They suck!

Or rather, I should say, they use straws!  The triplets can drink from a straw!  Tonight Kurt and I were both feeling like we needed to get out of the house for dinner.  Night after night at home can wear on you.  So we packed the kiddos up and headed to a local favorite.  While we are eating Kurt casually mentions "Sarah and Luke can drink from a straw now".  I was completely shocked.  They can?  I had no idea.  Kurt just sort of stumbled upon this fact today when both kids drank out of his glass with a straw.  We've been working so hard these past 3 months to get them used to sippy cups we didn't even try a straw.  Where did they learn it?  I suppose part instinct and part observing us.  I was so excited that Sarah and Luke could do it, I was anxious to see if Jake would do it too.  And he did!  While this may seem like a small milestone to the outside observer, it just proved to me once again that my kids are the most amazing kids in the whole world!

Belly time!

Sarah has "discovered" her belly and loves to show it off.  And now I am compelled to show off this precious little video.  Enjoy!

Picasso? Maybe not.

At our last check-up our pediatrician gave us a few tasks to work on.  Homework.  And like the good students we are, we must have all our work completed before our next visit.
Tasks:
** Get the triplets completely off bottles and onto using sippy cups (Check!!)
** Make a time to read to the triplets every day (Check!!)
** Brush the triplets' teeth (Check!!)
** Introduce a fork and spoon (not very successful with this one)
** Introduce crayons (check this one off today!)


We decided today was the day to introduce crayons to the trio.  Sarah and Luke took to it right away.  We showed them how to scribble and they imitated us.  Jake managed to bite off the tips of the green and black crayons.  He was much more interested in chomping on them than scribbling.  We'll have to work with him a bit.  But overall they managed to color a masterpiece.  May not be much to others but this mama was proud enough to tape it to the fridge!  This first ever piece of art will definitely go in their baby book. 

Sarah draws as Luke stands on the masterpiece

Jake just wants to eat the crayons

Lucas tries to hoard the crayons

Hoof and Mouth?

Last Wednesday night Lucas spiked his first ever "worrisome" fever.  I'm sure at some point, all the kiddos have had the minor "teething" or "post-vaccine" fevers.  But his was at least 102 degrees.  He was not his usual playful self.  All he wanted to do was curl up on my lap.  And of course this all happened the one night Kurt is off at a Braves game. 

Fast-forward to the next morning and there are 3 fevers.  So we call the doc because of a suspected ear infection outbreak and he asks us to bring them in.  After examination, the doc diagnosed our tribe with the coxsackie virus otherwise known as hand-foot-mouth disease.  This is apparently a common virus among little ones although I had never heard of it.  He says they have little white sores in their mouths and throats.  Luckily, it's rare for adults with normal immune systems to suffer from the virus so we at least knew we'd be healthy enough to care for the kiddos.  But for the life of me, I cannot quit calling it Hoof and Mouth Disease.  So now there are some people out there thinking I'm a mother to a herd of cattle instead of my heard of toddlers.  lol. 

The rest of Thursday, Friday, and the weekend went as could be expected.  Lots of acetaminophen and Pedialyte was consumed as we nursed the tribe back to health.  But we didn't let it dampen our weekend.  One of the triplets' honorary aunties (Janna) came down and stayed with us for a few days.  She even introduced us to some health food- yikes!  Saturday we took the kiddos to the pool and Sunday we had most of the family over for a Father's Day luncheon.  It's hard to believe that 2 years ago on Father's Day we had just gotten a positive pregnancy test.  We knew we were expecting but who could have imagined the news we would get a few weeks later?!?!

Luke & Sarah getting their feet wet

Sarah testing out the new float



Jake is not sure he likes the pool

Happy Birthday Davey!

Today, we went to Davey's 3rd birthday party.  Davey's parents Samantha and Mark are good friends of ours.  The party had a golf theme and was a lot of fun!  Sammy had little green buckets full of golf goodies with each child's name written on the outside with stickers.  Very creative!

Back in the day...

Oh how fast the time does fly!  The difference in the babies from June 2010 to June 2011 is amazing!

Orange for Owen

It's after 10pm and the kids are finally down for the night, the daily chores are all completed, and the house is dark and quiet.  I finally have a few precious moments all to myself to log-in to the blog.  The first thing I do is check the recent posts.  Melissa hasn't posted today.  I knew she probably wouldn't have the time or the words on a day like today.  But I selfishly hoped she'd had a few minutes to write about how the service was.  Did she get to tell the story of her sweet warrior man?  Did she make it through? I know she'll post again when she's up to it. 

My heart goes out to her today and for many days to come.  Melissa is a triplet mommy just like me, and although we've never met, just that fact alone forms an instant kinship.  Triplet mommies just "get" one another.  Just two weeks ago, baby Owen was a healthy, happy baby boy.  Now SIDS has cut his life here on Earth short.  But in one final act of bravery and love, Owen's heart, liver, and kidneys were given to help spare the lives of others.

Yesterday Melissa wrote a post asking those who could come to little Owen's funeral as well as those who could not attend to wear orange in support of him.  So that's exactly what I did.  It's just a small thing but it's the most I could do from so far away.  I know a little about the road she's about to head down.  It's going to be a tough journey and I just pray her support and faith is enough to pull her through. 

Don't bother me...I'm walking!

There's one thing that is really funny about the triplets full-out walking now.  All the pictures I get of them are of their back sides.  As if to say "too busy...places to go, people to see!"  Farewell my little walkers! 

The Annual Trenary-Koenig Beach Trip

Just about the time we settled back into Newnan-life, it was time to pack everyone up and head back to the beach. I don't usually plan vacations back to back but that's just how everyone's schedules worked out. We tried a new condo this year (Watercrest) and it was fantastic- the best one we've stayed in!

We again had 5 days of gorgeous weather and lots of fun times. Kurt and I decided we would be "daredevils" on this trip and try a few new things. Luckily, Dad and Elizabeth didn't mind watching the trio while we headed out on these adventures. First up on this list was parasailing. I was terrified to do it, but really enjoyed it. The adventure included me being bucked off a turbulent banana boat ride and briefly losing my tankini bottoms in the ocean. Kurt and I went up on our first parasail in tandem but a malfunction on the boat caused our tour to be cut short and everyone having to wait for another boat. The bobbing boat ride made Kurt a little queasy so I took the 2nd parasailing ride solo while he waited on the shore. I'm definitely a fan of parasailing and will do it again in the future.

The next adventure we decided to tackle was the reverse bungee or "slingshot". You are strapped into a chair and flung 360 feet in the air, then free fall back toward the ground, then spring up & down a few times. We got a souvenir video of the whole adventure and it has already been posted to Facebook. The video is hilarious! It's fun to say we did the slingshot but I don't think I will ever do it again. I'll stick to parasailing!

Overall, Sarah and Luke really enjoyed the beach. They liked playing in the sand and the kiddie pool. I even took Sarah out into the ocean with me. She's so easygoing with trying new things. Jake, on the other hand, was not having any part of the beach. I think he was frightened by the ocean and didn't like touching the sand. I sure hope he gets over his fears before next year! It will be a real bummer to have a child who won't play at the beach!

One big accomplishment from the trip is that the trips really had a lot of time to practice their walking skills. They have quickly turned into really good walkers and barely crawl at all anymore. They have seen that walking is the way to go and they love it!

Lucas playing in the sand

Sarah enjoying the pool

Kurt & I ready for parasailing