good ole excitement! It was hard to get good pictures but these capture a bit of the craziness.

After all the excitement, we all went downstairs to have some yummy breakfast!

I'm thinking next year four baskets will be necessary.

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

Easter~Part 1...The eggs!

Hey whats that?!

 Eggs?!  We usually eat them.

Big Sis set everything up, mostly all by herself!

Snack time first...

Time to get to it. Let's color some eggs! Big Sis is a pro! 

The trio really wanted to hold the eggs. We let them dip into the cups...and Big Sis was right...they broke one, two, maybe three!

Good thing the coloring entertained them and the plastic eggs and Easter grass were a big hit.

Our finished product for 2013!

 Daddy is taking some time off before he starts the new job, and we are so thankful and blessed!

Hope your Easter was great!

March already?!

Since our last post, there's been some sickness.
Sofia had some stomach bug with a fever that is pretty much gone....sadly, she lost a pound.
Everyone avoided it except for me.  Everyone knows things are rough when mom is sick...luckily, it got me on a weekend and dad took over.

We also had ANOTHER eval for Marcos by another speech pathologist who also watched him eat.  The not so great speech eval in February raised some concerns with the way he ate. Luckily, this mom was right.  He eats just fine. This time, we got, what I feel, a more accurate evaluation.  He isn't THAT behind after all, but he still qualifies for speech therapy.  Carlos was also evaluated the same day.  Thankfully it was an in home evaluation.   He is right on track for his adjusted age.

The kiddos are into Elmo and Woody.  The boys are repeating 2 word phrases more and more, and Sofia's first 3 word phrase:  "Move on back", from Wheels on the Bus.  She also tries to push the boys out of her way and says "Go, go go" as in get out of my way!

There's been lots and lots of playing...

Lots of unzipping of the pj's...

Lots and lots of reading...

More and more TV, we are up to 20 minutes at a time, just enough time to watch Elmo's World.
 Woooo Hoooo!!!!

Big sis had wacky hair day at school....our first science fair and parent teacher conferences, which truly deserve their own post.

Lots and lots and lots of nose wiping!  Still cute even with mocos on his face.  

And finally today... their noses are much better, and coughing last night was better than the previous night.  The kiddos had their Synagis shot, there might be one more.  The rest of preemieland is telling me no but we'll wait and see what our doc says.  Next week, spring break for Big Sis and Marcos is getting his 2nd set of tubes (ears) and will go under general anesthesia again.  I should be a pro at this but still scary.  We hope we can get him out of the house without eating or drinking anything without too many tears.  'Til next time....