Life in the Two's

I am a little behind on sending out an update, but that is just life for us these days as we now have 3 - 2 year olds to chase after!!! Life has been wonderful for me these last 3 months! I am trying to enjoy every day as much as possible, even the tough one's, with the kids watching them grow. We have been very busy with play dates with friends, shopping at Costco and Target, and just being with each other. I am still kicking myself for not having stayed home with them this whole time, so I am so thankful to be here now. Seeing the bond that these 3 have with each other is truly amazing. It melts my heart when they are looking for each other if someone can't be seen in the room. I love, love hearing them each say the other one's names; Maddy calls Mason Mase or Masey and Dylan by his name, Picky, or Pickle as that is his nickname we have given him. I'll write more on that below.
Some of our new favorite things to do are go to the Brown Family Adventure Park in Ham Lake, which is an indoor play land, much like McDonalds, but much, much bigger and cleaner! We have been down to see the Underwater World at the Mall of America and go out to lunch, which the kids love to see all the fish! We have also been very busy playing in all areas of the house; from the kids little kitchen in the entry way, to the rollercoaster and trampoline in the basement, to the ball pit in their playroom. They surprisingly also love to play in their cribs; with either all 3 in 1 or everyone in someone else's crib. Another favorite thing we love to do is sing. Some of our favorite songs right now are Happy Birthday, which we have to sing to everyone in the house including Kita and Elmo. Some more favorites are ring around the rosey, wheels on the bus, itsy bitsy spider, the abc's and the Elmo theme song. The kids also love to read, and when I say love, I mean really love. If you start reading a book to one of the kids, the other 2 will likely stop what they are doing to come over and sit on your lap to read/listen with you. They also love to play the game where you ask them where something/someone is and they love to point to that thing/person. We do this a lot at supper time.

Mason James

Mason is becoming quite the little talker. He will try to say anything and everything you say to him, which is a good reminder to mom and dad to make sure they are only saying kind things to each other and everyone around them! He can tell you his last name (Olson), what city he lives in (Andover), he can count to ten, he will tell you whose cute (I'm cute!) and when we call daddy in the morning ask him, Daddy, where are you? He can also tell you his daddy's name (Shawn) and his mommy's name (Buff is what is sounds like). Mason is also still our fearless and very adventurous little boy. He loves to climb on everything and anything and jump off it no matter how high it is. He loves to play outside, no matter how cold it is and walk through the snow in the yard no matter how deep it is. Along with the other songs listed above, many times I will hear Mason singing in the morning over the monitor, "we will, we will rock you." For some reason he loves that along with happy birthday, although it is more like Happy To You, Happy To You! He also still loves his stuffed white puppy that pretty much comes everywhere with us. I have to sneak it into the washer to get it cleaned. No nap or bedtime be complete without that little puppy to snuggle! It's hard to remember back when Mason was so teeny tiny, but it was so great to hear that he has gone from 4lbs. 13oz to 29lbs 3oz in just 2 short years.

Dylan Patrick

Dylan is by far our little snuggle bug. He loves to give kisses and hugs, and is very, very sensitive. He loves anything to do with the moon, so that is the one thing nice about it getting so dark so early, as the moon is out so he can see it. He also loves cars, trucks, buses, bugs, Elmo and anything about them. Dylan has started getting some help once a week from the Help me Grow program through the school district. He is a little delayed in his speech, but has 2 wonderful roll models to learn from, Maddy and Mason. His teacher is wonderful, and she works with all 3 of the kids so they are all learning together. I have also learned some new things from her, mainly new signs to teach the kids, as they are still doing sign language. Dylan still is the only one that has and uses a nuk. We only now let him have it at bedtime and naptime. Dylan has been given the nickname of Pickle, Dill Pickle, Pickle in the Middle or Picky. There are 3 things that have helped us with this. One, Dylan is the middle child, thus making him Pickle in the Middle. Two, from the day we brought them home from the hospital we have pretty much color coordinated everything for the kids, Mason was Blue, Maddy was Pink and Dylan was Green, thus the pickle. And lastly, my Grandpa Roy has always given each kid a nickname as they have grown up they always seem to stick. He had picked Dill Pickle for Dylan, thus adding to the fun. Dylan entered this world 2 years ago at a teeny, tiny 3lbs 8oz, and he is now at 27lbs even.

Maddy Grace

Maddy is still the princess of the house. She loves her brothers so much, but will not let them in any way take any toy from her that she is playing with. She is such a sweetheart and loves to see her brothers first thing when she gets up from her nap. She loves to give kisses especially before bedtime and right when she wakes up. We have started calling Maddy a little hoarder, she loves to carry things around with her and by things, I mean a lot of little things and as many as possible. As an example, at bedtime she will go to bed with no less than 5 things in her crib. Her blankie, her bear, her baby (monkey), a book and 2-3 other items. Lately it has been a beanie baby fish she got for her birthday, a little bear that is a finger puppet and a small washcloth so that she can wrap these things up in so they don't get cold. And every morning, we have to be sure every single thing comes out with her or she gets very upset. Our little peanut, whom I will never forget entered our family at just 2lbs 3 oz. She has proved us she is a fighter and definitely wants to keep up with her brothers. At her 2 year check up she is now weighing in at 27lbs 11oz. God is Good!!!
October was a super fun month for us. We spent as much time as possible outside enjoying the last of the warm weather. Shawn and I also were able to get away for a nice dinner at one of our favorite sushi restaurants to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary. It is so hard to believe it has already been 5 years. Amazing how much our lives have changed in just a short amount of time! We also were looking forward to celebrating Halloween this year.  We spent an afternoon at the Eveland Family Farm right by our house. We went on a hayride, checked out all the farm animals, which a very loud mooing cow scared Mason for life, picked out pumpkins and giggled at the ducks splashing around in the pond. The kids loved their costumes: Mason was an elephant, Dylan was a tiger and Maddy was a lion. We took them up to the Halloween festival at the YMCA and we even won second place in the costume contest. On Halloween night we went out trick or treating with our good friends and neighbors, the Olson's, who have 2 year old twins (Anders & Elin) whom our kids love to play with! They had a great time trick or treating. Each time getting out of the wagon and going up to each house. They weren't quite sure of what to do, except I think a few times they thought we were going in the houses. They did get some good treats, especially their new favorite, M&M's.

November went by in an absolute blur. It is what I call the birthday month, as the kids turned 2, Shawn turned 33 and Kita turned 6. We had an Elmo themed birthday party for the kids, including Elmo balloons, Elmo cakepops, and Elmo decorations. We had a great time celebrating with close friends and family. We also hosted a small Thanksgiving at our house this year as well. It was just us 5 and Grandpa Too Tall and Char. The turkey turned out great and everyone had more than enough food to go around.

 Turkey, num, num!!!

 Watching Grandpa carve the turkey!!!

We also took the kids to see Santa, which started out great. And then, they saw him. You can tell from the pictures below. I can't help but giggle every time I look at the one where they are scared of him. This is a picture that I really look forward to showing them when they are older!!!

We are very much looking forward to the Holiday's with the families and friends we have. We will be making trips to Centerville to see the Corr family, Mahnomen to see the Roy family, a trip to Detroit Lakes to see the Norberg's coming in from Montana. We will be hosting Christmas with the Spaeth family at our house. We will be putting on the miles, but being with family and friends over the holiday's are what it is all about!
2014 is going to be a great year for us! We are looking forward to so many more adventures and learning many, many new things. We are so blessed and thankful for these 3 little people who fill our lives with such happiness, love and amazement!!!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
S&B+3

An Exciting Change for Mommy!!!

For those of you who did not know, on Monday September 16th I started staying home with the kids full time. I have only been home a week and a half, and man, have we been busy!!! We have had a couple of play dates with friends, been to Target a couple of times, lots of walks enjoying this beautiful fall weather, and most of all, just being together. It had been so hard on me to be away from the kids this last year and a half, and it wasn't worth it to me anymore to miss out on adventures and watching them grow! I am so thankful for a hardworking husband who has taken on the responsibility to become the full time breadwinner for our family. I have been blessed in so many ways, and by far my family is the greatest blessing of all! We look forward to the years to come, especially me as I get to help these 3 little cuties grow and learn over the next few years!
-Beth

~21 Months Old~



Happy August!!! It is hard to believe the summer is already 2/3 of the way done. Every year the summers seem to zoom by, even more so with 3 – 21 month old kiddos! We have had an amazing summer so far, and have already been on many, many great adventures!

We ended our swimming lessons, which all 3 of the kids absolutely loved, with a bang (literally!) back the end of May. Our last night of lessons Mason slipped and fell climbing up the stairs to the big kid slide at the YMCA and hit his head hard enough to need stitches. Luckily, we had lots of help that night (Aunties Kathy and Jaye as well as Char) so mom and dad could bring Mason down to Childrens Hospital to get 7 stitches. He was such a trooper, loved watching the movie Brave (which also has a set of triplets in it!) and eating popsicles while the doctors stitched him up. We also got to go see where the new Mother Baby Center was. We took a chance and went to the special care nursery, where the kids spent the first month of there lives to see if one of our favorite nurses was working (Peggy, the kids primary nurse when they were there) and low and behold she was! We were so excited to see her!

June brought lots of fun, and many trips to the parks around our neighborhood! We got to go over to the Johnson’s to celebrate our friend Brecken turning 5. It was a very chilly day, but they had a bouncy house that we got to try out and we loved it! We also got to take a trip up to Cloquet to celebrate our twin cousin’s Christina and Cassandra’s high school graduation party. We had so much fun playing in the backyard with all the other cousins and kids and dancing in the garage to the music! Mom and Dad also took a long weekend to Las Vegas with some friends. They had an absolute blast, but they sure did miss us! Luckily, we were in the best of hands, with Aunt Nancy, Sara our nanny, Grandma Bonnie, Grandpa Ray, and cousin Bayleigh coming to watch us.

July went by in an absolute blur. We had a lot of friends over for a little 4^th of July celebration before heading up to the Roy family cabin, as well as the Spaeth family week lake stay. We had fun swimming in the lake, well, we all did except Dylan. He didn’t seem to like the sand on his feet. We loved having our own personal swimming pool up on our deck as well as spending lots of time playing with cousin Aeriana. It is so fun having a cousin our age to play with! We also got our pictures taken by mommy’s friend Lorissa, which turned out great! We are excited to see the rest and share with everyone how cute we are!  We also got to take some special one on one time with first mommy and then daddy, as they were off celebrating the soon to be marriage of our friends Shawn and Alyssa. They are getting married the end of this month, so mom and dad had to go celebrate the last of their singleness with golfing and a girls trip to Duluth/Superior.

Here are some of our favorite things to do:

Mason James

still a very picky eater, but still loves his milk more than anything. Loves to play with his zebra scooter that he rides around the house. His absolute favorite is his white puppy that he takes everywhere with him; car rides, walks in the stroller, bedtime, you name it, he has it with him. He is also our little dare devil, always the one to try out the biggest slides first, the first one to climb on the rides at Valleyfair, the first one to wander down the path as far as we let him push it. Mason’s favorite song to sing is Wheel’s on the Bus and he loves to dance! He also loves to look for airplanes when they fly over our house, as well as sign for them every time he hears them. He is probably the best one at doing sign language, it’s so fun to watch them learn new ones!

Dylan Patrick

loves to gives hugs and kisses, he is definitely our little lover. He is our biggest lover of the 3. He is also still our best eater, but also our skinniest. We are slowly trying to wean him off his nuk, which we are currently only letting him have at bedtime and naps. When you go to get him up in the morning, the first thing he does is hand you his nuk to be put back on the dresser.  Dylan’s favorite song to sing is Old McDonald. Dylan’s favorite toy in the house is a little flashlight that sings and lights up all different colors. There are many nights it will be the last thing he plays with and the first thing he grabs when he gets up.

Madelynn Grace

Is turning out to be quite a mommy’s girl. She loves, loves to be held by mommy, and gets easily jealous when one of the boys are getting any attention at all. She will just walk over and try to fit herself between whoever is on mom’s lap and push them off. It’s been hard teaching her to share and take turns, but most times she is starting to get it.  Maddy is also turning out to be our ‘little hoarder’, as in she loves to get as many things as possible in her hands and carry them around. We did get her a little purse to carry stuff in, but she still likes to have everything in her hands. There are many times we will go to check on her before we go to bed, and we will often find her with books, stuffed animals, ping pong balls, finger puppets, etc, in her bed with her.

A tie-dye kind of day!

All 3 are still learning and using sign language. They can now also sign mommy, daddy, cracker, shoes, and socks. All 3 love to blow bubbles, play with balls, and go down slides. The boys love to mow the grass and play with trucks out in the yard.

We are looking forward to a fun-filled end of summer and a fun start to fall! Some of our many activities we are looking forward over to the next couple of weeks include the MN State Fair, Weddings, Birthday parties for cousins, friends and great-grandpa. We are also very excited to see the bus start coming again every morning. It picks up all the school kids and drops them off right at the end of our driveway! Have a safe and fun end of summer and a great start to the school year!

Love always,

S&B+3

Fun at the park!

We are so blessed to live in a community where there are parks everywhere!

Summertime Fun!!!

Just hanging around!

~18 Months Old!!!~

Another 3 months have completely zoomed by. Everyday with these 3 wild little toddlers is an absolute blessing and adventure! The kids have changed so much in the last 3 months, it is hard to know where to begin! All 3 love to play outside, hopefully the weather keeps staying warm, as they love going down the slide in our backyard, playing with their water table, chasing bubbles and playing with balls. They absolutely love to swing and do the actions to their favorite song, the Itsy Bitsy Spider. They also like singing along to Wheels on the Bus, Patty Cake and any other song you sing or dance to with them. Another favorite activity is chasing Kita around the house. Poor dog has definitely ran out of hiding spots, as the kids now climb under the bed that used to be Kita’s final hiding spot from them. Once they figured out that is where he went, they would just go right underneath with him. Anther favorite thing the kids love to do is put their shoes on. I think they have figured that once they have them on that usually means they get to go outside to play or in the car for a ride. We have also had some super fun dinner date’s with friends; The Klatt’s, our neighbors the Olson’s and the Purintons! We love to go out to eat and spend time with such great families! Our nanny has been working with the kids on learning sign language. We always have to make sure she tells us what she has taught them, otherwise we have no idea what they are signing. So far they have all learned all done, more, help, butterfly, water, drink and eat. She is working with them on a few others, which has been super helpful in communicating with them. So far Mason seems to be catching on the best, but Dylan and Maddy will suddenly surprise us by signing something out of the blue. They are so proud of themselves when they do it; it’s amazing how fast they learn and how smart they already are! 

Mason James 

Oh Mason, this is a boy that is set out to steal mom’s heart, or anyone’s for that matter. He is still our biggest both weight and height wise out of the 3, which I am finding very fitting since he is the oldest, even if it is only by a minute or 2. He has been our first talker, with over the last few months his new favorite things to say are bubbles, puppy, help, ball, momma and dadda. Mason loves, loves, loves puppies, especially his own both real (Kita) and his stuffed puppy. He gets very upset when someone else (aka Maddy or Dylan) carry it around and asks for help in getting it back. He also loves tags on all stuffed animals. Once you give him a toy he will immediately flip it over to find the tag so he can rub it. Food-wise Mason is still our little carb boy, loving anything with bread and drinking lots of milk. He definitely does not want anything to do with most vegetables or fruits, though he does like bananas and green beans. Most other items he just squishes or throws overboard from his highchair. His favorite thing right now is his “puppy.” It’s a little white stuffed dog that he carries everywhere. He gets upset when his brother or sister touch his puppy, and even hates when the puppy has to get washed in the washing machine. Teeth wise Mason has always been the fastest at getting all his teeth in, but just in the last few days have his molars started coming through. Teething is definitely not one of mom’s favorite stages!

Dylan Patrick

Dylan is most definitely our little wild guy. He is still our best eater, and still the skinniest out of the 3. He loves to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, kiwi, blueberries, bananas, peas and green beans are his favorite. Teething wise Dylan has gotten his molars and even started getting his I-teeth first. He has had a couple of wakeful nights lately, but that is ok as I can only imagine the pain they are feeling when they come in. Dylan has become our most sensitive little guy. He is also extremely mischievous! He definitely knows what he should and should not do, but he does it anyways and always checks to make sure you are watching. His favorite bad things to do are open the drawers in the kitchen that don’t have child locks on them and pull out all the bibs, towels and rags (he has just recently started putting them back if you ask him, but then he usually pulls them out again), he likes banging the big wooden puzzle pieces on the windows, and shutting the front door whether or not his brother or sister are in the way. This usually results in him having  a tantrum after you tell him no, so hopefully he is getting them all out of the way and we don’t have to deal with any when he gets closer to 2. We can only hope right? But overall Dylan is a great little boy, he loves to give hugs and snuggle every now and then still and he loves to give high 5’s and kisses.

Madelynn Grace

Our little princess is definitely keeping us on our toes. She definitely is a daddy’s girl, and has him wrapped right around her little finger. One of Maddy’s favorite things to do is still read books, either by herself or have someone read to her. There will be many times when I am making dinner or doing whatever and I can look over and she will be quietly sitting by herself reading her books. It makes my heart smile to see her do this, as growing up and even now I absolutely love to read. Teeth wise Maddy also has her molars but has not yet had any of her I-teeth come through yet. They are swollen so I am guessing any day now they will start popping through. Maddy has been trying very hard to talk. Most of her words consist of the first few letters of the word, i.e. Ba – ball or balloon, fa – fan. Maddy has definitely passed Dylan up in weight, thus giving her the nickname Butter, as in butterball turkey. Who would have thought our little 2 pounder would ever end up with a nickname like that! We absolutely love her chubby little legs and belly! Maddy’s hair is really starting to get curly as it gets longer. I am super excited to see if it will stay that way forever or just when she is little.

All 3 kids have also been doing swimming lessons for the past 4 weeks up at the YMCA right by our house. A special thank-you to Aunties Kathy and Jaye, Uncle Kory and Char for coming to help out. We definitely could not have done it without you! Mason is absolutely fearless when it comes to being in the water. He loves to walk around and explore every area of the pool and has even started going down headfirst down some of the slides. Even the one’s that the big kids go down! He definitely does not like when it is time to go. Dylan is a little fish and likes to go underwater. He also loves to splash and has brought all their splashing practice and songs to even the bathtub at home. Needless to say, dad and mom are absolutely soaked when we are all said and done. Maddy also loves to splash and jump in off the side of the pool into your arms. She likes practicing the back float and chasing after the little rubber ducks in the pool. They also love to sing the songs and do 1, 2, 3, blastoff and get thrown up in the air.

Having fun at swim lessons!

The kids had a great Easter this year! The Easter bunny truly spoiled them. They each had their own basket full of books, socks and some candy as well as each getting their own Pottery Barn anywhere chairs. They love sitting in them, and climbing all over them as well! We hosted Easter at our house this year, with Grandma Bonnie, Grandpa Ray, Auntie April, Uncle Ben, Auntie Tricia and our cousins Aeriana, Jake and Tyler. We even got to take the kids to the zoo and to see all the beautiful flowers. There was an Easter Egg hunt after church that we went to. The kids had a blast finding eggs, and putting them in their baskets, that is, until the Easter Bunny showed up. Maddy was not happy to see him!

 Having fun with our cousin Aeriana!

Mothers Day this year was truly a great day, one that brought back so many memories from 2 years ago. I had found out I was pregnant for the first time the Friday before Mother’s day, which was definitely one of the best days of my life. I never would have thought on that day that in 2 years we would be parents to the 3 most amazing little people. Thank you God for picking us to be the parents of these 3 little miracles!!! Shawn and I got a chance to get away and go golfing up at the Ponds golf course where we used to live. That also brought back so many memories, as Shawn and I had our 2^nd date on that very same golf course almost 6 years ago! I was happy to find out that I hadn’t lost my swing, and actually did pretty good for not golfing in 3 years! I am really hoping to get out again a couple of times this year. I know Shawn is really looking forward to getting out and doing it some more.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

We hope you all have a safe, warm and wonderful summer! We look forward to updating you on our adventures over the summer that include lake trips, weddings, graduation parties, the kids first trip to Valleyfair, and mom and dad even get to sneak away for a quick trip to Vegas with some friends! Hopefully she will be ok, but she is already having anxiety about being away from us for more than 24 hours. We will be in great hands with Auntie Nancy and Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Ray. Our cousin Bayleigh might even come to visit!

Love always,

S&B + our ever growing and changing 3



15 Month Check-up and a very bad day for mom

15 Month Check-up

On Tuesday we had the kids 15 month check up. We are still so happy to say that the kids are thriving, and their doctor has been nothing but impressed with where they are at now vs. where they started.

Mason is still our biggest boy, in the 90^th percentile across the board. In the last 3 months, with going off formula, bottles and baby food, he has gained 2 lbs and now is 26lbs 3oz and 2’ 8.25” tall.

Dylan our skinniest is in the 25^th percentile for weight at 23 lbs 5 oz and is in the 50^th percentile for height at 2’ 6.5”.

And our little Maddy, she has officially proven that she was not to be left behind, as she has caught up to Dylan. She is in the 50^th percentile across the board, also weighing 23 lbs 5 oz and is also now 2’ 6.5” tall.

It is so reassuring to hear from someone (their doctor) about what a great job we have done. We were also very happy to hear that we will not need to bring the kids back in now until they are 2!! Normally they would like to see them back at 18 months, but he has no doubt that they will continue to do great!

The worst part was at the appointment all 3 kids needed 3 shots. It just absolutely breaks your heart as parents to know that pain is going to be inflicted upon your child, but in the end we know that it is best for them. This time Dylan had the worst time with the shots; he woke up the next morning very achy, sad and fever-ish. All 3 kids spent the day snuggling and taking lots of Tylenol, with very, very long naps. Luckily today all 3 seemed to be a little more back to themselves, so hopefully in another day or 2 they will be good to go.

Have a wonderful weekend, we will update you all soon!
Love,

S&B+3

A little note from yesterday:

On a day like today, I seriously begin to wonder what I am doing. I go to a job I do not like every day just so our family can have benefits, and today was an exceptional bad day. Shawn and I got into an argument, I don’t even remember what it was about, but both of us are sick and all 3 kids are sick and not feeling good from their shots on Tuesday. All in all, I really just wanted to throw in the towel and go to bed, or run away, or both. On days like today, I wonder if God really does know what he is doing, and why he trusted us or thought we could handle 3 – 15 month olds all at the same time, especially when all 5 of us are not feeling good. I feel asleep at about 8:30 on the couch, sick, tired, frustrated, you name it, just not happy with life. I was woken up at 9:45 to Maddy crying either in pain or in fear of a bad dream. As I picked her up and held her and rocked her in the rocking chair in their room, all became right with the world with one sweet little gesture. Maddy reached up, and put her hand to my chin, as if to tell me that everything was going to be ok. I am not sure if she was awake when she did it, or if she had fallen back to sleep and did it in her dreams, but regardless, I feel like it was God’s way of telling me through her, that he knows what he is doing, that his decision to make us parents of these 3 little beans was in his plan. Yes, there are going to be ups and downs in the journey, but we just need to take them with stride and enjoy every second that we have with them. In that one little gesture, it made me remember that i am a great mom, i am doing all that i can and all is right with the world for the night and I would not trade this life that I live for anything!

15 Months Old - Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

What a fun few months we have had! I am sad to say that we no longer can say we have 3 babies, as we have definitely transitioned into toddler stage! We now officially have all 3 walking around our house, which has become an all new adventure all it’s own. Mason was the first to take his steps, and since then he has definitely not looked back. He pretty much runs anywhere now, so it takes a lot of speed to try to sneak out the door without him seeing, or catching, us! Dylan was next to walk, with Maddy not being that far behind. I think she was watching her brothers and learning from their mistakes and falls, because she pretty much just one day decided to start walking and has been so good at it ever since! We have also fully transitioned off bottles and are now drinking all beverages (whole milk and water) from sippy cups. We were definitely nervous to drop that last bottle (the bed time bottle) but I think they were ready and didn’t even put up a fuss. Needless to say, we will not miss washing bottles. It is funny how just a short year ago, we were going through 24 bottles a day and had 3 bottle drying racks on our kitchen counter. I must say, it has been so nice getting all that space back!

Mason’s favorite thing to say now is Uh Oh, puppy and up! Maddy’s favorite thing to say is Ba, and she loves repeating it after you no matter how may times you say it. I can’t tell if she is trying to say ball, which is one of her favorite toys to play with, or if she is trying to say something else. Dylan is our little wild guy and loves to try and repeat any word or sound you say to him. Just the thought of him doing so with a big grin on his face brings a smile to mine. They are all so proud of themselves when they have done something new. It has been such an amazing few months watching them learn new things! All 3 kids also love to dance. It is so cute to watch them sway to the beat or clap along, which they also love to do. They also love to do arts and crafts with the nanny when mom and dad are at work. It always makes me so happy to see their little works of art hanging up on the wall. Their favorite's are finger paints as you can see below, Dylan thus far has been the only one to taste it:

One of Dylan’s favorite things to do right now is to take items out of containers. Whether it be all the books out of their book box, all the toys out of their toy box, or even all his clothes out of his dresser when mom isn’t looking, he loves it all. He especially loves to do that right after you have picked everything up. Maddy’s current favorite toy to play with is an empty water bottle, which she will literally walk around with it squeezing it all day making those crackling noises. She also loves any of the Little People toys, especially the car one’s with little wheels that spin. Mason loves every single stuffed animal that he can wrap his arms around and snuggle. He loves soft things, and it is so sweet to hear him coo at them and snuggle them right up. He also loves to ride on toys and his new favorite is to climb up on chairs, which mom has caught him doing a couple of times the last few days. All 3 love to sit and ‘read’ books, as well as play on the couches which if you let one up, they all have to come up. They also love to look out the windows, especially if something exciting is going on, like watching Kita chase the neighbor dogs up and down the fence, or watch daddy shovel the sidewalk.  

Christmas was an absolute blast with each of them. They loved opening presents, even though I think they were much more amused with the tissue paper and boxes. Once we got all the toys out and boxes put away, they are truly enjoying each and every one of them. We have been practicing sharing and taking turns, which is definitely something they are having a hard time understanding. However, the boys have both learned that they should not even try to take toys from Maddy, as that little girl is quite sassy and has a very strong grip! From Santa the kids got umbrellas for their train wagon, a big water table with an umbrella for this coming summer and balls for their new ball pit we made for them using their pool.

This past weekend we took the kids out sledding during the snow storm we had. Luckily it was a nice storm with warmer weather and big snowflakes. Mason absolutely loved being pulled around in his sled. He constantly squealed with delight and laughed the whole time. Dylan liked being pulled around in the sled, but I think he liked sitting and standing in the snow better so he could watch the flakes come down. Maddy on the other hand, well she did not like 1 bit of it. It was hard to tell if it was because we made her wear a blue snowsuit (it was on ultra-clearance, sorry Maddy!!) or because she could not move at all since the snowsuit was so tight and had the hands and boots built in. They did love watching Kita try to catch snowballs that Shawn would throw up in the air for him to catch.

Mason has proven to be our most picky eater. He doesn’t like to eat things that are squishy, so mostly fruits, veggies or anything else that feels funny to him. However, he does have no problem picking all those things up and throwing them over his highchair and watching them fall to the ground. Luckily for Kita, he never leaves a meal with an empty stomach. Dylan, even though he is the thinnest, is definitely our best eater. It always amazes us how much that little guy can pack in. He loves pretty much anything we give him, but he is definitely our best veggie eater. Maddy is also a good eater, but she does love to style her hair almost every night with whatever she is eating. She loves fruit, especially kiwi and peaches.

We have our 15 month appointment for the kids next week. We are excited to see how much they have grown these last 3 months now that they are off bottles and eating big people food. We do know that over the last 3 months their personalities have started shining through more and more, and it is so fun to see. Maddy is also starting to get some curls in her hair, so it will be cute to see how it looks once it gets a little bit longer. I am excited for pigtails and braids for that girl!

We hope you all have a great weekend and promise to try not to wait so long to give an update on how we are doing.

Love always,

S&B+3

Everyone up on the couch!



We Survived!!! - Turning 1 Year

We have officially survived our first year of triplet-ness!!! We are now the proud parents of 3 absolutely adorable and amazing 1 year old kiddos. Reading back through all our entries over the last year and a half brings back so many memories, and tears to our eyes. We have been on a very unique journey, one we would not trade for the world. God has blessed us in so many ways, we do not even know where to start thanking him, with the exception of thanking him for handpicking us to be the parents of these 3 little people. 

All 3 are very much on the move, crawling everywhere and very fast at that. Maddy still hasn’t quite figured out how to get up on her hands and knees to crawl around, but finds it much easier just to drag herself around after her brothers. Their new favorite came to play is hide and chase. They love hiding behind corners and the furniture and love when you chase them around. They have all also found the enjoyment of having each other around. It is so fun to sit there and watch them play with each other and laugh and giggle together. It seriously can melt your heart!

We have also had an exciting last week. All 3 kids are now only taking 1 bottle per day (the bedtime bottle) and are making the transition from formula to whole milk much easier then we thought they would. We are so excited to be done with both phases, but it is sad at the same time, as our little babies are now very much turning into toddlers! Their favorite games to play are hide and seek, chase, peek a boo, they love giving high fives and lots of hugs.

Mason James

Mason has proved to be our biggest boy throughout this last year. At their 1 year checkup, we were very surprised to hear that he is in or around the 90^th percentile in weight, height and head circumference. He is weighing in at 24 lbs 8 oz and is now 2’7” tall. In 1 year, Mason has gained 19 lbs 11 oz!! He is by far the easiest one to get giggling and when he does, it honestly warms your heart. He is definitely the picky eater of the group. He prefers carbs over anything else. He wants to make sure everything he is about to put in his mouth is not mushy or wet in any way. He loves bread/toast, waffles, cheese, puffs and quesadillas.

Dylan Patrick

Our little monkey man is still always on the go. He is in the 50^th percentile across the board for weight, height and head circumference. He is weighing in at 21 lbs 9 oz and is 2’6”  tall. In 1 year, Dylan has gained 18lbs and 1 oz! He is by far our best eater. We think he is ready to be taken off baby food too, but Mason wouldn’t survive if we did. His favorite foods are grapes, PB&J, cheese and quesadillas. Dylan is proving to be our little dancer, as anytime he hears music from a toy or we turn the radio up at all, he will start bobbing his head and dancing. He has also be working on learning sign language and can tell you when he is ‘all done.’

Madelynn Grace

Our little princess has definitely proven that she is not to be left behind from her brothers. She is in the 60^th percentile for her weight, and 50^th for height and head circumference. She is giving Dylan a run for his money and is very close to catching up to him in weight. She is weighing in at 21lbs 4 oz and is 2’4.75”  tall. Maddy has gained a total of 19lbs 1oz over this last year. Maddy loves to pull herself up into a standing position and hold on to your hands, arms, shirt, whatever she can get her hands on. Just as long as it is some part of you. We call her our little cling-on. She is still very much in love with Kita, who is very quickly running out of hiding spots. Maddy also just recently has begun dancing when she hears a tune she likes. She also is a very good eater, loving almost everything you put in front of her. Some of her favorites are also waffles, toast, cheese and quesadillas as well.

Needless to say, we are very proud of the good job (and hard work) we did in getting these babies to catch up to their peers. Their doctor was very impressed with how far they have come this first year. I got tears in my eyes at the doctors office when he validated that all our hard work paid off to get these little beans to where they need to be. We look forward to the many, many years of memories our family will have in the future, and can not wait to share our journey with all of you. We are so blessed to have you all in our lives, and we can not thank each and everyone of you enough for supporting us from day 1.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving Holiday, from our family to yours!

With Love,

Shawn, Beth, Mason, Dylan and Madelynn