Triplet Movers

So, how do move three babies around at the same time?  There are many options, of which we tried many.  They are evolving options too.  We started with a twin car seat stroller with a single car seat stroller.  I wasn't going anywhere on my own so two strollers worked in the beginning.  I liked this car seat snap in stroller, it was light weight and easy to open and close.

A Baby Trend Double Snap-and-Go

A single Snap-N-Go stroller

Next we needed a stroller I could lift in and out of a car myself that held all three.  We already had a nice quad stroller that I couldn't lift so we found an inexpensive option.  A triple tandem   There are many on the market but this inexpensive one did the trick for a while.  It is not the most durable and doesn't drive super well but it works.  It's mostly for doctors appointments.  Now that they are getting bigger we usually take a single Graco stroller too and put the lighter babies in the front and back of the triple tandem and the heavier baby in the single stroller.  As long as there are two adults this works better.  It also opens up a seat for the diaper bags!

Our Foundations Quad Stroller is nice.  However, it is really heavy and requires a lot of trunk space.  We don't use to go out yet.  It is our daily walk stroller.  The one issue I had was as the kids got heavier the front wheel comes up so I had to put a small weight in the empty seat during walks.  I love the positioning, everyone has good leg room and it has a lot of under the seats storage space plus that extra seat offers more room for bags.  Again, it is heavy, 58lbs without kids! so it is really a workout to push.  It is durable and seems well made.  I wish I could compare it to a triple wide jogging stroller but haven't had the opportunity.  It seems to be the Escalade of multiples strollers.  ;-)

Chillin' in our Foundations Quad Stroller on the dock of our new park pond.  13 months

Now that we are bigger when we go to places with two adults that have larger cart options we put two babies together and one on their own and this works for shopping.

Rolling around CostCo last weekend.  13 months, almost 14!

And for quick trips to the play ground, and most likely for trips to the zoo and other fun outings this summer we like our wagon train.  We just started using it so I don't know how we will use it yet and how it will travel in the car.  Pretty easy to pull (I'm 5'11" and it isn't too bad for me), however terrible turning radius.  It would be awful for shopping.  No storage so parents have to carry diaper bags.  Super cute though!

Choo Choo Wagon by Step 2. 13 months, almost 14! 

1 year old

And a fun picture of Ethan trying out a ride on toy from his Great Aunt and Uncle for the first time.  He didn't really move...

2 days before 14 months old!

So that's the low down on transportation of triplets so far.  Hope you enjoyed.

Chia Seed Pudding

My friend started making Chia Seed Pudding for her 16 month old son.  I tasted a small bite at her house and Yum!  So now that my kids are older, almost 14 months, and they are eating very textured foods I thought, now's the time for some Chia Seed Pudding!  Here is the recipe she shared:

Chia Seed Pudding

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chia seeds

1/2 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut

2 cups water

1/2 cup raw cashews (soaked for 2 hours)

6 Medjool dates, pitted

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

Put the chia seeds and shredded coconut into a mixing bowl and stir until evenly distributed. Set aside. Blend the water, cashews, dates and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy.

Pour the cashew milk blend into the bowl with the chia seeds and coconut and stir until the seeds are evenly distributed and there are no clumps. The mixture should resemble a thickened liquid

Let sit for 5 minutes and stir again. You’ll notice the seeds are starting to gel. Let sit and stir for two more rounds and then put into the refrigerator for a few hours to set.

I made it a few nights ago so they could have it for breakfast the next day because they are a little tired of my variations on Healthy Mud.  I of course tasted it to make sure it was good and to give my husband a taste of it.  It was delicious and I had 3 spoonfuls.  A few minutes later I noticed my tongue going numb and feeling a bit swollen.  Time passes and yes, my tongue is definitely swollen, numb and my throat itchy.  Hum, can you be allergic to chia seeds?   A quick internet search shows that the majority of chia seed allergies are gastrointestinal, and not pleasant.  But a few, mention the tongue and throat problems I was having.  They were the only new thing I ate that night so it had to be the seeds.  Later that night and in the morning I got to experience the gastro issues mentioned online.  Needless to say I didn't give it to my babies.  My husband had no issues at all but only had one small spoonful.  

Not everyone is allergic to Chia Seeds, so give the pudding a try if you are feeling adventurous  it is very healthy and super yummy.  Sadly, we will not be enjoying ours.

I think I'm going to try using the cashew milk mixture to make some amaranth cereal.  It was really good and I have a bag full of cashews.  Check back for how that recipe turns out.  Today however, I'm steaming broccoli!  I also have a couple new foods I'll be adding recipes for, boiled fish balls and chicken chili!

Nursery Decor

Clearly we had to go with a gender neutral nursery.  I had been planning a giraffe and learning nursery with our first pregnancy and had already painted an army green bedroom a nice soft yellow.  2 coats of primer and 2 coats of yellow.  Geez, thanks previous owners...  I still liked the theme and had already painted the cornice box my dad built for me.  I expanded the theme a bit by adding elephants and monkeys so each baby had an animal.

I love orange, turquoise and limey chartrusey green together so those became my primary colors.  To keep the room nice and bright we kept the curtains white and chose white cribs.  We purchased a cheap IKEA dresser and painted it orange and made it our changing table and Ethan's dresser.  I have a large antique wood dresser for the girls clothes and a cherry side table (not pictured).  I'm contemplating removing the side table that is normally under the window.  It serves no purpose at this point except to stuff toys in for the babies to remove as a game.  I think I might like more floor space right now.

I painted graphic pictures of monkeys, giraffes and elephants for above their beds.  I wanted to keep the look clean and contemporary so I found mobiles on etsy.com that were delicate paper leaves.  1 mobile above each bed.  They don't take up a lot of visual space but add a little something extra.  I just found some new mobiles on etsy.com that I thought were cool and thought I'd share with you.

Link to shop littlenestbox: Mobile on Etsy.com

I think I could decorate and redecorate a nursery a hundred times over and still have new ideas.  It was tons of fun and I'm looking forward to decorating their rooms as the grow.  I already have area rugs I love for the girls room once Ethan gets a room to himself!  Too much fun!

Finger Foods Recipes

We make 95% of our own baby food from scratch. We only purchase things like lunch meat and green bean starch glass noodles. I try to purchase organic and preservative free items. Our babies eat a WIDE variety of foods and love spices and flavor. Here are some of our finger food recipes. I will continue to post recipes that I've created for the babies. I have a Curry Fish and a Turkey Cheese Burger recipe that I created recently that they love that I will post soon. My husband is Chinese and we primarily eat home cooked Chinese food and have started feeding the kids some of our food. They love it and a lot of what I post will be Chinese. Bok Choi and mushrooms are making them especially happy lately plus chives and eggs!


Baked Cinnamon Apples
Any type of apple, we've used Fugi, Gala and Golden Delicious so far all good
Preheat oven to 400
Peel apple
Cut into bite sized pieces appropriate for your kids age
Place in baking dish and cover bottom of dish with enough water to just cover the bottom
Sprinkle apples with cinnamon
Cover tightly with foil
Place on middle rack and cook softer apples around 20 minutes, harder apples around 30
Test with fork for mushyness
Cool and serve

Chinese Eggplant
The chinese variety of eggplant (long and skinny) is best
Ginger
Green onion
Lite Soy Sauce
Coconut Sugar
Star anise powder

Peel eggplant
Cut into thick rounds
Steam until soft
Cut into bite sized chunks
Cut fresh ginger into tiny pieces
Cut green onion into tiny pieces

Heat a little olive oil in a wok with ginger and green onion
When hot throw in eggplants and stir around
Put in a little soy sauce and sprinkle with sugar and star anise powder
Toss so the eggplant pieces are coated
Remove and cool

I refrigerated it and warmed it to serve. I have not tried freezing any yet, didn't think it would come through that well

Grey Zucchini
Get a zucchini called grey zucchini, it's less bitter - for those of you local to me I've found them at Sprouts and H-mart
Peel, cut into rounds and steam until soft
Cut into bite sized pieces

I have served it just steamed and plain and my kids like it. You can also saute it similar to the eggplant with a little lite soy sauce and coconut sugar

Acorn Squash
Cut in 1/2 from stem to point and scoop out seeds and strings
Place in baking dish cut side down add about 1/4 inch water
Bake at 350 30 to 45 minutes possibly 1 hour - test for softness with fork
Remove and cool until you can touch it, still warm
Peel skin
Cut into bites and refrigerate extra

When serving I sprinkle a little coconut sugar and coconut flakes on it and warm

Turkey, Veggie, Pesto Bites
Preheat oven to 350
Organic ground turkey, around a pound
Spinach and or Kale
Red and Yellow peppers - either bell or sweet baby bell peppers
Steamed carrots

Puree spinach/kale, peppers and carrots with 1 egg and about a tablespoon of basil pesto (we got some at Costco that is good but any brand will do)

Dump in with ground turkey and mix with your hands - I added a second egg but that was really runny so you might try not adding a second egg

Use a large pan with sides, either a baking dish or a cookie sheet. If it's non stick I didn't spray it with Pam or anything, but if it's not non-stick give it a quick coating or some sort of oil. Dump on the turkey mixture and spread it out to between 1/4 and 1/2 inch, closer to 1/4

Place in middle rack and I have no idea how long I cooked it. I just cooked until done, not soft anymore. Let cool. Use a spatula and cut into large squares or rectangles to remove from pan. Place on cutting board and cut into bites. This does freeze well. Warm and serve

Eggs, Eggs, Eggs
You can start with only egg yolks.  The whites are what people have allergies to.  We served egg yolks hard boiled, steamed to a soft tofu texture, and scrambled into yolk omelets.  In the omelets we added a tiny bit of salt, some Parmesan cheese and a veggie like fresh spinach or asparagus.  I don't scramble them as they cook I cook them more like a fried egg then cut them into bites.  So much easier to pick up with less egg waste.  Once the babies showed they weren't allergic to the egg yolks I tried a whole egg.  I buy organic free range Omega 3 eggs.  You can sprinkle the hard boiled eggs with nutmeg or turmeric if you want to try some extra flavor.

Steamed eggs are something I learned from my Chinese family.  Scramble an egg (or yolk) in a heat safe bowl.  Add an equal amount of water as egg.  Put in a drop or two of sesame oil, chinese vinegar and lite soy sauce and mix up.  Place the bowl of egg in a pot on the stove with water that comes up at least 1/2 way up the sides of the bowl.  Cover and cook.  Check and stir a few times.  When it is the texture of soft tofu it is finished.  This is NOT a finger food, must be eaten on a spoon, but it is so yummy!


Other finger foods my kiddos like:
Broccolini- steamed
Regular Broccoli - steamed
Cauliflower - steamed
Bell peppers, red yellow and orange - steamed
Baby carrots - steamed, start with cut bites then move to whole carrots they bite
French green beans -steamed, start with bites then move to whole beans they bite
Squashes, all kinds, but I prefer to prep acorn squash it's easiest
Lunch meats - low sodium, no nitrates, no preservatives, all natural organic. They love all of them but the flavored ones make them happiest. Either jenny-o or healthy-ones makes a rotisserie chicken lunch meat that I think smells awful but they love. Honey ham is yummy. I got an herbed turkey once they liked.
Yams and sweet potatoes - just baked and cut up. You can always sprinkle some coconut flakes on them
All fruits! Berries, grapes, plums, nectarines, peaches, pears, bananas, kiwi, melons, pineapple,
Cuties - we don't do them just yet because of the acid but my friends baby loves them, she started them by cutting the pieces into 2 or 3 bites and the baby was able to mash even with the skin/wrapping whatever it is called on it.  
Prunes and apricots - buy dehydrated and re-hydrate them by boiling them for about 10 minutes covered in water. Ready when you poke them with a fork and they are tender.Watercress - cooked, cut smaller and mixed with "angry mama" sauce, chinese vinegar and sugar

A year already and what a full year it was!

A friend asked me today if it feels like the babies first year flew by, and honestly, it doesn't.  There were some times that may have felt fast but mostly it felt either normal or slow.  It definitely didn't fly by.  I think the only time that stands out was the first 4 months when they weren't allowed or couldn't sleep through the night, that was slow.  Even with a night nanny we still had to cover some nights and we were tired!

So we started like this, day one.

Ethan 4lb  3oz

Alex 2lb 12oz

Emma 2lb 5oz

2 weeks old.  Alex on left, Ethan middle, Emma right in the striped blanket.

And just look at us now!!

Ethan, 11 months, 23lbs 15oz!

Alex, 11 months, 20lbs 6oz!

Emma, 11 months, 18lbs 6oz!

Our First Birthday!!

And Mom and Dad survived!!  Us at a company holiday party 2012.

We have so many people to thank for getting us through this first year!  First I want to thank my husband, who came to the hospital every day for 7 weeks to be with me, brought me food, did my laundry, slept on a miserable couch and got up every 2 hours to help me pump, cooks us dinner every night and provides for our suddenly large family.  Our parents who came initially and took care of us almost more than the babies.  My mom especially who barely slept for 2 or 3 weeks helping me take care of Ethan and Alex when they came home.  My sister Lacey who came right after they were born and took care of all of us while we were in the hospital.  

Our first night nanny Andrea who saved our lives.  I don't see how it is humanly possible to take care of triplets without help and she was amazing as our first help when the babies required special care.  Our second night nanny and current day nanny Ashley who we all love and makes our lives easier so we can have fun!  

An amazing group of women who came in the Spring and Summer to help me during the days; Julie, Teresa, Liz, Debbie, Cheryl, Carolynn, Rachel, Hannah, Julia, Kaitlyn and Whitney (please don't let me have forgotten anyone, if I did I am incredibly sorry and please believe I have triplet mommy brain, I forget a lot these days).  And my friends who helped in the fall, Katie and Lisa.  I can't thank everyone who helped us enough, you made our first year possible!

When people ask how we do it I usually respond that we are lucky, for triplets our babies are on the easier side.  They are VERY happy, always smiling and laughing.  They are rather patient babies, and man do they have to be!  They cry for reasons and I can solve the problem and they stop crying.  They love their schedules and are good about staying on them. They play well together or alone and entertain themselves well so mommy can get things done.  It isn't easy but it is manageable and for the most part enjoyable.  I really can't imagine the amount of time having only one baby is like.  I almost feel like I'd be bored.

I think we are all looking forward to year 2 and all the accomplishments that come with it.  We are all ready to start leaving the house and having adventures.  It's going to be a blast!!

Who's the Boss?

Emma apparently!

Last night we put the girls back in the same room to sleep.  Everyone has been sleeping in separate rooms for quite a while, it just works better right now to separate them.  But we have guests coming this week and the babies will have to share while they are here.  We thought we should start the process early.  Well, going to bed was as expected, Alex cried for 25 minutes bothering Emma but she finally settled and both slept all night just fine.

In the morning though Alex woke early by about 20 minutes and started fussing.  It woke Emma and after a few minutes Emma rose, crawled to the end of the bed that is adjacent to Alex, stood up and put Alex in her place.  I watched this all unfold on their camera.  Emma sternly told Alex, in baby babble of course, to "pipe down it's not time to get up yet, I'm sleeping"!  Alex stopped crying, and Emma got back down turned around and laid back down and went back to sleep.  Alex sat in her crib quietly playing until I went to wake everyone up.

It was hilarious to watch.  I've noticed Emma is in charge of the gang during their play time and she has given both her brother and sister stern orders in the past but this one was just too cute.  She even pushes her brother, who is 5lbs heavier than her, over when he gets on her nerves.  She's one tough cookie.

Ethan zonked out on his nanny.  11 months

Emma getting some Emma time instead of a nap.  11 months

Emma in pink, Alex in yellow, hamming it up.  11 months

Alex tolerating a goofy girly headband for 15 minutes as part of her Valentines Day outfit.  11 months

Diaper Rash - Darn the Bananas

We have struggled with diaper rash for, sadly, a large portion of these monsters lives.  They had a combination of sensitivity to the chemicals in diapers and very sensitive delicate skin from coming 9 weeks early.  The girls have struggled more than Ethan.  It took us way too long to figure out a solution that worked for us and we still have trouble with it reoccurring with food sensitivities.  As it turns out we really have only one food sensitivity, bananas...  As you can see from the list at the bottom of this page we eat a WIDE variety of foods.  I'm so confused as to why what seems to be the mildest food there is is the one thing they are allergic to.  We have introduced bananas 3 times now, each time 2 months apart and still, ouch, rash returns.

Now, on to the solution.  We tried so many diaper creams, even a specially compounded prescription one and none worked.  Finally our pediatrician sent us to a dermatologist who had two simple solutions:  Triple Paste and Kroger brand chlorine free diapers named Touch of Nature.

Triple Paste is amazing and I have seen it work in a matter of hours.  Per the instructions of the Dermatologist you have to use a generous amount (and by generous I mean about 1/2 Tablespoon).  The combination of the chlorine free diapers and paste worked wonders for us.  We only use the diapers with really bad outbreaks because they are expensive but we do use the Triple Paste with every single diaper change.

The Kroger diapers are the least expensive on the market and are a great quality.  They even work overnight, they hold a lot!  I and mean a lot, my kids flood out of their overnights, a size up, every night!!

Finding Triple Paste locally is challenging so we buy it from amazon.com and with triplets we go through 2 tubs a month, but you can't put a price on a happy bum!!!

Emma, Ethan then Alex, 11 months, having a camouflage day!

The Feeding Saga

I've been posting a lot about feeding lately, sorry but it's occupying about 95% of my life right now!  My independent little kiddos only want to feed themselves and I have a freezer full of pureed food that I need them to eat.

I've been trying a couple of techniques to get them to eat the pureed food this past week.  I ordered some reusable baby food pouches, yay!  But while I waited for them to arrive I put the food in ziplock bags and cut off a corner and let them suck the food out of the bag.  I realize that this may not be the best message considering I will have to deal with telling them no don't suck on plastic at some point but I was desperate.  It is the only way they will eat a decent amount of food at a time.  When we feed ourselves we eat 1/2 as much and take an hour!  Oh yes, I only let them eat from a ziplock if I'm holding it, they don't get to hold it.

The pouches arrived after a couple of days and thank goodness we like them.  In fact sucking on the pouches has given them a new skill and now we like sucking from straws and wow! has that provided a new favorite thing to do.  Down side, when I take the cups with straws in them away I get tears.  Oh well.

We have tried the two different reusable food pouch options available, Little Green Pouch and Squooshies.

I'm not sure we really have a preference.  The Little Green Pouches feel more substantial but I prefer the Squooshi top opening to the LGP side one.  Both are easy to fill and clean.  The Squooshi rolls up to help push food to the top but the LGP squeezes nicely.  They are the same price.  I purchased mine from Amazon.com, LittleGreenPouch.com, and squooshi.com  I was able to get a $5 coupon from PlumDistrict.com for a Squooshi order and a 40% off deal from EcoBabyBuys.com for Little Green Pouches.  

Update to the pouch comparison after using them for a month.  We had a tiny issue with the Little Green Pouches and I contacted the company directly for assistance.  I am happy to rave about their customer service. They responded super fast and resolved the issue to my satisfaction.  Not many companies can boast that and I appreciate it tremendously.  I purchased another 8 LGP's after ordering 4 initially and 4 Squoosies.  I still like that you can roll a Squooshi up but that is only helpful right now when I'm the one holding the bag and feeding them.  They are learning how to hold the bag themselves right now and they do much better with the Little Green Pouch.  We have fewer run overs and explosions.  I also feel like the quality of the Little Green Pouch is better and they will last.  Also, the Little Green Pouch is dishwasher safe!!!  Anything to save time.  So my opinion is the Little Green Pouch is a better product.

I am hoping as we get a little older we can use these as a way to eat away from home so we can go out a bit.  As things stand right now we never leave the house unless absolutely necessary.  I think they are sick of being house bound!!  I know I am.

Just when you think you have things figured out...

For someone who isn't big on change I am learning to adapt to it right quick lately!  Obviously babies change fast their first year and just when you think you have something figured out, BAM! they are ready for something new.

(Random update to this post, I read a great article this week on what babies can eat http://www.nbcnews.com/id/9646449/  I highly recommend it)

This week, for example, we have gone from being amazing solid food eaters to struggling through a meal of even their favorite foods.  Last night I was doing some research on ideas as to why, other than illness and teething.  Some sites I ran across suggested a developmental change.  The babies may want to be feeding themselves now rather than me feeding them.

Hum, ok, so that changes things.  What can I give them as finger food?  I referred to my two baby cook books quickly and got some ideas and ran to the store this morning.  We have been eating carrots, lots of O's and rice crackers, some fruits and a little meat now and then.  I needed a wider variety.  I grabbed grapes, a red bell pepper, broccolini, qinoa pasta and parmasan and deli turkey.  Came home steamed the broccolini and bell peppers, cut the grapes into pea sized bites and tore the turkey apart.

We started with the broccolini and red bell peppers.  A hit!  Both the stems and the florets of the broccolini were apparently delicious.

Next the turkey, which Emma took bites of that amazed me!  She loved it, all of it, she ate the fastest and most.  Then we moved on to grapes, yummy.  We were slowing down considerably by grapes and when those finished I had some pureed food and yogurt to drink and they seemed glad for mom to feed at that point.

Well, we certainly fixed the not wanting to eat but babies feeding themselves is really slow.  Our meal took over an hour.  At least we didn't cry and complain through the meal like we were earlier this week   We are also coming down off a growth spurt so their intake has dropped.

After lunch we played happily for an hour, giggling lots.  They made a goofy baby pile.  Then Emma squished Alex, which Alex thought was was funny for a while then she got kneed in the gut.

My new mantra has to be change is good, especially when it leads to happy faces like these!!

An update to this post on 2/3/13.  Yep, we are now independent and feed ourselves now.  Doing pretty well, less and less on the floor.  Keeping mommy on her toes to find different things to make since mom and dad eat spicy Chinese food and later than babies eat.  Will be making them a green curry, soy ginger green onion tilapia, and veggie risotto this week.  They like textured and flavored food.  Their favorite-which they will still eat off a spoon- is chunky fruit yogurt that I add cinnamon and coconut to for extra flavor.  Thanks to people who answered my cry for help when trying to decide if this was behavioral.  Independence comes on quick!

PS- I have started a list of what we eat at the bottom of my blog, just in case you are interested.

Visits to the Doctor

We really don't go anywhere, for a couple of reasons.  First because it is insanely hard to take three babies out with our strict schedule.  Second because of the exposure to illness.  Being 9 weeks early earns you quarantine.  Though I'm not terribly upset we can't go anywhere yet because it is so exhausting when we do I will say the quarantine (and I'm convinced their crazy healthy diet) has meant 11 months of very healthy babies!  We have only been sick once with colds over the holidays.  So basically our outings are to the doctors office.

Crazy babies!  Another reason it's difficult to go anywhere, they can't sit still.  

Emma is strapped into that bouncy seat!  She also climbed out of her exersaucer this week!

We qualify for Synagis injections for RSV. (check out what RSV is at this link https://www.synagis.com/)  Every 28 days we make a pilgrimage to a specific doctors office who administers the injection.  It's never fun.  The physician isn't our pediatrician, and even though she has seen us every 28 days for 5 months still walks in the room every time and says "Your kids must eat a lot of orange stuff, their skin is orange."  Yes, lady, they do and you seriously can't remember orange triplets???  Really?  I can't imagine there are a lot of us.  Oh well, the point is they get the shot and are protected.  2 more visits to go.  Oh, and yes, you read right, I have orange babies due to their home made formula - carrot juice and goat milk.  Seriously it's like the cast of Jersey Shore live here.  Again, another post on home made formula to come.

We have extremely limited windows in which the babies aren't eating or sleeping so finding a time to go to the doctor is no fun.  Our best time is right after a solid food meal and before a bottle and a nap.  I normally have to wake them early from a nap to eat early.  I pick only their favorite foods so they eat quickly.  We wash up fast as we can, I run them to the changing table for a quick diaper refresh then to the car.  They are very good car riders, probably because we never go anywhere so it's fun to get out.  We take our tandem triplet stroller which I drive into everything but somehow it actually fits everywhere.  Not sure how much longer it will last us though, there is 60 lbs of babies in it and it seems to be struggling.  We have a heavy duty quad stroller which works great but I can't get it in the car, it's too big and too heavy.

Emma and Ethan, pre shots (11 months)

Alex, Emma, and Ethan pre shots (11 months)  

This was the first time I thought to bring a snack, apple O's.

During their appointments they are really good about sitting on the table and playing with the toys I bring.  Alex is the most wary, she knows doctors usually mean shots.  They do well until the shots happen then it's crazy crying, mommy holding two babies my help holding a third.  They feed off each other.  Then the nurse leaves the room and silence.  Cracks me up.  We are happy again so back into the stroller and we rush home for a bottle and a nap.

We get weighed and measured at our RSV visits so here are their current sizes:
Ethan 23lbs 5oz 30inches long
Alex 19lbs 14oz 28.5inches long
Emma 17lbs 13oz 28.2inches long
Amazing babies!!!  (Our nanny read somewhere yesterday that babies should triple their birth weight by one year... Ha, that would mean Emma should weigh 6lbs 15oz at a year.  Um hum...)  The girls are still well below the 50th percentile on the baby chart but Mr. Ethan is solidly above.

After doctors appointments all I want to do is take bath with a glass of wine and then a nap.  It takes it out of me!

Bottle Madness

Starting out we had no idea how many bottles a single baby would use; forget about how many three would need!  I had planned on nursing but knew I would pump and feed with a bottle too.  Nursing triplets is another story but we clearly did need bottles.

The babies came home using 2 ounce bottles the NICU provided but we had already tried Dr. Brown's and knew they would drink from those.  My mom convinced me we would need a ton.  Boy was she right!  For a long time we went through 10 bottles per baby every 24 hours.  30 bottles every 24 hours!  So we had more than 60 bottles. We started with the 4 ounce ones and moved to 8 ounce ones around 6 or 7 months.  We didn't try any other brand because we just started buying Dr. Brown's and it seemed pointless to mix in a new brand.  They worked great but they are a bit of a pain with so many pieces.  We are used to them but I can see the benefit of a brand like Tommy Tippee with only 2 pieces.

Tips and Advice:
If I had it to do over I would totally purchase used bottles, sterilize them and simply purchase new nipples.  Rookie parent mistake.

Take everything the NICU offers you, tons of bottles, bottle warming containers, breast milk storage containers (they make fabulous home made solid food containers).  NICU 2 oz bottles make great medicine bottles and juice bottles.

Our nanny snapped a shot of her set up one night, this is less than the max amount we used.

Now that we are eating so much solids we are down to 3 bottles each baby a day!!  Of course that means a lot more solid food containers and bowls to wash.  We make our own baby food so we reuse our storage containers, usually 3-5 per meal, 3 solid food meals a day.  And of course water and juice cups.

Our kitchen island has been taken over by baby stuff!

The babies have their own refrigerator.  We use beer 6 pack caddies to hold each babies bottles.  

Yep, the babies are color coded too.  

Now, if only we could convince our munchkins to hold any one of these bottle by themselves!  Yep, that's right, we still have to hold their bottles for them.  I don't have a photo of how I feed them all at once, since I'm feeding them all at once...  But I'll try and get one taken soon to post.

Home Made Wipes

Sometime in July or August of this year, as we were suffering from unexplained diaper rash, my neighbor was over helping.  I was complaining that even the sensitive store bought wipes were still burning the babies tooshies and she said she made her own wipes for her kids.  What the what?  I didn't know you could make your own wipes.  She proceeded to give me the "formula" which I confirmed on the internet and voila, home made wipes!  So easy, SO CHEAP, and so alcohol free - no more burn!!  Everyone in our house agrees they clean better as well.

So here you go, the recipe for home made wipes:

What you need:
Roll of paper towel (we use Kirkland brand from Costco, no need to use an expensive brand, the baby oil softens them)
Serrated knife
Cutting board
4 cup microwavable measuring cup
Baby shampoo - Cetaphil or Johnson's and Johnson's
Baby oil
Container with lid for 1/2 paper towel roll

How to do it:
Heat 2.5 to 3 cups of water in the microwave 2 to 3 minutes and cool to room temperature

Cut a roll of paper towel in half and remove the cardboard

Add approximately 2 Tablespoons of shampoo and 1 Tablespoon baby oil to the container the wipes will be stored in

Pour cooled water into the container then place the 1/2 roll of paper towel in cut side up first.

After the water is all absorbed (approximately 30 seconds) flip the roll, pull the center towel up as the start of the wipe roll.

Store in an air tight container.  I found this great container at Target in the aisle with the rubbermade containers.  The lid is super easy to get off with one hand while holding a baby down!  

I hope if you need baby wipes you will give this a try, we really are very happy with them!